| Backlash Grows Against Burma’s National Education Bill Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:36 AM PDT  Students wearing graduation gowns protest against the National Education Bill on the campus of Dagon University in Rangoon in early September. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — More than 200 civil society organizations have joined a national network of education organizations and a growing chorus of voices in rejecting a draft National Education Bill that looks likely to soon pass into law. The National Network for Education Reform (NNER), which came out against the bill after it was passed by Parliament in late July, was joined this week by a diverse coalition of groups opposing the legislation because they say it violates "human rights standards." Aung Myo Min of Equality Myanmar, one of the groups against the bill,said that additionally, it had failed to incorporate community-based organizations' suggestions. "Analyzing the bill, we have noticed that the National Education Bill has included [policies] that are not in keeping with the will of community-based organization," the Equality Myanmar director told The Irrawaddy. "As a human rights activist, [I have] found that it's a little bit slack on human rights standards, so we've taken a stand in favor of changes," he said. The National Education Bill was approved by the Union Parliament on July 30. It has been sent back to Parliament by President Thein Sein, who suggested 25 changes to the legislation, among them that full implementation of reforms be postponed until 2027. Parliament's bill requires full implementation of the law within five years of its passage. The legislation is expected to be up for discussion again during the current session of Parliament, but a date for deliberations has not yet been announced. According to the Constitution, Burma's president can offer input on bills approved by Parliament within 14 days of the legislation's passage. However, he cannot prevent the bill from becoming law once a final version is resent by the legislature, and becomes law seven days after it is returned to his desk, with or without his signature. The NNER's push for a rethink of the current bill is futile, however, according to Myat Nyarna Soe, secretary of the Upper House's Education Development Committee. The National League for Democracy lawmaker said parliamentary procedure only allowed for MPs to accept the president's recommended changes or send back the original draft that was sent to Thein Sein in July. Lawmakers can, however, revisit the "mother law" once it is passed to consider amendments, he added, while downplaying concerns about a lack of guaranteed autonomy for institutions of higher learning in the bill. The NNER says the bill differs from the network's recommended policies for education reform, which were the outcome of seminars it held across the country over the last two years. In a statement released in August, the network said it strongly disagreed with nine major points in the bill, including the formation of a "National Education Commission" and "Higher Education Coordinating Committee," which NNER fears will limit universities' autonomy. The network has called for the granting of greater autonomy to universities and colleges and the implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education, as well as stronger guarantees of the right to association and free speech. "The right to education is a human right," Aung Myo Min said on Tuesday, adding that he was seeking a provision in the law guaranteeing a baseline level of spending from the state budget on education. "We have seen discrimination against children with disabilities and the right to language and culture for ethnic children. And the right to association is also a human right." Khon Ja, a leading activist with the Rangoon-based Kachin Peace Network, also emphasized the importance of stronger mother tongue provisions in any overhaul of the primary education system. "We would like to point out children's right to learn in their mother tongue in the first two years of primary school. If a Karen child, for example, has to learn math in Burmese, it's like a Burmese learning math in French or Pali [Sanskrit]. The result is that children in ethnic areas have higher drop-out rates, according to Unicef research." The post Backlash Grows Against Burma's National Education Bill appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burmese Boatmen Enslaved by Drugs in Southern Thailand Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:30 AM PDT  Migrant workers from Myanmar sort fish after unloading the catch from a boat at the port of Mahachai, near Bangkok September 24, 2011. (Photo: Reuters) PHUKET, Thailand — Amidst the hustle and bustle of Ongkan pier, located in the largest fishing port in Phuket, southern Thailand, hundreds of Burmese workers were as busy as bees, unloading ice blocks from trucks and stacking fish into pushcarts with a plump Thai woman of Chinese descent giving instructions. Among the workers were ethnic Mon, Tavoyan, Arakanese, Burman and others, some who had been there for more than a decade. Gorragot, the deputy chief of the port, said that Burmese workers accounted for 90 percent of the 300-strong workforce. Every day at around 10 am, fishermen arrive at the port to deliver the fish they have caught the previous night. After unloading their catch, they have lunch, take a short rest and then head back out to sea at around 2 pm. This is their routine, although, sometimes they have to stay at sea for two to three months. Fishermen tend to drink due to the nature of their work and often engage in serious quarrels and violence, port authorities and fishermen told The Irrawaddy. Homicides were also not uncommon. "In the past, four to five people were killed in one month when workmates got drunk and fought," said Kyaw Win Hlaing, the leader of a fishing boat. "But the number of homicide cases has decreased gradually because they no longer drink that much now. Instead, they use illicit drugs," he said. Some fishermen secretly deal in the stimulant drug 'ice'; 'Asean' (a mixture of ten kinds of substances named after the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations); Ya ba; and speed, said Gorragot. Since they generally deal amongst themselves, it is difficult to take action against those involved, he added. An illicit drug capsule or tablet costs 400 to 500 baht (around 15,000 kyat) while the minimum monthly salary of a fisherman starts from just 7,000 to 9,000 baht. Since violence has decreased, port authorities may feel