|
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - February
07, 2002.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
--------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Thai FM meets top officials in Myanmar
junta
AFP - Thailand to host ASEAN foreign ministers'
retreat in Phuket
AFP - Thai FM in Myanmar
Channel NewsAsia - Man
arrested after trying to smuggle out 2 Myanmar
nationals
Reuters - HIV-AIDS spreads along Asia's drug
routes
Dow Jones - Thailand 2001 Oil/Demand: Gas
Displaces Oil In Pwr Gen
Reuters - Malaysian government to take charge of
hiring foreigners
BBC - Thai foreign minister in
Burma
IHT - Burma's Junta Is No Joke, But It Can't
Kill Comedy
Gulf News - Lack of capital, technology hits
Myanmar's industry
Kyodo News - Thai foreign minister arrives in
Myanmar for 2-day visit
Bkk Post - Officials face bribery probe
Bkk Post - Burma not
allowed to attack from here
The Nation - FOREIGN LABOUR: Crackdown begins
The Nation - EDITORIAL: Indifference to Karen deaths
Xinhuanet - About 100 Myanmar to Undergo
Training in ROK
NSTP - Cabinet ok to hiring Malaysian doctors
from unaccredited varsities
SCMP - Murdered migrants may be someone's
surplus workers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday February 7, 5:32 PM
Thai FM meets top officials in Myanmar junta BANGKOK, Feb 7 (AFP) - Thai
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai departed the Myanmar capital Yangon
Thursday for talks with his counterpart Win Aung at the beachside resort of
Ngapali, Thai officials said.
On the second day of a three-day official visit, he earlier called on
Myanmar's chief of military intelligence, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, and
army chief General Maung Aye.
Surakiart is due to spend Thursday evening at Ngapali, a pristine region on
Myanmar's west coast, before returning to Yangon on Friday and departing for
Thailand later that day, the foreign ministry said.
"The talks between the two foreign ministers would cover areas, including
narcotics, illegal migrants, trade and fisheries," Thai foreign ministry
spokesman Ratthakit Manathat said earlier this week.
Thailand's Supreme Commander, Admiral Narong Yuthavong, is also visiting
Myanmar on the invitation of Myanmar's army chief General Maung Aye, official
sources told AFP in Yangon.
The newly appointed commander arrived Thursday and will stay until
Saturday. On his arrival he paid a visit to junta leader Senior General Than
Shwe and then travelled on to Mandalay.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday February 7, 6:36 PM
Thailand to host ASEAN foreign ministers' retreat in Phuket BANGKOK, Feb 7 (AFP) - Thailand
will host a two-day retreat for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
foreign ministers in the resort island of Phuket on February 20-21, officials
said Thursday.
Thai foreign ministry spokesman Rattakit Manathat said the meeting would
have no set agenda, but was likely to follow up on issues explored at the ASEAN
summit in Brunei last year.
Measures to enhance cooperation between the 10 members of the Southeast
Asian grouping would also be addressed, he said.
"It is also possible that they will talk about international crime, drugs
and East Timor's (status) in ASEAN," he added.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
East Timor's interim Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta has said full ASEAN
membership is vital to the fledgling nation's future security, but that the
issue depends on Timor's post-UN government.
The February meeting will be the second successive year that the foreign
ministers' retreat has been held separately to the official meeting, which is to
take place in Brunei in July.
The first stand-alone ministerial retreat was held in the Myanmar capital
Yangon last year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday February 6, 11:28 PM
Thai FM in Myanmar BANGKOK, Feb 6 (AFP) - Thai
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai arrived in Yangon late Wednesday for a
three-day official visit for talks with Myanmar military leaders, state-run
Myanmar media said.
Surakiart, who headed an 18-member delegation, was welcomed at Yangon's
Mingladone International airport by his Myanmar counterpart Win Aung, TV Myanmar
said in a dispatch monitored here.
The visiting foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks with the junta's
vice chairman, General Maung Aye, secretary general Lieutenant General Khin
Nyunt and Win Aung during the trip.
