BurmaNet News: April 24 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

April 24 2003 Issue #2222

INSIDE BURMA

BBC: Burma rejects opposition claims
AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi takes calculated risk in shifting stance against junta
AFP: Myanmar junta announces end to its rice stranglehold
Xinhua: Joint program for HIV/AIDS established in Myanmar

DRUGS

Irrawaddy: Heroin seized in China
Nation: PM to declare drug victory

MONEY

AAP Newsfeed: Ivanhoe Mines signs alliance with Chinese industrial giant
CITIC
ZD Net: Monster.com’s resume purge draws fire

ON THE BORDER

Irrawaddy: Vulnerability of refugees investigated

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: UN special envoy hopes to return to Myanmar ‘as soon as possible’

EDITORIAL/OPINIONS

IHT: Drug ‘war’ kills democracy, too; Thailand’s crackdown
AFP: Angelina Jolie gets Khmer script tattoo in Thailand: report

INSIDE BURMA

BBC April 24 2003

Burma rejects opposition claims

The Burmese military government has rejected accusations by the opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi that she was harassed and intimidated during
recent travels outside the capital, Rangoon.
The military spokesman, Colonel Hla Min told, told the BBC that the party
led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy, was
responsible for deteriorating relations between the two sides.
His comments came after Aung San Suu Kyi challenged the government's
commitment to reform, saying the authorities refused to start serious
political talks.
A BBC correspondent in the region says Burma's political deadlock is
increasingly becoming a war of words.
He says that although both the opposition and the military government say
they want to co-operate on humanitarian and development issues neither
side seems able to take the initiative.
_________

Agence France Presse April 24 2003

Aung San Suu Kyi takes calculated risk in shifting stance against junta
By Pascale Trouillaud

Faced with the unwillingness of Myanmar's junta to discuss
democratisation, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has shifted her stance
from conciliation to public criticism, taking a calculated risk in the
process, diplomats and analysts say.

Aung San Suu Kyi's obvious irritation Wednesday at only the third press
conference she has given since her release from house arrest last May
could alienate the junta, or have no affect at all, they say.

"There has been a slight shift towards confrontation... a slight shift in
strategy," one Western diplomat says of the leader's strong criticisms of
the junta.

"She has made no public criticism since the talks (with the junta)
started," he says, referring to the UN-brokered secret talks which began
between Suu Kyi and the junta in October 2000.

The talks were supposed to begin with a confidence-building phase before
proceeding to a political dialogue aimed at shifting the country towards
democracy, ending the four-decade grip on power by Myanmar's military.

But on Wednesday the Nobel peace laureate complained that the political
dialogue had not commenced and directly questioned the sincerity of the
junta in even wanting to participate in it.

"We have been forced to question the integrity of the SPDC (the ruling
State Peace and Development Council) and their sincerity in achieving
national reconciliation," she told reporters.

"National reconciliation is change. They don't want change, but change is
inevitable," she said, striking an attitude unseen in recent years.

"I was quite surprised by her candid comments, which military authorities
here could interpret as being confrontational," said one Myanmar expert.

"It was a calculated risk on her part... A calculated move, obviously. It
will be interesting to see what they (the generals) say."

The same Myanmar journalists who attended her press conference Wednesday
have been summoned to a government press briefing on Friday morning.

But, as one diplomat noted, if Aung San Suu Kyi had departed from her
usual policy of conciliation towards the junta, "she also said a lot of
conciliatory things to balance it out".

She reiterated the wish of her National League for Democracy (NLD) to
cooperate with the regime, as she has done relentlessly since being freed
from 19 months of house arrest.

Still the junta -- headed by Senior General Than Shwe, who is said to be
the most opposed to any change -- has not given any signs that it is
willing to discuss a transition.

Since the start of the year, Yangon has on four occasions refused requests
for visits by Razali Ismail, the special envoy of the UN's secretary
general Kofi Annan, who paid a key role in brokering the October 2000
landmark talks.

Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday urged his return, saying "he should be
allowed to visit any time he wants, go anywhere he pleases and talk with
anybody."

The diminutive leader, deeply influenced by the Buddhist principles of
patience, tolerance and non-violence, appears unable to continue to hide
her frustration over the lack of progress.

And she knows she can count on the full support of Western capitals, which
have in recent months also apparently stopped believing that the junta is
sincere in wanting reform.

Her recent seven trips outside the capital after more than a year confined
to her residence have also likely further strengthened her will to fight
for democracy: on her extended tours she has had a first-hand view of the
immense aspirations for freedom of thousands of her countrymen.

And she has also seen how huge her own popularity is.

"She appears to have become spiritually and morally strengthened after her
recent trip to the Chin state, where popular support for her was so
overwhelming, despite the people there being subjected to official threats
and intimidation," one observer noted.

Forces within the NLD party may also be nudging her, in particular the
youth league.

"There may be some criticism that the NLD is not pushing enough and is too
conciliatory," says one diplomat, referring to elements within her party.

The NLD did, after all, win a landslide election victory in 1990, the
results of which the junta has still not recognised.

"One never knows how the generals will react," said one diplomat.

One thing is certain: the ongoing pressure and sanctions exerted on the
regime by the United States and the European Union have had no visible
effect.
____________

Agence France Presse April 24 2003

Myanmar junta announces end to its rice stranglehold

Myanmar's military junta announced Thursday the scrapping of its
40-year-old paddy procurement policy.

"All nationals can trade rice in the country freely at the prevailing
market prices," Lieutenant General Soe Win, of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council was quoted as saying through an article in the
state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

"The new rice trading policy has totally removed the government's control
of rice... There will be no involvement of state organisations in the sale
and purchase of rice," he said.

The decision, taken at a high-level junta meeting earlier this month,
signifies a dramatic change in policy in Myanmar, where agricultural
production and trade has been tightly controlled for decades.

Under current procurement method the government buys up 10 percent of
overall production at officially fixed and heavily deflated prices.

The grain is then redistributed to government employees, military
personnel and their families as a subsidy, while the rest is stocked for
emergencies and for export.

Under the new scheme farmers will no longer have to sell a portion of
their produce to the government at prices as low as one sixth the
prevailing market rate.

Analyts said earlier this month that the move was expected to stabilise
future rice prices.

But it would badly affect civil servants and military personnel who had
grown accustomed to the subsidies, they said.

Soe Win met Wednesday with members of various industry bodies to explain
the new rice policy, which would "ensure free trade of rice beginning in
the coming year", according to the report.

The new policy was aimed at shifting towards a market-oriented system,
would encourage farmers to produce more and allow consumers to buy rice at
reasonable prices, the report said.

Under the new system rice would only be exported when it was in surplus
but farmers would have to pay a ten percent export tax and then split
their earnings evenly with the government, the report added.

Rice is Myanmar's primary agricultural product, and at least 12 million
out of an estimated labour force of 16 million are farmers.

Once one of Asia's leading rice exporters, Myanmar exports less than one
million tons annually despite a rise in production, as more rice is
consumed domestically.
___________

Xinhua News Agency April 24 2003

Joint program for HIV/AIDS established in Myanmar

A new three-year joint program for HIV/AIDS in Myanmar (2003-05) has been
established to prompt support for the country's national strategic plan
against the disease, a press statement of the UNAIDS said here Thursday.

The joint program, which has been developed to strengthen the enabling
environment and supporting capacity for prevention and cure of HIV/AIDS in
the country, involves UN agencies, government departments, international
and national non-governmental organizations.

A new range of funding through a joint funding mechanism, the Fund for
HIV/AIDS in Myanmar (FHAM), has been made available to support the
implementation of the program, the statement disclosed.

According to the statement, out of about 51 million US dollars required
for the implementation of the program over the three-year period, 21.3
million dollars of commitments has been made by donors including the
Britain's Department for International Development (15.7 million dollars),
Norway (823,000 dollars) and Sweden (4.7 million dollars).

Of the commitments, over 7.5 million dollars has already been made
available in contracts for the first year, the statement confirmed,
calling for increased resource mobilization.

The joint program, adopted by the United Nations Expanded Theme Group
(UNETG) on HIV/AIDS (Myanmar) in January this year, comprises five
components with objectives including reducing individual risk of sexual
transmission of HIV among injecting drug users and their partners, and
increasing awareness of the disease among the general population
particularly young people.

