My apologies for the format. -glen ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"----------------------------------------------------------The BurmaNet News: November 20, 1995Issue #282Noted in Passing: As far as they are not free in Burma, my soul is not free either. - Tun Myint, a Burmese student activist now in the United States (see RYDER MAGAZINE: ESCAPE THROUGH BURMESE JUNGLE)HEADLINES:==========RYDER MAGAZINE: ESCAPE THROUGH BURMESE JUNGLEANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA/WOMEN'S CONFERENCE 1 DECBKK POST: RANGOON REPEATS LIST OF DEMANDS TO CHAVALITNATION: 'NO NATIONAL BENEFIT' FROM CHAVALIT'S TRIPNATION: KAREN REFUGEES FEAR REPATRIATIONFTUB (WB): UPDATE NEWS ON REFUGEESBPF: IT'S THE BURMESE ECONOMYWB: MYANMAR: POLICIES FOR SUSTAINING ECONOMIC REFORMBRC-J: PRESS RELEASE - BURMA STRATEGY RETREATBKK POST: WIDOWS OF MAHACHAI*****************************************************RYDER MAGAZINE: ESCAPE THROUGH BURMESE JUNGLENovember 19, 1995From: David Horne This article appeared in the Ryder Magazine(Nov. 17-Dec. 1 1995 issue).The Ryder is a local publication in Bloomington, Indiana. It is issuedevery other week. This article was written by Tun Myint, the campaignorganizer for Indiana Campaign for a Free Burma. This magazine alsobrought "Beyond Rangoon" to Bloomington for two and a half weeks. Acaption was at the top of the article and pictured seven refugee studentsfrom Burma in a Thai camp just before leaving to the United States. Thebackground is a small mountain. [Editor's Note: The author's original English text is presented unaltered in order to preserve his natural voice.] MY JOURNEY FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN BURMA ********************************************* "I myself am a believer in justice, freedom and kindness toward other humans and other beings. Although I don't want to harm anyone, it was the call to me that I should take up arms and revolt against unjust government of my country" BY TUN MYINTMy name is Tun Myint. I am a Burmese student at Indiana University. WhenI was in Burma in 1988, I was waiting for university studies after I hadfinished High School. There was people uprising emerged in Burma for therestoration of democracy and human rights. It was a nationwide demonstrationthat was bigger than Tiananmin square in China in 1989. I was thinking mycountry was going to be changed very soon and Burma was going to be developedjust like developing countries. Suddenly, a change occurred on the 18th ofSeptember in 1988. But it was not the change that I expected. That change wasa tremendous transformation for my life but not for my country.The change that took place on the 18th of September is that the BurmeseArmy took the power by a brutal coup. It brought the country under thedictatorship government. The military dictatorship government named itselfas "SLORC" (State Law and Order Restoration Council) and ousted all thestudent activists by oppressing their pro- democratic movements. I was oneof the students who actively involved in pro-democracy movements. Therewas no choice for me rather than leaving my country, my family, and theuniversity that I intended to study higher education. Therefore, I had toleave all the conditions that I expected to happen.It is a long story and very complicated situations that I passed throughthe period of 1988 demonstrations and afterward. I filed detail accountof my participation and activities when I applied political asylum here inUnited States. I am now granted asylum and I would like to take a momentto extend my gratitude to all people in United States who help many of"me" to be safe, and hopeful for both our future and our struggle fordemocracy in Burma. I myself is a believer in justice, freedom andkindness toward other humans and other beings. Although, I don't want toharm anyone, it was the call to me that I should take up arms and revoltunjust government of my country. Thus I decided to leave my country,family and friends as many of my fellow students did in 1988 after thebrutal bloody coup.Believing that we, the pro-democratic students, could fight the militarydictatorship by guns, all the students activists around Burma left thecountry for Burma-Thailand border, Burma-India border, and Burma-Chinaborder areas. I am one of those students who left for the Burma-Thailandborder. I, with two of my friends, left Rangoon in the early morning on the 5thof November, 1988 from Rangoon harbor by boat. Before I left, I was livingaround my friends' houses where I could hide away from military intelligence.It was too bad. Usually, wherever I wanted to go, my father would send meand my mother would tell me how to behave along the trip. But for thistrip, I couldn't even dare to inform them that I was leaving for my journeyThey would stop me if they knew that I was leaving for the jungle to fightback the government. Therefore, I couldn't let them know this time.The journey took seven days on the sea to get to the border town called"Ranaung" in