| Suu Kyi, 88 Students to Hold Constitutional Reform Rally in Mandalay Posted: 30 Apr 2014 04:59 AM PDT  National League for Democracy chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi meets with 88 Generation leaders in Rangoon on Feb. 4. (Photo: The 88 Generation / Facebook) MANDALAY — National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to Mandalay next month to address a public rally together with the 88 Generation Students leaders in order to call for amendments to Burma's Constitution, a NLD representative said on Wednesday. "We do not have the exact date yet, but it will be in May. Preparations are under way to deliver a speech in Mandalay concerning the amendment of the Constitution," said Nyan Win, an NLD spokesman. It will be only the second visit by Aung San Suu Kyi to Burma's second-biggest city since her release from house arrest in 2010. Nyan Win said the 88 Generation Student movement will offer their support during the event. "The collaboration of 88 Generation Student is so encouraging and I believe many people will join the cause," he said. The hugely popular NLD leader teamed up with the 88 Generation Students, led by respected leaders such as Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, in February in order to begin a 'people's movement' style campaign calling for amendments to Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution. Since November, Suu Kyi has been increasingly vocal in her calls for amendments to the charter and she has held regular rallies in towns across Burma in which she called for public support for the changes. The Constitution is unpopular and considered undemocratic as it gives the military sweeping political powers, such as control over a quarter of Parliament, while it prevents Suu Kyi from holding the post of president because her sons are British nationals. However, Burma's ruling party—the Union Solidarity and Development Party comprising mostly members of the military junta—has indicated it's not willing to consider Suu Kyi's demands. Jimmy, a public relation officer of 88 Generation Students, told The Irrawaddy that the planned event in Mandalay was agreed upon after a meeting with Suu Kyi on April 21. "We've been working together with the NLD and Daw Suu since '88 and this time we will work for the amendment of the Constitution as it is an important matter for the country," he said. "We believe all of the citizen will join the cause in a peaceful manner and understand that the amendment of the Constitution is vital for national reconciliation." Jimmy said he could provide no further details of the event, adding that lists of participants and other plans would be announced early next week. The post Suu Kyi, 88 Students to Hold Constitutional Reform Rally in Mandalay appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Ethnic Groups Concerned Over US, UK Military Engagement With Burma Posted: 30 Apr 2014 04:53 AM PDT  KIA leader Gun Maw during an interview with The Irrawaddy in Chiang Mai in Tuesday. (Photo: Nyein Zaw / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI — Kachin rebel leader Gen. Gun Maw said ethnic rebels groups have doubts about US and UK military engagement with the Burma Army, as the military has yet to prove that it will end its oppression of the country's ethnic minorities and democratic opposition. Gun Maw said ethnic armed groups understand that Western military support for Burmese military focuses on changing the mindset and behavior of the army and excludes combat skills training, but he stressed that concerns remain over any type of engagement that bolsters the army's capabilities in their ongoing fight against rebel groups. "If these skills development [programs] enhance their [Burma Army's] combat ability and affect the ethnics, we, the ethnics, would have to speak out loud about it," he told The Irrawaddy in an interview after a meeting of the ethnic alliance's Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Tuesday. "There is no fixed rule that the specific technical support can only be used for specific affairs," the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) deputy commander-in-chief noted. Gun Maw recently returned from a 12-day visit to the US, becoming the first Kachin leader to make an official visit and meet high-levels officials such as US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power and Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski, as well as US Congressmen and members of the Kachin community in America. The KIA and an armed Palaung group, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), are the only two ethnic groups that have yet to sign a bilateral ceasefire with Naypyidaw. In recent months, the Burma Army has stepped up military operations in Kachin and northern Shan State and has engaged in deadly clashes with both groups and the Shan State Army-North. Reports of human rights abuses against ethnic civilians, including rape, are being reported during current operations. Naypyidaw has insisted that, despite the offensive, it is committed to signing a nationwide ceasefire with all major ethnic groups soon. Since President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government took over from a military regime in 2011, the international community has quickly reengaged with Burma. Last year, defense ministries of the United States and the United Kingdom began direct cooperation with the Burma Army, which controls a strategically located country long considered under the influence of China. Gun Maw said ethnic groups feared that expanding Western military-to-military engagement could, in the near future, enhance the Burma Army's combat skills, while US engagement appears to offer international support for the army even before it has reformed its military operations and long-standing goal of stamping out ethnic ambitions for political autonomy. The military also continues to have sweeping political powers through the 2008 