compelled to turn a blind eye to drug use. However, some abusers suffer from mental disorders, which may cause them to leave their jobs and become destitute. Port authorities said more than half of the fishermen use drugs, while some of the fishermen themselves think the figure is even higher. Some migrants have been in Thailand for more than a decade but have never earned enough to support their families back home despite years of toil. A number have blown their salaries on illicit drugs and lost contact with their families or fallen victim to human traffickers. Htein Win, a fisherman originally from Manaung Township in Arakan State, said he hadn't spoken to his family for more than 10 years. "Lately, I called my family in Burma and I was told that my father and mother died more than four years ago and that my wife died just recently," he said. He felt that he had lost his future and now passes the time using drugs, unsure whether he would return to Burma. "I have to find a way to get my late wife out of my mind," said Htein Win. "In the past, I befriended alcohol. But now, I try drug sometimes." A chicken-feed salary combined with homesickness often drives fishermen into a downward spiral of alcoholism and drug abuse. Some are saving money to go back to Burma because of the hardships associated with their work. Some fisherman came to Thailand through employment agents who painted a portrait of ample jobs and high wages. They were willing to risk the journey after struggling to earn a living back home. "I used to have a few acres of farmland (in Burma), but that was grabbed by the military and sold to cronies," said Myo Myint, from Bogale Township in Irrawaddy Division. "Then I found myself having no work to make a living. So I made up my mind to take the risk and come to Thailand." But Myo Myint found his troubles had followed him. "The situation is worse here. Our lives are at risk," he said. "Now, I'm saving money and I will go back home as soon as I have saved enough." Myo Myint said he would like to urge Burmese migrant workers to reject the inclination towards drugs and alcohol. "If not, we will not be able to free ourselves from wage and drug slavery," he said. The post Burmese Boatmen Enslaved by Drugs in Southern Thailand appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Muslim Citizenship Procedure Angers Arakanese, Some Rohingya See Opportunity Posted: 23 Sep 2014 07:24 AM PDT  A Rohingya Muslim cuts hair in Zedipyin village in Maungdaw, in the northern Rakhine state on June 6, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON —Arakanese Buddhists in Myebon Township held a silent protest on Monday to express their displeasure over the government's decision to award degrees of citizenship to 209 displaced Muslims in the area, according to Arakanese politicians. Khin Maung Gyi, who is a central committee member from Arakan National Party, said local Arakanese residents held a protest to send a message to Arakan Chief Minister Maung Maung Ohn who attended the ceremony to grant citizenship to the Muslims on Monday. "All our people held a protest in the town during his trip. It was a silent protest. They closed all their doors and no one went out onto the street," he said. The Arakanese Buddhist population has been in embroiled in a violent communal conflict with the state's Rohingya Muslim minority, some 140,000 of who have been displaced by violence since 2012. "From my personal point of view, I do not agree with the ongoing national verification process. I could not trust their actions," Khin Maung Gyi said. "There are Bengalis among the Kaman [Muslims]. Bengalis got citizenship in the past by fraud. Our community leaders asked the government to check them carefully, but the government did not listen to the voices of our community leaders.” The ceremony on Monday granted 40 Muslims citizenship, while 169 received naturalized citizenship, said Khin Soe, an officer at the Immigration Department in the Arakan State capital Sittwe. Burma's 1982 Citizenship Law offers degrees of citizenship rights to three categories: citizens, associate citizens and naturalized citizens. Khin Soe said the 40 Muslims citizens are "free to travel like anyone." Asked about the rights of the 169 naturalized citizens, he referred to the 1982 law's Article 53, a clause which sets broadly defined conditions for the state to revoke naturalized citizenship. He said there were "some Kaman" Muslims among the new citizens, while "most were Bengalis." Khin Soe added that 1,094 people are currently taking part in the national verification process and more could receive citizenship soon. The Kaman are a Muslim minority recognized as citizens under the 1982 law, but this controversial law drawn up by the then-military government fails to recognize the approximately 1 million Rohingya Muslims living in northern Arakan State as an ethnic group of Burma. The law renders the group stateless, leaving them vulnerable to human rights violations and putting a range of restrictions on them, such as restrictions of movement and limited access to government services such as health care and education. The Rohingya claim they have lived in northern Arakan State for generations and should have citizenship rights, but the government insists that they are illegal "Bengali" immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. Citizenship Through Nationality Verification The awarding of citizenship to the Muslims in Myebon is the outcome of the government's nationality verification process, an operation started last year that is surrounded by a dearth of information. The process involves groups of local officials, immigration officers and armed police entering into Muslim-majority communities and camps for displaced Muslims in northern Arakan and asking families for identity papers and those of their forebears. If residents refuse to accept the term Bengali on the verification forms, the procedure will be broken off. "Our immigration officers first check those who provided us with documents about whether they were born here, and whether their parents are born here," said Khin Soe, the immigration officer. "We check the documents and then we pass it to the township authority. And then, the central government is the main authority that grants citizenship." Most of the Muslim minority in northern Arakan maintains they are called Rohingya. During the UN-funded population census in March and April census teams skipped all households that refused to accept ethnic classification as Bengali and an estimated 1 million Muslims were not included. The international