BurmaNet News, July 20, 2006

[Editor]

July 20, 2006 Issue # 3008

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Army seizes farmland and homes for new base
Mizzima: Shan farmers bashed by top Muse official
DVB: Students arrested for paying homage to Burma’s national hero
Myanmar Times: Internet use up in Mandalay

ON THE BORDER
NMG: Over 700 arrested in crackdown on illegal workers in Mae Sot
Kaowao: Suspicions rise over deaths of 30 Burmese fishermen
Kaowao: Mafia network of Thai and Malay target illegal workers

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima: Fertiliser still being smuggled to Burma: Manipur police

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: Junta accuses ceasefire members of drugs production
Xinhua: Myanmar seizes more stimulant tablets in June

ASEAN
AP: ASEAN to criticize slow pace of Myanmar reform; seek freedom for Suu Kyi

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Myanmar to confront angry neighbours, US at Asian security meet -
Sarah Stewart

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 20, Irrawaddy
Army seizes farmland and homes for new base - Khun Sam

Dozens of privately-owned homes and large areas of agricultural land have
been confiscated to make way for a new military camp near Myitkyina,
capital of Kachin State, a local social worker told The Irrawaddy on
Thursday.

The camp, near Pa-La-Na village, some 16 km (10 miles) north of Myitkyina,
will accommodate the newly-formed Light Infantry Battalion-29, the social
worker said. The order for the construction of the base came last year
from the northern commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, and in past months work had
begun on clearing the area.

Local residents report that about 50 estates and some 500 acres of
agricultural land had been seized by the military. No compensation was
being paid for the lost property. “They said the area is owned by their
military camp,” said the social worker.
.
Pa-La-Na village was founded as a relocation site in the 1980s during the
Ne Win era. It has more than 500 households, most of them Kachin and also
including war veterans who served New Win.

South of Myitkyina, meanwhile, a regime-backed company is reported to have
seized villagers’ land in order to grow nuts and rubber. Villagers living
along the road from Myitkyina to Sumpra Bum have also been told to move
out to make way for highway construction.

____________________________________

July 20, Mizzima News
Shan farmers bashed by top Muse official - Myo Gyi

Three farmers from Pansine township in northern Shan State’s Muse district
were severely beaten by the secretary of the township Peace and
Development Council yesterday during an inspection of the men’s paddy
fields.

An eyewitness to the beatings told Mizzima, “[The secretary] shouted at
them saying ‘why aren’t your paddy fields producing good yields? You
haven’t done what I told you to do’. Then he started punching and kicking
them”.

Sai Yi Kyaw, 30, Sai Yi Sai, 33, and Sai Pau, 22, were reportedly bashed
by secretary Tin Oo while three police officers looked on.

According to local residents, regional commanders and ministers from the
Burmese military often come to inspect farms in the area, which have been
labeled ‘model paddy fields’. The visits have reportedly prompted local
authorities to force villagers to produce high-yield crops.

“But [the local authorities] did not give us sufficient chemical
fertilisers, pesticides or the other things we need to achieve higher
yields. But since they want promotions and the favour of their superiors
they are forcing us to do it,” a villager said.

Last year the secretary of the Muse Township Peace and Development
Council, Captain Aung Aung Lwin attacked Sai Yi from Se Lant village and
the chairmen of Thein Lone and Nam Kat villages in a similar incident.

The chairman of Nam Kat village was hospitalised with severe head injuries.

____________________________________

July 19, Democratic Voice of Burma
Students arrested for paying homage to Burma’s national hero

At least 3 88-Generation Students from Monywa in Sagaing Division and
Bassein in Irrawaddy Division were arrested today for saluting the statue
of Burma’s national hero Aung San, on the 59th anniversary of the Martyrs’
Day.

Some students at Monywa, Sagaing Division in central Burma woke up early
today to pay their homage to slain Burmese national heroes including
General Aung San who were assassinated on 19 July 1947. They were arrested
by security personnel while saluting the statue and singing a patriotic
song in unison in front of the statue situated in the town centre.

