The BurmaNet News: April 30, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: April 30, 1999
Issue #1262

HEADLINES:
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SHAN: SPOILS OF GAMBLING 
THE NATION: WA CEASEFIRE HAUNTS THE MILITARY 
REUTERS: ETHNIC LEADERS REJECT DRUG ACCUSATIONS 
BKK POST: PERMITS FOR 90,911 ALIENS TO BE AXED 
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SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: CEASEFIRE GROUP AND SPDC COMMANDERS SHARE
SPOILS OF GAMBLING
28 April, 1999

Reports reaching the Thai border from the Shan States say one of the
ceasefire groups and the local SPDC commanders have opened up several
gambling dens in the southern township of Mong Pan since March of this year.

>From March 24 to April 20, the Shan Nationalities People's Liberation
Organisation (SNPLO), a ceasefire group generally known as the Red Pa-O,
have been setting up gambling dens during the traditional Buddhist
Novitiation Ceremony in Mong Pan, a town 120 miles from the Thai border.
The local commanders of SPDC infantry battalions 332 and 520 have
reportedly received K. 80,000 each per day (K 60,000 for personal use and
the rest for the battalion) as tax.

The dens have attracted gambling addicts from towns such as Taunggyi,
Loilem, Panglong, Langkher, Mongnai and Kunhing. Well known drug producers
just across from the Thai border such as Muling aka Sai Yee aka Liu Zipeng,
Hla Aung and Yang Erh have also been among the gamblers.

Also seen among the crowds were child beggars and prostitutes from
surrounding villages such as Nawng Hee, Poongker, Nalaw and Tawngkwai that
were forcibly relocated to the town's outskirts by the SPDC army in 1997.

The SNPLO, led by Takley and Saw Hpamu, joined Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army in
the early 90s. The alliance broke up soon afterwards and the SNPLO signed a
ceasefire pact with Rangoon on October 9, 1994. Their headquarters is in
Nawnghtao in Hsiseng Township, 60 miles south of Taunggyi.

It is illegal to engage in gambling activities in Burma. One of the
accusations directed against the Shan princes before their downfall was
their policy of tolerance towards gambling which has been a nemesis for the
Shan population.

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THE NATION: WA CEASEFIRE HAUNTS THE BURMESE MILITARY
30 April, 1999 by Aung Naing Oo

The Burmese regime has paid little attention to public criticism over its
WA attitude, and as the top Burmese military officers get richer, the Wa
are expanding their drug trafficking, writes Aung Naing Oo.

Politically, and perhaps financially, the Burmese army has gained immensely
from its 1989 ceasefire agreement with the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
This marriage of convenience was the first peace pact between an ethnic
army and the Burmese junta since the breakdown of peace talks in 1964, and
served as a catalyst for truce agreements with most of the other ethnic
groups.

A decade later, however, the Burmese junta is in the hot seat over its
relation ship with the Wa. Internationally, the regime has been candidly
blamed for its association with the Wa, who have become the No.1 drug
trafficking syndicate in the world, thanks to the immunity they enjoy in
return for allegiance to Rangoon. At home, the junta's uneasy alliance with
the Wa is riddled with long held mutual distrust.


The WA had been one of the main pillars of the Burma communist Party(BCP)
prior to its collapse in early 1989. The Wa truce with the junta followed
in May of that year.  When the BCP was active, the Burmese army had to
deploy thousands of troops on the frontier near the Chinese border to
contain the communists. During the BCP's time, the Burmese army rarely
launched major offensives against other armed ethnic groups along Burma's
eastern border with Thailand.

After the ceasefire with the Wa, it was able to save time, energy and
enormous resources. More significantly, it was able to withdraw many troops
from battles in the north and re-deploy them in the eastern border areas.
>From late 1989, the Burmese army was able to begin an all-out was against
opponents in the eastern region. The Burmese military pressure forced many
ethnic groups to cease operations against Rangoon.

For the Wa, the truce provided a good opportunity for them to expand their
drug activities.  Shortly afterwards, the Burmese army was accused of
abetting the armed group in drug trafficking. The Burmese police have no
authority to search any vehicle belonging to the USA. No action could be
taken against the Wa who had shot and wounded civilians and killed a police
officer in Mandalay in 1997. The unruly behavior by Wa officers goes
unchecked by the authorities.

Because of the benefits it has gained from the truce, however shaky, the
Burmese regime has paid little attention to public criticism over its pro-
Wa attitude. In any event, it cannot afford to do away with the peace pact,
considering the risk of going to war with the Wa group.

In fact, both the Burmese army and the Wa have gained mutually from their
deal. The Junta's objective is to slowly kill ethnic rebellion through
ceasefire agreements. The Wa wish to reclaim their freedom.

