The Irrawaddy Magazine

KIO, Govt Sign Preliminary Agreement, Hopeful of Reaching Ceasefire Posted: 30 May 2013 06:51 AM PDT Government negotiators and KIO leaders exchange the preliminary agreement they signed on Thursday. (Photo: Facebook/ Hla Maung Shwe) MYITKYINA, Kachin State—Burma's government and ethnic Kachin rebels signed a preliminary agreement on Thursday that would reduce military tensions in northern Burma and lead to further progress towards reaching a peace deal. The parties however, failed to reach an official ceasefire agreement. On the third day of the negotiations in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, a government negotiation team and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) signed a seven-point statement. The sides agreed to "undertake efforts to achieve de-escalation and cessation of hostilities" and to "continue discussions on military matters related to repositioning of troops," according to two points from a translation of the agreement. Officials said the agreement—although not a ceasefire—marked an important step towards ending further clashes. "Even though we cannot yet sign the ceasefire agreement, we are satisfied with the results that we have reached so far" said Lt-Gen Myint Soe, a high-ranking government army official who commands the Bureau of Special Operations-1, which oversees military operations in Kachin State. “Whatever the Tatmadaw did in the past, we and the KIO are brothers. So this time, we are trying to reconcile with our KIO brothers. This is like a common quarrel between a husband and wife,” he said during a press conference. "Tatmadaw never breaks the promise we make or our discipline. But there is still an uneasy situation at ground level," Myint Soe added. Gen Sumlut Gun Maw of the KIO's military wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said the agreement would help prevent an outbreak of clashes, but he added that it was not a ceasefire. "We will try to avoid [military] engagement, other than saying that we can guarantee an end to the war," he said. "We will reach out to the front line area for those tasks." Gun Maw said he was pleased with the preliminary agreement, but added, "We will have to discuss the details." Burma's military and the Kachin rebels have been engaged fighting in northern Kachin State for decades. The ethnic conflict flared up in June 2011 after a long-standing ceasefire broke down. Fighting escalated between late 2012 and early February this year, after which the clashes largely stopped. Other points in Thursday's agreement include letting a KIO Technical Team stay in Myitkyina for further discussions with government officials. UN officials, Chinese diplomats and representatives of eight other ethnic militias would also be invited to attend the next round of ceasefire talks. Two previous rounds of talks had been held in China in recent months, but this week's talks between the Minister Aung Min's peace negotiation team, Burma's military and the KIO were the first to be held on Burmese soil. UN officials and representatives from ethnic militias also attended for the first time. "This is quite a historic development; the agreements that have been reached here today. That the meeting is being held inside the country is one of several great agreements. And they are being able to lay a framework for sustained peace," UN special envoy Vijay Nambia told The Irrawaddy in a reaction. Lu Zhi, counselor from the Chinese Embassy in Burma, said, "I think it is very successful, good for mutual understanding and mutual trust. Finally they got better results… I am looking forward to the next round and hope for better, even better, results."

Fear Grips Lashio After Burma’s Latest Anti-Muslim Riots Posted: 30 May 2013 04:34 AM PDT Destruction is seen in central Lashio, Quarter Three, after anti-Muslim rioting earlier this week. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) LASHIO, Shan State—The northeast Burma town of Lashio appeared like a ghost town on Thursday, two days after the latest religious clashes in Burma broke out between Buddhists and Muslims, with the streets empty as fearful residents stayed indoors and businesses closed their doors. Mosques and Muslim-owned shops torched in the rioting earlier this week continued to smolder, despite the rain, while nearly every hotel, bank, restaurant and home remained shuttered. Authorities blocked the streets near sites that had been burned, with soldiers from the national army standing guard. At least one person was killed and five people were injured in clashes this week between Buddhists and Muslims in Lashio, the latest town to be hit by anti-Muslim violence in Burma. The violence began on Tuesday after a Muslim man allegedly poured gasoline on a Buddhist woman to set her alight, with mobs forming to take revenge after the attack. Despite claims by authorities that the situation had stabilized, rioting continued the next day, with casualties confirmed by Wednesday evening. On Thursday, few people could be seen roaming the streets, and those who did were trailed by calls from family members at the doors of their homes, urging them not to venture far. Although the situation in the mountain town of around 150,000 people appeared to have stabilized, some residents said they worried another bout of violence could occur at any time. Youths riding motorbikes and clutching knives could also be seen in the area, raising alarm. The Irrawaddy met three women who said they were walking home from the town's main market after hearing that rioters would target the area. "I didn't buy anything—I was afraid because there were rumors that people would come to attack Muslim shops there," said one of the women. Sai Kyaw Sein, head of the town's Quarter Three, said he feared the rumors could get out of hand. "I want the media to help stop these rumors. I'm worried people won't have enough food if they keep closing the shops like this for a long time because of the rumors," he told The Irrawaddy. Journalists have faced resistance and even violence in attempts to cover the clashes, with two journalists from the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) injured yesterday and others threatened. "We could not use our SkyNet car because we were afraid of them [rioters]," a senior reporter for the TV network SkyNet said. "We got a different car to drive around town." A member of the Myanmar Red Cross Society said rioters had also threatened members of her organization, which attempted to assist people as shops and mosques were torched. "They told us not to come out on the street," she said. "We were afraid of them, we couldn't do anything." Township authorities, the police and soldiers evacuated about 1,200 Muslims to a camp in the town as a means of protection. "We need to come and stay with the police here because we need security for our lives," a Muslim man told The Irrawaddy. "They [rioters] tried to kill us." Aye Aye Win, the Buddhist woman who was allegedly set on fire, was receiving treatment at a public hospital in Lashio on Thursday and could not speak to reporters. Her younger sister told The Irrawaddy that Aye Aye Win had come to Lashio after traveling to the Shan town of Muse for border trade. She said Aye Aye Win had gone to collect her money and met the Muslim man, who tried to attack her with a stick before pouring the gasoline on her body to set her on fire. A Buddhist mob including monks reportedly went to the police station after Aye Aye Win was burned, demanding that the authorities hand her over and reacting angrily when their request was refused. Ye Htut, the spokesman for President Thein Sein, told the International Herald Tribune that 80 monks were among that mob. The series of events is reminiscent of incidents in other towns in Burma that spread to mass anti-Muslim riots. In west Burma's Arakan State, clashes broke out in June last year after a Buddhist woman was reportedly raped and murdered by Muslims. In the ensuing violence that month and in October, hundreds of people were killed and about 140,000 others, mostly Muslims, were displaced from their homes. Some have speculated that a famous nationalist monk known as U Wirathu played a role in the Lashio violence, after holding Dharma talks in nearby Muse on May 20. "We really wanted to know what he talked about there," a local journalist in Lashio told The Irrawaddy. "We wonder whether what happened here was related to his talks." U Wirathu is known for promoting a nationalist Buddhist movement known as 969, which encourages Buddhists to shun Muslim businesses. He has been the subject of much media attention after speculation arose that he was involved in anti-Muslim riots in the central Burma town of Meikhtila, but he denies condoning or encouraging any violence. In Lashio, a Buddhist woman said her shop, located in part of Jameh Mosque, was destroyed by hundreds of rioters on Tuesday night. "A lot of people came carrying knives, sticks and gas canisters," said Swe Swe Than, who sells Buddhist statues and tapes of Dharma talks at the shop in Quarter Three. "They stored the gas in cans that we use to kill cockroaches, and they sprayed the walls of my two showrooms, setting the building on fire." "Those who torched our shop, they were jealous because we had a good business here," she added. "I didn't have a problem with the Muslim people here." "I couldn't stop the rioters, I needed to escape," she said. "I'm a Buddhist—why did they burn my shop if this is related to a religious conflict? They were just terrorists." Her younger brother, Maung Maung Htwe, added: "It was sad, everything that happened here. We never thought it would happen like this. It will be something we remember forever."

