Monday, April 30, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

UN Security Council Delegates Visit Bangladesh, Myanmar to “Speed Up” Repatriation of Rohingya

Posted: 30 Apr 2018 07:52 AM PDT

DHAKA — A UN Security Council delegation visiting Bangladesh conceded on Monday that progress toward solving the Rohingya refugee crisis has been slow but denied that there was any resistance from China or Russia.

The delegation had met with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier in the day. Three members of the team joined a brief press conference at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport moments before flying to Myanmar for the second leg of the trip.

“We have been concerned that things are going slow. That’s the reasons that the Security Council is here. Also, the [UN} secretary general…has appointed a special envoy [on Myanmar], so things are happening. We are trying to contribute toward these things,” said Gustavo Adolfo Meza Cuadra Velasqez, Peru’s ambassador to the UN and the current chair of the Security Council.

Asked whether the support China and Russia have shown for the Myanmar military’s clearance operations would affect the Security Council’s work, Kuwait’s permanent representative to the UN, Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi, said both countries were keen on finding a solution.

“I do not see any resistance from China and Russia. They are a member of the Security Council and they are with us,” he said. “They want to see a solution for this problem.”

When asked what actions could be taken against Myanmar for its widely alleged and reported abuses of the Rohingya community, the UK’s permanent representative to the UN, Karen Pierce, said authorities in Myanmar had begun their own investigation.

“We may feel that that’s too little too late, but we will want to talk to the Myanmar authorities about how they see accountability in this case. And then we will explore what might need to be done beyond that,” she said.

Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi flatly rejected a suggestion that the Security Council was shielding Myanmar from international pressure.

“No one is protecting anyone,” he said. “What we really want to see, we want to see that…the international obligation is implemented.”

He said the delegates met with refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps with the help of the Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Ministry and called the current situation “not acceptable.”

“We are determined to find an end and a solution for this crisis. We are not expecting to have, to easily solve this problem very quick. But all the parties should show commitments to solve it as soon as possible,” the Kuwaiti ambassador said.

“We cannot remain silent about it, and when we go back to New York…we will try to explore ways and means to speed up the implementation of the agreement signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar for safe, free and voluntary and dignified return of the refugees,” he added.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement to see the refugees repatriated in November, but none has returned to Myanmar to date.

“We will talk to also the officials in Myanmar and we would like to hear from them. And we will go back to the council [and] we will consider it for sure,” Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi said. “This issue will remain on our agenda and it’s one of our priorities.”

The delegates avoided the term Rohingya in referring to the nearly 700,000 people who have fled Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State since late August, when militant attacks on security posts there set off a sweeping military clearance operation the UN and US have referred to as ethnic cleansing.

The Myanmar military insists the Rohingya do not constitute a distinct ethnic group and insists on calling them Bengali, implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The UN team referred to the Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh simply as refugees.

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Brig Gen Tin Ko Ko to Face No Action over Alleged Plot to Entrap Reuters Reporters

Posted: 30 Apr 2018 05:33 AM PDT

Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko, the accused mastermind behind the alleged entrapment of two Reuters reporters on secrets charges, will face no disciplinary action, nor will the allegations – which were made by a plaintiff witness during the journalists' trial – be investigated, a police spokesman said today.

The witness, police Captain Moe Yan Naing, told a court hearing on April 20 that the arrest of the Reuters reporters – Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo – on Dec. 12 was a setup carried out on the orders of the senior police officer. He said Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko’s actions were “unethical and damaged the integrity of the country on the international stage.”

When asked whether the Myanmar police force would launch an investigation into the accusations made against police Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko as 10 days had passed since they were sensationally aired, police spokesman Colonel Myo Thu Soe, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that no action would be taken.

Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko is currently heading the Yangon-based Security Police Command, and he remains in the position, the police spokesman said.

Capt. Moe Yan Naing was sentenced to one-year imprisonment last Friday, under the Police Discipline Law for handing classified information to the journalists.

