BurmaNet News March 2, 2005

[Editor]

March 2, 2005 Issue # 2666

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar urges farmers to help develop country on Peasant's Day
Xinhua: Myanmar top leader urges shifting to mechanized farming
BBC Monitor: Opposition radio reports "forceful recruitment" of youths by
Burmese soldiers
Irrawaddy: Legal Experts Denied Access to Accused Shan Leaders

DRUGS
AFP: Drug production, trafficking spreading through Asia-Pacific: INCB
Xinhua: Myanmar exposes 260 drug cases in January

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: More gas deposits re-estimated in Myanmar oil field

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Illegal Workers in Malaysia Go Into Hiding

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: The Forgotten Road

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 2, Agence France Presse
Myanmar urges farmers to help develop country on Peasant's Day

Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe urged farmers Wednesday to help
develop the military-ruled country by improving the agriculture sector
which he described as the economy's main pillar.

In a message to the nation marking Peasants' Day, a national holiday, the
supremo called on farmers in the impoverished country, where there is
scant industry, to play a key role in its development.

"I would like to call upon the entire peasantry earnestly to work hand in
hand with the nation's people for the Union of Myanmar to be able to stand
proudly in the world," he said.

He asked them to work "for peace and development, for the emergence of an
enduring constitution, for the development of the agriculture sector, the
main pillar of the national economy, and for the successful realisation of
the seven-point policy programme of the future of the state."

He noted that farmers are among the more than 1,000 delegates currently
attending a national convention, which is aimed at drafting a constitution
to be put to vote as part of the junta's seven-step "road map" to
democracy.

The convention has been condemned internationally for failing to include
Myanmar's leading pro-democracy party.

Myanmar's economy is reeling from decades of neglect coupled with
sanctions -- primarily by the European Union and United States -- aimed at
freeing detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

March 2, Xinhua
Myanmar top leader urges shifting to mechanized farming

Myanmar top leader Senior-General Than Shwe on Wednesday urged peasants in
the country to shift to mechanized farming, while making full use of
increased area of farmland.

Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, made the
call in his message on the occasion of the country's Peasants' Day that
falls on Wednesday.

Necessary steps are being taken to enable the state and the private
sectors to mass-produce agricultural machinery, he said.

Noting that the government is implementing the five rural development
tasks for education, health, economic and social development of rural
population, he called on the peasants to strive, on their part, for the
enhancement of their socio-economic life and for realization of the
production targets of the agricultural sector.

The Myanmar chairman revealed the latest figures that since 1988, the
country has built a total of 171 dams, irrigating 931, 500 hectares more
of farmland with 36 more such infrastructures being under construction.

Besides, he added, there are 271 river-water pumping stations across the
country, benefiting 121,500 hectares more of farmland.

Moreover, he disclosed that the total sown area of the country has reached
16.7 million hectares.

Politically, the message went on to say that the government is working
hard for peace and stability, the rule of law and further consolidation of
national unity, stressing that the on-going national convention to frame a
new state constitution represents the very first and most important step
of the government's seven- point roadmap to democracy.

He described the participation of the peasant delegate groups in the
discussions in the national convention as carrying out the national duty.

He further called on the peasantry to work hand-in-hand with the national
people for peace and development, for the emergence of an enduring
constitution and for the development of the agricultural sector, the main
pillar of the national economy, as well as the successful realization of
the roadmap for the future of the state.

______________________________________

March 2, Xinhua General News Service
Opposition radio reports "forceful recruitment" of youths by Burmese soldiers

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma web site, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 28
Feb 05

Text of report by Burmese opposition radio Democratic Voice of Burma web
site on 28 February

We have learned that parents are gravely concerned by the forceful
recruitment of juveniles by the SPDC State Peace and Development Council
troops in Pegu Division's Zigon Township. On 29 January, Min Min Htaik,
15-year-old son of U Pauk Sa of Zigon, and another unidentified child were
lured away by SPDC soldiers.

Local residents say L/Cpl Myo Min of 525th Supply Unit based in Moulmein
enticed the children and sent them to the recruitment centre at Danyingon
in Rangoon. U Pauk Sa who went to the recruitment centre but was not
permitted to see his son was reported to be very worried.

