Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Burmese Muslims at ‘great risk’ of genocide, warn activists

Posted: 20 Aug 2013 05:40 AM PDT

The Burmese government has exhibited an "unacceptable measure of support" for a systematic campaign of violence against the country's Muslim minority, which could lead to genocide if left unchecked, a new report warned on Tuesday.

The study by the New York-based Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) documents "consistent" patterns of abuses against Burmese Muslims, including widespread Islamophobia and hate speech fuelled by government acquiescence and a culture of legal impunity, which could lead to mass atrocities.

"If these conditions go unaddressed, Burma may very well face countrywide violence on a catastrophic level, including potential crimes against humanity and/or genocide," warned the report.

One of its authors told DVB that Burma ticks the boxes for most, if not all, of the eight "warning" indicators drafted by the Office of the UN Special Adviser on the prevention of genocide—especially in Arakan state, where some 800,000 Rohingya Muslims have faced decades of repression. The list includes a history of discrimination and human rights violations, poor legal protections and a corrupt judiciary.

"It doesn't mean that [genocide] is going on, but that there's a great risk of it. [So] if these indicators are present, then actions should be taken to prevent it," said Bill Davis, a PHR Burma researcher. "We didn't invent this list; we're just calling it as we see it."

Describing the report as "credible, balanced, and important", Matthew Smith, Executive Director of Fortify Rights International, agreed that the issue must be addressed. "The sad reality is that it’s sensible to be discussing indicators of genocide. The goal here is to prevent something far worse from occurring, and that is far different from alleging genocide," he told DVB.

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Burma has been swept by a tide of religious riots since June last year, when Rohingya Muslims, who are denied citizenship by the government and heavily persecuted, clashed with Buddhists in Arakan state. An independent investigation carried out by Human Rights Watch (HRW) concluded that Burmese security forces had collaborated in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the minority.

Earlier this year, violence spilled across central Burma, resulting in the destruction of more than 10,000 homes, scores of mosques, and a dozen monasteries. PHR accused the government of allowing anti-Rohingya attitudes to "metastasise" into country-wide anti-Muslim sentiments by failing to protect victims or prosecute perpetrators, especially "at the higher level".

PHR also calls on the Burmese government to investigate reports that hard-line political figures may have colluded with organisers behind the violence—although it does not directly implicate anyone.

"I'm not saying [the government] caused it, but they certainly didn't act when they should have acted. You can look at the actions of the police, the actions of the military—they didn't stop the violence when it was going on," said Davis. "When people are killing each other in the street and police are just standing and watching, that's definitely a failure to protect."

In May, PHR published a report into a massacre of Muslim schoolchildren in Meiktila, central Burma, citing several eyewitness accounts, which suggest that police stood idly by as Muslims were slaughtered.

Tuesday's report also draws a link between Burma's ultra-nationalist "969" movement—which calls for Buddhists to boycott Muslim businesses—and several outbreaks of violence. One witness told PHR that one week before violence broke out in Meiktila, groups of Buddhists were going door-to-door handing out 969 stickers to "mark their homes so that they would not be targeted for burning".

"We certainly see associations between '969' stickers and '969' spray-painted on houses and where attacks occurred and where houses were protected, but it's harder to prove causality," said Davis. "I can't say that the '969' movement planned this, or targeted people, but they're certainly an anti-Muslim movement and they're certainly supporting hate speech."

The movement's most vocal proponent, the monk U Wirathu, is also known to have delivered inflammatory sermons in many of the areas shortly before they were attacked and reportedly described the massacre of Muslim children in Meiktila as a "show of strength".

The government has consistently denied responsibility for the violence and defended 969 as a peaceful movement. But activists say this could have a devastating impact on national reconciliation, as Burma continues to emerge from nearly five decades of military rule.

"The government cannot continue to dodge the issue of accountability for inter-religious violence, and hate speech that inspires and instigates it, and expect that this story is going to have a happy ending," said Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director for HRW.

Media law unresolved in Parliament

Posted: 20 Aug 2013 05:19 AM PDT

The ongoing debate in the Upper House of Parliament over a new media law is set to be handed over to the bicameral assembly or Pyidaungsu Hluttaw after representatives of the Interim Press Council (IPC) and the Ministry of Information (MOI) failed to resolve differences over three key articles.

According to an MOI statement released on Monday, 14 out of the 17 draft articles have been agreed between the IPC and the MOI. The three issues which remain unresolved relate to: the issuing of media licences; whether to maintain one central Press Council or whether to devolve powers to local levels; and the definition of what is in the "public interest".

IPC member Zaw Thet Htwe said he acknowledged the different points of view between the two groups, as well as among parliamentarians, and said that it would remain for legislators from both Houses of Parliament to make decisions on what will become law and what will be deleted.

"Whether we agree or not we have to respect and obey the decision of the MPs," he said.

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Meanwhile, a further draft law—the Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill—continues to be debated in the Upper House. MPs told DVB on Tuesday that one of the five proposed articles had been rejected by the IPC.

Submitted by the MOI in February, the proposed Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill has been heavily criticized by journalists and observers alike who said that the draft bill contains provisions that would allow for the imposition of authoritarian measures including censorship.

One of the disputed issues concerns draft article 7 which would dictate that media outlets refrain from publishing any statements that are "against and violate the provisions of the constitution and other legislation."

The draft law, including the Lower House's amendments, will now be passed to the Upper House for approval. If both bodies sign off on the bill, then the Union Parliament has the power to sign the legislation into law.

Once passed, the legislation will replace the draconian 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Act that was commonly utilized by the country's former military rulers to silence dissent and exert control over the fourth estate.

DVB reporters Aye Naing, Myo Zaw Lin, and Ko Htwe contributed to this story. 

87 Rohingyas escape from Thai detention centre

Posted: 20 Aug 2013 03:51 AM PDT

Dozens of Muslim Rohingya boat people from Burma escaped Tuesday from a Thai immigration centre, police said, as a rights group called for all of them to be freed from detention.

Some 87 Rohingya men broke out of the detention centre housing 137 asylum-seekers in Sadao, a southern district bordering Malaysia.

They were among nearly 2,000 Rohingya who have been held—some for many months—for entering Thailand illegally.

Local media reports said they punched a hole in the ceiling and climbed out using a rope made from their clothes.

Authorities are searching for the runaways and have rearrested two of them, according to Suwit Choensiri, a police commander in Songkhla province which includes Sadao.

“The reason for their escape is the pressure they are under after being detained for a long time with no idea of their future,” he added.

Many of the asylum-seekers have been locked up in the overcrowded and reportedly insanitary centre for several months.

Thousands of Muslim Rohingya boat people—including women and children—have fled Myanmar since Buddhist-Muslim clashes a year ago in its western state of Rakhine.

Those who arrived in Thailand have been “helped on” by the kingdom’s navy towards mainly Muslim Malaysia—their destination of choice—or detained as illegal immigrants.

Thailand initially said the asylum-seekers would be allowed to stay for six months while the government worked with the UN refugee agency UNHCR to try to find other countries willing to accept them.

But overseas help has not been forthcoming so far, leaving the refugees in limbo and separated from their families.

Thailand has discussed ways to address the issue, including sending the Rohingya to new camps on the border with Myanmar, but separate from their Buddhist compatriots to avoid any flashpoints.

But rights groups have called for their freedom, saying the Rohingya are being detained in cramped and unsanitary conditions and are vulnerable to exploitation.

“The Rohingya have fled horrific abuses in Burma that would put many at risk were they to return home,” according to Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch.

“Instead of sticking them in border camps or immigration lock-ups, the Thai government should consider allowing the Rohingya to remain, work, and live under temporary protection.”

Severe weather affecting rice fields across Burma

Posted: 20 Aug 2013 03:16 AM PDT

Thousands of acres of paddy fields have been severely affected this month with floods inundating crops in the Irrawaddy delta while a drought has hit Upper Burma.

According to Dr. Soe Tun, the chairman of the Myanmar Farmer Association, nearly 50,000 acres of paddy fields were destroyed by flooding and another 20,000 severely affected in Pyapon Township, one of the so-called "rice bowls" of the delta.

He said another 5,000 acres in Karen State and 1,000 acres in Mon State had also been either destroyed or inundated.

"We need to be very careful with these weather conditions," said Soe Tun. "Only seven million acres out of a possible 16 million are being cultivated this year due to a lack of loans."

The Myanmar Farmer Association confirmed it is now disturbing paddy seed and fertiliser so farmers in the affected regions can try sowing their fields again.

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Last year, Burma exported 1.4 million tons of rice. This year the Ministry of Agriculture & Irrigation said it expects that figure to reach between 2 and 3 million tons.

Dr. Myo Aung Kyaw of Myanmar Rice and Paddy Traders Association said that the seasonal effects on rice fields will not affect food sufficiency in the country.

"We need to develop the technological sector," he said. "While government support has improved, we still need more."

UN envoy faces protesters in Meikhtila

Posted: 20 Aug 2013 01:51 AM PDT

The UN's special rapporteur on human rights, Tomás Ojea Quintana, was met by a mob of protesters on Monday night as he arrived in Meikhtila, the central Burmese town that was the centre of deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims in March.

Travelling from Shan State, the UN envoy arrived in the Mandalay Division town around 10 pm where a group of around 100 residents had gathered to intercept him and present him with an open letter criticizing the UN's stance on Burma's Muslim issue.

"We protested on the bridge in the centre of the town," said Htein Min Khaing of the 88 Generation Students group. "After he met with local authorities we tried to pass an open letter to him, but he refused it. So, we blocked his path. Finally he accepted the letter."

The 88 Generation Students representative said that the open letter centred on two main points: that they "completely refuted" a report by the UN's Special Rapporteur relating to the human rights situation in Burma; and that they also refused to accept a proposal by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging the Burmese government to offer citizenship to members of the Rohingya community.

Htein Min Khaing said the group refused to negotiate on the matter of the 1982 Citizenship Law and maintained that the Rohingya were not and never have been one of the 135 ethnic groups of Burma. He said the group denounced Ban Ki-moon for sending a "biased" Quintana to report on the issue.

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Demonstrators also protested against the visit of Tomas Ojea Quintana, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma when he visited Arakan state on 12 August 2013. (Reuters)

Demonstrators also protested against the visit of Tomas Ojea Quintana, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma when he visited Arakan state on 12 August 2013. (Reuters)

Due to his late arrival time in Meikhtila, Quintana was unable to proceed to temporary refugee camps where victims of May's communal violence—mostly Muslims, though not members of the Rohingya community—are currently sheltering.

Quintana is no stranger to demonstrations on this trip. During his visit to Arakan state, Buddhist demonstrators chanted and held banners accusing the UN envoy of backing the region's Muslim population.

The UN envoy ends his mission on Wednesday and is scheduled to hold a press conference at Rangoon International Airport to present his preliminary observations; his full report is due to be presented to the UN General Assembly on October 24, according to a United Nations press release.

Rangoon property boom squeezes out low-income workers

Posted: 19 Aug 2013 10:45 PM PDT

As Burma's economy begins its slow path to revival, one sector is already booming: the property market.

As the price of land skyrockets, many people find their incomes are not high enough to pay for respectable accommodation. The many migrant workers in Rangoon are among those who are hardest hit.

Moe Moe has brought her family to Rangoon from a village near the Irrawaddy delta. After 13 years in Rangoon she still lives in a slum outside the city borders.

"Even a really small plot of land here costs more than 100,000 kyat," she told DVB. "How can we afford that? We sleep together and do everything together in a very small space. It is a real hardship for us here."

The busy streets in downtown Rangoon are a draw for migrants like Moe Moe who come here to seek a better life, often fleeing persecution.

Even those who have managed the transition into the formal rental market live under difficult conditions. In the sprawling, low-rise housing estates that surround Rangoon, there are often several families to each dwelling.

"There is not really enough space for all of us," said migrant worker Daw Lwin. "We huddle up close together. We share the apartment with my sister's family, and our living situation is very crowded."

Other cities in Asia have struggled for decades with the same issues, turning many of the largest cities into concrete jungles.

Urban planners say Rangoon needs to build up to 200,000 apartments to cope with the backlog of the population growth, yet only a tenth of this is actually being built.

Toe Aung from Rangoon’s Department of Human Settlement says there are projects underway that may one day make a difference.

"Our initial affordable housing project is expected to yield over 4,000 rooms, however there are 26,000 families moving in every year and there is not enough space," he said. "Other countries have built skyscrapers, but we are reluctant to do that because of the high cost. Instead, we plan to expand the size of the city to open up more land for development."
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