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HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SCMP - Burma ties under fire India Times - 1,700 Myanmar Karens flee to
Thailand
Asia Pulse - Myanmar Seeks Cooperation With Pakistan in Tractor Industry New Straits Times - Kepong illegal settlement
demolished
SSA News - Raid on a drug refinery
Bkk Post -PM declines to seek talks on
fishing
Bkk Post - Bid to curb gambling
trips
Bkk Post - Karen cross
border to escape flare-up Clash between junta troops
Bkk Post - Editorial-Under the "name and shame"
policy of the G7, Burma escapes censure.
South China Morning Post
Tuesday, July 11, 2000 Burma ties under
fire
WILLIAM BARNES Hong Kong factory owners have become the target of activists in the United
States after helping to fuel a sharp rise in Burma's clothing exports to the
world's most lucrative consumer market.
Garment makers operating in the military-run country are able to pay perhaps the lowest rates for piece work - as little as four US cents an hour, claims the New York-based National Labour Committee (NLC). This is significantly lower than even the hourly take-home pay of so-called
"sweat shop" workers in Bangladesh, 13-20 US cents, Indonesia, 20 US cents, or
the mainland, 28 US cents, the NLC said.
Moreover, the workers' rights group complained, profits from clothing
factories in Burma go directly to help an unpopular, incompetent and widely
criticised regime stay in power.
"This is the worst sort of labour exploitation - it is the height of
irresponsibility," said Phil Robertson, the Thailand country director of the
Solidarity Centre, an American non-government organisation concerned with labour
issues.
"Hong Kong factory owners who go in there are the lowest of the low as far
as the international garment industry is concerned," he said.
This is vigorously disputed by Jerry Pang, of Victoria Garments in Kowloon.
"As far as we are concerned we are helping the people out. Our type of
labour-intensive industry helps people the most in a poor country such as
Burma," he said.
Burma's clothing exports to the US climbed by 85 per cent in the first
quarter of this year, after rising by 45 per cent last year and 49 per cent in
1998.
According to a United States embassy commercial guide, in 1998 there were
about 30 textile and garment factories in Burma, at least half of them wholly or
partly foreign-owned "mostly by Hong Kong or South Korean firms".
It said joint ventures were usually either with Burma Textile Industries, a
state firm, or with the Union of Burma Economic Holdings, one of the military's
commercial arms.
There are other dangers. The NLC report noted that Wal-Mart Canada imported
at least one shipload of garments this year from Every Green (Burma) Overseas -
a factory controlled by former drug warlord Lo Hsing Han, whose son is banned
from the US on suspicion of involvement in drug trafficking.
The following factories have Hong Kong owners according to a recent
official list of businesses: Burma Winner Garment Manufacturing, Burma Unimix
International, Rangoon Knit Garment Manufacturing, Burma Euroworld
International, Group Link (Burma), Rangoon Sportswear Manufacturing, Prime
Industrial, Rangoon Garment Manufacturing, Yantzekiang Industries (Burma) and
Eastern World. All, save the last two, are listed as joint ventures.
The latest campaign against Burma-based garment makers points out the risks
of doing business with a regime which has become a favourite target of Western
activists.
The NLC is sending stiff letters to the likes of Warner Bros, Bugle Boy,
Jordache, Kohl's, Adidas and Nautica asking why they import from Burma.
Whereas activists want other cheap labour centres to adhere to minimal
labour standards they argue that factory owners should steer clear of Burma
altogether.
"Burma has the worst name in the US. I can assure manufacturers that the
American labour movement will run down every movement out of Burma," said Mr
Robertson. "You cannot do business in Burma without consorting with the military
dictatorship."
US jeans-maker Levi Strauss pulled out of Burma saying: "Under current
circumstances it is not possible to do business in Burma without directly
supporting the military government and its pervasive violations of human
rights."
The International Labour Organisation has suspended Burma, and asked its
174 member countries to review their relations with it, because of the regime's
widespread use of forced labour.
In a sign of the power of lobby groups, the sportswear-maker Adidas quickly
denied that it sources bags from Burma any longer. A company representative said
pictures of "Adidas - Made in Burma labels" on the NLC Web site must either be
old or of counterfeits.
But, Mr Pang argued, sanctions hurt the very people they were designed to
help: "No country is more sanctioned against than North Korea or Cuba yet they
are still run by die-hard dictators. Only the people are suffering."
When Victoria Garments opened its joint-venture factory - with the Ministry
of Industry's textiles division in 1989 - more than 2,000 young Burmese queued
in monsoon rain for 400 jobs.
The group soon had four factories operating in the country.
"They are proud people and proud people make good workers. They believe in
what they are doing," Mr Pang said.
"If you learn of the country from reading a newspaper you would not touch
it with a 10-foot pole but in reality it is not so bad."
