Tuesday, April 10, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Six Myanmar Factory Workers Killed in Bus Crash in Thailand

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 08:15 AM PDT

TAK, Thailand — Six people were killed and 17 were injured when a double-decker bus carrying Myanmar factory workers veered off a highway and overturned in Thailand's Tak province late on Monday night. The crash occurred in Muang district of Tak, which borders Myanmar's Kayin State.

Of the injured, "about five" were in serious condition, according to first responders.

The accident occurred on Highway 12 (Tak-Mae Sot) at Ban Mae Ta in tambon Mae Thor, near the Myanmar border.

All 52 passengers on the chartered bus operated by Jongjaroen Capital Co. were workers recently arrived from Myanmar. They were heading for a factory in Plaeng Yao district of Chachoengsao province near Bangkok.

The bus smashed into a concrete guardrail on Doi Ruak mountain and overturned into a roadside ditch.

Rescue workers used hydraulic jacks to free the injured from the wreckage. They were taken to Somdejphrajaotaksin Maharaj Hospital in Tak's Muang district.

Police identified the bus driver as Pisit Tanapakpasit, 40. He was unhurt.

The bus left Mae Sot district on the Myanmar border at about 8.10pm on Monday. It ran off the highway on a steep, winding downhill section at about 10.50pm. The stretch of road is notorious for accidents.

Police quoted the driver as saying he was unable to slow the bus down using the brakes. He tried to use the guardrail to slow down, but to no avail. The bus plunged off the road and into a concrete-lined ditch about five meters off the highway.

The accident happened about 5 km from the spot where another double-decker bus caught fire and killed 20 Myanmar workers at the end of last month.

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State Counselor Orders that Myaungmya Bridge Be Rebuilt Within a Year

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 06:33 AM PDT

PATHEIN—State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has given local authorities one year to replace the collapsed bridge linking Myaungmya and Labutta townships with Irrawaddy Region's capital, Pathein.

The State Counselor visited the site of the bridge, which collapsed earlier this month, after attending peace talks with locals in Myaungmya on Tuesday morning.

"The State Counselor instructed that the bridge should be completed within one year. She wants to resolve the transportation difficulties that people are facing as soon as possible. We will therefore adjust the original design and build a steel truss structure. We promised her we would complete it within one year," Irrawaddy Region Transport Minister U Win Htay told The Irrawaddy.

Two people in a truck died when the bridge collapsed on April 1. The Ministry of Construction released a statement a few days later saying that the collapse was due to a design flaw in the bridge.

Bridges in Myanmar are examined twice a year for maintenance and measures have been taken by the Ministry of Construction to prevent the collapse of any other suspension bridges, the ministry said in a statement.

The bridge was opened to the public on March 27, 1996, and collapsed after 22 years of service.

Last year, Parliament approved Myaungmya Township lawmaker Dr. Soe Moe Thu's proposal to build a new bridge in Myaungmya at a cost of over 6 billion kyats. The lawmaker said the bridge had suffered structural damage as a result of overweight aid convoys crossing the bridge in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

Construction of a new bridge started in December and was originally scheduled for completion in 2020. Before then the regional government will arrange large boats for travelers and vehicles.

So far, the regional government has arranged for two big boats to carry cars across the river, but passengers have had to wait for hours because of the large number of passenger and cargo vehicles crossing the river.

"Passenger buses from Labutta, which leave there early in the morning, have to wait for the whole day in Myaumgmya to get to the other side of the river. Ferry operators are allowing passenger buses from Myaungmya to jump the queue. I would like to urge the regional government to systematize the ferry service," U Khin Maung Win, chairman of the White Hearts social organization based in Labutta, told The Irrawaddy.

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Union Minister to Tour Refugee Camps on Visit to Bangladesh

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 06:11 AM PDT

YANGON— Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U Win Myat Aye will inspect Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh during a two-day official trip, the first such visit from a senior member of the Union government.

