The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- 1,000 Flee Homes after Shan State Clashes, Say Locals
- In Advance of Ceasefire, Karen Rebels Call for Govt Troop Withdrawal
- Analysis: The Limits of European Power in Burma
- Japan, China Agree to Promote Dialogue Despite UNESCO Dispute
- Hostages Appeal in Video for Halt to Philippines Military Operations
- Dutch Probe: Buk Missile Downed Malaysian Jet in Ukraine
| 1,000 Flee Homes after Shan State Clashes, Say Locals Posted: 14 Oct 2015 04:59 AM PDT  Villagers who fled fighting in northern Shan State arrive at a Buddhist monastery in Mong Hsu Township. (Photo: Nang Kaung Kham / Facebook) RANGOON — Over 1000 people from six villages have fled their homes after more than a week of clashes between the Burma Army and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), according to local aid workers. Around 600 have arrived in Monghsutown, around 16 kilometers from the epicenter of the fighting near an SSA-N base. "They got some food from local aid workers to eat. There are 117 people staying at a Buddhist monastery in Hai Pa quarter, while others went to stay at their relative houses," said HlaShweThein, an independent relief volunteer from Kyethi Township. HlaShweThein said that six villages in Monghsu Township had been abandoned. "Some people are hiding in the jungle andothers have left their homes to stay at their paddy farms, said Sai Jan Awng, another relief volunteer. "They ran to hide when they heard the bad news about the Burma Army coming. Both sides have reinforced their troops. There is a lot of tension, but there was no fighting yesterday." Fighting broke out near Wan Hai village on Oct. 6 after the SSA-N refused a Burma Army order to withdraw their troops from the area. The ethnic armed group's Wan Hai base was earlier shelled by the military in August. Relief workers have expressed concerns about the health of those who fled their homes. "It has rained a lot here," said Nang Sai Hein from Shan Literature and Culture in Mong Hsu. "They did not have enough clothes to change into when they got wet from the rain, or clothes for the cold weather. Many of them are elderly or children. They do not even have pots to cook food." The post 1,000 Flee Homes after Shan State Clashes, Say Locals appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| In Advance of Ceasefire, Karen Rebels Call for Govt Troop Withdrawal Posted: 14 Oct 2015 04:12 AM PDT  KNLA soldiers on the Salween River, heading to frontline areas in northern Karen State. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — As ethnic peace negotiators descend upon the capital to sign a hard-won ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government, Karen rebels in the country's southeast have issued a stern request for the withdrawal of Burma Army frontline troops and an end to deployment. The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), released a statement on Wednesday reaffirming its support for the ceasefire while warning rebel troops to remain vigilant throughout its implementation. Brig-Gen Mahn Shar Htu Gaw of the KNLA told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the armed group, which mostly occupies territories in eastern Burma's Karen State, has clashed with the Burma Army and the government-affiliated Border Guard Force several times in recent weeks despite the KNU's progress toward reaching a peace accord. The pact, which is referred to by signatories as a nationwide ceasefire agreement despite having been accepted by only half of the ethnic stakeholders involved in negotiations, has been in the works for about two years and is set to be signed on Oct. 15 in Naypyidaw. "We don't oppose signing the NCA [nationwide ceasefire agreement], we have been involved alongside the process—but we informed our soldiers to be alert on their basic duty as usual," he said. "The Burma Army has in the past attacked some ethnic rebels while signing ceasefires with others, and we have had frequent fighting in our areas even recently. We want to reaffirm our stance and hold it firmly to avoid further serious confrontation." Wednesday's statement urged the Burma Army to obey the military code of conduct and to immediately cease deployment and transport of weapons and ammunition through KNU-controlled areas. It further called on the government to withdraw some of its military camps on the frontlines of KNLA territories. The KNLA also reiterated its request that government troops seek permission to travel and patrol on rebel-held routes, and that those patrols not disturb KNLA soldiers or carry out any lobbying efforts within their territories. The establishment of government-run administrative and judicial systems is also prohibited within the KNUs domain. Karen rebels will not accept any type of proposed transformation, such as a Border Guard Force scheme or assimilation into a police force, the statement said, reaffirming its stance that the KNLA must firmly retain its role as the military arm of the KNU. The KNLA is one of the longest-standing ethnic armed groups in Burma, with an estimated strength of more than 6,000 troops. The group has been at war with the Burmese government for much of the past 60 years, in efforts to achieve autonomy since the country gained independence from British colonial rule 1948. Recent reports alleged that KNLA Brigade 5 had undertaken a new recruitment drive, leading some 2,000 villagers in Karen State's Hpapun District to flee their homes for fear of forced conscription. A senior official told The Irrawaddy that the brigade regularly intakes new soldiers to replace aging servants, claiming the exodus was not caused solely by recruitment as many women and children were among the displaced. "Some fled because they heard rumors of possible fighting between the Burma Army and the KNLA, they saw the movement of the