BurmaNet News, June 29, 2005

[Editor]

June 29, 2005 Issue # 2750


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Regime repression “displaces hundreds of thousands”
DVB: Worries for Burmese girl who successfully sued local authorities
Irrawaddy: Junta increases propaganda effort

ON THE BORDER
Reuters: Deported Myanmar rebels face death, says India NGO
Irrawaddy: Burma hands over Chinese prisoners

DRUGS
AFP: Southeast Asia could be opium free in coming years: UN drug report

BUSINESS / FINANCE
Xinhua: Myanmar encourages development of cottage industries
Xinhua: China’s trade with Myanmar in Apr. 2005

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burmese demonstrators charged in Kuala Lumpur
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Mekong sub-region summit fails to invite NGOs

INTERNATIONAL
SHAN: Chins formally admitted to Shadow UN

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 29, Irrawaddy
Regime repression “displaces hundreds of thousands” - Louis Reh

More than 500,000 displaced people in eastern Burma were living in
relocation camps or in hiding at the end of 2004, according to a report
issued by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“The military regime’s objective of increasing control over minority areas
through a policy of forced assimilation and repression of autonomy
movements has resulted in decades of conflict that has devastated the
lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians,” said the report

As of October 2004, the report said, at least 526,000 people were
internally displaced in eastern Burma, either in hiding or relocation
sites, as a result of widespread human rights violations committed by
Burmese troops and their allies.

Most of the displaced people were from Karen, Karenni, Shan and Mon States.

One group of more than 20 Karenni people had recently fled their homes to
seek refuge in a camp in Mae Hong Son, northern Thailand. They had fled
from fighting between two ethnic Karenni rebels groups—the Karenni
National Progressive Party and the Karenni National People’s Liberation
Front.

The Norwegian Refugee Council report said that displacement wasn’t
confined to eastern Burma. In the western part of the country, bordering
India and Bangladesh, the Muslim Rohingya people and other minority groups
were suffering harsh discrimination and forced relocation.
In addition, the report said, hundreds of thousands of people had also
been displaced in schemes to resettle the urban poor and in the
construction of large-scale infrastructure projects.

____________________________________

June 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Worries for Burmese girl who successfully sued local authorities

Residents of Htan Manaing Village, Kawmoo Township, Rangoon Division are
having serious cocerns for their local heroine Su Su Nway who successfully
sued her local authorities for forced labour practices. The village
authorities took revenge on Su Su Nway by counter-accusing her of
threatening and swearing at them and taking her to the court in Kawmoo,
according to the villagers. The court will decide on 30 June, whether Su
Su Nway should be charged and tried. Kawmoo Township local authority
chairman was said to have provided lawyer fees to the village authority
chairman Tin Aye so that he could sue her. Moreover, former Kawmoo
Township judge Mya Mya was replaced “in emergency” with the notorious Htay
Htay Win from nearby Henzada who rejected all the cases against the
authorities on forced labour issues. She also turned the villagers who
sued the authorities into defendants and sent them to prison.

____________________________________

June 29, Irrawaddy
Junta increases propaganda effort

The Burmese junta on Tuesday launched a new journalism course that
skeptics in Rangoon’s media say is merely the latest in a steadily
increasing propaganda effort designed to counter criticism from abroad.
Organized by the Union Solidarity and Development Association, the course
aims “to launch counter-offensives in all aspects” against foreign media
which it says is “spreading rumors and making false accusations.” The
announcement in the state-run New Light of Myanmar said young participants
in the scheme would be encouraged in their “adoration of Myanmar [Burmese]
society.”

The course follows recent increased efforts by the junta to counter
criticism from outside the country. Information Minister Kyaw Hsan has
made a number of high-profile appearances in the past two months,
including a tour this week in which he commented on the need to improve
the military government's use of the media as a tool for retaliation. A
senior correspondent in Rangoon said the increased propaganda effort has
not gone unnoticed by the local media, which has been bombarded with a
growing number of articles planted by the Press Scrutiny Board this year.
“The government is increasingly realizing the need to utilize the media to
hit back at foreign media reports,” he said, denying the move suggested
there would be any significant changes in Burma in the near future.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 29, Reuters
Deported Myanmar rebels face death, says India NGO

Guwahit: A non-governmental organization in northeast India urged the
government on Wednesday not to deport around 40 Myanmarese insurgents to
Myanmar, saying they would be executed by the ruling junta.

The insurgents were arrested after Indian forces destroyed one of the
largest Mynamarese rebel bases in India, deep in the mountainous jungles
of the remote northeastern state of Mizoram at the weekend.

