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BURMA RELATED NEWS - March 31,
2001.
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HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar military frees 16 opposition detainees
AP - Myanmar Regime Releases
16 Opposition Prisoners
AP - Myanmar To Join Thailand, China In Anti-Drugs
Talks
AFP -
Latin American, Asian ministers kick off cooperation
forum
NZH - Rebels fighting Burma's military regime
find safety in New Zealand
The Nations - Call In the Drug
Tsars
The Nations - Diplomatic breakthrough
with Burma
BkK Post - Burma backs three-way battle
plan
Myanmar military frees 16 opposition
detainees
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
ruling military government has released 16 detained members of the opposition
National League for Democracy Party (NLD), signalling further improvement in
relations with the party.
"Some 13 NLD members were released in Mandalay and three in Pago," a senior
NLD leader, who declined to be identified, told Reuters on Saturday. He said all
of them were sent back home.
Among those released were some NLD members who were arrested on September
22, when their party leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi tried to travel
by rail from Yangon to Mandalay to meet her supporters.
Suu Kyi's attempt to carry her pro-democracy campaign out of Yangon
triggered a major crackdown on NLD members by the military. Up to 80 opposition
party members were detained while Suu Kyi was placed under de facto house
arrest.
Opposition politicians say that the military has detained hundreds of NLD
members in the past. The exact numbers of party members detained is not known.
The NLD official said the release of the 16 members was a positive response
from the Myanmar government to the party's appeals on detained members.
The two sides have been at loggerheads since a 1990 general election. The
NLD swept to victory but was not allowed to rule by the military.
Asked whether the release could be interpreted as a sign of improving
relations between the two sides, the NLD official said: "I think so".
Myanmar's military government marked a key national anniversary on March 27
with cautious praise for democracy, with some senior officials saying secret
talks with the opposition were going well.
Diplomats believe Suu Kyi has talked to the powerful Secretary One of the
ruling State Peace and Development Council, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, as
well as other military intelligence officials.
They represent the highest-level protracted talks between the ruling
generals and the NLD since 1995.
Saturday March 31, 3:26 PM
Myanmar Regime Releases 16 Opposition
Prisoners
YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Myanmar's
military regime have released from prison 16 members of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, in a further sign of easing
political tensions, official sources said Saturday.
The 16 NLD members were released from Mandalay prison in northern Myanmar
Friday. They had been detained last year in connection with Suu Kyis abortive
attempts to visit party members outside Yangon, the sources said.
NLD leaders were not available for comment on the releases as the party
headquarters in the capital is closed at the weekend.
It is the second batch of NLD detainees released since January, when 84
were freed from Yangons Insein prison.
In October, Suu Kyi and the regime began secret talks aimed at breaking a
decade-long political deadlock, which has ended hostile rhetoric from both
sides.
But the NLD leader, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful
democracy struggle, and her two top lieutenants remain confined by authorities
to their homes in Yangon.
The NLD swept general elections in 1990 but the military, which has run
Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962, refused to honor the result. Many of
the country's more than 1,800 political prisoners are NLD supporters.
Saturday March 31, 3:48 PM
Myanmar To Join Thailand, China In
Anti-Drugs Talks
BANGKOK (AP)--Myanmar, the main
source of illicit drugs in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle, has agreed to join
tripartite talks with Thailand and China to address the problem of drug
trafficking, the Thai foreign minister said.
Myanmar deputy foreign minister Khin Maung Win notified Thailand on
sidelines of a conference of East Asian and Latin American states in Chile that
it would join the meeting, proposed by Thailand. China has already agreed to
take part. No date has been set.
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai told a press conference in
Bangkok late Friday, conducted by phone from Santiago, that the agreement of
Myanmar showed that its relations with Thailand were in good shape despite
recent problems.
"The recent tension was just a local conflict which often happens between
neighbors," Surakiat said.
Surakiat said that he would visit Myanmar May 1-2 at the invitation of his
counterpart Win Aung for bilateral talks, following an informal meeting of
Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Yangon April 30.
Bilateral relations have been badly strained after the armies of the two
countries clashed at the northern Thai-Myanmar border in February, the worst
such confrontation in years. It led to the closure of border checkpoints and a
drop in trade.
Thailand also accuses Myanmar's military regime of turning a blind eye to
drug lords producing methamphetamines smuggled for sale in Thailand, which is
grappling with a rise in crime and other drug-linked social problems.
