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--------------------------------------------------------------
Burma Related News - March 04,
2002.
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Headlines
-------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - UN plans first food aid campaign to
counter AIDS pandemic
Asia Pulse - Vietnam Airlines to Open Hue-Siem
Reap Air Route This Month
Reuters - Myanmar
frees five political prisoners, 28 women
BBC - Burma releases pregnant women
BBC - Burma sanctions: The case for
BBC - Tough times for Burmese
refugees
SMH - Burma shuts door on East Timor bid to join
ASEAN
BBK Post - EDITORIAL -
Golden Triangle tries a comeback
NSTP - Towards a Malaysia-Thailand-Myanmar
FMD-free zone by 2007
Mizzima - Will there be a real transition in
Burma?
Mizzima - Burma exiled MPs reaffirm 1990
election mandate
Narinjara - Dhaka-Ctg-Yangon-Bangkok flight
begins
NMG - General Mya
Cheers up Japanese Government for delaying ODA
-------------------------------------------------------------- Monday March 4, 5:31 PM
UN plans first food aid campaign to counter AIDS pandemic BANGKOK, March 4 (AFP) - The
United Nations plans to spearhead the world's first major campaign to use food
aid to counter the HIV-AIDS pandemic in Southeast Asia and East Africa,
officials said Monday.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and other UN agencies have identified
an urgent need for food aid among poor families whose major bread-winner suffers
from the disease, they said at a conference on anti-AIDS strategies.
"For the poorest of the poor, who are the people WFP assists, the onset of
HIV-AIDS for the chief income-earner can shatter the entire family unit," John
Powell, director of the WFP Regional Bureau for Asia, said in a statement.
Poor families often do not receive any institutional care from their
governments and are therefore in urgent need of support to cope with the virus'
devastating effects, the one-day Bangkok conference heard.
Families caring for someone with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromeusually
become further impoverished because of the high cost of treatment, and that can
put younger family members at risk, the agencies said.
"Food aid would also serve as a the financial glue to keep the family
intact ... Otherwise, the children, for example, could be forced to prostitute
themselves or to go and live on the streets," Powell said.
"But now we have a profile of the family that would most benefit from food
aid," he added. "Properly targeted, food aid for them would be a life-saving
tool."
The one-day Bangkok conference follows a WFP-led mission in February to
Cambodia, China, Laos and Myanmar to devise the best strategies for home-based
care with food aid.
Representatives from WFP, UN-AIDS, the World Health Organisation, the Food
and Agriculture Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme
interviewed AIDS-affected families, government officials, health-care providers
and non-governmental organisations.
The food aid plan is to be implemented in Southeast Asia as well as a
number of countries in South Africa, the meeting heard.
"HIV/AIDS is perhaps the single biggest threat to the development of
Sub-Saharan Africa," said Judith Lewis, director of the WFP Regional Bureau for
Eastern, Southern and the Horn of Africa.
In Asia, the numbers of people living with HIV-AIDS is rising fast. They
expanded by nearly 140 percent between 1997 and 2001, according to the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The Federation estimates that in 2001, half a million people died in Asia
out of an infected population of 7.1 million.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Monday March 4, 11:52 AM
Vietnam Airlines to Open Hue-Siem Reap Air Route This Month HANOI, March 4 Asia Pulse -
Vietnam Airlines will launch the inaugural flight between the ancient cities of
Hue and Cambodia's Siem Reap with a Fokker aircraft departing from Phu Bai
Airport on March 16.
During the meeting to introduce the new air service on February 27, the
Hue-based Huong Giang Tourist Company launched the Hue-Siem Reap tour. The
four-day package tour will bring tourists to famed temples of Bayon and Angkor
Wat and other popular tourist sites in Siem Reap.
The package tour costs US$423/person including air ticket and three-night
accommodations.
The Siem Reap service will be followed by the Hue-Louang Phrabang air
link.
The new routes, which were discussed at a seminar on tourism development
and aviation cooperation in the four Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries of
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam held in Hue in late January, will also see
Hue linked with Myanmar' s ancient city of Mandalay.
"The cooperation between the four countries will help boost Hue's tourism
industry and stimulate the development of Phu Bai as an international airport,"
said Nguyen Van Me, chairman of Thua Thien-Hue People's Committee.
