ant Secretary Lorne Craner. Mr. Craner was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor on June 4, 2001. Mr. Craner coordinates U.S. foreign policy and programs that support the promotion and protection of human rights and democracy worldwide.

Prior to his appointment, he served as President of the International Republican Institute, which conducts programs outside the United States to promote democracy, free markets and the rule of law. He served as the President of IRI from 1995 until assuming his current appointment.

Welcome, Mr. Craner and for Mr. Daley's sake and Mr. Craner, anything that you have beyond the summarizing of your statement will be placed in the record in its entirety, without objection.

STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE LORNE W. CRANER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR

Mr. CRANER. Let me apologize for being a little late this morning. I want to thank all of you for scheduling this hearing. I read the accounts both from my staff and the newspapers of yesterday's hearing, and everything you are doing to keep attention focused on these egregious rights abuses is very much appreciated, both in the Administration and I know also in Burma. I can assure you this morning of the great interest of the President and Secretary of State in these issues. I was in New York last week and had the opportunity to know that both of them were pushing the Burma issue very, very hard in their meetings up there. I know you are short on time today. I therefore ask that my written statement be submitted in place of my opening statement in the interest of going straight to questions.

[The prepared statement of Lorne Craner follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE LORNE W. CRANER, ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittees, I know that the press of legislative business is heavy this late in the session, so I want to begin by expressing a special thanks to the Committee for holding this hearing. I appreciate the time on the Committee's calendar because we believe that it is important to keep up the unprecedented momentum that has been generated within the international community to press for change in Burma. We believe the hearing is helpful. Currently, we are preparing for the U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York and the APEC meetings in Thailand. Both offer opportunities to reiterate our demand for change. My message to you today is to reiterate this Administration's unwavering commitment to support the long-suffering people of Burma as they battle for democracy, improved human rights, and freedom. As President Bush said when he signed the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003 and notified Congress by letter and Executive Order that he was extending sanctions:

"The U.S. will not waiver from its commitment to the cause of democracy and human rights in Burma. The U.S. has raised the situation in Burma at the UN Security Council and will do so again as developments warrant. The world must make clear-through word and deed-that the people of Burma, like people everywhere, deserve to live in dignity and freedom, under leadership of their own choosing.'

President Bush also cited Burma in his Captive Nations Proclamation and his statement in support of Victims of Torture on United Nations International Day, when he said, "Notorious human rights abusers, including . . . Burma have long sought to shield their abuses from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and denying access to international human rights monitors."

Exactly three months ago I testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and expressed my outrage and disgust at the actions taken by the illegitimate Burmese regime. Unfortunately, serious problems remain and even intensified and I have no good news to report to you today.

Last week marked the 100th day that Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained in prison with virtually no access to visitors. You have heard it before but I will emphasize it again: the generals must release immediately and unconditionally Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners languishing in Burma's jails and begin to take concrete steps toward true democracy. We will settle for nothing less.

There is unprecedented within both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. Government to intensify pressure on the regime. We have taken the lead in instituting new sanctions against the regime and Mr. Daley from the Department's East Asia and Pacific Bureau will be updating you on their implementation. Our efforts also have succeeded in galvanizing members of the international community to join us some publicly and others privately-in pressuring the Burmese regime. We are still urging more concrete action from other nations, especially Burma's neighbors in the region.

Over the past months, our worst fears for democracy in Burma have been realized. We have always doubted the sincerity of the junta's claim to desire a peaceful transition to democracy. Now we know our doubts were justified. The junta's orchestration of the ambush of Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters on May 30, her imprisonment, and the junta's refusal to account fully for what happened that day leaves no room for debate. The junta calling itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) rules through fear and brutality with complete disregard for the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the hopes and welfare of the Burmese people. Their recent actions make clear the depths to which these thugs will sink to retain power. Our response has been equally clear.

The SPDC's renewed campaign of violence and repression against the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Aung San Suu Kyi shows the junta's blatant disregard for the basic rights of the Burmese people and the desire of the international community to see those rights protected. The most recent crackdown is just one link in a long chain of appalling behavior toward the people and the nation that the military regime claims to be protecting.

The SPDC's disregard for human rights and democracy extends to almost every conceivable category of violation. The junta suppresses political dissent by censorship, persecution, beatings, disappearances and imprisonment. It harasses ethnic minorities through brutal campaigns against civilians. It sharply curtails religious freedom. It subjects its people to forced labor. It recruits children to serve in the military contrary to international law and then brutalizes them.

The litany of abuse endured by civilians in ethnic minority regions is especially deplorable. We remain deeply troubled by widespread and brutal rapes, torture, murders, forced relocations, forced labor, confiscation of property and suppression of religious freedom in Burma's ethnic minority regions. The violation of the human rights of these individuals belonging to minority groups has devastating effects on individuals, their families and communities but also has regional and international implications.

