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BURMA RELATED NEWS - September
06, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------ AP - Myanmar releases eight political
prisoners ahead of visit by European Union team
Reuters - Thai monsoon floods kill 39
and leave thousands homeless
AFP - No date set yet for crucial
Thai-Myanmar meeting: Thai FM
Xinhuanet - Malaysian Company to
build hydropower plants for Myanmar
Xinhuanet - Thai princess invited to
visit Myanmar
Xinhuanet - Myanmar makes
achievements in literacy campaign
Bkk Post - Panel wants probe into
attacks on Shan
The Nation - DELICATE DIPLOMACY:
Junta asks Princess to visit Burma
The Daily Star - Seaport
planned at Teknaf for trade with Myanmar
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar releases eight political
prisoners ahead of visit by European Union team
Thu Sep 5, 6:13 AM
ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's military government said
it released eight political prisoners on humanitarian grounds Thursday ahead of
a visit by a European Union delegation to observe the political situation in the
country.
Seven of the freed political prisoners are members of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party while the eighth was in prison for having "connections with an unlawful organization," a government statement said. It did not elaborate. The government also released 39 women who were pregnant or had young children. They were not jailed on political charges. Thursday's development raises to 310 the number of NLD members freed since the junta entered into closed-door reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi in 2000 to end the country's political deadlock. Suu Kyi herself was freed from 19 months of house arrest on May 6. Another 255 NLD members remain in jail. More than 350 non-NLD political prisoners have also been released, but human rights groups say about 1,000 others are still in jails. Apart from the prisoner releases, generally regarded as a confidence-building gesture, little else has come of the reconciliation talks. A four-member EU mission, which is scheduled to arrive in Yangon Sunday for a three-day visit, plans to meet with Suu Kyi, government leaders, senior NLD members and some leaders of ethnic groups. The European Union is one of the strongest critics of the ruling military junta, and imposes heavy restrictions against members of the regime who want to travel in Europe. The junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a
pro-democracy movement. It called elections in 1990 but annulled the results
after the National League for Democracy won.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Friday September 6, 5:56 PM
Thai monsoon floods kill 39 and leave thousands homeless By Chris Johnson BANGKOK (Reuters) - Floods have killed at least 39 people and damaged more than 150,000 houses in Thailand over the last month as monsoon rains have swollen rivers and lakes across the country, the Thai Interior Ministry said on Friday. Thailand's north and east have been worst hit with some districts reporting their most severe flooding for decades and the seasonal rains show no signs of abating, officials said. Flood waters in some towns and villages in these provinces are as high as three metres above street level, trapping thousands of villagers inside their homes and cutting off electricity and fresh water supplies. "We have had to black out towns to prevent electrocution and evacuate people from the area because they have no food or water," said a relief worker in the northern province of Loei on the Laos border, 560 km northeast of Bangkok. "Most of the main town in Loei is under more than two metres of water and there are no signs the situation is getting any better soon," the official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters by telephone. The interior ministry said in a statement that water levels in 31 of Thailand's 76 provinces showed no signs of receding while flooding in a further 20 provinces had receded slightly. The death toll included at least 16 refugees from the Karen ethnic minority living in a makeshift settlement in northern Mae Hong Son Province near the Myanmar border. FLASH FLOODS A flash flood hit the Karen camp in a steep valley last Monday, sweeping away dozens of houses near a stream that flows into the Salween River that formed part of the Thai-Myanmar border. The camp normally houses nearly 14,000 people. More than 10 other Karens, who fled to Thailand from fighting in Myanmar several years ago, were listed as missing. Thai officials have sent relief food supplies to the worst affected areas in Loei, north central Phetchabun and Tak province in northwest Thailand. The interior ministry said rainfall in heavily flooded provinces reached 65-69 mm on Thursday compared with 20 mm in Bangkok. Officials said thousands of residents in Loei had been trapped in upper floors of blacked-out houses in the past few days, subsisting on bottled water, instant noodles and food packages provided by relief teams. Flooding occurs every year across Indochina as the giant Mekong river breaks its banks and pours muddy waters from Laos towards southern Cambodia and Vietnam. Flood waters have now retreated in Cambodia and in southern Vietnam where at least 55 lives were lost in August despite recent attempts to improve river defences after the disastrous floods of 2000 in which hundreds perished. Aid officials said floodwaters had subsided along Cambodia's stretch of the Mekong, allowing most of the 160,000 people forced to evacuate the worst affected areas, such as Prey Veng province near the border with Vietnam, to return to their homes. "The bulk of the displaced families in Prey Veng seem to have returned home, although there is still the possibility of a further water surge coming down the river from Laos," said Antony Spalton of the International Federation of the Red Cross. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No date set yet for crucial
