BurmaNet News, March 18, 2004

[Editor]

March 18, 2004 Issue # 2441


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi Story Passes Censor
Irrawaddy: Dozens of Used Cars Smuggled into Burma Everyday
BBC Monitor: Burmese police increase security measures following student
protests
BBC Monitor: Burmese opposition "not satisfied" with UN envoy
DVB: NLD members to wear ‘pinni’ jacket until the release of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Refugees’ Return Won’t be Easy or Quick
Peoples Daily: Forest fire on Myanmar border threatens China

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: Myanmar, India launch pilot bio-gas industrial project
AP: Switzerland, Thailand discuss free trade agreement

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Work Permits for Migrants Postponed
AFP: Switzerland to join next round of international talks on Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
FEER: Perennial Poser



INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

March 18, Irrawaddy
Suu Kyi Story Passes Censor - Naw Seng

Burma’s censors have allowed the March issue of Reader’s Digest magazine
to be distributed in the country even though it carries a flattering
six-page profile of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The article titled "The Soul of a Nation" by Ellen Nakashima, first
appeared in the Washington Post in October last year. It opens with a
harrowing description of the Depayin ambush, in which Suu Kyi’s convoy was
set upon by a government-orchestrated mob in May last year near Depayin,
Sagaing Division.

Burmese censors routinely rip out articles from international magazines
that are even mildly critical of the government or that mention "The Lady"
before distribution to Rangoon bookstores may go ahead.

"The Soul of a Nation" bluntly decried the actions of the regime—"The mob
recruited by Myanmar’s [Burma’s] military regime ...jerked women out of
trucks, stripping several naked and bashing one’s head on the road"—while
praised Aung San Suu Kyi—"Despite years of repression, Aung San Suu Kyi
will not allow the torch of democracy to be extinguished."

That Nakashima’s feature made it to the streets in-tact comes as a major
surprise. The action is unprecedented. A manager of Innwa Bookstore, the
main foreign periodical sales agent in Burma, said that the authorities
explicitly allowed the sale of the March edition.

 There is no problem with distribution. —Innwa Bookstore manager

"There is no problem with distribution," he said. "I think they [the
authorities] allowed this edition because they think it will not hurt
their policy objectives—not because of Suu Kyi or anything else." Innwa
Bookstore services about 1,000 Reader’s Digest subscriptions.

The government prohibits the advertising of foreign publications in Burma.
But copies of Readers Digest sold out almost immediately at the handful of
bookstores that carry English-language publications in Rangoon.

Nakashima’s main source appears to have been Nyo Ohn Myint, a member of
Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy, or
NLD. Nyo Ohn Myint lives in exile in Thailand and sits on the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the NLD-Liberated Area.

According to Paris-based by Reporters Sans Frontieres—Reporters Without
Borders or RSF—Burma ranked third from bottom (just ahead of North Korea
and Cuba) in its 2003 world press freedom index. About a dozen Burmese
journalists and hundreds of political dissidents are in jail.
_______________________

March 18, Irrawaddy
Dozens of Used Cars Smuggled into Burma Everyday - Kyaw Zwa Moe

Several dozen used cars are being smuggled into Burma from Thailand and
China everyday, say car dealers and local residents in Burma. Car dealers
must pay large bribes to government authorities and insurgents to smuggle
the vehicles into the country.

About 40 cars cross the border checkpoint at Three Pagodas Pass, near the
Thai border town Sangklaburi, into Burma each day, says a Mon resident of
the town. The resident says car dealers are driving the smuggled cars to
Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, about 100 miles northwest of the
border checkpoint.

In recent months, the used car market in Moulmein has been booming, says
Maung Kyaw. People who want to buy used cars come to Moulmein from other
cities, he added.

Used sedans, vans, pick-up trucks and other vehicles are imported from
Japan by Thai businessmen, who then sell the vehicles to Burmese car
dealers on the border, says Maung Kyaw, a car dealer based in Moulmein.