Burmese troops. A group of about 70 Burmese soldiers were sent to that area," the KNLA official said on condition of anonymity. The KNU's recent commitment to signing the ceasefire agreement has caused controversy within its own leadership. Although several high-ranking political leaders will represent the KNU at Thursday's signing ceremony, the group's vice chairperson, Zipporah Sein—who also serves as head of the ethnic negotiating bloc known as the Senior Delegation—turned down an invitation by the government's chief peace broker Aung Min. Zipporah Sein, who is among the camp of ethnic leaders that pushed for an inclusive accord, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that she did not wish to attend a peace deal ceremony as fighting continued in Kachin and Shan states. The post In Advance of Ceasefire, Karen Rebels Call for Govt Troop Withdrawal appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Analysis: The Limits of European Power in Burma Posted: 13 Oct 2015 11:56 PM PDT  Burma pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends an award ceremony to receive her 1990 Sakharov Prize at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, October 22, 2013. (Photo: Vincent Kessler / Reuters) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The European Union's involvement in Burma will face two key tests in the next month: the conclusion of the so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement on Thursday, and, provided it is not postponed, what is being touted as the first "free and fair" general election in 25 years. Since the EU began reengaging with Burma in 2011, most of its work in the fledgling democracy has been through the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC). The MPC, launched as a part of an agreement with the Norway-led Peace Support Donor Group in 2012, aims to provide strategic guidance in peace negotiations and to serve as a hub for governments and non-governmental organizations that want to support Burma's glacial peace process. According to a monitoring report by Burma News International, the EU contributed nearly US$1 million in startup funds to the MPC in 2012, followed by a generous funding package later that same year. The EU provided some $38 million to the peace process in 2013. Yet financial support is not a panacea. With 135 officially recognized ethnic groups sprawled across the country, Burma's situation is exceptional. Beneath this mosaic is a simmering history of conflict not only between the Burman majority and ethnic minorities, but also among minority groups. Since Aung San was assassinated in 1947, ethnic conflicts, punctuated only by fragile periods of peace, have flared across the country with an almost seasonal regularity. Ceasefire agreements are not a new phenomenon in Burma, but one way that the current peace process—in motion since President Thein Sein came to power in 2011—differs from earlier ones is in its emphasis on political dialogue with ethnic armed groups. However, the role of the EU and other foreign actors in this process has been extensively criticized. Burma expert Bertil Lintner told The Irrawaddy that foreign actors have placed a 'shameful' amount of pressure on various ethnic armed groups to sign the ceasefire agreement, despite the fact that doing so would be premature and even against their better judgment. For instance, the Karen National Union (KNU), Burma's oldest ethnic armed organization, has agreed to sign the ceasefire agreement. As the group's senior leadership remains bitterly split over signing, this decision, overwhelmingly supported by senior KNU leader Htoo Htoo Lay, who is close to the Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office, is seen by many as having been rushed through and overly influenced by Western interlocutors. The mixed record of European peacekeeping endeavors in the region is a warning against moving prematurely. In the case of the failed peace process in Sri Lanka, a 2002 ceasefire between the government and Tamil insurgents was brokered largely with Norway's help, but the agreement had little power on the ground, and the hurried process led to a failure to placate important political elites and to address underlying conflicts within the country's ethnic communities. Violence—including the assassination of Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2005—ricocheted across the country. When the Sri Lankan government declared the conflict over in 2009, rights abuses against the Tamil community continued for years. The demands of Burma's ethnic leaders hinge on a government commitment to reframe the country's Constitution along federal lines. This is where negotiators will face their most daunting challenge as a peace settlement is hashed out in the years to come. Ethnic leaders have not outlined what their vision of federalism would look like, allowing the notion to become a catch-all rallying cry to address a laundry list of grievances in lieu of a specific program capable of accommodating competing and varied interests. Here, with the diverse political systems of its member countries, the EU could provide valuable advice in both shaping aspirations and managing expectations among ethnic armed groups regarding the practical limitations of a federal government. Critically, experts say a blind focus on elite engagement ought to be avoided. "One lesson from previous cases is that it isn't enough simply to support elites, who might only share out power among themselves," said Richard Youngs, a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law program at Carnegie Europe. "There needs to be bottom-up engagement with civil society groups, too. The EU does some of this, of course, but it tends to hook itself to government-led mediation too much. This is one reason why the MPC has increasingly lost legitimacy and traction with