A technical working group has also been set up to provide technical advice
to the implementation of the program, the statement added.

The statement quoted Najib Assifi, chair of the UNETG, as saying that "The
Myanmar government has taken up this challenge in a positive and
forward-looking manner. The cooperation between all partners has made
possible the establishment of a comprehensive and targeted joint program."

HIV/AIDS is recognized as one of the three priority communicable diseases
in Myanmar.

According to the World Health Organization, 3,817 AIDS cases were reported
and 510,000 HIV infections were estimated in Myanmar by the end of 2000.

DRUGS

Irrawaddy April 24 2003

Heroin Seized in China
By Naw Seng

More than a half a ton of Burmese heroin was seized recently in just one
week in China’s southwestern Yunnan Province. The heroin was confiscated
from three locations outside Ruili, China, which lies on the Burma-China
border, according to sources located there.
While small amounts of heroin are confiscated daily along this
international narcotics thoroughfare, sources note that these two seizures
mark the largest one week haul this year. The source said, however, that
media outlets in Burma and China did not report on any of the seizures.
Chinese authorities uncovered the heroin during the end of March and
beginning of April. Nearly 300 kilograms were found in two trucks carrying
fish from Burma as they traveled towards Kunming, the capital of Yunnan,
on Mar 28, and over 200 kilograms were seized on Apr 2 and Apr 4 outside
Ruili.
Sources in Kunming estimate that between 300 to 400 kilograms of heroin is
smuggled into Yunnan every month by Burmese Muslims operating in
conjunction with Muslims living in China’s northwest Xinjiang Province.
Once the heroin reaches Kunming it is then smuggled to locations around
the world, including Russia, explained the source.
Some analysts believe that narcotic traffickers are increasingly turning
to the porous border separating northern Burma from China’s Yunnan
Province since Thailand kicked off its "War on Drugs" Feb 1. One
businessman in Ruili, however, discounted the allegations, saying there is
nothing unusual about the level of trafficking. "I don’t think this is an
effect of the war on drugs in Thailand," says the businessman. "Drug
trafficking is usual in Yunnan."
Another businessman, who said he felt there has been a recent jump in
narcotics trafficking in the region, added that drug use in Yunnan is also
on the rise.
Burma is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of both heroin and
methamphetamines, but sources say the Chinese market continues to be
dominated by heroin. A kilo of heroin is sold along the China-Burma border
for just under 40,000 yuan (US $4,800), but jumps to three times that in
Kunming.
China has beefed up security along the border in recent years. And
according to Chinese government records, over one hundred Burmese drug
traffickers have been arrested since the middle of last year.
_______

The Nation April 24 2003

PM to declare drug victory

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday reiterated that he would
declare victory in the government's war on drugs on December 2, saying
leaders of neighbouring countries had promised him they would stop illegal
drug production and smuggling into the country.

"The victory is meant to be part of celebrations for His Majesty the
King's birthday and I firmly believe the country has overcome drug-related
problems," he said.

Thaksin expressed hope that the cessation of drug smuggling from
neighbouring countries would effectively curtail the illegal drug trade in
local markets.

Commenting on the progress of the anti-drugs campaign, Deputy Prime
Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said the authorities had "wiped out" more
than 80 per cent of drug middlemen and street pushers. He said the 90-day
campaign has met every target, but a remaining key task is to track down
drug kingpins who have fled the country.

The drug-suppression task force will convene its final meeting next week
and the government is to host a national seminar next month to discuss the
campaign's lessons, he said.

"To sustain the results of the suppression, Thailand will boost its
cooperation with Burma, Laos, China and India, to eradicate drug-smuggling
along the borders," he said. Drug smugglers have increasingly turned to
sea routes in the light of harsh suppression on land, he said.

With the campaign drawing to a close on April 30, Interior Minister Wan
Muhamad Noor Matha said anti-drugs officials will implement integrated,
follow-up measures for the next seven months to ensure a sustained
victory. The measures are to focus on both drug suppression and the
rehabilitation of drug abusers, he said.