Burma’s military government has unofficially banned individuals and
companies from importing cars since the middle of the 1990s, which caused
car prices to increase dramatically. Currently, the military-owned Union
of Myanmar Economic Holdings is the country’s only legal importer of motor
vehicles.
In recent months, the used car market in Moulmein has been booming, says
Maung Kyaw. People who want to buy used cars come to Moulmein from other
cities, he added.

To smuggle cars to Moulmein, car dealers on the border have to bribe
government authorities and ethnic groups who control checkpoints along the
way. Smugglers must pay about 1 million kyat (US $1,200) per vehicle to
move the cars through the several gates on the road. A fee of about
100,000 or 200,000 kyat is required at each gate, says Maung Kyaw.

To smuggle cars to Moulmein, car dealers on the border have to bribe
government authorities and ethnic groups who control checkpoints along the
way.

The checkpoints are controlled by ethnic ceasefire groups such as the New
Mon State Party, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, Karen National Union and
others are controlled by the government. Some of these groups are involved
in smuggling cars, says the car dealer in Moulmein.

He added that along the Thai border the price of a used car is about
150,000 baht (about US $3,700). But the prices jump to about 5 million
kyat (approximately US $6,000) at the car market in Moulmein, with some
vehicles fetching up to 10 million kyat.

Besides the route from Sangklaburi to Moulmein, used cars are also being
smuggled from the northern Thai border town of Mae Sai where they are
transported to a market in Mandalay. Some smuggled cars in Mandalay also
come from Muse, a town on the Chinese border.

In Rangoon, where police keep an eye out for illegal cars, drivers of
smuggled vehicles must be cautious, says Maung Kyaw, adding that if a
smuggled car is found in the capital, the owner is punished and the
vehicle confiscated.
_______________________

March 18, BBC Monitor
Burmese police increase security measures following student protests

It has been learned from sources close to the police that Police
Headquarters in Rangoon has issued a directive to increase security
measures at all important buildings in the various states and divisions
after recent disturbances in some universities. According to the
directive, local police force have increased security at Waythali Hall in
Akyab, Arakan Division, and the satellite relay station in Maungdaw.
Furthermore, riot squads in Mon State and Pegu Division have been
dispatched to Thaton and Shwekyin under special arrangements. The riot
squad from Sagaing Division has been sent to the vicinity of Kyi Ywa in
Tabayin Township while the riot squad from Mandalay Division has been sent
to Kyaukse where religious riots broke out in the past.

In recent days, the military had to intervene and control the
deteriorating situation as clashes broke out between students and police
at Prome in Pegu Division and Myitkyina University in Kachin State. Akyab
University was closed temporarily last month as fighting broke out between
Buddhist and Muslim university students. Furthermore, similar clashes
occurred between medical college students and police in Magwe three months
ago. Because of frequent clashes between students and police, coinciding
with the ongoing matriculation examinations, authorities have increased
security measures.

A teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, said 10 students who were
arrested and expelled from Myitkyina University during the disturbances
were immediately released and security had been beefed up in time for the
university examinations, which begin on 24 March. When asked about the
situation in Prome, he replied;

(Unidentified teacher - recording) The disturbances coincided with the
matriculation examinations so the authorities have increased security
measures around schools. There is nothing obvious in town. It is only near
the schools. The security personnel will be there till the end of the
examination. (End of recording)

That was the security situation in Prome. According to latest reports,
some disturbances occurred at the University of Computer Science at
Danyingon, Insein Township, Rangoon today. No details have been known as
yet.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 16 Mar 04
_________________________

March 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
NLD members to wear ‘pinni’ jacket until the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

The National League for Democracy (NLD) members of Yenangyaung Township in
central Burma are wearing traditional Burmese ‘pinni’ jacket from 13
March, Burma’s Human rights Day until the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
who is unfairly detained by Burma’s military junta, State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC).

The campaign is a way of showing the unity of the NLD and the preparation
to welcome Daw Aung San Suu Kyi when she is eventually released from the
detention, according the township’s NLD vice-chairman U Hla Myint.

