|
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - JULY 30 - 31,
2002.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar's ethnic minorities under the spotlight as UN envoy
visits
AFP - Asia-Pacific's high-level security talks
opens
Reuters - Asia-Pacific forum tells Pakistan to stop
terror
Reuters - Malaysia's illegal workers head for exit
points
AP - Myanmar's
military junta rejects peace talks with Shan rebels
AP - Myanmar Rejects
Rape Allegations
AP - Myanmar vows to
punish soldier rapists; no Suu Kyi meeting imminent
AP - Media groups
demand release of ailing Myanmar journalist
AP - ASEAN Regional Forum urges Myanmar to
continue reforms, democratization
Kyodo News - Myanmar groups urge Kawaguchi
to push for political dialogue
Kyodo News - Japan to give $5.1 mil.
for Myanmar mother, child care
Bkk Post - Normal relations `soon'
Bkk Post - Dr Cynthia Maung, won
this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award
Bkk Post - Drug search finds 47
alien immigrants
Xinhuanet - Thai, Myanmar FMs
meet on border tensions
------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday July 31, 9:59 AM
Myanmar's ethnic minorities under
the spotlight as UN envoy visits
(AFP) - As UN envoy Razali Ismail prepares to make another visit to Myanmar, his first since Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest in May, ethnic minority groups are hoping the diplomat will this time secure a breakthrough for their cause. Myanmar's minorities are not engaged in the national reconciliation talks between democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) which began in October 2000. Razali is credited with brokering the secret talks, which opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says have moved beyond an initial "confidence-building" phase and are ready to broach the issue of democratic reform. But the minorities, who make up one third of the military-run country's population of 50 million, want their voices heard too. Pro-democracy parties representing all seven major ethnic groups have now assembled an informal coalition known as the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA). "Our objective in forming this alliance is to prepare for the eventual tripartite talks," says Khun Tun Oo, spokesman for the alliance and chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD). "Considering the social, economic and political woes Myanmar is presently facing, not to mention the still-to-be-solved ethnic minority issue, the sooner tripartite talks start, the better." All the parties except the SNLD were deregistered after the 1990 elections, which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a sweeping victory never recognised by the junta. The UNA is scheduled to meet with Razali on August 4, when it will ask him to help the parties win reinstatement, Khun Tun Oo says. "These parties must on their part try their best to get reinstated if they are to take advantage of the military's promise to give all political parties more freedom of movement in the future." Aung San Suu Kyi has acknowledged the need for minorities to be involved in drafting a future for the impoverished country. "The important thing is to bring them to the negotiating table for an amicable solution," she said several weeks after her release at an event attended by Shan, Mon, Chin, and Arakanese leaders. When the NLD leader visited Mon state last week, her first trip to a minority region since ending 19 months under detention, thousands turned up to support her wherever she appeared, attesting to her broad appeal. "So far we have complete confidence and trust in Aung San Suu Kyi herself and I hope she does not get side-tracked in this respect by others around her," Khun T Oo says. International rights groups are also calling on the SPDC and the democratic opposition to broaden their dialogue to include at minimum the concerns of ethnic minorities. In a July report, Human Rights Watch also urged Razali to take up the plight of the country's Muslim community during his visit, and detailed a spate of attacks on the community and the steady erosion of religious freedom. Problems facing other minorities were highlighted in two other reports by rights groups in recent weeks, including one which alleged the military systematically used rape as a weapon of war in southeastern Shan state. Amnesty International also accused Myanmar's military of carrying out a reign of terror in minority regions which has forced many to flee their homes for neighbouring Thailand. The regime has vehemently denied the allegations, and in a tartly worded statement this week said a smear campaign was being mounted ahead of Razali's eighth visit to Myanmar. "There has been a series of allegations thrown at the government of Myanmar recently for a) racial discrimination b) religious intolerance c) forced labour, torture, rape etc, just in time before Mr. Razali's visit to Myanmar," it said. "Let us wait and see what these elements will come up with next ... I believe while cooking allegations in a hurry they forgot to mention in their smear campaign list 'Myanmar's Secret Production of Weapons of Mass Destruction'." Ethnic insurgencies have plagued border areas since Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948. By the end of the 1990s, the junta had signed cease-fire accords with 17 ethnic groups, but some rebel armies continue to fight Yangon's rule. The UNA believes it can bring even these disparate groups into the fold for talks. "We want to talk to the cease-fire groups as well as with the armed groups currently engaged in conflict with the government ... to seek common ground, a common policy and approach to the tripartite talks," Khun Tun Oo says. -------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday July 31, 11:29 AM
Asia-Pacific's high-level security
talks opens
