| Commission Criticizes Arakan Govt’s ‘Weak’ Handling of Riots Posted: 09 Apr 2014 05:52 AM PDT  A warehouse of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is seen damaged by the recent violence in Sittwe March 28, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — A commission established by the Burmese government to investigate mob attacks on the premises of international nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations in Sittwe last month has criticized the Arakan State authorities for their weak handling of the incident. A statement in Burma's state-run newspapers on Wednesday said the commission had concluded that a foreign aid worker had not mishandled a Buddhist flag, despite rumors to the contrary that became the pretext for large-scale riots and destruction of property. "It will not be allowed to happen again and the security authorities will focus on doing more capacity building for security forces," the statement said. "The state government failed to take action as soon as the conflict broke out. [The commission] found that the state government's response was weak and failed to stop the mob attacks." Win Myaing, spokesman for the Arakan State government, declined to respond to the criticism. "They [the commission] have written what they found through their investigation. For me, I do not have anything to criticize from their statement," said Win Myaing. The attacks came on March 26-27 as Arakanese Buddhists were protesting against the Rohingya Muslim minority being allowed to take part in the nationwide census. A 13-year-old Arakanese Buddhist girl was killed by a stray bullet when police fired warning shots to disperse the mob. The violence also led to an exodus of aid workers from Sittwe, raising humanitarian concerns for tens of thousands of people displaced by inter-communal violence since mid-2012. Medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières had already been forced to leave the state and basic supplies to some camps have been effectively cut off. The commission's statement said the government was working with the Arakan State government so that aid groups can return to the state. Members of the commission—which was formed March 28 and led by Gen Maung Maung Ohn—visited Sittwe and talked to NGOs and local people. The report said the attacks caused US$430,000 of damage, with 14 NGO offices, 16 houses, 15 warehouses, 14 vehicles, 2 boats, 29 motorbikes and office furniture damaged. The violence was sparked by an employee of aid group Malteser International removing a Buddhist flag from the group's offices and allegedly mishandling it. Buddhist flags were displayed in protest to the government's pledge, on which it later reneged, that Rohingya would be allowed to self-identify their ethnicity in the UN-backed census. The commission agreed with an earlier statement from Malteser International saying that the employee, Yvonne Dunton, had simply removed the flag from the building in line with the organization's policy of political neutrality, and did not do anything inappropriate with it. The commission said information about the incident had been dishonestly spread in order to instigate the riots that followed. "Her action did not violate the law by taking down the flag," said commission's statement. "But, tensions got high when some people campaigned and provided wrong information to the local people." Khin Maung Gyi, a senior leader from Rakhine National Party (RNP), said that most people in Sittwe believed that the foreign woman did mishandle the religious flag, despite the investigation's findings. "It is true our people were not happy about her disrespecting the flag. And also, it is true our people are not happy with NGOs based here because they don't have transparency in giving aid," said Khin Maung Gyi, referring to the accusation that international NGOs favor the Rohingya over Arakanese Buddhists. The Arakan State government has said 12 suspects have been arrested for the attacks, including a central committee member of the RNP. The post Commission Criticizes Arakan Govt's 'Weak' Handling of Riots appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Relocated Thilawa SEZ Villagers Persist in Calls for JICA Meeting Posted: 09 Apr 2014 05:40 AM PDT  A boy stands in a field that his family owned in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, outside Rangoon, on Jan. 6, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Minzayar) RANGOON — Families forced off their land by the Thilawa Special Economic Zone project in Rangoon Division are again urging the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to address their grievances, the fifth time in about six months that the relocated villagers have attempted to engage the Japanese governmental agency. In their latest overture, the villagers requested a meeting with JICA officials anytime from April 23 to April 25 of this year, asking that the agency respond to the request by Friday of this week. Sixty-eight families—who previously lived on 400 hectares of land designated for the first phase of the Thilawa SEZ—were relocated to Myaing Thar Yar Village in November 2013. The Thilawa Social Development Group, a local community group formed by the relocated villagers, sent a letter on Monday addressed to JICA's president and Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Fumio Kishida. It was the fifth formal letter sent by the group to JICA since October 2013. None of the previous letters received a response from the Japanese aid agency. "JICA has since [Oct. 15, 2013] refused to meet with us, saying the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee and Yangon Regional [Divisional] Government have taken care of the livelihoods and job trainings for the people in the relocation site," the letter stated, listing several problems that the group said had yet to be addressed by anyone, including a lack of potable water at the new village site. The Tokyo-based NGO Mekong Watch, which monitors the impact of Japanese investment projects in Southeast Asia, claims that the monetary compensation, job training programs and relocation site offered to the affected villagers were not of an acceptable standard. "The Thilawa SEZ Management Committee has often visited the relocation site and has talked directly with the relocated villagers. But the govt has still failed to provide the 'appropriate' compensation/livelihood support plan," Mekong Watch told The Irrawaddy via e-mail. Mya Hlaing, a member of the Thilawa Social Development Group, said the community organization had sent letters 13 different times to the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee from February 2013 to February 2014, none of which received any response. He said 30 of the 68 displaced families had already sold their relocated houses after first having to mortgage their properties to make ends meet, and then falling behind on the mortgages' interest payments. "The pre-promise was that they would build houses, roads and livelihoods for us and would take care of our living, health and education for two or three years until we are able to settle in and find a job in the new place," Mya Hlaing said. "When the water is pumped out in the amount of a yoke [about two buckets' worth], mud comes out. We have no water to use, and have to buy drinking water. Thirteen children have dropped out of school because their parents are jobless. It costs about 30,000 kyats [US$30] just for