Saturday, August 30, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Burma reveals initial census data

Posted: 30 Aug 2014 04:45 AM PDT

Burma's Ministry of Immigration and Population released provisional census data on Saturday, showing that the country has a population of 51.4 million people, almost ten million fewer than previous estimates.

The data indicates that of that number, 26,598,244 are women and 24,821,176 are men. A total of 50,213,067 people were enumerated, but the figures include an estimated 1.2 million people who were not counted in parts of Arakan, Kachin and Karen states.

According to a statement by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), about 1.09 million people were not counted in parts of Arakan State.

"Most of those who wanted to self-identify their ethnicity as Rohingya were not enumerated," the statement read.

Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship in Burma, as the government and much of the general population considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Burma's national census — the country's first population count in 30 years, conducted from 29 March to 10 April — was highly contentious partly because it solicited detailed ethnic information.

While questions about ethnicity hit a nerve with many people in Burma, which has struggled with ethnic insurgencies and repression of minorities for decades, it was particularly sensitive in Arakan State, where people who self-identify as Rohingya were instructed to call themselves either "Bengali" or "other".

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The survey was problematic in other parts of the country, as well; census workers were unable to go to several areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army in northern Burma, where armed conflict has devastated communities since mid-2011.

Fighting in Kachin State and parts of northern Shan State have displaced approximately 120,000 people over the last three years, an unknown number of whom have fled to China. Such displacement has further complicated attempts to accurately depict the population.

In Karen State, southeastern Burma, the UNFPA said that the Karen National Union provided data that they collected independently for one area, but that it was checked against other similar territories and appeared consistent enough to base an estimate upon.

The UNFPA, which has provided technical, logistical and financial support for Burma's census, said that data collection and analysis were conducted under the guidance of foreign experts and in accordance with international standards.

"The census is a valuable national resource," said UNFPA representative Janet Jackson, speaking at a meeting in Rangoon on Saturday, 30 August. "For the first time in decades, the country will have data it needs to put roads, schools, health facilities and other essential infrastructure where people need them most."

The UNFPA said that more detailed information will be available in in May 2015, and that it is not uncommon for the fully analysed data to vary slightly from preliminary results.

 

Land disputes must be solved right and fast: Dr Thaung Htun

Posted: 30 Aug 2014 02:56 AM PDT

More and more farmers are beginning to speak out about unjust land-grabs across the country, but few of them are getting the results they want: a full return of the farmlands that were seized by authorities during decades of military rule. In addition to those seeking recourse for old cases, many farmers and urban dwellers say they are now being unfairly removed from their property to make way for developers.

A land reform package passed in early 2012 has arguably made matters worse for Burma's rural poor, who are mostly subsistence farmers. The laws do not grant ownership, but rather makes farmers tenants of the state. The legislation ignores many of Burma's communal and customary land use practices, leading to a flood of ownership disputes that township administrators are still unprepared to handle.

DVB recently spoke with Dr. Thaung Htun, director of the Peace and Justice Network. A former member of the All Burma Students Democratic Front and UN representative for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, Dr. Thaung Htun returned to Southeast Asia in 2012 after years of exile. He has since been among Burma's leading advocates for farmers' rights and fair land use policies.  

 

Q: Land disputes have been increasingly frequent since President Thein Sein's government came into power. Some disputes have even escalated to the point of violent confrontation. Why do you think this is happening now?

A: The problem of unjust land loss has been happening all over the country since about 1989, and has continued up until about 2010, just before the new government took office. During that period, farmers were too afraid to speak up about their losses. Since Thein Sein's administration came into power, however, the farmers' voices can travel further. People can hear them more now. There is also more awareness among farmers through the establishment of civil society organisations and other groups. These organisations help farmers to understand their rights, the land laws and the definition of unlawful seizure. Many people are unaware about how their rights were changed by the introduction of Burma's new land policy in 2012.

Q: Let's talk about the Farmland Law. This law was passed in 2012, but farmers don't seem to be enjoying its benefits yet. Could you explain why?

A: There are pros and cons of the new legislation. One notable part of the bill is that it allows farmers to sell, rent or pawn their farmland. In reality, however, most farmers don't know how to use that to their advantage. Further complicating matters is that when the law came into effect, there were a lot of disputes about who owned what because all of the land had to be registered with township-level authorities. And, of course, there is some corruption among the land management bodies. There are still lots of problems. But the main weakness of this law is that it denies the right to own land. There is no land ownership in Burma at this time. In the past, people had that right. Under British colonial rule, people owned their land. Farmlands were made into public assets later. The reason they did that was, in theory, to avoid the problem of wealthy and powerful landlords. But the real outcomes are different. The authorities abused the word "state", and they took land unjustly. This has been costing farmers their land for decades.

