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WIRE:05/31/2000 07:33:00 ET
Thai police deport Myanmar activists after seminar BANGKOK, May 31 (Reuters) -
Thai police in northern Chiang Mai broke up a political seminar held by a
group Myanmar activists and deported 10 of them via checkpoints at the
western border, a spokesman said.
The anti-Yangon group, the All Burma (Myanmar) Student Democratic Front (ABSDF), had organised a seminar that would have lasted for two days but police stormed in and stopped the proceedings shortly after it was opened. "The seminar was illegally organised. We cannot allow foreign
activists to hold these kinds of seminars on our soil," a police spokesman
told Reuters from Chiang Mai.
Thirty Myanmar activists were rounded up but 10 did not carry the
proper documents to enter the country.
"As for the 10 who did not have proper documents, they have already
been deported via the border checkpoints," the spokesman said.
An ABSDF spokesman told Reuters the seminar was chaired by the
group's head Naing Aung.
"We have not yet received the reports of arrest and do not know
whether Naing Aung was among the deportees," he said.
Thousands of Myanmar dissident students fled a military crackdown
during a bloody September 1988 coup launched by the military in
Yangon.
Many escaped to the jungles bordering Thailand and found refuge in
camps in Thailand while several hundred were resettled in third countries
in Europe, Australia and America.
But a hard core group still remains in Thailand and is waging low-key
political campaign against the ruling military government in Yangon.
Tuesday, May 30 9:31 PM SGT
Malaysia Skyscrapers Open to PublicBy SEAN YOONG, Associated Press Writer KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Hundreds of shoppers, schoolchildren and tourists rode express-elevators up the world's tallest skyscrapers - Malaysia's gleaming Petronas Twin Towers that opened to the public today. Many began queuing up for special passes two hours before officials from Petronas, the national oil corporation, started ushering the visitors to the bridge that links the 1,483-foot landmarks, nearly halfway up on the 41st floor. There, tourists from as far as the United States but also from nearby Myanmar gripped metal railings and pressed their faces against glass walls, pointing at mosques, hotels and condominiums far down below. ``This is such a spectacular view,'' exclaimed Louise Rosen, a 42-year-old accountant from Trenton, New Jersey. ``I'm really happy my husband and I came here for our summer vacation.'' The Petronas Towers symbolize the pinnacle of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's efforts to modernize Malaysia. He officially inaugurated the buildings Aug. 17 last year, but only employees of the companies renting space the 88-story skyscrapers had access. When the towers were completed in March 1996, they surpassed Chicago's Sears Tower, which, at 1,450 feet, had been the world's tallest building since 1973. Mahathir has justified the $1 billion project, stating that it added pride of a small nation like Malaysia: ``It is important because small people always like to appear tall.'' The fame of the towers was extended when millions of people watched Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery scramble across the bridge in Hollywood's ``Entrapment.'' Security at the opening was tight, both on the ground and the bridge, where Petronas officials escorted the visitors in groups of 20. Petronas estimated that nearly 800 people would visit the bridge by the end of the day. The rest of the Twin Towers remains off-limits to the public. The Star-Wednesday, May 31, 2000
Myanmars jailed for forging work permits KUALA LUMPUR: A Myanmar freelance photojournalist and his accomplice, were
yesterday jailed a total of seven years each and ordered to be given five
strokes each by a magistrate's court for forging work permits for illegals.
Magistrate Ilhami Idris sentenced them to seven years' jail and five strokes of the rotan for the first charge and three years' jail for each of the remaining three charges. They had pleaded guilty to the charges. He ordered the sentences on Yew Zaw @ Tay Wing Aun @ Tun Yi @ Mohammad
Abdul Rafie @ Abdul Razak Kamaruddin, 33, and Maung Min Aung, 35, to three years
jail to run concurrently.
He had also sentenced another Myanmar national Nurul Islam Abul Kashim, 50,
who acted as a runner for the syndicate to a total of four years' jail for three
charges.