Anti-Muslim Violence Spreads to Town in Central Burma Posted: 30 May 2013 03:31 AM PDT RANGOON—Anti-Muslim violence spread to central Burma on Wednesday night, when Buddhist mobs went on a rampage in Kyauk Gyi Township, Pegu Division, and destroyed two religious buildings, according to local police. "A mosque with a madrasa was destroyed. [The buildings were] not burned downed. No casualties or injured were reported," said an officer with the Kyauk Gyi Township Police Office, adding that the unrest occurred in Mone, a small town some 20 miles (30 km) away from Kyauk Gyi town. Kyauk Gyi Township is located about 120 miles (200 km) north of Burma's biggest city Rangoon. "Local police and administration officers are there, investigating the problem. No one was detained yet for the destruction," said the officer, who declined to be named as he was not authorized to talk to the media. "The area is controlled by the local police. No curfew was announced as the situation is stable now," he said. "Some senior Buddhist monks are giving sermons to the people, telling them to live in peace." On Tuesday night, Buddhist groups in Lashio, Shan State, went on a rampage in a Muslim neighborhood, burning down a mosque, an orphanage and 15 buildings. Deadly clashes continued in the town on Wednesday, leaving at least one person and four injured, according to initial reports. Like in Lashio, the violence in Kyauk Gyi Township was sparked by a dispute in the community. A local youth leader, who preferred not to be named, said two brothers-in-law had become embroiled in a drunken fight on Wednesday evening. One of the men was supposedly Muslim and the other a Buddhist, he said, adding that the latter was injured during the fight. When police arrested the two men, bystanders intervened to demand that the Muslim man face more serious charges than his Buddhist brother-in-law. The crowds then walked up to the local police station. "They gathered at the police station and urged to police to do it so. After that, they went to the mosque [and madrassa] and destroyed it," the youth leader said. In late March and April, central Burma was rocked by a wave of anti-Muslim violence, which first started in Meikhtila town in Mandalay Division. More than 10,000 people were displaced there and 44 were killed, before the attacks spread to more than ten townships in Mandalay and Pegu divisions where a few hundred Muslim-owned buildings were destroyed.