Narcotics Control Board secretary-general Chidchai Vanasatidya said
Chavalit might hold informal talks on drug issues with Burmese leader Than
Shwe, who is scheduled next week to attend the Asean Summit on Sars in
Bangkok.

MONEY

AAP Newsfeed April 24 2003

Ivanhoe Mines signs alliance with Chinese industrial giant CITIC

Ivanhoe Mines and China International Trust and Investment Corporation
(CITIC) have formed a strategic alliance to work together in mineral
exploration.

A joint statement by the companies said the alliance would explore and
develop base and precious metal projects in Asia to meet China's current
and future needs.

CITIC has agreed to facilitate discussions between senior Chinese and
Mongolian officials over a proposed 290 kilometre rail line linking
Ivanhoe's gold and copper discovery at Oyu Tolgoi (Turqoise Hill),
southern Mongolia and the Chinese industrial city of Bayan Obo.

The companies said they would investigate strategies to optimise the
development of copper and gold exploration in Mongolia, the expansion of
Monywa copper project in Myanmar, joint ventures with CITIC Gold and the
introduction of Advanced Processing Technology at various asian mining
projects.

CITIC is a giant Chinese state-owned enterprise with interests in a range
of industries including energy, banking, information technology, airlines,
real estate, heavy industry and infrastructure investment.
________

ZD Net April 24 2003

Monster.com’s resume purge draws fire
By Declan McCullagh

WASHINGTON--Job-hunters at Monster.com who happened to go to school in
Syria or Iran may be in for an unpleasant surprise on Thursday. So might
employers using the popular job-search site, which boasts more than
800,000 job postings, to advertise open positions in Sudan, Burma and five
other countries.
In a move the company claims is designed to comply with federal
regulations, Monster.com on Thursday will delete most references to those
countries from job postings and resumes. A note that Monster.com sent to
affected users says: "Your resume will be altered, removing all sanctioned
countries from your resume."

What's causing controversy is whether the company is required by law to
perform the deletions. According to Kevin Mullins, a Monster.com
spokesman, "Monster took the actions to be in full compliance with U.S.
regulations" and consulted with the U.S. Treasury Department first.
A Treasury Department representative did not return calls Wednesday. But a
senior department official told CNET News.com that no law "that I'm aware
of" would require the deletions and Monster.com's scenario of legal
liability was implausible.
Monster.com pointed to a federal list of sanctioned countries that
restricts U.S. companies from engaging in certain business activities.
In the case of Iran, for instance, U.S. corporations can be fined up to
$500,000 for importing "goods or services of Iranian origin" except for
food, carpets and information. The regulations restrict "services"
provided to Iranian companies but exempt "the exportation from the United
States to Iran of information and informational materials, whether
commercial or otherwise."
Monster.com's Mullins was unable to immediately identify what section of
the rules his company was worried about. The e-mail from Monster.com to
its customers said: "The U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign
Assets Control, as well as some states, maintain(s) sanctions which
prohibit U.S. companies from conducting certain business activities with
organizations located in or residents of the following countries
Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan or Syria."
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Washington said
Wednesday that Monster.com misunderstood the law. "ADC contacted the
Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and spoke to the
Sanctions Section," ADC representative Laila Al-Qatami said. "They advised
ADC that Monster has misunderstood the regulations. They are not required
to remove or modify any data on persons' resumes."
"This practice is deeply troubling for the many that post their resumes on
Monster.com," Al-Qatami said. "Altering or hiding information on resumes
is not only misleading but also unjustified. Resumes are supposed to be
based on truth and fact. Hiding or deleting information unfairly handicaps
persons searching for gainful employment, not to mention going against
standards of honesty and truthfulness."
Thursday's deletion will not affect textual descriptions of jobs that
customers type in themselves, such as a U.S. photographer describing work
that involved a trip to Burma. Instead, Monster.com said it will remove
those seven nations from pop-up lists of countries that customers use to
construct their listings and delete existing entries that use those fields
from its database.
"We're not changing words in resumes," Mullins said. "We're not getting
into that. It's discriminatory." Mullins said the change in policy
happened because of a routine internal review of Monster.com's procedures
and was not initiated by the Bush administration.
Monster.com's parent company is TMP Worldwide. Its shares closed Wednesday
at $14.32, up $0.69.