"We have rounded up 40 Myanmarese militants and search operations are on
to locate the others hiding in different parts of the state. All the
rebels will be handed over to Myanmarese authorities," L. Sailo, police
chief of Mizoram, told Reuters.

About 200 guerrillas and supporters living in the Chin National Army camp
near the border with Myanmar fled to different parts of the state before
the attack. There were no casualties.

"We have asked the government not to deport them because they are likely
to be killed by the Myanmarese army once they are pushed across the
border," a Young Mizo Association (YMA) spokesman told Reuters by phone
from Aizawl.

Founded by Welsh missionaries in 1935, the YMA has more than 350,000
members -- a third of the population -- and rivals the church as the most
powerful organization in Mizoram.

The Chin army has fought a low-level rebellion since 1988 for more
autonomy for the mainly Christian Chin in Myanmar's northwest, where
Myanmarese troops have been trying to force them to convert to Buddhism.

The Indian operation began several days ago, part of an agreement by both
countries to wipe out rebels on their soil.

Indian rebels fighting for autonomy for northeastern states shelter in the
jungles of Myanmar.

Rights groups and analysts estimate the size of the Chin army at
800-1,000, including about 500 actual combatants.

____________________________________

June 29, Irrawaddy
Burma hands over Chinese prisoners

Burma on Monday handed over nearly 100 Chinese prisoners to authorities in
Yunnan province via the Kachin State border town of Laiza, according to
officials at the Chinese embassy in Rangoon and local ethnic leaders.

Senior officials of ethnic minority ceasefire group the Kachin
Independence Organization have confirmed that Burmese authorities met with
their Chinese counterparts at the Kachin—Yunnan border and handed over 95
prisoners arrested over the past year. Previously held at jails in the
Kachin towns of Myitkyina and Bhamo, the prisoners had been facing
sentences of between five and 12 years, mostly on charges of illegal entry
and drug-related offences.

It is rare for Burmese police and soldiers to enter the KIO-controlled
town of Laiza, and it appears the ceasefire group is unhappy its
permission was not sought beforehand, and has warned that next time it may
close the border crossing.

____________________________________
DRUGS

June 29, Agence France Presse
Southeast Asia could be opium free in coming years: UN drug report

Bangkok: Southeast Asia's one-time opium kingdoms of Laos and Myanmar
dramatically reduced their narcotics production in 2004, and the region
could see itself opium-free in coming years, the United Nations said
Wednesday in its world drug report.

Southeast Asia's opium production has plummeted 78 percent since 1996,
helped last year by Myanmar's 23 percent reduction in the land used for
poppy cultivation and a 43 percent plunge in neighbouring Laos, the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) annual report said.

Production in the region, once famed for the "Golden Triangle" drug nexus
where parts of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet, was forecast to decline
further in 2005.

"If the declines witnessed over the last few years are sustained, it would
not be too far outside the realm of possibility that Southeast Asia could
become virtually free of illicit cultivation over the next few years," the
report said.

UNODC regional project coordinator John Doyle said the regional decline in
opium was one of the world's eradication success stories, but that it was
virtually negated by what the report described as "record levels" of opium
production in top heroin source Afghanistan.

"For opiates, the overall story is a major decline in this region which
continues, counterbalanced by a significant increase in Afghanistan,"
Doyle told a press briefing launching the report.

In its 2005 opium poppy survey released earlier this month, the UNODC said
Laos was "no longer a supplier of illegal opiates to the world market,"
and that poppy cultivation in the communist state stood at 1,800 hectares
(about 4,500 acres), down from 6,600 hectares a year earlier.

Royal-backed farming projects had caused opium production in northern
Thailand to fall from 150 metric tons in 1964 to 1.2 metric tons last
year, according to Chartchai Suthiklom, deputy secretary of Thailand's
Office of the Narcotics Control Board.

"We have the ultimate goal that in 2008 we will have no opium cultivation
in our country," Chartchai said.

The annual report warned, however, that Southeast Asia was reeling from
increased production and use of methamphetamines, and that illicit
narcotics use was helping spread HIV/AIDS.

HIV is prevalent among up to 92.3 percent of injecting drug users in South
Asia and Southeast Asia, and up to 84 percent of users in East Asia and
the Pacific, the report said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

June 29, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar encourages development of cottage industries

Yangon: Myanmar is encouraging the development of cottage industries,
urging operators to cooperate with the government to have access to
facilities provided by related authorities for improved production.

Pointing out that such industries usually lack technical knowhow in
production, the Department of Cottage Industries (DCI) under the Ministry
of Cooperatives recently urged small family business entrepreneurs to
introduce modern technology to upgrade the quality of their products.

There are over 42,000 cottage industries including weaving ones, of which
about 35,000 are unregistered, thus creating an absence of links with the
government that has resulted in the underdevelopment of the sector,
according to the DCI.

