--------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday June 29, 11:04 AM
Myanmar's second
international carrier to fly in August
Military-ruled
Myanmar's second international carrier United Myanmar Airlines (UMA) is
scheduled for launch in mid-August.
Hong Kong-based Sunshine Strategic
Investments and state-owned domestic carrier Myanmar Airways are to sign a joint
venture agreement early July, a report in the Monday edition of the Myanmar
Times said.
UMA will then begin services in mid-August to Bangkok,
Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, chief executive officer of the new carrier Edward
Tan told the semi-official weekly.
The services replace some dropped from
Myanmar Airways International's itinerary last year, and will be extended within
a year to include Hong Kong, Shanghai and Malaysia's Penang, Tan reportedly
said.
"The airline will have thirty flights a week in its first three or
four months of operation," he was quoted as saying, adding the company would
initially recruit nearly 100 Myanmar nationals.
"Myanmar has a diverse
range of destinations, such as Bagan and Mandalay, so we believe there is great
potential for the growth of tourism."
Services will initially use two
leased Boeing 737-400s, Tan reportedly said.
The original agreement was
due to be signed in June but was delayed as the airline sought to comply with
Transport Ministry regulations, Tan added.
Initial investment in the
airline would be 15 million dollars, rising eventually to 100 million dollars,
the report said.
Tourism is seen by the junta as a key foreign exchange
earner to boost the economy which is in tatters due both to mismanagement and
international sanctions.
Sanctions have been further toughened in recent
weeks by the United States and the European Union, following the junta's
detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday June 29, 00:25 PM
Myanmar's ailing economy causes demand for dollar to
collapse
YANGON, June 29 (AFP) - The parlous state of Myanmar's economy has
caused demand for the US dollar to collapse, supporting a rally on the kyat
currency which reached an all-time low last year, analysts said.
The
kyat is now worth 975-980 to the dollar on the widely used black market,
compared to 1,375 last September when it bottomed out after an alarming decline
from levels of about 600 to the greenback in 2001.
The non-convertible
kyat is officially traded at six to the dollar, but the far more commonly used
exchange rate is set by black-market dealers.
Demand for the dollar has
plummeted after a banking crisis which led the ruling junta to set strict limits
on bank withdrawals, leaving speculators short of the cash they had once
ploughed into luxury cars, gold and greenbacks.
"They would take out
huge loans from the private banks, taking advantage of the low interest rates
(of 10 percent), and speculate in whatever took their fancy -- making money hand
over fist," one Yangon-based trader told AFP.
As well as the defunct
speculation business, trading on the border is down after a long-running row
with Thailand over incursions by Myanmar rebels, and renewed political
uncertainty amid a crackdown on the pro-democracy opposition is also hurting the
economy.
"I've just been to the border area and back and everyone is
complaining that business is mostly at a standstill," said one Yangon
entrepreneur.
The banking crisis erupted in February when a few small
money-lenders went bankrupt, sending thousands of savers rushing the country's
20 private banks which had been offering interest rates six times higher than
public banks.
The government intervened by limiting withdrawals to
100,000 then 50,000 kyats per week, cancelling credit cards and chequing
services and using huge amounts of central bank funds to keep the banks afloat
pending an investigation, which is still ongoing, into their activities.
Sources in Yangon said one or two of the institutions were expected to
be back in business shortly, once the government loans were repaid, on the
condition they stick to the banking regulations.
As a result of its
scarcity, the kyat, which had been trading on the black market at around 1,100
to the dollar, shot up amid the crisis to 750 before settling at its current
level.
Meanwhile, use of the local foreign exchange certificate (FEC),
which is supposed to be priced on parity with the dollar, has become extremely
limited, pushing its value to 670 kyats per dollar.
The disparity of
more than 300 kyats over the black market rate is an all-time record.
"There was a time you had to pay more to get FECs simply because the
scope for its use locally was wider compared to the dollar, possession of which
is illegal for ordinary citizens," said one analyst.
The FEC used to be
required to pay for goods purchased from the government, but now there are no
such sales, there is far less demand for the currency.
"With business at
a low ebb, other than for purchasing airplane tickets and paying for
long-distance telephone bills, the FEC has little useful function," said one
analyst.
