| Burma’s Time Bomb Posted: 18 Jul 2014 05:53 AM PDT  Police patrol the streets of Mandalay after an outbreak of inter-communal violence. (Photo: Teza Hleing / The Irrawaddy) Religious prejudice continues to endanger Burma. Recently, deadly clashes of Muslim and Buddhist mobs in Mandalay, the country's second-biggest city, showed once again just how explosive the tensions between both faiths have become. In Burma, which was ruled by manipulative military regimes for about five decades, people have a tendency to suspect the government of using religious prejudice as a tool to divert anti-government activities. In the past, religious clashes would often break out when pro-democracy movements were emerging. As an example, take the 1988 uprising against Gen. Ne Win's regime. Soon after anti-government protests began in cities across the country, religious clashes erupted in towns such as Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, and Prome, central Burma. But those flames of religious unrest were extinguished immediately, and although many people believed the government had truly instigated the problem, we lacked evidence to prove our suspicions. Describing the unrest as state sponsored was a dangerous accusation. Three years into the term of reformist President Thein Sein, the clashes in Mandalay this month left at least two people dead and 14 others injured. Religious riots have broken out across the country several times in recent years, but this was the first time it has reached such a major city. A couple of days ago, a friend sent me a Burmese-language book with a shocking title: "If You Marry a Man of Another Evil Race and Religion." The book is believed to have been written by a Buddhist monk under the pen name Pho Pa Nyaw, and it was published with permission from the Religious Affairs Ministry in January 2010, back when no book could be printed and distributed without government approval. It includes 11 stories about Buddhist women who were sexually abused, raped or forced to marry members of another "evil" religion." After reading some of the stories, I am convinced that the book was intended to plant seeds of hatred against Islam among the country's Buddhist majority, although the author never specifically referred to Muslims. One story was about a Buddhist woman named Su Su Lat. She married a man of another faith, and her husband and his family prohibited her from worshipping the Buddha. In 2000, when they discovered that she was continuing to practice Buddhism, they beat her to death. The entire family was later arrested and sentenced to life in prison. Similar outcomes were described in the other stories, with the Buddhists always referred to as victims.  Kyaw Zwa Moe is editor (English Edition) of
the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at kyawzwa@irrawaddy.org. This book seems to be based solely upon hearsay, lacking detailed references to places, names or specific incidents. But even if the stories are true, I wonder why the Religious Affairs Ministry approved their publication. The writing is racist and provocative, and assuming that government officials actually read it themselves, they must have known it would stir up tension. I do not know how many similar books were published with approval from the previous government. But in 2012, just two years after this one was published, riots broke out between Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan State, leaving hundreds dead and about 140,000 people homeless. Most of the displaced people were Muslims who continue to live in squalid shelters. Since then, an anti-Muslim movement known as 969 has grown elsewhere in the country, led by nationalist monks such as U Wirathu. Once again, roots of this movement can be found in writing. In 1997, a book titled "969" appeared in Moulmein and some other cities, written under the name of U Kyaw Lwin. It was a manifesto, urging Buddhists to display the numbers 969 on their homes, businesses and vehicles. At the time of the book's publication, there was no visible impact in public. But last year, as anti-Muslim riots spread to other cities around the country, we saw 969 stickers and emblems displayed prominently just where U Kyaw Lwin suggested, on the walls and windows of homes, businesses and vehicles. I wonder whether the book my friend sent me recently contributed to our country's current religious tensions. But the real question is, why did the government give its blessing? Is it state policy to encourage religious tension? As my friend told me, "Religion is used as a time bomb here, all the time." The post Burma's Time Bomb appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Govt to Start Child Labor Elimination Policy in December Posted: 18 Jul 2014 05:32 AM PDT  A young boy minds the family business in central Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Labor rights groups have welcomed remarks by the Minister of Labor Aye Myint, who pledged to start implementing a ban on child labor by December after Parliament passed International Labor Organization Convention 182 on Worst Forms of Child Labor into law on Wednesday. In December 2013, Burma's Parliament ratified the ILO Convention, which calls for immediate action to prohibit and the eliminate the worst forms of child labor, including slavery, trafficking, the use of children in armed conflict, the use of a child for prostitution, pornography and illicit activities (such as drug trafficking) as well as hazardous work. A lawmaker said the president sent Union Parliament speaker a letter asking him to pass the convention into law, adding that the Labor Minister gained Parliament's official approval for implementation of the law on Wednesday. Aye Myint told MPs, "We will prevent and take action on all worst forms of child labor and also arrange free basic education and rehabilitation for children," according to a statement by the Federation of Trade Unions Myanmar (FTUM) released Thursday. The minister added that the government would begin full implementation in December, one year after ratification of the ILO convention. Htwe Htwe Thein, a spokesperson from FTUM, said there is a dire need to address all forms of child labor in Burma, in particular the worst forms of labor. "Currently, there are only discussions and negotiations for prohibition and elimination of child labor. We hope it can be started to be implemented in December since Parliament approved implementation [of the convention]," she said. Htwe Htwe Thein said Labor Ministry officials had been receiving training on how to carry out a survey on child labor and will form a committee at the end of this month that will implement the convention. She added that the government should also ratify and implement another ILO convention in order to better protect Burmese children. "I would like to also urge for the ratification of ILO Convention No.138 that sets a minimum age at which children can legally be employed or work," she said. A member of the Women and Children Affairs Committee of Upper House said that the implementation of convention 182 will help to eliminate child labor in the country and to rehabilitate those affected by it. "There are many cases of child labor in the country. They are losing their opportunities and rights, and some are even tortured at the work," said the MP. Child labor is a major problem in Burma, which is emerging from five decades of military dictatorship that wrecked the economy and the education system, encouraging many children to help their families by taking jobs in teashops or factories. Children have long been exploited as part of labor pools both at home and abroad, working for a pittance and receiving few social protections, labor activists and community leaders say. The Burma Army and some rebel groups are known to recruit child soldiers for deployment in the country's long-running ethnic conflict. The ILO has been working with the army and rebels to address the issue and has had some success, although cases of child soldiers continue to be reported. The post Govt to Start Child Labor Elimination Policy in December appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Nationwide Ceasefire Hangs in the Balance at Rebel Meeting Posted: 18 Jul 2014 04:52 AM PDT  KNLA soldiers on the Salween River, heading to frontline areas in northern Karen State. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) Aung Min, the President's Office Minister and lead peace negotiator, addressed the Upper House on Thursday to reconfirm the government's commitment to achieving a nationwide ceasefire agreement, and he voiced his confidence that an accord could be reached soon. "The peace process will not go backward, although there is some fighting," he told journalists after the parliamentary session, referring to a growing number of clashes between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups in Kachin, Shan and Karen states. Last weekend, President Thein Sein paid a visit to government advisors at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) in Rangoon to provide support and instructions on achieving a nationwide ceasefire. However, some three months after the government, army and the ethnic rebel groups began a new approach to the nationwide ceasefire talks by agreeing to jointly draft a single ceasefire text it is far from clear whether this approach is succeeding. Some government sources involved in the peace process are even warning that if negotiations fail to progress in coming weeks, a nationwide ceasefire before the 2015 elections could become impossible and rebels might have to deal with a new, tougher commander-in-chief. On Thursday, Aung Min expressed the government's oft-repeated, optimistic assumption that a nationwide ceasefire accord with an alliance of 16 ethnic rebels groups is only weeks or months away. "We will meet with the ethnics leaders in Yangon after the ethnic armed groups' conference in Laiza next week and the signing of the nationwide ceasefire accord will come in September," he told reporters. Since mid-2013, Aung Min has repeatedly said a nationwide ceasefire would soon be signed but the agreement has proven elusive. Formal nationwide ceasefire talks on drafting a single ceasefire text have stalled since June. On July 24-26, the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), an alliance of 16 ethnic groups, will meet in Kachin rebel-held town of Laiza to discuss whether they will accept the current draft of a single ceasefire text and the Burma Army demands for the inclusion of a six-point statement. The government and rebels have not formally met since June and it appears the sides have reached an impasse in further developing the ceasefire text. Among rebel leaders opinions are divided over the current draft and the negotiations and concerned about the army's demands. Worries also abound over the ongoing fighting and the lack of a bilateral ceasefire between the government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). Fighting and Mistrust In recent months, fighting has intensified in northern Burma, spilling over from Kachin State to northern Shan State, with the Burma Army frequently clashing with the KIA, the TNLA, and the Shan State Army-North and even a Kokang rebel group. Clashes have also occurred in Karen National Union (KNU)-held areas in recent weeks, despite the relatively good relations between the KNU and the government and army. Col. Mae Aye Sein, of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), said he is concerned over the Burma Army's demand that its six-point statement becomes part of the ceasefire text. "It is impossible to sign a [nationwide ceasefire] if we are forced to accept the 2008 constitution, which is one of the demands of the army's chief six-point proposal," said Mae Aye Sein, of KNLA Brigade 5, a unit that is known to be skeptical of the peace process. The army's statement includes a number demands that many ethnic groups oppose, most prominent among them accept the military-drafted Constitution, which asserts all armed group come under the army's central command. Sources at the MPC have suggested that the army's demands regarding the statement are flexible, but it remains unclear how the sides could reconcile the differences over such fundamental issues. The ethnic groups, for their part, are demanding greater political autonomy and control over natural resources in ethnic minority region through the creation of a federal union, while they want guarantees that a political dialogue on these demands will start within months after a nationwide ceasefire is signed. Mae Aye Sein said recent clashes in Karen State's Papun and Bago Division's Taungoo district and Tenasserim Division's Dawei district cast further doubts over the peace process and the army's willingness to end Burma's decades-old ethnic conflict. "The clashes were due to the government's ground forces crossing beyond the line and into our areas of control," said the colonel, whose unit is controls part of Papun District. "As the SSA-North and KIA are facing the same type of situation, we think that they [Burma Army] are testing our tolerance." Mae Aye Sein said KNU leaders had been willing to play down the clashes in order to maintain relations with Naypyidaw, adding, "Our leaders have been talking very carefully as not to damage the ceasefire talks." KNU secretary Pado Kwe Htoo Win, who initially had denied the reports of clashes, told The Irrawaddy remains optimistic about the peace process. "Renewed clashes won't stop our peace effort, as there is a very few engagement compared to the past decades," he said. Leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which has been fighting an insurgency since a 17-year-old ceasefire collapsed in mid-2011, remain concerned over the peace process, with some voicing concerns that conflict could intensify if the ethnic groups decided to reject the nationwide ceasefire text next week. "It seems there are many government troop deployments in Kachin State. We also have to be prepared and stay cautious," said Daun Kha, KIO liaison office coordinator in the Kachin capital Myitkyina. He said recent clashes between the army and KNU and SSA-North showed that "even for the 14 ceasefire groups conflicts is still raging in their territories." The KIO and the government last met in May to discuss a bilateral ceasefire, but negotiations have stalled since. Government Warnings In conversations with The Irrawaddy, government advisors at the MPC and senior government sources gave oblique warnings on what might happen if ethnic groups become apprehensive about the direction of nationwide ceasefire negations. A source at the MPC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the ethnic groups should seize the opportunity that is being presented to them at the current stage of negotiations as the current Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing could step down after 2015. "If a[nationwide ceasefire] could not be signed before 2015 due to the ethnics' hesitation over the army's proposal, which is not yet included in the single text, then nobody knows how things might go after a new army chief comes in," the peace broker said. Gen. Soe Win, the current deputy commander-in-chief, is being considered as a successor to Min Aung Hlaing, a senior government official said and he warned that he could take a more hardline approach to the ethnic conflict. The official noted that Soe Win had, for example, threatened to attack the KIA in May unless they immediately released several government staff that had been detained by the rebels. Hkyet Hting Nan, chairman of the Unity and Democracy Party of Kachin State, believes the peace process has been arduous and long but successful, adding that a nationwide ceasefire should be possible if current agreements are solidified and carried out. "The process has been gradually improving," said the Upper House lawmaker, who has been involved in KIO-government negotiations. "[But] there must immediate actions to implement the agreements they made after talks," he said, referring to for example an agreement between the KNU and the government to establish a code of conduct, which has yet to be implemented. He added, "It is hard to imagine whether the [nationwide ceasefire] can become a reality before the 2015" elections. Additional reporting by Kyaw Kha. The post Nationwide Ceasefire Hangs in the Balance at Rebel Meeting appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| For Lunch, with Love Posted: 18 Jul 2014 04:42 AM PDT  It's always a good moment when the delivery man arrives with lunch. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — In Myanmar, it has long been a common practice for people to pay someone outside the home—either a restaurant or simply a housewife living in the neighborhood—a monthly fee to prepare meals for them. But now a new option is available for those who don't have the time or inclination to cook for themselves: lunchbox delivery services that will bring your meal directly to you. Inspired by Korean dramas, which often feature office workers who order in their meals to save time in the middle of a busy day, the new businesses cater mainly to the needs of urbanites who don't want to carry food during the daily commute or brave the lunchtime rush at local eateries. Leading the way in this still novel approach to feeding the hungry masses of Yangon is the Heys Food Catering Services, established in May 2013. "Mostly we deliver to companies. Some people also want food delivered to their homes, but because of some problems, we haven't been able to provide our service to them," said Ko Thura, one of three former chefs and hotel workers behind the thriving business. Although it still doesn't make much of a profit, Heys continues to innovate in the hopes that it will ultimately find a formula for lasting success. The key to this has been its marketing strategy,
which relies heavily on the popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites to expand its customer base. On its Facebook page, Heys emphasizes that it doesn't use cheap cooking oil or MSG, both of which are common in local restaurants. The company also uses microwavable boxes instead of the usual Styrofoam packaging—another plus for those who worry about the safety of their food. Of course, none of this would count for much if the food wasn't very good—but judging from the growing number of customers who keep coming back for more, the cooking is more than up to snuff. "I buy from them because of the quality, the taste and the packaging, which is much better than what you see out on the street," said Ko Aung Aung, a satisfied regular who says he orders from Heys almost every day. Planned a week in advance, the meals—costing 1,600 kyat or 2,100 kyat, depending on the selection—are not confined to Myanmar cuisine: Shan, Chinese and Thai are also regularly on offer. According to Ko Aye Lwin Zaw, another member of the founding trio, Heys strives for variety, despite the challenge of finding affordable ingredients amid ever-rising food prices. Based in Yankin Township, Heys also faces transportation constraints. It can only deliver to areas where it has received 30 orders or more, and often has trouble delivering on time due to traffic jams. Despite these hurdles, however, the budding young company shows every sign of being on the right track. Many people have shown an interest in working for them, and they are much in demand as a caterer for parties and other events. There are even plans afoot to expand to the capital, Naypyitaw. "We've been interested in the food business since long before we started this, and we're crazy about creating food," said Ko Thura, explaining what drives him and his partners. "We just can't sit still." This story first appeared in the July 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy Magazine. The post For Lunch, with Love appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Inside Malaysia Airlines, Tears and Shock as Tragedy Strikes Again Posted: 18 Jul 2014 03:24 AM PDT  A man (in blue), whose family was onboard Malaysia Airlines MH17, consoles another man who had just arrived with his wife to receive confirmation that their daughter's family was onboard the plane, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang July 18, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — It started with another late-night phone call, another rush to the airport, where familiar faces in a familiar setting tried to make sense of nearly 300 more lives lost in the second disaster to strike Malaysia Airlines in the space of just a few months. For a company and a nation still struggling to come to terms with the unsolved disappearance of Flight MH370 on March 8, Thursday's apparent shooting down of another Boeing 777 over eastern Ukraine was a devastating blow. "For something like this to happen, just four months after MH370, just when we were beginning to get on with life, it is just very difficult to take," one airline executive told Reuters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, sobbing as he spoke. "You can't imagine how draining it is, how emotional it is. Everyone can't believe this is happening again, we are going through all of the emotions once again." After the earlier tragedy, politicians and airline officials were slow to acknowledge the plane had gone missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and then gave confusing, sometimes contradictory statements. On Thursday, the news began to filter in just after 11 pm local time that something had gone wrong with Flight MH17 scheduled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Soon after, Malaysian Airline System Bhd executives were awakened and dispatched to the airport to help set up emergency operations, according to interviews with company officials. "When we entered the room, we looked around and saw the same colleagues, the same familiar faces, that we saw during MH370," said one government official. "And almost everyone was sighing. Gosh, we could not believe that something like this was happening once again." By 11:30 pm, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) officials knew from television footage and then confirmation from Ukraine authorities that the plane had gone down. The airline announced on its official Twitter feed that it had lost contact with the aircraft—a change from the March disaster when it was roundly criticized for waiting six hours before acknowledging MH370 was missing. Before midnight, the officials realized that the 298 passengers and crew were most likely dead. "People knew the drill this time around—everyone was focused on what they had to do," the government official said. "MAS, the government, the different agencies, the politicians. Everyone had a role and they knew what it was." Pre-Dawn Call This time, the decision was made early that there would be only one spokesperson—Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, who was had only been appointed late last month. Before dawn, Prime Minister Najib Razak spoke with US President Barack Obama and issued a detailed statement spelling out what had happened and vowing swift justice for the perpetrators. "We were better prepared for this, we got the statements out fast and verified everything quickly," a second government official said. Oliver McGee, a former senior US Transportation Department official, said it was unprecedented for a commercial airline to suffer two tragedies in such rapid succession with more than 530 people dead. "Malaysia Airlines is now in the fog of the greatest crisis in international aviation safety and security history," McGee said. "I don't see how Malaysia is going to recover from this as a firm." Defense Minister and former Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, the public face of the government during the MH370 crisis, tweeted early Friday morning that he was asking the military to confirm reports that the aircraft had been shot down. "MH17: If indeed our plane was brought down, those responsible WILL be brought to justice!" he wrote. The post Inside Malaysia Airlines, Tears and Shock as Tragedy Strikes Again appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Bangkok Bank Pledges to Bring Thai Investors to Burma Posted: 18 Jul 2014 03:03 AM PDT  Bangkok Bank's Chaiyarit Anuchitworawong answers questions at a press conference in Rangoon. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Thailand's Bangkok Bank, one of 25 foreign institutions awaiting permission to operate in Burma, has said it will bring more Thai investors into the country. One of Thailand's four largest banks, Bangkok Bank has had a representative office in Rangoon since 1994. Speaking in Rangoon on Friday, Bangkok Bank Executive Vice President Chaiyarit Anuchitworawong said the bank was among the 25 foreign organizations hoping to be granted a banking license in Burma. "We still don't know when they will exactly allow us, but now we're connecting with the Thai businesses and local people as well," Chaiyarit said. The Central Bank of Myanmar has announced that it will grant licenses allowing some foreign banks to offer a limited range of services in the country, and officials have said they will do so by the end of September. According to the Myanmar Times, Thailand's Krung Thai Bank, Siam Commercial Bank and Kasikornbank are also among the 25 banks who have applied for foreign banking licenses, as are Australia's ANZ Bank, Singapore's United Overseas Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Bangkok Bank is hosting the seminar titled "Bangkok Bank Brings Asia to Myanmar" over three days at the Chatrium Hotel, at which Burmese business people are encouraged to network with investors. Thailand ranks second to only China in cumulative overseas investment in Burma since 1988, but its businesses faces competition from Western companies no longer constrained by economic sanctions against Burma, and from Japan, which is investing heavily in the country. "We're going to bring many Thai investors from inside or outside Thailand to invest in Myanmar, and then we can support them [with] financial assistance to working in Myanmar market," Chaiyarit said. Bangkok Bank was established in 1944, and now has total assets of more than US$75 billion. It has more than 1,150 branches in Thailand and an international network of 27 overseas branches. "In recognition of the untapped potential of Myanmar, where the bank opened a representative office almost 20 years ago, we're organizing many activities to support the country's economic development and help our customers get to know the country's potential and connect their business in Myanmar," Bangkok Bank President Chartsiri Sophonpanich said. The post Bangkok Bank Pledges to Bring Thai Investors to Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| 178 Govt Troops Killed by TNLA This Year: Rebel Leaders Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:33 AM PDT  TNLA soldiers on the frontline in June. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — At least 178 Burmese government troops have been killed in fighting against the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) over the past six months, with more than 100 clashes during that period, the TNLA says. The ethnic Ta'ang (Palaung) army said in a statement on Thursday that only 10 of its own troops had died in the escalating conflict since January. It said the government's casualties included military commanders, and that more than 100 government troops had been wounded. Fighting has intensified this year in northern Shan State. In 2012 and 2013, the government army focused on operations against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State. But the KIA conflict has increasingly spilled over to Shan State in recent months, and into territories held by the TNLA. The Burmese government currently has 60 army bases in TNLA territory, the TNLA said in the statement. The statement was issued after the TNLA hosted four days of meetings from July 12-15 in northern Shan State, to discuss developments in the armed conflict and the country's political situation. TNLA leaders said they saw parallels between President Thein Sein's current administration and that of the former military regime, including ongoing civil war, religious conflicts and land-grabs from civilians. The TNLA and the KIA are the only two ethnic armed groups that have not signed bilateral ceasefires with the government. TNLA secretary Mai Phone Kyaw said he believed fighting could escalate in the coming months, despite the government's attempt to secure a nationwide ceasefire accord with all ethnic armed groups. "They have reinforced their positions in major military operations. We have to fight them because their troops come to our bases. We have no choice," the TNLA secretary told The Irrawaddy. In the statement, the TNLA said political dialogue would be necessary to end the clashes. "We requested this, but the Burmese government has rejected it," the group said. Fighting over the past six months has left hundreds of people homeless in Kachin and Shan states. Burma's Lower House of Parliament recently urged the government to end military operations in northern Shan State, after Shan residents reported that their paddy farming have been disrupted by the clashes. The post 178 Govt Troops Killed by TNLA This Year: Rebel Leaders appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘Pressure on the Press’ Posted: 17 Jul 2014 05:30 PM PDT  From left, Kyaw Zwa Moe, editor of The Irrawaddy's English edition, speaks with panelists Pe Myint from People's Age journal and Ko Thalun Zaung Htet from The Irrawaddy's Burmese edition, during an episode of "Dateline Irrawaddy" this week. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) In this week's Dateline Irrawaddy show—first aired on DVB—panelists discuss a backsliding of press freedoms in Burma, including the imprisonment of journalists for 10 years with hard labor. Kyaw Zwa Moe: This week our topic is press freedom. After [President] U Thein Sein took office, he granted press freedom to a certain extent. But over the past month, the government has begun to restrict the press again. Recently, the chief executive and four journalists from Unity journal were given 10-year jail sentences, while some journalists were detained. So, we will discuss why the government has imposed harsh penalties. Consultant editor U Pe Myint from People's Age journal and editor Ko Thalun Zaung Htet from The Irrawaddy's Burmese edition will join the discussion. I'm Kyaw Zwa Moe, editor of The Irrawaddy's English edition. As you know, journalists were recently handed severe punishments of 10 years' imprisonment, while other journalists were detained. This happened just a few days after President U Thein Sein said Myanmar [Burma] was ranked highest in the free press index of Southeast Asia. Looking back over the past six or seven months, there have been setbacks to a free press as the government has enacted again repressive rules and regulations. It has even tightened up the rules. Saya, why do you think U Thein Sein's government has tightened its grip on the press? Pe Myint: After he took office, President U Thein Sein spoke of a democratic transition. A free press is sine qua non for democracy, and he understood that. He planned to abolish the pre-publication censorship that had been practiced for four or five decades in Burma. I wonder if the president failed to envision what the situation would be like after pre-publication censorship was annulled. It was abrogated in August 2012. I guess the government must have seen many irritating things after the abolishment. The government has found it difficult to restore the grip it used to have on the press. So, under such circumstances, it has tried to control the press by using existing laws. I don't want to criticize the laws much. But you know laws can be stretched, so I wonder if the government is stretching the rules. KZM: The news story published by Unity journal may be controversial and may have somehow breached the law. But human rights groups and free press associations say 10 years in jail is too harsh of a sentence from a legal point of view. Do you think the punishment was given deliberately to warn other journalists and the press world? PM: It seems like it, and everyone thinks so. The Special Branch has either summoned responsible persons of media outlets or visited offices of media companies for interrogations. Previously, the Special Branch did so only for criminal and political offences. But now, the fact that it is doing this more or less represents a threat and pressure on the press. KZM: Ko Thalun, you took part in the protest against the president. Please tell us what happened that day. We heard that the police are preparing to sue the protesting journalists. Can you update me on the situation? Thalun Zaung Htet: On July 10, chief executive Ko Tint San and four journalists from Unity journal were given 10 years with hard labor, which triggered the anger of most journalists. As journalists already were informed that the president would meet with some artists for the first time at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) on July 12, they planned to stage a silent protest that day without gathering the news. But they were not allowed to enter the MPC compound and thus protested outside the MPC. KZM: Until the evening of that day after the protest, police publicly told the journalists gathering news there that protestors would not be charged. But then, police later said they planned to sue the protestors. What did they mean by doing so? What have you heard? TZH: The deputy police office of Kamayut Township Police Force, Maung Maung Oo, said until 5:30 pm on July 12 that they had no plan to sue [protestors] under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law and that they had not opened the case. But then, he said at night that the meeting decided to charge 50 journalists. I don't know who was present at the meeting or if the instructions came from above. KZM: Burma was once referred to as an enemy of the press by the international community, especially from 1962 until 2010 and 2011. The authoritarian regimes and military-backed governments viewed media as an enemy. Is U Thein Sein's government showing clear signs of antagonism toward the press?
PM: I don't know if it views the press as an enemy. But I'm sure it doesn't really like press freedom. Compared to the past, farmers, workers and those whose lands were confiscated can air their grievances to a certain extent now. People are exercising a little bit of freedom that they didn't get at all in the past. Many government officials do not like that or do not want people to exercise freedom. Again many people, particularly those in authority, view people expressing their wishes as indiscipline or disorder, since people were kept in order for many years. This is just my personal view. We, journalists, have no direct contact with the judicial branch, which is one of three branches of power. We can't attend court hearings. Again, we have little interaction with the legislative branch when we discuss journalism laws. Personally, I think the branch has barely shown support for press freedom, which is a cause for concern for us. My view is the branch fears that granting press freedom will lead to the indiscipline of the press. KZM: Now, media laws are being drafted. Some laws have been enacted and some have not. Journalists have expected those media laws to protect them. But whether those laws can protect them is in question, as journalists are given prison sentences now. How do you assess those media laws? Again, the government has formed a Press Council. How far do you think that council can go in protecting journalists? PM: I can't comment on behalf of the Press Council. But as a member of the council, I'll say what I can. The government—the Information Ministry—and the Press Council worked together to draft media laws. The Press Council was tasked with drafting a media law. However, the government could not accept the provisions that journalists wanted to enshrine in the draft law for the sake of press freedom. So disagreements increased over time. Even though the Press Council was authorized to write the draft law, it had to go through the Information Ministry to get Parliament's approval. The bill committee and press-related committee of Parliament made the final decision. So the law is not ideal for journalists. They don't think the laws are fully democratic. KZM: Ko Thalun, what are the differences between the initial period of reforms and the current period? Are the situations the same? What is your assessment? TZH: It is clear that it is reversing. In late 2012, while pre-publication censorship was still in force, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division [under the Information Ministry] suspended The Voice and The Envoy for publishing news about the reshuffle of five ministers. At that time, young journalists rallied and called on the government not to close down those newspapers. The rally saw very good results. Initially, they were suspended for an unlimited period. Then the government suspended them only for two weeks and relaxed other regulations gradually. Though the government's response was positive in the past, it is now showing negative signs by charging journalists under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law. So, we are sure that press freedom is going in reverse. KZM: To what extent will political tensions and the political landscape force the government to restore its grip on media, as the elections will be held next year? PM: The current government can't make the political transition