Yew Zaw, who was believed to be the mastermind, and Maung were charged with
making and forging temporary work entry permits and visas by processing it with
computer equipment at No.81-00-06 Block 82 Bandar Baru, Sentul, here on April 27
at about 5.30pm.
They were also charged with having in their possession 200 forged entry
permits at the same place, date and time.
On the third charge, they admitted entering into Malaysia without a valid
Pass at the same date, place and time.
They faced a fourth charge of illegally having 25 Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Indian and Indonesian passports at the same date, place and time.
Immigration prosecuting officer Shahul Hamid Abdul Rahim pressed for a
deterrent sentence to deter other foreigners from committing such an act.
MALAYSIAN NEWS : GENERAL
May 30 , 2000 22:31PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAIL AND ROTAN FOR TWO MYANMAR FOR FORGERY KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 (Bernama) -- The Magistrate's Court here Tuesday
sentenced two Myanmar nationals to seven years' jail and five strokes of the
rotan after they pleaded guilty to four charges including forging temporary work
passes using computers.
Magistrate Ilhami Idris sentenced them to seven years' jail and five
strokes of the rotan for the first charge and three years' jail for each of the
remaining three charges, effective from the date of their arrest on April 27.
Yew Zaw @ Tay Wing Aung @ Tun Yi @ Mohammad Abdul Rafie @ Abdul Razak
Kamaruddin, 33, and Maung Min Aung, 35, admitted to processing and forging
temporary work passes and Visa using computers, an offence under Section 55D of
the Immigration Act 1959/63.
They also admitted to being in possession of 200 false temporary work pass
stickers and entering Malaysia without valid pass or permits, both of which are
offences under Section 57 of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
Yew Zaw and Min Aung were also charged with having in their possession of
eight Bangladeshi passports, eight Myanmar passports, six Indian passports and
three Indonesian passports without valid authorisation, an offence under Sectio
12(1)(f) of the Passport Act 1966.
They committed these offences on April 27 at about 5.30pm at a house
No.81-00-06, Block 81 Bandar Baru Sentul here.
The court heard that the Yew Zaw and Min Aung had been in Malaysia since
1998, working as a freelance photo journalist and a general worker respectively.
Meanwhile, in a related case in the same court, another Myanmar, Nurul
Islam Abul Kashim @ Shafiq Ahmad Abu Bakar, 50, was sentenced to four years'
jail after he pleaded guilty to being an accomplice and involved in a criminal
conspiracy by helping to deliver false temporary work passes to the clients.
He was also sentenced to one year's jail for having in his possession one
false temporary work pass sticker and another one year's jail for entering
Malaysia illegally.
All the three offences, committed on April 27 at about 5.30pm at the same
house in Bandar Baru Sentul here, are punishable under Section 57 of the
Immigration Act 1959/63.
Mohamed Ilhami ordered the three prison sentences to run concurrently from
the date of Nurul Islam's arrest on April 27.
Also in the same court, three Myanmar and two Pakistani admitted guilty to
being in possession of false temporary work pass sticker and entering Malaysia
illegally.
Mohamed Ilhami sentenced them one year's jail for the first offence and six
months' jail on the second and ordered the jail sentences to run concurently
from the date of their arrest on April 27.
The three Myanmar admitted to committing the offence on April 27 between
7pm and 8.30pm at a house No.7 Batu Housing, Batu 5, Jalan Ipoh here while the
two Pakistani, also on the same date but at about 5.30pm at a house No.81-00-06
Block 81, Bandar Baru Sentul here.
They were sentenced under section 57 of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
-- BERNAMA South China Morning Post Wednesday, May 31, 2000
ILO forces labour into Burma's mind WILLIAM BARNES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A brief mission to Burma by a team from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) last week thrust a dagger to the heart of the methods the military has used to run the economy in a decade of rule. The ruling generals have leaned heavily on the nation of 43 million people in a desperate effort to show that the economy has taken off under its leadership since it ignored the election victory of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi 10 years ago. But by accepting a "technical mission" from the ILO, the military junta
recognised - in word if not spirit - the core findings of a 1998 report from the
organisation - and its target of an absolute ban on forced labour.