Mr Pang cited high literacy and more than 50 per cent unemployment as
creating a crying need for jobs.
"And Burma is a very good production place for us. There are no hidden
costs.
"I can tell you the country is relatively uncorrupt. Against Indonesia or
the Philippines there is no comparison."
However garment makers may be the only Hong Kong investors in Burma doing
well. Many hoteliers are doing poor business and bank representative officers
are mostly idle.
The Times of India - Juy 11,
2000.
1,700 Myanmar Karens flee to Thailand MAE SOT, Thailand: More than 1,700 villagers have fled fighting between
ethnic Karen rebels and Myanmar government forces and crossed into northern
Thailand, villagers and officials said Monday.
Karen families escaped Lobohe village about 2 km from the Thai-Myanmar
border and sought refuge in Thailand's Tak province after fighting near their
community on Sunday.
They said two Myanmar soldiers had been killed by a land mine explosion in
the fighting with fighters of the Karen National Union, the only major ethnic
army yet to reach a ceasefire with Yangon's military regime.
"In the afternoon, we heard the explosion of a land mine and gunfire," said
Chit Aung, 41, a villager sheltering at a school in the Thai village of Mae Plu,
in Tak's Tha Song Yang district, 480 km northeast of Bangkok.
He said the KNU troops withdrew at 4 p.m. and then the Burmese troops
entered the village, but by then all the residents had fled.
It was the second time in three months these villagers had escaped Myanmar,
also known as Burma. They had returned to Myanmar's eastern Karen state one
month ago when they thought peace had settled in the region.
"We want to stay on Burmese soil. We never intended to spend our life in
Thailand," said another refugee Saw Pha, 32.
"About one month ago we went back to Labohe village. We had set up a new
school and clinic. The children had been going to school for about two weeks,"
Saw Pha said. "Now the Burmese army have attacked again and we have to escape
again."
Some 120,000 mostly Karen refugees from Myanmar shelter in Thai border
camps after fleeing fighting and mass relocations. Thailand is eager for them to
be repatriated to Myanmar.
Thai authorities were not immediately able to confirm the number of
villagers who crossed the frontier Sunday. Karen community leaders said 1,746
had crossed, with few or no possessions.
None of the refugees were killed or injured. They are currently sheltering
at two sites at Mae Plu village, about three kilometers (two miles) apart.
Prasone Lahan, secretary of Tha Song Yang district office, said the
refugees would be accommodated in Mae La refugee camp - home to over 30,000
long-term refugees - if they did not want to return to Myanmar. (AP)
Tuesday, July 11 9:17 AM SGT
Myanmar Seeks Cooperation With Pakistan in Tractor Industry LAHORE, July 11 Asia Pulse -
Tractor industry of Pakistan has a lot of potential to grow and Pakistan-Myanmar
cooperation in this sector can be beneficial for both the countries.
These views were expressed by the delegates of a 12-member delegation of Myanmar, which visited Millat tractor Industries. The delegates went round various production units of the factory and
observed the manufacturing process.
Brig Gen D 0 Abel, minister of state development said on the occasion,
'Pakistan has achieved a high level of expertise in the manufacture of tractors,
and this visit was an eye-opener for him.
"We are impressed to see the quality and standard of production here and
are confident that there are lot of opportunities for bilateral cooperation in
the tractor industry," he remarked.
The delegation also invited chairman, Millat Tactors and other
professionals in this field to visit Myanmar for further exchanging views and
seeking opportunities of cooperation.
Briefing the delegation, G M Sikandar chairman Millat Tractors said, 'This
factory uses 85 per cent Pakistan made parts to manufacture Massey Ferguson
tractors. Annual production of the factory is 16,000 tractors, he said.
Later talking to newsmen, he said Pakistan could earn a reasonable amount
of foreign exchange by exporting tractors to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Nigeria etc. He said Pakistani businessmen exported about 1500 tractors during
the last financial year.
New Straits Times
Tuesday, July 11 6:30 PM SGT
Kepong illegal settlement
demolished
THE Selayang Municipal Council demolished an illegal squatter settlement in
Taman Ehsan, Kepong recently in another measure by a local council to rid
Selangor of squatters.
The squatters were believed to be immigrant factory workers from Myanmar, India and Bangladesh. Fifty council (MPS) enforcement officers, with the co-operation of Kepong
police, demolished wooden longhouses and cabins located directly behind a
factory.
The officers used chain-saws and axes to bring down the structures as the
settlement was located on a hillslope, making it difficult for bulldozers to be
used.
MPS Urban Planning Department assistant head Abdul Razak Alias, also head
of its squatters unit, said the factory owners (employers of the immigrant
workers) had built a bridge with steps for easy access to the facility.