Constitution that it drew up—a charter widely considered undemocratic and reviled by the Burmese public. "This makes it difficult for us to give an answer on whether or not we should support such international military engagement," he said, adding that he discussed these concerns with US officials and lawmakers during his visit. Gun Maw said Washington should do more to clarify its engagement with the army towards the Burmese public, who could be led to believe that the "Burmese officials are right and that's why a powerful country, the United States, supports them. "Local people do not know about this situation, that's why the United States should be clear about their support [for the military]." After a senior US State Department official was quoted as saying in February that Washington would consider future arms sales to Burma, US officials were at pains to stress that the military cooperation so far only concerned training Burmese officers in increasing professionalism and respect for human rights. Considerations of any other type of support, the US Embassy said, were "speculative." The UK has appointed a permanent military attaché at its Rangoon embassy last year and the UK chief of defense staff visited Burma in June 2013. The London-based Campaign Against Arms Trade said Britain in January 2013 approved sales of US$5.3 million worth of "inertial equipment," most likely technology that aids radar navigation systems, to Burma. Since 2008, it has sold Burma another $700,000 worth of defense equipment, mostly software, and measurement and navigation equipment, although one of the export licenses also included a bomb suit. Before the military's bloody crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising, the US offered generous support to Gen. Ne Win's military government, which was one of the few non-Communist regimes in Asia during much of the Cold War. From the 1970s onward, the US provided military support for Burma's anti-narcotics campaign, including the sale of a fleet of Bell 205 helicopters and M 16 automatic rifles, and the helicopters were reportedly used in combat offensives against ethnic groups. During the same period, Burma's feared spy agency received training from the US Central Intelligence Agency. After the crackdown in 1988, however, the US halted shipments of military equipment to Burma and stopped providing CIA training, forcing the junta to turn to China, which became the regime's most important military and political ally. The post Ethnic Groups Concerned Over US, UK Military Engagement With Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| In Ceasefire Talks, Govt Demands Discourage Ethnic Groups Posted: 30 Apr 2014 04:46 AM PDT  Government and military leaders (right) shake hands with ethnic leaders at the start of nationwide ceasefire talks in Rangoon in early April. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), a coalition of ethnic armed groups, has expressed increasing frustrations with the Burmese military's latest demands during peace talks. Nai Hong Sar, head of the NCCT, said ethnic leaders were still pushing for a federal union, but that the Burmese military was pressuring them to lay down their arms, accept the current Constitution and subordinate their soldiers to the command of the Burma Army—all as components of a nationwide ceasefire accord, before political dialogue begins. "We used armed struggle to fight against their Constitution. But at the meetings, they continue telling us to respect the Constitution," Nai Hong Sar told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, referring to meetings earlier this month with government officials and Burmese military commanders to draft a single text for a nationwide ceasefire accord. "They even told us to accept the current laws, but we cannot. Our armed struggle will have been meaningless if we have to accept their demands." The Burmese military has called for the incorporation of a six-point agreement into the nationwide ceasefire accord. This six-point agreement would require ethnic armed groups to move under the command of the Burmese military, which many of them have fought against for decades. It would also require all parties to respect the widely controversial 2008 Constitution, which was drafted by the former military regime without input from the Burmese people. "It is an undemocratic constitution. It does not allow for a federal union, only for a unitary state which will protect the military authoritarian leaders only," Nai Hong Sar said. Since coming to power in 2011, Burma's quasi-civilian government has negotiated with over a dozen ethnic armed groups in a bid to end decades of conflict in the country's border states. After inking individual ceasefire deals with all but two of the major ethnic armed groups, it is now pushing to consolidate those deals into one nationwide ceasefire accord. The accord is supposed to be followed by a political dialogue in which ethnic groups' demands for autonomy and a share of natural resources and other complicated issues would be discussed. The dialogue process is expected to take years to complete. The NCCT, which comprises 16 ethnic armed groups, has said it wants guarantees that this dialogue will start shortly after the accord is signed. Another round of peace talks is scheduled to begin during the third week of May, but Nai Hong Sar said he doubted negotiations would improve unless the Burmese military changes its stance. Gen. Gun Maw, deputy chief of staff of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which is part of the NCCT, told The Irrawaddy that talks may be postponed due to fighting in Kachin State. "Taking a longer time on the agreement of a nationwide ceasefire means spending less time for political dialogue when it comes," he said. "What we understand is that if real political dialogue is guaranteed, the ceasefire can happen immediately, when all the gunfire stops." He said the NCCT would like to invite international