China, which is a close ally of the Myanmar military regime, also faces
serious levels of heroin and methamphetamine addiction particularly in southern
areas bordering Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Thai officials say most of the drugs sold in Thailand are produced by the
United Wa State Army, a former ethnic rebel group that signed a cease-fire with
the junta more than one decade ago. It's believed to operate dozens of drug
refineries along Myanmar's border with Thailand.
Myanmar has retorted to Thai criticism by saying it should clean up its own
house and crack down on corrupt politicians who profit from the drugs trade.
On Monday, a Thai-Myanmar regional border committee led by senior military
officers from both countries is due to convene at Keng Tung in northeastern
Myanmar to try and patch up differences following February's border clash, Thai
officials said.
Saturday March 31, 6:52 AM
Latin American, Asian ministers kick off
cooperation forum
SANTIAGO, March 30 (AFP) -
Ministers of 30 countries concluded a two-day inaugural meeting of the Latin
America-East Asia Cooperation Forum here Friday, vowing to work together to face
the challenges and exploit the opportunities of globalization.
The event "marks the debut of an unprecedented level of dialogue and
cooperation between the two regions," said a text adopted at the close of the
meeting.
"Technology has moderated the effects of geographic distance between East
Asia and Latin America, and created opportunities to develop all the
possibilities offered by greater exchange between our regions," the declaration
said.
Singapore's foreign minister Shunmugam Jayakumar told reporters that the
two regions share an interest in economic growth and the fight against
poverty.
And Chile's Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear called the meeting "an historic
step in relations between Latin America and East Asia."
Singapore and Chile are the main forces behind creation of the forum, the
idea for which emerged in a September 1998 meeting in Santiago between
then-president Eduardo Frei and Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.
The forum's organizers plan to hold foreign minister meetings every two
years, and occasionally call together economics ministers or heads of
government.
Three working groups will focus on boosting cooperation in political,
cultural, economic, social, scientific and educational domains.
Three new countries -- Cuba, El Salvador, and Costa Rica -- were accepted
Thursday to the forum, which already grouped the Latin American nations of
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay,
Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Asia-Pacific members are Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia,
Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South
Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
The cosy atmosphere of the proceedings was chilled somewhat by a sharp
exchange between Australia and Laos over the fate of an Australian couple held
in a Lao jail since December 23.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Lao Deputy Prime Minister
Somsavat Lengsavad that Canberra was concerned the two Australian citizens had
been held for three months without a clear case against them.
The couple, Kerry and Kay Danes, have been implicated in the theft of
gemstones from a sapphire operation, Gem Mining Lao PDR, but have had no
opportunity to prove it in court.
In a conversation with the Laotian minister, "I reiterated my strong
personal unhappiness about their situation and the Australian government's wish
to see their case resolved quickly," Downer said in a statement released by the
Australian Embassy here.
The ministerial meeting was overshadowed by anticipation of Chinese
President Jiang Zemin's historic visit to Latin America next week.
Jiang is to arrive in the Chilean capital next Thursday, and is also
scheduled to visit Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela and Cuba.
China's Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told reporters that the visit will
have "profound influence" on relations between the two regions.
The Chinese minister said Jiang's decision to start his Latin America trip
in Chile had special meaning, noting that Chile was the first country in the
region to establish diplomatic ties with communist China, in 1971, and had
lobbied for China's inclusion in the World Trade Organization.
The New Zealand Herald
Rebels fighting Burma's military regime
find safety in New Zealand
31.03.2001 By TIM WATKIN
Down a treeless suburban street in Glen Innes, in a state house much the
same as all the others, eight men drink tea and talk about their time as
revolutionary soldiers in the border jungles of Burma.
Infomercials parade across an old TV that crouches mute in the corner as
the men recall battle, hunger and, all too often, defeat.
There are memories too of Maneeloy, the notorious Thai refugee camp where
they all lived for months or years; the place that became their protection - and
their prison - until last year, when New Zealand accepted them among 207 Burmese
nationals as part of our annual refugee quota.
Their stories are unique - they are from different towns, had different
jobs and lifestyles - but come together in protest and paramilitary action
against the murderous regime ruling Burma, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council. Known, like a group of villains from a James Bond film, as Slorc, it is
the latest incarnation of the military dictatorship that has ruled Burma for
nearly 40 years.
