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BurmaNet News: January 6, 2000





---------------- The BurmaNet News ----------------
January 6, 2000
Issue # 1434
----------------------------------------------------


==========
HEADLINES:
==========

Inside Burma-
 MIC: REGIME RESPONDS TO MONKS CALL FOR DIALOGUE
 RADIO AUSTRALIA: MILITARY AUTHORITIES OFFERS "MAIL ORDER
 DEGREES" WHILE UNIVERSITIES CLOSED 

International

 IHT: HOW RANGOON COULD GET BURMA BACK INTO THE WIDE WORLD 
 INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
 YAKAIROL (India): JOINT OPERATIONS AGAINST INSURGENTS IN OFFING?
 BKK POST: BURMESE PROTEST FAILS TO MATERIALIZE
 BURMA GROUP BELGIUM: COURT REJECTS TOUR GROUP CLAIMS AGAINST
 BURMA GROUP
 GALLIOL MAGAZINE (France) TOTALFINA-ELF MERGER: STARTING OVER
WITH A CLEAN SLATE
 GRASSROOTS OPTIONS MAGAZINE (India) Indo-Myanmar Border Trade:
An overview 

***********************************************
MIC: REGIME RESPONDS TO MONKS CALL FOR DIALOGUE
SOURCE:  Information  sheet  No. B-1206 (I) 4th January 2000
           MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE YANGON


"The Government Encourages NLD to Participate in Shouldering
National 
Responsibilities"
    
   It is quite regretful to learn that certain
quarters have been exploiting the Venerable Sayadaws
(Presiding Buddhist Monks) for their own ends. It is
more regretful to know that these quarters are not
only exploiting the religious order but also
undermining the fundamental belief and the supreme
doctrine of Buddhism by making the Sayadaws
participate unwittingly in such kinds  of activities
strictly being prohibited for Theravada Buddhist
monks. Moreover, these same quarters are spreading
rumours to reflect the image of a scenario as if the
opinions of the 2 individual Sayadaws are representing
the whole body of Sangha Order in Myanmar.

     Nevertheless, the Government agrees with the
opinion of the said 2 Sayadaws and hope that in this
auspicious time of the beginning of the new millennium
the National League for Democracy party is willing to
adopt a more realistic and flexible policy so that it
can contribute meaningfully in the development of
Myanmar. 

     It is the desire of the Government  together with
that of the people of Myanmar to be able to enjoy the
beginning of the new year as a period of conciliation,
 cooperation and mutual help in building a better
future for the people of Myanmar.

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


RADIO AUSTRALIA: MILITARY AUTHORITIES OFFERS "MAIL ORDER DEGREES"
WHILE UNIVERSITIES CLOSED 
Melbourne, in English 1300 gmt 5 Jan 00 



Text of report by Radio Australia on 5th January 

Burma's military junta has expanded its offer of mail order
degrees with prospective students being sent letters of
enrolment. 

Bangkok correspondent Ginny Stein reports universities were shut
down in 1988 following bloody confrontations between the military
and students. 

[Stein] Universities throughout the country have been closed for
more than a decade. In the past few years a number of campuses
outside of the capital Rangoon have been reopened offering
postgraduate degrees to mature age students. Late last year,
letters of enrolment were sent out to prospective students
inviting them to register for undergraduate courses to be
undertaken by correspondence. While the military regime has made
promises in the past to reopen universities, this latest move
suggests such a move is still a long way off. Burma activist
Debbie Stoddart says the offer of mail order degrees is too
little, too late for a nation which has denied its youth an
opportunity at a higher education for more than a decade. 

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

IHT: HOW RANGOON COULD GET BURMA BACK INTO THE WIDE WORLD 
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
January 6, 2000

By Mike Jendrzejczyk; International Herald Tribune 

WASHINGTON 


Will Burma's military rulers mark the new millennium by returning
the country to civilian government and adopting a ''pro-people
stance,'' as recommended by the World Bank and the United
Nations? Much will depend on the actions of Japan, historically
Burma's largest bilateral aid donor. 

A breakthrough will also require new flexibility by the Burmese
government - and by Western governments. 

Japan's prime minister, Keizo Obuchi, has clearly signaled
Tokyo's interest in trying to rekindle democracy and respect for
human rights. He broke a 15-year taboo on high-level contacts
with the Burmese regime when he met General Than Shwe in Manila
in November. 

