------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: January 20, 1996
Issue #326

Noted in Passing:

                How long until things become better?
                - Karen villagers asking a travelling Karen
                human rights monitor in Karen State.
        (see: KHRG: CONDITIONS NORTH OF MYAWADDY)

HEADLINES:
==========
AFP: JAPAN SHOULD WITHDRAW AID TO BURMESE JUNTA: SOROS
EUROPEAN INFO SERVICE: FORCED LABOR REGIME THREATENS GSP
BKK POST: SLORC TO ACCEPT 70,000 REFUGEES
KHRG: COMMENTARY ON "SLORC TO ACCEPT 70,000 REFUGEES"
INDEPENDENT CHIN REPORT: REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
MON INDEPENDENT REPORT: MON PEOPLE AFTER THE CEASEFIRE
KHRG: CONDITIONS NORTH OF MYAWADDY
ABSDF-DNA: MTA SECOND MASS SURRENDER
BKK POST: HUNDREDS OF BURMESE SENT BACK AFTER RAIDS
BKK POST: HUNGRY BURMA TROOPS DESERT CAMPAIGN
BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFP: JAPAN SHOULD WITHDRAW AID TO BURMESE JUNTA: SOROS
January 17, 1996

TOKYO--Japan should withdraw aid to Burma until the ruling military junta
proves it is serious about pursuing economic progress free of political
ideology, international investment guru George Soros said Wednesday.
        Soros told foreign correspondents that Burma's ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) was only interested in self-preservation rather
than economic prosperity for the country, and Japan was helping it stay in
power.
        "To have Burma, which is a very closed society both externally and
internally, open up is a worthy objective," said Soros, head of one of the
world's most powerful investment funds.  "But the present regime is not
interested in that, it is only interested in preserving itself,"said Soros,
who also heads a philanthropic foundation.
        He said SLORC was "not a viable regime, because it has not brought economic
prosperity" to Burma since seizing power in 1988.
        "Giving aid can make it (the regime) viable, so it can survive on this
supposedly well meant aid that it is getting from Japan."
        Japan said last October it would resume grants to Burma following the
release by SLORC of Nobel Peace Prize winner and prodemocracy campaigner
Aung San Suu Kyi in July from six years of house arrest.
        Though it began with a first grant-in-aid of $1.6 billion yen ($16
million), Tokyo has been cautious about resuming large-scale official loans
for major projects in Burma, and has said the resumption of lending depended
on progress of democratic reforms.
        Soros said the release of Aung San Suu Kyi was a first step.
        "But that was the end of what the SLORC was willing to do, and
therefore it ought to be the end of what Japan is willing to do, but that was
only the beginning and Japan is not ending it -- that is where it is wrong."
        "It was wonderful to start, because if you don't give something you
can't take it away," Soros said.  "Now it is time to take it away, because clearly
SLORC is not serious about it wanting to see economic progress."
----------------------------------

The DAILY YOMIYURI added in  Soros Raps Myanmar Aid
(January 18, 1996):

'' I'm involved in trying to help establish open societies in the countries
where they don't exist....and ( Myanmar ) is one of the places that qualifies
as an oppressive and closed society, '' Soros said.

***********************************************************

EUROPEAN INFORMATION SERVICE: EUROPEAN REPORT
EU/MYANMAR: FORCED LABOR REGIME THREATENS GSP
January 17, 1996
 
        European commissioners meeting in Strasbourg on January 16 were
expected to open an inquiry into the practice of forced labor in the Southeast Asian
dictatorship of Myanmar (Burma).  Reports of slavery in the country have led
both the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) to deposit a joint complaint
about the regime last June.  If the investigation reveals unacceptable
practices, the EU could suspend GSP (Generalized System of Preferences),
preferential tariffs in trade with Myanmar.  If so, it would be the first
successful test case for a December 1994 Council regulation, allowing GSP
privileges to be withdrawn from any countries practicing any form of slavery.
        The complaints stem from reports that the Myanmar authorities not only
condone the use of forced labor in private industry, but also use on an
institutional basis to build infrastructure, develop tourism projects and to
work as porters during military offensives.  The complaints also state that
the economic advantages from this forced labor are often not reinvested in
the country's economy by the government, but are used to other ends.  The
ICTFU described the Myanmar "State Law and Order Committee"[sic] as using
this labor as a form of government punishment, amounting to "one of the most
outrageous cases of, in effect, slavery."
        The ICTFU believes it is very important that Europe shows it is not
prepared to tolerate such abuses.  The U.S. has already suspended its
Generalized System of Preferences in trade with Myanmar.  If the commission
agrees to the inquiry, it will invite interested parties to communicate by
writing to the commission "all useful information" with regard to the
Myanmar case.  This information, plus any demands for hearings, will be
required within 60 days of the inquiry's publication in the official journal.
        Naturally, the Myanmar authorities deny the existence of slavery in the
country.  Although there has been no central government reaction yet to the
possible inquiry, Myanmar's embassy in Bonn claimed on January 16 that these
were allegations from people who had never been to their country.  The
embassy argued that "voluntary contributions of labor is usual, and part of
religious duty" in the country.  While "Western countries refrain from
giving aid ... we have to build our country ourselves.  This is not forced
labor."  Nevertheless, the embassy did confirm that free labor was being
used to build motorways, hospitals and schools.
        The suspension of GSP to Myanmar is not expected to have far-reaching
economic consequences, but should give an important political message to
other countries operating forced labor systems.

