BurmaNet News, Nov 12, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Nov 12, 2003 Issue # 2367

INSIDE BURMA
FT: Burma accepts Thai currency loans to buy goods
BBC Monitor: Burma summit issues declaration on cooperation to spur growth
AFP: Myanmar hosts four-nation economic summit in ancient city
BBC Monitor: Burmese leader receives Cambodian, Lao, Thai prime ministers
Xinhua: Yunnan-Myanmar trade, investment fair opens in Yangon

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara: Arakan rice trade restricted by the military junta

DRUGS
Xinhua: Myanmar, Thai officials meet on drug control cooperation

MONEY
AFP: Thailand to set up credit line for neighbouring nations

REGIONAL
AFP: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos unveil new economic roadmap

INTERNATIONAL
Nation: Annan takes junta to task
Irrawaddy: Annan Criticizes Road Map
Northcote Leader: Unity the key to freedom

OPNION / OTHER
Nation: 'Shattered Dreams' to educate migrants


INSIDE BURMA
____________________________________________
Nov 12, BBC Monitor
Burma accepts Thai currency loans to buy goods

Military-run Burma, desperately trying to cope with sanctions imposed by
Western governments because of its poor human rights record, yesterday
gave in-principle agreement to accept Thai currency loans.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said his Burmese counterpart, Gen Khin
Nyunt, agreed, in principle, to accept the loans to buy Thai goods,
although no timeframe or figure for the loans has yet been specified.

The two leaders held talks ahead of a four-nation summit that includes
Cambodia and Laos.

Sources said Rangoon had earlier expressed a preference for financial aid,
citing huge debts accumulated after years of economic sanctions and
international boycotts.

The proposed loans are part of the Thai government's Economic Cooperation
Strategy (ECS), a scheme aimed at bridging the development gap between
Thailand and its immediate neighbours, including Laos and Cambodia.

Thaksin said the combined GDP of the three countries did not add up to 10
per cent of Thailand's GDP.

Laos and Cambodia, he said, would also be offered baht loans, saying the
level of credit would depend upon the needs of each economy. Thaksin, who
has dismissed Western sanctions on Burma as doomed to failure, will leave
for Pagan today for the four-nation meeting.

Japan, the European Union and the United States have tightened sanctions
since the junta placed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under
detention, following a violent clash between her supporters and a
pro-junta group on 30 May.

Thaksin said Suu Kyi was not mentioned in his discussions with Khin Nyunt.
Thaksin believes helping to raise living standards in Burma will reduce
the problem of illegal workers entering Thailand. (passage omitted)

Source: The Nation web site, Bangkok, in English 12 Nov 03
________________________________
Nov 12, BBC Monitor
Burma summit issues declaration on cooperation to spur growth – Kyodo

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo

Pagan, Myanmar Burma , 12 November: Leaders from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Thailand agreed at a summit Wednesday 12 November to work in
partnership to alleviate poverty and spur economic growth.

A declaration issued after the one-day summit in Myanmar's ancient city of
Pagan outlined five areas of cooperation - trade and investment
facilitation, agriculture and industrial cooperation, transport linkages,
tourism and human resources development.

A 10-year action plan has also been drawn up with a compilation of some 40
common projects to be jointly conducted by the four countries and 200
other bilateral projects.

The summit arose from Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's initiation
last April of the Economic Cooperation Strategy (ECS), in which Thailand
would work to narrow disparities between it and its immediate neighbours.

Presently, Thailand accounts for 91 per cent of the combined gross
domestic product of the four countries, Thai officials said.

Thaksin said job creation programmes should be introduced in the
neighbouring countries, especially in areas along their borders with
Thailand, as he intends to persuade illegal immigrants to return home.

Energy cooperation was highlighted at the Pagan summit, where the
governments agreed to promote joint development of petroleum resources in
the overlapping areas and establish partnerships to develop hydropower in
order to ensure sustainable energy supplies.

They also agreed to develop sub-regional power transmission networks,
according to the action plan.

Witnessed by the four leaders, energy ministers from Thailand and Myanmar
signed an agreement on joint exploration of two offshore blocks of natural
gas reserves in Myanmar's Gulf of Martaban, while another agreement was
concluded between Thailand and Cambodia to develop a hydropower project.

Thailand initiated "contract farming" schemes covering seven prioritized
agricultural products - soybeans, eucalyptus, cashew nuts, peanuts, castor
beans, maize, sweet corn, and potatoes - under which it will buy all those
crops at zero tariff.

The Thai side called for the setting up of export processing zones in
Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, preferably near their borders with Thailand,
as the three countries are categorized as least developed countries
enjoying preferential treatment under multilateral rules.

Cambodia chose its western Ko Kong Province as a special economic zone
where it would jointly develop an industrial estate with Industrial Estate
Authorities of Thailand, while Myanmar agreed to set up special economic
zones at two towns on its border with Thailand, Thai officials said.

The four governments agreed to upgrade checkpoints at key towns to
facilitate trade and ease travel within the region.

Thailand and Cambodia will undertake a pilot scheme to allow border pass
holders to travel beyond border towns, according to Thai Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai. Originally, residents living in border towns could
cross to the other side only within the vicinity of the border towns and
on a one-day basis.

Thailand urged its neighbours to liberalize aviation services for both
cargo and passengers. Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sihasak
Phuangketkeow said Myanmar expressed a desire to increase commercial
flights between Bangkok and Yangon.

Thaksin also proposed that the four countries offer joint visas for
tourists like European countries do. But only Cambodian Prime Minister Hun
Sen expressed support for the idea, according to officials.

Donor countries interested in engaging in the economic cooperation scheme
among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand might be invited to join
future ECS ministerial meetings, according to Surakiart, who added that
Japan has indicated an interest in helping in partnership with Thailand.
_________________________________

Nov 12, AFP
Myanmar hosts four-nation economic summit in ancient city

The leaders of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos opened a summit in
this ancient former capital Wednesday to devise a new economic strategy
for the region.

The leaders are expected to sign the Bagan declaration which will commit
them to jointly push for improved transport links, agricultural and
industrial development, job creation and tourism promotion.

Thai officials said the four nations will agree to hold the Economic
Cooperation Strategy (ECS) summit meet every two years, with Thailand to
hold the next meeting in 2005. Ministers and senior officials are to meet
annually.

The ECS is an initiative of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who
said on the weekend that the kingdom would benefit from bridging the
economic divide with its poorer neighbours.

"It would be more practical if we help them by creating jobs and
encouraging them to solve their internal problems," he said. "Brush them
off and we'll suffer. Drugs, illegal migrants and crime are really big
problems."

Thaksin has said he will press Myanmar's ruling generals to speed up the
resettlement of thousands of migrants returning home from Thailand, where
they fled to escape political repression and grinding poverty.

About a million Myanmar nationals are thought to be working in Thailand,
around half of them illegally, providing a perennial irritant to the
prickly bilateral relationship.

However, Thaksin has signalled the issue of detained Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be on the agenda of the summit, despite
intense international pressure for the junta to release her from house
arrest.
_________________________________
Nov 12, BBC Monitor
Burmese leader receives Cambodian, Lao, Thai prime ministers

Cambodian Prime Minister Mr Samdech Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Mr
Boun-gnang Volachit, and Thai Prime Minister Dr Thaksin Shinawatra - who
are currently in Yangon (Rangoon) to attend the Four-Country Economic
Cooperation Strategies Summit of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and
Thailand - paid a courtesy call on Sr Gen Than Shwe, State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) chairman and Defence Services
commander-in-chief of the Union of Myanmar, at the Pyithu Hluttaw
Building's Diplomatic Hall on Pyay (Prome) Road in Yangon at 1000 (local
time) today.

At the meeting, Sr Gen Than Shwe, SPDC chairman and Defence Services
commander-in-chief, was accompanied by Vice Sr Gen Maung Aye, SPDC
vice-chairman, Defence Services deputy commander-in-chief, and army
commander-in-chief; Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt; SPDC Member Gen Thura
Shwe Mann; SPDC Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Soe Win; SPDC Secretary-2 Lt-Gen Thein
Sein; Foreign Minister U Win Aung; and Deputy Foreign Minister U Khin
Maung Win while the visiting prime ministers were accompanied by Mr Hor
Namhong, senior minister and minister of foreign affairs of Cambodia; Mr
Somsavat Lengsavat, deputy prime minister and foreign minister of the Lao
People's Democratic Republic; and Dr Surakiart Sathirathai, foreign
minister of Thailand.

