The BurmaNet News: July 9, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: July 9, 1999
Issue #1311

Noted in Passing: "If the provision of aid simply enables an authoritarian
government to assume less responsibility for the welfare of the people, or
to strengthen its despotic grip, or to increase the opacity of its
administration, it will do irreparably more harm than good." - Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi (see BOSTON GLOBE: A DEBT TO BURMA'S PEOPLE) 

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: MYANMAR POURS COLD WATER ON MEDIATION 
NATION: BURMA RIGHTS TALKS OUTCOME STILL SECRET 
NATION: CHUAN WRONG ON BURMESE DEMOCRACY 
BKK POST: FM'S TO CONSIDER BURMA TIES 
XINHUA: MYANMAR RESHUFFLES SUPREME COURT 
XINHUA: MYANMAR APPOINTS NEW CHIEF FOR CIV SERV 
BOSTON GLOBE: A DEBT TO BURMA'S PEOPLE 
BKK POST: STRICTLY NO ILLEGALS AFTER DEADLINE 
REUTERS: THAI POWER PLANT SEEN TAKING GAS
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REUTERS: MYANMAR POURS COLD WATER ON FOREIGN MEDIATION 
9 July, 1999 by Rajan Moses

YANGON, July 9 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government has received no
outside offers of mediation to resolve the deadlock with the pro-democracy
opposition, and will solve its problems on its own, Foreign Minister Win
Aung said.

A European Union delegation that visited the country this week had made no
such offer, nor had former South African president Nelson Mandela despite
reports he could consider such a role, Win Aung told Reuters late on Thursday.

``It would not be reasonable to do so (offer to mediate) because it is our
domestic affair,'' the minister said.

A South African diplomat said last month Mandela would consider acting as a
mediator between the military and the opposition, led by his fellow Nobel
peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The diplomat said Mandela was willing to
consider the role if formally asked by the opposition.

``No proposal from Mandela,'' Win Aung said.

``I think Mr Mandela can't understand our politics,'' he added. ``We don't
mean that we have solved the problems. We are trying to solve the problems
by peaceful means by ourselves. Our problems are very complex.''

Wing Aung said a visit by a mid-ranking EU delegation this week had been
confined to fact-finding.

``Therefore, we told them what they wanted to know.''

EU diplomats said the delegation went to Myanmar to look at reestablishing
a dialogue with the government in the interests of promoting human rights
and a rapprochement between the opposition and military.

The EU is also interested in repairing its relationship with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has been damaged by
the grouping's formal admission of Myanmar in 1997.

Myanmar's treatment of the opposition, including the arrest and detention
of hundreds of its members, has led the European Union to bar Myanmar
officials from its borders, forcing cancellation of a high-level meeting of
the two blocs earlier this year.

The European Union wants to see ``substantial progress'' on human rights
before lifting the ban.


Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won Myanmar's last general
election in 1990 by a landslide but the military ignored the result.

Her party has said it is willing for dialogue with the military, but the
government has insisted that the party first renounce a committee it
established last year to represent the parliament never allowed to form
after the election.

Khun Tun Oo, head of the opposition Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy, told Reuters after meeting the EU delegation on Wednesday he
expected its talks with the opposition and the military to have ``a very
strong impact'' on the EU's attitude towards Myanmar.

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THE NATION: BURMA RIGHTS TALKS OUTCOME STILL SECRET
9 July, 1999 

AFP

A EUROPEAN Union mission has slipped out of military-run Burma leaving few
clues as to the success of its efforts to reopen a human rights dialogue
with the junta, envoys said yesterday.

A cloak of secrecy has descended on the two days of sensitive talks which
saw the four-man team meet opposition leaders including Aung San Suu Kyi
and powerful junta First Secretary Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt.

Representing Finland, Portugal, the EU secretariat and the European
Commission, the EU team was trying to pave the way for the resumption of a
political and human rights dialogue between Europe and Burma.

Diplomats said it would also propose talks between the military authorities
and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won
the 1990 elections only to be denied power by the junta.

"They wish first to report to the EU working committee and they don't want
to jump the gun, so to speak," Finnish Ambassador to Thailand Tauno Kaaria
said.

"They have left already and I don't think they had a briefing for diplomats."

A British diplomat in Rangoon said the past two days had been "exhausting"
but could not comment on the details of the talks.

"The atmosphere was cordial and there was an exchange of information on
both sides," she said.

But she said any more details of the success or failure of the mission
could take "a long time" to come back from the working committee in Brussels.

A media blackout of the meetings has been imposed in Burma, with no
coverage in the official newspapers and no comment from junta officials.

Political dialogue between the junta and the EU has been on ice since the
EU imposed sanctions in 1996, a move condemned in Rangoon as neo-colonial
interference.

The human rights situation has also tested the EU's ties with Asean, which
Burma joined two years ago.

