Wednesday, December 5, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Information Minister’s Allegations of Bias Draw Ire of Media Groups

Posted: 05 Dec 2018 07:08 AM PST

YANGON—Journalists and media advocacy organizations on Wednesday condemned Information Minister U Pe Myint over a speech in which he championed the role of government-owned media, questioned the very possibility of editorial independence at private news outlets, and made other statements the groups said were unacceptably at odds with their ethical standards and the goals of the very forum at which his comments were delivered.

Addressing the 7th Media Development Forum in Naypyitaw, the minister delivered a speech titled "Building Effective Partnerships in Myanmar's Media Development".

In response to his comments, 16 organizations participating in the forum including the Myanmar Journalist Network, PEN Myanmar, the Center for Myanmar Media Development, Article 19 and Free Expression Myanmar issued a statement.

Addressing the role of government media and the changes it has undergone, U Pe Myint, who once edited a private journal, told the audience that government-owned media will still have a lively role to play as a bridge between the government and the public.

In the statement the media organizations pointed out that the minister's comments ignored the media's customary role in a democracy as a "fourth pillar" ensuring the transparency of the other three pillars (the legislature, executive and judiciary). News provided by government-owned media, they said, is propaganda that fails to legitimately criticize government wrongdoings.

At the forum, U Pe Myint said some people have criticized the lack of media freedom in Myanmar. He said such people should provide concrete examples. He cited a report by Germany's Deutsche Welle that accused Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders of bias in the way they collect the information they use to compile their Freedom of the Press report and Press Freedom Index, respectively.

According to Deutsche Welle, the minister said, Freedom House is funded by the United States government but lacks transparency in that it fails to reveal how it calculates its scores for its press freedom report. He also said Reporters Without Borders receives funding from the French government and claimed this meant the organization reflected Paris' views.

The statement accused the minister of turning a blind eye to the fact that the press freedom indexes are the result of systematic research by international organizations that support press freedom. The statement added that if the minister accepted the reality that press freedom was declining in Myanmar, all sides could tackle the problem together.

In his speech, the minister cast doubt on the very notion of editorial independence, asking how an editor of a news organization can remain independent from the views of its publisher, or be immune to the power of advertisers who support it financially. He also questioned who determines editorial policy—editors or journalists?

He said discussions of freedom of expression and press freedom always centered on journalists' need for freedom from government restrictions. Instead, he asserted, journalists should try freeing themselves from the influence of the people who control them financially.

Addressing these claims, the statement urged the minister to direct his concern toward the existence of government-owned media that use state funds to publish propaganda on behalf of the government and military.

At the end of his speech, the minister repeated a recent comment made during an interview with a Myanmar Press Council member and a reporter from state-owned media. The Press Council member said journalists should remember to love their country when doing their jobs. The comment was widely criticized by journalists.

U Pe Myint said that while journalists have a responsibility to provide the public with accurate information, they should not forget their duty to protect and love their country.  

The media groups responded in the statement that the minister's speech was completely at odds with media ethics and press freedom, and therefore in complete opposition to the objectives of the Media Development Forum.

Editors and journalism experts echoed the media associations' condemnation of the minister's comments.

U Aung Zaw, founding editor-in-chief of The Irrawaddy, said the information minister's comments on Wednesday sent a shocking message to independent media in Myanmar, and were especially troubling coming from a government led by the National League for Democracy. He wondered if U Pe Myint had become the successor to U Kyaw Hsan, a former general and information minister under the military regime.

"We had been faintly hoping that U Pe Myint would gradually dismantle the state-run media along with the Ministry of Information. Today is a sad day for independent media in Myanmar under the NLD government," U Aung Zaw said.  

Democratic Voice of Burma's Yangon bureau chief, U Toe Zaw Lat, said that—following in the footsteps of his predecessors in the previous government and military regime—the information minister seemed very defensive about the role of the state media and his ministry.

"To keep democracy alive, we surely need an independent media," he said.

U Thiha Saw, a journalism trainer at Myanmar National Management College, said the minister's comments seemed hostile toward the media. "He seems to be questioning the existence of an independent media, while being oblivious to their present struggles."

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State Counselor Urges Teachers to Fill Remote Posts

Posted: 05 Dec 2018 03:05 AM PST

NAYPYITAW—State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has urged teachers to take up teaching posts in remote, inaccessible areas of the country.

