------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: April 3, 1996 Issue #374 Noted in Passing: After reviewing business issues pertaining to our production in Burma, the company decided to terminate our operation there. - Columbia Sportswear spokesman (see BAC: COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR PULLS OUT OF BURMA) HEADLINES: ========== MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: ASSK'S LETTER FROM BURMA #9 AI: MYANMAR: KAYIN (KAREN) STATE: THE KILLINGS CONTINUE FBC: VISIT MYANMAR YEAR CHANGED AGAIN, NEW PHONE #s THE NATION: SUU KYI CRITICISES BURMA JUDICIARY BAC: COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR PULLS OUT OF BURMA ABSDF: BAYINT NAUNG PALACE PROJECT MAKES HOMELESS BKK POST: RICE ALONE CAN MAKE OR BREAK BURMA RULERS REUTER: KARENNI REBELS ABANDON LAST POSITION AFTER ATTACK BKK POST: BURMESE VOTERS GET NO DIRECT SAY IN PRESIDENT POLL BKK POST: 500 BURMESE REFUGEES MADE HOMELESS BY FIRE BKK POST: BURMA AGREES TO DEMOLISH ILLEGAL BRIDGE BKK POST: BROTHEL OWNERS INDIFFERENT TO PROSTITUTION BILL INTELASIA: BURMA'S WA FORCE THREATENS ACTION ON THAI BORDER ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA TV DOCUMENTARY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: ASSK'S LETTER FROM BURMA #9 Monday, April 1, 1996 From: Carol Schlenker & Aung Thu BOH AUNG GYAW REMAINS AN INSPIRATION TO STUDENTS "A Few Introductions (2)" Among the group of Burmese cadets with whom U Lwin went to Japan for military training in 1943 was a young man who became a particularly close friend and later, his brother-in-law: U Kyi Maung. At university, U Kyi Maung had been active in the students' movement for independence. In 1938, he marched at the head of demonstration holding aloft the flag of the Students' Union. Mounted police sent to stop the demonstration rode into the ranks of the students with batons swinging. U Kyi Maung was one of the first students to be struck down, hit in three places on the head. Another student marching close behind him, Ko Aung Gyaw, also received on the head a single sharp blow that knocked him down. A few hours later, the young man died from his injuries in the hospital, causing great anger throughout the country and raising the tempo of discontent against the colonial government. "Boh Aung Gyaw," as the student martyr came to be known, remains an inspiration to students fighting for justice and freedom today. At the outbreak of the war, U Kyi Maung joined the Burma Independence Army, where he came to know many of the men who would form the core of the armed forces of independent Burma. A staunch believer in the importance of an apolitical, professional army, he was strongly opposed to the military takeover of 1962. It was thus hardly surprising that in 1963, at which time he was serving as the commander of South Western Command, he was asked to retire from the armed forces. During the quarter century that followed his retirement from the army, U Kyi Maung was imprisoned twice, for a total of seven years, on suspicion of opposing the military, later the Burmese Socialist Programme Party, government. Soon after the outbreak of the democracy movement in 1988, U Kyi Maung was pulled into prison for the third time, but he was released within a month. In September 1988, he became one of the 12 members of the Executive Committee of the National League for Democracy. When U Tin U and I were placed under house arrest in July 1989, the Executive Committee of the NLD decided on collective leadership, but it would not be wrong to say that U Kyi Maung was the man who led the party to its resounding victory in the elections of 1990. After the first few weeks of euphoria, the people of Burma began to suspect that the authorities had no intention of honoring the results of the elections. Their worst fears were confirmed when U Kyi Maung was arrested in September 1990, tried by a military tribunal and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. He was, however, released in March 1995. Another eminent leader of the NLD released on the same day as U Kyi Maung was U Tin U. As chairman of the NLD, he had been placed under house arrest in July 1989 and in December of the same year tried by a military tribunal and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. When the end of his prison term was approaching, he was tried again on the same charges as previously and given another prison sentence of seven years. The years U Tin U spent in Insein Jail from 1989 to 1995 were his second stint in the infamous prison. His first period of incarceration had lasted from 1976 until 1980. U Tin U joined the army as a mere 16-year-old in 1943. After the war, he was included in the 150 Burmese officers