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HUMANITARIAN SITUATION FOR IDP-S IN
Received: by pilot.physics.adelaide.edu.au (5.61+IDA+MU/UA-5.23)id AA23392; Wed, 11 Jan 1995 15:13:45 +1030
Subject: Re: HUMANITARIAN SITUATION FOR IDP-S IN BURMA
NOTE: Considerable reports were seen on the net about the human
rights situation in Burma. The following report from Jesuit
Refugee Service-Asia Pacific reflect more on the general
humanitarian situation of people, especially internally
displaced. Though the report dates back to late 1993, there
are very little chance that these conditions being changed.
uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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AN ACCOUNT FROM A RECENT VISITOR TO BURMA
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DIAKONIA News from the Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific
Issue 31, NOVEMBER 1993
Travelling in Burma, to Rangoon, Mandalay, Taungyi, Lasho, and
Maymyo, one noticed that people , both Burmese and ex-patriates
talked of changes. Changes they had seen, hoped for, or feared.
people pointed to the well-stocked food and commodities markets of
Rangoon and Mandalay, the new Japnease cars, even the new
billboards, as signs of positive change. Others spoke of their fear
of the government, the repression of political dissent, the rickety
infracture and the unalleviated poverty as sighs that nothing had
changed. Still others spoke of dislocations, newly stationed army
regiments, the rising price of rice and the repression of minority
culture as signs of increased economic disparities,government
control, and a final loss of minority rights and identity. The
government's policies of loosening economic controls while
increasing its control over its people and territory certainly
seemed to have produced many, often contradictory, changes.
Burma appeared fraught with contradictions and disparities. Along a
road in Shan State shops displayed imported cognac and whiskey
while the only modes of transport are ox carts or wildly overloaded
trucks of buses. Young men with golf bags trundle out of a Rangoon
guest house while children around the corner beg tourists for ball
point pens. Two story concret homes with balconies, gates, and
glass windows are erected along the main roads while the shaky
wooden homes of the poor are built in th evalleys below, just out
of sight. At the money change counter at the tourist office a man
offers to change money at the black market rate.
These contradictions are the result of the economic and political
policies of the ruling military junta, the State Law and Order
Restoration Committee(SLORC). Over the past year the government has
legalized the border trade, loosened economic controls, encouraged
foreign investment, and supposedly begun the transition to a market
economy. Howiver these reforms have in many cases exacerbated
economic disparities or are simply irrelevant to people struggling
to find enough to eat. Similarly the new abundance of consumer
goods presents a stark contrast to the infrastructural problems.
There are medicines, bedding, cutlery, tools and auto parts at the
market but they are sold out of rickety stalls, converted house
windows, or on mats on the ground. Car tail lights were seen
displayed on the gates of a temple.
Other aspect of the infracture are in equally bad condition. Most
roads, especially outside of the central plains, are full of holes.
Rural areas have no running water, electricity, or sanitation
systems. Even in the towns, electricity is often out and many
people only have access to well water. Even in Mandalay people were
bathing at public wells.
According to some in Western embassies only those favored by SLORC
have benefitted from the reforms. They are allowed access to fues,
land, foreign currency bank account, furthermore their operations
and profits are not threatened by the regime. In the case of
others, the government may seize profits or capital plants if they
are noticed. In one case a small manufacturer had spread his work
over four different sites in order to escape government notice.
Burmese, except those involved in border trade, said conditions are
the same, if not worse. I asked one man about what the main social
issues were in his area, he replied that there is only one issue:
food. The price of rice has been rising steadily, making this issue
more and more important. A bag of rice which will feed five persons
for a month coats 1,000 kyat and workers earn 100 kyats or less a
day. Professionals may be paid just over 1,000 kyat a month. The
government is at best indifferent to the needs of the people and in
many cases exploitative, taking as much as possible from them and
giving nothing back. Social services appear largly non-existent.
Even schools and hospitals are woefully lacking. One hospital
reputedly serves the whole area around Mandalay. There are no
programs for the handicapped, no serious rehabilitation programs
for drug addicts, and basic medical services and education are not
available in the country's many remote areas. In the central areas,
medicine and education is too expensive for many people.
