BurmaNet News, March 23, 2005

[Editor]

March 23, 2005 Issue # 2681

INSIDE BURMA
DVB via BBC: Burmese government-backed group to hold rallies denouncing
democracy party
AP: Myanmar livestock agency denies bird flu report
AFP: Myanmar textile workers hanging on by a thread
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Heads to roll in Myanmar for misspelt
matriculation papers
Irrawaddy: KIO addresses doubts
SHAN: Shan army fights on two fronts

ON THE BORDER
Guardian: Burmese refugees forced to resettle by end of month

REGIONAL
International Herald Tribune: Malaysia pressures Myanmar for change
Straits Times (Singapore): BN doesn't want Myanmar to chair Asean
AP: Economic disparity threatening survival of poor East Asian children:
UNICEF

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

March 23, Democratic Voice of Burma via BBC
Burmese government-backed group to hold rallies denouncing democracy party

It has been learned that the USDA (Union Solidarity and Development
Association) is preparing to disparage and reveal problems within the
National League for Democracy (NLD) at mass rallies.

A Rangoon Division USDA member on duty and who does not want to be
identified, has told Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) that preparations
have been made to give cash incentives to ex-NLD members, those who were
expelled from the party, for public talks, and for USDA members to take
turns reading letters critical of NLD leaders. It is learned that the
programmes are being drawn up by SPDC (State Peace and Development
Council) minister (of Industry-1) U Aung Thaung himself.

It has been learned that directives have also been issued to take care of
mainly ex-NLD members, who had provided information and worked as spies,
from among those who had been expelled from the NLD party due to various
reasons.

The rest of the ex-NLD members are to be organized and a cash incentive
scheme will be used.

The mass rallies will begin from townships and districts where the NLD
members are most active. It has been learned that the mass rally will take
first in Meiktila Township.

It has also been learned that the ex-NLD members from townships are
already being given cash to hold mass rallies to denounce the NLD party at
the end of this month or early next month.

The DVB had contacted USDA Office in Meiktila Township regarding the news.

A USDA member from the office, who does not want to be identified, told
DVB that it is true that USDA is preparing to hold mass rallies to
denounce the NLD and that some ex-NLD members will give speeches at the
rally. He explained that the USDA central body has already given cash to
ex-NLD members to hold mass rallies. Moreover, letters critical of NLD
leaders would also be read at the rally. However, he said the date for the
mass rally has not been fixed yet.

The same person from the USDA Office in Meiktila, told DVB that after the
mass rally in Meiktila Township, mass rallies in other districts,
townships, and divisions will be organized.

______________________________________

March 23, Associated Press
Myanmar livestock agency denies bird flu report - Aye Aye Win

Yangon: Myanmar's government livestock agency told the United Nations on
Wednesday that a recent spate of poultry deaths in the country's southeast
was not caused by bird flu, denying reports by a Myanmar-language foreign
radio station.

The Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department blamed the poultry deaths
on other causes after the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
officially asked about the matter Tuesday.

The FAO had asked the department to check a report of a possible bird flu
outbreak among thousands of chickens in the Mon State capital, Moulmein,
FAO resident representative Dr. Tang Zheng Ping told The Associated Press.

"We received a reply from the livestock and veterinary department today
confirming that there was no outbreak of bird flu," he said. "The
government's survey found that 300 chickens died in Moulmein, but they
died of normal poultry disease."

The veterinary department said 300 chickens died of Newcastle disease, a
common poultry sickness that poses no threat to humans.

The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, a shortwave radio station
critical of the military government, reported Sunday that thousands of
chickens died suddenly in Moulmein last week of what residents suspected
could be bird flu.

A severe form of bird flu has killed a total of 46 people from Vietnam,
Thailand and Cambodia since it began ravaging poultry farms across Asia in
December 2003. Myanmar has reported no cases among birds or humans.

The Myanmar livestock agency's director, Than Tun, confirmed he had told
the FAO there had been no bird flu outbreak.

