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Tuesday May 6, 8:49 PM
Myanmar, Laos Agree To
Strengthen Ties - Report
BANGKOK (AP)--Laos and Myanmar have agreed to strengthen
cooperation, particularly in trade, drug control, agriculture and forestry, a
report said Tuesday.
The agreement was reached at a meeting of the
Laos-Myanmar Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic and Cultural Cooperation
in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, the Laotian state news agency, Khaosan
Pathet Lao, reported on its Web site.
Laotian Deputy Prime Minister
Somsavat Lengsavad and Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung led delegates at the
two-day meeting, which ended Saturday.
The officials pledged to continue
working together through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and in
setting national boundaries, the news agency said. It gave no other details.
There are no major disputes between Myanmar and Laos over their shared
border, but it is badly demarcated in places because of remoteness and a history
of different colonial powers. The two agreed to meet again in October to adopt a
memorandum on boundary cooperation, the agency said.
The leader of
Myanmar's military government, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, is visiting Laos May 5-7
along with a 61-member delegation, including ministers of agriculture, forestry,
mines and health.
The visit comes at the invitation of Laotian President
Khamtay Siphandone, who visited Myanmar in early 1992, when he was Laos' prime
minister. Other Laotian leaders visited Myanmar in 1995 and 2001.
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U.S. Backs Myanmar Activists on
Anniversary
Tue May 6, 4:09 PM ET
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The United States on
Tuesday bemoaned slow progress toward political liberalization in Myanmar one
year after the release of democracy activist and opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
It said Washington supported Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy against the military government and applauded the Nobel Peace Prize
winner's "unwavering determination."
"Unfortunately, the regime has made
little progress toward national reconciliation since then," State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement to mark the occasion.
"The
rulers of Burma (Myanmar) have continued to oppress people, harassed Aung San
Suu Kyi on her travels, and limited her party's activities. The regime has been
unwilling to begin substantive dialogue with the democratic opposition.
"The regime continues to monitor prisoners released from unjust
imprisonment, to restrict their freedoms and to discriminate against their
families," the spokesman added.
The military government raised
expectations of talks on political change when it freed the 57-year-old activist
last year, allowing her to travel freely throughout the country. But the junta
has not responded to her calls for dialogue.
The State Department has
welcomed the release of 21 political prisoners including former professor Salai
Tun Than on Sunday and said it hoped it would lead to the immediate and
unconditional release of all remaining political prisoners.
But the
statement on Tuesday said that more than a thousand political prisoners remain
behind bars in Myanmar in terrible conditions, many of them in bad health.
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Thai factory unrest erupts as 600 Myanmar labourers
protest wages
BANGKOK, May 7 (AFP) - More than 600 Myanmar textile workers have
angrily protested at a Taiwanese factory in Thailand where employers refused to
increase wages and assaulted two female employees, Mae Sot district officials
said Wednesday.
The workers destroyed several sewing machines and other
equipment during a three-hour near-riot Tuesday at the factory of Rian Thong
Apparel, located on the bank of the Moei River demarcating the Thailand-Myanmar
border.
"It was caused by workers demanding more wages," an official in
Mae Sot, a border town 450 kilometres (280 miles) northwest of Bangkok, told
AFP.
"Employers slapped two female Myanmar workers with shoes as they
asked for higher wages," he said.
Workers had sought a salary increase
from 95 baht (2.23 dollars) to 140 baht per dozen garments assembled -- the
average daily workload, he added.
Police eventually quelled the unrest,
and after further negotiations the wage increases were approved and the
Taiwanese employer who attacked the workers was replaced by a Thai manager, the
official said.
There are between 600 and 700 Myanmar labourers at the
Rian Thong factory, most of them working legally, the official said.
Abuse of migrant labourers is widely reported in Thailand, where an
estimated million Myanmar nationals are thought to be working, around half
illegally. They often earn far less than the country's minimum wage, which
varies provincially.
