From editor@burmanet.org Fri Jan 10 19:59:21 2003 From: editor@burmanet.org (editor@burmanet.org) Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 14:59:21 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News: January 10 2003 Message-ID: <48422.207.10.94.131.1042228761.squirrel@webmail.pair.com> January 10 2003 Issue #2154 INSIDE BURMA DVB: Forced labors in Mon State DVB: SPDC’s investigations into rape allegations start GUNS DVB: More Russian MiG-29 fighter jets arrive in Meiktila AFP: Rebel army says Myanmar officer, nine soldiers killed in clashes DRUGS Bangkok Post: Chavalit to head new drugs unit ON THE BORDER AFP: Myanmar women’s group denounces harassment of Aung San Suu Kyi REGIONAL Myanmar Information Committee: China to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Burma Xinhua: Myanmar head of state visits China’s Yunnan province Xinhua: Myanmar to reduce tariffs to 0-5 pct by 2008 Irrawaddy: Thailand hands over deserters Bangkok Post: Concern over kin of illegal Burmese INSIDE BURMA Democratic Voice of Burma January 10 2003 Forced Labours in Mon State The villagers of Kalakoke Island, in southern Mon State are forced to volunteer for the SPDC troops in their efforts to build a helicopter pad for LIBs 31 & 62. The project started on the first of January and all the three villages on the island are forced to contribute the labour of one person per household. According to a villager, about 60 villagers have to go the site with their own lunch packs and work there from 6am to 4pm. The helicopter pad was built after a SPDC artillery base was established on the island last month and the base is equipped with five 81mm mortars. The artillery base is supposed to protect the joint sea fishing venture betweens a Thai company and the SPDC. ____________ Democratic Voice of Burma January 10 2003 SPDC’s investigations into rape allegations start It is reported that the SPDC is starting to investigate the allegations of the rapes of Shan women by its troops. The investigations started on the 3rd of this month and it is being carried out jointly by the Shan State capital Taunggyi-based No. 2 Military Intelligence [MI] and the National Intelligence. It is headed by Colonel Kyaw Moe Htun and divided into three groups. The areas being investigated are Southern Shan State Mong Shu, Mongkai, Leikha, Namsam, Linkhe, Mongne. Mongpan and Maukme areas. They are said to be mostly the SPDC’s military operational areas. GUNS Democratic Voice of Burma January 9 2003 MORE RUSSIAN MIG-29 FIGHTER JETS ARRIVE IN MEIKTILA Some more MiG-29 fighters purchased from Russia have arrived recently at Meiktila's Shante Air Base. According to military sources at the border, four more fighters are believed to have arrived in late December. Observers say that a total of six MiG-29 fighters, including the four latest planes, have arrived at Shante Air Base. Russian pilots have arrived in Meiktila to give training on flying fighter jets. Also present there are Chinese and French military engineers, according to observers. The fighter jets are carrying out test flights to air bases along the Thai-Burma border and they have flown test flights up to Mergui Air Base. The SPDC State Peace and Development Council military government has bought 10 Russian MiG-29 fighters at the cost of 130m US dollars. The remaining four jet fighters are expected to arrive next month, according to a military source at the border. _______ Agence France-Presse January 10 2003 Rebel army says Myanmar officer, nine soldiers killed in clashes The rebel Karen National Union (KNU) said Friday that its forces had killed a Myanmar army captain and nine other soldiers in clashes this week near the Thai border. KNU spokesman Pado Mahn Shar said two rebels and 10 Myanmar soldiers were also injured in the fighting which broke out Sunday and continued intermittently for four days. Thai army commander Major General Prayoon Ponork confirmed that fighting had erupted between the KNU and Myanmar troops, and that one shell had landed on Thai soil but there were no injuries. He said the conflict had also forced some 300 Karen villagers to cross over the Moei river and into Thailand to seek refuge, but he could not confirm the Karen's claimed death tolls. "I don't know about casualty figures on both sides because the fighting was inside Myanmar," he told AFP, adding that the clashes occurred as the annual dry season offensive approached. Pado Mahn Shar said the first battle occurred Sunday south of the border town of Myawaddy, leaving seven Myanmar troops dead and four injured during an hour-long firefight. On Tuesday, some 100 Myanmar soldiers launched an assault near the village of Warly, sparking a four-hour firefight, he said. Warly serves as a base for the Myanmar army's frontline tactical command and is located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Myawaddy, which lies opposite Tak province in Thailand. The KNU, now Myanmar's largest armed ethnic group after most other militias have signed ceasefire pacts with the military government, has been waging a decades-old fight for independence. DRUGS Bangkok Post January 11 2003 Chavalit to head new drugs unit By Sermsuk Kasitipradit Anucha Charoenpho Subin Khuenkaew A new unit called the National Centre to Defeat Narcotics will be created under Deputy Prime Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to direct the national suppression effort. He will have eight deputies. Four will be ministers from the foreign, defence, interior, and justice ministries. The others are deputy premier Jaturon Chaisaeng; Gen Vinai Pattiyakul, the National Security Council secretary-general; Gen Panlop Pinmani, the Internal Security Operation Command deputy director; and Gen Surayud Chulanont, the supreme commander. ``The aim is to streamline the government's drug fight especially in the North where we lack unity,'' said one cabinet member. The drug fight had reached a critical stage where solidarity was needed. The structure was similar to the now-defunct National Narcotics Operation Centre, created under the Chuan Leekpai administration to forge unity among government agencies. The NNOC was headed by the interior minister with the interior permanent secretary as secretary. The new centre would be led by a deputy premier and the secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board would be its secretary. Gen Chavalit was now studying the new structure drafted by the ONCB. Armed forces commanders, national police chief and the permanent secretaries of public health and education would be Gen Chavalit's assistants. ``Disunity among officials in the provinces has reached a critical stage. Unless the government does something to rectify the situation our campaign will end up in chaos,'' said one senior drug official from the North. Pol Gen Chidchai Wannasathit, ONCB secretary-general, hoped the new centre would make the government's drug suppression more systematic. Under the plan, army regional commanders would be responsible for suppression on their patch while provincial governors would come under their jurisdiction. Justice Minister Purachai Piumsombun, the former interior minister, opposed having regional military commanders in charge. Gen Chavalit has also been asked to consider creating a special zone in which Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Tak would come under direct supervision of the Third Army. The Interior Ministry opposes that idea, saying it would give too much authority to the military. ON THE BORDER Agence France-Presse January 10 2003 Myanmar women's group denounces harassment of Aung San Suu Kyi An exiled Myanmar women's group Friday denounced Myanmar's military government for harassing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a recent political trip to western Myanmar. The All Women's Movement Committee of Burma (AWMCB) said the junta had released pamphlets with caricatures ridiculing the Nobel peace laureate and blasted crowds with music such as "Give Up Lady" during last month's tour. "The obstruction, limitation and irritation to her on private visits to pagodas and monasteries, and during public gatherings, violated her dignity and her political movements," it said in a statement. The AWMCB called on the regime to stop its harassment of the opposition leader and to allow her to conduct her party business freely, as it promised after releasing her from house arrest last May. "We believe that the (junta) should review its dire behaviour and respect the rights of the political leader," said senior member Aye Aye Mar. The government has been forced to defend itself against strong criticism from the United States and Britain that it had harassed Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters during the trip to Rakhine state. The most serious incident occurred in the town of Myauk-Oo, where she climbed aboard a fire engine to prevent it from dispersing a crowd of 20,000 people with high-pressure hoses. The US State Department has issued a statement in support of the opposition leader, and called on the Myanmar junta to allow political parties "to carry their message to the Burmese people in safety". Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming election victory in 1990 but the junta has never recognised the result. REGIONAL Myanmar Information Committee January 8 2003 China to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Burma Text of Information Sheet No. C -2491 (1) issued by the "Myanmar Information Committee" in Rangoon on 8 January entitled: "Both leaders satisfied with the progress in Myanmar-China cooperation and vows to continue to cooperate and coordinate on regional and international issue" carried in English by Myanmar Information Committee web site on 8 January Chinese President Jiang Zemin said in Beijing on Tuesday 7 January that China is to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Myanmar Burma to aid its economic development. During his talks with the visiting Myanmar leader Senior General Than Shwe in the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, Mr Jiang Zemin said the two countries should further strengthen economic cooperation, adding that China will fully support Chinese investment in Myanmar and also that two countries should continue to coordinate and cooperate on regional and international issues within the framework of multilateral mechanisms. Senior General Than Shwe also said that Myanmar is satisfied with the progress in Myanmar-China cooperation in agriculture, exploration of human and natural resources, and construction of infrastructure facilities. He also said that Myanmar, a member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was ready to help China strengthen its relations with ASEAN. Both leaders attended the signing ceremony for three agreements on economic and technological cooperation, cooperation in public health and sport after the talks, it is learnt. _________ Xinhua News Agency January 10 2003 Myanmar head of state visits China's Yunnan province Than Shwe, Chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council, arrived here Friday, beginning his visit to this southwestern Yunnan Province, which shares a 1,997-kilometer border with Myanmar. Right after his arrival, Than Shwe, who just concluded his visit to neighboring Sichuan Province, met with Bai Enpei, secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Yunnan Governor Xu Rongkai. Bai said during the meeting that the high-level visits between the two sides would help Yunnan and Myanmar to find more cooperation opportunities in the fields of economy, technology, culture and personnel exchanges. Than Shwe said his visit to China was successful and he hoped Myanmar and Yunnan could expand cooperation in replacing illegal drugs plants with agricultural crops, in the hydro-power sector and the use of natural resources. He said Myanmar would improve its roadways to Yunnan Province and he hoped the two sides could accelerate cooperation in that aspect. In his six-day visit which started on January 6, he has held talks and meetings in Beijing with China's top leaders, including President Jiang Zemin, Vice-President Hu Jintao, and chief legislator Li Peng. ________ Xinhua News Agency January 10 2003 Myanmar to reduce tariffs to 0-5 pct by 2008 Myanmar will reduce its tariffs to 0-5 percent by the year 2008 since the country is allowed to enter the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) five years later than the original six countries. The newspaper The New Light of Myanmar quoted the AFTA Unit of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development as saying Friday that in 2015, except important goods, Myanmar will impose zero percent tariff on all the imports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, and the important goods will reach zero percent by 2018. Through entry into the AFTA, Myanmar exports are expected to have better opportunity to penetrate the markets of the six original ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, at zero tariff, the report said. Beginning from 2002, the six original ASEAN countries have already reduced their tariffs on imports from other ASEAN nations between zero percent and 5 percent. By 2010, the six countries' tariffs on all kinds of goods will reach zero. According to official statistics, Myanmar's bilateral trade with ASEAN member states totaled about 2 billion US dollars annually, accounting for about 43 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ___________ Irrawaddy January 10 2003 Thailand Hands Over Deserters By Aung Su Shin In a sign of continuing rapprochement between Bangkok and Rangoon, Thai authorities returned three despondent Burmese army deserters to Tatmadaw (Burmese army) officials earlier today at the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot, Thailand as local journalists looked on. Task Force 23 commander, and chairman of Thailand’s Township Border Committee, Col Jirasak Chomprasop, handed the soldiers over along with their arms and ammunition to his Burmese counterpart, Lt Col Tin Aye. The soldiers were officially returned to Burma after the two signed a series of documents during a small ceremony held on the bridge at nine this morning. Thai officials said today’s hand-over was the result of a Regional Border Committee meeting held in Moulmein, in Burma’s Mon State, on December 26-28. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident can be interpreted as a sign of improving relations between Thailand and Burma. The three soldiers are Ye Htet, 23, Kyaw Kyaw, 21, and Minn Kyaw, 25. Thai authorities had held them since May 7 of last year when they were found hiding in Pak Hwe in Thailand’s Thasaungyang District, 70 km north of Mae Sot, after fleeing their unit. Local villagers informed Thai authorities of their location. The three belonged to Light Infantry Battalion 28, which operates in Burma’s Karen State under the Southeast Army Regional Command. A former Burmese army officer said desertion by Tatmadaw troops carries a ten-year prison sentence. Last year four Burmese soldiers were also returned under similar circumstances in Myawaddy, Burma opposite Mae Sot. ____________ Bangkok Post January 10 2003 Concern over kin of illegal Burmese By Saritdet Marukatat The government has lost track of the number of newborn babies in the country as illegal foreign labourers do not register births with authorities, an Interior Ministry official said yesterday at the end of a conference co-organised by the UN Children's Fund. Krairat Kaewdee, of the Civil Registration Division, admitted it would be impossible to estimate the number of children born to residents of neighbouring countries who had sneaked across the border in search of work. ``If they come through approved government channels, we can register their babies,'' he said. ``The problem now is the size of the influx of illegal immigrants.'' According to figures compiled by the National Statistical Office, there were about 773,000 births in 2001. However, there was no record of babies born to the more than 1 million foreign labourers working illegally in Thailand, most of them Burmese. Unregistered offspring of illegal Burmese immigrants could experience difficulties when attempting to enter their parents' home country, as Rangoon had insisted it would accept only returnees with official identification documents issued by Thai authorities. During the conference, the government urged its neighbours to improve their respective birth registration systems. Gopalan Balagopal, Unicef senior adviser on child protection, called for governments that had ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to respect their commitment toward registering births, and ensuring children had access to basic rights. From editor@burmanet.org Fri Jan 10 19:59:21 2003 From: editor@burmanet.org (editor@burmanet.org) Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 14:59:21 -0500 (EST) Subject: BurmaNet News: January 10 2003 Message-ID: <48422.207.10.94.131.1042228761.squirrel@webmail.pair.com> January 10 2003 Issue #2154 INSIDE BURMA DVB: Forced labors in Mon State DVB: SPDC’s investigations into rape allegations start GUNS DVB: More Russian MiG-29 fighter jets arrive in Meiktila AFP: Rebel army says Myanmar officer, nine soldiers killed in clashes DRUGS Bangkok Post: Chavalit to head new drugs unit ON THE BORDER AFP: Myanmar women’s group denounces harassment of Aung San Suu Kyi REGIONAL Myanmar Information Committee: China to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Burma Xinhua: Myanmar head of state visits China’s Yunnan province Xinhua: Myanmar to reduce tariffs to 0-5 pct by 2008 Irrawaddy: Thailand hands over deserters Bangkok Post: Concern over kin of illegal Burmese INSIDE BURMA Democratic Voice of Burma January 10 2003 Forced Labours in Mon State The villagers of Kalakoke Island, in southern Mon State are forced to volunteer for the SPDC troops in their efforts to build a helicopter pad for LIBs 31 & 62. The project started on the first of January and all the three villages on the island are forced to contribute the labour of one person per household. According to a villager, about 60 villagers have to go the site with their own lunch packs and work there from 6am to 4pm. The helicopter pad was built after a SPDC artillery base was established on the island last month and the base is equipped with five 81mm mortars. The artillery base is supposed to protect the joint sea fishing venture betweens a Thai company and the SPDC. ____________ Democratic Voice of Burma January 10 2003 SPDC’s investigations into rape allegations start It is reported that the SPDC is starting to investigate the allegations of the rapes of Shan women by its troops. The investigations started on the 3rd of this month and it is being carried out jointly by the Shan State capital Taunggyi-based No. 2 Military Intelligence [MI] and the National Intelligence. It is headed by Colonel Kyaw Moe Htun and divided into three groups. The areas being investigated are Southern Shan State Mong Shu, Mongkai, Leikha, Namsam, Linkhe, Mongne. Mongpan and Maukme areas. They are said to be mostly the SPDC’s military operational areas. GUNS Democratic Voice of Burma January 9 2003 MORE RUSSIAN MIG-29 FIGHTER JETS ARRIVE IN MEIKTILA Some more MiG-29 fighters purchased from Russia have arrived recently at Meiktila's Shante Air Base. According to military sources at the border, four more fighters are believed to have arrived in late December. Observers say that a total of six MiG-29 fighters, including the four latest planes, have arrived at Shante Air Base. Russian pilots have arrived in Meiktila to give training on flying fighter jets. Also present there are Chinese and French military engineers, according to observers. The fighter jets are carrying out test flights to air bases along the Thai-Burma border and they have flown test flights up to Mergui Air Base. The SPDC State Peace and Development Council military government has bought 10 Russian MiG-29 fighters at the cost of 130m US dollars. The remaining four jet fighters are expected to arrive next month, according to a military source at the border. _______ Agence France-Presse January 10 2003 Rebel army says Myanmar officer, nine soldiers killed in clashes The rebel Karen National Union (KNU) said Friday that its forces had killed a Myanmar army captain and nine other soldiers in clashes this week near the Thai border. KNU spokesman Pado Mahn Shar said two rebels and 10 Myanmar soldiers were also injured in the fighting which broke out Sunday and continued intermittently for four days. Thai army commander Major General Prayoon Ponork confirmed that fighting had erupted between the KNU and Myanmar troops, and that one shell had landed on Thai soil but there were no injuries. He said the conflict had also forced some 300 Karen villagers to cross over the Moei river and into Thailand to seek refuge, but he could not confirm the Karen's claimed death tolls. "I don't know about casualty figures on both sides because the fighting was inside Myanmar," he told AFP, adding that the clashes occurred as the annual dry season offensive approached. Pado Mahn Shar said the first battle occurred Sunday south of the border town of Myawaddy, leaving seven Myanmar troops dead and four injured during an hour-long firefight. On Tuesday, some 100 Myanmar soldiers launched an assault near the village of Warly, sparking a four-hour firefight, he said. Warly serves as a base for the Myanmar army's frontline tactical command and is located about 32 kilometers (20 miles) south of Myawaddy, which lies opposite Tak province in Thailand. The KNU, now Myanmar's largest armed ethnic group after most other militias have signed ceasefire pacts with the military government, has been waging a decades-old fight for independence. DRUGS Bangkok Post January 11 2003 Chavalit to head new drugs unit By Sermsuk Kasitipradit Anucha Charoenpho Subin Khuenkaew A new unit called the National Centre to Defeat Narcotics will be created under Deputy Prime Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to direct the national suppression effort. He will have eight deputies. Four will be ministers from the foreign, defence, interior, and justice ministries. The others are deputy premier Jaturon Chaisaeng; Gen Vinai Pattiyakul, the National Security Council secretary-general; Gen Panlop Pinmani, the Internal Security Operation Command deputy director; and Gen Surayud Chulanont, the supreme commander. ``The aim is to streamline the government's drug fight especially in the North where we lack unity,'' said one cabinet member. The drug fight had reached a critical stage where solidarity was needed. The structure was similar to the now-defunct National Narcotics Operation Centre, created under the Chuan Leekpai administration to forge unity among government agencies. The NNOC was headed by the interior minister with the interior permanent secretary as secretary. The new centre would be led by a deputy premier and the secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board would be its secretary. Gen Chavalit was now studying the new structure drafted by the ONCB. Armed forces commanders, national police chief and the permanent secretaries of public health and education would be Gen Chavalit's assistants. ``Disunity among officials in the provinces has reached a critical stage. Unless the government does something to rectify the situation our campaign will end up in chaos,'' said one senior drug official from the North. Pol Gen Chidchai Wannasathit, ONCB secretary-general, hoped the new centre would make the government's drug suppression more systematic. Under the plan, army regional commanders would be responsible for suppression on their patch while provincial governors would come under their jurisdiction. Justice Minister Purachai Piumsombun, the former interior minister, opposed having regional military commanders in