"I will meet directly with those in the camps. I heard they are not receiving the truth about what we are doing. So I will meet them and tell them what we have done and are doing," U Win Myat Aye said.

The minister, who is also the head of the government's Implementation Committee for Recommendations on Rakhine State and deputy head of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, said the visit was proposed by the Myanmar side to discuss the delayed repatriation process with Bangladeshi officials.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to begin the repatriation on Jan. 23. But as of today, not a single refugee has been returned.

U Win Myat Aye said Myanmar had approved about 750 refugees from a list of more than 8,000 that Bangladesh provided in February for Myanmar to check their backgrounds prior to their return.

"We will discuss how we can start the repatriation immediately. It will be quick if the process is carried out as per the bilateral agreement," U Win Myat Aye said.

"If the negotiations with Bangladesh go well, the repatriation can start immediately," he added.

Despite the government's repeated claim that it is ready to start taking back some of the almost 700,000 Rohingya who have fled the country, the UN's assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Ursula Mueller, said the country is not ready to handle the return of the refugees, after completing a six-day visit to Myanmar earlier this week.

U Win Myat Aye said he did not want to respond to her comments.

"Only with cooperation with what we are doing will the repatriation succeed. But things that could cause hesitation are not good. I think cooperation is more important," he said.

Other members from the Union Enterprise, interfaith leaders and officials will also join the team.

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Govt, Karenni Armed Group Agree to Formal Talks

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 05:25 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The government and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) say they have agreed to hold formal talks to improve relations later this month in Loikaw, the capital of Karenni State.

Both sides told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that they agreed to start the two-day summit on either April 23 or 24 during an informal meeting in Loikaw on Friday between the KNPP's Peace Implementation Committee and the government's Peace Commission.

KNPP liaison officer Khu Nyay Reh said Friday’s meeting included discussion of portions of the bilateral agreements they signed in 2012 and 2013 that have yet to be fulfilled.

During an informal meeting in Yangon in March, they discussed joint ceasefire monitoring, troop deployment, development of Karenni State and mining sector transparency.

Whether the KNPP decides to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) will depend on how far the government is willing to relax its terms during the formal talks, said Khu Nyay Reh, as the KNPP was presently focused on seeing the bilateral deals fully implemented.

U Hla Maung Shwe, an adviser to the government’s Peace Commission, said the formal talks would focus on the bilateral agreements and that he expected the summit to prove productive.

The KNPP is a member of the defunct United Nationalities Federal Council and led its negotiations with the government for the past two years.

Two of the council’s four members, the New Mon State Party and the Lahu Democratic Union, signed the NCA in February. The KNPP chose not to sign at the time, in part because it accuses the Myanmar army of executing some of its soldiers in December. Khu Nyay Reh said the Myanmar army, which has claimed that the soldiers were killed in a firefight, was still investigating the deaths.

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Yangon Splash Walk to Recreate Thingyan Celebrations from Different Eras

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 03:54 AM PDT

Myanmar's biggest and most popularfestival is Thingyan, the traditional New Year Water Festival, which is celebrated for four days according to the traditional Myanmar calendar. In leap years, the Thingyan festival lasts for five days.

People celebrate Thingyan in various ways, but the main feature is water throwing. People believethat Thingyan water has the power to wash away the bad habits, evil and sins of the past year.

Almost everywhere in the country during Thingyan, people party atopstructures known as pandals (or man dat) and throwwater at each other.

In Yangon, the decorated pandals are put upalong streets such as Pyay Road and Kabaraye Pagoda Road, and throughout the downtown area. Some feature traditional dance performanceswhile others stage electronic dance music (EDM) festivals.

Open-top jeeps and pick-up trucks with families and groups of friends drive by the pandals to throw water and to see the singers and dancers.

In recent years, groups of local young people have organized a different way to celebrate Thingyan: Yangon Splash Walk.

Yangon Splash Walk began in 2016.Participants walk around downtown Yangon with their own water guns, and spraying water over the crowdsof peoplewalking along the street.

