BurmaNet News, December 4, 2006

[Editor]

December 4, 2006 Issue # 3098

INSIDE BURMA
Straits Times: All in a day's work for kids in Myanmar; in teashops and on
the streets, these children in Mandalay and Yangon labour hard for a
better life
Burma Radio via BBC: Delegate Group of National Races tables proposals at
convention
AFP: In Myanmar's once-secret capital, a city begins to grow

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Doing India’s dirty work
Irrawaddy: Labor rights sought for migrant workers

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFX: Singapore's Ntegrator wins 23.5 mln usd Myanmar contract
Xinhua: Myanmar, Israel enhance staff training cooperation in agriculture

HEALTH / AIDS
Mizzima News: Junta cancels Zarganar's programme on HIV/AIDS

AP: Myanmar junta denies HIV on the rise in the country
Xinhua via BBC: China's Yunnan orders compulsory pre-marital HIV tests

ASEAN
AFP: Southeast Asian civil groups to challenge ASEAN on human rights
DVB: Exiled Burmese, ASEAN politicians meet to urge discussion on Burma

REGIONAL

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INSIDE BURMA

December 2, The Straits Times (Singapore)
All in a day's work for kids in Myanmar; in teashops and on the streets,
these children in Mandalay and Yangon labour hard for a better life - Ng
Sor Luan

Myanmar- In Shwe Pyi Moe Cafe, one of Mandalay's popular teashops in
Myanmar, a stick-thin boy stands in grim concentration amid a table of
stout, sullen men.

He is listening intently to the adults' orders before shouting them out to
the rest of the team at the tea-shop, a group of around 20 youngsters aged
between nine and 16.
They are in charge of running the teashop - from taking orders to
preparing drinks and pastries to park-ing the customers' vehicles.

Everything, save for cashiering, is done by the youngsters. The constant
stream of customers to the shop does not allow the children and youths,
who work 12-hour shifts, much time to catch a breather.

A check with a customer at Htoo Coffee And Drinks, another teashop in
Yangon, similarly manned by a team of around 10 youngsters, reveals that
the children earn around 10,000 kyats (S$11.60) each per month, and that
they are working because of poverty.

Throughout Yangon and Mandalay, it is not difficult to find children at
work, from peddling postcards on the roads to making handicrafts.

While it is lamentable to see young children working at an age when their
contemporaries in other countries are in school, these youngsters are also
inspiring in their efforts to make a better life for themselves and their
families.

____________________________________

December 2, Burma Radio via BBC Monitoring
Burma: Delegate Group of National Races tables proposals at convention

The Plenary Session of the National Convention continued in Pyidaungsu
Hall at the Nyaunghnapin Camp in Hmawbi at 0900 today with four members of
delegate group of national races presenting reports on the detailed basic
principles to be included in the drafting of the chapters on "Election",
"Political Parties", and "Provisions on State of Emergency".

Today's session was attended by Lt-Gen Thein Sein, secretary-1 of the
State Peace and Development Council and chairman of the National
Convention Convening Commission, and commission members; Chief Justice U
Aung Toe, chairman of the National Convention Convening Work Committee,
and work committee members; Auditor-General Maj-Gen Lun Maung, chairman of
the National Convention Convening Manage-ment Committee, and management
committee members; chairmen and responsible officials of subcommit-tees;
representatives of political parties; elected representatives; delegates
representing national races, farmers, workers, intellectuals and
intelligentsia, public service personnel, invited guests, and national
race groups which have returned to the legal fold.

The Plenary Session of the National Convention today was presided over by
U Kan Nyunt of Delegate Group of Peasants. The meeting then heard members
of the Delegate Group of National Races proposing the detailed basic
principles that should be adopted when the chapters "Election", "Political
Parties" and "Provisions on State of Emergency" are drafted for the state
constitution.

Firstly, U Win Myint Soe of Pegu Division and Daw Hsai Khaung of Kachin
State presented the propos-als and the session was briefly adjourned at
0945. When it resumed at 1000, U Saw Win Htein of Karen State and U Khin
Maung Yi of Irrawaddy Division, on behalf of the Delegate Group of
National Races, con-tinued to present their proposals on the detailed
basic principles for adoption in the chapters "Election", "Po-litical
Parties" and "Provisions on State of Emergency" when the state
constitution is written.
The meeting was then adjourned at 1045, and it will resume at 0900 on
Monday, 4 December 2006.

