Daily News-June 23 - 2001- Saturday

  • Tachilek checkpoint to reopen tomorrow
  • No action from Thai historians for Burmese Textbook
  • Canberra welcomes Burma prisoner releases
  • Burma feels sting over farm labor
  • Japan Welcomes Freeing Of Political Prisoners By Burma

    • Tachilek checkpoint to reopen tomorrow

    Source : Bangkok Post

    Thailand and Burma have agreed to reopen the Tachilek border checkpoint tomorrow and reactivate two structures for bilateral co-operation later this year, their foreign ministers said yesterday.

    The Joint Commission for Bilateral Co-operation, which last met in Rangoon two years ago, will meet in Phuket in August or October, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said.

    The Joint Boundary Committee, which deals specifically with demarcation issues, will meet later in the year, he said.

    "Our relationship is now resuming in the spirit of brotherhood. Problems will be solved by existing mechanisms," he said, citing the Township Border Committee and Regional Border Committee as the proper places for addressing the question of compensation for damage in border clashes.

    "Our relations are now back on track. Borders will now be open and become friendly and peaceful with mutual understanding," said Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung.

    Asked what would guarantee an end to border clashes, Mr Win Aung simply said, "We are now pee nong (brothers)."The Burmese minister told Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during a courtesy call that the Township Border Committee would meet today to prepare for the Tachilek checkpoint's opening tomorrow at 6 am.

    Mr Thaksin said Thailand would set no conditions for reopening the checkpoint. Thailand also would lift the export ban on strategic items including fuel, rice, vehicles, auto spare parts and medicines.

    Ministers of finance were encouraged to meet soon to discuss payment arrangements for account trade, agreed upon by the nation's leaders this week, Mr Surakiart said.

    The Bank of Thailand would tell commercial banks of Rangoon's eagerness to see a resurgence of Thai banking operations in their country, he said.

    Burma would consider hosting a meeting of senior officials in the next two months ahead of the four-country drug summit in Kunming.

    Mr Surakiart emphasised the need for Thais and Burmese to have positive attitudes towards each other. The two sides assigned ambassadors to discuss a list of activities to promote cultural and technical co-operation, including setting up cultural associations in the two capitals, he said.

    The two ministers also discussed promotion of transportation links with potential routes including Mae Sai-Tachilek-Kengtung-Jinhong, the east-west corridor at Mae Sot-Myawaddy, and Kanchanaburi-Tavoy, where Burma is developing a deep-sea port.

    In Chiang Rai, Thai and Burmese customs and immigration officials were seen preparing for the opening of the Mae Sai-Tachilek checkpoint on both sides of the border.

    Rays of hope reappeared on the faces of vendors in Mae Sai.

    "About 90% of vendors on the Tachilek side of the border are Thai. They have been waiting for the day to come. What they earn will return to Thailand," said one vendor.

    Meanwhile, members of the Rak Mae Sai group which opposes Burma's plan to open a lignite-powered electricity plant in Tachilek yesterday lodged a complaint with district police.

    Sumeth Promchaisa, leader of the group, said about 20 cloth banners put up along the road in Mae Sai to oppose delivery of parts of a Chinese-made power generator and other equipment across the border to Tachilek had been taken away.

    Pang Polchai, a group member, said: "We don't oppose opening of the checkpoint. But we oppose the power plant which will cause air pollution in Mae Sai."A convoy of 44 trucks took the generator parts to Mae Sai in April, but the Third Army did not allow them to cross. At the same time, a protest launched by Mae Sai residents forced the convoy to return to Bangkok.
    No action from Thai historians for Burmese Textbook

    Source : Bangkok Post

    The Curriculum and Instruction Development Department said it was unnecessary to protest a Burmese school textbook after Thaksin Shinawatra's visit to Rangoon.

    A seminar of historians organised by the department stopped short of pinpointing parts of the textbook which could be damaging to Thailand.

    "All of them said the matter was closed since the prime minister visited Burma. They also believe the premier's visit would solve problems between the two nations," said Prapatpong Senarit, the department's director-general.

    Mr Prapatpong said the department would not recommend an official protest to Rangoon.

    The textbook upset many people because it was critical of Thai foreign policy and the monarchy.

    The matter would be brought up in October at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Office (Seameo) in Rangoon, where the Seameo Regional Centre for History and Tradition is located.

    If understanding and co-operation can be reached at the meeting, improvements of textbooks in each country would follow without protest, he said.

    "Historians agree history books of each country were based on the information available. It's hard to establish the facts. Some parts are not facts. But readers can differentiate between facts and opinions in such statements as those which accuse Thais of being lazy," he said.
    Canberra welcomes Burma prisoner releases

    Source : South China Morning post

    Australia has welcomed the release of pro-democracy politicians in Burma, saying it hoped the landmark talks between the country's military and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would lead to political reconciliation.

