Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Thein Sein chases German investment
• Bullet Points: 4 September 2014
• Dealers decry lost profit on car imports
• Ethnic bloc hopeful of KNU return
• Karen soldiers in stand-off with police over weapon seizure

Thein Sein chases German investment Posted: 04 Sep 2014 05:03 AM PDT Burma's President Thein Sein arrived in Germany on Tuesday with the intention of drumming up investment. In Berlin on Wednesday, Thein Sein was welcomed to the economic heart of the European Union with a guard of honour. A press conference followed a lunchtime meeting between the two leaders. Thein Sein assured German Chancellor Angela Merkel that democratisation in Burma would follow economic growth. The army general-turned-politician admitted to Merkel that difficulties have arisen as Burma has opened up. Referring to the last three years as an "enormous democratic process", Thein Sein told Merkel that the transition was being achieved "without spilling blood." Merkel was more circumspect, telling Thein Sein that economic growth requires equality and tolerance towards minorities.  Since coming to power in 2011, a ferocious war has gripped northern Burma, leaving hundreds dead and over 120,000 civilians displaced. Religious tension in Burma has also erupted into violence across the country, with recent deadly flashpoints in Mandalay and the Arakan capital of Sittwe.  Germany is Burma's largest source of European Union investment. In 2013, bilateral trade reached around 250 million US dollars.  While the trade figure has risen since 2011, it is dwarfed by Burma's partnerships with countries such as China, Thailand and Japan. Thein Sein was eager to thrash out further deals after meeting with German business representatives in Frankfurt. Merkel kept her focus on democratisation, criticising Burma's recent clampdown on the media. Related Stories Russia looks East Bullet Points: 2 September 2014 President Thein Sein embarks for Europe German support for Burma's emerging fourth estate saw the opening of Burma's first private journalism school in July of this year. After leaving Germany, Thein Sein will move on to Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Bullet Points: 4 September 2014 Posted: 04 Sep 2014 04:57 AM PDT On today's edition of Bullet Points: Thein Sein meets Angela Merkel in Berlin. OIC delegation visits Arakan State. China supports Rangoon eye treatments. You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news.

Dealers decry lost profit on car imports Posted: 04 Sep 2014 04:18 AM PDT The price of imported vehicles has rapidly declined as a result of the Burmese government's "car slip" scheme, causing concern among dealers who are incurring major losses on import duties. Price tags on imported cars are directly proportionate to the value of car slips, which are essentially duty vouchers that are required to register new cars. A sudden drop in car slip prices – which have fallen by about 400,000 kyat (US$400) in the past three days alone – has caused alarm among dealers, who pay duties to import the cars and typically sell the slips along with the vehicle. Many of the slips were distributed as part of a government buy-back scheme, whereby people could trade in their 20-year-old vehicles, deregister them, and receive the voucher for a new import. While the sudden fluctuation has made purchasing new, imported cars easier for consumers, car brokers say they are experiencing severe losses as a result of the price cut. "The showrooms sell the cars with slips, but people are coming with their own slips that cost much less and are more valuable," said one dealer from a Hlaing Township showroom. The cost of the car slip is directly proportional to the value of the vehicle, which means that the price cut makes buying a car easier for consumers but far less lucrative for dealers. Dr Soe Tun, director of Farmer Auto Showroom, explained the mechanism: "The showroom sells cars. Customers usually come with their own slips, so the final price depends upon the price of the car slip. If the slip price drops by 3,000,000, the car price also drops".   Related Stories Thailand expects trade surplus with Burma by 2016, says bank exec Bullet Points: 27 August 2014 Japanese reveal taste for Burmese tea

Ethnic bloc hopeful of KNU return Posted: 04 Sep 2014 02:57 AM PDT A leader of Burma's main ethnic bloc, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), said its members are hopeful that the Karen National Union (KNU) will rejoin the group after their sudden withdrawal earlier this week. "The main reason they revoked their membership was that they had an issue with the structure of the UNFC," the group's Vice-Chairman One Nai Hongsa told DVB on Wednesday. "I hope that they will come back and not leave the UNFC." KNU Chairman Mutu Say Poe walked out of a UNFC conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Sunday, before the group officially withdrew from the bloc. The KNU was reportedly dissatisfied with the UNFC leadership and power structure, which they claim is too hierarchical and favours certain ethnic groups such as the Kachin Independence Organisation and the New Mon State Party.  The KNU, a member of the UNFC since it was founded in 2011, submitted a proposal to alter the group's power structure, which KNU Gen-Sec Padoh Saw Khwe Htoo Win referred to as "a top-down structure where we are expected to hand over our fate to the leadership". The core suggestion was a decentralisation of the UNFC's decision-making body; the KNU recommended creating a political leading body with three to five secretaries and programme committees, as opposed to having a few very powerful chairmen. Related Stories Karen soldiers in stand-off with police over weapon seizure UNFC opens 2 top positions for KNU Bullet Points: 1 September 2014 "Most of the members would like to keep the structure as before," said Nai Hongsa, explaining that most of the UNFC's member groups think that the KNU proposal could weaken the bloc and cause unnecessary delays in decision-making. The UNFC said that by the close of their seven-day congress, they had elected 42 council members and 12 central executive committee members, each to carry out two-year terms. Two leadership positions — one vice-chairman seat and a central committee member seat — have been held for KNU representatives, should they choose to rejoin. The KNU said that they will convene within the coming weeks to decide whether or not they will remain in the UNFC, adding that their temporary suspension of membership will not damage the country's peace process and that they have no intention of signing onto an early, independent peace accord without the other ethnic groups. General secretary of the UNFC, Khu Oo Reh, assured DVB that "the KNU is always welcome to come back as a UNFC member." The UNFC was created in 2011 as the most recent incarnation of an ethnic coalition aiming to establish federalism in Burma.

Karen soldiers in stand-off with police over weapon seizure Posted: 03 Sep 2014 10:55 PM PDT Armed members of the Karen Peace Council (KPC) confronted police in Karen State capital Hpa-an on Wednesday following the arrest of a high-ranking officer. Hpa-an police apprehended KPC Column Commander Ayu after questioning him about the abduction and robbery of a woman carrying gold wares. During the course of the investigation, police found and confiscated a gun and ammunition. Ayu was detained and charged with illegal possession of a weapon. KPC Colonel Saw Joseph led a group of about 40 armed soldiers to the Hpa-an police station at around 11am on Wednesday to demand that he be released and the weapon returned. "We are not surrounding the station," Saw Joseph explained to DVB. "We came to talk about the case. They charged one of our members with possession of a weapon, so we came to discuss how to proceed." Related Stories Ethnic bloc hopeful of KNU return UNFC opens 2 top positions for KNU Bullet Points: 1 September 2014 Saw Joseph said that there was no altercation and no shots were fired during the confrontation. Local journalist Zaw Ye Htet told DVB that locals were fearful nonetheless, and the incident brought business to a standstill. "About 20 soldiers from Burmese Army Light Infantry Battalion 201 joined forces with the police, and then the Karen troops backed out. There was no shootout, but the gold shops in Myoma market all closed down," he said. The KPC is an ethnic armed group that split from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in 2007. The 200-strong army was founded by Brig-Gen Htay Maung after he was dismissed from the KNLA over holding unauthorised peace negotiations with the Burmese government. The group signed a state-level ceasefire agreement with the central government in February 2012. The Karen National Union, political wing of the KNLA, also forged a state-level pact in 2012, and is currently involved in negotiations for a nationwide ceasefire agreement. The talks are tenuous and have led to leadership disagreements; the KNU recently withdrew from the country's main ethnic bloc, the United Nationalities Federal Council, amid power struggles among the group's dominant members.