The US State Department on Wednesday backed the EU's team, saying it
expected the talks to focus on human rights. 

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THE NATION: CHUAN WRONG ON BURMESE DEMOCRACY 
9 July, 1999 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The statement by PM Chuan about giving Burma time to make a transition to
democracy (The Nation, July 7) is shameful, coming from a long-time
adherent of democracy. It is sad to hear this especially on July 7, the
37th anniversary of the massacre of students on Rangoon University campus
by the military.


It can be validly argued that Burma - the Burmese people, that is - are
ready for democracy. They want it and have risked their lives in 1988 and
since then, for democracy and their rights, simply, as ordinary human beings.

Remember, democracy is premised on people as ordinary human beings, not as
rocket scientists. There's really nothing complicated about democracy, and
there is no need for those who deny the people their democratic rights and
human dignity- at gunpoint, no less - to make a fancy production of it.

Perhaps PM Chuan has forgotten that democracy in Thailand was not on the
agenda of Thai military rulers, and how persecuted were those who aspired
to establish democracy as a way of life on Thai soil. Surely, the PM has
not forgotten that being ruled at gunpoint by lawless men in uniform is not
a pleasant experience - it is rape, pure and simple.

It is sad that those who are of the liberal, democratic persuasion are now
increasingly turning to the "middle-class-before-democracy" line implying
that despotic rulers will, simply by indulging in their greed for power and
wealth and lawless whims, "create" a middle-class, and democracy will then
arise in all its glory. This now very fashionable argument in liberal
circles, especially, deserves closer scrutiny.

Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe 

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THE BANGKOK POST: FOREIGN MINISTERS TO CONSIDER BURMA TIES 
9 July, 1999 by Nussara Sawatsawang 

POLICY-MAKERS TO MAKE A JUDGMENT

Foreign ministers of the European Union will determine future relations
with Burma after studying reports from a special EU mission, Finnish
Ambassador Tauno Kaaria said yesterday.

Mr Kaaria refused to disclose the outcome of the mission, which left
Rangoon on Wednesday, and said it would be reported to an EU committee
dealing with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The mission was designed to resume dialogue with the government.

"Eventually, it's up to the policy makers to make a judgment," the
ambassador said.

Represented by four senior officials from Finland, Portugal, the European
Commission and the EU secretariat responsible for external affairs, the
mission, according to Mr Kaaria, met Secretary One Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt,
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and some ethnic minority leaders during
the two-day visit. Mr Kaaria said the Finnish official, who met him shortly
before leaving Bangkok for Helsinki, was neither hopeful nor pessimistic
about the result.

Finland holds the EU rotating presidency starting from the beginning of July.

Despite the EU's low-profile mission, Bhansoon Ladavalaya, an analyst on
Burma at Chiang Mai University, said the move looked positive and could
bring an end to the confrontation between the EU and Rangoon.

But he urged the EU to consider extending some assistance while persuading
the Burmese government to make some political progress, including
completion of the constitution drafting process and having a dialogue with
Mrs Suu Kyi.

Mr Kaaria emphasised earlier that the EU had set no conditions for dialogue
with Rangoon, although respect of human rights and democracy remained its
main concerns.


"We have no conditions. Our main goal is to see whether we are able to
establish contacts that could lead to a dialogue with the Burmese
government," he said.

The EU has imposed aid sanctions and barred entry visas for senior Burmese
officials since 1996 in protest against widespread human rights abuses and
the political impasse between the military regime and Mrs Suu Kyi.

The EU's tough stance has led to a deterioration of relations between the
EU and Asean. Burmese issues and Asean-EU ties are expected to be raised at
the annual meeting in Singapore.

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XINHUA: MYANMAR RESHUFFLES SUPREME COURT 
8 July, 1999 

YANGON (July 8) XINHUA - The Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Thursday reshuffled the Supreme Court Justices' Office with 11 members in
an effort to make it carry out the judicial affairs smoothly, state-run
Radio Myanmar reported Thursday night. 

The position of Chief Justice U Aung Toe remained unchanged in the
reshuffle with U Than Oo and U Khin Maung Latt promoted to deputy chief
justices from supreme court justices, according to the report. 

There are eight other supreme court justices. This is the second reshuffle
of the Myanmar Supreme Court since November 1998.

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XINHUA: MYANMAR APPOINTS NEW CHIEF FOR CIVIL SERVICE BODY 
8 July, 1999 

YANGON (July 8) XINHUA - The Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Thursday named Than Nyunt as the new chairman of the country's Civil
Service Selection and Training Board (CSSTB), the official Radio Myanmar
reported Thursday night. 

The appointment allows U Maung Maung Kyi, the former chairman, to retire. 

The CSSTB is an important government organization responsible for the
selection and training of civil service personnel for the appointment of
officials for the government's administrative sector.