After four years of upgrade, Phu Bai Airport is now able to accommodate
medium-hauled aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s and operate round
the clock and in rough weather.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar frees five political prisoners,
28 women
YANGON, March 4 (Reuters) -
Myanmar's military government said on Monday it had freed five members of
''armed outlawed groups'' and 28 pregnant women prisoners, in an apparent
response to lobbying by the United Nations and the Red Cross.
The ruling generals, desperate for international legitimacy, have freed
more than 100 prisoners in the last three weeks, including at least 21 political
prisoners.
Government statements received by Reuters said the women were freed ''on
humanitarian grounds'' from Yangon's notorious Insein Prison. They gave no
details of the five freed men.
''Altogether five persons who were detained for illegal activities and
unlawful connections with the armed outlawed groups were released from various
correctional facilities,'' a statement said.
Myanmar's army has fought several ethnic minority armies over the last
decade, but now has ceasefires with most. The ruling generals have also accused
pro-democracy activists of armed insurrection in the past.
The government began a slow stream of releases in late 2000 when the
military began U.N.-brokered talks with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy.
But the pace has been upped since U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro visited the Southeast Asian country in early February to finish a
report on the human rights situation.
Fellow U.N. envoy Razali Ismail, who brokered the talks between the
military and the NLD, told Reuters at the end of last week that he hoped the
generals would free more prisoners and release Suu Kyi from house arrest.
Razali is due back in Myanmar for a four-day visit on March 19 to encourage
the process of national reconciliation, which some in the NLD say is going too
slowly and not yielding any real political change.
Pinheiro, who focused his attention particularly on women and elderly
prisoners, said after his visit that conditions in Myanmar's prisons had
improved since the Red Cross was given access to prisoners two years ago.
He said he told the generals that, at the current rate of releases, it
would take 12 years for Myanmar's prisons to be emptied of the estimated 1,500
political prisoners.
Pinheiro's report, to be presented to the United Nations in early April,
will influence Western countries' attitudes.
The European Union and the United States have aid and trade sanctions
against Myanmar, citing Yangon's human rights record, failure to cooperate on
fighting drugs, and political repression.
Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since September 2000 and her party has
been prevented from organising nationally since it shocked the military with
landslide victory in Myanmar's last democratic elections in 1990.
-------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Monday, 4 March, 2002, 12:36 GMT
Burma releases pregnant women The military government in Burma has released 28 pregnant women from jail
on humanitarian grounds.
The women, in prison for various offences, were the second batch of
pregnant women to be freed - 68 were released last week.
The move was apparently timed to coincide with the consecration of a giant
new stone Buddha in Rangoon.
Buddhist tradition holds that merits for the next life can be gained by
such gestures.
Also last week, five political prisoners were released from detention - all
members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
It followed a recent visit by the United Nations human rights envoy, Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro, who urged the authorities to release all political prisoners,
and to speed up the process.
Secret talks
The BBC Burmese affairs analyst says the releases could be seen as a move
by Rangoon to engage the UN and set a precedent for future political releases.
More than 200 opposition members are reported to have been released since
the Burmese Government began talks on national reconciliation with the NLD
leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in October 2000.
Speaking after last week's releases, the United Nations special envoy to
Burma, Razali Ismail said: "The fact that they released people in big numbers is
a change from the earlier releases, which were a handful of people.
"I hope in the weeks ahead there will be more releases and I hope soon that
Aung San Suu Kyi herself will be out of the custody of her house."
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in Rangoon since September
2000. The NLD says about 800 of its activists are still in prison.
The NLD won Burma's last democratic elections in 1990, but the military
prevented it from taking power.
Burmese military officials told the BBC that there would be no umbrella
release of political prisoners, but that they are considering freeing activists
in batches of up to 200 at a time.
Diplomats in Rangoon the question of whether Aung San Suu Kyi might be
released is independent of the issue of political prisoners.
BBC Burma analyst Larry Jagan says there is growing speculation in Rangoon
that Aung San Suu Kyi may be released soon, perhaps before the end of next
month's Water Festival.
-------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Monday, 4 March, 2002, 14:28 GMT
Burma sanctions: The case for By Zaw Oo - Policy advisor to the Burmese exile government Many governments have used sanctions on Burma to modify the regime's
deplorable behavior in the areas of human rights and democratisation.
These sanctions all share one clear objective: to place the military regime
on notice that it cannot continue to ignore the aspirations of the people, and
that they must seek a peaceful solution to resolve the political deadlock in
Burma.
The solution begins with a genuine national dialogue on democratic
transition, which the current talks between the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi can presumably lead to after 18 months
of confidence-building.
The sanctions reinforce both the legitimacy and possibility of such
dialogue in Burma, and they provide effective tools to advance the dialogue
process.
Pressure
The goal of these sanctions is NOT severe economic destabilisation aimed at
toppling the government. They serve as a pressure mechanism to persuade the
regime to recognize the crisis in the country and the need for a peaceful
resolution of the crisis.
They serve as part of the overall international strategy to facilitate a
tripartite dialogue in Burma.
Sanctions make international persuasion more effective by:
Serving as a clear signal of disapproval against the foot-dragging
attitudes of the SPDC and its continuing failure to improve human right
situations in Burma.
Supplementing many non-binding international resolutions, condemnations and
opinions such as ILO and UNGA resolutions, by generating a material impact on
the regime.
Acting as moral boosters for those who are struggling for democracy inside
Burma. They demonstrate to leaders inside Burma that the democracy movement is
not alone in its fight for freedom and human rights.
Serving as a strong deterrent in preventing large-scale human rights
violations and in protecting some vulnerable groups in Burma.
Most importantly, depriving resources to the regime which is currently
allocating more budget to defence and the internal security apparatus.
Sanctions have also deprived the regime of an important source of foreign exchange earnings. Since the US imposed a ban on new investments in 1997, no new foreign-funded projects have been approved. However, the impact of sanctions on the population is minimal because
foreign investments in Burma concentrate on natural resource extraction, which
has very little trickle-down effects in terms of creating employment and small
business opportunities within the overall economy.
Flexible lever
Under the severely restrictive political circumstances, the leaders of the
democratic movement can use sanctions as leverage in negotiations.
On the other hand, the SPDC can naturally react to sanctions policy
strongly, and they could bargain for the early removal of the sanction regime
before it begins the dialogue.
In responding to this SPDC bargaining position, the international community
can offer incentives for joint problem-solving initiatives, such as humanitarian
co-operation on HIV/Aids campaigns, without prematurely withdrawing effective
sanction leverage.
If the SPDC responds positively to these incentives, the international
community should consider relaxing disincentive components of its policy.
Such a framework can tie the disparate strands of international policies to
interrelated core goals and set priorities so the emphasis on dialogue is
sustained.
The role of the international community in bringing change to Burma is
important.
The role is a multi-faceted one with full use of available policy tools -
humanitarian assistance; joint problem-solving incentives; new commitments;
diplomatic boycotts; sanctions; the threat of sanctions; or any combination of
the above - and it may require fine adjustment on the weights of those elements.
The ultimate test of effectiveness of this approach lies in how well the
international players can co-ordinate to obtain the best policy mix to bring the
SPDC to the dialogue table.
Zaw Oo is Hurst Fellow at the School of International Service,
American University. He is a policy advisor to the National Coalition Government
of the Union of Burma, the Burmese exile government. The opinions expressed here
are all his and do not represent the NCGUB.
-------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Sunday, 3 March, 2002, 13:52 GMT
Tough times for Burmese refugees By the BBC's Alastair Lawson in Cox's Bazar It is 10 years ago this month that Muslim refugees from Burma began arriving in their thousands into Bangladesh. The refugees, known as Rohingyas, came from Burma's Arakhan province to
escape what they said was persecution inflicted upon them by the military
government.
At one point, the number of refugees swelled to over 250,000 but since
then, their number has dwindled to around 20,000.
The refugees that remain say that they are having to endure harsh
conditions in numerous camps.
Persecution
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh rely on the United Nations and other aid
agencies for their daily handouts of rice.
The aid agencies say that many of the refugees are malnourished.
The refugees say that although conditions in the camps are harsh, it is
better for them to be in Bangladesh rather than Burma.
"We were tortured and oppressed in Burma, and were denied even the right to
practice our religion", said a Rohingya man.
"I was a farmer there, but every time my rice crop was ready for harvest,
it would be taken by the Burmese military.
"They told us that as Muslims, we had no rights in Burma", he said.
Strained ties
It is now a decade since the Rohingyas started arriving in large numbers in
Bangladesh.
