BurmaNet News, May 6-8, 2006

[Editor]

May 6-8, 2006 Issue # 2957


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar democracy party rejects resignation reports
DVB: Mandalay NLD MPs and members vow to serve Burmese people until death
DVB: Made in Myanmar: Korean sweatshop workers’ demands ignored
Japan Economic Newswire: Germany funds HIV/AIDS project in Myanmar
AP: Bomb explodes on rail line in Myanmar; no injuries reported

ON THE BORDER
Bangkok Post: Burma fighting destabilising: Chidchai
Thai Press Reports: Thailand military uses high technology to fight
cross-border drug trafficking
Mizzima: Karen relief worker killed by landmine

HEALTH / AIDS
AFP: Bird flu experts to help combat virus in Myanmar

DRUGS
Xinhua General News Service: UNODC to expand anti-drug aid project in Myanmar

BUSINESS / TRADE
AP: Myanmar state media report inflation rate of 10 percent for 2005
fiscal year

ASEAN
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: South-East Asian parliamentary caucus calls for
action on Myanmar

REGIONAL
Mizzima: KNO slams KIA ceasefire

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Time for UN to address Burma

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 8, Agence France Presse
Myanmar democracy party rejects resignation reports

Yangon: Myanmar's opposition on Monday rejected claims in official media
that over 60 of its members had resigned amid pressure from the ruling
junta, which has accused the party of links to "terrorists."

The New Light of Myanmar said Monday that 67 members of the National
League for Democracy (NLD), headed by detained democracy icon Aung San Suu
Kyi, sent resignation letters to the party's headquarters and the
government.

The report in the state-run daily also repeated the junta's claim last
month that the NLD had links with "groups of exiles, insurgents and
terrorists".

A party spokesman said it had not received any resignation letters.

"We haven't received any resgination letters yet. We also don't
acknowledge recent reports in the state media," party spokesman Nyan Win
said.

State media have claimed that a total of more than 240 NLD members have
resigned since the junta's terrorist accusation nearly two weeks ago.
Neither the government nor the opposition party disclose the number of NLD
members.

Regional NLD officials have confirmed some resignations, saying the
military had intimidated people into leaving the party.

The NLD, which denounces violence, won a landslide victory in elections in
1990 but the military-led government has never allowed it to govern.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for more than 10 of the last
17 years.

____________________________________

May 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
Mandalay NLD MPs and members vow to serve Burmese people until death

Elected people's representatives (MPs) and members of the divisional
organizing committee of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in
Mandalay Division held a meeting yesterday afternoon, and vowed to serve
people until death despite pressure from Burma’s ruling military junta to
quit the party.

The meeting held at the NLD Office attended by all representatives and
divisional officials made four "important" decisions, said Win Mya Mya,
member of the Mandalay Division Organizing Committee.

“The four decisions made are: 1. Elected representatives from Mandalay
Division and Mandalay Division Organizing Committee will continue holding
regular meetings, 2. The NLD Central Executive Committee will be urged to
seek a dialogue for national reconciliation by sending an open letter,
which will be recorded in the annals of history, to Senior General Than
Shwe, 3. All elected representatives present here at the meeting express
their unreserved support for Special Announcements No 1/02/06 issued on
Union Day (12 February) and No 3/04/06 released on 21 April by the NLD
Central Executive Committee, 4. All elected representatives from Mandalay
Division here at this meeting will continue to be NLD members until
democracy prevails in Burma, and they will continue to loyally and
dutifully undertake their responsibilities as representatives of the
people until death since they are elected according to the will of the
people.”

Although NLD members are making such decisions, there are no signs that
the military junta will accept the offer from the NLD. It only continues
to announce the resignation of NLD members every day. Today, there was a
strongly worded report about 62 NLD members resigning from Shwepyi village
of Mandalay Division's Singu Township.

NLD Spokesperson Nyan Win said yesterday that the resignations are the
result of intense pressure from the military and he called on the junta to
immediately halt the acts. He said the moves by the military contradict
the junta's claim that it is working towards multiparty democracy and
these strong-armed tactics are aimed at making the threat of Minister of
Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan (about NLD not having the support of the
people) come true.

____________________________________

May 6, Democratic Voice of Burma
Made in Myanmar: Korean sweatshop workers’ demands ignored

Security has been tightened at a South Korean clothing factory in Rangoon
South Okkalappa Township as nearly 1000 employees staged a strike
demanding salary hike and other rights.

On 2 May, 934 workers of Hae Wae clothing factory went on the strike
demanding their employer to increase their salary. On the following day,
the factory owner Mr Tae Joshin arrived at the factory and promised the
workers to increase their salary and urged them to return to work while
meeting with the managers and supervisors of the factory.

During the negotiation, the news of the strike was leaked outside the
factory, and a police force led by the local township authority chairman
Kyaw Shwe and the police chief Soe Lwin came to ‘inspect’ the factory. But
the factory owner didn’t allow all the workers to meet with the authority
members to voice their demands. Only 48 selected representatives of the
workers were allowed to see the authority members to sign a pledge which
states that there was no problem within the factory.

Later on, the factory manager Myo Win carried out a news blackout on the
whole saga by ‘entertaining’ the whole team of the authority members at a
swanky restaurant and giving bribes to them, according to sources close to
the workers.

But the factory workers are still feeling aggrieved by the incident, and
12 police officers have been positioned inside the factory compound to
intimidate and control the workers.

The workers were feeling outraged by the facts that they were given only
4500 (About US$ 3-4) Kyats instead of 6000 Kyats annual bonus; those who
were absent from work for three days are not entitled to the bonus and
they are not allowed to take a rest, not even to cool themselves with a
fan, when they are working at the factory.

The workers are now said to be feeling angry not only with their employer
but also the local authorities, as the latter are taking only bribes from
foreign employers instead of helping them obtain their basic rights.

____________________________________

May 6, Japan Economic Newswire
Germany funds HIV/AIDS project in Myanmar

Yangon: Germany will provide $870,000 to the United Nations Children's
Fund for HIV/AIDS prevention program in Myanmar, UNICEF said in a
statement released in Yangon late Friday.

The German fund will support UNICEF's work with local nongovernmental
organizations, in providing life skills and HIV/AIDS prevention education
programs for out-of-school youth in Myanmar, the statement said.

Myanmar currently has about 330,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and the
prevalence rate among people aged 15 to 49 years is estimated at 1.2
percent, it said.

The UNICEF program, focusing on youths aged 10-17, will operate in
townships that are particularly affected by HIV/AIDS and where youths who
are not attending school do not normally have access to alternative
learning opportunities, the statement said.

____________________________________

May 6, Associated Press
Bomb explodes on rail line in Myanmar; no injuries reported

Yangon: A bomb exploded on a railroad northeast of Myanmar's commercial
capital, causing minor damage but no injuries, the country's state-run
media reported Saturday.

The explosion late Friday damaged a transformer and a fence on a rail line
to the towns of Penwegon and Kyaukkyi, 160 kilometers (100 miles)
northeast of Yangon, the New Light of Myanmar reported.

Rail service was not affected by the explosion, a railway official said on
condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the
media.

The explosion occurred a day after Myanmar's military government warned
that "terrorists" sent by anti-government groups and ethnic rebels were
planning bomb attacks in major cities in the country. Security was
tightened in Yangon, and authorities warned the public to be vigilant.

A spate of bomb blasts hit Myanmar earlier this year and a series of six
explosions rattled downtown Yangon in April, causing minor damage but no
injuries.

The government blamed opposition exile groups and ethnic minority rebel
groups for the bombings.

Friday's railway explosion occurred two days before the first anniversary
of bomb attacks in Yangon on May 7, 2005, when at least 23 people were
killed and more than 160 injured in explosions at two supermarkets and a
convention center.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 8, Bangkok Post
Burma fighting destabilising: Chidchai

Acting Prime Minister Chidchai Wannasathit says the continuing fighting
between the Burmese army and ethnic Karen rebels near Thai-Burma border
has caused an influx of refugees who have fled the fighting to seek refuge
in Thailand.

Pol Gen Chidchai, who is also Justice Minister, said Thailand must
shoulder the burden of providing food and shelter for the displaced
Burmese. Apart from that, fighting regularly spills over into Thai
territory.

Burmese government troops have recently launched an offensive against
several bases of the Karen National Union (KNU), a rebel group which has
been fighting for independence for more than 50 years.

The Karen first rebelled against Burma's civilian government after the
departure of British colonial forces, but after a Burmese-led military
coup d'etat in 1962, the ethnic minority continued to oppose the rule of
successive military governments, the latest of which officially changed
the country's name to Myanmar.

Karen bases under attack are located across the Moei River from Tha Song
Yang district in the northern province of Tak.

Last week, more than 1,000 ethnic Karen crossed border into the northern
Thai province of Mae Hong Son following because of fighting and demands
for forced labour in Burma. They sought refuge at a camp in Mae Hong Son's
Sop Moei district and are now staying at Mae La Luang temporary shelter.