Foreign travellers arriving in Yangon however are still obliged
to exchange 200 dollars into FECs at the airport, paying the official rate of
six to the dollar in a handy windfall for the cash-strapped regime.
One
form of currency in high demand is the "export dollar" which is needed to bring
goods into the country. A trade ministry regulation requires traders to only
import goods with dollars accrued from export business.
There are only a
few import-export firms in Myanmar, compared to thousands of imports-only
companies who have to hunt up "export dollars" that are now changing hands for
hefty rates around 1,350 to 1,500 kyats per dollar.
Despite the currency
turmoil, Myanmar's economy continues to stumble along, greased by the profits
from the drug trade and the enormous black market economy.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday June 29, 12:56 PM
Myanmar accuses Western nations, diplomats of fomenting
unrest
YANGON, June 29 (AFP) - Myanmar has accused Western nations and
their diplomats in Yangon of colluding with Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy
opposition to foment unrest around the country.
The attack was the
junta's latest attempt to deflect blame for deadly May 30 clashes in northern
Myanmar between Suu Kyi's supporters and a pro-junta mob which have sparked a
crackdown on her National League for Democracy (NLD).
The New Light of
Myanmar said some of the resident ambassadors had violated international
conventions by "blatantly interfering in Myanmar's internal affairs and taking
up the cause of the NLD as their own cause."
"They do not differentiate
between internal affairs and international affairs and have taken up the NLD's
politics as if it were their own by interfering and making trouble," it said in
a weekend commentary.
Western governments have made outspoken calls for
the military government to release Aung San Suu Kyi who was taken into custody
after the political violence, while the NLD leadership was put under house
arrest.
Last week European Union diplomats in Yangon also boycotted an
annual drug-burning ceremony in Yangon, in a snub that greatly irritated the
government.
The official commentary complained that the "handful" of
offending diplomats had repeatedly tried to "force" their way into the
residences of NLD leaders despite requests from authorities to desist.
It also accused them of roughing up security personnel at the residences
in their attempts to gain access.
"The matter of the NLD, Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and (NLD vice-chairman) U Tin Oo are all internal problems... Myanmar as
a sovereign nation has used its perogative to maintain peace and stability," it
said.
Aung San Suu Kyi marks one month in custody Monday with no sign of
when the government plans to release her, despite the mounting international
outcry.
Tin Oo is believed to be held at a jail near the Indian border.
A team from the International Committee for the Red Cross which saw him last
week said that he was in good health.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Buddha's Ashes Draws Crowd in Catholic
Chile
Sat Jun 28,10:07 PM ET
SANTIAGO, Chile
(Reuters) - Hundreds of Chileans
lined up on Saturday to view the ashes of the Buddha, brought to this
predominantly Catholic nation as part of a pilgrimage for world
peace.
Buddhist monks, escorted by police and security guards, carried a
large golden dome containing the 2,500-year-old cremated remains to an ornately
decorated platform inside a Santiago cultural center, chanting solemnly and
waving incense in their procession.
Buddhists are a tiny minority in
Chile and were surprised at the large turnout to see the exhibit -- a small gold
bowl full of crushed bones inside a glass dome.
"This is an opportunity
you only have once in a lifetime," said Luis Flores, a Chilean Buddhist. "It's
the equivalent of going to Jerusalem for Catholics."
The ashes were
donated by Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand to the United Nations, which in 1999
officially recognized Buddhism as a world religion.
The historical
Buddha, or Siddartha Gotama, was born into a royal family in 563 B.C. in what is
now Nepal. His followers say he was "enlightened" at the age of 35 and taught
the principles of Buddhism until his death at the age of 80.
Traveling
under strict security, the remains have been exhibited in 15 countries since
last year and will permanently rest at U.N. headquarters in New York from next
May.
Lama Gangchen Rinpoche, a Tibetan healer, said he brought the ashes
to Chile to repay the kindness of friends, including a group of engineers who
helped bring water to his monastery in Tibet.
"The relics of Buddha, by
being here, are not something only for the Buddhists. Its something open to each
and every one because Buddha himself was open to all of us,' he told Reuters.
