Friday, August 31, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Analysis: Tourism Industry Courts Asian Market as Westerners Shy Away

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 07:47 AM PDT

YANGON – While Myanmar's de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is seeking to lure more tourists by modernizing the country's transportation system and constructing budget hotels, the tourism industry is turning its eyes to the Asian market as many Western online travel agencies (OTAs) discourage travel to Myanmar.

In particular, OTAs in the U.S., Canada, England and Scandinavia have drastically downplayed Myanmar as a tourist destination following the Army's crackdown on the Rohingya community in northern Rakhine, which drove out nearly 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. Members of the security forces are accused of widespread killings, rapes and arson. A report by an independent UN fact-finding mission said the action had "genocidal intent" and urged that the military leadership be investigated for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

While the UN's findings have, of course, been widely reported by international news outlets, Western OTAs have been quietly punishing Myanmar by removing it as a destination from their brochures and tour packages.

U.S.-based online travel giant Trip Advisor — a website that provides all kinds of advice on accommodation, airlines, restaurants and hotels to travelers — has left Myanmar out of its 2018 Travelers' Choice Awards for the best 25 destinations in Asia for the past several years, while holiday spots in neighboring countries Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam consistently make the list. Thailand alone has five destinations on the most recent list. The page attracts about 456 million visitors a month.

Myanmar was, however, included among the top 20 destinations in Asia as ranked by another popular travel website, Lonely Planet.

A senior review writer for Trip Advisor who uses the name "Prof. Victor", and who regularly writes about Asia's best destinations, disclosed to the The Irrawaddy that Myanmar had been omitted from the site's "Asia's Top 25 Travel Destinations as well as its "Destination on the Rise" list. He added, however, that he didn't know who was responsible for compiling the global and regional destinations lists, or whether the decision to omit Myanmar was based on the political climate in the country. Other sections on the website still list tourist sites in Bagan, Nyaung Shwe, Inle and Yangon. Notably, Rakhine's Ngapali Beach was ranked in the top three among the site's 25 best beaches in Asia.

German hotelier Oliver Esser, who operates a hotel in Ngapali Beach, pointed out that "Trip Advisor or any other publication is a trend setter, so at top is [the] best, [but] in the middle or [at No.] 25 still gets a share. So when you are not there at all it means you are not alive; your name is not alive anymore."

Hot air balloons float above Bagan's stunning scenery. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Cheryl Long, Trip Advisor's senior communications manager for Asia Pacific, said in a brief email reply to questions from The Irrawaddy on Thursday that her company's rankings are based on an algorithm that considers the quality and quantity of reviews and ratings for hotels, attractions and restaurants worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period. These include traveler bookings made via its own website. 

Myanmar erased from brochures

Daw Sabe Aung, managing director of Nature Dream Tour, said that OTAs from Canada, England, the US and Scandinavia distribute brochures every September that contain a list of popular destinations and itineraries for each country. References to Myanmar are being removed from these brochures due to the negative image of the country created by last year's military clearance operations in northern Rakhine.

Daw Sabe Aung participated in the World Travel Market (WTM) event in Europe, and said she was frequently asked about the Rohingya issue there. She has also learned that some OTAs are even refusing to sell tickets and trips to Myanmar, following pressure from rights groups.

"Some giant travel agencies distribute brochures to their customers in advance of the tour season and Myanmar was left out of these booklets and leaflets. So just think about it: How can Myanmar can draw tourists?" Daw Sabe Aung said.

Although Prof. Victor could not decisively say whether US travel companies were joining the boycott campaign against Myanmar, he assumed that most Westerners received only one view, that of the Rohingya victimhood narrative, from international broadcasting and news outlets, as well as from right groups in the US, and that as a result the view of Myanmar is overwhelmingly negative.

"I scan the international press regularly, looking only for Myanmar-related issues, and mostly see hostile news about Myanmar. Let's save Myanmar tourism from this," Prof. Victor said.

Local travel agency operator Kyaw Swar Min said he had received the same message as Daw Sabe Aung. He explained that until now the local travel and tourism sector has relied more on Western countries than those from Asia. Now, local tour agencies are eyeing a switch to a culture-based tourism theme. This highlights the challenges that await tour agencies, as Asian and Western tourists travel for different reasons. Westerners, he said, love trekking, hiking and unique beaches, while Asian people enjoy shopping.

Kyaw Swar Min said, "It's really tough for those of us who mainly target Westerners. The situation is like a restaurant owner who suddenly needs to open a teashop."

