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BURMA RELATED NEWS - JUNE 04, 2005. WASHINGTON (AFP) - Cambodia has joined North Korea and Myanmar as Asia's worst human trafficking violators, the US State Department said in a report tracking the problem across the globe. Notorious mostly for child sex trafficking, Cambodia was lumped together with the hardline states in the "Tier 3" blacklist of the department's annual "Trafficking in Persons Report." Cambodia's inclusion stems largely from government "complicity" in trafficking, said John Miller, the department's senior adviser against human trafficking. The department also gave lower grades to China and Taiwan this year in its review of 150 countries in combating trafficking for forced labor, prostitution and military service, among other areas. China has been included this year in the "Tier 2 Watch List" created last year for more worrisome countries that were not ranked as "Tier 3." It resulted from China's "failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking, specifically its inadequate protection for trafficking victims," the report said. The department also cited the "involuntary return" of North Korean refugees from China, often facing "serious abuses" by the hardline communist regime in Pyongyang. Taiwan, which in 2004 was on "Tier 1" with nations deemed compliant with US and international efforts to fight trafficking, fell to "Tier 2". But Japan, Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand, Laos and Nepal moved up to Tier 2 from the Tier 2 watchlist while Bangladesh, lumped together with the worst violators in 2004, made a significant improvement to Tier 2, indicating stepped up efforts in the region to combat human trafficking, the department said. "We estimate that up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year, and millions more are trafficked internally," Rice said. She did not give a regional breakdown but the report said convictions for human trafficking in East Asia and the Pacific last year dropped to 348 last year from 583 in 2003. In South Asia however, convictions more than doubled to 1,260 in 2004 from 355 the previous year. India and the Philippines remained on the Tier 2 watchlist this year while East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka were maintained on Tier 2. Miller said that trafficking for labor exploitation, particularly involuntary servitude of foreign laborers, received greater attention in 2005. "This greater emphasis came as a result of better data obtained from source countries and nongovernmental organizations," he said. The State Department's ratings were based on government actions to combat trafficking in persons as defined by US law. The standards are applied equally to every country, Miller said. "We examine each country individually." Vietnam, he said, had "made some significant progress in the last year," and cited controls on exporting Vietnamese labor and alleged links with "slave owners" in other countries. "They have stepped in and are giving much better supervision and control. Their number of convictions has increased, so there's been some progress in Vietnam," he said. KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - Malaysian police detained 123 people from Indonesia, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and African nations in a raid at a wholesale market in Kuala Lumpur, a news report said Saturday. Police checked about 400 foreigners and detained 123 for not having valid documents, violating the conditions of their work permits or having fake documents, The Star newspaper said. It said about 160 policemen with batons on Friday surrounded the market, a known haunt for drug trafficking, forgers and extortionists. Many of the foreigners hid in ice boxes used for storing meat, in toilets and in nearby apartments. They were eventually tracked down and caught. The paper said the raid followed numerous complaints of foreigners engaged in illegal activities at the market. A federal police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the report. He said five men suspected of having fake documents were being held at a police station, while the rest are at an immigration center awaiting deportation. About 1.5 million migrants work legally in Malaysia, mostly in menial jobs spurned by most Malaysians. Hundreds of thousands more foreigners work here illegally. The sunsets are still spectacular - a golden glow brushing the curves of 2,000 ancient temples and pagodas clustered on the edge of the Irrawaddy River in central Burma. But today some of the world's leading experts have accused Burma's military regime of waging "archaeological blitzkrieg" against the legendary Buddhist treasures of Pagan. "They're ruining it," said Richard Engelhardt, regional advisor for the UN's cultural arm, Unesco. "It makes me feel hopeless and helpless and angry and disappointed," he said. I went to survey the damage, posing