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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: August 7, 2000
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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
_______________________________________________
August 7, 2000
Issue # 1590
INSIDE BURMA
Earth Times: The Burmese Connection: Heroin and AIDS
CHRO: Chin Woman Arrested and Humiliated by SPDC Soldiers
Shan Herald Agency for News: Anti-SPDC Alliance Denied Meeting UWSA
REGIONAL
Nation: Smugglers, the law and a driving ambition
Bangkok Post: Spy security threat
Kyodo: Myanmar rebels hijacking Thai boats for ransom: Thai officer
The Asian Age: 40,000 Chin Burmese to be deported from India
The Nation: Remnants of Ayutthaya discovered in Burma
INTERNATIONAL
Mizzima: Chile and Sweden support democracy in Burma
ECONOMY/BUSINESS
Xinhua: Myanmar-Thai Joint Trade Commission Meets in Yangon
OPINION/EDITORIAL
US Committee for Refugees: USCR Deeply Concerned Over Fate of Burmese
Chin Deported and Detained by India
OTHER
The Sunday Times: Book--Enid Blyton goes to Burma?
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Earth Times: The Burmese Connection: Heroin and AIDS
By CESAR CHALELA and CHRIS BEYRER
Earth Times News Service, August 3, 2000
Burma continues to be among the largest sources of illicit opium and
heroin in the world, with poppy cultivation almost doubled since
1988. To make matters worse, drug abuse-particularly intravenous drug
use-is on the rise both in Burma and in neighboring countries, and is
contributing to the alarming increase of HIV-infected people
throughout the region. As a result, the combined impact of heroin and
HIV/AIDS has been devastating in the health status and quality of
life of people not only in Burma, but in neighboring countries as
well.
According to Burmese official statistics, townships have rates of
injecting drug use (IDU) behavior among 1.7 percent to 25 percent of
adults. Government statistics estimate the drug-addicted population
at 66,463. The UN Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) working in the health sector, however, estimate
their number in 400-500,000.
In 1994, the World Health Organization helped the National AIDS
Program measure HIV infection among addicts. The results showed that
HIV infection rates among Burma's addicts are the highest among
addicts worldwide: 74% in Rangoon, 84 percent in Mandalay, and 91
percent in Myitkyina, capital of the distant Kachin State on the
Chinese border. The lethal drugs-AIDS combination is particularly
found in ethnic minority areas that are the source of the drugs.
Because most addicts are men, this facilitates the fast spread of the
infection to women. According to figures form the National AIDS
Program, of all the HIV infections estimated to have occurred by
1995, 50 percent were among pregnant women attending antenatal
clinics.
According to Dr. Peter Piot, UNAIDS's executive director, Burma has
presently at least 440,000 people infected by HIV/AIDS, the second
worst AIDS epidemic in Asia after Cambodia. The Southeast Asian
Information Network (SAIN) and other non-governmental organizations
have confirmed Dr. Piot's estimates. The Burmese junta, however,
claims that there are in Burma only 21,503 confirmed HIV cases and
2,854 AIDS cases.
One of the reasons for the very high rates of HIV infection among
drug users in Burma is needle sharing, practiced among addicts
because of the extremely short supply of syringes in the country.
Also, the "paraphernalia" laws in Burma make carrying needles without
medical license a crime. Habitual injectors work in "tea stall"
shooting galleries, where they reuse needles and transmit HIV through
that mechanism.
Another reason for the combination of high rates of heroin use and
HIV are the young Burmese internal migrants working in the jade and
ruby mines in Shan or Kachin states. People come from all over the
country to work in the mines, in numbers that in the dry season may
reach the hundreds of thousands. Because many of the HIV positive
young adults in central Burma have worked in the mines, they probably
have played a key role in the wide dissemination of HIV across the
country.
The HIV epidemic among drug users in Burma has led to HIV epidemics
in other border countries, such as China and India. The heroin route
through western Burma, across the Indo-Burma border, as well as in
the northeast Indian State of Manipur, has led to an explosive
parallel outbreak of injection drug use and HIV spread. Something
similar has occurred along Burma's eastern border, particularly in
China's Yunnan province.
