Thursday, December 1, 2016

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Relocated Street Vendors Complain of Insufficient Space

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 07:00 AM PST

YCDC relocates 1,600 street vendors to a night market and orders thousands more to only occupy downtown streets outside of major roads.

The post Relocated Street Vendors Complain of Insufficient Space appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Arakan State Youths Tell Commission They Want Peace

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 06:19 AM PST

Six Buddhist and Muslim youths from the Arakan capital of Sittwe meet with Kofi Annan and the Arakan State Advisory Commission in Rangoon.

The post Arakan State Youths Tell Commission They Want Peace appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Authorities Ramp up Security Measures at Tourist Sites

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 06:13 AM PST

'We are working to prevent a similar attack at the pagoda, like what happened in the bombing at the Rangoon divisional government,' says a trustee.

The post Authorities Ramp up Security Measures at Tourist Sites appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nippon Foundation Suspends Vehicle Donations

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:22 AM PST

The Nippon Foundation suspends further vehicle donations until all of the cars currently unattended in a Rangoon hospital are deployed.

The post Nippon Foundation Suspends Vehicle Donations appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Pegu Woman Charged With Defaming State Counselor on Social Media

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 05:03 AM PST

Ma Sandi Myint Aung, is arrested after reportedly sharing Facebook posts said to include foul language against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The post Pegu Woman Charged With Defaming State Counselor on Social Media appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Judge Sentences Father to 20 Years for Raping Own Daughter

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:15 AM PST

The crime comes to light when a sister discovers the victim is five months pregnant.

The post Judge Sentences Father to 20 Years for Raping Own Daughter appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Fleeing Shan State Conflict, 400 Villagers Take Refuge in Namtu Town

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 01:42 AM PST

'The local Namtu people donated food for the IDPs when they arrived the first day. But these donations have not been enough,' says a SNLD lawmaker.

The post Fleeing Shan State Conflict, 400 Villagers Take Refuge in Namtu Town appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysia Cancels Two Soccer Matches Over Arakan State Situation

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:11 AM PST

Malaysia says cancellation of two friendly under-22 matches is a 'political decision because of the Rohingya issue.'

The post Malaysia Cancels Two Soccer Matches Over Arakan State Situation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nepal Proposes Constitution Amendment to Meet Ethnic Demands

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 08:45 PM PST

Nepal's government proposed amending its new constitution to carve out a new state to meet the demands of the Madhesi ethnic community.

The post Nepal Proposes Constitution Amendment to Meet Ethnic Demands appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesia Protests Awaken Fears for Minority Chinese

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 08:39 PM PST

The capital of Muslim-majority Indonesia is on edge ahead of a potential second huge protest by conservative Muslims against its Christian governor.

The post Indonesia Protests Awaken Fears for Minority Chinese appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Maintaining Momentum in Myanmar’s Response to AIDS

Posted: 30 Nov 2016 05:30 PM PST

On World AIDS Day, the spotlight will be on Myanmar—a model of how to implement strategies to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

The post Maintaining Momentum in Myanmar's Response to AIDS appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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National News

National News

Bail denied for Eleven Media defendants

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:54 AM PST

The Tarmwe Township Court has rejected a bail application from the CEO and editor-in-chief of Eleven Media Group, who are facing defamation charges brought by the Yangon Region government.

Reporter in Nay Pyi Taw slapped with defamation suit

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:51 AM PST

A Nay Pyi Taw-based reporter is the latest to fall victim to the Telecommunications Law's defamation clause after News Watch journal's U Maung Maung Tun was charged under article 66(d) this week.

Internet, phone lines down in Muse after bomb blast hits cable

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:50 AM PST

Local internet and phone connections were disrupted in the town of Muse yesterday after an explosion rocked the Swonlon Bridge in Muse township.

Talk of heritage status application brings fresh fears for Bagan locals

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:34 AM PST

Bagan residents who were previously forced from their homes to allow the development of a heritage site are living in fear of a fresh attempt to evict them.

Govt rejects report of massive detention in Mong Koe

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:31 AM PST

The President's Office has denied claims from a civil society group that dozens of civilians in Mong Koe town, northern Shan State, were being detained arbitrarily.

Mandalay’s Maha Myat Muni Pagoda gets security upgrade

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:29 AM PST

Amid a spate of bomb scares in recent weeks, Mandalay's Maha Myat Muni Pagoda has added nine new members to its security team and trained 11 members of the crew in methods for detecting potential explosive devices, pagoda chair U Soe Lin said on November 29.

Small shifts in Myanmar’s war on drugs

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:25 AM PST

Myanmar has taken another tentative step away from draconian punishments for drug offences. The country joined several ASEAN nations and China in Bangkok yesterday in a joint commitment to strengthen "community-based health services" for people who use drugs around the region.

Donors asked to come forward to help foot cost of post-quake repairs

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:23 AM PST

Donors willing to fund the repair of more than 200 pagodas in Bagan damaged by last August's earthquake are still being identified, officials say. U Aung Kaw, director of the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library in Bagan, called on donors who have funded the upkeep of the ancient religious buildings to come forward by December 15.

Parliamentary commission advises overhaul of national land use policy

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:22 AM PST

The National Land Use Policy is in line for redress, after being highlighted by a parliamentary commission charged with targeting legislation for reform.

MP calls for sex ed to start in primary school

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:20 AM PST

In a demand likely to cause controversy in more traditional quarters, a ruling-party MP is lobbying for sex education to be taught in schools as early as the primary grades.
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Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News

Commentary on “KNU delays leadership vote as schism emerges”

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 07:40 AM PST

I was inquiring a close friend from within the Karen resistance movement on the postponement of the KNU Congress until next year and what he thought about the leadership. He came back to me with an answer full of frustration and disappointment, where he spelled them out clearly and precisely.



He wrote:

The current KNU leadership follows the line of appeasement, capitulation, peace and engagement in development. They bought vote and cheated at the previous KNU Congress. Please see the incisive and blunt comment below.

The KNU is doing all of this with their eyes wide open. I blame them and only them for where they are now and where they are headed. It is not that the Tatmadaw, international governments, INGOs, or the devil made them do it: they did it and or doing it themselves.

The international Karen community complains about it, but keeps the funding flowing. The KNU/KNLA hardliners complain, but don't offer an attractive competing vision or objectives, have an internal revolution, or form their own political and military organization. The KNU/KNLA foreign supporters/advisers like us complain, but keep supporting them with training and advice. No wonder nothing changes. Simple math: 8-3=5 and.............Talk-Action=0.

The KIO/KIA learned their lesson and changed leadership and strategy. The Northern Alliance - Burma, including the Wa, are the ones sticking their necks and lives out now for their principles and now have learn to "go to them to get them away from us". Even the Bengali are fighting back - soon ISIS and other Islamic fundamentalist will join them. All of them said, ENOUGH is ENOUGH!".

When is Enough Enough for the Karen? Maybe the Karen need to suffer more like a drunk who looses everything - wife, house, job and still drinks. Then maybe they then will rise up and say "ENOUGH is ENOUGH!!!" They shouldn't have to wait long for more suffering..they are on the Tatmadaw's list once they settle the North with their "Keep the South quiet while fighting in the North" Strategy. Same as the 1994 with their "Keep the North quiet while fighting in the South" Strategy.

They will be coming after the Karens sooner than later as they did the Kachins and most recently the Shan State Army-North. But with the continuous weaken military capabilities and lack of political will, the Karens will be easier pickings this time..when the Tatmadaw is ready. Sure no surrender, General Custer did not surrender and we see what happen to him and his soldiers. The military gains over the years by the KNLA/KNDO are being lost,explicitly and implicitly, by the KNU central and district leadership, and those KNLA/KNDO soldiers, who have been killed and maimed for these gains, are being dishonored.

Civilians continue to flee military offensive in Kyaukme

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 03:55 AM PST

Civilians in Kyaukme District's Mantong Township continue to flee their homes due to the ongoing conflict between Burmese government forces and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), according to an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).

Photo SHAN- one of the displaced camps in Namtu Township
Nang Kham Aye, a Shan State Assembly representative of Namtu Township, told Shan Herald today that some 200 people from Mantong and Mong Maw had this week arrived in Namtu Township – 30 miles southeast of Mantong. She said that they have been provided shelter at local temples and churches.

"Fighting has erupted in the town of Mong Maw," she said. "Gunfire was aimed toward the market early in the morning, causing villagers to run. They subsequently fled their homes.

"As of yesterday [November 30], some 170 people had arrived in Namtu. Most of them are children, women and elderly people. The menfolk have mostly stayed behind to look after their property.

"The number of displaced people [in Kyaukme] has now increased to nearly 800 since fighting between the Burmese army and the TNLA broke out on November 23," she added.

Today, the TNLA's News and Information Department posted on its website a report, saying its troops had clashed with Burmese government forces between the villages of Kongmong and Kongngaung in Mantong Township.

On November 20, the TNLA, a non-signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, launched a joint military operation alongside its allies – Arankan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) – against Burmese military outposts and police stationsin Muse, Namkham and Kutkai townships. 

As of December 1, fighting was reported to be continuing.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)

60 villagers captured by Burmese army in Muse

Posted: 01 Dec 2016 12:54 AM PST

Around sixty residents of Mong Koe sub-township in northern Shan State's Muse Township were last week captured and detrained by Burmese government forces, according to the Kachin Peace Network (KPN).


 Some 70 people were arrested when they were traveling from Mong Koe to a wedding ceremony in Paw Joone Par village on November 20, when they were ordered to stop by Burmese troops.

Twelve persons, identified as Chinese individuals, were subsequently released the following day after intervention from Chinese authorities. On November 25, another two ethnic Burmese wedding guests were released; the rest remain in detention.

Speaking to Shan Herald, Gum Sha Aung, a spokesperson for the KPN, said, "The Tatmadaw [Burmese government troops] arrested them while they were en route to a wedding ceremony. We therefore demand they all be released immediately."

He said that many other villagers from Mong Koe have already fled across the China border to avoid armed clashes in the area between the Tatmadaw and an ethnic alliance comprising the Arakan Army (AA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

The ethnic militias, which have since branded themselves the "Northern Alliance," launched coordinated military offensives on November 20against Burmese units in northern Shan State, including the Muse Township villages of Mong Koe and Parng Zai, the 105-Mile border trade zone, and areas of Namkham and Kutkai tonwships.
In a statement on November 29, KPN accused the Burmese military of violating the Geneva Convention by arresting civilians.

"We call for an immediate end to the conflict," said KPN. "We must all work together to bring peace to the country for the betterment of the people."

According to a Myanmar Times report on November 28,some 2,000 civilians have been trapped in the crossfire in the Hai Kaung area between the towns of Pang Zai and Mong Koe.

Clashes remain intense in the areas of Muse, Namkham and Kutkai townships. Northern Alliance attacks have targeted Burma military outposts and police stations. Less than two weeks since fighting broke out on November 20, more than ten civilians have reportedly been killed and other 40 injured, while thousands have abandoned their homes to seek refuge elsewhere.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
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