BurmaNet News, April 6, 2005

[Editor]

April 6, 2005 Issue # 2691

INSIDE BURMA
Xinhua: Myanmar PM begins three-nation visit
Irrawaddy: Burmese Catholics mourn Pope
Kaladan: SPDC Authorities checking family lists in Northern Arakan

BUSINESS / MONEY
AP: Economic trends indicate Myanmar growth may be lower than estimated: ADB
Irrawaddy: ADB predicts economic growth for region

ASEAN
Manila Standard: ASEAN dared to act on Myanmar
Manila Standard: Myanmar’s loss, RP'S gain?
Irrawaddy: Philippines seeks commitment

REGIONAL
Thai Press Reports: Myanmar postpones reform despite pressure from the US,
ASEAN
Myanmar Times: Malaysia less popular with Myanmar workers

OPINION / OTHER
New York Times: Taking on Burmese generals, at last

PRESS RELEASE
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma (UK): 289 MPs call
for UN action on Burma

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 6, Xinhua News Agency
Myanmar PM begins three-nation visit

Myanmar Prime Minister Lieutenant- General Soe Win on Wednesday kicked off
his official visits to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia to enhance ties with the
three member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN).

Accompanied by ministers of information, commerce and cooperatives, Soe
Win is making his first official visits to the three ASEAN members since
he assumed the post of prime minister last October.

The first leg of the three-nation tour will take Soe Win to Laos as a
return visit to the one made to Yangon by his Lao counterpart Bounnhang
Vorachith last November.

He had earlier been to Vientiane to attend the 10th ASEAN Summit and to
China's Nanning to attend the ASEAN-China Expo in last November.

In December 2000, Myanmar and Laos signed a protocol on border trade and
an agreement on expanding cooperation on economy, trade, culture and
technology. The two countries have also been cooperating in drug control,
preventing trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances, and
controlling banned chemicals.

As the second leg of his trip, Soe Win will proceed to Vietnam with which
Myanmar's relations continued to develop along with the increase of
exchange of visits at high levels.

In May 2000, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai came to Yangon,
during which three agreements were endorsed on the avoidance of double
taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income,
cultural cooperation and promotion and reciprocal protection of
investments.

In 2002, Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong traveled to Yangon, during
which a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a joint
committee on trade was signed, followed by more agreements in the same
year on exchange of information on economic undertakings and investment
for extension of enterprises.

In March 2003, Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Senior-General Than Shwe visited Hanoi, during which the two countries
agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the fields of agriculture,
forestry, fishery and energy as well as to promote cooperation in the
sectors of security through information exchange and fighting terrorism.

The latest visit to Yangon was made by Chief of General Staff of the
Vietnamese People's Army Senior Lieutenant-General Phung Quang Thanh.

Cambodia will be Soe Win's last trip which will be the one made by another
Myanmar leader to that country nine years after Than Shwe's in October
1996, during which three agreements were signed on tourism cooperation,
air services and establishment of sister cities between Bagan (Myanmar)
and Siemreap (Cambodia).

A visit to Myanmar by the then Cambodian First Prime Minister Prince
Norodom Ranariddh in the same year produced an agreement on the
establishment of a joint commission for bilateral cooperation between the
two countries. Again, the visit to Yangon by Prime Minister Hun Sen also
gave rise to another agreement on mutual exemption of visas for holders of
diplomatic and official passports.

Official statistics show that Myanmar has a negligible trade volume with
Laos and Cambodia but Vietnam had a bilateral trade volume of 50 million
US dollars with Myanmar in the fiscal year 2003-04.

_____________________________________

April 5, Irrawaddy
Burmese Catholics mourn Pope - Khun Sam

Burmese Catholics are holding church services across Burma to mourn the
death of Pope John Paul II, according to a Burmese Catholic leader.

“We all feel as if we have lost a shepherd or a great father. But on the
other hand, we hope that, from heaven, he will look after us forever,”
said Father John Paul Zaw Min Aye, secretary of the Rangoon-based Catholic
Bishop’s Conference of Myanmar, by phone from Rangoon. The group has sent
condolences to the Roman Catholic Church.

Burma’s state-owned newspapers reported on Tuesday that the Rangoon
junta’s chairman, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, likewise sent a condolence message to
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the Vatican’s Sacred College.

Local Catholic churches will hold memorial services through Friday, when
the pope’s funeral will be held in Vatican City.