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Thanlwin Dams Threaten Farmers’ Livelihoods: Academics
• Veterans of the Karen Insurgency Face a New Struggle
• Final Trial Confirms Efficacy of Dengue Vaccine
• Thai-Backed Power Plants in Burma Face ‘Difficulties’ Getting Coal
• In Burma, the Telecoms Games Begin
• What Burma’s Census Missed
• The Glass Palace Revisited
• What Burma’s Rebel Educators Want From School Reform
• Germany’s Merkel, Burma’s Thein Sein Look at Development Differently
• Fukushima Workers Sue Tepco Over Unpaid Wages, Reliance on Contractors
• Indonesia’s Energy Minister Made Suspect in Graft Case
• Al Qaeda Announces India Wing, Renews Loyalty to Taliban Chief

Thanlwin Dams Threaten Farmers’ Livelihoods: Academics Posted: 04 Sep 2014 06:00 AM PDT Traders in the Karen State capital Pa-an prepare to set out on the Salween River. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Academics from Burma, China and Thailand gathering in Burma's Mon State this week raised concerns about ongoing plans to build six dams on the Thanlwin River. More than 200 researchers and university professors met at Moulmein University on Tuesday and Wednesday to share their findings on the social and environmental impacts the dams would have on communities living alongside the river. They also traveled to nearby villages to ask how local residents have been affected by dams already built upstream in China. The academics said the livelihoods of farmers were being threatened not only by the dams, but also by the chemical industries and hydropower industries developed alongside them. The dams upstream in China have changed the current and led to an increase of saltwater in the river and its tributaries, the academics say. The saltwater has caused erosion of soil that has, over many years, led to the disappearance of entire villages and islands in the delta of the Gulf of Martaban, while also destroying farmland, said Min Min Nwe, a coordinator for a Mon development group who helped organize the workshop at Moulmein University. Meanwhile, waste from chemical industries has seeped into the river, harming fish and prawns while affecting the growth rate of insects and sails, which are damaging crops. "At farms along the Thanlwin River, large snails are destroying the paddy. Farmers say they are collecting carloads of snails every night," Min Min Nwe told The Irrawaddy. Of the six dams planned for the river, two would be in Shan State (construction has already begun on one of these), while one would be in Kayah State and three would be in Karen State. "Once the Thanlwin river is dammed upstream, the people living downstream, like in Thanbyuzayat, Mudon and Belu Kyun [townships] and in Htone Aii [village] will see a rise in tide and deforestation, while animals like fish and birds will perish," Min Min Nwe said. "We want to prevent that scenario." Academics from the workshop in Moulmein plan to submit recommendations to policymakers regarding the proposed dams. The workshop was organized in collaboration with the Renewable Energy Association Myanmar (REAM), the Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEE Net), and the Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA). The post Thanlwin Dams Threaten Farmers' Livelihoods: Academics appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Veterans of the Karen Insurgency Face a New Struggle Posted: 04 Sep 2014 05:31 AM PDT A former rebel solider with a prosthetic leg sleeps in a hammock in his home at the DKBA Veteran Village in Myawaddy Township, Karen State. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) MYAWADDY TOWNSHIP, Karen State —With a single step, Saw Win Tun's life was changed forever. It was 2009, somewhere on the Thai-Burmese border in Karen State. The soldier from Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) was unaware he was stepping on a landmine while on patrol. "When I moved, I heard an explosion and lost consciousness," said the 41-year old war veteran of the DKBA (since renamed the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army), a breakaway group of the Karen National Liberation Army, one of the largest ethnic insurgent armies in Burma. Hours later, he found himself waking up on a hospital bed in the Thai border town of Mae Sot and learned that both of his legs had been amputated. Now he is one of 96 former DKBA soldiers living in a village founded by the army near Myawaddy, on the Burmese side of the border. Named the DKBA War Veteran Village, it is open to former soldiers who left the rebel army after they were severely wounded during fighting. Even though they have shelters to live in, most of the war veterans and their families are struggling to get by. They say they no longer get a monthly stipend of 15,000 kyat (about US$15) that the DKBA used to give its wounded veterans. "I feel I am discarded in spite of my sacrifice to the army," Saw Win Tun told The Irrawaddy last month, sitting inside his wooden house. He said he had no idea why the stipend has stopped and no official had bothered to pay the village a visit to explain. "Without my legs, I feel really small. Now I entirely rely on my brother as I can't even stand up without help," he added. Saw Pho Htoo shares the same story. The 46-year old lost both of his legs to a landmine and became unable to support his wife and two children. As a result, his wife works as a hired hand on a plantation. His elder daughter has left school to work in Myawaddy town. "Were it not for my family, I have no idea what my life would be. Life is getting harder here," he said. The post Veterans of the Karen Insurgency Face a New Struggle appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Final Trial Confirms Efficacy of Dengue Vaccine Posted: 04 Sep 2014 05:25 AM PDT Employees work in the cell culture unit at the French drugmaker's vaccine unit Sanofi Pasteur plant in Neuville-sur-Saone, near Lyon, on March 14, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) PARIS — French drugmaker Sanofi, developing the first vaccine against dengue fever, said its product reduced disease cases by 60.8 percent in a large final clinical trial. Sanofi has invested more than 1.3 billion euros (US$1.7 billion) in the project, undertaking two decades of research on the world's fastest-growing tropical disease. The final study—conducted on 20,875 children aged 9-16 across five countries in Latin America—confirmed that the vaccine was safe, provided high protection against dengue hemorrhagic fever and cut by 80 percent the risk of hospitalization, the Paris-based company said on Wednesday. It was 42.3 percent efficient in tackling serotype 2, one of the viral disease's four strains, compared to 35 percent in a previous Asian trial on some 10,000 children, a relatively weak rate that has puzzled scientists. Overall, the findings were consistent and more reliable in the Latin American trial as it had twice as many patients as the Asian trial, said Nicholas Jackson, head of dengue research and development at Sanofi's vaccines unit Sanofi Pasteur. "We're talking about different regions, different seasons, different demographics, and it's very important for a vaccine to perform consistently, so these results are extremely pleasing," he told Reuters in an interview. The study was conducted in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras and Puerto Rico. Sanofi will unveil its detailed findings at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's annual meeting at the beginning of November. As in Asia, the results suggested the new vaccine acts best as an immune booster for patients with some previous exposure, and therefore may be most useful in tropical regions where dengue is common, rather than as a vaccination for tourists. However, given how the vaccine drastically reduces the most severe cases of dengue—by close to 90 percent—many countries and patients including tourists could see the point in using it, said Guillaume Leroy, head of Sanofi's dengue vaccine project. He said Sanofi aimed to start filing regulatory applications for the vaccine early next year and ultimately reach out to 100 countries, but that it would target as a priority the countries where it led the trials. Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher said in July that Mexico, Brazil and Colombia could be the first to market the vaccine. The first batches—produced at a dedicated plant outside Lyon in southeastern France—will be ready next year and Sanofi aims to sell the first doses in the second half of 2015. Some analysts believe the three-dose vaccine could bring in 1 billion euros ($1.31 billion) a year, significantly boosting Sanofi's vaccines business, which generated sales of 3.7 billion euros in 2013. Leroy said Sanofi would apply for regulatory approval on a three-dose regimen to maximize the body's immune response to the jab, but declined to comment on pricing and sales estimates. Nearly half the world's population is at risk of contracting dengue fever—also known as "breakbone fever" because of the severe pain it can cause. The disease infects some 100 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization, and some experts put the number at three times that level. Most patients survive dengue but it kills an estimated 20,000 people each year, many of them children, and causes one hospitalization every minute around the globe. The post Final Trial Confirms Efficacy of Dengue Vaccine appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai-Backed Power Plants in Burma Face ‘Difficulties’ Getting Coal Posted: 04 Sep 2014 04:33 AM PDT Thai students protest a proposed power plant in western Thailand's Samut Songkram in September 2007. In the face of public opposition to coal power at home, Thai companies are looking to Burma to build plants. (Photo: Reuters) Proposals by Thailand-based companies to build large coal-burning power plants in Burma might prove hard to implement because of logistical difficulties in delivering adequate fuel supplies, an industry newspaper said. Two plants have been proposed in eastern Burma with a total electricity generating capacity of 3,780 megawatts—more than the country's present overall capacity. One plant is earmarked for Ye Township in Mon State and the other for Mergui in Tenasserim Division. "Myanmar has limited coal reserves and a big expansion of coal generating capacity would have to use imported coal. Ye is close to the Andaman Sea but also a long way via Singapore and the Strait of Malacca from big supplier countries like Indonesia," said Asia Power Monitor. The newspaper also pointed out that the regions where the two plants are proposed have no proper electricity distribution grid in place. "Most of Myanmar's electricity grid is in a corridor connecting Yangon and Mandalay," it said. The Ye plant, with a proposed generating capacity of 1,280 megawatts, is planned by the Bangkok-based Toyo-Thai Corporation, a joint venture of Toyo Engineering Corporation of Japan and Thailand's construction firm Ital-Thai Development (ITD). The Mergui proposal, envisaging a much bigger 2,500-megawatt plant, comes from a consortium including Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, Thailand's biggest private power generator. The volume of coal needed to fuel these two plants alone year round would be more than 10 million tons, energy industry sources told The Irrawaddy this week. And plants of that size would cost several billion dollars to build. "Coal for power stations as large as these and where they are proposed would have to be imported by sea or road and I think the present infrastructure in Burma would have difficulties to handle it," Bangkok energy industries journalist Sam Imphet told The Irrawaddy. "Thailand and Burma do not have big coal reserves and what they have is quite low grade. A lot of Thai coal is lignite, which is quite polluting low energy-value brown coal." The largest coal bulk carrier ships hold 400,000 tons, but no port on Burma's Andaman coast is capable of handling this size of vessel. To ship 10 million tons of coal over a year by sea using smaller vessels would require at least one delivery per week, more if the power plant operators planned to build up a stockpile on site. Sizeable power plants usually hold not less than 10 days operational supply in reserve, said Imphet, who writes for Asia Power Monitor. People living near the sites of the two proposed coal power plants in Burma are objecting to the development on environmental grounds. In Thailand there is also widespread opposition to the development of coal-burning projects. Plans to revive an 800-megawatt coal plant at Krabi, also facing the Andaman Sea on the Thai southwest coast, have met with mass protests. A plan by ITD several years ago to build a 4,000-megawatt coal-fueled power station at Dawei was scuppered by the Naypyidaw government on environmental grounds. That plant was intended to provide energy for the long-delayed Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), however, some opponents suggested that a large portion of the electricity generated would have been sent to Thailand. The Toyo-Thai Corporation is already building a natural gas-fueled power station at the Thilawa SEZ near Rangoon. That project is intended to have a final generating capacity of 120 megawatts and began operating on 80 megawatts in 2013. Ratchaburi Electricity is linked with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) in plans for several hydroelectric projects on the Salween River in eastern Burma that would have a combined 7,000 megawatts capacity. Much of this is intended to be sent across the nearby border into Thailand, EGAT has said. Laos has become a supplier of electricity to Thailand by granting permission for the development of several large hydro-dam power plants on rivers, including the Mekong, in the face of strong opposition by international environment groups. EGAT is financing some of these plants. EGAT has also been linked with the Dawei SEZ. The Japanese business news agency Nikkei reported some months ago that the Thai state agency has discussed teaming up with Mitsubishi of Japan to build a super power plant of 7,000 megawatts using a mix of coal and natural gas. Since then, another Thai firm, Andaman Power & Utility, has claimed to have reached agreement with Burma's Ministry of Energy for a 500-megawatt power plant in the SEZ. The Dawei area still has a poor electricity supply. The post Thai-Backed Power Plants in Burma Face 'Difficulties' Getting Coal appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Burma, the Telecoms Games Begin Posted: 04 Sep 2014 04:25 AM PDT People line up to buy cheap MPT SIM cards in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Let the games begin. For the first time in Burma's history, competition is heating up to win over tens of millions of customers in a largely untapped mobile phone market. This week Burma's state-backed telecoms operator, which monopolized the country's telecoms sector for decades of military rule, put cheap SIM cards on general sale—after Qatar's Ooredoo became the first foreign telecoms company to launch a mobile phone network in the country last month. Long lines formed outside store in Rangoon after Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) began selling its 3G SIM cards for 1,500 kyats (US$1.50) each on Monday at authorized outlets around the country. "I waited in line for two days but the shops are sold out now," said Myint Win, 41, from North Okkalapa Township. He said he would try again later and was relieved that he no longer needed to wait for a lucky draw in the lotteries that MPT previously organized to distribute a limited supply of its cheap SIMs. With its monopoly under military rule, MPT sold SIMs for up to 5 million kyats ($5,000) about 10 years ago. After a quasi-civilian government took power in 2011, prices dropped to about 250,000 kyats in 2012, and last year MPT launched its monthly public lotteries with SIMs for 1,500 kyats. "Starting this month, there will be no more public lotteries in wards," Kyaw Soe, who leads MPT's telecoms training center, told The Irrawaddy. He said the general sale of cheap SIMs was possible after the Burmese telecoms firm partnered with two Japanese companies, KDDI Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation, which will invest $2 billion over the next decade to expand MPT's services. MPT plans to sell more than 700,000 SIMs this month and 5 million by the year's end, he added. High demand for the SIMs comes as many people in Rangoon express disappointment over Ooredoo's relatively expensive Internet usage fees and poor network coverage. Ooredoo, one of two foreign telecoms firms with a license to operate mobile services in Burma, launched its 1,500 kyats SIMs on Aug. 15 and has sold 1 million SIMs since then. "People were shocked by the [usage] charges for Ooredoo SIM cards," said Win Kyi, a freelance reporter from Magway Division. "Even saying one word, 'hello,' costs 35 kyats, and although Internet is better than MPT, the price is not convenient." Pyi Soe Htun, director of Lu Gyi Min Mobile Phone Shop in Rangoon, said there was high demand for Ooredoo SIMs when they first launched. "People had high expectations for Ooredoo, so they rushed to buy. But later, because of the network coverage, people lost interest, and MPT come out at the same time," he said, adding