BNI Weekly News - September 29, 2003
. Arrested Burmese activists sent to Special Detention Center
. Motherhood a Risk for Burmese Migrants
. A female Refugee Detained in Cox’s Bazar Jail
. Ex-Political Prisoners Seek Justice from Thai Town
. Rupees 5.1 million Building for Indo-Burma Border Trade Inaugurated
. US students to fast on Burmese student leader's birthday
. Goods allegedly imported from Burma seized by Indian customs
. Amid Pressure, Suu Kyi's Operation May be Way Out for Junta
. Burmese military delegation visit a hilly town in Bangladesh
. The Moral Authority of ASEAN
. India enquire Suu Kyi's well-being
. National Council of the Union of Burma On its 11th founding anniversary
. Clash with police leave several Burmese Muslim refugees hurt
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Arrested Burmese activists sent to Special Detention Center
26th September 2003:
Fifteen detained Burmese activists who were arrested by Thai authority in an
attempt to stage a demonstration in front of Burmese Embassy, Bangkok were
sent to the special detention center (SDC) on September 25, a representative
from UNHCR Thailand Office to the Immigration Detention Center (IDC), Mr
Boonprom Unsuwan said.
Mr Boonprom clarified on transferring of Burmese activists to SDC that
“There are many refugees. These people who tried to stage demonstration in
front of Burmese Embassy are now confined inside detention center for
political prisoners,”
The detained Burmese activists were currently holding stay permit issued by
UNHCR Office in Bangkok.
Before detainees were sent from SDC to IDC, Ko Nay Min Tar said on the phone
from IDC, “They are putting pressure to transfer to SDC. Even the UNHCR
could not protect us. They cut our telephone conversation frequently. They
treat us like we were criminals and we have to sit on the floor now.”
On 18th September, Burmese student activists were arrested in front of
Burmese Embassy while trying to protest against the military government who
brutally took power in last 15 years in Burma.
The international communities have been mounting pressure on military
government ever since the regime brutally crack down country’s democratic
leader Aung San Suu Kyi on May 30. However, Thai authorities enforced their
restriction particularly on Burmese activists by denying their rights to
stage peaceful demonstration in front of Burmese Embassy.
In the mean time, other 11 compatriot Burmese activists from Democratic
Federation of Burma (DFB) were also detained last July inside special
detention center (SDC) with the same case.
By issuing a statement, Human Rights Watch (New York) urged Thai government
to release these fifteen detainees on 25 September.#
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Motherhood a Risk for Burmese Migrants
Marwaan Macan-Markar
26th September 2003:
MAE SOT, Thailand, (IPS) - When she heads to the only health clinic in this
border town where Burmese migrant workers feel welcome, Khin SoeYee runs the
risk of being arrested.
She had a close call one recent Saturday, when the Thai police stopped her
and her husband on their way to the Mae Tao clinic. What saved them were the
cries of their 10-month old son that needed medical attention, says the
32-year-old Soe Yee.
But this was just momentary relief for this mother of two children, who has
been arrested on four previous occasions while heading for the clinic.
During all four times, the couple were taken into police custody and kept in
a cell for a day before being released.
“There is so much fear we have when coming to the clinic,” says Soe Yee, a
woman with a gaunt face with sunken cheeks. “There is no choice for us but
to take this risk, especially for women like me, mothers.”
What lies behind this price she has to pay for motherhood is her status in
Thailand. She is an undocumented migrant, who slipped across the border from
Burma three years ago and has been a farm worker ever since, picking
potatoes, mushrooms and tomatoes. Her daily wage is 60 baht (1.50 U.S.
dollars).
This town has an estimated 100,000 Burmese like Soe Yee, who have fled their
military-ruled country in search of a job - any job - in Mae Sot, an area
ringed by forest-covered hills on the Thai-Burma border.
Currently, there are an estimated one million migrant workers from Burma,
more than half of whom are undocumented migrants, spread across Thailand.
They are employed in labour intensive and unskilled work that labour rights
activists call “dirty and dangerous” because locals do not want them.
For Dr Cynthia Maung, who runs the Mae Tao clinic, the travails women like
Soe Yee face are part of a more complex reality that she and her 150-member
staff have to encounter in caring for the many female migrant workers who
come calling.
Last year, this clinic, which is made up of a few single-story buildings
that line a gravel path on the outskirts of this small town, saw an
estimated 35,000 cases, a marked increase from the 2,000 cases it attended
to when it opened, in 1989.
