[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BurmaNet News: October 22, 2000



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
_________October 22, 2000   Issue # 1646_________

NOTED IN PASSING: "The characteristic of the junta is their stupidity. 
They are reptiles...The prison was hard but physical conditions you can 
adapt to. It is the  mental conditions that are hardest. You have to 
think about everything you are saying, thinking 'will this get me a 
beating?'"     

James Mawdsley, who was freed after serving 415 days in solitary for 
passing out democracy leaflets. See  AFP: Human rights activist slams 
Myanmar junta as reptilian

INSIDE BURMA _______
*The Nation: Burma minorities overlooked in peace efforts
*Mizzima: Deforestation in Rakhine State as the villagers have to send 
firewood for Army

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: Human rights activist slams Myanmar junta as reptilian
*AFP: Malaysia, Turkey reproach IPU criticism over detained politicians
*Reuters: Bangladesh urges Myanmar to take refugees back
*Mizzima: Burmese fishermen in Calcutta jails ended their hunger strike 
*Christian Science Monitor:  Congress takes aim at modern-day slavery
*Malaysian National News Agency: M'sia Feels Myanmar's Issue Not 
Appropriate to Be Discussed at Asem
*Asia Times: Thai feeling the strain as humanitarian haven 

OPINION/EDITORIALS _______
*NCGUB: A Hero Regains His Freedom

The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com

__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

The Nation: Burma minorities overlooked in peace efforts

Oct 20, 2000.
FROM THE EDGE: 

BY YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK 

CHIANG MAI - For five years now, the international community has 
concentrated their efforts primarily on breaking the political deadlock 
in Rangoon. They seem to have totally ignored other political factors 
which brought Burma to military rule in the first place nearly four 
decades ago.  
Inevitably, the world has followed every word and move of Nobel Peace 
Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi since her release from house arrest in 
mid-1995. By refusing to obey the junta's wish to exile her overseas or 
to be subdued by suppression, Suu Kyi has remained the glowing torch for 
the democracy struggle in Burma. Unquestionably, she is respected as 
"the leader" by both the Burmese democracy movement and the over one 
dozen ethnic rebel groups fighting for autonomy from Rangoon.  

But international peace attempts seem to have resulted in only a tighter 
deadlock, with the Burmese junta responding with more arrests and 
crackdowns on Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). 
Moreover, the global community remains divided over developing a common 
approach - whether to apply the carrot or the stick - to effectively 
force the ruling generals to open talks with the NLD.  

Diplomats in Rangoon and key Burma players outside remain equally in the 
dark as to what has bound the regime together despite persistent 
speculation about serious internal splits among the ruling generals. For 
the time being, they are hoping that an imminent threat of political 
sanctions by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) against the use 
of forced labour might influence the regime to have second thoughts over 
its persistent refusal to open a dialogue with the NLD.  
An ILO technical team is currently in Burma to examine if the regime has 
complied with ILO recommendations for an end to the practice of forced 
labour. If the ILO finding is negative, a series of sanctions will go 
into effect starting November 30. It's still unclear if other UN 
agencies will be bound to take similar steps to isolate the junta.  

Although ILO sanctions will certainly be welcomed by Burmese democracy 
activists and Western countries which have called for the imposition of 
tough punishment on Rangoon, some Asian diplomats doubt if sanctions 
will be effective in forcing the junta to change as long as its allies 
in East and Southeast Asia - particularly China and Japan - remain 
supportive of the military regime.  
Inside Burma, the armed ethnic groups which have struck a ceasefire 
agreement with Rangoon, are equally frustrated over a stalemate in 
tackling their political demands for autonomy. On the issue of Burma's 
ethnic minorities, there is a virtual lack of international interest in 
their plight.  
"The cease-fire groups are not very happy as there seems to be no 
political space for them to manoeuvre at all," said an ethnic Burmese 
scholar. "There is no way for them to organise or even to meet. They are 
trailed all the time by the junta." 
 
