The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• UNFC to Meet Government’s New Peace Negotiator in Chiang Mai
• AmCham, UMFCCI to Host Conference on US Investment
• Burma Army Accused of Torturing, Killing Civilians in Shan State      
• Government Urged to Strengthen Safeguards on Press Freedom
• Myanmar Investment Commission to Reform in June
• Protest Bill Passes Upper House, Disappoints Rights Groups
• Kachin Political Prisoner Overlooked in NLD’s Early Amnesties
• More Refugees Expected to Return From Thailand Next Year
• Chinese Transgender Man Fights for Job Equality
• North Korea Says Trump Isn’t Screwy at All, a Wise Choice for President
• Philippines President-Elect Says Won’t Rely on United States

UNFC to Meet Government’s New Peace Negotiator in Chiang Mai Posted: 01 Jun 2016 07:48 AM PDT UNFC Chair N'Ban La (left) and New Mon Sate Party Chair Nai Htaw Mon (right) at Wednesday's meeting of the UNFC. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an alliance of non-state ethnic armed groups in Burma have said that they will meet on Friday with Dr. Tin Myo Win, the Burmese government's newly installed peace negotiator, after a two-day meeting of the alliance in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Consisting entirely of non-signatories to last year's nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), the UNFC remains an influential bloc which the government is eager to woo into what Suu Kyi has styled a 21st Century Panglong Conference. The UNFC's Delegation for Political Negotiation (DPN), which comprises 13 members drawn from the member groups, will meet in Chiang Mai with a government delegation led by Tin Myo Win, who is best known as the longstanding personal physician of pro-democracy leader and current state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. Khu Oo Reh, the secretary of the UNFC, currently heads the DPN. "I received a letter from Dr. Tin Myo Win [on behalf of] the 21st Century-style Panglong Conference preparation committee. I replied today that our members agreed to the meeting," Khu Oo Reh told The Irrawaddy. Khu Oo Reh stressed the need for all communication from the government to the armed groups in the alliance to be channeled through UNFC structures, rather than through individual member groups and leaders, so as to preserve an "all-inclusive policy." Khu Oo Reh's words appeared to reflect concerns over growing polarization among ethnic armed groups in Burma, evident not only in recent conflict between certain NCA signatory groups—of which there are eight in total—and non-signatories, but in requests in early May from the Ta-ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) to leave the UNFC. Spokesmen from the TNLA and the MNDAA, interviewed by Radio Free Asia earlier in May, blamed "weak assistance" from the UNFC and its member groups in the face of assaults from the Burma Army over the last year—but the Burma Army's insistence on marginalizing these two groups from formal peace negotiations may have contributed to their isolation from UNFC-member groups more eager for a timely peace deal. Yet TNLA representatives have officially said that they simply do not want their group's presence in the alliance to hinder the process. Discussions on Thursday will touch on the two groups' requested departure from the alliance, Khu Oo Reh explained, alongside the need to a hold a formal meeting with the eight groups who signed the NCA. Such a meeting has not taken place since the NCA came into effect. Khu Oo Reh added that he has asked the TNLA and the MNDAA to join them in the Friday meeting with the government delegation. On Tuesday, President Htin Kyaw formed several committees to steer the peace process, including one to oversee the formation of the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (the successor to the Myanmar Peace Center under the previous government) and a Union Peace Conference preparation committee—along with two sub-committees tasked with holding talks with NCA signatory and non-signatory groups respectively. On Wednesday afternoon, UNFC chair Lt-Gen N'Ban La met with Lt-Gen Yawd Serk of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), whose armed wing is named the Shan State Army-South, to seek a resolution to ongoing conflict between TNLA and SSA-S troops in northern Shan State. UNFC had previously said it would intervene. The RCSS signed the NCA in October last year, while the TNLA was prevented from doing so on the insistence of the Burma Army, who had fought with them repeatedly that year. At the Wednesday RCSS-UNFC meeting, the two leaders also discussed future collaboration and exchange of views between the UNFC and NCA signatory groups, according to RCSS spokesperson Col Sai La. The post UNFC to Meet Government's New Peace Negotiator in Chiang Mai appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

