Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Bombings were an attempt to deter foreign investment, says Burma’s police chief
• Burmese traders claim ‘hundi’ operator robbed them
• Britain defends ‘important’ military ties with Burma
• 384,000 Burmese people live in slavery
• Burmese army to recruit females for first time in 50 years
• China, India look to Burma’s abundant rice fields

Bombings were an attempt to deter foreign investment, says Burma’s police chief Posted: 18 Oct 2013 06:05 AM PDT The director-general of the Burmese police force, Zaw Win, announced on Friday that eight suspects are in custody following a spate of bombings which left three people dead and several injured. Speaking at a press conference in Rangoon, he said that Nay Toe (also known as Saw Shwe Htoo), the main suspect, is still at large. "According to our investigation, there is clear evidence that this was an attempt to deter foreign investment in the country," said the police chief. Related Stories Security beefed up in Rangoon following bombings One killed in Shan state bombing Karen rebels reject Rangoon bomb plot 'allegation' He said that Nay Toe, the manager of a business enterprise owned by the Karen National Union (KNU), was the mastermind behind the bombings and the one who ordered Saw Myint Lwin, a former KNU member who is now in custody, to plant the bomb at the Traders Hotel. The KNU on Wednesday dismissed allegations that the attack was planned by its leadership but pledged to investigate within its ranks for any connection to the attacks.

Burmese traders claim ‘hundi’ operator robbed them Posted: 18 Oct 2013 05:38 AM PDT Burmese merchants who import Chinese goods through the border checkpoint at Muse in northern Shan state are claiming that a Burmese "hundi" operator stole nearly half a billion kyat (US$5 million) from them. Hundi is the Burmese equivalent of a money transfer office set up in most neighboring countries which migrants frequently use to send money home to their families or vice versa or to import and export goods. Nineteen individual merchants from Rangoon, Mandalay and Muse said that earlier this month they collectively paid the Shwe Zarmani Hundi Service office in Rangoon and Mandalay a total of almost 500 million kyat which was to be transferred to the Sino-Burmese border town to buy goods. However, the money never made it to Muse, they claim. Ye Linn, a garment trader from Rangoon, said he had been using the Shwe Zarmani service for about two years and had trusted them. "Usually we'd pick up the money in Muse or sometimes the operator would transfer it directly to Ruili," he said. "We already paid them the service charges. We've been using their service for about two years so we trusted them and began transferring large amounts of money. Now they've made off it with it. "I have all the records – we had 480 million kyat in total stolen," he said. Related Stories Prome market authorities demand high taxes from vendors Myo Nyunt, a furniture shop owner from Muse, told DVB that he personally had about 90 million kyat ($90,000) stolen. "This money is important – without it, we cannot operate – we earned that money through honest work," he said. He expressed suspicion on a woman at the Shwe Zarmani office named May Hnin Kyi who denied all knowledge of the theft. "I'm disappointed that May Hnin Kyi is denying responsibility, saying she is only a lower-ranking staffer, and seeking assistance from the police," he said. When contacted by DVB, May Hnin Kyi maintained that she had nothing to do with the case, asserting that Shwe Zarmani has closed operations because its owner Cho Cho Aye had disappeared. "I'm just a staffer here and only deal with transactions. The monthly records were directly handled by Ms Cho Cho Aye. We can no longer continue this operation since she left," said May Hnin Kyi. Nang Eun San Hwang, a Shwe Zarmani staff member in Rangoon, also denied responsibility. "I just transferred the money as I was told to," she said. "I can show you all the records – I didn't steal a penny." The merchants said they attempted to file a case against the hundi operator with the Muse police but were told to file it with the Rangoon authorities as the original payments were made elsewhere. Meanwhile, an official at Muse Police Station said no trader had come forward to file a case with them. Trader Ye Linn blamed the slow money transfer process at domestic banks for the need to hire hundi services to conduct business. "The banks are rather slow and are often unable to transfer the amount of money we wish," he said. "Mostly we have not much choice but to work with the hundi operators as there is no convenient process to buy Chinese currency through the official banks."