many groups." Looking ahead, one area in which the EU could put its good intentions to good use is by monitoring Burma's general election next month. The EU's Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Burma, which represents all 28 EU member states along with Norway and Switzerland, will be made up of nine analysts, 30 long-term observers, 62 short-term observers, a delegation of the European Parliament, and EU diplomats in Burma. Officially, the EU EOM is supposed to be involved with the entire process, from an assessment of the election's legal framework, voter registration efforts, and the nomination of candidates to the conduct of the ballot and the announcement of the election's results. While these aims are laudable, Youngs said that outside observers have, in the past, done more harm than good by giving a clean bill of health to manipulated elections or by sending mixed signals about democratic progress, as was demonstrably the case with Azerbaijan's election in 2013 and Algeria's election in 2014. "There are typically many voices working within the EU machinery, some of which will want to keep the EU's development and humanitarian engagement with Burma intact, whatever happens in the election," Youngs told The Irrawaddy. If the EU wants to prevent efforts to keep engagement on track without improving governance, it will need some sort of clear follow-through after the ballots have been counted. Burma's test will be in fashioning a broad set of checks and balances and getting popular support behind such reforms. Whatever the outcome of next month's historic election, debates within the EU over competing engagement and human rights imperatives will in all likelihood color the bloc's engagement with Burma for the next few years. For those involved in the efforts to conclude more than a half-century of ethnic conflict and to support a democratic transition, expectations will continue to be tempered by the slow pace of change. "The problem with the West is that it wants instant democracy," said David Steinberg, a Burma specialist at Georgetown University. "Foreign actors have to understand that this process will take time." The post Analysis: The Limits of European Power in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Japan, China Agree to Promote Dialogue Despite UNESCO Dispute Posted: 13 Oct 2015 10:38 PM PDT  China's State Councillor Yang Jiechi meets Japan's National Security Council head Shotaro Yachi, a close ally of the Japanese Prime Minister, in Tokyo, October 13, 2015. (Photo: Issei Kato / Reuters) TOKYO — Senior officials of Japan and China agreed on Tuesday to pursue high-level dialogue to mend frayed relations, a Japanese government official said. Sino-Japanese ties, long plagued by conflicting claims to an East China Sea group of islands and by the legacy of Japan's World War Two aggression against China, have thawed somewhat since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November 2014. But China's successful bid last week to include documents related to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre in a programme by the UN cultural and heritage agency UNESCO has become a new irritant. Yang Jiechi, China's top diplomat, and Shotaro Yachi, the head of the secretariat of Japan's National Security Council, agreed in Tokyo to press ahead with bilateral dialogue including one between top leaders, the Japanese official said. "There still exist some issues between the two countries like the East China Sea situation. But I would like us to exchange views candidly today to advance bilateral relations further," Yachi told Yang before doors were closed to reporters. Issues discussed include overall ties between Asia's two biggest economies, their security policies and a continuing effort to set up an emergency communication mechanism between their militaries, the official said. He declined to elaborate. Yachi, also a national security adviser to Abe, reiterated in the Tokyo meeting Japan's stance regarding China's move to have documents touching on the Nanjing Massacre registered in UNESCO's "Memory of the World" programme, the official said. China says invading Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in the massacre. A post-war Allied tribunal put the death toll at about half that number. Japan's top government spokesman said earlier on Tuesday that Tokyo might halt funding for UNESCO over the UN heritage body's decision to include the documents. This drew a sharp retort from China, which called the threat "shocking and unacceptable". China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Yang as saying relations are headed in a more stable direction, but he urged Japan to deal with "sensitive" issues. "[We] hope the Japanese side can scrupulously abide by its commitments, pursue a positive policy toward China… and appropriately handle historical, military, security and other important and sensitive issues," Yang said. Yang, a state councilor who outranks the Chinese foreign minister, is set to meet with Abe on Wednesday. The post Japan, China Agree to Promote Dialogue Despite UNESCO Dispute appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Hostages Appeal in Video for Halt to Philippines Military Operations Posted: 13 Oct 2015 10:24 PM PDT  Members of the Naval Special Operations Group, an elite unit of the Philippine Marines, move out after rescuing a hostage from mock rebels during the Fleet-Marine Amphibious Exercise at the marine headquarters in Ternate, south of Manila, September 24, 2015. (Photo: Romeo Ranoco / Reuters) MANILA — Two Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipino woman have appealed by video to the Philippines to stop military operations, and to Canada to negotiate for their freedom with Islamist militants who abducted them. The four were snatched at gunpoint by 11 men, believed to be al Qaeda-linked