"The talks between the two foreign ministers would cover areas, including
narcotics, illegal migrants, trade and fisheries," Thai foreign ministry
spokesman Ratthakit Manathat said.
Surakiart met with Win Aung last month and discussed the repatriation of
illegal workers and ethnic minorities who have fled Myanmar.
About 560,000 Myanmar workers have registered since last September with the
Thai authorities, while thousands of ethnic Karen and Karenni minorities are in
11 camps inside Thailand along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Surakiart is also expected to discuss bilateral trade and fisheries with
his Myanmar counterpart.
Myanmar cancelled Thai fishing licenses in October 1999 after the Thai
government supplied an escape helicopter to five anti-junta gunmen in exchange
for the release of hostages held at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok.
The two neighbouring countries have failed to reach agreement on the
revival of fishing concessions in a stand-off that has financially hurt Thai
fishermen.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Channel NewsAsia
Thursday February 7, 10:28 AM Man arrested after trying to smuggle out
2 Myanmar nationals
A Malaysian man trying to smuggle 2 Myanmar nationals out of Singapore was
arrested at Tuas on Tuesday.
At about 5.40pm, the 19-year-old Malaysian driving a purple
Malaysian-registered Proton Perdana car was stopped at the Tuas departure
section.
Immigration officers searched the car and found the two Myanmar nationals,
aged 24 and 25, hiding in a secret compartment underneath the vehicle's
backseat. Two pipes were connected to the compartment for ventilation.
All three were arrested.
Preliminary investigations found that the two Myanmar nationals are likely
to be immigration offenders.
They will be charged in court and if convicted, the trafficker faces up to
5 years' jail and 3 strokes of the cane.
The immigration offenders can be jailed up to 6 months and get 3 strokes of
the cane or a fine of up to S$6,000.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday February 7, 1:48 PM
HIV-AIDS spreads along Asia's drug routes By Michael Perry SYDNEY, (Reuters) - Increasing
drug use in Asia is accelerating the spread of HIV-AIDS along drug trafficking
routes from the so-called Golden Triangle to nations like Indonesia and
governments are doing too little to combat it, a report says.
The report on 22 Asian countries, as well as Hong Kong and Macau, said
Asian governments were working against the sexual transmission of HIV but they
were not doing enough to prevent the virus spreading among injecting drug users.
"Without such action, Asia will continue to be home to what threatens to be
amongst the worst regional AIDS epidemics on Earth," said the report by The
Centre For Harm Reduction, one of Asia's foremost health and medical research
bodies.
Seven million people in Asia live with AIDS or HIV (human immunodeficiency
virus), which causes the disease.
The report said Asia had few HIV-AIDS prevention programmes for drug users,
such as needle exchanges, and that many drug users shared needles cleaned simply
by cold water, not the recommended boiling water or bleach.
"Drug use has become one of the major accelerants of the HIV epidemic in
the Asian region," said the report available at the centre's Web site (http://www.chr.asn.au). The centre first issued
an Asian HIV-AIDS report in 1997.
"Populations of drug users develop rapidly along trafficking routes,
creating new drug markets and HIV threat in host countries," it said.
INDONESIA AT RISK
The report said Indonesia was one of the most at risk with HIV infection
due to drug injections rising to 19 percent of the total number of people
infected from less than one percent before 2000.
It said by September 2001, there were 2,313 cases of HIV in Indonesia, of
which 449 were injecting drug users, adding there were some two million drug
users, half of which injected.
The report found injecting drug users made up 70 percent of HIV infections
in China in 2001 compared with 66 percent in 1997.
It said specific HIV subtypes now appearing in previously HIV-free areas of
China could be linked to specific drug trafficking routes to the "Golden
Triangle", the so-called heroin producing region of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
China puts its number of confirmed HIV-AIDS cases at 28,133, but health
officials say the real figures could be above 600,000. The United Nations says
China could have 10 million HIV-AIDS sufferers by 2010 unless it acts
decisively.
The Australian report found 75 percent of those infected with HIV in Iran
were injecting drug users, 65 percent in Vietnam and 54 percent in Thailand.
It said the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Macau, Pakistan,
Cambodia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh also faced potential HIV epidemics among
injecting drug users.
