BurmaNet News, April 9, 2004

[Editor]

April 9, 2004 Issue # 2453

ON THE BORDER
Nation: Sweatshop ordered to pay fired Burmese

BUSINESS/MONEY
Sydney Morning Herald: We'll do right thing over Burma link: Qantas boss

REGIONAL
AP: Southeast Asian demand Myanmar be accepted into ASEM, threaten to
block new EU members
AP: Four Suspects Held Over Embassy Attack

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: Powell supports renewing U.S. sanctions on Myanmar
Daily Camera: Demand for illegal drugs, sex creates international markets
Daily Press: Former Refugee Dreams Of Providing Education, Meals To
Burmese Children

OPINION/ OTHER
Mizzima News: From Political Aspiration to National Consensus: The Need
for a Karen National Consultative Conference

PRESS RELEASE
www.senate.gov: Press Release of Senator McConnell

ON THE BORDER
___________________________________


April 9, The Nation
Sweatshop ordered to pay fired Burmese - Rungrawee C Pinyorat

Tak province's Labour Protection Office has ordered a garment company that
violated minimum-wage laws in its Mae Sot district to pay a total of
US$425,000 (Bt16.5 million) to more than 250 Burmese workers.

The office ordered the Nasawat Apparel Factory Co Ltd on March 25 to
compensate 257 Burmese workers whom it had paid below the minimum wage for
the past two years.

The company paid the employees Bt50 a day but forced them to sign pay
slips for the minimum daily wage of Bt133. It paid workers Bt8 an hour for
overtime instead of the legal rate of Bt25.

Some workers were beaten and those who tried to escape were restrained,
according to a local non-government organisation working in the area.

The Labour Protection Office inspected the factory in November after
receiving a complaint from staff.

On November 26, company manager Kwanchai Wimut agreed to pay employees the
minimum wage according under the law. The company later revoked the
agreement and fired all its Burmese workers. A temple gave them all
temporary shelter.

Millions of Burmese who flee political conflicts and fighting in their
homeland come to Thailand in search of jobs. Many of them enter the
country illegally, and without legal protection end up being exploited.

The US-based Human Rights Watch reported earlier this year that more than
10,000 Burmese migrants were deported back to their homeland each month.

To regulate foreign workers, the Thai government has a policy of deporting
illegal Burmese workers.


BUSINESS/MONEY
___________________________________

April 10, Sydney Morning Herald
We'll do right thing over Burma link: Qantas boss - Mark Baker

Singapore: Qantas has defended its partnership in a new Asian budget
airline with two prominent Singaporean businessmen who have commercial
ties to Burma's military regime.

One of the partners this week left open the possibility of the
Singapore-based airline flying to Burma - despite an international boycott
on tourism and investment called by detained opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon, while refusing to disclose which
routes were being considered, later insisted that he and his partners
would "do the right thing" in response to the Burma boycott.

"If they are discouraging tourism and all the rest of it, it's probably
very unlikely we'd want to fly there," Mr Dixon said.

The new airline - likely to be called Jetstar Asia - plans to begin flying
later this year to a range of budget tourist destinations within a
five-hour radius of Singapore. It aims to build a fleet of 20 aircraft
within three years.

Qantas will have a 49.9 per cent stake in the $S100 million ($78 million)
start-up and will initially hold the chairmanship of a six-member board.

Two leading Singaporean businessmen - Wong Fong Fui and Tony Chew - have
taken a total 31.1 per cent stake in the new company, with the balance of
the shareholding held by Temasek Holdings, the powerful investment arm of
the Singapore Government.

Mr Wong was managing director of Burma's privatised national airline,
Myanmar Airways International, for seven years up to 1998, and Mr Chew is
a member of the Myanmar Business Group, an association of Singaporean
businessmen with interests in Burma.

Asked whether his strong business ties in Burma and Vietnam made them
likely destinations for the new airline, Mr Chew told a press conference
in Singapore on Tuesday: "I think every destination is potential."

Mr Dixon said the airline was studying a range of potential routes, but
said he could not be specific until approval had been granted by
Singapore's transport ministry.

Pressed on whether Qantas was swayed by calls from Ms Suu Kyi and her
National League for Democracy for tourists and businessmen to stay away
from Burma until democracy was restored, Mr Dixon appeared unsure about
the boycott, which has drawn strong international support.

"Are you saying a social issue, a conscience issue or a commercial issue?"
he said, in response to a question from The Herald.

When told it was a political issue, he said: "I'm quite sure all the
shareholders would take in political issues, they'll take in social issues
and they'll take in commercial issues.

"I think you can rest assured, given our background, and I'm quite sure
with Mr Chew and others, that we'll make the right decision when it comes
to things like that."

Mr Dixon said Qantas had "a track record around the world for doing,
basically, the right thing, and I'm very confident Mr Wong and Mr Chew and
Temasek will [do] the same".

Singaporean companies - including some with substantial government
shareholdings - have been attacked by international human rights groups as
being among the most active foreign investors in Burma in recent years.

REGIONAL
_____________________________________

April 9, Associated Press
Southeast Asian demand Myanmar be accepted into ASEM, threaten to block
new EU members - Jasbant Singh

Putrajaya, Malaysia: Southeast Asian countries would not accept new
European Union members into an Asia-Europe partnership if EU countries
block Myanmar from joining the grouping, Malaysia's foreign minister said
Friday.

EU nations have been split about whether to accept Myanmar in the
Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, because of human and political rights abuses
by the country's military government.

But Syed Hamid Albar said ASEM must be prepared to accept all members of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Myanmar, and not try
to press the country's rulers to speed political reform.

Asian nations want Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia to join ASEM when the EU
brings its 10 new members into the club May 1. The three countries are the
only of ASEAN's 10 members not to be included in ASEM.

"The EU is quite willing to look at Cambodia and Laos, but they are not
willing to consider Myanmar unless the political situation in Myanmar
improves," Syed Hamid told reporters. "We consider that as an unreasonable
condition. ASEAN should be admitted as one body."

"If they are not willing to consider that, then we are not willing to
consider the new extension of the EU, with the ten new members," Syed
Hamid said.

He said this was the position of all ASEAN members.

"Our decision is that we have no problem in accepting them, but they must
accept all ten ASEAN members," Syed Hamid said.

ASEM foreign ministers are expected to consider the new entries at a
meeting April 17-18 in Dublin, Ireland, ahead of a leaders' summit in
Hanoi, Vietnam, in October.

France has demanded that Myanmar, also known as Burma, make "credible
progress in democratic reforms" before being accepted into ASEM, and
Britain also strongly objects to including Myanmar.

Officials said France, Germany and Austria are keen to compromise on
Myanmar's membership.

Some European countries have been among leading critics of Myanmar's
junta, which is accused of widespread abuses in suppressing the
pro-democracy movement of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being
kept under house arrest.

ASEM was formed in 1996 to offset the U.S. bid for stronger ties with Asia.

The group includes the current 15 EU nations, China, Japan, South Korea,
Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and
Thailand.
_____________________________________

April 9, Associated Press
Four Suspects Held Over Embassy Attack

Three brothers and another man accused of starting a fire that destroyed
part of Burma’s embassy in Malaysia and hacking a diplomat with an ax were
ordered to remain in jail while police investigate the case.

Magistrate Nurul Izwan Zubir remanded the four in custody until April 14
so police can investigate whether there is enough evidence to charge them
with attempted murder, committing an act of mischief by fire or
explosives, and immigration offenses, Malaysian news reports said Friday.

The suspects could face prison sentences of up to 20 years and large fines
if convicted.

Three attackers scaled the embassy fence on Wednesday and stormed the
building, armed with an ax, knives and plastic bags filled with gasoline,
officials and witnesses said. They hacked embassy Minister Counselor Khin
Maung Lin with the ax and cut a security officer with a knife before
dousing the embassy with fuel and setting it on fire.

The fourth man is suspected of being an accomplice, although he did not
enter the embassy grounds during the attack, the reports said.

The three brothers—members of Burma’s Rohingya ethnic Muslim minority—were
frustrated that embassy officials had earlier refused to endorse documents
they believed would help them gain UN refugee status, the reports said.

Zaw Tun Oo, the embassy’s second secretary, said Khin Maung Lin underwent
surgery and was no longer in serious condition, the Bernama national news
agency reported.

Embassy staff have returned to work in part of the burned building, he
said, adding that numerous important documents had been destroyed.

Tens of thousands of migrants from Burma work in Malaysia, which is one of
Southeast Asia’s wealthiest countries. Malaysia also attracts hundreds of
asylum seekers who claim they face persecution from Burma’s military
rulers.

INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

April 8, Reuters
Powell supports renewing U.S. sanctions on Myanmar

Washington: Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday he supports
keeping the U.S. market closed to imports from Myanmar, whose military
rulers have detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for months.

Reflecting Washington's displeasure at continued military rule in Myanmar,
President Bush on July 28 signed into law the Burmese Freedom and
Democracy Act barring imports from the country, also known by its colonial
name of Burma.

Under the legislation, the import ban must be renewed each year and
expires after three years. The law requires the secretary of state to
report to Congress about the efficacy of the sanctions 90 days before
their renewal date in late July.

Asked at a Senate hearing whether he supported renewing the import
sanctions on Myanmar, Powell told lawmakers: "Yes."

Myanmar has been ruled for more than four decades by the military, which
has heavily restricted Suu Kyi, holding her at an undisclosed location
from May to September last year and then placing her under house arrest.

Under pressure to show it is sincere about its "road map to democracy"
announced last August, the military government last week said it would
hold talks on a new constitution on May 17 and it has invited five members
of Suu Kyi's party to attend.

The Nobel peace laureate's opposition National League for Democracy,
however, has demanded her freedom before it will consider joining the
constitutional talks.
_____________________________________

April 9, The Daily Camera
Demand for illegal drugs, sex creates international markets - Padraic J.
Swanton

The high value placed on illegal sex and drugs makes for brisk
international business in both "markets," members of a Conference on World
Affairs panel titled "Sex, Drugs and International Relations" said
Thursday.

"Most of us are (in the United States) because of sex, drugs and
international affairs," said Sanho Tree, an expert on the United States'
involvement in Colombia.

He pointed out that Christopher Columbus' main goal in finding the New
World was new spices "that could be used as aphrodisiacs."

Tree likened the war on drugs to Chinese fingercuffs, saying, "The harder
you pull, the more stuck you get."

He said that one of the main difficulties with U.S. drug policy is "the
more money the U.S. puts into this problem, the more drugs we have in this
country."

Interestingly, more money is spent trafficking in persons, or T.I.P. in
State Department parlance, than on drug trafficking, said Charles Jess,
senior country officer for Vietnam.

This trafficking is actively accomplished through government corruption,
he said.

Kathleen Newland, co-director of the International Migration Organization,
explained that anywhere from 1 million to 4 million people are trafficked
in the sex "business" each year.

She said "the problem of trafficking has been recognized worldwide" and
four main steps have been established to eliminate it: getting information
to potential victims; combating poverty throughout the world; protection
and treatment of victims; and the pursuit and prosecution of cartel
kingpins.

Dr. Hal Nathan, with the Foundation of People in Burma, drew upon his 30
years of experience in that country to tie the other speakers' topics
together with international relations.

"Burma has it all: a lot of sex trade and a lot of drugs," Nathan said.

He said that a virgin Burmese girl could bring upward of $500,000 for a
Japanese businessman and that "Burma rivals Afghanistan in opium
production" because of its "corrupt" government.

The problem of "Sex, Drugs and International Relations," the panel
concluded, is a result of overwhelming poverty in Southeast Asia and
Eastern Europe.
_____________________________________

April 8, Daily Press
Former Refugee Dreams Of Providing Education, Meals To Burmese Children

Charlottesville: U.Va. student feared for her safety while serving in
Thailand schools.

There was no teacher the day Wynn Lei Lei Nyane went to the makeshift
Burmese elementary school.

Children were gathered in a shack on the safer side of the Thailand-Burma
border, but the volunteer teacher hadn't shown up.

The neglect, starvation and diseases that plague Burmese children who were
forced into Thailand is what drives Nyane, a University of Virginia
student and a Burmese refugee. Nyane and her older sister, a student at
Boston University, have worked to free Burma, which is governed by an
authoritarian military regime, despite their father's opposition.

"He wants to make sure we don't go into politics," Nyane said, "because he
understands what it's like to be on the blacklist of the Burmese
government."

Nyane's father was forced to resign from his job as a TV anchorman in 1988
after he refused to read false, government-approved news, a firable
offense. He couldn't find a job until 1991.

Her mother, meanwhile, could not work in Burma because she is a Malaysian
native. Nyane's mother left the family to work in Malaysia in 1991,
eventually going to Singapore, where Nyane, her father and three sisters
moved in 1996.

The family relocated to Northern Virginia in 1998. Four years later, Nyane
prevailed over government restrictions and family opposition to go to
Thailand, where she stayed with former political prisoners from Burma.

She said she was scared nearly the whole time, fearful that the Thai
police would arrest her and send her back to Burma. Burmese UNICEF
representatives, when they learned she was staying with dissidents,
refused to send the hygiene books Nyane planned to use to educate the
displaced Burmese population.

Still, she kept busy, traveling to several unofficial schools for Burmese
children. Because the Thai government doesn't recognize the children as
refugees, she said, they are not allowed to go to school with Thai
children or receive funding for food.

Nyane's goal one day is to start a school that feeds children and provides
health care. In a presentation last week at U.Va.'s undergraduate research
symposium, Nyane reported that a school for 300 Burmese children,
including meals and health care, would cost about $77,000 per year.

The 24-year-old doesn't place all the blame on Thailand, a poor country
with many refugees from Laos and Vietnam. But Nyane said that greater
awareness of Burma's problems in the United States would help.

Nyane said she tried to return to Thailand last summer, but her refugee
traveling papers from the U.S. government arrived too late. She said she
hopes to go back one day to Thailand to start a school, but only after
she's learned more about the issues and has an organization backing her
up.

For now, Nyane said she's looking forward to graduation and hoping to win
a fellowship with Refugees International to work more on Burma's issues.

OPINION/ OTHER
_______________________

April 9, Mizzima News
>From Political Aspiration to National Consensus: The Need for a Karen
National Consultative Conference - Saw Kwe Htoo, Naw May Oo, Saw Htoo Htoo
Lay and Saw Mutu Say Poe

The people of Burma, particularly the Karen people, are now living in one
of the most treacherous times in the history of our country. We stand
today at the crossroads of our resistance movement that has been
unwaveringly led by the Karen National Union (KNU) for more than half a
century. The Karen people’s support for KNU isn’t confined to the rural
areas of the Kawthoolei, or Karen State, where armed resistance has been
concentrated. The vast majority of Karen people throughout Burma look up
to the KNU as their national political organization, not simply a
Thai-Burmese border-based organization. And they, not just the KNU
leadership, prefer a political solution to the conflict that has plagued
the country since independence in 1948.

The modern chapter of the Karen movement for national identity and
self-determination began with the historic formation of the Karen National
Union (KNU) on February 5, 1947 by the coming together of four existing
Karen organizations, namely the Karen National Association (KNA), the
Buddhist Karen National Association (BKNA), the Karen Central Organization
(KCO) and the Karen Youth Organization (KYO).  Under the leadership of the
Karen National Union (KNU), the Karens began, or rather were compelled to
begin, their armed revolution – or insurrection, as it has usually been
depicted – on the commonly recognized date of January 31, 1949.

Obviously, not all the Karen people belong to the KNU, but the KNU, by
virtue of its historical legitimacy, belongs to the entire Karen people.
This has been and still is evident by the Karen people inside or
elsewhere, unlike other ethnic nationalities, not forming any credible
Karen political party, except a small Karen National Congress for
Democracy Party, during the 1990 elections. The main reason was they felt
the KNU was there representing and fighting for their ethnic and civil
rights. And they looked up to the KNU's political leadership. By the same
token, they believe that the KNU must constantly seek strategic
coordination and support from Karens everywhere, inside, border and the
world over.