That was followed by a ''private'' visit to Rangoon by former
Prime Minister Ryutato Hashimoto. He reinforced the message that
resumption of large-scale aid, suspended after the bloody
military crackdown on anti- government demonstrations in 1988,
could occur in exchange for ''visible'' signs of political and
economic change. 

Perhaps the generals were paying attention. The ruling State
Peace and Development Council delivered on a promise to Mr.
Hashimoto. Late last month it began reopening universities that
had been closed for three years. The gesture fell far short of
what was needed, but kept Japan's diplomatic initiative alive. 

The real test is yet to come for both the regime and the
opposition National League for Democracy led by the Nobel Peace
laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. They must find a way to talk to
each other. 

Japan could help bridge the gap if it could convince the regime
to cooperate fully with a joint effort by the United Nations and
the World Bank. Tokyo can credibly use the carrot of new
bilateral loans, as well as the possibility of renewed
international lending. But Japan needs to be more explicit about
the kinds of changes it expects. 

There is an urgent need to develop a road map. 

The elements of a reform program have been laid out. In the fall,
the UN General Assembly adopted a tough resolution urging the
government to end persecution of the league, open a ''substantive
political dialogue'' with the opposition and cease ''widespread
and systematic use'' of forced labor, especially in ethnic
minority areas. The UN secretary-general's envoy went to Burma in
October, along with a World Bank official, but talks with the
government were inconclusive. 

As reported by the International Herald Tribune, the World Bank's
latest report on Burma recommends crucial economic reforms,
coupled with political change, to reverse the country's slide
into poverty and misery. The regime has invited the bank to send
a mission to Rangoon for discussions, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
has been consulted by the bank on the report's findings. 

But talks between Burma's leaders and officials of the United
Nations or the bank will go nowhere unless Rangoon is ready to
embark on a reform path. Lifting restrictions on free expression
and assembly, and releasing political prisoners, would be obvious
first steps as confidence-building measures. For meaningful
dialogue between the government and the opposition, there must be
a climate of goodwill on both sides. 

Concrete action by Burma could trigger a response by others in
addition to Japan. For example, if Burma took effective action to
end the use of forced labor, and this could be independently
verified, the European Union could reinstate trade preferences
for Burma's agricultural and industrial exports, suspended in
1997. The International Labor Organization could reverse its de
facto expulsion of Burma last year. 

The Clinton administration could consider lifting some U.S.
sanctions if all harassment and jailing of league members ended
(although providing direct aid to the government would not be an
option). In general, it may be useful for the United States to
continue playing the role of ''bad cop'' to Japan's ''good cop.''
Yet Washington, too, must be flexible. An incremental approach to
sanctions is likely to be more effective. 

Burma might not be ready to shed its international pariah status.
But an end to repression there would be a fitting way to start
the new century, with the long-suffering people of Burma as the
greatest beneficiaries. 

The writer, Washington director of Human Rights Watch's Asia
Division, contributed this comment to the International Herald
Tribune. 



***********************************************
YAKAIROL (India): JOINT OPERATIONS AGAINST INSURGENTS IN OFFING?

Indian Army Chief V P Malik arrives: Top-brass to leave for
Myanmar today Joint operations against insurgents in the offing?
(From YAKAIROL newspaper)

Imphal, January 5: Straws in the wind indicate that India and
Myanmar are going to give final touches to launch joint
operations against the insurgents of the two countries from
either side of the international border.

This has become obvious from the closely-guarded visit by the
chief of the Indian army to the North Eastern region from January
5 to 8.

The chief of the army staff, General V.P. Malik, PVSM, AVSM, ADC
arrived here this afternoon by a special flight.

There was no leakage of his visit beforehand. Besides, the army
and the intelligence agencies were leaving nothing to chance with
the result that the chief of army and nine other high-ranking
army officers went to Kangla from the Imphal airport by choppers.

Highly placed sources said that the chief secretary of Manipur H.
Jelshyam had been instructed to make the necessary paper-works to
facilitate the visit to Mandalay by these army officers. The
paper works were completed in the evening and the team is leaving
early tomorrow morning.

