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[theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Ju
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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: July 12, 2000
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
July 12, 2000
Issue # 1574
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
NOTED IN PASSING:
*Inside Burma
REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS POPULATION PASSES 50 MILLION
DVB : RALLY TO DENOUNCE DEMOCRACY PARTY REPORTEDLY ARRANGED BY
AUTHORITIES
MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: SECRETARY-2 ATTENDS CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT OF YE-DAWEI-TANINTHAYI-BOKPYIN-KAWTHOUNG ROAD
SSA NEWS: RAID ON A DRUG REFINERY
THE IRRAWADDY: RAISING THE SETTING SUN
*Regional
AFP: CHEAP ECSTASY MADE BY MYANMAR DRUG LORDS HITS THAILAND: REPORT
BANGKOK POST: WEAPONS CASE IS A TOP PRIORITY
*Economy/Business
AFX: UNOCAL EXPECTS DECISION ON HUMAN RIGHTS LAWSUIT IN 4 TO 6 WEEKS
REUTERS: THAI PTT IN JV TALKS WITH PETRONAS
*Opinion/Editorials
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY: BAD BURMESE DAYS: RULING JUNTA WREAKS
HAVOC IN A FORGOTTEN WAR
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
REUTERS: MYANMAR SAYS POPULATION PASSES 50 MILLION
YANGON, July 12 (Reuters) - Myanmar's population stands at 50.13
million and is growing at around 2.02 percent annually, official
media reported on Wednesday.
``As far as Myanmar is concerned, we welcome the growing population.
There is no problem in our country,'' U Saw Tun, minister of
immigration and population, was quoted as saying.
With 45 million acres (18.23 million hectares) of cultivable land,
of which only 23 million acres are currently under cultivation, food
security was not an issue in Myanmar, he said.
Saw Tun said the country's population density was 74 people per
square km and added that women made up more than half of the
population.
____________________________________________________
DVB : RALLY TO DENOUNCE DEMOCRACY PARTY REPORTEDLY ARRANGED BY
AUTHORITIES
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 8 Jul 00
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 8th July
Dear listeners. It has been learned that Maj-Gen Sit Maung [commander
of Coastal Region Command and chairman of Tenasserim Division Peace
and Development Council] arrived in Kawthaung in Tenasserim Division
on 4th July and held talks on matters relating to the dissolution of
the NLD [National League for Democracy], prevention of subversive
activities, and prevention of drug abuse control and illicit
trafficking. DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] correspondent Myint
Maung Maung filed this report.
[Myint Maung Maung] The meeting was held at 1300 [local time] on 4th
July. At the meeting, Maj-Gen Sit Maung gave detailed instructions to
acquire obligatory service from private coastal passenger vessels and
road transport enterprise vehicles to transport villagers from along
the coast and villages respectively so that the attendance at the
rally to be held in Kawthaung to denounce the NLD would exceed the
target of over 10,000 people.
He also urged regional security officials to coordinate and work
closely with ward administrative personnel and Kyant Phut [derogatory
term for Union Solidarity and Development Association] members and
form watchdog groups to monitor monasteries, schools and Kawthaung-
Ranong [Thailand] border crossings in order to prevent anti-
government subversive activities in Kawthaung District.
Furthermore, illicit drug trafficking activities have been rising in
Tenessarim Division since late 1999 in inland border areas as well as
offshore. Up to June this year in Kawthaung Township the police have
arrested people involved in 11 drug-related cases; the army, three
cases; the navy, one case; and seven cases were by tip-offs from
locals. At the meeting, Maj-Gen Sit Maung reportedly said the
increase rather than decrease in drug trafficking shows lack of
responsibility on the part of responsible personnel.