ON THE BORDER

Irrawaddy April 24 2003

Vulnerability of Refugees Investigated
By Aung Su Shin

April 24, 2003—The educational opportunities of Burmese women and children
living in Thailand as refugees need to be increased in order to rectify
their vulnerable state, the head of a fact finding delegation representing
the US Senate’s foreign relations committee said yesterday after visiting
Umpiem Mai and Mae La refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.
Mr Frank Jannuzi, who serves as the senior East Asia specialist for the
minority staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the aim and
objective of the delegation was to study the real situation of Burmese
women and children in Thailand to identify ways in which their safety,
education and health could be improved.
He said the delegation found that these individuals can fall victim to the
commercial sex trade due to their economic state and lack of education.
"Here in Thailand, there are women who are in a particularly vulnerable
position," Mr Jannuzi said. "Perhaps, they are poor and without education.
They are subjective to sexual exploitation, and can be tricked into
situations where they can be taken into [the sex trade]."
When the group returns to Washington, they would be introducing
legislation that is designed to enhance protection for these women and
children. The US government is also preparing to provide secondary
education and vocational training for refugees beginning next year,
according to Mr Jannuzi.
"The longer this camp exists, the more they need secondary education and
vocational training," Mr Jannuzi. "We want to prepare them so when they go
back to Burma they will have a productive life."
The US government’s position on Burmese refugees is that they must be
provided sanctuary until conditions in Burma are safe, and those fearing
persecution should also be provided sanctuary. When peace improves between
the Burmese regime and the Karen, who make up the overwhelming majority of
refugees in the camps, the US government will assist the UN in
repatriation efforts, Mr Jannuzi said.

INTERNATIONAL

Agence France Presse April 24 2003

UN special envoy hopes to return to Myanmar 'as soon as possible'

United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail on Thursday said he hoped to
return to Myanmar quickly to speed up the national reconciliation talks
between the ruling military junta and the National League for Democracy
(NLD).

"I have no idea when I will return. Of course, I hope I would return as
soon as possible," Razali told AFP.

Razali said he would attempt to get the meetings between the junta, NLD
and other ethnic groups going and to "consider humanitarian assistance"
for Myanmar.

The former Malaysian diplomat's new six-month term began last month.

Razali, whose last trip to Yangon was in November last year, is credited
with brokering landmark secret talks between the military and NLD leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, which began in October 2000 and were aimed at promoting
national reconciliation and political reform.

The talks have led to the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize
laureate, and some political prisoners, but are widely known to have
ground to a halt.

On Wednesday, the NLD leader complained for the first time publicly about
the lack of progress in national reconciliation talks with the junta.

"We have been concerned with the lack of process. We should move on to a
more advanced stage. We have been forced to question the integrity of the
SPDC (the ruling State Peace and Development Council) and their sincerity
in achieving national reconciliation," she told reporters.

The EU earlier this month extended sanctions against Myanmar.

In December, Aung San Suu Kyi said she was "cautiously optimistic" that
political change would come to Myanmar.

Her party won a landslide 1990 election victory but has never been
permitted to rule by the military.

EDITORIAL/OPINIONS

International Herald Tribune April 24 2003

Drug 'war' kills democracy, too;
Thailand's crackdown
By Brad Adams

A violent 10-week-old state-sponsored "war on drugs" is rapidly
undermining Thailand's long struggle to become one of Southeast Asia's
leading democracies and the civil rights of Thais. The United Nations and
the United States should pressure Bangkok to end its shoot-to-kill policy.

Deviating sharply from Thailand's previous efforts to build the rule of
law, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called for law enforcement to
be conducted on the basis of an "eye for an eye." Interior Minister Wan
Muhamad Nor Matha put it bluntly in January. Referring to drug dealers, he
said: "They will be put behind bars or even vanish without a trace. Who
cares? They are destroying our country." Since the crackdown started Feb.
1, Thai police report that more than 2,270 alleged drug criminals have
been killed. The government says 51 have been killed by police in
self-defense and the rest in battles among dealers. More than 50,000
people allegedly involved in the drug trade have been arrested.

