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BurmaNet News: December 23, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: December 23, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 08:08:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
________December 22, 2000 Issue # 1692_________
NOTED IN PASSING: ?Ten megawatts?
Capacity of nuclear reactor Burma interested in buying from Russia. See
TASS: Myanmar shows interest in Russian research reactor
INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Democracy league MP interviewed on forced labour, political issues
Bangkok Post: Drugs--Wa Link to Triads Confirmed
*AFP: Six NLD members given long jail sentences in Burma
*AFP: UN envoy will return to Myanmar in early January
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Former drug trader: Much higher
production nowadays
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Grapevine--From Rangoon with Silkworm to
Bangkok
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*TASS (Russia): Myanmar shows interest in Russian research reactor
*BBC: Guam closes door to Burmese refugees
*BLSO: Recent Acceleration of Repatriations from Mae Sot
*Mizzima: Burma activists prepare to step up media campaign Burma
activists prepare to step up media campaign
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*AP: Pentagon Stops Imports From Myanmar
OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*Nation: Burmese junta only buying time
*Nation: National vs human security in Burma
*Asia Times: Trade isolation feared
OTHER______
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
DVB: Democracy league MP interviewed on forced labour, political issues
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 19 Dec 00
Excerpt from telephone interview by Democratic Voice of Burma
correspondent Htet Aung Kyaw with U Than Tun, National League for
Democracy MP and member of the Committee Representing People's
Parliament; date and place not known; broadcast by Burmese opposition
radio on 19 December
[Htet Aung Kyaw] We heard that paddy and rice prices have dropped
dramatically. Can you give some explanations about that?
[U Than Tun] Paddy prices dropped because there are no exports so the
farmers are facing difficulties. The farmers are really the hardest hit
by the price drop, economically speaking. We heard even the government
is not buying the compulsory paddy. Because of that the farmers are
facing hardships with lots of unsold paddy on their hands.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] Another thing is about the situation of employees. We
heard their wages were increased five-fold some time back. What about
that?
[U Than Tun] Well, when the employees' wages were raised, we can
generally say that their situations have became a bit better. But,
compared with the rising commodity prices and the true situation, we
cannot say that everything is satisfactory.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] Yes. Education is the next topic. What the SPDC [State
Peace and Development Council] is saying is that they are upgrading the
education system. What is the real practical situation?
[U Than Tun] Regarding the schools and colleges, some are closed some
are open. They close whenever they want and open whenever they want.
Well, about the exams they said they will hold the exams within a few
months. As for the students, when the schools are closed, they only
dream for the schools to be reopened and pursue their education.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] The next is about the workers and labour. Recently, the
International Labour Organization, ILO, said in its resolution that they
will take action against Burma on the practice of forced labour. What is
the NLD's view?
[U Than Tun] The NLD feels the resolution is appropriate. But as a
country we feel very sad because it is the first time in 80 years that
such an action has been taken because of the labour abuses. In reality,
forced labour really exists in the country and even our League [NLD]
members have suffered. When I say members, I do not mean ordinary
members. I mean township level executives who themselves have been
forced to contribute labour. What more for ordinary people. About the
border areas, we personally do not know, but we heard. So with regard to
this forced labour resolution, they were warned four-five years ago. But
they continued to carry on with it and we believe this is the result
they get. We think this happened because what they do is not right.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] After the ILO resolution, what practical changes do you
see?
[U Than Tun] Well, according to their Foreign Ministry's press release,
they do not accept the resolution and they have distanced themselves
from the ILO. By them not accepting the ILO resolution, it means they
will continue to do what they want. In reality, they are still there. We
hear that forced labour is still being used. The Home Ministry issued a
law on paper stating that there should be no more labour contribution
and what not but in the districts, in reality, they are still engaging
in forced labour whenever they want anything done.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Drugs--Wa Link to Triads Confirmed
Friday, December 22, 2000
Shipment seized in transit to Australia
Anti-narcotics officials believe two drug seizures this week confirm a
major link between Burmese Wa drug makers and Chinese drug trafficking
triads from Hong Kong.
