The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Burma Rejects Claims Indian Forces Cross Border in Pursuit of Rebels
• 2 Jailed Activists Hospitalized for Letpadan Injuries
• Proxy Voting a No-No, Shwe Mann Tells Lawmakers
• Mixed Response as Charter Reform Bill Goes to Parliament
• Rangoon Set to Sprawl in New Development Plan
• Suu Kyi’s China Visit: What They Say
• Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Meets China’s President
• New Documentary Calls for Voter Education in Ethnic Communities
• Kokang Rebels Declare Unilateral Ceasefire
• Inle Lake Inscribed as Unesco ‘Biosphere Reserve’
• In Struggle and Success, California’s Karen Refugees Remember Their Roots
• As Suu Kyi Visits, China Says Own Laureate Won’t Be Released
• Indonesian President Looks to Open Neglected Papua Region
• Jakarta’s Infamous Traffic Grief to Residents but Boon for Some
• Japan’s ‘Survival Game’ Fans Play at Combat, Wary of War
• Last-Gasp Burma Ties Cambodia 3-3 to Top SEA Games Group
• Kachin IDPs Hit Hard by Reduced Humanitarian Aid
• How the West Was Won
• Students at Rangoon School for Blind Double National Matriculation Average
• Dagon Highrise Opponents Blocked in Rangoon Parliament

Burma Rejects Claims Indian Forces Cross Border in Pursuit of Rebels Posted: 11 Jun 2015 08:19 AM PDT Indian Army soldiers put down the flag-draped coffin of their colleague, who was killed in an attack by tribal separatist guerrillas in India's Manipur state last week. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma has rejected assertions that Indian armed forces entered the country earlier this week in pursuit of separatists, saying foreign fighters would never be allowed to use Burmese territory to stage attacks. India's junior minister for information and broadcasting, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, said India's army attacked rebels just over the border with Burma on Tuesday, underlining New Delhi's resolve to fight terrorism beyond the country's borders. However a statement from the President's Office in Burma, citing information from troops in the northwest border region, said fighting had only broken out on the Indian side. The strike was carried out in response to the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in an ambush in Manipur last week. The India army said in a statement that it received intelligence that rebel forces were plotting more attacks. The statement from the President's Office denied that any outside forces were using Burma as a staging ground for attacks. "Myanmar will never accept any foreign rebels using its territory and border area as a base," it said. "Myanmar is willing to negotiate and cooperate with the Indian government to handle the problem." The statement said that India's ambassador to Burma had met with the deputy minister of foreign affairs on Tuesday to "explain the situation," but gave no further details. The post Burma Rejects Claims Indian Forces Cross Border in Pursuit of Rebels appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

2 Jailed Activists Hospitalized for Letpadan Injuries Posted: 11 Jun 2015 07:01 AM PDT Tin Win recovers from throat surgery at Rangoon General Hospital on June 11, 2015. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Three months after a brutal crackdown on student demonstrators in central Burma, two activists have been hospitalized for serious injuries incurred during the chaotic incident. Khin Hlaing, 26, and Tin Win, 44, were both recently brought to Rangoon General Hospital from Tharrawaddy Prison, where they have been detained since the March 10 crackdown. The Irrawaddy visited the patients on Thursday after confirming with hospital officials that the pair had been admitted, finding that they are both recovering after receiving long-awaited treatment for their injuries. Khin Hlaing was hospitalized on Tuesday after he vomited blood and fainted outside the prison as he was about to be transported to a court hearing. "The doctor told me that my stomach is ripped and my ribs are swollen, so it is difficult for me to breath and they are giving me oxygen," Khin Hlaing said from his cot in Rangoon General, relating how he was beaten by police batons as the protest site in Letpadan, Pegu Division, was violently dismantled. "I didn't have this kind of health problems before," he said, "it is because I was hit." Khin Hlaing said he now has difficulty breathing and can only ingest liquids because of his torn stomach lining. "I can swallow two spoons of liquid, anything else and I vomit," he said. A senior hospital official said she could not immediately comment on the condition of the two patients, but the hospital will make a statement in the near future. The second patient, Tin Win, was admitted last week and is now recovering from surgery on throat. As he is unable to move or speak, his wife told The Irrawaddy that injuries sustained during the crackdown crushed his esophagus and damaged his nervous system. "His throat was operated on very deeply because the fifth ring of the bone of the throat was crumbled," Myint Myint Kyi told The Irrawaddy at her husband's bedside. "I am very worried about his situation." Like Khin Hlaing, Tin Win's family also attributed his injury to being beaten by police and held in prison without access to adequate treatment. His brother, Nay Zaw Lin, said that Tin Win told them before the operation that the injuries were caused by being beaten with a baton and repeatedly kicked in the ribs. Khin Hlaing recovers in Rangoon General Hospital on June 11, 2015. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Tin Win's family said that the government covered the costs of his four-hour operation, which came to 5 million kyat (US$4,500). Both patients are now seeking release on bail so they can recover at home after being discharged, but it is unclear whether their request will be granted. Based on his current condition, Myint Myint Kyi believes that if her husband is denied bail and returned to Tharrawaddy, "there is no return for him," reciting a common Burmese idiom meaning that he is soon to pass away. Khin Hlaing said medical access is limited for some 70 students and their supporters still held in Tharrawaddy. When he left prison on Tuesday, he said, there were about eight other detainees suffering from potentially serious ailments such as stomach pain and numbness of limbs. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) and the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) on Thursday cited the cases of Khin Hlaing and Tin Win in an appeal to the government to provide comprehensive healthcare to all political detainees, particularly those being held in Tharrawaddy Prison. The post 2 Jailed Activists Hospitalized for Letpadan Injuries appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Proxy Voting a No-No, Shwe Mann Tells Lawmakers Posted: 11 Jun 2015 06:48 AM PDT This photo appears to show a military lawmaker voting on behalf of his absent neighbor. (Photo: Hein Htet / Myanmar Post) RANGOON — At the Union Parliament in Naypyidaw on Wednesday, lawmakers in Burma's young democracy received a friendly reminder that they are expected to refrain from voting on their colleagues' behalf. The instruction, issued by Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann, comes in response to a photo circulated widely online since April that appears to show a military MP pushing the button to register an electronic vote for his absent neighboring lawmaker. Tun Aung Kyaw, a parliamentarian for the Arakan National Party (ANP), told The Irrawaddy that the communiqué from the speaker was dated June 10, and also instructed parliamentarians not to take photos or videos during legislative sessions; seek permission to distribute any documents or books in or near the chamber; and to remove voting cards from their slots when lawmakers exit the chamber. The cards, unique to each lawmaker, are used to track attendance and authenticate their votes. "I think it is instructed to prevent misunderstanding. If we vote for a missing lawmaker, it will not be ethical voting and it shouldn't be done, but it depends on the discipline of each lawmaker," Tun Aung Kyaw said. The notification follows a recent ban on media in the parliamentary chambers, which began on May 26 in the Union Parliament and was later extended to the Upper and Lower chambers. Shwe Mann has said the decision to kick out the press was at the request of the Lower House military contingent, which was prompted by the April 10 publication of the photograph picturing a proxy vote being cast by a military lawmaker on behalf of his colleague. Brig-Gen Tint San, a Lower House military MP, said in a letter to the speaker that "media ethics" had been breached by the weekly news journal that ran the photo on its front page. Tint San said the military representative absent in the photograph was attending a Joint Bill Committee meeting and had instructed his colleague to cast votes for him, adding that it would not happen again. Tint San's request for a media ban was "suitable and fair to the Parliament, the MPs and the media," Shwe Mann said last week, issuing the order to close up the press booths. "The way they are saying that they acted with honest intentions since their colleagues had instructed them to cast votes for them, it hurts the dignity and discipline of lawmakers. People are criticizing lawmakers for that," said Tun Aung Kyaw, adding that proxy voting was not a widespread practice. The post Proxy Voting a No-No, Shwe Mann Tells Lawmakers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Mixed Response as Charter Reform Bill Goes to Parliament