Burma Related News - June 10, 2000.

WIRE:06/10/2000 01:10:00 ET
Tremor jolts Myanmar capital

YANGON, June 10 (Reuters) - A tremor measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale shook Myanmar's capital Yangon early on Saturday and was felt by many city dwellers but caused no damage, witnesses and state radio reported.
"A feeble earthquake with an intensity of 2.8 on the Richter scale was recorded at 1.13 a.m. (1813 GMT Friday) this morning," state-owned radio said.

Buildings swayed slightly. The latest tremor was the fourth to hit Myanmar this week.

An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale shook Myanmar's northern Kachin state bordering China and India early on Thursday.

There were no reports of casualties from the remote area.

Saturday, June 10 4:52 AM SGT

Singapore's Goh "reassured" after EU talks
BRUSSELS, June 9 (AFP) -

Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said Friday he was reassured that Asia still matters to Europeans, following talks with EU Commission President Romano Prodi.

"I was a little concerned that with so many preoccupations and challenges, Europe may have less time for Asia," said Goh after a two-hour meeting and lunch with the head of the European Union's executive branch.

"But I am reassured that Asia remains important to Europe and to the European Commission," he told reporters.

With the 15-nation European Union gearing up to add a potential dozen new member states and turmoil still brewing in the Balkans, many observers had suspected that Asia was slowly slipping down Brussels' agenda.

Prodi described his talks with Goh as "fruitful and friendly," and portrayed Singapore -- the EU's biggest trading partner in Southeast Asia -- as an important bridge between east and west.

Senior officials from the European Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to meet in Portugal later this month, ahead of an EU-ASEAN foreign ministers' conference in autumn.

Ministerial contacts faltered last year over the role of Myanmar (Burma) and its military government in an EU-ASEAN dialogue.

Prodi and Goh said they looked forward to a third EU-Asia summit to be held in Seoul in October.

Goh added that he "impressed upon Mr Prodi that the European Commission should show confidence in Indonesia," where civil strife has aroused concern among EU foreign policy makers.

He suggested that Prodi or one of his commissioners travel to Jakarta "to give a signal to investors that confidence remains" in Indonesia.

Other topics covered by Prodi and Goh included trade, information technology, education and human resources development, said a statement from Prodi's office.

In Munich on Thursday, where he spoke before the Herbert Quandt Foundation, Goh called for more contacts between Europe and Asia, particularly as Asia recovers from its late-1990s economic crisis.

"We have been a part of each other's history," the prime minister said. "With globalization, we should be a part of each other's future."

Goh, accompanied by Foreign Minister Shunmugam Jayakumar, was to meet later Friday with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. On Saturday he goes to London to continue an 11-day European tour that began Monday in Ireland.

Saturday, June 10 6:21 PM SGT

ILO Votes To Take Action Against Myanmar, But Not Yet

GENEVA (AP)--The United Nations labor agency has agreed to take unprecedented action against Myanmar over the widespread use of forced labor, but gave the Asian nation a little more time to prove it was really trying to change.
In a late-night vote Friday, an International Labor Organization committee adopted by 33 votes to 4 a resolution invoking a special article in the ILO rules allowing action to be taken against Myanmar, also known as Burma.

It was the first time the article had ever been used. The governments of Japan, China, Malaysia and India voted against.

In a compromise move, the committee decided to put off action under the resolution until the ILO governing body meets in November to review whether the Myanmar government is making serious efforts to stamp out forced labor.

The resolution recommends that ILO members - governments, workers and employers - should "review their links with Myanmar and take appropriate measures to ensure (Myanmar) cannot take advantage of such relations to perpetuate or extend the system of forced or compulsory labor."

It also refers the issue to a high-level U.N. committee and agrees that the issue will be discussed in special sessions at every future ILO conference until Myanmar is shown to have stopped using forced labor. The ILO does not have a mechanism to expel a member.

"This will create a permanent tribunal in the ILO which will very publicly and for a long time to come review the situation and file reports and maintain public pressure," said ILO spokesman Michel Barton.