The highly placed sources feel that the only agenda of the talks
of the Indian army officers with the Myanmarese counterparts is
the resumption of the joint counter insurgency operations. In the
past, such joint operations were launched from either side of the
international border and it was claimed that there were positive
results. It was also felt that both the countries had turned a
Nelson's eye if there had been some
inadvertent incursions into the territory of each country by
army from across the border.

However, the differences developed between two armies. Reports
said that Myanmar had accused India of harbouring ?wanted
criminals? in the refugee camps at Leikhul, flooding the
Myanmarese market with fake Kyat and imparting training to the
Myanmarese separatists. On the other hand, police reports had
said that insurgents from Manipur are bivouacking in the
western part of Myanmar and many of them were in contact with
some army officers.

A Press Information Bureau release says that the chief of army
staff is visiting Manipur to assess and review the internal
security and organizational preparedness of the formations
deployed in Manipur. He will be visiting Imphal, Shillong and
Guwahati till January 8. He will be holding detailed
discussions with the local formation commanders.

The chief of army staff also held discussions on operational
issues with Lt. Gen. H.R. S Kalkat, PVSM, AVSM, Eastern army
commander and Lt. Gen. R.K. Nanavatty, PVSM, UYSM, KVSM, GOC 3
Corps. Later he also discussed the prevailing situation with
Major General Arvind Sharma, GOC 57 Mountain Division.

Later in the evening the chief of army called on the governor
of Manipur, Ved Marwah at Raj Bhavan. On arrival at Kangla he
was received by Brig Rajinder Singh, commanding officer of 17
Assam Rifles and other officers. The Indian chief of army and
his team will come back to Manipur on January 7.


***********************************************
BKK POST: BURMESE PROTEST FAILS TO MATERIALIZE

Burmese protest fails to materialise

Nearly 100 policemen kept vigil at the Burmese Embassy in
anticipation of a protest by dissident Burmese students on the
occasion of Burma's 52nd anniversary of its Independence Day.

plainclothes and uniformed police from the Special Branch
Bureau, the Immigration Bureau and the Metropolitan Police
Bureau were put on standby at the embassy in anticipation of a
protest, but nothing happened.

Pol Maj-Gen Sawek Watthanakij, commander of the Special Branch
Division 2, said the extra security was ordered for fear of a
recurrence of the Oct 1-2 Burmese embassy siege.

A security police officer who requested anonymity, said the
Burmese students had decided against protesting for fear of
arrest on charges of illegal entry, instead of being sent back
to Maneeloy holding centre as used to be the practice. At least
20 Burmese students who slipped out of Maneeloy in the past
fortnight were arrested, and all face charges of illegal entry.

Bangkok Post (January 5, 2000)



***********************************************
BURMA GROUP BELGIUM: COURT REJECTS TOUR GROUP CLAIMS AGAINST
BURMA GROUP

Press Release: Birma Groep/Groupe Birmanie (KWIA).

BELGIAN COURT REJECTS ALL CLAIMS OF TOUR OPERATOR
AGAINST BURMA GROUP

December 23,1999 - The Antwerp Civil Court has rejected the 
claim of tour operator Anders dan Anders (Master Tours) to
muzzle the human rights activists of the  Birma Groep/Groupe
Birmanie (KWIA).  With this verdict, the court recognizes that
the Burma Group  has distributed well documented information in
its campaign to  persuade the Belgian public not to visit
Burma.

In two articles published in the Belgian press and in pamflets 
distributed at slide presentations, the Burma Group has stated
that tour operator Anders dan Anders lodged in Shangri-La
Traders Hotel in  Rangoon, reputed as the major investment
project of drugbaron Lo  Hsin Han. 
 
Anders Dan Anders felt that its reputation was damaged and sued 
the Burma Group with a claim of BEF 1.000.000 (+/- USD 32.000), 
later reduced to a symbolic 1 BEF and BEF 250.000 (+/-USD
7.800) per action taken.

In its verdict the court says that the claim to prohibit
actions of the Burma Group against the tour operator is
incompatible with the  freedom of speech as guaranteed by the
Belgian constitution. Further-more, the court feels that the
information spread is based on several publications and that
the tour operator did not deny any criticism as to the social
and political situation in Burma. The court also says that the
freedom of trade has not been damaged and that the tour
operator did not proof any damage.

