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Posted: 31 May 2013 06:06 AM PDT
 
Food rations provided by the World Food Program are pictured in the foreground as Muslims seeking shelter at a monastery listen to a speech by Religious Affairs Minister San Sint at Lashio Township on May 31, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)
The five small buildings that comprise the monastery remained crowded with the displaced as the UN World Food Program arrived in the morning to hand out provisions such as rice, cooking oil and beans. Toilets, space and clean water at the monastery appeared to be in short supply. Tin Tin Soe, a 22-year-old Muslim woman at the Buddhist monastery where the displaced have sought refuge, was forced to flee her home with her 12-day-old baby girl when rioting Buddhists descended on her neighborhood. Health workers have been providing the young mother with advice on how to keep herself and the baby healthy under the trying conditions. Another woman, Tin Myo Oo, was also displaced by the rioting, along with her 7-day-old boy. The camp authority announced on Friday morning that some victims at the camp would be moved to a nearby football stadium in an attempt to alleviate the crowded conditions. People continued to arrive at the camp throughout the day, despite the fact that the streets of Lashio appeared to have calmed. Speaking to the crowd, Tin Aung, a local Muslim leader, encouraged some of the IDPs to follow authorities' instructions on moving to the football stadium. "It will not be dangerous to move and stay there. I wanted to request that our people agree to move when the authority tells you to do so, because there is not enough space here." Win Myint Oo, a Muslim leader in the town, said that as of early on Friday afternoon, the monastery had accepted 1,400 people, with more arrivals expected later. Authorities were still searching for displaced families, he said, and would continue to bring them to shelter. When The Irrawaddy visited on Friday, the atmosphere at the monastery was grim, with some IDPs crying as they stepped out of vehicles and entered the camp. Elsewhere the situation in Lashio appeared to be stabilizing, after anti-Muslim rioting shook the town earlier this week, destroying a mosque, an Islamic orphanage and other buildings. The violence began on Tuesday after a Muslim man allegedly poured gasoline on a Buddhist woman and set her alight, with mobs forming to take revenge after the attack. Rioting continued the next day, with casualties confirmed by Wednesday evening. Buddhist stores had re-opened on Friday and many people were returning to their daily routines, though Muslims said they were still frightened to walk around town because they feared further attacks. Dozens of people have been arrested for their suspected roles in the fighting, according to the Ministry of Information, which said authorities were interrogating detainees and would continue to search for more suspects. "We'll form a committee to investigate and determine who instigated the unrest," Khin San, the ministry's deputy director, told The Irrawaddy. "We have arrested 40 people so far." Some residents called on authorities to quell anti-Muslim sentiment by banning nationalist Buddhist rhetoric. "I don't think this violence will stop unless the authorities ban tapes with 969 speeches," Naing Oo said, referring to a nationalist Buddhist movement that calls on Buddhists to shun Muslim businesses. Monks promoting the movement have traveled the country giving speeches, which are recorded on audiotapes and distributed. Naing Oo said he knew people in Lashio who had expressed extremist ideas and joined in the rioting after Buddhist monks held 969 talks near the town. Lashio is the latest town in Burma to be hit by spreading anti-Muslim violence. In March, anti-Muslim riots in the central Burma town of Meikhtila left more than 43 people dead, while sectarian clashes in west Burma's Arakan State killed more than 180 people and displaced more than 140,000. |
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Posted: 31 May 2013 05:15 AM PDT
The agreement aimed at reducing military tensions that was signed by Burma's government and ethnic Kachin rebels on Thursday is welcome news, but one must maintain cautious optimism regarding Kachin State's peace prospects.
The nature of the meeting that led to the agreement on Thursday was very different from past peace talks. At the request of the Kachin rebels, UN officials, Chinese diplomats and representatives of eight other ethnic militias attended as observers for the first time and the two sides met in the Kachin capital Myitkyina. Previous meetings held since the conflict resumed in 2011 were closed-door discussions organized in China that were observed only by the Chinese. The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has learned an important lesson from its past experience of negotiating with Naypyidaw, yet it seems unlikely that it will now rush into a ceasefire agreement. In 1994, six years after Burma's military came to power through a bloody coup and while it was engaging in human rights abuses and military operations in ethnic regions, Kachin leaders reached a secret ceasefire agreement. The KIO went back into the "legal fold", as the military regime put it, leaving an alliance of ethnic rebel groups based along the Thai-Burmese border in disarray. It was a fatal mistake. Why? The Kachin people did not accept the ceasefire and the image of the KIO among its people went downhill. When the ceasefire broke down in June 2011 and fighting resumed in Kachin State, the KIO and its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), regained popular support from Kachin people at home and abroad. 
Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org.
