Burma Related News-June 17, 2000.

[TIN KYI <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Friday June 16 11:05 PM ET
U.S. Anti-Drug Czar to Begin Asian Tour in China
By Paul Eckert

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - The director of American drug policy, Barry McCaffrey, is due in China on Saturday to begin a three-nation Asian tour to survey treatment programs and discuss anti-trafficking cooperation, the U.S. embassy said.

 

In China, which had 680,000 registered drug addicts last year, the U.S. anti-drug czar would meet his counterparts in Beijing and look at drug treatment and prevention programs in Kunming, near China's drug-infested border with Myanmar, it said.

 

McCaffrey -- accompanied by a delegation including Randy Beers, the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and U.S. drug research experts and Coast Guard officials -- would also visit Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand, it said.

 

``Our goal is to establish a closer dialogue and enhance cooperation with these key countries on drug control policy,'' McCaffrey said in a statement.

 

``In our meetings with our counterparts we will discuss drug prevention, treatment and law-enforcement issues, assess common threats and broaden bilateral initiatives,'' he said.

 

China, plagued by opium addiction before 1949, nearly wiped out drug abuse after the Communist revolution that swept Chairman Mao Zedong into power, but narcotics have staged a comeback since the country enacted free market reforms in 1978.

 

China's War On Drugs Alarmed by a rapid rise in drug smuggling, especially crystal methamphetamine -- or ``ice'' -- China's top police drug-buster Yang Fengrui unveiled in March plans to step up China's war on drugs.

 

Yang, National Narcotics Control Commission vice director, told state media that 16 tons of ice was seized last year -- 10 times more than in 1998 -- as well as 5.3 tons of heroin.

 

Much of that came from border regions near the so-called Golden Triangle, the area where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, Yang told a national narcotics conference.

 

Kunming, which McCaffrey will visit on June 20, is the capital of Yunnan. This southwestern province has the country's biggest drug problem and executes some 400 drug dealers each year after public denunciations.

 

China sentenced 4,193 citizens last year for growing opium poppies, whose juice is used to process heroin, Yang said.

 

China had 680,000 registered drug addicts by the end of 1999, a rise of 14.3 percent over the previous year, state media said. Heroin dominated the list, with 490,000 addicts.

 

Of Chinese drug addicts, 80 percent were male and 78 percent were between the ages of 17 and 35, Yang said.

 

Aids Fear As Drugs Spread To East

 

While addicts are largely pooled within Yunnan province, heroin has steadily made inroads into China's wealthy coastal cities, sowing the seeds for a national AIDS epidemic.

 

Down-and-out workers made jobless by failed state-run factories in China's northeastern industrial rustbelt say heroin is cheap and easy to find and many unemployed are squandering their $1.0-a-day living allowances on the drug.

 

Intravenous drug use accounts for more than 70 percent of the half million estimated infections of Chinese by the human immunodeficiency deficiency virus (HIV) -- the virus that causes AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, official data showed.

 

McCaffrey told the United Nations last month the United States still had 5.1 million chronic addicts, spent $57 billion on illegal drugs and registered 52,000 deaths a year from drug abuse.

 

Friday June 16 5:58 PM ET

Britain Urges Tourists to Avoid Myanmar

LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign Office Minister John Battle on Friday urged British tourists to stay away from Myanmar, saying every visitor helped fill the coffers of its military rulers.

Battle, citing what he called Myanmar's ``appalling record'' on human rights and lack of democracy, said tourism was an important source of revenue to a country which Britain has repeatedly sought to isolate.

``Individuals can make a difference too. Burmese (Myanmar) democratic leaders have made clear that they want tourists to stay away from Burma,'' Battle said in a speech at Leeds University.

``We cannot ban individuals from traveling, but every British tourist who goes there should know that they have to exchange US$300 on arrival,'' he said.

``Every one of these dollars will directly support the regime. Anyone even thinking of going to Burma (Myanmar) should be under no illusion as to what is happening there.''

