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BURMA RELATED NEWS - September
04, 2002.
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HEADLINES
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AP - ILO appoints liaison officer in Myanmar
AFP - Myanmar postpones key
ministerial meeting with Thailand
AFP - ASEAN fails to reach
consensus on tobacco advertising ban
Tehran Times - Iran, Myanmar
Keen to Expand Mutual Ties
Xinhuanet - Myanmar gov't
progresses in national reconciliation: official
Bkk Post - Flash flood kills
16 refugees
Bkk Post - Talks on ice as
Win Aung calls off trip
Bkk Post - Ban on
buying bamboo
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ILO appoints liaison
officer in Myanmar
Wed Sep 4, 7:37 AM ET
GENEVA (AP) - The International
Labor Organization said Wednesday it had appointed the director of its
industrial relations department as its permanent liaison officer in Myanmar.
Hong-Trang Perret-Nguyen, a Vietnamese citizen, will take up her position in
October, the ILO said.
Myanmar agreed for the first time in March to allow an ILO official to be
posted in the country.
"The liaison officer's role covers all activities relevant to ensuring the
prompt and effective elimination of forced labor in the country, and she should
be extended all facilities and support to that effect," the ILO said in a
statement.
Myanmar has been under pressure from the ILO since November 2000 when the
agency urged its 175 member governments to impose sanctions on Myanmar and
review their dealings with the country to ensure they are not abetting forced
labor.
The ILO and other international observers have long accused the military of
using unpaid labor on public works and making civilians serve as army porters.
Perret-Nguyen takes over from the interim liaison officer, Leon de
Riedmatten, who is also representative of the Geneva-based Center for
Humanitarian Dialogue in Myanmar.
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Myanmar postpones key ministerial meeting with
Thailand
BANGKOK, Sept 4 (AFP) - Myanmar has postponed a key ministerial
meeting with Thailand that was intended to defuse a months-long border crisis,
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Wednesday.
Myanmar officials
confirmed that Foreign Minister Win Aung, who was due to travel to Thailand on
Friday for talks with his counterpart Surakiart Sathirathai, would instead
attend international meetings abroad.
"I have been informed by Foreign
Minister Surakiart that Win Aung has asked for a postponement of the September 6
meeting as he will be engaged in visiting countries near South Africa," he told
reporters.
"Thus he requested the meeting be postponed for two to three
weeks."
Win Aung is attending the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, and
sources in Myanmar's military junta told AFP he would be heading to the UN
General Assembly in New York prior to returning home.
There was some
confusion regarding Win Aung's schedule, with unnamed sources telling the Thai
press that the minister would embark on missions to the Middle East and Europe
before going to the UN session.
Thaksin shrugged off the Myanmar
postponement and reiterated Thailand's position in its troubled relations with
its historic adversary.
"It's up to Myanmar," he said of the talks. "We
have our own standpoint, so each party does what they think is correct. It was
Myanmar's issue, so we are not distressed at all."
On Tuesday Myanmar
gave an upbeat review of bilateral ties, with deputy military intelligence chief
Major General Kyaw Win saying the relationship was on the mend after a May
border clash sparked a serious diplomatic row.
Relations between the
neighbours spiralled to a low on May 20 when fighting erupted between the
Myanmar junta and ethnic Shan rebels, which Yangon accused Thailand of
assisting.
The two countries exchanged official protest notes, and
Myanmar barred official visits and sealed all the border checkpoints, crippling
bilateral trade.
But after returning from a fence-mending trip to Yangon
last month Surakiart said relations had "normalized" and that Win Aung had
agreed to hold talks in Thailand in early September.
Thaksin said
Thailand would not attempt to pressure Myanmar to open the border during the
foreign ministers' meeting.
"Negotiation with Myanmar is a separate
issue from opening the border," Thaksin said. "If they want to re-open it they
can reopen it. If they don't, they don't."
