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The Nation -May 29,
2000.
EU turning up the heat on
Burmese leadership
THE European Union last week published for the first time
the list of Burmese leaders, including their family members, banned from
entering the 15-member community to strengthen sanctions previously issued
against the junta-led country, an EU source confirmed in Bangkok yesterday.
The list, issued on Wednesday, contains 140 names of
high-ranking Burmese officials, including all members of the ruling State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) as well as its three most powerful members,
chairman General Than Shwe, vice chairman Maung Aye and first secretary Khint
Nyunt.
The list contains all cabinet members, including Foreign
Minister U Win Aung, Minister of Industry U Aung Thanung and Minister for
Economic Development U Soe Tha. It also covers all former cabinet members,
former military commanders and all former members of the State Law Order and
Restoration Council (Slorc), the predecessor of the SPDC.
Coupled with the list, the EU also issued a regulation,
dated May 22, to freeze the assets in the EU of all those blacklisted and to ban
EU exports to Burma of equipment that could be used for internal repression and
terrorism, the source said.
The regulation will be in effect until October 26 when the
EU conducts a six-month review of the sanctions and the political situation in
Burma.
According to the source, the new regulation and the
publication of the list are new elements to reinforce existing EU sanctions
against Burma, which centre on visa bans and bans on high-level meetings between
EU countries and Burma.
"In the past we were open to public interpretation over
who among the Burmese officials were on the EU blacklist," the source said.
The union's political and economic sanctions on Burma have
affected Asean-EU relations, especially since Burma was admitted as an Asean
member in 1997.
An Asean-EU ministerial meeting was suspended in 1998 when
the EU broke off contacts with Burma. The meeting was to be held in a European
country, but the EU banned Burmese officials from entering EU countries. Asean
insists Burma, as one of its members, has the right to attend European-based
meetings. The EU countered that Burma's right to attend such meetings was not
automatic as an Asean member since it had not yet signed a 1980 Asean-EU
economic-cooperation agreement.
The sanctions will, however, not affect Asean-EU meetings
that take place in an Asean member country, since the Burmese are not banned
from joint meetings that occur within the region.
According to the source, EU countries would like to
reactivate the meetings to resume cooperation between the two regions on
economic and non-economic issues.
BY JEERAPORN CHAISRI
The Nation Monday, May 29 2:56 PM SGT
"Sudden illness" leads Myanmar's leader to postpone rare foreign visit BANGKOK, May 29 (AFP) - The supreme leader of Myanmar's secretive military junta Senior General
Than Shwe has been forced to postpone a rare foreign visit, his government
confirmed Monday, after suffering a "sudden illness."
Bangladesh's top diplomat, C.M. Shafi Sami, said Sunday in Dhaka the change
of plan was due to Than Shwe's "sudden illness," adding he had been "advised by
his physicians to take a complete rest."
A Yangon government spokesman Monday confirmed Than Shwe's visit had been
postponed "due to the medical recommendation given by his physician."
Than Shwe, who is military commander in chief, prime minister and defence
minister, would have been the first top leader from Myanmar to visit since
Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Myanmar was among the first countries to recognise the new state.
Myanmar and Bangladesh had planned to discuss issues include the
demarcation of a sea boundary, opening road and shipping links, expanding
bilateral trade and combating armed groups operating on their common
border.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad had said: "This visit is very
important from different sides."
The military has been in control of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in
various guises since 1962.
It is accused of a host of human rights violations including forced labor,
torture and restrictions on the press and on freedom of movement.
Myanmar junta chief Senior General Than Shwe's visit to Bangladesh had been
designed to highlight Yangon's growing ties with Dhaka, part of a policy of
"constructive engagement" by Bangladesh.
Ties between the neigboring states have improved as Myanmar has in recent
years repatriated the majority of the 250,000 Rohyngya Muslims in Myanmar back
to Bangladesh.
More than 20,000 of the Muslims still live in Myanmar refugee camps,
however, and the Rohyngya situation continues to be monitored by both countries
and international non-governmental organizations.
Dhaka leaders have argued they see no contradiction between Bangladesh's
ties with Yangon and their support for the pro-democracy campaign in Myanmar,
saying it is necessary to retain good relations with neighbors.