to be given commissions in the reorganized Burma Army which formed the basis of the nation when it became independent. During the 1950s, he was twice awarded for valor shown in action against Kuomintang troops which had fled into Burma at the time of the communist victory in China. He rose rapidly from rank to rank through the 1960s and early 1970s, and in 1974 he was appointed chief of Defense Services and minister of defense. The year 1974 was also when the meanness of spirit shown by the authorities over the funeral of U Thant, retired secretary-general of the United Nations, scandalized the people of Burma and fermented anger among students already resentful of conditions imposed by the Burmese Way of Socialism. In the course of disturbances related to this episode, and even more during the 1976 demonstrations by workers, U Tin U was hailed as a champion of the people. It is likely that his popularity with the public had much to do with his dismissal from the armed forces in March 1976. In September of that year he was arrested, charged and alleged misprision of treason and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. On his release from prison under a general amnesty program in 1980, U Tin U went straight to a monastery, where he stayed as a monk for two years. When he returned to lay life, he studied law and acquired the Registered Lawyers' certificate as well as the LL.B. degree. The democracy movement of 1988 drew him from a quiet, private life into the struggle to bring justice and human rights to Burma. He was appointed deputy chairman of the NLD in September 1988, and in December of the same year he replaced U Aung Gyi as chairman of the party. ********************************************************* AI: MYANMAR: KAYIN (KAREN) STATE: THE KILLINGS CONTINUE APRIL 1996 SUMMARY AI INDEX: ASA 16/10/96 From: boilley@ganac4.in2p3.fr (Amnesty International) After over seven years of military rule by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the Myanmar security forces continue to commit gross human rights violations with impunity. The catalogue of these violations is extensive. Over 1,000 political prisoners remain behind bars, the majority of whom have been tried after unfair trials. Amnesty International believes that most of these people may be prisoners of conscience, imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their non-violent opinions. Prison conditions are so deplorable as to constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Martial law decrees which prohibit gatherings of more than five people and forbid public criticism of the military remain in force. Opposition political parties operate under severe restrictions and in the last five months dozens of their members have been arrested. The security forces have not only singled out government critics for repression but also regularly target ethnic minorities for widespread abuse. Ethnic minorities, who comprise one-third of Myanmar~s population and live for the most part in border areas, are also victims of human rights violations. Security forces have subjected members of the Karen, Mon, Shan, Karenni and Rohingya minorities to torture and ill-treatment in the course of forced labour and portering, and have unlawfully killed unarmed civilians during counter-insurgency operations against ethnic minority armed opposition groups. Because the armed ethnic minority group the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Burmese army have not yet reached a ceasefire agreement, Karen civilians continue to be caught in the midst of the army~s counter- insurgency activities. In the last eight years the Burmese army, known as the tatmadaw, has killed unarmed civilians as part of its counter-insurgency campaigns against the KNU in the Kayin (Karen) State, eastern Myanmar. Karen civilians who were fleeing from troops as they approached a village have been shot dead in what appears to be a de facto shoot-to-kill policy of anyone who runs from the tatmadaw. Others have been killed reportedly because the tatmadaw suspected these individuals of supporting the KNU in some way. The army has killed still other victims seemingly at random, in an apparent effort to terrorize villagers into severing their alleged connections with KNU soldiers. Amnesty International is gravely concerned by these killings; they are part of a long-standing pattern of extrajudicial executions by the tatmadaw of members of the Karen ethnic minority. Families and associates of victims, who had escaped to neighbouring Thailand, told Amnesty International about extrajudicial killings of 16 Karen villagers, mainly in Papun district, northern Kayin State, during 1995. Extrajudicial killings are