The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Expulsion Awaits Student Instigators of Unrest, Ministry Warns
- Burmese Govt Resumes Citizenship Verification of Rohingyas
- Artists Celebrate Suu Kyi’s Upcoming Birthday With Exhibit
- Burmese Migrants Arrested, But Not Main Target in Thai Crackdown
- Palaung Villagers Flee Burmese Army Shelling: TNLA
- Suu Kyi: Becoming President Is Up to the People
- Ethnic Politicians Travel to China
- Scrap the Religious Conversion Bill, Group Tells Thein Sein
- A Lighter Footprint?
- Kachin Cage Fighter Bests Egyptian Opponent in First Round
- Cambodians Flee Thailand as Junta Targets Illegal Labor
- Argentina’s Messi and France’s Benzema Share World Cup Limelight
- Sri Lankan Minister Briefly Trapped by Buddhist-Muslim Clashes
- In Indonesia’s Presidential Race, Ex-General a Winner in Proxy TV Battle
- ‘The Last Headhunter’
- Ready for a Rice Renaissance?
| Expulsion Awaits Student Instigators of Unrest, Ministry Warns Posted: 16 Jun 2014 05:58 AM PDT  Activists from Generation Wave, a youth pro-democracy group, hold up placards at a protest in Rangoon on Jan. 5, 2014, where hundreds of people gathered to denounce restrictive laws in Burma. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's government has threatened to expel students who participate in political activities that lead to "unrest," with a ministry issuing the warning to enrollees at the nation's technological colleges and institutes. The announcement from the Ministry of Science and Technology, dated June 9, states that schools can expel students "if they are arrested and sentenced by a court for involvement in political unrest." "Students can be expelled if they lead, incite, support or get involved in political unrest," it reads, adding that no distinction will be made between leaders and followers. "Those whose involvement in unrest is due to coercion will get a warning." Though not explicitly stated, the ministry's announcement could be interpreted as applying to any student convicted under Section 505(b) of the Burmese penal code, which outlaws political activity carried out "with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility." Section 505 has been criticized by human rights advocates, who say it has been used to imprison political activists exercising their free speech rights. The instruction, which applies to all institutions under the ministry's authority, was posted first with the signature of the temporary principal at Yamethin Technological University in Mandalay Division. Contacted by The Irrawaddy, students at some other technological campuses said they had not yet received a similar communique. The warning did not come as a surprise to Kyaw Zin Htet, a final year student at Thanlyin Technological University in Rangoon who said all students had already pledged to avoid stoking political unrest when they registered for school. "We must define what 'political unrest' means though," Kyaw Zin Htet, who serves as chairman of the Thanlyin Technological University Students' Union, told The Irrawaddy. The provision concerning political unrest was listed alongside several other expulsion-worthy offenses, including the use, possession, sale or distribution of drugs; sexual harassment; and destroying school property. D Nyein Lin, a former political prisoner who was jailed four years for participating in a campus protest under Burma's military regime, said the ministry's threat was reminiscent of the view the country's former ruling generals took toward students. "Restricting students from participating in political activities is no different than the old system," he said. "This era of restricting students not to do this and that should no longer exist. They are unnecessarily worried about students and their unions. We think that this is to restrict and control students' involvement in present-day politics." Students have long been at the forefront of Burma's pro-democracy movement. In 1962, the late Gen. Ne Win dynamited Rangoon University's Student Union building, which at the time had become a hotbed of political dissent against the regime. Student activists also spearheaded the popular uprising in 1988 that unseated Ne Win, though that movement was ultimately crushed by the military leaders who replaced him. Students' political activities remain curtailed to this day, but long-restricted student unions have again surfaced following the installation of President Thein Sein's nominally civilian government in 2011. Today's student unions are largely apolitical, however, insisted Kaung Htet San of the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University Students' Union. The union's communication officer told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the union mostly took care of extracurricular activities on campus. "The Union represents students. We just communicate our activities and student needs to school authorities," the final year student at the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University in Meikhtila said. On its website, the Ministry of Science and Technology lists 41 different technological universities, colleges and institutes that fall under its authority. The post Expulsion Awaits Student Instigators of Unrest, Ministry Warns appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Burmese Govt Resumes Citizenship Verification of Rohingyas Posted: 16 Jun 2014 05:53 AM PDT  Rohingya women are pictured at the Thae Chaung camp for internally displaced people in Sittwe, Arakan State, on April 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's government has resumed a process of verifying the citizenship status of some members of a minority group in the country's west known internationally as the Rohingya. In late 2012, on the heels of sectarian violence between Rohingya Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists that left about 120,000 people displaced, government immigration officials began verifying the citizenship of Muslims in limited parts of Arakan State. It appears the process stalled last year, amid resistance to requirements that the Rohingya identify as Bengali. The government refers to the Rohingya as Bengali, suggesting that they came to the country illegally from Bangladesh, though many trace their family roots back to Burma for generations. Now, immigration officials have restarted their verification process in parts of Arakan State where most Rohingyas agreed to identify as Bengali two months ago during the nationwide census, after being told that they would not be counted if they did not identify this way. As a pilot project in Myebon Township, immigration officials are accepting citizenship applications from anyone who identifies as Bengali, according to Maung Maung Than, director-general of the Department of Immigration and National Registration. About 3,042 Muslims live in the township, the department says. Of these, 47 people have already applied for citizenship, according to Maung Maung Than, who added that applications would be considered according to the 1982 Citizenship Law. The law has been criticized internationally for making it nearly impossible for the Rohingya to receive citizenship. "The applicants will need to show the citizenship cards of their grandparents or parents, or at least family registration so we can check whether he or she is a citizen or not," Maung Maung Than told The Irrawaddy on Monday. Later, he said, immigration officials will check the identification papers of all Bengalis in the township. In cases where the paperwork may have been falsified, the central government will make a decision and take action according to the 1982 Citizenship Law, which prescribes a fine or jail time for anyone found to be in possession of false identification. The verification process will later be expanded, but only to townships where people identified as Bengalis in the census, Maung Maung Than said. The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported that national ministers met in the Arakan State capital of Sittwe on Friday with state-level officials, town leaders and civil society representatives. The ministers explained "matters concerning the scrutinizing of citizenship for Bengalis under the Myanmar Citizenship Law of 1982," the newspaper reported, adding that a preliminary survey had already begun at "a Bengali relief camp in Myebon." Last week Immigration Minister Khin Yi visited Arakan State along with the information minister, the minister of border affairs and national races, and President's Office ministers, the newspaper reported. About 1 million Rohingya people are believed to live in Arakan State, where they face government-imposed restrictions that make it nearly impossible for them to access health care, education and other basic services. A majority of victims from the 2012 violence were Rohingya, and today they continue to live in squalid camps for internally displaced people (IDPs). The Arakan National Party, representing Arakanese Buddhists, has called on the government to verify the citizenship of Muslims in Arakan State since 2012, according to Khin Maung Gyi, a member of the party's central executive committee. "It is necessary that decisions are made correctly on every stage of the citizenship scrutiny process, without any bribes," he told The Irrawaddy. Mohamed Salim, a Rohingya spokesman for the National Development and Peace Party in Rangoon, criticized the verification process as biased. "We do not accept the term 'Bengalis.' The Muslim people in Arakan State are Rohingya," he told The Irrawaddy. "If they want to conduct an examination based on the 1982 law, they need to first amend the law in accordance with international standards, since it currently includes much discrimination, and after that they can exam us." The post Burmese Govt Resumes Citizenship Verification of Rohingyas appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Artists Celebrate Suu Kyi’s Upcoming Birthday With Exhibit Posted: 16 Jun 2014 05:04 AM PDT  The 'For Suu' art exhibition at the River Ayeyarwaddy Gallery in downtown Rangoon shows 77 paintings of Aung San Suu Kyi to honor her 69th birthday on Thursday. (Photos: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Coming Thursday, Aung San Suu Kyi will undoubtedly be presented with a birthday cake by her supporters, but some Burmese artists have already gone ahead and celebrated the democracy icon's 69th birthday. On Saturday, seven artists opened the 'For Suu' art exhibition at the River Ayeyarwaddy Gallery in downtown Rangoon, putting on public display 77 portrait paintings of Suu Kyi. "The reason for this exhibition is simple: To celebrate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday," said Phyu Ei Thein, one of the founders of the gallery. Originally, the exhibit planned to put 69 portraits of Suu Kyi on display, most of which were painted by Ma Hmwe, Chaw Ei Thein and Sai Lynn Myat (who painted more than 40 versions of Suu Kyi's image). But another two portraits of the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader by the late Burmese contemporary artist Kin Maung Yin, who passed away last week, were added in his honor. Khin Maung Yin has painted a well-known series of eight Suu Kyi portraits. Another six paintings were added by the artist named She, Rahula and Khin Maung Ni. Using different materials and mediums—such as oil and acrylic on canvas, or ink, water paint and pencil sketches on paper and collage—the paintings cover a wide range of moments and images from Suu Kyi's life. The paintings show Suu Kyi from her early youth to her emergence as opposition leader during the 1988 uprising, up until the recent years following her release from house arrest in 2010. Most of the 'For Suu' paintings are up for sale, with price tags ranging from US$3,000 to $80. Phyu Ei Thein said she sent an invitation to Suu Kyi to visit the exhibition. "But we didn't insist she should visit the show, as we know how busy she is," said the co-founder of the gallery. "But we all would be thrilled if she could drop by." The NLD leader is currently on a visit to Nepal and will arrive back in Rangoon on Monday evening. The post Artists Celebrate Suu Kyi's Upcoming Birthday With Exhibit appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Burmese Migrants Arrested, But Not Main Target in Thai Crackdown Posted: 16 Jun 2014 04:33 AM PDT  A group of arrested Burmese migrant workers in Mae Sot waiting to be sent back home by Thai authorities on June 4. (Photo: Mahn Myo Myint / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI — A heavy crackdown on undocumented migrants in Thailand has so far mostly targeted Cambodian workers, although there have been frequent reports of arrests of Burmese workers, according to organizations working with Burmese migrants in Thailand. "There is no big crackdown on Burmese immigrant workers like on Cambodians," said Win Tun, joint secretary of Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation, a group of agencies that recruit Burmese workers for jobs in Thailand. He said there was a lack of information regarding the number of Burmese that have been arrested and repatriated by Thai authorities since early June. "But many Burmese nationals made calls to the Myanmar Embassy and reported about the arrests, these mostly took place in Bangkok and Mahachai [sea port in Samut Sakhon Province], where many Burmese migrant workers stay and work," he added. "We will assist our Burmese migrants if they get arrested like Cambodians because we heard that even some documented Burmese immigrants get arrested," Win Tun said. "We want to help our nationals… We told them not to be afraid of arrest if they have official work permits [in Thailand]." Kyaw Thaung, director of the Myanmar Association in Thailand, a Bangkok-based organization that provides assistance to Burmese migrants, said he also received reports of arrests during the ongoing crackdown by the Thai military regime. "We don’t have an exact figure of the number of arrested people, but we received calls and reports from our network about regular arrests," he said. "Some groups of arrested people number between 10 to a 100." The Burmese embassy in Bangkok released a notice on Monday, offering to consular help to Burmese migrant workers if they are arrested and repatriated by Thai authorities. The notice said, "Those who have legal documents, such as passports and work permits, but get arrested, can contact and report to officials at any time through given contact numbers." It appears that, unlike the Cambodians, Burmese migrants are not yet leaving the country in large numbers. The Thai junta, which seized power in May 22 coup, announced recently that it would launch a crackdown on illegal migrant workers in Thailand, a move that for now seems to be targeting mostly Cambodian workers. Fears of an imminent crackdown, fanned by rumors possibly spread by the Thai junta, caused an exodus of Cambodians last week, while thousands were arrested and forcibly repatriated. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that some 100,000 Cambodians left Thailand in the past week, causing chaos along the Thai-Cambodia border. The Thai junta, the National Council for Peace and Order, reported that 60,000 Cambodians had crossed the border as of Saturday, but claimed that they were leaving voluntarily to help with farming season in Cambodia. Thailand relies heavily on cheap, unregulated labor supplied by its poor neighbors Burma, Cambodia and Laos. Estimates of the total number of migrants vary widely, and up to 3 million Burmese and half a million Cambodians are said to be working in Thailand, often performing unskilled jobs in construction sector, restaurants or the fishing industry. Many cross the border into Thailand illegally and lack official identity papers, Thai working visas and other legal documentation. As a result, many work as unregistered laborers, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by employers and authorities. Despite numerous campaigns by migrant rights groups, there has been little improvement in the migrants' situation in the past decade. The post Burmese Migrants Arrested, But Not Main Target in Thai Crackdown appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Palaung Villagers Flee Burmese Army Shelling: TNLA Posted: 16 Jun 2014 03:22 AM PDT  A family passes time at their hut near Loimgmain village, Mantong Township, in northern Shan State, on Jan. 16, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) RANGOON — Hundreds of ethnic Palaung in Shan State's Kutkai Township have fled their homes after the Burmese Army fired artillery on their village, with locals reporting that one house was burned to the ground on Sunday amid ongoing clashes between the military and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). "They fought with our troops at around 1 pm," said Mai Aie Kyaw, a spokesperson for the TNLA. "After this, they shot artillery into Ton Pan village, where there are around 120 houses. All people were afraid and they ran from the village." He said there were no TNLA troops stationed in the village, adding that the artillery shelling appeared to be intended to scare Ton Pan's civilian inhabitants. All those who fled have sought refuge in a village nearby, he added. Fighting between the Burmese Army and TNLA troops has taken place daily in northern Shan State since the middle of last week, according to local sources. Six soldiers from the government have been killed and five others wounded, according to the TNLA, which claims that its side has suffered no casualties. The latest fighting, which began on Wednesday, has been concentrated in Kutkai Township, where six clashes took place from June 11-15. "Six Burmese Army personnel were killed in Kutkai on June 13. Another five people were wounded in fighting on June 11," Mai Aie Kyaw said. A week earlier, on June 4, the TNLA claims to have killed two Burmese Army soldiers and a battalion commander in an ambush. The TNLA has blamed most of the clashes on government troop incursions against the ethnic rebels' temporary encampments. The TNLA estimates that some 2,000 Burmese Army troops have been deployed in and around Palaung territory. "They hunt our troops all the time," Mai Aie Kyaw said of the government forces. Mai Aie Kyaw said Sunday saw two clashes in Kutkai Township, the first at about 1:30 pm and the second four hours later. The first exchange lasted an hour and pitted the Burmese Army against an alliance of ethnic rebel groups consisting of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MDAA, an ethnic Kokang group) and the TNLA. The second clash involved only TNLA troops and government forces. The TNLA and the KIA are the only two major ethnic armed rebel groups in Burma that have not signed ceasefire agreements with the government. Mai Aie Kyaw said Monday that the TNLA had not yet received a report from the ground on casualties resulting from Sunday's fighting. The post Palaung Villagers Flee Burmese Army Shelling: TNLA appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Suu Kyi: Becoming President Is Up to the People Posted: 16 Jun 2014 02:41 AM PDT  Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is welcomed by bystanders at the premises of Shegal Buddhist stupa in Kathmandu on June 16, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Navesh Chitrakar) KATMANDU, Nepal — Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said it is up to the will of the people of her country if she becomes their president, reacting Monday to a vote against changing a constitutional clause that bars her from the office. "Whether or not I become the president in the future depends on the will of the people, their will with regard to amending the Constitution and their will with regard to whom they wish to choose as a president," she said at the end of a four-day visit to Nepal. Burma's Constitution bars anyone whose spouse or children are loyal to foreign countries from becoming president or vice president. Suu Kyi's late husband and her two sons are British citizens. A parliamentary committee voted last week against changing the charter. If the recommendation is endorsed by the full Parliament, it is likely to have a significant impact on the next general election in 2015. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party is expected to mount a strong challenge, with a good possibility of winning, but without Suu Kyi as a prospective president, its support may flag. In 1990 elections, she led the party to a landslide victory but the military did not allow it to govern. The NLD boycotted the next general election in 2010 but became the leading opposition party after parliamentary by-elections in 2012. Suu Kyi said she is seeking to amend the Constitution to make it possible for a majority in the legislature to change the Constitution. "The main clause in the Constitution which we want changed is the amendment clause itself, which gives the military a practical right to veto over amendments," she said. "So we want to change it to make it possible for the majority of elected members of the legislature to change whichever part of the Constitution they should think is necessary." The 2008 Constitution was drawn up by the previous military regime to ensure its continuing influence in government. It gives the military a mandatory 25 percent of parliamentary seats, handing it veto power over any change in the Constitution, which requires greater than 75 percent approval, followed by a nationwide referendum. "I do believe the Constitution was written with me in mind. But I think this is of course unacceptable, democratically speaking, that one person should be targeted by any particular Constitution," she said. While in Nepal, Suu Kyi met top political leaders and visited Lumbini in southern Nepal where Buddha was born. The post Suu Kyi: Becoming President Is Up to the People appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Ethnic Politicians Travel to China Posted: 16 Jun 2014 01:37 AM PDT  Workers are pictured at the Maday Island site of the Shwe gas project in Arakan State. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The leaders of at least two Burmese political parties are traveling to China on Monday to meet with officials from the Communist Party of China (CPC). A delegation from the Arakan National Party (ANP) and the National Democratic Force (NDF) will fly to Kunming, Yunnan Province, on Monday afternoon, according to party leaders. They have been invited to discuss Burmese ethnic minority affairs with Chinese leaders, said Khin Maung Swe, chairman of the NDF, a small party with some ethnic members. Both parties visited China for the first time last year, on separate trips. Party members did not know why they had been invited to make the visit together this year, nor did they know which other parties, if any, would accompany them. The National League for Democracy (NLD), the country's biggest opposition party, said it had not been invited. The Chinese Embassy in Rangoon could not be reached for comment. "We will raise our concerns regarding Chinese projects in our ethnic state," said Oo Hla Saw, a spokesman for the ANP, referring to allegations that Chinese companies have ignored local concerns about the environmental impacts of their projects. "Our leaders raised same concerns during their first trip, but we have seen no concrete solutions." The party's first visit came before June last year, when the transmission of natural gas via the Shwe gas pipeline from the Arakan coast to China's Yunnan Province began. Khin Maung Swe added that China should focus not only on establishing ties with the Burmese government, but also with ethnic leaders. "We suggested during our last visit that their relations policy was wrong," he said. Among