After the meeting, the prime ministers of Cambodia, the Lao People's
Democratic Republic, and Thailand and parties took a documentary
photograph with Sr Gen Than Shwe, SPDC chairman and Defence Services
commander-in-chief, and his party.

Source: TV Myanmar, Rangoon, in Burmese 1330 gmt 11 Nov 03
___________________________________

Nov 12, Xinhua
Yunnan-Myanmar trade, investment fair opens in Yangon

YANGON --A fair and seminar on trade, investment and
economic-technological cooperation between Yunnan Province of China and
Myanmar was opened at the Yangon Trade Center here Wednesday.

Attending the inaugural ceremony were high-ranking Adviser of the Yunnan
Provincial Government of China Bai Enpei, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Li
Jinjun and four Myanmar ministers including Minister of Prime Minister's
Office Major-General Thein Swe.

This is the first time for Yunnan Province to hold such major event in the
country with the aim of opening up overseas market, seeking business
opportunities and enhancing the economic and trade ties between Yunnan and
Myanmar.

The fair and seminar are jointly sponsored by the Yunnan Provincial
Government and the Myanmar Ministry of Commerce, and organized by the
Yunnan Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the China
Council for the Promotion of International Trade   Yunnan Sub-Council.

Commodities on display at the fair include agricultural and transportation
machinery, deep-processing machinery of agricultural products, food,
medicine, home appliances, hardware tools, chemical products, special
products of origin, textiles and garments, building materials and solar
energy equipment.

Yunnan Province and Myanmar have a close economic and trade ties.
According to the statistics released by the province, in 2002, the
bilateral trade between Yunnan Province and Myanmar amounted to 406
million US dollars with Myanmar standing as Yunnan 's first major trading
partner.

Yunnan exports to Myanmar goods such as textile products, electrical and
mechanical machinery products, home appliances, construction materials,
Chinese and Western medicines and medical equipment, chemical products and
daily-use consumers goods.

Meanwhile, Yunnan imports from Myanmar timber, marine products,
agricultural by-products, zoological and botanical medicinal plants and
fruits.

At present, Yunnan Province's investment in major projects already
completed in Myanmar has reached 227 million dollars. Those projects
include one container wharf, 80 exported dredgers, five contracted cement
projects and exported hydropower plant equipment.

Among five main contracted projects being implemented by Yunnan in Myanmar
is the Paunglaung power plant with a total contracted investment of 170
million dollars. The project represents the biggest hydropower one by
China in a Southeast Asian nation in the form of seller's credit.


ON THE BORDER
____________________________________________
Nov 12, Narinjara

Sittwe, November 12:  The local authority of the Arakan state asked the
rice traders to make a contribution to the Arakan State Peace and
Development Council and for the Border Security Forces Nasaka.

A rice trader from Sittwe said a rice bag (50 kg) incurs 200 kyats for the
fund of Arakan SPDC and 300 kyats at the Nasaka checkpoint No 25 on the
Rangoon- Sittwe ( Akyab) highway.

These "contributions" are organised at Sittwe Truck Depot Shwe See Tharrn,
because Nasaka does not want the public to know about this forced
"contribution."

To reduce the high price of rice, the central State Peace and Development
Council opened up the domestic trading, which had been strictly controlled
by the state, and rice-trading permits are given to many private
businesses.

Therefore, low quality rice is sent from Rangoon, Magwe, Prone (all from
the mainland Burma) to Arakan.  This low quality rice is priced at 6000
kyats a bag in mainland Burma while it is priced at 9000 kyats in Arakan.

"The low quality rice cost 9000 kyats a bag on retail.  The rice price in
Sittwe has not fallen yet.  "Better quality rices are the worst, because
they can cost 15000 kyats a bag," said a Sittwe resident.

Though there are mass imports into Arakan from other parts of Burma, the
rice price is still high.  The reasons has been the high price of
transportation into Arakan due to its distance as well as poor access, as
well as the additive cost of bribes such as the "forced contribution" by
the local authority.


DRUGS
____________________________________________

Nov 12, Xinhua
Myanmar, Thai officials meet on drug control cooperation

YANGON --The 8th Myanmar-Thailand Senior Officials Meeting on Drug Law
Enforcement Cooperation was held Tuesday in Taunggyi, Shan state, official
newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed drug seizures in the two
countries, measures taken for the 15-year drug elimination plan in
Myanmar, assistance provided by Yongkha project of Thailand, destruction
of poppy seeds and prevention of poppy cultivation according to the New
Destiny Project.

