BurmaNet News, February 23, 2005

[Editor]

February 23, 2005 Issue # 2661

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: ILO team leaves Yangon after failing to meet top generals on forced
labor
Mizzima: Burmese government troops launch no return operation on Karenni
rebels
Xinhua: Chinese-built new Myanmar hydropower plant to open for commercial run

REGIONAL
Mizzima: Burma Foreign Minister to visit Bangladesh tomorrow

INTERNATIONAL
International Oil Daily: France's Total faces renewed criticism over work
in Myanmar
Indianapolis Star: Local Chin community marks national holiday

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: UN must learn from ILO’s stand on Burma
Financial Times: The fate of failed states is our shared responsibility

ANNOUNCEMENT
Burma Campaign UK’s Total report can be found here:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/total_report.html

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 23, Agence France Presse
ILO team leaves Yangon after failing to meet top generals on forced labor

Yangon: A high-level team sent by the UN's International Labour
Organisation on Wednesday cut short its mission to Myanmar, after failing
to meet top generals to assess the junta's commitment to fighting forced
labour.

"The mission decided that there would be no point at this stage to have
more in-depth discussions at the technical level" on steps to fight forced
labour, the team said in a statement before leaving two days early.

It said authorities cited the ongoing National Convention, convened to
draft principles for a new constitution, as the reason why top leaders,
including regime number one Senior General Than Shwe, could not meet the
delegation as planned.

"The mandate which had been entrusted to the very high-level team ... was
to evaluate the attitude of the Myanmar authorities at the highest level
to the elimination of forced labour and assess their determination to
continue their cooperation with the ILO in this regard," it said.

"The Myanmar authorities were fully aware of these terms of reference
before the mission departed for Yangon," it added.

"However, the mission was informed on its arrival that for various reasons
linked to the National Convention, the program did not include the
meetings that would have enabled it to successfully complete its mandate
as it understood it."

The delegation said it did meet Prime Minister Lieutenant General Soe Win
and Labor Minister U Thaung on Tuesday, as well as Foreign Minister Major
General Nyan Win on Wednesday.

The delegation was trying to assess whether the new government is
determined to tackle the problem despite last October's sacking of prime
minister Khin Nyunt.

The independent team, headed by former Australian governor-general Sir
Ninian Stephen, will report to the next session of the ILO's governing
body in March.

Myanmar is scheduled to come up for discussion on March 24, when the
governing body could decide to renew its call for sanctions.

The visit was seen as a test of Yangon's willingness to cooperate in
fighting forced labor.

One source close to the ILO described the team's early departure as "a
failure for everyone" but said their trip "went badly from the start."

The source said that there is still one month until the ILO governing body
meets. "The delegation said that the door is still open."

The delegation said it submitted a memo to Nyan Win outlining steps that
would show Myanmar's determination to fight forced labor.

These included issuing new orders by the defense ministry against forced
labor, reconfirming Myanmar's commitment to a plan previously agreed with
the ILO, allowing the ILO officer in Yangon free movement, and raising
public confidence in legal complaints against forced labor.

In 1998 a major ILO inquiry found that forced labour was pervasive and
systematic throughout the country, particularly with the military.

In 2000 the ILO's governing body recommended trade and other sanctions
against Myanmar because of its lack of cooperation in tackling the
practice.

The ILO and the junta agreed on a plan of action in May 2003, but shelved
it two days later when the junta detained pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Until recently courts either threw out forced labor complaints or workers
withdrew the cases.

A Myanmar court made an unprecedented ruling late last month, convicting
four officials of forcing villagers to work on a road project and jailing
them for up to 16 months, according to the United Nations.

______________________________________

February 22, Mizzima News
Burmese government troops launch no return operation on Karenni rebels -
Han Pai

Failing to make a progress after attacking Karenni rebels for over a
month, the government troops have changed the operation code name and will
re-launch fresh attacks.

