Friday, April 20, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Anti-Corruption Commission Files Case Against FDA Chief

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:49 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Anti-Corruption Commission of Myanmar on Friday filed a corruption case against the director-general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dr. Than Htut, the director-general of the FDA, which is under the Ministry of Sport and Health, is accused of demanding personal favors from a company that won a tender to build two laboratory buildings at the FDA's Naypyitaw's headquarters, as well as structures at 12 FDA district offices around the country.

The anti-graft agency has not disclosed the name of the company involved, but it is believed to be the Ye Taik Myotaw company.

According to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the case was opened against Dr. Than Htut under Article 56 of the Anti-Corruption Law of 2013 at Zabu Thiri Township police station. The agency said it had found that Dr. Than Htut abused his position to demand personal favors from the company in return for the contracts.

Article 56 states that, "Other than the Political Post Holder, if any other Authorized  Person  is  convicted for  committing  bribery; he/she shall  be  punished  with  imprisonment  for  a  term of not more than 10 years and with a fine."

U Than Zaw Win, an ACC inspector, would act as plaintiff in the case, said commission spokesman U Han Nyunt. He declined to disclose how long the ACC had been investigating the FDA chief.

The commission receives about 500 complaints a month, according to the spokesman.

The ACC's probe found that the director-general had demanded construction materials with which to build a house in Naypyitaw's Shwe Kyar Pin quarter; as well as materials for another two-story building, a swimming pool and fencing in Ywar Thit village in Naypyitaw. All together, the materials were worth more than 151 million kyats.

Dr. Than Htut, 60, was trained as a civilian physician, and later served as a military doctor. He was also an assistant professor at the Yangon University of Public Health. He joined the FDA as deputy director-general in March 2015, and was later promoted to his current position.

This is the first case publicly announced by the ACC since the inauguration of President U Win Myint, who has vowed to crack down on bribery and corruption. At a meeting on April 12, the president urged ACC chairman U Aung Kyi and other members to step up their efforts against corruption. He also encouraged the ACC in its work during his speech to mark the traditional Myanmar New Year on Tuesday.

Moe Moe contributed to this report from Naypyitaw.

The post Anti-Corruption Commission Files Case Against FDA Chief appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Who is Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko?

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:28 AM PDT

 

YANGON — On Friday, a police captain and prosecution witness in the case of two detained Reuters journalists testified that Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko masterminded a setup to arrest the reporters, Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo.

Here is what we have learned about the brigadier general so far.

Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko served as commander of the Border Guard Police (Headquarters) in Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township. The force was established on March 10, 2014, and took over police stations and outposts previously overseen by the Immigration Department.

The Border Guard Police are responsible for security and law enforcement at the border. Their duties include collecting information, monitoring the border, preventing cross-border crime, counter-terrorism, responding to riots, and cooperating with local military battalions.

They also inherited the duties of the Immigration Department, including immigration control, citizenship registration, monitoring population growth, preventing illegal trade, combatting smugglers, and supervising the taxation of border trade.

The Border Guard Police are also responsible for civilian administration, which covers public welfare, disaster prevention and management, and search and rescue operations. They are also responsible for promoting bilateral ties with neighboring countries in line with international laws and procedures.

Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko also headed the No. 1 Security Police Command in Naypyitaw and in October 2017 was transferred to head the No. 2 Security Police Command in Yangon, a position he still holds.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Who is Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Facebook Slow to React to Violence, Hate Speech in Myanmar

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:20 AM PDT

When mass killings or religious strife take place in Myanmar, the conflict spreads to social media, leading to yet more slaughter on the ground.

There is no doubt that the next major conflict in Myanmar will start on social media or in cyberspace. But who will take the blame, and how can the problem be resolved?

Facebook has definitely played a role in Myanmar's ethnic and racial conflicts, especially in northern Rakhine State. Who will stop those who abuse and misuse the platform is an open question, and there is no clear answer.

Recently, Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, told reporters that social media had played a "determining role" in Myanmar.

"It has…substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict, if you will, within the public. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that. As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media," he said.

A few weeks ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was asked about his company’s role in the Rakhine crisis during an appearance before a US Senate panel.

"What’s happening in Myanmar is a terrible tragedy, and we need to do more," he replied.

Facebook is now hiring "dozens" more Burmese-language content reviewers to look for hate speech. It is also working with civil society to identify "specific hate figures" who should be banned, and with product teams to come up with new technical solutions to the problem. A number of civic organizations and human rights groups in Myanmar shared a detailed presentation with US lawmakers on how the social media platform helped spread hate speech in the country. But those trying to tackle the problem face a number of major challenges.

In Myanmar there is an ongoing battle between two fonts: Zawgyi and Unicode. A post written on Facebook in Burmese will almost certainly be written in Zawgyi.

Some smartphones manufacturers such as Samsung use both fonts due to market demand. It is no doubt a nightmare for developers and Facebook reviewers to reconcile this.

Unicode should be the official font, yet Zawgyi remains dominant among internet users. As long as this is not reconciled, it will remain an issue for Myanmar, whose people are rapidly adopting Facebook, smartphones and the internet. Will the government have to intervene?

Second, during Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before US lawmakers, there was no intelligent Q & A about allegations that Myanmar army officers trained by Russia were involved in spreading the rumors, hate speech and fake news. Nor were there any questions about terrorists and campaign groups that sided with ARSA to spread fake videos and news.

Indeed, regarding Russia and Myanmar, military relations between Moscow and Naypyitaw have gone from strength to strength for the past several years. More than 4,000 Myanmar officers studied in Russia between 1993 and 2013, more than from any other Southeast Asian country. They studied aviation, nuclear technology and cyber warfare.

About 600 military personnel from Myanmar are studying at Russia's higher military education institutions right now.

Cyber warfare is not new in Myanmar.

In the past, two leading media websites operating in self-exile came under attack several times. A three-year investigation by Swedish cyber security firm Unleash Research Labs identified the army as a key player in a string of attacks against the websites of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and The Irrawaddy dating back to 2012.

Exiled media outlets covering Myanmar are no strangers to cyber attacks. Coordinated assaults on DVB and The Irrawaddy have taken place during most major political events, including the general election in November 2010. The military was also found to be behind a series of cyber attacks on pro-democracy media outlets around the time of the historic 2015 elections and was reported to have ties to hackers who targeted websites belonging to the Thai government.

When violence erupted in northern Rakhine State last year, The Irrawaddy found more than a dozen identical fake social media pages with thousands of followers. Facebook took the pages down, but only weeks after being notified.

Since Myanmar started opening up in 2011, many citizens have become glued to social media. U Ye Htut, the minister of information under the previous government, was known as the "Minister of Facebook" because of the considerable time he spent on the platform sharing news and comments and attacking the administration’s critics. Many government officials with accounts have used them to spread hate speech and violent threats.

Well-connected tycoons and other well-known individuals have also set up several social media teams to attack opponents and rivals or spread false news and rumors to counter bad press.

Ultranationalist monk U Wirathu used his Facebook page to launch attacks on Muslims and incite hate. The page was allowed to keep running for months, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers. Where were Facebook’s monitors then?

The Myanmar military's psychological warfare department is believed to have hundreds of trained officers running multiple Facebook accounts posting sexy pictures and using female names to attract followers and then spread fake news whenever the country faces a racial or religious crisis.

Likewise, people and groups sympathetic to ARSA, terrorists, ethnic armed groups and nationalist extremists have also produced and shared fake news and inflammatory cartoons to incite more violence or gain international support.

The extensive misuse of social media platforms has been happening for years, but counteraction has been slow in coming. Facebook can no longer turn a blind eye to the misuse of its own network. Otherwise, it will be accused of being complicit in Myanmar’s ongoing crisis.

The post Facebook Slow to React to Violence, Hate Speech in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NMSP Urged to Defy Army Over Limits Placed on Public Meetings

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:07 AM PDT

Mon civil society organizations, political parties and community leaders have urged the New Mon State Party (NMSP) to refuse to hold public meetings in Myanmar Army-controlled areas as a way of expressing their unhappiness with an Army order that not more 40 representatives from Mon community groups join the gatherings, which are intended to provide a forum to discuss the peace process, local sources said.

The NMSP, the political wing of the Mon National Liberation Army, signed the NCA in February with the Myanmar government and the Army, and had planned to hold public meetings in five townships: Nyi Zar, Wa Zin, Moulmein, Mudon, and Three Pagodas Pass.

