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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- October 13, 2002.
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HEADLINES
-------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP: Suu Kyi Says
Political Reform, Not More Foreign Aid Needed in Burma
AFP - Traders expectant as Myanmar poised to reopen border Bkk Post - Burmese workers in Mae Sot
poorly paid
Bkk Post - Small traders sceptical on
re-opening
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday October 13, 11:49 AM
Suu Kyi Says Political Reform, Not More Foreign Aid Needed in Burma BANGKOK, Oct 13 (AFP) - Political reform, not more foreign aid, is the best way to combat Myanmar's mounting humanitarian crisis, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said in a videotaped interview. "What I would like to say is the most important aspect of humanitarian assistance or any kind of assistance is good governance," she said in the interview with Thailand-based rights group ALTSEAN Burma, which was filmed in August and released here Sunday. "Unless there is good governance, you cannot ensure that the assistance will really benefit the country. "So, we cannot say often enough that good governance is the answer to Burma's humanitarian problems," she said, using Myanmar's former name. Aung San Suu Kyi has been a staunch supporter of the international sanctions against military-ruled Myanmar introduced following the brutal repression of 1988 pro-democracy protests and the 1990 elections won by her National League for Democracy (NLD) but ignored by the junta. Under the sanctions led by the United States and the European Union, all but a small amount of humanitarian aid is banned. But in August Aung San Suu Kyi appeared to soften her stance on the issue, telling Japan's foreign minister Yoriko Kawaguchi during her visit to Myanmar that aid might be acceptable if it fell within strict guidelines. In the latest released interview, the Nobel peace laureate said that accountability, transparency and independent monitoring were essential if aid was to be delivered properly. "Unless there is accountability and transparency, you can never say what happens to all that assistance," she said. "It is possible that there are some forms of humanitarian aid that can be used properly at this time because there's accountability and transparency and at the same time it is possible that there so kinds of development aid which also fit the bill." Aung San Suu Kyi took issue with the claim that the humanitarian crisis -- including soaring AIDS rates, poor food supply and broken down health and education systems -- could not wait for political change. "I think what I would like to say is that Burma cannot wait for political change, we need it now!" she said. The charismatic democracy leader has been engaged in UN-brokered reconciliation talks with the junta since October 2000, but they are yet to move beyond a confidence-building phase. Hopes of a breakthrough grew in May with her release from 19 months of house arrest, but since then the landmark talks are widely believed to have stalled. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday October 13, 1:38 PM
Traders expectant as Myanmar poised to reopen border CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Oct 13 (AFP) - Traders from Myanmar and Thailand, reeling from the economic fallout of a five-month border closure, are eagerly awaiting Myanmar's reopening of its major checkpoints this week. Myanmar slammed shut all its border crossings into Thailand in May, after deadly clashes erupted between government troops and ethnic Shan rebels, which Yangon accused Thailand of assisting. After months of wrangling, meetings in Yangon last week between Thai and Myanmar officials cleared the way for the resumption of cross-border trade which is a vital conduit for a range of essential items exported to impoverished Myanmar. After decades of military rule, Myanmar is far from self-sufficient, and although many products are imported from China, its citizens say Thai goods are generally superior. But Myanmar traders remain worried that the continuing instability of the kyat currency -- not to mention perenially rocky bilateral ties -- may hinder an immediate resumption of two-way trade when the gates are unlocked on Tuesday. The kyat has plummetted dramatically since the border closed, trading at around 1,260 against the dollar on the blackmarket last week compared to 860 beforehand. "Demand for the greenback is increasing with the prospect of the border reopening," said one Yangon-based businessman. "We have to monitor the situation before restarting official cross-border trade to avoid running into trouble," he said, explaining he will lose money if he buys goods and fails to move them on before the kyat depreciates further. The closure of the three main checkpoints -- Tachilek-Mae Sai, Myawaddy-Mae Sot and Kawthaung-Ranong -- have cost Thai traders more than a billion baht (22.8 million dollars), according to estimates in the Thai press. Currency trader Ahr Shaw Yone, based in the southern Thai city of Ranong, is one businesswoman who has been severely hit by the protracted row. "My customers usually changed at least 500,000 baht daily when the border was open," she said. "But for the time being it is impossible for my regular customers to come here." Some of her customers have instead sent her cash and letters requesting her help in buying desperately-needed Thai food and medicine via boat drivers who illegally ply the narrow gulf between Ranong and Kawthaung, she said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sunday
13 October 2002
Seminar tells NGOs about slave labour, trafficking Burmese workers in Mae Sot poorly paid Supamart Kasem More than 10 million transnational workers in the Asia-Pacific region may become victims of human trafficking and human rights violations, a seminar was told yesterday. Irene Fernandez, chairwoman of the Kuala Lumpur-based Caram-Asia, said more than 10 million workers had moved within the region to work in other countries. These included Thais working in Malaysia and Singapore and other countries in the region. ``Many have fallen victim to human trafficking movements,'' she told the final day of a week-long workshop in Mae Sot district for non-governmental organisations that were looking at ways to protect alien workers from human rights violations. Delegates urged Thai NGOs to look into allegations that Burmese workers in Mae Sot were unfairly paid. NGOs from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, Burma and Thailand attended the workshop. Ms Fernandez said many alien workers were at risk of physical abuse such as slave labour, unfair wages and poor welfare, whether or not they ended up there as victims of human trafficking. The NGOs agreed to write to concerned agencies demanding measures to protect alien labour. They would also publish a handbook containing guidelines on how to treat and help alien workers. They asked the MAP Foundation to represent them in requesting an investigation into allegations that 144 Burmese employees working for a knitting company in Mae Sot had not been paid by the firm, and that one Burmese worker was hurt during a strike which took place on Oct 4. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sunday
13 October 2002
Small traders sceptical on re-opening Huge sales unlikely as smuggling went on Despite Burma's promise to reopen its border checkpoints on Tuesday, traders remain sceptical the move will bring about a long-term solution to their problems. Many merchants in Ranong greeted news of the reopening with disdain as they felt they could no longer trust Rangoon's fluctuating policies, said Somkiat Satthajit, president of the province's border traders association. The reopening would help major exporters in the province, who had huge amounts of goods stranded at the border, but those dealing in smaller items were expecting a four-fold decrease in orders due to a weakening of the kyat, Burma's currency. While construction materials such as steel and cement were expected to be in high demand, a big increase in the sale of consumer goods was unlikely because the smuggling of many smaller items had been ongoing since Rangoon closed the border in May, Mr Somkiat said. Damrong Kachornmasbut, of the provincial chamber of commerce, said traders in Ranong had been losing about 10 million baht a day since the border closure. The reopening of the border was also expected to spur a massive influx of Burmese looking for illegal employment, he said. Conversely, the reopening would allow many Burmese labourers and merchants stranded in Ranong since May to return home to their families. Opposite Mae Hong Son, Burmese troops were seen removing barricades from their side of the border yesterday. -------------------------------------------------------------------- |