BurmaNet News May 11, 2005

[Editor]

May 11, 2005 Issue # 2716

"What is clear is that there is political instability
If not properly
handled, the violence is going to continue."
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid, as quoted in Associated Press, May
11, 2005

INSIDE BURMA
SHAN: Junta forewarned of bomb attacks
AFP: Myanmar cemetery overflows with grief for Yangon bomb victims
SHAN: More Wa on their way
Narinjara: Three hydro-power plants are being built in Arakan

ON THE BORDER
Christian Science Monitor: A young activist calls attention to a cause
Xinhua: Migrant day laborers allowed to work in Thailand

REGIONAL
AP: Malaysia advises citizens to avoid Myanmar following recent bomb blasts
Narinjara: AASYC joins hands with Bangladeshi activists against the
tri-nation Gas Pipeline Project

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: No breakthrough against forced labour in Myanmar: ILO

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 11, Shan Herald Agency for News
Junta forewarned of bomb attacks

According to a source close to the Army, Rangoon had already received
advance notice served by a mysterious group of the impending bomb strikes
since March:

The group had demanded the release of all political prisoners as its
condition. As a result, the military government issued an order on 19
March to all state agencies to maintain a 24-hour vigilance against
possible sabotage on government buildings and installations.

The saboteurs however had directed their 7 May attacks on public places
instead, leading to at least 11 dead and 162 injured.

"The government did not have the least idea which group it was even though
it had accused the Karen, Karenni, Shans and the government-in-exile
(formed by Aung San Suu Kyi's cousin, Dr Sein Win) within hours of the
carnage", said the source, who had an opportunity to see a copy of the
warning.

"What's more, their intelligence system was still starting from scratch
since Gen Khin Nyunt was busted."

He however could not recall the group's full designation, though he
remembers the words: Union, Democracy and Brigade. "The group threatened
to keep on attacking until all the prisoners of conscience including Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi were freed", he added.

Security officials located another "explosive device" near the Aung San
Stadium at 14:00 on Monday, 9 May. "But it turned out to be a dummy."

The anti-Rangoon Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party,
Shan State Army and National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma,
'the usual suspects' as Thailand's The Nation daily dubbed them, have
already issued statements condemning the bomb attacks.

______________________________________

May 11, Agence France Presse
Myanmar cemetery overflows with grief for Yangon bomb victims

Yangon: Hundreds of wailing mourners filled a cemetery outside Myanmar's
capital Wednesday, grieving at the cremations of six victims of last
weekend's bomb attacks.

Officials at Yey Wae cemetery said 12 victims of the Saturday blasts at
two upscale Yangon shopping centers and a convention hall had been
cremated so far, and another two bodies were expected at the cemetery
later Wednesday.

Myanmar's military rulers have said 11 people were killed and 162 injured
in the unprecedented explosions, one of which hit a Thai trade show.

But Thai officials put the death toll at 21, and witnesses have said they
believe dozens were killed. Medical authorities have been ordered not to
speak to reporters about the casualties.

Officials at a second cemetery outside Yangon could not be reached, but
the Yey Wae officials said more victims were likely to be cremated there.

The wailing of mourners could be heard from outside the Yey Wae cemetery
on the northern outskirts of Yangon, where the bodies were covered in
flowers before being cremated. Men carried anguished women away from the
cemetery, where families and friends struggled to come to grips with the
tragedy.

"She is not my daughter!" one mother cried repeatedly over the body of
28-year-old Myint Theingi, who worked at the City Mart grocery store in
the upscale Dagon shopping center.

Myint Theingi's face was badly disfigured in the blast. Her relatives and
colleagues said they could not recognize the body and refused to believe
it was her.

The family of 52-year-old Than Aye, who was injured in the explosion at
the Yangon Trade Centre and later died in hospital, said they feared for
her 15-year-old daughter, who was also seriously injured and in a critical
condition.

"We don't want to tell her that her mother has died," one relative said.

"When she regained consciousness, she asked for her mother, but we said
her mother was at another hospital."

"We worry about her, if she knew her mother has died," the relative said.

Despite the order not to speak to reporters, one doctor told AFP a
Malaysian national injured in the blast remained in hospital but was in a
stable condition.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid said Tuesday that four Malaysian
citizens were hurt in the blast. Three of them had been treated and
released from hospital.

