Thursday, February 21, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Woman, 18, Killed in Her Home as Army Opens Fire on Village in N. Rakhine

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 06:42 AM PST

YANGON—An 18-year-old woman was shot dead, a 4-year-old girl was injured and two villagers were arrested by the Myanmar military in Myin Hpu village of northern Rakhine State's Rathedaung Township on Wednesday, village administrative officials and residents said.

Myin Hpu village administrator U Moe Kaung, who attended the funeral of the dead woman, Ma Ye Ye Soe, on Thursday afternoon, told The Irrawaddy over the phone that she had been shot in the face, with a bullet shattering her cheek.

He said that at about 10 o'clock on Wednesday, about five fully equipped soldiers led by a major and a captain questioned him at his home, while about 40 other soldiers took up positions in the village.

A mine exploded near the village at 11:30 a.m.. Though no one was hurt in the attack, the blast prompted the Army troops to randomly shoot into the village, sending locals fleeing to safer locations.

Some villagers were able to escape the indiscriminate shooting, but Ma Ye Ye Soe was struck by the gunfire in her home. Although there was no gunfire coming from the village, the Army unit fired on the village for almost one hour, leaving some homes riddled with bullet holes.

U Moe Kaung was tied up with a rope for several hours but set free by the soldiers when the situation returned to normal. He said two villagers, U Than Pe and Ko Wai Soe Tun, were detained by soldiers and taken away from the village at about 6 p.m. on Wednesday. U Moe Kaung said he reported the Army's arbitrary arrests and reckless firing on the village to the General Administration Department (GAD) as well as to local legislators.

"I witnessed with my own eyes that Army soldiers were the only armed group shooting at the homes," U Moe Kaung said.

On Thursday evening Yanghee Lee, the UN's special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, re-tweeted a photograph apparently showing Ma Ye Ye Soe's dead body with a large bullet wound in her face. Lee wrote above the image: "Civilians must never be targeted!"

U Bar Daung, father of Ma Kay Thi Soe, 4, confirmed that his daughter was injured in the shooting and was receiving medical treatment in the Rakhine state capital at Sittwe General Hospital on Thursday. He also said the shooting was entirely one-way, following the mine explosion near the village.

After the shooting, soldiers detained about 100 men on the shore of a nearby lake from about 11.00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ko Maung Than Win, one of the detainees in Wednesday's raid, claimed that the villagers were ordered to kneel down on the shore and not to look at the soldiers' faces. At about 5 p.m., the soldiers freed all of the villagers except U Than Pe and Ko Wai Soe Tun.

"They did not allow us to drink a sip of water or eat anything. No one dared to speak or glance up, even as the soldiers kicked them in the face," Ko Maung Than Win said.

Primary school teacher Daw Moe Kyi from Myin Hpu village said some soldiers followed three local residents into the compound of the village school and fired several rounds. Mobile devices were grabbed by soldiers and later returned to the teachers.

"The school exam was also halted," Daw Moe Kyi said.

Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief could not be reached for comment on Thursday. On Wednesday, he told The Irrawaddy he had no information about the incident in Rathedaung. Some locals told The Irrawaddy that the military unit belongs to the Myanmar Army's 22nd Division, and transported the two detainees to Zay Di Pyin Police Station on Thursday.

The post Woman, 18, Killed in Her Home as Army Opens Fire on Village in N. Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rising Public Concern Over Vacant Land Law Amendment Goes Unaddressed

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 04:53 AM PST

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – The six-month window for the registration of vacant, fallow and virgin land for the use of agribusiness in accordance with the newly amended Vacant, Fallow and Virgin (VFV) Land Management Law will come to a close on March 11.

One month after the amended law was passed by the Union Parliament last September, the government began efforts in raising awareness about the law, using state-run media to urge the public to register land despite a lack of information on specific bylaws.

The law gave rise to public outcry from those who condemned it as unfair and a threat to land rights of the ethnic minority groups who practice traditional customary tenure and who fear losing their lands which they own without legal statutory tenure.

Last week, the Chin Land Affairs Network (CLAN), with members from all nine townships of Chin State, urged for the law to be revoked, saying it would ignite conflict in the area.

Mang Za Khup, CLAN's spokesperson, said Chin people are the original owners of lands in Chin State and this must not be changed without explicit consent from the indigenous Chin people. He told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that Chin people have lived and worked on freehold lands in the state for thousands of years and that the 2012 Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Land Management Law and its 2018 amendment would cause them to lose their freehold land rights.

