Wednesday, October 3, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Workers Strike for 44th Day at Chinese-Owned Garment Factory

Posted: 03 Oct 2018 06:43 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand—More than 200 workers from the Fu Yuen garment factory in Yangon Region's Dagon Seikkan Industrial Zone continued their sit-in strike for a 44th day on Wednesday, vowing to stand firm in their demands for labor rights and the reinstatement of fired colleagues.

The workers walked out of the Chinese-owned factory to protest the dismissal of 30 coworkers, said Ma Thet Htar Swe, a leader of the factory's labor union who was among the terminated employees.

All of the expelled workers are members of the factory's labor union. The factory fired them after accusing them of instigating protests to demand better working conditions, and of violating their employment contracts (ECs). On Aug. 14, hundreds of workers staged a protest to demand a number of rights, including that overtime be fair and paid on time, and urging the company to hire enough workers so that their workload would be reasonable.

A week later, on Aug. 20, the 30 workers were terminated. The strike began the following day. The factory's announcement on Aug. 15 stated that the 30 terminated workers "violated the terms and conditions prescribed in the EC" but added that they had been "compensated."

The factory also said in a letter that productivity at the plant had declined due to an increase in the workers' minimum wage in May, while the owners faced greater expenditures. It said, "In the long run, [the factory] will become increasingly unprofitable and it will run at a loss."

The factory said the workers "do not work in line with the EC. The workers have taken many days off without pay. Some workers are inciting others to protest."

The factory finally agreed to seven of the workers' nine demands; however their demand that the fired workers be re-employed has not been settled, said Ma Thet Htar Swe. She started working at the factory a month after it was founded in October 2014, but was targeted for organizing the labor rights movement, she said.

The workers have also sent letters seeking help from the regional and Union governments since Aug. 29, but Ma Thet Htar Swe said they had received no response until a month later.

On Oct. 2, lawmakers representing Dagon Seikkan Township met with the striking workers and company representatives in an effort to settle the dispute, but the talks were unsuccessful.

U Zin Min Tun, a regional lawmaker, said the township authorities and the National League for Democracy's Labor Affairs Committee "are trying their best to resolve the dispute." But he added that the labor arbitration court is ultimately responsible for resolving disputes between workers and employers.

"We want our jobs back, as we were expelled for taking part in the labor union and leading the calls for workers' rights," Ma Thet Htar Swe told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

She said the workers want the factory to acknowledge their rights, adding that they wouldn't seek new employment at other factories. She said they "would keep up the protest until all of our demands are reached."

Fu Yuen garment factory's products include women's wear, children's wear and jackets for export. Their products have been consigned to the Lidl US Trading Company and Joules USA Inc. in the U.S. through Singapore port until August this year.

The post Workers Strike for 44th Day at Chinese-Owned Garment Factory appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sagaing Gov’t Cracking Down on Illegal Farm Workers and Pesticides, Minister Says

Posted: 03 Oct 2018 06:32 AM PDT

MANDALAY—At least 38 foreigners working illegally on fruit farms in Sagaing were deported in fiscal 2017-18, the divisional minister of agriculture, livestock and irrigation said on Wednesday.

The minister made the comment while answering questions during a session of the regional parliament in Monywa regarding the issue of foreigners working illegally on watermelon and melon plantations, and about the use of illegally imported pesticides and fertilizer.

"In fiscal 2017-18 there were at least 38 foreigners, most of them Chinese, who did not have valid visas, or did not have [appropriate visas for employment] and were deported. One was sued under the Immigration Law," minister U Kam Zamohn told The Irrawaddy.

The minister added that two agricultural companies operating in Sagaing Division were also sued under the Agriculture Law for using pesticides and fertilizer imported illegally from China. He did not disclose the names of the companies.

"The pesticides and fertilizer used on those plantations are not officially recognized by the ministry. In some cases, they over-used the fertilizers. We seized them and sued the companies under the Agriculture Law in order to protect consumers and farmers," U Kam Zamohn said.

Sagaing Division has more than 31,000 acres of watermelon and melon plantations. The fruit is mainly exported to China.

According to U Aung Kyaw, a local lawmaker who raised the issue of illegal foreign workers on Sagaing plantations, about a dozen foreign companies working in the region have brought workers from China illegally. They were also responsible for overusing the unrecognized pesticides and fertilizers, and the practice had affected the health of local farmers, he said.

The lawmaker urged authorities to take legal action against illegal foreign workers and to stop the use of illegal pesticides and fertilizers.

The minister explained that the regional government and the Immigration Department were handling the issue, adding that the Immigration Department did regular checks on foreigners working in the region.

