Saturday, June 29, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Among the Moken, the Sea Gypsies of Myeik

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 06:05 AM PDT

The Myeik Archipelago consists of more than 800 islands of varying sizes, stretching from Myeik to Myanmar's southernmost point at Kawthaung.

It’s 3 am, and I’m sitting on a freight boat off the shore of an island in the Myeik Archipelago as the crew sends signals to shore with a flashlight. Around five hours earlier, my guide and friend U Soe Khai (not his real name) smuggled me aboard, avoiding the watchful gaze of immigration officials at the Myeik Jetty. When I ask him why we had to do this, since my media permit gave me unrestricted access to the islands, he says: "This way immigration has no eyes and no ears."

So began my six-day journey in search of the Moken, the elusive sea gypsies of Myanmar’s far south. The island, I later learned, is called Kristiang, and it is one of some 800 unspoiled islands extending from the town of Myeik all the way to Myanmar’s southernmost point, Kawthaung. The Moken, or Selung, as they are officially known, have lived among these islands and others farther to the south off the coast of Thailand for 3,500 years.

Despite their long presence in this area, however, the Moken are rapidly losing their way of life under pressure from the environmental impact of fishing and logging. To survive, they have had to adapt to modern life while still clinging to what’s left of their culture.

For most of the year, the Moken live at sea, on boats known as kabang that are carved from a single tree. Their entire lives revolve around these hand-hewn vessels, which are not only a means of transportation, but also their homes. And as the terms for describing the parts of these boats attest, they are seen almost as living things, complete with a mouth, cheeks, neck, shoulders, ribs and even anus.

Traditionally, when a couple decides to make a life together, the man was expected to build a suitable kabang and present it the father of his would-be wife. These days, however, there are few kabang left. The Moken no longer have access to the trees they need to build them, and they also lack the skills that were once their most important inheritance.

If the kabang is their home, then their backyard is the sea. The Moken are expert free divers, capable of remaining beneath the water's surface for extended periods of time. By contracting the irises of their eyes, much like a camera lens, they also have a unique ability to double the accuracy of their underwater vision.

In the past, pearl farmers used the Moken's diving skills to collect the rare gold-lipped oysters now raised in hatcheries. Reaching the wild oysters required the Moken to dive at deadly depths of up to 80 meters without proper equipment. Decompression sickness claimed many casualties among the Moken. These days, however, their services are no longer required. According to U Myint Lwin, a marine biologist and owner of the Orient Pearl Co., most people employed in this industry today are mainland Burmese.

U Myint Lwin (who also owns shares in a number of fishing companies) said that the degradation of the marine environment has hurt his pearl farms and depleted fishing stocks. But for the Moken, it has meant not the loss not just of profits, but of a culture that has supported them for thousands of years.

The morning before I was smuggled out of Myeik, I saw the effects of this steady erosion of traditional Moken values. A Moken family, waiting for high tide at the dock, invited me onto their boat and offered me beer and whiskey at 7 o'clock in the morning. The men were already drunk.

Ten years ago, 12,000 Moken roamed the Myeik Archipelago; now there are only around 2,000. One person I spoke to described the Moken as "useless," and described them as "amphetamine users smuggled from Thailand."

The shrinking number of Moken still living among the Myeik islands, and the decline of their culture, is inextricably related to the ever-worsening condition of the environment, which has been subjected to excessive logging and dynamite fishing, and to the pressure of resettlement and modern society.

As animists, the Moken have a deep respect for the ocean. During the monsoon season, they gather mainly on three islands for their annual celebrations. Traditionally, their spiritual life is led by shamans, but according to U Soe Khai, many have converted to Buddhism over the past 10 years. In their own language, they have no word for "worry," but these days, they have good reason to worry if their culture will survive another generation.

U Soe Khai, who has worked with the Moken for 18 years and speaks their language fluently, called out a greeting as we approached Annawa Island, where some Moken have settled in a village called Langon. Usually shy and defiant, the Moken came out to welcome us in a couple of small canoes, each big enough for just one adult. They used plastic lids instead of proper oars.

Langon is nestled on a small beach of pure white sand, surrounded by pristine jade waters. The shore is lined with fishing boats, and there's a small jetty. The island is mountainous and green and the houses are built upon the beach on stilts that are five to six meters high to allow for tidal influx. The entrances of the houses face out to the sea. A Buddhist temple dominates the village, but coexists with traditional Moken totems. The matriarch of the village, a cheerful 93-year-old woman, welcomed us to the village and the shy children followed us around, curious about our appearance. Like everywhere else we went around the Myeik Archipelago, the locals refused payment for anything, and we were treated to coffee, cigarettes, dried fish and fresh squid and oysters.

Despite the idyllic setting and the gracious welcome we received, however, it was clear that the island was no paradise. As I made my way down to the beach from the houses by the shore, I noticed that there was no waste or sanitation system in the village. There was garbage and human waste everywhere: the only garbage collector here is the tide.

People living in these island villages believe that the sea can absorb everything. Even though they tell us that turtles sometimes mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, contributing to the dramatic decline in the turtle population, no one here—Burmese or Moken—seems to understand the need to change their behavior or way of thinking.

With the destruction of coral reefs by dynamite fishing and the development of offshore gas fields, the sea that once provided so abundantly for the needs of the Moken is losing its ability to support life. This means that the Moken way of life is also in grave danger of vanishing forever. As the bad habits of "civilization" take hold among the Moken, that process can only accelerate, depriving the world of yet another culture that was once far more attuned to nature than our own.

A Taste of Chinatown

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 06:02 AM PDT

In Yangon's Chinatown, expats often frequent Kosan café to sip on Mandalay mojitos and sit at the café's under-appreciated balcony. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

Out of sight of most tourists’ cursory visits, Yangon's Chinatown is where Myanmar meets its massive neighbor to the north, hundreds of kilometers from their nearest border crossing. As a cultural meeting place in the heart of Myanmar's largest city, it is also, among other things, a culinary treasure-trove.

Every afternoon, hawkers with garlic fried chili crabs, steamed dim sum and straw baskets full of strawberries set up their shop around the Guanyin temple, bracing themselves for the onrush of evening strollers.

By the time the sidewalk spills into the street, the butcher at Good Diamond Sausages has sold out his daily output of pork sausages he says are made according to a recipe brought over from Guangdong in the 1940s. "They’re just a bit less sweet than in Hong Kong," he says.

Most of Yangon’s Chinese population of about 150,000 still live in the area and most use Myanmar names and resort to the Myanmar language in their conversations. Men wear traditional longyi gowns and many waiters at Chinese restaurants are Myanmars. After decades of fearing a re-eruption of racial tensions, Yangon’s Chinese make a point of being Myanmar first, Chinese second.

Old, and some very new, wire fences around first and second floor windows show that concerns over long-simmering ethnic hatred haven’t faded.

Discovering how they preserve their heritage is becoming less of challenge. Chinese is once again the language to learn, and many young people speak crisp Putonghua along with the Cantonese, Hokkien or Fukkien dialects of their grandparents. The two bookstores that have Chinese books have put their money in schoolbooks; copycat DVDs of Chinese television series are sold near the Guanyin temple.

The foods that can be found on the streets of Chinatown are the strongest statement of a unique Chinese identity in Myanmar's largest and most ethnically mixed city.

The Liangtai Lashio Broken Crisp Buns Restaurant on Latha Street, opposite the more crowded Cherry Crown Restaurant serving cold Myanmar Beer and Myanmar food, has the typical culinary compromise that makes Yangon’s Chinatown unique.