Thailand. Along the way in the sea, I sometimes had to actas a crew member when the boat encountered the navy boats. In this way, Iavoided the danger of military disruption. I got sea-sick for the firstthree days in the boat. That was unexpected trip and very compellingjourney for my life. Thus I arrived at a border city called Ranaung inThailand on November 11. There were already about a hundred Burmesestudents in Ranaung waiting to continue their journey to Jungle where weexpected to hold arms and fight the dictatorship. Many students,including me, worked as construction worker for about a week in Ranaung.That was my first time in my life working as a hard labor. Sometimes,when the police car came to the work site, we have to hide away from them.The owner of the work site will shout it out to run and hide. There waresome stories I had there, but I will leave them here and continue to my journey.On the 19th of November, 1988, I and 124 students were secretly brought bythe Thai authorities to go to the Three Pagoda Village. We left Ranaungin the midnight of November 19, and got Three Pagoda Village area in themidnight of November 20. It was the beginning of the cold season inBurma. Everyone got a piece of blanket and a dinner sack at midnight.There was no water to drink, and we didn't know how to find it in thenight at a very new place. Fortunately, the NGO (Non-GovernmentalOrganization) which donated a piece of blanket and a sack of dinner helpedto get drinking water after dinner. I had never have such a deliciousdinner in hungry time. I never forget that dinner I had. It was Thai foodcalled "Khout Phart" similar to Burmese fried rice.The place that we got had just finished war between two ethnic groupsnamely between Mon and Karen. It was post war village with damages onhouses. There were no native villagers in it. It is a border area nowblooming trade region between Burma and Thailand. We, 125 students, tookthose damaged houses and set up home away from home again. We didn't knowwhat we were going to do, but we knew why we were here. We survived inthat village for about two months with the help of local Mon ethnicinsurgents. And also we got some food donations from Non- GovernmentalOrganizations which were based in Thailand. I don't know who they were,but mainly those NGOs were associated with some Burmese activists who leftBurma in 1974 and earlier for the same reason.Furthermore, my tale is not finished by this change. As day and night aregone year after year, the changes which took place within my life werehappening one after another. After about two months at the Three PagodaVillage, we spread into different student camps to take basic militarytraining as a preparation for the revolution. Our student camp weremobile camps. We couldn't stay at one place for a long time because themilitary government's troops were launching war along the border.Therefore, we got to move around. I and some of my fellow students movedaround and lived in at least 7 camps along the border. When I was at thestudent camps on the Burma-Thailand border, I took military training as astudent soldier to fight back the military dictatorship. Studentsestablished the student army called "All Burma Students' Democratic Front"(ABSDF) which is still actively acting in the borders until now. I wouldsay it is the world's largest student army that devotes for democracy andhuman rights in Burma. Some of my friends are still active in the jungleuntil now while I am writing this journal. I salute all of those peoplewho gave their lives along the borders during the battles or because ofmalaria disease. I didn't have any serious battles since I was acting asan agent to contact inside student groups in Rangoon.My life didn't end in jungle as my parents and relatives would think Imight be already dead. However, I faced a serious threat to my lifeduring I was in the jungle by malaria which is a kind of infecteddiseases. It killed my hairs and put away from my head. I beg the deathto let me alive for my ambitions. My body could just maintain the bonesunder skin. Fortunately, I could survive in the jungle for about twoyears with the strength from the spirit of dedicated students who wereshot dead in front of me by military guns during the 1988 nationwidedemonstration. I will never forget that scene and also never give up therevolution that started with the spirit of students and people in Burma.I hold my fist to kick my goal and my soul must be for the benefits ofpeople who love freedom, human rights, justice and humanity.Here and now, I am taking granted for freedom of expression, the rights ofhuman, the justice under the laws of United States. I love these and Iadmire people like Martin Luther King who told us "Injustice anywherethreatens justice everywhere." I know injustices committed by thosehypocritic military generals in Burma are threatening the humanity and itsdignity. Since I was born I regarded myself to be free. I love freedommore than my life. That is why I am paying tragic