observers to the peace talks, but would need to discuss this possibility with the government's peace negotiation team. Additional reporting by Nyein Nyein. The post In Ceasefire Talks, Govt Demands Discourage Ethnic Groups appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Airline to Launch Flight Linking Mergui With Bangkok Posted: 30 Apr 2014 04:39 AM PDT  A new joint-venture firm announces plans to fly twice weekly between the Thai capital and the city in southern Burma's untouched archipelago. RANGOON — Direct flights between Mergui, the city in Tenasserim Division also known as Myeik, and Bangkok will be offered two times a week from early May, airline officials said. A new charter airline has been set up to operate the flight using a 168-seater Boeing 737 to link the Thai capital with coastal city in southern Burma, which is set to become the gateway to an untouched archipelago currently being opened up to tourism. Union Express Charter Airline is a joint venture of Myanmar Union Express Aviation Group and Myeik Public Corporation. None of the companies involved appears to have a website, and it is unclear who is involved in the venture. A representative of Myeik Public Corporation—a public company formed in 2012 that also has plans to develop four tourism projects in the Mergui Archipelago—says it will run flights every Tuesday and Friday, costing US$140 for a return ticket. "It is the first direct flight from Myeik to Bangkok. Local residents were going to Bangkok transiting through Rangoon," said Kyaw Myo Paing, manager of Myiek Public Corporation. He said the direct flight would be more convenient for passengers, and would also be used to export seafood speedily to the Thai market. Another spokesperson for Myiek Public Corporation, who declined to be named, said that each flight will carry 2 tons of cargo and 165 passengers. "The cost of flying [between Bangkok to Myeik] will be reduced by half because there is no need to transit. The region's fishery products can also be exported in a short time and stay fresh. And also more tourist could come to our town," he said. Mergui is located in the extreme south of the country on the coast of an island in the Andaman Sea. To the south and west lie the archipelago of more than 800 islands skirted by mostly untouched beaches and coral reefs suitable for Scuba diving. A Myeik Public Company representative said in January that the company—reportedly founded by local business people with start-up capital of $50 million—would build tourist resorts including hotels, houses, golf courses and shops on four of the islands. The company expects to spend $10 million on the developments over the next four years. The post Airline to Launch Flight Linking Mergui With Bangkok appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Kachin Fighting Concerns KNU, UWSA Posted: 30 Apr 2014 04:22 AM PDT  Karen National Union chairman Saw Mutu Say Poe, left front, signs a joint statement with leaders of the National Democratic Alliance Army in Mong La, a stronghold for the NDAA, on April 28. (Photo: Karen National Union) RANGOON — Leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) say they are concerned that an escalation of fighting in Kachin State could reverse the ongoing peace process between the government and ethnic armed groups. A delegation from the KNU, one of the oldest ethnic rebel groups in the country, recently met with a delegation from the UWSA, the biggest ethnic armed group in the country. Both groups have signed ceasefire deals with the government. "We are both concerned about the renewal of conflict in Kachin State. We are not happy because such conflict will reverse the entire process of peace….meaning the country can go back to war," KNU spokesman Saw Tamula, who joined the delegation led by KNU chairman Saw Mutu Say Poe, told The Irrawaddy on Friday. "We totally disagree with the renewal of fighting. The conflict needs to be solved through political means," he added. In recent weeks, the Burmese army has launched offensive operations in Kachin State's Mansi Township which have reportedly left about 5,000 people homeless, including 1,000 who have fled across the border into China. They join about 100,000 others who have been displaced by fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese army since 2011. Top leaders of the 30,000 strong UWSA, including the group's deputy chief Xiao Minliang and its deputy general secretary Pauk Yuri, attended the meeting with the KNU last week on Saturday in Panghsang, the headquarters of the UWSA on the China-Burma border. In addition to expressing concerns about ongoing fighting in Kachin State, UWSA leaders reportedly told the KNU delegation that they would not give up their demands for an autonomous state. The UWSA is currently recognized as an autonomous region, but has asked the Burmese government to classify it as its own distinct state. "They said their region has been isolated for a long time," Saw Tamula said, adding that the Burmese government had not made efforts to develop the Wa area. "[Burmese dictator] Ne Win never visited the region and never provided any assistance. During the era of the communists, the regime only waged war, but they didn't build better lives for the people. "They said they are not demanding an autonomous state to split from the union. They want to manage and build their communities by themselves, but they aren't talking about secession." The KNU delegation also met on Monday with leaders of an ethnic Mongla armed group known as the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), which is 5,000 soldiers strong. The meeting in a Mongla-controlled area of northeastern Shan State was attended by Lin Mingxian (also known as Sai Lin or Sai Leun), a long-time leader of the NDAA. Leaders of both parties released a joint statement saying that ending ethnic conflicts between the government and non-state armed ethnic groups was key to building peace in Burma. "The