Subject: The BurmaNet News February 27, 1997 Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 23:31:35 -0800 (PST) From: strider@igc.apc.org Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" To: Recipients of burmanet-l ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: February 27, 1997 Issue #651 HEADLINES: ========== BURMANET: UPDATE # 2: FORCED RELOCATION THE NATION: MAUNG AYE COMES CLEAN ON OFFENSIVE BKK POST: FIRST BATCH OF KAREN REFUGEES MOVED WSJ: EDITORIAL-SLORC HAS THE LAST LAUGH RANGOON RADIO MYANMAR: RESIGNATION OF NLD MP SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0024 THAILAND TIMES:BURMA AGREES TO TAKE BACK REFUGEES THAILAND TIMES:BURMA'S MINORITIES SIGN PLEDGE TO FIGHT THAILAND TIMES: MON FLEEING BURMESE ABUSES REUTER: KAREN REFUGEE LABOUR CHEAP AT THAI BORDER THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: NEWS BRIEFS THE NATION: MACAU, BURMA IN AIR PACT SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:BURMESE URGE BOYCOTT OF BEER ANNOUNCEMENT: EURODELEGATION PVDA, 1 MARCH 1997 INFO BIRMANIE: NEW COORDINATES WILPF(ADEL.): INVITATION-BURMESE WOMEN UNION ------------------------------------------------------------------ BURMANET: UPDATE # 2: FORCED RELOCATION AND REPATRIATION OF KAREN REFUGEES IN WESTERN THAILAND February 27, 1997 The Burma Army reportedly took over Htee Htah last night, and it is expected that Htee Kee, KNU 4th Brigade Headquarters has also fallen by now. The KNU and KNLA (Karen troops) have moved out. Reports indicate approximately 40 KNLA have died and approximately 200 Burma Army troops are dead or injured. There are approximately 3,000 refugees, all women and children, still at Ban Pu Nam Rawn village, Amphur Muang, Kantchanaburi Province. The Burma Army is 3-5 km away. The refugees and Thai villagers are reportedly unprotected, as there are no KNLA or Thai Army troops in the area. On February 26 the Thai Army refused entry to 500 men attempting to flee the BA offensive in Minthame and Htee Kee. These men are common villagers seeking safety. Furthermore, the Thai Army gathered over 100 young male refugees in Pu Nam Rawn and forced them back to Htee Kee. Some of the males were only 10 years old. The Thai Army told the young males they should either fight or surrender. Sounds of mortar and small arms fire were clearly heard from Pu Nam Rawn during the past 24 hours. Channel 7 Thai TV reported, with film footage, on the February 26 evening news that (2,000) refugees (women and children only) from Ban Bong Tee village were loaded into large, orange, 18-wheel trucks belonging to a Thai logging company. The women and children were moved to Ban Ta Goe Bone/Ban Baw Weh village, Amphur Suan Pung, Ratchaburi Province. "Amphur officials welcomed them", and then they were "pushed back to their own country". They were sent to Hta Ma Pyo and Paw Mah Pwu, directly west of Suan Pung, inside Tenasserim Division. Male refugees were previously forced across the border at Bong Tee. Channel 7 reported that Thai villagers in Pu Nam Rawn were packing and preparing to leave their homes. Thai Army Major General Suwit is in charge, and Major Paitoon is in charge of the Border Police. The reports of February 26 have been confirmed, signalling clearly that the Thai Army is forcibly repatriating refugees in an active war zone. Fleeing refugees reported that Burma Army troops raped five women in front of their families in Kaserdoh township, located in the Kah Tawnee/Ban Chaung area. Burma Army troops are also burning houses and villages. 300-500 refugees left Amalah Kee, which is about 10 km south of Htee Kee, but their current location is unknown. Reports indicate that the Burma Army recently ordered 1,000 Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (DKBA) uniforms to be made in Moulmein. There are already indications that Burma Army troops involved in the offensive are wearing DKBA uniforms, which indicates further terrorism likely awaits the refugees. There were also approximately 50 ABSDF family members (women and children) in the Pu Nam Rawn area, but where they have gone or what has happened to them remains unknown. Concerted efforts to separate families, force refugees into an active war situation, and prevent any appearance of a 'refugee situation' in the Thai/Burma border region violate international law and humanitarian values. The safety of the Karen refugees is being sacrificed. An urgent call has gone out to governments, UN agencies, private humanitarian organizations, media, and concerned persons to call for a halt