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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP-Thousands of Myanmar refugees
suffering in Malaysia, official says
SCMP - Drug clan wary of
military's intentions
Dawn - Rohingyas' situation in Myanmar worsens
Bernama - MYANMAR'S RICE EXPORT FALLS
BY OVER HALF IN FISCAL 1999-2000
Bkk Post - Ministry urged to step back Bkk Post - Army to take control
of KMT villages under Wa influence
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL
PROTEST AGAINST JAPANESE GOVERNMENT ON AUG 8.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, August 2 5:13 PM SGT
Thousands of Myanmar refugees suffering in Malaysia, official says KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 (AFP) - Thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar
are suffering in Malaysia because they are effectively stateless, a refugee
official and a local rights group said Wednesday.
They were responding to a report from the New York-based
Human Rights Watch, which said Malaysia's treatment of the group "is bad and
getting worse."
Rohingyas, members of a Muslim minority group from Arakan
state in northwest Myanmar, fled their country in their tens of thousands in the
early 1990s, alleging army persecution.
Most went to Bangladesh, while others ended up in Thailand
and Malaysia.
"We are aware of the general hardship faced by this group
due to their statelessness," said Shinji Kubo, head of Malaysian operations for
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Irene Fernandez, director of rights group Tenaganita,
called on Malaysia to recognise the Rohingyas as refugees rather than treating
them as illegal immigrants.
Human Rights Watch said in its report that after fleeing
"systematic discrimination, forced labor and other abuses in Burma (Myanmar),
ethnic Rohingya in Malaysia face a whole new set of abuses.
"These include beatings, extortion and arbitrary
detention," it added.
It said Malaysian authorities had refused to allow the
refugees' children to attend school or receive medical attention.
"Malaysia's treatment of the Rohingya is part of a larger
failure to protect refugees, no matter where they come from," Human Rights Watch
said.
"Malaysia has no asylum system and treats refugees as
illegal immigrants."
Fernandez said her organisation had not received reports
of officially sanctioned abuses of the Rohingyas. "But Malaysia does not
recognise refugees -- that itself is a problem."
Without official status, access to schools and hospitals
was difficult.
"Syndicates are using these people, partly to supply
illegal labour. Many end up begging," she said.
Kubo estimated more than 5,000 Rohingyas live in Malaysia,
most of whom have no documents. While a limited group had received permanent
resident status, most had not and had no access to schools or
hospitals.
He said the UNHCR in Malaysia had registered about 5,000
Rohingyas between 1992 and 1993 but in 1994 it stopped automatically considering
them as refugees.
Out of some 1,700 who had applied to his office between
1997 and now for a letter certifying refugee status, only some 40-50 had been
approved.
Applicants must prove to the UNHCR that they have "a
well-founded fear of persecution" in their homeland.
The certification letters, said Kubo, did not authorise
Rohingyas to stay in Malaysia but provided them with very limited
protection.
He said the UNHCR had held talks with the Foreign Ministry
suggesting they either legalise the status of long-staying Rohingyas or consider
ways to repatriate them.
For those recognised as refugees, the UNHCR was seeking
their resettlement in a third country.
South China Morning Post
Wednesday, August 2, 2000 BURMA Drug clan wary of military's
intentions
WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok Representatives of the drug-running Wa tribe have met members of a rival,
anti-drug rebel group - indicating that the Wa's decade-old ceasefire with the
Burmese army has not softened their distrust of Rangoon.
"It's intriguing. I don't think the Wa are about to split from the Burmese, but it shows how potentially fragile the ceasefire might be," said one commentator of the weekend meeting, reported by sources on the Thai-Burmese border. Four self-proclaimed anti-drug guerilla armies - including the Karen and
the Shan - met to explore ways of co-operating in defending themselves against
the encroaching Burmese, said their representatives in the northern Thai city of
Chiang Mai.
Since there has been no political progress to help consolidate the
ceasefire deals, some analysts claim they could disintegrate rapidly - thereby
wiping out much of the Burmese army's success in building domestic "peace". The
military signed the ceasefires with the ethnic rebel groups a decade ago on the
condition they stayed out of politics. The army has shrugged off international
criticism of their friendships with notorious drug traffickers like the Wa. But
China and Thailand used last week's annual Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) meeting to commit themselves to squeezing the cross-border drug
trade.
The weekend meeting between the tribal armies suggests that some elements
in the Wa leadership may have listened to advisers who have warned them to be
wary of Rangoon's divide-and-rule technique.