that his shop received about 6,500 SIMs from MPT to sell at 25 branches, and sold out within a day. "Burmese consumers mainly consider the price. Since they are familiar with a time-based charging system for Internet usage, they don't like being charged based on volume [the amount of data they use], although both systems have advantages and disadvantages," he added. He said Ooredoo has delivered faster Internet speeds than MPT but has also been criticized for poor network coverage. "The customers want to communicate everywhere. It's their first priority, and MPT is acceptable in that regard because its network covers most of the entire country," he said. Phyu Thae Mon, who works at the Mobile Corner Phone Sale Center in Madaya, Mandalay Division, said demand for Ooredoo SIMs at her store dropped because people could not make calls there. "Since Ooredoo's mobile network is not as good as people expected, most turned to MPT, which already has a network," added Hnin Wai Lwin, the manager at Lu Gyi Min Mobile Phone's branch in Magway Division. Ooredoo says its 3G network covered 7.8 million potential customers when it launched and now covers more than 9 million customers. The company has 20 towers in Rangoon and says it also covers Thayet in Magwe Division, Thayarwady and Taungoo in Pegu Division, and Pyin Oo Lwin in Mandalay Division. "We've been up-front about the enormous uptake in demand and some network challenges that we have faced in areas of downtown [Rangoon]. We have deployed the right technology and employed the right people for us to overcome these challenges and are confident we will continue to deliver significant improvements both in coverage and signal strength to our existing customers," Ross Cormack, chief executive of Ooredoo Myanmar, said at a press conference in Rangoon on Saturday. The Qatari company has reduced Internet charges to 10 kyats per megabyte for the "pay as you go" service, compared with 25 kyats previously. On Thursday, MPT launched a promotion offering a 20 percent bonus in credit for customers who buy a 5,000 kyats top-up card, and a 30 percent bonus for those who buy a 10,000 kyats card, until Sept. 12. "Customers have choices now, and by having competition in the market, more package plans will emerge. MPT could do as they pleased in the past by monopolizing the market, but now they have to offer better services," said Pyi Soe Htun, the director of Lu Gyi Min Mobile Phone. The post In Burma, the Telecoms Games Begin appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

What Burma’s Census Missed Posted: 04 Sep 2014 04:17 AM PDT The preliminary results of Burma's first nationwide census since 1983 were released in Rangoon last Saturday, providing an answer to the vexing question of the actual population, estimates of which varied between 44 to 59 million for a decade. The new tally (minus some low-population areas of northern Karen State and Kachin State not included because of security concerns) is 51.4 million. More important than this number, however, was what the census results didn't include. There were no details on the sensitive subjects of ethnicity or religion made public, and there won't be until after the 2015 election. The main reason provided is such results could potentially further inflame communal conflict that has rocked Burma since 2012, when over 140,000 stateless Rohingya Muslims were displaced in largely one-sided communal conflict in Burma's western Arakan State. Since then, the danger of communal violence has spread into central Burma, and the broader Muslim minority has been targeted in several waves of violence fueled by ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks. In fact, one week before the census started in late March, mobs attacked Western aid offices in the Arakan State capital, Sittwe, sparking the evacuation of over 300 aid workers. This was presaged by the government's suspension of healthcare activities by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) weeks earlier, denying medical care to meet the urgent needs of thousands of displaced Rohingya in squalid camps throughout Arakan State. Days afterward, as the counting began, government census officials refused to count any person identifying themselves as "Rohingya," eliciting the only expression of concern publicly heard to date from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) at the exclusion of the Rohingya and their right to self-identification. The real lessons from the census were the blithe indifference by UNFPA and the Burmese government to the potential for violence the census could spark, voiced well ahead of the enumeration by a number of organizations, such as International Crisis Group and the Transnational Institute, and scores of ethnic minority political leaders. The government's insistence on using a bewildering classification of 135 "national races," from which the Rohingya have been excluded since 1982, was one major concern, as was the figure of Muslims in the population, speculation by Buddhist extremists is a prime driver of ultra-nationalist paranoia and violence. There is no doubt Burma needs accurate planning data to facilitate economic and social development after decades of disastrous military autocracy produced Burma's deep and pervasive poverty. The population figure revealed by the census was lower than expected, but the more concerning shortfall really is the failure of the government, the UN and international donors to take action to effectively address the ethnic and religious divides that help fuel instability, violence and disenfranchisement in Burma. David Scott Mathieson is a senior researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. This piece first appeared as a dispatch on Human Rights Watch's official website. The post What Burma's Census Missed appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

The Glass Palace Revisited Posted: 04 Sep 2014 04:10 AM PDT Amitav Ghosh is pictured at The Irrawaddy office in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Amitav Ghosh, the internationally acclaimed author of "Sea of Poppies" and "River of Smoke," first visited Burma in 1997 and set his novel "The Glass Palace" there three years later. In November 2012, the Bengali-Indian former staff writer for The New Yorker revisited the country to see the changes taking place. He took some time to meet The Irrawaddy in Rangoon to discuss the experience. Question: What's the reason behind your trip? Answer: Earlier this year the translation of 'The Glass Palace' won the Myanmar Literature Award. At that time the Indian Embassy wrote to me and asked if I could come but I was not available right away. I've been planning to come back for the last couple of years since the reforms started. This is a very good opportunity. I seized it. Q: The last time you were in Burma was 1997. What differences have you noticed after 15 years? A: It is like going from one planet to another. It's so different. It's almost unbelievable, and I was told in fact that most of these changes actually occurred in the last 12 months, which is truly staggering because the visual landscape has changed so much. One of the things that make cities of Burma so distinctive is that all the men wear longyi. Now the longyi seems to be fading. Everyone is in shirt and pants. That's one thing. The traffic on the roads, the taxis, the buildings—all of that is starting to change. But most of all change is in the atmosphere. I was doing an event at the Indian Embassy and inside there were so many people who came to the meeting. I spoke of things I would not have dreamt of and which people would not have accepted before. I was talking about the press scrutiny board and [late veteran Burmese journalist] Ludu Sein Win, who was such an inspiration to me. So all those things, 15 years ago you couldn't have mentioned. Q: What's your impression of Aung San Suu Kyi? A: That's like writing a book. Let me say that for me she's been a sort of beacon in the world. I feel that admiration for her, and I'm feeling incredibly happy she reached this point in time when she's able to initiate changes in Burma. When I was here in 1996 it was on the eve of [the ex-military government] proposing a new Constitution. Essentially the deal they were offering then was not really different from the deal the NLD [National League for Democracy] eventually accepted. So, I felt then she and the NLD was making a mistake by turning down that deal [at that time]. I said so to her that time because they withdrew from the 2010 elections. I said to her that one consistent thing in the history of Southeast Asia in the 20th century is that any party that withdraws from the election loses