____________________________________________________
MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: SECRETARY-2 ATTENDS CONSTRUCTION
PROJECT OF YE-DAWEI-TANINTHAYI-BOKPYIN-KAWTHOUNG ROAD
YANGON
Information Sheet
No.B-1435 ( I ) 8th July,2000
Secretary-2 of the State Peace and Development Council Lt-Gen Tin
Oo delivered an address at the coordination meeting on construction
of Ye-Dawei-Myeik-Taninthayi-Bokpyin-Kawthoung Road at the meeting
hall of Public Works on 7 July. The Secretary-2 said that smooth and
better transport is a basic need for development of a region; the
State, on its part, is building new roads as well as new bridges to
ensure better transport. Taninthayi Division is a region which has
good opportunities for development; and smooth and better transport
will lead to further progress of the division. Old roads are being
repaired and new ones constructed for development of Taninthayi
Division. Among the new road, arrangements to upgrade Ye-Dawei-Myeik-
Taninthayi-Bokpyin-Kawthoung motor-road will begin this open season.
[BurmaNet adds?The Yadana and Yetegun pipelines run between Ye and
Tavoy [Dawei]. The road from Ye to Tavoy is used in part to provide
security for the projects.. If this road project is implemented
using standard procedures, i.e. forced labor, it could lead to more
public relations headaches for the oil companies involved in the
projects.]
____________________________________________________
SSA NEWS: RAID ON A DRUG REFINERY
Shan State Army
July 10, 2000
On 7th July 2000, a 30-men-strong SSA detachment from Khun Sarng Ton
Hoong column, led by Maj. Kham Leng, raided a newly built heroin and
Yaa Baa (amphetamine) refinery at Wan Tark Let, a village situated
near the Thai-Shan border, opposite of Mae Hong Son province.
This refinery was under the control of the local commander of the
SPDC troops and their drug producing partners. In this raid, SSA
troops captured:
1. Precursor of Yaa Baa 30 litres
2. Wu Sui (Chinese name, raw material for Yaa Baa) 1 container (6
gallons) 3. liquid opium 2 containers ( appx. 12 gals.)
4. Saw Sua (Chinese name, raw material for Yaa Baa) 2 containers (12
gallons) 5. Ether 2 bottles (1 gallon)
6. Yaa Baa 377 tablets.
Besides these chemicals, 3 of the operators were also captured red
handed.
After the raid the instruments and the building were burned to ground.
____________________________________________________
THE IRRAWADDY: RAISING THE SETTING SUN
June 2000
"The land of the Sunset Kings," as the homeland of the Shan was once
known, is struggling to lift itself out of the shadow of cultural
repression.
by Min Zin
On a hot, dry day in the first week of April 1999, the people of
Rangoon were witness to a strange sight: Lt Gen Khin Nyunt and other
leading generals in Burma's ruling military junta climbing to the top
of the Shwedagon Pagoda wearing traditional baggy Shan trousers. The
occasion was the hoisting of the ceremonial htidaw (umbrella) on to
the top of Burma's most famous pagoda. In a country where every
detail of an auspicious event is loaded with significance, the
generals' choice of attire was assumed to have some deep meaning.
Precisely what it meant, however, remained obscure. But for some
Shans, the message was clear: their homeland, located in the
northeastern part of what is now Burma, would always play an
important role in the generals' plans to elevate their own culture
above all others in the country.
As Burma's largest ethnic minority, the Shan have always been pivotal
in determining the direction of the country's destiny. "Shan will
play a major role in the future of Burma as it was the site of the
Panglong Agreement," remarked one Shan exile. Signed by ethnic Burman
and minority leaders on February 12, 1947, the Panglong Agreement was
intended to serve as the basis of the new federal state that Burma
was supposed to become upon achieving independence from Britain in
1948. When independence leader Aung San and other architects of the
Panglong Agreement were assassinated in July 1947, however, many
ethnic minorities felt that the spirit of this historic accord had
also been killed. Since then, they say, Rangoon has set out to
Burmanize the entire country by eliminating, through military and
other means, any threatening vestiges of cultural independence in
predominantly non-Burman areas.