the most serious of a range of human rights violations occurring in the context of the tatmadaw~s counter-insurgency operations. They violate the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life, which is guaranteed by Article 3 of the Declaration of Human Rights. In an apparent effort to break civilian links with or support for the KNU, the army has also begun a program of forcible relocations of ethnic Karen villages in Papun district to Papun town and nearby areas. The tatmadaw has reportedly sent threatening letters to village headmen, enclosed with a bullet and a chili pepper, which is believed by recipients to be symbolic of the future that awaits them if they do not co-operate. Civilians who have been subjected to such removals have not been compensated for their loss of land and homes. The tatmadaw has also targeted ethnic Karen civilians for unpaid forced portering and labour duties, in the course of which the Karen have sometimes been ill- treated. This pattern of killings, forced portering and labour, looting and burning of villages, and killings of Karen civilians, appears to have occurred in other districts in the Kayin State. Detailed but unconfirmed reports from Toungoo, Nyaunglebin, and Thaton districts in 1995 indicate that such a wide pattern of human rights violations may be part of the tatmadaw's overall strategy of destroying civilian links or support for the KNU. This report focuses solely on human rights violations committed by the tatmadaw and abuses committed by its de facto allies, the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA) against Karen civilians. Amnesty International is also concerned about possible abuses committed by the KNU; however, without access to Myanmar, the organization has not been able to confirm such abuses to the same degree of certainty. ******************************************************** FBC: VISIT MYANMAR YEAR CHANGED AGAIN, NEW PHONE #s April 3, 1996 From: zni@students.wisc.edu 1) Visit Myanmar Year 1996 has been pushed back, once again, to November 18, 1996. 2) All the telehone numbers in Burma will be changed from five figures to six starting on April 14, 1996. ******************************************************* THE NATION: SUU KYI CRITICISES BURMA JUDICIARY April 2,1996 United Press International Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has criticised the country's military government for failing to address unfairness in the judicial system. Addressing one of the regular political rallies outside her house, Suu Kyi said the judiciary has neither been fair nor independent since the current military junta seized power in 1988. "Personally, I would say that there is no such independence, and the judiciary has no power to be independent either," she said in response to a question. "There is injustice in the administration of justice and lawlessness in enforcing the rule of law," she added. About 5,000 people, including some foreigners, attended the open-air rally outside her home, squatting on the fenced platforms on both sides of University Avenue in suburban Rangoon. The weekend rallies have become a regular feature since the Nobel Peace Prize winning opposition leader was released from nearly six years of house arrest last July. To illustrate the inequality of justice in Burma, Suu Kyi cited two recent traffic accidents. In one case, involving a minor injury inflicted by a young member of her political party, the National League for Democracy, the accused was denied bail and the right of counsel and was sentenced to five years in prison. In the second case, involving a foreigner in the death of a Burmese, the accused was allowed bail. "It is clear the scales of justice in this case have been partial to the accused," Suu Kyi said. "In Western countries the concept of justice is represented by the picture of a blindfolded woman holding a pair of scales in one hand and a sword in another. "The blindfold is a symbol of impartiality, the scales for balanced judgement, and the sword for punishment of the guilty." * Meanwhile, Burma's military government announced a new five-year plan yesterday aimed at putting the country's economy on the path of sustained long-term growth. The economic plan, published in three government-run newspapers, sets a gross domestic product (GDP) target of 91.798 billion kyats (Bt 380 billion) by the end of fiscal year 2000-2001. The plan also foresees a yearly GDP growth of 6 per cent. With regard to key economic sectors, agriculture is set to grow at an average rate of 5.4 per cent annually, livestock and fisheries 5.8 per cent, forestry 2.8 per cent, mining 18.5 per cent and manufacturing 7.4 per cent. The plan calls for a GDP target for the