The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Govt Rejects Call for Int’l Investigation Into Alleged Rohingya Killings
• MPC Leader Says Existing Kachin Accord ‘a Sort of Ceasefire’
• Myanmar Payment Union Plans to Form Public Company
• Thai Protests Leave Many Burmese Migrant Workers Without Visas
• Thailand to Go Ahead With Feb. 2 Election, Despite Warnings of Chaos
• Burma’s Heart-Shaped ‘Treasure’ of a Lake Threatened: Activists
• Burma Defense Ministry Says Contested Land to Become Homes for Veterans
• After Split, Me N Ma Girls Continue With US-Recorded Album
• Air KBZ Plane Evacuated After Wheels Overheat at Rangoon Airport
• Cambodian Police Break Up Rally Pressing for TV Station
• US to Press Sri Lanka Again at UN Rights Council
• China Says New York Times Reporter Broke Visa Rules, Will Leave

Govt Rejects Call for Int’l Investigation Into Alleged Rohingya Killings Posted: 28 Jan 2014 06:41 AM PST Police stand guard in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, in this June 2012 photo, after communal violence saw houses torched and residents driven from their homes. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma has publicly rejected calls by the US government for the involvement of international officials in an investigation into the alleged massacre of dozens of Rohingya Muslim villagers in Arakan State's Maungdaw District. On Tuesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wunna Maung Lwin and Ministry of Information officials briefed foreign diplomats, UN officials and news media about the incident in Du Chee Yar Tan village two weeks ago. The officials repeated earlier government statements denying that any Rohingyas were killed in the village, and said that only a policeman had gone missing after being attacked by local Muslim villagers. US Ambassador Derek Mitchell suggested during the briefing that the government set up an independent investigation commission that includes international officials to investigate the incident. Burmese officials, however, said the government would continue with its plan to let the Myanmar Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and the Rakhine Investigation Commission investigate the events in southern Maungdaw Township. The latter commission already visited the village on Jan. 22 to 26, but said it found no evidence of the killing of any civilians. Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut explained the discussion with the US Ambassador after the briefing. "The diplomat said that they could not trust our government investigation. The diplomat asked us to let international investigators cooperate with our government for an investigation," he told The Irrawaddy. "Our government replied to the diplomat that this current issue is a domestic issue. We already have our own independent investigation commission; we don't need an international investigation." "We will share all our information after our investigation is completed," Ye Htut said, adding that European Union officials and other diplomats would be allowed to inspect Du Chee Yar Tan village soon. The government has been angered by reports made by human rights groups and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay that suggest that at least 48 Rohingya villagers were killed by the police and an Arakanese Buddhist mob between Jan. 9-13. Most of the victims reportedly died in an apparent retaliation for the disappearance of a police officer. Medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which works in northern Arakan State, said on Friday that it had treated 22 Rohingyas who were injured during the incident. The government has also lashed out at media organizations for their coverage of the alleged massacre and state-run newspapers singled out the Associated Press and The Irrawaddy for criticism. On Tuesday, reporters of The Irrawaddy, Associated Press, Voice of America, The Myanmar Times, Mizzima and other media were denied access to the briefing. Ye Htut criticized the UN reports of the alleged killings and news organizations that had written about the incident. "The UN and international news organizations reported about the death of people in the village from [sources in] the village. They should bring evidence to us for investigation," he said. "We will take action against anyone who violated the law. We did not protect only one side. We protect two sides in order to have peace in the community." On Friday, the Foreign Affairs Ministry warned that any international aid organization or media group that releases information that is not verified by government officials would be considered as "interfering in internal affairs." The Associated Press' Senior Managing Editor for International News John Daniszweki said on Monday that the agency had been surprised by the government's reaction "because we felt that our reporting was accurate and hewed closely to the facts." Daniszweki said the agency hoped to continue discussions with the government about its reporting in Burma, but added that it would be impossible to comply with the ministry's directive. "If we only reported information verified by governments, there would be no reason for an independent press," he wrote in an email. Inter-communal violence between Arakanese Buddhists and stateless Rohingya Muslims has broken out sporadically in Arakan State since mid-2012, leading to scores dead and at least 140,000 displaced, mostly Muslims. International human rights have accused the central government and regional authorities of offering tacit support for the Arakanese Buddhists during the conflict, while security forces deployed in the region have been accused of committing widespread rights abuses against the Rohingya minority. The post Govt Rejects Call for Int'l Investigation Into Alleged Rohingya Killings appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