The Chinese Ministry of Public Health states that 80.4 percent of all
HIV infections in China have been detected in Yunnan, and 60.0
percent of all confirmed AIDS cases. The Chinese province of Guangxi,
on the border with Yunnan and Vietnam, has recently experienced
outbreaks of HIV and IDU associated with a third route from Burma and
Laos, through northern Vietnam and into China. Drug users in the
Indian state of Manipur have among the highest rates of HIV infection
in India. In 1994, WHO estimated that the HIV infection rate among
drug users in Manipur state was 56 percent, and is spreading rapidly
into the general population.
Based on studies from a variety of fields, including molecular
epidemiology studies of HIV, narcotics investigations, and behavioral
studies of injecting drug users, one can assert that Burmese heroin
export routes are playing a crucial role in the spread of both
injecting drug use and HIV infection throughout South and Southeast
Asia. The failure of the Burmese junta to deal effectively with the
epidemic of injecting drug use bodes ill for their ability to cope
also with the AIDS problem. By all practical measures, the Burmese
junta has become a health threat not only to Burma's own citizens,
but to those of neighboring countries as well.
(Dr. Cesar Chelala is an international medical consultant and the
author of "AIDS: A Modern Epidemic." Dr. Chris Beyrer is the Director
of the Johns Hopkins Fogarty AIDS International Training Program and
the author of "War in the Blood: Sex, Politics and AIDS in Southeast
Asia.")
____________________________________________________
CHRO: CHIN WOMAN ARRESTED AND HUMILIATED BY SPDC SOLDIERS
Chin Human Rights Organization: Rhododendron News
August 2, 2000
A Chin woman named Pi Sai Sung 29 years old farmer was arrested by a
group of Burmese soldiers led by Captain San Lwin from Light
Infantry Battalion 266 on 26 June 2000 in Bungkhua village of Chin
State. She was accused of having relationship with CHRO field
monitor Mr. Zothang who was killed by the Burmese soldiers on the
same date. ( Note: the killing of Mr. Zothang and two villagers
were already reported by CHRO in July ).
She was brought ( on foot ) to Thantlang town which is 28 miles away
from Bungkhua village. According to the villagers, the soldiers
covered her mouth with rags and let her wear only her bra and under
skirt along the way.
Meanwhile Pi Sai SungÆs husband is detain by the SPDC authority in
Kalaymyo jail. He was accused of supporting Chin National Front CNF
and arrested in July 1999. Two of their children 11 years old
daughter and 5 years old son were look after by villagers.
Mr. Zothang was arrested and killed on the spot, along with two
villagers Pu Zadun 32 and Mr. Siamhmingthang 24, while he was taking
rest and chat with the villagers at Pi Sai Sung's house.
The dead bodies of the victims were buried by the soldiers and they
plant land mines near their graves. The villagers requested the
soldiers for permission to bury the victims at the village cemetery.
They got permission from the soldiers to take the dead bodies of Pu
Zadun and Mr. Siamhmingthang and rebury at the village cemetery, but
the Burmese soldiers refuse to clear the land mine they planted at
the grave of Mr. Zothang of CHRO.
In addition, Capt. San Lwin and his troops stole Kyats 24,000/- from
Pu Mang Hlun and a tape recorder from Pu Chan Hre of Bungkhua
village.
____________________________________________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: Anti-SPDC Alliance Denied Meeting UWSA
Shan - EU News
August 4, 2000
In a joint statement dated 2nd August 2000, the anti-Rangoon alliance
comprising of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), Chin National Front
(CNF), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Karen National
Union (KNU), and Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) denied
having met the United Wa State Army (UWSA). UWSA is accused of being
heavily involved in drugs trafficking by the United States and
Thailand.
The statement said that it strongly rejected the Bangkok Post report
of 31st July, which stated that the UWSA had attended the anti-
Rangoon alliance held somewhere in KNU controlled territory. It said
no such meeting has ever taken place.
The joint statement further rejected the possibility at any time to
have working relationship with the UWSA, so long as it is allied with
the Burmese military regime.
The five party alliance shared the same common belief in solving the
problem of political deadlock through dailogue and peaceful means. It
also stated that so long as the peaceful settlement of the conflict
is being denied, the anti-Rangoon alliance has no other choice but to
fight on.