After holding the public meetings, the NMSP planned to hold a national level peace dialogue in Ye town from May 5 to 7. The party is seeking suggestions from ethnic Mon communities to propose at the Panglong peace conference.

The community leaders urged the NMSP to disobey the order from the Army at the first public meeting, in Nyi Zar on April 9 to 11, and it subsequently invited 250 representatives from civil society organizations, political parties, community leaders and other groups to the event.

"The Army has told the NMSP to limit the number of representatives at the meetings to 40 people. Of course, they could still hold the meetings if they wanted but, from our viewpoint this is part of their strategy to suppress the Mon psychologically," said Nai San Hlaing, an executive committee member of the Mon National Party (MNP).

The NMSP should not hold further public meetings if the Army places restrictions on the number of representatives who can attend, he said.

"If the NMSP holds them, our party will not send representatives. Our party will not participate in the meeting if the number of representatives is limited," Nai San Hlaing said.

The NMSP plans to hold a second meeting in Wa Zin, which like Nyi Zar is in Mon-controlled territory, on April 26 and 27, and again plans to invite 250 representatives. But the party is still considering whether or not to hold the meetings in the other three locations, which are under the control of the Army, after Mon leaders urged them not to.

The CSO Network based in Mon State also told the NMSP not to organize the meetings to protect the dignity of the ethnic group. "The Army told them (the NMSP) that only 40 representatives could join the meeting. We told the NMSP that if they did what the Myanmar Army said our Mon people would look down on the NMSP. The NMSP will have no dignity if they acquiesce to the Army's demand," Nai Aung Htoo, a coordinator of the CSO Network in Mon State, told The Irrawaddy.

Nai Hong Sar, who is the vice chairman of the NMSP, said his party would negotiate further with the Army over the number of representatives allowed to attend the meetings in Moulmein, Mudon, and Three Pagodas Pass.

"We want to hold the public meetings in those three locations, so we will negotiate more with them," Nai Hong Sar said.

"We accept their position," he said, referring to the CSO, political parties, and community leaders. "Even in the NMSP we know that if we give in to the Army's order, they will seek to further restrict our political movement in the future."

The NMSP is worried, however, that if it does not hold the meetings in the Army-controlled areas, some Mon people may think the party was not giving them the opportunity to have their say in the peace process, and it was worried about future political cooperation between Mon people and the NMSP.

Before signing the NCA, the NMSP leaders did not think the Myanmar Army would restrict representatives from participating in public meetings. So, NMSP leadership did not raise the issue before signing the ceasefire agreement.

The NMSP also claimed that as part of the negotiations leading up to the signing of the NCA, the Army had promised to return two bases that it had seized from the MNLA last year. But, it has yet to do so.

The NMSP expected that they would have more time and a better relationship with the Army after signing the NCA, party officials said. But, the NMSP leadership now feels regret that the Army has used the NCA as a tool to restrict its political movement as well as the movement of its troops.

Before signing the NCA, the NMSP was able to freely organize meetings with no limitations on the location or number of representatives who attended. But now they cannot do that, said some members of the NMSP.

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Yangon Investment Forum Hopes to Garner Foreign Interest

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 05:06 AM PDT

YANGON — The Yangon Region Investment Committee hopes to boost foreign investment through an upcoming investment forum that is slated for May 9.

Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, who also chairs the Yangon Region Investment Committee, told reporters at a press conference on Friday that the country's commercial capital has a high potential for investments.

He said there are plenty of opportunities up for grabs in Yangon including industrial zones, city expansion, housing projects and other development projects.

About 300 foreign and 200 local investors are expected to attend the forum, which is organized by the Yangon Region Investment Committee (YRIC) along with other partners.

The forum will take place at the Novotel Yangon Max Hotel.

U Myo Khaing Oo, secretary of the YRIC, said he expects the forum will attract a lot of foreign investment.

The committee approved 40 foreign and 9 local businesses in the manufacturing sector and other service sectors with a total pledged amount of US$59 million and 23 billion kyats, from August, 2017 to April 11. Those approved 49 businesses are expected to create some 22,000 local job opportunities.

The officials said that the forum will provide information on company registration, regulations, tax exemption, investment application procedures and other investment opportunities to facilitate easy access for investors.

"For this year, our expectation is rule of law and a clean city, as well as boosting the city's economy," chief minister U Phyo Min Thein said.

He pledged the conservation of city heritage and environmental protection along with the economic developments.