********************************************

BKK POST: SLORC TO ACCEPT 70,000 REFUGEES
January 19, 1996   Mae Sot, Tak   (abridged)

BURMA has agreed to allow over 70,000 of its citizens who
have taken refuge in camps along the border to return home.

An agreement was reached at yesterday's meeting in Myawaddy
of the Joint Local Thai-Burmese Border Committee, according
to Col Suvit Maen-muan.

At the meeting, Col Suvit and a team of five officials met
the team of Lt-Col Kyaw Hlaing, and the latter accepted a
proposal on the return of over 70,000 refugees.

A list has been drawn up of over 9,000 refugees at Sho Klo
camp in Tha Song Yang who are to be voluntarily repatriated
as soon as Burma is ready, Col Suvit said.

The meeting also touched on the re-opening of the Mae Sot-
Myawaddy border checkpoint.

********************************

KHRG: COMMENTARY ON "SLORC TO ACCEPT 70,000 REFUGEES"
January 20, 1996
by the Karen Human Rights Group

70,000 means the entire population of Karen refugees registered
in all refugee camps in Thailand.  This agreement has occurred
despite the fact that the latest KNU / SLORC talks broke down
and that SLORC is now stepping up military activities in most
areas, especially Taungoo and Papun Districts.  Most of the refugees
would be forced back to Taungoo, Papun, and Pa'an Districts, even
though more refugees are arriving from all of these areas right
now.  In Taungoo and Papun Districts SLORC has been systematically
burning crops and villages and forcing villagers into labour camps
for months.  In Pa'an District SLORC has blocked all flow of food,
goods and medicines from towns to the villages, followed by the
DKBA going around and confiscating ALL rice, livestock, cooking
pots and other necessities they can get their hands on, resulting
in people fleeing to the forests to hide in clusters of 1 or 2
families - the situation in all these areas is increasingly desperate
(see related KHRG reports and Burma Issues Dec/95 newsletter).
Furthermore, upon repatriation these refugees would be screened by
SLORC, and any who are seen as having relatives in the KNU would
face arrest or execution.  Many of the rest would be impounded in
forced labour camps.  The repatriation would be anything but voluntary.

On the positive side, this Border Committee is not the Thai Government,
so this is not a fait accompli as yet - which only means that
it is crucial to act on this now before the Thai government joins in.
 The Thai Government is under pressure to go along with this -
there is an increasingly vocal lobby of Thai businessmen who
are losing money in Mae Sot and other border towns because of SLORC's
closure of the border, and they are telling the Government to give
SLORC whatever it wants.  Also, the Thai press (thanks to Army influence)
has been increasingly portraying Karen as "bad" thanks to the recent
wave of DKBA attacks, many of them against Thai citizens.  The
Thai media no longer distinguishes between DKBA, KNU, and the
refugees, they just report "Karen killing Thais", and quote Thais
saying things like "I feel like we're becoming a colony of the Karens".

Foreign governments have enough leverage with the Thai Government to
effectively block this move for the time being if they want to.  If
such a repatriation began, UNHCR would seek a role but would probably
be refused by both the Thais and SLORC.  Even if they were allowed,
UNHCR has proven in Bangladesh that it cannot be relied on to protect
refugees, but is more interested in whitewashing the forced repatriation
operation.  Grassroots pressure on foreign governments is therefore
needed to prevent this initiative from going any further.

**********************************************************

INDEPENDENT CHIN REPORT: REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN CHINLAND - 1995
January 1996

1.  In January 1995, more than 300 Chin refugees fled into Bangladesh after the village head was executed by the SLORC army Battalion 376.  They were not recognized by the Bangladesh government as refugees.  They were taking refuge at Chin National Front'

s (CNF) headquarters.  The CNF had to provide them with food and medicine.

2.  In January 1995, some SLORC troops and Buddhist monks travelled several villages in the Ku Ki area, in the Northern part of Chinland.  The troops left a monk in each village where there are no Buddhists in order to convert the villagers to Buddhism.