The mutual distrust has led to cat and mouse games between the Burmese army
and the Wa. The former has often tried to smuggle arms or dispatched
disguised intelligence agents into the UWSA territory. In some cases, drugs
seized from the Wa by Burmese soldiers have not been returned.

The Burmese army's attitude towards the Wa officers has changed steadily
over the years. The Burmese attitude that the Wa, once known as
headhunters, are barbaric has now surfaced in their daily inter-action.

Of several confrontations over the years, the Burmese detention of three
high ranking UWSA officers, including the deputy commander of UWSA Division
486 AikSi, in February this year may have been the toughest test of wills.
The arrest was in response to an earlier seizure of a large consignment of
amphetamine tablets from a Wa Division 486 officer in Taunggyi, the capital
of the Shan States. The Burmese army eventually had to release the officers
to avoid armed clashes with the Wa.

To retaliate, Burmese troops seized drugs and money from the Division 486
headquarters and forcibly relocated Wa families to Mong Mau township.  In
response, the UN Drug Control Programme was informed by the Wa that its
service is no longer needed in the Mong Ping township.


The latest Wa action has damaged the junta's efforts for international
recognition for its anti-drug campaign. In a recent incident, the Burmese
army detained an officer in charge of business deals for Division 486 and
several other soldiers after a car chase in Mong Hsu, a gem- mining town.
The latest incident occurred on March 5 when the A demanded that a TV relay
station be removed from its territory and that Burmese engineers working on
a water project be recalled.

Burmese military intelligence chief Lt Gen Khin Nyunt's planned visit to
Mong Yawn is likely to defuse the confrontation and straighten out
differences between the two parties. Despite its wish to check their
strength, the Burmese junta is not yet ready to clash head on with the Wa,
who command the largest armed force and are unlikely to bow to the regime's
threat.

The Wa are battle hardened from their years in the BCP, and a fearsome
enemy.  Even Khun Sa, who once commanded some 20,000 soldiers and enormous
wealth from the drug trade, was no match for the Wa. Military offensives
against the Wa would be a massive drain for Burmese resources and an
opportunity for other ethnic groups to exploit.

The Wa have another strong weapon.  Their claims of potential support from
their brethren in China, in case fighting resumes with the Burmese, is not
a mere threat.  The UWSA is proud of having Chinese- Wa graduates from
Beijing University among its officers. They also claim to possess enough
weapons to fight for 10 years.

The UWSA is also powerful financially. In 1989, it possessed nothing except
a huge amount of weapons inherited from the communists. Ten years later,
the WA command an immense drug trafficking network and have earned millions
of dollars.  Their economic health is evident from the construction of a
town in Mong Yawn, near the Thai-Burma border, reportedly costing a bout
Bt1 billion.

The problems with the Wa are a hard nut to crack for the regime and could
continue to haunt any government when the country returns to civilian rule.

As of now, the junta is globally criticized for the flow into Thailand and
else where of drugs produced by ethnic armies allied with Rangoon. Drug
barons from Wa and other ethnic nationalities, who are wanted by Thailand
and the United States, live freely in Burma.  When nine Thai villagers were
brutally killed near Mong Yawn, fingers were pointed at the Burmese army
because of the Burmese-Wa connection.

For the UWSA, its primary struggle is for the recognition of their ethnic
rights and this will continue at all costs. In the meantime, it will
continue the lucrative drug business unless there is a political answer
that can deliver the recognition. It will take political courage for the
junta to find that answer.

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REUTERS: MYANMAR ETHNIC LEADERS REJECT DRUG ACCUSATIONS
28 April, 1999 by David Brunnstrom

MONGLA, Myanmar, April 28 (Reuters) - Ethnic leaders in Myanmar say
accusations by the United States that they are drug traffickers are
politically motivated and their consciences are clear.


Ethnic Shan and Wa leaders said they were trying to develop their regions
and find viable alternatives to opium cultivation.

``I don't think I need to defend myself at all. It's not worth refuting
what the United States has alleged about me,'' Sai Lin, of the Eastern Shan
State Army, told reporters on Tuesday.

He was talking to reporters during a rare tour of northeastern Myanmar's
Shan state organised for diplomats and journalists by Yangon's military
government to publicise its fight against drugs.

Celebrations on Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of a ceasefire reached
between Sai Lin's guerrilla forces and the Yangon government.

The celebrations were held in Mongla, a town some 1,200 km (750 miles)
north of Yangon on Myanmar's border with China.

Sai Lin, a soft-spoken man of 50, tops a list of 10 Myanmar ethnic leaders
who the 1998 U.S. International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says are
believed to be involved in drug trafficking.

Pau Yuqiang of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a group the United States
says remains ``heavily involved'' in the drug trade, told reporters at his
headquarters town of Pangsang on Monday he had no involvement in drugs.