Likewise, hundreds of civil society groups and land rights networks from ethnic Karen, Kachin, Shan, Chin, Karenni and Mon communities have been expressing their concerns over the laws.

In December, the Karen National Union (KNU), a signatory of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), publically objected to the law and urged for it to be revoked, saying it goes against the principles of the NCA which stipulates that the drafting of land policies is to take place at sessions of the Union Peace Conference.

Padoh Mahn Ba Tun, head of the KNU's forestry department, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the KNU would hold negotiations with the government on the issue as the government's principles on land issues are based on a state-owned approach, while the Karen practice community ownership.

Many of those in the ethnic areas want to continue their practice of shared land ownership which includes freehold lands, community forest reserves and customary tenure for rotational farming practice.

For example, in KNU-controlled areas in Tannitharyi Region and Karen and Mon states, there is an estimated 3 million acres of land regarded as community forests, wildlife sanctuaries and forest reserves, according to Padoh Mahn Ba Tun.

Which amendments to the law are causing concern?

The amended law stipulates that lands under customary tenure do not need to undergo registration. Article 30 (a and b) of the amended law specifically mentions that lands to be registered would not include (a) those under customary tenure of the local indigenous people or (b) public land including religious compounds, socio-economic buildings and roads.

Members of the ethnic minorities have decried the lack of details on how the customary tenures would be exempted and through decades of experience with difficult bureaucratic structures, many do not trust on the laws.

"What we want is for the customary tenure and freehold lands to be protected under the law, not to be destroyed," Mang Za Khup, who is a resident of Chin State's Tedim Township.

He added that there have been cases of outsiders who are not Chin nor from the state trying to register Chin lands so they may use them for their own agriculture businesses and this affects their traditional rights to customary tenure.

Lands in Myanmar are constitutionally owned by the state in accordance with the 2008-military backed Constitution and every land user is required to seek registration from the land records department.

A farmer ploughs a field in Dala Township, Yangon Region in 2011. / The Irrawaddy

Some 45 to 50 million acres of land in Myanmar is regarded vacant, fallow or virgin. Some 82 percent of this land lies in the ethnic states, according to a November statement published by Land In Our Hands, a non-government land rights group which cited data from the government's department of farmland management and statistics.

The law says the government is carrying out the land registration process with the aim of boosting economic development in the country and to create job opportunities for landless citizens by using the vacant, fallow and virgin lands for agriculture, animal husbandry, mining and other legal businesses. The main crop is to be rice grown for both export and domestic consumption.

As of May 2018, figures from the agriculture ministry show 5.9 million farmers were given certificates to use 24.86 million acres of farmland after they registered their lands.

The amendment to the law stipulates that the Central Committee may grant rights to the use VFV land for 30 years of lease for areas covering 3,000 to 30,000 acres for the growing perennial plants, farming and industrial crops, bringing the figure down from 5,000 to 50,000 under the previous law.

The law says small hold farmers can apply for up to 50 acres of land for their home business of agriculture or animal husbandry.

The law stipulates punishments for those who fail to register their land—those found working or living on unregistered land will be considered trespassers and could also face a punishment of up to two years' imprisonment or a 500,000-kyats fine.

Those with existing businesses in agriculture, livestock or mining may continue their businesses by seeking an extension permit where necessary. Under the amended law, anyone using lands for a use different to its registered within four years of registration would have their land seized.

The deputy permanent secretary of the agriculture, livestock and irrigation ministry U Myo Tint Htun recently told The Irrawaddy that the ministry is doing their best to get the information about the updated law to the people in rural areas because many are still unaware of the amendment.

The rush to claim lands of the displaced

The law also concerns those who are currently internally displaced (IDPs) from conflict zones in Kachin, Shan, and Rakhine states. Some 106,290 people in Kachin and Shan states are still seeking shelter in both government- and ethnic armed group-controlled areas, according to the UNOCHA's January 2019 figures. In Rakhine State, nearly 128,000 people are currently displaced. Some 100,000 long-term refugees residing at the Thailand-Myanmar border are still unable to reclaim their lands as they have not been able to return to their home villages despite the peace process being in motion for the past seven years.