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ASEAN fails to reach consensus on tobacco
advertising ban
BANGKOK, Sept 4 (AFP) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
failed Wednesday to reach consensus on a tobacco advertising ban, an alliance of
health-related groups said, slamming the outcome as a step backwards.
Representatives of the 10-nation regional grouping concluded a three-day
meeting here aimed at solidifying their position on tobacco control measures,
including smuggling, labeling and advertising.
"Despite strong
leadership by Thailand and Malaysia, countries were unable to agree to a total
ban on tobacco advertising," according to a statement by the Framework
Convention Alliance (FCA), a non-governmental body which comprises some 180
groups in more than 70 countries.
"Perversely, Singapore, one of the
first countries in the world to ban tobacco advertising, was unwilling to
support a ban," the FCA said. It did not elaborate on Singapore's position.
"This represents a step backwards from the position taken in Penang
(Malaysia) in March 2002" when ASEAN's first intersessional meeting on the
subject was held.
"It is disappointing to see ASEAN countries fail to
get behind Thailand's strong position on tobacco advertising," Yel Daravuth, of
the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Cambodia), was quoted as saying.
The tobacco control measures discussed at the ASEAN meeting are being
considered for the global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
The session was part of the lead-up to the fifth round of negotiations
of the FCTC, a legally binding international treaty which is expected to be
ratified in May 2003.
A Bangkok declaration on tobacco control released
at the conclusion of the talks reflected regional concern on the "devastating"
health, social and economic effects of increased tobacco consumption.
It
said ASEAN was "deeply concerned also about the proliferation of all forms of
advertising, marketing, promotion and other practices aimed at encouraging the
use of tobacco," but it stopped short of urging an advertising ban.
ASEAN, formed in 1967, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Iran, Myanmar Keen
to Expand Mutual Ties
TEHRAN -- Iran's non-resident
Ambassador to Yangon Rasoul Eslami and Myanmar's Minister of Foreign Affairs Win
Aung on Tuesday emphasized the need for expansion of bilateral political and
economic ties.
Eslami, inviting Aung to visit Tehran in the near future,
expressed hope that the trip would lead to further promotion of Iran-Myanmar
relations.
Aung, for his part, announced his country's interest in
developing cooperation with Iran.
Pointing to the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran
enjoys an important position in the Middle East, he said that Myanmar would soon
open its embassy in Tehran.
In another development, Eslami held talks with the country's
Minister of Industry Aung Thaung.
During the meeting, the two sides urged top officials of the
two countries to prepare the ground for expansion of bilateral ties.
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Myanmar gov't progresses in national
reconciliation: official
Xinhuanet 2002-09-03
15:54:20
YANGON, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- A high-ranking Myanmar official
Tuesday claimed that the government has made certain progress in the country's
national reconciliation process.
While meeting with the press, Major
General Kyaw Win, vice chief of the Military Intelligence, said the talks
between the government and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD)
has produced some outcome.
He cited the free movement of Aung San Suu
Kyi (ASSK), NLD general secretary, reopening of the party's several branch
offices and observation of some government projects under UN aid by ASSK after
her release on May 6.
Since her release, ASSK has so far travelled out
of the capitalof Yangon to Mandalay, the country's second largest city and Mon
state's Mawlamyine and the number of NLD branch offices reopened has come to 36
in Yangon area.
Meanwhile, the number of detained NLD members released
after restriction on ASSK was lifted has also reached 55 and it is reported that
there still remain 249 NLD members in detention by the government, including 17
parliament members elected in the 1990 general election.
After ASSK's
release, the NLD has pledged to work for the release of all political prisoners
in the country as the first priority, pointing out that there is still no
substantive progressin the national reconciliation process, calling for prompt
tripartite dialogue among the government, the party and the ethnic minorities.
Meanwhile, the international community including the United Nations is
working to push forward Myanmar's national reconciliation process at a faster
pace.