The SLORC army provided security for the monks.  The villagers had to send a pig or a hen every day for the monks and the soldiers.

3.  On February 8 1995, Burmese military and Indian government authorities met at Rih Khuadar village, in Falam Township of Chinland.  They issued a statement saying that all Chin refugees ( who are all  citizens of Burma) who have escaped to India should

 be forcibly sent back to Burma.

4. A Chin human rights activist interviewed people who have gone to work on railroad construction many times and learned that over 100,000 Chin people were forced to work for the construction of the 200 mile Kalay-Gangaw Railroad in March 50-20 1995.  Man

y farmer's fields where the rail line passes through were destroyed without any compensation.  The local people had to work for this railroad construction twice a month since it was scheduled to be completed in 1996.  Each period of labor lasted for 6 day

s.  Each household which failed to send labor had to pay 100 kyat per day to local SLORC authorities.  They were not provided with any food or medicine by the SLORC.  Many people died and were injured because of landslides and illnesses.

5.  Some Indian rebel groups crossed into Chin territory in the months of March and April.  The Indian government accused CNF of being led by these groups, then Pu Sang Hlun (chief justice of CNF), Slai Thawngmang and Slai Kungling were arrested by Indian

 security forces and taken to Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram State.  On March 23 1995, Pu Sang Hlun was tortured to death while in custody and the others have  disappeared ( later we learned from a reliable person that Slai Tahwngmang was executed by Indi

an Forces a few days after Pu Sang Hlun's death.  Later, after it was too late, the Indian Government realised that the rebel groups were not led by the CNF.

6.  Thlamphei, a village in Thlantlang District was burned up by the SLORC army on April 21, 1995. People's valuables were stolen by SLORC soldiers.  The villagers became homeless.  Every Christian Mission throughout Chinland had to support them with esse

ntial commodities, money and food.  It was estimated that the villagers lost at least  500,000 kyat in that incident.

7.  On May 26 1995, Roger Biaklianthang, the Chairman of the CNF,  resigned from his post, and Lt. Col Thomas was appointed as the Acting Chairman until the next party election could be held.

8.  On June 1, 1995, the only refugee camp in Mizoram, located in Champhai town, was closed down by the Indian government.  And on June 15, 1995, the Mizoram government started to forcibly evict all the Chin people who had taken refuge in Mizoram State.

It was the third time the Indian government had sent Chin refugees back to Burma.  Hundreds of Chin refugees were handed over to the SLORC army.

9.  SLORC Lt. Min Kyan Ta, the commander of Lailenpi post, Matupi township arrested Pu Mase, the village council chairman of Hloma village on October 26, 1995, because the SLORC army suspected that Pu Mase was a sympathiser of the Chin National Army (CNA)

.  He was detained in the Lailenpi jail for three days without being giving any food to eat.  And later, Lt.  Minn Kyn Ta charged 10,000 kyat to set him free.  Each household in Hloma had to contribute money to pay for this, because Pu Mase was a simple s

ubsistence farmer and he had no way to pay it.

******************************************************

MON INDEPENDENT REPORT: THE SITUATION OF MON PEOPLE AFTER THE CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SLORC AND NMSP (29/7/1995)
January 1996

The SLORC and the NMSP reached a ceasefire agreement on July 29, 1995.  While Nai Shwe Kyin, the President of New Mon State Party (NMSP), was visiting Mon State, Burma in August 1995, he was given  hero's welcome by the Mon people.  Tens of thousands of p

eople in each city where Nai Shwe Kyin visited gathered to listen to the NMSP leaders' explanations of the ceasefire with the hope that the ceasefire
would result in a better life for them.

One condition in the ceasefire agreement was that the SLORC would stop using the villagers as forced labors or porters in the battlefield.  Since the ceasefire, the NMSP has stopped its military operation against the SLORC, and they have moved to the area

s agreed to by both sides.  Up to this day there has been no fighting in the Mon State.  NMSP members were allowed to visit their relatives and some were appointed as NMSP representives for cooperating with the SLORC authorities in local development progr

ams.

The SLORC has agreed to build schools and hospitals, but up to this day, they have done nothing.  Instead, they have continued the  construction of the Ye-Tavoy railroad and the gas pipeline project.  The SLORC's troops are still violating human rights as

 well as the conditions of the ceasefire agreement.  In late November, SLORC troops forcibly rounded  people up at Tamine Railway station, Ye Township, before some NMSP members' very eyes.  The SLORC soldiers' behaviour to the people is very rude.  They h

ave conscripted the people and forced them to work on the Ye-Tavoy railway construction, which they  accelerated to finish by 1996, Visit Myanmar Year.  The road between Three Pagoda's Pass and Than Byuzaryat (known as Death Railway in World War II) is no

w being reconstructed by forced labor.  About 200 chain gangs are working on this project at Win Kana, about 40 km. west of Three Pagodas Pass.

In December 5, 1995, NMSP General Secretary Nai Rossa, sent a letter to Lt. Gen. Ketsein, SLORC's South East Army Division Commander, protesting against the SLORC troops' actions against the people and the SLORC's violations of the ceasefire agreement.  P

reviously, there were about 200 schools, including 5 middle schools, in areas under NMSP influence.  All the schools were teaching in the Mon language and supported by local villagers.  More than 500 teachers were working in this Mon education program.  B

ut after the ceasefire agreement, the NMSP troops were moved back into limited zones.  In consequence, Mon teachers were threatened by SLORC soldiers.  Now nearly 100 schools are closed because of fear about the SLORC troops' threats.  The ordinary people

 in Mon State, except in big cities such as Moulmein, are still forced to pay monthly fees for military porters, and provide laborers for rail and road construction which the SLORC calls the "Local Development Program".  One family must pay the SLORC anyw

here from 200 kyats to 1000 kyats per month.  Moreover, peasants who own land are forced to pay 12 baskets of paddy per acre (one basket is roughly equivalent to one bushel).  Rubber plantation owners have to pay 80 lb per acre.   Car owners have to trans

port people and goods for government or military purposes 7 to 10 times per month  without payment.. Large boat owners running vessels with a 500 ton loading capacity have to pay 600,000 kyats per voyage between Ye and Kohtaung port.

The living standard of the people in Mon State is very low, because of low incomes and a shortage of jobs.  Except for working in paddy fields, salt fields, rubber plantations, vegetable gardens, or small boat fishery, there is nothing which can be counte

d as an occupation.  One able man earns about 100-150 kyats (around U.S. $1), while a woman earns about 50-70 kyats per day.  However, the price of food, clothing and medicine are very expensive.

**********************************************

KHRG: CONDITIONS NORTH OF MYAWADDY
(abridged: the full text of this and other KHRG reports will be posted separately)
An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
January 10, 1996     /     KHRG #96-03

NOTE: SOME DETAILS HAVE BEEN OMITTED OR REPLACED WITH 'XXXX'
      FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

The following reports were collected by independent Karen civilian
human rights monitors who visited the area north of Myawaddy in
November and December 1995.  This area is under firm SLORC control.
 The DKBA (Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, often referred to in
this report as "Ko Per Baw" - the "Yellow Headbands") also operates
in the area in cooperation with SLORC.  The Thai Government claims
that now that fighting has died down in this and some other areas,
it will soon be time to drive all the refugees back across to villages there.

___________________________________________________________

Report #1

I travelled to XXXX on xx November 1995, XXXX.
I went to T--- village at the Meh
Bleh river, which I couldn't recognize well, partly because I
hadn't been for a long time and partly because it has changed.
 About 10 years ago this was a village which was well inhabited,
with a well-kept road, houses and a school.  Before it had 50
houses, but now if you come into the village you don't even know
you're in a village, there is no noise, it's so quiet!  The houses
are unkempt, and looking into them I could see that few people
were sleeping in them, so most must be sleeping outside the village.
 I talked with some of the villagers and they said that now there
are only 18 households left.  Of those who have gone, some went
to Thailand and some fled further into the hills.  The villagers
said "We must make two or three houses each, so if the Na Wa Ta
[SLORC] or Ko Per Baw [DKBA] come we can flee to our places in
the fields".  They have also taken all of their household items
and hidden them in the rocks and cliffs in the area so that the
SLORC or Ko Per Baw cannot take them, as the villagers have already
suffered this in the past.

T--- village is in the T--- village group, along with B---,
T---, W--- and H---, and all these villages
are experiencing the same situation.  The number of houses in
each of these villages respectively is 17, 8, 25, and more than
20.  There is no school amongst them all, and only two monasteries.

>From xx to xx November I travelled around the area of these villages
and saw that many fields were not being worked, and also that
many people were ill but had no medicine to cure themselves.
People said that since the beginning of 1995 it has been very
difficult to stay and grow food, but also that the way to Thailand
has more and more problems [SLORC and DKBA are systematically
blocking escape routes for refugees].  Village leaders said to
me, "It is getting more and more difficult, when will things be
better?"  I could see that.  My people.  The parents hope for
better times, but if the youth cannot keep their determination
to help their families work their fields then all happiness is
lost.  When I saw babies my heart felt great pity for them, as
they are growing up in the midst of sicknesses pressing down upon
them, and with no opportunities to learn.  I saw this and was
angered but could do nothing.  Inwardly I was thankful that we
Karen who stay in the refugee camps in Thailand are blessed that
our brothers and sisters from other lands give us the food, clothing,
medicines and other help that we need.