U La Dee is one of the IDPs who has been taking shelter at the Baptist church in Moemauk Township, Kachin State since fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army was reignited in June 2011. More than 70 households from his village, Takaw in Moemauk, fled their homes and joined some 3,000 IDPs sheltering at the churches in Moemauk.

He is worried that the requirements to register their lands for agribusiness or commercial use would make them lose the rights to their lands. Last year, the villagers of Takaw were outraged when they heard about interest from a number of companies in registering their lands as vacant or virgin land in order to secure them for use as tissue-culture banana plantations. He said the companies have already planted some 700 acres of banana tissue-culture plantations in the neighboring village of Nam Seng. Chinese companies earning the rights to use lands for their agribusinesses have been widely reported across many townships in Kachin State.

As for lands belonging to Kachin IDPs, the Kachin State government says it is aware of business operators rushing in to claim rights to the lands for their own agribusinesses and that it has instructed that permission to use land in such ways should not be authorized.

"During my meeting with the Kachin State Chief Minister [U Hket Awng], he said he does not allow these lands to be used for those businesses," said N-htung Hka Naw Sam, a lower house lawmaker from Myitkyina, Kachin State.

The lawmaker told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the chief minister firmly said the state government does not allow such actions on the lands of the IDPs, who he said will soon be able to return home if the military's four-month ceasefire continues.

Despite the IDPs' hopes of returning to their own lands, the continued presence of military troops near civilian villages makes their return—and thus their efforts in registering their lands—impossible.

"We want to go back to our village but the military are still camped near the village," said U La Dee, "If fighting were to break out again, we would be the war victims again, therefore we hope for stability and peace in our areas," said U La Dee.

The post Rising Public Concern Over Vacant Land Law Amendment Goes Unaddressed appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ta’ang Teen Shot Dead by Military in Shan State, Rights Group Says

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 03:04 AM PST

Mon State — The Myanmar military shot dead an ethnic Ta’ang teenager in northern Shan State on Monday night and compensated the family after apologizing, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO), a local rights group.

Mai Aike Zaup, 17, was returning home from a pagoda festival with a friend when they met a group of soldiers at the entrance of their village of Okk Mann Lee, in Kutkai Township, at about 9 p.m., according to TWO researcher Lway Che Sa Nga. She said her group spoke with village officials and the teen’s family but no eyewitnesses to the shooting itself.

According to the family and village officials, she said, the soldiers told them they opened fire as the teens were running away from them, thinking they might be members of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group active in the area. She said Mai Aike Zaup was hit several times and died at a local hospital, and that his friend escaped.

"When they left the village, there was no army. But they met the army on their way back. They were afraid of the army, so they tried to run away," Lway Che Sa Nga told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

She said the soldiers were from the military’s Light Infantry Battalion 361, under Military Operation Command 10. Mai Aike Zaup’s family said the soldiers apologized for killing their son and paid them 2 million kyat ($1,311) in compensation.

Lway Che Sa Nga said TWO was considering how to take legal action against the military for the teen’s death but would consult with the family on its wishes.

A person who answered the phone of Col. Tun Nay Win, a spokesman for the military in northern Shan State, said the colonel was in a meeting and could not comment.

The military has been fighting with a number of ethnic armed groups in the area for several years, including the TNLA, and is accused of numerous related human rights abuses.

It late December the military announced a unilateral four-month ceasefire in the north and east of Myanmar, but there have been some clashes since. The TNLA says it fought with military soldiers on Monday in Namkham Township, also in northern Shan State.

The post Ta’ang Teen Shot Dead by Military in Shan State, Rights Group Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Timeout

Posted: 21 Feb 2019 02:18 AM PST

Four Hands Art Exhibition

This is a duet exhibition by artists Christine Fayon and Htoo Aung Kyaw. The artists use different mediums and though they are not from the same cultural or religious background nor do they have the same way of living or thinking, they have exactly the same aim: to show that art is universal.

Feb. 20 to 24 | OK Art Gallery | North Side of Aung San Stadium, Gyoe Phyu Road

Museum Activity II Art Exhibition

As well as a large exhibition of artwork by more than 70 of Myanmar's most celebrated artists on display over nine days, this event also involves a panel discussion about the interaction between museums and artists and an art lecture by master painter Dr U Lun Gywe which takes place on Saturday. This event is organized by the National Museum Yangon, Myanmar's Department of Archaeology and National Museum and the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture.