Australian, Hong Kong and Joint Asean Crime Group police intercepted
both parts of a large shipment of heroin and methamphetamines bound for
Australia last Tuesday.
The drugs from the Burmese region of the Golden Triangle were smuggled
by the triads through China and Hong Kong, en route to Sydney.
They show that traffickers in the Golden Triangle are going all-out to
expand their markets. "The heroin traffic has been pretty much
controlled by the triads," said a Bangkok-based official yesterday. The
speed market has been controlled by the United Wa State Army.
"A marriage of the Wa and the 14K triad raises the stakes on the drug
scene by a magnitude," said one foreign diplomat. The UWSA has all but
wrapped up control of the opium fields and heroin plants. A coalition
with the triads effectively creates Southeast Asia's first full-fledged
drugs cartel.
In Sydney, Justice and Customs Minister Amanda Vanstone said it was the
first time Australia has intercepted a large shipment of crystal
methamphetamine, also known as ice.
"What is particularly disturbing is the large quantity of ice, a drug
not widely available in Australia," Ms Vanstone was quoted as saying by
AFP. "This is 10 times the previous largest seizure."Australian police
led a raid that intercepted 79kg of methamphetamine on a ship from China
and led two two arrests.
The second was intercepted by a joint task force as smugglers tried to
take it into Hong Kong from China. It contained 184kg of heroin.
The bust ended the third failed attempt to send a major shipment of
heroin from the Golden Triangle to Australia this year. In January,
authorities seized 500kg north of Sydney. Another 357kg was intercepted
in Fiji last month.
It also was the first high-profile raid to involve the Joint Asean Crime
Group. Anti-drug units in Thailand have suspected for a year that triads
based in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China have been trying to deal with the
UWSA.
The Wa have long been expanding their methamphetamine networks into
Thailand, China and India but their horizons had been limited until
recently since they had no overseas organisation such as those of former
Shan drug kingpins like Khun Sa and Lo Hsing-han.
The 14K triad, with arms in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Amsterdam, has
established links in Thailand since at least 1998.
The 14K is highly experienced in drugs distribution, dating back to the
1970s and its notorious leaders Ma "White Powder" Sik-yu and Ng "Limpy
Ho" Shek-ho. In Thailand, the 14K has become active in Pattaya.
___________________________________________________
AFP: Six NLD members given long jail sentences in Burma
Dec. 22, 2000
Six members of Aung San Suu Kyi's Burmese opposition National League for
Democracy party have been given long jail terms of up to 21 years.
One of them, Saw Nine Nine, was elected as a member of parliament in the
disallowed 1990 elections which the NLD won in a landslide.
Other prominent NLD members were identified as Soe Han, Tun Myint, Aye
Cho, Pyarpone Nilone Oo and Kyaw Sein Oo.
A senior spokesman for the junta confirmed that Kyaw Sein Oo was given
seven years in jail for violating the Printers and Publishers
Registration Act.
The other five were jailed for 21 years after being convictedunder
Burma's 1975 State Protection and 1950 Emergency Provision Acts, as well
as contravening the legislation Kyaw Sein Oo was sentenced under.
___________________________________________________
AFP: UN envoy will return to Myanmar in early January
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (AFP) - UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Ismail
Razali, will visit the country early in January for talks with the
country's feuding leadership factions diplomatic sources told AFP
Thursday.
The trip, Razali's third to the East Asian nation in less than a year,
will deal more substantively with rapprochement between the ruling
military junta and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD),
the source said.
Myanmar's military authorities have waged a campaign of intimidation
and repression against NLD since their refusal to recognize the party's
landslide election victory in 1990.
The junta has held several senior NLD members, including Nobel Peace
Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest since September 22 and
last week sentenced six others to lengthy prison terms.
___________________________________________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: Former drug trader: Much higher production
nowadays
Reporter: Saeng Khao Haeng
Dec. 21, 2000
A source, who used to be in the drug business in his younger days, told
S.H.A.N. on his return from the north that opium output at present "is
much higher" than it used to be.