He added that NLD members believe that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi could be
released sooner than expected or democratic transition could occur at any
time but they are ready to fight on for freedom, democracy and human
rights in Burma until they achieve their aims.

Meanwhile, NLD offices throughout Burma are still being closed down by the
authorities but NLD youth and women members are having weekly meetings at
other places.


ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________

March 18, Irrawaddy
Refugees’ Return Won’t be Easy or Quick - Marwaan Macan-Markar

When the UN refugee agency takes its first tentative steps into
military-ruled Burma this year, it will lay the foundation for the return
of thousands of refugees—if and when this happens.

UN refugee officials say that Rangoon’s permission for the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, to visit the country does not mean
that refugees are going to be back into the country any time soon.

The UN agency will hold exploratory workshops and seminars in Karen and
Mon states and in Tenasserim Division, all of which abut Burma’s border
with Thailand.

 There are some minimum conditions that need to be fulfilled before people
are offered the opportunity to go home. —Hasim Utkan, head of the UNHCR
regional office in Bangkok.

"The workshops will help us assess the ground situation," Hasim Utkan,
head of the UNHCR regional office in Bangkok, said. "There are some
minimum conditions that need to be fulfilled before people are offered the
opportunity to go home."

But, he said that UNHCR—which on March 11 said it had finally been given
permission to visit Burma’s border area—will not be assigning a
"full-fledged team" from its staff for this initial operation in the three
areas.

The workshop themes during the UNHCR’s preliminary efforts in Burma will
cover health, education, community services, infrastructure development
and landmine clearance. The agency hopes that these efforts will pave the
way for these basic services and safety to be restored in villages and
communities ahead of the day when refugees return.

"What is significant is that the SPDC has recognized that UNHCR should be
there as a first step towards people returning," Utkan said in reference
to the ruling State Peace and Development Council military junta.

There are currently close to 120,000 refugees in nine camps along the
Thai-Burma border. Over 90,000 of them are from the Karen ethnic
community, while over 20,000 are ethnic Karennis. In Karen State, reports
say, some 200,000 internally displaced persons are living in the jungle.

The steps being taken by UNHCR to help these refugees return are no
different from the measures it pursued earlier when helping refugees from
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, who left in the sixties and seventies, head
home from Thailand.

Since 1975, over 1.3 million people from neighboring countries have sought
refuge in Thailand from wars and conflicts. The 1980s witnessed the
highest presence of refugees in the country—over 300,000 being assisted in
UNHCR camps.

 It is better if UNHCR waits until the political dialogue begins before
going into Burma. Soe Aung, from the Network for Democracy and
Development

But while the UN agency considers the moment opportune for it to finally
enter Burma—after a decade of appealing to the military regime for access
to the areas where the refugee population come from—there are some who
question this move.

Some Burmese exiles in Thailand argue that UNHCR’s efforts will be
undermined if the junta refuses to proceed with its plans to push ahead
this year with its much-bandied political reform process.

That includes the reconvening of the National Convention to draft a new
constitution for a country that has been suppressed by a military
dictatorship for over 40 years. Rangoon has still not announced a date to
initiate this reform process, but the expectation is that it will start

sometime around mid-year. Rangoon also continues to hold under house
arrest the opposition leader Aung San Suu Syi, who was taken in after an
attack by thugs, believed to be linked to the junta, in May 2003.

"I was not surprised by the [junta’s] decision to let UNHCR in, but I
think the decision to start work is premature," said Soe Aung, external
affairs director of the Network for Democracy and Development, a group
comprised of Burmese exiles in Thailand.

"It is better if UNHCR waits until the political dialogue begins before
going into Burma," he added during an interview. "Because if not, this UN
effort may suffer due to the unexpected political developments in Burma."

Such concerns are in keeping with the view held by many Burmese exiles
here that Rangoon cannot be trusted and that it has to do more to improve
its human rights record. Rangoon has been accused of pressuring people
into forced labor camps, ordering members of the country’s ethnic
minorities to be porters for the army to imprisoning the junta’s political
opponents.

