The BurmaNet News: November 11, 199

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Subject: The BurmaNet News: November 11, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: November 11, 1999
Issue #1399

HEADLINES:
==========
IMAGES ASIA: DETENTION AND DEPORTATION OF BURMESE
BKK POST: WE CAN DO WITHOUT THE EXPLOITATION
THE NATION: CHUAN FIRM ON REPATRIATION OF BURMESE
THE NATION: STOP, BURMESE WOMEN TELL PM
REUTERS: BOSSES PROTEST REPATRIATION OF WORKERS
THE NATION: IMPATIENT STUDENTS ANSWER CALLS TO ARMS
ABSDF: LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: WAY OFF THE MARK
***************************************************

IMAGES ASIA: DETENTION AND DEPORTATION OF BURMESE WORKERS IN THAILAND
11 November, 1999

SUMMARY

At the beginning of November, the Thai government began deporting
unregistered migrant workers in Thailand, the majority of whom are from
Burma.  Over the past week, in major towns and along the Thai-Burma border
from Ranong to Mae Sai, deportees have been rounded up and forcibly
repatriated.  The repatriations have been carried out with little regard
for safety and protection, or for international humanitarian norms.  

The current situation has arisen from the prolonged and unresolved problem
of unregistered migrant workers in Thailand.  Following the economic
downturn in the Thai economy in 1997, the present Thai government has
sought through a range of means to reduce and restrict the number of
migrant workers.  Registrations and repatriations have been attempted,
often simultaneously.  The latest deadline for repatriations was due at the
beginning of this month.  However, since the beginning of October, all
major border crossings have been closed by the SPDC, in retaliation for the
Thai handling of the siege at the Burmese Embassy on 1 October 1999.
Deportees have been refused entry into Burma, occasionally at gunpoint.

Repatriated migrants usually have no option other than to return to
Thailand, where they are often deported again.  As a result of these
revolving door detentions and deportations, migrants are being placed at
great risk.  At the time of writing, the situation is changing rapidly and
appears to be intensifying.  Conditions vary drastically from place to
place.  The greatest number of deportations has been in the Mae Sot area,
violent incidents which include rapes, shootings, and drownings have also
been reported.

Common features of all areas are: a pervasive climate of fear;
indiscriminate arrests, regardless of migrants' status; deportation of
particularly vulnerable groups, including women and young children; and
collective expulsions.   Many have been forced to cross the border and face
danger and uncertainty in the forests as well as towns.  On both sides of
the border, people are in hiding without food, shelter, protection, access
to medical services or other facilities.

The vast majority of deportees are migrant workers with neither legal
protection nor organizational support from sending or receiving
governments, NGOs or INGOs.  However, UNHCR registered refugees and
political activists have also been detained and in some cases forced across
the border. 

The following accounts have been compiled from various sources and
represent a partial and incomplete picture of the situation so far.
Restricted access to survivors' first-hand accounts makes confirmation
difficult.  


MAE SOT

The round up and deportations of migrant workers started on 3.11.99 when
major factories were searched.  On 4.11.99 the arrests were concentrated in
the market at Mae Sot and on major road intersections.  Since then
authorities have been conducting house to house searches.  A combined force
of 2,000, including policemen, soldiers, immigration and labour officials
are reported to be arresting and deporting migrants using large trucks that
can accommodate up to 300 people. On 3.11.99 Thai authorities were
prevented from carrying out deportations across the river at Ban Rim Moei
when Burma Army soldiers reportedly threatened to shoot approximately 200
migrant workers whom Thai authorities were attempting to deport.  In spite
of this, repatriations have continued, and migrants have been deported to
other areas along the river.

Large numbers of migrants have been forced onto a territorially disputed
islet in the Moei River.  Because of the late rains the river still runs
deep with a dangerously fast current.  So far the bodies of eight people
who drowned in the river during attempts to swim back to Thailand have been
found.  Many migrants, including a large number of women who are not strong
enough to wade back to the Thai side are in a very vulnerable situation,
without food, shelter and protection.