MPC Leader Says Existing Kachin Accord ‘a Sort of Ceasefire’ Posted: 28 Jan 2014 05:41 AM PST A delegation from the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) signs a seven-point peace agreement on Oct. 10, 2013, in Myitkyina, Kachin State. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — The Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) says the government's current agreement to de-escalate hostilities with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) is on the same level as a ceasefire. "We have signed ceasefire agreements with 14 groups. Even though we have not signed a formal ceasefire agreement with the Kachin Independence Organization, or KIO, the agreements we have signed so far are far more comprehensive than the ones signed by the ceasefire groups," MPC director Kyaw Yin Hlaing told a large forum of top-ranking government officials, foreign diplomats and international aid organizations in Naypyidaw on Monday. "So for many of us who are involved in the peace process, we sort of consider that we have achieved a sort of ceasefire agreement with that particular organization. "The only group that has yet to sign the ceasefire agreement is the Palaung ethnic armed groups. But all ethnic groups, and the government—all parties are now working toward a nationwide ceasefire agreement." He was speaking at the Second Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum, a two-day event organized by the government to discuss ways of accelerating international development assistance to Burma in a number of areas, ranging from education to health care, infrastructure development and capacity building. After decades of armed conflict, the peace process has also received substantial international funding, and the MPC plays a major role, as a government-affiliated organization that brings together government and ethnic leaders for negotiations. Echoing statements by the government over the past year, the MPC director said he expected a nationwide ceasefire agreement—which has been delayed a number of times—would soon be signed with all rebel groups, to consolidate individual ceasefire deals and allow for political dialogue. He said the government negotiation team and ethnic leaders had agreed on over 80 percent of issues in a draft of the proposed nationwide agreement. "The rest is just the small, nitty-gritty details, which I am sure we will manage to involve," he told the forum. He cautioned that many obstacles remained, and noted that in addition to 16 major rebel groups, many more smaller groups would need to forge peace or ceasefire deals with the government. "We're all working on that, and sooner or later we'll get there. I'm pretty sure that sometime in the very near future, we will be able to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement," he said. Since coming to office nearly three years ago, President Thein Sein's government has signed individual ceasefire deals with most major ethnic armed groups, and it is now pushing for the nationwide ceasefire agreement. But conflicts with Kachin rebels in northern Burma since June 2011 have continued to taint the government's track record of political and economic reforms. Peace talks in Kachin State last year did not yield a ceasefire deal, but the KIO and its armed group signed a seven-point agreement with the government negotiation team pledging to de-escalate hostilities. Dau Kha, a spokesperson for the KIO technical advisory team in Kachin State, said the MPC was not overreaching by claiming that the seven-point agreement was as comprehensive as other individual ceasefire deals with rebel groups elsewhere. "Even though we haven't signed [a ceasefire], on the ground level we are cooperating with each other to reduce tensions," he told The Irrawaddy in a phone interview on Tuesday, adding that he had not been present during the MPC director's speech in Naypyidaw and could not comment conclusively. He said some low-scale clashes had continued in Kachin State's Bhamo District in recent weeks, and he noted the continuing movement of troops on the ground, but said the situation had largely calmed compared with fighting in late 2012 and early 2013. "There is some military movement and some shows of force, but it's not severe," he said. Along with other ethnic rebel groups from around the country, the KIO earlier this month said it intended to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement in the future so long as political dialogue begins immediately during the signing conference. The government's negotiation team, led by President's Office Minister Aung Min, has pushed the rebels to sign the agreement first and then prioritize political dialogue. "Once we reach the nationwide ceasefire agreement, we will be working on the framework for political dialogue," the MPC's Kyaw Yin Hlaing told the forum on Monday. "Ethnic armed groups are really worried about political dialogue. They thought the government might stop at the ceasefire agreement, but President U Thein Sein and all senior government officials involved in the peace process have repeatedly mentioned that there will be political dialogue." He stressed the importance of trust-building by all stakeholders, and said the goal of national reconciliation would not be assimilation, but rather respect for the differences of ethnic groups. Aung Min also spoke at the Myanmar Development Cooperation Forum, and emphasized the importance of dialogue as Burma builds a new political climate after decades of authoritarian rule. "Since mistrust, divisions and suspicions have plagued our society in the past, we are unable to grab hold of the new political culture with confidence. But rather we are approaching this idea with caution," he told the forum. "Now is the time for us to address our political, economic and social issues by embracing this new political culture whose attributes are dialogue, debate, discussion and accommodation of divergent views." The post MPC Leader Says Existing Kachin Accord 'a Sort of Ceasefire' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Myanmar Payment Union Plans to Form Public Company Posted: 28 Jan 2014 04:30 AM PST Burma's only card payment system, the Myanmar Payment Union, plans to become a public company. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's only card payment system, the Myanmar Payment Union (MPU), plans to become a public company before the end of this year, MPU general secretary Ye Min Oo said on Tuesday. Founded in 2011, MPU's members include 18 local banks, three of which are state-owned. MPU set up the first ATM card payment system in Burma, which was lacking because of decades of economic mismanagement and isolation under the former military regime. The MPU falls under the authority of the Central Bank. The organization's comprises the managing directors of the 18 member banks, which all pay about US $20 million to join the MPU and freely contribute their time to manage the MPU. In recent months, MPU signed cooperation agreements with China Union Pay, Japan's JCB International, and the US' MasterCard and Visa. Ye Min Oo told The Irrawaddy that it had been decided to turn the MPU into a new public company with member banks becoming shareholders and a board of directors that would be staffed with managing directors of the banks. "After we've become a public company, members [banks] will become shareholders," he said, adding that the MPU would still have to decide how shares would be offered for sale to outside investors. In 2015, Burma hopes to launch its first stock exchange center with the help of the Japan Exchange Group Inc. and about 100 public companies plan to register. Ye Min Oo said MPU would expand its staff, while the capital requirements for joining the MPU would also be changed in the near future. He said that the work of the MPU is set expand as it seeks to promote the acceptance and issuance of payment cards and develop a cashless electronic retail payment environment to suit the needs of Burma's rapidly growing economy. Since the MPU was founded, the number of MPU card users has risen to 200,000 nationwide and there are about 2,000 ATM machines in Rangoon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw. Ye Min Oo said expanding ATM card usage was being hampered by Burma's underdeveloped communications technology infrastructure, as phone lines and internet connections remain extremely poor compared to many countries in the region. "Some MPU cards holders say their card is not working in some areas because there is no good telephone line connection, so we just distributed our MPU machines in areas with good communication," he said. "We expect that after international telecom firms [Norway's Telenor and Qatar's Oredoo] could solve this problem, all areas will be easy to access." Zaw Lin Htut, deputy managing director of Kan Baw Za bank and a MPU member, said the MPU would become a public company this year, although details of the new company structure still have to be decided. "In other countries, payment unions are becoming public companies, so we also need to change to a public company, so that the MPU card system can develop better and also because Burma's card payment industry will become more active," he said. The post Myanmar Payment Union Plans to Form Public Company appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Protests Leave Many Burmese Migrant Workers Without Visas Posted: 28 Jan 2014 03:16 AM PST Burmese workers transporting goods are seen inside the main market in Mae Sot, in Thailand's Tak Province. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) Burmese migrant workers in Thailand are struggling to extend expired working visas as continuous anti-government protests in Bangkok and elsewhere affect the country's administration, leaving thousands at risk of arrest, according to sources. "Because of political rallies, it has not been easy to negotiate between the two governments for Burmese workers who have lived in Thailand for longer than their four-year visas," Aye Myint, Burma's Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Security told The Irrawaddy. The on-going protests against the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra began in early November last year, triggered by a proposed amnesty bill that would have facilitated the return of her elder brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The bill was passed by the Pheu Thai Party-dominated House of Representatives but turned down by the Senate. The Union Daily, a private newspaper sponsored by Burma's ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), recently quoted Aye Myint denying that his government has done nothing for those workers who overstay. "There have been discussions and negotiations between the two governments but our workers are still targeted by thuggish gangs and those who want to extort money from them," the newspaper quoted as Aye Myint was saying. According to a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2009 by the Burmese and Thai governments, Burmese migrant workers whose four-year visas have expired are allowed to come back to work in Thailand only after they have gone back to Burma and lived there for three years. Burma's Labor Ministry, however, is reportedly trying to negotiate with its Thai counterpart a way for workers to remain in Thailand without needing to return home. Meanwhile, Burmese people living in Thailand have told The Irrawaddy that their fellow workers have been arrested although the Burmese government said it had asked Bangkok not to detain those with expired visas. "Several people have already been arrested around Bangkok while some others have gone into hiding," said Ma Oo, who has been providing assistance to Burmese migrant workers as a member of the Myanmar Association Thailand (MAT). "Our government hasn't properly explained to workers what is going on, or done anything about those detainees. Many people are now with expired visas and some have already stayed in Thailand for 4-5 months without visa." Ma Oo added that the number of Burmese people living at risk of arrest in Bangkok and surrounding areas currently exceeds 100,000 