Speaking at a seminar on the development of the basic education sector in Myanmar's administrative capital on Tuesday, the State Counselor said teaching in remote areas is an opportunity to effectively perform one's duty to the state.

"[I want teachers] to equip themselves with a sense of duty to perform the duty of an educator in remote, inaccessible and less-developed places rather than other parts of the country," said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

"It is more valuable to teach in such areas," she added.

However, the majority of teachers are reluctant to go to remote areas, according to the director-general of the department of basic education, U Ko Lay Win.

"Teachers assigned to remote areas are allowed to transfer to other places after serving one year there, so most of the teachers try to get transferred after one year. The positions are left vacant and we have to find new teachers again to replace them," he said.

The government pays double the standard salary to civil servants who are assigned to remote areas. The offer, however, is not enticing enough for teachers due to a number of reasons—they often face traveling very long distances, a scarcity of food and concerns over their safety among others.

"It is mainly about safety, especially for female teachers. They feel like it is unsafe to live in a particular society," said U Sai Myo Khaing Tun of Myanmar Teachers' Federation.

As a short-term solution, the education ministry appoints locals as volunteers to fill vacant positions. After undergoing relevant training and volunteering with daily wages for a couple of years, locals are appointed as permanent teachers.

"It is not easily accessible. There was a danger of snake and torrents. The house I had to live in was not adequately covered. There was also the risk of harassment as I am a woman," said a teacher named Daw Nandar Lin who worked as a primary teacher in a mountain-side village.

Meanwhile, some in the education community have suggested lowering the matriculation examination marks needed for admission to education colleges that train and turn out teachers.

"I heard that some who got over 400 marks [out of 600 marks in the matriculation exam] were not chosen for the education college. I think around 350 marks should be enough for people in remote areas to be able to join the college," said Daw Nandar Lin.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also urged the officials of the education ministry to try to understand the difficulties facing education staff in carrying out their duties in remote regions.

"Only when we know their feelings, we'll know how to support them. Only when there are social guarantees for teachers will their students be able to learn peacefully," she said.

According to the education ministry, there are 9.7 million students in the basic education sector nationwide for whom there are less than 400,000 teachers.

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Ethnic Zomi Group Rebuked for Giving ‘Hero Award’ to Military Chief

Posted: 05 Dec 2018 03:00 AM PST

MANDALAY — The Zomi Student and Youth Organization (ZSYO) is criticizing a local Zomi group in Chin State for bestowing the Chin Hero Award on the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military on Tuesday.

The Zomi Organization of Tedim Township handed the award over to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw.

"It is such a shame for Chin people to award and praise as a hero the person who is most responsible for human rights abuses in ethnic regions. It is unacceptable. Moreover, everyone knows the commander-in-chief is wanted by the ICC [International Criminal Court]. The act of the Zomi Organization of Tedim Township is intolerable," ZSYO head Ko Kim Tuang told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing is in fact not wanted the by ICC, though several rights groups have urged the UN Security Council to refer him and other senior Myanmar military leaders to the court for their roles in a crackdown on Rohingya communities in northern Rakhine State last year that the UN itself has described as ethnic cleansing. The military has also been waging a civil war against a number of ethnic armed groups across the country for the past several decades and is regularly accused of torturing and killing suspected members.

"In reality the Hero Award is for people who risk their lives to protect the people and the region against enemies who threaten peace and stabilities, not for people who threaten their own people," Ko Kim Tuang said.

"We will do everything to denounce the act of that organization and declare that the Hero Award awarded to  Snr. Gen. Min Aung Haling does not represent all the Chin people," he added.

The Zomi Organization of Tedim Township said the general deserves the honor because he is the most powerful person in Myanmar responsible for the country’s security and stability.

"He is taking responsibility for the security of the country. That is why we decided to award him with the Hero Award," said U Kap Kim Pao, the group’s general secretary.

The award comes with a framed certificate and a traditional Tedim sword. The group said it also took the opportunity to give the general an early Christmas and New Year prayer and blessing.

"We have been criticized and heard a lot of disagreement. Everyone has the right to disagree,” U Kap Kim Pao said. “Because we were able to meet with him [the general] for the very first time, we honored him with this award. If we get the chance to meet with President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, we will honor them with the award too."