Although the local residents did not know exactly know how Min Min Htaik
was taken away by L/Cpl Myo Min, soldiers are known to have offered food,
clothing, shelter, as well as good salary as incentives to lure children
into the armed forces. Local residents say parents in Zigon region are
very concerned because their young children are being lured away and
unwittingly sent to the recruitment centre.
______________________________________

March 2, Irrawaddy
Legal Experts Denied Access to Accused Shan Leaders

Legal experts who tried on Tuesday to visit detained ethnic Shan
politicians before their trial were refused access to the special court in
Insein prison, one of them complained.

The trial reportedly began on Tuesday of several ethnic Shan leaders who
were arrested before the resumption of the National Convention on February
17.

They include 82 year-old politician Shwe Ohn, Maj-Gen Sao Hso Ten,
president of the Shan State Peace Council, or SSPC, Hkun Htun Oo, chairman
of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, or SNLD, and SNLD
general-secretary Sai Nyunt Lwin.

When legal experts Aung Thein and Nyan Win, from the opposition National
League for Democracy, or NLD, tried on Tuesday to gain entry to the
special court in Insein Prison and to meet the accused they were barred,
Aung Thein reported.

“It is a sign that the authorities did not allow them (the accused) to
hire defense lawyers,” Aung Thein told The Irrawaddy by telephone from
Rangoon on Wednesday. “They are (also) not allowed to meet with their
families.”

The families of Hkun Htun Oo and Sai Nyunt Lwin had asked the NLD legal
team to provide assistance, Aung Thein said.

The accused Shan leaders are expected to face charges of treason, which
carries a maximum life sentence, and defamation of the state, according to
Fu Cin Sian Thang, chairman of the Zomi National Congress and a member of
the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament, or CRPP.

When the Shan leaders were arrested in February, Thu Wai, chairman of the
Democracy Party, or DP, the female politician Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein and her
daughter were apprehended at the same time, but they are evidently not yet
on trial.

Opposition politician Amyotheryei Win Naing told The Irrawaddy that Thu
Wai and Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein are now in Insein Prison and not allowed visits
by their families. Win Naing said they could be charged under Article 5
(j) of the 1950 Emergency Provision Act, which carries a maximum seven
year sentence.

____________________________________
DRUGS

March 2, Agence France Presse
Drug production, trafficking spreading through Asia-Pacific: INCB –
Michael Mathes

Drug-traffickers bent on eluding crackdowns are forging new smuggling
routes and production labs in Asia-Pacific and putting the region at
increased risk from stimulants and heroin, the International Narcotics
Control Board said Wednesday.

Intense efforts by authorities in Myanmar, the region's top heroin
producer, and neighbour China to eradicate drug production and
distribution have helped prompt the shift, with significant increases in
drug seizures, particularly methamphetamines, in countries from Malaysia
to Fiji.

"The illicit manufacture of, trafficking in and abuse of amphetamine-type
stimulants, especially methamphetamine, remain a major concern in East and
Southeast Asia," the Vienna-based INCB said in its report for 2004.

"Most of the countries in East and Southeast Asia, including China, Japan,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea, reported a
significant increase in the total amount of amphetamine-type stimulants
seized in 2003."

High seizure numbers continued into 2004, along with the shock discovery
and dismantling in June of the region's largest clandestine
methamphetamine lab ever uncovered, in Fiji, and another major production
facility in Malaysia, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC), an INCB collaborator.

"There are new developments in the spread of the illicit manufacture of
methamphetamines," Akira Fujino, the UNODC's representative for East Asia
and the Pacific, told reporters in the Thai capital to mark the report's
release.

He said the region's lengthy coastlines and the relative ease of setting
up clandestine laboratories is facilitating the spread of methamphetamine
production from traditional manufacturing zones such as Myanmar and
exposing Asia-Pacific countries to the scourge.

"Those countries can be very vulnerable," Fujino said.

Asia now accounts for more than two thirds of the world's amphetamine
users, and nearly 90 percent of all methamphetamine seizures in the world
take place in East and Southeast Asia, according to the report.

It also said landlocked Laos and neighbour Cambodia have emerged as key
transit countries for traffickers, particularly due to successful
interdiction in Thailand.

The drug trafficking and anti-drug efforts in Southeast Asia can be
likened to a balloon, which bulges out on one side when pressure is
applied to the other, Fujino said.

"Trafficking of heroin from Myanmar, from the Golden Triangle (connecting
Laos, Myanmar and Thailand) continues, and when Thai authorities tighten
controls then trafficking through Cambodia, Vietnam, and those
neighbouring countries emerges and extends further."