"Apart from Kokang, Wa and Loimaw (Druglord Khun Sa's birth place), not
many places even in the Shan State grew much opium," the source from
Petkang, a poppy-growing area in Kengtung, said. "As I grew older, many
other parts of the Shan State, forced by circumstances, began to engage
in poppy cultivation. Today it has spread all over the State."
He said he was surprised to find abundant poppy fields even in the
Karenni a.k.a. Kayah State, the southern neighbor of Shan State. "Now I
won't be surprised if I'm going to run into poppy fields in the Karen
State further south in a few year's time," he said.
Another fact he noted was that even some Burmese soldiers and Burmese
Indians were seen working in their own poppy fields in Mongzit, Loiyay
and Loimaw south of Mongpawn (28 miles east of Taunggyi).
"But since the first harvest from Shwetaung, between Mongpan and Mongton
is fetching K. 180,000 per viss, it is understandable why badly paid
soldiers take interest in having their own fields," said another source
from Mongton.
The source from Petkang also met Shan villagers from Kunhing (130 miles
east of Taunggyi) who said they had been hired by Burmese officers to
tend to their poppy fields, since they (the hired farm-hands) had been
forced out of their former villages a few years ago. "It is not a life
that we choose, but it's better than hiding in the mountains and
forests," one of the hired laborers told the source.
He also remembered traveling in a car driven by an officer from the Pa-O
National Army, a ceasefire group, accompanied by the Commander of
Military Operations Command (Loilem) in October. The junta officer,
looking at the fields alongside the road from Hopong (10 miles east of
Taunggyi) to Mongpawn, inquired why the villagers were growing poppies
so near the public thoroughfare. When the Pa-O officer replied poppy
plants needed early sunlight to thrive, he was reported to have said,
"Then destroy the fields as soon as they are harvested. And don't
forget to take video-recordings of the destruction to show we are
serious about opium eradication."
___________________________________________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: Grapevine--From Rangoon with Silkworm to
Bangkok
Dec. 22, 2000
Reporter: Saeng Khao Haeng
A source who recently returned from Rangoon told S.H.A.N. news about the
junta setting up Silkworm missiles against Thailand were taking the
rounds there.
According to the source, who has been working with a foreign firm, about
10-Silkworm missiles had already been placed in position south of
Thanlyin, near Rangoon. "Almost everywhere I went, I kept hearing
people saying war with Thailand is unavoidable," he said.
Silkworms, Chinese-made, were purchased by Iran during the Iran-Iraq
war. Its effectiveness was found to be satisfactory, according to the
source.
"Thailand and Burma have no problems that cannot be settled by
dialogue," said a Thai watcher who placed little credibility in the
report but was disturbed by it nevertheless.
The Thai Army, according to Far Eastern Economic Review, in cooperation
with the United States, is to set up a joint "anti-narcotics" operation
center in Pai District of Maehongson soon.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
TASS: Myanmar shows interest in Russian research reactor
December 22, 2000
By Veronika Voskoboinikova
MOSCOW, December 22
Meeting with Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeny Adamov in Moscow
on Friday, Myanmar Minister of Science and Technology U Taung expressed
the interest in his country in the construction by Russian specialists
in Myanmar of a reactor with the capacity of ten megawatt for peaceful
research.
U Taung spent four days in Russia at Adamov's invitation and visited a
number of institutes where he familiarised himself with the training of
specialists in research reactors in Russia, Tass learnt from the press
service of the Ministry of Atomic Energy. Talking with his Russian
counterpart, the Myanmar minister pointed to a high level of Russia's
technological, scientific and educational base.
U Taung expressed the readiness to send to Russia a group of Myanmar
specialists to train for operating research reactors.
___________________________________________________
BBC: Guam closes door to Burmese refugees
Thursday, 21 December, 2000, 14:31 GMT
The governor of the US Pacific island territory of Guam says the federal
government in Washington has decided to close a loophole in the law
which had allowed Burmese nationals to travel to Guam without visas.