Others who have either managed to return to Thailand, or have not been
deported are hiding in fields and forests around Mae Sot.  They lack
adequate food, shelter and protection.  An emergency relief committee, who
has been quietly distributing aid, has heard that some have been subjected
to violent reprisals, including muggings, rapes, and beatings by officials
and members of the local community.

Reports that the authorities will establish immigration camps where migrant
workers will be interned pending the opening of the border are still
unverified. 

Specific Incidents:

6.11.99 
Three young women from SR Knitting Factory drowned after being deported
across the river at Mae Taw Talae. 

7.11.99 
About 600 people were deported to an island in the Moei River between Ban
Mae Ku on the Thai side and Ingyin Myaing on the Burmese side.  During this
deportation a number of incidents were reported:

1. An opposition group member who was deported with this group witnessed
the gang rape of a woman by five Border Patrol Police on the riverbank.
Another two women were also reportedly raped at the same time.

2. Two women and a child drowned when they attempted to cross the river. 

3. About 400 people were able to cross back to the Thai side the same
evening, leaving behind an unknown number who were forced to spend the
night on the islet.  According to the Bangkok Post, 15 women were forced
onto the Burmese side of the river and raped by Burmese Army soldiers
during the night.  This report has not been verified independently.  

4. Two men, one of whom was identified as a 23-year-old Karen called Wai
Wai, died after attempting to swim back across the Moei River the next
morning. 

10.11.99 
400 migrants were arrested in the Mae Pa area and are expected to be
deported on 11.11.99.


BANGKOK 

3.11.99 
9 people were arrested and sent to Mae Sot, despite the fact that they had
UNHCR status.  Some have already reportedly made their way back to Bangkok.

4.11.99 
A further 11 people with UNHCR refugee status were arrested and taken to
Bangkok IDC.  A total of 29 people with UNHCR refugee status are now
reported to be in Bangkok IDC.  

5.11.99
An NGO in Bangkok reported that 450 people were arrested and are now also
believed to be at the Bangkok IDC.


CHIANG MAI

2.11.99 
Authorities arrested both Thai citizens and Tai Yai migrants at Wat Pa Pao.
 The two groups were later released. 


MAE SAI

One Thai NGO in Mae Sai reported that there were increased arrests
throughout the town, particularly at construction sites.  Some houses where
migrants are known to be living have also been searched.  Those arrested
have been repatriated across the border.  Some of those repatriated are
reported to have returned to Mae Sai.


FANG

Since 8.11.99 migrant workers have been arrested and deported to the Thai
side of the border at Norg Euk, west of Fang and at another smaller border
crossing.  People who were staying in field huts are afraid to sleep there
and are now sleeping in the forest where they are at risk of violence from
the Thai Border Police or other people taking advantage of their vulnerable
situation. There is great fear for the security of people, especially women
in the area of Baan Larn, where there have been recent reports of a murder
and a disappearance of a woman, which some people have linked to Thai
Border Patrol Police.  BPP officials are particularly feared in this area
because of previous incidents of violence against migrants, including the
rape of three Shan women earlier this year.


MAE HONG SON 

An estimated 1,400 migrants have been deported at the Na Mai Luan and
Salween border crossings since 1.11.99.  Arrests appear to be concentrated
in areas on the outskirts of Mae Hong Son town at the rate of 50-70 per
day, although 2-300 migrants were seen at the Immigration office on
10.11.99.  Local NGOs have been told that the deportation campaign will
continue until at least the middle of November. 

At Na Mai Luan checkpoint some migrants are escaping to hide in the forest
or make their way back to Mae Hong Son. Others are reportedly being taken
to the Burmese checkpoint where they are interrogated and detained by SPDC
troops, although men are allegedly being detained to work on a forced
labour project in Shan State. 