ethnic conflicts should be discussed politically and get solved peacefully. We agreed that there should be dialogue followed by the nationwide ceasefire accord," said Saw Tamula. Members of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), an umbrella ethnic organization which represents 16 ethnic armies, held a meeting in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Monday and Tuesday, where they proposed another round of nationwide ceasefire talks with the government in the last week of May. The post Kachin Fighting Concerns KNU, UWSA appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Senior US Official Talks Press Freedom With Burmese Minister Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:26 AM PDT  US Undersecretary Richard Stengel speaks to reporters in Rangoon on Tuesday following a two-day visit to Naypyidaw, where he raised concerns about press freedoms with government officials. (Photo: KYAW HSU MON / THE IRRAWADDY) RANGOON — In his first ever visit to Burma, the US undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs raised concerns with Burma's information minister about the recent arrest of Burmese journalists. Richard Stengel met on Monday and Tuesday in Naypyidaw with Information Minister Aung Kyi, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and Culture Minister Aye Myint Kyu, to discuss press freedom, bilateral relations and cultural exchanges. The US undersecretary told reporters in Rangoon on Tuesday that the Burma government had taken important steps to cultivate an environment conducive to free, fair and independent media, which he said was a critical element of democracy. "However, in the past few months, the United States has watched with concern the arrest and sentencing of journalists trying to cover stories. These arrests raise questions about the extent of the government's commitment to freedom of the press," he added. The arrest and imprisonment of several journalists from local media groups this year has led to protests by journalists, who say they fear a roll-back of press freedoms following a loosening up of restrictions since 2011. In December last year, Eleven Media reporter Naw Khine Khine Aye Cho, also known as Ma Khine, was sentenced by a court in Karenni State to three months in prison on charges of trespassing into a lawyer's home while seeking comments for a story about corruption. In February, four journalists and an editor of the Rangoon-based Unity journal were arrested and charged with trespassing and violating the Official Secrets Act, after they published a story alleging that Chinese engineers were helping the Burma Army to build a chemical weapons factory. The defendants face a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment. Earlier this month, a Magwe Division court sentenced Zaw Pe, a video reporter with the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), to one year in prison for trespassing at an education department office and disrupting the duties of a civil servant there. "These arrests raise questions about the extent of the government's commitment to freedom of the press," Stengel said. "In my discussions, I encouraged the government and local media to work together to create an environment where access to good, accurate information is guaranteed and where journalists serve to elevate the public discourse."
During his visit, the US undersecretary spoke with journalists about ways to ensure a responsible media environment. He also met with civil society representatives, students and entrepreneurs to discuss how US government education and exchange programs can support Burma's reforms. "It's an honor be here, my first trip as undersecretary, to demonstrate US commitment to strengthening ongoing reforms," he said in a statement. "I came to this country on my first official trip overseas, not just because of the unprecedented reforms this country is undertaking, but because we believe that partnering with the union government to invest in the people—through targeted education and exchange programs—will pay dividends." In advance of World Press Freedom Day on Saturday, Stengel encouraged Burmese journalists to apply for US journalism scholarship and fellowships. Stengel was the managing editor of Time magazine from 2006 to 2013. Before that, he served as president and chief executive of the nonprofit National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, and as a professor of journalism at Princeton University in 1999. The post Senior US Official Talks Press Freedom With Burmese Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| A ‘Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement’–for What? Posted: 29 Apr 2014 11:52 PM PDT  Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing delivers a speech at a parade in Naypitaw to mark Armed Forces Day, the anniversary of Myanmar taking up arms against the occupying Japanese. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) If blogs that normally reflect the strategic thinking of Myanmar's military leadership are to be believed, the hitherto peaceful Wa Hills may become a battlefield when this year's rainy season is over. Military action against the United Wa State Army (UWSA) would no doubt be popular among the Myanmar public at large, which sees the group as a stooge of China. Even the international community would most likely be sympathetic to a campaign to clip the wings of the UWSA. Unlike other armed groups in Myanmar, the UWSA is perceived internationally as a drug-trafficking organization, not a group fighting for ethnic rights or some political ideal. Several of its top leaders have been indicted on drug trafficking charges by a US court. But the plan to attack the UWSA could also explain why the government wants to see a nationwide ceasefire agreement signed with all other ethnic groups no later than August. Political talks can be held later, the government says. If the blogs are correct, what they are saying actually casts doubt on the government's overall policy toward the ethnics: Is it meant to find a lasting solution to Myanmar's decades-long ethnic strife, or is it just a clever divide-and-rule strategy to defeat the other groups by a variety of means, including wearing them down at the negotiating table? For there is nothing to indicate that the military is prepared to give in to the demands of, for instance, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and other more genuine ethnic groups that seek a return to the federal system of government that Myanmar had before the 1962 military takeover. In his speech to mark this year's Armed Forces Day on March 27, Commander-in-Chief Snr.