"He [Moe Yan Naing] was sentenced by the court in accordance with the Myanmar Police Force Maintenance of Discipline Law, and we have already referred him to the Correctional Department since Friday," said Police Colonel Myo Thu Soe, adding that Moe Yan Naing was being held in Insein prison.

Moe Yan Naing's family has not able to meet him since December and his wife, Daw Tu, said the family was not informed about the sentence either.

She told The Irrawaddy on Monday that she is hoping to see her husband at the next session of the trial of the Reuters journalists at the Yangon Northern District Court in Insein township on May 2, where Moe Yan Naing is due to appear again as a plaintiff witness.

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5,000 Protest, Call for Govt to Rescue Those Displaced in Kachin Clashes

Posted: 30 Apr 2018 04:43 AM PDT

MYITKYINA, Kachin State — More than 5,000 local residents took to the streets in Kachin State's Myitkyina on Monday, calling for the government's intervention to rescue displaced persons trapped in forests amid clashes.

Locals gathered at Manaw grounds and marched around the town, holding placards that urged the government not to neglect the people trapped in clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and calling on the Tatmadaw to stop airstrikes on civilians.

Citing the government's slogan 'together with the people' protesters also urged the government to try to understand the troubles facing them.

Nan Pu, one of the organizers of the protest, said: "Those trapped in forests, especially women, pregnant women, elderly people and children under five years old are suffering. Therefore, we have called on the government and the military to have mercy and let them go as soon as possible."

Besides those trapped in forests, others sheltering in churches have to live in crowded conditions and are short of food, said Nan Pu.

"Churches and Christian associations can only give what they have. Yesterday, they only had pea soup with a little vermicelli. We feel sorry for them. Though donors are donating as much as they can, there are many displaced persons to care for," she said.

Protesters urged the government to provide security for people trapped in clashes and take them to a safe location. They also called on the Tatmadaw to stop attacks immediately and to solve the problems through political means without military pressure.

The clashes between the Tatmadaw and KIA since 2011 have forced more than 100,000 locals to 160 internally displaced person (IDP) camps.

Tatmadaw attacks since April have forced some 2,000 locals to flee from Awng Lawt village in Tanai Township, 160 from Lai Nawng Hku in Hpakant Township, 1,000 locals from Kasung and Zup Mai villages in Mogaung Township, and 2,000 locals from 10 villages in Injangyang Township.

About 3,000 people are taking shelter at churches in nearby townships, and some 2,000 from Tanai are still trapped in forests since April 11 despite the fact that Kachin religious leaders and civil society organizations have requested that the Kachin State chief minister and Tatmadaw officials rescue them.

"The last time I was in contact with them was on April 17. They said they had no food and I don't know what happened to them after that," said Naw Tawng, vice chairman of the All Christian Order IDP Assistance Committee based in Tanai.

"I want the government to mediate between the two sides to de-escalate the clashes," said Rev. Bawk La, general secretary of the Myitkyina Christian Council who is also one of the organizers of the protest.

Christian and Buddhist religious leaders, leaders of Kachin political parties, political, human rights and environmental activists, and Myitkyina locals took part in the protest.

"Even North Korea and South Korea have met for peace now. Why can't our national brethren find a solution at the table and live peacefully?" asked Buddhist monk Ashin Pinnavumsa.

"The Tatmadaw does not treat us like humans. They oppress us with arms. We don't have human rights. We don't like that. That's why I joined the protest," said Gin Sao Shwe, 80, from Myitkyina's Sitapu Ward.

La Dum Naw, a resident of Yuzana Ward in Myitkyina who participated in the protest, drew attention to reports that the Tatmadaw accuses Kachin locals of being KIA members and then tortures and kills them.

The Northern Command of the Tatmadaw issued a notification on April 20 addressed to displaced persons stating that it only attacked KIA outposts and made sure that villages and locals were not affected by the attacks, as well as that it would provide assistance to those returning to their homes.