Thai-Myanmar meeting: Thai FM
BANGKOK, Sept 6 (AFP) - No date has been set yet for key ministerial talks between Thailand and Myanmar on defusing a months-long border crisis, Thailand's foreign minister said Friday, contradicting an earlier ministerial statement. Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said that his Myanmar counterpart Win Aung, whom he met in Johannesburg during the UN Earth Summit, had only indicated he wished to shift the meeting to the end of the month. It had originally been set for Friday. "Win Aung wanted to come here during the third week of September or from September 23 to 25, but I have to attend an ASEM (Asia-Europe meeting) in Denmark then, and we also have to check the prime minister's schedule as Win Aung wants to see him too," Surakiart told reporters. Thai defense minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapha had earlier told reporters the two would meet on September 30. Yuthasak had also said the talks would focus on the reopening of border checkpoints between the two countries, which have been closed since May 22, and on developing mechanisms to prevent a closure recurring. Myanmar unilaterally closed the checkpoints after clashes along the border erupted between the Myanmar junta and ethnic Shan rebels, which Yangon accused Thailand of assisting. The historical adversaries then 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. Surakiart said Friday that while the issue would be discussed, it was not impacting bilateral relations. He also said that in Johannesburg Win Aung had reaffirmed Myanmar's commitment to hosting a visit by Thailand's Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, to show the country respected the Thai monarchy. The two foreign ministers had agreed to arrange the visit when they met in Yangon in February this year. Surakiart said then that it was likely to take place in late October or early November. Myanmar particularly raised Thailand's hackles in recent months when it published a series of articles Bangkok deemed insulting to its monarchy. Thailand barred the two Myanmar journalists responsible for the stories and Myanmar in retaliation banned 15 Thai journalists from Myanmar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malaysian Company to build
hydropower plants for Myanmar
Xinhuanet 2002-09-06 10:18:02 YANGON, Sept. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Tepat Teknik, a Malaysian company, will build two mini-hydropower plants in Myanmar's Yangon division to help ease the country's electricity shortage, according to the Myanmar Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. The two hydropower projects will be implemented at Phaunggyi village in Hlegu township and Kon-paw-su village in Taikkyi township in the division, respectively, under a memorandum of understanding signed between Tepat Teknik and the ministry in late August. According to the MOU, Tepat Teknik will supply the necessary machinery and be responsible for installation, while the Irrigation Department of the ministry will handle the construction work. The two power plants would produce up to 5.4 megawatts (MW) of electricity. According to official statistics, Myanmar generated 5,671.78 million kilowatt-hours in the fiscal year 2001-02 ending March, while its installed generating capacity stood at 1,165 MW at the end of the fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Japanese government decided last May to provide a financial aid of 628 million yens (5 million US dollars) to Myanmar for the rehabilitation of the country's Baluchaung No.2 hydropower plant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thai princess invited to visit
Myanmar
Xinhuanet 2002-09-06 10:57:42 BANGKOK, Sept. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- The Myanmar government invited Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to make an official visit, signaling that relations between the two countries are sound, the Nation newspaper reported Friday. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was quoted as saying that the Myanmar had invited princess Sirindhorn to visit Myanmar by the end of October to show respect to the Thai monarchy and will offer a well-prepared welcome. Relations between Thailand and Myanmar soured after border skirmishes in May that prompted a closure of the border. The announcement of Myanmar's invitation to the Thai princess came after Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung cancelled a meeting with his Thai counterpart Surakiart Sathirathai, which was scheduled for Friday to discuss reopening the border. Thaksin declined to link the royal visit with the border reopening, saying the resolution of border issues would follow normalized relations. Several factors affect relations between the two counties, including fighting between armed minorities and Myanmar government troops along the border, he said, adding that he wanted to see the situation in Myanmar improve before any repatriation of Hundreds of thousands of refugees, who had fled the conflict to Thailand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar makes achievements in
literacy campaign
Xinhuanet 2002-09-06 13:39:40 YANGON, Sept. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar has made some achievements in its Literacy for All campaign in the past six years, turning 367,620 illiterates into literates, latest figures from the Myanmar Ministry of Education showed. The literacy campaign was launched with the help of 93,143 volunteers in 324 townships across the country. The ministry also claimed that there was another success achieved in the enrollment movement for school-going age children launched since 1999. According to the ministry, the average school enrollment rate increased to 91 percent in 1999, rising to 91.5 percent in 2000, 92.5 percent in 2001 and 93.07 percent so far this year. Other official statistics show that Myanmar has a total of 42,000 basic education high schools with over seven million students.There are also 142 institutes of higher learning with over 556,000students. Meanwhile, Myanmar is also implementing a 30-year long-term plan for basic education starting from 2001-02 in six phases, aiming at bringing about rapid development of qualified human resources in the country to meet the challenges of the present knowledge age. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - Friday