"Some groups feel that everything is being held hostage to the political 
deadlock between the NLD and the junta," he added.  

Like the scholar, several guerrilla leaders have made similar complaints 
over the apparent concentration of global efforts on activism in Rangoon 
and the total ignorance of key international Burma players about the 
overall deteriorating political, economic and social situation in the 
ethnic minority areas. Except for illicit drugs activities, nothing else 
seems worthy of catching their attention, noted one leader. 
 
By ignoring the force of the ethnic minority population, he added, the 
international community actually plays into hands of the junta, which 
doesn't want the NLD and the ethnic groups to combine their political 
strength and put pressure on the regime.  

The leaders pointed out that it was the demands of Burmese ethnic 
minorities to secede from independent Burma which brought about the 
ethnic armed revolt in the first place and the subsequent military coup 
in 1962 to annul "the secession rights". 
 
"Without an acceptable solution about the rights of ethnic nationalities 
in Burma, there will never be peace in Burma," said one ethnic leader.  

Although most cease-fire groups have been in touch with one another, 
they have tried not to provoke Rangoon's suspicions about their 
activities and their contacts with outside supporters. Still, most of 
them have decided to take steps to strengthen their own position in case 
of eventual political changes.  

Earlier last month, representatives of several ethnic groups including 
the Lahu, Pa-O, Palaung, Shan and Wa met and agreed to begin drafting a 
Shan State constitution. While the first draft is expected to emerge in 
13 months, the process of consultation with grassroots people has begun, 
thus building their knowledge of democracy, which is the primary 
objective of the writing of the charter.  

"We hope to build grassroots capacity, harmony and unity among various 
ethnic nationalities in Shan State. It is also aimed at ethnic 
reconciliation and the building of a democratic foundation among the 
people," said another prominent ethnic leader who was actively involved 
in the drafting process.  

Other armed ethnic groups, including those in the Arakan, Chin, Kachin, 
Karen and Mon states, are also embarking on the drafting of their state 
constitutions, which will hopefully serve as their political documents 
when the time comes for the Union of Burma to draft a federal 
constitution.  
Although the method of drafting varies from state to state - the Shan 
State drafting committee will consult local people for their input, 
whereas the Kachin leadership will produce a draft and ask people in its 
area to comment - the writing of the charters is an independent exercise 
to build the political capacity of the ethnic population. These people, 
who constitute some 20-30 per cent of the country's 45 million 
population, have in the past decade been largely ignored while internal 
politics has focused primarily on Rangoon.  

For the first time, it seems the armed ethnic groups have awakened to 
begin seriously thinking about the future they want in Burma and about 
how to strengthen the indigenous peoples in the border areas. As always, 
they refuse to be dictated to about their future. 

____________________________________________________

Mizzima: Deforestation in Rakhine State as the villagers have to send 
firewood for Army

Dhaka, October 20, 2000.
MIZZIMA News Group (www.mizzima.com)

Due to excessive demand of firewood by the Burmese military units based 
in Rakhine State of Burma, particularly in Minpya township, there has 
been wide deforestation in the area. In Minpya township, military units 
such as 379, 380 and 541 are being stationed after 1990 where as there 
used to be only 40 soldiers stationed in 1988.

The Burmese army regiments have been consistently demanding the firewood 
from the villagers for baking bricks for the military fund. Each family 
of 260 villages from 64 village groups in Minpya town has to regularly 
send 100 firewood sticks (length 2 half-yard and 3 spans rounded) to the 
army six times a year.

Due to this, there is vast deforestation around the region of Minpya 
township in Rakhine State, namely 14 miles-long Kyatsin mountain range 
between Minpya town and Myepon town, 8 miles-long Taung Saing Kam 
mountain range, another 8 miles-long Taw Tan mountain range and 15 miles 
long Hpungta Chaung mountain range.

The villagers who live around these mountain ranges need at least four 
hours walk to get to the forest for firewood and if they have to 
continue to serve the Burmese army in this way, the villagers will later 
have to use hay, bull shit and dried grass instead of firewood.