the NDF delegation is Bauk Ja, from Hpakant, Kachin State, which borders China. "We will discuss ethnic affairs, especially in Kachin State, and we will talk about the Myitsone dam and China's support for poverty reduction," he said. In addition to Yunnan Province, the politicians will travel to Beijing to observe the CPC’s policy and its industrial zone. They plan to return to Burma on June 25. The post Ethnic Politicians Travel to China appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Scrap the Religious Conversion Bill, Group Tells Thein Sein Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:29 PM PDT  Buddhist novice monks line up before lunch in a monastery in Lashio Township, Shan State, on May 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — An ethnic Chin group is urging President Thein Sein to ensure the religious conversion bill does not get passed into law. In a letter to the Burmese president on Saturday, the Institute of Chin Affairs (ICA), a nonprofit public policy forum for ethnic Chin people, said the bill violated international human rights standards and the country's own Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion. The bill, drafted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, prevents people from converting to another faith without approval from government authorities. It also requires religious converts to be over the age of 18. "The Constitution of Myanmar [Burma], though being cautious about possible abuses in religious freedom, puts no age limit on any citizen who wants to practice any religion of his or her choice. Imposing [an] age limit on a person wanting to change his or her religion also goes against international conventions and international human rights," the ICA wrote in the letter. If enacted, the bill would require would-be religious converts to undergo interviews with government officials, who would seek to determine whether he or she wanted to convert for appropriate reasons. Anyone deemed to be converting "with the intent of insulting or destroying religion" could face up to two years in prison. Those found to have pressured others to convert could be imprisoned for one year. "Converting to a particular religion is absolutely at the sole discretion of the potential convert himself or herself. None but the convert himself or herself can make the ultimate decision on whether to believe in a particular faith because professing a religion is solely a spiritual and individual matter. No government authorities have the right to impose restrictions on anyone over their personal faith or belief," the ICA wrote. The group urged Thein Sein to "immediately and effectively take measures to prevent the bill from being passed into law," and to ensure that discriminative bills are not proposed in Parliament in the future. The majority of ethnic Chin people are Christian in Buddhist-majority Burma. The government, which published a draft of the religious conversion bill in state media last month, is accepting public feedback about the bill until June 20. The post Scrap the Religious Conversion Bill, Group Tells Thein Sein appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:22 PM PDT  A Lighter Footprint? The post A Lighter Footprint? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Kachin Cage Fighter Bests Egyptian Opponent in First Round Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:17 PM PDT  Aung La N Sang, left, poses with his opponent Mahmoud Salama from Egypt before their ONE Fighting Championship bout in Indonesia on Saturday. (Photo: Aung La N Sang / Facebook) The Kachin cage fighter Aung La N Sang defeated his Egyptian opponent Mahmoud "Iron Man" Salama in a mixed martial arts bout on Saturday in Jakarta, Indonesia. The 29-year-old ethnic Kachin fighter, also known as the "Burmese Python," punched out his opponent in 67 seconds during the first round of the middleweight mixed martial arts ONE Fighting Championship in the Indonesian capital. "I am going to thank God first," Aung La N Sang said after his lightning-quick victory. "Without him, this would not be possible. Thank you so much for coming and watching us." Asked about the fight, Aung La N Sang said, "I was surprise that he took me down, but somehow we ended up on the ground. I tried to sweep and he reversed me. … I heard from my corner, [someone] yelling 'butterfly sweep,' and that is one of my moves. And when I got to the mat, I got heavy hands." Born in Myitkyina, the capital of northern Burma's Kachin State, Aung La N Sang is an MMA fighter who now calls the US state of Maryland his home. He moved to the United States with his family when he was teenager. The 6'1" fighter also posted on his Facebook page after the victory: "Got the win this Saturday night, God is good in our victory and in our defeats. I am on my plane back to good old Maryland, back to training." "Lots of things to work on, lots of improvements to make, but I know my team will get me to my goal! Thank you all for all the love and support and I will be back stronger," he posted. The post Kachin Cage Fighter Bests Egyptian Opponent in First Round appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Cambodians Flee Thailand as Junta Targets Illegal Labor Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:06 PM PDT  Cambodian migrant workers carry their belongings as they walk to cross the border at Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaew on June 15, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha) SA KAEW, Thailand — Squatting on the ground with their hands on each others' shoulders in 15 neat rows, hundreds of illegal Cambodian workers, including women and children, await deportation at an army base near the Thai-Cambodia border. On a dusty highway, trucks, buses and police cars packed with Cambodians, some with fingers poking through wire mesh windows, roll by. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that over the past week 100,000 Cambodians have poured over the border, as the military that seized power in a May 22 coup intensifies lax measures to regulate illegal labor. The military's ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) insists Cambodians are leaving of their own accord and said 60,000 had crossed the border as of Saturday. It estimates there were 90,000 illegals in Thailand. "Next!" bellows a soldier at the base in Sa Kaew. He records the Cambodians' details in Thai and fingerprints them. Mod, 15, is next in line. Born in Thailand, he's headed to his home in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap with his family of five, including his father, a construction worker. "Soldiers told us to go home," he said. "But I want to stay." The scale of the exodus and commitment of security forces to enforcing the law risks backfiring on the junta as it seeks to revive a sluggish economy nearing recession. Registered and illegal foreign labor, mostly from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, is key to the construction, manufacturing and fisheries industries in Southeast Asia's second biggest economy. Workers perform jobs most Thais are unwilling to do. The IOM is concerned their return could create a humanitarian crisis and further burden already struggling families in rural Cambodia. "They [military] seem very efficient. To our knowledge, nobody is being hurt, but one worry is there is no free water and food," the IOM's Joe Lowry told Reuters. "Many are going back to villages with no jobs and will be a strain to their local community." Thai governments have tried to tighten regulations and screen those crossing porous borders, but red tape and police corruption—officers turning a blind eye in return for payoffs from employers—have been blamed for the lack of progress. Many Cambodians told Reuters they feared a military crackdown. The government rejects that and the Foreign Ministry on Sunday said rumors of forced repatriation were "groundless." Many laborers