He said the UWSA had succeeded in achieving a 30 percent reduction in opium
output in its region of 600,000 people in the past four years and was
confident it could make it totally drug-free by 2005.

``People may be saying this and that about us outside the country, but what
I would like to say is that we are doing our best here to stop this
narcotics problem. If drugs are still coming out of this area in 2005 then
you can come and blame me,'' he said.

Lo Hsing Han, a convicted trafficker who helped broker the ceasefire
between the government and ethnic groups in Shan State in 1989, rejected
suggestions he was still involved in the drug trade.

``I don't know why the American people still think I am involved in the
narcotics problem,'' he said at the Mongla ceremony. ``I would welcome
anyone to come here to see for themselves what is going on.''

The steep highlands of Shan State remain one of the world's leading sources
of opium and its derivative heroin. Yangon rejects charges it is doing too
little to combat opium production and has pledged complete opium
eradication by 2014.

Its ceasefires with ethnic groups allow them to retain a high degree of
autonomy and their armed forces pending a political settlement.

According to Washington, this means implicit tolerance of continued
narcotics trading. The government rejects this and says its eradication
target could be met sooner if countries like the United States resumed
direct drug control assistance, suspended because of Yangon's human rights
record.

In speeches at the ceasefire celebrations, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt,
the head of intelligence and considered to be the most powerful figure in
the military government, praised development efforts of the ethnic leaders
and hit out at ``neo-colonialist countries'' for failing to support them
and levelling false accusations.

He declined to speak to reporters.


Colonel Kyaw Thein, of Yangon's Committee for Drug Abuse Control, said
ethnic leaders were serious about eradication. He said of the U.S. charges:
``I think they are just making it up -- it's politically motivated.''

He said another Wa leader, Wei Xuekang, who has been indicted by the United
States for drug trafficking, was not under government control.

He also said the government had no intention of handing over Khun Sa,
another opium warlord wanted by Washington, as he had surrendered after
being given a guarantee against extradition.

The government maintains it has achieved a significant reduction in opium
poppy production and dismisses U.S. crop estimates as too high. However, it
concedes progress has been slow in the Wa area.

``There's been some decrease, but you can't say it has been a significant
decrease,'' Kyaw Thein said.

According to U.S. estimates, Myanmar's opium production fell 26 percent
last year to 1,750 tonnes due to eradication efforts and poor weather.

The government estimated production last year at 680 tonnes -- enough for
68 tonnes of heroin -- and predicts a sharp fall this year.

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BANGKOK POST: PERMITS FOR 90,911 ALIENS TO BE AXED
29 April, 1999 by Nussara Sawatsawang

Exceptions likely in problem sectors

The government will not extend work permits for almost 100,000 alien
registered for temporary employment after their term expires in August, a
labour and social welfare ministry official said yesterday.

But Duangmon Buranarerk, director of the office for the management of
foreign workers, said the ministry and other agencies were studying some
relaxed measures including a possibility to allow foreigners to work in
areas facing labour shortages.

The measures are to be announced by Aug 4, the last day that 90,911 alien
workers'-most of them Burmese-work permits end, she said.

The move is a departure from the 1997 resolution, which required illegal
labourers to register and work in several jobs and places-despite criticism
the measures only met the economic interests of employers.

Suphang Chantavanich of the Institute of Asian Migration Research of
Chulalongkorn University, welcomed the move saying that it would eventually
limit the number of alien workers who can legally work in the country
and-and prevent abuses by employers.

Mrs Suphang also called on the government to register illegal workers and
classify them into areas, jobs and terms of stay as part of a bid to curb
the influx of an illegal workforce.

It is estimated that over one million illegal alien job seekers are now in
Thailand. The numbers were more than those recorded by the ministry, which
said there are 896,417 illegal alien workers here without work permits, as
of last December.

Burmese workers rank top of the scale, followed by Bangladesh, Cambodia and
Laos. Building, fisheries and related industries are popular among
unskilled workers.

Countered by the financial crisis, the government claimed last year that it
managed to deport about 300,000 illegal workers to provide places for
unemployed Thais.


The measure, however, was denounced by many as it failed to prevent
newcomers due to the failure to control long borderlines and the reluctance
of Thais to work in low-paid jobs.

The deadline could mean a return of alien workers to their countries and
Burmese Deputy foreign minister Khin Maung Win said last week that the
Burmese government would welcome them back regardless of race.


Thailand and Burma will discuss the issue at the upcoming joint commission
ministerial meeting, he added.

Khin Maung Yi, a Burmese labour ministry official, said recently that his
government was keen to formulate an agreement with other countries to
guarantee benefits and salaries for Burmese people working overseas.

Currently, Burma has a deal with the Singaporean government to export
workers to the Island State, said the Burmese official.
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