Several garment factories along the border with
Myanmar are heavily dependent on migrant labour.
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US says Burma junta not acting in good
faith
07/05/2003 16:39:14 | ABC Radio Australia
News
The United States has accused Burma's military
rulers of a catalogue of repression and reinforced its firm support for
democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The State Department says it is past
time for Burma's people to enjoy the benefits of economic and political
reform.
It also says the junta is not negotiating in good faith, as the
United Nations struggles to broker the start of a dialogue with the
opposition.
The US criticism comes on the first anniversary of Aung Sun
Suu Kyi's release from a second, lengthy period of house arrest.
State
Department spokesman, Richard Boucher says the US applauds the Democracy
leader's unwavering determination and notes the regime has made little progress
toward national reconciliation in the year since her release.
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Taiwan News
Aung San Suu Kyi hopes
"change is inevitable" in Myanmar
2003-05-07 / Reuters /
Myanmar's military leader General Than Shwe, left, and
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Reuters)
Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi marked one year of freedom from house arrest yesterday
with a trip outside Yangon but still frustrated that her calls for democracy
appear to be falling on deaf ears. The military government had raised
expectations of talks on political change when it freed the 57-year-old Nobel
laureate last year, allowing her to travel freely throughout the country. But
the junta has not responded to Suu Kyi's calls for dialogue.
Suu Kyi,
who travelled to the northwestern Kachin State yesterday for a month-long visit,
her longest trip since her release, said of the military two weeks ago: "They
don't want change, but change is inevitable."
U Lwin, the spokesman for
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said the junta had allowed his
party to reopen township offices in the last year, had freed hundreds of
political prisoners and let NLD members organize activities.
But
meaningful dialogue with the junta remained elusive.
"If they are
serious about dialogue they need to inform us officially about their desire," U
Lwin told Reuters. "We haven't received anything about this. Maybe we will."
U Lwin said Suu Kyi's trips outside Yangon had been a success.
"Suu Kyi herself can enjoy freedom of movement and deal with the people
more closely, and she's seen how the people look up to her," he said. "It really
makes her more committed to work for the people."
The NLD won 1990
elections by a landslide but has never been allowed to rule by the military,
which has ruled the country in various guises for over 40 years.
The
military government, accused by some Western nations and human rights groups of
torture and using forced labour and systematic rape as weapons against ethnic
minorities, says it wants political change, but without destabilising the
ethnically diverse country.
The government on Sunday freed 21 political
prisoners, including 12 members of Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party, calling it the
latest in a series of efforts by the junta to move Myanmar towards a multi-party
democracy.
The United Nations estimates 1,100-1,200 political prisoners
still languish in Myanmar's colonial era gaols and says the junta is only
releasing people it regards as posing a minimal threat to the regime.
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Independent-bangladesh
Editorial -
Inside Myanmar
06- May -2003.
The treatment that is
still being meted out to Syuu Kyi and her National League (NLD) does not show
that transition to democracy is round the corner in neighbouring Myanmar. Syuu
Kyi, the Oxford-educated leader, who was the epitome of democracy in a
military-ruled impoverished country, has been subjected to prolonged
incarceration, harassment and persecution. Though she is no longer under arrest,
how much political freedom she and her supporters are exercising is in doubt,
although the junta says that her release is unconditional. Recent reports quote
her as alleging that she and her followers have been obstructed and intimidated.
Talks initiated between Syuu Kyi and the ruling junta and purporting to achieve
reconciliation and democratic reforms yielded nothing.
Despite her
unfriendly surrounding, Syuu Kyi is the pivot around whom the democratic forces
of the country are rallying. In 1988 Syuu Kyi, who was in exile, returned to her
country and founded the NLD. Her non-violent method paid off and the military
could not deny an election. In July 1989 Syuu Kyi was put under house arrest. In
spite of that her NLD won a landslide in the 1990 elections. But the junta would
not allow the elected parliament to be convened.