One of the group, Aung Win Thaung, was a goldsmith in southern Burma who
led demonstrations when the people rose up against dictator Ne Win and his
cronies in 1988. When the military coup was announced on September 19 of that
year "to rescue Burma from disintegration and chaos," he hurriedly left his home
town for the Thai border to join the rag-tag legions of freedom-fighters taking
up arms against the regime.
On the couch opposite sits Aye Zaw Han, a history student at a college 80km
from the capital Rangoon who recruited new members for the democracy movement.
After twice being arrested, he too fled for the border and joined the Karen
National Union (KNU) in its armed struggle.
"When we went fighting," he says as a lawn-mower buzzes somewhere outside,
"everybody slept in the jungle, some times for six months. Some times we fight
face to face, some times they shoot the big gun with 120mm shells. We had many
times of failure."
The insurgents have been able to fight only a guerrilla war of ambushes and
skirmishes against the regime. Ethnic divisions have split opposition forces
into numerous fragmented armies that have increasingly struggled to get enough
guns and ammunition, leaving some soldiers unarmed.
Disillusion and defeat have taken their toll and many such as Thaung, who
fought for 10 years, have headed across the border to Thailand and safety.
Safety, but no security - Thailand has not signed the United Nations
convention on refugees and considers Burmese political refugees as illegal
immigrants, subject to arrest and deportation.
Min Maung Thin, now living in Northcote, was fleeing the advancing Burmese
army with his family when they tried to cross into Thailand in 1997. But when he
became separated from his family, his wife and children were arrested by Thai
police and sent back to Burma.
Formerly a lawyer in Rangoon and a member of the KNU supreme court, he made
his way to Bangkok. There, he applied to the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) for status as a refugee, or "person of concern," as Thais call
them.
At first rejected, he was then arrested with 13 other members of the
judiciary and MPs in exile and deported back to Burma. Pressure from human
rights groups meant he was reunited with his family and returned to Thailand,
but he was designated "a border case" and had to go to the camps little more
than a stone's throw from Burma.
Burmese refugees have long been herded into border camps where they live in
limbo, unable to leave these political purgatories.
The Thai Government's treatment of persons of concern has hardened as it
has tried to improve relations with the Burmese regime and as Thai public
sympathy for refugees has waned.
The country has been inundated with refugees from all sides - Burma, Laos,
Cambodia, Vietnam - since the 1970s. Since May 1999 alone, the UNHCR says 19,000
Burmese have crossed into Thailand. As one UN camp worker says, "It's difficult.
If it was New Zealand and you got 1 million people suddenly, you'd feel it."
Janvier de Riedmatten, the Swiss-born UNHCR deputy representative in
Bangkok, accepts that more should be done for the refugees, but says at least
they are safe in the Thai camps.
"If they are able to enter into the camps at the border they are protected
against arrest and deportation. It may not be the best option, but it is the
only option available."
There is some protection from the other miseries of that border region too
- the disease, prostitution and drug trafficking.
The rebels are not convinced. Through an interpreter Thin says, "I could
not bear to return to the border, I would have been arrested. So I had to find a
place to hide [in Bangkok] with my family, and while I was hiding I appealed my
case with the UNHCR."
Finally, because his wife had become seriously ill with a throat disease
she picked up when she was sent back to Burma, he and his family were sent to
Thailand's only non-border camp, at Maneeloy, in November, 1999. Run by the
Ministry of the Interior (MOI), the Thais call the camp "The safe area for
Burmese students."
About the same time, Han was reluctantly heading for Maneeloy. "The safe
area is not a safe area. It's like a jail." He sighs. "There are many
difficulties."
fxdrop,3,100 T UCKED away off the main roads in Ratchaburi province,
Maneeloy is about an hour and a half's drive from Bangkok. As we turn off the
main highway, stubble from the rice crops stands burned or dead in paddy fields
left fallow until the rains come again.
A woman is hanging out her washing in the thick, beige heat and across the
road children are pulling a toy truck alongside four strings of rusted barbed
wire. The top strand is about a metre off the ground. We follow the wire to the
entrance, where a spindly barrier arm, tied down by a piece of string, blocks
our way.
In a small, dark office camp commander Pinij Kaewjitkongthong explains
through an interpreter that the camp's inhabitants aren't just students, but any
democracy activist in danger from the Burmese regime or factions in the border
camps.
"They are the leaders of the anti-government groups, so the Government will
have a blacklist of them. The refugees sent back to the border areas, they are
just the local people."