Regional production of heroin continued to decline in 2004, according to
the INCB, with the total area under illicit opium cultivation in Myanmar
-- the world's number two heroin producer after Afghanistan -- reduced by
28 percent, to 44,200 hectares.

Production of opium, the raw source of heroin, in number three producer
Laos dropped by 45 percent in 2004 to 6,600 hectares, the report said.

Asia-Pacific remains at heightened risk of heroin trafficking and abuse,
however, as traffickers in Afghanistan are seeking new markets and transit
routes for their record heroin production.

"There is now concern of possible trafficking of Afghan heroin not only to
Europe and the rest of the (Western) world but also to this part of the
world," Fujino said.

_____________________________________

March 2, Xinhua
Myanmar exposes 260 drug cases in January

Myanmar exposed 260 narcotic-drug- related cases in January this year,
punishing 395 people in the connection, state-run newspaper The New Light
of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

During the month, the army, police and the customs seized 23.3 kilos of
heroin and 214.6 kilos of opium as well as more than 500, 000 stimulant
tablets.

Of the seizure of 500,000 stimulant tablets, 400,000 were caught in
Tachilek and Kengtung, eastern Shan state of the country, alone when three
houses in villages in the areas were searched, an earlier official report
said, adding that along with the seizure was also 79 rounds of ammunition.

According to the anti-drug authorities, Myanmar exposed a total of 3,012
narcotic-drug-related cases in 2004, punishing 4,153 people in the
connection. During the year, the authorities seized 973.5 kilos heroin and
606.8 kilos opium, an increase by 405.4 kilos and a decrease by 874.8
kilos respectively compared with the previous year. The stimulant tablets
confiscated amounted to 8.3 million, up 4.3 million correspondingly.

Meanwhile, during the poppy cultivation season in 2004-05, a total of
3,270 hectares of such plantations were destroyed in Shan, Kachin, Kayah
and Sagaing states and divisions, the statistics show, revealing that one
opium refinery each in Shan state and Kachin state was overrun by the
authorities.

According to a survey report for 2004 of opium yield jointly conducted by
Myanmar and the United States' Criminal Narcotics Center (CNC), there was
34 percent drop in poppy cultivation, registering over 30,000 hectares in
2004 and 39 percent decrease in opium production during the year compared
with 2003.

Another ground survey on poppy cultivation, jointly conducted by Myanmar
and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), also show that
Myanmar's opium poppy cultivation area in Myanmar stood 44,240 hectares in
2004, declining sharply by 29 percent from 2003 and 73 percent from 1996,
while opium production was 370 tons in 2004, dropping by 54 percent
compared with 2003.

Meanwhile, Myanmar and the United Nations have begun their 5th joint opium
survey to assess opium production in Myanmar this year.

Myanmar has been implementing a 15-year drug elimination plan ( 1999-2000
to 2013-2014) to totally wipe out drugs and the second five-year plan
beginning 2004-05 is underway.

With the successful establishment drug-free zone in Shan state' s Mongla
region in 1997 and the Kokang region in 2003, the Wa region in the same
state is targeted to follow suit by 2005.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

March 2, Xinhua
More gas deposits re-estimated in Myanmar oil field

More natural gas deposits were re- estimated to exist at a block in the
Shwe Field off Myanmar's western Rakhine coast after the third oil well
was dug and test- run on Tuesday, official newspaper The New Light of
Myanmar reported Wednesday.

The block A-1 with two oil wells initially explored at the field was found
to contain gas of up to 6 trillion cubic-feet (TCF) or 170 billion
cubic-meters (BCM) and the whole block was previously estimated to yield
up to 14 TCF (396.2 BCM) when it was discovered with gas in early last
year.

After the third well at the block was explored, the three wells so far
have more than 6 TCF and the entire block was reassessed to hold up to 20
TCF, the paper quoted the South Korean Daewoo International Corporation as
saying, adding that five more oil wells at the block will be continued for
exploration.

The Daewoo, in partnership with three other foreign oil companies, has
been conducting exploration and development of gas for the block since
2000 under agreement with Myanmar. The Daewoo holds 60 percent stake,
while South Korea Gas Corporation 10 percent, the ONGC Videsh Ltd of India
20 percent and the Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) 10 percent.

The consortium is also carrying out gas exploration at another block
called A-3 which is adjacent to A-1.