Four decades of
military rule have achieved apparently little for the people of Myanmar. Once
Myanmar (the erstwhile Burma) had been a major exporter of rice and timber and
had a flourishing economy. The "Burmese way to socialism" expounded by military
leaders, which is characterised by nationalisation of all big industries and a
xenophobic isolation from the rest of the world (Myanmar has retained membership
of very few of the international bodies and even opted out of the Commonwealth),
has only intensified poverty and exacerbated ethnic conflict with Karen, Kachin
and Shan groups. There was a policy shift on the economy about ten years ago
but, despite the example of China, free economy can naturally thrive only under
political freedom. If Myanmar can effect the transition to the democratic order,
we think it will not only improve conditions within that country but also
greatly contribute to regional peace and prosperity. Some quarters have recently
proposed that Myanmar be co-opted into SAARC. It will all depend on how far
Myanmar democratises and opens up.
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-05-07
British Minister on Burma
wasting one year in vain.
Speaking on the first anniversary of the release from house arrest of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien criticized the failure of
the Burmese military regime to move towards national reconciliation.
Minister O?Brien said: ?One year ago, many of us hoped that the release
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would herald the beginning of political change in Burma.
But Senior General Than Shwe and the Burmese regime have failed to engage in
substantive political dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other Burmese
democratic leaders. The Burmese people hope for a more prosperous, peaceful,
democratic future. For them, this has been a wasted year. The case for political
change in Burma grows stronger day by day.?
O'Brien expressed the UK's
ongoing support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the United Nations' efforts to
bring democracy to Burma: ?It is clear to all that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
National League for Democracy are legitimate and constructive partners for the
process of transition to civilian rule in Burma. There is no reasonable excuse
for the military authorities to further delay substantive political dialogue or
for the continued refusal to allow the United Nations Secretary Generals'
Special Envoy to visit Burma.?
The British Minister also took the
opportunity to welcome the recent release in Burma of 21 political prisoners,
including Dr Salai Tun Than, and said: "I hope this marks the start of a process
leading to the rapid release of the hundreds of political prisoners remaining in
Burma's jails."
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-05-07
Burmese Generals "Making
Mileage Out of Human Misery" - NCGUB
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) slammed the
Burmese army generals for making mileage out of human misery. They alleged that
those pro-democracy political activists who are at present languishing in the
various Burmese prison facilities - "should never have been in prison in the
first case."
The NCGUB in a statement expressed their concern that those
Burmese generals are endeavoring to politically neutralized the imprisoned
political activists and warned that the SPDC is courting danger by refusing to
work toward national reconciliation
The full text of the NCGUB?s
statement is given below:
The generals in the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) recently released 21 political prisoners claiming
that they had made the decision after taking "health and humanitarian concerns"
into consideration.
This is just another glaring case of the regime
making mileage out of human misery. These politicians should never have been in
prison in the first case. And, any health problems that the generals are now so
concerned about only emerged because these democracy activists were left
neglected and exposed to harsh prison conditions.
Presently, there are
around 1,400 political prisoners still held by the military regime, and many of
them--Min Ko Naing, U Win Tin, U Win Htein, and elected representatives Dr Zaw
Myint Maung of Amarapura, U Sein Hla Oo of insein, Dr May Win Myint of Mayangon,
and Dr Myint Naing of Kantbalu, to name a few--have all completed their original
sentences but continued to be kept in prison.
The regime's announcement
that "those that will cause no harm to the community nor threaten the existing
peace, stability and the unity of the nation" will be released actually means
that the generals will continue to act above the law and keep activists in
prison until they are deemed to be politically neutralized.
Prime
Minister Dr Sein Win said, "The generals are out of touch with reality and are
punishing dedicated people who can work for the good of the country. The country
is dangerously inching toward disaster all because of the political paranoia of
these generals."
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
strongly condemns the SPDC which is courting danger by refusing to work toward
national reconciliation and for continuing to keep politicians imprisoned so
that they can be used as a tool in the generals' political game.
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