transportation [to school each month]." About 4,500 villagers living on 2,000 hectares designated for Phase II of the project are likely to face similar problems, Mya Hlaing said, adding that an entire fishing village in the Bay Bauk area was being threatened by plans to build two JICA-sponsored jetties there. Soe Min, labor minister for the Rangoon Division government, defended authorities' handling of the relocated villagers. "We made a concrete road for them as there was no road. We built 24-by-50-feet houses as they wished. [Provided] electricity instantly," he told The Irrawaddy. "But it is not good that some are speaking with greed. I did not know that they are having problems with water. I will go and take a look. If it is a real need, we will fulfill it." Mekong Watch said "JICA should make sure that the government complies with the JICA's guidelines, for example, that the government should improve or at least restore the living standard of the affected people. If the government failed to do that, JICA should give necessary advice to the government or/and should more actively take action to it." Mya Hlaing said the relocated villagers had no intention of disrupting the ongoing SEZ project, and were only seeking proper compensation. "In this project, so far, even though JICA has had some interviews with some villagers at the relocation site, JICA has still failed to listen to the various affected people's voices, by rejecting to reply to the letters [from the Thilawa Social Development Group] and rejecting to meet them. As a result, JICA has failed to recognize/respond to some problems/concerns of the affected people in this project," Mekong Watch said. The Thilawa SEZ has been billed as a driver of Rangoon's future economic growth that could provide tens of thousands of jobs. But residents around the site, which sits about 20 miles southeast of downtown Rangoon, say the project so far has brought in all its labor from outside the immediate area, providing no tangible employment benefits to locals. Additional reporting by Sanay Lin. The post Relocated Thilawa SEZ Villagers Persist in Calls for JICA Meeting appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma Election Commission to Ban Suu Kyi’s Campaign Strategy Posted: 09 Apr 2014 05:29 AM PDT  Tin Aye, chairman of Burma’s Union Election Commission (EC), speaks during a meeting in Pathein on Monday. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The chief of Burma's national election commission has defended the involvement of the army in politics as necessary to prevent a military coup, while also pledging to ban campaign methods used by the main opposition party during the previous by-election. "The military MPs make up 25 percent of Parliament. To be clear, we have them because we don't want a coup. The military is in Parliament not because of power, but for negotiation," said Tin Aye, chairman of the Union Election Commission (EC), during a meeting on Monday in Pathein with sub-election commissions and political parties. "When will they leave?" added the EC chief, a former general himself, referring to the military-appointed lawmakers. "Only when democratic standards are high in the country." The military-drafted 2008 Constitution reserves one-quarter of Parliament seats for military-appointed MPs. Most of the remaining seats are held by the pro-military ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). "For the 2015 election, I promise it will be systematic, free and fair," he said. Tin Aye was formerly a lieutenant-general in the Burma Army, a member of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and a protégé of ex-junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe. In 2010, he won a seat in the Lower House of Parliament, representing Mandalay Division's Tada-U Township as a member of the USDP. He was nominated by President Thein Sein as chairman of the EC in 2011. At the meeting on Monday, he said the EC in the future would only allow politicians to campaign in their own constituencies, in a move that will likely affect Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. During by-elections in 2012, the NLD contested seats in 44 of 45 constituencies up for grabs. Before the election, Suu Kyi traveled to those townships and campaigned on behalf of her party members, who won 43 of the 44 seats. "Contestants need to say something like, 'If you have nothing to do with my constituency, please stay away. This is my constituency and I will do my own campaign,'" Tin Aye said, adding that he would set the campaign period and zones, while also determining who would be eligible to campaign there. He said that although the 2012 by-elections were praised by the United States and the European Union, the campaigns resembled public demonstrations. He was referring to NLD rallies that saw thousands of people in NLD T-shirts come out to show their support, often waving the party's flag to welcome Suu Kyi. "Those campaigns were so free that they looked rather like the '88 uprising revisited," he said, referring to the 1988 pro-democracy uprising against the dictatorship of Gen. Ne Win. Phyo Min Thein, an MP from the NLD, criticized Tin Aye's approach. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the NLD. As the leader of a political party, she has a right to do election campaigns in all constituencies where her party will contest seats. What U Tin Aye said is undemocratic and a ban on freedom of assembly," he told The Irrawaddy. But USDP lawmaker Hla Swe said he agreed with the EC chief. "It makes more sense to campaign in your own constituency, rather than campaigning for someone else. If you campaign for others, it looks like they are incompetent," he said. "I welcome the ban. It sounds fair." The post Burma Election Commission to Ban Suu Kyi's Campaign Strategy appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Armed Groups, Govt Still Disagree on Burma Ceasefire Wording Posted: 09 Apr 2014 04:40 AM PDT  An ethnic leader shakes hands with Lt-Gen Myint Soe, the Burma Army's commander overseeing operations in Kachin State, at talks in Rangoon on Tuesday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) A four-day meeting between leaders of Burma's ethnic armed groups and government peace negotiators concluded in Rangoon on Tuesday with the two sides announcing that they agreed "in principle" on a draft of a long-awaited nationwide ceasefire agreement. However, key parts of the wording of the elusive single draft agreement still had not been agreed upon. The agreement was lauded in a joint statement from the government side and the ethnic groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), but another meeting has been scheduled in the first week of May to work out the remaining issues. Hla Maung Shwe, a special adviser to the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the long-debated issue of the language that would be used in the agreement had still not been settled. "The leaders agreed on the first draft in principle, but they must work on the choice of words," he said. Salai Lian Hmong Sakhong, the leader of the Chin National Front and an NCCT member, said it was important that there was now a single text that both sides could focus on. Previously, the sides had each put forward their own drafts, which were a long way from agreement. But he stressed that the issue of wording remained a serious concern. The ethnic armed groups want to include the terms "revolution," "civil war," "ceasefire," "federal" and "autonomy"—which they say are important if the document is to accurately reflect the current situation and the history of ethnic armed struggle in Burma. The government side, for its part, wants to replace the term "civil war" with "armed conflict." The Burma Army has also insisted that the word "federal" is not used. And the phrase "in accordance with the current law," is demanded by the military, but rejected by ethnic groups who do not accept the country's military-drafted 2008 Constitution. "By 'federal,' we mean 'not separate.' We want to include these words because we have been fighting for the equality and autonomy for our ethnic groups," Salai Lian Hmong Sakhong said. "We are not inventing new terms for this ceasefire agreement, the terms we use—such as 'genuine federal union'—have a long history. [Using these terms] could be the best way to solve our ethnic problems." The MPC's Hla Maung Shwe said it was inevitable that the details of a nationwide ceasefire would be difficult to work out. "Both sides have anxiety which is rooted in six decades of conflict. The details must be negotiated," he said. NCCT leaders also met with the ethnic politicians from the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA)—a grouping of ethnic political parties—on Wednesday morning to share the results of their discussions with the government. Aye Thar Aung, a UNA board member from the Arakan League for Democracy, said that despite the moves of President Thein Sein's reformist government toward a ceasefire deal, a lack of trust remained between the two sides. "It has been three years since 2011 and the nationwide ceasefire is yet to come. When can we expect the political dialogue to solve our decades-long problems?" said Aye Thar Aung. The post Armed Groups, Govt Still Disagree on Burma Ceasefire Wording appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Indonesian Vote Colored by Corruption Fatigue and a Fresh Face Posted: 09 Apr 2014 03:13 AM PDT  A man casts his ballot at a polling station in downtown Jakarta on Wednesday. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) JAKARTA — Tens of millions of Indonesians nationwide went to the polls on Wednesday to cast their ballots in parliamentary elections, with the vote coming ahead of a July presidential election in which the yet-to-be-chosen lawmakers will play a crucial role. With some 186 million eligible voters nationwide, the electorate of the world's third-largest democracy has indicated in opinion polls leading up to Wednesday's election that voters are looking for a departure from past governments that have appeared unwilling, or unable, to curb the corruption for which Indonesia is notorious. After speaking to more than a dozen Indonesian citizens this week in the capital Jakarta, this reporter found that the pre-poll surveying appeared to be borne out in attitudes on the street. "At first, I hesitated over whether to vote or not. But finally, I made up my mind—that I have to exercise my right to vote because it may be a good chance to push for change somehow," said Arri Palapa, a 37-year-old resident of Jakarta who runs a small online business selling cosmetics. "I look at Indonesia and I'm sick of seeing Indonesia moving forward to nowhere. "I think members of the PDI-P [Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle] have the potential to provide good leaders as role models for a better future for Indonesia. Jokowi is part of the PDI-P. He has been appointed by the PDI-P to be elected as president. So, I believe he can lead the party toward a better leadership," said Palapa, who nonetheless declined to reveal which party he would be voting for on Wednesday. Joko Widodo, better known by his nickname Jokowi, is the current governor of Jakarta and the frontrunner for the Indonesian presidency, which will be decided in July. He is not running for any elected seat in Wednesday's poll. The Indonesian president is directly elected, but only after being nominated by parties in the legislature, which must win at least 20 percent of seats outright, form a coalition representing that percentage of seats won, or have taken 25 percent of seats in the previous election, in order to put forward a presidential candidate. That means the political fate of the wildly popular governor of Jakarta is tied to the results of Wednesday's elections. Jokowi's down-to-earth approach has won the hearts of many voters in the Indonesia capital, and far beyond, in this archipelagic nation. His popularity led his party, the PDI-P, to announce in mid-March that he would be its candidate for the presidency. This reporter met with Jokowi last month in Jakarta, where the governor said he preferred spending his time among constituents, not bound to his desk in the chaotic metropolis of some 10 million people. "Many people have said that I'm different because the other governors, they like to stay at the office. For me, I stay at the office only a maximum of one hour [per day]," Jokowi said. "Mostly, I go to see people on the ground, in the markets, and I ask people what they want and what they need. The people, they want to see leaders working." That approach has earned Jokowi major support at the grassroots level, from street vendors and buskers to activists and NGO workers. Born in the Central Java town of Solo, where he served as mayor from 2005-12, Jokowi has put a focus on health care and education programs for the needy in the 18 months since he assumed the Jakarta governorship. "I delivered what we call 'Jakarta health cards' [granting free medical care to the poor] to them. They can go to public clinics, they can go to the hospitals, totally free of charge. I worked out this program because people asked me for this when I met them." Jokowi said his administration has delivered the cards to 3.5 million people in Jakarta so far. "We also have what we call 'Jakarta smart cards.' This is for education. When I would go to see the people and I asked about education, they asked the government to cover the cost of school uniforms, school vans, boots, shoes for the poor," Jokowi explained. Despite earning popular support on the coattails of the Jakarta governor, Jokowi's PDI-P is not immune to the negative voter sentiment that has affected many of the established political parties in a country where corruption stories are a regular feature of newspapers' front-pages. Some voters said they would not vote for PDI-P candidates in Wednesday's legislative elections, but would support Jokowi in the presidential election to follow on July 9. "I didn't vote today because I don't trust the parties, including PDI-P. But I trust Jokowi. … The PDI-P is one of the most corrupt parties," said Feri Latief, a self-employed Jakarta resident. Twelve parties are contending for 560 seats in Indonesia's House of Representatives, and the two most popular parties are PDI-P and Golkar Party, the former political vehicle of deposed Indonesian President Suharto. Although Golkar is expected to win a sizeable number of legislative seats, its presidential standard-bearer, party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, is showing poorly in the polls. The business tycoon was Golkar's declared presidential candidate long before Jokowi threw his hat into the ring, but polls have showed the Jakarta governor holding as much as a 34 percentage point lead over Bakrie. The results of Wednesday's nationwide election will be disclosed within a week. Indonesia's current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, will officially leave office in October. The Irrawaddy reporter Saw Yan Naing is a fellow of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), and this article is published under a SEAPA-sponsored program covering the 2014 Indonesian elections. The post Indonesian Vote Colored by Corruption Fatigue and a Fresh Face appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma’s Border Trade Booms in 2013-14 Posted: 09 Apr 2014 03:06 AM PDT  A woman shops inside a supermarket in Rangoon. An official said more cheap products from China are being imported into Burma. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Trade across Burma's land borders grew by more than a fifth last year, with goods being traded to and from China making up the majority of the trade, an official said. Than Aung Kyaw, director of the Ministry of Commerce told The Irrawaddy that a massive 83 percent of the trade was across the border with China in the 2013-14 fiscal year. Burma also shares land borders with Bangladesh, India, Laos and Thailand. Total imports and exports across all borders reached US$4.46 billion from April 2013 to March 2014, compared with $3.7 billion of trade in the previous year, he said. The only official trade crossing on the Chinese-Burmese border is Muse in Shan State, opposite Ruili in China's Yunnan Province. Than Aung Kyaw said Burma was importing large quantities of Chinese-made home appliances, foodstuffs, electronics and construction materials. "As long as Burmese people rely on cheap Chinese products, the border trading volume with China will keep increasing," Than Aung Kyaw said. According to figures provided by Than Aung Kyaw, exports made up $2.70 billion of the trade through Muse, while imports volume hit $1.76 billion. However, Than Aung Kyaw did not say what the large volume of official exports from Burma was made up of. The figure likely does not include timber exports—which were thought to flow across the Chinese border despite being permitted only through Rangoon's port, until a full ban on log exports came into force this month. It could include some of the lucrative trade in jade from Kachin State and other gems, although the scale of the illegal border trade is thought to be considerable. Burma also exports rice, beans and pulses, rubber, marine products, natural gas and oil, and garments to its neighbors and internationally. Trade through the Muse-Ruili border overshadows the rest of Burma's border trade. There are four official crossings on the Burmese-Thai border, but trade through the largest crossing point, Myawaddy-Mae Sot, was worth just $290 million in 2013-14. "Thai products are still more expensive than Chinese products. If people's consumer power gets higher Thailand border trade volume will increase than China," said Than Aung Kyaw, implying that Thai products, though more expensive, are preferred for their apparent higher quality. Only $50 million of the trade through Myawaddy-Mae Sot was exports from Burma to Thailand—mainly marine products. Foodstuffs, home appliances, construction materials, automobile spare parts and agricultural equipment are all imported to Burma from Thailand. Crossings on Burma's western borders see far less official trade. A crossing in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, has been closed to traders since violence broke out between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state in mid-2012. "Though there is a border station in Maungdaw, trading has stopped," Than Aung Kyaw said. "On the Indian border, at Tamue in Chin State, there is also very little trading." Border trade makes up just 19 percent of Burma's total international trade, which was worth more than $21.33 billion last year. However, the proportion of trade coming across the borders, rather than by sea, has increased in recent years. Than Aung Kyaw said in 2009-10, maritime trade made up 88 percent of Burma's total trade, then worth just $11.7 billion. "[In 2013-14], the border trade volume reached 19 percent while normal trade volume was 81 percent, so border trade is increasing," Than Aung Kyaw said. The post Burma's Border Trade Booms in 2013-14 appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| The Burma Army’s Attempt at Unity Posted: 09 Apr 2014 03:00 AM PDT  Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing delivers a speech at a parade in Naypyidaw to mark Armed Forces Day, the anniversary of Burma taking up arms against the occupying Japanese. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) After the Armed Forces Day parade on the morning of March 27, an unprecedented event took place at a military function hall in Naypyidaw. Later that afternoon, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and other top brass members of the military held a ceremony to honor retired army chiefs from the former regime. The current servicemen paid respect to their predecessors—including former Gen. Tun Kyi, a 1988 military coup leader who was forced to retire from the military regime in 1997—in a ceremony which would have never taken place during the days of dictatorship. Last month, the current commander-in-chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, visited military families in Kachin State. In the meeting room, one wall was adorned with portraits of famous army chiefs over the decades, from when the army was first formed until today. Burmese independence hero Gen. Aung San, the father of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was pictured on top, higher than former dictators Gen. Ne Win and Snr-Gen Than Shwe, whose portraits were positioned side by side. The portrait of Min Aung Hlaing was on the bottom. It is also interesting to note that during his speech at the Armed Forces Day parade, Min Aung Hlaing intentionally quoted speeches by Aung San, Ne Win and Than Shwe. The Burma Army, it seems, is trying to portray a sense of unity, including with past leaders. This stands in contrast to the strategies of Ne Win, who attempted to wipe out Aung San's legacy from history, or that of Than Shwe, who ostracized Ne Win after the dictator's fall from grace. In Burma, the army is not just a group of people in uniforms with guns. Its reach extends to military conglomerates, retired generals and their families who have amassed vast riches over the years, and the retired army officials now serving in government ministries. And as the country transitions to a new political system, it is possible we will see an army-dominant democracy with a market economy, but it is also possible the 2015 elections will lead to a pure civilian government, in contrast to the quasi-civilian government today. As a result, army leaders are working hard now to protect not only the interests of their institution, but also the interests of army officials and their families who accumulated wealth by misusing their power under the former regime. Unity, it seems, has become a strategy to achieve this goal. In some ways, the strategy appears to be working. As prime examples, look to Tun Kyi as well as the former spy chief, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt. Both were rejected by the regime—punished with house arrest, detention and forced retirement after misusing their power—but they both continue to hail the army today, after being set free. Khin Nyunt was not invited to the ceremony honoring