feeling of losingconnection with my parents, relatives, and friends for seven years nowaway from my native home. Living in the United States make me free andsafe. Even though I finally gained freedom as in the honor of Americandream, I could never forget the suffering of 45 millions of people inBurma and I will never give up the revolution that we established in atime in 1988 in Burma. As far as they are not free in Burma, my soul isnot free either. My soul gave me the goal.To continue the goal of 88 generation, we students must "neither doanything extreme nor 'put their feet up' and wait for democracy to happenin Burma" as the 1990 Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said inlast July, 1995. With that in my heart, I started the Campaign For A FreeBurma at Bloomington, Indiana with a numbers of local activists. It isthe beginning of a call to Americans to boycott Burmese brutal oppressiveregime SLORC. This is another step to continue my journey in America forDemocracy and Human Rights in Burma.*****************************************************ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA/WOMEN'S CONFERENCE 1 DECNovember 18, 1995From: David Arnott Working Group on Human Rights, Working Group on Peace, Working Groupon Women And Environment, Working Group On Indigenous Peoples,Working Group on Refugees and Internally Displaced Women of the NGOCommittee on the Status of WomenIn Association With The Burma Women Union, Burma Peace Foundation,and the National Coalition Government Of The Union Of Burma B U R M A A N D T H E M I L I T A R Y M I N D A Briefing On Burma Addressed To The Women's Movement Church Center for the United Nations, 2nd Floor, 777, UN Plaza, New York, New York 10017, USA (entry, 44th St, South corner with 1st Avenue) Friday 1 December, 1995, from 2 till 6pm.SPEAKERS:BETTY WILLIAMS (Nobel Peace Laureate)EDITH MIRANTE (Director of Project Maje, author of "BurmeseLooking Glass" and numerous other studies on non-Burman ethnic Groups)ZUNETTA LIDDELL (Anthropologist, Burma expert of Human RightsWatch/Asia, and the author of a number of reports on Burma)HNIN HNIN PYNE (Representative of the Burmese Women Union; doingresearch in public health)HSENG NOUNG LINTNER (Expert on the trafficking of Burmese women)Chaired by: ANNE S. WALKER (Executive Director, International Women'sTribune Center)We Will Also Show Aung San Suu Kyi's Beijing VideoMany of the participants in the Beijing Women's Conference weremoved by Aung San Suu Kyi's video speech, as well as by otherpresentations on the situation in Burma.We therefore, as five of the New York working groups of theCommittee on the Status of Women, in association with the BurmaWomen Union, The Burma Peace Foundation and the NationalCoalition Government of the Union of Burma, would like to takethis interest several steps further, and develop ways of workingon Burma within the Women's movement. We propose as a first movea conference in New York (entitled "Burma and the military mind")to bring together the members of our organizations to discusspossible strategies.This conference will take the form of a four-hour meeting, thefirst part of which will consist of presentations by experts ondifferent aspects of the situation in Burma, with an emhasis onthe situation of women. The remaining time will be devoted toworking groups and reporting back. The presenters will act asresource people for these groups. Background papers and aconference draft document will be sent out in advance which willanalyse the situation in Burma, and make a number ofrecommendations. Discussion and amendment of this document willbe part of the discussions. We hope that the meeting will be able to adoptthis document, which then can be used within the women's movement as wellas in such forums as the UN Commission on Human Rights.The papers will also be placed on the internetThe presentations and working groups will cover:Human Rights, including trafficking of women; Refugees andinternally displaced women; Indigenous peoples; The civil war;Ecological damage.There is no charge for the conference. Those wanting backgroundpapers and for further information, contact:Burma Peace FoundationTel (+1-212) 338 0048; Fax 692 9748; Email darnott@igc.apc.org*****************************************************************BKK POST: RANGOON REPEATS LIST OF DEMANDS TO CHAVALITNovember 19, 1995 By Wasana Nanum, PattayaRangoon has demanded and end to humanitarian aid to Khun Sa'smen wounded in clashes with Burmese forces, a source saidyesterday. The demand was put to Defence Minister ChavalitYongchaiyudh by Burmese Deputy Prime Minister Maung Maung Khin,whose visit to Thailand ended yesterday.The source said: "Burma is serious on the matter and regardshumanitarian aid to Khun Sa's wounded soldiers as officialsupport for the leader of the Mong Tai Army." But Gen Chavalitsaid the Government would not tolerate action by Khun Sa deemedto be a danger to the world community."Our position is quite clear on this matter," he