The chief minister said the committee will hold the investment forum annually.

The post Yangon Investment Forum Hopes to Garner Foreign Interest appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Says Refugees in Bangladesh Have Not Received Repatriation Forms

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 04:17 AM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar claims that Bangladesh authorities have failed to distribute repatriation application forms to Rohingya refugees its neighbor is sheltering despite a repatriation agreement the two governments signed in November.

The claim came after a 10-member team from Myanmar visited the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar on April 11-13 to meet some of the 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh since late August, when attacks on security posts in northern Rakhine State by the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) triggered a military crackdown in the area.

The team included U Win Myat Aye, the social welfare minister, U Aung Htun Thet, deputy head of the government’s Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, and representatives from the Myanmar Women’s Federation and different religious communities.

In December, Myanmar handed Bangladesh the application forms it wanted refugees interested in repatriation to fill out, after the two countries had agreed to a Joint Working Group that would vet applicants’ backgrounds to confirm that they had been residents of Myanmar.

The following month, Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe visited Bangladesh to share information about several hundred suspected ARSA members Myanmar believed were hiding among the refugees. At the same time, Bangladesh handed the general forms for 8,032 refugees who had applied for repatriation.

At a press conference on Thursday at the National Peace and Reconciliation Center in Yangon, U Win Myat Aye said the refugee camp representatives his team met last week all said they had never seen any application forms.

"No one knows about the application form," he said.

U Win Myat Aye said Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan admitted that the completed forms for the 8,032 refugees were not the ones the two governments had agreed to.

Delegates who visited Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh last week held a press conference in Yangon on Thursday. (Photo:Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

“They admitted that the forms handed to Myanmar were not the forms agreed to when the [repatriation] deal was signed on Nov. 23, 2017,” he said.

"We are very shocked about the refugees’ claims about the application forms," said U Hla Tun, who joined last week’s visit to the camps as a Hindu representative.

U Win Myat Aye said Bangladesh’s foreign affairs minister urged the home affairs minister to supply the refugees with the correct application forms and provide Myanmar with the completed applications as soon as possible. But officials at the press conference declined to say whether Bangladesh had an explanation for why the correct forms had not been distributed and filled out to begin with.

The team also claimed that Bangladesh ignored its requests to arrange meetings for the team with Rohingya imams, with refugees Myanmar had already agreed to allow back, and with Hindus who have also fled Rakhine since August. U Hla Tun said Bangladesh authorities replied that the Hindu camp was too far away.

"In fact, the Hindu camp is situated on the way to the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps," he said.

U Win Myat Aye said the camp representatives were also ill informed about Myanmar’s National Verification Card (NVC) and that he expounded on its virtues. He said he told the representatives that the cards allowed for free movement, doing business, access to education, crossing international borders and fishing near international waters. The minister said he emphasized that cardholders were eligible for citizenship after five months.

"Most of them have no idea about the benefits of holding an NVC," he said.

However, Myanmar does not grant citizenship to people who identify as Rohingya because the government does not legally recognize them as an ethnic group.

During the team’s visit to the refugee camps, camp representatives presented their own list of 13 demands on Myanmar, including property rights, ethnic rights and education.

On Thursday, U Win Myat Aye said he believed the representatives had been “well trained” to make those demands by people he did not name. Even so, he said the trip had been “very successful” because the two countries were able to clear up some “misunderstandings” and agreed to speed up the repatriation process.

"When we asked the refugees whether they want to come back to Myanmar, all of them unanimously answered that they want to return as soon as possible," he said.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The post Myanmar Says Refugees in Bangladesh Have Not Received Repatriation Forms appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Police Officer Admits to ‘Setting Up’ Two Reuters Journalists

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 03:33 AM PDT

YANGON — Police deliberately sought to entrap two Reuters reporters by handing them confidential government papers, a prosecution witness testified in court on Friday.

Police Captain Moe Yan Naing told the court that Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko ordered the police to ensnare the two Reuters reporters — Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo — who are facing trial for violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Moe Yan Naing was the officer interviewed by Wa Lone in November about police operations in Rakhine State. He was one of two officers from the paramilitary 8th Security Police Battalion who the police identified in December as "allegedly involved in the case."

Moe Yan Naing said he had been under arrest since the night of Dec. 12 and had been told to testify on Friday as a prosecution witness.