In one case, a Kachin woman living in the West reportedly donated US $6,000 to the ethnic guerrilla forces. Many followed suit and provided the rebels with financial support — though no figures are available on how much overseas money reached Kachin State, the amount is believed to be substantial. Prime Minister Thein Sein pledged to make peace with ethnic groups after assuming office in 2011. Initially, he claimed that the KIO did not represent the will of Kachin people, and that they were but a small insurgent group causing trouble in northern Burma. The response by the Kachin people during the recent conflict proved that he was wrong. Faced with a choice between the KIO and the Burmese government, the ethnic Kachin will choose their own army and politicians, who can protect their culture, identity, religion (most Kachin are Christians) and natural resources. They simply won't trust the Burmese government to do the same. Moreover, the war in Kachin State is not just about politics. The state is rich in jade and other natural resources. During the truce period, the Burmese army encroached on many areas once controlled by the KIA, bringing in tycoons from central Burma and China to remove the jade and other precious stones, and to log vast swathes of forest for valuable timber. Some Kachin leaders and businessmen who collaborated with the Burmese and Chinese didn't mind, but locals looking at the rampant looting of their natural resources were upset. This is one important reason why the Kachin rebel army wanted to regain control over lost territory. After a 17-year-old of ceasefire broke down and fighting resumed in June 2011, the KIO immediately won back the hearts and minds of the Kachins. But fighting a war ultimately means wanting peace for your people. When crowds of Kachin people provided a raucous welcome to the KIO/KIA delegation to Myitkyina earlier this week, they knew they had to demand an agreement that benefits ordinary Kachins—and not just the KIO/KIA leadership. In a response to these experiences with Naypyidaw and its own people, the KIO have become more strategic and savvy. Kachin rebels leaders demanded the presence of the UN (they also wanted US and UK diplomats to join, but the Chinese reportedly blocked this request) and agreed to sign an initial agreement to reduce military tensions, but they stopped short of signing a ceasefire without gaining more concessions. If further progress is made and the next round of negotiations prove to be fruitful, a peace deal could soon come within reach. Political observers and Kachin religious leaders and intellectuals say that they will wait and see how the KIO will seek to achieve further progress. Everyone cautiously welcomed the news of the agreement, but Kachins want to know if KIO will abandon their interests again when the government offers a deal. On the Burmese side, Aung Min, the government's chief peace negotiator, can go back to Naypyidaw with some good news to present it to President Thein Sein, who reportedly closely followed the talks from the capital. Political observers note that Burma's leaders are eager to showcase a peace deal to the international community before the 2014 Asean Summit, which is to be chaired by Burma. There is also pressure from Naypyidaw's newfound Western friends, who now have vested political and business interest in the last "frontier market" in Asia, which is located strategically on China's doorstep. Also significant during this week's meeting was the role of the armed forces. They have suffered heavy casualties during the fighting and finally ordered in the air force to attack the Kachin rebel stronghold on the Burma-China border in late December. 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, attended the latest talks. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, instructed him and granted him full authority to reach an agreement. Here is what Myint Soe told reporters in Myitkyina: "Even though we cannot yet sign the ceasefire agreement, we are satisfied with the results that we have reached so far." "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. "The Tatmadaw never breaks the promise we make or our discipline." Extreme caution is needed here because Burma's military have made such statements before during their dealings with ethnic rebels. Moreover, in an exclusive with The Irrawaddy on Friday, Myint Soe also stated that ultimately the KIA would have to integrate into the Burmese military. "Even though there may be many different armed groups, they all must be under the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. This is clearly mentioned in the Constitution," he said, before adding, "It doesn’t mean that Burma's Tatmadaw will control all [ethnic] territories." Everyone, including the UN and the Chinese, are nonetheless upbeat over the new agreement. KIA leader Gen Sumlut Gun Maw said it would help prevent an outbreak of clashes, but he added that it was not a ceasefire. Other ethnic leaders are also cautious since they know that Kachin rebels once before left an ethnic alliance when they made a deal with the Burmese government. This time, the Kachin courted their ethnic allies in the United Nationalities Federal Council and with political and financial assistance brought them back on board with their agenda. "We will try to avoid [military] engagement, but we can't guarantee an end to the war," Gun Maw said. He cautioned that he was pleased with the preliminary agreement, but added, "We will have to discuss the details." After a series of fierce battles in northern Kachin State in the past two years, it seems that the government and Kachin now acknowledge that talking is better than shooting, but when and how they can reach a stable ceasefire agreement remains to be seen. |
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Posted: 31 May 2013 03:20 AM PDT
 
A camp for internationally displaced persons is seen in Kachin State. The government's top peace negotiator on Friday said IDPs would be able to return home soon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)
During visits to three refugee camps in Burma's northernmost state on Friday morning, the minister was accompanied by UN special envoy Vijay Nambiar and 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. "Internally displaced people here should be prepared to go home soon," Aung Min told more than 500 refugees at Thagaya camp in Wai Maw Township. "You have to be prepared to take part in the national development process, because yesterday we signed a preliminary agreement that will reduce military tensions in northern Burma and lead to further progress toward reaching a peace deal," he added. The minister said the IDPs could return home within two months but that detailed plans would need to be discussed with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). "It will take a little bit of time," he said. Tens of thousands of Kachin people have been displaced in fighting between Kachin rebels and the government since a longstanding ceasefire broke down in 2011. Many of the IDP camps are overcrowded and lack supplies, according to activists and aid workers. The government has prevented international aid groups from accessing camps in rebel-controlled territories near the border with China, although a UN convoy was allowed to bring aid in February. The UN's Nambiar said on Friday that the IDPs could leave the camps soon and that the United Nations would continue assisting Burma's government and the KIO. "Before the peace talks, sadness and frustration were written on the faces of Kachin people I saw," he said. "After the talks, I saw expectation on all their faces." Myint Soe from the government army said he could not guarantee exactly when the IDPs would be able to go home, but that it would not be long. Camp residents praised the minister's news but also voiced concern