something very profoundly. In 1942 when the Congress of India withdrew from the election, it had a profound impact, creating a sort of condition whereby after that they were crumbling. So I felt even then that a small step forward was better than no step forward. I felt that then, to be honest, she was badly advised because—and I'm just giving my opinion—that it was her British and American advisers who were pushing the view that [the NLD] should withdraw. I have seen a lot of things written about the constitutional arrangement settling proposed deals and I've seen a lot of criticism of it, especially from the NGO community who don't want any place for the military and so on. Of course, in principle they are right. But you have to remember you are operating within this context. What we've seen in the Southeast Asian context is that you can't create a perfect Constitution. For example, in Pakistan you have a perfect democratic Constitution but power is not in the hands of civilians, which means in effect that the constitutional authorities, the elected authorities, actually are helpless. They have no power. They become window-dressing. So I think at least as a transitional measure it is much better to have the army there and make it accountable because if it is in the open to some degree, it's accountable. In Pakistan, it's not. It becomes the deep state. By creating a perfect Constitution what you create is a deep state. So I personally think a transitional measure is not without reason. Q: Your uncle and father were your inspirations for writing 'The Glass Palace.' Could you tell our readers more about them? A: My uncle's family was in Burma from the earliest 20th century. He created a big kind of business in teak. He got the contract to provide the sleepers throughout India. So he became very rich. On December 24, 1941, when the Japanese first bombed Rangoon, one of the bombs fell on his timber yard which was right by the river. So all his timber was burnt up. That was the catastrophe for him. He left. He walked over the mountain, and came back to Calcutta. I grew up with him, and it was amazing in life to see this man who once was very rich, yet slowly his life dwindled and dwindled. All his life, even though basically he left Burma, in his head he was living in Burma. So he would tell these stories of Burma all the time. I just grew up with these stories. My father's stories of Burma too. My father came and stayed in Burma. He was in India when the Second World War broke out. He joined the British Indian Army. When the British reinvaded Burma in 1944, he was with Lord Slim's army. Q: Have your father and uncle read 'The Glass Palace'? A: No, my father died two years before 'The Glass Palace' was finished. The book was dedicated to him. It's very sad because his stories are very important parts of the book. My uncle's stories too. He died long before the book. Q: Aung San Suu Kyi said India should support Burma's democratization process. What will be the future Indian-Burmese relationship? A: I think it's very important. I would say it's more important for India than Burma. India and Burma share a thousand-mile border. It's a very critical border for India because that area of India is incredibly underdeveloped. But it has the unbelievable human potential that we see in India now. My friends teaching in universities have told me that their best students come from northeastern India. The fact that Burma has a troubled border and India has a troubled border will hold back both countries. If an economic corridor can be opened between Assam and Southeast Asia, it would revolutionize India, let alone Burma. So in that sense, that border is more critical to India than Burma. I really hope that India begins to engage in Burma in a serious way but also with a kind of humility. Yesterday, at one of my events here, there was an adviser to the Burmese president. He said to me how keen he is for Indian business investment in Burma. I wanted to say to him, "Be careful with what you wish for," because we can't forget what happened here in the 1910s and 1920s when Burma's rice producing industry was taken over by Indian money lenders, and a very large percentage of Burmese farmers went into catastrophic indebtedness. So the point is it should be good business rather than exploiting. That's one thing I hope for. The other thing I would like to see best is an expansion of cultural and educational links. India has more Burmese student refugees than any other country except Thailand. So that's the natural bridge. Q: India was quite supportive to the Burmese democracy movement in the early days but later Burma seemed to be forgotten. Why did that happen? A: I don't think it happened. In 1993, India gave Aung San Suu Kyi the Jawaharlal Nehru Award—the biggest award in India. The Burmese resistance movement was at the defense minister's house. The defense minister at the time was George Fernandes. In those days, I was covering a story so I used to go to Fernandes' house. All the Burmese resistance was around his house. Apart from that there was widespread support for the NLD. I think what [India] did was they switched from a position of non-engagement with the junta to a position of engagement like that of Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations]. You can criticize that move. People have criticized India on that move. But in reality, that's the policy that worked. Q: Why does India have so many internationally renowned writers like Rabindranath Tagore, yourself, Salmen Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Vikram Seth? A: I can't explain really. I think in India people love telling stories. That's always been the case. You can consider India's influence in Southeast Asia was never a military influence, or political influence even. But it was the influence of stories like Ramayayan and Mahabarata. Throughout Southeast Asia, throughout Asia, they became such important cultural forms. It happened not through power, not through politics. It happened through stories. In a sense I think you could say we are doing what our ancestors did—telling stories. That's one thing we are good at. Q: You are from the world's largest democracy. What are the disadvantages of being a writer in a democratic society? A: The idea that there are no constraints on writers [in democratic society] is a mistake. There are constraints even in the US and I myself experienced those constraints around 9/11 and 2001. We experienced literary censorship. The real threat to freedom of expression in our times doesn't really come from the government. In most parts of the world now it comes from non-state actors like extremist groups or other various kinds. In India, various kinds of identity groups object to someone saying this or that. The post The Glass Palace Revisited appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

What Burma’s Rebel Educators Want From School Reform Posted: 03 Sep 2014 05:00 PM PDT Saw Myint Aung, 13, right, is a top student for English language at a government school in Htee Kaw Htaw, Myawaddy Township. (Photo: Samantha Michaels / The Irrawaddy) HTEE KAW HTAW, Karen State — Forget your typical school district. If you're a student in Karen State, what matters most for your education is whether you live in a white, gray or black zone. Colors on a map. During six decades of civil war, ethnic Karen rebels divided their homeland in this way. White zones were enemy territory, where you would find government soldiers in pressed green uniforms. Farther into the lush jungles, gray zones were contested areas of mixed control, while black zones were held by the rebels themselves. Education was also split along these lines. In white zones, teachers at government schools spoke Burmese language and taught the government's approved curriculum. In black zones, the rebel Karen National Union (KNU) ran its own expansive school system, with teachers instructing in Karen language while emphasizing Karen history. In gray zones, especially in the later years of the war, so-called "mixed schools" promoted elements of both curricula. But now, the distinctions are blurring. Both sides signed a ceasefire deal in 2012, and since then the government and government-approved NGOs have built more schools in mixed and rebel territories. Today, leaders of the KNU's education department—known as the Karen Education Department (KED)—complain that sometimes the government sends its own teachers to KNU-funded schools and appoints them as headmasters. Along with political and economic reforms, leaders in Naypyidaw are attempting to overhaul the national education system. In the process, ethnic educators say they fear a "quiet infiltration" into their territory—with government schools arriving first, followed by the necessary administration, such as government-approved village heads and police officers. "That's the ticket in. To send the others, they start with education," says KED secretary Saw Law Eh Moo. "In the military, there's a demarcation line. If they cross it, they have to let us know ahead of time. But for education, that demarcation line doesn't exist." 