The use of dangerous drugs is certainly a serious and growing problem in
Thailand. UN and Thai authorities cite a huge increase in use in
methamphetamine stimulant tablets which Thais call "yaa baa," or crazy
pills smuggled in from neighboring Burma. As many as 3.6 percent of Thai
youth and 5 percent of all Thais now take methamphetamines.

Many in Thailand, including the revered constitutional monarch, King
Bhumibol Adulyadej, are worried by this trend and have called on the
government to take action. But Thai authorities should do so in ways that
do not compromise basic rights.

This is hardly the message being sent by Thai leaders. "In this war, drug
dealers must die," Thaksin has said. "But we don't kill them. It's a
matter of bad guys killing bad guys." Few in Thailand find his explanation
credible.

At the behest of Thaksin's government, local authorities hurriedly drew up
blacklists of suspected drug dealers. Bangkok then gave provincial
governors and police chiefs short deadlines to clear names from the list.
The interior minister threatened retaliation against local officials who
did not produce results, driving home the point by citing the way a former
king dealt with unresponsive officials: "The king had them all beheaded."

Local officials appear to be using the blacklists to settle old scores.
Once on the list, the only way off, according to one rights activist, is
to "buy your way off the list, surrender at a police station or end up
with a bullet in your head." But even surrendering to the police offers no
certainty. Some who have come to the police to surrender or clear their
names have been shot by unidentified gunmen on the way home. Human rights
activists accuse the government of unleashing a "shoot to kill" policy.

While Thaksin campaigned for political office as a modernizer, his tactics
represent a major step back to the dark days of military rule in Thailand.
Pradit Chareonthaitawee, the head of Thailand's official human rights
commission, received death threats after saying, "People are living in
fear all over the kingdom."

Drug experts and the United Nations suggest that instead of setting a
futile goal of ending all drug sales in three months, Thailand should
concentrate on "supply reduction strategies." One such strategy would be
to focus on its own military and police, many of whose members allegedly
profit greatly from facilitating the smuggling chain from Burma.

The shoot-to-kill policy must end. Persons accused of crimes should be
arrested with the least force necessary, as called for in the UN Basic
Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.
All recent killings should be investigated by an independent commission.
To ensure credibility, Asma Jahangir, the UN special rapporteur on
extrajudicial executions, should be invited to investigate.

The United States provides anti-narcotics training to the Thai police and
the United Nations has the regional headquarters of its drugs and crime
office in Bangkok. Each risks having its reputation sullied by association
with a bloody and violent campaign in the name of the war on drugs.

Both the United States and the UN should make it clear that they oppose
the methods being used in this war. If the violence doesn't stop, each
should consider withdrawing from Thailand.

The writer is executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights
Watch in New York.
_________

Agence France Presse April 24 2003

Angelina Jolie gets Khmer script tattoo in Thailand: report

Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie has gone under the needle in
Thailand, having her left shoulder blade emblazoned with a traditional
Khmer tattoo, a report said here Thursday.

Tattoo master Noo Kamphai, from Pathumthani province just north of
Bangkok, performed the 15-minute operation with a traditional needle, the
Nation newspaper reported.

"She can endure pain very well. She didn't say a word, although she
admitted to feeling it," he told the daily English-language paper.

Jolie reportedly said she was superstitious and had long been affected by
oriental magic.

"I like it (the tattoo) a lot. It looks very sacred. I think I'll have a
new tattoo the next time I come to Thailand," she was quoted as saying.

The black tattoo featured five vertical rows of ancient Khmer script,
which Noo reportedly said would ward off bad luck and help her avoid
accidents.

Jolie, who is a UN High Commissioner for Refugees goodwill ambassador, has
made many visits to Asia since filming "Tomb Raider" in Cambodia several
years ago, including trips to refugee camps.

In May last year, Jolie donated 100,000 dollars to predominantly Karen
refugees living along the Thai-Myanmar border in Tham Hin camp.

Jolie and her then-husband, actor Billy Bob Thornton, adopted a Cambodian
baby in March last year.