BurmaNet News, September 11-13, 2004

[Editor]

September 11-13, 2004, Issue # 2557

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar announces new moves to battle human trafficking
Irrawaddy: Rangoon blasts sanctions again
AP: Myanmar applauds report calling for international aid for border areas

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara: Burmese prisoners in Bangladesh refuse repatriation

DRUGS
New Straits Times: Foreign workers linked to drug trade
AFP: Myanmar announces large drop in illegal opium production: report

REGIONAL
Reuters: Myanmar PM makes key symbolic visit to Singapore

INTERNATIONAL
AP: EU threatens sanctions against Myanmar if opposition leader Suu Kyi is
not freed

OPINION / OTHER
FT Weekend Magazine: War weary: An old soldier can see no end to his
people's struggles with Burma's rulers
BP: Waiting for the flood - The wild and free Salween River is an
irresistible temptation for developers of hydro power

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 12, Agence France Presse
Myanmar announces new moves to battle human trafficking

Yangon: Military-ruled Myanmar plans to open anti-human trafficking
liaison offices in three border key towns in a bid to crack down on the
regional scourge, the Myanmar Times said.

Myanmar said it would open the new offices in the border towns of Tachilek
and Myawaddy, which border Thailand, and one near the Chinese border at
Muse, according to the semi-official weekly to be published Monday.

The announcement follows two days after the United States announced it
would ramp up sanctions against Myanmar -- along with Cuba and North Korea
-- because the military regime had allegedly not done enough to battle the
illegal trade.

However,the junta said since 2002 it had made 795 arrests and handed out
335 prison sentences ranging from three years to life in prison, according
to the weekly, which added that 2,181 victims of human trafficking had
been rescued over the same period.

Myanmar's military regime has previously blamed US sanctions, alleging
they undermine the economy, taking away resources that could be used to
fight human trafficking effectively.

The US government estimates that up to 800,000 men, women and children are
trafficked across international borders each year, more than half of them
for sexual exploitation, and that the multi-billion-dollar trade ranks
among the fastest growing transnational crimes.

____________________________________

September 13, Irrawaddy
Rangoon blasts sanctions again - Aung Lwin Oo

Burma’s military rulers have called the US and EU’s approach to Burma
“dogmatic” said a column in the state-run press on Monday.

An article published in today’s edition of the New Light of Myanmar
chastised opponents of the military regime inside and outside of the
country for refusing to cooperate with the government. It added that the
erstwhile Communist Party of Burma’s refusal to work with the ruling
generals was a tactical blunder that led to its downfall in 1989.

“Today, instead of learning lessons from the past, some parties still
choose not to engage with the existing government beholding the dogmatic
idea,” the article says. It concluded by urging all opposition groups to
support the regime-sponsored National Convention, the first step of the
junta’s so-called seven-point road map to political progress.

On Sunday, the regime lashed out at the US and the EU for criticizing
Burma’s poor human rights record. It also said that rather than advance
democracy, economic and diplomatic sanctions by the US and EU promote
poverty, instability and armed conflict in the country. The New Light also
reprinted an article written by Georgetown University professor David I
Steinberg, called “Isolating the regime in Myanmar is not the answer”, in
which the author called the sanctions unproductive.

The regime’s prompt response follows an announcement on Friday that the US
would impose further sanctions against Burma, along with Cuba and North
Korea, for failing to deter human trafficking under the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act of 2000.

Burma’s semi-official weekly newspaper the Myanmar Times reported on
Monday that Rangoon has taken measures to eliminate human trafficking. A
high-ranking police official told the journal that offices to handle the
problem will be set up in three major border towns—Tachilek, Myawaddy and
Muse.

In June, the US also renewed “The Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act 2003”
which imposes a range of trade sanctions against Burma and bans new
investments in and imports from the country. The ban will expire in August
2005 unless renewed for another year. Last year, US President George W
Bush signed an executive order that prohibits American financial
institutions from providing any services to Burma.

Meanwhile, the EU is reportedly considering imposing tighter sanctions
against Burma since it was invited into the Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM,
last week. The meeting is scheduled to be held in October in Hanoi.