Posted: 11 Jun 2015 06:39 AM PDT Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann arrives at the Parliament meeting room in Naypyidaw. (Photo: Reuters) A constitutional amendment bill submitted to Parliament proposes granting greater political power to regional legislatures and would reduce the threshold of votes needed to make further changes to the charter, but Burma's main opposition party says the legislation is not reflective of public support for broader reform. The bill, submitted by lawmaker Thein Zaw of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) on Wednesday, comes a week after President Thein Sein pledged to amend two sections of the Constitution pertaining to power and resource-sharing between state and Union-level governments. The bill has been under the review of Parliament's Joint Bill Committee. Its proposals include reducing, from more than 75 percent to at least 70 percent, the number of votes needed to change most parts of the Constitution; requiring that presidential candidates be elected lawmakers; and shifting the power to appoint state and divisional chief ministers from the president to regional legislatures. The proposed lowering of the amendment threshold, Article 436, is significant because at present, a constitutionally guaranteed parliamentary bloc of 25 percent military appointees gives them an effective veto over changes to the charter. The bill also suggests amending the frequently criticized provision that bars Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency, though she would remain ineligible for the post despite the change. The proposed amendment to Article 59(f) would remove a ban for those whose children's spouses are foreigners, but a prohibition on having given birth to children who are foreign nationals would remain in place. Suu Kyi has two British sons. The amendment bill, which required the support of at least 20 percent of lawmakers in order to go before Parliament, was published in state-run newspapers on Thursday. A change to Article 60(c), regarding the appointment of Burma's three vice presidents (one of whom is ultimately elected president), would require that candidates are selected from the Union Parliament. Currently, the vice presidents do not need to have been elected to the legislature. Another clause on the qualifications for president and vice presidents, Article 59(d), was also amended, removing "military" affairs from the list of matters for which candidates must be "well-acquainted," and replacing it with "defense" affairs. The bill contains changes to some of the constitutional provisions that the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic political parties have sought, but a senior NLD leader said the proposals did not go far enough. Tun Tun Hein, a central committee member of the NLD who also led a campaign to garner public support for constitutional reform last year, told The Irrawaddy that the proposed changes were inadequate, with the NLD having suggested amendments to 168 clauses in total. "Amendments might be made to the Constitution, but many important clauses would be left out [of consideration for changes], so it can be said that nothing concrete will have been amended," he said. Political commentator Yan Myo Thein said that regardless, it wouldn't matter much unless the bill's advocates managed to convince some of the members of Parliament appointed by the military to support the changes. "It will be difficult to get the military appointees' support on the bill, which proposes to lessen their role [in politics]," he said, while adding that there was a chance of success "if the ruling USDP leaders, who are ex-generals, could persuade them to do so." Dr. Aye Maung, an ethnic Arakanese lawmaker in the Upper House and a member of Parliament's Constitutional Amendment Implementation Committee, said he was confident the charter changes would be approved. In an election season, he said, lawmakers running for re-election would be eager to support changes to the widely unpopular military-drafted Constitution. Aye Maung, who is also the representative for ethnic minorities in six-party talks on constitutional reform, said that high-level forum could serve to break any parliamentary impasse that might arise. "If there are setbacks, the six-party talks would have to be called on to resolve the issue," he said. As head of the Arakan National Party, Aye Maung has been preparing to contest in the upcoming general election in Arakan State's Man Aung Township constituency. This year he plans to shift his candidacy to the state parliament, where he is gambling on his party performing well in November's election and successfully changing Article 261—on appointment of chief ministers—allowing him to potentially be elected to the post. Aye Maung, who is an advocate for devolving power to Burma's regional governments, said ethnic political parties are more interested in state politics than having a strong voice at the Union level. If more than 75 percent of lawmakers approve the bill, it would then go to a national referendum, requiring over 50 percent of the vote nationwide. Asked about his view on the proposed change to Article 59(f), the NLD's Tun Tun Hein said: "In my own opinion, the essence of clause 59[f] has not changed." The post Mixed Response as Charter Reform Bill Goes to Parliament appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rangoon Set to Sprawl in New Development Plan Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:31 AM PDT A rest stop on the side of the Twantay-Hlaing Tharyar Highway. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's former capital is set to sprawl in all directions under an ambitious urban development plan unveiled on Wednesday, which includes the revival of a controversial proposal for a satellite town on the western bank of the Hlaing River. Mayor Hla Myint presented the 8.1 trillion kyats (US$7.4 billion), 119,000-acre expansion plan to a session of the Rangoon Parliament on Wednesday, outlining the staged development of seven new satellite towns, beginning with construction to the northeast of East Dagon Township and in a 30,000 acre allotment comprised from parts of Kyimyindaing, Seikgyikanaungto and Twante Townships to the city's southwest. The proposal was unanimously accepted for discussion during next week's sitting, despite the reservations of some lawmakers about the inclusion of the southwestern proposal in the plan. "The mayor gave second priority to the new town in the southwest of Rangoon, which was the location of the aborted city project last year," said Dr Nyo Nyo Thin, and independent lawmaker representing Bahan Township's No. 2 constituency. "The projected cost is once again too large, and his explanations are vague." Nyo Nyo Thin's comments refer to last year's plan to build across the Hlaing River, expanding Rangoon's official city limits some 30,000 acres westward in order to build 20,000 homes. The proposal was later shelved after allegations by lawmakers that the chiefs of the Myanmar Saytanar Myothit company, which was initially awarded the development project, had close ties to Rangoon Division Chief Minister Myint Swe. The Greater Yangon Strategic Development Plan, formulated by the Yangon City Development Committee and tabled by Hla Myint, envisions five further satellite developments in Thanlyin, Dala, Htantabin, Hmawbi and Hlegu Townships for completion in the next fifteen years, in order to accommodate the city's projected population of 10 million in 2040. The post Rangoon Set to Sprawl in New Development Plan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Suu Kyi’s China Visit: What They Say Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:24 AM PDT China's President Xi Jinping with Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on June 11. (Reuters) Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Chinese president Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday on the second day of her first official visit to China, undertaken at the invitation of the country's ruling Communist Party. At a time of recent tensions between the two countries, and with Burma's national elections approaching later this year, many observers are weighing the significance of Suu Kyi's five-day trip to Burma's powerful neighbor and largest trading partner. So, who is courting who? And what, if any, sensitive issues will Suu Kyi raise? Officials, journalists, activists and analysts give their take in this list of quotes compiled by The Irrawaddy. What They Say: "It is an important trip as Myanmar and China have a long border and as there are many problems along this border area." —Nyan Win, National League for Democracy spokesperson (RFA) "Madame Aung San Suu Kyi led the delegation of the National League for Democracy in the visit to China, which is an exchange activity between the Chinese Communist Party and a party of Myanmar. The Chinese Communist Party has maintained a long-term friendship with various parties in Myanmar. We hope this visit can deepen the understanding and trust between the two parties and push forward the cooperation between China and Myanmar in various fields." —Hong Lei, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson "If Aung San Suu Kyi were not to visit China, it would leave a [blank] spot on her credentials. And if you are China, you want to have at least a superficially good relationship with the potential future kingmaker of Myanmar." —Yun Sun, a senior associate at Washington's Stimson Center think-tank (Financial Times) "Both internal and external factors make it hard for Myanmar to fall to the embrace of the US at the cost of abandoning China. Suu Kyi will become a good friend of China. She has made some positive remarks about China over the years, and also showed a pragmatic attitude in disputes concerning Chinese projects." —Global Times, a state-run Chinese newspaper "China's interests are long-term and strategic, and, evidently, Beijing doesn't want to put all its eggs in one basket. Better to pretend to be friends with everybody, just in case the political situation in Burma will change some time in the future." —Bertil Lintner, veteran journalist and the author of several books on Burma (The Irrawaddy) "Beijing is probably… calculating that Suu Kyi's refusal to speak out on many human rights issues in her own country means she is unlikely to speak out about China's denial of democracy and appalling human rights record." —David Mathieson, senior researcher on Burma for Human Rights Watch (CNN) "She certainly doesn't want to be seen as anti-China, and I don't see anything that suggests she actually is." —Thant Myint-U, historian and author (Financial Times) "Aung San Suu Kyi is getting on with the business of trying to win an election. She will be utterly pragmatic about what is at stake and cannot afford to indulge undue sentiment. She knows that China will play a mighty role in Myanmar's future." —Nicholas Farrelly, a Burma specialist at the Australian National University (AFP) "Perhaps Aung San Suu Kyi can bring her influence to bear on ending the conflict [in the Kokang Special Region, bordering China]. In any case, it will be good to have her here to get to know her and explain our policy towards Myanmar." —Lin Xixing, a Burma expert at Guangzhou's Jinan University in China (Reuters) "I hope she will talk about [human rights] while maintaining good bilateral relations between the two countries. Being a politician herself, it is likely that she will raise the issue politically." —Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (The Irrawaddy) "The sequence of visits likely reflects the fact that Beijing sees Shwe Mann as the strongest candidate for Myanmar's next president, but recognises the rising power and influence of Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD in legislative politics." —Christian Lewis, an associate with Eurasia Group (Financial Times) "Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and in [a] Chinese prison, there sits another Nobel Peace Prize Laureate." —Hu Jia, a prominent Chinese dissident speaking about his close friend, writer and activist Liu Xiaobo, who has languished for years in a Chinese prison. Hu Jia hopes Suu Kyi will call for his release during her visit. (Reuters) The post Suu Kyi's China Visit: What They Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi Meets China’s President Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:16 AM PDT China's President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on June 11, 2015. (Photo: Reuters / China Daily) BEIJING — Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing aimed at building ties with her country's powerful neighbor. China's official Xinhua News Agency said Xi told Suu Kyi that "we appreciate your willingness to boost China-Myanmar ties." No public events are scheduled during Suu Kyi's low-key five-day visit. China hopes to use the meetings to shore up its declining influence in Burma following democratic reforms that have seen the Southeast Asian country shift away from Beijing toward Western nations, Japan and other potential investors. Citizens in Burma, now freer to protest, have stalled a Chinese-backed dam and other projects out of environmental concerns, part of a backlash against China's economic domination of its poor southern neighbor. China considers Burma strategically important as a gateway to the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and wants to secure oil and gas pipelines in its Southeast Asian neighbor. However, friction between the two countries has erupted over fighting between Burma's military and rebels along the border that killed five Chinese farmers and sent a flow of refugees into China. Suu Kyi's warming ties with China's authoritarian rulers represent a jarring break from her years as a democracy icon held under house arrest by Burma's former junta. Human rights groups have urged her to call for the release of Chinese fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who was imprisoned for his calls for democracy. Suu Kyi has maintained since her release in 2010 that her country must maintain friendly relations with China, and the trip demonstrates her determination to accumulate diplomatic credentials to potentially contest Burma's presidency no matter how it might clash with her former image. Suu Kyi's trip is officially a party-to-party meeting between China's Communist Party and her opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), which is expected to perform strongly in elections later this year. She is constitutionally barred from contesting the presidency because of a provision barring people who have been married to foreigners, but has campaigned for an amendment that would allow her candidacy. She is scheduled to meet with Premier Li Keqiang, and unconfirmed Chinese reports say she will also visit the financial hub of Shanghai and Yunnan province, which borders Burma. The post Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi Meets China's President appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

New Documentary Calls for Voter Education in Ethnic Communities Posted: 11 Jun 2015 05:10 AM PDT 'Blanks' director Salai Jimmy Mira Zarbwe at a press conference on Wednesday. (Photo: MustardSeed) RANGOON — The Rangoon-based Chin charity organization MustardSeed has released a documentary highlighting the barriers Burma's ethnic minorities face in exercising their democratic rights during the upcoming general election. Shot over four months in Chin, Mon, Karenni and Shan States, 'Blanks' is the product of interviews with 480 ethnic minority peoples from some of the most remote parts of the country. The film raises questions as to whether ethnic communities are being provided with adequate information about their rights, candidate platforms and the democratic process ahead of the vote. "We made the documentary with the purpose of finding out about the election process in ethnic regions," said director Salai Jimmy Mira Zarbwe on Thursday. "Do they know their basic rights? Are they aware of the importance of the elections? We found that a lot of people do not have the necessary knowledge." One thousand copies of Blanks will be distributed free of charge to political parties, embassies, ethnic minority leaders, international NGOs and members of the Union Election Commission. The charity hopes that the documentary will raise awareness about the need to improve knowledge of the political process to ethnic minorities ahead of the landmark poll. The post New Documentary Calls for Voter Education in Ethnic Communities appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kokang Rebels Declare Unilateral Ceasefire Posted: 11 Jun 2015 04:39 AM PDT An aid convoy sits parked along the side of a road in Kokang Special Region in February 2015. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Ethnic Kokang rebels, who have been warring with the Burmese government for four months along the Sino-Burmese border, have announced a unilateral ceasefire effective June 11. The Kokang ethnic armed group, known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), issued a statement declaring that they would cease hostilities but defend themselves against government troops if necessary. The statement said the group had been urged to stop fighting by Chinese authorities, and that MNDAA leadership was concerned that continued conflict could derail general elections expected to be held in Burma later this year. MNDAA spokesman Htun Myat Linn told The Irrawaddy that while the Kokang people do not stand to benefit from elections, as many are not considered citizens of Burma, he does not want them to be responsible for inhibiting progress elsewhere in the country. "Our country will have an election, and this is important for the country," Htun Myat Linn said. "We are worried that, because of us, this election will be stopped. We do not want this to happen." Fighting between the MNDAA and the Burma Army, which erupted in early February in the remote border region, has been among the most relentless conflict the country has seen in decades. Government figures account for at least 200 casualties on both sides of the conflict, though higher tolls have been reported by independent media. The ceasefire announcement was made just after the close of an ethnic leadership summit geared toward finalizing a nationwide ceasefire agreement being negotiated between the government and the country's myriad ethnic armed groups. The MNDAA is a member of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which represents ethnic armed groups in the peace talks, but is not officially recognized by the government and hence ineligible to endorse a nationwide pact. The summit closed early this week with a vow of solidarity from NCCT members that a nationwide agreement would not be made without the MNDAA and two other armies that are not recognized by the government. Kokang Special Region is currently under martial law, and was identified last week by Burma's Union Election Commission as one of three unstable territories—along with Wa and Mong La, both of which also border China—where holding elections was expected to be difficult because government personnel could not move freely. The post Kokang Rebels Declare Unilateral Ceasefire appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Inle Lake Inscribed as Unesco ‘Biosphere Reserve’ Posted: 11 Jun 2015 04:24 AM PDT Fishermen at work on Inle Lake in Shan State. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Burma's famed Inle Lake was designated this week as the country's premier Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations, much to the satisfaction of local environmentalists working to conserve and promote sustainable development around the iconic reservoir. The UN cultural agency, Unesco, added Inle Lake to a list of 651 biosphere reserves in 120 countries, stating that the designation is "one of the main international tools to develop and implement sustainable development approaches in a wide variety of contexts." Burma's Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MoECAF), with support from the Norwegian government and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), successfully nominated the site during an ongoing summit in Paris. Biosphere reserves are "experimental sites" comprising terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems, according to Unesco. The agency's website describes the sites as "special places for testing interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems." Win Myo Than, managing director of the environmental group EcoDev, told The Irrawaddy that recognizing the lake as a reserve is likely to encourage responsible investment in the area, which is fast becoming one of the country's top tourist destinations. "It is good news. Conservation of the environment around Inle Lake has now become a concern of the whole world," Win Myo Thu said, adding a requisite warning that as developers enter the region, "we need to be cautious to have transparency, involvement of local CSOs, and a strict policy from the government" to maximize the benefits of the status. Other conservationists echoed his concerns, citing recent environmental degradation related to development. Hnin Hnin Ohn, a project manager for the local NGO Shwe Inn Thu, said the listing risked causing a rush of investment that, if not properly overseen, could have unintended consequences. "We're glad that our region was recognized as one of the natural world heritage site as it will bring development of the region in many sector," Hnin Hnin Ohn said, "however we need to take lessons from the region's past, when the environment was negatively impacted by developments." Located in Taunggyi District of eastern Burma's Shan State, Inle Lake is known for its picturesque mountain views and cultural diversity. The area is home to a range of ethnic minority peoples, many practicing traditional methods of livelihood such as floating farms and the site's signature leg-rowing fishing and transport methods. But a combination of rapid development, a rise in tourism and unchecked deforestation has already begun to altar the landscape, according to local environmentalists. The felling of nearby forests for firewood, in particular, led to a steep increase of nutrient-rich soil drifting downhill and into the wetlands, clogging up waterways and causing severe draughts earlier this year. A new 250-hectare hotel has also reportedly contributed to deforestation, while population growth and unsustainable agricultural methods—such as the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on farms and floating gardens—have polluted local water sources. Locals said they hope the UN designation will bring about clear policies to prevent damage and ensure sustainable development across the district, which is the seat of the Shan State capital and spans some 498,721 hectares of land. According to Unesco, the ecosystem of the freshwater lake is home to 267 bird species and 43 species of freshwater fish, otters and turtles. It has also been reported that Inle could be a nesting place for the globally endangered Sarus crane. The post Inle Lake Inscribed as Unesco 'Biosphere Reserve' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

In Struggle and Success, California’s Karen Refugees Remember Their Roots Posted: 11 Jun 2015 12:14 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. SAN DIEGO, California — Despite being a world away from their former homes, the Karen youth of San Diego vividly remember the poverty and privation of their childhoods. The southern Californian city is home to some 1,500 refugees from Burma, most of them ethnic Karen, since a United Nations resettlement plan began in 2006. After fleeing civil war in Burma and years in Thai refugee camps, many are now thriving in their adoptive US home, but many dream of returning and fostering a better life for their Karen brethren. "After growing up in a place like I did, I wanted to become a nurse," said Mu Aye, a student at San Diego City College studying social work and nursing. "I wanted to help sick people. I want to travel to refugee camps in Thailand and care for people who cannot afford medication. I always believed that nursing is a career that can help people." Mu Aye spent her childhood in the Umpiem Mai refugee camp, 90 kilometers southeast of Mae Sot and home to nearly 20,000 people at its peak. She credits her career choice to the experience of growing up without a reliable water supply and access to medicine. "Medical care in the camp was not good as it is in America," she said. "In the camp, we could not be covered if we did not have money to pay for our medication. Many of us became very ill when we were not properly protected from diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria and cholera." Karen refugees, especially the young, have bright futures in the United States. The prospect of a formal education, university and a career would have been unthinkable had their families remained stuck in refugee camps or displaced in rural Burma. Though many arrived in the US at a young age and speak in a California drawl, members of San Diego's tightknit Karen community are conscious of their good fortunes, their thoughts dwelling on those who didn't share their luck. Eh De Gray, a recent graduate from San Diego's Crawford High School preparing to enter college for a law degree, told The Irrawaddy he also had aspirations to travel back to his home country and help the Karen community. "I want to go back there and meet with kids at schools," he said. "I want to share my knowledge and experiences with them." Crucible or Melting Pot? Many older refugees, who traveled to the US for the sake of their children, have found it more difficult to adjust. The language barrier, the culture shock and a lack of formal schooling have all in many cases impeded their job prospects and rendered them alienated from the wider community. "We can't help our children much because we were born in a village and have no education," said Shae Paw, a mother of five who moved to San Diego in 2010. "In the refugee camp, we couldn't even imagine what it was like to touch a car. But we moved here to see better opportunities for our children." She added that she and her husband still struggle to speak and read English despite their five years in the US. Other parents made abortive efforts to learn before deciding they were too old to grasp a new language. Gary Weaver, a professor of American University's School of International Service in Washington DC, told The Irrawaddy that while first generation migrants often struggled with the US education system, an American schooling generally had a profound effect on the children and grandchildren of migrants. "They become educated and contribute to American society," he said. "They speak and think like Americans and they sometimes marry Americans rather than members of their own ethnic communities." Prodigal Sons Life in San Diego isn't always rosy for refugee youth. Many Karen families life in the vicinity of the City Heights neighborhood, which although gentrifying in recent years, remains the site of substantial gang activity. Murder, drug use, robbery and street fights are all common occurrences. Alarmed by reports of violence and substance abuse among some Karen teenagers community leaders approached former police officer Kevin LaChapelle for help. "They told me they were concerned many Karen young people were using drugs and alcohol. And they wanted to share some of the politics within the culture to help me understand how to help them," he told The Irrawaddy. LaChapelle is the founder of PowerMentor, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing positive support for young San Diego residents at risk of being lured by criminal activity. He recently developed a Karen Leadership Academy, hoping to inspire the refugee youth to resist the negative influences of their neighborhoods, offering assistance where he can to steer his charges towards their goals. "They had shared with me that they wanted to become nurses, and two wanted to become pilots, and one wanted to become an attorney," he said. "I happened to have a friend that was a flight instructor, and PowerMentor has a pipeline to a local law school, so I knew this was no coincidence." With many of those under his wing hoping to one day return to their birthplaces, LaChapelle has been a strong supporter of their desire to return to Burma and work to improve the communities they left behind. "I have always told the Karen guys that our desire is to help them accomplish whatever their dreams are, and we wanted them to determine their goals without influence from others," he said. "We believe in their desire to return to Karen state to offer medical aid after they complete nursing school. My friends who work in health care and I offered our support to one day help them start a clinic in Karen State if they so desire. And that is where we stand now." Irrawaddy reporter Saw Yan Naing is currently on a US fellowship program with Alfred Friendly Press Partners and interning at Jewish Journal in Los Angeles. The post In Struggle and Success, California's Karen Refugees Remember Their Roots appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

