Myanmar to host crime-prevention meeting

BEIJING, June 23 (UPI) -- Myanmar is to host an international meeting to combat transnational crime next month, according to a report by Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The meeting of senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be held in the capital city Nay Pyi Taw from July 1-3, Xinhua says, quoting the Myanmar newspaper Weekly Eleven.

ASEAN has given as yet no official announcement of the meeting.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been stepping up efforts to combating human trafficking, according to Xinhua. It signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand in April and has also taken action to help victims of human traffickers re-integrate into society, although no details were given.

Non-governmental organizations and Western governments have been concerned about trafficking within Burma, especially after Cyclone Nargis devastated a delta area of Aceh province in May 2008.

The storm killed an estimated 100,000, and authorities were said to have arrested child traffickers preying on the homeless victims, aid agencies reported.

Many of the children are sold into brothels within Myanmar or to other traffickers in surrounding Asian countries.

Another source for traffickers are Myanmar nationals fleeing the country into Malaysia but who end up being captured by Malaysians and sold to traffickers operating across the Thailand-Malaysia border.

A recent U.S. Senate Committee report called on Malaysia to look into the allegations. Malaysian and Thai policed have said they are investigating.

The Myanmar Times English edition reported this month that real estate businessman Maung Weik and a Malaysian national are on trial for trafficking in amphetamines, ecstasy and ketamine. The men, who are accused of distributing the drugs at parties, face up to 20 years in jail, the newspaper said.

The announcement of the July meeting comes after Myanmar's second top leader Maung Aye's six-day visit to China ended earlier this month.

Development issues were discussed, including the signing of a technical cooperation agreement to develop hydropower projects on the Maykha, Malikha and Ayeyawaddy rivers.

China had earlier agreed to start construction of a 680-mile oil and gas pipelines in Myanmar in September, Xinhua said, quoting sources in PetroChina.

The two pipelines will run parallel from Myanmar's west coast port city of Kyaukpyu, cross into China at the border city of Ruili and end in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province.

The oil pipeline will carry 20 million tons of crude originating from the Middle East and Africa.

The natural gas pipeline, whose capacity is expected to be around 12 billion cubic meters annually, will extend from Kunming to Guizhou province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

China's contracted investment in Myanmar was $1.33 billion by the end of 2008, Xinhua noted. Investment in mining totaled $866 million, electric power was $281 million and in oil and gas it reached $124 million.