Islamist militants, at an upmarket resort on Samar island in the Philippines on Sept. 21 and taken to an unknown location in the south. "Please, stop all these operations so that negotiations can start," said a man, who introduced himself as John Ridsdel on the clip circulating on YouTube, while a machete was brandished behind his head by a militant who was holding him. The man said there had been artillery fire nearby, flights overhead and bombings and asked that they be stopped. The military operations could not be independently verified. Philippine authorities on Tuesday declined to comment on the video, saying they will have to validate the authenticity of the material. Asked about the video, a Canadian foreign ministry spokesman said the government is "pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information." Another captive, who introduced himself as Robert Hall, also appealed to stop the bombings, saying his life was in grave danger. A third man who introduced himself as Kjartan Sekkingstad was also made to plead for their lives. The woman seated beside Hall did not speak. The four were identified by the Philippines army in September as having been taken hostage. This was the first video of them since their abduction. All of them were shown to be sitting in a jungle while the militants with covered faces held rifles and machetes, and shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) at the end of the 2 minute 22 second video uploaded onto YouTube. The militants' leader spoke fluent English, demanding the artillery attacks be halted and the negotiation of the release of the hostages. It is unusual for Islamist militant leaders in the south to speak good English. The video had been uploaded on some Middle Eastern websites. The leader did not identify what group they belonged to or their location. There has been speculation they had been taken hundreds of miles west to Jolo island, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, a small but violent Islamist militant group, known for bomb attacks, kidnappings and beheadings in the southern Philippines. But army and police officials have previously denied the report, and the authorities could not say on Tuesday whether the hostages were taken to the island. The post Hostages Appeal in Video for Halt to Philippines Military Operations appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Dutch Probe: Buk Missile Downed Malaysian Jet in Ukraine Posted: 13 Oct 2015 10:15 PM PDT  The reconstructed wreckage of the MH17 airplane is seen after the presentation of the final report into the July 2014 crash over Ukraine, October 13, 2015. (Photo: Michael Kooren / Reuters) GILZE-RIJEN AIR BASE, Netherlands — The missile shot skyward from war-ravaged eastern Ukraine. With deadly accuracy more than six miles up, it detonated just in front of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner, sending hundreds of jagged steel shards ripping through its aluminum skin at up to 5,600 mph and shearing the cockpit from the rest of the plane. The two pilots and purser in the cockpit died instantly, and the Boeing 777 disintegrated and fell to earth, killing the rest of the 298 men, women and children aboard Flight 17 on July 17, 2014, Dutch investigators said Tuesday in a long-awaited report. Some of the victims may have been conscious for 60 to 90 seconds, the Dutch Safety Board said, but they probably were not fully aware of what was happening in the oxygen-starved, freezing chaos. The tornado-like airflow surging through the doomed jet as it came apart was powerful enough to tear off people's clothes and leave naked corpses amid the fields of sunflowers. The 15-month Dutch investigation blamed a Soviet-made surface-to-air Buk missile for downing the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight, but it did not explicitly say who had fired it. It identified an area of 320 square kilometers (120 square miles) where it said the launch must have taken place, and all of the land was in the hands of pro-Russian separatists fighting Ukrainian forces at the time of the disaster, according to daily maps of fighting released by the Ukrainian National Security Council. The Dutch Safety Board also found that the tragedy wouldn't have happened if the airspace of eastern Ukraine had been totally closed to passenger planes as fighting raged below. "Our investigation showed that all parties regarded the conflict in eastern part of Ukraine from a military perspective. Nobody gave any thought of a possible threat to civil aviation," Safety Board chairman Tjibbe Joustra said in releasing the report at a military base in the southern Netherlands. He spoke in front of the partially reassembled red, white and blue Malaysian jetliner, much of the left side of its mangled fuselage front riddled with shrapnel holes. Russian officials were prompt to dismiss the Dutch report, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov calling it an obvious "attempt to make a biased conclusion, in essence to carry out a political order." Earlier Tuesday, the Buk's manufacturer presented its own report trying to clear the separatists, and Russia itself, of any involvement. The Russian state-controlled consortium Almaz-Antey said it conducted experiments, including one in which a Buk missile was detonated near the nose of an airplane similar to a 777, and it contended they contradicted the conclusion that a Buk missile of the kind used by the Russians destroyed Flight 17. Almaz-Antey had earlier suggested that it could have been a model of Buk that is no longer in service with the Russian military but is part of Ukraine's arsenal. It said the experiments also rebutted claims the missile was fired from Snizhne, a village that was under rebel control. An Associated Press reporter saw a Buk missile system in that vicinity on the same day. Despite the