(AFP) - Asia Pacific's foremost security forum opened its annual talks here with focus on the threat of terrorism, the situation in the Korean peninsula and tension in the India-Pakistan border. US Secretary of State Colin Powell is leading a high-powered cast at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which includes Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and their counterparts from North and South Korea, Japan, India and the European Union. Powell met North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun on Wednesday on the sidelines of the conference, the highest-level discussion between the two sides since former US president Bill Clinton left office. Powell is expected to deliver a message at the meeting that no country is exempt from the threat of terrorism following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States. "Discussions may focus on the situation in the Korean peninsula," ASEAN spokesman M.C. Abad told AFP. "ASEAN hopes to see a resumption of inter-Korean talks," he said. Abad said the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) interest in the Korean peninsula situation "is a recognition of security interdependence in East Asia." ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The ARF takes in ASEAN's major dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea, and nine other countries including the United States, North Korea and Russia, as well as the European Union. The ARF on Wednesday outlined a blueprint designed to choke off funding for terrorists. A raft of measures, including banking controls and a freeze on assets, was approved by delegates at a working dinner Tuesday. Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said if anyone raised the problem along the India-Pakistan border, where the two countries have amassed about one million troops, "we will discuss it." The ARF meeting is expected to emphasise at the end of the talks that "stable and constructive relations between major powers were key to regional and global peace and security," according to a draft communique. In addition to agreements put in place following the September 11 attacks in the United States, "further collaboration was needed" in the fight against terrorism, a copy of the document received by AFP said. It cited areas of legal assistance, capacity building, financial measures and law enforcement cooperation to "enhance participants' capability to counter terrorism." -------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday July 31, 6:33 PM
Asia-Pacific forum tells Pakistan to
stop terror
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei, July 31 (Reuters) - Asian nations and the European Union issued a statement on Wednesday calling for Pakistan to stop all terrorist activity in a bid to ease tensions with nuclear rival India. Indian and Pakistan came close to war in May over the disputed territory of Kashmir and attacks on Indian soil by what New Delhi says are Pakistan-based Islamic militants. The two nations have massed a million troops along their borders and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited New Delhi and Islamabad on a peace mission last week. Powell is in Brunei attending Asia's biggest security forum, the ASEAN Regional Forum, which groups 22 Asian nations and the European Union. Indian's new Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha was also attending the forum hosted by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Pakistan is not a member of the forum. Foreign ministers at the gathering noted tensions between the two countries had eased since May after intense international pressure. "The ministers further called for an immediate end to all terrorist activities in the region as an essential step to de-escalate the situation," said a statement delivered by Brunei's Foreign Minister Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, who chaired the forum. "While welcoming its commitment to counter terrorism, ministers earnestly looked to Pakistan to take urgent further steps to implement it." "This would constitute an important step towards resumption of dialogue," the statement said. India says it will only resume dialogue with Pakistan once President Pervez Musharraf fulfils commitments to end all cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and dismantles the infrastructure of militants, like training camps. Pakistan was not invited to the forum, although it has asked to join. The statement said its application would be reviewed. -------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday July 31, 7:32 PM
Malaysia's illegal workers head for
exit points
By Patrick Chalmers
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Thousands of illegal immigrants headed for Malaysia's ports on Wednesday to meet a midnight deadline for them to leave the country or risk a caning. Under controversial laws to take effect on August 1, illegal immigrants or those convicted of harbouring them face a mandatory six months in jail and up to six strokes of the cane. Employers have criticised the legislation, saying it will damage the country's export-driven economy, which relies on foreign workers doing jobs that many Malaysians don't want to do. Rights groups say the net cast by authorities may catch genuine asylum seekers who could face persecution if sent home. Police routinely conduct swoops, deporting thousands at a time, but have intensified efforts after a string of violent incidents, including one when illegal Indonesian immigrants torched their detention quarters in the southern state of Johor. Allan Surapaty, 32, an Indonesian waiting among a thousand or so compatriots for a boat out of the southern city of Johor Baru, seemed calm but resigned about the deadline. The native of East Java said he planned to use the amnesty to leave for good, quitting Malaysia after 14 years spent in construction and other jobs. "I cannot stand the pressure from the authorities anymore. That's why I've decided to leave in this amnesty," he said, adding police hassles at road blocks had convinced him to go. "I don't think I'll come back to Malaysia, I'll try Bali instead," he told Reuters Television before heading to find a ferry to the Indonesian island of Batam, an hour away by boat. Officials said this week that only about half of an estimated 600,000 illegals had left the country ahead of the new laws.