left having heard rumors and chose to return home to an uncertain future rather than face jail or fines. "I'm too scared so I won't come back," said Chok Kamchai, 27, who worked as a market delivery man in Samut Prakarn province on the fringes of Bangkok. Since the coup, the military has repeated its resolve to return stability and revive an economy battered by six months of unrest. Regulating migrant labor is part of its grand plan. "We must put in order the workforce so that it is correct and legal," said Werachon Sukondhapatipak, an NCPO spokesman. "Migrants that go out of their own free will that are illegal, this is a good thing. And soldiers are facilitating their return." Residents who have witnessed trucks full of workers lining up at the immigration checkpoint in the border district of Aranyaprathet say the exodus is unprecedented. "I've never seen so many leave at once. We've been set up here for five days, they keep streaming in," said food vendor Chada Jaipluem, 34. Police and military at three security checkpoints visited by Reuters said those without work documents wouldn't be jailed. "Normally they'd have to face the legal system but we're just allowing them to return home," said Arnont Phetphanou, a police officer in charge of a checkpoint in Sa Kaew. People poured out of train carriages at Aranyaprathet's station, among the 2,000 police were expecting on Sunday alone. Many carried multi-colored plastic bags and boxes on their heads and shoulders. Others hauled televisions on their backs. "Some of us don't have the money to make proper work documents," said Chok, the delivery man. "I have no work waiting for me in my village, but if I don't leave now, I could spend months in jail." Additional reporting by Athit Perawongmetha and Panarat Thepgumpanat. The post Cambodians Flee Thailand as Junta Targets Illegal Labor appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Argentina’s Messi and France’s Benzema Share World Cup Limelight Posted: 15 Jun 2014 10:09 PM PDT  Argentina’s Lionel Messi celebrates scoring a goal during the 2014 World Cup Group F soccer match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Photo: Reuters) SAO PAULO — Lionel Messi ended an eight-year wait for a World Cup goal on Sunday as Argentina edged past debutants Bosnia at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, while fellow No. 10, France’s Karim Benzema, put two past Honduras in a man-of-the-match display. The goals continued to rattle in across Brazil. France cruised to a 3-0 victory in Porto Alegre, and in the other Group E match, Switzerland came from behind to beat Ecuador 2-1 with a dramatic, counter-attacking winner in injury time. The buildup to the fourth day of action at the 2014 World Cup had all been about Messi, the 26-year-old Barcelona forward who has lit up club soccer like few others but has so far failed to repeat those heroics on the biggest stage of all. His last World Cup goal came on June 16, 2006, the sixth out of six Argentina put past Serbia & Montenegro in Germany. Messi’s roar of delight after a fine left-foot strike from the edge of the area on Sunday suggested the goal would lift a huge weight from his shoulders. "It was important to start with a win and to get three points, but we need to improve," Messi said after also being named man of the match in the 2-1 victory in Group F. Until that point Messi’s display had been lackluster, but it proved a crucial goal when Bosnia scored late on to set up a tense end to a game many had expected Argentina to win easily. There was a touch of fortune in the outcome, after Bosnia’s Sead Kolasinac netted the fastest own goal in World Cup history in the third minute. His side recovered from the shock and began to look the better team, but a lack of composure in front of goal saw several long-distance efforts fly high and wide. Messi’s successor as World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo, expects to start for Portugal against Germany in the pick of Monday’s matches. The 29-year-old said he was fit for the Group G encounter in Salvador, despite struggling with tendinosis in his left knee. Asked whether a great World Cup was all that was missing from a glittering career, he replied: "I don’t think I have to show anyone anything. If you look at my statistics and my resume… I have no words for that question. "I think I do not have to demonstrate anything, not now, before, not after. What I have to do is just continue my career, which has been great so far." In the other Group G clash, Ghana meet the United States in Natal, while Iran and Nigeria play in Curitiba in Group F. France Reunited In Porto Alegre, France survived a bruising encounter with Honduras, but passed the test with aplomb in a game where Benzema grabbed two and goal-line technology was used to confirm the ball had crossed the line for the first time at a World Cup. Benzema’s shot hit the upright and the ball rolled across the goal, only for Honduras keeper Noel Valladares to divert it over the line by inches. Honduras were reduced to 10-men after Wilson Palacios charged into French midfielder Paul Pogba seconds before the break in a challenge that earned him a second yellow card. Benzema stroked home the resulting penalty, and 18 minutes from time he struck again from a narrow angle, earning a rendition of "La Marseillaise" from the red, white and blue clad French fans. The result will have delighted France coach Didier Deschamps, especially after Les Bleus’ 2010 debacle in South Africa when they failed to win a game amid bitter squabbling that blew up into a national scandal. Swiss Smash-and-Grab In arguably the most exciting contest of the day, substitute Haris Seferovic finished off a breathtaking box-to-box counter-attack in stoppage time to give Switzerland a 2-1 win over Ecuador in Brasilia. A brilliant block tackle by Valon Behrami in his own area instigated the break, which was allowed to continue by an excellent decision from Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov after the midfielder was body-checked. With more than three goals a game on average, and a surprisingly expansive style of soccer for the early stages of a World Cup, action on the field has grabbed people’s imagination in a country considered by many to be the sport’s spiritual home. The tournament has gone much more smoothly than many had expected, with protests against the $11 billion spend on new stadiums and infrastructure small compared with mass demonstrations that rocked Brazil a year ago. On Sunday, police blocked a small group of anti-World Cup protesters who were trying to reach the Maracana stadium before the Argentina-Bosnia game. About 150 bandanna-clad demonstrators carrying banners that said "FIFA go home" marched towards the stadium, but police on horseback blocked their path, leading to minor scuffles. A similar-sized march was held ahead of the Switzerland-Ecuador game, but participants simply laid down their banners in front of a police cordon and dispersed when the game started. The post Argentina's Messi and France's Benzema Share World Cup Limelight appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Sri Lankan Minister Briefly Trapped by Buddhist-Muslim Clashes Posted: 15 Jun 2014 10:01 PM PDT  Special Task Force soldiers block Muslim men as they try to run through them with wooden poles after a Buddhist mob attacked a mosque in Colombo in August 2013. (Photo: Reuters) COLOMBO — A Sri Lankan government minister had to be rescued by police on Sunday after being trapped by ethnic violence between Buddhists and Muslims, officials and residents said. At least 40 people were injured and mosques and shops were damaged in clashes that started at a protest march led by hardline Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or the "Buddhist power force". Junior Investment Promotion Minister Faiser Mustapha, a Muslim, was trapped when he visited a college in Beruwela, a tourist town 60 