AmCham, UMFCCI to Host Conference on US Investment Posted: 01 Jun 2016 05:35 AM PDT The previous US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose Fernandez speaks at the UMFCCI office in Rangoon on Feb. 25, 2013. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — After a successful meeting between American Chamber of Commerce Myanmar (AmCham) members and high-ranking Burmese government officials last month, a new summit to feature Burmese economists and US businesspeople has been set for next Monday in Rangoon. The conference will be hosted at the offices of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), a powerful trade organization, to discuss the opportunities and challenges for US companies doing business and investing in Burma. "This will be a big [conference] as economists and business executives will discuss the challenges of investing here," Maung Maung Lay, vice chairman of the UMFCCI, told the Irrawaddy. "Many US delegations are coming to Myanmar now, so we will have to do many things to persuade them to invest here, such as encouraging the government to provide basic infrastructure," he said. Burma's top businesspeople and experts will be participating in the conference, he added. A US business delegation led by AmCham met with the newly-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government in Naypyidaw in May to discuss ways to improve the business environment in Burma and increase direct investment from the US, according to an AmCham statement. The business delegation applauded the government's legal and policy reforms aimed at boosting economic growth and recommended further strengthening of the legal framework for foreign ownership and improvements in infrastructure. Zaw Lin Htut, chief executive officer of the Myanmar Payment Union, said more US businesses will come to Burma because the US government has already started to lift economic sanctions. "They [the US government] have begun easing sanctions and have lifted the investment limit from US$500,000 to $5 million, which has piqued many investors' interest," he said. In AmCham's statement, GE International's Chief Country Representative in Yangon Andrew Lee wrote, "The American business community is appreciative of the recent relaxation of a number of financial and trade embargoes imposed by the US government; however, more normalization is needed to allow US interests in Myanmar to flourish by leveling the playing field with other international companies." At last month's meeting, delegates from 30 US companies met with the heads of several important government ministries, as well as the chairman of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission Shwe Mann. The post AmCham, UMFCCI to Host Conference on US Investment appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma Army Accused of Torturing, Killing Civilians in Shan State       Posted: 01 Jun 2016 05:08 AM PDT SSA-North troops on the frontlines near the Wan Hai headquarters. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Burma Army soldiers have been torturing and killing civilians and using them as human shields in a recent offensive against the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-N) in Kyaukme Township, displacing over 1,000 villagers, according to the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF). The fighting erupted in May near the site of the Upper Yeywa dam, where local residents have voiced strong opposition to the project. A report from the rights group on Wednesday indicated that at least 56 residents from some nine villages experienced human rights violations between May 11th and 21st of this year. Sai Kheun Mai, the spokesperson for SHRF, said that eight of these nine villages had also endured bombing campaigns and that some villagers remain unable to return to their homes. He told The Irrawaddy that of nine deaths which had occurred, three were of Shan villagers between 26 and 30 years old who were the victims of extrajudicial killings. Additionally, five villagers were reportedly beaten by the Burma Army's Light Infantry Division 504; and 42 villagers from various villages were used as human shields. SHRF, which regularly documents human rights violations in Shan State, said that the organization condemned the Burma Army for "these violations that meet the definition of war crimes" and that it "calls for an end to impunity for the perpetrators." Sai Khuen Mai said his group has urged the international community to "publicly denounce" the military's ongoing offensives, which "make a mockery of the peace process," referring to a recent European Union (EU) delegation's failure to mention the continuing atrocities that coincided with an EU delegation's recent visit to Burma. SHRF's report said that the rights organization "regrets that the EU diplomatic delegation, which visited Hispaw [east of Kyaukme] on May 16, placed no blame with the Burma Army for the fighting and made no mention of their [the Burma Army's] ongoing atrocities." The Irrawaddy was unable to reach the military's spokesperson for comment on Wednesday. The post Burma Army Accused of Torturing, Killing Civilians in Shan State       appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Government Urged to Strengthen Safeguards on Press Freedom Posted: 01 Jun 2016 04:56 AM PDT Unity Journal reporter Lu Maw Naing (L) and CEO Tint San on their way to Pakkoku Township Court in Magwe Division in July 2014. (Photo: Citizen Journalist) A prominent US-based media rights organization has written to President Htin Kyaw, urging the new government to strengthen legal protections on press freedom, and ensure that reporters can practice their profession independently and without fear of reprisal. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) commended the government for granting a presidential pardon to four reporters and the CEO of Unity Journal. The five were serving seven-year prison sentences with hard labor, under the colonial-era State Secrets Act, for a series of investigative reports in January 2014 on what they claimed was a secret chemical weapons factory run by the Burma Army. The CPJ letter also welcomed the government’s recent move to abolish the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, a law that former military-backed governments in Burma have used to prosecute and imprison journalists for reporting news deemed detrimental to broadly defined "national security." Recent comments from Information Minister Pe Myint, that the government would soon ask parliament to amend or repeal various other laws restricting media freedom in Burma, were also welcomed in the letter. However, CPJ in their letter urged that the 1923 Official Secrets Act—used against the five from Unity Journal and many other journalists previously—be replaced with a Freedom of Information Act to ensure transparency across the government and bureaucracy. The letter also recommended the amendment or repeal of the 2014 Printing and Publishing Law, which allows the government to withhold media licenses and ban reporting deemed damaging to "national security, rule of law, or community peace and tranquility," or deemed to be "insult[ing to] religion." Laws governing the use of electronic media should also be amended to better safeguard press freedom, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in the letter. The 1908 Unlawful Associations Act—which criminalizes contact with the majority of Burma's ethnic armed groups—was also criticized as threatening to the work of journalists, many of whom must report on the long-running conflicts in Burma's borderlands. The post Government Urged to Strengthen Safeguards on Press Freedom appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Investment Commission to Reform in June Posted: 01 Jun 2016 04:52 AM PDT People sit in the reception area at the World Economic Forum on June 5, 2013, in Naypyidaw, where foreign investment into Burma was a main topic of discussion. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON —The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) will be reformed this month in line with the Myanmar Investment Law, said Than Aung Kyaw, deputy director general of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). "Each MIC term is only three years, so it's time for new members to be appointed," he said. The commission, which is responsible for assessing and approving large-scale investments and is headed by Union-level government officials, initially consisted of at least nine members who dealt largely with processing foreign investment. When Burma shifted to a quasi-civilian government in 2011, the government signed into effect the 2012 Foreign Investment Law—replacing the 1988 Foreign Investment Law and changing the MIC into a 16-member committee to review economic proposals. "The President's Office is in charge of appointing the chairman and members of the MIC, so we will have to wait [to see who is appointed], " Than Aung Kyaw said. Since Burma's National League for Democracy-led government swept to power in a landslide election in November, the business community has urged that the MIC be reformed. Maung Maung Lay, vice chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), told The Irrawaddy that the reformed MIC should include experts who could create a smooth investment process for foreign investors. "The rules and regulations for foreign investors should be similar to those of other countries," said Maung Maung Lay, adding, "There is still too much red tape to navigate. If you can provide basic, better infrastructure, foreign investors will definitely look here." Khin Shwe, chairman of Zay Kabar Group of Companies, told The Irrawaddy in February that the commission has been unable to handle foreign investment comparable to some of Burma's neighboring countries. The country needed "a commission that could do better," he said. The MIC was a key player in amending the Myanmar Investment Law that was approved in January. In addition to combining the 2012 Foreign Investment Law and the 2013 Myanmar Citizens Investment Law, the new law purports to expand human rights protections for foreign investment projects. The post Myanmar Investment Commission to Reform in June appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Protest Bill Passes Upper House, Disappoints Rights Groups Posted: 01 Jun 2016 02:23 AM PDT Police in Letpadan on March 2, 2015, when student protesters faced a blockade en route to Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A revised version of a bill replacing Burma's controversial Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law was approved by the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday, while retaining criminal penalties against violators of the legislation amid criticism from rights groups. The Upper House Bill Committee submitted the amended bill to lawmakers after the chamber decided last week to review the proposed legislation, which was submitted in early May, as it faced criticisms from rights groups critical of several provisions that have been used to suppress political activists in recent years. Amnesty International's Southeast Asia and Pacific director, Rafendi Djamin, sent an open letter to Burma's Parliament last month, urging it to revise proposed amendments that "fall far short of bringing the Act into line with international human rights law and standards." "International human rights law and standards are clear that failure to notify the authorities must not be subject to criminal sanctions which result in fines or imprisonment," he stated in the letter. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) echoed those concerns in a statement on Friday, criticizing "overly broad and vague restrictions on speech," among other flaws. "The new Burmese government has moved quickly to replace the country's flawed assembly law, which has been used to imprison numerous activists for years," said Brad Adams, the director of HRW's Asia region. "However, the proposed [draft] law needs significant revisions to bring it up to international standards." Members of the Upper House Bill Committee last week discussed the proposed bill with representatives from the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma). The advocacy group said changes in the new bill were insufficient, since peaceful protests could still entail jail terms and impromptu demonstrations were not accounted for. Despite these consultations, Tuesday's revised version did not succeed in meeting the rights groups' recommendations, retaining criminal punishments against violators and not including any provisions that related to impromptu demonstrations. Several provisions from the original proposal have been accepted: Demonstrators need to notify local authorities 48 hours in advance of any protest; a 15-day statute of limitations on prosecuting violators will be enforced; and demonstrators will be protected from prosecutions in multiple townships. However, the revised draft law would still allow the prosecution of three months imprisonment or a penalty of 30,000 kyats (US$25), or both, for protestors who fail to follow the rules. Repeat offenders may be charged with a one-year jail term or a penalty of 100,000 kyats, or both. Any protester who fails to follow their demonstration agenda, which specifies times, locations, and slogans they intend to use, shall be charged with a one-month jail sentence instead of three months, unlike in the committee's first proposed version of the draft law. The revised bill still retains the limit on the rights of non-citizens to assemble—denying the country's many non-citizens, who are marginalized under its controversial 1982 Citizenship Law, the right to peacefully demonstrate in public areas and prohibitions on protest speeches that may cause disturbances to public safety and affect the Union, race, religion, human dignity and moral principles. There are two other significant additions to the previous version: the redrafted bill would prohibit discriminatory and defamatory protests and any act of paying, bribing and threatening people to participate in demonstrations. Violators of these provisions would face a maximum one month in prison. Zaw Min, who chairs the Upper House Bill Committee, said the bill had already loosened multiple restrictions on protestors after hearing recommendations from stakeholders and rights groups. "Our committee has tried its best to modify the bill," he told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. "We considered what law would be the most balanced and suitable for both the authorities and the demonstrators during this transitional period." The committee chairman also touted a clause restricting authorities from carrying out "excessive" police force against protestors who violate the rules. The original controversial Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law was enacted in 2011 under the previous military-backed government. At the time, the law ostensibly bestowed new rights of protest and assembly. In the years that followed, however, the legislation was repeatedly used to arrest and imprison activists who flouted its harsh provisions. This included the need to seek "permission" from local authorities five days in advance of the protest and to supply detailed information on the content and intended location or route of any protest march. The bill will now move onto the Lower House before becoming law. The post Protest Bill Passes Upper House, Disappoints Rights Groups appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kachin Political Prisoner Overlooked in NLD’s Early Amnesties Posted: 31 May 2016 11:55 PM PDT Hkawn Nan, left, holds a picture of her husband Brang Yung as Lashi Lu holds a portrait of her husband Lahpai Gam at their IDP camp in Myitkyina, Kachin State. (Photo: Seamus Martov / The Irrawaddy) Burma's newly installed National League for Democracy (NLD) government has pardoned and released more than 200 political prisoners and detainees facing politically motivated charges since it took power in April, including jailed student activists and journalists. The amnesties have been welcomed by rights groups, but despite the change in government, freedom remains elusive for Lahpai Gam, a 55-year-old refugee farmer from war-torn Kachin State. Lahpai Gam's arrest by the military in 2012 and subsequent trial and conviction for committing crimes against the state is, according to his supporters, a major miscarriage of justice. In a decision released in November 2013, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Lahpai Gam's original trial was conducted under circumstances that were highly unfair and ruled that his continued detention was illegal under international law. The committee found Lahpai Gam's claims—that during his interrogation by army personnel he was severely tortured and subject to a series of horrific abuses that included being forced to commit sex acts on his co-accused—to be credible. The UN group concluded that "such pervasive use of torture to extract evidence nullifies the possibility to fulfill the guarantee of the right to a fair trial." The UN Working Group concluded that the way in which military investigators from the Military Affairs Security (MAS or Sayapa in Burmese) handled Lahpai Gam's case also violated his human rights. "The Army in this case is prosecutor and judge, and has arrest, investigative and trial authority, leaving little room for an impartial trial and outcome," the decision stated, During the UN process, Burmese government authorities did not contest the claim put forward by Lahpai Gam's London-based international legal team that his confession had been obtained by torture. "The Government in its response does not dispute that the evidential basis of the case against Mr. Gam was built on information extracted from him, which he surrendered as a result of torture." In a ruling issued last November, Burma's Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Lahpai's Gam's co-accused, Brang Yung, but upheld the 21-year sentence for Lahpai Gam, who, like his fellow refugee farmer, had been convicted on explosive charges and being a member of an illegal organization, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Lahpai Gam's friends and family maintain those charges are completely untrue. Both men had been living in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Myitkyina and were arrested in June 2012 by soldiers from Burma Army Battalion No. 37, while working as cattle hands near Tar Law Gyi, south of the Kachin State capital. Citing their initial confessions, prosecutors had accused the pair of being high-level operatives from the KIO who had been plotting to use explosives against military targets in Kachin State, an allegation that Lahpai Gam's wife Lashi Lu strongly denies. "He confessed because they nearly killed him," she told The Irrawaddy during an interview in July last year. Lashi Lu has been able to have brief visits with her husband over the course of his imprisonment. The decision by the Supreme Court, which largely consists of former military officials, to issue a split ruling came as a surprise to many following the case, as both men had originally been convicted for supposedly conspiring with each other. During an interview conducted late last year, Lashi Lu explained that both men were together in the Myitkyina prison when they received news of the court's decision. Brang Yung, who is the younger of the two men, read out and translated a summary of the court's decision to Lahpai Gam, who cannot read Burmese well. The decision to uphold his conviction left Lahpai Gam devastated, says Lashi Lu, who is struggling to make ends meet for herself and her children at their IDP camp on the outskirts of Myitkyina. Following a two-month delay that was ostensibly due to a clerical error, Brang Yung was released in late December of last year. In a phone interview conducted shortly after his release, he confirmed to The Irrawaddy that both he and Lahpai Gam had endured brutal beatings at the hands of the interrogators from MAS, a branch of the military notorious for its treatment of detainees. "They asked whether we have wives," he told The Irrawaddy. "Then they took off our clothes and longyis and forced us to have sex with each other. Our hands and legs were cuffed. We could not do anything." Lahpai Gam's lawyer Mar Hkar remains optimistic that his client will eventually be freed. At the beginning of the year, the Myitkyina-based lawyer with the help of colleagues in Rangoon filed another appeal with the Supreme Court seeking to overturn Lahpai Gam's conviction at the state court. Some five months after the appeal was accepted, the Supreme Court has yet to schedule a date for a hearing. If Lahpai Gam's final appeal is unsuccessful, a presidential pardon will be his only hope for an early release from his lengthy 21-year sentence. Although most of the scores of individuals pardoned by the NLD government earlier this year were not convicted on charges related to armed insurgency or being part of an illegal organization, there is already a precedent for presidential pardons in these types of cases. Another one of Mar Hkar's clients, Lahtoi Brang Shawng, was released in July 2013 by a decree from then President Thein Sein after he had exhausted all of his legal appeals. Brang Shawng, who the government had originally alleged was also a high-level KIO operative, had been convicted under similar circumstances to Lahpai Gam: a guilty verdict that relied heavily on a confession obtained by MAS that Brang Shawng later said he was forced to make following grueling torture sessions. It remains to be seen if the NLD government, which is nominally led by President Htin Kyaw with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi calling the shots, will choose to act on the UN Working Group's conclusion that Lahpai Gam should be released immediately. During the lengthy period that the Nobel Prize winner spent under house arrest, the Working Group issued six separate opinions that found that her detention violated international law, decisions that were cited by her supporters worldwide during the lengthy campaign to free Suu Kyi. The Burma Campaign UK, which aided the London-based lawyers Timothy Straker and Sappho Dias with Lahpai Gam and Brang Yung's submissions to the UN Working Group, has followed their cases closely and continues to advocate for Lahpai Gam's release. The advocacy group's director, Mark Farmaner, wants the NLD government to move quickly to free Lahpai Gam. "After so much talk from Aung San Suu Kyi about the rule of law, it is astonishing that the NLD-led government has kept Lahpai Gam in jail despite the UN ruling that his detention breaks international law, and demanding his release. The NLD demonstrated in April that it can move fast to release political prisoners when it wants to. There is no excuse for detaining Lahpai Gam for a single further day," said Farmaner. The post Kachin Political Prisoner Overlooked in NLD's Early Amnesties appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