quickly. For a real transition to happen, the Constitution must be amended far and wide. Meanwhile, because pre-publication censorship was abolished, journalists seem to have taken a step forward in the transition process. The government therefore uses existing laws to restrict journalists. Again there can also be political factors, as you said. The government does not intend to do so much political liberalization, but if press freedom is granted, there will be continuous criticism of the government and also of the Constitution. There will also be a lot of talk about the election. So I think the government is trying to restrict the press for two reasons—the first one is because its political liberalization simply doesn't go far, and the second is because it feels the need for greater control over the press in consideration of the coming election. KZM: Thank you, Saya U Pe Myint and Ko Thalun Zaung Htet for your participation. From our discussion, we can conclude that although U Thein Sein's government has granted a certain degree of press freedom in the past two years, it is hesitant to allow a really free press, mainly because it doesn't like the right of the press to write freely. Thank you, all. The post 'Pressure on the Press' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| 700 Protest South Korean Factory Closure in Rangoon Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:24 PM PDT  Workers from the Master Sports Footwear Factory in Rangoon march towards the South Korean Embassy on Thursday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — More than 700 workers protested Thursday in front of the South Korean Embassy in Burma to demand officials help them after a Korean-owned factory closed without paying their wages. The workers from the Master Sports Footwear Factory in Rangoon said the owner closed the plant illegally and without notice in May and has left the country. They are demanding that the Korean ambassador help them. They said they were having trouble paying their rent and wanted assistance in finding new jobs. After an elected government took office in 2011 in Burma, industry has grown and foreign investment poured in in the wake of Western nations dropping most of the sanctions they had maintained against the previous repressive army regime. Factory workers’ strikes and protests have increased markedly. The new government instituted economic reforms, including the legalization of labor unions. The workers said they have contacted not only the embassy, but also the Labor and Social Security ministries, parliament and the opposition National League for Democracy for assistance but had received no help. "This is because the government never stands for the grassroots people," said U Htay, a lawyer for the workers. "They never stand for the protection of the grassroots people or workers. It’s all because they cannot handle the rule of law and there is even more corruption and bias on the part of government officials and the businessmen. The only victims are the workers and grassroots people." The post 700 Protest South Korean Factory Closure in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma Military Facility Hides Secrets From the World Posted: 17 Jul 2014 06:00 PM PDT  The Jan. 25, 2014 issued of the Unity journal is pictured in Rangoon. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) With journalists sentenced to hard labor for writing about an isolated installation, experts are concerned about what might be being produced It was the kind of scoop any intrepid journalist dreams of getting, hitting all the right notes along the way—a vast and mysterious military installation, rumors of chemicals weapons, unexplained Chinese workers, the gaping maw of a tunnel jutting from the earth. No doubt the Burmese journalists thought that, given the heady political changes afoot in their country, something might actually come of their revelation that the government appeared to be in the business of making chemical weapons. Instead, the scoop landed them in jail, and left the government rushing to snap up unsold copies of the February issue of the Burmese-language Unity Journal carrying their claims. Now, the four writers and the paper's CEO face 10 years of hard labor after a court found them guilty on Thursday of revealing state secrets, and a lawyer for the accused told Spectrum that the state's prosecution of the journalists is meant to stifle press freedoms. The sentence was widely condemned by human rights advocates. "They are charging the journalists to oppress the media," defense lawyer Aung Thane told Spectrum. The government charged the journalists under a seldom-used colonial law intended to safeguard military secrets, alleging that they trespassed in pursuit of their story and spilled state secrets by publishing detailed descriptions and pictures of a military site. It maintains that the sprawling military center in the Pauk township of Magwe region, which opened in 2009, is merely a conventional ordnance factory. As the journalists face a decade behind bars, security experts told Spectrum that the site could have several possible purposes, including the production of weaponry with foreign backing, raising eyebrows as to what officials in Burma's Byzantine defense industry might be up to. The speed with which Burma pursued the journalists, experts say, illustrates that the government is still keen to keep a tight lid on its military activities, regardless of recent government reforms. This deeply rooted secrecy has done little to dissuade speculation, as one long-time Burma watcher suggested that the site is direct evidence the country has increased its cooperation with North Korea. "It's not a chemical weapons factory, but reportedly a factory where they produce aluminum casing for missiles, and 'the Chinese technicians' they mention in the article are most likely North Koreans," veteran journalist Bertil Lintner said. This doesn't surprise some observers, who suspect that ties between North Korea and Burma run deep. There have been unconfirmed reports in recent years that the reclusive state has been providing Burma, under the umbrella of the country's Directorate of Defense Industries (DDI), with technical assistance in starting its own missile program near the city of Minbu. One defense analyst stressed caution, noting that if North Koreans were helping make hefty rockets that the outcome would likely be publicly known. "It's a reasonable avenue of speculation, but we don't know as a fact that the North Koreans are cooperating in a Burmese missile production program," said Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based analyst with IHS-Jane's. Digging Deep To assess the Unity Journal's claims, the East Asia Non-proliferation Program analyzed a recent commercial satellite picture of the facility and supplemented it with publicly available satellite images. While such imagery alone isn't enough to determine the facility's true purpose, the photos appear to verify parts of the Unity Journal story, including the time frame of the site's construction, said Jeffrey Lewis, the program's director. "They mention a number of details that are true or consistent with the imagery, including the loss of farms and homes, as well as the presence of high-ranking visitors and foreign workers," Lewis said. The imagery also appeared to confirm villager tales of land confiscation and displacement. The hamlet of Lebinaing appears in one image, only to be erased in a later shot, replaced by overgrowth and craggy soil. Images also show construction at the site, and it was in the midst of building activity that the Unity Journal reporters entered the fray. For the reporters, the story started innocently enough. Villagers had asked the journalists to come to the area because they said the government had seized their land to make way for the site — not entirely unheard of in a country known for rampant land confiscation. Once there, locals told them stories of foreign workers, high-ranking visitors and tunnels stretching under the complex. The suspicion among area residents, which the Unity Journal published, was that chemical weapons were being made. "There was construction going on at the site and two journalists went inside with them [the villagers]," Aung Thane said. "There were no signs at the site and nobody stopped them." The law under which they were been prosecuted — Section 3/1/A of the Official Secrets Act, which covers espionage — should not have been applied to this case, Aung Thane said, because sites protected by the law must be clearly marked in local languages. "To define a secret area the government has to issue a statement or order in multiple languages and publish it in the Gazette," Aung Thane said. The Unity Journal staff are also charged under 2C of the Secrets Act, which concerns trespassing. A planned new media law could not yet be used to try the journalists because the rules needed for its implementation have not yet been approved. Contrary to local media reports, Aung Thane said the defense did not request the government use the law. Little has been heard from the Burma government to address the allegations. In the meantime, the Unity Journal has fallen on hard times since the arrests. With its editor jailed and circulation declining, the publication has been forced to close its Yangon office. A key discovery in the East Asia Non-proliferation Program's findings was the presence of