Feb. 20 to 28 | National Museum Yangon | 66 Pyay Road, Dagon Township

WHO I AM: Identity and Belonging in Myanmar

What does the word identity mean to people in Myanmar? How do they see themselves and their place in society? How do they want to be seen by others? This photography exhibition is the result of a photography workshop for youth organized by The Heinrich Boell Foundation and lead by photographer Yu Yu Myint Than. The images are presented in addition to twelve collaborative portraits shot by French portrait photographer Nico Djavanshir.

Feb. 16 to 26 | Pansuriya Gallery | 100 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township

Yangon Photo Festival

As part of the 11th edition of Myanmar's biggest photography festival, screenings and activities will take place in Mahabandoola Park. Watch short documentaries from all over Myanmar, Asia, Europe and America projected to the public of huge screens in the park. See the temporary photo exhibition, have your portrait taken at a studio using a magic photo box and take part in the photography digitalization project by bringing your own old photographs to add to the giant collection.

Feb. 22 to 24 | 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. | Mahabandoola Park, Kyauktada Township

Open Studio Night

Proximity Designs opens its studio to the public this Friday night as part of the Proximity15 celebrations. The event focuses on workplace design and involves a guided tour of the studio followed by entertainment with music, drinks and food on the studio rooftop. Prior registration on Myanpwel is recommended to secure a place.

Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. | Proximity Designs | 24 Sayarsan Road, Bahan Township

Les Rendez Vous #5

For all hip-hop lovers and dedicated followers of Yangon's rich hip-hop scene, this is for you. The green garden of the French Institute is once again the location to immerse yourself in an evening of dance and hip-hop beats as part of the Yangon Photo Festival. The lineup includes G-Tone, T Jack, Hpone Myat Pine Soe and the House of M dance group, and winner of the 2017 Myanmar Ladies DJ Championship, Tyrah-T.

Feb. 22 | 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. | Institut Français de Birmanie | 340, Pyay Road, Sanchaung Township

Jogja Noise Bombing: Talk and Performance

The founding member of Jogja Noise Bombing, a community of sound artists from the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, will be at Myanm/art this Saturday evening. Indra Menus will perform and noise art demonstration and then give a talk about his work with noise and experimental music in Jogja and beyond. This is part of the Space Exchange program organized by Myanm/art and sponsored by Myanm/art, the Japan Foundation Yangon and Noise in Yangon.

Feb. 23 | 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. | Myanm/art | 3FL, 98 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township

Pierot Lumiére Concert

This concert is set to be an entertaining fusion of sound, light, color, video and moving bodies combined as a single performance at the Goethe Institut's auditorium space. The Berlin-based group behind the performances, Manufaktur für elektronische Musik, aka MAM, will take us on a journey following the traces of the famous French clown figurine Pierrot. Seat reservations recommended.

Feb. 23 | 7 p.m. | Goethe-Institute Myanmar | Corner of Kabar Aye Pagoda Road and Nat Mauk Street, Bahan Township

Food Waste: Impact & Solutions

As the second part of the ongoing Climate Talk series, Conyat Create and Pansuriya have organized this presentation about food waste, the guiltiest food wasters and the effects of food waste on the climate. There will be two speakers, Okka Phyo Maung and Marc Oliver. Okka is a co-founder and CMO of Recyglo, Myanmar's first and only recycle-tech company. Marc is special advisor at Conyat Create who works at building partnership models to support projects related to food supply chain traceability and food waste management in the hospitality sector.

Feb. 25 | 6:30 p.m. | Pansuriya | 100 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township

Myanmar Social Investment Forum

The theme of this third annual Myanmar Social Investment Forum hosted by AVPN is "Maximing Impact" and more than 250 funders and resource providers from Myanmar and Asia-Pacific are expected to attend. The event will also see the release of the second edition of the Myanmar Social Investment Landscape Report.

Feb. 26 | 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. | Pan Pacific Hotel | Shwedagon Pagoda Road, Pabedan Township

AustCham & CCIFM Networking Cocktail

This is a networking event organized by the Australian and French chambers of commerce and a useful opportunity to meet fellow networkers and make useful contacts with business leaders from various industries over a drink and some finger food. Tickets for chamber members are $20 and non-members, $30.

