BurmaNet News, September 16, 2005

[Editor]

September 16, 2005 Issue # 2804


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Rangoon Twante NLD office demolished by Burmese authorities
DVB: Burma NLD to mark the formation of CRPP
AP: Myanmar landslides kill almost 30, including a dozen schoolchildren
Xinhua: European education forum to be held in Myanmar
BBC News: Burmese TV broadcasts from Norway

HEALTH / AIDS
Xinhua: Myanmar to seek alternative anti-disease aid

BUSINESS / MONEY
AP: Myanmar garment industry revived with U.S., EU quotas on China imports

ASEAN
Kyodo: ASEAN economic ministers boycott Asia-Europe Meeting
Irrawaddy: Japan defends Burma in visa row

INTERNATIONAL
Nation: EU unimpressed by Burma’s Asean move

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rangoon Twante NLD office demolished by Burmese authorities

The township authority chairman and Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA) members of Twante in Rangoon Division, on 15 September,
bulldozed and demolished the local National League for Democracy (NLD)
office.

The office was situated on Minye Kyawzwa Street in Ohnpingyi Ward and it
was destroyed because the authorities claimed that the street needed to be
expanded by four feet.

Local residents told DVB that the expansion of the street was done without
consulting the people and the destruction of the NLD office was done with
malicious intention so that the authorities could receive bribes.

“They only expanded the side of the street the NLD office was situated
on,” said a local resident. “They don’t touch the side the USDA and Women
offices are situated on.”

The authorities of Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), have been systematically undermining and destroying the
NLD which won a landslide victory in 1990 election but never given a
chance to rule. The party is being pressured not to expand its membership
and the existing members are forced, tricked and intimidated into quitting
the party while most of its offices throughout the country are being
sealed off.

____________________________________

September 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burma NLD to mark the formation of CRPP

Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), is
planning to mark the 7th anniversary of the formation of the Committee for
Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) at its Rangoon HQs on 16
September.

The CRPP, formed on 16 September 1998 with several election winning
candidates, was politically active in its earlier years but its members
have been only able to carry out a limited number of activities in recent
years, due to the restrictions imposed on them by the ruling junta, State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

CRPP members want to mark the event with proper ceremonies, but they are
likely to end up with a bonding dinner party, a member who doesn’t want to
be named told DVB. But he hoped that an important political statement
demanding the release of all political prisoners including its members
Khun Htun Oo and Kyaw Min who have been detained at Rangoon Insein Jail,
would be issued on the occasion. The release of NLD vice chairman Tin Oo
and General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi will also be demanded.

Members of the CRPP are; 9 NLD central executive committee members led by
chairman Aung Shwe, Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) chairman Aye Tha
Aung, Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) chairman Khun Htun Oo, Mon
National League for Democracy chairman Nai Tun Thein, Zomi National
Congress (ZNC) chairman Pu Cin Siang Thang, Htaung Ko Thang of United
Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD), Kyaw Min of Arakan Human Rights
Party, Soe Win of the National Democracy Party, independent MP from
Sagaing Division Kantbalu Township Thein Pe and the late Hla Maung of
Myochit Yebaw (Patriotic Soldiers).

Exiled Burmese political organisations such as the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Members of Parliament Union
(MPU), NLD – Liberated Areas, Women League of Burma (WLB), Students and
Youth Congress of Burma (SYCB) and Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB) also
issued a joint statement marking the anniversary and urged all the parties
concerned to contrive to achieve the leadership of the CRPP and national
reconciliation.

____________________________________

September 16, Associated Press
Myanmar landslides kill almost 30, including a dozen schoolchildren

Yangon: Nearly 30 people - including a dozen schoolchildren - were feared
dead after landslides triggered by torrential rains hit southeastern
Myanmar, a Red Cross official said Friday.

Landslides were reported in four places near Myeik - also known as Mergui
- on Wednesday, said the official, who said the death toll included 12
students from a small primary school engulfed by mud in Kyaukka village
near Palaw, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) southeast of Yangon.

The official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized
to speak to the press, said that at least 27 people were believed to have
been killed and an uncertain number of others injured.