"When the Chinese conquer, they build moats. When the Burmans
conquer, they build pagodas," according to one well-known Shan
proverb. This has never been truer than under the present Burmese
military regime, which has built many pagodas throughout Shan State
since seizing power in 1988. Many of them are modeled after the
famous Shwedagon. But very few local people choose to worship at
these impressive structures, believing that they serve only as places
for Burmese troops to perform acts of sorcery in order to achieve the
complete subjugation of the Shan. Not only are they built in the
Burmese style, but they are also given Burmese names, such as Maha
Kanbawza Pyi Nyein Aye Jeti ("Peaceful Shan Land Pagoda").
Language is an important aspect of cultural identity, and in Shan
State, the status of the indigenous languageùShan (more closely
related to Thai than to Burmese)ùis one indication of how well Shan
culture is faring against pressures to conform to the Burman "norm".
"Traditionally, Shan Buddhist teachings are in Shan, so I must teach
our people to read Shan. But I am not able to do this
freely,"commented one monk in an interview published in a border-
based NGO newsletter. He explained that Shan monks are required to
get permission to teach people how to read their own language. Even
those who do get official authorization are viewed with suspicion as
possible subversives, he added.
With Burmese as the only official language in the country, Shan and
other ethnic minorities cannot survive without it. "Even in Shan
State, if you can't speak Burmese, it is impossible for you to travel
around and do business," said Khan Chuen, a young Shan artist now
living in Thailand.
Many younger Shans living in the Burman heartland have thoroughly
transformed themselves to fit into the dominant culture. Although
this can be seen as part of a natural process of acculturation, in
Burma it must also be understood in the context of a political
program of forced assimilation, say experts. "In fact, ethnicity is
plastic," notes Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, a well-known Shan scholar based
in Canada. "Ethnicity is not in the blood or `inside' a person. It is
when assimilation is forced and/or demanded that it becomes a
problem."
Seng Junt of the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) says that Shan-
language illiteracy is becoming a growing problem inside Burma. "Many
young Shans inside Burma who are younger than 30 cannot read standard
written Shan. I think that only 60% of Shan can understand our Shan-
language newsletter." Others have noted, however, that non-political
works published in the Shan language, including magazines, novels,
short stories and cartoon collections, can still occasionally pass
the military regime's censors.
This relaxation of restrictions is apparently a response to the
demands of Shan ceasefire groups seeking to preserve and promote the
Shan language and culture. "Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt and the MIS (Military
Intelligence Service) camp have promised permission (to teach the
Shan language)," says Khun Kya Nu, a former Shan resistance leader
who now lives in Thailand. "But then local battalion officers step in
and cancel everything."
Even more damaging to the Shan culture is the forced relocation of
large parts of the population. The center of village life in rural
Shan State is the temple, reflected in the traditional Shan
saying, "Where there is a village, there must be a temple and monks."
Relocated villagers are forced not only to abandon their homes and
fields, but also their monastic communities. "It is like destroying
the soul of our people," said the Shan monk interviewed in the NGO
newsletter. Burmese troops also loot temples of their Buddha images
and burn ancient texts, said the monk. Soldiers have also been known
to kill monks suspected of supporting Shan resistance groups.
Unable to work or earn a living, many Shan turn to drugs and
gambling. "Because of drugs and gambling, the morale and morality of
our Shan people have been seriously damaged," says Khan Chuen, the
Shan artist. "In Muang Pan, the southern Shan relocation site where I
used to live, drugs and gambling ruined the lives of many young
people."
Dire poverty and oppressive treatment at the hands of Burmese
soldiers have driven many Shans into exile in neighboring Thailand,
where their ability to preserve their way of life is also severely
limited. "Migration has a tremendous impact on Shan culture. They are
all illegal in Thailand and cannot practice their customs, traditions
and culture here," says NGO worker Pippa Curwen, who has been
assisting Shan migrants for years.
Even in their homeland, the Shan are made to feel like strangers.
Familiar place names such as Yawnghwe, Pang Tara, Kengtung, Hsipaw
and Mong Hsube have been Burmanized and rendered unintelligible as
Nyaungshwe, Pindaya, Kyaingtawng, Thibaw and Maing Shu. "The original
names have meanings in our Shan language. But in the new Burmanized
version of the same name, there is no meaning at all," says former
resistance leader Khun Kya Nu.