During the past few years, Myanmar launched education programs in rural
areas, where most cottage industries are located, to raise awareness of
the benefits of registering the industries with the DCI locally.

To enhance such small family businesses, Myanmar introduced optional
registration under the 1991 Promotion of Cottage Industries Law.

____________________________________

June 29, Xinhua Economic News Service
China’s trade with Myanmar in Apr. 2005

Beijing: China’s export to and import from Myanmar reached 119,377,000 US
dollars in April 2005, and the trade in January-April reached 394,955,000
US dollars, up 7.2 percent year on year.

Following is a table showing the total value of China’s trade with Myanmar
from January 2004 to April 2005, released by the General Administration of
Customs:

(Unit: 1,000 U.S. dollars)
Current month    Cumulative total % Change y-o-y (cumulative total)

2004
January          	58,542           	58,542           	-32.8
February         	73,457           	131,999          	-15.5
March    	142,119          	274,117          	9.6
April            	94,136           	368,254          	3.2
May              	87,237           	455,490          	-1.3
June           	92,339           	547,835          	-0.3
July             	81,831           	629,657         	-3.3
August           	110,262          	739,761          	1.4
September        73,593            	813,563          	1.5
October         	83,082           	896,645          	3.0
November         86,361            	983,033          	4.6
December        	162,441          	1,145,494        	6.1
2005
January          	82,414            	82,414           	40.8
February         	68,327           	150,741          	14.2
March           	124,788          	275,530          	0.5
April            	119,377          	394,955          	7.2


____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 28, Irrawaddy
Burmese demonstrators charged in Kuala Lumpur - Hanna Ingber

Sixty-eight Burmese activists, including three women, arrested in Kuala
Lumpur in connection with an unauthorized demonstration calling for the
release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi were charged Wednesday, said
one of the lawyers representing them.

Sixty-two were charged with unlawful assembly and immigration offenses. If
convicted under Section 6 of the Immigration Act, they face a sentence of
up to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to 10,000 Ringgit (US $2,600),
and six strokes of the cane, according to Latheefa Koya, a Malaysian
lawyer who represents refugees and asylum-seekers.

Four were charged with not possessing official immigration documentation.
They were arrested as they visited 64 Burmese nationals who had been
detained on June 16 for demonstrating without a permit in front of the
Burmese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Three of the four were charged under
Section 6, while the fourth had a valid passport and was therefore only
charged with overstaying his visa.

Two of the 68 are 17 years old and were referred to a juvenile court,
where they were also charged with unlawful assembly and immigration
offenses. They are to appear in court again on July 26.

Thirty-eight of the arrested Burmese are registered with the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Prime Minister’s Office Minister
Mohamed Nazri Aziz told The Irrawaddy in Kuala Lumpur last week: “Those
Burmese or Malaysians who protested have broken the law of Malaysia—they
have to be detained just like any other Malaysian citizen would be
detained if they broke the law.”

Volker Turk, UNHCR Representative in Malaysia, on Wednesday echoed the
remarks of the government. He told The Irrawaddy: “With regards to the
arrests of Burmese nationals for unlawful assembly, UNHCR wishes to
emphasize that we expect the refugees and persons of concern to us to
respect the law of the country. Refugees are not outside of the law, and
while they reside in Malaysia, they too are governed by the laws of
Malaysia.”

The worldwide campaign for demonstrations outside Burmese embassies this
month calling for the release of Suu Kyi was organized by the US Campaign
for Burma, whose policy director, Aung Din, said he knew the Burmese had
been planning to protest illegally in Malaysia.

“I promptly suggested (to) my friends from Malaysia that this would not be
a safe idea and urged them to put their safety as first priority,” he told
The Irrawaddy. “Nevertheless, they insisted on organizing the event
because this is what they believe (will) help their leader (become) free.
Of course, while they clearly made their own decision, I strongly commend
the bravery of these people.”

Human rights activists in Kuala Lumpur also support the protesters’
efforts to make a political statement.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right,” said Arutchelvan,
program manager of Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM). “It should be accorded
to anyone irrespective of their nationality.”

After their sentencing, and after serving any prison term, the protesters
are understood to face transfer to an immigration detention center where
conditions are said by human rights workers to be inhumane and unhealthy.
Conditions at the government-run centers are reported to have deteriorated
severely since a government crackdown on illegal migrants in March,
resulting in massive overcrowding. About 400 detainees are said to be
living in each 20m by 30m block at Semenyih detention center in Selangor.

Dr. Irene Fernandez, director of Tenaganita, a migrant support and labor
advocacy group, says “all kinds of diseases” are common in the
government-run detention centers “There is very little access to treatment
despite having medical personnel there.”