He said casualty figure cannot yet be finalized since rescue operations
are continuing and injured people are being treated at nearby hospitals.

The state-controlled press has reported that the landslides caused loss of
life and property but gave no details. Casualties from natural disasters
and accidents are seldom reported in the state-run media.

Heavy rains also caused damage in Magway Division, about 550 kilometers
(330 miles) northwest of the capital, reported the daily newspaper Kyemon.

A bridge on Kyaukhtu-Htilin highway in the division's Hsaw township had
washed away due to torrential rains on Monday, the newspaper said, adding
that there had been landslides in the same region.

____________________________________

September 16, Xinhua General News Service
European education forum to be held in Myanmar

Yangon: A European education forum will be held here next weekend to
provide Myanmar students opportunities to learn about studying in Europe
and render information on the diversity and quality of European higher
education, according to a latest press release of the British Embassy
here.

Sponsored by the delegation of the European Commission (EC) to Myanmar and
embassies and academic exchange services of EU member states with the
support of the Myanmar Education Ministry, the forum will take place at
the International Business Center on Sept. 24.

Open to the public, the event will include speakers from the European
Commission, British Embassy, Austrian Academic Exchange Service, French
Embassy, British Council, German Academic Exchange Service, Czech Embassy
and Karlsruhe University, the release said.

Meanwhile, the EC approved on June 16 this year an aid of 1.5 million
euros (1.8 million US dollars) to assist Myanmar's healthcare, sanitation
and education projects, according to earlier reports.

____________________________________

August 22, BBC News
Burmese TV broadcasts from Norway - Lars Bevanger

Oslo: For the first time, millions of Burmese can now tune in to
independent television news, made by Burmese in their own language.

Broadcasting by satellite from the distant nation of Norway, the
Democratic Voice of Burma avoids Burmese state censorship.

In one of its first TV news pieces, the station detailed the harsh reality
of the lives of Burmese workers on the border with Thailand.

Until now, a broadcast like this would have been unthinkable in Burma.

The country is ranked as one of the world's worst for media freedom.

The military rulers will not allow anything which could be seen as
critical of the current government.

Khin Maung Win runs the TV station with his team of exiled Burmese citizens.

For many years, they have run a radio station from the same offices.

"We hope to reach up to 10% of the Burmese population with our TV
broadcasts," said Mr Khin.

"We are focused on information and education, such as the plight of
Burmese migrant workers abroad, the HIV/Aids situation, the environment
situation. This is all information all the people in Burma need.

"The government chooses the programmes that seem to be beneficial to them,
but we will choose the programmes that are beneficial for the viewer and
the people," he said.

Smuggling tapes

While the editorial team sits in safety in Oslo, television journalists on
the ground risk arrest by secretly filming footage inside Burma, and
smuggling the tapes to a neighbouring country.

News editor Moe Aye talks regularly on the telephone to his secret
contacts in Burma.

Having established the line, he spends some minutes making sure it is
safe, and that the contact cannot be overheard.

The contacts "really want to inform and let us know what is happening
inside Burma," explained Mr Moe. "On the other hand they're really
concerned about their lives and their security."

The Democratic Voice of Burma says its television programmes are an
important part of the non-violent fight in support of Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

She was banned by the military from travelling to Oslo to receive her
Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

The Paris-based media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders ranks Burma
third worst for media freedom, after North Korea and Cuba.

Its Burma expert, Vincent Brossel, welcomes the new TV station, and hopes
people will risk watching it.

"There is a law against satellite transmission, and you can go to jail if
you have a parabole [satellite dish] without a licence," he told the BBC
News website.

"But we know now so many people have paraboles and can watch this TV
programme. People inside can understand that outside the Burmese are also
fighting for democracy.

"A friend told me that recently in Bassein, outside Rangoon, the
electricity was cut off when the DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] programme
started. So it means the authorities are afraid of the DVB TV influence."

"Generals will tune in"

But back at the television station, editor Khin Maung Win is not worried
that the military will stop the programme. He thinks the generals
themselves will tune in.

"At the beginning they jammed our radio, but later on they became our
regular audience, because they wanted to get real information, even about
their own country," he said.

"They cannot rely on reports from their subordinates. So they have to
listen to our radio to get real information, or to measure the feeling of
the grassroot people. We believe that will happen with television also."

For now Democratic Voice of Burma TV broadcasts two hours of news and
educational programmes weekly.

It wants to expand to become a daily source of television news for viewers
inside Burma.

And as long as the media situation remains unchanged, the station will
continue to broadcast from far-away Norway.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

September 16, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar to seek alternative anti-disease aid

Yangon: Myanmar will seek alternative anti- disease aid from other donor
countries after the Global Fund (GF) terminated a grant aid to the country
to fight AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria on Aug. 18, a local press
reported Friday.

The alternative aid for combating the three diseases as well as for
humanitarian need will be sought from Japan, the United Kingdom and other
European donor countries, sources with the UNAIDS was quoted by the Khit
Myanmar as saying.

The GF terminated its aid to Myanmar for alleged government restriction of
its performance in the country.

After the aid termination, some remaining projects are to operate until
the end of next March, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar has expressed the regret over GF's termination of the
grant aid to the country, deploring the negative impact it will have on
people in need and urging the GF to reconsider its decision for the
termination in the light of its obligations to people everywhere who are
suffering from HIV-AIDS, TB and malaria.

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, an independent private
foundation, was formed in 2001-02 under the resolutions of G-8 Summit
comprising the US, UK, Italy, France, Russia, Japan, Canada and Germany.
The organization was founded to assist nations in control of AIDS, TB and
malaria.

Earlier this year, the Global Fund allocated 35 million dollars for its
Myanmar operations in 2005-06 to fight the three diseases. Of the aid, 19
million is for the campaign against AIDS, 7 million for TB and 9 million
for malaria, according to Myanmar official media.

Myanmar has designated AIDS, TB and malaria as three major communicable
diseases and efforts are being made to combat the three diseases.

Unofficial sources said the country is estimated to have about 300,000
people living with HIV/AIDS in 2004.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

September 16, Associated Press
Myanmar garment industry revived with U.S., EU quotas on China imports -
Aye Aye Win

Yangon: Myanmar's textile industry has rebounded thanks to limits imposed
by the U.S. and the European Union on imports from China, resulting in
increased orders for the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation, an
industry executive said Friday.

Myint Soe, chairman of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, said
new restrictions on imports of Chinese textiles had caused American and
European retailers to boost orders from other low-priced suppliers.

"Garment factories here are flooded with orders from the EU as textile
factories in the region, particularly Vietnam and Cambodia, are shifting
their EU orders to other countries as they are receiving more orders from
the U.S.," he told The Associated Press.

Myint Soe also said Myanmar's garment factories are getting more orders
from Japan.

Both Europe and the United States imposed limits on low-priced Chinese
textiles this year after complaints that soaring imports were threatening
jobs.

Myanmar's textile industry went into sharp decline after the U.S. banned
imports from the country in mid-2003 to protest the ruling junta's harsh
rule, including its detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The ban resulted in the closing of scores of factories and the layoffs of
more than 20,000 people, as well as a drop in foreign exchange earnings
for Myanmar.

Myanmar's exports to the U.S. - mostly garments - totaled about US$356
million ([euro]298 million) in 2002. Before the sanctions took effect in
2003, 75 percent of Myanmar's textile exports went to the U.S. and the
remaining 25 percent went to European countries.

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 16, Kyodo News
ASEAN economic ministers boycott Asia-Europe Meeting
Economic ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are
boycotting this week's meeting of economic ministers from Asia and Europe
due to the Netherlands' refusal to issue a visa for a Myanmar minister to
attend, a top ASEAN official said Thursday.

ASEAN has instead sent only senior officials to attend the Sixth
Asia-Europe Meeting for economic ministers being held Friday and Saturday
in Rotterdam, ASEAN Secretary General Ong Keng Yong told Kyodo News.

The decision for the ministers to boycott the ASEM gathering was made
earlier this week by ASEAN foreign ministers at their informal meeting in
New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

"ASEAN economic ministers were requested by ASEAN foreign ministers not to
attend because Dutch authorities refused to issue visa to Myanmar's
minister," Ong said.

____________________________________

September 16, Irrawaddy
Japan defends Burma in visa row - Clive Parker

Japan’s Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura has promised to press the EU
on its restrictions against Rangoon after the Netherlands refused a visa
to Burma’s economics minister Soe Tha for today’s Asia-Europe meeting
(known as ASEM) in Rotterdam.

Speaking after the Japan-Asean ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the
UN summit in New York Thursday, a spokesperson for Machimura told
reporters the EU was confusing multilateral with bilateral issues in
Burma’s case.

The EU currently bars high-ranking members of the junta and their families
from entering countries within the community.

“Nobutaka Machimura said that the European Union should split bilateral
issues
from multilateral matters in issuing visas to Myanmar [Burmese]
officials,” a spokesperson for Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Tokyo told The Irrawaddy today.

“He will raise the issue during the Japan-EU Meeting,” the official
confirmed.

Machimura will meet with EU foreign ministers and officials on Saturday at
the UN headquarters in New York, where he is expected to press the
region’s delegates on permitting visas to members of the junta attending
multilateral events.

Asean on Monday made a collective decision not to send its economics
ministers to the ASEM summit on September 16 to 17 to protest against the
Netherlands’ decision. An organizer of the meeting in Rotterdam confirmed
today that only lower ranking economics ministers will attend—including
those of Japan, China and South Korea—although there was a question mark
over Burma’s representative in Soe Tha’s absence.

“No-one from Myanmar (Burma) is attending,” the spokesperson said.

The Netherlands’ Ministry for Foreign Affairs said on Friday there has
been no attempt by a lower-ranking Burmese official to apply for a visa in
Soe Tha’s place.

The ministry confirmed Burma’s proposed representative had been denied a
visa. Explaining the decision, a spokesperson for The Hague, Judith Maas,
said: “Because of the EU common position, we had to reject the visa
application.”

The ministry sent out invitations for the event in June, Maas said,
including a warning to Rangoon that an attempt to send one of its
high-level ministers—all of whom are black-listed by the EU—would be
denied.

The EU renewed its restrictions against the junta in April this year for a
further 12 months, stating it will only revise its decision “in the event
of a substantial improvement in the overall political situation.”

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 14, The Nation
EU unimpressed by Burma’s Asean move - Jeerawat Na Thalang

European parliamentarians have said the Burmese government’s decision to
forgo the Asean chairmanship next year is not enough to change the EU’s
firm stance on Rangoon.

Ulf Hausbrandt, political officer, Delegation of the European Commission,
said the fact that the military junta has decided not to take up its
scheduled chairmanship next year doesn’t change the problems that persist
in Burma.

The EU remains firm in its position to have all of Burma’s ethnic groups
and political parties included in an open and fair democratic process, he
said.

Members of the EU Parliament Delegation for Relations with the countries
of Southeast Asian and Asean are visiting Thailand to meet with European
chambers of commerce, Thai politicians and representatives of the Thai
business sector on political development and bilateral relations between
the EU and Asean.

Veronique Mathieu, an EU MP from France and vice chairman of the visiting
delegation, said the EU has two concerns.

First, the military junta’s undemocratic rule. Second, the suffering of
the Burmese people under the regime, which has prompted the EU to extend
humanitarian aid to the country.

Political issues aside, the EU representatives also discussed with their
Thai counterparts the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) tax
concessions on Thai exports to the bloc.

The European Commission decided to temporarily reinstate GSP concessions
on Thai shrimp exports earlier this month. A new system of GSP
concessions, which will also include automobiles and jewellery, will be
implemented from January next year.

Steve Needham, EU information officer, said the new GSP programme would
benefit Thailand as it would be more stable. The programme will be up for
revision in three years, depending on export volume.

He said the new concessions would enable more Thai exports to the EU at
low tariff rates, while Chinese exporters may see some of their GSP
benefits diminish under the new programme.