___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________
Nation: Smugglers, the law and a driving ambition
August 7, 2000
A COMBINATION of plenty of cash and a lax attitude among border law-
enforcers could well facilitate the flow of 800 million
methamphetamine tablets across Thailand's border from Burma this
year.
Drug traffickers predominantly use just 15 routes.
They vary the use of these routes according to security conditions
at the time and along the way have established safe houses, bulk-
storage facilities and illicit laboratories to further refine the
drugs. The drugs come from Burmese border regions to Thailand's
northern provinces, such as Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son. The Third
Army Region gave The Nation an opportunity to investigate these
paths.
The 15 routes are critical for the smugglers, millions of speed
pills being carried along them.
From the north, nationwide networks deliver them to end users. And
the authorities are simply not doing enough to curb the increasing
trade. Most checkpoints along the 15 routes have not been
conscientious enough when searching passing vehicles, and that
enables drug traffickers to elude detection much of the time.
Worse still, when Thai officials do take tough action and engage in
shootouts with the drug gangs, during which the gangs may lose some
of their number, the rings can easily recruit new members to act
as "mules" to lug their produce. Few legitimate professions can
match the dollars offered by the illicit-drugs business. Each
smuggler carrying the drugs and those protecting them receive a few
baht for every methamphetamine tablet successfully smuggled into
Thailand. Those managing the depots are paid Bt1 a pill.
The carriers are usually Chinese Haw, Wa, Thai Yai or Hmong, but
their well- armed protectors are mostly Laha Na. The smuggling
gangs normally set off from Toh, Tha, Pang Sang or Yon in Burma,
which lie about five kilometres from the border.
Their end destinations are Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Phayao and Mae
Hong Son. Following a 36-hour investigative survey, The Nation is
in a position to summarise how drugs are smuggled along the 15
routes. The first route's starting point is Toh, and its
destination is Wiang Haeng district, via Piang Luang. To cover the
350km route, the gangs travel by car for 200km inside Burma, then
take up their journey on foot along rugged and mountainous paths that
wind into Thailand. Despite the arduous journey, this route is
regarded as worth the effort, because it offers the best chance of
evading Thai authorities. The second route starts from Tha, with
the smugglers possibly stopping over at Pang Sang to observe Thai
movements in the border region.
From there the smugglers make their way to Nam Piang Din village,
where methamphetamines carried from Burma are further refined into
tablets. These are then transferred to Pang Mapha subdistrict and
then to Pai district in Mae Hong Son, before departing for their
eventual destination, Chiang Mai. There are several military and
police checkpoints along the route, but they do absolutely nothing
to stem the smooth flow of drugs.
One military checkpoint was observed recording car registrations
but not searching vehicles for payloads of illicit drugs. Despite
this, The Nation's camera gear was thoroughly searched then seized,
despite the fact that smugglers have never been known to conceal
drugs in expensive camera gear. The camera gear was eventually
returned, but it was explained that that particular checkpoint was
close to a Thai Yai ethnic army base over the Burmese border, so
that no camera gear was allowed.
Another checkpoint in Pai district was manned by just one police
officer. He simply asked to see identity cards and spoke to both
motorists and passengers, confirming they were Thai.
The remaining checkpoints along the route were poorly manned.
The third delivery corridor is from Toh to Wiang Haeng district, via
Pak Sam. Once smugglers reach Pak Sam, if set checkpoints are
unmanned, they travel by car.
In the checkpoints are operational, carriers simply either wait
until the coast is clear or continue on foot.
When The Nation was in the vicinity the checkpoints along the route
were unmanned. The fourth route begins at Toh, ends at Wiang Haeng
district and takes the smugglers through either Baan Nong Khew or
Baan Arunothai. There are some checkpoints along this way, but
people are rarely searched for illegal substances.
The fifth route also begins in Toh, and.drugs are then taken
through Baan Muang Na, then Baan Nong Uog and on to Baan Huay Luk.
Via this route the smugglers end their journey in Chiang Dao
district. However, because the Chiang Dao checkpoint is very
strict, smugglers normally split their shipment at Baan Huay Luk,
dividing it among several teams to increase the chances of at least
some of the drugs reaching their intended destination.
