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Burma Related News - March 01,
2002.
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Headlines
-------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar junta frees five pro-democracy
figures
AFP - Press watchdog RSF urges ASEAN to defend
press freedoms
Reuters - Myanmar military frees more political
prisoners
Reuters - China CNPC targets Algeria in overseas
oil drive
AP - Myanmar junta frees five more political
prisoners
BBC - Burma's unmoving generals
Independent - Bangladesh festival in Myanmar this
month
Bkk Post - Checks of prawns to continue,
Importers may shun seafood from Burma
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Factories Reach Over 57,000
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's Electric Power Generation
Increases
Irrawaddy online - Bangkok Workers Deported: Mae Sot Workers
Return
Irrawaddy online - Mon
National Day Celebrated
DVB - Missile site constructed with Russian
help
Narinjara - Drugs being smuggled into
Bangladesh from Myanmar
-------------------------------------------------------------- Friday March 1, 2:56 PM Myanmar junta frees five pro-democracy figures YANGON, March 1 (AFP) -
Myanmar's military junta Wednesday said it had freed five members of opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). The five, identified as Kyaw Aye, Myo Myint, Hla Sein, Tin Kyi and Thein
Zaw, were released from various correctional institutions, a spokesman for the
regime said in a statement Friday.
"They are all in good health and back together with their respective
families," he said.
Myanmar's military government said earlier this year it has released some
220 political prisoners since it embarked on landmark talks with Aung San Suu
Kyi in October 2000.
Since then, it has released 11 political prisoners in an apparent gesture
of goodwill linked with a February visit by UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro.
On Thursday it announced that 68 women prisoners, including 57 with young
children and 11 expectant mothers, were freed from jail and granted amnesty for
various criminal offences.
The release of the women appeared to be a "merit-making" gesture, a
Buddhist tradition where good deeds accrue merit for the next life, linked to
the consecration of a massive Buddha image on the outskirts of Yangon.
The three-day ceremony to consecrate the Lawka Chantha Abhaya Labha Muni
Buddha Image ended Thursday.
The 12 metre (39.6 foot) high, 500 tonne image, sculpted from a monolith
unearthed in the northern city of Mandalay and carried to Yangon by rail and
river, is billed as the largest of its kind in the world.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Friday March 1, 12:47 PM
Press watchdog RSF urges ASEAN to defend press freedoms (AFP) - Reporters without
Borders called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat
to act against "censorship and intimidation" of the press in its member
countries.
The international press watchdog said Friday it was concerned over measures
taken by the Thai and Malaysian governments recently against a number of foreign
news magazines.
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres - RSF) urged ASEAN
secretary-general Rodolfo Severino to intervene against "the increase in
censorship and intimidation against foreign publications".
"The integration and economic development in Southeast Asia that your
organisation defends also depends on the free circulation of information," RSF
boss Robert Menard said in a letter to Severino.
Thailand's government has threatened to expel two Bangkok-based journalists
with the Far Eastern Economic Review over a January 10 article which touched on
the government's relations with the monarchy.
US citizen Shawn Crispin and Briton Rodney Tasker were named on an
immigration blacklist a week ago, and their passports have been confiscated.
They are now awaiting the results of an appeal.
The government has faced a storm of criticism against the move, but Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said he is determined to expel the pair, who are
accused of posing a threat to national security.
He also lashed out at criticism from the United States which had publicly
expressed concern over the deportation threats.
In Malaysia, the government has admitted blocking the distribution of
several news magazines because it is upset about their coverage of issues
including Islam and terrorism.
The magazines -- Newsweek, Time and the Far Eastern Economic Review -- were
withheld for "inaccurate and untrue reporting of the situation in Malaysia,"
Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung said.
Chor said another magazine, The Economist, was "under review" for articles
about action taken against foreign workers.
ASEAN member nations include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Despite its history of military coups, Thailand has been regarded a beacon
of democracy in the region, surrounded by the autocracies and military
dictatorships of its neighbours.
On Thursday, influential US newspaper The Washington Post published an
editorial which warned that expelling the Review reporters "would ruin
Thailand's reputation as a haven for free speech in Asia."