Syed Hamid urged Malaysians to put off travel to Myanmar, saying the
government was not sure of what was happening in the country.

Yangon has blamed the attacks on an alliance of ethnic rebel groups and
pro-democracy exiles. The groups, which have no history of collaboration
in their activities, have denied the allegation.

Officials with City Mart, the grocery store chain that was the target of
two of the bombings, said they would not discuss the casualties in its
stores for fear of scaring away customers.

The military rulers have imposed a near-total news blackout, leaving
rumors to swirl across Yangon. Many shops Wednesday were deserted as
people feared the possibility of another attack.

______________________________________

May 11, Shan Herald Agency for News
More Wa on their way

Eight ten-wheel trucks carrying 200 Wa troops arrived in Mongton, opposite
Chiangmai, yesterday evening on their way to the Loi Taileng battlefield
further west, opposite Maehongson.

"This is only the first batch," boasted an officer from the United Wa
State Army who stopped to buy cigarettes at an unnamed village. "You can
expect 800 more coming down from Panghsang in a few days."

This is the first time troops from Panghsang, the Wa capital on the
Chinese border will be taking part in the fighting that began in March.
Some 800 fighters from Wei Hsuehkang's 171st Military Region have already
arrived at the Wa lines facing Shan State Army positions in Loi Taileng,
across Maehongson's Pang Mapha district.

The SSA is also reportedly holding a crisis meeting. S.H.A.N. has been
unable to reach any senior officials for comment.

______________________________________

May 11, Narinjara News
Three hydro-power plants are being built in Arakan

Akyab: Though three power plants are being built by the Burmese military
junta in Arakan State, western Burma, people of the state have little
faith that these plants will be of much benefit to them them, said an
Arakanese community leader from Akyab.

“Building power plants is very good for Arakan since its electricity
infrastructure is very poor. However, these plants are being built where
there are military bases. I don’t believe these plants are aimed for the
benefit of the people. These plants are for the benefit of the military
forces and their families,” he said.

One of the projects is in Ann Township where the regional military base,
the Western Command Headquarter and at least five battalions and one
brigade are based.

Ann Chaung Creek hydro-power plant will be 3.5 miles north-east of Ann,
and have a capacity of 53 million kilowatt per hour each year after
completion.

Another plant is also being built in Sandoway (Thandwe). Sandoway is a
tourist tourist with a well-known sea beach, Ngapali.

A local resident believes that this power plant is targeting the tourist
sector, which is solely controlled by the military personnel and their fa
milies. She said that the benefit that ordinary people will receive from
the plant will be minimal.

The Sandoway plant will generate 318 million kilowatts per hour each year.

A similar power project is also about to begin in the southern most
township of Arakan State, Gwa, where another famous beach resort, Khaung
Tha, is in proximity.

In 1989, the junta also attempted a well-publicized hydro-power project at
the Sai Dunn Water Fall, in Butheedaung Township. This project claimed
that the whole of Arakan would be lit with electric light. However, the
project was withdrawn 3 years later without any explanation.

Sai Dunn Waterfall is the biggest waterfall in Arakan State, and Arakanese
people popularly believe that it is the greatest source of hydro-power in
the State. Every government, including the last democratically elected U
Nu’s, tried to woo the people with a promise of building a power plant at
this location.

The junta’s has been using propaganda to talk up of overall development of
the State, however only factitious infrastructures have been developed.
With electricity available only two hours a day and three days a week even
at the capital of the State, Akyab, the people of Arakan are longing for a
reliable power supply.

People of Arakan are happy about the news of the power projects.  However,
they do not believe that they will really be benefiting from them, the
community leader concluded.

_____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 11, Christian Science Monitor
A young activist calls attention to a cause - Susan LLewelyn Leach

Charm Tong's parents were so concerned for her safety in Burma that they
sent their daughter across the border into Thailand at the age of 6, where
she grew up in an orphanage - never to return home to Shan State.

Over the years, atrocities against the Shan and other ethnic minorities by
the Burmese military regime have produced a steady flow of refugees across
the border. Charm Tong, as witness to these women and children, began to
advocate for their rights as a teenager. Now, at 23, she is a veteran
activist and a winner of the 2005 Reebok Human Rights Award.

Three years ago, she started a school to educate Shan refugee children and
before that, at the age of 16, she joined with others to establish a
network to support Shan women escaping violence in their homeland.

But it was a report called "License to Rape" in 2002, which she helped
publicize, that brought to international attention the Burmese military's
routine use of gang rape. It detailed 173 cases in which 625 women and
girls were raped by Burmese soldiers, according to Reuters.

"The report gives a chance to tell the world what's really happening on
the ground with the women in the ethnic areas," Charm Tong says, "and how
women suffer systematic brutal violence, even torture."

Her organization, the Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), uses the report
to educate local communities about sexual violence. "Women get punished
twice," she says, because the communities often blame the women and
consider the rape a stain on the family. What the women need, she says, is
protection and support. It's the Burmese military who "should be ashamed
of what they have done."

Despite the report's wide release and positive international and local
response, the situation on the ground has not changed. If anything, it is
worse, Charm Tong says.

In February, in a followup to the original report, her group recorded
scores of additional rape cases.

"The rape cases we are able to collect might be only the tip of the
iceberg," she acknowledges, representing the women who are willing to come
forward and testify with their family members about what happened. At the
same time, she says, the Burmese military harass and intimidate villagers
not to speak out about rape. They try "to block the flow of information,"
she says, even from refugees coming across the border.

The regime in Rangoon has consistently denied the rape charges and "until
now, there is no punishment against the rapists," Charm Tong says.

What further complicates SWAN's work is the illegal status of those who
slip across the Thai-Burmese border. Not officially recognized as refugees
by international authorities or the Thai government, they receive no
shelter, food, healthcare, or education and often get exploited as illegal
laborers, Charm Tong says.

"Because of their status, they have to be afraid all the time," she says.
"They might be easily tracked down and arrested by the authorities and
pushed back [across the border]."

The Shan, the largest ethnic group in Burma, make up 9 percent of the 43
million population. Charm Tong's father, who died last year, was a colonel
in the Shan State Army. Many Shan and ethnic leaders were arrested in
February and remain in prison, Charm Tong says, part of a long-running
regime of oppression that has failed to yield to international pressure.

Reebok's recognition of her work brings with it a $ 50,000 award, which
she will receive Wednesday at a ceremony in Los Angeles. The prize will
help fund her school and women's network, she says.

"I would say we have achieved a lot in supporting the women, the refugees,
the young people's education," she says. "On the other hand, we also have
to look at the root cause of the problem."

______________________________________

May 11, Xinhua General News Service
Migrant day laborers allowed to work in Thailand

Bangkok: Migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos have been approved to
work in Thailand without staying overnight, local press reported
Wednesday.

The approval, made by Thai cabinet on Tuesday, allows workers from
Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos to work in the kingdom only in daytime.

They must go back to their home country in the evening.

Employment of these migrants as seasonal workers in border area also got
nod from the cabinet. Governors of border province were authorized to
judge by themselves whether to allow employment of alien workers in their
region, Sansanee Nakpong, deputy government spokesman was quoted as saying
by Bangkok Post newspaper.

Meanwhile, the cabinet agreed to extend work permits of registered aliens
by one year until June 30, 2006.

Registered aliens are required to apply for a new work permit and undergo
health checks before the end of next month, said Sansanee.

So far, over 1.2 million migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos
have been registered to work in Thailand.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 11, Associated Press
Malaysia advises citizens to avoid Myanmar following recent bomb blasts

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to
military-ruled Myanmar following last week's string of deadly bombing
there, saying the country is suffering from political instability that
could lead to more violence.

At least four Malaysians were among the scores wounded by Saturday's bomb
blasts at two upscale supermarkets and a convention center in Myanmar's
capital, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said. Officially, the
death toll is 11 and the number of injured 162, but the unofficial toll is
believed to be much higher.

Myanmar state television and radio have accused rebel groups in the
attacks, but the groups have denied involvement, saying instead that
Myanmar's junta was to blame.

"What is clear is that there is political instability," Syed Hamid told
reporters late Tuesday. "If not properly handled, the violence is going to
continue."

He said he "would like to advise Malaysians to avoid" going to Myanmar.
"Unless we are clear of the situation, they may be caught in some incident
which could create tragedy," he said.

Syed Hamid said 15 Malaysians, all members of a touring church group, were
at the site of one of the blasts. Four of them were injured, including a
three-year-old boy. One of the injured woman is in intensive care unit, he
said.