"The relics help the creation of a non-violent culture," he said. The
first two Chileans to reach the viewing platform were police officers, members
of the security team.
Buddha's followers said "miraculous" things had
happened since the ashes arrived in Santiago this week.
"In the short
time that the relics have been here, I've seen total transformations in people
that have no idea about Buddha," said Heidy Dettwiler, organizer of the exhibit.
"For example, in the security people helping us and the people in the
hotel where we're staying, things have happened that you could call miracles,"
she said.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Myanmar junta blasts foreign media as Suu Kyi completes
one month
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's military government accused
dissidents and foreign media of trying to stir up unrest through their reports
on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who completes one month in detention on
Monday.
The state-run Kyemon newspaper said in a commentary Sunday that
foreign media have made ``slanderous accusations'' against the government by
``taking advantage of the incidents of May 30'' _ the day Suu Kyi and many of
her supporters were detained in a crackdown in northern Myanmar.
The
junta has shown no sign of relenting, despite international outrage and demands
for her release.
Dissidents say Suu Kyi was arrested after a pro-junta
mob attacked her motorcade while she was on a political tour, killing up to 70
people. The government says the motorcade tried to drive through a group of
anti-Suu Kyi demonstrators, triggering a clash that left four people dead.
The Kyemon, or Mirror, accused Myanmar's ethnic Karen rebels, the British
Broadcasting Corp., the Voice of America and the Norway-based Democratic Voice
of Burma of spreading disinformation.
The junta's version of the
incident _ including its claim that Suu Kyi is under detention to protect her
from unidentified assassins _ has drawn wide skepticism or outright ridicule
from many observers and governments.
The Kyemon said foreign media
accounts were meant ``to instigate unrest, create anarchy, bring down a military
government and install the government that would listen to the dictates of
colonialists.''
It criticized foreign media for not accepting the
assurances of U.N. envoy Razali Ismail, who met with Suu Kyi earlier this month
and confirmed she was unhurt.
``They are not worried about the well
being of (Suu Kyi), but are looking for a reason to point fingers and put the
blame on the government,'' it said.
The commentary didn't mention
Razali's expressions of deep worry about Suu Kyi's continued detention.
The government came under renewed criticism last week after a British
government minister said Suu Kyi was being held at the notorious Insein prison
near the capital, Yangon. The government has denied that she is there, but
refuses to disclose her location.
The detention has halted a
reconciliation effort between the junta and Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy party. Razali started the attempt in October 2000 in a bid to end
Myanmar's political deadlock.
The junta came to power in 1988 after
crushing a pro-democracy movement. It called elections in 1990, but refused to
hand over power when the NLD won.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Nation
DISSIDENTS UNDER FIRE: Govt to rein in Burma
groups
Published on Jun 29, 2003
Officials act after
Rangoon warned of plot to kidnap its envoy in Bangkok
Thai leaders are
moving to regulate Burmese illegal migrants in the country as the government
seeks to control movements of dissident groups launching campaigns against the
Burmese junta.
Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said yesterday
that the government would seriously review the refugee status granted to a
number of Burmese migrants by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).
The Burmese junta earlier sent a letter to the Thai government
warning that dissidents planned to kidnap the Burmese Ambassador to Thailand.
Eleven Burmese dissidents were arrested in Bangkok on Friday for
preparing a demonstration to call for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
All hold refugee cards issued by the UNHCR. They are
currently detained by immigration authorities and will most likely be deported
to a third country.
Wan Noor said that the refugee cards issued by the
UNHCR were not endorsed by Thai law and that the government should consider a
review of current regulations.
Thailand has traditionally been generous
to these displaced people. However, if they cause trouble in the country,
Thailand will need to put stringent regulations on them, said Wan Noor.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the government would co-ordinate
with the UNHCR to revise the process of awarding refugee status to Burmese
migrants.
The Thai leadership feels that clarity is needed to determine
whether a person is a refugee or a dissident seeking to use Thailand as a place
to launch political attacks against their own home government.
Kyaw Ko,
secretary-general of the Thai-based All Burmese Students' Democratic Front, said
that Burmese students living in Thailand respected Thai law and had never
planned a raid on the Burmese Embassy.
