BurmaNet News, December 9, 2005

[Editor]

December 9, 2005 Issue # 2861

INSIDE BURMA
S.H.A.N.: Border town gets foretaste of disciplined democracy
Narinjara: Arakanese insurgent leaders lured with economic bait to
surrender to junta
AFP: Sanctions, antipathy hit Myanmar's people
AP: Myanmar says foreign governments can start building embassies at new
capital in 2007

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Silk route convoy held up by Burmese officials
DVB: Burmese prisoners die in prison on Indian Andaman Islands

HEALTH/AIDS
IMNA: Burma wakes up to increase in HIV infection in Three Pagoda Pass

ASEAN
AP: ASEAN ministers demand democracy in Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Asean still needs to improve Burma policy

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 9, Shan Herald Agency for News
Border town gets foretaste of disciplined democracy

A headman recently elected by one of the six quarters of Muse, opposite
China's Ruili, has been forced to take a backseat to the one chosen by
Rangoon's local authorities, reports Hawkeye from the border:

Sai Zaw Maung, 54, who was elected as Chairman of the Kawng Nawng Quarter
Peace and Development Committee on 10 November, was moved down to the
position of Vice Chairman on 29 November on the order of Captain Ye Lin
Oo, Chairman of Muse Township Peace and Development Committee. His
replacement was Sai Than, 41, elder brother of Sai Htun Aye, owner of the
Moonshine Island (Yui Lien Dao) casino on the Mao-Shweli River and protégé
of the regional commander Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing. Sai Than himself is an
operator of a gambling den in the neighborhood.

His appointment was announced on 1 December when the township officer
presided over the World AIDS Day ceremony.

"The election was held in accordance with the order from the authorities,"
complained an outraged member of the constituency: "Why did they direct us
to hold an election if they were planning to have their own man at the
reins?"

Authorities had been reshuffling the headmen of quarters in each town in
preparation for the upcoming constitutional referendum and the ensuring
general elections, according to a report in September. (Junta paves the
way for disciplined democracy, 28 September 2005)

____________________________________

December 9, Narinjara News
Arakanese insurgent leaders lured with economic bait to surrender to junta

In a ruse which has been tried successfully earlier, the Burmese military
junta is offering economic incentives to Arakanese insurgents who are
willing to surrender, says a local source.

A leader will get kyat 50,000, while the second in command gets kyat
30,000. A senior member will be given kyat 10,000 and others with families
will receive kyat 15,000. A family of a senior insurgent member will be
given a monthly support of kyat 2,000.

The insurgents who surrender are to be provided with a supply of
commodities as well as financial aid collected from local businessmen. The
last group which surrendered from Arakan Army were given at least kyat
500,000 collected from contributions by local business firms, said a
businessman who was forced to donate.

Other surrendered Arakanese insurgents were given land and housing in
“model” villages in northern Arakan. The land for cultivation and housing
were all confiscated from the local people.

Khaing Lynn Naing and his group who broke away from Arakan Army and
surrendered in 2002 were given 75 acres of confiscated land with housing
facilities in Thu Kha Mying “model” village, in Maung Daw Township.

On top of such assets, they were also given permits to trade and transport
cattle, rice and timber that are generally not allowed to the public says
a source in the region. The junta is trying to lure the insurgents with
money and financial aid.

____________________________________

December 9, Agence France Presse
Sanctions, antipathy hit Myanmar's people

Aung Moe proudly notes that the jewelry she sells in Yangon's Bogyoke Aung
San Market is all made of locally produced jade.

But she whispers, glancing to make sure armed guards and plainclothes
police aren't listening, she can't buy jade from her own country anymore
because most of the precious stone is exported to neighboring China or
India.

"China buys all the good quality jade from Myanmar. Then they cut and
polish it, and we have to buy it back," she says, declining to give her
real name for fear of retribution for criticizing the government.

Her troubles buying jade are typical of the oddities in Myanmar's economy,
which has left its population in ever-deepening poverty, squeezed by
decades of mismanagement by the military rulers on one side and by a
patchwork of western sanctions and boycotts on the other.

Sanctions were first imposed in the mid-1990s, when pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi urged the world to put pressure on the junta to respect
the results of 1990 elections won by her party.

The United States now has a total ban on Myanmar exports, while the
European Union has more targetted measures including a travel ban on the
junta, an arms embargo, and a ban on investment in state companies.

Separately, activists have led consumer boycotts against companies doing
business here, and urged tourists to stay away.

The US sanctions dealt an especially severe blow to the country's textile
industry, costing the country some 80,000 jobs as factories closed their
doors with the loss of their largest market, according to officials and
analysts.