The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Myanmar estimates that Catholics in
Burma number around 800,000. Official figures put Burma’s population at 54
million.

Special masses to mourn the Pope were held in other nations in the region,
including China and Vietnam where religious freedom is restricted. India,
Australia, Thailand and the Philippines honored the pontiff with flags
lowered to half-mast at government buildings.

Father Zaw Min Aye called the Pope a spiritual father and a prophet of
God, while others see him as a champion of peace. “He [the Pope] not only
sermonized from the Bible, he showed us by his example the way to live,”
the Father said.

The Pope died Saturday at the age of 84, after 26 years as the head of the
Roman Catholic Church. He has been to more than 125 nations worldwide but
never to Burma because of its lack of diplomatic relations with the
Vatican. Father Zaw Min Aye hinted that the lack of relations is related
to politics, but declined to explain further.

____________________________________

April 6, Kaladan News
SPDC Authorities checking family lists in Northern Arakan

Buthidaung: Family lists of Rohingya people in Buthidaung Township, Arakan
State, Burma have been checking by Nakapa (including army, immigrations
and police).

A team consisting of two immigrations, three police and a military captain
of the Battalion No.551, in total 6 members, at first, went to Khandaung
village of Buthidaung Township on 19th March 2005, was checking the family
lists and continued to other villages, said a village elder.

The team after going to a village, collects the family lists of each
houses, and checks the family members according to the family lists, after
getting out all the family members from the houses, the village elder
further added.

While checking the family lists, if the team found extra family members
out of the family lists, they were arrested and sent to the police
station. The extra members are those who were cancelled from the lists by
the authority before checking family lists as they were in foreign
countries for earning money or other cases at that time.

If the team finds less than the family members in a family list, the head
of the family has to pay as a fine Kyat 20,000 per one of the absentee. If
he fails to pay the money, he is sent to jail, said a relative of arrestee
referring not to mention his name for security reason.

If the team finds a new born child that was not enlisted in the family
list, the head of the family has to pay Kyat 10,000 to enroll in the
family list. There are many new born children who were not registered in
the household lists, as the concerned authorities delay to register the
new born children, another village elder said.

When asked a village elder said, “At least two times per year, SPDC
authorities come to our village and check our family lists. Its aims are
to count how many Rohingya people have been reduced by their systematic
oppression per year and to extract money from the villagers.”

This is the first time, after the Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt’s
sack, the checking of the family lists is similar to former military
intelligence (MI). We believed that the situation of the country would be
changed after sacking General Khin Nyunt but nothing has been changed,
said a school teacher.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

April 5, Associated Press
Economic trends indicate Myanmar growth may be lower than estimated: ADB

Myanmar has officially estimated economic growth of more than 12 percent
for the 2003-2004 financial years, but some trends indicate that the
military-ruled country's actual growth may be significantly lower, the
Asian Development Bank said Wednesday.

Myanmar's economy grew 13.8 percent during the 2003 financial year and is
projected to expand 12.6 percent in 2004, with agriculture the main
economic driver, the ADB said, citing official figures.

But declines in essential power and fertilizer consumption indicate that
growth may be lower, while high inflation and lagging income levels in
recent years also hint at weak growth in national output, the report said.

Economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western nations
has had a particular impact on foreign trade. Sanctions have been
introduced because of the junta's continued detention of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and poor human rights record.

The sanctions caused exports of goods and services to decline by 30
percent and imports to fall by 22.5 percent in 2003, according to the ADB.
Foreign direct investment has dropped 81 percent over the past five years,
it said.
While official estimates put the incidence of poverty in Myanmar at 23
percent in 1997, making the problem less severe than in countries with
comparable per capita incomes, less spending on social services suggests
the poor are receiving less assistance, the ADB said.

The Myanmar economy also suffers because of a dual exchange rate system,
with the ratio between the black market and official rates for the local
kyat currency widening to about 150:1, contributing to fiscal deficits and
corruption.

An objective assessment of the Myanmar economy is difficult because of a
lack of reliable, complete and timely data, which also affects the ability
of authorities to formulate policies, the report said.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military for more than four decades. The
current regime took power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy uprising.

_____________________________________

April 6, Irrawaddy
ADB predicts economic growth for region - Aung Lwin Oo

In a report released on Wednesday, the Manila-based Asian Development Bank
predicts that developing countries in Asia will grow, even though the
region faces challenges.