"We only hold peaceful
demonstrations. If the Thai authorities forbid us to do so, we won't organise
them," he said.
He said that in the 15 years since he and his
counterparts had fled their motherland, no change had occurred in Burma. But, he
added, Thailand will never be peaceful if Burma does not become a democratic
society.
Meanwhile United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail met
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, the chairman of Asean foreign
ministers, yesterday to discuss regional efforts to lobby for the freedom of
Aung San Suu Kyi.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Nation
Letters - Let the sanctions flow to prove we
care about the Burmese
Published on Jun 29, 2003
Just how much longer can the world sit back and let the Burmese
military junta get away with its outrageous behaviour? Don?t people think that
the terrible suffering of the kind and gentle Burmese people has gone on for too
long?
Japan, Burma?s main supplier of foreign aid, is reportedly
considering withdrawing aid or sanctions of some kind over the detention of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. I certainly hope they do, because Japan
needs to show the world, and especially Southeast Asia which suffered so cruelly
at its hands during World War II, that it has a desire to be a dependable and
friendly regional leader.
But it?s just a pity that it has taken Suu
Kyi?s re-detention to force it to make a stand. For years now, hundreds of
thousands of innocent Burmese have suffered an even worse fate than Suu Kyi, and
it would be nice to think that their plight would have kicked Tokyo into gear.
But better late than never I guess.
I know there are people out there
who care about the Burmese. I clearly remember US federal authorities
withdrawing the right of individual US states from imposing their own sanctions
on Rangoon not so long ago on the grounds that foreign policy was their
prerogative. Massachusetts, I think was the main state involved. This was a
regrettable move, but the fact that people in various US states felt compelled
to show their own displeasure at the murderous junta was very encouraging. I
take my hat off to Massachusetts and those other states.
If Japan does
go ahead and withdraws its aid, let?s hope Bangkok will gain a conscience as
well.
Frank Capella
Bangkok
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Rediff Special/Mohan Guruswamy
June 27, 2003
Do we
have a Burma Policy?
Yesterday, Mohan Guruswamy explained
why Burma matters to India. Today, he discusses India's inconsistent Burma
policy in a fascinating news special.
Aung San Suu Kyi's mother Daw Khin Kyi
was made Burma's ambassador to India in 1960.
Suu Kyi, then 15, continued
her education in New Delhi where her circle of friends included Rajiv and Sanjay
Gandhi and many others at Lady Sriram College. She went on to Oxford University
where she took a PPE. Here she met her future husband Michael Aris, an Oxford
don.
Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988 to visit her critically ill
mother, but the events sparked off by Ne Win's obsession with the number 9 swept
her up. Soon she was leading the struggle for democracy in Burma. On August 26,
1988 she told a cheering audience of thousands of students, office workers and
monks in Rangoon: 'I could not, as my father's daughter remain indifferent to
all that was going on. This is Burma's second struggle for independence!'
Bowing to the pressure the generals agreed to elections in May 1990. The
National League for Democracy led by Suu Kyi won 392 of the 495 seats it
contested while the military-backed National Unity Party won just 10. The
military refused to hand over power and she continues to fight for democracy
with a little help from her friends. It helps to have gone to Oxford.
Then there is George Fernandes whose official residence hosts people
like Tint Swe, a former Burmese MP who recently said: ' I would like everyone to
know that political problems cannot be solved by military operations, whether it
be in Kashmir, Burma and India's northeast!' This ambivalence manifests
itself in other ways as well.
On February 11, 1998 a joint mission of the
Indian Army and Navy codenamed Operation Leech captured 36 insurgent fighters
belonging to the Karen National Army and the Arakan Army. Our defense minister,
who is intellectually, morally and otherwise committed to the Burmese freedom
fighters, wanted them released and ordered that no such operations can be
conducted in the future without the clearance from a Committee of
Secretaries.