6.11.99 
101 migrants were deported to the Na Mai Luan checkpoint. Some escaped
through the forest, but 39 migrants who do not have Burmese identity cards
were reportedly detained by Burma Army soldiers at Ho Mong for two days.
Many of these people are reported to have come from areas in Shan State
where there have been widespread forced relocations. 

8.11.99 
Both border crossings were closed on the Burmese side.  It is not clear
what is happening to deported migrants left at the Thai checkpoint now.


PAI

About 100 migrants have been arrested by the local police and sent to Mae
Hong Son immigration office. In other areas around town centers throughout
Mae Hong Son province and deeper into rural Thai territory, it is believed
that authorities are also arresting migrants and sending them to provincial
centers for deportation.


MAE SARIANG

Observers in the town have reported a slight increase in the number of
arrests.  Two Karen NGO workers were briefly arrested last week at a
checkpoint on the outskirts of the town.  It is not clear where arrested
migrants are being taken or if they are being deported.


SANGKLABURI

There are confirmed reports that about 15 students were arrested briefly on
27.10.99.  These were regarded as routine and did not result in
deportations.  Members of opposition groups have been warned that arrests
will intensify after 15.11.99.  


KANCHANABURI

There are no reports of arrests or deportations as of 10.11.99.  However,
an increased police presence has been reported in the city.


SUAN PERNG

280 people were arrested on 7-8.11.99.  They were reportedly taken away in
the middle of the night, but it is not known where they were taken.
Pictures of the arrests were shown on Thai television on 8.11.99.


SAMUT PRAKAN

An NGO working with migrant communities at the seafood plants reported a
slight increase in arrests and deportations of migrant workers.  On 8.11.99
a truck carrying 67 migrants to Mae Sot for deportation crashed in
Kamphaeng Phet and 10 people were killed. 13 people managed to escape, but
the location of the rest, some of whom were injured, is still unknown.


RANONG

In an unconfirmed report from the Democratic Voice of Burma, on 8.11.99 a
group of 500 migrant workers were arrested and sent by boat to an
uninhabited island on the Burmese side.  Some swam back to Ranong, where
they were arrested, beaten and then send to another Burmese island further
south.  Local Thai people are reported to have provided medicine and food
to these groups.

This report has been put together by Images Asia, using a variety of NGO
and local sources, and is intended for distribution.  

Contact: images@xxxxxxxxxxxx

***************************************************

THE BANGKOK POST: WE CAN DO WITHOUT THE EXPLOITATION
10 November, 1999

OPINION & ANALYSIS

The repatriation of illegal foreign labour would be a farce if it were not
for the suffering of these poor people. Many have been cruelly exploited
here by greedy businesses, then pushed home when their services were no
longer required only to be met by soldiers waving guns in their faces.

The timing of the forced repatriation of foreigners working in Thailand
illegally, most of them Burmese, could not have been worse. The move had
been planned for months and had been put off more than once, but when the
time finally came to send these people home it just happened to follow
closely on the Oct 1-2 hostage drama at the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok, and
so relations between our two countries had sunk to their lowest ebb.
Rangoon's ruling junta had shut the border in clear retaliation to the Thai
government's release of the five men who occupied the embassy.

The repatriation to date, especially at the border crossings from Tak
province's Mae Sot district, reveals bungling of tragic proportions.
Thousands of Burmese have been left to languish in the jungles on either
side of the Moei River. They have nowhere to go and most are without food
after they were expelled first from Thailand and then pushed back at
gunpoint by Burmese troops. Some have been seen trying to swim back across
the river to Thailand in the belief that at least they won't be allowed to
just die of hunger here. Two have been killed by Thai farmers who mistook
them for thieves.