About 10,000 participants in YSW 2017 walk alonga narrow roadbetween the buildings in Yangon's downtown area, splashing water on each other. (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

"Yangon Splash Walk is just a public activity that aims to revive the old feeling of the traditional Myanmar Thingyan, and we hope everyone can participate in this festival," said Kaung Sithu, a founder of the event.

"There are many pandal that are seen as trendy places to celebrateThingyan, and charge for tickets. These are fine and some youth prefer this option. But other people prefer to celebrate Thingyan as it always was. That's whyYSW was launched; we would like to revive memories of the old,polite traditional Thingyan celebration."

Yangon Splash Walk has been held on the last day of Thingyan every year since 2016,with the walks mostly located around the downtown area. Each year the event has had a different theme.

This year YSW plans to celebrate the last day of Thingyanby highlighting the way the holiday has been celebrated in different eras.

"Thingyan has been celebrated in different ways throughout Myanmar's history and we want to highlight those this year. The eras [focused on] are the Bagan, Konbaung, colonial and contemporaryeras," he said.

There'll be four stops corresponding to these eras. Each one will be decorated accordingly, with an appropriate performance. Performers at each stop will be waiting for YSW participants at each stop, wearing costumes from the era.

"It's more like a performance, because there'll be musical performancesarranged by musician Ko Diramore. I thinkit'll be fun and enjoyable, while enabling a new generation to learn how people celebrated Thingyan in those different eras. They'll be able to see what people wore and what the traditional music of the era was like,"Kaung Sithu said.

YSW groups usually walk around the downtown area, starting from Maharbandoola Park, then moving to Kyauktada Township, Bo Aung Kyaw Road, Anawrahta Road, Maharbandoola Road and Merchant Road.

A groupof people enjoyThingyan with the YSW team last year. (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

"This year, we considered walking around Tawmway Township, but we are still trying to get permission from authorities to walk around downtown. So, we will announce the venues on our Facebook page."

The first YSW drew about 3,000 people. The theme was Kaung Sithu;a team led participants around Yangon's colonial-era buildings, explaining the history of the structures along the way.

In 2017, Yangon didn't issue permits to build big pandals; EDM festivals like the Thingyan Music Festival (TMF), Wet Nation, Road to Water Zonic and so on were popular.

So, Kaung Sithu and the team headed to the narrow lanes between buildings in parts of the downtown area. That year, YSW drew about 10,000 participants, showing that the concept introduced the previous year had become a popular one. Kaung Sithu started YSW based on the idea that he wanted to bring back traditional Thingyan feelings, and open up Thingyan to many different types of people.

In 2017 Mandalay City also celebrated Thingyan by allowing people to walkaround the city and splash water, and it turned out to be a big celebration.

"I'm so happy about that, and hope more cities will celebrate the Thingyan like us, soeveryone can enjoy Thingyan and it will become a civilized traditional festival again," Kaung Sithu said.

So, what are you waiting for? If you don't have any ideas for this year's Thingyan, and don't want to go to a pandal, but still want to celebrate,go buy a water gun and check the updated information on Yangon Splash Walkat their Facebook page of the same name — and enjoy!

Happy Myanmar New Year!

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Bangladesh Struggling to Stop Rohingya From Fleeing Camps, Country

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 02:38 AM PDT

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Authorities, aid workers and refugees say despair and strife — and the fear of repatriation, or relocation to a desolate island — are driving a growing number of Rohingya to flee Bangladesh’s refugee camps, even the country, amid tightening restrictions on their movement.

Speaking with The Irrawaddy last week, a number of Bangladeshi government officials said many Rohingya were leaving the camps in search of “better living,” and that many were trying to obtain Bangladeshi passports from various regional offices of the Department of Immigration and Passports (DIP).

On Thursday, police stopped a 16-year-old Rohingya girl from a Cox’s Bazar camp at a passport office in the port city Narayanganj, about 30 km from Dhaka.