Last year, the Burmese regime`s regional commander for Shan State
gave an order to all of the regiments and battalions under his
command to destroy every signboard bearing village names written in
the Shan script in their respective areas of control. "They are
trying to create an entirely new nation which they call Myanmar,"
observed one journalist who has been covering Burma for many years.
The most spectacular display of the regime's disdain for Shan culture
came in 1991, when the old royal palace in Kengtung was destroyed
against the protests of local abbots and others who wished to
preserve this important structure, which had figured prominently in
modern Shan history. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, the
Kengtung Palace had served as the administrative center of the
largest and most powerful of 33 former Shan principalities until the
Shan Sawbwas (Chaofa in Shan) relinquished all their power in 1959
and it became the property of the elected Shan State government. It
was blown up in 1991 to make way for a new five-star hotel.
To add insult to injury, huge pieces of timber from the demolished
palace were used to build a school for the children of army staff,
and the stone rubble was scattered on th
e roads around the military base in Kengtung. "It was a blatant
debasement of the Shan's valued heritage," commented NGO worker Pippa
Curwen in an article published in Bangkok-based newspaper The Nation.
The regime's habit of spending huge sums of money to rebuild or
renovate structures that point to Burma's past glory, such as the
palace of the Burmese King Thibaw at Mandalay and the ancient palace
of King Bayinnaung in Pegu, is another source of Shan anger.
Independence, a Shan resistance newspaper, reflected this resentment
in an article that ran under the headline,
"Swallowing Our History, and Resurrecting Theirs."
Ironically, the regime's exercises in cultural self-aggrandizement
have met with little appreciation even amongst the country's Burman
majority.
"I don't think Burmans see the rebuilding of their ancient palaces
and the repairing of Pagan, or even the renovation of the Shwedagon
Pagoda, as the regime's great effort to preserve and promote Burmese
culture and history," said one Rangoon-based writer and publisher who
is also an authority on Burmese culture. "We Burmans also have lost
much of our historicity and culture. Here we encounter cultural
destruction as well," he added, referring to the regime's efforts to
construct a spurious historical basis for its claims to power.
"In fact, ethnicity and the issue of ethnic identity should be
treated as non-political," argues Chao Tzang Yawnghwe. "A real
nation, a workable one, is a nation that is ethnic-indifferent or
ethnic-neutral. If one accepts this idea of a nation, there will then
be no need at all to destroy ethnic identities."
The "Land of the Sunset Kings," as the Burmese once called the
homeland of the Shan, has long suffered under the despotism of rulers
who sought to outshine their neighbors with their own empty claims to
glory, only to plunge themselves and all around them into an
oppressive darkness. Only when a new vision of nationhood, one that
recognizes and accepts the intrinsic worth of every culture, finally
prevails in Burma will the true greatness of the country be
appreciated.
___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________
AFP: CHEAP ECSTASY MADE BY MYANMAR DRUG LORDS HITS THAILAND: REPORT
BANGKOK, July 12 (AFP) - The first batches of cheap ecstasy produced
by drug warlords inside Myanmar have hit Bangkok's streets, a report
said Tuesday after police seized 1,000 of the new pills.
Three teenagers caught selling the drug at city nightspots confessed
they had bought the pills from a dealer connected to the feared
United Wa State Army, police officials told the Bangkok Post.
A Thai narcotics control source told AFP late last month Wa rebels,
the most powerful of several ethnic militant groups fighting the
Myanmar junta, were about to diversify into the new drug.
The Wa are accused of being one of the world's main producers of
heroin, and the biggest manufacturer of methamphetamine pills, 600
million of which flooded into Thailand last year.
But they were forced to expand their range after being stung by Thai
military strikes against their opium poppy plantations and offensives
to stamp out their jungle amphetamine labs, the source said.
Police who interrogated the three teenagers said they were hunting
for the drug gang which supplied the batch of pills, the report said.
