BurmaNet News September 8, 2005

[Editor]

September 8, 2005 Issue # 2798

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burma lagging behind booming SE Asian economies
BBC: Burma accused on forced labour
AP: Amnesty International: Myanmar ethnic minorities face repression
AP: Humanitarian aid could solve some of Myanmar's woes, former student
activists say
Xinhua: UNICEF calls for greater int'l support for improving Myanmar
children's nutrition
DVB: Burmese prisoner Ko Oo’s condition deteriorates

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: This year’s Karenni Martyrs day a more solemn affair
Irrawaddy: Burmese labor group targeted by police

BUSINESS / FINANCE
Xinhua: China-ASEAN free trade zone to become major pillar of world
economy: official

REGIONAL
Nation: Villagers rejoice as court reinstates their citizenship

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: China defends cooperation with energy-rich rogue states
Sudan Tribune: US’s Zoellick warns China against deals with Myanmar, Iran,
Sudan

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 8, Irrawaddy
Burma lagging behind booming SE Asian economies - Clive Parker

Burma’s economic development is lagging way behind the rest of Southeast
Asia, according to the Asian Development Bank and economists.

In a revised economic forecast released today, ADB said the region’s
economies would grow by an average five percent in 2005, an estimate
downgraded from 5.4 percent earlier in the year because of high oil
prices. While the bank was unable to make a forecast for Burma, citing “a
lack of timely and reliable data,” estimates by the Economist Intelligence
Unit—a division of The Economist magazine—suggest Burma’s growth will
struggle to reach one percent over the same period.

The only other countries in Asia for which statistics were insufficient to
produce a forecast, ADB said, were Tuvalu, Nauru and the Marshall
Islands—all tiny states in the southeast Pacific.

Vietnam is expected to be the top economic performer in the region, with
growth forecasted to reach 7.6 percent, followed by Burma’s neighbor Laos
at 7.2 percent. ADB predicts Thailand and Singapore will see the lowest
growth in the region this year after Burma, with each forecasted to reach
four percent, ADB said.

A spokesman for the bank, Tsukasa Maekawa, explained Burma’s failure to
provide adequate information, saying: “We don’t have the channels to ask.
We don’t have an ongoing relationship with Myanmar [Burma].”

Today’s comments on Rangoon’s lack of cooperation on economic information
follow those previously made by the bank in 2003 when it stated: “An
objective assessment of economic developments in Myanmar [Burma] is made
difficult by poor quality data.”

“Often, information is available only with a long lag, is incomplete and
is difficult to reconcile. Furthermore, many indicators are based on
application of outdated statistical standards.”

Burma became a member of ADB in 1973, but Rangoon has not received any
loans or assistance from the organization since 1986, Maekawa said.

“There has been no consensus among ADB board members to lend to Myanmar
[Burma],” he added, although no reason has been given by the bank as to
why Burma is considered an unsuitable partner.

In the past ADB has had to rely on official statistics provided by the
junta in its reports, which explains why last year it said Burma had
experienced economic growth of 12.6, a figure which would have made it the
highest performing economy in the world. The Burmese government’s Ministry
of National Planning and Economic Development is famous among regional
economists for producing highly unrealistic economic data—the Economist
Intelligence Unit says the Burmese economy grew by only 0.7 percent last
year.

Burma’s military government is reportedly so reluctant to allow the
appearance of accurate economic data on the country in the public domain
that economists are forced to distribute information underground.

The Burmese government is currently trying to achieve an average annual
growth rate of 11.3 percent as part of its third five-year plan, which
ends at the end of March next year, a period in which it has declared its
intention to reduce inflation and its current account deficit.

But as the author of one secret economic report circulating in Rangoon
says: “These are very good intentions, but they are easier said than done.
They also fall short of what is required to achieve sustainable
development over the longer term.”

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development was unavailable for
comment.