said. Therepresentative of the Rangoon junta asked Gen Chavalit toconsider the demand for compensation for Burmese killed in anMTA attack in Tachilek, the source said.The Government has already rejected the demand, based onRangoon's contention the attack was launched from Mae Sai. GenChavalit said the five-day visit had fostered greaterunderstanding and helped improve relations strained by borderdisputes, allegations of Thai assistance to minorities and themurder of Burmese by Thais on a trawler.There had been agreement that disputes over several border incidentswere matters that could be solved locally. "Officials at theregional level should meet regularly to tackle anymisunderstanding," said Gen Chavalit.Work on the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot, Tak,suspended by Rangoon, had not been raised during the visit. Onfishery problems, Gen Chavalit said both sides agreed inprinciple, he said, with Thailand's proposal to establish ajoint naval patrol to prevent fishing disputes in Burmeseterritorial waters. The Burmese delegation said the visit hadbeen "very successful" and Burma was determined to strengthenties and promote border co-operation. (BP)*****************************************NATION: 'NO NATIONAL BENEFIT' FROM CHAVALIT'S TRIPNovember 20, 1995Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh failed to improve theshaky bilateral relations with Burma during his recent visit tothe country, a Democrat MP said yesterday. His visit last monthto Rangoon instead only created a personal relationship betweenChavalit and Burma's military junta members, ChinawornBoonyakiet said."Gen Chavalit's trip to Rangoon did not solve the presentproblems Thailand has with Burma. I don't know whether the triphad something to do with private business matters or not.However, it failed to find a way out of the many conflicts, includingthe death of Thai crewmen by Burmese fishermen," he said.Chinawrong was referring to the murder of five Thai fishermen byBurmese on the same vessel. Rangoon has not done anything aboutdetaining the culprits. The murders took place less than twomonths after a group of Thais killed at least two Burmese on avessel, three Thais were arrested in connection with the incident.Meanwhile, National Security Council chief Gen CharanKullawanicha said that officials from both sides were workinghard to improve bilateral relations. "The problems betweenThailand and Burma have created an atmosphere of concern.However, the authorities at very level are working hard to tryand solve these issues. This sort of situation is normal whenyou consider the length of the joint border," Charan said.A recent visit by the Burmese Deputy Prime Minister Gen MaungMaung Khin produced nothing fruitful to help solve the problems.Both sides agreed after a full day of playing golf in Pattayathat there should be meetings between local authorities tosettle border-related disputes. Gen Maung Maung Khin had led a27- member delegation on a five-day official visit here asChavalit's guests. They left Bangkok on Sunday. (TN)***************NATION: KAREN REFUGEES FEAR REPATRIATION MAY LEAD TOPERSECUTION BY JUNTANovember 20, 1995 United Press InternationalAn organisation representing ethnic Karen refugees in Thailandsaid yesterday it feared a mass repatriation to Burma could subjectthe refugees to brutality at the hands of Rangoon's military junta.The Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) said in a statement that acease-fire agreement signed by the junta and leaders of ethnicMon rebels on June 29 had led to negotiations aimed at the massrepatriation of Mon refugees from Thailand to Burma, possibly undersupervision from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)."The Karen Refugee Committee, however, has noted the tendency ofsome observers to see repatriation of the Mon refugees asestablishing a precedent which may at some future time beapplied to the more than 70,000 Karen refugees under its care,"the statement said.Under the rebel Karen National Union, the predominantlyChristian Karen have been fighting the Rangoon government almostcontinuously since Burma's independence from Britain in 1948.But as the Karen guerrilla struggle weakened over the past fewyears, thousands of Karen have fled to Thailand along with otherethnic minorities, complaining of brutality, forced labour, massrape and other human rights violations by Burmese military authorities.The refugee exodus has intensified since the fall of the lastmajor Karen rebel base to the Burmese army on Feb 21. The KRCsaid 73,168 Karen were living in a string of camps along theThai-Burmese border as of last month.The issue of ethnic minorities living along the border was highon the agenda of meetings between Thai leaders and a visitingBurmese government delegation that left Bangkok on Sunday.During the five-day visit by Burma's deputy prime minister, ViceAdmiral Maung Maung Khin, the Burmese delegation reportedlypressed the Thais to refrain from providing medical assistanceto ethnic Shan