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Wednesday, March 1 6:41 PM SGT
Myanmar Trade, Investment Hit By Sanctions - Top GeneralYANGON (AP) --A top Myanmar general has conceded that the country has struggled to promote international trade and attract foreign investment since the military government opened up the economy a decade ago, state-run newspapers reported Wednesday.Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, secretary one of the ruling military council, told a coordination meeting of the Commerce Ministry on Tuesday that the country had been suffering both from 1997 Asia's financial crisis and from economic sanctions imposed by Western nations, the Mirror newspaper reported. "However recovery from economic crisis has led the nations in the region to achieve economic progress in 1999," he was quoted as saying. "It is estimated that Myanmar's gross domestic product grew by 4.6% in 1999." Myanmar military imposed a socialist command economy when it seized power in 1962, but soon after the current regime took control in 1988 it introduced free market reforms. After a minor boom in the early and mid-1990s, the economy has languished. According to a World Bank study late last year, foreign investment approvals slumped 95% in the last fiscal year. In a rare admission of problems facing the feeble economy, Khin Nyunt said that despite the government's efforts to encourage foreign investment and trade since the free market system was adopted, "noticeable achievements have not been made." The World Bank study concluded that the regime's policies rather than the regional economic malaise were to blame for economic stagnation, and urged the military to undertake major political and economic reforms. The regime has refused to hand over power to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party swept general elections held in 1990 but was blocked by the military from taking power. Last month, the U.S. reaffirmed that it would maintain its sanctions - including a ban on new investment in Myanmar introduced in 1997 - unless the military regime improved human rights and moved toward democracy. The Nation, 2 March 2000 Burma condemned for its production of landmines
THE Burmese military government's use and production of landmines was condemned yesterday by democratic representatives who won the country's 1990 general election, but were prevented from taking power. Rangoon should accede to the international treaty banning landmines, according to the Burmese Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP) A press release issued by the Thai Campaign to Ban Landmines (TCBL) said the Burmese 'opposition' group had endorsed the immediate accession by Burma to the international treaty prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. The treaty also calls for the total destruction of all mines within a specific time frame. Landmine use was a severe problem affecting the whole nation that caused death and mutilation even among those who produced and used them, the statement said. "Anti-personnel mines in general cause the unsightly death and mutilation of many defenceless, innocent civilians on a daily basis," the CRPP said. People are reduced to the state of refugees, they are rendered homeless and helpless." The Thai anti-landmines group, which was active in getting Thailand to be part of the Ottawa Convention has stepped up its campaign for international awareness about the problem in neighbouring countries, particularly in Burma, where little progress has been made. "Considered by the United Nations to be a mine-affected country, the increased use of landmines in Burma has escaped world notice due to restrictions on media access to the country and the remote locations in which mines are used within Burma," the campaign group said. The press release - issued on the eve of the treaty coming in to force - quoted a 1999 report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines which said the Burmese military, besides being the world's most recent landmine producer, was the only Asean government involved in major use of landmines. Last year, the International Labour Organisation revealed that Burmese citizens seized by the army for forced labour were sometimes required to walk ahead of troops as human mine-sweepers. The Nation The Nation, 2 March 2000 UN queries fate of missing Karens THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said yesterday it was
concerned about nearly 50 ethnic Karen men, who were reportedly taken into the
jungle by Thai soldiers two weeks ago and have not been heard from since.
A spokesman at the UNHCR's Bangkok office, speaking under customary
condition of anonymity, said the agency had made inquiries to Thai authorities
about the missing group and was waiting for news about what had happened to
them.
Informed Thai Army sources at Thai-Burma border in western Ratchaburi
province confirmed to The Nation that a group of about 60 Karen men were
separated from their fleeing families and detained at the border near Huay Sud
Pass in Baan Ta Ko Lang of Suan Phung district.
The sources said forces of Task Force 29 detained the group to check for
arms and for questioning. The sources said they did not know what happened to
them afterwards.
Karen refugees told The Nation that their male family members were blocked
from entering Thailand and have gone missing since they fled into the Kingdom in
early February. They said they feared the men might have been killed or pushed
back to the battlefield where the Burmese Army was advancing.
The Ninth Infantry Division has strictly banned the media from the border
area in Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi since five Burmese gunmen captured the
Burmese Embassy in Bangkok last October and were given passage to freedom in
exchange for releasing about 80 hostages.
The Associated Press reported the group of men was first reported missing
by refugees sheltering in a temporary camp at Baw Wii, in Ratchaburi province.
Refugees told human rights workers that 48 men had been rounded up and
marched toward the forest on about Feb 15 by soldiers of Task Force 29.
It is believed the missing men were among the 1,400 Karens who had fled
into Thailand followed heavy fighting on the Burmese side of the border between
Burmese troops and Karen fighters, including guerrillas of God's Army, a fringe
rebel group led by 12-year-old twins.
It was not clear whether the men were civilians or combatants.