____________________________________

December 3, Agence France Presse
In Myanmar's once-secret capital, a city begins to grow - Hla Hla Htay

One year after Myanmar's military rulers abruptly uprooted their
government from Yangon and relocated to a secret jungle compound, they
have carved a new "royal" city out of the mountains.
The junta calls their administrative capital Naypyidaw, which means "the
abode of the kings", and their regal ambitions are evident everywhere.

The buses that ferry civil servants around the blue, green and pink roofed
buildings in the ministerial compound are called Tawwin, or The Royal
buses.

Larger-than life statues of ancient Burmese kings line the military parade
ground, and construction is un-derway on a replica of Yangon's famous
Shwedagon pagoda.
New overpasses and roads are being built around Naypyidaw, and two new
hotels have opened to house the business leaders and diplomats who arrive
here in greater numbers every day to handle relations with officialdom.

The junta leader, Senior General Than Shwe, now lives permanently here in
the city that many see as his effort to cement his legacy in the style of
ancient Burmese rulers, who used to dismantle the capital of their
predecessor and build a new one meant to outshine all those that came
before.

"Our leadership laid down three requirements for Naypyidaw -- to be
evergreen, crime-free, and pollu-tion-free," Myanmar's national police
chief, Brigadier General Khin Yee told AFP.
For all its grand ambitions, Naypyidaw still has no grocery stores or
taxis, disgruntled civil servants note.

They were ordered to move here with no prior notice in the pre-dawn hours
of November 7, 2005.
After the arduous 10-hour drive some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of
Yangon, they were dumped in what was then an empty compound that had no
running water, no telephones, and little electricity.

Since their offices opened for business in February, workers have only
begrudgingly accepted their lives here. Many have tried to quit, only to
see their resignations rejected.
"We have no choice. We have to stay here. Although I have lived here one
year already, I still don't feel at home. Maybe we'll have to wait another
five or 10 years before we can settle down," an official at the
in-formation ministry said.

"We cannot easily get the things that we need, even food," he said.
Diarrhea has emerged as a common health problem in Naypyidaw, especially
among construction work-ers who arrive here from other regions and who
aren't used to having to treat their water to make it drinkable.
But the health minister Kyaw Myint told AFP that the government has opened
two hospitals in Naypyidaw -- one with 300 beds and another with 1,000.

"Our health workers are going to the sites to educate construction workers
about infectious diseases such as diarrhea," he said.

Still, Naypyidaw's new residents have developed a certain rhythm of life
here. People line the broad roads to do morning exercises. More and more
companies are opening satellite offices to do business with government.

Once deserted four-lane roads that seemed to lead only to the jungle are
now plied by buses and rick-shaws carrying people around Naypyidaw and to
the nearby town of Pyinmana.

Myanmar has offered foreign embassies and UN agencies to each take five
acres of space to move to Naypyidaw next year, although so far no one has
taken up the offer.
"We haven't decided yet. We are still watching. I think everyone is still
watching," one western diplomat said.

The city, which now spreads over 96 square miles (250 square kilometers),
is divided into three zones -- one for the military, one for government
administration, and one for residences.
Access to the military zone is strictly limited, and civil servants have
not even been allowed to bring their families to join them.

But the police chief, Khin Yee, said everyone would eventually feel at
home here.
"Everything is good for us. For me, I do not completely remember Yangon,"
he said

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER
December, Irrawaddy
Doing India’s dirty work - Smita Mishra Brahma

Ledo and Moreh, India: In Calcutta, Indian Defense Minister Pranab
Mukherjee told journalists he was hopeful the Burmese would succeed in
knocking out the rebel strongholds.

India’s military strategists are all smiles as Burma’s generals direct a
fall offensive to eliminate three Indian insurgent groups in Burma’s
northwestern Sagaing Division. If the assaults are successful, India will
have removed a major source of strife and sabotage against its energy
pipelines.

The Burmese Tatmadaw, the country’s armed forces, is waging the attacks
with military hardware provided by India in what was a quid pro quo
agreement.

At least three bases of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland’s
Khaplang faction and the United Liberation Front of Assam—Chuiyang Noknu,
Challam and Longjie—have already fallen to Burmese forces after a
fortnight of fighting.

“Our fighters have been dislodged from these bases, but we will soon stage
counter-attacks,” said Kughalo Mulatonu, spokesperson for the NSCN-K in an
interview. “We know the Tatmadaw has major logistics problems in the
remote region and that works to our advantage.”

Indian army officials say that the Burmese troops are preparing for a big
offensive. “What you now see are probes and jabs,” said a major-general in
the Third Indian Army Corps based at Rangapahar in India’s Nagaland state.
“The Burmese have overrun some bases on the foothills of the Tenu Tapak
ranges, but once the rains stop completely and the jungle tracks dry up,
their light infantry may push into the rebel strongholds in a more
purposeful way.”

But the major-general, who declined to be named, said the real target of
the Burmese army would be the dreaded 28th battalion of the ULFA, which
shares some bases with the Khaplang faction of the NSCN in Upper Sagaing.

The crack battalion has “sabotage specialists” who were trained by
Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, says Assam’s police intelligence
chief Khagen Sarmah.

“They are the guys who bomb our oil and gas pipelines in Upper Assam by
sneaking across from Burma,” Sarmah says. “If the Burmese wipe out their
bases, they will be denied safe trans-border shelter and become sitting
ducks for us.”

In September, Indian officials offered a visiting Burmese delegation
headed by Brig-Gen Phone Swe, deputy minister for Home Affairs,
substantial Indian military hardware if the Tatmadaw would agree to attack
the northeast Indian rebels inside Burma.

In a similar agreement in December 2004, following relentless Indian
diplomatic pressure, the Bhutanese army launched “Operation All Clear” and
destroyed nearly 30 bases of the ULFA, and two other separatist groups
active in India’s West Bengal and Assam states. Since then, India has
intensified similar diplomatic pressure on Burma and Bangladesh, where
rebels from India’s northeast have established several bases.

The Burmese delegation reportedly assured the Indians that they would
launch an offensive against northeast Indian rebels. Large columns of
trucks loaded with Indian military supplies were soon seen rolling into
the Indian border town of Moreh, located opposite Tamu, Burma.

The Tatmadaw received two squadrons of 36 T-55 tanks, forty 105 mm
howitzers, more than 150 heavy mortar launchers and an unspecified number
of machine-guns, assault rifles and grenade-firing rifles, along with
large quantities of ammunition.

Although the tanks and howitzers are all in a phase-out mode from the
Indian army, they will add firepower to Burmese artillery and armored
units, says Gaganjit Singh, a former Indian major general who specialized
in counter-insurgency operations.

A senior official in the Indian defense ministry said: “If the Burmese
army does a good job in hitting our rebels and in crushing them, we may
give them more military hardware, particularly tanks and artillery
pieces.”

In Calcutta, Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee told journalists he
was hopeful the Burmese would succeed in knocking out the rebel
strongholds.

“We wanted negotiations with the ULFA, but since they don’t want to commit
to that in writing, we are left with no option but to strike. This time,
we will not strike alone. We will do it in a coordinated manner with our
Burmese friends. We will catch these rebels in a nutcracker. And we will
give the Burmese whatever they need.”

The Indian army expects that the Burmese armed forces will expand
operations after the initial forays against the ULFA and the NSCN.  The
rebel groups of India’s Manipur State, the United National Liberation
Front and Peoples Liberation Army, have both ruled out negotiations with
India, and their leaders have called for plebiscites.

“No government in Delhi can accept this affront,” said Indian defense
analyst C Raja Mohan. “So we will keep up our pressure on the Burmese and
ask them to attack the Manipuri guerrillas.”

The entire strategic community in Delhi seems to support the government’s
Burma policy.

“It is not India’s job to restore democracy in Burma,” said Anil Kambhoj
of the Institute of Defense and Strategic Analysis. “We cannot do it as
well. It is for the Burmese people to fight for it. But we must deal with
the government that rules Rangoon, because we must get them to act to
sanitize our long borders and clear out insurgents.”

The present Indian policy is a sharp turnaround from the late 1980s, when
Indian intelligence backed a host of Burmese rebel groups, such as the
Kachin Independence Army, the Chin National Front and the National Unity
Party of Arakan. India is now looking the other way on the issue of the
junta’s human rights abuses and the continued house arrest of Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

India abandoned Suu Kyi’s cause and started courting the Burmese military
junta to neutralize ongoing Chinese aid, such as the modernization of
Burmese naval bases at Hainggyi, Mun Aung, Sittwe, Zadetkyi and Mergui,
where radar stations and resupply and refueling facilities are located.

The Indian navy is concerned that these bases, along with an electronic
intelligence outpost on Burma’s Coco Islands (30 km from India’s Andaman
Islands), would support and augment Chinese submarine operational
capability in the Bay of Bengal-Indian Ocean region.

