Thursday, August 29, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Opening of Overland Border Gates Could Boost Burma Tourism, Investment

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 05:48 AM PDT

The Tachileik-Mae Sai border crossing between Burma and Thailand. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — As of Wednesday, foreign visitors with Burmese visas are allowed to enter and leave Burma overland through four gates along its eastern border with Thailand.

Officials and ethnic representatives said the decision would boost the tourism industry and facilitate foreign investment in ethnic areas and the rest of Burma.

The decision to open up international road travel ends decades-long restrictions introduced by Burma's previous military government, which was wary of foreign visitors and wanted to limit access to the conflict-ridden ethnic areas along the border.

Foreign nationals can now enter and exit Burma at Tachileik-Mae Sai and Myawaddy-Mae Sot border gates, at the recently-opened crossing Htee Khee-Sunaron and through the Kawthaung-Ranong gate, located at Burma's most southern point, the Ministry of Immigration and Population announced on Tuesday.

Travelers passing through these gates are allowed to leave via international airports in Rangoon, Naypyidaw and Mandalay, the ministry said, adding that visa on arrival is not available at the border gates.

Minister of Hotels and Tourism Htay Aung reportedly attended an official ceremony at Myawaddy-Mae Sot border crossing on Wednesday to mark its opening for foreign visitors.

The decision is the result of a bilateral agreement between the Burmese and Thai governments, the Tourism Ministry said. Prior to the agreement, visitors were only allowed to travel to Burma by air. One-day visits were possible at three gates, while foreigners could also gain permission to travel for one week in Burma's Shan State, if they stayed in the vicinity of Tachileik.

Hla Maung Shwe, a presidential advisor at the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center, said the decision was made possible by the progress in Burma's peace process.

"This opening of the border crossings is the fruit of the peace process that we are working on in our country," he told The Irrawaddy. "Those who enter the country through these gates, they can go out again at any other gate. There are no restrictions," he said, adding that the move would help boost tourist visits to areas that were hard to reach before and support local livelihoods in ethnic regions.

More than a dozen armed ethnic groups have been fighting decades-long rebellions against Burma's central government in the mountainous, forested border regions, in order to gain political autonomy and respect for basic human rights.

President Thein Sein's nominally-civilian, reformist government has reached ceasefire agreements with most groups in the past year and peace talks are ongoing.

Karen, Karenni, Mon and Shan groups in ethnic areas along Burma's eastern border with Thailand were left impoverished by conflict and isolation. Some ethnic leaders and businesses there said they hoped their region would now benefit economically from an increase in overland tourist and business travelers.

New Mon State Party executive committee member Nai Tala Nyi said the opening of the Myawaddy-Mae Sot crossing to international visitors could boost tourist business in the Mon State capital Moulmein, which is located on one the main roads leading to Rangoon from the border gate.

"It is good for all people that they can travel from the border to here [Moulmein]. I hope it will have good impact for the local people," he said.

"I feel our Mon people will get similar benefits to the Thai people, who gain good income from tourism industry, if more visitors come to our Mon State," said Kaung Sein, managing director at Mon Thanakorn Company.

The relaxing of overland travel restrictions would also help the growing number of Thai firms coming to Burma, according to Kaung Sein, whose Moulmein-based firm assists Thai businesses looking to invest in the Daiwei deep-sea port and industrial zone in Mon State.

"As the border opens, there will be more foreign investment," he said, Then, our migrants workers who are in Thailand, they can come back to work in their own land."

A Story of Resistance

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 05:44 AM PDT

"The Face of Resistance: Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Fight for Freedom" went on sale in the Myanmar Book Center in Rangoon on Thursday. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspirational symbol of resistance and courage in Burma. But can she mend the deep divisions in Burmese society and among factions in the democracy movement, before elections scheduled for 2015?

Irrawaddy editor-in-chief Aung Zaw explores this and other timely questions in a new book titled "The Face of Resistance: Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Fight for Freedom," drawing on his long experience as a journalist and former exile.

In engaging and accessible style, the book explores Burma's resistance movement over the last 25 years, highlighting key members of the National League for Democracy, prominent activists involved in the 1988 uprising, ethnic leaders, social activists, and the next generation of democracy leaders.

The book also explores the background of President Thein Sein and poses questions about the current reform process.

"The Face of Resistance: Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Fight for Freedom," is dedicated to all political prisoners in Burma.

The book is published by Mekong Press and is now on sale for US$19 at the Myanmar Book Center shops located on Rangoon's Baho Street, Merchant Street, in Taw Win Center and Dagon Complex Shopping Mall, and in Mandalay's Diamond Plaza.

It will also be available for sale in bookshops in Thailand and the region. The University of Washington Press will distribute the book in the United States in October.

Singapore’s Fraser & Neave Says in Beer Spat With Burma Partner

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 05:03 AM PDT

Singapore-based Fraser and Neave has a 55-percent stake in Myanmar Brewery, maker of the lager billed as the "real taste of Myanmar." (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

SINGAPORE — Singapore property and drinks conglomerate Fraser and Neave said on Thursday its joint venture partner, which is run by Burma's military, plans to start arbitration proceedings over the company's stake in Myanmar Brewery.

The brewery represents only a small part of F&N's business but losing its stake would mean being shut out of one of Asia's fastest growing beer markets. In a May earnings briefing, F&N said its Burma beer business had recorded double-digit growth from a year earlier.

F&N, which is controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, currently holds 55 percent of Myanmar Brewery while Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL) holds the remaining 45 percent.

In a statement, F&N said the Burmese company was trying to obtain its share in the brewery by citing a joint venture agreement. MEHL officials could not be reached for comment.

"The company maintains that there is no basis for MEHL to give that notice. The company has engaged lawyers and intends to vigorously resist the claim," the F&N statement said.

Myanmar Brewery, which manufactures beer brands such as Myanmar Beer, Myanmar Double Strong and Andaman Gold, is estimated to have an 83 percent share of Burma's growing beer market by volume, F&N said in a recent presentation.

"Myanmar Brewery is important to F&N because of the emerging market exposure, the growth story for Myanmar is pretty strong and they are the dominant brewer," said Jit Soon Lim, head of Southeast Asia equity research at Nomura.

F&N said on Tuesday it would list shares in its property arm, Frasers Centrepoint, on the Singapore Exchange this year. F&N will keep the food and beverage as well as the publishing and printing businesses.

Activist Naw Ohn Hla Jailed 2 Years for Letpadaung Protest

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 04:40 AM PDT

Police are seen forcibly breaking up a demonstration of about 150 people in the town of Monywa, Sagaing Division, on Tuesday. (Photo: Monywa Student Union / Facebook)

MANDALAY — A court in Monywa, Sagaing Division, on Thursday sentenced activist Naw Ohn Hla to two years in prison with hard labor for disturbing public tranquility at a peaceful protest that police broke up with force earlier this month.

"She's been sentenced under Section 505[b] only, for which she has to serve two years' imprisonment with hard labor. She still remains to be tried under Section 18," said Kyu Inn, a township police officer in Monywa.

The trial of Naw Ohn Hla began on Tuesday, with prosecutors charging the female activist with two counts, including violation of Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Act for allegedly organizing an unauthorized gathering. Thursday's verdict under Section 505(b) of the Burmese Penal Code found the activist guilty of "intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility."

Naw Ohn Hla's lawyer denounced the verdict on Thursday.

"I just want to say that sentencing her within two to three days did not provide enough time to defend her. It shouldn't be like that because the [prosecutors'] charges under 505[b] did not reflect the actions of the accused and it's become controversial," her lawyer Robert San Aung said.

Naw Ohn Hla remains in detention at the Monywa prison, where she will await a separate verdict on her alleged violation of the Peaceful Assembly Act. She did not appear in court to hear Thursday's verdict, with the activist boycotting her own trial because "she does not have faith in the judicial system," her Robert San Aung told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

The activist and nine other protesters, all women, were forcibly arrested by police on Aug. 13 near the controversial Letpaduang copper mine, where they were calling for suspension of the mining project. The mining venture has led to frequent demonstrations over the last year by local community members who say they have been forced off their lands by a project that is harming the environment.

"Judging from the fact that the court has sentenced her so quickly, it is very clear that the authorities want her to be in prison," said Han Win Aung, a colleague of Naw Ohn Hla who has also spoken out in support of farmers near the Letpadaung mine. "I think this was planned from the beginning."

Naw Ohn Hla is a former member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party. She led prayer services for democracy activists hoping for the freedom of Suu Kyi while the NLD chairwoman was under house arrest. Naw Ohn Hla has been imprisoned more than seven times since 1989 for her NLD links and her efforts to free political prisoners and assist Buddhist monks during the 2007 uprising known as the Saffron Revolution.

Earlier this year, she was imprisoned for participating in a protest march in Rangoon, also under charges of violating the Peaceful Assembly Act. She was released from prison in May under a presidential amnesty.

Additional reporting by Irrawaddy reporter Sanay Lin

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UNFC, Govt to Discuss Nationwide Ceasefire

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 04:26 AM PDT

Members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) speak during a meeting at the Thai-Burma border last year. (Photo: phophtaw.org)

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – A nationwide ceasefire is among topics to be discussed during a meeting between the Burmese government and the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) in early September, members of the council say.

The UNFC, a major ethnic alliance group, also plans to discuss the possibility of drafting a new Constitution, rather than amending the current one, according to Dr. Khin Maung, deputy chairman of the Arakan National Council (ANC), which is part of the UNFC.

The planned meeting with the government's Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC) will reportedly be held in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai on Sept. 7 or Sept. 8.

"This meeting will be like a pre-negotiation between the government and ethnic leaders for a political framework" said Hla Maung Shwe from the Myanmar Peace Center in Rangoon, who led a government technical team that consulted with UNFC representatives in Chiang Mai on Tuesday. "It is likely that Minister Aung Min will officially receive the UNFC's framework in the meeting."

Hla Maung Shwe added that the signing of a nationwide peace accord would be discussed during the September meeting, as part of the government's plan to end decades of civil wars with ethnic rebel groups.

The consultation meeting on Tuesday covered a number of issues, with an emphasis on discussion topics for the September meeting, says Khin Maung, who led the UNFC team.

"We also talked about our opinion of the president's statement regarding a nationwide ceasefire and the UNFC's six-point roadmap to further peace among ethnic groups," he said.

Painting With Precision

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 04:11 AM PDT

A Burmese woman in British colonial era fashion talks on a mobile phone while sitting beside a lacquerware food container and a traditional parasol, in this painting by Burmese artist Min Mahaw Moe. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — His paintings are generically still lifes, but to be more accurate, they are photorealist. And if you say they look like photos, Min Mahaw Moe won't deny it.

"I love how things really look, so I paint them just the way they are," the 38-year-old says.

When Min Mahaw Moe undertakes a new project, he painstakingly works for several days with acrylic paint to depict every detail of his subject. The final result is a reflective and clean still life that leaves viewers wondering whether the artist used a paintbrush or a camera.

The super-realist style has been Min Mahaw Moe's preference since the early 2000s, when he first saw paintings by Richard Estes, an American artist known as a founder of the international photorealist movement of the late 1960s. But Estes' focus on cities and geometric landscapes did not appeal as much as his style to the Burmese graduate of the State School of Fine Arts (Rangoon).

"I'm more interested in subjects that we rarely see in our daily lives," he said. "When I paint still lifes, I can manipulate the composition in a way I like."

With an interest in antiques, he chooses subjects that range from violins to film cameras dating back nearly 50 years. Figures in his still-life paintings are women in traditional dress from the British colonial era.

Is he satisfied with his work thus far?

"No," the Rangoon-native artist says. "My paintings can still be differentiated from photographs. I want something more, beyond that."

Memo to Suu Kyi: There’s No ‘I’ in Democracy

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 03:57 AM PDT

Let's think ahead and imagine a political scenario for Burma in 2015: The election is free and fair, and Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), wins by a landslide for more seats in the legislature, but the Constitution has yet to be amended, barring Suu Kyi herself from the presidency. Under these circumstances, who else from her party could take the lead?

At the moment, there seems to be no qualified candidate.

The election in 2015 could have far greater ramifications for Burma's future than the previous election in 2010. But that will depend on whether the main political parties, especially the biggest opposition party, the NLD, can move forward from their old ways and groom other leaders for the country's top political position.

"In my view, the NLD's main strength is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi herself. The obvious weakness of the party is the fact that it hasn't reformed well and systematically," says Dr Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst who was detained after taking part in the 1988 pro-democracy protests and now writes regularly for local publications.

It's high time, he says, for the Nobel Peace laureate to "focus on institutionalizing the party for future generations," preparing other members for the 2015 election and beyond.

Kyaw Zwa Moe is editor (English Edition) of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at kyawzwa@irrawaddy.org.

Suu Kyi's decision to contest a seat in last year's parliamentary by-elections may not have been the best strategy, he adds, because her legislative duties are time consuming. "Since she entered Parliament, reforms in her party have been very weak," he says.

Another political analyst, Ko Wa, also known as Ye Naing Aung, agrees.

"I don't mean that her current strategy is wrong," he says. "I suppose, however, that it would be better for the NLD—and for the country—if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi placed more of an emphasis on party reform, and if she negotiated and collaborated with other political forces."

Ko Wa was a leading member of the Democratic Party for a New Society, which was formed after the 1988 uprising, and he was later imprisoned for his activism. His commentaries are regularly published in several journals in Rangoon.

He says that the NLD and other opposition parties currently lack a common strategy for 2015, with disagreement over whether it would be better to amend the Constitution quickly, before the election, or to wait and tackle amendments afterward. "We need to have our own political roadmap," he says.

Yan Myo Thein agrees that the NLD and other opposition parties lack a sense of unity, which he says is stronger among ethnic parties. "The NLD should take a leadership role among all allied parties," he says. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should lead the formation of an allied association with all democratic forces."

Calls for a common political roadmap are commonly heard in the circle of Burmese political activists and analysts these days. But rather than unifying opposition forces and grooming future leaders, it seems that Suu Kyi's strategy has been to focus on building her own personal ties with current leaders in the government, Parliament and the military. She has attempted to make friends with the big players in Naypyidaw, apparently hoping that gaining their trust could pave the way for constitutional amendments that would make her eligible for the presidency or vice presidency.

Many agree that confidence building between the opposition and current military and ex-military leaders is important for national reconciliation. But in recent days, Suu Kyi has been quietly criticized for her lack of collaboration with other democratic forces, including ethnic parties.

It is still relatively taboo to disparage the democracy icon in the world of Burmese politics, but many observers believe that the time has come to be more critical of her political strategy—as the next election is only about 30 months away.

She may or may not get a chance to become president. But either way, says Yan Myo Thein, by taking a look at her party and working to train other leaders, Suu Kyi can and should "leave the legacy of a robust political institution for future generations."

UN Adviser Pledges Support to Kachin IDPs in Landmark Laiza Visit

Posted: 29 Aug 2013 03:51 AM PDT

A meeting between the UN's special adviser on Burma, Vijay Nambiar, and Kachin community leaders is seen in progress on May 29, 2013, in Myitkyina. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy)

In his first-ever visit to the Kachin rebel stronghold of Laiza, the UN special adviser on Burma told those displaced by war there that he would continue to support them, more than two years after a ceasefire between ethnic rebels and the government broke down, unleashing intermittent fighting that has displaced tens of thousands.

Vijay Nambiar made the assurance on a visit to two internally displaced persons (IDP) camps—at Jeyang and Woichyai, both of which are in territory controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) near its headquarters, the border town of Laiza. About 60,000 IDPs have taken shelter in Laiza since a 17-year ceasefire collapsed in June 2011.

"Vijay Nambiar said that he would try his best to keep supporting the Kachin [IDPs]. He won't leave them to suffer alone," said Sang Aung, a peace broker for the KIO who accompanied Nambiar to Laiza.

"He [Nambiar] also asked the refugees whether they wanted to return home. The refugees told him that they all wanted to return home, but they dared not return at this moment because they feel unsafe," Sang Aung added.

During his two-day trip to Kachin State, the UN envoy met with KIO officials at both the KIO's liaison office in the state capital Myitkyina and at the rebels' Laiza headquarters. The envoy arrived in Myitkyina on Tuesday and left from the capital on Thursday. He also met with the KIO's technical team for peace negotiations during his time in Myitkyina.

According to Sang Aung, the UN envoy also said he was pleased that the KIO showed a willingness to engage in the peace process with the Burmese government.

Nambiar participated in a landmark meeting between KIO leaders and the government's peace team in Myitkyina in late May, when the two parties signed a seven-point agreement in which both sides said they would "undertake efforts to achieve de-escalation and cessation of hostilities" and to "continue discussions on military matters related to repositioning of troops."

"He [Nambiar] came to observe the situation in the field. The refugees asked him to help in achieving peace in Kachin State. I think it [Nambiar's visit] was a good move," Sang Aung said.

He also said Nambiar would likely be invited to attend another meeting between KIO leaders and a Burmese government delegation led by Aung Min, a President's Office minister who is the government's chief peace negotiator, in Naypyidaw.

The next round of peace talks is likely to be held in September after the KIO's technical team and their government counterparts agree on a date and venue for the meeting.

The armed conflict between government troops and the KIO's militant wing, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), has displaced about 100,000 Kachin civilians in both KIO-held regions and government-controlled territories.

KIO leaders and Union negotiators have met several times for peace talks since the nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein took office, but the two sides have yet to re-establish a ceasefire agreement.

Nambiar's visit came a week after his UN colleague Tomás Ojea Quintana, the UN's human rights envoy to Burma, was prevented from traveling to Laiza by the state and central governments. That denial, and similar problems faced by UN humanitarian aid convoys, drew a rebuke from Quintana last week.

"This pattern of denying access, not only to address humanitarian shortcomings but also serious human rights concerns, needs to change immediately," he said on Aug. 21 during a press conference at the conclusion of his 11-day visit to Burma.

Only one UN aid convoy has managed to access KIO-controlled territory since July of last year, a situation that Quintana called "extremely concerning, particularly with regard to food security."

Additional reporting by Irrawaddy reporter Andrew D. Kaspar.

Taking the Pulse of Burma’s Bean Business

Posted: 28 Aug 2013 10:48 PM PDT

Traders chat after the morning's beans and pulses buying session at Bayintnaung commodities exchange (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

Traders chat after the morning’s beans and pulses buying session at Bayintnaung commodities exchange (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Each morning the floor of the Bayintnaung commodity exchange center in northern Rangoon is jammed with traders and middlemen and buyers looking for the latest prices and deals for some of Burma’s agricultural produce.

Famously Burma was once the world’s biggest rice exporter, a position long-lost due to the decades of economic mismanagement under the country’s socialist rule and military dictatorship. The government has high-profile ambitions to retake that top spot, but here at the Bayintnaung exhange, the trade is mostly in matpe and mung bean and chickpea.

These beans and pulses might be lower-profile than their rice counterpart, but are nonetheless a vital cash crop for some of the tens of millions of Burmese dependent on agriculture. "Many people are often surprised to hear that farmers make more money growing beans and pulses than they do from rice," says Dr Myint Oo, who sits on the commodity exchange’s executive committee.

Beans and pulses are an export commodity, with almost three-quarters of the 1.9 million tons of exports going to India – partly a legacy of British rule in both countries, which saw Burma grow beans and pulses to service the Indian market. "We export to 52 countries in all," Myint Oo told The Irrawaddy. "But of course India is by far the most important."

Various estimates put India’s vegetarians at between 20 and 40 per cent of the country’s 1.2 billion population, hundreds of millions of people who eat protein-laden beans and pulses rather than meat.

But to sell more to India, which imports between three and four million tons of beans and pulses each year, as well as to get a foothold in the newly-opened Western markets, the Burmese beans and pulses sector must first deal with some of the same internal infrastructural challenges faced by rice growers and traders.

"Some of the main growing areas are so far from here. In some cases it can take two or three days to send a truck down from upper Burma," Myat Soe, a beans and pulses trader, told The Irrawaddy.

Poor roads mean smaller trucks, and that in turn sends costs up. "For example it costs on average US$1.50 to send a 50 kilo bag of pulses from Shan State to Yangon," he says. "It is cheaper to ship from here to Singapore or Malaysia," he laments.

Sending agricultural produce by river – usually cheaper than by road, as larger consignments can be sent – is often not an option. "Most of the vessels in Myanmar are too old or too small," says Myat Soe. "That is another area that needs to change."

Making better use of Burma’s rivers, such as the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin, is something the country’s Transport Ministry says it is working on. "Usually rivers are the cheapest and most effective transport mode," says Thaung Lwin, Director of the Ministry’s Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems. "But in the dry season, the water in the Irrawaddy is usually too low to allow big vessels to pass," he said.

Though population statistics are elusive in Burma – the last census was three decades ago – Myat Soe reckons that around 10 million Burmese are tied to the beans and pulses trade – most of them farmers and their families.

But over recent decades, those millions have had to make do with little by way of subsidy from a government that typically allocated around a quarter of its annual budget to the military and continues to sanction land grabs against farmers to facilitate mining or factory construction.

An ossified banking system and the absence of the micro-financing and technological improvements that boosted agricultural production in neighboring countries have meant additional challenges for Burma’s farmers, millions of whom have to manage without running water or electricity.

Most of the farms where beans and pulses are grown are small – one or two hectare holdings – and Burma’s beans and pulses sector does not feature the sort of large-scale agribusinesses that can afford to buy in better seeds and technology.

According to a recent report on the beans and pulses sector by Thura Swiss, an absence of research and development inhibits the quality of beans and pulses grown. "Farmers often resort to mixed or inferior quality seeds as high quality seeds are either unavailable or inaccessible because of their high prices," the report said.

"We would like to see some financial support from the government, and from the donor countries, especially for seed purchase," says Myint Oo. "The farmers don’t have money for better seeds and they need financial support."

Japan Upgrades Nuclear Plant Leak to ‘Serious’

Posted: 28 Aug 2013 10:44 PM PDT

Earthquake and Tsunami damage-Dai Ichi Power Plant, Japan

The Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

TOKYO — Japan’s nuclear regulator on Wednesday upgraded the rating of a leak of radiation-contaminated water from a tank at its tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant to a "serious incident" on an international scale, and it castigated the plant operator for failing to catch the problem earlier.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority’s latest criticism of Tokyo Electric Power Co. came a day after the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant acknowledged that the 300-ton (300,000-liter) leak probably began nearly a month and a half before it was discovered Aug. 19.

In a meeting with agency officials and experts Tuesday night, TEPCO said radioactivity near the leaky tank and exposure levels among patrolling staff started to increase in early July. There is no sign that anyone tried to find the source of that radioactivity before the leak was discovered.

On Wednesday, regulatory officials said TEPCO has repeatedly ignored their instructions to improve their patrolling procedures to reduce the risk of overlooking leakages. They said TEPCO lacked expertise and also underestimated potential impact of the leak because underground water is shallower around the tank than the company initially told regulators.

"Their instructions, written or verbal, have never been observed," Toyoshi Fuketa, a regulatory commissioner, said at the agency’s weekly meeting Wednesday.

TEPCO acknowledged recently that only two workers were assigned to check all 1,000 storage tanks at the plant during their twice-daily, two-hour walk without carrying dosimeters, and their inspection results were not adequately recorded. TEPCO said it will increase patrolling staff to 50 from the current eight.

Earlier this week, Japan’s industry minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, said the government will take over cleanup efforts and allocate funding for long-term contaminated water management projects.

The nuclear authority originally gave a Level 1 preliminary rating — an "anomaly," to the tank leak. Last week the authority proposed raising that to Level 3 — a "serious incident" — and it made that change after consulting with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The IAEA’s ratings are designed to inform the international community, and changing them does not affect efforts to clean up the leak by the government and TEPCO. The 2011 Fukushima disaster itself was rated the maximum of 7 on the scale, the same as the 1986 Chernobyl accident.

"What’s important is not the number itself but to give a basic idea about the extent of the problem," authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka said at a news conference after the agency’s meeting. "I’ve seen reports that this is a dire situation but that’s not true."

Tanaka said there is a much larger ongoing problem at the plant: massive amounts of contaminated ground water reaching the sea. But that problem cannot even be rated under the IAEA’s International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale because it is unknown exactly how much ground water is escaping, how contaminated it is and what effect it is having on the sea and marine products.

Tanaka said TEPCO’s handling of the water leaks was slow, illogical and lacked risk management. TEPCO has yet to determine the cause of the latest leak.

"I’m baffled," he said. "It may take time to stabilize the plant but we must put it on a right track."

TEPCO has recovered some of the water that leaked from the tank but says some of it may have reached the sea through a rainwater gutter. It says most of the leakage is believed to have seeped into the soil, triggering fresh concern of further contamination of underground water downstream.

TEPCO has built hundreds of tanks to hold radioactive water, some of which is ground water that made its way to the plant, but hundreds more tons of contaminated water are believed to be entering the sea each day.

The plant suffered triple meltdowns after the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. TEPCO is putting tons of water into its reactors to cool them and is struggling to contain the resulting waste water.

Asylum Seekers Threaten to Sink Australian Govt in Election

Posted: 28 Aug 2013 10:34 PM PDT

Vietnam born Thi Duc Diep talks during an interview at her fabrics shop in Cabramatta, western Sydney, on Aug. 22, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Daniel Munoz)

Vietnam born Thi Duc Diep talks during an interview at her fabrics shop in Cabramatta, western Sydney, on Aug. 22, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Daniel Munoz)

BLACKTOWN, Australia — Australian Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare crouches uncomfortably in a suit on the canvas of a youth boxing ring in Sydney's hardscrabble Western Suburbs, shaping up for the election fight of his life.

Clare, in charge of a border circling 12 million square kilometers of ocean, has the unenviable job of stopping thousands of asylum seekers arriving by boat in Australia, an issue threatening to bring down Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Labor government at elections just two weeks away.

"People are drowning to get here. It opens up old scars. People say 'please stop more people drowning,'" says the campaigning Clare, whose wife is from a Vietnamese family who risked their lives to reach Australia following the 1975 fall of Saigon.

Clare grew up in the Western Suburbs, far away from Sydney's glittering harbor and affluent eastern beachsides, in an area long thought to be a center-left Labor heartland of blue-collar jobs and traditional manufacturing.

But his humanitarian reasoning does not go far in explaining why Rudd's minority government is struggling here to avert a Sept. 7 poll rout, with surveys tipping the loss of six election-turning seats, some held for 70 years.

In this traffic-choked home to two million, a crucible of Australian multiculturalism where many are new migrants, soaring living costs, groaning infrastructure and disappearing jobs have badly hurt Labor, along with crime and drive-by shootings helping to fuel feelings of insecurity.

And as voters lose faith in Rudd's pledge to improve lives through better transport, health and education, they have also grown resentful of new boat people seen as potential security threats, immigration queue jumpers and rivals for jobs.

"The issue plays out in every single possible way. Rumors go around about them getting $50,000 for a car, or welfare, or whatever. The refugees are an easy people to blame," says local Labor MP Julie Owens.

Political Thorn

Immigration has been a political thorn in Australia since its colonial settlement, but more so since the post-World War II arrival of more than 100,000 non-English speaking Europeans under a government strategy to "populate or perish."

In a nation then seeing itself as culturally nearer to Europe than Asia, a wave of Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants fleeing conflict through the 1970s and '80s also stirred unease.

But when the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States brought increased border protection globally, asylum worries in Australia were shaped into a political spear, helping conservative Prime Minister John Howard return to power that year with a promise of uncompromising security.

Now, with instability in Afghanistan, Syria and Iran driving refugee numbers globally to near a 20-year high of 45.2 million, asylum boats are again coloring the election race, up with bread and butter issues like the economy and education.

Since Labor swept away Howard's conservatives six years ago, more than 50,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia, stoking a voter backlash so visceral that Rudd in July promised no one arriving by boat would be permanently settled, being instead sent to live in neighboring Papua New Guinea or Nauru.

Canberra's approach contrasts with moves by key ally the United States to offer a pathway to citizenship for many of its 11 million illegal immigrants, although European countries have also hardened immigration rules amid global financial woes.

But while Australia's policy—matching opposition promises of tougher immigration rules—was criticized by the United Nations, political pundits say it could neutralize an issue threatening to send Labor into opposition for a generation.

Australia for Freedom

In the My Hung fabric shop in Sydney's Cabramatta, an area dubbed "little Saigon" with its myriad noodle shops and migrant families from Vietnam and Cambodia, Thi Duc Diep underscores the problems facing Rudd on Labor's Sydney "Western Front."

Located in one of 10 marginal seats held by the government and at risk of loss, almost six in 10 people here were born overseas and average income of $1,030 a week is well short of the national figure, while 10 percent unemployment is roughly double the national average.

Greater Sydney, home to 4.6 million people, is not only one of the most expensive cities to buy property, with home prices soaring 6.1 percent this year to a median $640,000, but surveys put it near Zurich and Geneva as one of the least affordable places to live, a fifth more expensive than New York.

Diep fled Saigon by boat in 1978, and like many other overseas-born Australian voters now has a deep antipathy to asylum seekers, who she believes are fleeing for largely economic reasons and the promise of generous welfare.

"We came here for freedom. We worked hard to be honest," the bespectacled 53-year-old says. "I don't want people who don't want to go to work. They shouldn't just take the unemployment benefits."

Along with asylum, Diep blames the soaring cost of living and new carbon taxes championed by Rudd for undermining the $1.5 trillion economy, reflected now in gloomy business confidence and fears of the first recession for 22 years as a China-led resource export boom fades.

In an alley around the corner, cafe owner and swing voter Eddie Nguyen also wants Labor out, and says many of his customers are hoping to see conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott become prime minister.

"I think Australia's government should have strong rules, a strong commitment to protect Australians," says Nguyen, who spent three years in a refugee camp in Indonesia before being accepted as a refugee to Australia in 1987.

"I don't agree with people going direct to the country like this. It's like your family, someone knocks on your door and says I want to come into your house, and you have to accept them. That's just not right. You have to go somewhere and wait until somebody accepts you."

Land of Gold and Honey

Pollster John Scales of JWS Research says much of the anger being directed against Labor has its roots in a kind of racist-tinged envy, with migrant voters worried that new boat arrivals from other countries will lessen their chances of bringing more family members to Australia.

Australia's population growth to near 23 million was driven mostly by a doubling in net migration in eight years, from around 120,000 to around 240,000, helping fill mining jobs but bringing fresh problems.

"Once you get here, it's not the land of gold and honey. Asylum seekers are where frustration gets vented," Scales says. "It's a different sort of racism to standard Australian Anglo-Saxon racism. But it's still racism."

Labor MP Michelle Rowland, whose Sydney seat of Greenway is one of the most precariously balanced, says Labor is in difficulty because Western Sydney has become increasingly frustrated and ambitious.

Not helping, she says, has been a front page campaign against Labor by billionaire media owner Rupert Murdoch's newspapers, which have been particularly critical of asylum policy switches under Labor.

"When you're sitting in a traffic jam on the motorway or waiting for a train that never comes, it's easy to think about the taxes you've paid and the benefits others might get," Rowland says. "Asylum is right up there."

Abbott, mindful of the simmering mood for change, has made Western Sydney a top priority, visiting often with a promise of tougher asylum seeker laws, which he says will reduce hundreds of boats arriving now to a trickle, and to reinvigorate economic confidence by scrapping carbon taxes and building new roads.

"We will build the roads of the 21st century and we will stop the boats," he told journalists on a recent swing through the area.

"The message that I give to the people of Australia and to the people of Western Sydney is that if you want a new way, you've got to choose a new government."

EU Lawmakers Criticize Laos on Missing Activist

Posted: 28 Aug 2013 10:27 PM PDT

Sombath Somphone, far left, stands with other winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards in Manila on Aug. 31, 2005. (Photo: Reuters)

Sombath Somphone, far left, stands with other winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards in Manila on Aug. 31, 2005. (Photo: Reuters)

BANGKOK — A team of European lawmakers on Wednesday criticized the Lao government's failure to accept international help in solving the mysterious disappearance of a prominent social activist eight months ago.

Sombath Somphone was last seen in closed-circuit video footage when he was stopped at a police checkpoint in the Lao capital of Vientiane on Dec. 15. The government of the Southeast Asian country denies knowledge of his fate.

Speaking to reporters in Bangkok, the capital of neighboring Thailand, lawmaker Soren Bo Sondergaard of Denmark denounced Laos' refusal of international assistance to interpret the footage.

He also accused government officials of telling "ridiculous lies" by suggesting that the person in the video might not be Sombath.

"We have to say, based on our experience in the last few days, that what the regime has done to investigate this is not sufficient," Sondergaard said after the delegation's three-day visit to Laos.

"Every day spent without giving any acceptable answers to this very serious and symbolic case … is very damaging to the international image of Laos," the delegation said in a statement.

A spokesman for Laos' Foreign Ministry did not respond to calls or emails seeking comment.

The case has put a rare spotlight on the authoritarian nation's murky governance and human rights record. Laos remains one of the most politically repressive countries in Asia, even as it makes a transition from communism to a more open market economy.

Laos' government is intolerant of dissent, but associates say Sombath's work was neither directly political nor confrontational. Educated in the United States, he won one of Asia's top civil awards in 2005 for his work reducing poverty and promoting education at a training center he founded.
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