BurmaNet News, August 30, 2005

[Editor]

August 30, 2005 Issue # 2792


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: British ambassador meets NLD regarding Wilton Park conference
Mizzima: Burma's Thamanthi hydel project evicts farmers from their land
Mizzima: Burmese junta appoints officials for media queries
SHAN: Ceasefire group gets marching orders
Narinjara: Akyab residents have to pay for street lights

GUNS
Reuters: Bangladesh troops find ammunition dump near Myanmar

BUSINESS / FINANCE
AFP: Thailand's PTT starts exploring new offshore site in Myanmar: report

REGIONAL
Reuters: Trafficking of women, children on rise worldwide-UN
DVB: Burmese Arakan refugees in Bangladesh facing more difficulties
Mizzima: Thai Sardine factory lays off 700 Burmese workers

OPINION / OTHER
IHT: Letter from Asia: Myanmar's withdrawal: What the junta wanted?

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 29, Democratic Voice of Burma
British ambassador meets NLD regarding Wilton Park conference

The British ambassador in Rangoon, on 29 August, met Burma’s main
opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders to
clarify matters relating to the conference on the future of Burma, to be
held at Wilton Park in southern England.

The ambassador explained that no political matter will be discussed but
only social and economical problems will be concentrated on, and urged the
NLD to send representatives to the conference.

NLD spokesman U Lwin told DVB that the problems of Burma could not be
solved without tackling political problems first. When asked about the
US-led economic sanctions on Burma, Lwin said that Burma’s current
problems started with the mismanagement of the country’s economy by Gen Ne
Win’s government and lack of political stability, rather than sanctions on
Burma.

The conference, organised by renowned Wilton Park Academic Council will be
held from 4 to 6 September.

____________________________________

August 30, Mizzima New
Burma's Thamanthi hydel project evicts farmers from their land - Nem Davies

There is a growing sense of anxiety among farmers for they were ordered
not to cultivate paddy in the Htamanthi hydel project area in northwestern
Burma. The project will commence very soon in Sagaing Division of Burma
with the assistance from India.

Burmese military's Infantry Battalion No. 370 ordered local farmers not to
cultivate paddy in the Kuki tribe dominated villages in Homalin, Sagaing
Division. These villages are Laivomzang, Ta Son, Chin Maithaung and Shan
Maithaung in the project area.

The local farmers told Mizzima over telephone, "There are a total 500
acres of fallow land in four villages and we lost 25,000 baskets of paddy.
Though we can consume from the stocks we have from last year's crop this
year, we have no idea what to do next year. And they have paid no
compensation for our follow land."

But the authorities paid Ks 50,000 compensation to U Ngam Kho Sat from
Laivomzan village. He is lucky because he got compensation. The
authorities confiscated his land for construction of a PWO guest house.
The land is worth Ks. 8 lakhs at current market prices. The four earth
wave heavy machinery and diesel have arrived at the project site.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Burmese Junta leader Senior Gen.
Than Shwe signed an MoU for the construction of the Thamanthi hydel
project in October 2004. At that time, India and Burma signed an
understanding on flushing out cross-border militant groups, cross-border
infrastructure development project, the Kaladan multi-modal transport
project, India-Burma-Thailand trilateral highway project,
India-Burma-Bangladesh gas pipeline projects and Thamanti Hydro-electric
Power projects.

The Thamanthi dam will be built by National Hydroelectricity Power
Corporation (NHPC) of India and 80% of power will be consumed by India and
the rest 20% is for Burma.

The Kuki Student Democratic Front (KSDF) staged a protest demonstration on
June 28 this year at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi against the project.

The dam is to be constructed near a village called " Laivomzang " located
between Homalin and Thamanti towns in Chindwin basin and is expected to
generate a minimum of 1200 Megawatts.

Pre-dominantly occupied by ethnic Kukis, the proposed dam site is also
known as the largest natural park of Burma, where varied species of wild
life ranging from the rhinoceros to tigers and wild boars abound. It also
home to the famous hornbills and rare air-borne species.