He was among several policemen interrogated by a police "information team" about their interactions with the Reuters reporters, he told the court on Friday.

Moe Yan Naing described to the court how Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko, who led the internal probe, had instructed Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone that night and to hand over secret documents from Battalion 8 as part of a "set-up"to trap the two journalists.

He then ordered the Htaunt Kyant regional police force to arrest Wa Lone upon his departure from the restaurant, the meeting place.

Tin Ko Ko was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

"I am revealing the truth because police of any rank have their own integrity. It is true that they were set up," Captain Moe Yan Naing told reporters.

Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo have been charged under the Official Secrets Act for possessing confidential government papers and face a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison if found guilty.

The Home Affairs Ministry has said that it would take action against Captain Moe Yan Naing and Lance Corporal Khin Maung Lin for their role in passing the government documents to the two journalists.

The court appearance by the two police officers took place on Friday at Yangon North District Court.

The post Police Officer Admits to 'Setting Up' Two Reuters Journalists appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

International University to Be Built in Naypyitaw

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 01:26 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Naypyitaw's municipal administration has announced plans for an international university to be built in the capital's diplomatic zone in Dekkhinathiri Township.

The Naypyitaw Development Committee (NPTDC) is awaiting project approval and land allocation in the diplomatic zone by the Foreign Ministry and the President's Office, committee member U Min Thu told The Irrawaddy.

South Korea will fund and provide technical assistance for construction of the university, which is expected to take less than two years, U Min Thu said. The university is expected to open its doors in 2020.

A delegation representing the university's founding committee led by Sung Ki Baik visited NPTDC officials in early March to discuss the project.

The institution will provide instruction in a wide variety of vocational subjects tailored to the needs of the region and local people, U Min Thu said. The name of the university has yet to be decided, he said.

"The university is part of the initiative to make Naypyitaw a smart city," U Thant Zin Tun, a lawmaker representing Dekkhinathiri Township in the Lower House, told The Irrawaddy.

Over 1,500 acres of land were earmarked as a diplomatic zone when the administrative capital was established more than a decade ago. The NPTDC has proposed building a university on 300 acres in the zone, U Min Thu said.

"This is very good for the future of local children. We should welcome it as it will unlock not only educational opportunities but also business and job opportunities in the town," U Nanda Kyaw of Zayar Real Estate Agent told The Irrawaddy.

Naypyitaw comprises eight townships covering 2,724.75 square miles with a population of over 1 million people, many of whom are civil servants, according to the NPTDC.

Zayarthiri Township is home to the University of Agriculture, University of Forestry and University of Veterinary Science.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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After Bumpy 2017, Tourism Sector Looks for Clear Skies

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 11:00 PM PDT

YANGON —Myanmar's tourism sector has been booming since the country began opening its doors to the outside world in 2011, after decades of isolation under military rule. Tourist arrivals surged from 800,000 in 2011 to 4.7 million in 2015. But the sector had a setback late last year with the outbreak of violence in Rakhine State, which saw hundreds of people killed and drove almost 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. In the wake of the violence, tourists cancelled their trips. Many raised safety concerns and moral objections.

The Irrawaddy spoke recently with Daw May Myat Mon Win and Daw Yin Myo Su about the country’s tourism sector, the Rakhine conflict’s impact on the industry and their efforts to counter the setback.

Daw May Myat Mon Win is chairwoman of Myanmar Tourism Marketing, vice-chairwoman of the Myanmar Tourism Federation, and general manager of the Chatrium Hotel Royal in Yangon. Daw Yin Myo Su is managing director of the Inle Princess Resort in Shan State and the Mrauk-U Princess Resort in Rakhine State, and founder of the Inle Heritage Foundation.

Daw May Myat Mon Win. / The Irrawaddy

Daw May Myat Mon Win, how did the latest crisis in Rakhine State impact the tourism market?

Followed the crisis, people were asking whether it was safe and ethical to travel to Myanmar. As for safety, Myanmar has restricted areas, but all tourist destinations are safe to visit. Another concern that travelers raised was ethics, from a humanitarian point of view. The sensationalized headlines and pictures of the crisis had an effect. The impact was mostly from Western countries. They felt it was unethical to visit Myanmar. But there are also those from other countries who don't really mind. They see travel as separate from politics and that conflicts happen in their countries as well as in other places.

