Burma Related News - June 20, 2000.

[TIN KYI <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

WIRE:06/19/2000 16:45:00 ET
U.S. court's Myanmar decision hits Miami Cubans

 

MIAMI, (Reuters) - A Supreme Court decision against a  Massachusetts law on business with Myanmar looks set to strike a  blow in quite another area: against Cuban exiles in Miami who  have sought to keep artists from the communist island from  performing in the city. 
Cultural promoters and civil liberties defenders who are  fighting a Miami-Dade County ordinance that restricts contacts  with Cuba beyond federal law were delighted with the news from  Washington, calling it the beginning of the end for a  four-year-old local law that they have viewed as  unconstitutional and against free speech. 

 

"Thank God for America, it's fantastic news," said Debbie  Ohanian, a music promoter who along with several other arts  groups and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have taken  the county to court over the ordinance. 

 

The Miami branch of ACLU, which has challenged the notion  of "fighting repression in Cuba by imposing censorship in  Miami" said the Supreme Court ruling on the Massachusetts case  "effectively guarantees success in the ACLU challenge to the  (Miami-Dade) Cuba Ordinance." 

 

The Supreme Court ruling -- which declared unconstitutional  a Massachusetts state law restricting purchases from companies  that do business with Myanmar, formerly Burma -- sets a legal  precedent for other states and cities that have special laws on  business with foreign countries. 

 

Prominent among those has been Miami, home to some 800,000  Cubans, many of whom fiercely oppose any contact with President  Fidel Castro, his government or people perceived to be  associated with it. 

 

The Miami-Dade County's Cuba Ordinance, passed in 1996 after  the shoot-down by Cuba of two small exile-piloted planes in  which four people were killed, has required people applying for  county grants to swear in an affidavit they have not had and  will not have any business contact with Cuba. 

 

PILLAR OF RESISTANCE 

 

To its proponents it is another pillar of Miami's long  resistance to Castro. But to its critics, who include many  non-Cuban Miamians, it just makes the melting-pot city look  intolerant and deprives people of the chance to see Cuban  artists who might in some cases even be critical of Castro. 

 

Among its effects: the city lost a chance to host the Latin  Grammy awards this year because of participation of Cuban  artists. 

 

The federal judge handling the suit against it, Federico  Moreno, last month ordered the affidavit requirement temporarily  suspended, saying he expected the Supreme Court to find the  Massachusetts law unconstitutional. 

 

ACLU volunteer attorney Beverly Pohl said that with the  Supreme Court ruling in, the county could either drop its  affidavit requirement or battle to keep it. But unless the  county could prove that the Miami-Dade case was markedly  different from the Massachusetts example, Moreno was likely to  rule that, as in Massachusetts, Miami-Dade could not make its  own foreign policy, she said. 

 

Washington maintains a 38-year-old economic embargo against  Cuba but in recent years has encouraged what it calls  "people-to-people" contacts such as academic, artistic and  sports exchanges between the two countries. 

 

Ohanian, who ignored death threats and brought popular Cuban  dance band Los Van Van to Miami last year for a debut concert,  said that if the Cuba ordinance were struck down "it will send  a strong message." 

 

"This is America, we should have freedom of speech." 

 

Officials at Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas's office were not  immediately available to comment on the Supreme Court ruling. 

 

But Ninoska Perez, a spokeswoman for the influential Cuban  American National Foundation (CANF) said that with or without  the ordinance, most Cuban exiles would simply not attend  cultural events featuring Cubans from the island. 

 

"We're against bans, but we simply won't attend them (such  events)," she said. Perez said people-to-people contacts  between Cuba and the United States were a myth since Castro was  in control of which artists traveled. She added there should be  a cultural boycott against Cuba in the way there was against  South Africa under the apartheid system of racial segregation. 

 

Asked if such views made Cuban exiles vulnerable to  accusations of intolerance, Perez said, "We are always going to  be intolerant of Fidel Castro."

 

Tuesday, June 20 6:39 PM SGT

Controversial Myanmar tourism conference opens under UNESCO banner

YANGON, June 20 (AFP) -

A conference on tourism in Myanmar, coordinated by UNESCO and criticised by human rights groups who support the opposition's policy of discouraging foreign visitors, opened here Tuesday.

