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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar kyat plumbs new lows despite
govt warnings
AP - Thai Vets May End Elephant's
Life
The Korea Herald - [In
my view]Burma's forgotten war
AP - Myanmar dissidents, shackled by Thailand,
want to resettle outside
AP - Myanmar currency reaches all-time low
on black market
Bkk Post - Inbrief - Immunity law, Drugs meeting, Cheap fuel ploy
The Nation - Thailand to host anti-drug
forum
Asiaweek - Questioning Sanctions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WIRE:08/11/2000 05:16:00 ET
Myanmar kyat plumbs new lows despite govt warnings YANGON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Myanmar"s beleaguered kyat currency hit a record
low against the dollar on the black market on Friday despite warnings by the
military government that it would clamp down on speculators. Dealers said the
kyat was trading at 395 per dollar on the black market, down from 385 at the
start of the week. Before this month"s slide, the previous record low was 384 to
the dollar in August 1998. The official rate is six kyat to the dollar. The kyat
was quoted at 375 per dollar-denominated Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC), the
currency issued to tourists. A commentary in the Myanmar-language Kyemon
newspaper last week warned against "unscrupulous speculation" and said the
authorities would take action to bring prices under control. Newspapers in
Myanmar are regarded as official mouthpieces of the regime. Dealers said the
currency had been undermined by panic buying of commodities by people trying to
protect themselves against surging inflation, as well as the weakness of
Thailand"s baht. The Myanmar government increased the salaries of civil servants
by five to eight times in April to bring them more into line with spiralling
prices, but the move helped fuel inflation, estimated at around 30 percent a
year. Prices of common consumer goods have not risen too steeply, residents say,
due to measures taken by the authorities, including the opening of five tax-free
markets in Yangon. But prices of gold, cars and other imported items have risen
sharply. Analysts say there was strong demand for these items as a way of
guarding against inflation and the weakening kyat. Demand increased after the
bank interest rate on savings was cut in April to 10 percent from 12 percent.
Prices of low-market reconditioned vans and cars have more than doubled in the
last three months. Myanmar authorities imposed strict regulations on cars in
late 1997, virtually stopping the flow of passenger cars into the country. Gold
dealers said the price of 24-carat gold bars had shot up to 60,000 kyat per
tickle (0.525 troy ounce) from 51,500 kyat in March. Prices have risen despite a
warning to gold dealers not to exceed a price of 54,000 kyat per tickle.
Myanmar"s economy remains tightly controlled, despite the introduction of some
market reforms in 1988 after 26 years of central planning. The economy is
commodity-based and relies heavily on the export of rice, pulses and
prawns.
Friday August 11 9:28 AM ET Thai Vets May End Elephant's Life
LAMPANG, Thailand (AP) - Veterinarians in Thailand said Friday they were planning to put to sleep a disabled infant elephant born to a mother they suspect was fed amphetamines. The elephant's owner sent the five-day-old male elephant to the Hang Chat Elephant Hospital hours after the birth because it could not stand up, hospital director Preecha Phuangkham said. The elephant, born in Lampang province, 320 miles north of Bangkok, looks normal but cannot move any part of its body. ``He cannot do anything and he is also probably blind since he does not blink his eyes,'' Preecha said. Preecha suspected that the disability was due to the mother, a 35-year-old logging elephant, being fed amphetamines or other drugs by her owner. Elephants that work in forests along the Thai-Myanmar border are sometimes fed stimulants by their owners to make them work harder. The baby elephant is currently being fed infant powder milk. If he makes no progress in the next two days, he will be put to sleep, Preecha said. The Hang Chat Elephant Hospital also cares for the 38-year-old cow elephant Motola, whose plight has drawn world attention. Vets amputated Motola's left foot a year ago after she stepped on a land mine near a logging camp in Myanmar. They hope to fit her with a prosthesis when her wound is fully healed. The Korea Herald - Aug 11,
2000.
Opinion [In my view]Burma's forgotten war by Doug Bandow KAWTHOOLEI, Myanmar - From a distance the jungle looks
peaceful. Dense, green plant growth covers hills that march endlessly onward.
Primitive villages emerge in simple clearings: wood and bamboo buildings,
covered by thatched roofs, sitting on stilts, and open to rain, animals and
mosquitos.