"We hope the Myanmar government would be able to handle this, because
there have been so many deaths ... officially as well as unofficially,
figures that are not reported. We do not know the exact number," he 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.
The junta keeps tight control over the population and anti-government
violence is rare, often bringing quick and severe punishment.

Despite its poor human rights record, Myanmar became a member of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, mainly because of Malaysia's
support. But that camaraderie has been waning as Myanmar shows no sign of
reforming, especially as it is set to take over the chairmanship of ASEAN
next year.

_____________________________________

May 11, Narinjara News
AASYC joins hands with Bangladeshi activists against the tri-nation Gas
Pipeline Project

Dhaka: Members of an Arakanese student and youth organization, All Arakan
Students and Youths Congress (AASYC), joined hands with Bangladeshi social
activists against the tri-nation gas pipeline at a function held at Dhaka
University, Bangladesh on 9 of May.

The public meeting was held under the banner of ‘Preserving Natural
Resources and Using them for the Native People’ organized by Student and
Youth Movement Against Plundering Oil and Gas (SYMAPOG) and the Workers
Party of Bangladesh (WPB) at Dhaka University’s Teacher and Student
Center.

About 100 individuals, including scholars, students and social and
environmental activists, attended the meeting. Five members of AASYC who
are working against the sale of gas from Arakan State to India through
Bangladesh attended the meeting representing the Shwe Gas Movement.

During the meeting, a leader of AASYC, Khaing Zaw, explained about the
current situation of many of the gas projects in Burma and Arakan,
focusing particularly on the human rights violations that are occurring. 
He also pointed out that current arrangements to sell all the gas found in
Arakan under the name of Shwe Gas Deposit have no consensus from the
people of Arakan nor its democratically elected representatives. At the
same time, the people of Arakan believe that this sale would not benefit
them, but only sustain or strengthen the junta’s rule and its oppression
of the people of Burma, he claimed.

Khaing Zaw also urged the Bangladeshi people and activists to work
together with activists from Burma to stop this tri-nation gas pipeline.

Other members also informed the meeting’s attendees by distributing
pamphlets and flyers.

The military junta, in co-operation with foreign investors, has found many
large natural gas deposits in northern Arakan State. Instead of using
these resources for upgrading energy and electricity supplies in Arakan
for the use of the people, the junta is selling all of them overseas to
enrich itself and to sustain its despotic rule in Burma.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 11, Agence France Presse
No breakthrough against forced labour in Myanmar: ILO

Bangkok: Military-ruled Myanmar has made no breakthroughs against forced
labour since the International Labour Office's 1998 inquiry, despite a
looming sanctions threat, the UN's labour agency said Wednesday.

"While some improvements have occurred in central parts of Myanmar, forced
labour continues to be imposed in various forms, in particular in remote
areas under the authority of the army," the ILO said in a 90-page global
report on the practice.

In two pages on the "special case" of Myanmar, the ILO said its
Yangon-based liaison officer had received 72 complaints of forced labour
by late 2004, 38 of which were sent to the authorities for follow up
action.

Although Myanmar's laws prohibit the use of forced labour -- and while the
public is increasingly ready to use the legal remedy -- the "legal
prohibition on forced labour has not been effectively implemented," the
ILO said.

Government orders forbidding forced labour have been translated into six
ethnic languages, but there is no evidence the orders have been widely
disseminated or posted in the ethnic areas concerned.

In February, a high-level investigation team sent by the ILO cut short its
mission to Myanmar, after failing to meet top generals to assess their
commitment to fighting forced labour.

In March, the ILO gave Myanmar until June to make progress, saying it was
losing patience with the junta's incomplete pledges and calling on member
states to reconsider economic sanctions.

The sanctions recommendation was suspended in 2001 amid promises from
Myanmar's military leaders to stop forced labour and accept limited ILO
surveillance.

But the ILO report said it had not been able to implement a plan agreed
with the military in May 2003, which included promoting the forbidding of
forced labour and a pilot project where the practice would be monitored at
a road building site.

The plan fell apart two days after it was agreed upon, when the junta
detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"At the time of writing of this report, no real breakthrough for effective
action against forced labour in Myanmar has taken place," the report said.

ILO Asia Pacific regional director Shinichi Hasegawa told a press
conference discussions with Myanmar would continue.

The ILO's annual conference begins May 31 in Geneva, when the governing
body will again consider its sanctions recommendation.