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BURMA RELATED NEWS - JUNE 24-
25, 2002.
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HEADLINES
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar Tells Thailand to Stop Backing
Rebels
Reuters - Myanmar military not blocking Suu
Kyi's travels
Reuters - Thailand tells Myanmar stop insults,
start talking
AFP - Myanmar forces retake all bases from
rebels: Junta
Reuters - Thai government's foreign policy under
fire
Reuters - UNHCR expels asylum seekers from
Malaysia office
BBC - Thailand's war on Burmese
drugs
BBC - Suu Kyi on road to Mandalay
BBC - Methamphetamine scourge
AP - Myanmar: 50 troops, 100 rebels killed in
fighting to retake army outposts
AP - Myanmar Muslims detained after failing to
get U.N. refugee status
The Nation - Thai villages hit by mortar fire,
bullets
Bkk Post - Army chief warns against any
incursion
Bkk Post -
Rangoon racism hides inaction
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Tells Thailand to Stop
Backing Rebels
Mon Jun 24, 5:44 AM ET By Aung Hla Tun and Andrew Marshall YANGON/BANGKOK (Reuters) -
Myanmar's ruling junta accused Thailand Monday of giving sanctuary to ethnic
minority Shan guerrillas, the latest salvo in a simmering row between the
neighbors that has battered bilateral relations.
The Shan State Army, one of the few rebel groups still fighting the junta's
rule, seized a Myanmar army outpost on the Thai border last month and held it
until Friday, when it pulled out after several days of Myanmar army artillery
fire.
The Shan guerrillas confirmed they had withdrawn from the outpost, but said
they had killed and wounded 800 Myanmar troops and 700 Wa fighters in the
month-long battle.
At a news conference in Yangon, Myanmar's military said 50 of its soldiers
had been killed and 200 wounded. It said the bodies of 45 Shan fighters had been
found at the outpost.
The fighting on the border sparked furious exchanges between Yangon and
Bangkok. Myanmar says the Thai army helped the Shan rebels seize the base last
month. Thailand denies backing the Shan, but the army says it returned fire when
stray shells from the fighting landed on Thai soil.
The Myanmar government said Monday escaping Shan troops had been given
sanctuary and hospital treatment in Thailand.
"One small battle recently created on the Myanmar-Thai border has now
ceased, but for how long God alone knows," the junta said. "Armed terrorist
groups being harbored, trained and given breeding grounds in Thailand are now in
the process of recuperating and regrouping."
The statement said Myanmar "sincerely wishes and hopes that Thailand
seriously reformulates genuinely friendly policies toward its neighbors."
THAI DILEMMA
Myanmar has rebuffed Thai requests for talks to soothe the tension, saying
it wanted to recapture its lost bases first. But although the outposts have been
retaken, Myanmar's official media kept up a stream of belligerent rhetoric
Monday.
An article in the English-language New Light of Myanmar, seen as a
mouthpiece of the junta, denounced the Thais, who it called "Yodayas" -- a
reference to a Thai kingdom centered on the city of Ayutthaya that was sacked by
a Myanmar army in 1767.
"Yodayas are wicked, they hide their ugly face behind their smile, and they
are tricky," the article said. "We, the people of the Myanmar race, should not
continue to tolerate their acts."
Thailand has repeatedly denied aiding Shan and Karen guerrillas fighting
the Myanmar junta. But diplomats say many in the Thai military view the Shan as
an essential counterbalance in the Golden Triangle region to the United Wa State
Army.
The ethnic minority Wa army, former rebels who signed a peace deal with the
Myanmar government in 1989, is accused by Thailand of producing much of the
heroin reaching the West and most of the methamphetamine pills flooding Thailand
each year.
Myanmar says the Wa are committed to eradicating drugs and says the Shan
guerrillas are the main narcotics traffickers.
The row has presented Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with a thorny
foreign policy problem.
Thaksin is keen to improve relations with Myanmar, and has not responded to
a series of verbal attacks from the junta. But he has also pledged to crack down
on drugs, and vowed to capture notorious Wa druglord Wei Hseuh-Kang "dead or
alive."
Thai newspapers said the border tensions sparked a split between the
government and military, with Thaksin trying to placate the junta while the
military favored a firmer line against old foe Myanmar.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar military not blocking Suu
Kyi's travels
Tue Jun 25, 3:12 AM ET By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - An upcountry
trip by Myanmar pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, seen as a key test of her
freedom following her release from house arrest, has been allowed to proceed
unhindered by the military, her party said on Tuesday.
Suu Kyi left the capital Yangon on Saturday by car, heading for Mandalay, Myanmar's second city and cultural hub some 610 km to the north. She was due to reach Mandalay on Tuesday afternoon after stops at smaller towns on the way to make speeches to party activists and rally support. It was the first time Suu Kyi had attempted a political visit beyond
Yangon's outskirts since her release from 19 months of house arrest on May 6. An
overnight trip outside the capital earlier this month was a private visit to a
revered monk.