War is everywhere. Two million ethnic minorities
have been displaced by 50 years of conflict: 243 of them lived in Law Thi Hta,
located just across the Moi river from Mae Sot, Thailand.
War consumes their lives. One 22-year-old told me
he had been fighting "for many years," perhaps 10. But Gen. Bo Mya, who also
serves as vice president of the Karen National Union (KNU), joined the Karen
revolution when it started in 1949.
Gen. Ne Win seized power in Burma, now officially
Myanmar, is 1962. Mass democracy protests in 1988 were crushed with martial law
backed by bullets. The ruling junta foolishly called elections two years later,
which were won by the National League for Democracy, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The self-styled State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) annulled the
election, put Suu Kyi under house arrest, and arrested many of her
followers.
Although international attention has focused on
Suu Kyi, the more serious threat to the ruling junta comes from the Karen and
other ethnic groups, which have been fighting for autonomy since Burma won
independence. During the last decade several of them have come to terms with
Rangoon. But the Karen and several other ethnic groups fight on.
In response, the SPDC has expanded its military to
some 400,000. Two years ago 13-year-old Yei Shweh took a bus to Rangoon to see
the big city: He was seized by the army when he arrived. Yei Schweh, who
defected to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), says most Burmese
soldiers like the democracy movement, but brutality and fear keep them in the
ranks.
Rangoon maintains numerous bases in eastern Burma
and periodically strikes at villages suspected of harboring rebels. SPDC forces
impress civilians, women as well as men, as porters for months at a time.
Refugees report frequent atrocities, stories confirmed by Yei Shweh and other
defectors.
As a result, the Karen fight desperately. The
battle remains sadly uneven, however. The KNLA fields 4,000 to 5,000
ill-equipped guerrillas. The troops I met tended to run from 10s to 30s. They
mix fatigues and boots with ethnic Karen wraparound skirts, flip-flops, and
American-language shorts, T-shirts and baseball caps. Soldiers carry a motley
assemblage of arms.
The KNLA usually inflict far more casualties than
they suffer - they claim a 20-to-1 kill ratio. But they can rarely stop a
determined SPDC offensive. The Karen lost their capital of Manerplaw ("victory
field") four years ago and are increasingly pressed against the Thai
border.
The dry season is known as the "killing season"
because steep jungle trails dry out and rushing streams run low. Military action
typically ends mid-year, but SPDC troops arrived at Law Thi Hta before the rain.
Just six weeks after my visit earlier this year, Burmese forces advanced,
burning the village including a small hospital constructed by Christian Freedom
International, a relief group based in Front Royal, Virginia. A second clinic to
the north, along with an entire refugee camp housing 4000 people, was also
destroyed. "This happens every year," observes CFI head Jim Jacobson, but this
is "one of the worst years."
KNLA Gen. Saw Htey Maung offers a positive spin:
Since the Karen rely on "guerrilla tactics, hit-and-run," it looks "to the
outside world that we are losing. But every month we can see that the casualties
of the SPDC are more than before."
In fact, the Burmese government's victories are
usually costly and often temporary. The SPDC cannot garrison the rugged and
isolated jungles. But it doesn't have to. All it has to do is terrorize and
displace the Karen. As Gen. Htey acknowledges, "The SPDC try to fight the
grassroots, our backbone, the villages," so the people "don't have the morale to
support us with food or anything else."
The plight of the Karen is only likely to worsen.
Thailand recently announced that with the help of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees it hopes to move 100,000 refugees back into Burma
within three years.
Yet fighting continues to rage. KNU President Saw
Ba Thin says that "only a political settlement can make peace last." Karen
representatives have met with the central government several times, most
recently in 1996, with no success.
Earlier this year Rangoon rejected an offer from
the KNU to negotiate at neutral location outside of Burma transmitted by Jim
Jacobson to Tin Winn, Burma's ambassador to the United States. Winn suggested
instead that the KNU send representatives to Rangoon. But there is no evidence
that the SPDC is prepared to end its murderous depradations, let alone offer the
autonomy for which the Karen have been fighting for a half century.
Which leaves the Karen (along with Suu Kyi) hoping
for outside support.
"If we had a chance we would request that the
American people help us to get our freedom state," Gen. Htey said But what can
be done about a repressive and isolated regime like the SPDC? It is supported by
China, which covets naval access to Burma's long coastline and began arming and
financing Rangoon in 1990.
