BurmaNet News: January 25-27 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

January 25-27 2003 Issue # 2164

INSIDE BURMA

BBC: Burma invites Amnesty to visit
DVB: Amnesty International (AI) to go to Burma
Narinjara: Inflation hits Burma
Irrawaddy: Fears for missing political prisoners

DRUGS

Nation: UN, govt turning ‘blind eye’ to Wa

MONEY

WMA: Economic isolation hits hard as Myamar’s inflation rises

REGIONAL

Irrawaddy: Burmese Media Network formed for South Asia
Xinhua: Myanmar-India bilateral ties to get closer: media
Xinhua: Thai PM to visit Myanmar next month

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: EU ASEAN look to turn page on Myanmar-poisoned links
SCMP: EU relaxes visa ban on Myanmar’s leaders
WMA: UN officials praise AIDS campaign in Myanmar

INSIDE BURMA

British Broadcasting Corporation January 24 2003

Burma invites Amnesty to visit
By Larry Jagan

Human rights group Amnesty International has been invited to Burma to see
current developments, according to Burmese government officials.
Two Amnesty investigators will spend 10 days in Burma, meeting government
officials and representatives of other relevant organisations.
They are also expected to meet the leader of the opposition, Aung San Suu
Kyi, and representatives of many of the country's ethnic groups.

This is the first time the UK-based human rights organisation has been
allowed into the country.
Amnesty is wary of making public any of the details of the trip for fear
it might jeopardise the success of the mission.
For the Burmese military government, it is a major publicity coup.

Amnesty International has been one of the staunchest critics of the
military regime's human rights abuses ever since the army seized power
more than 14 years ago.

The Generals are hoping that by inviting Amnesty, they can convince the
international community that they are serious about improving their human
rights record and introducing democratic reform.

Short visit

But it will take more than a single mission to do that.

Nevertheless, Rangoon's invitation to Amnesty is a significant gesture on
the part of Burma's military rulers.

Over the past few years bodies like the International Red Cross, the
International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Human Rights
Commission have all engaged the regime on issues related to human rights.

As a result some progress has indeed been made.

But the Amnesty team cannot expect to achieve much on such a short visit,
other than familiarise themselves with the situation first-hand and
introduce themselves to key members of the government.

Many democracy activists outside the country fear that Amnesty is being
used to help deflect criticism of Burma's lack of progress on human rights
at the annual UN hearings on human rights that begin in Geneva in a few
months time.
________

Democratic Voice of Burma January 25 2003

Amnesty International (AI) to go to Burma

It is reported that two representatives of the London-based Amnesty
International (AI) are to visit Rangoon soon. They were invited by the
government and expected to meet the SPDC’s Secretary No. 1, General Khin
Nyunt and other top military leaders, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other
opposition and ethnic national leaders. The AI officer in London confirmed
the news but request not to mention the name.
The trip of the two delegates is expected to end on the second week of
February and they will hold news conference in Bangkok. Although the AI is
refusing to give details, political observers are very interested in their
trip.
During the 14 years of military rule, it is extraordinary for the
government to invite a human rights group to Burma and the Thai-Burma
border based opposition groups are saying that the military government
might have some serious intentions.
Some observers believe that even though the SPDC doesn’t like the
international communities, it is adopting the policy of co-operation. The
policy changes of the SPDC could be seen in the granting of visa to the UN
Special Delegate, Mr Pinheiro, the allowance of the ICRC to operate within
Burma and the allowance of the ILO to open an office in Rangoon. Ko Bo Kyi
of AAPP gave his reaction as follows:
Ko Bo Kyi : The reason for the invitation is to try to counter the
international communities’ accusation of the deteriorating human rights
abuses and to relieve the pressures on them. The ten day trip won’t be
sufficient to find out the real extent of the abuses. The trip won’t
improve the conditions of the political prisoners either. The reason is
even the big organisation like the ICRC which is based in Burma is not
able improve the conditions of prisoners.
___________

Narinjara News January 27 2003

INFLATION HITS BURMA

Condemned by western government for its poor human rights record, sunned
by foreign investors and international financial institutions,
military-ruled Burma and its impoverished people are suffering from
spiralling inflation, according to today’s the daily star.
Rice, the all important staple, has nearly doubled in price in a year,
palm oil has risen 25 per cent since late 2002, and the price of public
bus tickets has doubled as well while the devastated currency, the kyat,
plummets to new lows and civil servant salaries remain stagnant.
Determined to go it alone, the junta known as the State Peace and
Development Council ( SPDC) has concocted various schemes, including a
crackdown on “ greedy” traders, aimed at solving a volatile economic
crisis.
But analysts, experts and the everyman in the bustling but ramshackle
capital Rangoon say the official action, highlighted by the government’s
doubling of the vehicle fuel quota earlier this month, will do little to
ease the plight.
“Many factors besides international censure have contributed to the poor
economic showing of the past 15 years under military rule,” one local
expert told a news agency in Burma.
“Mismanagement in general” was the key factor, he posed. “Hastily thought
out and hoc measures which usually come up short of expectations are a
prime example of this mismanagement.”
Burma, known as Myanmar, has suffered under decades of failed socialist
policies and government control of the economy, but international
sanctions also struck the nation hard following the bloody repression of
1988 pro-democracy protests and 1990 elections the junta refused to
recognise.
“It’s very difficult to make ends meet especially if you have a family,”
said Daw Ma Ma, a primary school teacher in Rangoon who survives in large
part by discreetly offering private tutoring lessons.
Her state monthly wage is pegged at around 5,000 kyats, less than five US
dollars at the prevailing open-market rate of 1,100 kyats to the
greenback.


__________

Irrawaddy January 27 2003

Fears For Missing Political Prisoners
By Naw Seng

A Burmese rights advocacy group has urged Burma’s military junta and the
international community to investigate the disappearance of political
prisoners from prisons along the border.
The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
issued a press statement today demanding an independent inquiry into 15
missing political prisoners. At least seven, or possibly all 15 prisoners
are feared to have been killed while being transferred from one facility
to another.
"I think the case of disappearing prisoners in Burma is routine practice,
especially in border areas," said Tate Naing, secretary of AAPP. "We now
have nearly a hundred yet-to-be confirmed cases of political prisoners who
have disappeared."
Seven prisoners, who were members of Thailand-based Mergui-Tavoy United
Front (MDUF), were taken from Mergui prison in Tenasserim Division while
in poor health in March last year. The prisoners were taken to an
undisclosed location and their whereabouts remains unknown, but AAPP has
unconfirmed reports that suggest the seven were executed on Done Island,
off Burma’s southern coast.
Another two prisoners, arrested in early 2002 from the Thayetchaung branch
of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in Tenasserim
Division were also missing.
Some of the missing prisoners had been arrested on Thai soil and
disappeared while being deported to Burma. Four missing prisoners
disappeared from a prison on Lam Pake Island, also in Tenasserim Division.
Three of the four prisoners were members of an opposition group, and were
previously held at a prison in Kawthaung. They were arrested by Thai
police while traveling by boat to Ranong, on the border opposite
Kawthaung.
The fate of another two missing prisoners from Mergui, who were farmers
charged for having contact with opposition groups, also remains unknown.
AAPP’s statement strongly called on the Thai government to cease the
deportation of Burmese prisoners. "We’d like to ask the Thai government
not to deport Burmese prisoners and carefully handle cases involving
fugitive political prisoners, including Burmese opposition members," Tate
Naing told The Irrawaddy.
Last year, four political prisoners died during detention, including two
ethnic leaders. According to AAPP, more than 70 political prisoners have
died in prison since 1988, and nearly 1500 political prisoners remain
behind bars inside Burma.

DRUGS

Nation January 27 2003

UN, govt turning 'blind eye' to Wa

Senator Kraisak lashes out over 'conspiracy' to appease Rangoon

A leading senator yesterday accused the United Nations drug agency and
the government of turning a blind eye to the illicit activities of the
pro-Rangoon Wa army along the Thai border in an attempt to please the
military government of Burma.

Senator Kraisak Chonhavan blasted the government for not holding Burma
accountable for the narcotics activities of the 20,000-strong United Wa
State Army (UWSA), and instead rewarding them with a Bt25 million
community development scheme that had resulted in the forced relocation
of local villages.

"The UN has never talked about methamphetamines. I believe there is a
conspiracy among various parties to protect this drug programme in the
name of national reconciliation efforts with Burma," Kraisak said.

"These UN activities have actually contributed to the expulsion of Shan
people from their homelands," said Kraisak, who described the ruling
State Peace and Development Council's treatment of the minority group as
"ethnic cleansing".

Representatives from the Wa National Organisation (WNO) and the Lahu
National Development Organisation, echoed Kraisak, saying Thailand's
involvement with the UWSA amounted to the legitimisation of the world's
largest armed drug army.

They said the Wa army had evicted local villagers from an area where the
Thai government is planning to sponsor a village modelled on the Mae Fah
Luang Royal Project.

The village is Yawngkha, which is adjacent to Chiang Rai's Mae Fah Luang
district.

Speaking at a seminar, "Wa: Problems and Solutions for Thai Security",
Senator Kraisak said the UN drug agency continued to treat the Burmese
ruling junta with kid gloves, conveniently ignoring the plight of ethnic
people living in the area and reports that the group was continuing to
flood Thailand with methamphetamines.

Thai security and military agencies, including foreign governments, have
accused the UWSA of pumping hundreds of millions of methamphetamine
pills and premium grade-four heroin into Thailand and the rest of the
world.

A number of UWSA members have been indicted by the US Federal Court for
heroin trafficking, while many others are blacklisted.

The WNO's Ai Htun urged the government to grant protection to Wa
refugees and permit them to set up temporary camps on the border so they
could receive humanitarian assistance.

He said the Yawngkha Project in the UWSA-controlled area does not have
the support of the indigenous community.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has vowed to get tough on drugs, and
stated publicly that he would seek Chinese help in addressing the UWSA
issue with the Burmese.

However, the UWSA continues to carry out the forced relocation of
villagers from areas along the Burma-China border, where they are
headquartered in Panghsang, to areas adjacent to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai
and Mae Hong Son.

In a recent interview with The Nation in Panghsang, UWSA chairman Bao
Yu-chang said the forced relocation was part of the group's plan to end
opium cultivation in the north. He denied any involvement with illicit
narcotics activities.

He claimed the only income the UWSA derived from opium was a tax on the
growers, which amounted to only 2 per cent of the group's total income.

Bao said the number of villagers that would be relocated to the Thai
border would reach 100,000 this year, adding that the UWSA would not
stop there.

MONEY

World Markets Anaysis January 27 2003

Economic Isolation Hits Hard as Myanmar's Inflation Rises
Dr Tobias Nischalke

The economic situation continues to deteriorate due to Western sanctions
and decades of self-imposed economic isolation. Inflation is spiralling
out of control while the local currency, the kyat, last year plunged to
new depths (see Myanmar: 19 August 2002: Currency Plunge Hits Military
Regime). A reliable inflation figure is not available but the anecdotal
evidence is unambiguous. Most significantly, the price of rice, the main
staple for households in Myanmar, has risen by over 70% over the past 12
months and the cost of public transport has doubled. At the same time,
salaries have been stagnant as the government has opted to spend large
amounts of the budget on the military. Myanmar, under military rule since
1962, has for several decades pursued a quasi-socialist model of economic
self-isolation. Since the mid-1990s, the regime has tried to promote
foreign investment but has done so to little effect against the background
of Western sanctions against the military, imposed over consistent severe
human rights abuses. Gross mismanagement has ruined what was once one of
the richest countries in Asia, while phenomena such as pervasive
corruption can but spread further in an environment where public servants
are unable to make ends meet and the military retains control over most
sectors of the economy. However, there is at present little prospect for
swift changes, as the military has shown no sign of relinquishing power
(see Myanmar: 20 December 2002: The Waiting Game Continues).

REGIONAL

Irrawaddy January 27 2003

Burmese Media Network Formed for South Asia
By Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burmese media groups in India and Bangladesh have formed a network to
launch news on Burma to mainstream media outlets in South Asia.
The Mizzima, Narinjara, Kaladan and Khawanutum news agencies formed a news
network, to be known as Burma News International (BNI) in a bid to fill
the void of quality news on Burma in the media of South Asia. Until now
the four news agencies, have been separately providing news on
Burma-related issues, particularly political issues from the India-Burma
and Bangladesh-Burma borders using the Internet and e-mail.
"The main purpose in forming the BNI is to launch news about Burma in the
international and South Asia media, especially news agencies in India and
Bangladesh," Mizzima editor, Soe Myint told The Irrawaddy today from
Calcutta. "Because, newspapers in India and Bangladesh hardly ever cover
news from Burma, especially when compared to coverage of Burma issues in
the media in Thailand."
Soe Myint will be the editor of the BNI for the first six months. The BNI
will select news as released by Mizzima, Narinjara, Kaladan and
Khawanutum, and then edit and distribute stories to media in India and
Bangladesh using the name of the BNI, Soe Myint said.
Soe Myint also said that the BNI would take a particular interest in
Burma-related issues like drugs, the environment, refugees, tourism and
other issues which would interest people in India and Bangladesh.
He added that the BNI would also work to support and provide a voice for
Burmese journalists, especially those based in India and Bangladesh. Most
of the Burmese journalists working in South Asia have emerged from
dissident groups that left Burma to avoid political persecution after the
military regime seized power in 1988.
Soe Myint was charged earlier this month by a West Bengal court for
hijacking a plane in 1990. In order to draw global attention to Burma’s
democratic struggle, Soe Myint hijacked a Rangoon-bound Thai Airways
flight from Bangkok and forced it to land in Calcutta using a bar of soap
as a concealed weapon.
The network comes just days after Burma’s Foreign Minister Win Aung
finished his visit to India and as ties between Burma and India are
growing in importance.
__________

Xinhua News Agency January 27 2003

Myanmar-India bilateral ties to get closer: media

 Bilateral ties between Myanmar and India will get closer diplomatically
and economically with bolstered prospects for increased bilateral trade
through a recent visit to India of Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung,
said the local weekly journal Myanmar Times on Monday.

U Win Aung paid a five-day visit to India from Jan. 15 to Jan. 24 at the
invitation of his Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha. The visit was the
first by a Myanmar foreign minister since 1987. "A joint commitment
emerged to strengthen and intensify bilateral relations," Indian
Ambassador to Myanmar Rajiv Bhatia commented on the visit.

According to the ambassador, U Win Aung's India trip produced a protocol
on bilateral consultations, a provision of 25 million US dollars' line of
credit to Myanmar and a framework for increased private sector
cooperation. The protocol is seen as an establishment of the first
mechanism for discussions between the two foreign ministries.

During his India visit, U Win Aung also met with Indian Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Finance
Minister Jaswant Singh, and Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Shourie.

Talks between the two sides also covered cooperation in road projects in
India-Myanmar border and in those relating to hydroelectric power, oil and
gas exploration and information technology.

Describing India as an important and understanding neighbor, U Win Aung
reiterated Myanmar's stance not to allow Myanmar-based Indian insurgents
to fight the Indian government.

During the visit, the Myanmar minister called for increased Indian
investment in his country, which he said so far stood only 5 million
dollars.

He outlined investment opportunities in Myanmar in some fields such as
information technology, agriculture, infrastructure and energy.

According to Indian official figures, India-Myanmar bilateral trade has
risen to 435 million dollars from 87.4 million a decade ago. India is
Myanmar's largest export market with nearly a quarter of Myanmar's exports
being to India.

Since India adopted a "Look East" policy in the early 1990s, its bilateral
relations with Myanmar have become closer.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is covered by India's special aid to the
least-developed member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), offered by India at its first summit with ASEAN in
November last year.
________

Xinhua News Agency January 27 2003

Thai PM to visit Myanmar next month

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will pay a visit to Myanmar from
Feb. 9 to 10, an official from the Thai Government Office said Monday.

The official did not provide details, only saying the tourism and
anti-drug cooperation is likely to be the agendas of the talks between two
leaders of the neighboring countries. Meanwhile, local media reported that
Thaksin said he would urge the Myanmar government during his trip to speed
up reconciliation with ethnic rebel groups, which operate in Thai-Myanmar
border area, describing the reconciliation as crucial for drugs
eradication.

Thai Army has accused United Wa State Army, an ethnic Wa group which
signed a cease-fire agreement with the Myanmar government, of producing
and trafficking drugs.

The Thai government has announced a major campaign beginning Feb. 1 to
eradicate the growing drugs problem.

INTERNATIONAL

Agence France-Presse January 27 2003

EU, ASEAN look to turn page on Myanmar-poisoned links
By JITENDRA JOSHI

The European Union and Southeast Asia were set Monday to try to put years
of acrimony over Myanmar behind them in foreign ministers' talks focused
on trade and terrorism.

The two-yearly meeting between two of the world's biggest trading blocs
was to take place on EU territory for the first time with an official from
military-run Myanmar in attendance.

The EU has temporarily lifted a visa ban against junta leaders to allow
Myanmar's deputy foreign minister, Khin Maung Win, to attend the Brussels
gathering with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which
was to start at 1500 GMT.

His presence is allowed under an exception to the visa ban that permits
Myanmar junta leaders to attend meetings in the European Union that
discuss human rights and democracy, officials said. The last time the
15-nation EU was to welcome ASEAN foreign ministers was in 1998, a year
after Myanmar joined the 10-member southeast Asian club. Byt Europe
refused to invite anyone from the military regime and the meeting was
eventually switched to Laos.

Hailing Khin's attendance as a "big breakthrough", ASEAN is hoping that
the two-day Brussels meeting will help it switch the focus in its EU
relationship back to commerce. The region has in recent years lost its
allure in the eyes of European investors to China.

"For years Myanmar has been a thorn in the side of a dialogue, but it's
really just one country out of 25," a senior ASEAN diplomat told AFP on
condition of anonymity.

"Why let one country dominate the entire dialogue? There are other areas
we should be focusing on -- transnational crime, terrorism, trade."

The EU remains unhappy about the Myanmar military's refusal to relinquish
power in the former British colony, and the slow pace of dialogue between
the junta and opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

"There is a great deal of EU concern about the reform process there, which
appears to be stalling," said a British diplomat.

"We would like to find a way to reinvigorate that, and get Burma to make a
credible commitment to constitutional rule," he said.

But the EU does not want Myanmar to distract from more pressing concerns
with ASEAN, another EU official added, "because we are keen to
reinvigorate that relationship".

The European Commission -- the EU's executive arm -- is formulating a new
strategy towards southeast Asia due for release in the spring, to update a
relationship that is based on a bilateral accord signed in 1980.

Since then, both the EU and ASEAN have been transformed through the
addition of new members and the development of a broader remit beyond
their traditional economic concerns.

In 2001, the EU was ASEAN's second-largest export market and third-largest
trading partner after the United States and Japan.

ASEAN exports to the EU were estimated at 65.7 billion euros (70 billion
dollars), while the region's imports from the EU were valued at 42.2
billion euros, according to European Commission figures.

Those figures would have been higher but for a shift in European
companies' interest to other parts of Asia, principally to China,
according to ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong.

"I think a dialogue between the ministers of the EU and ASEAN will foster
a more positive climate to encourage more people to look at ASEAN," he
said.

The "more positive climate" should extend to Myanmar, Ong said, calling
for "an adult exchange of views".

Both sides will find themselves on safer ground in pledging anew to combat
terrorism in the wake of the devastating bombing of a nightclub on the
Indonesian island of Bali and a spate of attacks in the Philippines.
_________

South China Morning Post January 27 2003

EU relaxes visa ban on Myanmar's leaders

The European Union aims to forge new ground in its lucrative relations
with Southeast Asia this week by seeking to put acrimony over military-run
Myanmar in the shade.

The EU is temporarily lifting a visa ban against junta leaders to allow
Myanmarese Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win to attend a Brussels
gathering of EU and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign
ministers.

Hailing his attendance as a "big breakthrough", Asean is hoping that the
meeting today and tomorrow will turn a page on the bitter recriminations
that have dogged past talks with the EU because of the Myanmar issue. The
EU had previously refused to hold high-level talks in Europe with Asean
following military-run Myanmar's admittance to the Southeast Asian club in
1997.

The 15-nation EU, while unhappy about the military's refusal to relinquish
power in the former British colony, shares the desire to look ahead and
reinforce trade relations as well as a joint battle against terrorism.

The 10-member Asean, for its part, is keen to see European investment
return to its shores after being diverted to China in recent years.

"We remain as concerned as ever about the situation in Burma. There is no
improvement," said an EU official.

"Our concerns about human rights and the need for a rapid return to
democracy mean that many years ago, we imposed sanctions on Myanmar and we
see no justification for reversing that," she said on condition of
anonymity.

But the EU does not want Myanmar to distract from more pressing concerns,
the official added, "because we are keen to reinvigorate that
relationship".

The European Commission - the EU's executive arm - is formulating a new
strategy towards Southeast Asia due for release in the spring, to update a
relationship that is based on a bilateral accord signed in 1980.

"There are a lot of things we could be doing together. We are not fully
exploiting the potential of the relationship," the official said.

In 2001, the EU was Asean's second-largest export market and third-largest
trading partner after the United States and Japan.

Asean exports to the EU were estimated at 65.7 billion euros (HK$ 546
billion), while the region's imports from the EU were valued at 42.2
billion euros, according to European Commission figures.

Those figures would have been higher but for a shift in European
companies' interest to other parts of Asia, principally to China,
according to Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yong.

"I think a dialogue between the ministers of the EU and Asean will foster
a more positive climate to encourage more people to look at Asean," he
said.

The "more positive climate" should extend to Myanmar, the
secretary-general said.

"Many of these impressions of something happening in Myanmar are based on
certain information, so now you have the Myanmar minister there and
European ministers there, let's have an adult exchange of views," he said.
_________

World Markets Analysis January 27 2003

UN Officials Praise AIDS Campaign in Myanmar

By Gareth Leather

According to media reports from Myanmar, a senior official from the United
Nations has praised Myanmar's progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
According to the report in the Myanmar Times, Kathleen Cravero, deputy
executive director of the UNAIDS agency, who visited the country this
month, said that there had been a dramatic change in the campaign since
her previous visit to Myanmar 15 months ago. Speaking to the paper, she
said that she was impressed by the commitment shown by officials, but
stated that the country also needed a broader international approach, so
that every citizen in Myanmar understands exactly what the HIV/AIDS virus
is, and also has the resources and the information to prevent infection.
UNAIDS currently estimates that out of a population of 48 million, 400,000
are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus, although some independent experts
have said that the real number could be twice that high.