___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
		
			
AFP: Human rights activist slams Myanmar junta as reptilian
  
   
   LONDON, Oct 21 (AFP) - British human rights activist James Mawdsley 
slammed the Yangon regime as stupid and reptilian as he arrived in 
Britain on Saturday after more than a year in a Myanmar jail for 
distributing pro-democracy leaflets.

   "The characteristic of the junta is their stupidity. They are 
reptiles," he told reporters.

   Mawdsley, 27, was reunited with his family at London's Heathrow 
airport at  5:08 a.m. (0408 GMT) after arriving on a flight from 
Bangkok.    He had been sentenced to 17 years in Myanmar's notorious 
Keng Tung prison,  630 kilometres (390 miles) from Yangon, where he was 
in solitary confinement  for 415 days and endured several vicious 
beatings.

   He had been deported twice from the former British colony prior to 
his  conviction, and said in Bangkok, en route to London, that this time 
he  wouldn't be going back.

   "The prison was hard but physical conditions you can adapt to. It is 
the  mental conditions that are hardest. You have to think about 
everything you are saying, thinking 'will this get me a beating?'" 
Mawdsley told a press  conference shortly after his arrival in London.

   Accompanied by his parents, Mawdsley said that the best thing about 
his  return was the freedom of expression.

   "In prison I talked to the prison guards, but it was always on the 
sly.  They were always looking over their shoulder,"he said.

   "To be back in the UK and hear people talking without fear is magic. 
It's a magic we forget," he added.

   Mawdsley also accused the Myanmar junta of genocide.

   "They have killed 30,000 member of the Karen ethnic minority since 
1992 and 300,000 have been forced to flee their homes," he said.    "I 
am free but there are more than 1,500 political prisoners still in Burma 
(Myanmar)," he added.

   He called on the international community to put pressure of the 
regime in  Yangon.
   "The international community can move that junta, my case showed 
that," he  said.

____________________________________________________


AFP: Malaysia, Turkey reproach IPU criticism over detained politicians
 
[Abridged]

JAKARTA, Oct 21 (AFP) - International lawmakers wrapping up a six-day 
conference here Saturday rebuked 16 nations for their treatment of 
opposition parties and demanded the release of dissidents held in jail. 

 The 505 parliamentarians from 108 countries passsed resolutions 
attacking the treatment of detained and convicted politicians in 
Argentina, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia, Djibouti, Ecuador, 
Gambia, Guinea, Honduras, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Moldova, Sri 
Lanka and Turkey.
 
 The parliamentarians were meeting together in Jakarta for the 
International Parliamentary Union's (IPU) 104th conference. 

 The IPU rebuked Malaysia over the conviction of its former deputy prime 
minister Anwar Ibrahim on corruption and sodomy charges, saying there 
were "reliable allegations concerning the use of coerced statements of 
witnesses." 

 In its resolution it expressed fear that the motives for his 
prosecution were "not of a legal nature" and that they were "built on 
the presumption of guilt." 

 It also called for Anwar's release, pending appeal against his 
convictions, on the grounds of reports that his health had deteriorated. 


 The Malaysian delegation contested the resolution, saying it did not 
"reflect the actual situation." 		

 "As a matter of fact a number of politicians from the ruling party have 
also been prosecuted," delegation leader Husni Hanazadzlah said. 

 "We would like to place on record our reservation on this resolution." 


 ...Myanmar was rebuked over its treatment of 66 opposition politicians, 
around 50 of whom are in detention, and eight of which are dead. 

 The IPU resolution expressed "outrage" at the ongoing harassment, 
arrest and sentencing of politicians who were elected to, but have been 
denied, power in Myanmar in 1990. 

 It called for the immediate release of all detained politicians and a 
halt to the suppression of their political activities. 

 In its six-day bi-annual meet the IPU called for the lifting of 
sanctions against Iraq and a ban on including food and medicines in 
future sanctions, and urged Israel to cease military action in the 
Middle East. 

