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Burma Related News - February 16,
2002.
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Headlines
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kyodo News - ILO to
dispatch high-level mission to Myanmar on forced
labor
Kyodo News - U.N.
official to meet Suu Kyi on Mon.
AFP - Malaysian employers want clampdown on
Indonesian workers eased
Reuters - Singapore says EU positive about free
trade plan
The Times(UK) - The politics of
temple-hopping
Bkk Post - South
Asians rounded up
Bkk Post - Burmese troops cautioned
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Enacts Aerospace Engineering
University Law
JT - Myanmar family
seeking special residency loses suit
----------------------------------------------------------------------- ILO to dispatch high-level mission to
Myanmar on forced labor
GENEVA, Feb. 14, Kyodo - The
International Labor Organization (ILO) plans to send a high-level mission to
Myanmar next week on a fact-finding mission that could lead to the lifting of
sanctions imposed against the country over the issue of forced labor, diplomatic
sources said Thursday.
The delegation will leave for Myanmar on Monday and hold talks with
officials of the Myanmar military government.
A diplomatic source said the ILO sanctions, imposed since November 2000,
would be removed if the delegation finds ''convincing'' evidence that the
Myanmar military government will take effective measures to stamp out the
practice of compulsory labor.
The ILO delegation is expected to present a report of its findings to the
ILO Governing Body next month.
According to diplomatic sources, the focus of talks in Myanmar would be on
key issues: whether the Myanmar military government would recognize a permanent
ILO representative in Myanmar and whether the military government would set up
an independent watchdog system to oversee human rights in the country.
These are some of the key conditions the ILO Governing Body set in November
last year for the removal of ILO sanctions.
Japan and some other countries have urged the ILO to lift sanctions against
Myanmar, while the United States and others have called for leaving the
sanctions in place.
The upcoming ILO fact-finding mission could affect a decision on the fate
of the sanctions expected at the International Labor Conference to be held in
Geneva in June.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- U.N. official to meet Suu Kyi on
Mon.
YANGON, Feb. 16 Kyodo -
Visiting U.N. Human Rights Rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro will meet Myanmar's
opposition National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, a
U.N. official said Saturday. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday February 16, 11:58 AM
Malaysian employers want clampdown on Indonesian workers eased KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (AFP) -
Malaysian employers have urged the government to relax a recent clampdown on
Indonesian migrant labour sparked by workers rioting, a report said
Saturday.
The move to restrict Indonesians to plantation or household work will
disrupt manpower planning and corporate operations, Malaysian Employers'
Federation president Jaafar Carrim was quoted as saying by The Star.
"There is no guarantee that those from other countries will not create any
social problems. We hope the government would give employers more flexibility in
recruiting cost-effective workers," he said.
Jaafar said Indonesians were more suitable because of the culture, language
and working environment shared by the two countries.
"Problems of communication and the lack of skills are anticipated with the
recruitment of non-Indonesian foreign workers," he added.
The government early this month imposed the clampdown on Indonesian workers
following a riot by 400 Indonesian textile workers at their factory over police
drug tests on co-workers on January 17.
Three days later more than 70 Indonesian construction workers armed with
machetes went on a rampage at Cyberjaya, a hi-tech suburb south of Kuala
Lumpur.
The government said it would only hire Indonesians as maids and plantation
workers and take workers from Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Laos, Myanmar, the
Philippines and India to fill positions in other sectors.
Indonesians were previously employed in almost all sectors.
Home ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat last month said Indonesians
made up 566,983 out of a total of 769,566 legal foreign workers in the
country.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda is to head a delegation to
Kuala Lumpur next week for a meeting expected to address the workers' issue,
officials said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday February 16, 1:33 PM
Singapore says EU positive about free trade plan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The
Singapore government said EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy responded positively
to a proposal for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) during a visit by the
envoy.
Lamy told delegates in a speech that Singapore had made a powerful
political and economic case for an FTA, Singapore's trade ministry said in a
statement late on Friday.
Singapore Trade Minister George Yeo, who wrote to Lamy in January proposing
the trade agreement, hosted a working lunch on Friday for the commissioner
during a one-day visit to Singapore.
The two discussed political and economic developments in the region and
ways to strengthen links between the EU and 10-member Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Singapore has pursued an array of bilateral FTAs.
The tiny trade-driven nation of four million people signed its first FTA
with New Zealand last year before sealing a similar deal with Japan earlier this
year.
It is in talks with the United States, Australia and Canada, and has agreed
to start sessions with the four-nation European Free Trade Association, India
and Mexico. The EFTA comprises Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
ASEAN groups Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam,
Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Brunei.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Times (UK)
February 16, 2002 The politics of temple-hopping by Cath Urquhart Burma is the focus of a tourist boycott - yet foreign visitors have forced
the release of a political prisoner. There is a case for informed tourism
PAR PAR Lay was telling a joke. "A man caught a fish, and asked his wife to
grill it. She said: ?You silly man, how can I? The Government has put up the
price of charcoal and cooking oil so much that I cannot afford them!?
"So the man returned the fish to the river, whereupon it leapt out of the
water and shouted its thanks to the generals that had brought the country to
such ruin."
Not side-splitting, perhaps, but telling such seemingly mild political
jokes has in the past earned the Burmese comedian seven years? imprisonment with
hard labour. Nevertheless, Par Par Lay, and cousins Lu Maw and Lu Zaw, still
perform every evening as the Moustache Brothers troupe to small groups of
tourists who crowd into the front room of their modest home in south
Mandalay.
I joined a dozen foreigners ? Americans, Irish, Australians and Dutch ? to
watch the show that is banned by Burma?s ruling military junta. We sat on
plastic chairs in the small room whose walls were covered with Burmese
marionettes and photographs of the brothers, one showing Par Par Lay with Aung
San Suu Kyi, who was elected leader of the country in 1990 but, despite being
released from house arrest in 1995, is still prevented by the generals from
assuming power.
Lu Maw translated the show into English, explaining the beautiful dances
performed by his wife and sisters, and the political jokes told by Par Par Lay,
and adding a large dollop of entertaining commentary and ribald humour, often at
the expense of his long-suffering wife.
When the show ended at 10pm we clustered around, sipping green tea, as Lu
Maw told us how glad he was to see tourists. He explained that Par Par Lay had
been released from prison 18 months early, in July 2001, due to international
pressure that started with foreign visitors attending the shows and publicising
the imprisoned comedian?s plight. "We want tourists to come and spread the
word," said Lu Maw. "Take our photograph and put it on the Internet! Foreigners
are our protection."
I had many concerns about visiting Burma, which has been largely isolated
since General Ne Win seized power in 1962. In 1988 some 3,000 pro-democracy
protestors were massacred by the army and since then, despite Suu Kyi?s
election, the military regime continues to run the country. Suu Kyi had asked
tourists not to visit. As no one wants to support this regime, it seemed wrong
to go.
But I was interested to note a growing feeling among Burma-watchers that
visits by informed tourists were no bad thing. James Mawdsley, for example, the
pro-democracy campaigner who has been imprisoned in Burma several times,
encourages visitors to come with open eyes: "Those who would learn more, those
who are sensitive to the suffering, they should definitely come," he writes. "If
they spend their money wisely the junta need not see any of it; it can go
directly to the people."
He had pinpointed one of my concerns: that I would have to stay in
Government-run guesthouses and thus hand money to the hated regime. So my first,
pleasant, surprise was to discover that there are now so many private hotels
it?s pretty hard to find a Government-run one.
The Three Seasons in Rangoon (now known as Yangon) set a high standard. My
US$15 room was simple and clean and the price included a terrific Burmese
breakfast of mohinga ? white rice noodles with coriander and egg in a thick fish
soup. As I ate by the balcony window, I watched two dozen maroon-robed monks
process in single file down the street. Whenever the first one stopped to
receive alms from a passer-by, the whole line bumped to a halt like a Slinky
toy.
I spent several days walking the city?s streets, taking in the peeling
colonial architecture, the surprisingly bad traffic jams, the street stalls
serving squid kebabs or sour Burmese curries, and the central market where you
could buy everything from lacquerware to a cappuccino. The city?s highlight is
undoubtedly the Shwedagon Pagoda, the enormous Buddhist temple whose gilded,
300ft stupa is said to contain 53 tonnes of gold.
I visited several times, to sit and watch as families picnicked in the
surrounding small temples, or young children in sequinned costumes and garish
make-up paraded around as part of the Buddhist baptism ceremony. A group of
young monks enjoyed a crafty cigarette in one corner, while uniformed cleaners
swept up every scrap of litter.
I moved on to Mandalay, a vast grid of largely uninspiring concrete
buildings that has grown up around the simply enormous Mandalay Fort. When I
asked my guesthouse owner if I should visit the fort, she disapprovingly showed
me a guidebook that explained that the fort had been rebuilt with forced labour.