Officials of the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation were not available to comment on the angry reaction from rights groups over its involvement in the event which aims to boost tourism here.

But delegates from the private sector, who made up most of the 200-strong gathering, were defiant.

"They should leave us alone and let us get on with our business," one hotelier told AFP when asked about the objections.

The conference, organised in cooperation with UNESCO, is entitled "Safeguarding cultural heritage and the role of the tourism industry in Myanmar."

"The main objective of the seminar is to seek further ways and means to safeguard Myanmar's rich cultural heritage and promote cultural tourism," an organising official said.

Despite its natural beauty and stunning cultural relics, the tourism industry in Myanmar is in a poorly condition, with just 120,000 foreign visitors arriving in 1999.

The "Visit Myanmar" campaign of 1996-97 was an abject failure and the situation worsened in mid-1997 when the Asian financial crisis hit.

The five-star hotels built by developers from Singapore, Malaysia and Japan remain virtually empty as the tourism boom they were supposed to cater for failed to eventuate.

"We've even had to retrench a lot of the local recruits to make ends meet," said the hotelier, who declined to give his name. However, he said the industry was hopeful of a turnaround "pretty soon".

A tourism ministry official, while admitting arrival numbers in 2000 were expected to slip from last year, also said an uptick was expected.

"The situation is getting better and we are hoping for bigger numbers in the near future," he said.

One reason for their optimism is the official announcement earlier this month of the formation of a 35-member tourism promotion board in which the private sector has been given a free hand.

The Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board, made up of ministry officials and stakeholders from the hospitality and travel industries, is to advise the junta on how to remove the red tape that is hampering tourism promotion.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is staunchly opposed to the development of the tourism industry, although elements within her National League for Democracy disagree with her stand.

Rights groups last week slammed UNESCO for helping the military government in Yangon to attract foreign tourists, despite the democracy movement's plea for visitors to stay away.

"It's outrageous for a UN agency to be assisting Burma's military regime in promoting tourism to the country at this time," said Burma Campaign UK director Yvette Mahon.

"Because of the scale of human rights abuse linked to tourism and the financial benefit to the regime, the high cost of tourism for the vast majority of ordinary Burmese dramatically outweighs any benefits," she said from London.

Culture Minister Win Sein and Tourism Minister Major General Saw Lwin addressed the opening ceremony Tuesday, wishing participants success in their discussions.

After Tuesday's session, the delegates are to head on to Mandalay and the ancient city of Bagan.

UNESCO, with financial and technical aid from Japan and France, has been involved with preservation work in Bagan for decades.

Tuesday, June 20 4:37 PM SGT

Thailand to close camp for exiled Myanmar students by year end

BANGKOK, June 20 (AFP) -

Thailand said Tuesday that it hoped to close down a camp for exiled Myanmar students by the end of the year, as it continued a crackdown prompted by violent attacks by Myanmar rebels.

"We expect to close the Maneeloy camp by the end of this year," said Khachadpai Burusapatana, the chief of the National Security Council which deals with refugee issues.

More than 120,000 Myanmar refugees live in Thai camps, after fleeing fighting and persecution in their homeland where the military junta is battling insurgent groups.

Most of the exiles in the tense Maneeloy holding centre, located just 116 kilometers (72 miles) from the Thai-Myanmar border, fled here after a bloody 1988 military crackdown on Myanmar pro-democracy demonstrators.

Thailand said earlier this year that it wanted to resettle the 1,800 students at Maneeloy, fearing the camp could be used as a base for rebel activity.

The authorities became alarmed after armed rebels opposed to the Myanmar junta last year laid siege to Yangon's embassy in Bangkok.

The presence of the camp again became a concern in January when rebel gunmen seized a hospital in the border province of Ratchburi province less than 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Maneeloy.

The crisis ended when Thai special forces stormed the hospital, freed the hundreds who had been taken hostage, and killed all 10 rebels.

Two of the gunmen were believed to be former Maneeloy residents, reinforcing Thailand's determination to no longer play host to the students.

However, human rights groups have denounced the tough treatment meted out to refugees in the wake of the rebel violence and said the exiles were being used as scapegoats.

The US-based Human Rights Watch has said that although the embassy and hospital sieges were the work of small, radical organizations, the Thai government has used them to justify a wider crackdown.

