BANGKOK (Dow Jones)--Thailand's Nawarat Patanakarn PCL (H.NAW), a
construction firm, said Tuesday it will invest around 3 million baht
($1=THB37.836) to set up a wholly-owned unit in Myanmar to expand its
construction business.
U.S.: Workers Rights Lag in Myanmar
WASHINGTON (AP) - Forced labor, including child labor, are widespread in
Myanmar, and the government ignores workers' rights, the U.S. Labor Department
said in a report Monday.
The report, required by Congress, updates a 1998 review of labor conditions
in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which reached similar conclusions.
Based on findings of the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, the report says forced
labor is used to construct roads, dikes, canals and projects to support tourism,
military operations and commercial ventures of the military.
``The latest report on labor practices in Burma reinforces our position that
the international community must continue to push for a democratic transition in
that country,'' Labor Secretary Alexis Herman said in a statement accompanying
the report.
Bangkok Post, 14 March
2000
Global pressure on Burma junta
urged
Safe return of war refugees
sought
Cheewin Sattha, Mae Hong Son
The deputy foreign minister has urged the
international community to help pressure Rangoon into taking back war
refugees.
M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra said all countries should "set conditions"
demanding that Burma welcome Burmese refugees staying in other countries back
home.
Every nation should take action to ensure these refugees can return to Burma
safely and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees could play a
leading role in tackling refugee-related problems in Burma, the deputy minister
said.
The Democrat MP said Rangoon was ready to allow Burmese refugees to return
but did not want any outside agencies to monitor post-repatriation procedures in
Burma.
Thailand remains firm in its policy to offer humanitarian assistance to Karen
refugees in this country and hopes the UNHCR will be allowed to work in Burma
soon.
There are more than 200,000 Karen refugees along the Thai-Burmese border and
some 35,000 others in Mae Hong Son.
Yesterday, M.R. Sukhumbhand led diplomats from 21 countries on a tour of a
temporary shelter for Karen refugees in Ban Mai Nai Soi, Muang district of Mae
Hong Son.
The trip was part of the Foreign Affairs Ministry's programme to better
inform foreign envoys about Thailand's refugee problem.
Meanwhile, a military intelligence source said some 60 Burmese soldiers have
been sent to border areas of Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi to spy on and hunt for
anti-Rangoon minority rebel leaders.
Rangoon had ordered the deployment of the 60-member military special task
force to sneak into refugee camps and Karen villages along the border in
Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi, to look for Burmese minority rebels, the source
said.
These soldiers have also been assigned to gather information about Karen and
Mon leaders and the Thai government's policies towards Rangoon, the source
added.
Sangkhla Buri district chief Vicharn Jariyavejwatana said this information
has prompted the district to request a 1.9-million-baht budget from the Interior
Ministry and the UNHCR to construct a fence at Ban Ton Yang refugee camp to
ensure security.
At present the camp, which houses more than 3,000 Burmese refugees, has a
shortage of staff, with only 16 district defence volunteers assigned to the
camp.
According to the district chief, the military's list included 1,442 Burmese
refugees for a transfer from Ban Bor Wee shelter in Suan Phung district of
Ratchaburi, to the Ban Ton Yang refugee camp.
But only 1,435 of them have arrived. The matter is being looked
into.