BurmaNet News May 26, 2005

[Editor]

May 26, 2005 Issue # 2727

INSIDE BURMA
DVB: Fearless Su Su Nway awarded NLD human rights prize
DVB: NMSP urges UN to help solve political problems in Burma
Mizzima: Former trade union member missing
Irrawaddy: Chinese military trucks arrive
Irrawaddy: Value of Burmese kyat drops to year’s low
Mizzima: Foreign Investment in Oil Threatens Livelihood of Local People in
Burma

ON THE BORDER
The Kaladan: A flag meeting between Nasaka and BDR

BUSINESS / FINANCE
Xinhua: Traders in Myanmar urged to boost export under regional tariff
reduction scheme
Narinjara News:Bangladeshi company begins international consortium
negotiations for a tri-nation gas pipeline

REGIONAL
AP: Malaysia loosens labor rules for foreigners to curb worker crunch
Xinhua: Six Mekong River nations vow more cooperation on natural resources

INTERNATIONAL
Embassy Magazine: House votes to isolate Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
Fearless Su Su Nway awarded NLD human rights prize

Ma Su Su Nway, the villager from Htan Manaing Village, Kawmoo Township in
Rangoon Division who successfully sued her local authorities for forced
labour practice, was honoured with an award by the National League for
Democracy (NLD), on 25 May, for her efforts in promoting human rights in
Burma.

The award was given at the NLD HQs in Rangoon, during a ceremony marking
the end of a training course on human rights. The course was attended by
around 30 NLD youth members.

Some NLD elected representatives (MPs) gave lectures on international
standard basic human rights, NLD officials told DVB.

____________________________________

May 25, Democratic Voice of Burma
NMSP urges UN to help solve political problems in Burma

One of the armed ethnic national groups which signed ceasefire agreements
with Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC),
New Mon State Party (NMSP) urged the UN to intervene and help solve the
problems of Burma before the situation becomes too complicated.

The call came after a recent meeting in which NMSP central executive
committee (CEC) members discussed future prospects for ceasefire groups
and prevailing political situation in Burma. At the meeting, they also
elected Nai Htaw Mon as their new chairman to replace the late Nai Htin.

A spokesman of NMSP told DVB that ceasefire groups have been working hard
and concentrating on the emergence of tri-partite talks.

“But the SPDC is not trying to solve problems by political means,” he
said. “It is pressurising and pushing ceasefire groups to give up our
weapons.”

At the moment, the SPDC is increasingly positioning its troops around the
NMSP HQs in southern Burma.

“The SPDC officers tell us not to increase our troops
They ask us to
provide the list of our troops once a year.”

When asked about the NMSP’s view on recent flight of another ceasefire
group Shan State National Army (SSNA) into the jungles to resume fights
against the junta, the spokesman said:

“Their aim was also to build a true union, but their leader was arrested

and they did so out of outrage. We expect that the junta is going to do
the same to us
before the problems become too complicated, we hope and
depend on the UN to intervene and solve our problems by making tripartite
talks happen so that we could have our rights.”

____________________________________

May 26, Mizzima
Former trade union member missing - Suu Mya Mya Soe

A Burmese rights activist, based in the Thai border town of Ranong, has
been reported missing for a week after being taken away by few
unidentified people.

The forty-year-old Ko Michael (a.k.a) Ko Moe Naung, a former member of
Federation of Trade Unions-Burma (FTUB), was taken away by two Thai
nationals from his house on May 19 at around seven p.m.

The two Thais were in civil dresses and they were carrying a walky-talky
hand phone, according to Ko Moe Naung's wife Ma Hla Hla.

"I thought they were policemen and since I do not have any documents, I
hid myself. They called Ko Moe Naung and took him away. When he did not
return even in the next morning, I started looking for him. I have sought
the help of Thai police and intelligence but so far there is no clue to
his where about," said Ma Hla Hla.

Seven years ago Ko Moe Naung was arrested and imprisoned for
six-and-a-half years possessing arms. Since his release till his
disappearance, he was in contact with the organisations advocating
workers' rights and actively worked for the rights of workers.

According to unconfirmed reports, Ko Moe Naung was arrested with the help
of Thai gangsters and was handed over to the Burmese military battalion
based in Kawh Thaung of Burma. While being interrogated at the Light
Infantry Battalion's (431) sixth- mile quarter in Kawh Thaung Town, he was
accidentally killed.

But traders and businessmen close to the LIB (431) dismiss the report
saying no person was brought arrested to the battalion's lock up this
week.

In almost a similar incident last year, Ko Soe Lwin, who worked as a
translator in Ranong Police station, disappeared after a group of
unidentified took him away. He never returned.