During the first half of this year, for instance, the clinic assisted
1,441pregnant women, of which 338 -- or 23 percent -- were teenage
pregnancies, states a study on reproductive health at the Mae Tao clinic.
In addition, there were 1,231 patients who came for antenatal care who
tested for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, the study adds.
Further, the study notes that over 10 percent of the women who gave birth
delivered babies with low weight of less than 2.5 kilogrammes.
Likewise, “the abortion rate is increasing, particularly unsafe abortions,”
Maung, a migrant herself from Burma, told IPS. “When you look at the
reproductive health admissions to the clinic, you see that there are 30
post-abortion care cases per 100 deliveries.”
What some women may take for granted in the modern cities of the world -
emergency obstetrical care - is very much a rarity for the migrant workers,
with only four percent of pregnant women having access to it.
“The reproductive health situation for migrant workers is not a happy one,”
says Than Than Aye of Social Action for Women (SAW), a Mae Sot-based
non-governmental organisation (NGO). “There is little awareness about family
planning, about sexual health issues and diseases like HIV.”
That is compounded by cultural attitudes, economic realities, the working
conditions in the garment factories that have attracted thousands of women,
and the political climate they live in.
Regards condom use, for instance, health workers like Than Aye have found
that migrant women feel inhibited in using condoms because “they are shy”--
they fear being ridiculed by their peers.
Besides that, she adds, they are still influenced by what happens in Burma,
where if “a woman is caught with a condom, she can be arrested on the
grounds she is a prostitute”.
Furthermore, both women's rights and health workers admit during interviews
that the migrant workers have limited access to free condoms. Purchasing
condoms would mean losing over half a day's average wage, which ranges
between 60 baht (1.50 U.S. dollars) to 80 (2 dollars).
But Burmese labour rights activists like Moe Swe argue that there are other
factors besides low condom use that have contributed to both an increase in
abortion rates and related reproductive health concerns.
“The factories in Mae Sot do not like the migrant workers they have hired to
get pregnant,” Swe, secretary of Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association, said in
an interview. “In July, 20 pregnant women were fired from a knitting factory
because they were pregnant.”
“The female workers are not entitled to maternal leave, to breastfeed their
babies,” he adds. “Most women also want to get back to work soon due to the
money they desperately need. They often return after a month from delivering
their babies.”
To that can be added the confined lives that the thousands of women working
in the many garment factories have to live. The employers force the workers
to live in the factories, where services for health care are insufficient,
reveals Swe. According to Than Aye, the atmosphere migrant workers live in
has also contributed to unwanted pregnancies, abandoned children and
hundreds of “stateless children”.
“At the safehouse run by SAW, we have 12 children who were abandoned by
their parents, illegal migrants,” she says. “They range from a 10-day-old
baby to a two-and-a-half-year-old child.”
Since July, she adds, over 700 children born to Burmese migrant workers in
this region have been accounted for as being stateless, since Thai law does
not recognise them as citizens.
“There are many restrictions that the workers face, including long hours,”
says Maung. “Attempts to change this are difficult, because it is not easy
to send medical teams into the factories to deal with reproductive health
concerns.”#
______________________________________________
A female Refugee Detained in Cox’s Bazar Jail
Cox’s Bazar, September 26:
A female Rohingya refugee from Khutupalong camp named Shajeda Begum, 22, is
being detained in Cox’s Bajar Jail, in Bangladesh, according to our source.
Seven female Rohingya refugees were arrested on Sunday, while a clash was
occurred at noon between police and refugees. The arrested refugees are:
Shajeda begum, 22, Fatama Begum, 24, Hazara Khatun, 23, Hasina Begum, 27,
Zahida Begum, 20, Shuna Meher, 30, and Begum, 21.But, six of them were
released from Ukhiya Thana (police station) except Shajeda Begum on that
day. Later she was sent to Cox’s Bazar jail, according to a refugee.
Camp officials said the clash ensued at noon following arrest of two alleged
Rohingya criminals at the camp. A group of Rohingya refugees, equipped with
lethal weapons, swooped on the policemen and Ansars (militiamen) in a bid to
snatch the two Rohingyas from custody.
“We are forced to repatriate, for this, we peacefully demonstrate against
the forced repatriation instead of male refugees as we believe less
harassment from Bangladesh authorities towards female refugees. About 60 refugees are
injured as we are very weak and have no intention to harm to the police and
Ansars. We have no lethal weapons and have only sticks,” said victim Shuna
Meher.