The decision still has to be approved by the International Labor Conference next week and is likely to face strong opposition from Asian governments who think Myanmar should be given more time.

Last year the ILO barred Myanmar from receiving assistance after a commission reported on the widespread use of forced labor for infrastructure projects in the country. Myanmar claimed that the work was offered freely for the development of the nation.

In a move to stave off further action, the Myanmar labor minister last week sent a letter to the body with its strongest promise to wipe out forced labor.

"Myanmar would take into consideration appropriate measures, including administrative, executive and legislative measures, to ensure the prevention of such occurrences in the future," said Maj. Gen. Tin Ngwe in his letter to ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.

A report on last month's ILO mission to Myanmar showed government officials were more open and cooperative than in the past - although noncommittal about action to stop forced labor and generally sticking to the official line that the problem didn't exist.

Malaysian National News Agency

WORLD NEWS
June 10 , 2000 10:48AM

ILO TO VOTE ON MYANMAR FORCED LABOR ISSUE

GENEVA, June 10 (Oana-Kyodo-Bernama) -- Ignoring an appeal from the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, the International Labor Organization (ILO) decided Friday to go ahead with a vote aimed at forcing Myanmar to outlaw forced labor at the pain of international sanctions.

The 56-member selection committee of the International Labor Conference approved the procedure by an overwhelming majority.

The decision means that delegates to the annual ILO session will vote on the so-called "Article 33" measure next week.

The committee acted just days after the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia submitted a draft resolution urging the ILO to put off the vote at the plenary session, arguing that Myanmar's ruling military junta has promised to take steps to address the forced labor issue.

The draft resolution approved by the committee on Friday put a timetable on Myanmar's remedial measures. It demanded that the junta take legislative and other steps to eliminate forced labor by November this year or face international sanctions.

A Myanmar envoy who took part in Friday's deliberations condemned the move as "totally unacceptable" and accused the panel of trying to "assume the role of the United Nations Security Council."

Of the 40 members of the committee who took part in Friday's vote, only the government representatives from Japan, China, Malaysia and India voted against putting the draft resolution on the agenda of the ILO session.

There were 33 affirmative votes and three abstentions.

In a unique setup, ILO member nations are represented by three delegates -- one each from the government, employers and workers.

None of the employer and worker representatives voted against the draft resolution Friday.

An ILO commission of inquiry has determined that Myanmar's military regime has condoned the use of forced labor in public works, triggering a decision by the ILO to invoke Article 33 of the ILO Charter for the first time in the organization's history in order to force Myanmar to stop the practice.

If the draft resolution is approved by the plenary ILO session, Myanmar is likely to face sanctions from the United Nations and other international organizations.

The issue of forced labor in Myanmar has pitted the United States and Britain against Japan and other Asian countries.

While the U.S. and Britain have sought compulsory measures against Myanmar, Japan and other Asian countries have urged the ILO to resolve the dispute through dialogue with the military junta.

-- Oana-Kyodo-Bernama

Bangkok Post - June 10, 2000.
Inbrief

Wrong target

The army has never accused Burma of producing narcotics as alleged by a junta newspaper, according to Gen Surayud Chulanont.

Gen Surayud said the army had never mentioned Burma as a drug or methamphetamine producer but had said drugs were being smuggled into Thailand from neighbouring countries.

"Do not force me to have a fight with Burma," said Gen Surayud, responding to a commentary in which the New Light of Myanmar pointed the finger at authorities and respected figures in the Thai establishment.

Colonel appeals

Mae Sot, Tak-A colonel has asked the Appeals Court to order the Interior Ministry and governor of Tak to pay him 370 million baht in compensation for damage to his forest plantation caused by a refugee camp construction.

Col Pornlert Voraseeha has appealed against the Civil Court's decision to award him 1.25 million baht, Tak deputy governor Veeradet Surasit said.

The problem occurred when authorities built Mae La camp on 1,500 rai of the reserve in 1995, including 360 rai of 600 rai Col Pornlert had leased to grow teak.