As Suu Kyi Visits, China Says Own Laureate Won’t Be Released Posted: 10 Jun 2015 11:59 PM PDT A protester wears a T-shirt featuring a portrait of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi during a candlelight vigil demanding the release of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo in Hong Kong on Nov. 2, 2010. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — China has no reason to change the verdict against jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the government said on Wednesday, as Liu's fellow laureate and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived for her first visit to China. Activists are putting pressure on Suu Kyi, who will be in China until Sunday, to make some reference to Liu's detention during her trip. Any mention of Liu would be bound to embarrass the ruling Communist Party. Asked whether China would listen to any appeal by Suu Kyi to release Liu, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: "There is no reason to alter the judgement made in accordance with the law by China's judicial organs." Liu was jailed for 11 years in 2009 on subversion charges for organizing a petition urging an end to one-party rule. He won the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. China has been keen to engage Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to do well in a general election in November, the first free vote in the country for 25 years. Suu Kyi is excluded from the presidency under a military-drafted constitution, but her power and influence will grow if the NLD performs as well as expected. Hong said China hopes Suu Kyi's visit would "further deepen the understanding and trust between the two parties" and jointly promote cooperation in all areas. The China-Burma relationship has been strained this year as stray army shells from fighting between the Burmese government and ethnic Chinese rebels killed at least five people in China's southwestern Yunnan province in March. Suu Kyi became an international icon after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and spent most of the next two decades under house arrest, from where she continued to resist Burma's military rulers. She was freed in 2010. Despite tight censorship, several Chinese Internet users managed to remind others of the similarities between Suu Kyi and Liu. "China's 'Aung San Suu Kyi' is still in jail!" wrote a microblogger called "Beisilang." Several quoted her musings on living under an authoritarian government. "Often the anxious question is asked: Will such an oppressive regime really give us democracy?" wrote Yuan Yulai, a well-known rights lawyer, quoting Suu Kyi. "And the answer has to be: Democracy, like liberty, justice and other social and political rights, is not 'given,' it is earned through courage, resolution and sacrifice." The post As Suu Kyi Visits, China Says Own Laureate Won't Be Released appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesian President Looks to Open Neglected Papua Region Posted: 10 Jun 2015 11:53 PM PDT   Papuan people at a Jakarta rally celebrating the Free Papua Movement last year. (Photo: Pius Erlangga / Reuters) JAKARTA — Indonesian President Joko Widodo wants to open up the remote and impoverished region of Papua after decades of conflict and neglect, but will first need the backing of the military, parliament and separatists. Palace officials said the president plans to free dozens of political prisoners, launch a slew of infrastructure projects, and confront the serious unemployment problem in the easternmost province of the Indonesian archipelago. “The new approach will be more humane, with the aim of developing Papua more fairly,” Mualimin Abdi, director of human rights for the justice ministry, told Reuters. A small separatist movement has kept Papua under the close supervision of the military, more than 50 years after Indonesia seized control of the resource-rich area following the end of Dutch colonial rule. Despite an abundance of forests and minerals, ordinary Papuans have seen little benefit with their schools, hospitals and infrastructure in dire straits due to rampant corruption. Widodo has made developing Papua one of his top priorities and has already visited the region twice as president, announcing plans for a region-wide road network, fibre optic cable system, sport facilities and a major deep sea port. Widodo’s predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, only visited Papua three times during his 10-year tenure. Heralding a new era for peace and development, Widodo last month released five political prisoners and lifted travel restrictions for foreign journalists in Papua. But in a clear indication of the difficult road ahead for Widodo, military chief Moeldoko quickly revised the president’s statement saying foreign journalists would still need special permits to travel there because of security concerns. “Opening up to the media and what we are doing with the political prisoners are all aimed at eventually reducing the role of the military in Papua,” Eko Sulistyo, a member of the presidential office, told Reuters. “It has to be done gradually.” The president wants to free more political prisoners and plans to ask for approval from parliament, where Widodo’s party only controls a minority coalition. Army spokesman Wuryanto said “there has to be considerations before freeing the prisoners,” but did not elaborate. The president is also considering halting transmigration policies and introducing affirmative action for hiring indigenous Papuans in local government, which is currently dominated by migrants from Java and Sulawesi islands. “If the approach is wrong, it’s a fine line between wanting to be part of Indonesia and becoming a freedom fighter,” Sulistyo said. The post Indonesian President Looks to Open Neglected Papua Region appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Jakarta’s Infamous Traffic Grief to Residents but Boon for Some Posted: 10 Jun 2015 11:19 PM PDT Traffic gridlock in Jakarta's business district. (Photo: Beawiharta / Reuters) JAKARTA — Jakarta’s traffic jams are a constant vexation for the city’s 10 million residents. With the chaos not looking to abate anytime soon, entrepreneurial types have made it their business to help fellow commuters circumvent the world’s worst gridlock. Commuters spend three to four hours a day in their cars on Jakarta’s roads, a situation which Indonesian businessman Nadiem Makarim described as a huge waste of productivity. The average speed of traffic is 8.3 kilometers per hour (5.2 miles per hour), slower than a runner of average fitness covering the same distance in a race. Yet the Indonesian capital’s glaring inefficiencies have also created opportunities for the likes of Makarim, who has launched a smartphone app that lets users summon a motorbike rider to weave them quickly through gridlocked traffic, deliver a meal or even get the shopping. Since the launch of the app in January, the number of distinctive, green-jacketed drivers on its books has jumped tenfold to 10,000. The app itself has been downloaded nearly 400,000 times in six months—a national record. “I created GO-JEK because I really needed it,” Makarim told Reuters this week in Jakarta on the sidelines of the annual New Cities Summit, where over 800 CEOs, mayors, thinkers, artists and innovators met to discuss urban change. Jakarta’s congestions are one of the biggest brakes on economic growth. Officials say the traffic—adjudged recently by motor-oil firm Castrol to be the world’s worst based on an analysis of stopping and starting by drivers—costs the economy about 65 trillion rupiah, or nearly $5 billion, a year. A slump in infrastructure investment after the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, problems freeing up land for development, turf wars between city departments, and poor planning all means Jakarta’s public transport cannot cope with the numbers of people moving about the city. The city’s population is growing by 120,000 a year partly due to rural-urban migration, putting enormous pressure on already-stretched infrastructure such as transport. With an average annual income of around $3,800 per head, five times the national average, migrants are pouring into Jakarta seeking a better life than would be possible as farmers or fishermen. “This accelerating urbanisation is largely an Asian story,” said John Rossant, chairman of the New Cities Foundation. “There’s been nothing like this in human history.” Traffic-navigation app Waze is another big hit with Jakarta residents, who use it to identify the speediest routes through the congestion and to alert other users to accidents, floods and even greasy-palmed police officers standing on street corners. “Jakarta is indeed a huge market for us,” said Waze spokeswoman Julie Mossler. The city ranks regularly within the top 10 of Waze’s 200 world markets, with 800,000 users. Inefficiency also creates opportunities of a more low-tech order. At the edge of the city centre, roadside “jockeys” rent themselves out as passengers for 20,000 rupiah ($1.50) to drivers seeking to dodge a 3-in-1 rule prohibiting cars with fewer than three people from main roads during peak hours. Amid the palls of