The governor, Carl Gutierrez, told the BBC that the decision followed
the recent arrival of more than 700 Burmese nationals who had sought and
received political asylum in Guam after arriving as tourists.
He said the decision had been taken in part to protect the tourist
industry in Guam which is dependent on visa-free travel from countries
including Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
A Burmese community worker in Guam said the decision closed one of the
few doors open to those fleeing political and religious persecution in
Burma.
___________________________________________________
BLSO: Recent Acceleration of Repatriations from Mae Sot
Burma Labour Solidarity Organization (BLSO):
Date: December 19, 2000
On July 1, 2000 the Thai authorities launched repatriations of Burmese
migrant workers in Mae Sot. There were successive repatriations until
August, when they stopped their operation without explanation.
Again on December 1,2000, they re-started the repatriation of Burmese
migrant workers. Therefore, the factory owners closed down their
factories and warned the workers to stay away from the factories. Some
owners provided the workers small amount of money, and some did not.
In recent days, the operation has been halted at times, and some factory
owners run the factories secretly. The owners again warned the workers
on December 17,2000 that the Thai authorities would accelerate the
operation. This time, however, most of owners failed to provide any
assistance to workers. Therefore few workers could return to Burma due
to the lack of financial assistance and being scared of possible arrest
by Burmese authority. In other cases, many worker families who have been
settled in Mae Sot for a long time have now lost their National Identity
Card. The worst thing is that they have no place to stay in Burma at the
moment because they had already sold all of their properties to settle
down in Mae Sot.
Burma Labor Solidarity Organization (BLSO) has assembled the following
time-line of the Thai authoritiesÆ operation to repatriate Burmese
migrant workers, and related events.
1.12. 2000
Thai authorities start the arrest of Burmese migrant workers and other
Burmese people in Mae Sot.
2.12.2000
When Thai authorities arrest, they wear both uniforms and plain clothes
and sometimes use civilian vehicles. They arrest Burmese in the central
market and around Mae Sot. Some workers start leaving factories and
going into hiding.
3.12.2000
The arrests are going on. A worker, Maung Lin Lin Naing, 16 years old,
from Champion wool factory is sent to Mae Sot hospital because of
accident while he was working in factory.
4.12.2000
Thai polices and immigration officers raid and arrest workers from the
sock factory in Ban Nuear and other small factories. Many are arrested.
5.12.2000
One young woman is raped and killed near Champion wool factory. Maung
Lin Lin Naing from Champion wool factory dies in hospital because of
serious injuries sustained while working in the factory.
6.12.2000
Thai police raid Mae Pa Slipper factory. Workers, including women, jump
down from the third-floor window. Many injure in their legs and bodies.
7.12.2000
In the early morning, Thai police and immigration officers raid the
construction workersÆ barracks. Old women and some children are arrested
and taken to the Thai immigration custody.
The funeral ceremony for Maung Lin Lin Naing could be held in one
Monastery, but Thai police threaten any Burmese coming to the funeral
with arrest.
8.12.2000
Some workers hiding in the paddy fields become sick because it is too
windy and cool and they sleep on the straw.
9.12.2000
Thai police arrest workers from Hyaat wool factory and those workers
coming back from Myawaddy (opposite Mae Sot).
10.12.2000
Until some factories open again secretly, many workers are still hiding
in the paddy fields and forest.
14.12.2000
The owner from the Champion factory refuses to pay full compensation for
Maung Lin Lin Aung and tries to force his parents to agree. The parents
refuse to sign. The workers are very angry and try to call a strike.
15.12.2000
Worker leaders negotiate with the owner from the Champion Knitting
Company (wool factory) to promise full compensation. Finally, the owner
gives 20,000 baht to Maung Lin Lin Aung's mother as compensation.
16.12.2000
Some factory owners announce to workers that factories would be closed
down because Thai authority will accelerate the operation. Therefore,
some workers go back to Burma and some go into hiding again.