"Our ministry is also doing regular checks and has issued warnings to sellers of agricultural supplies not to sell illegal pesticides and fertilizers," the minister added.

Sagaing is Myanmar's main region for growing watermelons and melons. Most of the produce grown in the region is exported to China via the Mandalay-Muse-Ruli inland border trade route.

In the past, melon plantations were worked by local farmers. As the export of melons to China has increased in the past five years, foreign agricultural companies, especially from China, have set up joint ventures with local farmers, offering them financial and technical support, and providing pesticides and fertilizers.

The post Sagaing Gov't Cracking Down on Illegal Farm Workers and Pesticides, Minister Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Audit Says Long-Term Land Leases Costing Yangon Coffers Dearly

Posted: 03 Oct 2018 06:15 AM PDT

YANGON — The Yangon Auditor General’s report for 2016-17 shows that public spaces leased to private businesses under long-term contracts were costing the government billions of kyats.

The report says the city's municipal body, the Yangon City Development Committee, has been leasing out parts of the city's public parks since the previous administration using long-term contracts. In some case the prices were set as low as 32 kyats ($0.02) per square foot, far below the current average price of 1,000 kyats ($0.66), according to lawmakers.

In U Ottama Park, located by the foot of Shwedagon Pagoda’s southern stairwell, more than 180,000 square feet of land have been leased to five restaurants and an amusement park at 56.91 kyats per square foot.

National League for Democracy lawmaker U Zin Min Htwe told Parliament on Wednesday that, using the current average price of 1,000 kyats per square foot, the government has lost more than 2 billion kyats a year. He said if the money were managed properly, the government could put it to good use.

"There are more than 500 people living in the dark at night [in my constituency] because they live a few hundred feet away from a power line. It's very sad for them," he said.

The Auditor General’s report says more than 19 acres of land in Karaweik Park were leased to the Zay Kabar Company in 2010 for 30 years at 47.477 kyat per square foot, also far below the current average market price.

Zay Kabar, one of Myanmar's largest construction companies, is run by tycoon U Khin Shwe. His daughter is married to the son of U Shwe Mann, the third most influential person in the former military regime and now an important ally of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

In another case, 76.36 acres of People's Park, near the western stairwell of Shwedagon Pagoda, were leased to Natural World in 2014 at 32 kyat per square foot.

The post Audit Says Long-Term Land Leases Costing Yangon Coffers Dearly appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Mystery Disease Continues to Claim Cattle in Rakhine

Posted: 03 Oct 2018 05:48 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — More buffalo have died in recent days of unknown causes in the Oh Pyin Htaung village tract of Minbya Township, Rakhine State, bringing the death toll to over 60 since late last month.

Local villagers have reported nine more deaths after more than 50 buffalo died of unknown causes in the second week of September while out to pasture in the Arakan Mountains.

Nearly 40 buffalo went missing at the same time, and it is not yet clear whether they were stolen or also died.

Locals still have no idea what is causing the deaths or whether it is something that can spread to other animals or humans.

"One more buffalo of mine died today. So far three have died. I have no idea what disease caused their deaths. Once they got sick their bellies became bloated. Some died within hours and some died the following day," Ko Tun Tun Win, an Oh Pyin Htaung resident, told The Irrawaddy by phone.

Locals also reported similar symptoms among buffalo on some of the farms in the village tract.

"It is a serious cause for concern that buffalo are dying in large numbers. Farmers in my village are planning to sell their buffalo for fear that they might also be infected," Maung Ni Che, another Oh Pyin Htaung resident, told The Irrawaddy.

Locals say symptoms also include breathing difficulty, lumps in the throat and constipation, and that buffalo have continued to die even after being given the vaccine recommended by the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

The department visited the affected areas on Sept. 23 and confirmed 46 deaths at the time. Samples from the dead animals and surrounding land and water sources were sent to Yangon for testing, said U Chit Oo Lwin, who heads the township’s Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department.

"The lab test results are not out yet, but we suspect that they died of a throat disease," he told The Irrawaddy, adding that the symptoms were similar to those of hemorrhagic septicemia, an acute infection that can cause pneumonia.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Mystery Disease Continues to Claim Cattle in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Death of a Politician and Life-Long Fighter of Ethnic Mon Rights

Posted: 03 Oct 2018 05:41 AM PDT

A veteran ethnic Mon leader who fought for equal rights for his people for over 70 years since Myanmar got independence, passed away in Yangon on Tuesday.