With India standing as buyer of the Myanmar gas, a three- country
transnational gas pipeline project running through Myanmar, Bangladesh and
India is under negotiation. The 1-billion-US-dollar pipeline project is
designed to transit export gas from block A-1 as well as expected gas from
block A-3 at the Shwe Field off Myanmar's Rakhine coast to India's West
Bengal state through Bangladesh which is likely to earn about 150 million
dollars annually in transit fees from the proposed project.

The overall pipeline route, outlined as Rakhine(Myanmar)- Mizoram and
Tripura states(India)-Bangladesh-West Bengal(India), was one of several
options India had deliberated to bring the Myanmar gas from the Shwe
field.

In the latest development, a draft of a memorandum of understanding has
been finalized at the first meeting of a tripartite techno-economic
working committee on laying the 290- kilometer pipeline project which
concluded in Yangon on Feb. 25 after energy ministers of Myanmar, India
and Bangladesh agreed in principle at a tripartite meeting here in
January. The MoU is expected to be signed in April next in Dhaka.

According to official estimation, Myanmar has a total of 87 TCF (2.46 TCM)
of gas reserve and 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil reserve in
the country's offshore and onshore areas.

The Central Statistical Organization statistics show that Myanmar produced
9.9 BCM of gas and 7.16 million barrels of crude oil in the fiscal year
2003-04. Gas export during the year went to 5.66 BCM, earning nearly 600
million dollars, while crude oil import worth 13.18 million dollars the
same year.

Since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988, such investment
in the sector had reached 2.5 billion dollars as of the beginning of 2004,
the figures also reveal. Foreign oil companies engaged in the oil and gas
sector mainly include those from Australia, Britain, Canada, China,
Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 2, AP via Irrawaddy
Illegal Workers in Malaysia Go Into Hiding

Thousands of Indonesians, Filipinos and others working illegally in
Malaysia have gone into hiding after authorities arrested at least 560
migrants on the first day of a crackdown, officials said Wednesday. Home
Minister Azmi Khalid pledged that Malaysia would persist with the
crackdown, rejecting fears by human rights groups that suspects might be
mistreated in custody.

"Compared to Guantanamo Bay, we are a five-star hotel," the minister said,
referring to the US naval base in Cuba where terrorist suspects are held.
"We do not do things that are inhumane. This is our guarantee."

The papers of 5,521 migrant workers were checked Tuesday and 563 were
taken into custody after being found to be illegal, Azmi told reporters.
Human rights groups and local media earlier said 860 were detained.
Officials did not explain the differing figures.

About 300,000 police, immigration officials and volunteers are taking part
in the crackdown against about 400,000 illegal workers still in Malaysia
after a four-month amnesty for them to leave expired Tuesday. About
450,000 are believed to have left during the amnesty.

Those caught during the crackdown face fines, jail term and caning before
deportation, and are to be barred from ever coming back to Malaysia. Those
who left during the amnesty are welcome to return once they have the
proper documentation.

Azmi said those detained were mainly Indonesians and Filipinos, but a
small number of Westerners were nabbed for working illegally despite
entering on social visas. They included 23 from France, five from Britain,
two from the United States and one each from Italy and Croatia.

Also arrested were two Malaysian employers who hired illegal workers. Azmi
said illegal migrants from Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh would not be
deported. "We will be sympathetic and we will not send them back," he
said.

Azmi also denied claims by rights group Tenaganita that 100 Bangladeshi
workers were detained by officials at Malaysia's main airport when they
tried to board a flight home Tuesday.

Separately, immigration enforcement chief Ishak Mohamad said teams would
check hideouts of illegal migrants, including in forests.

"Due to the massive publicity on our preparations, they have deserted
their colonies and settlements and gone into hiding," the New Straits
Times cited him as saying.

Border checks also have been tightened to prevent illegals from slipping
into Thailand and returning later, officials said, speaking on condition
of anonymity.

They said a Malaysian and his Indonesian girlfriend who did not have
travel documents were arrested in southern Penang state. The Malaysian
would be charged with harboring an illegal and faces a hefty fine.

Foreign workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and India form
the backbone of Malaysia's construction and plantation industries, doing
low-paid jobs that Malaysians won't do. Some 1 million foreigners work
here legally.

