Democratic Voice of Burma |
- Telenor and Ooredoo win Burma telecoms licences
- Marriage law stirs controversy
- Over 500 migrants returning from Malaysia seek jobs from govt
- One year on, the Burmese military continues to recruit children
| Telenor and Ooredoo win Burma telecoms licences Posted: 27 Jun 2013 05:10 AM PDT Burma awarded two highly anticipated telecommunications licences to Telenor and Ooreedo on Thursday, despite calls from the lower house of parliament to delay the process until the country has passed a law to govern the sector. Both companies have been awarded 15-year operating and spectrum licences and will be required to support the government's ambitious strategy to cover 50 percent of the country with internet services in five years. They will need to invest billions of dollars to expand telecommunications networks across the impoverished country, where less than ten percent of the population have access to a phone. The Qatari-based Ooreedo has already pledged to invest US$15 billion into rolling out a telecoms network in Burma, promising to reach 90% of the population within two years. Meanwhile, Norway’s Telenor has promised to pump US$3 billion into Burma's telecoms infrastructure, as well as boost local employment opportunities. The two companies squeezed out nine other shortlisted bidders and will be required to launch services within nine months of receiving the licences, which is expected to be in September. The announcement formally ends speculation that the government might delay the tender, after the lower house of parliament on Wednesday sought to suspend the bidding process until a new telecommunications law, which is currently stuck in parliament, is finalised. But earlier today a government spokesperson told DVB that it was too late for parliament to delay the process. The president's office also issued a statement insisting that the tender process was in accordance with existing laws and warned that a delay would harm the country's image. "Should the [tender] be suspended due to the objections of the lower house, it would be harmful to our country's credibility at a time when we are just beginning to gain momentum for economic development," said the statement. Burma is lagging far behind its neighbours in mobile phone coverage and the price of SIM cards still averages around US$200. However, the absence of a clear regulatory framework for the telecoms industry has raised concerns among both industry players and human rights activists. In May, Human Rights Watch warned that telecoms operators looking to invest in the former pariah state risk complicity in state surveillance and censorship mechanisms that are sanctioned under existing laws. According to the rights group, a draft version of the new telecoms law seen in March still contains "troubling provisions" that provide limited safeguards against government abuse. The UK mobile phone giant, Vodafone, subsequently pulled out of the race over concerns about Burma's weak legal system. Burma's telecommunications industry is currently regulated by the state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunications (MPT) department, which also has significant commercial stakes in the sector and currently dominates the mobile phone market. Analysts say the regulatory process lacks both transparency and accountability and have warned that MPT's financial stake represents a clear conflict of interest. The government does not plan to appoint a new regulator until 2015. Two other domestic firms, including the state-owned Yatanarpon and the tax-exempt, military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), also control a chunk of the market. Both Telenor and Ooredoo will have to compete with the incumbents, who are already planning commercial partnerships to expand their networks. Burma has outlined an bold strategy to cover 25 percent of the population with telephone services within a year, and 75 percent by 2018. Currently, less than one in ten people own a mobile phone or have access to the internet. Burma is often described as the world's last untapped telecoms market. |
| Marriage law stirs controversy Posted: 27 Jun 2013 04:16 AM PDT Seven people share their thoughts on the proposed draft marriage law that would see restrictions on interfaith marriages. 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 Muslim man. A growing number of monks and religious leaders have come out in support of the controversial proposal. The draft law’s architect, nationalist monk Wirathu, is due to present another draft of the law to a monks’ convention in Rangoon. |
| Over 500 migrants returning from Malaysia seek jobs from govt Posted: 27 Jun 2013 02:11 AM PDT Nearly 600 Burmese migrants, who recently returned home from Malaysia after a string of attacks against Burmese nationals, have applied for new jobs through the government. A spokesperson for the labour ministry told DVB that 577 people formally applied for jobs through the state agency between 19 and 25 June. It follows a government pledge to find jobs for hundreds of Burmese migrant workers, who signed up for repatriation earlier this month. The vast majority applied immediately upon their return to Rangoon International Airport, where the ministry has set up a special "employment" desk for returning migrants. Others submitted applications by post. "There are vacancies for labourers, drivers, office assistants and security positions," said Maung Maung Kyaw from the Ministry of Labour's Employment and Social Welfare office. He added that ministry officials were meeting with business operators to expand job opportunities for returning migrants. "Our ministry has a responsibility to find jobs for those who have returned and we are working on that," he said. As many as 1,500 Burmese migrant workers living in Malaysia are currently in the process of obtaining the necessary documents to return home. It follows news that five Burmese nationals were brutally killed and six others injured in a string of attacks widely believed to have been carried out to avenge a recent spate of anti-Muslim violence in Burma. The state-owned Myanmar Airways International is currently flying 190 migrants per week back to Burma, after offering a 50 percent discount on airfares in the wake of the violence. A number of prominent cronies, including Tay Za, have also offered to help the migrant population in Malaysia, including offering return flights and job opportunities back home. But employment agencies say that business has suffered since the government announced a ban on sending migrants to work in Malaysia. Managing director Kyaw Win from the Rangoon Win Star Overseas Job Employment Agency told DVB that many workers were waiting to be shipped off to Malaysia under job contracts. "Usually we have a good work flow but now we just have to sit and wait," said Kyaw Win. "If they keep the suspension for long it will just lead to more illegal immigration, because some people just have to go [to Malaysia] and if they can't go officially, then they will go illegally." According to statistics by the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur, there are around 300,000 Burmese migrants working legally in Malaysia and around 30,000 working illegally. |
| One year on, the Burmese military continues to recruit children Posted: 26 Jun 2013 10:32 PM PDT On June 27, it will be one year since the Myanmar government made a commitment to the United Nations to stop recruiting and using children as soldiers. The action plan, which was signed after five years of negotiation, marked both an acknowledgement of a longstanding problem and a willingness to correct the practice. However, there are signs that the Myanmar military's commitment to ending underage recruitment has yet to end this practice. The Tatmadaw has continued to recruit and use children since it signed the action plan, although in lower numbers than those previously reported. It has so far only released 66 children from its ranks, a fraction of those believed to be recruited by its troops since the UN started actively monitoring this issue have been released. It continues to stall UN access to identify and release children from some of its military sites despite having signed an agreement to do so. The Border Guard Forces (BGFs), which are within the remit of the action plan and for whom the Myanmar military is responsible, have felt no pressure to initiate steps to verify, demobilise or rehabilitate children in their ranks. The UN Country Task Force has had no access to BGF units to assess the numbers of child soldiers present in their ranks. Similarly, no access has been granted to non-state armed groups, several of whom are 'listed' in the UN Secretary-General's report as parties who recruit and use children. The UN Secretary General's 2013 report on children and armed conflict in Myanmar shows that the government has taken some steps to strengthen recruitment procedures in the Tatmadaw and thereby helping to prevent future recruitment of children. But these steps forward fall short of what is needed to ensure under-18s do not serve in the armed forces. A greater understanding of why children end up being recruited as soldiers in state armed forces will help speed up a solution. The reasons are several, and complex. Child soldiers are not simply a by-product of being born in militarised societies, nor can they be explained by simplistic socio-economic pull and push factors. "Armed conflict can never be an excuse for the unlawful recruitment of children or their use in hostilities" Our research shows that the Myanmar military has, mostly forcibly, recruited children to meet recruitment targets both in fighting and support roles. Children among the poor and uneducated have been targeted with false threats of legal action, persuasive language and promises of salaries. Recruitment into armed opposition groups is driven by an equally complex set of factors: a desire to protect their community and immediate family from the Tatmadaw, revenge, and a desire to fight for the recognition of their ethnic identity and nationality. Whatever the reason children join armed groups in Myanmar, armed conflict can never be an excuse for the unlawful recruitment of children or their use in hostilities. The ceasefire agreements between the government and some armed groups could offer a new opportunity for the safe release of children, as well as opening up the prospect of protecting children from any future military association with these groups. However, the government's continuing refusal to grant access to certain areas of the country on grounds of national security has prevented UN engagement with these groups to conclude action plans, as well as independent monitoring and the safe release of children from their ranks. Earlier this month, Myanmar hosted the World Economic Forum on East Asia, with over a thousand participants from 55 countries marking in good measure the country's progress towards international engagement. At the inaugural speech, President Thein Sein reiterated his government was "working hard" to move from military rule to democracy, to end the multiple armed conflicts and to reform the economy. Now is the time for the government to start delivering on its commitments, and most of all to the children of Myanmar. Professionalizing the armed forces, strengthening its oversight mechanisms and progressing towards the resolution of the armed conflicts should all be significant opportunities to protect children from involvement in armed conflict. The action plan provides a framework for reforming the military and for allowing the UN and other humanitarian actors to engage with armed opposition groups with the view to release children. International pressure and assistance can play a part in this. But the Myanmar Government has to ensure that the commitments in the action plan are translated into effective practical measures to end underage recruitment in Myanmar. Richard Clarke is the director at Child Soldiers International Editor's note: At the author's request, Myanmar has been used in this article rather than Burma |
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