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BurmaNet News: September 18, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
           September 18, 2001   Issue # 1885
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


INSIDE BURMA _______
*Irrawaddy: Junta Allows New Email Accounts
*Irrawaddy: News of Attacks Hard To Find In Burma 

MONEY _______
*Xinhua: Myanmar's Domestic Tax Revenue Up in First Half of 2001
*BurmaNet: Inflation outstrips tax collection
*Bangkok Post: High costs mar Burma ventures 
*Reuters: Premier on firmer footing after Asian deals

GUNS______
*Landmine Monitor: BURMA (MYANMAR) [Landmine report 2001]

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Shans calls for refugee camps in Thailand 
*Myanmar Times: We?re best friends, says Thai Deputy PM

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Free Burma Coalition: Free Burma Activism in the Midst of US 
Catastrophe--Cautionary Note

OTHER______
*Karen Human Rights Group: New KHRG Photo Set now available online


					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________





Irrawaddy: Junta Allows New Email Accounts


By Zarny Win


September 17, 2001?Burma?s military government has allowed for the 
creation of roughly 4,000 email accounts inside Burma despite a 
continued ban on access to the World Wide Web, according to the 
Rangoon-based Living Color magazine. Up to this point in Burma only 
companies and businessmen with close ties to the military leaders were 
able to access and use email, according to a business source in Rangoon.

Although there are no Internet cafés in Burma, there are some email 
shops in Rangoon where email is available. "There are four or five shops 
near Sule Pagoda (in downtown Rangoon). However, it is not a legal 
business," explained a journal editor in Rangoon. The customers are 
reportedly allowed to send and receive emails as well as use CD-ROMs, 
but access to the World Wide Web is prohibited. Burmese communication 
systems still remain the lowest in all of Southeast Asia, according to 
this month?s issue of Living Color, which is published by Lt-Gen Khin 
Nyunt?s son, Ye Naing Win.

However, tourists and business travelers can legally email from some of 
the more expensive hotels. A tourist who recently visited Rangoon said 
that, "I wrote an email from one of the expensive hotels (the Kandawgyi 
Palace), and I had to pay two dollars for ten minutes and then an extra 
two dollars for every email that I sent. I thought this was very 
expensive and quite unusual."

A dozen businesses in Burma now also have websites but they do not have 
email accounts where they can receive feedback or answer questions 
regarding their services. "Sometimes I want to contact them (Burmese 
websites), but they have no email address. So giving feedback is a 
problem," said a Burmese student in Thailand. [Top]



___________________________________________________





Irrawaddy: News of Attacks Hard To Find In Burma 


By Kyaw Zwa Moe


September 17, 2001?The National League for Democracy (NLD), Burma?s main 
opposition party, issued a statement on September 13th condemning the 
recent terrorist attacks in America, while Burma?s ruling military 
government has remained silent.

The NLD statement described a series of attacks carried out against the 
World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. on 
September 11th as "totally inhuman and cowardly." The NLD also expressed 
its sorrow over the deaths of thousands of innocent people killed in the 
attacks. According to US-based news agencies and officials, the death 
toll has now risen to over 5,000. 

Meanwhile, the military regime, known as the State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC), has been quiet about the attacks and has yet to condemn 
the perpetrators or offer any condolences to the victims. It is not yet 
known what impact the terror in America will have on Burma. 

News about the attacks in America is scarce in Rangoon and throughout 
Burma due to heavy-handed censorship in the military-ruled country. The 
state-run newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar, and the state-run Myanmar 
Television (MRTV) briefly announced the attacks a day after they 
occurred. 

"We are very anxious to know about the attacks, but the news has not 
appeared in most of the Burmese journals," said one person in Rangoon.


Only The Myanmar Times, in its edition dated September 14th, covered the 
attacks. The weekly newspaper, which is run by an Australian editor, is 
believed to have close ties to high-ranking military intelligence 
officials. The paper reportedly sold out as soon as it hit the stands 
last week. 


A bookseller in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy: "The Myanmar Times is the 
only journal that has reported the attack so far. Some other journals 
owned by the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) have not reported 
anything."

