The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Forty-Two Companies Vie for Five New MRTV Channels
• NLD Lawmaker Claims Foreign Workers are Flouting Visa Regulations, Harming Local Interests
• Damaged Bagan Temples Under Detailed Assessment
• Dutch Tourist Sentenced to Three Months in Prison, 100,000 Kyats Fine
• Rescued Migrant Fishermen Appeal to Govt for Unpaid Wages
• Four MNHRC Members Resign over Tailor Shop Abuse Case
• Rangoon Motel Sues NLD Lawmaker for Alleged Drunken Brawl
• Portugal’s Guterres Poised to be Next UN Secretary-General

Forty-Two Companies Vie for Five New MRTV Channels Posted: 06 Oct 2016 07:46 AM PDT A parliamentary broadcast by Sky Net, a channel under the Shwe Thanlwin Company. (Photo: J Paing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Ministry of Information announced on Thursday that 42 companies have been included in the initial content provider list to work under the state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV). From among these companies, five will be selected to run their own channels under MRTV, one of four entities granted a broadcasting license by the ministry—others include the Forever Group, Shwe Thanlwin Co., and Myawaddy TV. MRTV was set up in 1979, and for decades was used to broadcast propaganda by Burma's former military regime. It currently has 10 channels. "Five channels will be working under MRTV. There is a third party that will select five companies [from among the 42 on the content provider list]. The whole procedure is expected to finish within the next three months," U Myo Myint Maung, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information, told The Irrawaddy. "We will provide five channels to the private sector. Companies must submit their detailed proposals to the selection committee, and they will choose by the end of this year," he said. Of those companies designated as approved content providers eyeing the channel spots, some already have a satellite TV broadcasting service. The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB TV) is one such group—a news organization which long operated in exile from Thailand and Norway. U Toe Zaw Latt, bureau chief of DVB TV, told The Irrawaddy that they have run a successful satellite broadcasting service for 25 years, but they hope that a digital platform will introduce their coverage to new audiences. "This channel will go by the digital broadcasting system, so we want to target audiences who are not watching satellite TV," he said. "We're a TV news channel—we have experience broadcasting news. I don't think it is too difficult for us, but for beginners, I agree it is hard to start." U Toe Zaw Latt added that the market competition will be stronger in the new platform, and that challenges regarding technology, investment and human resources lay ahead. "Investment will be big—we should expect an investment of three to five years in order to return the benefits," he said. U Nyi Lin Seck, former channel director of the 5 Network, part of the Forever Group, told The Irrawaddy that as far as he knows, most companies want to set up entertainment channels, including shopping networks, which could bring in more money than news channels. "If they want to make a profit, there should be a variety of channels for the long term—there will be risks ahead," he said. "In my experience, [channels] can't run 3-5 years unless they spend at least US$3 million." U Nyi Lin Seck added that the government should grant licenses to companies with strong capital, who can commit to long-term investment. "What we are concerned about is, how in the previous government's time, one person was granted a license but the real operator is someone else," he said. U Ye Htut, former Minister of Information under ex-President Thein Sein's government, told The Irrawaddy that news content providers will face difficulties as long as they are unable to provide a variety of programs in a digital media age. Facing the greatest challenge will be newcomers to the digital TV scene, he speculated. "As far as I know, TV remotes are controlled by children and housewives," he said. "They like entertainment channels and these have high potential. For news channels, it is difficult, as long as they can't surpass online news," he said. U Ye Htut added that content providers must prepare programs for at least eight hours per day—repeated three times—and three hours' worth of shows must consist of new programming. "For the initial three months, new programs can attract people. Then beyond three months, they can mix old and new programs. This is what content providers must prepare, starting now," he said. The post Forty-Two Companies Vie for Five New MRTV Channels appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Lawmaker Claims Foreign Workers are Flouting Visa Regulations, Harming Local Interests Posted: 06 Oct 2016 07:10 AM PDT A high rise under construction in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — National League for Democracy (NLD) divisional lawmaker U Than Naing Oo called on the Rangoon Division government to investigate the legal status of foreign workers in the