"It hasn't produced any good results that have helped in any way,"
independent politician Win Naing said of the sanctions.

"Let's try to get something that would replace sanctions, that would be
effective. But honestly I don't know (what would work), because I don't
know how much the international community is prepared to do."

As Myanmar's generals are quick to point out, western sanctions have not
deterred Asian nations from doing business here.

Sandwiched between China, India and Thailand, Myanmar has found trade
partners more than willing to tap the country's natural gas, timber,
gemstone supplies to feed their own growing economies.

"Even though the Americans have put sanctions on us, those who need it are
still begging from us," Agriculture Minister Htun Oo said of the country's
natural resources.

"Because of our good relations with our neighbors, we have no problem
exporting rice or other commodities."

The junta's long-stated concern is that the country grows enough rice to
feed its 52 million population, as they remain keenly aware that high food
costs helped spark the unrest in 1988 that brought down the last
dictatorship.

"We prioritize self-sufficiency in rice. That is why we grow rice and have
our own rice for local consumption," Htun Oo said.

While inflation is estimated at around 40 percent, rice prices have
remained relatively stable this year.

But a good rice supply alone has done little prevent a dire humanitarian
situation, with the vast majority of the population living in poverty. Per
capita GDP is estimated at only 163 dollars.

The UN's World Food Programme warns that 40 percent of children under five
are malnourished. UNAIDS estimates that up to 600,000 people have been
infected with HIV, giving Myanmar one of the worst epidemics in Asia.

But western antipathy towards Myanmar has left the country with less
international aid than many other troubled poor nations.

The World Bank estimates that aid in 2004 represents only about two
dollars per capita in Myanmar, compared with 38 dollars in Cambodia or 53
dollars in communist Laos.

The leading funder of anti-AIDS programs in Myanmar, the Global Fund,
pulled out in August, citing government limits on its movements, although
it had also become the target of political pressure from a handful of US
lawmakers and lobby groups.

One western analyst based here blamed the situation on the lack of
political will to press Aung San Suu Kyi's party and the generals into any
kind of negotiation out of a 15-year political stalemate.

"There has never, even been a serious effort at mediating dialogue in
Burma," one western analyst based here said, referring to the country by
its former name.

"What you have is all the easy things. You have the condemnations ... the
sanctions. But in reality nothing is really being done, there's no serious
effort to change things."

____________________________________

December 9, Associated Press
Myanmar says foreign governments can start building embassies at new
capital in 2007

Myanmar's military government told foreign diplomats on Friday that their
countries can start building embassies in the country's new capital by the
end of 2007, but it is up to them whether they move or not.

Protocol chief Thura U Aung Htet said the government is preparing land for
embassies and U.N. organizations in the new administrative capital of
Pyinmana, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) to the north of Yangon, the
past capital.

"They said it will take two years to finish the infrastructure like roads,
water, etc. We were told that we can start to build the new embassies and
residences from the end of 2007," an Asian diplomat who attended the
briefing told reporters. He spoke on condition that his name not be used.

On Nov. 6, Myanmar's secretive military regime began moving its government
ministries to Pyinmana, a trading town on the highway between Yangon and
Myanmar's second biggest city, Mandalay. It is located among mountain
ranges and dense forests.

Foreign diplomats, who already find it difficult to communicate with the
junta, are questioning whether a move to the remote location will hamper
their work further.

Some analysts say the move is being driven by irrational fears of a U.S.
invasion, while many in Myanmar believe it is due to worries about
possible internal unrest.

Officials have said the relocation is the result of a need for a "command
and control center" in the center of Myanmar.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 9, Mizzima News
Silk route convoy held up by Burmese officials - Siddique Islam

An eight-member Chinese delegation, traveling the old silk route to
Bangladesh, is waiting on the China-Burma border to enter while Burmese
officials stall over giving them permission.

The group started their journey in Kunming, Yunnan province and plan to
arrive in Bangladesh in an attempt to revive the ancient silk route that
was once linked with the Grand Trunk Road connecting New Delhi, India with
Ankara, Turkey.

It is unclear why Burmese authorities are continuing to hold up the group
and authorities in Bangladesh have been forced to delay the delegates'
accommodation arrangements.

"We are still hopeful for the arrival of the delegation in the country
through Burma," a source from Bangladesh's private sector, who is closed
to the Silk Route initiative said.

The group are said to be exploring the possibilities for the use of
existing roads along the route to enhance trade and tourism among
Bangladesh, Burma and China.

The delegation, comprising government officials, businesspeople, tour
operators and academics, has already been set back four days by Burmese
officials.

In the past few years there has been widespread discussion over the
possibilities for the use of the old silk route and the delegation's trip
is likely to be seen as a sign that China is getting serious about the
idea.

