BurmaNet News, July 18, 2006

[Editor]

July 18, 2006 Issue # 3006

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Rangoon security tightened for Martyrs’ day
AFP: Myanmar returns weapons to rebel faction
Irrawaddy: High-level UNHCR delegation meets with junta
DVB: Bomb blast in central Burma’s Penwegone
DVB: Dammed: Monsoon and man-made floods continue to kill people in Burma
IMNA: TOTAL to investigate compensation issue in August

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: No peace talks until military stops violence, says KNU
Mizzima: NLD-LA warns of Martyrs Day violence

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Gas sales propping up Burma—ADB

DRUGS
Bangkok Post: Thailand, Burma to join forces

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Burma conference in Singapore a success

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 18, Irrawaddy
Rangoon security tightened for Martyrs’ day - Yeni

Security has been tightened in Rangoon ahead of Wednesday’s Martyrs’ Day
ceremonies, held annually to honor the assassination of independent
Burma’s founders on July 19, 1947.

The government mouthpiece The New Light of Myanmar warned last week that
“those who took part in the ’88 unrest and members of a political party”
were “plotting to destabilize the country
by using Martyrs’ Day.”

The National League for Democracy confirmed Tuesday that it will hold a
ceremony at its Rangoon headquarters on Wednesday and political activists
led by former student leader Min Ko Naing planned a “peaceful march” to
the tombs of the nine assassinated leaders, who included Burma’s
independence hero Aung San.

Naing Aung, secretary general of the Thailand-based political coalition
Forum for Democracy in Burma, said Tuesday there was a risk the
authorities would launch attacks on the activists. “We are gravely
concerned that the political activists are in potential danger of being
labeled as destructive elements,” he said.

Rangoon residents said security forces had taken up positions around the
NLD headquarters and at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum, which lies in the shadow
of the golden Shwedagon pagoda. An official ceremony at the mausoleum is
usually presided over by Burma’s culture minister, in the company of
Burmese and foreign dignitaries and families of the nine assassinated
comrades.

Veteran politician Amyotharyei Win Naing told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday
that the Aung San family would probably be represented at Wednesday’s
mausoleum ceremony by Aung San’s son Aung San Oo, the elder brother of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest and unable
to leave her home. The last time she attended Martyrs’ Day ceremony
honoring her father and his eight comrades was in 2002, shortly after she
was released from her second term of house arrest.

____________________________________

July 18, Agence France Presse
Myanmar returns weapons to rebel faction

Myanmar's military rulers have returned weapons surrendered earlier this
month by a faction of ethnic rebels, saying they would need to "defend
themselves" against other insurgents.

Hundreds of small arms and dozens of heavy weapons and landmines were
returned to the splinter group called the Shan State Army-South on Sunday,
in a ceremony near the site of their surrender.

"They need to defend themselves. That's why the regional authorities gave
the arms back to them," Information Minister Brigadier General Kyaw Hsann
told reporters at the ceremony in Lecha township in southern Shan State,
640 kilometers (400 miles) north of Yangon.

"Before, they held their arms illegally to serve their organization. But
now they will hold their arms legally according to the law," he said.

Nearly 850 members of the SSA-South faction surrendered in early July,
according to the military. Shan leaders have reportedly said that only a
few dozen fighters surrendered.

The faction's leader Meing Sin insisted that 848 fighters had surrendered.

"They can come and see with their own eyes if they don't believe," he told
reporters.

The Shan are the largest of seven major ethnic groups after the Burman
majority and have long featured in the country's politics. The Shan State
Army has battled Myanmar's government for decades.

The junta has tried to weaken the group by encouraging defections,
creating an array of splinter groups such as the SSA-South and even
smaller blocs that have traded allegiances over the years.

Collectively, the SSA and the various Shan factions are believed to have
some 8,000 armed fighters.

The junta has signed ceasefires with 17 armed ethnic rebel groups but
still battles the SSA and a handful of others.

____________________________________

July 18, Irrawaddy
High-level UNHCR delegation meets with junta - Clive Parker

A high-level UNHCR delegation from Geneva met Burmese Prime Minister Soe
Win and Foreign Minister Nyan Win in Naypyidaw on Monday, while further
discussions took place in Rangoon on Tuesday, focused mainly on the
Arakanese Muslim group the Rohingyas.

Although both sides were reluctant to release detailed information, UNHCR
confirmed that the assistant high commissioner for operations, Judy
Cheng-Hopkins—among the top four officials in the agency—also visited
northern Arakan State to assess conditions of repatriated Burmese from
Bangladesh.

