BurmaNet News, February 23, 2010

[Editor]

February 23, 2010, Issue #3902


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Six on hunger strike in Insein prison
Mizzima: NLD leader Tin Oo awarded
IMNA: Monks threatened with continued arrests
AP: Cameroonian flees to French Embassy in Myanmar

ON THE BORDER
DVB: Thai govt puts Burmese migrants ‘particularly at risk’
BBC News: Burma's Kachin army prepares for civil war

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: S.Korea firm sign billion dollar Myanmar gas deal

DRUGS
Irrawaddy: Burmese, Thai officials discuss how to combat drugs trade

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Will the regime launch another monk 'purification' campaign?

PRESS RELEASE
HRW: Thailand: Migrant workers face killings, extortion, labor rights abuses




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Six on hunger strike in Insein prison – Yee May Aung

Six Burmese political inmates in Rangoon’s infamous Insein prison are on
hunger strike after complaining that authorities there are refusing to
provide for “basic human requirements”.

Inmates in Insein prison, where the majority of Burma’s 2,100 political
prisoners are held, have long complained of dire conditions, with up to
four prisoners often crammed into tight cells and denied medical
treatment.

The panopticon prison, built by the British during the colonial era, last
year became the focus of international attention after Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained there during her closed court trial.

The six, who include opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party
members Nyi Pu, Kyaw Myo Naing, Nyi Nyi Aung and Nay Moe Aung, as well as
Aung Naing Myint and Aung Naing, who are in jail for their links to the
banned All Arakan Students' and Youths' Congress (AASYC), have said they
began the strike yesterday and will continue to refuse food until 25
February.

A number suspected of leading the strike have now been placed in solitary
confinement, the source said, after calling for greater medical
assistance, better quality food and permission to read and write.

Their demands, first made on 17 February, coincided with a visit to Burma
by UN special rapporteur for human rights, Tomas Ojea Quintana. He was
however denied a meeting with any political prisoners, including detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It also coincides with reports that 71 inmates in the remote Buthidaung
prison in Burma’s western Arakan state are on hunger strike in protest at
the insufficient amounts of food given to prisoners.

The 71 are all non-Burmese, mainly Bangladeshi, who were also denied a
meeting with Quintana when he visited Buthidaung last week, according to
the Dhaka-based Narinjara news agency.

____________________________________

February 23, Mizzima News
NLD leader Tin Oo awarded – Myint Maung

New Delhi - Tin Oo the Vice-Chairman of the National League for Democracy
was awarded for “bravery for national reconciliation” by the UNA, a
coalition of ethnic parties, and his colleagues on February 20.

Released from a six-year house arrest term on February 13, the award was
handed to the NLD Vice-Chairman at a ceremony in the house of Thakhin
Thein Phe in Mayangon, Rangoon Division.tin-oo-award2

Pu Cing Tsian Thang the President of the Zomi National Congress (ZNC)
said, “The bravery award for national reconciliation was given to him for
his effort in achieving freedom and democracy for the people.”

The award recipient said, “I don’t think of myself as a hero.  The fact is
since Daw Aung Suu Kyi began leading the movement, I also participated so
that my experiences could be useful to her.”

Since February 20 coincides with the 62nd anniversary of the Chin National
Day, a Chin traditional shawl was also presented to the former army
general Tin Oo. It was gently wrapped around him.

“With great difficulty, U Tin Oo visited Chin State, and was assaulted on
his way back to Depayin.  After being injured, he was first held in Kalay
jail for eight months.  We love U Tin Oo and therefore we presented him
with the gift,” Pu Cing Tsian Thang said.

Tin Oo said he felt grateful and happy on receiving the gift from ethnic
Chins, and considered it as “a symbol of their cooperation towards our
efforts in accomplishing common political hopes, aims, and objectives.
Only with unity and trust of ethnic nationals, we can have a federal
union.  I will try playing a part in nation-building, which must be a
blend of unity and trust among ethnic nationals.”

tin-oo-award1Tin Oo was arrested after being attacked by a mob backed by
the military junta in Depayin, Sagaing Division, on May 30, 2003, while
traveling with Aung San Suu Kying the General-Secretary of NLD on an
organizational tour. He was then sent to his residence on February 13,
2004 and placed under house-arrest. He was released on February 13, 2010.