The then Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral
Vishnu Bhagwat, refused to heed this arguing that choice of interdiction was
determined by operational considerations, and that once the government had
tasked the armed forces it could not subject it to micro management by the
bureaucracy. George Fernandes complained to the press that '73 people are in
jail, 37 are fisherfolk,' and hence this was unacceptable. The only problem is
it takes time to sift ordinary fisherfolk from insurgents, just as it does in
Kashmir and the Naga hills where his friend Tint Swe ominously reminded us that
political problems couldn't be solved by military means.
The easy
sanctuary available to the insurgents compounds our problems in the Naga hills
across the Burmese border. For many years the Indian Army had the tacit
permission of the Burmese military authorities to pursue insurgents deep inside
Burma. Ever since the Burmese authorities detected a bias or sympathy for Suu
Kyi they have denied the Indian Army entry into Burmese territory.
Some
years ago I crossed over into the Burmese town of Tamu from Moreh in Manipur.
Tamil traders dominate the business in Tamu, but the really big business is in
the hands of Chinese businessmen. Tamu is like a Wild West town with more guns
in it than people. It may mostly be a shantytown but it has some really good
Chinese restaurants where the fiery fare can de dowsed down by plenty of
Heineken beer.
The trade across Tamu/Moreh now exceeds Rs 1,000 crores
and the exports from India, by head loads, consists of light engineering goods
and machinery, durables like pressure cookers, suitcases, pharmaceuticals,
garments and lots of acetic anhydride needed to process heroin. Most of the
goods go into southern China. On the reverse side there is a flow of Scotch
whiskey and other fine liquors, silks from China, teak logs and lots of drugs on
their way to Kolkata and Chittagong for export to the US, to feed the unending
appetite of the American underclass.
But this is not without collateral
damage in India. According to Manchen Hangzou, originally from Manipur and an
AIDS researcher now working in New Delhi, over 40% of Manipuri youth are
addicted to heroin and other drugs, and because of indiscriminate needle usage
over 50% of addicts are HIV positive. This is no longer a time bomb. The bomb
has exploded in northeastern India and the fallout is traveling westward.
This has not even left the security forces untouched. A few years ago a
CRPF convoy was intercepted by the Bihar police to find that it was carrying
over seven truckloads of drugs. Investigations revealed that an IGP of the CRPF
was the mastermind, but the matter has got lost in judicial processes and
lethargic prosecution and the officer runs about Delhi, quite freely.
The
problems of Burma are not going to go away with the replacement of the military
junta by a democracy led by the still popular Aung San Suu Kyi. On the contrary,
a government headed by a decent soul like Suu Kyi could just be what will
trigger off a break-up of that country. Suu Kyi might just end up like Hamid
Karzai in Afghanistan, guarded day and night by foreign troops. In either case
these troubles are going to spillover into India in larger doses. The drugs will
not stop flowing just as it has not done in Afghanistan, even after the Taliban
was routed. Our tragedy is we face enormous problems but our options are very
limited. They are only made worse by an indecisive government. Who cares who is
number one, when the result is still going to be the same?
In 1978 Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, then foreign minister, visited Burma. In Rangoon he promised
that the body of King Thibaw lying in an obscure grave in Ratnagiri would be
returned to Burma where it could be interred with honors befitting a king.
Likewise, the body of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, who was
buried in Rangoon, would be returned to India for similarly befitting interment.
He also promised a pension to King Thibaw's granddaughter Tu Tu. A princely sum
of Rs 250 per mensem was sanctioned, but the Burmese royalty in India is yet to
see a paisa of it! Our failure to do even this much tells a great deal about our
Burma policy.
--------------------------------------------------------------
New Straits Times
The Big Picture: Myanmar should
reciprocate goodwill
Munir
Majid
June 29:
THE continued detention
by the junta in Myanmar of Aung San Suu Kyi puts tremendous strain on the Asean
policy of constructive engagement.
With all the pressure in the world
against the detention, it is a huge step backward for Myanmar. For Asean, it
tests the regional grouping's credibility.
It is therefore not surprising
that Asean, in a departure from a longtime policy stance of non-involvement in
members' domestic affairs, should directly call upon the junta to release Suu
Kyi and to take steps to move towards an amicable political solution with
her.
Actually, the matter is not any longer an exclusively internal one.