'They Call Us Rebels' While government schools tend to ignore the country's legacy of ethnic warfare, Karen schools emphasize it, focusing on the armed conflict in Karen State that began in 1949. And there's no sugar-coating: On the cover of a textbook about the Karen revolution is the image of a soldier's silhouette and a large spattering of blood. In fact, despite the de-escalation of hostilities since peace talks began, the KED secretary says he muses sometimes about requiring students to undergo mandatory military training, though he admits the idea would not be feasible: The KED school system is focused on education, and even proposing mandatory military training would likely upset the international donors that currently provide the KED with millions of dollars every year. Still, even if armed clashes in Karen State are rare these days, Karen educators are not forgiving and forgetting easily. "The facts that we mention in our textbooks are very different from what has been mentioned in the government system," Law Eh Moo says. "For example, they call us rebels or terrorists, and we also call them the same." Like other ethnic rebel groups, the KNU has a health department and an education department, which it developed about half a century ago. In the beginning, the KED used lesson plans written by Christian missionaries, but in the mid-1990s it began developing its own curriculum with help from international organizations on the Burma-Thailand border, where many Karen refugees fled during the war. The new curriculum covered not only Karen history, language and culture, but also more universal subjects like math, science and geography. Today the Karen school system is known to be more progressive than the government's system. Long before the Ministry of Education began instructing teachers to incorporate a "child-centered" approach, rather than all rote learning, Karen teachers were encouraging their students to join class discussions, while using local examples to illustrate complicated topics. In tenth-grade geography class, for example, students observe rivers in their village while learning about the water cycle and dams; compose rap songs about the weather and climate; germinate seeds in plastic trays to better understand forest ecosystems; and collect traditional Karen tools, dress and craftwork to learn about their culture. As of last year, the KED supported 1,295 schools with more than 141,000 students—not only in Karen State, but also in predominately Karen areas of Pegu Division, Tenasserim Division and Mon State, which are considered by the KNU to be part of "the true" Karen State. "There's the government map, and then there's the reality," says Ko Lo Htoo, director of the Karen State Education Assistance Group, which works closely with the KED. Before the ceasefire, teachers at these schools were often forced to cancel classes during raids by government troops, while students and their families fled to the jungle for shelter. "They had a policy to shoot on sight—anything that moved," says the KED secretary, adding that they did not distinguish between Karen soldiers and civilians. "Even little kids—they said, 'You will grow up and join the revolution, so why don't we start with you now?'" He adds that school buildings were often destroyed. "They burned, we built. They came back to destroy, we rebuilt. … We kept them busy." A Quiet Infiltration? In a valley near the Moei River, which separates Karen State from Thailand, you'll find Htee Kaw Htaw, a farming village of about 650 people. This territory is controlled by a pro-government militia, whose members formerly served the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), a rebel group that broke away from the KNU. Residents say they also see government soldiers sometimes at a local Buddhist monastery, while KNU soldiers come through nearly every day. In 2010, the government replaced a small DKBA-funded school here with a new, much larger school. Today it is attended by 200 students, mostly Karen but also ethnic Burman, Pa-O and Mon. The school is clean and safe but bare and understaffed compared with schools in Rangoon, Burma's biggest city. "I need a teaching aide and more space. We need a headmaster, more teachers, and more supplies," says Saw Htoo Myat, 22, one of three teachers at the school who were hired by the government. During most classes, he stands in front of a chalkboard and dictates lessons, but he's trying to solicit participation more often. "I do it 35 minutes per day, asking questions to the students and writing their responses on the blackboard," he says of the child-centered approach. "It's difficult, but it makes the students happy." He follows the government-approved curriculum and teaches in Burmese language, even though most of his students speak Karen at home. This year, for the first time, he says he can offer a class on Karen language to help his students learn to read and write in their mother tongue. Saw Myint Aung, 13, is the school's top student for English language, but his friends tease him sometimes. "If you are Karen, why can't you read or write Karen?" he says, recalling the taunts. He adds, "I want to learn to read and write Karen because I am Karen." Six teachers at the school were not hired by the government, including Cho Cho Lwin, 51, a community teacher who has taught in the village for more than a decade and is paid by the pro-governmental militia of former DKBA soldiers. "Government teachers make 116,000 kyats [US$116] per month. I make 2,500 baht [$80] per month. It's not enough," she says shyly. Asked whether she hopes for a higher salary or other reforms in the future, she adds, "I have no authority to suggest changes." The KED also pays community-hired teachers at other government schools, usually a stipend of 4,500 baht per year—which is often what government teachers make in a single month. With an annual budget of about $3 million, the KED says it chips in to support the government teachers' transportation and housing costs, which otherwise would be covered by the students' families. The secretary says the pay discrepancy—coupled with the tendency for government teachers to be promoted as headmasters, even if they are less experienced—can lead to tensions in villages, with some government teachers even forced out by local residents. Time to Negotiate Burma's Parliament is currently considering a National Education Bill that, if passed, will likely have far-reaching consequences for government schools around the country. But as the government moves closer to a nationwide ceasefire, it remains to be seen how these schools will ever merge with KED schools or other ethnic education systems in Kachin, Shan, Mon, Chin and Arakan states. Ethnic educators say their input has largely been ignored by the Ministry of Education. "As far as education in ethnic areas is concerned, we can definitely say that education reform is not inclusive," says Sai Naw Kham, director of the Rural Development Foundation of Shan State. "They don't know what is happening on the ground, and local scholars from ethnic communities have not been involved in the reform processes. "We have seen that the future education policy will continue the Burmanization policy, which is the root of the racial and political conflicts in [Burma] since independence." In 2012, the Ministry of Education launched a massive study to identify strengths and weaknesses of its school system which could inform new education policies. Researchers studied schools around the country, but according to the KED secretary, they did not consider the diversity of education in Karen State. "The work that we've been doing over decades does not exist in their knowledge," he says. "What they mean by ethnic education is the work of the government in ethnic areas." Eh Thwa Bor, director of the Community School Program, which runs 31 schools in the state, says the Ministry of Education needs to understand that non-government educators are also doing valuable work. "They should recognize the villagers' schools. And they should treat the teachers the same because they are all working hard," she says. But she also wants the KED to cooperate more with the government. As a starting point, she says Karen schools should