exhaust fumes at clogged junctions, freelance traffic conductors battle to keep cars flowing for loose change handed through windows by frazzled drivers. Minimarts offering commuters a spot to eat, drink and browse the Internet while waiting for the rush-hour traffic to clear are also thriving. The city is now investing in better public transport. Construction of a mass rapid transit system began in 2013, after decades of delay, and is slated to open in 2018. But, with at least 1,000 new cars and motorbikes added to the city’s roads every day, entrepreneurs don’t see an immediate threat to their business models. “I would happily shut down GO-JEK if Jakarta could solve its traffic problems,” said Makarim. “Unfortunately it’s virtually impossible to solve in the next 10 years.” The post Jakarta’s Infamous Traffic Grief to Residents but Boon for Some appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan’s ‘Survival Game’ Fans Play at Combat, Wary of War Posted: 10 Jun 2015 11:14 PM PDT Participants of a 'survival game' holding their air guns maneuver during their game at a field in Chiba, Japan, on May 30, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) YOTSUKAIDO CITY, Japan — Dressed in camouflage fatigues and sweating in the summer heat, Kento Atari and his comrades sneak through the woods trying to outfox their enemies in a mock military exercise. "I've been hit," yells one, emerging with hands held high. The young Japanese, armed not with real weapons but air guns that shoot plastic pellets, are devotees of so-called "survival games," which are increasingly popular in a land whose soldiers have not gone into battle since defeat in World War II. Atari and others engaged in faux combat at Camp Devgru, a "war field" east of Tokyo, say their hobby does not equate with fondness for real conflict, reflecting an enduring public allergy to war that is a hurdle for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he pushes for a more muscular defense policy. "You can get a thrill that you can't in everyday life … it's fun and it's like a sport," said Atari, a tall 24-year-old, during a lunch break at Camp Devgru one recent Saturday. "But it's separate from war. I am against war." Atari and his mates say they play survival games to blow off steam, get some fresh air and exercise and indulge their fascination with military gear, albeit fake. Most are men, but couples also come on dates, women tag along with friends, and Camp Devgru sponsors a "Father's Day" event for dads and kids. "This is just a hobby," said another 24-year-old, Takuya Oki. "I myself oppose war." Polls suggest most Japanese share such sentiments, despite worries over threats such as from an assertive and rising China. A survey of 64 countries by WIN/Gallop International showed Japan ranked lowest in the percentage of people willing to fight for their country—11 percent, versus 71 percent in China, 44 percent in the United States and 27 percent in Britain. Those numbers disguise more complex attitudes, however, that can be seen in the comments of the "survival games" enthusiasts—less a simplistic pacifism that rejects all use of force than a desire not to be dragged into others' fights. Japanese have long lived with the paradox of a post-war, US-drafted constitution whose pacifist Article 9 bans any armed forces, existing alongside a military that has grown bigger than that of Britain. Successive governments have said the constitution allows "Self-Defense Forces" devoted exclusively to defending Japan, even as they loosened constraints on military activities. "The Japanese are more anti-militarist than pacifist," said Brad Glosserman, executive director of Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based think-tank. "They're prepared to accept the necessity of self-defense," he said, but object to "the use of force as an instrument of power projection." Now Abe wants to expand the scope for military operations abroad, reinterpreting the constitution to allow defense of friendly countries under attack, or "collective self-defense." Bills to implement the change are being debated in parliament. The debate has split and confused the public. Forty-eight percent of respondents to a Yomiuri newspaper poll opposed the change while 40 percent backed it. Eighty percent complained that the government's explanation was insufficient. Abe's ruling bloc can force the security bills—which opposition critics say are unconstitutional—through parliament given its majority, but any perception it had done so without enough debate would risk denting his now robust support ratings. Prodded to contemplate their response if Japan were invaded, some "survival game" fans at Camp Devgru said they'd flee, while others pinned their hopes on the professional military. Atari said he would fight. "We can't always keep relying on the United States to protect us," he said, adding he might back dispatching troops to defend a friendly country—if the reason were made clear. "When would [Japan] get involved? If we were to exercise collective self-defense after making that clear, I'd agree," he said. "But I don't want to be caught up in an unnecessary war." The post Japan's 'Survival Game' Fans Play at Combat, Wary of War appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Last-Gasp Burma Ties Cambodia 3-3 to Top SEA Games Group Posted: 10 Jun 2015 08:58 PM PDT Burma came from two goals back to level with Cambodia on Wednesday night. (Photo: Facebook / SEA GAMES 2015) RANGOON — Burma scored two goals in three minutes to come back from the brink of defeat in the dying minutes of its Southeast Asia Games football match against Cambodia on Wednesday, securing a dramatic 3-3 draw and with it, a first place finish in the competition's group stage. A win over the Philippines on Sunday had already guaranteed Burma a spot in the semifinals and the U-23 footballers looked complacent in the early going, with Cambodian forward Sokpheng Keo striking first in the 26th minute at Singapore's Jalan Besar Stadium. A handball inside the 18-yard box brought underdog Cambodia to the penalty spot and left Burma looking vulnerable to a two-goal deficit as halftime approached. Vathanaka Chan tried for the lower left corner but was denied by Burmese goalkeeper Aung Wai Phyo, whose valiant save would prove to be all for naught after he fouled Vathanaka in a scramble for the ensuing loose ball. Vathanaka went left again on his mulligan from 12 yards out, this time besting the Burmese keeper to make it 2-0 at the half. Burma's Zaw Thiha slotted one home from inside the six-yard box in the 53rd minute, but Cambodia responded just a few minutes later when Sokpheng caught Aung Wai Phyo wrong-footed with a header that snuck inside the far post to extend the Khmers' lead to 3-1. As the clock ticked down and defeat looked all but assured, substitute Kaung Sat Naing made a neat turn in the 89th minute and fired a shot toward the far post past Cambodian goalkeeper Serei Rath Um to inject new life into the campaign. Si Thu Aung, who also started the match on Burma's bench, then latched onto a ball that sailed across the 18-yard box to level the score in stoppage time. With three previous wins and Wednesday's draw, Burma finished Group A at the top of the table on 10 points. Indonesia and Singapore will face off on Thursday for second place in the group. Burma is due to play Vietnam on Saturday for a chance at the 28th SEA Games gold medal match on June 15. The post Last-Gasp Burma Ties Cambodia 3-3 to Top SEA Games Group appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kachin IDPs Hit Hard by Reduced Humanitarian Aid Posted: 10 Jun 2015 08:54 PM PDT A camp for internally displaced persons in Kachin State, northern Burma. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON—Local humanitarian organizations providing aid to the internally displaced Kachin population said they are facing a severe shortage of funding from international donor groups this year. Five humanitarian organizations within the nine that comprise the local relief network said they have only secured US$8 million, nearly 45 percent of the estimated $19 million of funding needed for 2015 to support the Joint Strategy Team for Humanitarian Response in Kachin and northern Shan states (JST). The JST consortium has called for donors to increase financial support in order to meet urgent humanitarian needs until northern Burma's IDPs can safely return to their homes. The 2015 Humanitarian Response Plan by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that more than $71 million is needed to assist 120,000 people in need of humanitarian aid in Kachin and northern Shan States. OCHA is coordinating humanitarian responses at the local and national level. "With large-scale humanitarian crises such as Syria, Nepal, and the Central African Republic, humanitarian donors globally are currently stretched and we are very concerned that the humanitarian response in Myanmar will suffer from underfunding," Pierre Péron, spokesperson for OCHA Myanmar, told The Irrawaddy by email. "The prolonged nature of the displacement in Kachin [State] and northern Shan [State] requires continuous assistance across sectors. Temporary shelters, sanitation and other facilities require renovation or replacement. Some relief items distributed early on need to be replaced," Péron said. Other UN organizations like the World Food Programme (WFP) are also feeling the cutbacks. A spokesperson reported that the program requires an additional $29 million to meet assistance needs in the country until the end of the year. "If no funds are received, the food pipeline will break in August. New