Steamed filled rice dumplings (200 kyat) are served cut into slices along with the typical Myanmar chili-tomato sauce wrongly called ketchup. The sweet buns with their savory fillings come with strong Myanmar black tea (200 kyat) made sweet and heavy by condensed milk.

Liangtai’s red and pink plastic stools are separated from traffic by a row of wooden deck chairs, where businessmen stop by for an hourly foot massage (4000 kyat), a cigarette (50 kyat) and a chat.

Angshandu, on a side street cornering to Guanyin temple, has Guangdong food with a Myanmar twist. Char siu pork comes with a spicy, peppery sauce and chicken broth. Stewed pork comes with chives and fragrant mushrooms. Hundun dumplings are either served in soup or cold in a bowl with shredded chicken or pork and crispy fried garlic.

On the other corner of the temple, rice porridge (500 kyat) is cooked every day in giant metal pots on carts. A bowl comes with fresh steamed blood, liver, fried garlic and chives. The zongzi, pyramid-shaped portions of steamed sticky rice with pork or chicken, sold wrapped in banana leaves and hanging from metal rods, (1,000 kyat) are a traditional dish eaten for the Dragonboat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

Nearby, elderly Ms Jiang sits on stool selling bright red and white sticky rice dough filled with sweet red bean paste or crushed peanuts. She also sells "tea cake," an adapted version of Cantonese niangao sticky rice cake made with eggs and coconut milk. With a chop she has branded her shop’s calligraphic name on the sticky deserts.

By the time the stands are up outside Guanyin temple, the fortuneteller inside the temple has gone home for the day and young novice Buddhist monks play in its courtyard. 19th Street, just around the corner, will start filling up with tourists and locals coming for cheap beer and Yunnan-style barbecue.

Most of those expats who have been around a while end up at Kosan, not for the average food, but for the their Mandalay mojitos (800 kyat) made with Mandalay Rum, and to sit at their under-appreciated balcony, which looks down on the steaming pots and grills that feed the increasing stream of travelers to the once sleepy street.

The balcony looks down on the street in which, some 50 years ago, the Chinese embassy distributed little red books in a long-since forgotten effort to spread the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution abroad.

New Chinese migrants settle around town. With soaring land prices, new immigrants seek their fortune in the suburbs, where land is affordable and shops are still few. Yangon's Chinatown is the home of those who ventured to Myanmar when it was a different place.

This story appeared in the June 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.

Online Burmese ‘Looking for a Place to Meet, Socialize and Have a Voice’

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 06:01 AM PDT

Rita Nguyen, right, stands alongside her SQUAR employees at a BarCamp conference in Prome, Pegu Division, last week. (Photo: SQUAR / Facebook)

Burma's notoriously low Internet penetration rate will not deter Rita Nguyen, who last week rolled out SQUAR, the country's first Burmese-language social networking site.

First drawn to long closed-off Burma early this year, Nguyen saw potential in the country, which hosted the world's largest Internet conference focusing on user-generated content just a few years after most online censorship was lifted by the government.

The SQUAR cofounder brings more than 15 years' experience in gaming and social networking, having worked for the US video game developers Electronic Arts, where she helped build and lead online communities and social media strategies for the company's products.

Born in Vietnam but a Canadian citizen, Nguyen returned to Asia three years ago and began to focus on social networking and mobile gaming applications. She visited Burma for the first time in January, when Rangoon hosted the world's largest BarCamp, which are conferences held globally with a focus on technology and the Internet. Debuting in Burma in 2010, BarCamp has seen rising participation each year since, and drew 6,400 participants to Barcamp Yangon in 2013, making it the largest user-generated conference in the world.

It's that online enthusiasm that Nguyen hopes to tap with SQUAR, a homegrown social application that launched last week and can be downloaded through the Google Play store. In an e-mail interview with The Irrawaddy, Nguyen talks about the launch of the application and Burma's insomniac web users, and describes "something very special happening" among the country's web users.

Question: The beta version of SQUAR was introduced last week to Burmese mobile phone users. Will there be more development soon on a version for PC, Mac or tablets?

Answer: Yes we are working hard to launch a desktop and mobile browser version for early next week. In addition, plans are in the works to add iOS and maybe a few other platforms, but that will be a little later.

Q: What is your impression of young Burmese who are very active on Facebook and other social media?

A: You know, they are not much different than groups of Asian youth in other markets. They are looking for a place to meet, socialize and most importantly, have a voice. I am very surprised at how active Burmese youth are on Facebook and SQUAR, especially very late at night. Apparently the kids in Myanmar don't sleep.

Q: How did you come up with the idea to introduce a Burmese-language social application like this?

A: I came to visit Myanmar early this year after hearing the news that Yangon had the largest BarCamp in the world. After spending a week here, I could see that there was something very special happening. And while there was so much talk of big investments and big infrastructure deals, I noticed that there was nothing that was built specifically for the Burmese nationals. I knew that the access to Internet connectivity would correct itself with the new foreign carriers coming to the market, but even if Burmese were online, there was really no destination that belonged to them, built for and by them.

Q: What kind of challenges have you encountered so far in developing SQUAR?

A: Wow, we learned so many things that we simply did not anticipate. Like more than half the Android users can't access the Google Play store and couldn't download our app! Also, the translations to Burmese and different keyboards was a lot of fun.

What's more interesting though is that we really took a leap of faith to release the product as early as we did. It's very common in Silicon Valley to develop technology like this. Something very light, called a minimum viable product. The idea is that you have something that is functional so that your customers can use it, feed back and help you refine and build your product.

What I wasn't sure about is if the Burmese youth would be very forgiving with such a light product since they would not have had a lot of exposure to products built in this manner. We didn't have photos, profiles and barely even had notifications in. There was a very good chance that people would download it, try it and then abandon it. However, the positive response we have had has been overwhelming! The people of Myanmar have rallied around this, providing hundreds of ideas in thousands of posts in just over a week.

Luckily we were already working on the most pressing things like photo support and sharing to other social networks but they also gave us a lot of other ideas and I think I have a good handle on what the youth of Myanmar want with their social network. Now it's just a matter of getting it built! Our plan is to keep releasing new features every Tuesday to allow our community to test, try and feed back on the new features.

Q: What do you expect from Burma's active social media users? Do you think that SQUAR will be able to beat an established social networking site such as Facebook?

A: Well my view is that there is room here for more than one social network and I fully expect that everyone in the SQUAR community will also have a Facebook account. That said, we are offering a different experience than the largely 1-to-1 and personal relationships that are more Facebook's focus. We will also be rolling out many, many other features and experiences in the upcoming months that are solely built for the Myanmar market.

Q: Will SQUAR be a free application like Facebook or do you have any marketing plans?

A: SQUAR will always be free to users.

Burma Business Roundup (June 29)

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 06:00 AM PDT

Mobile Phone Use Will Be 'Rapid,' Telenor License Winner Promises

One of the winning bidders for mobile telephone service licenses, Telenor of Norway, has compared the challenge it faces in Burma with its move into Pakistan, where it invested US$2 billion eight years ago.

Pakistan was like Burma then, with very low mobile phone network penetration, Telenor chief executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas told Bloomberg business news agency.

"The growth factor will be pretty significant since we all start from zero," said Baksaas. "We'll see a rapid buildup in penetration."

At present only about one Burmese in 10 has a mobile phone, making Burma one of the least wireless phone-connected countries in the world.

Telenor and the Qatar company Ooredoo were this week named by the government as winners of a much anticipated bidding race for two licenses.

As a backup, the France Telecom SA-Marubeni Corporation joint venture bid has been named "in case one of the winners doesn't fulfill final requirements," according to Bloomberg.