More Refugees Expected to Return From Thailand Next Year Posted: 31 May 2016 11:52 PM PDT Refugees who fled Burma walk at the Mae La refugee camp, near the Burma border in Thailand's Mae Sot district, Tak province, on July 21, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) More individual and large-scale returns of Burmese refugees from Thailand are expected during the dry season next year, according to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that provide assistance to more than 120,000 refugees on the Thai-Burma border. In its report released Tuesday, the UN’s refugee agency, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said a growing number of refugees in Thailand's camps were seeking support to return and rebuild their lives back home because they were encouraged by the prospects of the peace process, social and democratic reforms and the new civilian government. The report said that several hundred Burmese refugees from nine camps along on the Thai-Burma border have approached the UNHCR in recent months seeking support to return home. In response, the UNHCR dispatched a team to conduct voluntary repatriation interviews in Nupo Camp in Thailand's Tak province. Iain Hall, the agency's senior field coordinator in Mae Sot said in the report, "While UNHCR is not promoting or encouraging large-scale returns at this point, we recognize that every refugee has the right to return home and will facilitate their requests as we can." Duncan McArthur, partnership director at The Border Consortium (TBC), an NGO that has been providing humanitarian aid to Burmese refugees for more than 20 years, told The Irrawaddy that more refugees from Thailand are expected to return in the dry season next year. "I think group returns may start to increase in the next dry season [February to May 2017]. But we don’t expect a big movement during the wet season [June to August this year]," McArthur told The Irrawaddy. The preparation process such as consultations and meetings with community organizations are still going on in the camps and concerned communities, according to McArthur. Meanwhile, the Karen National Union, an ethnic Karen armed resistance organization, is preparing land allocations and housing to host returning internally displaced persons and refugees. It also has built some houses in territories it controls in Karen State and Tenasserim Division, southeastern and southern Burma. NGOs like TBC, the UNHCR and the World Food Program will provide assistance such as food, shelters and other supplies to refugees who have returned and are planning to return home, said NGO sources. "UNHCR will support refugees’ returns if we can confirm that their decision is voluntary and if the Myanmar authorities welcome them home," wrote Hall, adding the UN refugee agency’s involvement is contingent on there being no significant security issues in the areas of return and assurances that the UNHCR can access those regions to assist local communities and returning refugees. However, some refugees still have lingering concerns over safety, land and livelihoods, and prefer to take a wait-and-see approach. Naw Poe, a resident of Nupo Camp, told the UNHCR team that some refugees are, however, still worried about fighting in parts of the country. She was quoted in their report as saying, "If the Myanmar government can issue an announcement that it welcomes refugees back, that would give people the confidence to return." The UNHCR’s staff also informed refugees that the organization can provide assistance such as transportation and reintegration grants and three months of food assistance in cash during the facilitated phase of return. In Burma, the UNHCR is engaged in community-based livelihood support and is advocating for returning refugees' right to access public services such as healthcare and education. The post More Refugees Expected to Return From Thailand Next Year appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Chinese Transgender Man Fights for Job Equality Posted: 31 May 2016 11:46 PM PDT Participants take part in a Pride Run, an event of the ShanghaiPRIDE LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) celebration in Shanghai, June 13, 2015. (Photo: Aly Song / Reuters) BEIJING — A 28-year-old transgender man who goes by the name of "Mr. C" has become the public face of the fight for job equality in China, where sexual and gender minorities are only beginning to emerge from virtual invisibility. The man, who keeps his real name secret to protect his parents' privacy, is fighting his dismissal from a medical testing center in court and is seeking a ruling stating that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. "On my shoulders I am carrying the hopes of many, many people," said Mr. C, who's been both praised and insulted since filing the country's first suit against transgender job discrimination earlier this year. "Many people are working toward [employment equality]. I cannot let them down. There are many members in our group who are unwilling to or dare not step forward, but they are watching." While still relatively conservative, Chinese society has grown gradually more accepting of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in recent years, particularly among the younger generation. That's encouraged some members of sexual and gender minorities to come forward and demand their legal rights, with mixed results. In 2014, a Beijing court ruled "conversion therapy" intended to change gays' sexuality to be illegal. A court in the central province of Hunan shot down an attempt by a gay couple to register their marriage in April. Although never specifically outlawed, alternative expressions of sexuality were frowned upon following the 1949 establishment of the communist People's Republic, which associated them with the corruption and decadence of the former imperial regime. Those caught up in police raids could be jailed on charges of hooliganism or even executed during particularly severe crackdowns. In 2001, however, the Chinese Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. Police raids on LGBT gatherings largely came to a halt, as long as they remained low-profile. Empowered by the internet and social media, LGBT groups in different cities began networking, leading to calls for strong legal protections. China has no law addressing employment discrimination, and efforts are ongoing to enact laws protecting minorities in the workplace. A recent United Nations Development Program survey found that only about 5 percent of sexual and gender minorities in China choose to come out in public, and that the workplace can become especially awkward and unpleasant after they do so. "The findings are clear. Sexual and gender minority people in China still live in the shadows," said the report, which drew on findings from a two-month survey of more than 30,000 people conducted in late 2015. Many LGBT respondents complained of losing jobs through discrimination, and thus had lowered their career hopes and had less desire to acquire new skills, according to the report. Li Yinhe, a prominent Chinese sexologist, said transgender people in particular are more likely to face workplace discrimination because of how they look and dress. "It's harder for them to disguise themselves," Li said. Given the prevailing sentiments, Mr. C's case has brought important public scrutiny to long-ignored issues, Li said. As in Western countries, the business community, rather than the government, is leading the way in China in pushing for equal opportunity, said Steven Bielinski, who has organized social events in Beijing and Shanghai to connect employers with members of the LGBT community. "Here in China I think the LGBT business issue has just reached a tipping point," Bielinski said. "More and more companies are thinking about what the LGBT community means for business in terms of talent and market." A job fair in Shanghai on a May weekend attracted a total of 34 companies—twice as many as the year before—including Chinese car-hailing app Didi Chuxing, the career site Kanzhun.com, and multinationals such as 3M, Citigroup and the Boston Consulting Group. It also was the first time that Chinese companies made an appearance, Bielinski said. Despite the interest, Bielinski cautioned against being too optimistic. Organizers declined to allow Associated Press journalists to attend the fairs out of privacy concerns. "It's just the start," Bielinski said. Building on that momentum, Mr. C hopes to nudge the government toward recognizing and protecting LGBT rights. Born female, Mr. C grew up in the southwestern province of Guizhou, a more conservative environment than the eastern cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. He didn't even come across the term "transgender" until age 21, when he finally was able to best describe his gender identity. After graduating from college in 2010, Mr. C continued to appear as a woman when applying for jobs. That all changed in 2013, when he began dressing as a man, wearing a buzz cut and growing a mustache. In 2015, he applied for a sales job with Ciming Health Exam Center in the provincial capital of Guiyang, but was let go at the end of the eight-day tryout. He believes he was dismissed because of his gender expression, but the company argued his job performance had been substandard. Mr. C took the dispute to a local labor arbitration panel, which ruled in early May that his dismissal had been legal, while ordering Ciming to pay him $62 in back wages. Days later, Mr. C filed his case in a local court, which has yet to put it on the docket. "Now I place my hope with the law," he said. "I will do whatever I can do to fight to the end." The post Chinese Transgender Man Fights for Job Equality appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