Once successfully through Chiang Dao, the teams efficiently work
their way to Chiang Mai city, using every available means of
transportation. They travel by bus, motorcycle and bicycle. Some
disguise themselves as tourists. Smugglers using this particular
channel are believed responsible for deliveries to Buaktuey and Mae
Sa Mai districts in Chiang Mai. The sixth route is again from Toh
to Wiang Haeng district, but via Baan Nong Karang and Baan
Arunothai.
And once again, lenient checkpoints offer smugglers a good chance
of a hassle- free journey.
The seventh path begins at the Burmese villages of Na Kong Mu and
Nam Ru Kun, from where smugglers track to Baan Tham Ngob, then to
Chaiya Prakan and Baan Huay Luk, before finally reaching Chiang
Dao.
Despite strict enforcement and checks at the Chiang Dao checkpoint,
smugglers can generally make their way through the town because
officers do not work round-the-clock.
The eighth route, from Na KongMu and Nam Ru Kun villages in Burma,
to Phayao, via Baan Yang, Chaiya Prakan and Chiang Rai's Mae Suai
district, is often used because smugglers prefer to avoid any
possibility of encountering the officers manning the Chiang Dao
checkpoint.
The ninth route begins in Toh, continues through Nam Ru Kun and
then Baan Luang and Mae Soon Noi.
From Baan Mae Soon Noi, the smugglers have a choice of two
routes. If they are headed for Chiang Rai, they make for Fang, Mae
Ai and then Baan Thaton. However, if they intend to make for Chiang
Dao, they go via Chaiya Prakan. Although Baan Luang is widely
regarded as being home to one of the largest methamphetamine depots
in the North, there are few checkpoints in the area. The 10th route
starts from Yon and takes smugglers to Toh and Nam Ru Kun villages
in Burma.
When the smugglers step onto Thai soil at Baan Lan, they either go
to Chiang Rai via Mae Ai or head towards Chiang Dao via Fang and
Chaiya Prakan. The 11th route follows a similar path within Burma
then goes to Baan San Ju and Mae Ai. At Mai Ai the smugglers assess
which destination, Chiang Dao or Chiang Rai, is more convenient.
Convenience is determined by checkpoint status along the way.
The gangs might choose to go directly to Chiang Rai if the way is
considered clear, otherwise they move through Fang and Chaiya
Prakan, to reach Chiang Dao. The 12th route starts in Yon, tracks
to Baan Huay Sala and Sukruthai villages and then continues to Mae
Ai. Via this channel, the smugglers are again offered a choice:
they can move from Mae Ai to Chiang Rai, or they can go to Chiang
Dao via Fang and then Chaiya Prakan.
Baan Huay Sala is allegedly home to a large holding depot, where
drugs are stored in lots of at least 100,000.
Information received by The Nation put the largest single shipment
to pass through this village at five million pills.
It is said the notorious drug lord Lao Ta controls the area's
operations. The 13th route is from Yon to Baan Hua Muang Ngam and
Mae Fa Luang. Traffickers using this route then make for Mae Chan
and then Chiang Rai. Along this channel, speed pills are normally
stockpiled at Sukruthai, Santisuk and Patuem villages. Each
community, at any one time, is believed to be hiding at least 10
million methamphetamine tablets. Despite tip-offs about drug
movements through the area, the smuggling gangs in the area have not
yet been apprehended. But then sources said the gangs enjoyed
political protection. The 14th path also begins at Yon. The speed
then reaches Thailand at Baan San Ma Ked. From there the pills are
carried via Baan Therd Thai and often stored for a while in Baan
Hmong. The smugglers then continue to Mae Fa Luang and Mae Chan
before reaching their Chiang Rai destination.
The military source said that Wuei Sia Kang, known as Prasit in
Thailand, was this area's drug lord.
The final route is along the Mekong River from either Burma or Laos
via the Golden Triangle to Chiang Khong district in Chiang Rai.
The illegal substances being smuggled are ready-made
methamphetamine compositions, which are then refined into small
tablets in either the Golden Triangle or Laos. From Chiang Khong
the pills are transferred by road to the city of Chiang Rai via
Wiang Chai district. It is quite clear the Thai authorities could,
if they wished, dispatch forces to beef-up the anti-drugs effort
along each of these routes.