He had said earlier that bird flu was unlikely to break out in Myanmar
because only about 15 percent of the country's chickens are grown
commercially. The disease often breaks out in crowded conditions such as
those on commercial farms.

In January last year, Myanmar banned poultry imports from countries where
bird flu has been detected. Officials are monitoring the country's poultry
farms.

The FAO recently provided US$350,000 ([euro]271,000), to be shared by
Myanmar and seven other Asian countries for fighting bird flu.

The funds are intended for administrative support, veterinarian training
and equipment for disease diagnosis.

______________________________________

March 23, Agence France Presse
Myanmar textile workers hanging on by a thread

Yangon: Soe Soe, a 29-year-old woman working in Myanmar's struggling
garment manufacturing industry, can barely remember the last time she had
a day off.

March 2 was a national holiday, Peasants Day in Myanmar, but few rag trade
workers here can afford to turn away an offer of overtime, even if that
means gruelling 11-hour days, seven days a week, in factories trying to
stay open despite US sanctions and the end of global textile quotas.

"Of course, I know the government requires factories to close on Sundays
and national holidays, but we have no choice (but to work). We need the
money," says Soe Soe, who has worked for eight years at a private garment
factory in the Shwe Pyi Thar industrial zone in northern Yangon.

"I'm always tired and do not have the energy for working extra hours, but
regular wages are simply not enough to keep going," she laments, her
lustreless big eyes, pale complexion and skinny body a testament to her
work schedule.

Officials from the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association insist the
factories are operating in line with the country's labor laws and up to UN
standards.

But with monthly wages starting at 7,000 kyat (about eight dollars),
raises rare and inflation soaring, employees like Soe Soe say working
every shift offered is the only way to survive.

"Five years ago, I earned enough money to send a bit to my family, but now
I am struggling to stay out of debt," Soe Soe says.

With eight years experience, two years of university education, and
including her extra shifts, Soe Soe says last month she took home just
38,000 kyat, about 43 dollars.

After the United States imposed sanctions following an attack on Aung San
Suu Kyi and her followers, which ended with the Nobel peace prize winner
returning to house arrest in 2003, many factories here moved just across
the border into Thailand.

With border controls often murky, many of the Myanmar workers followed
their jobs to the area in and around Mae Sot, the Thai border town
opposite Myawaddy.

"I heard from their families that they get good salaries but my parents
simply refuse to let me try. I really want to go," Soe Soe says.

Still, she knows she is among the more fortunate because everyone else in
her family has a job.

It's a different story for 25-year-olds Nilar Win and Ni Ni, who came from
Pyay Township in Bago division north of the capital to work at Hlaing Tha
Yar industrial zone in west Yangon.

The only accommodation they can afford is a 7.5 by 7.5 meter (25 by 25
foot) room shared with 13 other women in a housing compound near the
factory.

Except for a high shelf for their Buddhist shrine, the studio is bare.

They all sleep in the single room on woven cane or plastic mats. Half the
women said they were university graduates, scraping by with whatever jobs
they can find.

"Most people want to work overtime because they need the money," says
Nilar, who works in a foreign-owned garment factory. "Now with the economy
in depression, theres no overtime work. Household expenses and living
expenses are very high here."

Raises are virtually unheard of. "But we do not dare speak out about our
feelings, because the owner warned us the factory would be closed down if
there's a workers' problem," Ni Ni says.

Reliable numbers of any sort are hard to come by in Myanmar, but inflation
was estimated at 60 percent in 2003.

When the United States banned Myanmar's exports in 2003, the country lost
its largest market. Of the roughly 300 textile and garment factories
operating at the time, the junta says 160 have been shuttered.

Over 80,000 workers lost their jobs, affecting some 400,000 of their
dependants, according to officials.

With much of the industry already decimated, the immediate effects of the
end of global textile quotas in late 2004 have been less dramatic here
than in other countries in the region, which have taken a hit as Chinese
exports soared in January.

Myanmar never hit its production limits under the quota regime, even
though firms from other Asian countries like Taiwan, Thailand and South
Korea, which reached their limits, set up factories here to take advantage
of the extra capacity.