In his report, the Public Prosecutor refers  to the resolution
of February 4.  This resolution was unanimously passed by the
Belgian Parliament calling on the government to dissuade
Belgian companies and tour operators from doing business with
the Burmese regime.             
  
In this resolution the Belgian Parliament also expressed its
support for the Committee Representing the People's Parliament. 
On  March 1, Minister-President Van den Brande sent a letter to
the federation of Belgian tour operators in which he supported
Aung San Suu Kyi's view that it is not suitable to visit Burma
under the present circum-stances. A couple of weeks later the
Belgian Parliament cancelled a Burma conference and trip
organised by the Museum of History and Arts in Brussels.

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

Updated version of
TOTALFINA-ELF MERGER: STARTING OVER WITH A CLEAN SLATE
by Francis Christophe, published in Golias magazine, France,
October 1999

Part I
BLACK TIDE AND DRUG-MONEY LAUNDERING: DIFFICULT TIMES FOR
TOTAL-FINA-ELF, 
THE NEW PETROLEUM GIANT

The sinking of the old tanker Erika with its 30,000 tons of
heavy fuel-oil, mid-December in the north Atlantic 90
kilometers off the French coast, is a very heavy blow to the
new petroleum giant which resulted from last autumn' 
s merger of TotalFina with the other French petroleum company
Elf.

The black tide from Erika' s cargo being moved from a Total
refinery in France to an Italian customer of TotalFina,
shatters publicly the facade of respectability behind which the
petroleum company shelters its murky/shadowy 
practices in the heart of Europe as well as in Burma.

In the eyes of public opinion TotalFina will bear for long the 
responsibility of this ecological disaster, even if legally the
ship -owner has to bear the consequences. Denying evidence
during all public interventions Mr. Thierry Desmarest ,
president of the group, has always stubbornly pretended that in
all its operations, notably in Burma, Total exclusively
employed subcontractors who offered all guarantees in the
fields of respect for the environment and social rights of
their employees. This was false for its Burmese operations,
where Total' s main subcontractor is the Burmese army,
unanimously condemned by international authorities for its 
massive and continuous human rights violations as well as for
its drug trafficking. It is also false for Europe: How will
Thierry Desmarest manage to convince millions of French
citizens who will struggle for months with the black tide that
the owner of a 25 year old Maltese tanker which split 
into two, with an Indian crew on board, had offered all
guarantees?

In June 1999 a collective of Belgian politicians and NGOs had
called for the boycott of TotalFina to protest against the
behaviour of the French petroleum company in Burma. The black
tide on the French coast can only amplify this movement,
illustrating these words by Abraham Lincoln: " ..you can't fool
all the people all the time".

TOTALFINA-ELF MERGER: STARTING OVER WITH A CLEAN SLATE

The PEO launched by TotalFina on July 5 - and accepted by Elf
on september 13, after negociations - has been cheered
unanimously for resulting in the creation of a French petroleum
giant, while ignoring that 65 % of TotalFina' s and 51 % of
Elf' s capital had ceased being French by the end of July 
1999.

This merger also constitutes a huge whitewash operation, a
unique opportunity to conceal in the background, if not wipe
out altogether, acts which, whether in Africa, in Asia, or in
the Court of Justice in Paris, have seriously damaged the
reputation of all parties concerned: Both French 
petroleum companies and their  protector, the State.

Although this regrouping was seen as a mean for the French
petroleum industry to escape potential foreign predators, it
can only make it more desirable for anglo-saxon pension funds
which had previously tilted the majority of Total's capital in
their favour (according to the New York Times on August 29
1999). While acting in the name of national interest Thierry 
Desmarest will remain the person who, with the support of the
minister of finance, made the entire French petroleum industry
as one single block, available to foreign investors. However,
in order to reassure new shareholders once and for all, a major
facelift is necessary.