"The sole purpose of the visit of the team is to establish with the
government a credible plan of action to ensure the full implementation of the
commission's recommendations," ILO secretary-general Juan Somavia said last
week.
The country was suspended from the ILO last year because of "flagrant and
persistent failure to comply" with key international bans on forced labour.
The 1998 report that led to the suspension consists of 6,000 pages of
documentation of evidence of forced labour - including the coercion of women,
children and the elderly.
It was a deep embarrassment for a regime desperately trying to work up some
political legitimacy and undermined the credibility of claims by Burma's fellow
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that the generals could
lift the economy.
Many observers have focused on forced labour to point out how the military
mind appears intent on creating "development" off the backs of the people.
"This is not only a terrible abuse of people it is also very bad economics.
It just shows that the generals completely miss the point," said a senior
economist at an international lending institution. "The old-fashioned
authoritarian regimes that succeeded in Asia all understood that you cannot
simply whip development out of people."
The regime has responded in recent years to allegations that it uses forced
labour by saying:
* that is does not exist and that the allegations come from biased sources;
* that voluntary labour for merit-making is commonly practised in Buddhist
countries like Burma;
* that working on community projects is a tradition in Burmese villages;
* that legislation permitting village heads to requisition compulsory
labour dates from the British period.
There is little doubt that after the 1990 election, when the regime decided
to go for growth to try to stave off political discontent, the practise of
forced labour increased sharply - particularly in the four years to 1996.
The authorities have been eager to upgrade and extend the nation's desperately inadequate infrastructure - particularly roads and dams. Forced labour also appeared designed to prepare Burma for a hoped-for
tourist boom, say critics. The Mandalay Moat, for example, was notoriously
cleaned up for the benefit of tourists.
The use of unpaid labour appeared to ease following a government
announcement in 1996 that soldiers would be used on infrastructure projects. But
most outside observers believe it remains a problem on a massive scale - with
the regime's attempts to cut back on forced labour hurt by the declining
economy.
The armed forces, which are principally tasked with keeping a discontented
people in check and fighting ethnic rebels, have tripled in size (with a stated
goal of half a million men and woman in uniform) over the past decade.
A military establishment that swallows up the lion's share of the national
budget already - at the expense of health and education - is so strapped for
cash that it must demand more of its hard-pressed citizens.
The economic downturn has increased the use of forced labour, according to
the latest Human Rights Watch annual report. This followed Rangoon's orders to
powerful regional army commanders in 1997 - the year of the regional crash -
that they should attempt to meet labour needs from local sources.
"As a result regional commanders have increased the use of forced
contributions of food, labour and building materials throughout the country," it
said.
The latest US State Department Human Rights report came up with several
recent examples.
It described how a man was jailed for 17 days after protesting that he had
been forced to build an embankment on the Irrawady River even as the authorities
said unpaid labour did not exist.
It documented how others were forced to work - or pay a fine - on the road
to Mandalay's new airport and how people at an historic site in Arakan state
were forced to clean it up for VIPs and tourists.
Burma remains one of the world's poorest countries, with a per capita gross
domestic product of about US$300 according to World Bank figures, and government
data is hard to come by.
The government has ceased to publish figures on money supply and foreign
reserves, but analysts suspect that hard currency reserves have fallen below the
US$350 million reported to the International Monetary Fund last June. Inflation
is high. Petrol and diesel are rationed. Power cuts remain common.
Colleges and universities have been open for only three years out of the
past 12 since the junta emerged from a military establishment that has ruled
since a 1962 coup.
Some technical schools which opened late last year have been closed after
student protests over teaching standards.
"Government expenditures for all civilian education for 1997-98 were
equivalent to only 0.9 per cent of recorded GDP during the year and have
declined by more than 70 per cent in real terms since 1990," notes the latest US
government report to Congress on conditions in Burma.
The government screens all communications and makes ownership of an
unlicensed fax or modem a crime. Computer schools have been closed down and
their instructors interrogated.
A bloated state sector swallows up government funds and lines the pockets
of the establishment with the help of a bizarre over-valued exchange rate that
is not used in any private transaction.
In the words of the latest Asian Development Bank Outlook: "The economy
remains highly controlled and has yet to adopt sound economic policies."
No surprise then that economic growth that appeared to jump in the first
half of the 1990s on partial liberalisation has slowed quite sharply. The ADB
believes real growth might have been 4.5 per cent last year.
A frisson of excitement went through the ranks of international observers
when Burma accepted the ILO's mission. If the country can wash itself of forced
labour it might start to loosen other economic controls.
"I'd love to think it will happen. Sadly I don't think it will - this is
just a ruse to try to head off more criticism in this week's ILO meeting in
Geneva," said one observer.
Bangkok Post - May 31,
2000.
ENVIRONMENT Conservationists claim huge trees dying along Yadana pipelineForestry official says it
is nothing unusual
Uamdao
Noikorn Environmentalists have demanded the
Petroleum Authority of Thaland take responsibility for the demise of dozens of
large trees along the Thai-Burmese gas pipeline route. "Once again, the PTT has disappointed us with its broken promises and lies
regarding the project's ecological impact. This time it cannot lie because the
problem is severe," said Boonsong Chansongrasami of Kanchanaburi Conservation
Club. The discovery was made during a routine inspection trip by the club, which
found dead and dying trees along the pipeline route for a distance of 5km in an
area classified as A-1 watershed. These trees were so large as to need three men
to encircle the trunks. The site is in Huay Kayeng forest reserve which is part of the Western Forest
Complex, the country's biggest and last pristine forest cover where rare species
can still be seen. But a forestry expert said the phenomenon was neither unusual nor
unexpected. Apichart Kaosa-ard, head of the Department of Forest Resources, Chiang Mai
University, said: "This type of death is called die-back. It's the inevitable
result of clearing a path in an evergreen forest." The clearing allows sunlight to penetrate into the forest whose main
characteristic is high moisture. "Once the heat sets in, the trees will start
drying. In evergreen montane forests, the die-back is hastened by wind blowing
right into it," he explained. So far, the only other known case was in Doi Inthanon National Park, where Mr
Apichart studied the phenomenon years ago. Pine trees along the park road to the country's tallest peak have been slowly
suffering from the ailment over five years. The drying would start with trees
located nearest to the road and spread into the inner forest as heat and wind
creep in, he said. The speed at which damage occurs depends on the type of vegetation. A forest
which has trees in the rubber family are in transition to becoming an evergreen
forest and thus withstand the dryness better. This explained why other types of forests through which the pipeline passed
were spared, he said, adding that if left untreated, the die-back would keep
spreading until the forest loses its evergreen characteristic. The Yadana gas pipeline project is a Thai-Burmese joint venture. It faced
stiff opposition from environmentalists on the Thai side, particularly the 6km
section of its 260km course through an A-1 watershed forest. Another environmentalist believed the latest complaint about the dead trees
would fall on deaf ears just like other complaints in the past. Surapol Duangkae, acting secretary-general of Wildlife Fund Thailand, said:
"The company has no obligation to take responsibility for the trees, only the
route. And its environmental impact assessment study states that the job of
maintaining trees belongs to the Forestry Department, which has been allocated a
restoration budget." He cited other cases where the PTT failed to fulfil its promises, such as the
change in the width of the path's clearance to 20m from 12m as stated in the
EIA, which also included the planting of vegetation it said would be domestic to
the forest, but had turned out otherwise. The authority also did not cover up
the clearing of sensitive areas which were wildlife paths. A PTT official said the company was verifying the report and would be able to
comment in a few days.
Mae Hong Son-Police yesterday
seized 120,000 methamphetamine pills after clashing with a drug gang in Pai
district. No casualties were reported during the brief gunfight. Following a tip-off, a combined team of 50 border patrol police, infantrymen
and local police rushed to Doi Huaypeelu hill where they spotted six members of
the gang. The gang started shooting and the Thai team returned fire. They later
retreated into Burma. |