current fiscal year of 72.683 billion kyats. Agriculture is expected to grow this year at a rate of 5.4 per cent, livestock and fisheries 4.5 per cent, forestry 2.6 per cent, mining 13.8 per cent and manufacturing 10.4 per cent. Exports at current prices are targeted at 6.54 billion kyats and imports at 10.44 billion kyats. The investment target is 73.508 billion kyats, including 29 billion kyats in government investment. The per capita GDP is targeted to grow at a rate of 4.1 per cent and consumption at a rate of 4.7 per cent. The government report declared that the previous four-year plan was a success, registering an average annual growth of 8.2 per cent, exceeding the target of 5.1 per cent. (TN) ************************************************ BAC: COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR PULLS OUT OF BURMA April 2, 1996 From: "W. Kesavatana-Dohrs" PUBLIC PRESSURE AGAINST ASIAN DICTATORSHIP RISING PORTLAND BURMA ACTION COMMITTEE (BAC) for more information contact: Matt Donohue, (503) 786-9517, or Brian Schmidt (503) 236-9776 brischmidt@aol.com Portland, OR: Columbia Sportswear is the latest American company cutting all business with Burma, according to a letter from the company released today. The $300 million per year supplier of outdoor and recreational clothing faced a rapidly growing consumer boycott over its investment in Burma, one of the world's most repressive military dictatorships. In a March 28 letter to the Portland-based Burma Action Committee (BAC), Columbia states, "After reviewing business issues pertaining to our production in Burma, the company decided to terminate our operation there." Columbia's recognition that its nominally private partner in Burma was in fact partially owned by the Burmese military was reportedly a factor in its decision to stop producing clothing there. The United Nations, US State Department and numerous independent human rights groups all report that the Burmese army routinely practices rape, torture and murder in repressing all democratic freedoms. Professor Tom Donaldson of Georgetown University, author of The Ethics of International Business, considers Burma the world's worst country for ethical business. "In Burma the human rights violations have been systemic, widespread,and involve violations of the most fundamental and central human rights acceptedby both liberals and conservatives," he says. "Burma is clearly becoming the South Africa of the 1990s," said Matt Donohue of the BAC, referring to anti-apartheid consumer boycotts that led to widespread official sanctions against minority rule in South Africa. "Public pressure is the start, but we must do better than pressuring companies one at a time. We strongly support the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act now being considered by the US Congress, which would bar all US business in Burma." Columbia is just the latest American company to pull out of Burma or announce its refusal to do business there, joining Levi Strauss, Macy's, Eddie Bauer, Coca-Cola, Liz Claiborne, Reebok, Starbucks and Amoco. "These companies" said BAC's Brian Schmidt "have signed on to the principle of business responsibility, placing human dignity before blind profit." Other US companies remain in Burma. UNOCAL, PepsiCo and ARCO have paid tens of millions of dollars that directly support the Burma junta, despite pleas from Burma's democracy movement to stop doing so. Clothing manufacturers Osh-Kosh, Nautica, Leslie Fay and London Fog are reportedly sourcing in Burma. "These companies," said BAC's Schmidt, "are contributing to oppression in Burma and are targeted for consumer boycotts." For information on the national Burma campaign, contact Simon Billenness, Senior Analyst at Franklin Research and Development Corp. (617) 423-6655, x225, or Dr. Thaung Htun of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma at (212) 338-0048. Columbia Sportswear can be reached at (503) 286-3676. *********************************************************** ABSDF: BAYINT NAUNG PALACE PROJECT MAKES THE LOCAL PEOPLE HOMELESS April 2, 1996 From: Caroline Lurie "Kanbawza Thadi", or Bayint Naung Palace Project, one of the Slorc's promoting "Visit Myanmar Year 1996" projects in Taungoo township, is forcing the local people in region to relocate from their home to new place and also forcibly work in the discovery and renovation of ancient Bayint Naung Palace Project. Local people from Taungoo township are forced to work in exploring the old ancient place of Burmese King "Bayint Naung" in Taungoo and renovating the ancient style mote, fortress, castle and palace to attract the tourists. Slorc has initiated to explore and renovate the ancient "Oaktha" City in Pegu