ELF = TOTAL + EVA JOLY

The need for a whitewash operation appears obvious for ELF,
largely because of the mediatic impact of investigations by
judge Eva Joly which had followed a complaint by the then
incoming director Philippe Jaffre against his predecessor Loïc
Le Floc-Prigent, for abuse of social funds. This spectacular 
process aimed at breaking with practices which had been common 
before the privatisation of ELF but would not however bring
them to an end. This requested intrusion of the judicial
process, followed closely behind by the media, rapidly brought
discredit upon the company, and opened a real Pandora's box.
During the instruction, lists of beneficiaries of undue gifts
were published; Several were imprisoned, including the former
director; Roland Dumas, former minister of foreign affairs,
then President of the Constitutional Council, came under
investigation and finally accepted to take leave from his high
functions. On the other hand not a word filtered through to the
main media regarding the fundamental role played by ELF in the
civil war which has been bleeding and devastating Congo
Brazzaville where for the last three years ethnic cleansing has
been practiced with a zeal visibly doped and financed by
petroleum.However, though contrasting with such somber
revelations about ELF, the image of knight in shiny armour
carefully cultivated by Total' s Thierry Desmarest cannot make
illusion: If one were to look for similar networks of hidden
financing practices by the Total group, one would indeed find 
subsidiary/daughter companies which serve the same functions as
critics found with ELF. If a judiciary inquiry was ever
conducted into Total ' s actions in Burma, it would not fail to
show that the leadership of the French petroleum company is not
sheltered from potential investigations on complicity to ethnic
cleansing, forced labour and drug-money laundering. 
Those responsible within UNOCAL, Total's American minor
associate in the Yadana gas project, have been indicted by the
Los Angeles Federal Court following complaints by Burmese
refugees native of the area where Total has built the pipe-line
with support from the French government and from President
Chirac personally.

THE BURMESE FIASCO : DRUG TRADE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Early July 1999 Bernard Amaudric Du Chaffaut, a former director
of international affairs for ELF, assumed his new functions as
French embassador in Burma. As if he already enjoyed diplomatic
immunity in his post of high responsibility within ELF the
future ambassador slipped comfortably through the judiciary net
which had aimed  to close on those who, like his colleagues
Andre Tarallo and Alfred Sirven, used to control, with Loïc Le
Floc-Prigent, the many paths of ELF's financial flux.
At the foreign affairs ministry, the Total-Elf merger was a
done thing, even before the PEO began..

A heavy task awaits the expert in petroleum diplomacy, the task
of trying to avoid further infection of Total' s Achilles' heel
(according to financial analysts) : its close collaboration
with the Burmese narco-dictatorship. Neither Bernard Pottier,
his predecessor in Rangoon, nor Thierry Desmarest 
have managed to curtail the flow of  information about the many
forms of support by Total to the military dictatorship. To such
an extent that Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
leader of the democratic movement, was quoted in a front-page
article in Le Monde (1996 ) accusing the petroleum company of
being the "strongest support" of the illegitimate rulers in
Rangoon.

Total' s investment in Burma, the largest so far in this
country which is the world' s largest heroin supplier, remains
below 1% of the company' s turnover. Yet the defence of Total'
s presence in Burma  has been for the last four years the focus
of over half the director' s interventions in the general
assembly and fully mobilizes the company' s communication
sector without managing to prevent the launching in Belgium of
a European boycott of the company in protest against its
collaboration with the Rangoon junta.
In defence of its operations in Burma Total states that it does
not contravene any French, European or international law; Now
all laws criminalize drugs traffic and laundering of income
thus generated. When facing accusations against the company' s
Burmese partner MOGE (Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, a drug-
money laundering tool for the Burmese army leaders) its
management  simply replies "it is not our duty to determine 
whether the Burmese state entreprise  for exploitation of
hydrocarbons is - or is not - involved in drugs traffic and in
money laundering". Neither Total nor its American partner
UNOCAL, nor MOGE, have ever sued media or books which
explicitely accused them of participating or being accomplices 
to drug traffic and /or drug-money laundering.

Why is it that companies which are so concerned with their
image have never tried over three years to end by an
appropriate judiciary process this very defamatory campaign?

Mr Desmarest prefers to declare that he is "happy and proud of
what we do in Burma" and  to boast, in the general assembly of
shareholders, that Total brings (injects?) legal resources into
the Burmese economy which is visibly short thereof... the
essence of  money laundering!

According to the French OGD (i.e geopolitical drugs
observatory), and its confidential newsletter, La Depeche
Internationale des Drogues (the International Drugs Despatch)
of October 1994, the contract between Total and its Burmese
partner MOGE makes the French petroleum company an instrument
of drug-money laundering. The mechanism is simple: Cash
payments by Total to its Burmese associate are used to trigger
a laundering process for much greater amounts. This system
permits justification of funds spent by the SLORC (acronym
adopted by the junta, for State Law and Order restoration
Council) later renamed SPDC (State Peace and Development 
Council) for several purchases of weapons.