While generalised concern over Suu Kyi's fate and the junta's manner of ruling
the country may be interpreted differently, specific acceptance of the
diplomatic intervention of the United Nations Secretary-General's emissary, Tan
Sri Razali Ismail, and of sponsored membership of Asean, carry with them an
admission of right of international concern.
Malaysia, too, has a
particular concern, having sponsored that membership of Asean in 1997 on the
premise constructive engagement would improve the situation, rather than dealing
with Myanmar the other way around, that is condemnation and
isolation.
Leaving aside the semantics and polemics about abuse of human
rights and so on, Myanmar has responsibilities, if not commitments, to
discharge, which are the badge of membership of Asean which, in turn, is a
ticket to economic development and progress.
Malaysia has shown real
willingness to be a partner in Myanmar's economic development. It was reflected,
for example, in the large investment mission to that country led by our Prime
Minister in August last year, in which I participated.
I could see the
earnestness with which Malaysian businessmen approached economic partnership
with Myanmar, (such partnerships already exist, as in shipping) and also too,
the potential of a country frozen in time but still with good English, legal
infrastructure, huge natural resources and, most of all, high
promise.
Not only Malaysia, but also other Asean member countries, such
as Singapore, have considerable economic interests in Myanmar. These include
providing the financial ser-vices gateway (and also getaway) to the people and
country.
All this would go to waste if there was disengagement and no
further commitment by Myanmar's largest donor country Japan, the United States
and Britain, should all their threats be carried out.
Choices To Make THE
junta has two choices. The leadership could either take the country further
back, retreat into its shell and lose whatever little progress it has made in
recent years. Or it could take steps to come out of the current difficult
situation.
Malaysia has always been an honest broker with Myanmar, and
the junta would do the country well to accept Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed
Ha-mid Albar's request to visit Suu Kyi, wherever she may be
incarcera-ted.
Already, there are unsubstantiated reports that Suu Kyi
has been assassinated, like her father before her, which would make it extremely
difficult indeed for Myanmar to get out of the situation it is in.
The
sanctions and greater isolation that would come, if those reports were true,
would consign the country to a bleak, dark age.
On the premise those
reports are untrue, as appear likely, it would be a good move to kill them by
allowing Syed Hamid to see her.
Malaysia could also then help Myanmar
rehabilitate yet again.
The junta has shown a tendency in the past to be
even more unyielding the greater it is pressed. Given Malaysia's engagement with
the leadership, the Foreign Minister could perhaps soften the harsh words and
threats of the world over, without lightening or downplaying the consequences to
the country should there be an impasse.
The junta has a responsibility to
the people of Myanmar to spare them further degradation of their lives and
stagnation of hope. When I was in Yangon, I bought packets of the famed sambal
Rangoon my mother used to make when she was alive, but discovered that from
Myanmar the sambal is more onion and dust than dried prawn and belacan paste. It
was sad to savour the deterioration.
The longyi (Burmese sarongs) I
bought were hard and stiff. Some of those who bought precious stones and
jewellery paid at a discount in local currency on the understanding that
deposits would be made in foreign currency in accounts in Singapore.
Hope
lies outside the country, or getting out of the country. Such is the deprivation
of life and hope for the people.
It is not a matter of some esoteric
affiliation with abstract concepts of human rights and some such principles; it
is simply a case of being deprived of the appurtenances of life, the basics and
the hope.
Myanmar's military junta must not be blind to the suffering and
the loss of hope of the people and paint itself into a corner over Suu Kyi. When
a way out is still possible it should grab it, with the help of friends of the
country such as Malaysia.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Boston Globe
Among Burmese, hope for reform is
fading
Frustrations mount as junta detains Suu Kyi
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Globe Staff, 6/29/2003
RANGOON, Burma -- In the shadows of this country's most famous monument,
the glinting gold-domed Shwedagon pagoda, a man lowers his voice to discuss the
latest news from forbidden radio broadcasts about the military regime's
detention of the widely revered pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. ''We
would love to rise up and put her where she belongs -- as our president,''
whispered Than, a 22-year-old student. ''But we saw what happened 15 years
ago,'' he added, when the military regime crushed a pro-democracy uprising,
killing thousands of protesters, according to many accounts, and jailing Suu Kyi
for the next six years.