The Washington Post said the case against the two journalists made little
sense and no inaccuracies had been cited in the offending January 10 article,
printed in an edition which was banned here.
The article, headlined "A Right Royal Headache", referred to King Bhumibol
Adulyadej's birthday speech in December in which he sharply criticised the prime
minister and said Thailand was in "crisis".
-------------------------------------------------------------- Friday March 1, 5:01 PM
Myanmar military frees more political prisoners By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
military government freed five political prisoners on Friday, bringing total
releases this week to 73, in an apparent response to lobbying by the United
Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.
In a statement received by Reuters, the government said it had freed five
members of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD).
The news came a day after Myanmar authorities said they had freed and
granted amnesty to 68 women, either pregnant or with young children, who were in
prison for "various criminal activities".
Last week, Pinheiro ended a 10-day visit to Myanmar to finish a report on
the human rights situation and to persuade ruling generals to free and grant
amnesties to all political prisoners -- believed to number more than 1500.
Pinheiro, who focused his attention particularly on women and elderly
prisoners, said conditions in Myanmar's prisons had improved since the Red Cross
began visits two years ago.
The Myanmar government, desperate for aid, trade and investment, has
released more than 200 political prisoners since late 2000, when it entered
U.N.-brokered talks on national reconciliation with the NLD.
Pinheiro, whose report will influence Western countries' stance on Myanmar,
said last week that prisoner releases needed to come faster.
At the current rate, it would take 12 years for Myanmar's jails to be empty
of political prisoners, he said.
NLD leader Suu Kyi has been held under virtual house arrest in Yangon since
September 2000.
Her party has been prevented from organising nationally since it shocked
the military with a landslide victory in Myanmar's last democratic elections in
1990.
According to NLD Secretary U Lwin, there are still about 800 NLD supporters
in prison.
The European Union and the United States maintain aid and trade sanctions
against Myanmar, citing Yangon's human rights record, failure to cooperate on
fighting drugs, and political repression.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Friday March 1, 1:32 PM
China CNPC targets Algeria in overseas oil drive By Chen Aizhu SINGAPORE, March 1 (Reuters) -
China National Petroleum Corp aims to reap up to five million tonnes of crude
oil from Algeria by 2005, making the North African state CNPC's second-biggest
overseas producing asset, industry sources said on Friday.
CNPC, China's top oil company and parent of listed PetroChina
<0857.HK>, has turned its attentions to Algeria following its success
in southern Sudan, where it owns a 40-percent stake in the 12 million tonne per
year (tpy) Unity field.
CNPC hopes to win a contract in the Sbaa basin in southern Algeria to
produce crude and build a one million tpy refinery.
"CNPC's technical bid is highly competitive. Its experience in Sudan sets a
sound record," said a Beijing-based industry official referring to CNPC's Sudan
activities, which cover oil exploration, production and refinery construction.
Officials said CNPC is also a frontrunner to enhance oil recovery at
Algeria's Zarzaitine field in the southeastern Illizi basin, which currently
pumps crude at some two million tpy.
Contenders for the project included oil major TotalFinaElf
and CNCP's domestic rival Sinopec Group, parent of listed Sinopec
<0386.HK>.
Both projects were part of an international tender issued early in 2001 by
Algerian state oil and gas company Sonatrach, which is expected to be awarded
soon.
CNPC is also participating in Sonatrach's new licensing round announced
early February, which offered nine oil and gas blocks mostly in the
OPEC-member's promising southern basins. The round is due to close at the end of
June.
PETROCHINA STAYS POLITICALLY SAFE
Apart from Algeria and U.S.-sanctioned Sudan, CNPC also has assets in
Myanmar, politically and economically isolated since 1990 when its military
government ignored the result of democratic elections.
Industry sources said CNPC, the first of China's three oil majors to cross
foreign borders in search of oil, appeared to be targeting riskier environments
and leaving politically safer areas to its listed arm PetroChina, in which it
holds a 90-percent stake.
"CNPC has left strategically more important areas like Russia to
PetroChina, and is now eyeing Algeria as a second major area for output growth
after Sudan," the Beijing-based source said.
To cut soaring crude import bills as domestic output dwindles, CNPC wants
to triple overseas equity oil production to some 18 million tonnes by 2005 from
the 2001 level, according to official Chinese media.
In 2001, the company pumped some 6.53 million tonnes of crude from foreign
projects, of which about 50 percent came from Sudan. Domestic output last year
was about 106.5 million tonnes.
CNPC also holds equity in projects in Kazakhstan and Venezuela and recently
paid the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development $52 million for a
30-percent stake in two Azerbaijan oilfields.
The company put in $4.4 million for stakes in three oil blocks in Myanmar.
PetroChina, a relative novice in the drive for overseas equity, is working
on a multi-billion dollar bid for the oil assests of Canada's No.5 integrated
oil firm Husky Energy Inc
It also is in talks over a $2 billion, 2,400-km pipeline to move Russian
crude to China from Siberia.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar junta frees five more
political prisoners
Fri Mar 1, 2:50 AM ET YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -
Myanmar's military junta on Friday freed five members of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi's party.
All five "are all in good health and back together with their respective
families," a government statement said.
The government has been regularly releasing members of Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy party since the two sides began secret reconciliation talks
in October 2000 to end the country's 12-year political standoff. Neither side
has divulged the content of the talks.
The latest releases brings the total number of political prisoners freed to
228, the most tangible outcome of the talks.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The current group of generals came to power in 1988 after leading a bloody
crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations.
The junta called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results when
Suu Kyi's party won overwhelmingly. Instead, hundreds of opposition activists
were jailed. Suu Kyi herself has been under house detention since September
2000.
No details were given about the five prisoners released Friday. They were
identified as Kyaw Aye, Myo Myint, Hla Sein, Tin Kyi, and Thein Zaw. The
government statement did not say why they were imprisoned or when.
Hundreds more NLD members are believed to remain in prison.
-------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Thursday, 28 February, 2002,
15:47 GMT
Burma's unmoving generals Larry Jagan BBC Burma analyst in Bangkok Burma's generals remain in charge of one of Asia's last military
dictatorships. For a decade-and-a-half the military leaders have run the country
with an iron grip.
There is no freedom of speech and the country's press is tightly controlled by the army. "Nothing happens in Burma without the military's approval," said a Western
diplomat based in Rangoon who didn't want to be identified.
"Their sole purpose is to maintain power and control."
New generation
In the past few months there has been a major reshuffle of the army and
military government. Several ministers have been sacked for alleged involvement
in corruption, the powerful regional commanders have all been replaced by
younger officers.
"The army is going through a major restructuring," said Colonel Kyaw Thein,
a senior officer in Burma's military intelligence unit.
Most analysts believe the military has started a process of rejuvenation.
"Burma's current military leaders are anxious to ensure that the future
army leaders are given the necessary training and experience to take over in the
future," said a Western intelligence expert based in Bangkok.
"The new regional commanders are all in their 40s," he said. "Compare this
with the moribund leadership of the opposition National League Democracy - all
in their 70s."
Power struggle
This reform of the military also involves a streamlining of the command
structure, from top to bottom. The country's three, top military figures - the
head of state General Than Shwe, the army chief General Maung Aye and the
intelligence chief Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt - wield complete power.
"It's now an old-powerful triumvirate that rules the country," said an
Asian diplomat in Rangoon. "They decide everything between themselves."
Even applications for a journalist visa have to be approved by Khin Nyunt.
There has been much speculation about a power struggle between Maung Aye
and Khin Nyunt and there are certainly many differences of opinion on many
issues.
Maung Aye is more xenophobic and inward looking, while Khin Nyunt is keener
on more international contact and reaching outwards.
Analysts are still trying to assess the political implications of a series
of recent changes:
the removal of the old regional commanders - most of whom are believed to have opposed the reforms the top brass were trying to introduce strengthening the respect for human rights by introducing a local human
rights committee and training them
legislating against the use of force labour
entering secret talks with the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the
political future of the country.
Some analysts are suggesting the appointment of younger regional commanders will favour Khin Nyunt. Others point out that three out of four of the new generation were trained
in Burma's military academy, not the officer training college. Their loyalty is
almost certainly be to the army chief General Maung Aye.
But diplomats are convinced talk of a genuine power struggle overstates the
situation.
A former Australian ambassador to Rangoon said: "They know they must stay
together or hang separately. That's why they are so keen on collective
responsibility."
Siege mentality
Western military analysts believe the Burmese military leaders have
developed a siege mentality.
They do not trust any civilians - even those in government - believing only
soldiers can run the country.
"The military regime will not do anything to diminish its grip on power,"
said an Australian military expert in Canberra, "but will try everything to fend
off perceived threats and consolidate their position."
"They may adjust their ruling style, try different ways of administering
the country and even contemplate discussions with the opposition, but will not
consciously relinquish real power for Burma's generals remain convinced that
only the army can guarantee Burma's survival."
-------------------------------------------------------------- Independent-Bangladesh
01-03-2002.
Bangladesh festival in Myanmar this
month
The "Bangladesh Festival" is going to be held in Myanmar in the last week
of March with a view to exploring alternative markets of locally manufactured
products to its nearest neighbour, official sources said, reports BSS.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and Bangladesh-Mayanmar Business
Promotions Council are jointly organising the festival.
Commerce Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury is expected to lead a
delegation comprising representatives of the government and private sector in
the Bangladesh festival, first of its kind in Myanmar. Leading manufacturers of
garment and textile products will also join the festival.
The government decided to organise the festival as part of its move to
explore alternative markets for different exportable items, especially garment
products, in the back drop of global recession in economy and high competition
in export market, commerce ministry officials said.
Programmes of the festival include seminar on potentialities of Bangladeshi
products, exhibition of Bangladeshi products, exhibition of traditional foods of
Bangladesh and cultural function, organisers said.
There is also possibility to set up a permanent exhibition centre in
Myanmar to expand trade and commerce between the two countries.
When contacted, Chairman of the Bangladesh-Myanmar Business Promotions
Council Syed Mahmudul Haque said Myanmar has a great political and economic
significance since the country is the nearest neighbour of Bangladesh.
"Both the countries have immense potentialities in trade and commerce
sectors, but that have not yet been utilised," he said.
He said the festival is going to be held in Myanmar as a move to restore
economic relations between the two countries that existed in ancient
periods.
According to the organisers, Myanmar has been maintaining border trades
with its four neighbours including Bangladesh.
"Bangladesh exported goods worth 2.23 crore US dollars to Myanmar while
imported different items worth 13 lakh dollars," available figures show.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post
Friday 01 March 2002 Checks of prawns to continue, Importers may shun seafood from Burma Supamart Kasem Customs, fisheries and health officials will continue to discreetly examine
Burmese prawn shipments while Thai importers are considering boycotting the
products altogether if further traces of contamination pop up in them.
A restaurant owner last week found pieces of lead in prawns he bought from
Chatuchak market, prompting a nationwide health scare which led to a thorough
examination of prawn imports in Tak, Surat Thani, Ranong, Kanchanaburi and
Satun.
In Mae Sot, two Burmese shipments were found to have been
contaminated.
From the 15,000 prawns imported by Prasertson Co, 26 were found to have
lead weighing some 150 grammes in either their head or body. Only eight of the
5,300 prawns imported by V Imports Co were found to cantain lead.
Up to 11 tonnes of prawns are imported from Burma via Mae Sot each month.
Most of the products are destined for restaurants in Bangkok.
Pichai Chaichanayothinwatchara, manager of V Import, said the company has
told its representatives in Burma to carefully examine the prawns or face a
boycott. The firm said it has gone as far as purchasing metal detectors for use
by its representatives in Burma.
``We've warned them that if the problem persists the operators here would
consider banning prawns from Burma,'' said Mr Pichai.
The prawns were from Rangoon and small-time fishermen in Moulmein, Mon
state and Kyondo, Karen state.
Boontiam Chokwiwat, the Mae Sot customs chief, said although the amount of
lead was low, less than 0.5% of all imported prawns, it did pose a health risk
to consumers.