Nai Ngwe Thein was once a member of the security forces under Gen. Aung San's leadership. According to his family, he passed away at 6 p.m. in his home in Yangon aged 96 years old. His death was preceded by a long-term illness. His funeral will be held on Saturday, Oct. 6.

Before his death, Nai Ngwe Thein served as chairman of the Mon National Party and worked along with other ethnic groups as a member of the United Nationalities Alliance (UNA). His former political party, the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), won four seats in the 1990 elections.

He entered the world of politics when he was 25 years old, later working with the NLD, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as a member of the UNA fighting for human rights and democracy under the suppression of the military regime.

Many of his ethnic Mon comrades who worked with him over the years have expressed sadness at his passing, saying that though he worked hard for many long years, he didn't get to see freedom for his ethnic Mon people.

Min Kyi Win, Mon State's minister for the environment and natural resources, said Nai Ngwe Thein was a good leader who committed almost his whole life to serving his ethnic Mon people.

"He was the first person to start the fight for the freedom of the ethnic Mon. He served his people until he could not move from his bed," said Min Kyi Win.

Min Kyi Win, who once served as general secretary of the MNDF, said he and Nai Ngwe Thein once spent time in prison together after the Myanmar military regime arrested them in 1998.

He went on to say that Nai Ngwe Thein was responsible for the Mon ethnic people gaining official recognition as an ethnic group of Myanmar, at a time when the military regime refused to recognize them.

"The Burmese did not [officially] recognize the ethnic Mon. [Nai Ngwe Thein] fought for it until Burmese had to recognize our ethnic Mon are in the country of Myanmar," said Min Kyi Win.

Nai Ngwe Thein­ envisioned equal rights for the Mon, including their right to self-determination. He joined the Mon National Defense Organization (MNDO) an ethnic armed group and was an executive member for 10 years until 1958 when U Nu's government successfully persuaded the group to disarm and become a political entity.

When Gen. Ne Win's military dictatorship declared Mon State the official home of the ethnic Mon, Nai Ngwe Thein and his Mon comrades were not yet satisfied as they still desired self-determination.

"He died without seeing the fruits of his fight for rights. He could only see the skin [of the fruit]," said Min Kyi Win.

Other Mon politicians must carry on his foundations and fight for equal rights for the Mon, said Min Kyi Win.

Nai Ngwe Thein was born in Thong Ein Village, in Karen State in 1923 to parents Nai Thar Ton Aung and Mi Ngwe Sein. He attended Jackson College in 1942, and participated in the anti-fascist movement alongside the Burmese Independence Army (BIA). He served a member of the BIA's security forces in Kyaik Lat, Yangon Division.

When the BIA reformed as the Burma Defense Army (BDA), Gen. Aung San, the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, invited him to join cadet training and he served as a member of a guerrilla force in Dagon Township, Yangon in 1945 when the BDA attacked Japanese troops who had invaded the country. He resigned as a member of the group when Gen. Aung San was assassinated in 1947.

In his time, he dealt with many generations of Myanmar's military regime including the military governments of U Nu, Gen. Ne Win, Gen. Saw Maung, and Gen. Than Shwe.

Nai Ngwe Thein was sent to prison as a political prisoner four times during his lifetime. He was detained first in 1948 in Moulmein Prison. He was arrested for a second time in 1962 when U Ne Win orchestrated a military coup. After being arrested in 1990, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison. His fourth imprisonment, a sentence of seven years, came in 1998 for writing a letter to the New Mon State Party advising them against signing the ceasefire agreement.

The letter said that as long as the Mon didn't have equal rights or democracy, they should not sign a ceasefire with the military as it would only serve to prolong the success of their regime. After the letter was discovered, he and other Mon political leaders were detained and sentenced to imprisonment.

The post Death of a Politician and Life-Long Fighter of Ethnic Mon Rights appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Oversupply of Drugs in Mekong, E. Asia Puts Younger Users at Risk, UN Says

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 10:46 PM PDT

BANGKOK—Production and trafficking of illicit drugs have reached unprecedented levels in Southeast Asia’s Mekong region and East Asia, the United Nations said on Tuesday, warning that oversupply increases the risks for younger users.

Even as authorities seize larger amounts of illicit drugs, oversupply pushes down prices, bringing some, such as methamphetamine, within reach, an official of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

"The supply keeps growing as organized crime is ramping up supply and flooding the region with product," Jeremy Douglas, the body’s regional representative, told Reuters ahead of a meeting in the Thai capital to assess the trends.

In Thailand, for instance, the price of a methamphetamine tablet ranged between $1.5 and $4.5 in 2017, down from a range of $4 to $7 in 2014, UN data this year showed.