But the junta’s current willingness to talk peace with the Karen National
Union, or KNU, which been fighting the Burmese military for the last 55
years, has helped Rangoon deflect some criticism.

Already, three rounds of peace talks have been held between KNU leaders
and the junta to lay the groundwork to ending Burma’s longest running
ethnic conflict.

"The talks have been frank and held in a good atmosphere," David Taw, head
of foreign affairs for the KNU, said. "We will be having another round of
talks at the end of March or early April to discuss our current military
positions."

He expects the outcome of that round of talks to minimize the potential of
attacks taking place, since the KNU is expected to reveal its military
positions to the junta. "Then clear demarcations can be made of each
other’s military strength to avoid confrontations," he explained.

The significance of these talks have not been lost on UNHCR, since the
bulk of refugees it will have to help relocate are Karens who have fled
their state over the years due to fighting and abuses by the Burmese
military.

"The peace talks involving the KNU added a sense of urgency for us to get
ready to help returnees," said UNHCR’s Utkan.

At the same time, though, he admits that there are political minefields
ahead as UNHCR pursues this new assignment. Added Utkan: "This will be a
high-visibility operation, and we will be watched by many in the donor
community who are skeptical about this process."

Inter Press Service (IPS)
_________________________

March 18, Peoples Daily
Forest fire on Myanmar border threatens China

A big forest fire along the China-Myanmar border has been temporarily
diverted from China using a 30 meter wide trench, but experts say the
blaze will reach China soon.

The fire is still burning and it is highly likely it will spread to the
territory of Yunnan Province, which borders Myanmar, blown by strong wind,
said a Chinese official in charge of fire-fighting in the region.

The fire broke out between No. four and No. eight boundary markers in
Tengchong County of southwest China's Yunnan Province on March 14. Within
a single day, the flame approached the Chineseside at several spots.

Some 2,000 forest fire fighters in Baoshan City rushed to the
China-Myanmar border to build an isolation belt which is 4,000 meters long
and 30 meters wide to prevent the fire to pass across the border.


BUSINESS / MONEY
_____________________________________

March 18, Xinhua
Myanmar, India launch pilot bio-gas industrial project

Myanmar and India have jointly launched a pilot industrial project run
with bio-gas under the energy sector development program of a sub-regional
five-country economic grouping.

The Myamar-India industrial project of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri
Lanka and Thailand-Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC) is being implemented in
Mandalay division's Myingyan area by the Myanmar Forest Department and the
Energy and Resources Institute of India, official newspaper The New Light
of Myanmar reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, the grouping has also planned to set up a BIMST-EC Energy
Information Center in Myanmar as well as two export groups from the member
states to implement the cooperation in natural gas and renewable energy
sectors, according to an earlier official report.

The energy sector is among the six priority sectors for cooperation
initially designated by the BIMST-EC which was originally formed in
Thailand in June 1997 by four Asian nations --Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka
and Thailand --bordering the Bay of Bengal and its membership was later
extended to Myanmar in August that year.

The other sectors for cooperation are trade and investment, technology,
transport and communications, tourism and fishery with two more sectors of
agriculture and natural disaster preparedness being added later.
_________________________

March 17, Associated Press
Switzerland, Thailand discuss free trade agreement

The leaders of Thailand and Switzerland talked Thursday about setting up a
free trade agreement, both said.

Swiss President Joseph Deiss said Thailand and the European Free Trade
Association - made up of Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway -
are preparing to negotiate a deal in the coming months.

Deiss met with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Thursday, the
second day of Deiss' four-day visit to promote economic cooperation
between the two countries.

During the meeting, Thaksin expressed hope that an agreement would be
signed before the end of the year, said Christophe Hans, spokesman for the
Swiss president.

Thaksin told reporters he'd briefed Deiss' delegation on Thailand's
existing free trade pacts and other economic matters.

Thaksin said at a news conference that the two leaders had discussed
cooperation in tourism and education, and in the watch-making,
pharmaceutical and banking sectors.