``Authorities will keep on examining the products until we are sure they
are really safe,'' he said.
Random checks are usually made of prawn shipments but thorough examination
is required in case of contamination of lead or other substances.
Mr Boontiam said the exporters were unlikely to stuff lead in the products
as it would affect business credibility.
``Those who stuffed the lead in the prawns must be small-time fishermen
only concerned about increasing their weight without realising the
consequences,'' he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Factories Reach Over
57,000
Xinhuanet 2002-03-01 10:41:27 YANGON, March 1 (Xinhuanet) --
The number of small-, medium- and large-sized factories and plants in Myanmar
reached over 57,000 inthe fiscal year 2000-01, an increase of over 15,000 from
1988-89, according to the Myanmar Industrial Development Committee (MIDC)
Friday.
With the increase of the number of factories, it has resulted in a lot of
employment opportunities in the country with the number of employees in the
three sectors of state, cooperative andprivate rising to over 25 million from 18
million in 1988.
The MIDC figures also show that the net value of goods producedin the
industrial sector increased up to 10,204 million kyats (about 29.15 million U.S.
dollars) in 2000-01, up 149.24 percent from 1988-89.
Meanwhile, Myanmar has set up 18 industrial zones in nine states and
divisions, where a total of 4,496 factories and plants have gone into
production.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's Electric Power Generation Increases
Xinhuanet 2002-03-01 10:41:27 YANGON, March 1 (Xinhuanet) --
Electric power generation of Myanmar in the fiscal year of 2000-01 reached over
5.024 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh), a-125.79-percent increase from 1988-89,
according to the state-run Myanma Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE)Friday.
Since 1988, altogether 32 new power plants -- 26 hydro power plants and 6
gas-fired and combined recycle plants -- have been built in the country.
According to other figures of the MEPE, the installed generating capacity
(IGC) of Myanmar remained at 1,172 megawatts (mw) at the end of October 2001.
The country is planning to add 2,000 mw more of the IGC in the next five
years to meet the growing domestic demand of electric power, especially by the
agricultural and industrial sectors involving major projects and the public use.
The plan covers the 280-mw Paunglaung hydro power project in Myanmar's
northern Mandalay division being built by a Chinese company under contract and
the 780-mw Yeywa hydro power project inthe same division.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Irrawaddy online
Bangkok Workers Deported: Mae Sot
Workers Return
By Tony Broadmoor
March 01, 2002?Burmese migrant workers arrested in Bangkok on February 24
after a series of raids by police have been deported to a holding center in the
Burmese border town of Myawaddy, according to sources along the border.
The move, however, comes in stark contrast to the arrest of workers in Mae
Sot, a Thai border town opposite Myawaddy, during similar raids last week. The
illegal migrants found in Mae Sot were escorted to a checkpoint near the
Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge, which separates the two towns, and then released.
Sources said the majority of those workers were able to return to Mae Sot the
same day.
"The workers from Bangkok were handed directly to Burmese authorities and
have been taken to the holding center in Myawaddy," said Mo Swe of the Mae
Sot-based Burmese Labor Solidarity Organization (BLSO).
The exact number of deported workers housed in the holding center is not
known but it is thought to be near 1,000, according to the BLSO. The holding
center was established after Thai and Burmese officials met in Phuket, Thailand
earlier this year to discuss the burgeoning number of Burmese migrant workers
illegally working in Thailand.
The BLSO said police have begun to crackdown on migrants found in Mae Sot
who do not posses work permits or whose employer only provided them with a copy
of their permit.
More than one million Burmese migrants are thought to be living in
Thailand. Last October over 500,000 Burmese workers received work permits for a
cost of 4,450 baht (US$ 100). The permits are good for one year, however,
workers must pass a health examination after six months to remain in the
country.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Irrawaddy online
Mon National Day
Celebrated
By Win Htein
March 1, 2002?The New Mon State Party (NMSP) held ceremonies in southern
Burma yesterday marking the 55th anniversary of Mon National Day after Burma?s
military government prohibited celebrations in Rangoon and the Mon State capital
of Moulmein, according to party members. One ceremony was held in Pha-Lan, in Ye
Township, and a smaller gathering attended by Mon officials and local Burmese
military officials took place in Peyathosu, near Thailand?s Three Pagoda
Pass.