North Korea Says Trump Isn’t Screwy at All, a Wise Choice for President Posted: 31 May 2016 11:40 PM PDT US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures during a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, US, May 31, 2016. (Photo: Carlo Allegri / Reuters) SEOUL — North Korea has backed presumptive US Republican nominee Donald Trump, with a propaganda website praising him as "a prescient presidential candidate" who can liberate Americans living under daily fear of nuclear attack by the North. A column carried on Tuesday by DPRK Today, one of the reclusive and dynastic state's mouthpieces, described Trump as a "wise politician" and the right choice for US voters in the Nov. 8 US presidential election. It described his most likely Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, as "thick-headed Hillary" over her proposal to apply the Iran model of wide sanctions to resolve the nuclear weapons issue on the Korean peninsula. Trump instead has told Reuters he was prepared to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program, and that China should also help solve the problem. North Korea, known officially as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is under UN sanctions over its past nuclear tests. South Korea and the United States say its calls for dialogue are meaningless until it takes steps to end its nuclear ambitions. DPRK Today also said Trump's suggestion that the United States should pull its troops from South Korea until Seoul pays more was the way to achieve Korean unification. "It turns out that Trump is not the rough-talking, screwy, ignorant candidate they say he is, but is actually a wise politician and a prescient presidential candidate," said the column, written by a China-based Korean scholar identified as Han Yong Muk. DPRK Today is among a handful of news sites run by the isolated North, although its content is not always handled by the main state-run media. It said promising to resolve issues on the Korean peninsula through "negotiations and not war" was the best option for America, which it said is "living every minute and second on pins and needles in fear of a nuclear strike" by North Korea. The North has for years called for the withdrawal of US troops from the South as the first step towards peace on the Korean peninsula and demanded Washington sign a peace treaty to replace the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. Its frequently strident rhetoric also often threatens nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States. The post North Korea Says Trump Isn't Screwy at All, a Wise Choice for President appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Philippines President-Elect Says Won’t Rely on United States Posted: 31 May 2016 11:35 PM PDT Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte raises his arm during his last political campaign rally, Manila, Philippines, May 7, 2016. (Photo: Romeo Ranoco / Reuters) DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Philippines President-elect Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday his country would not rely on long-term security ally the United States, signaling greater independence from Washington in dealing with China and the disputed South China Sea. The Philippines has traditionally been one of Washington's staunchest supporters in its stand-off with Beijing over the South China Sea, a vital trade route where China has built artificial islands, airstrips and other military facilities. Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of Davao City who swept to victory in a May 9 election, has backed multilateral talks to settle rows over the South China Sea that would include the United States, Japan and Australia as well as claimant nations. He has also called on China, which claims most of the sea, to respect the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone granted to coastal states under international law. Asked by reporters if he would push for bilateral talks with China, Duterte replied: "We have this pact with the West, but I want everybody to know that we will be charting a course of our own. "It will not be dependent on America. And it will be a line that is not intended to please anybody but the Filipino interest." Duterte was unveiling his cabinet line-up a day after a joint session of Congress declared him the election winner. He formally takes over as president on June 30. Key ministerial appointments went mainly to conventional choices, a decision likely to allay nerves among foreign and domestic investors about a lurch away from reforms that have generated robust economic growth. They also may point to a bid to resolve differences over the South China Sea. The Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims to waters rich in oil and gas and through which trillions of dollars' worth of trade pass each year. Duterte's pick for foreign secretary, Perfecto Yasay, has sounded a conciliatory note. "I don't think that there is another way of resolving this dispute except talking to each other," Yasay told reporters this week. "We certainly would like to make sure that we are able to resume bilateral talks because these are necessary." Not So Clear Cut Muddying the picture somewhat was the choice of Nicanor Faeldon, a former marine who led a coup bid about a decade ago, as head of the customs bureau, the country's second-largest agency in terms of revenue. In December, Faeldon took a group of Filipino protesters to a disputed island in the South China Sea that is held by the Philippines, triggering an angry response from Beijing. Before Duterte's election, the Philippines also took the dispute to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, although China does not recognize the case. A ruling is expected in the coming weeks. "I am waiting for the arbitration," Duterte said of the process, when asked about investment prospects with China. "It will impact on us in so many fronts … I would like to wait for this, then, with the advice of the cabinet, I might be able to proceed. But you know, I am not ready to go to war. It will just result in a massacre." Duterte, 71, named a former school classmate, Carlos Dominguez, as finance minister, and an economics professor, Ernesto Pernia, as economic planning minister. "I can assure you they are all men of integrity and honesty," Duterte said in Davao, where he was mayor for more than two decades before being elected president. Dominguez, who was mining and farm minister in two previous governments, hails from a wealthy family that has interests in real estate and hotels, while the US-educated Pernia is a former lead economist for the Asian Development Bank. "We are very excited about this cabinet," said Perry Pe, president of the Management Association of the Philippines. "They will hit the ground running from the first day." Duterte's defiance of political tradition has drawn comparisons with US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. His "man-of-the-people" demeanor tapped into voters' disappointment at the ruling elite's failure to tackle poverty and inequality despite average economic growth of more than 6 percent under President Benigno Aquino. Duterte condones execution-style killings of criminals, shudders at the thought of wearing a tie or socks, and has vowed not to work until after noon when he becomes president. Some cabinet positions have yet to be announced, and two of the 21 jobs confirmed so far are women. When a female journalist asked a question at the briefing, Duterte wolf-whistled. The post Philippines President-Elect Says Won't Rely on United States appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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National News