ADB’s report “Asian Development Outlook” says that the region will achieve
an overall economic expansion of 6.5-6.9 percent through 2007,  despite
the fact that it is struggling with high oil prices and the after-effects
of December’s devastating tsunami.
“Nearly all of the economies in the region grew by more than 5 percent in
2004,” said ADB chief economist Ifzal Ali. “That is remarkable for an area
that is home to about 4 billion people,” he added. ADB says GDP growth in
developing countries in Asia and the Pacific averaged 7.3 percent, the
strongest economic growth since the financial crisis in 1997.

“Asia’s role remains crucial in the resolution of global economic
imbalances,” said the ADB in a statement released alongside the report.
The region has produced a large surplus of capital, with its foreign
exchange reserve accumulation amounting to US $1.6 trillion in 2004—up
from US $1.3 trillion in 2003—which, through the large purchase of
securities, finances a significant share of the US deficit.

The ADB report includes economic analysis and charts the financial trends
of 42 countries in Asia and the Pacific. The development bank forecasts
that developing Asia will remain a preferred investment location, even
though global economic development will grow moderately over the next
three years.

The bank reports that Burma’s economic underperformance is “because of
macroeconomic imbalances and structural problems that include a wide
fiscal deficit due to losses by state-owned enterprises and a dual
exchange rate system,” in a reference to the wide gap between the official
and black market exchange rates. Growth prospects also remain diminished
by US and EU sanctions and the related contraction in trade, aid and
foreign direct investment, which has fallen by 81 percent over five years.

_____________________________________
ASEAN

April 6, Manila Standard
ASEAN dared to act on Myanmar

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has called on the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations to exert pressure on the military junta in
Myanmar to undertake democratic reforms and free Nobel peace laureate Daw
Aung Suu Kyi from house arrest.

"If there is a strong international pressure, and the Asean leaders will
throw their support behind this move, we believe that the military junta
will have no choice but undertake democratic reforms and free Daw Aung Suu
Kyi from house arrest," said Pimentel, vice chairman of the Asean
Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus.

Pimentel made the statement after officials of the Burmese government in
exile now attending 112th Inter-Parliamentary Union in Manila admitted
that no less than the support of the heads of government of the
member-countries of Asean is needed to compel the military rulers of
Myanmar to implement genuine democratic reforms and free Aung Suu Kyi.

Minister Bo Hla Tint in the Office of the Prime Minister, member of the
dissolved parliament Dr. Tint Swe and Dr. Sann Aung of the Council of
Ministers said suppression and violations of human rights have continued
and the parliament is still nonexistent in their country because Asean
leaders refuse to impose strong sanctions on the military regime.

Pimentel said Asean leaders, including President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,
should not turn a blind eye not only to the political oppression but also
to the rampant violations of human rights being perpetrated by the
military regime in Myanmar, including rape, arbitrary killings, forced
labor, forced relocations and destruction of villages.

To escape this reign of terror, Pimentel said more than two million people
have fled Myanmar and are now living as refugees in neighboring countries.

The AIPMC and the newly organized Philippine Parliamentary Caucus on
Myanmar are spearheading the move urging leaders of Asean not to allow
Myanmar to sit as chairman of Asean in 2006 unless it will fulfill its
promise of instituting tangible democratic reforms including the immediate
and unconditional release of Suu Kyi and other leaders of the opposition
National League of Democracy.

"We should exert pressure on the Myanmar military regime to ease up on the
repression of the rights of their own people and normalize the rights of
the other sectors of their society to have a say in the running of the
affairs of the country," Pimentel said.

The opposition senator held the view that such move, drastic as it may be,
would not violate the so-called policy of constructive engagement on
non-interference in the affairs of a member-country of Asean.

"When the house of a neighbor is on fire, we cannot just fold our hands
and say we cannot interfere. I think we should, at least, call the
attention of that neighbor, that his or her house is on fire," Pimentel
said.

Minister Bo Hla Tint, MP Dr. Tint Swe and Minister Sann Aung admitted that
they were disappointed when the resolution of Myanmar was not included in
the agenda of the IPU assembly.