The report noted an increasing number of Asian women injecting drugs,
particularly in the sex industry.
"In some parts of Asia, an increasing crossover is being observed between
injecting drug use and commercial sex work, with all the implications this has
for further rapid spread of HIV infection from injecting drug users," it said.
The report was critical of Asian governments increased incarceration of
drug users, which it said increases the risk of transmitting HIV.
"In many countries in the region, incarceration of drug users ...not only
continues but it is being increased," it said.
"This is despite the fact that there is mounting evidence from the Asian
region...that incarceration not only does not help drug dependent people cease
drug use but hugely increases risk for HIV transmission among and from these
populations."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday February 7, 3:23 PM
Thailand 2001 Oil/Demand-2: Gas Displaces Oil In Pwr Gen Thailand 2001 Oil, Gas Demand Up 3.7% At 931,800 BOE/D Dow Jones Newswires 07-02-02, 0711GMT DJ Thailand 2001 Oil/Demand-2: Gas Displaces Oil In Pwr
Gen
SINGAPORE (Dow
Jones)--Thailand's oil and natural gas consumption averaged
931,800 barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2001, an increase of 3.7% over 2000,
PTT Plc (H.PTX), formerly the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, said Thursday.
Demand for natural gas grew 15.9% to 343,600 boe/d, as power plants
operating on gas from Myanmar and the Gulf of Thailand displaced oil-burning
thermal plants. Consumption of refined products fell by 2.3% to 588,100 barrels
a day, PTT said.
Imported oil and gas totals rose 11.2% on year to 805,900 boe/d, PTT said.
Crude imports were up 5.6% on year at 712,200 b/d, but refined products imports
plummeted 64%, to 8,100 b/d.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday February 7, 8:07 AM
Malaysian government to take charge of hiring foreigners KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia said on Wednesday that foreign workers would now be recruited on a government to government basis, the latest measure from Kuala Lumpur to deal with the growing problem of foreign aliens. Human Resource Minister Fong Chan Onn said the new approach would help
avoid problems such as foreign workers being cheated or not being able to find
the job that had been promised them.
"The cabinet has decided that recruitment will be on a government to
government basis. This is a policy decision," Fong was quoted by the official
Bernama news agency as saying.
He said the countries from which workers could be recruited -- the
Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- would come under this new condition.
Previously, most of the foreign workers were being recruited through agents
or directly by employers.
Fong said recruiting workers through government to government agreement
could also prevent misunderstandings and problems such as countries not
accepting deported illegal workers by claiming there was no confirmation of
their status.
There are more than 700,000 registered foreign workers in Malaysia --
mainly from Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand and India.
The government recently decided to halve the number of Indonesians working
legally in Malaysia after violent clashes between some Indonesian labourers and
police last month.
On Tuesday the government announced it would whip illegal immigrants and
their employers, and also said it had adopted a "hire Indonesians last"
policy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Wednesday, 6 February, 2002,
16:51 GMT
Thai foreign minister in Burma The foreign minister of Thailand, Surakiart Sathirathai, has arrived in the
Burmese capital, Rangoon, for an official visit.
A meeting with his Burmese counterpart, Win Aung, is expected to focus on
co-operation against the narcotics trade and the repatriation of Burmese illegal
migrant workers.
They are also expected to sign an agreement on avoiding double taxation.
The BBC Burma analyst says Dr Surakiart has been at the forefront of
Thailand's rigorous attempts to court Burma over the past 10 months.
He says co-operation between the two countries has improved immeasurably
over the last year.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The International Herald
Tribune
MEANWHILE Burma's Junta Is No
Joke, But It Can't Kill Comedy
James Pringle Thursday, February 7, 2002 MANDALAY, Burma Military dictatorships seldom have a sense of humor. The
generals' junta that has oppressed Burma since 1962 certainly can't take a joke.
In 1996 it sentenced two popular comedians to seven years' hard labor for
jesting at its expense.