After living in limbo for more than a decade, most of the exiles are just keen to be resettled in another country so they can finally return to their studies and get on with their lives.

Khachadpai said that so far 347 exiled students had left Maneeloy and resettled in third countries, mostly the United States, Canada and Australia.

Another 479 were due to leave next month, and those remaining were being screened by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"The UNHCR is keeping us informed on the progress of resettlement... the rest of them are undergoing an interviewing process," he said.

Tuesday, June 20 4:24 PM SGT

Myanmar's leader recovered, Bangladesh trip to be rescheduled

YANGON, June 20 (AFP) -

Myanmar's supreme leader Senior General Than Shwe has recovered from the illness which forced him to postpone his first trip to neighbouring Bangladesh and the visit is to be rescheduled.

A source close to Than Shwe said the general was back in the public limelight and had been seen greeting foreign dignitaries on their arrival in Yangon.

He appeared a little pale but otherwise well and keen to make the trip to Bangladesh -- a rare foreign visit for the leader of the military junta -- the source said.

In Dhaka, a Bangladesh foreign ministry spokesman told AFP Tuesday: "We had earlier extended a cordial invitation to Senior General Than Shwe to visit Bangladesh, but its was postponed due to his sudden illnes."

"Bangladesh obviously will welcome him in Dhaka at a rescheduled date," he added.

Than Shwe, who is military commander in chief, prime minister and defence minister, had been believed to be suffering from a blood-pressure problem that worsened after he made a strenuous tour of Myanmar in April.

But some reports had speculated that the cancellation was not only due to illness, and that the general was losing his enthusiasm for the job and was planning to retire.

If the trip goes ahead, Than Shwe would be the first top Myanmar leader to visit Bangladesh since it won independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Myanmar, then known as Burma, was among the first countries to recognise the new state.

Among the issues expected to be discussed during Than Shwe's trip are the demarcation of a sea boundary, road and shipping links, trade ties and efforts to combat operating on the border between the two countries.

Relations between the two neighbours became strained in the early 1990s when some 250,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar for Bangladesh with tales of atrocities committed against them by the junta.

Ties have improved since then, with the repatriation of most of the refugees under a United Nations agreement. But more than 20,000 still live in Bangladeshi camps.

Tuesday, June 20 4:24 PM SGT

Japan grants aid to Myanmar returnees from Bangladesh

 YANGON, June 20 (AFP) – The Japanese embassy here announced Tuesday a grant to assist Muslim refugees repatriated to Myanmar from Bangladesh, some of the 230,000 who have returned after fleeing across the border a decade ago.

Japan gave aid organization CARE Myanmar 30,595 dollars to help the Rohingya Muslim refugees support themselves by establishing market gardens, the embassy said in a statement.

Relations between Myanmar and Bangladesh became strained by the influx in 1991 and 1992 of 250,000 people from northern Rakhine state, who claimed the ruling junta had committed atrocities against them.

Ties have improved since then, with the repatriation of most of the refugees under a United Nations agreement, but more than 20,000 are still living in Bangladeshi camps.

UN agencies and non-government organizations have been helping the returnees resettle in Myanmar.

The Japanese grant, part of a grass roots assistance scheme, is to be used by CARE to provide seeds to 2,500 households so they can grow and market fruit and vegetables.

Japan suspended all but a small amount of humanitarian aid to Myanmar in the aftermath of the 1988 military takeover, but agreed in February last year to help finance reconstruction of Yangon airport.

Myanmar’s opposition, led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has targeted Japan this year on suspicion Tokyo is preparing o resume commercial links.

Japan has stated its wiliness to increase its supply of humanitarian aid if the military government embraces reform.

Former Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto last year held talks with Myanmar’s generals during a “private” mission to ascertain the country’s economic needs.

Bangkok Post - June 20, 2000.
Villagers put on watch-list
Supamart Kasem

 

Drug suppression agencies have put on a watch-list 1,000 villagers who were last week exposed in a survey as drug users and traffickers.

 

Samart Loyfa, the district chief, said the survey covered 77 villages in nine tambons and began in late April.

 

It was intended to gather information to better suppress and rehabilitate drug offenders.