Under the operation code-name "Kyaw Min Soe", joint forces of the
government and a few Karenni factional ceasefire groups attacked the
Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) all of January last year but
failed to make any progress. Thus, the military junta has change the
operational code-name to "Naung Yoe" on February 8 and re-launched
attacks.

"As far as we know, "Naung Yoe" means no return, no going back," said Khoo
Raymond Htoo of the KNPP.

According to Raymond Htoo, the Light Infantry Battalions No. 55 and 512
are attacking Karenni strongholds. With sporadic attacks of about 10
rocket grenades per day now, he believes that there could be a severe
attack sometime in March.

"What we are estimating is that as Armed Forces Day is in the month of
March, they might use that day to launch a heavy attack because it is a
frequent practice of the Burmese Army," said Raymond Htoo.

The Karenni rebels have been responding with guerrilla attacks on the
Rangoon troops. On February 20 the KNPP Regiment 2 divided into two groups
and ambushed the LIB 429 while marching from Bawlakhe to Loi Kaw. Five
government troops, including a section commander, were killed and another
five soldiers were injured.

Although there were proposed ceasefire talks between both sides earlier
this year, there have been no further developments and the fighting
continues.

The KNPP has never directly dealt with the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) but has dealt with Kayah State peace negotiators. However,
"They said these people are terrorists, drug smugglers and rebels groups,"
said Raymond Htoo.

Nevertheless, the KNPP said they are willing to enter talks towards a
peace agreement.

______________________________________

February 23, Xinhua Economic News Service
Chinese-built new Myanmar hydropower plant to open for commercial run

Kunming: A source with the Yunnan Provincial Machinery and Equipment
Import and Export Corporation (YMEIEC) of China said here recentlythat the
plant's last generating unit has been successfully installed this month.
It will be in service with the other three generating units next month.

Through six years' efforts made jointly by technicians from Myanmar and
China, the 280-megawatt (mw) four-unit hydropower plant, called the
Paunglaung, will generate about one-third of Myanmar's total existing
power on full run of the units, accordingto the Chinese company.

The power plant, which cost 160 million US dollars, is located 16 km due
east of Pyinmana, Mandalay division. The plant is not only the largest one
in Myanmar, but also the largest hydropower plant that China ever built in
the southeast Asia.

The contract for the Paunglaung power plant was signed between the YMEIEC
and the state-run Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise in October 1998.

Under the contract, the Chinese builder was to provide the machinery and
equipment, design underground factory and direct work implementation.

According to official statistics, Myanmar's present total installed
generating capacity has reached 1,200 mw, double the amount in 1988. Yet
it is far short of meeting the growing demand due to economic growth and
rise in living standards.

______________________________________
REGIONAL

February 23, Mizzima News
Burma Foreign Minister to visit Bangladesh tomorrow - Navatha Kuria

Guwahati: Burma Foreign Minister Nyan Win will pay three days visit to
Bangladesh from tomorrow, according to a source closed to Foreign Ministry
of Bangladesh.

During his visit, he will discuss his counterpart for improvement of
bilateral trade, about direct road link between Rangoon and Dhaka and
repatriation of Burmese refugees from Bangladesh, the source said.

In a low profile visit, Nyan Win will be accompanied by the director
general of the Political Department and Assistant Director of Southwest
Asia Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Burma.

The visit comes at a time when military-ruled Burma has reopened the

constitutional drafting convention amid strong criticism from domestic
opponents, the United States and the European Union for lacking to create
the conditions for the dissidents to participate.

Nyan Win will also lay the foundation stone of a bridge at Taungbro on
Bangladesh-Burma border areas. The proposed highway to Rangoon of Burma
will start from Gundum in Bangladesh.

He is coming to Bangladesh for the first time, invited by Bangladesh
Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 23, International Oil Daily
France's Total faces renewed criticism over work in Myanmar - Deborah Kelly

London: French oil company Total has come under renewed pressure to
withdraw from Myanmar in a new report by the Burma Campaign UK, which
claims that Total has helped finance the country's brutal military
dictatorship.