as a tourist. Burma is one of the world's most repressive dictatorships and foreign journalists are not welcome. "We are the richest archaeological site in Asia," said my guide proudly as we drove around the site in a horse-drawn carriage. But almost everywhere I saw signs of the "false" and "misguided" restoration work which Unesco and other experts have so bitterly condemned. These included: "I'm horrified by the tower," said Mr Engelhardt, who is concerned that the isolated regime's hunger for tourist dollars is responsible for the changes. "The archaeology destroyed during excavation for its foundations can never be recovered. The [Burmese] government is gussying up the site... commodifying it for mass tourism. "But it's a loss for everyone. It's becoming less and less a real document of the glory of Pagan's past and more an un-understandable book of nonsense," he said. So what do the locals make of the building work? Well, remember Burma is a military dictatorship. "I cannot tell you," said one souvenir seller with a nervous glance around us, "there are spies everywhere." "We all hate the tower," said another man. "But if we say the government is not very good, we get in trouble." Although some locals have found work in the new hotels opening up - built with an eye on luring mass tourism from neighbouring China - many feel they are being pushed out by a regime anxious to monopolise all tourist revenues. "All the businesses in town are owned by the military," said one man. "They want to stay on their throne forever." For decades Unesco has sought to arrange World Heritage status for Pagan. But disagreements with the Burmese regime have blocked progress and prevented the UN funding programmes to help train local archaeologists to maintain the site. "The generals have no room for other voices, for constructive criticism," Mr Engelhardt said. "There really aren't the people in [Burma] with the skills to do the job right, to rescue the site. And to me that is the most frightening thing." The Bureau of Immigration ordered the deportation of two Burmese who were arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport for using fake Japanese passports. Kyaw Swa Soe Win and Sai Yot Kham, apprehended at the departure area of Naia-2 Centennial Terminal, were about to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Guam when they were offloaded by members of the BI-Naia monitoring and enforcement unit. Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez said the Burmese will be deported for using spurious immigration documents, an offense punishable by summary deportation under the country’s immigration act. “They will also be blacklisted and banned from reentering the Philippines for being undesirable aliens,” said the immigration chief, who noted that the Myanmar passengers attempted to use Manila as a jump-off point in gaining illegal entry to Guam. When questioned by BI prosecutor Jake Licas, the aliens admitted that they wanted to go to Guam in order to find work and later apply for refugee status there. They also told Licas that they bought their Japanese passports from a fraud syndicate in Malaysia for a fee of $5,000 each. They said they obtained the fake passports due to the difficulty of securing a visa to Guam at the US embassy in Yangoon. The two passengers further claimed that they entrusted their Myanmar passports to a Malaysian who gave them the Japanese passports. That Malaysian was supposed to meet them at Naia before their trip to Guam but the facilitator was a no-show in his scheduled flight to Manila. An uncertainty looms over Dhaka's negotiations with New Delhi and Yangon for the proposed trans- Myanmar gas pipeline project, which will run through Bangladesh, due to an unprecedented delay in devising strategies. Most of the related government agencies of the country have failed to submit their opinions, sought for preparation of the government strategy, within a set time frame to the energy ministry, The Financial Express reported Friday. The inter-ministerial meeting that was held last May, asked the concerned agencies - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Power - to submit their respective opinions within a week. Only one agency has submitted their opinions even after two weeks of the instruction. The government reportedly needs to devise its own negotiating strategies to avail itself of maximum benefit from a proposed trans-Myanmar gas pipeline project that will run through Bangladesh territory. Without preparing a well-thought out strategy, the authority finds itself in a difficult situation to invite Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to discuss the three conditions, which have been tagged by Bangladesh government with the proposed cross- border pipeline project. The conditions are: Providing Bangladesh transit facility for import of hydro-electricity from Nepal and Bhutan, and trade with the two countries as well as