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Yangon, Dhaka agree to repatriate illegal
migrants
DHAKA, May 22 (Reuters) Bangladesh and Myanmar agreed on Thursday
to repatriate illegal migrants from both countries as part of a drive to improve
frosty relations.
''The agreement was reached following three days of
talks between the two neighbours,'' a statement from the Bangladesh Rifles
border guards said, but gave no timeframe.
Government officials said
more than 21,000 Muslims from Myanmar were living in Bangladesh refugee camps,
many of them for more than a decade. Myanmar allowed several hundred to return
home this week as part of efforts to improve relations.
The refugees are
the remnants of about 250,000 Rohingya Muslims who denounced what they said was
persecution by Myanmar's military rulers and fled to Bangladesh in the early
1990s.
Dhaka believes most of them are economic refugees.
Earlier repatriations were carried out under the supervision of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees before Myanmar, which was formerly known as
Burma, stopped the process in 2000.
The statement said both sides also
agreed to resolve disputes on fishing in the Bay of Bengal, stop cross-border
smuggling and tackle other matters through talks to be held at least once every
six months.
Dhaka has recently launched a ''Look East'' policy to
especially improve economic ties with Myanmar, Thailand and China.
The
policy aims to cut Bangladesh's dependence on India and lower Dhaka's $1 billion
annual trade gap with its giant neighbour.
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Hoovers online
GOVERNMENT LOOKS TO MYANMAR FOR NATURAL
GAS
(considering import through pipelines connecting exploration
block in Myanmar to West Bengal)
May 22, 2003 3:19am
The
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India, is considering
import of natural gas through pipelines from Myanmar. GAIL (India) Ltd (GIL) and
ONGC Videsh Ltd jointly acquired 30 percent participating interest in an
exploration block in that country in Jan 2002.
The block is located in
the Arakan offshore region near Bangladesh.
The Ministry is looking at
the option of connecting the block to West Bengal with an offshore pipeline
passing through the exclusive economic zone of Bangladesh. It is also weighing
the option of an inland pipeline across Mizoram, Tripura and Bangladesh to
connect Kolkata.
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Washington File
21 May 2003
Bush
Tells Congress Crisis Between U.S. and Burma Remains
(Letter cites
Burmese government's large-scale oppression) (320)
Following is
the text of President Bush's message to the House of Representatives on Burma
from the May 19 Congressional Record:
(begin text)
CONTINUATION OF
NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO BURMA MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
House
of Representatives
May 19, 2003
The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before
the House the following message from the President of the United States; which
was read and, together with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred
to the Committee on International Relations and ordered to be printed:
To
the Congress of the United States:
Section 202(d) of the National
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a
national emergency unless, prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the
President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a
notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the
anniversary date. I have sent the enclosed notice, stating that the Burma
emergency is to continue beyond May 20, 2003, to the Federal Register for
publication. The most recent notice continuing this emergency was published in
the Federal Register on May 17, 2002.
The crisis between the United
States and Burma that led to the declaration of a national emergency on May 20,
1997, has not been resolved. The actions and policies of the Government of
Burma, including its policies of committing large-scale repression of the
democratic opposition in Burma, are hostile to U.S. interests and pose a
continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign
policy of the United States. For this reason, I have determined that it is
necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma and maintain
in force the sanctions against Burma to respond to this threat.
George W.
Bush
The White House, May 16, 2003
(end text)
(Distributed
by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.
Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date :
2003-05-22
Army chief says Tachilek explosions will cement
Thai-Myanmar relations
Bangkok, May 22, (TNA): The Army
Chief of Staff today remained defiant in the face of a series of explosions that
rocked the Myanmar border town of Tachilek yesterday morning, indicating that
the bombs would serve to cement rather than destroy relations between Thailand
and Myanmar, while pledging Thailandâ??s full assistance to the Myanmar
authorities.
Gen Somthat Attanan refused to pinpoint the cause of the
explosions in Tachilek, which killed at least two people, but said that the
incidents would lead to greater cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar in
preventing such incidents in the future.
He speculated that the
explosions may have stemmed from groups who were dissatisfied with joint
Thai-Myanmar campaigns against the border drug trade
â??The cause probably
comes from people with vested interests, as they have witnessed the good
cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar in solving drug problems. Itâ??s also
possible that this is the same group that has threatened Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatraâ??, he said, adding that the deputy chief of staff had ordered that the
situation be monitored.