community has long pressured the Burmese government into resolving the statelessness of the Rohingya and it appears Naypyidaw wants to address the issue through the national verification process, even though it—much like the census—is likely to leave out most of the Rohingya. Aung Win, a Rohingya rights activist and community leader from Sittwe's Muslim quarter Aung Mingalar, said it was unclear whether Rohingya could obtain full citizenship rights under the nationality verification process. "I do not like this process because there is no transparency. For example, other countries offer citizenship after a person stays for 10 years in the country. But how long our people have to wait for [citizenship], they [authorities] do not tell us," he said. Aung Win said he had little hope that the process would offer a permanent solution for the group's statelessness, not least because most Rohingya would resist being registered as Bengali. Hla Myint, a Muslim resident from Myebon, was among the 40 who received citizenship. He said he considered himself a Rohingya but had registered as Bengali in order to obtain citizenship. "I put Bengali on the verification form… Those who got full citizenship may travel, and those who got naturalized citizenship may have business opportunities," he said. "Regarding this national verification process, I think that it is a good opportunity for us." According to Hla Myint, some 3,000 displaced Muslims in Myebon had applied for citizenship through the national verification process, but many failed to obtain it because they had lost their identity documents during the inter-communal violence, while some refused to register as "Bengalis." The post Muslim Citizenship Procedure Angers Arakanese, Some Rohingya See Opportunity appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma’s Govt to Bring Defamation Charges Against 2 Publications Posted: 23 Sep 2014 05:52 AM PDT  The Myanmar Herald weekly journal will face defamation charges brought by Burma's Ministry of Information. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) Alleging defamation, Burma's Ministry of Information plans to take legal action against two media outlets after negotiations mediated by the country's Interim Press Council broke down, according to the president's spokesman. Complaint letters were sent to the Interim Press Council concerning two articles that the ministry considered defamatory: one directed at President Thein Sein and published last month in the Myanmar Herald (Myanmar Tandawsint in Burmese) weekly journal, and the other a story by Daily Eleven in June alleging misuse of funds by the Ministry of Information in its purchase of printing presses. Ye Htut, the minister of information as well as the presidential spokesman, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the decision to take legal action was made due to the media groups' refusal to issue corrections on their published stories. "We decided to take legal action because the disputes could not be solved under the Press Council," he said. "Eleven Media Group had said they would not seek MPC's mediation, so we will proceed with court action," he added, referring to the council by its acronym. "We tried twice to seek the Press Council's help, but it did not work out." Under a Media Law passed earlier this year, disputants must first seek mediation from the Press Council before any court action is brought. The Myanmar Herald published an opinion interview with the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party's lead researcher Myo Yan Naung Thein in its Aug. 9 issue, criticizing Thein Sein for waffling in his statements about whether he would seek re-election in 2015. Pe Myint, an author and head of the MPC's Disputes and Complaints Negotiation Committee, said the council failed because the ministry and concerned media outlets would not budge from their respective positions. "We will have to wait and see how the courts will decide on the issues," he said. The Ministry of Information sought an apology from the Myanmar Herald, but the journal's offer fell short of the ministry's demands. "We didn't write anything wrong," said Aung Kyaw Min, deputy chief editor of the Myanmar Herald. "They said our reporting damaged the president's dignity. We explained that this was not true to MPC. MOI requested that we apologize. … To tell you frankly, we also offered to what extent we could apologize but they didn't accept it." "As they [the Myanmar Herald] did not accept our demands to make an apology while their writing contained defamatory descriptions of the president, we are thinking we will proceed legally," Ye Htut said. A member of the Press Council said Eleven Media stopped seeking the council's intervention in August. The news organization maintains that its reporting was accurate. "The most important thing is, if they want to sue us they should solve their problem first," Wai Phyo, the editor-in-chief of Daily Eleven, told The Irrawaddy. "We reported about MoI's irregularities in the printing machine purchase with solid evidence. It would be fairer if they explained about it first and sued us later. "We reported about those irregularities simply because we wanted to point out that public funding could be misused like that," he added. "We stand for truth and are ready to face anything for it. I repeat, we are ready for the truth." Denying the corruption allegations, Ye Htut said the Eleven story had damaged the reputations of the ministry, its former Minister Aung Kyi and staff. Aung Kyaw Min and Wai Phyo both told The Irrawaddy that their respective publications had not yet received a court summons or notification of the impending charges from the ministry. Since the formation of the Interim Press Council, it has intervened in more than 80 complaints submitted either by media practitioners or the Ministry of Information. Council members say more than 60 cases have been resolved thanks to their interventions. While media reforms since 2012 have been widely lauded, press freedoms have also been challenged on several fronts, including the jailing of journalists and an investigation by Special Branch police into the finances of several Rangoon-based publications. Additional reporting by The Irrawaddy's Sanay Lin. The post Burma's Govt to Bring Defamation Charges Against 2 Publications appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Rangoon Mayor Defends Controversial City Expansion Plan Posted: 23 Sep 2014 04:31 AM PDT  A woman walks through paddy fields to the west of Rangoon, where a massive extension of Burma's biggest city is planned. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Rangoon Mayor Hla Myint has defended attempts by regional authorities to push through a large-scale city expansion plan, telling Rangoon Divisional parliament on Monday that there was widespread support for the plan, which he claimed also fits into a wider urban development strategy. Local lawmakers quickly rejected the mayor's comments, however, and pointed out that the city expansion plan had been shrouded in secrecy until late August, when the Rangoon Division government announced that it had awarded the massive project to the little-known Myanmar Say Ta Nar Myothit Company. Hla Myint addressed a special session of Rangoon Division Parliament dealing with the proposed US $8 billion expansion plan, which would see the official city limits of Rangoon expand westward by some 30,000 acres in order to build 20,000 homes on farmland in Kyee Myin Daing, Seik Gyi Kha Naung To and Twante townships. He said the city expansion plan would fit with the Greater Yangon Strategic Development Plan that is being drawn up by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). "We've already informed the union level [government] about the Yangon urban development design by Japan, and JICA has also explained this strategic urban development plan to the people," said Hla Myint, who heads the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), a municipal body that oversees Burma's largest city. "As we are inviting foreign assistance for the comprehensive development of Yangon City, Myanma Saydana Myothit Public Company proposed building a new city," he said. "Since people are in favor of the plan, we have agreed to it in principle." Opposition lawmakers said in a reaction that Hla Myint had informed the public and MPs too late, and his speech had done little to help lift the secrecy surrounding the project. Regional authorities "should have officially submitted the proposal earlier. It has submitted it now, but [the plan] is still lacking in transparency," said U Kyaw, a lawmaker with the New National Democracy Party who represents Thingangyun Township. He said Hla Myint was attempting to mislead MPs into thinking that the city expansion plan was well-thought through by conflating it with the JICA-funded regional urban development plan. "They tried to confuse us by linking the [city expansion] project with an earlier one. It is unacceptable. We have to call for a discussion. We will ask precisely what is going on during the discussion," he said. Nyo Nyo Thin, an independent MP representing Bahan Township, echoed U Kyaw's concerns, saying, "The mayor talked as if the new city plan is part of the Yangon urban development plan that is being carried out by Japan, but at first the divisional government said that it was keeping the Rangoon expansion plan secret." "So, what they said is conflicting. They are trying to deceive us and
this shows the government's dishonesty," she said. Rangoon Divisional Parliament Speaker Sein Tin Win said that the project was scheduled for discussion and a vote at the legislature on Friday. Hla Myint in his address on Monday said that the government would put out a tender for the massive project. He made no mention of government efforts to consult farmers who would be forced to give up their land for the plan. On Aug 22, the mayor and Rangoon Division Chief Minister Myint Swe angered local MPs with a surprise announcement that it had awarded the multi-billion dollar project contract to Myanmar Say Ta Nar Myothit Company, a shady firm that was only registered as a public company last year. Hla Myint said at the time that the little-known firm was "chosen it because it is financially strong. We have done it secretly to avoid unnecessary problems." The opaque project deal and the reported connections between the company's owners and Myint Swe and Hla Myint resulted gave rise to complaints of corruption and nepotism. YCDC and Rangoon Division authorities were subsequently forced to backtrack and promised to put the development project to tender in the near future and would give all private companies a chance to participate. Burma's biggest city and commercial capital is experiencing rapid economic growth after decades of stagnation under military rule. The city's real estate market is booming and authorities and real estate developers are eagerly planning for an expansion of the city, which according to some estimates could double in population size to reach 10 million residents by 2040. The post Rangoon Mayor Defends Controversial City Expansion Plan appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Exclusion of Smaller Groups Emerges as Ceasefire Sticking Point Posted: 23 Sep 2014 02:00 AM PDT  Nai Hong Sar, who leads the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team, speaks to reporters at the Myanmar Peace Center in Rangoon on Monday. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — An ethnic leader has expressed doubts over the military's willingness to sign a nationwide ceasefire, after Burma's commander-in-chief reportedly rejected a call by ethnic groups for a more inclusive accord than the government has been willing to allow. The contention centers on the government's decision not to recognize five of the ethnic minority groups that are part of the 21-member United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). Local media reported that Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in a speech on Friday said a request by the UNFC that the five unrecognized members be given the opportunity to sign a nationwide ceasefire would make peacebuilding efforts in Burma more difficult. The government has allowed the five groups to join ongoing ceasefire negotiations as "observers," but has said they will not be eligible to sign the agreement. Speaking to The Irrawaddy at the end of first day of the latest round of negotiations with the Burmese government on Monday in Rangoon, Nai Hong Sar, who heads the ethnic groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), said the senior general's comments could be indicative of lingering resistance to signing a nationwide ceasefire. "Regarding his criticism, it is very possible they do not want to have peace talks. They may put more pressure on our current peace talks by saying this. But, let him criticize as he wishes, we will not say anything in response to his speech," Nai Hong Sar said. He speculated that the Burmese Army remained unhappy about the government conceding to ethnic minorities' longstanding demand for a federal system in the country, potentially prompting Min Aung Hlaing to hit out at the