"Her visit is going smoothly and successfully," said U Lwin, secretary of
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which won Myanmar's last democratic
elections in 1990 by a landslide but was never allowed to take over power from
the military.
"Last night she stayed at Natmauk town, the birthplace of her father, and
she will proceed to Mandalay."
Suu Kyi, 57, is the daughter of Myanmar independence hero Aung San, who was
assassinated in 1947. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to
bring democracy to Myanmar.
Suu Kyi's latest spell in house arrest, from September 2000 until last
month, was prompted by several high-profile attempts to travel outside Yangon in
defiance of travel restrictions.
A bid to travel south of the capital in August 2000 led to a nine-day
roadside stand-off when police blocked her car. She was eventually forcibly
returned home, sparking an outcry from the international community.
A month later, Suu Kyi was stopped from travelling by rail to Mandalay, and
placed under house arrest.
The government began a dialogue with Suu Kyi in October 2000 aimed at
breaking Myanmar's political deadlock. But the talks have yet to move beyond
"confidence building", officials say.
Suu Kyi has said she wants to get down to substantive talks as soon as
possible to map out the country's political future.
The military government insists it is committed to building democracy but
says moving too fast could unleash anarchy. But the junta is keen to get
international sanctions lifted to try to salvage the country's tottering
economy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Thailand tells Myanmar stop
insults, start talking
Tue Jun 25, 2:30 AM ET By Trirat Puttajanyawong BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand
told Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday to stop trading insults and sit down
for talks to resolve border tensions that have battered bilateral relations.
Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said he was upset by recent articles
in Myanmar's New Light of Myanmar English-language newspaper, seen as a
mouthpiece for the junta, which criticised former Thai kings.
"They have been like this (criticising former Thai kings) for so long, we
need to react, we can't let it go like this," Chavalit told reporters before a
weekly cabinet meeting.
"We are always ready to talk. We are waiting for them to be ready," he
said.
The minister is meeting Thai military commanders on Tuesday to discuss how
to react to a barrage of criticism from Myanmar officials and media, a defence
ministry spokesman told Reuters.
Myanmar officials and newspapers have been calling Thailand "Yodaya" -- a
reference to a former Thai kingdom centred on the city of Ayutthaya which was
sacked by an invading army from Myanmar in 1767. Daily articles in newspapers
have attacked the Thais and their monarchy -- a very grave insult in Thailand.
Tempers flared between the two countries last month after Myanmar accused
Thailand of aiding the Shan State Army, an ethnic minority rebel group fighting
the junta and its allies in the United Wa State Army, an ethnic militia allied
to Yangon which Thailand blames for most drug production in the Golden Triangle.
Thailand has repeatedly denied aiding Shan and Karen guerrillas fighting
the Myanmar junta. But diplomats say many in the Thai military view the Shan as
an essential counterbalance in the Golden Triangle region to the Wa.
THORNY PROBLEM
The row has presented Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with a thorny
foreign policy problem.
Thaksin is keen to improve relations with Myanmar, and has so far not
responded to the series of verbal attacks from the junta. But he has also
pledged to crack down on drugs, and vowed to capture notorious Wa druglord Wei
Hseuh-Kang "dead or alive".
Thai newspapers said the border tensions sparked a split between the
government and military, with Thaksin trying to placate the junta while the
military favoured a firmer line.
Thailand has been pushing for talks with Myanmar for weeks, but has so far
been rebuffed.
Chavalit said exchanging insults would help nobody.
"It will escalate to be out of control if we both leave it like this. I
don't want to give the impression I am begging them, but I don't want this
deadlock to continue," he said.
The ethnic minority Wa army, former rebels who signed a peace deal with the
Myanmar government in 1989, is accused by Thailand of producing much of the
heroin reaching the West and most of the methamphetamine pills flooding Thailand
each year.
Myanmar says the Wa are committed to eradicating drugs and says the Shan
guerrillas are the main narcotics traffickers.
Thai Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha said on Tuesday the
country did not back the Shan rebels but did allow humanitarian assistance to
those affected by the border fighting.
"It is a humanitarian matter. No matter what their nationalities are --
Myanmar, Shan or Thai -- we allow those who are running away from the fighting
to stay, and then we push them out when the battle ceases," he said.
"But we will not allow any side to use even a single square inch of our
soil for fighting."
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday June 24, 2:55 PM
Myanmar forces retake all bases from rebels: Junta (AFP) - Myanmar troops have
retaken all bases overrun by ethnic rebels last month, a junta official said, as
the regime acknowledged that 50 of its own troops were killed in the
counter-offensive.