. For their pointed gags, the comics were shackled with chains and iron bars, and sent to break rocks in the Burmese gulag. The charges: "disparaging the dignity" of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, as the junta was then known, and inciting riot and instability. . The comedians, who have now regrown their trademark handlebar moustaches, were released a few months ago after five and a half years behind bars. As a result of a supposed softening of the generals' 40-year rule, they are back home in Mandalay, although not allowed to perform publicly. "But this won't stop us making wisecracks about the situation in Burma," said Par Par Lay, 54, whose ankles still show deep marks from the shackles. . In their lovingly cared-for wooden theater on 39th Street, festooned with marionettes, Par Par Lay served tea, then told a visitor: "Both my grandfather and father were popular comedians and it will take more than threats to stop us mocking this regime." . U Lu Zaw, 52, who resembles a medieval harlequin and was jailed along with his cousin Par Par Lay, said it was a great feeling to be out. "But humor is one of the few ways the Burmese have of coping, and we will not be silenced," he insisted. "We'll continue to encourage people to laugh at our rulers even though military intelligence will not leave us alone." . Both men, widely known in the Mandalay region from years of entertaining at weddings and funerals, were freed as part of the generals' closed-door negotiations with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, talks some critics say are getting nowhere because the junta is not really prepared to permit democratic rule. . Satire, though now a crime in Burma, was once a feature of the traditional and still popular pwe, a street pantomime involving comedy, dance and music. . Par Par Lay's brother, U Lu Maw, 50, was not at the League for Democracy rally in Rangoon when the jokes were made that sent his partners to prison. He looked after their business until their release. The three are known as the Mustache Brothers Troupe because of their luxuriant upper lips. . "The generals want to starve us by banning us from touring and performing," U Lu Maw said. "Despite the constant surveillance, we still manage to stage shows surreptitiously for foreign tourists and backpackers, but we earn very little." . The skit that put two of the Mustache Brothers in jail showed a group of malevolent military officers skulking around spying on people and pocketing cash. . What these unlikely human rights advocates endured in the labor camp near Myitkyina was no laughing matter. On one of the few occasions that Par Par Lay's wife, Ma Win Mar, was permitted to visit the camp, she walked past without recognizing him. . His hair and mustache had been shaven off, he was rake thin, and his skin was blackened by the sun. "I had to yell 'It's me, your husband, don't you know me?'" he recalled. . Par Par Lay said their fellow prisoners for the most part were kind, massaging their aching ankles and pressing them for jokes. Burmese humor can be quite ribald. The camp warden allowed them to stage occasional shows but ordered that no political jokes be told. Even so, Par Par Lay said they managed to slip some in. . He had been jailed once before for six months for another wisecrack. Advised by agents of the junta that a published interview following his latest release from prison might lead to further trouble, Par Par Lay said: "I've twice served lengthy prison sentences - how can they hurt me more? . "We want the truth to come out," he added. "We want people to know the reality about Burma and the suffering of the people." . The writer, Southeast Asia correspondent of The Times of London, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gulf News
Dubai:Thursday, February 07, 2002
Lack of capital, technology hits Myanmar's industry Singapore |Reuters | 07-02-2002 Myanmar's success in finding oil and gas has been patchy with more misses
than hits in the 12 years since it rolled out the welcome mat for foreign
explorers.
Few Western companies have had the stomach to invest in the country, which
has been isolated politically and economically by U.S. and European hostility
since 1990 when the military government ignored the result of democratic
elections.
Even those companies willing to operate in Myanmar have to overcome hurdles
ranging from a lack of capital and technology to difficult and costly
terrain.
The long-term energy bet for Myanmar, a country with an area the size of
Britain and France combined, may be as a small, niche supplier for a Southeast
Asian gas pipeline connecting regional governments.
"Myanmar may not hold much promise right now but it could be a key producer
in the future, especially when the Trans-Asean gas pipeline project is completed
in about 15 years," Guillermo Balce, executive director of the Asean Centre for
Energy, said from Jakarta.
The Trans-Asean line aims to link the main gas supply and demand centres of
Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand
within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Myanmar already has gas pipelines, run by foreign companies, linking its
fields in the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Martaban to neighbouring
Thailand.