The Zomi Organization of Tedim Township said the meeting helped improve relations between the military and Chin people, who include the Zomi, and that Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing promised to visit Chin State and help develop the region.

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Is Myanmar Ready to Become a Regional Trade and Supply Hub?

Posted: 05 Dec 2018 02:11 AM PST

TOKYO—Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently pledged to promote more than 150 quality infrastructure projects in five nations in the Mekong River subregion—Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos—under a new blueprint, the Tokyo Strategy 2018 for Mekong-Japan Cooperation, which will be effective from 2019 to 2021.

Japan and China are competing for influence in Southeast Asia in order to secure supplies of cheap labor and agricultural commodities, as well as access to ideally situated ports and other strategic locations in the region. While Beijing seeks to extend mega-infrastructure projects into Myanmar under its Belt and Road Initiative, Japan touts the quality of its infrastructure while committing to follow through on completed projects by training local workers. Since the early 2000s, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has supported the development of the Mekong Region, particularly regional connectivity, in terms of both industry and physical infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications and power transmission lines.

The Mekong Economic Corridor is an economic integration scheme comprising a network of land and sea infrastructure routes between the countries. Within this grand plan, Myanmar sits on two major economic corridors: the East-West Economic Corridor connecting Vietnam's Dong Ha City with Yangon's Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) via Cambodia and Thailand, and the Southern Economic Corridor connecting central Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand to the Dawei SEZ in southeastern Myanmar. Meanwhile, JICA plans to build a bridge in Mawlamyine as a part of the East-West Economic Corridor.

Prof. Manabu Fujimura of the College of Economics at Tokyo's Aoyama Gakuin University is an expert on economic corridors in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and has traveled along them, including in Myanmar. The Irrawaddy's Nan Lwin spoke to Prof. Fujimura about Japan's strategic connectivity plan in Myanmar, how this country can position itself between Beijing's BRI and the Tokyo Strategy 2018, and related challenges.

Nan Lwin: What is the significance of Myanmar's geographic location in relation to the GMS corridor?

Fujimura: Myanmar's strategic importance has been quite obvious to observers in Asia. Myanmar is located right between China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. While China seeks to expand its economic sphere and Southeast Asian countries seek to explore new markets, Myanmar is best located to act as a conduit for their linkages with South Asia. Myanmar should leverage such expectations and opportunities and attract foreign direct investment that can support upgrading Myanmar's economy, while at the same time avoiding the exploitation of its plentiful natural resources.

NL: What is Japan's strategic connectivity plan for Myanmar? 

Fujimura: In the short term of three to five years, the Japanese government and businesses would like to see a win-win outcome by assisting [the development of] much better connectivity between Bangkok and Yangon along the East-West Corridor, as many Japanese firms have bases around Bangkok and wish to extend their supply chains toward Yangon, including the Thilawa SEZ. In the medium term of five to 10 years, they wish to be part of the "bipolar development" [in the wording of Prof. Toshihiro Kudo of the National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo] between Yangon and Mandalay, as reflected in the ongoing Japanese assistance to the upgrading of the railway between the two cities.

In the long term (10 years and beyond), they hope to secure a solid presence in the Dawei SEZ area through assisting ports and industrial zone development. Dawei is a natural extension from Bangkok where Japanese businesses have had first-mover advantages relative to other economic powerhouses in Asia. The main issues in developing the Dawei SEZ, however, would be the sheer financial burden of building infrastructure from scratch and the patience and insight required to foresee economic agglomeration to be formed over many years, also from scratch. How these issues can be overcome remains to be seen.

NL: Can Myanmar be a regional hub for GMS corridors?

Fujimura: Yes, I believe Myanmar will secure the position as a regional hub eventually, given its geographical advantages and the flexibility and resilience of Myanmar's people, which I have been able to observe. But how long and what form it will take depend on many uncertain factors including the issue of the peace accord with armed ethnic minority groups and the handling of the Rohingya issue in relation to the international community, which may not understand well the subtlety of the country's history.

NL: How do you see Myanmar's future position between China's BRI and Japan's assistance via GMS economic corridors?

Fujimura: In terms of assistance to improve connectivity through economic corridors in the GMS, I understand that there has been a broad, but presumably not formally negotiated, mutual understanding between China and Japan: China goes ahead with advancing transport links that connect southern China with Laos and Cambodia, while Japan goes ahead with transport links that connect Thailand with Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, respectively.