Hans said they also talked about the political situation in Thailand's
military-ruled neighbor Myanmar. Many Western nations officially shun the
country because of the regime's poor record on human rights and democracy.

Switzerland has a strong humanitarian interest in Myanmar and wants to
take part in "trying to find a solution" there, said Hans.

On Friday, Deiss was slated to help launch the first private equity fund
to invest in small and medium-size enterprises in China and the 10-country
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The ASEAN China Investment Fund's main investors and sponsors are the
Swiss government, the Asian Development Bank and Singapore's United
Overseas Bank.

Deiss was to have an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Friday
before returning to Switzerland on Saturday.


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

March 18, Irrawaddy
Work Permits for Migrants Postponed - Aung Su Shin/Mae Sot

The Thai government’s plan to issue new work permits to Burmese migrant
workers in April has been postponed, said a Tak provincial labor official
yesterday.

The official said the Thai government asked Burmese government
representatives come to Thailand to endorse their citizens as alien
workers, but instead, the representatives have requested that Burmese
citizens be returned to Burma, the labor official added. The issuing of
new work permits has thus been postponed until an agreement can be
reached.

Local businesses are feeling the effects of the departure of thousands of
Burmese workers from Mae Sot.

About a week ago, Thai authorities distributed a statement written in
Burmese around the border town of Mae Sot announcing that they would
return all migrants without work permits before March 15. Some returned on
their own will while others were arrested and sent to Burma’s Myawaddy
Township last week.

The holding center for returning migrants, at a converted soccer ground in
Myawaddy, returned more than 6,000 people to their homes yesterday, say
local residents. A few thousand remain at the center, awaiting
transportation to return home.

A Myawaddy resident said the center took photographs, personal information
and medical exams of each returning worker before imploring them to never
again seek work in neighboring countries. The resident added that the
center provided free transportation to Pa-an, in Karen State, and 500 kyat
(US $ 0.65) for the workers’ trips home.

The center also issued a warning to workers saying that those who are
arrested in Thailand again will receive six-month jail sentences,
according to the Myawaddy resident.

Those who returned under their own will are staying at Buddhist temples
around the town or at the homes of friends and relatives. One worker said
he would return to Mae Sot once the Thai government eases pressure on
Burmese migrant laborers.

Local businesses are feeling the effects of the departure of thousands of
Burmese workers from Mae Sot. Bus services are struggling to find
passengers and several local shopkeepers complain that fewer customers are
buying their goods.
_________________________

March 17, Agence France Presse
Switzerland to join next round of international talks on Myanmar

Switzerland said Thursday it will join 12 other countries in the next
round of international talks on the prospects for reform in military-run
Myanmar.

Swiss President Joseph Deiss, on a three-day official visit to Thailand,
said he discussed the issue with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,
whose government initiated the so-called "Bangkok process" last December
to address the situation in neighbouring Myanmar.

"I welcome the fact we got positive answers in our wish to be associated
with the Bangkok process which is trying to get progress in the relations
with Myanmar," Deiss said after talks with Thaksin.

"We have strong humanitarian interest in Myanmar, and we have interest in
trying to find a solution in Myanmar," he said.

Thaksin said he would welcome Switzerland into the forum.

"We support Swiss interest in participating in the Bangkok process,"
Thaksin said.

Deiss also hinted that Switzerland was closely involved in seeking a
warming of ties between the ruling generals and democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Yangon but told a United Nations
envoy this month that she is ready to work with the junta towards a
democratic transition.

"We have a person negotiating between both parties," Deiss said, declining
to elaborate.

Aung San Suu Kyi is under strict confinement at her home and UN envoy
Razali Ismail was believed to be one of the few outsiders to visit the
Nobel peace laureate in months.

The international talks, the next round of which are expected in mid-2004,
also include representatives from Australia, Austria, China, France,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Thailand, in
addition to Myanmar.

