| Mandalay Students Go Green Posted: 18 Jun 2014 05:22 AM PDT  Students at the Phaung Daw Oo monastic school receive reusable plastic water bottles as part of the 'Green Campus' Initiative. (Photo: Facebook / Green Campus Initiative) RANGOON — A project to educate Burma's students about the environment and teach them ways to reduce their individual carbon footprints was launched in Mandalay on Monday, an organizer said. "Students are young. We hope if we guide their behavior from a young age, they will maintain the environment when they are older and they can participate actively in their later years. So we are targeting students," Win Lai Lai, an organizer and project coordinator, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. The so-called "Green Campus" Initiative is being funded by the University of Montana in the United States, and organized by Burmese university students who participated in an environmentally centered course through the US State Department's Study of the United States Institutes (SUSIs) Student Leaders program. Win Lai Lai said the project was launched in Mandalay because there was a relative dearth of environmental groups working in Burma's second city compared with Rangoon. "We are starting at Phaung Daw Oo monastic high school, which has around 2,000 students. We are giving reusable water containers to the students and holding trainings, discussions and workshops on environmental education by inviting guest environmentalists," she said. Win Lai Lai said getting permission from the government to implement the project at state schools and universities was expected to be a long and difficult process, so organizers had decided that the Green Campus pilot was best implemented at a monastic school first. There are plans to hold a debate about environmental issues at Mandalay Technological University and to implement programs in other townships. "We will give trainings to teachers from monastic schools in Mingun town in Sagaing Region [Division]. Our intention is to be a 'Green Campus,' which means the whole school compound is clean with no littering and a green mindset," she said. "The country's awareness concerning the environment is still weak and environmental issues take a backseat to other issues," she added. While awareness may be low, environmental protests have proven to be some of the most vocal and successful campaigns undertaken in Burma in recent years. Construction of the controversial Myitsone dam was suspended following a popular outcry over its environmental impacts, and environmental complaints related to the Letpadaung mining project have prompted the mine's operator to revise its contract to put US$2 million annually toward environmental conservation. In the latter case, however, local residents continue to insist that the project be shut down. The post Mandalay Students Go Green appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Repatriation of Burmese Refugees Discussed by NGOs, Thai Authorities Posted: 18 Jun 2014 05:18 AM PDT  A Karenni refugee waits while cooking his dinner at Ban Mae Surin refugee camp in Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Thai authorities and representatives of NGOs including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are holding a three-day meeting in Mae Sot, Thailand, to discuss repatriation plans for more than 130,000 Burmese refugees on the Thai-Burma border. The meetings began on Tuesday and are being led by Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), with representatives from four provinces, including Tak Province, where the biggest refugee camp, Mae La, is located. ISOC official Col. Trasan Saeng Siriran said during the meeting that Thailand had been hosting Burmese refugees for about three decades and was eager for cooperation on the issue of repatriation. There are nine Burmese refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border, where an estimated 130,000 refugees live after fleeing their homes in Burma due to civil war between the Burmese government army and the ethnic armed groups. Since 2012, the Burmese government and most ethnic armed groups have signed bilateral ceasefire agreements. Now, amid ongoing negotiations for a nationwide ceasefire accord, Thai authorities are advocating for the eventual return of Burmese refugees to their homeland. However, a majority of refugees say they do not want to return at the moment due to safety concerns, with fears that peace talks might break down at any time. Thai authorities invited the UNHCR and NGOs to join the meeting in Mae Sot, but other community-based refugee organizations including the Karen Refugee Committee (KRC) were reportedly not included, nor were representatives from the nine camps. Saw Honest, chairman of the Mae La refugee camp, which is home to more than 40,000 people, said no representatives from his camp had been invited by Thai authorities. "We knew about the meeting in Mae Sot but we were not asked to join. I asked KRC and they said they also did not know about the meeting," he told