BurmaNet News, June 29, 2006

[Editor]

June 29, 2006 Issue # 2994

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Customs and trade officers arrested in Lashio raid
Kaladan Press: Restrictions on UNHCR’s projects in Arakan State
IMNA: Urban development at the cost of rural areas

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Bomb explodes in Burma border town
Irrawaddy: Thais urged to protest against Salween hydrodam
Mizzima: Burmese migrant worker severely wounded in attack
Mizzima: Activists launch Burma dams working group
Irrawaddy: “Successful” Thai-Burma border talks end in secrecy

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Swiss banks freeze Burma accounts
Mizzima: Nay Pyi Daw move sparks trade license confusion
Kaladan: Bangladesh earns Taka 72 crore from border trade in Teknaf

HEALTH / AIDS
Myanmar Times: Medical experts say bird flu still poses danger to Myanmar

REGIONAL
IMNA: Mon literature included in Thai school curriculum

INTERNATIONAL
BBC Burmese Service: Activists pressure UN over Burma

PRESS RELEASE
USCB, AJWS, CWS: Humanitarian, human rights organizations call for urgent
UN Security Council action on Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 29, Mizzima News
Customs and trade officers arrested in Lashio raid - Ngun Te

Burmese military officials have arrested 31 staff from the Lashio Customs
and Border Trade departments in northern Shan State.

Two of Lahsio's most prominent businessmen, Yee Pho and U Htay, have also
been arrested after 17 Bureau of Special Investigation and Police Special
Brach officers from Rangoon and Mandalay arrived in Lashio this week as
part of a country-wide crackdown on illegal border trade.

A source close to Burma's border security services told Mizzima the
regional military commander in charge of Lashio had denied responsibility
for illegal activities in the area.

"We heard that the present regional commander of Lashio doesn't take any
responsibilities for this case as it has been appeared at the time of
former commander major general Myint Hlaing. So he transferred this case
to higher authorities in Pyinmana," the source said on condition of
anonymity.

More than 100 customs and trade personnel were arrested from the area
around Lashio in May on suspicion of corruption. Most were released and
either demoted or transferred to other areas.

But some former officials fled Burma after being released, including
former Border Trade Office treasurer Maung Lay, whose wife has now been
arrested in his place.

____________________________________

June 28, Kaladan Press
Restrictions on UNHCR’s projects in Arakan State

Buthidaung, Burma: To thwart the functioning of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Arakan, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) authorities has imposed several restrictions.

The UNHCR in Arakan is facing myriad problems and difficulties in
implementing their projects in time because the Army and Nasaka are coming
in the way and creating disturbances, said a local intellectual on
condition of anonymity.

On June 18, a delegation led by Miss Ann Bras, an Australian visited the
villages in Buthidaung and Rathedaung Townships in Arakan State, Burma to
open health centres.

The members visited Pand Zeei, Pada Garr and Kyaung Daung village-tracts
in Buthidaung Township to open new health centres and to observe the
situation. They stayed in the villages for three days for the survey.

But, it is learnt that the members of the UNHCR were not allowed to take
photographs after opening the health centres.

According to villagers, they are not allowed to meet the UNHCR or NGOs. If
a villager is at all allowed to meet the UNHCR or NGOs, he will have to be
the nominated agent of the concerned authorities. He is not permitted to
say anything against the government. If he does not comply with the orders
of the authorities, he will be tortured severely and sent to jail.

____________________________________

June 29, Independent Mon News Agency
Urban development at the cost of rural areas

Urban development in Burma by the military regime often comes at the
expense of the rural areas. This has seriously hampered growth in rural
areas.

Extension of city train services as part of development projects in urban
areas has resulted in stoppage of services in the rural sector.

“The regime shifted the express train from Mon State to the new capital
Pyinmana at the end of May” according to sources close to railway officers
in Mon State.

The train was moved to the new capital on the orders of Senior General
Than Shwe, sourced added.

The Dawei train has stopped running since the end of May, said residents
in Ye Township. Mon State had three trains including express and ordinary
trains. One was running between Moulmein and Dawei while two trains
operated between Moulmein and Ye.

Residents said they had no idea why the train between Moulmein and Dawei
was not running.

Reduction of train services by the regime have left passengers complaining
and grumblingly because of the problems they have been facing while
travelling.

The postmen on the rail route are also facing problems because the trains
never stop or reduce speeds at the small stations to help deliver the
letters, said sources.