The refugees pay a high price for their security by coming here. They give
up any foreseeable chance of going home, their right to political activity of
any kind, and their liberty. But they come because Maneeloy is the one camp from
which the UNHCR helps to arrange resettlement to third countries. This prison,
paradoxically, is also the only way out.
The camp was set up in 1992 and has been home for 4000 people since then,
says commander Pinij.
"At that time there were many Burmese students in Thailand in many areas,
so the Thai Government wanted to put them in the same area ...
"If they live [at large] in Thailand they can do underground work and the
Thai Government cannot control them. If they do political activity in Thailand
the relationship between the Thai and Burmese Governments would not be so good."
So as expedience for the Thais and an escape for the Burmese, Maneeloy
became the shore on which the most at-risk and desperate rebels washed up.
As the liberated territories along Burma's eastern borders fell to Slorc,
the numbers seeking refugee status grew, especially after the fall of the KNU
headquarters at Manerplaw in 1995.
Most refugees have since resettled in the US, but others have gone to
Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
Then in October 1999, shortly before Thin and Han arrived at the camp, the
rules changed. Burmese protesters stormed the Burmese embassy in Bangkok and the
Thai Government responded by clamping down on the Burmese operating covertly in
Thailand, giving them a now-or-never order to enter the camp or forever lose
their chance of resettlement.
At a desk in Maneeloy's long, open-plan administration building,
40-year-old Naw Hser Htoo tells me she had been a teacher at a KNU stronghold
before it fell to government forces in 1997.
The petite, demure woman in a pink cardigan explains how she absconded to
Thailand with her husband and five children and how they tried to keep their
freedom. But life as illegal citizens was too hard, she says, and the family
entered Maneeloy in December 1999.
But she is angry - even those Burmese who have been given refugee status by
the UNHCR can be arrested in Thailand and imprisoned for three months. What's
more, everyone entering the camp is charged retrospectively and fined between
800 and 3000 baht ($41 to $155) as punishment.
"There is no way at all to be happy here, because the fundamental freedom
is controlled by the authorities," Naw Hser says, through Thet Thet Lwin,
another refugee at the camp and formerly an engineering student and prominent
politician in the All Burma Student Democratic Front.
After nearly 18 months in the camp, Naw Hser hopes New Zealand will accept
her family for resettlement. She and her husband carefully chose this country -
and were two of nearly 150 applicants interviewed when New Zealand immigration
officers visited the camp this year - because they believe it offers the best
education opportunities for their children.
Those chosen are expected to arrive next month, spending six weeks at a
Mangere reception centre before they are free to rebuild their lives out of the
shadow of Maneeloy and its harsh conditions.
Thin says when he and his family of six were there they lived and slept in
a section of a long barrack about 4.5m long by 1.5m wide divided from other
refugees by cardboard boxes.
In particular, everyone in the camp complains about the food ration they
receive from UNHCR subcontractors. They used to receive three meals a day, but
when the camp was sealed in 1999 the authorities switched to supplying each
person with a set weekly ration (see box).
Lwin says that ration lasts only a couple of meals, and refugees have to
buy extra food with the 200 baht of "pocket money" the UNHCR gives them each
week. And the food quality, she says, is getting worse.
"We're sometimes given rotten vegetables and meat. We had to demonstrate to
get fresh food. They didn't like it. Now we get fresh meat, but not fresh
vegetables. We don't think we get sufficient nutrition."
The UNHCR says differently. Riedmatten concedes the lack of variety may be
unpleasant, but "the rations have been calculated on international World Food
Programme standards. They are the standards being applied all over the world and
I guess we have to be fair with the amount of money the UNHCR receives for
refugees worldwide ...
"In addition they receive pocket money, which we don't do anywhere else in
the world."
Non-governmental organisations offer limited English and vocational
training and the refugees have set up their own school. The UN is satisfied with
the conditions overall, he says.
But the refugees are so miserable, one committed suicide six months ago,
says Lwin. Dropping her voice so the MOI staff won't hear, she says the local
papers reported that the student who committed suicide was a drug-user - the
camp-dwellers know he wasn't using when he died.
He was, Lwin frowns, sick with worry - about the conflict between the
ethnic factions in the camp, about resettling in the US and about friends who
had not received refugee status and would be left behind.
Others unhappy with the camp will escape, even if only for a brief period.
If they're caught, the punishment ranges from three months in a Bangkok
detention centre to three months in the wretchedness of a Thai prison.