Burma signed up to the Asean scheme to make the region drug-free by 2015.
"The Burmese must suspect it really means something - that they might really
have to break with some friends," said a diplomat at the meeting. "I don't think
the Wa could be feeling comfortable right now."
Last month, Rangoon's powerful intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, gave
trafficker Wei Xiao-gang, the Wa's business partner along the Thai border,
permission to repair a 160km border road, further extending the reach of the
drug lord.
Since this takes Wei even deeper into territory occupied by Shan rebels,
the Rangoon Government's intention appears to be to use the Wa to crush the Shan
- a traditional Burmese tactic.
Dawn
Rohingyas' situation in Myanmar worsens By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON: From 5,000 to 8,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are being
denied their rights in Malaysia where their treatment has steadily worsened over
the last decade, in part due to the 1997-98 Asia financial crisis, according to
a new report released here Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Living in constant fear of forcible repatriation to Thail-and, many of the
refugees are subject to beatings and extortion in immigration detention camps.
Others, living in poverty in Kuala Lumpur or elsewhere, have no legal status and
are at constant risk of arrest and deportation, according to the report, 'Living
in Limbo.'
"Malaysia is treating the Rohingya in a shameful manner," according to Joe
Saunders, HRW's deputy Asia director. "The country has treated refug-ees better
in the past. It owes them better treatment in the future."
Nor does the United Nations High Commissioner for Refug-ees (UNHCR) provide
much protection to the Rohingyas, who are denied basic citizenship rights in
their homeland in Myanmar. Last year the UNHCR rejected all but 43 of the 1,473
applications for refugee status submitted by Rohingyas living in Malaysia. In
some cases, Malay-sian officials have detained and deported even those Rohingyas
in Malaysia whom the UNHCR has recognised as refugees, according to the report,
which says UNHCR officers do not appear to understand the dangers faced by
Rohingyas if they return to Myanmar.
In many cases, Rohingya refugees who reach the UNHCR compound, which is
located in a neighbourhood that is not served by public transport, are actively
discouraged to even enter the office by guards stationed there, according to the
77-page report. The new report follows another one released by HRW last May on
the plight of more than 125,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, where many
Rohingyas have made their home for more than two centuries.
Most of the newcomers sought refuge in Bangladesh in the early 1990s when
more than 250,000 fled forced labour, rape, and religious persecution at the
hands of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which was
then trying to consolidate its hold over Myanmar. The May report found that, for
some 22,000 Rohingyas living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, conditions have
improved modestly since an inmate uprising in 1997 to protest their planned
repatriation and camp abuses. The rest, according to the report, were living "in
precarious circumstances" without documentation and subject to being forcibly
repatriated.
Unlike Bangladesh, Malaysia has not been a traditional haven for Rohingyas,
who must travel through Thailand to get there from Myanmar. Nonetheless, several
thousand arrived during and after the repression in 1991-92. Malaysia has one of
the world's highest percentages of foreign workers: roughly 2 million of the
country's 8 million workers. Of these, about half are estimated to be
undocumented.
Despite the fact that many sectors of Malaysia's economy depend on foreign
labour, statements by government officials and frequent denunciations in the
press have contributed to a deep distrust of foreigners which has extended to
would-be asylum- seekers and refugees since the days of the Indochin-ese boat
people in the late 1970s, according to HRW. That is reflected in the fact that
Malaysia does not recognise refugee status and, like Thail-and, is not a
signatory to the 1951 international Refug-ee Convention.
When Rohingya first began arriving in large numbers, the Malaysian
government was less hostile then it is now, according to the report. It even
granted some six-month work permits. But domestic pressure, concerned about the
degree to which undocumented immigrants, including Rohingyas, were competing for
low-wage jobs, forced a reversal.
The crackdown against the undocumented intensified after the Asian
financial crisis in 1997, as thousands of Indone-sians flooded into the country.
Malaysia's Immigration Depart-ment set up a 24-hour hotline for the public to
report illegal workers. Passport checks by police became common, as did raids on
homes and workplaces. Like other illegal immigrants, the Rohingyas have been
caught up in the crackdown.
In Malaysia's immigration detention camp, detainees have been robbed and
beaten, according to the report. Food and medical care are also "grossly
inadequate," the report claims. -Dawn/InterPress Service.
