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BURMA RELATED NEWS - September
09, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------ AFP - Floods still swamping Thailand,
55 dead
AFP - EU delegation opens talks with
Myanmar junta
AFP - ASEAN legislators urged to
tackle terrorism, drugs, trafficking
Asia Pulse - Southwest China Set for
Free Trade With Asean
Asia Pulse - India and Myanmar May
Emerge Major Global Supplier of Rice: Fao
AP - EU mission meets with Myanmar
ethnic leaders
AP - Four Myanmar workers killed as
fishing trawler capsizes
Xinhuanet - Myanmar offers mining
rights to foreign companies
Xinhuanet - Vietnam calls for AIPO
active contribution to regional integration
BBC - EU gauges Burma's
progress
The Nation - FRIENDLY TEXTBOOK:
It's the same old history - teachers
SHAN - Business as usual, only a
little unusual
Mizzima - India worries of growing
illegal trade across Burma border
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday September 9, 2:29 PM
Floods still swamping Thailand, 55 dead TA PAN HIN, Thailand, Sept 9 (AFP) - Dozens of provinces throughout Thailand remain in the grip of severe flooding has left at least 55 people dead over the past six weeks, officials said. The northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Phetchabun reported gradually receding waters, an interior ministry report said Monday, but the situation in the central province of Phichit was worsening, with several towns and villages facing rising water levels as relief operations expanded. Over 100 people in Ta Pan Hin district were evacuated to a nearby temple after their houses were inundated, according to an AFP photographer, and authorities were using boats to distribute relief packets of rice, water, cooking oil and instant noodles. They were among more than 5,000 people who have been evacuated, according to figures released by the civil defence department. Traffic has come to a standstill in many areas as rivers and reservoirs overflowed, flooding towns and roadways in Phichit and other provinces in central and eastern Thailand. The floods hit in early August and quickly spread to 51 of Thailand's 76 provinces, with 31 provinces still inundated, the ministry has said. "The flooding in the north and northeast and some central areas will improve," the report stated, but no timeframe was given. It said isolated thundershowers continued to sock northern regions Monday, further pressuring catchment areas, reservoirs and dams. The floods have left at least 55 people dead since August 1. In the worst disaster since the flooding began, some 16 mainly Karen refugees were killed last week when a mudslide and flash floods swept through a refugee camp on the Thai-Myanmar border. Twelve people remain missing from the incident and are presumed dead. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Saturday blamed illegal logging for the heavy flooding and vowed to punish officials he said were responsible. Over 760,000 people have been affected, with more than 1,400 roads, 66 bridges and 265 reservoirs damaged, 628,329 acres (251,300 hectares) of farmland inundated and 118,087 livestock killed, according to weekend figures. The economic damage was estimated at 265.2 million baht (6.3 million dollars). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EU delegation opens talks with
Myanmar junta
YANGON, Sept 9 (AFP) - European Union delegates held talks here Monday with officials of Myanmar's ruling military junta as part of their three-day mission to assess the country's progress in political reforms, officials said. The first European delegation to visit Yangon since the May release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with deputy foreign minister Khin Maung Win, sources in the ministry told AFP. Details of the talks were not revealed, but the Europeans were due to meet later in the day with home minister Tin Hlaing and labour minister Tin Winn before dining with the deputy foreign minister. It was not immediately clear if the group would be able to see more senior generals in the junta. The member of the ruling troika most likely to meet them, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, was on business outside of Yangon until Tuesday, the sources said. On Tuesday the Europeans, led by Danish foreign ministry regional director Carsten Nilaus Pederson, were expected to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD), sources in her party and diplomats said. It is the fourth official EU trip to the military-ruled state since 1999 and the first since Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was released from 19 months of house arrest. During the previous EU mission in March, the delegation pushed hard for prisoner releases, including that of Aung San Suu Kyi herself. She has said her party's top priority is to secure the release of some 1,500 political prisoners still in the country's jails, and said last month that a mass release would be a precondition to her beginning a long-awaited political dialogue with the regime. The EU has been among the staunchest advocates of political reconciliation in Myanmar, a country subject to crippling sanctions by Brussels which include suspension of all bilateral aid except humanitarian assistance, the freezing of assets, an arms embargo and a travel ban on members of the junta. The European Parliament has suggested the sanctions be extended to include a ban on EU investment. Experts have said a meeting with Suu Kyi would help the EU assess whether or not a change in sanctions status should be considered and under what conditions. The delegation is expected to address the issue of human rights on their trip, which comes in the wake of allegations by Thai-based Shan ethnic groups that Myanmar's military committed systematic rape and murder. Yangon has dismissed the allegations as "preposterous accusations." The current mission to Myanmar includes representatives from Denmark, which holds the EU revolving presidency, Greece, the European Commission, and the Council Secretariat which services the Council of Ministers. On Sunday the group met with two separate groups of ethnic minorities, who are angling for eventual inclusion in tri-partite national reconciliation talks following commencement of political dialogue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday September 9, 2:14 PM
ASEAN legislators urged to tackle terrorism, drugs, trafficking (AFP) - Terrorism, drugs, piracy and the trafficking of women and children are among the key issues which must be tackled to ensure regional peace and stability, Southeast Asian legislators meeting in Hanoi were told. In a welcome address to the 23rd general assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) on Monday, Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong said cooperation needed to be stepped up to meet these security challenges. "There remain destabilizing factors in the region ... threatening regional security and stability and negatively affecting soci-economic development and people's life," he told the nearly 400 Southeast Asian legislators and international observers gathered for AIPO's opening ceremony. "In response to those challenges, we should reinforce our unity and cooperation within ASEAN and between ASEAN and the rest of the world on the basis of mutual understanding, trust and respect." He added: "This is the optimal means to safeguard regional peace and stability conducive for prosperous development." AIPO is made up of the eight states with parliaments from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The other two ASEAN members not part of the AIPO grouping, Brunei and Myanmar, have no legislatures but were attending the annual meeting, which wraps up its formal sessions on Wednesday. Delegates from nine countries, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan and the United States, were invited as observers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday September 9, 1:06 PM
Southwest China Set for Free Trade With Asean NANNING, Sept 9 Asia Pulse - Southwest China's provinces are enthusiastic supporters for building a China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA). "Setting up the China ASEAN Free Trade Area offers an historic opportunity for Guangxi," Li Zhaozhuo, regional government chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said at a meeting in Guangxi. "It will help us make the most of our advantageous position next to southeast Asia and make western China a showcase for China's opening up." He suggested that the central government build an experimental zone for CAFTA in Guangxi and Yunnan. Establishing the free trade area was raised in November 2001. Once set up, it will generate annual gross domestic product worth US$2 trillion and trade worth US$1.2 trillion a year, figures indicate. In talks between China and ASEAN, the two parties agreed to reach a framework document on the CAFTA this year. Xu Rongkai, governor of Yunnan Province, said: "When the CAFTA is up and running, it will turn this remote area into the front line in China's trade cooperation with southeast Asian countries." In anticipation, Yunnan is speeding up expressway construction between western Yunnan and Myanmar, southwestern Yunnan and Laos and Thailand, and between southern Yunnan and Vietnam. China has made a practicable proposal to build a Pan-Asia Railway line, an important part of the CAFTA. The six provinces and autonomous regions in southwest China hope to build telecommunication lines linking Guangxi and Yunnan with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. Southwest China has maintained close economic ties with ASEAN. Trade between Sichuan Province and ASEAN totaled US$120 million in the first half of this year, tripling that of the same period last year. Guangxi, which shares a 1,020 km border with Vietnam, enjoyed import and export trade worth US$400 million last year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday September 9, 5:14 PM
India May Emerge Major Global Supplier of Rice: Fao NEW DELHI, Sep 9 Asia Pulse - Contrary to fears of dwindling foodgrain exports due to drought, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO] and the Indian Government have forecast the possibility of India emerging as a major international supplier of rice. Though adverse weather conditions may affect Asia's paddy harvest this year, it is unlikely to reduce rice exports with India and Myanmar emerging as major international suppliers, the FAO said in a new rice market report. The FAO is of the view that India's rice exports are expected to rise sharply to 4.2 million tonnes, an increase of 600,000 tonnes since the last FAO report and 2.2 million tonnes above last year. "Exportable supplies of rice made available from public stocks (the Food Corporation of India) remain in abundance, despite a worsening of production prospects this year", the report says. It forecasts India's rice shipments rising by 500,000 tonnes to a record 47,0000 tonnes in 2003, "assuming no major crop shortfall during the current season". The Indian state trading agency's decision to raise sale prices of paddy from August one is "unlikely to hinder export performance, since quotations will still remain very competitive", the FAO says. Expressing similar optimism, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Yadav told PTI that neither wheat nor rice exports would be adversely affected due to drought as Government has sufficient buffer stocks to meet any additional demand that may arise in the face of possible shortfall in production. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EU mission meets with Myanmar
ethnic leaders
