[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
[theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Ju
Reply-To: theburmanetnews-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: June 2, 2000
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
June 2, 2000
Issue # 1544
This edition of The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
NOTED IN PASSING:
(1) "...there might have been recourse to so-called forced labor when
work was being carried out on infrastructure...[but] these practices
had ceased."
Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt to the International Labor Organization (See AP:
MYANMAR GOVERNMENT SAYS MIGHT CHANGE LAWS ON FORCED LABOR)
(2) ""Whichever village I order, that village has to do [forced
labor] . You have no right to ask this and that or feel envious. Your
duty is to do what you are told the best you can."
Commander of Light Infantry Battalion 416 to villagers in the Shan
State. (See SHRF MONTHLY REPORT: FORCED LABOUR IN TA-KHI-LAEK)
(3) "We were dismayed to find reference to your recent donation to
the Burma Relief Centre in the article in the Daily Telegraph on May
27, "Burma guide blacklisted." This has led us to question your
organisation's motives in donating to us."
Pippa Curwen, Director of the Burma Relief Center in a letter
returning a donation to Lonely Planet publications (See THE BURMA
CAMPAIGN UK: LONELY PLANET'S ATTEMPT TO OFFSET CRITICISM OF ITS BURMA
GUIDE BACKFIRES )
*Inside Burma
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT: DISPLACED FARMERS SHOT DEAD, THEIR GRANARIES
BURNED, IN KUN-HING
MIZZIMA: BURMA RETURNED 71 BANGLADESH NATIONALS
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT: FORCED LABOUR IN TA-KHI-LAEK
*International
AP: MYANMAR GOVERNMENT SAYS MIGHT CHANGE LAWS ON FORCED LABOR
BURMA PEACE FOUNDATION: ILO BURMA UPDATE
AFP: WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS LIST OF DRUG KINGPINS
THE NATION: ARMY, KAREN FORCE IN TENSE STAND-OFF
*Opinion/Editorials
THE TORONTO STAR: BURMA TYRANNY AND THE QUESTION OF SANCTIONS
THE BURMA CAMPAIGN UK: LONELY PLANET'S ATTEMPT TO OFFSET CRITICISM OF
ITS BURMA GUIDE BACKFIRES
LONELY PLANET: ON LONELY PLANET BOYCOTT
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT: DISPLACED FARMERS SHOT DEAD, THEIR GRANARIES
BURNED, IN KUN-HING
MAY 2000
SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION
On 7.4.00, 3 displaced farmers were shot dead and their camps and
granaries were burnt by SPDC (State Peace and Development Council)
troops from IB72 at their farms in the forest 2-1/2 miles south of
Kun-Hing town, Kun-Hing township.
The victims were among the displaced farming populations who had been
forced to move to the outskirts of the town from the surrounding
rural villages a few years ago by SLORC/SPDC (SLORC = State Law and
Order Restoration Council) troops.
Having been farmers all their life, many of them have since then been
trying to grow crops in places somewhat distant from the town because
land for farming was not available near it, though some have turned
to some other means of livelihood such as wage labourers and peddlers
of food stuff and small things.
There were 5 families farming close together in the area where the
event took place. The heads of the families were: 1. Lung Na-Ling
(m), aged 35, originally from Loi Yarng village, Kun Pu tract 2. Lung
Wi (m), aged 30, originally from Na Saai village, Loi Keng tract 3.
Zaai Zaam Khaa Laai (m), aged 20, originally from Maak Laang village,
Saai Khaao tract 4. Lung Kung-Na (m), aged 43, originally from Naa Ho
Kho village, Loi Kheo tract 5. Lung Sara Wi (m), aged 62, originally
from Kung Ke village, Loi Ke tract
These 5 families had been able to grow different crops such as rice,
bean, sesame and vegetables in different seasons for 2-3 years and
had managed to stockpile some of their unhulled rice at their camps
where they stayed and worked during busy times, about 60-80 baskets
per family, from which they drew a little at a time for their
regular consumption.
On the day of the incident, a column of about 170 SPDC troops from
IB72, from Loi Kaw township in Karenni State, led by Maj. Aung Win,
that was patrolling the area came upon some farms and, seeing some
farmers in their camp huts, shot at them without any warnings or
questions.