Singapore Bids to Join Oil, Gas Business Bonanza in Burma

A Singapore electronics company has formed a joint venture with Burma's Ruby Dragon firm to pursue business opportunities in the budding oil and gas exploration and production industry.

WE Holdings and Ruby Dragon have formed WE Dragon Resources, which will be based in Singapore.

"[Burma] promises immense opportunities. The country has been actively wooing foreign investors so as to unlock the potential of its huge oil and gas reserves, and we believe that we are well-placed to benefit from this trend," WE Holdings said in a statement reported by Singapore's The Straits Times.

Although the venture will initially seek to acquire support service contracts, it also hopes to eventually bid to acquire oil and gas development projects, the newspaper reported.

Burma's petroleum industry is expected to expand greatly once the winners of bids for 30 offshore and onshore development blocks are announced by the Ministry of Energy. The bids deadline was mid-June.

Thai Plan for Big Coal-Power Plant at Dawei Not Practical, Says Expert

Renewed proposals by Thailand to build a huge coal-burning power station at Dawei on Burma's southeast coast "lack practicality," an industry professional said.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) was reported by Bangkok newspapers to want to build a 1,800-megawatt station primarily to supply electricity to Thailand.

The Naypyidaw government has previously blocked Thai plans for a 4,000-megawatt coal-fueled plant at Dawei on environmental grounds.

"Apart from the issue of why Burma would agree to such a project to feed Thailand's power needs when Burma itself is desperately short of electricity, there is the much bigger matter of fuel supply," Collin Reynolds, a power industry consultant in Bangkok, told The Irrawaddy.

"There is no coal in the Dawei area or on the Thai side of the border. EGAT has proposed importing coal from Indonesia or Australia, but to do this would involve transhipping it on the Gulf of Thailand and transporting it overland or shipping by sea the long route via Singapore. This all seems to lack practicality."

Original Thai plans for a major oil processing port and petrochemicals center at Dawei included a 4,000-megawatt coal-fueled power station—more than Burma's entire electricity generating capacity at present.

Public opposition to coal burning plants within Thailand has thwarted efforts by EGAT to develop such projects at home.

Japanese Fined for Breaking Financial Sanctions Against Burma

A Japanese bank has been heavily fined by the United States for engaging in financial transactions with Burma during the economic sanctions era.

Burma was one of several countries alleged by the state of New York to have been the subject of numerous illegal "laundering transactions" between 2002 and 2007 by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

New York State's Department of Financial Services fined the bank US$250 million, claiming the value of illicit financial activity totaled more than $100 billion.

The department alleged that the bank deliberately hid evidence of transactions with Burmese, Sudanese and Iranian customers.

New York State has not disclosed how much of the laundered finance involved Burma, nor which businesses or individuals were involved.

Russia-Burma Military Cooperation 'Stepped Up' Following Moscow Visit

Burma and Russia have "stepped up" defense relations following a visit to Moscow by senior Burmese military chiefs, Russian media said.

The Naypyidaw authorities have "showed interest in military-technical cooperation with Moscow, particularly in Russian weaponry and training specialists in military schools," the Itar-Tass news agency said this week following a visit to Russia by Burma's Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and other senior officers.

The report did not say whether Burma plans to buy more weapons but the agency noted that the Burmese military currently uses MiG-29 and Mi-17 and Mi-24 aircraft.

"[Burma] has Russia's Pechora air defence systems in its service [and] at least 150 officers and students from [Burma] study at Russian military schools," said Itar-Tass.

China has been Burma's main weapons supplier but military equipment has also been bought in the past from Poland—before it joined the European Union—along with Ukraine and Belarus.
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Friday, June 28, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

2 Rohingyas Killed, 6 Injured, For ‘Attacking Security Forces’

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 05:50 AM PDT

Police stand guard in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, in this June 2012 photo, after communal violence saw houses torched and residents driven from their homes. (Photo: Reuters)

Two Rohingya Muslims were killed and six were injured, including two minors, after government security forces opened fire on displaced Muslims in a camp in Arakan State's Pauktaw Township on Thursday, the UN said.

An Arakan official claimed that the crowd had been shot at because they "attacked" the armed officers.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on Friday that the incident had reportedly been sparked by a disagreement between displaced Rohingyas and local Muslim villagers, who had come to Kyein Ni Pyin camp to construct temporary shelters.

UNHCR said the two groups had a poor relationship and false rumors that the displaced Rohingyas would be isolated at another site led to an argument. Security forces intervened and took away a camp leader.

"When some of the displaced gathered at a nearby military post asking that the leader be handed over, gunfire was used by the authorities to disperse the crowd, resulting in the fatalities and wounding," UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said.

He added that UNHCR staff arrived shortly after to treat the wounded. The agency is calling for investigation into the deadly shooting at the camp, which houses some 4,400 Rohingyas who were displaced by last year's inter-communal violence.

Arakan State spokesperson Myo Thant's account of events differed from the UNHCR statement as he claimed that the shooting had been provoked by the Rohingyas.

"The incident initially broke out between the workers and displaced in Kyein Ni Pyin IDP camp following a dispute over payments," he said. "Security forces who tried to intervene in the dispute were attacked by a group of displaced people, and the security forces shot to disperse the crowd."

Myo Thant said one person died on the scene, while another succumbed to his injuries on Friday.

It is unclear if the security forces fired any warning shots before taking aim at the Rohingyas.

A man called Lalu, one of the 35 workers who had become embroiled in the argument at the camp, also blamed the incident on the displaced Rohingyas.

"They threw stones at us and held knives and sticks, and their group was big," he claimed, adding that workers and officers "had no place to run as there was only a fence behind us, so the authorities shot into the crowd to disperse them."

The incident is the second fatal shooting in a camp for displaced Rohingyas this month, after policemen shot dead three Muslim women in Parein village, Mrauk-U Township, on June 4.

The women had been among a group of unarmed Muslim villagers who had protested against a government order to move to another site, according to UN rapporteur on human rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana.

He condemned the incident at the time as "another shocking example" of "widespread and systematic" human rights abuses by security forces against the Muslim minority, which are not recognized by the government as citizens of Burma.

The President's Office has dismissed the allegations and claimed the women had been shot dead because "they attacked authorities."

International human rights groups and the UN rights envoy have repeatedly deplored the government's handling of the crisis in western Burma, where Arakanese Buddhists clashed with Rohingyas between June and October 2012. The unrest led to 192 deaths and displaced about 140,000 people, mostly Muslims.

Monks Rally Behind Bill That Would Restrict Interfaith Marriage

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:05 AM PDT

Nationalist Buddhist monk U Wirathu is greeted with respect at a monks' conference in Rangoon on Thursday. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Senior Buddhist leaders told a large monks' conference on Thursday that they support a controversial draft law that would put restrictions on marriages between Buddhist women and Muslim men.

The monks said they would pressure Burmese lawmakers into accepting the bill, which was first proposed at a conference earlier this month with the support of ultra-nationalist monk U Wirathu.

About 1,500 monks from all over Burma gathered at a monastery in Rangoon's Insein Township on Thursday in order to discuss how to resolve ongoing tensions between Buddhists and the country's Muslim minority.

Senior monks who spoke at the event, which was the largest gathering of monks in Burma in many years, urged the Buddhist clergymen to rally behind their draft Law for the Protection of Race and Religion.

This bill includes a set of rules that would supposedly strengthen and protect Burma's Buddhist tradition.

The draft law also requires any Buddhist woman seeking to marry a Muslim man to first gain permission from her parents and local government officials. Any Muslim man who marries a Buddhist woman is required to convert to Buddhism.