A number of Burmese activists, based in Thailand's border town of Ranong,
have also reportedly disappeared over a period of time.

Burmese democracy activists in Ranong are reportedly worried over the
disappearance of Ko Moe Naung.

____________________________________

May 26, Irrawaddy
Chinese military trucks arrive - Khun Sam

More than 200 Chinese-made military trucks bought by the Burmese regime
have reportedly crossed the border, arriving in the northern Shan State
town of Muse on Wednesday and Thursday.

Aung Kyaw Zaw told The Irrawaddy by phone the trucks crossed near the
Chinese border town of Rulli, in Yunnan province, where he lives. He said
they carried boxes, but he could not say what they contained.

He added that similar convoys of trucks, comprising about 100 vehicles
each, had driven over the border two or three times this year. “This time
it was the largest convoy.”

The trucks are reported by other witnesses to stay only briefly at Muse
military airport before carrying on to Mandalay via the Muse-Lashio
highway. They are thought to be part of a consignment of a total of 1,000
trucks bought by the Burmese junta.

The generals have been beefing up the armed forces over the past few
years, including purchases of jet fighters, naval vessels, artillery and
other military equipment. The arms have been supplied by various
countries, but most are from Burma’s major ally, China.

____________________________________

May 26, Irrawaddy
Value of Burmese kyat drops to year’s low – Ko Jay

The value of Burma's currency, the kyat, has dropped to its lowest level
this year following a government announcement that measures are being
taken to control black market trading.

The black market rate for US dollars rose sharply after Deputy Minister of
Finance and Revenue Col Hla Thein Swe told a press conference on May 15:
"The government has laid down and is implementing financial and monetary
policies for successful realization of the political, economic and social
objectives of the State."

In early May, one US dollar realized 920 kyat on the black market. This
week 1,015 kyat could be obtained for one dollar. The official exchange
rate for the kyat is six to the dollar.

Col Hla Thein Swe charged that some businessmen had been illegally trading
in foreign currency and were smuggling foreign currency out of the
country.  He reported that US $90,000 had been recently confiscated from a
money dealer at Rangoon International Airport.

A Rangoon money dealer said fear of a government crackdown on black market
currency traders was affecting business. Traders now feared long prison
terms if caught.

____________________________________

May 26, Mizzima
Foreign Investment in Oil Threatens Livelihood of Local People in Burma -
Jockai

As foreign investment comes jingling in the oil sector promising to pump
blood into the anaemic Burmese economy, the flip side of the story paints
a grim picture for the local people, engaged in traditional method of
drilling.

Come to Renan Taung (Oil mountain), one of the biggest oil drilling
villages, 12 miles off Kyaukphyu in Rakhine, the western costal state of
Burma. The entire village area is dotted with about 700 oil wells, each
with an average size of four square feet.

Traditionally, the local people are engaged in digging the ground for oil
by using bamboos and metal pipes. In a hard manual process, which is
repeated again and again, they extract about one litre of oil each time
they drive the tube deep into the earth. With three to four people being
engaged in digging a well, the workers produce a total of about 1,000
gallons of crude oil every day in the village.

However, the spectre of unemployment looms large over the area as the
foreign companies, putting stakes in Burma's oil fields, have come up with
modern drilling machines.

"We are very worried about their future because the foreign companies are
looking for oil with modern equipment, capable of sucking out much more
oil in far less time," said Hla Shwe, a resident of Renan Taung.

His remarks have close relevance to the fact that a consortium of two
Chinese companies--The China National Offshore Oil Company Myanmar Ltd and
China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation-- have started test
drilling onshore block M around the Kyaukphyu township and Rambree areas.
The Chinese consortium and Singapore's Golden Aaron Pvt. Ltd were awarded
rights in 2004 for oil and gas exploration in the district.

Altogether 150 workers of the Chinese consortium and 600 belonging to Asia
World Company are at present engaged in drilling the 3,007-square mil
onshore block M. Asia World Company, owned by the son of former drug lord
Khun Sa, gets sub-contract from foreign firms. At present it is managing
the project. The Chinese company will transfer the oil to Yunan from
Sittwe through pipeline.

Most of the residents of the area depend on oil drilling for their
livelihood. They drill anywhere around the village Villagers and give to
the land owner one-seventh of the profit they earn by selling oil.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 26, Kaladan News
A flag meeting between Nasaka and BDR

A flag meeting between Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Burmese security forces
(Nasaka) was held at Kur Khali (Lake Ya) village of Maungdaw north, Arakan
State on May 18, 2005, said master Anwar hailed from Whykong village that
has close relation with BDR.

The aim of the flag meeting is to maintain good relation continuously
between two neighboring countries, he further said.

The company Commander of Whykhong BDR Camp Mohammad Noshar led the
delegation of Bangladesh side while Border Immigration Sector Commander
Major Than Tin Win led the Burma side.

In the meeting, they discussed about border trade, smuggling across the
border, infiltration from both sides and other border related issues. They
also agreed to settle disputes growing between two countries easily by
holding flag meeting as with the hope of the improving relation between
two countries, said a local member who has good relation with BDR
commander.

Finally, both sides agreed to increase future relationship between two
neighboring countries.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

May 26, Xinhua News Agency
Traders in Myanmar urged to boost export under regional tariff reduction
scheme

Traders in Myanmar have been urged by the government to boost export under
a tariff reduction scheme on import from Myanmar by China and some member
countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a local
press reported Thursday.

"Traders are to export goods which are deemed profitable when import
tariff are being cut by China and ASEAN," Myanmar Minister of Commerce
Brigadier-General Tin Naing Thein told businessmen in a recent function,
the 7-Day News said.

Under a framework agreement of ASEAN and China initiated in 2002, China
has unilaterally cut import tariff on over 100 Myanmar products along with
those of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

According to Chinese official statistics, Myanmar-China bilateral trade,
including the border trade, reached 1.145 billion US dollars in 2004, up
6.3 percent from 2003. Of the total, China' s exports to Myanmar took 938
million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar represented 207 million.

Meanwhile, since Thailand has also offered tariff exemption and relaxation
on Myanmar's export goods as part of the ASEAN Integration System of
Preference (AISP), giving Myanmar opportunities to win increased trade
surplus in the coming years, the country is expanding trade with Thailand.

Under the AISP, Thailand has made such move on a total of 460 items of
Myanmar export goods starting 2004. The export items exempted from tariff
include marine, agricultural, forest, chemical, rubber and textile
products as well as pure drinking water, while those relaxed from tariff
cover cigarette, tobacco, beverage and bamboo products,

According to Thai official figures, Myanmar-Thai bilateral trade reached
1.2 billion dollars in 2003-04, of which Myanmar's export to Thailand
amounted to 1.09 billion, while its import from Thailand represented 110
million.

The AISP is implemented to help boost economic development of the four
newer developing members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) by the six original
members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand.

According to the latest Myanmar official statistics, Myanmar's foreign
trade volume reached 4.9 billion US dollars in the fiscal year 2004-05
which ended in March, up 10 percent from 2003-04 when it was registered
4.5 million.

During the year, the country gained a trade surplus of 954 million dollars.

The surplus figures have been up yearly since the country gained for the
first time such favorable balance of foreign trade in 2002-03 when it was
over 600 million.

Of the total trade volume during 2004-05, Myanmar's exports were valued at
2.9 billion, while its imports went to 1.9 billion with the exports
increasing in the sectors of agriculture, forestry and fishery.

Myanmar has set a target of 1.5 billion dollars of bilateral trade with
China, one billion with India and 50 million with Vietnam by the end of
this year.

____________________________________

May 26, Narinjara News
Bangladeshi company begins international consortium negotiations for a
tri-nation gas pipeline

A Bangladeshi private company held a press briefing in a hotel in Dhaka on
the 23 of May regarding their negotiations with an international
consortium about a tri-nation (Burma, Bangladesh, India) gas pipeline.

The press briefing was held under the Mohona Holdings Ltd, a private
company o f Bangladesh.  There were several leaders of the company,
including Dr Mizanur Rahman Shelly, in attendance at the ceremony.

The company is now negotiating with potential investors from private and
public sectors and financial institutes to set up an international
consortium for financing the tri-nation gas pipeline.

The government of Bangladesh, however, has yet to give any signal to go
ahead with the project, said a report.

“We have started negotiations and we will let you know later who will be
joining the consortium,” AB Ahmed, Managing Director of Mohona Holdings
Ltd told reporters during the press briefing at the Dhaka Sheraton hotel.

Though the Bangladeshi government has not yet given the go ahead for the
project, the company has already started negotiations for its financial
package with some Indian and Korean firms.

AB Ahmad said the gas pipeline project will be funded by an international
consortium which will build and operate some 897 km of pipeline, 289 km of
which will be in Bangladesh.

The construction cost is estimated at US$ 974 million but the total
project cost including the gas flow to the pipeline will amount to about
US$1.3 billion. The Bangladeshi commitment will require an investment of
US$ 350-600 million, the Managing Director said.

He also said that the pipeline will create US$ 600 million of revenue, and
that the country will receive another US$ 100 million annually as wheeling
and US$24 million in service charges for the payment for gas transmission.

The gas pipeline may run from the Burmese western state of Arakan to
Mezoram and the Tripura state of India.  Following, it will enter
Bangladesh at Brahmanbaria and continue to the Kolkatta region of India.

 “It may also come through Teknaf, opposite the Maungdaw side of Burma,
and run along the coast of Feni town to Brahmanbaria. It will cross the
Jamuna river and pass through Jessore to enter West Bengal at Bongaon,”
He added.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 26, Associated Press
Malaysia loosens labor rules for foreigners to curb worker crunch – Sean
Yoong

Malaysia, facing a nationwide labor shortage, said Thursday it will allow
illegal workers from Indonesia and other countries who left under an
amnesty to return as tourists and seek work, softening its policy on
foreign laborers.

"We're being practical," Home Minister Azmi Khalid told The Associated
Press. "We want these people to come back and work here. But we'll be
vigilant and we won't open our gates" to just anyone.

The government faced heavy criticism after expelling some 380,000 illegal
workers, mostly Indonesians, under the amnesty between October 2004 and
February this year. Plantations, construction sites and factories ground
to a halt as Malaysia depends heavily on foreign workers for most menial
jobs.

Azmi said illegal immigrants who were fingerprinted by authorities when
they voluntarily left under the amnesty can return to look for work as
long as they enter Malaysia legally, including on tourist visas.

Azmi said he announced the decision to the Cabinet on Wednesday.

The decision is an embarrassing climbdown for the government and reflected
the confusion in Malaysia's policy on foreign workers. The government
initially cajoled the illegal workers to leave, then threatened them with
caning, imprisonment and fines.

Once they left, the government asked them to come back with proper
documents after registering themselves with their governments. It even
helped Indonesia set up 11 registration centers.

Azmi said the latest measure became necessary because the Indonesian
registration centers had been closed because of bureaucratic snarls, while
hefty fees imposed by Indonesian officials kept many applicants away.

"There is no U-turn from our previous policy," Azmi said. "We've always
said that those who left voluntarily under the amnesty can return to find
employment here."

In recent weeks, Malaysia has fast tracked the recruitment of workers from
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Vietnam to help out hard
hit sectors.

Azmi said the current labor shortage was "not as bad as it was one or two
months ago," while noting that less than 40,000 Indonesians who left under
the amnesty have returned so far.

About 1.5 million migrant workers, mostly Indonesians, work legally in
Malaysia, mainly in low-paying jobs spurned by locals. Hundreds of
thousands more work here illegally, despite a crackdown that was launched
after the amnesty ended.

____________________________________

May 26, Xinhua News Agency
Six Mekong River nations vow more cooperation on natural resources

Environment ministers from six countries sharing the Mekong River,
including China, Cambodia and Thailand, have affirmed their commitment to
enhance cooperation on preserving their individual and shared natural
resources, according to a statement made available to Xinhua Thursday.

In a joint statement issued at the end of their Wednesday meeting in
Shanghai, the Mekong Environment Ministers said that the key economic
sectors in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) depend critically on the
conservation and sustainable management of healthy natural systems,
according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which coordinated the
meeting

"We acknowledge the importance of further accelerating the momentum of GMS
environmental activities," they held. "We reaffirm our commitment for a
better environment and sustainable development in the GMS."

In addition to the ministers, the meeting brought together approximately
80 senior environment officials from the six GMS countries -- Cambodia,
China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, who reviewed the
achievements in environmental cooperation and discuss future directions in
environment and natural resource management.

The ministers endorsed the GMS Core Environment Program and recommended
its early implementation to improve management of the shared natural
resources in the GMS. An Environment Operations Center will be established
to coordinate the program.

The ministers also endorsed the GMS Biodiversity Conservation Corridors
Initiative (BCI) to protect high value terrestrial biodiversity
conservation landscapes.

The BCI aims to help establish sustainable management regimes and restore
ecological (habitat) connectivity and integrity within important
biodiversity areas.

ADB Vice President Liqun Jin, who led ADB's delegation to the meeting,
said "The Core Environment Program is a systematic and integrated approach
to conserve the natural systems of the GMS for the ecosystem services they
provide."

"It provides the framework to address the immediate and long- term
stresses that rapid economic growth would, otherwise, have on the
environment and natural resources of the subregion."

Appreciating the support of ADB, United Nations Environment Program, and
other development partners, the ministers urged donor countries and
international agencies, the private sector, and civil society to
strengthen their collaboration to support the GMS Core Environment
Program.