____________________________________

May 8, Thai Press Reports
Thailand military uses high technology to fight cross-border drug trafficking

The military is deploying the latest technology in its efforts to deter
drug trafficking across the Thai-Burmese border, and has also increased
its presence in the area, the Bangkok Post reports.

Pa Muang task force commander Wanatip Wongwai said a new remote sensor
device was helping the unit suppress the drugs trade across the border
more effectively.

He was speaking during a patrol operation at the border in Chiang Rai's
Mae Fa Luang district, in response to reports that smugglers were planning
to bring 200kg of heroin across the border to Ban Mong Kao Lang.

Maj-Gen Wanatip said the sensors could detect anyone crossing the border
and transmit the data instantly to the main surveillance centre.

''This device is of tremendous benefit to the anti-drug operation in Mae
Ai district in Chiang Mai.

''We've been able to intercept six drug dealers and confiscate the illegal
substances that came with them, including speed pills and heroin, on the
spot,'' said one soldier, who declined to be named.

Security patrols in Mae Sai are as intense as those in Mae Fa Luang district.

____________________________________

May 8, Mizzima News
Karen relief worker killed by landmine

Karen relief worker and camera man for the Free Burma Rangers Saw Mu was
killed after stepping on a landmine in Muthraw district, Karen State last
Thursday, according the group.

In a statement released today, FBR—a grassroots relief group operating in
Karen State—said the landmine that killed Saw Mu had been laid by the
Burmese military.

“He was a bright, humble and brave young man. We are saddened by his death
but believe he did not die in vain . . . He died putting a light on the
current Burma Army attacks on the civilians of this area and that light is
shining,” FBR said in a statement.

Media workers for the group have provided the exile and international
media with vital information on the situation in Karen State allowing
unprecedented coverage of the Burmese military’s ongoing attacks against
Karen civilians.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

May 8, Agence France Presse
Bird flu experts to help combat virus in Myanmar

Yangon: International bird flu experts will spend two months in Myanmar to
increase awareness of and combat the spread of the deadly virus, the
country's state-run media said Monday.

The British and Australian experts will travel to farms in central Myanmar
after more than 100 outbreaks were detected in two districts around the
city of Mandalay in March.

"They will make field trips to restricted townships in Mandalay and
Sagaing divisions and discuss control of the disease in cooperation with
Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) staff," the official
New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

The visit comes after United Nations officials expressed grave concern
about the bird flu situation in Myanmar because of the country's poor
economy and its crumbling health care system.

Some 660,000 chickens and quails from 545 farms have been slaughtered
since the H5N1 virus was first confirmed in 13 central townships around
Mandalay, the newspaper said Monday.

The military-run government claimed late last month that the outbreaks
were under control and lifted a ban on poultry sales in the area.

However the newspaper said farms will only be allowed to restock after
livestock officials have declared them bird-flu free for two months.

"Only when the situation is safe will restocking programmes and the
provision of chickens and feedstuffs be implemented," it said.

"Illegally imported chickens and quails and those that fail to register at
the LBVD and have no animal health certificates will not be allowed on
farms." Myanmar has received millions of dollars in donations of
laboratory and medical equipment from UN agencies, Thailand, China and
Japan to fight the disease.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 100 people in nine countries since
2003. Scientists fear a global pandemic if the virus mutates and becomes
easily transmissible between humans.

No human cases have been reported in Myanmar.

____________________________________
DRUGS

May 8, Xinhua General News Service
UNODC to expand anti-drug aid project in Myanmar

Yangon: The United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in Myanmar is
planning to expand its alternative development assistance project in the
country's Wa special region- 2 in northern Shan state to help eradicate
drug, a local weekly reported Monday.

The agency will make the move, while inviting support from international
donors, Shariq Bin Raza, new UNODC chief in Myanmar, was quoted by the
Myanmar Times as saying.

Shariq stressed the need for sustainability of opium production reduction
in the country, saying that the sustainability can only come when poppy
growers can sustain the livelihood without depending on illicit crops.

UNODC project in Myanmar has been implemented since the 1990s for
eliminating drug production.

Meanwhile, the 2005 Annual World Drug Report, based on the surveys
undertaken by the Joint Myanmar-UNODC Illicit Crop Monitoring Program,
indicated a declining trend both in cultivation and production in Myanmar
with an estimated poppy cultivation dropping 59 percent from 105,000
hectares to 32,770 hectares during the past five years and the potential
opium production falling 61 percent from 1,097 tons to 319 tons.

Another U.S.-Myanmar joint opium yield surveys conducted with the Counter
Narcotics and Crime (CNC) said that opium production in Myanmar dropped 88
percent from 2,650 tons in 1996 to 292 tons in 2004.

Despite marked decline in opium and heroin seizure in the country in
recent years, it witnessed the escalating problem of amphetamine type
stimulants.

According to official figures, from 1988 up to March 2006, the Myanmar
authorities confiscated 37.9 tons of opium and 7.4 tons of heroin as well
as a large amount of various kinds of other drugs with a total street
value of 20.4 billion U.S. dollars, arresting 105,417 drug offenders
including 17,993 women.

Myanmar has been implementing a 15-year drug elimination plan ( 1999-2000
to 2013-2014) to totally wipe out drugs and the third five-year plan
beginning 2004-05 is underway.

The country successfully established two opium-free zones in Shan state,
one in the Mongla region in 1997 and the other in Kokang region in 2003.
The Wa region is expected to be declared in the near future.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

May 8, Associated Press
Myanmar state media report inflation rate of 10 percent for 2005 fiscal year

Yangon: A Myanmar newsweekly reported the country's inflation rate at 10
percent for the 2005 fiscal year ending March 31 far lower than the 53
percent calculated by the U.N.'s regional economic organization.

A senior official from the ministry of finance and revenue said inflation
figures from the Myanmar government and the U.N. Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific differed because of the varying
methods of calculation, the privately owned Myanmar Times reported.

According to the government Central Statistics Organization, Myanmar's
inflation rate had jumped to 54 percent in 2002, then plummeted to 8
percent the following year due to a banking crisis in the country. The
inflation rate was 12 percent in 2004 and 9 percent in last year.

Myanmar's kyat currency in May last year was 1,000 to US$1 on the black
market. On Sunday, it was 1,310 kyats to US$1.

The official exchange rate for the kyat, which is non-convertible, is
approximately 6 kyat to the dollar, but most business transactions and
consumer sales are conducted at the black market rate.

Analysts speculate that the inflation rate will increase this year due to
a recent salary hike of the country's 1 million civil servants.

As of April 30, state employees received pay increases ranging from five
to twelve times their old salaries. The lowest-ranking state official now
gets 15,000 kyats (US$11.50; euro9.50) a month, while those at the top end
of the scale get 200,000 kyats (US$154; euro127).

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 8, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
South-East Asian parliamentary caucus calls for action on Myanmar

Bangkok: A caucus of Asian parliamentarians on Monday called on the
Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations to
take action against Myanmar's (Burma's) military regime for ongoing
violence against the Karen ethnic group.

Myanmar's military regime has reportedly cleansed the neighbourhood around
its new capital of Pyinmana of all ethnic Karen, forcing some 11,000 now
homeless refugees to flee to the Thai border over the past three months.

The Karen are one of Myanmar's largest ethnic minority groups, who have
been waging a guerrilla war for the autonomy of the Karen State for the
past five decades.

The latest crackdown on the Karen has highlighted Myanmar's abysmal human
rights record and failure to implement political reforms, making the
country an ongoing international embarrassment for ASEAN of which it
became a member in 1997. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), a two-year-old
grouping of "progressive" parliamentarians from Malaysia, the Philippines
and Thailand, called on the ASEAN governments to consider putting the
Myanmar issue on the agenda at the UN Security Council.

"The UN has been considering to act on this issue at the Security Council
but it was put off by Malaysia," said outgoing Thai Senator Kraisak
Choonhavan.

"We have to tell the ASEAN countries to reconsider this. ASEAN has to come
out with a resolution to have the question of Burma discussed and not
protect the regime," said Kraisak, a founding member of the AIPMC.

In a statement, the AIPMC added, "The UNSC must play its role and carry
out its functions in dealing with perpetrators of such crimes.  The
destruction of villages in Eastern Burma and the military attacks on
civilians have also been labelled as acts of genocide.The UNSC  must not
fail in effectively dealing with the situation if it wants  to reassure
the international community of its relevance."

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 8, Mizzima News
KNO slams KIA ceasefire - Mungpi

The Kachin National Organisation marked the inauguration of its India
branch on Saturday by condemning the Kachin Independence Army's ceasefire
with the Burmese military.

KNO spokesman Z. Dilla said at the opening ceremony for the group's New
Delhi branch the ceasefire agreement between the KIA and the military had
a negative impact on the situation in Kachin State.