In August, despite British protests, the Indian navy transferred two BN-2
‘Defender’ Islander maritime surveillance aircraft, deck-based air-defense
guns and varied surveillance equipment to Burma. Britain reacted by
declaring it will not supply spare parts and maintenance support for the
British-designed aircraft.

____________________________________

December 4, Irrawaddy
Labor rights sought for migrant workers - Sai Silp

Thai and Burmese labor organizations have agreed to join forces to fight
for expanded labor rights by establishing a working network to seek
changes in the Thai government's policy on migrant workers.

Jaruwat Keywan of the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma said
that 20 organizations have signed on to support the principles of The
Convention of Global Solidarity, based on greater labor rights.

A statement released last week said the Thai-Burmese effort is one of
solidarity between Thai workers and migrant workers, which consist of
non-government organizations, labor associations and special interest
groups.

There are an estimated one million unskilled, migrant workers in
Thailand—both legal and illegal—mostly from Burma, Laos and Cambodia.

The group also will seek to establish the right of non-Thai migrant
workers to form their own labor union. According to Thai law, the
membership in labor unions is limited to Thai citizens. The group will
seek to modify Thai law to allow all categories of migrant workers to
belong to a labor union.

The group also urged both the state and the private sector to provide more
social welfare services based on worker participation.

Pranom Somwog of the Migrant Assistance Program in Chiang Mai said the
joint effort will be better able to protect workers' rights, which are now
often overlooked because of nationality, religion or type of job.

“As the first step, we will ask the government for unlimited time for
migrant worker registration and more opportunities to access the justice
system by providing more language assistance and information,” she said.

Pranom said another change should be a revision of the Thai national
identification registration process, so that illegal ethnic migrant
workers would be eligible, which would allow more access to government
social services.

The group will submit a petition outlining the proposed changes to Thai
interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont during International Migrant's
Day on December 18 in Bangkok.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

December 4, AFX - Asia
Singapore's Ntegrator wins 23.5 mln usd Myanmar contract

Ntegrator International Ltd, a regional communications network specialist
and systems
integrator, said it has secured a 23.5 mln usd contract from state-run
Myanmar Radio & Television (MRTV).

The contract, the largest the company has secured since it commenced
operations in 2002, covers the supply, delivery, installation and
commissioning of equipment for a TV studio, radio studio and earth
station.

Ntegrator said it will also supply MRTV with fiber optic network equipment
as well as a TV and radio transmitter.

'This contract signals a significant milestone for us not only for the
record size of the contract but also the fact that Ntegrator is now
recognized for the design and installation of large and complex
integrated communications systems,' Ntegrator managing director Jimmy
Chang said.

____________________________________

December 2, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar, Israel enhance staff training cooperation in agriculture

Myanmar has sent more than 100 government employees to Israel this year to
undergo a year-long agricultural diploma training course under a bilateral
cooperation program, according to sources with the Minis-try of
Agriculture and Irrigation.

The batch of Myanmar trainees, sent to Southern Israel's Arava
International Center for training in agri-culture, has brought the total
to more than 900 in the diploma courses since 2003 when the first batch
were dispatched, the Israeli Embassy was quoted as saying.

The diploma programs on agriculture cover such subjects as advanced
farming techniques, econom-ics, marketing, post-harvest technology, animal
husbandry and computer use.

The bilateral cooperation program has been funded by Israel since
1994.,According to official statistics, Israel's investment in Myanmar has
reached 2.4 million U.S. dollars.

With a population of about 55.4 million this year, Myanmar stands as a
country with agriculture as the mainstay of its economy.

Statistics also show that the country's agricultural sector, which
accounts for 41.2 percent of its national economy and 11 percent of its
export, grew 11.8 percent in the fiscal year of 2005-06 (April-March).

More figures indicate hat foreign investment in Myanmar's agriculture
accounted for over 34 million dollars or 0.44 percent of the total foreign
investment.

The country has a cultivable land of 18.23 million hectares, of which
10.12 million are under crops.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

December 4, Mizzima News
Junta cancels Zarganar's programme on HIV/AIDS - Ngunte

A programme in support of HIV/AIDS awareness slated to be performed by the
famous and outspoken comedian Zarganar and fellow artists was ordered by
the military junta to be postponed.