Azizul Hoque, the inspector of the Siddhirganj police station in Narayanganj, said a 55-year-old man from eastern Comilla District arrived with the girl on Wednesday and that they went to the DIP office the next day to get her a passport.

“The man introduced himself as her father and applied for her passport,” Azizul Hoque said.

But staff saw that the girl could not speak Bangla and noticed that the application had been submitted with a false address in Narayanganj District.

The inspector said the girl had come to Bangladesh after the Aug. 25 militant attacks on security posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, which triggered a massive military and police crackdown on the area’s Muslim communities. Some 700,000 Muslim Rohingya have since fled Myanmar for Bangladesh.

Police filed a case against the man under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, and a magistrate court placed him in pre-trial detention. The court also took a statement from the girl, who explaining how and why she was brought to the passport office. Police are still investigating to determine whether any other people were involved.

“The girl told us that she was arranging the passport for her travel to Saudi Arabia for a job. She was basically lured by fraudsters…. We found out that her mother is in a Cox's Bazar camp and we are trying to communicate with her to send her daughter back,” Azizul Hoque told The Irrawaddy on Saturday.

On March 3, police stopped another teenage Rohingya girl at a passport office in Rajshahi City in northern Bangladesh.

Humayun Kabir, the chief of Chandrima Police Station, told The Irrawaddy: “We could not catch the person who brought the girl here. The girl could not speak Bangla, so we could not get details about her. But she was brought here by a person from Cox's Bazar to arrange her passport. We sent the girl back to the camps in police protection.”

DIP officials told The Irrawaddy that similar incidents had occurred in Mymensingh, Noakhalia, Chittagong and elsewhere.

In Chittagong, passport officer Abu Noman Md Zakir Hossain said the DIP had a three-tier verification system and that his office had confiscated applications from 11 Rohingya who submitted forged documents in the past five-and-a-half months.

Of the 11 applicants, only two had arrived in Bangladesh since late August.

“Their main reason [for wanting passports] is to go abroad,” Abu Noman Md Zakir Hossain said. “We have been asked to tighten our verification process, and we decided that no passport will be issued without police verification.”

Cox's Bazar police authorities have foiled attempts by more than 50,000 Rohingya to flee the refugee camps since September, and 3,014 others have been sent back to Cox's Bazar from across the country.

“We rescued them and sent them to camps where they have to live under our supervision,” Cox's Bazar deputy police chief Afruzul Hoque Tutul said.

Since September, Bangladeshi authorities have set up several checkpoints in Cox's Bazar to monitor the movement of the Rohingya, but many have still managed to leave. Getting a passport in Cox's Bazar appears to be difficult — the local passport office has caught dozens of people trying to use forged documents — so some are trying their luck at DIP offices elsewhere, often using forged documents and fake addresses.

Most of those who have been caught and returned to the Cox's Bazar camps were not included in the registration process now underway under the supervision of the DIP

As of last week, the DIP had registered about 1,095,000 “forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.” Three offices in the Cox's Bazar camps are continuing the biometric registration process.

“Once the registration is completed, we will blacklist their data on the server so that none of them can get a passport or other services,” said a senior Home Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Norol Mostafa arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar in the first week of September with eight relatives. They have been trying to leave their refugee camp ever since.

Norol Mostafa told the Irrawaddy that his father and grandmother last tried to leave in February to get his grandmother medical attention for her eyes, but the police intercepted them and sent them back. '”So we are still in the camp,” he said.

Why are Rohingya Leaving the Camps?

Bangladesh Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Abul Kalam told The Irrawaddy that the reasons the refugees are leaving the camps vary from individual to individual, but that “many of them want to move freely because the camps have become suffocating for them.”

He said most of them have become dependent on aid.

A police officer and a relief worker who interact with the Rohingya refugees regularly said they believed that internal conflicts, enmity and crime are forcing many Rohingya to leave the camps and rent housing elsewhere, though police banned renting to Rohingya back in September.

Officials with Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion said they have captured 13 thieves in and around the refugee camps in Ukiya and Tekhnaf. Six of them were Rohingya who were robbing other Rohingya with the help of locals.