____________________________________

September 8, Associated Press
Amnesty International: Myanmar ethnic minorities face repression

Bangkok: Tens of thousands of Myanmar's ethnic minority villagers face
beatings, forced labor, land confiscation and home destruction by the
ruling military, human rights group Amnesty International said.

Citing a new report based on interviews with more than 100 Myanmar
migrants in neighboring Thailand, the London-based group said there was a
continuing pattern of rights violations in the isolated Southeast Asian
nation.

The junta continues to exploit ethnic minority civilians by seizing their
land, stealing their crops and livestock, extorting their money and
forcing them - including women and children - to work, Amnesty said in a
statement dated Wednesday.

"Such abuses have been carried out in an effort to break imputed support
for ethnic minority armed opposition groups, and the situation has
worsened since the authorities instituted a policy requiring the army to
be self-sufficient," it said.

Men, women and children are used widely as forced laborers for carrying
supplies, construction and farming in violation of an International Labor
Organization convention signed by Myanmar in 1955, the statement said,
referring to the report, "Myanmar: Leaving Home."

It also said some civilians who had been forced to carry rice or other
supplies for the military were beaten or killed if they were unable to
keep up with the work.

The statement also said junta travel restrictions had hampered the efforts
of U.N. and other international workers to help the country's population,
particularly to border areas where ethnic minority villagers live.

Amnesty demanded that Myanmar's ruling military immediately halt the
practice of forced labor and end the evictions of civilians and seizure of
personal property without taking into account the needs of civilians.

The government did not immediately comment on the report.

____________________________________

September 8, BBC
Burma accused on forced labour

Tens of thousands of ethnic minority civilians in Burma are being used as
forced labourers by the military, according to Amnesty International.

A report by the London-based human rights group says beatings and
destruction of homes are also common.

The findings are based on interviews with Burmese exiles in Thailand.

Burma's (Myanmar) military junta has dismissed similar reports in the
past, saying their sources are foreign-based opponents of the regime.

'Mass exodus'

The report - Myanmar: Leaving Home - says the military uses people from
ethnic minorities to build roads and perform other forced labour.

“The situation is completely unacceptable, the army must stop living off
the villagers,” Stephen Bowen, Amnesty International

It said people were ordered to hand over their food and land, and also
procure alcohol and young women for soldiers' entertainment.

"Burmese soldiers are forcing a population that is already undernourished
to hand over food, land and labour to feed the army," Amnesty
International UK Campaigns director Stephen Bowen said.

"Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee Burma as a result."

Amnesty urged Burma to immediately halt the practice of forced labour,
describing the situation as "completely unacceptable".

It adds that some villagers were caught between the Burmese military and
rebel armies, with both sides demanding food and money from them.

The report is based on interviews with more than 100 Burmese migrants in
Thailand.

____________________________________

September 8, Associated Press
Humanitarian aid could solve some of Myanmar's woes, former student
activists say

Yangon: Prominent former student activists in Myanmar have urged the
ruling military to allow humanitarian aid to reach the country's needy to
alleviate health and education problems.

Their plea came just weeks after the U.N. Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria cut its funding to Myanmar, saying travel
restrictions imposed by the junta made it impossible for them to carry out
their work.

"Myanmar, which is one of the least developed countries, can effectively
solve its health and education problems through humanitarian aid," said a
statement read Wednesday by prominent former student activist Ko Ko Gyi.

Many people in remote parts of Myanmar lack access to basic health care,
and schools throughout the isolated country have few resources.

The activists also urged the military government to work with
pro-democracy groups and to establish a transparent and accountable
monitoring system so that humanitarian aid reaches those who need it the
most.

The activists were led by Min Ko Naing, who played a leading role in a
nationwide pro-democracy movement that helped topple a 26-year socialist
regime in 1988 but was ultimately crushed by the junta. He was released
from prison in November after nearly 16 years.

Ko Ko Gyi, 43, was freed from prison in March after more than 13 years.