____________________________________

September 12, Associated Press
Myanmar applauds report calling for international aid for border areas

Yangon: Myanmar's military government on Sunday welcomed a research
institute report urging international aid for the country's impoverished
border areas.

In an official statement, the junta said the report by the Brussels-based
International Crisis Group "reflects the reality" in the border areas,
where the government said it needs outside help with its efforts to stamp
out drug production and trafficking.

Myanmar's border areas are desperately poor, even though they are near
some of the world's fastest-growing economies and have most of the
country's natural resources.

The ICG report said Myanmar's prospects for peace, prosperity and
democracy are closely tied to the future of the border areas and their
people, most of whom are ethnic minorities.

It said foreign aid to the areas complements diplomatic efforts to restore
democracy in Myanmar.

The remote, mountainous areas along Myanmar's borders with Thailand, Laos,
China, India and Bangladesh have long suffered from war and neglect.

The United States and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions
against Myanmar for its poor human rights record and its failure to
release political prisoners including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, who is under house arrest in the capital, Yangon.

The junta's statement released Sunday said it was "unfortunate that the
U.S. and E.U. continue to believe that by promoting poverty, instability
and armed conflicts in Myanmar ... (they) will bring a sustainable
democracy and create a better life for the people of Myanmar."

Myanmar has been military-ruled for more than four decades. The current
regime took power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement, and
refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won an election two years
later.

The International Crisis Group describes itself as an independent,
nonprofit organization that aims to prevent and resolve global conflicts.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 12, Narinjara News
Burmese prisoners in Bangladesh refuse repatriation

Dhaka: About 70 Burmese prisoners in the Bandaban District jail, a border
town near Kyauk Taw Township in Western Burma, have been on a hunger
strike since September 4, as they do not want to return to Burma under a
Bangladeshi repatriation program.

The hunger strike broke out when the Bangladesh authority collected a list
of prisoners who will be sent back to Burma under a repatriation agreement
  between Burma and Bangladesh.

"Now that the hunger strike has reached the 7th day, we are very weak and
the health of strikers has deteriorated, but we will continue and carry on
the strike until we get our demands," one of the striking prisoners said.

According to sources, many Burmese prisoners in Bangladesh jails are
worried for their security if they are sent back to Burma, due to a
spreading rumor in the jails that the Burma military government detains
and tortures repatriation prisoners returned to Burma from Bangladesh.

Some Burmese citizens were arrested in Bangladesh upon entering the country,
fleeing forced labor and other human rights violations by the Burmese
authorities.

One of the prisoners said the jail authority in Bangladesh is requesting
that local UNHCR officials recognize, as refugees, some of the Burmese
prisoners who refuse to return to Burma.

In February and August of this year, over 200 Burmese prisoners were sent
back to Burma from Bangladesh and many have since faced multiple problems
from the Burmese authorities. Many were forced to pay bribes to the SPDC
authorities, while others who were unable to pay the bribes were detained
by the Burmese authority.

Presently, over 600 Burmese prisoners remain in Bangladesh, and a number
of them are unwilling to return to their homeland due to the fears of
further detention and torture by SPDC.

_____________________________________
DRUGS

September 13, New Straits Times
Foreign workers linked to drug trade

Kuala Lumpur: Are some foreign employees turning into dadah traffickers?
The police raid on Friday where five Myanmar nationals were arrested in an
apartment block off Jalan Tun Razak, seems to suggest this.

The police party, led by Dang Wangi Narcotics Department chief Assistant
Superintendent Tan Hui Teck, seized about 100 packets of heroin and an
undisclosed amount of codeine mixture.

The five men, aged between 25 and 38, appear to have been involved in
dadah activities for some time now.

City Narcotics Department chief Assistant Commissioner Othman Harun said
investigations would ascertain how widespread their activities were.

"The perception has been that illegal immigrants were involved in dadah-
related activities," Othman said.

Initial investigations reveal the contraband was purchased from locals,
repacked and sold for domestic consumption.

Over the past eight months, more than 70 Myanmar nationals, including a
number of women, have been detained for dadah-related activities.

Besides the five arrested on Friday, five more were detained for
trafficking and several more have been caught for pushing drugs.