Asked about how he and his 48 guards handle security at the camp, Pinij
laughs and answers in English. "My security is not enough to protect them from
escaping from this camp. Every month we arrest them, one, two, three people.
Every month. But my security cannot arrest many."
How many escape? "We cannot tell, because they have run away already, you
know what I mean?"
As of mid-March, 885 refugees were left in Maneeloy. The Thai Government
has made it clear it wants the camp closed and Lwin says the nervous rumour is
that that could happen by the middle of the year.
"What we have been told by the Government is that once the refugees who are
still there have departed for the third countries, the camp will then be
closed," says Riedmatten.
But Maneeloy has played an important role for the past nine years. What
will happen to those who, under the current policy, would have gone there for
protection? Riedmatten's answer that "we will have to find a solution for them
elsewhere, either in this country or another country" is hardly reassuring.
But the Government is reacting to the public perception that Maneeloy is a
hive of terrorist activities - something the refugees deny.
"We [the UNHCR] don't think that Maneeloy is such a bad place where people
are plotting all the bad things that happen," says Riedmatten, "but it certainly
got a very bad reputation and it's very difficult to change that."
A frustrated Lwin says, "We gave up everything once we left the [liberated]
territory. Not our beliefs at all, but violent means - we don't do that ...
After 12 years' experience in the struggle, I learned that it cannot bring a
peaceful solution."
Outside in the heat a dog is barking and a guard shouts it into silence, as
Lwin explains her own decision to opt for peace.
"I have two daughters. One is 3 1/2 and one is 2. They were another reason
for me to change. I worry about their future, their education, their identity.
We cannot go back to Burma, we cannot bring them up in Thailand. They need to
get a legal status and only resettlement can solve that."
Lwin has applied to take her family to Australia and hopes that once there,
she can do something to help the National League for Democracy. "Our hope is
completely in the effort of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party. She's the only
hope."
And a glimmer seems to be peeking out of Rangoon, where sanctions are
hurting even the most powerful. Since October Suu Kyi has been in talks with
various members of the dictatorship.
Although held in the utmost secret, there have been reports that a
transition to democracy is on the agenda. Western governments have expressed
cautious optimism.
Back in Glen Innes the refugees hope, but not too much. Democracy will come
only slowly to their homeland, they say, and they are committed to starting
again in New Zealand. Their fight now is to learn English and find work as they
force their way through the jungle of a new culture.
The Nation - March 31,
2001.
Call In the Drug
Tsars
THAILAND, China and Burma should have anti-narcotics attachés stationed at
their embassies in each others' countries to jointly combat drug syndicates,
PM's Office Minister General Thamarak Isarangura said yesterday.
Thailand should ask China to persuade Burma to agree to Bangkok's proposal
on the anti-narcotics envoys, Thamarak said.
The matter has actually been delayed for years, but was raised again when
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai visited China this month.
"Concerted efforts are needed to fight the drug syndicates. The proposed
anti-narcotics envoys would surely play an important role in suppressing these
illegal activities," Thamarak said. "With China's helping hand, I believe that
Burma would endorse the idea."
Thamarak said that the matter would have seen progress if Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra had raised the issue with his Burmese counterpart, but
Thaksin had fuelled the fire by saying Burma's Mong Yawn was a safe haven for
narcotics syndicates.
The Nation - March 31,
2001.
Diplomatic breakthrough with Burma
BY VORAPUN SRIVORANART
SANTIAGO - The diplomatic stalemate with Burma has finally been broken with Rangoon extending a formal invitation to the Thai foreign minister to visit the country at the beginning of May. Burma, Thailand and China have agreed to engage in a tripartite effort to
fight drug production and trafficking near Thailand's northern borders.
The invitation from the Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung was conveyed by
his deputy Khin Muang Win during a bilateral discussion with Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai, on the sidelines of the inaugural gathering of ministers
from East Asia and Latin America.
The meeting between the two ministers, which extended over an hour,
represents the highest bilateral dialogue after a border clash in Chiang Rai in
February. escalated to a daily war of words. The development was billed by both
countries as "very significant" and an outcome that would help to "break the
deadlock".
Surakiart accepted the olive branch to visit Burma on May 1-2. He is due to
attend the first informal meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Rangoon on April
30. Both sides agreed that despite local disputes overall bilateral ties between
the two governments remained "good" and efforts should be made to maintain this.