At the end of 1992, the Government of Bangladesh began repatriating them.
It is estimated that around 230,000 returned to Burma over the last decade.
The remaining 20,000 live in camps near the town of Cox's Bazar.
Local journalist Nural Haq Khan says that relations between them and the
Bangladeshi community are often strained.
Crime accusations
"The Rohingyas create lots of trouble here," Mr Khan said.
"They are often involved in crime, and have been accused of carrying out a
series of robberies.
"They are also believed to steal livestock from local farmers, and have
been accused of destroying the jungle so that they can get firewood", he said.
The Bangladeshi Government has denied accusations that some refugees have
been forcibly repatriated but it says that it wants all the refugees to return
to Burma soon.
Officials say in private that this is not happening at the moment because
the Burmese Government has reneged on an agreement to allow the refugees to
return home in small groups at a time. -------------------------------------------------------------- The Sydney Morning Herald
Monday, March 4, 2002 Burma shuts door on East Timor bid to join ASEAN By Mark Baker, Herald correspondent in Manila Burma's military regime has sparked a rift within the Association of
South-East Asian Nations by blocking moves towards East Timor joining the
regional grouping after the country achieves independence next year.
The Burmese have vetoed a decision to grant East Timor observer status
within Asean - a first step to full membership - in protest at links between
senior Timorese leaders and the detained Burmese democracy leader, Aung San Suu
Kyi.
The veto, exercised at an informal meeting of Asean foreign ministers in
Thailand last week, has angered several member states who believe East Timor's
eventual membership is important to advance regional security and economic
co-operation.
The Philippines Government has now stepped up pressure for ASEAN to amend
its long-standing convention of consensus decision-making to prevent a single
member blocking agreement between the rest of its 10 members.
Brunei, which will host this year's annual ASEAN meetings in July, has
indicated its dissent by inviting East Timor to attend - not as a formal
observer but as a "special guest of the chair".
Philippine officials and East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta,
said Burma was the only dissenter when East Timor's application for observer
status was debated by the foreign ministers. Mr Ramos Horta said he was
disappointed by the decision, which had been expected because of links between
the Burmese democracy movement and the Timorese resistance during its struggle
for independence from Indonesia.
Mr Ramos Horta has spoken out strongly in support of Aung San Suu Kyi,
whose National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory a decade
ago but was blocked from power by the military. Ms Suu Kyi has remained under
virtual house arrest for the past 18 months despite intermittent peace talks
with the regime.
"It is in the interests of ASEAN that they embrace East Timor rather than
trying to keep it out," Mr Ramos Horta said. "It is important for peace and
regional stability."
There was considerable support among existing ASEAN members for the Burmese
democracy movement, including from Indonesia, whose President Megawati
Sukarnoputri has publicly expressed solidarity with Ms Suu Kyi, he said.
"The Burmese should not worry that we would be unhelpful and unco operative
within ASEAN. An independent East Timor would work with its neighbours on
regional matters rather than taking unilateral positions."
Mr Ramos Horta, who, like Ms Suu Kyi, is a Nobel peace laureate, said he
had been instrumental in persuading 20 other Nobel laureates to modify a
statement on Burma published in December to give "constructive and balanced
acknowledgement of steps towards progress" in the country's political
standoff.
Mr Ramos Horta said he accepted the view of several ASEAN members,
including Singapore, that East Timor would not be ready to meet the requirements
of full membership for a number of years. East Timor has also applied for
observer status with the South Pacific Forum.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Monday 04 March 2002
EDITORIAL - Golden Triangle tries a comeback
The war on terrorism has handed the dictators in Burma a problem and an
opportunity. The Taliban-run drug trade in Afghanistan has been disrupted by the
US intervention and the installation of a new, civilised regime in Kabul.
Government forces in Colombia have made major inroads on new opium fields in
that country. This has restored Burma as the world's leading source of illicit
opium and heroin. The generals in Rangoon will show clearly in the next few
months whether their promises to fight drug trafficking are real or lip
service.
Nothing has altered the global traffic in heroin so much as the defeat of
the Taliban. But victory over terrorism in Afghanistan has not changed the
demand for drugs around the world. After a drop in demand and production last
year, gangs in Burma and Laos have rushed to fill the gap. The new alliance
between the United Wa State Army and the 14K triad has worked to fill new
orders. There have been marked increases lately in heroin seizures in Thailand
and China.