Total is working with US oil company Unocal on the controversial $1.2
billion Yadana natural gas and pipeline project in southern Myanmar,
formerly known as Burma. Since it launched the project in the early 1990s,
Total has been hit by numerous allegations of human rights abusesrelating
to the regime's efforts to help build the pipeline, including the use of
forced labor.

The report, titled "Totalitarian Oil -- Total Oil: Fueling the oppression
in Burma,"was released Monday to coincide with the launch of a global
campaign against Total, supported by 40 organizations in 18 countries.

"The international campaign on Total aims to force the company to withdraw
from Burma in order to end the company's support for the regime, deter
future foreign investment in Burma and open the way to a French foreign
policy that no longer undermines Burma's pro-democracy movement," the
group said in a statement.

One of the report's key findings is the influence that Total's presence in
Myanmar appears to be having on French foreign policy. This is borne out,
the report claims, by Paris' veto in 2004 of a proposed EU ban on new
investment in the country's oil and gas sectors. The US imposed similar
sanctions in 1997.

"Europemust, in addition to applying an EU investment ban, push for UN
mandatory sanctions on Burma," Burma Campaign UK Director John Jackson
said in a statement. But he added: "It is likely that the French
government will block UN Security Council and EU action on Burmaas long as
Total remains in the country."

Since the Yadana gas development began operations in 1998, it has provided
as much as $450 million in annual revenues for the government, the report
claims. Total revenue from gas exports from the Yetagun and Yadana gas
fields has risen to $921 million, or 30% of export earnings in 2002-03,
according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Natural gas is now Myanmar's largest single source of export revenue, with
proven recoverable reserves of 6.5 trillion cubic feet. Yadana promises to
be a key ongoing source of hard currency over its 30-year contract term.

Total is 31.24% operator of the Yadana project, while Unocal has a 28.26%
interest. Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has 25.5% and
the state Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise has 15%.

" [Total's ] investment in Burmahas helped the regime to build its
military capacity and therefore its control of the country's population.
It has impeded the prospect of democratic change," the report says. Around
half of Myanmar's budget is deployed on the military while spending on
health has fallen to the lowest of any country in the world, and 60% of
children do not complete primary education.

The report also citeswidespread human rights abuses, which were allegedly
committed by security forces in the region of the Yadana project. It
claims that security arrangements for Total during the construction of the
onshore pipeline in 1991 created a militarized zone. "As onshore work
began, the military directed the construction of service roads and
helipads, as well as their own camps and barracks, through the use of
forced labor."

Total, meanwhile, maintains that its role in Myanmaris positive and is
sticking to its stated policy of constructive engagement with the
government and its belief that economic development and human rights
progress go hand in hand. The company website highlights its humanitarian
work in the area of the pipeline pointing to a variety of community
programs.

"Total has ... never had a contractual relationship, either direct or
indirect, with the army, and has not provided it with financial or
logistical support," it says. "Since fieldwork commenced in 1994 we have
always monitored the army's actions very closely to prevent forced labor.
When cases of forced labor were brought to light, we provided assistance
to the victims or their families, in the form of cash or other
contributions, and made sure that the money was received by the intended
beneficiary," the company said.

If it quit the country some argue the alternative could be worse. An Asian
replacement would make it far more difficult to bring pressure to bear on
such a company. Or, the regime would simply get a bigger share of the
project and therefore more revenue.

The campaign cannot stop the flow of Yadana cash, admitted Mark Farmaner,
Burma Campaign UKspokesman, but he said: "The blow to political and
economic confidence in the regime of Europe's largest investor withdrawing
would prevent much more investment revenue in the future. It would
represent the greatest deterrent to potential investors."

Separately, Total faces legal action over two lawsuits, in Franceand
Belgium, filed by Burmese citizens over alleged human rights abuses in the
1990s during pipeline construction. In January 2005, the French court
decided that on the initial instruction of the investigating judge, the
case would proceed.