Host Thailand has said the forum is linked to Myanmar's "road map" to
democracy which Yangon announced last year, and whose first step, the
launching of a national convention to draft a constitution, is due in
2004.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Issue cover-dated March 25, 2004, Far Eastern Economic Review
Perennial Poser: As the U.S. and Europe prepare to review sanctions, a new
report advocates engagement - By Murray Hiebert/WASHINGTON

BURMA'S MILITARY LEADERS are back in the spotlight as the United States
and Europe consider renewing, or even ratcheting up, their annual
sanctions against Rangoon. Once again attention is focusing on the junta's
failure to move forward on democracy and open a meaningful dialogue with
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But the efficacy of Western policy is
also being closely examined.

The debate has been prompted in part by a new study drafted by a group of
Burma specialists, who argue that U.S. sanctions have not achieved their
aims and have been counter-productive in moving the country toward
democracy. The publication of the report seems to suggest that there's a
growing sense among influential specialists that the U.S. needs to rethink
its Burma policy. But the continuing anger in the U.S. and Europe about
the junta's refusal to release Suu Kyi from house arrest makes it unlikely
that Western governments will soften their isolation policies any time
soon.

The report advocating engagement with Rangoon was released on March 5,
just ahead of hearings in the U.S. Congress at which administration
officials will almost certainly be pressed to renew economic sanctions.
The three hearings are due to be held before mid-April. Across the
Atlantic, European Union officials are being lobbied by human-rights
activists to impose stiffer sanctions when they review their common policy
on Burma before the end of April.

The 101-page report released by the National Bureau of Asian Research, a
Seattle-based think-tank, argues that U.S. sanctions have undermined
reformers within the Burmese military who might be inclined to seek a
compromise with Suu Kyi. If anything, the authors write, U.S. sanctions
have "strengthened the resolve of the opponents of reform in the
military."

"The big reason trade sanctions are unlikely to have the impact that
Congress would like is that the Burmese regime has quite skilfully . . .
worked to build up trade and alliances with its neighbours," argues
retired academic John Badgely, who edited the essays. The Burma expert
says there's now "almost no consequences to the U.S. pressure" because of
Rangoon's growing economic ties with its Southeast Asian neighbours, China
and India.

But this pro-engagement argument seems to have had little influence in
Washington. Pointing out that Suu Kyi is under house arrest and "unable to
participate in public, political life," U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell declared on March 10 that the U.S. "will continue to apply
pressure" for her release. He added that he would again this year be
"looking at the sanctions issue very, very carefully." Two days later,
President George W. Bush hailed the Burmese opposition leader as "a
courageous reformer."
Bush signed an import ban against Rangoon into law last July 28, just two
months after a violent attack against Suu Kyi and her followers in
northern Burma. She has not been seen in public since. Under the
legislation, the sanctions expire after a year unless Bush renews them.
Some hints that the stand-off between the military and Suu Kyi might be
nearing resolution emerged after Prime Minister Khin Nyunt recently told a
United Nations envoy that he was committed to releasing his rival and
beginning political talks.

PUSH FOR MORE SANCTIONS
But these reports have done nothing to soften Washington's resolve. If
anything, the U.S. Congress would like the administration to lobby U.S.
allies to cooperate to step up Rangoon's isolation. "The task before the
Bush administration is to make a sustained, high-level effort to convince
our allies in Europe and Asia to move towards similar import sanctions
against Burma's ruling 'thugocracy'," says Democratic Congressman Tom
Lantos. Senate Republican whip Mitch McConnell recently condemned Thailand
for its stepped-up business investment in Burma. "Our friends in the
region have to do more," insists a Senate aide working on Asia.

The EU, which last year did not follow the U.S. lead and impose trade
sanctions, may consider increasing pressure when it completes its annual
"common position" on Burma in late April. A spokesperson for the
Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland, which is chairing the EU this
year, says "revisions," including sanctions against Burma's timber and gem
exports, are being considered by those drafting this year's policy
position.

But Burma's neighbours, just like the authors of the report, believe
engagement would be more effective in dealing with the regime's military
leaders. "The problem is how to get them out of their shell, not further
isolate them," says a senior Southeast Asian diplomat.