Junta's assistance essential
Kachadpai:We can't fight drugs unaided
Subin Khuenkaew
Burmese participation is essential in any moves to solve the problems of drug trafficking and refugees, the National Security Council secretary-general said yesterday.
Kachadpai Burusphat said for drug suppression to be effective it is necessary to urgently declare Tak, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, which border Burma, a special area under a special administrative centre.
The centre should operate under the restructured Internal Security Operations Command, which begins its new drug suppression role today.
"Despite the best efforts of authorities, the drug problem has been only partly solved. We need to strengthen the villages along the border," Mr Kachadpai told a seminar of northern government officials on the promotion of relations between Thailand and Burma.
There were 11 camps in Thailand holding more than 100,00 Burmese refugees, Mr Kadchadpai said.
Their presence affected national security and caused Burma to look on Thailand with suspicion.
"We need Burma's serious participation if we are to solve this problem. "We hope the refugees will all be repatriated to their homeland within three years," he said. Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, the Third Army commander, said the Isoc board will meet on April 5 for the first time since it was restructured to concentrate on suppression of narcotics instead of communism.
Angling for a viable solution to
fishing
Agriculture and Co-operatives Minister Pongpol
Adireksarn returned empty-handed from a recent visit to Burma, where he held
talks with his Burmese counterpart to convince Rangoon to reopen its waters to
Thai fishing. Instead of giving him an outright "no" to the plea for resumption
of fishing rights, Rangoon simply said it had yet to settle internal problems
with its local authorities. Whether or not the reason cited by Rangoon was the actual and only cause of
the objection to the reopening of Burmese waters to Thai fishermen, problems do
exist between the central government and local authorities. Thai fishing
operators who had won concessions to fish in Burma used to complain that they
were made to pay under the table to local Burmese authorities as well. Illegal
taxes were also charged by some rebel groups operating in the sea. On the other hand, however, Burmese authorities have viewed Thai fishermen
with mistrust for being tricky and dishonest. And they are not far off the mark
for their negative assessment of the Thai fishermen, given the fact many have
been caught fishing illegally. One widely-used trick is to duplicate the fishing
licences granted by Rangoon or to send in more fishing vessels than the number
permitted. It was reported that Rangoon perhaps wants to develop its own fishing fleet
and thus has refused to reopen its waters to the well-equipped and more
experienced Thai fishermen. The report further said that both Singapore and China had expressed interest
in buying the catches directly from Burma. Frankly speaking, it sounds economically and environmentally sound for Burma
to preserve its resource-rich waters for its own fishing fleet instead of
letting in foreign fishermen to wipe out its fish stocks in return for dismal
royalties. Although its existing fleet is small and obsolete, Burma, over the
years, will be able to modernise and expand its fishing fleet. Despite the failure of the Burma visit, the agriculture minister is not
discouraged. He is planning visits in the near future to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
and Maldives to explore the possibility of Thai fishing joint ventures with
these countries. Whether his efforts will bear fruit remains to be seen. But under the prevailing uncertainty about the prospect of Thai fishing boats
ever being allowed back into Burmese waters or into other countries, it is
imperative that the Agriculture and Co-operatives Ministry gets down to serious
discussions with the Thai Fisheries Association to substantially reduce the
oversized Thai fishing fleet. To begin, the ministry must know how many fishing boats there are in this
country. The building of new fishing vessels, even for deep-sea fishing, should
be discouraged. Incentives or government subsidies should be provided to
encourage fishing operators to switch to other trades and occupations. A vessel
buy-back scheme should be considered. More importantly, they must be told that it is becoming more and more
difficult for coastal countries to open up their waters to fishing by foreign
vessels. After all, fishing is a sunset industry which does not have a long-term
future. The reality is that there are simply too many vessels chasing after
shrinking fish stocks. Lately, there has been an increase in the incidence of territorial clashes
between traditional or small fishermen who make a living from fishing near the
coastline, and operators of big fishing vessels desperate to recoup their
investments after having being turned away from neighbouring countries. Unless
fishing overcapacity is trimmed to manageable levels, fishing conflicts are
likely to turn more ugly as fishermen struggle to chase after the little marine
resources still remaining in our coastal waters. The Nation 1 April, 2000.
NSC to get tough on Burma border smuggling
CHIANG MAI - The National Security Council has announced it will adopt an
"offensive" approach to deal with increasing criminal activity near the
Thai-Burmese border.
It also called on the UNHCR for more help to deal with the growing number of
refugees in the area.
"We will change our approach and handling of the illegal activities operating
across the Thai-Burma border to offensive means. We will no longer use our
present style of being defensive," NSC secretary-general Kajadpai Burutpat said
yesterday.
"We will take drastic action and measures to deal with the problems which
have been on the rise and are using more sophisticated equipment and methods,"
he said.
An NSC study indicated the major causes of trouble in the area were rising
levels of drug smuggling, the growing numbers of Burmese refugees residing in
border camps and Burmese refugees who escaped the camps to seek work illegally
in Thailand, he said.
Kajadpai was speaking at a seminar on the promotion of good relations between
Thailand and Burma.
He said at present Thailand had to support thousands of displaced Burmese who
had lived in the Thai border camps for years. Their presence had caused many
social, health and environment-related problems, he said.
Kajadpai repeated his earlier call for the UN High Commission for Refugees to
give more aid to Thailand to handle the influx of displaced Burmese.
"The commission has to understand the facts we are facing. It should go to
Burma and hold talks with Burma's military junta, so that Burma can take
responsibility for the presence of the Burmese on our territory," he said.
The UNHCR should go to Burma and set up resettlement areas for Burmese
returnees there, instead of waiting for them to flood into Thailand, he said.
The NSC chief also called for more cooperation between Thai authorities to
strengthen efforts against the smuggling of drugs and people across the border.
The Nation BBC-Saturday, 1 April,
2000, 09:34 GMT 10:34 UK Regulations relating to foreigners resident in Japan are being
relaxed from Saturday.
The most significant change is the end of finger-printing, which
many foreigners feel is an infringement of their human rights.
They will also no longer have to register their place of work
and the name of their employer.
All foreigners over the age of 16 who stay for more than a year
in Japan must register as aliens.
Not only is the terminology offensive to some, but the
requirement to give fingerprints makes many people feel they are being treated
like criminals.
Japanese people are not required to give their fingerprints on
official documents.
Administrative offence
Now foreigners too are being allowed to sign their names instead
of inking up their fingers and leaving their mark.
However, they will have to give more information about
themselves, including the names of their parents and whether they are also
living in Japan.
The change will affect about 600,000 people.
At the moment it is a criminal offence not to carry your alien
registration card at all times, but from 1 April, this will be downgraded to an
administrative offence.
The validity of an alien registration card will also be extended
from a period of five to seven years, and foreigners will not have to give
details of where they work.
Foreigners make up just 1.2% of the population in Japan.
While the changes to alien registration may make them feel
slightly more welcome, the penalties regarding illegal immigration have been
strengthened.
Now illegal entry and overstaying a visa have been made separate
offences.
People who are caught and deported will not be allowed back into
Japan for five years, rather than one year at present.