to these operations and to call for the establishment of a safe refuge for the refugees. ****************************** THE NATION: MAUNG AYE COMES CLEAN ON OFFENSIVE February 26, 1997 TACHILEK, Burma ­ Rangoon's ongoing offensive against Karen rebels is part of its attempt to establish order along the Thai-Burmese border before its admission into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this July. Burmese Army Chief Gen Maung Aye told his Thai counterpart, Gen Chettha Thanajaro, during a meeting yesterday that his army had to use force against Karen rebels to end Burma's insurgency as Rangoon did not want other Asean countries to be concerned about the issue, Thai officers present at the talks said. This was the first meeting of the two army chiefs since Chettha assumed leadership of the Army last October. The officers quoted Maung Aye as saying that his army was exercising ''the highest degree of caution" in its ongoing operation to pressure Karen rebels to surrender. He also apologised for the brief clashes last week between Thai and Burmese troops in northern Umphang district of Tak province and promised to return at the earliest a Thai vehicle and military communication gear taken by Burmese forces during the skirmirshes. During the two rounds of talks yesterday, Maung Aye said the ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) would welcome home over 100,000 Burmese refugees taking shelter in Thailand but wanted Bangkok's help in screening them before they are allowed back, the Thai officers said. He said that the fugitives would be safe from prosecution in Burma, just as a group of about 500 rebels of the Karen National Union (KNU), who had surrendered earlier this month to the Slorc. But as Maung Aye, also the Slorc vice chairman, was giving his guarantee of safety for the refugees in Burma, about 3,000 more Karen refugees fled advancing Burmese troops yesterday into Thailand's western Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi province. They are being confined in an old mine in the area close to the frontier. Relief workers said the situation around the KNU's 4th Brigade is critical as some 3,000 Burmese troops are pressing towards capturing its headquarters at Htee Kee. The Karen guerrillas have decided not to defend its stronghold and could soon abandon it once the civilian population crosses safely into Thailand, they said. The workers said many of the Karen villagers are still trapped inside the country, and many have sought refuge on the Dawna range because the Burmese troops are moving close to the Thai-Burmese frontier to block their flight into Thailand. During the talks yesterday, Maung Aye, who was accompanied by several top military officers, including the navy and air force chiefs and Slorc intelligence chief Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, said the Burmese army does not intend to annihilate the Karen race but simply wants to pressure them to surrender. The Slorc, he said, had chosen the military option because the KNU had refused during four rounds of negotiations to lay down their arms. Maung Aye said the Burmese army has exercised caution in its offensive against the KNU by trying to restrict its military activities to within Burmese territory and has informed Thailand in advance and in writing whenever it planned a new offensive. The Thai officers said the Burmese commander wanted the construction of the Thai-Burmese bridge across the Moei River to resume. But he first wanted the two countries, which hold identical border maps made in 1989, to solve the boundary dispute in the area. They agreed to a meeting of the Thai-Burmese border demarcation committee and the joint technical team on March 4 in a Burmese border town to locate the deepest part of the river, which will be used to determine the border line. The two panels will continue to meet until both sides settle the territorial dispute, he added. Maung Aye, who had ordered the suspension of work on the bridge after his tour of the area in early April, said he wanted the bridge to be completed before Chavalit's official visit to Burma. Chettha, who was pleased with the outcome of his talks with Maung Aye, briefed Chavalit last night about the meeting, the officers said. (TN) ******************************************************* BKK POST: FIRST BATCH OF KAREN REFUGEES MOVED TO NEW HOLDING CENTRE February 26, 1997 Supamart Kasem, Tak After villagers raise environment concern A group of 618 Karen refugees has been moved to a site 13km east of a border