Sun Sep 8, 9:19 AM ET By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press Writer YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar ethnic minority leaders met Sunday with a European Union delegation to call for the release of political prisoners and the convening of a national parliament, a local politician said. The E.U. team arrived earlier Sunday for its first visit to the military-ruled country since the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest in May. The mission met with representatives from eight ethnic groups in two separate meetings Sunday evening, according to Dr. Saw Mra Aung, chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy, an unregistered political party. He said members of the Shan, Rakine and Mon ethnic groups told the four-member E.U. team that they were striving for political reconciliation, the release of political prisoners and the revival of banned political parties. They also demanded the convening of a national parliament based on the results of a disputed vote in 1990. That year Myanmar's military junta called elections but annulled them after they were swept by Suu Kyi's opposition party, the National League for Democracy. The E.U. team was also expected to meet with Suu Kyi and members of her party during the three-day visit, aimed at promoting political reconciliation in Myanmar, also known as Burma. It also plans to meet with the junta's No. 3 leader, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt. The European Union has been one of the strongest critics of the junta and maintains tight restrictions on members of the regime traveling in Europe. But it supports reconciliation talks the regime began with Suu Kyi in October 2000. The talks led in May this year to Suu Kyi's release after 19 months of house arrest. The government has also eased restrictions on her party and freed about 300 political prisoners. But the two sides have yet to hold discussions about the country's political future. The European Union last sent a team to Myanmar in March. The mission is led by Carsten Nilaus Pederson, regional director at the Danish Foreign Ministry. The other members are two E.U. officials and the first secretary of the Greek Embassy in Bangkok. Greece will take over the E.U. presidency in January. Myanmar's junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Four Myanmar workers killed as
fishing trawler capsizes
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Thai rescue workers on Monday hauled up a fishing trawler that had capsized at sea and recovered the bodies of four fishermen from Myanmar trapped in the engine room, police said. The trawler with nine crew on board capsized early Saturday during a storm in the Thai Gulf off the southern coast of Surathani province, police Lt. Col. Somporn Leelapeerapong told The Associated Press. Five crewmen escaped and were rescued by passing trawlers, while four workers from Myanmar remained trapped in the boat, he said. The names and hometowns of the deceased were not immediately available. Surathani is about 530 kilometers (330 miles) south of Bangkok. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar offers mining rights to
foreign companies
Xinhuanet 2002-09-09
11:07:08
YANGON, Sept. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar has offered some mining rights to foreign companies conducting mineral exploration in the country, aiming at attracting more foreign investment for the development of its extensive mineral resources. The offer includes extension of the prospecting period from five to seven years and rights to claim the cost of exploration and feasibility study from any future joint venture with the government, Monday's Myanmar Times quoted sources at the Ministry of Mines as saying. The offer came after the ministry announced an invitation to foreign companies in late last month to bid for the fourth round of mineral exploration in 42 blocks in the country's Kachin, Shan, Sagaing and Mandalay states and divisions where gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver, platinum, tin and tungsten are prospective. Each of the 42 blocks covers an area of 700 square kilometers. The ministry anticipates that the mineral prospecting would result in the production of geological maps eventually covering the entire nation which are at present 70 percent compared with 100 percent in most countries. The ministry also expects other benefits of introducing new technology, creating more job opportunities and earning more foreign exchange through the exploration without the need for investment by the government. Myanmar has sponsored three rounds of competitive bidding for mineral prospecting and exploration in the country in November 1994, December 1995 and July 1997 respectively. During these three events, a total of 35 blocks were granted to foreign companies. According to official statistics, about a dozen of foreign companies from Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States have been involved in the mineral exploration in Myanmar and foreign contracted investment in the sector has reached 522.5 million US dollars since the country opened to such investment in late 1988. Meanwhile, Myanmar fetches about 100 million dollars a year in royalties from mining operations mainly from the sale of copper, followed by that of lead, zinc, tin and tungsten. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam calls for AIPO active
contribution to regional integration