When asked one of UNHCR officials, named Mr. Khobir, administration officer,
he “didn’t wish to comment about the incident.”
Another refugee said, “ the victim Shajeda Begum is detained as an example
to show other refugees if anyone doesn’t comply the order of the camp
authorities, he/ she would be jailed like her.”
Another refugee said, “we don’t want to go back to our homeland until and
unless there is congenial atmosphere is prevailed. We know that some
repatriated refugees have already come back to Bangladesh and are now taking
shelter outside the camps. In Burma, there is still existing forced
extortion, restriction of
movement, arbitrary taxation and food problem, how can we wish to go back
home.”
After the event, additional police force was deployed in and around the camp
to avoid further incident, but male refugees had fled the camp to avoid
arrest. Now,
the tense situation is prevailing in the refugee camp and no one is allowed
to come out of the camp, said another refugee.
Discrimination, violent behavior, and forced labor practices by the Burma
authorities triggered mass departure of more than 250,000 Rohingya Muslims
between 1991 and 1992. Since 1992, approximately 238,443 refugees have
returned. Today less than 17,000 refugees remain in two camps south of Cox’s
Bazar in Bangladesh. #
___________________________________________
Ex-Political Prisoners Seek Justice from Thai Town
Marwaan Macan-Markar
September 26, 2003
MAE SOT, Thailand, Sep 25 (IPS) - Bo Kyi knows how cruel a prison term in
Burma can be. He spent seven years behind bars for his political activism,
and he was just in his twenties when this ordeal began.
There are many others living in this town of small, winding streets and
dilapidated buildings on the Thai-Burmese border who can identify with Kyi,
men like Nay Rein Kyaw and Tate Naing, who have suffered a similar fate at
the hands of Burma's military government.
Rein Kyaw, for instance, was forced behind bars from 1992 through 2000, six
of those years spent in Insein, the largest prison in Burma. This sprawling
jail in Rangoon has an estimated 9,000 to 10,000 prisoners, including
political activists.
But their flight to Mae Sot has meant neither an escape from the past nor an
attempt to start anew as free people from Burma. On the contrary, they have
chosen to cash in the liberty they currently enjoy - however fragile that is
- to bring down the walls of oppression in their country.
The path they have opted for is the one they know best: confronting
Rangoon's junta about the prisons in the country, in general, and the plight
of the over 1,600 political prisoners in particular.
''We want the world to know about our experience and to keep reminding the
world about the many still in prison who have been isolated or forgotten,''
says Kyi, a soft-spoken man, who belongs to a group that is spearheading
this effort, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Membership to the AAPP requires only one qualification -- having served a
jail term in Burma as a political prisoner. Currently the association has 49
members, 20 of whom live in Mae Sot.
Thus, they monitor prison conditions, publicise arrests, and help the
families of the arrested. They have also built Mae Sot's only museum - one
that seeks to preserve the horror that prevails in the 39 prisons spread
across Burma, and its forced labour camps.
This small museum, built in the shape of a large square cell and with a cell
door for an entrance, has on its walls a narrative of torment and violence
that the junta has unleashed on its civilians, both within and outside
prison.
Here, for instance, are shown the positions all the prisoners have to assume
when taking a bath - they have to form a line facing each other and can only
pour water from a flat container when ordered to do so -- or the way they
are punished, and the iron bars that keep them shackled.
One wall is covered by the names and the faded photos of the men and women
who have been forced into prison for their political views following the
1988 pro-democracy uprising in Burma.
The faces that stare out include the 82 people who have died in prison, the
18 parliamentarians in jail and the 59 Buddhist monks locked up for their
politics.
“I still have nightmares after what they (the military government) did to me
in prison,” says 33-year-old Rein Kyaw, who chose the contents and designed
the museum, located at the back of the AAPP office. “This is, in a way, my
revenge for what they did. To expose their crimes.”
It is an effort that lends weight to the pressure being mounted by human
rights groups such as Amnesty International and environmental lobbies like
EarthRights International about the plight of the political prisoners and
those forced into labour camps.
Kyi, however, is well aware of the risk the AAPP members are taking.
Part of that stems from the conditions under which the former political
prisoners, like thousands of other Burmese, live in Thailand. They do not
enjoy rights as refugees, since Thailand is not a signatory to the
international refugee convention.