moves by Moscow, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands called on Russia to fully cooperate with a separate criminal investigation that Dutch prosecutors are conducting into the downing of the plane, in which 196 Dutch nationals died. Rutte said a key priority "is now tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators." "On July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine, in broad daylight, a passenger airplane was shot out of the sky with a Buk missile," he said. The safety board's conclusions confirmed "some of our most shocking suspicions," he added. In a statement, the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team said it has already identified "persons of interest" in the probe, but said it is "not easy" to find witnesses, especially ones willing to make a statement. They said their probe will stretch into 2016. The Netherlands has headed the international investigation into the disaster because most victims were Dutch. Ukraine, in whose airspace the incident occurred, agreed to let the Netherlands take the lead. At UN headquarters, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin defended his country's decision not to close its airspace, saying no one at the time was aware of the possibility that Russia had brought highly sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles into Ukraine. Klimkin also praised the Dutch report as "fully unbiased and transparent," and said what now is needed is for a criminal investigation to reveal the chain of command and bring those responsible to justice. Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak also said the world "must move forward toward ensuring that those responsible are held accountable for this murderous act." There were 43 Malaysians aboard, the second-highest total. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Wednesday that her government would not be bullied by Russia in Australia's pursuit of justice. Bishop told Seven Network television that a criminal investigation of the "atrocity" will continue. "We certainly won't be bullied by anyone in our pursuit of justice for the families of those aboard," Bishop told the Seven Network. Australia had the third largest number of victims with 39 Australian citizens and permanent residents aboard. Dutch investigators said the missile detonated less than a meter (3.3 feet) from the plane, to the left side of the cockpit, sending the shrapnel into the plane at speeds of up to 9,000 kph (5,600 mph). Joustra said missile fragments found in the cockpit crew's bodies, as well as paint traces, helped investigators to identify the Buk. Some of the pieces of metal, he said, were shaped like cubes or "bow ties"—a detail weapons experts called extremely significant. "The overall picture is conclusive—a 9M38M1 surface-to-air missile from a Buk operated from rebel-held territory in east Ukraine was responsible for the shooting down of MH17," said Nick de Larrinaga, Europe editor for IHS Jane's Defense Weekly. Joustra said the Russian government had been given the opportunity to review the report's conclusions in advance, and that it maintained it was impossible to determine the type of missile or warhead that struck the Boeing with certainty. The missile explosion caused a "deafening sound wave" anyone still alive aboard would have heard, the Dutch report said. The sudden decompression, reduced oxygen levels and extreme cold of minus 40-50 degrees Celsius (minus-40-58 degrees Fahrenheit) may have killed some people. As the high winds tore through the cabin, hand baggage and other personal belongings may have become lethal projectiles. As the mangled, pilotless jet went into its deadly dive from 33,000 feet, those who hadn't already died may have suffered dizziness, nausea and, finally, blackout and death. Rob Fredriksz, whose son Bryce was aboard Flight 17, said he was relieved to hear that the passengers died almost instantly and "absolutely felt and knew nothing." Paul Guard, an Australian man whose parents Jill and Roger died aboard Flight 17, said on Wednesday he believes the Russians aren't the only ones at fault. "Russia's got a role and they haven't been very helpful. So I blame Russia partially but not completely. There are many other players that are also to blame," Guard told Nine Network television in the Queensland state capital Brisbane. Key findings of the investigation were given to families of victims before the report was released, and Fredriksz said some relatives became emotional when they were shown an animation portraying the downing of the plane. On Tuesday evening, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia was disappointed its experts hadn't been invited to take part in the Dutch investigation, adding that the refusal to take the findings of the Buk manufacturer's experiments into account reflected a biased approach. Commenting on Ukraine blaming Russia-backed separatists for downing the plane, Peskov said that "prior to the completion of the probe, it's inadmissible to put labels and name culprits." US National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the Dutch investigation was conducted in a professional manner and should serve as the basis for further work to identify those responsible for the aircraft's destruction. In the village of Hrabove where the jet came down, Lyudmila Grigoryak—whose house was the closest to the crash site—brought red carnations Tuesday to the field where small pieces of the fuselage are still scattered. Unlike a year and a half ago when heavy fighting was just nearby, the area is quiet and deserted. All the camouflaged rebels who were patrolling the area and manning checkpoints are gone. The post Dutch Probe: Buk Missile Downed Malaysian Jet in Ukraine appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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