The Irrawaddy. He added that NGOs, including the UNHCR, often asked camp leaders which conditions will be necessary for refugees to return home. "Visitors ask us, what do we need to return home? We tell them that we need skills and work in order to make a living when we return. We have not been informed about the date of repatriation," he said. The UNHCR and other NGOs invited to attend the three days of meetings could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. The post Repatriation of Burmese Refugees Discussed by NGOs, Thai Authorities appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Think-Tank Calls for Quota to Boost Women’s Role in Burmese Politics Posted: 18 Jun 2014 12:02 AM PDT  Panelists at a briefing of a new study about women's participation in governance in Rangoon on Tuesday. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — New research reaffirms that women's participation in decision-making processes is still low in Burma, and calls for a quota system to increase their representation in governance. Burma ranks the lowest of all Southeast Asian countries for women's representation in governance, and 170th of 185 selected countries worldwide, according to the Myanmar Development Resource Institute (MDRI), a government-affiliated think-tank. In a study from February to May, with interviews conducted in Karen and Kachin states as well as Rangoon and Naypyidaw divisions, researchers found there were no women were leading township-level administration, while only 0.11 percent of village heads were women. Most of these women were working in Karen State, in the country's southeast. The study found that only 4.42 percent of lawmakers in the Union Parliament were women, compared with 2.83 percent of lawmakers in state and divisional parliaments. During a briefing on the study in Rangoon on Tuesday, researcher Paul Minoletti said the findings highlighted long-rooted gender inequality in the country, and he recommended using a quota system to promote women's participation in governance. "Serious consideration should be given to the introduction of a quota system, as a means to raise participation from the currently very low levels," he said. "Within subnational government, the elected position of state and region MPs, and of village and ward administrators, would seem to be most obvious ones where a quota system could be introduced. International experience shows the success of quotas in raising women's participating and ensuring government becomes more responsive to the needs of women and the preferences of women." He added that any quota system would need to be designed carefully to suit Burma's needs, as quota systems have been successful in some countries but less successful in others. About 50 academics and members of civil society groups as well as NGOs attended the briefing, which also included discussions on cultural and religious norms, education, health and media. Nyo Nyo Thin, a lawmaker in the Rangoon divisional parliament representing Bahan Township, said she supported a quota system to help women reach leadership positions. "Women are much more qualified than people think," she said. In Burma, she added, "women are not favored by the [political] system, and their weakness is that they are not interested in taking [leadership] positions but instead ready to serve others." Kim Ninh, the Burma country representative at The Asia Foundation, said the findings would hopefully provide a platform for broader discussion of gender issues in the country. The MDRI is a non-government research institute founded by advisors to the Burmese president. The post Think-Tank Calls for Quota to Boost Women's Role in Burmese Politics appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Community-Based Ecotourism Project Launched at Indawgyi Lake Posted: 17 Jun 2014 11:01 PM PDT  Brown-headed gulls at Shwemyintzu Pagoda at Indawgyi Lake in Kachin State. (Photo: Bjorn Olesen/FFI) Conservation group Flora and Fauna International (FFI) and the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry, and the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism announced that they have agreed to implement a community-based tourism project at Indawgyi Lake in central Kachin State. "[C]reating a responsible, sustainable tourism strategy that involved and engaged local communities could prevent mistakes that have been made during the development of other regions, including Inle Lake, that can lead to serious environmental degradation," a joint a press release said on Tuesday. "This program can help to support everyone who lives here and is a good example for other communities in the country," Deputy Minister of Hotels and Tourism Sai Kyaw Ohne said. Last year, FFI organized a local workshop that created a community group, called 'Inn Chit Thu – Lovers of Indawgyi', that aims to support local livelihoods through the development of ecotourism. Young villagers were trained in ecotourism and provided with kayaks and mountain bikes that can be rented to tourists to explore