 Separately representatives of the Burmese government in exile released 
a petition signed by some 2,000 MPs from 85 countries calling for the 
immediate release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from 
house arrest. 

 The exiled politicians were at the congress as guests of the Danish 
delegation. There was no official delegation from Myanmar. 
  


____________________________________________________


Reuters: Bangladesh urges Myanmar to take refugees back

DHAKA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Bangladesh on Saturday urged Myanmar to 
repatriate nearly 21,000 Myanmar Muslim refugees who have been living in 
Bangladesh for years. 

 They are the remnants of more than 250,000 refugees, called Rohingyas, 
who fled to Cox's Bazar from Arakan province in 1991 trying to escape 
military persecution, including killings and rape. 
 ``Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad has asked a visiting Myanmar envoy 
to expedite the process of taking back the remaining refugees,'' 
ministry officials said. 

 Azad told Khin Maung Win, deputy foreign minister of Myanmar, that the 
Myanmar government should work out how to take back the refugees. 

 He said the two countries were expected to hold a formal meeting soon 
to resolve the issue ``once and for all.'' 

 The Myanmar envoy arrived here on Friday to deliver a letter from 
Burmese military ruler General Than Shew to Bangladesh Prime Minister 
Sheikh Hasina. 
 The contents of the letter were not known.
 
 ``Bangladesh is still waiting for Yangon authorities to repatriate the 
refugees from two camps but they seem reluctant,'' said Borhanuddin 
Ahmed, relief and repatriation commissioner at Cox's Bazar, bordering 
west Myanmar's Muslim-majority Arakan province, speaking to Reuters on 
Friday. 

 Most of the refugees have returned to Myanmar under the supervision of 
the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which said most of 
those who crossed the border had been economic refugees. The 
repatriation process stopped in the middle of 1997. 

____________________________________________________


Mizzima: Burmese fishermen in Calcutta jails ended their hunger strike 

Calcutta, October 21, 2000
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)

The 58 Burmese prisoners who went on a hunger strike on last Tuesday 
have ended their strike yesterday. The Burmese who are languishing in 
two jails in Calcutta, West Bengal of India called off their strike 
after they were assured of early release by the Indian jail authorities 
and concerned Burmese embassy officials in India.

The Burmese fishermen were arrested in 1997 from the Sunderbans in West 
Bengal while they crossed into Indian water territory. As they carried 
no documents, they were booked and charged under Section 14 of the 
Foreigners Act. However, after serving more than a year, the Indian 
courts had acquitted them on September 23, 1999 but they are not 
released yet as Burmese authorities refused to take them back. 
Out of 58, 26 are in Alipore Central Jail and 32 are in Presidency Jail. 
On October 17,   they staged an indefinite hunger strike demanding for 
their immediate release. Yesterday   afternoon, West Bengal Director 
Inspector General (Prisons) Mr. P. D. Mondal along    with Burmese 
embassy representative Mr. P.B. Chowdhury met the prisoners in the jails 
  and assured that the two authorities would try for their early 
release. At present, the jail   authorities are taking their photographs 
and residential address of Burma to send to the   Burmese authorities 
through Burmese embassy in New Delhi.

The prisoners are from various parts of Burma such as Irrawaddy 
Division, Mon State,   Tanensari Division and Rangoon Division and they 
belong to Mon, Rakhine, Burman,   Karen and other nationalities of 
Burma. Although jail authorities did not allow our   reporter to see the 
Burmese prisoners, the reporter managed to talk with them and ask   some 
questions. ôI just want to go back home (Burma) immediatelyö said a 
36-year old prisoner who left his wife and two daughters behind in 
Rangoon. West   Bengal State Inspector General of prisoners Mr. Balkar 
Singh told our reporter that the   prisoners are treated well in the 
jail. ôThey are happy in the jail. But they want to   go back home. We 
are now taking necessary steps to send them back to Burmaö said Mr. 
Balkar Singh.