contributions are required as soon as possible," a WFP spokesperson said via email. Gum Sha Awng, program coordinator for the Metta Development Foundation, said the JST team learned last week that 9,000 IDPs in seven camps located in areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), will face cuts to food rations starting as soon as July this year due to reduced funding. The Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) has been supporting the camps for two years, but has experienced cuts in donor aid. "These seven camps are [in areas] that none of the UN convoys have reached," said S Gun Mai, program manager at the Shalom Foundation, another JST member organization, explaining that the camps "are far from [central] Burma and can only be accessed from China." JST member Karuna Myanmar Social Services (KMSS) provides food rations to 40 camps in the conflict area which house a total population of 40,000 IDPs. According to Father Paul Awng Dang, director of KMSS, the rainy season has made lives particularly difficult and destroyed many temporary shelters. Frequent fighting near the camps has also contributed to the insecurity. "Decreasing funds places more pressure and a bigger burden on local humanitarian organizations," he said. "In reality, we cannot reduce aid, since a ceasefire agreement has not been implemented yet." He said the most significant reduction in funding has come from KMSS's main donor, the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), who, at the time of publication, had not replied to The Irrawaddy's request for comment. DFID has been providing rice, oil and salt to the IDPs for four years. UN OCHA's Péron said once a nationwide ceasefire agreement is achieved, issues such as the threat of landmines, current lack of livelihood opportunities, and insufficient access to basic services such as health and education should be addressed before people can go home. Tuesday marked the fourth anniversary of the restart of fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burma Army after the breakdown of a 17-year ceasefire. Over 100,000 people remain displaced by the conflict. The post Kachin IDPs Hit Hard by Reduced Humanitarian Aid appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

How the West Was Won Posted: 10 Jun 2015 05:00 PM PDT President Thein Sein, right, meets with Norway's former Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo on Feb. 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) It's a pity this book is only available in Norwegian. It would have been useful for a much broader audience to see what kind of naïveté prevails among Westerners trying to understand what has happened in Myanmar over the past few years. According to the book's author Kristoffer Rønneberg, a correspondent for the Norwegian daily Aftenposten, Norway was behind it all. The new "democratic" course charted by the Myanmar government, Rønneberg writes, is "in my view the most significant victory for Norway's authorities in recent times." In all fairness, it should be said that "Veien til Mandalay: En reise fra Burma til Myanmar" ("The Road to Mandalay: A Journey from Burma to Myanmar") is mainly a travel book and Rønneberg's accounts of his visits to various parts of the country are lively and interesting. But when it comes to his attempts to understand Myanmar politics, he evidently ventures into unfamiliar territory. He is not alone in believing that it was Western engagement with Myanmar's generals that led them to embark on a process of change after conducting a completely fraudulent election in November 2010. The Danish-Australian academic Morten Pedersen suggested in an interview in April with the Institute for Security and Development Policy—a Swedish think-tank not known for its astute analyses—that "re-engagement by Western countries has helped support and deepen the reform process" but "Western re-engagement has not gone far enough… [and] there is an urgent need to demonstrate to the top generals in particular that the military too stands to benefit from reform." If anything, both Rønneberg's and Pedersen's views on Myanmar reflect what amounts to a blatantly neo-colonial attitude. Words to the effect of: "We have to go and tell those funny little brown fellows how to run their country, and, because we are big and clever white guys, surely, they have to listen to us." It is, however, easy to imagine what the Myanmar generals' reaction must have been when they received those Western proponents of engagement: "Those myaukpyu [white monkeys] are sort of amusing. But they are not very clever. So let's use them." Or words to that effect… Countering China The bitter reality is that it is the Myanmar generals who have successfully—and cleverly—managed to engage the West, not the other way round. The decision to re-approach the West was not taken because the generals were induced by some foreigners into a democratic awakening. Internal, classified documents from the Myanmar military, compiled as early as 2004 and seen by this contributor, show that it was the country's heavy dependence on China that prompted them to realize the importance of opening up to the West. One such document even lists the names of Western academics and think-tankers who were in favor of "engagement." But the officers who compiled those documents were astute enough to understand that any rapprochement with the West would require certain political initiatives such as the release of political prisoners, more press freedom and freedom of expression, a proper constitution for the country and a government that was not overtly military in nature. However, to give up power to a democratically elected government was never—and is still not—on the agenda. It is also certain that "the China factor" was an important consideration when the United States decided to change its policy from one of isolation, sanctions and boycotts to "engaging" with the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein that assumed power in March 2011. Myanmar's only really close ally during this period of isolation was China, and its dependence on Beijing was so great that the country was sometimes described as a Chinese client state. All that has now changed, and Myanmar may be the only example in Asia of how the United States has managed to expand its influence at the expense of China's. Myanmar's reform process has never been what it seemed—nor was the West's response to it. The United States, naturally, has policies and priorities other than their oft-repeated support for democracy and human rights. The main issue that no one wants to talk about openly is, of course, the rising power and influence of China in the Asia-Pacific region—and here, there was a meeting of minds between America's strategic thinkers and Myanmar's generals. Exuberant because of its success in this regard, the United States has abandoned talk of "free and fair elections" and Washington is now calling for the polls to be "transparent, inclusive, and credible." The civil war, which is now more intense than at any time since the late 1980s, is conveniently brushed aside as a bump on the road to peace. Criticisms of ongoing human-rights abuses have become muted, if expressed at all. No one wants to hear any bad news. That's not good for the "engagement policy." A Trojan Reindeer? One of very few interesting revelations in Rønneberg's book is to be found on page 206: Norway's turnaround from being a vocal supporter of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement to the main proponent of "engagement" was, according to him, "done in consultation with the US." That makes perfect sense. The United States could not directly "engage" the then ruling junta because of acts passed by Congress, and the other main Western power, the European Union, was also prevented from cozying up to Myanmar's generals because it had similar policies. But Norway was in an ideal position to act as a cutout for Western interests in Myanmar. Norway is not a member of the EU, but it is a partner of the United States in the Western defense alliance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). All historians are aware of the tale of the Trojan horse, a subterfuge the ancient Greeks used to enter the city of Troy in disguise. So have we now seen a Trojan reindeer, with non-EU, NATO member Norway acting as a cutout for United States and perhaps also other Western strategic interests in Myanmar? According to a human rights activist with long experience working on Myanmar issues: "By 2011 there had already been a marked shift in Norway's policy, in favor of cooperation with the government and away from the exiled opposition, including what should have been non-politicized humanitarian assistance. Thein Sein became the poster-boy of Norwegian self-interest and corporate greed and the betrayal of the democratic opposition." The Spoils of Engagement Indeed, Norway was awarded for its new policies with a lucrative contract for its telecom company, Telenor. The Norwegian ambassador to Bangkok, Katja Norgaard, who had been instrumental in implementing the new policies, went straight from the Norwegian Foreign Ministry to a high-placed job with Telenor. Corporate greed went hand in hand with geostrategic considerations—"if we were not doing this, the Chinese would do it"—some Norwegian foreign ministry officials have said in private to pro-democracy activists. Perhaps Rønneberg is right in a sense: Myanmar has been a foreign-policy success for Norway. But not for turning Myanmar into a "democratic state," which it is not. At the same time, Norway's new policies have also cost it a lot of goodwill