Britain says human rights violations, particularly against ethnic minorities, continues in Myanmar, including forced relocations, killings and forced labor.

Saturday June 17 10:48 AM ET

U.S. Anti-Drug Czar Starts China Visit

By Bill Savadove

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. government drug czar Barry McCaffrey began his first visit to China on Saturday for talks aimed at stemming the ``cancer'' of narcotics.

He said his visit, the first to China by a director of U.S. drug policy, was an historic opportunity to broaden their dialogue on an issue of enormous importance to both countries.

China is a major transshipment point for drugs from Myanmar, which produces more than 100 tons of heroin annually, McCaffrey said.

Although China had nearly eliminated growing of opium poppies, whose juice is used to process heroin, the production of crystal metamphetamine -- or ``ice'' -- and the drug ''Ecstasy'' was a growing problem, he said.

``I think what our purpose during this visit will be to broaden the dialogue to ensure that it includes not just police cooperation but scientific, medical and drug prevention messages,'' McCaffrey said.

Plagued by opium addiction before 1949, China nearly wiped out drug abuse after the Communist revolution, but narcotics have staged a comeback since free market reforms in 1978.

Alarmed by a rapid rise in drug smuggling, China's top police drug-buster Yang Fengrui unveiled plans in March to step up the war on drugs.

Yang, National Narcotics Control Commission vice director, told state media that 16 tons of ice was seized last year -- 10 times more than in 1998 -- as well as 5.3 tons of heroin.

Golden Triangle

Much of that came from border regions near the so-called Golden Triangle, the area where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, Yang told a national narcotics conference.

McCaffrey, who is on a three-nation tour, will survey treatment programs and discuss anti-trafficking cooperation.

He will meet drug officials in Beijing and visit a treatment center in Kunming, a city near the drug-infested border with Myanmar, the U.S. embassy said.

With a delegation including U.S. drug research experts and Coast Guard officials, he will also visit Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, Vietnam and Thailand.

The U.S. delegation would also seek China's viewpoint on neighboring North Korea, McCaffrey said.

There was growing evidence that North Korea produced opium and metamphetamine, which was smuggled to other countries, but it was hard to determine if such activity was state-sponsored, he said.

Kunming, which the U.S. drug czar will visit on June 20, is the capital of Yunnan, an ``embattled frontier province'' and a gateway for heroin from Myanmar, McCaffrey said.

The southwestern province has the country's biggest drug problem and executes some 400 drug dealers each year after public denunciations.

China sentenced 4,193 citizens last year for growing opium poppies, Yang said.

It had 680,000 registered drug addicts by the end of 1999, a rise of 14.3 percent over the previous year, state media said. Heroin dominated the list, with 490,000 addicts.

Eighty percent of Chinese drug addicts were male and 78 percent were between the ages of 17 and 35, Yang said.

Financial Times
Britain urges tourists to avoid Myanmar
17 Jun 2000 00:44GMT
 
LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Foreign Office Minister John Battle on Friday urged British tourists to stay away from Myanmar, saying every visitor helped fill the coffers of its military rulers.
Battle, citing what he called Myanmar's "appalling record" on human rights and lack of democracy, said tourism was an important source of revenue to a country which Britain has repeatedly sought to isolate.
"Individuals can make a difference too. Burmese (Myanmar) democratic leaders have made clear that they want tourists to stay away from Burma," Battle said in a speech at Leeds University.
"We cannot ban individuals from travelling, but every British tourist who goes there should know that they have to exchange US$300 on arrival," he said.
"Every one of these dollars will directly support the regime. Anyone even thinking of going to Burma (Myanmar) should be under no illusion as to what is happening there."
Britain says human rights violations, particularly against ethnic minorities, continues in Myanmar, including forced relocations, killings and forced labour.

 

Bangkok Post - June 17, 2000.

BORDER

Clash fears prompt evacuation exercise

Subin Khenukaew

The Third Army's Pha Muang task force yesterday organised a mass evacuation drill, in which 400 villagers were moved from a disputed border area following a clash with foreign forces.