The oppression of the Burmese junta places huge burdens on its neighbors. Victims of the brutal abuses listed above and those fleeing economic oppression continue to stream into Thailand, Bangladesh, India and other countries in the region for refuge. Thailand hosts more than 140,000 Burmese in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border and its Burmese migrant population is estimated to be nearly one million people.

We remain deeply concerned for the vulnerable Burmese population living in Thailand and we support them in every way possible. We have encouraged Thailand to improve its migrant worker policies, to move toward acknowledging bona fide refugees among their Burmese migrant population, and at a minimum, to become a Party to the 1967 UN Protocol to the 1951 Refugee Convention.

With funding from the Burma earmark, we support many Burmese democracy groups in Thailand. U.S. Government-funded programs focus on democracy and capacity-building activities and the collection and dissemination of information on democracy and human rights. We also provide scholarships to send Burmese students to Thailand or the U.S. to study law and governance. All these USG funds are used to promote democracy in Burma and prepare many of Burma's future leaders for good governance after transition.

The widespread use of forced labor by the SPDC has been an ongoing concern to the United States and the International Labor Organization (ILO). Forced labor is one of the most egregious violations of worker rights. Since the ILO's request to its constituents in December 2000 that they review their relations with Burma in light

of the system of forced labor, the ILO has been trying to work with the SPDC to eliminate forced labor. But as the ILO liaison officer in Burma said recently, forced labor continues to be a serious problem especially in border areas controlled by the military.

The SPDC has tried to appease the international community through slow increases in the level of cooperation with the ILO, but this has yet to lead to any serious action to combat the problem. In May, the SPDC and the ILO agreed on a plan of action to eliminate forced labor, which if implemented in good faith could have produced some substantive progress. But the International Labor Conference decided in June that the climate of uncertainty and intimidation created by the events of May 30 did not provide an environment in which the plan could be implemented in a credible manner. Forced labor is yet another area in which the SPDC continues to evade its responsibility to protect the basic rights of the people of Burma and shows disdain for the rule of law.

Our recent report on Trafficking in Persons sheds further light on the problem and the Burmese regime's insufficient response. Burma is a Tier 3 country in the 2003 Report issued under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. On September 9th, the President imposed sanctions pursuant to that law.

The SPDC's practices of using child soldiers contrary to international law are egregious. In October 2002, Human Rights Watch estimated that nearly 20% of Burma's army of 350,000 were under 18: as many as 70,000 youths, some as young as eleven. It also reported, based on evidence provided by those who had fled Burma, that these boys are often kidnapped from bus stations, local markets, and other public places, and forced to fight against rebel insurgencies armed with machine guns, grenades, and land mines, often under the forced influence of amphetamines and alcohol. Boys who refused to train or fight are reportedly beaten, whipped, or otherwise tortured, sometimes to death. It is impossible, at this time, to verify these reports inside Burma. However, my bureau is working with our embassy officers in the field to plan for special investigative attention to high priority human rights issues in Burma, including the brutal use of child soldiers by the Burmese military. We will do what we can to continue to shed light on these atrocities.

In addition to special reporting, we are working through multilateral channels to make progress in combating the use of child soldiers. The U.S. has recently ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. We also consistently co-sponsor resolutions on Burma at the UN General Assembly and the UN Commission on Human Rights that condemn the deplorable human rights situation in Burma and call for an end to the recruitment and use of child soldiers contrary to international law. The U.S. also recently supported a UN Security Council resolution that calls upon "all parties to armed conflict, who are recruiting or using children in violation of the international obligations applicable to them, to immediately halt such recruitment or use of children." It should also be noted that some ethnic minority rebel groups in Burma have also been reported to force children to take up arms, especially the Wa which have the largest ethnic army.

The Burmese regime systematically represses religious freedom, with the secret policy infiltrating virtually all religious groups and repressing the rights of religious freedom for believers of many faiths. Buddhist clergy are restricted from promoting human rights and religious freedom, minority religions are prohibited from constructing new places of worship, and minority Christian groups have had their churches destroyed and clergy arrested.

Throughout Burma, there is no freedom of association, no freedom of expression, no freedom of the press. Well over 1,000 political prisoners languish in Burma's jails and the arrests and unlawful detentions continue. We need to keep the most disturbing fact at the front of our minds: these individuals, mostly students, teachers and lawyers, were unjustly arrested-often arbitrarily-and are being held under abhorrent conditions for peaceably promoting democracy and freedom. In addition to Aung San Suu Kyi, at least 100 NLD supporters were detained, or are missing or dead after the incident in late May. NLD leaders both young and old were targeted in this assault. Today, we continue to fear for the welfare of senior leader U Tin Oo and other senior NLD leaders under detention. We will not forget any of these extremely brave individuals who put their lives on the line over the past two decades to stand for justice, democracy, freedom, rule of law and the right to be heard. We, together with the international community, have pressed for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners at every opportunity. We will continue to do so until every prisoner is released to live a life in freedom and peace.