There are many who believe they should not visit Myanmar because that would constitute support for the human rights abuses in Rakhine. What do you think of that?

We can't say nothing happened in Rakhine. But it is hard to differentiate the news that is true and false. When people make assumptions based on their personal biases, it is very harmful to the situation. What I would like to say is don't politicize tourism. Our country has faced a lot of challenges and difficulties. The peace process has not yet achieved its goal. It's been going on for a very long time. It is difficult for them to understand Myanmar’s complex problems. But if they really want to help us, they need to support tourism. The Rakhine conflict started because of poverty. The community there has been excluded and isolated. Tourism has a very broad scope. It’s not just hotels. It also has an indirect economic impact on local small businesses like restaurants, vendors, souvenir shops. It can drive the local economy, which benefits different groups, different ethnicities and different religions in the country.

Is the market still suffering from the crisis?

It is. Travelers usually make decisions and forward bookings three months, six months or 10 months before their trips. But this is not the end of the road.  We can't just despair and do nothing. We need to continue promoting destinations and a positive view of the country to counter the negative views. We need to give our country a facelift. So far we have not been able to do much. That's why the negative publicity has taken over. It is important to make a priority of countering it. And in giving the country a facelift, tourism has to play a key role.

What are the plans for 2018?

We expect most of the increase in visitors to come from Asian countries this year. We have marketing activities throughout this year in Japan and will target the world's largest outbound tourism market — China. Not only Myanmar, but also the US, UK and French are enticing Chinese tourists. We plan to have marketing activities there. But we have a small budget while other countries have a decent budget for tourism marketing. Neighboring Thailand spends hundreds of millions of dollars to promote itself globally. For instance, at ITB Berlin (the world's largest tourism trade fair) Indonesia spent $1.5 million while we had only $150,000 to $100,000 allocated from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and collected another $50,000 from private operators. This must be considered seriously.

Daw Yin Myo Su. / The Irrawaddy

Daw Yin Myo Su, how is the tourism sector doing right now?

The number of visitors from Europe has declined significantly, as well as from [other] Western countries. We have seen an increase in arrivals from Asian countries. But most Westerners stay at least two weeks to four weeks because they have come from quite far. But Asians, they come mostly for weekends, so the length of stay is different. If we ask whether it is good or bad, the situation is not good right now.

We are all working to attract visitors. Some offer discounts. Some target more Asian countries and do promotions there. There are promotions for domestic tourists also, because locals are traveling more than before. Everyone is struggling to cover operating costs, maintenance and salaries for staff. Looking at the positives, we can improve our skills as we struggle to attract travelers, unlike before. But it is also important to attract good and responsible travelers for sustainable tourism, and not just focus on quantity.

You are in Inle and Mrauk-U, which are among the country's most popular tourist destinations. What impact has the Rakhine conflict had there?

Mrauk-U has been the worst. Throughout all of 2017 Mrauk-U saw only about 2,000 foreign visitors, based on entrance fee collection data. That number is quite low compared with recent years. It has declined by nearly half. We had to run at a loss in Mrauk-U. Because I have 100 staff there, I have done my best to keep running. We have heard words that we have never heard before — mass murderers, intolerant nation, unkind, no sympathy. While the majority of people think like that, how can we ask and entice people to visit? It makes sense to think like a traveler going on vacation. Why would they want to visit a place where the news is all terrible? But the problem is that there are those who think Yangon and Inle are very close. If they aren’t familiar with the map of Myanmar, there might be some who think the whole nation is in crisis. But because the conflict is happening in Rakhine, we can't assume the whole nation is like that.

Many have asked whether it is ethical to visit Myanmar. What is your view on that?

Isolation is not a solution. If the economy gets worse and education does not improve, a similar problem could happen again. The problems in Rakhine are mainly because of the failure to integrate and invest in the education of the communities there. It has undone the work of the past 70 years. It can’t be resolved in seven days, seven months, or even seven years. A long-term commitment is needed.

How important is the tourism sector to the country?

Just at my resorts, there are 400 [staff] for the small, 23-room Mrauk-U resort and the 36-room Inle resort. And I’m talking only about hotels. There are also tourism-related businesses: weaving, tour guides, souvenir shops, handicrafts sellers. And if we talk about restaurants, there are also vegetable and meat sellers, transportation, and so on. The drop in visitors affects them all. And if people become hungry and scared as a result, that could indirectly promote extremism.

