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BURMA RELATED NEWS - December 24,
2001.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Study: Number of Conflicts
Declines
TI - Thousands rally for closure of Myanmar
refugee camp
DS - Dhaka, Yangon to open coastal shipping
line
ST - Bra firm hit caught in Burmese row
Bkk Post - PTT claims it's done all it can to
restore the forest
The Nation - Further talks sought with junta
The Nation - Locals
protest against camp
ST - $420,000 in illegal wood seized by
Thai force
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Study: Number of Conflicts
Declines
The Associated Press, Sun 23 Dec 2001 WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Sept. 11
terrorist attacks rank as the ``most dangerous conflict'' of the year in a new
report that found nine fewer conflicts around the world than in 2000.
Of 193 countries evaluated by the National Defense Council Foundation, 59
have had serious conflicts this year, from separatist-ethnic violence and
political fighting to drug trafficking, religious turmoil and a mutiny by
soldiers in Papua New Guinea over army downsizing.
The figure is nine fewer than last year's 68 countries, but still far more
than the Cold War average of 35 countries, when the U.S-Soviet standoff brought
the world some stability.
The annual report found no ``high-intensity conflicts pitching one state
army versus another.'' Instead, most conflicts were ``low-medium intensity and
were normally fought between the state and one or more sub-state actors such as
a rebel force or a terrorist organization.''
The United States gained an unwanted membership on the list after the
attacks, the ``most dangerous conflict'' of the year, due to the possibility of
further attacks on American soil.
``There are multiple terrorist groups out there beyond Osama bin Laden,''
the report says of the man believed responsible for the Sept. 11 airliner
hijackings. It noted that terrorists could take advantage of U.S.
vulnerabilities by staging, for example, ``a catastrophic attack against one of
our nation's ports.''
Army Maj. F. Andy Messing Jr., executive director of the Alexandria,
Va.-based foundation, a nonprofit, right-leaning group, said the reports are
done to call attention to dangerous situations worldwide and to help U.S.
officials determine how to shape any military response.
``If you don't identify the problem, you can't develop a strategy to
address the problem,'' he said.
Messing, a former Army Special Forces member, said America's military was
ill-prepared for the battle against terrorism because it hasn't been reorganized
to reflect the end of the Cold War. America should have led with special
operations forces, not conventional forces, he said.
Not everyone agrees with the foundation's list, which is based on a
country's level of disruption to its socioeconomic, political and security
fabric by internal and external conflicts.
For example, the CIA's list counts conflicts, not countries, so one
conflict can involve several countries, said spokesman Mark Mansfield. The
agency's number for the year is 30, down one from last year. The specifics are
classified, he said.
The Washington-based Center for Defense Information, which has issued
reports skeptical of increased military spending, counts major conflicts that
have caused at least 1,000 casualties, and separately counts potential hotspots,
said chief researcher Ret. Army Col. Daniel Smith.
Major conflicts in 2001 total 38, one down from last year, and more than
one-fourth involve Indonesia, India and the Philippines, by Smith's count.
``I usually restrict it to military operations involving a government
versus a force, rebels or some movement that is seeking a political or economic
goal,'' Smith said in an interview. He also counted 23 conflicts in suspension
or areas to watch, the same as last year.
The National Defense Council Foundation also named 10 countries considered
most likely to be conflict areas next year.
Topping the list is Somalia, a possible terrorist haven where warlords have
been undermining transitional government, the study found. Also on that list are
Iraq, Burma, Congo-Kinshasa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burundi, Sudan, Comoros and
Sierra Leone.
Separatist movements, often along religious lines, was a recurrent theme
this year, with Islamic groups wanting to form their own states in Myanmar, the
Philippines, Indonesia and China.
``It does seem to indicate there are a lot of disgruntled Muslim groups in
the world, frequently using Islam as an excuse for violence,'' the study says.
Demonstrating a certain prescience, the organization last year named
Afghanistan the ``most dangerous conflict'' of 2000, given its ongoing civil
war, sponsorship of international terrorism and multiple terrorist bombings,
among other things.
Eleven countries, including the United States, were added this year; 20
were removed.
Ghana snagged the dubious honor of ``stupidest conflict,'' where the
foundation found ``what should have been a quarrel between two young men over an
act of vandalism escalated into a renewed fight between two ethnic groups,'' the
Mamprusi and Kusasi.