the lake and its surrounding forests. International tourist visits to the lake, the biggest in Burma, have since increased but the number remains small, FFI said. "Indawgyi Lake is still in a pristine state with thousands of migratory birds arriving each winter from their long journey starting in Siberia for resting and wintering in Indawgyi, turning the lake into a heaven for bird watchers and nature tourists," the group said. The post Community-Based Ecotourism Project Launched at Indawgyi Lake appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma Rejects US Call on Constitutional Reform Posted: 17 Jun 2014 10:42 PM PDT  A member of Parliament from the military holds a copy of the Constitution as he speaks to other fellow MPs during a Parliament meeting in Naypyidaw on April 24, 2012. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) WASHINGTON — The United States says Burma should reform its Constitution to allow its citizens a free choice over who should be its next president, but Burma's government said Tuesday that is none of Washington's business. A parliamentary committee in Burma last week voted against changing a constitutional clause that bars opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president. National elections are due in 2015. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that enabling the Burmese people to freely choose who they want to lead them in the next phase of its democratic transition will help to ensure stability. "We believe constitutional reform should pave the way for the Burmese to freely choose their president in a free and fair 2015 election," Psaki said in a written response to a question posed at a news briefing Monday. Reform should also address ethnic minority rights and decrease the role of active-duty military in political structures, she said. In response, Burma's presidential spokesman Ye Htut said Tuesday it's the responsibility of Burma's Parliament and people to decide how the Constitution should be amended. "It is not the concern of the United States. It is inappropriate for us to tell how the U.S. should amend their constitution and likewise the U.S should not dictate how it should be amended," he told The Associated Press by email. That testy response reflects signs of fraying in the US-Burma relationship. Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been a staunch supporter of President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government as he steers the Southeast Asian nation from decades of oppressive military rule. The United States has restored full diplomatic relations and rolled back sanctions, helping Burma to shake off its pariah status. But the United States has also been critical of the government's response to bouts of anti-Muslim violence in the predominantly Buddhist nation. Last week the State Department voiced serious concerns about proposals to criminalize interfaith marriage. The current constitution gives the military an effective veto over constitutional amendments, and includes a clause that 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. If the parliamentary committee's recommendation is endorsed by the full Parliament, it is likely to have a significant impact on the 2015 election. 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 backers may flag in their support. Suu Kyi is widely respected in Washington because of her long and peaceful struggle against military rule. She spent years under house arrest before her release in 2010 and election to Parliament in 2012. Aye Aye Win reported from Rangoon. The post Burma Rejects US Call on Constitutional Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Rohingya Camps in ‘Appalling Conditions,’ UN Official Says Posted: 17 Jun 2014 10:29 PM PDT  A boy holds his severely malnourished sibling in his room at the Dar Paing camp for internally displaced people in Sittwe on April 24, 2014. Restrictions on international aid have exacerbated a growing health crisis among stateless Muslim Rohingya in western Burma. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — A senior UN aid official says Rohingya Muslims are living in "appalling conditions" at relief camps in Arakan State, two years after sectarian violence left more than 120,000 people homeless. Kyung-Wha Kang, the UN deputy emergency relief coordinator, visited the western Burmese state last week to investigate ongoing humanitarian challenges there. "I witnessed a level of human suffering in IDP camps that I have personally never seen before, with men, women, and children living in appalling conditions with severe restrictions on their freedom of movement, both in camps and isolated villages. Many people have wholly inadequate access to basic services including health, education, water and sanitation," she told reporters in New York on Tuesday. She called on the Burmese government to bring to justice the perpetrators who attacked aid organizations earlier this year, disrupting vital health and humanitarian services. "Humanitarian workers in Rakhine [Arakan] are