The United States and the European Union sanctions
inconvenience the SPDC, but have not shaken its hold on power. Unfortunately,
warns Robert Manning of the Council on Foreign Relations, as a result of
sanctions Rangoon "has drifted toward Beijing." Economic restrictions also
impoverish those who languish under SPDC jackboots.
KNU President Saw Ba Thin says that, "We'd like to
see the U.S. government increased pressure like trade sanctions and diplomatic
sanctions, and other pressures." But most countries believe sanctions have
failed and are moving in the opposite direction. At meetings in Seoul earlier
this year Asian, European, and U.S. officials met to consider new approaches to
Burma.
Some Karen pine for Western military intervention.
Last year a top KNU official told Rich Miniter, a journalist colleague of mine:
"Do like you did in Kosovo." Saw Ba Thin concurs: "If the American government
could do it, it would be helpful." However, America's interest in the Karen's
struggle is humanitarian, not strategic, and does not justify risking U.S.
lives.
A better alternative to current policy is probably
a mix of diplomatic pressure, which can most effectively be applied by Japan,
India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and economic engagement,
primarily by private individuals and organizations. Over time broader contact
with the West might strengthen internal democratic forces. But this will be an
uncertain and long-term process at best.
The West's most important role may be to help the
Karen and other ethnic peoples cope with SPDC brutality. That largely means
private assistance, such as that provided by CFI, since neither the United
Nations nor Western governments will work in Burma against Rangoon's express
wishes.
Scores of wars dot the globe. Occasionally one
captures newspaper headlines - Kosovo last year, for instance. Most languish in
obscurity, like Burma.
"Remember the Karen people. Don't abandon us like
the British did," Saw Ba Thin pleads.
But most of the world doesn't know enough about
the Karen to abandon them. The Karen's only hope seems to lie with groups like
CFI, which are helping oppressed peoples survive until a so far illusive
political solution is found.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Cato
Institute and a former special assistant to U.S. President Ronald Reagan. -
Ed.
Myanmar dissidents, shackled by
Thailand, want to resettle outside
By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON Associated Press Writer MANEELOY, Thailand, Aug 10, 2000 (AP) -- Myanmar dissidents in exile, whose fierce
campaign for democracy in their homeland has been subdued by a Thai crackdown,
said Thursday they are now eager to be resettled in other countries.
"We have no hope here anymore, a bright future is waiting for us in third
countries," said Aung Htun, a student leader, at the Maneeloy refugee camp where
1,539 dissidents have been living as virtual prisoners for the last 10
months.
Thai authorities clamped strict security on the camp, barring inmates from
going outside, after five radical Myanmar students briefly seized their
country's embassy in Bangkok in October.
Thailand was embarrassed again when another group of Myanmar students
seized a hospital in Ratchaburi, 90 kilometers (60 miles) west of Bangkok, in
January. At least some of those students involved in the two incidents were
believed to have once sheltered in the Maneeloy camp.
Thai authorities allowed reporters into the camp Thursday for the first
time since October, and permitted interviews with inmates.
While thousands of Myanmar refugees live in camps across Thailand, the
Maneeloy camp is the only one holding dissidents - students, politicians and
former officials who were involved in the 1988 uprising against the military
government of Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Aung Htun said the inmates are more than happy to resettle in other
countries in view of the Thai crackdown.
But they will carry on their campaign after being resettled to give "the
world information about what is happening in Myanmar," said Aung Htun, who
applied to go to Denmark in March. He is the deputy chief of the Burmese
Students Association, the most powerful group in the camp.
Since 1992, when the camp was set up, 2,567 inmates have been resettled in
the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavian countries, said
Preecha Chanreung, the deputy governor of Ratchaburi province where the camp is
located.
The Thai government, unwilling to antagonize Myanmar, a neighbor and
partner in a regional economic grouping, is pressuring third countries to accept
all the dissidents in the camp.
Preecha said he expected the camp to be closed by the end of next
year.
Myanmar currency reaches all-time low on
black market
YANGON, Myanmar, Aug 10, 2000 (AP) -- Myanmar's kyat currency hit an
all-time low Thursday in black market trading, adding to woes facing the
moribund economy.