Othman said besides Myanmar nationals, Indonesians (including those from
Acheh) topped the list of foreigners involved in dadah trafficking-cum-
distribution activities.

The string of seizures linked to the Achenese mainly involved ganja.

Since early this year, more than 135 Indonesians have been arrested for
dadah activities.

Besides Indonesian and Myanmar nationals, other foreigners held for dadah
activities in the city since January included Chinese (10), Nepalese (14),
Vietnamese (nine) and Thais (seven).

_____________________________________

September 12, Agence France Presse
Myanmar announces large drop in illegal opium production: report

Yangon: A soon-to-be released survey reveals military-ruled Myanmar has
dramatically slashed illegal opium production, the Myanmar Times said.

The joint United States and Myanmar Government survey found that opium
production had fallen by 39 percent from the previous growing season, from
484 tonnes to 292 tonnes, according to the semi-official weekly to be
published Monday.

The results of the survey -- compiled in March -- are expected to be
formally announced later this month, including figures which show opium
was grown on 30,888 hectares, down from 47,130 hectares during the same
period, a drop of 34 percent, reported the weekly.

A government spokesman told the newspaper that a joint survey conducted by
the junta and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime between January
and March was expected to show an even bigger decline in opium production.

The United Nations has praised Myanmar's efforts to eradicate opium.
However, the United States warned in March that while Myanmar had cut
poppy cultivation it remained the world's second-ranked supplier of the
drug from which derivatives such as heroin are made.

Thailand also said earlier this year that it was considering building a
high-security fence along its border with Myanmar in a bid to stop
smugglers trafficking illegal drugs into the kingdom.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 13, Reuters News
Myanmar PM makes key symbolic visit to Singapore - Jason Szep

Singapore: Singapore's prime minister highlighted U.S. and European
concerns over military-ruled Myanmar's human rights record on Monday at a
meeting that also signalled Southeast Asia's growing ties with the junta.

The city state's new prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, met a delegation of
Myanmar's top leaders, including Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt, at the
Istana presidential palace, just as the European Union looked set to
tighten sanctions on Myanmar.

"They reviewed the state of bilateral relations," said Chen Hwai Liang,
Lee's press secretary said in a brief statement. "PM Lee also highlighted
international and regional concerns about the situation in Myanmar and
their implication for Myanmar."

The delegation is the largest from any country to visit Singapore since
Lee, son of Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, took power
on Aug. 12, and carries diplomatic symbolism because of Singapore's
influence in Southeast Asia.

"We are not like the U.S., or the European Union, thousands of miles away,
we have to engage them," said Manu Bhaskaran, a partner in the
Washington-based advisory firm Centennial Group.

European Union foreign ministers are due to endorse a deal on Monday
clearing the way for an EU-Asia summit in Hanoi next month by which the
former Burma will attend at a lower level of representation as the EU also
tightens sanctions on Myanmar.

Khin Nyunt's one-day official visit covered trade and foreign policy, and
comes as Myanmar is building up its aviation sector with plans for a
second international airline while strengthening telecommunications - two
areas in which Singapore has expertise.

MYANMAR UNDER PRESSURE

"There is symbolism here because there is a lot of economic cooperation
and they are trying to inject new momentum in the relationship," said Tin
Maung Maung Than, a specialist in Myanmar issues at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies.

Myanmar's junta, under pressure to move towards democracy and free Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has accelerated a courtship of Asian leaders in
recent months before taking over the chair of the Association of South
East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2006.
Khin Nyunt met Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in July in Beijing, and made a
maiden visit to Vietnam a month later to discuss Yangon's intention to
participate in the Asia-Europe summit despite European objections.

The European Union already has a package of sanctions in place against
Yangon, including a travel ban and a freeze on Myanmar assets, and had
threatened to boycott the Oct. 8-9 Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi.

The Dutch EU presidency has proposed extending a visa ban to all senior
military officers from Myanmar and their families, and banning new
investment in ventures involving state-owned enterprises unless Myanmar
releases Suu Kyi and other democracy activists by the time of the summit.

The former British colony still has enormous natural wealth in timber,
minerals, and particularly oil and gas.