a helicopter pad similar to one found at the Minbu site, which Lewis said appears to validate claims by locals that Chinese or North Korean technicians are present. "At a more general level, the presence of foreign workers is most interesting to me. DDI has been sanctioned for dealing with North Korea, and this site appears similar to another location near Minbu where North Koreans are believed to live and work," Lewis said. "Working from satellite images, it would appear that DDI's activities are expanding, not contracting, despite promises to stop any illicit programs and end cooperation with North Korea." The possibility of strengthened ties between the countries startles observers who say such a development would be a step in the wrong direction for Burma. North Korea is also involved in vast under-the-radar activities worldwide that provide the cash-starved nation with a vital economic lifeline, according to reports — a practice that Lewis says likely extends to Burma. "One concern is that Myanmar is a source of hard currency for the DPRK," said Lewis, using the North's formal name. "Myanmar may also serve as a trans-shipment point for the DPRK to help it evade sanctions. And, of course, there is the challenge that such a relationship poses to Myanmar's transition to democracy." A Burmese official downplayed the significance of the East Asia Non-proliferation Program's findings. "They based their assumptions only on bird's-eye-view images. Even if it was a real chemical weapons factory, the American intelligence capability would be able to detect it in the first place," presidential spokesman Ye Htut told website Eleven Myanmar. "This facility is meant only for our defense measures." For Southeast Asia, Burma is a heavyweight defense spender, allocating nearly US$2.4 billion (77.3 billion baht), more than 12% of its annual budget, on military expenditures this year alone. Much of the reason for this, Davis said, is to counter "more complex and more varied" military threats, such as ethnic insurgencies. To counter these threats, the Burma defense industry has ramped up its production of naval frigates, sophisticated weaponry and vehicles, he said. In doing so, Burma has increasingly drawn on Chinese expertise. "They're beefing up their capabilities for conventional conflicts, plus there is a range of civil unrest scenarios they have to be prepared for," Davis said. "The Burmese military industrial complex is much more broadly developed and ambitious than people give it credit for. The days when they just produced assault rifles and ammunition are long over." Chemical Claims In weighing the Unity Journal's allegations, one chemical weapons expert said that it's difficult to tell the site's purpose without having a thorough look behind its doors. "Observing from the outside, and even having a peek into the factory may not shed much light as to what is actually going on," independent security consultant Dan Kaszeta said. "Trucks go in, trucks go out—there's a spaghetti factory of pipes and valves inside. Even a highly trained specialist can't necessarily tell you what's going on in the mess of pipes and vessels without knowing some of what's in the pipes." But despite the government's claims, the limited open-source information on the site lends credibility to the idea that it could be something other than a run-of-the-mill munitions factory. "The Burmese government says only that the site is a 'standard ordnance factory’, but it is far too large to be a standard anything," Lewis said. It's in part this immense size, stretching over more than 1,200 hectares, that gives way to additional possibilities. "A factory built in a remote area in secrecy and under high security with a lot of pipes and pumps and such could easily be a chemical weapons facility," Kaszeta said. "However, it is occurring in a country known for secrecy with a military that operates a vast defense industry as a state-owned enterprise. Many things under that umbrella could account for this, such as manufacture of explosives or propellants." Burma is no stranger to chemical weapons allegations, but past charges remain uncorroborated. Witness accounts of chemical weapon use by the Burma military against ethnic rebels, spanning from the 1980s to more recent skirmishes, have not been independently verified. In a 1992 report, the US government accused the Burma government of using artillery-fired chemical munitions, but it quickly abandoned the claims. Were Burma making chemical weapons, Kaszeta said there would likely be other evidence, such as set-ups for testing weapons or changes in troop training, weaving chemical weapons into their playbook. "A strong indicator is some kind of testing regime to see if weapons actually work," said Kaszeta, a former US army chemical corps officer. "It seems unlikely that a country would go to the massive effort of making chemical weapons without seeing whether their chosen delivery mechanisms work." Yet Burma has done little to allay fears. The government could go a long way in putting chemical weapons rumors to rest were it to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), experts said, since the treaty contains robust provisions for monitoring defense installations. The country signed the 1993 arms treaty but has yet to ratify it. "If the facility is declared as a civil facility under the CWC, there are routine provisions for inspection," Lewis said, noting that it could shed light on its activities. Ratifying the treaty, which bans the use, production or possession of chemical weapons, would also mean that other countries could request inspections of specific of sites. "In theory it opens up the country to an inspections regime," Kaszeta said. "What the practical impact would be, it's hard to say. It could pave the way for a 'challenge inspection' if some other country says, 'XYZ factory might be a chemical warfare plant, please inspect it.' " The journalists, meanwhile, remain behind bars, and Aung Thane condemned the state's vigorous prosecution. The entire taxing ordeal has sent a direct message, Aung Thane said. "The case is used to set an example for other journalists," he said. There could be a quick fix, experts say, with the country accepting the treaty and doing an about-turn. But the hope that it opens the doors of its opaque facilities remains bleak in a country not renowned for its transparency. "This would be easy enough to resolve if Burma were to simply ratify the CWC," Lewis said. "Instead, they continue to delay, while holding the journalists in prison." This story first appeared in The Bangkok Post's Spectrum and was reprinted courtesy of the Post. The post Burma Military Facility Hides Secrets From the World appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| The World’s Least Scrutinized Head of State? Posted: 17 Jul 2014 05:00 PM PDT  Burma's President Thein Sein attends a session of the 21st Asean and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh in 2013. (Photo: Reuters) Search "Thein Sein profile" on the Internet and surprisingly few profiles will appear. There is a profile on the BBC website from 2012, reflecting the rather giddy initial international response to President Thein Sein's reforms, and there are brief one- or two-page profiles on a few other websites, but nothing in-depth. Many profiles seem to share similar themes. Thein Sein is described as a "quiet man," "humble," "not a politician," and "reluctant' to become president." He is described as not corrupt and relatively untainted, even as "Mr. Clean." Frequent reference is made to his having a pacemaker. Occasional reference is made to Cyclone Nargis, which his aids brief was the turning point in his realizing the need for reform. These similarities could simply be down to media copying each other. Or it could reflect a more concerted and deliberate public relations effort to brand Thein Sein as different from his predecessors. Instead of a power-hungry general, he is a reluctant leader, the quiet and humble man, struggling to introduce reforms despite opposition and ill health. None of the profiles detail his personal involvement in human rights abuses while serving as a senior leader of one of the world's most brutal dictatorships. Given how much the international community has staked on Thein Sein being honest and true to his word, it is surprising how little scrutiny of him there has been. There is no book or documentary about him, nor are there academic papers. Governments seem unconcerned about his past. Media seem uninterested. Surely though, in assessing the reform process in Burma, which is an entirely top-down process, examining the man leading the reforms is essential. In July 2013, Burma Campaign UK published a briefing paper with details of his role at the top of the dictatorship, and how he was one of the few senior generals ever to be personally named by the United Nations for ordering his soldiers to commit human rights abuses. It highlighted allegations of corruption, close relationships with drug dealers, his praise of North Korea, the mass use of rape by soldiers under his command, his ordering of land confiscation, and how he was the one who was in charge of drafting the 2008 Constitution, which so many agree needs to be reformed. We hoped that publishing this briefing might prompt some governments to pause and consider exactly what kind of man they were heaping so much praise on. We hoped that it might prompt