17.12.2000
Arrests start in the early morning in the central market and continue
the whole day around Mae Sot. Many are arrested.
18 and 19.12.2000
Everyone in Mae Sot can see the police vans crowded with people who were
arrested being led to the immigration center near the Moei River (Burma
border).
Update:
a.. Arrests and repatriation continue daily in Mae Sot area.
b.. There is information that police must arrest 70,000 migrant
workers.
c.. It is believed that the arrests will keep on until the end of this
year.
a.. Woman worker are at risk of sexual harassment and abuse. Workers
in hiding are also at risk of arrested.
b.. Many workers are still waiting for their factories to re-open.
They remain in hiding, but are in constant fear of arrest. Some of the
workers want to go back home but do not have enough money to do so, and
still afraid of situation inside Burma.
a.. Burmese authorities have left open only the Mae Sot- Myawaddy
"Friendship Bridge" check point and closed down all other sneaking check
points.
a.. Burmese authorities on the Burma side are investigating workers
deported by Thai authorities. They are being fined 6000 kyats (Burmese
currency) if they cannot show a Burmese National Identity Card.
b.. Workers feel deeply concern for their insecure in Burmese side
because workers who are deported to Burma may be sentenced for entering
and leaving Myawaddy and may be used as forced porters by the military.
___________________________________________________
Mizzima: Burma activists prepare to step up media campaign Burma
activists prepare to step up media campaign
New Delhi, December 22, 2000
Burma democracy activists based in India completed media skills training
workshops in New Delhi yesterday with an aim to improve their capacity
to provide news and information regarding human rights abuses and
suppression of democracy in Burma.
Burma's military regime allows no freedom of expression, and tightly
controls the media in the country. Burmese exiles with strong contacts
inside Burma are among the only sources for uncensored news from the
country. "By equipping ourselves with more effective media skills, we
intend to inform people in Burma and the international community about
the real situation inside Burma today," said Nyi Nyi Lwin, a Burmese
democracy leader who participated in the workshops.
The military junta has deprived the Burmese people of any objective news
and information. Only the overseas Burmese-language radio programs of
BBC, Radio Free Asia, Voice of America and Norway-based Democratic Voice
of Burma are the main sources for the actual news and information for
the Burmese people.
International press freedom groups, including the Reporters Sans
Frontiers and Committee to Protect Journalists have repeatedly denounced
censorship and the continuing imprisonment of Burmese journalists by the
military junta.
Two media skills training workshops were held in New Delhi from 13 to 21
December. Participants in the workshops were representatives from
various Burma pro-democracy groups based in India. Skills covered in the
workshops include accessing media, preparing press releases and
broadcast interview techniques.
"We will use these skills to maintain a free media and promote respect
for human rights in Burma even after democracy is restored," said one of
the participants.
Similar workshops were also held in Thailand this month for the Burma
democracy activists there.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
AP: Pentagon Stops Imports From Myanmar
The Associated Press, Thu 21 Dec 2000
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Pentagon abruptly stopped importing clothing from
Myanmar this week in response to criticism that the practice violated
the spirit of Clinton administration policy, officials said Thursday.
In a report Tuesday disclosing the imports, the New York Times said
shipping documents showed that in October the Army and Air Force
Exchange Service imported $138,290 in clothing made in Myanmar, the
former Burma.
``AAFES has ceased doing business with Burma,'' Pentagon spokesman Maj.
Tim Blair said.
The exchange service's purchases were not illegal. But the Times report
quoted critics in Congress and in human rights groups as saying the
practice ran contrary to the administration's efforts to put an economic
squeeze on Myanmar, whose military rulers refused to recognize the 1988
election victory by the opposition party.
In 1997 the administration banned new investment in Myanmar. Although it
has not prohibited trade with Myanmar, the administration has
discouraged Americans from doing business in that country. In the first
nine months of this year, American apparel companies imported $308
million in goods from Myanmar, the Times reported.