for their safety. "We really want to go home, but only if there is genuine ceasefire," one IDP told Aung Min. "Plus we have no money to resume our livelihoods, and our neighborhoods have been riddled with landmines. I'm worried about our children's education, too." In response, the minister said that after the government established trust with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), de-mining programs would begin in the state. "We will support food, education and so on," he added. "But our government alone can't handle all of these tasks. It must be an all-inclusive process." Burma's military has been at war against Kachin rebels for decades, but both sides signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The conflict flared again up in June 2011 after the longstanding ceasefire broke down. Fighting escalated in December last year until February, when clashes became less frequent. The war has displaced tens of thousands of people. In Myitkyina and Wai Maw alone, more than 12,000 people are currently staying in 39 camps, although there are many other camps in the state. On Thursday, a government negotiation team and the KIO signed a seven-point statement in which both 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 toward ending clashes. The US Embassy in Rangoon said the United States was encouraged by the agreement and would continue to closely follow the political, military and humanitarian situation in Kachin State, according to a press statement from the embassy on Friday. |
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Posted: 31 May 2013 03:13 AM PDT
 
A demonstration last year in support of Brang Shawng in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina. (Photo: Jinghpaw Kasa Blog)
Minister Aung Min, the government's top peace negotiator with ethnic rebels, said the government would remove the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) from its list of unlawful associations, and that the detainees would subsequently be freed. The minister from the President's Office made the pledge during talks with internally displaced persons in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina, in response to a question about Brang Shawng, a Kachin farmer whose arrest has been was criticized by activists and Kachin residents. "Before, when the KIO and the KIA [Kachin Independence Army] were declared as unlawful associations, he was arrested for communicating with it [the KIO]," the minister said of Brang Shawng, while speaking at the Janmai Kaung Baptist camp for IDPs on Friday, after government peace negotiations with the KIO earlier this week. "But now that we have established peace with the KIO and KIA, the group must be removed from the declaration. If so, those arrested under the Unlawful Association Act, including Brang Shawng, will be automatically released." Brang Shawng, who lived in Janmai Kaung camp before his arrest, was accused of communicating with the KIO and arrested in June last year. His case was heard in court this week on Thursday but a final verdict has not yet been reached. "Whether he is sentenced to prison or not, I will release him within a week," Aung Min told the Kachin IDPs. But the minister added, "I cannot take him now from the court. We have to wait until the court hearing is finished." "It would have been easy for me to take him out immediately if we were still under the military regime, but not under the current democratic system," he said. Aung Myat, an IDP from the camp, told The Irrawaddy that he wanted "authorities to solve the problem in a way that is just." In Kachin State, 76 people have been accused of violating the Unlawful Association Act, with 16 cases still proceeding. The highly criticized act was used by the former military regime to detain dissidents who communicated with exile organizations and ethnic rebel groups. The law has come into question after Burma's nominally civilian government signed ceasefire agreements with most major ethnic armed groups, with critics saying the law threatened to invalidate the government's peace process and communication with those groups. The pledge to release detainees in Kachin comes after peace talks this week between the government and the KIO, who on Thursday signed a preliminary agreement that would reduce military tension and lead to further progress toward reaching a ceasefire. The KIO's armed group, the KIA, has been fighting a war against the government's army since a ceasefire between both sides broke down in 2011. Kachin lawmaker Doi Bu said the participants in this week's peace talks discussed the release of those arrested under the Unlawful Association Act. "We asked them to declare the removal of all the ethnic armed groups from unlawful group," she said, adding that the possible date for the release would depend on the government. |
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Posted: 31 May 2013 02:25 AM PDT
 
Dr. Tin Myo Win, the personal physician for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is seen at the Muslim Free Hospital in Rangoon, where he often performs 10 surgeries in a single day. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)
Dr. Tin Myo Win is widely known to be a close confidante of the democracy icon, as one of the few people permitted to regularly visit her during her years under house arrest, but he also has another important, though less glamorous, job. As the only surgeon at the Muslim Free Hospital, which offers free medical services in Burma's biggest city, he often performs 10 surgeries in a single day, if not more, for patients who would otherwise be unable to pay for treatment. In a country where the government's public hospitals are prohibitively expensive for most people, largely due to a starved national health budget, the Muslim Free Hospital stands out for its charity. Named for the religion of its founders, not its patients, the hospital is nonsectarian, serving all faiths and classes, although Tin Myo Win says he is the only non-Muslim department head. Thanks to his presence, the facility has become particularly popular among politicians, activists, former political prisoners and their families. "We see lots of [people] from the government, ministries, from different opposition parties and ethnic parties, the NLD [National League for Democracy], even the ruling USDP [Union Solidarity and Development Party]," he says. "It's like a small national conference." Outside the hospital, Tin Myo Win is also on the frontlines of a movement to reform Burma's health care system, which was long neglected by the former military regime. At Suu Kyi's request, he is raising funds to help renovate one of the country's best-known public hospitals, while also developing a health policy for her NLD party. The Irrawaddy caught up with him earlier this month at the Muslim Free Hospital—before his morning round of surgeries, as he went over paperwork, took a phone call to discuss Suu Kyi's travel plans, and enjoyed a breakfast of sweet tea and mohinga soup—to learn how he's keeping busy as the country transitions from military rule. Question: Can you tell me about your background and how you came to work at the Muslim Free Hospital? Answer: Professionally, I'm a surgeon, and I've been working here since 1992. Once I was in the government service as a teacher in surgery at Rangoon General Hospital, for 10 years. I left the service because during the 1988 [pro-democracy] uprising I led a very large group, the SCS, or the Supervisory Committee for Students movement. Later, I was invited by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to join the NLD, since I was the chairperson of this committee. Later I also became the family doctor of Lady Aung San Suu Kyi. Most patients who undergo surgery [at public hospitals] have to pay all the costs—all the bandages, the medicines, even the