Democratic Voice of Burma

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• JCRC reports massive support for amending Burma charter
• Shan army sits for separate talks with Aung Min delegation
• Drug abuse lands Kachin cops in prison
• Rohingya MP claims police involved in Maungdaw blaze
• DVB Debate: How to break the cycle of poverty
• Burmese migrants face arrest due to dissolution of Thai parliament

JCRC reports massive support for amending Burma charter Posted: 31 Jan 2014 04:54 AM PST Ninety-nine percent of the recommendations submitted to a parliamentary review committee support Constitutional reform, the committee revealed, as their long-awaited report was presented to Burma's Parliament. The Joint-Committee for Reviewing the Constitution (JCRC) was created to assess the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, which has come under intense scrutiny since Burma's 2011 political handover. The JCRC called upon legal experts, civil society, government Ministries and the general public to submit recommendations for the contentious document. By the 31 January deadline, the committee fielded over 28,000 submissions, many containing various recommendations. Only 367 proposals opposed amending the charter while a crippling 41,391 supported change. According to the report, 47 recommendations were against amending the Constitution's Chapter 1: Basic Principals of the Union, and 27,148 in favour. Related Stories Thein Sein vows to prioritise access to water, electricity Suu Kyi rally in Taunggyi moved to vacant lot UWSA in solidarity with Lawkheela The Chapter contains an oft-criticised article — 6(a) —  which deems military participation in the national politics a constant objective of the union. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has frequently denounced the Chapter during a recent bout of nationwide rallies geared towards garnering support for Constitutional reform. Chapter 12: Amendment of the Constitution, received 5,864 recommendations favouring amendment and zero against. Article 436(a) effectively preserves specific parts of the charter, requiring approval by more than 75 percent of Union Parliament and more than 50 percent of votes in a nationwide referendum for amendment. The added requirement of referendum votes notably refers to – among other clauses —  Article 59(f), which prevents Suu Kyi's presidential bid. That particular clause received 5,883 calls for amendment. Legal experts say that the 75 percent rule effectively blocks constitutional changes without military approval, as they are granted 25 percent of the legislative body. The JCRC largely comprised of ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party members, also presented a proposal urging Parliament to prioritise amendments that could settle disagreements about the centralisation of power and possibly grant autonomy for some ethnic nationalities. Ye Htun, MP for the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, said the report could signal a bright future for ethnic rights. "The report said that it is necessary to amend the 2008 Constitution to really create a democratic approach to ethnic unity," he said.

Shan army sits for separate talks with Aung Min delegation Posted: 31 Jan 2014 02:07 AM PST Representatives from the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) armed group met with the Burmese government's Internal Peace-making Committee (IPMC) on Thursday in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai where they discussed the draft framework for a nationwide ceasefire agreement which was agreed upon by 16 other ethnic armed groups of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) in Karen State's Lawkheela last week. The SSA-S was the only participant at the Lawkheela Conference which refused to sign the agreement. An SSA-S spokesperson, Sai La, told DVB that his organisation had sat on Thursday morning with an IPMC delegation led by Minister Aung Min who travelled to Chiang Mai this week to receive the draft agreement from the NCCT. "The government delegation was in Chiang Mai to receive the draft agreement and we met with them for a discussion," he said. "They informed us that – as the draft agreement covers a wide range of subjects including the framework for political dialogue – they will have to take the document back to the central government in Naypyidaw before offering any answers." Sai La said that the SSA-S met separately with the Burmese government delegation because they have no representatives in the NCCT. Related Stories Nationwide ceasefire draft submitted to govt peace team Ceasefire plan awaits SSA-S, UWSA consent No national ceasefire without support from Burmans He said the IPMC invited the group to join the planned talks in Hpa-an in the second week of February when discussions on the nationwide ceasefire draft will take place between the government and the ethnic alliance. Sai La said his group agrees to the draft framework in principle; however it wants to seek opinion from the Shan population and political parties before making any decisions. Nyo Ohn Myint of the Myanmar Peace Centre, which reports to the President's Office, described the meeting between the IPMC and the SSA-S as productive. "In my opinion, it was a very productive meeting," he said. "The leaders of both sides see eye to eye with regard to the nationwide ceasefire. [SSA-S leader] Lt-Gen Yawd Serk expressed himself frankly, saying that he wishes to see a ceasefire agreement signed in the near future," said Nyo Ohn Myint. The SSA-S broke away from the Mong Tai Army (MTA) when the latter surrendered to the Burmese government in the mid-1990s. The group has signed regional and union-level ceasefire agreements with Thein Sein's government in 2011 and 2012, but has nevertheless engaged in more than 100 clashes with the Burmese army during that time.