“Near there, the police and fire brigade members have been placed there
since the previous days,” a local resident told DVB. “It was learnt that
they ‘took away’ the students and slapped their faces. There were people
who saw them being taken away. But we do not know their names or whether
they are state (school) pupils or college students. We still haven’t heard
that they were released.”

Similarly, there have been reports that seven students were arrested at
Bassein (Pathein) in the delta region of Irrawaddy Division for the same
reason. But when we contacted the police station an officer on duty denied
the reports and said that nothing had happened in Bassein, insisting that
the town was peaceful and calm.

____________________________________

July 10-16, Myanmar Times
Internet use up in Mandalay - Kyaw Soe Linn

The number of internet users in Mandalay has increased by a factor of four
in the past three years, according to IT industry experts in the city.

“More and more people are using the internet, at government offices and in
private organisations,” said a representative of Mandalay’s Yadanabon
Cyber Corporation. “One reason is that computer training classes are now
including internet usage in their programs.”

He said that in the past, most internet users were young, but now people
of all ages are logging on.

“Football fans visit websites for information on players and matches,
medical professionals check healthcare sites, businesspeople check the
prices of commodities in the market, academics search for information for
research papers and people with relatives overseas send emails,” he said.

Ko Phyo Wai Aung of Japan Cyber Café said some people also download free
software from the internet.

With the number of internet cafés in Mandalay having risen from three in
2003 to the current 10, the business is getting more competitive as well.

“We serve free coffee to our customers and are only charging K500 an hour
for the entire month to commemorate our opening,” said Ma Mya Thida Aye of
Xeon internet café.

Ko Yan Lin Aung, manager of Evolution internet café, said he uses seven to
eight gallons of diesel a day to keep his business running but is not
concerned about profits at the moment.

“We’re looking at the long-term benefits of running the café,” he said.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 20, Network Media Group
Over 700 arrested in crackdown on illegal workers in Mae Sot

Mass arrest of illegal workers in Mae Sot, Thai-Burma border was launched
and about 700 Burmese workers from three factories were rounded up
yesterday, said a source from a group that helps migrant workers.

About 300 workers from NC knitting factory, about 200 from Red One
knitting factory and about 200 from Han Thai factory were arrested.

“Special police personnel from Bangkok arrived here to crackdown on
illegal workers. Police started arresting workers following a
demonstration by workers from NC factory yesterday. Another reason is that
they [police] had a plan to crackdown on illegal workers,” said the
source.

The police arrested both those who have ID cards and those did not, after
workers from the NC factory demonstrated demanding the increase in wages,
said U Maw, a mechanic from Mae Sot.

“Yesterday morning, some workers from NC factory didn’t go to work as they
demonstrated and in the evening all workers from the factory were
arrested. It is to the detriment of Burmese workers because workers with
or without ID cards were arrested together,” said U Maw.

Some of the arrested workers from Red One factory have ID cards and some
have not, said Ko Hla, a Burmese worker.

“It is not a problem if they arrest workers who don’t have any IDs, but
now they are arresting everybody. The factory is now closed,” he said.

Arrested workers have been detained in the jail of the immigration
department in Mae Sot. Workers who hold labour cards will be released and
those who do not have any will be repatriated to Myawaddy.

There are about 120,000 Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot. Most of the
workers are paid a wage rate of 50 to 70 baht per day despite the minimum
wage set by the Thai government being 139 baht.

____________________________________

July 20, Kaowao News
Suspicions rise over deaths of 30 Burmese fishermen

The deaths of Burmese fishermen working for a Thai company from an unknown
disease has raised doubts, after sources close to the fishermen said their
boss most likely poisoned them.

In June, about 30 migrants working on a Thai fishing boat died suddenly
from an unidentified infection while fishing in the Indonesian Sea.