Unocal faced two similar lawsuits in the USat both state and federal court
level, but in December 2004, decided to settle out of court with the
plaintiffs.

"Unocal's decision ... has serious consequences for Total," the report
said. "Total and Unocal are inextricably linked on this issue, and
therefore if Unocal lacked confidence in its defense, one can assume that
Total is in an extremely difficult position, too."

_____________________________________

February 21, Indianapolis Star
Local Chin community marks national holiday - Terry Horne

Political refugees from Burma celebrate at middle school with songs,
dances and speeches.

Five years ago, all the Chin expatriates who had settled in Indianapolis
could gather in an apartment to celebrate "Chin National Day."

There were 21 then, mostly refugees who came here seeking political asylum.

They had fled their native land along the Indo-Burmese border because of
the military junta's dictatorial rule in the country many people know as
Burma. (The junta renamed it Myanmar.)

And one by one, family by family, they came to Indianapolis because they
knew the Rev. Thlaawr Bawihrin, a Chin who moved here in 1996 to study at
Christian Theological Seminary. Or because they knew someone else who had
followed him here.

Today, about 350 Chin live in Indianapolis, mostly on the city's
Southside, in or near Perry Township.

It is, said celebration chairman Hre Mang, one of six major Chin
communities in the United States, communities that range in size from 200
to 500 people.

On Sunday, Indianapolis' Chin community, like the settlements in Atlanta,
Dallas, Seattle, Washington and Battle Creek, Mich., celebrated their
national holiday -- a day that could only be celebrated as a national
"state" day in their homeland.

In the gymnasium at Perry Meridian Middle School, about 250 Chin men,
women and children listened to a plaintive folk song and sang their
national anthem. They heard short speeches. They watched traditional
dances such as the "ruakhat tlak" -- a victory dance in which couples
dance, carefully in step, between pairs of bamboo rods banged together in
beat.

Here, the holders used long poles of 2-inch PVC pipe instead of bamboo.

Nearly everyone was wearing a blazer, skirt or blanket in burgundy or
black with colorful stripes bearing geometric symbols. Each shape had a
meaning. The designs represented the courage, faithfulness and
peacefulness of the Chin, Bawihrin said.

Yet the speakers gave their talks in English, rather than Chin, so that
visitors could understand who they are.

The Chins are descendants of Mongoloid tribes who settled a mountainous
region, slightly smaller than Switzerland, that is mostly in Burma but
also overlaps parts of India and Bangladesh.

Today, Chin is one of seven Burmese states -- a poor state in an
economically troubled country. The Chin people, including those in India
and Bangladesh, number about 1.5 million, whereas Burma has a population
of about 52 million, according to U.S. estimates.

When the British colonized the area in 1895, Baptist missionaries
converted most of the Chins to Christianity. And when the British gave
Burma independence, Chin leaders helped negotiate what they thought would
be a constitutional democracy. Chin would be its own state, and possibly
independent one day, Bawihrin said.

According to the State Department's Burma profile, however, a military
government took control of the mostly Buddhist country in 1962, and some
version of military government has largely ruled since.

The military changed Burma's name to Myanmar, but in a show of support for
the junta's opposition, the U.S. government still uses "Burma."

Mang, who helped organize Sunday's celebration, said that only in the past
couple of years has he been able to call or send e-mail to friends in
Chinland, and he still has to watch what he says. Any mention of something
political could land the recipient in jail.

Bawihrin is luckier than most because he has a religious visa, which has
allowed him to visit his three brothers, two sisters and their families,
who remain in Burma.

In Indianapolis, the Chin remain very close to one another. A committee of
eight, assisted by an advisory board of 26, tries to lead and help the
community. But it's very loosely organized, Mang said.