"People have become a scapegoat. They will go back only when they feel safe to do so. I hope that the government and the Tatmadaw will pay heed to the wishes of the people expressed at the protest," said Manan Tuja, chairman of the Kachin State Democracy Party (KSDP).

Demonstrators plan to stage another round of protests on Monday evening and to continue demonstrating until those trapped in the forests are safely evacuated.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Veteran Democracy Activists Say They Have Green Light to Register Party

Posted: 30 Apr 2018 03:08 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Veterans of the 1988 student uprising say the country’s highest election body has given them permission to begin the registration process for their proposed party, following criticism of their original name.

At a press conference in Yangon on Sunday, U Ko Ko Gyi said the Union Election Commission (UEC) informed him and his colleagues on Thursday that the Four Eights People's Party could begin the registration process.

"We will go to Naypyitaw on May 2 and submit the required documents and list of party members, which are required for party registration," said U Ko Ko Gyi, who rose to prominence during the 1988 uprising.

The party said U Ko Ko Gyi would be chairman and that U Ye Naing Aung would be vice chairman. It has yet to announce the members of its central committee.

"Our main intention is to join hands and cooperate with every institution for the peace and development of the country, and to create a national strategy for sustainable stability and development," said U Ye Naing Aung.

They hope to have the party registered before the announcement of the next national by-elections, which would allow them to compete for at least three seats.

As part of the registration process, the UEC will publish the proposed party’s basic information in state-run newspapers. If no one objects to the proposed name, emblem and flag, the Four Eights People’s Party will be officially registered.

The proposed party’s original name, the Four Eights Party, was criticized by those who believed that 8888, the date on which the student uprising began, should not be appropriated by any political party because it belonged to the entire country as a symbol of Myanmar’s struggle for democracy.

UEC officials were not available for comment.

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KIA Open Letter to Displaced Kachin Urges ‘Patience to Achieve Genuine Peace’

Posted: 30 Apr 2018 01:27 AM PDT

YANGON — The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) chief has issued a letter of encouragement to Kachin people who have been displaced by clashes.

The letter dated April 28 and signed by General N'Ban La apologized to displaced people who are either taking shelter at camps or trapped in forests amid recent clashes, as well as to members of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA, for the troubles they are experiencing.

"The KIO Central Committee is worried and feels sorry that people are suffering hardship. But we must endure the troubles of clashes for a certain length of time with patience.

"We must endure the troubled times with patience to achieve genuine peace," wrote the KIA chief, who urged those affected to not feel downhearted.

The letter also blamed the Myanmar Army, also known as the Tatmadaw, for its offensive attacks across Kachin State while the KIO is seeking every means to solve problems politically. It also blamed the Tatmadaw for launching air strikes and artillery attacks, which have displaced many Kachin locals.

The letter also thanked those providing assistance to IDPs. It also called for unity among Kachin people and encouraged KIO members.

It also said that the KIA had withdrawn from some hills not because of Tatmadaw attacks but as a strategic maneuver.

"It is time we fight back with guerrilla warfare. KIA comrades must take responsibility not only to make efforts on the battleground but also to lead those fleeing to escape," read the letter.

Countless clashes between the Tatmadaw and the KIA have forced more than 100,000 people from their homes to camps since June 2011.

The number further increased by more than 40,000 in April following clashes in Tanai, Hpakant, Mogaung, and Injangyang townships.

Around half of them are taking shelter at churches in nearby townships, but the other half is still trapped in forests in those townships.

They reportedly fled after artillery shells and bombs dropped from Tatmadaw helicopters fell near their villages.

A teenager was killed and his father was injured by a bomb dropped by Tatmadaw helicopters on April 11.

Five of some 1,000 locals who fled from villages in Injangyang Township are still missing, according to displaced persons.

The Irrawaddy was unable to contact the Northern Command of the Tatmadaw to ask about the clashes.

The Northern Command issued a notification on April 20 addressed to displaced persons, stating that it had occupied Man Wel in Hpakant from KIA insurgents and was conducting clearance operations in other areas in Tanai, Mogaung and Injangyang townships.