What are the main changes needed to develop the tourism sector?

Number one is to develop infrastructure for better transportation and telecommunications at the [tourist] destinations, and to develop direct flights from overseas to the main destinations. We also need to maintain the fast-tract online tourist visas that were introduced. Cooperation between the ministries needs to be improved because their directives on travel restrictions often change. For example, tourists come to visit an area because there are no restrictions, but once they arrive it’s changed. It is not good for the country's image. We also need to provide a platform for small [businesses] with a clear direction and capacity building for skilled laborers in the industry.

The post After Bumpy 2017, Tourism Sector Looks for Clear Skies appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Philippines Decries European Parliament’s ‘Interference’

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 10:11 PM PDT

MANILA — The Philippines decried what it said was interference in its internal affairs by the European Parliament, which urged the Southeast Asian nation in a resolution to end “extrajudicial killings” and abandon plans to reintroduce the death penalty.

About 4,100 people have been killed by police in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte took power in June 2016 in what the authorities say were shootouts during anti-narcotics operations.

At least 2,300 drug-related deaths have occurred separately, at the hands of what police say are unknown assassins.

The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning Philippine authorities for “trying to justify these murders with falsified evidence.”

“The European Parliament has crossed a red line when it called for unwarranted actions against the Philippines,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

The European Parliament and its members have criticized the Philippines’ brutal “war on drugs” several times, infuriating Duterte, who has directed his frustration at the European Union as a bloc instead.

European lawmakers also called on Manila to remove “human rights defenders” from its list of what it considers as terrorists, including Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.

They also condemned “the intimidation and the abuse” of human rights defenders, activists and journalists, and said reintroducing the death penalty in the Philippines was against its international obligations.

“In case the members of the European Parliament are not aware of it, may we remind them that their recommended actions already constitute interference in the affairs of a sovereign state,” Cayetano said.

He said the European Parliament’s resolution was based on “biased, incomplete and even wrong information and does not reflect the true situation on the ground.”

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‘No Job, No Money’: Life in Vietnam for Immigrants Deported by US

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 09:51 PM PDT

HO CHI MINH CITY — It wasn’t until Pham Chi Cuong saw the plane waiting to deport him from the United States that it sunk in that he was about to be sent back to Vietnam, the country he fled in 1990.

Cuong and at least three other deportees who had lived in America for decades were returned to Vietnam in December 2017 as part of a renewed Trump administration push to deport immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States.

The expulsions were carried out despite a 2008 bilateral agreement that Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to 1995, many of whom had supported the now defunct US-backed state of South Vietnam, would not be sent back.

Cuong and the other men, who spoke to Reuters this week in Ho Chi Minh City, said they spent the 17-hour flight in enforced silence, their hands and legs in restraints.

Adjusting to life in Vietnam, the men all said, has been difficult. They said they were viewed with suspicion by Vietnamese officials and have had trouble finding work.

“If you ask me ‘do you want to come back to the US?’ I’ll give you the answer ‘yes,' but I don’t know how,” said Cuong, who left a wife and children back home in Orlando, Florida.

Another of the men, who asked to be identified only by his last name of Nguyen, told Reuters he was asked by local police officials when he returned to Vietnam if he worked for the CIA.

He said he was deported to Cam Ranh Bay, a place he had fled after the war because of his family’s connections to the losing side. “I ran away from there,” said Nguyen.

“There were a lot of Americans there at the time, and my family worked for them,” he added. “My uncle died in the war. He was a South Vietnamese soldier."

It is not known how many pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants like Nguyen and Cuong have been deported so far, but the Trump administration is seeking to send back thousands, Washington’s former envoy to Hanoi told Reuters in an interview last week. Vietnam has expressed reluctance to take back pre-1995 immigrants.

Of the 8,600 Vietnamese nationals in the United States that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says are subject to deportation as of December last year, “7,821 have criminal convictions." an ICE spokesman said. The agency said it could not say how many of the immigrants slated for deportation arrived before 1995.

The White House has declined to comment on the Vietnamese deportations. But the Trump administration has labeled Vietnam and eight other countries “recalcitrant” for their unwillingness to accept their deported nationals.