    ''The Australian government has long called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma and this is an initial step in that direction,'' Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement received on Saturday.

    ''We hope the dialogue leads to genuine progress towards promoting both human rights and reconciliation in Burma,'' said Mr Downer, adding Australia welcomed the re-opening of 18 opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) offices in Rangoon.

    Burma's military government released five opposition politicians, all members of Ms Suu Kyi's NLD who had been elected at the last democratic poll in 1990, from detention on Thursday.

    Last week eight political prisoners were freed and several opposition party offices were allowed to reopen.

    The NLD won the 1990 election by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern. Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has never recognised the result of the election and has detained dozens of opposition politicians since.

    Tension between the military and NLD has eased since the start in October of secretive talks between Ms Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, and the country's ruling generals.

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan this week also welcomed the latest release of political prisoners.
    Burma feels sting over farm labor

    Source : Asia Times

    GENEVA--- The International Labor Conference concluded on Thursday with the approval of the "Convention Concerning Safety and Health in Agriculture" and imposed sanctions against Burma, as well as five other nations for labor rights violations.

    The other five were Belarus, Colombia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Venezuela.

    The new accord on farm laborers, the result of an understanding reached by workers, employers and governments, covers half of the world's workers, estimates Juan Somavia, director-general of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

    The agreement will require the ratifying countries to establish "adequate systems of inspection of agricultural workplaces". Currently, just 5 percent of the 1.3 billion farm workers are subject to monitoring and have access to legal protections. In addition, "the employer shall have a duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to their work".

    Alongside mining and construction, farming is one of the three most dangerous work activities in developing and industrialized countries alike. Nearly half the 1.2 million work-related accidents reported each year occur in the agricultural sector.

    The ILO Committee on the Application of Standards studied the situation of the six countries and dictated special sanctions reserved for serious violations of labor rights.

    With respect to Burma, the ILO committee expressed "profound regret for the persistence of serious discrepancies between national legislation and practice and the provisions of the convention on freedom of association and protection of workers' rights to organize".

    The military regime in Burma has been the target in the past few years of sharp accusations that it engages in practices of forced labor. The 17-day International Labour Conference, which ended Thursday, voted to send a high-level observers mission to assess the situation of this Asian country.

    At the conclusion of the conference, Somavia underscored the spirit of consensus that predominated throughout the event and had allowed delegates to reach agreement on "matters that years ago would have seemed impossible, such as the case of Myanmar". In general, Asian countries had previously blocked any attempt to sanction Burma.

    In the case of Belarus, the ILO expressed its deep concern about the instructions given by the chief of the presidential administration to "interfere in the labor union elections".

    The climate of impunity in Colombia represents a serious threat to the exercise of union freedoms, said the standards committee after evaluating the situation of the South American country. Julio Roberto Gomez, of the Colombia's General Confederation of Democratic Workers (CGTD), denounced the continued violence against labor leaders. In just the last five and a half months, he stated, 45 unionists have been assassinated, he said.

    The sanction against Ethiopia is based on accusations of government interference in labor union activities. The president of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association was "convicted, after three years of preventive detention, on charges of conspiracy against the state and sentenced to 15 years in prison". The committee on standards also penalized Sudan due to its verification of "the extreme gravity" of cases of forced labor.

    For Venezuela, the committee urged the government "to amend its legislation to ensure that workers and employers can form organizations and freely elect their representatives".

    The conference participants also debated the problem of social security, which Somavia considers one of today's most complicated issues. The outcome of the discussion was a "very balanced" document that insists "we must not forget that social security is a key element for the stability of any society", said the ILO chief.

    Willy Thys, secretary-general of the World Confederation of Labor (WCL), commented that the resolution on social security was vague and that "employers and certain labor sectors are opposed to a binding text in this area". An estimated 1 billion workers around the world lack social security, observed the leader of the WCL, one of the two leading international union organizations. But the approved document is also insufficient because it fails to choose between capitalist and distributive systems, maintained Thys, who said his organization is inclined to the latter option because capitalization "maintains and increases" social inequalities.

    The conference, said the ILO's Somavia, consolidated the "decent work agenda", an initiative the organization launched with strategic goals in the areas of employment, social security, safety, employee rights and social dialogue. With the backing of the conference, the Decent Work program passes from mere aspiration to action, and from vision to policy, stated the ILO director-general.
    Japan Welcomes Freeing Of Political Prisoners By Burma

    Source : BERNAMA (Malaysia)

    TOKYO-- Japan welcomes the freeing of five political prisoners by Burma's military junta Thursday and hopes more will follow to boost dialogue between the junta and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said today.

    "We welcome the development as a step that would nurture trust between the (Myanmar) government and Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and further promote dialogue between the two sides," the top government spokesman said at a news conference.

    The release of the five prisoners, as well as 10 others last week, is the result of "constructive involvement by the international community," such as Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Fukuda said.