However, Akbayan Rep. Etta Ann Rosales said there is an overwhelming
sentiment in the IPU to question the ascendancy of Myanmar as chairman of
the Asean in 2006 when it has no parliament. "The sentiment is that why
would we allow a country like Myanmar to sit as chairman of the Asean when
it is ruled by a military dictatorship and has no parliament." Rey E.
Requejo

_____________________________________

April 6, Irrawaddy
Philippines seeks commitment - Estrella Torres

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has confirmed the Philippines’
intentions to pressure Burma into following the roadmap to democracy and
release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Romulo, speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign
Ministers retreat in the Philippines, said that a firm commitment to the
roadmap is expected from the Burmese foreign minister, Nyan Win, when the
matter of Burma’s chairmanship of Asean is discussed.

“We urge that as part of that roadmap, Aung San Suu Kyi should be released
and that the National League for Democracy should be part of an
all-inclusive party convention,” Romulo said, echoing the words of
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who made her concerns clear to Burma’s
prime minister, Lt-Gen Soe Win, during a visit last month.

Romulo went on to urge the military government to “consider the request of
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his special envoy Ismael Razali to be
received in Myanmar [Burma].”

The region’s foreign ministers are also set to tackle a proposed Asean
charter that would give the grouping a legal footing in the international
community, similar in nature to the EU and the African Union.

_____________________________________

April 6, Manila Standard
Myanmar’s loss, RP'S gain?

The Philippines will assume the presidency of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations next year if the regional body decides to recall Myanmar's
appointment because of still unresolved rights issues.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the Philippines will host
the Asean Foreign Ministers' Retreat on Sunday with high hopes that the
Myanmar issue will be resolved.

Romulo said the Philippines will remind Myanmar to follow the roadmap to
democracy, release freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and
include the National League for Democracy in an all-inclusive party
convention.

"That (Philippine presidency) is going a bit farther. I don't want to
speculate. If we arrive at a consensus then there is no problem," the DFA
head said.

Romulo's counterparts from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will discuss the issue with Burmese
Foreign Minister Nyan Win during the retreat in Cebu City from April 9 to
12. Joyce Pangco Panares

_____________________________________
REGIONAL
April 6, Thai Press Reports
Myanmar postpones reform despite pressure from the US, ASEAN

Already under pressure from both the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and the United States over its failure to move towards democracy,
Myanmar's (Burma) military junta has adjourned a convention aimed at
drawing up a new democratic constitution.

Burmese officials blamed rising temperatures and the approaching monsoon
for suspending its constitutional convention Thursday, and said the talks
would not resume until November at the earliest.

A new constitution is therefore unlikely to be in place before Burma is
scheduled to take the chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations in mid-2006, analysts say.

The announcement came as ASEAN governments were struggling with a growing
disagreement over how to deal with Burma's military government.

A group of Malaysian lawmakers began moves last week to deny Burma its
turn as ASEAN chair next year, unless its government made concrete moves
towards democracy.

Further pressure was added Thursday when U.S. Republican Senator Mitch
McConnell called for the United States, Europe and the "community of
democracies" to boycott all ASEAN meetings if Burma was in the chair.

The Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman, Sihasak Phuanketkeow, replied that
further isolation of Burma, also known as Myanmar, was not the answer.

"We believe that to bring about further progress (in Burma) the path
should be of constructive engagement and constructive dialogue," said
Sihasak Phuanketkeow. "We don't think that further isolation of Myanmar
would achieve the common objective that we share." There was no unanimity
within ASEAN. Lawmakers in the Philippines have also called for Burma to
be denied the chair unless reforms are carried out.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on an official visit to Burma
Wednesday, was reported as telling government leaders that developments in
their country could affect ASEAN as a whole.

But Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that the matter was
Burma's internal affair, and he refused to back any campaign to prevent
Burma from chairing ASEAN.

And Malaysia's government distanced itself from its activist legislators
on Thursday, saying it, too, would not push to deny Burma the chair in
2006.

The United States and Europe have imposed sanctions on Burma in an effort
to force reform, but Gary Rodan, an Asia specialist at Australia's Murdoch
University, says the Western nations could face diplomatic problems if
Burma does take over the chair.

"It would be a bit of an embarrassment for the Americans if a group of
countries that have worked closely with the Americans in executing the
security policies in the region were to be involved with an organization
which had its meetings chaired by Burma," said Gary Rodan.

Burma's military has been in power for more than 40 years, and shows no
sign of relinquishing power, despite widespread international support for
the opposition National League for Democracy and its detained leader, Aung
San Suu Kyi.