''This regime is as bad as Saddam Hussein.
There's no hope for us unless the UN or the US intervenes,'' Than
said.
In a country where citizens are forbidden from having foreigners
visit their homes and are punished for criticizing the regime, dozens of
discreet conversations with laborers, monks, university students, teachers,
businessmen, former civil servants, and farmers revealed widespread discontent.
Residents expressed anger over corruption, decaying social services, political
repression, and above all, the usurping of what many see as Suu Kyi's rightful
place as their elected leader.
On May 30, government loyalists attacked
Suu Kyi and her supporters on a country road near Mandalay, in northern Burma.
Scores of supporters of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, or
NLD, were injured, killed, or arrested. The British government says it has
information that the Nobel peace laureate is being held in a specially built hut
at Insein Prison, the country's most notorious lockup.
Burma's leaders
deny this but won't say where Suu Kyi is. Representatives from the Red Cross
were permitted last week to visit other NLD detainees.
Frustration has
mounted in the international community over Suu Kyi's detention, with Malaysia
and Thailand taking the unusual step of publicly criticizing Burma's leaders,
and Japan, the country's biggest donor, freezing aid and threatening to reverse
its engagement policy.
The Bush administration announced Wednesday it was
preparing an executive order to stiffen sanctions against Burma's regime, which
calls the country Myanmar.
But Western diplomats here doubt that any
pressure will sway the military, which has been in power for 40 years, to relent
on Suu Kyi, whom they see as a challenge to their power.
Unlike China's
leaders, who have achieved colossal economic growth while crushing dissent,
Burma's junta has delivered low growth, hyperinflation, and a higher standard of
living only for elite military and the families of well-connected business
people, according to Western diplomats and Burmese residents.
Rice
farmers in the western Irrawaddy River delta protest that the government takes a
percentage of their crops to feed soldiers and civil servants, and buys the bulk
at a cut rate to export at high prices. Monks seeking food donations in the area
say they can barely gather enough for themselves every morning.
In a
ramshackle wooden school in a northern village near Inle Lake, teachers say they
struggle to instruct 50 to 60 children per class without books, compared with
half that many 20 years ago.
A Rangoon travel agent says he resents that
the government tightly restricts cellphone sales and car imports, creating a
black market with hugely inflated prices. A ban on importing used automobiles
means cars increase in value; a 15-year-old Toyota Corolla cost the travel agent
$30,000 last year.
Small-business people protest that the government
exports cheap consumer goods and natural resources -- teak, rubber, and jade and
other gems -- to neighbor states including China and Malaysia, but imports from
them at higher prices goods such as tires and shoes made from Burmese
materials.
A factory manager said cheap Burmese-made bicycles and clothes
are sometimes exported and reimported at higher cost, with brand names affixed
from another country in deals that benefit crooked members of Burma's regime.
But the government and big-business owners say the junta has maintained social
order, invested in highways, electricity, dams, and railways, and opened remote
areas to development and tourism by brokering truces with numerous rebel groups.
They also say the government has opened up the socialist economy to private
enterprise in a country where even toothpaste was a black market commodity 15
years ago.
Nye Nye, 32, a hotel worker in the northern Shan state, said
transportation, communications, and access to electricity are better than 10
years ago.
Even so, ''if there were an election today, the NLD would win
simply because people want change,'' he said.
In a written reply to a
Globe request for comment, government spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Hla Min said:
''Critics . . . are claiming in a wishful way all things negative.
Some
may be slightly close and most are far from reality. But as long as peace,
stability and national unity [are] maintained . . . a peaceful functioning
democracy is possible.''
The government's website denies critics'
accusations of illegal arrests of democracy activists, forced labor, forced sale
of rice at reduced prices, forced relocation, and confiscation of
land.
''Is this government . . . as bad as it's painted outside?
Absolutely not,'' said a wealthy businessman who asked that his name not be
used.
''There is more freedom in relative terms than before 1988 -- more
privatization, more opportunities, a better standard of living.''