Meanwhile, the U.N. children's agency released a statement in the capital,
Yangon, calling for more support to protect the health of children and
women.

"UNICEF needs additional funding to protect more children and mothers in
Myanmar against anemia and other causes of chronic malnutrition," UNICEF
Acting Representative Elke Wisch said in the statement.

____________________________________

September 8, Xinhua General News Service
UNICEF calls for greater int'l support for improving Myanmar children's
nutrition

Yangon: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for greater
international support to protect Myanmar's children and women against
malnutrition, particularly anemia.

The appeal was made at the end of the 3rd annual Nutrition Promotion Week
here Wednesday by UNICEF's office in Myanmar.

"UNICEF needs additional funding to protect more children and mothers in
Myanmar against anemia and other causes of chronic malnutrition," UNICEF
acting representative Elke Wisch was quoted as saying by a press release
issued Thursday.

Since parasitic infections are one major underlying cause of anemia in
Myanmar, UNICEF works with health personnel to provide deworming
medication to pregnant women and children two and nine years of age
throughout the country, it said.

UNICEF is also working with rural health services to provide approximately
70 million iron foliate tablets for 350,000 pregnant women across the
country this year, as well as 207,000 bottles of iron syrup for children
in target areas, it added.

"The progress made in curbing vitamin A deficiency and iodine deficiency
in Myanmar shows us that we can also significantly reduce anemia among
children and women with the right support and funding," Wisch stressed.

The national nutrition promotion week, also known as the Vitamin A
supplement campaign jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Health and the
Ministry of Mines, the UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO),
began on last Thursday to raise the standard of nutrition, eradicate
nutrition deficiency and encourage the cultivation of good eating habits.

The campaign also includes distribution of iron tablets to expectant
mothers and competition for the cooking and preparation of the most
nutritious food for children under five years old.

Myanmar has been carrying out the program for children annually, aimed at
protecting children from vitamin A deficiency, building up resistance and
immunity against infectious diseases of all kinds and bringing down the
incidence of disease and the rate of infant mortality.

Myanmar claimed that it has attained a nearly 100-percent success rate
with little or no cases of children losing their eye sight arising out of
the deficiency.

____________________________________

September 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese prisoner Ko Oo’s condition deteriorates

The health condition of the chief organising committee member of Magwe
Division National League for Democracy (NLD) in central Burma and Thayet
Township NLD Secretary, Ko Oo who is being detained at Thayet Jail, is
said to be deteriorating.

He has been suffering from arthritis and he is being treated in the prison
clinic for more than a month with gastric diseases. At the moment, his
stomach is unable to take any solid food, only taking liquid. He is also
very thin and weak, according to his son Aung Kyaw Moe who went to see him
at the prison on 8 September.

“As for his health, my father’s body weight has gone down one-thirds and
he has become very thin,” Aung Kyaw Moe told DVB. “Before, he was very
alive but now his face doesn’t look very fresh.

He added that his father is taking medicines for his arthritic complaints
while his stomach is swollen and he keeps on vomiting when he eats solid
food.

“He has serious doubt about the condition of his stomach. He could eat a
lot when he was outside. As he is unable to eat anymore, he is feeling
very dejected.”

Aung Kyaw Moe told prison authorities that his father is getting old and
he needs proper medical treatments but they told him that it would be
better for father to remain inside the prison. He also reckoned that his
father would fare worse if he is taken outside as the police would put him
in handcuffs or chains, shackles or manacles.

Ko Oo was arrested in 2000 for allegedly employing children and he was
sentenced to nine years in prison. His son Aung Kyaw Moe insisted that the
ousted military intelligence agents deliberately falsely accused and
imprisoned his father who had been working actively for the NLD.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 8, Irrawaddy
This year’s Karenni Martyrs day a more solemn affair

Today’s Karenni Martyrs Day celebration is expected to be a more solemn
occasion than in previous years, said the foreign minister of the Karenni
National Progressive Party. Karenni youth are far more divided these days
as faith in their leaders weakens and security concerns in the region
escalate.