rebels who flee across the border into Thailand.Burmese rebel groups have expressed the fear that growingeconomic cooperation between Bangkok and Rangoon will accelerateat the expense of Burma's persecuted minorities.A high-ranking official of Thailand's National Security Agencyrecently offered to act as an "anvil" for the Burmese army's"hammer" in dealing with Shan rebels. Like other Burmese ethnicminority groups, the KRC said it accepts the principle that therefugees should eventually return home. However, it said allrepatriations should be voluntary and should be carried outunder international supervision, such as that provided by the UNHCR."The Karen Refugee Committee believes that the Karen and Monrefugees have fled from incidental as well as systematic persecutionunder the country's military rulers, that such persecution continues ashas been documented by recent reports to the United Nations," theKaren statement said. "And therefore the refugees have a well-foundedfear of persecution again should they return to Burma."*Agence France-Presse report:Burma's ruling military authorities freed another 19 prisonerson Saturday after reducing their sentences, state-run Burmeseradio reported. The 19 had been held in two provincial jails inthe southern Burmese port cities of Moulmein and Mergui, RadioRangoon said in a broadcast monitored in Bangkok.The report did not say why or when they were originallyimprisoned, but said their terms were reduced under an amnestydeclared by the ministry of home affairs. Rangoon has releasednearly 2,300 political detainees since April 1992, when theruling junta decided to release prisoners no longer considered athreat to national security.According to a recent report by Amnesty International, theLondon-based human rights group, it is estimated that severalthousand political prisoners are still being held in Burmese prisons. (TN)*************************************************FTUB (WB): UPDATE NEWS ON REFUGEESNovember 19, 1995From: burtu.atubdo@axcess.net.in--------UNITED NATIONSHigh Commissioner for Refugees14, Jor BaghNew Delhi - 110003, IndiaPhone : 4699302 P.O. Box 3135Fax : 91-11-4620137 Telex : 031-62885 HCR IN November 16, 1995Dear I am writing further to discussions that your Representatives had withMs. Wei Men Lim, Legal Officer, on 14 and 15 November and my meeting withyou today.As has been explained to you in these discussions, your application for refugeesstatus is being examined by our Office in consultation with our Headquarters inGeneva. All of you have had the opportunity of an individual interview with aUNHCR Legal Officer, to explain your circumstances. The results of thesemeeting are being examined in detail to determine your claim to refugee status.We will endeavor to give individual decisions in the near future. Those of youwho have already received a negative decision have been advised of our appealsproducer and appeals received are being considered.We very much regret that you have decided to demonstrate outside our office andgo on hunger strike to press your claim. We understand that your are doing so,since you claim that you have no financial resources to manage on your own inDelhi or return to North East.As a matter of policy, the UNHCR does not provide individual financial supportto asylum seekers. However, in consideration of your situation, we haveexceptionally agreed to provide you a one time cash assistance of Rs.3,000/-perfamily or Rs.2,000/- for individuals. Should you wish to avail of this assistance,payment can be arranged through Syndicate Bank, Khan Market, New Delhi.At our request, a medical doctor has also been made available to providetreatment to you.I would urged you to avail of this temporary assistance pending determination ofyour claim to refugee status.Yours truly,Rajiv KapurChief of Mission a.i.------------------------------------------------------Update News of Hunger Strike outside UNHCR office in Delhi10:00 am in the morning Delhi Police threatened to stop the hunger strike. There are about 20 persons. But the agitators ignored and continued their demand.2:00 pm leaders of the strike committee discussed with the supporters and NGO.Then they decided to take the money that UNHCR's letter. Because some of them and one child (he also participated in four days hunger strike).2:30 pm strike leader submitted the letter and demand for those who are ignored by UNHCR should give the interview date in few days.4:00 pm many Burmese activists came and showed their support with them.UNHCR agreed to reply in one week (24th Nov.' 95) with the consultant of Headquarters in Geneva.6:00 pm All of the ignored Burmese refugees of 36 took the one time assistance of Rs.3,000/- per family and Rs.2,000/- for individual.6:20 pm They withdraw from UNHCR successfully.