The community, though, is close-knit, Bawihrin said. And he said nearly
all Chin hope to return to their homeland, "when freedom comes," he said.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 24, Irrawaddy
UN must learn from ILO’s stand on Burma - Bo Kyi

Frustrated by Burma’s procrastination over his repeated requests to enter
the country, UN Special Envoy Razali Ismail on Tuesday accused the Rangoon
junta of ignoring his efforts to bring about national reconciliation with
the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

“I have to come to the conclusion that the efforts of the UN have been
denied, not taken into account by the present regime,” said Razali, a
former Malaysian diplomat. “It makes us really disappointed that we are
seen in that context of not being helpful.”

Razali last visited Burma in late April, 2004, arriving there unannounced.
Subsequent attempts to return have been blocked by the Burmese regime on
the grounds that the time for a new visit isn’t yet suitable. The same
grounds have been given for blocking requests to visit Burma made by the
UN Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur for Burma, Professor
Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.

The International Labor Organization, or ILO, on the hand, has been
allowed to visit Burma to evaluate the junta’s commitment to stop forced
labor.

The different approaches adopted by the Burmese regime to the UN, its
Commission on Human Rights, or UNCHR, and the ILO, are clear.

Every year, the UN and UNCHR passes resolutions on Burma, demanding good
governance, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights,
saying they are essential for sustainable development and economic growth.
The two bodies also call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all
political prisoners, and for co-operation with its special envoys.

The appeals are all ignored, however, because UN resolutions are
non-binding, with no provision for implementation. The junta can therefore
ignore the UN and the UNCHR with impunity. This is the main reason why the
junta fails to co-operate with the UN.

Its relationship with the ILO, however, is different. The ILO has the
power to hurt the junta, through actions—not words.

For that reason, the ILO can maintain a liaison office in Burma.

While operating in Burma, the ILO has witnessed an increase in the number
of reported cases of forced labor and a growing intransigence on the part
of the authorities.

Moreover, the ILO has been increasingly critical of the lack of progress
toward eliminating forced labor in Burma. There is growing pressure from
the international trade union movement for economic sanctions to be
imposed on Rangoon.

That is the key lever forcing the junta to cooperate with the ILO. The
junta knows the potential power of the ILO.  If the ILO governing body
calls for action, shipping unions could ban the loading and unloading of
Burmese cargoes, hitting Burmese exports and making imports even more
difficult.

The ILO offers a good example of how to deal with the Burmese junta.
Constructive engagement doesn’t work. The UN must adopt stronger tactics.

Bo Kyi is a former political prisoner and is now joint secretary of the
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), based in Thailand.

_____________________________________

February 23, Financial Times
The fate of failed states is our shared responsibility - Martin Wolf

We can insist on unbridled sovereignty or we can promote widespread
stability and prosperity but we cannot, it now appears, do both. The
difficulty lies with failing or failed states - countries that are unable,
unwilling or, more often, both, to provide their people with the core
functions of a state: security, protection of property, basic public
services and essential infrastructure. Such failed states are, it should
be stressed, actual or potential sources of terrorism, organised crime,
drugs, disease and refugees.

Which are these states? On this, inevitably, there is much disagreement.
The UK's department for international development lists 46 countries, with
an aggregate population of some 900m or 14 per cent of the world total, as
fragile.* Among them are two giants: Indonesia, with a population of 212m,
and Nigeria, with a population of 133m.

The World Bank uses a narrower list of "low-income countries under
stress". The bank describes 11 countries as being in a particularly severe
condition: Afghanistan, Angola, Central African Republic, Equatorial
Guinea, Haiti, Liberia, Burma, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan and
Zimbabwe. These had aggregate populations of 165m in 2003. Another 16
countries are "core" LICUS countries, with aggregate populations of 267m.

The consensus of the development community has been that aid should be
concentrated on relatively well-run countries. But the DFID's fragile
states contain 30 per cent of the people living on less than a dollar a
day. From 1990 to 2002, their gross domestic product per head was broadly
flat. Without economic growth, extreme poverty will not be eliminated from
the world.