Because of the junta?s continued censorship of all news in Burma, the 
Burmese people rely heavily on short-wave radio stations like Radio Free 
Asia (RFA) and the BBC?s Burmese-language service for information. RFA, 
which is based in Washington, D.C., began to cover the attack minutes 
after it occured. 

"We would know nothing about the attack if we only watched and listened 
to the government radio and TV," said a Burmese man in Rangoon, "But we 
are able to receive news from RFA and the BBC." 







______________________MONEY________________________



Xinhua: Myanmar's Domestic Tax Revenue Up in First Half of 2001

 Xinhuanet 2001.09.17 09:52:34

  YANGON, September 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar's State Internal  Revenue
Department (SIRD) collected a total of 40.968 billion  Kyats (86.79 
million
U.S. dollars) in domestic revenue from  various taxes in the first half 
of
this year, up 6.8 percent from  the same period of 2000, according to 
the
latest official Economic Indicators.

   Of the revenue obtained during the six-month period, 50.95  percent 
were
from commodities and services taxes and commercial  tax, 28.9 percent 
from
income tax, 10.06 percent from profit tax,  8.14 percent from state 
lottery,
and 1.95 percent from stamp  duties.

   In Myanmar, individual citizen having an income amounting to 10, 001
Kyats (about 22.2 U.S. dollars) and above are assessed to tax  under the
country's Income Tax Law which also covers cooperatives, companies and 
joint
venture enterprises.

   However, salary recipients are not required to pay for income  tax as 
the
tax has been paid by way of deduction at their income  sources, 
according to
the SIRD.

   According to official statistics, Myanmar received 53.25  billion 
Kyats
(152.14 million dollars) in domestic revenue from  various taxes in 
2000.



___________________________________________________



BurmaNet: Inflation outstrips tax collection

September 18, 2001

According to the regime's statistics, tax collections in Burma increated 
6.8 percent in the first half of this year over the same period in 2000. 
 By any honest measure, the apparent increase is illusory due to the 
effects of inflation.  According to economic data collected by the US 
Embassy, inflation in the local currency in Burma is running at about 
20% this year.

Data collected by The Burma Courier suggests that the kyat has slipped 
36.76% against the dollar just since the beginning of the year.  
Inflation and the collapsing value of the kyat (especially the former) 
should have the effect of pushing tax collections up because the price 
in kyat of items and services being taxed.  When both inflation and the 
rate at which the kyat slips against hard currencies exceeds the 
increase in tax collection, it implies one of three things; that the 
regime is effectively lowering tax rates, that economic activity is 
shifting to the untaxed black market or that there is less taxable 
economic activity going on.  The likelihood is that a combination of 
more tax evasion and less economic activity in general is probably 
responsible for the decline
in inflation adjusted tax receipts but Without more data it is not 
possible to arrive at a 
definitive assessment.




___________________________________________________



Bangkok Post: High costs mar Burma ventures 

Sep 17, 2001.


Wassana Nanuam 
 
Fishing joint ventures between Thailand and Burma were unlikely to go 
ahead because of the anticipated high costs for Thai investors, a senior 
naval officer said. 

Amornchote Sujirat, director of the Thai-Burma Fishery Co-ordination 
Centre, said there were few possibilities for co-operation since 75% of 
the investment for each project would have to come from the Thai side. 

He said Thai investors were unlikely to agree to the conditions of the 
five fishery-related businesses, which required all marine animals be 
sent to Mergui port in Burma. 

Naval relations between the two countries were also poor, he said, with 
Burmese soldiers at Kawthaung, opposite Ranong, still refusing to 
contact Thai troops by radio. 

There were often delays even in the case of contacts through the 
Thai-Burmese township border committee in Ranong and Kawthaung. A 
meeting between Thai and Burmese naval officers would be held in 
Kawthaung next month in a bid to improve ties. 

Commodore Amornchote said Burma would again probably fail to send two 
officials to the Thai-Burma Fishery Co-ordination Centre in Ranong 
despite promising to do so at the recent 19th Regional Border Committee 
Meeting in Pattaya. 

Since Oct 6, 1999, Rangoon has banned Thai fishermen from Burmese waters 
following the siege of the Burmese embassy here. More than 50,000 
Burmese workers are currently working for fisheries and related 
businesses in Ranong. 