Low Wages in Burma Threaten Thailand’s Hold on Japanese Investors Posted: 30 May 2013 02:48 AM PDT Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (front, second left) visits the Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) port outside Rangoon on May 25, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) Japan's industrial investors stayed with Thailand through the army coups, the Bangkok-paralyzing massed Red-Shirt protests, and the mismanaged floods of 2011 that swamped so many Japanese-owned factories. But a huge labor force in Burma ready to work for one-sixth of a Thai wage could be a turning point. The visit to Burma earlier this week by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's has certainly got the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Bangkok worried. It helps explain why last week during a trade promotion visit to Tokyo she apologized to Japanese business leaders for "any inconvenience caused" to them and their businesses in Thailand in recent years and promised to do better. "Please be patient with Thailand and we will amend and change the regulations for you and other investors," Yingluck told a Tokyo conference. "Our government will try to make sure that Thailand will be a good place for investments for you all in the future," she said in response to calls for changes in Thai rules on investment. "We will try to work out and implement regulations that will suit the investors, as we want to make Thailand the regional hub," Yingluck said. Political analysts have been quick to the view that Japan's intensifying interest in Burma is about seeking to counterbalance the influence of China, but trade and business pundits note that Japanese investment in large-scale manufacturing follows the cheap labor market. And it's no coincidence. Japan carefully studies cost issues across the region. A survey by the Japan External Trade Organization, known as Jetro, showed that wages in manufacturing industry in Burma are the lowest among 19 countries. Jetro is a Tokyo government-financed agency that "promotes mutually beneficial trade and investment". The "Survey of Japanese-Affiliated Companies in Asia and Oceania" report covering 2012 showed that the average industry wage in Burma per annum is US$1,100. In Thailand, the average annual wage is six times higher at $6,704. Vietnamese wages are twice as high as in Burma. The closest to Burma's cheap labor is Cambodia, where the average annual wage in manufacturing is $1,424. Burma also has the lowest wages in the region for engineers, managers and administrative staff. Among the problems the Jetro survey found was that Japanese companies in Thailand experience are rising wages and end-user complaints about product prices. Key problems faced in Burma are electricity shortages and poor infrastructure. "I don't believe that Myanmar [Burma] poses a serious immediate threat to Thailand's attraction as manufacturing base for Japanese companies. However, some of the important benefits which brought Japan to Thailand are eroding, low costs among them," an economist with a Western embassy in Bangkok told The Irrawaddy on May 29. "It will not have escaped Japanese investors' notice that wages in Myanmar are much, much lower than in Thailand, lower in fact that anywhere else in this region," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject. It seems to be no coincidence that Japan's latest offers of financial help to the Naypyidaw government include aiding construction of a large power plant and other infrastructure development. There have been repeated complaints in recent months by Japanese investors and developers in the big Thilawa Special Economic Zone on the edge of Rangoon about a lack of electricity and other essentials. "Wherever Japan has plans to invest seriously in manufacturing industry development in emerging countries it more or less sets preconditions for the host government," Jeff Mead, an independent energy analyst in Hong Kong, told The Irrawaddy. "We don't hear much about this but it's a little like the 'no money, no honey' rule. No electricity, no factories," he said. "The Thais have been very assiduous in the last 25 years in ensuring that their country has sufficient electricity to support an expansionary industrial base. This is something the Burmese need to do if they want to draw in major Japanese manufacturing industries. The Burmese will be very aware that the fuel to generate much of Thailand's electricity is actually natural gas imported from Burma." It is perhaps that drain into Thailand of much-needed energy resources, albeit paid for handsomely, that makes Naypyidaw lukewarm in its enthusiasm for the Thai-promoted port and economic zone at Dawei on Burma's southeast coast. Despite assurances by Bangkok that the Dawei project would benefit Burma, the biggest beneficiary would be Thailand. It's Thailand that would benefit from a crude oil transhipment terminal in Dawei, and it's Thailand that would benefit from developing around Dawei a petrochemicals industry, currently stymied at the Map Ta Phut industrial zone outside Bangkok because of environmental health problems. Dawei is perhaps another sign of Japan's future intent. Prime Minister Yingluck has twice this year—first in Bangkok in January and again last week in Tokyo—button-holed Prime Minister Abe to try to pressure him to support the multi-billion dollar Dawei project, which has yet to attract any serious Thai investment. On both occasions, Abe politely smiled—evidently more interested in a place called Thilawa.

Plans Under Way to Repatriate Burma’s Refugees Posted: 30 May 2013 02:40 AM PDT A female refugee makes a sheet of leaves for the roof of her house in Ei Htu Hta refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) More than 140,000 Burmese refugees in Thailand are facing mounting pressure to leave their camps on the border and return to their homeland, with many refugees saying they are not ready or willing to return. Refugees in camps in northwest Thailand say they have been given three options: move elsewhere in Thailand, return to Burma or resettle in a third country. They say they have been asked to select a choice on a form delivered by Mae Fah Luang Foundation, a Thai organization under royal patronage that is based in Chiang Mai Province. Most of the refugees on the Thai-Burma border are ethnic Karen who fled their homes in southeast Burma due to civil wars between the government and ethnic armed groups. Many are economic migrants who crossed the border in search of employment. Several refugees in the Mae La refugee camp, which houses more than 40,000 people in Tak Province, said the Mae Fah Luang Foundation created the survey earlier this month and asked adults and teenagers in the camp to fill out their responses. "On the form, refugees have three options," said Ah Mu, who lives in the camp. "They [refugees] were asked to choose their top priority. For example, if they want to go to a third country, they have to mark that option…and also specify which country they have in mind." "They were also asked to mark their second and third priorities, in case if they weren't matched with their first choice," he added. Ah Mu said other questions focused on the refugees' skills and education levels, as well as where in Burma they would return and what kind of jobs they would pursue there. The Thai foundation also distributed forms last month to community leaders who administrate another refugee camp known as Umpiem Mai, according to Tun Tun, the general-secretary of that camp. He said he and other community leaders were consulting with refugees to consider their options as they completed the forms, which he said would be collected by the Mae Fah Luang Foundation in November. Some refugees said that although they technically had three options, the criteria for traveling to a third country or staying in Thailand was so strict that many people were forced to opt to "voluntarily return" to Burma, even though they did not wish to do so. Some others, however, said that those who complained were mostly newcomers and economic migrants from urban areas in Burma. According to regulations from the UN refugee agency's resettlement program, refugees without registration cards do not meet the criteria for resettlement. So far, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that 81,700 refugees from Burma have been moved to other countries from Thailand since the UN resettlement program started in 2005. Vivian Tan, spokesperson for the UNHCR in Asia, said it was not yet time to promote the repatriation of refugees to Burma. However, she confirmed that UNHCR and partners continued to consult with refugee communities and community-based organizations regarding their options and needs. "We are also collecting information on the situation in the southeast [of Burma] that we will share with the refugees to enable them to make an informed choice when voluntary repatriation eventually becomes feasible," she said. Tan added that a profiling exercise began earlier this month to collect more information about the refugees, including their hometowns, education levels, skills and future plans. She said all concerned ethnic armed groups and the Burmese government needed to agree on safeguards for returnees, including amnesties and respect for basic rights relating to freedom of movement, as well as the issuance of identity documents upon return. She also called for preparations in areas of potential return to ensure that returnees had a place to live and access to basic facilities, services and work opportunities. There has been no public or official announcement about refugee repatriation or the expected closure of nine refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. Some NGO sources, however, say Thai and Burmese authorities intend to shut the camps by 2015. NGOs including UNHCR, The Border Consortium (TBC) and community-based organizations are conducting repatriation training and workshops for the refugees. Representatives from refugee support agencies and international NGOs have been meeting with Burmese government officials in Naypyidaw since last year and engaging in efforts to facilitate the eventual repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Burma.