Dealers said the exchange rate in Yangon had slipped to 394 kyat to the
U.S. dollar, compared with 385 kyat at the end of last week, when it breached a
two-year low.
The currency, which is not exchangeable overseas, started the year at 320
kyat to the dollar, then suffered a sudden drop after government servants were
given a fivefold pay raise in March.
Dealers suspected that weakness was compounded more recently by a decline
in the value of the baht currency in neighboring Thailand.
A commentary in the state-run Kyemon newspaper last week also noted that
there were false rumors circulating that new high denomination kyat banknotes
were to be issued.
It warned politicians and businessmen against spreading rumors about the
economy to manipulate commodity prices.
Despite the depreciation, consumer prices in Yangon markets are
stable.
There are only ten licensed foreign currency traders in Yangon. Most deals
are done on the black market which offers a better rate. The official fixed
exchange rate of 6 kyat to the dollar is disregarded in day-to-day
transactions.
Many dealers expect the currency could breach 400 kyat to the dollar soon
adding to the woes of an economy that multilateral financial institutions says
has serious structural problems.
In April, the Asian Development Bank said in a report that Myanmar's
central bank printed cash to cover 70 percent of last year's budget
deficit.
Bangkok Post - Aug 11, 2000.
Inbrief - Immunity law The armed forces will push for a law that will give their anti-terrorism
personnel legal immunity.
The move was reportedly prompted by the Ratchaburi hospital takeover in
January by God's Army rebels. The crisis ended with a commando raid which freed
all hostages and left all 10 Karen terrorists dead.
However, those involved in the operation have been accused of over-reaction
and brutality by human rights activists who also called for criminal action
against them.
Bangkok Post - Aug 11, 2000.
Inbrief - Drugs meeting Top military leaders and the national police chief met yesterday to discuss
measures to deal with an anticipated influx of narcotic drugs from Burma,
particularly from the Red Wa-controlled area near the northern border.
Lt-Gen Pongthep Tesprateep, chief of the Joint Civil Affairs Directorate,
said Burma had focused its long-term drug suppression plan only on its northern
and central regions. Rangoon was turning a blind eye on illicit drug operations
of ethnic minority groups in Burma.
Bangkok Post - Aug 11, 2000.
Inbrief - Cheap fuel ploy Ranong-Fishing and tour boats are buying cheap fuel from tankers in Burmese
waters to get around the latest domestic price hike.
Wichian Saeng-aroon, of Ranong Coastal Fisheries Group, said many boats on
the Ranong-Kawthaung route are buying diesel and petrol from three ships in
Burmese waters at nearly three baht a litre below the market price.
The Nation - Aug 11,
2000.
Thailand to host anti-drug forum THAILAND and the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) have agreed
to hold an international drug congress here in October to forge a worldwide
alliance to tackle the problem, a senior Foreign Ministry official said.
International Organisations Department Director-General Laxanachanthorn
Laohaphand said Thailand and the UNDCP are working on the framework and the
approach the meeting should take.
Speaking after an hour-long discussion with UNDCP country representative
Sandro Kawami yesterday, Laxanachanthorn said the date of the meeting has yet to
be set. She stated that what is most important now is for a strong commitment to
be made by leaders to address the worsening problem and place the drug issue on
top of the national agenda.
So far there has been substantial support for the meeting from G-8
countries and Asean members, she said. The idea was initially proposed during
last month's Asean Regional Forum. Thailand proposed a global convention
specifically to deal with the drug menace.
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said the UNDCP and countries such as
Thailand, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and China could spearhead such a
meeting.
The notorious Golden Triangle in northern Thailand and its adjacent areas
are considered among the biggest drug producing and consuming areas in the
world. Thailand, in particular, has been flooded with variety of drugs,
especially methamphetamine, from the Wa-controlled region in neighbouring Burma.
As a result, Bangkok's proposal was viewed as timely and reflected a
desperate attempt by Thai authorities to get an effective multinational strategy
going in order to tackle the problem, she said. Asean recently agreed to speed
up its goal of achieving a drug-free zone by 2015 instead of the previously set
date of 2020.