some media to be more curious about the man himself. Is he really what he claims to be? What does his past tell us about the kind of man he is, and in turn, what does this mean for the prospect of genuine reform? We were to be disappointed. Thein Sein's past remains almost completely free of scrutiny. Looking into his past, at Burma Campaign UK we became increasingly convinced that he was not the kind of man likely to be a genuine reformer. He was a longtime soldier, was in the inner circle of the previous dictator, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, and was trusted implicitly by him. Than Shwe repeatedly promoted Thein Sein to key positions, and hand-picked Thein Sein as president to take over when he stood down. The UN special rapporteur on Burma described how in 1998 and 1999 Thein Sein ordered his soldiers in Shan State to commit human rights abuses. He ordered the illegal confiscation of land, and farmers ejected were then subject to extortion and forced labor. Shan human rights groups documented about 45 cases of rape by soldiers under his command. His headquarters in Shan State was ringed by incidents of rape. His role in the crushing of the uprising in 1988 is still unknown, although a US cable released by WikiLeaks said he had "distinguished" himself in the crackdown. Thein Sein has stated that the crushing of the uprising "saved the country." Perhaps the most important experience the international community should pay attention to is his long experience in dealing with the international community, and how in this time he has become a master at the tactic of dangling the prospect of change to alleviate international pressure, stretching this out as long as possible, and then making last-minute promises or small concessions when patience finally runs out. His record 10 years ago as chair of a committee to end recruitment of child soldiers is a classic example of this. He signed another agreement to end recruitment of child soldiers two years ago. He broke this agreement as well. Concern is now growing about the stalling and backsliding of the reform process. Some governments are privately becoming quite concerned. Perhaps if they had paid a little more attention to the kind of man he is, and his actions, rather than the promises he made, they would have been a little more cautious, and today might not be so surprised by recent developments. Already though, there are signs they are ready to repeat the mistake. Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann is becoming the new favorite "reformer." Search for "Shwe Man profile" and you will find even fewer results than for Thein Sein. Before backing him as the next reformer, the international community should ask him to detail exactly how he earned the honorific "Thura." This rarely awarded medal was reportedly given to him for outstanding bravery while fighting in Karen State. The horrific human rights violations committed there by the Burma Army, which deliberately targeted civilians and broke international law, have been widely documented. What else does he have in his past? Will anyone even ask? Mark Farmaner is the director of Burma Campaign UK. Twitter: @MarkFarmaner The post The World's Least Scrutinized Head of State? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Typhoon Gathers Fury as It Approaches Southern China Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:18 PM PDT  Typhoon victims stand outside their homes damaged by Typhoon Rammasun (locally named Glenda) in a village of sea gypsies, also known as Badjaos, in Batangas city, south of Manila, on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING / MANILA –A typhoon heading toward southern China has strengthened as it approaches the provinces of Hainan and Guangdong and is now a super typhoon, the government said on Friday, ordering that all efforts be made to prevent loss of life. Typhoon Rammasun, which has already killed dozens of people in the Philippines, is expected to make landfall between Hainan and Guangdong provinces on Friday afternoon, the National Meteorological CenteR said on its website. Packing winds of up to 180 kmph (112 mph), it will also bring heavy rains before moving into southwestern China, state news agency Xinhua added, saying the typhoon would be the strongest to hit the island of Hainan in 40 years. The Hainan government said it had ordered fishermen back to port while many flights, and all train services, were canceled. Prime Minister Li Keqiang, describing the situation as severe, said people’s lives must be put first, the Hainan government added. On Thursday, the Philippines set to work clearing debris, reconnecting power and rebuilding flattened houses after Typhoon Rammasun swept across the country, killing 38 people, with at least eight missing, rescue officials said. The strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year, the typhoon shut down the capital and knocked down trees and power lines, while causing widespread blackouts. The storm destroyed about 7,000 houses and damaged 19,000, the executive director of the National Disaster Agency, Alexander Pama, said. More than 530,000 people had taken refuge in evacuation centers, according to official figures. Pama put the damage to crops, mostly rice and corn, from the Bicol region, southeast of Manila and the first to be hit by the storm, at around 668 million pesos, or about $15 million. Most schools remained closed in the capital and southern Luzon, the most densely populated part of the country with about 17 million people. Power had been restored to just over half of the Luzon grid, a transmission agency official said. Electricity distributor Manila Electric Co said a third of its 1.88 million customers were without power. Disaster officials were assessing damage but the coconut-growing Quezon province south of Manila appears to have borne the brunt of Rammasun, which intensified into a category 3 typhoon as it crossed the country. Pama said on Wednesday the government was more prepared after the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan in November, evacuating people at risk in coastal and landslide-prone areas well before the typhoon made landfall. Parts of the Philippines are still recovering from Haiyan, one of the biggest cyclones known to have made landfall anywhere. It killed more than 6,100 in the central provinces, many in tsunami-like sea surges, and left millions homeless. Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea, picking up strength from the warm waters and dissipating over land. Flooding across a large swathe of southern China in the past week has already killed at least 34 people. Reporting by Reuters reporters Rosemarie Francisco in Manila, and Ben Blanchard and Hui Li in Beijing. The post Typhoon Gathers Fury as It Approaches Southern China appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| As Vietnam’s Women Go Abroad, Dads Tend the Home Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:11 PM PDT  The affect of large-scale female migration from Vietnamese farming communities has not been comprehensively studied. (Photo: Reuters) VU HOI, Vietnam — When his wife moved to Taiwan nine years ago to work as a maid—earning far more than she could in the rice paddies of this northern Vietnamese hamlet—Pham Duc Viet took over the household chores and raised their two children on top of his regular work as a farmer and carpenter. Now, the double duty is second nature for Viet, 48, as it with many male neighbors. Hundreds of women have left the village of Vu Hoi, 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Hanoi, to take better-paying jobs in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea and send money home, part of a wider migration of female labor from Vietnam over the past 15 years. "Not a big deal," Viet said of the extra chores. "I'm willing to sacrifice so that my kids can have a better life." His wife's earnings are covering university tuition for their two children and paid for a furniture workshop next to their house. As more women leave the country, Vietnam is following a trend seen in other Asian nations such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, where women make up at least two-thirds of workers who leave the country. Vietnamese women accounted for about a third of migrant workers in 2011, according to the United Nations. Working as maids or nurses overseas, women can often earn more than men doing manual labor such as construction or farming. The trend has left behind legions of what experts call "father-carers," many of them in countries with previously well-defined gender roles regarding housework and child-rearing. The changes have contributed to some social problems in Vietnam, and domestic media reports have portrayed Vu Hoi as a village where many "left-behind" fathers have turned to drugs, alcohol and prostitutes. Fathers interviewed in the village and in nearby Vu Tien said that while that may be true in some cases, the reports were exaggerated. Most men were willing to take on the additional work to support their families. Preparing meals was a challenge, some said, but never an insurmountable one. "In a farming family like ours, dinners are pretty simple anyway," said Vu Duc Hang, whose two children helped with the cleaning and cooking when they were at home. Now they too have been able to attend college. There are few comprehensive studies on father-carers, and scholars say the