past generals on Armed Forces Day. The highest administrative authority in Burma is the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC), which makes decisions about military affairs in the country. But the NDSC may in the future be controlled by civilians. With this possibility, perhaps Burma will see the creation of a supreme council comprising former army generals, as in Thailand, where the army's interests are largely independent from the democratic system. Based on Min Aung Hlaing's speech on Armed Forces Day and recent activities of the military community, it is clear that the Burma Army today is trying to reach out and ensure friendly relations with former senior members while also formulating a strategy that's independent from any civilian government's control. Sithu Aung Myint is a Rangoon-based journalist who contributes commentaries on political, social and economic issues to local weeklies. This article first appeared on The Irrawaddy magazine's Burmese language website. The post The Burma Army's Attempt at Unity appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘Hate Speech Pours Poison Into the Heart’ Posted: 08 Apr 2014 09:42 PM PDT  Nay Phone Latt, online activist and director of MIDO, shows material from his new anti-hate speech campaign, which began last week. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) Well-known Burmese blogger and activist Nay Phone Latt launched the Panzagar (flower speech) campaign last week, which aims to oppose hate speech, a practice of attacking a person or group on the basis of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Inter-communal violence has rocked Burma since 2012, giving rise to virulently anti-Muslim rhetoric among some Facebook users. Hate speech has been used online to increase pressure on international humanitarian groups, such as Médicine Sans Frontièrs, that provide aid to the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority. The nationalist 969 movement of Buddhist monk U Wirathu has been accused of spreading hate speech against Muslims. Nay Phone Latt became a well-known free speech advocate in Burma after he was arrested for online activism in 2007 and sentenced to 20 years under the Electronic Transactions Law. He was released as part of a mass amnesty in January 2012. He is the current executive director of Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO) which provides local ICT training in rural areas. This week, he spoke to The Irrawaddy about his new campaign. Question: What made you initiate this campaign? Answer: The conversations on online are becoming bad. Some conversations are really rude and use abusive language towards women. When we advocate for free speech, reducing hate speech is included. … Speech calling for hitting or killing someone is hate speech, and can spread hate among people and is a risk for society… It is the wrong use of freedom of speech. I am worried about that because it is not only spreading on social media but also by some writers and [Buddhist] monks who are spreading hate speech publicly. I discussed this issue together with other civil society groups, including MIDO, in order to start an anti-hate speech campaign. First we released the slogan, "Let's restrain our speech not to spread hate among people" and we initiated the campaign named the "Panzagar" (flower speech) movement. Q: When did you start Panzagar movement and how will it be implemented? A: The Panzagarmovement began on April 4. We distribute stickers, posters and pamphlets in Rangoon and also in the provinces. We are trying to spread the campaign's message among the public first, but powerful speakers who are more in touch with the public are specially targeted. If the public gets the message, they will oppose those who are using dangerous hate speech. Also, we want to gradually convince the extremists' groups who are spreading the hate speech to stop. …. And we made a song. The audio file of that song will be released before Thingyan, the Myanmar Water Festival, and at the festival, singers will sing that song together and we will distribute it. During the Water Festival, we will go around the town with cars to promote the campaign. Q: What do you think of the current spread of hate speech in Burma? A: Everyone has right to free speech but not to spread dangerous [hate] speech, we need to moderate ourselves without control by others. Both restrictive laws and [hate] speech are dangers to freedom. I have seen hate speech on social media but the impact is not only on the internet, sometimes, it spreads into society outside. And not only in social media there is hate speech; it is also included in some public talks, religious sermons and print media. Those groups that seem to be spreading [hate speech] intentionally greatly affect violence and conflicts happening in our country…. If people hate each other, a place will not be safe to live. I worry about that most for our society. In some places, although they are not fighting, hate exists within their heart because they have poured poison into their heart for a long time [through hate speech]. It can explode in anytime. Q: Can you explain what types of hate speech there are? A: Most people think only of religious hate speech when we are talking about hate speech. But actually there are other cases. When a gay couple held a 10th anniversary wedding ceremony last month, some commented on social media calling for police to arrest them and even for people to hit them … So, they are not only writing their own comments but also they are inviting others [to act violently]. Q: Is the Pazagar movement only for laymen, or will you also focus on the 969 Buddhist monks who are at the forefront of spreading hate speech? A: We will first distribute [campaign material] among laymen. And after that, we will meet with powerful speakers and explain this campaign to them. We will ask for their commitment not to speak hate speech and make a video recording of their messages for this campaign. Monks can also be included [in our campaign], as can celebrities, ministers and singers. Q: Do you think there are other groups who are intentionally spreading hate speech? A: Those who spread hate speech about religious issues intentionally are using online tools and other ways. Now during the Hlegu Township violence [of April 4], they uploaded all past [inter-communal] incidents such in Meikhtila and others in order to stimulate the Buddhist-Muslim conflict. They want to create unstable situations in society. They also use print media [some of] which are publishing with the intention to create violence. And also they hold public talks which are spreading dangerous speech. They are not just criticizing other religion, but also urging to wipe out other religions. These are some observations from which we can assume that it is controlled by a group, also because on some [Facebook] pages it is obvious that they are distributing hate speech systematically. And also when they upload some material on social media, they got many likes and shares on Facebook in just a few minutes which proved that they are doing this in a group and they have background support. We can also assume that they have financial assistance because in some cases they distribute hate speech on social media and outside via print and CD. They have manpower, background support and financial assistance, and even power. … In some cases, those who made conflicts should be arrested, but