Communications between Chinese and Bangladeshi authorities show the
delegates will travel through Burma and into Chittagong in Bangladesh
before heading for Benapole.

____________________________________

December 8, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese prisoners die in prison on Indian Andaman Islands

Burmese fishermen detained at Pattalaboo Prison on the Indian Andaman
Islands, have been suffering from many kinds of disease and some of them
had died as a result.

There are more than 250 fishermen in the prison and the majority of them
are said to be suffering from lung diseases and dysentery.

On 3 December, a 40+ year old Karen national named Saw San Ya died from
illness and there are at least seven people who died in the prison during
this year, a Burmese fisherman told DVB.

They were arrested and prison for encroaching on the Indian waters and
many of them were due to be released two years ago, but they have been
continued to be detained because the Burmese authorise refused to accept
them when they were released by the Indian authorities.

____________________________________
HEALTH/AIDS

December 7, Independent Mon News Agency
Burma wakes up to increase in HIV infection in Three Pagoda Pass

For the first time the Burmese military authorities have showed concern
over increasing HIV infection. It held a meeting in Three Pagoda Pass
yesterday to assess HIV infection in the town. The doctor in-charge
revealed that only 30 percent of the people used condoms.

While this is the first occasion that the Burmese authorities have evinced
interest in finding out about increasing HIV infection in the area their
Thai counterparts are doing whatever they can to prevent spread of HIV.

Dr.Soe Win, in charge of the Health Department in Three Pagoda said at the
meeting, “We have to check HIV cases here because HIV infection is
spreading.”

Burma has not bothered to list HIV patients. More than 30 patients from
here have asked for help from Thai NGOs, Pattanarak Foundation. The
Foundation has launched a strong campaign for prevention of HIV.

“HIV patients do not admit to being infected due to fear of bring
ostracised by society. Therefore it is difficult to prevent spread of HIV
infection,” Dr. Soe Win said during his speech.

The Burmese military government has failed to set up safe houses for HIV
patients. But some safe houses have been opened in the Thai side for HIV
patients.

“Some patients are helpless. They have no relatives. Even if they do have
relatives they do not care. Some were sent to us,” said Naw Paw Lu Lu who
has six HIV patients from the Three Pagoda Pass area in her safe house.

Naw Paw Lu Lu’s safe house was started in 1993 for helping Burmese migrant
workers who were sick and helpless. It was set up in the Thai side, in
Sangkhalaburi district near the Thai-Burma border. It is located about 20
kilometres south of Three Pagoda Pass.

According to a community leader, the authorities had done precious little
to prevent spread of HIV. There was no strong policy decision on this and
neither was there an awareness programme.

There are about 70 sex workers working in brothels and no one is listed.
Again it is easy to access Amphetamine in Three Pagoda Pass.

____________________________________
ASEAN

December 9, Associated Press
ASEAN ministers demand democracy in Myanmar, say it cannot ignore world
opinion – Jim Gomez

Southeast Asian nations on Friday demanded that military-ruled Myanmar
expedite democratic reforms and free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in
the strongest display yet of their growing frustration with the junta.

South Korea, meanwhile, signed a trade accord with the 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, leaving out Thailand for now
because of a rice dispute, but paving the way for a broader free trade
deal with the region.

Myanmar has pledged to allow democracy under strong pressure from its
neighbors as well as the U.S. and other Western powers, but has so far
failed to deliver.

ASEAN foreign ministers made clear their exasperation with fellow member
Myanmar at their annual Asian conference in Kuala Lumpur, said host
Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.

"I don't think any single country in ASEAN does not feel impatient and
does not feel uncomfortable, because it does create problems and
difficulties for us," Syed Hamid said.

Myanmar needs "to be more responsive to the wishes of the international
community," he said.

The ministers were preparing for meetings of ASEAN leaders Monday and
Tuesday that will be followed by the inaugural East Asia Summit on
Wednesday.

The final summit will draw together the 10 ASEAN nations with Japan,
China, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand in a still-evolving
plan to form a regional economic community of 3 billion people. Russia
hopes to join the bloc later.

But those efforts must overcome key regional rivalries.

A hoped-for rapprochement at the summit between heavyweights China and
Japan has been a nonstarter, with the Chinese foreign minister on Friday
blaming Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a notorious
war shrine for the sour ties.

"One country's leader visits a shrine to worship war criminals. This is
unacceptable," Li Zhaoxing told reporters.

China has strongly protested visits by Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine in
Tokyo, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including several
executed for war crimes. Many Chinese believe Japan has never
appropriately apologized for its brutal World War II occupation.

India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said negotiations are almost complete
for an India-ASEAN free trade area, which should be in place on Jan. 1,
2007. Japan's Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai said his country's free trade
talks with ASEAN had failed so far, but would continue in an informal
setting.

Trade ministers for South Korea and nine of the ASEAN nations signed an
accord on free trade in goods - excluding rice, an industry Seoul protects
in the face of militant lobbying by its farmers.

Top world rice exporter Thailand objected to that exclusion and stayed out
of the accord, for now, saying it would negotiate its entry later.

However, it was expected to nonetheless join its Southeast Asian neighbors
on Tuesday in committing to a broader free trade deal with South Korea to
create a market with a combined economy of more than US$1.4 trillion
(euro1.2 trillion) by 2010.

"Rice is a very important issue for Thailand because more than 70 percent
of Thai people are farmers," Thai Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak
said.

Trade issues briefly took a back seat when ASEAN delivered its rebuke to
Myanmar, which has declined to meet neighbors' demands to democratize and
free pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi.

ASEAN members have become increasingly critical of Myanmar in public,
despite the bloc's traditional policy of noninterference in each other's
internal affairs.

Syed Hamid said that his Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, gave no indication
when the junta would free Suu Kyi from more than two years of detention.
Her house arrest was extended by six months last week.

He said Myanmar must "create credibility" with "some tangible movement" in
the junta's self-proclaimed road map to democracy, which has achieved
little in the last year. Thailand asked to see a "rapid move" toward
democracy and Suu Kyi's release.

The junta reopened a convention on Monday to set guidelines for a new
constitution in a process it says will eventually lead to elections.
Critics are skeptical because the convention doesn't include Suu Kyi's
party.

Myanmar's junta seized power in 1988. It called elections in 1990, but
when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide, the military refused to hand over
power.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 9, Irrawaddy
Asean still needs to improve Burma policy - Aung Lwin Oo

What’s Asean’s real policy towards its troublesome member, Burma?
Officially it’s still the much-criticized “constructive engagement.” But
when the international heat is on the entrenched Burmese military regime,
as it is now, the regional grouping somewhat changes its tune.

Take the current run-up to the Asean summit-cum-East Asian summit in Kuala
Lumpur next week. Asean foreign ministers have started to press the regime
to make a start on its promised “road map to democracy.” They also called
for a deadline for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s total of more than
10 years house detention.

Usually, the grouping tries to keep the Burma issue away from the
international spotlight. But the US in particular is highlighting the
Rangoon junta’s stranglehold on its own people, and its recalcitrance in
the face of the barrage of international pressure to make a realistic
first step on its proclaimed road to democracy. Hence the Asean foreign
ministers rather bold statement, by Asean standards.

Let’s hope this stronger tack is not just a temporary expedient.

The ministers expectedly only went so far in stretching Asean’s
traditional “non-interference” code. As host Foreign Minister Syed Hamid
Albar told reporters: “This [summit] is not a meeting on Myanmar [Burma.] 
Read, Asean will try to keep the issue in the background.

Syed Hamid did say ministers wanted Rangoon to be “more responsive to the
wishes of the international community.” But this probably reflects the
fact that strong criticism and sanctions of Burma by the US and EU, and
implied unhappiness with Asean’s softer approach, potentially threatens
the region’s important trade with the West.

On the surface, at least, it seems Asean buys the Rangoon line that it
actually intends to march towards democracy. The only ostensible sign of
that has been on-off sessions of the constitution-drafting National
Convention, which reconvened on Monday. That’s supposed to be part of the
first step of the regime’s seven-step “road map to democracy.”

But the junta consistently declines to give any time frame for the NC,
which means it could carry on through the whole of 2006. It also blames
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy’s boycott of the NC, as well as
that of some ethnic groups, for lack of progress.

That leaves mainly hand-picked NC candidates, and the prospect of a truly
democratic charter just a pipe dream. For instance, prominent Mon
politician Nai Ngwe Thein recently stated that any resulting new
constitution will not constitute any democratic practices.

“Having studied their [government’s] drafts for a new constitution, it has
to be realized that amendments can only be made with at least a 75 percent
vote,” he said “But since the military is entitled to 25 percent of the
seats in parliament, amending the constitution requires military
approval.”

So effectively, Rangoon has made no serious start on the democratic path.
We praise Asean foreign ministers for drawing attention to this. But the
lame “constructive engagement” policy remains.

Asean needs genuine political will to press for real reconciliation in
Burma. If it continues to stick to its line that lack of democracy and
human rights in Burma are its own domestic affair, the grouping can expect
more international cold-shouldering.  If, however, the Thursday foreign
ministers’ statement represents a serious Asean move to join the world in
putting pressure on Rangoon to reform, it can only improve Asean’s
international standing.