UNHCR spokesperson for the Asian region, Kitty McKinsey, said
Cheng-Hopkins’ visit to Burma had been made “to familiarize herself with
the operation and meet government counterparts.”

During Monday’s discussions in Burma’s new capital, Cheng-Hopkins was
accompanied by UNHCR’s Senior Repatriation Officer Sivanka Dhanapala and
the organization’s Resident Representative Jean-Francois Durieux. Also
involved from the Burmese side were Deputy Minister for Progress of Border
Areas and National Races Col Tin Ngwe and Director-General of Consular and
Legal Affairs Department Pe Than Oo, state-run The New Light of Myanmar
reported.

The Myanmar Red Cross Society and Bridge Asia Japan—a non-governmental
organization that provides training to Muslim returnees in Arakan
State—were both present during talks on the Rohingya problem in Rangoon on
Tuesday. Neither was available for comment.

The visit comes at a time when the program repatriating Rohingya refugees
from Bangladesh to Burma has all but ground to a halt. Having helped about
a quarter of a million Rohingyas return to Arakan since they first fled in
1992, UNHCR this year has not repatriated a single member of the more than
20,000 that still live in refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh.
UNHCR, international aid agencies and the refugees themselves blame highly
restrictive conditions in northern Arakan State for the current impasse.

The last Burmese to be sent back are thought to have been a group of 75
prisoners—the result of an existing bilateral agreement at the end of last
year. Only six were Muslims.

On the issue of repatriation, the Burmese embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday said
“some developments” were expected within the coming months, although a
spokesperson admitted that it had not been updated on the situation
following the recent arrival of the delegation from Geneva. The party is
scheduled to leave Burma on Wednesday.

Jennifer Pagonis, a UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva, said that repatriations
remained unlikely at this stage. “What we know from Bangladesh is that
they [the refugees] don’t want to go back. All the people that want to go
back have gone back,” she said. “As far as we are concerned, if they don’t
want to go they should not be forced.”

____________________________________

Jul 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Bomb blast in central Burma’s Penwegone

A bomb exploded at Pwnwegone, Kyauktaga Township, Pegu Division in lower
central Burma yesterday.

The bomb was planted beneath the car owned by a Burmese army officer,
Company Sergeant Major Thein Myint Oo of Infantry Battalion (963), who has
been living at the home of Win Yin in No.1, Thanmanit Ward as a tenant.

Almost the whole car was gutted but no one was hurt as the explosion
occurred during the night, according to local residents.

There have been seven bomb blasts in Penwegone including the latest one
within this year, not counting five other blasts in the surrounding
townships, causing great fear and anxiety among local residents.

Most of the times, the authorities have been unable to capture the real
culprits of the blasts, but always pointed finger at armed ethnic national
groups especially the Karen National Union (KNU) and exiled pro-democracy
groups as soon as the blasts occurred.

But local people think that the bombs are either planted by former agents
of the ousted Military Intelligence Service (MIS) led by former Prime
Minister Khin Nyunt or army personnel themselves, to frighten the public.

____________________________________

July 17, Democratic Voice of Burma
Dammed: Monsoon and man-made floods continue to kill people in Burma

At least 400 people living in areas below Koonchaung Dam at Kyan Khin
Township, Henzada (Hinthada) District, Irrawaddy delta region drowned
because the authorities opened the floodgate of the dam without warning
during last week.

“Koonchaung is a dam that collects waters from mountain valleys,” said a
local resident. There are groups of illegal loggers in the mountains.
There are piles of logs. It is also the time when charcoal burners bake
charcoals. Before that it was raining quite heavily for two days. As the
mountain waters were quite torrential, the logs floated into Koonchaung
Dam. The water in Koochaung Dam rose a little bit above critical level. As
logs and poles the size of two embraces rushed down in volume, penetrating
the dam barrier, the authorities of the dam opened the main floodgate. As
soon as they did that, four, five, six villages were submerged during the
night. They all died – these people. There are more than 20 villages along
Pathein (Bassein)-Monywa Highway and Myan Aung railway line. 5-6 villages
out of the 20 were all wiped out. Some people escaped by running away.
There were many people who died because they were caught up while running;
that is from what I saw.”

Corpses of the victims could be seen floating in streams, rivers, and
lakes at Pantanaw, Kyonpyaw, Danubyu areas below Henzada, local residents
told DVB. But the state-run newspapers said that only 32 people were
killed by the collapse of Koonchan Dam.

When DVB contacted Henzada District authority office, the local
pro-authority Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA)
secretary Dr. Thein Soe insisted that the figure given by local residents
are only ‘rumours’.