"The authorities in Rangoon only allowed us to gather in the compound of a
Mon monastery," a member of Mon Independent News told the Democratic Voice of
Burma (DVB) yesterday.
NMSP Chairman Nai Shwe Kyin urged the Mon to unite and fight for ethnic
rights during his annual national day speech. The 89-year-old party leader also
said that the NMSP had issued an official statement regarding the ongoing
reconciliation talks in Rangoon, according to the DVB.
"We, the ceasefire groups, welcome the talks between the State Peace
Development Council (SPDC) and the National League for Democracy (NLD), but
later we also hope to participate in the talks," Nai Shwe Kyin told the DVB.
The statement, which was endorsed by seven ceasefire groups, was released
on Feb 12 and urged Burma?s military government to respect the Union Spirit,
according to the DVB. Nai Shwe Kyin added that although the government was not
happy with the statement, the groups must speak out on their true
feelings.
The NMSP, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the Shan State Peace
Council (SSPC), the Shan State Nationalities People?s Liberation Front (SSNPLF),
the Karenni National People?s Liberation Front (KNPLF), the Kayan New Land Party
(KNLP) and the Palaung State Liberation Party (PSLP) all signed the
document.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Missile site constructed with
Russian help
Text of report by Democratic Voice of Burma on 25 February Five Russian experts believed to assist in building a Surface to Air
Missile (SAM) Battery have arrived in Burma and construction of the site has
already begun. The five Russian experts accompanied by the SPDC (State Peace and
Development Council) Director of Armoured and Artillery arrived yesterday at the
site near Alechaung Village in Northeastern Mergui District, Tenasserim
Division. The area between Alechaung Village and Sanpe hill near the tributary
of Tamok Creek in Northeastern Mergui District has been declared as a prohibited
zone since yesterday.
The Russian experts have chosen a site close to a waterfall near Tamok
Creek to construct a building to install the computer-aided guidance system for
the SAM battery. It is also known that hydroelectric power could be generated
from the waterfall as well. DVB has learned that construction of roads to carry
the equipment and machinery needed for the site has already begun today.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 25 Feb
02
-------------------------------------------------------------- Narinjara news
27th February, 2002 Drugs being smuggled into Bangladesh from Myanmar The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) Report 2001 will be
released globally today, says press release.
The report, published annually by INCB, tries to alert the governments and
the public at large to any developments relating to drug abuse and trafficking.
The first of the three-chapter report examines the challenges that new
technologies, such as the Internet, pose to drug law enforcement in an area of
increasing globalisation. It points to the difficulties of fighting cyber-crime
in the current virtual environment, The second chapter reviews the operation of
the international drug control system, including legislative developments in
certain European countries concerning the prosecution of cannabis-related
offences, while the third and final part present an analysis of the world
situation with regard to illicit drugs.
The report points out that though New Delhi remains the major transit point
for drug trafficking, small quantities of heroine and illicitly manufactured
meth-amphetamine from Myanmar are being smuggled into Bangladesh to be abused by
the local population. Illicit crop cultivation in areas of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts is increasing, and cannabis is being produced and smuggled out of the
southern district of the Rangamati. No systematic programme for illicit crop
eradication is being carried out in Bangladesh.
INCB is also concerned about the increasing incidence of heroine injection
in South Asia countries including Bangladesh. Revealing that there illicit opium
poppy cultivation sites in the remote areas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where
the movement of the security forces is restricted, the Report adds that the
problem has re-emerged in the areas of Bandarban.
Myanmar accounted for most of the world's illicit poppy cultivation in 2001
following the ban on cultivation in areas of Afghanistan controlled by the
Taliban authorities and prolonged drought in the country.
Of the six states in South Asia, five including Bangladesh are parties to
all the Conventions on drugs.
The INCB Report 2001 is available for use during office hours at the UNIC
Library, IDB Bhaban, Dhaka, the press release added.
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