In some ways, the ordeal faced by the Burmese illegal workers is similar to
that of Thais who work illegally or are imprisoned in sweatshops in foreign
lands in their often futile pursuit of that pot at the end of the rainbow.
Both are exploited by their employers. Sadly, many Thais take the
exploitation of cheap foreign labour for granted. Many do not bother to
raise a finger at the unnecessary suffering of those poor souls caught
between their homeland and their host country. Are we suffering compassion
fatigue?

This forced repatriation has been a terrible failure. It has caused truly
unnecessary hardship for these people, people who deserve humane treatment
just like anybody else - if not employment on Thai soil. The repatriation
must be put on hold until talks can resume with Rangoon, preferably at
Thailand's initiative, to arrange for their orderly return home.

And let's not forget that this forced repatriation is hurting many local
and expatriate companies that depend on - or, to be more precise, take
advantage of - the cheap Burmese labour to keep their costs down. With the
support of the Federation of Thai Industries, these investors in Tak
province nearby the border have been putting pressure on the government to
find them 20,000 workers to replace the departing Burmese. But what they'd
prefer, of course, is to have the illegal Burmese back.

Even though these businesses are required by law to have at least 20% Thai
staff, most clearly prefer to have all Burmese workers as they are not
covered by any minimum wage requirements. And they don't need to provide
these people with the normal employment expected by Thai staff. It is no
wonder that these businesses are much happier to employ Burmese, people who
they can exploit at will and without fear of repercussion, people who
hardly ever complain.

Thailand currently has a jobless rate of about two million people. These
people must be given the first opportunity to find employment. Only once
they are gainfully employed should foreigners be given the chance to work
here. But whether an employee is a Thai or a foreigner, he must be
protected by the same Thai labour laws - which means a minimum wage and all
other employment benefits.

Foreign investment is essential to our economic recovery and development.
Foreign investors are welcome. But this does not mean we need not be
selective. Investors who do not intend to obey our laws, who want to
exploit cheap Burmese labour and not create any jobs for Thai nationals,
whose projects cause harm to the environment, these people are best sent on
their way. We don't want their sort here.

***************************************************

THE NATION: CHUAN FIRM ON REPATRIATION OF ILLEGAL BURMESE
10 November, 1999

PRIME Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday refused to budge amid growing calls
from the private sector and factory owners along the Thai-Burmese border to
stop deporting Burmese working illegally in Thailand.

"They will be sent back the same way they came," Chuan said.

Factory owners who employ the Burmese have threatened mass protests if the
repatriation does not stop.

The premier, however, rejected the employers' claims that the Burmese are
essential for Thai industry, saying factory owners had long overlooked the
law by knowingly hiring illegal foreign workers.

Efforts by Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan to get the Burmese government
involved in the repatriation has failed because Rangoon refused to
cooperate, Chuan said.

Thailand last week started a massive roundup of illegal foreign workers
from Cambodia, Laos and Burma to repatriate them.

Mae Sot district in Tak province has become a focal point because it is one
of the main crossing points between Burma and Thailand and the area is home
to a number of factories that have for years exploited the cheap labour of
Burmese workers.

Businesses in Mae Sot alone employed about 100,000 illegal Burmese workers,
most working in garment and canning factories for salaries far below the
required minimum wages.

While acknowledging the rugged border enabled Burmese workers to cross back
to the Thai side almost at will, Chuan insisted authorities would continue
repatriations and see the laws enforced.

Burmese troops have threatened to shoot the returnees. In a couple
incidents when Thai authorities tried to ferry workers across river
crossings, they ended up pushing the rafts back to the Thai side to avoid
possible bloodshed and look, elsewhere to take the workers across the border.

Burmese soldiers argued that some returnees may have been rebel soldiers
and members of various dissident groups trying to sneak back into the
country, Thai authority said.

However, the repatriation has proven to be like a merry-go-round as many
returned workers swim back to the Thai side shortly after they were put
ashore.

A number of Thai officials and lawmakers have reportedly urged the
government to go after the factory owners, saying they are the root cause
of the problem.