km (35 miles) from the capital Colombo, where hundreds of Muslims had taken refuge from the violence. "There were groups of people who did not allow the minister to move out of Jamia Naleemia (college), where hundreds of Muslims have come for safety. However, with the police help he came out after an hour," a ministerial aide told Reuters. "The special task force (elite police) has been deployed for the safety of Muslims in Jamia Naleemia." Police in Beruwela and nearby Aluthgama where there was also fighting, imposed a curfew with immediate effect until further notice "due to the unrest between two groups". There has been increasing violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka since 2012, mirroring events in Myanmar, which has seen a surge of attacks by members of the majority Buddhist community against Muslims. Residents said the clashes started after the BBS group threw stones at a mosque and Muslims retaliated. "Police and special forces just tried to disperse Muslims using teargas and they did nothing to control those Buddhist monks and their riot mobs," a local Muslim told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. At least nine other residents said hundreds of police on duty did not prevent the Buddhists from attacking mosques and houses. The BBS said its members had been protesting peacefully, against an assault on a Buddhist monk by a Muslim youth three days ago, when they came under attack. "It was an unfortunate incident. It shouldn’t have happened. There are damages and casualties to both the parties," said Dilantha Vithanage, a spokesman for the BBS. Hospital sources said at least 40 injured people had been admitted. President Mahinda Rajapaksa tweeted: "I urge all parties concerned to act with restraint. An investigation will be held for the law to take its course of action to bring to book those responsible." Many independent analysts say well-coordinated violence against Muslims and Christians appears to have tacit state backing as those involved in previous attacks have yet to be punished. The government denies any collusion. The post Sri Lankan Minister Briefly Trapped by Buddhist-Muslim Clashes appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| In Indonesia’s Presidential Race, Ex-General a Winner in Proxy TV Battle Posted: 15 Jun 2014 09:48 PM PDT  Indonesia’s presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, right, holds a microphone beside his opponent Joko Widodo during a televised debate in Jakarta on Sunday. (Photo: Reuters) JAKARTA — If Indonesia's presidential election were to be decided by favorable coverage on its television channels, ex-general Prabowo Subianto would be in the driver's seat and frontrunner Joko "Jokowi" Widodo would trail far behind. Jokowi is ahead in opinion polls but Prabowo is catching up with less than a month to go for the July 9 election, according to surveys. But the surveys say about 40 percent of the electorate is undecided and television channels could decide, or at least heavily influence, who will lead the world's third-largest democracy for the next five years. "The real war is to win the 41 percent of voters that are still undecided. In this case, the role of the media will be crucial," said Amir Effendi Siregar, the head of pr2media, a private media watchdog group. The viewership numbers heavily favor Prabowo—two media moguls who control nearly half of Indonesia's TV audience are firmly with the former special forces chief. Aburizal Bakrie, the head of the Golkar party, which has thrown its weight behind Prabowo, owns media group PT Visi Media Asia and its two free-to-air nationwide television stations, ANTV and TVOne. Hary Tanoesoedibjo, a member of Prabowo's inner circle of advisers, owns the Media Nusantara Citra group and its three national TV stations RCTI, MNCTV and Global TV. The other presidential hopeful, Jokowi, is backed by media tycoon Surya Paloh, chairman of the small National Democrat party that is part of his alliance, and owner of leading news channel MetroTV. "The use of media in political campaigns this year compared to other elections is much more intense and the bias is more obvious because TV owners are involved," said Siregar, adding that the owners could use their businesses as bargaining chips to further political ambitions. Paloh's MetroTV however has just 3 percent of the country's viewership, compared to 44 percent for the five stations that are pro-Prabowo, according to Nielsen Indonesia. According to the market research group, Indonesia's 11 privately-owned national TV stations reach 95 percent of the country's 240 million people. Newspapers reach only 12 percent. Most of Indonesia's people live on the islands of Java and Sumatra, but the rest are scattered across thousands of islands spread over 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles). The role of mass media in political campaigns, especially in close contests, is crucial. "It is definitely having an impact on the election. In terms of TV stations, Prabowo's camp has much more than Jokowi's," said Tobias Basuki, a political analyst at think tank CSIS. "We can't say exactly how much of an impact it will have, but the election [media watchdog] is not able to force TV stations to be objective." Profess to be Neutral The TV stations profess to be even-handed, but, with highly partisan owners, neutrality is noticeably absent. For example, Paloh's MetroTV showed live coverage of Jokowi speaking at a campaign stop in West Java last week, while Bakrie's TVOne ignored the event, keeping to a regular talk show. On the same day, TVOne devoted nearly all of its noontime news to the Prabowo campaign, interviewing supporters and repeatedly showing a video highlighting the former general's career. There was no such coverage for Jokowi. But Jokowi has fared well in the first of the nationally televised debates between him and Prabowo, which was aired live last week on several stations. The next debate was scheduled for Sunday and there will be at least two more before the election. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) agrees many channels devote far more air time to one of the candidates or the other and has issued warning letters to the three TV owners. Some stations use quizzes, reality shows, soap operas and religious programs for campaigns and political advertising, it has said. "Our findings show that the tendency for bias is mostly found on the news-based television channels. They are MetroTV and TVOne," Idy Muzzayad, the deputy chairman of KPI, told Reuters. Indonesian regulations require that free-to-air television stations remain politically neutral and independent. KPI, however, only has authority to recommend action against a media company to the Telecommunication and Information Ministry, which can terminate a company's broadcasting license. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who must step down in October after serving a two-term limit, has urged more balanced coverage. "I hope the press and media will have accurate and constructive reporting. Easy to say, but maybe not as easy to do for the press and media owners," he said last month. Media company officials said their TV stations cover what they can from the two presidential campaigns. "There is no owner intervention in our editorial content, but I think every media has their priority," said Arya Sinulingga, a spokesman for Tanoesoedibjo's MNC Group. TVOne officials could not immediately be reached for comment. A MetroTV official denied any bias in coverage, but did say it was more difficult to cover Prabowo than Jokowi. "Our reporters do not receive the same treatment when covering Prabowo. It is not that we don't want to cover Prabowo," said Suryopratomo, a news director for MetroTV. "We never pick sides. Politics is just for five years, while the existence of media is for the long term." Additional reporting by Reuters reporter Fathiyah Dahrul. The post In Indonesia's Presidential Race, Ex-General a Winner in Proxy TV Battle appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 15 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT  An ethnic Naga headhunter in the remote village of Cheme Khuk in Burma's far north. (Photo: Andrzej Muszynski) Kachin State/Sagaing Division, northern Burma — In the remote village of Cheme Khuk in Burma's far north, I am talking to a man who must be one of the last ethnic Naga chief headhunters still alive today. Now in his 80s, he recalls an episode from the last great war, when he was a boy. "I was in the jungle with my father and brothers," the old chief says. "Suddenly, we saw a white man with short black hair. My father whispered, 'It's a beast, it'll hurt us.' We tied him up and he shouted. We carried him to the village. "All we found in his bag was a single book. There was no gun. Then my father said, 'He can't do us any harm.' We fed him. He got his strength back. We gave him some rice for the road and seven bells to pay for food along the way. He wanted to cook the rice in them. We explained that he shouldn't do that. "We escorted him to the border of our land and he vanished into the jungle, in the direction of India. We saved his life, and he was very grateful to us." Many more incidents of this kind occurred during World War II in the Patkai Hills on the border between Burma and India, inhabited to this day by the Naga people. One of the most extraordinary but little known campaigns of the war was conducted in the air over that territory. Burma was being fought over by the Allied powers and the Japanese, who had rapidly moved northward after taking Rangoon, pushing the British out to India. Finally the counterattack went ahead, and the sky was cut across by British and American planes. The pilots performed incredible feats, landing on swampy ground in the middle of the jungle or daring to fly "the Hump," one of the most dangerous flight paths over the Burmese Himalayas to China. Many of them crashed into the mountains. Wreckage is still lying in remote corners of the jungle, where Naga hunters sometimes find it. I heard they have even come across pilots' skeletons, still in the cockpit. If the Japanese had crossed the Naga Hills and conquered India, and if the Germans hadn't been defeated at Stalingrad, Asia would have been taken over by the Axis powers. But thanks to men like the pilot who was saved by the Naga boy and his father, Burma was liberated from Japanese invaders. Who was the pilot? Did he survive? What book was he reading? I'm still looking for him. Search Through Nagaland I had never seen such a wild place, neither in Africa nor in the Amazon, before traveling to the Patkai Hills, which are hundreds of kilometers of dense, majestic jungle that climb skyward up steep slopes. Here and there in the forest shadow hide Naga villages, lost in time. I was traveling from Myitkyina, the state capital of Kachin State, with a government guide and permits that included a precise plan of my route. In the Kachin town of Shinbwayang, we rented off-road motorbikes and set off on a crazy ride across the mountains, driving along the legendary Ledo Road in a quest to find one of the last of the living Naga chief headhunters. This road tells a story of human madness. When the Japanese took Rangoon, the only source of supplies for the Allies in China was India, but there were two mountain ranges, the Burmese Himalayas and the Patkai Hills, standing in the way. People died like flies while building the road, as it spans an area that is highly malarial. By the time they finished, the war was over, and today the steel bridges still hang undisturbed over winding rivers. The road is now so overgrown with plants that it is essentially a narrow mule path winding across the lofty mountains. Only a few drivers from Shinbwayang are prepared to take on this sort of challenge. People hire them to transport goods all the way to the Indian border at the Pangsau Pass, which is where I was heading. Traveling with my guide, I was unsure what I would find. We asked people where we could find an old Naga shaman, since many old shamans used to be chief headhunters. I lost hope after someone in a village told me the last shaman from Pangsau died two years ago. In every place we stopped, the villagers appeared to have given up their traditional costumes. Nobody wore loinclothes with traditional bells. But their huts appeared to have hardly changed over the years, with one exception: These days, there are no longer small human skulls hanging on the outer walls. Naga chief headhunters were legendary figures, inspiring terror among neighbouring tribes, travelers, missionaries and soldiers. My guide, a delegate of the tourism ministry, said the Naga stopped cutting off heads in the 1960s, when the military regime took control of their territory and made headhunting punishable by law. Christian missionaries had earlier campaigned against the practice. However, I heard another version of the story as well. According to Shan people from nearby Hukawng Valley who venture into Naga territory in search of wild elephants, which they domesticate, headhunting is alive and well. "If you don't warn them and you take away an elephant without their consent, they'll cut off your head," one Shan person warned. From Naymung, in Sagaing Division, my guide and I set off westward along a new dirt road, which led to the town of Lahe. The government built the road two years ago, and it still isn't ready to use: In many places, it's like a mountain track. But thanks to its presence, new technology and western culture are rapidly infiltrating the hill tribes. Corporations and armed groups have their eyes on the valuable timber and natural resources here, and the government faces a major task of protecting this wildlife reserve and the dying local cultures. Eventually, my guide and I reached another village, Cheme Khuk. My permits did not allow me to travel there officially, but I managed to convince some local authorities to let me visit. Nevertheless, they sent police officers on motorbikes to follow me. The village, on a valley at the foot of a steep hill, looked utopian. Rows of huts were surrounded by waves of greenery. Suddenly, however, a disturbance broke the peace. "Look over there, a naked man!" my guide yelled. "He saw us and ran into that hut." Separately, we saw a group of people coming toward us, walking single file in a line. They wore caps decorated with animal horns and they carried weapons. I was dumbstruck, as they stood there in front of us without saying a word or cracking a smile. They all had lips as black as coal from a root they chewed nonstop as a stimulant—quite distinct from the betel nut that is so popular elsewhere in Burma. "Man, you've got incredible luck!" my guide told me. Much to my surprise, one of the men in line was an old Naga chief headhunter. He had traveled here with elders from a village deep inside the jungle, five days away on foot. The half-naked man who had run into the hut was the oldest Naga of them all. "They came here to visit their sons and families. They're spending a few weeks here and then going back again," my guide said. That evening we met for a communal supper at the home of the village's Naga pastor. We sat around a bonfire, eating chicken and rice spiced with chilli while drinking green tea. The headhunter said he had not seen a foreigner since helping to rescue the pilot as a boy, though he had later visited a village where he saw foreigners on television. Telling his story, he wore a tiger skin cap adorned with bird feathers and deer antlers. His nephew had given him the tiger skin. The world's biggest so-called tiger conservation area, the Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve, sits in Naga territory. "Today there are fewer and fewer of them. The Lisu tribes hunt them for trade," the headhunter told me, referring to another ethnic group. "The Naga feel a spiritual tie with the tiger," he added. 