city, who he believed were flouting visa regulations and harming local interests. In the Rangoon Division parliament on Thursday, U Than Naing Oo, who represents Pabedan Township (constituency-1), claimed that many skilled foreign workers on "social" visas were employed in the construction sector, getting paid more to do the same jobs as locals, and that some were running small shops, in apparent violation of laws that prevent foreigners from operating small businesses in competition with locals. He said he had seen "evidence" from nongovernmental organizations that are in contact with foreign workers. The lawmaker also accused these "foreigners" of anti-social behavior, saying he had witnessed "Chinese men drinking beers on the sidewalk"—to which the Arakanese Ethnic Affairs Minister U Zaw Aye Maung responded, "citizens should bring them [drinkers] to the police station." The Arakanese ethnic affairs minister, speaking on behalf of the divisional government, stated that 3,928 foreigners were currently working in Rangoon on business visas, having received permission to work from various ministries. The Burmese government offers 12 kinds of visas, including social, tourist, business, religious, educational and journalist. Thai nationals are allowed to enter Burma visa free for a certain period; this allowance is not extended to Chinese nationals. After an initial three-month period, visas covering work can be extended by six-month followed by 12-month and then 22-month periods. Minister U Zaw Aye Maung claimed that candidates are rigorously examined, often by different ministries and sometimes at the Union level, before permission to work is granted. U Aung Myo, who represents Sanchaung Township (constituency-1), asked the divisional government to disclose the amount of income tax received by foreigners working in Rangoon. Those earning less than 2 million kyats (US$1,573) are not taxed; those earning 2-5 million kyats a month are taxed at 5 percent; 5-10 million kyats at 10 percent; 10-20 million kyats at 15 percent; 20-30 million kyats at 20 percent; and over 30 million kyats at 25 percent. Minister U Zaw Aye Maung said that over the 2015-16 fiscal year the Rangoon divisional government collected 61.298 billion kyats (US$48.2 million) in tax from 6,596 foreigners working in the city. He warned against locals collaborating with unscrupulous foreigners in setting up businesses—so as to get around legal barriers to foreigners competing with locals—for instance by allowing the businesses to be registered in their name: "Don't give your name to foreigners for a little money," he said. "Be faithful to the nation. Liars will come here to exploit." Lawmaker U Than Naing Oo told journalists after the parliamentary session that he had learned that the Junction Square construction project, located in Sanchaung Township, and the Junction City project in Pabedan Township, were together employing "almost a thousand" foreign workers. On enquiring at the township Immigration departments, he was told that many of the workers were on social visas. He said he was not fully satisfied with the response of minister U Zaw Aye Maung, because he did not say whether the government was going to investigate these construction projects. He said he was calling for the government "to take effective action on the ground." The post NLD Lawmaker Claims Foreign Workers are Flouting Visa Regulations, Harming Local Interests appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Damaged Bagan Temples Under Detailed Assessment Posted: 06 Oct 2016 05:42 AM PDT One of the temples in Bagan seen after the earthquake on Aug. 26. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON— Ancient temples and pagodas in Bagan which were damaged in a powerful earthquake in August are currently under detailed assessment by Unesco experts and the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library. Officials from the department told The Irrawaddy that the detailed assessment was started in early September, after emergency responses and an initial assessment took place from Aug. 28 to Sep. 10, and is targeted to finish by the end of November. The director of Bagan's Archaeological Department U Aung Aung Kyaw explained that the detailed work would assess individual temples with severe damage while the rapid assessment helped analyze the severity of the damaged temples, all of which have high historical and cultural heritage value. "Detailed assessment takes time," he said. "It will assist technical experts in planning restoration works for individual damaged temples more effectively." "There are things that can't be done easily," U Aung Aung Kyaw said, citing the difficulty of constructing scaffolding on the big temples to clean debris at the top of the structures. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, the earthquake affected a total of 449 temples out of 3,252 across the ancient capital on Bagan plain. This included iconic structures Sulamani, Ananda, Htilominlo, Myazedi, Shwesandaw, Lawkananda and Dhamma Yazaka, and the murals at Ananda Oakkyaung. U Than Zaw Oo, director of Burma's branch of the World Heritage Site Committee, told The Irrawaddy that five teams led by the department, and under Unesco's guidance, are conducting a detailed assessment on individual structures in order to ascertain the extent of the damage, including harm to murals. The detailed assessment will be reported to the technical expert team comprised of archaeology experts from Unesco, the Association of Myanmar Architects, the Myanmar Engineering Society and the ministry itself, for thorough analysis and recommendations for restoration work, U Than Zaw Oo explained. "We have only finished about thirty temples now," he said. "Depending on the severity of the damage, we prioritize which temples to assess first." It is expected that they will work on over one hundred temples during the process, he added. A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Burma at 5:04 p.m. on Aug. 24, centered about 15 miles west of Chauk in Magwe Division. It damaged ancient temples in Bagan, located to the north of the epicenter. State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi sent notice to officials in the Bagan archaeological zone not to "rush" the restoration of the damaged pagodas and temples, and to seek technical assistance from Unesco. She met with the director general of Unesco in New York during a trip to attend the UN General Assembly and stressed the importance of Bagan's cultural heritage. Unesco also pledged to support the restoration of the damage temples. The temples of Bagan, dating from between the 9th and 13th centuries—when the Kingdom of Pagan ruled over much of lowland Burma—are considered Burma's biggest tourist draw, although the ancient capital has yet to be granted World Heritage Site status, allegedly on account of sub-standard, inauthentic restoration efforts under previous governments. The post Damaged Bagan Temples Under Detailed Assessment appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Dutch Tourist Sentenced to Three Months in Prison, 100,000 Kyats Fine Posted: 06 Oct 2016 04:04 AM PDT Dutch tourist Klaas Haijtema leaves his second court hearing in Maha Aung Myay Township on Oct. 4 (Photo: Myat Pye Phyo / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY – A court in Mandalay's Maha Aung Myay Township sentenced a Dutch tourist to three months in prison and a fine of 100,000 kyats [US$79] for violating immigration law and disturbing a religious ceremony on Thursday. U Hla Ko, the defendant's lawyer, told The Irrawaddy that the court sentenced 30-year-old Klaas Haijtema at 2 p.m. local time under Section 296 of Burma's Penal Code and under Section 13.1 of the Immigration Act. "On one charge he was sentenced to three months imprisonment under the Penal Code and on another charge he was fined 100,000 kyats under the Immigration Act," U Hla Ko said. "We are appealing the court's decision." Haijtema, from Holland, visited Burma as a tourist but had a case filed against him after he unplugged an amplifier used to enhance a Dhamma recitation by Buddhist devotees at the township's Dhamma Yone community hall on Sept. 25. Haijtema was staying at the hotel opposite the hall. The plaintiffs said the Dutch man did not take off his shoes when he entered the holy site and that he removed the wires from the PA system, disrupting the recitation that was held to mark the eve of a Buddhist Sabbath day. Originally the tourist was charged under Section 295 of the Penal Code, which prohibits "injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class." However, on Thursday the charge was changed to Section 296 which prohibits "disturbing religious assembly." "He did not insult religion, he only disturbed religion. Therefore, the court changed the charge," said Haijtema's lawyer. Klaas Haijtema is currently detained at Obo Prison in Mandalay. The post Dutch Tourist Sentenced to Three Months in Prison, 100,000 Kyats Fine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rescued Migrant Fishermen Appeal to Govt for Unpaid Wages Posted: 06 Oct 2016 03:03 AM PDT A press conference held by the rescued fishermen on Wednesday at the offices of the Myanmar Journalist Network. (Photo: Myo Min Soe/The Irrawaddy) RANGOON – Fishermen saved from slave-like conditions in Indonesia's fishing industry called on Burma's government to assist them with claiming owed salaries on Wednesday. An investigative report on South East Asia's fishing industry by the Associated Press (AP) in March 2015 led to more than 2,000 slaves being freed, including hundreds of Burmese migrant workers, from Indonesia. After the report was published, the Indonesian government rescued hundreds of workers and in April 2015 launched an investigation into fishing company Pusaka Benjina Resources. The company admitted the maltreatment of workers but denied accusations that workers were held in cages and were not paid. Thailand's Silver Sea Reefer Co. was also involved in trafficking and exploiting Burmese migrant workers. A total of 513 fishermen urged the government to help them obtain their unpaid salaries as they met with media at the office of Myanmar Journalist Network in Yangon on Wednesday. "Government authorities