-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing held the ethnic groups responsible for the violence in the country's ethnic areas and said: "We made peace agreements, but that doesn't mean we are afraid to fight. We are afraid of no one. There is no insurgent group we cannot fight or dare not to fight." Exactly two years earlier, on Armed Forces Day 2012, Snr.-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing also made it clear that there was little room for negotiation on fundamental political issues, saying, "The military has an obligation to defend the Constitution and will continue to take part in politics as it has done in the past." In February of this year, the Tatmadaw, or Myanmar armed forces, conducted a massive military exercise in a central part of the country codenamed "Anawrahta" after the founder of the first Myanmar Empire, who reigned from Bagan from 1044 to 1077 and is one of Myanmar's celebrated warrior kings. According to Hla Oo's Blog, a pro-military website, the war game consisted of "a combined Infantry-Airforce-Tanks-Missiles-Artillery assault on an enemy's fixed position" like the UWSA's headquarters at Panghsang on the Chinese border. The blog pointed out that a similar war game took place in March 2012 and was "then followed by a large-scale ground and aerial assault on KIA's Laiza Headquarters in December 2012." This time, "the large-scale assault will be short but brutally decisive" as the Tatmadaw now has "massive firepower" including "short-range tactical missiles and heavy artillery." The aim would be to "smash" the UWSA and drive "the Chinese Wa," as they are referred to, "back into China." If successful, Myanmar's military would emerge stronger and perhaps also more popular than before—which could increase the chances of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party doing well in the 2015 general election. Military observers note that the government signed a ceasefire agreement with the KIA in February 1994—and then attacked the Karen National Union (KNU), capturing its Manerplaw headquarters in January 1995. In January 2012, the government signed a ceasefire agreement with the KNU—and later that year launched a massive attack against Laiza. Even if there may be little sympathy for the UWSA among other ethnic armies in Myanmar, agreeing to a ceasefire in August would nevertheless neutralize them and make it easier to attack Panghsang before the end of the year. If it did decide to mount a decisive assault on the UWSA, however, the Tatmadaw would have to be prepared to face the armed group's Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, or MANPADS, and other sophisticated military equipment it has obtained from China over the past few decades. No other rebel army in Myanmar is as heavily armed and militarily as strong as the UWSA. So far, little or no attention has been paid to the Myanmar military's strategic thinking in regards to the so-called "peace process." Discussions have centered on "a nationwide ceasefire," after which a "political dialogue" may be held. The government's own outfit, the Myanmar Peace Center, has received massive funding from the European Union and other international donors, while a cabal of foreign "peacemakers" and "reconciliation experts" are flocking to the country to get their share of the pie. The problem is that few if any of those "foreign experts" have a very deep understanding of the complexities of Myanmar's ethnic problems. And, as critics are also eager to point out, these "experts" are paid more in one month than an ordinary Myanmar worker can earn in five years or more. "Peacemaking" has become a very lucrative industry in Myanmar—at least for the foreign experts and their organizations. And so far, no one has discovered that it is, in fact, a very shrewd strategy designed to outmaneuver and neutralize the non-Bamar ethnic groups without giving in to any of their demands. While the leaders of the ethnic armies are being bribed with car-import licenses and other economic incentives, many of their followers are unhappy with those arrangements. The result is discord and even splits within those groups and between the various ethnic armies, making this an effective divide-and-conquer game to defeat the ethnic resistance. In most other peace processes, talks are held first and agreements are signed when a consensus has been reached. No signatures are required for the preceding ceasefire that could be agreed upon verbally. But in Myanmar, the government and the foreign peacemakers are putting the cart before the horse, asking for an agreement to be signed first and then vague promises of talks later. The model for that kind of strategy would be a somewhat similar peace process in the Indian state of Nagaland. In 1997, the insurgent National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN; the Isaac and Muivah faction) signed a ceasefire agreement with the Indian government. Today, 17 years later, no less than 80 rounds of talks have been held in what clearly amounts to delaying tactics on the part of the Indian government. Meanwhile, the NSCN's fighters are getting used to a comfortable life in so-called "peace camps"—and the Naga public is turning against them. They continue to demand "taxes" from the public while