EBO
News Summary:
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1. Burmese exiles face Thai clampdown
2.
3.
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Burmese exiles face Thai clampdown
Financial Times
By Amy Kazmin in
Burmese political exiles living in
the border,
dissidents' political activities and their criticism
of
Sihasak Phuangketkeow,
a Thai foreign ministry spokesman, said relocating
all dissidents - now living in cities across
greater control over the exiles and prevent them
from hurting Thai ties with
"They are not supposed to be able to
engage in political activities that would
affect relations with other countries," Mr Sihasak said. "They are here as guests."
More than 125,000 ethnic minority people
from
in Thai refugee camps to avoid fighting and
persecution in conflict zones in
eastern
But thousands more Burmese political
dissidents - about 1,500 of whom are
officially recognised as refugees by the United
Nations - have lived relatively
freely in
writing, publishing and other activities.
Tolerance for the exiles' activism has
eroded further during the two-year-old
administration of Thaksin Shinawatra,
prime minister, who has made a priority
of improving ties with the Burmese junta.
Mr Thaksin, whose family-owned
telecommunications empire has business links
with the son of one of
last week of "mis-behaving",
for publicly protesting against the junta's renewed
detention of Ms Suu Kyi, who has been held
incommunicado since May 30.
Sunai Phasuk, of the
human rights group Forum Asia, said Mr Thaksin was offering
a gesture of friendship to
on his visit to US President George W. Bush
in
"
for many years," he said. "It is
unclear what
the dictators, when it can benefit from
joining the international cause for
democracy in
----------------------------------
Indonesia to decide if ASEAN will
send mission to Myanmar: Ong
LANGKAWI,
delegation to
Kyi will come from current chair
general said Thursday.
Ong Keng Yong said
that Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda was to
decide if he would lead an ASEAN mission or
establish a direct line of
communication with authorities in
"I personally have not heard anything
but I trust he is keen to follow up
with what was decided in
ASEAN members demanded the Nobel
laureate's release during its annual
ministerial meeting in
send a delegation to
Ong said UN special envoy Razali Ismail met Hassan in
review the situation in
to the Cambodian meeting.
"We are looking forward to the
lifting of the restriction on Aung San Suu
Kyi. Minister Hassan
would have to follow-up on this," he said on the
sidelines of the ASEAN energy ministers meeting.
"We are waiting Hassan's next
move."
Asked if there was a time-frame when a decison would be made, Ong said:
"There is no time-frame. We have to
just wait and see."
"We feel that as a member of ASEAN,
its action on ASEAN," he added.
Ong said he was going to
--------------------------------
Britain asks tobacco giant to pull out of Myanmar
British American Tobacco to pull out of
country's
human rights record, the Foreign Office announced Wednesday.
The department said Foreign Office minister
Mike O'Brien made the request at
a
meeting with BAT chairman Martin Broughton on Wednesday. and
that Broughton
agreed
to consider the request and give a formal reply soon.
A week ago Prime Minister Tony Blair made clear that the government
believes
neither
trade with nor investment in
military
regime continues to suppress the population's basic human rights.
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