said they would help us get back our salaries within six months after we got back to Burma. But, we have not gotten anything yet and the government has barely provided any assistance," said U Hlaing Min, one of the fishermen. It is now nearly one year since they arrived back in Burma but they are still struggling to make a living and some fishermen have had to go back to Thailand to find jobs, he said. U Myint Naing worked for 22 years in fisheries on Indonesia's isolated Benjina Island. "I have worked for so many years, but now I only demand five years' salary. I want to get back my money for which I was tortured," he said. Many died while working in fishing trawlers and on Benjina Island, said the rescued fishermen. With the assistance of the Burma government, a total of 575 Burmese migrant workers were repatriated from Indonesia in May and June last year. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Rescued Migrant Fishermen Appeal to Govt for Unpaid Wages appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Four MNHRC Members Resign over Tailor Shop Abuse Case Posted: 06 Oct 2016 02:48 AM PDT Dr. Than Nwe, Daw Mya Mya, U Zaw Win, Dr. Nyan Zaw (L to R) pictured at a press conference in Rangoon on Sept. 21, 2016 where they defended their response to the case. (Photo: J Paing) RANGOON— Four members of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) have resigned following a public outcry over their negotiating a financial settlement in a high-profile abuse case of two teenage maids in downtown Rangoon. The President's Office announced on Thursday that the resignations of U Zaw Win, Dr. Nyan Zaw, Dr. Than New, and Daw Mya Mya have been authorized with the signature of President U Htin Kyaw. The commissioners faced calls to resign after it transpired that they urged families of the victims to accept cash settlements totalling US$4,000 from the alleged abusers rather than push for legal action. The two victims of the abuse case, 16-year-old Ma San Kay Khaing and 17-year-old Ma Tha Zin from Rangoon's Kawhmu Township, described being beaten, cut, and forced to work for five years with little or no pay by the family who owns Ava Tailor Shop in downtown Rangoon’s Kyauktada Township. The case was initially filed at the Kyauktada Township police station three months ago by U Swe Win, chief correspondent of the Myanmar Now news agency, after a member of the family informed him about the abuse and asked for help in rescuing the girls. When the police failed to take action, U Swe Win contacted the human rights commission. But the commission failed to speak directly to the victims and have been criticized for what was perceived as taking advantage of the victims and their families' lack of legal knowledge. Amid public anger for what was widely deemed insufficient action by the commission, the Yangon Police Force's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement opened a case against the perpetrators, and six family members connected to the case were detained at the end of last month. An urgent proposal was also submitted and approved in the Lower House of Parliament on Sept. 22 to take action against the commission for failing to help the victims and violating their human rights. U Swe Win told The Irrawaddy that it is good that the resignations have been announced so soon after the Lower House's proposal, but said that the whole commission needs to be reorganized. "Though the commission members resigned, it is not enough. If we don't have a body which truly works for the sake of human rights, it will be a loss for the country," he said. "And another important thing here is that a journalist [referring to himself] was at the commission's closed door meeting," said U Swe Win. In previous cases, details of the commission's work were not released. "It is also important to have transparency on the commission's work" he added. The six family members of the Ava Tailor shop are facing several charges under the Anti-Human Trafficking Law, the Child Law, Penal Code sections 325 and 326 for "voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means," and section 344 for "wrongful confinement for ten or more days." The post Four MNHRC Members Resign over Tailor Shop Abuse Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rangoon Motel Sues NLD Lawmaker for Alleged Drunken Brawl Posted: 06 Oct 2016 01:24 AM PDT The Motel Shwepyithar, the site of the alleged brawl. (Photo: Facebook) RANGOON — A Rangoon motel has filed a lawsuit against a National League for Democracy lawmaker, U Nyan Linn, accusing him and two friends of swearing, threatening and drunkenly fighting with motel staff on Saturday evening. At a press conference on Wednesday, the Motel Shwepyithar claimed that the lawmaker, who represents Rangoon's Shwepyithar Township in the Lower House, arrived drunk at the motel with two friends at around 11 pm, with the intention of singing karaoke. The three became enraged when staff told them that the karaoke machines were out of order, sparking the brawl. "U Nyan Lin is a lawmaker and a respected person in light of his position. We will proceed in line with the law