and many in other areas face similar situations. Some have been arrested while hiding and Thai employers do not take any responsibility for any employee who does not have permit to stay in the Kingdom, she said. "I had to quit my job from the factory I was working for because it no longer accepted me with an expired visa. I couldn't move to another place as well for the same reason," confirmed a female worker in Bangkok, who requested not to be named. "I now move around to escape arrest and sell things like a street vendor. I don't know when I will be caught." Some Burmese workers in Thailand's northern city of Chiang Mai, however, told The Irrawaddy that those with expired visas could continue working, but were not allowed to move somewhere else. "The Thai deputy labor minister told us that he had asked police not to arrest workers with such visa problems because the current political situation was not stable," said a worker who wanted to remain anonymous. "He also warned that we would be arrested if we moved to other places outside Chiang Mai." According to the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok, it has regularly dealt with responsible channels in the Thai government in order to agree the continuous stay of Burmese workers whose four-year visas have been expired. About three millions Burmese migrant workers are reportedly working in Thailand nowadays, most of who take jobs in construction, agriculture, fishery, seafood factories, garment factories and restaurants. The post Thai Protests Leave Many Burmese Migrant Workers Without Visas appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thailand to Go Ahead With Feb. 2 Election, Despite Warnings of Chaos Posted: 28 Jan 2014 03:09 AM PST Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra answers questions from the media as she leaves a meeting with the Election Commission to discuss plans for a general election on Feb. 2 in Bangkok on Jan. 28, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha) BANGKOK — Thailand's prime minister has confirmed a general election will go ahead on Sunday despite a warning that it could end in chaos in the face of months of at times violent anti-government protests. In a separate part of an army complex in Bangkok where Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was meeting Election Commission officials, shots were fired in a group of anti-government protesters. Two people were injured. "We have to go forward with the election. The Election Commission will organiZe the election under the framework of the constitution and try to avoid any violence," Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana told a news conference. Yingluck had called the snap election in the hope of confirming her hold on power and putting an end to the protests in the capital which began in November in an attempt to force her from office. The protests are the latest eruption in a political conflict that has gripped Thailand for eight years and which is starting to hurt growth and investor confidence in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy. The conflict broadly pits Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against the mainly poor, rural backers of Yingluck and her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The protesters have rejected the election, which Yingluck's ruling party looks set to win, and prevented advance voting in many parts of Bangkok and the south on Sunday. The Commission has been pressing for a delay in the election because of the unrest and wants it delayed by up to four months. Ten people have been killed since the protests began and hundreds have been wounded. The latest shooting was where about 500 anti-government protesters had gathered at the Army Club compound in Bangkok where Yingluck held a cabinet meeting before meeting the Election Commission. The shooting took place far from that meeting. "Someone fired shots. One protester was hurt and the man who fired the shots was hurt too. They have been sent to different hospitals," Chumpol Jumsai, a protest leader who was at the facility in north Bangkok, told Reuters. The protesters want to suspend what they say is a fragile democracy destabilized by former telecoms tycoon Thaksin, whom they accuse of nepotism and corruption. They want to eradicate the political influence of his family by altering electoral arrangements in ways they have not spelt out. The Election Commission has argued that the country is too unsettled to hold an election now. It also points out that candidates have been unable to register in some constituencies, meaning there would not be a quorum to open parliament even if voting went ahead. "We believe chaos will ensue … Our new recommendation is to hold elections within three or four months," Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a member of the Election Commission, told reporters as he went into the meeting. As the protest movement drags on into its third month, the government has issued an ultimatum to leaders that they face arrest by Thursday if they do not give up areas of Bangkok they have taken over. The government has declared a state of emergency in the capital and Labor Minister Chalerm Yoobumrung, in charge of enforcing the decree, said an arrest warrant would be sought against protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban and others on Tuesday. "If the court issues arrest warrants for the protest leaders at 3 p.m. today, we will start capturing them. Suthep has refused to negotiate with us so we don't know what else to do," Chalerm told reporters. The government declared the emergency last week but it has shown no sign of using its powers, nor did authorities move to arrest Suthep after earlier arrest warrants were issued. Suthep has said in return that his supporters would shut down the emergency agency headed by Chalerm within 24 hours. There are widespread fears that violence could escalate in the increasingly divisive dispute and that the army might step in. It has