TotalFinaElf's 410-kilometre (256-mile) pipeline from the Yadana field can
transport 900 million cubic feet per day (mcfd) of gas, while Premier Oil's
280-km (175-mile) pipeline from the Yetagun field has a capacity of 660
mcfd.
South Korea, China and India have been knocking on Yangon's front door to
get a foothold in the fledgling industry.
Myanmar's military government, facing a slump in domestic oil production
and a lack of foreign reserves to import crude, ended its isolationist stance in
1989 and moved to attract investment.
The decision reversed a 26-year ban on foreign participation in oil
exploration and development and prompted a flood of international interest with
20 production sharing contracts (PSC) quickly signed with state-run Myanmar Oil
and Gas Enterprise.
But enthusiasm soon dried up.
In 1990, the military regime ignored national elections won by the
opposition National League for Democracy, drawing sharp criticism from Western
states, who slapped informal sanctions on Yangon leaving few oil companies
willing to risk the wrath of governments or their shareholders for such
uncertain rewards.
Within three years, 12 PSCs had been terminated, leaving six contracts
onshore and two offshore.
Analysts say contracts were also terminated because of a low success rate
in finding commercially viable fields, a lack of capital and technology and a
slowdown in domestic economic activity, problems that are little changed
today.
"Myanmar is just not attractive right now because the lack of capital and
technology makes it very hard to properly exploit the reserves that are in the
ground," Norman Valentine, oil and gas analyst at Edinburgh-based Wood Mackenzie
said.
"It's also not what you would call a big growth market because of the
political and economic situation."
According to MOGE estimates, Myanmar has total gas reserves of 45.3 to 51.0
trillion cubic feet and oil reserves of about 3.158 billion barrels. Analysts
say most of the oil and gas is not commercially viable.
"Commercial gas reserves are probably at nine trillion cubic feet, while
commercial oil reser-ves total 120 million barrels," said Wood Mackenzie's
Valentine. Logistics costs Myanmar's inhospitable terrain also has been a
deterrent as has a lack of infrastructure to support oil exploration and
production.
ING Baring's Bangkok-based energy analyst Paworamon Suva-rnatemee said
logistical problems put a premium on production and transportation costs.
Gas from Myanmar sold into Thailand was more expensive than that sourced
from the Gulf of Thailand.
"The wellhead cost in Myan-mar can be 50 cents to $1 higher (than Gulf of
Thailand) at $3.50-$3.60 per million British thermal unit, while transportation
costs are also greater," Suvarnatemee said.
Despite the difficulties, companies already operating in Myan-mar say the
problems can be overcome.
"We have a gas sales agreement with Thailand that's fairly tight so
commercially, it's a reasonable piece of business for us," said Premier Oil's
Yangon-based general manager Joe Patrick.
"Sure, there is not a lot of infrastructure, but that problem exists in
other places like Vietnam as well. It's a problem that's inherent in this part
of Asia," Patrick said.
TotalFinaElf agreed the problems were not insurmountable. "Yes, there is a
lack of capital and technology, but these are problems that can be overcome,"
said TotalFinaElf's Yangon-based operations manager Bernard Rochet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thai foreign minister arrives in Myanmar
for 2-day visit
YANGON, Feb. 6, Kyodo - Thai
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai arrived in Yangon Wednesday night on a
two-day visit for talks for Myanmar government leaders that are likely to focus
on bilateral economic and political ties.
Surakiart plans to call on Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, head of the ruling State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Thursday morning and meet with SPDC Deputy
Chairman Gen. Maung Aye in the afternoon.
Surakiart leaves for the seaside resort Ngapali Thursday evening for talks
with Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung.
The talks are likely to focus mainly on bilateral trade, fishery, border
security to curb illegal cross-border migration and drug trade, according to
official sources.
The relations between the two neighbors, strained early last year following
border clashes, have improved since the visit to Myanmar by Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra in June 2001.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - February 07,
2002.
Officials face bribery probe
Onnucha Hutasingh Allegations that officials from 11 agencies in Tak have extorted bribes
from importers of timber products will be investigated by the House committee on
agriculture.