“The total number is as it is given in the list (of the government). 18
(dead) and 14 missing. That’s all,” said Thein Soe. “Only children, women,
old women from beach villages who could not escape (died).”

But the local resident who witnessed the disaster insisted that the list
of the dead and missing even shocked the regional military commander and
military officers.

“There are many floating of (house) posts, bureaus (cupboards), corpses.
On the following day after the deluge had passed and the water (level) was
down, the commander crossed the Kyankhin railway tracks. Fifteen minutes
after he crossed it, the iron bridge collapsed. On the next day, army
officers came to inspect (the area) which is a bit like the sea. There
were many deaths; quite a lot of people died. Around 400 people died. When
the commander saw it, he was quite shocked. The corpses’ hands were
sticking out among the seaweeds
quite a stomach churning sight. The whole
houses were submerged, washed away.”

The latest report followed recent reports of the authorities opening
floodgates of bursting dams without warning to people living in areas
below them, in other areas of Burma, causing untold miseries to local
people.

The local residents at the delta region have also been suffering from
dysentery and typhoid since the flood waters receded and many people are
finding it hard to survive as they have nowhere to go to make a living.

____________________________________

July 18, Independent Mon News Agency
TOTAL to investigate compensation issue in August - Mi Kyae Goe

TOTAL company’ lawyers will investigate in August the compensation issue
for victims who were forced to provide labour for the gas pipeline
project, said a field coordinator.

They listed about 18 victims from Kanbauk, Paukpinkwin, and Yebyu
Township, said Nai Sumit Punnakari, the field coordinator.

“The company will compensate victims depending on the circumstance in
which they were forced,” he added.

The National Catholic Commission on Migrations announced on July 15 that
the victims of forced labour apply for compensation from southern Mon
State and upper Tenasserim Division since the construction for Yatana gas
pipeline started.

Nai Sumit said “they will help totally if the victims from Burma arrive on
the border because they can’t go inside to search for them. The victims
are in Thailand and elsewhere and we are trying to connect to them.”

According to a Humanitarian Assistance and Reconciliation Project
statement, the victims who apply have to have a recommendation from NGOs
or persons with social standing. They should be recommended to get the
benefit. It has to be something on paper, a verbal order from local
authorities, international and social organizations.

The victims never got compensation from the TOTAL Company.

The statement said they will compensate the victims who were forced for
more than one week to work or got no wages in 1995- 1997. The victims also
worked in Yatana project or were people who were not related to the
security of TOTAL and are under the contract.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 18, Mizzima News
No peace talks until military stops violence, says KNU -Nem Davies

The Karen National Union has ruled out the possibility of peace talks with
the Burmese military despite an unofficial offer for dialogue, saying the
State Peace and Development Council needed to first stop attacking Karen
civilians.

David Taw, head of the KNU’s foreign affairs department, told Mizzima
today that while personnel Lieutenant colonel Mya Htun Oo had offered
peace talks to leaders at one of the rebel group’s brigade on the
Thai-Burma border on Friday, no agreements would be made until the
military stopped their offensives in Karen State.

“Over 20,000 ethnic Karen civilians have been forced to leave their
villages and seek shelter in the jungle and in the border areas due to the
recent offensive attack,” David Taw said.

He also said that the visit by Mya Htun Oo was not acceptable since it had
not been officially sanctioned by authorities in Nay Pyi Daw.

“It is just fake offer by the SPDC, their words and deeds always
contradict each other . . . we have experienced this before,” David Taw
said.

The KNU has also rejected the military’s offer to allow general Bo Mya,
who suffers from severe diabetes, to receive medical treatment in Rangoon.

____________________________________

July 18, Mizzima News
NLD-LA warns of Martyrs Day violence - Ngun Te

The National League for Democracy - Liberated Area warned yesterday the
Burmese military could be planning to use violence against the public
tomorrow with crowds expected to gather in celebration of the 59th
anniversary of Martyrs Day.

Myint Soe, a central committee member of the NLD-LA, told Mizzima, “On
[Martyrs Day], people will go to pagodas and hold prayer meetings. And
also will offer alms to the monks. The junta has already indicated that
they would crackdown on the people if they make any movement on that day”.

State-run newspaper the New Light of Myanmar on July 13 said the military
suspected people who had been involved in the 1988 uprising would try to
cause political unrest tomorrow.

“Those who took part in the 88 unrest and members of a political party in
the country and its followers are plotting to destabilise the country by
distributing leaflets and through demonstration in collusion with
destructive groups sent by terrorists, destructive elements and saboteurs
and expatriates using Martyrs Day which falls on 19 July as a tool,” the
newspaper said.