____________________________________________________

Christian Science Monitor:  Congress takes aim at modern-day slavery

By Gail Russell Chaddock

Date: 10/18/2000    (WASHINGTON)

[Abridged]

Bipartisan coalitions have not been a feature of the fiercely partisan  
106th Congress. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle came together  
last week with nearly unanimous votes to curb the global scourge of  
trafficking in persons.

>From Burmese girls lured to brothels in Thailand, Ukrainians to Bosnia,  
or Nepalese to India - recent estimates range from hundreds of  
thousands to millions of people forced into prostitution and sweatshops  
worldwide. That includes as many as 50,000 people, mainly women and  
children, trafficked into the United States each year.

"This is the most significant human rights legislation this Congress,"  
says Sen. Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas, a sponsor. "We're the first  
nation in the world to go after sex trafficking aggressively and  
openly, both domestically and internationally."

Until now, law enforcement efforts in the US and abroad have largely  
punished the victims of trafficking, who are targeted as illegal aliens  
or prostitutes. Those who go to the police for help are often deported  
without further assistance, while traffickers escape or face only minor  
charges. 

The new law gives the president and US law enforcement tools to go  
after traffickers and governments that allow them to operate with  
impunity. These include:

* Tough penalties for traffickers, including life imprisonment for  
sex-trafficking in children. 

* Visas for trafficking victims who cooperate with law enforcement,  
capped at 5,000 a year. 

* Assistance for victims, regardless of their immigration status. 

* Data collection and reporting on trafficking in the US and abroad. 

* A requirement to withhold some forms of US foreign assistance from  
countries that do not make significant efforts to address the problem.  

For activists, who waited outside the Senate chambers during the  
historic vote, the 95-to-0 tally signifies how far public thought has  
come toward respecting the rights of women and children.

"Violence against women is not personal. It's not about culture or  
ethnicity. It's a violation of basic human rights, and it should be  
protected both nationally and internationally," says Eleanor Smeal,  
president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, an advocacy group based  
in Arlington, Va.

But lawmakers who sponsored this legislation say the unanimous vote  
belies how difficult it was to move these issues forward.

"It took hundreds of hours of negotiation to get us here," said Sen.  
Paul Wellstone (D) of Minnesota, who began working on international  
trafficking three years ago, at the urging of his wife. 

The trafficking bill was bundled with four others, including a ban on  
the sale of alcohol over the Internet, compensation for victims of  
international terrorism, "Aimee's Law" (which imposes sanctions on  
states that grant early release to sexual predators who subsequently  
repeat the crime), and the reauthorization of the Violence Against  
Women Act.

House sponsors had to guide the bill in and out of four committees.  
Some committee members balked at elements such as the new visa, which  
could increase the level of US immigration. Others worried that  
mandatory US sanctions on governments that turn a blind eye to  
trafficking within their borders could undermine other foreign-policy  
goals. (The final version limited sanctions to "nonhumanitarian" and  
"nontrade" US assistance, and the president will be able to waive the  
requirement for national-security reasons.)

"We wrote [this bill] to give the president maximum flexibility. He now  
has many arrows in his quiver," says Rep. Christopher Smith (R) of New  
Jersey, a lead sponsor.

The House passed the measure 371-to-1, and the president is expected to  
sign it soon.


____________________________________________________


Malaysian National News Agency: M'sia Feels Myanmar's Issue Not 
Appropriate to Be Discussed at Asem 

October 18 , 2000 22:43PM
 From E. Sivabalan 

SEOUL, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Datuk 
Abdul Kadir Mohamad said on Wednesday Myanmar should not be a subject of 
discussion at the third Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) beginning here Friday 
unless it is about Yangon's membership in the grouping.  
"We feel it is not appropriate (to discuss about Myanmar) because they 
(Myanmar) are not here," he told Malaysian journalists here on 
Wednesday. Abdul Kadir said if at all the summit wanted to discuss about 
Myanmar, it should be confined to the issue of its membership in Asem.  
He said this when asked on reports that the European side may tie 
Myanmar's membership with the so-called human rights violations in 
Yangon.  

Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are the only three Asean countries not yet 
members of the five-year-old grouping currently made up of the seven 
"old" Asean members, 15 European states and the European Commission.  

At the last Asem in Bangkok in 1996 and London in 1998, some European 
countries were against the entry of Myanmar into the grouping, saying 
that Yangon will first have to deal with its "human rights record".  

On the two-day third Asem, Abdul Kadir said Asian senior officials met 
here on Wednesday to take a common stand ahead of the Asem senior 
officials meeting (SOM) here tomorrow.  
He said their job was to try and prepare the drafts of the three key 
documents that would be adopted at the summit on Friday.  

They are the Chairman's Statement, the Seoul Declaration and the Asia 
Europe Cooperation Framework (AECF) 2000. The Chairman's Statement, 
Abdul Kadir said, would give a run down of the latest issues agreed upon 
by the leaders while the Seoul Declaration to be adopted on Friday would 
approve the Korean Peninsula peace initiative.  

The AECF, he said, would be revised, if necessary, by the leaders before 
they adopt it. The document consists of a detailed plan of action to be 
undertaken by Asem member states in the next decade.  

"There is really no regular agenda to follow in Asem," he said 
indicating that the leaders were free to discuss any matter of mutual 
interest so long as it was not controversial.  
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad is scheduled to arrive 
here later tomorrow to attend the meeting.  


____________________________________________________


Asia Times: Thai feeling the strain as humanitarian haven 


October 21, 2000 

By Mahesh Uniyal 

BANGKOK - For long a friendly haven to people fleeing political troubles 
and economic hardship, Thailand is feeling the strain of its 
humanitarian hospitality.  
Criticized by the visiting UN Commissioner for Refugees for not taking 
proper care of refugees, the Thai government has asked for international 
help in playing host to the tens of thousands of Burmese refugees on its 
soil and in creating conditions for their return to their homeland. 
 
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, after visiting a 
Burmese refugee camp near the Thai-Burma border Tuesday, described the 
conditions there as ''very bad'' and ''overcrowded''. 
 
''I'm sorry to say that I was quite shocked,'' Ogata said. The UN 
official said she was surprised to see the conditions in which the 
ethnic Burmese Karen refugees were living, because Thailand had enough 
experience in hosting refugees. ''In this case, they are not doing what 
they can do,'' she added.  

Ogata later met Thailand's Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, who told her 
that his country needed international help to continue offering 
humanitarian assistance to those who fled the fighting between ethnic 
separatist rebels and Burmese authoritarian regime. More than 120,000 
Burmese refugees are estimated to be living in shelters near the long 
border the two countries share. Thailand has long insisted on the 
creation of conditions for the voluntary return of these people.  

Ogata, who arrived in Bangkok after meeting Burmese military rulers in 
Rangoon, told Chuan that she had told the Burmese government about the 
need for these refugees to return home. However, the military regime did 
not give any indication if and when this could begin, she said. The 
rulers of Burma insist that the Burmese living in refugee camps in 
Thailand are not innocent civilians who fled the conflict in that 
country, but are either members of the armed Burmese rebel groups or 
their kin.  

However, the Burmese government was open to UNHCR's request to be 
allowed to operate in that country. According to Thailand's Deputy 
Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra, this would be the ''first step'' 
for the return of the refugees to their country.
  
The UNHCR chief also advised the Thai government to join the 
International Convention on Refugees. Thailand officially describes 
those taking political refuge on its territory as "displaced persons". 
According to Sukhumbhand, Thailand is concerned that it would not be 
able to treat refugees on par with citizens, once it joins the 
international treaty. ''Thai people have a lot of rights. We don't want 
refugees to protest in front of Government House,'' he was quoted as 
saying.  

''If we accede to the convention, it would encourage more refugees to 
come to Thailand,'' a foreign ministry official added. Thailand is 
already playing host to hundreds of thousands of foreigners, the bulk of 
whom have fled economic hardship in neighboring nations, said the 
official, who did not want to be named. 
 
