The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• In Thandwe, Communal Trust Shattered in Aftermath of Violence
• Arakan State Govt Backs Mining Projects in Strife-Torn North
• Burma Launches National Plan to Empower Women
• Than Shwe’s Grandson Appears With Burma’s New Miss Universe
• Burma’s Economy on Track, But Asean Free Trade a Concern: World Bank
• Burma’s Ruling Party Says Constitutional Change Could Mean ‘Serious Danger’
• New Industrial Park in Burma Draws Ire of Farmers, Monks
• Inter-Communal Violence Hits Town Near Rangoon
• The Battle for Laiza
• Muslim Victims Say Police Aided Thandwe Attackers
• Wilshere Puts Arsenal Back on Top, Spurs Hammered
• Film Gives Indonesia View of Bloody, Obscured Past
• As Obama’s Asia ‘Pivot’ Falters, China Steps Into the Gap
• Asean’s Burgeoning Thirst for Energy

In Thandwe, Communal Trust Shattered in Aftermath of Violence Posted: 07 Oct 2013 08:44 AM PDT A group of Kaman Muslim women taking shelter in a village not far from their home village of Thapyu Kyain. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) THANDWE TOWNSHIP, Arakan State — Sitting on the floor of a Buddhist monastery, 85-year-old Ma Hla, an ethnic Arakanese Buddhist, is homeless, although she doesn't realize it yet. Her son says he did not want to worry his aging mother by explaining that her house was burned to the ground last week during four days of communal violence in villages near the town of Thandwe in west Burma's Arakan State. In Thapyu Kyain, the hardest-hit village, 52 homes were torched. Forty-one of them belonged to Muslims, says a local abbot, but Buddhists were also victims. "I have six children—three men and three women," Ma Hla says. "I was born here, and I have eight acres of paddy land." Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims last week near Thandwe destroyed more than 100 homes total and three religious buildings, likely mosques, according to state media. The fighting followed anti-Muslim riots earlier this year in several locations across Burma, as well as communal violence between both religious groups in other parts of Arakan State last year in June and October. The vast majority of victims last year were Rohingya Muslims, who are largely denied citizenship by the government. After the clashes last week, U Binya Zaota, a Buddhist abbot, is sheltering dozens of displaced Buddhists at his monastery in Thapyu Kyain. He says Buddhists and Muslims lived peacefully until last year. Like other Buddhists in the area, he suggests the idea of segregating Kaman Muslims in a separate village, much like the Rohingyas have been largely restricted to their villages or camps for internally displace persons. Unlike the Rohingyas, the Kaman are recognized as citizens by the government. "If they change their mindsets, they can stay in this community," the abbot adds. Five Muslims were killed in fighting last week in Thapyu Kyain, while one Arakanese Buddhist went missing from nearby Shwe Hlay village and three Buddhists were wounded. As with past cases of communal violence, security forces were called to restore order but were subsequently accused of standing back while violence ensued. Over the weekend, Burma Army troops remained stationed in Thapyu Kyain. They did not allow The Irrawaddy to speak in length with Kaman Muslim leaders, although a colonel gave permission to conduct uninterrupted interviews at the local Buddhist monastery. "The Arakanese burned Muslim homes first, actually," the colonel says. "Muslim people did not provoke anything, they were innocent in the beginning. But we found out later that they reacted by burning the houses of Arakanese." He says Kaman Muslims made efforts in the past to blend in among their Buddhist-majority neighbors, by doing away with traditional Muslim homes found elsewhere in the state. "The housing style of Muslims is almost the same as that of the Arakanese here," he says. San Nyint, a Muslim guide, points to homes that were razed in the fighting and says Muslims and Buddhists in the village were friends before. "Muslims here are educated. We tried to be flexible with our neighbors, and we did not have any problems in the past," he says. Some Kaman Muslim leaders wearing T-shirts of the Kaman National Party blamed the clashes on radical Arakanese from Zin Khun village, about three miles from Thapyu Kyain. They said these Arakanese were originally from a township north of Thandwe known as Taungkup, where Buddhists and Muslims clashed last year. "They came from Taungkup after their houses were burned down in last year's violence," a 50-year-old Kaman leader said. "They have a bitter mind toward Muslims, and that's why they came to burn our houses." In Taungkup, before the violence first broke out in June, four Kaman Muslims were killed by Buddhists while riding on a bus after rumors spread that a Buddhist woman had been raped by Muslim men. As of Sunday, authorities in Thandwe Township had detained 37 Arakanese and 11 Kaman, according to police officer Nyi Nyi Htay. "We are still arresting people," he said. More than 100 Muslims in the village were homeless, and most were staying with relatives who had not been displaced. One home in the Muslim quarter was packed with about 30 people. The abbot U Binya Zaota said his monastery was sheltering 45 displaced Buddhists and had received a donation of rice from the government, but added that they were still in need of food and clothing. Maung Maung Lay, a displaced Arakanese resident, said he could no longer trust his Muslim neighbors. "I feel safer staying in the monastery at the moment, because I know who burned my house," he said, echoing calls to create a separate village for the Kaman. Another Arakanese resident, Sein Tun, likened the Kaman to the Rohingyas, who are widely seen by the Arakanese as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. "The Kaman and Bengali [Rohingyas] are not different," he says. "They have a similar mind. They became wild after the case of Taungkup happened." San Nyint, the Muslim guide, hopes these calls for segregation do not amount to anything. He says he wants to stay in Thapyu Kyain, the village where he was born. "I don't think it's a good idea to have a special village for Muslims," he says. "We cannot build trust again if we stay divided. I want to stay in my village." The post In Thandwe, Communal Trust Shattered in Aftermath of Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Arakan State Govt Backs Mining Projects in Strife-Torn North Posted: 07 Oct 2013 08:21 AM PDT A view of the Arakan State coastline at the Sittwe. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy) A Chinese and a Luxembourg-registered firm have obtained Arakan State government approval to begin mining aluminum and titanium deposits located on beaches in the north of the state, said Arakan State Minister of Electricity and Industry Aung Than Tin. He added that final approval from Naypyidaw for the projects, which are located in strife-torn parts of the state, was expected soon. State government approvals were granted to a Chinese company called Shwe Shapweye (which means Gold Finder in the Burmese language) and the Luxembourg-registered Boulle Mining Group, Aung Than Tin said, adding that the firms needed to form a joint-venture with a Burmese partner. "There is no objection from the state government to the projects," he told The Irrawaddy, adding that the firms had "proved that the operation areas are outside of farmlands and forestry areas." Aung Than Tin, who until recently was state minister of mining, said the firms would mine sands for aluminum and titanium deposits at sites along the beaches of Rathedaung and Maungdaw townships. The project sites would be located in townships where tens of thousands of people remain displaced after outbreaks of deadly inter-communal violence between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims last year. Maungdaw Township, a Muslim-majority area, has for many years been administered by Burmese security forces, which have been accused of committing of widespread human rights abuses against the population. Boulle Mining Group's website said it has mined for copper, cobalt and zinc in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, for titanium dioxide, ilmenite and zircon in Sierra Leone and for diamonds in Namibia. A 2006 article in the Globe and Mail describes the firm's owner Jean-Raymond Boulle as a controversial figure who "has had a long career in the diamond trade that has included brushes with rebel leaders during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and complaints about his business practices by a United Nations panel." The Chinese firm Shwe Shapweye has been prospecting for mineral deposits along the Ale Than Kyaw beach in Maungdaw and Angu Maw beach in Rathedaung since 2010. A manager at Shwe Shapweye told Radio Free Asia's Burmese-language service that mining operations on the beaches will start soon. He told the broadcaster that 1 ton of titanium could be produced by sifting through 500 tons of sand. According to local villagers, the firm has already dug up massive amounts of sand while prospecting. The Chinese firm reportedly received security guarantees from the state government while carrying out the work. A local civil society group, called the Wunlatt Foundation, said it was concerned over the projects' impacts on the approximately 30 Buddhist and Muslim villages that are located on the coast near the planned mining areas. Wunlatt Foundation member Zaw Zaw Htun said, however, that the group had been unable to inspect the situation in the project areas since inter-communal violence first broke out in June last year. Mining of mineral-rich sands on beaches is done through open pit strip-mining. Massive amounts of sand are dug up and valuable minerals are separated in water, after which the remaining sand is dumped back onto the beach. The practice, which is being done in countries such as the US, Australia, India and Sierra Leone, is considered environmentally harmful as it causes erosion, destroys the local ecosystem and affects wildlife on the beaches, such as sea turtles. State Minister of Electricity and IndustryAung Than Tin claimed that local communities had already accepted the projects' environmental consequences. "We will have to do business for our state's development, and selling these resources is for all the people's sake," he added. Kyaw Thein, the state mining minister, said he saw no problem in attracting foreign investment to the region, despite the presence of tens of thousands of refugees and allegations of widespread human rights abuses. "The project is for the sake of local development. It would create jobs for the local people," he said. "Although the companies would have to hire skilled workers from abroad, the manual laborers will be from the villages." Soe Nyein, a state lawmaker from Kyauk Taw Township, said he was concerned about the decision to grant mining licenses, as it had not been discussed with Arakan parliamentarians or with local communities. "These sands are very valuable, the government should be transparent about it, and consult with the locals first about whatever they do," he said. Soe Nyein said that under Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution state governments are largely under direct control of the central government in Naypyidaw, which has often pushed through natural resource extraction projects in ethnic regions at the expense of local communities and the environment. "It is important to think of the advantages for our local people and benefits for our state, and not have it be like projects such as the Shwe gas pipeline," he said, referring to the Chinese-owned project that pumps Burmese gas from the Arakan coast to southwestern China. The post Arakan State Govt Backs Mining Projects in Strife-Torn North appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Launches National Plan to Empower Women Posted: 07 Oct 2013 08:11 AM PDT A woman in Lashio, Shan State. Burma's government launches a strategic plan to empower women. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's government has launched a national strategic plan to empower women, in a country where about 95 percent of lawmakers are male and women face major barriers to employment and health care. The National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women (NSPAW) was developed over three years and launched in Naypyidaw last week. The 10-year plan suggests practical ways to address challenges in a dozen priority areas, including initiatives to improve access to education and health care as well as the development of better laws to eliminate gender-based violence and policies to promote equal rights to jobs, credit and resources. It also suggests ways to increase women's political leadership and harness the media to reduce gender stereotyping. "Myanmar has a responsibility to ensure that women's rights are guaranteed. This includes women's equal access to resources, opportunities and services, and their representation and participation in decision and policy-making at all levels and in all spheres of society," Myat Myat Ohn Khin, the minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement, said in a preface to the plan. "It is an ambitious yet achievable plan that will require the political will and commitment of all ministries, non-government organizations and Myanmar's development partners." The plan comes amid calls for greater participation of women in politics by the country's best-known female lawmaker, Aung San Suu Kyi. Speaking in Naypyidaw on Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate told a forum of female lawmakers from around the world that women in Burma continued to face widespread discrimination and lack sufficient representation in politics, with just 20 female lawmakers in a 659-seat Parliament, according to official statistics. In Burma's government, women also account for only a handful of the country's 200 ministers, union ministers and deputy ministers. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement began developing the national strategic plan in 2010, with support from the Gender Equality Network, an inter-agency network comprising dozens of NGOs, UN agencies and civil society groups. The network said the government had never before developed a long-term plan to empower women. Among initiatives to improve women's livelihoods, the plan calls for an analysis of women's inclusion in land and agrarian reform, as well as the establishment of vocational training centers and information centers where women can look for work. Education initiatives could include the addition of school curricula focused on human rights and gender equality, along with the provision of scholarships for women, while suggested health initiatives include efforts to disaggregate health data by sex and to provide free contraception for women living in poverty, among a number of other projects. The plan calls to boost the capacity of the police force, judicial officers, health care staff and volunteers to actively respond to and prevent all forms of violence against women and girls; as well as the opening of one-stop services to provide counseling, legal services, health care services and other social services for women who are affected by and vulnerable to violence. Other planned initiatives include research into wage disparities by gender and sexual harassment in the workplace; activities to boost women's engagement with the electoral process; mentoring programs for female parliamentarians to improve leadership skills; and the application of quota systems to ensure women's participation in legislative, judicial and executive bodies. Government agencies are tasked with implementing the plan along with national and international NGOs, UN agencies, private agencies and civil society. For each priority area, a subcommittee will be established comprising ministry officials and other stakeholders. A five-year operational plan will be developed to coordinate and prioritize the implementation of strategic policies, plans and legislative reforms. The launch of the National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women follows a historic women's forum in Rangoon last month, with hundreds of activists and policy makers gathering to discuss women's rights. The forum ended with calls for amendments to the Constitution to ensure gender equality and greater legal protection for women. The post Burma Launches National Plan to Empower Women appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Than Shwe’s Grandson Appears With Burma’s New Miss Universe Posted: 07 Oct 2013 06:53 AM PDT Miss Universe Myanmar Moe Set Wine gets out of a car while Nay Shwe Thway Aung stands by. (Photo: Facebook / Classic Burma News) RANGOON — Nearly six months after he made headlines for punching and slapping a traffic police officer for not properly clearing traffic for him at a busy intersection in Rangoon, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, the grandson of Burma's former dictator Than Shwe, was the talk of the town again this weekend. This time, the story was less violent—a picture on social media of the 21-year-old man attentively standing beside a canary-yellow Lamborghini as the freshly crowned Miss Universe Myanmar stepped out at a football stadium. Moe Set Wine was attending the opening game of the Universities Champions League, the president of which is reportedly Nay Shwe Thway Aung himself. Moe Set Wine, 25, was selected last Thursday as the first Burmese woman in 50 years to have chance to compete in one of the international Miss Universe beauty pageant, and she made her first public appearance at opening ceremony on Saturday afternoon. Minutes later, the photographs spread across blogs and Facebook and become the popular topic of the week, attracting fiery comments from Burmese Facebook users that the renowned playboy was now preying on Burma's Miss Universe. Some users even called for Moe Set Wine to be stripped of her Miss Universe crown for associating with the general's grandson. Nay Shwe Thway Aung, also known as Pho Lapyae, is the favorite grandson of Than Shwe, the commander-in-chief of the Burma Army and head of state until 2011. The grandson is no stranger to controversy and was at the center of a scandal in his teenage years when rumors spread that he was involved with certain Burmese celebrities and models. He was accused of kidnapping a celebrity model when he was 17. Nay Shwe Thway Aung was also implicated in a drug scandal in Rangoon in 2009. Two of his friends, Burmese tycoon Maung Weik and a son of Lt-Gen Ye Myint, Aung Zaw Ye Myint, were arrested after a member of the Than Shwe family found some pills—thought to be ecstasy—on Nay Shwe Thway Aung's person. Following heated Facebook activity, a letter was posted online purportedly from Nay Shwe Thway Aung, in which he sought to distance himself from Moe Set Wine. "I'm not friendly with her and the racing car is not even mine. I just greeted her as she arrived, carrying the trophy because I am the president of Universities Champion League. I’m sorry for Moe Set Wine for she received negative comments because of me," said the letter. The post Than Shwe's Grandson Appears With Burma's New Miss Universe appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma’s Economy on Track, But Asean Free Trade a Concern: World Bank Posted: 07 Oct 2013 04:13 AM PDT Khwima Nthara, center, Burma's senior country economist for the World Bank, speaks during a regional teleconference on Oct. 7, 2013, in Rangoon. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The World Bank says Burma's economic outlook is positive, but its senior country economist has expressed concern over the private sector's ability to compete with an influx of foreign investment as Asean moves to integrate the markets of its 10 member states. Khwima Nthara said during a World Bank teleconference on the economies of East Asia and the Pacific that the upcoming implementation of the Asean Free Trade Area in 2015 threatened the survival of domestic businesses that have been isolated from much of the world for decades. With Burma's opening up over the last 30 months, the World Bank said the country's economy "continued to accelerate" in the 2012-13 fiscal year ending in March, growing 6.5 percent. Economic growth, which stood at 5.5 percent in 2011-12, is forecast to rise further, to 6.8 percent, in 2013-14. Burma's main export, natural gas, is estimated to have reached US$4 billion in the last fiscal year, surpassing the 2011-12 record of $3.5 billion. Foreign direct investment also grew, from 3.7 percent of GDP in 2011-12 to 5.2 percent in the 2012-13 period. A report accompanying Monday's World Bank briefing showed that foreign investment in Burma went into the energy, garment, information and technology, and food and beverage sectors. Against the overall trend, investment in the agricultural sector decreased slightly, owing to flooding in some areas and drought in others that negatively impacted rice production. Though the quasi-civilian government's reforms over the last year and a half appear to be benefitting Burma's economy, the country's private sector has expressed concern over the added competition that will come with further economic liberalization. The garment and telecommunications industries, as well as other manufacturing enterprises, are seen as particularly vulnerable to added competition from other Asean nations as the region prepares for the Asean Free Trade Area. "Those domestic businesses cannot stand on their own at the time. The World Bank is concerned about the [domestic] industries, that's why we're going to help the