They also discussed drug control and prevention, development of
poppy-substitute and future tasks.

According to a ground-survey report of the United Nations Office on Drug
and Crime, Myanmar's opium poppy cultivated area dropped 24 percent from
81,400 hectares in 2002 to 62,100 hectares in 2003, while its opium
production declined from 828 tons in 2002 to 810 tons in 2003.


MONEY
____________________________________________

Nov 12, AFP
Thailand to set up credit line for neighbouring nations

Thailand will set up a line of credit to give financial support to its
neighbours Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
said Wednesday after a four-nation summit.

Thaksin said Thailand will make 10 billion baht (2.5 million dollars)
available each year under the scheme.

"Each country will receive financial assistance according to their
individual economic situation," he told reporters after arriving in
Bangkok from the four-nation mini summit in the Myanmar city of Bagan.

The premier said the initiative would run along the lines of the Japanese
Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) which provides long-term,
low-interest loans for projects in developing countries.

Thaksin said the Asian Development Bank would become involved in the fund
in the future, providing up to 30 percent of the capital.

The Economic Cooperation Strategy meeting in Bagan was held at the
initiative of Thaksin, who said on the weekend that the kingdom would
benefit from bridging the economic divide with its poorer neighbours.

At the summit, Thaksin together with Myanmar's Prime Minister General Khin
Nyunt and his counterparts from Cambodia's Hun Sen and Boungnang Vorachit
from Laos announced a new economic roadmap aimed at accelerating growth.

Analysts say Thailand is increasingly positioning itself as an economic
power in the Indochina region.


REGIONAL
____________________________________________

Nov 12, AFP
Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos unveil new economic roadmap

The leaders of Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos on Wednesday announced
a new economic roadmap aimed at accelerating growth and lifting the
region's people out of poverty.

At a one-day summit in Myanmar's ancient former capital they signed the
Bagan declaration which committed them to boost trade and investment,
improve agricultural and industrial cooperation and promote tourism and
job creation.

The four leaders said the Economic Cooperation Strategy (ECS) initiative
will "act as a catalyst to promote regional cooperation".

They pledged to work together "to fully harness their enormous economic
potential to promote spontaneous and sustainable economic development, and
to uplift the welfare and quality of life of our citizens".

The agreement was signed by Myanmar's Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt
and his counterparts from Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, Cambodia's Hun Sen
and Boungnang Vorachit from Laos.

Despite frequent rows and prickly relationships between some of the
nations, they said they aim to boost prosperity through "enhanced
solidarity, mutual respect, close friendship, good neighbourliness and
active cooperation".

The ECS is an initiative of Thailand's Thaksin, who said on the weekend
that the kingdom would benefit from bridging the economic divide with its
poorer neighbours.

"It would be more practical if we help them by creating jobs and
encouraging them to solve their internal problems," he said. "Brush them
off and we'll suffer. Drugs, illegal migrants and crime are really big
problems."

The Nation newspaper quoted him as saying during a visit to Yangon which
preceded the summit that the combined economic output of the three
neighbouring countries was less than 10 percent of Thailand's gross
domestic product (GDP).

Thaksin has said he would use the talks to press Myanmar's ruling generals
to speed up the resettlement of thousands of migrants returning home from
Thailand, where they fled to escape political repression and grinding
poverty.

About a million Myanmar nationals are thought to be working in Thailand,
about half of them illegally, providing a perennial irritant to the
troubled bilateral relationship.

However, Thaksin has signalled the issue of detained Myanmar opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be on the agenda of the summit, despite
intense international pressure for the junta to release her from house
arrest.

Analysts said the engagement with Myanmar reflected Southeast Asian
nation's policy of encouraging reforms in the military-run state by making
economic links, instead of the punitive sanctions pursued by Western
nations.

"They are saying that it is through development in the economic and
commercial fields that cooperation will eventually end up spreading to
other domains," said one Yangon-based diplomat.

He said Thailand was meanwhile positioning itself as a regional economic
power, led by Thaksin who was hailed as the region's new spokesman after
hosting last month's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

"Thailand has understood that it was time to cooperate with its
disadvantaged neighbours to address the issues of illegal labor and
drugs."

At the summit Thailand also signed four energy deals, two with Myanmar and
one each with Laos and Cambodia.

Thai energy concern PTT Exploration and Production is to invest some 15.8
million dollars over four years in two natural gas blocks in Myanmar.
Exploration for the blocks, with estimated reserves of 1.5-7.5 trillion
cubic feet, is set to begin next year.

Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej said Thailand had agreed to set up a
committee to study a hydropower project in Kaoh Kong in southern Cambodia.

It also formalised an agreement for the Electricity Generating Authority
of Thailand to purchase five billion dollars worth of power from the giant
Nam Theun 2 project in Laos over the next 25 years.

"This project is very important to Laos because it will produce 1,000MW of
power and is worth 1.0 billion dollars which is more than half the GDP of
Laos," Prommin said after arriving in Bangkok.

The four nations agreed to hold the ECS summit meet every two years, with
Thailand to hold the next meeting in 2005. Ministers and senior officials
are to meet annually.


INTERNATIONAL
____________________________________________

Nov 12, The Nation
Annan takes junta to task

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticised Burma’s rulers yesterday for
preparing a road map to democracy without including or consulting any
opposition figures, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

While the military-led government of Burma announced a seven-step road map
to democracy on August 30, it has yet to take into account the views
expressed by a large number of parties inside Myanmar [Burma], Annan said
in a report to the UN General Assembly.

Nor had Burma’s generals set out a timeline for the shift, he added.

“The only way to ensure that the road map process is productive and
credible, and proceeds in a stable and orderly fashion, is for it to
involve all Myanmar’s political parties, national leaders, ethnic
nationalities and strata of society, from the beginning,” his report said.

The goals of ensuring stability, preserving the multiethnic nature of
Burma’s society and pressing ahead with the shift to democracy “are not
only mutually compatible but also mutually reinforcing”, the report said.

Annan issued the report after UN human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
made a week-long visit to Burma. Pinheiro met with Suu Kyi for two hours
during his stay.

Pinheiro, a Brazilian academic, told a news conference in Rangoon on
Saturday that the military, which has ruled Myanmar since a 1962 coup, had
freed Suu Kyi from house arrest but the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner
declined to accept her liberty until 35 colleagues were freed.

Pinheiro said the 35 were among 153 people he believed the government
detained after the May 30 violence near the northern city of Mandalay.

In another development in Bangkok yesterday, a video recording of Suu Kyi
calling for support was screened during a meeting of the Social Venture
Network of Asia (SVN Asia). In the video, viewed by about 150 participants
from 14 countries, Suu Kyi urged people not to be bystanders to injustices
in Burma. “You can speak up and speak out”, Suu Kyi said. “We can’t do it
alone, we depend on people. We depend on all kinds of groups”.

It is unclear when the video recording was made.
__________________________________

Nov 12, Irrawaddy
Annan Criticizes Road Map

UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan criticized the Burmese junta’s proposed road map for
political reconciliation in a report to the UN General Assembly on Monday.

"The only way to ensure that the road map process is productive and
credible, and proceeds in a stable and orderly fashion, is for it to
involve all political parties, national leaders, ethnic nationalities and
strata of society, from the beginning," he said.

Opposition parties and ethnic groups inside and outside Burma have also
expressed their strong disagreement with the plan forwarded by Burmese
Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt.

The United Nationalities Alliance (UNA), released a statement saying it
did not accept the government’s road map soon after Gen Khin Nyunt
outlined the plan on Aug 30. The Alliance is an umbrella group composed of
eight organizations inside Burma which represent Karen, Chin, Mon, Kayah,
Arakan and Shan people.

The Committee for Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) also made an
official announcement, saying that the junta’s road map did not represent
the public. The CRPP was formed by the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) party after after the ruling junta failed to respond to
calls to recognize the results of the 1990 election.

Cin Sian Thang, a member of the CRPP, said in an interview with the BBC
Burmese Service yesterday that the government was proceeding on its own
and has not yet consulted with them. Cin Sian Thang is also chairman of
the Zomi National Congress, a group belonging to the UNA.

Padoh Mahn Sha said the junta’s road map lead to authoritarianism, not
democracy.

The first step in the seven-point road map proposed by the ruling generals
is to reconvene the National Convention which is given the mandate to
draft a constitution. The body convened first in 1993 but its work ceased
in 1996, shortly after the NLD walked out of the proceedings.

The UN human rights envoy to Burma, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said on Monday
that the NLD would be allowed to take part in a the reconvened National
Convention.

Padoh Mahn Sha, general secretary of the Karen National Union, told the
BBC that the National Convention was the junta’s attempt to destroy the
results of the1990 election, which the NLD won by a landslide.

He added that the junta’s road map lead to authoritarianism, not democracy.

Kofi Annan said the junta needed to start a substantive dialogue with the
NLD to show its commitment to the road map and was critical of the junta
for not providing a timeline for Burma’s transition to democracy.
_______________________________

Nov 12, Northcote Leader
Unity the key to freedom

RECONCILIATION between diverse ethnic groups would help bring democracy to
Burma, delegates at a conference in Thornbury said last week.

Representatives from the eight major ethnic groups in Burma met at the
Minajalku Centre to promote understanding and communication between groups
and work collectively to lobby for democratic change in their home
country.

Nwi Ni Tun, representing the Burman group, said she and other delegates
had fled Burma to settle in Australia to escape the military regime that
had been in power since 1962. The Burman group make up more than 60 per
cent of the population in Burma.

Ms Tun, who has lived in Melbourne for eight years, said ethnic minorities
in Burma, such as the Shan and Karen groups, suffered abuses and
oppression, loss of land and culture at the hands of the military regime.

"At this conference people have a chance to share what they have suffered
and try to understand and recognise each other so we can work together to
get more international help for the people in Burma," she said.

Thataw Kunoo from the Karen group said there was no freedom to speak out
in Burma but increased dialogue between the groups now living in Australia
and other countries was important for promoting unity in diversity.

"In Australia people from Burma form a very small community (about 11,000)
so it is important we all work together to raise awareness of the issues,"
Mr Kunoo said.

The three-day conference, organised by the Australian Karen Youth Project,
used community theatre techniques and speaker presentations to encourage
discussion.


OPNION / OTHER
____________________________________________

Nov 12, The Nation
'Shattered Dreams' to educate migrants

The video Shattered Dreams presents a warning message for rural youth
about the false images of a beautiful city life

Just when we thought that forced prostitution was something of the past,
recent news reports about a child kidnapping gang operating in
northeastern and central provinces has once again reminded us that the
problem is still here.

From the ethnic highlands in Burma to remote villages in Laos, local and
foreign procurers ply their trade, seeking their victims - boys and girls
who dream about a better life in a big city.

Deep economic gaps within the region have spawned a great deal of
cross-border migration and brought with it trafficking and abuse,
according to 20 international researchers who have been studying mobility
and sexual exploitation in the region over the past three years. They
recently presented their report at a regional meeting in Bangkok on sexual
and reproductive health.

The researchers estimate that there are 150 million migrants in the
region. An increasing proportion are women and girls who are often
vulnerable because they have limited education and marketable skills.

Uninformed and without proper skills, many young people end up in
brothels, sweat shops, factories and, in some cases, government shelters
in foreign lands.

In Poipet and Aranyaprathet, it is a common sight to see small boys and
girls carrying infants and begging for change. Social workers said they
were afraid that unless the problem of poverty was tackled, any programme
to prevent child trafficking would be useless.

'Because they have mouths to feed, some families rent their children for
Bt1,500 to Bt2,000 a month to be beggars at the border towns,' said
Rottanak Chovith, a United Nations Children Funds' project assistant in
Cambodia.

Cambodian researcher Kim Souvankiry has found that traffickers have
intensified their work recently. Women have been taken from all over
Cambodia, especially from rural areas, sent to Phnom Penh and then on to
such destinations as Thailand.

Trafficked women are often deceived by promises of good jobs, only to end
up in the sex industry.

Researcher Pimpawun Boonmongkon of Mahidol University found three main
trafficking pattern in Tak's Mae Sot province. Young Burmese women either
fell prey to lying agents or were lured by acquaintances. Women suffering
from personal problems were especially easy victims. Trafficked Burmese
became 'rental' wives of local men before being forced later into
prostitution. Vietnamese women were forced to sleep with men who travel
between China and Vietnam.