BUSINESS HEADACHE Immigration Department spokesman Saib Jalani told Reuters that those with travel tickets and passports who failed to leave Malaysia need not fear the cane, as authorities would issue passes until the end of next month covering them until departure. "We will give special passes until the end of August," he said, adding the documents were available at immigration offices. Employers in this relatively wealthy Southeast Asian country rely on a pool of foreign labour estimated at two million people for jobs ranging from domestic help to plantation, construction and factory work. A government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the policy may cause headaches for Malaysian businesses. "Of course this will create problem if skilled workers are leaving the country. The furniture industry will be affected, the plantation sector will be affected," he said. "We want to give opportunities for local people but we know that locals don't want to do these kinds of job," he added. Hundreds of asylum seekers, including Myanmar citizens and Acehnese from Indonesia, gathered outside the U.N. refugee agency offices this week seeking papers to prevent their deportation. Many others are appealing for a longer grace period for undocumented workers. The government has since March allowed illegals to return home without being prosecuted, provided they had passports and flight or ferry tickets. In East Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island, Filipinos crowded ferries and cargo vessels in the port of Sandakan, a regional trading centre. Police and army officers have destroyed squatter villages dotted around the Sabah coast, arresting and deporting thousands of people without valid documents. -------------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar's military junta
rejects peace talks with Shan rebels
Tue Jul 30, 8:07 AM ET
YANGON, (AP) - Myanmar - Myanmar's military government on Tuesday ruled out peace talks with an ethnic rebel group fighting for autonomy, and said it will accept nothing but unconditional surrender.
The Shan State Army, also known as the Shan United Revolutionary Army, does "not represent any ethnic group and we will not hold peace talks with them," said Maj. Gen. Kyaw Win, deputy army intelligence chief. "SURA group is a terrorist group and they will have to surrender unconditionally," Kyaw Win told a news conference. Col. San Pwint, in charge of ethnic affairs in the Defense Ministry who addressed the same news conference, claimed that since 1996, the Shan State Army had killed 220 people and injured 140 in 25 major attacks. Shan representatives were not immediately available for comment. The Myanmar government was embarrassed by recent allegations that its troops raped hundreds of Shan women. The United States has expressed deep concern at the allegations, made by two Shan groups based in neighboring Thailand. The allegations "are fabrications by the Shan rebels in collusion with Thai media to smear Myanmar's image," San Pwint said. The Shan State Army is seeking autonomy for the ethnic Shan minority in the northeastern Shan state of Myanmar bordering Thailand. Myanmar accuses Thailand of supporting the Shan State Army and another rebel group, the Karen National Union, a charge Thailand denies. The Karen National Union is fighting for autonomy for the ethnic Karen minority in eastern Myanmar bordering Thailand. They are among the few rebel armies that refused to join a peace agreement under which 17 other ethnic guerrilla groups gave up fighting in exchange for limited autonomy. The guerrilla leaders were allowed to keep their arms. Unconfirmed reports in the Thai media recently said that the Shan State Army may be willing to hold peace talks with the Myanmar junta. -------------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar Rejects Rape
Allegations
Tue Jul 30, 9:50 AM ET
By PATRICK McDOWELL, Associated Press Writer
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) - Myanmar rejected allegations that its soldiers used rape as a war tactic against ethnic rebels, but vowed Tuesday to punish any troops found to have committed the crime. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Win Aung said that the military government has no plans to start talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She was freed from house arrest in May but has had no meeting with the ruling generals on the country's future. Win Aung told The Associated Press ahead of the Asia-Pacific's largest security forum that he would meet Secretary of State Colin Powell if invited, but that he has not requested talks. Western nations at the ASEAN Regional Forum are expected to raise the claims that hundreds of women were raped ? in the vast majority of cases by officers in front of their troops ? in areas of Myanmar's Shan state that are contested by the government and ethnic rebels. The claims, made in human rights reports, say that in some cases, pregnant women were stabbed with bayonets and men were burned to death as they watched their daughters being raped. Win Aung disputed the allegations, claiming that the reports came from sources that "try to tarnish our image whenever possible" and that the army was highly disciplined. Win Aung suggested that the reports would be investigated, but gave no details and did not say when. "Action will be taken against those who are found to have committed such crimes," Win Aung said. "This is not policy. We would never dream of that. We would try to find the facts, if there are factual truths to find." Win Aung said that talks between the government and Suu Kyi are not on the agenda, despite her criticism that hopes of reconciliation will collapse without face-to-face talks soon. The government is "laying the groundwork" and "analyzing the situation" for talks, Win Aung said, but there is no sign when. "I'm not an astronomer," Win Aung said. "I cannot say." The government has freed hundreds of political prisoners over the past year, but more than 1,000 are estimated to remain in the country's jails. Win Aung said that all of them would not be freed at once, but that some would be released "in batches" pending legal review. Win Aung and his Thai counterpart, Surakiart Sathirathai, met and