______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________
Nation: Burmese junta only buying time
December 21, 2000, Thursday
BK Sen
The Nation's December 17 editorial "Despite hype, nothing new from
Rangoon" on Burma is a hallmark of opinion and analysis. The junta's
mouthpiece, Myanmar Alin, recently showed its ire by demanding action
against The Nation.
Referring to the Burmese foreign minister's statement, The Nation's
editorial stated: ". . . there would not be an early dialogue with Aung
San Suu Kyi unless the opposition groups give up their fight. Why should
they? They won the election in May 1990."
May 1990 was the watershed event in Burmese politics. It holds the key
to resolving the political crisis. The junta held this election. It
announced the results as free and fair.
The NLD National League for Democracy won the mandate with a landslide
victory to take up the governance of the country. Ten years have passed.
The junta has not honored the people's verdict. Its only game is to play
with rhetoric and buy time. Enough has been enough.
The time for a peaceful transition to democracy is overdue. Let not
history repeat itself.
___________________________________________________
Nation: National vs human security in Burma
December 21, 2000, Thursday
BODY:
While the international community focuses on the issue of human
security, the Burmese junta uses the mantra of national security to
imprison dissidents and suppress ethnic groups, reports Aung Zaw.
National security issues have often served as a smokescreen for
oppression in countries such as Burma, but now there is a growing
recognition that real security must serve people, not enslave them.
In September, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan called on the
international community to put human security and people-centered
development at the heart of foreign policy. Surin stressed: "One cannot
have support for human security and effectively pursue people-centered
development if one is unable to ensure that people are protected from
abuse, suffering and deprivation."
Over the past few years, as the security of states has increased, the
security of citizens around the world has declined. Casualties from
armed conflict have doubled over the past decade, with approximately one
million people losing their lives each year.
Thailand's foreign minister is himself well aware of what is really
happening in his neighboring country, where the safety and security of
ordinary Burmese have been threatened for decades. The military leaders
have repeatedly used "security" to justify oppression against their own
people. Every time the international community condemns them for their
human rights abuses, the leaders invoke "security" as an excuse to
justify their crimes. For instance, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi was recently stopped from traveling outside the capital for
"security reasons". Meanwhile, a group of young students has been thrown
into prison for years because they posed "a threat to national
security".
Burma is a case study of how people may be deprived of their human
security by a handful of military rulers acting in the name of national
security. The Burmese people have become victims of the generals' notion
of security, rather than its beneficiaries. People may be rounded up
simply for listening to short-wave radio stations or talking to
foreigners. "Preventive measures" are also taken by the military forces:
opposition leaders are put in prison or under house arrest for the sake
of "security". It hardly needs to be asked for whose security these
measures are really being taken.
According to a World Bank report released last year, social and economic
misery in Burma have deepened greatly at the hands of the country's
despotic rulers. UN special investigator Rajsoomer Lallah has more
appalling stories. In his latest annual report, the special investigator
cited reports of massacres in which more than 100 minority people had
been killed since the beginning of this year. His report indicated that
some of the worst violence by the military has been committed against
ethnic minorities, particularly the Shan, Karen, Karenni and Rohingya
groups.
The question now is how to end such state terrorism. So far, there is no
clear answer. The outgoing Canadian foreign minister has proposed at the
United Nations the creation of an international commission on
intervention and state sovereignty. Though this proposal has divided the
UN, particularly along the lines of the North-South divide, activists
both inside Burma and abroad have shown great interest.
The oppressed should not feel betrayed by the indifference of the rest
of the world. This point was repeatedly made at a conference on human
security held in Montreal last month. Human security analyst Nigel
Martin argued that it is not always possible for people to free
themselves. "It is not reasonable to think that there is going to be any
internal process that will allow relief from oppression," he said. "I'm
in favor of outside support. That's the only way the chains of
oppression can be broken."
Having witnessed the downfall of a ruthless regime in Uganda, Martin is
convinced that outside assistance can help bring an end to dictatorships
that oppress their own people.