He said the houses also had water and electricity supplies connected to the
factory.
Abdul Razak said the settlement, located on Selangor State land, had been
in existence for more than five years.
"The settlement began with cabins. Only recently did the factory owners
built the wooden longhouses," he said.
He said the council was informed about the colony last Thursday.
It issued a notice the following day, directing the squatters to vacate the
area to make way for the demolition.
Abdul Razak said there were some 20 workers living in the settlement of
whom 10 were illegals.
He said after this, the council would be contacting the factory management
to help in investigations.
Abdul Razak said the next illegal squatter settlement to be demolished was
at Desa Aman Puri, which housed Indonesian immigrants.
SSA News
Raid on a drug refinery
July 10, 2000 On 7th July 2000, a 30-men-strong SSA detachment from Khun Sarng Ton Hoong
column, led by Maj. Kham Leng, raided a newly built heroin and Yaa Baa
(amphetamine) refinery at Wan Tark Let, a village situated near the Thai-Shan
border, opposite of Mae Hong Son province. This refinery was under the control
of the local commander of the SPDC troops and their drug producing partners. In
this raid, SSA troops captured:
1. Precursor of Yaa Baa 30 litres
2. Wu Sui (Chinese name, raw material for Yaa Baa) 1 container (6 gallons) 3. liquid opium 2 containers ( appx. 12 gals.) 4. Saw Sua (Chinese name, raw material for Yaa Baa) 2 containers (12 gallons) 5. Ether 2 bottles (1 gallon) 6. Yaa Baa 377 tablets. Besides these chemicals, 3 of the operators were also captured red handed.
After the raid the instruments and the building were burned to ground.
Bangkok Post - July 11,
2000.
THAI-BURMESE RELATIONS
PM declines to seek talks on
fishing
B51m loss due to closure of waters
Achara Ashayagachat
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has turned down Ranong businessmen's request
that the government seek urgent talks with Rangoon in order to help the fishing
industry hurt by Burma's closure of its waters.
Key local business leaders, including chamber of commerce president Manas
Sukvanitvichai, last Friday called on Mr Chuan to visit Rangoon soon to mend
ties with Burma.
"We presented him with all the facts and he took note and assigned the
agriculture minister to meet us on the very same day," Mr Manas said in a
telephone interview.
Minister Prapat Pothasuthon promised to co-ordinate with Rangoon on
resuming fishery talks with his counterpart within this month, Mr Manas
added.
During his 40-minute meeting with the delegation, the prime minister was
asked why he did not pay a visit to Burma though he had already been to Laos and
Cambodia.
The highest-level visit would help improve Thai-Burmese ties which turned
sour after his government let Burmese embassy raiders go unpunished last
October, they said.
Banjong Wipakkij-anan, president of the Fisheries Association, quoted Mr
Chuan as telling the delegation that there were still several problems with
Burma including illicit drugs, border disputes, and an ongoing row over the
price of natural gas the Petroleum Authority of Thailand would buy from
Burma.
Mr Chuan also rebutted the delegation's argument that the current fishing
dispute stemmed from political conflicts between the two countries, saying that
high-level relations remained good and that he would visit Rangoon when it was
suitable to do so, Mr Banjong said.
But sources in the Foreign Ministry quoted Mr Chuan as telling the
delegation that differences with Burma had to be tackled as a whole.
"We have to look at national interests as a whole otherwise Rangoon will
keep pressuring us with one thing after another," the premier reportedly
said.
A member of the Ranong delegation said the province's economy had shrunk by
60 % since Burma on Oct 6 last year banned Thai fishing fleets from its waters.
Two-thirds of Ranong's fishing piers were subsequently closed, three of its 18
ice-making mills were shut down while the rest were running at half their
capacity, the source said.
Ranong's revenue from October last year until April this year decreased by
some 23% or 51.49 million baht compared with the preceding corresponding period,
the source added.
Bangkok Post - July 11,
2000.
Bid to curb gambling
trips
Temsak Traisophon To prevent Thais from going on gambling sprees in Burma and Cambodia, the
Interior Ministry will no longer grant border passes; travellers must present
valid passports and not carry more than 500,000 baht with them.
An Interior Ministry source said a ministerial committee yesterday finished
drafting the new measure and will ask Banyat Bantadtan, the interior minister,
to order its enforcement.
The measure will cover only casinos in Burma opposite Tak and Ranong, and
those in Cambodia opposite Sa Kaew, Chanthaburi and Trat, the source said. Under
the new measure, Thais (except local residents) and foreigners without their
passports cannot cross the border into the areas via border checkpoints in these
provinces.
The source said the panel also resolved to bar Thais and foreigners, except
Burmese and Laotians, from entering Burma via the Sop Ruak temporary border
checkpoint, since there were several casinos in the area.