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• Controversial census data on religion to be released within two months
• President forms senior-level committee for Rakhine State
• Dozens of Myanmar fishermen released from prison in India
• Warnings on tobacco products to be enforced
• Myanmar’s blacklist to be reviewed
• Mandalay market to be rebuilt within two months
• Liver Foundation aims for countrywide hepatitis inoculations
• State counsellor plans Thailand visit
• MP pushes for health budget boost
• Mandate set for peace bodies

Controversial census data on religion to be released within two months Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT Sensitive data held back from the 2014 nationwide census results for over a year will be revealed by August, government officials told The Myanmar Times.

President forms senior-level committee for Rakhine State Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT The president has established a new Union-level committee to handle Rakhine State affairs.

Dozens of Myanmar fishermen released from prison in India Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT Over 100 Myanmar fishermen arrested in the Andaman Sea arrived at Yangon International Airport yesterday, after being imprisoned for years in India for fishing in its waters.

Warnings on tobacco products to be enforced Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT During this year's World No Tobacco Day, special attention was given to warning labels that have to appear on all brands of tobacco products in Myanmar from September.

Myanmar’s blacklist to be reviewed Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it will review Myanmar's blacklist and allow those exiled for political reasons to return to the country.

Mandalay market to be rebuilt within two months Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT Burned-out stallholders from Mandalay's Mingalar Market will be obliged to sell the same goods they sold before when the market reopens in August. Mandalay City Development Committee announced yesterday that the three companies selected by tender to rebuild the stricken market will start work today, and must finish by July 31 or face penalties.

Liver Foundation aims for countrywide hepatitis inoculations Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT Hepatitis B vaccinations have been ramped up around the country over the past 10 months under a dual Liver Foundation and Ministry of Health project.

State counsellor plans Thailand visit Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will visit Thailand in June, the President's Office confirmed.

MP pushes for health budget boost Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT Parliament is being asked to expand and spend more on the perennially underfunded public health sector.

Mandate set for peace bodies Posted: 31 May 2016 02:30 PM PDT The President's Office yesterday released the mandate and composition of the government's peace bodies in the run-up to the "21st-century Panglong Conference".

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Shan Herald Agency for News

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• Defining indigenousness in Burma context: The case of Kokangnese
• Shan State Parties Meet to Discuss Upcoming Panglong II summit
• To Hopeland and Back: The 20th trip
• Tripartite dialogue revisited or shifting alliance?
• Movie on Shan prince and his Austrian wife shines light on Burma’s 1962 coup