stitches. Here, everything is free, except if people can afford to pay, then donations are welcome. That's why I chose to work here. And it just so happens that most of the patients are politicians, student activists, and also their family members. Q: How do you get the funding? A: The funding, in fact, at first it was a religious practice. …Most of the Muslim community here donates to the hospital. … After I came to work here, some Western countries, including Australia and Japan, they tried to donate here. Just because I work at the hospital and also happen to be the personal doctor of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. …And at the same time, I've gotten to meet with embassies. Not only the West, the States, but also Asian countries, like India, later China and Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries—they've tried to donate to this hospital. We try to help some of those people who cannot afford other hospitals. But this hospital is a small hospital. Here we supply everything. But some cases, like heart operations, brain operations and kidney operations, we cannot afford to do them here. In the building here, there is only general surgery. Q: What happens if you cannot perform an expensive surgery here, but a patient does not have enough money to get the procedure anywhere else? Do you just have to say sorry? A: Sorry. Without the service, how can you help? We can't supply the money. Sometimes we refer patients to the Central Women's Hospital [in Rangoon]. They've started to offer free services. We have to refer at least one or two patients a week to other hospitals—for brain tumors, heart problems, kidney problems. Q: How many beds do you have here? A: In surgery, we have about 25 beds—theoretically. Sometimes we have to put [patients] in between the beds, so we can accommodate more than 35 or 40, if necessary. In the four major departments here, there are about 100 beds total. Q: Is that enough? A: No, no, no. Even for myself, I have to operate about 10 cases a day, sometimes 15. Theoretically speaking, you should only perform about five major operations a day as a surgeon. Sometimes I have to stay late into the evening. But not all of these are major operations. In some cases [like routine simple surgeries], I have to train some of the young doctors to operate on those patients. But for major cases, I'm the only surgeon here, so I have to operate myself. Q: I understand that you're part of a fund-raising committee to help renovate Rangoon General Hospital. Why do you want to upgrade that facility? A: It's a long story. It was the decision of Aung San Suu Kyi. Our objective isn't just to renovate, but to upgrade Rangoon General Hospital. The floor, the ceiling, everything—we need to renew it. At the same time, we need to accommodate more patients. … We decided we need to build a new hospital, not very far from the old one, near the nursing university. At present, the space is being used for car parking, but we are going to complete [the new hospital] within eight months to one year. Q: How much money have you raised so far? A: So far, in fact, in cash, we've gotten about 5 billion kyats [US$5.3 million] from Parliament. In the last meeting, the honorable guest happened to be Lord Darzi, the former minister of health of the United Kingdom. The speaker of the house, Shwe Mann, and the deputy speaker were also there, and they expressed that they had this amount of money [for the project]. At the same time, we are working very seriously with some of the donors, like JICA, the Japanese foundation. Q: Beyond the hospital renovation, has there been any talk of broader health care reform? A: In fact, this is part of my job. I recently formed the National Health Network under the NLD, in February. Then I started fundraising with a press conference at the Park Royal Hotel on April 6, and we starting working on the 7th, 8th and 9th, drafting the health policy of our country. Since the NLD is an opposition party, we need to have a very strong health policy. So we invited all the experts inside and outside the country. In that case, we're targeting not only Rangoon General Hospital, but the entire country. We [the network] have about 11 functions. The first is networking. We're working with charities in the country, in Rangoon and outside Rangoon. We're trying to visit with specialists. … And later we will also have a mobile clinic, including an ambulance service. We have surgeons, including myself, some gynecologists, some EMT surgeons for minor operations. … And then we're trying to train doctors in all the areas we visit to do EMS, emergency medical services. If someone has a trauma or a car accident, then we need to have these services. Q: Burma doesn't have any emergency medical services? A: Except for ambulance service. But even then, it's not widely practiced, and just transporting the patients from the site there [to the hospital]. We need some medics, doctors, nurses and medical equipment [on board] to save the life of the patient. Because [otherwise] when they reach the hospital, the patient is already lost. Q: What about increasing the government health care budget? A: Yes, of course. Universal health coverage is one of our objectives. … Since the NLD has 43 seats in Parliament, we are trying to raise the education budget and the health budget. Regarding the health budget, they [Parliament] have increased it to about 3 percent [of the national budget]. But that's very insufficient. … I am not a parliamentarian; I cannot say the exact figure. But still, we need to work a lot for this. For the Ministry of Health, we can understand, with the amount they have in their hands, they are doing quite a good job for the people, but how can you [fix everything] with this limited amount of budget? So we have to help or assist in fulfilling the needs of the people. |
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Posted: 31 May 2013 03:05 AM PDT
 
Victims of the Depayin massacre and other activists gather in the village of Kyee, site of the killings in Sagaing Division, on Thursday, May 30, 2013, to mark the 10-year anniversary of the attack. (Photo: Kyaw Soe)
"This is not to take revenge but to make sure to set a good example of the rule of law," Hla Oo, who was seriously injured in the massacre, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. The Depayin massacre took place in Kyee village, on the outskirts of Depayin Township in central Burma, on May 30, 2003. It was carried out by a pro-junta armed group consisting of members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and the Swan Ah Shin militia, who blocked the road to attack a convoy of vehicles carrying National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters. An exact Depayin death toll is the subject of considerable disagreement. The government's official reckoning is that no more than five people were killed in the attack, but regime dissidents claim that about 70 people lost their lives that day. "Myself, I got a head injury and my arms were broken. There are many others who had their ribs, arms and legs broken. We were sent to prisons in Shwe Bo, Ye-Oo and Khandi, without taking care of our injuries. Our injuries were not well treated while we were in prison either," Hla Oo said. Suu Kyi, her driver and some other NLD members managed to escape the massacre, but were later arrested as they entered Ye-Oo and imprisoned there. Suu Kyi was later sent back to Rangoon and placed under house arrest. Speculation has long pegged Soe Win, who served as Secretary-2 of the former military junta at that time, as the mastermind behind the Depayin massacre. Some said that he ordered the attack without the knowledge of Khin Nyunt, who served as Secretary-1 during that time. Soe Win died in 2007. Despite her brush with death that day, Suu Kyi has said that she is willing to let bygones be bygones with regard to the incident in Depayin. But other victims, as evidenced by Thursday's turnout, are still seeking justice a decade later. "We just want to reveal the truth in order to prevent a massacre like this in the future by taking lessons from what happened 10 years ago. We can forgive but can't forget how we have been ill-treated by the regime," Hla Oo said. |