charge. Gen Chavalit has also been asked to consider creating a special zone in which Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Tak would come under direct supervision of the Third Army. The Interior Ministry opposes that idea, saying it would give too much authority to the military. ON THE BORDER Agence France-Presse January 10 2003 Myanmar women's group denounces harassment of Aung San Suu Kyi An exiled Myanmar women's group Friday denounced Myanmar's military government for harassing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a recent political trip to western Myanmar. The All Women's Movement Committee of Burma (AWMCB) said the junta had released pamphlets with caricatures ridiculing the Nobel peace laureate and blasted crowds with music such as "Give Up Lady" during last month's tour. "The obstruction, limitation and irritation to her on private visits to pagodas and monasteries, and during public gatherings, violated her dignity and her political movements," it said in a statement. The AWMCB called on the regime to stop its harassment of the opposition leader and to allow her to conduct her party business freely, as it promised after releasing her from house arrest last May. "We believe that the (junta) should review its dire behaviour and respect the rights of the political leader," said senior member Aye Aye Mar. The government has been forced to defend itself against strong criticism from the United States and Britain that it had harassed Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters during the trip to Rakhine state. The most serious incident occurred in the town of Myauk-Oo, where she climbed aboard a fire engine to prevent it from dispersing a crowd of 20,000 people with high-pressure hoses. The US State Department has issued a statement in support of the opposition leader, and called on the Myanmar junta to allow political parties "to carry their message to the Burmese people in safety". Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming election victory in 1990 but the junta has never recognised the result. REGIONAL Myanmar Information Committee January 8 2003 China to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Burma Text of Information Sheet No. C -2491 (1) issued by the "Myanmar Information Committee" in Rangoon on 8 January entitled: "Both leaders satisfied with the progress in Myanmar-China cooperation and vows to continue to cooperate and coordinate on regional and international issue" carried in English by Myanmar Information Committee web site on 8 January Chinese President Jiang Zemin said in Beijing on Tuesday 7 January that China is to offer 200m US dollars in preferential loans to Myanmar Burma to aid its economic development. During his talks with the visiting Myanmar leader Senior General Than Shwe in the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, Mr Jiang Zemin said the two countries should further strengthen economic cooperation, adding that China will fully support Chinese investment in Myanmar and also that two countries should continue to coordinate and cooperate on regional and international issues within the framework of multilateral mechanisms. Senior General Than Shwe also said that Myanmar is satisfied with the progress in Myanmar-China cooperation in agriculture, exploration of human and natural resources, and construction of infrastructure facilities. He also said that Myanmar, a member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was ready to help China strengthen its relations with ASEAN. Both leaders attended the signing ceremony for three agreements on economic and technological cooperation, cooperation in public health and sport after the talks, it is learnt. _________ Xinhua News Agency January 10 2003 Myanmar head of state visits China's Yunnan province Than Shwe, Chairman of Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council, arrived here Friday, beginning his visit to this southwestern Yunnan Province, which shares a 1,997-kilometer border with Myanmar. Right after his arrival, Than Shwe, who just concluded his visit to neighboring Sichuan Province, met with Bai Enpei, secretary of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Yunnan Governor Xu Rongkai. Bai said during the meeting that the high-level visits between the two sides would help Yunnan and Myanmar to find more cooperation opportunities in the fields of economy, technology, culture and personnel exchanges. Than Shwe said his visit to China was successful and he hoped Myanmar and Yunnan could expand cooperation in replacing illegal drugs plants with agricultural crops, in the hydro-power sector and the use of natural resources. He said Myanmar would improve its roadways to Yunnan Province and he hoped the two sides could accelerate cooperation in that