As a result, they are dogged by the fear of being hauled up by Thai
authorities if and when their political activities against Rangoon touch a
raw nerve in Bangkok. ''We are living under a form of self-imposed house
arrest,'' says Kyi, the slightly built joint secretary of the AAPP. ''We
don't feel secure, we can be arrested.''
Recent actions by Thai government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have
exacerbated these worries, after it threatened to crack down on Burmese
political activists protesting the May 30 arrest in Burma of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The Thai government has only one policy now. It will not tolerate the
activism of any Burmese group in the country,” Sunai Phasuk, an analyst at
the regional human rights lobby Forum Asia, told IPS.
It is a policy that runs against the reputation Thailand has earned as a
country hospitable to dissidents, freedom fighters and victims of war
fleeing the nations around it. Cambodians, for instance, were among those
who found sanctuary while their country was ravaged by war.
Currently, however, the Burmese are the ones who continue to cross the
border, seeking refuge from the iron grip of the junta, which has been in
power since 1962.
There are close to 100,000 refugees confined to camps along the Thai-Burmese
border, an estimated one million migrant workers, and thousands of political
exiles.
But organisations like AAPP have also another reason to feel edgy - the
possible presence of Burmese intelligence men monitoring the activities of
dissidents in Mae Sot.
“It is a genuine fear, because we are not sure about who the new Burmese in
town are,” says Myat Thu, of the Burma Correspondents Club, whose membership
includes over 50 Burmese journalists working in the area.
For groups like the AAPP to champion their cause the face of such worries is
“remarkable,” he adds. “It is difficult and tough work they are doing to
help the political prisoners in Burma.”#
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Rupees 5.1 million Building for Indo-Burma Border Trade Inaugurated;
Money exchange system in border trade discussed
25th September 2003:
A trade building cost Rs 5.1 million was officially opened at Moreh on the
bank of Indo-Burma border while two-day meeting of State-level authorities
from India and Burma’s district-level authorities was held from September 21
to 22 to boost the border trade between two countries.
In the inauguration ceremony of the trade building, Mr Th. Devendra,
Minister of Trade and Industry of Minipur State, hailed to prevent illegal
smuggling in order to improve border trade.
The minister said there should be information sharing and need to gain
public awareness in order to prevent smuggling between two countries. The
barter system had been replaced by legal certificate to exchange money
legally, the communication became easier as direct telephone system between
two countries had started and the coordinating by the traders was very
important to kick start the border trade between two countries, the minister
added.
Around fifty businesspersons discussed for the implementation and details of
the newly replaced legal certificate system to exchange money during the
two-days meeting and the meeting was conclude at 3 pm on September 22.
The Minipur State authorities such as Minister of Trade and Industry Mr Th.
Devendra, Minister of Energy Phuzathan, Minster of Hill Tribe Development
Nandakumar, Minister of Human Resource Development D. K. Kourngthang,
Minister of Planning and Prevention of Natural Disasters N. Biren Singh,
Deputy Manager of Central Bank of India and regional Commissioner for
Customs along with twenty-members delegation led by Tamu District Peace and
Development Council Major Maung Maung Aye attended the two-days meeting.
Indo-Burma border trade was officially opened since April 1995. Due to
strong sanction by US and western nations, Burma is facing capital exchange
problems in its foreign trade.#
_________________________________--
US students to fast on Burmese student leader's birthday
25 September 2003:
Student organizers from ten universities across the United States have
called on fellow students around the world to join in a 24 hour fast on
October 18, the birthday of Burma’s long serving imprisoned student leader
Min Ko Naing.
According to a statement signed by student organizers of the ten
universities, the fast has been organized to highlight the students movement
for democracy in Burma, which has been ruled by one of the world's brutal
military dictators.
The statement also added: "October 18 is Min Ko Naing's birthday, and we
urge you to refuse to eat on this day and hold a film show and other
activities in order to draw attention to the student struggle in Burma".
Min Ko Naing who had been imprisoned since 1989 after organizing a nation
wide uprising in attempt to over throw the Burma's military regime, is still
held in solitary confinement by the government. Burmese students have been
at the forefront of calling for change in Burma, and they have paid a heavy
price.
The ten universities are: University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Hartwick
College, Columbia University, Georgetown University, American University,
George Washington University, Fordham University, University of Chicago,
University of Maine and University of Illinois at Chicago.
In the meantime, United States Senators Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein
have called on their follow senators to urge the President George Bush to
take Burma’s issue to the UN Security Council and to press action against
the Burmese military regime at the Security Council. The US is to assume the
presidency of the United Nations Security Council next month.#
__________________
Goods allegedly imported from Burma seized by Indian customs
24th September 2003:
Four truckloads of betel nuts and dry ginger said to have been imported from
Burma were seized by the Customs Department in Patna, the capital of Bihar
State, India, during the past three weeks, according to customs sources in
India.
There were, however, differing reports on the origin of the goods. According
to the owners, the goods were imported from Myanmar (Burma) and bound for
Delhi. However, the Patna customs officials who had seized the consignments
maintained that these goods were illegally imported from Malaysia and bound
for Nepal. Speaking to Mizzima News, D. D. Ingty, Commissioner of Customs
(Northeast India), confirmed that the seized goods had not imported from
Burma but from Malaysia to Nepal via Calcutta port. "The documents the
traders showed, however, claimed that these goods were imported from
Myanmar."
The owners alleged that the goods had been seized even though they had
produced the required import documents, which show that the goods were
imported via Moreh across the border trade route from Burma.
One of the consignment's owners, L. Sanu Singh, has written to Union Finance
Minister Jaswant Singh, charging the Patna customs officials with attempting
to fabricate a smuggling case against the traders.
In strong protest against this "illegal" seizure of the goods, the Moreh
Chamber of Commerce decided to indefinitely close down the Land Customs
Station at Moreh, which borders with Tamu, Burma.
The Indo-Burma border trade, which was officially legalized by a trade
agreement between India and Burma in 1994, proceeds mainly via Moreh in
Manipur state, India and Tamu in Sagaing Division, Burma.
The Customs (Preventive) Headquarters in Patna previously seized two
truckloads of betel nuts (a total of 30 metric tons) on 31 August and two
truckloads of betel nuts (30 metric tons) and 9,590 kg of dry ginger on 15
September.
Meanwhile, a two-day seminar on bilateral border trade between India and
Burma ended in Moreh on 21 September.#
_________________________________
Amid Pressure, Suu Kyi's Operation May be Way Out for Junta
Larry Jagan
September 24, 2003:
International efforts are once again being stepped up to secure the release
of Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with Indonesia's special
envoy Ali Alatas seeing her in Rangoon and U.N. envoy on Burma Razali Ismail
due to go there in a few days.
Alatas, former foreign minister of Indonesia, conveyed to Burma's top
generals the concerns of the Association of South-east Asian Nations
(ASEAN), the region's main diplomatic grouping, about Suu Kyi's continued
detention.
Indonesia is the ASEAN chair this year and host to the 9th leaders' summit
on Oct.7-8 in Bali island, where the Burma issue is certain to come up.
Meantime, U.N. envoy Razali Ismail is to visit Rangoon on Sep. 30 and will
be trying once again to get the stalled dialogue process restarted.
After handing over a letter of concern about Suu Kyi to Burmese officials
and meeting with top leader Gen Than Shwe, and Prime Minister Gen. Khin
Nyunt, Alatas told reporters in Rangoon that he was assured by both leaders
that ''they appreciate the content of the letter and they would carefully
consider the views and suggestions''.
Alatas did not meet the opposition leader because of her recent
gynaecological surgery, but remains confident that Burma's military rulers
do not intend to keep Suu Kyi in detention indefinitely. He was not,
however, given any time frame for her release.
The detention of Aung San Suu Kyi is ''becoming increasingly
counterproductive,” Alatas was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
The visits by Alatas and Razali come at a time when ironically, Suu Kyi's
major operation in a private hospital in Rangoon may well provide the
generals with a way out of their predicament -- how to release her without
appearing to give in to externa! l, especially western, pressure.
”The operation went well and the patient is back to normal - physically,
mentally and spiritually,” said Aung San Suu Kyi's physician Dr Tin Myo Win,
who attended the operation.
The opposition leader is still recuperating in the hospital, but is expected
to be discharged soon after the final stitches are removed.
She has been incommunicado for nearly four months now, after she was taken
in under 'protective custody' following an attack by vigilantes suspected to
be with the Rangoon military government.
Earlier in September, Red Cross representatives were allowed to see her and
were able to dispel fears that she was on hunger strike.
But the fact that Suu Kyi's medical operation appears to have been
successful will not lessen international pressure on Rangoon to release her
immediately and unconditionally.
Diplomats in Rangoon believe the military regime will return the opposition
leader to her residence when she is discharged from hospital and placed
under house a! rrest. ”The military authorities have a good humanitarian
reason to move her home now,” said a Rangoon-based Asian ambassador.
The operation has certainly given the generals an opportunity to take a
major face-saving measure that could help reduce pressure from their Asian
neighbours at least - especially at the ASEAN summit in Bali.
South-east Asian leaders are hoping to find a way of preventing the issue of
Aung San Suu Kyi's release and Burma's failure to introduce political reform
from dominating the summit.
”We are expecting a significant gesture from the regime in the next two
weeks leading up to the summit,” a senior Bangkok-based diplomat who
regularly deals with Rangoon told IPS. ”Placing her under house arrest and
resuming the constitutional process would reduce the ASEAN pressure on
Yangon (Rangoon), at least in the next few months.”
”It is in the interest of ASEAN and (Burma) that no extraneous issue such as
the problem of Daw Aun! g San Suu Kyi would mar the deliberations of ASEAN,”
as Alatas himself said.
By moving Suu Kyi home, after Alatas' visit to Rangoon, the generals would
also give ASEAN some credit for quiet diplomacy and avoid its move being
linked to U.S. pressure or Razali's visit to Rangoon.
But apart from seeing Suu Kyi released, foreign governments -- even ASEAN --
will want to see some progress in the reconciliation process in the near
future.
The new prime minister, Gen Khin Nyunt, will have to prove the government's
sincerity about introducing political and economic reform in the near
future.
”General Khin Nyunt needs time to be able to press ahead with his plans for
change,” said a Rangoon-based Asian diplomat. ”He needs a honeymoon period,
free of overt pressure say three months or a hundred days.”
He has announced a seven-point road map to democracy that would involve
drawing up a new constitution and holding new elections. The government set
up a National Convention -- comprising more than 700 handpicked repr!
esentatives -- to draw up a new constitution more than 10 years ago.
The convention has not met since 1996 after Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD), walked out and accused the military
authorities of not allowing a free debate or discussion and simply using it
to rubberstamp decisions already made by the generals.
Now it seems the government is preparing to reconvene the National
Convention. A new steering committee has been named, partly because some of
the previous members had passed away, and assigned tasks.
Apart from several members who are attorneys or have a strong legal
background, many of the members are from military intelligence and close to
Khin Nyunt.
While they are likely to support the military intelligence chief's views and
accommodate Suu Kyi and her party, there remains evidence that Rangoon is
prepaying to bypass her anyway.
In the past few weeks, the regime has been organising pro-gov! ernment
rallies supporting Khin Nyunt's road map to democracy. The Uni ted
Solidarity Development Association, a civilian organisation that the
military uses to mobilise support for government policy, has been arranging
these meetings.
In the past there was definitely a division within the military top brass
over how to deal with Aung San Suu Kyi, with the intelligence chief
favouring working with her. In recent weeks though, there have been signs
that these differences have disappeared.
”Khin Nyunt is pressing on with his plans and has decided he cannot deal
with the lady,” said a source in Rangoon close to the intelligence chief. #
_____________________________________________
Burmese military delegation visit a hilly town in Bangladesh
Dhaka, 24th September 03:
The visiting Burmese military delegation on Sunday visited a hilly district
town in the southeastern part of Bangladesh.
The twelve-member high-level military team led by Lieutenant General Aung
Htwe, commander of the Burmese defence ministry, called at a Buddhist
monastery in Rangamati Town in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, about three
hundred kilometres southeast of Dhaka. The team met the abbot of the
monastery, popularly known as Bana Bhante (the forest monk) who is well
known for his rigorous meditation and respected by a huge number of
followers. Later they had a boat ride in the Kaptai Lake built by erecting
a hydro-electrical power station by damming the River Karnafuli.
According to an inter-services press report the Burmese military delegation
also visited a naval base and the Bhatiary Military Military Academy in
Chittagong, the second city of the country.
The Burmese team has come to Dhaka on a six-day visit on Friday with an
intention to discuss sharing of military intelligence to curb sea piracy,
insurgency and arms smuggling, reported the Daily Star on 21 September.
Another significant aspect of the tour is Dhaka’s willingness to shop
defence hardware from Burma. The long shopping list contains: 5.56 mm light
machine gun, assault and automatic rifles, 7.62 mm light machine guns,
prototype of Chinese type-58 stake mines and type 59 pressure mines.