_____________________________________

April 4-10, Myanmar Times
Malaysia less popular with Myanmar workers - Ye Lwin

MALAYSIA has in the past two years become less popular among Myanmar
workers who are seeking jobs in foreign countries, said overseas
employment agencies in Yangon.

Since January more than 4000 Myanmar labourers have returned home
following Malaysia’s announcement that it would crack down on illegal
workers in the country starting on March 1, according to statistics from
Myanmar’s Department of Immigration.

“Not only illegal workers but also official ones have returned to Myanmar
as most of them have found it difficult to get lucrative jobs in
Malaysia,” said Lieutenant Colonel Thein Naing, the general manager of
Shwe Inn Wa Company.

The number of Myanmar workers seeking jobs in Malaysia also declined by
about 60 per cent between 2003 and 2004 – from 3400 to 1607 – according
Myanmar government figures.

“There are two reasons for Malaysia’s decline in popularity: recent severe
action against illegal foreign workers and relatively lower labour wages
there,” said Lt-Col Thein Naing.

Ko Zaw Myo, a worker who recently returned from Malaysia, also said that
his Malaysian employers did not comply with the terms of his contract.

“In my contract the employer agreed to pay 21 ringgits a day, but when we
arrived in Malaysia they kept our passports and paid less than 18 ringgits
a day,” he said.

Ko Ye Zar Ni, a 25-year-old who returned from Malaysia last month after
working at a candy factory in Panang, had a similar complaint.

“Before we went to Malaysia, the employer agreed to pay 18 ringgits a day,
but we actually got about 16 ringgits a day under a three-year contract,”
he said.

“They said we could earn at least 700 ringgits a month including overtime
wages but we earned about 500 ringgits a month,” he said.

Foreign workers are required to pay 100 ringgits a month in taxes to the
Malaysian government.

“My monthly food costs were about 150 ringgits, and on that amount I had
to tighten my belt, so I found it difficult to survive in Malaysia,” said
Ko Ye Zar Ni.

Lt-Col Thein Naing said Myanmar’s Department of Labour has instructed
overseas employment agencies in Yangon not to send workers to Malaysia if
the employers offered daily wages of less than 21 ringgits a day or 750
ringgits a month.

“We are now negotiating with Malaysian employers to raise the daily labour
wage to at least 21 ringgits,” he said.

Meanwhile the Malaysian government is seeking legal workers from foreign
countries to fill the void left by illegals who were caught up in the
government crackdown.

“The number of job offers for foreigners in Malaysia is still high,” said
U Min Hlaing, the managing director of Htet Oo Manpower Limited.

About 11 per cent of the total workforce in Malaysia consists of
foreigners, causing some Malaysians to argue that foreign workers are
taking jobs away from locals.

“Foreign workers do the three ‘D’ jobs that Malaysians don’t want to do –
dirty, dangerous and difficult – especially at farms and construction
sites,” said Ko Zaw Myo.

Since 1999 Myanmar’s Department of Labour has sent more than 14,000
workers to Malaysia. Myanmar workers account for about 50,000 of the 1.3
million foreigners employed in Malaysia.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 6, New York Times
Taking on Burmese generals, at last

The Burmese government, run by generals who brazenly ignored election
results, put the winner under house arrest and plundered their unfortunate
land, expects to assume the rotating chairmanship of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, known as Asean, next year.

Modern history gave the junta members reason to believe that they would
assume that seat, just as normal leaders would. It has been a principle of
many international bodies that most things countries do inside their
borders are internal matters, and many of the other Asean members -
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam - have serious imperfections.

Yet, thankfully, the neighbors of Burma, renamed Myanmar by its military
rulers, have begun to twitch. Singapore's foreign minister, George Yeo,
recently said that "some hard messages may have to be put across" to the
Burmese generals. An official in Malaysia told a newspaper that the
Burmese leadership "would be unacceptable," and similar things have been
heard in Jakarta and Manila.

Such sentiments are hardly an irresistible wave. But there is no longer a
consensus that the Burmese will get the chairmanship. One reason is the
tough stance of the Bush administration and the European Union. Some Asean
nations also sense that the junta is now a blot on the region. A
conference of Asean legislators called for political reform and the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, from house
arrest as preconditions for accepting a Burmese Asean chairman.