District police said 13 murders have taken place inside the camps since September. Investigators believe they were the result of internal feuds, disputes dating back to Myanmar or power struggles within the camps. Another 24 people have been named in arms cases.

“The Rohingya have not been given psycho-social counseling since they arrived here for the trauma they experienced,” said Abul Kashem, executive director of Help Cox's Bazar, a local charity. He said that was another reason why refugees were leaving the camps, though he added that Bangladesh was doing the best it could with its limited resources.

According to the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission, Myanmar has approved for return only 556 Rohingya from a list of 8,032 refugees provided by Bangladesh in mid-February and wants more time before the repatriations begin.

Bangladesh is meanwhile preparing a list of another 10,000 Rohingya, according to an April 1 report by the Daily Manabzamin.

Apart from repatriation, the government has tasked its navy with building cyclone shelters and to develop a 10,000-acre site on the island of Bhasanchar to relocate some of the Rohingya. A Foreign Affairs Ministry official has said the government would involve the UN in the relocation process.

Bhasanchar, which sits in the estuary of the Meghna River, is a one-hour boat ride from Sandwip, the nearest inhabited island, and two hours from Hatiya, one of the country's largest islands.

“Many of us say they do not want to return to their homeland, and no one wants to go to Bhasanchar, so they are trying to leave the camps in advance,” Syed Alam, a leader of the Kutupalong refugee camp, told The Irrawaddy.

He said Rohingya from Myanmar were still arriving.

“From what I've seen and heard from people — no access to health services, concerns about protection, continued displacements — conditions are not conducive to return,” Ursula Mueller, the UN's assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told Reuters after a recent six-day visit to Myanmar.

In 2012 and 2013, Shahparir Dwip island was used as a transit point to reach large fishing trawlers that would transport refugees to Malaysia through Thai waters. But Thailand has cracked down on the trafficking in recent years under international pressure.

In late September an alleged trafficker on Shahparir Dwip said that those who used to move the refugees by sea were reluctant to do so again after some of them were killed or arrested by authorities.

Between February 14 and March 4, eight people in Cox’s Bazar were sent to jail for one to six months for helping Rohingya enter Bangladesh across the Naff River, which separates the country from Myanmar.

Bangladesh Coast Guard spokesman Abdullah Al Maruf said two ships were deployed around the clock along the coastal belt to check the traffickers.

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Rakhine Launches Investigation Into State Minister as Part of Impeachment Process

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 02:29 AM PDT

Sittwe—The Rakhine State Parliament has formed an investigation team to bring impeachment charges against U Kyaw Aye Thein, the state minister for planning and finance, for his alleged failure to fulfill ministerial duties.

After 12 lawmakers submitted a petition to impeach the minister, State Parliamentary Speaker U San Kyaw Hla set up the investigation team on April 9.

U Kyaw Aye Thein is accused of failing to comply with financial rules and regulations and procedures in using state funds, as well as failing to perform his ministerial duties.

"There are many wrongdoings that he has committed, especially concerning the public interest. We already have the evidence," U Nai Kywe Aye, a National League for Democracy lawmaker from Thandwe Township and the head of the investigation team, told The Irrawaddy.

The announcement about the investigation reads "the team was formed in line with Article 263 (c) of the 2008 Constitution in response to a proposal to impeach Minister U Kyaw Aye Thein, whose failure to perform his duties has resulted in significant losses from regional development works planned in respective townships in Rakhine State."

The team will start its investigation after the Thingyan festival and is due to report its findings on May 30, U Nai Kywe Aye said.

In addition to U Nai Kywe Aye, the investigation team comprises lawmakers U Aye Thein, U Oo Than Naing, U Aung Than Tin of the Arakan National Party and U Tun Hla Sein of the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Municipal Minister U Min Aung of Rakhine was dismissed in December after being impeached by the state parliament for failure to perform his duties.