reducing trade imbalance between Dhaka and New Delhi. As per the proposal, the pipeline is expected to run through Arakan State in Myanmar via the Indian states of Mizoran and Tripura before crossing Bangladesh to Kolkata. The 897 kilometer pipeline will cost US$1 billion. this includes involvement of US$350 million for Bangladesh part of the pipeline. Bangladesh is expected to earn Energy ministers of Bangladesh, India and Myanmar held a meeting on the gas pipeline in Yangon on January 12-13 last. During the meeting, India requested Bangladesh to place specific proposals in this regard. Xinhua news June 2, 2005 (DVB) - Newspapers controlled by Burma’s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), on 2 June, mentioned the appointments of two army officers as its new ambassadors to two Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. No. 9 Military Operation Command (MOC) commander Brig Gen Myin Aung and the head of Thandaung Combat School Brig Gen Myint Aung were appointed ambassadors to Malaysia and Singapore respectively. They took the places of U Hla Maung and U Hla Than who were close to the ousted “Prime Minister” Gen Khin Nyunt. The two new ambassadors were “retired” from their military duties and summoned to Foreign Affairs Ministry before their appointments. Other officers who were retired from the army but still not allowed to take up their new diplomatic positions are: MOC – 7 commander Brig Gen Myo Lwin, MOC – 19 commander Brig Gen Ye Win, Brigade – 99 commander Brig Gen Tin Oo LWin and Joint-Chief of Staff Brig Gen Ngwe Thein. Although it is not known where they are going to be sent, it is sure that they are not likely to be sent to the USA and Europe. But new civilian ambassadors have been sent to the UK, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Australia and Israel. Former ambassador to Korea was ex-Col U Ne Win was appointed the new ambassador to the UK, former ambassador to Germany U Nyunt Maung Shein became the permanent ambassador to the UN in Geneva, U Tin Win the new ambassador to Germany, U Than Tun the ambassador to Italy, U Thet Win the ambassador to Australia and U Myint Swe the ambassador to Israel, according to diplomatic sources from Europe. Those who were removed from their positions are former ambassador to UK Dr. Kyaw Win, ambassador to Geneva U Aye, U Lin Myaing, the ambassador to Washington Washington and nearly 20 ambassadors who were believed to be close to Gen Khin Nyunt. The new appointments of diplomats were triggered by the defection of the junta’s Washington-based 2nd ambassador Col Aung Lynn Htut. June 2, 2005 (DVB) - The Arakan elected representative and a member of the Committee for Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) U Kyaw Min and his family members who are being detained at Rangoon Insein Jail, were not allowed to see their lawyer by the authorities. On 2 June, a National League for Democracy (NLD) legal advocate, U Nyan Win went to prison for a second time to meet with and defend the family as he heard that they were to be tried on the day. But he was turned back at the gate of the prison by the authorities without having the chance to see his clients, Nyan Win told DVB. “The prison security staff told me to wait so that they could ask higher authorities about my request. An hour later, they told me that I would not be allowed to go in and see my client,” he said. “I didn’t even get the permission to go outside the court where they were allegedly tried. They didn’t tell us why either.” Nyan Win also attempted to see the family last week but he was turned back in the same manner by the authorities. He added that the family is being charged and tried in accordance with Nationality Act 18. “I know that they are being tried because I saw some CID people there. The case is being handled by the CID people and the court is inside the prison,” he insisted. “I don’t think they are guilty as charged but I don’t know exactly which allegations the authorities are making against them.” June 2, 2005 (DVB) - Burmese police recently captured a human trafficking boat with 56 passengers on board at Tamaingthedan, Kawthaung Township, Tenesserim Division in southern Burma near the Thai border town Ranong. A local resident told DVB that the boat driver and suspected human traffickers managed to escape after warning shots were fired by the police. The victims were intending to move to Thailand with their families after selling their properties because of the dire economic situation in Burma. After the bomb blasts in Rangoon on 7 May, more Burmese people from Rangoon, Pegu, Moulmein, Yay, Mergui (Beik), Tavoy are flooding into Thailand in search of work. Although the authorities have been issuing border passes at 1500-2000 Thai Baht a copy, the Thai immigration officers at Ranong have been making strict checks on Burmese people due to the inflation of fake passes. |
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