Some farmers managed to run away and escaped, but 3 of them were shot
and beaten to death. They were: 1. Lung Sara Wi (m), aged 62, got
hit with a bullet in the head before he could run and instantly
killed 2. Lung Na-Ling (m), aged 35, wounded in his upper right
thigh while running away and died on the way before he could reach
his house 3. Zaai Zit-Ta (m), aged 21, son of Lung Sara Wi, got
caught alive and beaten to death in their farm
After shooting the farmers, the troops searched the camps and took
away what they wanted, and burned down all the huts and granaries
they found and continued to search the area for 7-8 days before they
marched towards Kaeng Tawng areas in Murng-Nai township.
____________________________________________________
MIZZIMA: BURMA RETURNED 71 BANGLADESH NATIONALS
Dhaka, June 1, 2000
Mizzima News Group
The Burmese authorities had handed over 71 Bangladeshis who were
arrested by Burmese border forces last year to Bangladesh Defence
Rifles (BDR) personnel recently.
The Bangladeshis who were arrested in November 1999 allegedly inside
the Bangladesh territory were returned after a recent flag meeting of
the two countries held at Maung Daw Township of Arakan State, the
Taknaf BDR sources revealed yesterday.
All 71 Bangladesh nationals arrived at Taknaf border police station
and returned to their homes last week. Most of them stay at St.
Martin Island (Shinma Phyu Kywan), Moheskhali (Mahazo Kywan), Ukhiya
and Nikkochari.
It may be mentioned here that according to BDR sources, more than two
hundred Bangladesh nationals are still in Burma jails, mostly in
Arakan State.
At the flag meeting, the Bangladesh delegation also urged the Burmese
counterparts to take back those Burmese nationals who had already
served their prison terms but still languishing in Bangladesh jails.
Total 500 Burmese citizens are now in various jails in Bangladesh and
more than two hundreds of them have already served their prison terms
but remains in the jails as Burmese authorities refused to take them
back.
Some Burmese prisoners had attempted to commit suicide and some had
revolted against the jail authorities, as they become frustrated.
As per the prison rules in Bangladesh, a foreigner who completed the
prison term has to be handed over to his or her respective country's
diplomatic mission in Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh Home Ministry
has several times written to the Burmese mission in Dhaka, there has
been no positive result yet.
____________________________________________________
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT: FORCED LABOUR IN TA-KHI-LAEK
MAY 2000
SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION
On 5.4.00, SPDC troops of Ta-Lur-based LIB316 issued an order
requiring the villagers of Huay Tai village and Pa Saang Mai village
in Ta-Lur tract, Ta-Khi-Laek township, to prepare the ground of the
military farm for cultivation for 3 days, 6-8.4.00. Some
villagers, confused over why only their 2 villages were required to
go and not the other villages in the tract, went and asked the
Commander of the troops, only to be angrily scolded by
him. "Whichever village I order, that village has to do [forced
labor] . You have no right to ask this and that or feel envious. Your
duty is to do what you are told the best you can", said the
Commander. The villagers dared not say anything more and did as they
were told.
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
AP: MYANMAR GOVERNMENT SAYS MIGHT CHANGE LAWS ON FORCED LABOR
GENEVA (AP)
June 2, 2000
Anxious to stave off unprecedented sanctions from the International
Labor Organization, the Myanmar government has promised to tackle the
problem of forced labor, according to a letter released
Friday. ''We have taken and are taking the necessary measures to
ensure that there are no instances of forced labor in Myanmar,'' said
the letter from Labor Minister Maj. Gen. Tin Ngwe to ILO Director
General Juan Somavia.
''Myanmar would take into consideration appropriate measures,
including administrative, executive and legislative measures, to
ensure the prevention of such occurrences in the future,'' it
continued. The letter was given to an ILO team of experts, who
visited Myanmar May 23-27, and who will report next week to the 174-
nation U.N. agency's annual conference. It was the first time that
the Myanmar government had given such a clear commitment to change
its policy. But diplomats in Geneva said it was unclear whether
authorities in Rangoon were serious about mending their ways or
whether the letter was just a delaying tactic.