the leaders are becoming corrupt, spending the money they have collected on new houses and cars. A similar development could be seen in Kachin State between the KIA's signing of a ceasefire agreement in 1994 and when the government decided to break it in 2011. During those 17 years, the KIA lost much of the popular support it had preciously enjoyed—while the government's attacks over the past two and a half years have galvanized the Kachin nation and made the rebels heroes in the eyes of most Kachins. The KIA is not likely to repeat the mistake it made in 1994—nor would the "Naga model" work in Myanmar. The NSCN is only one group and it wants to separate Nagaland from India. Myanmar has more than a dozen ethnic armies, and they want federalism, a far more reasonable and realistic demand. So will killing Myanmar's ethnic groups with sugar-coated bullets and military action against the UWSA work? One has to consider why the ethnic rebels took up arms in the first place. A nationwide ceasefire agreement will only freeze the problem, not solve it. And if the offensive against the heavily armed UWSA fails, the Myanmar military is in serious trouble. Whatever the outcome, the foreign peacemakers can always carry on to another conflict zone on the globe—and leave a mess behind in Myanmar. This article first appeared in the May 2014 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post A 'Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement'–for What? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| To Avoid Gridlock, Commuters Take to Rangoon’s Circle Train Posted: 29 Apr 2014 08:00 PM PDT  Commuters board Rangoon's circle train. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — As many as 100,000 passengers are now riding Rangoon's circular train line every day, as residents increasingly shun the city's growing traffic jams and overfull buses. Traffic congestion has grown significantly since the Burmese government lifted car import restrictions in October 2011. With the increase in vehicles on the roads, journeys in the former capital can take twice as long as they used to. "Riding the buses is really tiring. All the buses are always overcrowded…and the traffic congestion on the roads is heavy," said Thet Thet Oo, from North Okkalapa Township, as she waited for a train at the city's Central Railway Station. She chooses the train, she said, even though it takes an hour and 15 minutes to travel from her home to downtown, a quarter of an hour longer than it takes on the bus. "Although the train takes a little more time than buses, I prefer the circle line because it is more comfortable. No overcrowding, no traffic jams and also the air is really cold," she said. Thet Thet Oo has taken advantage of the recent addition of air-conditioned carriages, which are gaining popularity as temperatures soar this hot season. "In the past, I would not usually ride the circular train. But I started riding this month because there are new air-conditioned and upper-class trains on the circular railway," she said. Rangoon's circular train line began operation in 1964. It stops at 38 stations along the 29.5-mile route connecting satellite towns and suburban areas with downtown, according to Htun Aung Thin, general manager of Myanma Railways (Lower Myanmar Administration). He said the number of passengers was rising, and according to official figures, between 90,000 and 100,000 people were now using the circle train daily. Fares are 100 kyat (about US$0.10) for a seat in a regular cabin, 200 kyat for a seat in a special cabin, 300 kyat for upper-class trains and 400 kyat for air-conditioned trains. "Upgrade operations began at the start of last year. We extended the number of circular trains running up to 215 per day, the two new upper-class trains and one air-conditioned train began running on the circle line in late 2013," said Htun Aung Thin. He added that there is a plan to further upgrade the railway with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), but he said he was not sure when it would be implemented. The trains were run at a loss, he said, but they provide an invaluable service to people. "We made the extensions to be more convenient for all commuters, mainly for lower- and fair-income commuters who mostly use the train for transportation and also because the demand of the circular train is increasing due to traffic congestion." Among the circle train's passengers are more than 100 foreigners every day, many simply riding the train for pleasure. San Htay, an officer of the ticket counter at the Central Railway Station, said that the number of tourists riding the circle line is going up, with visitors from America, Germany, Australia, Japan and Korea using the trains for sightseeing. Since April 1, the ticket price for foreigners has been the same as the price for locals. Foreigners were previously charged $1, he said, adding that tourists appeared to be happy with the change. "The number of the tourists is ranging from just over 100 to 200 in the past two years. It didn't even reach 100 in the past," he said. "The number of tourists who ride the circular train is increasing year by year, together with an increase in the number of tourists coming to Burma," said Ma Thidar, a tour guide who takes tourists on the circle train. Tourists enjoy the chance the train gives them to view different parts of the city, and different aspects of city life, she said. "It is my first time here in Burma," said American tourist Catherine Peterson, who tried out the circle train recently. "I am going to take the half-day tour on the circular train to experience how the transportation works in Yangon, and to see the local people's life," she said. The post To Avoid Gridlock, Commuters Take to Rangoon's Circle Train appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| US Lawmakers Press Obama Administration on Human Trafficking Posted: 29 Apr 2014 10:52 PM PDT  Police Maj-Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, left, listens