Despite sanctions, clothing and textiles remain the country's second
biggest export after natural gas, bringing in 328 million dollars,
according to official figures for the fiscal year that ended in 2004.

European nations, notably Germany, remain big buyers, but exports were
down more than a third from the previous year as sanctions took their
bite.

Factory workers here say they remain worried about shut-downs,
retrenchments and dwindling orders leading to fewer overtime
opportunities.

"We will go back to our farm work if our factory closes down," Nilar says.

They frowned on reports that factory closures had forced some women into
prostitution.

"It depends on the person. Some so inclined may have gone that route but
we are Buddhist and our culture forbids this," she says.

Soe Soe says she will keep working at the factory, even though she would
rather become a staffer in a government office, where wages are also low.

She says it is impossible for her to transfer to another factory because
of the uncertain economy -- and she believes her employer owes her back
wages and overtime pay.

"They said they are a big wall," Soe Soe notes of her employers. "They
said they would still be standing even if we kick it or bang our heads
against it."

______________________________________

March 23, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Heads to roll in Myanmar for misspelt matriculation papers

Yangon: A misspelling on Myanmar's (Burma's) matriculation application
which made it look like the exams were controlled by the military will
lead to several bureaucrats getting the sack, government sources said on
Wednesday.

Students applying for nationwide matriculation examinations, due on March
26, have pointed out a misspelling on the heading of the questionnaires
which made it seem that the process was under the "Myanmar Military Board"
instead of the "Myanmar Examination Board."

The misspelt word in Myanmarese was "Sar-sit," or "examination", which was
written mistakenly as only "Sit," or "Military."

It is often rumoured in Myanmar, which has been under military rule for
decades, that the offspring of high-ranking military officials have the
best chance at matriculation, or winning entry into universities.

Those responsible for the spelling goof shall be sacked, government
sources confirmed.

______________________________________

March 23, Irrawaddy
KIO addresses doubts - Nandar Chann and Khun Sam

The Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) held a public briefing Tuesday
amid growing doubts within the Kachin community about the ethnic ceasefire
group’s attendance at the government-sponsored National Convention.

According to KIO officials, the public briefing was held at Mai Ja Yang, a
border town in Kachin State controlled by the KIO, with about 500 people
in attendance, including soldiers and senior leaders from the KIO and
local residents.

“The public have doubts about whether the organization (KIO) should attend
the NC or not,” Brig-Gen Gunhtang Gam Shawng, commander in chief of the
KIO’s military wing, the Kachin Independent Army (KIA), told The Irrawaddy
by telephone on Wednesday. He said the KIO had explained to the public
that the group had to attend the NC because otherwise there would be no
one to represent their rights.

The KIO also claimed that the decision to join the assembly was approved
by the Kachin Consultative Assembly, which is reportedly being overseen by
the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). “I think they are
attending (the NC) under unavoidable circumstances,” said one source who
was at the briefing yesterday. “But they are not representing the entire
Kachin public.”

Meanwhile, a newly formed Kachin rival group, the Kachin Solidarity
Council, gave a public address on March 18, outlining its objectives for
the Kachin people. The Council comprises the New Democratic Army-Kachin
(NDA-K) and a KIO splinter group led by Col Lasang Awng Wa, who was
accused of planning a coup at the KIO headquarters in early 2004.

On March 18, after a KIO reshuffle, the group’s general secretary Col
Gunhtang Gam Shawng was promoted to the position of commander in chief of
the KIA and the officer for Foreign and Allied Relations Affairs, Dr La
Ja, took over the position of general secretary.

______________________________________

March 23, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan army fights on two fronts

The Shan State Army "South" of Col Yawdserk now faces two adversaries,
first the Burma Army and now the 171st Military Region, led by Wei
Hsuehkang, of the United Wa State Army, according to rebel and civilian
sources:

The SSA had 2 clashes its fourth and fifth with the 171st opposite
Maehongson's Pang Mapha district yesterday: one across the village of
Mailan, Mae Lana tract and another at Kawng Teevee further north. Details
are still unavailable.