Defining indigenousness in Burma context: The case of Kokangnese Posted: 01 Jun 2016 05:40 AM PDT Just recently, on 26 May, a piece of interview,  conducted by The Irrawady with the spokesperson of Ethnic Affairs Ministry and Deputy Secretary U Aye Min, concerning the view of being an indigenous people said: "Kachin, Kayah (Karenni), Karen, Chin, Mon, Bamar, Arakan, Shan, including other sub-ethnic groups(races) are explicitly indigenous peoples. Some even think Bamar is not indigenous. No, Bamar is also indigenous." A map showing the location of Burma's Kokang region. Graphic: RFA He added: "Indigenous (peoples) are those that have resided in Myanmar, as their country of origin, for hundreds of years. To be frank, the Chinese moved over to Myanmar and no matter how long they stay, they are not indigenous. They have their original country, that is China. They cannot consider our country to be their own. They might become citizens but not indigenous. This has been clearly mentioned in the law." Question arises if U Aye Min's stand point of the Chinese living within Burma is also meant to include the people of Kokang or Kokangnese, who are descendants of Han Chinese, but have been living in Shan State since the middle of 16th century, ruled by their own princely ruler or Sao Hpas. And so do many pockets of Chinese dwellings within Shan State that either have migrated since pre-colonial times and don't have the privilege of being included formally like those of Kokangnese. Let us ponder on U Aye Min's point of view, even we are not quite sure, if this is the official government policy on all Chinese population residing within the country, and look a bit deeper from the indigenous perspective of the Kokangnese in particular. The Kokang region and Kokangnese Kokang is located in the northern part of Shan State, with the Salween River to its west, and sharing a border with China's Yunnan Province to the east. Its total land area is around 10,000 square kilometres and its capital is Laukkai. "It is said that the Kokang Chinese are descendants of late Ming dynasty immigrants and that they are 'Han Chinese'. They have been recognized as one of the major ethnic groups in Myanmar since the beginning of the 1960s. Most of them are Yunnanese immigrants. Some families' records show that they have been living in the region for more than fifteen generations," according to an in-depth study written by Myint Myint Kyu, an academic who is originally a Kokangnese herself. Historical timeline of Kokang  During the period of late Ming Period (1623–1662), the followers of the late Ming Prince, Yong Li, were driven out of China. In search of a safer place to restart their lives, some arrived in the mountainous areas of northern Shan State and settled down. Yang Family Rule and the British Colonial Period (1670–1948), the Kokang area, being far from both the Chinese and Burma central governments, was ruled in part by various highland chiefs, while the Kokang Chinese came under the rule of Yang, who was one of the late Ming Prince's advisors. In 1739, when bandits along the Salween River raided the villages, Yang Zheng Cai, Yang's son, took a lead and attempted to protect the villagers from the bandits. Following this incident, villagers came to respect Yang Zhen Cai and acknowledged him as their leader. Yang Zhen Cai also introduced an organized administration and set government standards, which were to be followed by successive 'House of Yang' The House of Yang maintained an unbroken line of hereditary rule over the region, which lasted for nearly 250 years. Several years after the British annexed Upper Burma in 1885, the area was incorporated into British Burma (then a part of British India) under the Anglo-Chinese Treaty on 4 February 1897, although almost all its inhabitants were Chinese of Yunnanese origin. Before the British arrived, the Burma–China border was not clearly defined and no official border line existed until 1962. China Nationalist Party Era (1935–1950s), the population of Chinese migrants in Myanmar increased after the World War II, especially from Yunnan Province, with many Kuomintang (KMT) remnants settling in Kokang after Chiang Kai Shek's KMT was defeated by Mao Zedong in 1949. Recent Migration (1978–2009), the Kokang region had an estimated population of 200,000 in 2010, compared to an estimated 50,000 in 1953 (Upper Burma Gazetteer). The migration of Chinese people into Kokang since the 1980s has had the most visible effect in terms of the development of the region. The population grew significantly between the 1870s and 2010, and it has been estimated that 90 % of the current population in Kokang are Chinese, with the Chinese population growing both in absolute and in relative terms up to 2010. (Source: Kokang: The Rise of the Chinese Minority—the New Neo-Liberal State? By Myint Myint Kyu) According to the study, "Shan statistics on Kokang State show that there were 600 villages in the Kokang region when the British colonized the area, of which five were Shan, ten were Palaung, 30 were La or Wa, 50 were Miaozi, 50 were Shan Chinese and the remaining 450 were Chinese. However, an inspection of the district by British officials in 1892 gave a figure of 138 Chinese villages, with 1993 households, across the whole region." Legal Status In 1958, the central government sent many officials to the remoter areas of Shan State and set up immigration departments for people to register and be issued with national identity cards. The Kokang people were classified into different categories as follows: Chinese living in Kokang since the Myanmar Kingdom period; those who are descendants of refugees from the late Ming dynasty; Chinese from China who migrated to Kokang before the World War II; Chinese from China who migrated to Kokang after the political changes occurred in China; Descendants of the above-mentioned Chinese. UN criteria of being indigenous According to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues & Department of Public Information Factsheet, the question of being indigenous is defined as follows: Understanding the term "indigenous" Considering the diversity of indigenous peoples, an official definition of "indigenous" has not been adopted by any UN-system body. Instead the system has developed a modern understanding of this term based on the following: Self- identification as indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community as their member. Historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies Strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources Distinct social, economic or political systems Distinct language, culture and beliefs Form non-dominant groups of society Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities. A question of identity According to the UN the most fruitful approach is to identify, rather than define indigenous peoples. This is based on the fundamental criterion of self-identification as underlined in a number of human rights documents. The term "indigenous" has prevailed as a generic term for many years. In some countries, there may be preference for other terms including tribes, first peoples/nations, aboriginals, ethnic groups, adivasi, janajati. Occupational and geographical terms like hunter-gatherers, nomads, peasants, hill people, etc., also exist and for all practical purposes can be used interchangeably with "indigenous peoples". In many cases, the notion of being termed "indigenous" has negative connotations and some people may choose not to reveal or define their origin. Others must respect such choices, while at the same time working against the discrimination of indigenous peoples. Is Kokang indigenous?  Seen from the point of UN Factsheet, the Kokangnese might be considered as being an indigenous group. In the Myanmar government categorized 135 races, Kokang people is included and even has been given a Self-Adminstartion Zone. Apart from this, Kokang had been part of the Federated Shan States formed in 1922, under the British rule, completed with its own ruler Saohpa or Sawbwa. Thus the place of the Kokangnese couldn't be in doubt. Coming back to the Kokangese being indigenous, the fact that the acceptance of the community of their self-identification; historical continuity and settlement since pre-colonial times as settlers; strong link to said territories; distinct social, language, culture, beliefs, economic or political systems; form a non-dominant group within the society; and resolving to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities; all indicated that it has been and is a bona fied indigenous group in every sense of the words. If this is so, the spokesperson of Ethnic Affairs Ministry and Deputy Secretary U Aye Min's statement that Chinese are not indigenous should clearly differentiate that the Kokangese, although of Chinese descendent, are indigenous, including those that have been there since colonial and pre-colonial times. This kind of clarification would go a long way not to discriminate the ethnic Chinese, either Kokangnese or other Chinese population who are citizens and have a long line of ancestral linkage since pre-colonial times, even before the modern Burma came into existence in 1948.

Shan State Parties Meet to Discuss Upcoming Panglong II summit Posted: 01 Jun 2016 03:48 AM PDT Over 100 representatives from a range of political parties and civil society organizations in Shan State attended a meeting in Shan State's capital Taunggyi today to discuss the upcoming 21st century Panglong Convention. The special convention which is expected to be held some time in July is being convened by Burma's State Counsellor and National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  This will be a follow-up to a meeting convened by her father in 1947 that was attended by representatives from the Shan, Chin and Kachin communities. The agreement reached at Panglong in 1947, stipulated a significant level of autonomy for Burma's ethnic groups in exchange for their decision to support Aung San's bid for independence from Britain. Aung San, was assassinated just months after the agreement was reached, his successor U Nu, did little to implement the agreement before he was overthrown by General Ne Win in 1962. The subsequent military regimes that ruled Burma also disregarded the commitments made by General Aung San at Panglong. Today's seminar, which focused on national reconciliation, the peace process, democracy and federalism, was organized by the Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU), an organization comprising of Shan parties and armed organizations which Khun Tun Oo, leader of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) is also the chairperson. Sai Lek, a spokesperson for the SNLD and one of the meeting's organizers, said that the meeting was being convened in order to prepare discussing issues of equal rights of Shan State's people to the national conference. "The main goal is to build unity among all ethnicities in Shan State," he said. "This is a first for Burma to hold this political conference after 70 years. It is very important for ethnic nationalities equal rights, autonomy, as well as constitutional amendments." "In order for us to get a chance for constitutional amendments at the political conference we (ethnic nationalities) have to discuss and support the matter," he added. The two-day meeting, which began today, was attended by nineteen political parties and eight civil society organizations from Shan State. In addition to the SNLD, representatives of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) also attended as did members of the NLD and the military backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). On May 29th, representatives from nineteen political parties in Shan State held a meeting in Yangon and formed a committee called the League for Shan State Ethnic Political Party (LSSEPP). BY SAI AW / Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)

To Hopeland and Back: The 20th trip Posted: 31 May 2016 09:10 PM PDT Day Three. Wednesday 25 May 2016 Only do not contend And you will not go wrong. Tao Te Ching (Book of The Way and its Derivative), Chapter 8 This morning I'm attending a discussion on federalism at PI Yangon. It isn't a formal meeting, so everyone speaks what they want to. The upshot of it is  I'm learning things that I wouldn't have learned had it not been an informal one. Speaker 1            Things certainly have changed. Until 4 years ago, federalism was a dirty word. Now the military officers are holding workshops to study it. Speaker 2            Most Bamars, living in central Burma, away from the states on the periphery where suffering takes place, don't understand federalism. We need to make allowance for it and try to educate them. Speaker 3            Most of the ethnic activists think they understand federalism. But I have found that their main focus is on self rule, rarely on shared rule, which is, like self rule, the most important component of federalism. At the same time, I have questions about how useful federalism workshops and seminars organized by foreign experts are. Because each and every one of them are saying different things which I fear only serve to get people more confused about federalism. Note: There is a Burmese saying, "saya-mya-tha-thay" (Too many                                                 doctors kill the patient) Speaker 4            I agree. Federalism, to most of us, seems like an elephant to the six blind Brahmins. The first Brahmin touches the trunk and says it's like a snake. The second touches the tusk and says it's like a lance. Others touch the ears, leg, body and tail and say they're like fans, pillar, wall and rope respectively. Each one of them is right in his own way but all of them are getting it wrong as a whole. We don't want to become like them blind Brahmins. "And so these men of Hindustan Disputed loud and long Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong Though each was partly in the right And all were in the wrong" John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1889) Speaker 1            The focus on 8 states/14 states should be later. We should instead focus first on main principles and not argue over details. Only then the process can move forward. Federalism, on the other hand, is difficult to understand when you've been living most of your life under a centralized system. Speaker 4            Reminds me of the story of a turtle coming back from a visit to dry land being asked by his friend the fish. No matter how hard he tries to explain, the fish couldn't understand "dry" or "walk," because all he knows are "wet" and "swim." Note Only the Shans who had had a 25 year firsthand experience as a federation, 1922-1947, have  some understanding. But most of those who do are already gone. Speaker 5            Speaking of which, there were several presentations on federalism during the first Union Peace Conference. We may need to rearrange them into a single text procedure. Speaker 1            Balance between the center and states is important for a federation's sustainability. If the center is too weak and the states are too strong, the center will inevitably collapse and the states with it. The same outcome if the center is too strong and the states too weak. We later talk about state constitutions, merits of having them and not having them, and local government, which is considered the third tier in a federal state. In the afternoon, I'm at the first meeting of the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) which was established by the Second Summit of the signatory EAOs in March. They are finalizing the draft TOR for the PPST by the time I arrive at Green Hill Hotel, where the meeting takes place. Following its ratification, the PPST, whose members are top leaders of each signatory EAO, go on to deliberate on the planned meetings in Naypyitaw on 27-28 May. The PPST, headed by KNU leader Gen Mutu Saypoe and RCSS leader Gen Yawd Serk, passes a resolution that its continued participation on in the peace process will be based on a 5 point condition, which includes: Adherence to NCA and Not becoming a pawn (for other stakeholders) The day's agenda ends with a meeting with 3 foreign generals who discuss their experience in the peace processes of Nepal, South Africa and the Philippines. At the end, we ask the organizers if they can bring presenters not only from the government side but also from the rebel side too. They promise to. After they were gone, one grumbles that we already have too many experts coming in and scrambling over each other to tell us how they did things in their countries. "I wonder if there is a conspiracy to confuse us," he muses. Another friend ponders over it and says, "Me too. I'm asking myself whether we should stop them from coming and just let us do things in our own way." In the end, we conclude that the problem is not stopping them from coming but how to manage them. With that conclusion we part, each to his room. And I go to my hotel.

