News Bulletin Issued by the UN on the Reduction of Opium Production in Myanmar.

As explained by Col San Pwint at the meeting, the Armed Forces Government, having designated the Eradication of Narcotic Drugs as a National Task has been unremitting in taking appropriate measures of reduce the production of opium. Since 1999/2000 it has been implementing a Fifteen – Year Plan to fulfill its goal of narcotic drug eradication, which consists of five main tasks. Significant results have been achieved and the cultivation and production of opium has significantly decreased year by year. UN organizations and other international organizations have now officially recognized the success of Myanmar’s endeavours in the news bulletins and announcements they have issued.

The United Nations Information Service announced in a news bulletin issued on 27-7-02 that the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) and the Myanmar Government from December 2001 to the 2^nd week of March 2002 had conducted a field survey in 5 separate zones namely Lashio Zone, Taungyi Zone, ‘Wa’ Special Region and the Southern ‘Wa’ (Mongpauk) Alternative Development Zone in the Shan State covering 2000 villages and approximately 6000 illegal plots of opium. The ODCCP had conducted similar field surveys in Afghanistan and Laos. In conducting the field survey of illegal opium cultivation in Myanmar ODCCP made a survey on the ground as well as by satellite photography and a comparison was made of the respective data obtained. These statistics show that the area of illegal opium cultivation in Myanmar for 2002 was 81,400 hectares with a yield of 828 metric tons. Last year, in 2001 the opium yield was 1,097 metric tons, thus showing that there has been a significant reduction. In this connection, Executive Director Mr. Antonio Maria Costa of the ODCCP remarked: “The measures taken to reduce opium yield in Myanmar has been a step in the right direction. There is however a need to take similar additional steps in this direction and it is expected that Myanmar will continue doing so.”

Likewise a combined Myanmar – U.S. team carried out its 8^th Opium Yield Survey in Mongshu Township in Shan State (East) and Theinni, Tanyang and Kutkai townships in Shan State (North) from 25 February to 2 March 2002 and collected sample opium bulbs 61 times, and sample opium resin, opium leaves and soil altogether 41 times. According to official information received from responsible officials of the Criminal Narcotics Centre (CNC), the results of this survey indicate that although the opium yield rate was formerly 4.4 kilograms per acre, this year it had appreciably been reduced to 3.08 kilograms. Moreover, it said that Lon Htan region of Kutkai Township had now been absolutely changed, because now fields of alternative crops flourish where once only opium fields had proliferated. Columns of the Myanmar Armed Forces were also seen to be destroying illegal fields of opium. However, people in the region face many difficulties in the changeover to substitution crops and had asked for aid and assistance. According to an announcement released by the United States, opium yield in Myanmar for 2001 had been 865 metric tons, but it was expected that this figure would be reduced by nearly half in 2002.

News reports that Myanmar dissidents living in Yodaya had been seized and sent back to Myanmar.

The 21 August issue of the Yodaya English news daily The Nation carried a report that at about 9.30 a.m. on 20 August, a police force of the Sankhlaburi Police Station in Kanchanaburi Province had made a search of houses where Myanmar dissidents lived and that 31 Myanmar dissidents had been arrested. This group of 31 persons consisted of members of the NLD (Liberated Area), ABSDF, the Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS) and the PDF as well as those belonging to ethnic armed groups, the KNU and Mon Progressive Youth (MPY), who as the paper stated were democracy activists.

Then the Nation newspaper issued on 22 August reported that Police. Colonel. Vorachat of the Sankhlaburi Police had sent back 15 of those arrested to Myanmar and that 16 others would be similarly dispatched on 22 August. It went on to state that none of those arrested were involved in the dissident movement and were merely illegal immigrants. So they had accordingly been deported to Myanmar in accordance with regular immigration laws.

Concerning this news report, the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok made official inquiries at the Yodaya Foreign Ministry as well as with those responsible for the case. Capt. Anan Kaittikulstaporm of Sankhlaburi Police Station in Kanchanaburi Province in reply, stated that these people had been arrested for violating immigration laws by entering the country, so after questioning they had been deported. But in order to taken action against Yodaya citizens who had harboured them, they had temporarily detained two of the Myanmar immigrants to testify as witnesses in court.

The Yodaya newspapers had given many conflicting reports saying these people had been handed over to the Myanmar authorities or that they had already been deported. But inquiries revealed that the facts of the case showed that the Yodaya immigration authorities had brought these people by car to the border as if to deport them. But in a little while a Police car came to pick them up again and sent them home to their respective homes and offices. There was only the pretence of taking action as if they were being actually deported but this was far from the case.

Of those arrested, 13 of them Aung San Nyunt of NLD (LA), Aung Kyaw Soe of DPNS, Thein Lwin of ABSDF, Min Maung Hsan, Ma Tint, Ma Waing, Ma Ni, Ma Khin Moe Wai, Moe Wai, Moe Khaing, Khin Aung, Htay Aung, Mya Than Zan, and Sein Lwin were charged with illegal entry by the Sanklaburi Police Station and after each had been fined 1000 bahts, they were handed over to the immigration authorities. Later the Yodaya immigration officials at about 1530 hours on 21 August brought them by car and dumped them by the roadside near Thonzu Village. After some time three policemen of Sankhlaburi Police Station arrived to pick up these people on the roadside and took them back to the town of Sanklaburi.

Chairman of the Yodaya Senate Foreign Relations Committee  makes false claims that the news of the rape of Shan women by members of the Myanmar Armed Forces, is true.

The 17 August issue of the Chiangmai newspaper, the Chiangmai News contained the Headline: “The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has uncovered facts confirming that the Myanmar Army forces Shan women into sexual slavery after observation of the conditions of the young women refugees who had fled from the battle grounds.” The news report then stated that on 15 August, a group headed by chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Kraisak Choonhavan had arrived at the Myanmar – Yodaya border in Wein Hin Township in Chiangmai District to observe and question the refugees in the area after which he held a press briefing. At the press briefing Kraisak said that he had learnt after questioning the Shan refugees that beginning five years ago, the Myanmar Army and authorities had cracked down on the Shans in many ways; that they had been forcibly recruited, made to work as porters to carry their supplies; that some had been killed by hanging, had boiling water poured on them and that the women had been terrorized with horrific sexual assault. His committee, he said had learnt all these details and that out of over 10 women who had thus been sexually molested he now had the names of 3 or 4. Their ages, he claimed ranged from age 11 to 48 years of age.

This news was broadcast as a Special News Report on Yodaya TV channel iTV. The iTV broadcast the news of the visit of the group headed by Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Kraisak Choonhavan and his group and how they had proceeded to Lu Wan village in Wein Hin Township on the Myanmar- Thai border to meet and interview the Shan refugees there. The results of that interview were broadcast by the iTV as news. But it is obvious that it is not a factual news report but a complete fabrication.

It said that Kraisak Choonhavan and his group in interviewing the Shan women had been told that not only had they been raped but that they had also been tortured and that he described these reports as true. The abduction, rape and killing of the Shan women had been committed not only by members of the Myanmar Army but also by forces of the ‘Wa’ and ‘Lahu’. Those accused of giving information to the SURA were especially tortured or killed. He also said that in the Myanmar Army, no action whatsoever was taken against those guilty of such transgressions and also said that commissioned officers committed rape in the presence of the other ranks.

According to his account, some women were kept in detention and raped several times over. Any woman between the ages of 11 and 40 were liable to be raped, tortured and in danger of her life. One eleven-year old girl had died after being repeatedly raped by over 20 officers of the Myanmar Army, he said. Thus if these refugees were sent back to Myanmar, they would face a worse fate. After the report, “Licence to Rape” had been issued the Myanmar Government had dispatched teams to make inquiries and investigations in the regions where the incidents took place. But these teams, instead of making efforts to get at the truth had instead put pressure on the natives in the region to deny that such incidents had ever taken place and made them sign their names as written testimony.  This was how the investigation had ended, according to the deliberately false news broadcast by this TV station.

The information released by the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Kraisak Choonhavan and the broadcast by Yodaya TV are outrageous lies with not a grain of truth and are but manipulations to besmirch the name of the Myanmar Armed Forces and create misunderstanding in the eyes of the world. Three teams were dispatched to carry out independent investigations and it has been proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the allegations are entirely false. But this chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of Kraisak Choonhavan has gone so far as to vilify and make false accusations against the investigative teams. In actual fact this chairman of the Yodaya Senate Foreign Relations Committee Kraisak Choonhavn  is a person who is aiding and abetting the SURA narco-terrorist group as well as a extremist who nurses hatred against Myanmar. So, he, hand in glove with the Yodaya media has deliberately broadcast these lies.

The SURA narco-terrorist group forcibly recruits new members, creates a sham refugee camps for those whom they falsely claim have been tortured by the Myanmar Armed Force to dupe NGOs in giving them financial aid and assistance.

The following is an account of how SURA narco-terrorists are now forcibly recruiting young men of the Myanmar national races such as the Shan and Akhar who go across the border to work in Yodaya, to join their terrorist group. It also explains the way this terrorist group is trying to get foreign aid by setting up sham refugee camps.