township,, "Hanthawaddy" ancient city in Hanthawaddy and "Bayint Naung" ancient palace in Taungoo since mid- 1989, in a preparing for the 1996 Visit Myanmar Year. Since the beginning of the Bayint Naung palace project, many residence near the project have been relocated and local people have been forced to work in the project. Many houses of the local resident were relocated without compensation and every household were forced to contribute their labor and taxation. According to the local resident from Taungoo, in last year, every household in Taungoo were asked to give 150-600 kyats for the "Bayint Naung Palace project", depending on the size of family. The only exception people are VIP residents from Min Kyi Nyo ward in Taungoo who are the Slorc township level committee members and committee members of USDA. Human right abuses in Thantaung township A military column from Slorc's LIB No.539, under the command of western military command raided the Chin Maung Taung Ywama village, 15 mile northeastern of Thantaung, Karen State and burnt down the several houses including one Anglican Church on March 23, 1996. The majority of the local villagers in the village are Gayba Karen and Slorc has accused the villagers for supporting and having contacts with the KNU and ABSDF troops. The Slorc column invaded into the village at 8:00am on that day and blasted the several houses at random. Among them, one Anglican church and some paddy storage of the villager were included. Total 15 million kyats worth of village's property were damaged due to the destructive attack by the Slorc troops. On March 21, the same Slorc's column arrested over fifty villagers from Bawdi Gone village, in Thami Tike village group, Thantaung township. Village headmaster of Bawdi Gone village was later killed with accusation of the hard-core of the KNU and the ABSDF, it is reported. ABSDF News Agency ABSDF (DAWN GWIN) ******************************************************** BKK POST: RICE ALONE CAN MAKE OR BREAK BURMA RULERS Rangoon tries stopgap measures to ease discontent April 2,1996 Report: Mya Maung The single most important element determining the living standard of Burmese families and the economic performance of their country is rice, which they call the "golden fruit". Since British colonial days, throughout the independence period to date, the politics of rice has dominated the history of Burma in terms of official slogans and development programmes, as well as revolts by peasants and the masses. The British colonisation of Burma and the ensuing socio- political and economic changes were closely linked to the development of the rice Irrawaddy delta region of lower Burma, known as the rice belt, and export of rice to the outside world. The Burmese nationalist revolt against British rule was fuelled by the economic plight of the peasantry in the 1930s, while the 1988 mass revolt against military rule was precipitated by the shortages and escalating price of rice. Last month, to head off the kind of public unrest that precipitated the 1988 political uprising, the government began distributing free rice to government employees at a rate of 14 pyis for a family man and 12 pyis for a single man in Rangoon. (One pyi equals 1.25 kilogrammes) In any event, in the long run such a stopgap measure is not going to alleviate the persistent shortages of rice and other basic necessities. Since 1988, Burmese nationals in Rangoon, Mandalay and other cities have reported the prices of basic necessities, including rice, soaring by more than 100 percent, in contrast to government claims of only 30 percent. In December 1995, the price of top quality rice was reported to be 66.25 kyats per pyi. In February this year, Burmese nationals and private Burmese economic journals reported that it had climbed above 130 kyat per pyi, representing a 100 percent jump in the two months. This jump contradicts government claims about paddy output, acreage sown and annual yield in the 1990s. The answer to this puzzle is that government statistical reports are distorted and the supply and distribution of rice for domestic consumption has been dramatically cut. Shortages of rice have been brought about by the highly inefficient domestic rice market, with a dual price structure of official and black market rates, and the state's unfair quota system of procuring paddy at below market prices from farmers and monopolising paddy and rice exports. The private and public sectors have apparently been hoarding paddy and rice to sell across the border for higher profit and foreign exchange, precipitating this abnormal increase in rice prices. The trend may well be due to the stockpiling of paddy and rice at government warehouses to fulfill projected