UN Envoy Meets Kachin Leaders in Myitkyina Posted: 30 May 2013 12:45 AM PDT The meeting between the UN special advisor on Burma and Kachin community leaders is seen in progress on Wednesday in Myitkyina. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) MYITKYINA, Kachin State—Hundreds of Kachin leaders met this week in the state capital of Myitkyina with the UN special advisor on Burma, who was allowed to attend peace negotiations between Kachin rebels and the Burmese government for the first time on Tuesday. The leaders on Wednesday warmly welcomed UN envoy Vijay Nambiar and thanked him for participating in the negotiations the day before, which marked the first time the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) had agreed to attend peace talks in the government-controlled region of Myitkyina. The previous two rounds of negotiations this year were held in neighboring China. The UN's Nambiar said the discussion with Kachin leaders was productive. "There were frustrations, as well as expectations and hopes, which have been expressed," he told reporters. "I think there is hope," he added. "But people feel everywhere. I think it's necessary that those views come out and are openly expressed." The KIO, the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), signed a ceasefire agreement with the former Burmese military regime in 1994, but the agreement broke down in June 2011 when fighting erupted between the government army and KIA soldiers. The KIA is the nation's second-largest armed ethnic rebel group, with an estimated 10,000 fighters. Also on Wednesday, KIA leaders discussed military affairs with a commander from the government army, although no details of were revealed. Both sides said they were satisfied with the meeting. Gen Gum Maw and Gen Zaw Taung represented the KIA, while Lt-Gen Myint Soe represented the government army. Myint Soe said the group discussed troop deployments as well as the ongoing clashes between the government army and other ethnic armed groups which have already signed ceasefires. "We come here because we need to discuss political matters," said Gen Sumlut Gun Maw, the KIA's deputy chief of staff. They said they expected to conclude the talks on Thursday.

ABSDF Visits Burma to Investigate Its Killings of ‘Spies’ in 1990s Posted: 29 May 2013 11:40 PM PDT An archive photo showing ABSDF members in the early 1990s accused of being 'spies' for Burma's then military regime. RANGOON—The All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) said it is carrying out an internal investigation into what happened in the organization 20 years ago, when 35 of its members were killed on accusations of being spies for Burma's military government. Kyaw Kyaw Lin, the coordinator of the ABSDF's Truth and Justice Commission, said the team was meeting with family members of the victims and ABSDF members who managed to escape after being accused of spying for the government. "We have interviewed six members so far," said Kyaw Kyaw Lin. "As for families, we have already visited Ma Nge's mother." Nan Aung Htwe Kyi, also known as Ma Nge, was an ABSDF member who managed to escape after being arrested and interrogated by the group. "What had happened in their camp in Kachin State has had a lot of mental impact on them, so repeatedly speaking about it really hurts them," Kyaw Kyaw Lin said, referring to some of the interrogation and killings that were carried out in Kachin State, where the ABSDF's Northern Region was based. The ABSDF was founded in November 1988 as an armed rebel group by students and youths who left their homes for Burma's border areas, following the military regime's brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising in September that same year. Thirty-five ABSDF members died in custody in 1991-92, some of them executed as "enemy spies" and others tortured to death while undergoing  interrogation. In February 1992, 15 members were killed in the jungles on Kachin State under shadowy circumstances, and another 80 members were detained on similar charges in the early 1990s. Questions have long surrounded the allegations against the victims and some have suggested that the killings were motivated by internal power struggles within the organization. Among those killed in Kachin State in 1992 was Htun Aung Kyaw, the chairman of ABSDF's Northern Region. During the 1988 democracy movement, he was a prominent student leader in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city, and vice-chairman of the All Burma Federation of Students Union. On May 17, Htun Aung Kyaw's family opened a criminal case at No. 8 Police Station in Mandalay Division in order start a police investigation into his killing and to take legal action against the perpetrators. In January 2012, the ABSDF formed the Truth and Justice Commission to investigate the killings, in particular in its Northern Region. The group is currently engaged in peace negotiations with the government and Naypyidaw has allowed members of the group, who still remain in exile, to visit Burma for three weeks to carry out its investigation. The ABSDF commission will travel to Mon State and Rangoon and Mandalay divisions to interview families of the victims and former members who escaped interrogation. Kyaw Kyaw Lin said the commission would discuss the background of the accused ABSDF members, the supposed evidence for the accusations made against them, and the health and psychological impacts that the members and their families have suffered as a result of the events. Former ABSDF members currently resettled in foreign countries will also be contacted, while ABSDF documents being kept in an archive center in the Netherlands might also be studied for more information. Kyaw Kyaw Lin said the group also planned to consult the victims and their families about how the ABSDF can address some of the impacts they suffered. The group has already issued a public apology for the events of the early 1990s. "One thing I'd like to add is that this report is not the end of the story. The ABSDF's northern region case has yet to be finished after the publication of the report. It will be just the beginning of the truth and justice we like to focus on," he said.