“The Dawei railway road is a temporary affair and sometimes the train
slips and we miss a heartbeat out of fear,” a passenger who has travelled
on the train said.

According to the Myanmar Television MRTV, passengers can now travel
smoothly to the new capital Pyinmana.

The regime declared that they built the 101.36 mile long Dawei-Ye railway
with their Tatmadawmen between 1994 and 1998.

But human rights groups in exile said, that the railway was built with
forced labour and has been named the second death railway of Burma because
many people had died after they were forced to work in the railway
construction site.

A monk from Chaungtaung in Ye Township said that the military had forced
villagers from around Ye Township and Thanbyuzayat Township to build the
railway.

He added that the villagers were forced to work for many years in the
construction of the railway. Some of them died during construction and
some were raped.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 29, The Irrawaddy
Bomb explodes in Burma border town

A bomb exploded Wednesday night in the Burmese border town Tachilek,
eastern Shan State. The explosion, in front of a grocery shop near the
town’s Akha Market, caused a minor damage and no one was injured. Police
said the target of the explosion appeared to be the shop’s owner, Nang
Sein, a member of the town’s traders association and who is close to local
authorities.

____________________________________

June 29, The Irrawaddy
Thais urged to protest against Salween hydrodam - Shah Paung

Thai environmentalists have been urged to back protests by Karen groups
against the building of the first of what could be five dams along the
Salween river in Burma, near the Thai border.

The Mae Sot-based Karen River Watch said the dams would displace thousands
of people, perhaps as many as 80,000. “We need the Thai public and local
Karen people to work with us to protest against the Hat Gyi dam project
because it will also have an impact on Thai people,” said KRW executive
Lawplah. “The benefits from the dam will go to the Burmese military
government.”

Most of the electricity generated by the 600 megawatt Hat Gyi dam, near
Myaing Gyi Ngu, will go to Thailand.

The Burmese government agreed last December to the Hat Gyi project, and it
was announced in China earlier this week that it will be constructed under
a joint venture between Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
(EGAT) and the Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation.

Sinohydro said the US $1 billion project is the biggest single economic
develop signed by the three countries

Lawplah said many Karen villagers had already been forcibly moved by the
Burmese army as part of an operation to secure lands surrounding the site
of the Hat Gyi dam project. He said the army had placed landmines to
prevent villagers returning.

KRW, a coalition of six Karen community organizations, says Burmese Army
battalion 202 and its militia allies the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army’s
Battalion 777, had moved into the Hat Gyi area. The dam could flood an
area one-third the size of Singapore.

Lawplah added: “Now that Thailand has joined hands with the Chinese
government and the Burmese regime, we need to protest to show. The Thai
human rights groups have more chance of success of fighting the dam
project by using their country’s legal system.”

EGAT has claimed that details of the agreement n the dam are confidential,
but Thai environmentalists have said this contravenes Thailand’s
constitution.

____________________________________

June 29, Mizzima News
Burmese migrant worker severely wounded in attack - Nem Davies

Burmese migrant worker Naing Khin, 30, was hospitalised with severe head
injuries early this morning after being attacked by a group of
unidentified Thais in Mahachai in Thailand’s Samutsakorn province.

Naing Khin was reportedly attacked by eight men on his way to work at
about 4am.

Tulu, a social worker from the National Catholic Commission on Migration
based on the Thai-Burma border, said the reason for the attack was
unclear.

“He does not understand why he was beaten,” said Tulu.

Naing Khin was admitted to Samu Satkhong government hospital early today
with severe wounds to the head, face, hands and back. His employer is
reportedly planning to file a case with local police.

At least 20 Burmese migrant workers have been attacked by Thai gangs in
the area in the past few months. One worker, who wanted only to be known
as Moe, said many victims were riding motorbikes before being stopped and
beaten.

“[Thai residents] seem to dislike Burmese workers for doing jobs on their
own area,” Moe said.

On June 18, Myint Aye, 18, was gang-raped by a group of Thai men on her
way home from work just days after 24-year-old migrant worker Ye Than was
gang-raped in her home.

____________________________________

June 28, Mizzima News
Activists launch Burma dams working group - Mungpi

Burmese rights and environmental activists formed a working group today to
coordinate campaigns against several dam projects in Burma.

The group, formed after the three-day Dams at the Thailand-Burma Border
training, is designed to promote cooperation between organisations working
to stop schemes such as the Salween dams project, a participant told
Mizzima.

Chana Maung, director of Earth Rights International's Asia office, told
Mizzima the working group was also designed to evolve into a larger Burma
River Network that would incorporate all the groups working on
environmental issues in Burma.