At a press conference on Thursday evening, three monks presented the senior monks' decision to unite behind the proposal.

“The bill has been endorsed," said U Sanda Siri, a monk from Kachin State, adding that legal experts would conduct a final review of the draft law before it is sent to lawmakers in Naypyidaw.

He said the monks would gather signatures from the public in support of the bill to pressure lawmakers to pass it into law.

U Wimala Buddhi, a monk from the Mon State capital Moulmein, warned that the clergymen would discourage voters from supporting any parliamentarian who does not back the law. "I want to know who will oppose our law, which political parties," he said during a speech.

U Nyanissara, one of the most respected Buddhist monks in Burma, urged the monks to unite against supposed external forces, although he stopped short of endorsing the controversial bill.

"To protect our race and religion, we should speak with one voice," he said in a speech, "The government also has an important role to play."

The bill on interfaith marriage was first presented at a smaller monks' conference in Hmawbi Township in mid-June in the presence of nationalist monk U Wirathu, who said that he had "dreamed of this law for a long time."

The radical monk leads the nationalist '969' movement, which calls on Burma's Buddhist majority to shun Muslim communities, and to only support Buddhist-owned businesses. It has been accused of stirring up deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims, which has killed about 250 people and displaced some 150,000 people, mostly Muslims, in the past year.

At its presentation in mid-June, the draft law sparked a flurry of reactions, with some Muslim leaders pointing out that it was a flagrant violation of basic human rights. Burmese women's rights groups have vowed to campaign against the proposal.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 16 states that "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family."

Senior monk U Dhammapiya insisted nonetheless that the law would "protect Buddhist women's rights" and he dismissed the idea that the bill would violate human rights principles. "There are different human rights conditions in different countries," he said during a press conference.

U Wirathu also attended Thursday's event. He kept silent about the draft law but as he walked through conference many monks showed high respect to him.

In the past few days, the nationalist monk has been at the center of controversy after his photo appeared on the cover of Time magazine's July 1st issue with the headline "The Face of Buddhist Terror." The cover caused an uproar in Burma because some felt it coupled the country's Buddhist tradition with terror and violence.

On Thursday, U Nyanissara also spoke out against Time's cover and appeared to defend U Wirathu.

“They say the Buddhist religion is carrying out genocide, but we did nothing, not even expand our population,” he said. "Ashin Wirathu is a person who shows tolerance when someone criticizes him."

U Nyanissara, a highly revered monk in Burma, urged the gathered clergymen to unite and stay calm in the face of such outside criticism, saying, "Our Buddhist clergy here is as strong as the Burmese army; we have 500,000 monks." The Burmese military has some 400,000 troops.

Win Tin, a senior member and co-founder of the National League for Democracy, Burma's largest opposition party, said in a reaction that he was disturbed by the monks' proposal.

"It's all developing rather ugly… All these proposed laws would worsen the situation," he said, adding that the clergymen should not enter the field of politics in order to get laws passed that would put restrictions on ordinary people's lives.

"The first thing is, it should not be initiated by the Buddhist monks," he said. "These are issues for individuals, whether they are Buddhist or Muslim. These are family matters. There should be no legal obligations at all.

"This doesn't need to be put to Parliament at all, this is my opinion."

Additional reporting by Paul Vrieze.

Burma Telecom Deal with Qatar Firm Sparks Ire

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 05:33 AM PDT

A Buddhist monk walks inside a mobile phone shop in Rangoon on Feb. 4, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)

RANGOON — Religious tensions engulfing Burma spread Friday to the world of big business: Monks and others in the Buddhist-dominated country demanded to know why a lucrative license for a new national mobile phone network had gone to a company from a Muslim nation.

Currently 7.3 million of Burma's 60 million people have access to mobile phones, making it one of the least connected countries in the world, according to government statistics seen Friday. Eager to push that number to 45 million by 2015, the former military-run nation decided to loosen its grip on the industry and award licenses to build and operate mobile networks.

Norway's Telenor was widely seen as a favorite and there was little surprise that it was one of the two winners announced Thursday.

But Ooredoo of Qatar, formerly known as Qatar Telecom, was a surprise to some. The company's majority shareholder is the Qatari government.

Social networking sites were alight with criticism, with comments flooding the Facebook pages of government officials who posted the official announcement.

"We should not be putting the Myanmar's telecommunications system into the hands of an Arab company," Kyaw Kyaw Oo wrote on the page of the president's office director, Hmuu Zaw. "I will not use their service."

Others said giving the contract to a Muslim-owned company was "worrisome," especially as it came at a time people were calling for protection of nationality and race.

Burma only recently emerged from a half-century of isolation and military rule.

Since embracing political and economic reforms in 2011, it has witnessed firsthand the downside of newfound freedoms of speech. Preaching all over the country, monks belonging to the radical Buddhist movement called 969 have been urging followers to boycott Muslim businesses and not to marry, sell property to or hire Muslims.

That has incited violence in several parts of the country with 250 people, most of them Muslims, killed in the last year and 140,000 others fleeing their homes.

"I'm really unhappy," said Shin Pyinya Dhaza, a monk from the Thaketa monastery in Rangoon and a 969 supporter, when asked to comment on the telecom deal.

Some of the overlooked front-runners in the telecom deal included Singapore Telecommunications, Bharti Airtel of India, KDDI Corporation of Japan, Telenor of Norway and Digicel of the Caribbean. More than 90 international consortiums were vying for the licenses and 11 were shortlisted.

Set Aung, chairman of the government panel handling the tender, defended Ooredoo, which has operations in more than a dozen countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia as the "best choice." It also has deep pockets, promising to pump part of its cash pile into the network.

That the government didn't consider public sentiment was a good thing, he said.

"That just shows how transparent we are and how unbiased," he said.

In a statement released Thursday, Ooredoo said its investment in Burma will create a significant number of jobs and be the indirect catalyst for creating several hundred thousand jobs in areas such as sales, distribution and customer service as the mobile industry develops.

Though not a household name in Asia, Ooredoo has been stepping up its presence in the region for several years and is the biggest shareholder in Indonesian phone company Indosat. It also has stakes in Singapore's StarHub and the main phone company in Laos.

Burma’s Mobile Phone Users to See Major Drop in Call Fees

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:51 AM PDT

A man uses his mobile phone on the side of a street in Rangoon. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — The deputy minister of communications says Burma's sole provider of telecommunications services will slash mobile phone airtime fees, potentially to one-third of the current price, according to a lawmaker in Parliament's lower house.

Thaung Tin, the deputy minister of communications, posts and telegraphs, said during the lower house session of Parliament on Friday that Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) would slash the fees to make and receive mobile phone calls, according to lawmaker Kyi Myint.

The deputy minister's pledge came after Kyi Myint asked whether MPT would consider reducing the current fee of 50 kyats (about US 5 cents) per minute to 5 kyats.

"The vice minister replied that the airtime fee would be between 25 kyats and 15 kyats," the lawmaker told The Irrawaddy.

Thaung Tin told Parliament that the airtime fee in Burma was two or three times higher than rates in neighboring countries, and that the ministry would consider reducing the fee to benefit the Burmese people.

He did not, however, offer a timetable for when MPT would carry out the plan, Kyi Myint said.

The announcement came one day after Norway's Telenor and Qatar's Ooredoo won licenses on Thursday to also provide telecommunications services in Burma, bringing foreign companies into the sector for the first time.

Ye Myat Thu, an IT expert in Burma, said he welcomed a drop in the airtime fee but also worried that a cheaper fee would lead to an overloading of mobile phone lines.

