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Reuters, 16 March
2000
Thais, UNHCR
discuss Myanmar refugee repatriation
BANGKOK, March 16 (Reuters) - Thailand and
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday they would
continue to offer protection to refugees from military-ruled Myanmar
but would assist their repatration once they wanted to go
back.
"We still have more than 100,000 displaced persons from Burma," Assistant High Commissioner Soren Jessen-Petersen told reporters after talks in Bangkok with Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra. "We both agreed that where there's a need, to give them temporary shelter and protection and we are grateful to the Thai authorities. We also want to help these people to go back, and that's what we discussed in Myanmar." He said authorities in Myanmar had made clear in meetings earlier this week they would like to see a UNHCR role once the refugees were repatriated. Petersen said UNHCR had been working with the Yangon government on the repatriation of more than 250,000 people who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in the early 1990s. "We have suggested that we can also play a helpful role in bringing those displaced persons who are in Thailand who want to go back, who can go back in safety." He had discussed in Thailand a comprehensive plan "that both talks about temporary protection, but also about solutions." He said no timeframe had been discussed for any repatriation. Most of the refugees from Myanmar are from the Karen ethnic minority, whose insurgent army has fought the Myanmar central government for decades. Many have been in Thailand since 1984. Thailand's National Security Council has urged the UNHCR to look into repatriating the refugees, arguing that civil war in Myanmar has died down in recent years. However, non-governmental groups argue that the refugees would still be at risk from the Myanmar military, which is blamed for widespread human rights abuses. "We all want to see displaced persons returning when conditions are in place," Petersen said. "It is now a matter for these conditions to be put in place and these conditions are safe return." Sukhumbhand said he was pleased Myanmar had reiterated its wish to take back the refugees and said he hoped there would be no new influx during the current dry season, when fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic guerrillas usually picks up. AP, 16 March
2000
Myanmar Interested In UN Help To
Repatriate Refugees
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)--Myanmar is interested in
having the U.N.'s refugee agency help with the repatriation from Thailand of
upwards of 100,000 of its citizens, but neither Myanmar's military government
nor the U.N. agency thinks the time is yet right for such a move, a top U.N.
official said Thursday.
Soren Jessen-Petersen, assistant U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, spoke after a visit earlier this week to Myanmar where he met with Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the ruling military council, and the country's foreign and immigration ministers. Jessen-Petersen described as a success a UNHCR
operation over the past five years that repatriated more than 230,000 people to
Myanmar's northern Rakhine state from Bangladesh. He said that UNHCR planned to
end its direct involvement with the $40 million Rakhine resettlement at the end
of this year, turning over development projects for the returnees to other U.N.
agencies.
Jessen-Petersen said his talks with Myanmar
officials also covered the possible repatriation of more than 100,000 refugees
from eastern Myanmar now in camps in Thailand. Most belong to ethnic minorities
which are at odds with the central government, and many fled combat between
guerrillas and government troops.
He said the government of Myanmar recognized the
useful role UNHCR played in Rakhine state, and said the UNHCR could play the
same helpful role on the eastern border with Thailand.
Describing the situation facing UNHCR with the
refugees from Myanmar as difficult, he said he discussed "the importance of
establishing necessary conditions for their safe return to Burma (as Myanmar was
formerly known) - and I insist on a return in safety."
For their part, Myanmar officials said they would
cooperate at the right moment.
"I don't think there are any indications that this
may be the right moment, that the security situation is such that they could go
back at this stage. I know that it is extremely important that you go work on
making those conditions, creating those conditions."
He said the UNHCR had recently met with aid donor
countries to discuss the nature of those conditions.
Only when those conditions are in place can talks
about repatriation begin, he said.
Creating conditions of safety and dignity for the
refugees' return "requires initiatives, efforts, negotiations of a political
nature that go far beyond UNHCR," he said.
"It will take time. It will require a political
solution, a political dialogue and then the UNHCR will come in at the right
moment."