"Myanmar military forces supported by ethnic militias including the Wa,
Lahu, Shan, and Akha, have retaken all the military bases that fell to the SURA
(Shan United Revolutionary Army) during the counter-offensive launched from June
6 to June 21," military spokesman Colonel San Pwint told reporters.
SURA is the junta's name for the rebel Shan State Army (SSA).
Colonel San Pwint said that 50 Yangon troops were killed and more than 200
wounded during the counter-offensive. He confirmed ethnic minorities had also
been killed and injured, but did not give specific numbers.
Four military bases plus one police outpost had been retaken following a
total of 31 skirmishes between the Yangon-allied forces and the SSA, he
said.
"Having prior knowledge of the counter-offensive they had taken up 20
strategic positions around the area and were ready to defend the bases. All of
them were retaken by the evening of June 21," he said.
"The combined forces of Myanmar military and ethnic militias are continuing
to conduct military operations in the region, targetting SURA bases inside
Myanmar territory."
The junta believed the SSA had some 600 rebels fighting for them, but he
did not give details on the number of Yangon-allied troops.
Colonel San Pwint said 45 SSA fighters had been found dead.
"They captured 45 enemy dead and found numerous freshly dug graves
indicating more had died there," he said, adding that the junta estimated more
than 100 SSA fighters were killed in total and more than 200 wounded.
A spokeswoman for the SSA said on Friday the rebels had withdrawn from all
the bases they had earlier captured because they did not wish to fight other
ethnic minorities who were joining the Yangon troops.
Spokeswoman Nang Khur Hsen also said Friday that 14 SSA fighters had been
killed and 25 injured, while several hundred of the junta's troops died or were
wounded.
The original clashes along Myanmar's eastern border in late May that led to
the SSA taking the military bases led to relations between Thailand and its
military-run neighbour spiralling to a low.
After both countries exchanged protest notes over the clashes, Yangon
unilaterally closed its border checkpoints with Thailand, blocked official
visiting delegations, and launched a stream of anti-Thai vitriol in its state
press that has continued until now.
The two countries are yet to hold talks over the issue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday June 25, 12:11 PM
Thai government's foreign policy under fire By Andrew Marshall BANGKOK (Reuters) - He has a
vast majority in parliament, has survived a corruption trial and can boast a
brightening economy, but opponents of Thailand's prime minister think they have
found his Achilles heel -- foreign policy.
Opposition attacks and media criticism of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
are increasingly focusing on his handling of key diplomatic issues, and in
particular Thailand's thorny relations with neighbour Myanmar.
Thaksin's efforts to play down tensions with the Yangon junta have
generated a slew of negative newspaper headlines, and the centrepiece of his
foreign policy -- a discussion forum for Asian nations -- has also been met with
widespread scepticism.
"A government without a foreign policy success," is how the Bangkok Post
daily described Thaksin's administration.
A former Thai ambassador to the United Nations took the unusual step of
going public with criticism of Thai foreign policy last month. Asada Jayanama,
now retired, said Thailand had become "a laughing stock among diplomatic
communities".
Foreign policy is generally not the main preoccupation of Thai voters and
another general election is still years away, but the tensions with Myanmar have
generated bad publicity for the government and have been seized on by Thaksin's
opponents.
BAD BLOOD
Thaksin took office determined to improve relations with Myanmar, a change
of tack from Thailand's previous government that gave overt support to the
pro-democracy movement there.
But Thaksin has also pledged to crack down on the flood of illegal drugs
crossing the border, a major issue in Thailand where drugs are blamed for many
of the country's social ills.
Thailand says an ethnic minority militia in the Golden Triangle, the United
Wa State Army, is responsible for drug production in the region. Thaksin has
vowed to catch the most notorious Wa druglord, Wei Hsueh-Kang, "dead or alive".
The problem is that the Wa are allies of the junta. Thaksin's hopes he
could stay on good terms with the Myanmar government while trying to crack down
on the Wa army have unravelled.
The junta reacted with fury when Thai troops massed at the border near Wa
positions, and has accused Thailand of supporting separatist ethnic Shan and
Karen rebel groups in Myanmar.
Myanmar newspapers, mouthpieces of the junta, have carried daily articles
denouncing the Thai government. Thai troops have opened fire across the border
several times after stray shells from fighting inside Myanmar landed on Thai
soil.
But Thaksin, eager to try and patch up relations with the junta, has not
responded to Myanmar's verbal attacks and publicly told the military not to
overreact to stray shells.
The policy has been described as "appeasement of Burma" by Thai newspapers,
which have reported that Thaksin's comments caused a rift between the government
and military.
The opposition says Thaksin has been too weak in his dealings with Myanmar
and that he needs to take a tougher line on drugs. Thaksin says the issue has
been blown out of proportion.