Other items include a special combat vehicle (SCV) roof mounted with 12.7 mm
Herstal machine gun, a bonnet-mounted 7.62 mm light machine gun,
bonnet-mounted 84 mm Carl Gustav M2 rocket launcher, and 81 and 60 mm
mortar, the paper added.
Meanwhile Bangladesh and Burma have been trying to patch up a number of
differences and eying at improving relations since the beginning of this
year when the Burmese junta leader, General Than Shwe, and the premier of
Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia visited each other’s country.
Since the end of last month reports in the local newspapers have confirmed a
large scale offensive against a number of Burmese insurgent groups along the
common border by the Bangladesh defence forces. #
_________________________
The Moral Authority of ASEAN
By Kanbawza Win
24th September 2003:
Now that Ali Alatas, the former Foreign Minister of Indonesia, who is also a
de facto representative of ASEAN (currently Indonesia holds the chair of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations) has returned from Burma without
seeing the ailing Frail Lady, still in custody but hospitalised, the world
is watching at ASEAN. Will this regional organization considered to be one
of the most important in Asia have enough morality and the guts to act
against one of its atrocious members? Or as usual under the facade of
constructive engagement will it be deaf to the clarion call of the people of
Burma and that of the world? The answer will be in the coming gathering at
the beautiful isle of Bali.One could recollect the terrible bomb explosion
in Bali where the innocent tourists have to pay with their lives for no
fault of their own, and, now another explosion, but of an entirely different
nature, is in the offing to explode on the negotiating table for the
fate&nb! sp; of fifty million plus people of Burma. It will also be a
barometer of their inner conscience of the leaders of these ten nations.
ASEAN in their heart of hearts knew that they have done nothing to
strengthen the people’s movement led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, partly because
the fallacy of its illegal policy. Now after one and half decades of the
most bloody nationwide pro-democracy uprisings, the balance of power and
strategic advantages still remain in favor of the military. The overall
support received from the Junta’s allies and supporters far outweighs what
the pro democracy movement has been offered by its sympathizers. This spells
out that the struggle for freedom is not simply a contest of will,
determination, courage and leadership between the dictatorial regime and the
struggling oppressed peoples but it is rather the contest of resources (the
economic war) that can be mobilized to maintain itself in power or to a
democratic transition.
Today the Western countries have been frustrated in advocating change
through sanctions and other punitive measures. The freedom struggle of the
people Burma is fast running out. The people inside the country are too busy
eking out a difficult livelihood under increased repression and economic
hardships and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's non-violent political struggle is
getting nowhere as there is little or no help from ASEAN that tends to
marginalize the political space in which the people can undertake such as
small acts of daily, if concerted, acts of political defiance. In other
words the decision of ASIAN is pivotal.
However, the international community has noticed that the will and
determination of the people to continue the struggle, with or without
international support. A case in point is the rapid growth in size,
enthusiasm and courage of the crowds Daw Aung San Suu Kyi drew in her
cross-country campaign trail in spite of its intimidation, harassment and
possible imprisonment. It is evident that peoples from all walks of life and
different ethnic communities are united behind Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's vision
and place their hope and trust as someone who can help heal the country's
historical wounds and help iron out political differences among competing
camps. Thousands of political prisoners are lingering in jail and will not
yield to the various pressure to abandon their cherished freedom in exchange
for their personal freedoms. The ethnic nationalities chose to embrace the
life as internally displaced peoples, instead of capitulating to the
regime's terror camp! aigns. The armed resistance groups, with whatever
little resources and political recognition and support from the
international community, refuse to surrender. There are also thousands of
Burmese political exiles and citizens in Diasporas who refuse to go home and
live under the military boots and who continue to fight peacefully via cyber
space and anti-regime literature. And we cannot comprehend of why the ASEAN
leaders are blind and deaf to all these writings on the wall and deaf to the
call for help?
Looking with folded arms at the attempted assassination of the one and only
living Peace Noble laureate and massacring hundreds of her followers does
not spell well for these ten members nations. There is a tremendous
imbalance of strength between the military and the people of Burma so much
so that the Generals have shown no interest in genuine change, other than
cosmetic changes designed to appease the international community for trade
and economic benefit. Yet ASEAN is hesitating to listen to the advice of one
its founder, Dr Mahathir Mohammad of kicking the rascal out. Even among the
members of ASEAN there are people who think that fifteen years is long
enough for their business and diplomatic interest to overrule their
conscious.