Prof. Manabu Fujimura of the College of Economics at Tokyo's Aoyama Gakuin University. / Supplied

The Asian Development Bank, of which the two countries are among the top stakeholders, has acted as a mediator and a buffer between the national interests of the two countries. Very roughly speaking, "vertical" integration in the GMS has been driven by China while "horizontal" integration has been driven by Japan, with the other members of the GMS playing along and at the same time wisely avoiding pitching one power against another. Then Myanmar's opening up to the Western world and joining the full picture of GMS cooperation in the 2010s may have triggered a new China-Japan rivalry in economic diplomacy.

The [most likely development] from the above picture would be that Chinese economic influence in Myanmar will continue to spill over from Muse [in Shan State on Myanmar's border with China's Yunnan province] to Mandalay and "upper Burma" in general, while Japanese and Thai economic influence will continue to spill over from Myawaddy [in Kayin State, on the border with Thailand's Tak province] to Yangon and "lower Burma" in general.

NL: What are the major challenges for Myanmar in terms of integrating with GMS economies?

Fujimura: Well, as long as Myanmar sticks with the current outward-oriented economic management and makes continued efforts to improve the business environment such as through better infrastructure and the rule of law, foreign direct investment (FDI) will continue to flow in, helping to accelerate integration with neighboring economies and with the global economy. Absorbing technologies and know-how through FDI would be the best catch-up "shortcut" for Myanmar. Integration with neighboring economies in the GMS is a stepping-stone for Myanmar to further gain from linking with the global economy.

The main challenges in pursuing that course include [issues with] macroeconomic stability, as well as political stability. On the macroeconomic front, Myanmar needs to keep its fiscal situation including external debt under control so that it can control inflation as well as stabilize the value of its currency. Sustainable management of natural resources will also be important for Myanmar's macroeconomic stability. I am not an expert on this, but Myanmar could learn from the past experiences of other ASEAN countries.

Myanmar looks surprisingly resilient in maintaining social stability in the middle of its transition toward an open economy and democracy. A key on both fronts would be to advance meritocracy, in which motivated and talented individuals, or technocrats in a narrow sense, who devote themselves to the good of the whole nation are deployed properly and rewarded fairly.

Map showing expected industrial connectivity in the Mekong Region. / JICA

NL: The GMS is mainly focused on cross-border economic integration, so what are some possible negative impacts of the GMS corridor? 

Fujimura: Proponents of the GMS economic corridors in both the public and private sectors—including myself, to be frank—tend to be those who are better positioned to analyze positive aggregate effects of regional integration using available quantitative data. On the other hand, visits to various specific borders in the GMS have enlightened me with many clues to potential harms that could arise from the easier movement of goods and people across borders (e.g., the excessive presence of casinos in border towns; induced illegal trade in natural resources and wild animals; and presumably induced illicit economic activities including trafficking of narcotics and people, etc.). The problem is that these negative effects are inherently difficult to identify precisely, let alone quantify, and therefore hard to weigh against the positive effects of economic corridors. Nonetheless, these negative aspects should be kept as transparent as possible and discussed openly in order to better inform the public.

(Prof. Fujimura's comments do not reflect the views of the Japanese government or any Japanese organizations.)

 

The post Is Myanmar Ready to Become a Regional Trade and Supply Hub? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

#Hearmetoo: Women Fleeing Humanitarian Crises Also Need to be Heard

Posted: 05 Dec 2018 12:32 AM PST

Two weeks ago, Malar (not her real name) went to the police station in her township on two occasions to report the domestic abuse she had been facing. The police did not take her case seriously and sent her home. She told me that during her attempts to make a report with the police, she wasn't even given a chance to show documentation of her physical injuries from the hospital.

Another woman approached me in a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Rakhine State, and asked for help to find an IDP girl who went missing from her camp. According to the woman, the young girl traveled to Yangon with a view to attending school there because she feared being sexually harassed on her way to the school in the camp.

Whether in the conflict zones of Kachin, Shan, or Rakhine, or whether in the streets of Mandalay, such stories are not unusual in Myanmar because domestic abuse and sexual harassment continue to be culturally acceptable and have not received enough attention under national laws.

Culturally, wife-beating is still not widely believed to be a social problem in Myanmar's context.