"If you have total subjugation with no real possibility for any kind of
freedom internally you need outside help," Martin commented. "There are
regrettable cases where the international community must help people who
are under the ruthless heel of oppression."
These views certainly clash with those of Vietnamese Foreign Minister
Nguyen Dy Nien, who recently visited Burma. Nguyen Dy Nien warned that
Asean should "keep its basic principles - non-interference, consensus,
and the resolution of issues in Asean - in sight." This came as pressure
mounted in recent weeks over Burma's political deadlock, with some Asean
members - notably Thailand - openly asking for international assistance
to find a political solution in Burma.
As repression in Burma continues unabated, it is reasonable to expect
that calls for intervention will continue to be heard from around the
world.
The willingness and ability of the international community to get
involved will continue to be crucial elements in resolving Burma's
problems. The political will of the UN must be regarded as a
particularly important factor in determining how and when Burma will
finally shed the burden of repressive rule. The creation of an
independent international commission on intervention would be a
promising move, and Burma should certainly be one of the first cases to
receive careful consideration and study.
In fact, there are already options that could be used to save the lives
of people, if the international community - including the Asean
leadership - could find the will to use all of the tools at its
disposal, from political engagement to radical action. The chains of
oppression can be broken, but only if the world recognizes that human
security is an issue that transcends national boundaries.
Aung Zaw is an editor of the Irrawaddy magazine.
___________________________________________________
Asia Times: Trade isolation feared
The Road to Mandalay
Asia Times, 21 Dec, 2000,
G Parthasarath
External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh will be leaving shortly for
Burma to inaugurate the 144 km road that engineers of our Border Roads
Organisation have built, linking the township of Tamu with the railhead
at Kalemyo in Burma. This road is essentially designed to provide Indian
goods market access to important centres in Burma like Mandalay.
One hopes the minister will undertake a part of his journey by road
travelling across the national highway from Imphal to the border town of
Moreh, located barely two kilometres from Tamu. He will find the visit
revealing. Provided the authorities don't intervene and ask traders not
to display foreign goods, Jaswant Singh will find the markets in Moreh
and other border towns well stocked with goods from Burma, China and
Thailand. If he should visit any small township across the border in
Burma he will find the shops there well stocked with Indian bicycles,
consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and even electrical generators.
If Jaswant Singh's officials search the trade statistics prepared by the
Mandarins of Udyog Bhavan they will find that none of these trade
exchanges are reflected in official statistics. Those dealing with
enforcement will label all these border trade exchanges as 'smuggling'.
But, for the people of the North Eastern states the exchanges of goods
across borders artificially drawn up by the British merely reflect a
continuation of their historical links with countries like Burma, Laos,
Thailand and China.
We often tend to forget the fact that through the centuries there has
been a natural exchange of peoples, goods and services between our North
East and the countries of South and South East Asia. The Ahoms of Assam
after all migrated several centuries ago from the Shan State of Burma,
where the language spoken is almost identical to that spoken in Laos and
Thailand. The Chins from Burma have migrated over the past centuries to
Manipur and Mizoram and the Maities of Manipur have ties for over 2000
years with the Burmese. There has been a similar migration to the North
East from the Yunan Province of China. The ties between what is now
Bangladesh and its neighbours like Assam and West Bengal are also so
close that there is little that governments can do to prevent the free
movement of goods and services across national boundaries. Likewise,
there are now nearly half a million people of Indian origin living in
Burma who retain close cultural, emotional and spiritual ties with
India.
Just over two years ago Bangladesh, India, Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand
came together to form an economic association called BIMSTEC linking the
littoral states of the Bay of Bengal. This economic grouping aims to
promote rapid economic cooperation between members in key areas like
trade, investment, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, transportation links
and human resources development. India and Sri Lanka have already
concluded a bilateral Free Trade Agreement that is showing the potential
to rapidly expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
As members of ASEAN, Burma and Thailand will be moving towards
developing free trade ties. It is, therefore, important that India
should move ahead in concluding free trade agreements with Bangladesh
and Burma as soon as possible. The way should be paved for BIMSTEC to
move towards becoming a Free Trade Association. One effective way to
deal with insurgency in the North East would be to cooperate with Burma
in the development of forestry and agricultural resources in Burma's
Sagaing division and Chin state that border Mizoram, Manipur and
Nagaland. The immense hydroelectric potential of the areas bordering
India could be developed to promote rapid economic growth of the North
East.
China and Burma are now not only opening out their economies to foreign
investment, but also endeavouring to become major tourism destinations.
While India attracts barely 2.5 million tourists annually, an estimated
72 million tourists visited China in 1999. Beijing alone has 65,000
hotel rooms, almost the same number as the whole of India. Our capital
city has only 8,000 hotel rooms. Thus, while there was much being spoken
in India about China posing a strategic challenge to us, the fact of the
matter is that unless we set our house in order and shed some of our
policies regarded as sacred cows like reservations for the small
scale-sector and treating tourism facilities as highly taxed luxury
industries, we will soon find ourselves increasingly marginalised both
industrially and in spheres like tourism by China and other East Asian
countries.
More importantly, we will find people living in our North Eastern states
raising queries about why they cannot be the beneficiaries of larger
incomes through tourism, trade and transit as their neighbours to the
east. The belief in New Delhi that problems like public disaffection,
unemployment and insurgency can be overcome merely by pouring in
financial resources into border states whether it is Jammu & Kashmir or
Assam, needs to be reviewed. A greater emphasis has to be placed on
these states raising their own resources and enhancing productive
employment by encouraging, tourism, trade, transit and foreign
investment.
There has naturally been concern that the opening out of border trade in
the North East would lead to the region's own industries being adversely
affected by a flood of Chinese goods. With China set to join the WTO it
would have to make its trade and pricing policies much more transparent
than at present. It is, therefore, important that arrangements should be
concluded with China so that trade across land borders is conducted on
an MFN basis with an appropriate tariff structure. This arrangement
could extend to the Indo-Tibetan border also, with the progressive
opening out of an increasing number of border check posts to promote
trade. There have been some recent discussions on how to promote such
cooperation with China regionally in a Track II Process, popularly known
as the Kunming initiative.
The road we are presently constructing in Burma will have little utility
in promoting our interests if we continue to follow our presently
restrictive and unrealistic border trade practices. It is ludicrous to
expect traders living in our North Eastern states to observe cumbersome
procedures and banking arrangements in their trade with counterparts
across the border. Procedures need to be simplified so that traders in
the North Eastern states can exchange goods on barter and through
counter trade arrangements.
There is need for introducing a number of trade facilitation measures to
promote border trade with Burma and Bangladesh, including transportation
systems that allow cross-border movements of vehicles and the provision
of auxiliaries like weight bridges and cold storage. It makes economic
sense to evolve measures for Burma to provide the requirements of
agricultural commodities like rice and dals to our North East under
counter trade arrangements, rather than pay huge subsidies for supplies
from distant parts of India.
It is essentially for New Delhi to ensure that such arrangements are
expeditiously put in place. The North-Eastern states will then become
centres of transit for trade with our eastern neighbours. All this only
increases the urgency for concluding free trade agreements with our
eastern neighbours.
Given the high levels of literacy and prevalent use of English in some
of our North Eastern states like Mizoram, the IT industry must be
persuaded to move into software parks in the region. These parks will
serve to attract business and trainees from our eastern neighbours.
While moves are underway to construct an international airport at
Guwahati, there is need to look at measures to promote foreign
investment to attract tourists from ASEAN and East Asian countries
including the Yunan Province of China to the North Eastern states. The
land routes in Burma, bordering Manipur and Mizoram should be opened for
travel, pilgrimages and tourism.
While much has been spoken over the past decade about a new momentum
being imparted to our 'Look East' policies, these policies will serve
our national interest best only if they are integrally linked to the
promotion of the economic progress and welfare of the people of our
North Eastern states.
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