ALL TALK, NO ACTION
The lukewarm reception accorded to Thaksin's flagship foreign policy
initiative, the so-called Asian Cooperation Dialogue, has been another setback
for the prime minister, analysts say.
Ministers from 17 Asian countries met at the Thai seaside resort of Cha-am
this month to exchange ideas on economic cooperation. Thaksin said the event was
an unprecedented pan-Asian forum and told delegates in his opening speech that
the meeting marked "a beginning of a new chapter of world history".
But pressing issues like tensions over Kashmir were kept off the agenda.
Ministers were told to avoid controversial issues. The meeting attracted little
international interest, with most attention focused on bilateral talks between
China and Japan.
Myanmar boycotted the forum, and critics said many of the 17 participating
nations, such as Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Qatar, were
hardly key international players.
They also questioned whether Asia needed another talking shop when it
already has a plethora of discussion forums. Sceptical articles in Thai
newspapers said the dialogue lacked focus and had no clearly defined purpose.
The negative headlines are a concern for Thaksin at a time when signs are
emerging his honeymoon period may be ending.
His party did surprisingly poorly in Bangkok city election last month,
allowing the main opposition Democrat Party to win control of the city council.
Opinion polls show his support, while still relatively strong, is slipping.
"The jury is still out on the new government's foreign policy but it has
been a very mixed bag," said Panitan Wattanayagorn, an international relations
and security expert at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "We have taken some
steps backward."
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday June 25, 3:12 PM
UNHCR expels asylum seekers from Malaysia office KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency has handed over to police 18 Myanmar citizens camped in the compound of its Malaysian office for more than a week seeking refugee status, a diplomat said on Tuesday. "We asked them to leave after ascertaining they were not refugees but they
refused to leave," Shinji Kubo, protection officer at the U.N.'s High
Commissioner for Refugees office in Kuala Lumpur, told Reuters.
"We had no choice but to seek the intervention of the Malaysian police and
immigration," he added.
A statement by the UNHCR, criticised as cavalier by rights group Amnesty
International when it turned in a previous group of 28 Myanmar citizens to
police last January, said officials had conducted thorough checks on those
inside its compound since June 18.
The would-be asylum seekers are members of Myanmar's ethnic Rohingya
community.
"As of 24 June 2002, it had been concluded that the 18 asylum seekers have
not provided substantial or credible information to establish their individual
refugee status," it said.
"UNHCR urges the Malaysian community to sympathetically and seriously look
into the plight of many Rohingya migrants in Malaysia who have been suffering
tremendous human security problems due to their unclarified citizenship for more
than a decade," it added.
Malaysian police, who would generally hand over foreigners without papers
to the immigration authorities for deportation, were not immediately available
for comment.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya people fled from western Myanmar's
Arakan state into neighbouring Bangladesh in the early 1990s, citing persecution
by the military of the mostly Buddhist country.
Nearly 230,000 of them went home under UNHCR supervision in the mid 1990s
but some 21,000 remain in Bangladesh. There are as many as 3,000 estimated to be
in Malaysia.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Tuesday, 25 June, 2002, 07:44
GMT 08:44 UK
Thailand's war on Burmese drugs By the BBC's Simon Ingram In Bangkok A thriving trade in illegal drugs is once again fuelling tensions between Thailand and Burma. Recent reports spoke of sporadic exchanges of artillery fire between Thai
forces and an ethnic militia said to be responsible for the mass production of
methamphetamines - known as 'ice' in the West.
The remote, forested hills that divide Burma and Thailand have long served
as a conduit for traffickers in heroin and other illegal drugs.
It is an area controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a powerful
militia group that has hitherto enjoyed close ties to Rangoon.
Until recently, Burma's military rulers turned a blind eye to the UWSA's
well-documented trafficking activities.
But the junta has come under intense pressure from Bangkok to take action
against its ally, and halt the flow of drugs into Thailand.
'Crazy drug'
The Thai Government's purpose became clear when prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra took office early last year.
He promptly declared war on a drugs problem many Thais feared was
threatening to overwhelm the nation.
Thailand's biggest worry is a form of methamphetamine known as 'ya ba' -
literally, 'the crazy drug'.
Cheap and easy to produce, ya ba was originally popular among truck drivers
and sex workers.
But in recent years, the drug has taken a powerful hold on Thai youngsters
right across the social spectrum.
Ya ba has become so pervasive that the interior ministry recently ordered
schools to begin random urine tests on pupils to check for signs of drug abuse.
Abundant supply
Recent statistics issued by Thailand's Office of Narcotics Control Board
put the number of amphetamine and heroin addicts at 1.2 million.
Most of the ya ba is allegedly made in small factories scattered across
border areas controlled by the UWSA.