"There?s not much to see," she said.
Instead, I took a hot climb up Mandalay Hill for the view over the town,
and toured some of the nearby pagodas. Later I chatted with fellow guests and
the proprietor over a cold Myanmar beer. She commented on how unusual it was to
meet a British traveller, so I explained about Suu Kyi?s comment that tourists
should not visit. She looked troubled. She had not heard of the tourist boycott,
she said.
"We support Aung San Suu Kyi all the way," she said. "We felt so sorry for
her when her husband died and she could not visit him. But we have mixed
feelings [about the boycott]. After all, we have to live. If you stay at private
guesthouses, and use private trishaws to get around, your money does not go to
the Government."
At 5am the next day I took a taxi through the dark streets to a dock on the
Irrawaddy river, where I boarded a ferry for Pagan (now known as Bagan), ten
hours downriver. The views weren?t spectacular ? we were too far from the banks
to see much ? but the behaviour of a German tour group caught my eye. When we
stopped to pick up passengers, they threw the remnants of their packed lunches
to children on the bank. The children were cross to discover they were being
thrown mouldy bananas or half-eaten sandwiches, and soon the polystyrene
lunchboxes littered the banks.
I wondered how Burma?s tourist authorities could nip such crass behaviour
in the bud before the problems of litter or begging grew out of control. My
conscience was pricked, for I had been reluctant to remonstrate with the
unpleasant, rowdy group. I?m afraid I was pleased, when I bumped into them the
next day, to see that most of them had appalling sunburn.
Pagan is delightful. Spread across several dozen square miles of dry plain,
a bend in the Irrawaddy throwing a protective arm around them, are some 4,000
Buddhist pahtos (temples), stupas (shrines) and smaller monuments dating from
the mid-11th to the 13th centuries AD. Although the sunburnt Germans were being
bussed noisily around, most tourists were hiring pony carts or sturdy bicycles
to potter along the dusty tracks connecting the temples.
Ananda Pahto is one of the most striking: a large whitewashed edifice
topped with a gilded spire, and set in a wide courtyard full of bougainvillea
and acacia trees. The cries of the trinket sellers by the entrance gave it a
festive air as we padded, barefoot, around the four giant Buddhas inside the
cavernous temple. Later I cycled to the Mingalazedi stupa, which you?re allowed
to climb for a terrific view as the setting sun turns the plain of temples pink.
That night I met Sally Trainor and Hugh Farmer, a British couple from Hong
Kong, over beers at our hotel, the Bagan Thande. As we sat by the wide, slow
Irrawaddy, candles twinkling and huge acacias swaying overhead, Sally told me
she used to live in Bangkok and was a member of a Burmese pro-democracy group,
often joining illegal incursions over the Thai border into Burma. I asked her
how she squared that with her current status as a tourist.
"I feel there?s been some change," she said. "You can now put a good
proportion of your money into the local economy ? you don?t have to take
Government tours, stay in Government hotels, or change so much money."
We agreed that much in Burma was not as we had expected. For example,
although I would hold back from initiating conversations, local people ?
students, monks, housewives ? would come up to chat without apparent fear. Not
one had heard of the tourist boycott so widely called for in Britain, for there
are many other tourists in Burma, from Europe, America, Asia.
Everyone I spoke to acknowledged that their country was imperfectly run but
wanted to welcome more visitors. Lu Maw and his fellow Moustache Brothers were
not the only ones keen to meet us. If you go to Burma, catch their show, and if
your rickshaw driver warns, as many do, that you?ll get into trouble don?t
believe him. You won?t ? and maybe, if enough of us go, nor will the Moustache
Brothers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post
Saturday 16 February 2002
South Asians rounded up
Immigration police yesterday raided a Bangkok cloth market and rounded up
103 South Asians suspected of staying here illegally while waiting to go to a
third country.
Pol Maj Sumit Khunanukhun, who led the raid, said the arrested came from
Pakistan, India and some Middle Eastern countries.
They held a tourist visa and were not allowed to work in Thailand, he
said.
However, some of them were working illegally here while waiting to move on
to a third country, said Pol Maj Sumit.
Their passports would be checked for validity, and those found to have
overstayed their visas or worked here illegally would face legal action before
being deported, he said.
Some of the suspects were arrested from a rented house in the Phahurat
cloth market in Phra Nakhon district.
The Pakistani houseowner, Aree Chonfikka, was charged with sheltering
illegal immigrants, an offence punishable by a fine of up to 20,000 baht.
Pol Maj Sumit said the immigration police would hit Soi Na Na off Sukhumvit
road next.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post
Saturday 16 February 2002 Burmese troops cautioned Wassana Nanuam Burmese troops have been warned not to damage Thai property when they
attack Shan State Army bases along the border, said the chief of Thailand's
Township Border Committee.
Col Surasak Boonsiri, the 4th Cavalry Regiment chief in charge of border
security in Chiang Rai, said he told his Burmese counterpart, Lt-Col Tun Aung,
to avoid causing unneccessary misunderstanding during Burmese military
operations against minority rebels.
Lt-Col Tun Aung, commander of the 526th Rapid Forces Battalion, asked
Thailand for ``understanding'' and ``leniency'' if some Burmese artillery shells
strayed into Thai territory.
``Burmese troops are concerned we may respond militarily if their shells
accidentally fall on our soil,'' he said.
Col Surasak said warning shots would be fired if Burmese shells
accidentally landed on Thai soil. He did not rule out tough retaliation if
cross-border fighting caused serious damage on the Thai side.
Burmese forces suffered heavy casualties in February last year when Thai
troops reacted to an intrusion by Burmese troops at Ban Pang Noon, in Mae Fa
Luang district.
Burmese soldiers wanted to use the border village as a springboard to
attack SSA bases along the rugged border terrain.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Enacts Aerospace
Engineering University Law
Xinhuanet 2002-02-16 10:40:59 YANGON, February 16 (Xinhuanet)
-- The Myanmar State Peace and Development Council has enacted an Aerospace
Engineering University Law under which a university is to be established along
with, according to the official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar
Saturday.
The law, promulgated on Friday, states that the Ministry of Science and
Technology may set up degree colleges, colleges, institutes and schools
affiliated to the university with the approval of the government.
The aims of the university are to contribute towards modernization and
development of the state by aerospace engineering, to nurture the ethical,
skillful and reputable aerospace engineers and to have the knowledge, standards
and recommended practices prescribed by the International Civil Aviation
Organization.
A University Council shall also be formed under the Ministry of Science and
Technology to lay down educational policies and guidances of the university
among others.
Meanwhile, the Aerospace Engineering University, which is the first ever in
Myanmar is due to open in August this year along with a Maritime University,
also the first one in the country.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Japan Times: Feb. 16,
2002
Myanmar family seeking special residency
loses suit
A Myanmar couple and their child seeking special residential status lost a
court battle Friday in Tokyo to overturn a justice minister's rejection of their
application.
Maung Myint Swe, 45, his wife, Ma San Yu Pun, 36, and their 4-year-old daughter applied in September 1999 to the Justice Ministry for special permission to stay in Japan after staying here for years without legitimate visas, claiming they have become accustomed to living in this country. The father came to Japan in 1990 on a three-month tourist visa and worked
in a printing factory in Tokyo. His wife came to Japan in 1994, and their
daughter was born here and now attends a public nursery school.
Their application for a special permit was turned down in February 2000 by
then Justice Minister Hideo Usui.
In rejecting the family's appeal Friday, the Tokyo District Court said the
justice minister has the sole legitimate power to decide on their application,
as the government has the sole authority to make decisions on its immigration
policy.
The ruling could lead to the immediate deportation of the family, but their
lawyers indicated they would appeal the case to a higher court. They will be
allowed to remain in the country until the court proceedings are
concluded.
The family was one of five that jointly applied for the justice minister's
permission in 1999 in the first collective effort by visa violators.
The special residential permission is considered the last resort for visa
violators and is usually granted to those who are married to Japanese.
Twelve families and three individuals, mostly Iranians, have applied for
such permission.
Five Iranian families totaling 20 people have so far been granted the
special permits, while 12 families have seen their applications rejected.
Aside from the Myanmar family, two of the rejected Iranian families have
filed lawsuits with the Tokyo court.
According to Asian Peoples Friendship Society, a citizens' group that has
assisted the families' quest for legitimate residency permits, the Justice
Ministry at least partly bases its decisions on whether a family has children
who have spent many years at school in Japan and are accustomed to Japanese
social customs.
The ministry's decision appears to hinge on whether the children attend
junior high schools in Japan, officials of the group said.
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