Deputy commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, Inthadej
Pornpeeraphan, said the seized pills were distinct from those
smuggled in from the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, where most
ecstasy is made.
And at 50 baht (1.25 dollars) instead of the normal price of 800
baht (20 dollars) charged in Bangkok's upscale nightclubs, they were
significantly cheaper.
"He was concerned the Wa Army's drugs would spread among Thais
because they were far cheaper than those from Europe," the Post said.
The report did not say whether the drugs had been analysed but
quoted Inthadej as saying the seizure was proof the Wa Army was able
to produce pills of the same quality as those produced in European
labs.
The Thai military source said last month that the cost-cutting,
designed to capture as wide a market as possible in Thailand, could
result in a pill that was must more poisonous than pure ecstasy.
"Hundred percent pure ecstasy is not so harmful but these pills will
not be pure and could be very dangerous," said the expert, who is
familiar with Thailand's anti-drugs program on the northern border.
The poor quality, however, is expected to largely prevent the Wa
from trafficking their ecstasy into third countries, he said.
Instead they would move it into Thailand along effective new
smuggling routes, using aircraft and boats to minimise losses caused
by the rough overland road network.
Amphetamines, known in Thailand as "ya baa" or "crazy drug" for
their effects, are by far Thailand's biggest drug problem, and
regarded as its top national security threat.
But ecstasy is fast catching on -- authorities seized 24,205 tablets
last year, up from 4,517 tablets in 1998.
____________________________________________________
BANGKOK POST: WEAPONS CASE IS A TOP PRIORITY
WEDNESDAY, July 12, 2000
Police have arrested a prominent ChiangMai resident and charged him
with arms smuggling. The case of Payungsak Yodbangtoey is especially
important since it may involve selling arms to Burmese rebels. This
prosecution must be dealt with promptly and openly.
Police and prosecutors must have a single goal in the case of
Payungsak Yodbangtoey. Their duty is to hold an investigation that is
completely honest and above-board. Not only that, but the inquiry
must be totally transparent. The public must see there is no question
about the prosecution of Mr Payungsak. This case is a litmus test of
the government and of Thai security authorities.
Mr Payungsak is well-known in Chiang Mai. His reputation stems 8
mainly from the reputation of his younger brother. Maj-Gen Intharat
Yodbangtoey is, to understate the case, influential in the North,
particularly in Chiang Mai province. He is a senator-elect. Maj-Gen
Intharat also has been named in literally hundreds of press reports
about politics in Chiang Mai, including some involving shady deals.
The case his brother faces makes all of Maj-Gen Intharat's alleged
associations pale. Police arrested him in Chiang Mai, and properly
transported him immediately to Bangkok, on charges of dealing in
illegal weapons. Initial charges allege Mr Payungsak can help police
investigate the attempted theft of M-16 rifles and ammunition from
the Police Ordnance Division. Detectives also are looking into other
unsolved arms thefts and suspected arms sales.
Police also have arrested five active and retired police and military
men, and five hilltribesmen in the case. They allege the 11 men are
part of a broad, and continuing, effort to steal and smuggle arms to
Burma. Of course, all are assumed to be innocent until a court rules
otherwise. All have, properly, been denied bail at least until their
next court hearing early next week.
Two items set this case apart from normal arms smuggling
investigations. The first is Mr Payungsak. One of his first actions
after his arrest was to call his influential younger brother. To his
credit Maj-Gen Intharat promised publicly to stay clear of the case.
Police and prosecutors should make sure that promise is kept, and
inform the public if it is not. Arms smugglers cannot be allowed to
use influence, of any kind, to escape exposure or justice.
The second and even more troubling problem is the allegation that the
arms in this case were to be sold to Shan rebels. The Shan State Army
has long and infamous links to the opium and heroin trade, in Burma
and Thailand. Its recent leader was Khun Sa, the international heroin
drug lord now being protected by Rangoon.