they are not arrested. Q: Can the prevention of hate speech harm freedom of speech? A: I don't want to ask the government to control hate speech because if they control the hate speech, they will want to control all [opinions]. So it can harm freedom of expression. I prefer to monitor hate speech and report about that than limiting it through law. Also, if the government wants to collaborate in this campaign, we will accept. There is a need to explain ourselves clearly because some think that we are trying stopping the freedom of speech. Panzagar campaign is not prohibiting speaking, we just request people not to make hate speech that can harm society. The post 'Hate Speech Pours Poison Into the Heart' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burmese Workers ‘Prefer Abuse in Thailand to Jobs Back Home’ Posted: 08 Apr 2014 08:27 PM PDT  A worker stands at a construction site in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Large-scale commercial building projects in Rangoon are reportedly being delayed by a shortage of skilled labor because Burmese workers still prefer jobs in Thailand. More than 2 million migrant workers remain in Thailand, where there are frequent reports of abuse and cheating by employers and job agents, and thousands of Burmese also choose to endure poor treatment in Malaysia rather than return home. Prominent human rights activist Andy Hall told The Irrawaddy the wages overseas remained higher, making up for the other downsides for migrant laborers. "The wage differential between [Burma] and Thailand and Malaysia is so huge, that's why people choose to stay on or migrate fresh to Thailand or Malaysia," said Hall. Despite a more liberal economy and political system under Burma President Thein Sein than under his predecessor, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, in practice workers' rights and conditions are no better in Burma than across the border where pay is higher, said Hall, an adviser to the Migrant Worker Rights Network in Rangoon and also the State Enterprise Workers' Relations Confederation of Thailand. "As long as workers [abroad] don't fall into situations of severe debt bondage or trafficking, and even if they had bad employers, they can still usually save and send home more money than they ever could from working in [Burma]. The same is the case for skilled workers. Burma is not offering enough incentives," Hall said. Some major hotel developments in Rangoon are way behind schedule, with labor shortages prominent among the reasons, according a report in the Myanmar Times this week. The 300-room Hilton hotel in the Centrepoint complex in Rangoon, which has been developing at a snail's pace for years, should have opened in March. The newspaper cited a Hilton official saying a partial opening, with 50 percent of rooms ready, is now planned for the end of this year. Burma is crying out for more hotel accommodation as it struggles to cope with its biggest boom industry—foreign tourism. The Thilawa Special Economic Zone planned to be built on the edge of Rangoon has been repeatedly delayed by a string of problems, ranging from land rights issues to infrastructure services such as water and electricity. And just last month, some of the key Japanese investors in Thilawa voiced concern about a suitable labor force to develop and operate the zone. The Japanese government's trade promotion agency, JETRO, told a Rangoon conference that developers Mitsubishi Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation and Marubeni Corporation were worried about an adequate electricity supply and sufficient skilled labor. Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, many of them illegal and therefore subject to mistreatment because they dare not complain, have become skilled in a range of fields from construction to factory machinery operation. But Thai employers impose extremely long hours without breaks, pay wages below the Thai legal minimum of US$9 per day, and confiscate identity documents to prevent workers leaving. "It results from systematic failure of the [Thai] government and law enforcement apparatus to take seriously the need to ensure the rights of migrant workers are respected and ensure the rule of law is applied in relation to labor rights issues," Hall said. "It also results from the uniform failure of numerous administrations to prioritize the protection of migrants alongside national security and economic necessity. The latter two clearly rule when enacting and enforcing what little migration policy Thailand has. "It's completely unrelated to the latest political chaos [in Bangkok since late last year]. The migrant registration system and migration policy has been appallingly inept for almost three decades now." Only last week Burmese workers staged a rare strike at a Thai-owned factory in Mae Sot, on the border with Burma, which makes expensive leisure clothes for the German firm Jack Wolfskin. The factory owner was paying only half the legal minimum daily wage. In southern Thailand also last week, human rights group Finnwatch, for which Hall has previously done research work, accused several factories jointly owned by Austrian company Semperit of breaking Thai law by paying below minimum wages, forced long hours, and employment of Burmese children. The Siam Sempermed factories produce hospital medical gloves for Semperit, one of the world's leading distributors. "Workers' ID cards are confiscated by supervisors who keep them until production targets are met," said Finnwatch executive director Sonja Vartiala in a 16-page report "Caring for Hands, not Workers." Semperit said in a statement the factories are operated by its Thai partners, but said it had found no evidence of abuse or employment of Burmese child labor. "One key issue is systematic failure of audits. The auditing system of international or global companies is completely insufficient and unable to capture the reality of work conditions on the ground in Thailand, particularly when migrants are involved," Hall explained. "Proper translation for auditors is lacking [and] almost all workers will not tell the truth [about working conditions] to outsiders within factory grounds. It's only through independent and thorough consumer research like that which I and other groups do that real conditions can be revealed. "Overseas importers of goods from Thailand however should know—and most almost always do—the conditions and lack of law enforcement and rule of law in labor affairs in Thailand by now. There are still many international companies that like what Thailand can offer in terms of cheap and compliant labor, particularly migrants, and relatively good infrastructure, so they choose to be based here knowing full well the conditions." The post Burmese Workers 'Prefer Abuse in Thailand to Jobs Back Home' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| As Japan Weighs Energy Options, Costs Mount for Idled Reactors Posted: 08 Apr 2014 10:07 PM PDT  A worker, wearing a protective suit and a mask, looks up at welding storage tanks for radioactive water, under construction at the Tokyo Electric Power Co's (Tepco) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on March 10, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Toru Hanai) TOKYO — Since March 2011, Japan's government has focused on the cost of cleaning up after Fukushima, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Now, the bill is coming due for another unbudgeted