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Posted: 31 May 2013 02:37 AM PDT
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Posted: 31 May 2013 02:15 AM PDT
 
A Cambodian fisherman who lives by the Mekong River casts his net outside Phnom Penh in 2011. (Photo: Reuters)
The environmental impact of the proposed dams on the Mekong's diverse animal population, including giant catfish and the Irrawaddy dolphin, outweigh any possible benefits of the project as a new source of energy, said British-born journalist Tom Fawthrop, who has extensively studied the dam project and worked in Southeast Asia for more than 25 years. "Yes, of course the rural people in Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand have the right to electricity, but they also have the right to fish. You can't eat electricity," Fawthrop said in Rangoon following the recent screening of his film "Where Have all the Fish Gone," about the potentially devastating consequences of the dam project to the Mekong's ecosystem. The Mekong, one of Southeast Asia's major rivers, winds its way through the Burma-Laos border, as well as through Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. The first dam to be built along the Lower Mekong is the 820-meter tall Xayaburi Dam, the BBC reported. That dam is being primarily funded by a Thai company, and most of the electricity generated would go to Thailand. Although none of the proposed dams would be built along the stretch of the Mekong that runs between Burma and Laos, the dams built down river would still affect the riparian way of life there, Fawthrop said. He said the dams would affect nutrient-rich sediment flow, which would deplete the fish population and hinder the ability of rural communities to grow rice. The Mekong River's headwaters begin in the Tibetan Plateau and flow down through China, forming the Upper Mekong River, where four dams including the 292-meter Xiaowan Dam have already been built. The screening of Fawthrop's film in Rangoon was intended to help educate the local population about the possible repercussions of damming major waterways, which is a hot-button issue along Burma's Irrawaddy and Salween rivers, according to Matthew Sheader, who organized the screening at the British Council. "The planning of dams like these is something that Myanmar will be facing in the next few years," he said. Khon Ja, who works for the Kachin Peace Network and is from a town on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, said the Mekong dam projects were comparable to the Myitsone Dam project in north Burma's Kachin State. Although President Thein Sein halted the construction of the Chinese-backed Myitsone Dam following public outrage over the project's potential environmental and social impacts, construction is expected to resume when his term ends in 2015, Khon Ja said. "Our Kachin heritage will be taken away with any dams built on the Irrawaddy," she said, "and the existence of our heritage is a right." |
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Posted: 31 May 2013 01:50 AM PDT
 
Ministers Soe Thane, Dr Kan Zaw and Htay Aung speak during a press conference in Rangoon on Friday about of the upcoming World Economic Forum. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
"We are doing our reforms, starting with the political, then the economic, and these have been approved domestically and by our key international partners," said Dr Kan Zaw, Minister of National Planning and Economic Development, when asked by The Irrawaddy about Suu Kyi’s strictures. Speaking on Monday at a gathering of the National league for Democracy, Burma’s main opposition group, party leader Suu Kyi said that "The last three years saw no tangible changes, especially in [the area of] the rule of law and the peace process." She added, "The reform started in 2010, now we have to ask the question: 'Have we got any tangible results so far?'" Kan Zaw was speaking alongside ministerial colleagues Htay Aung, Soe Thane and Set Aung at a Rangoon preview event for next week’s World Economic Forum (WEF) — a 1000-strong gathering of political and business leaders in Asia in Burma's capital Naypyidaw. Htay Aung, Minister for Hotels and Tourism, sought to dampen expectations about the pace of reform by arguing that Burma’s transition remains in its infancy. "Myanmar is just open to the outside world and we just started to build the journey to democratization," he said. Soe Thane, a key advisor to President Thein Sein, acknowledged that the reform process faced serious challenges. Asked by Agence-France-Presse about Buddhist mob rampages against Muslims in Lashio, he said, "There will be a lot of challenges to and flaws in the reform process." The violence in Lashio — the biggest town in Shan State, a region which is home to Burma’s largest ethnic minority — started after a Muslim man attacked and burnt a local Buddhist woman, prompting Buddhist mobs, including saffron-clad monks, to loot and burn Muslim shops and houses in the town. One person was killed in what was the latest episode in a series of Buddhist-Muslim clashes across Burma, during which Muslims bore the brunt of the violence. Such unrest could have implications for Burma's economic growth prospects, according to a report published earlier this week by a McKinsey think-tank, which suggested that the ongoing ethnic and religious tensions could undermine investor confidence. McKinsey said the country’s much-remarked economic potential, if harnessed well, could lead to a quadrupling of its GDP to US $200 billion by 2030. "Economic development and FDI in Myanmar will take off only if all parties remain committed to the reform agenda, the peace process and reconciliation between ethnic and religious groups succeed, and the election in 2015 marks another peaceful political transition," said the report. In the meantime, however, the Burma government sees the forthcoming WEF event as a key opportunity to make a sales pitch to the outside world. "We can increase the importance of Myanmar as a destination for investors," said Minister Htay Aung. The WEF comes six months ahead of Burma’s hosting of the Southeast Asia Games, a regional athletics competition, and the year before the country takes up the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for the first time. In 2014, Burma will be chairing Asean for the first time after previous opportunities to head the bloc were postponed because the country was under military rule. Asean was concerned that relations with Western countries could be hindered if it allowed Burma take its turn at the helm. The ten-state regional bloc is hoping to set up a closer-knit economic community by 2015, meaning that Burma’s frontline role next year will be pivotal to the bloc’s ambitions — which have been dismissed as far-fetched by some economists. Burma’s tenure could also see the first enlargement of the grouping since it joined in 1997, with Timor-Leste hopeful of joining ASEAN in the near future. For now, the WEF event maintains the international spotlight on Burma, coming two weeks after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's state visit to Naypyidaw, the first such visit since 1977. Three weeks ago, President Thein Sein received red-carpet treatment in The White House, the latter being the first state visit to the United States by a Burmese president since 1966. The Japanese visit saw Tokyo pledge 20 billion yen (about $200 million) to the development of a port and industrial zone at Thilawa, located a half-hour drive from downtown Rangoon. Asked if the well-funded Thilawa SEZ was now the government's top priority, Kan Zaw said Naypyidaw remained just as committed to setting up the Chinese-backed zone in Kyaukpyhu, Arakan State, and the Thai-supported Dawei zone, located on Burma’s southern coast. "We have a Myanmar-Thai special corporate vehicle for Dawei development," he said. "We have plans to develop the first phase by 2014-2017 and we will see development in the near future." |