Xinhuanet 2002-09-09 13:34:42 HANOI, Sept. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam hopes that AIPO would make active contribution to boosting regional integration, especially economic integration, said Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong on Monday morning. Luong made the remarks while addressing at the opening ceremony of the 23rd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO), which is scheduled to conclude on September 13. He said that the 23rd AIPO General Assembly is taking place ata time when the region and the world are undergoing many new developments and complexities. This demands ASEAN countries to make greater efforts to move the ASEAN forward in conformity with its purposes and principles and to create favorable regional and international environment for each member country and the entire ASEAN to firmly advance into the first decades of the new Millennium. Over the past years, all ASEAN countries have made tireless efforts for regional peace and stability through establishing and developing the friendship and good neighborliness within ASEAN andbetween ASEAN members and the rest of the world on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs, mutually beneficial cooperation and settlement of differences and disputes through peaceful negotiations, Luong added. However, he said, there remain destabilizing factors in the region. In addition, security problems, namely terrorism, drugs, women and children trafficking, piracy, etc., tend to rise, threatening regional security and stability and negatively affecting socio-economic development and people's life. " In response to those challenges, we should reinforce our unityand cooperation within ASEAN and between ASEAN and the rest of theworld on the basis of mutual understanding, trust and respect. This is the optimal means to safeguard regional peace and stability conducive for prosperous development," Luong noted. As legislatures, member parliaments and entire AIPO have an extremely important voice and position in the common efforts. Thisis one of the major themes in the agenda of this General Assembly,Luong said. The eight AIPO member countries are Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Brunei and Myanmar, the other two ASEAN members, are special observers of AIPO. The AIPO presidency is assumed by each member country in rotation every year. Vietnam has been the AIPO president country since the 22nd AIPO General Assembly held in Thailand last September. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BBC -Monday, 9
September, 2002, 09:57 GMT 10:57 UK
EU gauges Burma's progress The first European Union delegation to Burma since opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released in May has been holding talks in the capital Rangoon. In the course of the three day visit the delegates are scheduled to meet government ministers, including the military intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt and Aung San Suu Kyi. On Sunday they met with ethnic minority leaders who called for the release of political prisoners and the setting up of a national parliament, a local politician reported. The visit by the four-member EU team is aimed at promoting political reconciliation within Burma. The junta has not held substantive talks with Aung San Suu Kyi since her release. Calls for parliament The mission includes senior diplomats from Denmark, which holds the current EU presidency, Greece, next in line to take over the presidency, and the European Commission. In two separate meetings on Sunday the delegates met representatives from eight ethnic groups, said Dr Saw Mra Aung, chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy, an unregistered political party. Members of the Shan, Rakine and Mon ethnic groups told the delegates that they supported political reconciliation, the release of political prisoners and the revival of banned political parties. They are also striving for the convening of a national parliament based on the results of the disputed election in 1990. The BBC's Burma analyst, Larry Jagan, said that the EU officials are not optimistic that this latest mission to Rangoon will produce any serious concessions from the military junta. But it will give the senior European diplomats an opportunity to assess what progress has been made in Burma, since Aung San Suu Kyi was released. The EU team will be urging the generals to release all the country's political prisoners as soon as possible, and to start substantive political talks with the opposition leader. The EU maintains stringent restrictions on Burma and correspondents say the meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi will be instrumental in deciding whether they need to relax their isolation of Rangoon in the near future. But the military authorities will have to prove their commitment to political change with concrete actions, not just promises, a senior EU official told the BBC. The very minimum, he said, would be a meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and a senior general to discuss a tentative agenda for political talks. Only then would the EU seriously consider changing its common position on Burma. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Nation
FRIENDLY TEXTBOOK: It's the same old history - teachers Ramon Ruaysaen Published on Sep 9, 2002 A new Thai history textbook that seeks to portray neighbouring countries in a friendly light has been labelled "propaganda material" and needs to be re-edited because it still might cause offence to some countries in the region. Several teachers who have read the draft of the book, "Analytical History", said a section dealing with the Ayutthaya Kingdom during the reign of King Naresuan - the Thai king who liberated Ayutthaya from the Burmese - portrays Burma in a negative way. They say this will create more tension between Rangoon and Bangkok rather than - as the authors intend - repairing ill feeling between the neighbours. "There is nothing in it that's different from history textbooks we already have. It's just as conventional," said Sawaeng Mala-saem, a history teacher from Chiang Mai. The book has been sent to about 240 history teachers in primary and secondary schools around the country for comments. Commissioned by the Rangoon-based Seameo Regional Centre for History and Tradition (Seameo-Chat), the book is part of a 