as a Rohingya trafficking victim leads a police unit to a camp where he was detained in Satun, southern Thailand, on March 27, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) WASHINGTON — US lawmakers called on the Obama administration on Tuesday to punish countries that do too little to fight human trafficking, including Thailand and Malaysia, and said Burma should not receive a waiver to avoid possible sanctions over its record. Citing reports on the exploitation of Burma's Rohingya Muslim minority in their home country as well as Thailand and Malaysia, Republican US Representative Chris Smith said authorities have done too little to protect them. "Rohingya are leaving Burma by the thousands to escape religious persecution," Smith said at a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on Tier Rankings and the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report, citing a Reuters investigation into the treatment of Rohingya Muslims. Burma sees Rohingya as illegal immigrants and denies them citizenship. "According to reports put out by Reuters, Thai authorities are selling Rohingya to human traffickers, where they are held in ‘tropical gulags’ until relatives pay ransom," Smith said, adding that those who do not pay are sold into sex slavery or hard labor, and many die from abuse or disease. In the report, "Tier 1" countries are those who meet anti-trafficking standards. "Tier 2" do not but are making a significant effort to do so. "Tier 3" countries do not meet the standards and are not making significant effort to do so. Tier 3 countries are open to sanction by the US government. A US law also includes a watch list, in which countries on Tier 2 for two years are downgraded to Tier 3 unless they receive presidential waivers, available for two additional years. China, Russia and Uzbekistan ran out of waivers and moved to Tier 3 in the 2013 report released last June. Several others, including Malaysia and Thailand, run out this year. Smith said Burma is still eligible for a waiver. "But the facts on the ground don’t justify that course of action," he added. The post US Lawmakers Press Obama Administration on Human Trafficking appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Obama Reassures Allies, but Doubts over ‘Pivot’ to Asia Persist Posted: 29 Apr 2014 10:47 PM PDT  US President Barack Obama speaks to US and Filipino troops at the Fort Bonifacio Gymnasium in Manila on April 29, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) From the elaborate details of a Japanese state visit to the more mundane question of how much face-time to give each of his Asian hosts, President Barack Obama’s aides spent months meticulously scripting his four-country tour of the region. But as the week-long trip wrapped up on Tuesday it was clear that, while Obama scored points with skeptical allies simply by showing up, not everything followed the White House plan. The US president’s clear aim was to demonstrate that his long-promised strategic shift towards Asia and the Pacific, widely seen as aimed at countering China’s rising influence, was real. Early reviews from the region were mixed. "The key is what happens next," said Michael Kugelman, an Asia expert at the Wilson Center think-tank in Washington. "If the US starts dragging its feet, the skeptical whispers could begin anew." Japan, Obama’s first stop, set the tone for a glass-half-full/glass-half-empty dynamic that characterized the trip. He was notably unable to announce a two-way trade deal with Japan, despite an informal "sushi summit" with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and marathon last-ditch negotiations, raising questions over the momentum behind a broader trans-Pacific pact. Things went so badly the two sides had to delay issuing a summit-ending joint communiqué—normally a mere formality between close allies—until just before Obama left. In the end, they lauded progress towards a deal, perhaps the best that could have been hoped for, given the bitter domestic debates over trade in both countries. More important from the Japanese perspective was Obama’s assurance that Washington would come to Tokyo’s defense—including of tiny islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with China—coupled with a US warning to Beijing against trying to change the status quo by force. Kunihiko Miyake, a former Japanese diplomat, said Obama’s statement that their mutual security treaty covers the disputed isles, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, was "more than enough" for Tokyo. Balancing Act The risk of Obama’s rhetoric in Japan—as well as at other stops on his journey through Asia, where several allies face maritime disputes with China—was of antagonizing Beijing and damaging US ties with the world’s second-biggest economy. Analysts mostly agreed that Obama got the balance right by assuring America’s friends of US security assistance while insisting that Washington was not trying to contain China. China called on the United States and Japan to abandon their "Cold War mentality" but was mostly muted about rest of the trip, although some experts cautioned Beijing’s response might only become clear in the coming weeks or months. Shi Yinhong, director of the Center for American Studies at Renmin University in Beijing, said the Obama administration probably felt its message of deterrence to China and reassurance to Japan and other allies was delivered successfully. "But if we want to know if the trip seriously harmed US-China relations and damaged to the United States’ strategic and economic interests, we can only draw a question mark," Shi said. Near the end of the trip, one Chinese official implied that American’s interest in the region could be fleeting, as even some allies fear, while Beijing’s engagement would be constant. "If you come or do not come, we will be here," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang. Foreign Policy Criticism Obama’s