The danger is that the Golden Triangle will soon return to its prominence
of 30 years ago, as heroin producer for the world. The Burma-Laos-Thailand
border region was the undisputed leader in the traffic in opium and heroin. A
highly successful string of anti-opium programmes has wiped out significant
cultivation of opium in Thailand. The communist regime in Laos dabbled briefly
in drugs after its 1975 accession to power, but has since stressed drug
campaigns. Burma has long confused propaganda with action, but opium harvests
began to drop at the turn of the century, partly by Rangoon action and partly
because of drought.
As Burma production dropped, Afghanistan built its crop during the 1990s to
more than 3,000 tonnes of opium a year. The Taliban encouraged opium production.
The regime seized all harvests and aided trafficking in heroin. In 2000, the
regime banned opium growing, and production dropped to 185 tonnes in 2000. Last
year, Burma regained its unenviable lead as the world's top producer, with 68%
of the global opium production.
But the Taliban lifted its ban on opium cultivation after one year.
Full-scale production had not resumed by the time the regime was ousted. Sandro
Calvani, Asian representative for the United Nations International Drug Control
Programme, believes Afghanistan will be a minor factor in the global heroin
traffic at least for the short term.
That puts a lot of pressure on Burma. One of the closest watchers of the
tense situation is Thirapat Santimetaneedol, deputy secretary of the Office of
the Narcotics Control Board. He believes as much as 3,000 tonnes of opium is
being harvested right now, triple last year's crop. Chinese police seized more
than 12 tonnes of heroin last year _ the result of refining 120 tonnes of opium
_ and have already complained the Golden Triangle output is at ``alarming
heights''.
The generals in Rangoon have alternated statements about their drug policy.
On one hand, they have complained that lack of aid has made fighting drug
traffickers difficult. On the other, they have promised strong efforts to wipe
out drugs. And along the way, they directly encourage the international
fugitives Wei Hsueh-kang of the United Wa State Army, Lo Hsing-han and Khun
Sa.
As the home of the biggest regional methamphetamine trafficker and the top
world heroin peddlers, Burma has reached a crossroads. Within weeks, everyone
will know how much opium is in the hands of the Burmese traffickers. Only the
Rangoon regime can prevent a return to the drug-driven ways of the old Golden
Triangle. Heroin abuse by Thais and others, the continuing spread of Aids and
the ability of the three-nation region to battle its worst security threat are
at stake.
-------------------------------------------------------------- The New Straits Times Press - Tuesday,
05 March 2002
PENANG Towards a Malaysia-Thailand-Myanmar FMD-free zone by 2007 by Aida Ahmad Plans are afoot to establish a foot and mouth disease-free zone involving
Malaysia, southern Thailand and Myanmar by 2007, Agriculture Minister Datuk Mohd
Effendi Norwawi said today.
He said the proposed FMD-free zone was critical because the animal industry
was a very important component of food production activity in the three nations
as well as in other Asean countries.
"We have the resources to further develop the animal industry-related
sectors and generate active trade between neighbouring countries.
"Free trade in animal and animal products cannot be established when the
risk of spreading disease remains high.
"As such, we need to set up the FMD-free zone," he said.
Mohd Effendi said achieving the FMD-free zone status was a very important
quest for Malaysia since the country was also expanding its cattle industry,
through integration with oil palm plantations.
"At present, only Sabah and Sarawak has been declared free of the
FMD.
"We will take steps to eradicate the disease starting with Johor before
expanding expanding to other States," he said.
He also said the FMD-free zone, which would be certified by the World
Animal Health Organisation (OIE), was important to enable the three countries to
be FMD-free and to strengthen the development of the animal industry in
South-east Asia.
"We hope to achieve the FMD-free status in the shortest possible time and
Malaysia is fully committed on this," he said when opening the Eighth Meeting of
the OIE Sub-Commission for FMD in South-east Asia at Penang Parkroyal Hotel in
Batu Ferringhi today.
Also present were Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr
Mohd Nordin Mohd Nor, State Veterinary Services Department director Dr Mohd
Zairi Serlan, OIE Regional Commission for Asia, Far East and Oceania and OIE
Sub-Commission for FMD in South-east Asia president Dr Gardner Murray, OIE of
Paris director-general representative Dr James Pearson, OIE for Asia
representative Dr Teruhide Fujita and OIE South East Asia coordinator Dr John
Edwards.