'They believe tigers understand human speech. In each village there is someone with a tiger's soul. Killing a tiger means his death, too." But if a particular tiger is attacking people or cattle, the Naga decide to hunt, often at night. After establishing its position, I was told, a large group of villagers and hunters encircle the animal, usually trapping it near a stream where they had earlier set a cage-like trap. As they tighten the circle, getting closer and closer, the tiger may attempt to seek refuge in the cage, and when he does one of the most skilled hunters attacks. Spears were used in the old days, but guns are more common today. The man who kills the tiger is rewarded with half its jaw, while the other half goes to the owner of the cow that had been eaten by the tiger before its death. The chief headhunter was also wearing bands of ivory drawn tight over his muscles. In the past, he said, the Naga also hunted elephants with heated spears. But only the elders ate the elephant and tiger meat. "The Naga never hunt for money, or for no reason," he said. When I finally built up the courage to ask about hunting human heads, his response made my cheeks flush. "We fought most of our battles with the Kachin, who occupied our land," he said. "To this day, there are heaps of boulders in the jungle where the biggest battle took place. We cut off as many heads as there are rocks." They set ambushes, he said. "We took knives and machetes into battle, and brought the cut-off heads back to the village. Then there was a big celebration. "In one cauldron we boiled the human heads, and in another an ox for the feast. We hung the boiled, dried-out heads above the doors and on the walls of our houses. A captured head brought a Naga glory and respect." As we left the village at dawn, I asked one of the other Naga men what had become of all those heads from so many villages. Had they been buried? "They started taking them away and throwing them into the jungle," he said. One day, perhaps somebody will come upon them. Please contact the writer if you have information about the fate of the soldier in the headhunter's story. This article was translated from Polish to English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. The post 'The Last Headhunter' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 15 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT  Myanmar Rice Federation Chairman Chit Khine. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Since Myanmar's current government took power three years ago, the country's rice exports have steadily increased. Now no longer confined to markets in Asia and Africa, Myanmar's rice is increasingly finding its way to the West, including the United States and the European Union. Recently, The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Hsu Mon had a chance to speak with U Chit Khine, the chairman of the Myanmar Rice Federation, about the outlook for an industry in which Myanmar was once a key international player. Question: What is your role as the chairman of the Myanmar Rice Federation? Answer: As chairman of the Myanmar Rice Federation, and also as head of Mapco [the Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation], my role is to do whatever I can to improve Myanmar's rice industry. Q:What is Myanmar's ranking among rice-exporting countries? A: Myanmar is still behind Thailand, Vietnam and India as an exporter of rice. Last year, we exported just 1.5 million tons, and this year will probably be less, because we need to rebuild our rice-cultivation system and improve our milling system. Those are challenges for us. Myanmar's advantage is that we have GSP [Generalized System of Preferences, a preferential tariff system that provides for formal exemption from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization] status for export products. This means that we are in a good position to compete if we can improve the quality of our rice. At present, our main market is southern Africa, but demand there is decreasing, so we need to find new markets. That means we have to change our entire process of producing and exporting rice. Since 2009, many rice-related companies have been involved in helping to improve the industry. The federation is also teaching farmers about the different kinds of seed. Even if we improve the milling process, the quality will still suffer if the rice we are growing is not very good. Until now, we've only had low-quality rice to sell, but we're looking to change that. Last year, we exported 5,000 tons to Japan, and this year we will increase that to 6,000 tons. This is just a first step toward winning the trust of markets in other developed countries. Q: Many farmers in Myanmar are struggling financially. What can be done about this? A: First we need to get their debts under control by offering insurance to reduce risk. We also offer awareness training. Another problem they face is a shortage of workers in the paddy fields, so we make mechanized farming equipment available to them on a rental basis. We are also collecting data about how many rice mills there are in Myanmar, so we can assess their needs. The government could also help, for example by enacting a land law. Q: What kinds of problems do rice traders face? A: Transport costs are a major problem that cuts into the profitability of rice-trading. For example, even if we sell rice for US$400 a ton, we will earn 20 percent less than a rice trader in another country [selling for the same price] because of high shipping costs here. The reason for that is the long waiting time at ports in Myanmar, especially during the rainy season. To address this problem, we need to improve port facilities. That's why Mapco is building a grain terminal at Thilawa port, which will be completed in late 2015. Q: What are the major international markets for Myanmar's rice? A: Until recently, we relied mostly on markets in southern Africa, but these days we are expanding to other areas, such as Russia, the EU, Singapore and Japan. Q: What is the current situation with regard to exports to the EU and US? A: We are just starting to export there, but we need to upgrade our rice mills to improve the quality of the rice. The EU market now welcomes our rice exports and will import more in the coming season. Q: What are the main rice-producing areas in Myanmar? A: Ayeyarwady Region is still the top rice producer. Bago Region and Mon State are also important rice-producing areas, and Sagaing Region has the potential to become one in the future. Q: Why is there still very little interest among foreign investors in Myanmar's agriculture sector? A: Some investors are starting to take an interest, but they are learning that there are a number of problems affecting this sector, such as the lack of transportation and power infrastructure, and land disputes. President U TheinSein has called for the cultivation of the new Pearl Thwe paddy seeds for the export market, but so far with little success. Why is that? It's a complicated issue. There have been demonstrations of hybrid paddy cultivation in Naypyitaw, but for farmers, it's all new. So there needs to be awareness training for the farmers, and also financial and other support. Because the cultivation cost is much higher, it would be good if the government provided loans. Q: What else can the government do to assist the agriculture industry? A: Parliament has recently approved laws that will protect farmers' interests, such as rules and regulations affecting land mortgages, credit loads and long- and short-term credit. If it also passed laws on agriculture insurance, it would benefit farmers greatly. This interview first appeared in the May 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Ready for a Rice Renaissance? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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