This is a simple, almost primitive, process named laundering by
simple piling. An operator owns amount X of dirty money which
he must return to the legal circuit. He simply must have in
hand amount Y of lawful origin, obviously smaller than X, to
trigger the pump. SLORC, which did not initially need a more
sophisticated method, just practiced this simple piling with a
single source of  lawful money: Payments by Total to MOGE (The 
French petroleum company acknowledges a payment of 15 million
dollars as bonus fees). Every time the Rangoon regime needs to
justify the origin of sums  paid to suppliers, the SLORC
representative asserts that this money is indeed from Total.

Never has any member of Total's management attempted to dispel
this accusation of complicity to drug-money laundering. When
asked about the "symmetry" between payments by Total and much
larger amounts paid out by SLORC to buy helicopters from
Poland, then under the leadership of Lech Walesa, another Nobel
Peace Prize laureate, the spokesman only replied that, having 
links only with the MOGE, Total can in no way be involved in
the arms trade.

The osmosis between MOGE, a state company, and SLORC's opaque
financing network is not taken into account. Asserting that
Total deals only with MOGE is, in the Burmese context, a denial
of reality. Total' s behaviour and the behaviour of its local
representatives in Burma establish this clearly: In 
this country, and for any kind of presence, there is only one
interlocutor, a single associate: SLORC. The Burmese military
intelligence supplies Total with interpretors and supervises
all recruitment of local manpower; The Burmese army is in
charge of security at the work site, which in Burma is 
understood in an extensive sense geographically and in every
respect. Total  formally denied making use of forced labour,
whether directly or through its subcontractors; now its main
subcontractor (in terms of number of staff ) is the Burmese
army, whose permanent and widespread use of forced labour has
already been documented,  particularly in the area of the
Yadana pipeline, as has been its practice of ethnic cleansing.
The widespread use of unpaid forced labour caused the
International Labour Organisation (ILO), in an unprecedented
move, to de facto exclude the junta from its proceedings 
in 1998. On the other hand several testimonies coincide in
describing the monthly cash payments made by Total to the ten,
or so, heads of batallions stationed in the pipeline' s
protected zone, the supply of vehicles and fuel, and the use of
Total' s helicopters for purely military purposes : transport
of men and supplies as well as observation.

All these evidences of compromise with a illegitimate regime
hated by the vast majority of the population and such financial
collaboration with the narco-junta tarnish Total's image, make
it a target for law-suits as accomplice in crimes against
humanity and drug traffic...to no avail. The gas was to flow to
Thailand from July 1998 according to contract. In fact,
severely hit by the financial crisis, the Thai customer has not
completed the building of the Rachaburi power generating plant
as of September 1999. 
Yet this is the sole potential user of a Burmese gas whose
quality and price do not compete with Thailand's own supply,
already in excess of its present needs. The accounts published
last summer of Total group' s Burmese subsidiary show
cumulative advance payments to the MOGE of over 800 million 
French Francs. Could the regime have escaped bankruptcy 
without this -huge in the Burmese context- injection of funds ?
Through what network were these funds moved ? Is it legitimate
that the French taxpayer might have to pay  -through the COFACE
= French Insurance company for external trade-  for 
strategic mistakes by the leadership of a private company with
majority foreign ownership ?

THE BURMESE HANDICAP
>From their first explorations into Burmese territorial waters,
Total' s management was fully aware of the problems the company
would face in getting involved in this country. It would have
been hard to ignore the tactics used by the SLORC to gain and
maintain power: The massacre of tens of thousands of unarmed
civilians, the annulment of free parliamentary elections, the 
continuing house-arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the
unrelenting countrywide harassment of  elected members of the
National league for Democracy as well as students, monks and
union members representing a civil society which had believed
in the promise of free elections.

Total' s management was also well aware of the new means of
acquiring income, which the military regime had resorted to,
financially tight as it was with the escalation of military
spending, cessation of foreign aid and general incompetence.
Laying their hands on drug money, wiping out the last 
remaining teak forests of continental Asia and  widely using
unpaid forced labour, had not sufficed in balancing out their
debts.