The cause of the death has not been identified yet or reported to the
family members of the fishermen.  A source close to the fishermen believes
their boss most likely fed them poisoned food.  “It is possible they were
poisoned because the owner of the boat lost a huge amount of money in
gambling recently. The captain, mechanics, and other senior fishermen are
alive and only the ordinary workers died,” said a Mon community worker who
spoke on condition of anonymity.

The victims suffered chest pains and had difficulty in breathing. 
Fishermen in six fishing boats had reportedly been infected for almost two
months and most of the bodies were thrown into the sea.  The boats
returned to Samutsakhon seaport on July 2, in the evening and about 12
sick seamen were treated in Samutsakhon hospital.

Family members and outsiders were not allowed to visit them.  The doctors
did not inform the community on the cause of the deaths.

Most of those who died hail from Anin, Proi (Htin Yuu) and Hnit Kayin
villages in Mon State.

Even though it is highly risky sailing on the Indonesian sea given the
abuse from employers, storms and pirates, fishing in these waters is a big
dream for most migrant workers from Burma.

The fishermen stand to earn good wages as their monthly salaries range
from 6,000 to 10,000 Baht for three years.  Leaving their families behind,
they venture off to sea on long contracts and are paid when they return to
port.  Since the Thai gulf has limited resources I terms of fish, Thai
boats fish in Indonesian waters and the fishermen are allowed to return
Thailand when the contract is completed.

____________________________________

July 20, Kaowao News
Mafia network of Thai and Malay target illegal workers - Kun Yekha

Migrant workers from Burma are victims of a violent Thai-Malay border
network comprising immigration and police personnel, who work closely with
criminals to exploit Burmese migrant workers.

The mafia-style gangs (referred to in Thai as Nak-Lean) have been in
operation, according to witnesses, for over two years. “Three major
gangster groups are working closely with Malaysian immigration officials
and Thai police who extort, kidnap, bribe, beat and kill illegal workers
on deportation from Malaysia to Thailand,” said a social worker (who
wishes not to be named) from a Mon Refugee Centre based in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.

Most arrested illegal workers are deported from Gota-Bharu in Malaysia to
Sunngai Golok, Thailand. At this point, one of the gangs takes the
released workers from the Malay immigration officials and transfers them
to a secret holding cell in the jungle in a remote area of Sunngai Golok.
“The gangsters pay 50 Ringgit (US $ 14) to Malaysian officials for a
deported worker,” said the social worker.

Gangsters pay bribe money to the Thai police to keep their mouths and eyes
shut during the whole process at the border. Next, with the collaboration
of Burmese speaking gangsters, they start asking the detainees for contact
names of people who can pay for their release both in Burma and Malaysia.
If their contacts are able to wire the 1,400 Ringgist (381 US$), they are
free to go home, or cross back illegally again into Malaysia with the help
of human traffickers, who charge them high rates. It is believed that
hundreds of young Burmese migrants have been victims of the gangs.

Those who have no contacts are beaten inhumanly and threatened with
weapons. If the gangsters believe they really have no contacts to pay them
money, the men will be sold to Thai fishing boat owners and the women will
be sold to brothels in Thai territory. The women will be locked up and
raped. The men will be stranded on Indo fishing ships for as long as two
to three years and face extreme hardship at the hands of the boat’s owner.
And the only way out is if the men jump boat and try to swim ashore when
the boat comes to port. Many have escaped this way and as a result are
closely monitored and locked up by the owner while on board.

This year, the group detained five Mon women three months ago and nobody
has heard anything from them since. A man from Chaungzon Township in Mon
State was shot dead by one of them last year for secretly contacting his
friend to come and help him get out.

“Last year, they kept the workers locked up in a rubber plantation and
extorted about 700 Ringgit from them. Now they have built a holding cell,
three to four months ago, to hold more migrant workers and we can only
imagine how their dirty deeds are expanding,” said Nai Pit from Hadyai
from the Thai-Malaysia border.

One outfit is composed of up to six to eight men who are fully armed and
dangerous and include Thai-Malay citizens, Burmese and Arkanese
nationalities. “Haji and Nawi are the masterminds of the main group and
Aung Lay, an Arkanese man are the most infamous guys,” said Nai Zaw Lan,
who was a victim. Nai Zaw Lan says Haji and Nawi,Thai-Malay citizens,
change their names frequently to escape detection. Men and women from
Burma, including Chin, Karen, Burmese and Mon nationalities are the
majority of victims.

Kaowao asked if any social organizations were working on the issue, but
Nai Pit explained that only one NGO from Kuala Lumpur had attempted to
document this situation. But he knows of no other group or authority
trying to address this problem.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 20, Mizzima News
Fertiliser still being smuggled to Burma: Manipur police- Sobhapati Samom

The seizure of two trucks loaded with chemical fertilisers at Kakching
Lamkhai near the Manipuri capital of Imphal on Tuesday is a strong sign
Indian products are being smuggled to Burma, according to officials.

Manipuri police sources told Mizzima they knew demand for Indian
fertiliser products in Burma was high.

“[Burma], being one of the largest producers of rice in Southeast Asia
requires a large quantity of fertilisers. There is still high demand for
Indian made fertiliser among [Burmese] farmers,” the sources said.

The Manipur police said the 570 seized bags of the product belonged to
‘Joy’, a resident of Samurou in Imphal’s western districts, and were
earmarked for delivery to a Burmese Tamilian businessman named ‘Belu’ who
planned to transport them across the border.

Fertiliser smuggling to Burma has been in the spotlight recently with
Manipuri officials accused by opposition groups of illegally siphoning off
the products to businessmen across the border.

On Monday the 18th Assam Rifles in Tengnoupal district seized two trucks
loaded with 30,000 kilograms of fertiliser bound for Moreh.

On September 27 last year, four trucks loaded with chemical fertiliser
were seized by Moreh police about 110 km south of Imphal. A member of the
Manipur’s Legislative Assembly was implicated in the heist.

____________________________________
DRUGS

July 20, Irrawaddy
Irrawaddy: Junta accuses ceasefire members of drugs production - Aung Lwin Oo

The Burmese authorities have accused members of a breakaway faction of an
ethnic ceasefire group of producing a stockpile of drugs destroyed in an
official ceremony in northeastern Shan State.

Drugs worth nearly US $47 million were burnt at the government-organized
ceremony, conducted on Sunday in Le Char in the presence of foreign
diplomats, representatives of UN agencies and journalists. The destroyed
drugs included 229.30 kg of opium and 28,526 opium seeds.

“The drugs and precursor chemicals we are burning and destroying today are
those seized from a clandestine refinery in the area adjacent to where a
breakaway group of [the] Shan State National Army is based,” said police
chief Brig-Gen Khin Yi, according to a report on Thursday in The New Light
of Myanmar.

Members of the ethnic ceasefire group were also accused of forcing local
villagers to collect opium in the area since early this year. Khin Yi,
however, maintained that the SSNA breakaway group as a whole was not
involved.

According to Shan sources, the breakaway faction, led by the former head
of the group’s economic department, had fled to the Thai-Burmese border
and was expected to follow the lead of SSNA Col Sai Yi, who broke a
ceasefire with the government and joined forces with the Shan State
Army-South last May.

In the drug-burning ceremony, officials torched 47,286 methamphetamine
pills, 670 liters of liquid opium and more than 1,000 liters of precursor
chemicals. The state media also reported that 230 drug-related crimes were
exposed last month, resulting in the seizure of nearly 930 kg of opium and
criminal proceedings against 369 alleged offenders.

Khin Yi said Burma’s drug problems were a consequence of “imperialist
rule.” The government aimed to eradicate opium cultivation by 2014, he
said.

In its “2006 International Narcotic Control Strategy Report,” released in
March, the US State Department listed Burma as the world’s second largest
opium producer, despite a steady decline over the past 10 years to its
present estimated annual production of 380 metric tons.

____________________________________

July 20, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar seizes more stimulant tablets in June

The Myanmar authorities seized nearly one million tablets of stimulant in
June in connection with 230 narcotic-drug-related cases, the official
newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

The stimulants confiscated by the armed forces, police force and the
customs department during the month were 300,000 tablets more than in May.

Other seizures included 25.43 kg heroin, 928.7 kg opium, 5.1 kg morphine,
6.9 kg marijuana, 545.4 kg caffeine and 380 kg ephedrine as well as 1,000
liters acetic anhydride and 366 liters chemical liquid, the report said.
And 369 drug offenders including 65 women were punished in June.

According to official statistics, the Myanmar authorities exposed a total
of 4,218 narcotics cases from January 2005 to May 2006 with altogether
6,574 drug offenders including 1,236 women being charged.

Seizure by drug enforcement agencies during the period included 940.54 kg
of heroin, 1,250 kg of opium, 1,228.3 kg of ephedrine and 141.52 kg of
marijuana as well as 18.92 million tablets of amphetamine stimulant.

Besides, 11 heroin refineries in northern and southern Shan state were
overrun during the period and 4,151.18 hectares of poppy cultivation were
destroyed during 2005-06 poppy growing season, 165.86 hectares more than
2004-05, the figures show.

Meanwhile, at a ceremony held last weekend in Laikha, southern part of
Shan state, Myanmar destroyed 47 million U.S. dollars worth of drugs
seized in a series of anti-drug operations in the state early this year.
The authorities burned over 1.4 tons of narcotic drugs including 0.05 kg
of heroin and 229.28 kg of opium, 47,286 amphetamine-type stimulant
tablets, and 29,519 kg of opium seeds, while destroying 2,991 liters of
liquid-form drugs.

Earlier this year, Myanmar also burned confiscated drugs on two occasions.
In Kengtung in April, a large amount of narcotic drugs including 54 kg of
heroin, 74 kg of opium and 1,000 kg of brown opium were put on fire, while
in Yangon in June, 1.65 tons of drugs, valued at 148.4 million dollars and
included 169.7 kg of heroin, 690.6 kg of opium and 80.9 kg of marijuana as
well as 2.1 million tablets of amphetamine stimulants, 5,308 tablets of
ecstasy and 101.74 kg of ice, a crystal form of amphetamine-type stimulant
were destroyed.

Myanmar has been implementing a 15-year plan (1999-2000 to 2013- 14) to
totally eradicate poppy in three phases each running for five years and it
is now in the second phase.

____________________________________
ASEAN

July 20, Associated Press
ASEAN to criticize slow pace of Myanmar reform; seek freedom for Suu Kyi-
Teresa Cerojano

Southeast Asian governments are expected next week to criticize Myanmar
for the slow pace of democratic reform and call for an early lifting of
restrictions on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A joint communique that will be discussed by foreign ministers from the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations said they "expressed
concern on the pace of the national reconciliation process" in Myanmar,
according to a draft obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

"We reiterate our calls for early lifting of restrictions placed on Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD members and for effective dialogue with all
parties concerned," the draft says.

ASEAN foreign ministers will meet July 25 in the lead up to the ASEAN
Regional Forum, Asia's largest annual security gathering that includes
talks with China, Japan, South Korea, the United States and other
countries.

The ministers also said they were disappointed that the current chairman,
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, "was not allowed to meet key
stakeholders" during his visit to Myanmar in March.

Syed Hamid visited Myanmar as an ASEAN envoy in March to monitor the
progress of democracy but was denied a meeting with Suu Kyi a Nobel peace
laureate who has spent 10 of the past 17 years in confinement under
Myanmar's ruling military junta.

The U.N. also has tried, with little success, to bring about a
reconciliation between the government and Suu Kyi's party.

Faint hopes were raised after the junta allowed a new U.N. envoy, Ibrahim
Gambari, to visit the country in May and meet with Suu Kyi, the first
foreign visitor to see her in more than two years. In their draft
communique, the ASEAN ministers noted the initiative taken by Gambari.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo also will visit Myanmar early
next month. It was uncertain whether he could meet with Suu Kyi, Foreign
Affairs Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio said.

Aside from Myanmar, the ministers will express concern over North Korea's
test-firing of Taepodong-2 missiles on July 4, "which could have adverse
repercussions on peace and stability in the region."

They also will call for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and will issue
support for the early resumption of six party talks aimed at ending the
North's nuclear programs.

Diplomats said because developments remain fluid, the ministers' statement
on North Korea will likely be reworded.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 20, Agence France Presse
Myanmar to confront angry neighbours, US at Asian security meet - Sarah
Stewart

Military-ruled Myanmar will face a grilling over its refusal to shift to
democracy next week when it confronts angry neighbours and long-time foe
the United States at Asia's top security forum.

Frustrated Southeast Asian nations whose attempts to push for change have
been ignored by the Yangon regime say it is now up to the United Nations
and regional power China to negotiate an end to four decades of military
rule.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is expected to lead the
criticism here, last year rebuked the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) which is hosting the talks for not doing enough to censure
the Myanmar junta.

Stung into action, ASEAN unleashed unprecedented criticism of the regime,
demanding it accept reforms and release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
-- but was met with silence.

"I think they have treated us shabbily," said Malaysia's Foreign Minister
Syed Hamid Albar who was snubbed when he visited Yangon in March as
ASEAN's envoy and was refused a request to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I think in our case it was almost aborted before it started. They didn't
give the opportunity for ASEAN, there's a lack of confidence and even of
trust in ASEAN," he told AFP.

Shortly afterwards the junta allowed UN Under Secretary General Ibrahim
Gambari to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, and hold talks with the its
reclusive leader Senior General Than Shwe outside the new capital of
Pyinmana.

Syed Hamid said that as a result, ASEAN was largely abandoning its
campaign to push for change in Myanmar, which has been run by the military
for four decades.

"We will deal with Myanmar because they're a legitimate part of our
organisation. But on the issue of reform, since they feel more comfortable
to deal with the UN direct, I think we should allow them to do that," he
said.

There are hopes that the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting and the ASEAN
Regional Forum security talks which follow -- embracing China, India,
Japan and South Korea among others -- will break ground on the Myanmar
issue.

ASEAN secretary-general Ong Keng Yong indicated there would be a push for
a decisive "action-orientated" approach on Myanmar at the talks in the
Malaysian capital.

"Should we take a new, more assertive posture that will be seen by our
people as well as by all the other interested parties to reflect a
determination... to do something more concrete about this situation" he
said.

"Ministers will want to get the Myanmar side to commit themselves to more
concrete, practical action, to try to deal with this perceived lack of
progress. How we can achieve that I think is going to be the subject of
'bargaining' at the dining table."

But in a sign of the disparate views within the region, Syed Hamid
indicated there was no clear plan of action.

"I think people may speak their minds, but how far we are going to go I do
not know, we will have to see," he said. "I would not like to speculate so
we will wait until the meeting. It would not be fair for me to discuss the
options."

Despite the diplomatic bluster, Myanmar is safe in the knowledge that two
of its biggest trading partners, China and Thailand, will also be at the
table and that neither will be willing to take any action that harms their
interests.

China will be under pressure here to do more to exert its influence on the
region's two black sheep -- Myanmar and North Korea -- and in both cases
it is seen as the key to intractable problems.

"I think there will be calls on China, knowing their influence, the
strength that they have with these countries," said Syed Hamid.

Ong also said it was clear that the Myanmar issue was beyond the reach of
ASEAN, a motley collection of democracies and dictatorships which is
founded on a principle of non-interference in other members' affairs.

"By ourselves ASEAN does not have the leverage. You see everybody thinks
we should exert more pressure on Myanmar but we have no rules about
punishing any bad boys in our membership," he said.