reported making headway in discussing recent border clashes between their armies and insurgent groups that had chilled Thai-Myanmar relations. "We have to find a way to resolve any problems that will arise, and those problems won't affect our overall relationship," Surakiart said. "We'll meet again in the future to improve our bilateral relations." Win Aung said that each side had offered to talk and not resort to confrontation. "We're confident we can move on," Win Aung said. The annual ASEAN Regional Forum brings together the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with 13 other countries with security interests in the Asia-Pacific, including the United States, European Union, China, India, Japan, Russia, both Koreas, Australia and New Zealand. The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962. Suu Kyi rose to prominence during street protests that were bloodily crushed in 1988. Her party overwhelmingly won elections that the army allowed in 1990, but was never allowed to take power. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She spent most of the past 14 years under house arrest or other restrictions. She has been allowed an unprecedented freedom to move around the country since her latest release in May. -------------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar vows to punish
soldier rapists; no Suu Kyi meeting imminent
Tue Jul 30,10:11 AM ET
By PATRICK McDOWELL, Associated Press
Writer
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) - Myanmar rejected allegations that its soldiers used rape as a war tactic against ethnic rebels, but promised an investigation Tuesday and vowed to punish any troops found to have committed the crime. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Win Aung said that the military government has no plans to start talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She was freed from house arrest in May but has had no meeting with the ruling generals on the country's future. Win Aung told The Associated Press ahead of the Asia-Pacific's largest security forum that he would meet U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell if invited, but that he has not requested talks. Western nations at the ASEAN Regional Forum are expected to raise the claims that hundreds of women were raped ? in the vast majority of cases by officers in front of their troops ? in areas of Myanmar's Shan state that are contested by the government and ethnic rebels. The claims, made in human rights reports, say that in some cases, pregnant women were stabbed with bayonets and men were burned to death as they watched their daughters being raped. Win Aung disputed the allegations, claiming that the reports came from sources that "try to tarnish our image whenever possible" and that the army was highly disciplined. "Action will be taken against those who are found to have committed such crimes," Win Aung said. "This is not policy. We would never dream of that. We would try to find the facts, if there are factual truths to find." A U.S. public relations company for the government said in a statement that the "notion of rape as a systematic national policy is abhorrent to the government of Myanmar which has never ordered, supported or condoned rape." The DCI Group quoted the government spokesman, Col. Hla Min, as saying an investigation was being conducted. He branded the allegations as "completely false and designed to misinform the public." Win Aung said that talks between the government and Suu Kyi are not on the immediate agenda, despite her criticism that hopes of reconciliation will collapse without face-to-face talks soon. The government is "laying the groundwork" and "analyzing the situation" for talks, Win Aung said, but there is no sign when. "I'm not an astronomer," Win Aung said. "I cannot say." The government has freed hundreds of political prisoners over the past year, but more than 1,000 are estimated to remain in the country's jails. Win Aung said that all of them would not be freed at once, but that some would be released "in batches" pending legal review. Win Aung and his Thai counterpart, Surakiart Sathirathai, met and reported making headway in discussing recent border clashes between their armies and insurgent groups that had chilled Thai-Myanmar relations. They promised to meet again in "We'll meet again in the future to improve our bilateral relations," Surakiart said. The annual meeting brings together the Association of Southeast Asian Nations with 13 other countries with security interests in the Asia-Pacific, including the United States, European Union, China, India, Japan, Russia, both Koreas, Australia and New Zealand. The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962. Suu Kyi rose to prominence during street protests that were bloodily crushed in 1988. Her party overwhelmingly won elections that the army allowed in 1990, but was never allowed to take power. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She spent most of the past 14 years under house arrest or other restrictions. She has been allowed an unprecedented freedom to move around the country since her latest release in May. -------------------------------------------------------------------
Media groups demand release
of ailing Myanmar journalist
Wed Jul 31, 7:03 AM ET
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Two international media organizations on Wednesday urged Myanmar's military junta to free an ailing 72-year-old journalist whose health has reportedly worsened in jail, where he has languished for the last 13 years. In a letter to the Myanmar government, the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum said they are "gravely concerned at the sharply deteriorating health" of Win Tin. A recipient of the WEF 2001 Golden Pen of Freedom Award, Win Tin is a founder of the National League for Democracy party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. He was arrested on July 4, 1989, tried in a military court and sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party of Myanmar. He was sentenced to an additional five years for illegally possessing writing materials in jail. He is being held at Yangon's Insein Prison. "We believe that his continued detention remains a barrier to peace in Myanmar and of great alarm to the international community," said the letter to the Myanmar government. Win Tin, former editor of the daily Hanthawati newspaper, has had two heart attacks and a hernia operation during his incarceration and suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and spinal inflammation, according to the two media groups. They say his condition reportedly worsened in early July. The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum represent 18,000 newspapers in 100 countries. The military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, keeps tight control on the media and stamps out dissent. -------------------------------------------------------------------