The six-day long meeting was also attended by 80 delegates from the
department and the private sector.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Mizzima News - March 4,
2002
Will there be a real transition in Burma? By Hre Mang A regime change in Burma is unlikely to take place soon. The potential for
transition is vested in political transformation monitored by the regime in
compromise with the opposition and under agreed exit guarantees and the promise
of an adequate political role in future government for army personnel.
After more than a decade of struggle, there is no clue as to the
overthrow of the military government, and it is anyone?s guess what kind of
political transition may be likely to take place in Burma. The military
government's first attempt at distracting attention from demands for political
transition, the multi-party national elections of 1990, deceived and misled many
democratic activists and supporters. The second attempt, the so-called covert
dialogue, which has been taking place since October 2000 offers the military
government an effective political strategy to persuade the international
community for its ultimate commitment and to distract democratic activists. It
still remains unknown how political transition is going to take place in Burma
and what form it will take.
Enthusiastic student activists have dispersed throughout the world and
fragmented into multiple parties and organizations, and some even have become
professionals. The future of the exiled government run by the 1990 MP-elects is
uncertain while its political approach has been ineffective, not strong enough
to overthrow the military government. The international community's attitude
towards the Burmese military government was moderated by its subtle way of
dealing with ethnic insurgencies, the so-called "Armed Peace," its covert talks
with the opposition leader Daw Suu, and by its release of some political
prisoners.
Where does the future of Burma?s political transition lie?
Compared to the immediacy of the student force after 1988, the strength of
Burma?s student activists has been dispersed into many different parties and
organizations around the world. Cease-fires in many instances of ethnic
insurgency have been negotiated by the military government, including with one
of the strongest groups, the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO). The KNU had
been facing usual internal factionalism. Armed groups do not command enough
power to overthrow the military government in absence of a supporting military
intervention by the international community. Armed struggles in Burma have
almost been cracked down almost entirely by the military government.
The importance of Burma in the Asian regional politics has increased,
especially among the Asian super powers, China, India and Japan. China, which
shares with Burma a history of cracking down on student activists and of
accusations of human rights violations, seems willing to protect the Burmese
military government if necessary. China has become Burma?s economic and military
backbone, especially after 1990 and after the collapse of the Burma Communist
Movement. China's role in Burma?s political transition is very important, not
only because of its status as a regional power but also because of its veto
power in the UN. Without the consent of China, the United Nations is unlikely to
be able to take any effective action in Burma. The UN envoy?s and delegates'
intervention merely publicizes the regime's political deals and gives the regime
an opportunity to underscore its international legitimacy as though it did in
fact intend true political transition from a military to civilian
government.
India, with its internal insurgency problems in the northeastern region and
with fear and jealousy of China's advantage in relations with Burma, has started
to make a positive gesture and deal with the Burma military government. On the
military level, Burmese and Indian soldiers conducted several joint
counter-insurgency operations along the Indo-Burma border in order to tackle
Indian ethnic insurgencies and Burmese democratic fighters. India is
enthusiastic about building a cross-border trade road, connecting regions inside
Burma with Moreh in Maipur and Champhai in Mizoram. India's contribution to the
progress of Burma?s democratization is thus unlikely to weaken the regime, which
on the contrary, is strengthened militarily and economically by India's
constructive engagement.
At the same time, Japan, which is unwilling to yield the Burmese market to
China, has interacted with the military government on the issue of humanitarian
assistance. Thailand, on the other hand, traditionally an uncomfortable
neighbour, shows little interest in Burma?s internal politics, with the
exception of domestic problems created by Burmese refugees in the country.
Singapore has been one of the countries extending much support to the military
government, without much concern for the Burma?s internal politics, as a
faithful neighbour holding up the ?no interference to others' domestic problems
and peaceful co-existence? policy. The impression this picture gives is that
there is little political pressure from Burma?s neighbours towards its timely
political transition from military rule to civilian government. In absence of
the corporation of the Asian neighbouring countries, however, effective pressure
on the regime by means of economic sanctions looks unlikely.
Asia?s regional organizations ASEAN, APEC and ADB, are much less
institutionalized and politicized than their western counterparts like NATO.