On xx November I went from B--- to D---.  In the fields
I saw that a few people were working and that they still had some
of their buffalo, and there were also a few people along the path,
but not like before.  As with the other group of villages, the
houses are all in disrepair.  People's lives in this place are
as water on a 'ku' leaf.  [Water beads on a 'ku' leaf - if you touch
the leaf the beads shake and scurry around, and they are easily
knocked off the leaf.]  From xx November I stayed in M---
for three days.  On one day I went to the coconut seller,
who said to me, "If you can climb the palm you can eat as you
please and you need not pay me, because soon Na Wa Ta or Ko Per
Baw will come, and if so they will take and eat them all anyway."
 M--- and D--- are both very pleasant places,
but the people there live in fear and are always steeling themselves
for the SLORC or Ko Per Baw to come and oppress them.  They said
that Ko Per Baw and SLORC came two times already and most of the
people fled and hid, because if not they ask people about weapons
and frighten people by saying that the people are hiding guns
or Kaw Thoo Lei [KNU soldiers].

On the afternoon of xx December, two groups of village women passed
through the village I was in, 3 or 4 to a group, following each
other.  They were grandmothers carrying children, with baskets
on their backs and woven bamboo trays on their heads.  They had
left their village and were going into the hills, going like this,
trip by trip, until all their household possessions were removed.
 I asked one elderly woman, "Why are you carrying all of this?
 You can run anytime and hide only yourselves, really".  She answered
to me, "Don't speak like this.  The 'raw food eaters' [presumably
meaning SLORC or DKBA, who steal their livestock and food], they
take everything until it is gone and leave you with nothing.
So it is better to carry everything away now."  As night was falling
they went again, and went slowly and quietly from the village.
 I went to a person's house and looked inside to see what was
left, and saw only two wooden water carriers without any water
in them.  I spent the night there.  That place is part of T---
village, close to H---.

So from xx November until xx December I was travelling around
and visiting people in this village group.  Whenever people saw
us they would ask, "How long until things become better?"  I heard
that question "How long until things become better?" in so many
places, and I know that they hope to have a decent government
and to be free from this oppression.  On xx December I went to
L--- village and listened to a village elder from XXXX.
 He said that that very afternoon, Maung Chit Thu of the Ko Per
Baw had sent a verbal message to XXXX, XXXX and other villages.
 It was to the effect that for the next 3 days, each village had
to send at least 30 people to clear land, that they were required
to bring along their own food, and furthermore the villagers must
bring with them a total of 400 logs, each at least 7 feet long
and three hands in circumference, all to Ker Ghaw village.  The
message also said "If you do not do as we instruct you to do and
then something happens to you, don't say it was our fault".  Maung
Chit Thu is a Ko Per Baw company commander in Ker Ghaw village.
 He stays near the Kho Khat monastery by the Meh Bleh river, and
moves around the area.  Maung Chit Thu did not say where they
would have to do the land clearing work, nor what would be done
with the logs.  [The land clearing may be for a forced-labour
military farm or an army camp; the logs are most likely to sell,
because if they are for building the villagers are usually ordered
to saw them into planks as well.  The DKBA is known to be selling
logs across the border to Thai traders in Meh Dan, 80 km. north
of Mae Sot.]  XXXX is a good place, XXXX is a good place,
but when they heard Maung Chit Thu's order their faces became
full of troubles.  I know that right now the villagers must finish
the work of their harvesting, and some said to me, "I will finish
the work for my harvest, then I will flee to Thailand if the way
is open, or otherwise I must run to a faraway place."

On xx December I went to P--- in the morning and met an old
friend from school, so I was very happy.  He brought a melon to
cook, but as I was cooking rice we heard that SLORC and Ko Per
Baw troops had come to A--- village, so we had no time
to cook the melon and we ate our rice with chillies and salt and
then left to go back to L--- village, where we slept the night.
 Villagers there said to me, "There is no way we can encounter
Na Wa Ta or Ko Per Baw".  The people there must just act [run]
without thinking about things.  The next morning after eating,
we heard that the Burmese would come to L--- so we left
immediately.  After we separated I went back to H---.
 Later that day when I was there cooking rice, people came fleeing
from L---, saying that the Burmese had already arrived in L---.
Therefore we left without finishing our cooking, back into
the hills to head back to Thailand.  The villagers had heard that
the Burmese would be doing something around the Meh Bleh and Moei
rivers and also in the hills, but they didn't know what.  So many
people said that once their harvest is finished they will flee
to Thailand.  That night, xx December, we slept in the hills along
with four elderly women, two babies and two teenagers.  They were
carrying bags and baskets and had followed behind us.  When we
asked them they said they were fleeing to xxxx refugee camp, so
we came back together.  On xx December we arrived back in Thailand.
 I felt restless and dissatisfied.
___________________________________________________