The president of Tak's chamber of commerce reportedly said 15 women who
have been deported were raped by Burmese soldiers shortly after they
reached their homeland and two drowned in the Moei River while trying to
swim back.

Khachadpai Burusapatana, Secretary General of the National Security
Council, however, said the matter was out of Thailand's hands as it
occurred in Burma.

Deputy national police chief Gen Sant Sarutanon, responsible for the
repatriation of illegal Burmese workers, said authorities employed
appropriate measures to repatriate the workers, insisting no force has been
used.

But the National Council of the Union of Burma, an exile group, called on
the United Nations, diplomats and non-governmental organisations to
investigate the accusations of ill-treatment immediately.

The group accused the military government of Burma of not only refusing
re-entry to these workers but of shooting at them and making them into
fugitives.

"Some are on the run in the jungles ... facing starvation. Some are
stranded on sand bars in the middle of the river ... thousands of Burmese
workers are facing grave  danger," the group said in a statement.

"More than 10,000 of them have been repatriated since last week," Maj
Chanwut Watcharapuk, deputy chief of the immigration department, told a
news conference in Mae Sot yesterday.

But he added that about 60 per cent of the deported had returned, and not
because of threats from Burmese soldiers.

"Large numbers of them returned to Thailand because some employers had not
yet paid their salaries, so they came back to receive their pay," he said.

The repatriation of workers comes amid growing tension between Thailand and
Burma that started in October when five armed dissidents took over the
Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.

Burma responded by shutting the border with Thailand and cancelling fishing
concession held by Thai fishermen.

Before the economic crisis hit Thailand two years ago, the country hosted
about a million Burmese workers. Repatriations began late last year when
300,000 Burmese were sent home.

***************************************************

THE NATION: STOP, BURMESE WOMEN TELL PM
10 November, 1999

A GROUP of women's organisations from Burma yesterday issued an open letter
to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, requesting him to temporarily halt
deportation of Burmese illegal immigrants to prevent their further abuse
and rape.

The group, calling itself "Women's Organisations from Burma", suggested
that Burmese illegal immigrants who could not work in Thailand and were
refused entry to their own country should be placed in a safe area -along
the border.

"On humanitarian grounds, we urgently call o n the Thai government to
temporarily desist from deporting migrant workers. If migrants could not
work legally in Thailand and cannot be guaranteed security in their own
country, they will need permission to stay in safe and secure communities
along the border with basic amenities and access to NGOs," the letter read.

The letter, signed by 12 non-government organisations, was in response to
reports Burmese soldiers had raped illegal immigrants sent back by Thailand
at the weekend and an unconfirmed report that two were drowned while trying
to swim  back to Thai soil.

"We know that Thailand considers rape a very serious offence, particularly
when committed by authorities whose duty is to protect their citizens, and
we call on the Royal Thai government to demand that justice be brought
against the rapists," the letter said.

The group expressed hope that the government would re-evaluate its policy
on deportations and grant Burmese migrants safe refuge.

***************************************************

THE NATION: IMPATIENT STUDENTS ANSWER CALL TO ARMS
10 November, 1999 by Juergen Dauth

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: This article appeared in yesterday's issue of the
Nation and was distributed to many other newspapers worldwide via wire
service. BurmaNet received copies of two letters to the editor regarding
this article.  They appear below, although neither was published in today's
issue of The Nation.  The author quotes an ABSDF leader, Moe Thee Zun, in
the article.  However, Moe Thee Zun states that he was never interviewed by
this journalist and never made the statements quoted here. Quotes by other
individuals could not be verified.  In addition, the article carries a
number of factual errors which are addressed in the second letter to the
editor.]

DEUTSCHE PRESS-AGENTUR

They look rather comical at first - not at all what you might expect
would-be terrorists to look like. They stand lined up at the edge of the
jungle which loosely marks the porous border between Thailand and Burma
holding wooden imitation rifles at the ready. Two hundred pretend soldiers,
a formidable army only in terms of their motivation.