village to which they had fled. The Karen fled the Sakhantit black market before it was seized on February 12 and took refuge in Ban Thi Pho Chi. They have now been moved to Tambon Mae Chan, Umphang district, after villagers said they were causing environmental damage. A task force from the Fourth Infantry Regiment, Border Patrol Police and district officials started moving them on Monday to the site near Ban Nu Pho, in Umphang wildlife reserve. It was agreed on February 16 that 7,000-8,000 refugees who fled to Ban Perng Klerng, Nong Nok Ped, Klo Tho, Thi Pho Chi and other border villages be moved to the new site. The removal of the first group of 618 is expected to be completed on Friday. After that, 7,975 refugees will be moved from Ta Per Poo, No Pa Doh, Noh Ka Thaw Wah and Mae Ta Raw Kee camps. The number of refugees, both new and old, at the new holding centre is expected to reach 15,000, and authorities have voiced concern about damage to the wildlife sanctuary. Thanee Viriyarattanaporn, the Tak forestry chief, said cabinet approval was needed before the sanctuary could be used this purpose. The Tak governor has submitted a request to the cabinet through the Forestry Department. Mr Thanee suggested the site be enclosed and measures be taken to prevent the refugees damaging trees and hunting. Security has been beefed up along the border in Mae Hong Son province as the Rangoon-backed Karenni National Democratic Army (KNDA) is expected to attack refugee camps on the Thai side soon. A Thai border official said the 7th Infantry Regiment Task Force led by Col Thawatchai Wattana has sent military forces, BPP and rangers to guard border areas in Mae Hong Son as the Burmese army is helping KNDA troops pressure Karenni refugees to return to Burma. Some 300 soldiers were ordered to inspect border villages of Ban Huay Bon, Ban Li Sor, Ban Nong Saeng in Muang district to make sure the locals were not stockpiling arms to fight alongside the rebels. The KNDA guerrillas are said to be poised to attack camps in Muang district which house up to 10,000 Karenni refugees, the source added.(BP) ******************************************************* WSJ: EDITORIAL-SLORC HAS THE LAST LAUGH February 25, 1997 Regular readers of this page know that we are not fans of economic sanctions. They fall into that basic category of trade weapons that we routinely eschew as counter-productive; at best they are blunt instruments. There is one thing worse than sanctions, though--and that is issuing empty threats to use them. If you draw a line in the sand and then look the other way while it is repeatedly crossed, you have done more harm than if you had drawn no line in the first place. Issuing a challenge and then backing off from the fight is an advertisement of weakness guaranteed to provoke more, not fewer, assaults on cherished principles or long-suffering people. This is the situation the United States finds itself in with respect to Burma. Back in September, President Bill Clinton signed legislation mandating a U.S. ban on new investment in Burma if the ruling generals of the State Law and Order Restoration Council escalated repression against either Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi or members of the democratic opposition she leads. The legislative descriptions of behavior that would trigger sanctions were rather amorphous. Perhaps the vagueness was deliberate. The law Mr. Clinton signed was drafted to head off much tougher legislation banning U.S. investment in Burma entirely, and thus was a triumph for Burma's biggest American partner, the resource exploration company Unocal, and for the military regime itself. This posturing could cost the Burmese people dearly, as Slorc grows increasingly brave in defiance of the spirit of the U.S. sanctions law. As current Secretary of State Madeleine Albright noted while she was still ambassador to the U.N. last December, the regime has been engaged in a kind of "rolling repression in which small steps forward alternate with crackdowns and episodes of intimidation and violence." The latest is the massive military campaign under way to eradicate remnants of the Karen National Union army and some 3,000 Karen civilians now fleeing toward the Thai border. Slorc and its supporters like to paint the Karen--and all 15 or so ethnic groups the government has tried to bring under its thumb--as criminals and a threat to Burmese stability and territorial integrity. The fact is the Karen National Union is a largely Christian, staunchly anti-Communist movement