A report released last week by the strategy unit of the UK's cabinet
office also suggests that the interaction between capacity and
vulnerability drives instability. Capacity depends on the effectiveness
and legitimacy of states. Poor countries always have under-resourced
states. Semi-democracies, which are common in sub-Saharan Africa, seem to
be particularly fragile. Yet autocracies can also turn into places of
anarchy once the repression lifts. Meanwhile, a country's vulnerability
depends, among other things, on its poverty, the presence of valuable
natural resources and the scale of external economic shocks (see charts).

It is easy to see why the birth of so many new and desperately poor states
has created fragility. It is also easy to see why the presence of valuable
natural resources is a source of conflict. War has, after all, long been
the pursuit of profit by other means.

Yet a deeper question is how far the rich world is itself causing the
fragility. The argument is made by Mick Moore of the Institute of
Development Studies in Sussex in a review of Francis Fukuyama's book on
State Building (Cornell University Press, 2004).***

Professor Moore lists five sources of vulnerability that emanate directly
from the rich world: the supply of convenient and well-hidden places to
stash loot; the willingness of global powers to defend bad rulers of
countries that supply valuable natural resources; the ease with which
combatants can obtain weaponry; the vast wealth that can be generated by
selling prized commodities (such as oil, diamonds or, worst of all,
illegal drugs) to rich country markets; and the willingness of companies
to bribe those in power in poor countries.

This is largely correct. And the analysis feeds naturally into any attempt
to answer the biggest question: what is to be done? This is also the focus
of the strategy unit's report, which rightly puts an emphasis on
prevention, since the costs of cure are so massive. Five broad points seem
to make sense.

First, we must accept the principle of qualified sovereignty. The strategy
unit report endorses what it calls the emerging norm of a "duty to
protect". By this it means that the rights of human beings to life and at
least a degree of dignity and freedom are more important than the rights
of more or less dysfunctional states to do what they wish with those they
consider their own. States unable to perform the functions of a state do
not deserve to be left alone.

Second, we must also embrace the principle of "do no harm". The rich
countries should feel obliged to minimise the damage they do, often
unwittingly, to the poor. There is a moral obligation to make payments of
royalties transparent, end bribery, stop selling weaponry and change
self-defeating policies of drug prohibition. In all such ways, we should
try to make it more difficult for crooks and thugs to steal from - and
brutalise - hapless populations.

Third, we should invest more in prevention. This requires identification
of risks and of the interventions capable of reducing them. Those may be
economic, political or military. The effort should be made to strengthen
institutions and improve transparency in fragile countries. But it will
also be necessary to help countries cope with adverse shocks.

Fourth, we need the ability to respond swiftly and decisively to crises.
We failed in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and now in Sudan. The costs in
all these cases were far bigger than they need have been.

Finally, we need to achieve full integration of development assistance
with other actions, including security interventions, in fragile and
failing states. Progress has been made on an ad hoc basis. But it needs to
be made more systematically, within a politically legitimate framework.
The obvious one is trusteeship under the auspices of the United Nations.
But this will also require the creation of a more legitimate security
council, by making it somewhat more representative of the world.

The challenge of failing states is not a minor feature of our world. It is
central to how it will evolve in decades ahead. It is evident by now that
without a far greater sense of mutual responsibility, we shall live in a
world of abiding chaos, danger and misery. After empire we embraced
sovereignty. Now we shall have to embrace shared responsibility. It will
be hard to make this form of co-operation work. But all the alternatives
are far worse.

* Why We Need to Work More Effectively in Fragile States, January 2005,
www.dfid.gov.uk; ** Investing in Prevention: An International Strategy to
Manage Risks of Instability and Improve Crisis Response,
www.strategy.gov.uk; *** Rich World, Poor World, Boston Review December
2004/January 2005, http:// www.bostonreview.net. martin.wolf at ft.com