The 2015-16 Demographic and Health Survey, implemented by the Ministry of Health and Sports with the support of USAID and the Three Millennium Development Goal Fund (3MDG), indicates that 51% of women and 49% of men were of the view that a husband is justified in beating his wife. Social acceptance of this behavior is also reflected in the popular saying, "If you break her bone into pieces, you will be loved by her whole-heartedly." Social acceptance of domestic violence is still rife because the majority of people still hold the belief that it is a private family issue which should only be resolved by the couple themselves, whether they live in a village, a city, or a displacement camp.

Participation of women in leadership and decision-making positions is extremely low in Myanmar. There are still no women among the 330 township administrators in Myanmar. Similarly, camp management committees (CMCs), which were established by the government to facilitate the management of displacement camps in different parts of the country, have a very low representation of women. This makes it very difficult for women and girls in these camps to share their concerns and feedback.

In Myanmar, many people use the common expression that "a woman's dignity and grace cannot be exchanged for gold" to describe womanhood. This saying is often accompanied by the phrase "Ah pyo sin," which means "virgin" to wit: the purity of a woman is measured by her virginity. When she loses her virginity before marriage, a woman and her family members may be subjected to social stigma. As a preventive measure, families tend to excessively scrutinize the lifestyles of young women who are not married.

Tragically, these societal expectations have also been used as a justification to pressure women and girls who have encountered sexual assault to remain silent in order to preserve the reputation of the family. These strict, gendered norms around what it means to be "a good woman" often restrict the mobility of women and their ability to engage in public activities.

Spontaneous campaigns such as #MeToo have widened the space for debate and created opportunities for women in many countries, including Myanmar, to speak about their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse. In doing so, the #MeToo movement has reinforced the message that sexual assault, regardless of where it takes place, is unacceptable and must be denounced.

But what about those who are still unable to say "#MeToo" in Myanmar?

While awareness has increased since the #MeToo campaign gained momentum, not all women have the same opportunities to share their concerns.

Findings from a 2014 study commissioned by the Gender Equality Network revealed that half of the women interviewed in Myanmar preferred not to disclose their experiences of sexual harassment and abuse because of victim-blaming and public humiliation.

Women and girls who have been displaced by conflict in Myanmar are repeatedly exposed to violence. In a 2017 qualitative study involving interviews and focus groups with women from 12 displacement camps in Kachin State, women shared their experiences of physical and sexual violence since the conflict restarted in 2011. The study highlighted the social and cultural barriers that conflict-affected women face in making their voices heard. Violence against women and girls in humanitarian settings encompasses real protection risks such as human trafficking, forced labor, restrictions on freedom of movement, safety concerns, and limited access to health and support services for survivors of gender-based violence.

Nevertheless, there have been some major efforts towards promoting women's rights issues and addressing gender-based violence in Myanmar.

One of the key national policies and plans launched is the National Strategic Action Plan for the Advancement of Women (2013-2022) which has violence against women and women in emergencies as two of the 12 priority areas. Across the humanitarian sector, the 2015 Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings and Gender in Humanitarian Action guidelines support the work of humanitarian organizations responding to gender-based violence. And Prevention and Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) is a key element of the 2019 Myanmar Humanitarian Response Plan.

A network of humanitarian stakeholders has been established to strengthen efforts to address sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse in humanitarian contexts in Myanmar. The theme for the 2018 campaign for the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence is #hearmetoo, recognizing the need to continue amplifying the voices of women and build on the momentum created by the #MeToo movement. This could help bring more attention to the plight of women, especially those facing complex humanitarian crises in the country. Civil society organizations, the UN, INGOs and the government of Myanmar have also been working on drafting a bill called the Prevention of Violence Against Women (PoVAW) for five years.

Once the law is passed, women like Malar who experience domestic abuse would be protected by the law. Perpetrators of such acts could be held accountable for their abusive behavior.

Once the law is passed, we can have more scope to prevent sexual harassment so that IDP women and girls do not have to worry anymore about going to and from school, or even the bathroom. This law must be urgently passed to help protect women across the country from all forms of violence.

The government of Myanmar, as the primary duty bearer, must accelerate efforts to pass a comprehensive law to tackle violence against women and girls across all fourteen states and regions of Myanmar.

 Aye Thiri Kyaw is a writer and researcher on sexual violence, domestic violence and abuse in Myanmar society.