Asia gate way, 16 March
2000
Myanmar Says
Pyongyang Must Apologize for 1983 Yangon Bombing
by Lee Chul-hui Myanmar Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs U Khin Maung Win announced Thursday that Myanmar can resume diplomatic ties with North Korea only when it acknowledges its responsibility for the 1983 terrorist bombing in Yangon. Deputy Minister Win met with visiting Korean reporters assigned to the nation£§s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade and said, £¢North Korea is hoping for improved relations with Myanmar, but we can never forget the terrorist bombing incident.£¢ His statement suggests that North Korea£§s official apology for the Yangon (formerly Rangoon) bombing by its agents in an attempt to assassinate former President Chun Doo Hwan is the prerequisite for improving bilateral relationship. Myanmar established formal ties with North Korea 1975, but severed the relationship after the bombing incident, which killed 17 South Korean officials. CNN, 17 March
2000
Britian, Denmark want more EU sanctions on Myanmar BRUSSELS, Belgium, (Reuters) - Britain and Denmark will urge their European Union partners next week to toughen sanctions on Myanmar because of its poor human rights record, EU sources said on Thursday. They said the two countries would make the proposal when EU foreign ministers carry out a regular six-month review of the sanctions next Monday, although it was not clear whether they would be supported by other EU member states. The sources said Britain and Denmark would propose banning equipment which could be used for repression, publishing the names of Myanmar leaders barred from receiving visas to EU countries and freezing the assets of those on the list. "The belief is that the (human rights) situation is deteriorating," an EU diplomat said. But he added: "The initial reaction of one or two member states has been to ask is the situation really so bad?" The EU imposed sanctions on Myanmar over its treatment of the pro-democracy opposition led by Nobel peace laureate Aung Sun Suu Kyi. Her party won an election in 1990 but the military ignored the result and detained many of its members. EU foreign ministers extended the sanctions for another six months at the last review in October and are expected to extend them again on Monday. The Union wants an improvement in human rights and democracy in Myanmar before its lifts the sanctions. CNN, 17 March 2000 UNHCR: Myanmar likely to seek U.N. refugee help BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) -- A senior U.N. official said Thursday military-ruled Myanmar had said it would seek the assistance of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in any future repatriation of Myanmar refugees from Thailand. Assistant High Commissioner Soren Jessen-Petersen told a Bangkok news conference after talks in Yangon that eventual repatriation of more than 100,000 refugees from Thailand would depend on dialogue between the government and ethnic guerrillas and the ability to guarantee a "safe and dignified" return. Most of the refugees in camps on the Thai-Myanmar border belong to the Karen ethnic minority. A recent change in the leadership of the Karen National Union guerrillas has raised some expectations that the group may eventually agree to end a 50-year insurgency against Yangon. Petersen said diplomats he had spoken to in Yangon believed a dialogue was under way between the KNU and the Yangon government and UNHCR had to make sure it was ready to assist a repatriation should it eventually become possible. "I don't think there are any indications that this might be the right moment and that the security situation is such that they can go back at this stage," he said. "But it is extremely important that you work on creating those conditions. "An international presence can be a very important confidence building measure, but I'm not suggesting it might lead to a return right away," he said. "It will require political solutions, political dialogues and UNHCR coming in at the right time to play our part." He said the Myanmar generals had told him they would seek UNHCR support when they decided the time was appropriate. "I can only guess that is linked to factors beyond UNHCR's control -- that is political factors." Petersen said UNHCR had set a Dec. 31 target date for winding up its involvement in the repatriation of Muslim refugees who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in the early 1990s. He said 230,000 of these 250,000 had already returned and another 7,000 had expressed a desire to. However, he admitted there had been problems for returnees that could also face any Karen repatriation. "There are still serious difficulties linked to issues of forced labor, or forced contributions and reallocation of land and also issues of citizenship and freedom of movement. "We are seeing some improvement, but the situation certainly requires constant and continuous monitoring." Petersen said he and Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra had discussed a "comprehensive plan" for Myanmar refugees but agreed on the need to continue to provide them with temporary shelter and protection. Many of the Myanmar refugees in Thailand have been in the country since 1984. They and more recent arrivals have reported a long catalog of serious rights abuses by the Myanmar military, including murder, rape, torture, forced labor and eviction. Thailand's National Security Council, angered by two high-profile incidents in the past six months in which opponents of the Yangon government took hostages in Thailand, has urged the UNHCR to speed Myanmar refugee repatriation. Sukhumbhand told reporters he was pleased Myanmar had reiterated its wish to take back refugees and said he hoped there would be no new influx in the current dry season, when fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic guerrillas usually picks up. Reuters, 17 March
2000
Crowds Celebrate
St Patrick's Day, a Few Protest
By Tony Roddam DUBLIN (Reuters) - Half a million people gathered
for Ireland's St Patrick's Day parade on Friday while a few dozen chose to
protest against a controversial British nuclear reprocessing plant just across
the Irish Sea.