Report #2

On 22 December 1995 a meeting was held at the monastery in Htee
Sah Ra village at 12 o'clock.  The meeting was attended by Strategic
Command officer Nay Aung from the Township LORC in Myawaddy; a
Village LORC official; Timber Excise Department officials; an
Education Department official; Health Department officials; and
officers of 88 Battalion based at Meh Bleh village, as well as
Htee Sah Ra village leaders and the public.  The 88 Battalion
commander opened the meeting by saying that in the past the leaders
and members of Htee Sah Ra village community had not worked together
with the Myawaddy leaders, and therefore now a new village administrative
region would be formed consisting of Htee Sah Ra, Ker Ghaw, Kwee
Lay, Sgaw Ko, Pah Klu, Meh Bleh and Kway Sha villages.  He said
the village leaders of each of these villages would have to work
together with Myawaddy leaders.  Furthermore, he said that if
they needed something done they could inform Myawaddy, which would
then examine the prospect of giving assistance.  He then pointed
to his badge, numbered '88', and said that they are a peaceful
Battalion.  Having said that, he left the meeting.

Then the Township LORC officer spoke.  He said that previously
this region had been under the administrative control of Village
LORCs and that is why the situation has not been so good, but
now that Township LORC is in charge things will be good, and the
conditions in the villages will be pretty reasonable in the future.
 He announced that they will begin registration of the village
population, and requested the village elders to begin assigning
numbers, after which they will conduct a full registration process.
 He said that people who did not attend at the time of registration
and have their names recorded as members of the village community
would be looked on as outsiders, so then if military units from
other areas caught them to work as porters or such like, then
the Township LORC would be under no obligation to step in.  The
Township LORC officer requested that as well as registering the
number of people, the village elders should also register the
numbers of bullocks and bullock carts, so that in future when
called upon to send these [for SLORC use] it could be done more
easily, and perhaps fewer would need to be sent.  Finally, he
said that people who had finished Standard 8 in a Burmese state
school and who would like to be health workers or teachers could
give their names to the Township LORC, and they would make arrangements
for training.  He then asked the villagers if there was any other
thing they would like to do, such as fish farming, but the people
answered that they couldn't do this because there are no places available.

The Timber Excise official spoke next, and said that previously
there has been no system of regulation for trading in logs, but
now trading would be conducted with rules and discipline.  After
about 45 minutes, the meeting ended and the medics present examined
villagers and prescribed medicines, after which they all departed.

However, the situation now is not really as the Township LORC
officer reported.  Presently 88 Battalion has greater power than
any of those other groups who spoke, and their duty is to move
about the Meh Bleh region.  For example, on 23 December they sent
an order to Htee Sah Ra village ordering the villagers to build
a 5-foot high bamboo fence along both sides of the road leading
out of Htee Sah Ra, and build it such that a person could not
even fit their hand through the gaps, let alone pass through the
fence, in order to prevent land mines from being laid on the road
[building a fence this solid will require a great deal of bamboo
and labour].  Villagers in Meh Bleh village have been ordered
to construct this fence starting from their own village all the
way to Htee Sah Ra, and Htee Sah Ra villagers have been ordered
to continue the fence out the other side of the village to an
as yet unspecified point.

Furthermore, the Township LORC are currently calculating the size
of people's farms in order to tax land holdings.  The Ko Per Baw
are ordering the villages to collect all scrap metal, which the
Ko Per Baw will sell to get funds.  On the road, a unit from SLORC
#22 Division operates a small checkpoint on the way to Thailand,
which demands 100 Kyat from every person coming in from Thailand,
and 50 Kyat from every person going out to Thailand.  Many villagers
are saying to themselves that if the situation continues to worsen,
they may try to go to Thailand until things get better.

[Usually, SLORC uses village registration in order to determine
forced labour quotas for each village, as well as a way to decide
how much money, livestock, rice, etc. to extort from villages
as quotas.  In this case they may also use the registration process
as an opportunity to capture people who are suspected of having
relatives in the KNU to hold them hostage, or to screen and arrest
anyone they don't like in the village populations.  Anyone who
doesn't register will likely be subject to arrest at any time
if found in the region.  Failure to register would be seen as
grounds to torture or execute anyone, on the assumption that only
KNU people would avoid registration.]
________________________________________________________________________

Report #3

The following account was given by villagers who were fleeing
the area of the Kru Tu - T'Nay Hsah road construction, in southern
Pa'an Township north of Myawaddy, in an interview with an independent
human rights monitor at the end of December (their specific personal
details are omitted for their safety):