Theerachai Saenkaew, panel spokesman, said local officials had set up 15
checkpoints where they demanded money from importers of wooden goods from
Burma.
Importers were asked to pay 500-2,000 baht at each checkpoint.
The operation was run by local soldiers, police, customs and forestry
officials, and defence volunteers, he said. The closure of the border in Tak
province opened the way for corrupt officials to make their demands.
The Third Army ordered it shut in November following illegal logging in
Thai forests.
The Forestry Department reported trees were being illegally felled,
smuggled to Burma and then brought back into Thailand as Burmese timber.
Mr Theerachai said the importers of wooden products from Burma had been
sorely hurt by the closure. On top of legal tariffs, they had to pay bribes to
officials at the checkpoints.
Anan Imsombat, former chairman of the association of wooden product
importers in Tak, said claims that timber and wood furniture traders were behind
the illegal cutting of trees in Thai forests were wrong.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - February 07,
2002.
Burma not allowed to attack from here
Shan still predicting cross-border raids
Wassana Nanuam and Subin Khuenkaew
Burmese forces will not be allowed to use Thai territory as a springboard
to attack the Shan State Army inside Burma, said Third Army commander Lt-Gen
Udomchai Ongkhasingh.
Thousands of Burmese troops have deployed along the border opposite Chiang
Rai's Mae Fah Luang, where SSA has five bases including its major command, Gor
Wan base.
Closer ties between Thailand and Burma have touched off speculation,
especially among SSA troops, that the Third Army might allow Burmese soldiers to
make cross-border assaults.
Lt-Gen Udomchai, however, said the army's policy had not changed.
``The army will not support either SSA or Burmese troops and will not allow
Burmese forces to pass through Thailand,'' he said.
The troop build-up was nothing unusual as it signalled the start of Burma's
dry-season offensive against SSA rebels. However, he hoped the Burmese attacks
would not heighten border tensions.
SSA military commander Jao Yord Serk said he believed Burmese forces would
launch cross-border raids again this year.
``We have deployed our forces for counter-attacks around Ban Pang Noon,''
he said.
Thai and Burmese troops clashed in Ban Pang Noon in Mae Fah Luang last year
after Burma crossed into Thai territory to attack Shan forces at nearby Gor
Wan.
Jao Yord Serk said Burmese troops would have a tough time seizing Gor Wan
unless they attacked from inside Thai territory.
However, a large-scale assault was unlikely as it would heighten border
tensions with Thailand.
``If they fire shells at us some are likely to stray onto Thai soil,'' said
Jao Yord Serk.
Mae Fah Luang district chief Chainarong Boonwiwatanakarn said local people
should avoid venturing into the area.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
FOREIGN LABOUR: Crackdown
begins
Naridsa Suksanan
Published on Feb 7, 2002
From Sunday, special task forces will seek and deport illegal alien
labourers
The government will launch a tough three-month crackdown on illegal workers
on Sunday.
Sombat Nivesrat, a senior official at the Administrative Commission on
Irregular Immigrant Workers, yesterday revealed that authorities concerned would
first target the provinces where use of foreign labour was reported to be
widespread. "We have estimated that there are now about 300,000 illegal foreign
labourers in our country now," he said.
Last year the government allowed an unlimited number of immigrant workers
to register with the Labour Ministry.
But only about 580,000 registered.
Sombat said all nine units of regional police and the Metropolitan Police
in conjunction with the agency, which is responsible for the suppression of
international crime and illegal-immigrant workers, had set up special task
forces to carry out the crackdown.
"They already have plans of the areas they will scour and how arrests can
be made but we cannot disclose any details right now."
According to Sombat, the crackdown on illegal workers will require Bt10
million a month and the Administrative Commission on Irregular Immigrant Workers
will discuss the budget on Monday.
Sombat explained that the money would pay for the special task forces and
transportation and food for the arrested foreign workers, who will remain in
custody before being deported.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
EDITORIAL: Indifference to Karen deaths
Published on Feb 7, 2002
Thailand's ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights requires, among other obligations, that it undertake to respect
and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its
jurisdiction, the rights recognised in the Covenant, without distinction of any
kind such as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Seen in this light, the Thai authorities' recent handling of the apparent
massacre of some 20 people believed to be minority ethnic Karen was disgraceful,
taken into consideration one of the paramount rights recognised in the covenant
- the right to life.