The State Department also will continue to report honestly and accurately on the crimes of the SPDC in our reports on human rights, religious freedom, and traf

ficking in persons. The truth will not be hidden. The oppression of an entire nation must not stand.

The international community must pull together as never before to put an end to the unchecked abuse perpetrated by this illegitimate and brutal junta. The generals must learn that such appalling behavior will deny them the benefits of participation in the global community and eventually will deny them the ability to maintain the power that they so consistently abuse and that they stole from the legitimate democratic leadership of Burma in 1990.

I'd like to close where I began, by emphasizing that this Administration is unwavering in its commitment to support the long-suffering people of Burma as they battle for democracy, improved human rights, and freedom. When President Bush signed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act he acknowledged that the act was the result of close cooperation between the Administration and Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. We appreciate Congressional resolutions and statements that call for democratic change and human rights in Burma. We want to work closely with Congress to speak with a unified voice so that there can be no doubt that it is U.S. policy that the generals must release immediately and unconditionally Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners languishing in Burma's jails and begin to take concrete steps toward true democracy. Again, we expect nothing less.

Mr. PITTS [presiding]. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Gentlelady from Minnesota, are there any questions?

Ms. MCCOLLUM. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Part of what is at times alarming is the amount of refugees that are trapped in Burma who would very much like to escape the terrible oppression and disrespect to their dignity as individuals. Yet the Thai government is-feels it is at a saturation point. And the Thai government tries to keep—I am interpreting it as an open line of communication because they would like to see the situation resolved, changed, so they are in a very unusual predicament. What is the international community and what is the United States Government doing to support Thailand in this refugee buildup?

Mr. DALEY. Thailand today hosts approximately 140,000 displaced persons and refugees in camps that are distributed for the most part along the Thai Burmese border. The main multi lateral mechanism trying to help Thailand deal with that is through the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, that office, which we help fund to a considerable extent as do other members in the international community. Certainly we can't claim credit for it all. We also provide well over $5 million of assistance from our democracy and human rights funds, from our refugee moneys and from our agency for international development moneys to help support this population in different aspects of their well-being, whether it is health, nutrition, clothing and so forth. And we have done that for a very considerable period of time. We also resettled Burmese refugees who have expressed an interest of resettlement in the United States. And we have had more than adequate resources in terms of resettlement numbers and the accompanying dollars to take those who express an interest in coming here. And we work with other international partners, such as Australia, Canada, various European countries on the resettlement aspects of the effort. Some of the assistance that we provide goes to organizations which try to provide as difficult as it is, services to displaced persons-internally displaced persons within Burma. That is not easy because of the terrain and it is not easy because of the fighting and the potential for encountering narcotics traffickers or one kind of unpleasantness or another. It is a very major challenge.

Ms. MCCOLLUM. Thank you. I am concerned that we do what we can to help Thailand in this, because it is one of the few countries in the area which many individuals to find themselves in governments that do not support human rights and commit horrific crimes against their own population flee to. I am from St. Paul, Minnesota. We have a large Hmong population. Many, many of my constituents came through Thailand and Thailand has been facing this when you accumulate the amount of refugees that have been going through for a long time and they would also like to see their own country grow and prosper.

I have a question also on one of the sources of humanitarian relief and self-development that you mentioned, and that is the education opportunities that are afforded some individuals that are refugees from Burma. And I am wondering how that is going. My question is because I also serve on the Education Committee. And we are having horrific problems and challenges with our higher education institutions in getting student visas approved, even for people to come back and finish college in which they have started. If you are a physician, you go home for 6 months, sometimes you can't get back in to finish your medical school. Is there any preferential treatment that is given these refugees or are they in the same mix as all the other international students?

Mr. DALEY. Ms. McCollum, first, I take and I have no quarrel with your point that it is very important for us to support Thailand as it deals with not only refugee population and displaced persons from Burma, but from other areas in the region as well. We are going through a very difficult patch on processing visas. It is a subject where we have an area where we have considerably improved and toughened the issues for visa process. The process is a much lengthier process. I think the main distinction between the ordinary person abroad who would want to come here for education and someone from the Burmese population that has made its way to Thailand is that we are in a better position to provide funding to the refugee population in various guises that would not be available to people who don't meet that category or that definition.

And I would have to provide you-I don't have the data now on how many people we sponsor each year, but I would be happy to get that information and send it to you and to the Committee. Mr. PITTS. The lady has a follow-up question?

Ms. MCCOLLUM. I am sorry, Mr. Daley. It is not a question of financial aid to the students. It is a question of process. It is a question of getting a visa application to attend a university or school here in the United States. It is a question of the higher education institutions having been given an unfunded mandate by the Department of Homeland Security and all kinds of vail threats that they don't comply. They are having problems with the students' visas being approved and then their responsibility for tracking the student once they are here.

My question was, is our government giving international students preferential treatment when they are part of the programs that you described that are targeted toward promoting democracy and our form of capitalist economic government to those students or maybe you are not aware?