Maj-Gen Somboonkiat Sithidecha, the task force commander, said the drill was necessary to help prepare villagers for incidents along the Thai-Burmese border.

Clashes were not uncommon along the border, where several ethnic minority rebel groups were operating against Burmese government forces, he said.

The task force, responsible for security along the border in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, yesterday moved residents of seven villages in the Doi Lang area deeper into the country as part of a mock military operation to dislodge "foreign intruders" who had seized the villages.

Doi Lang is a disputed area claimed by both Thailand and Burma. Forces were deployed there over the past several years, with an agreement to refrain from using force.

The Nation - June 17, 2000.

EDITORIAL: Thailand shows its own mind on ILO vote

ON Tuesday, Thailand abstained from the crucial vote on measures against Burma at the International Labour Organization (ILO) over the regime's use of forced labour. It was a laudable decision that sent a clear message to Rangoon what we have in mind.

The ILO's unprecedented measures call for diplomatic sanctions against the junta if its practices have not improved by November 30. In other words, Burma has five months to change the situation and prove to the world forced labour does not exist inside the country. The Burmese junta leaders have pledged to cooperate with the ILO fully on this matter. Somehow, the ILO technical team, which visited Burma recently, was not impressed and decided to press on further to ensure Burma does not get away scot-free this time around.

Thailand's current position came after a careful consideration of whether to vote in support of the sanctions or abstain. There was strong public pressure for the Thai government to vote in support of the measure along with 257 other ILO constituents. Thai representatives from trade unions and employers were against Burma. The Foreign Ministry debated the pros and cons of its decision, but recognised it was likely to have far-reaching implications towards Asean's overall position and Thailand's relations with Burma. After some deliberation, the ministry concluded Thailand should stay away from the voting so Burma can prove itself. If in the next five months the use of forced labour has stopped, then Thailand will change its position.

The ILO abstention also indicated support for Burma within the Asean framework and international arena is no longer "automatic". In the past, it has always been the Asean tradition for all members to vote the same way, even if they disagreed with the decision. This kind of hypocrisy is no longer tolerated. As a member of Asean, Thailand will vote according to its principles. In the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, we urge Thailand to follow this line of thinking when the assembly deliberates later this year on the situation inside Burma.

Thailand's position might not fit into the ordinary Asean pattern. It should not. As the closest neighbour of Burma, Thailand has the highest stake. The Burmese junta's tough political repression and economic mismanagement only dive the people to flee the country. Thailand is often their first choice of asylum.

The time has come for Asean to rethink its "unconditional" support of Burma. Since its admission in July 1997, Burma has not done anything to promote the unity of Asean. It has cited the Asean spirit as a pretext to stop Asean from thinking aloud.

If Burma is serious about its membership in Asean, it must ban all forms of forced labour and prove to the world it no longer practices this horrible abuse. Thailand is willing to give its support if Burma really follows its promises without wavering. Bangkok has no plans to ostracise Burma - after all, it is our neighbour.

Thailand must be firm in its position. We do not have any ill-intention to split Asean. But the group must not be held hostage by a pariah member. As a nation, we must have the decency to follow our own thinking, especially when democracy and civil society is so strong. That's why the Thai public supports the decision, because it reflects the democratic values of our country. Now it is our duty to ensure the decision remains firm, unless Burma changes for the better and becomes free of political oppression.

The Nation - June 17, 2000.

FROM THE EDGE: ILO sets stage for Burma showdown

DESPITE Burma's "tough fight to the very last minute", the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Wednesday passed unprecedented punitive measures that are tantamount to the imposition of global sanctions on the Burmese junta for its practice of forced and compulsory labour.

Although the regime is given a grace period of five months, its Western critics and international labour unions are determined not to let it off the hook when the ILO governing body meets on November 30 to review the matter.