Five Akhar youths, now present before you, who were captured and forcibly recruited to join the SURA narco-terrorrist group, then sent to the old Shor Kaik village to attend a training course and have in the past few days managed to escape. They are now present in this meeting hall. These Akhar youths on being questioned explained that they had been forcibly recruited into the SURA and had been made to attend a training school run by the terrorists. According to their information, this Shor Khaik village is a complex of 5 villages – Nos. 1 to 5 and that there are about 100 households.

According to the accounts given by these Akhar youths, the Shans lived in Village Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 while the Akhar people who are Christians live in village No.4. The terrorists lured those working in Myanmar as well as those working in Yodaya with stories of how they had a chance of getting well-paid jobs and other forms of assistance if they would come and settle in the Shor Khaik villages. This place was where they had built houses and made it appear to be a refugee camp. The headman responsible for the overall supervision of these five villages is a SURA terrorist who is a Shan by the name of Nar Thaw. Any youth who is at least 16 years old of each household, they said, is then made a new recruit of the SURA whether they are willing or not.

     
Minister for Labour U Tin Win replied to the queries raised by local and foreign journalists.

As of June 2000, each person under 10 years is given approximately 6 Pyi (one Pyi is equivalent to 8 condensed milk tins) of rice every month. Those above 10 years receive 8 Pyis plus 25 ticals of cooking oil, ½ kilo of dried soy bean cake and some salt. This is their monthly ration and occasionally they are supplied with blankets and clothing. These rations are brought to the villages by the Yodaya Army and each time they hand out these supplies, they take photographs. According to the headmen of the villages, these goods are donated from abroad. Each month when these rations are distributed the donors ask about conditions in the refugee camp and the causes that made them take refuge there. The villagers then give replies as instructed and taught by the terrorists. They would have to say that because the Myanmar Armed Forces looted them of their poultry, pigs and paddy that they owned and then destroyed their houses, they had fled in fear and having no food or shelter they had come to the Shor Khaik refugee village to settle down. These were the lies they were forced to tell. The SURA terrorists with the help of the Yodaya Army had set up the 5 Shor Khaik villages to resemble a refugee camp. It is from this camp that they seize and recruit new members for their terrorist group. It can be seen clearly, that this has become a base region from which national ethnic groups are being recruited as new soldiers for the SURA.

Rumours concerning the issuance of a new K 5000 currency note

At present rumours have been afloat among the people of Yangon that the Government is about to withdraw K 200 and K 500 currency notes from circulation. This news is entirely false. The Government has no plan whatsoever for withdrawing the K 200 and K 500 currency notes from circulation nor is there any plan to issue a new K 5000 currency note.

     
Maj-Gen Kyaw Win replied to the queries raised by local and foreign journalists.

Rumours that paddy supplies have been ruined by flood waters and that rice for distribution in Yangon is in short supply

Rumours have been circulating that due to floods in Ayeyarwaddy Division, Bago Division, and along the banks of the Chindwin and Ayeyarwaddy rivers in Upper Myanmar, paddy supplies have been ruined; that rice supplies for Yangon have been greatly reduced and that the price of paddy in Ayeyarwaddy Division is now exorbitant. All these are rumours without any foundation. During the current rainy season there have been flooding of rivers in many countries of the world. Floods have also occurred in Myanmar, but in no part of Myanmar has stores of paddy been destroyed. Likewise, there has been absolutely no destruction of sown paddy lands. There is a regular supply of over 30,000 bags of rice arriving daily in Yangon and this is being distributed and sold. There are adequate supplies of rice for the population of Yangon. That paddy prices in Ayeyarwaddy Division are exorbitant is another rumour that is utterly baseless. Traders and cultivators still have large quantities of paddy in hand. So the news that floods have destroyed vast quantities of paddy and that Yangon is receiving only small supplies of rice are all rumours being circulated by fraudulent and dishonest traders and brokers who wish to hike up the price of rice.

Rumours broadcast by the VOA

The VOA radio station at 6 a.m. on 2 September broadcast a news article that Government Forces and the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Association (DKBA), which had reached a peace agreement with the Government, exchanged gunfire in Hpa-an. It stated that 3 government soldiers and one from the DKBA were killed in the fracas. In giving further details, it said that on 27 August, a regional intelligence unit based in Hpa-an and some troops under the command of DKBA Battalion No. 999 began shooting at each other with small arms for about half an hour. None of the local populace was killed. It went on to say that according to the local inhabitants the fracas broke out over arguments in the share of profits in a narcotic drug deal. The broadcast included a Q & A session with a person professing to be a trader and an eyewitness. This news report is totally false. The Armed Forces and the DKBA have never got into a gunfight before or now, nor are there any problems between them. This bit of news is deliberate mischief making to create misunderstanding between the Armed Forces and the DKBA. Furthermore, it is deliberately intended to tarnish the reputation of both the Armed Forces and the DKBA with the allegation that both are involved in drug trafficking according to this VOA broadcast.