About 50 senior political colleagues, UNA’s leaders and members, and some
of NLD’s Central Executive Committee members were present at the award
ceremony.

Ohn Kyaing, a NLD CEC member attending said, “U Tin Oo said at the
function that he has Thura-Thatti (Heroic Ability).  And, Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi possesses both heroic ability and Dhamma-Thatti (Bravery for Truth). 
We are fortunate to have a leader like Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  I therefore
spoke at the ceremony urging the people to work together for helping her
succeed.”

Tin Oo reiterated that he is just one of those who “followed the student
leaders: Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Ko Min Zeya, Ko Htay Kywe, Ko Jimmy, Ko
Pyone Choe and Ko Mya Aye, who stood at the forefront of the democracy
upheaval in 1988.”

The UNA was formed by ethnic parties: the Mon National Democratic Front
(MNDF), Zomi National Congress (ZNC), Arakan League for Democracy (ALD),
and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD). Although its
candidates contested in the 1990 elections, UNA was later branded as an
illegal entity by the military regime.

____________________________________

February 23, Independent Mon News Agency
Monks threatened with continued arrests – Nai Jorn

Two months after arrest of the Mon monk Ashin Uk Kong Sah by Burmese
government police, relatives and friends have yet to find out where he is
detained, what crime he is accused of, or to even see or speak to him.

However what has become clear is the Burmese government secret police (SP)
are now specifically targeting monks that are deemed to have associated
with him. According to a monk that is friends with Ashin Uk Kong Sah, he
learned a township meeting that the authorities will specifically target
and arrest other monks that have associated with him prior to his arrest.
Specifically, about 35 monks, who had regularly studied Buddhist
literature with Ashin Uk Kong Sah, were implicated as targets for
investigation and arrest.

At a meeting in Mudon Township attended by the headmen, the Township Peace
and Development Council chairman announced that 3 days after Ashin Uk Kong
Sah was arrested, Burmese SP forces planned a policy of arrests of monks
who link are linked with Ashin Uk Kong Sah. The source that attend the
meeting also noted that the SP will also continue to target villages where
Ashin Uk Kong Sah went prior to his arrest.

Another source close to the Township chairman explained that the SP had
photos of monks who are supposedly linked with Ashin Uk Kong Sah.

According to a politician who wished to remain anonymous for fear of
reprisal against his political party, the current pressure is a veiled
threat to all monks to avoid gathering together for meetings and political
activity.

“We wanted to meet with Ashin Uk Kong Sah after he was arrested, but the
authorities didn’t allow him to meet with us or our representatives,” said
a monk who also wished to keep his identity concealed for his own safety.
“We also feel sad due to the arrest of one of our people. Monks are also
avoiding [their monasteries] because the relation with authorities and
monks have gotten so bad.”

According to a friend of Ashin Uk Khon Sah’s who is familiar with his
arrest, a laptop computer, a video camera, a hard driver and a letter
speaking out against the coming 2010 election were confiscated with Ashin
Uk Khon Sah.

After Ashin Uk Kong Sah was arrested near Kjan Khaing Ye quarter near
Thanphyuzayart town on January 7, authorities investigated the Aung Zaya
monestary in Naing Hlone village Mudon Township, where Ashin had been
living. While there investigators took a printer and a copy machine that
had been used by student monks.

Nai Mon Kyaik Soi, a friend of Ashin from his native village in Chaung
zone Township, was arrested 3 days following the government’s seizer of
Ashin. Nai Mon Kyaik Soi who is reportd to have been friends with Ashin
since childhood, was the first arrest in relation to the monk after his
own arrest. Nai Mon Kyaik Soi had just arrived from Malaysia as a migrant
worker, and returned home to try and get passport that would allow him to
go to Korea.

As a sign of the increased pressure by the SP forces in pressuring the
monastic community, the monastery at Wekaru village, Thanphyuzayart
Township, where Ashin had been headed before his arrest, has been already
inspected twice by police forces. While no significant disruption has
occurred, a monk reported police questioned the head abbot about his
travels, and stationing themselves outside and watching the monastery.

____________________________________

February 23, Associated Press
Cameroonian flees to French Embassy in Myanmar

A diplomat says a Cameroonian man arrested in Myanmar has fled temporarily
to the French Embassy while being taken to court.

The French diplomat says the man claimed Tuesday to be a football player
and said he had been arrested about three weeks ago.

The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to release information, did not disclose the man's name but
said he had been arrested on a nonpolitical charge.

He says the man, who appeared to be in his twenties, wanted to inform the
embassy of his arrest so it could let his family know.

Another embassy official says the man surrendered to police after about 1
1/2 hours.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 23, Democratic Voice of Burma
Thai govt puts Burmese migrants ‘particularly at risk’ – Joseph Allchin

A New York-based rights group has again petitioned the Thai government
over its demand that migrants in the country register in the scheme by the
end of the month.

The scheme, known as the Nationality Verification (NV) process, has sought
to register all migrants and offer them a two-year grace period to stay in
Thailand, providing they registered with the scheme by the 28 of February.
If migrants fail to make this deadline they face immediate deportation.

A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlights however that 80 percent of
migrants in Thailand are from Burma, and many of these are “particularly
at risk” from the process. Should they be deported, the report says, “they
face ethnic and political conflict in their home country.”

HRW said the Nationality Verification process was setting “unrealistic
demands on migrants” and that the price of applying for the process was
prohibitive.

It “can amount to two or three months of salary” which is “unacceptably
high for these migrant communities”, while also being complicated and
difficult, it said.

“Starting on 1 March, people who are currently documented, who currently
have the right to be here in Thailand, will no longer have the right to,”
said one of the authors of the report, Phil Robertson.

The report further condemns the treatment of migrants whilst in Thailand.
HRW claims that “Police abuse migrants with impunity”. It used the example
of one migrant interviewed in the report who said she witnessed police
kick a Burmese youth to death simply for failing to answer them in Thai.

The findings were echoed by the Asia director of HRW, who said that "many
officials and police treat migrant workers like walking ATMs".

Robertson further told DVB that: “The police and other people who have
been perpetrating these various abuses know very well that that deadline
is expiring on the 28th. After the 28th it’s a free for all: the Thai
police have shown no reservation so far in basically extorting, abusing,
physically beating, torturing and killing migrant workers.”

The Thai economy meanwhile is heavily reliant on the cheap labour that
migrants from countries such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia provide.

In HRW’s press statement they further criticised working conditions in
Thailand, where employers control migrants “by enforcing prohibitions on
use of mobile phones and motorcycles, imposing harsh restrictions on
movement, outlawing migrant gatherings, and enforcing night time curfews”.

DVB found that migrant workers in Mae Sot thought it routine and normal
for migrants with full paperwork to have their documentation kept by their
employers; intentionally to restrict their freedom of movement.

“This government has said they respect international human rights on a
number of occasions and as a point of pride,” said Phil Robertson. He
further noted that the current Thai strategy to regulate the migrant
worker population comes with little incentive for the worker to register.

The report calls for “an independent and impartial commission to
investigate allegations of abuse by police and other authorities against
migrants. Such a commission should have the power to subpoena, require
presentation of evidence, and recommend criminal and civil charges against
abusers. It should make public reports on a periodic basis”.

____________________________________

February 22, BBC News
Burma's Kachin army prepares for civil war – Alastair Leithead

Laiza, Burma – The sharp sound of loading and unloading weapons and the
barked orders of the sergeant-major cut through the mountains of northern
Burma as the young cadets are put through their morning drills.

Their discipline is good, their uniforms smart and there is little
doubting their sense of purpose or patriotism towards the red and green
flag with crossed machetes they proudly wear on their right shoulders.

They are the next generation of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and
say they are not afraid to be the generation that fights in a civil war
many fear may soon be upon them.

"The Union of Burma was formed on the basis of equality for ethnic people,
but there has been inequality throughout history and we are still being
suppressed," said cadet Dashi Zau Krang.

He is 26 and has a degree in business studies, but says inequality has
stopped him getting a good job and driven him to join the military.

But he is not afraid.

"The Burmese army may be the strongest in South East Asia, while we are
very few, but God will help us to liberate our people to get freedom and
equality. This is our responsibility," he said.

It is a war the Kachin people do not want and one they cannot win.

But their generals believe a 17-year ceasefire could soon end as a Burmese
army deadline approaches, demanding the forces merge or disarm.

They have already refused, and although their leaders are still pushing
for a political solution, their commanders are preparing for the worst
when time runs out at the end of February.

"I can't say if there will be war for sure, but the government wants us to
become a border guard force for them by the end of the month," said the
KIA's Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Gam Shawng.

"We will not do that, or disarm, until they have given us a place in a
federal union and ethnic rights as was agreed in 1947."

The KIA and its civilian organisation have been allowed to control a large
swathe of northern Burma as part of a ceasefire agreement with the
country's ruling generals.

Trade with China

They provide power, roads and schools funded by taxes on the brisk trade
from China as well as the jade and gold mines and teak.

But now soldiers are being recruited, veterans are being recalled and
retrained, and an ethnic army is preparing to fight perhaps the biggest
military force in South East Asia.

On the car radio are freedom songs, and at one of the training camps a
course in traditional dance is being run - cultural nationalism and
propaganda is strong.

A BBC team travelled to an area in northern Burma controlled by the Kachin
army and its civilian arm, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO).

We were taken to training camps and outposts, but could not walk into
Laiza town to talk to people on the street for fear of being seen by an
extensive network of Burmese or Chinese government informers and spies.

It made forming a balanced view very difficult, but the determination and
planning of the military was clear.

High on a vantage point above their headquarters, trenches are being dug
and tree trunks are being hauled and hewn into gun turrets piled high with
earth.

They can see the Burmese army positions from here and they know this will
be just one of the front lines if fighting breaks out.

A well-oiled and highly polished large-calibre anti-aircraft gun is
produced, standing on a tripod in a bunker overlooking the lush jungle
valley.

Guerrilla war

The gleaming gun is a statement, a display for the visitors, but the small
metal plane stencilled on the sights looks woefully optimistic.

They are organised and say they have heavy weapons, but we did not see them.

There are around two dozen ethnic groups in Burma, mostly scattered around
its borders, and the biggest have been in various states of ceasefire or
civil war over the past few decades.

The KIA is one of the biggest. Their commanders say it includes 10,000
regular troops and 10,000 reservists, but it is impossible to know for
sure.

The Burmese army is huge. It has an air force of sorts and artillery, and
the KIA knows the only way to survive will be to withdraw into the jungle
and fight a guerrilla war of attrition.

But civil war would create tens of thousands of refugees and create
regional instability.

"If we are attacked the other ethnic groups will support us, as they know
the same could happen to them," Gen Gam Shawng explained.

The nearby Wa ethnic group has tens of thousands of troops and resources
funded by drug smuggling, and we were told a deal with them had been
agreed.

Whether civil war comes here is now up to the Burmese government.

If they use this election year to solve what they see as the "problem" of
the ethnic groups they will have a fight on their hands, and the region
will have to deal with the consequences.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

February 23, Agence France Presse
S.Korea firm sign billion dollar Myanmar gas deal

Seoul — Hyundai Heavy Industries said it signed a 1.4 billion dollar deal
Tuesday with another South Korean firm to develop a huge natural gasfield
in military-ruled Myanmar.

Hyundai Heavy, the world's largest shipyard, signed the contract with
trading company Daewoo International to build offshore and onshore plant
at the Shwe project off northwest Myanmar by March 2013.

Daewoo International has agreed to supply gas from the field from May of
the same year through a pipeline to China.

The project will produce 500 million cubic feet (15 million cubic metres)
of gas per day for between 25 and 30 years. The field is estimated to hold
between 4.5 trillion and 7.7 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Hyundai Heavy will build a 40,000-ton offshore gas platform, a subsea
production system, pipelines, an onshore gas terminal, a jetty and a
supply base.

"The project will help to enhance the partnership between Hyundai Heavy
and Daewooo International," Hyundai Heavy CEO Oh Byung-Wook said in a
statement, adding his company expects additional orders in Myanmar.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, is under
economic sanctions by the United States and Europe because of its human
rights record and long-running detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.

But their impact has been weakened as neighbours such as China, India and
Thailand spend billions of dollars for a share of its oil and gas
reserves.

A report by rights groups last June said South Korea's government was
failing to hold its corporations to account for abuses linked to natural
gas development in Myanmar.

The report, by EarthRights International and the Shwe Gas Movement, said
the gas project had already been linked to forced relocations and other
human rights violations.

Local people who criticised the work faced arbitrary arrest and detention,
it said.

____________________________________
DRUGS

February 23, Irrawaddy
Burmese, Thai officials discuss how to combat drugs trade – Saw Yan Naing

Burmese police and Thai authorities discussed on Monday how to cooperate
effectively in combating the drugs trade in the Golden Triangle area,
following an attack by traffickers that killed at least 10 Burmese police
officers.

Officials from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) in Chiang
Mai, northern Thailand, took part in the talks in the Burmese border town
of Tachilek.

Saturday's attack by drug traffickers on three Burmese police patrol boats
on the Mekong River near Tachilek left at least 10 police officers dead
and seriously injured two. Three officers are still missing.

Pornthep Eamprapai, director of the Office of Narcotics Control Board in
Chiang Mai, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday the two sides in Monday's
Tachilek meeting had “talked about how to cooperate in the future to
control the drug problem in the border areas.”

Pornthep said another meeting will be held next month, this time with the
participation of Laos.

Burmese police sources blamed a Shan fugitive, Naw Kham, of responsibility
for Saturday's attack. Naw Kham is one of the highest profile drug lords
of the Golden Triangle and reportedly commands a private militia of about
30 to 40 soldiers.

The English language Bangkok Post reported on Monday that five police
officers were killed when a drug gang attacked a district police station
in Chiang Saen district, north of  Chiang Rai, on Saturday. The dead
included the police station chief, the newspaper said.

Thailand's anti-narcotics bureau seized 3.66 million methamphetamine pills
in Bangkok in early February. Most of the pills came from Burma, the
bureau said.

The ONCB reported that 14.3 million amphetamine pills were seized by the
Thai authorities in 2009, compared to 22.1 million in 2008.

In September, the ONCB reported that significantly less heroin was seized
than in the same period of the previous year, but that opium seizures were
up almost eightfold, from 5,708 kg in 2008 to 40,612 kg in 2009.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that the total area
under opium poppy cultivation in Burma in 2008 was estimated at 28,500
hectares, an increase of 3 percent from the 27,700 hectares under
cultivation in 2007.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 23, Irrawaddy
Will the regime launch another monk 'purification' campaign? – Wai Moe

Dissident Burmese monks could face more repression from the regime that
could resemble the 1980 crackdown under the late dictator Ne Win’s
campaign under the motto “Purification of Sasana [religion].”

Ashin Kumara, the chairman of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, said
during his concluding address to the State Working Committee for Sangha on
Saturday that in 1980 the government examined monks to determine who were
“fake and who were real Buddhist.” The effort was undertaken through the
state monastic discipline committee, he said.

“Ah-Dhamma (unrighteousness) ideologies were banned by force and the
campaign was successful,” in sidelining activists monks, Ashin Kumara
said, according to the state-run-newspaper “Myanma Ahlin” on Sunday.

The 1980 campaign had similarities to the pressure that has been applied
on the Sangha since the 2007 Saffron Revolution, which saw monks in the
forefront of anti-regime demonstrations.

Ashin Kumara's remarks were interpreted by observers as a warning to
activist monks in the run-up to the national elections this year. He vowed
to crackdown on elements of  ideology, similar to 1980, that he says are
destroying Thravada Buddhism.

The official repression of activists monks in 1980 cast a negative light
over the Sangha and thousands of monks were disrobed or arrested during
the crackdown that followed.

Well-known monks who were involved in social issues at the time included
the abbots of Htoo Gyi Monastery and Thein Phyu Monastery, who were forced
to disrobe or arrested by then Minister of Home and Religious Affairs Sein
Lwin.

Under the Ne Win campaign, all “alternative” Buddhist ideologies and
writing as well as  many smaller Sangha sects were banned. Nine Buddhist
sects were approved by the state at the time, and the law is still in
effect.

As part of the purification campaign, many influential monks such as Ashin
Ukkahta were forced to sign statements that their books and pamphlets were
in error and their publications were banned. Many monks who practiced
Buddhist ideologies other than the state-approved Theravada ideology were
banned from wearing saffron colored robes and now wear different colored
robes, such as sky blue.

“At the time, the situation was terrifying for monks. Everyone wondered
when their turn would come,” said Ashin Javana, a former abbot of
Shwepyithar Monastery in Rangoon, recalling the 1980 crackdown.

“Many abbots were accused of having relations with woman and disrobed,” he
said. “The government used women as a trap to promote character
assassination on monks. If women came to a monastery, monks had to
consider if they were government agents.”

The 1980 purification campaign drew a mixed response from the public. Some
argued that the campaign was good because Buddhism in Burma needed
purification because many monks lived in violation of the Vinaya or
monastic discipline rules.

However, most observers agreed that the campaign was used by Ne Win to
silence the monks' opposition to his policies following the military coup
in 1962.

Burma expert Gustaaf Houtman wrote that Ne Win’s regime was tested by
monks throughout the 60s-70s. The first occurred in April 1963 when monks
successfully protested against the state taking custodianship of
Mahamyatmuni, a famous pagoda in Mandalay.

Over a 20-year period, hundreds of monks, nuns and novices were arrested
and disrobed. In one outlandish case, the regime discredited Ashin Laba, a
monk who was a critic of the regime, by accusing him of murder and
cannibalism.

The abbot of Su Htoo Pan Monastery in Rangoon, Ashin Nayaka, died during
interrogation in the late 1970s. Since Nayaka’s death, the family of Sein
Lwin, who was in charge of the 1980 crackdown, has become a main taga
[sponsor] of the monastery.

Since 1980, Burmese monks have been targeted frequently under Burma’s
penal code section 295 for malicious acts insulting religion or religious
beliefs. Section 295 was created by the British during colonial rule in
1860 to deter religious riots, said Nyi Nyi Hlaing, a Burmese lawyer
living in exile who represented monks in trials during 2007-2008.

“However, since 1980 section 295 has been used by the regime to imprison
monks who disagree with them,” he said.

In 2006, 37 novice monks were imprisoned under section 295 after a dispute
with local authorities in Thingangun Township in Rangoon. One of the
monks, Ashin Sobhita, was sentenced to two years with hard labor and then
forced to be a porter in a military offensive in Karen State.

In an interview in Mae Sot, he told The Irrawaddy, “It was very terrible.
The soldiers did not treat me as a monk, but as their slave.”

Since the monk uprising in 2007, the military junta has jailed 253 monks
as political prisoners, according to the Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners-Burma.

Nyi Nyi Hlaing said that all 253 monks were charged under section 295,
among other charges.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

February 23, Human Rights Watch
Thailand: Migrant workers face killings, extortion, labor rights abuses

Bangkok – The Thai government should swiftly act to end police abuse and
discriminatory laws and policies against migrant workers and their
families, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The
February deadline for more than a million migrant workers to enter the
"nationality verification" process or face immediate deportation creates
the risk of further abuses and should be postponed until it can be carried
out in a fair manner.

Human Rights Watch's 124-page report, "From the Tiger to the Crocodile:
Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand," is based on 82 interviews with
migrants from neighboring Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It describes the
widespread and severe human rights abuses faced by migrant workers in
Thailand, including killings, torture in detention, extortion, and sexual
abuse, and labor rights abuses such as trafficking, forced labor, and
restrictions on organizing.

"Migrant workers make huge contributions to Thailand's economy, but
receive little protection from abuse and exploitation," said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Those from Burma, Cambodia, and Laos
suffer horribly at the hands of corrupt civil servants and police,
unscrupulous employers, and violent thugs, who all realize they can abuse
migrants with little fear of consequences."

Human Rights Watch said that migrant workers face an imminent threat from
the Thai government's decision that all migrants must enter the national
verification process by February 28, or face arrest and deportation.
Eighty percent of the migrant workers in Thailand are from Burma. They are
particularly at risk, as they face ethnic and political conflict in their
home country. The costs of the nationality verification process, which can
amount to two or three months of salary, are unacceptably high for these
migrant communities.

Human Rights Watch said that unrealistic demands set by the Thai
government, coupled with a complicated and unregulated nationality
verification process, could lead to mass deportations of migrants from
Thailand to Burma and situations that could result in fundamental human
rights and labor rights violations.

Police abuse migrants with impunity. A Burmese migrant told Human Rights
Watch that she witnessed two Thai policemen in Ranong repeatedly kick a
Burmese youth in the chest, killing him, because he did not reply to their
inquiries in Thai.

"Many Burmese were watching and nobody went and helped because all of the
people were afraid of those police, so nobody said anything about this
killing, and nobody informed the police station," said the witness. "When
I saw this [killing], I felt that we Burmese people always have to be
humble and have to be afraid of the Thai police. I feel that there is no
security for our Burmese people [in Thailand] or for myself."

Local police and officials frequently ignore or fail to effectively
investigate complaints. Provincial decrees and national laws prohibit
migrants from establishing their own organizations to assert their rights,
while restrictions in policy on changing employers, moving outside
designated areas, and convening meetings with more than a handful of
persons leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation and ill-treatment.

Another migrant worker told Human Rights Watch how two armed men
approached her in the rubber plantation where she worked, shot her husband
dead in front of her, and then both men raped her. Despite a suspect being
named in a police report, the police did not pursue the case.

"I am Burmese and a migrant worker. That is why the police don't care
about this case," she said. "My husband and I are only migrant workers and
we have no rights here."

Migrants reported constant fear of extortion by the police, who demand
money or valuables from migrants held in police custody in exchange for
their release. It is not uncommon for a migrant to lose the equivalent of
one to several months' pay in one extortion incident.

"Many officials and police treat migrant workers like walking ATMs," said
Adams. "They are just part of a system that robs and mistreats migrants
wherever they turn."

Human Rights Watch found that in several provinces decrees by provincial
governors have increased migrants' vulnerability by enforcing prohibitions
on use of mobile phones and motorcycles, imposing harsh restrictions on
movement, outlawing migrant gatherings, and enforcing nighttime curfews.
These repressive decrees reflect the treatment of migrants as a national
security problem instead of as part of a global phenomenon of the movement
of people for economic, environmental, and political reasons.

"If the Abhisit government really is reformist, it should immediately
abolish the provincial decrees that keep migrants effectively held under
lock and key, bound to their job sites, and cut off from the outside
world," said Adams.

Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to establish an
independent and impartial commission to investigate allegations of abuse
by police and other authorities against migrants. Such a commission should
have the power to subpoena, require presentation of evidence, and
recommend criminal and civil charges against abusers. It should make
public reports on a periodic basis.

"Life is extremely uncertain and unsafe for migrants in Thailand as they
flee one difficult or deadly situation into another," said Adams. "They
are a living example of the Thai proverb which describes how the
vulnerable ‘escape from the tiger, but then meet the crocodile.'"