Initial inquiries also show that Mr Payungsak has business dealings
with the United Wa State Army. The UWSA makes and sells the
methamphetamines and other drugs corrupting Thailand and ruining I
our youth. Police say Mr Payungsak has helped building projects for
the drug dealers. This is legal, but hardly admirable, behaviour.
These two conditions make the Payungsak case one of the most
important in recent years. Police are well aware of this. National
police | commissioner Pol Gen Pornsak Durongkawiboon has promised to
investigate, and prosecute, with neither fear nor favour. Bangkok
chief Pol Lt-Gen Wannarat Kotcharak, in charge of the weapons theft
case, has put his highest assistant on the case.
Prosecutors and the government must match the determination of the
police in this case. The stench of possible political influence is
strong. The senior-most authorities-Premier Chuan and Interior
Minister Banyat must make it clear they expect an honest police
investigation. The prosecutors must not be sidetracked by any hint of
outside influence in this case.
Let's be clear. This is a watershed arrest. Police say the evidence
against Mr Payungsak is compelling. So it must be investigated and
taken to court. The investigation must be transparent. There must be
no hint of outside influence. It is well known that high ranking and
influential Thais have helped build the corrupt drug trafficking from
Burma. No such corrupt person must be allowed to escape justice.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
AFX: UNOCAL EXPECTS DECISION ON HUMAN RIGHTS LAWSUIT IN 4 TO 6 WEEKS
July 11, 2000 Tuesday
WASHINGTON
A U.S. judge will decide within four to six weeks whether a
lawsuit, claiming energy group Unocal Corp has been complicit in
human rights abuses in Myanmar, will be allowed to proceed in federal
court, according to a Unocal spokesman.
The Unocal spokesman said federal judge Richard Lew is reviewing the
evidence under submission and that a written decision is likely to be
released within the next four to six weeks.
Analysts are not scrutinising the case too closely at this stage, but
they said they are keeping an eye on developments.
"We pay attention, Unocal has good relations with its workers, but
they are in a difficult situation," said Fadel Gheit, an analyst at
Fahnestock & Company, adding that Unocal are not responsible for the
actions of Myanmar's military government.
Fahnestock & Company have a 'buy' recommendation on Unocal stock.
Mark Fisher, an analyst at Banc of America Securities, said Unocal
watchers are more focused on the outcome of its reformulated gasoline
patent and the potential for fresh exploration success in the Gulf of
Mexico and Indonesia.
"In the Gulf of Mexico, they (Unocal) have just taken delivery of a
new deepwater rig, and they have some exciting prospects there," said
Fisher.
Banc of America also has a 'buy' recommendation on Unocal, a fair
value price target of 40.00 usd a share and a high end value of 47.00
usd a share. A coalition of groups including Washington-based
EarthRights International is seeking millions of dollars in
compensation from Unocal for people it says were assaulted and used
as forced labor on the 1.2 bln usd Yadana gas pipeline in Myanmar.
The Myanmar military government, through the Myanmar state oil
company, holds a 15 pct stake in the pipeline which is operated by
France's TotalFinaElf.
Shares in Unocal closed at 32-7/8 on the New York Stock Exchange, up
1/2 compared with Friday's close.
[BurmaNet adds: Financial analysts for investment banks (see above)
are notoriously unreliable with respect to the firms they analyze
because of a built in conflict of interest. Investment banks arrange
capital issues for firms. Firms hire investment banks to handle
capital issue in part depending on whether the bank's analysts say
nice things about them. Not surprisingly, 90% of all ratings issued
by analysts are "Buy,." 9% of recommendations are "Hold" and a mere
1% are "Sell." Of the 22 firms covering Unocal, 9 currently rate it
a Strong Buy, 8 rate it a Moderate Buy and 5 rate it a Hold Due to
systematic grade inflation, Holds are generally considered tantamount
to a Sell recommendation. For more on Unocal and the market, go to:
http://biz.yahoo.com/z/a/u/ucl.html]
____________________________________________________
REUTERS: THAI PTT IN JV TALKS WITH PETRONAS
12.07.2000
[BANGKOK] The Petroleum Authority of Thailand is in talks with
Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) on a 10 billion baht (S$435
million) gas separation joint venture plant in Myanmar, Prasert
Bunsumpan, president of PTT's gas unit, said yesterday. He said the
plant would produce liquefied petroleum gas from natural gas and
other hydrocarbons from the Yetagun field in the Andaman Sea off
Myanmar.