AUGUST 11 , 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 31
Asiaweek - Viewpoint: Questioning Sanctions It's time to re-examine their results in Myanmar (Rebecca Miller is paralegal consultant for the United Nations Drug
Control Program's Regional Center for East Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok. The
opinions expressed here are her own)
Myanmar, which has suffered extensively from civil war, in much of the
world is associated now with the suppression of democracy, the abuse of human
rights, injustice, and the denial of freedom. Outraged by Myanmar's
authoritarian regime, several Western powers invoked sanctions. The United
States' measures include the suspension of economic aid, withdrawal of
eligibility for trade and investment programs, an arms embargo, and a bar on
assistance from international financial institutions. The European Union adopted
similar sanctions, but in Bangkok last week it announced exceptions for
humanitarian aid and programs of non-government organizations. Japan and
Australia have suspended most of their bilateral aid programs, and the
International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted an unprecedented resolution
stopping Myanmar's participation in meetings.
The regime's repressive control has contributed to Myanmar's failing
economy, but it is possible that sanctions have too — with consequences for the
populace. There can be trade-offs in applying sanctions. No doubt they are a
powerful tool in enacting change: a way, says Lloyd Axworthy, Canada's minister
of foreign affairs, to prevent or stop violence against civilians and save lives
in the face of brutality and destruction — vital for the U.N. to protect people.
Apparently, the U.S. believes that sanctions are the only way to effectively
address the situation in Myanmar, and it holds that the regime's mismanagement
is the chief cause of the faltering economy. Axworthy says that if we examine
history, results of sanctions seem to be mixed. Indeed. It is important to
evaluate whether the impact of sanctions, in terms of human suffering, is too
high. Undoubtedly they affect innocents who often find themselves isolated and
lacking international support. Ironically they are then left to face the adverse
consequences sanctions were intended to relieve.
During the 1990s, the U.N. invoked a record number of sanctions against
countries that did not conform to international standards of behavior toward
other nations or their own citizens. Sanctions have offered the Security Council
the necessary support to enforce its decisions, stronger than condemnation yet
not as intrusive or confrontational as force. But recently, U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan acknowledged that they might not always be the best solution:
"When robust and comprehensive economic sanctions are directed against
authoritarian regimes, a different problem is encountered — it is usually the
people who suffer, not the political elite whose behavior triggered the
sanctions." He said sanctions often benefit individuals in power because of
their ability to control and profit from the black-market economy. Moreover,
sanctions appear not to have stopped regimes from silencing or eliminating
internal political opposition. Some of the world's worst human rights abuses
have been facilitated by isolation.
Axworthy believes that targeted sanctions should be combined creatively
with targeted incentives in foreign assistance, debt relief and trade benefits.
The International Committee of the Red Cross provides an example. In 1998 —
three years after it had withdrawn from Myanmar — the Red Cross decided to
resume operations. While some in the international community were critical, its
return was welcomed by the regime and eventually National League for Democracy
(NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well. After 1995, Myanmar had contacted the Red
Cross and an agreement was negotiated on one of the most sensitive issues —
prisons and the detention of political detainees. It is difficult to discount
the Red Cross's achievements. Its officers have access to 25 prisons, the
guesthouses where NLD ministers are held and two labor camps, and meet regularly
with inmates. Former Red Cross chief Leon de Riedmatten's advice to those
seeking improvements in Myanmar: Be open to negotiations and give authorities
the responsibility to make important decisions.
U.N. organizations play diverse roles in Myanmar. Contrasting with the ILO
is the position of the World Health Organization, which recognized the country's
drastic need for help on reproductive health issues and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The Children's Fund, UNICEF, also has taken a cooperative approach, contending
that with the suspension of bilateral assistance, programs for children's
health, nutrition and education are urgently required. The U.N. Drug Control
Program is among the few U.N. agencies providing assistance to Myanmar and
working with its officials. With UNDCP guidance, Myanmar is engaged in
subregional cooperation in drug abuse control and domestic programs.
It is time for the international community to re-examine the role and
impact of sanctions. They have a place, but the issue is whether they are viewed
as a hammer or a laser. There is evidence that sanctions against Myanmar have
not achieved all the desired results. Moreover, constructive engagement, in
limited instances, appears to have had positive results. Therefore, it is
prudent to explore the potential of an active dialogue with Myanmar with the
goal of fostering an enhancement of human rights, reduction of the drug trade,
and to alleviate the widespread poverty that ravages the country.
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