first Asia trip of his second term also comes at a time when his broader foreign policy record is facing criticism, including over his response to the Syrian civil war and a faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace effort. Sceptics among the United States’ friends in the region fear the faltering "pivot," meant to refocus America’s attention on the dynamic economies of the Pacific Rim, could be undone by the competing pull of events in Europe and the Middle East. It could hardly have been lost on Obama’s hosts that he was often pulled off-script to focus on the crisis in Ukraine. The issue figured prominently in all four news conferences he gave in the region, and he also used the time to rally European leaders behind a new round of sanctions against Russia. But seeking to dispel any doubts about Washington’s staying power in Asia, Obama told a news conference in Manila on Monday: "Our alliances in the Asia Pacific have never been stronger; I can say that unequivocally." No New Ideas In South Korea, Obama offered poignant words of condolence over the scores killed in an April 16 ferry disaster and also expressed solidarity over Seoul’s troubles with Pyongyang, but had no new ideas for curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. "US cannot exert leadership in Asia only with words," read the headline of an editorial in South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper. "The summit talks between Korea and the US was no more than symbolic," the Hankook Ilbo newspaper said. There was also an awkward moment during a news conference with President Park Geun-hye when an American TV reporter asked jokingly whether Obama would save Russian President Vladimir Putin if he saw him drowning. It was meant as a light-hearted rejoinder to a similar question put to Putin on Russian TV earlier in the month—Obama followed his Kremlin counterpart in saying he would—but drew sharp criticism from South Korean media who saw it as inappropriate in a country mourning hundreds lost on the ferry. In Manila, Obama hailed one of the few tangible achievements of the trip—the signing of a 10-year military pact with the Philippines that opens the way for US troops, planes and warships to have greater access to bases in the Philippines. While significantly bolstering the security component of the pivot strategy, the deal, which faced significant political opposition in the former US colony, may be less than meets the eye. It is more of a legal framework, does not specify how many assets will be permitted on a "rotational basis" and requires decisions on deployments on a mission-by-mission basis, US officials said. Despite that, Obama appears to have won credit in Southeast Asia, where he also visited Malaysia, for undertaking what was essentially a make-up for a visit he cancelled last fall because of a government shutdown. "This is a part of the world where showing up and giving high-level attention makes a difference," a senior US official said. The post Obama Reassures Allies, but Doubts over 'Pivot' to Asia Persist appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Cambodia Tentatively Agrees to Boatpeople Plan Posted: 29 Apr 2014 10:36 PM PDT  A woman reads a newspaper containing an advertisement publicizing the Australian government’s new policy on asylum seekers arriving by boat in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 2, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) PHNOM PENH — A senior Cambodian official has said his country has tentatively agreed to accept asylum-seekers who had been seeking to settle in Australia in a potential deal criticized by refugee advocates. Foreign Ministry Secretary of State Ouch Borith told reporters on Tuesday there was an agreement in principle to take the asylum-seekers, who are being held in camps on the Pacific island nation of Nauru under an agreement with Australia. However, he stressed that Cambodia had not yet approved the deal. Australian officials had already announced that they were negotiating with Cambodia on the matter. Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison’s office said in a statement on Wednesday his government was continuing discussions with Phnom Penh and "welcomes the receptive and positive response from Cambodia that has been provided to date." But Australian human rights lawyer David Manne described the potential deal as "profoundly disturbing." "Cambodia is not suitable to resettle refugees, it’s one of the world’s poorest nations and has one of the worst human rights records in our region," Manne told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Wednesday. Manne successfully went to Australia’s High Court in 2011 to scuttle a previous Australian government’s plan to send hundreds of asylum seekers to Malaysia. He declined to speculate on Wednesday on the prospects of a legal challenge to such a deal with Cambodia. The boatpeople are mostly from the Middle East, South Asian countries and Burma, and the camps on Nauru are considered processing camps rather than settlements. Australia essentially pays Nauru for hosting the asylum-seekers, and it is generally assumed a similar arrangement would be worked out with Cambodia, although for permanent resettlement. Ouch Barith told reporters that Cambodia would act out of humanitarian concerns and that a deal did not hinge on how much money it might be paid. Ouch Borith said Cambodia had established a committee to study the resettlement idea, which came at the initiative of Australia and whose details have not been made public. There are more than 1,100 asylum seekers in Nauru. Human rights groups claim conditions at the Nauru camp are poor. Australia also has an arrangement under which Papua New Guinea hosts a resettlement camp, and it also has come under criticism for allegedly poor conditions and human rights abuses. The post Cambodia Tentatively Agrees to Boatpeople Plan appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