In an ‘Appeal to the People and International Community’ today the NLD-LA
said the military and the Union Solidarity and Development Association
would violently crackdown on anyone attempting to march in support of
Martyrs Day.

“In the Depayin massacre, the junta beat the people to death stealthily in
the night in a well planned and in pre-meditated manner. Now [the junta]
have explicitly announced their plan to crackdown on the people,” Myint
Soe said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

July 18, Irrawaddy
Gas sales propping up Burma—ADB -Clive Parker

Strong gas sales and prospects of further growth of the energy sector
remain the two positive developments in Burma’s economy over the past six
months, says a report on East Asia’s emerging economies by the Asian
Development Bank, released on Tuesday.

With inflation, devaluation of the kyat and excessive public spending
continuing to undermine the economy, the Manila-based bank says Burma’s
economic prospects have become dependent on energy sales, which are poised
to expand given increased interest by China, India and Thailand.

The ADB’s findings follow those of the overseas-based Shwe Gas Movement, a
campaign group, which recently reported that Burma’s biggest, and largely
untapped, gas fields off the coast of Arakan State—dubbed shwe gas—were
estimated to be worth US $37 billion. They had the potential to increase
the country’s gas revenues by 150 percent a year.

Natural gas is already Burma’s most valuable export.

The Manila-based ADB warns, however, that “any global shock that reduces
energy prices or slows demand could adversely affect the economy.”

It adds: “Numerous structural weaknesses—including low productivity in
agriculture—increase vulnerability,” also pointing out that bird flu
remains a serious threat to the economy.

The Asean region is expected to record GDP growth of 5.5 percent for 2006,
rising to 5.7 percent in 2007, though no such growth figures are available
for Burma given the lack of reliable data, the report says. The Burmese
government in 2005 claimed it had experienced a 12.2 percent rise in GDP,
a claim dismissed by most independent economists, most of whom put the
real figure at about 1 percent.

Among the most serious problems identified is the continuing disparity
between the inflation rate and interest rates, prompting a severe lack of
faith in Burma’s banking system and the kyat. Although interest rates were
raised by 2 percent in April, the ADB says that drastic increases in fuel
prices and in the salaries of an estimated 1 million state workers—both in
the past nine months—had caused inflation to reach double digits.

Most economists estimate that prices have risen by at least 20 percent in
the 2005-2006 fiscal year, while the UN says inflation may have climbed to
over 50 percent during the same period. Burma’s Ministry of Finance says
consumer prices increased only 9 percent in 2005, a figure which does not
take into consideration the public salary hikes which came into effect in
April.

The ADB report reiterates past calls by numerous organizations for Burma
to establish a more coherent economic policy: “Substantial efforts to curb
inflationary deficit financing, together with greater policy
predictability and improved quality of economic information, would enhance
the environment for private economic activity,” it says.

____________________________________
DRUGS

July 18, Bangkok Post
Thailand, Burma to join forces - Anucha Charoenpo

Thailand and Burma have agreed to step up cooperation to fight drug
trafficking and stop dealers holding dual nationality.

Chartchai Suthiklom, adviser to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board,
said the Thai and Burmese officials discussed the matter at a recent
meeting in Surat Thani.

Mr Chartchai said he had asked his counterparts to help arrest and deport
drug suspects on the wanted list for trial in Thailand.

The suspects were Thai nationals who went into hiding in Burma.

He said the suspects had bribed Burmese community leaders to grant them
Burmese nationality in order that they might obtain the right to make a
living and stay in the neighbouring country.

Burmese officials also asked their Thai counterparts to deport Burmese
drug suspects.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 18, Irrawaddy
Burma conference in Singapore a success - Aung Zaw/Singapore

Nearly 200 Burmese and foreign scholars attended this year’s International
Burma Studies Conference in Singapore, sponsored by the city state’s
National University and the Asia Research Institute, and satisfying the
expectations of its organizers.

Dozens of Burmese scholars, artists, writers, NGO workers, and community
and ethnic minority leaders also participated in the three-day
conference—this, despite the military government’s usual reluctance to
allow its citizens to travel to such international events. One exception
was the popular Burmese comedian Zarganar, who was denied a passport.

Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing, co-chairman of the event, was pleased by the turnout.
An assistant professor at the National University of Singapore, the young
Burmese scholar said that his aim was to attract scholars from inside the
military-ruled country to speak at the conference and help those inside
and outside the country to better understand and discuss the complexities
of the issues related to Burma.