Q: Farmers are facing a lot of hardship right now, and land loss has led many to protest. One common example across Burma is the "plough protest", whereby farmers occupy and work land that was taken from them. Does this trend signal a possible farmers' uprising?

A: If the problem of land loss cannot be solved quickly and effectively, there will be instability. These farmers don't want to be illegally ploughing the lands, they want to live peacefully. But the land is their cooking pot, it's how they get by, so they have no other choice. As far as we know, at least 6,559 land claims have been submitted to the parliamentary Land Investigation Commission since it was established in 2012. To date, only 307 cases have been resolved by regional governments. That's only about 4.8 percent. Many cases are delayed because local administrators and land statistics officers are not working fast enough. It's not because they don't know about the problem. The president's office has already ordered administrators to work closely with local MPs on this issue. We found, however, that the officers involved have not been cooperating with the MPs very well.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to add about land issues?

A: Yes. About 60 percent of the population in Burma are agricultural workers. When we talk about poverty reduction, it is impossible to ignore this enormous, skilled workforce. Sixty percent of the population have no job opportunities if they have no farmland. These land problems must be solved right, and they must be solved fast.

 

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Burma’s industrial relations at a crossroads

Posted: 30 Aug 2014 02:29 AM PDT

Industrial relations for the garment sector is at a crossroads, with representatives from unions and factories agreeing that both sides need more education and willingness to negotiate in order to fuel Burma's burgeoning industry.

After years of US sanctions, the entrance of American clothing giant Gap in June this year marked a new beginning for the industry. Burma's exports topped US$1 billion last year; the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA) predicts that exports will rise to $1.5 billion by the end of 2014.

This rapid opening of the industry comes at a time when union leaders and workers are becoming more empowered to demand higher wages and better working conditions. With factory owners accustomed to the old ways of dealing with worker dissent – and workers uneducated about how to engage in negotiations – both sides are pushing for a healthier industrial relations environment, as clashes could handicap the sector.

"The main issue is understanding the need for negotiation – on both sides," said Maung Maung, secretary-general of the Federation of Trade Unions in Myanmar, one of Burma's biggest union blocs.

"The workplace issues — overtime, salary – these can all be solved. The principle is the need for negotiation, and industrial issues affect everyone so I think that mindset is the most important," he said.

Negotiations between an employer and employee may not seem like a particularly novel idea, but for developing countries with a robust garment sector, this is not always the case. Burma's neighbour, Cambodia, exports roughly $5 billion in value of garments each year, yet is plagued by frequent strikes and weeks-long lockouts due to both unions and employers refusing to sit down at the negotiating table; Bangladesh – the biggest exporter in garments after China because of its cheap labour costs – has near-daily protests that block roads and leave factories damaged. Hostile relationships between the owners and workers are cemented, making it difficult for either side to come to a compromise.

A constructive industrial relationship is so crucial – and often so elusive – that the Office of the US Trade Representative announced on Thursday that they will be working with the Burmese government on an initiative to promote labor rights and implement legal reforms to foster a positive industrial environment. This move comes as Burma – with roughly 185 exporting garment factories currently operating in the country – is poised to attract even more investors and international brands looking to expand to a low-wage country with, hopefully, less industrial turmoil.

So far, the factories hire about 200,000 workers, and less than one percent of them are part of a union. Once considered illegal by the previous military regime, the nominally civilian government of Burmese President Thein Sein enacted a law in 2011 allowing for workers to form unions, as long as they have at least 30 members. There are now more than 1,200 unions, with the majority of them in the agricultural sector.

"We do have a very big gap in knowledge on negotiations and industrial relations — both from the workers' side and the owners' side."

Because of this nascent movement, Maung Maung said that most union leaders or members are unskilled in negotiations and collective bargaining.

"The majority of the workers still don't understand the responsibilities of the unions, the responsibility of the members and the executives," he said. "We do have a very big gap in knowledge on negotiations and industrial relations — both from the workers' side and the owners' side."

Maung Maung added that wildcat strikes and demonstrations often come from workers who are not part of unions, as they do not have the awareness to resolve issues in a productive manner.

The issues for a dispute are varied – requests for higher wages, better working conditions and hours, and general management disagreements. Burma has some of the lowest wages in the region, with the basic minimum wage ranging from $25 to $37 a month, according to report last year by Burma-based Labour Rights Clinic.

Christopher Land-Kazlauskas, the International Labour Organization's chief technical adviser for the Freedom of Association and Social Dialogue Project, said that another emerging problem appears to be that factory owners are dismissing labour representatives within their factories for their union activities – a move that is angering workers.

"I think that retaliation against union leaders in both the severity and frequency we are seeing is a huge obstacle [to industrial peace]," Land-Kazlauskas said. "If [the government] can't make this illegal or put in place penalties that will keep employers from doing that, what is going to make an employer want to negotiate?"

"You can't have a system of healthy constructive industrial relations where one party can sit down and say, 'either you accept my terms or you're all fired'," Land-Kazlauskas said. "That's not considered good faith collective bargaining."

"If that spreads, then the government will have a much harder time keeping industrial peace. The economy is going to have a much harder time in developing. It's going to scare away a lot of foreign investors."

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While Than Win, director general of the Department of Labor Relations, acknowledged that there are some cases of unfair dismissals of trade union officials in factories, he said that sometimes the unionists' actions create disputes.

"I found that some trade union officials interrupted the mandate or authority of the managers or employers, so that leads to the said dispute and dismissals," he said by email from Naypyidaw.

The Department of Labour Relations has recorded almost 70 protests in the garment sector during the first seven months of 2014. In 2012, there were 241 recorded protests, and 136 in 2013.

Despite these numbers, Than Win pointed out that another 2,300 cases were resolved from 2012 to July 2014 through negotiations via township conciliation boards – which is the next step both parties take if negotiations do not lead to a settlement.

Win Shein, director general of the Ministry of Labour's Factories and General Labour Laws Inspection Department, said that his staff visit factories and hold workshops regularly to educate both owners and workers on negotiation tactics and the need for understanding.

"We truly believe that through awareness-raising workshops, management level will be familiar with current labour law and they will apply the knowledge at the workplace, which will lead to less labour disputes happening," Win Shein said. "Without an employer, workers cannot survive. At the same time, without any workers, an employer cannot start any business … I strongly believe they should have mutual trust in each other."

MGMA's chairman Myint Soe believes that both workers and owners will be able to benefit from more investment from international brands and factories in the garment sector. Concerned with a PR image, brands tend to focus on making sure factories are compliant with the law and international human rights standards, he said.

"They have training [for the workers] for labour rights issues and safety issues, and they address issues of working hours and salary. These things concern the brands, so workers are happy to see and get knowledge and training from them," Myint Soe said. "And employers will be happy as well because the orders are for a longer period and in bigger volume."

But FTUM's secretary-general Maung Maung cautions against this rosy view of international brands, adding that history hasn't proven this to be accurate.

"I would say that we have to take companies on their own and what they do here in this country," Maung Maung said. "Having big names is good for business, but on the human rights and workers rights issues, we would have to gaze at them individually — not as a brand, but based on their practices here."

 

 

 

Arakan govt moves to protect heritage sites

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 10:40 PM PDT

The Arakan State parliament approved this week a conservation law to protect the region's famous historical sites.

The new Arakan State Cultural Heritage Conservation Law, which was originally proposed to the regional assembly by the State Law Drafting Committee, includes penalties for anyone who builds, abuses, digs or exploits demarcated sites of cultural value.

Anyone building in a protected area, including the unauthorised construction of hotels and tourist facilities, could be jailed for up to three years, while illegal commerce or digging at a heritage site will carry a maximum sentence of two years and a one million kyat (US$1,000) penalty.

Shithaung Temple, Myo Haung, Arakan State. (PHOTO: Maung Maung Oo)

Shithaung Temple, Myo Haung, Arakan State. (PHOTO: Maung Maung Oo)

"We approved the heritage law today after reaching an agreement between the State Law Drafting Committee and MPs," said Arakan National Party MP and committee chairman Aung Myat Kyaw on Tuesday. "Arakan State is rich in cultural heritage and we agreed that we should have strict laws to conserve these sites."

The law was drafted by a 17-member committee including parliamentarians, legal experts, historians and academics.

Aung Myat Kyaw told DVB that once the new law is active, copies of the regulations will be distributed to the public. However, he was unable to expand upon which sites would be prioritised for protection.

The people of Arakan, also called Rakhine, have one of the longest documented histories in the region, with ample legends and folklore of a kingdom ruled by King Marayu in the year 3525 BC.

It is said that Buddhism was introduced into Arakan during the lifetime of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha himself. According to local chronicles, Siddhartha visited the city of Dhanyawadi in Arakan on his travels.

Little remains at Dhanyawadi today except for the outlines of a once-prominent fortress. However, a towering temple still stands – the home of the Maha Muni statue, which was later seized by the invading Burmese.

In 1433, King Min Saw Mon established Mrauk-U as his capital, located about 50km northeast of present-day Sittwe. It was an epicentre of Buddhism and had dozens of temples and pagodas built from stone, many of which are still standing. The golden age of Mrauk-U lasted well into the 18th century when the Arakanese were defeated by the Burmese.

Sittaung is another well-known stone pagoda site, constructed in 1533 by King Minbin. Its name means "Shrine of the 80,000 Images", a reference to the number of holy images found inside.

 

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