In the wealthy nearby city-state of Singapore, prices fell to below $6 in 2017, from $20 in 2014.

"The surge in 'yaba' tablet supply has pushed street prices down across the region, making them affordable to younger users who are being introduced to the drug," Douglas added, using a Thai term for the tablet form of methamphetamine.

Police seized more than 14 million meth pills worth $45 million in one of Thailand’s biggest drug busts in August.

Neighboring Malaysia made its largest seizure of crystal meth in May, intercepting nearly 1.2 tons of the drug disguised as tea in a shipment from Myanmar.

Much of Southeast Asia’s meth production comes from lawless parts of Myanmar, in particular Shan State, the UNODC said in 2017.

The post Oversupply of Drugs in Mekong, E. Asia Puts Younger Users at Risk, UN Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

No Name, No Rights: The Long Road to Thai Citizenship

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 10:06 PM PDT

MAE LA NOI, Thailand — When Noknoi attended high school in northern Thailand, she dreaded roll call every morning, when the teacher would call her first name and then say “nahm somut”, or “made up name” – the standard suffix for stateless children.

Thai students would snigger, and Noknoi and other so-called stateless children were often teased by students and teachers alike, she said.

“Being stateless meant having no identity,” she said.

“We were reminded of that every day, with even our names taken away – we were nobody,” she said.

Noknoi, who asked that her surname be withheld due to the sensitivity of the topic, was born in a Thai village near the border with Myanmar.

Her four siblings were also born in Thailand. But because their parents were from Myanmar, they were not recognized as Thai citizens until a few months ago – nearly three years after Noknoi applied for citizenship for all five of them.

They were among the 487,000 stateless persons registered with the Thai government this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

Activists say the actual number may be more than three million.

Stateless people include indigenous hill dwellers and children of migrants who were born in Thailand. They have limited work options and are barred from voting, travelling outside their province, and from buying land.

They are worse off than the tens of thousands of refugees from Myanmar who live in camps in Thailand where they are registered with the UNHCR and served by aid agencies, activists and analysts say.

“In a school uniform, stateless children can appear and feel undifferentiated to Thai citizen students,” said Janepicha Cheva-Isarakul at the Victoria University of Wellington.

“It is only around the teenage years that they become more aware of the limitations of their status and start learning about possible legal pathways to becoming Thai citizens. But it is a complex system of unevenly applied regulations,” she said.

Changing Borders

Many stateless people in Thailand are from areas where boundaries between its four neighboring countries have changed, or who have crossed the border for work or a better life.

About 100,000 refugees from Myanmar remain in camps along the border in Thailand, according to the UNHCR, after fleeing six decades of war between Myanmar’s military and ethnic armed groups.

“There are some refugees who have lived in a camp all their lives. They have no connection to Myanmar and nothing to go back to because they have lost their homes and land,” said Matcha Phorn-in, an activist who works with stateless people.

“Of those who were born here, few have birth certificates, land titles or other documentation for Thai citizenship, so they remain in limbo,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In recent years, Thailand has amended its Nationality Act to make it easier for displaced Thais to get citizenship. But it is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which spells out legal obligations to refugees.

Since 2005, Thailand has given all stateless persons access to basic education and health care, and pledged to develop a screening system to curb trafficking, which is a major risk.

State hospitals now issue birth certificates to all children born in Thailand, and there are more job options for stateless people who were once limited to 27 low-skilled occupations.

Thailand’s military government, which took power in 2014, has committed to “zero statelessness” by 2024.

But applying for citizenship remains a “challenging and complex” process, said Janepicha, who has researched stateless people in northern Thailand.

While Thailand recognizes citizenship by descent and by territorial birth, applicants must present birth certificates, their parents’ identity papers, and get the village head to attest they are members of the community.

“A process that relies heavily on documents as absolute proof of identity risks placing blame on the people for not having the documents, rather than questioning why they did not have the documents to begin with,” Janepicha said.

‘Deservedness'

The documentation is comparable to that required in other countries, and applications are considered “on a case-by-case basis”, said Venus Srisuk, director of the Bureau of Registration Administration.

Thailand has given about 100,000 people citizenship since 2008, making it the regional leader, according to UNHCR.

Noknoi applied for citizenship about three years ago, when she started college.

It took her two months to get birth certificates for herself and her siblings, and several trips to the village and district offices to complete paperwork that ran into nearly 50 pages for each, she said.

“I could only do it because I was educated, was aware of my rights, and had help. Most others are not in that position,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Mae La Noi town.

“At times, I thought I would die before we got citizenship. Even now, I am afraid it can be taken from me,” she said.