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY: BAD BURMESE DAYS: RULING JUNTA WREAKS
HAVOC IN A FORGOTTEN WAR
July 11, 2000
By Doug Bandow
It wasn't much by Western standards: a clearing in the dense foliage
with a
half-dozen wood and bamboo buildings covered by thatched roofs. A
short walk along the dirt path led to more houses, sitting on stilts
and open to rain, animals and mosquitoes. There was also a small
clinic, constructed with American aid. Dense, green jungle covered
the Burmese hills that marched beyond. But 243 people, belonging to
the Burma Karen ethnic group, called Law Thi Hta home until earlier
this year, when the dictatorship styling itself the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) displaced them, as it had done to
thousands of other Karen over the last couple of decades. I visited
the village in February, not long before its destruction. Electricity
was unknown in the village, with the only running water located in
the river. Its hospital, Freedom Hospital No. 1, as the American
relief group Christian Freedom International called it, looked
nothing like a real hospital.
Wooden platforms served as beds, operations were performed on bamboo
tables and modern equipment was absent. Still, CFI head Jim Jacobson
could take pride in his organization's work there. His clinic served
children suffering from potentially deadly diarrhea, adults with
typhoid and anyone who had stepped on a land mine. International
attention to Burma has focused in recent years on Aung San Suu Kyi
and her urban-based democracy movement. But the more serious threat
to the ruling junta comes from the Karen and other ethnic groups,
which have been fighting for greater autonomy since 1949. The SPDC
maintains numerous bases in eastern Burma, also known as Myanmar, and
periodically strikes at villages suspected of harboring rebels. It
conscripts civilians as porters, women as well as men. Its hungry
soldiers take villagers' crops and livestock. Refugees also report
frequent beatings, rapes and murders. SPDC troops arrived at Law Thi
Hta and Freedom Hospital No. 1 shortly after my visit. They burned
the clinic and other buildings and sowed the area with land mines to
prevent the residents from returning. The war has generated a million
internally displaced persons and 200,000 refugees in Bangladesh,
China, India and Thailand.
How to end this grisly conflict? Western sanctions have failed,
except in pushing Burma closer to China. A better alternative is a
mix of diplomatic pressure, which can most effectively be applied by
Japan, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and
economic engagement from private individuals and organizations.
Broader contact with the West might strengthen internal democratic
forces. The West's most important role may be to help the Karen and
other ethnic peoples cope with the SPDC's brutality. That largely
means private assistance, since neither the U.N. nor Western
governments will work in Burma against SPDC's express wishes. CFI is
currently supporting six "freedom hospitals" in eastern Burma, which
typically treat about 600 Karen a month, and will be constructing new
facilities to replace ones destroyed earlier this year. It regularly
sends teams of CFI-trained medics into the territory for up to four
months at a time to provide basic medical care and distribute drugs,
food, Bibles and hymnals.
Moreover, a strong faith gives CFI a charitable zeal and flexibility
that government agencies and other private groups lack. "What is
making the SPDC so upset is that we change lives," Jacobson
explained. He can also offer practical advice on treating such
ailments as pervasive diarrhea, dysentery, malaria, measles,
tuberculosis, typhoid and utero-infections - problems that reflect
the lack of minimal sanitation. First, "We're going to try to get
them to dig latrines," he says, and then to "pen up the animals."
Such a message seems mundane in the larger geopolitical scheme, but
it means lives saved in Burma. The Karens' only hope lies in groups
like CFI, which can help to clean up the resulting carnage until an
enduring political solution is found.
Doug Bandow is a
Cato Institute Senior Fellow.
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