carrying out their work under extremely difficult circumstances and I was humbled by their commitment to stay and deliver. However, unless the Myanmar [Burmese] authorities ensure that the perpetrators of the attacks on UN and NGO premises in late March are brought to justice, the safety and security of our staff will continue to be at risk," she said. Aung Win, a Muslim rights activist in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, said Kang met with community leaders in the city's Aung Mingalar Quarter, where more than 5,000 Muslims are confined by security forces. "She said she was very concerned about our situation because she could see we are living in crowded conditions," he told The Irrawaddy. Kang also visited Kachin State on the third anniversary of renewed fighting between government troops and an ethnic Kachin armed group. More than 100,000 civilians have also been displaced in this conflict since 2011, and many are staying at shelters in rebel-held areas, where access to international humanitarian aid is limited. "I was only able to visit an IDP camp in the government-controlled area, but I met local NGO staff who are central to humanitarian work in areas held by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)," Kang said. "Access by international humanitarian organizations is improving through cross-line missions but aid agencies need regular, predictable, and sustained access to all IDPs." In Naypyidaw, Kang met with the vice president, the minister of foreign affairs, the deputy minister of border affairs and the minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement. "I reiterated the UN's commitment to support the government's efforts to meet humanitarian needs and reminded them of their responsibility to bring the perpetrators of the March attacks to justice," she said. The post Rohingya Camps in 'Appalling Conditions,' UN Official Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Yangon’s Pedal Power Posted: 17 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT  Side cars provide a vital service for Yangon residents traveling short distances. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — Want a lift? In other countries, they're called trishaws, cycle rickshaws, cyclos, pedicabs, or even bike taxis, but here in Myanmar, they go by just one name: side cars. In a city where traffic seems to grow more congested by the day, the continued presence of so many side cars (or "sai kaa," as it is pronounced in Myanmar) is a reminder that not so long ago, Yangon moved at a very different pace. These days, side cars cling tenaciously to a niche market that is not well-served by other forms of transportation—namely, market vendors and others who need to move small but heavy loads over short distances, moms and kids on the way to and from school, and grandmothers running out of puff. Side cars have been a part of life in cities and towns since at least the 1930s. These days, it costs around 7,000 kyats (US$7) for an annual permit to run a side-car. Some drivers own their vehicles, while others rent them. U Maung Chit Oo, 40, has covered a lot of ground during his 20 years "in the seat." He makes most of his money transporting bags of rice, vegetables and other goods to the Pazundaung Zay and Bogalay Zay markets and taking children to school. "Once, two foreigners asked me to take them to Kandawgyi Lake [from Strand Road] and I did it for 3,000 kyats. That was the longest trip I've done," says the former civil-servant who started out driving side cars part-time. "I like this work because I get paid every day. Other work, the money comes month by month, and that's too hard to manage. It's not a regular income, but I can usually get between 5,000 and 7,000 kyats a day," he says. Though he's proud of the fact that he has been able to support his family this way, U Maung Chit Oo says he doesn't see much of a future in his chosen line of work. "I wouldn't want my son to do this for a living," he says, before adding: "Anyway, he's in his third year at university now, studying to be an engineer." Modest though it may seem to the untrained eye, the side car industry provides not just a highly valued service, but also much-needed employment. Besides a small army of drivers, there are also many mechanics who help to keep the city's aging fleet creaking along. Seated cross-legged under the shade of one of the few remaining big trees on Strand Road, Zimbo is an expert in side car maintenance. Surrounded by plastic jars containing valves, washers, nuts, bolts, pumps and rubber inner tubes, he has been running his open-air repair shop at this location for seven years. Previously, he worked at another spot on 44th Street for the same number of years, and before that, he spent 15 years on 45th Street. Each move has been a push, a result of being squeezed out of his rent-free space. As a small-business operator, he'll take on any job, great or small. He works from 9 am to 9 pm, servicing around 15 bicycles and side cars and earning about 10,000 kyats a day. "This is okay money for the family. But I'm very tired and my legs are not great these days, from long periods of sitting," says the 50-year-old Mawlamyine native, who has been fixing bikes and side cars since 1980. For drivers, side car driving is becoming much less appealing as Yangon is not as navigable as it was when cars were relatively few and far between. "Nowadays there are more cars, and sometimes we have to wait ages at the traffic lights," says U Maung Chit Oo, adding that knowing short cuts and which roads to take is crucial to a successful career as a side car driver. And you have to be tough. As driver Aung Naing humps huge slabs of concrete from the new pavement outside the High Court onto his trishaw, his rough hands tell a story of a life of hard physical labor. Independent business owner though he is, it's a challenge to manage the hand-to-mouth existence. After loading three of the chunks of cement onto his rickety trishaw, Aung Naing slumps down to rest before heading off. Grabbing for his leaf-pack of betel he explains, "This life is okay, just okay." The alternative is construction work, but he prefers to work in his own time and be his own man. Whatever changes may come to Yangon, however, it seems likely that side cars will remain a part of life here for some time to come. Perhaps it's worth noting that trishaws are now a feature of tourism in places like New York and London. Tourists like the charm of this environmentally-friendly, slow-paced mode for short sightseeing trips. Perhaps trishaw heritage tours will be next in Yangon? This article first appeared in the June 2014 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Yangon's Pedal Power appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| The Reach of Rangoon River Posted: 17 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT  A boat ride across Rangoon River. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Named after the city that she curves around, Rangoon River contributes much to the day-to-day lives of more than 6 million people living in Burma's biggest city and its neighboring areas. As Rangoon's only maritime gateway to the sea, the river is home to Burma's largest ports, which handle about 90 percent of the country's exports and imports. It also allows for the transportation of goods from Burma's rice bowl in the Irrawaddy delta. Many residents in Dala, a river town on the opposite side of Rangoon, take a ferry to work. With no bridge to connect the former capital with its neighboring sleepy river town, crowds wait on the quay for ferries every morning. About 30,000 people rely daily on two government-owned ferries, the Kyan Sit Khar and Anawyahta, according to the state-owned Inland Water Transport firm. For commuters in a hurry, smaller wooden boats with onboard diesel engine are another option. Apart from transportation, the river is a source of income for those living nearby, including fishermen. Divers also salvage sunken boats and ships near the confluence where the Bago and Rangoon rivers meet. The post The Reach of Rangoon River appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Thailand’s War-Weary Southerners Fear Coup Will Erode New Freedoms Posted: 17 Jun 2014 10:33 PM PDT  Wanahmad Wankuejik, director of the community radio station Media Selatan, broadcasts at his studio in Pattani on June 5, 2014. (Photo: Andrew R.C. Marshall / Reuters) PATTANI, Thailand — They talked about corruption and politics, about healthcare and women's rights, about the anxiety of bringing up children in a corner of Thailand where war has killed 6,000 people in the last decade. Then they fell silent. For years, Media Selatan was one of the most popular community radio stations in Thailand's three southernmost provinces, where Muslim separatists have fought government troops since 2004. But when the Thai military seized power in a May 22 coup, it ordered the closure of thousands of independent stations nationwide—Media Selatan among them. The Malay-language station—its name means "Southern Media"—was more than a public forum for a war-weary people. It had also come to symbolize a flowering of political expression among the south's Malay-speaking Muslims, who live in a country dominated by Thai-speaking Buddhists, since abortive peace talks last year. Many southerners now fear the military will use the coup to roll back hard-won freedoms. "It's like closing the eyes and ears of the people," said Wanahmad Wankuejik, director of Media Selatan, of his station's closure. Civil society groups also voiced concerns that a recent purge of senior officials and the arrival of a hardline military commander could exacerbate what is already one of Southeast Asia's deadliest unresolved conflicts. On May 24, a rare series of bombings in Pattani's provincial capital, also called Pattani, killed three people, wounded dozens and triggered fears that post-coup violence might soar. Bangkok Preoccupied Annexed by Thailand a century ago, the south has long simmered under the neglectful rule of distant