But Myanmar's dissident groups Monday said in a statement they were
"disheartened" that Bangladesh, a country "who loves democracy," had invited
Than Shwe, "who does not represent the Myanmar people."
"We hope that you recall how Bangladeshi people suffered miseries under the
tyrannical rule of Pakistani military dictators," they said.
"Have sympathy for the Myanmar people who are suffering."
Myanmar is the only country apart from India to border Bangladesh.
Both states are members of new regional grouping BIMSTEC -- Economic
Cooperation among Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Monday, May 29 1:44 PM SGT
Myanmar Leader's Visit To Bangladesh PostponedYANGON, Myanmar (AP)--A three-day goodwill visit by the chief of Myanmar's ruling military council to Bangladesh due to start Monday has been postponed because of bad weather, Myanmar officials said.The trip by Senior General Than Shwe, prime minister and chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, had been "postponed temporarily," according to a brief announcement in the state Myanmar Alin newspaper Monday. "The visit was postponed due to inclement weather in Bangladesh," said a Myanmar official on customary condition of anonymity. It wasn't yet clear when it would now take place. The Bangladeshi capital Dhaka was lashed by torrential rains and strong winds at the weekend, killing 11 people and injuring several others in a city slum. The visit to Bangladesh would have been a rare official visit for the Myanmar leader outside Southeast Asia. He had been expected to discuss the over 20,000 Muslim refugees from Myanmar sheltering in Bangladesh. South China Morning Post - Monday, May
29, 2000 The Japan Times: Saturday, May 27,
2000
EDITORIAL Myanmar's lost
decade
Ten years ago today, Myanmar had a brief taste of democracy. It was a heady
experience: Prodemocracy activists decisively rejected the military junta that
had ruled for 28 years. Stunned, the cabal then rejected that verdict,
imprisoned its opponents and shut down the country. And so things stand today.
The military holds the country in a vicelike grip, refusing to compromise,
determined to stay in power no matter what the cost. And the cost grows higher
with every passing day.
The military first seized power in 1962, ending the brief period of
democratic rule that had begun when the country won its independence from
Britain in 1948. Violent protest brought that junta down in 1988, but it was
replaced by another generation of generals. Efforts to restore order failed, and
in a bid to gain international legitimacy -- and confident that the military
would win -- elections were held in 1990.
The results were unequivocal. Nearly three-quarters of the voters turned
out to reject the junta. Instead, the prodemocracy National League for Democracy
won 392 of the 485 parliamentary seats. The military-sponsored National United
Party won just 10 places.
The military may have been stunned, but it wasted no time in overturning
the results. Mass arrests of NLD leaders followed. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi,
daughter of independence leader Aung San and head of the prodemocracy movement,
was put under house arrest until 1995. Her unwavering commitment to democracy
and to a peaceful transition of power in Myanmar won her the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize and the junta's unwavering hostility.
The government in Myanmar is easy to dislike. Its rejection of democracy,
its corruption and its brutal violations of human rights have made it a pariah
state. But geopolitical considerations -- notably fear that Myanmar would fall
under China's influence -- obliged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to
offer membership. In addition, ASEAN governments, as well as Japan, have tried
to engage Myanmar's leaders in an attempt to moderate their behavior. They have
had little effect.
The military has not wavered. It still refuses to speak with Ms. Suu Kyi
and considers her a traitor for calling upon foreign governments to isolate the
junta. It continues to pressure NLD members to leave the party. It is steadfast
in its belief that only it can speak for the nation. The government, now named
the State Peace and Development Council (although it offers neither peace nor
development), demands that the Parliament convene to ratify a constitution that
would legitimate military rule. Reportedly, the document is modeled after the
one that propped up the Suharto regime in Indonesia. That alone should speak for
its merit.
The bitter fruits of this lost decade will last long beyond the junta that
squandered Myanmar's riches. Burma was one of the richest countries in Asia;
Myanmar is one of the poorest. In addition to the lost economic opportunities,
the corruption and the poverty, the leadership's fear of unrest has forced it to
virtually close down the country's educational system. Unrest has typically
taken root in the universities; to cut off the possibility of future protest,
these have been closed on a sporadic basis since the summer of 1988. The
government bans large gatherings. That makes classes difficult. Two-thirds of
students attend only correspondence courses.
