Thursday, December 22, 2016

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine


New Treatment-Oriented Drug Policies to be Proposed

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 07:54 AM PST

A draft version of the amended narcotics legislation has been submitted to the President's Office.

The post New Treatment-Oriented Drug Policies to be Proposed appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indonesia Police Kill Three Suspected Militants, Defuse Bombs

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 06:10 AM PST

'Every year, Christmas and New Year's events are the target of terrorists,' says National Police spokesman Rikwanto.

The post Indonesia Police Kill Three Suspected Militants, Defuse Bombs appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

In Burma, Profit Clouds Army Pledge to Return Seized Land

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 05:57 AM PST

'The NLD gave us a lot of promises during the election campaign that they will find solutions for land conflicts with the military,' says farmer.

The post In Burma, Profit Clouds Army Pledge to Return Seized Land appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Investigation Into Rangoon Explosions Wraps Up

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 04:05 AM PST

Police have arrested four suspects in connection with a spate of minor explosions in the commercial capital in November.

The post Investigation Into Rangoon Explosions Wraps Up appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ethnic Armed Groups Clash in Shan State, Killing One Civilian

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 03:40 AM PST

'She was only 17 years old. She was shot while she tried to hide,' says lawmaker Nang Sam Howm.

The post Ethnic Armed Groups Clash in Shan State, Killing One Civilian appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thilawa SEZ Receives US$900 Million in Foreign Investment

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 02:55 AM PST

Japan-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Rangoon has received more than US$900 million in foreign investment since its launch in 2014.

The post Thilawa SEZ Receives US$900 Million in Foreign Investment appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thailand Seeks to Develop Military Production Facilities with China

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 01:24 AM PST

'We are interested in setting up facilities to repair and maintain the Chinese equipment we currently have in our arsenal,' says Thai defense spokesman.

The post Thailand Seeks to Develop Military Production Facilities with China appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Vice President: New Airport Project Must Be Transparent

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 01:15 AM PST

New Hanthawaddy International Airport with international civil aviation safety standards is urgently needed for both passenger and cargo flights.

The post Vice President: New Airport Project Must Be Transparent appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rangoon Public Bus Companies Aim to Launch Services in Early 2017

Posted: 21 Dec 2016 06:33 PM PST

The Yangon Region Transport Authority announces that eight companies have been selected to run the improved routes. 

The post Rangoon Public Bus Companies Aim to Launch Services in Early 2017 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

National News

National News


Nine villagers still detained by TNLA in Kyaukme

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:37 AM PST

Nine residents of Pan Kwan village in Shan State's Kyaukme township are still being held by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), despite several others being released last week, according to a Shan party.

Speaker not speaking out on telecoms law defamation

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:34 AM PST

Pyithu Hluttaw Speaker U Win Myint has declined to wade into the debate over the Telecommunications Law's controversial defamation clause, saying he would not comment on whether the provision should be amended.

UN OCHA details country’s assistance needs for 2017

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:21 AM PST

The humanitarian needs forecast for 2017 make for a lengthy, bleak list, according to a new UN report.

Myanmar workers plan to sue Thai pet food factory

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:19 AM PST

More than 100 Myanmar migrant workers will sue the owner of a pet food factory in Thailand's Samut Prakan province, claiming compensation for being fired without sufficient cause.

Remove the comment and lawsuit will be dropped, U Hla Swe says

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:17 AM PST

After filing a defamation suit against a Magwe volunteer over a Facebook comment, former ruling party MP U Hla Swe announced yesterday that he would be willing to drop the case as soon as the post is removed from social media.

Speaker crunches numbers as parliament adjourns

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:16 AM PST

The third regular session of the Pyithu Hluttaw has drawn to a close, wrapping up yesterday after just 19 days of sitting.

Investors see potential in Kabyarwa beach

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:14 AM PST

Sleepy Kabyarwa village in Mon State could be transformed into the new Chaungtha Beach if an ambitious tourism scheme goes ahead. Developers want to build a three-star, 100-room hotel that would attract Thai and other international guests.

KBZ signs deal for remittance service for migrants in Thailand

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:09 AM PST

Myanmar's Kanbawza Bank (KBZ) is developing a mobile banking remittance service for Myanmar migrants in Thailand, inking a deal with Thailand's Kasikorn Bank yesterday.

As tempers flare in hluttaw, MP challenges Speaker to a debate

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:08 AM PST

A Rakhine lawmaker is challenging the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker to a public debate after the two exchanged warning shots over a jettisoned proposal related to the peace process.

Hluttaw greenlights Greater Mekong Sub-region tourism project

Posted: 22 Dec 2016 12:07 AM PST

The hluttaw has voted in favour of a proposal by President U Htin Kyaw which would see the country join a tourism coordination project for the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News


Where Do We Go From Here?A Snapshot of Recent Developments for Refugees Along the Thailand-Myanmar Border

Posted: 21 Dec 2016 11:40 PM PST

Progressive Voice releases a new briefing paper on recent developments and their impact on the return discourse for refugees along the Thailand-Myanmar border. Increasing armed conflict and militarization throughout ethnic areas, including in southeastern Myanmar where the Myanmar Army seeks control over revenue-generating projects, cross-border trade, natural resource extraction and mega projects, suggest that the risk of further displacement upon return is high. This is particularly relevant as many refugees fled from southeast Myanmar. In addition, land disputes over housing, land and property rights continue to pose threats to refugees and internally displaced persons upon returning home.



A recent organized return of 71 refugees and subsequent problems indicate the many challenges to any imminent large scale return. A successful return must ensure that refugees themselves and civil society organizations that work with the refugee community are adequately consulted and are able to participate in all levels of the repatriation process, including in the preparation and implementation.

For more information, please contact:

Aung Khaing Min, Interim Coordinator, Progressive Voice
akm@progressive-voice.org; info@progressive-voice.org
+66 097 995 5305; +95 092 610 09995

 Download the briefing paper in English here

Two-tier administration and two-pronged approach lead to failed peace process

Posted: 21 Dec 2016 08:49 PM PST

The two most crucial issues that would definitely be carried into the year 2017 are the conflict between the Rohingya – the government proposed term is "Muslims from Rakhein State" and Military or Tatmadaw, including Arakan nationalist labeled them "Bengali" - and  the conflict between the Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) and the Military.

International condemnation of National League for Democracy (NLD) regime has been on the rise since the abrupt explosion of Rohingya uprising in Arakan State that occurred on 9 October was met with massive retaliation  response by the Tatmadaw, which led to the accusation of inhumane rights violations on the said Muslim population.

Parallel to this is the fierce armed conflict of some two weeks that started on 20 November in the northern part of the country between the Tatmadaw and the Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs), in Kachin and Shan States.

While media coverage gives more visibility to the plight of the Rohingya population by rights groups like Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), including Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and lately the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the armed ethnic conflict in the country's north is under-reported.

Even then, one common denomination is what the AI statement concluded that the NLD government has no influence over the Military and could not control it might be the real source of all the difficulties for not being able to resolve the conflicts, both in Arakan and the two northern states of the country.

Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International's Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, recently said:
"While the military is directly responsible for the violations, Aung San Suu Kyi has failed to live up to both her political and moral responsibility to try to stop and condemn what is unfolding in Rakhine state." 

The escalation of conflict in the north is because of the Tatmadaw's military pressure to push the Kachin Independence Organization/Army (KIO/KIA), employing months-long military onslaught on its positions in Kachin State, to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), which latter responded by hitting back the Tatmadaw positions in Muse Township area of northern Shan State that borders China, together with the MNDAA, TNLA and AA, which now called itself the  Northern Alliance-Burma (NA-B).

The reasoning was to take the heat away from embattled KIA in Kachin State, by employing the strategy of "The best defensive is the offensive" and perhaps to hit the enemy where it hurts most, plus showing their displeasure for being sidelined by the government in the peace process.

Thereafter, the Tatmadaw tried to label the NA-B as terrorists organizations,  once within the union parliament that was shot down. But the same motion within the Shan State parliament sailed through. At the same time, it heightened it's offensive in Kachin State targeting KIA mountain bases near Laiza, it's headquarters. The Tatmadaw was able to captured  Gideon mountain outpost and another one some eight kilometers away from Gideon in Waingmaw Township, using airstrikes, artillery and hundreds of infantry troops.

This face-saving undertaking, as the NA-B coordinated offensives showed the Tatmadaw's inability to protect its controlled areas, cost to overrun an isolated mountain outpost manned by just some 20 to 50 KIA fighters was said to be tremendously high.

According to a recent report by The Irrawaddy on the Tatmadaw's victory, "The ex‐officer from the Burma Army estimated the death toll of the Tatmadaw as 400 to 500 Burmese soldiers in the fight for Gideon alone; the same source suggested 20‐30 KIA casualties, citing a KIA advantage due to their defensive positioning and familiarity with the terrain."

The financial cost must also be very high as the report said, "Seizing Gideon likely cost the Burmese military millions of dollars. A regional security analyst with British security and defense publisher IHS Jane's Information Group estimated the cost of a 227‐kg air‐dropped bomb to be around US$2,000, not including aircraft fuel and maintenance costs. A case of 120‐mm rounds of mortar shells cost $4,000 per case."

The report pinpointed that as of mid‐December, there had been more than 2,000 rounds of shelling, according to sources on the ground.

Following this, a rally to support the Tatmadaw's war on the EAOs was held in Rangoon, emphasizing that the EAOs could not be negotiated and that the war is a justified one.

Meanwhile the Tatmadaw and the government's National Reconciliation Peace Center (NRPC) were said to be making overture again to negotiate with the NA -B which still need to be agreed upon.

The first Chinese mediation last month in China shattered as the Military didn't want to meet the alliance as a group but individually. This time around the NA-B is sticking to the old proposal to meet as a group again including the involvement of United Wa State Army (UWSA) as a witness. At this writing no agreement has still been made.

Analysis

The problematic in Arakan with the Rohingya population is more than a communal strife with regional and international dimension.

The lobby to exclude the Rohingya from becoming an acceptable indigenous people seems to be having an edge, as the Arakanese and as well many within the country were buying the notion that they are illegal immigrants from neighboring country.

In relation to this an attempt to rewrite the history is on the agenda, notwithstanding the U Nu  era recognition of Rohingya as one of the ethnic group in the sixties. After General Ne Win came to power through the military coup in 1962, citizenship and all the privilege granted were revoked and treated the Rohingya as illegal immigrants again until today.

Against this backdrop, the Rohingya's spontaneous uprising is seen as a natural reaction to the oppression and excluding policy of the successive military governments, possibly opening up a leeway to a larger conflict involving the Islam radical entering the fray, as speculated by the International Crisis Group (ICG) and even noted observers. But if this is going to be the case is anybody's guess for the time being.

But one sure thing is that appropriate solution and implementation have to wait for quite a while, as racism tendency and angst for illegal immigrants or foreigners flooding the Arakan State is very much on the mind of the people.

The Rohingya, on the other hand, cannot just fade away only because they are unwanted. For the time being the notion of Rohingya being illegal immigrants seems to be upheld by the NLD regime, using and agreeing to the 1823, one year after the first wave of British colonization, as a timeline to determine whether an ethnic group is ingenious, national  or not. The Rohingya naturally also has arguments that their ancestors were settled there before the said timeline.

The government is likely pushing the problem to be resolved within the context of humanitarian facet, while the Rohingya would definitely asked for a place to be recognized as an ethnic group.

As it is now, a wider conflict resolution mechanism is needed to address the worries from both spectrum of the interest groups but would take time to come up with a comprehensive solution, at least for the moment.

But as for the conflict in the north and generally where the Tatmadaw and EAOs conflicts are concerned, there are a set of solution which could be applied, if there is a political will to do so.

To put it differently, they are to tackle the problems of two-tier administrative system and the two-pronged approach to the issue of national reconciliation.

While the first one could be resolved by thrashing out the policy differences between the Tatmadaw and the NLD, rather than each going it's own way, the second one would be to abandon two-pronged posture of the government and military.

Short of demanding that the Military conform to the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, Hkun Htoon Oo, head of the Shan Nationalities for Democracy (SNLD) told a gathering on 17 December, according to Eleven Media Group: "The government should have talked with the military. The government has the executive branch and Parliament. The other one [defense services] has defense [ministry], border affairs [ministry] and home affairs [ministry]. It's like there were two authoritative bodies in Myanmar. So, I think the government and the military should negotiate thoroughly before discussing peace with ethnic groups."

Adding confusion to the lack of common stand between the government and military, the two-pronged approach, applied by the two coalition partners, either intentionally or unintentionally, of "carrot" and "stick" has preempted any trust-building process that might have taken place. In other words, while the military is coming down hard on the KIO and its allies, the NLD is negotiating ways to include the non-signatory EAOs into the peace process, through talks of possible give-and-take with the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), the seven ethnic army alliance.

The case in point is the backlash that two-pronged has produced instead of winning over the EAOs to sign the NCA, it only produce the opposite result. The military offensives to press for the signing NCA by the KIO has been met with counter offensives from the NA-B, of which the KIO is a leading  figure and also the head of the UNFC.

Therefore, the said two main obstacles of two-tier administration mode and two-pronged approach that contradict with each other need to be addressed and altered. Otherwise, we all will be wading and muddling through, like we have been doing for the past five years.