Gen Somthat also said that the Thai army was
ready to help Myanmar as soon as it requested assistance.
Prime Minister
Thaksin meanwhile blamed the explosions on minority groups fighting among
themselves, saying that the relationship between the Thai and Myanmar
governments was too close for anyone to try to disrupt it.
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Asian Tribune
Date :
2003-05-22
Official Harassment Fails to Dampen Crowd Enthusiasm in
welcoming Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Bangkok, May 22: The
National League for Democracy (NLD) headed byhas been continuing its efforts to
reconsolidate its party ranks, restructure the party, and reopen its regional
offices. Travels by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to different regions have been part of
this overall plan to strengthen the party, left weakened by years of
persecution, harassment, and imprisonment of NLD members by the
military.
The tours undertaken by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which have
covered almost all the regions except a few, have often been described as "more
successful than anticipated" by the NLD spokesperson. Many NLD township offices
have now been reopened and even though not all of them are functioning at their
full capacity, there has nevertheless been a resurgence of support for the NLD
among the grassroots.
Thousands of jubilant supporters have been turning
out to greet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as she traveled to different regions. Scenes
of crowds gathering in support of Daw Aung San Kyi as she traveled to different
regions have become a common phenomena . Such scenes depicting crowds gathering
in support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi do not seems to be an important event for a
casual observer, but the extent the people had to go through to support her in
public, involved a lot of courage and personal risks. This is because under
instructions from the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), local
authorities have been threatening people not to welcome Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi.
According to AFP, Brigadier General Than Tun admitted this on 10 May
when he said the junta has ordered democracy supporters not to gather in large
numbers to welcome Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on her political trips. The general
said, "For the sake of security and stability, all we have done was to ask
(supporters) to refrain from coming out in big numbers, shouting and carrying
placards to welcome her to the city or town...They can gather at their
respective party offices all they want...We are not preventing them from
welcoming her in small groups of a dozen or so on her arrival anywhere." He also
dismissed as "misunderstandings" the several complaints of harassment he said
have already been lodged during Aung San Suu Kyi's current month-long trip to
northernmost Kachin State.
However, despite the general's denial, a
message from Mabein authorities sent to higher officials about the plan to
disrupt Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's tour shows that the interference are deliberate
and malicious. The message says:
"All routes which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
can use to enter into Mabein will be monitored.â??
Authorities are "to
contact hardcore USDA members in the region and carry out organizational work in
the field to ensure that villagers along the route will not be able to welcome
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi en masse or elaborately in ethnic nationality dresses and
with festive drum music."
Local USDA will ensure that when the NLD
entourage enters Mabein, "it will not be able to hold a mass meeting at the
Prayer Hall, south of the Myoma Monastery. To achieve that, local people will be
summoned to take part in the Nawng Inn Dam renovation activity with the
objective of planting Sin Shweli monsoon paddy. In addition, five to six trucks
from the Mabein Region Timber Department will be parked and moved about in the
field near that Prayer Hall."
"To ensure that the local NLD Office
cannot rent sound boxes and amplifiers, the sound equipment in Mabein will be
taken over and placed in the USDA Township office."
"The NLD intends to
open an office at the residence of Daw Mae Ma at No. 1/52, Ward No. 1, Mabein.
To ensure that the people will not meet around that house when Daw Suu Kyi
comes, the plan is to use loudspeakers calling on people to help repair the
Phayagon religious school and clean the monastery compound."
"To make
sure that Daw Suu Kyi does not meet and pay respects to the elderly monks, all
these senior monks will be invited to recite and chant prayers in one
location."
"To make sure that there is not a lot of people around when
Daw Suu Kyi comes, SARS lectures will be organized for the people in the town
after consultation with the township medical superintendent."
In Mong
Mit, the local USDA officials are ordered "to ensure that people do not gather
en masse, and that 10 USDA members each are to be posted at the two street
corners leading to the residence of the NLD chairman to keep watch and
discourage the people from entering the street. Uniform-clad personnel will show
force by holding placards displaying the 'Four Political
Objectivesâ??."
Despite the harassment, thousands of people have come out
to greet her everywhere she went. In Mogaung, residents who were banned from
driving cars and motorcycles on the road while Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was there,
crammed the roads with their vehicles. One resident said it was crowded and
"very difficult to get close to Daw Suu and I had to look at her from afar... I
couldn't hear her also because the authorities did not allow her to use the
amplifier and microphone."