___________________________________________________




Reuters: Premier on firmer footing after Asian deals

By Mike Elliott 
 
LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Britain's Premier Oil Plc said on Monday a 
$135 million cash injection from a restructuring of its Asian assets put 
the company on a sounder financial footing that would allow it to pursue 
new exploration opportunities.  
Premier, whose shares have underperformed the UK oil and gas sector by 
30 percent in the past five years, also reported a 57 percent increase 
in first half profits on the back of continuing high oil prices and a 36 
percent increase in production.  
"Premier is on the turn. The financials are improving and obviously will 
be improved quite considerably by these asset deals, " Chief Executive 
Charles Jamieson told Reuters.  

The group sold a 50 percent stake in its Pakistan interests  

-- having acquired via an assets swap Royal Dutch/Shell Group's  
49.9 percent in their joint venture this year 

-- to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co for $105 million to set up 
a joint venture with the Kuwait Petroleum Corp unit.  

Premier also sold its 40 percent interest in the Indonesian Ujung 
Pangkah field, which it now considers non-core, to partner Amerada Hess 
Corp of the United States for $30 million.  

The deals will reduce net debt, which stood at 471.7 million pounds as 
at end-June, to 376.9 million, with gearing (net debt divided by net 
assets) falling from 149 percent to 107.  

Premier, in which Amerada Hess and Malaysian state oil firm Petronas 
[PETR.UL] each hold 25 percent, said net profit in the six months to 
June 30, 2001, was 12.4 million pounds, up from a restated 7.9 million, 
on turnover of 94.5 million. Analysts had been expecting profits in 
range of eight and 14 million pounds.  

Net profit and revenue would have been 5.3 and 8.4 million pounds higher 
respectively had Premier been able to recognise the proceeds of take or 
pay contracts from the Yetagun project in Myanmar. Premier was paid but 
the gas has yet to be taken.  

"Our reported results are in essence understating the true profitability 
and position of the company," Finance Director John van der Welle said 
in the telephone interview.  

OUTPUT REVISED DOWN 
 
While production grew 36 percent in the period to 35,300 barrels of oil 
equivalent per day (boepd), this was less than expected and output for 
the year is now expected to be 40,000 boepd, down from the 50,000 
estimated earlier this year.  
Jamieson said the decline was due to "teething problems" in the take up 
of gas in Thailand and Singapore and a delay to the UK Kyle field coming 
onstream.  
"These were temporary hiccups rather than any underlying problems," said 
Jamieson, who sees output climbing to between 45,000 and 50,000 boepd in 
2002.  
Shares in Premier, which have outperformed the oil and gas sector by 
almost 90 percent in the past 12 months, were up 1/2 penny or 2.4 
percent at 21-1/4p at 0900 GMT.  

The stock re-entered the FTSE 250 mid-cap index last month.  

Despite the company's strong performance over the past year, Premier Oil 
continues to view its shares as undervalued and has accepted its 
shareholding structure is holding the stock back.   At the annual 
meeting in May, Chairman David John said the board was seeking ways to 
reduce the discount.   "This is very much a live issue....we are in 
discussion with our shareholders," Jamieson told Reuters.  


_______________________GUNS________________________




Landmine Monitor: BURMA (MYANMAR) [Landmine report 2001]

September 2001

Abridged.  For the full report, go to http://www.icbl.org/lm/2001/burma/
Key developments since May 2000: Myanmar government forces and at least 
eleven ethnic armed groups continue to lay antipersonnel mines in 
significant numbers. The governments of Bangladesh and Thailand both 
protested use of mines by Myanmar forces inside their respective 
countries. In a disturbing new development, mine use is alleged to be 
taking place under the direction of loggers and narcotics traffickers, 
as well as by government and rebel forces. 


 
Mine Ban Policy 
The military government of Myanmar, the State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC), has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. After voting in 
favor of the 1996 UN General Assembly resolution calling on governments 
to vigorously pursue an international agreement banning antipersonnel 
landmines, it has since abstained from every UN General Assembly 
resolution supporting the Mine Ban Treaty, including in November 2000. 
Myanmar has not participated in any mine ban meetings since 1999. 