rice exports of 1.5 million tons to drought-affected China and Indonesia to earn foreign exchange. As under past socialist rule, ordinary people in Burma now cannot afford to buy the best quality rice, meat, cooking oil and vegetables as prices have risen above their wages which are more or less frozen by the state. Those who can afford to buy from government welfare shops of from private shops in the unofficial market find these items are not pure. For instance, the best quality rice is mixed with the lowest grade and broken rice, while chicken, pork, fish, shrimps and meat are injected with water to add weight. Poor families can no longer afford to consume rice and have been forced to drink boiled rice water only, packaged and sold in bottles. Top quality rice and delicacies such as jumbo shrimps are either exorbitantly priced or not available at all for consumption by ordinary people. Even if government data is used, the annual 30 percent inflation rate would outstrip the six percent average rate of gross domestic product growth reported by the government in the 1990s. The government reported real per capita national income of 1,335 kyats or US$222.5 at the official exchange rate of $1 per six kyats in 1994-95. This suggests that Burma is no longer a least-developed country since its per capita income has climbed above the United Nations' benchmark of $200. However, using the prevalent black market exchange rate of $1 per 118 kyats last December, Burma's per capita income for 1994-95 was only $11.314. In February this year, the black market rate per dollar reportedly reached 124 kyats, reducing the per capita income to $10.80. Thus, Burma retained its status of a least-developed country which was applied for and granted by the United Nations at the end of 1987. Further evidence of Burma's continuation as a least-developed country can be gleaned from the manufacturing sector's unchanged contribution to national output _ less than 10 percent of GDP since 1988 _ one of the benchmarks used by the United Nations in granting least-developed country status. The triumph of the junta in subduing fragmented rebel groups, including the most recent peace accord and secret amnesty deals struck with drug warlord Khun Sa and his Mong Tai Army, is eclipsed by its inability to counter the economic enemy of rocketing prices and shortages of rice and other essentials. The regime's fate appears to be at stake on the economic front and at spiritual level in the war of minds waged by its most dangerous political foe, the 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Considering the politics of rice in Burma's history, social and political unrest seems to be in the making. (BP) Note: Mya Maung is a professor of finance at the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management, Boston college, the United States. ******************************************************** REUTER: KARENNI REBELS ABANDON LAST POSITION AFTER ATTACK April 1, 1996 From: Dr U Ne Oo BANGKOK, April 1 Reuter - Several hundred Karenni guerrillas in eastern Burma abandoned their last stronghold over the weekend after a three-day offensive by Burmese government forces, Thai police and rebel sources said today. Thai security forces were deployed along a stretch of the Thai-Burma border in northwestern Mae Hong Son province to prevent any spillover of the fighting after the guerrillas pulled out of a hilltop base just inside Burma, a Thai border police officer said. "We had to abandon our position after three consecutive days of heavy shelling," a Karenni guerrilla officer told reporters on the border. He said the about 400 guerrillas who abandoned the camp broke up into small groups and would wage guerrilla warfare against the Burmese army. The guerrilla source said at least 20 Burmese soldiers were killed over several days of fighting. Three guerrillas were killed and twelve others wounded. The separatist rebels agreed to a ceasefire with the government in March a year ago but the truce collapsed several months later after Rangoon forces moved into the small Karenni zone in what the rebels said was a violation of the agreement. **************************************************************** BKK POST: BURMESE VOTERS GET NO DIRECT SAY IN PRESIDENT POLL March 31, 1996 Burmese voters will not have a direct voice in electing the nation's president under measures adopted at a military-run constitutional convention. Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, have boycotted the convention. They said delegates were not allowed to debate, but merely approve, measures proposed by the military. Under the rules adopted by the convention on Friday the two houses of parliament will each elect a vice president. Military members of parliament, guaranteed 25 per cent of the seats, will then elect a third vice president. A joint-session of parliament will then elect a president from among the three vice-presidents. All will serve five-year terms. The president must be at least 45 years old and have lived in Burma for the past 20 years. The president, or his parents, spouse or children, must not be a subject or citizen of a foreign power, or enjoy the rights of a citizen of a foreign country. The presidency requirements, adopted on Thursday, disqualify Suu Kyi from holding the post since she is married to a foreigner, British academic Michael Aris. Another guideline adopted on Friday mandates that ministers and deputy ministers for the Defence, Interior and Border affairs ministries be military personnel nominated by the commander-in- chief of the armed forces. Other Cabinet members can be members of parliament or outsiders. Government employees taking up ministerial positions must resign from government service. #The NATION on March 31, 1996 added: The president may pick all other cabinet members from among members of parliament and other circles. While government employees have to resign from the civil service after taking a cabinet post, military personnel serving as ministers or deputy ministers need not resign from military service, according to the guidelines. The president has to submit his cabinet list to parliament for formal approval. The legislature, however, cannot reject any appointment unless it has sufficient grounds for disqualifying a certain candidate. ******************************************************* BKK POST: 500 BURMESE REFUGEES MADE HOMELESS BY FIRE April 1, 1996 Mae Sot, Tak [Editor's Note: The fire in Huai Kaloke refugee camp destroyed the market, not a residential area. The market consisted of 2 rows of small shops selling food, clothing, medicine, and other small items. The camp leader strongly suspects that the fire was deliberately set. After investigating the scene, she reported that the fire did not begin in one of the shops but rather between two shops. The fire started late at night, when everyone was asleep. The DKBA has burned down sections of other camps, and it is possible that this fire was also started by a member of the DKBA. The SLORC and DKBA hope to create problems between the Thai authorities and the refugees. If the Thais feel that the refugees cannot maintain safety and order in the camp, then they will have an excuse to move the refugees out of the camp.] AROUND 500 Burmese refugees were made homeless yesterday after a blaze at a camp. Police said all those affected were residents of Section 8 of Huay Kaloke refugee camp in Tambon Mae Pa. The fire hit the camp's residential quarter shortly after midnight while most of the refugees were asleep.More than 10 fire engines were sent to battle the blaze but strong winds and thatched roofs helped it spread quickly through homes. It took firemen more than two hours to bring the fire under control after at least 112 buildings were burnt to the ground. Police believed the fire originated in a row of shophouses where a candle had been left unattended. Most of the refugees made homeless by the fire had little time to move their belongings which were destroyed along with their homes. Camp leader Mary Ohn said most of the homeless sought temporary shelter with relatives and friends in other sections of the camp but 50 families had to live in makeshift shelters. Section 8 is the last residential quarter at Huaykaloke camp and was set up three years ago. It holds some 1,000 refugees. The camp currently has a total refugee population of 6,500. ***************************************************** BKK POST: BURMA AGREES TO DEMOLISH ILLEGAL BRIDGE March 31, 1996 (slightly abridged) Burma yesterday agreed to half-demolish a wooden bridge which was built across the Moei River without consultation with Thailand. The bridge, linking Burma's Myawaddy with a strip of land straddling Thailand's newly-dug river channel, was completed yesterday. Tak Governor Kasem Nakharat said the bridge was not only built without Thailand's consent, but also blocked navigation of the river. He sent Chairman of the Local Thai-Burmese Border Committee Suvit Maenmuan to negotiate with Myawaddy authorities about the demolition yesterday. Col Suvit said Burma agreed with Mr Kasem's demand, but refused to tear down part of the bridge within its borders. He said Myawaddy Governor Muang Muang Yein claimed Burma built the bridge so people in Thailand could visit a temple fair being held in his town between April 1-7 to raise funds for the construction of a pagoda. Mr Kasem, however, questioned why Burma