On the other hand people, particularly women and teenagers, even
children, are sent out on "voluntary labor" projects. The SLORC
calls them out for perhaps a couple of days a month, a few days a
week, or even months at a time to word on public projects, like
roads, public buildings or railways. In the Shan States, I saw
people working on roads, using their bare hands to move dirt or
place large paving stones. In Rangoon, teenage girls at a building
site were carrying platters of concrete on their heads. The
government argues that these projects are for the good of the
people therefore they should contribute their labor.
Moreover, SLORC continues to dislocate people from their land. In
areas where there is armed conflict between the government and
ethnic minorities, SLORC troops force people to leave their
villages in order to keep them from collaborating with the
opposition, to discredit and weary the opposition and to maintain
control of the territory. Even in states where peace treaties have
been concluded, the government still moves people. In some cases
the government still moves people. In some cases the government
disginates areas where the people should re-settle. in other
casese people simply move to marginal land, go deeper into jungle
areas, or, especially in the case of young men, join the anti
government forces on the border. Once people are off the land, the
government sometimes uses it to build army barracks. The army has
almost doubled in numbers since 1988, creating a need for new bases
and barracks. In and around Taungyi, in Shan State, there are
several new army bases, as well as billboards exhorting the people
to abedience and fraternity eith the army. Generally, outside
Rangoon, there were soldiers everywhere, many of them very young.
The government also uses the land as patronage gifts for army
officers and loyal civilians (who in most cases, previously
belonged to the armed forces) or sells it to investers from China.
The recipients of the land often turn around and sell it
themselves, making large profits.
The SLORC appropriation of land produces thousands of internally
displaced people as well as refugees. Among the displaced people,
particularly children, there are many deaths from disease and
starvation. Furthermore they are given no assistance in building
new homes and gardens and re-building their communities. The homes
the displaced people hurriedly construct are very basic, with
patchy roofs, thin walls, dirt floors, and cook stoves made of a
few stones between which a fire can be lit. Rooms are partitioned
only by mats or curtains and are over-crowded. People do their best
to help each other build houses and re-plant gardens. Since the
government provides no assistance to the displaced, the Catholic
Church in some areas has tried to provide aid. But they too are
very limited, both by their budgets and the vigilance of the
government. Often they can only offer assistance - food and housing
- to the children.
In addition to the suffering caused by the dislocation, there are
other insidious aspects of SLORC's program. In some areas where
villages have been removed and the land re-distributed, new towns
have been established. In the new towns ae orderly rows of
two-story concrete houses owned by "the big shots" os one man put
it. On the surface, this appears to be legitimate and effective
"development" a rise in the standard of living. The suffering
caused by dislocation and that they too may be displaced is
invisible.
Similarly, in areas where the new peace treaties are in place, the
government is building new schools and hospitals. However they
often have no supplies or staff. As the government continues to
court foreign investment and aid, these new towns and development
projects may be used as show-case to demonstrate the sincerity of
the government in its efforts for the people.
Finally, some feel that the dislocations of people and the
redistribution of land also fits into SLORC's efforts at
"Burmanization" i.e. the repression of the minority cultures and
religions. Those displaced are ethnic minorities and the people who
move in are mostly Burman. In the same areas, the government has
discouraged the use of minority languages, banned their use in
schools, and is subtly suppressing minority cultural and religious
practice. Reputedly SLORC has even encouraged its many young
soldiers to marry girls from the ethnic minorities. The government
is actively fostering Buddhism as the state religion, both through
generous donations to monasteries and pagodas and by proclaiming
its unique status in the nation-state. Members of the Buddhist
establishments have also been coopted by the government. After the
1988 uprising those monks who were critical of the government were
purged from the Buddhist organization and in many cases imprisoned
of killed.
The condition in Burma are made that much more poignant by the land
itself. The land is beautiful and green, with many species of
plants and flowers, and in many areas wonderfully unpoluted. It is
fertile and thinly settled in many areas. The people themselves,
were on the whole, surprisingly open, friendly, and generous.
Unfortunately, as long as the governmennt continues its present
policies more people will still be forced to leave their lands and
seek refuge on the border or live hand to mouth on the edges of the
"new towns".
ENDREPORT/