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling?Government
The Myanmar Defense Products Industries (Kahpasa) produce the MM1 stake 
mine, the MM2 blast mine, and a directional fragmentation 
(Claymore-type) mine.[2] The directional mine is alleged by residents of 
Chin State to be rigged with tripwires for victim activation.[3] There 
is no evidence that the government has exported antipersonnel mines to 
other countries. Several types of antipersonnel mines from other 
countries continue to be found in the field indicating past, if not 
current, importation. These include Chinese, Israeli, Italian, Russian, 
US, and other unidentified antipersonnel mines.[4] Neither the SPDC, nor 
the Ministry of Defense, has released any statistics regarding the size 
and type of mines in stockpile. 

Use?Government
Government officials acknowledge that Myanmar uses antipersonnel mines, 
but claim it does not do so in an indiscriminate fashion.[5] Government 
forces, both the Tatmadaw and the NaSaKa (border security force), have 
continued to use antipersonnel mines extensively. Mine use has been 
reported in many regions of the country, and along the borders with 
Bangladesh, Thailand, and India. Bangladesh and Thailand have accused 
Myanmar forces of laying mines across their borders illegally. 

In November 2000, the government of Bangladesh issued an advisory note 
to its citizens living in the border area that they were in danger of 
mines being laid by the NaSaKa, the border security force of Myanmar. A 
Bangladesh border security force (BDR) official told Landmine Monitor 
that use by NaSaKa had increased since October 2000.[6] The BDR captured 
mines that indicated 2000 as the year of manufacture.[7] 

Amid heightening tension over this mine laying operation, and increasing 
mine accidents in the area, a meeting between border forces on both 
sides was held. Bangladesh protested the planting of mines and asked for 
a halt, and reiterated its request that these mines be removed. The 
NaSaKa accused rebel forces of planting mines on the border.[8] 

Thailand has accused Myanmar forces of laying mines inside Thailand. A 
simmering border controversy between the two nations escalated in 
February 2001 over a disputed piece of territory. Myanmar troops and a 
proxy army of the Wa are both alleged to have planted mines in this 
territory in the following months. The Thai government has lodged 
complaints about the mine laying by Myanmar on several occasions.[9] 

Porters taken for service by the SPDC on military operations in Karen 
State report that every platoon carries six to eight landmines (there 
are a couple of hundred platoons in Karen State at any given time).[10] 

Karen, Rakine, and Shan rebels displayed hundreds of captured landmines 
laid by the Myanmar Army during the year 2000, or which they had 
captured in stockpiles in SPDC army bases overrun by rebels during 
operations during the year 2000.[11] Chin refugees have alleged that 
residents of the Chin State have died in the year 2000 because of mines 
laid near the India/Burma border, across from Mizoram.[12] 

A Burmese military officer held by the insurgents told them that he had 
instructions to use mines seized from the enemy for deployment near the 
border with Thailand, in order to mask who laid the landmine.[13] The 
officer also said that in 1996 when the Burmese Army seized the mine 
stockpile of opium warlord Khun Sa that these mines were deployed near 
the border with Thailand. 

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling?Armed Ethnic Groups
All of the armed groups are believed to be capable of building blast 
mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Some groups can also 
manufacture Claymore-type mines.[14] The Chin National Army maintains an 
arsenal of landmines and a production facility at their base, which also 
trains a cadre of mine layers.[15] Trade in mine components between 
combatants is also occurring with one group claiming to have enough 
explosives for the next 10 years? mine production needs.[16] 

The armed ethnic groups are not known to receive mines from foreign 
governments. Throughout the 1990s, surplus antipersonnel mines from the 
Indochinese wars were plentifully available. As of 2001, antipersonnel 
mines were reported to be more difficult to obtain on the black market, 
but an increased number of mines were being lifted or captured from SPDC 
military operations, and then re-deployed.[17] 

Use?Ethnic Armed Groups and other Non-State Actors
At least eleven ethnic armed groups are believed to use antipersonnel 
mines. All of those groups documented to be using antipersonnel 
landmines in their rebel activity during 2000 are believed to have 
continued to do so in 2001, including: the Karen National Liberation 
Army (KNLA); the Karenni Army (KA); the All Burma Students Democratic 
Front (ABSDF); Peoples Defense Forces (PDF); Myiek-Dawei United Front 
(MDUF); Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO); Shan State Army (SSA); 
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army; God?s Army; and the Chin National Army 
(CNA).[18] 