Britain defends ‘important’ military ties with Burma Posted: 18 Oct 2013 04:07 AM PDT The British government has defended its plans to offer military training to the Burmese army, despite revelations that the course may cover the "art and science of war" and "border security" management. Speaking to DVB on Thursday, the UK's new ambassador to Burma, Andrew Patrick, described the training as an "important" part of Britain's re-engagement with Burma and insisted that it would not help the combat ability of the armed forces. "It's important that we have a relationship with the Burmese military, because in the UK we have a military that's respected, strong and part of the democratic system," he said. "So it's useful to show senior members of the military here what that looks like and give them a chance to see whether it's helpful here in Burma." Thirty high-ranking officers from the Burmese army are set to attend a course entitled "Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context", run jointly by Cranfield University and the UK Defence Academy in January 2014. The British government has repeatedly insisted that it will only focus on human rights and democratic accountability. But a prospectus of the course available online lists modules on the art and science of war, border security and challenges to state sovereignty, while making no mention of human rights mechanisms. This has raised concerns among campaign groups, who say it could boost the army's capacity to target ethnic minority populations in Burma. Earlier this month, the British government turned down a freedom of information request submitted by Burma Campaign UK (BCUK) for more details about the course citing reasons of "commercial confidentiality". Mark Farmaner, campaigns director at BCUK, described it as an "excuse" that illustrates that the government is "nervous" about disclosing the real nature of its military relationship with Burma. BCUK is currently appealing the rejection. "Andrew Patrick seems to be deliberately avoiding the issue," Farmaner told DVB on Friday. "No one is saying there should be no contact at all with the [Burmese] military. The problem is that the UK has gone way beyond that and is now offering the Burmese army training in the art and science of war." The US and Australia have also offered military training to Burma as part of their diplomatic re-engagement with the former pariah state, which is slowly emerging from decades of iron-fisted junta rule. But these decisions have rattled ethnic minority groups, who say human rights training won't prevent the army, known nationally as the Tatmadaw, from attacking, raping and pillaging minority communities. Related Stories Western military engagement with Burma 'deeply' concerning Thailand must suspend Salween River dams, warn activists Kachin rebels and govt reach preliminary peace deal "Burmese military leadership orders their officers and soldiers to violate our human rights precisely because that is the objective they aim to achieve," warned a coalition of 133 ethnic groups in an open letter to the UK, US and Australian governments on Thursday. The letter, signed by Kachin, Shan, Karen, Chin and other minority groups, urged western governments to refrain from all forms of military-to-military ties with Burma until its 2008 constitution — which is considered deeply undemocratic and offers legal immunity to military officers guilty of rights abuses — has been revised. "Until Burma’s constitution and laws are changed, training the Burmese army to respect human rights is likely to be as effective as trying to train a shark not to eat fish," said Farmaner. The Tatmadaw has been implicated in war crimes against Burma's ethnic minorities, which make up roughly 40 percent of the population and have been fighting the government for greater autonomy for decades. President Thein Sein has been credited for introducing a series of democratic reforms in Burma since taking office in March 2011, including inking peace deals with 10 major ethnic armed groups. But conflict continues to flare in the country's volatile borders, including Shan and Mon states, as well as Kachin where civil war resumed in June 2011, displacing over 100,000 people.

384,000 Burmese people live in slavery Posted: 18 Oct 2013 02:32 AM PDT Nearly 30 million people are living in slavery around the globe, many of them trafficked by gangs for sex work and unskilled labour, according to a global slavery survey released on Thursday. The survey by anti-slavery charity Walk Free Foundation ranked 162 countries on the number of people living in slavery, the risk of enslavement, and the strength of government responses to combating the illegal activity. It found that 10 countries accounted for 76 percent of the 29.8 million people living in slavery across the world –India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma and Bangladesh. Modern slavery was defined as human trafficking, forced labour, and practices such as debt bondage, forced marriage, and the sale or exploitation of children. Related Stories Leaders of infamous human trafficking gang arrested in southern Thailand Karen torture victim recovering after successful round of operations Thai police raid brothel freeing 10 Burmese victims Australian mining magnate and philanthropist Andrew Forrest helped fund the study. "The idea of a slavery index is to now properly measure it, top down, academically, government by government, around the world. It’s long overdue. We have to do it so we can fight it," he said. "Within a year or so we’re going to have a very good read on this industry, probably for the first time in human history." The report found Mauritania in West Africa had the highest number of slaves proportionately, with up to 160,000 enslaved in a population of 3.8 million, due to culturally-sanctioned forms of chattel slavery and high levels of child marriage. The highest absolute numbers were almost 14 million in slavery in India and 3 million in China. Forrest said the number of people being exploited is at its highest today. "The exploitation of the very weakest – the darkest side of the human mind that is willing to totally abuse for exploitation of greed, profit, sex, whatever it is, another human being. And in our population as we sit in the modern-day world there has never been the number of slaves probably even collectively as there are in the world today,” he said. Coming last in the index were Iceland, Ireland and Britain although these countries were not slavery-free. Up to 4,400 people are estimated to be enslaved in Britain, the victims mainly from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. They are forced into sex work, domestic servitude, or low-paid jobs in agriculture, construction, restaurants and nail salons. The Walk Free Foundation said they hope the findings influence governments worldwide.