"This project has already started exploiting our forestry and it will
result in all our rare animal species to migrate to other places like the
Kaziranga sanctuary in Assam," said Let Lam, advisor of the KSDF.

____________________________________

August 30, Mizzima News
Burmese junta appoints officials for media queries - Nava Thakuria

The military rulers of Burma are critical about the foreign media's role
in releasing 'motivated' news and broadcasting without authentication.
This was the view of Brig. Gen. Kyaw Hsan, Minister for Information under
the State Peace and Development Council, which runs the country.

Attending a Press Conference (No 6/2005) on Sunday at the meeting hall of
the ministry on Theinbyu Road in the capital, the minister argued that a
section of the media was spreading 'fabricated' news fed by internal and
external destructive elements aiming to destabilizing the country.

Asserting that the government, now-a-days has to take ' a great deal of
care to ensure harmony given the prevailing situation, to protect 'the
interests of the nation and the people', the Information minister added,
"It is common knowledge that internal and external destructive elements in
collusion with certain foreign broadcasting stations are constantly
broadcasting fabricated, exaggerated, instigative and slanderous news with
the aim of encroaching on the State's stability and national solidarity.
This leads to panic among the public, misleading the people, and creating
unrest."

However, responding to the allegation of the media representing of various
news agencies that it is difficult to confirm any news relating to SPDC as
nobody comes forward with an official response, Kyaw Hsan declared that
here after three officials would respond to the queries of the Press. He
asked journalists to contact the Director-General U Nyan Lin of Consular
and International Legal Affairs, Department of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs; Head of Special Investigation Department of Myanmar Police Force
Police Brig-Gen Myint Thein and Managing Director of News and Periodicals
Enterprise U Soe Win for any queries they may have. He provided the
journalists the contact phone numbers of the three officials.

The Information Minister even appealed to the media persons in Burma to
'launch a counter-offensive against media offensives of internal and
external terrorist destructive elements.'
However, the Mizzima correspondent in Northeast India had tried in vain to
communicate with the concerned officials. First the lines were disturbed.
Secondly, all those responding to the numbers were speaking only in the
Burmese language. Those attending the phone calls knew no English
therefore they could not hand over the phone to responsible officers. So,
for a non-Burmese journalist it is next to impossible to interact with the
officers, not to speak of getting information from them.

Mizzima correspondent tried all three numbers (00951 549199, 00951 222197,
00951 294523) many times, but failed to communicate. Now what is the point
in providing numbers, which are attended by staff who only know the local
language. Moreover, there is little or no use of these numbers to
journalists based in different parts of the globe.

It may be mentioned that Senior General Than Shwe, 72, who seized the
junta leadership in 1992 had extended the house arrest of Nobel Peace
Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The National League for Democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi was detained once again after the Deepayin massacre in
May 2003.

The Parade Magazine from U.S. this year has ranked Than Shwe, also
Commander in Chief of Burma's armed forces as the third worst dictator in
the world.

Rumours spread inside and outside Burma last week that Than Shwe was
toppled in a coup led by the Junta's second strong man General Maung Aye
and he was hospitalized at a Rangoon military hospital. Referring to the
rumours, the minister claimed that he was 'discharging the
responsibilities of state and is in good health.'

____________________________________

August 30, Shan Herald Agency for News
Ceasefire group gets marching orders

The embattled ceasefire group Shan State Army ‘North’ has been given
orders to move out its Third Brigade from its operational area, report
ceasefire sources form the Shan State’s northern capital, Lashio.