As crowds of revelers braved chilly weather in
central Dublin for the traditional parade, around 30 people assembled outside
the British Embassy in the south of the city to highlight concern at radioactive
discharges.
``We believe Sellafield (plant) is the greatest
environmental threat to Ireland. This is a friendly message to (British Prime
Minister) Tony Blair that people on both sides of the Irish Sea have had enough
of contamination,'' Nuala Ahern, Green MEP for Leinster, told
Reuters.
Demonstrators held placards bearing the face of
Homer Simpson -- the hapless cartoon hero who works at a nuclear plant -- and
the logo ``Not dumb enough to run Sellafield.''
There is mounting concern about safety at
Sellafield after a report from Britain's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate
criticised British Nuclear Fuels Ltd for management lapses that allowed staff to
falsify quality-control measures.
St Patrick's Day celebrates Ireland's patron saint,
who is associated with introducing Christianity here in the 5th century. He is
also credited with driving snakes out of Ireland.
But the holiday, now a celebration of all things
Irish that attracts thousands of foreign visitors to Dublin every year,
increasingly is becoming the focus for protest action.
Internet Protests
On Thursday, an Internet group devoted to helping
people trace their Irish roots took advantage of public interest in the festival
to launch a campaign to bombard the Department of Health and Tourism with
e-mails.
The e-discussion group, Soc.Genealogy Ireland,
wants officials to improve facilities for genealogical research, a key
attraction for the 40 million Americans who claim Irish descent.
U.S. citizens were expected to make up a large part
of the tens of thousands of visitors who flew into Dublin this
weekend.
``I came to meet up with some people and this is
part of it. My mother's family comes from Ireland. I'm really looking forward to
this,'' said Joseph Haller, an information technology specialist from Rhode
Island.
Some 3,000 Americans were to perform in Friday's
parade, which was to include 22 marching bands, a girls' high school band from
Hiroshima and street theater performers from Barcelona.
The festivities will also be broadcast through 350
public television stations in the United States.
The celebrations, which will also see stars of
screen and stage flock to Dublin, included street parties, a mammoth parade
through the city center and the SkyFest 2000 fireworks display over Dublin's
historic Custom House on Sunday evening.
Hollywood siren Sharon Stone was expected to party
in Dublin this weekend while British television personality Chris Evans was to
host his TFI Friday program from the Irish capital.
Among other events, Irish rock band U2 and Myanmar
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi were to be given the honorary freedom of the
city. Suu Kyi's son Kim Aris was expected to attend the ceremony on behalf of
the Nobel prize-winning dissident.
In a mark of improving relations with British-ruled
Northern Ireland, some 200 people from largely-Protestant east Belfast joined a
St Patrick's Day parade in Sligo on the west coast.
The festival is often regarded as an Irish
nationalist, Roman Catholic and republican celebration.
AFP, 17 March
2000
Myanmar slams US reports of
abusive labor
YANGON, March 17 (AFP) -
Myanmar on Friday castigated the United States over a government report accusing it of using forced labour with impunity and exploiting drafted child soldiers in combat zones. A foreign ministry commentary published in the
official press, headlined "Allegations too absurd and ridiculous to dignify them
with response," mounted a detailed assault on the report.
The US Department of Labor assessment issued Monday
said "forced labor, including child labor and forced relocation are still
widespread."
But the junta characterised allegations that forced
labor was used to support tourism and the military in Myanmar as "false and
malicious."