Many
ordinary people disagree, saying their lives have gotten worse. Undercover
intelligence agents are everywhere, discouraging people from speaking their
minds. A printer for a government newspaper snorted that all the articles are
lies, but said he keeps his mouth shut because he needs the job.
When
they are sure no one can overhear, many people shift the conversation to ''the
Lady'' or ''Our Leader,'' as many call Suu Kyi. In some villages, people believe
she has magical powers.
Like Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, who spent
decades in prison or exile, the mythic status of the daughter of Burma's
assassinated independence hero, General Aung San, grew steadily during her years
of house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2002, until the
restrictions were lifted a year ago. Her party won a landslide victory in 1990
elections that were not recognized by the junta.
Some believe the
government sponsored the recent attack on her because it was furious that huge
crowds attended NLD rallies since Suu Kyi's release from her last stint of house
arrest last year.
Though most are too fearful to utter her name, many
Burmese cling to Suu Kyi as the country's last hope for reform. Residents say
the army has expanded so dramatically in size and weaponry since 1988 that
protesters stand even less chance today.
Thaung, 56, a retired teacher
who supports himself by guiding tourists for $5 a day, says the Buddhist faith
enables Burmese to tolerate oppression without rising up. ''In 1988, everyone's
frustration boiled over,'' he said quietly. ''Now we're boiling inside. Armed
struggle is the only way to dislodge the military. But if people rise up, they
will be shot down again.''
Damar, 40, a monk from Bago in central Burma,
participated in the 1988 demonstrations alongside other monks and students. He
is convinced that monks and students, two respected groups, could succeed in
ousting the junta if they dared unite again, but says people's focus on politics
has diminished as they struggle ever harder to survive.
The junta has
donated toward building ostentatious pagodas in hopes of winning public esteem.
It has tried to divide monks, Damar said, by sending spies into monasteries to
spot troublemakers, and singling out some clerics for such gifts as sport
utility vehicles.
''What monk needs a Land Cruiser?'' said Damar, walking
barefoot by the roadside to collect food donations as a monk wearing sunglasses
drove by in a SUV. ''These gifts are to create jealousy and prevent cooperation
among us.''
Outside the cool sanctuary of Sule pagoda in the heart of
Rangoon, the scene of a major protest and bloody crackdown in 1988, a
middle-aged man holding a cage glanced around furtively before urging a visitor
to donate a small bill to set a bird free, as a prayer for the release of
political prisoners.
''We are like sparrows in this cage,'' he whispered.
''All we want is freedom.''
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times - JUNE 29, 2003 SUN
MYANMAR
REFUGEES
UN agency steps on Thaksin's toes
BANGKOK - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has lashed
out at the United Nations refugee agency for granting protection to exiled
Myanmar people in Thailand without his consent.
He told reporters on
Friday that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had
granted its protection to exiled Myanmar citizens in Thailand as if it had
sovereignty over the kingdom.
'If the UN can issue a piece of paper for
them to have freedom in our country, where is our sovereignty? We have to keep
the order and discuss with the agency again about its role,' he said.
'Of
course, we are a member of the UN, but just a member, not its
subordinate.'
Some 110,000 refugees from Myanmar live in camps on the
border that are administered by the Thai government. However, many others live
elsewhere in the country by registering with the UNHCR in Bangkok.
'Anyone holding a UNHCR card must stay in their camp and are not
supposed to freely roam across the country,' Mr Thaksin said.
Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said the National Security Council and the
Interior Ministry would meet the UN to review protection granted to exiled
Myanmar refugees.
More than a million people have fled economic and
political difficulties in Myanmar to seek a better life in Thailand.
The
UNHCR office in Bangkok said it had the right to grant refugee status because
Thailand was not a signatory to the main UN treaty on refugees and did not have
its own legislation to determine refugee status.
'Under the terms of its
statute, the UNHCR has been empowered by the international community to carry
out refugee-status determination itself in the absence of a state procedure,'
said spokesman Kirsten Young.
'Obviously, we only do that with the
consent and cooperation of the state in which we do it. And we've been doing
this in Thailand now for the past two decades.'
Mr Surakiart said
sanctions from many countries against Myanmar over the detention of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi would worsen the refugee problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------