The notification was delivered to the SSA ‘North’’s leader Maj-Gen Loimao
on 24 August by the Lashio-based Northeastern Region Commander Maj-Gen
Myint Hlaing, who has already won recognition from his superiors by his
recent success in forcing several groups to surrender their arms to the
Burma Army. “It was during a visit made by Lt-Gen Kyaw Win (former chief
of armed forces training who recently swapped places with Lt-Gen Ye Myint,
chief of Special Operations Bureau No.1), said an SSA liaison officer, who
requested anonymity. “Kyaw Win has been rumored to have replaced (Lt-Gen)
Aung Htwe (chief of Special Operations Bureau No.2 that oversees Shan and
Kayah states affairs). Myint Hlaing himself is said to be stockpiling his
achievements to earn his coveted post in the capital, Commander of the
Rangoon Region Command, succeeding the incumbent Maj-Gen Myint Swe.”

Kyaw Win, former commander of the Burma Army’s eastern Shan State forces,
is being marked as a protégé of Deputy Senior General Maung Aye.

The Third Brigade that is active in Mongmit, Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Namtu and
Lashio townships, has been given a 15-day deadline that ends on 8
September to move to Hsengkeow, the SSA headquarters. In addition, all SSA
units have been warned a week earlier not to carry arms or walkie-talkies
outside their bases.

The Third Brigade is commanded by Lt-Col Hla Myint, who replaced Col
Hsaimo on 8 April 2003, following the latter’s ouster. Hsengkeow had found
solid evidence of Hsaimo’s conspiracy to make a separate deal with Myint
Hlaing and transform the brigade into a pro-junta militia force.

It is still unclear how the SSA ‘North’ will react to the Burma Army’s
order. It has two other brigades: the First, based in Kehsi, and the
Seventh, based in Kunhing.

____________________________________

August 30, Narinjara News
Akyab residents have to pay for street lights

Residents of Akyab have to pay 500 kyats a house per month for street
lights in the capital of Arakan State.

A merchant from Khonedan Quarter of Akyab says, “Every house has to pay
500 kyats. It is collected by the Lighting Committee of Akyab.

The Lighting Committee consists of the junta Charge-d’Affairs of the Akyab
region, Brigadier General Than Tun Aung and business men who are close to
the military authorities.  This includes the oil merchant U Shwe Tun Aung
and Salt Than Shwe, the owner of Shwe Thazin Hotel in Akyab.

“The electricity is not always available. When it is available, it is only
for about two and a half hours. No one really wants to pay for the street
charge of 500, but the fear of reprisal from the authorities is greater
than the money,” says the same merchant.

The Lighting committee not only collects the street fees, but also
inspects the electricity meters. If there is no payment of the electricity
or any breaches of the Committee’s policies, there are heavy fines. If the
fines are not paid, the electricity will be cut off and the meter counter
(a valuable item as the mean of getting electricity) will be sold off.

In about a month time, 57 households were fined for 12,000 kyats. Those
unable to pay the fines saw their meter confiscated and resold for 20,000
kyats. The proceedings were divided among the members of the committee,
says an Akyab resident.

She also continues that “the committee collected money from town people to
buy meters. Every household has to pay about 3,000 kyats. The money is
disappears", and a result has yet to be seen.

It is learnt that Akyab had twenty-four hour electricity under the
democracy period led by Prime Minister U Nu, but since the Ne Win regime
began, electricity has been a rare event of the day.  Under the current
military regime it is only available for two hours a day.

____________________________________
GUNS

August 29, Reuters
Bangladesh troops find ammunition dump near Myanmar

Bangladesh troops seized thousands of rounds of ammunition on Monday in a
forest near the country's border with Myanmar in the latest of a series of
weapons and ammunition hauls, security officials said.

"Some 15,000 ammunition rounds of AK-47 rifles were busted during an
ongoing raid to flush out clandestine militants," a security official
said.

The troops also recovered 32 German-made pistols on Saturday. A fortnight
ago soldiers seized a U.S.-made M-16 rifle, a British light machinegun and
hundreds of rounds of ammunition following a gunbattle with militants in
the same forest, 450 km (281 miles) southeast of the capital Dhaka.

Security officials say the militants are rebels from Myanmar hiding along
the border.

Bangladesh and Myanmar share a 320-km (200-mile) border.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

August 30, Agence France Presse
Thailand's PTT starts exploring new offshore site in Myanmar: report

Thai state energy firm PTT Exploration and Production International has
begun drilling for gas in an offshore test well off the south-east coast
of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper said on Tuesday.

The drilling in the Zawtika test well began on Monday in a block adjacent
to the Yadana gas field which currently supplies gas to Thailand, the New
Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

The Thai firm will continue drilling the test wells for the rest of this
year and into 2006, the newspaper added.

The energy giant last month signed a deal with the Myanma (eds: correct
spelling) Oil and Gas Enterprise for block M-11 in the Gulf of Martaban.

The production sharing contract allows the PTTEP subsidiary to explore the
block which covers 7,200 square kilometers (2,779 square miles), the
company told the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 30, Reuters
Trafficking of women, children on rise worldwide-UN

Human trafficking is on the rise worldwide, with millions of women and
children ending up as sex slaves, beggars and mine labourers each year,
U.N. officials said on Tuesday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, speaking at an
Asia-Pacific human rights conference in Beijing, called trafficking in
humans horrendous.

"By its very nature, it constitutes an acute violation of human rights and
reports today suggest that more people are being trafficked than ever
before," she said. The International Labour Organisation estimated more
than 2 million people were trafficked worldwide every year, the head of
the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said.

"No country or region is immune," UNICEF executive director Ann Veneman said.

"Children are forced into prostitution, begging and soliciting, labour on
plantations and in mines, markets, factories and domestic work."

In the Asia-Pacific region, especially in Southeast Asia, the sex trade is
a major factor behind the smuggling of people.

Girls from poor villages in Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines and
elsewhere are lured into cities or neighbouring countries and end up at
massage parlours or karaoke bars, or are flown as far as Australia, Japan,
South Africa and the United States to be kept as slaves in brothels.

Arbour urged countries in the region to ratify international human rights
agreements to combat trafficking.

In China, the world's most populous country, trafficking of people is a
common practice of gangs that have grown alongside government corruption
and widespread poverty, academics say.

The sale of women and children is a nationwide problem, partly a result of
stringent central rules on family planning that allow couples to have only
one child.

Security was tight on Tuesday outside the Beijing hotel where the
symposium is being held, apparently to prevent any disgruntled petitioners
from approaching Arbour.

China's human rights record is widely criticised, not only for issues
related to trafficking, but also for the government's close grip on the
media, harsh methods for maintaining order and repression of religion.

Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan met Arbour before the symposium and
later called on Asian countries to improve human rights, while repeating
China's standard line.

"Every country should choose its own way to protect human rights according
to its national situation," Tang told representatives from 37 governments
at the meeting.

"We have no other choice but to make the realisation of the right to
development and the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights our
most pressing task," he adding, noting two-thirds of the world's poor
lived in the Asia-Pacific area.

China defends its rights record on grounds that feeding and clothing its
1.3 billion people is a basic human right and more important than
political freedoms.

_____________________________________

August 28, Democratic Voice of Burma
Burmese Arakan refugees in Bangladesh facing more difficulties

Due to neglect by the United Nations and the international community,
Arakan nationals from western Burma taking refuge in Bangladesh are facing
more difficulties for survival, according to a report by Narinjara News.

Many Arakan nationals have fled to Bangladesh since the 1988 pro-democracy
uprising in Burma, but only just over 150 Buddhist Arakanese have been
recognized by the UN refugee agency UNHCR as 'urban refugees'.

The UNHCR is still refusing to recognise even some of those who took the
leading roles in the uprising - as refugees, Maung Soe Tint who has been
taking refuge in Bangladesh since 1988 said. Even those who were
recognised by the UNHCR have often been harassed, arrested and detained by
local Bangladeshi authorities.

On 25 July, local security police arrested a UNHCR recognised Arakan
refugee named Min Maung while he was having dinner with his family. The
authority claimed he was arrested after a shootout, and accused him of
possessing guns. But his wife insisted the accusations against him have
been falsely created and that no weapons were in his possession. Without
UNHCR intervention in this case, the man will be facing a long jail term.
He has since been transferred to police custody for trial after severe
interrogation.

After a series of bomb blasts on 17 August, the Bangladeshi authorities
have tightened security along the border with Burma where Arakan refugees
have been working at various projects run under the UNHCR self-sufficient
programs.

Arakan political activists are also being closely watched by local
intelligence agents and they are worried that they might be arrested on
false charges.

_____________________________________

August 30, Mizzima News
Thai Sardine factory lays off 700 Burmese workers - Suu Mya Mya Soe

The Thai Sardine factory authorities in Banbon, Bangkok have laid off over
700 Burmese workers for not having work permits.

The Sardine factory authorities ordered all undocumented workers to leave
the factory within three days. Initially the factory owners thought that
the new comers will get work permits but later found out that only old
workers can renew their work permits. No new work permits will be issued
to the newcomers. Then the factory authorities decided to throw out the
newcomers and evicted them from the factory premises.

Man New Ni Soe from Dawai (Taway) who came to Bangkok only three months
ago told Mizzima that " They gave us only one or two days to leave and we
have no time for any kind of preparation. We have no money, and we still
have to pay back 7,000 Bhat to the human carriers and brokers. Those who
have their kith and kin here can still get assistance. How can I go back
home without assistance? I must find a new job here."

The Thai government has set August 31 as the deadline for registration.
Over 3,000 Burmese workers were employed in this sardine factory of which
over 700 workers are undocumented.

The Burmese interpreter Ko San Kyi said that the factory owner tried his
best for getting work permits for the newcomers by negotiating with
government officials. His efforts failed. He had to lay off and evict the
newcomers who cannot be registered under the country's labour regulations.

"Yes the boss threw them out in haste and regretted not being able to give
them enough time. He tried to get work permit till the last moment and
wanted even more workers for the expansion of the factory. He is facing a
shortage of workers," he added.

Most of the workers are from Taway (Dawai) and came to Ranong. They were
brought to Bangkok by human traffickers. They charged Bhats 7, 000 for
bringing each of them over. Moreover the workers have to pay a so-called
'admission fee' of Bhat 3,000 each for clothes, rented home, security,
water and electricity bills. The registration fees are Bhat 3,000 per head
and this is extra.

The working hours in this factory are 10 hours a day and six days a week.
The wage is Bhat 185 a day.

Thailand's labour department has issued registration which reads that
unregistered workers can be punished up to three months in prison and will
have to pay Bhat 5, 000 as fine. The fine will be Bhat 60,000 and up to
three years imprisonment for the factory owner. Many think there will be
more raids and arrests after this deadline.

The alien workers are mostly employed in category 3 D (dangerous, dirty
and difficult) in Thailand. Most of these alien workers are from Burma
while others are from Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and the Chinese from Yunan
province. Lakhs of Burmese workers are employed as housemaids, factory
workers, cargo handlers, construction and plantation workers.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 30, International Herald Tribune
Letter from Asia: Myanmar's withdrawal: What the junta wanted? - Seth Mydans

Were the generals really pushed, or did they jump?

Myanmar appeared to be in agony a month ago as it gave in to pressure from
countries it thought were its friends and renounced its turn next year in
the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

It was an obvious humiliation for this pariah nation that had gained a
shot at respectability eight years ago when it was allowed to join the
10-member regional club, known as Asean.

Now came the crowning honor when Myanmar's generals could, as it were,
squeeze into frock coats and stand tall as international statesmen.

It took months of arm-twisting by their smiling neighbors to force their
withdrawal under the threat of a boycott by the United States of any Asean
meetings chaired by Myanmar.

The announcement, at an Asean meeting in Laos, was an excruciating
exercise in face-saving. The ruling junta, it said, needed "to focus its
attention on the ongoing national reconciliation and democratization
process" and would just be too busy.

Gotcha.