Tourists visit the centuries-old Shwe Nan Daw Kyaung monastery in Mandalay. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

From January to June 2018, the country received about 1.8 million visitors, a drop of roughly 38,000 compared with last year. The government targets 7 million annual tourist arrivals by 2020. Some analysts have blamed the drop on the 2017 violence in Rakhine State. By comparison, neighboring Thailand received 35.38 million tourists in 2017, equivalent to more than half its population. Even the Myanmar Tourism Ministry acknowledged in a state-owned newspaper that the tourist booking rate from Canada had declined 55 percent from last year.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, there are 1,676 hotels and 67,350 rooms across the country for tourists, but the industry's income has fallen since the humanitarian crisis erupted in northern Rakhine State in August last year. Overall visitor numbers from the U.S., Canada, the Middle East and Europe have declined significantly in 2018 because the country's image has been tarnished in the eyes of many Western and European travelers.

Targeting the Asian market

Travel agents believe that tourist arrivals to Myanmar will increase when the country's political climate stabilizes, adding that this will take at least two to three years. The same pattern was observed right after 2012 communal rioting between the Rakhine and Rohingya communities. Oliver Esser, the Ngapali Beach hotel owner, recalled that tour agencies immediately canceled trips for the whole season, but that a few years later the area had its hottest tourist season in decades.

The Irrawaddy asked five businesspeople whether Myanmar would be able to salvage its tourist season in 2018. Three thought it "very unlikely" and two said the situation was "tough to predict".

According to Oliver Esser, "Germany's biggest study tour operator totally trimmed down from 100 tours a year to Myanmar." He added that a famous travel guidebook and online forum said that "Myanmar cannot be sold".

"I think it will [get] much more worse," he said.

Myanmar Tourism Federation vice chairwoman Daw May Myat Mon Win said she had heard the same sentiment, though she did not have precise statistics. Travel agencies and hoteliers are already preparing to promote new destinations that target Asian tourists. Official figures show that Asian tourists already account for 70 percent of the total, with those from the U.S., Europe and Scandinavia providing the remainder. However, Western visitors tend to stay longer — about one to two weeks — and spend more money than their Asian counterparts.

"As far as I know, some tour operators are already stepping out [to develop] Asia-focused tour packages," she said.

The Myanmar government recently introduced visa-free entry for Japanese and Koreans, and visas on arrival for Chinese people as part of its marketing strategy. Daw May Myat Mon Win said Myanmar tourism is generally based on cultural destinations, such as promoting archeological zones, pagodas and temples to older tourists. Until 2014-16, the entire industry forgot to create new experiences for middle aged and younger people, she said.

"Some customers told me that they have no idea where to go in Yangon at nighttime. We don't have anything like a night bazaar, and one should be created," Daw May Myat Mon Win said.

At a meeting with tourism associations in Naypyitaw in mid-August, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urged tour operators to develop new destinations and nature/adventure trips.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said, "If we can modernize our transportation system, we will be able to attract more tourists."

Daw May Myat Mon Win said that in order to maintain tourist interest in Myanmar, the MTF and the Tourism Ministry discussed at a recent meeting a plan to advertise new tourist spots and untouched destinations on international broadcasters like CNN and other wire agencies. The government has given the green light to funding for a pilot project and plans to kick it off in October.

The post Analysis: Tourism Industry Courts Asian Market as Westerners Shy Away appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Four Deaths, Three Missing in Flooding Caused by Dam Breach

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 06:21 AM PDT

YANGON—Four people have died and three others, including one boy, are missing as a result of flooding of caused by spillwater from a dam on Swar Creek in Taungoo District in Bago Region, according to the Bago Region Government Office on Friday afternoon.

Water from the dam on Swar Creek has been flowing across the land and into Sittaung River since Wednesday after the dam breached, causing flooding across four townships: Yedashe, Taunggu, Oktwin and Kyauk Gyi, in Taungoo District. The regional government has opened 85 relief camps for more than 31,000 affected in those townships. A total of 319 schools are also temporarily closed due to the floods.

Four bodies—including those of a pregnant woman, a 17-year-old boy and two male adults—were found in Swar Township where the dam waters first flooded, confirmed the spokesman of the Bago Region Government Office. The missing persons are an eleven-year-old boy, the driver of a truck and a military major from Infantry Battalion 84.

23 villages tracts in these townships have been affected by floods from the dam and the government has been providing assistance to those affected in temporary relief camps, said U Saw Nyo Win, Bago Region's Minister of Natural Resources, Forestry and Environmental Conservation and the regional government's spokesperson.