The United States was on the list in 1996 because of drug-related violence
and high crime rates. It was removed in 1997 as crime rates fell.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Times of India
MONDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2001 Thousands rally for closure of Myanmar refugee camp BANGKOK: Residents of a western town staged a noisy protest Monday to
demand the closure of a nearby camp for Myanmar refugees, accusing them of
spawning crime and other troubles in the area.
The government has already promised to shut down the Maneeloy Holding
Center, about 20 kilometers (15 miles) from Ratchaburi town, sometime this
week.
The center is the main camp in Thailand for Myanmar dissidents opposed to
their country's military junta. Their presence in Thailand has irked many locals
who blame them for crime in the area.
Armed with posters, banners and loudspeakers, some 10,000 Ratchaburi
residents assembled at the town hall to shout slogans for about three hours,
said Natapol Rakmitr, a government official in charge of refugee camps in the
province.
Natapol told The Associated Press by telephone that he assured the
protesters the government will keep its word on closing the Maneeloy center. He
said the protesters dispersed peacefully.
"The protesters said they are fed up with the Myanmar dissidents," Natapol
said.
He said the town's residents were apprehensive that the government would
accept the camp inmates' demand to delay the closure by six months. The inmates
say they fear for their safety if they are moved to other camps or if they are
repatriated to Myanmar.
Maneeloy, 150 kilometers (93 miles) west of Bangkok, opened in 1992 and
houses former student activists who were at the forefront of a 1988 democracy
uprising in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Natapol said the camp currently has 585 inmates, of which 119 will be
resettled in the third countries, mostly in Europe. Another 160 are awaiting
decisions from third countries on their application for resettlements and 225
have been listed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as
"persons of concern."
The remaining 81 have been listed by Thailand as illegal migrants, he said,
adding that their fate is not clear.
Thai officials had said earlier that they will be sent back to Myanmar, but
Natapol said the National Security Council "merely said and insisted" that the
camp be closed.
The council did not give specific instructions on what to do with the
illegal migrants, Natapol said, hinting that the 81 inmates may not be expelled
and instead may be transferred to another refugee camp.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Daily Star - Mon. December 24,
2001
Dhaka, Yangon to open coastal shipping line Agreement likely next month M Anwarul Haq Bangladesh and Myanmar will open a regular coastal shipping service to
boost bilateral trade.
An agreement to this effect is likely to be concluded next month during the
visit of Commerce Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury to Myanmar, sources
said.
Opening of a coastal shipping line will increase trade volume and business
avenues between the two neighbours.
The coastal shipping line will provide sea links between Bangladeshi ports
of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Teknaf and Myanmar ports of Yangon, Akyub and
Maungdaw.
"Bangladeshi business can make a quantum leap if the coastal shipping line
is started," said Rashed Maksud Khan, President of Bangladesh-Myanmar Business
Promotion Council.
He said there is scope for bulk export of toiletries, medicine,
pharmaceuticals, cables and bottled products like Pran and other juices to the
ever growing Myanmar market.
A border agreement currently in place between Bangladesh and Myanmar
enables trade between the two countries.
Two Bangladesh banks are functioning in Myanmar.
Bangladeshi businessmen feel that more favourable trading links can be
established to the mutual benefit of the countries by opening up shipping links
for bulk movement of cargo.
The two countries had traditional coastal shipping links for long, which
were snapped few decades ago.
Bangladesh will be holding a single country trade exhibition in Yangon from
January 20 to 27 after a gap of five years.
Mya Tun, Counsellor at the Myanmar embassy in Dhaka, said the fair will
expose Bangladeshi products to the local market. His country may also organise a
similar exhibition in Bangladesh in near future, Tun said.
Some 20 stalls are expected to be set up by Bangladeshi entrepreneurs at
the Myanmar trade fair, mainly to display non-traditional items, the
sources.
Business ties between Bangladesh and its eastern neighbour are developing
fast after both the countries became members of BIMSTEC, a regional forum.
Myanmar opted to become a member of BIMSTEC about a year after it was
formed in 1997.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sunday Times
SUNDAY DECEMBER 23 2001 Bra firm hit caught in Burmese row EMINE SANER AND ADAM NATHAN ANTI-GLOBALISATION protesters have drawn first blood in their campaign to force the bra-maker Triumph International to sever its links with Burma. The leading lingerie brand has become the latest high- street fashion label to be targeted by the campaigners and now faces an international boycott of its products if the activists are successful. The planned boycott follows similar protests against other multinational
clothes companies, such as Gap, Levi Strauss, Reebok and Nike, all of which have
been accused of exploiting Third World workers.
