BurmaNet News: January 10 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

January 10 2003 Issue #2154

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: Forced labors in Mon State
DVB: SPDC’s investigations into rape allegations start

GUNS

DVB: More Russian MiG-29 fighter jets arrive in Meiktila
AFP: Rebel army says Myanmar officer, nine soldiers killed in clashes

DRUGS

Bangkok Post: Chavalit to head new drugs unit

ON THE BORDER

AFP: Myanmar women’s group denounces harassment of Aung San Suu Kyi

REGIONAL

Myanmar Information Committee: China to offer 200m US dollars in
preferential loans to Burma
Xinhua: Myanmar head of state visits China’s Yunnan province
Xinhua: Myanmar to reduce tariffs to 0-5 pct by 2008
Irrawaddy: Thailand hands over deserters
Bangkok Post: Concern over kin of illegal Burmese

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma January 10 2003

Forced Labours in Mon State

The villagers of Kalakoke Island, in southern Mon State are forced to
volunteer for the SPDC troops in their efforts to build a helicopter pad
for LIBs 31 & 62. The project started on the first of
January and all the three villages on the island are forced to contribute
the labour of one person per household. According to a villager, about 60
villagers have to go the site with their own lunch packs and work there
from 6am to 4pm. The helicopter pad was built after a SPDC artillery base
was established on the island last month and the base is equipped with
five 81mm mortars. The artillery base is supposed to protect the joint sea
fishing venture betweens a Thai company and the SPDC.
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma January 10 2003

SPDC’s investigations into rape allegations start

It is reported that the SPDC is starting to investigate the allegations of
the rapes of Shan women by its troops. The investigations started on the
3rd of this month and it is being carried out jointly by the Shan State
capital Taunggyi-based No. 2 Military Intelligence [MI] and the National
Intelligence. It is headed by Colonel Kyaw Moe Htun and divided into three
groups. The areas being investigated are Southern Shan State Mong Shu,
Mongkai, Leikha, Namsam, Linkhe, Mongne. Mongpan and Maukme areas. They
are said to be mostly the SPDC’s military operational areas.

GUNS

Democratic Voice of Burma January 9 2003

MORE RUSSIAN MIG-29 FIGHTER JETS ARRIVE IN MEIKTILA

Some more MiG-29 fighters purchased from Russia have arrived recently at
Meiktila's Shante Air Base. According to military sources at the border,
four more fighters are believed to have arrived in late December.
Observers say that a total of six MiG-29 fighters, including the four
latest planes, have arrived at Shante Air Base.

Russian pilots have arrived in Meiktila to give training on flying fighter
jets. Also present there are Chinese and French military engineers,
according to observers. The fighter jets are carrying out test flights to
air bases along the Thai-Burma border and they have flown test flights up
to Mergui Air Base.

The SPDC State Peace and Development Council military government has
bought 10 Russian MiG-29 fighters at the cost of 130m US dollars. The
remaining four jet fighters are expected to arrive next month, according
to a military source at the border.
_______

Agence France-Presse January 10 2003

Rebel army says Myanmar officer, nine soldiers killed in clashes

The rebel Karen National Union (KNU) said Friday that its forces had
killed a Myanmar army captain and nine other soldiers in clashes this week
near the Thai border.

KNU spokesman Pado Mahn Shar said two rebels and 10 Myanmar soldiers were
also injured in the fighting which broke out Sunday and continued
intermittently for four days. Thai army commander Major General Prayoon
Ponork confirmed that fighting had erupted between the KNU and Myanmar
troops, and that one shell had landed on Thai soil but there were no
injuries.

He said the conflict had also forced some 300 Karen villagers to cross
over the Moei river and into Thailand to seek refuge, but he could not
confirm the Karen's claimed death tolls.

"I don't know about casualty figures on both sides because the fighting
was inside Myanmar," he told AFP, adding that the clashes occurred as the
annual dry season offensive approached.

Pado Mahn Shar said the first battle occurred Sunday south of the border
town of Myawaddy, leaving seven Myanmar troops dead and four injured
during an hour-long firefight.

On Tuesday, some 100 Myanmar soldiers launched an assault near the village
of Warly, sparking a four-hour firefight, he said.

Warly serves as a base for the Myanmar army's frontline tactical command
and is located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Myawaddy, which
lies opposite Tak province in Thailand.

The KNU, now Myanmar's largest armed ethnic group after most other
militias have signed ceasefire pacts with the military government, has
been waging a decades-old fight for independence.

DRUGS

Bangkok Post January 11 2003

Chavalit to head new drugs unit
By Sermsuk Kasitipradit Anucha Charoenpho Subin Khuenkaew

A new unit called the National Centre to Defeat Narcotics will be created
under Deputy Prime Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to direct the
national suppression effort.

He will have eight deputies. Four will be ministers from the foreign,
defence, interior, and justice ministries. The others are deputy premier
Jaturon Chaisaeng; Gen Vinai Pattiyakul, the National Security Council
secretary-general; Gen Panlop Pinmani, the Internal Security Operation
Command deputy director; and Gen Surayud Chulanont, the supreme commander.

``The aim is to streamline the government's drug fight especially in the
North where we lack unity,'' said one cabinet member.

The drug fight had reached a critical stage where solidarity was needed.

The structure was similar to the now-defunct National Narcotics Operation
Centre, created under the Chuan Leekpai administration to forge unity
among government agencies.

The NNOC was headed by the interior minister with the interior permanent
secretary as secretary.

The new centre would be led by a deputy premier and the secretary-general
of the Narcotics Control Board would be its secretary.

Gen Chavalit was now studying the new structure drafted by the ONCB.

Armed forces commanders, national police chief and the permanent
secretaries of public health and education would be Gen Chavalit's
assistants.

``Disunity among officials in the provinces has reached a critical stage.
Unless the government does something to rectify the situation our campaign
will end up in chaos,'' said one senior drug official from the North.

Pol Gen Chidchai Wannasathit, ONCB secretary-general, hoped the new centre
would make the government's drug suppression more systematic.

Under the plan, army regional commanders would be responsible for
suppression on their patch while provincial governors would come under
their jurisdiction.

Justice Minister Purachai Piumsombun, the former interior minister,
opposed having regional military commanders in charge.

Gen Chavalit has also been asked to consider creating a special zone in
which Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Tak would come under direct
supervision of the Third Army.

The Interior Ministry opposes that idea, saying it would give too much
authority to the military.

ON THE BORDER
Agence France-Presse January 10 2003
Myanmar women's group denounces harassment of Aung San Suu Kyi

An exiled Myanmar women's group Friday denounced Myanmar's military
government for harassing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a
recent political trip to western Myanmar.

The All Women's Movement Committee of Burma (AWMCB) said the junta had
released pamphlets with caricatures ridiculing the Nobel peace laureate
and blasted crowds with music such as "Give Up Lady" during last month's
tour. "The obstruction, limitation and irritation to her on private visits
to pagodas and monasteries, and during public gatherings, violated her
dignity and her political movements," it said in a statement.

The AWMCB called on the regime to stop its harassment of the opposition
leader and to allow her to conduct her party business freely, as it
promised after releasing her from house arrest last May.

"We believe that the (junta) should review its dire behaviour and respect
the rights of the political leader," said senior member Aye Aye Mar.

The government has been forced to defend itself against strong criticism
from the United States and Britain that it had harassed Aung San Suu Kyi
and her supporters during the trip to Rakhine state.

The most serious incident occurred in the town of Myauk-Oo, where she
climbed aboard a fire engine to prevent it from dispersing a crowd of
20,000 people with high-pressure hoses.

The US State Department has issued a statement in support of the
opposition leader, and called on the Myanmar junta to allow political
parties "to carry their message to the Burmese people in safety".

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming
election victory in 1990 but the junta has never recognised the result.

REGIONAL

Myanmar Information Committee January 8 2003

China to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Burma

Text of Information Sheet No. C -2491 (1) issued by the "Myanmar
Information Committee" in Rangoon on 8 January entitled: "Both leaders
satisfied with the progress in Myanmar-China cooperation and vows to
continue to cooperate and coordinate on regional and international issue"
carried in English by Myanmar Information Committee web site on 8 January

Chinese President Jiang Zemin said in Beijing on Tuesday 7 January that
China is to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Myanmar Burma
to aid its economic development. During his talks with the visiting
Myanmar leader Senior General Than Shwe in the Great Hall of the People on
Tuesday, Mr Jiang Zemin said the two countries should further strengthen
economic cooperation, adding that China will fully support Chinese
investment in Myanmar and also that two countries should continue to
coordinate and cooperate on regional and international issues within the
framework of multilateral mechanisms.

Senior General Than Shwe also said that Myanmar is satisfied with the
progress in Myanmar-China cooperation in agriculture, exploration of human
and natural resources, and construction of infrastructure facilities. He
also said that Myanmar, a member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) was ready to help China strengthen its relations with ASEAN.

Both leaders attended the signing ceremony for three agreements on
economic and technological cooperation, cooperation in public health and
sport after the talks, it is learnt.
_________

Xinhua News Agency January 10 2003

Myanmar head of state visits China's Yunnan province

Than Shwe, Chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council,
arrived here Friday, beginning his visit to this southwestern Yunnan
Province, which shares a 1,997-kilometer border with Myanmar.

Right after his arrival, Than Shwe, who just concluded his visit to
neighboring Sichuan Province, met with Bai Enpei, secretary of the Yunnan
Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Yunnan Governor
Xu Rongkai. Bai said during the meeting that the high-level visits between
the two sides would help Yunnan and Myanmar to find more cooperation
opportunities in the fields of economy, technology, culture and personnel
exchanges.

Than Shwe said his visit to China was successful and he hoped Myanmar and
Yunnan could expand cooperation in replacing illegal drugs plants with
agricultural crops, in the hydro-power sector and the use of natural
resources.

He said Myanmar would improve its roadways to Yunnan Province and he hoped
the two sides could accelerate cooperation in that aspect.

In his six-day visit which started on January 6, he has held talks and
meetings in Beijing with China's top leaders, including President Jiang
Zemin, Vice-President Hu Jintao, and chief legislator Li Peng.
________

Xinhua News Agency January 10 2003

Myanmar to reduce tariffs to 0-5 pct by 2008

Myanmar will reduce its tariffs to 0-5 percent by the year 2008 since the
country is allowed to enter the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) five years
later than the original six countries.

The newspaper The New Light of Myanmar quoted the AFTA Unit of the
Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development as saying Friday
that in 2015, except important goods, Myanmar will impose zero percent
tariff on all the imports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) members, and the important goods will reach zero percent by 2018.
Through entry into the AFTA, Myanmar exports are expected to have better
opportunity to penetrate the markets of the six original ASEAN countries,
namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand, at zero tariff, the report said.

Beginning from 2002, the six original ASEAN countries have already reduced
their tariffs on imports from other ASEAN nations between zero percent and
5 percent. By 2010, the six countries' tariffs on all kinds of goods will
reach zero.

According to official statistics, Myanmar's bilateral trade with ASEAN
member states totaled about 2 billion US dollars annually, accounting for
about 43 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
___________

Irrawaddy January 10 2003

Thailand Hands Over Deserters
By Aung Su Shin

In a sign of continuing rapprochement between Bangkok and Rangoon, Thai
authorities returned three despondent Burmese army deserters to Tatmadaw
(Burmese army) officials earlier today at the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge
in Mae Sot, Thailand as local journalists looked on.
Task Force 23 commander, and chairman of Thailand’s Township Border
Committee, Col Jirasak Chomprasop, handed the soldiers over along with
their arms and ammunition to his Burmese counterpart, Lt Col Tin Aye. The
soldiers were officially returned to Burma after the two signed a series
of documents during a small ceremony held on the bridge at nine this
morning.
Thai officials said today’s hand-over was the result of a Regional Border
Committee meeting held in Moulmein, in Burma’s Mon State, on December
26-28. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident
can be interpreted as a sign of improving relations between Thailand and
Burma.
The three soldiers are Ye Htet, 23, Kyaw Kyaw, 21, and Minn Kyaw, 25. Thai
authorities had held them since May 7 of last year when they were found
hiding in Pak Hwe in Thailand’s Thasaungyang District, 70 km north of Mae
Sot, after fleeing their unit. Local villagers informed Thai authorities
of their location. The three belonged to Light Infantry Battalion 28,
which operates in Burma’s Karen State under the Southeast Army Regional
Command.
A former Burmese army officer said desertion by Tatmadaw troops carries a
ten-year prison sentence. Last year four Burmese soldiers were also
returned under similar circumstances in Myawaddy, Burma opposite Mae Sot.
____________

Bangkok Post January 10 2003

Concern over kin of illegal Burmese
By Saritdet Marukatat

The government has lost track of the number of newborn babies in the
country as illegal foreign labourers do not register births with
authorities, an Interior Ministry official said yesterday at the end of a
conference co-organised by the UN Children's Fund.

Krairat Kaewdee, of the Civil Registration Division, admitted it would be
impossible to estimate the number of children born to residents of
neighbouring countries who had sneaked across the border in search of
work.

``If they come through approved government channels, we can register their
babies,'' he said. ``The problem now is the size of the influx of illegal
immigrants.''

According to figures compiled by the National Statistical Office, there
were about 773,000 births in 2001.

However, there was no record of babies born to the more than 1 million
foreign labourers working illegally in Thailand, most of them Burmese.

Unregistered offspring of illegal Burmese immigrants could experience
difficulties when attempting to enter their parents' home country, as
Rangoon had insisted it would accept only returnees with official
identification documents issued by Thai authorities.

During the conference, the government urged its neighbours to improve
their respective birth registration systems.

Gopalan Balagopal, Unicef senior adviser on child protection, called for
governments that had ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
to respect their commitment toward registering births, and ensuring
children had access to basic rights.