The Malaysian government has vowed to evict all the illegal workers, who
are blamed by many here for crime in cities.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 28, Mizzima
The Forgotten Road - Mony Chris

Jiegang Lu, Ruili, China : Standing on the side of the road in a big pink
overcoat, Ma Ei smokes a cigarette. Her face doesn't look 13 years old,
just as her overcoat doesn't fit her small frame.

She approaches some men who seem to want something from her. Once she gets
a deal, she gives a signal to another girl, Eie. Then, Eie, who is eleven,
goes straight to another woman wearing a grass hat. The woman lifts the
hat slightly and pulls something from under it. She then pours white
powder from a small bottle onto a small piece of paper, wraps it, and
hands it to Eie. The young girl moves back to the customer, exchanging the
pack of heroin for money. The exchange takes about a minute.

Though from Burma, these children don't speak Burmese. They are Palaung,
an ethnic minority of Burma. Though their mother tongue is Palaung, they
usually speak Chinese. They sometimes reminisce with one of the Palaung
food stall owners.

The two young sisters came from Mon Yan village near Mine Koe in the north
of Burma's Shan State, which is one day trip from Ruili, frontier town in
south-western China. They migrated with their mother to Ruili to work in a
Chinese food stall for 150 Yuan ($19) a month after their father, a drug
user, died.

Ma Ei said, "Mom will think we are still working in the food stall, but we
worked so hard and could not work there anymore" "Then we ran away. We
have been sold 3 times in Ruili."

Human traffickers moved them from employer to employer, a journey that
eventually turned them into drug addicts. Heroin has forced them to become
street children and now Jiegang Road, near central market, is their home.
Currently, they work for the women in the grass hat selling drugs on the
road where they can survive off the commission.

The woman is Burmese and used to be a sex worker. She has been in Ruili
for more than a decade. People suspect she has HIV/AIDS because of her
appearance; she is very thin and has no hair. Myint, an ex-store owner in
this area recalls, "She was a regular customer at my store and she has
looked like that for 2 or 3 years already. We think she is going to die
soon but she hasn't yet".

People in Ruili are not bizarre with HIV/AIDS patients, as sufferers are
often dying around them, especially Burmese. When they know their death is
near, they come and wait to die on a corner of Jiegang Road or a place
where the Burmese community stays. They know their community will at least
provide food and water.

Dr. Sun, a doctor who assists the community, remarks , "The Burmese
community here has fewer stigmas. Ordinary people help each other with
sympathy."

Given its close proximity to Burmese, just over China-Burma border in
Yunan Province, about 10,000 Burmese living in Ruili. Many shops on
Jiegang Road in Ruili are Burmese owned food stalls, teashops, general
stores, karaoke and beauty salons.

People in Ruili are not bizarre with HIV/AIDS patients, as sufferers are
often dying around them, especially Burmese.

Young boys and girls stand on platforms on Jiegange Road all day to wait
for the customers who come here to buy sex or drugs or both. Two black
markets - drug and sex - flourish here. Many women from Burma work as sex
workers. Apartment behind the road provide their shelter. Rooms can be
rented on a daily basis for 10 Yuan ($ 1.25). The girls can take customers
to their rooms or live there with their boyfriends.

Khin, 25, stands on the pavement looking for a customer. She goes close to
a lady who passes on the street and whispers, " Sayarma (meaning "teacher"
in Burmese), I have something to talk to you about." Then she brings the
lady, who once conducted HIV/AIDS education in the area, to the street
corner and tells her, " I think I am pregnant because I don't use a condom
with my boyfriend, although I use them with customers."

Risky behavior among the sex workers is high too. Khin actually knows that
her boy friend is one of the drug users and smugglers in town. Although
she knows about safe sex, knows to use a condom and is aware of HIV/AIDS,
living with her boy friend is seems like another thing. Pragmatically, she
says, " I don't feel very well, but I have to find 10 Yuan for my rent
tonight." The HIV/AIDS educator comforts her with words. That is the only
thing she can do for Khin at the moment.

Dr Sun has a great passion for these youngsters. "If you ask ten of them
about their homes, nine girls will say they come from a village ", he
laments. Khin is from Nga Pu Taw village, Rangoon division. Most of them
are from Burma's countryside near Meikhtila, Sagaing, Myingyan, Mandalay,
Kyaukpadaung as well as other locations.

"Many young guys come from Burma to work in Ruili, but there are not
enough jobs here. So they end up smuggling drugs or as escorts in the sex
industry," Dr. Sun says.