Just as damaging is the loss of democratic values. Although the military
has ruled Myanmar since 1962, for a 14-year span before that the country enjoyed
a parliamentary democracy. That experience is a distant memory now.
The military hopes that its obstinacy will wear out its opponents at home
and abroad. But neither seems to be weakening. This week, the International
Labor Organization sent a delegation to the country after an investigation found
the government had resorted to forced labor or "modern-day slavery." There are
reports that up to 800,000 Myanmar citizens have been conscripted for forced
labor with little or no pay.
After the ILO threatened to urge condemnation at its annual conference this
month, the junta agreed to talks with ILO representatives. The Japanese
government, which recently offered Yangon an aid package, said it would support
the government in Yangon if the junta continued a dialogue with the ILO to avoid
possible sanctions.
But the government followed that move with another to show its true
intentions. There are reports of a new crackdown against the opposition: Several
dozen prodemocracy activists have been arrested, as well as a number of monks
who were protesting the junta. If the government hopes that it will outlast its
opponents, it is mistaken. But being wrong does not seem to bother the generals
in Yangon.
World must jointly engage
Myanmar
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The Daily Yomiuri - May 29,
2000.
Myanmar, the only country in Southeast Asia under military rule, on
Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of its May 27, 1990, democratic general
election.
But the occasion brought nothing but grim reminders of the gross injustice
meted out by the country's military when it refused to recognize the
overwhelming election triumph of the National League for Democracy, the
prodemocracy political movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi, its secretary general.
Although the international community has been intensifying pressure over
the prolonged military rule, there is no likelihood of a resumption of dialogue
between the NLD and the military junta--a development wanted by many in Myanmar
and the international community.
Rather, the military regime has been strengthening its rigid control,
showing no signs at all of accepting civilian rule. Under such circumstances,
the prodemocracy movement feels increasingly frustrated.
The people of Myanmar have been faced with serious hardship because of the
country's deteriorating economic situation, a plight compounded by the dwindling
inflow of foreign investment in the wake of the Asian economic crisis.
Beneath the surface of Myanmar society may linger dangerous pent-up
discontent. Time and again, universities have been closed--and later
reopened--because of the regime's fears that school campuses could become
hotbeds of antigovernment sentiment. Against this backdrop, the country's young
people are in a state of despair with little hope for their future. A dire omen.
Heading for the edge
The regime will not be able to indefinitely suppress such discontent, even with the threat of miliary force. Unless confrontation between the military and the prodemocracy movement is superseded by dialogue, Myanmar's societal time bomb will continue ticking until it explodes. The military regime has displayed a confident determination to maintain peace and order in the country, but such order is only superficial. It is natural for the international community to feel increasingly concerned about the ongoing situation in Myanmar. Other parts of Southeast Asia are now entering a new age of democracy as
the effects of the economic crisis--the cause of turmoil in the region--have
dissipated and political uncertainty in Cambodia appears to have been settled.
If Myanmar erupts, regional security will be endangered.
This view is shared not only by Japan and Myanmar's fellow member countries
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations but also by the United States and
the European Union.
Diverging paths of diplomacy
A diplomatic drive is under way to break Myanmar's political deadlock. The
aim is to get the military and representatives of the country's people to sit
down at the negotiating table. This initiative is being pursued by Japan, which
believes the best approach is constructive engagement, while European countries
and the United States prioritize the strengthening of sanctions against Myanmar.
The engagement policy resulted in the first meeting between government
leaders of Japan and Myanmar in 15 years, when then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi
and military leader Than Shwe, chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development
Council, met in Manila last autumn during an ASEAN summit. Obuchi pledged
Japan's support for economic structural reforms in Myanmar and the two leaders
agreed to establish a council of relevant representatives of both sides.
Obuchi restricted his promises to Myanmar to humanitarian aid, but his
offer of economic assistance to help the country's people was a de facto message
of a political nature. His move deserves appreciation as a forward-looking
measure.
It is glaringly evident, however, that any policy pursued toward Myanmar is
hobbled by the regime's characteristic all-out resistance to external pressure.
But Japan, the EU, the United States and ASEAN must not be daunted by the
task, and should unite to engage Myanmar.