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After Fighting in Northern Shan, Displaced Families Still Scared to Head Home

Posted: 10 Apr 2018 01:27 AM PDT

YANGON — Nearly a month since the latest round of fighting broke out between two ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State, displaced families have yet to return to their homes for fear of being recruited and extorted.

More than 800 people fled their homes in Kyaukme Township amid fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) from March 10 to 20 near the village of Tew Phe, Sai Tun Nyan, a Shan State parliamentarian, told The Irrawaddy.

"Some don't want to go back because armed groups recruit and extort money from them," he said.

The TNLA, RCSS, Shan State Progress Party and two local militia are all active in the area.

The threat of landmines is deterring their return as well, said U Tin Maung Thein, chairman of the Jivitadana social organization.

"There were casualties and damage to their houses during the fighting. They saw mortar shells falling near them and their houses burning. They were quite frightened," he said.

Locals make a living by growing tea plants, and the harvest season will end soon. But locals are too afraid to return to their plantations because of the armed groups, U Tin Maung Thein said.

"They have no money because they can't pluck tea leaves," he said.

Twenty-two locals from Mansan village, 430 from Tew Phe village and 428 from Onmwe village fled their homes for Kyaukme Town on March 13 and have been getting by on odd jobs since.

"Some of their houses were completely burned," said Sai Tun Nyan, adding that he had reported the situation to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

U Tin Maung Thein said he was also concerned that the fighting may escalate into racial violence between ethnic Shan and Palaung residents because of instigation on social media.

The two armed groups have been fighting on and off over disputed territory since November 2015.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Abstract Painter Soe Naing Says Art Can Be About ‘Nothing’

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 11:58 PM PDT

YANGON — After decades struggling as a lesser-known artist, Soe Naing can now lead a decent life. But many years of work with canvas and paint have put his home at risk.

"Will you sell your floor or shall I remove it and take it?" some of his friends and fans have joked.

To most people, the floor of his house is just a bunch of wood planks splattered with blotches of colorful paint . To his fans, it is a priceless work of art.

Soe Naing has turned the entire upper floor of his humble two-story wooden house in Yangon's North Dagon Township into his studio. There, he has created thousands of paintings. There, collectors have bought hundreds of his creations.

Today no one remembers when, some 30 years ago, Soe Naing had to walk from one magazine house to another to sell his illustrations.

Born with Thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder, Soe Naing never really enjoyed good health. But there was never a day that Soe Naing did not paint or draw.

Raised under the Burma Socialist Program Party, food and other supplies were scarce when he was young. But on the days his family cooked meat, he could not help using the leftover oil for his art.

"I would always draw something with pen or pencil. Suffice it to say that I am inspired by the unconscious obsession," Soe Naing said.

He studied zoology in the hope that he would be able to draw animals. U Thein Han was one of his first artistic mentors while he was attending university.

Soe Naing was inspired by abstract expressionist artists Williem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock and became a new figurative but struggling artist after his abstract depictions of humans, dogs, cats, horses and such won praise from critics.

Art and literature critic Zaw Zaw Aung said: "Soe Naing's paintings include figures of living things; they are not human figures, but sub-human figures."

"Soe Naing has created a new trend in Myanmar modernism. He added small figures with intense and swift brush work, which was different from pure abstract works of Kin Maung Yin, Maung Di, Khin Wan and Aung Myint," contemporary artist U Aung Min wrote in his book on Myanmar contemporary art.

Though he set a new trend, his paintings were still not the most popular with collectors. Once, a member of the government’s art exhibit censorship board even asked him “to work,” thinking the artist had stopped painting.

Soe Naing, however, had been working day in, day out. His paintings finally started to sell in the 2000s.

The artist does not like people asking him what his paintings represent. "I don't like to define my paintings at all. Perhaps they think [paintings] are valuable only when they represent something. They are not satisfied when I say it is nothing," he said.

But more and more people are liking his work. Local and foreign collectors have come to his house and bought his paintings in bulk. He has also exhibited his paintings in Thailand and Singapore.