Malaysian National News Agency
August 02 , 2000 15:32PM
MYANMAR'S RICE EXPORT FALLS BY OVER HALF IN FISCAL 1999-2000 YANGON, Aug 2 (Oana-Xinhua) -- Myanmar exported 53,700 tons of rice in
fiscal year 1999-2000 which ended in March, registering a fall of 55.39 percent
from 120,400 tons in 1998-1999, according to the Central Statistical
Organisation today.
In the 1999-2000 year, Myanmar produced 19.92 million tons of paddy out of
6.25 million hectares cultivated.
In recent years, Myanmar's rice export was at a trend of down- sliding. To
meet the daily increasing food demand, the country has since January 1999 leased
out 400,000 hectares of vacant and virgin lands for cultivation to private
entrepreneurs, and introduced policies including those exempting the import
duties on agricultural implements.
According to official statistics, Myanmar's cultivated land covers 18.22
million hectares, of which 9.31 million hectares have been utilized and 8.91
million remain to be reclaimed.
Myanmar's agriculture accounts for 37 percent of the gross domestic product
and 25 percent of the export value.
-- Oana-Xinhua Bangkok Post - Aug 2, 2000.
BURMA / FISHING RIGHTS Ministry urged to step back Private sector might be more successful Saritdet Marukatat The Ranong Chamber of Commerce wants the government to step aside and allow
fishery operators to talk directly with Burma on the opening of its maritime
territory to Thai fishing trawlers.
Somkiat Anurat, chairman of the Committee on Fisheries and Allied
Industries, said the private sector might have more channels for negotiating
with Burmese authorities than the government.
The call reflected the growing frustration of fishery operators over the
inability of the government, mainly the Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry,
to convince Rangoon to end the suspension of fishing rights for Thai
trawlers.
"Under the present situation, we think the private sector should be allowed
to negotiate with Burma," said Mr Somkiat, whose committee is under the
chamber.
He said the idea was shared by off-shore fishery firms which convened two
weeks ago. But it has yet to be forwarded to the government for consideration,
he added.
They also needed the government to set up a body to supervise Thai trawlers
in order to ensure that they honour future contracts with other countries, he
said.
Burma closed its waters to the Thai fishing fleet apparently in retaliation
of a raid by dissident students on the Burmese embassy in Bangkok last
October.
Burmese authorities have insisted that they want to revamp rules and
regulations on fishing before starting talks on concessions.
Meanwhile, the government has made clear that it has to take the lead in
talks with Burma on the matter.
Faced with uncertainty about the situation regarding Burma, several
trawlers have begun looking for other fishing grounds. Some are taking the risk
of entering waters further afield to illegally catch fish and other marine
resources.
Mr Somkiat said a fleet of five trawlers from Samut Sakhon and Samut
Songkhram was currently fishing off the southeast African island of
Madagascar.
Poksak Nilubol, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's South Asian,
Middle East and African Affairs Department, said Madagascar offers marine
resources and raw materials for the gems and jewellery business.
"It is one of the few countries in Africa where Thailand has a potential to
develop off-shore fishing," said the senior official, who is co-organising a
seminar tomorrow with the Ranong chamber. Bangkok Post - Aug 2,
2000.
DRUGS Army to take control of KMT villages under Wa influence Subin Khuenkaew in Chiang Mai The Third Army will set up a task force to control villages populated by
Koumintang remnants because they were believed to be infiltrated by the United
Wa State Army.
Lt-Gen Chamlong Phothong, Third Army deputy commander, said the Red Wa were
producing drugs in the 13 villages along the border in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai
and Mae Hong Son.
The Red Wa were also said to have infiltrated some KMT villages in Chiang
Mai's Fang district and even taken control of some of them.
The National Security Council, Foreign Ministry and Internal Security
Operations Command agreed the Third Army should take action, Lt-Gen Chamlong
said.
"We will launch a major survey to find the exact whereabouts of the 23,000
KMT soldiers and their families who are regarded as refugees," he said.
There were also concerns about the 67,000 rai in which the Forestry
Department allowed the KMT to live without giving them land documents, he said.
Problems would arise if the department wanted the land back.
An estimated 23,000 former KMT soldiers and their families settled in
Thailand in 1961 after they were driven out of their country by Chinese
communists.
They were allowed to settle in the 13 villages while their families settled
in 71 other villages as
refugees. ------------------------------------- (Send your protest letter to Japanese Government and Japanese Bussiness Companies before August 8. Stage demonstration in front of Japanese Embassies around the world on Aug 8.) |