An officer at Task Force 29, based at Suan Pueng district in Ratchaburi,
said he did not know anything about the missing men. He declined to give his
name.
Thailand, host to more than 100,000 refugees on its long border with Burma,
has said it is willing to provide refuge to unarmed people fleeing the latest
fighting.
Thailand has stepped up security at the border after guerrillas from God's
Army and the allied Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors raided a Ratchaburi
provincial hospital in January. Commandos shot dead all 10 rebels involved in
the raid to release hostages trapped inside the hospital.
Associated Press, The Nation
The Nation, 2 March 2000
Ethnic children bear brunt of border strife
IN the aftermath of the January attack on Ratchaburi Hospital by 10 guerrillas, some of whom belong to the Karen splinter group God's Army, the Thai military has stepped up border security and all ethnic guerrilla troops on Thai soil have been pushed back into Burma. The remnants of the guerrillas' enforced retreat are, unfortunately, a number of ethnic children. Their parents have not taken them along when they moved back to Burma. In Ratchaburi's Suan Phung district, the children have been left at schools run by the Border Patrol Police. Fourteen helpless children have taken refuge at Ban Thahin School. Their teachers had no choice but to give them shelter and food. At the nearby Tako Pidthong School, 41 ethnic children have been plunged into the same situation. Assoc Prof Dr Thongkhoon Hongphan, a deputy permanent secretary to the Education Ministry, has appealed for help from the private sector, since the ministry's budget to support these children is falling way short. Thongkhoon said he recently visited the two schools, where the teachers are actually full-time border police, but who are now tending to a number of ethnic children, aged between seven and 13, who have been practically orphaned and displaced by the situation along the border. The teachers are low-income border rangers, said Thongkhoon. Now, they have to support the children in their care. His ministry has tried to provide the schools with financial assistance, but the ministry itself was having difficulty catering to five million Thai children in rural schools where poverty-stricken families cannot afford even to provide their lunch. Displaced ethnic children are not a phenomenon known to these schools alone, Thongkhoon said. They are present in almost every border province. In Ratchaburi alone, the population of displaced ethnic children is about 1,000. The Thai government, of course, still has to shoulder all their living expenses. So far, Thongkhoon said, he has sought the cooperation of Rajabhat institutes in border provinces to mobilise assistance, in terms of basic necessity for the 55 children at the two schools. However, he believed government institutions alone cannot cope with the increasing number of displaced ethnic children along the border. For this reason, he appealed for financial support from the private sector, individuals and organisations alike. Thongkhoon added that his ministry, in fact, has a policy to provide non-discriminatory education service to children of all backgrounds. Children of all racial identities on Thai soil are entitled to receive the Education Ministry's services, as the ministry aims to serve the world community, not only Thailand. BY KAMOLTHIP BAI-NGERN The Nation The Nation, 2 March 2000 Security alert in Mae Hong Son
SECURITY was stepped up in the border province of Mae Hong Son yesterday following a warning from the leader of Burmese refugees living in a refugee camp there. Saowarat Yimrungrung, district chief of Mae Sa Reang, said he was informed by the leader of Ban Tasala-Mae Kongka refugee camp, named Peter, that there is great unrest among the Burmese living there. Saowarat quoted Peter, 41, as saying that the present situation was uncontrollable and that he could not guarantee that his men would not break the law. A number of Burmese asylum-seekers and students had slipped out of the camp recently and caused disturbances to Thai villagers along the Burma border. Saowarat said he did not want to take any chances this time and had requested security reinforcement for the camp and public offices in the district. He added that security officials were preparing to search the camp for smuggled arms and other prohibited items. Earlier, he said, a group of Burmese students had been arrested near the camp for possession of explosive substances, suspected to be for use in acts of sabotage. Ban Tasala-Mae Kongka refugee camp is a home to more than 10,000 Karens seeking refuge from bloody fighting inside Burma. Saowarat said the refugees had caused a lot of problems for Thailand and Thai people, and should be sent back home as soon as the fighting in Burma ended. Their repatriation would also help reduce the destruction of the Salaween forest, he said. "We have already informed international non-governmental organisations supporting the Burmese asylum-seekers and students about the problems. We will give these people a chance to return to the camp, but if they remain recalcitrant, the authorities will not hesitate to take firm measures," Saowarat said. The Nation BBC, Wednesday, 1 March, 2000, 13:41 GMT Thai police evict illegal Burmese
workers The authorities in Thailand have launched another campaign
to oust illegal migrants from Burma who've been working in border areas
including the town of Mae Sot. About three-hundred workers have been forced back across the border, although some have been detained. Police say the action followed raids on three garment factories in the area. Three Thai factory supervisors have been charged and released on bail. It's the latest in a series of operations recently against illegal Burmese workers. Correspondents say there've been reports of big increases in the number of illegal workers employed in Thailand's fishing and sugar industries, despite the government's assurances that it is serious about solving the problem. |