The notification claimed that the Tatmadaw only attacked KIA outposts, and made sure villages and locals were not affected by the attacks. "Except the things destroyed by the KIA, everything else is kept intact," it read.

The Tatmadaw has provided food and household goods to locals who have returned to their homes in Man Wel in Hpakant, and will also do so for other returnees, read the notification.

The increase in the number of people at IDP camps will affect the image of Kachin State, read the notification, urging locals to return to their homes.

Thirty-two Kachin civil society organizations at home and abroad sent a letter on April 23 to the United Nations Security Council urging it to hand the case over to the International Criminal Court as the Tatmadaw is killing civilians and violating human rights in Kachin State.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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UNSC Comes to Myanmar

Posted: 30 Apr 2018 12:23 AM PDT

Today, a team of 15 permanent representatives from the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council will examine the situation in Rakhine State. This is the best time for the UNSC to try to comprehend the situation on the ground and the members should make an effort to hear the grievances of the local ethnic Arakanese population. The team's reception on the ground will be mixed, if not openly hostile.

The UNSC team will meet State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the chairperson of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine (UEHRD) and civil society groups before visiting troubled northern Rakhine State.

They will then be taken to Rakhine State where they will travel to various locations by helicopter. There is no doubt they will see extensive damage and villages burned down during security clearance options. Myanmar cannot hide what happened in Rakhine State.

Meanwhile, fighting has intensified in Kachin State where government forces and Kachin rebels have engaged and the air force has sent helicopters and fighter jets to attack rebels. But the situation in northern Rakhine State remains relatively calm at the moment. It is interesting to note the increased fighting in Kachin just ahead of the UNSC visit. But the decades-long civil war is now largely ignored the by UN.

The UN had pushed to visit for months, but early this year, Myanmar officials said that tension was still high in the area and it was not to the right time to visit, Kuwait's UN Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi told the press.

Myanmar also invited the Singaporean and Indian ambassadors to attend the UN meetings. This visit is important as to demonstrate that Myanmar is willing to take back refugees and displaced persons who fled their homes in August after attacks on border guard posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) prompted violent security clearance operations.

The UN wants to see a voluntary, safe and dignified return of those displaced and Myanmar has agreed. But how many will return and whether Myanmar is ready to accept the refugees is still unclear. The issue of resettlement will be an ongoing one. The UN team just visited camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, where Rohingya refugees have demanded guarantees for a safe return.

And in November, the Security Council called on Myanmar to ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine State. Furthermore, the Security Council also asked the government to urgently grant domestic and international media organizations full and unhindered access to Rakhine State and throughout the country and to ensure the safety and security of media personnel.

Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed an agreement on arranging the voluntary return of those displaced, largely Rohingya Muslims, but other subgroups as well.

If the refugees remain stranded in Bangladesh, pressure will mount on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's administration as well as military leaders who are facing increasing pressure and targeted sanctions from the United States and the European Union.

The EU extended its arms embargo against Myanmar following human rights violations in the country and has been preparing sanctions against individual army officials.

The embargo includes arms, other equipment that could be used for repression, the provision of military training and products used to monitor communications, the Council of the European Union said. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing has been invited to Brussels twice before but EU officials will have to decide whether to extend an invitation to Brussels in the future. Ironically, many inside the country argue that isolating Myanmar will no longer work.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing will have a tough time with some UNSC members despite appearances that he was trying to put his house in order.

Since Armed Forces Day in March, he has mentioned the Geneva Conventions and instructed soldiers to abide by military codes of conduct and international laws and conventions.

Recently, seven soldiers were sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor for taking part in the massacre of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din in northwestern Rakhine state last September. Top army leaders were concerned about western pressure and sanctions.

In March, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed "shock" at comments by Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in which he said the Rohingya minority shared nothing in common with the rest of the population and that their demand for citizenship had stoked recent violence.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech to military personnel and their families in northern Kachin State that the Rohingya "do not have any characteristics or culture in common with the ethnicities of Myanmar."