UNFC. The ethnic armed groups and Burmese government negotiators agreed to work toward a "federal system" at their last meeting in August. Min Aung Hlaing reportedly criticized the UNFC in a speech last week at a defense academy in Naypyidaw, where he was meeting with military officers. Local media reported on the speech, quoting Min Aung Hlaing as saying the UNFC's push for greater inclusion would complicate ongoing ceasefire talks. "Min Aung Hlaing Warns UNFC Will Make Peace Difficult," read a headline in The Voice, one of the country's biggest Burmese-language dailies, which cited the general referring specifically to a UNFC statement issued earlier this month. The commander-in-chief went on to say that the army would compromise as necessary to bring peace to the country, in accordance with the will of the people, according to the reports. The UNFC issued the statement in question after hosting its First Congress in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The umbrella grouping's statement said it would seek to bring all of the UNFC's ethnic groups into the peace process. The five members of the UNFC that are not recognized by the government are smaller and largely political organizations of the Kokang, Wa, Arakanese and Lahu ethnic minorities. Nai Hong Sar told the BBC's Burmese service on Monday that the NCCT would not sign a nationwide ceasefire unless the government allowed the five UNFC members to sign. Negotiations for a nationwide ceasefire agreement began last year, and five rounds of talks have come and gone with a finalized accord still proving elusive. The sixth round of talks began on Monday and is expected to run through the end of this week. The government has said a ceasefire signing could come by November. However, this week's meeting is not likely to result in a finalized agreement, according to Nai Hong Sar, who said there are still many issues to negotiate. "We still have the code of conduct issue to discuss, but they [the government] proposed not to discuss this issue first because this issue could delay a peace agreement," Nai Hong Sar said. The post Exclusion of Smaller Groups Emerges as Ceasefire Sticking Point appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Officials, Big Business to Talk Investment Opportunities in Burma Posted: 23 Sep 2014 12:16 AM PDT  People sit in the reception at the World Economic Forum on June 5, 2013, in Naypyidaw, where foreign investment into Burma was a main topic of discussion. (Photo: Reuters) A high-profile business forum on Burma begins in New York tomorrow, with attendees from a range of state and private sectors to discuss investment opportunities in the newly opened country. Organized by Peninsula Press, an international communications agency, the 'Myanmar Investment and Tourism Forum' will bring together government representatives from Burma and the United States, as well as some 200 C-level executives from national and multinational companies, according to the forum's website. Among Burmese representatives scheduled to attend are President's Office Minister Soe Thane, Minister of Tourism Htay Aung, Zay Yar Aung of the Ministry of Energy, Director-General of Burma's Directorate of Investment and Company Administration Aung Naing Oo and Central Bank Deputy Governor Set Aung. The day-long program, operating under the theme 'Asia's Last Frontier', features seven panels discussing themes related to Burma's economy and investment potential including infrastructure development, the impact of the government's economic reforms, and the electricity, finance and energy sectors. Mitsubishi, Chevron, Telenor Group-Myanmar, MAXpower Group, Shin Kong Financial Holding Company and GE Myanmar are among those companies represented at the forum. Potential investors, senior executives, academics and state officials will have the opportunity to understand Burma's changing regulatory and business landscape, as well as establish relationships with Burmese business leaders, the forum's website states. Burma's economy has experienced a marked transition under President Thein Sein's administration, with the government enacting a series of economic reforms targeting foreign investment and financial sector laws. International investors have responded positively, with the country's foreign direct investment tipped to reach more than US$5 billion for the current fiscal year. The Myanmar Investment and Tourism Forum will take place at the Grand Hyatt in New York City on September 24. The post Officials, Big Business to Talk Investment Opportunities in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Chinese Militants Get Islamic State ‘Terrorist Training’: Media Posted: 22 Sep 2014 10:27 PM PDT  Police stand guard outside the South Railway Station in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, on May 1, 2014, after the government blamed religious extremists for a deadly attack at the train station. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Chinese militants from the western region of Xinjiang have fled from the country to get "terrorist training" from Islamic State fighters for attacks at home, state media reported on Monday. The report was the first time state-run media had linked militants from Xinjiang, home to ethnic minority Uighur Muslims, to militants of the Islamic State (IS), a radical Sunni Muslim group that has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq. China's government has blamed a surge of violence over the past year on Islamist militants from Xinjiang who China says are fighting for an independent state called East Turkestan. "They not only want to get training in terrorist techniques, but also to expand their connections in international terrorist organizations through actual combat to gain support for escalation of terrorist activities in China," the Global Times cited an unidentified Chinese "anti-terrorism worker" as saying. Many Uighurs in Xinjiang resent what they call Chinese government restrictions on their culture, language and religion. Human rights groups say heavy-handed treatment of Uighurs leads to frustration but authorities deny imposing such restrictions. In the latest violence in the region, which borders central Asia, state media said two people were killed and several injured in at least three explosions on Sunday. The Global Times, which is run by the Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, said militants from Xinjiang had recently been involved in IS activities in Syria and Iraq as well as with IS "branches" in Southeast Asia. The newspaper said in the report on its website that four suspected militants from Xinjiang were arrested in Indonesia this month. Indonesian police said last week four foreigners were being questioned but did not identify them. The four fled to Cambodia from China, and then went to Thailand where they obtained fake Turkish passports, before flying to Indonesia through Malaysia, the newspaper said. Indonesia has raised concern about a possible spillover of IS support after revelations that Indonesian citizens had traveled to Syria and Iraq to join fighters there. "Terrorists, separatists and extremists" from Xinjiang have often slipped abroad through mountainous provinces in southern China with porous border areas, because border control in Xinjiang was strict, the newspaper said. "Their ultimate goal is still to fight back into China," Pan Zhiping, a former head of Central Asia studies at Xinjiang's Academy of Social Science, told the Global Times. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said on Monday that Uighur separatist groups had sent members abroad to work with militants. "East Turkestan forces have dispatched people to other regions to carry out so-called jihad and collude with international terrorist forces," said ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying. Hu said she could not provide specific details on the content of the Global Times article. Fears of domestic militants getting help abroad are likely to lend urgency to a nationwide "anti-terrorism" operation that President Xi Jinping's administration has launched following attacks that Beijing has blamed on Islamists and separatists from Xinjiang. The post Chinese Militants Get Islamic State 'Terrorist Training': Media appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Affluence Eludes Poor Crowding Into Asian Cities Posted: 22 Sep 2014 10:18 PM PDT  Scavengers stand in front of their makeshift house in a slum area not far from the business district in Jakarta. (Photo: Reuters / Supri) JAKARTA — Down a concrete path, between rail tracks that buzz with each approaching train and a river choked by plastic and raw sewage, Asih Binti Arif cradles her baby and reflects on dreams gone dark. Five years ago, Arif and her husband left impoverished Madura Island, joining the stream of migrants from across the vast Indonesian archipelago seeking a better life in its capital. Across the developing world, migration from country to city has long been a potential path out of poverty. Less and less is that true for Arif and millions of others in Asia, where the wealth gap is growing in many of the most densely populated cities in human history. Experts say the trend could worsen as a widening gulf between the richest and everyone else undercuts efforts to reduce poverty, bringing a litany of problems: poorer health, less education, more family breakups, crime and unstable societies. "With inequality, the impact of growth on poverty eradication is muted," said Indu Bhushan, an Asian Development Bank official. Against the backdrop of gleaming office towers and luxury hotels, Arif's family lives in the sprawling Tanah Abang slum. They scavenge the garbage of those who can afford to discard plastic bottles, cardboard boxes and frayed clothes. "I can't even dream of that life," Arif said. "The gap is so big. They are in the sky and we are on the earth." Asia's ultra-rich, with their private jets, yachts and platoons of servants, are matching if not outdoing their counterparts elsewhere in the world, inviting famous pop stars to perform at their birthday bashes, building their own museums and collecting mansions. Rising industries such as online commerce have made some business mavericks enormously wealthy. Most of Asia's richest, however, are second- and third-generation beneficiaries of family fortunes. In past decades, the power of industrialization allowed hundreds of million to emerge from extreme poverty. In 1981, nearly 1.7 billion Asians were living on less than US$1.25 a day. Today, the figure is about 700 million. But vast numbers cannot aspire to rise much further. About 80 percent of the 3.6 billion people in developing Asian countries still live on less than $5 a day, many relying on day labor, rag picking or other meager livelihoods. Even migrants who arrived in cities years ago feel trapped in a seemingly permanent underclass. In chaotic Mumbai, India's financial capital, Pandurang Bithobha Salvi, 52, is a veteran migrant from Naganwadi, a village 500 kilometers (300 miles) away in Maharashtra state. Salvi and 20-odd men share the $130 a month rent on their 17-square-meter (180-square-foot) room festooned with drying shirts and pants. Sleeping arrangements are a nightly conundrum. Despite India's ascent as a center for business outsourcing, migrants like Salvi can only find low-paying work. Across town on the tony Altamount Road, billionaire Mukesh Ambani and his family luxuriate in an expansive 400,000-square-foot (37,000-square-meter) super home. Three years ago, Ambani moved into the purpose built 27-story tower with its three helipads, a movie theater, a two-story recreation center and a reported price tag of more than $1 billion. It is one of the world's most expensive residences in a city where 40 percent of 20.7 million people live in slums without basic sanitation such as toilets. "In the past, some of us have made a better life for ourselves and our families," said Salvi. "But such cases are becoming rarer now." Using a scale of zero to 100, where zero means everyone has exactly the same wealth and 100 means a single person has all the wealth, Indonesia's inequality score rose to 41.3 in 2013 from 30.8 in 1999. Such sharp increases, which reflect wealth concentrating in fewer hands, have occurred in India, China and elsewhere, too. The challenges are acute for countries such as Burma that are latecomers to industrialization. A treasure land of gems and timber, Burma's economy stagnated for decades under generals who yielded power in 2011. The economic reforms since then are transforming the skyline of its biggest city, Rangoon, but not the lives of people like Thein Tun Oo and his wife Thin Thin Khaing, whose extended family of 10 ekes out a living from a one-room bamboo shack perched on the muddy banks of a creek. Thein Tun Oo wagered everything in moving five years ago to Rangoon from Bago, a region 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the north. There is little to show for the effort. Asked what will come of Burma's reforms, including plans for factory parks that might provide better-paying jobs, Thin Thin Khaing and her husband burst out laughing. "We don't know about such things," she