Abuse and Discrimination

The son of an American serviceman stationed in Saigon during the war, Cuong is “Amerasian,” which he said subjected him to abuse and discrimination in Vietnam after the war.

He didn’t attend school and spent years ostracized and working in rice fields before leaving the country in 1990 on a program that gave Amerasians like him a chance to resettle in the United States.

But despite being born to an American father and raising three American children in Florida, Cuong never became a US citizen.

It hadn’t seemed necessary, he said, since he had come to the country legally and was allowed to work. Then, in 2000, Cuong was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to 18 months in jail. In 2007, he was given one-year probation for driving under the influence.

Both times, Cuong was warned that his crimes made him eligible for deportation under US law, but at the time Vietnam was not accepting deportees back. He was relieved in 2008, when the bilateral agreement on repatriations was signed in which the return of pre-1995 refugees was specifically barred.

After his arrests, Cuong checked in regularly with ICE as he was required to do, and stayed out of trouble.

He held down a steady job as a sushi chef and put his son through three years of college.

But in October, 2017, he was taken into custody by ICE and two months later found himself on a plane back to Vietnam.

‘Utterly Shocked'

Another of the deportees, Bui Thanh Hung, is also Amerasian, born in 1973 to a Vietnamese mother and an American soldier who died during the war.

Hung was convicted of domestic violence in 2010, which he says came after he walked in on his wife and another man. He spent six years in prison. Last year, he was released into ICE custody and deported in December.

“Over here, I have no job, no one to support me, no house to live in”, said Hung. He said he was relying on new acquaintances to stay temporarily at their homes.

Many immigration advocates say they assumed the United States would be particularly reluctant to expel Amerasians like Hung and Cuong, because of their American fathers and the discrimination they had faced in post-war Vietnam.

“Those of us in the Southeast Asian community were utterly shocked,” Tin Nguyen, a US-based lawyer, said of the ongoing deportations. Nguyen volunteers with the Southeast Asian Coalition nonprofit and has been working with the deportees.

"It was as if they forgot about the Vietnam War."

Cuong and Bui were deported with around 30 other deportees from Asian countries on a plane that dropped people off in Myanmar and Cambodia before reaching its final destination, Vietnam.

Now back in the country they once fled, the men said they receive little support from the Vietnamese government and were struggling to find work.

"I got no money," said Cuong. "My wife, sometimes she gives me a couple hundred dollars, but nobody helps me, nothing."

The post 'No Job, No Money’: Life in Vietnam for Immigrants Deported by US appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Citing Rohingya Massacre, Myanmar Army Chief Urges Soldiers to Obey Law

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 09:21 PM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing has told military personnel in the country that they must obey the law, citing as an example the sentencing of seven soldiers for a massacre of Rohingya Muslim men that was the subject of a Reuters investigation.

In a speech at a military school in the country’s north, Min Aung Hlaing told soldiers they "must abide by the military codes of conduct and international laws and conventions," according to a translation posted on his official Facebook page on Thursday.

“No one is above the law. Actions will be taken if someone breaks the law. The problems in Inn Din village … were solved in line with the Geneva Convention and legal action was taken against military officers and other ranks who failed to respect the law,” said Min Aung Hlaing, in his first direct comment on the killings.

Seven soldiers were sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor this month for taking part in the massacre of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din, in northwestern Rakhine state, last September.

The massacre was being investigated by two Reuters journalists – Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 – who were arrested in December and remain in custody accused of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act.

The authorities told Reuters in February the military opened an internal investigation into the killings independently and that it was unrelated to the Reuters reporters, who they said were accused of obtaining unrelated secret government papers.

The Rohingya men were buried in a mass grave in early September after being hacked to death or shot by Buddhist civilian neighbors and soldiers. Reuters published its story on the murders in February.

The killings were part of a larger army crackdown on the Rohingya, beset by allegations of murder, rape, arson and looting, unleashed in response to Rohingya militant attacks on security forces in late August.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar as a result, according to United Nations agencies. The UN and the United States described it as ethnic cleansing – an accusation that Myanmar denies.

Min Aung Hlaing, one of the most powerful people in a country where the constitution requires the civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to share power with the military, reiterated in his speech the army’s position that the Rakhine operation was a legitimate counteroffensive against "Bengali terrorists."

The post Citing Rohingya Massacre, Myanmar Army Chief Urges Soldiers to Obey Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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