In addition, the United Wa State Army is using mines. A bounding mine 
allegedly laid by the United Wa State Army killed six refugees from Shan 
State seeking asylum in Thailand.[19] The Chin National Army claims to 
use only command-detonated mines. It has laid mines near its bases in 
Chin State.[20] The KNLA does not map or mark its minefields. Landmines 
laid by the KNLA and DKBA in Karen State continue to endanger the lives 
of villagers, internal refugees and porters.[21] The KNLA is mining the 
areas around internally displaced settlements in Karen State. In the 
Tenasserim Division, the Karen National Liberation Army and the 
Myeik-Dawie United Front rebels use landmines bought from Thai 
smugglers. They maintain a mine stockpile of US-made M14, M16, and M18 
mines, captured Myanmar MM1, MM2 and directional mines, and homemade 
mines.[22] 

In a disturbing new development, mine use is alleged to be taking place 
under the direction of loggers and narcotics traffickers.[23] Timber 
concessions opened in the border areas of Karen State south of the Thai 
town of Mae Sot. These concessions are believed to be held by high 
military and political authorities in Thailand. Local people, who 
initially received instruction on mine fabrication under the KNLA, have 
allegedly been hired by logging sub-contractors to mine the edges of 
their concessions to prevent encroachment by competitors and access by 
the public. Allegedly the loggers also supply the explosives and 
detonators for the construction of these mines. Several people in the 
employ of these sub-contractors and local residents have become mine 
victims. Narcotics traffickers in the same area are reportedly securing 
their routes for the movement of their goods with landmines. Use of 
mines to protect manufacturing facilities for the illegal production of 
meta-amphetemine in both Karen and Karenni State has also been alleged.

Landmine Problem
Nine out of fourteen states and divisions in Burma are mine-affected, 
with a heavy concentration in eastern Burma.[24] See Landmine Monitor 
Report 2000 for a description of mine-affected areas. 

Mines have been laid between all military camps along a cross-state 
route in upper Karen State from Kyankkyi in the west to Hsawhta on the 
Salaween River at the Thai border in an attempt to cut passage by 
insurgents. Refugee passage is now also blocked by this action. 

There are no reliable estimates of the number of mines planted in Burma, 
or the amount of land affected. A November 2000 report indicates that 25 
to 30 different types of antipersonnel mines have been used in 
Burma.[25] 

Mine Clearance and Mine Awareness
There are no humanitarian mine clearance operations in Burma. Some 
ethnic armed groups, and some villagers, have lifted mines in their 
areas. Rebels in Rakine State have captured mine detection equipment for 
use in their operations.[26] Villagers in Nyaung Lay Bin district of 
Karen State returned to their homes after fleeing an offensive to find 
it mined. They removed over 100 mines themselves, then re-laid the mines 
close to a military base.[27]

Atrocity Demining 
Tatmadaw units operating in theaters of conflict near Myanmar's border 
with Thailand have repeatedly been accused of forcing non-Burman ethnic 
local people to walk in front of Tatmadaw soldiers in areas suspected of 
mine contamination (see Landmine Monitor Reports 1999 and 2000). In 
January 2001, villagers from twelve settlements near the Thai/Burma 
border crossed into Thailand seeking refuge, after having been ordered 
by a Burmese military commander to clear a jungle area for a bulldozer 
to make a road. The area was believed to have been heavily mined by the 
KNLA.[28] During 2000, the Karen Human Rights Group repeatedly 
documented incidents of atrocity demining.[29] In response to a US Labor 
Department report on forced labor, the SPDC replied, ?The allegation 
that children are used as human minesweepers and shields is too absurd 
and ridiculous to dignify a response.?[30]

Landmine Casualties
The number of landmine victims in Burma remains unknown. There is 
currently no centralized agency collecting statistics on landmine 
incidents or survivors within Burma. Relying on disparate data, Landmine 
Monitor Report 2000 estimated that conflict in Burma produced 
approximately 1,500 mine victims in 1999 alone, including perhaps nearly 
one civilian landmine amputee per day in Karen State alone. This is, 
however, only an estimate. There is no reliable way to trace the number 
of people killed by landmines. 