At an art exhibit last year, Soe Naing drew with pitch instead of paint to demonstrate that art can be created with anything.

"Art is close to us. It is not pretentious," he said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Philippines Eyes Joint Exploration Deal With China in S. China Sea Within Months

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 10:10 PM PDT

MANILA — The Philippines is looking to seal a pact with China within a few months to jointly explore for oil and gas in a part of the busy South China Sea waterway claimed by both countries, a Philippine official said on Monday.

In February, the two countries agreed to set up a special panel to work out how to jointly explore for offshore oil and gas in areas both sides claim, without needing to address the touchy issue of sovereignty.

“We’re trying to see if we can achieve an agreement, hopefully within the next couple of months,” Jose Santiago Santa Romana, Philippine ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, told a news conference held on China’s island province of Hainan.

There is political willingness to land a deal, but both parties could take as much time as needed to ensure the goals are met, Santa Romana said at the event, aired live on Facebook, adding that the Philippines aimed to boost its energy security.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, a key trade route with areas believed to hold large quantities of oil and natural gas. Parts of it are subject to competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, besides the Philippines.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday flew to China for the Boao Forum for Asia, and will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday.

Last month, the Philippines identified two areas in the South China Sea where joint exploration for oil and gas may be undertaken with China.

But any potential deal between Manila and Beijing should be agreed with a company and not the Chinese government, the presidential spokesman said.

The idea of joint development dates from 1986, but disputes and the sovereignty issue have kept it from materializing.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that portions of the contested areas were part of the Philippines’ 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, and Manila had sovereign rights to resources there. China refuses to recognize the ruling.

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Rights in Poorer Nations Must Be Upheld as Thai Firms Go Abroad, Activists Say

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 09:37 PM PDT

BANGKOK — Thailand’s businesses and its government must do more to protect the rights of vulnerable people abroad, analysts and activists said, after a landmark case filed by Cambodian farmers in a Bangkok court against a Thai sugar firm.

It is the first time plaintiffs from another country have filed a class-action lawsuit against a Thai company in a Thai court over its operations outside Thailand.

The two plaintiffs represent about 3,000 people who say they were forcibly removed from their homes and land in five villages in Oddor Meanchey Province in Cambodia’s northwest, to make way for a Mitr Phol sugarcane plantation between 2008 and 2009.

As cross-border investments in the region increase to tap resources, markets and cheaper labor, cases such as these will become more common because of differences in legislation and inadequate protections for workers and residents, experts said.

“This is about ensuring that Thai companies respect human rights in the countries they operate in, and holding them accountable for violations,” said Sor Rattanamanee Polkla at the Community Resource Center, which is representing the plaintiffs.

“There is no Thai law against irresponsible outbound investment, and countries like Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar do not have proper frameworks for environmental and social impact assessments. We had no choice but to file a suit,” she said.

The plaintiffs are asking for their land to be returned and 4 million baht ($130,000) in total compensation, she said.

Mitr Phol, the Thai sugar producer, said it had received temporary concessions in compliance with all local and national laws, and had assurances from the Cambodian government that the areas had been processed “legally and transparently.”

Mitr Phol said it had withdrawn from the project in 2014, and that it had recommended that the Cambodian government return the land to the “affected communities.”

The case, filed last month, is set to begin on June 11.

Not Binding

Cambodia awarded large economic land concessions to foreign companies — mainly from China, Vietnam, South Korea and Thailand — to operate mines, power plants and farms in order to spur economic growth and alleviate poverty.

Such deals, which covered more than a tenth of the country’s surface area by 2012, have displaced more than 770,000 people since 2000, rights lawyers say.

Following protests and pressure from rights groups, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced a moratorium on new concessions in 2012, and promised to review old ones.

But activists say the reviews did not lead to significant changes, and that even when concessions were cancelled, the land was often retained by the government.

In the case of Mitr Phol, the villagers first filed a complaint with the Bonsucro sugarcane sustainability initiative, and then the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand, a government agency.