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------New & Information DepartmentFederation of Trade Unions, Burma (West Burma)-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- ***************************************************BPF: IT'S THE BURMESE ECONOMYNovember 18, 1995 (Burma Peace Foundation)From: David Arnott Over the past few years the human rights case against the Burmesemilitary has been made extensively and effectively. Hundreds ofstatements and reports by Inter-Governmental, Governmental, andNon-Governmental organisations have been issued; resolutions havebeen adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly, the UNCommission on Human Rights and by many other bodies; journalists,academics and documentary film-makers have described the horrorssuffered by the Burmese people under the heel of their military.However, the economic case has not yet been adequately put.Burma is being run by an unpopular milltary junta which does nothave the technical competence or public support required todepart substantially from the command economy established byGeneral Ne Win as the Burmese Way to Socialism. The result isincreased centralization, militarization, the ruin of apotentially rich country and the impoverishment of its people.The chaotic economy is also an important factor underlying theviolation of civil and political rights as well as of economic,social and cultural rights.As a contribution to this debate, the Burma Peace Foundation hasgathered together a few papers which analyse Burma's economy. Thefirst of these have been posted on burmanet-l. They are:1) "Myanmar: Will Forever Flow the Ayeyarwady?" by Khin Maung Kyi (in two parts)2) "Miscarried Reforms" by Stefan Collignon3) "Notes on Myanmar (Burma)" Anonymous4) Extract from the recent World Bank report "Myanmar: Policiesfor Sustaining Economic Reform"David ArnottBurma Peace Foundation19 November 1995******************************************************WB: MYANMAR: POLICIES FOR SUSTAINING ECONOMIC REFORMWORLD BANK REPORT No.14062-BA (excerpts)October 16, 1995From: David Arnott Country Operations Division, Country Department I, East Asia and Pacific Region EXECUTIVE SUMMARY F. CONCLUSION50. The Government's ongoing economic reform program haschanged many facets of the Myanma economy. To achieve the goalsof expanding exports, encouraging agriculture, and promotingprivate-sector and foreign participation in economic activity,several new laws and regulations have been instituted. However,this report concludes that the pace of economic growth is stillnot rapid enough to compensate for the economic stagnation of thepreceding quarter century, and its sustainability is uncertain.The current reform efforts are, therefore, unlikely to push theMyanma economy to a higher growth path on which the bulk of thepopulation would enjoy substantially better living standards.51. For a sustained growth response to emerge, this reportconcludes that economic reforms need to be deepened and extendedin several policy areas. The most urgent need is to restoremacroeconomic stability so as to establish the basis forsustained growth. In this context, the report's centralrecommendation is for a nominal devaluation of the officialexchange rate. Adjusting the exchange rate is essential totackling the unsustainably large macroeconomic imbalances withregard to the fiscal deficit and the current account gap. Thesedistortions in macroeconomic policies, particularly theovervalued exchange rate and the deep cuts in non-military publicexpenditures, also have adverse distributional impacts. Unlessthey are addressed, it will be impossible to reduce poverty andachieve social development. Substantial gains in economicefficiency would also result if the ban on private-sector exportsof paddy and rice were eliminated, and the scope of governmentpaddy procurement were reduced. Reforming these paddy policieswould help to reduce poverty and enhance equity because theyimply large income transfers from the rural poor to the urbanelites (including the military). Regarding private-sectorparticipation, SEs [State Enterprises] still enjoy significantadvantages in their access to key inputs and, thus, are alsofavored by foreign investors in establishing joint ventures.Hence, steps to establish a "level playing field" between SEs anddomestic private businesses should be a priority. Finally, if therole of the SE sector in the economy and its adverse fiscalimpact are to be reduced, reforms would need to go further or bereoriented in several areas, including price liberalization,managerial and financial autonomy, and privatization.