Drug abuse lands Kachin cops in prison Posted: 31 Jan 2014 01:47 AM PST Drug use remains a pressing problem among Burma's police force, particularly in the northern state of Kachin where opium and meth-amphetamines abound. A total of 36 police force members have been jailed for drug-related charges since November 2013, said Chief Brig-Gen Win Khaung, with many more suspected users still donning uniforms. The arrests occurred all over Kachin state in what seemed a deliberate systematic attempt to tackle the problem. All of the indicted officers, some high-ranking, have received five years prison sentences – the maximum for drug use. Related Stories Bauk Ja: Prison wasted time I could have spent working for the people Minister says Shwe pipelines safe, ecofriendly, as fire erupts in Arakan Suu Kyi Shan trip rerouted "We administered urine tests after suspicions arose," said Win Khaung. "Thirty-six tested positive and have been sacked." The sharp spike in arrest of civil servants is the first sign that the police force has been giving the issue more thought in recent moths. Bauk Ja, renowned Kachin activist and politician, suggested that the problem runs deeper than the police force would like to admit. "Some policemen have connections with trafficking gangs, who tip major drug dealers about crackdowns so they can go into hiding," she said, "and then they'd go around and arrest innocent bystanders." Bauk Ja said that about 300 people are currently being detained for drug-related crimes, while the big-time dealers routinely evade authorities. Burma produces about 17 percent of the world's opiates. Cultivation is rampant along the country's eastern border where Kachin State and Shan State meet with China. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has estimated that 1.5 percent of the population in Kachin and ShanStates are addicted to drugs. *DVB recently interviewed UNODC Myanmar country manager Jason Eligh about drug use and drug trafficking in Burma. See next week's INTERVIEW INTERNATIONAL.

Rohingya MP claims police involved in Maungdaw blaze Posted: 30 Jan 2014 10:56 PM PST Shwe Maung, a Rohingya MP in Burma's Lower House who represents Buthidaung constituency, has said that local Maungdaw police were involved in the fire that ripped through the west tract of Duchira Dan village on 28 January, razing between 16 and 22 homes belonging to Rohingya families. Speaking exclusively to DVB on Thursday, Shwe Maung said that until the day before the fire, local Rohingya men were assigned as lookouts to guard the three village tracts since most of the residents living there were women. "On Tuesday [28 January] afternoon, the locals were informed that the police would take over guard duty at Duchira Dan-West and so the Rohingya lookouts only had to patrol the Middle and East tracts," he said. "That evening, the houses in Duchira Dan-West were burnt down. To reiterate, it happened after the police took over guard duty of that part of the village." The MP for Buthidaung, which neighbours Maungdaw Township, said the fire broke out in one house at 8:45pm, but quickly spread to other homes while the police watched. "Since the village was under police guard, there would have been no opportunity for any outsider to enter the village to start the fire," he continued. "If anyone had tried, they would have been caught by the police. "Also, I have solid information from locals in nearby villages who phoned me and said they saw the police setting the houses on fire." Shwe Maung said that as the fire raged, the police prevented locals from trying to put it out. "So even if the police did not set the houses on fire themselves, they are still responsible and were complicit in the incident." Related Stories President orders local investigation into Maungdaw clash Rakhine Investigation Commission denies Rohingya massacre Fire razes Muslim houses in Duchira Dan However, the local Maungdaw police supervisor, Pol-Brig Tin Ko Ko of the 4th Battalion, has refuted the allegations. He told DVB TV on Wednesday that he assumes the blaze was started as "an attempt to politically discredit the government." He was backed up by Hla Thein, the chairman of the Arakan State Government Information Sub-Committee. Speaking to DVB on Wednesday, Hla Thein said, "There are no Arakanese [Buddhist] villages in the area. The fire broke out at three different places in the village and there were several houses with their doors locked and no one inside. The fire brigade assumes it was arson." He further said that none of the [Rohingya/ Bengali] residents in the village tried to suppress the fire and "so it must be assumed they started the fire themselves before fleeing the village." The Arakan State official said that 16 houses were burnt down by the fire, and that the cost of destruction is estimated at only 1.6 million kyat (US$1,600) because the houses involved were old. Duchira Dan [also written Du Char Yar Tan] is the same village in restive northern Arakan State where it is alleged that a policeman was abducted on 13 January by a mob of Rohingya Muslims. The UN says it has credible evidence that, subsequently, a retaliatory attack against Rohingya villagers in the east side of the village left dozens dead. The UN and other members of the international community have since called for an independent and transparent investigation into the incidents, however on Tuesday Burma's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin announced at a diplomatic briefing in Rangoon that a presidential order was to be implemented for a local investigation into the alleged killings which would include separate probes and field trips by: the Central Committee for Peace Stability and Development of Rakhine [Arakan] State; the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission; and the Rakhine Conflict Investigation Commission.

DVB Debate: How to break the cycle of poverty Posted: 30 Jan 2014 10:42 PM PST With its abundance of natural resources, Burma was once among the most prosperous countries in Southeast Asia. But, 50 years of strict military rule have had a catastrophic effect on the country and turned Burma into one of the world's most impoverished nations. Whilst Burma's economy is now growing rapidly in the wake of drastic political reforms, more than a quarter of the population remains below the poverty line. This week the DVB Debate person panel consists of: Daw Khin Waing Kyi of the Rural Development and Redacting Poverty Committee; Aung Thu Nyein, a senior research fellow for Myanmar Development Resource Institute; Yuza Maw Htoon, the director of Mingalar Myanmar; and Dr. Soe Tun, president of the Myanmar Farmers Association. Special guests include UNDP's Senior Economic Advisor Daniel Kostzer; the secretary-general of the Myanmar Fisheries Federation, Win Kyaing; and Su Su Nway from the Farmers Union Organising Committee. Cartoon: DVB Debate "If the economy of the whole country develops, people will escape poverty," says development researcher Aung Thu Nyein, "so we need to make that happen". But some panelists disagree and raise concerns that, although the country is getting richer, inequality is increasing. "Even if the GDP increases the income per capita won’t increase – it's not possible to reduce poverty just by raising GDP," says Soe Tun. Since 2012, the government says it has reduced the percentage of people living in poverty from 32 percent to 26 percent. It says they hope to reduce it to 16 percent by 2015. However, some audience members question the accuracy of government's figures and criticise their policy-led approach, saying there should be less research and more action. "The data collection organised by the government – is it factual? Is it accurate?" asks Dr. Phone Win, the director of the International Centre of Excellence at Yangon University. "The people have the capacity!" says Phone Win. "Those who may not have such capacity are the parliament and the government administration." MP Khin Waing Kyi from the parliamentary committee for poverty reduction insists that they are trying to work at a grassroots level, but they don't have the resources. Related Stories World Bank pledges $2bn development aid to Burma DVB Debate: State vs Religion Additional US$1 million for development in Chin state – but is it enough? "What I’m trying to say is that we want to go to the people, but we don’t have enough money or time, and the situation doesn’t make it possible." Later in the show, the studio is divided on whether microfinance is the best way to tackle poverty. Yuza Maw Htoon, who runs rural development organisation Mingalar Myanmar specializing in microfinance, says that helping people develop businesses is what is needed to pull the country out of poverty. “If the private sector is allowed to develop then employment will rise, and if they ensure fair competition then the government quality will actually increase." However others disagree. "It's not just microfinance but other social intervention is necessary,” says Save the Children's Nutrition Program Advisor Nicholus Tint Zaw, explaining that poverty is directly linked to issues such as malnutrition. "Social protection and knowledge training will have a bigger effect,” he says. Many areas of Burma are difficult to access and in some regions over half the population live in poverty. The audience and the panellists all seems to agree that more than one approach will be needed to solve the poverty crisis. You can join the debate and watch the full programme in Burmese at dvbdebate.com Or share your views with us by commenting on our website at dvb.no

Burmese migrants face arrest due to dissolution of Thai parliament Posted: 30 Jan 2014 07:30 PM PST Many Burmese migrant workers are facing arrest because a proposal to have their expired working visas extended has hit a snag due to the House dissolution in Thailand. Sompong Srakaew, director of Thailand's Labour Rights Promotion Network (LPN), on Thursday said government policy on foreign labour became unclear after the House was dissolved almost two months ago. Burmese workers who have worked here for four years need to return to their home country and stay there for at least three years before they can come back to work in Thailand. This condition is stated in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) co-signed by the governments of the two countries. However, the Thai Labour Ministry has submitted a proposal to the cabinet that would allow workers who have worked for four years to continue working without having to go home. Not long after the proposal entered the cabinet agenda, the House was dissolved. The proposal now hangs in limbo as the caretaker cabinet is not authorised to approve it. For now, workers at the end of their four-year term are facing crackdown and repatriation by the authorities. ”Burmese authorities told their workers [whose four-year working visas have expired] that they could stay in Thailand without being prosecuted, but our police have started arresting them,” Mr Sompong said. Related Stories US refugee resettlement programme draws to a close 300 Burmese in limbo after Malaysia migrant crackdown Thai protests hurting Burmese tourism He said the Labour Ministry should ask the Royal Thai Police Office to stop arresting the Burmese workers while the visa extension proposal is pending in cabinet. The LPN director said foreign labour was crucial to the Thai economy. If many of them returned home, the business and industry sectors would be badly affected, he said. Many small-size enterprises opted not to take their migrant workers to have their working visas renewed because of red tape and long travelling distance between the companies and the state offices, said Mr Sompong. Thailand's Employment Department director-general Prawit Khiangpol said the department had no authority to ask police to stop arresting migrant workers with expired visas. If the Burmese government was concerned about the workers, it should take the matter up with the caretaker government directly. The department tried to solve the problem faced by workers with expired visas by submitting the proposal, which requires amending related laws, to the cabinet late last year. However, the caretaker government had no authority to amend laws and doing so would violate the constitution, he said. Any amendments to the law must await a new government to decide, he added. This article was first published in the Bangkok Post on 31 January 2014.

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