Zarganar, Khant Sithu, Thet Mon Myint, Nghat Pyaw Kyaw, Nyaung Nyaung,
Kyethi, Panthi, Didi, Moe Kyi Kyi Maung, Nay Toe and some gays were
supposed to perform on World AIDS Day on December 1 at the compound of
TOP's clinic for people living with HIV. However, the health ministry sent
a letter to the organizers and NGOs on November 30 asking them postpone
the performance.

"We have been performing for four years. There has been no problem in
earlier years. We were not ordered directly but the directives came to the
NGOs," Zarganar told Mizzima following the cancellation of the
performance.

It was learnt that the health ministry ordered the Holland based AZG
(AZG-Artsen Zonder Grenzen) to postpone the performance. No reasons have
been given so far.

"When I asked Daw Nu Nu Aye (from AZG), she said that there were many
programmes on that day as 88 generation students Ko Jimmy, Ko Mya Aye were
distributing leaflets on HIV/AIDS awareness. The state-organised function
(for World AIDS Day) was held on December 2 so that there was no mix up
with the activities of students," said Zarganar alias Thura.

"Personally I think the authorities feel uneasy about AZG because it has
been providing medical treatment along with NLD members," Zarganar said.

The military regime banned Zarganar, a former political prisoner from
performing in the country from May because of an interview he gave to the
BBC Burmese service on Burmese government regulations regarding the annual
water festival and his making a TV commercial that suggested Taiwan is an
independent country. The military junta felt such a view could harm its
relations with China.

Popular in Burma for his sense of humour he denied that the TV commercial
was made by him.

____________________________________

December 3, Associated Press
Myanmar junta denies HIV on the rise in the country

Myanmar's military junta insisted its HIV rates are not on the rise,
calling such allegations a campaign by opponents to destabilize the
country, the state-run media said Sunday.
Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he would seek to
introduce a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for the government
to change its policies. He cited Myanmar's failure to end abuses that have
led 1 million people to flee the country, and its actions that have made
the transmission of diseases like HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
across borders more likely.

But Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, the Secretary of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council, said the adult HIV rates in Myanmar, also known as
Burma, have fallen slightly from 1.5 percent in 2000 to 1.3 percent in
2006, the New Light of Myanmar reported, or about 300,000 people.
Thein Sein warned that despite successful achievements by the government
in the fight against HIV and AIDS, "destructive elements with a political
agenda have spread false accusations that the HIV/AIDS prob-lem is growing
in Myanmar and tried to block access to international assistance."

Despite Myanmar's low infection rates, it has struggled to treat AIDS
patients, with many people crossing over to neighboring Thailand for vital
antiretroviral medications.
Earlier this year, Myanmar announced it would receive US$99.5 million
(euro74.7 million) in foreign aid to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,
the three leading causes of death in the country.

The money replaces funds withdrawn by a U.N.-created Global Fund in 2005,
after the junta imposed travel restrictions on nongovernmental
organizations.

Myanmar's junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement
led by detained Nobel lau-reate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In
1990, it refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won a landslide
election victory.

Since then, Suu Kyi has been in and out of detention. She is kept in
near-solitary confinement at her home, and is generally not allowed
telephone contact or outside visitors.

____________________________________

December 2, Xinhua via BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific - Political
China's Yunnan orders compulsory pre-marital HIV tests

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New
China News Agency)

Kunming: A province in southwest China is to make residents take
compulsory HIV tests before marriage - and will inform prospective spouses
of the results - starting next month.

The test will be offered free of charge and target people in areas of
Yunnan Province where the AIDS situation is "grave", according to a new
regulation on AIDS prevention and control passed by the Yunnan
legislature.

The areas listed as "grave" will be determined by local health authorities
and announced later, the regu-lation says.

HIV carriers and AIDS patients will be asked to inform their spouses or
sex partners of the results, or the local disease prevention authorities
will do so.
The new regulation will take effect on 1 January 2007.

Yunnan, bordering Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar [Burma] in the south and west
and near the notorious "Golden Triangle", has China's worst HIV/AIDS
figures.

HIV/AIDS cases have been found in 128 of the province's 129 counties,
according to the Provincial Committee of AIDS Prevention and Control.
By the end of September, Yunnan has recorded 47,314 people living with
HIV/AIDS, accounting for about a quarter of the national total.


>From January to September, 650 pre-and post-natal Yunnan women tested HIV

positive, accounting for 0.25 per cent of the total. Of the 66,000 people
who registered for marriage and took the HIV test, 0.03 per cent showed
positive.