The landmine casualty rate may be increasing. Statistics of landmine 
victims transported for surgery by Medicins Sans Frontières (recipient 
of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize) show a modest increase during the year 
2000 over the previous two years.[31] The Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot, 
Thailand states that it is seeing an increase in mine victims arriving 
from the Dooplaya district of Karen State.[32] 

A preliminary report on a Level One Impact Survey in Thailand contained 
the following information on the border region: ?The majority of the 
mine threat is across the border in Myanmar where a considerable number 
of mine accidents are taking place. In the Camps for Displaced persons 
alone 83 mine victims are recorded and many more are evident from 
hospital records. 150 accidents have been reported in the last 2 years 
of a total of 541 victims including previous years. 213 reported danger 
areas however are recorded on the Thai side of the border.?[33] 

At a meeting of the border security forces of Myanmar and Bangladesh in 
November 2000, both sides admitted that at least seven people from the 
two countries were killed in the previous two weeks in landmine 
explosions.[34] 

A Karen military officer noted that the areas most heavily mined by the 
Tatmadaw are not producing many civilian casualties now, because people 
have fled those areas; when the refugees return home, casualties will 
increase.[35] 

Despite the fact that military mine victims can be seen in border areas 
of the country, the Ministry of Defense maintains that there are no 
military victims of landmines.[36] Mine casualty rates among people 
taken to porter for the military and among the soldiers themselves due 
to landmines seem to be equal.[37] 

Elephants continue to be victimized by landmines laid in Burma, with new 
fatalities recorded in both 2000 and 2001. A 32-year-old elephant 
stepped on a landmine in late April in Burma across from Tak Province of 
Thailand; it died of its wounds in June.[38] A total of 26 elephants are 
now known to have perished in Bangladesh where no veterinary help for 
them is available.[39] The most recent casualty was a baby elephant in 
February 2001.[40] It has been noted that elephants near the heavily 
mined Bangladesh border have now changed their migration route as a 
result of the casualties in their herds and are now entering 
agricultural areas they previously avoided, where they are attacked by 
farmers.[41] Mines in Burma have also killed buffalo, tigers, wild pigs, 
and dogs. 

Survivor Assistance 
Survivor assistance continues to be minimal due to the neglect of the 
medical system within Myanmar. The World Health Organization 
significantly downgraded its assessment of the viability of the health 
care system in Myanmar, ranking the country 190 out of a total of 191 
member states in the World Health Report 2000. 

Medical practitioners in public hospitals receive a monthly salary of 
$5.[42] Unless a victim can pay for care at public or private health 
facilities, no care is available. Access to first aid and surgical care 
is dependent on the victim's physical distance from health care 
facilities and the prevailing security situation in the area at the time 
of the accident. Medical care received prior to surgery is primitive and 
depends on whether a trained medic and equipment is on hand.[43] 

The provision of prosthetic devices through the National Rehabilitation 
Center (NRC) is completely dependent on the support of the International 
Committee of the Red Cross. The NRC receives no funding from the 
government for outreach to the nation. All patients must reach the 
Center on their own. There has been no systematic distribution of 
information through Myanmar's health care system about the existence of 
the NRC, and the former Director conceded many health practitioners in 
the country may not even be aware of the Center and its services. The 
NRC has two branches, one in Rangoon, and a second in Mandalay, each 
with a maximum capacity of about thirty in-patients per month. The two 
NRC facilities, and the Ministry of Defense hospital in Mingaladon near 
Rangoon, are the only facilities in the country currently providing 
artificial legs. An additional ICRC constructed facility in the Maymyo 
military hospital is currently not functional. All mine victims who 
arrive at the NRC to be fitted with a prosthetic are located and 
transported by a joint ICRC-Myanmar Red Cross program, through 
periodical missions to Shan, Karen and Karenni States and the Bago 
Division. 