said. "We work a day and eat a day." In Indonesia, the increasing ostentation of the wealthy is a potential lightning rod for social strife. Socialite Amanda Subagio, whose father founded a telecommunications and satellite empire, said the flaunting of extravagant wealth is deepening dissatisfaction among poor Indonesians. "You should be at least aware of how other people are living in this country," she said. The "other people" are those like Arif, the scrap collector in Jakarta's slum, and her neighbor, Samia Dewi Baturara, who share the same shack divided by a plywood wall. Unlike Arif, Baturara still allows herself to dream. As she peddles coffee from a stall opposite the luxury Shangri-La hotel, Baturara stares at the windows and pictures herself as part of the exclusive world inside. She would have to work 40 days, without spending a penny, to be able to afford just one night in the cheapest room. "Almost every day, I imagine how I can sleep there." Kurtenbach reported from Tokyo and Rangoon. Esther Htusan in Rangoon, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta and Kay Johnson in Mumbai contributed. The post Affluence Eludes Poor Crowding Into Asian Cities appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Amnesty Blasts China’s Torture Tool Industry Posted: 22 Sep 2014 10:05 PM PDT  A police officer stands while holding handcuffs during a police crackdown action on alleged prostitution in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, September 12, 2012. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Chinese production and export of police equipment primarily used for torture, such as electric shock wands and neck-and-wrist cuffs connected by a chain, has grown dramatically, enabling human rights violations at home and abroad, Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday. More than 130 Chinese companies, up from 28 about a decade ago, are now engaged in the development, production and export of law enforcement tools, most of which are legitimate, but many of which are inherently cruel and inhumane, the London-based human rights group said. The 38-page report also cited as examples spiked batons and restraint chairs with a desk-like surface in front where arms can be shackled, often with ankle cuffs beneath that force detainees into painful contortions. "There is no excuse whatsoever for allowing the manufacturing and trade in equipment for which the primary purpose is to torture or inflict cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment on people," Patrick Wilcken, security trade and human rights researcher at Amnesty International, said in a statement. China explicitly bans torture and mistreatment of inmates, and it strongly denies widespread allegations that torture is often used by Chinese police and Communist Party investigators. Earlier this year, Zhao Chunguang, a national official overseeing police detention facilities, said there had not been a single case of torture used to coerce a confession at any detention center throughout China for the past five years. Amnesty says it has documented a wide range of physical torture in China, including the use of electric shock batons. And on Monday, the Xinhua News agency reported that a court in northeastern China had convicted three police officers and four other non-police officers of torturing suspects and killing one person. One victim said he was restrained to an iron chair while being prodded with an electric shock baton, Xinhua said. Amnesty urged China in the report to ban the production and export of several of the kinds of equipment it says are torture tools or inherently cruel, especially to countries with poor human rights records. It said the tools are being shipped to Cambodia, Nepal, Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Madagascar, Senegal and Uganda. Faced with rising social tensions, China has been pumping more money to maintain social orders. Its annual budget for domestic security skyrocketed over the past decade to 760 billion yuan (US $125 billion), higher than its defense budget last year. The Public Security Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. The report, jointly compiled with U.K.-based Omega Research Foundation, which specializes in research on military, security and police equipment, said that Chinese-made rigid restraint chairs "have no legitimate law enforcement use" and that the U.N. Committee against Torture has recommended they be abolished. Omega found 96 Chinese companies making or selling abroad electric shock stun weapons, which apply electrical shock directly to an individual. The report says they can be abused as a torture tool when applied to sensitive body parts. Calls to one of the companies that makes electric-shock wands, Anhua Police Equipment Manufacturing Co., in eastern Jiangsu province, were referred to a senior manager who identified himself only by his surname Ma. He decline to answer questions from a foreign media outlet. A woman who answered the phone at Yuanda Industrial and Trade Co., which makes restraint chairs and neck-and-wrist cuffs, said the company was producing only what the government has approved and is not responsible for any wrongdoing. The post Amnesty Blasts China’s Torture Tool Industry appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘They Know Nothing About Ethnic Education’ Posted: 22 Sep 2014 05:00 PM PDT  Saw Law Eh Moo, 32, secretary of the Karen Education Department, speaks with The Irrawaddy at his office in Mae Sot, Thailand. (Photo: Samantha Michaels / The Irrawaddy) MAE SOT, Thailand — During decades of civil war against the government, ethnic groups in Burma didn't just build armies; they also built education systems, which today continue to operate schools that focus on ethnic histories, languages and cultures. One of the most developed of these systems is in Karen State, where the Karen Education Department (KED) operates more than 1,200 schools. During a recent visit to Mae Sot, a Thai town near the border with Karen State, KED secretary Saw Law Eh Mootold The Irrawaddy what it was like to run schools in a war zone and how things have changed—or not—since a ceasefire deal was signed in 2012. Question: How is the KED curriculum different from the government curriculum at basic education schools? Answer: Universal subjects such as math and science are similar, but they are more advanced than us because we have been on the run and cannot operate normally. In the past we could not run our schools on a permanent basis because of government [military] operations. The main differences are the values, the