Thai officials say the plants - many of them controlled by drug barons like
Wei Xhieu Kang - currently produce as many as 700 million ya ba pills a year,
most of which will end up on sale in Thailand.
Other ya ba factories operate in Laos and Cambodia.
Spectacular seizures by the Thai authorities have become almost routine,
but have done little to stem the flow of drugs into the country.
In January, Bangkok police discovered a pick-up truck containing two
million ya ba tablets on the city outskirts.
An even bigger seizure was made by the army on the border in April,
following a clash with armed traffickers.
Image problem
The involvement of corrupt Thai officials and military officers has made
the trade even harder to combat.
Until recently, the Burmese authorities either denied that the Wa's
narcotics production posed a serious problem, or else claimed they could do
nothing about it.
But by early this year, uncomfortably aware of the damage the issue was
doing to Rangoon's attempts to rehabilitate its international image, attitudes
among ministers were showing a change.
In January, Burma joined Thailand, China and three other nations bordering
the infamous Golden Triangle drug-producing region in pledging a joint effort to
tackle the narcotics traffickers.
The same month, Foreign Minister Win Aung said that efforts to persuade the
Wa to renounce drug production were bearing fruit.
"The Wa leadership is becoming more and more aware of its responsibility to
stop (drug trafficking)," the minister told the Nation newspaper.
"They have assured us - and we believe them - that they will stop."
Action required
Soon, Thai officials were noting an improved record of cooperation from the
Burmese.
The United Nations Drugs Control Programme (UNDCP) even described Burma as
one of the most committed states in the battle against drugs.
But many remain sceptical as to whether Wa leaders can be trusted to fulfil
their promise of making their territory drug-free by 2005.
By ratcheting up military pressure on the UWSA, Thailand appears to be
sending a firm reminder to Rangoon that promises not backed up by action are not
enough.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Tuesday, 25 June, 2002, 07:54
GMT 08:54 UK
Suu Kyi on road to Mandalay Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is due to arrive in Mandalay
on her first political trip outside the capital Rangoon since her release from
house arrest last month.
She will meet officials from her political party, the National League for
Democracy, which won 1990 elections but was prevented from taking power.
The visit to Mandalay is highly symbolic because it was there that Aung San
Suu Kyi was trying to visit when she was placed under house arrest in September
2000.
The opposition leader left the capital Rangoon by car early on Saturday and
has been stopping off at towns on the way to make speeches to party activists.
She was orginally due to arrive in Mandalay on Tuesday, but was later
considering an overnight stay in the town of Meiktila, said a party source.
Her visit so far has been low-key but unhindered - showing signs that the
military government may be keeping a promise made at her release to allow her
full political freedom.
She was released from house arrest on 6 May following secretive talks with
the government, and all restrictions lifted.
Father's birthplace
Observers say the trip to Mandalay, which is 610 kilometres (380 miles)
north of Rangoon, is the first real test of how committed the military is to
keeping its promise.
An overnight trip outside Rangoon earlier this month was a private visit to
a Buddhist monk.
"Her visit is going smoothly and successfully," NLD secretary U Lwin told
Reuters news agency on Tuesday.
"Last night she stayed at Natmauk town, the birthplace of her father, and
she will proceed to Mandalay."
Aung San Suu Kyi, who turned 57 last week, is the daughter of Burma's
independence hero Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947. She won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring democracy to Burma, and has spent
long periods under house arrest.
A senior military intelligence officer last week said Aung San Suu Kyi had
informed the authorities of her planned trip in advance.
Asked if they had arranged security for her, the officer said: "They don't
like us to follow them."
Many observers hoped that Aung San Suu Kyi's release would signal a thaw in
relations with Burma's ruling military junta. But so far she has been largely
ignored by the regime and has met no senior generals, dampening hopes for
political progress.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Tuesday, 25 June, 2002, 07:46
GMT 08:46 UK
Methamphetamine scourge It is known as "ice", "the devil's drug", "poor man's cocaine", "chalk",
"crank", "fire", "glass", "crystal", "ya ba" or simply "meth".
But it is not the variety of names given to methamphetamine that is causing
huge problems for drug enforcers, but its ease of production, widespread appeal
and devastating effects.
Its use has taken hold in Thailand - becoming more of a problem than
previously rampant Aids or even heroin abuse - as well as the western United
States and is threatening to become a global scourge.
The head of the US Drug Enforcement Agency, Asa Hutchinson, has called it
rural America's "number one drug problem" and has launched a nationwide
awareness campaign and crackdown.
In America, the drug is mostly produced in small "cook-houses" while in
South East Asia's Golden Triangle it is big business that is taking over from
the traditional heroin trade.
But the addictiveness and destructive power of methamphetamine is the same.
Once seen as a harmless pick-me-up, methamphetamine is derived from the
stimulant ephedrine.