that has been resisting central control and struggling for autonomy for nearly half a century. One has only to look at Slorc's much-publicized "deals" with other ethnic groups and movements to see what is likely to happen next to the Karen. In many cases once Slorc took back control of an area, the reprisal blood flowed and drugs cultivation and trafficking dramatically increased. While nine Slorc battalions go after the Karen, back in the capital of Rangoon, Burmese democrats remain firmly under the boot. Instead of mass arrests, these days the regime may be trying out a new tactic. Burmese democrats expressed concern yesterday about the fate of Dr. Than Aung, a physician who won a seat in Parliament as a member of Ms. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in the aborted elections of 1990. A government statement issued Sunday said he was being charged with malpractice after a patient under his care allegedly died of neglect. According to the regime's account, a parking lot attendant stopped at Dr. Than Aung's clinic last week, got an injection, and stopped on his way home to describe his symptoms and treatment to government authorities. When he returned to the clinic the doctor sent him immediately to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Democracy advocates fear that Dr. Than Aung's travails may herald a new form of repression. No one in the U.S. has ever offered a rational explanation for why the Clinton Administration signed on to the sanctions threat against Burma's regime while showering China's unelected and often brutal ruling party with patient understanding in the name of constructive engagement. Perhaps Burma has been chosen by some unfathomable process of default as this decade's pinup victim, a place where governments and politicians can display their human rights credentials on the cheap. There was never strong reason to believe that banning U.S. companies from doing business in Burma would bring a quick end to Burma's brutal and illegitimate regime. Although Slorc is widely hated at home, plenty of Burma's neighbors, and companies like Unocal, stand to make a fortune by exploiting the regime's dependence on their willingness to do business with a pariah. What Mr. Clinton's State Department apparently does not understand is that nothing is more dangerous than crying wolf and passing a law you lack the courage to enforce. American diplomats may confuse some people with the ridiculous proposition that the U.S. can't impose sanctions because then it would no longer have the threat of sanctions to use as leverage. We don't know who is fooled by this gobbledegook. But Slorc certainly sees right through it. And if ever the United States or the international community do get serious about controlling the outrageous and destructive behavior of Slorc or any other rogue regime, they should not be surprised if the bad boys laugh in their face. ****************************** RANGOON RADIO MYANMAR:COMMISSION ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION OF NLD MP FROM SHWEGU (translated from Burmese) February 23, 1997 1. Daw Sein Tin of the National League for Democracy, Hluttaw [People's Assembly] representative elected at the Multiparty Democracy General Election from Shwegu Township Constituency, Kachin State, submitted of her own volition to this commission that she be permitted to resign due to her old age. 2. Upon the abovementioned Daw Sein Tin's submission, this commission hereby announces that Daw Sein Tin has been permitted to resign from being Hluttaw representative-elect of Shwegu Township constituency effective today under Section 11 (e) of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law. *************************** SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0024 February 26, 1997 Ok Kar Dr. Than Nyein (elected member for the National League for Democracy Party) had his medical practional license being revoked for breaching health regulations. An incident occurred on the 18th of Feb. when the Tharketa Township Private Clinic Supervisory Body Chairman and Township Health Officer, Dr. Nyi Nyi Min reported to the township police station of Dr. Than Nyein opening a private clinic since 21st of January 1997 without the approval from the Township Private Clinic Supervisory Body. (standard procedure since 1972). As a result, concerning township police station has opened a case and action has been taken against Dr. Than Nyein according to the health regulations of 1972. Due to Dr. Than Nyein's refusal to abide by the