The ICRC reports that amputees were transported from border areas to the 
prosthetic/orthotic workshops in Mandalay and Yangon. The Ministry of 
Health with ICRC support runs the workshops.[44] During the year the 
number of patients increased, and production more than doubled from 
1999. Prosthetic/orthotic appliances were provided for 907 amputees, 55% 
of whom were mine victims.[45] 

The NRC provides limited statistics on its patients. Between 1990-1998 
it fitted almost 1,400 patients with artificial limbs, of which more 
than 70% were victims of landmines.[46] Between April-September 1999, 
the NRC provided services for 157 landmine victims.[47] 

No information is available on victim assistance provided by Defense 
Ministry hospitals, but ICRC statistics indicate military hospitals may 
be providing more than twice as many prosthetics as the civilian 
system.[48] 

There is one vocational rehabilitation center in Rangoon run by the 
Ministry of Health. A second facility for the vocational rehabilitation 
of amputees is being constructed in Rangoon by an international NGO. 

An independent, ethnic-based, mobile medical organization named the Back 
Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT) operates in ethnic resistance areas of 
Mon, Karen, Karenni and Shan States. These medics offer a variety of 
primary and emergency services. 

Medicins Sans Frontières and AMI, two humanitarian NGOs with operations 
in refugee camps on the Burma-Thai border, transport mine victims to 
hospitals in Thailand, where surgery and post operative care costs 
roughly 20,000 baht (US$455) per person. The Mae Tao clinic also 
transports to the hospital mine victims who are unable to reach refugee 
camps, but are proximate to Mae Sot. The clinic can only provide 5000 
baht toward surgical expenses, leaving 15,000 still to be found by the 
victim and their families. They are seeking to develop a special fund to 
cover more of the cost for mine victims.[49]




___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				



Shan Herald Agency for News: Shans calls for refugee camps in Thailand 



September 17, 2001


Amid warnings by some Thai government agencies to send back Karen and  
Karenni refugees to Burma as early as possible, Shans in Thailand have  
decided to campaign for the establishment of havens for hundreds of  
thousands of their countrymen who have fled from Burma.

Some 50 representatives from Shan organizations and individuals that  
participated in the two-day seminar, 15-16 September, made their 
decision  yesterday.

"The Burmese don't want us and are doing all they can to ruin our 
lives,"  said a participant from eastern Shan State. "We had to work for 
them when  we should have been working in our rice-fields. They then 
demanded we sold  them our produce at K. 300 per basket when the price 
was K. 1,200 at the  market. They confiscated our land at will for 
themselves or to sell them to  Wa and Chinese. What could we do except 
flee?"

He claimed that a few years ago, eastern Shan State, roughly one-third 
of  the whole area of Shan State (160,000 square kilometers), had a 
population  of 2.5 million. "Now they say there's only 1.9 million. So 
where has the  good part of the 600,000 absentees gone if not to 
Thailand," he asked. 
According to Shan Human Rights Foundation's report, Dispossessed, 
300,000  people from southern Shan State were forcibly relocated in 
1996-98 a third  of which had escaped into Thailand. No statistics have 
been kept since, but  estimates run as high as 200,000 more coming in 
1998-2001. 
Of which a mere 8,241 are being taken care by the Shan humanitarian  
organizations:

Maehongson 4,437
Chiangrai 898
Chiangmai 2,906

The elected 7-person Campaign Committee for Shan Refugees was led by 
Shans  born in Thailand: Thanu Wittayakarnyuthakul (Chairperson) from 
Maehongson;  Bawdin Kinawong (Vice Chairperson) from Chaingrai and 
Prasert Pradit  (General Secretary) from Maehongson.

"We'll try to get at least 'temporary shelters' for them," Thanu a.k.a 
Ood  vowed.

Only Karens and Karenni were permitted by the Thai government to set up  
refugee camps. The majority of Shans, known as invisible refugees who 
are  ethno-liguistic cousins of Thais, in the meanwhile, have been 
designated  illegal immigrants.

One participant however expressed disappointment with the absence of 
some  prominent members of the Shan community who are against setting up 
camps.  "I think they should have been invited", he confided to 
S.H.A.N.; "Those  people don't have any better alternative to offer 
anyway and anything they  said would easily have been voted down."