"It is only like that during their training," says Me Da the instructor,
hastily adding that "afterwards they bear real arms". And where will they
come from? "Oh, that is quite easy here."

A few weeks ago they were still holed up in a camp for Burmese exiles in
the Maneeloy Holding Centre in Ratchaburi province, bored, but nevertheless
still eagerly planning their revolution. Then, at the beginning of October,
a few days before Burma's Bangkok Embassy was occupied, they broke out.

In the Thai-Burmese border area they joined forces with the Association of
Student Armies, a militant student group whose aim is to restore democracy
in Burma through violence.

"We knew that Kyaw Oo would storm the embassy - we got him the weapons,"
says Me Da.

The occupation of the embassy ended without bloodshed after all 41 hostages
were set free. The five student protestors were taken in a Thai military
helicopter - together with Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra as
a bargaining chip - to Thailand's frontier with Burma. "We don't consider
them terrorists," the minister had argued. "They are student activists who
fight for democracy."

Today Sukhumbhand has changed his tune. Indeed, the Thai government has had
arrest warrants issued for the student warriors, which accuse them of
sometimes years-old crimes. "We were deceived," admits Foreign Minister
Surin Pitsuwan.

Now he claims that a police investigation had only recently revealed that
the "naive students" had been involved in bank robberies, had staged
kidnappings and been responsible for inflicting grevious bodily harm on
others.

"They are the commandos of the radical exiles," explains a military man, Lt
Gen Sanan Kachornklam, "they are responsible for procurement."

The embassy group have now found refuge with "God's Warriors", a splinter
group of the Burmese student movement in exile which apparently trains
revolutionaries in their handiwork.

The head of God's Warriors is Karen general Bo Mya, president of the Karen
National Union which seeks independence for the minority people. "We have
become impatient," says Me Da who would like to set up an army of liberation.

In Burma itself the opposition movement is stagnating. Even 10 years after
the student riots for democracy, talks between the opposition leader and
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and the ruling military junta the
capital, Rangoon, have failed to occur.

The grass roots membership of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD), which won just about every parliamentary seat in the cancelled 1990
elections, has been cowed to such an extent that they are deserting the
party at an alarming rate. The leadership is largely powerless to hinder
this as most of them are in prison.

The more radical exile groups, a loose term largely marked by the
hotchpotch of ideas and self-delusions they propagate, do not expect the
NLD to bring about any changes to Burma's dire political landscape.

But until recently, the Democratic Alliance of Burma - formally the
principle  organisation behind exiled Burmese - had everything more or less
under control at  the radical end of the political spectrum.

The price it paid for its grudging acceptance of Suu Kyi's pacifist stance
was that it increasingly failed to offer the more radical exiles any
prospect of quick change.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is inefficient", says Moe The Zun, spokesman for the
Democratic Front of Burmese Students, whose formerly moderate organisation
long ago shattered into myriad factions.

The embassy gang was from the radical wing of the student movement, which
provides more and more of an attractive alternative for those impatient for
change the more it becomes clear how much the opposition is being strangled.

"Many here in exile no longer see an opportunity that such a weakened Aung
San Suu Kyi will still have the credentials when the junta  finally agree
to talks." But the State Law and Order Restoration Council, as the military
regime calls itself, is in no hurry. "It will dry out the opposition,"
thinks Moe The Zun. "The days of kid-glove treatment are over."

"We are now preparing ourselves militarily to again make the world sit up
and take note - just like the taking of the Bangkok embassy," he declares.

They may sound a little crazy, but the students claim they are not alone.
They say they are receiving support from international terrorist groups,
which is not at all unlikely. The camps for exile students (although hardly
any of them still study) make excellent venues for meetings, with no
restrictions on movement or visitors.