regulations regarding opening of private clinics, he has been found of breaching the medical professional ethics, consequently his practional's and doctor's licenses had been revoked on the 19th of Feb. 1997 by the Ministry of Health it is learnt. ****************** THAILAND TIMES:BURMA AGREES TO TAKE BACK KAREN REFUGEES SAYS CHETTA (abridged) February 26, 1997 Reuters BANGKOK : Thailand's army chief said yesterday that the Burmese military had agreed to take back Karen refugees sheltering on the Thai side of the border, but only if they wanted to go. Only those returning willingly to Burma would be accepted, Thai army commander in chief General Chetta Thanajaro said after meeting his Burmese counterpart, General Maung Aye, at the Burmese border town of Tachilek. "The meeting was very successful, especially when they (Burmese) agreed to take the refugees back," Chetta told reporters after the three hour talks. "The Burmese side said they are willing to take back only those who return on a voluntary basis." Burmese officials were not available for comment. Burma in the past has repeatedly charged that KNU rebels have been hiding in the Thai refugee camps. Rangoon has also refused to take back the refugees citing lack of documentation. The Thai army said last week that it would strictly screen KNU rebels out from civilians and centralize the camps. A KNU source told Reuters yesterday that several KNU official who fled fighting last week between the KNU and Burmese troops into the western Thai town of Umphang had been rounded up over the week-end and housed in a central location. Maung Aye, also vice chairman of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), yesterday was quoted as saying Burma would continue its peace efforts with the rebels. "The government always welcomes the KNU although they neglect peace and the armed forces and the entire people warmly welcome U Saw Tha Mu He and members for their efforts for peace, " Muang Aye was quoted as saying by official media. He was speaking at a welcoming ceremony for 496 KNU rebels, including Saw Tha Mai He, Commander of the KNU's 16 battalion, who surrendered to the government in Karen state on Monday, the media said. *************************** THAILAND TIMES:BURMA'S MINORITIES SIGN PLEDGE TO FIGHT AGAINST JUNTA February 26, 1997 by Seri Klinchan Assawin Chumworatayee BANGKOK: The Burmese military junta has issued Karen Nation Union (KNU) troops stationed opposite the Thai provinces of Chumphon and Kanchanaburi with an ultimatum: surrender by Friday or be prepared for severe military crackdown, a local official said yesterday. Weera Sriwattanatrakul, chief of Chumphon province's Tha Saw district, said KNU troops were desperately trying to negotiate a concession from the junta amid widespread panic among Karen civilians. Refugees have been flooding into Thailand over past weeks following major offensives against the KNU, with a further two or three thousand Karens arriving in Chumphon and Kanchanaburi provinces yesterday. Weera said that since last week there have been 200 new arrivals, mostly women, children, and the elderly, in Tha Saw district alone. Yesterday's exodus adds to the 4,500 Karens already sheltering in the two provinces. Those who have made it across to Thailand are the lucky ones, Reports from the terrified refugees tell of widespread human rights abuses at the hands of the junta's troops as they advanced through the southeastern Burmese district of Minthamee. Still bearing the physical and mental scars of their ordeal, the refugees whisper of the indiscriminate rape and murder of women, and the torching of over 3,000 houses. Despite the severity of recent onslaughts, sources from the KNU have said they would never surrender to the military regime, fearful of further torture should they do so. The KNU are far from being alone in being at the receiving end of the junta's fire. A Mon soldier said yesterday that the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) plans to suppress all ethnic groups through-out southern Burma. But the KNU will bear the brunt of the onslaught, with SLORC troops targeting the vast stretch of KNU held territory in Tanintharyi state. Following the fall of several major KNU strongholds over recent weeks, control of the southern territory is one of the KNU's last remaining hopes of survival. The Mon officer said a number of his colleagues were fighting alongside KNU men, although the bulk of the 4,000 strong Mon army had signed a ceasefire agreement with the Slorc. Reports indicate