social and psychological effects of female labor migration on Asian societies are still far from clear. Some migration studies of Southeast Asian communities have found that female relatives typically took over child-rearing responsibilities when mothers left for jobs abroad. But a 2008 survey that tracked about 1,100 migrant-mother households in Vietnam and Indonesia reported that more than two-thirds of primary caregivers were fathers—a sharp contrast to earlier findings in the Philippines and Sri Lanka, where as few as a quarter of dads played a similar role. Related research on households in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines found that Vietnam was the only country in which grandfathers—especially paternal ones—often played a key role in household decisions. While there were some cases of adultery, divorce and drug abuse, the Vietnam survey results in particular appeared to challenge the notion that female labor migration leads to broken families, said Lan Anh Hoang, a lecturer in development studies at the University of Melbourne who conducted interviews in several Vietnamese villages for the survey. Vu Hoi and Vu Tien were part of the Vietnam sample, which covered the northern provinces of Thai Binh and Hai Duong. Vietnamese men in rural areas "actually don't mind doing household chores," Hoang said. "They have always been involved in domestic work, so it's not a big issue now that their wives are away." One possible explanation is that the country's communist government has long promoted gender equality, she said. A Vu Hoi village official, Pham Ngoc Thuy, agreed. "Of course there are positive and negative aspects of labor migration, but the media always focuses on the negative ones," he said. "In Vietnam we pride ourselves on gender equality, and when women go abroad, most men are willing to pitch in around the house." The total amount of remittances sent back from all Vietnamese workers overseas now exceeds US$2 billion a year, said Nguyen Ngoc Quynh, director of overseas labor management at the labor ministry. Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea are the top three destinations. Tran Xuan Cuong, a farmer in a nearby village said some of the roughly 170 million dong ($8,000) his wife saved was used to build an addition on their home and to invest in raising pigs and brewing liquor. He said some neighborhood men fell into alcoholism or even heroin abuse, but he wasn't tempted. "It was hard to be both a father and a mother, but it's something we do because it's our obligation," Cuong said while sitting in his living room. Women, too, have made many sacrifices, giving up being with their children to earn money abroad. "Everything is for the livelihood of our family," said Cuong's wife, Pham Thi Lien, who worked in Lebanon as a maid and later in a factory. "We both had to overcome difficulties." Viet, the farmer and carpenter, said his wife was planning to return home from Taiwan for good later this year. "I don't mind farm chores," he said with a grin. "But once she comes home, I'll be more than happy to hand back the other ones." The post As Vietnam's Women Go Abroad, Dads Tend the Home appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Malaysia Airlines Jet Shot Down by Missile Over Ukraine Posted: 17 Jul 2014 10:02 PM PDT  An Emergencies Ministry member works at putting out a fire at the site of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane crash in the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region, July 17. (Photo: Reuters) WASHINGTON — American intelligence authorities believe a surface-to-air missile took down a passenger jet in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, a US official said, but the Obama administration was still scrambling to confirm who launched the strike on the airliner with 298 people aboard. Vice President Joe Biden said the incident was "not an accident" and described the Malaysia Airlines plane as having been "blown out of the sky." Among the unanswered questions was whether the missile was launched from the Russian or Ukrainian side of the border they share, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly by name and insisted on anonymity. But the official said US intelligence assessments suggest it is more likely pro-Russian separatists or the Russians rather than Ukrainian government forces shot down the plane. The US has sophisticated technologies that can detect missile launches, including the identification of heat from a rocket engine. The White House late Thursday said while all the facts were not yet known, "we do know that this incident occurred in the context of a crisis in Ukraine that is fueled by Russian support for the separatists, including through arms, materiel and training." In its statement, the White House called for a "full, credible and unimpeded international investigation as quickly as possible." "We urge all concerned—Russia, the pro-Russian separatists and Ukraine—to support an immediate cease-fire in order to ensure safe and unfettered access to the crash site for international investigators and in order to facilitate the recovery of remains." It is vital that all potential evidence and remains be undisturbed, the White House said, offering US assistance that could include the National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI. President Barack Obama, speaking during a trip to Delaware, made no mention of who might be responsible for the crash of the plane carrying 298 people, and called the incident a "terrible tragedy." Following the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration said US airlines voluntarily agreed not to operate near the Ukraine-Russia border. The agency said it was monitoring the situation to determine whether further guidance was necessary. A global air safety group said an international coalition of countries should lead the investigation of the crash. Safety experts say they're concerned that because the plane crashed in area of Ukraine that is in dispute, political considerations could affect the investigation. Kenneth Quinn of the Flight Safety Foundation said only "an independent, multinational investigation can truly get to the bottom of it without political interference." The incident came one day after Obama levied broad economic sanctions on Russia as punishment for its threatening moves in Ukraine. Moscow is widely believed to be supporting pro-Russian separatists fomenting instability near the border, though the Kremlin denies those assertions. Obama discussed the new sanctions by phone Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House said reports of the downed plane surfaced during that call and Putin mentioned the incident to his American counterpart. Speaking later during a trip to Delaware, Obama said "the world is watching" the deadly incident. "It looks like it might be a terrible tragedy," he said. "Right now we're working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority." Secretary of State John Kerry said late Thursday that authorities still were trying to determine whether any Americans had been on the plane. Obama went ahead later Thursday with a scheduled evening of fundraising for Democrats in New York, but called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko as he traveled to the events. The White House said Obama and Poroshenko agreed that all evidence from the crash site must remain in Ukraine until international investigators were able to examine it. The president also called both Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, where the flight originated. Officials said Obama and Rutte discussed the need for international investigators to have immediate access to the crash site. The US planned to send a team of experts to Ukraine to assist with the investigation. Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said on his Facebook page that the plane was flying at an altitude of 33,000 feet when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher. US officials said Russia has sent a wide range of heavy weaponry into eastern Ukraine in recent months, although it is uncertain whether that includes the Buk air defense system, which is operated by a tracked vehicle. The US suspects that Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons have been provided to the separatists. According to a Ukrainian state-owned import-export firm that specializes in military technology and weaponry, known as Ukroboronservice, the Ukrainian military operates the Buk-M1 system, which is designated by NATO as the SA-11 Gadfly. It is designed to shoot down military aircraft, including helicopters, as well as cruise missiles. The Russians also are believed by US officials to have provided the separatists in eastern Ukraine with other heavy weaponry such as artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, tanks and armored personnel carriers. The Federal Aviation Administration had previously warned US pilots earlier this year not to fly over portions of the Ukraine in the Crimea region, according to notices posted on the agency's website. The notices were posted on April 23. The UN's International Civil Aviation Organization and the aviation authorities in most countries issue similar notices for areas where unrest or military conflict creates a risk of being shot down. The post Malaysia Airlines Jet Shot Down by Missile Over Ukraine appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