On Thursday, the government said more than 63,000 people from 18 village tracts in Yedashe and Swar townships have been affected. Water levels are now decreasing in the area as the water flows downstream in the Sittaung River.

Rehabilitation of the affected villages will take time, said U Saw Nyo Win, as the government is still assessing the damage.

Bago Region faces floods every year due to the heavy rainfall but this is the first time a flood has been caused by the breaching of a dam.

"We have nothing left," said, Daw Phyo Phyo from Shwe Tha Byay, a village in Swar Township. Her house was dragged away by the floodwater.

As soon as she got telephone calls from friends who live closer to the dam on Wednesday morning, she and some 200 villagers ran from their homes within fifteen minutes. They fled with only the clothes on their backs.

"When we started running, we saw the water already coming to us," added Daw Phyo Phyo.

"We did not have any warning about the floods," said villagers interviewed by The Irrawaddy.

U San Myint, another resident of Shwe Tha Byay told The Irrawaddy on Thursday, "We are worried. As the floodwater came in the early morning, we had time to run. If not [the daytime] we wouldn't have had time to run."

"What if we face more heavy rains? We are concerned," he added. "Even though a small part of the dam breached, we faced this much loss. If the breach was bigger, we can't image our fate. I have no doubt that those who live nearer to the riverbank will have to suffer more."

The water flow from Swar Creek's dam also caused damage to Swar Bridge on the Yangon-Mandalay expressway and briefly disrupted transport, but officials had repaired it by Thursday.

A day after the flooding in Swar, local residents of Okpho Township, in western Bago also faced flooding on Thursday afternoon. On Friday, The Irrawaddy learnt that one male adult had died and a teenage boy was missing from the area.

U Kyaw Zin Oo, the local township administrator, told The Irrawaddy that the temporary relief camps are operating while 32 villages in eight village tracts are flooded from heavy rainfall and the accumulation of water from upstream. Okpho faces floods almost every year, but nothing as huge as this year, he added.

Htet Naing Zaw and Kaung Myat Min contributed to this report from Yedashe and Okpho townships. 

The post Four Deaths, Three Missing in Flooding Caused by Dam Breach appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Facebook Bans Deepen Mutual Distrust Between Military, Government

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 05:57 AM PDT

The already growing mistrust between the civilian administration and the powerful military leadership has been suddenly aggravated by social media giant Facebook's decision to ban Myanmar's top generals.

The military leaders suspect that the government, led by de facto national leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was somehow involved in the closure of the Facebook accounts of military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and some other top brass. But on what grounds?

Some social media users have expressed sympathy with the military's view, pointing to the fact that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently visited Singapore, where some of Facebook's top executives including Simon Milner, vice president for public policy, are based.

Milner and his team were recently in Myanmar. As part of the company's efforts to reach out to key players in the country, they met with Information Minister U Pe Myint as well as editors, journalists and representatives of several media groups and other concerned individuals.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was in Singapore for a four-day working visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Sources close to the Myanmar military also said the timing of the ban, so soon after the State Counselor's visit, suggested she had advance knowledge of the plan. Was she involved?

"What was she doing in Singapore?" asked many sympathetic to Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, suggesting that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi played a key role in removing his social media account and those of the other generals.

One thing is certain: Whenever she goes abroad, she is accompanied by ministers and Myanmar Embassy officials, so the military will no doubt have its eyes and ears on her.

In public, many senior military officers are reluctant to voice such concerns, saying only that "we are under the government and it is the duty of the government to respond." The answer is not sufficient, but one can see that the deep-seated mistrust towards Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has deepened.

So then is the military in fact under the government?

Most people in Myanmar believe that executive power in the country is divided between the civilian government and the armed forces.

It is true that the military accounts for 25 percent of the seats in Parliament, and army officers attend Parliament in uniform. The military controls three key ministries — Defense, Home Affairs and Border Affairs — and the government has no influence on them.

But when meeting UN Security Council members who visited Myanmar — following their trip to Bangladesh — to learn about the crisis in northern Rakhine State in early May, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing told the delegates: "Our Tatmadaw [military] represents Myanmar, and though I am the head of the Tatmadaw, our country has a president. And we Tatmadaw act under the leadership of the president."

This means that according to the 2008 Constitution, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing reports directly to President U Win Myint as head of state (and before him, to then-president U Htin Kyaw), and not to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who occupies the position of State Counselor, which was created for her in 2016. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she would be "above the president", thus making the presidency more of a ceremonial position. Some say that this situation is at the root of all the problems.