"The fact is that these allegations are totally
false," said the statement.
The Yangon government also rejected out of hand
reports cited in the Labor Department update of a 1998 report on Myanmar that
children had been drafted as soldiers and used as human minesweepers and
shields.
"The allegation that children are used as human
minesweepers and shields is too absurd and ridiculous to dignify them with a
response," it said.
"The Myanmar Army is a very well disciplined and
structured institution and there also exist strict regulations which prohibit
the recruitment of minor children as soldiers."
The commentary denied allegations that forced
labour was used in military operations, highlighting the ceasefire deals signed
with most of the country's myriad ethnic insurgent groups.
"Peace and stability prevail all over the country.
As such there is no need for major military opeations."
Military activity has been reported in recent
months around the Myanmar border with Thailand where fighting with ethnic Karen
guerrilla groups flares sporadically.
A string of recent reports by human rights groups
has documented allegations that the army uses forced labour for portering and
tortures dissidents.
The International Labour Organization voted last
June to de facto expel Myanmar from its ranks, charging it with pervasive use of
forced labour.
A resolution at the time said that "the attitude
and behaviour of the government of Myanmar are grossly incompatible with the
conditions and principles governing membership of the
organization."
Myanmar often characterises complaints at its labor
and human rights record as interference in its internal affairs.
The military has been in control of Myanmar for
decades. The junta has refused to accept the landslide opposition election win
in 1990.
Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) suffers harrassment from the authorities and the movements of
the Nobel prize winner are severely restricted.
Bnagkok Post, 17 March
2000
Burma holding
out against UNHCR role
Junta alone will say when is right time Saritdet Marukatat
Rangoon is holding out against the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees playing a role in the planned repatriation of
Burmese refugees from Thailand for the time being.
Soren Jessen Petersen, assistant high commissioner
for refugees, said the Burmese government accepted that the UN agency had a role
to play but has made it clear that it would be the one to decide "the right
time".
Mr Petersen was commenting after a series of
meetings with Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra, National Security
Council chief Kachadpai Burusphat and Supreme Commander Gen Mongkol
Ampornpisit.
Mr Petersen had broached the subject with Burmese
authorities in Rangoon on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"They clearly want to see a role for UNHCR and we
will discuss this later on when and how we can play that role," Mr Petersen said
after talks with M.R. Sukhumbhand.
Mr Petersen later emphasised the UNHCR's insistence
on refugees returning in safety and dignity. This includes an assurance that
they would not be repatriated to areas of active conflict and that the UNHCR
would have a presence in the places where they would be returned.
M.R. Sukhumbhand earlier said the presence of the
UNHCR on the Burmese side of the border was crucial in ensuring the safety of
refugees.
"Unless and until there is a neutral presence in
Burma to build up confidence among displaced persons, it is unlikely that many
displaced persons would volunteer to go back," M.R. Sukhumbhand
said.
The UNHCR has field offices in Mae Hong Son, Tak
and Kanchanaburi provinces but none in adjacent Burmese areas.
Before the repatriation of some 100,000 Burmese now
camped on the border, Thailand needs to enter into a tripartite discussion with
Burma and the UNHCR, M.R. Sukhumbhand said.
Before this stage could be reached "several
concrete steps" had to be taken, he said.
But one step forward had already been achieved with
the Burmese government's agreement with Thailand to the principle of taking back
the refugees, he said.
Though the process might take time, M.R.
Sukhumbhand expressed confidence that the repatriation could be completed soon
after the tripartite discussion sets the terms for it.
BBC, 17 March,
2000, 10:54 GMT
Burma denies forced
labour charges
The Burmese military government has angrily denied an American report which says forced labour is widely used in Burmese tourism and in business ventures run by the military. A Foreign Ministry statement described the report as false and malicious, and said the army was well-disciplined with strict regulations against the recruitment of children or forced labour. The ministry said the report, which was released on Monday by the United States Labour Department, appeared timed to embarrass Burma before meetings of the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The continuing use of forced labor and the oppression of ethnic minorities in Burma were also raised in a report this week by the UN special investigator, Rajsoomer Lallah. |