“Nowadays, the Karenni people are more confused than ever by their lives
in refugee camps and the desire of many—particularly among young people—to
relocate to third countries,” said Karenni Foreign Minister Oo Reh. The UN
High Commissioner for Refugees began registering refugees in Karenni camps
for relocation in August.

“Few people—perhaps none—are expected to attend today’s celebration,” said
Oo Reh, who is not planning to attend official ceremonies.

Karenni Martyrs Day marks the anniversary of the death of the Karenni hero
Khu Bee Tu Reh, assassinated by Burmese government soldiers on September
11, 1946, in Loikaw, Karenni State. Khu Bee Tu Reh was the president of
the United Karenni Independent State Council after Burma gained
independence from the British following World War II. Official ceremonies,
held on September 8, generally includes speeches by KNPP leaders and a
celebration of Karenni culture in the performance of traditional dances
and the donning of traditional Karenni clothing.

The KNPP signed a formal ceasefire agreement with Burma’s State Peace and
Development Council in March 1995, but the agreement was broken three
months later as SPDC troops beefed up their numbers in Karenni-controlled
areas along the Thai-Burma border.

_____________________________________

September 8, Irrawaddy
Burmese labor group targeted by police - Shah Paung

A Burmese labor organization in Mae Sot in Thailand’s Tak province has
suffered harassment by local Thai police officers earlier this month, said
one member of the labor group.

Than Naing, who works for the labor group Yaung Chi Oo Workers
Association, claimed that two Thai police officers pulled their car up to
the group’s offices on September 5 and assaulted a man standing outside
talking on a cell phone. The unidentified man sought refuge in the group’s
offices, but the police officers kicked the door in and pulled him back
out to the street, continuing the assault before finally leaving in their
car.

“As they are the authorities and have power, they may think that they can
do anything they want to Burmese people like us,” said Than Naing. He
added that the police might have thought the man worked for the labor
group.

According to Than Naing, the man was not a member of Yaung Chi Oo, but
rather a resident of Myawaddy, a small town on the Burma side of the
border. He had come to Mae Sot to visit friends at the labor group office.

Employees of the labor group accompanied the beaten man to the hospital
before sending him home. They also made a formal complaint against the
officers at the Thai immigration offices in Mae Sot, though there has yet
to be a response from Thai police.

The Yaung Chi Oo Workers Association is a Burmese organization that helps
Burmese migrant workers along the Thai-Burma border.

This is apparently not the first time that the labor group has been the
target of harassment, said Than Naing. In three other incidents, members
of Yaung Chi Oo have been attacked by armed thugs.

Thai employers are upset with the labor group for interfering with their
labor practices, said Than Naing, who speculates that the owners have lost
money because of the group’s intercession on behalf of migrant workers,
and have resorted to paying violent gangs to intimidate and attack the
group’s members.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

September 8, Xinhua Economic News Service
China-ASEAN free trade zone to become major pillar of world economy: official

Xiamen: The China-ASEAN free trade zone is expected to become one of the
three major pillars of the world economy after its establishment in 2010,
a trade promotion official has said.

The China-ASEAN free trade zone, which will report a population of 2
billion, a combined GDP of 2 trillion US dollars and a total trade volume
of 1.2 trillion dollars, will exceed the North American free trade zone in
terms of trade volume upon its establishment, said Wang Jinzhen,
spokesperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International
Trade.

By 2020, it will top the European Union free trade zone with 4 trillion US
dollars of gross domestic product, Wang said at a roundtable on
international trade and economic cooperation in Xiamen, a port city in
east China's Fujian Province.

China, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand gave
tariff cuts to each other on 7,455 kinds of commodities as of July 20,
2005. The practice, in line with the Trade in Goods Agreement of a
Framework Agreement for Overall Economic Cooperation between China and the
countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed last
November, paved the way for the establishment of a free trade zone, said
Wang.