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Posted: 30 May 2013 11:38 PM PDT
 
Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, right, receives the Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Crown of Thailand, in Bangkok on May 28, 2013. (Photo: New Light of Myanmar)
The award, the Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Crown of Thailand, was presented to Burma's top general at a ceremony in Bangkok on Tuesday, The New Light of Myanmar reported. According to the report, the award was conferred on Min Aung Hlaing by the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, Gen Tanasak Patimapragorn. The award was given for promoting "friendship between the two armed forces of Myanmar and Thailand," said the report. The order of the Crown of Thailand was established in 1869 by King Rama V and is awarded to the royalty, government employees and foreign dignitaries for their outstanding services to Thailand. The Knight Grand Cross is the first of the seven noble classes. Min Aung Hlaing is currently in Bangkok meeting with top personnel of the Royal Thai Army and high-ranking officials of the King's consultative council to discuss the two countries' friendship and stability, state media reports. Min Aung Hlaing, who replaced former junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe as commander-in-chief more than two years ago, also visited Thailand in 2012 to discuss border security with Thai Defense Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapha. Besides security issues, Min Aung Hlaing has also held talks with Thailand on the deep-sea port and industrial zone in Dawei, which Thai developers are hoping to turn into the largest project of its kind in Southeast Asia. In addition to plans to open more border checkpoints to connect the Dawei project in southern Burma's Tenasserim Division to Thailand's industrial heartland, the two sides have also discussed efforts to resolve long-standing ethnic conflicts in Burma's border areas, which continue to impede on the progress of joint projects. |
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Posted: 30 May 2013 11:29 PM PDT
 
A view of the traffic near Sule Pagoda in downtown Rangoon. The city is expected to grow to 10 million inhabitants in 2040. (Photo: Reuters)
The McKinsey Global Institute said Burma has the land, manpower and resources to expand the size of its economy from $45 billion in 2010 to more than $200 billion by 2030. Growth potential rests mostly four key areas — energy and mining, agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure. Of these, manufacturing is by far the most important since companies could conceivably relocate to Burma from China and other Asian countries where wages are rising, said the report by MGI, the research arm of management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. "Burma is coming of age in the digital era. If it uses technology fully and innovatively — in banking, government, health care, agriculture, education, and retail — Burma could leapfrog interim development phases to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies," Fraser Thompson, an MGI senior fellow, said in the report. Burma’s gross domestic product is now less than 1 percent of Asia’s GDP or roughly equivalent to cities such as New Delhi and Johannesburg. It is the poorest country in Southeast Asia, its economy stunted by decades of international sanctions and strict import controls imposed by its former military junta. Labor productivity is 70 percent lower than other countries in the region, and the population has only an average of four years of schooling. Only 4 percent of Burma’s population has enough income for discretionary spending, compared with 35 percent of the global population, the report said. But the potential is high for growth. Burma has arable land, water and a large but unskilled workforce, the report said. What the country needs now to fulfill its potential for sharp growth is political stability, infrastructure development, and the rule of law. Burma had one of the region’s strongest economies in the 1950s but plunged into a decline after a coup in 1962 instituted military rule with a socialist bent. Burma was declared a least-developed nation by the United Nations in 1987. The status is given to countries with the lowest indicators of socio-economic development according to the UN Human Development Index. The country began undertaking political reforms in 2011 after the country’s military junta handed power to a nominally civilian government. But new freedoms of speech and assembly have provided opportunities for some groups to disseminate radical views, sparking violence between religious and ethnic groups. Buddhist-Muslim tensions are particularly high. Still, foreign investors have been rushing in. In April, Ford Motor Co. announced its entry into Burma, saying it plans to open its first sales and service showroom for new vehicles by August. The US automaker joins PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, GE, Caterpillar and Danish brewer Carlsberg, which have all signed distribution deals in Burma. Longtime ally China has been one of Burma’s biggest international backers for years, pouring billions of dollars into the extraction of gems, timber, oil and gas. Thailand has also been a significant investor. Japan, meanwhile, is stepping up its investment and has canceled billions in old debt and is doling out new low-interest loans. "For much of the 20th century, Burma largely missed out on the spectacular growth seen across most of the global economy and most recently in its Asian peers," Richard Dobbs, a McKinsey director, said in the report. "It now has the potential to be one of the fastest-growing economies in emerging Asia." |
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Posted: 30 May 2013 11:21 PM PDT
Former Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea, "Brother Number Two", sits in the courtroom during his trial at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in Phnom Penh December 14, 2011. (Photo: Reuters)
Khieu Samphan, the head of state of the 1970s communist regime, and Nuon Chea, the group’s main ideologist, were responding to questions posed by the so-called civil parties, who are representing the victims’ families at the trial. The radical policies of the Khmer Rouge, who ruled Cambodia from 1975-79, are generally blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people from forced labor, starvation, medical neglect and executions. Both men have issued expressions of regret before for the killings, but they have denied legal responsibility and insisted they served with the best interests of their country and its people in mind. They have also not hesitated to cast blame on their former colleagues and other parties. The two men are charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture, though their current trial focuses on the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh, the capital, when the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975. Their statements Thursday were notable chiefly for the context — they were responding directly to the family members who had testified in emotional detail to the manner in which they lost their loved ones to Khmer Rouge brutality. Because prosecutors must try to prove the defendants bore responsibility