aspect. In his six-day visit which started on January 6, he has held talks and meetings in Beijing with China's top leaders, including President Jiang Zemin, Vice-President Hu Jintao, and chief legislator Li Peng. ________ Xinhua News Agency January 10 2003 Myanmar to reduce tariffs to 0-5 pct by 2008 Myanmar will reduce its tariffs to 0-5 percent by the year 2008 since the country is allowed to enter the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) five years later than the original six countries. The newspaper The New Light of Myanmar quoted the AFTA Unit of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development as saying Friday that in 2015, except important goods, Myanmar will impose zero percent tariff on all the imports from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, and the important goods will reach zero percent by 2018. Through entry into the AFTA, Myanmar exports are expected to have better opportunity to penetrate the markets of the six original ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, at zero tariff, the report said. Beginning from 2002, the six original ASEAN countries have already reduced their tariffs on imports from other ASEAN nations between zero percent and 5 percent. By 2010, the six countries' tariffs on all kinds of goods will reach zero. According to official statistics, Myanmar's bilateral trade with ASEAN member states totaled about 2 billion US dollars annually, accounting for about 43 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ___________ Irrawaddy January 10 2003 Thailand Hands Over Deserters By Aung Su Shin In a sign of continuing rapprochement between Bangkok and Rangoon, Thai authorities returned three despondent Burmese army deserters to Tatmadaw (Burmese army) officials earlier today at the Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot, Thailand as local journalists looked on. Task Force 23 commander, and chairman of Thailand’s Township Border Committee, Col Jirasak Chomprasop, handed the soldiers over along with their arms and ammunition to his Burmese counterpart, Lt Col Tin Aye. The soldiers were officially returned to Burma after the two signed a series of documents during a small ceremony held on the bridge at nine this morning. Thai officials said today’s hand-over was the result of a Regional Border Committee meeting held in Moulmein, in Burma’s Mon State, on December 26-28. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident can be interpreted as a sign of improving relations between Thailand and Burma. The three soldiers are Ye Htet, 23, Kyaw Kyaw, 21, and Minn Kyaw, 25. Thai authorities had held them since May 7 of last year when they were found hiding in Pak Hwe in Thailand’s Thasaungyang District, 70 km north of Mae Sot, after fleeing their unit. Local villagers informed Thai authorities of their location. The three belonged to Light Infantry Battalion 28, which operates in Burma’s Karen State under the Southeast Army Regional Command. A former Burmese army officer said desertion by Tatmadaw troops carries a ten-year prison sentence. Last year four Burmese soldiers were also returned under similar circumstances in Myawaddy, Burma opposite Mae Sot. ____________ Bangkok Post January 10 2003 Concern over kin of illegal Burmese By Saritdet Marukatat The government has lost track of the number of newborn babies in the country as illegal foreign labourers do not register births with authorities, an Interior Ministry official said yesterday at the end of a conference co-organised by the UN Children's Fund. Krairat Kaewdee, of the Civil Registration Division, admitted it would be impossible to estimate the number of children born to residents of neighbouring countries who had sneaked across the border in search of work. ``If they come through approved government channels, we can register their babies,'' he said. ``The problem now is the size of the influx of illegal immigrants.'' According to figures compiled by the National Statistical Office, there were about 773,000 births in 2001. However, there was no record of babies born to the more than 1 million foreign labourers working illegally in Thailand, most of them Burmese. Unregistered offspring of illegal Burmese immigrants could experience difficulties when attempting to enter their parents' home country, as Rangoon had insisted it would accept only returnees with official identification documents issued by Thai authorities. During the conference, the government urged its neighbours to improve their respective birth registration systems. Gopalan Balagopal, Unicef senior adviser on child protection, called for governments that had ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to respect their commitment toward registering births, and ensuring children had access to basic rights.