During her visit to Singapore, she reiterated her government's intention to amend the Constitution without derailing the national reconciliation process, and stressed the importance of building peace — including in conflict-torn Rakhine State — and promoting economic development.

Answering a question about the possibility of another military coup in her country, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi replied, "Our relationship with the army is not that bad."

"Don't forget that we have three members of the cabinet who are in fact military men, generals, and they're all rather sweet."

In any case, back home, the government moved quickly to deny that it had any role in or advance knowledge of Facebook's decision.

Speaking to reporters in Naypyitaw, President's Office Spokesperson Zaw Htay said that soon after Facebook made the announcement, he received calls from military officials, including a number of lieutenant-generals, asking if he had any information about the account closures.

Zaw Htay quickly denied the speculation, saying, "Neither the government nor [the government's] social media monitoring team played a part in [the decision by Facebook]."

But he admitted that smoothing over the damage would be difficult. "We are concerned that misunderstandings that the government played a role in the decision will hinder the government's efforts on national reconciliation."

Given the depth of the anger among senior military leaders, it will be difficult to overcome the deep-seated suspicion and mistrust between them and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The army generals believe that the Daw Aung San Suu Kyi-led government has used its remaining ties abroad and international pressure to condemn and ridicule the military. The state counselor, meanwhile, is calling for reconciliation.

In reality, the takedown of Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s verified Facebook page came within hours of the release of a report by the UN Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission on Myanmar, which found that the actions of Myanmar's military leadership against the Rohingya had "genocidal intent" and called for an investigation into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

One senior Facebook official told The Irrawaddy, "We banned Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and other military officials from Facebook for violating our policies, which prohibit dangerous organizations and individuals from using Facebook. We’ve taken this step in Myanmar since international experts, including the recent UN-commissioned report, have found evidence that many of these officials committed serious human rights abuses in the country. And we want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions. The individuals are banned from Facebook and any new accounts they set up will be removed."

Facebook had to save face, as UN human rights experts investigating possible genocide in Myanmar said in March that Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech in the country. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh since insurgent attacks sparked a security crackdown last August.

The late former UN chief Kofi Annan told Facebook executives that it should consider establishing a special team to respond more quickly to threats of sectarian violence in countries such as Myanmar that are at high risk.

Earlier this year, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg stared down the US Congress when he was quizzed on his company's possible role in amplifying messages of hatred that paved the way for widespread support of the military's purge of the Rohingya.

The Myanmar government has asked Facebook to more fully explain its bans of the military leaders.

Facebook's action was politically symbolic, but controversial here in Myanmar, where the decision to ban top generals has received a mixed response.

Will Facebook's action prove to have more of an impact on the generals than Western sanctions? We don't know — yet.

Some say the ban may have shot down Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing's presidential ambitions, while others fear that it may only bolster his popularity. On the issue of northern Rakhine and the UN's damning report, the majority of the population will likely back the powerful armed forces, as well as the government.

We can predict with some confidence, however, that a period of bitter political fallout and retaliation are in the pipeline for the country, whose fragile political transition is now stalled.

The post Facebook Bans Deepen Mutual Distrust Between Military, Government appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UEC Demands Arakan National Party Change Terms Used in By-Election Campaign

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 05:36 AM PDT

MON STATE — The Union Election Commission (UEC) has requested that the Arakan National Party (ANP) use the term "ethnic Rakhine" instead of "Rakhine nationality" in their statement to be read on state television in preparation for the by-election campaign, but the ANP has taken issue with the request, according to local sources.

Myanmar's by-elections will take place on November 3 and the ANP will be running for the constituency of Rathedaung Township in Rakhine State.

U Htun Aung Kyaw, the ANP's general secretary, told The Irrawaddy that the UEC told his party leaders in Naypyitaw on August 27 that they needed to make the name change.

"They invited us to talk on TV for the by-election campaign. They told us to propose a draft before we announce it on TV but they said we need to take the word 'nationality' from the draft, and use 'ethnic' instead," said U Htun Aung Kyaw.

He said that the draft statement has a sentence, the party's slogan, which states that the party vows to work on development for people of Rakhine nationality and other minor Rakhine ethnic groups.

In another sentence the UEC asked the ANP to refrain from saying they will work to have a federal system based on nationality, he said.

The ANP had no problems with the wording of draft statements they prepared for state television in the 2010 and 2015 election campaigns. Similarly, when they used this same statement, based on party policy, for the 2017 by-elections, there were no problems, according to the party.

However, the UEC has decided to restrict the ANP this time and so party leaders have refused to change it.

"We are Rakhine nationality, aren't we? Why do they want us to change it to 'ethnic Rakhine' now? We told [the UEC] that we can't accept it as this is our party policy," said U Htun Aung Kyaw.

U Myint Naing, a spokesperson from the UEC, told The Irrawaddy that they were worried the ANP would use race and religion as a tool for their political gain in the by-election campaign. Therefore, the commission asked for the wording to be changed.

After meeting for negotiations, the UEC and ANP reached an agreement, he said.

However, U Htun Aung Kyaw said that the UEC still wants his party to change the second sentence about working for a federal state based on nationality.

"The UEC told us the sentence was not appropriate [according to] the 2008 Constitution. Therefore, they still want us to change it but we will not," said Htun Aung Kyaw.

The ANP is a political party mainly working for Rakhine people and it won a total of 45 seats at state and union levels in the 2015 national elections. Rakhine State is the only region where the NLD did not win a majority of votes.

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USDP Calls for Action Against Facebook

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 05:29 AM PDT

NAWPYITAW—The Lower House Speaker T Khun Myat rejected the urgent proposal from military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) regarding Facebook's removal of the accounts of members of the Myanmar Army including the army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

"Some may think that it is unnecessary to take seriously things done by a private company, but it insults the dignity of the country," USDP lawmaker U Thaung Aye told The Irrawaddy.

"I put forward the proposal because I want the government to respond and protect [the dignity of the country] and because I want the government to win greater trust from people," added the ex-Lieutenant General.

"The insult to the Tatmadaw, which has saved and protected the country, is an insult to the people and the country."

Amid heavy condemnation for failing to combat hate speech against Rohingya and other Muslims, the social media giant on Monday announced it was removing 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages of military individuals and organizations "to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation" on the platforms.

The statement says Facebook is acting on a recent report by the UNHRC's Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar that found the Facebook accounts and pages of these individuals and organizations to have directly or indirectly contributed to human rights abuses.

"Myanmar's top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States," said the report published the same day.

Facebook's deleting of the accounts amounts to affirming the alleged human rights violations of the Myanmar Tatmadaw, said U Thaung Aye. "This insults the dignity of the Tatmadaw and sovereignty of the country."

U Thaung Aye put forward the urgent proposal on Wednesday.

"The government has spoken [against the removal of the accounts]. But it is not enough. It must issue an official statement. If necessary, it must block [Facebook]. We have to show our national pride that we won't give into bullying," he said.

The Office of the Lower House said yesterday that his proposal is against the parliamentary by-laws and was therefore rejected.

According to the Office of the Lower House, the proposal was rejected according to the parliamentary by-law in paragraph 2 of Article 163(a).

An urgent proposal, the provision says, can be submitted only when an issue arises recently, and is a matter of urgency to the public, and is in need of decision of the Parliament.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Myanmar President Vows to Combats Drugs, Terrorism at Regional Meeting

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 04:30 AM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar President U Win Myint vowed active cooperation in combatting terrorism and drug trafficking in the region while speaking at the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu.

"Myanmar has been encountering the scourge of terrorism," President U Win Myint said, addressing the opening ceremony of the summit on Thursday.

Therefore, Myanmar attaches great importance to counter-terrorism and trans-national crime and assures its continued active cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework, he added.

Myanmar ratified the 2009 BIMSTEC Convention on Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking on July 5, 2016.

The BIMSTEC, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, is a seven-member group comprised of Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal as member countries—which together accounts for 22 percent of the global population.

President U Win Myint said at the summit in Nepal that the region won't be an exception while one of the daunting challenges of the world is to ensure food and nutrition security for the rapidly growing population.

He announced that Myanmar would hold the first BIMSTEC ministerial meeting on Agriculture in this fiscal year to address the emerging challenges.

President U Win Myint called for the further enhancement of cooperation in ensuring food security, energy trading, unlocking socio-economic development, poverty alleviation and promoting trade and investments among the member states.

"Despite significant achievements of the member states, poverty still remains a challenge for all of us," he said.

He stressed the need of effective and efficient cooperation in implementing the region's priority projects, as all cooperation areas will not be feasible for BIMSTEC due to financial and resources constraints.

At the conclusion of the two-day summit, the seven member states on Friday signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection on Friday for the trading of electricity.

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UNSC Should Refer Myanmar to ICC: Rights Group

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 04:23 AM PDT

YANGON — The United Nations Security Council should refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC), said Fortify Rights, a non-profit rights group based in Southeast Asia, citing rights abuses against displaced persons in the north of the country.

The rights group launched its report regarding human rights violations against displaced civilians in Kachin State and northern Shan State on Thursday.

The report "They Block Everything" states that the Myanmar government, particularly the Myanmar military, has blocked humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Kachin civilians forcibly displaced by the clashes between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) for more than seven years, which could constitute a war crime.

"Consecutive governments and the military have willfully obstructed local and international aid groups, denying Kachin civilians access to aid," said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights.

"This may amount to a war crime, giving even more reason for the UN Security Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court," referring to the alleged genocide of Rohingya Muslims by the Myanmar Army in Rakhine State.

While the Myanmar military is largely responsible for hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid to Kachin civilians, the former administration of U Thein Sein and the current government demonstrated continuity in their respective policies to deprive war-affected Kachin civilians of adequate humanitarian aid, the report says.

Due to the lack of essential aid, displaced civilians in Kachin State reported increased food insecurity, avoidable health-related deaths, poor living conditions, and protection concerns, according to the Fortify Rights report.

On Monday, a UN fact-finding mission released findings that Myanmar authorities "frequently and arbitrarily denied" humanitarian aid to civilians in Kachin State. The independent mission said that Myanmar's top generals should face prosecution for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan states.

To avoid prosecution at the ICC, first of all, the military generals of Myanmar must have concern for the ICC. "Only then, will they change their behaviors," Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, told The Irrawaddy.

David Baulk, a Myanmar human rights specialist with Fortify Rights, said that willful deprivation of humanitarian aid to displaced civilians in Kachin State violates both international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

Without access to basic and lifesaving aid and assistance, the report says, displaced civilians are forced to take risky journeys in search of food and essential items outside displacement camps, exposing them to the dangers of landmines and armed conflict in Myanmar as well as exploitation and arbitrary arrest and detention in China.

The report further claims that the Kachin State minister for security and border affairs, in May, accused the Kachin Baptist Convention—one of the largest providers of aid to displaced communities in KIA-controlled areas—with allegedly violating Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act for delivering aid in areas under the control of the KIA, which the Myanmar government has labeled as a "terrorist" group.

Conviction under Article 17(1) carries a three-year prison sentence and/or a fine.

From June 2017 to June 2018, the Myanmar government unconditionally approved only approximately five percent of 562 applications submitted by international humanitarian agencies seeking travel authorization to assist displaced communities in government-controlled areas of Kachin State.

Even fewer requests were approved for aid agencies seeking access to areas under the control of the KIA, says the report.

"There is no court in Myanmar to take action against perpetrators according to international laws. So, there is no guarantee that the trial at home be fair. That's why [Fortify Rights] has called for an international investigation," said director U Aung Myo Min of Equality Myanmar, a local human rights organization.

Following the Tatmadaw's operations in Kachin State's Tanai that displaced thousands of civilians, 32 Kachin civil society organizations at home and abroad called in April on the UN Security Council to refer Myanmar to the ICC.

The report of Fortify Right is based primarily on 195 interviews conducted by Fortify Rights from 2013 to 2018 with displaced civilians, local and international humanitarian workers, UN officials, KIO representatives, and KIA soldiers.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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NCA Signatories to Review Peace Process

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:27 AM PDT

YANGON — Ethnic signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement will review the current political landscape and the peace process, said vice-chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Army (PNLA) Khun Myint Tun.

The peace process steering team (PPST) of the NCA signatories will meet in Thailand's Chiang Mai in September, said Khun Myint Tun, who is also on the PPST.

"We have things to review after the third session of the Panglong Conference. And we'll also discuss what steps we should take regarding the current political landscape," he added.

The PPST will also discuss holding a summit between NCA signatories and non-signatories, he said.

Among the key ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) that have not signed the NCA with the government are the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

The UWSA said that it would consider inking the peace pact if the government and Myanmar Army gave the group a written promise that it would have the right to seek changes to and/or resign from the agreement.

The meeting, however, will not touch upon the recent clashes between the Myanmar Army or Tatmadaw and Brigade 5 of the Karen National Union (KNU) in Karen's Papun District because it is a military issue, said Padoh Saw Ta Doh Moo, general secretary of the KNU.

"We'll discuss how we can proceed with the peace process together," he told The Irrawaddy.

The PPST held its 22nd and 23rd meetings in July since signing the NCA in 2015.

The team is comprised of eight EAOs—the Karen National Union, the Karen National Liberation Army–Peace Council (KNLA-PC), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), the All Burma Student's Democratic Front (ABSDF), the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the Chin National Front (CNF), and the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO)—that signed the NCA with former U Thein Sein's administration in 2015.

Two more EAOs — the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) – signed the NCA with the National League for Democracy-led government in February.

The two are attending the PPST meetings as observers.

"We will work on the agreed principles to achieve more meaningful results in the peace process," said Padoh Saw Ta Doh Moo.

In February, the PPST formed two teams to hold informal talks with the government on political and security issues.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Duterte Says Philippines Better Off Run by Dictator if He Were Not Around

Posted: 31 Aug 2018 01:16 AM PDT

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has said graft and illicit drugs were so entrenched in the Philippines that if he were not around, it would be better off run by a dictator such as late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

In a speech on Thursday, Duterte reiterated that he wanted to quit before his term ends in 2022, but was reluctant to hand power to Leni Robredo, the vice president who was elected separately and was not his running mate.

Robredo has been a critic of the president’s deadly war on drugs. Duterte said there would be disorder if his crackdown was halted, and the Philippines could do with an authoritarian at the helm.

“You’re better off choosing a dictator of the likes of Marcos, that’s what I suggested,” Duterte said. “Constitutional succession, it’s Robredo. But she cannot hack it.”

Duterte's expressed admiration for the much-vilified Marcos has been controversial, with many Filipinos still tormented by his brutal two-decade rule, ended in his overthrow in a popular, army-backed uprising in 1986.

Thousands of people were arrested, killed, tortured or disappeared under martial law in the 1970s.

Many survivors are reminded of that by the political influence wielded by the Marcos family, with widow Imelda a congresswoman, his son and namesake a former senator who lost to Robredo in the 2016 vice presidential election, and daughter, Imee Marcos a provincial governor.

Imee Marcos, 62, is expected to run for the senate next year and attends or speaks at many of Duterte’s public events around the country, despite having no role in his administration.

She caused outrage last week when she said it was time for older Filipinos to “move on” from the martial law years, like younger ones had.

The mercurial Duterte, 73, has been talking more often about retiring, due to exasperation about corruption and narcotics. Rumors have spread that he is in declining health, which he dismissed on Thursday as “fake news."

In the same speech, he said that amid turmoil in the Catholic church worldwide, he wanted to create an “opening” at home for victims to reveal abuse by priests, which he personally had experienced.

He again joked about rape, despite repeated rebukes from women’s groups at home and abroad.

Commenting on police data showing his home city, Davao, had the country’s highest number of rape cases, Duterte said there would be more when there were “many beautiful women."

The post Duterte Says Philippines Better Off Run by Dictator if He Were Not Around appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Vietnam Arrests Exiles Group Member with Weapons: Security Ministry

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 09:42 PM PDT

HANOI — Police in Vietnam have arrested a man accused of being a member of a “terrorist” group and planning attacks in the country, the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday.

In a statement, it said Le Quoc Binh, 44, was taken into custody early on Wednesday after entering Vietnam from Cambodia bringing a large number of weapons with which he intended to carry out terrorist activities.

It said Binh was a member of Viet Tan, a US-based exiles group that Communist Vietnam regards as a “terrorist” body.

Police seized seven guns and 500 bullets after raiding Binh’s house in the central city of Quy Nhon, it added.

Binh’s family members and lawyer were not immediately available for comment.

A spokesman for Viet Tan, which describes itself as an “unsanctioned pro-democracy party," rejected the allegations.

“Hanoi’s Ministry of Public Security is trying to scare people (not to) support pro-democracy organizations by falsely accusing us of smuggling weapons. This is a ridiculous fabrication,” Viet Tan spokesman Duy Hoang said in a statement.

“Viet Tan does not espouse armed violence nor work with any individuals that do,” Hoang said.

Binh’s arrest came days after Vietnam ordered police and military forces in the capital Hanoi to prevent big gatherings or protests during its National Day holiday on Sept. 2.

Last week, a court in the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City jailed two Vietnamese-Americans accused of loyalty to the now defunct US-backed state of South Vietnam and masterminding a series of bomb plots.

Police said the pair had planned more bomb attacks on public holidays. Vietnamese authorities said the two were acting on behalf of the “Provisional Government of Vietnam," a California-based exiles organization also listed as a “terrorist” group by Vietnam.

South Vietnam ceased to exist when the Communist North won the Vietnam War in 1975.