In 1991, when plans for the exploitation of the Martaban gulf
gas fields were drawn up, there was no longer any doubt. The
main operator of the Yadana gas field would have to evacuate
production via a pipeline towards Thailand, the only potential
client  in the region. (First victim of the Asian financial
crisis, Thailand is still, to this day, unable to receive 
Burmese gas). Before reaching Thailand, the pipeline inevitably
passes through a significant land area which has not been
controlled by Rangoon since Burma' s independence.

Rapidly the French negotiators could see a rigid attitude in
their Burmese counterpart: No question for the SLORC to enter
any dialogue with the Karen 
rebels who had for the past 40 years controlled a long stretch
of land next to the Thai-Burma border.

Business relations with the Rangoon regime excludes any form of
contact with the opposition, be it the  population at large 
and its wishes for an open democracy, or armed "ethnic" groups
involved in open warfare for several decades in en effort to
obtain a true federal system, as was written in the 
first constitution of the country.

In order to make themselves fully understood  SLORC's generals
made it clear to their business partners that any contact,
official or not, direct or not, between contractors and the
political opposition would not be allowed. It would be
penalised by the cancellation of current contracts, without 
compensation, and the indictment of the company' s
representatives for "intelligence with the enemy".

In the case of the Yadana gas field, the operator's room for
manoeuvre was significantly reduced: To throw oneself into this
adventure has an inevitable consequence: to side whole-
heartedly with the regime, and its illegitimate hold on power,
despite the resounding victory of democrats in the 1990
elections. It also meant counting on a military victory of the 
SLORC against the Karens.

In this fifty year old conflict, siding with the Rangoon
government did not necessarily mean supporting a fast end to
the fighting.  The contracts for the supply of gas could well
be at risk from fighting in a terrain favourable to guerilla
forces.

When Total decided to offer its services for the exploitation
of the Yadana  gas field, its management knows that it can
trust the Karen threat will have  been eliminated before the
pipeline works begin. This trust cannot rest only  on the
declared plans of the Burmese military, whose past and present 
battles against the Karens have not reached the announced
results. SLORC's  secretary one, general Khin Nyunt, head of
military intelligence, had  announced the fall of Manerplaw,
the Karen headquarters, in summer 1992,  while this happened
only, after betrayal by some Karen units, in 1995... In its
preparations for its Burmese project Total has indeed been
supported  by the French  "special" services which, directly or
through private  "security" companies and consultants have
assessed the situation according  to their particular criteria.
Without hesitation they lent a hand to the  Burmese army in
order to achieve their aim: To eliminate any threat in the 
pipeline area, a stretch of land striding the pipeline over a
width of tens of kilometers either side.

End of Part I
END

***********************************************
GRASSROOTS OPTIONS MAGAZINE (India) Indo-Myanmar Border Trade:
An overview 

By Dr. Rajmani Singh 
>From Grassroots Options magazine published in India 
Autumn 1999 

With the initiations of economic reforms in India in 1991,
pressures mounted from the developed countries to open up the
Indian market for the entry of foreign goods and services.
There is now a demand from the developed countries to
completely eliminate tariffs without delay. With India
accepting the membership of World Trade Organization (WTO)
w.e.f January 1, 1995, time is ready for Indian industries to
prepare themselves for the onslaught of foreign goods. WTO
brings with it growing and intense competition for trade in
world markets and facilitates market access in Indian domestic
market. 

By keeping the above setting in mind, this article mainly deals
with the problems and prospects of Indo-Myanmar cross border
trade with special reference to Manipur. 

Manipur, situated in the easternmost corner of northeastern
India, has 352 km. Long international boundary with Myanmar in
the east and 502 km. long border with the neighbouring states
of Assam, Mizoram and Nagaland in west, south and north
respectively. The National Highway No. 39 connects the state
with Myanmar, which is 109 km from Imphal, the capital of
Manipur. 