Trade between China and the ASEAN reached 105.9 billion US dollars last
year, a rise of 35.3 percent over the 2003 volume. The ASEAN has been
China's fifth largest trade partner for 12 consecutive years.

Bilateral trade in the first six months of this year approximated 60
billion US dollars, according to statistics provided by China's General
Administration of Customs.

The ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos,
Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 9, The Nation
Villagers rejoice as court reinstates their citizenship - Supitcha Jantapa

Clasping portraits of Their Majesties the King and the Queen, teary-eyed
villagers from Mae Ai district greeted the Supreme Administrative Court’s
decision to reinstate their citizenship by singing both the royal and
national anthems.

For the 1,243 villagers the verdict read yesterday by judge Prateep
Woraniti at Chiang Mai Administrative Court brought much-awaited closure
to a three-year legal ordeal, which began when their Thai nationality was
revoked on February 5, 2002.

“From now on, we will be able to live our lives peacefully just like any
other normal Thai citizens,” a tearful Pongsri Inlu said. After her
citizenship was revoked, Pongsri said she had to resign from her post as a
teacher.

Another villager, Prasert Kaytuan, said he and others had decided to
undergo ordination as Buddhist monks in a pledge of allegiance to the King
and the Queen. “What has happened today will go with me to my grave,” he
stressed.

More than 600 Mae Ai villagers massed in the Chiang Mai Admin-istrative
Court in Muang district yesterday to listen to the verdict.

The court ruled that the order of the Mae Ai district office, under the
authority of the Local Administrative Department (LAD), to strip them of
their citizenship had been unlawful because it was issued without
informing the villagers in advance, thereby denying them their rights of
appeal.

The Mae Ai district office ordered the names of 1,243 villagers removed
from its citizen registration list, an act that automatically revoked
their Thai nationalities. Those whose names had been erased were required
to return their ID cards within 30 days.

In April 2002, 866 villagers filed a lawsuit against the LAD at the Chiang
Mai Administrative Court. Last April the court ruled that the order to
remove the villagers’ names from the registration list had been illegal
and ordered the LAD to reinstate the villagers’ citizenship.

The LAD appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court. The court’s verdict
yesterday meant that not only the 866 villagers who had been plaintiffs in
the case would see their citizenship reinstated, but also the other 377
affected villagers.

The jubilant villagers said they would not sue the Local Adminis-trative
Department for illegally stripping them of citizenship. ‘The issue will
end here. We didn’t want anything but our citizenship back,” Prasert said.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 8, Agence France Presse
China defends cooperation with energy-rich rogue states

Beijing: China Thursday defended its cooperation with energy-rich rogue
states, defying recent criticism from the United States by saying they
were all normal trade dealings.

Like China's multi-faceted cooperation with the United States, it was
"normal" for it to pursue a range of dealings with other countries too,
including those in the energy sector, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang
said.

Qin was responding to criticism this week by Deputy Secretary of State
Robert Zoellick of China's ties with states regarded by Washington as
troublesome, such as Iran, Myanmar and Zimbabwe.

"Under the principle of peaceful cooperation, China and other countries
are developing normal friendly relations and normal cooperations," Qin
said at a regular briefing. "There is nothing wrong with that."

Washington has questioned Beijing's ties to dictators such as Robert
Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, and its courting of
energy-rich rogue states such as Sudan.

"It is important for China to recognise that in their policies with
countries like Sudan, Burma (Myanmar), Iran, while they may be driven by
more narrow energy interests, they are being perceived in the US and
elsewhere as having a larger foreign policy effect," Zoellick was quoted
as saying by the Financial Times.

Some US experts worry that Beijing's ambition to take over more energy
assets to drive its booming economy will eventually threaten the United
States' position as the world's dominant power.

Earlier this year, Chinese oil company CNOOC was forced to abandon a bid
to buy US energy group Unocal after concern in the United States that it
would undermine US interests.