The ILO conference is under orders from its executive body to take
``any such action as it may deem wise and expedient'' to get Myanmar
to comply with rules banning forced labor and slavery. The ILO
statutes have no provisions for expelling a member. But the
organization could tell member governments, unions and employers to
review relations with Myanmar to ensure they aren't abetting forced
labor. This might have implications for the tourist industry as there
are widespread allegations that the military has forced civilians and
prisoners to work on construction projects for foreign visitors.
Never before has the ILO gone so far to punish a member country.
Already last year, the Geneva-based body suspended assistance to
Myanmar's government following its refusal to act upon a 1998 ILO
commission report that there was widespread and systematic use of
forced labor. In the past the military regime has repeatedly denied
it uses forced labor. On the eve of the ILO team's visit, the
government said the U.N. agency was a front for ''neocolonialist
Western powers and internal traitors.''
A detailed report of the visit released Friday showed government
officials were more open and cooperative than in the past -- although
noncommittal about action to stop forced labor and generally sticking
to the official line that the problem didn't exist. Lt. Gen. Khin
Nyunt, Myanmar's powerful head of military intelligence, conceded
that ''there might have been recourse to so-called forced labor when
work was being carried out on infrastructure,'' but that ''these
practices had ceased,'' the report said.
''Myanmar did not wish to remain an island among other states,'' the
report quoted the intelligence chief as saying. ''It wanted to
develop relations with its neighbors, the international community and
international organizations.'' In addition to meeting many
government officials and foreign diplomats, the ILO team held talks
with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She stressed
the ''continuing gravity'' by the military and the enlistment of
child soldiers. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy,
overwhelmingly won elections ten years ago. But the military, which
has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, since 1962, never allowed the
parliament to meet and has refused to hold a dialogue with Suu Kyi.
____________________________________________________
BURMA PEACE FOUNDATION: ILO BURMA UPDATE
31 MAY 2000
On the first day of its 88th session in Geneva, the International
Labour Conference (ILC) decided to refer to its Selection Committee
the "procedure for the consideration of the action recommended by
the Governing Body under article 33 of the Constitution
Implementation of recommendations contained in the report of the
Commission of Inquiry on Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma)". This
Committee will discuss the issue on Thursday 8 June
and recommend action to be taken by the Conference.
The Committee will have before it the report of the ILO technical
mission which visited Rangoon last week, along with a background
document (see below).
I imagine that the discussion will centre round whether the meetings
the mission had with the Burmese officials indicated a serious
intention on the part of the SPDC to get rid of forced labour, and if
so, what the ILO's response should be. The Committee could, for
instance, recommend the immediate adoption of one or more of the
measures a-e proposed by the Governing Body in March (see below). Or
it could recommend that the Conference give the SPDC more time.
In my view, the critical question would be whether the SPDC can
demonstrate a credible willingness to bring an immediate end to the
requisitioning of forced labour by the military
(the Commission of Inquiry's 2nd recommendation)
The report of the technical mission will probably be issued this
Friday.
The full text of the background document is in PDF format, available
at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc88/pdf/pr-
4.pdf
David Arnott, Geneva 31 May.
____________________________________________________
AFP: WHITE HOUSE UNVEILS LIST OF DRUG KINGPINS
[BurmaNet adds?the article below identifies Wei Hsueh-Kang as
Chinese. He is ethnically Chinese but heads the United Wa State
Army.]
WASHINGTON, June 2 (AFP) - Top underworld figures from Mexico, China
and Myanmar have made a new US list of international drug kingpins
released by the White House Friday. Wei Hsueh-Kang of China and
Chang Chi-Fu of Myanmar are mentioned in the roster of the world's 12
leading drug traffickers compiled in accordance with the so-called
Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act signed by US President Bill
Clinton last December. The "black" list, which triggers automatic
US sanctions against those mentioned in it, includes six members of
Mexican drug cartels. Among them are brothers Benjamin and Ramon
Arellano Felix of the Tijuana Cartel, brothers Jose and Luis Ignacio
Amezcua Contreras, Rafael Caro Quintero, and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes
of the Juarez Cartel. Abeni and Oluwole Ogungbuyi of Nigeria and
Noel Timothy Heath and Glenroy Vingrove Matthews of St. Kitts and
Nevis are also mentioned in the document. Under the Kingpin Act,
the individuals mentioned in the list must be denied access to the US
financial system and barred from transactions involving businesses
and individuals. They and their immediate family members also must
be denied US visas, their assets in US banks must be frozen, and US
citizens are barred from any dealings with them. "This action
underscores our determination to do everything possible to fight drug
traffickers, undermine their operations and end the suffering that
trade in illegal drugs inflicts on American and people around the
world," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said in a statement.