Despite warnings from the authorities, "more
than 10,000 people" from areas around Lon King came out to greet her, chanting,
"May our mother be healthy!" In Phakant, a resident said, "People dressed in
Kachin national dress and uniforms showered her with flowers and many people
welcomed her, some with cars waiting in line."
In Mandalay, she was
mobbed by cheering monks and in and around Shwebo, large crowds gathered "even
though the people in those villages and Shwebo were warned by the authorities
not to form a big crowd to receive her," said U Lwin. Late last year in Rakhine
state, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi climbed aboard a fire engine to prevent it from
dispersing a crowd of 20,000 people with high-pressure hoses.
"It would
take more than threats to dampen the enthusiasm and support of the people for
our leader," said a monk in Mandalay.
- NCGUB Information Unit -
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Asian Tribune
Date :
2003-05-22
Shan rebels deny bombing of Tachilek - inside
Burma.
Bangkok, May 21: Shan rebels denies that they were
not involved in the bombing incidents reported around Tachilek, inside
Burma.
Soon after four bombs exploded in and near Tachilek late last
night and this morning, commanders of the Shan State Army turned out to disclaim
suggestions as to their involvement.
According to Shan Herald Agency for
News (SHAN):
The first bomb reportedly blew up at 22:00 last night,
killing two policemen in the Pakook police box, 6 miles east of the
town.
The second went up at 03:15 this morning near the Myanmar Petroleum
Production Enterprise (MPPE) gas station in Paliang ward, east of the Maekhao, a
tributary of the Maesai, killing a civilian. "His disconnected remains were
already wrapped up in a bag, when we went to look in the morning", said a
long-time resident.
The third explosion was at the King Bayintnaung
statue at the center of the city at 06:45. "The blast was such all windowpanes
from a third-story building were smashed to pieces," informed another
resident.
The fourth bomb that discharged at 08:20 blew away a worker at
the newly set up electricity plant near the Regina Hotel. The plant was owned by
U Tar Wai, an ethnic Chinese with connections to the Wa, said the source.
Furthermore, many fingers on the Thai side pointed at first at the Shan
State Army "South" of Col. Yawdserk who was celebrating the Shan State's 45th
Resistance Day at the Doi Taileng stronghold across Maehongson Province. "He
might want to make this day his day", quipped an officer.
Contacted by
S.H.A.N. both Lt-Col Kawnzuen, Commander of the SSA's Kengtung Front, and Col.
Yawdserk himself rejected that they had anything to do with the
bombings.
"We could have done it if we wanted to, when Gen Khin Nyunt was
here (on 19 May, two days earlier)," explained Kawnzuen. "But we didn't. Today
is also an auspicious day for us. We would never think of tarnishing it." As for
Yawdserk, his response was: "This is a day to make merits (Boon), not to commit
sin (Barp). We are making merits for our people who had given up their lives for
freedom and have been extending them to all living beings. We are not
terrorists. We do not engage in such rascally acts. But the SPDC (the ruling
military leadership) has enemies both within and without, not just myself."
Thai security officials, after consultation among themselves, gave their
preliminary conclusions as follows: The SSA''s denial has some substance.
ï?· It had been pressured by the Thai government not to do anything that
would disrupt the Bangkok mediation process.
ï?· They did not believe the
SSA had the capacity to launch coordinated bomb attacks in the same town
especially Tachilek.
A cross border operation by any foreign force,
including Thai, was also out of the question.
ï?· Attack on heavily guarded
targets like Bayintnaung statue is not "a piece of cake, without cooperation by
those who are guarding it."
ï?· An escape route is almost always important
for an attacking force. "I don't know how I can get away after bombing, say, the
gas station, because my flight is being blocked by not only the Maesai but also
the Maekhao," commented one.
Accordingly, the initial deduction was that
"the culprits are from Burma's side."
ï?· Some officers among the Burma
army are against "getting too chummy with the Yodaya" (a derogatory term for
Thailand). Not a few might even want to discredit Gen Khin Nyunt for his
congenial stance towards Bangkok.
ï?· Many also want to downgrade the Shans
as terrorists, thereby justifying a termination of Thai mediation
efforts.
However, the border will not be closed despite the attacks,
according to Thai officials in Maesai. "People are still allowed by the Burmese
immigration to cross the border," said a military officer with the rank of
major. "Only they are not allowed to carry things."
3-400 children from
Tachilek are attending school in Maesai.
- Shan Herald Agency for News -
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