The local police, it was reported, when initially informed of the slain
bodies by villagers living nearby, didn't bother to investigate after learning
that those who died were members of an ethnic minority.
This forced the villagers to push the bodies down the Moei river in order
to get rid of the stench, making it even more difficult for the local police
after they decided they'd better investigate when number of dead rose to
20.
The police's reluctance to investigate the death of the 20 Karen ethnic
villagers - who were blindfolded and with their hands and feet bound, their
throats cut and decomposed beyond recognition - was appalling. Sadly, this has
stemmed from indifference by the authorities to people of ethnic
minorities.
Consequently, Interior Minister Purachai Piumsomboon had to order the
police to get more involved in the case.
The police chief, meanwhile, tried to comfort the public by saying no Thais
were among the 20 dead.
But that was not the point.
What is pertinent here is the crucial provision under the covenant,
ratified by Thailand, which stipulates that every human being has an inherent
right to life. This right shall be protected by law and no one shall be
arbitrarily deprived of his or her life.
Thus, the crucial issue is the protection of all people under Thailand's
jurisdiction, regardless of race or country of origin.
One of the strongest theories about the deaths - repeatedly told to
reporters by police - was that the victims were part of an illegal activity and
that they were killed as a warning to others not to mess around with the
mastermind.
The suggestion here is that the killings were only of concern to the people
involved - in other words, their business - and that it would be a waste of time
for the police to investigate.
Another theory suggested by police was that the 20 slain Karen villagers,
seven of them women, might have been involved in a local business which
illegally trafficked labourers from Burma. A more chilling suggestion, one that
the police seem not too keen to discuss, is that they were illegal migrants who
had worked for years without being paid and were killed by their employers.
Whatever the real reason is behind the fate of the 20 Karen, one thing is
certain: their inherent dignity as human beings and their inherent right to life
were violated.
As one of the state parties to the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, Thailand understands full well that it is obliged to undertake
to ensure that any person, including the 20 Karen ethnic villagers in this case,
whose rights or freedom are violated, shall have an effective remedy.
The effective remedy, in this case, is justice for those who died. It is
the obligation of the police to find the people behind these brutal slayings and
prosecute them, and then eliminate any illegal operations that put human lives
at risk.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- About 100 Myanmar to Undergo
Training in ROK
Xinhuanet 2002-02-07 12:14:47 YANGON, February 7 (Xinhuanet)
-- About 100 more Myanmar will be sent to the Republic of Korea (ROK) this year
to undergo training under a program funded by the ROK government, according to
the Thursday issue of the local weekly journal The Myanmar Times.
Arranged by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)under the
ROK Foreign Ministry, these trainees are to attend courses covering subjects of
agriculture, economic and industrial development.
The aid program will be increased year by year since Myanmar istrying to
engage more with the international community, a ROK envoy was quoted as saying.
KOICA was established in 1990 to assist developing countries through human
resources development and since then nearly 380 Myanmar have been benefited from
the courses.
Meanwhile, since 1975 when the two countries established diplomatic
relations, the Economic Development Cooperation Fund ofROK has disbursed loans
to Myanmar to develop its communication and energy sectors, build container
yards and purchase rail coaches.
In addition, ROK has poured in Myanmar a total of 153.11 million U.S.
dollars' investment in 26 projects since late 1988 when the country opened to
foreign investment.
Bilateral trade between the two countries in the first ten months of 2001
amounted to 328.61 million dollars, accounting for 7.61 percent of Myanmar's
total foreign trade of the period.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- The New Straits Times Press -
Thursday, 07 February 2002
Cabinet ok to hiring Malaysian doctors from unaccredited varsities New hires have to sign three-year bond by Lee Keng Fatt The Cabinet has allowed the Health Ministry to employ Malaysians from
unaccredited foreign medical universities to resolve the perennial shortage of
doctors.