ASEAN Regional Forum urges
Myanmar to continue reforms, democratization
Wed Jul 31, 7:57 AM ET
By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP)- Leading diplomats from Europe, Asia and the United States praised Myanmar's efforts at reform and dialogue with opposition leaders and urged the Southeast Asian country Wednesday to continue moving toward democracy. Foreign ministers at the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's biggest security conference, welcomed improvements in Myanmar's "national reconciliation process, unity and economic progress." "The ministers expressed the hope that the government of Myanmar would take steps in further consolidating such progress," a joint statement issued after a closed-door session said. The forum is composed of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 10 members and 23 mostly Western countries with security interests in the region, including the United States, the European Union and China. Myanmar has been ostracized by much of the world since a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988, followed by its refusal to honor the 1990 election victory of the opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. European countries, among Myanmar's harshest critics, suspended ministerial talks with ASEAN for three years after the trading bloc admitted the military-run country, also known as Burma, as a member. Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, said he planned to relay the message of progress and challenge to Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung on the sidelines of the forum, Asia's biggest security conference. "Things have moved in a very positive manner lately," Solana said. He said he hopes Myanmar will "continue the dialogue, continue the democratization, the reforms." Wing Aung said no meeting had been arranged between him and Solana or other Western leaders attending the forum. But he earlier had expressed readiness to defend Myanmar if Western countries raised the issue of human rights. The London-based human rights group Amnesty International noted several human rights improvements in Myanmar since the end of 2000 but said many impoverished villagers in its eastern regions still fear executions, torture, forced labor and land confiscation. More than 300 political prisoners have been released ? including Suu Kyi, freed from house arrest in May. Several international delegations have been permitted to visit the country, and the U.N. International Labor Organization was permitted to set up an office in Yangon, the capital. Early this month, the U.S. State Department said it was appalled by reports that Myanmar's soldiers systematically rape ethnic Shan women and girls while fighting rebels near the Thai border. The United States planned to raise the issue with Myanmar, which has denied the accusation in a letter to American officials. The claims, made in human rights reports, say that in some cases pregnant women were stabbed with bayonets and men were burned to death as they watched their daughters being raped. Win Aung disputed the allegations Tuesday, claiming the reports came from sources that "try to tarnish our image whenever possible" and that the army was highly disciplined. "Action will be taken against those who are found to have committed such crimes," Win Aung said. "This is not policy. We would never dream of that." -------------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar groups urge Kawaguchi
to push for political dialogue
TOKYO, July 31 Kyodo - People from Myanmar living in Japan on
Wednesday urged Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi to ask the Myanmar government
to immediately release all political prisoners and promote democracy when she
visits the country from Saturday to Monday.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan to give $5.1 mil. for Myanmar
mother, child care
YANGON, July 31 Kyodo - Notes were exchanged in Yangon on
Wednesday for a Japanese government grant of $5.1 million for improvement of
maternal and child health services in Myanmar. (15 :04)
------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Wednesday
31 July 2002
Normal relations `soon' Thailand and Burma will announce in good time steps to normalise border relations, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said yesterday. The countries also ``have the will not to make confrontation to each other any more,'' said Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung. Their remarks came after the pair met for more than an hour behind closed doors on the sidelines of an Asean conference in Brunei. They said they would meet again soon. Mr Surakiart said that it was within their power to announce a border reopening although the military or local authorities might have to work out details later. The two sides had secured a better understanding of bilateral problems since the meeting, Mr Surakiart said. ``There are things we are discussing, how to settle these and other problems,'' Mr Win Aung said. Asked if the talks covered the problem of Shan refugees thought to be wanted by Rangoon, the Burmese foreign minister was evasive, saying ``we talked on many, many subjects of mutual concern.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Wednesday 31
July 2002
MAGSAYSAY AWARD WINNER
Karen doctor cares for refugees Supamart Kasem Dr Cynthia Maung, winner of this year's Ramon Magsaysay
Award in community leadership, says she will use the US$50,000 prize money to
help displaced people along the Thai-Burmese border.