that several of Burma's minority groups yesterday pledged their mutual support in the face of the advancing Slorc troops. Together with the KNU, groups including the Kayah, Mon, Khachin, Shan and Arakan issued a statement saying they would continue fighting until the junta agreed to grant them autonomy. While the KNU is the only group still officially holding out against the junta, other minorities have grown increasingly disillusioned with Slorc's lack of sincerity in honoring the ceasefire pacts. Meanwhile, a meeting between Army Commander in Chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro and his Burmese counterpart Gen Maung Ae yesterday held out little promise for Burma's minorities. Chetta said Slorc had asked Thailand to repatriate the refugees, demanding however that NGOs and the UN did not intervene in the process. Despite recent incursions across the border by troops supported by the junta, Chetta expressed his confidence that Slorc had no intention of allowing its civil war to affect Thailand. ************************************** THAILAND TIMES: MON FLEEING BURMESE ABUSES HAS LEG BLOWN OFF February 26, 1997 by Assawin Pinitwong TAK: A Burmese man who had been forced to work as a porter for Rangoon troops had his leg blown off by a land mine yesterday while fleeing over the border into Thailand. Kosin, 32, attempting to escape from the human rights abuses he had suffered form the Burmese army, had his dreams shattered when he stepped on the mine in the border area just opposite Tak province's Mae Ramard district. Five of his friends sustained minor injuries in the blast, but were able to carry Kosin until they reached Thai soil. Thai officials, however, ignored their plight and arrested them for illegal entry, prior to deportation. ************************************ REUTER: KAREN REFUGEE LABOUR CHEAP AT THAI BORDER February 26, 1997 By Sutin Wannabovorn HUAYKALOK REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand, Feb 26 (Reuter) - "Brother, please don't blame me for using child labour," the owner of a coffee shop near here joked to her customer as he peered curiously at the 12-year-old Karen girl serving him water. The little girl is among thousands of young Karen refugees from camps along the Thai-Burma border trying to earn a living by offering themselves as cheap labour in nearby towns. "I allowed two of them to work here because I felt pity for them," the owner said. Their houses were burned down recently during fighting between the Karen and their enemies, she said. In Mae Sot near the Burmese border, another Karen girl working at a restaurant said she hoped to save enough money to buy proper documentation to allow her to stay in Thailand forever. "When we have enough money, we can buy an indentity and go to Bangkok," said the Karen girl, adding that many of her friends had disappeared from the camps after bribing Thai officials for indentity cards. YOUNG REFUGEES LURED BY CITY LIGHTS To the young refugees in the camps, the chances of returning home to their native Karen state look as remote as democracy coming to Burma, whose military government has been criticised for a range of alleged human rights abuses and suppression of pro-democracy forces. Most young refugees jump at the chance to leave the spartan camp conditions for the bright city lights, refugee officials say. Many eventually become maids for wealthy Thais, waitresses and even prostitutes, they said. Thai narcotics police raided a brothel in Bangkok last year and rescued 17 Karen girls, police said. "Nobody wants to go back to Burma, especially the young people," the Karen girl at Mae Sot said. The Karen National Union (KNU), formed in 1948 to fight for greater autonomy from Burma's central government, is among the oldest rebel groups in the world. This month the KNU, which has launched lightning attacks against Burmese troops inside Burma, were counter-attacked and their mobile jungle bases destroyed. In 1995, a Buddhist faction split from the mostly Christian KNU. The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) linked up with Burmese government troops and drove the KNU out of most of its previously secure strongholds. So far, more than 60,000 Karen refugees who have fled the fighting between the KNU and Burmese troops to shelter in camps set up by the Thai authorities just across from the Moei River border. Another 30,000 refugees are scattered across the jungles. FUTURE LOOKS BLEAK FOR OLDER REFUGEES Pak Kah, 45, said his future looked bleak and could not see peace