Bangkok. The latest and most serious violence erupted in the early 2000s, with a thousands-strong network of elusive militants battling at least 60,000 soldiers, police and paramilitary forces. Reports of gunfights, drive-by shootings, beheadings and bombings are near-daily events. Martial law, declared last month in the rest of Thailand, has been in place in Pattani and neighboring Narathiwat and Yala provinces for almost a decade. Most governments—and most Thais—have been too preoccupied by political unrest elsewhere in their country to pay much attention to the so-called Deep South. The military staged its May coup after six months of sometimes deadly street protests, the latest flare-up in a 10-year conflict between the Bangkok-based royalist establishment and mostly rural "red-shirt" supporters of ousted premier Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother Thaksin. Before the crisis erupted, Yingluck's government had last year begun peace talks with the insurgent group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Revolutionary Front, or BRN) in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The talks soon foundered, but not before fostering an increasingly assertive civil society of activists, journalists, students and lawyers. They have spoken out against human rights abuses and pushed for greater recognition for the Malay language, culture and religion. Since taking power, the military has carried out what one senior police officer described to Reuters as a "systematic purge" of officials considered loyal to Thaksin or Yingluck. One was Thawee Sodsong, the ex-director of the Southern Border Provinces Administration Center (SBPAC), which oversees civilian administration in the region. Thawee was popular among Malay Muslims for handing out cash to conflict victims and investigating suspected abuses by Thai security forces. Just two days after the coup, he was transferred to an inactive post and replaced with Panu Uthairat, a former SBPAC chief with close ties to Thailand's royalist and military establishment. Of more concern to civil society groups is Lt-Gen Walit Rojanaphakdee, the new commander of the Fourth Army, which controls southern Thailand. Walit was appointed in a military reshuffle almost two months before the coup. Like junta chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, he belongs to the military's "Eastern Tigers" or Queens Guard faction, which was instrumental in both last month's coup and the one in 2006 that removed Thaksin. In 2010, Walit was wounded—and his aide killed—in an April 10 clash with red-shirt protesters in Bangkok. He then commanded the Second Infantry Division, which played a central role in a military crackdown in which more than 90 people were killed. Walit was likely to "reinforce the military's current playbook" by boosting intelligence-gathering and launching more frequent raids on insurgent hideouts, said Anthony Davis, a Thailand-based analyst at security consulting firm IHS Jane's. Or he could resurrect "more aggressive counter-insurgency methods" last deployed in 2007 and 2008, said Davis. Back then, hundreds of Malay Muslim suspects were detained in large-scale military operations that fueled local grievances but had little long-term impact on the violence. "Either way, it will not be business as usual," said Davis. The junta was highly unlikely to revive peace talks with BRN insurgents in the coming months, he added. Winning Hearts and Minds Aggressive methods could escalate the conflict beyond the southern region to tourist areas. Hat Yai, the closest major city to the three southernmost provinces at the heart of the conflict, has already endured many deadly bomb attacks. Police on the resort island of Phuket found and disarmed a car-bomb in December. "Peace talks are still on our agenda," said deputy army spokesman Col. Weerachon Sukondhapatipak, adding the military government was devising a plan to "bring all stakeholders together." "We still believe that to solve the problem of the Deep South we must win hearts and minds," he said. Even so, many journalists and activists are braced for the worst. A week after the coup, Gen. Walit summoned journalists to his army base and warned them that publishing "negative" stories about the military carried a two-year jail sentence. Many actions taken by the coupmakers to suppress political dissent in Thailand are grimly familiar to southern Muslims. In the past month, hundreds of politicians and activists have been detained without charge at army camps, with some undergoing what the authorities call "attitude adjustment." In the past decade, thousands of Malay Muslims have been detained and sometimes tortured by the military for suspected insurgent links, or forced to attend "re-education" programs. The army's post-coup campaign to "bring back happiness to the Thai people" by staging festivals elicits groans of recognition in the south, where a bid to win hearts and minds has been undermined by human rights abuses by security forces. "The military is now using the