private sector to survive. We would like to see the private sector survive," said Khwima Nthara, speaking from Rangoon during a teleconference also attended by World Bank regional representatives and journalists from the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, India and Singapore. He added that the World Bank on the whole viewed the integration of the Southeast Asian economies as a great opportunity to bring development to the regional bloc, which is one of the world's fastest growing but also remains saddled with poverty, outside of Singapore and oil-rich Brunei. "A commitment by the government to support the private sector can increase [businesses'] efficiency, and then we would like to see foreign investment come in," Khwima Nthara said. The Asean Free Trade Area aims to increase Southeast Asia's competitiveness as a production base to global markets through the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers within Asean. The AFTA is also expected to attract more foreign direct investment in the regional grouping's 10 member states. Khwima Nthara expected that the garment, information and technology, and telecommunications sectors were most likely to see foreign direct investment in the near term. "The tourism sector in this country is developing and I can say that it will be a potential sector in the future. The government has a master plan to promote this sector, obviously we see that foreign companies are building hotels," he said. "The private sector in this country needs support, and also needs improved capacity-building to survive," he added. The United States, the European Union and Japan continued to be Asean's largest export markets. Japan, followed by the United States and the European Union, were the largest receivers of Asean imports. In other positive news for Burma, the World Bank said it expected natural gas production to rise significantly with new fields coming on stream in the 2013-14 fiscal year, and many development partners—including the World Bank—are likely to ramp up their support to Burma in the coming years. The post Burma's Economy on Track, But Asean Free Trade a Concern: World Bank appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma’s Ruling Party Says Constitutional Change Could Mean ‘Serious Danger’ Posted: 07 Oct 2013 03:33 AM PDT Staff sell copies of Burma's Constitution at the Lower House of Parliament in Naypyidaw in 2012. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's ruling party says the state and its people will be in "serious danger and face consequences beyond expectation" if lawmakers scrap and rewrite the existing Constitution. "People will suffer bad consequences if the 2008 Constitution is abolished and redrawn," the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) said in a statement on Saturday. The military-backed party did not elaborate on the warning. Party officials, including vice chairman Htay Oo, were not available for comment. The USDP statement came one week after Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), said it would collaborate with ethnic parties to seek public opinion on the question of whether to amend or totally scrap and rewrite the Constitution. The controversial charter was written by the former military regime and passed in a referendum in 2008 that was widely seen as a sham. It allows for amendments but does not include any statements about redrawing a new document. Ethnic political parties and rebel groups that have reached ceasefire agreements with the central government have called in recent months for an opportunity to write a new Constitution, which they say would be faster and easier than separate amendments. The NLD has urged for amendments to improve rule of law and encourage national reconciliation. Party spokesman Nyan Win said the NLD recognized the importance of considering whether the public preferred amendments or an entirely new charter, but added that personally he believed scrapping the current Constitution would be "dangerous." "There is no provision in the Constitution that allows us to have a new one," he told The Irrawaddy. "It could lead to a confrontation with the military." The NLD considers the current Constitution undemocratic because it gives the military 25 percent of Parliamentary seats and makes NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi ineligible for president. Ethnic minority parties oppose a provision in the Constitution that require chief ministers in their regions to be appointed by the central government. The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) is among 12 ethnic political parties that the NLD has met with recently to discuss constitutional reform. The ALD favors rewriting a new charter, although the party's president, Aye Tha Aung, said he was not completely opposed to amendments, assuming they were thorough enough. "If you want to amend the Constitution, change the whole thing—don't stick only to the point you want to fix" he told The Irrawaddy. "Today everyone is talking about federalism, but there are provisions that block it. To stop civil war, ethnic people need a chance to work out their destiny as they choose in their native land. To cover all those points, as far as I'm concerned, it would be quite difficult [through amendments]. Having a new one would be easier and faster." The USDP has drawn criticism from some observers for issuing its warning over the weekend about negative consequences to constitutional reform. "The announcement is politically inappropriate," said Dr. Yan Myo Thein, a political analyst and commentator on Burmese political affairs. He said the government should allow the legislature to operate according to its motto: "The people's voice is Parliament's voice, and the people's wish is Parliament's wish." "The USDP shouldn't lecture us," he added. "It's like they are threatening us. They have no right to do this, it's very undemocratic." Last week, Parliament's Constitution Review Joint Committee welcomed suggestions from a wide range of stakeholders to review or amend the 2008 Constitution. Formed in July and chaired by the deputy speaker of the Union Parliament, the 109-member committee is made up of MPs from the Lower House and the Upper House, including military representatives. It set a Nov. 15 deadline to receive public opinion about Constitutional reform. Meanwhile, the NLD is preparing to conduct a public opinion poll on the same question. "We have seven groups to travel around the whole country next week for the poll," Nyan Win said, adding that the groups would explain how the 2008 document was drafted in an undemocratic way. "We will send the people's input to the Constitution Review Joint Committee by Nov. 15." Yan Myo Thein suggested that instead of having an opinion poll, the NLD should push Parliament to hold a referendum on the matter. "Given the time the NLD has to conduct the poll, I wonder what percentage of the population they can cover," he said. "The NLD should take a bolder step than an opinion poll. A referendum is the only answer if you want to achieve the people's genuine desire." The post Burma's Ruling Party Says Constitutional Change Could Mean 'Serious Danger' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

New Industrial Park in Burma Draws Ire of Farmers, Monks Posted: 07 Oct 2013 02:06 AM PDT A sign board in Nga Zun Township reads "Do not trespass the religious land." About 60 acres of land owned a monastery is at risk from the massive Myo Thar Industrial Park Project. (Photo: Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy) MYO THAR TOWNSHIP, Mandalay Division — Farmers, residents and monks living around the site of the planned Myo Thar Industrial Park project in Mandalay division are complaining about encroachment on farmland, unfair compensation and the threat posed by the project to a religious site. The industrial park is planned for 10,000 acres of land which has been taken from farmers living in at least 13 surrounding villages, and includes about 60 acres of a Buddhist monastery. "Since we are going to lose almost all our land, what will we do for our living?" asked Aye Thin, a farmer from Paedaw village, Nga Zun Township, who said she has lost  70 acres of farmland, and that 20 acres more is at risk from the development. "They said this project will give us job opportunities, but how can we earn enough for the living as we know only about planting crops." The project is being developed by Burmese company Royal Hi-Tech Group. The companies have begun demarcating the borders of the development using mechanical diggers. Some farmers say the diggers are encroaching on land that is not included in the announced project zone. "They start digging on our land that is not being confiscated. We were told that this land is also in the project area, but actually we were not informed about that," Aye Thin said. "We pleaded to them not to dig, but they said we don't have the power to order them. It seems we are going to lose every inch of our land." Farmers who are unable to show land ownership documents said they are forced to take 500,000 kyat, about US$520, as compensation for each acre of land. Others who have the document received 2 million kyat, about $2,080, per acre. "Our land was owned and inherited from generation to generation, so how can we present the papers?" said Soe Nyunt from Nawarat village, who said he lost 20 acres of farmland, but was only compensated for 6 acres. "However, no matter how much we get for compensation, we just want land to work on for we know nothing apart from farming." "I know how much land I have, but how can I argue with them. They said they've measured the land with machines, so it can't be wrong," he said. "I just want to tell the authorities to treat us fairly with justice and transparency." Farmers and local also complained that while the project's stated size is 10,000 acres, nearly 20,000 acres of lands has been confiscated. Apart from the complaints of unfair compensation and encroachment, locals are concerned about 60 acres of lands occupied by the Yarzawin Tawya Kyaung monastery in I Thar village. U Wilartha, an abbot at the monastery, said only about 22 acres of more than 85 acres occupied by the monastery has been registered as religious land. "The local land registration office refused to register the remaining land without any reason," he said. "That land is in the project area, we think that is why they would not issue the registration papers for that land." He said that the land was donated by the farmers and the locals to the monastery since 1975, but now might be lost. Moreover, religious buildings, a home for the elderly, pagodas and a 135-feet-high Buddha statue—under construction since 2010—are at risk. "We just want the area to be safe from confiscation as part of the project. For us, we can take this as karma, but if