Sixty years ago, soldiers were given a good sniff to help them carry on and
Adolf Hitler had daily injections of the drugs. Centuries earlier, it was used
in traditional Chinese medicine and workers through the ages had used it for its
stimulating effects.
It produces temporary hyperactivity, euphoria, a sense of increased energy
as well as tremors.
Users find their heart rate, temperature, breathing and blood pressure
increase.
Violent behaviour is common with the drug also causing anxiety, depression,
drowsiness, paranoia and can kill on first use.
Continued use can cause personality changes, chronic paranoia, increased
blood pressure and brain damage.
In Asia, drugs lords in the far reaches of Burma began making
methamphetamine, known locally as "ya ba", to supplement their heroin trade.
But the drug's amazing popularity in Thailand - where some reports say one
in 12 people have tried it - have led to it supplanting heroin as the main
earner.
And the drug lords are now using their established heroin exports to
despatch methamphetamine - the Burmese form of which is generally produced in
pill form - to new markets in Asia and Europe.
Easy to make
The history of meth in America is quite different, having been a
recreational diversion for motorcycle gangs until relatively recently.
But then Mexican and southern Californian kingpins got involved and the
production and use of methamphetamine has soared - partly because until now it
has been almost tolerated in various parts of society, not seen as being as
destructive as heroin or crack cocaine.
An attraction for producers was the ease with which the drug could be made.
All they needed were ingredients available legally such as pseudoephedrine
which is supplied for cold medicine manufacturers, lithium from batteries,
fertiliser and a few other chemicals.
Actually "cooking" the drug is very dangerous.
And dangers from the drug are not limited to those who may die making or
taking it.
Research has found children who live near production facilities - often in
farm outhouses - are exposed to dangerous fumes and toxic chemicals which leach
into the soil creating unknown problems for the future.
'Phenomenal addiction rate'
The US drug chief Asa Hutchinson described methamphetamine thus: "It is
intense, it is highly addictive, and it is overwhelmingly dangerous.
"The drug has a phenomenal rate of addiction, with some experts saying
users often get hooked after just one use.
"Recent studies have demonstrated that methamphetamine causes more damage
to the brain than heroin, alcohol, or cocaine," he said.
"Methamphetamine takes over the whole person.
"Social workers encounter meth-addicted parents who absolutely forget that
they even have children." --------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar: 50 troops, 100 rebels
killed in fighting to retake army outposts
Mon Jun 24, 2:52 AM ET YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - At least
50 Myanmar soldiers and 100 ethnic Shan rebels were killed in two weeks of
fighting near the Thai border, as Myanmar forces took back four army outposts
captured last month by the guerrillas, the government said Monday.
The outposts were retaken Friday, and the Shan rebels have retreated to
their camps inside Thailand, said Lt. Col. San Pwint, a Defense Ministry
official.
In the government's first admission of casualties since the fighting
started, San Pwint said that the army lost 50 soldiers and about 200 were
wounded in 31 skirmishes between June 6 and June 21.
San Pwint, speaking at a news conference, claimed that 100 rebels of the
Shan United Revolutionary Army, or SURA, were believed to have been killed and
200 injured.
Myanmar troops found 45 rebel bodies and seized several weapons, including
91 hand grenades, and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition, he said.
The rebels did not immediately respond to the claims, which could not be
independently verified because of the fighting.
San Pwint said operations against the rebels are continuing in Kya Htina
and Loi Kham near Tachilek, which is across the border from northern
Thailand.
The fighting has become a major source of tension between Myanmar and
Thailand. Myanmar accuses Thailand of providing sanctuary and armed support to
the rebels, who are fighting for autonomy. Thailand denies the charge.
Myanmar says the Thai military shelled its territory on May 20 to provide
cover for Shan rebels. A day later, the guerrillas captured the four border
outposts in Mong Ton town, 500 kilometers (310 miles) northeast of Myanmar's
capital, Yangon.
Myanmar announced on June 4 that it will launch a military offensive to
retake the outposts, and warned Thailand not to assist Shan rebels or retaliate
if gunfire accidentally strayed across the border.
In justifying the May 20 shelling, Thailand said it merely fired warning
shots across the border after the fighting between the rebels and Myanmar forces
spilled into Thai territory.
San Pwint said Thai troops fired 53 mortar shells on Myanmar troops on
Sunday, and that a protest will be launched through the Thai military attache.
Thai officials could not be reached for comment.
As relations have plummeted, Myanmar has closed major border crossings with
Thailand, banned advertisements of Thai products, expelled Thai workers and
banned visits of official Thai delegations.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Muslims detained after
failing to get U.N. refugee status
Tue Jun 25, 4:08 AM ET By PAULINE JASUDASON, Associated Press Writer KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysian police on Tuesday detained 19 illegal
immigrants who were occupying the grounds of a United Nations office in Kuala
Lumpur, taking them into custody after the world body declined to recognize them
as refugees.