10-book project in which members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations write histories of their countries in an effort to foster better understanding between them. Seameo is the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation, comprising educational organisations from the 10 Asean members. Education Minister Suwit Khunkitti is its current president. Under the Seameo project, Burmese historians are also writing a version of their hsitory, said Ravivan Pakprot, a member of the project's working group. Ravivan said that several points in "Analytical History" would be revised as they mentioned events in history without reference to primary sources. "We need a factual history textbook, not propaganda material," she said. Thai students would get the chance to read the Burmese version of relations between the two countries at a later stage. When completed the Thai book will be translated into English and exchanged with history books written by the other the Asean members. The 10 books in the series will be recommended as additional reading for secondary school students. Somsong Pithakpiset a teacher at Rattanarat Bamrung School said the Thai book is more of a narrative history than an analytical one as it claimed. "But I will still recommend to my students that they read it," she said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shan Herald Agency for News. - No: 09 - 02:
9 September 2002 Drug Watch Business as usual, only a little unusual Sources have confirmed that drug activities are returning to normal a few months after the Wa leadership, prodded by Rangoon, issued a statement banning drugs on 26 March. "The difference, according to Chaw-Ching (a.k.a U Myint Chay of Mongton, a drug fugitive from Thailand) is that the small hands (meaning small fish) will be facing tougher actions from the military government so to help boost its credibility among nations," said a source coming across the border recently. "The big hands", he continued, "on the other hand, will receive protection so they can go on financing the government." The information is supported by several sources. One unconfirmed report indicates the change of policy came from Rangoon's Number Three strongman, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt himself. Sources also claimed "small planes" were visiting Mongton's Infantry Battalion 65 Command post once or twice each month to pick up drugs manufactured in the area by Wa and Chinese operators. "We are not sure under whose order the planes are flying," said the same source. "We were told only that the goods, after reaching Rangoon, are being shipped away to other countries." IB 65 is well acquainted with all long-serving Thai border watchers for its "up to the neck" involvement in drug activities. "Only trusted officers are appointed to command the battalion," said another source, "because his other responsibility is to head the drug cartel there." The current commander is Lt-Col Hla Myint. According to several sources, Chaw Ching serves as the principal sales agent in the area. Transport security along motor-road is handled by the military while the Wa are held responsible for security off the roads. The profit from the sales are shared equally between the two. Apart from Chaw Ching, a familiar figure appears to be Captain Han Sein, IB 65's Company 1 commander. "He is the one entrusted to visit the refineries," said the first source. "He was seen on 28 August to pick up 300 blocks of heroin from Hwe Khailong, northwest of Mongton and unload them at the warehouse in the 65th's compound. Every time he goes out and returns with a consignment of drugs, you can bet a small aircraft from Rangoon will be visiting soon." The aircraft was to arrive on 7-8 September, according to an unconfirmed report. Rangoon, meanwhile, is adamant that it is serious about drug eradication. The United Nation's recent report also agreed that opium output had decreased during the past few years, although farmers say the decline is due to the adverse weather conditions rather than the government's suppression efforts. India worries of growing illegal trade across
Burma border Guwahati, September 8, 2002 Mizzima News The Indian authorities have taken a serious note over increasing illegal trade volume across Indo-Burma border. According to an estimate, India's informal trade with Burma has been estimated at Rs. 2,000 crore, which is well over 10 times of the officially reported trade with Burma. Despite strict vigilance of Customs and other Indian departments along the international border, some traders of both countries are learnt to have adopted secret tactics of trading illegally across the border. The available data show that during the last couple of years, the Customs and other agencies in India have made several seizures along the Indo-Burma border amounting to Rs. 149 crores. The seizures include Burmese currency notes, narcotics, pharmaceutical drug, electronic goods and synthetic fabrics. The India Commerce Ministry sources told Mizzima correspondent that one of the main areas of differences between India and Burma is over the inclusion of "third country" goods in the list of commodities approved by both for trading. Under the 1994 border trade agreement signed between India and Burma, 22 items are identified for exchange by residents living along the border between India and Burma. These 22 items are: Mustard /Rape seed, Pulses and Beans, Fresh Vegetables, Fruits, Garlic, Onion, Chillies, Spices (excluding nutmeg, vace, cloves, cassia), Bamboo, Minor forest products excluding Teak, Food items for local consumption, Tobacco, Tomato, Reed Broom, Sesame, Resin, Corriander Seeds, Soyabean, Roasted Sunflower Seeds, Katha, Ginger. However, out of 22 items identified as exchangeable items, it is learnt that only 12 items are practically viable for import and export across the border. |