It was reported that many casinos including that in the Golden Triangle run
by some politicians and an older brother of Prapat Pothasuthon, the agriculture
minister, would be affected by the enforcement of the new measure.
Bangkok Post - July 11, 2000.
Karen cross border to escape flare-up Clash between junta troops, ethnic rebels Supamart Kasem
More than 1,700 Karen on Sunday crossed into Thailand as fighting broke out
between Burmese troops and Karen rebels opposite Tha Song Yang district.
The Karen villagers crossed the Moei river into the villages of Ban Nong
Bua, Mae Phlu, Mae Salit and Mae Usu in Tha Song Yang amid clashes between
Burmese soldiers and Karen National Union guerrillas near their Beu La Her
village.
Thai security forces were deployed to the area to protect the refugees and
lessen the impact of the fighting.
A Thai border official said the Burmese troops opened fire on a stronghold
of the KNU's Sixth Division opposite Ban Nong Bua from 3pm on Sunday.
A stray gunshot hit the Ranger Company 3502 base on the Thai side while two
others landed in the Moei river, the official said.
A Karen rebel source said two Burmese soldiers were killed in the clash and
five others were injured after stepping on rebel landmines outside Beu La Her
village.
The Burmese troops managed to seize the village after their continued
gunfire forced the rebels to retreat to the north.
Third Army Area commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasing and Fourth Infantry
Regiment Task Force officers yesterday inspected the area.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees meanwhile sent officials
to the district to help the Karen refugees.
The 1,700 Karen villagers who were forced to flee on Sunday were among
4,500 Karen who escaped into Tha Song Yang in April after Burmese soldiers
attacked Mae La Po Hta village. Over 400 now live in Mae La refugee camp.
Bangkok Post - July 11,
2000.
Editorial Taking starch out of
laundries
World leaders are usually far too slow, and far too timorous, in acting
against criminals in their own midst. The slaughter by the leaders of Cambodia
and Rwanda went unchecked and unpunished. The men who conducted the extended
excesses in Chile and Uganda are comfortable in their old age. So it was good to
see the seven richest countries agree at the weekend to take the first step
towards identifying their colleagues who facilitate and profit from the drug
trade.
In fact, drugs are only one infamous source of huge, illicit profits. Most
countries are joining together in an international fight against cross-border
criminals. Their crimes include drug trafficking, human trafficking, child
prostitution and pornography, and weapons smuggling. Not only are they major
criminals but they participate in the very worst, most debasing of all
crimes.
The economic ministers at the G7 meeting in Japan named the world's top 15
money laundering nations. These countries, in knowing acts of commission or
omission, help the world's biggest drug traffickers control their fantastic
profits. The 15 countries involved have themselves profited by providing
services to the drug traffickers. The G7 ministers hope that by publicly
identifying these money laundering countries, they can force them to stop. The
name of the campaign is "name and shame". It is a policy that can work. In the
1970s, public exposure of the Lao government's involvement in drug trafficking
forced that regime to stop.
The G7 ministers criteria was important, although simple. The nations who
help money launderers have failed to pass laws, and failed to take action. None
of the 15-say their colleagues-has taken a principled or legal stance against
laundries. All 15 profit, directly or indirectly, from the illicit funds which
are washed through their banks and financial institutions.
To be fair, international criminals search for, and exploit, weaknesses in
the banking systems of every country. Money laundering occurs in Thailand. The
United States is the centre of international money laundering. That is because
laundering money is the dark side of free capital flows. Businesses and
individuals are able to move their money quickly these days. Such freedom has
drawbacks as well as advantages.
But the Number 1 nation which actually facilitates money laundering is
Russia. The second biggest is Israel, and the Bahamas is a notorious third. Also
on the list is the Philippines. Our Asean partner, remember, also does not have
laws to prosecute the writer of the most destructive computer attacks of the
year. Manila does not openly solicit funds from money launderers. But it is
unable to put up-to-date laws on its books, and is helping international crime
as a result.
The other 11 countries judged as serial friends of international crime are
the Cayman Islands, Panama, the Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines, the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue,
Liechtenstein, and Lebanon. Most of these are profiteers from money laundering.
Their secretive banks openly pander to the type of person who walks in the door
with suitcases of cash and no business card.
Many will notice a prominent nation left off the list: Burma. But in fact,
Rangoon has anti-laundering laws on its books. It is equipped to fighting money
laundering. Thus, under the "name and shame" policy
of the G7, Burma escapes censure.
The new G7 toughness, then, is only a part of the many needed measures. But
it is a giant step in the right direction. "Name and shame" can isolate and
identify wrong-headed nations to the world public. We hope such countries will
change their policies, and begin to fight international crime. Being hooked on
the money of cross-border criminals is a terrible
addiction. |