Pattani model against all Thais," said a Malay-Muslim reporter who, fearing military harassment, requested anonymity. "My friends in Bangkok tell me, 'Now we know what it's like to live there.'" The post Thailand's War-Weary Southerners Fear Coup Will Erode New Freedoms appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Top China Diplomat Meets Vietnamese Officials Amid Tensions Over Oil Rig Posted: 17 Jun 2014 09:55 PM PDT  Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the Government's Guesthouse in Hanoi on Wednesday. (Photo: Reuters) HANOI — China's top diplomat began a round of meetings with Vietnamese officials in Hanoi on Wednesday as the two countries try to repair a rupture in ties over China's positioning of an oil rig in disputed waters early last month. But many obstacles remain to resolving one of the worst breakdowns in Sino-Vietnamese relations since the neighbors fought a brief border war in 1979. Among the challenges likely to come up in talks: The continued presence of the rig in South China Sea waters claimed by both countries as well as Beijing's demand for compensation in the wake of anti-Chinese riots that erupted in Vietnam in the days after the drilling platform was deployed. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, who outranks the foreign minister, first met Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. The two officials shook hands in front of reporters without smiling and said little before the media was ushered out of the room at a government guesthouse. Outside the building, neither country's national flag was flying, as is customary when senior foreign visitors attend meetings in Hanoi. Yang will later hold talks with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as well as the head of Vietnam's ruling communist party before attending a dinner hosted by Minh. No news conferences are planned. Yang's visit is the highest-level direct contact between the two sides since the rig was parked 240 km (150 miles) off the coast of Vietnam on May 2. Vietnam says the platform is in its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and on its continental shelf. China has said the rig is operating completely within its waters. Sino-Vietnamese ties have been largely frozen since early May, with both sides accusing the other of inflaming the situation. Dozens of Vietnamese and Chinese coastguard and fishing vessels have repeatedly squared off around the rig, resulting in a number of rammings and collisions. Vietnam's official Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said Chinese ships did little to try to impede Vietnamese boats in the area on Tuesday. It quoted a senior Vietnamese naval official as saying the Chinese ships had been less aggressive, suggesting an effort to dial down tensions on the water ahead of Yang's visit. Not Always Neighborly While communist parties rule both countries and trade has taken off in recent years, Vietnam has long been suspicious of its giant neighbor, especially over China's claims to almost the entire South China Sea. Ordinary Vietnamese are also quickly angered by any perceived bullying from China. The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the potentially energy-rich waters. The Haiyang Shiyou 981 rig is drilling between the Paracel Islands, which are occupied by China, and the Vietnamese coast. Its deployment triggered anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam in which four people were killed during a rampage of destruction and looting of factories believed to be owned by Chinese companies. Many of the factories were Taiwanese-owned. Vietnam detained several hundred people in the aftermath of the violence. Around a dozen people have been tried and given jail terms of up to three years. Prime Minister Dung last month said his government was considering taking legal action against China. That drew an angry response from Beijing. China has said the rig will explore until mid-August. It has a good chance of finding enough gas to put the area into production, Chinese industry experts have said. Additional reporting by Reuters reporter Nguyen Ha Minh. The post Top China Diplomat Meets Vietnamese Officials Amid Tensions Over Oil Rig appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Cambodian Workers’ Return From Thailand Not Smooth Posted: 17 Jun 2014 09:50 PM PDT  Cambodian workers travel by train as they prepare to migrate back to Cambodia at Aranyaprathet train station in Sa Kaew on June 15, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha) POIPET, Cambodia — As the number of Cambodian workers returning home under pressure from Thailand approached 200,000 on Tuesday, the returnees made troubling allegations about their treatment by Thai authorities. While rumors of beatings and even killings by the Thai military have not been confirmed, several returnees have told of being extorted by soldiers or having relatives taken away, with their whereabouts still unknown. Thailand's military has been running the country since staging a coup on