Title 3--The President The Quality of Life in Burma Burma remains one of the world's poorest countries with an average per capita GDP of approximately $300, according to World Bank figures. Pri- marily an agricultural economy, Burma also has substantial mineral, fish- ing, and timber resources. However, almost 4 decades of military misrule and mismanagement have produced a chaotic economy characterized by widespread poverty. Over the past 2 years, a growing government deficit, shortfalls in energy supplies and continuing foreign exchange shortages have hampered eco- nomic activity and contributed to a rapid depreciation in Burma's official currency, the kyat. Valued at approximately 360 kyat to the dollar in Sep- tember 2000, that rate has now risen to approximately 840 kyat per dollar in March 2002 and is expected to rise further over the next 3 months. At the same time, inflation has picked up speed. According to an urban retail price index calculated by the U.S. Embassy, cumulative, point-to-point in- fiation from January l, 2001 to January \177, 2002 totaled approximately 52 percent. Widespread and severe human rights abuses also continued throughout Burma during the reporting period. In ethnic minority areas, in particular, there were many reports of extraiudicial killings, rape, and disappearances. Significant numbers of ethnic minority refugees continue to seek asylum in Thailand. Due to severe restrictions on religious freedom, Burma was again designated a "country of particular concern" in 200\177 under the Inter- national Religious Freedom Act. Prison conditions remained harsh, despite access to prisons by the International Committee of the Red Cross. During the reporting period, only one political activist was detained for the expres- sion of a dissenting political view; in early December, Dr. Salai Tun Than, a retired university rector and graduate of the University of Wisconsin, was arrested and sentenced to 7 years in prison for passing out leaflets in front of Rangoon's City Hall which called for a civilian government and general elections. Forced labor also remains an issue of serious concern. In November 2000, the International Labor Organization (ILO) Governing Body concluded that the Government of Burma had not taken effective action to deal with the use of forced labor in the country and, for the first time in its history, called on all ILO members to review their policies toward Burma to ensure that they did not support forced labor. The United States strongly sup- ported this decision. In recent months, the Government of Burma has indicated that it is more willing to work with the ILO. In September 200% an ILO High Level Team concluded that the GOB had made an "obvious, but uneven" effort to cur- tail the use of forced labor, but that forced labor persisted, particularly in areas where the government was waging active military campaigns against insurgent forces. It also recommended that the ILO establish a permanent presence in Burma. A second ILO team visited Burma in February 2002 and eventually reached agreement on the appointment of an ILO liaison of- ricer, pending the establishment of a permanent ILO office in Rangoon. However, the government has not been willing to address two other ILO recommendations: appointment of an ombudsman for forced labor issues, 336
�
