Monday, August 28, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Muslim Community Condemns Rakhine Violence

Posted: 28 Aug 2017 07:17 AM PDT

YANGON — Muslim leaders in Myanmar have condemned the violence in northwestern Rakhine that erupted on Friday, urging the government to support all victims in the conflict area.

Al Haj U Aye Lwin, chief convener for the Islamic Center of Myanmar, said the government must find those behind attacks in Maungdaw Township and "take serious action against them."

"Killing civilians is terrorism," Al Haj U Aye Lwin, who is also a member of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, told The Irrawaddy on Monday. "There are innocent people on both sides who need help urgently."

The help, he added, must include protection and basic needs.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) claimed Friday's attacks on the 30 police posts and an army base in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships.

The government reported at least 104 deaths, the vast majority militants, plus 12 members of security forces and several civilians.

The State Counselor's Office labeled ARSA a terrorist organization and accused them of targeting civilians, including six members of a Hindu family—three of them children—who were shot dead in northern Maungdaw on Saturday.

Thousands of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists are fleeing the area and Reuters reported that the UN and other aid groups were moving staff out of the area on Sunday.

 Lawyer and human rights defender U Robert San Aung told The Irrawaddy on Monday: "There are two sides—terrorists and victims. This is not a racial or religious issue, all the people should cooperate with each other for the enforcement of law."

"The government's operation should set a good example of how to handle problems—showing the will to separate terrorists and innocent people," he said.

Ko Aung Ko Ko, director of Myanmar Islam youth group MOSAIC Myanmar, denounced the violence and warned that groups could exploit the conflict. "Both communities have been affected by the terrorists' violence."

He stressed that the government, civil society groups, and the media had a responsibility to protect people from misinformation.

Former UN secretary-general and chair of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State Kofi Annan denounced the attacks in a statement released on Friday and urged the security forces to exercise restraint.

"As Chair of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State I am gravely concerned by, and strongly condemn, the recent attacks in Rakhine State. I am saddened to hear of the loss of life of members of the security forces."

"No cause can justify such brutality and senseless killing," the statement said, adding that the perpetrators must be held to account.

The attacks occurred just one day after the advisory commission finished its year-long mandate to advise the Myanmar government on long-term solutions for the ethnically and religiously divided Rakhine State.

In its final report, the commission recommended holding the Myanmar Army to account on accusations of human rights abuses and encouraged all communities to reject violence.

Al Haj U Aye Lwin urged the government to implement the commission's recommendations, saying it could help "build peace and harmony in Rakhine State."

The post Muslim Community Condemns Rakhine Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Urgent Rakhine Proposal Blocked in Lower House

Posted: 28 Aug 2017 06:10 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Lower House Speaker U Win Myint blocked an urgent proposal by the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) regarding Rakhine State on Monday.

USDP lawmaker from Zayarthiri Township U Hla Htay Win, who was formerly the Chief of the General Staff (Army, Navy and Air) of the Myanmar Army, planned to put forward a proposal to the Lower House to condemn the "brutal terrorist acts in Maungdaw that threaten sovereignty of the State, rule of law and regional stability." Lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe of the Arakan National Party (ANP) representing Rakhine State's Buthidaung Township planned to second his proposal.

"U Hla Htay Win planned to submit an urgent proposal to denounce the terrorist acts and I planned to second him. But, the parliamentary speaker didn't allow the proposal to be submitted," U Aung Thaung Shwe told The Irrawaddy.

He suggested that Parliament push for declaring a state of emergency in Maungdaw.

"There is a need for a military administration and a state of emergency. There is no civil administration now. Administration has collapsed along with the rule of law," he said.

On Friday, USDP lawmaker U Thaung Aye also made an unsuccessful attempt to submit an urgent proposal to the Union Parliament following an outbreak of attacks in Maungdaw.

U Hla Htay Win, who views the unrest in Maungdaw as a threat to national security, told reporters on June 29 that the National League for Democracy (NLD) government was not doing enough to address the instability in Maungdaw.

Following coordinated attacks by Rohingya insurgents on 30 police outposts in Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Rathedaung townships on Friday morning, the government has branded the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) a terrorist organization.

Thousands of Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist civilians have fled the area as the worst violence the region has seen in years continues. More than 100 people have been killed in the attacks since Friday.

The post Urgent Rakhine Proposal Blocked in Lower House appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

ICG Warns Heavy-Handed Military Response Could Abet ARSA in Rakhine

Posted: 28 Aug 2017 05:58 AM PDT

YANGON — The International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned that a disproportionate government military response without any overarching political strategy will play directly into the hands of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which continues to commit deadly attacks in northern Rakhine State.

ARSA claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks on 30 police outposts and an army base—killing 12 security personnel—and sending both Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine fleeing their homes.

The Myanmar government promptly denounced ARSA as a terrorist organization and on Sunday reported it had targeted civilians.

In a statement released on Monday, the Belgium-based transnational NGO that carries out field research to prevent and resolve conflict said ARSA was well aware that their latest attacks were likely to provoke a strong military response and a political backlash—as they did in 2016—which will greatly harm Rohingya.

"That almost certainly is its aim. Despite its claim that it is "protecting" the Rohingya, it knows that it is provoking the security forces into a heavy-handed military response, hoping that this will further alienate Rohingya communities, drive support for ARSA, and place the spotlight of the world back on military abuses in northern Rakhine State," the statement said.

While suggesting the government quickly addresses legitimate Rakhine and Rohingya security concerns, the ICG also suggests that if the military response is not to entrench worsening cycles of violence, it must respect the principle of proportionality and distinguish between insurgents and Rohingya civilians.

"It must provide protection to all civilians caught up in or fleeing the fighting. And it must provide unfettered access to humanitarian agencies and media to affected areas, lest it contribute to a dangerous, violent polarization, increase alienation and despair, and enable provocative misinformation to take hold," it said.

U Maung Maung Soe, a Yangon-based conflict and ethnic affairs observer, said he welcomed the ICG warning on the military's response.

"How [the military] takes action is important," he said, mentioning that he had heard reports the terrorist group was using women and children as human shields during confrontations with security forces.

"It's hard for the security forces…If there is no response, there will be more violence out there," he told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

He said if all the ethnic Rakhine people fled the area due to the violent attacks, the ARSA would be the winner.

"So, action must be taken very carefully," he said. "To do so, the government and the military have to be on the same page to tackle the issue on both local and international fronts."

The ICG said the current crisis was neither unpredicted nor unpreventable. The anti-Muslim violence of 2012, and the emergence of a new insurgent group last year were both clear signals that the volatile dynamics of Rakhine State urgently needed a political—not just a military—response to address the concerns of all communities in the state.

"Yet the Myanmar government has not moved quickly or decisively enough to remedy the deep, years-long policy failures that are leading some Muslims in Rakhine state to take up violence," the statement says.

The statement also urges the government to implement the recommendations outlined in the recently-released Kofi Annan-led advisory commission's report on Rakhine State, which was welcomed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy-led government.

"The recent attacks have created a far more difficult political context for the government to implement these recommendations, but have also reinforced the urgency of doing so," the ICG says.

The statement also warned that the impact of failing to address the roots of the crisis will not fall only on Rakhine State but on Myanmar as a whole.

"The deepening crisis in Rakhine State threatens to sweep aside all other priorities as it will continue to dominate both domestic debate and international engagement with Myanmar," it says.

The post ICG Warns Heavy-Handed Military Response Could Abet ARSA in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Mon State Dismisses Seven Administrators

Posted: 28 Aug 2017 03:19 AM PDT

MAWLAMYINE — Mon State government has dismissed seven ward and village administrators since March and is investigating a further 31 more for selling communal land among other misconducts, said a state government director.

"Administrators have authority and responsibilities enshrined in ward and village tract administration law. They have overstepped their authority, and they were dismissed for this," said Mon government office director U Myint Than Win.

Out of the seven dismissed administrators, three are from Paung, three from Kyaikto, and one from Chaungzon. Questioning has been completed on administrators from Mudon and Mawlamyine—two of the 31 currently being investigated—and their possible dismissal is being considered, added U Myint Than Win.

Former Mon State chief minister U Min Min Oo, who resigned in February "to live in peace," also issued warnings to the Mudon and Mawlamyine administrators for their alleged wrongdoings, according to U Myint Than Win.

One of the dismissed administrators from Paung Township was involved in settling a lawsuit in a child rape case; the victim was paid seven million kyats in compensation, and another two administrators sold communal land in their villages, according to a Paung resident who asked for anonymity.

From April 1, 2015 to the last week of August, 2017, the state parliamentary committee tasked with handling complaints received about 500 objections—more than 60 percent concerning land issues.

"Village administrators sold the vacant land in plots for so-called village funds, and managed the funds. Many of the complaints are concerned with this. Again, administrators demanded money from both buyers and sellers in the sale of land plots. There are also many complaints regarding this," said U Aung Kyaw Thu, chairman of the parliamentary committee.

In May, Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan told township administrators to ask ward and village administrators not to become involved in land dealings, according to Thein Zayat ward administrator U Soe Thet Oo of Kyaikto Township.

In his inaugural address on March 1, the chief minister vowed to fight corruption and drug dealings in the state.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Pope to Visit Myanmar, Bangladesh Amid Rohingya Crisis

Posted: 28 Aug 2017 03:00 AM PDT

ROME — Pope Francis plans to visit Myanmar and Bangladesh in late November and early December, two countries caught up in a crisis over the Rohingya Muslim minority.

The Vatican, confirming an earlier Reuters report, said on Monday he would visit Myanmar from Nov. 27 to 30, stopping in commercial capital Yangon and administrative capital Naypyitaw. He will visit the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

The announcement came hours after Bangladesh border guards pushed back thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing the worst violence in Myanmar in five years, with 104 people killed.

In February, Francis issued a stinging criticism of the treatment of Myanmar's Rohingya community, saying they had been tortured and killed simply because they wanted to keep their culture and Muslim faith.

Around 1.1 million Rohingya live in Myanmar's Rakhine State, but are denied citizenship and face severe travel restrictions. Many Buddhists across Myanmar regard them as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

The post Pope to Visit Myanmar, Bangladesh Amid Rohingya Crisis appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan Conducts Survey to Revive Dawei SEZ

Posted: 28 Aug 2017 02:12 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Japan is surveying to revive the long-delayed Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project, deputy commerce minister U Aung Htoo said on Monday.

"Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is conducting a master plan survey. The Dawei project has been delayed for various reasons, but the current government is encouraging the resumption of the project with fresh momentum," said the deputy minister in response to a question from Ye Township lawmaker U Thet Naing Oo in the Lower House.

"The project is big, but I've heard there have been many delays. Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand hope to come back if this project resumes. People want to know when exactly that could happen," U Thet Naing Oo said.

Dawei local U Lay Lwin questioned the electricity supply for the project as Dawei residents have to pay 210 kyats – five times more than average prices in Yangon – per unit of electricity from private power suppliers.

"Various groups, including some from Japan, have visited the site but no more progress has been made. I'll wait and see what happens because my land is part of the project area," U Lay Lwin told The Irrawaddy.

The Dawei SEZ project office. / Htet Naing Zaw/The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar and Thailand formed a joint task force comprised of representatives from the National Economic and Social Development Board and the Fiscal Policy Office of Thailand and Myanmar to supervise implementation of the initial phase of the project.

"The task force will review the initial works from various perspectives and complete the works on schedule," said the deputy minister.

Thailand and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop the billion-dollar Dawei Special Economic Zone in 2008, and expected to complete it in 2015.

Myanmar initially granted Italian-Thai Development PCL (ITD) a 75-year concession to develop the project in 2008. But the project has been suspended since 2013 and construction on the project has been minimal due to funding shortfalls.

In 2015, Japan joined as a third equal partner in the project, but new delays arose when Japan called for modifications to the original drafts. Meanwhile, there is also local opposition to the project for environmental concerns and issues of land compensation.

There is local opposition to the project for environmental concerns. /Htet Naing Zaw/The Irrawaddy.

According to a new, 2015 plan by ITD, the initial phase will include the construction of 160-kilometer road to the Thai-Burmese border, as well as the construction of a small port, reservoir, telecoms network and other basic infrastructure within five years.

The Dawei SEZ was the first proposed SEZ in Myanmar, located some 17 miles northwest of Dawei in Tanintharyi Region.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Thousands of Panic-stricken Civilians Flee Fighting in Rakhine

Posted: 28 Aug 2017 12:33 AM PDT

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Thousands of fearful Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist civilians fled the worst fighting to grip Myanmar's northwest in five years, with 104 people killed and the United Nations and international aid groups forced to pull out some staff.

The mass escape from the northern part of Rakhine state was triggered by widespread coordinated offensives by Rohingya attackers wielding sticks, knives and homemade bombs in attacks on Friday on 30 police posts and an army base.

The violence marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered in the region since last October, when a similar but much smaller Rohingya attack prompted a brutal military response dogged by allegations of human rights abuses.

The treatment of about 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya in mainly Buddhist Myanmar has emerged as the biggest challenge for national leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has condemned the attacks and commended the security forces.

The Nobel peace laureate has been accused by some Western critics of not speaking out for the long-persecuted Muslim minority, and of defending the army's counteroffensive after the October attacks.

Thousands of Rohingya—mostly women and children—fleeing the violence sought to ford the Naf river separating Myanmar and Bangladesh and cross the land border.

Some of the refugees who had escaped previous pogroms in Myanmar said Bangladeshi police had warned them not to help the new arrivals.

"They told us, 'If anyone gives them shelter, we will arrest you and send you to the other side. So, out of fear, we are not allowing any newcomers," Mohammad Yunus, a Rohingya Muslim, said in a makeshift refugee camp near the border.

Despite these measures, about 2,000 people have been able to cross into Bangladesh since Friday, according to estimates by Rohingya refugees living in the makeshift camps in Bangladesh.

At the no-man's land between the two countries, Reuters reporters saw dozens of Rohingya women, most wearing the all-enveloping burqa, seated in a cramped area under a few black plastic sheets shielding them from the harsh sun.

Gunfire rang out on the Myanmar side of the border on Saturday and Sunday.

For years, the Rohingya have endured apartheid-like conditions in northwestern Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship and face severe travel restrictions. Many Myanmar Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Afraid of Swords

In Myanmar, the UN and international aid agencies withdrew some staff from the area, after the government said it was investigating whether members of aid groups had been involved in an alleged siege by the insurgents of a village in August.

The state has provided security to aid workers, but "with this kind of situation, no one can fully guarantee safety," said Nyi Pu, chief minister of Rakhine state.

"If they want to stay, we will give security as best as we can. If they don't want to stay, due to their safety concerns, and want to leave, we told them that we will help them," he added.

The military reported several weekend clashes involving hundreds of Rohingya insurgents across northern Rakhine state.

"Extremist terrorists blew out improvised bombs, set fire to villages and attacked the police outposts in Maungtaw," the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar daily said on Monday, referring to a major regional town.

The government reported at least 104 deaths, the vast majority militants, plus 12 members of security forces and several civilians.

The government urged Rohingya civilians to cooperate with security forces, assuring those with without ties to the militants they would not be affected.

It has declared the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which instigated the October attacks and claimed responsibility for the latest offensive, a terrorist organization.

The government's allegations were baseless, the group said in a statement on Monday, seeking to present its cause as a defense of Rohingya rights.

North Rakhine state is populated mostly by Rohingya Muslims. Thousands of non-Muslim villagers were being evacuated to lasrger towns, monasteries and police stations, the government said. Many were arming themselves with knives and sticks for fear of attacks.

"We are afraid of swords because they attack people with swords," said Than Aye, a 65-year-old villager fleeing the township of Buthidaung for Sittwe, the state capital.

"That's why we are fleeing from there, as we are afraid of them. I haven't slept well at night."

The post Thousands of Panic-stricken Civilians Flee Fighting in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kachin’s Natural Resources: A Curse More Than a Blessing

Posted: 27 Aug 2017 06:24 PM PDT

On June 5, Myanmar Army helicopters dropped leaflets over parts of Tanai in western Kachin State, ordering residents to leave by June 15 or risk being "considered as cooperating with the terrorist group KIA [Kachin Independence Army]."

Soon after, the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, launched offensives against the KIA in the amber and gold-rich area. The build-up and fighting forced thousands of local and domestic migrants who had been working there for years to flee; many of the displaced are now staying at temporary shelters provided by churches in Tanai town.

Then, on August 4, military representative Maj Hlaing Phyu proposed in the Kachin State parliament making Tanai (also known locally as Hukawng) an environmentally protected area, an anti-mining indictment that would essentially drive the KIA from the territory. He argued the KIA had benefited through taxes from illegal mining whereas the state government had lost revenues. His proposal was rejected, however, after receiving 20 votes for and 29 against.

Ten days later, Tatmadaw representatives assigned to Parliament reiterated its policy to protect the resource-rich territory in Tanai and attack the KIA in line with the 2008 Constitution—without need for approval from the government, they said.

The region they are contesting—Tanai—is rich with natural resources, including lucrative pieces of amber resin, some of which comprise extraordinary treasures such as a dinosaur-era cockroach and a 100-million-year-old damselfly.

A Curse

Jade, gold, amber, timber, and iron can all be salvaged in Kachin, potentially generating millions of dollars. Are these natural resources a blessing? Of course, if they are properly managed.

Regrettably, Kachin is faced with what scholars call the "resource curse," an abundance of natural riches that draw trouble rather than advantage. In essence, countries with great natural resources tend to be more impoverished—or at least to grow more slowly—than resource-poor countries. Kachin proves the theory: people live in abject poverty among a land of profitable reserves.

In Hpakant Township, for example, where millions of dollars worth of jade has been unearthed, locals are denied direct access to mining because large companies control the plots.

A 2015 Global Witness investigation reported that the families of senior military figures Than Shwe, Maung Maung Thein and Ohn Myint hold multiple concessions on jade production which between them generated pre-tax sales of US$220 million at the 2014 jade emporium (the official government jade sale), and US$67 million at the 2013 emporium.

Likewise, many gold, amber, iron mines, and logging enterprises are under the control of joint ventures, militias, the Border Guard Force (BGF), and ethnic armed groups. Arguably, only people who are linked with these groups can benefit from natural resource extraction. Many locals of these areas sell vegetables, work in fisheries, and hunt for their livelihoods.

Ceasefire Capitalism  

Kachin has several armed groups, including the Tatmadaw, KIA and its political wing the Kachin Independence Organization, as well as a BGF, and militia groups Lasang Aung Wah and Danggu Dang, also known as the Rebellion Resistance Force. There is also a militia of ethnic Lisu, and the Red Shan (Shanni) Army. The groups are all believed to hold business assets—particularly involving natural resource extraction—in their territories.

During the ceasefire era, the military regime allowed ethnic armed groups to do business, an act leading to so-called "ceasefire capitalism." Northern Command commanders wielding considerable power selectively dispensed licenses, permits and business opportunities.

The KIO ran the business conglomerate the Buga Company Limited, which allegedly bought Namti sugar factory from the military government for an estimated 200 million kyats (US$150,000) according to Hpauwung Tang Gun, former Administration Officer of Namti Sugar Factory.

Other armed groups like the National Democratic Army-Kachin (NDAK), which formed into the BGF in 2009, reportedly extracted molybdenum in Pangwah, and militia groups such as Lasang Aung Wah and Danggu Dang reportedly logged timber.

The leaders of these groups were co-opted into new patronage networks exploiting the natural resources of land they controlled with the help of Chinese businessmen, according to the 2014 Journal of Contemporary Asia's "The Political Economy of Myanmar's Transition" by Lee Jones.

Economic Institutions

Economic institutions shape the incentives of key actors in society. They not only determine the collective growth of an economy, but also how the pie is divided among different groups and individuals, now and in the future.

Natural resources should, of course, be distributed equally among citizens, and not just benefit so-called "cronies," military generals, militias, armed groups and the BGF.

Without economic institutions, a country may face what is called "rentier effects" in which the state derives a substantial portion of its revenues from the rent of indigenous resources to external clients. The revenues reduce the need for the government to tax the population, which may hinder the development of a representative political system.

Low-taxed citizens may then soften on holding the government to account, in turn decreasing the pressure to improve the quality of an institution. In a nutshell, when the government raises taxes, citizens demand more accountability.

Economic institutions must manage the allocation of natural resources. But effective institutions are not possible in the vast territories of Myanmar without a federalist system that ensures equal rights and opportunities.

Therefore, the Tatmadaw's clearance operations against the KIA in order to control resource-laden land will fail to bring additional revenues to the state without effective institutions. Instead, they will lead to further casualties and produce more displaced people that nobody wants to help anymore.

Joe Kumbun is the pseudonym of a Kachin State-based analyst.

The post Kachin's Natural Resources: A Curse More Than a Blessing appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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