'Women and children are the primary victims of migration and it has a lot
to do with Thai culture,' said Pimpawun. 'Thai men like to have sex with
young women and that's why young women from foreign countries have been
brought in to satisfy their demands.'

She said Burmese women often face aggressive sex, gang rape and
unprotected sex that causes physical and mental disorders. They are at
high risk of HIV/Aids and other sexual diseases because they lack access
to health services.

Some migrant children might not engage in sex work in the beginning, but
they get involved later as a result of indirect pressure from brothel
owners, said Dr Nwe Nwe Aye, regional cross border project co-ordinator of
the Save the Children NGO.

'Owners pay less for girls who are housemaids and give them limited
freedom in contrast to the girls who sell sex,' said the Burmese doctor.
'The girls later voluntarily become sex workers in order to earn a higher
income.'

Many Laotian girls and boys who came to work in Thailand, where they were
promised a better income than they could find working at home, had only
Bt200 to 500 in their pockets, said Khammoune Souphanthong, director of
Laos' Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare Department.

Children who became victims of trafficking and later were rescued said
they didn't realise the risk awaiting them in the country where they had
come to work, said Lance Bonneau, senior project development officer of
the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Bangkok.

The IOM, which began operations in Thailand in 1975, estimates about one
million people live in vulnerable communities in the Mekong sub-region.

In its attempt to counter trafficking of women and children, the IOM has
produced Shattered Dreams, an animated short film for use as a 'life
skills' training aid and to raise awareness among youth about the risks
associated with illegal migration. It also trains social workers from the
region about the use of the video in its accompanying manual.

According to Nonthathorn Chaiphech, the manual's author, children who were
victims of trafficking could learn about nine core skills from watching
the video. These skills include decision making, problem solving,
analysis, and communication.

However, the video's message about HIV testing and the revelation of
results might raise concern about a lack of proper counselling. Bonneau
acknowledged that this was an issue that his organisation had struggled
with while producing the video.

'However, for the benefit of getting the point across [the point about the
risk of illegal migration] and for the impact of the message, we had to
make the message [about HIV testing] short,' he said.

Nonthathorn added that the video would be used as a starting point for
other life skills training and discussions with children.

'In the manual to be used together with the video there will be several
activities in order to inform trainers and children about proper
counselling before and after HIV testing,' she said.

The animated video is part of an IOM project on pre-return psycho-social
assistance and life skills development, established in 2001. Initially,
the video was designed for use by social workers responsible for providing
care to victims of trafficking. However, as it received a positive
response, the IOM now plans to use it as part of a regional
anti-trafficking awareness raising programme.

The story line has been designed for the greater Mekong sub-region
including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Burma, Thailand, and China's southern
province of Yunnan.

The IOM plans to translate the video, now in Thai with English sub-titles,
into Khmer, Burmese, Laotian, Vietnamese, Shan, and Mandarin.

Nwe Nwe Aye said that many trafficked children from Burma were uneducated
members of ethnic minority groups. She said her organisation would use the
video together with other tools to raise awareness about the risk of
illegal migration - particularly to children out of the school system.

Burmese social workers often use proverbs to teach their children. In
Burma, children are like fledglings that need to be guided before they can
fly with their own wings, she said.

In order to engage victims of trafficking in the rehabilitation process,
the video will be screened victims of trafficking who are now living at
Social Development and Human Security Ministryshelters.

Apiradee Bamrungchue of the Child's Rights Protection Centre said her
group had cooperated with these shelters and organised a camp for the
children. At the camp, the children are encouraged to share their
experiences as part of the rehabilitation process.

Apart from its counter trafficking programme, the IOM also carries out
other activities including technical cooperation and capacity building,
migration and health, labour migration and mass information.

Thailand has a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Cambodia
on the return of trafficking victims. The IOM will also develop a
bilateral MOU on the safe and orderly return and reintegration of
trafficking victims between Thailand and Laos.

The IOM cooperated with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in the
development of a project that will address five primary areas of concern
among Thailand and Burmese migrant communities in Ranong, Tak, Samut
Sakhon, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai.

The IOM said the project aimed to reduce the incidence of disease among
mobile populations by strengthening the response capacity of the MOPH to
provide preventive and curative primary health care, as well as
reproductive health services, to migrants in target areas.