There are, after all, only 15 routes along which trafficking needs
to be stymied to reduce the current flood of methamphetamines from
Burma. If the checkpoints along these routes were all as strict as
the one at Chiang Dao, the drug industry might not be as large as
it is today. Manning every available checkpoint, ordering all
officers to be strict, and establishing more checkpoints, are
measures that could help curb the problem. If the authorities fail
to take the necessary action, then 87 methamphetamine- producing
factories in Burma, 23 of them producing ready-made compositions,
the others refining them into tablet form, will this year deliver no
less than 800 million speed pills to Thailand.
The Nation (August 7, 2000)
____________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Spy security threat
Aug 7, 2000
Wassana Nanuam
At least five Burmese spies are caught entering Thailand every
month under the guise of illegal immigrants and they pose a threat
to national security, said a military intelligence gathering unit.
The unit identified two groups of spies. One gathers economic
information about Thailand and the other group spies on their
fellow countrymen, said the Fourth Army Region's intelligence
gathering unit.
On February 12 this year, four Burmese spies were arrested along
the border in Ranong. However, only one was prosecuted in court as
he was found in possession of a list of orders from a Burmese
military unit.
The infantry task force said the number of Burmese illegal
immigrants in Ranong had now reached 100,000, compared to 35,000
ten years ago.
Bangkok Post (August 7, 2000)
____________________________________________________
Kyodo: Myanmar rebels hijacking Thai boats for ransom: Thai officer
RANONG, Thailand, Aug. 5 (Kyodo) -- Myanmar antigovernment guerrillas
have been hijacking Thai boats near the southern Myanmar port town of
Murgui and holding them for ransom, a Thai military officer said
Saturday.
According to the officer, who declined to be identified, minority
groups such as the Karen National Union, the Arakan Army, the Arakan
Liberation Party and the All Burmese Students' Democratic Front have
been taking fishing vessels and holding them for between 300,000 and
5 million baht per boat, he said.
The groups operate in the Andaman Sea near Murgui, where all Thai
fishing vessels have to pass before entering the southern Thai
province of Ranong.
When the trawlers are seized, rebel agents in Ranong contact the ship
owners and demand a ransom. Some owners are paying 500,000 baht every
six months, he said.
''The reason Myanmar authorities revoked Thai fishing concessions in
its waters was to cut a major financial resource for the
antigovernment minorities,'' he said.
The two powerful Arakan groups, which are based in Myanmar's western
coastal state of Arakan, operate not only near Thailand and Myanmar
but also in the Malacca Straight.
They are armed with weapons and high-speed boats, and possess the
ability to hijack heavy cargo ships, he said.
Since Myanmar ended Thai fishing concessions last October, following
the siege at its embassy in Bangkok, the pirates have increased
weapons smuggling, the officer added.
The Arakan and Karen groups trade weapons from the former battle zone
of the Khmer Rouge to Lankan rebels, Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam and the Naga National Council, an antigovernment minority
based in west Myanmar.
''But the weapons from the now-defunct Khmer Rouge are in low demand
since they are old and outdated. The Tamil Tigers, the biggest
customer, is now looking for modern arms from Singapore,'' the
official said. $1=40.65 baht
____________________________________________________
The Asian Age: 40,000 Chin Burmese to be deported from India
August 6, 2000
New Delhi, August 5: India's decision to deport hundreds of ethnic
Chin Burmese refugees living in Northeastern region has been
criticized by the US Committee for Refugees.
Quoting from Chin Freedom Coalition sources, an organization of the
Chin community, the USCR has claimed that Indian authorities have
detained some of the Chins who were arrested in Aizawl and from other
places in Tanhril, Babutlang, Vaiva, Kulikawn, Lungmual.
A USCR political analyst Hiram A. Ruiz said in a statement on
Saturday that Chin Burmese should be treated as refugees.
He said that many of these people fled to India as they fear
prosecution in Burma and their repatriation could constitute
refoulement forced return, an action contrary to international law.
The USCR believes that Chin people should be treated as other Burmese
refugees. There are estimated 40, 000 Chin Burmese in Northeast
living there as refugees since last decade.
The Chin community are among the many ethnic minorities who have
suffered discrimination under the successive Burmese government and
persecution by the present regime.
The USCR said that although India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN
Refugee Convention, it is a member of UNHCR's Executive Committee.
____________________________________________________
The Nation: Remnants of Ayutthaya discovered in Burma
Aug 6, 2000.
BY PENNAPA HONGTHONG
MOST Thais consider the final fall of Ayutthaya one of the country's
most humiliating defeats.
Many would rather not even think about it, while others continue to
hate the Burmese for the invasion that wiped out what was once one of
the most prosperous and beautiful cities in Asia.
Ask Thammasat University historian Kwandee Attawavutichai about it,
however, and you'll definitely hear a different version of the story.
For the past year, Kwandee has been searching for descendants of the
30,000 Thais (or, as they were then known, Siamese) who were taken
back to Burma as prisoners of war 233 years ago. The second to last
king of Ayutthaya was thought to be among them. King Uthumporn was
ordained as a monk but was taken back to Burma nonetheless.
The first group she met reside in Mandalay. They dress like Burmese
and none of them speak Thai.
Asked what struck her the most about these people, Kwandee mentioned
their facial composition, which is distinct from that of other
Burmese; the fact that they still tell their offspring that their
ancestors came from Ayutthaya and that they're proud of it; and the
way the women tie up their hair, which she described as quite unique.
Some traditional rituals, such as making sand stupa, are still
practised. These rituals are conducted during Visakha Puja Days and
not Songkran, as in Thailand today.
Residents also recall the name of a village named Reuhaing, which may
be a corrupt pronunciation of Rahaeng, a village in Tak province.
Many residents are still goldsmiths, a profession widely known and
practised in the Ayutthaya period.
Kwandee said she's certain of their origin from their gold patterns
and motifs, which are definitely not Burmese.
What's more, some of them even call themselves Yodhaya people,
meaning Ayutthayan in Burmese.
Kwandee also discovered what might be the ruin of a brick stupa
marking the death of a member of the Ayutthaya royal family. The
stupa and its inscription are too ornate and beautiful to be a lay
person's, she said.
Others suggest it might be a stupa to commemorate the bicentennial of
those who were taken from Ayutthaya. Some villagers volunteered to
draw a sketch of how the stupa once looked, and to Kwandee it
resembled a royal coffin, with its reversed vertical cone shape.
Kwandee later said it was not King Uthumporn's tomb because he died
while he was a practising monk and the Burmese practice is to cremate
monks rather than bury them as they do lay people. Who this seemingly
royal tomb was dedicated too remains a mystery.
An elderly woman in an area called Yodayaweng told Kwandee that her
ancestor was a classical dancer for the court of Ayutthaya and played
the role of Hanuman, or monkey king, in the Ramayana epic. In that
community, a small shrine with four Siamese classical puppet masks
were found.
There's also another community called Mindasu, which can be
translated as the abode of princes and princesses.
Kwandee suspects this is a place where descendants of the Ayutthaya
royals live.
Other Burmese call them ajintor, which means "my noble friends". Some
said their great-grandparents were princes of Ayutthaya but didn't
know which ones. They still practise dance and keep some lyrics which
are quite Siamese.
"The Yodhaya blood still runs vigorously in all my veins and
arteries," said a doctor by the name of Thinh Hmong.
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
Mizzima: Chile and Sweden support democracy in Burma
New Delhi, August 7, 2000
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)
Aung San Suu Kyi is a very courageous woman and she is in the same
area of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, said
Chile President Mr. Ricardo Lagos on 29th July. He was participating
in an internet conversation with his counterparts from Sweden and
South Africa. The conference was a part of World Festival 2000
organized by the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY).
"I am sure that like the others, she will have a victory at the
endàOur solidarity is with her fight and she has to know that her
fight is our fight and the fight for all mankind", said the President
of Chile, a country once ruled by a dictator.
The International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), an organization
made up of 134 socialist, social democrat and labor youth
organizations representing a hundred countries around the world,
organized a world youth festival from 24th July to 30th July at
Malmo, Sweden. More than 6,000 students and youth participated in the
festival and eight pro-democracy activists from Burma were among them.
The live internet conversation held at the closing session of the
festival was participated by Sweden Prime Minister Mr. Goran Persson
and South Africa President Mr. Thabo Mbeki.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is worth all support. She is courageous. She has a
right and the demand for democracy, free election that she stands
behind is also something that we in the social democratic movement
around the world has stood up for", said Swedish social democrat
Prime Minister.
"We are sending a message to her and all fighting comrades in Burma
that we support you and we wish you the best and we will be with you
in a fight for democracy and freedom", continues the Sweden Prime
Minister who was present at the festival spot.
Dr. Sein Win, Prime Minister of the Burmese government in exile also
sent a message to the conference, seeking support from the social
democrats around the world. "There is a reason for explaining the
suffering of youths, students, and the other people in my country
today: that people who enjoy freedom should not take it for granted,
and that there are many people in this world today who are giving up
their lives just to gain the most basic of freedoms", said Dr. Sein
Win in his message, which was read out by a Burmese participant in
the internet conference.
(See: www.sap.se for the whole internet conversation).
____________________________________________________
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Xinhua: Myanmar-Thai Joint Trade Commission Meets in Yangon
YANGON (Aug. 5) XINHUA - A joint trade commission (JTC) between
Myanmar and Thailand held its session here Friday to review the
economic development and bilateral trade between the two countries
under a memorandum of understanding signed in February 1990, official
newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.
Attending the second session of the JTC were Myanmar commercial
delegation, led by Commerce Minister Brigadier-General Pyi Sone, and
its Thai counterpart, headed by visiting Thai Deputy Prime Minister
and Commerce Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi.
The two delegations included officials of chambers of commerce and
industry and banking entrepreneurs of the two countries.
The discussions focused on implementation of border trade and related
banking arrangements agreed upon by the designated banks of the two
sides, purchase of natural gas, tourism development and further
industry promotion.
Supachai, who arrived here on Thursday for the JTC session, agreed
with his Myanmar counterpart Pyi Sone that there exists potentials
and prospects for further expansion and cooperation in the fields of
overseas and overland trade.
The first session of the Myanmar-Thai JTC took place in Bangkok in
September 1998.
According to Myanmar official statistics, bilateral trade between
Myanmar and Thailand, including the border trade, stood at 393.83
million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 1999-2000 which ended in
March with Myanmar's import from Thailand amounting to 330.45 million
and its export to Thailand valued at 63.38 million.
Their bilateral trade in the year accounted for 10.32 percent of
Myanmar's total foreign trade with Thailand standing as Myanmar 's
third largest trading partner after Singapore and China.
Besides, Thailand has so far invested a total of over 1.252 billion
dollars in 46 projects in the country in the sectors of oil and gas,
hotels and tourism, livestock and fishery, industrial estate and
transport, also standing the third largest foreign investor in
Myanmar after Singapore and Britain.
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________
US Committee for Refugees: USCR Deeply Concerned Over Fate of Burmese
Chin Deported and Detained by India
August 5, 2000
The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) has told the government of
India that it is deeply concerned regarding the fate of several
hundred ethnic Chin Burmese refugees whom the Indian authorities
have detained. In a letter dated August 3, USCR senior policy
analyst Hiram A. Ruiz said, "Many of these persons fled to India
because they feared persecution in Burma.... Deporting members of
this group to Burma could constitute refoulement»forced return of
refugees. Such an action would be contrary to international law and
would warrant strong international condemnation."
Because they fled Burma for reasons similar to those of Burmese who
are considered refugees in other countries, USCR considers the
estimated 40,000 Burmese Chin who have fled to Northeast India over
the past decade to be refugees. However, the Indian government does
not recognize them as refugees. Neither does it permit the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to visit Mizoram in order to
ascertain whether the Chin would fall under its mandate. In the
past, UNHCR has said that the Chin in Mizoram might qualify as
refugees.
According to the Chin Freedom Coalition, the Indian authorities are
detaining some of the Chin whom they recently arrested in prisons in
Aizwal and Tanhril, and at police posts in Babutlang, Vaiva,
Kulikawn, and Lungmual. Thousands of other Chin Burmese living in
Mizoram are now fearful of being arrested and forcibly returned to
Burma. Some are said to be in hiding.
The Chin, who are largely Christian, are among the many ethnic
minorities who have suffered discrimination under successive Burmese
governments and persecution by the present Burmese regime.
Although India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention,
it is a member of UNHCR's Executive Committee, and generously hosts
several large refugee populations, including Tibetans, Sri Lankans,
and Afghans. USCR urged the Indian authorities to extend their
hospitality to Burmese refugees living in Mizoram.
For further information contact:
Hiram A. Ruiz
Senior Policy Analyst
U.S. Committee for Refugees
(202) 347-3507
______________________________________________________________________
_____________________ OTHER ______________________
The Sunday Times: Book--Enid Blyton goes to Burma?
THE GLASS PALACE
by Amitav Ghosh
HarperCollins ú16.99 pp552
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
HUGO BARNACLE
Amitav Ghosh is probably best known for The Calcutta Chromosome, his
strange and brilliant metaphysical thriller, so the tagline on the
cover of his hefty new offering comes as rather a surprise. It
says: "The magnificent, poignant, fascinating novel of three
generations that starts in Mandalay . . . " Which clearly indicates
that the publishers think this is a middlebrow family saga.
They're right. The Glass Palace is just that. It is commercial rather
than literary fiction, a marked comedown for a writer of Ghosh's
proven talent. And we all know that "magnificent, poignant,
fascinating" translates as "long, soapy, tedious". There isn't one
badly composed sentence in the book, except the very last, which
seems to have slipped a grammatical cog somewhere; on the other hand,
there isn't one particularly good sentence, either.
The prose trundles along on deeply uninspiring lines. "King Thebaw
was of medium height, with a plump face, a thin moustache and finely
shaped eyes." Police descriptions can be livelier. "After this, in
what seemed like an impossibly short time, Dolly and Uma became good
friends." Pure Enid Blyton. "Dinu endured his month-long spell in
hospital with exemplary stoicism, earning accolades from the staff."
And this seems to have strayed in from a parish newsletter.
Thebaw, in case you were wondering, is king of Burma in 1885. When
his customs officials get into a dispute with a British logging
company, Britain sends Indian army troops to seize Mandalay, his
capital, and depose him. Rajkumar, an Indian orphan boy working at a
food stall, witnesses the sacking of the king's palace, not by the
soldiers but by the Burmese population, who bow and scrape
apologetically to the royal family while making off with their
trinkets. This is when Rajkumar first sets eyes on the beautiful
Dolly, another orphan, serving as handmaiden to the queen.
Dolly is one of the few staff who accompany the king and queen into
exile at Ratnagiri on the west coast of India. Rajkumar, meanwhile,
grows up and makes his fortune in the teak business; there is quite
an interesting account of the logging process, fulfilling the genre
requirement for laboriously researched incidental detail. Then
Rajkumar also makes his way to Ratnagiri where, courtesy of Uma, the
wife of the Indian district administrator, he gains an introduction
to Dolly.
They marry and raise two sons, Neel and Dinu, back in Rangoon. Uma,
finding herself tragically widowed, travels the world and becomes a
leading light in the Indian independence movement. As the second
world war looms, Indians are expected to defend an empire they are
increasingly fed up with. The now-adult Dinu, a mild-mannered
photographer, thinks this is fair enough. He tells Uma, "Hitler and
Mussolini are among the most destructive leaders in all of human
history."
Uma refutes his argument. "Racialism rules through aggression and
conquest. Is the Empire not guilty of all this?" Her nephew Rajun, a
newly commissioned Indian army officer, thinks she is batty and sides
with Dinu, but once war breaks out he sees the error of his ways and
defects to join the pro-Japanese Indian National Army (INA). Ghosh
lays on the crisis-of-conscience stuff with a trowel, but fails to
make it convincing.
The authorial voice assures us that, to "the Indian public", the INA
were not turncoats but heroic resistance fighters. This is, indeed,
the received Indian opinion, but it doesn't bear much examination,
since a Japanese victory would hardly have advanced the cause of
independence. Ghosh goes on to remark that "imperialism and fascism
were twin evils, one being a derivative of the other". In truth, they
are both offshoots of nationalism, the very vice Ghosh is indulging
in.
Towards the end, the novel includes a passage about a rubber
plantation in 1950s Malaya. The emergency going on at the time is not
mentioned, presumably because it involved a successful British
campaign against an attempted communist takeover; and Ghosh, who
lives in New York, doesn't want to alienate American readers by
suggesting these particular anti-British rebels were good guys. The
effect is somewhat comical, unlike much else in this worthy, plodding
epic.
____________________________________________________
________________
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