The protesters are objecting to Triumph?s use of a factory in Burma, a
country run by a military junta notorious for human rights abuses and low wages.
Last week they claimed their first significant victory in the battle for
ethical underwear when the Norwegian women?s skiing team pulled out of a
lucrative sponsorship deal with Triumph.
The team has rejected the company?s sponsorship for next year?s Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, and will no longer display its crown logo on
clothing.
Several British stores, including Bhs, River Island and the Arcadia group,
whose outlets include Burton and Topshop, have also stopped buying any products
made in Burma as a result of the campaign.
Underwear made by Triumph has been publicised by Kelly Brook, the former
Big Breakfast presenter, and Nell McAndrew, the model. It now faces a series of
protests in the new year outside high-street stores that sell its bras.
As part of the campaign, posters have urged women everywhere to: ?Support
breasts, not dictators.? The campaign has been backed up by a dramatic image of
a woman wearing a barbed wire bra.
Last week Triumph received thousands of e-mails from petitioners calling
for the company to withdraw from Burma. But David Hornbuckle, director and
general manager of Triumph International, said the company would not pull out.
?Triumph rejects closing down its manufacturing operation in Burma,? said
Hornbuckle. ?We do not want to and we cannot take the responsibility of laying
off 1,000 employees for purely political motivations ? especially taking into
account the consequences for their families.?
But the protesters are not willing to back down. Yvette Mahon, director of
Burma Campaign UK, the British wing of the protest group, last week urged
Triumph to ?cut their losses and get out of Burma now, or choose further
humiliation and embarrassment?.
Triumph, whose recent British television campaign featured a
computer-generated supermodel dancing in her underwear, set up a company in
Burma in 1996. Its plant on a military-owned industrial estate north of Rangoon
began exporting underwear to Europe, including Britain, the following year.
The company, based in Switzerland, has 30,000 employees and a turnover of
more than £1 billion. According to figures given to the Burma Campaign UK group,
Triumph pays its employees just $1 a day for a six-day week, which works out at
£220 per year, according to campaigners. But it insists that the working
conditions in its Burmese plant meet European standards.
The company?s landlord is Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings, the board
members of which have been linked by campaigners to the ruling military junta,
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). The SPDC has been accused of
some of the most serious abuses of human rights of any government in the world.
These include the detention of about 1,500 political prisoners, many of whom
have been tortured. Ethnic minorities are persecuted and Burma, which the
government calls Myanmar, is a big exporter of opium used to make heroin.
In 1990, it imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the National League for
Democracy, who had won an election and has since won the Nobel peace prize. She
has called on all foreign companies to withdraw from Burma.
Burma Campaign UK plans to increase pressure on Triumph in the new year.
Members hope to sever the links of some high-profile sponsors, and will ask
Brook and McAndrew to consider the implications of publicising the Triumph
brand.
Mahon said: ?Burma?s military dictatorship depends on investment from
foreign companies to finance its oppressive rule. Foreign companies and Burma?s
dictators are becoming richer, while Burma?s oppressed people grow ever poorer.?
Mass protests are planned outside Selfridges and Debenhams in London?s West
End, calling for the stores to stop stocking Triumph products. Other protests
will be staged around Britain. The campaign is supported by Glenys Kinnock, the
MEP, Sinead Cusack, the actress, and Clive James, the television presenter and
author.
Last October James Mawdsley was deported by the Burmese authorities after
serving 14 months of a 17-year sentence imposed for distributing pro-democracy
leaflets. Mawdsley, 28, a former Bristol University student from Lancashire,
endured 416 days in solitary confinement. In 1998 he was jailed for three years
for putting up pro-democracy posters.
Leading high-street brands are among multinational manufacturers accused of
exploiting eastern European and Third World workers in sweatshop conditions.
Levi Strauss, the largest brand-name garment maker in the world, has been
investigated for alleged ?gulag? labour conditions in eastern European factories
where female staff faced humiliating strip searches on finishing their shifts.
Gap contract factories in the Philipines, Lesotho, and El Salvador are
accused of practices including seven-day working weeks, compulsory overtime,
unhealthy and unsafe working conditions.
Disney was accused of sweatshop practices in 12 contract factories in
southern China. Excessively long hours, poverty wages, workplace hazards and
overcrowded workers? dormitories were cited.
Benetton has been accused of halving wages at contract factories in Sicily,
with illegal hiring and firing practices and dismissal of workers after
marriage.
Turkish subcontractors were also investigated in 1998 for employing workers
as young as 11 years old.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Dec 24, 2001.
YADANA GAS PIPELINE PTT claims it's done all it can to restore the forest Conservation group wants it to do more Kultida Samabuddhi The six-metre-wide path amid the greenery of the lush forest in Thong Pha
Phum district was covered with grass and small trees. This is where the
Thai-Burmese Yadana gas pipeline was laid in 1998 after years of fierce struggle
between conservationists and the pipeline's developer, the Petroleum Authority
of Thailand (PTT).
The struggle has ended but the controversy remains. Conservationists
continue to accuse PTT, now a publicly listed company, of failing to restore the
forest's ecology while the company insists it has done what it promised despite
the difficult conditions.
``It is very difficult to recover the forest land, particularly at the
6km-mark section that cuts through a limestone mountain and watershed area,''
admitted Jira Chombhimves, the community relations chief of PTT's gas business
group.
He claimed PTT, developer of the 16.5-billion-baht project, could not
restore the forest back to its original condition as the soil was no longer
productive due to previous mining, strong winds, rain and landslides.
The pipeline's construction saw the clear felling of the forest through
which it was laid.
However, PTT would continue its restoration attempts by hiring local people
to plant trees and establish a fire-break along 50km of the pipeline's path
across a forest reserve and a national park, Mr Jira said during an inspection
trip at the Thai-Burmese border.
He said the pipeline was free of problems but it faced a financial burden
through its ``take-or-pay'' contract, which has PTT paying for gas even if it
does not take delivery on schedule.
``Between 1998 and 2000, PTT paid 31 billion baht for gas from Burma and
another 4,500 million baht in 2001,'' Mr Jira said. ``That means the country has
to shoulder a large amount of interest paid on the pre-payment.''
The government has ordered PTT to pay 11.4% of the interest bill and for
the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to pay 12.8%. The rest of the
interest burden was factored into the national electricity bill as the FT (fuel
transfer) cost, Mr Jira said.
Prateep Klayvan, operator of the company's block valve station at Ban
i-Tong at the border, confirmed Thailand had already paid Burma for a huge
amount of natural gas it had yet to take delivery of.
``According to the contract, Thailand must take delivery of at least 200
million cubic feet a day from Yetagun gas field, but PTT is taking only 80
million cubic feet a day at present,'' he said.
Mr Jira said Thailand did not take full delivery of the gas due to low
electricity demand and the delay of Egat's Ratchaburi power plant.
But PTT planned to install two compressors on the Thai-Burmese pipeline to
increase its delivery capacity.
``We plan to replace the use of natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand with
the Burmese gas, so we have to prepare the pipeline for a greater amount of
gas,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Pinan Chotirosserani, head of the Kanchanaburi Conservation
Group, said PTT's rehabilitation schemes were unsatisfactory.
``The pipeline has divided the pristine forest into two parts, which
changes the habitat of wild animals permanently. The adverse effect to wildlife
would decrease if PTT works harder on reforestation along the route,'' she
said.
She criticised the company for pushing ahead with the project and ignoring
warnings about low electricity demand and the risk of the take-or-pay
deal.
``Thais have to shoulder the interest burden of the Yadana gas pre-payment
in the form of higher electricity costs because of the organisation's
obstinacy,'' she said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE NATION, CHIANG MAI
Further talks sought with junta Published on Dec 25, 2001 Supalak Ganjanakhundee A significant rebel minority force, the Shan State Army (SSA), has made
another attempt at peace negotiations with the Burmese military junta after a
number of failures, SSA top commander Yawd Serk has said.
"It would be better if this time Thailand mediated the peace talks, and we
hope Thai officials can guarantee a smooth peace process," he said. The
rebellious SSA separated from the notorious drug baron Khun Sa, who surrendered
to Rangoon in January 1996, to fight for autonomy. The guerrilla group has
contacted the junta for peace talks at least four times during the past few
years.
An unnamed Thai businessman conveyed a peace proposal from the SSA to the
junta's intelligence chief Khin Nyunt last year, but peace talks have not been
held because his rival Maung Aye, the army commander, has blocked them, Yawd
Serk said.
"Muang Aye underestimates the SSA and is still trying to destroy our
troops, despite several failures," he said. "He assumes we have only 500
fighters, whereas we have 10 times that or more," he said.
A big clash took place in February when Rangoon moved in thousands of
troops to attack SSA strongholds near the Thai border. The series of attacks
also affected Thailand as shells landed in Thai territory due to hot pursuit.
The incident soured relations between the two countries.
The SSA sent an offer to Rangoon again after the February battle, but there
was no response from the junta, Yawd Serk said.
"For us, offers of peace talks have never been closed, since military means
cannot solve the problems of the Shan people," he said in an interview. "We
fight for the well-being of our people and will try to do what is good for
them," he said.
It is unclear if the military junta wants peace talks with the SSA since
Rangoon considers the rebellious minority to be narcotics dealers rather than
fighters for the autonomy of Shan ethnic groups.
The junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council, made its
position clear earlier, that the SSA must unconditionally surrender to the
Rangoon authorities.
Yawd Serk said his troops were offering a cease-fire and wanted to settle
differences with the junta by political means, aiming to have their own
authorities run the Shan state rather than surrendering as his ex-boss Khun Sa
and other Shan colleagues have done.
Before beginning peace talks, all Burmese troops should withdraw from SSA
areas, he said. "It simply means that the government troops would go back to the
other bank of the Salween River." For safety reasons, the peace negotiations
should be held in Thailand and be witnessed by a third party, he said and added
that he himself and other representatives of the SSA would not go to talks in
Rangoon.
The SSA, formerly known as the Shan United Revolutionary Army, has some
4,000 fighters and is based in the Shan state along the Thai border.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Locals protest against camp
Published on Dec 25, 2001
Thousands of villagers in Ratchaburi province yesterday staged a noisy
protest to demand the immediate closure of a holding centre for displaced
Burmese, accusing them of causing chaos, crime and other trouble in the province
and the country.
They dispersed after receiving a guarantee from a representative of the
provincial authorities that the Maneeloy centre would be closed on Friday
despite the fact that some centre residents were staging hunger strikes.
The centre is the main camp for Burmese dissidents opposed to their
country's military junta. Their presence has irked many locals, who blame them
for crime in the area.
Armed with posters, banners and loudspeakers, some 3,000 Ratchaburi
residents assembled at the provincial hall to shout slogans for about three
hours.
The protesters were assured that the government would keep its word on
closing the Maneeloy centre and dispersed peacefully.
"We are fed up with the Burmese dissidents," a protester said.
The protesters were apprehensive that the government would accede to the
camp inmates' demand to delay the closure by six months. The inmates say they
fear for their safety if they are moved to other camps or if they are
repatriated to Burma.
The camp's 81 remaining residents have been listed as illegal migrants,
facing deportation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Straits Times
DEC 24, 2001 MON $420,000 in illegal wood seized by Thai force BANGKOK - More than 10 million baht (S$420,000) worth of illegal wood was
seized and nine men arrested during raids by a task force of 100 forest rangers
and police in three districts on the Thai-Myanmar border.
In the raids led by forestry chief Plodprasop Suraswadi, 665 pieces of
processed wood, 294 teak logs as well as the carcasses of five protected animals
and 18 shotguns were recovered in the Tha Song Yang and Mae Ramat forest
reserves.
The officers discovered that the processed wood had been used to make
houses to hide its origin, The Bangkok Post reported yesterday.
These forests were in the north-western province which saw the most intense
forestry-related illegal activities, the newspaper said.
At Ban Mae Lamao, in Mae Sot district, officials found 209 teak logs and
five empty houses made of illegally processed teak, and more than 100 pieces of
furniture at three illegal factories.
The destruction of forests in the province was an organised activity
involving lowlanders, hill-tribe villagers and Myanmar immigrants, said Mr
Plodprasop.
Explaining the operation, he said that timber would be felled in forest
reserves and hauled out by elephants to factories, where it was processed.
The wood was then used to make houses or furniture.
The furniture would be sent across the border to Myanmar and brought back
in as imports.
But inquiries revealed that the Yangon government had not agreed to any
wood exports, said Mr Plodprasop.
All the wood purportedly imported from the country was actually felled in
Thai forests, he said.
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