Since 1960s the local traders here are engaged in illegal cross
border trading with Myanmar (Burma). However, on 12 April 1995,
the Indo-Myanmar cross border trade was formally opened by the
then Indian Union Minister of Commerce, Mr. P. Chidambaram and
Myanmar counterpart, Minister for Trade, Lt. Gen. Tun Kyi. The
cross border trade between two countries is carried out in both
sides, i.e. Moreh in Indian side and Tamu in Myanmar side. As
per an official report prepared by the Industries department,
Government of Manipur, commodities worth of Rs. 20,65, 23,810
were exported to Myanmar and goods worth of Rs. 33,96,22,340
were imported to India through the state during the year 1997-
98 which was far behind the expected annual potential of Rs.
1000 crores to Rs. 2000 crores. 

Though the trade between the two countries was formally opened
three years back, the full swing of trade is yet to take off,
owing to lack of cross border trade knowledge, insufficient
infrastructure and non-formalization of currency exchange rate. 

Ever since the legal trade between India and Burma was stopped
during the sixties, businessmen or traders living on both sides
resorted to illegal trade business taking advantage of the
customary practice of free movement of people and goods of
ethnic origin. As the illegal trading continues in the sector,
it has become difficult for the customs to guard the entire
Indo-Myanmar border. On the other hand, this system continued
for over 35 years and it is natural that people would not like
to shift to a new system overnight. Further, the local traders
involved in trading activities with Myanmar's traders are
ignorant of the procedures to be followed in the international
trade like commercial documents, regulatory documents and
export assistance documents etc. 

Secondly, the basic infrastructural facilities required for
cross border trade like proper road communication, post and
telegraph services, telecommunication system, warehouse,
export-import bank, office of Directorate General of Foreign
Trade (DGFT), office of Reserve Bank of India and also the
various departments involved in cross border are not fully
equipped. 

The proposed Indo-Myanmar border trade office at Imphal is yet
to open and, till today, the
nearest DGFT or RBI office is in Guwahati. Traders have to go
long way from Moreh to Guwahati to obtain their Import-Export
Certificate (IEC) numbers and other related documents. Frequent
bandh, economic blockade and insecurity of National Highway,
lack of improvement of postal and telecommunication services at
the border town are the main obstacles in smooth flow of border
trade with Myanmar. 

Another important problem faced by the traders are the non-
formalization of the Indian Rupee and Myanmarese Kyat exchange
rate. The Myanmarese military government insists that one
US dollar is equivalent to six Myanmarese Kyat. This is not the
internationally accepted rate but just formulated by the
military junta. If the transaction continues on this rate, then
the Indian side becomes the loser. The Indian Government
insists one Rupee is equivalent to 5.84 Kyats. The delay in the
finalization of currency exchange rate by both the countries
had delayed the transaction. Also, the United Bank of India has
been entrusted with this work of border trade but all the
facilities have not been given to them. 

Finally, the restriction of exchangeable trade items to just a
list of 22 items has become a crippling impediment in the trade
imbalances with trade deficits in favour of India. At present
the Indian finished products like fabrics, steel utensils,
bicycles went as export items from the Indian side. On the
other hand, raw forest produces and some third country products
flowed back into India as imports. 

Suggested measures: To regularize the illegal trade, various
preventive, controlling and development measures should be
undertaken. In this context, both the Central and State
Governments should take initiative for the establishment of
basic infrastructural requirement, like proper road and
communication facilities, banking facilities, and co-operation
between the departments related to cross border trade within a
time-frame is highly essential for the implementation of
various preventive and controlling measures to contain the
illegal trade. 

Government should also organize seminars, symposium, etc. as a
means of mass awareness programmes for the local traders in one
hand and increasing numbers of customs and excise  check posts,
providing more securities on the border area on the other hand,
will enable the enforcement authorities to check the illegal
trade. 

If all these measures failed to contain the illegal trade, then
the Indo-Myanmar trade might be modeled on the lines of the
border trade between Myanmar and Thailand on its eastern border
and Myanmar and China on its northern border. Trading thrives
on these borders and each accounts for an approximately one
billion dollar trade volume each annually, precisely because of
complete deregulation of the area and permitting trans-border
exchange of commodities without any customs or banking
restrictions. At the Yunan province of China, "the only item
kept on the Watch list is drugs" and at the Chiang Mai of
northern Thailand trade is again completely open with vigilance
only on trans-border traffic of drugs. A similar trade
regulation on the Indian border can enhance trade and benefit
the local traders in particular and the entire
nation in general. 
***END*****************************************


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