Feb. 28 | 6:30 p.m. | Pullman Yangon Centerpoint | Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Township

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In a First, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Lectures at National Defense College

Posted: 20 Feb 2019 11:36 PM PST

NAYPYITAW — State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s de facto leader and foreign minister, for the first time spoke at the National Defense College in Naypyitaw on Tuesday.

"It was her first time. She lectured representing the Foreign Ministry. I heard that she also explained the current situation in Myanmar. She had lunch with the trainees," a military officer told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity.

The officials said she also touched on Myanmar’s foreign policy and that her appearance at the college was a sign of positive relations between the military and her civilian government.

The military had invited the Foreign Ministry to deliver a series of lectures at the college.

The college trains many of the military’s colonels and has a reputation for taking in officers with leadership potential. Much of their studies focus on the politics and economies of other countries.

Other senior government officials have lectured at the college before, including Investment Commission Secretary U Aung Naing Oo, but the state counselor’s turn was especially significant, said one colonel, who asked not to be named.

"Relevant scholars have delivered lectures on politics and economics. There were also some ministers who came and lectured. But this is the first time the state counselor has lectured," he said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s lectures came amid her ruling National League for Democracy party’s attempts to amend the military-drafted Constitution in Parliament. The military has been resisting the move, claiming the party is not following proper procedures, which the party denies.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Britain Managing Huawei Risks, Has No Evidence of Spying: Official

Posted: 20 Feb 2019 09:10 PM PST

LONDON/BRUSSELS — Britain is able to manage the security risks of using Huawei telecoms equipment and has not seen any evidence of malicious activity by the company, a senior official said on Wednesday, pushing back against U.S. allegations of Chinese state spying.

Ciaran Martin, head of Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said Britain had yet to decide on its security policy for national 5G networks, but that Huawei equipment was subject to detailed oversight and strict government controls over where it was used.

“Our regime is arguably the toughest and most rigorous oversight regime in the world for Huawei,” Martin, whose NCSC is part of Britain’s GCHQ intelligence agency, said at a cybersecurity conference in Brussels.

Asked later whether Washington had presented Britain with any evidence to support its allegations, he told reporters: “I would be obliged to report if there was evidence of malevolence … by Huawei. And we’re yet to have to do that. So I hope that covers it.”

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces intense scrutiny in the West over its relationship with the Chinese government and U.S.-led allegations of enabling state espionage, with Washington calling for allies not to use the company’s technology.

No evidence has been produced publicly and Huawei has repeatedly denied the claims, but the allegations have led several Western countries to restrict the company’s access to their markets.

Martin said it was for the U.S. government to comment on what information it had about the company but added: “From our point of view … if you look at the detailed paper we’re publishing, we set out the way we manage the risks.”

The White House did not return a request for comment and the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.

U.S. Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, responded by saying he wanted to “more fully understand the UK’s reasoning.”

“The United States and its allies need to maintain a common front against the supply chain risk of equipment from countries that do not respect the rule of law and that routinely place extra-judicial surveillance demands on domestic firms,” he said.

Huawei under fire

Britain is a key battleground for Huawei in its campaign to resist U.S. pressure in Europe.

Any decision by London to allow the Chinese company to participate in building next-generation 5G networks would be watched closely by other nations because of Britain’s membership of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group along with the United States.

But the company has come under fire in Britain since a government report in July last year found that technical and supply-chain issues with its equipment had exposed national telecoms networks to new security risks.

Vodafone, the world’s second-largest mobile operator, said last month it was “pausing” deployment of Huawei equipment in core networks until Western governments give full security clearance.

Other operators in Europe, including Britain’s BT and France’s Orange, have already removed Huawei’s equipment or taken steps to limit its future use.

Commenting on the report, Martin said: “As we said then, and repeat today, these problems are about standards of cyber security; they are not indicators of hostile activity by China.”

A Huawei spokesman said the company would spend $2 billion on efforts to address the problems. “We remain committed to designing and producing technology to the highest standards of security and safety for customers in 170 countries around the world,” he said.

Martin said Huawei had accepted the findings of the report and pledged to address them, but acknowledged that doing so would take some years.

“We will monitor and report on progress and we will not declare the problems are on the path to being solved unless and until there is clear evidence that this is the case,” he said.

“We will not compromise on the improvements we need to see from Huawei.”