Eighteen of the immigrants who entered the office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees more than a week ago claimed to be Muslims from
Myanmar. They said that they would be killed if they were returned to the
predominantly Buddhist nation, whose military regime is often criticized for
harsh treatment of ethnic minorities. Another asylum seeker whose identity was
unclear slipped inside Monday.
All 19 immigrants, including two children, were arrested Tuesday morning
after the U.N. office completed "fair and thorough" asylum procedures and ruled
that they did not qualify as refugees, said official Shinji Kubo.
"We tried to ask them to leave quietly but they were determined to remain,"
Kubo said. "We asked the police to remove them this morning."
A police spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity that the
detainees were sent to a camp for illegal immigrants about 40 kilometers (25
miles) south of Kuala Lumpur.
They may remain there for some time as camp officials normally only expel
detainees in larger groups, the officer said. It was unclear which country they
would be sent to.
The immigrants claimed to be Rohinga Muslims from western Myanmar, a group
that has long alleged persecution by that nation's military government. The
majority of Myanmar's 51 million people, and the ruling junta, are
Buddhists.
Some of the applicants said that they were activists of the National League
for Democracy, Myanmar's embattled opposition party.
The initial group of asylum seekers was joined Monday by a man who slipped
into the office, said Kubo, who refused to disclose details of his
identity.
Malaysia is predominantly Muslim and there are an estimated 10,000 Rohingas
illegally residing here.
The government is worried about rising crime rates blamed largely on
hundreds of thousands of illegals from Indonesia. It is introducing stricter
laws in August to curb illegal immigration with penalties including
whipping.
Myanmar's military junta allows freedom of worship, but conflict between
Muslims and Buddhists is not uncommon. Last year, witnesses said that four
Muslims were killed in clashes with Buddhists in the northern town of
Toungoo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
BURMA BORDER: Thai villages hit by
mortar fire, bullets
Published on Jun 25, 2002
Fighting between Shan rebels and combined forces of Burmese government
troops and their Wa and Lahu allies spilled over into northern Thailand
yesterday, displacing more than 100 villagers as mortar and bullets rained down
on their homes.
More than 100 villagers were evacuated from their villages in Ban Therd
Thai subdistrict as scores of stray Burmese shells landed on their homes over
the past two days of fighting, which has shifted to the evenings.
The Thai Army on the border retaliated with smoke signals and then with
live rounds, bringing the Burmese attacks to a halt.
Thai television stations said Rangoon had responded to the Thai Army's
actions by summoning Thai Ambassador Oum Mauolanon to receive a protest letter
over the return of live fire. Neither the Foreign Ministry nor the ambassador
himself could be contacted to confirm the reports.
In the latest complaint in the ongoing row between Thailand and Burma,
Rangoon yesterday accused the Thai Army of giving sanctuary to the Shan State
Army (SSA).
"One small battle recently created on the [Burmese]-Thai border has now
ceased, but for how long God alone knows," the junta said in a statement. "Armed
terrorist groups being harboured, trained and given breeding grounds in Thailand
are now in the process of recuperating and regrouping."
PM's Office Minister General Thamarak Issaragura na Ayudhya dismissed
allegations that the Thai Army was supporting the Shan rebels. He said the
retaliation was in line with international practice.
He added that Thailand would permit the Shan rebels to enter Thailand,
saying that to do otherwise would violate international humanitarian
norms.
Thamarak added that Thailand's bilateral ties with the Burmese did not
necessarily mean the Kingdom was also an enemy of the Shan.
At a news conference in Rangoon the junta said some 50 of its soldiers had
been killed and 200 wounded in battles against the SSA since late last month.
The SSA claimed to have killed at least 800 Burmese soldiers.
Rangoon meanwhile has turned a cold shoulder to Bangkok's request for
talks. Burma's state-run press has attacked the Thai government and the Kingdom
for the past four weeks since the latest flare-ups broke out.
The junta said it would not enter into any dialogue with Bangkok until it
had taken back all bases lost to the SSA since the beginning of last month's
fighting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Tuesday 25 June 2002
Army chief warns against any
incursion
Junta troops cross into Thai territory
Wassana Nanuam Subin Khuenkaew
No foreign forces will be allowed to operate from Thai soil, the army chief
declared yesterday amid reports Burmese troops had crossed into Thailand to
attack Shan rebels from the rear.
It was the army's firm policy to push all intruders out of Thai territory,
said Gen Surayud Chulanont, following reports that a combined Burmese-Wa force
had crossed the border at Ban Poona, in Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district. The
area is about one kilometre northeast of Kaw Muang, a Shan position now under
heavy Burmese attack.