"In other countries, the price is based on customers' use," he said. "The fees are not the same when you call during the day and at nighttime. When you call a number that uses the same SIM card from the telecoms provider you use, you can usually call free of charge. Now here [in Burma], only one organization fixes the fee. It sounds like we're still in the socialist era."

With Ceasefire, Land-Mine Removal Begins in War-Torn Karen State

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:45 AM PDT

Two land-mine victims who were former enemies find themselves lying next to each other at a hospital in Mae Sot, Thailand. (Photo: Alex Ellgee / The Irrawaddy)

For more than 60 years, ethnic Karen rebels and the Burmese government have waged war in Karen State, with both sides guilty of planting countless land mines in the war-torn region to gain a combat edge.

Since the signing of a ceasefire agreement in January 2012 between the Karen National Union (KNU) and the government, the long and dangerous task of identifying and removing that legacy has begun to take place in some regions of Karen State, one of Burma's most mine-populated states. The task includes surveying, mapping, mine risk education and de-mining activities.

Aung Min, a President's Office minister, told reporters at a press conference in Rangoon on June 21 that a de-mining program had been started in Papun District, where local residents can now travel freely without fear of land mine danger.

"Land mines started to be removed in Papun and people can travel freely now. Media don't know about it because we didn't tell you. Actually, it [de-mining] is happening around there," Aung Min told reporters.

Papun is one of the most densely mine-populated districts in northern Karen State, which is partly controlled by Brigade 5 of the KNU's military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

Sources familiar with land mine affairs in the area told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the European Union is providing funds to the government-affiliated Myanmar Mine Action Center for mine-related activities in ethnic regions where ceasefire have been signed between the government and the respective ethnic rebels.

Mine mapping, the posting of warning signs and de-mining have been separately taking place in Pegu Division's Kyaukkyi Township since the KNU ceasefire's signing. The Myanmar Peace Support Initiative, a Norwegian NGO, and the Myanmar Mine Action Center have been collaborating in such activities, the sources said.

Another NGO, the Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), signed an agreement on May 31 with the European Commission, donating 3.5 million euros (US$4.6 million) to support the establishment and initial operations of the Myanmar Mine Action Center over the next 18 months. Operations include conducting mine mapping and clearance of land mine-plagued areas in Burma, according to a report by the NPA.

In the report, NPA secretary-general Liv Tørres said "securing this large grant from the EU is a significant step forward in the effort of making it possible for NPA to implement mine action in Myanmar and to open up for other international and national actors to engage in mine action activities."

One Burma observer said work on mine-related activities remained difficult.

In northern Karen State territory controlled by the KNLA's Brigade 5, NGOs face resistance to de-mining operations from KNLA troops that argue the land mines are still useful for defensive purposes.

The KNLA has voiced skepticism over the durability of the ceasefire agreement, and sees the mines' continued presence as a hedge against a possible breakdown of the peace deal. The deployment of government troops in its territories has also discouraged land mine removal from KNLA regions, according to the observers.

However, the observers said some Karen militia groups such as Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen Peace Council, along with some government troops, have begun de-mining projects, mostly in the southwest of Karen State.

The NPA has initiated several development pilot projects in ceasefire areas including non-technical surveys. The group has said that non-technical surveys and de-mining are a precondition for the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.

Both the Burmese government and ethnic rebels used land mines extensively during six decades of civil wars. The KNLA is accused of particularly heavy land mine use during the conflict, with the explosive devices viewed as necessary to bolster the militia's odds against a government Army of many more soldiers and superior weaponry.

British Council to Hold Conference on Higher Education in Naypyidaw

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 03:25 AM PDT

From left to right: Dr. Mya Oo, Dr. Aung Kyaw Myat, Dr. Mya Oo, and Dr. Myo Myint attend a meeting during their fact-finding mission to UK universities in May 2013. (Photo: The British Council)

The British Council is holding an educational conference entitled "Empowering Higher Education" in Naypidaw this weekend.

Attending will be Burmese members of Parliament, officials from the British Council and representatives from UNESCO, AusAid and the Asian Development Bank.

It is a follow-up to a fact-finding tour of British universities that the British Council organized for four Burmese government officials in May. The delegates were Dr. Myo Myint, Dr. Mya Oo, Dr. Aung Kyaw Myat and Dr. Mya Oo.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who chairs two parliamentary committees tasked with drafting new laws on Burmese higher education and revitalizing Rangoon University, had asked the British Council to support her work.

The British Council organized visits to English and Scottish universities and meetings with staff and student representatives for the delegates.

The culmination of the tour was a policy dialogue meeting on May 9 at the University of London, where Suu Kyi gave the keynote speech by video link.

In her speech, the Burmese opposition leader stressed the need for academic freedom.

"We want to make our academic institutions independent. We want to make them vital and we want to modernize them to be in keeping with the developments of the times. We have to learn from everybody because we have fallen so far behind," she said.

She also called for students to be given more freedom to enjoy campus life again. She said: "Our young people have not known campus life for decades. The focus of the military government was on maintaining discipline, not on providing education."

After the meeting, Dr Myo Myint said training better academics and teachers and focusing back on the education parts of the discussion would initially be more important than site and residential campus matters. Widening access would also be critical, in light of the discussions around inclusiveness and the equity of education, he added.

The trip led to five major joint recommendations.

These were: to stay optimistic; to build strong friendships between the UK and Burma; to invest in English-language learning and the development of libraries; to strengthen student unions and the intellectual and civic identity of universities; and to build reciprocity with foreign universities.

Fakebook in Burma: Half of All Accounts Use False IDs, Says President’s Spokesman

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 12:46 AM PDT

Presidential spokesman Ye Htut is pictured at the US Embassy's discussion about hate speech on June 28 in Rangoon. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Dismissing "conspiracy theories" that Burma's government and military have fomented recent inter-religious violence, President Thein Sein's spokesman pointed instead to how people spread information and stoke tensions via social media, saying that half of Burma's 800,000 Facebook accounts use fake names.

"Some small criminal cases can become a religious riot because people can go on social media," Ye Htut, who is also the deputy information minister, said at a US Embassy seminar on "Preventing Hate Speech in Myanmar: Divergent Voices in a New Democracy."

Facebook, Ye Htut said, is increasingly a first source of news for many Burmese, with people preferring to read a four- or five-line update on the social media site rather than digesting a full newspaper story.

On Thursday, the Burmese government announced the winners of the country's two new long-awaited mobile licenses by posting a notice on Ye Htut's Facebook page.

Nonetheless, despite social media's utility for news dissemination, it has its downsides, believes the Burmese government. "Hate speech has been moving toward social media," Ye Htut added, saying this development has "allowed people to spread prejudice against each other."

Ye Htut acknowledged, however, that the prevalence of online pseudonyms was partly a legacy of military rule, with people still wary of speaking freely online after decades of censorship and arrest for those who criticized the former military government.

And while he said the government and army wanted to solve conflict in Burma, he added—without naming names—that some politicians in the country were manipulating religious and ethnic strife for their own ends. "People are confused," said the spokesman. "Is this a hate-speech issue or a political issue?"

"We have to know who is behind these conspiracy theories," he said. "Who is instigating behind the scenes?"

With a new telecommunications regime likely to see Burma's current 1.05 million Internet users increase significantly in the near future, Ye Htut said there was a growing need to balance free speech with what he termed "social responsibility."

The government hopes to have 75 percent of the country's population connected to a mobile network by 2015-16, and of these, Ye Htut projected that half would use their phones to go online.

"We do not want to go back to censorship," he said, "but society must be able to control itself."

The balance between allowing free speech and curbing excesses is a crucial issue in a democratizing Burma, said Hindu leader Aung Naing.