Meanwhile, sources coming from Shan State report engagements with the
Burma Army in Mongyawng, a township on the Mekong, on 1 March that left
more 10 casualties on the Burma Army's side. As a result, the Burmese
authorities had levied a "donation" of 300 kyat ($0.3) per household to
make up for the losses, said locals.

The SSA's Loi Kawwan-based Kengtung Front is active in the area.

Also in early February, an ambush by a unit of the SSA's 198th Brigade at
Sanien, west of Panglong, 53 miles east of Taunggyi had inflicted heavy
casualties on the Burma Army's Mongpan-based Infantry Batttalion 294. "I
saw many women and children crying at Wan Htam (the Battalion post) over
the loss of their husbands and fathers on my way here, said a trader from
Mongpan.

Reports by the civilians were later confirmed by the SSA. No official
bulletins on the events however were posted.

"The SSA has, for more than a year, been unusually silent about its
activities," said one of Thailand's top Burma watcher on the border. "It
may be trying to please Prime Minister Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai government,
but the policy of silence is definitely not working to its advantage."

The SSA has since 1998 produced Lawd Liao (Freedom), a quadrilingual
(Shan, Burmese, Thai and English) publication. Its next to last edition
came out in June 2003 and its last in February 2004.

______________________________________
ON THE BORDER

March 23, The Guardian
Burmese refugees forced to resettle by end of month - Vaudine England

Bangkok: At least 3,000 Burmese refugees must abandon their lives in
Bangkok and go to overcrowded border camps to avoid deportation under a
new deadline imposed by the Thai government.

The refugees from Burma's military regime, who have been granted "person
of concern" status by the United Nations high commissioner for refugees
(UNHCR), have been given a deadline of March 31.

"If you do not register for transfer to the camp, you will not be
resettled to a third country . . . you will no longer receive assistance
in any form," it has warned the refugees in a letter.

"You will be regarded as an illegal migrant without permission to remain
in Thailand. As such, you may be subject to arrest, detention and
deportation," it adds.

The refugees are told they could not take furniture, pets, electrical
appliances or mobile phones to the camps.

"You will not have an opportunity to return to your homes after
registration and will not be allowed to go freely in and out of the camp,"
the letter says.

UN officials say they are concerned about the little time available for
refugees to cancel house rental agreements, sell possessions and prepare
for life in crowded camps . A detention centre in Bangkok is ready to
receive them.

Only about 30 refugees had moved from the city to one of the camps by
yesterday and another 40 had registered to move. NGOs involved in caring
for the refugees have requested an extension of the deadline, but there is
little hope of it being granted.

About 140,000 Burmese have lived in border camps for many years and are
undergoing registration by the UNHCR. Three camps have been chosen to
receive the 3,000 urban refugees: Nu Po camp in Tak province, Ban Don Yang
camp in Kanchanaburi province, and Tham Hin camp in Ratchaburi province.

"Currently there is housing available for up to 500 people, while
additional housing is being constructed. There is not sufficient space for
3,000 people at the moment. We are working with the government to find out
where more structures can be built," Bernard Quah, assistant regional
representative for the UNHCR operations, told the Guardian.

NGO sources said the camps were isolated and food supplies had to be
brought in and stockpiled. But with the rainy season under way, transport,
construction and other practical tasks were more difficult.

Refugees already in the camps live in bamboo shelters, some of them in
long-houses holding up to 60 people. There is little for them to do all
day, no jobs and no guarantee of resettlement abroad.

Refugees have been fleeing Burma for decades to escape the military
dictatorship, brutal repression and economic stagnation. The flow
increased with the crushing of the democracy movement led by Aung San Suy
Kyi in the late 1980s. Regular crackdowns on dissent prompt new flows to
the border.