WIRE:06/09/2000 08:13:00 ET
ILO set to compromise on Myanmar's forced labour

GENEVA, June 9 (Reuters) - Myanmar, accused of forced labour akin to slavery, looks set to escape sanction at the annual U.N. labour meeting despite a U.S.-European Union drive to punish the ruling junta, diplomats said on Friday.
The United States, Britain and Portugal backed trade unions in demanding that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) talks call for Yangon to be isolated until it ends the practice.

But Asian powers including Japan, China and Malaysia closed ranks with their neighbour and are likely to force a compromise which would delay action until November, according to diplomats.

"It looks like Myanmar is slipping the noose and we are moving toward some compromise," said one envoy.

U.S. Undersecretary of Labour Andrew Samet took the floor at a heated session on Thursday night against the background of a wider debate on linking global trade and labour standards.

He urged the ILO forum to call on states and international organisations to review their ties with Myanmar to ensure they were not abetting forced labour, according to diplomats.

Such an unprecedented call by the ILO, which itself has no power to impose sanctions, could be a green light for financial organisations like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to apply economic sanctions, diplomats say.

800,000 BURMESE SAID TO BE SLAVES

The ILO committee, made up of 28 government delegations as well as workers' and employers' groups, resumes debate on Myanmar on Friday night. It will issue recommendations on Monday which the full conference is expected to endorse on June 15.

"The committee is working on a compromise text," a diplomat told Reuters. "It appears that the workers are on board for the compromise, but they want a very tight definition of how to measure Myanmar's progress on legislation to end the practice and its efforts to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators."

Under the proposal, the ILO conference would call on the ILO's Governing Body, composed of 28 key governments, to review Myanmar's compliance next November, according to diplomats.

A year ago, ILO member states barred Myanmar from the Geneva-based agency after a 1998 ILO commission of inquiry found the country violated a global treaty banning forced labour.

Trade unions have estimated that more than 800,000 Burmese are conscripted with little or no pay as army porters or workers in construction and agriculture in slave-like conditions.

Myanmar hastily invited an ILO mission last month in what trade unions saw as a bid to stave off further condemnation.

Labour Minister Major-General Tin Ngwe told the ILO experts that the need for porters for military operations had been greatest before a 1990 insurgency, according to their report. A May 1999 order had amended legislation to halt forced labour and no complaints had been received since, the minister said.

Tin later wrote in a letter to ILO Director-General Juan Somavia that Myanmar was "taking the necessary measures" to ensure that forced labour was halted.

But Samet dismissed the minister's letter as a "soft version of previous denials," according to diplomats.

Portugal, current president of the European Union, said in the debate that Myanmar did not appear to have taken any signficant measures to combat the abuses.

Britain's delegation said that the military government was in "continued contempt" of the ILO. If the talks took unprecedented action, it would set a good precedent, it added.

Inside China
Myanmar Looks to China as Role Model for Opening up

BEIJING, Jun 9, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) A senior Myanmar military leader told Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji Thursday that Yangon wanted to follow China's lead over reforms and opening up to the outside world, official Chinese news agency Xinhua said.

General Maung Aye, vice chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council and deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said one of the aims of his trip to China was to learn from the Chinese experience, the report said.

TV Myanmar had reported that one of the purposes of the visit was to strengthen military ties, but Xinhua made no mention of plans for military cooperation.

Zhu told Maung Aye during their Beijing meeting that the two countries were economically compatible, as Myanmar was rich in natural resources while China's products and technologies met the Myanmar's needs.

Maung Aye arrived in Beijing on Monday, at the invitation of Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao, for a week-long official visit.

On Tuesday, Maung Aye agreed a framework of cooperation in a number of areas, including trade, tourism and a crackdown on cross-border drug trafficking and smuggling.

The Myanmar general also pledged his government would not develop official links with Taiwan, reaffirming support for the "One China" policy, which recognizes the Communist-ruled mainland as the sole government of China with Taiwan an inalienable part of the country.

The visit was timed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Myanmar.

China, the first country to recognize Myanmar's military regime after it seized power in a bloody coup in September 1988, is the junta's main arms supplier.