___________________________________________________




Myanmar Times: We?re best friends, says Thai Deputy PM

Sept.. 10-16, 2001

DEPUTY Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh has described Myanmar as 
Thailand?s best friend after security talks last week with Lt-Gen Khin 
Nyunt, who represented the government. Gen Chavalit gave a dinner party 
for the Secretary-1 and his high level delegation on board the Oriental 
Queen, confirming that ties continue to become stronger between the two 
nations linked together by geography, history, religion and culture. The 
defence minister said the function on the boat was reminiscent of a 
similar gathering a decade ago. "We went so far to search for a good 
friend. In fact, a very good friend is near," Gen Chavalit said. "I 
would like to repeat what I said 10 years ago that our best friend is 
our neighbour. I have proven this," he told the Thai press. "We could 
reach agreement on 10 issues in only about an hour, since we are 
friends." In return Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt said Myanmar would be Thailand?s 
best friend in every aspect.  "Coming  to  Thailand  this  time,  I feel 
so good because of the warm   
 
welcome from Gen Chavalit. I respect him as my big brother since he is 
70," he was reported by The Nation. The Thai press said the atmosphere 
during the party was lively with the Myanmar delegation and some cabinet 
members going on stage to sing a traditional Songkran festival song.  



___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________




Free Burma Coalition: Free Burma Activism in the Midst of US 
Catastrophe--Cautionary Note


September 17, 2001

As some of you have already been informed, the planned Fifth Annual 
Working Conference of the Free Burma Coalition has been cancelled, in 
light of the current crisis in the United States, our home base. 

As Burmese dissidents in-exile, who hold refugee and asylee status and 
use the US as our temporary home, many of us feel that this is not the 
time to be promoting our non-American cause blindly, in the midst of all 
that has been going on since September 11 attacks in New York and 
Washington, DC. 

We appreciate the unwavering support our American and other 
international friends of Burmese democracy -- in that context, FBC's 
work, most specifically the conference organizing.  Some American 
colleagues feel  strongly that we needed to show to the terrorists that 
Americans are strong, united, and determined to conduct their lives as 
"business as usual."    While that spirit is admirable, most of the 
Burmese dissidents we have communicated have expressed serious 
reservations about getting on with our business of promoting the Burma 
cause in the United States at this moment, specifically holding a major 
Burma conference in the nation's capital.   
This unprecedented catastrophe in the US  is consuming most Americans, 
who are rooting for an all-out-war against the unknown terrorist enemy, 
thereby leaving little or no energy to pursue any extraneous businesses 
including support for a non-violent human rights struggle in a remote 
country with little or no political, economic, and strategic value to 
the United States and its way of life. 

Our coalition urge all FBCers and Free Burma supporters, Burmese natives 
and our international friends alike, to be sensitive to the trauma, 
pressing priorities, and the pro-violence/war sentiment of the 
"mainstream" American people by not promoting Burmese democracy issues 
in a way that will be offensive to the host communities in the United 
States.  For it would be un-strategic, unwise, and insensitive. 

While we may -- and do -- live in interconnected world and belong to 
"one world," not every issue on the face of the earth is dear and near 
to our American supporters, current and potential.   Certainly, not at 
this time of raw emotions in favor of military retaliations and 
anti-Arabs, people of Islamic faith and by extension, people of visibly 
foreign, non-European ancestries.  Seen against this backdrop, the Free 
Burma activism in the United States driven by blind passion for Burmese 
democracy, however well-intentioning and well-meaning, is the last thing 
our larger Burmese struggle needs. 

Let us conduct ourselves and carry out our activism in a manner that is 
both sensitive and strategic. 

Thank you.

Free Burma Coalition



______________________OTHER______________________





Karen Human Rights Group: New KHRG Photo Set now available online

September 18, 2001
 
KHRG has now made its latest photo set (KHRG Photo Set 2001-A) available 
online at www.khrg.org .  The set presents over 400 photos documenting 
the human rights situation and the struggle of villagers throughout 
Karen regions over the past year, covering hundreds of abuses which the 
SPDC army and authorities have committed against the people of Burma 
while the international community has been applauding them for talking 
to Aung San Suu Kyi and releasing a few NLD leaders.  Many of the photos 
also show that there has been no end to forced labour as claimed by the 
regime.  The set contains sections on  Forced Labour; Forced Relocations 
& Restrictions; Attacks on Villages & Village Destruction; Detention & 
Torture; Shootings & Killings; Flight & Displacement; Landmines; 
Soldiers; and a special section on Children. 







________________


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