Buddhist Mobs Spread Fear among Muslims in Lashio Posted: 29 May 2013 10:18 PM PDT A police officer stands near a mosque that was burnt during a riot between Buddhist and Muslims in Lashio on Wednesday. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) LASHIO, Burma — It was a terrifying sight: hundreds of angry, armed men on motorcycles advancing up a dusty street with no one to stop them. Shouting at the top of their lungs, clutching machetes and iron pipes and long bamboo poles, they thrust their fists repeatedly into the air. The object of their rage: Burma's embattled minority Muslim community. Residents gaping at the spectacle backed away as the Buddhist mob passed. Worried business owners turned away customers and retreated indoors. And three armed soldiers standing in green fatigues on a corner watched quietly, doing nothing despite an emergency government ordinance banning groups of more than five from gathering. Within a few hours on Wednesday, at least one person was dead and four injured as this northeastern town of Burma became the latest to fall prey to the country's swelling tide of anti-Muslim unrest. After a night of heavy rain, downtown Lashio was quiet Thursday morning. Soldiers blocked roads where Muslim shops were burned. At one corner where the charred remains of a building still smoldered, Muslim residents sorted through rubble for anything salvageable. One woman who had fled a mob a day earlier was still in a state of shock. "These things should not happen," said the woman, Aye Tin, a Muslim resident. "Most Muslims are staying off the streets. They're afraid they’ll be attacked or killed if they go outside." The violence that started Tuesday in the northeastern city of Lashio is casting fresh doubt over whether President Thein Sein's government can or will act to contain the racial and religious intolerance plaguing a deeply fractured nation still struggling to emerge from half a century of military rule. Muslims have been the main victims of the violence since it began in western Arakan State last year, but so far most criminal trials have involved prosecutions of Muslims, not members of the Buddhist majority. The rioting in Lashio started Tuesday after reports that a Muslim man had splashed gasoline on a Buddhist woman and set her on fire. The man was arrested. The woman was hospitalized with burns on her chest, back and hands. Mobs took revenge by burning down several Muslim shops and one of the city's main mosques, along with an Islamic orphanage that was so badly charred that only two walls remained, said Min Thein, a resident contacted by telephone. On Wednesday fires still smoldered at the ruined mosque, where a dozen charred motorcycles lay on the sidewalks underneath its white minarets. Army troops stood guard. The wind carried the acrid smell of several burned vehicles across town, and most Muslims hid in their homes. When one group of thugs arrived at a Muslim-owned movie theater housed in a sprawling villa, they hurled rocks over the gate, smashing windows. They then broke inside and ransacked the cinema. Ma Wal, a 48-year-old Buddhist shopkeeper across the street, said she saw the crowd arrive. They had knives and stones, and came in two separate waves. "I couldn't look," she said, recounting how she had shut the wooden doors of her shop. "We were terrified." A couple hours later, the mobs were gone and two army trucks and a small contingent of soldiers guarded the villa. "I don’t know what to think about it," she said. "More casualties are … not good for anybody." The government, which came to power in 2011 promising a new era of democratic rule, appealed for calm. "Damaging religious buildings and creating religious riots is inappropriate for the democratic society we are trying to create," presidential spokesman Ye Htut said on his Facebook page. "Any criminal act will be dealt with according to the law," he said. National police said nine people were arrested for involvement in the two days of violence, but didn't say if they were Buddhists or Muslims. After nightfall, authorities could be heard issuing instructions on loudspeakers across the city, reminding residents a dusk-to-dawn curfew was in effect. The voice bellowing into the night also said: "You are prohibited from carrying sticks or swords or any kind of weapon." A local freelance journalist, Khun Zaw Oo, said he was hit on the head with an iron pipe as he photographed mobs ransacking shops. He said he managed to flee but a companion also holding a camera was attacked and badly injured. Burma's sectarian violence first flared in western Arakan State last year, when hundreds of people died in clashes between Buddhists and Muslims that drove about 140,000 others, mostly Muslims, from their homes. Most are still living in refugee camps. This month, authorities in two areas of Arakan announced a regulation limiting Muslim families to two children. The policy drew sharp criticism from Muslim leaders, rights groups and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell on Tuesday said the United States opposes coercive birth limitation policies, and called on Burma "to eliminate all such policies without delay." The clashes had seemed confined to the Arakan region, but in late March, similar Buddhist-led violence swept the town of Meikthila in centra Burma, killing at least 43 people. Earlier this month, a court sentenced seven Muslims from Meikthila to prison terms for their role in the violence. Several other towns in central Burma experienced less deadly violence, mostly involving the torching of Muslim businesses and mosques. Muslims account for about 4 percent of Burma's roughly 60 million people. Anti-Muslim sentiment is closely tied to nationalism and the dominant Buddhist religion, so leaders have been reluctant to speak up for the unpopular minority. Thein Sein's administration has been heavily criticized for not doing enough to protect Muslims. He vowed last week during a trip to the United States that all perpetrators of the sectarian violence would be brought to justice.