for the actions, much of the testimony has sought to draw a legalistic line showing their knowledge through a chain of command. Thursday’s testimony touched on the moral implications of one of the most shocking historical episodes of the 20th century. “I feel extremely sorry for the disappearance and extremely brutal killing of your father,” Khieu Samphan told Yim Roum Doul, claiming, however, that he did not know at the time about “the atrocities committed by the military commanders and leaders.” “I did not know the great suffering of our people,” he said, adding that the perpetrators “must be brought to justice.” He said he joined the Khmer Rouge not to kill fellow Cambodians but with the “determination to protect our country and to develop our country.” “But unfortunately it turned out to be a complete disaster,” he said, describing those responsible as “the most stupid persons on earth.” In testimony earlier this week, Khieu Samphan did not neglect to point the finger at other parties whom he believed contributed to the Cambodian holocaust. He spoke to one civil party about the American B-52 bombing during Cambodia’s 1970-75 civil war, and the resultant death and destruction. Some scholars suggest that the bombing polarized and radicalized Cambodian society, contributing to the hash policies implemented when the Khmer Rouge took power. He also reminded people that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen once served with the Khmer Rouge — before defecting in 1977 — and said he should be considered more responsible than him because as a junior commander he would have been more aware of what was going on. Nuon Chea said in his testimony Thursday that he took “responsibility morally” for what occurred during the Khmer Rouge regime, explaining that “I feel remorseful for the crimes that were committed intentionally or unintentionally and whether or not I had known about it or not known about it.” Like Khieu Samphan, he offered condolences. Nuon Chea, who testified from his cell by video because of poor health, has spoken of his regrets previously, in the 2010 documentary film “Enemies of the People.” “I have always said I made mistakes. I am regretful and I have remorse. I am sorry for our regime. I am sorry,” Nuon Chea told Cambodian filmmaker Thet Sambath. But he was also clear that the Khmer Rouge leaders had seen their primary duty as safeguarding the revolution and said suspected traitors were killed because they “were enemies of the people.” |
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Posted: 30 May 2013 10:23 PM PDT
 
US President Barack Obama meets with Xi Jinping in the Oval Office in Washington, February 14, 2012, when Xi was still China's Vice-President. (Photo: Reuters)
Tucked away at a mansion with a private golf course on the edge of the Mojave Desert, Obama and Xi will search for the kind of personal chemistry that has eluded their predecessors for the past several decades. With the bilateral relationship growing ever more critical and complex, how well the leaders click matters even more now. Distrust has grown between the world’s sole superpower and the rising Asian giant. Beijing sees Washington as trying to thwart China’s ascendancy. The US accuses China of widespread computer hacking and unfair trade. Meanwhile, there’s worry their militaries might be drawn into conflict as China tries to elbow aside US allies Japan and the Philippines over disputed, remote islands. “There are a lot of problems between China and the US that aren’t going to be easy to solve. The hope, therefore, is that a way can be established so that at the times of crisis, dialogue will prevail based on trust and the personal relationship between the two leaders,” said Zhu Feng, deputy director of the Center for International and Strategic Studies at Peking University. The June 7-8 get-together at the private Sunnylands estate of late publishing tycoon Walter Annenberg is the first face-to-face meeting between the presidents since Obama’s re-election and Xi’s promotion to Communist Party chief last November. Under China’s dual party-government system, Xi didn’t officially assume the title of president until March. The summit comes months before the two leaders had been originally scheduled to meet, highlighting a perception on both sides that the leaders need to refocus on the US-China relationship following their political transitions and amid myriad distractions at home and abroad. The accelerated timing constitutes “a clear message that China wants to emphasize the importance of US-China relations for the future,” said Cheng Li, a Chinese politics expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. It’s not clear yet how big the two delegations will be or whether Xi and Obama will meet one-on-one. Li said that’s something Xi’s stiff and formal predecessor, Hu Jintao, was unwilling to do. But there are hopeful signs that the two men will gel. Xi already has a warm relationship with Vice President Joe Biden, whom he accompanied to western China on a visit in 2011. Xi also boasts a greater familiarity with the US than any of his predecessors, having visited frequently and maintained his ties to families he stayed with in Muscatine, Iowa, while a visiting provincial official in 1985. He also sent his daughter to Harvard. The two men share a love of sports: swimming and football on Xi’s side, basketball and golf on Obama’s. Both are married to glamorous, high-profile wives who have played a strong role in shaping their images. Xi’s wife, People’s Liberation Army songstress Peng Liyuan, was for many years better known to the public than her husband. Chinese media and Internet users closely followed her activities during the couple’s first formal state visits to Russia and three African countries earlier this year. “It will be interesting to see how the chemistry will develop. It’s important, because particularly in China, personal relationships always carry a lot of weight in state-to-state relations,” said the Brookings Institution’s Li. Xi has already proved himself a different leader by his pragmatism. With relations edgy, he was willing to forgo the pomp of an official White House visit for the lower-key meeting in California. Trust between the countries has dwindled over the decades. After US planes bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia in what Washington says was an accident during the Kosovo war in 1999, angry Chinese protesters nearly breached the US Embassy in Beijing. In the discord, Chinese President Jiang Zemin refused a call from the White House. Two years later, when a Chinese fighter jet collided with a US surveillance plane off southern China, Beijing held the American crew and waited for an acceptable apology from the US In 2009, the US Navy accused Chinese sailors of harassing one of its ocean floor mapping vessels in a game of high-seas chicken. The trust gap was further underscored by newly publicized claims Tuesday that China employed cyberattacks to access data from nearly 40 Pentagon weapons programs and almost 30 other defense technologies ranging from missile defense systems to the F-35 joint strike fighter. The disclosure was included in a Defense Science Board report released earlier this year, meaning US officials knew of it before planning for the summit began. The disclosure’s public release allows US officials to highlight an issue of concern without necessarily overshadowing the summit. China’s Defense Ministry on Thursday called the accusations faulty and said they underestimated both the Pentagon’s ability to protect its secrets, and the capabilities of China’s domestic defense industry. “China is entirely capable of producing the weaponry needed for national defense,” spokesman Geng Yansheng told reporters at a monthly briefing, pointing to recent domestic technological breakthroughs such as the country’s first aircraft carrier, new generation fighter jets, large transport planes and the Beidou satellite system. China has consistently denied claims its military is engaged in hacking, including those in a report by US cybersecurity firm Mandiant that traced the hacking back to a People’s Liberation Army unit based in Shanghai. Other likely agenda items include the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs, conflict in Syria, climate change and expanding bilateral military ties. China will likely press its claims of business discrimination in the US market, along with its deep discomfort over Washington’s shifting of military assets to Asia and renewed emphasis on its regional alliances, moves seen by China as part of an effort to contain its rise. The perception of US decline and Chinese ascendancy forms much of the subtext to the current relationship, with Beijing seeking greater international influence commensurate with its status as the world’s second-largest economy. Many in China see the US as a waning power weakened by the economic crisis, partisan feuding and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In their latest contribution to diplomatic argot, Chinese leaders now say they are seeking a “new model of major country relations” in their dealings with Washington. Assistant Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang defined that Wednesday as “different from the old model featuring confrontation and conflict.” “We believe a new model of major country relations between China and the United States should be based on mutual trust, equality, inclusiveness, mutual learning and win-win cooperation,” Zheng said at a Wednesday briefing. Xi and Obama first met early last year when Xi, then China’s vice president, visited the White House on a trip to meet key American political players and introduce himself to the American public. The visit afforded Xi a chance to show his human side, reconnecting with his old Iowa friends, chatting with students at a school in Los Angeles and even catching part of a Lakers basketball game. Known primarily for his pedigree as the son of a communist elder, Xi is seen by many observers as a strong nationalist willing to press territorial claims and what Beijing broadly proclaims as the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Unlike former President Hu, who often seemed uncomfortable outside official settings and stuck closely to his official talking points, Xi appears at ease around foreign visitors and is known for speaking without notes and allowing sessions to run well over their scheduled time limits. “On a personal level, he’s confident, he’s on top of his brief and you get a very distinct sense that he has a roadmap in his head in terms of where China needs to go. He’s not only a very adroit political operator, but he’s also a realist,” said former US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman. |
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Posted: 30 May 2013 10:15 PM PDT
 
North Korean defectors living in Seoul pray for peace and reunification of the divided Korean Peninsula, during a divine service at a church in Seoul April 7, 2013.(Photo: Reuters)
Seven males and two females were flown home Tuesday via China despite a request from South Korea that Beijing not repatriate them, the Chosun Ilbo daily newspaper in Seoul reported Thursday, citing unidentified South Korean government officials. The Yonhap news agency cited a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul in its report that said the nine are aged 15 to 23. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry has declined to confirm the reports. The Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday in a statement that it is trying to locate the defectors and expressed concern that they did not receive a chance to have their asylum claims assessed. "UNHCR is deeply concerned about the safety and fundamental human rights of these individuals if they are returned" to North Korea, High Commissioner António Guterres said. Close to 25,000 North Koreans have come to South Korea since the end of the Korean War. The vast majority of them hid in China and Southeast Asian countries including Laos, Thailand and Vietnam before flying to Seoul. China, North Korea’s foremost ally, does not recognize defectors as asylum seekers and has been known to return them to Pyongyang. Under North Korean law, defectors face a minimum of five years of hard labor and as much as life in prison or the death penalty in cases deemed particularly serious. Activists say they could face torture. "North Korea has to come clean on where these nine refugees are and publicly guarantee that they will not be harmed or retaliated against for having fled the country," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "As a result of their return, they are at dire risk." The Yonhap report said the defectors entered Laos through China on May 9 and were caught by Laotian authorities May 16. Several attempts to contact officials in Laos, a secretive and strict socialist regime in Southeast Asia, were unsuccessful. "It’s tragic and disappointing," Kim Eun-young, an activist with the Seoul-based Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, said Thursday of the reported repatriation. "We fear defectors will now feel more intimidated about trying to come to South Korea through Laos or other Southeast Asian countries." The number of North Koreans who settle in South Korea had been rising over several years before peaking in 2009 with nearly 3,000 arrivals. The South Korean constitution guarantees North Koreans citizenship after the government can establish that they are not spies. Flows have slowed significantly since then. Last year, just over 1,500 arrived in South Korea, according to the government in Seoul. There are unconfirmed reports that North Korea has boosted security at the Chinese border in recent years to slow the flow of defectors. Over the past year, North Korea has publicized the return of some defectors to North Korea. The Korean Peninsula has been divided by a 4-kilometer-wide (2.5-mile-wide) Demilitarized Zone since the Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953. |
The United Nations has condemned plans to reinstate a two-child policy for Rohingyas in Arakan Sate.
Posted: 30 May 2013 10:08 PM PDT
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Posted: 30 May 2013 10:08 PM PDT
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Posted: 30 May 2013 10:08 PM PDT
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Posted: 30 May 2013 10:07 PM PDT
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Posted: 30 May 2013 10:07 PM PDT
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will attend an oil and natural gas summit next month, event organizers said. “Due to the very high level of international interest in Myanmar at the moment we are delighted to hear that Aung San Suu Kyi has decided to attend the Myanmar Oil and Gas Summit,” Neil McKenzie, manager at event organizer Oliver Kinross, said in a statement. The event comes amid growing scrutiny of Burma's energy sector, which was deemed the world's least transparent in a recent report by Revenue Watch Institute.
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Posted: 30 May 2013 10:06 PM PDT
Ye Deight, one of Burma's best-known actors, has been charged with blasphemy for holding a one-man protest outside a church in Rangoon, according to a report by DVB. The actor held a sign saying "I love to kneel down in front of J.C. [Jesus Christ]" outside of St Mary's Church in Botahtaung Township and also became belligerent when asked to leave. Defaming religion comes with a possible two-year prison sentence.
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Friday, May 31, 2013
The Irrawaddy Magazine
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