May 22. Martial law remains in force nationwide. It announced soon after the takeover it would crack down on the illegal employment of undocumented foreign workers, who number in the hundreds of thousands. They come mainly from the poorer neighboring countries of Cambodia and Burma and fill low-paying jobs in industry and services shunned by Thais. Banteay Meanchey province governor Kor Samsarouet said Tuesday some 190,000 Cambodians workers had returned home this month, most through the checkpoint at Poipet. Thai authorities have asserted that there has been no abuse involved in the repatriation of Cambodians, and that they left voluntarily, panicked by stories that some of their compatriots had been shot, or that they may be arrested. Some left after dismissal by their Thai employers, themselves liable to legal penalties for hiring them. Underlying workers' suspicions is bad blood between the two nations. Cambodians resent their bigger, richer neighbor, whose people they consider arrogant. The two nations have had several armed skirmishes in the past decade over disputed border territory, and Thai army and paramilitary rangers have been accused of shooting dead Cambodians who were allegedly logging illegally on the frontier. Thailand's foreign ministry has said there have been no deportations or forced repatriations of foreign workers. But comments by other officials are more nuanced, distinguishing between those who are working legally and those who are not among the Cambodian worker population, which may number as many as 400,000. "There is no policy to round up migrant workers but if the authorities find illegal workers, then they must repatriate them," Thai Labor Ministry Deputy Permanent Puntrik Smiti said Monday. Several returned workers interviewed in Poipet confirmed fear had been their motivation to leave. But others spoke of problems with Thai authorities. Sary Muy Huy, 43, said she had been waiting at the border checkpoint for three days, scanning the Thai trucks that arrive and discharge groups of returnees. She said her 25-year-old son went to work a month ago at a construction site in Sa Kaeo province in eastern Thailand. She said that on the afternoon of June 9, he called to tell her, "Mom, I have been arrested by Thai soldiers." "Since then I have not heard any news from him," she said. Pen Thea has been waiting for two days for her 28-year-old son, who worked illegally at the same construction site in Sa Kaeo. She had also been working there, one among about 100 Cambodians, when a group of Thai soldiers arrived. "When those soldiers arrived at our work site, they asked us if any Cambodians worked here. We replied, 'Yeah, all of us are Cambodian,'" she said. The soldiers asked them to stop working and told the women workers to pack their things for leaving Thailand, she said, and ordered the men to come with them. Her 28-year-old son and 42 other Cambodian men were loaded on to pickup trucks that then drove away. Pen Thea said she was too scared to ask the soldiers to let her son go because they looked tough. "For the two days I have been here, I have seen many people, but not my son," she said. "I am very worried for his safety. I cannot sleep or eat for the moment because I am thinking about his fate." Another woman who was returning home, 36-year-old Hem Pong, said she left Thailand voluntarily, but still met with trouble. She said Thai officers near the border—she wasn't sure if they were soldiers or military police—told her and the people she was with that they would each have to have their thumb prints taken and pay 500 baht ($15.41). She paid. "If we didn't pay them, we would be dragged off and sent to Bangkok," said the mother of two young boys. Fear motivated Seng Soeun, 27, who had been working in construction in Thailand's prosperous Chonburi province for three months. He said that on Friday, his boss told him that it was no longer safe for illegal Cambodian workers. He said they were welcome to take the risk of staying, but he could not guarantee their security. "When I heard his words, I was shocked, and thought I would be arrested if I continued to live in Thailand because I am an illegal worker," he said, grasping the side of a Cambodian army truck that was taking him farther along his journey home to Cambodia's Kampong Speu province. He and some friends hid in a forest in Chonburi for three nights, sleeping in hammocks. "In the forest I could not sleep well because I was worried about running away if Thai solders or military police approached us," he said. "When we heard dogs barking, all of us woke up and got ready to run." They slipped out to a market only at night or early morning to get food. He said that even if he could do so legally, he had decided he would not return to Thailand. "In Thailand, life is better than in Cambodia, in terms of earning money," he said. "But I am Cambodian, I cannot speak Thai, so my life is at risk." The post Cambodian Workers' Return From Thailand Not Smooth appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