The Thai government's primary goal is to prevent Thailand becoming a
desirable destination for refugees.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 23, International Herald Tribune
Malaysia pressures Myanmar for change - Nick Cumming-Bruce

Bangkok: Breaking with established diplomatic practice, Malaysia wants
Myanmar blocked from assuming chairmanship of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations next year unless it carries out democratic reforms,
officials in Kuala Lumpur said Tuesday.

A minister in the prime minister's office, Nazri Abdul Aziz, told
representatives of local news media that Malaysia would ask Myanmar's
junta to release the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest
and accelerate a number of other democratic changes. If Malaysia sees no
progress, he said, members of Parliament will make a motion urging Asean
to suspend Myanmar from taking the chair of Asean next year and until
changes are carried out.

The decision, reached at a meeting led by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi, marks growing unease among Asean's core members over the damage
Myanmar's chairmanship of the respected regional group could inflict on
its credibility and relationships with Western governments.

Asean has in the past emphasized that its members do not interfere in each
others' domestic affairs, but senior Asean officials say the group's
foreign ministers will almost certainly pursue the issue further with
their Myanmar counterpart when they meet for an informal two-day "retreat"
on the Philippine island of Cebu in April.

The group of 10 Southeast Asian countries punches above the diplomatic
weight of its members. It holds annual meetings on a broad spectrum of
political, security and economic issues that are attended by the United
States, Europe, Russia, China and Japan.

Also attending are representatives of smaller Asia-Pacific countries,
Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Korea.

Asean's chairmanship in the past rotated alphabetically among its members
and was due in mid-2006 to pass to Myanmar. However, the United States, a
stern critic of the junta, warned last year that it might boycott Asean's
meetings during the year Myanmar held the chair unless it acted to improve
its record on human rights.

Richard Holbrooke, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, warned
in Bangkok this week that by holding Asean meetings in the Myanmar
capital, Yangon, Asean would run "a very serious risk that countries which
attended regularly for a quarter-century will not show."

Malaysia's initiative reflects keen awareness of the problem and a
mounting frustration shared with regional neighbors like Indonesia, the
Philippines and Singapore at the price Asean is paying for lack of
progress toward political change.

Myanmar adopted a "road map" for restoring democracy two years ago that
won Asean's formal blessing, but it has since failed to advance it
significantly. T he junta has also shown little interest in further
efforts by the UN special envoy and former Malaysian diplomat Razali
Ismail to foster dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained
under house arrest for the past 22 months.

Asean firmly and successfully resisted efforts by the European Union to
exclude Myanmar from an Asean-EU summit in Hanoi last year, Foreign
Minister George Yeo of Singapore told its Parliament earlier this month,
but "subsequent developments in Yangon undermined our position," he said.
"Unless the Myanmar authorities handle the situation carefully, Asean's
credibility and cohesion would be jeopardized," he added.

Under Asean rules, never previously invoked, members elect the chairman
and senior officials say this could provide a formal basis for blocking
its transfer to Myanmar. To avoid that embarrassment, diplomats say
Myanmar could voluntarily step down from the chairmanship. However,
"there's only a very faint hope that they would act so sensibly," a senior
Asean official concluded.

______________________________________

March 23, Straits Times (Singapore)
BN doesn't want Myanmar to chair Asean - Leslie Lau

Yangon should not get its turn without democratic reforms, say KL lawmakers

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's ruling party lawmakers will press for Myanmar to
be refused the chairmanship of Asean next year unless democratic reforms
take place urgently.

Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs will table a motion in Parliament calling for
Myanmar's impending chairmanship of Asean to be suspended in a step
designed to pressure Yangon to put in place a credible roadmap to
democracy.

'If democracy is not restored, the motion will request that Myanmar not be
given the role of chairman. It should be put on hold and given to another
country,' Datuk Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Minister in Charge of Parliament,
told reporters late yesterday after a meeting of BN legislators.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Datuk
Nazri said the parliamentary motion would call for the release of freedom
activist Aung San Suu Kyi. It would also call for the introduction of
democracy in Myanmar.' Everyone knows there is no democracy there,' said
Datuk Nazri. 'We must think of our interests and stop defending Myanmar
all the time.'