history—these are vastly different—and also the political parts. We teach the cause of the Karen struggle, what kinds of rights we are fighting for, what sorts of freedoms we are fighting for, and why we have to wage a revolution against the Burmese. Q: Is that part of your curriculum changing now, since you've signed the ceasefire? A: No, we want to keep that. …The facts that we mention in our books are very different from what has been mentioned in the government system, and we don't want to let go of that easily. For example, they call us rebels or terrorists, and we also call them the same. Q: Your students are taught in Karen language. Do you also teach Burmese language? A: We teach Burmese as a subject, not as a language. Our approach may be changing slightly though, because we live in a country where Burmese is the common-use language—though we don't want to call it the official language. To live with other ethnic nationalities, we need to be able to communicate, and maybe Burmese is more feasible than English. We want to continue a mother tongue-based approach, but after Grade 4 we will try to introduce more Burmese—literacy and speaking skills—and in higher grades it could become the language of instruction. Q: Has your location along the Thai-Burma border allowed your education system to become more progressive than the government's, since Burma was isolated for so many decades? A: The Karen education system was also forgotten for many years—we were cut off and struggling. At that time, we still used the textbooks and materials that had been developed during colonial times. Only after we moved closer to the border, where we received attention from NGOs and international organizations, were we able to receive more support to upgrade our curriculum. We shifted from the traditional teaching approach to the more child-centered approach in 1995 with help from outside experts. Q: Can you explain what it was like to run your schools in war zones? What were the daily challenges that students and teachers faced before the ceasefire in 2012? A: It depended on the movement of government troops. Sometimes students could not come to school because they had to hide in the jungle. … [Burmese soldiers] could not distinguish between KNLA soldiers and villagers. They had a policy to shoot on sight—anything that moved—and they said we were all the same, even little kids. They said, 'When you grow up you will join the revolution, so why don't we start with you now?' Q: Did you try to ever recruit students to join the KNLA? A: No. And there is no military training for the students or teachers—it's an individual's choice if they want to train after they finish school, but it's not a requirement. We would love to have that system though. For example, in Thai schools, in Grade 10-12 there's basic military training. …But if we started that, they [NGOs] would say the schools were where we recruit soldiers. Q: The Burmese government wants to reform the national education system. Has the Ministry of Education sought your input? A: I think they don't want us to get involved, and also we don't want them to work in our areas. The work that we have been doing over decades does not exist in their knowledge. What they mean by ethnic education is the work of the government in ethnic areas. But they know nothing about the ethnic education work. …They think they are the only provider of education in Myanmar [Burma]—and I think that is the basic cause of conflict, in a way. Q: What does the KED want in terms of education reform? A: Our main cause is federalism, and we would prefer to go with that model. We would like to see some level of authority to administer our education in Karen State. For example, the local government would have authority over a portion of the curriculum. We are in a position to negotiate on some contents of our education—for example, the textbook subjects, how we treat geography, how the whole system operates, where we can integrate and meet with the government system, how to handle accreditation or recognize different levels. There are also things that are not negotiable, like how to treat language. Q: Would you support the idea of all schools across the entire country having a unified curriculum that included lessons not only about Karen history and culture, but also about Shan history and culture, and the history and culture of all major ethnic groups? A: Yes. We would be open to a curriculum that was 100 percent centralized if we were all involved in its design, if all the ethnic groups agreed to it. But we foresee that would be chaos. Maybe instead of solving the problem, it would explode. We believe 60/40 would work best—give us control over 40 percent of the curriculum. Q: What will happen to students in refugee camps if they resettle to Karen State? A: We don't know how they will go back—as a group or depending on individual choice. Will they go back to their original place, or into a zone? It's not certain yet, so we don't know what kind of preparation will be needed in our education sector to receive them. Q: Do you have many teachers who want to work for you? A: It's difficult to recruit teachers because we cannot pay them very competitive salaries. Last year they made 4,500 baht per year (US$140), not including in-kind support like rice. Government teachers in our areas make about 120,000 kyats (US$120) per month. In towns and cities, it's different: Government teachers make only 70,000 kyats. We wonder, why is there double pay in our ethnic areas? Also, now we think the government is using NGOs to expand their territory, their administrative territory, and infiltrate into our territory. How do they do that? Easy. 'We're an NGO, we're independent but we have to be nice to the government, but don't worry. We will just build a new school for you that looks like a school, because your school doesn't look like a school, it looks like a place where you would put a pig. Then of course the ownership stays with you to administer your school—we'll just help you build it.' That's what they say. But in the middle of construction, here comes the paper, boom. 'It's no longer your school, this is a government school.' That's why in some areas communities have organized resistance against NGOs. … 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. The government, they say they are like parents and they have a responsibility to take care of everybody in the country. But we also feel that we have a responsibility over our own people. The post 'They Know Nothing About Ethnic Education' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