Dr. Irene Fernandez herself was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in
1996 after Tenaganita released a “Memorandum on Abuse, Torture,
Dehumanized Treatment and Deaths of Migrant Workers at Detention Camps.”
She was convicted of publishing false news, but was released on remand.

One Chin refugee who has been in Semenyih detention center since October
2003, told a visiting reporter: “This is worse than jail. We are never
given vegetables—only dried fish, which is sometimes rotten. In one week,
we are given one egg.”

Detainees sleep on the concrete floor without a mattress or blanket, he said.

One Burmese refugee who spent five months in Semenyih after demonstrating
outside the Burmese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur on May 17, 2004, said he had
seen three sick inmates die in detention. Beatings were common, he said.

K Shan, of the National Human Rights Society (HAKAM), charged that
detention center staff robbed inmates of their belongings and sexually
harassed detained women.

_____________________________________

June 29, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Mekong sub-region summit fails to invite NGOs

Bangkok: A summit of the six-nation Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS),
scheduled next month in China's Yunnan province, has refused to invite
civil society organizations to the meeting, organizers said on Wednesday.

"This is a meeting of the heads of state and the heads of state determined
the conditions of the meeting," Mark Kasman, an Asian Development Bank
(ADB) environment specialist, told a press conference.

ADB is co-hosting the summit as the lead funder of various ambitious
infrastructure development programs for the GMS, an area that comprises
all riparian countries of the Mekong River, including China, Laos, Myanmar
(Burma), Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The GMS grouping will hold its second summit in Kunming, in China's Yunnan
province, on July 4-5. The first was held in Cambodia in 2002.

Conservation groups are hoping the summit will include a commitment from
the six leaders to protect the environment in the Mekong Basin area and
include civil society participation in the planned infrastructure projects
such as hydroelectic dams and roads.

A meeting of GMS environmental ministers held in Shanghai, China, on May
25, issued a joint statement calling for comprehensive protection of the
region's environment and bio-diversity but many worry the call will remain
toothless without an endorsement by the six leaders.

"At the meeting in Kunming I would certainly like to see that the leaders
endorse and accept all the things the environmental ministers have put
forward," said WWF Thailand representative Robert Mather.

The fact that the WWF and other non-governmental organizations have not
been invited to the summit has raised concerns among development agencies
and environmentalists about whether conservation issues will be given an
equal priority with infrastructure building.

"There's a certain irony here," said John Dore, head of the IUCN (World
Conservation Union) Bangkok office. "An expected outcome of the summit is
for it to lead to partnerships with the private sector, development
agencies, academics and civil society and yet - with the exception of ADB
- development agencies, academics and all civil society groups have been
excluded from participating."

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 29, Shan Herald Agency for News
Chins formally admitted to Shadow UN

The Chin people of Burma, represented by Chin National Front, became the
52nd member of the international organization claiming to fight for the
Right to Self Determination of the oppressed peoples all over the world at
the three-day session of its General Assembly at The Hague, 24-26 June,
according to reports from Europe.

Nine other new members included Khmer Kampuchea Krom from Asia. Among
Burma's neighbors, Manipur from India and Hmong from Laos, who attended as
observers, have expressed interest in joining the Unrepresented Nations
and Peoples Organization, whose founders in 1991 reportedly included the
Dalai Lama of China's Tibet. Other members from Burma are Karenni, Mon and
Shan.

The Chin delegation was headed by US-based Kenneth van Bik, Mon by
Denmark-based Bee Htaw Monzel, General Secretary of Mon Unity League, and
Shan by Germany-based Sai Wansai, General Secretary of Shan Democratic
Union. The Karenni was the only absentee from Burma at the General
Assembly held at the historic Peace Palace, where Slobodan Milsosevic,
former Serbian strongman, went on trial.

The Assembly, condemning the military rulers of Burma for its non-stop
human rights violations, calls for a stop to all rights abuses, release of
all political prisoners and urges the international stakeholders,
particularly China, India, Japan and Asean countries "to help materialize
the 1990 nationwide election results and pave the way for national
reconciliation, democratization, equality and rights of
self-determination, as clearly expressed by the people of Burma", among
others.

The SDU, while insisting that the Shan State is a sovereign country under
"alien occupation" since the 1947 Constitution, "the main bond between
Burma and the Shan State," was abolished by the Burma Army in 1962, has
nevertheless adopted what is regarded as a middle-of-the-road "Democratic
Federal Union" political goal set by Burma's largest ethnic coalition,
Ethnic Nationalities Council. Which, for its critics, is doomed to failure
from the start, because, to Burma's hardliners, federalism is still
"secession in disguise."