But France has raised objections, backed by Spain and Portugal. French oil
major Total (TOTF.PA) is the largest investor in Myanmar's oil and gas
sector with investment of more than $1 billion.

Khin Nyunt will stay privately in Singapore until Aug. 17, Yangon-based
diplomats said.

Although there are no reliable statistics on trade between Singapore and
Myanmar, business links are growing, underlined by the sale last year of
British American Tobacco's (BATS.L) 60 stake in a Yangon tobacco firm to
Singapore's Distinction Investment Holdings Ltd.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 13, Associated Press
EU threatens sanctions against Myanmar if opposition leader Suu Kyi is not
freed - Robert Wielaard

Brussels: The European Union threatened Myanmar's military leaders on
Monday with new sanctions unless they free opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi from house arrest by the time an EU-Asia summit opens on Oct. 8.

The 25 EU foreign ministers said the human rights situation in Myanmar,
also known as Burma, "has not improved significantly and continues to give
rise to grave concern."

The ministers said that if 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is
still in custody when the two-day summit opens in Hanoi, Vietnam, the EU
will expand its current visa ban for senior Myanmar officials and their
families.

The EU also wants Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party to be given a role in
writing a new constitution.

The ministers have already agreed on other sanctions unless Suu Kyi is
freed: banning EU firms from financing companies in Myanmar and voting
against such funding from international organizations.

The EU will also boost aid for health and education projects in Myanmar
through non-governmental organizations, and will make efforts to help
eradicate illegal logging in the country, the EU foreign ministers said in
a statement.

The threat of additional sanctions is a face-saving gesture. Initially,
the EU had objected to Myanmar attending the Hanoi summit at all because
of its human rights record.

However, Asian nations countered that if Myanmar was barred from the
meeting, they would veto attendance by Malta, Cyprus and 10 East European
nations that joined the EU in May.

The European Union was left with few options but to threaten new sanctions
and say its leaders will use the Hanoi summit "to confront Burma with
(Europe's) concerns on human rights and the need for democratic reforms."

The foreign ministers said the EU "expects" Gen. Khin Nyunt, Myanmar's
prime minister, to send a lower-level representative to the meeting
instead of appearing himself.

Britain was the most vocal opponent of Myanmar attending the Hanoi summit
of ASEM, which groups the 25 EU members and a dozen Asian countries,
including Japan, South Korea and China.

The Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency, worked hard for
the summit to take place while pushing the message that Myanmar is a
pariah nation as long as it cracks down on pro-democracy forces.

The human rights dispute has already led to the cancellation of meetings
between EU and Asian finance and economic affairs ministers.

But officials said canceling the Hanoi summit would be detrimental to
Europe's efforts to boost relations with a region that is experiencing an
economic boom, driven by formidable growth in China.

The EU foreign ministers reiterated the "great importance" Europe attaches
to relations with Asia, adding that "at the same time, the European Union
is committed to democratic change in Burma, as well as the ongoing
humanitarian assistance to the people of Burma."

The EU has imposed a travel ban on Myanmar's military leaders and frozen
their financial assets in Europe to add muscle to the demand they free Suu
Kyi and ease their crackdown on her National League for Democracy party,
which won the 1990 elections.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been detained since May last year,
following a violent clash between her followers and a pro-government mob
in northern Myanmar.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 11, FT Weekend Magazine
War weary: An old soldier can see no end to his people's struggles with
Burma's rulers - General Tamlabaw as told to William Barnes

First Person

I've been a proud Karen soldier since 1938, and I can probably count the
years of peace on one hand. First we fought the Japanese and then their
creation, the Burma Independence Army. We are still fighting that army
today. Boys have become great-grandfathers in this war. I'm not optimistic
that I will see it end. Burma is run for the benefit of a very small group
of people and they play the ethnic card very hard. The Burmese are taught
all their lives that the Karen are one of the dangerous, inferior
minorities.

As a kid in Moulmein I didn't mix with Burmese boys. Passing selection for
the British Burma Army after high school at 17 was the triumph of my youth
- 16 rupees a month and life was very good. I didn't think much about the
future. I thought the British would remain forever.