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Apple Assembler Foxconn Considering iPhone Factory in Vietnam: State Media

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 09:18 PM PST

HANOI — Foxconn, the world’s biggest electronics contract manufacturer and a key Apple Inc supplier, is considering setting up a factory in Vietnam to mitigate any impact of an ongoing trade war between the United States and China, Vietnamese state media reported.

The move would be one of the first significant steps by a major company with large manufacturing facilities in China to secure an additional production base outside the country because of trade tensions between the world’s top two economies.

The report also comes as several executives of other corporations interviewed by Reuters singled out Vietnam and Thailand as preferred destinations should they need to shelter operations from the trade war.

“Foxconn Group and the Hanoi People’s Committee are working together to open an iPhone manufacturing facility in Vietnam to negate the impacts of the US-China trade war,” the Vietnam Investment Review reported on Monday.

The newspaper cited Vu Tien Loc, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as raising the matter with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a meeting on Nov. 22.

“We are discussing the possibility of this with Foxconn,” Loc told Reuters, without elaborating. Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung declined to comment.

Taiwan’s Foxconn, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said it would not comment on current or potential customers or any of their products.

The iPhone assembler said earlier this year that the Sino-US trade spat was the biggest challenge it is facing, and its high-level managers were making plans to counter the impact.

In trade talks on Saturday, US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed not to introduce any tariffs for 90 days as negotiations continue.

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Tourism and Marine Parks Threaten Thailand’s ‘People of the Sea’

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 09:00 PM PST

RAWAI BEACH, Thailand — When Sutem Lakkao’s grandmother and father died, they were buried much as their ancestors had been: on the beach, close to their beloved boats so they could listen to the waves and watch over the Chao Lay community of fisherfolk in their afterlife.

But when his time comes, Sutem will be laid to rest in a cemetery where all he will hear is the roar of traffic on Phuket, Thailand’s largest island and a key tourism destination.

The land in which Sutem’s ancestors were buried now heaves with daytrippers taking selfies, while the Urak Lawoi community of the Chao Lay are confined to a small patch of Phuket’s Rawai beach that is also claimed by developers and individuals.

“Our way of life of the olden days is gone — when we could fish anywhere, and we had a connection to the land because of our ancestors’ burial site and spiritual shrines,” said Sutem.

“We do not have that connection any more,” he said standing on the sandy beach of Koh He, a small island off Phuket’s southern coast, where his ancestors were once buried.

The Chao Lay, or people of the sea, have lived on the shores of Thailand and Myanmar for generations, fishing and foraging.

Some, like the Moken, are nomadic, spending weeks on the sea and free-diving to spear fish. Others, like the Urak Lawoi on Rawai beach in Phuket, have a more settled life while fishing in the Andaman Sea with their traps of rattan and wire.

They grabbed the world’s attention in 2004 when they escaped the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami by fleeing to higher ground when they saw the waters recede.

But the community may be facing its greatest threat yet as marine conservation efforts limit their traditional fishing grounds, and a tourism boom pits them against developers keen on the patch of land that their boats, homes and shrines sit on.

Shared by many

At the heart of the struggles of the Chao Lay — also known as “Sea Gypsies” — is not just their right to the sea and land, but also a more fundamental question of legality and identity, said Narumon Arunotai at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

“Their culture and traditions are not protected by the Constitution, and they do not have title deeds and permits, so it is difficult for them to assert their claim,” she said.

“But they were there long before the tourists and the conservationists. If managed well, indigenous rights can go well with conservation and tourism,” she said.

Across the world, indigenous people are fighting for the recognition of their rights to land, forest and water.

While they own more than half the world’s land under customary rights, they have secure legal rights to only 10 percent, according to Washington DC-based advocacy group Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI).

From Peru to Indonesia, laws aimed at conserving forests are leading to the evictions of indigenous people.

The Chao Lay’s right to the sea is even more tenuous as they often lack permits and licenses for fishing, and get arrested or fined for straying into newly established marine protected areas or island parks that authorities say are key to conservation.

The Chao Lay in Phuket, which lies about 700 km southwest of Bangkok, face more than two dozen cases related to encroachment of land and trespass of national parks.

Two families on Rawai beach lost their cases and have to leave the homes in which they had lived for about 40 years.