did not resort to using the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge linking Mae Sot and Myawaddy instead. The bridge was nearly completed but Burma had suspended its construction and banned people from using it. ******************************************************* BKK POST: BROTHEL OWNERS INDIFFERENT TO PROSTITUTION BILL April 1, 1996 (abridged) THREE brothel operators in Mae Sai and Muang Chiang Rai districts say they are indifferent to the bill seeking to end underage prostitution climbing procurers could eventually find legal loopholes to maintain their operations. Asked not to be identified, they said underage prostitution would remain a fact of life as there would always be needy parents and people who desired young prostitutes. Most of the young prostitutes in northern border provinces are not Thai, but girls from Mandalay and Chiang Tung in Burma or Sipsongpanna in southern China, they said. The bill passed its first reading last September and is due to face its second and third readings on Wednesday. Under the bill, those engaging in sexual acts with underage prostitutes would face 1-20 years in jail and /or a fine of 20,000-400,000 baht. Procurers, operators, parents or others who lure minors into prostitution would face 5-15 years in jail and/or a fine of 200,000-400,000 baht. **************** INTELASIA: BURMA'S WA FORCE THREATENS ACTION ON THAI BORDER April 2, 1996 From: Julien H Moe Bangkok 2nd April[INTELASIA] - A Burmese ethnic minority force blamed for fuelling opium production threatened on Tuesday to retaliate against Thai authorities who sealed all their border crossing points with one of the group's enclaves. A representative of the Wa force in Burma's northern Shan state said the group would cut the supply of water from its side of the frontier to Thai villages unless Thai authorities lifted a ban on cross-border trade. ``They (Thai troops) used to be relaxed about food and other essential supplies coming into our area but since Khun Sa surrendered they put all the pressure on us. All border points have been closed since then,'' the Wa official told Reuters by telephone from northern Thailand. Wa guerrillas agreed to a ceasefire with the Rangoon government in 1989 in exchange for autonomy in their zones of control in Shan state. One enclave is in the southern part of Shan state bordering Thailand, while the other is in the northern part of the state on the border with China. The Wa were long-term rivals of opium warlord Khun Sa, and the Burmese government supplied them with ammunition to fight Khun Sa and his powerful rebel army until his surprise surrender to the government at the beginning of this year. The Wa representative said that since Khun Sa's surrender in January, Thai authorities along the frontier had completely cut off the Wa in their enclave in the southern part of Shan state. ``If they continue to seal the border we will retaliate by cutting the water supply to Thai border villages, then we'll see who suffers more,'' the official said. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) controls the high ground on the Burmese side of the frontier. A string of Thai villages in the Mae Ai district of Chiang Mai province on the low-land below depend on small streams and pipes from Burma for their water, he said. ``They keep accusing us of being involved in narcotics trafficking but refuse to come and see with their own eyes that these days the area under our control is free of opium,'' the Wa official said. Wa leaders in the zone told a visiting Reuters news team last October that they had agreed to a five-year opium eradication programme with the Rangoon government but said alternative crops for the impoverished hill farmers must be introduced for any eradication plan to be successful. While no opium was seen being grown in the Wa's southern zone, narcotics suppression officials said the Wa's zone in the north of Shan state was the group's main opium-growing area. A Thai anti-narcotics police officer told Reuters earlier this month that the Wa were still producing heroin and had bought about 60 tonnes of opium since Khun Sa's surrender. ********************************************************* ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA TV DOCUMENTARY March 1996 From: Sarah British journalist, John Pilger has just finished a documentary called "Land of Fear" in which he goes undercover to reveal the atrocities SLORC have inflicted on the Burmese people. Includes interview with Aung San Suu Kyi. John Pilger has made 40 documentaries in the past. His most recent was "Death of a Nation" which brought world attention to the plight of East Timor. "Land of Fear" going to be shown soon on ITV (Britain).