"The figures are horrible, far higher than the national average," said
Zhang Chang'an, director of the of-fice of the committee.

"In a province like Yunnan where AIDS is prevalent, the new regulation can
better safeguard the rights of people who are susceptible to HIV infection
and will help individuals, families and society," he said.

China's Health Ministry reported last week that the number of people
officially reported as HIV infected had risen by 27.5 per cent since the
beginning of the year, to more than 180,000 at the end of October.

The ministry and the World Health Organization estimate China has about
650,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, including 75,000 who have developed
AIDS.

____________________________________
ASEAN

December 2, Agence France Presse
Southeast Asian civil groups to challenge ASEAN on human rights

Southeast Asian civil groups are to challenge regional leaders over human
rights when they meet on the central Philippine island of Cebu later this
month.

"Our activities will be peaceful and creative exercises of our basic right
to freedom of expression and as-sembly," Lidy Nacpil, vice president of
Freedom from Debt Coalition, told a briefing in Manila on Saturday.

Philippine Justice Secretary, Raul Gonzales, said recently no group will
be allowed to hold rallies when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) leaders meet on December 10 for their annual three-day summit.

"If they do (hold rallies) they will be arrested and thrown to the
sharks," he said in a flippant remark.

Philippine human rights groups particularly want to highlight the
deteriorating situation in the country where they allege that over 764
leftist activists have been murdered since President Gloria Arroyo came to
power in 2001.

"If the Philippine government pushes through with its intent to prevent
protest activities from taking place, it will demonstrate very clearly
that the summit's theme of a 'sharing and caring community' is a sham,"
Nacpil said in a statement.

The civil groups plan to hold a week of action starting from December 9.

Karen Tanada, a member of the Citizen's Council on Human Rights (CCHR),
said that the government was targeting militant groups that plan to hold
parallel activities during the summit.
"The government is putting up military detachments where these groups are
based," she said in the statement.

"This is precisely one of the many reasons why we are challenging ASEAN
governments to uphold basic civil liberties.

"Their record on human rights is dismal." The statement said that among
the issues to be discussed during the week of action will be the crisis in
East Timor, the junta in Myanmar, territorial disputes in South China Sea,
and the killings in the Philippines.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International have criticized the spate
of killings of activists in the Philippines, saying in a report in August
that "a failure to prosecute any of the killers risks perpetuating a cycle
of human rights violations".

Failure to punish the killers sends "a message of de facto state tolerance
for such practices," Amnesty International said.

The government has said the reports of political killings is bloated and
is part of a black propaganda campaign mounted by communist insurgents.

____________________________________

December 4, Democratic Voice of Burma
Exiled Burmese, ASEAN politicians meet to urge discussion on Burma

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus and the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma launched a three-day conference on Burma
in Manila yesterday as a lead-up to the coming annual ASEAN meeting.

Delegates at the conference, aimed at encouraging ASEAN discussions on
Burma, included Philippines congressman Mario Mayong, Thai MP Dr Buranaj
Sumtharaks, Indonesian MP Dr Muhammed A.S. Hikan, Singaporean MP Inderjit
Singh and NCGUB minister Bo Hla Tint.
Mayong told DVB on the weekend, “. . . the main purpose of holding the
meeting in Manila is to urge and demand an open discussion, expression on
the affairs of Burma at the ASEAN meeting in this coming week.”

“During this three-day long meeting, we are to meet with the Philippine’s
current president, foreign minister and parliamentarians, and will say
that the issue of Burma is a really serious problem for ASEAN,” Mayong
said.

Bo Hla Tint said he planned to personally deliver letters to Philippines
politicians, urging them to consider the political situation in Burma.

“I myself will give letters to the foreign minister of the Philippines,
which is becoming the chairman of ASEAN, from (exiled) prime minister Dr
Sein Win, expressing his views . . .,” Bo Hla Tint.

“I hope that not only the people representatives from Burma, but also the
parliamentarians of the ASEAN member countries who are very interested in
the affairs of Burma, to point out clearly what they want to be and see. I
hope that the ASEAN governments will take it seriously,” he said.

The annual ASEAN meeting is expected to be held from December 11 to 13 in
Manila, with the Philippines holding the rotating chair to the regional
grouping. ASEAN has come under increasing international pressure to
address the lack of political reforms in Burma.

The meeting will be attended by prime minister general Soe Win on behalf
of senior general Than Shwe.