among the population at large in Myanmar. It is no longer seen as a supporter of democratic change. It is also evident that the neo-colonial, patronizing attitudes of not only Norway but also of deluded academics like Pedersen will have little or no influence on actual, political developments in Myanmar. The military has its agenda. Their "political process" has not stalled, as some Western observers like to put it in light of recent repressive actions against student-led social movements in the country; it was never meant to be more than this. The generals have succeeded. They have the West on their side, have lessened their dependence on China and, most importantly, they remain in power. If Myanmar is ever going to become a functioning democracy, it will be because of actions taken by the Myanmar people themselves, not because of the Norwegian diplomats and Western academics who are evidently overestimating their ability to influence the people in power in Myanmar. Those outsiders are mere pawns in a game of which they understand very little. “Veien til Mandalay: En reise fra Burma til Myanmar” by Kristoffer Rønneberg is published by Dreyers Forlag, Oslo, Norway. This article originally appeared in the June 2015 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post How the West Was Won appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Students at Rangoon School for Blind Double National Matriculation Average Posted: 10 Jun 2015 05:26 AM PDT Two students practice a math exercise at the Kawechan School for the Blind in Rangoon. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Nine out of 13 students from the Kawechan School for the Blind in Rangoon who sat this year's matriculation examination have passed, a rate nearly double the national average. They surpassed their peers in Burma's standard education system—who last week posted a 37.6 percent matriculation rate—despite the unique challenges of learning with a visual impairment. Blind students have to learn many of their lessons by listening to audio files that their instructors have recorded for them. "Subjects that can be learned by heart are not a problem for them. Lessons are given to them in Braille and they can learn anytime. Teachers record the lessons [and save the audio files and] give them on memory sticks, and they can learn by themselves," said Zeena Don, headmistress of the Kawechan School for the Blind. Blind students take the exam with the assistance of 10th grade pupils, who are one academic year their junior. The 10th grade students read out the questions and also write down the answers provided by the test takers on their behalf. Although the blind students are given an extra 30 minutes, there are still sometimes problems because juniors can find it difficult to clearly understand their answers in some cases, the headmistress told The Irrawaddy. "We call it writing on behalf. … The children [assisting students] can read and write English words, but when it comes to math, signs become a problem," the headmistress told The Irrawaddy. Maw Shae, who passed the exam with distinction in English, said he would like to apply for entrance to the University of Computer Studies in Rangoon and eventually work as a Foley artist upon graduation. "I'd like to continue pursuing my interest in audio while attending the University of Computer Studies. I am interested in sound design and love crafting background sounds," Maw Shae told The Irrawaddy. Na Kha Ti, a fellow blind student who has also matriculated, told The Irrawaddy that she would like to specialize in history and dreams of one day becoming a radio presenter. The graduates have proven their academic bona fides, but they are also fortunate: A government survey found that 50 percent of all people with disabilities in Burma had never attended school, largely because they were denied entrance at mainstream public schools. The high school graduation rate for people with disabilities was just 2 percent, according to the government findings. Students from the Kawechan School for the Blind are provided with schooling from 1st grade to 9th grade at a standard Basic Education Middle School under an inclusive education program. After that, they are taught by instructors at the Kawechan School for the Blind and volunteer teachers. Students sit the matriculation exam at Basic Education High School No. 2 Insein. This year's impressive exam showing comes in spite of the school being under resourced, according to Zeena Don, who said the classroom is short of teachers, teaching aids and copies of textbooks in Braille. The post Students at Rangoon School for Blind Double National Matriculation Average appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Dagon Highrise Opponents Blocked in Rangoon Parliament Posted: 10 Jun 2015 05:19 AM PDT A promotional balloon flies above the Dagon City 1 sales office, with Shwedagon Pagoda in the background. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A lawmaker has failed in her efforts to compel the Rangoon Division Parliament to block five controversial developments near Shwedagon Pagoda, after an intervention from the divisional planning minister shut down debate on the matter. Independent MP Dr Nyo Nyo Thin, who represents Bahan Township, brought a debate motion to Tuesday's parliamentary sitting, urging the divisional government to halt the five projects, which are slated for construction on 72 acres of land abutting the historic pagoda. "Will anyone in the Union government, or Rangoon government, or Myanmar Investment Commission take responsibility take responsibility for possible damage to the pagoda and its surroundings?" Nyo Nyo Thin asked during Tuesday's session. Divisional Planning and Economic Development Minister Than Myint rose immediately afterward to declare that the land leased to the developers belonged to the military, and the matter therefore fell under the jurisdiction of the Union government. The two Dagon City project sites, comprising 52 acres of the land allotted for the five developments, were awarded to local company Thu Kha Yadanar from the military's Quartermaster General's Office in 2013. The company, which operates a number of luxury hotels in partnership with the KBZ Group, is expected to pay an estimated US$221 million dollars over the course of the 70-year lease. Following Than Myint's comments, only two other lawmakers supported the debate motion, falling well short of the required 21 yes votes needed to take the matter further. Nyo Nyo Thin was incensed by the move, claiming the minister's actions were contrary to parliamentary procedure. "His actions were not in accordance with the bylaws for divisional parliaments," she told The Irrawaddy. "He sprang to his feet before the parliament decided on whether to proceed with discussion. The bylaws state that the relevant minister can only speak to the issue after a discussion among lawmakers." Win Htein, a National Unity Party lawmaker who supported Nyo Nyo Thin's debate motion, similarly told The Irrawaddy that Than Myint's actions were unacceptable. "His action hinders our chances to express our wishes," he said. "As far as the project is concerned, I just want a thorough assessment from experts. I don't want more traffic jams in the area and I don't want any damage to Shwedagon's sightlines." Than Myint could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. Khin Hlaing, an elected member of the Yangon City Development Committee and an outspoken opponent of the developments, told The Irrawaddy he was unsurprised that debate on the projects was shut down. "Just have a look at who dominates the Rangoon Parliament," he said. Of the legislature's 122 members, 75 belong to the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the party of the incumbent Union government, and a further 30 are military appointees. The five developments have aroused a storm of local opposition since the Myanmar Investment Commission issued a suspension notice on site work at the end of January. A forum organized by the Association of Myanmar Architects last month raised concerns that construction work on the projects could affect the water table underneath Singuttara Hill, on which Shwedagon sits, and damage the foundations of the historic structure. "We think that it's a serious issue," Maw Lin, the association's vice-president, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. "We have urged a proper risk assessment. If they want to allow the projects then by all means, allow them somewhere else. The current site should be for the public." Marga Landmark, an international consortium with a 70 percent stake in the 22-acre Dagon City 1 mixed-use project, did not answer calls from The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. The group released a statement last month saying that construction work "will be carried out with the utmost care and due diligence without affecting the foundations of Singuttara Hill and the underground water." Also on Tuesday, Khin San Hlaing, a Lower House lawmaker for the opposition National League for Democracy, submitted a similar proposal to bring the five developments to a halt. Parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann accepted the matter and the projects would be discussed in Naypyidaw within the next two weeks, she said. "Allowing projects for sectional interests under the shadow of Shwedagon is not appropriate," she said. "The government should be aware of the people's concern." The post Dagon Highrise Opponents Blocked in Rangoon Parliament appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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