this happen, the donors and the locals will not be happy. That's why we've requested the authorities behind this project not to take these lands and the religious buildings to be part of the project," U Wilartha said. Aung Win Khine, president of Mandalay Myothar Industrial Development public company, said that the compensation had been accepted by 90 percent of the farmers on the 10,000 acres. He said the land in the area had been low value as farmland due to unreliable weather in the area, but was now rising from its initial value of about 30,000 kyat per acre. "Before, this area was deserted. It seems land brokers are stirring up problems as the area begins to be developed, with the development of transportation infrastructure and the price of the land increasing dynamically. We heard that some land was being sold through the brokers and becoming complicated," he explained. "We believe the farmers will able to get new land with the compensation if they only want to do planting. They will have access to electricity and clean water to the area as that being developed too." Aung Win Khine ruled out more compensation for the farmers, but insisted the project would not affect the monastery. "We will not disturb the land owned by monasteries and religious buildings. We are discussing about the religious land and will work with care to have a solution," he added. The project began in 2012 with the permission of the Madalay Division government, and is to be constructed by Aung Win Khine's company, Royal Hi-Tech Group. Myo Thar Industrial Park, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Mandalay city, will be connected to Semeikhon port, a development by the same companies on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River. The developers have said the project will create 200,000 jobs for local people. The post New Industrial Park in Burma Draws Ire of Farmers, Monks appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Inter-Communal Violence Hits Town Near Rangoon Posted: 07 Oct 2013 01:51 AM PDT Kyaung Gone's Muslim quarter is deserted and shops and the mosque were closed on Sunday after anti-Muslim attacks occurred in the town a day earlier. (Photo: Salai Thant Sin / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Fresh inter-communal violence was reported near Rangoon over the weekend, as a mob attack by Buddhist residents of Kyaung Gone, an Irrawaddy Division town, destroyed at least three Muslim-owned homes. The attack in Kyaung Gone, located about 110 kilometers from Rangoon, comes on the heels of an outbreak of inter-communal violence in western Burma's Arakan State last week and raises the possibility of a further spread of anti-Muslim violence through other parts of the country. Kyaw Khin, chief secretary of the All Myanmar Muslim Federation, said the unrest had been sparked by allegations that a Muslim man had attempted to rape a 14-year-old Buddhist girl a month ago. He said Kyaung Gone Township police had taken the man into custody, but a crowd of Buddhist villagers gathered at the suspect's house in the evening and destroyed the building and two homes belonging to his relatives. "Now, the Muslim man was moved to Pathein Prison and police opened a case against him for attempted rape," Kyaw Khin said, adding that Buddhist and Muslim leaders from the town, and from Pathein and Rangoon, met in Kyaung Gone on Sunday to discuss the situation with local authorities. "They requested the local public not to stir up tensions between religions and different races on the basis of such criminal allegations," he said. A Buddhist resident of the town, who declined to be named, said the mother of the victim had reported the rape allegation to the local police on Saturday, adding that the allegation quickly spread among the town's Buddhist population, leading to an outburst of anger. Kyaung Gone Township administration officer Soe Tun confirmed that three houses were destroyed. He said police took control of the town on Saturday night, forcing the mob to seek other targets. "Another small hut at a Muslim cemetery was burned," he added. "Now, all the schools and markets are open again in the town, but the Muslim residents have fled and have not come back because they are worried about more problems," the official said. A Kyaung Gone Township police officer said five suspects were arrested on Monday for their involvement in the violence. Myo Win Naing, an 88 Generation Student activist who is from Kyaung Gone, said a mob of around 500 people had destroyed the homes, adding that authorities deployed around 100 policemen over the weekend to maintain order. He added that there are about 50 Muslim-owned homes in the town. "The girl is currently at the police station and a medical examination result will be available in about two days," he said. "Now the residents are waiting for the investigation results, and we are worried that something might happen if the police found that she was really raped." Allegations of rape of Buddhist girls and women by Muslim men, or altercations between Muslims and Buddhists, commonly provide the spark for outbreaks of anti-Muslim mob violence in Burma, which have occurred in the Buddhist-majority country for decades. Kyaw Khin, of the All Myanmar Muslim Federation, said he was concerned that the rape allegations and Saturday's unrest could spread further anti-Muslim violence in other parts of Burma. "I am worried that this type of violence could spread through more parts of the country," he said. "Such incidents always cause this [inter-communal] violence in our country." "That's why I would like to urge people of all religions not to start unrest because of such incidents," Kyaw Khin said, adding that his organization had already sent a letter to President Thein Sein requesting him to increase security measures in Kyaung Gone. Last week, a spate of anti-Muslim violence occurred in Thandwe Township, in southern Arakan State, after an argument broke out between a Buddhist motorbike taxi driver and a Muslim man. Seven Muslim villages were attacked, five people were killed and four injured, according to Burmese state-run media. The government said 487 people were left displaced and received food aid from authorities. Last year, inter-communal violence in northern Arakan State displaced 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, while 192 people were killed. During an outbreak of violence in Meikthila and a dozen other townships in Mandalay and Pegu divisions in central Burma in March and April, 40 people were killed and 13,000 displaced. Muslim communities and international human rights group have accused the Burma government, which is dominated by Buddhist officials, of doing little to prevent the violence, while in some cases authorities and security forces allegedly even provided tacit support for the attacks. The post Inter-Communal Violence Hits Town Near Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

The Battle for Laiza Posted: 07 Oct 2013 12:54 AM PDT A KIA soldier holds a captured Tamatdaw assault rifle during fighting at the Hkaya Bum outpost. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) Tomorrow, the Burmese government's peace negotiating team, international observers including the UN's Vijay Nambia, and the rebel Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) will meet in Myitkyina for peace talks; the first between the two parties since late May. Since fighting between government troops and the armed wing of the KIO, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), broke out in June 2011, The Irrawaddy has closely followed events in Burma's northernmost state. From January until early February of this year, The Irrawaddy's photojournalist Steve Tickner covered the escalating battle between the Burmese government and Kachin rebels around the town of Laiza. He recounts how key events unfolded in this article, which first appeared in the March 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. LAIZA, Kachin State — Nestled in a narrow river valley in northern Myanmar, Laiza looks like any other sleepy rural town at first. A small stream divides the Kachin settlement in two and demarcates the Myanmar-China border. On the other side, China's red national flag flies over many of the buildings. In mid-January, shops here were open and people calmly went about their daily business; some warmed themselves in the sun after a cold night in the mountain town. But closer inspection quickly revealed that it was the center of a conflict zone; many inhabitants carried weapons, schools were closed and some families were packing up and leaving. Laiza is home to the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and its political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). It was developed as an administrative and commercial center for rebel-controlled parts of Kachin State following the KIO's 1994 ceasefire with Myanmar's central government. The Kachin, a largely Christian minority of around 1.3 million people, have fought a decades-long rebellion against the government over their demands for political autonomy within a federal system and better protection of ethnic groups' rights in the Constitution. Naypyitaw has rejected these demands and seeks full control over economic interests, such as jade mining and hydropower dams, in the state. The festering disagreements led to growing tensions that were further exacerbated by the KIA's refusal in 2010 to join a Border Guard Force under government command. In June 2011, the ceasefire collapsed and the KIA and Myanmar's military—also called the Tatmadaw—went to war. In mid-December 2012, the war escalated and the Tatmadaw began deploying helicopter gunships and jet fighters to attack Kachin rebel positions in the forested, low-lying mountains. The military made significant advances and by mid-January its forces made a concerted push to encircle Laiza and bring its artillery within firing range of the town. This was the situation when I arrived in Laiza. Yet, the townspeople remained calm in the face of the looming threat. But as I sat down for a bowl of noodles at around 8 am on a sunny but cool morning on Jan. 14, a heavy thud suddenly rocked central Laiza, followed by another one about one minute later. The Tatmadaw had fired two artillery shells into central Laiza's Hka Chyang quarter. The first round struck several civilians warming themselves around a fire. As I rushed to the nearby scene, I could see that the victims were only meters from a recently dug bunker when the shell exploded. Nhkum Bawk Naw, a man in his 50s, who was standing around the fire at the time of the explosion, was fatally injured. His wife Nang Zing Roi Ji sustained severe shrapnel wounds to her back. Sau Nam, 38, and her 2-year-old son Jang Ma Bawk San, were less seriously injured. "I heard a whooshing sound of an incoming shell, grabbed my child and threw myself to the ground. Then there was a large explosion and a lot of smoke and dust," Sau Nam recalled later at Laiza's small hospital. The second shell exploded near a wooden house, killing elderly church deacon Malang Yaw Htung and a 15-year-old boy named Hpauyu La. A 10-year-old girl Langjaw Nu Ja was seriously injured in her lower body. The incident drew reactions from international rights groups and Western countries, but the Tatmadaw remained silent on the events. President U Thein Sein's spokesman U Ye Htut denied that the military was involved in the incident. In spite of such unsettling events, the people of Laiza remained remarkably calm. There was no panic or mass evacuation, although business was clearly muted. Mayor Naw Awn showed a stoic confidence in an interview following the first-ever direct attack on his town. "We were prepared because the Myanmar side had warned they would do this," he said. "We have educated the townspeople how to behave and stay safe." After two years, we are used to war so really there isn't too much effect or fear," the mayor added. Despite this composed reaction among the besieged Kachin in Laiza, I later learned how deep such incidents cut into their lives. The killed teenager Hpauyu La was a student at Laiza High School and his two close friends in class 9A, Nkhum Tu Shan, 18, and Hpauyam Doi Bu, 15, described him as a popular, enthusiastic student. "He loved listening to music, and he enjoyed singing and playing his guitar," Tu Shan said during an interview on Feb.1. "He was a good, kind person who would always support his friends when they had troubles," added Doi Bu. "When Hpauy La died, I and his other friends felt very bad as we were all close," said Doi Bu, adding that Hpauy La's father had died from illness last year and his mother and sister had now fled to China. After a while Tu Shan revealed that he not only lost his best friend that week, but also a family member. "My father was killed in an air attack by the Myanmar army on [the KIA's] Hkaya Bum outpost on Jan. 16," he said with great sadness. After the incident, Laiza sustained no more attacks. But continuous government air and artillery assaults on rebel posts less than 6 miles (10 km) away created a rumbling sound in the town, like a distant thunder, providing the civilians with a constant reminder of the nearby war. While the fighting terrified Laiza's civilians, violence also engulfed other parts of Kachin. Across the state at least 75,000 villagers were displaced by the war and live in camps, according to UN estimates. On Jan. 15, I made the first of several visits to the frontline in the Lajayang area and to the strategically important Hkaya Bum mountaintop. Both areas were key defense positions for the KIA, a lightly-armed force of several thousand fighters. On my visit to Naw Hpyu post that day, jet aircraft could be seen pounding Hkaya Bum outpost just a few miles away, while an occasional artillery shell would fall on the range we occupied and sporadic gunfire drifted up from the valley below. In the following days the Myanmar government would attack—and eventually conquer—several KIA posts guarding Lajayang, a hilly area at the end of a narrow river valley that forms a southern gateway to Laiza. During a visit to these positions on Jan. 16 and 17, there was an air of expectancy amongst the dug-in KIA soldiers since there had been no government attack for days. As they waited, smoke rose up in the distance, where Tatmadaw soldiers were reportedly torching Nalung village. The rebels—a mix of young and older men, equipped with plastic helmets, KIA-made automatic assault rifles and captured Tatmadaw guns—were calm. They seemed accustomed to the brutal attack methods that the Myanmar military had deployed since late December. "Artillery is used first, then ground forces, and occasionally air support in the form of jet fighters and helicopter strafing," Lt La Din told me. "It was difficult during the first two weeks because the KIA was not used to air attacks." In the late afternoon of Jan. 17, the Tatmadaw began its attacks on the Lajayang area with a prolonged artillery barrage. I dropped back behind the frontline at Upper Lajayang village and heard up to six 105-mm and 120-mm shells explode per minute for several hours. The next morning, on Jan. 18, after a sustained overnight attack, these outposts had fallen to the Tatmadaw and the KIA soldiers had retreated a few miles down the road to Laiza. The southern ground approach to the town was now difficult to defend for the rebels. While the Tatmadaw attacked the Lajayang area, it had also launched ferocious air, artillery and ground assaults on the Hkaya Bum mountaintop outposts. But despite the heavy bombardments, the KIA held out. The government nonetheless announced on the evening of Friday, Jan. 18, that all military operations had ceased as its strategic targets had been conquered. The fact that the KIA had held Hkaya Bum perhaps surprised the government, which appeared to have planned the ceasefire announcement ahead of an important meeting with international donor countries on Jan. 19-20. Despite the government's public promises, Tatmadaw assaults on Hkaya Bum would not end, although air attacks ceased. A visit to the mountaintop position on Jan. 19 revealed that sporadic gunfire and mortar shelling continued that day. KIA soldiers made use of the relative calm to uncover three of their comrades, who had been buried alive when their bunker sustained a direct hit from an airstrike a day before. The next day, Jan. 20, a large number of Tatmadaw ground forces launched a frontal assault on KIA positions on the mountaintop. In the trenches there, I witnessed the Kachin soldiers taking regular casualties and two injured rebels were dragged to the safety of a dug-out bunker. Yet, in the heat of the conflict they seemed almost casual. Some threw hand grenades, while another admonished his fellow fighter for shooting without aiming properly, saying "You should shoot better; otherwise they will laugh at us." Despite the KIA's apparent resilience, the continuous attacks—from early Jan. 20 throughout the night until the afternoon the next day—proved too much for the rebels. "We relinquished our Hkaya Bum positions to avoid further loss of soldiers," Col Zaw Tawng told me on Jan. 21. Now, the Myanmar military held full control over the mountains around Laiza as well as the southern ground approach to the town. The KIA headquarters and the Kachin town—where some 20,000 residents and another 15,000 displaced civilians had sought refuge—were vulnerable to Tatmadaw attacks. It was only then that the heavy fighting ceased. Sporadic clashes continued but the KIA began to consolidate their last remaining defense positions on the outskirts of Laiza, the town that had been its stronghold since 1994. With the government's negotiating position strengthened and the KIA's defense situation weakened, government peace negotiator U Aung Min and senior KIO leaders agreed to meet on Feb. 4 in the Chinese border town of Ruili in Yunnan Province. In the presence of Chinese observers, the parties agreed to schedule more ceasefire talks before the end of February. The KIO insisted that further political dialogue with the government should include all 11 ethnic militias in Myanmar, who are allied in the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). It was also decided that the UN and international relief agencies would be allowed to provide aid to all displaced Kachin civilians, including to the approximately 45,000 displaced in rebel-controlled areas. The government had so far prevented international aid from reaching these areas. President U Thein Sein's spokesman U Ye Htut said the long-standing demands of the KIO and the UNFC—political autonomy for minority regions and amending the 2008 Constitution—would be discussed at the upcoming meeting, but he added that political issues would ultimately have to be resolved at a later stage. "We also have to discuss these issues with other ethnic armed groups. As the President [U Thein Sein] said, inclusive meetings will be held with the Parliament, the political parties and the civil society groups in the future," he said when pressed about a political solution to the Kachin conflict. Neither the government nor the KIO have revealed how many casualties they sustained during the conflict. If a ceasefire agreement is reached, the Kachin would join Myanmar's 10 other major rebel militias, which already have such agreements with Naypyitaw. Yet, the recent conflict has done much to undermine the other groups' trust in the government's commitment to peace with Burma's minorities. The Kachin conflict, nonetheless, seems far from over, as it remains unclear how a political solution can be reached, while the KIA—despite their recent losses—remain a confident fighting force. During the fighting around Laiza, the rebels frequently stated with calm defiance that if they lost their base, KIA units would simply escape through the forested mountains that they know so well, in order to regroup and fight another day. "Even if we lose Laiza we would continue to fight for the Kachin people. We don't choose only one strategy in our revolutionary journey," KIO joint secretary La Nan said on Jan. 22, shortly after the loss of key Kachin defense posts. As I left Laiza on Feb. 5, it indeed seemed as if the Kachin rebels were quietly adapting to a new phase in the long-running conflict with government, raising the question whether anyone gained anything from the bloody battle for Laiza. The post The Battle for Laiza appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Muslim Victims Say Police Aided Thandwe Attackers Posted: 06 Oct 2013 11:00 PM PDT Muslim women react to the loss of their homes which were burnt down in recent violence in Pauktaw village, outside of Thandwe, on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters) THANDWE — Even as the president came to western Burma to urge an end to sectarian violence last week, security forces could not prevent Buddhist mobs from torching the homes of minority Muslims or hacking them to death, at times, unwittingly, even encouraging them. That has raised questions about the government’s ability to quench a virulent strain of religious hatred blamed for the deaths of more than 240 people in the last 18 months. Five Muslims were killed in the attack Tuesday in Thandwe Township, just hours before President Thein Sein touched down for a scheduled visit. He promised an immediate investigation and, with uncharacteristic speed, state-run media by Saturday night said 44 suspects had been arrested. Few details were released about the latest arrests but a report broadcast on state television late Saturday indicated members of both communities were arrested. Officials in Arakan State said last week that the chairman of a nationalist Arakan political party and several of its members were among those detained. On Sunday, the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper put the total of houses burned down in Thandwe last week at 114 houses. It said three religious buildings — most likely mosques — were destroyed, and 482 people were left homeless. Still, as soldiers walked the dusty streets in the hardest-hit village of Thapyu Kyain, semi-automatics slung across their shoulders, Myint Aung and other Muslims residents were afraid. They said authorities had plenty of opportunities to prevent a series of attacks Tuesday, each more brutal than the next, but did nothing. More than 110 homes were burned to the ground, and nearly 500 people were left homeless. Initially, the Buddhist mobs numbering about 150 entered before dawn, setting one house on fire, but Muslim residents were able to push them back, said the 52-year-old, standing before a charred mosque and several homes. Police detained three suspects soon after, but released them almost immediately following threats of more violence, he said. Though police promised the Muslims villagers protection — and disarmed them and ordered them back into their homes — the mobs returned in even greater numbers at 9:30 a.m., and then again at 2:30 p.m. Among the dead were a 94-year-old woman and an 89-year-old man, both too old to run, each with multiple stab wounds. "We had no way to protect ourselves" said Win Myint, 51, another resident, standing in front of his demolished home, echoing complaints heard by victims in other attacks across the state. "And the police did nothing. They just looked on. Now everyone is living in fear now." In an interview with Associated Press in New York, Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin denied the charges that law enforcement or government troops failed to take necessary action. There was more sectarian violence in Burma late Saturday, this time in the southern delta region, with police and residents saying Buddhist mobs destroyed a pair of Muslim homes. It was the first time sectarian unrest was reported in the area since the violence started in June 2012. The violence in the town of Kyaunggon, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the main city of Rangoon, came after news spread that a 14-year-old girl had allegedly been raped by a Muslim man. Kyaunggon resident Myint Soe said mobs destroyed the rape suspect’s home, as well as the home of another Muslim man elsewhere in the town. Police confirmed the violence and said Kyauggon was calm Sunday. Burma, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million, is undergoing a mind-boggling political transformation after a half-century of brutal military rule. But greater freedoms of expression have had a dark side, exposing deep-seated hatred toward Muslims that, fueled by radical monks, have ignited attacks first in western Arakan State and then from Meikhtila in the country’s center to Lashio near the Chinese border. Under the new democratization, a poorly trained and ill-equipped police force — made up almost exclusively of Buddhists — is now tasked with dealing with sectarian violence, the army only stepping in at the invitation of civilian authorities or during states of emergency. The results, on many occasions, have been disastrous. "From the facts as presented, it appears the police failed to do their job properly," said Jim Della-Giacoma, the Asia program director for the International Crisis Group, a research organization. "But it is not just the authorities fault here," he said. "The community is being riled up by extremists. There is no justification for such violence." Tensions started to build in Thandwe one week ago, when a Buddhist taxi driver accused a Muslim shop owner of being abusive over a parking space dispute. Several houses were burned or damaged in the hours that followed, and by Tuesday the anger exploded into mass violence. Thein Sein was quoted by state media as saying he was "suspicious of the motives" of those who turned a "trivial argument and ordinary crime into racial and religious clashes." "According to the evidence in hand, rioters who set fire to the villages are outsiders," he said. "Participation of all is needed to expose and arrest those who were involved in the incident and those instigating the conflict behind the scene." "Action will be taken in accordance with the law, without discrimination on the grounds of race and religion," he said. In what appeared to be rare criticism of "969," a state media report said some organizations had distributed religious flags that were hung in front of thousands of Buddhist-owned homes and shops. A Buddhist-led campaign, "969" has taken root nationwide with its supporters urging Buddhists to shop only at Buddhist stores and avoid marrying Muslims or selling homes to them. Billboards with the logo were seen lining the bumpy roads. Muslims in and around Thandwe also blamed outsiders, saying they had existed peacefully side by side with Buddhists for generations and never imagined it could be otherwise. "Now, suddenly, anyone who believes in Islam is seen as the enemy," said U Win Myint, a 51-year-old member of the ethnic Kaman Muslim minority. "They are targeting us just for our beliefs." Others specifically blamed 969 and "northern Rakhines." Zaw Lay Khar, 62, who lost her mother in the attack, described how mobs waving swords and knives came into the village. "There was nothing we could do but run," she said, adding that while the faces of the attackers were largely unfamiliar, she saw some Buddhist neighbors pointing out Muslim homes. "I don’t know how this happened," she said. The post Muslim Victims Say Police Aided Thandwe Attackers appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Wilshere Puts Arsenal Back on Top, Spurs Hammered Posted: 06 Oct 2013 10:52 PM PDT Arsenal's Jack Wilshere, right, is challenged by West Bromwich Albion's Billy Jones during their English Premier League soccer match on Oct. 6, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Darren Staples) Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League on Sunday after Jack Wilshere rescued a point for them in a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion, while rivals Tottenham Hotspur suffered a shock 3-0 thumping by West Ham United. Chelsea relied on two goals in two minutes by substitutes Eden Hazard and Willian late in their match at Norwich City to give them a 3-1 win that lifted them to third in the league with 14 points from seven games, two behind Arsenal and Liverpool. Surprise package Southampton won again to go fourth, beating Swansea City 2-0 at home, while the day's big upset was at White Hart Lane. Spurs, who had conceded only twice in the league, leaked three in 13 second-half minutes including an individual effort by Ravel Morrison that West Ham manager Sam Allardyce dubbed "genius." It looked like there was also a surprise on the cards at West Brom, who were up to their old tricks a week after stunning Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford when they took a 42nd-minute lead through Claudio Yacob's powerful downward header. After somehow escaping further damage from more West Brom chances, Arsenal drew level in the 63rd minute when Wilshere made up for his poor performance until that point, smashing in a deflected shot from 20 meters out. "It was breathless. West Brom showed why they won at Manchester United last week and we had a hell of a task to come back but we showed character and we had chances to go on and win it," the BBC quoted Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as saying. "Our position is good because when you look at how we started [a 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa] and now we've come out of two away games well, so it's a good position to start again after the [international] break." The point, which puts Arsenal ahead of Liverpool on goals scored, will be all the sweeter for Wenger's side on a day their bitter north London rivals Tottenham lost ground on the leaders after a mauling by West Ham at White Hart Lane. Allardyce, whose side had not scored away from home and had won just one league game, took the bold decision to start with no recognized striker and the move paid off as defender Winston Reid, winger Ricardo Vaz Te and midfielder Morrison all netted. While the first two, in the 66th and 72nd minutes, set up the victory, Morrison's 79th-minute goal will be the one talked about after the former Manchester United player picked up possession inside his own half, went past Michael Dawson and lifted the ball over keeper Hugo Lloris. "We thought we'd drop the front man out and play more attacking midfield players from deep running forward," Allardyce, whose club had not won at Spurs since 1999, told Sky Sports. "You try these things you hope they work … it's worked and the players have made it work … We got three different types of goals, we got a set piece, we got a bit of luck and then we got a bit of genius." Earlier in the day, Chelsea had grabbed three points at Norwich after it had looked like their fourth-minute lead from an Oscar goal would not be enough when Anthony Pilkington leveled for the hosts in the 68th minute. The equalizer seemed to shake Chelsea awake and the introduction of Hazard and Willian changed everything. Chelsea broke quickly after a Norwich corner and Hazard's shot was pounced on by John Ruddy but the ball carried on past the keeper and over the line in almost slow motion on 85 minutes. Another counterattack wrapped up the win a minute later as Willian curled in a first-time shot of the kind of class the club will have been hoping for from the 30 million pounds ($48.22 million) they paid for him in the close season. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho took the credit for his substitutions after leading his side to their first away win in the league this season. "When I make a change, the change is always fantastic and the players make it fantastic or make it rubbish—it's up to them," the BBC quoted him as saying. The only black cloud for Chelsea, and possibly for England ahead of their World Cup qualifiers on Oct. 11 and Oct. 15, was the sight of left back Ashley Cole being substituted in the second half with what looked like a rib injury. Mourinho said he had in fact taken the England defender off for tactical reasons but that he would be having a scan on the problem, which the manager said had been troubling Cole for a while. Southampton's excellent start to the season continued in a 2-0 home win against Swansea City with Adam Lallana netting in the 19th minute and Jay Rodriguez adding another on 83 minutes. They are level on 14 points with Chelsea, with Manchester City and Spurs a point behind. Champions Manchester United are ninth with 10 points. The post Wilshere Puts Arsenal Back on Top, Spurs Hammered appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Film Gives Indonesia View of Bloody, Obscured Past Posted: 06 Oct 2013 10:47 PM PDT JAKARTA — Everyone in Bulumulyo village knew the mass grave was there, but no one dared to visit. Relatives of accused communists slaughtered there nearly a half-century ago thought it was safer to forget since the killers still lived among them. Some resented the dead for the stigma that continues to brand their families. Others believed what they were taught: That the deaths were justified to save the nation. A new American-directed documentary, "The Act of Killing," challenges widely held views about hundreds of thousands of deaths carried out across Indonesia from 1965 to 1966 in the name of fighting communism. It explores the country's darkest open secret by allowing former mass killers to re-enact their horrors on screen. Bulumulyo residents recently screened the film at the mass gravesite, and this week the producers made it available online across the country, slowly beginning a long-overdue conversation. "Most of the families of the victims are still frightened and traumatized because they lived under suppression and intimidation for three decades," said 73-year-old Supardi, who spent 14 years in prison camps before settling in the Central Java village with many other suspected communists. International film critics have hailed the award-winning production, calling it chilling and surreal. But most people in this Southeast Asian country of 240 million have never heard of it, even though it was shot entirely in Indonesia and in the local language. The film offers an unorthodox—and sometimes downright bizarre—window into the mass killings of suspected communists, Chinese and leftists committed by the army, paramilitary units and gangsters. The slayings were sanctioned by longtime military dictator and US Cold War ally Suharto as he seized power from founding President Sukarno. "The Act of Killing" focuses on a group of low-level, aging gangsters in the North Sumatra capital of Medan who were part of the death squads. They have never been accused of any crimes and enjoy hero-like status while rubbing elbows with high-ranking officials. In an unsettling twist, these men take on the role of actors. They spackle their faces with thick, bloody makeup, ride horses like cowboys and dress in drag to perform dance numbers, all to play out their version of a Hollywood movie depicting their murderous past. "The Act of Killing" has received more than 1,000 underground screenings in Indonesia, and must-watch reviews in some of the nation's biggest newspapers, but it has not appeared in theaters because it was never submitted to the government film board. The creators were concerned the film would be banned, setting off violent protests or attacks against venues trying to show it. Instead, director Joshua Oppenheimer, Drafthouse Films and other partners took the unusual step of making the picture free online to everyone nationwide beginning Monday, the anniversary of the event that kickstarted the killings. The 159-minute version of the film was downloaded thousands of times the first day alone and is geo-blocked without subtitles to restrict the audience to Indonesia. "The film is an invitation for Indonesians to confront painful aspects of Indonesia's realities that, in fact, most Indonesians in some ways know about but may be too afraid to discuss," Oppenheimer said by phone from Finland. Relatively few Indonesians are even old enough to remember the purges. Half of the country is younger than 30. "I often thought when I was making the film with so much time passing that no one will care anymore," Oppenheimer said. "But I think, on the contrary, because so much time has passed, people are ready to open up to this conversation in the same way that maybe time had to pass in Germany before the Germans were ready to look at what happened dealing with what their parents had done in World War II." Yet the topic also remains sensitive enough to keep Indonesians who worked on the film from listing their names in the credits for fear of retribution. The killings began after Suharto blamed the deaths of several high-ranking generals on an alleged coup attempt by members of the Indonesian Communist Party, known as PKI, on Sept. 30, 1965. The event's buildup was dramatized in Christopher Koch's novel "The Year of Living Dangerously" and its 1982 film adaptation, which was banned in Indonesia until 1999. Indonesia's mass killings were aided by the West—the US Embassy in Jakarta handed over the names of thousands of suspected communists—when the United States was also battling the spread of communism in Vietnam. The deaths were downplayed outside Indonesia at the time and never drew the same level of international outrage as atrocities elsewhere, such as Cambodia's killing fields. The main figure in "The Act of Killing," Anwar Congo, demonstrates in one disturbing rooftop scene how he garroted victims with a wire to avoid making a mess that would later smell. Then he breaks into a little jig, singing and dancing the cha-cha in white pants and a bright green tropical shirt. Though the film captures moments of regret, Congo and his cohorts boast proudly of their past. "War crimes are defined by the winners," says Adi Zulkadry, one of the documentary's admitted killers. "I'm a winner. So I can make my own definition." Congo declined to talk to The Associated Press, saying without elaborating that many reporters had "cornered" him in the past. Suharto was overthrown 15 years ago after three decades of tight-fisted rule, and memories of the killings were quietly buried in a country still new to freedom of expression and democracy. But many of today's elite benefited from the previous era and continue to prosper from those connections—President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's late father-in-law played a major role in crushing the communists. For years after the purges, every Sept. 30, children were forced to watch a brutal propaganda film demonizing communists for massacring the nation's heroes. Even now, the official version of the 1965 coup attempt is memorialized: Flags are lowered to half-mast and the president presides over a ceremony. History textbooks teach a whitewashed account of patriotism where good overcomes evil. The film includes a recent clip from a local TV talk show in which a smiling female host enthusiastically introduces Congo, hailing him for developing a "new, more efficient system for exterminating communists." Last year, Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission released a report concluding that the mass killings constituted gross human rights violations. It was dismissed by the government, which refused to examine it further. "I think it's too late for justice: The main perpetrators are all dead. What is important now is the truth," John Roosa, an expert on the 1965 atrocities at the University of British Columbia, said in an email. "The state has all along not wanted public discussions about the killings: it has only wanted to condemn the PKI…. It has pretended like they never occurred." But the film has put cracks in the silence that has always supported this notion. After watching it in Bulumulyo village with some of the known killers, survivors and family members cleaned the mass grave and began offering prayers for the dead. A sign that some Indonesians are ready to start talking about the country's best-known secret. The post Film Gives Indonesia View of Bloody, Obscured Past appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

As Obama’s Asia ‘Pivot’ Falters, China Steps Into the Gap Posted: 06 Oct 2013 10:38 PM PDT US President Barack Obama at a town hall style meeting with students and faculty at Binghamton University in New York on Aug. 23, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Jason Reed) KUALA LUMPUR — When then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared two years ago "We are back to stay" as a power in Asia, the most dramatic symbol of the policy shift was the planned deployment of 2,500 US Marines in northern Australia, primed to respond to any regional conflict. At this point in time, however, there is not a single US Marine in the tropical northern city of Darwin, according to the Australian defense ministry. Two hundred Marines just finished their six-month tour and will not be replaced until next year, when 1,150 Marines are due to arrive. The original goal of stationing 2,500 Marines there by 2017 remains in place, but the lack of a US presense there two years after the policy was announced underlines questions about Washington's commitment to the strategic "pivot" to Asia. President Barack Obama's cancellation of a trip this week to four Asian nations and two regional summits due to the US government shutdown has raised further doubts over a policy aimed at re-invigorating US military and economic influence in the fast-growing region, while balancing a rising China. While US and Asian diplomats downplayed the impact of Obama's no-show, the image of a dysfunctional, distracted Washington adds to perceptions that China has in some ways outflanked the US pivot. "It's symptomatic of the concern in Asia over the sustainability of the American commitment," said Carl Baker, director of the Pacific Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Hawaii. As embarrassed US officials announced the cancellations last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Indonesia announcing a raft of deals worth about $30 billion and then in Malaysia to announce a "comprehensive strategic partnership," including an upgrade in military ties. He was en route to this week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali and the East Asia Summit in Brunei, where Obama will no longer be able to press his signature trade pact or use personal diplomacy to support allies concerned at China's assertive maritime expansion. Since 2011, China has consolidated its position as the largest trade partner with most Asian countries and its direct investments in the region are surging, albeit from a much lower base than Europe, Japan and the United States. Smaller countries such as Laos and Cambodia have been drawn so strongly into China's economic orbit that they have been called "client states" of Beijing, supporting its stance in regional disputes. Leveraging its commercial ties, China is also expanding its diplomatic, political and military influence more broadly in the region, though its efforts are handicapped by lingering maritime tensions with Japan, the Philippines and several other nations. "For countries not closely allied with the US, Obama's no-show will reinforce their policy of bandwagoning with China," wrote Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the Australian Defense Force Academy in Canberra. 'Blue-Water' Expansion China, for instance, has been the biggest trade partner of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) since 2009, and its direct investments are surging, bringing with them increased economic and diplomatic influence. Chinese companies invested US$4.42 billion in Southeast Asia in 2012, up 52 percent on the previous year, according to Chinese state media citing the China-Asean Business Council. Investments into neighboring Vietnam rocketed 147 percent. China is demonstrating that it can deploy forces far beyond its coastal waters on patrols where they conduct complex battle exercises, according to Japanese and Western naval experts. Chinese shipyards are turning out new nuclear and conventional submarines, destroyers, missile-armed patrol boats and surface ships at a higher rate than any other country. Operating from increasingly modern ports, including a new naval base in the south of Hainan island, its warships are patrolling more regularly, in bigger numbers and farther from the mainland in what is the most sweeping shift in Asia's maritime power balance since the demise of the Soviet navy. China's military diplomacy with Southeast Asia is rapidly evolving as it takes steps to promote what Beijing describes as its "peaceful rise." The Chinese navy's hospital ship Peace Ark recently treated hundreds of patients on a swing last month through Burma, Cambodia and Indonesia—its first such mission across Southeast Asia. Its naval vessels returning from regular international anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden have made calls in Southeast Asian ports, including Singapore and Vietnam. Still, analysts and diplomats say Beijing has a long way to go to catch up with not just the long-dominant United States, but other regional military powers such as Australia, Japan and Russia. "China has come late to the party," said Richard Bitzinger, a military analyst at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Not a Patchy Pivot Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, one of Washington's most key allies in the region, said it was disappointing Obama would not be visiting Asia. "Obviously we prefer a US government which is working to one which is not. And we prefer a US president who is able to travel to fulfill his international duties to one who is preoccupied with his domestic preoccupations," Lee said after arriving in Bali. "It is a very great disappointment to us President Obama is unable to visit." US officials dismissed the notion that Obama's no-show would imply any weakening of the US commitment to the region. Just last week, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry were in South Korea and Japan to reaffirm the US military commitment to the two key allies, and Kerry will fill in for Obama at the two Asian summits. "The bottom line is that the United States of America is not going to change one iota the fundamental direction of the policy under this president," Kerry said on Saturday. "I think everybody in the region understands. Everybody sees this [the cancellation of the visit] as a moment in politics—an unfortunate moment—but they see it for what it is." The United States has ramped up military funding and assistance to its close ally the Philippines, expanded military exercises with other nations and increased regional port visits. From only 50 ship visits in 2010, nearly 90 ships have visited the Philippines since January this year alone. Washington has stationed surveillance planes there and promised up to $30 million in support for building and operating coastal radar stations, all aimed at improving its ally's ability to counter China's naval encroachment in the disputed South China Sea that has alarmed several Asian nations. But talks to establish a framework agreement on a regular rotational US military presense in the Philippines have yet to bear fruit, and are unlikely to have been helped by Obama's cancellation of his planned visit to Manila. For the Darwin deployment, a US Senate Committee said in April that it would cost $1.6 billion to build lodgings for the Marines, but the Australian government last month called for only a first-stage A$12 million ($11.3 million) tender to construct new quarters at existing Australian barracks for around 350 marines. The economic leg of the pivot, negotiations for the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP), has grown to 12 nations. But the complex three-year-old talks, which seek unprecedented access to domestic markets, are facing resistance in many countries and are unlikely to completed soon. A final deal would have to be approved by the US Congress, raising the prospect of domestic politics again obstructing Asia ties. "Even if the administration could push through some agreement on the TPP, it's very unlikely there is going to be legislative success getting that through based on the acrimony that exists," said the CSIS's Baker. "…On the commercial side [of the pivot], there seems to be more rhetoric than action." The post As Obama's Asia 'Pivot' Falters, China Steps Into the Gap appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Asean’s Burgeoning Thirst for Energy Posted: 06 Oct 2013 10:31 PM PDT Vehicles drive along a road near electricity posts in Thailand's Nonthaburi province. (Photo: Reuters / Chaiwat Subprasom) Energy demand in Southeast Asia has expanded by two and a half times since 1990—and is still only about half the global average as the global energy epicenter shifts to Asia, according to a new report released last week by the International Energy Agency. Particularly troubling for the environment, energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide by the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is expected to nearly double, reaching 2.3 gigatons—2.3 billion tons. That bleak assessment comes just a few days after the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that global warming, caused by greenhouse gases, is likely to accelerate and called climate change "the greatest challenge of our time." Energy demand within Asean is expected to increase by another 80 percent by 2035, according to the 138-page report by the IEA, titled Southeast Asia Energy Outlook. The agency is composed of 28 member countries, most of them rich ones. In particular, the report says, the 10 Asean members are expected to triple their use of coal, accounting for nearly 30 percent of global growth. Natural gas demand is expected to increase by 80 percent. The share of renewables in the primary energy mix is expected to fall as rapidly increasing use of modern renewables—such as geothermal, hydro and wind—is offset by reduced use of traditional biomass for cooking. IEA Director Maria van der Hoeven warned in a Bangkok press conference that countries in the region must take serious action to increase energy efficiency in a bid to slow the emissions of greenhouse gases. Removing barriers to energy efficiency deployment would deliver major energy savings. With the proper policies, it would be possible to cut energy demand by almost 15 percent in 2035, an amount that exceeds Thailand's current energy demand. Lower electricity demand and the use of more efficient power plants could reduce coal demand by 25 percent. More efficient industrial equipment, stringent vehicle fuel-economy standards and the quicker phasing out of fossil-fuel subsidies could drive demand reductions in oil (10 percent) and gas (11 percent). The average efficiency of coal-fired plants in the region is only 34 percent today because of the inefficient use of technology, according to the report. Getting coal-fired plants up to the level of Japanese efficiency today would cut fuel use by 20 percent and substantially reduce CO2 emissions and local air pollution. Fossil-fuel subsidies totaled US$51 billion in Southeast Asia in 2012 with subsidies remaining a significant factor in distorting energy markets, encouraging wasteful energy use, squeezing government budgets and deterring investment in energy infrastructure and efficient technologies. One of the big factors is that more than 130 million people in the region still don't have access to electricity and intensive efforts will be made to bring power to them over the next 20 years. Although Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore do have access to electricity, levels are below 75 percent in Cambodia, Burma, the Philippines and Indonesia. In addition, almost half of the region's population still rely on traditional use of biomass for cooking, posing serious risk of premature deaths from indoor air pollution. The decline in mature oilfields and the limited chance of new finds mean that crude production is expected to fall by almost a third over the period, likely making Southeast Asia the world's fourth-largest oil importer, behind China, India and the European Union. Its oil import dependency is expected to nearly double to 75 percent, as net imports rise from 1.9 million bbl/day to just over 5 million bbl/day. Spending on net oil imports is expected to triple to almost $240 billion in today's dollars in 2035, equivalent to almost 4 percent of GDP. Thailand's and Indonesia's spending on net oil imports are expected to triple to nearly $70 billion each. Some $1.7 trillion of cumulative investment in energy-supply infrastructure to 2035 will be required, with almost 60 percent of the total in the power sector. "Mobilizing this will be challenging unless existing barriers are overcome: subsidized energy prices; under-developed energy transport networks; and the need for greater stability and consistency in the application of energy-related policies. Implementation of long-standing projects to interconnect markets, namely the Asean Power Grid and the Trans-Asean Gas Pipeline, can underpin more efficient exploitation of the region's energy resources, while enhancing its collective energy security." Southeast Asia's governments will have to take significant action over the period in key priority areas including fuel-economy standards, more stringent building codes and energy performance standards for a wider range of products, the report continues. Improving capacity and energy data collection are pre-requisites to effective energy efficiency policies and implementation. Realistic and measurable efficiency targets are needed, along with effective approaches to achieve them, including mechanisms to monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. The affordability of energy efficiency also needs to be improved by eliminating market distortions, such as energy subsidies, and by increasing the availability of financing and incentives. The post Asean's Burgeoning Thirst for Energy appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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