Garbage collectors walk along the street scrimmaging through bins. They
can be seen sometimes collecting used needles from the bins. They might
reuse them again for injecting drugs. They sometimes even run into the
trees while they walk on the pavement; their eyes are closed with thoughts
of their next fix. Some are sitting on the pavement with the countenance
of drug addicts. Some put their hands inside their jacket pocket where
small drug bottles are hidden.

There are two broad groups in the Burmese community in Ruili; business
people and labourers. Gem traders, restaurant owners, teashops,
storeowners and other business people stay near the market. Most of the
rest involved in the drug and sex industries settle along Jiegang Road.

If the police arrest them, it's just like putting HIV carriers to the
jail. There are many stories about drug dealers who were sentenced to
death but who were released after the police found out they were HIV
positive.

An exiled politician wishes not to identify himself said "The Chinese

Government allows us to do business freely here and they always protect us
from being arrested by the Burmese military government, but we are not
allowed to conduct any politics here, otherwise we will be sent back into
the hand of the Burmese army. That is how we learned how to survive here."

There is a big gem market in Ruili. Gem traders are from different places
in Burma and they often pass through Ruili to Mandalay, Myitkyeena,
Pharkant and Bamaw where jade stones are mined. "If we force gem traders
to take HIV tests, we might find a big percentage are HIV positive because
many of them engage with the sex and drug industries here" Dr. Sun said.

Aye Aye Myint, a member of Burmese Woman's Union based in Ruili said, "we
usually collect data about the number of sex workers in Ruili, but never
get the exact figures as newcomers are always entering the town while some
are going back home."

Aye and her colleagues go on a picnic with women working in the sex
industries every month to consult, conduct interviews and collect data
about these women, their personal backgrounds and general situations.

According to Situation Assessment of Injection Drug Users in Yunnan
Province in 2002 by Dr. Myat Htoo Razak, the estimated 150,000 drug users
in Yunnan Province and more than 80% of heroin users inject the drug.

Jamie Uhrig, formerly with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Burma
office, said that sex worker is not permitted on the Burmese side of the
border in Muse because of Burmese government policy. " That leads to very
interesting difference. Many times when sex work is suppressed on one side
of the border, it pops up on the other side," Uhrig says.

"Injecting drug use and sex work is closely interlocked circle that it
doesn't really matter which come first. It simply matters is that if the
woman has an addiction then she has to feed that addiction and she has to
earn money to feed that addiction," Uhrig added.

Jiegang Road is under constant watch by Chinese police. Police cars
usually patrol the road 10-15 times a day. Once the police find drugs in
someone's hand, he or she can be charged with anything from a fine to the
death penalty. However, broke drug dealers, like those from Burma, can't
possibly afford the fine. Sometimes it is possible to see Chainese police
bash drug dealers until they fall to the pavement before leaving them
alone. If the police arrest them, it's just like putting HIV carriers to
the jail. There are many stories about drug dealers who were sentenced to
death but who were released after the police found out they were HIV
positive.

" I think there are two reasons that Chinese police don't take much action
against drug and sex dealing in Jiegang Road," said an unidentified
source, " One reason is corruption; they can always make money from the
drug carriers and sex workers. Another reason is so they can trace drug
traders by letting small dealers sell."

Although the woman and two young Palaung girls might be bashed by police
for drug dealing on the street, they still come back again and again to
sell. Their blood is starving for the drug and it drives them to walk,
walk, and walk again on Jiegang Road.

People are not only selling drugs and sex here, but have no other choice
but to engage in activities that inevitably lead to contracting HIV/AIDS.
Jiegang Road is not the only place where this hell cannot be stopped. The
HIV/AIDS road extends all the way down the countryside of Burma and China.

Naing 34, a food stall owner of Jiegange Road said, " Chinese general
labourers often come by in small trucks and queue up to buy sex on the
street. I can see it from my shop on many evenings. 10 Yuan ($1.2) for sex
is cheap so they come here for it."

" One time I saw that as soon as the girl earned some money from the first
customer, she came down another side of the street where her boyfriend was
waiting for her money to buy drugs."

Naing is always witnessing sad stories from his shop. " But what can we
do? There is no way to help. We can just to watch like this as if we are
in another land."

(Mony Chris wrote this article under the IPS/Rockefeller media fellowship
program "Our Mekong: A Vision amid Globalization.")