returning to his Karen homeland. "Look. this all I have left," he said pointing his fingers to the loin-cloth wrapped around the lower part of his torso. He was speaking in the burned out remains of his home in the refugee camp, which was torched by a friend who turned foe a few weeks ago. Pak Kah was among the first group of more than two thousand refugees, mostly family members of the KNU, who fled Wangkha camp inside Burma to Thailand in 1984. His fate has been the same as that of thousands of others living in the camps which have since 1995 been regularly attacked by DKBA guerrillas. "I will rebuild the living shelter here and will never go back to Burma, as long as there is still no peace and democracy there," said Pak Kah. HOPE FOR RETURN TO BURMA EVAPORATES Many other refugees interviewed at the camps also said hope to return to Burma had already evaporated from their souls. "We will continue to live and die in Thailand. Nobody wants to go back to Burma anymore, especially the young children. They don't even know Burma," said Si Da Hea, 35, who has been living in this camp for a decade and has had three children in that time. Ei Moo, 17, who accompanied her family during the 1984 evacuation from Burma said she rushed back from Mae Sot where she worked as a maid to help her family after rebels torched their home in the camp. "While the parents live in the camps, the children go out and work in the city," said Ei Moo. The refugees constantly live in fear of attacks by the DKBA and lead an unsettled life. "We are appealing to the Thai government to provide more security for the refugees in the camps," Marry On, vice-chairman of Karen Refugees Committee and also acting as the Huaykalok camp leader told Reuters recently. ********************************** THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: NEWS BRIEFS February 25, 1997 SECRETARY-L MEETS CHAIRMAN OF MARUBENI CORP YANGON, 24 Feb-Secretary- 1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt received Chairman of Marubeni Corporation Mr Kazuo Haruna and party of Japan at Dagon Yeiktha of the Ministry of Defence this afternoon. Present on the occasion together with the Secretary-1 were Minister for National Planning and Economic Development Brig-Gen Abel, Minister for Foreign Affairs U Ohn Gyaw and Director-General of Protocol Department Thura U Aung Htet. ----------------------------- MINISTER RECEIVES OFFICIALS OF PRC CORPORATIONS YANGON, 24 Feb-Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation Lt-Gen Myint Aung received General Manager Mr Chen Zhong De of Shanghai Tractors and Engines Corporation of the People's Republic of China and Manager Mr Wang Chun Lei of GMH Import and Export Corporation at his office this afternoon. They discussed export of tractors to Myanmar and manufacturing of power-tillers in Myanmar. Mr Wang Chun Lei handed related documents of a 30-ton rice mill, which was presented by GMH to the ministry to Minister Lt-Gen Myint Aung. Deputy Minister U Tin Hlaing and officials were also present. ------------------------------ MINISTER RECEIVES HOTEL IMPERIAL VICE-CHAIRMAN YANGON, 24 Feb-Minister for Commerce Lt-Gen Tun Kyi received Vice-Chairman of Hotel Imperial Singapore Mr L Niwas Jhunjhnuwala and party at his office this afternoon. They discussed matters relating to investment in setting up factories and hotels in Myanmar and trade in agricultural produce. ------------------------------- MINISTER MEETS COMMERCIAL ATTACHE OF FRANCE FOR SEA REGION YANGON, 24 Feb-Minister for Finance and Revenue Brig-Gen Win Tin received Commercial Attache of South East Asia Region from Ministry of Finance Mr Marc Schwartz of France, Singapore based, at his office this afternoon. They discussed monetary and financial matters. Present also were Governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar U Kyi Aye and Director-General of Budget Department U Kyaw Hlaing. http://www.myanmar.com/gov/news/nlm.html ************************************ THE NATION: MACAU, BURMA IN AIR PACT February 26, 1997 AP - Dow Jones Hong Kong - Macau and Burma have agreed to an air services pact that lasts beyond 1999, when the Portuguese enclave reverts to Chinese sovereignty, news agency Lusa Lusa said yesterday. Portuguese-based Lusa quoted the Macau Civil aviation Authority as saying the agreement was initialed by Macau Civil Aviation Authority's chairman Jose Queiroz and the director-general of Civil Aviation Department of Burma, U Tin Aye. The agreement will be submitted to the Sino-Portuguese Joint Liaison Group, a body that oversees transitional matters straddling the handover, for approval before signing. Macau has already signed 30 air services agreements.