Civil society initiatives including constitution drafting, ethnic or
national reconciliation and direct political and diplomatic efforts in the
form of behind-the-scene roadmap selling and diplomatic talking will not
create enough pressure to compel the regime to the negotiating table. The
longer the political stalemate in Burma continues, the greater will be the
cost of human lives and the suffering of homosapiens residing in that part
of the world called Southeast Asia.#
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India enquire Suu Kyi's well-being
23rd September 2003:
The Indian external affairs minister Mr. Yashwant Sinha has enquired about
the health of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the Burmese
foreign minister U Win Aung today.
According to a release of the Indian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Yashwant Sinha
who is currently in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly
met his Burmese counterpart today. The two ministers held a meeting,
discussing various aspects of bilateral relations. The Indian minister
enquired about the health of Burmese democracy leader who is recovering from
a major operation at a private hospital in Rangoon.
Aung San Suu Kyi who has been detained by the junta since May 30 this year
underwent a surgery for unspecified gynecological problems last week.
The release further stated that Mr. Sinha has conveyed India's readiness to
extend support to Burma in strengthening trade ties between the two
countries.
Despite the recent economic sanctions imposed by the United States against
the Burmese regime, India continues to trade with the Burmese government.
The Indian Vice President Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat plans to visit Burma
by November this year to cement the existing friendly ties between the two
neighbors.#
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National Council of the Union of Burma On its 11th founding anniversary
23rd September 03:
The top anti-junta coalition of Burma in a statement expressed their renewed
pledge to lead the struggle for establishing a democratic federal union.
In a statement dated 22nd September, marking its 11th founding anniversary,
the National Council of the Union of Burma vowed to join hands with
anti-military forces at home and abroad till a democratic federal union is
realized in Burma.
The NCUB is composed of the Democratic Alliance of Burma, the National
Democratic Front, the National League for Democracy Liberated Area, and the
Members of Parliament Union. “Though the people of Burma comprising of
various nationalities gained independence from foreign colonial and fascist
rules through unity, the military dictatorship (ruling junta) has failed to
solve political problems through just means. The dictatorship,” it alleged,
“is to blame for the civil war and dictatorial rule. The junta has not only
rejected the results of the 1990 general elections but also the UNGA
resolutions calling for reconciliation by a tripartite dialogue.”
By committing the premeditated 5/30 De-peh-yin massacres the Burmese junta
has changed from the peaceful means of conflicts resolution, it added.
The coalition also alleged that by trying to stage a sham “National
Convention” the military dictators would only try to perpetuate their rule.
By launching armed offensives the junta is only abusing their power to
suppress political freedom in the country including that of the National
League for Democracy (the largest political party of Burma that won a
landslide in 1990 general elections held by the junta), the statement said.
#
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Clash with police leave several Burmese Muslim refugees hurt
23rd September 2003:
At least fifty Burmese Muslim refugees were injured in a clash with police
on Sunday in a refugee camp in southeastern part of Bangladesh.
According to UNHCR-run Burmese refugee camp officials at Kutupalong under
Cox’s Bazaar district, close to the western Burmese border, the clash
followed the arrest of two Rohingya camp-dwellers Azim Ullah and Jasim
Uddin. The police arrested the two on allegations of being involved in
criminal activities.The refugees tried to snatch away the arrested when they
got locked into an hour-long clash with the police and paramilitary troops.
In the aftermath fifty-eight Rohingya refugees suffered injuries while the
police demanded that four policemen were also injured though they named only
three.
Seven women members of the refugee camp were arrested while most of the men
fled to avoid arrest and police harassment.
The refugee camp houses about seven thousand Rohingyas in makeshift thatched
huts who are waiting to be repatriated to their homes in Rakhine State in
western Burma. A total of about sixteen thousand refugees in two camps
remain to be repatriated, according to camp officials.
“We don’t want to go back to our homes as the Burmese junta cannot guarantee
us of citizens’ rights” a resident of the camp said. He added, ” even if we
go back we don’t get the right to earn our own livelihood like other
non-Muslim residents there. We can’t even travel to the nearest town without
the compulsory ‘pass’ from local village chiefs.” #
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Burma News International (BNI) is a network of six Independent Burma Media
organizations: The Mizzima News, The Narinjara News, the Kaladan Press
Network, the Khonumthung News Group, the Network Media Group and the
Independent Mon News Agency.#