The GMS Program began in 1992 to promote closer regional economic ties and
cooperation among the countries sharing the Mekong River.

Covering an area about the size of Western Europe, the GMS is home to more
than 250 million people.

The bank said its wealth of human and natural resources makes it a new
frontier for economic growth in Asia.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 26, Embassy Magazine
House votes to isolate Burma - Sarah McGregor

A sweeping motion to ban Canadian investment in Burma and provide
Parliamentary support to the democratic government-in-exile passed in the
House of Commons this week without the backing of Liberal
parliamentarians.

All three opposition parties -- the Bloc, Conservatives and NDP -- voted
in favour of the non-binding motion that also asked for the release of
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for
Democracy, who has been under house arrest, almost consistently, for 15
years. The military junta refused to hand over power to the leader after
losing multi-party elections in 1990.

The motion also called for a review of bilateral rules that restrict trade
movement and greater pressure at the United Nations to endorse sanctions
against Burma.

Foreign Affairs advised Liberal MPs to reject the motion because one
provision would have breached government custom by recognizing a political
party, rather than the nation state. The section at issue reads: "Provide
tangible support to the legitimate authorities in Burma, specifically the
government in exile (the National Coalition government for the Union of
Burma) and the Committee Representing the People's Parliament."

Still, human rights groups are claiming a partial victory, saying they
hope the government will listen to the Parliamentary majority and
implement at least some of the motion's tougher measures, particularly
outlawing Canadian investors in the South Asian nation. The final motion
voted in Parliament on May 18 passed by a margin of 158-123.

"We do feel that we now have something to use as a tool, that we can refer
to and hopefully use to support democracy in Burma," said Shareef Korah,
executive director of the Canadian Friends of Burma. Conditions in the
closed society run by a military regime include sexual exploitation,
forced labour and the use of child soldiers, he said.

The tradition of the Canadian government is to avoid taking a partisan
stance in the recognition of another country, said a Foreign Affairs
spokesperson.

The department fears that acting on the dispute provision could set a
dangerous precedent, and perhaps have a disastrous effect in the long-term
negotiation to restore democracy in Rangoon, or improve conditions in
countries run by renegade governments. "While Canada maintains regular
contact in Ottawa and abroad with individuals and organizations fighting
for democracy in Burma, we must recognize 'states' and not 'governments,'"
said a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs. "This gives us flexibility to
deal with governments worldwide that come to power through
unconstitutional means by enabling us to establish or maintain lines of
communication, and thereby resolve differences. As this provision in the
motion contravenes our policy, it would set a very awkward precedent."

Human rights organizations mobilized at a press conference hours before
the final debate in Parliament, calling the moment "historic" and pleading
that Canada take stronger measures that might compel international
counterparts to do the same. "This is the strongest measure that
Parliament has passed toward Burma. Burmese people [in the country] know
about the news, it's on all the radio stations," Tin Maung Htoo,
coordinator of Canadian Friends of Burma [Burma Forum Canada], said in an
interview following the vote. He then added: "But we were really, really
upset with the government [for refusing to support it.]"

Mr. Htoo said he hopes the government will listen to the majority of
Parliamentarians even though it isn't compelled to act on the initiative.
"This is the will of Parliament, and I don't see any reason for the
government to ignore the resolution," he said.

The organization prepared the Burma Forum Report last November, a study
that shows the Canadian investment has steadily increased over several
years. In 2001, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said that
Canadian corporations have dumped more than $150 million in the country
since 1990. The profits from at least some business, mostly mineral
exploration outfits, benefit the military junta, says the Burma Forum
Report.

Former international cooperation minister, Maria Minna, is a Liberal MP
and member of the Canada-Burma Parliamentary Friendship Group. She said
that the governing party didn't have the "luxury" of voting for a motion
that it might otherwise support because of the "flaw." "Canada recognizes
countries, not governments. Diplomatically, worldwide, it's just not done.
Otherwise you'd have all kinds of state actors recognizing other non-state
actors," she said in an interview. "I think basically it says that we had
a small problem with it, not the human rights issues."

The government has criticized the "appalling" human rights record of
Burma, saying its position is consistent with the "spirit and intent of
the motion." It supports the release of Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners, and calls its economic and political restriction "among the
strongest." Canadian exports are strictly controlled to Burma, and the
government asks that businesspeople and travelers avoid the country,
renamed Myanmar by the military junta.

The Embassy of Myanmar in Ottawa said it wasn't commenting on the motion
when contacted by Embassy last week.