These stirrings may not sway the Burmese generals and their cronies, who
have powerful allies in India and China. But declaring that a gross
violator of human rights is unworthy of its chairmanship would be a proud
achievement for Asean, and a good message to other international groups
that still believe tyranny is an internal matter.
_____________________________________

April 6, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma (UK)
289 MPs call for UN action on Burma

A Commons Early Day Motion (EDM) supporting Burmese democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and calling on the British government to put Burma on the
agenda of the United Nations Security Council, has gained more support
than almost any other motion in the current Parliamentary session.

EDM 273 was tabled by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in
Burma. The support of almost 300 MPs has made it the second most supported
Early Day Motion in the current Parliamentary session out of more than
1,000 EDMs.

Iain Luke, Labour MP for Dundee East and Secretary of the All-Party Group,
said: "Over the last two years the All-Party Group for Democracy in Burma
has sponsored some of the best subscribed EDMs. We have drawn attention to
the unacceptable situation in Burma and given  testimony to the depth of
opposition there is amongst back bench MPs to the continued oppressive
dictatorship that exists and their unacceptable treatment of the rightful
leader of a free democratic Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi."

John Bercow, Conservative MP for Buckingham and Joint Chair of the
All-Party Group, said: "This motion shows the huge support from all
Parties for Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's democracy movement.  It reflects
too the hostility of freedom lovers to the brutal military dictatorship in
Burma which has a record of bestial oppression of its own people.  It is
blindingly obvious that the Government of Burma will do nothing to mend
its ways unless it is forced to do so by unremitting pressure from the
international community.  British MPs want the UN Security Council to stop
ducking the issue of Burmese tyranny and to start confronting the regime
with explicit demands for democratic change and the timetable for that
change to be delivered."

Vera Baird, Labour MP for Redcar and Joint Chair of the All-Party Group,
said: "It is time the Burmese Government understood what concern British
parliamentarians have about the ill treatment they mete out to their
citizens. To have this many MPs signing the EDM is remarkable, and a sign
of the strength of feeling about this issue."

Burma held elections in 1990 and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy won 82 percent of the seats. The regime refused to hand over
power and instead imprisoned and tortured many MPs. Today 12 MPs still
languish in jail. There are more than 1,300 political prisoners, and the
regime is one of the most repressive in the world. Burma's democracy
movement has called on the United Nations for help but have so far been
ignored. Burma has not even been a formal agenda item at the United
Nations Security Council. There are no UN sanctions against Burma, not
even an arms embargo.

The EDM has attracted the support of many high profile MPs and former
ministers, including Michael Howard MP, Menzies Campbell MP QC, Clare
Short MP, Vincent Cable MP, Liam Fox MP, John Hume MP, Glenda Jackson MP,
Tony Banks MP, Alex Salmond MP, Chris Smith MP, Oliver Letwin MP, and Ann
Widdecombe MP. The full list of MPs that have signed the EDM can be viewed
at: http://edm.ais.co.uk/weblink/html/motion.html/ref=273
For more information contact Iain Luke MP on 020 7219 8165 or 01382
466700, John Bercow MP on 020 7219 6458, Vera Baird MP on  020 7219 3863.

NOTES TO EDITORS
The EDM has attracted significant cross-party support:
Signatures by party with approximate percentage of MPs from each party:
135 Labour MPs (45% - of those who can sign)
96 Conservative MPs (60%)
39 Liberal Democrat MPs (69%)
5 Scottish Nationalist MP (100%)
4 Ulster Unionist MP (80%)
3 Independent Conservative MPs
2 Democratic Unionist MPs (29%)
2 Plaid Cymru MPs (50%)
1 Independent MP
1 Social Democratic & Labour Party MP (30%)

Background on Burma
Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest following a brutal crackdown
and massacre of up to 100 of her supporters in May 2003. Today, April 5th,
she will have spent a total of 9 years, 5 months and 11 days under house
arrest.  More than half the population of Burma lives in extreme poverty,
while at the same time the regime spends around half of its budget on the
military.

Text of the EDM
EDM 273 AUNG SAN SUU KYI
That this House expresses its deep concern that the leader of Burma's
democracy movement, Nobel Prize winner Aung Sun Suu Kyi, has now spent
more than nine years under house arrest; notes that there are currently
serious questions about her personal security; abserves that, despite
Burma's military dictatorship announcing several initiatives to move
towards democracy, prospects for democracy in Burma are as distant as
ever; further notes that there has not been a single democratic political
reform in the past 15 years; calls for the immediate release of Aung Sun
Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma; and calls on the Government
immediately to put Burma on the agenda of the United National Security
Council.