"Should there be a hate speech law or not?" he asked, cautioning that "if you shut their [the people of Burma] mouths, there will be no development here."

But monk Ashin Dhammapiya said that in contemporary Burma, where old restrictions on freedom of expression have been dismantled, people now overstep the mark.

"They think they can say what they like," he said. "People cannot differentiate between freedom of speech and human rights."

Recommending self-regulation for media in Burma, where a new press code is under consideration, Ye Htut took a potshot at one of the world's best-known media moguls, with an implicit message, perhaps, for Burma's so-called "cronies," or politically connected businessmen, who might want to use the country's media to promote themselves.

"[Rupert] Murdoch uses his media to improve his business," he said. "It shouldn't be like that."

Burma’s Currency Continues Its Downslide

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 10:12 PM PDT

Piles of Burmese kyat currency are counted in Rangoon. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

Rangoon — Burma's currency is continuing its downslide and has dropped almost 18 percent in value since the government floated the kyat in early April last year. Currency speculation and falling global gold prices are contributing to the slump of the kyat, local bankers and traders said.

On Friday, the Central Bank's official exchange rate stood at 969 kyat per US dollar, while some of Rangoon's money changers reported that the currency had already fallen to more than 1,000 kyat per dollar.

The currency has dropped 17.8 percent compared to 818 kyat per dollar on April 2, 2012, when President Thein Sein's reformist government floated the currency.

Since its float, the kyat experienced a gradual decline to 890 kyat per dollar until May 8, 2013, when it suddenly fell to 946 kyat per dollar in just one day.

Before April 2012, Burma's military government set the official exchange rate at 6.4 kyat per dollar, even though the black market rate stood at around 820 kyat per dollar.

Rangoon money changers said the currency was also subject to strong daily fluctuations.

"This morning when I just started exchanging, a US dollar cost 998 kyat only. Now, in the evening, the price for a dollar has gone up to 1005 kyat. The price of a US dollar jumped like this, just today," an informal money changer said on Wednesday.

Naw Eh Phaw, deputy-director-general foreign currency management at the Central Bank, told The Irrawaddy that a strong US dollar was hindering the bank's policy of trying to limit fluctuations in the currency's value.

"Now, our currency exchange rate has been destabilized," he said, adding, "I can't disclose how we will manage it."

Burma's Central Bank is still under authority of the Ministry of Finance, but Parliament is expected to soon pass a law that will turn it into an institution that can set independent monetary policy.

The International Monetary Fund said in a May 22 statement that the Central Bank was limiting exchange rate fluctuations without setting a specific target rate.

Than Lwin, deputy-chairman of Kanbawza Bank, said there were multiple reasons for the kyat's slump, including a strong demand for US dollars among Burmese traders.

"There are many reasons for the rise of the dollar's value [in Burma]. The reasons could be manipulation of the dollar's price. The buying and hoarding of dollars, as its price is likely to continue to rise. I also suspect that gem traders buy dollars," he said.

Gold traders are among those rushing to buy dollars, as global gold prices have fallen to their lowest point in many years.

"As the world gold prices slump, Burma's gold prices also slump. So, gold traders here seek to buy US dollars," said a Rangoon gold trader, who is a member of the Myanmar Gold Entrepreneurs Association.

The slump of the kyat has coincided with an increase in imports, driven in part by a construction boom in Rangoon and a sharp rise in car sales in Burma in the past year.

Some international economists have said that the kyat was overvalued when it was floated last year and needs to fall in order to strengthen Burma's exports.

The President Office's Minister Soe Thein has said on several occasions that the government would prefer a lower-valued kyat as it could attract foreign investment and boost export, as Burmese products become cheaper for overseas buyers.

Win Aung, chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, warned in late May however, that the kyat's sudden drop was hampering Burmese companies' foreign trade activities.

Dr. Maung Maung Soe, a retired economics professor of Rangoon University of Distance Education, said the falling kyat could attract foreign investment and boost export sectors, such as agriculture and garments, but he added that this had yet to happen.

"Although the US dollar price is up, in reality this has not led to an increase in exports. [And] there is not as much foreign investment as expected," he said, adding that the slump of the kyat has so far only led to a rise in the price of imported goods, such as fuel, which has contributeds to inflation.

Cambodian Khmer Rouge Atrocity Suspect Dies

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 10:05 PM PDT

Cambodians who survived the Khmer Rouge regime wait to attend a hearing at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal, located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, in March 2012. (Photo: Reuters / Pring Samrang)

PHNOM PENH — A former top Khmer Rouge military officer who was expected to be indicted for alleged atrocities has died, a Cambodian official said on Wednesday.

Northwestern regional deputy commander Maj. Gen. Ek Sam Oun said former Khmer Rouge air force chief Sou Met suffered from diabetes and died on June 14 after a long illness. He had been living in Battambang province and was believed to be 76.

A UN-backed tribunal is currently trying two former top leaders of the Khmer Rouge for alleged crimes against humanity and other offenses. The group’s radical policies in 1975-79 led to the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.

Tribunal documents leaked last year indicated that prosecutors were seeking to indict Sou Met along with Khmer Rouge navy commander Meas Mut. The documents alleged that both took part in purges that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths.

Tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen said he was unaware of Sou Met’s death and noted that he had never officially been named a suspect.

The tribunal earlier convicted the head of a Khmer Rouge prison where thousands were tortured before being sent away for execution. Currently on trial are Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge’s chief ideologist and No. 2 leader, and Khieu Samphan, its former head of state, both in their 80s.

There are concerns that the defendants could die before justice is achieved. Former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, who was being tried with his two colleagues, died in March.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has opposed extending the tribunal to cover further suspects, saying it would cause civil unrest. Many former members of the Khmer Rouge — including Hun Sen, who defected from the group in 1977 — hold important positions in the current government or are political allies.

Ek Sam Oun said Sou Met had been appointed an adviser to the Cambodian armed forces and held a major-general’s rank in the army after he defected from the Khmer Rouge in the late 1990s, but was retired at the time of his death. The Khmer Rouge were ousted from power in 1979 by a Vietnamese invasion but continued an insurgency from the jungles until the shrinking movement collapsed with the 1998 death of its leader, Pol Pot.

Sou Met had been receiving medical treatment for several months in hospitals in Phnom Penh and in the Thai capital, Bangkok, Ek Sam Oun said, adding that a Buddhist funeral ceremony was held for him at the headquarters of Cambodia’s northwestern Army Region Five. He did not give any details of any family surviving Sou Met.

China Lifts 17-Year Ban on Dalai Lama Photos at Tibet Monastery: Group

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 09:57 PM PDT

Tibetan monks and activists pray next to a portrait of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, before a rally to support Tibet in Taipei on March 10, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Pichi Chuang)

BEIJING — Chinese officials have lifted a ban on Tibetan monks displaying photographs of the Dalai Lama at a prominent monastery, a rights group said on Thursday, an unexpected policy shift that could ease tensions in the restive region.

The decision concerning the Gaden monastery in the Tibetan capital Lhasa—one of the most historically important religious establishments in Tibet—reversed a ban introduced in 1996, the UK-based Free Tibet group told Reuters, citing sources with direct knowledge of the situation.

It was made as similar changes are being considered in other Tibetan regions of China, and may signal authorities are contemplating looser religious restrictions and a policy change over Tibet, three months after President Xi Jinping took office.

Chinese officials in western Qinghai province are also considering lifting a ban on Tibetans displaying pictures of the exiled spiritual leader, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, a US-based advocacy group.

It said there were also draft proposals in the region to end the practice of forcing Tibetans to denounce the Dalai Lama, and to decrease the police presence at monasteries.

Officials in Lhasa and Qinghai could not immediately be reached for comment.

Such measures appear calculated to reduce tensions between the Tibetans and the government after a series of Tibetan self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

Beijing considers the Dalai Lama, who fled China in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a violent separatist. The Dalai Lama, who is based in India, says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for his Himalayan homeland.

Since 2009, at least 120 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in China in protest against Beijing's policies in Tibet and nearby regions with large Tibetan populations. Most were calling for the return of the Dalai Lama.

"Tibetans' reverence for and loyalty to the Dalai Lama has almost no equal among the world's communities and if this policy is extended beyond this individual monastery as other reports suggest, it will be very significant for the Tibetan people," Free Tibet spokesman Alistair Currie said.

The new policy at the Gaden monastery and the discussions in Qinghai come after a scholar from the Central Party School published an essay questioning China's policy on Tibet.

So far, President Xi has said very little publicly about Tibet. His late father, Xi Zhongxun, a liberal-minded former vice premier, was close to the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan leader once gave the elder Xi an expensive watch in the 1950s, a gift the senior party official still wore decades later.

"There's increasingly a view that due to the critical nature of the situation of Tibet, a discussion of a change in some hardline policies is merited and there's a need for the Dalai Lama to be involved in some way," Kate Saunders, spokeswoman for the International Campaign for Tibet, told Reuters.

Saunders said that Tibetans at the meeting raised the possibility of the draft proposals in Qinghai being implemented either in August or September.

US Suspends Bangladesh Trade Privileges

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 09:51 PM PDT

Protesters hold up a sign commemorating those killed in recent clothing factory tragedies in Bangladesh outside Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, on June 5, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Rick Wilking)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced Thursday the suspension of US trade privileges for Bangladesh because of concerns over labor rights and worker safety that intensified after hundreds died there in the global garment industry's worst accident.

In a proclamation, Obama said Bangladesh was not taking steps to afford internationally recognized worker rights to employees in the South Asian country.

US Trade Representative Mike Froman said the United States will, however, start new discussions with Bangladesh on improving workers' conditions so the duty-free benefits that cover some 5,000 products can be restored. He didn't say when that might be, noting that it would depend on Bangladesh's actions.

Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry called the suspension "harsh" and had been taken despite its concrete actions to improve factory safety.

Thursday's announcement was the culmination of a years-long review of labor conditions in the impoverished country. Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for the step since the April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka that killed 1,129 people. In November, a fire at a garment factory killed more than 100 people.

"The recent tragedies that needlessly took the lives of over 1,200 Bangladeshi garment factory workers have served to highlight some of the serious shortcomings in worker rights and workplace safety standards in Bangladesh," Froman said.

The Generalized System of Preferences, which is designed to boost the economies of developing nations, covers less than 1 percent of Bangladesh's nearly $5 billion in exports to the United States, its largest market. The benefits don't cover the lucrative garment sector but Bangladesh's government was anxious to keep them.

The action may not exact a major and immediate economic toll, but it carries a reputational cost and might deter American companies from investing in the country, one of the world's poorest.

The US action, which takes effect in 60 days, also may sway a decision by the European Union, which is considering withdrawing GSP privileges. EU action could have a much bigger economic impact, as its duty-free privileges cover garments, which account for 60 percent of Bangladesh's exports in that sector.

The US Trade Representative review of labor conditions in Bangladesh follows a petition filed in 2007 by the AFL-CIO labor federation seeking withdrawal of the GSP benefits. The review was expedited late last year amid concern from US lawmakers over deadly industrial accidents, deteriorating labor rights and the April 2012 killing of prominent labor activist Aminul Islam—a case that has not been solved.

Froman said despite close engagement with Bangladesh to encourage labor reforms, the United States hadn't seen sufficient progress. But he said the United States was "committed to working with the government of Bangladesh to take the actions necessary to rejoin the program." Steps it wants to see include passage of an amended labor law and other steps to enhance workers' rights and worker safety, Froman said.

Defending its record, Bangladesh said it was amending the labor law and a ministerial committee has been formed to ensure compliance by garment factories.

"Bangladesh hopes that the US administration would soon bring back Bangladesh's GSP status, a benefit a least-developed country is supposed to receive in developed countries as per the provisions of the World Trade Organization," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

House and Senate Democrats who had been calling for the US benefits to be curtailed quickly welcomed Thursday's decision.

Rep. Joe Crowley, a Democrat who is co-chairman of the congressional caucus on Bangladesh, said that in light of recent tragedies in the country, the suspension was "inevitable."

"I hope this action will propel Bangladeshi officials to develop a clear path forward that protects all workers in Bangladesh," he said.

Robert Menendez, a Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it was long overdue for Bangladesh to change its labor practices and ensure workers' rights.

"Bangladesh is an important trading partner, but we cannot and will not look the other way while workers are subjected to unsafe conditions and environments endangering their wellbeing," Menendez said in a statement.

He also called for American companies operating in Bangladesh to improve conditions for factory workers and work with European companies on a global standard for safety.

Lawmakers have criticized US retailers that source garments from Bangladesh for not joining the more than 40 mostly European companies that have adopted a five-year, legally binding contract that requires them to help pay for fire safety and building improvements. The Bangladeshi garment manufacturers' association says it stepping up inspections and has closed 20 factories.

The garment industry employs some 4 million people in Bangladesh, 80 percent of them women.
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Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Freedom from hate

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 05:02 AM PDT

Burma's Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut attended the 'Preventing Hate Speech in Myanmar: Divergent Voices in a New Democracy' forum in Rangoon on Friday.

After the forum, Ye Htut said the religious problems in Burma stemmed from the grassroots level and were not promoted by religious leaders or government officials.

Monk threatens politicians over proposed interfaith marriage ban

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:31 AM PDT

A prominent monk and outspoken advocate of Burma's growing anti-Muslim movement has warned politicians to back a proposed ban on interfaith marriages or risk losing votes in the 2015 general election.

The threat was issued at a convention of over 1,500 senior monks in Rangoon on Thursday, where a new draft of the controversial legislation, which would require Buddhist women to obtain official permission before marrying a Muslim, was formally approved.

"I would want to know which representatives turn down the national race protection law when it is proposed [in parliament] – I will make it so that they get no votes in 2015," Wimala Buddhi from Moulmein's Mya Sadi monastery told the gathering. "A party that doesn't win votes will end up in the drain."

His words are largely viewed as an attack against opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who recently spoke out against the ban, describing it as a "violation of women's rights and human rights".

Wimala Buddhi is a fervent supporter of Burma's ultra-nationalist "969" movement, which calls on Buddhists to shun Muslim shops and businesses, and is a close ally of its chief architect Wirathu. The threat has been circulated widely on social media, including on Wirathu's Facebook page, where it has received hundreds of likes, shares and encouraging comments.

"That cow is no expert on religion and yet she wants to become president," derided one user.

But Suu Kyi's spokesperson from the National League for Democracy (NLD) scoffed at the threat during a telephone interview on Friday. "I am not afraid because these monks have no right to vote in our country," said Nyan Win, referring to a religious edict that precludes members of the Sangha from participating in politics.

He also dismissed suggestions that the "969" movement had enough support to oust the NLD, which is expected to dominate the 2015 elections, adding that he did not think the draft would even make it to parliament.

"We don't get any clear views from the government, [but] I think they will act according to the law, and this law is against human rights," he said.

The law demands that any Muslim man, who wants to marry a Buddhist woman, must first convert to her religion. Meanwhile, Buddhist women are obliged to obtain permission from her parents and local authorities before marrying a non-Buddhist man. An earlier draft of the law only targeted Muslims, but was recently amended to include members of all other faiths.

The proposal has prompted outrage from women's groups in Burma, who say they will lobby against its implementation. The secretary of Burma's national human rights commission has also slammed it as "unconstitutional".

However, a growing number of monks and religious leaders have spoken out in support of the draft law and called on Suu Kyi to revise her position. Thursday's convention reportedly agreed to set up an association to pursue the interfaith marriage proposal, as well as other legal means to protect Buddhism.

The government has also come under fire for its failure to condemn the growing "969" movement, which has been linked to a rise in anti-Muslim violence in Burma. In an interview with reporters on Friday, the president's spokesperson Ye Htut insisted that advocates of the marriage ban are "entitled" to free speech.

"It is normal in a democratic society for all people to participate [in discussions] on things necessary or said as necessary to change," he said.

He also defended Wimala Buddhi, who is a member of the government-backed monastic body Sangha Maha Nayaka. "The abbot was expressing his individual point of view," he said.

But critics have been quick to accuse the government of hypocrisy. During the pro-democracy uprising in 2007, where monks played a key role in protesting the military government, the Sangha Maha Nayaka issued a statement strictly prohibiting monks from participating in secular affairs.

Earlier this week, the government banned a controversial issue of Time Magazine, which branded Wirathu the "Face of Buddhist Terror", prompting speculation that it was actively courting political support from the "969" movement.

Burma has seen a rise in religious tensions since last year, when Buddhists clashed with Rohingya Muslims in Arakan state, displacing some 140,000 people and killing over 200. Since March, renewed bouts of anti-Muslim violence, which have been directly linked to Wirathu's "969″ campaign, have claimed another 44 lives.

Defence minister vows to return land confiscated by military

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 02:03 AM PDT

Burma's Defence Minister Brigadier General Wai Lwin has informed the parliament-backed Land Grab Investigation Commission that the military was planning to return land appropriated by their forces, with the exception of property that is set to house construction projects.

Upper house representative from Magwe division and member of the Land Grab Investigation Commission Hla Swe said the group's chairperson Tin Htut recently informed members that the defence minister pledged to return the seized land; however, a timetable was not provided.

According to the upper house representative, more than 100,000 acres of land has been confiscated by the military to build 'ordinance factories' in Magwe division alone.

Moreover, Hla Swe called on farmers across the country to start collecting evidence that would prove their ownership instead of waging "ploughing protests".

The demonstrations, where farmers till land that had been confiscated, is a popular form of protest in Burma in response to the rash of land disputes across the country.

Following more than two years of reforms, land rights have become one of the most tempestuous issues in Burma as farmers begin to challenge authorities over property that was appropriated by the military and crony-connected companies during nearly five decades of junta rule.

The monk who heals bones

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 01:12 AM PDT

BY ALI FOWLE

Traditional medicine is thriving in Burma despite recent reforms in the country's health care system.

This year the health ministry increased spending on public health, bringing more affordable options for modern medicine, which was previously prohibitively expensive for the majority of people.

But the reality is many areas do not have access to government hospitals, and where they do many still opt for traditional methods out of fear of high costs and medical incompetence.

Thai official charged after Rohingya refugee trafficked and raped

Posted: 28 Jun 2013 12:34 AM PDT

A policeman has been charged with trafficking after a Rohingya woman was allegedly lured from a shelter in southern Thailand and subsequently raped by a man from the refugee Muslim minority, police told AFP Friday.

It is believed to be the first time a Thai official has been charged with trafficking of Rohingya boat people, despite probes into alleged people smuggling by authorities including the army.

The officer is accused of driving the 25-year-old victim along with her daughters, aged 12 and nine, and two other women, from the shelter in Phang Nga province in late May.

The woman was told she would be taken to Malaysia to be reunited with her husband, who is also from the minority group, but was instead held at several places in the region in an ordeal lasting several weeks, police said.

The woman was allegedly raped repeatedly by a Rohingya man, who is believed to have worked as a translator at the shelter and has been charged with assault.

The victim and her children were found on a roadside and returned to the shelter last week when she contacted the police.

“The officer has been charged with taking part in human trafficking and abuse of his position,” Police Colonel Weerasin Kwansaeng, commander of Kuraburi Police Station told AFP.

“The victim said he drove the car from the shelter,” he said, adding it was the first time charges had been brought against police over the trafficking of Rohingya.

Dozens of Rohingya women and children, who fled communal violence in Burma, are housed at the shelter while hundreds of men from the ethnic group are being held at an immigration detention centre in the same province.

Rights groups have repeatedly voiced concerns over the treatment of destitute Rohingya refugees by Thai authorities, saying they are held in poor conditions and are vulnerable to exploitation.

The rape “demonstrates the vulnerability of Rohingya women to human traffickers — even when they are living in government-run shelters where they should be protected,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

In January, Thai authorities opened an investigation into allegations that army officials were involved in trafficking Rohingya.

Around 2,000 Rohingya refugees remain in detention in Thailand, while authorities wait for a third country to offer to accept them.

Described by the UN as among the most persecuted minority groups in the world, Rohingya have for years trickled abroad to neighbouring Bangladesh and, increasingly, to Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Burma views its population of roughly 800,000 Rohingya as illegal 'Bengali' immigrants and denies them citizenship.

An explosion of tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Burma’s Arakan state since June 2012 has triggered a huge exodus of Rohingya from the country.

Burma launches search for “lost city” of Suwarnabhumi

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 11:14 PM PDT

A team of archaeologists in Burma have launched a campaign to search for the lost city of Suwarnabhumi, an ancient Buddhist kingdom, which is believed to be located somewhere in South or Southeast Asia.

Although the city's exact location is shrouded in mystery, excavation work is set to begin this year in eastern Burma's Mon state, where Burmese historians believe the city to be found.

Mon state is one of several suggested locations for the lost city, which has become the centre of both scholarly and nationalist debate. Other Asian countries, including Thailand, India and Bangladesh, have also staked claims to the kingdom, based on references in various ancient scriptures.

But Mon state's chief minister, Dr Min Nwe Soe, told DVB that an agreement was reached at a meeting with archaeologists and historians on Wednesday to carry out excavation work near the ancient Thaton town and at the foot of Kaylatha hill in Bilin township in Mon state in a bid to unearth the city.

"There is an argument surrounding [the location] of Suwarnabhumi – whether it's over here or over there – and we wanted to prove that it is here," said Min Nwe Soe.

He said they will approach the central government for approval of the programme, which will be led by the Ministry of Culture and aims to recover ancient artefacts as well as promote tourism in the region.

"We aim to uncover our ancient architecture and to attract foreign tourists," said Min Nwe Soe.

A workshop was held from Tuesday to Thursday in Mon state's capital Moulmein this week to etch out excavation plans in search of the lost city. The minister added that they will develop a plan to inform locals and the general public about the project.

"We also need to study whether the dig sites are in residential areas – we just can't tell people to relocate for the programme so we have to find a win-win solution," said the minister.

"Also we have limitations with our budget so we might not have enough skilled professionals, and we don't know whether the excavation will turn out as we expect."

The lost city is mentioned in a number of ancient scriptures, including the Sri Lankan Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa texts, which tell tales of Buddhist missionaries being sent to the kingdom, located in what is now modern day Mon state, around 300 BC.

Mon tradition maintains that the lost city of Suwarnabhumi was part of the Thaton Kingdom, which was overrun by the Burmans in 1057 AD.

An unsuccessful search for the city was once carried out in 1975.
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