Predictably, the Burmese delegation to the ILO categorically rejected the punitive resolution, which was passed by a 257-41 vote with 31 abstentions. It called the action "most unfair, most unreasonable and most unjust". Each of the 174 ILO country members has four votes, two for the government and one each for employers and workers.

The measures adopted include a call on all ILO constituents - governments, employers and workers - to review their relations with Burma and for international organisations, including other UN agencies, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to cease all activities which could abet the practice of forced labour.

The resolution also calls on the UN's Economic and Social Council or the General Assembly to adopt recommendations directing international agencies and UN member states to ensure that their involvement with the Burmese junta does not include the practice of forced labour.

The voting on Wednesday was the culmination of a series of complaints and ILO investigation in the late 1990s into the allegations of "widespread and systematic" use of forced or compulsory labour in Burma. An ILO technical team, which visited Burma on May 23-27, confirmed the ILO Commission of Inquiry's 1998 findings that the factual situation of forced or compulsory labour in Burma had nevertheless remained unchanged.

The resolution had been fiercely opposed by not only Burma but also its Asian allies - Japan and Asean countries - and other developing countries, which feared the precedent of such punishment against their own labour standards and practices. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam went as far as proposing a counter-draft calling for action to be deferred. The Asean document was subsequently shot down.

As it turned out, Japan, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka joined Asean members and some Latin American countries - Venezuela and Uruguay - and Zambia in Africa in voting against the resolution. Surprisingly, Thailand abstained in the ballot.

Although international labour and human-rights activists viewed the Thai stance as a split within the Asean grouping and a signal of Thailand's growing discontent with its western neighbour, Laxanachantorn Laohaphan, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's International Organisation Affairs Department, told The Nation that the Thai vote should not be taken out of context.

Asean, she said, has no tradition of bloc voting in any international or UN forums, and Thailand has separated the two issues - Thai-Burmese relations and allegations of forced labour in Burma. As the next-door neighbour, the matter of forced labour is of Thailand's concern as it could suffer from an influx of Burmese migrants, she added.

"Each Asean member has different interests. Our voting is based on our national interest. Asean, like the G-77 or NAM [Non-Alignment Movement] does not have a bloc of voting that all members have to conform to," said Laxanachantorn.

The senior Thai official believed Rangoon fully understood Thailand, which was against tough sanctions against Burma and believed Burma should be given more time to comply with ILO recommendations.

It remains to be seen how the Burmese generals in Rangoon will take the tough punishment, which constitutes nothing other than a global boycott of Burma.

According to one Asian diplomat in Geneva, the Burmese delegation had informed Asean countries before the voting that Burma would consider withdrawing from the ILO if it received sanctions despite its stated commitment to cooperate with the ILO.

Japan in particular was very concerned with the Burmese threat and the negative consequences as a result of Burma's further isolation. In his statement after the voting, Japanese United Nations Ambassador Koichi Haraguchi told the ILO conference that his government "frankly was not happy with the resolution."

He asked Burma not to take "offence from the resolution" and urged the regime to continue to cooperate with the ILO. Tokyo will provide "good offices and other assistance" to help resolve the issue, said the Japanese envoy.

Although exiled Burmese dissidents and Burma campaign activists are satisfied with the ILO's further sanctions on the Burmese junta, the Asian diplomat cautioned that Burma had in fact garnered more friends in the vote.

"The analysis of the voting results shows that Burma was not so isolated as previously thought," he said. Compared with last year's voting on a similar resolution, this year the votes against Burma decreased by 76 while the votes opposing the resolution increased by 14.

"Burma should be pleased that its support has expanded from last year. It's not just Asean and China but the Asia-Pacific region," the diplomat said.

But Western labour unions and Western countries, especially the United States, which have harshly criticised the regime's bad human-rights and labour records at various forums, including the ILO conference, are convinced that by the end of the year some of the penalties would be enacted.

Diplomatic battles for the real showdown in November have just begun, and it will be a fierce fight by both opponents and proponents of Burma sanctions.

BY YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK