BurmaNet News: January 28 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

January 28 2003 Issue #2165

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: Forced labour in Karen State

DRUGS

Bangkok Post: Peace in Burma will end drug woes: PM
Bangkok Post: Government plays a role in ethnic cleansing

MONEY

Xinhua: Myanmar, Thai air carriers’ code sharing to facilitate passengers
Xinhua: Chinese-contracted cement plant put into service in Myanmar

REGIONAL

Xinhua: Myanmar-India bilateral ties to get closer: media

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: EU looks beyond Myanmar in ASEAN talks
DPA: EU and ASEAN vow closer ties, stop feuding over Myanmar
ICFTU: EU-ASEAN dialogue over Burma “unconvincing” says ICFTU

STATEMENTS

FCO: UK policy on Burma may have to toughen

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma January 25 2003

Forced labour in Karen State
The SPDC forces are rounding up local people in Taungoo District and Karen
State and forcing them to be military porters in their fight against the
rebels. Naw Nandar Chan reports:

NNC: On the 14th of this month, the SPDC troops from IB –60 led by Captain
Myo Thein, forced thirty villagers from three villages in Thandaung
Township, Taungoo District to carry food supplies for the army in the
front. The same troops forced three villagers to be porters for the army
since last month. Similarly, soldiers from LIB-415 under the command of
Battalion 88 and led by Captain Myint Wei forced four women from Kya-In
Seikkyi Township to carry army supplies to the front in last November. At
the moment, the SPDC soldiers are forcing villagers in Kawkareik Township
to be military porters from their fights against the rebels.

DRUGS

Bangkok Post January 28 2003

PEACE IN BURMA WILL END DRUG WOES _ PM

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra believes peace is needed in Burma to
stop drug trafficking, because fighting is forcing ethnic groups to earn
money from illicit drugs to buy weapons.

Mr Thaksin said yesterday he would urge Burmese leaders, during his Feb
9-10 visit to Rangoon, to work for peace. When our neighbours are
peaceful, narcotics problems are small. Apparently little illicit drugs
come from Cambodia and Laos but a lot from Burma. Peace will lead to the
disappearance of drugs.''

Pol Lt-Gen Chalermdet Chompoonuch, the commissioner of the Narcotic
Suppression Bureau, said yesterday that one way to fight illicit drugs was
to arrest all sellers to starve addicts of their supplies.

Police involved in trafficking would also be dealt with, he said. However,
corrupt policemen made up only a small percentage of over 200,000
policemen.

* The Education Ministry had 14.6 million of its students and officials
vow yesterday to stay away from drugs.
_________

Bangkok Post January 28 2003

GOVT PLAYS A ROLE IN ETHNIC CLEANSING'
By Achara Ashayagachat

Government policy to crack down on ethnic minorities along the
Thai-Burmese border had indirectly supported Rangoon's ethnic cleansing''
but would not result in Burma giving drug suppression assistance, a
seminar was told yesterday.

Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs,
said the government's raid on human rights activists, especially of ethnic
minorities along the border, was an indirect collaboration with Rangoon.

Its economic failure had forced the State Peace and Development Council to
depend on drug money from the Wa group. Their collusion to wipe out other
ethnic groups, especially the Shan, was ignored by the United Nations, Mr
Kraisak said. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees had refused help or
sanctuary to those being harassed and deported by Thai authorities, Mr
Kraisak told a seminar on Wa: Problems and Solutions to Thailand's
Security'' at Chulalongkorn University.

The Thaksin Shinawatra government had embarked on controversial mega
projects, for example the Salween Dam, which would become another excuse
for ethnic cleansing as it would destroy the Shan people's land, he said.

Maung Maung, representing the Organisation of Burmese Trade Unions, said
the so-called offices of the ethnic activists recently raided by Thai
authorities were, in fact, information centres. The crackdown had crippled
efforts to obtain new information on human rights abuses including forced
labour and the use of rape as a weapon against ethnic minorities inside
Burma.

He suggested the government pursue a dual track policy _ dealing with
Burma at governmental level, but also having a humanitarian policy towards
ethnic minorities to find a sustainable way of eradicating drugs.

Zin Mei, a Shan representative, said the Shan people had been manipulated
by drug traffickers and suffered raped by armed groups, including Burmese
troops.

Unless the international community intervened in Burmese politics, drugs
and ethnic cleansing would never be eradicated. If Thailand would like to
help ethnic people, why do they give assistance through the Burmese
government and Wa, and not directly to other ethnic people,'' she asked.

MONEY

Xinhua News Agency January 28 2003

Myanmar, Thai air carriers' code sharing to facilitate passengers

Air passengers travelling between Yangon and Bangkok will be facilitated
through the recent signing of a code-sharing agreement between the
national carriers of Myanmar and Thailand, the local weekly Myanmar Times
reported in its latest issue.

Quoting a statement of the Myanmar Airways International (MAI), the report
said the agreement, signed in Bangkok on Jan. 17, will enable passengers
to travel between the two capitals with MAI or Thai Airways International
(THAI) flight, using a ticket issued by either airline. The statement
stressed that the move was made for the convenience and interest of the
passengers and for the promotion of good relations between the two
countries and mutual cooperation between the two carriers.

The agreement was based on a memorandum of understanding on such code
sharing between the two airlines signed in October 2001.

The THAI, which has a 60-percent share of the Yangon-Bangkok route,
operates two flights a day between the two capitals, using 257-seat air
bus 300-600 aircraft, while the MAI uses 124-seat Boeing 737-300 aircraft
on the same route with two flights on Saturdays and Tuesdays, the rest of
the week being one flight a day.

The THAI started its flight services to Myanmar in 1964, while the MAI,
set up in 1993, is a joint venture between the Myanmar Ministry of
Transport and a Singapore-based carrier, the Region Air.

According to the ministry, other foreign airlines that have regular
flights to Yangon from their respective capitals also include Biman, Royal
Brunei Airline, Air China, Malaysian Airline System, Silk Air and Lauda
Air.
________

Xinhua News Agency Januayr 28 2003

Chinese-contracted cement plant put into service in Myanmar

A cement plant in Kyaukse in Myanmar's Mandalay division, built under
contract with the China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd, was commissioned into
service on Monday. The Kyaukse plant, the building of which started on
Sept. 28, 2000, can produce 150,000 tons of Horse Head-brand cement a
year.

There are 11 cement plants in Myanmar. According to official statistics,
the country produced 400,000 tons of cement annually in the last two years
and imported about 28 million US dollars worth of cement every year.

REGIONAL

Xinhua News Agency January 28 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.


INTERNATIONAL

Agence France-Presse January 28 2003

EU looks beyond Myanmar in ASEAN talks
by JITENDRA JOSHI

The European Union Tuesday assailed the military's grip on power in
Myanmar but insisted it no longer wanted the country to hold its lucrative
relations with Southeast Asia "hostage".

In a two-day meeting between foreign ministers from the EU and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the EU gave a blunt
message that Myanmar's junta had to embark on democratic reform through
talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said EU member states found
Myanmar "profoundly troubling", citing the military's failure to
relinquish power, the country's AIDS crisis and its narcotics production.

"At this meeting, we had the most comprehensive and detailed discussion
that we've had yet on Burma/Myanmar," he said. But Patten added: "We've
held the view for some time that our dialogue with ASEAN shouldn't be held
hostage to our concerns about the situation in Burma/Myanmar."

The two-yearly meeting between two of the world's biggest trading blocs
took place on EU territory for the first time with an official from
military-run Myanmar, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win, in
attendance.

The EU temporarily lifted a visa ban against junta leaders to allow him to
attend the Brussels gathering, a move hailed by ASEAN as a breakthrough
that allowed the two sides to re-engage on other pressing issues such as
trade and global terrorism.

ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong told AFP that the EU challenged the
Myanmar minister "in a very assertive way" about human rights and
restrictions placed on Aung San Suu Kyi since her release from house
arrest in May last year.

"I did not see a meeting of minds on this particular issue but what is
positive is that this exchange was conducted in a fairly constructive way.
There was no acrimony," the Singaporean official said.

Britain, Italy and Sweden, speaking for all 15 EU members, spoke
"forcefully" of the need for a return to democracy in Myanmar, an EU
diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

"But this was not a Burma meeting. There was a much broader agenda," he said.

The EU and ASEAN foreign ministers urged North Korea to reverse its
decision to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty to help defuse a
nuclear stand-off with the United States.

They also adopted a joint anti-terrorism declaration pledging closer
police cooperation, in the wake of the bombing last October of a nightclub
on the Indonesian island of Bali which killed at least 190 people, mostly
young Westerners.

The ASEAN chief said the EU ministers had conveyed a positive message on
trade.

"What came across is the idea that we should look at Southeast Asia as one
single market of 500 million-plus people, and the EU side explained, hey,
we have done this single market thing for a long time and maybe we have
some experiences that we can share," Ong said.

After losing out in recent years to the cheaper labour markets of China,
ASEAN in November signed a deal with the communist giant to create the
world's biggest free-trade area (FTA) by 2015, embracing 1.7 billion
people. Similar talks have been launched with Japan.

Ong said an FTA with the EU remained a long-term goal, but for now he
agreed with Patten that both regions would work through the World Trade
Organisation to secure a new global trading regime.

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

"But we are concerned that we should be able to encourage more European
investment in ASEAN and I think that the more that it's possible for ASEAN
to promote economic integration, the more likely it is that we'll see
success in attracting investors," Patten said.
_________

Deutsche Presse-Agentur January 28 2003

ROUNDUP: E.U. and ASEAN vow closer ties, stop feuding over Myanmar

Turning over a new page in an often-troubled relationship, European Union
and Southeast Asian foreign ministers vowed Tuesday to revitalise their
trade and political links and promised to stop feuding over Myanmar.

"We will continue to develop our strategic partnership...in a more dynamic
path," Foreign Minister of Laos Somsavat Lengsavad told reporters.

The 15 nation E.U. and ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) were determined to give a "new thrust to their relations,"
agreed Greek Foreign Minister and current E.U. president George
Papandreou.

A joint statement released after the two day talks insisted that both
sides would "inject new momentum" into their region-to-region ties. E.U.
and ASEAN ministers acknowledged continuing policy differences over how to
deal with the military regime in Myanmar, with European governments saying
there would be no change in their policy of sanctions against the country
and ASEAN states still committed to engagement with the junta.

But in a break with past practice, E.U. governments waived their visa ban
on senior Myanmar officials, allowing Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung
Win to attend the Brussels' talks.

Myanmar's slow progress towards democracy continued to be "deeply
troubling" for the E.U., European External Relations Commissioner Chris
Patten told reporters.

But the E.U. was determined not to let policy differences with ASEAN over
Yangon sour its drive to build closer ties with the region, Patten said.

"We hold the view that our ASEAN dialogue should not be held hostage by
our concerns over Myanmar/Burma," he underlined.

"We want to see progress in national reconciliation in Myanmar" and
speedier efforts at democratisation, the E.U. foreign affairs chief
insisted, adding also that the E.U. was worried by rising poverty and the
prevalence of AIDS in the country.

Welcoming the change in E.U. approach, Singapore's Foreign Minister S.
Jayakumar insisted it was time both sides moved beyond discussions on the
"single issue" of Myanmar.

"The problem is behind us ... We have moved on," Jayakumar said.

A joint E.U.-ASEAN statement said the two groups "recognised that the
process of national reconciliation in Myanmar was fragile and required a
shared commitment by all to ... national unity, a restoration of democracy
and protection of human rights."

Ministers pledged to inject "new momentum into E.U.-ASEAN relations
through closer trade and investment links, cooperation to combat terrorism
and transnational crime, cultural cooperation and a dialogue on democracy
and human rights.

Drawing the two regions together are a range of events, including
Southeast Asia's re-emergence as a buoyant and dynamic economic zone after
the 1997 financial crisis and the E.U.'s 2004 expansion into central and
eastern Europe.

ASEAN officials say they are impressed by the euro, the single European
currency and the E.U.'s ambitions to become a player on defence and
security issues.

Meanwhile, joint concerns over terrorism, following the Sept. 11 attacks
on the United States have also triggered a new E.U.-ASEAN rapprochement.

Southeast Asia is also moving rapidly to clinch economic cooperation deals
with a range of nations, including the U.S., Japan, China and Australia.

Patten is spearheading an E.U. rethink of Southeast Asia, with a new
strategy document expected to be released this Spring.

But the bloc remains unenthusiastic about ASEAN calls for a free trade
pact with the E.U.

Forging a region-to-region free trade area remained a long-term goal but
the E.U.'s immediate priority was to complete World Trade Organisation
talks on further trade liberalisation, Patten said.

"The consensus is that the WTO round must proceed and finish," agreed
ASEAN Secretary General Keng Yong Ong.

"But an ASEAN-E.U. free trade area is an ideal," he added.

Earlier E.U. and ASEAN ministers siged a first-ever anti-terrorism statement.

"The trans-boundary character of terrorism calls for an international
response," the declaration said.

The two groups promised to strengthen links between their law enforcement
agencies and said they would exchange information on "the development of
more effective policies and legal, regulatory and administrative
frameworks for the fight against terrorism."

ASEAN members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
___________

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions Online January 28 2003

EU-ASEAN dialogue over Burma "unconvincing", says ICFTU

The ICFTU today said that the two-day EU-ASEAN Ministerial, which
concluded in Brussels this morning, had achieved little to help advancing
the restoration of democracy, the rule of law and a halt to forced labour
in Burma. While the concluding statement from the meeting paid tribute to
the United Nations' efforts on Burma and the work of the Red Cross (ICRC),
the ICFTU regretted the conspicuous absence of reference to the work of
the International Labour Organisation. Recalling that the ILO's work on
Burma's trade union and human rights' record, in particular forced labour,
was the longest lasting and most thorough of any UN organ or agency, the
ICFTU hoped that the omission of the ILO from the list does not herald a
loss of EU interest in the issue of forced labour, a central problem that
must be solved as a key priority for any political agreement on Burma.  In
recent days, the ICFTU and the European Trade Union Confederation had
called upon the EU to raise both the issue of forced labour in Burma, as
well as recent repressive measures against Burmese democracy groups active
in Thailand, near the Burmese border. Neither issue has been properly
addressed in the meeting's concluding statement.

The ICFTU was especially concerned that Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister
Khin Maung Win, who took part in the meeting despite a long-standing EU
visa ban on members of the Burmese military junta, may have used the
Ministerial Meeting to falsely denounce Burmese pro-democracy proponents
as terrorists. EU-ASEAN co-operation in combating terrorism featured high
on the Meeting's agenda, and the ICFTU said it feared that legitimate
concerns in this area might also be misused to stifle genuine and equally
legitimate trade unions and other human rights groups, not only in Burma
but also in other ASEAN countries.
While the EU-ASEAN meeting was holding its last session this morning,  the
ICFTU joined a group of human rights and Burma democracy activists who
travelled to Brussels from several European countries to emonstrate in
front of the EU Council of Ministers building against the presence of the
Burmese Minister in Belgium, in violation of the EU ban.
For information: Excerpt on Burma (Myanmar) from the "Joint Co- Chairmen's
Statement" of the 14th EU-ASEAN Ministerial (Brussels, 27-28 January 2003)
Paragraph 18. Ministers had a frank discussion of the situation in
Myanmar.  They reiterated their appreciation of and support for UNSG
Special Representative Razali's efforts.  They noted the co-operation
extended to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights on his visits to
Myanmar, and co-operation with the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) in the country.  They recognized that the process of national
reconciliation was fragile and required a shared commitment by all to an
intensified dialogue aimed at national unity, a restoration of democracy
and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.  Ministers noted
the readiness of several states and the European Commission to assist
efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Myanmar.

STATEMENTS

Foreign Commonwealth Office, UK January 28 2003

UK policy on Burma may have to toughen

Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien today telephoned Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader.  This was their third regular
telephone conversation since November 2002.  This latest conversation was
however much shorter than previous ones due to constant interference and
the cutting out of the telephone line.  It is not clear what caused these
problems to the line.
         Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told Mr O'Brien that the National League for
Democracy wanted to work with the people and the authorities for
the sake of the country. Urgent progress was needed. The NLD did
not want confrontation. But continued harassment on the part of
the authorities would only invite confrontation.
         Mr O'Brien told Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that the UK was very
concerned about the increasing restrictions being placed on her
freedom to travel and operate freely and that the disruptions of
her recent meetings in Rakhine State were "symptomatic of the
attitude of the Burmese regime".
        Before the telephone link broke down, Mr O'Brien said that if  the
limited political progress achieved to date in Burma was further 
eroded, the UK would be forced to consider whether a tightening of
policy toward the regime was now required.

[Editor’s Note: 1.  There have been recent reports of deliberate
interference with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's telephone line.
2.  The EU Common Position on Burma contains an arms embargo, a ban on
high-level visits, a ban on defence links, a ban on the sale of items that
could be used for torture or repression, and a visa ban and asset
freeze on senior regime and military members. In addition the EC suspended
Burma's Generalised System of Preferences trading privileges in response
to the use of forced labour in Burma. The UK also does not encourage
trade, investment or tourism with Burma.]