Four cases were found in favor of the Chao Lay on the basis of DNA evidence culled from old bones, as well as pictures of a 1959 visit to Rawai by the revered late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

In a separate case, dozens of Chao Lay were injured in 2016 in clashes on Rawai beach protesting a developer who had a land title and a permit to build holiday villas, which villagers said would cut access to their boats and shrines.

Government officials ordered an investigation and a halt to construction, according to a report by advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW), which said the Chao Lay had suffered “decades of poverty, marginalization and discrimination.”

“They generally do not assert ownership rights because they believe that land and water should not be owned or controlled by one person, but rather shared by many,” said Brad Adams at HRW.

“Yet they themselves face eviction from their ancestral land,” he said.

A 2010 Cabinet resolution to respect the traditions of Thailand’s Karen indigenous people and the Chao Lay, and to allow them access to national parks, has not been effectively implemented, campaigners say.

A draft law to establish special social and cultural zones for indigenous groups could resolve conflicts over land and sea with shared rights, said Thanyaporn Chankrajang, an assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University.

“The small-scale, seasonal fishing that the Chao Lay practice is not harmful to marine life or the environment,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“Shared rights in marine national parks can be easily implemented, monitored and evaluated, and help protect the environment, as well as their income.”

Changed lives

At the small village in Rawai, the open drains and modest tin-and-wood homes of the Urak Lawoi stand in sharp contrast to Phuket’s plush hotels.

Their wooden boats and old-fashioned fishing traps — which can be as big as a small car — are an anomaly amidst the speedboats carrying tourists for snorkeling and parasailing.

Faced with restricted areas and a dwindling catch because of pollution and overfishing by commercial fleets, more Chao Lay are seeking jobs on land in construction and in hotels, said Ri Fongsaithan, an Urak Lawoi community elder.

“Our lives have changed. We have to go farther and dive deeper to catch fish, and that is affecting our health,” he said.

“Tourism is booming, but we are excluded. And we are worried that we will lose the cases and be removed from here.”

A spokesman at the governor’s office in Phuket said the authorities had allocated a site on a nearby island for the Urak Lawoi to move to, but that they were not willing to relocate.

The site is far from the beach and their shrines, said Niran Yangpan, an assistant to the village leader.

“We have already adapted to many changes and challenges, and we are willing to adapt further and respect the law,” he said. “But they must also respect our right to the land and to the sea. It is all we have.”

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Officials Say Boat Carrying Rohingya Muslims Lands in Indonesia

Posted: 04 Dec 2018 08:33 PM PST

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities said a boat carrying 20 men believed to be Rohingya Muslims landed on the northeastern shore of Indonesia’s Sumatra island on Tuesday.

It is the latest in a series of boat departures from Myanmar and Bangladesh, from where Rohingya Muslims have attempted to flee to Malaysia in recent weeks, raising fears of a fresh wave of such dangerous voyages after a 2015 crackdown on people smugglers.

The disaster mitigation agency in East Aceh said men they described as Rohingya refugees landed in the town of Kuala Idi and were being given food and water.

Immigration authorities told Reuters they were on their way to the region to question the group.

The chief of a fishing community in the area said the group was bound for Malaysia and it was unclear why it had landed in Indonesia.

“Their boat is still working and they have fuel, so we don’t know why they entered our area,” said Razali, who goes by one name, in Kuala Idi on the eastern coast of Aceh where the boat landed.

The men were mostly in their 20s, he said.

It was not immediately clear if the boat had originated in Myanmar or Bangladesh. Thousands of Rohingya landed in Indonesia and Malaysia in 2015 after they were left stranded in the Andaman Sea in the wake of a crackdown on people smugglers.

Authorities in Myanmar seized a boat carrying 93 people fleeing from Rohingya camps in Rakhine State last month, one of several boats attempting the journey to Malaysia.

Myanmar regards Rohingya as illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent and has confined tens of thousands to sprawling camps in Rakhine State since violence swept the area in 2012.

More than 700,000 Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh last year fleeing an army crackdown in the north of Rakhine State, according to UN agencies.

The latest departures come as Myanmar prepares to take some of the refugees back after agreeing with Bangladesh to start repatriations on Nov. 15, despite widespread opposition from Rohingya, who say they will not return without guarantees of basic rights, including citizenship and freedom of movement.

The post Officials Say Boat Carrying Rohingya Muslims Lands in Indonesia appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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