Starting in this dry season of l995 [October], people have had
to go to dig and construct a car road starting from Kru Tu village
(Kyone Done in Burmese language), coming as far as T'Nay Hsah.
 All villages in the region adjacent to the road must go.  They
are being forced by SLORC troops based at T'Nay Hsah village,
Battalion 88, and a few DKBA soldiers.  At the time that we went,
the construction of the road had come as far as Noh Pyu village.
 We heard that the construction will continue until Paw Yay Bu
in District 2.  In the Ber Kho region of T'Nay Hsah District all
villages must attend the road construction.  We went together
in a group of ten people, amongst fifty people working.  The road
is built five feet high [a 5-foot high embankment] and wide enough
to accomodate two cars side by side.  We had to take our own food
and received no salary.  If one of us has to go but is unable,
such as if we are sick, wives or children must go.  If there are
no young people in the house, the elderly, even with white hair,
broken teeth and stooped over, must go and cook rice for the SLORC
soldiers.  There were also some ten-year-old children, who carried
the earth in trays. We were amongst fifty people at the road construction.
 If we finish, but our names are again selected by lottery, we
must go again.  As we are not free to attend to our occupations,
it was necessary for my family to borrow rice to eat from others.
 At the time that we must go to the road construction, if nobody
goes we have to find other people to go for us or pay 200 Kyat
per person per day, or else they said that they will come and
take our possessions, small livestock and cattle - as for me,
all I have in my home is a pot and plates.  When we came here
we  came secretly, we didn't tell anybody.

We heard that the car road will have a gravel layer, and that
the stone for this will be worked from the T'Nay Hsah cliff and
that in order to work the cliff a sacrifice of living people is
required - 7 women and 30 men.  The women must be young and unmarried.
 [We have no previous reports of SLORC conducting 'human sacrifices',
although there are a few radical elements within DKBA with some
extreme and unusual beliefs.  The call for a sacrifice is most
likely a rumour based on the fact that SLORC has specifically
requested young unmarried women.  It is more likely that the people
are being called for forced labour quarrying gravel, and in the
process SLORC is requesting young unmarried women so they can
rape them - SLORC units generally prefer to rape women who are
young and unmarried.  The fact that the villagers would believe
SLORC capable of human sacrifices simply reflects the level of
barbarity they are used to from SLORC.]  In this month of December,
at Kler T'ku village, the SLORC soldiers came and called one 16
year old girl to go back with them to T'Nay Hsah.  The next morning
her mother went after them and then SLORC soldiers said that they
had already let her go the previous day.  Until now people haven't
seen her. As the news that there must be a sacrifice of 37 people
at the cliff has come to the villagers, now there is great fear
amongst them.

Now the SLORC soldiers are staying at T'Nay Hsah.  I heard people
say that they are #88 Battalion or Division.  As we could not bear
the suffering any longer we fled along with some of our family members,
and now we must return to get others who are still in the village.
 We left on 20 December 1995.  [Note: the road construction project
is still going on.]
______________________________________________________

********************************************************

ABSDF-DNA: MTA SECOND MASS SURRENDER
19 January 1996
From: Caroline Lurie <caroline@ksc.net.th>

        1,728 MTA fighters of Khun Sa attended the second mass surrender
to Slorc at the Ho Mong headquarters in southern Shan State on January 18,
1996.  Among the participants from both two cease-fire sides, Khun Sa and
some other his senior represented the MTA and Lt.Gen Maung Thint, member
of the ruling Slorc and minister for progress of border areas development
as well as Brig-Gen . Tin Htut, Commander of Eastern Command represented
the Slorc.
        1096 various weapons of MTA soldiers were handed over to the Slorc
during the surrender ceremony. The Slorc officials returned the gifts to
the MTA soldiers, it is reported.
        This was the second mass surrender of MTA since Khun Sa has
reached a cease- fire agreement with Slorc on January 5, 1996. the first
mass surrender was held on January 7, at the Ho Mong headquarters. MTA
troops from Lwe Lun, Lwe Tune, Hmon Htaw and Hmon Hta handed over their
weapons to Slorc.
        A total 4431 MTA troops with 3483 various weapons surrendered
during January 5 to 7 and 1894 MTA troops surrendered with 138 weapons on
January 12. An arm factory in Ho Mong with 197 Ho Mong-made launchers,
13,452 hand-grenades and 13,046 various mines were handed over to the
Slorc on January 1996.


ABSDF News Agency
ABSDF DAWN GWIN

******************************************************

BKK POST: HUNDREDS OF BURMESE SENT BACK AFTER RAIDS
January 19, 1996     Mae Sot, Tak   (abridged)

MORE than 300 illegal immigrants have been rounded up in a
serious of pre-dawn raids and returned to Burma.
The operation, to continue until March, followed complaints
about Burmese offering cheap labour, said Pol Lt.Col
Shinawat Tansrikul, deputy chief of the Tak Immigration Office.