Procedures for employment have also been relaxed with applicants only
having to undergo a year's housemanship and two years' supervision under a
specialist or the director-general of Health.
Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said they would also be required to
sign a compulory three-year bond with the Government.
"All they have to do is to write to me (to be accepted as doctors)," he
told reporters after visiting the on-going construction of the RM83 million
Kepala Batas Hospital in Bertam near here today.
Chua said the decision was made at the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
At present, graduates from these universities are required to sit for
several examinations set by the medical faculties of four local universities
before being accepted.
They also need to undergo a year's housemanship and three years' compulsory
service before they are accepted by public hospitals.
However, many have failed the examinations which are believed to be very
difficult.
Chua said the the Government would not abolish the examinations conducted
by Universiti Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia.
He said there were 150 such graduates who had obtained medical degrees from
unaccredited universities in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and
China.
Many are employed as doctors' assistants in private clinics, he
added.
Chua said the Cabinet felt they were not making good their skills and
knowledge although they had been trained to be doctors.
He said the Government would also continue to hire foreign medical
specialists and doctors to overcome the shortage of doctors and specialists in
some fields.
There are 1,140 foreign doctors and specialists in the country.
Each year, about 900 doctors are produced by local universities, colleges
and accredicted universities. However, there is still a shortage of 3,500
doctors.
Earlier, Chua urged the contractor for the hospital to complete
construction before June 18.
The hospital, mooted by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi, who is also MP for Kepala Batas, is now only 64 per cent complete.
When ready, it will have 108 beds, and a helipad, the first hospital in the
State to be equipped with one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- South China Morning Post
Thursday, February 7, 2002 THAILAND - Murdered migrants may be someone's surplus workers WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok The killing of 20 ethnic Karen villagers - whose bodies were dumped in a
river that divides Laos from Thailand - was most probably the work of a ruthless
Thai boss, said officials and human rights workers yesterday.
There is a fear that heightened official rhetoric in Thailand against the perhaps million-strong Lao population scraping a desperate living in the country has encouraged some Thais to feel that such "unwanted guests" get what they deserve. "We've been expecting something like this to happen. There is an ugly mood
around. We've warned all refugees not to leave the camps," said one Karen
refugee official forced to live in exile.
Even by the brutal standards of endemic cross-border violence, this appears
a particularly nasty crime.
Police near the border town of Mae Sot, six hours northwest of Bangkok,
have spotted or recovered 20 bodies, most wearing the distinctive Karen dress.
The victims' hands and feet had been bound before their throats were cut. A
policeman said small towels had been placed in their mouths, perhaps to keep
them quiet as they were killed.
Karen, Thai and Western observers in the area said that although widespread
forced labour, compulsory bribes and taxes and numerous extra-judicial killings
have driven countless thousands of Karen in Laos towards the Thai border, this
elaborate massacre was not something either Laotians or Karen were likely to
have carried out.
"In Burma [and Laos] you can get a bullet but not usually like this. This
is gangster stuff," said one international human rights worker. "These people
are so vulnerable it's quite possible they were killed for simply demanding
their pay. Maybe they were someone's surplus workers."
More than a million, mostly Karen, refugees live in camps in Thailand
supported by international aid organisations. "Fatigued" Thai governments have
flatly refused to consider expanding this number, which means even the most
desperate possess at best temporary work cards; at worst they find themselves in
the hands of crude gangsters.
The Government of Thaksin Shinawatra has engaged in a campaign to have all
the "surplus" Laotians pushed back across the border. The refugees in official
camps appear safe for the moment but underground workers - frequently labelled
"diseased" and "criminal" by officials - are clearly vulnerable.
The Labour Ministry announced yesterday that it would start vigorous new
raids, in co-operation with the security forces, to round up illegal workers.
The irony, said one Thai businessman in Mae Sot, was that for all the
furore over illegal immigrants, many businesses would collapse if they could not
employ cheap foreign labourers prepared to do the dirty jobs Thais turn down.
"Its our big secret. Thais won't do this kind of work [picking fruit, cleaning
fish, sewing shirts] for reasonable money. We need these people and they are
desperate to come here. That's why they will come back and that's why we will
employ them."
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