The post Vietnam Arrests Exiles Group Member with Weapons: Security Ministry appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Fake Photos in Myanmar Army’s ‘True News’ Book on the Rohingya Crisis

Posted: 30 Aug 2018 09:18 PM PDT

YANGON — The grainy black-and-white photo, printed in a new book on the Rohingya crisis authored by Myanmar’s army, shows a man standing over two bodies, wielding a farming tool. “Bengalis killed local ethnics brutally," reads the caption.

The photo appears in a section of the book covering ethnic riots in Myanmar in the 1940s. The text says the image shows Buddhists murdered by Rohingya – members of a Muslim minority the book refers to as “Bengalis” to imply they are illegal immigrants.

But a Reuters examination of the photograph shows it was actually taken during Bangladesh’s 1971 independence war, when hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis were killed by Pakistani troops.

It is one of three images that appear in the book, published in July by the army’s department of public relations and psychological warfare, that have been misrepresented as archival pictures from the western state of Rakhine.

In fact, Reuters found that two of the photos originally were taken in Bangladesh and Tanzania. A third was falsely labeled as depicting Rohingya entering Myanmar from Bangladesh, when in reality it showed migrants leaving the country.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay and a military spokesman could not be reached for comment on the authenticity of the images. U Myo Myint Maung, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Information, declined to comment, saying he had not read the book.

The 117-page “Myanmar Politics and the Tatmadaw: Part I” relates the army’s narrative of August last year, when some 700,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine to Bangladesh, according to United Nations agencies, triggering reports of mass killings, rape, and arson. Tatmadaw is the official name of Myanmar’s military.

Much of the content is sourced to the military’s “True News” information unit, which since the start of the crisis has distributed news giving the army’s perspective, mostly via Facebook.

The book is on sale at bookstores across the commercial capital of Yangon. A member of staff at Innwa, one of the biggest bookshops in the city, said the 50 copies the store ordered had sold out, but there was no plan to order more. “Not many people came looking for it,” said the bookseller, who declined to be named.

On Monday, Facebook banned the army chief and other military officials accused of using the platform to “inflame ethnic and religious tensions." The same day, UN investigators accused Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of overseeing a campaign with “genocidal intent” and recommended he and other senior officials be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.

In its new book, the military denies the allegations of abuses, blaming the violence on “Bengali terrorists” it says were intent on carving out a Rohingya State named “Arkistan."

Attacks by Rohingya militants calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army preceded the military’s crackdown in August 2017 in Rakhine State, in which the UN investigators say 10,000 people may have been killed. The group denies it has separatist aims.

The book also seeks to trace the history of the Rohingya – who regard themselves as native to western Myanmar – casting them as interlopers from Bangladesh.

In the introduction to the book the writer, listed as Lieutenant Colonel Kyaw Kyaw Oo, says the text was compiled using “documentary photos” with the aim of “revealing the history of Bengalis."

“It can be found that whenever a political change or an ethnic armed conflict occurred in Myanmar those Bengalis take it as an opportunity,” the book reads, arguing that Muslims took advantage of the uncertainty of Myanmar’s nascent democratic transition to ignite “religious clashes."

Reuters was unable to contact Kyaw Kyaw Oo for comment.

Reuters examined some of the photographs using Google Reverse Image Search and TinEye, tools commonly used by news organizations and others to identify images that have previously appeared online. Checks were then made with the previously credited publishers to establish the origins of those images.

Of the 80 images in the book, most were recent pictures of army chief Min Aung Hlaing meeting foreign dignitaries or local officials visiting Rakhine. Several were screengrabs from videos posted by Rohingya militant group the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

Of eight photos presented as historical images, Reuters found the provenance of three to be faked and was unable to determine the provenance of the five others.

One faded black-and-white image shows a crowd of men who appear to be on a long march with their backs bent over. “Bengalis intruded into the country after the British Colonialism occupied the lower part of Myanmar,” the caption reads.

The photo is apparently intended to depict Rohingya arriving in Myanmar during the colonial era, which ended in 1948. Reuters determined the picture is in fact a distorted version of a color image taken in 1996 of refugees fleeing the genocide in Rwanda. The photographer, Martha Rial, working for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, won the Pulitzer Prize. The newspaper did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the use of its photo.

Another picture, also printed in black-and-white, shows men aboard a rickety boat. “Bengalis entered Myanmar via the watercourse,” the caption reads.

Actually, the original photo depicts Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants leaving Myanmar in 2015, when tens of thousands fled for Thailand and Malaysia. The original has been rotated and blurred so the photo looks granular. It was sourced from Myanmar’s own Ministry of Information.

The post Fake Photos in Myanmar Army’s 'True News' Book on the Rohingya Crisis appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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