“I wanted to show that we Burmese can accomplish such an event and that
our scholars are up to international standards,” said Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing.
Many Burmese researchers, he added, were fully capable of presenting
scholarly presentations and papers.

Foreign and Burmese scholars agreed. “Credit must go to him [Dr Kyaw Yin
Hlaing], and we thank him for what he has done,” said Dr Myint Myint Khin,
a prominent Burmese physician working on public health and HIV/AIDS
issues.

Burmese scholars from inside the country made presentations on issues of
economy, history, education, women, ethnicity, health care and literature.
Exiled Burmese also presented research on refugees, ethnic minority
groups, the democracy movement and national reconciliation. Judging from
audience reactions, their efforts were greatly appreciated.

In addition to former ambassadors and university professors, the audience
included former prominent government officials under Ne Win’s regime, as
well as a few currently serving under the State Peace and Development
Council. They listened attentively and even mingled with other
participants and shared their perspectives on Burma.

General discussions during breaks for tea and lunch were understandably
guarded, particularly among those planning to return to Burma following
the conference. Huddled in corners and watching warily for eavesdroppers,
small groups of people discussed quietly the government’s relocation of
its capital, the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and the lack of any hopeful
signs of reform in Burma. “We are going home,” one person said nervously.
“We don’t want to end up in prison.”

Despite such concerns, most attendees were happy with the outcome of the
conference. “We have a chance to meet up with people outside of Burma, and
we get good exposure, one Burmese writer commented.

Tom Kramer, a Dutch consultant, added his praise for the event, observing
that while Burmese from inside the country focused on creating
opportunities and intellectual space within Burma, exiles and expatriates
highlighted the limitations imposed by the country’s military regime.

Perhaps the most contentious moment in the conference—and the only one
that elicited criticism from observers—came during the closing plenary
session, during which the current political situation in Burma was
addressed.

The panel was chaired by Dr Robert Taylor and featured four speakers: Dr
Tin Maung Maung Than from the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies; former
British ambassador to Burma Vicky Bowman, Reverend Dr Saboi Jum, a
well-known Kachin peace broker, and American academic and Burma scholar
David Steinberg.

During the panel session, Saboi Jum stressed that sanctions on the regime
are not working and have done little to improve an increasingly divided
nation. “Let us do what we can, not what we want,” he told the audience.
Bowman, who recently concluded her tenure in Rangoon, outlined prospects
for new elections in Burma in 2008, while remaining pessimistic about
political change in Burma. Steinberg warned of creating false hope among
Burmese and the need to address humanitarian crises in the country.

Taylor, a controversial scholar whose closeness to the Burmese regime has
led some to label him an apologist, said that the Burma issue is not a
black and white one and that the outlook for the country is bright rather
than bleak. He added that the possibility of change in the country exists
and that the future is unpredictable. “There will be more changes,” he
said.

Several attendees complained that the closing session was dominated by
pro-engagement figures and “apologists.” One writer from Burma suggested
that Taylor’s inclusion was intended to appease the regime. “It was quite
helpful, as he was the only scholar the regime seems to respect and like,”
the writer said. Photos of Taylor’s recent meeting with Burmese
Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan in Burma were published in
state-run newspapers.

The general tone of the concluding session led some attendees to
characterize the opinions expressed as relatively optimistic and more in
line with the policy of constructive engagement and national
reconciliation.

Unlike previous conferences, the concluding session was not opened up for
questions from the audience and concluded after the panel speakers
finished their remarks. “The organizers wanted the conference to be a
success and not be too controversial,” speculated one foreign scholar.
Conference organizers, however, said that they had hired the room for only
half a day and could not pay extra fees to extend the session.

Despite the perceived optimism of the conference’s final day, some Burmese
from inside the country remained skeptical about the possibility of
reconciliation and political reform. “This is just one-sided love,” one
Burmese scholar quipped, adding that the regime has no interest in such
events or in national reconciliation.

Burmese living in Singapore, who held a small reception for some of the
visiting Burmese writers and scholars, were more outspoken. They discussed
to potential for another uprising, general frustration in Burma, prospects
for regime change and dismissed all proponents of engagement with the
ruling junta and the likelihood of achieving national reconciliation.

Such a wide division of opinion is not uncommon among Burmese scholars.
Neither is the pessimism. As one Burmese attendee who requested anonymity
complained: “We were robbed (by the regime), and now some foreign scholars
and apologists have treated us to a ‘scholarly package’ in which they
claim that the regime has not robbed us, and by doing so has given them
[the regime] a donation. This is not fair.”