Burmese army to recruit females for first time in 50 years Posted: 17 Oct 2013 09:30 PM PDT Burma's armed forces, known nationally as the Tatmadaw, will for the first time in over 50 years open recruitment for females at the Defence Services Academy (DSA). According to an advertisement by the Burmese Army Military Appointments General's Office, single women who have graduated from university and who are no older than 30 can now apply for a six-month cadet training course. Zaw Htay, the President's Office director and a DSA graduate, said the army is reintroducing the programme because it is "relevant in today's world". After completing the course, women cadets will be assigned lieutenant and second lieutenant ranks in the armed forces. DVB has learnt that the army was also considering introducing training for female corporals and sergeants. Related Stories Child soldiers an ‘ongoing problem’ in Burma Women's groups call for new constitution Young blood Tin Oo, a former commander-in-chief and current deputy leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, said the army used to recruit females in the 1950s but never since. "The army recruited females back during Gen. Maung Maung's time, especially university graduates, but not very many," he said. Nyo Nyo Thin, a Rangoon division MP representing the Democratic Party (Myanmar), said she welcomed the news. "Twenty-five percent of parliamentary seats are reserved for members of the Tatmadaw and all of them have been assumed by men," she said. "In other countries, they make it constitutionally mandatory for 30 percent of parliamentary seats to be reserved for women, but not in Burma. I hope to see female Tatmadaw members assuming the military seats in parliament and so I welcome the initiative." It is presently unclear how many female officers will be offered training and whether they could be sent into combat situations.

China, India look to Burma’s abundant rice fields Posted: 17 Oct 2013 08:36 PM PDT Chinese businessmen have struck a deal with Burmese farmers’ representatives to grow and procure rice in Burma in 2013-14 to benefit from low prices in the country, according to local sources. Under the deal, China is expected to provide fertiliser and other [equipment] to Burmese farmers for rice cultivation. The entire harvest will be purchased by the Chinese businessmen at local prices as per the agreement. Indian businessmen have also struck a similar deal with Burmese representatives, sources say. Burma is aggressively looking for foreign investment in its rice sector to help the country regain its status as a prominent rice exporter. Currently, rice production in Burma is below potential partly due to fluctuating prices and constant farmer debts. The Irrawaddy Delta in Burma is larger than Vietnam's Mekong Delta, and foreign investment in the region could boost Burma's rice production and exports significantly. Related Stories Burmese govt signs international MoU to expand rice sector Rice exports down but annual forecast positive Severe weather affecting rice fields across Burma According to the US Department of Agriculture, Burma's annual rice production is estimated at around 11 million tons, against a consumption of around 10 million tons. However, local sources say that Burma's rice production has increased to around 13-14 million tons. In the fiscal year 2012-13 (April – March), Burma exported around 2.1 million tons of rice, up about 40 percent from the targeted 1.5 million tons, and almost three times the 750,000 tons exported in the previous fiscal year. Burma rice exports have surged mainly due to low prices. Neighboring China is a major buyer of Burmese rice. Recently, the EU removed import tariffs on rice from Burma under the preferential trade scheme for least developed countries. This article was first published in Oryza on 16 October 2013. Oryza is a think-tank and specialist on the global rice industry.

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