Their constructive dealing with the military government will only, within a
limited capacity, help to liberalize it. Overall, the Burmese military
government does not encounter any potential threat either politically or
economically in its regional context. The absence of such threats makes western
pressure grow ineffective, too.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a non-violent democratic leader, without any public
information about her covert talks with the Military government since 2000, has
to liberalize her stand for a persuasive manner as the only possible way for
political transition. As the Burmese public has been excluded from politics for
more than four decades, the role of civil society in the potential political
transition is negligible at this time. It is for this reason that civil
disobedience in a bid to overthrow the military government after the 1988
example is unlikely to take place. Unlike the example set by other countries'
political transformation from military regime to civilian government, the Burma
military government will not voluntarily give up political power and return to
the barracks.
The Burmese military regime, unlike the ones in Argentina, Greece, and
Panama, is unlikely to collapse by itself very soon, having sustained itself
through four decades of experience. After the experience of the 1988 massacre,
civil disobedience is unlikely to take place (although it can happen at any
time) as the military government has proven its tactics of brutal oppression
towards any act of civil disobedience. Moreover, there seems no sign for
fraction within the army in the near future as internal cleansing has taken
place. The Burmese government, one of the world's most brutal regimes will not
give up power for economic reasons inspite of its citizens? economic starvation.
Generally, many countries' political transitions from dictatorship, monarchy and
military regime to civil government took place under conditions of internal
collapse within the regime, balanced political power on the opposition side,
with support of international intervention. After receiving proof of public
disapproval since 1988, the current Burmese military regime does not claim to
have a legitimate political role. Rather, it has been playing games to
legitimize the military's political role based on its claim regarding
nationalism, national peace and security. While the regime is unlikely to give
up political power voluntarily, the only scenario for transition is
transformation in which the military regime will monitor and design the future
government with exit guarantees for its personnel.
Should this scenario not come about, "people power", the mass mobilization
of outraged citizens, is necessary to press demands for political transition. It
is obvious to the regime that among the people of Burma, there is no ideological
confusion over democracy and dictatorship. The regime has stopped to impugn Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and her democratic ideology. On the other hand, it has tried to
influence the people with its nationalism, anti-colonialism, anti-Westernism and
with the importance of the military's historic political stance for the peace
and security of the people in Burmese politics. The military leaders'
understanding of democracy within the Burmese social, cultural and political
context is much different from that espoused by Western democracy. Besides power
competition, there exist incompatible ideological differences between the
military leaders and the opposition.
Therefore, while there has been no balanced political power between the
regime government and the opposition, only when there is a compromise from the
opposition, the regime government is likely to proceed with political
transformation (not replacement) in which body (for example an interim
government) both the military leaders and the opposition will share power.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Burma exiled MPs reaffirm 1990
election mandate
Mizzima News March 3, 2002
The exiled Members of Parliament from Burma have reaffirmed that they will
not ignore the verdict of the people expressed through the general elections
held in 1990 and that they will continue to struggle for ending military rule
and establishing a federal democratic Union of Burma. This was announced at the
end of a meeting of ?Elected Representatives of the Union of Burma? held from
February 25 to March 1 at Bommersvik in Sweden.
According to the BOMMERSVIK Declaration which was released today, the Burma
parliamentarians said that one of their immediate objectives is to ?promote and
ensure, to the extent possible? that the on-going talks be speeded up to a
political dialogue and become a tripartite dialogue involving the ethnic
nationalities of the country.
The ruling military government and opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
has been entering into ?political talks? since October last year. The military
government, however, maintains tight control in the country and refused to hand
over power to the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a landslide
victory in the election.
?(We) Affirm that based on the 1990 election results, the NLD led by Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi has the mandate to form the Government of the Union of Burma,
and that the NLD and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have the right to enter into a
dialogue with the SPDC and others, and to negotiate a transition to democracy?,
said the declaration.
The Burma parliamentarians also appealed to the Japanese government to
withhold resumption of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Burma ?until a
transparent, accountable and responsive government of national reconciliation is
in place?. They also requested Burma?s neighboring countries to fully support
and cooperate with the UN Special Envoy in his endeavors to bring about national
reconciliation in Burma.