teach Burmese language. "Burma has so many ethnic groups, so we should learn Burmese. Otherwise, how can we communicate with each other?" she says. The KED wants to see a decentralized school system—in keeping with the federal political system proposed by ethnic rebel groups—that would allow states some level of authority to administer their schools. It says it is open to negotiating on certain issues to help merge with the government education system, and that it will begin teaching Burmese language to its students soon. Merging with the government system could be beneficial for Karen students who are currently barred from attending Burmese universities because they went to a KED high school. But the KED secretary says certain issues are not open for discussion, including the inclusion of ethnic history in the curriculum, as well as mother-tongue teaching. He sees two possible options. First, all ethnic groups in Burma could design a unified curriculum together, which would incorporate lessons about each of their histories and cultures, and which would be used in all schools across the country. "But we foresee that would be chaos," he says, adding that the second option might be more simple: The government can design 60 percent of the curriculum, which would be followed by everybody, while 40 percent would be left open for ethnic groups to determine on their own, perhaps state by state. In either case, education policy must not be developed by only one side, he says. "We feel like they have their hand over us," he says of the government, "and this will limit our ability to continue running our ethnic education. "In the past they killed, they burned and they tortured, and every time we would regain our energy. But this time we need to be very careful. They may be trying to cut us off in a soft way, and we are concerned that the identity we have preserved over more than six decades will start to die out, gradually." The post What Burma's Rebel Educators Want From School Reform appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Germany’s Merkel, Burma’s Thein Sein Look at Development Differently Posted: 03 Sep 2014 10:13 PM PDT Burma's President Thein Sein and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) review the guard of honor of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, before talks at the Chancellery in Berlin September 3, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BERLIN — When German Chancellor Angela Merkel met visiting President Thein Sein on Wednesday, they agreed on the things Burma needs to do, but disagreed on the order in which it needs to do them. "For good economic development you need peaceful development and that requires equality and tolerance towards minorities," Merkel said. Thein Sein put it the other way round. "If we have economic success, then democratization is easier," he said. He also pointed out Burma's three years of democracy had seen many difficulties "but we have nevertheless been able to carry out this enormous democratic process without spilling blood." Merkel acknowledged a lot had been done in Burma since its political transition from military rule in 2011, such as on press freedom and added that though it was still a poor country "it has growth rates of over 7 percent so the signs are very good." Burma, one of Asia's poorest countries with many different ethnic minorities, has a by-election late this year and a parliamentary election in 2015. "We hope the elections are free, fair and transparent and that everyone has the possibility to be a candidate and represent their party," Merkel told journalists after meeting with Thein Sein. The exercise in democracy does have some limits. Among them are the Constitution's restrictions on who can run for president. For instance, it bars anyone from running for president who has immediate family members who are foreign nationals. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's late husband and two sons are British, and many observers believe the provision was written specifically to keep the Nobel prize winner from seeking the office. The post Germany's Merkel, Burma's Thein Sein Look at Development Differently appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Fukushima Workers Sue Tepco Over Unpaid Wages, Reliance on Contractors Posted: 03 Sep 2014 10:09 PM PDT Workers wait for transportation to the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant at J-Village near the plant in Fukushima Prefecture. (Photo: Reuters) IWAKI, Japan — A group of Fukushima workers on Wednesday sued Tokyo Electric for unpaid wages in a potentially precedent-setting legal challenge to the utility and its reliance on contractors to shut down a nuclear plant destroyed by the industry's worst accident since Chernobyl. The lawsuit follows a court ruling last week that the utility known as Tepco must pay compensation over the suicide of a woman who was forced from her home following the March 2011 tsunami and subsequent meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant north of Tokyo. The spate of legal activity is the latest blow for Tepco, which has been effectively nationalized and expects to spend more than US$48 billion in compensation alone for the disaster that forced the evacuation of some 160,000 residents. The lawsuit, filed by two current and two former Fukushima workers who wore masks to court to conceal their identities, claims that Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc and its contractors failed to ensure workers are paid promised hazard allowances, a court filing showed. "A year ago, Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe told the world that Fukushima was under control. But that's not the case," Tsuguo Hirota, the lawyer coordinating the lawsuit, said in an interview. "Workers are not getting promised hazard pay and skilled workers are leaving. It's becoming a place for amateurs only, and that has to worry anyone who lives near the plant." The workers say Tokyo Electric allowed subcontractors to skim funds allocated for wages to bolster their own profits on the decommissioning project at the expense of workers. The lawsuit seeks the equivalent of almost $600,000 in unpaid wages from Tokyo Electric and related contractors. It marks the first time that the utility has been sued for the labor practices of the construction companies it employs. The lawsuit also asks that the 6,000 workers at the nuclear clean-up project either be made effectively government employees, be put on the Tepco payroll directly or otherwise be fairly paid. Hirota said he expects two additional workers will join the action immediately and that more could follow. Japanese law allows for additional plaintiffs with related claims to join an existing lawsuit. Tokyo Electric said it had not yet received a copy of the complaint and would respond after seeing the details. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday morning by Hirota, the four plaintiffs and a group of supporters at a branch of Fukushima court in Iwaki, about 60 km (36 miles) south of the wrecked nuclear plant. The plaintiffs have asked to go unnamed out of fear of reprisals from their employers. Fukushima workers say they have been cautioned against speaking to the media or others about work conditions and told they could be fired for doing so. The plaintiffs were surrounded by a small group of supporters who also wore masks to make the identification of the workers more difficult. Tokyo Electric said in November last year that it would double the allocation for hazard pay to workers at Fukushima to $200 per day. At the time, the utility was under intense scrutiny because of its failure to control the flow of water pouring through the mangled reactor basements, where it becomes contaminated with radiation and then leaks into the Pacific Ocean. The utility has also declined to disclose details of contractors that employ some 6,000 workers at the Fukushima plant, citing the private nature of those contracts. It has said it relies on its contractors to enforce labor standards and safety practices. Some 800 companies are active in the project to decommission the Fukushima reactor. The workers at the site are clearing debris, building tanks to store radioactive water and building a frozen berm of soil intended to contain groundwater and keep it from becoming contaminated. The project is expected to take decades and will conclude when the melted fuel is removed from three of the reactors on the site that suffered meltdowns. In addition to Tepco, the lawsuit names several listed subcontractors that it seeks to hold liable for "shared illegal conduct." Those include Taihei Dengyo Kaisha Ltd and Kajima Corp. Tokyo