Khin Muang Win was quoted by Surakiart as saying that both Win Aung and the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Secretary 1 Lt. Gen Khin Nyunt had
always expressed their desire to cooperate with Bangkok.
Khin Muang Win also expressed optimism about the upcoming meeting of the
Regional Border Committee (RBC), being held in Keng Tung next week.
"We place great significance on this RBC meeting and we are assured and
confident that with understanding from both sides, it will be a success," he
said.
Both sides also stressed the RBC should be convened regularly to keep a
channel of dialogue open and that the meeting must not be a one-off event.
Surakiart said Burma had strongly agreed that it was imperative to enlist
international support to address the narcotics problems as fighting them alone
would be unsuccessful. And with Thailand and China already agreeing in principle
about trilateral cooperation, Burmese concurrence was the last piece in the
regional jigsaw.
"It is a great success within a short period of time," he stated, adding
that the new cooperative endeavour would be informal in nature with foreign
ministers at the core. The date and venue of the tripartite meeting is yet to be
worked out.
Surakiart said he had already conveyed the results of his meeting with Khin
Muang Win to the Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, who was also attending
the forum in Santiago.
Meanwhile, Burma emphasised that existing cooperative efforts, such as
those under the framework of the UN Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and Asean,
should be strengthened.
The Burmese deputy minister also accepted for consideration the Thai
proposal for a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on narcotics,
Surakiart said. The issue could be further explored during the Asean meeting in
Rangoon next month, he added. "There was no objection in the principle from the
Burmese side regarding the MoU".
The draft prepared by Thai authorities is expected to be conveyed to the
Burmese side for preliminary consideration at the official level some time
during the two-day meeting here.
Bangkok Post - March 31,
2001.
Burma backs three-way battle
plan
Surakiart accepts junta invitation Achara Ashayagachat
Burma has agreed in principle to co-operate with Thailand and China to curb
drug trafficking, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said yesterday.
Khin Maung Win, Burma's deputy foreign minister, gave the nod during talks
in Santiago with Mr Surakiart, on the sidelines of the launch of a new East
Asian-Latin America Forum (EALAF).
Since Tang Jiaxuan, China's foreign minister, had done the same during Mr
Surakiart's visit to Beijing last week, the trilateral scheme is on course, the
minister said.
It remained to be seen how the scheme could be launched, Mr Surakiart said
by phone from the Chilean capital.
However, Burma has yet to agree to Thailand's proposal to enter into a
bilateral memorandum of understanding on drug suppression, along the lines of
the pact it has with China.
- Khin Maung Win also extended a formal invitation from Win Aung, the
Burmese foreign minister, for Mr Surakiart to pay an official visit to Burma on
May 1-2, immediately after an informal Asean meeting in Rangoon on April
30.
Mr Surakiart formally accepted the invitation. U Khin Maung Win stressed
that Burma lent importance to the establishment of cordial and close relations
with Thailand.
The Asean "retreat" will be an occasion for the 10 ministers to discuss
ways of fostering solidarity among the Asian members of the forum launched in
Chile yesterday.
EALAF groups the 10 Asean member states with Australia, New Zealand and 12
Latin American countries. At its launch, Mr Surakiart called on the forum to
identify and overcome existing barriers to trade expansion, and to address
transnational problems such as drugs and terrorism.
He also stressed the need for the two regions to co-operate in a "holistic"
manner, and to "concretise" projects.
Politically, EALAF should address transnational issues like illegal
migration, drug trafficking, organised crime and international terrorism, Mr
Surakiart said.
Economically, it should mobilise a working group to identify and overcome
obstacles to trade growth, and encourage networks of small and medium
enterprises. Economic co-operation should further extend to the areas of energy,
services, tourism, information technology and human resources development.
With two EALAF nationals-Mike Moore of New Zealand and Supachai
Panitchpakdi of Thailand-splitting the term at the helm of the World Trade
Organisation, Mr Surakiart said, forum members should forge a common position to
promote a fair and equitable multilateral trading system.
In particular, EALAF should persuade the WTO and other similar agencies to
help in capacity building in terms of institutional and trade-related
negotiations.
EALAF members must take part in the shaping of the international financial
system and convey their concerns to G-8 leaders.
Social co-operation should include the fight against drugs, control of
HIV/AIDs and other communicable diseases, environmental conservation, and equal
access to social welfare. Mr Surakiart also advocated exchanges of media,
academics, and young people.
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