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THE BOSTON GLOBE: A DEBT TO BURMA'S PEOPLE 
3 July, 1999 

On both economic and humanitarian grounds, there is a strong case for
reducing the debt of nations that are among the least developed countries.
But there should be criteria for debt relief to make sure that any
forgiveness of debt from rich nations and international financial
institutions relieves the suffering of people living in the poorest
countries and does not increase their misery.

On the list of 33 highly indebted countries that qualify for the debt
relief proposed last month at a summit of the Group of Seven rich
industrial nations, there is one, Burma, that is ruled by a military junta
so corrupt and cruel that it cannot possibly meet the standards proposed
for eligibility.

The G-7 called for standards of transparency for seriously indebted
countries. The money they would save would have to be spent for health,
education, child survival, AIDS prevention, and sound government financial
practices.

The Burmese junta however, has had sanctions imposed on it by the United
States and the European Union for its involvement in the heroin trade. On
June 17 the UN's International Labor Organization banned the junta from
receiving aid or attending meetings until it ends its widespread practice
of forced labor -- a horror the ILO denounced as "nothing but a
contemporary form of slavery."


The junta has transformed what was once the most literate population in
Asia into one of the least educated. It has notoriously denied Burma's high
rates of HIV infection as well as the drug use and sex trade it has
facilitated. The junta has also killed children by forcing them to serve as
porters for the military in mined areas.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader of the party
that won 80 percent of parliamentary seats in the 1990 election the junta
refused to honor, put the case against misguided aid clearly: "If the
provision of aid simply enables an authoritarian government to assume less
responsibility for the welfare of the people, or to strengthen its despotic
grip, or to increase the opacity of its administration, it will do
irreparably more harm than good."

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THE BANGKOK POST: STRICTLY NO ILLEGALS AFTER DEADLINE 
9 July, 1999 by Onnucha Hutasingh 

EMPLOYMENT DEPT VOWS TO ABIDE BY LAW

The Labour and Social Welfare Ministry is firm on its decision to ban
migrant workers after the August 4 deadline.

Employment Department director general Somchai Wattana said the law will be
strictly enforced.

He said the ministry will strictly abide by the 1979 Immigration Act
allowing migrant workers to be temporarily employed pending deportation.

The department chief unveiled the ministry's decision during yesterday's
meeting with representatives of the provincial industrial councils and
provincial chambers of commerce nationwide. The meeting discussed the alien
workers issue.

Provincial authorities are launching surveys whether there are still
demands for alien workers in industries.

The survey results will enable relevant panels to formulate recommendations
to be submitted to the cabinet on August 3.

The department chief said business enterprises in 25 provinces, mainly in
the Northeast, would halt employing alien workers.

Representatives from border-provinces urged relaxation of regulations on
the hiring of much-needed alien workers in certain sectors, particularly
fishery and agriculture.

Last year the cabinet eased a ban on alien workers in 13 border provinces,
with 90,000 registered alien workers, mostly Burmese, working in border
provinces.

Thousands await deportation.

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REUTERS: THAI POWER PLANT SEEN TAKING MYANMAR GAS IN JUNE 
7 July, 1999 

BANGKOK, July 7 (Reuters) - Thailand should be able to take around 60 mmcfd
of natural gas from Myanmar's Yadana gas project in August after repeated
delays in completion of a big power plant, the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand said on Wednesday.

Piti Yimprasert, president of PTT Gas, said an initial 200-megawatt
combined cycle unit would be installed at the Ratchaburi Power Plant in
August.

``The latest I heard from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
(EGAT) was that the power plant would be equipped with a 200-megawatt unit
in August, and it can start taking around 60 mmcfd of natural gas from
Yadana,'' he said.


``This is a good development. It would make it easier for us to conclude
the deal with the concessionaires of Yadana projects. The fact that EGAT
thinks the delay was not serious caused a lot of trouble for us,'' he said.

Yadana concessionaires include Total , PTT Exploration and Production and
Unocal (NYSE:UCL - news).

PTT is Thailand's gas monopoly, buying from producers and selling to end
users. Its biggest client is the state-owned EGAT.

PTT signed a 30-year take-or-pay contract with the Yadana concessionaires
to start taking gas from the offshore project in Myanmar from August 1998
to use as fuel for EGAT's Ratchaburi power plant in western Thailand.

The contract required that PTT take an initial 65 mmcfd, rising to 525
mmcfd over 15 months. However, PTT has been able to take only five mmcfd so
far.

While PTT completed its pipeline to transport the gas from the border to
the plant on time, EGAT has repeatedly put back the completion date for the
plant.

But PTT's part as buyer has meant that although it could not take the gas
as agreed, it must pay the first bill of $62 million.

The company is now negotiating with Yadana concessionaires about the
payment, seeking some discounts on the grounds that the concessionaires
failed to meet contract requirements on energy content in the natural gas
piped. The talks are expected to be concluded this month.

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