*******************************************BRC-J: PRESS RELEASE - BURMA STRATEGY RETREATNovember 19, 1995>From Burmese Relief Center--JapanBURMA DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS PLOT STRATEGY IN KYOTO RETREATActivists from around Japan converged on Yamazaki in KyotoPrefecture on November 18 and 19 to plan new and betterways to aid Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi andthe democratic forces who support her.More than 40 people from Japan, Burma, India, and severalWestern countries discussed issues including how to react ifthe increasingly vocal Nobel laureate is rearrested; how toreverse the escalation of Japanese aid and investment toSLORC, the Burmese military junta; and how to discouragetourists from traveling to the wartorn country during SLORC's"Visit Myanmar Year 1996" campaign. Participants alsoconsidered ways to alert the Japanese media and government tothe dangers of SLORC's upcoming National Convention,through which the junta hopes to pass a constitution thatwould permanently bar Suu Kyi from politics and enshrineinto law the military's leading role in government.Participants, who ranged in age from high school students toretired teachers, also saw the premiere of the documentary"The Fall of Kawmoorah," an eyewitness account aboutatrocities committed by SLORC against the Karen ethnicminority and the Burmese army's own soldiers during fightingon the Thai-Burma border earlier this year.This was the sixth "Burma Study/Action Weekend" organizedannually by Nara-based Burmese Relief Center--Japan andsupported by other Burmese democracy organizations throughout Japan.********************************************BKK POST: WIDOWS OF MAHACHAINovember 19, 1995 (abridged)Much has been said of Thai fishermen who have been killed orarrested while fishing in foreign waters. Their wives are oftenforgotten. Supradit Kanwanich explores their equally traumatic plight.Over 1,000 Thai fishermen have been reported arrestedduring the past 14 years on charges of illegal fishing inBangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia andVietnam, claimed the Fisheries Department.However, the department has no official report on the number ofdead and missing crew. Fishermen who abandon their trawlerswhile being chased by naval patrols are often considered missingor presumed dead. Witness accounts state that some of the lessfortunate are killed while resisting arrest or being chased bypatrolling boats, regardless of the fact that warning shots are sounded.About 15 Thai crew members were believed killed last year bypatrolling Burmese officials, who were seen monitoring theAndaman Sea in an earlier confiscated Thai fishing vessel.Reports say the crew of the seized vessel radioed nearby Thaifishing trawlers that they had been approached by a trawlerpresumed to be with pirates. A second radioed messaged ratifiedthat the Thai trawler had counter-attacked with machine guns.The message was cut half way through.Nearby, Thai trawlers tried in vain to search for survivors thefollowing day but were dumbfounded to find floating debris ofthe trawler. Later it was brought to their attention that thetrawler had caught fire and exploded.It has been claimed by crew who were in contact with the ill-fated vessel that Burmese authorities were behind the incident.Burmese authorities involved in patrolling its water boundariesare the Fisheries Department, the Navy and Army.Dr Yongyuth Khongsuphapsiri, chairman of the Samut SakhonFishery Cooperative and a fishery activist said there might bethousands of widows left behind in our 21 coastal provinces.He said there were about 800 such widows alone in Samut Sakhontown's tambons Mahachai and Ban Laem. Authorities have beenalerted to financially help these unfortunate women and theirfamilies in a long-term plan. Last year, D Yongyuth took the wives and widows of jailed andmissing Thai fishermen and their children to meet the ParliamentHouse committee that facilities welfare for victim's of humanrights abuse and injustice.Parliamentary authorities concerned and private sector of thefishing industry should pay heed to problems being faced bythese unfortunate women. If it wasn't for these fishermen,Thailand wouldn't be ranked as one of the top ten fishing fleetcountries in the world, with a current annual revenue of about100,000 million baht.Dr Yongyudh said short-term assistance should be provided tofamilies whose husbands are serving jail terms abroad. TheGovernment should also try to negotiate for their early release.For those who are missing or presumed dead, the Governmentshould have a welfare scheme for their dependents.****************************************************The BurmaNet News is produced with the support of the BurmaInformation Group (B.I.G) and the Research Department of theABSDF {MTZ}.Articles from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, the wireservices and the Internet as well as original material are published.The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and isalso distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-lmailing lists. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, sendan e-mail message to: majordomo@igc.apc.orgIn the body of the message, type "subscribe burmanet-l"(without quotation marks) Letters to the editor, comments orcontributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org----------------------------------------------------------BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LISTBurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of differenttopics related to Burma. 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