The post Britain Managing Huawei Risks, Has No Evidence of Spying: Official appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Family Ties Thwart Cambodia’s Efforts to Tackle Bride Trafficking to China

Posted: 20 Feb 2019 08:30 PM PST

PHNOM PENH – A rising number of Cambodian women are being sold as brides in China but complaints and convictions are on the decline with many victims refusing to speak out because their families are colluding with trafficking rings, a regional police chief said.

Thousands of Cambodian women have gone to China in recent years on the pretense that they would be able to marry, work and send money home to their families, only to find themselves sold into forced—and often abusive—marriages, campaigners say.

But survivors who return to Cambodia often decide against filing police complaints because they fear implicating their relatives in criminality, according to Thol Meng, deputy chief of the anti-trafficking bureau in Kompong Cham province.

“When a victim gets in trouble in China, the family seeks our help to rescue them, but once they get home, the families do not want to cooperate,” said Meng, whose province is a major hub in Cambodia for traffickers seeking to send people to China.

“Maybe they (relatives of victims) are concerned that we will find that they received money from the traffickers,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

China’s one-child policy and preference for boys has created a huge gender imbalance that reverberates across Southeast Asia.

China will have an excess of 40 million men of marrying age by 2020, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

And while the policy was relaxed in 2016, its legacy remains, fueling the trafficking of women and girls from Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, according to campaigners.

Almost 7,000 Cambodian women have been trafficked to China and forced into marriage, the government said in 2016, the latest available official data. But campaigners say the real number is likely far higher, with many cases going unreported.

'Desperate and poor'

Kompong Cham had four trafficking convictions last year—down from 20 in 2015—despite the demand for Cambodian brides in China “rising sharply” in recent years, according to Meng.

Originally, the traffickers were Chinese or out-of-town Cambodians, the police chief said. They stood out when visiting the country’s far-flung areas, but have since changed tactics and recruited locals—known as “brokers”—to do their work.

“Many of these brokers, they don’t really know what they are doing—just that they can get $100 for each girl,” Meng said, adding that the four convictions last year were all of local women who personally knew the victims they helped send to China.

“Personally, I feel that they are also victims,” he added. “I pity them, but the law does not compromise.”

The masterminds, he said, had peddled their lies to the point where “brokers” would send their own offspring to China.

In response, police have been travelling to the poorest and most remote parts of the province to hold forums on the dangers.

Attendance is good and the response generally positive, Meng said, but he fears the lure of life abroad—and the desperation of poor families—will keep driving young women towards China.

“I guess no matter how much information we spread on the risks and dangers, the reality is that people need to support their families, so they will go after all,” he said.

“They are not hard of hearing. They are desperate and poor.”

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Malaysia to Put Former Goldman Sachs Banker on Trial Before U.S. Extradition

Posted: 20 Feb 2019 08:23 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia may postpone the extradition to the United States of a former Goldman Sachs banker wanted over a multibillion-dollar scandal at the state fund, as he has to face criminal charges in the Southeast Asian nation first, its home minister said.

Roger Ng has been detained in Kuala Lumpur since Nov. 1, soon after the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed charges against him for allegedly laundering funds siphoned from the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Last week a Malaysian court ruled for Ng to be extradited to the United States, pending an order from the Home Affairs Ministry.

“We will carry out the extradition, but we want to make sure that this case in Malaysia will be completed first,” Home Affairs Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Tuesday.

Malaysia’s attorney-general had advised that Ng remain in the country until he has been tried on the separate criminal charges, he added.

“That is the advice of the attorney-general and we will likely follow it,” Muhyiddin said in an audio recording of his news conference heard by Reuters.

Ng’s lawyer, Tan Hock Chuan, was not immediately available to comment. The attorney-general’s office did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Malaysian authorities and the DoJ are investigating Goldman Sachs for its role as underwriter and arranger of three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB.

Ng was charged in Kuala Lumpur with four counts of abetting the bank to provide misleading statements in the offering prospectus for the bonds the bank helped sell for 1MDB.

The DoJ has estimated that a total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated by high-level 1MDB fund officials and their associates between 2009 and 2014, including some of the funds that Goldman Sachs helped raise.

Goldman Sachs has consistently denied wrongdoing and said certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to it about the bond sale proceeds.

Tim Leissner, another Goldman Sachs official, and Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho have also been charged in the United States over the scandal. Leissner has pleaded guilty.

The post Malaysia to Put Former Goldman Sachs Banker on Trial Before U.S. Extradition appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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