The military chief also said the tensions in Rakhine were "fueled because the Bengalis demanded citizenship," using a term that Rohingya activists reject as implying they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

China Backs Myanmar at the UN

At the UN, Myanmar was accused of "ethnic cleansing" and in a September meeting, three permanent members of the UNSC – the US, the UK and France – demanded Myanmar end the "ethnic cleansing" of the Rohingya. However, China and Russia prevented the UN body from making any decision. This was not the first time the two UNSC members have backed Myanmar; China and Russia have continually come to its defense at the UN.

Last week, Song Tao, the minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of the People's Republic of China, met with Myanmar's new President U Win Myint, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

He reportedly told Myanmar leaders that China sees the situation in Rakhine State as an internal affair and suggested the country does not allow interference from the UN or Western nations.

China backed the bilateral agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh to end the crisis and to allow repatriation.

In November, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Bangladesh and Myanmar where he proposed a "three-phase solution" – a ceasefire and restoration of stability in troubled Rakhine State, the signing of a repatriation agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh, and Chinese assistance to alleviate poverty in Rakhine State.

Indeed, China has played the role of 'Big Brother' to Myanmar for decades and continues to intervene.

As China increases its engagement and encourages Myanmar to work on the Rakhine issue, the West and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have also increased their pressure on Myanmar in regards to the situation in Rakhine. Rising anti-Western sentiment among Myanmar people, businessmen and ethnic groups is becoming more apparent.

Myanmar also received backing from India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the country weeks after the violence erupted in northern Rakhine State and fully supported the government and military.

China has a long-term plan to invest in Myanmar and is beginning to establish a foothold in Rakhine State with its promise to develop a deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu on the Bay of Bengal at a cost of about $7.3 billion. The country clearly has strategic interests in the Indian Ocean – a point of competition between India and China.

Clearly, Myanmar is strategically important for China and the once-isolated country is now becoming a point of tension between China and powerful nations in the West. When former President U Thein Sein canceled the controversial China-funded Myitsone Dam project in Kachin State, the EU and US welcomed the decision.

China will not allow Myanmar to drift into the Western camp. In this geopolitical game, Myanmar will have to do some fine-tuning and balance its position. It will not be easy.

But the government will have to look at the stability of the Rakhine State where native Arakanese are concerned with international involvement and the UN. If the repatriation is to be supervised by the UN and an international presence, it will further complicate the situation. In Myanmar, the UN itself is facing an issue with credibility in regards to Rakhine State, and it needs to reassure Myanmar citizens that it wants to see the once-isolated country move forward – and that it is open-minded and not one-sided.

In November, a UNSC statement said, "The Security Council reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity, and unity of Myanmar, and stresses its support to the Government of Myanmar in the pursuit and consolidation of its ongoing democratic transition process, emphasizing the importance of reforms to promote accountable government institutions, especially in the security and justice sectors and to build the confidence of the people of Myanmar."

There is apprehension among the people of what will come after the UNSC visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Further punishment will not help Myanmar's fragile democratic transition and is likely to send the country back to its pariah status.

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Rakhine Border Guard Officer Kills Colleague in Spat over Water

Posted: 29 Apr 2018 11:51 PM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — A border guard police officer was killed on Saturday and another was injured when a fight erupted between officers at Thinbawhla Chaungwa police outpost in northern Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township.

Police officer Kyaw Phyo Thu threw an MG-1 grenade at his colleague Pyae Phyo Min after they started fighting over the scarce water supply at the police post. The grenade exploded between Pyae Phyo Min and Lance-Corporal Min Min Zaw, who was sleeping near them, according to Maungdaw police.

The two were rushed to Maungdaw Hospital, but Pyae Phyo Min died of his wounds. Min Min Zaw was later transferred to a military hospital in Sittwe.

The commander of the Maungdaw Township Police Force, Captain Hla Htay, said he did not know the details about the incident, as it involved border guard police.