Then in December 1941 the Japanese bombed Rangoon. The 2nd Burma Rifles
were hopelessly exposed - strung out along the country's southern
panhandle. My personal priority was to find out if I was a coward or not.
I was greatly relieved when my unit repulsed the Japanese. We soon
withdrew on Royal Navy boats, but by then I knew I could fight.

The Japanese were brutal but their Burmese allies, the nationalists who
followed at their heels, really made me fear for the Karen. Their leaders
incited them to wipe out the Karen "filth". Every rascal in the country
joined in.

Instead of retreating with the British into India, I disguised myself as a
student and made my way to the Karen Hills. The Japanese caught me but
they thought the fight had been knocked out of me and released me on a
promise to persuade others to surrender.

In the hills I was privileged to meet the English soldier Major H.P.
Seagrim, who had stayed to organise the Karen resistance. He was the best
type of Englishman: soft-spoken and very religious. He carried a Bible
everywhere. By then, my blood was boiling - during my intelligence
gathering I had heard how the Burmese were slaughtering our elders, women
and children. I saw like a bad dream empty Karen houses and fallen chairs.
Even the Japanese warned them it was too much. Seagrim, who was known
among us as Grandfather Longlegs, advised us not to be reckless.

A few enlightened Burmese, such as General Aung San (the independence
leader and father of present-day opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi),
tried to stop the killing. But I already felt the bitterness in the land.
Japanese reprisals against Karen villages became so frequent after our
guerrilla attacks that Major Seagrim gave himself up in 1944 to try to
stop the killing. My heart ached when I heard that he had been beheaded. I
hope he is remembered in England.

The war's end brought nothing for me to celebrate. I was convinced the
Karen needed their own homeland to protect themselves, and the British
left quicker than I could ever have imagined. General Aung San just might
have been able to hold the country together by force of character if a
rival had not murdered him. It was a mess.

Guerrilla fighting is not Hollywood. I seem to have walked forever through
hard, hard jungle, eating bad food, wondering if a friend will die of a
minor wound. I endure because the alternative means to surrender
everything.

My sorrow today is that the generals in Rangoon still show no enthusiasm
for tackling the same big issues that confronted us around independence.
The only offer on the table is a military state in which I'd be a
second-class Burman.

Aung San Suu Kyi has won our respect because she could have chosen an
easier life and no one would have blamed her. My feeling is that she
understands more clearly than a decade ago how crucial it is to give the
minorities a fair deal.

In 1996, when I visited the capital for the first time in 45 years on a
peace mission, it was a strange feeling. The Burmese officers are saying
"Look how modern it is", but mostly I saw the same Victorian city that the
British built. Older and frayed, like me.

I'm 83 years and six months old. Sometimes I wonder how much I've missed
by living inside a war. I would like to experience a little peace again,
but abject surrender is out of the question.

General Tamlabaw, commander of the Karen National Liberation Army, has
been fighting the Burmese Army since 1949. The Karen, the biggest ethnic
minority in Burma, are trying to negotiate a ceasefire with the military
regime. Tamlabaw spoke to the FT near the Thai/Burma border town of Mae
Sot.

As told to William Barnes

____________________________________

September 12, Bangkok Post
Waiting for the flood - The wild and free Salween River is an irresistible
temptation for developers of hydro power - Sombat Raksakul

There is no simple way to reconcile the expanding human appetite for
energy consumption with environmental conservation. Whenever a choice has
to be made, economic development always seems to trump Mother Nature.
Thailand has expressed its interest in sharing in the development of hydro
power facilities along the Salween in neighbouring Burma to accommodate
its ambitions as a magnet for foreign investment. This depends on having a
stable electricity supply. Thailand plans to share investment costs with
China and Japan. A vast area of land will be inundated and the rich
eco-system of the entire region will be adversely affected on both sides
of the Thai-Burmese border if the dam is built, as seems likely.
Vocational training programmes are being conducted by staff of the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) for villagers whose
lives will be uprooted. In all, hundreds of thousands will be displaced.
The rainforest, along with the wildlife that can't make it to higher
ground, will have to stay where they are.