06 September 2002
Panel wants probe into attacks on Shan Supoj Wancharoen The Senate committee on foreign affairs wants the United Nations to investigate reports of violence by Burmese troops against Shan ethnic people in Burma. On Tuesday, Burma rejected claims by panel chairman Kraisak Choonhavan that Burmese, Wa and local troops had tortured Shan ethnic people in Shan state. Burma's Labour Minister Tin Win and intelligence deputy chief Maj-Gen Kyaw Win denied the claims. Banthoon Krirkpitthaya, the Senate foreign committee's spokesman, said Rangoon should allow the UN and human rights organisations to look into the allegations. ``Committee members went to the border in Wiang Haeng district, Chiang Mai. We met almost 600 Shan refugees who said Burmese forces had killed Shan people, raped them and forced them into labour,'' he said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The
Nation
DELICATE DIPLOMACY: Junta asks Princess to visit Burma Published on Sep 6, 2002 Burma's military junta has invited HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to make an official visit, signalling that relations between the two countries are sound, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday. The junta has invited Her Royal Highness to visit Burma by the end of October to show respect to the Thai monarchy and will offer a well-prepared welcome, he said. Relations between the two countries soured after border skirmishes in May that prompted a closure of the border. The announcement came after Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung cancelled a meeting scheduled for today with his Thai counterpart Surakiart Sathirathai to discuss reopening the border. Thaksin declined to link the royal visit with the border reopening, saying the resolution of border issues would follow normalised relations. Several factors affect relations between the two counties, he said, including fighting between armed minorities and Burmese government troops along the border. Hundreds of thousands of Burmese from minority groups have fled the conflict to Thailand. Thaksin said he wanted to see the situation in Burma improve before any repatriation of refugees. Shan minorities recently accused the junta's soldiers of routinely raping ethnic women. In a Thai version of the report "License to Rape" released yesterday, a Shan group said the junta used rape as a weapon of war against minorities. Senator Kraisak Choonhavan said the international community should take action to solve the problem, as Thailand alone can not do so. The Thai government often turns a blind eye to "aggressive incidents nearby", he said. National Human Right Commissioner Sunee Chayaros said Thailand should bring the issue of the alleged rapes to international attention. The government should set up shelters for the women who flee to Thailand and provide psychological support, she said. Ticha na Nakhon, from the Women and the Constitution Network, said the International Criminal Court should investigate the fate of Shan women. "Those women do not have the bargaining power to relieve their plight unless the rest of the world knows about their fate," she said. Virada Somswasdi, president of the Women Studies Centre at Chiang Mai University, said all rape, not just of the Shan, is an insult to all men who are fathers, husbands and sons of the victims. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Daily Star - Fri.
September 06, 2002
Seaport planned at Teknaf for trade with Myanmar Rafiq Hasan The government plans to establish a seaport at Teknaf in Cox's Bazaar mainly for export-import business with Myanmar. The port will also be used for trade with Thailand and other South East Asian countries later on, said a high official at the shipping ministry. It will help expedite transport of goods on the proposed Asian Highway. The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is now carrying out a feasibility study and is likely to submit the report in a month, the official said. The final decision will be taken upon receipt of the report, Shipping Minister Akbar Hossain told The Daily Star recently. The project to be implemented by the CPA includes a berthing facility for at least three ocean-going ships. The government will tap into only local resources and will neither float international tenders nor appoint foreign consultants to set up the port, said sources. Contacted, Shipping Secretary Ghulam Rahman told The Daily Star that the initial decision was to establish a river port at Teknaf. Later, the government decided on establishing a medium-range seaport for the ships with seven to eight metres draft. "But it's not an alternative to the Chittagong seaport," the secretary said. Asked if the port will be used for berthing feeder vessels from Singapore, the secretary said it is not possible because it will require a container terminal. The main obstacle for a seaport to be established on the bank of the Naff River is less depth of water than needed. There are around five metres in depth of water, whereas at least ten metres are required. The government has to go for dredging to set up the port, sources said. Earlier, the government established a land port at Teknaf to facilitate trade with Myanmar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |