WASHINGTON - Rights advocates are
renewing calls for consumers and merchants to shun
Myanmar-produced gems in the run-up to the
military government's latest auction of precious
stones, saying there is growing evidence that
shows Western boycotts are beginning to hurt the
foreign currency-spinning trade. US-based
rights lobby Human Rights Watch (HRW)has assailed
the gem trade for financially propping up the
military dictatorship and renewed its call for a
boycott in advance of an auction of
precious stones scheduled for
Tuesday through Saturday by the Union of Myanmar
Economic Holdings Co Ltd (UMEH), a conglomerate
owned by senior armed forces officers and the
Defense Ministry.
The rights lobby is
seeking to draw attention to hundreds of people it
says remain in arbitrary detention following last
year's deadly violence, where government forces
cracked down on peaceful protests across the
country. Buddhist monks, students and other
civilians took to the streets of several cities
last August and September. What had begun as
popular disapproval of fuel price increases
morphed into anti-government rallies, many of
which called for democracy.
Myanmar's
generals have for decades mismanaged the economy,
which is currently one of the region's poorest on
a gross national product per capita basis. Growing
energy sales to neighboring countries, including
long-term take-or-pay contracts to supply natural
gas to Thailand, have helped to keep the economy
tottering along and profit the ruling junta, known
locally as the State Peace and Development
Council.
Myanmar is also one of the
world's top gem producers and has held periodic
auctions of precious stones since 1964, drawing
buyers from all over the world. The government's
Myanmar Gem Enterprise stands third among the
country's exporters, after the state-run oil and
timber companies. In 2006, the gems firm said it
generated nearly US$300 million in sales, marking
a 45% increase over the previous year.
The
full value of the gems trade is unknown as
smuggling and private deals by or on behalf of
military officers are known to be significant. By
some unofficial estimates, jade accounts for about
10% of Myanmar's yearly export earnings and trade
in the the stone seems to be flourishing,
especially within Asian markets such as China,
Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Even so, proponents
say Western-led boycotts and economic sanctions
have begun to cut into the junta's profits. Recent
auctions for precious stones have reportedly
raised less hard currency and the government has
in response moved to increase the frequency of the
sales, according to rights advocacy groups.
"There are signs that international
pressure has dampened the trade in [Myanmar's]
gems," Human Rights Watch said in a recent
statement. "The upcoming gem auction by the UMEH
comes on the heels of the Myanmar Gems Emporium
held in November 2007. Sales at that event did not
meet expectations."
Citing official and
media sources, the Human Rights Watch said
November's auction netted about $150 million in
sales, well below Myanmar Gems Enterprise's
low-end sales projection of $230 million. HRW
estimated that proceeds in November were down 8%
from the previous gem auction in July 2007. It
also said the decline might reflect voluntary
boycotts and new economic sanctions recently
imposed by Europe and the United States,
traditionally the top buyers of Myanmar's rubies.
Myanmar's precious and semi-precious
stones are now banned from entering the European
Union under rules that took effect last November,
soon after the junta rounded up and opened fire on
street demonstrators. In December, both chambers
of the US Congress approved legislation to tighten
an existing ban on Myanmar gems. The same month,
Canada similarly barred all imports.
Some
Western firms have long shunned Myanmar gems,
among them US-based Tiffany & Co and Leber
Jeweler Inc. Others volunteering to follow suit
since last year's crackdown include Italy's
Bulgari and France's Cartier.
Opponents of
trade embargoes against Myanmar have long said
such measures would further impoverish the masses
while leaving the ruling generals and their
families' business interests largely unscathed.
Growing economic isolation in the 1990s led to a
resurgence of illegal smuggling, often related to
the country's notorious drug and sex trades.
Rights advocates maintain that they seek
sanctions against industries and firms that
directly benefit the ruling junta, rather than
those from which civilians stand to gain.
Myanmar's junta owns at least a majority stake in
all of the country's mines.
Human Rights
Watch, citing reports from other non-governmental
groups, said forced and child labor, unsafe work
conditions and the confiscation of land from local
communities still runs rampant throughout the
mining industry, where some foreigners are
invested.
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