Police Colonel Aung Win, commander of Kyee Kan Pyin Border Guard Police headquarters, declined to comment, saying only that he regretted that a fight had broken out between officers.

"We have submitted the case to higher authorities. They will issue a statement to the press," he told The Irrawaddy.

Kyaw Phyo Thu was detained at the border guard headquarters, where an investigation was under way.

On Sunday, a police lance-corporal was fatally shot by a sub-lieutenant after the two got into a fight during a patrol in Yoe Tayoke village in Rakhine's Ponna Kyun Township.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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With Warning Drums and River Cleanups, Indonesian Women Head Off Disasters

Posted: 29 Apr 2018 10:36 PM PDT

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — Whenever heavy rains come at night in her neighborhood in the ancient Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, schoolteacher Muryani remembers the worst floods she experienced, almost 35 years ago.

Sleeping with her mother and two young siblings in a bamboo hut to guard a farmer’s goats from thieves, Muryani feared for their lives as flash floods burst through the door.

“Suddenly the water was so high … it came very fast,” she said. “I was so worried about my mother, who was already quite old. I was afraid we would drown.”

Muryani, 44, who goes by one name only, still lives in the same area, now a small settlement of about 300 residents called Pedak Baru which sits by a river close to Mount Merapi volcano.

As floods have become more frequent over the last five years, Muryani and 25 other local women have teamed up with the YAKKUM Emergency Unit, a project that runs activities to help women protect their communities from disasters in Central Java and Yogyakarta.

Located along the Pacific Rim of Fire, Indonesia has more than 17,000 islands, and faces many natural threats, including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. The effects of climate change, such as worsening floods and drought, present further risks.

The Indonesian government spends an estimated $300 million-$500 million annually on building back after disasters, according to World Bank resilience officials.

While the Southeast Asian nation has reduced poverty over the last 20 years, many hover just above the poverty line and can easily be pushed back under it by a disaster.

But women can play a crucial role in minimizing the risks for their families and neighbors, experts say.

For Muryani and her family, regular floods have often destroyed their possessions and furniture — which she cannot afford to replace — and forced her two children to miss school.

But the disaster training she has received is helping.

“It gives us an awareness for what to do when flooding happens and how to prepare,” she said.

Policy Change

Indonesia has experienced an average of 290 significant natural disasters annually over the past 30 years, according to the World Bank officials.

They include the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 167,000 Indonesians. After that shock, Jakarta reformed its institutions, laws and policies to better manage disaster risk.

The government introduced a disaster management bill in 2007 that shifted the emphasis from merely responding to disasters towards trying to stop them happening and curbing their impact.

The new approach led to the strengthening of Indonesia’s disaster management agency, with representatives and branches put in place across districts.

The disaster agency now encourages civil society groups like YAKKUM to involve women more in efforts to build resilience.

Despite the huge progress made in recent years, more work is needed, and a larger number of government departments should include disaster risk reduction in their projects, especially at the local level, said Arghya Sinha Roy of the ADB in Manila.

“Every disaster is not on a nationwide scale; it can be a localized district or village-level disaster,” he added.

Women Left Behind

Often marrying early, Indonesian women’s traditional role in running the household means they are sometimes forgotten when a community draws up plans to deal with disasters.

This can lead to them being left behind at home during evacuations, or being unaware of safety procedures.

“When you look back at the 2004 tsunami, most of the casualties are women,” said Irina Rafliana, a researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.

And women who survive a major catastrophe are often the ones responsible for getting their families back on their feet in tough circumstances, she added.

In Indonesia, as in many Asian countries, women often take care of the family and its finances, meaning they are best placed to suggest ways of protecting lives, property and incomes, experts said.

When disasters happen, women tend to quickly grasp the importance of saving key documents, for example. And because women spend more time in their neighborhoods, they can pinpoint high-risk areas and influence their peers.

“If you compare Indonesia with other countries in Southeast Asia, the role of women … in disaster risk reduction is among the strongest,” said Rafliana.