Tripartite dialogue revisited or shifting alliance? Posted: 31 May 2016 08:05 AM PDT The Aung San Suu Kyi-headed Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC), which is made up of Union Government, Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) and Political Parties, with 16 members from each group, recent restructuring meeting looks like it has created an atmosphere of a tripartite dialogue, which the UN has all along endorsed to resolve the ethnic and ideological conflicts that Burma has to endure, since the military coup of 1962. The UN had, until 2010 nationwide elections that has ushered in the quasi-civilian Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)-Military government of Thein Sein, steadfastly stood by the tripartite dialogue initiative, which should involve representatives of the government, political parties and the ethnic nationalities, to resolve the problems and conflicts surrounding the country. But started to become silent on its insistence of tripartite dialogue, after the military has allowed limited political reform and the quasi-civilian government came into being in 2011. Perhaps the UN, together with the international community would like to encourage the nascent reform process by staying on the sideline, rather than pushing hard for the tripartite dialogue. But whether the planned 21st Century Panglong Convention (21CPC), also dubbed Union Peace Conference (UPC) by the former Thein Sein regime, would really be tripartite dialogue in a real sense or not is a question, which needs to be scrutinized. For equal representation is the key that would make the peace process all-inclusive and not unequal or imbalance representation. Apart from this, the speculation of shifting alliance, between the EAOs and between those of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the military also  requires careful attention, as the fate of the whole peace process would depend on the outcomes or results materializing from such interactions. First, let us look at what the UPDJC structuring meeting of 27-28 May has changed and altered from the previous setting. NLD or Aung San Suu Kyi's undertakings Aung San Suu Kyi has taken the position of UPDJC chairperson with Kyaw Tint Swe, Thu Wai and Phado Kwe Htoo Win appointed as vice chairmen, and former government peace negotiator Hla Maung Shwe of the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), now renamed as National Reconciliation Peace Center (NRPC), as secretary. The UPDJC meeting decisions are: Confirmation of the Union Government 16 members for UPDJC; Confirmation of the 8 EAOs 16 members, that had signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA); Agreement that for the Political Parties group, 16 of its members will be chosen by the government, including consideration of at least one woman representation; and Agreement that the UPDJC Secretariat will be formed with 3 persons each from the 3 groups, of which list would be sent to U Hla Maung Shwe, general secretary of the UPDJC. Some of the NLD or Suu Kyi's policies were spelled out as the following in the recent two days UPDJC meeting. Regarding the future peace process restructuring of MPC and 21st Century Panglong Convention (21CPC) would be undertaken. Suu Kyi explained that 21CPC and UPC are the same and both names are usable and accepted. UPDJC role will continue but amendment would be undertaken to meet political reality and future necessities. Regarding political convention participation of more than 90 political parties, as the NLD's previous policy of parliamentary representation will be norm, only political parties that have at least one elected representative, in either union, or state/regional level parliaments, will be eligible to participate in the peace convention. The role of the political parties, that have no representation in the parliament, would be to compliment the convention process through participation in the Civiian Based Organization (CBO) Parallel Forum, which is open to them. Suu Kyi said that many understood Panglong as secession. She took Panglong spirit as being the main core necessary factor than Panglong Agreement. Saying that the Panglong spirit had united all the ethnic peoples leading to the achievement of independence through unity and cooperation and that the same could be done to reach the goals of peace, tranquillity and development. Other than that the UPDJC will meet non-signatory EAOs in June, from which it hopes that many will join, leading to joint-activities to alter and review the Framework for Political Dialogue (FPD), which they will also become co-ownership and participate in UPC in July, according to the secretary U Hla Maung Shwe. He said the meeting participants also agreed to this arrangement, according to RFA report of 28 May. Under the 21CPC preparation mould, two negotiation committees, one for the 8 EAOs signatory group and the other, for the non-signatory 13 EAOs. However, it is not clear if the military rejected 3 EAOs – MNDAA, TNLA and AA – will be covered is unknown. Even as Suu Kyi actions have been in full swing regarding the peace process, the doubtfulness on her commitment to national reconciliation are rife, especially from the ethnic nationalities' point of view. Shifting alliance  Looking at the indecisiveness of Suu Kyi where all-inclusiveness of all EAOs is concerned, many are doubtful of her real sincere intention, whether she meant what she said. On several occasions she said that the convening of  21CPC or UPC would go parallel with soliciting the non-signatory EAOs, emphasising and including the former regime's usage of the phrase "those who deserve and are appropriate to participate" in the peace process. Besides, it was said to be decided that she would curtail economic incentives of the EAOs, which the former Thein Sein regime had effectively used to win over the EAOs, and that future negotiations would only be conducted within the country and not in Thailand or China,  where previous meetings were held on several occasions. And as she seemed inclined to give in to the military demand, the MNDAA, TNLA and AA, would likely be excluded. Although this could be a tactical move or political tightrope walking of Suu Kyi, the EAOs took it as her possible shifting of alliance from being an ally to collaborator of their adversary, the military. The ringing of alarm bell was evident, as an ethnic leader who attended a recent meeting of the newly formed peace committee dealing with the eight groups, which signed the NCA, but declined to be identified said: "In the past the army guys all attacked her, but now they hail her in our meetings," according to Larry Jagan in his commentary in Bangkok Post, on 27 May. He stressed: "Clearly there is a strong understanding between the military and the government and we fear we will be isolated and Aung San Suu Kyi take the military's side." The UWSA factor  As the shifting of alliance seems to be in the making between the Suu Kyi-led NLD and Tatmadaw from adversaries to those of actual, grand coalition partner, the non-Bamar armed ethnic front is also gearing up for a possible change. During the last few weeks, the Kokang or Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Palaung State Liberation Front/Ta'ang National Liberation Army (PSLF/TNLA) have tendered resignation to be excluded from 11 member military alliance, United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), of which both are members, although the decision of acceptance or approval is said to be pending for the moment. The reason for their resignation was given as the UNFC being unable to do much for the said two EAOs practically, while they have to endure ongoing heavy Tatmadaw offensives. Besides, they didn't want to be on the way of UNFC, which has been adhering to all-inclusiveness and thus unable to sign the NCA, due to the former Thein Sein government's exclusion of the two, including the Arakan Army (AA). The reasoning is that the new NLD regime is likely to toe the same policy line of excluding them, as it  doesn't like to upset the Tatmadaw, which had openly said that they all have to surrender first in order to be able to join the peace process. And with the UNFC's rejection – after the 19-22 April meeting in Chiang Mai - of the United Wa State Party/Army (UWSP/UWSA) aspirations to lead the whole ethnic military alliance, it is only a matter of time that the MNDAA and TNLA would join the military alliance headed by the latter, including the Mong La or National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) and AA. During the Ethnic  Armed  Organizations Leaders' Summit  held  from 26 - 28 March  2016  at  Pang  Kham Town, where  34  representatives  from  UWSP/UWSA,  KIO/KIA,  Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA),  PSLF/TNLA,  AA and  NDAA  attended, one paragraph of the statement issued after the meeting stated: "Conflict  between  RCSS  and  TNLA  in  Northern  Shan  State  was  discussed  at  the  meeting  and  both sides  are  urged  to  immediately  halt  hostilities.    Both  sides  are  encouraged  to  solve  the  problem through  negotiation  mean.  In  case,  one  side  keeps  creating  conflict,  all  EAOs  agreed  to  collectively prevent  and  protect  from  it.  Simultaneously,  we  demand  Tatmadaw  immediately  cease  all  military offensives in Northern Shan State for the sake of the stability for the people living in the areas."  Following this some weeks later, heavy clashes involving some 700 troops of TNLA attacked RCSS positions, which let many, including the SNLD's secretary general Sai Nyunt Lwin, to say that other EAOs might be involved on the side of TNLA to rid the RCSS from its encroachment within the areas, which the TNLA insisted belongs to them. The situation became even more complicated with the TNLA accusation that the RCSS and Burma Army were coordinating the assaults on its positions with heavy artillery and at time, attacking in tandem. Thus, the UWSA military alliance, although not yet formally formed, might have already existed in practice. The inclusion of the KIA, AA and NDAA were highly likely in attacks against the RCSS, while SSPP could not be involved as it is also a Shan Army like the RCSS and also member of the UNFC, which is trying to mediate the conflict between TNLA and RCSS. If this development process of UWSA forming a military alliance becomes real, the UNFC could be drastically weaken. Perspective  Given the recent military and political developments, it is a bit too early to predict if the Suu Kyi initiated 21CPC or UPC would really lead to the tripartite dialogue of the government, political parties and ethnic nationalities, as had been endorsed for decades until 2010 by the UN. It will actually depend on equal representation on all level of the peace process  from manning the Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting (JICM) to overseeing its execution by two bodies: the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC) that essentially deals with military matters, and the other, the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) that deals with the political ones. Two points needed to be considered, in order to become a bona fide tripartite dialogue and would hinge on altering the following in an equal basis, acceptable to all parties. Firstly, the restructuring of UPDJC will have to include the participation of the 13 non-signatory EAOs, which would also include the 3 left out EAOs. This would mean expanding the representatives from 16 each to 16 + 26 = 46. The added 26 representatives would come from 13 non-signatory EAOs inclusion of 2 representatives each, making it 26 altogether. The present UPDJC is manned by 48 members, with 16 each from the government, ethnic armed groups and political parties. Secondly, the Union Peace Conference that has been slated to be attended by a total of 700 delegates comprising 75 from the Government, 75 from the Hluttaw (Parliament), 150 from the Tatmadaw, 150 from ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), 150 from registered political parties, 50 from ethnic representatives and 50 from others who should participate, written in The Framework for Political Dialogue, would need to be adjusted to reflect the recent changing  political configuration and equality. In the formerly UN endorsed tripartite dialogue, the three group stakeholders were the military government (State Peace and Development Council), the democratic forces (NLD) and the ethnic nationalities. Speculation on possible de-escalation or heightened armed conflict will solely depend on how the Tatmadaw would go about with its non-inclusiveness in relation to the all-inclusiveness of the non-signatory EAOs and a not so clear stance of the NLD's stance regarding the matter. If the Tatmadaw would continue with its strategy of side-lining the MNDAA, TNLA, AA and continues its offensives on the SSPP/SSA and KIO/KIA, the possibility that the Tatmadaw's military pressure would push the two groups into a wider alliance with the UWSA could become a reality. Then this would strengthen the hand of the UWSA and increased influence of the big regional power, neighbouring country, whether one likes it or not. At the same time, the counter strategy of the EAOs could be like those of the Tatmadaw, which is talking peace, while fighting. In other words, the UWSA headed military alliance would tie down the Tatmadaw militarily, while the UNFC-led alliance would continue with the negotiations within the bounds of 21CPC. But if such speculation would become a reality, where would the country's peace process lead us to? The answer would likely be continued warfare, at the expense of the ethnic nationalities in the first place and hindering overall development and democratization process in the rest of the country. As such, we should all take heart that compromise, or a real equal tripartite dialogue, is the only way out of this debacle and that it must be coupled with determined conviction to be able to end the decades-long ethnic armed conflict and strive to achieve durable peaceful settlement, that the people has been waiting for so long.

Movie on Shan prince and his Austrian wife shines light on Burma’s 1962 coup Posted: 31 May 2016 07:54 AM PDT A recently completed film made for European TV, Twilight Over Burma, based on the true story of Prince Sao Kya Seng, the ruler of Hsipaw and his Austrian born wife Inge Sargent, had its premiere in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai this past weekend. The story focuses on Sargent who became the princess of Hsipaw also known as the Mahadhevi Dhusandi and her marriage with the prince who was jailed when General Ne Win launched a coup d'état in 1962. As the film, which is the first to explore the events surrounding Burma's 1962 coup, shows Sao Kya Seng died in detention shortly after his arrest under circumstances that have never been fully explained. A similar fate suffered by Burma's first president Sao Shwe Thaike, another Shan royal who was arrested in the 1962 coup, and who was also never seen alive again. Maria Ehrich, the German actress who played Inge Sargent, was at the screening in Chiang Mai along with some of the film's producers. Many Shan living in Chiang Mai attended the screening including some who played minor roles in the movie. Apart from Ehrich most of the major roles in the film were played by Thai actors. During a Q&A conducted after the screening of the movie, which takes its name from Sargent's memoir, Ehrich explained that coming to Asia to shoot the film was an interesting experience. She added that the tragic nature of the script posed a challenge at times during production. "It was always the tragic story in my mind so I could not be very happy all the time when we were shooting the movie. Sometimes, all the crew team had a difficult time to shoot, for example, when Inge gets to know Sao might be dead. Everyone was crying on the set. It really touches you very hard. You can see in the movie how we felt. So, it's real," explained the 23 year old Ehrich who has also starred in a number of German language productions including a kids film called My Brother Is a Dog. Ehrich traveled to Hsipaw where much of the film is set, shortly after the film was completed to see the palace where Sargent lived. Like many visitors to Hsipaw she was saddened by the poor condition that the dilapidated Hsipaw palace is in. "In my mind I had already imagined Hsipaw, I was eager to see how it really is. My heart was really checking when we got close to it. We went up to the palace and talked with the person who is in charge. I told her that Inge did not take anything with her when she left and I'd really like to take something to give her but she said there is nothing left. The Burmese military took everything. I almost cried. I was really shocked because I thought it would be beautiful from what I knew from the script and the book, but it is not. It's a little dirty and rotted……. It really made me sad", she said. Inge Sargent eventually resettled in the US where she has lived for many years. She and her two daughters, Sao Mayari and Sao Kennari, wrote a letter to Burma's government concerning the disappearance of Sao Kya Seng. They never received a response to their inquires. Burma's newly installed consul-general in Chiang Mai Kaung San Lwin, also attended the screening. He told SHAN that did not know about the Inge Sargent's letter and was unaware of the specific details of the case which he said took place before he was born. It remains unclear when the movie will receive its Burmese premier but the movie which would almost certainly would have been banned in Burma had it come out a few years ago, will likely receive a much better reception under the new NLD government. But some things have yet to change. Today more than 50 years after the 1962 coup, turmoil continues in northern Shan State where the army in recent weeks has been engaged in clashes with ethnic armed groups including carrying out airstrikes against positions held by the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA). BY Staff / Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)

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