Beijing Puts Its Security Forces on Display in Mekong Drug War Posted: 29 May 2013 10:14 PM PDT Principal suspect Naw Kham leaves the detention center for execution in Kunming, Yunnan province, on March 1, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / China Daily) After executing four killers from Thailand, Laos and Burma last year, China's security forces have extended their reach into Southeast Asia by uniting the countries along the Mekong River into a "war on drugs" and arresting 812 people in the narcotics-rich Golden Triangle. China's new push is described as an anti-drug operation and includes protecting commercial and passenger ships on the Mekong against thieves, kidnappers and guerillas. The operation, which began on April 19, will end on June 20. Critics have questioned whether China's interest is about drugs at all or whether the crackdown is just a convenient way for Beijing to project power into its strategic southern flank. China found the opening it needed to form a multinational anti-drug squad, backed by armed patrol boats, as a result of outrage over the October 2011 execution of 13 Chinese crew members on two cargo ships by a gang led by Naw Kham, an ethnic Shan methedrine smuggler from Burma. The Chinese caught up with Naw Kham and executed him and members of his gang in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan in February despite his recanting a confession and claiming that rogue Thai soldiers had staged the murders. As an indication of China's presumed fury over the incident, Naw Kham's execution and that of his henchmen included showing them being led away to die live on Chinese state television, although their lethal injections were not broadcast. In response to the case, which included the discovery of 920,000 amphetamine pills, Thailand, Burma and Laos began for the first time to allow Chinese "border police" gunboats to lead four-nation patrols on the Mekong River beyond China's territory. Left unexplained is what involvement the Chinese boat may have had in the drug trade. So far, security forces from the four countries say they have confiscated more than two tons of drugs, including heroin, opium and methamphetamine, plus guns and ammunition. The 812 arrests include citizens from all four participating Mekong countries plus Vietnam, according to Lan Weihong, an official with the Narcotics Department in China's powerful Public Security Ministry. Lan made the announcement at a command center staffed by drug enforcement agents in Jinghong, a Mekong River port in Yunnan, the state-owned China Daily reported on May 21. The new center is a second-floor hotel room where 10-plus officers work alongside translators, allowing the four nations to "sit in the same room and talk directly with each other," Lan was quoted as saying. Previously, officials had to send documents and other evidence back to their home countries and ask their superiors how to coordinate cross-border raids, which slowed the process. "Narcotics officers assigned to a four-nation campaign against smuggling on the Mekong River say reducing red tape and improving communication is boosting the war on drugs," China Daily said. The officers also "protect merchant sailors and residents along the major trading route through Southeast Asia," it said. There was no immediate indication where the suspects were imprisoned after being busted in 560 separate cases during the past month. It was also unclear where they might stand trial or which countries they came from. A few hundred miles longer than the Mississippi River, the Mekong originates in Tibetan glacier-fed peaks in China's Qinghai province, runs 2,700 miles, and empties through southern Vietnam into the South China Sea. But it is the river's midway section through the mountainous Golden Triangle which interests the joint patrols. The region is part of China'a southern frontier—where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet—and was dubbed the Golden Triangle in the 1950s when warlords, rebels, criminals and corrupt officials in all three countries became wealthy from illegal opium and heroin production. Today, the Mekong's murky waters are a lucrative commercial lifeline, especially for Chinese goods exported south through Yunnan to be assembled or sold in Southeast Asia or abroad. As the region modernizes, illegal drug production has also increased, and seizures are now alarmingly huge. For example, police in Bangkok said they netted Thailand's biggest-ever cache of illegal methedrine on May 22 when they retrieved 4.5 million speed pills, plus 60 kilograms of powdery "ice"—a slang term for smokable methamphetamine. The drugs were found in suitcases in an apartment, which police said they raided before arresting three Thai couriers who allegedly also possessed four guns. In a separate raid on May 26, Thai police in the Golden Triangle near Chiang Rai said they stopped a convoy of pickup trucks going to Bangkok, arrested four minority ethnic hill tribesmen who were couriers, and seized 600,000 methamphetamine pills. Thailand points to Burma's northern Shan State as the source of most such drugs. Many of the region's illegal, makeshift meth labs are located there, though key chemicals in the formula are often purchased in Thailand. Shan State is also the world's second biggest source of illegal opium, which can be refined into heroin and morphine. Some Shan state smugglers also secretly ferry their cargo down the Mekong to Thailand's Golden Triangle river ports of Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong, where modern highways link to Bangkok. Others send their illegal drugs on speedboats across a narrow section of the Mekong into Laos, and then march the loads across sparsely populated hills. Those drugs are then brought from Laos across a different section of the Mekong near Thailand's river ports, or north overland into China. Richard S. Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based journalist and regular contributor to Asia Sentinel.

Inquest: Journalist Killed by Thai Army’s Bullet Posted: 29 May 2013 10:07 PM PDT Anti-government "red shirt" protesters hold pictures of killed friends and relatives, and killed Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi during a rally in Bangkok in May 2011. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK—An Italian photographer killed while covering the Thai military’s crackdown on anti-government protesters in Bangkok three years ago was shot by a high-velocity bullet like those issued to soldiers, a Thai judge said on Wednesday. The inquest said it was unknown who fired the bullet and stopped short of outright blaming the military. Rights groups have repeatedly called for Thailand’s government to hold the powerful army accountable for its part in the violence. A Bangkok South Criminal Court judge said that the inquest into the death of 48-year-old Fabio Polenghi showed the fatal shot “was fired from the direction of security forces” who were mobilized to quash the demonstration in central Bangkok. It was likely Polenghi was killed by a bullet from the .223 cartridge which was used with M-16 and HK33 rifles issued to soldiers on the ground that day, the inquest said. The findings were a stark reminder of a battle fought between the Red Shirt protesters and the government under then-Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which led to at least 91 deaths during the two months of demonstrations on the streets of Bangkok in 2010, and of a political divide that remains in the country. Polenghi was shot as he tried to take pictures of the army’s assault on the Red Shirt encampment. Testimonies from the inquest that began last July showed the bullet went in Polenghi’s back and came through his left chest. The judge said the bullet went through his heart, lung and liver, causing excessive bleeding until he died at the hospital on May 19, 2010. Born in Italy in 1962, Polenghi had been a fashion photographer for many years but was transitioning to news. Elisabetta Polenghi, 48, his younger sister, was among 13 witnesses who testified in the court case. She was accompanied by her mother and her elder sister to hear the court’s order on Wednesday. "It was positive but it’s not the solution," Elisabetta Polenghi said of the inquest’s results. "The solution will come when the responsible will be asked to go out of their duty, away from position that can hurt people." The Polenghi case is the eighth inquest initiated by Thai authorities to seek the cause of deaths of those killed in the violence. The court previously ruled that five people were killed by guns used by military personnel, while two inquests were inconclusive on who committed the killings. Abhisit’s government approved the use of live ammunition under limited conditions and deployed sharpshooters and snipers during the demonstration. The Red Shirt-allied government that succeeded Abhisit’s agreed last year to pay compensation to all the victims of violence in order to promote political reconciliation. Rights groups have repeatedly called for the government to hold the army accountable. "It’s the first step towards achieving justice in this case and we’re encouraged that the judges effectively acknowledged that the bullet came from state security forces," said Shawn Crispin, a Southeast Asia’s representative of the non-profit Committee to Protect Journalists. "It’s clear that the family of Fabio is going to fight this and will effectively try to establish and hold to account those at the highest ranks of the chains of command that ordered soldiers to shoot that day." Thai authorities have a long history of shielding military personnel from prosecution in political bloodsheds in recent decades. Polenghi’s lawyer Karom Polpornklang said on Wednesday the inquest will be used in a future court case against Abhisit and his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban, who controlled a joint government-military center that ran the operation ending the protests. "It has to be proven that the orders for the security forces to move in … came from Mr Suthep and Mr Abhisit. They cannot deny their responsibility and cannot be dismissed in this case," Karom told reporters. "Or else an incident like this will happen again." The Department of Special Investigation began a murder investigation of Abhisit and Suthep last year, but charges have not been brought to court.

North Korea Sanctions Squeeze Cash for Aid Groups Posted: 29 May 2013 10:00 PM PDT North Koreans sit beside bags of chemical fertilizer in Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong. (Photo: Reuters / Jacky Chen) PYONGYANG — New international sanctions aimed at thwarting North Korea's nuclear weapons program are having unintended consequences: halting money transfers by foreign humanitarian groups working to help those most in need and forcing some agencies to carry suitcases of cash in from outside. At the same time, some restrictions are meant to sting the country's elite by crippling the import of luxury goods, such as yachts, fancy cars and jewelry. But they do not appear to be stopping the well-heeled from living large in the capital Pyongyang. Much of the aid group difficulties are linked to the state-run Bank of China's decision earlier this month to follow Washington's lead and sever ties with the North's Foreign Trade Bank, the main money transfer route for most foreign organizations, UN agencies and embassies in Pyongyang. With that line cut, aid workers in North Korea say they are left with few other options to receive foreign currency for expenses including rent, bills and salaries for local staff. The sanctions are not supposed to affect humanitarian aid, but six Pyongyang-based aid organizations headquartered in Europe issued a communique earlier this month spelling out their frustrations and calling the difficulties in transferring money to North Korea a "big problem." They warned that they may be forced to suspend their operations if they cannot find ways to access cash. A handful of American non-governmental organizations also work in North Korea, but they cycle in and out and do not maintain a permanent presence. Gerhard Uhrmacher, program manager for German humanitarian aid organization Welthungerhilfe, said when recent bank transfers failed, he managed to keep projects running by routing 500,000 euros ($643,000) to Chinese or North Korean accounts in China to pay for building supplies and other goods. He said Welthungerhilfe, which signed the communique and works on agriculture and rural development projects in North Korea, has some reserves in Pyongyang but must also resort to carrying cash into the country by hand. "It doesn't give a good impression. We're trying to be transparent, to be open to all sides and now we're more or less forced to do something that doesn't really look very proper because people who carry a lot of cash are somehow suspect," said Uhrmacher, who is based in Germany and has worked in North Korea for the past 10 years. "Whatever you're doing, everybody looks at you very closely," he said. "That's why we don't like it because bank accounts are proper. Everybody can have a look at it and everybody can control it. Now we are forced to do something else." Some analysts said aid groups were simply "collateral damage" and that they will find a way to work around the sanctions as they have been forced to do in other countries. Others said the poorest North Koreas would be hurt if some humanitarian groups have to pull out of the country. The aid groups work on a range of issues from food security to improving health and assisting with disabilities. Aid groups "may not provide as much support as governments, but they have the ability to reach the deep corners of the impoverished North where people are in most need," said Woo Seongji, a professor of international relations at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. "Their help is both symbolic and substantial. It reaches kids, hospitals and food shelters that outside governments may not be able to support consistently because of political considerations." The latest sanctions have added challenges to the already difficult system of getting money into North Korea since ally China has restrictions on how much foreign currency can be legally taken beyond its borders. Sanctions and trade embargoes have long been used by the international community to put an economic squeeze on troublesome regimes from Iraq and Burma to Cuba. But they are a blunt tool that can unintentionally add to the suffering of people living under oppressive rule by hindering development and the delivery of aid. In North Korea's case, the sanctions are meant to stop financing and the smuggling of cash that could help its nuclear and missile programs. They also aim to send a message to the country's elite by crushing the import of luxury goods. Yet last week at the newly opened six-story Haedanghwa Service Complex in Pyongyang, well-dressed North Koreans chatted on mobile phones and browsed in a high-end boutique that sold everything from fine Italian suits and Dior makeup to glass showcases glittering with diamonds and gold. The opulent center boasted 17 different themed dining rooms and cavernous banquet halls, some with their own bathrooms and round tables big enough to seat 30 people. Upstairs, young couples played pool, lounged in the sauna and munched on sushi while sipping cans of Coke and beer. Others splashed in a heated indoor swimming pool replete with waterfalls or worked out at a fitness center filled with state-of-the-art equipment. Downstairs at a popular restaurant, a chef delighted guests by cooking on a grill in front of them—at a cost of $50 a plate, not including drinks. Meanwhile, at the airport, a Toshiba 42-inch flatscreen TV slowly made loops on the baggage carousel. All proof that high-end merchandise is still making its way to the upper class in an impoverished country where two-thirds of its 24 million people don't have enough to eat. Uhrmacher said that despite repeated European Union vows that sanctions will not affect humanitarian aid, the pinch is being felt by all the organizations working in North Korea. The EU has not sanctioned Foreign Trade Bank, but he said due to US political pressure and fears of becoming entangled in controversy, European banks do not want to be associated with it. Bank of China had typically been used as a channel to route money to the aid groups' North Korean accounts. Most foreign embassies, NGOs and businesses have accounts at FTB or the Daedong Credit Bank. Daedong was named in an earlier round of US sanctions, leading many embassies and NGOs to open accounts at the FTB. "We are concerned regarding possible unintended effects of certain sanctions, in particular with regard to humanitarian assistance, and stress the need to overcome these unintended effects," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy head Catherine Ashton. The US Treasury Department hit the North Korean bank with sanctions in March, effectively cutting it off from the US financial system after accusing the country's main foreign exchange institution of funding Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs. Washington pressured Beijing to also impose restrictions on the bank a month after new leader Kim Jong-un angered his biggest economic supporter by conducting an underground nuclear test. The UN responded to that move by slapping Pyongyang with its toughest-ever sanctions. Tensions then boiled and North Korea spewed threats for weeks, including plans to launch nuclear strikes against the United States and its allies. The mood has since cooled, with the North sending a high-level envoy to Beijing last week to deliver a message that they were willing to take steps toward rejoining stalled nuclear disarmament talks. Embassies and UN agencies are also affected by the banking transfer issues, but several officials refused to comment due to the sensitivity of the issue. However, the UN in Pyongyang said last month that the sanctions were hurting its ability to raise funds, resulting in a shortage of drugs and vaccines. The World Health Organization also said it's harder to import equipment and medicine because everyone has become over cautious at all levels before clearing materials. The World Food Program said it has not yet been affected by the banking problems. It only needs limited funding within North Korea as financial transactions for its food aid are completed outside the country. Associated Press writers Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.