He added that, if approved, the motion would not be binding, but lawmakers
hope Asean members would take it into account and consider deferring
Myanmar's turn to chair the grouping.'It is a significant step by
Malaysian lawmakers because many countries are unhappy with the pace of
reform, which is making Asean's ties with other countries difficult,' an
Asean official in Jakarta told The Straits Times.

The Ase an chairmanship rotates among the 10 member states in alphabetical
order, with Laos as the current chairman. Malaysia assumes the
chairmanship this November, the last country to do so before Myanmar takes
over next year. The official, who did not want to be named, said it was
left to Kuala Lumpur to take the lead in pushing for democratic reform in
Yangon.

As chairman, Yangon would host most of Asean's meetings, including the
leaders' summit and crucial economic and security meetings with Asean
dialogue partners such as the US, which slapped tougher sanctions on
Myanmar after Ms Suu Kyi was detained in May 2003. Mr Richard Holbrooke,
the former US ambassador to the United Nations, said on Monday that
holding Asean meetings in Yangon would bring the risk of a no-show by
regular dialogue partners. Myanmar's military junta has promised plans for
democratic reform and this was supported by Asean in 2003. But there are
few signs of reform taking place and Yangon has found it difficult to
persuade its Asean neighbours and Western governments that it is striving
for democracy. In a step to persuade the world that it is carrying out
reforms, Yangon released more than 14,000 prisoners in November last year.
How ever, hundreds of political prisoners remain in detention.

Nudge in the right direction

The motion by Malaysian legislators is seen as a significant move to
pressure Myanmar that is still within the boundaries of the Asean spirit
of non-interference and construct ive engagement as it does not come
directly from the government. An official who did not want to be named
said it was left to Kuala Lumpur to take the lead in pushing for reform in
Yangon.

No sign of progress

Opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house
arrest, and former prime minister Khin Nyunt, who introduced the roadmap
to democracy, was purged last year. Ms Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy has also boycotted talks on a new Constitution, which critics
say will entrench military rule.

_____________________________________

March 23, Associated Press
Economic disparity threatening survival of poor East Asian children:
UNICEF - Ker Munthit

Phnom Penh: The U.N. children's agency on Wednesday urged governments in
the East Asian and Pacific region to do more to tackle growing economic
inequality that threatens the survival of disadvantaged young people.

"Inequities and disparities are increasing in the region," said Carol
Bellamy, director of UNICEF. "We have to invest more in children."

Bellamy was speaking to more than 200 officials, development experts and
members of private aid groups at the opening of three days of ministerial
level talks on the plight of children.

The meeting is being held in the northwestern town of Siem Reap, the home
of Cambodia's famed Angkor temples.

Bellamy said that big challenges remain in East Asia despite some
improvements over the past decade in reducing poverty, slowing infant and
child mortality rates, fighting human trafficking, and improving gender
equality in basic education.

"We need strong, concerted, unified action to ensure disparities do not
become a scourge that robs us of hard-won gains," said Bellamy, adding
that the growing gap between haves and have-nots could fuel conflict.

To address child survival and development, governments should target
impoverished communities with greater public spending on health and
education, she said.

In a keynote speech, former Thai Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun said the
recent Indian Ocean tsunami had orphaned many children, making them
vulnerable to disease and abuse, including sexual exploitation.

He said world leaders also must not lose their focus on "other very grave
problems" facing the region, particularly the threat of HIV/AIDS.

"In the long term, AIDS will kill far more people than any natural
disaster, however big," said Anand, now a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. "We
must not forget that."

An estimated 7,300 children in Cambodia, 7,600 in Myanmar and 12,000 in
Thailand are infected with HIV, contracted through mother-to-child
transmission, unsafe blood supplies or unsanitary injections.

Cambodia is one of the world's poorest countries, and faces an uphill
battle to improve education and health services for its 14 million people.
About 63,000 Cambodian children die every year from preventable diseases
such as malnutrition and diarrhea.