____________________________________________________
THE NATION: ARMY, KAREN FORCE IN TENSE STAND-OFF
June 1, 2000
THAI soldiers and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) were
involved in a tense stand-off across the Moei River yesterday shortly
after members from the pro-Rangoon rebel force fired five shots at
the Thai troops.
Thai soldiers had been chasing after a stolen truck that had crashed
through a border guard-post moments earlier.
Both sides glared at each other across the river, the natural
boundary between Thailand and Burma, unable to decide what to do with
the 10-wheel truck stuck in the middle of the river.
Police said two men stole the truck from Mae Sot yesterday afternoon
and sped towards the DKBA-controlled area on the Burmese side of the
Moei River. About 20 armed men from the Karen force were waiting for
them on the bank as they plunged into river in an attempt to drive
across the frontier.
Officials said the water was flowing too quickly because of heavy
rain in recent weeks and the two men decided to jump out and swim to
the other side. Thai Border Police unit 346 has reported the
incident to the Thai-Burma Joint Border Committee in Myawaddy, just
across from Tak's Mae Sot district. Authorities said a total of 10
trucks have been stolen from Thai villages in the recent months. They
believed DKBA was responsible for the thefts.
Meanwhile, authorities detained a Thai and two Burmese nationals in
Ranong yesterday for listening to unauthorised frequencies. Somchai
Prasarnyudh, the Thai national, admitted to being hired by Thai
fishing companies to monitor Burmese and Thai government
frequencies.
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________
THE TORONTO STAR: BURMA TYRANNY AND THE QUESTION OF SANCTIONS
May 31, 2000,
Timothy Garton Ash
Ten years ago, the people of Burma voted overwhelmingly for the
National League for Democracy, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.
But the military junta refused to recognize the result, and the
people of Burma have suffered a further decade of oppression by a
brutal and corrupt army-state. When I travelled there this spring, I
found a land of fairy-tale beauty but also an all-pervading climate
of fear. Burma is at once a dream and a nightmare. I met people who
had spent years in solitary confinement, half-starved and forbidden
to read or write.
What is to be done about a place like this? The U.S. and Britain have
spearheaded a policy of ostracism and pressure. The British
government has recently urged Premier Oil to reconsider its position
in Burma. A motion tabled in the House of Commons this week ''calls
upon the British government to exert the maximum possible pressure on
the regime."
I believe this approach is absolutely right. The best way of
explaining why is to address three serious objections to it. The
first objection is: hypocrisy and double standards. We are so
outspoken in criticizing Burma's human-rights record, yet so mealy-
mouthed when it comes to China's. We go to war to stop Serbia's rape
of Kosovo, yet utter weasel words about Russia's rape of Chechnya.
Now the beginning of an honest answer to this objection is: yes,
these are double standards. However, the proper conclusion is not
that we should soften our criticism of Burma or Serbia. It is that we
should be more outspoken in our criticism of China and Russia. Yet it
does not follow that we should act identically: for example, urging
our oil companies to get out of Russia and China. Different
circumstances do require different measures. You can't treat large,
powerful countries exactly the same as small ones.
In the morally imperfect world of international relations, it's not
wrong to mix considerations of national interest with those of
principle. And it is correct to distinguish between regimes that may
be open to critical engagement, and those, like the Burmese one, that
seem deaf to it. If their attitude were to change, so could ours.
The second objection is: ''it hasn't worked." People who know Burma
well are understandably distressed by the country's downward spiral
into a morass of worsening poverty, drug abuse, AIDS and educational
backwardness. Ten years of the hard Anglo-American line, discouraging
foreign investment, development loans and tourism, have, they argue,
hurt the people while not bringing the regime to the negotiating
table. Since ''it hasn't worked," perhaps a softer line would be
worth a try? Anyway, some benefits would surely ''trickle down" to
ordinary men and women.
Burma's largest neighbour, China, supports (and profits from) the
military regime Again, the arguments are so familiar. And again, one
has to say that there are some regimes, and some moments, when such a
softening would be apt - for example, in encouraging a dictatorship
down a path of reform upon which it has tentatively embarked. But my
judgment is that this is not such a regime or such a moment. In fact,
the real problem is not that there has been too much pressure, but
that there has not been enough, either internally or externally.
For all the brave efforts of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League
for Democracy, the domestic opposition has not been able to organize
the kind of sustained pressure on the rulers that the ANC achieved in
South Africa and Solidarity in Poland. Meanwhile, the relatively
united front of Western policy is undermined by the fact that Burma's
largest neighbour, China, supports
(and profits from) the military regime, while its other large
neighbour, India, is ambiguous, and several wealthy Asian countries,
including Japan and Singapore, continue to invest in Burma.
This leads directly to the third objection, which is that such a
policy is an expression of Western moral imperialism, imposing our
values on Asia. Burma has other values - yes, those famous ''Asian
values." To this there is a brief and sufficient answer. The policy
advocated by the U.S.
and Britain is the one favoured by the democratically elected
representatives of Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi made this very plain to me
when we spoke in Rangoon earlier this year.
Of course, there are Burmese friends of democracy who think
otherwise, and it is always a slippery undertaking to say what ''the
people" in a dictatorship want. It seems to me, the views of those on
the ground, fighting for democracy in the place itself, should be a
major, if not the determining, consideration. Those views will not
always be for embargoes and sanctions.
Take the Serbian opposition, for example, which is currently under
fierce attack from the Milosevic regime (although you would hardly
know it from our regular news diet, any more than you would learn
about Burma's ongoing misery) . Divided though that opposition has
been, virtually all of its representatives have spoken to agree that
most Western sanctions are now counter-productive.
The best way to help the cause of democracy in Serbia, they argue,
would be a controlled lifting of the sanctions that hurt the people,
combined with a careful explanation to the Serbian people of why this
was being done and a simultaneous tightening of sanctions targeted
specifically at Milosevic and his henchmen. While I am not over-
optimistic about the chances of such an approach, I am convinced that
this is worth a try. What is sauce for the Burmese goose may
be arsenic for the Serbian gander.
Meanwhile, I had to laugh when, shortly after I visited Burma, the
Yugoslav foreign minister arrived there, amid effusive declarations
of mutual admiration and support. Rogue states of the world, unite!
We should remember Burma. We should remember Serbia. And, because we
want the same things for both of them, we should do different things
about them.
Essayist and author Timothy Garton Ash is a Fellow of St. Antony's
College, Oxford.
____________________________________________________
THE BURMA CAMPAIGN UK: LONELY PLANET'S ATTEMPT TO OFFSET CRITICISM OF
ITS BURMA GUIDE BACKFIRES
June 1, 2000
Lonely Planet's attempt to offset criticism of its Burma guide
backfires
On Friday May 26 The Burma Campaign UK and Tourism Concern launched a
new arm of their existing campaign opposing tourism to Burma -
calling for a boycott of all Lonely Planet publications (LP) until
the company withdraws its Burma guide from the market.
In anticipation of the boycott campaign launch outside Lonely
Planet's London offices, the company displayed poster-size laminated
copies of a letter written by a small organisation called the Burma
Relief Centre on the outside of the building. The letter thanked
Lonely Planet for a recent donation. Lonely Planet's press pack also
carried copies of this letter and recent press articles have made
reference to it.
The Burma Relief Centre, based in Thailand has since sent the
following letter to Lonely Planet:
Dear Maureen Wheeler, 30/5/00
We were dismayed to find reference to your recent donation to the
Burma Relief Centre in the article in the Daily Telegraph on May
27, "Burma guide blacklisted." This has led us to question your
organisation's motives in donating to us. It appears that you had
intended to publicise the donation to offset criticism of your
organisation's promotion of tourism in Burma.
As you are aware (from our very first correspondence with your
organisation ten years ago), we are against the promotion of tourism
in Burma under the current dictatorship. We believe that foreign
tourism is one of the factors sustaining the regime, and prolonging
the kind of misery we are witnessing daily along the border. Thus, we
would prefer not to be complicit in any defence that your
organisation is making regarding this issue.
We realise that we were mistaken in accepting your donation, and
would like to return it immediately. We will send you a bank draft
made out to "Lonely Planet Publications" for the amount you had
donated to us, or we can wire the money back if you provide us with
your bank account details.
Yours sincerely,
Pippa Curwen
Director
Burma Relief Centre
____________________________________________________
LONELY PLANET: ON LONELY PLANET BOYCOTT
[BurmaNet Editor's Note: This is the email response of Lonely Planet
to a message (text available below) regarding a boycott of Lonely
Planet because of its Myanmar (Burma) Guide]
Lonely Planet has been publishing information about (Myanmar) Burma
for over
25 years. Burma appeared in the first edition of South-East Asia on a
Shoestring in 1975. Our first Burma guidebook was published in 1979
and the
7th edition was published earlier this year. The oppressive military
junta
(SLORC/SPDC) has never liked Lonely Planet for stating the truth
about their
regime and would be overjoyed if one of their most long-standing and
most
widely-available critics were to be silenced. We have always
withstood
pressure from unpleasant governments to censor our books but recently
SLORC/SPDC have been joined by the Burma Campaign UK and Tourism
Concern in
the UK who would also like to see our book off the shelves and have
suggested that travellers boycott all Lonely Planet guidebooks until
we
withdraw it from sale.
Tourism Concern and the Burma Campaign UK's contention is that our
publication encourages travel to Burma and that any visitors to Burma
will
aid and encourage the military government. Furthermore, they contend,
the
NLD (National League for Democracy), which overwhelmingly won the
election
in 1990 but has never been allowed to take power, has stated that
tourists
should not visit Burma while the military remains in control and that
Lonely
Planet should respect that NLD policy by withdrawing our guidebook.
We do not agree that withdrawing our book from sale is a useful or
effective
way of helping to better the lot of the oppressed people of Burma.
Our
guidebook commences with a two page section headed 'Should You Visit
Myanmar.' This section outlines the reasons for and against visiting
the
country and, if a decision is made to visit the country, the ways to
minimise supporting the military government and maximise the positive
effects for the general population. This introductory section states:
'Anyone contemplating a visit to Myanmar should realise there are no
clear-cut answers'. The accuracy of that simple statement is
underlined a
few pages later by a two page statement by Ma Thanegi, a pro-
democracy
activist and former political prisoner, stating why he (SIC*) feels
that isolation
and boycotts are not the answer to the country's problems.
Tourism Concern and the Burma Campaign UK have also claimed that our
guidebook contains a number of errors of fact. Every one of these
points can
be answered and if anyone would like copies of our comprehensive,
point by
point response to questions raised by the Burma Campaign UK and
Tourism
Concern we will be happy to send copies by email, fax or post.
We support the role of organisations encouraging steps towards
democracy in
Burma but we do not agree that our guidebook should be withdrawn.
[*BurmaNet Editor's Note: Ma Thanegi is female]
-----Original Message-----
From: JOIE WARNOCK [mailto:Joie_Warnock@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: 28 May 2000 00:22
To: go@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Why is your research so poor?
To whom it may concern:
I am planning a trip to Southeast Asia this August and have
recently purchased your wonderful guide for Bali and Lombok. I had
planned to make a further purchase of a more general guide for the
region from you. However, it has been brought to my attention that
you have published a travel guide to Burma and have made some very
insensitive and remarkably uninformed remarks regarding the
deplorable situation in Burma and are in fact thumbing your noses at
the call by pro-democracy groups to boycott tourism to Burma. What
has deeply offended me is your comments about forced labour in Burma
being on the wane. Exactly what planet are you getting your research
information from? Even a cursory search on the web would yield
reems of up to date information from reputable human rights watch
organizations on the deplorable forced labour conditions currently in
Burma. I will be taking my business elsewhere.
Yours sincerely,
Joie Warnock
________________
The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive
coverage of news and opinion on Burma (Myanmar).
For a subscription to Burma's only free daily newspaper,
write to: strider@xxxxxxx
You can also contact BurmaNet by phone or fax:
Voice mail +1 (435) 304-9274
Fax (US) +1(202) 318-1261
Fax (Japan) +81 (3) 4512-8143
________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLICK HERE AND START SAVING ON LONG DISTANCE BILLS TODAY!
http://click.egroups.com/1/4125/6/_/713843/_/959966044/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
theburmanetnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxx