Monday, June 12, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Kachin Community Told Not to Open IDP Camps in Tanai

Posted: 12 Jun 2017 07:35 AM PDT

Around 950 people who fled fighting in the villages of Tanai Township, Kachin State, continue to take temporary shelter at the churches and monasteries in Tanai town, as the authorities have reportedly barred the opening of camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Due to nearly a week of clashes between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) near the Kawng Ra, N'Ga Ga and the Nambyu areas, locals and those working in amber and gold mines have been leaving since last Tuesday. Internal migrants have largely returned to their homes elsewhere, but local villagers have said they have no other place to go.

Some of those fleeing were not allowed to travel to Tanai town last week using standard routes and waterways; others used longer, more unorthodox paths to reach safety in the city.

On Monday morning, the relief committee formed by Christian religious leaders providing support to displaced villagers had a meeting with township authorities, including Tanai's administrative director, police and the military personnel. According to the community representatives, these authorities said that they do not want the relief workers to open formal IDP camps.

Until Saturday, June 10, the Tanai authorities had been instructing displaced people to move to Kawng Ra village, where the current fighting continues, said Mung Dan, from the Tanai-based Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC). The IDPs refused, fearing for their security.

"On Monday, they did not say anything about moving [the IDPs to Kawng Ra], but they did say that no IDP camps could be opened in Tanai, in order to preserve the dignity of town. We can help the people in our churches," he said.

More people have been slowly arriving, trickling in to the town, rather than showing up in large groups.

Relief workers told The Irrawaddy that more than 500 people are taking shelter at KBC churches, while 200 people are under the care of the Catholic Church, and an estimated 133 people are being cared for by the Anglican Church. Around 120 are also staying in monasteries in Tanai.

They have been asked to compile a list of the displaced in the churches and monasteries, which will be checked by authorities later, Mung Dan said.

When fighting erupted last week, the Tatmadaw reportedly distributed a written message from helicopters warning workers to leave amber and gold mines in Tanai no later than June 15.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was asked on June 10 by members of the Burmese community in Canada—where she was on an official visit—what the government would do to follow up on this order to flee. She replied that she had "not heard anything" about the military's letter, but would investigate it.

"We have to know who ordered it, and if it is true, it is the job of the social welfare ministry to take care of it," she said.

According to U Win Myat Aye, the Union minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, the ministry helps those IDPs "who can make it to Moegaung Township only," which is south of and not bordering Tanai. He added that they have assisted about two dozen people who are seeking shelter with relatives there.

Nang Lwin Hnin Pwint contributed to this report.

The post Kachin Community Told Not to Open IDP Camps in Tanai appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

FBR Medic: ‘It Was a Great Privilege to Be Able to Help’

Posted: 12 Jun 2017 06:16 AM PDT

Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a Christian humanitarian group, sent a team to Iraq to assist civilians who were affected by conflict waged by the group calling itself the Islamic State (IS). Formed in 1997 by former US Army officer David Eubank, FBR has provided emergency relief in ethnic minority areas in Myanmar plagued by more than 60 years of civil war. Since January 2016, FBR has repeatedly traveled to Iraq for relief and reporting trips.

The Irrawaddy's senior reporter Saw Yan Naing interviewed FBR member Silverhorn Lermu, an ethnic Karen medic who recently returned from a relief mission to Mosul, Iraq.

Please tell us about your experience in Iraq.

I had the chance to go and help people in a country I had never been to. My duty on this trip was to treat injured civilians and assist refugees who had fled IS fighters. People had been injured by gunshots, building collapses and fire. We were not a large team but it was a great privilege to be able to help, even in a small way.

When did you go to Iraq and for how long? How does the conflict there compare to Myanmar?

I went from April 17 to May 17. Conflict in Iraq and Karen State, Myanmar is very different. They are geographically different as well, hence the use of different military equipment. I saw many refugees in Iraq who were fleeing the conflict.

IS is notorious for its extreme violence. Weren't you afraid? How did you prepare for the trip?

IS fighters kill women, old men, children and the disabled. I was worried for my safety before I left. But when I got there and saw the suffering, my fear disappeared. I believed God would protect me and I trusted the Iraqi military. I mainly followed them and treated the injured.

Did you confront IS troops?

Our mission was not to fight. We were there to help in an emergency situation. I did not go there to fight IS nor help the Iraqi Army. I was there to assist civilian communities.

Your team leader David Eubank was injured. How did that happen and what is his current condition?

I heard that he was injured the day after I returned to Karen State. He and an Iraqi Army officer were confronted by four IS fighters. His hand was injured but his condition now is good.

How did you and assist and how did Iraqi civilians respond to you?

We delivered water, food and clothes and provided healthcare. We also provided reports based on our experience there for the international community. Civilians and Iraqi Army officers were appreciative.

This interview was edited for clarity and brevity.

The post FBR Medic: 'It Was a Great Privilege to Be Able to Help' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Karen State Ma Ba Tha Chapter Keeps Name Despite State Sangha Ban

Posted: 12 Jun 2017 04:07 AM PDT

YANGON — The Karen State chapter of the Buddhist nationalist Association for Protection of Race and Religion—known as Ma Ba Tha—will continue to use the name, despite a ban by the State Buddhist Sangha authority.

The state Buddhist Sangha authority—known as Ma Ha Na—on May 23 banned the nationalist organization from operating under its current name and also ordered that all signs bearing the name be taken down across the country by July.

Members of the Karen State Ma Ba Tha chapter, however, decided to continue using the name at a meeting on Sunday.

"This is not in opposition to Ma Ha Na. We've looked into its legality and decided to continue using the name as it is not against the law," said a Ma Ba Tha monk from Karen State.

The Karen State chapter released a statement on Sunday stating that the name does not go against Sangha organizational laws or procedures and that it conforms to the 2008 Constitution and the 2014 Association Registration Law.

Senior monks from the Buddha Dhamma Charity Foundation (Central)—formerly Ma Ba Tha (Central)—attended the meeting and said they respected the decision.

Dr. Sopaka, a leader of the Buddha Dhamma Charity Foundation (Central), said: "Though Ma Ba Tha (Central) has decided to go by Buddha Dhamma Charity Foundation, it does not instruct all chapters to change their names. We have no comment on this decision."

In the statement released on Sunday, Karen State's Ma Ba Tha chapter said it would follow the guidelines of the Buddha Dhamma Charity Foundation and also cooperate with Dhamma Wunthanu Rakhita, other charity groups, and all nationalist forces.

Ma Ha Na has said any monk who breaches its ban would be punished under Sangha law and any layperson would be referred to the Home Affairs Ministry for prosecution.

Ma Ba Tha on May 20 rebranded itself as the Buddha Dhamma Charity Foundation following Ma Ha Na's ban.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Karen State Ma Ba Tha Chapter Keeps Name Despite State Sangha Ban appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

U Wirathu Claims Facebook Blocked His Accounts

Posted: 12 Jun 2017 02:17 AM PDT

Myanmar's ultranationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu claimed Facebook temporarily shut down his account in a video shared on another Facebook account last Friday.

"On May 31 [Facebook] said they would shut down the account for a month, after sending a report," he said, adding that he had not posted anything that violated Facebook policy.

A screenshot of Friday's video displayed a report sent by Facebook saying the account was temporarily blocked for 30 days as the account holder had repeatedly made posts, which were not allowed on Facebook.

The account had almost 400,000 followers.

"I did not write the names of people on my Facebook," said the firebrand monk in the video. "I did not post any personal attacks, I only wrote simple things, but they shut it down," he said.

U Wirathu, a prominent member of ultranationalist organization Ma Ba Tha known for his anti-Muslim hate speech, spuriously accused Facebook of falling under the control of Muslims.

Another of his accounts under the name Ma Soe Yein Wira Thu in Myanmar language with 70,000 followers was allegedly also shut down.

"I got a report saying they would close it for a week. But, I found later that they destroyed it completely," he said in the video.

The National League for Democracy-led government has sought to curb hate speech by U Wirathu and other Ma Ba Tha members. In March, the Buddhist authority State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, known as Ma Ha Na, banned U Wirathu from delivering sermons across the country for one year.

Last month, Ma Ha Na imposed restrictions on Ma Ba Tha, banning the organization from operating under its current name and ordering that their signboards be taken down across the country by July.

It was the second blow by the Buddhist cleric authority after its announcement last year that Ma Ba Tha was not a "lawful monks' association" as "it was not formed in accordance with the country's monastic rules."

Late last month, Facebook seemed to impose a ban on the word "kala," which originally was used to describe those of South Asian descent but has increasingly been used as a derogatory term for Muslims.

The post U Wirathu Claims Facebook Blocked His Accounts appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Dengue Fever Outbreak Claims 8 Lives in Yangon

Posted: 12 Jun 2017 12:00 AM PDT

YANGON — Yangon Division is experiencing the most fatal dengue fever outbreak since 2010, according to the division's public health department.

So far this year, 1,477 dengue cases have been recorded in the division—of which eight were fatal.

"There are more urban areas [than rural areas] in Yangon Division. And fatality is higher in urban areas," said Dr. Khin Nan Lone of the public health department at its press conference on dengue on Saturday.

"There is no cure for the disease, so it is important that the patient is sent to the hospital in time. The disease can be fatal in one in every 100 infected, even if they are sent to the hospital in time," she added.

In 2010, 906 cases were recorded in Yangon Division; six were fatal. In 2011, 102 cases were recorded; 117 cases in 2012; 1,014 cases, including five fatal cases, in 2013; 456 cases, including three fatal cases, in 2014; 968 cases, including six fatal cases, in 2015; and 280 cases in 2016, of which four were fatal.

"Mosquitoes have bred a lot this year. Now, there is no place in the country where dengue fever does not break out," said Dr. Khin Nan Lone, referring to Chin State, which only reported two cases last year.

The government usually conducts spraying campaigns in residential wards during the rainy season in urban areas, but community-level efforts are critical to preventing the disease as mosquitoes breed in clear water, she said.

"Mosquito spray only lasts for an hour, and mosquitoes are now resistant to spray. Some countries no longer use spray as at it can cause breathing problems," she added.

Yellow fever mosquitoes—aedes aegypti­—are mainly responsible for dengue fever, which tends to be found in places where there is a large population, standing water, and poor sanitation.

The disease includes common symptoms such as a few days of fever, headache, muscle pain and joint pain, and sometimes a rash. Children are more vulnerable to the disease.

Dr. Win Lwin, head of the division's public health department, urged ward authorities to encourage residents to clear the bushes and ponds that collect rainwater in their wards.

"The best prevention is to get rid of them at the larval stage," he stressed.

According to figures from the public health department, the outbreak has been highest in the heavily populated Hlinetharyar Township, with more than 200 cases this year, followed by South Dagon, Dala, East Dagon, and Twante, with about 100 cases each.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Dengue Fever Outbreak Claims 8 Lives in Yangon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Forgotten Frontier

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 11:30 PM PDT

SS Khaplang, the Naga rebel leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), passed away at age 77 last Friday, according to the Council of Naga Affairs (CNA) based in Zingkaling, Hkamti in Sagaing region, northwest Myanmar.

The Irrawaddy revisits this article from Nov. 2014 about rebel groups in Myanmar's remote frontiers.

There is no shortage of coverage in local as well as regional media of the ongoing armed conflict in Myanmar's Kachin State in the north, the activities of the heavily armed United Wa State Army (UWSA) in the northeast or the still volatile situation in areas of Kayin State along the border with Thailand. However, hardly a word is written about the host of armed rebel groups that are active in some of the country's wildest and most remote mountain ranges which form the more than 1,600 kilometer-long border with India. Yet, this is where the rivalry between Myanmar's two mighty neighbors, India and China, has often played out and where there is potential for even more trouble in the future.

In the mid-1950s, a rebellion broke out among ethnic Naga tribesmen in India's northeast. Being a predominantly Christian tribe of Mongol stock, they did not feel that they belonged to India and demanded independence. Not surprisingly, they received support from India's arch-enemy Pakistan and training facilities were provided in what was then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. But more significantly, much more aid came from China.

In 1959, the Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising against the Chinese who had invaded his homeland, Tibet. Asia's two giants were on a collision course and, three years later, China attacked India and a short but fierce war was fought along a disputed border in India's northeast.

From 1967-76, nearly 1,000 Naga rebels trekked from northeast India through northern Myanmar to China, where they received military training. They were sent back to India equipped with assault rifles, light machine-guns, rocket launchers and other modern Chinese weapons. The Naga were escorted by rebels from the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which, in return for their services, kept some of the Chinese weapons.

Various other insurgent groups in India's northeast also sought Chinese assistance. In the early 1970s, about 200 Mizo rebels—a tribe then fighting for self-determination in what is now the state of Mizoram—were trained in China; in 1976, a group of insurgents from the Indian state of Manipur made it to Tibet, where they received political training and some military instruction; and in the late 1980s, rebels from the state of Assam attempted to reach China through northern Myanmar, but ended up staying in areas controlled by the KIA—which trained some of them in guerrilla warfare.

It was clear the rebellions in India's northeast were not solely an internal affair and that Myanmar, the land in the middle of the two regional powers, would inevitably be drawn in. This became even more evident in the 1970s when the Indian army managed to drive the Naga rebels out of their bases on the Indian side of the border. They regrouped in the rugged Naga Hills of the northern Sagaing Region. There, beyond the reach of the Indian army, they could launch cross-border raids into India.

Myanmar's military, preoccupied with ethnic insurgencies elsewhere in the country, paid little attention to the Indian Naga who linked up with a group of Naga in Myanmar led by S.S. Khaplang. Manipuri as well as Assamese rebels also sought sanctuary on the Myanmar side of the border.

The only fall-out came in 1988 when the Naga from Myanmar, simply tired of being treated as serfs by their Indian cousins, drove them out of the area. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) then split into two factions: the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), led by Khaplang, and the National Socialist Council of NagalimIsak-Muivah (NSCN-IM), the Indian faction led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah which adopted the name Nagalim, a new term for a "greater Nagaland" encompassing the state of Nagaland as well as most of Manipur, a chunk of Assam, and the Naga Hills of Myanmar. In July 1997, the NSCN-IM entered into a ceasefire agreement with the Indian government and in 2001, the NSCN-K did the same. In April 2012, NSCN-K also struck a ceasefire deal with the Myanmar government, making it the only insurgent group to have ceasefire agreements with the governments of two sovereign states.

But none of this means that the conflicts are over. Hundreds of rebels from various outfits in Manipur as well as the once powerful United Liberation Front of Asom [Assam] (ULFA) are based at Khaplang's headquarters at Taka near the Chindwin River, north of Singkaling Hkamti in Sagaing Region. As late as December 2011, the Indian journalist Rajeev Bhattacharyya, who had trekked to Taka, observed ULFA forces taking delivery of a major consignment of weapons that most probably had been smuggled to the base from China. According to other sources, there is a booming trade in weapons acquired along the Sino-Myanmar frontier that are smuggled via Mandalay and Monywa to the Indian border. Old stocks from the UWSA's vast arsenal of weapons and other military equipment have also been found in areas along the Indo-Myanmar border.

In late 2012, it emerged that the Myanmar army had obtained Swedish-made 84mm Carl Gustaf rocket launchers most probably supplied by India and intended for use against the ULFA and other Indian insurgents. They were instead employed against the KIA and a major scandal ensued during which questions were raised in Sweden's parliament and the Indian ambassador in Stockholm was summoned by the Swedish foreign ministry for an explanation. Ultimately, India submitted a report stating that the weapons, which according to their serial numbers had been delivered by Sweden to India, had not been transferred to Myanmar through conventional channels, and New Delhi promised the Swedes that it would not happen again. For years, India has urged Myanmar to close down the camps that insurgents have established inside Myanmar's Sagaing Region, but to no avail. It is clear that fighting India's rebels is not a priority for Myanmar's military.

And China? When ULFA commander Paresh Barua is not inspecting his troops at the Taka camp, he is in China. Obtaining weapons there does not seem to be a problem. Beijing appears to reason that if India can shelter one of its main enemies, the Dalai Lama, then Barua is welcome to stay in China. The situation promises to become even more entangled as the NSCN-IM continues to express frustration over the direction that 17-year-long negotiations with Indian authorities are headed. Barred from entering Khaplang's area, NSCN-IM cadres in October this year were reported to have been scouting the hills east of Manipur for potential new sanctuaries in anticipation of a breakdown in talks.

New Delhi, of course, wants to see peace established along its entire border with Myanmar so it can implement its so-called "Look East Policy"—aimed at linking India with the booming economies of Southeast Asia. Myanmar's Wild West may be almost forgotten in today's discussions about the country's ethnic issues, but the number of armed groups in the area with conflicting agendas makes it the country's messiest frontier.

The post The Forgotten Frontier appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

More Bodies Recovered from Crashed Military Plane

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 11:24 PM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar rescuers have recovered the bodies of about half of the 122 people who were on board a military plane that went missing after it crashed into the Andaman Sea last week, the army said on Monday.

The Chinese-made Y-8-200F transport plane crashed into the sea last Wednesday when it was carrying 122 soldiers, family members and crew on a weekly flight from several coastal towns to Myanmar's largest city, Yangon.

The number of bodies retrieved so far rose to 62 on Monday as the hunt for the plane stretched into a sixth day, the military said on its official Facebook page. Nine children were among those found.

While the cause of the incident has yet to be confirmed, Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing said on Sunday there was "a very big cloud" near the plane crash site, according to his official Facebook page.

He did not elaborate.

"The crashed plane was expected to be found soon as it crashed in the country's territory and some evidences were collected," he said.

Myanmar authorities had rejected offers of help from several countries including China, the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar said on Sunday.

Some bodies pulled from the waters off Myanmar's southern coast were cremated last week as relatives and friends mourned the identified victims in the coastal town of Dawei.

Aircraft accidents, involving both civilian and military planes, are not uncommon in the Southeast Asian country.

A military helicopter crashed last June, killing three military personnel. Five were killed in February last year when an air force aircraft crashed in the capital, Naypyitaw, media reports said

The post More Bodies Recovered from Crashed Military Plane appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Four Arrested as Police, Hired Heavies Clear Squatters in Yangon

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 10:59 PM PDT

YANGON—Police arrested four men and one woman on Monday morning for resisting the eviction of five villages on Ministry of Construction-owned land near a tollgate on the Yangon-Naypyitaw Highway in Hlegu Township.

In the first forced eviction by the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government, nearly 200 police troops and 700 hired civilian reinforcements armed with clubs, swords and axes were deployed Monday morning to clear nearly 20,000 houses.

Police Brig-Gen Mya Win, who was on the ground, told The Irrawaddy that anyone hostile to authorities would be arrested. A number of police vans were parked beside the highway.

According to the director general of the Housing Department, U Yu Khaing, the area is owned by the government and slated for development by the Housing Department and the Ministry of Construction.

"We can't say exactly when the development will be started, but it will begin soon after eviction and demolition," he said.

The area was first bulldozed in 2015 to evict squatters.

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The post Four Arrested as Police, Hired Heavies Clear Squatters in Yangon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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