"There is not a lot to do in the camps," says Prasit Choonhavan, a member
of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' team working here. Given the
comings and goings, it is not surprising that his job is not an easy one.
"The place is full of intrigues and fantasies. Every day radical ideas are
being exchanged with receptive listeners."

Me Da says that to do nothing would be unbearable. He prefers not to say
how exactly he is training his motley troop. "That is yet to come. We must
first collect battlefield experience at the side of the Karen fighters."

But in the camp at Maneeloy they are not so reserved. This is headquarters
to the All Burma Basic Education Students Union, an organisation whose aim
is to put overseas journalists on the right track.

"We will wage a terrorist war against Burmese interests in the Asean trade
group and against all those who support the current regime," predicts a
revolutionary who claims to have been Suu Kyi's speech writer at one time.
"We will be everywhere."

One day, believes Me Da, the radical student movement will be strong enough
to topple the military junta by force.

***************************************************

ABSDF: LETTER TO THE EDITOR
10 November, 1999 by Moe Thee Zun

Dear Editor:

I wish to clarify an issue of grave concern to me.

On Wednesday, the Frankfurter Rundschau published an article by Juergen
Dauth, in which my name was used. The article was also published on the
Frankfurter Rundschau's website and picked up by a wire service called
Deutsche Presse-Agentur. It was also printed in the Nation of Thailand and
Jakarta Post of Indonesia.

I wish to state unconditionally that I have never conducted an interview
with Juergen Dauth.  The words he quotes are not mine, and I am troubled
and concerned that these quotes have been attributed to me and the
organizations with which I am affiliated.

Mr. Dauth's article insults my commitment to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her
abilities.

The group with which I work is not affiliated with terrorist organizations,
nor do we receive money from international terrorist organizations.  We do
not have plans to organize terrorist acts.

If you are aware of other papers that have printed the article, please
contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Moe Thee Zun
Vice-Chairman 
All Burma Students' Democratic Front

***************************************************

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: WAY OFF THE MARK
10 November, 1999

I refer to an article by Juergen Dauth of Frankfurter Rundschau in The
Nation of Wednesday, 10 November 1999.  There are a number of conceptual as
well as factual errors contained within this article which are of concern
and which illustrate the lack of research carried out by this journalist.

Anyone at all familiar with the Burmese student groups based along the
border will be well aware that the tone of this article is actually
opposite the reality of the pro-democracy movement.

To begin with, the main body of Burmese students, the All Burma Students'
Democratic Front (not the Democratic Front of Burmese Students as labelled
in the article) is publicly committed to focus on political tasks and
remains committed to non-violence.  It has not 'shattered into myriad
factions' as reported.  While it is true that there was previously a split
in the group, the group has been reunited since 1996.  As an observer of
the Burmese movement for democracy, I have never heard Moe Thee Zun, Vice
Chairman of ABSDF, make quotes in the tone described in the article.

Inside Burma, members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) resign
their membership because of intimidation and pressure from the military
regime.  There are not 'deserting' as reported - rather they are being
forced to resign under threats of arrest, detention, loss of livelihood and
loss of educational opportunities for their children.  A copy of the
standard letter they are forced to sign can be found on the worldwide web.

God's Army (not God's Warriers as labelled in the article) is not a
splinter group of the student movement.  Members of the group have never
been affiliated with the students.  This Army emerged at the time of the
SLORC offensive in their area in the beginning of 1997.  An article in the
Sunday Nation on 17 May 1998 describes this group.  General Bo Mya is not
the head of this group - he is the Chairman of the Karen National Union
(KNU). God's Army is said to be headed up by a set of young twin boys.

Finally, the military regime in Burma is no longer known as SLORC - the
change of name occurred in November 1997.  They now call themselves the
State Peace and Development Council.

Could someone please give this German journalist access to the worldwide
web so that he can check his facts!

Signed:  A Burma observer

***************************************************




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