[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
BurmaNet News: September 18, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: September 18, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 03:23:00
______________ 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.
________________
The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive
coverage of news and opinion on Burma (Myanmar) from around the world.
If you see something on Burma, you can bring it to our attention by
emailing it to strider@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To automatically subscribe to Burma's only free daily newspaper in
English, send an email to:
burmanet-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe to The BurmaNet News in Burmese, send an email to:
burmanetburmese-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You can also contact BurmaNet by fax:
(US) +1(413)604-9008
________________
Burma News Summaries available by email or the web
There are three Burma news digest services available via either email or
the web.
Burma News Update
Frequency: Biweekly
Availability: By fax or the web.
Viewable online at
http://www.burmaproject.org/burmanewsupdate/index.html
Cost: Free
Published by: Open Society Institute, Burma Project
The Burma Courier
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail, fax or post. To subscribe or unsubscribe by email
celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx
Viewable on line at: http://www.egroups.com/group/BurmaCourier
Cost: Free
Note: News sources are cited at the beginning of an article.
Interpretive comments and background
details are often added.
Burma Today
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail
Viewable online at http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma/today.html
To subscribe, write to pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Cost: Free
Published by: PD Burma (The International Network of Political Leaders
Promoting Democracy in Burma)
________________
==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?b1dbSX.b1CGhI
Or send an email To: burmanet-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This email was sent to: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxx
T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================