against his anarchic actions in our hotel," motel supervisor Ko Maung Maung Lay told The Irrawaddy. The supervisor said the motel was opened a year ago and the karaoke machines were intended mainly for guests, who each received a free one-hour session. U Nyan Lin however denied that he had gone to the motel to sing karaoke:  "I went because I had received complaints about the motel from locals," he told The Irrawaddy. He said he had no plan so far to respond to the motel's allegations "because I did not commit any of the charges." He added that he had informed the Shwepyithar Township administrator and the police prior to visiting the motel, and chose to go in plain clothes—posing as an "ordinary customer" to verify locals’ complaints—out of concern that the hotel's image would suffer under a more official inspection. The post Rangoon Motel Sues NLD Lawmaker for Alleged Drunken Brawl appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Portugal’s Guterres Poised to be Next UN Secretary-General Posted: 06 Oct 2016 01:14 AM PDT Antonio Guterres arrives for a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland Dec. 18, 2015. (Photo: Denis Balibouse/ Reuters) Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres is poised to be the ninth United Nations Secretary-General and is expected to be formally recommended to the 193-member General Assembly for election by the Security Council on Thursday, diplomats said. Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, president of the 15-member council for October, said he hoped the council would unanimously recommend Guterres, who was also the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015. Guterres, 67, would replace Ban Ki-moon, 72, of South Korea, who will step down at the end of 2016 after serving two terms. Guterres was prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. The council has been holding informal secret ballots since July in a bid to reach consensus on a candidate. Members had the choices encourage, discourage or no opinion. Guterres has come out on top of all the polls and on Wednesday received 13 encourage votes and two no opinion votes. "In the end, there was just a candidate whose experience, vision, and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling," US Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters. "If we have these transnational threats and we don't have somebody at the helm of the United Nations that can mobilize coalitions, that can make the tools of this institution … work better for people, that's going to be more pain and more suffering and more dysfunction than we can afford," she said. Diplomats said one of the no opinion votes was cast by one of the five veto wielding powers, which are Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain. The Security Council will adopt a resolution, traditionally behind closed doors, recommending that the General Assembly appoint Guterres for a five-year term from Jan. 1, 2017. The resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass. "We hope it can be done by acclamation," Churkin said. Thirteen people were nominated in the race to become the next UN chief, but three had already withdrawn before Wednesday's secret ballot. In a bid for more transparency in the opaque selection process, the candidates were for the first time able to make election campaign-style pitches to the General Assembly. When Guterres spoke to the General Assembly in April, he said he was a candidate to become secretary-general because "the best place to address the root cause of human suffering is at the center of the UN system." He spoke in English, French and Spanish during the two-hour long town hall meeting. Guterres, a devout Catholic, spoke about his decade as the UN refugee chief as "an extraordinary privilege but a terrible frustration because there was no humanitarian solution for their plight." He said the solution was always political. He described a UN chief as "acting with humility, without arrogance, without giving lessons to anybody, but working as a convener, as a facilitator, as a catalyst and behaving like an honest broker, a bridge builder and a messenger for peace." The Irrawaddy adds: Guterres' first official visit to Burma in his role as UN refugee chief was in 2009 where he travelled to northern Arakan State and the country's South East. Guterres announced he would upgrade the UNHCR mission in Burma particularly in terms of health, education, water and sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure. Guterres visited again in 2012 where he rejected an offer by then President Thein Sein that the UN agency take responsibility for resettling Burma's displaced Rohingya community in other countries. In troubled Arakan State, also known as Rakhine State, longstanding discrimination by majority Buddhists against Muslim Rohingya exploded into bloody violence in 2012. More than 100,000 people, mostly Rohingyas, are still in displacement camps. The post Portugal's Guterres Poised to be Next UN Secretary-General appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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