July's summit of the Group of Eight major powers in Okinawa
Prefecture--during which Asian concerns will also be on the agenda--will offer
Japan a good opportunity to coordinate with global partners on policy toward
Myanmar.
(From May 29 Yomiuri Shimbun)
Bangkok Post - May 29, 2000.
DRUG SUPPRESSION Thais to train
neighbours
Anucha Charoenpo Chiang Mai To intensify the fight against drugs in the Southeast Asian region, Thai
narcotics agents will in July begin training officials in neighbouring countries
in mapping areas of opium cultivation.
The United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) has asked agents of the
Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) to train 10 Burmese and Lao
narcotics officers. The training will be financed by the UNDCP, said Sorasit
Saengprasert, secretary-general of the ONCB.
The UNDCP reported opium is being grown in Burma and Laos, particularly in
the highlands where access is difficult. Lack of high-tech equipment and funds,
as well as skills, are proving major obstacles in the bid to eradicate the crop.
The ONCB officials will train them in use of the Remote Sensing
System-comprising global positioning satellite and geographical information
equipment.
The system can help to locate opium cultivation areas over 800m above sea
level. The training will last six weeks.
Mr Sorasit said this was a new development in the locating of opium
cultivation.
Thamnu Sirising, the ONCB's northern branch director, said Thailand has
been successful in mapping areas planted in opium.
Twenty years ago the crop covered over 55,000 rai in the northern highlands
of Thailand. This had dropped to 4,655.17 rai.
The Nation - May 29, 2000. Covert fund being sought
THE Defence Ministry will today seek Cabinet approval of its request for a Bt35million covert fund to counter what it calls the volatile situation along the ThaiBurmese border and in the Muslimdominated South. In the ministry’s report to the Cabinet, the fund, already approved by the National Security Council, will have a threepronged objective. A copy of the report has been obtained by The Nation. First, it will be used to bankroll an escalated military and social drive against drugtrafficking rings that operate along the ThaiBurmese border in the North as well as a socioeconomic and propaganda campaign to defend and regulate the border area. Second, it will be used to process the safe return of the Karen refugees in Tak and Mae Hong Son and ensure they are not exploited by any political groups inside or outside Burma. Third, the fund will be used for a propaganda campaign to discourage Muslims in the five Southern provinces from supporting armed separatist movements still operating in the area. The ministry argued that the security problems along the ThaiBurmese border and in Muslimdominated southern Thailand were still critical, complex and volatile and that normal bureaucratic procedures could not adequately address them, the report said. BY Piyanart Srivalo BBC-Monday, 29 May, 2000, 11:36 GMT
12:36 UK
Sick Burmese ruler cancels visit The head of Burma's ruling military junta, General Than Shwe, has cancelled
a visit to Bangladesh because of illness.
Bangladeshi officials said on Sunday he had suffered a "sudden illness" and that a new date would be set for the visit, which was to focus on repatriating Burmese refugees. Government officials had initially said the cancellation was due to a
cyclone in the capital, Dhaka.
Officials in Rangoon confirmed on Monday that the 67-year-old general had
postponed the trip on his doctor's advice.
Than Shwe - Burma's military commander-in-chief, prime minister and defence
minister - has reportedly suffered from breathing difficulties in the past.
He is considered to hold the balance of power between army commander
General Maung Aye and the chief of military intelligence, Lt-General Khin
Nyunt.
General Than Shwe was to have discussed the future of Burmese Muslim
refugees, known as Rohingyas, who have fled to Bangladesh because of alleged
persecution.
Bangladesh says about a quarter of a million Rohingyas from Burma's Arakan
province have crossed the Naf river into its territory since 1991.
Most of them have gone back, but 21,000 still remain in two camps near the
town of Cox's Bazar.
Bangladesh - the world's ninth most populous country - has previously said
that Burma was refusing to accept the refugees back.
The two countries had also planned to discuss the demarcation of borders,
opening road and shipping links and boosting bilateral trade.
Burma's dissident groups said in a statement on Monday that they were
"disheartened" that a country that "loves democracy" had invited the Burmese
ruler.
The military, which refused to recognise the election victory by Aung San
Suu Kyi's party in 1991, has been accused of a number of human rights abuses,
including forced labour and torture.
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