Floods and volcanoes

Pedak Baru faces twin threats of flooding and damage to infrastructure caused by eruptions from nearby Mount Merapi.

The only access to the settlement is via a narrow, potholed road, while many of its two-story houses are in a state of disrepair due to regular inundations.

Things are changing, however, especially since YAKKUM began working with women in the community three years ago.

Pedak Baru’s women first mapped out their neighborhood to identify the risks, and now regularly collect rubbish from the river, recycling plastic waste for money.

The women are trained in evacuation procedures and first aid, and help fill and place sandbags along the river’s embankment when waters rise.

Despite scant funding, they have made buoys from rope and tires, and early-warning drums from bamboo.

Signposts on walls point out escape routes and an evacuation point positioned on higher ground.

The women also hold regular talks with the local branch of the Indonesian disaster agency, and are campaigning for the permanent reinforcement of their river embankment.

Pedak Baru resident Farida Estiningrum, 39, said the scheme had been useful in helping young people too.

“We have even trained the children on how to save themselves when the flood comes to the houses,” she said. “We are prepared for everything.”

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Myanmar Policeman Who Testified Reuters Reporters Were Framed Is Sentenced to Prison: Police

Posted: 29 Apr 2018 10:21 PM PDT

YANGON — A police officer who testified that police framed two Reuters reporters has been sentenced to an undisclosed prison term for violating Myanmar’s Police Disciplinary Act, a police spokesman told Reuters on Sunday, without elaborating.

Captain Moe Yan Naing told the court on April 20 that a senior officer had ordered police to “trap” one of the two journalists arrested in December. He said officers had been told to meet reporter Wa Lone at a restaurant in Yangon and give him “secret documents.”

During that hearing, Moe Yan Naing told the court he had been under arrest since the night of Dec. 12, the date the Reuters reporters were arrested, without access to his family. He said he had been accused of violating the Police Disciplinary Act.

The court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 32, and his Reuters colleague Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar's Rakhine State. The killings took place during an army crackdown that United Nations agencies say has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

Seven Myanmar soldiers had been sentenced to “10 years in prison with hard labor in a remote area” for participating in the massacre, the Myanmar military said in April.

On Sunday, police spokesman Colonel Myo Thu Soe told Reuters Moe Yan Naing had been punished “according to police disciplinary act,” adding that his “case has been processed by a police court, finalized and he was punished and he has been sent to prison to serve the punishment.”

Myo Thu Soe did not elaborate on where the police court is based and did not respond to several questions about the specific section of the law under which Moe Yan Naing was sentenced. He also did not answer questions on the length of the sentence.

"The punishment is a prison sentence and for the rest, please find out yourself," Myo Thu Soe told a Reuters reporter.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately reachable for comment.

'In Their Hand'

Moe Yan Naing told the court he was charged under sections 16 (b) and 22 of the Police Disciplinary Act.

Under section 16 (b), anyone who “neglects to obey any general, local or other order issued in writing” could be sentenced to up to a year in prison.

Section 22 of the act also involves a maximum of a yearlong sentence for “any act or omission which, although not specified in this Law, is pre-judicial to good order and police discipline.”

Tu Tu, the 42-year-old wife of Moe Yan Naing, told Reuters by phone she had not been notified about a sentence, adding that she has been unable to see her husband since Dec. 12.

“He is in their hand. They can do as they wish,” she said, referring to the police.

Tu Tu and her children were evicted from their home in police housing in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw on April 21 – less than 24 hours after Moe Yan Naing’s testimony.

Police have said the eviction order was not related to Moe Yan Naing’s testimony, without elaborating further.

Judge Ye Lwin, who is overseeing the pretrial hearings in the case of the Reuters reporters, will on Wednesday rule on whether Moe Yan Naing was credible when he testified about what he called a police “set up” to “trap” Wa Lone.

The post Myanmar Policeman Who Testified Reuters Reporters Were Framed Is Sentenced to Prison: Police appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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