At this point, it is important to note that the KNU is not a political
party. Quite the contrary, it is a national union that has long historical
roots and solid legitimacy. There are fundamental differences between a
political party and a national union. A political party can speak only for
and along its party line, the party’s ideology and party platform. But a
national union must speak for and pursue the collective political desire
of the entire people, in our case, the Karen’s the right to
self-determination and ethnic equality of the Karen people throughout
Burma. A national union should be nationally inclusive in its character,
composition and coordination. The political ideology and strategy that it
adopts must be a product of national deliberation, whereas a political
party can operate as an exclusive entity and the policy and ideology that
it pursues can be - and often is - a product of the party’s executive
committee meetings, especially in a country like Burma.

The ultimate goal of the Karen resistance movement is to achieve the right
to self-determination of the Karen people with the guarantee of ethnic
equality within a genuine union of Burma. That is our principle goal; we
must stand firm on that. On the other hand, continuing military
operations, declaring a cease-fire, attending or not attending the
National Convention, seeking a tri-partite dialogue and/or multi-partite
dialogue are all manifestations of different strategies. They are only
means through which we strive to realize our goal. If and when necessary,
we can and should be flexible with the means we adopt.

Since the inception of Karen resistance movement in 1949, Burma's internal
political dimensions, as well as regional and international situations,
have changed significantly. At the advent of economic globalization and
the digital world, the Karen's struggle for self-determination and ethnic
equality cannot be fought purely in the realm of politics. The powerful
forces of economic globalization, in the name of free trade and
development, have brought both challenges and opportunities for our
movement. It is inevitable that we as a movement must confront cold
realities and, while contending the powerful currents of socially
rapacious and uncaring cooperation between governments, make the best use
of emerging opportunities that the geo-political circumstances,
geo-economic trends, and technological advancement of the day bring.

Having fought relentlessly for more than half-a-century, we as a movement
need, as any healthy movement does, to critically review our strategies
and approaches. While the KNU is the only organization that has been
leading the armed resistance, it is recognized that several Karen groups
and individuals have emerged lately and played their role throughout these
years for the survival and development of our people.  The emergence of
numerous interest groups and development organizations that aim to strive
for the social, economic and political advancement of Karen people must be
seen as a great product of a given historical period.

Due to the changing political circumstances, many Karens have left their
cherished homeland and migrated to Thailand and elsewhere. Under the
highly oppressive political situation, those who remained inside Burma
have also lost direct contact with the resistance movement. But, despite
this physical distance, differences in socio-political and intellectual
orientation, the majority of Karen people share a common vision: to have
ethnic equality and a right to self-determination for Karen people within
a genuine Union of Burma. Varying experiences and the difficulties related
to the conditions under which our people have to live and operate have
created possibilities for divisions. These must be resolved through open
debates and deliberation with the view toward resolving natural
differences that may, and do, exist within any social or political
community. The KNU is not only a revolutionary organization but it also
strives to operate, though admittedly not always successfully, on
democratic principles.

Rapidly changing circumstances at national and international levels
necessitate a review of our strategies and approaches. The most
challenging task ahead for the Karens is to generate a new generation of
leadership that is capable of looking beyond the same voices that recycle
the old mantras or prescribe the same solutions, which can grasp the
complex dynamics of ethnicity, and stay attuned to the regional political
situation of this increasingly interconnected world. The Karens need a
leadership that is not only committed to the Karen’s collective vision of
self-determination within a genuine union of Burma, but that is also
skillful and inventive in policy making, intellectually and strategically
flexible, and capable of adapting to and taking advantage of, new
developments in Burma, the region and the world.

It is now time for the Karens from all walks of life throughout Burma to
congregate in a national meeting that will enable them to explore peaceful
and lasting solutions to the problems that have plagued them as the
largest ethnic nationalities group, the union and Burma generally. As the
half-a-century long national resistance movement is at its crossroads,
there is a strong need for a National Consultative Conference to serve as
a forum for Karen people everywhere to discuss all the matters that
urgently concern them at the national level. Through a National
Consultative Conference the Karen people we will be able to find a
national consensus, in accord with their political culture, to carry on
the struggle and realize their just dream. The dream of building a union
of Burma where ethnic equality and right to self-determination are not
words grudgingly written on the pages of a beautifully worded
constitution, but lived realities of the Karen in particular and all
ethnic nationalities in general. Such a consultative conference will also
contribute to our preparation for the larger national dialogue or
convention that is being proposed by the ruling military junta and
contested by the democratic opposition for its lack of fairness and
openness.

 (Saw Kwe Htoo, Governor of KNU's Mergui/Tavoy District, is also a member
of the KNU Central Standing Committee.  Naw May Oo, based in Washington
DC, is with the KNU Foreign Affairs Department. Saw Htoo Htoo Lay is
Joint General Secretary of KNU. Saw Mutu Say Poe is a member of the KNU
Central Executive Committee.)

PRESS RELEASE
___________________________________

April 8, www.senate.gov
Press Release of Senator McConnell

Statement Of Senator Mitch McConnell On State Department FY'05 Budget
Request

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell today delivered the
following statement during a Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee
hearing on the State Department FY'05 budget request:

"Mr. Secretary, I want to begin my remarks this afternoon by thanking you
and the President's foreign policy team for your collective efforts to
promote freedom across the globe. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Iraq
and Afghanistan.

"Having traveled to the Middle East and South Asia some six months ago, I
can attest that the citizens of those countries are better off today than
they were under the repressive misrule of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban,
respectively.

"I saw this firsthand through bustling, free commerce in the streets,
freedom of expression that takes many forms, and through the words of
grateful Iraqis and Afghanis whose once bleak future now holds promise and
hope.

"To be sure, Islamic extremists are working hard to undermine these
new-found freedoms and in desperation are increasingly attacking soft
targets: innocent men, women and children. These terrorists know that each
step toward democracy is yet another step in the death march for their
hateful and intolerant ideology.

"In Iraq, we should expect increased terrorist activities in the days and
months before the June 30th transition. Beginning July 1st - and under your
watchful eye at the State Department - I am confident that the Iraqi people
will not only stay the course but continue to further consolidate the
significant gains they have achieved in such a short time.

"However, freedom is not free. This Senator thanks the many soldiers and
civilians serving on the front lines of the global war on terrorism -
whether American, Iraqi or Afghani.

"Today's hearing affords this Subcommittee an opportunity to glean
additional information on the President's $21 billion, FY 2005 budget
request for foreign operations. It would be helpful to have your insights
into the request, both as Secretary of State and Chairman of the Millennium
Challenge Corporation.

"I know several of my colleagues share my concern with the proposed funding
levels for the SEED and FSA accounts, and while we support graduation of
countries from U.S. foreign assistance we are troubled by developments in
such places as Russia and Serbia. I want to commend you for giving voice to
shared concerns during your trip to Russia earlier this year, and for not
certifying Serbia's cooperation on war crimes issues last week.

"It would also be useful to have your views on the proposed $100 million
U.S. Emergency Fund for Complex Foreign Crises. This strikes me as a good
idea given the need to respond with maximum flexibility to unanticipated
events and opportunities, particularly in the Middle East and on the African
continent. Libya comes readily to mind.

"Let me close with a few comments on Burma.

"Congress will begin the process of sanctions renewal in the next few weeks,
and I deeply appreciate the President's continued interest and leadership on
this issue. I hope - and expect - that we can count on your support, Mr.
Secretary, for continued sanctions, given the total absence of irreversible
progress toward democracy in that country.

"It is simply not enough that Aung San Suu Kyi be released, or that she be
given a last minute seat at the table. We can pretend that the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) is serious about a constitutional
convention - as Thailand seems intent on doing - but we should not have
short or selective memories.

"Justice is due for the May 30th attack on Suu Kyi and the NLD, and the SPDC
must be held accountable for its actions.

"I encourage you to renew and reinvigorate efforts to secure sanction
regimes from the European Union and other professed supporters of freedom
around the world. Unfortunately, I am hearing that international financial
institutions - particularly the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank -
are keen on re-engaging Burma. They do so at their own risks, and should
begin finding other funding sources for the upcoming fiscal year because
none will be forthcoming from this Subcommittee.

"Again, welcome Mr. Secretary. I look forward to your testimony."