The Burmese military has implemented a number of dam projects in the past
five years and signed deals with the Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand for the construction of several controversial dams on the Salween
River in Burma.

Rights and environmental groups have accused the military of human rights
violations, forced labour and the forced relocation of ethnic villages
near the proposed dam sites.

"The dam projects in Burma have caused severe human rights violation and
environment destructions. They result in force labor, relocating
villagers, human rights violation such as rape," Chana Maung said.

"By forming the network, the focus of campaign will not be confined just
to a small part but will have incorporated the bigger picture of the
ongoing environment destructions and human rights violation perpetrated by
the junta."

____________________________________

June 29, The Irrawaddy
“Successful” Thai-Burma border talks end in secrecy - Clive Parker and Sai
Silp

Burmese and Thai military officials concluded a three-day annual meeting
on border issues on Thursday in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, describing
the talks as “successful,” but declining to give further details.

The talks—led by Burma’s Commander of the Golden Triangle Region Maj-Gen
Min Aung Hlaing and Thailand’s Third Army Commander Lt-Gen Saprang
Kalayanamitre— focused on issues that included combating drug trafficking,
border security and demarcation. The 34-man Burmese delegation included
other high-ranking regional military commanders as well as officials of
the ministries of home affairs and foreign affairs.

The two sides attempted to solve an ownership dispute over four islands
near the border crossing at Ranong on the Thai side and the Burmese town
of Kawthaung, although it is not clear whether a settlement was reached.
The Thai daily Manager reported last week that Saprang had inspected the
area before the start of the talks on Tuesday.

In a press conference at the end of the talks on Thursday, the chief
representatives from each side gave speeches highlighting efforts towards
increased collaboration on a number of cross-border issues.

The event was marred, however, by a lack of openness by both sides,
journalists said, with Thai and Burmese officials refusing to answer most
questions, claiming that details of the talks were “a secret.”

This week’s Thai-Burma Regional Border Committee was the 23rd such
meeting. The previous one was held in Kengtung, Shan State, at the end of
April 2005.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 29, The Irrawaddy
Swiss banks freeze Burma accounts - Yeni

Switzerland on Thursday tightened sanctions on Burma by freezing assets
held there by members of the ruling military elite. The Swiss action falls
in line with similar European Union sanctions, which have been in force
since May 2000.

Switzerland is not an EU member—the Swiss voted against membership in a
1992 referendum— but Roland Vock, head of the Swiss State Secretariat for
Economic Affairs’ sanctions department, said the country could not afford
to be out of step with the EU on Burma. “Switzerland does not want to
become a safe haven for funds which have been frozen according to EU
sanctions,” Vock told the Swiss news agency swissinfo.

The action on Burma follows the Bank of England’s extension this month of
a freeze on the assets of Burmese regime leaders and their relatives. The
list of individuals affected by the EU freeze is being increased from 270
to 392 and ranges from Burma’s top man Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family to
military officers promoted in recent reshuffles.

Burma’s late strongman Gen Ne Win—whose ruthless rule from 1962-1988
effectively bankrupted Burma—is believed to have held large deposits in
Swiss banks, although this was never confirmed.

He was reported to have opened bank accounts in Switzerland for himself
and his daughter Khin Sandar Win. Public anger in Burma over Ne Win’s
private wealth surfaced during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, when
posters appeared accusing him of siphoning money into Swiss bank accounts.

Swiss sanctions against Burma include a ban on companies taking stakes in
39 state-controlled enterprises or issuing credit. The Swiss State
Secretariat for Economic Affairs says, however, that there is no general
ban on investing in Burma, since existing contracts would not be affected.

According to the London-based advocacy group Burma Campaign UK, at least
two Swiss companies—Swiss Re insurance and Diethelm Travel—are operating
in Burma.

____________________________________

June 29, Mizzima News
Nay Pyi Daw move sparks trade license confusion - Nga Ngai

Confusion has spread among Rangoon businessmen over new export and import
license application procedures.

Previously, the licenses were issued by the Ministry of Trade before being
accepted by either the Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank or the
Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, which are governed by the Central Bank of
Myanmar.

But since the Ministry of Trade and the Central Bank moved to Burma's new
administrative capital in Nay Pyi Daw, businessmen have been told they
will be forced to apply for the licenses there.

The news sparked concern among the business community that the already
slow and bureaucratic process of applying for a license would be
exacerbated by the move, particularly since both the MICB and the MFTB are
staying in Rangoon.

"All of our customers who need licenses will only get them in Nay Pyi Daw
because the ministry of Trade had also moved there and after the issuing
the licenses, then the customers must come to our office," an MFTB worker
told Mizzima.

____________________________________

June 29, Kaladan Press
Bangladesh earns Taka 72 crore from border trade in Teknaf

Teknaf, Bangladesh: Bangladesh-Burma border trade has generated over
Taka.72 crore in revenue in 11 months in the fiscal year 2005-2006 (July
to May) for the customs in Teknaf, Bangladesh.

There are 13 border trade points in Bangladesh with neighbouring
countries. Of them, Tekanaf border trade point is the highest revenue
earner.

“Actually, we earned Taka. 72, 58,10,133- as revenue from Teknaf border
trade in the 11 months in the 2005-2006 fiscal. So, we earned an excess of
Taka.17 crore in this fiscal year, which is more than our estimated
income,” said a custom officer in Teknaf.

“If we can continue with border trade without any hassles for 10 years,
the profits will make Bangladesh a prosperous country”, the custom officer
added.

At present, there are some problems among the employees who are working at
the Teknaf land port.

In the 11 months of 2005-2006 fiscal years, revenue earned was as follows
July Taka 55,194,550, in August Taka. 55,816,667, in September Taka
41,294,184, in October Taka.46,642,308, in November Taka.51,843,230 and in
December Taka.5,44, 24,442.

In 2006, the revenue earnings were Taka 69,412,702 in January, Taka, 67,
487,872 in February, Taka.71, 576,733 in March, Taka 77,773,902 in April
and Taka 81,946,431 in May.

“We collected 58 percent revenue from fish and 42 percent from other
goods. The imported goods are fish, cattle, goats, bamboos, fowls,
toddies, canes, ginger, sandals, timber, pickles, clothes among others,
said a custom official.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

June 12-18, Myanmar Times
Medical experts say bird flu still poses danger to Myanmar - Phyu Lin Wai

MEDICAL specialists have warned that Myanmar needs to remain alert for
bird flu and prepare for a rapid response in the event of another
outbreak.

“The virus is still transmitting throughout the world and we can’t say
that it won’t come to Myanmar again,” said Professor Dr Kyi Kyi Thinn,
head of the Microbiology Department at the University of Medicine (1).

“Although we succeeded in controlling the first outbreak in Myanmar, it is
not the end of the story. It continues to affect the whole world,” she
said.

She was speaking at a bird flu seminar organised by the Microbiology
Society under the Myanmar Medical Association, which was held May 20 at
the association’s headquarters on Theinbyu Road.

Dr Kyi Kyi Thinn said Myanmar is close to some countries with high bird
flu transmission rates, adding that it was impossible to prevent migratory
birds from flying from these areas into Myanmar.

She also said some people have little knowledge of the dangers of the bird
flu virus, which medical specialists fear might one day evolve into a form
that is easily transmitted from human to human.

“People also don’t understand why the bird flu virus should worry them
because it has only caused a little more than 100 deaths around the
world,” she said.

According to figures from the World Health Organisation, there have been
216 reported cases of bird flu globally, which have resulted in 122
deaths.

Dr Kyi Kyi Thinn said high-risk farming practices include keeping several
different species of poultry on one farm, disposing of infected chickens
in an inappropriate and unsafe manner, using contaminated farming
equipment and allowing poultry to range freely in densely populated areas.

“Direct hand-to-face contact is the most likely mode of transmission,” she
said.
She said that in Myanmar, women are in greater danger from bird flu than
men because they have to handle raw chicken to cook it.

“But thorough cooking at 70 degree Celsius kills the bird flu virus,” she
said

____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 28. Independent Mon News Agency
Mon literature included in Thai school curriculum - Banyol Kin

The Thai government’s education department has allowed the inclusion of
Mon literature and language in the curriculum of state schools where Mons
live in Thailand, according to Nai Ork Pung, Mon history researcher, who
is also involved in managing school programmes.

Mon teachers started giving lessons last Monday in Sangkhlaburi,
Kanchanaburi province where the majority of Mons live.

“On an average we get 50 percent of the school’s time for teaching Mon
literature and culture,” said Nai Ork Pung.

“Now we have begun teaching from grade one till grade nine in Sangkhlaburi
School with 11 Mon teachers and over 1,000 students,” said Nai Lawi Chan,
a Mon teacher, who teaches in the school.

“It is good that the government recognizes that Mon youths need to speak
Mon and learn Mon literature. In the future our Mon nation will not
disappear from the world.”

“In comparison in Burma, Mon teachers are not only not allowed to teach
the Mon language in government schools but the military regime creates
problems for Mon community schools in Mon State,” said Nai Sumit Punnakari
who works for the Mon civil society.

Mon community workers are going to teach in all Mon villages along the
border in Thailand in the future, said Nai Ork Pung.

At present Mon migrant workers have opened a school in Bangkok with formal
Thai school textbooks.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 29, BBC Burmese Service
Activists pressure UN over Burma

Campaigners call for UN action on Burma.

More than 30 non-government organisation from 20 countries on Wednesday
demanded action by the United Nations to counter the hardline rule of
Burmese military junta.

The letter criticises the military government for ignoring previous UN
General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights resolutions.

"Now is the time for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and members of the UN
Security Council to move beyond discussion and take action," the groups
said in a statement accompanying the letter.

"The situation for Burma's 53 million people grows more desperate and
horrific each day."

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

June 28, USCB, AJWS, CWS
Humanitarian, human rights organizations call for urgent UN Security
Council action on Burma

Washington, DC: Over thirty non-governmental organizations from twenty
countries today sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and
members of the United Nations Security Council, calling for a peaceful,
binding resolution on the Southeast Asian country of Burma. The letter
adds to a growing chorus from the international community calling for
action on
Burma.

The letter states: "The Burmese junta has ignored 28 UN General Assembly
and Commission on Human Rights resolutions. Now is the time for UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and members of the UN Security Council to
move beyond discussion and take action in the Council.  The situation for
Burma's 53 million people grows more desperate and horrific each day."

The crisis in Burma has escalated in recent months with a brutal military
offensive by the Burmese regime against Karen villagers, displacing up to
20,000 civilians.  More than 2,000 of the displaced have fled to
neighboring Thailand, while others are desperately trying to survive in
the jungle with little or no access to food, water, or safety.  The
Burmese army has planted thousands of landmines to prohibit the fleeing
villagers from accessing humanitarian aid, and barred all humanitarian
groups from the area. These 20,000 displaced Karen villagers join more
than 1 million that have already fled the country and more than 500,000
living in fear as internally displaced persons.  The use of rape as a
weapon of war continues unabated throughout Burma's ethnic areas,
including Shan State.  Burma's military junta is the world's leading user
of child soldiers, forcibly recruiting up to 70,000 children.

In December 2005 the United Nations Security Council held its first-ever
briefings to discuss Burma, followed by one this past May.  The letter
refers to the 2005 discussion: "It is essential for the United Nations
Secretary-General and Security Council to follow up the historic December
and May consensus discussions with concrete and urgent action to address
the escalating catastrophe in Burma."

Organizations signing the letter include American Jewish World Service
(United States), Action for Democracy in Vietnam (France), Alliance for
Reform & Democracy in Asia (Hong Kong), Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition
(APSOC) (Philippines) (a coalition of 15 organizations from 11 countries),
Australian Catholic Relief in Cambodia, Canadian Friends of Burma
(Canada), EarthRights International (United States), FORUM-ASIA
(Thailand), France Libertés - Fondation Danielle Mitterrand (France),
Foundation for Media Alternatives (Philippines), Globe International
(Mongolia), IBON Foundation Inc. (Philippines), Initiatives for
International Dialogue (Philippines),
International Movement for a Just World (Malaysia), Jesuit Refugee Service
(United States), Jubilee Campaign (United States), Jubilee South Africa,
Korean House for International Solidarity (South Korea), Network of Women
in Growth (Ghana), People in Need Foundation (Czech Republic), Peoples
Forum for Human Rights and Development (Bhutan), Polish Helsinki Committee
(Poland), Pontis Foundation (Slovak Republic), Refugees International
(Unite
States), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) (France),
Rencontre Africaine Pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO)
(Senegal), TENAGANITA (Women's Force) (Malaysia), The Rafto Foundation for
Human Rights, Bergen (Norway), U.S. Campaign for Burma (Unite States),
United Lao Action Center (France) and WARIPNET, West African Refugees and
Internally Displaced Persons Network (Senegal).

Contact: Erol Kekic, Church World Service:
Jenna Capeci, American Jewish World Service: 212-273-1652
Jeremy Woodrum, U.S. Campaign for Burma: 202-223-0300


=====================================================

Copy of Letter

June 26, 2006

Secretary General Kofi Annan
United Nations Headquarters
First Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
Fax: 212-963 4879

Dear Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim
Gambari, and Members of the UN Security Council,

We are writing to you as leaders of the United Nations Secretariat and the
UN Security Council.

We would like to thank you for the United Nations Security Council's
first-ever briefings discussing the situation in Burma in December 2005
and May 2006. They were a tremendous first step in addressing Burma's
crisis.

Now the UN Security Council must follow up on that first step and take
action. The ongoing crisis in Burma has escalated in recent weeks with a
rampage by the Burmese military against Karen villagers, forcing more than
20,000 from their homes in eastern Burma. More than 2,000 of the displaced
have fled to neighboring Thailand, while the others are desperately trying
to survive in the jungle with little to no access to food, medicine,
water, and shelter.

The Burmese army has planted more than 2,000 anti-personnel landmines to
prohibit the fleeing villagers from accessing humanitarian aid and
alerting foreign actors of the regime's current violent eradication
campaign.

It is essential for the United Nations Secretary General and Security
Council to follow up the historic December 16th consensus discussion with
concrete and urgent action to address the escalating catastrophe in Burma.
The Burmese junta has ignored 28 UN General Assembly and Commission on
Human Rights resolutions. Now is the time for UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan and the members of the UN Security Council to move beyond discussion
and take action in the Council.

The situation for Burma's 53 million people grows more desperate and
horrific each day. The 20,000 displaced Karen villagers join more than 1
million that have already fled the country; more than 500,000 continue to
live in fear as internally displaced persons. Within the last 12 years
more than 2,800 villages have been destroyed in eastern Burma alone. The
rampant use of rape as a weapon against women continues unabated. Burma's
military junta is the world's leading conscriptor of child soldiers,
forcibly recruiting up to 70,000 children. Illicit narcotics including
opium and methamphetamines pour out of the country as drug lords reside
under the protection of the regime.

The public health crisis in Burma is poised to destabilize the entire
region. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health's Center for Public Health
and Human Rights recently published a report on infectious diseases in
Burma, showing that government policies in Burma that restrict public
health and humanitarian aid have created an environment where AIDS,
drug-resistant tuberculosis, and malaria are spreading. If left unchecked
they could pose a serious health threat to other Southeast Asia nations
and the world.

Burma is one of the most neglected crises in the world. "The displaced
people of Burma are more than forgotten, they are virtually invisible,"
states the respected refugee organization Refugees International.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Refugees International, Church
World Service, and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
are already calling for the UN Security Council to act.  We add our
strongest support to this effort, and urge the Security Council to follow
up on its December and May briefings by immediately placing Burma on its
formal agenda and passing a resolution.

The resolution should emphasize the Government of Burma's responsibility
to protect and assist its citizens, demand an end to attacks on ethnic
minorities, call for immediate access for humanitarian relief agencies to
all civilians, request the Government of Burma to work with the
Secretary-General on a plan for national reconciliation, and ask the
Secretary General to periodically report back to the Council.

Sincerely,

(In alphabetical order)

American Jewish World Service (United States), Action for Democracy in
Vietnam (France), Alliance for Reform & Democracy in Asia (Hong Kong),
Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) (Philippines) (a coalition of 15
organizations from 11 countries), Australian Catholic Relief in Cambodia,
Canadian Friends of Burma (Canada), Church World Service (United States),
EarthRights International (United States), FORUM-ASIA (Thailand), France
Libertés - Fondation Danielle Mitterrand (France), Foundation for Media
Alternatives (Philippines), Globe International (Mongolia), IBON
Foundation Inc. (Philippines), Initiatives for International Dialogue
(Philippines),
International Movement for a Just World (Malaysia), Jesuit Refugee Service
(United States), Jubilee Campaign (United States), Jubilee South Africa,
Korean House for International Solidarity (South Korea), Network of Women
in Growth (Ghana), People in Need Foundation (Czech Republic), Peoples
Forum for Human Rights and Development (Bhutan), Polish Helsinki Committee
(Poland), Pontis Foundation (Slovak Republic), Refugees International
(Unite States), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières)
(France), Rencontre Africaine Pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme
(RADDHO) (Senegal), TENAGANITA (Women's Force) (Malaysia), The Rafto
Foundation for Human Rights, Bergen (Norway), U.S. Campaign for Burma
(United States), United Lao Action Center (France) and WARIPNET, West
African Refugees and
Internally Displaced Persons Network (Senegal).