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Bangkok Post - Wednesday 04 September
2002
Flash flood kills 16 refugees
Another 20 missing
from ravaged camp
Cheewin Sattha and Subin Kheunkaew
Sixteen Karen refugees were killed, 20 others missing and 200 houses
destroyed when a flash flood and landslide triggered by heavy rain hit their
camp on the border in Mae Sariang district on Monday.
Interior Minister
Purachai Piumsombun, who inspected the flood-ravaged area yesterday, said all
victims would get full government assistance regardless of their status or
nationality.
The provincial administration and the Third Army had already
sent help and relief supplies to Camp 9, located on the border at Ban Tha
Sala-Ban Mae Kong Kha, Mae Sariang district, which housed 15,574 Karen refugees
from fighting in Burma between Burmese government troops and Karen National
Union rebels since 1995.
Several roads to the camp were made impassable
by the flood, forcing rescuers to trek about five kilometres to get
there.
Help from 10 international organisations was reportedly on the
way.
Mr Purachai said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was very
concerned about the refugees' plight and ordered all concerned to take good care
of them.
The interior minister said the refugee camp might have to be
evacuated as more rains were expected this month.
The Interior Ministry,
the Forestry Department, the National Security Council and the provincial
administration already had plans to move Camp 9 refugees to a shelter at Ban Mae
La Ma Luang, Sob Moei district, in a bid to save the forest from further
destruction.
Camp 9 is located in the Salween national park and wildlife
sanctuary. Some authorities held heavy illegal logging in the national park
partly responsible for flash floods in the area.
The Meteorological
Department, meanwhile, said heavy rain would continue in the North, Northeast
and the Central Region.
The department warned people in Tak, Kamphaeng
Phet, Phetchabun, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Loei, Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Nong Bua
Lamphu, Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen and Lop Buri to stay alert for flash
floods.
The Chao Phraya river was rising in Nakhon Sawan and Chai Nat,
but its level remained normal in Bangkok, the department said.
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Bangkok Post - Wednesday 04 September
2002
Talks on ice as Win Aung calls off trip
Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung has called off a trip
to Bangkok, citing important missions in the Middle East and Eastern
Europe.
A source said yesterday Win Aung was scheduled to hold talks in
Bangkok with Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai on Sept 6, after the two
returned from the Earth Summit in Johannesburg.
The two were expected to
meet last night on the sidelines of the summit, to set a new date for the
visit.
The source said Win Aung had been instructed by Rangoon to deal
with important missions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
From there
he would fly to New York to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly on
Sept 10. He would be ``pleased to meet'' Mr Surakiart in Bangkok after the UN
meeting.
But another source said Mr Surakiart was due to visit Copenhagen
after addressing the UN assembly on Sept 18. In Copenhagen, Mr Surakiart will
take part in ministerial talks leading to the Sept 22-24 summit of Asia-Europe
Meeting leaders.
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Bangkok Post - Wednesday 04 September
2002
Ban on buying bamboo
NGO runs into hurdle building
new camp
Cheewin Sattha
A non-governmental organisation building new shelters for Karen refugees
has been barred from buying bamboo from villagers in a move to curb illegal
timber cutting.
Mae Hong Son deputy governor Pitsanu Sawasdee said there
had been complaints timber was being poached by people providing material for
homes being built for Karen refugees at Ban Nai Soi, Ban Pang Khwai and Ban
Pang.
This had prompted the province to bar the NGO handling the
construction from buying bamboo from locals.
The provincial Mae Hong Son
forestry chief Somchai Wuthisathian said 450 pieces of illegal bamboo some five
metres long had been seized at Ban Huay Pong, Muang district.
To build
916 living quarters for about 4,700 war refugees included in the relocation
plan, the NGO had allocated about seven million baht to buy 100,000 lengths of
bamboo from Lampang, Lamphun and Chiang Mai provinces at 65-70 baht
apiece.
However, some staff had reportedly hired villagers at Ban Mai Sa
Peh, Ban Nam Piang and Ban Doi Saeng in Mae Hong Son's Muang district to cut
bamboo in the forest and sell wood for five baht apiece.
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