The five-day ?Convention of Elected Representatives of Burma? was held with
the assistance of the Swedish Government and Olof Palme International Center and
attended by 19 Members of Parliament belonging to the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) and the Members of Parliament
Union (MPU).
The NCGUB was formed outside Burma with some Members of Parliament after
the 1990 elections. It has been facing criticisms from the Burma Diasporas in
exile, allegedly for its ?inefficiency and monopoly of the exiled democratic
movement?. -------------------------------------------------------------- Narinjara news
March 4, 2002 Dhaka-Ctg-Yangon-Bangkok flight
begins
The Biman Bangladesh Airline started operating its
Dhaka-Chittagong-Yangon-Bangkok flight from Yesterday.
State Minister for Civil Aviation and tourism Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin
inaugurated the one-a-week flight at MA Hannan International Airport in
Chittagong in the after noon.
The minister greeted the passengers of the first flight with follower. The
plane took off at 1.15 pm with 178 passengers.
The Biman will operate the newly introduced flight every sun
day. It will fly to Bangkok via Yangon.
With the introduction of the new flight, along cherished dream of the
people of Chittagong, the direct air line with Yangon, has been materialised.
This flight would open up a new era in the history of Biman operation as it
restores a line between Chittagong and Myanmar, the state Minister said at the
inaugural ceremony.
He also said that the government has a plan to set up a five hotel on the
adjoining seashore.
Chairman of the Civil Aviation Association of Bangladesh (CAAB)
Lutfer Rahman, Managing Director of Bangladesh Biman Fakhrrul Alam also spoke at
the ceremony where Divisional Commissioner o Chittagong Katebur Rahman,
president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Farid Ahmed
Chowdhury, CMP Commissioner Shadullah khan were present on the occasion.
Earlier, at a press briefing at the VIP lounge of the air port, the state
minister said the government believes that the development in a democratic
country is a continuous process.
He said that various steps have been taken to make the Biman a
profit-making organization.
But the minister regretted that the MA Hannan airport, which was
constructed at a cost of over TK 600 crore, remained under-utilised.
He said that as part of different income-generating measures, Biman
Bangladesh Airlines, for the first time, operated flights from Chittagong to
Jeddah, ferrying around 20 thousand Hajj pilgrims this year.
Following requested and pressure from the business leaders and common
people as well, the Chittagong-Yangon-Bangkok flight was introduced, the state
minister said, adding that government was also actively considering introduction
of flight on the Dhaka Chittagong-Muscat route from next month.
He further disclosed that an Air Silk flight would be introduced on
Chittagong-Singapore route from March 31.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Network Media Group
General Mya Cheers up Japanese
Government for delaying ODA Open Letter to Prime Minister of Japan
To The Rt. Hon. Premier Junichiro Koizumi The Government of Japan Tokyo, Japan February 28, 2002
Your Excellency, First, I would like to extend my warmest greetings to you and your
government on behalf of the organizations of Burma struggling for freedom,
democracy and peace. I would like to congratulate you and your government also
for taking steps to delay the release of ODA to the SPDC military regime. We
have no doubt that it is the correct way to treat this pariah regime.
Our country has been under successive military regimes, in one form or
another, for 40 years now. They have increasingly oppressed and enslaved the
entire people made up of various nationalities, destroyed the economy and have
become more and more dependant on narcotic drug business, for their regular
income. The SPDC military regime is the worst of them all.
In his complaint to the international Press, the SPDC foreign minister, Win
Aung, downplayed the importance of the Japanese assistance, despite the fact
that Japan has been the largest donor country to Burma. On the other hand, he
praised China as a true friend of Burma. This is an attempt by the regime to
play Japan against China, which is a rising economic power at least in Asia. It
is also a public _expression_ of gratitude to China, which has been a provider of
military hardware to the SPDC regime. However, the people of Burma will never
accept any country helping the military regime to perpetuate its stay in power.
We hope that Japan, the second largest economy in the world and the dynamo
of economic development in Southeast Asia, would be more active as a leader for
freedom, justice and peace, at least in the Asian region. It is time to treat
firmly with oppressive regimes, terrorists and, producers and traffickers of
illicit drugs.
In closing, I would like to wish you success in all your endeavors,
especially your effort to improve the economic situation, carry out political
reform and eliminate official corruption in your country.
Sincerely, (Saw Bo Mya) Chairman National Council of the Union of Burma Source: KNU European Representative Office
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