The emerging analysis now is that it was all a trick. The Myanmar generals
were in fact desperate to wriggle out of a situation they couldn't handle,
the theory goes. Crying crocodile tears, they manipulated their so-called
friends into doing it for them.

And suddenly, according to this logic, they were free - free from all that
pressure to civilize themselves in time for next year's conference, to
release political prisoners, to liberate the pro-democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi from house arrest.

They could breathe a sigh of relief over what would have been a huge task
upgrading their airport, preparing conference centers, finding competent
translators and staff and organizing secret surveillance of masses of
interlopers.

These leaders are people who block United Nations representatives from
visiting, who hold foreign diplomats at bay, who bar most foreign
journalists - because they do not want to be looked at too closely.

They weren't ready to demonstrate to the world that they are a normal
nation, the analysis goes, because they are not a normal nation.

And so they played victim to international pressure. "Once more they
showed how clever they are," said Robert Taylor, a London-based scholar on
Myanmar, speaking recently at a conference in Singapore.

Their neighbors will have to stop criticizing them because the generals
did them a favor by stepping aside, Taylor said. And they have been saved
the headaches of invasions by hordes of diplomats and journalists.

Josef Silverstein, an expert on Myanmar at Rutgers University, said he had
expected the junta to back out.

"I don't think they had any alternative," he said. "I don't think they
could have managed it. They are shorthanded and couldn't have devoted the
kind of time and personnel and money they would need."

At the Asean meeting in Laos last month, officials from Myanmar took up
the theme, whispering to journalists that the international community
"played right into our hands."

"We were let off the hook, thanks to the Americans," an unidentified
official told Agence France-Presse.

But are the generals really that clever?

These are people who so misread their countrymen that they held free and
fair parliamentary elections in 1990 fully expecting to win. When Aung San
Suu Kyi's party won more than 80 percent of the seats there was nothing
subtle about the junta's response: it annulled the result and clung to
power.

Again in 2002 they were totally unprepared for her huge popularity when
they experimented with a longer leash, freeing her from house arrest to
tour the country. Huge, rock-concert-style crowds mobbed her.

Nothing subtle about their response this time either. They turned loose a
mob on her convoy, beating to death scores of people. She narrowly escaped
serious injury and was locked back up again under house arrest.

Repression, imprisonment and invective seem to be the extent of the
junta's notions of dealing with a popular opposition.

Their international diplomacy also seems to follow a rather simple
formula: keep promising and promising; it's amazing how far empty promises
will get you.

Unless they were playing a sophisticated game of bait and switch, they did
appear ready and eager for the big time before the meeting in Laos.

They had already begun making expensive repairs and expansions to the
airport at the capital, Yangon. And official newspapers were filled with
previews of the generals' important international role and of the flood of
dollars these Asean meetings would bring in.

After Laos, the papers fell silent, offering only a whisper about the
deflation of the plans they had trumpeted.

"It's clear that Than Shwe did not come out looking very good," said
Debbie Stothard, coordinator of Altsean-Burma, a regional human rights
group, speaking of the general who leads the junta.

"This was his chance to shine as chairman of Asean," she said. "He
probably saw the chair of Asean as more of the throne than anything else,
and he missed out on that chance."

Finally, if this was a tactical retreat by the generals, it is not clear
how much they gained from it.

The official statement, in fact, did not take them off the hook. "We
agreed that once Myanmar is ready to take its turn to be the ASEAN chair
it can do so," the Asean foreign ministers said.

The possible timetable is fuzzy. Some analysts say Myanmar could get
another shot next year. Some say it could be five years, when the current
rotation of chairmanships is completed.

That still leaves open the question of what "ready" means, and of who
would be the judge. The threat of an American boycott remains.

Whatever the timing, and whatever the standard, it's clear that the
junta's good friends in Asean will still be watching.

It seems unlikely that they will offer Myanmar a second chance until the
gates to Aung San Suu Kyi's house swing open and they are permitted to
join her for tea when they travel to meet the generals.