Burmese troops were trying hard to recapture their former outpost at Kaw
Muang, which fell to Shan State Army rebels last month. A rear attack from the
Thai side of the border would put the Shan defenders in grave danger.
Gen Surayud yesterday said no one should misinterpret the army's stance as
siding with the SSA. ``This is a sovereignty issue and no one will be allowed to
use Thailand as a base to attack their enemies ,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Burma's intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt was reported to
have turned up in Tachilek, opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai town, yesterday to
seek first-hand information on latest developments in the fight for Kaw
Muang.
``This is quite unusual. They [the Burmese] will try everything to seize
the SSA position,'' said an officer of the Pha Muang Task Force guarding the
Thai border in the upper North.
One intelligence officer said Thai troops had to fire several shots to warn
the Burmese intruders at Ban Poona to pull back from Thai territory
yesterday.
Residents of Ban Poona and other nearby villages of Ban Phayakar, Ban Mae
Moh, Ban Lao Wangmai and Ban Lieu Ta-moei were evacuated yesterday to a school
at Ban Thoed Thai, about six kilometres from the border.
One border officer said he believed the ongoing Burmese offensive would
intensify over the next few days.
Judging from the massive build-up of troops and military machinery, the
Burmese appeared determined to capture all SSA positions in the area, said
another officer from the Pha Muang Task Force.
Shan troops were defending three bases in the area, all located opposite
Mae Fa Luang. Of the three, Kaw Wan, about four kilometres west of Kaw Muang, is
considered the strongest.
Three Thai soldiers were wounded on Sunday when mortar rounds fired from
Burma landed near their outpost near Ban Poona.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Tuesday 25 June 2002
Rangoon racism hides
inaction
No one can know for now exactly what is going on in Burma. The uproar
created by the government defies rational analysis. The generals have issued
orders to whip up the country into an artificial frenzy over a minor and largely
bogus border incident. It is still unclear how far they intend to take their
anti-Thailand campaign. What is most unsettling is that the military dictators
are using their campaign of racist propaganda to avoid undertakings to their
country and, more importantly, to their neighbours and the world.
The patience of even Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Defence Minister
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh has been sorely tested in the past week. The most senior
leaders of the military junta not only snubbed their ``friends'' in Thailand but
slapped them. Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the intelligence chief said to be close to Gen
Chavalit, ignored even common courtesy when he refused to answer an invitation
to attend the first anniversary party of a Thai-Burma friendship group.
The personal snub to Mr Thaksin was far greater. Both the Burmese
leadership and the foreign minister refused to acknowledge or attend the Asia
Cooperation Dialogue held in Cha-am last week. That was not only an attempt to
organise an Asian economic brainstorming session. It was Mr Thaksin's first
personal initiative to put his government on the world map of foreign policy. Mr
Thaksin and his foreign minister, Surakiart Sathirathai, claimed Burma would
attend. No one believed them.
In the midst of the ravings against ``Yodaya'', and personal contempt of
Thai leaders, two important demands have been allowed to slip by Burma. The
generals have refused to talk with the democracy groups led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
This follows undertakings made to the United Nations, including the
secretary-general. The world community has properly made it clear it will be
more harsh with Burma if this refusal to negotiate continues.
More disturbing to Thailand and other neighbours must be the decision of
the junta to continue to acquiesce to drug trafficking. This _ not border
disputes _ is the major security threat to the region. Burma is clearly using
the minor Chiang Rai border flare-ups as an excuse to stop acting against drug
gangs. It has even slapped aside all offers of outside help for its crop
substitution programme.
It is disturbing that the Thai government now is left with no obvious Burma
policy. The collapse of the ``four-eyed'', personal diplomacy promoted by Mr
Thaksin and Gen Chavalit leaves the government and the country directionless.
When Mr Thaksin took over 18 months ago, he pursued the drug campaign vigorously
and intelligently. He brooked no rubbish from Rangoon, while offering full
cooperation against drug traffickers and help for drug programmes in northern
Burma.
Mr Thaksin's best option is to renew that opening policy. He must stop
seeming powerless against the raging bigotry pouring out of Rangoon. Certainly
Thailand must stand ready to renew correct relations with Burma at any time the
generals recommence a more cordial dialogue. But the country must also avoid
appearing weak at a time Burma is trying to intimidate. This is the time to
support the soldiers in the field, not demoralise them.
It now seems the Burmese generals are determined to cease cooperation with
their neighbours and the rest of the world. One hopes the United Nations,
regional leaders and influential world figures will try to dissuade them. There
is no reason why Thais should have to put up with daily racist taunts from the
slavish Burmese media. There is no reason the world should have to put up with
the timeless continuation of a brutal military regime that helps to destabilise
and corrupt its neighbours.
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