Dr Cynthia, 43, who won the award for founding a clinic in Tak to treat refugees, said she did not consider the money as her personal reward, but would use it to extend help for the underprivileged along the border. She would continue serving needy people in border areas and would be willing to return to work in Burma once political problems in that country are cleared. ``I have received this honour because of support from all co-workers, especially Thailand, for allowing me to set up the clinic and work here. Without this hospitality, we could never have reached this point. ``Even if there is unity and democracy in Burma, I still would not wish to be a politician. My only hope is to work in a stable environment with acceptance from all parties. If I have a chance to return to Burma, I will work to help ill people there,'' Dr Cynthia said. The number of patients at Mae Tao Clinic, founded in 1989, had increased by 38% every year during 1996-1999. Malaria was common. In the past few years, the number of patients at the clinic had risen to between 27,000-28,000, with more cases of tuberculosis, Aids, drug addiction and mental disease. The clinic has also offered health care training for minority groups along the border, so they could help those living in border areas. International organisations and NGOs have given the clinic support in the form of doctors, volunteers, subsidies, medicine and medical kits, while Thai health agencies have provided it with technical assistance and patient transfers. Currently, Mae Tao Clinic is taking care of some 200 displaced orphans from Burma, and giving health care support to more than 700 displaced Burmese children in 16 child care centres in Tak's border districts. Dr Cynthia is a Karen. She was born in Moulmein on Dec 6, 1959 and graduated from Rangoon University's medical faculty in 1985. She opened a clinic in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division and moved to Eindu, Pa-an district in Karen state. The political situation in Burma in 1988 forced her to flee to Thailand along with other wanted activists. She is married and has two children _ a 10-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Wednesday 31
July 2002
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Drug search finds 47 alien immigrants A routine drug search at a checkpoint yesterday uncovered 47 illegal Burmese workers hiding in a truck. Around dawn, police in Khanu Woralaksaburi district stopped a 10-wheel truck carrying a load of broken glass on a sheet of steel. Hiding under the sheet were 25 men and 22 women aged 20-30 years. Driver Suthee Namkhanjan, 30, told police the owner of a scrap shop in Mae Sot district of Tak paid him 3,000 baht to ferry the workers to Ang Thong province. The illegal workers are expected to be deported within a few days. Police said human trafficking gangs were becoming more cunning in their attempts to smuggle in illegal Burmese workers. Gangs have been known to hide illegal workers under piles of garlic, flowers and other kinds of vegetables loaded on various kinds of vehicles. Early this year, 13 bodies of illegal Burmese workers who died of suffocation were discovered dumped in a ditch in Prachin Buri province. The workers had illegally entered the the country in a pick-up truck by hiding under a steel sheet covered with bundles of roses. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Thai, Myanmar FMs meet on border tensions
Xinhuanet 2002-07-30 20:17:11 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, July 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai and his Myanmar counterpart U Win Aung held talks on Tuesday to seek ways to defuse months-old tensions on the Thai-Myanmar borders. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings, which are underway in the capital of
Brunei.
At a joint briefing, both Sathirathai and U Win Aung played down the border
tensions, saying the overall trend of bilateral relations are good.
The two sides agreed to meet again in the near future to ease border
tensions, which erupted two months ago as their militaries accused each other of
firing gunshots across the border.
The dispute led to Myanmar's closure of all border crossings with Thailand,
incurring huge economic losses on both sides. Last month, U Win Aung even
refused to attend the Asian Cooperation Dialogue meeting host by Thailand.
So far, there have been no signs of easing of the tensions.
At a two-day annual meeting ending here Tuesday, ASEAN foreign ministers
failed to touch upon the dispute between the two ASEAN members.
At a press conference after the meeting, Brunei Foreign Minister Mohmed
Bolkiah only expressed the hope that Thailand and Myanmar would settle the row
through dialogues.
------------------------------------------------------------------- |