Power Technologies, a subsidiary of Tepco, is also named in the lawsuit. Taihei Dengyo and Kajima said they had not yet confirmed the facts of the lawsuit. The post Fukushima Workers Sue Tepco Over Unpaid Wages, Reliance on Contractors appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Indonesia’s Energy Minister Made Suspect in Graft Case Posted: 03 Sep 2014 10:03 PM PDT Indonesian Energy Minister Jero Wacik (center), who is now a suspect in a corruption case, stands with his deputy (left) and Rudi Rubiandini, the former chairman of SKKMigas recently sentenced in a graft case, at Rubiandini's swearing-in ceremony in Jakarta on Aug. 14, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) JAKARTA — Indonesia's anti-corruption agency said on Wednesday the energy minister was a suspect in a case involving extortion and abuse of authority, the latest in a string of cases that have tainted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's final year in office. The minister, Jero Wacik, is a senior figure in Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, and the third cabinet minister in the outgoing government to be implicated in a corruption case. Wacik is also the second senior energy official to be targeted by the corruption watchdog, another blow to the sector after oil and gas regulator chief Rudi Rubiandini was sentenced to seven years in prison in a US$1 million bribery case in April. It was not clear whether Wacik, who held a news conference to defend his integrity, will be replaced immediately. President-elect Joko Widodo, who gained widespread popularity for his clean image, will take over as leader of the world's third-largest democracy on Oct. 20. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which is increasingly targeting corruption in the natural resources sector and which is known for its high conviction rate, said Wacik was a suspect in a case involving extortion and kickbacks worth about 9.9 billion rupiah ($841,000). "We have issued a letter on Sept. 2 that raises the status to suspect of JW from the energy and mineral resources ministry," Zulkarnain, the KPK's deputy commissioner, told reporters, referring to Wacik by his initials. Zulkarnain said his agency would request that a travel ban be imposed on him as soon as possible. A KPK official who declined to be identified confirmed to Reuters that the suspect Zulkarnain was referring to was Wacik. Wacik, who was elected in April to a five-year term as a parliamentarian starting in October, held the news conference late on Wednesday in response to the KPK announcement. "I signed an integrity pact," Wacik said, referring to a document aimed at preventing corruption that all public officials must sign at the time of their appointment. "I will remain in Indonesia to abide by all the ongoing legal processes," Wacik told reporters, adding that he would "face the president first" regarding his role as minister. Yudhoyono Shocked Yudhoyono, who is currently in Singapore, is expected to make a decision on any replacement on his return. Earlier, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said Yudhoyono was shocked by the news, but would wait for official confirmation of Wacik's status from the KPK before responding. Deputy Energy Minister Susilo Siswoutomo said he found it sad and difficult to believe. "From what I know he is a good, honest person," Siswoutomo said, adding that the ministry would support the legal process and perform all tasks "as usual." Senior Mining Ministry official Sukhyar, who has only one name, said after the KPK announcement that talks with mining giant Newmont Corp, aimed at resuming copper exports, would not be affected by the change in Wacik's legal status in connection with the case. Yudhoyono picked Wacik to take over the ministry in 2011. Wacik, a former tourism minister from the island of Bali, faced heavy criticism this year for his botched handling of a ban on raw mineral exports that has caused billions of dollars in losses in the mining industry. This year, the religious affairs minister was identified as a suspect in a graft case involving state funds allocated for the haj pilgrimage. In July, the former sports minister was sentenced to four years in prison after being removed from his post because of suspected corruption connected to a sports complex project. Both officials denied any wrongdoing. Widodo has promised a clean and largely technocratic cabinet in a country where graft remains a prevalent problem. Indonesia consistently ranks among the most corrupt countries on Transparency International's corruption perception index. The post Indonesia's Energy Minister Made Suspect in Graft Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Al Qaeda Announces India Wing, Renews Loyalty to Taliban Chief Posted: 03 Sep 2014 09:58 PM PDT Muslims shout slogans after offering funeral prayers for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden outside a mosque in Kolkata on May 6, 2011. It was the first Friday prayers after bin Laden was killed early May 2 in a US special forces assault on a Pakistani compound. (Photo: Reuters) DUBAI — Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and "raise the flag of jihad" across the subcontinent. In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership of transnational Islamist militancy. Zawahri described the formation of "Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent" as a glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir" and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression. Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda's aging leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has galvanized young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border. Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a "caliph" or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims. The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi's followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions. As well being an indirect repudiation of Islamic State, the announcement could pose a challenge to India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi. He has already faced criticism for remaining silent about several incidents deemed anti-Muslim, underscoring fears that his Hindu nationalist followers will upset religious relations in the majority Hindi nation. However, while al Qaeda is very much at home in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, due to influential contacts and a long presence there, it is a minnow compared to local militant groups in terms of manpower and regional knowledge. Safe Haven Over the years Zawahri and his predecessor Osama bin Laden, killed by US forces in 2011, repeatedly pledged allegiance to Mullah Omar, in return for the safe haven he granted their followers in Afghanistan. The statement did not mention Islamic State or Baghdadi, but it appear to take a subtle dig at the group's efforts at administering areas it has seized in Iraq and Syria. Islamic State's effort at state-building is something never attempted by al Qaeda's central leaders, who traditionally have preferred to plot complex attacks on targets in the West. Zawahri called for unity among militants and criticized "discord"—echoing a common al Qaeda complaint against Islamic State's record of clashing with rival Islamist groups in Syria. The statement also warned al Qaeda's new wing against oppressing local populations—another complaint leveled against Islamic State by critics in Iraq and Syria. "If you said that you are doing jihad to defend the sanctities of the Muslims, then you must not transgress against them or their money or honor, and not even transgress your mujahideen brothers by word and action," he said. "Discord is a curse and torment, and disgrace for the believers and glory for the disbelievers," he said. "If you say that by your jihad you do not want but the pleasure of Allah, then you must not race for governance and leadership at the first opportunity." Muslims account for 15 percent of Indians but, numbering an estimated 175 million, theirs is the third-largest Muslim population in the world. Centuries of rule by medieval Muslim invaders drove a wedge between Hindus and Muslims. Tensions have grown since Pakistan was carved from Muslim-majority areas of India in 1947, a violent partition in which hundreds of thousands were killed. In the era of Washington's "war on terror," some Indian Muslims have begun to sympathize more with hardline pan-Islamic groups and causes. The post Al Qaeda Announces India Wing, Renews Loyalty to Taliban Chief appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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