Changes in the citizenship laws in 2016 opened up a path for some 80,000 stateless persons, with alternate requirements such as loyalty to the king, good conduct and educational achievement.

But the conditions are subjective and based on “deservedness” rather than a fundamental right, said Matcha.

The issue came into focus after the dramatic rescue in July of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand.

Three of the boys, as well as their 25-year-old coach, were stateless, though they were born in Thailand.

Just weeks later, they were granted citizenship after officials fast-tracked their applications.

“Congratulations to those who get citizenship by being deserving, but it is a double standard,” said Matcha, the activist.

“Should everyone have to be rescued from a cave to be found deserving?”

The post No Name, No Rights: The Long Road to Thai Citizenship appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar’s Neighbors Urge Accountability for Rakhine Violence

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 09:58 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — Southeast Asian foreign ministers have urged Myanmar to give a full mandate to an inquiry commission to hold accountable those responsible for the violence in Rakhine State, Singapore said on Tuesday.

The ministers, who met informally on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last week, expressed grave concern over the violence, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan told Parliament, calling it a “man-made humanitarian disaster."

Over the last year, more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh, according to UN agencies, following a military response to attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents.

A recent UN report accused Myanmar’s military of gang rapes and mass killings with “genocidal intent” in Rakhine and called for its commander-in-chief and five generals to be prosecuted under international law.

Myanmar has denied most of the allegations in the report, blaming Rohingya “terrorists” for most accounts of atrocities.

“We expressed our grave concern with these alleged acts of violence… This is a man-made humanitarian disaster and something which should not be happening in this day and age,” Balakrishnan said, referring to the meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar.

“The foreign ministers urged the Myanmar government that…an independent commission of inquiry…should be given a full mandate to investigate and to hold all those responsible fully accountable.”

Singapore chairs ASEAN this year and regional leaders will meet next month in the city-state.

Myanmar’s government spokesman, Zaw Htay, did not answer telephone calls on Tuesday. Last month, he said he would no longer speak to the media over the phone but only at a biweekly conference.

In July, Myanmar established a commission of inquiry to probe allegations of human rights abuses in Rakhine, which includes two local and two international members from Japan and the Philippines.

ASEAN, formed more than half a century ago, has historically struggled with challenges facing the region because it works only by consensus and is reluctant to get involved in any matter deemed to be internal to any of its members.

The group’s recent statements on Rakhine have focused on the importance of the repatriation of displaced persons to Myanmar and reconciliation among communities.

But amid the international condemnation, it appears to be taking a firmer stance.

Balakrishnan said that if left to “fester”, the situation in Rakhine could lead to the spread of terrorism which would threaten “Southeast Asia and beyond."

“They (the Myanmar government) do need to do the right thing…for all the vulnerable, defencsless and innocent victims,” said Balakrishnan.

In a recent interview, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticized Myanmar’s de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi over her handling of the Rohingya crisis, saying, “We don’t really support her anymore.”

The post Myanmar’s Neighbors Urge Accountability for Rakhine Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

More African Ivory Being Smuggled Into China Despite Ban: Report

Posted: 02 Oct 2018 09:51 PM PDT

NAIROBI — More African ivory is being smuggled into China from Myanmar and Beijing’s ban on trade in ivory has failed to dampen imports, a report by conservation group Save the Elephants said on Tuesday.

Wildlife activists said they welcomed China’s ban this year on the ivory trade, arguing the step by a country that is the world’s largest importer and end user of tusks was vital to reducing the slaughter of the endangered species.

But it has not stopped what Save the Elephants called the “prolific growth” in trading in a town in the “Golden Triangle” area, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers, south of China.

There has been a 60 percent growth in new ivory items seen for sale in the Myanmar-China border town of Mong La in the past three years and 90 percent of buyers are Chinese wishing to smuggle the ivory home, the report said.

It gave no separate figures for the period since the ban was introduced.

Myanmar has the world’s largest population of captive elephants, 5,000 in all, but trade in tusks at Mong La and elsewhere increasingly comes from elephants of African origin, the report said.

Myanmar’s government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment.

“Demand is still very high in China … Myanmar has over 2,000 kilometers of borderline with China which is very easy for smugglers to bring ivory across,” said researcher Lucy Vigne.

She co-authored the report with Esmond Bradley-Martin, a prominent American investigator of the illegal ivory and rhino horn trade who was found dead in his home in the Kenyan capital with an unexplained stab wound in his neck in February.

He had spent decades tracking the movement of animal products, mostly from Africa to markets in Asia.

The post More African Ivory Being Smuggled Into China Despite Ban: Report appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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