***************

BKK POST: HUNGRY BURMA TROOPS DESERT CAMPAIGN AGAINST
KARENNI   January 19, 1996     AFP, Reuters

ABOUT 20 Burmese government soldiers have deserted a stalled
campaign against the Karenni ethnic group in Kayah State due
to lack of food, a Karenni source said yesterday.

"There is a problem now with the Burmese army, they don't
have enough food (in the area)," the source said by
telephone from Mae Hong Son, opposite Kayah State.

Two or three of the deserters surrendered to a Thai border
post and told Border Patrol Police that there was not enough
food for the estimated 4,000 government soldiers in Kayah
State, the source said.

Karenni guerrillas were attacking government supply lines
overland from the Kayah State capital of Loikaw, but lacked
the heavier weapons needed to stop helicopter loads of
equipment and food from the headquarters of opium warlord
Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army.

The Karenni source feared that troops of the Slorc would
replace MTA forces on Ho Haa Hill in Shan State, exposing
both Karenni and Thai positions to Burmese mortar fire.

Burmese government troops were in a tense face off with Thai
forces along the border after taking Karenni positions
around Doi Saen, or Border Post 9, earlier this month, but
the source said the situation was quite.

The Burmese military was reported to have flown 20 120-mm
mortar pieces into Khun Sa's headquarters at Ho Mong, for
use either in another offensive against the Karenni or to
put in place on Ho Haa Hill, the source said.

The Karenni did not have a problem with supplies as they had
only about 1,000 men under arms, he said.

Khun Sa, who surrendered to the government earlier this
month, has been moved from his jungle headquarters but his
destination and fate remain unknown, one of his officers
said yesterday.

Khun Sa was flown from his headquarters in the Shan State on
a Burmese army helicopter late last week, he said. "I went
to Ho Mong and asked to see Khun Sa or his secretary Lao Tai
but people there said both of them were last seen on January
12," the MTA officer said.

A resident in Ho Mong also said the drug lord had left. "He
was flown out of here last week," he said.

The MTA officer said Khun Sa was apparently taken to Rangoon
briefly before being flown to the Shan State capital of
Taunggyi. "I was told he was flown to Rangoon and spent a
few days there before going on to Taunggyi," he said.

A Thai intelligence officer confirmed that Khun Sa had not
been seen in Ho Mong since late last week. "It's possible he
was flown out of helicopter flights in and out of there on
the day he was last seen," he said. (BP)

*********************************************

BURMANET: BRIEF BUSINESS REPORTS
January 19, 1996
information provided by M. Beer and edited by BurmaNet

BURMA INVITES PRIVATE SECTOR TO BUILD HIGHWAY

Burma is inviting tenders from local private entrepreneurs for the
construction of the Yangon-mandalay union highway.  The  Ministry
of Construction will supervise the construction of the highway according
to public works specifications.  The highway, to be 383 miles (612.8 kilometers)
long, is expected to be completed within three years.

SINGAPORE OPENS TRADE OFFICE IN RANGOON

Pleased by its fast-growing trade with Burma, Singapore has decided to
open a trade office in Rangoon to help forge closer economic links.
According to Singapore's Trade Development Board, Singapore is
now Burma's second biggest trading partner.  Trade between the
two countries in 1995 amounted to S$903.6 million (US$640 million)
in exports and $299.3 million ($212 million) in imports.

ASIA-PACIFIC FORESTRY COMMISSION MEETS IN MYANMAR

The 16th session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, jointly sponsored
by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Myanmar Ministry of
Forestry was held in Myanmar and attended by representatives from 19 countries
in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, Bangladesh, China, Japan, South
Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United States and
Vietnam. The speakers urged all countries and regions to work together for
high-level global cooperation to set the Asia-Pacific region and the world on a
new course for sustainable development and for improvement of the environment.
The Myanmar government has arranged a field trip for the participants to visit the
country's forests at the Bago division.  Some 51 percent of Myanmar's land area is
covered by forests.

COMFORT TO SELL PEUGEOT CARS IN MYANMAR

(SINGAPORE) The Comfort Group, which now distributes Peugeot cars that it
would begin selling in Myanmar.  Comfort Myanmar, which was incorporated in
August, is a 45-20-35 venture between Comfort, its listed vehicle inspection arm
Vicom, and Myanmar Growth Fund Ltd, a venture capital fund launched by the
OCBC group.  The company expects to sell 50 cars this year. Comfort Myanmar
will also undertake other transport-related businesses, including operating a taxi fleet,
vehicle maintenance and vehicle inspection.