 

"The survey, conducted both in secret and in the open, registered 519 traders, 689 users and 139 who were both. The traders included a 73-year-old man, three village chiefs, two provincial policemen, one border patrol policeman and two teachers," he said.

 

The district chief said some village chiefs hired Burmese immigrants to carry drugs from highland villages along Mae Sot-Umphang road through forests to buyers in Klong Lan, Kamphaeng Phet province.

 

The drug addicts were given three months to kick the habit. Urine tests would be conducted to make sure the addicts had quit.

 

Anyone found still using drugs would be regarded as "patients" and would be given the choice of treatment or prison.

 

Those listed as traffickers would be charged as soon as evidence was found to convict them, Mr Samart said.

 

They would also face "social sanctions" which included being boycotted from village activities and losing state benefits such as free medical treatment and old-age pensions.

 

Mr Samart and other local administration officials would be responsible for the sanctions while the district police chief and commander of the Fourth Infantry Regiment Task Force suppressed the drug offenders. The Mae Sot Hospital director and public health workers would take care of the treatment of the addicts.

 

Suppression alone would not solve the problem, Mr Samart said.

 

Bangkok Post - June 20, 2000.
Editorial
The need for an anti-drug policy

 

The man who co-ordinates the US anti-drug efforts flies into Bangkok this week. The first problem for this visit is that Thailand has no counterpart for retired army Gen Barry McCaffrey. That could be the most important impression left by the US visitor. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai continues to emphasise that illicit drugs represent the single greatest threat to our nation. But no one is in charge of the issue.

 

Gen McCaffrey is visiting China, Hong Kong and Vietnam before his arrival here. His trip is a reminder that Asia has become a geographical tangent to the continuing, increasing threat faced by America itself. The United States faces myriad drug threats, from youth addiction and crime to high-level corruption in the political and economic spheres. But the top people involved, Gen McCaffrey included, focus most of their effort on Mexico and Latin America.

 

The countries south of the United States supply the bulk of the insatiable, unquenchable American demand for illegal drugs. Just last week, authorities arrested and charged 250 people involved in a heroin smuggling operation based in Mexico. Mexican and Colombian gangs are famous and infamous in America. Since the drug cartels of Colombia began to grow opium and market heroin, immediate US attention has focused even more on Latin America, away from Asia.

 

Gen McCaffrey is well informed on the Asian problems. After he arrived in China, he flew almost immediately to Kunming, in Yunnan province. This is where China touches Burma. Last year, methamphetamine smuggling into Yunnan increased by 10 times over 1998. Chinese authorities seized 16 tonnes of "ice", an indication that hundreds of tons got through to the market.

 

Drug addiction, drug crimes, drug arrests-all have increased by a magnitude or more in Yunnan. More troubling to the Chinese, to Gen McCaffrey and to any right-thinking citizen is the increase in Aids cases. Heroin from Burma has made inroads in the wealthy, coastal cities. It is far from Burma itself, but a reminder of the problem the Rangoon junta encourages. Chinese officials told Gen McCaffrey that intravenous drug use is the source of more than 70% of the half million Chinese known to carry the human immuno-deficiency virus, HIV.

 

Gen McCaffrey is learning this week that this pattern is roughly the same in Hong Kong and Vietnam. It is not different in Thailand. Illicit drugs have addicted a large percentage of our young people, corrupted too many of our officials, and continue to undermine our economy. The American's visit stresses the importance of international co-operation. This is necessary not only to combat drug gangs, but to share experiences in treating addicts, educating young people and making our societies safer.

 

Thai people take second place to no country in their commitment to stem, to reverse and to end the drug trade. Gen McCaffrey's position has been criticised and marginalised at various times. Now, he will learn we have our own problem of how to focus on the issue. Rival anti-drug offices tussle over who gets the budget, the office and the influence. The armed forces' efforts to battle drug gangs go unsupported by the police. Police sweeps against drug-makers fail because the army will not participate.

 

It is no comfort that the United States has similar problems with its bureaucracy. The uncomfortable fact is that the Chuan government has said, correctly, that illicit drugs are our biggest national security threat. Then, the administration has not dealt efficiently with this threat. Mr Chuan has made his reputation by organising and leading a fight to restore our economy. He has failed to organise and lead the fight to defeat the drug traffickers. Gen McCaffrey's visit serves as a welcome reminder that much remains to be done.