consequence of that disaster—shutting down the nation's 48 remaining nuclear reactors for costly safety reviews that could see many of them mothballed. While their reactors have been idled, Japan's nuclear plant operators have had to spend around US$87 billion to burn replacement fossil fuels. This, in part, explains the utilities' estimated combined losses of around $47 billion as of March, and the $60 billion wiped off the companies' market value. That pain is beginning to tell. Last week, Kyushu Electric Power Co was confirmed to be seeking a near $1 billion bailout in the form of equity financing from the government-affiliated Development Bank of Japan because of the cost of idling its reactors, joining Hokkaido Electric Power Co., which has also asked the bank for financial backing. Even as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government hammers out the final terms of a delayed energy policy, the bill for a reduced role for nuclear power in the world's third-largest economy is becoming clearer. One way or another, Japan's taxpayers are going to be saddled with the cost of throttling back on nuclear power through taxes and higher electricity bills, analysts say, just as the government has had to provide funding for those who lost their homes and livelihoods after the Fukushima disaster. The government took a controlling stake in Fukushima-operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) in 2012 to keep it from insolvency, and the company still relies on government credits to pay compensation to those affected by the disaster, which forced 160,000 people from their homes. The expanded government role in helping utilities pivot from nuclear power—from providing around 30 percent of Japan's electricity to less than 10 percent—has echoes of the bailouts of Japanese banks in the 1990s, said Tom O'Sullivan, founder of energy consultancy Mathyos Japan and a former investment banker. "The banks were forced to consolidate after those losses, so the outcome might be similar in this case," he said. Regional power companies also face the prospect of tougher competition under planned electricity reforms that may ultimately see them broken into transmission and generation companies by around 2020. All of Japan's 48 nuclear reactors have been shut down since last year, forcing utilities to import extra fossil fuels, driving their costs higher. To ease the strain, the companies have raised electricity charges, but the industry minister warned last week that further increases must be avoided. The country's nine publicly traded nuclear operators together lost the equivalent of about $31 billion in the two business years since Fukushima, and five of them also expect to be loss-making in the year just ended. Those results are due early next month. Japanese banking practices make it difficult for private lenders to extend credit, including refinancing existing loans, to companies that post three straight years of losses. Many creditors face the possibility of a double whammy in the case of any collapse of the utilities as they also hold shares. A unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is the biggest shareholder of Hokkaido Electric, and at least one of Japan's big three banks is listed in the top 10 shareholders of all the utilities except one, Shikoku Electric Power Co. Hokkaido Electric's equity ratio—a measure of how much of its assets are financed by shareholders rather than creditors—has dropped to 8.9 percent from 24.2 percent before March 2011. Kyushu Electric's ratio has more than halved to 11.5 percent. The average ratio of Japan's top companies is 43 percent, finance ministry data shows. Hokkaido Electric, Kyushu Electric, Kansai Electric Power Co—the second biggest utility after Tepco—and Shikoku were the most reliant on nuclear power before the Fukushima disaster. All of them forecast a third year of losses for the 12 months to March 31. The two reactors at Kyushu Electric's Sendai nuclear plant are on the fast track for re-starting, and are likely to be the first to come back online. The utilities are also likely to have large, but still uncertain, decommissioning costs as many idled reactors are unlikely to pass strict new standards, a Reuters analysis has shown. Of the 48 reactors, 17 are unlikely to be restarted, and as many as 34 may have to be mothballed. Utilities are required to set aside reserves for future decommissioning costs, but have an industry-wide shortfall of about $11 billion if all the reactors remain offline, according to trade ministry estimates. "Given Japan's government finances are mainly paid for by debt, bailing out the utilities means they're passing on the cost to future generations, which are declining in numbers," said Gerhard Fasol, the founder of Eurotechnology Japan, a Tokyo-based consultancy on energy and technology issues. "Speeding up the pace of liberalization might help by reducing costs. But this is unlikely to happen given the pace of change in the electricity industry is generally slow." Additional reporting by James Topham, Mari Saito and Kentaro Hamada in Tokyo. The post As Japan Weighs Energy Options, Costs Mount for Idled Reactors appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| More Underwater Pings Heard in Hunt for Plane Posted: 08 Apr 2014 10:01 PM PDT  Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) captain, Wing Commander Rob Shearer, and Sergeant Sean Donaldson look out from the cockpit of a P3 Orion maritime search aircraft while flying over the southern Indian Ocean to look for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 April 4, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) PERTH, Australia — A ship searching for the missing Malaysian jet has detected two more underwater signals, raising hopes the wreckage of the plane will be spotted soon, the Australian official in charge of the search said Wednesday. Angus Houston, the head of a joint agency coordinating the search for the missing plane in the southern Indian Ocean, said that the Australian navy's Ocean Shield picked up the two signals in a sweep on Tuesday. "I think we are looking in the right area but I am not prepared to confirm anything until such time someone lays eyes on the wreckage," he said. The Ocean Shield first detected the sounds late Saturday and early Sunday before losing them, but managed to find them again on Tuesday, Houston said. The ship is equipped with a US Navy towed pinger locator that is designed to pick up signals from a plane's black boxes—the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. "Hopefully in a matter of days, we will be able to find something on the bottom that might confirm that this is the last resting place of MH370," Houston said at a news conference in Perth, the starting point for the search in the southern Indian Ocean. "I'm now optimistic that we will find the aircraft, or what is left of the aircraft, in the not too distant future—but we haven't found it yet, because this is a very challenging business," he said. "And I would just like to have that hard evidence … photograph evidence [before saying] that this is the final resting place of MH370," Houston said. Finding the sound again is crucial to narrowing the search area so a small submarine can be deployed to chart a potential debris field on the seafloor, which is about 4,500 meters (14,800 feet) deep. If the autonomous sub was used now with the sparse data collected so far, covering all the potential places from which the pings might have come would take many days. "The better Ocean Shield can define the area, the easier it will be for the autonomous underwater vehicle to subsequently search for aircraft wreckage," Houston said. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 carrying 239 people went missing March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur, setting off one of aviation's biggest mysteries. The search has shifted from waters off of Vietnam, to the Strait of Malacca and then finally to waters in the southern Indian Ocean as data from radar and satellites was further analyzed. The locator beacons on the black boxes have a battery life of only about a month—and Tuesday marked exactly one month since the plane vanished. Once the beacons blink off, locating the black boxes in such deep water would be an immensely difficult, if not impossible, task. The post More Underwater Pings Heard in Hunt for Plane appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| US Defense Chief Gets Earful as China Visit Exposes Tensions Posted: 08 Apr 2014 09:55 PM PDT  US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, and his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan listen to the Chinese national anthem during a welcoming ceremony at the Chinese Defense Ministry headquarters in Beijing on April 8, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Alex Wong) BEIJING — Tensions between China and the United States were on full display on Tuesday as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel faced questions in Beijing about America's position in bitter territorial disputes with regional US allies. Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan, standing side-by-side with Hagel, called on the United States to restrain ally Japan and chided another US ally, the Philippines. Then, Hagel was sharply questioned by Chinese officers at the National Defense University. One of them told Hagel he was concerned that the United States was stirring up trouble in the East and South China Sea because it feared someday "China will be too big a challenge for the United States to cope with." "Therefore you are using such issues … to make trouble to hamper [China's] development," the officer said. Hagel assured the audience that America had no interest in trying to "contain China" and that it took no position in such disputes. But he also cautioned repeatedly during the day that the United States would stand by its allies. "We have mutual self-defense treaties with each of those two countries," Hagel said, referring to Japan and the Philippines. "And we are fully committed to those treaty obligations." The questioning came just a day after Hagel toured China's sole aircraft carrier, in a rare opening by Beijing to a potent symbol of its military ambitions. Chinese Defense Minister Chang called Hagel, the top civilian at the Pentagon, the first foreign military official to be allowed on board the Liaoning. Chang and Hagel spoke positively about improving military ties and announced steps to deepen them. But the effort could do little to mask long-standing tension over a range of issues, from cyber spying and US arms sales to Taiwan to China's military buildup itself. At a seminar in New York, China's ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said Washington needed to think hard about the purpose of its military presence in Asia and whether its political agenda and those of its Asian allies were the same. He spoke of the need to move away from "outdated alliances" and warned against any attempt to create an Asian version of the NATO Western military alliance to contain China. "If your mission there is to contain some other country, then you are back in the Cold War again, maybe," he said. "If your intention is to establish an Asian NATO, then we are back in the Cold War-era again. This is something that will serve nobody's interest, it's quite clear." Beyond developing an aircraft carrier program, China's People's Liberation Army is building submarines, surface ships and anti-ship ballistic missiles, and has tested emerging technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air. That expansion carries risks as Chinese forces come into greater contact with US forces in the Pacific, Hagel said. "As the PLA modernizes its capabilities and expands its presence in Asia and beyond, American and Chinese forces will be drawn into closer proximity—which increases the risk of an incident, an accident, or a miscalculation," Hagel said in a speech at the National Defense University. "But this reality also presents new opportunities for cooperation." The risks of a mishap were highlighted in December when the American guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens had to take evasive action in the South China Sea to avoid hitting a Chinese warship operating in support of the Liaoning. China's military modernization has also been accompanied by a more assertive posture in its territorial disputes. China claims 90 percent of the 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mile) South China Sea, where the Philippines, along with other countries, stake claims. China has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea over uninhabited islets that are administered by Japan. Chang asked the United States to "keep [Japan] within bounds and not to be permissive and supportive," and railed against the government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who Hagel met in Tokyo last weekend. "It is Japan who is being provocative against China," Chang told a news conference after talks with Hagel. "If you come to the conclusion that China is going to resort to force against Japan, that is wrong … we will not take the initiative to stir up troubles." Chang called the Philippines a nation "disguising itself as a victim" and renewed its opposition to Manila's pursuit of international arbitration in its territorial dispute. Hagel, who met the defense minister from the Philippines last week, said he raised US concerns in Beijing over the tension in the South and East China Sea. He cautioned that no countries should resort to "intimidation, coercion, or aggression to advance their claims." The US State Department has accused China's coastguard of harassment of Philippine vessels and called an attempt to block a Philippine resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed atoll, provocative and destabilizing. Also speaking at the New York seminar, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who led the US effort to engage with Communist China in the 1970s, compared the rivalries in Asia, particularly between China and Japan, and the latent threat of the use of force, to 19th century Europe. "I would give both of them the same advice—to be extremely restrained and not to permit that situation to develop into a military confrontation," he said, referring to the leaders of Japan and China. "We as Americans, being allied with Japan, but in partnership of some kind with China; we should not be put in a position to choose. We should make clear to both sides that we will be sympathetic and helpful, but we are strongly opposed to a military confrontation, which really would have huge consequences in the region." Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington. The post US Defense Chief Gets Earful as China Visit Exposes Tensions appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