(TN) ******************************************************* SYDNEY MORNING HERALD:BURMESE URGE BOYCOTT OF BEER February 25, 1997 Drinking Foster's beer showed support for Burma's military regime, a leading Burmese dissident said in Sydney yeaterday. The Burmese Women Union (BWU) foreign affairs spokeswoman, Thet Thet Lwin, called for a complete boycott on trade with Burma during an Evatt Foundation breakfast. "Drinking Foster's beer buys more bullets for soldiers to kill refugees," she said. "The only way [Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council, SLORC] will be changed is for international boycotts and pressure." SLORC, a military junta which has governed the country since 1988, was set up after a democracy movement was quashed by the military Government. Thet Thet said Australians should boycott companies operating in Burma and named Foster's Carlton and United Breweries, Ericsson and Caltex products as targets for protest. "Companies such as Heineken and Pepsi-Cola have been forced to pull out of Burma because of protests at home and it's time Australians did the same thing," she said. "Some governments have argued that economic development can bring around democratic changes in a country. "This will not be the case in Burma because foreign investment only brings prosperity to the military elite while the majority of civilians remain in poverty." Burma was one of Asia's richest countries when a military coup installed the Government of Ne Win in 1962. But the economy suffered from State control and low world prices for rice and other exports. Burma was granted least-developed-nation status in 1987 by the United Nations. Hundreds of thousands of students, citizens and military men staged massive protests against Ne Win's Government throughout the 1980s before forming the National League for Democracy(NLD) Led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD won an overwhelming victory in a May 1990 election. But the SLORC has refused to hand over its power to the NLD. ******************** ANNOUNCEMENT: EURODELEGATION PVDA, 1 MARCH 1997 February 26, 1997 From: Khin Ni Ni Thein For your info. There will be a conference on 1 March 1997, coming Saturday, on the issue of European Human Rights Policy (Place: West Indisch Huis, Herenmarkt 99 Amsterdam) Points of discussion (in brief): * contribution EU on respecting Human Rights, as well as in as outside the Union * Dutch Human Rights Policy * Does international compagnies have responsibility if Human Rights are at stake? * What is the relation between trade and investments on one hand and international labor (norms/rights) on the other hand * Do we think that Human Rights violations in China are different from those in Burma; is a difference in reaction justified? * Do we need to have restrictions made conc. Development aid, to countries where HR are largely violated? Present: Foreign Minister Mr. Hans van Mierlo, Ed van Thijn, Eren Keskin (Turkish Human Right activist, recently released!), staatssecretaris van Dok-van Weele, Ir. Slechte (president-director Shell), Hedy d'Ancona, Piet Dankert, Wiersma and many others. Information/subscription at: PvdA Eurodelegatie, Plaats 27a, 2513 AD Den Haag. Tel: 070-3467000, Fax: 070-3637669 *************************** INFO BIRMANIE: NEW COORDINATES February 26, 1997 From: agir ici The new numbers for Info Birmanie in Paris are: tel 33 1 40 38 01 80 fax 33 1 40 38 01 92 ************************************ WILPF(ADEL.): INVITATION TO MEET REP. OF BURMESE WOMEN UNION February 24, 1997 From: Dr U Ne Oo BRINGING FREEDOM TO BURMA Come and Meet THET THET LWIN (Burmese Women Union) Thet Thet Lwin is a Burmese woman now living in exile in Thailand. She works for the democracy movement headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. She will be speaking on the current political situation in Burma, particularly about women refugees. She is the foreign relations officer for the Burmese Women's Union and represented them at the Beijing World Conference on Women. PLACE: PILGRIM CHURCH HALL, 12 FLINDERS STREET, ADELAIDE DATE: MONDAY 3 MARCH 1997 TIME: 7:15 FOR 7:30 PM START Light supper served at 9pm. LIve Music by Nikki MOrtier. hosted by Women's International League for Peace and Freedom(WILPF) and Women's Refugee Education Network(WREN) with the support from Overseas Service Bureau (OSB). *********************************