However, rights groups and independent constitutional experts in this 
country say that Thailand's treatment of political refugees has been 
quite satisfactory. ''Despite the technicality in Thai law which views 
them as illegal immigrants subject to the possibility of deportation ... 
they [refugees] are not generally pushed back to their country of 
origin,'' says Thai constitutional expert Vitit Muntarbhorn of Bangkok's 
Chulalongkorn University.  

''It has been a long-time policy for Thailand to receive refugees on 
humanitarian grounds,'' said the foreign ministry official, pointing out 
that Thailand has been the ''most open'' to refugees among Southeast 
Asian nations. The country has played host to tens of thousands of 
refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in the past three decades. 
Indeed, during her meeting with the Thai prime minister, Ogata thanked 
the Thai government for hosting refugees from these countries.  

In a landmark decision in August, the Thai government announced the 
granting of citizenship to some 100,000 children of more than 30,000 
Burmese, Chinese and Nepalese refugees who entered the country between 
the 1940s and 1976. The refugees themselves are to be given residency 
rights, but not citizenship. Some years ago, the children of these 
refugees were allowed to study in government schools, but it was 
difficult for them to get access to other state-run basic services.  

In the early 1950s, the Thai government recognized as citizens the 
children of Vietnamese who fled their country to escape the war between 
the French army and Vietnamese nationalists.  

However, rights groups point to areas of worry, especially violations of 
human rights of those seeking shelter in Thailand. ''We should treat 
them in a humanitarian manner and not send them back,'' says Jarun 
Pichai of the Bangkok-based Union for Civil Liberties.  

Last year, the civil liberties group collaborated with UNHCR to organize 
a training program on the human rights of refugees for local 
non-governmental organizations, border police officers and village 
leaders along the Thai-Burma border.  

Pichai's group and the UNHCR are also worried about an incident 
involving ethnic Karen refugees from Burma who "disappeared" following 
an encounter with the Thai military after crossing the Thai-Burma border 
earlier this year. The 55 members of the Karen militia had fled Burma 
territory for Thailand. Their wives, who now live in refugee camps in 
Thailand, wrote to the Thai civil liberties in September to seek its 
help to trace the men.  

The UNHCR also wrote to the Thai military to seek information on the 
matter, said Jarun. But the army told both his group and the UNHCR that 
the Thai military did not know where the missing men were, he added.  

 
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________


                                                                         
          
NCGUB: A Hero Regains His Freedom

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma


October 20, 2000 


Mr. James Mawdsley who was unlawfully incarcerated for over a year in 
Burma has been released by the Burmese military regime. The National 
Coalition Government joins the people of Burma in sharing the joys of 
his family and welcomes his freedom.
 
Prime Minister Dr. Sein Win said, "Mr. Mawdsley has proven to be a hero 
who is willing to make a sacrifice to inform the world of the injustices 
going on in Burma.  He was beaten and abused by the captors while in 
prison.  Yet, he never compromised on his principles and beliefs.  He is 
a true inspiration to the people of Burma." 

Mr. Mawdsley's release came about not because of "a charitable gesture" 
as claimed by the generals but only because of international pressure, 
including the ruling by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary 
Detention that the jailing of Mr. Mawdsley by the regime was "unlawful." 


We appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to also look 
into the cases of many other democracy activists who are being detained 
and subjected to physical and mental torture in Burmese prisons. 

To Mr. Mawdsley, personally, we say, thank you.  We will always remember 
who our friends are. 
 



____________________________________________________

________________


The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive 
coverage of news and opinion on Burma  (Myanmar) from around the world.  
If you see something on Burma, you can bring it to our attention by 
emailing it to strider@xxxxxxx

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 or fax (US) +1(202) 318-1261
You will be prompted to press 1 for a voice message or 2 to send a fax.  
If you do neither, a fax tone will begin automatically.

Fax (Japan) +81 (3) 4512-8143



________________

___________________________________________________________
T O P I C A  The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics