The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Govt Rejects UN Calls for Rohingya Citizenship
• Burma and Russia to Increase Military Cooperation
• Rangoon’s Street Food Attracts Diners, But It May Not Be Clean
• Kachin Clashes Leave IDPs out in the Cold
• Hope Springs From Heartbreak in Drug-Plagued Kachin
• Rangoon Court Sentences 6 More Activists Under Peaceful Assembly Law
• Lawmakers Allotted $5,000 Each for Local Development Projects
• Burma Oil Terminal Faces Fallout From Yunnan Protests
• Indonesia Says It Has ‘Downgraded’ Aussie Relations
• Talking Up Burma’s Reforms
• Maoist Party in Nepal Rejects Elections
• Bangladesh Makes ‘Exceptional’ Health Progress Despite Poverty

Govt Rejects UN Calls for Rohingya Citizenship Posted: 21 Nov 2013 04:56 AM PST An armed policeman observes a scene at unofficial camp for displaced Rohingya in Sittwe Township. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's government has rejected calls by the United Nations General Assembly’s human rights committee to grant the stateless Rohingyas citizenship rights, with government officials saying the country does not recognize the existence of "a Rohingya minority." Officials said the government would consider granting Burmese citizenship to "Bengalis" who are eligible under the 1982 Citizenship Law—a piece of legislation that has been condemned by international human rights groups as discriminatory towards the Muslim group. The UN General Assembly's human rights committee on Tuesday adopted a resolution welcoming the progress that was made in the field of human rights under President Thein Sein's reformist government. The resolution, however, expressed "serious concern" about the treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Arakan State and Muslims elsewhere in the country. The government, it said, "should grant equal access to full citizenship for the Rohingya minority and… to undertake full, transparent and independent investigations into all reports of human rights violations." The resolution also "expresses concern at continued delays" by the Burma government in establishing a High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) office, which allow the UN to independently monitor the human rights situation on the ground. The UN appeals were rejected by Burma's Permanent Representative at the UN Kyaw Tin. The President Thein Sein's spokesman Ye Htut also quickly dismissed the appeals in a statement on his Facebook page on Thursday. "The Myanmar government's policy does not recognize the term 'Rohingya', but Bengalis who live in [Arakan] State, if they are eligible under the 1982 Citizen Law, can be allowed to become citizen." "Any person ineligible under the law can't be citizen, no matter who is pressuring" the Burma government, he wrote. "This is our sovereign right." Kyaw Tin told the UN assembly that Burma has a "long standing position against the use of the word 'Rohingya minority'." He also rejected UN calls to speed up the opening of UN OHCHR office, saying Burma "reserves the right to choose the mandate of the office." Thein Sein reportedly promised US President Obama during his visit to in November 2012 that the UN rights office would soon be allowed to open. International human rights groups have repeatedly condemned Burma's Citizenship Law 1982 as discriminating against the Rohingya Muslim minority, as the law omits the group from the recognized list of 130 minorities. The international community has called for the law to be amended or overhauled in order to address the issue of Rohingya citizenship. An estimated 800,000 stateless Rohingyas live in northern Arakan State, where they suffer numerous rights abuses at the hands of local authorities, which have restricted the group's freedom of movement and limited their access to basic government services such as health care and education. The government does not recognize the group as citizens and refers them as "Bengalis" to suggest they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. There is a long history of inter-communal violence between Rohingyas and Arakan State's Buddhist majority. Last year, bloody outbreaks of violence left 192 people dead and displaced 142,000 displaced people, most of them Muslims. Rights groups have claimed that Arakan nationalists have been committing acts of ethnic cleansing, with tacit government support. Aye Maung, chairman of Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP), which represents the state's Buddhist majority, said he totally rejected the UN's call for Rohingya citizenship. "I feel that the world's powerful countries are trying to pressure us through the UN," he said. "We won't give them [the Rohingyas] our land, not even one inch. We will protect our land by giving our lives." Thar Aye, a Rangoon-based Rohingya leader and general secretary of Union National Development Party, said the Rohingyas had been a recognized minority in Burma for decades until previous military government decided to rescind its formal recognition of the group. "My parents were recognized as Rohingya on their National Registration Card in 1954, but later governments changed it to 'Bengali,'" he said. "I think we [Rohingyas] should gain citizenship under the article 6 of the [1982] Citizenship Law," Thar Aye said, referring to a provision in the law that states that "A person who is already a citizen on the date this Law comes into force is a citizen." The post Govt Rejects UN Calls for Rohingya Citizenship appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma and Russia to Increase Military Cooperation Posted: 21 Nov 2013 04:51 AM PST MiG-29 jet fighters perform during a demonstration flight outside Moscow on Aug. 27, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Maxim Shemetov) Burma and Russia are seeking to cooperate on military technology and strengthen relations between the two nations' armed forces, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Wednesday. Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of Burma's armed forces, met with a delegation led by Alexander Vasillievich Fomin, the joint chairman of Russia-Burma Military Technological Cooperation, in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday and discussed a number of areas in which the two countries are looking to increase bilateral military ties. The push for deeper Burma-Russia cooperation on military affairs follows Min Aung Hlaing's visit to Russia in June of this year, during which he made observational trips to a MiG jet fighter plant and a facility where anti-tank missiles, air defense weapons and artillery shells were produced. Notably, Min Aung Hlaing's Russia trip coincided with a trip made by Tay Za, a Burmese tycoon who is believed to be involved in the purchase of Russian-made weapons and helicopters for Burma's armed forces. Tay Za was said to have made the trip along with other Burmese businessmen. Tay Za also reportedly visited Kazan, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia, late last month. However, according to sources close to Burma's military circle in Naypyidaw, apart from Tay Za's Htoo Group of Companies, a large construction company based in Mandalay with links to Min Aung Hlaing will likely be involved in a future arms purchase from Russia. Although Burma's armed forces have begun to restore relations with the United States and Britain, the opportunity to purchase military hardware from the Western nations does not appear to be a likely near future prospect. Some military observers predict that given the continued embargo, Burma may bolster its armed forces by buying from Russia. Despite the United States lifting broad economic sanctions and taking select tycoons in Burma off its blacklist, Tay Za remains one of the most powerful tycoons barred from doing business with US firms. According to sources in diplomatic and business circles, the United States is unlikely to remove Tay Za from its blacklist due to his suspected continued involvement in procuring arms for Burma's military. In an interview with The Irrawaddy in Rangoon at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), Derek Mitchell, the US ambassador to Burma, said the US was recalibrating its sanctions to target individuals involved in arms procurement and nuclear dealings, those with links to North Korea, and opponents of Burma's reform process. "We have been easing sanctions and we have been reorienting sanctions to be more targeted….to focus on those individuals we think are not working in the interests of or for reforms in the country. And that includes those who are working with military and business enterprises. We are watching very closely," Mitchell said. Asked whether Washington planned to keep Tay Za on the blacklist, the ambassador said he could not comment on individual cases. However, he said the United States is now reviewing the list of Burmese tycoons who are still on the US blacklist. "What we are doing is looking at the entire list, and making evaluations of individuals according to criteria in terms of whether they are connected to military businesses [or have a] history of land confiscations, whether they are demonstrating fundamental commitment to the reforms," Mitchell said. Tay Za was an arms broker for Burma's ex-military regime, helping to buy military hardware from Russia. That arrangement is believed to have endured beyond the junta, which ceded power to a nominally civilian government in 2011. Additional reporting by The Irrawaddy reporter Saw Yan Naing. The post Burma and Russia to Increase Military Cooperation appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rangoon’s Street Food Attracts Diners, But It May Not Be Clean Posted: 21 Nov 2013 04:28 AM PST People eat pork stew at a food stall near the Central Fire Station in downtown Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — As the sun sets on the skyline of Burma's former capital, small trucks and trolleys loaded with cooking pots big and small flock in to the city's busiest areas from all directions. The pavements and streets, crowded with cars and pedestrian during the day, are taken over by large stoves and small tables and chairs. The voices of street vendors calling customers rise with the smoke and mouth-watering smells. These small stalls serve everything from the Burmese signature dishes—fish noodle soup known as mohinga, coconut milk noodles and pickled tealeaf salad—to Chinese dim sum, Japanese Sushi and Korean-style barbecue. There is no shortage of customers enjoying the selection, but consumer advocates say as many as 80 percent of street food stalls in Rangoon do not meet basic hygiene standards. For many a Rangoonian, these stalls are the gourmet corners to sit in and chat with friends, after the stressful working hours. The price for a plate or small bowl of yummy food, usually about 500 to 1,500 kyat, or not more than US$1.50, is low enough to attract consumers, despite any misgivings they may have about the safety of the food. "I'm happy to go around and have some street food as I do not have much time to cook after work, these stalls save my time, as well as money because I can have tasty food at a reasonable price," said a sales girl at an electrical store in downtown Rangoon. "If we go to fancy restaurants, we have to pay at least 2,500 kyat just for noodle soup. I'm not sure if the street food is healthy or safe or hygienic. But since the foods is yummy and served hot at such a small price—and I don't see any dirt yet—I'm ok with that." Busy areas around City Hall, China town, Myaynigone and Heldan Junction are the most popular places to get street food for Rangoonians young and old. At a crowded mohinga stall in the heart of the city this week, the reasons for concerns over the hygiene if Rangoon's street food were clear. A young girl rushed to a messy corner, where dirty dishes piled up near a small plastic bowl filled with soapy water, reddish-yellow oil and pieces of coriander leaves floating on the surface. The girl dipped plates and bowls into the murky water, cleaning the dishes briefly with a small piece of sponge. After a quick final dive into another plastic bowl filled with more opaque water, the dishes were ready to serve their duty again. At a small counter, a shop keeper was busy preparing packages for takeaway. With bare fingers, she placed noodles into small polythene bags and poured hot soup into another bag after receiving torn, grubby bills from customers. "We were told that using polythene bags to carry hot stuff is not healthy, but we have no choice," the shop keeper said. "There are many paper containers in the market, but they are too expensive for us to invest in. I've always tried my best to sell healthy food and take care of hygiene as well." The Rangoon-based Consumer Protection Association (CPA) insists that street food is often not safe to consume, and venders need food safety education. "Nowadays, there are many fancy foods and fast foods, including various kind of traditional food, sold at those street stalls. Since they can't invest much in their products, they usually use cheap commodities, for example palm oil, and using a lot of artificial flavors", Soe Kalyar Htike, the CPA information department secretary, told The Irrawaddy. "In addition, they rarely practice proper hygiene. For example, they have limited access to water while they are in the middle of the city, so they reduce the use of water to clean the dishes. The food is not well covered from dust, flies and fumes from cars." According to research conducted by the CPA recently, more than 80 percent of the more than 1,000 street food stalls in central Rangoon are not hygienic and are selling unhealthy foods. "Both consumers and vendors need to be educated for better hygiene and healthy foods. This is not only the problem of the government. The government has a lot to do, but we think they will not be able to handle this issue for nationwide. NGOs need to create awareness about this as well," Soe Kalyar Htike said. To address the poor standards, the CPA is starting an education program for schools, to teach children about food safety. Another NGO, the Myanmar Restaurant Association, is also planning a project to choose 12 street-side stalls to hold up as models of good hygiene. "We have found out that the street vendors do not have enough knowledge on hygiene, since they have to concentrate only on their earnings due to economic hardships," said Kyaw Myat Moe, general secretary if the Myanmar Restaurant Association. "For example, they can't afford to buy disposable kitchen ware, so they reused it, which could affect the health of the consumers." The association is going to support licensed stalls in City Hall-approved areas, providing vendors with disposable caps and gloves for free, while educating vendors of hygienic food preparation, he said. "If the stalls become neat and tidy and become good examples of healthy and hygienic foods for everyone, consumers will be satisfied and have healthy food," he said. "The street food of Burma will no longer be unhygienic and unhealthy. We believe that the street food vendors will also benefit and profit by selling healthy food." The post Rangoon's Street Food Attracts Diners, But It May Not Be Clean appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Kachin Clashes Leave IDPs out in the Cold Posted: 21 Nov 2013 03:40 AM PST Civilians flee fighting in southern Kachin State after the government army launches a fresh offensive against the KIA. (Photo: Free Burma Rangers) Ethnic Kachin civilians displaced by the latest outbreak of fighting between Burmese government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are in dire need of assistance, according to a local aid group. The fighting, which began last Saturday when troops from the Burmese army's Military Operation Command 21 seized control of a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in KIA-controlled territory in Mansi Township, Bhamo District, has forced around 2,000 people to flee, the group said. Of this number, only around half have made it to the village of Maw Win Gyi, where they are seeking shelter. The rest are still in the jungle somewhere between Maw Win Gyi and Nam Lim Pa, where the IDP camp was located. Aid workers say that recent cold temperatures mean that there is a desperate need for warm clothing, food and shelter for the displaced civilians, particularly those still in the jungle "It is very cold in that area now," said Naw Din, director of the Karuna Myanmar Social Service Relief Team, which supports IDP camps in Bhamo. "Some who fled the fighting were only able to take the clothes on their backs. Some weren't even wearing shoes when they arrived in the village." Even those who have reached Maw Win Gyi still suffer from a lack of adequate shelter, he added. Most have been housed in previously used temporary shelters. But the greatest need, he said, is for food, which is now being supplied by local donors but could run out if aid doesn't arrive from UN agencies. "We've had some help from the UNHCR, but we haven't received any food. We've told them that we really need food," said Naw Din. Meanwhile, minor clashes have continued in the area since last weekend, when government troops also briefly detained around 300 students and teachers at a school in Nam Lim Pa. In an interview with the BBC Burmese Service, KIA spokesperson La Nan said that four students were arrested and forced to act as human shields. "They forced the students to walk to the frontline so our troops wouldn't attack them," he said. La Nan added that the Burmese army has sent more reinforcements to the area since the fighting started, raising the likelihood of further clashes. The post Kachin Clashes Leave IDPs out in the Cold appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Hope Springs From Heartbreak in Drug-Plagued Kachin Posted: 21 Nov 2013 03:08 AM PST Tang Raw, 39, is a former heroin addict who now offers drug rehabilitation services in Kachin State. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) MYITKYINA, Kachin State — Tang Raw recalls the "nightmare" of his days as a heroin addict in Hpakant, a wild and inhospitable land in Kachin State where the world's best jade is mined. "I was addicted to heroin for more than 10 years. I started to use the drug when I was 15. I only managed to stop when I was 30 years old," said Tang Raw, a 39-year-old ethnic Kachin man who also used to work in the sprawling jade mines that pock the landscape in Hpakant. Born into a wealthy jade merchant family, Tang Raw said his father was popular and well-known among residents in Myitkyina due to his wealth. But the toll of drug addiction was heavy—both financially and socially—for the family. "My father was a rich jade merchant in the past. We had a big house," said Tang Raw. "But we now have to live in an old, small house. Me and my four brothers were drug addicts in our home. So, the faces of our parents were often full of tears. "They [his parents] even lost their good clothes, which we stole and sold to buy heroin. My sisters were very shy because we were drug users. We sold their clothes to others to buy heroin. At that time, heroin was in our blood, so we didn't care," he added. Tang Raw, who mined jade in the village of Sai Taung in Hpakant Township, said the deaths of his four older brothers was the impetus for his kicking of the heroin habit. When they died, he was left with nothing, forced to live on the street and scrounge for food that he often could not afford. From those darkest of times, Tang Raw today runs a drug rehabilitation center, the Christian Youth Reform Ministry, in Myitkyina, where he organizes anti-drug activities, counsels fellow former drug addicts, and encourages and those seeking to leave narcotics behind. Tang Raw, who got married four years after he quit using, has offered counseling to more than 50 drug addicts since opening the center in 2010. Christian teachings form the core of the center's program. Religious songs are sung, Bible passages are read out, and worship services are held at the drug rehabilitation center. Tang Raw said that he tried unsuccessfully to quit drugs at least 30 times before his deteriorating health helped push him to change his ways. "At that time, I was so skinny. I was skin and bones. One day, I was unexpectedly thinking about the day that I die. I was very nervous. At that time, Bible teachings came into my mind," said the Christian man. "And I remembered my drug-addicted friends who escaped from this nightmare and were enjoying happy lives. When these thoughts came into my mind, I decided to go back to Myitkyina and visit my relatives who work at a church there," Tang Raw said. 'It's Like a Cold War' As well as fueling a lucrative regional drug trade, heroin, opium and methamphetamine, popularly known as ya-ba, are a major social blight on communities in towns like Myitkyina, Bhamo and Hpakant. Brang Chyoi, a student at Myitkyina University, said drug usage is increasingly common among students. "I think 50 out of every 100 university students here use drugs. They usually use heroin. They inject heroin behind bushes or anywhere that people can't see them. The drug has an impact not only on education, but also on our [ethnic identity]," said Brang Chyoi. Residents in Myitkyina and Hpakant say there is little or no effective legal action taken against narcotics peddlers and users, despite widespread drug usage in Kachin State. Local authorities and police are accused of ignoring the drug problem, and some are even accused of being involved in the trade themselves. The more conspiratorially minded say authorities are deliberately ignoring the drug problem among Kachin youth, with the intention of passively creating a drug-dependent, poorly educated and politically impotent generation of the ethnic minority group. "It is like a cold war," said Lama Yaw, director of the Kachin Baptist Convention's communication department in Myitkyina. "The drug trade targets the youth. It mainly targets universities. They [students] can get it very easily." "It is like a very systemic project. When I've seen people selling drugs, I've asked police officials why they don't arrest the people selling the drugs, and they replied that they don't have the authority to arrest drug sellers," said Lama Yaw, who also works on anti-drug campaigns. In Sai Taung, the village where Tang Raw once mined jade, the existence of an "injection center" where heroin can be readily purchased is the town's open secret. The Kachin Baptist Convention is working to combat the scourge through anti-drug campaigning that includes holding public briefings, and producing DVDs about drug education and awareness. Locals say the drugs come from the Sino-Burmese border. However, much of it is also produced domestically, trafficked in from Shan State in eastern Burma, where ethnic Wa rebels from the United Wa State Army (UWSA) run drug laboratories. Burma is Southeast Asia's largest opium poppy-growing country, and the world's second largest after Afghanistan. A report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last month stated that opium poppy cultivation in Burma rose for the sixth consecutive year, despite an increase in government efforts to eradicate the plant. "The significant increase in opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar coupled with significant increases in trafficking in methamphetamines and other illicit drugs reflect a growing human security threat to the region," the UNODC's East Asia and the Pacific regional representative, Gary Lewis, said in the report. Anti-drug campaigners say there are plenty of poppy plantations along the hills on the route between Kampati Township and the Pangwang region of southeastern Kachin State, an area controlled by the government-affiliated Kachin militia known as New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDAK). The NDAK, led by Zahkung Ting Ying, became part of the government's Border Guard Force in 2009. La John Ngan Hsai, the chief minister of Kachin State, said drug use commonly leads to problems at home. "If there is a drug addict in one house, family members start to suffer daily problems. They can't live in peace. There are frequent arguments and fighting," La John Ngan Hsai told The Irrawaddy. "And when there are more youths using drugs, it's a bad sign for families, the state and even for the future of the country. So we are trying hard to prevent these problems, but we still have much to do," he added. "We have a saying: Black-haired people [young people] normally carry white-haired people [their elders] to the cemetery. But, now, white-haired people are having to carry black-haired people to the cemetery," Lama Yaw said, referring to drug addicts' typically shorter lifespans. The post Hope Springs From Heartbreak in Drug-Plagued Kachin appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rangoon Court Sentences 6 More Activists Under Peaceful Assembly Law Posted: 21 Nov 2013 02:50 AM PST A prisoner grips the bars on the window of a prison van as he leaves a court in Rangoon in 2012. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) Six more Burmese activists were handed prison sentences Thursday for demonstrating without prior permission, according to their lawyer, bringing the total number of activists imprisoned under the 2011 Peaceful Assembly Law to 57. Rangoon's Kyimyindaing Township Court gave the six activists one month each in jail, according their lawyer, Robert San Aung. The six—Moe Thway, D Nyein Lin, Ma Thandar, Soe Moe Htun, Myint Kyaw Oo and Aung Myo—were the leaders of demonstrations in Rangoon on Dec. 1, 2012, against the authorities' brutal pre-dawn crackdown the previous month on peaceful protesters camped near the Letpadaung copper mine in central Burma. The controversial mining project was later stalled amid widespread anger directed at its Chinese and Burmese military developers, but resumed recently on new terms that will give the Burmese government a bigger share of revenues. Charges were brought against the six activists at three township courts—Kyimyindaing, Ahlone and Sanchaung—under Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, which sets a one-year maximum sentence for protesting without permission. Robert San Aung said decisions from the two remaining townships were expected Friday. "The judge at Kyimyindaing did not allow [the defendants] to call witnesses that they claim prove their case," he told The Irrawaddy. The lawyer has been providing free legal services to those charged with Section 18, and says he is currently involved in 30 active cases. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 130 activists have been brought to court under the protest law adopted in December 2011. A total of 57 activists have been put in jail for protesting without permission. Eighteen of them are still in prison, while 39 activists have already been freed. Naw Ohn Hla, a leader of the Rangoon-based Peace and Women Network, said one of the jailed protesters, Ma Thandar, is a colleague. Ma Thandar was taken to jail Thursday, she said. Naw Ohn Hla, who herself served three months of a two-year jail term for helping Letpadaung protesters in August, was one of 69 released under presidential pardon on Nov. 15. The latest in a series of prisoner amnesties included about two dozen people convicted under Section 18. It appeared to be timed to coincide with visits from a high-level European Union delegation and other international dignitaries. Naw Ohn Hla said in total, 24 cases relating to Section 18, or 505 (b) of the Penal Code, inciting unrest, have been brought against Peace and Women Network members at 15 different townships across the country. Civil society groups have been calling for Parliament to amend Section 18 during its current session, but are yet to see any progress. "The longer they take to amend Section 18, the more activists lose their civil rights," said Robert San Aung. The relatively short one-month jail terms handed down on Thursday mean the six activists will be free before year's end. President Thein Sein has said that there would be no "prisoners of conscience" in Burma by the end of 2013. The verdict comes as judges at different courts around Burma are this month concluding trials involving protesters in various issues. A verdict is expected on Tuesday next week in the case of ethnic Kachin peace activists who marched on the International Day of Peace in September 2012. The post Rangoon Court Sentences 6 More Activists Under Peaceful Assembly Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Lawmakers Allotted $5,000 Each for Local Development Projects Posted: 21 Nov 2013 02:46 AM PST The Burmese Parliament in Naypyidaw. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's Parliament approved a proposal that allots US $5,000 to each lawmaker for development projects in their local constituency, according to MPs, who said that the plan had come from Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann. The arrangement was approved in a parliamentary meeting in April this year, but news of the plan only surfaced this week. U Nu, a lawmaker from Rangoon Division and a member of the Assembly's Joint Public Accounts Committee, said members of Burma's 440-seat Lower House and 224-seat Upper House would be allotted a total of $33 million, or $5,000 each, for education, health and transport development projects in their respective constituencies. "All activities will be carried out with direct permission from the Parliament's Office. We have to submit our activity report to the Parliament as well," said U Nu, adding that MPs would cooperate with local authorities in implementation of the activities. Hla Swe, an Upper House member from Magwe Division, said, "We have to carry out development activities in our area that will cost less than five million kyat [$5,000]. If our project will exceed the allotted amount, we will have to submit a new proposal." The plan to establish a separate fund for lawmakers to spend on local development in their constituencies was reportedly brought to the Lower House by then-speaker Shwe Mann after he visited India in December 2011. "This is an Indian model and Thura Shwe Mann brought it back to Burma as it was successful there," Phone Myint Aung, an Upper House member from Rangoon Division, told The Irrawaddy. Shwe Mann is currently Union Parliament Speaker and chairman of the ruling Union, Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Phone Myint Aung added that the Joint Public Accounts Committee is responsible for checking local development activities carried out by members of Parliament as well as their expenditures. Funding for the lawmaker's development programs was reportedly taken out of the government's annual budget and approved separately by Parliament. A senior official from the President's Office, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed displeasure with the decision to grant lawmakers fund for the implementation of government projects, adding that MPs should focus on legislative—and not executive—tasks. "The Parliament is mainly responsible for making legislation, thus it should only monitor and give guidance for local development programs," he said. The post Lawmakers Allotted $5,000 Each for Local Development Projects appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Oil Terminal Faces Fallout From Yunnan Protests Posted: 21 Nov 2013 12:38 AM PST The Chinese-backed Shwe gas pipeline, which runs parallel to an oil pipeline on the same route, is seen in western Arakan State. (Photo: Ko Soe / The Irrawaddy) The Chinese oil port at Kyaukphyu on the coast of Burma's Arakan State, and the cross-country pipeline to pump oil into China's landlocked Yunnan Province, face a major problem which could delay or slow down their operations. Almost 50 percent of the 22 million ton a year of crude oil from the Middle East and Africa that is scheduled to begin flowing soon through Kyaukphyu is intended for a new refinery in the Kunming, the capital of Yunnan. But Chinese public opposition and environmental issues have held up construction of the refinery, and some reports now say it might be canceled and forced to move elsewhere. The refinery at Anning, just outside Kunming, was due to be completed early in 2014, and was supposed to take 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to make gasoline and diesel and to feed an adjacent petrochemicals plant. The pipeline's maximum transmission capacity is 440,000 bpd, its builder and majority owner China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has said. Thousands of Chinese residents of Kunming staged rare street protests in May and June, opposing the refinery and CNPC's plans to produce 500,000 tons of paraxylene (PX), a carcinogenic chemical used in polyester and plastic bottle manufacturing. CNPC claimed an environmental assessment report found no danger of air pollution to the surrounding urban population, but, in August, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection announced it was suspending environmental approvals for new refinery projects planned by both CNPC and another Chinese state-owned oil company, Sinopec, "because they had failed to meet their [air pollution] emissions reduction targets last year," international energy analysts Platts said in October. Until now, it was unclear what would happen to CNPC's Kunming refinery project, but last week a diplomat at China's Burma Embassy was quoted saying it was being relocated. "It is not known when operations [of the Burma oil pipeline] will begin because the construction of an oil refinery has been delayed," Embassy Third Secretary Huo Wenjun was quoted by the Myanmar Times. "First the refinery was to be built in Kunming, but now it will be elsewhere in Yunnan province." CNPC in Beijing declined to speak to The Irrawaddy about the refinery delay and its implications for the pipeline and would only make this brief statement: "Preparations are still being made to begin the operation of the oil pipeline in 2014." CNPC is also building oil storage tanks at its Kyaukphyu transshipment terminal, according to the local NGO Kyaukphyu Social Network. There will be 12 tanks each with a capacity of 100,000 cubic meters, according to a report by Reuters in May. That would provide storage for up to 7.5 million barrels, or the equivalent of 17 days operation of the pipeline at full capacity. "In theory CNPC could just ship the oil coming through the pipeline on to other destinations in southwest China," regional oil and gas industries analyst Collin Reynolds in Bangkok told The Irrawaddy. "The problem with that is that pipeline infrastructure within Yunnan is still limited. "Unless CNPC can quickly shift oil pumped through the Myanmar [Burma] pipeline there could well be a logistics backlog at its coastal terminal," he said. The Kunming refinery was meant to supply more than 50 percent of the city's gasoline and diesel needs, and feed other cities in Yunnan Province which at present have to import fuel oils from other Chinese provinces. Meanwhile, the Kyaukphyu Social Network is campaigning for information on safety measures to prevent or limit an oil spill at Kyaukphyu and surrounding coastal waters, as well as the return of access to fishing grounds which are now barred to the local community. "The Network has requested information from the President's [Thein Sein's] office, CNPC and the China Embassy on the issue of an oil spill but so far there has been no response," Naing Htoo of Washington-based Earth Rights International's Southeast Asia office told The Irrawaddy. The CNPC Burma pipeline is the first to pump oil into China that is not linked directly with a field. The added cost of bringing the crude by ship to Kyaukphyu before offloading and transferring make it an uneconomical operation, said the Beijing business magazine in Caijing in a special report. In addition, CNPC is supposed to pay the Naypyidaw government US$13.6 million per year "rent" for the pipeline, plus US$1 for every ton that flows through it. That's US$22 million—but only if it operates at full capacity. The post Burma Oil Terminal Faces Fallout From Yunnan Protests appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Indonesia Says It Has ‘Downgraded’ Aussie Relations Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:56 PM PST Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, left, walks beside Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Sept. 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Beawiharta) JAKARTA — Indonesia has "downgraded" its relations with Australia and suspended cooperation on people smuggling following outrage over reported eavesdropping on senior Indonesian leaders' phones, officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Australia's Parliament that he would do everything he "reasonably can" to repair relations with Indonesia. Australian Broadcasting Corp. and The Guardian reported Monday that they had documents from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden showing that the top-secret Australian Signals Directorate targeted Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cellphone and the phones of first lady Kristiani Herawati and eight other government ministers and officials. Indonesia's intelligence agency chief, Norman Marciano, told reporters Wednesday that he had been assured by Australian intelligence officials that the wiretapping has stopped and will not resume. A spokesman for Australia's top spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, declined to comment on Marciano's claim of such an assurance. The spokesman refused to be named, citing ASIO policy. Marciano spoke before attending a meeting called by Yudhoyono to discuss the issue with Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and Indonesia's recalled ambassador to Australia. Natalegawa said that Indonesia was reviewing bilateral cooperation on issues with its neighbor. "We have downgraded the level of relations between Indonesia and Australia," he said. "Like a faucet, it is turned down one by one." Yudhoyono told a news conference after the meeting that he expected a formal explanation if Australia wants to maintain good bilateral relations. "Clearly, I asked for temporary termination of cooperation on intelligence exchanges and information sharing," he said. "I also asked for the termination of joint exercises between Indonesia and Australia, either for army, navy, air force or a combination," he said, adding that the snooping reminded him of the Cold War era. The termination affects cooperation on the thorny issue of people smuggling between the two countries. Indonesia is a transit country for thousands of asylum seekers hoping to reach Australia's Christmas Island by boat. Many people have died while attempting the dangerous journey, and the immigration issue remains a political hot potato in Australia. Abbott won elections in September on a promise to stop the asylum seeker boats and is relying on Indonesia's cooperation to achieve this goal. He has also ruled out an apology or explanation on the spying allegations. On Tuesday, Yudhoyono criticized Abbott for not expressing regret over the spying, which reportedly took place in 2009 under a previous Australian government. In the Australian capital of Canberra on Wednesday, Abbott told Parliament that while he would try to repair relations with Indonesia, he did not "propose to overreact now" to anger over the issue. "I deeply and sincerely regret the embarrassment that media reports have caused President Yudhoyono, who is a very good friend of Australia, perhaps one of the very best friends that Australia has anywhere in the world," Abbott said. "I do understand how personally hurtful these allegations have been, these reports have been, for him and his family." "My intention, notwithstanding the difficulties of these days, is to do everything I reasonably can to help to build and strengthen the relationship with Indonesia, which is so important to both our countries," he said. But Abbott failed to directly answer a question asked by opposition leader Bill Shorten: What progress had been made to restore Australia's relationship with Indonesia? Abbott, however, said he would respond quickly and fully to a letter Yudhoyono told reporters he was writing to the prime minister. Analysts describe the furor as the lowest point in an often volatile Australia-Indonesia relationship since 1999, when Australia led a UN military force into the former Indonesian province of East Timor following a bloody independence ballot. At that time, Indonesia ripped up a 4-year-old security treaty with Australia. A new treaty has since been signed. In Washington, where the US and Australian foreign and defense ministers met Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he doesn't discuss intelligence matters in public. Kerry said the United States has an "unbreakable and critical working relationship" with Australia, including in counterterrorism. He said the United States also has "great respect and affection for Indonesia" and works with that nation on many issues. Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contribute to this report. The post Indonesia Says It Has 'Downgraded' Aussie Relations appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Talking Up Burma’s Reforms Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:41 PM PST The post Talking Up Burma’s Reforms appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Maoist Party in Nepal Rejects Elections Posted: 20 Nov 2013 09:16 PM PST Supporters of Nepali Congress Party cheer for their party as Constituent Assembly election scores are displayed on a screen in Kathmandu. (Photo: Reuters) KATHMANDU — Nepal’s Maoist party, which appeared to be losing during initial ballot counting from this week’s election, demanded Thursday that the vote counting be stopped because of what it says were massive irregularities. United Communist Party of Nepal Maoists spokesman Agni Sapkota issued a brief statement alleging several conspiracies and irregularities, but did not give details. The party’s representatives walked out of the polling stations where votes are being counted. Results have not been declared yet after vote counting began Wednesday in many of the 75 districts in Nepal. But initial counting showed that the Maoists were trailing the Nepali Congress party and the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist). The Maoist party got the largest number of votes in the last election in 2008. Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Upreti said vote counting was continuing and there were no plans to stop it. The Maoists are former communist rebels who fought government troops between 1996 and 2006. They gave up their armed revolt, joined a peace process and mainstream politics, and their fighters have joined the national army. The Constituent Assembly, which was set up as part of the peace process, was first elected in 2008 but failed to complete the task of writing a new constitution. Tuesday’s election was to elect a new assembly to attempt again at writing a constitution. More than 70 percent of the 12 million eligible voters cast their votes during Tuesday’s election to choose the 601-member Constituent Assembly that would double as the parliament. Officials called the election successful and mostly free of violence, although a bomb blast near a polling station in Katmandu injured three people and police had to fire into the air in one village when opposition activists stormed a polling station. Pre-election violence injured at least 30 people after an alliance of 33 opposition parties vowed to disrupt the polls and blocked transport routes. Final election results will take at least a week. None of the political parties is predicted to win a majority and a coalition government is likely, which could take days to form after the final results are announced. The last assembly, elected in 2008, failed to come up with a constitution because of squabbling among political leaders over who got to lead the nation. They also disagreed on creating a federal system divided by ethnic groups or by geography. The resulting power vacuum has left Nepal without a proper constitution for nearly seven years. The post Maoist Party in Nepal Rejects Elections appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Bangladesh Makes ‘Exceptional’ Health Progress Despite Poverty Posted: 20 Nov 2013 09:09 PM PST Van driver Ramjan Ali stands beside his son Munir Hossain, 10, critically burnt after pro-strike activists set fire in their van, in the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital Nov. 4, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) LONDON — Bangladesh has had 40 years of exceptional progress in health, with infant mortality down, life expectancy up and good disease control, all despite being one of the world's poorest countries, researchers said on Thursday. Most often in the news for its poverty or natural or manmade disasters, such as a factory fire that killed 1,129 people in April, Bangladesh was described in studies published on Thursday as a "remarkable success story" and one of the "great mysteries of global health." "Over the past 40 years, Bangladesh has outperformed its Asian neighbors, convincingly defying the expert view that reducing poverty and increasing health resources are the key drivers of better population health," said Professor Mushtaque Chowdhury from Dhaka's BRAC University, who co-led a series of studies published in The Lancet medical journal. The rate of women dying in childbirth has dropped by 75 percent since 1980 in Bangladesh, while infant mortality has more than halved since 1990. Life expectancy has increased to 68.3 years—surpassing neighboring India, at around 67 years, and Pakistan at around 66 years. Chowdhury's team said that although Bangladesh has low health spending, its health system allows private and public sectors and non-governmental organizations to work together. This has led to rapid improvements in access to essential services such as diarrhea treatment, family planning, vitamin A supplementation and vaccination coverage, they said. Unparalleled An example of health success is in tackling tuberculosis (TB)—an infectious and difficult-to-treat disease with which India has been fighting a largely unsuccessful battle for many years. The researchers found that through mass deployment of community health workers, TB cure rates rose from less than 50 percent to above 90 percent—among the highest in the world. To boost contraceptive use, Bangladesh recruited female health workers to deliver door-to-door family planning services and achieved high (62 percent) contraceptive prevalence and a rapid fall in fertility from 6.3 births per woman in 1971 to 2.3 in 2010—rates unparalleled in similar nearby countries, the researchers said. Pakistan's contraceptive use, for example, is around 35 percent and its fertility rate is 3.8 births per woman. "Promoting an open culture of research-based innovation has made Bangladesh a pioneer in scaling up community-based approaches," said Abbas Bhuiya, a professor at Dhaka's International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, co-leader of the study series. But the researchers said poverty and newer problems that come with rapid urbanization, such as an upsurge in chronic and non-communicable diseases and increasing vulnerability to climate change, cast a shadow over the successes. "The stark reality is that prevalence of malnutrition in Bangladesh is among the highest in the world. Nearly half of children have chronic malnutrition. Moreover, over a third the population [more than 47 million] live below the poverty line, and income inequality is widening," said Bhuiya. More also needs to be done to address a poorly-equipped public health sector which, although free to the poor, faces an estimated shortage of 800,000 doctors and nurses, the researchers said. The post Bangladesh Makes 'Exceptional' Health Progress Despite Poverty appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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