After a two-year investigation, the NHRC said rights violations had occurred, and Mitr Phol was directly responsible. It asked Mitr Phol to pay compensation in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

But the NHRC’s powers are limited, Sor said, and the Cambodian farmers did not get compensation or their land back.

“The NHRC can issue recommendations, but these are not binding. Filing cases is an option, but it is always a challenge to go through the judicial system,” Angkhana Neelapaijit, a member of the NHRC, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The NHRC has received more than a dozen complaints about Thai overseas investments, particularly in Southeast Asia, related to their impact on the environment and people, she said.

Negative Impacts

In response to the NHRC’s recommendations, the Cabinet issued resolutions in 2016 and 2017, calling for Thai investors to respect and protect the rights of local people, and to prevent adverse impacts on the environment and to livelihoods.

Last year, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government intended to implement the UN guiding principles in a policy plan being drafted in consultation with rights groups.

But the region has proven to be a “laggard” in adopting an enforceable regional human rights system, said David Pred, co-founder of advocacy group Inclusive Development International.

“We shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for governments to adopt one. But that need not stop people from pursuing justice for business-related human rights violations in the national courts of the countries where the companies are domiciled.”

Thai outbound investment in 2017 totaled about $20 billion, according to the country’s investment board, much of it going to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

But investors are backing projects “with little regulation and often with disregard for the human and environmental rights impacts,” according to a report from the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights published in November.

“Negative impacts commonly include destruction of livelihoods, land grabs, and forced eviction,” it said.

Thai investors must apply the highest international standards and offer remedy for abuses, said Surya Deva, a member of the UN working group, which concluded a 10-day visit to Thailand last week.

“If Thai companies are benefiting from these investments, and outsourcing negative human rights impacts, it is critical that they also provide opportunities for any victims to file cases in Thailand if needed,” he said.

“It is a complicated process, but that option should be available,” he said.

The post Rights in Poorer Nations Must Be Upheld as Thai Firms Go Abroad, Activists Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 08:00 PM PDT

Sai Sai Birthday Show

This is the annual fan party for pop star Sai Sai Kham Leng.

April 10, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thuwunnabhumi Event Park. Tickets start at 10,000 kyats. Tel: 09-4510101789.

Yangon Central Pavilion

This is the main pavilion for Thingyan festivities in the city, organized by the Yangon regional government.

April 13 to 17, Yangon City Hall.

Arakanese Traditional Thingyan

There will be traditional Arakanese music and dance performances, as well as traditional food and souvenirs.

April 13 to16, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thuwunna Stadium, Thingangyun Township.

Made in Yankin

Chit Kaung, Bobby Soxer and DJ Thaw Thaw will perform at the Yankin Thingyan pavilion.

April 13 to 16. Yankin Road, 12 Lone Tan.

Thingyan Splash Walk

There will be entertainment, free snacks, fun and much more.

April 13 to 17. U Ottama Park, by the southern gate of Shwedagon Pagoda.

Barrack Water Festival 2018

Barrack, a pavilion popular with youngsters, is back this April.

April 13 to 16. Pyay Road. Tickets start at 45,000 kyats. Tel: 09-43020145 or 09-5069595.

Thingyan Music Festival

International DJs will perform at this pavilion.

April 13 to 16. Pyay Road. Tickets start at 20,000 kyats. Tel: 09-775007750 or 09-775077500.

Water Festival at Vintage Luxury Hotel

There will be entertainment at the vintage car parking area and a buffet dinner for 9,000 kyats per person.

April 13 to 17, 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. No. 6, Botahtaung Jetty, near Botahtaung Pagoda, Seikkan Township. Tel: 09-258819911-55.

Sarpay Lawka Book Sale

Sarpay Lawka is offering a 10 percent discount on all books at all of its outlets.

Through April 12.

First Group Show 2018

Dozens of artists are showcasing more  than 300 works at this event.

Feb. 2 to April 16. New Treasure Art Gallery, Thanlwin Street.

The post Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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