Burma’s economy could quadruple in size over the next two decades, according to a new study by a US-based think tank. Posted: 29 May 2013 09:47 PM PDT

The price of rice in Burma has reached its highest levels since Cyclone Nargis, as the kyat continues to tumble. Posted: 29 May 2013 09:47 PM PDT

More than 1,100 drug suspects have been arrested since April in a four-nation campaign targeting the notorious Golden Triangle region. Posted: 29 May 2013 09:46 PM PDT

A delegation of Kuwaiti lawmakers is set to arrive in Burma for a three-day visit. Posted: 29 May 2013 09:46 PM PDT

Burma’s Economy to Grow Fourfold in Next Two Decades: Report Posted: 29 May 2013 09:45 PM PDT A US-based economic think tank, the McKinsey Global Institute, forecasts that Burma's economy could more than quadruple over the next two decades. In a new study, the institute says the country's economy has the potential to expand to US $200 billion by 2030, up from $45 billion in 2010. “For much of the 20th century, Myanmar largely missed out on the spectacular growth seen across most of the global economy and most recently in its Asian peers. It now has the potential to be one of the fastest-growing economies in emerging Asia,” said the institute's director, Richard Dobbs.

Falling Kyat Forces up Rice Prices Posted: 29 May 2013 09:45 PM PDT The recent decline in the value of Burma's currency is putting pressure on domestic rice prices, according to a report by Mizzima. With the lower kyat, rice exports have grown more profitable, resulting in a diminishing supply of the staple food for the domestic market and prices that haven't been seen in the country since Cyclone Nargis devastated the Irrawaddy Delta in May 2008. Demand for cheap Burmese rice has grown in China, Burma's largest trading partner, since the kyat started falling earlier this year, reaching a low of 921.50 kyat to the dollar last week.

1,100 Arrested in Four Nation Drug Sweep Posted: 29 May 2013 09:44 PM PDT A joint anti-drug campaign by police from Burma, China, Thailand and Laos has led to the arrest of more than 1,100 suspects in 804 drug-related cases, according to a report by China's Xinhua news agency. The campaign, which began in April, has also resulted in the seizure of 2.97 tonnes of drugs, China's Ministry of Public Security was reported as saying. In one of the largest seizures, police from Burma and China on May 12 jointly busted a Burmese drug ring engaged in smuggling methamphetamine processed in Burma into China.

Kuwaiti Delegation Leaves for Burma Posted: 29 May 2013 09:44 PM PDT A delegation of Kuwaiti parliamentarians left Kuwait on Wednesday for an official three-day visit to Burma, reports the state-run Kuwait News Agency. Although no details were provided about what would be discussed during the visit, the Kuwaiti government has been outspoken in its criticism of Burma's treatment of Rohingya Muslims. The visit comes amid an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence in Shan State, the latest in a long series of similar incidents throughout Burma in recent months. The delegation will likely also discuss investment opportunities in Asia's last major frontier market.

Shan State Govt Slams Inter-faith Group Posted: 29 May 2013 09:43 PM PDT The government of Shan State last week objected to the establishment of an inter-faith group formed earlier this month, according to a report by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). The group, bringing together Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims, was formed in the state capital Taunggyi on May 8 during a workshop sponsored by the Yadanar Myay Social Development Association and Norwegian People's Aid. On its website, the state government slammed the move, saying it had given permission for the workshop, but not for the creation of a new group.