"After years of ceasefire agreements with the junta, the KIA are not able
to move forward and are not able to change their policy . . . so the
situation has necessitate to form a new group that will strongly stand for
the people of Kachin," said Z. Dilla.

The KIA, the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization, signed a
ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military in 1994 after 33 years of
fighting.

Following the agreement, Burmese troops gained access to areas of Kachin
State previously controlled by the group through several joint development
projects.

Despite the ceasefire, the military killed six KIA soldiers in January and
arrested 14 members in April, all of whom remain detained.

KIA officials were not available for comment on the weekend.

The KNO condemned the killings of the KIA soldiers on Saturday and said
they would not tolerate similar treatment by the military.

"The junta troops may be able to treat the KIA soldiers like that but we
will not stand anything like that," Z. Dilla said.

The KNO, which was formed in 1999 by Kachin leaders inside Burma and
expatriates living in the United States, launched its own armed wing, the
United Kachin Army, in March this year.

The KNO's second commander-in-chief major Brang Sang told Mizzima the UKA
was created to defend Kachin people against the Burmese military.

"UKA has alliances with other democratic armed forces and welcome to join
hands with other democratic forces," Major Brang Seng said.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 6, The Nation
Time for UN to address Burma

Hundreds of Karen refugees are poised to enter Thailand, joining some
140,000 refugees living for decades in strings of refugee camps along the
northern Thai border. Like those before them, the Karen who are stranded
on the bank of the Salween River and other spots along the border are
victims of decades of fighting between the central government in Rangoon
and rebel armies seeking independence or autonomy.

The junta has made some headway in securing a number of cease-fire
agreements, although a lasting peace is still nowhere in sight. But over
the past decade, with little regard for international norms, the junta has
directed their attacks towards civilians, as part of a campaign that
human-rights organisations describe as a concerted effort to deny the
rebel armies any possible support base.

Since the start of this latest round of fighting, which erupted last
November, more than 11,000 Karen villagers have been driven from their
homes in eastern Burma. Those who succeeded in crossing the border are
living under plastic sheets, waiting and hoping for any kind of assistance
from the UN or whomever. Many came with stories of rape, misery and abuse
at the hands of one of the most condemned regimes in the world. Footage
taken by aid workers who sneaked across the border showed burned villages,
destroyed rice fields and murdered civilians in northern and western areas
of Karen state, where clashes between Karen National Union soldiers and
Burmese government troops occur regularly. The junta's official
mouthpiece, The New Light of Myanmar, said yesterday, "Terrorist
insurgents are committing destructive acts using various means with the
intention of undermining the stability of the state".

This latest Burmese offensive comes amid growing calls for the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) to take action against Rangoon. Human
Rights Watch has urged the UNSC to include Burma on its agenda, in
accordance with its April 28 "Resolution on Protection of Civilians in
Armed Conflict". The resolution affirms a collective responsibility of all
UN members to protect civilian populations from genocide, war crimes,
ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity when their governments do not
provide that protection.

China and Russia, two of the five permanent Security Council members, have
been blocking action on Burma, perhaps for fear that harsh action against
the junta would deny them access to the resource-rich country. But that
does not mean the rest of us should allow them to obstruct what needs to
be done. There needs to be more pressure put on UN members to approve a
commission of inquiry to investigate possible war crimes and crimes
against humanity committed since the Burmese military government took
power in 1988.

Asean, which appears to be fed up with Burma dragging the organisation
down with it, should publicly call on Burma to end its attacks on ethnic
minority populations. Last year, Asean quietly asked Burma to surrender
its turn as chair of the organisation's annual meeting for fear the
boycott by the US and EU would be too great an embarrassment. But today,
with hundreds of displaced refugees stranded in dire straits on the Thai
border, it's high time that Asean spoke up. And as Burma's friend, Asean
owes it to the junta to give it to them straight: stop the atrocities and
respect international norms and practices.

The latest move from Rangoon is to paint the opposition National League
for Democracy (NLD) and the rebel armies as either outlaws or terrorists.
Kuala Lumpur, which chairs the Asean Standing Committee, was quick to tell
Burma not to do anything to jeopardise hopes for democracy.

When asked if the situation in Burma was worsening, Malaysian Foreign
Minister Syed Hamid Albar said, "We would like to see more progress ...
but the process is seen not to be moving in the way that the international
community expects them to move. Any action they take, like closing down
the NLD or not releasing Aung San Suu Kyi, these are all impediments and
obstacles to creating visible signs of credibility in terms of the
movement towards democracy."