staged or attempted 18 coups in 80 years of on-off democracy but has tried to remain neutral this time. Yingluck is Thailand's fifth prime minister since the populist Thaksin was toppled by the army in 2006 and went into exile two years later to escape a jail sentence that was handed down for abuse of power. The post Thailand to Go Ahead With Feb. 2 Election, Despite Warnings of Chaos appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma’s Heart-Shaped ‘Treasure’ of a Lake Threatened: Activists Posted: 28 Jan 2014 02:14 AM PST A photo of Rih Lake in western Burma's Chin State. (Photo: Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Information) RIH LAKE, Chin State — Rih Lake, the heart-shaped natural landmark of Burma's underdeveloped Chin State, faces the threat of environmental destruction, say local environmental activists who fear the impact of a planned government housing project in the area. "The authorities said last year that the project was for government housing and it would help the development of the region. It is good to develop the region, but they do not care about the conservation of nature," said Ko Dawla, chairman of a committee that advocates for conservation of Rih Lake and its surrounding environment. The housing project is planned for an area that includes part of the mountains that surround much of the lake. The activists said the project would destroy more than 15 acres of forest around the lake, with unknown effects to the region's fragile ecosystem. "The water level and the lake's surface area are reducing year by year. … Since the changing of the ecosystem itself affects the region, we don't want the nature to be spoiled by human errors," Ko Dawla said, adding that the lake's waters had receded by as much as 12 feet in some places. Activists said that the forest near the lake was designated as a protected forest by the state government in 2013, but conservation work has been hampered by difficulties in educating the local population. They said conservation of Rih Lake was largely off the radar of the country's environmentalists, due to limited communication with the region blamed on poor transportation and telecommunications infrastructure. "The major needs, such as transportation, education and health care, are still neglected and of course, the environmental matters of our region are not in the mind of the government. When we talk about development, we shouldn't forget about potential environment destruction as well," said Ko David, another environmental activist. According to activists and local residents, the housing project has not yet begun but state government officials and local authorities are visiting the area frequently and attempting to persuade local residents that the project will benefit the area. "If the authorities really care about the environment of the lake and the social welfare of the locals, we have no reason to oppose such a project. But the authorities have not done the proper research on the environmental consequences, and the project is only for them, not for the locals—not for the development of the region at all," said Lian Tuang, a local resident. Concern over conservation of the lake was raised with Aung San Suu Kyi on the opposition leader's recent visit to Chin State, where she spent four days traveling in the region to promote constitutional reform. Suu Kyi promised during a speech in nearby Falam that her party would address the issue. The activists said a formal complaint concerning the project was submitted to Parliament and more complaints were on the way. "We are trying to do more research concerning the conservation of Rih Lake. We are trying to collect the evidence and will submit another complaint to Naypyidaw to make the previous complaint more concrete," Ko Dawla said. Local lore abounds regarding the uniquely heart-shaped Rih Lake, located near the border town of Rihkhawdar. People living in the region widely believe that spirits of the dead make their way to Rih Lake to quench their thirst, and upon drinking its waters are purged of all living memory. After that, the spirits are said to pluck flowers, known locally as hawilo par (the flower of no return), and submerge themselves in the lake, where they find eternal rest. According to locals, tourism to the area has been on the rise since early 2013. Indians form a large portion of visitors, crossing the India-Burma border, which lies less than 3 kms north of the lake. "Tourists will visit the lake more and more in future. We need to think about promoting transportation and accommodation, and we have to maintain the nature and culture at the same time. We will try our best to protect this lake because this is our only treasure," Ko Dawla said. The post Burma's Heart-Shaped 'Treasure' of a Lake Threatened: Activists appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Defense Ministry Says Contested Land to Become Homes for Veterans Posted: 28 Jan 2014 02:08 AM PST Land in eastern Rangoon's Michaungkan village was planted with vegetables before farmer were evicted last year. (Photo: Ma Tar) RANGOON — Burma's Ministry of Defense has said it will not return land in eastern Rangoon's Thingangyun Township that was forcibly seized during military rule, since it plans to build new homes for veterans on the land. Hundreds of former occupiers of land in Michaungkan village, evicted in the early 1990s, say they were not properly compensated for their land, which would now be highly valuable. Another group of one-time occupiers, 179 families of vegetable farmers to whom the army rented the land after the initial evictions, were themselves moved off the land in June 2013. In a private letter to lawmaker Thein Nyunt, who has taken up the displaced vegetable farmers' cause in Parliament, the Defense Ministry said the 33.855 acres of the land would not be returned to anyone, since it would soon be used to build homes for former army employees. The letter insisted that the land was military property, and that under the law, rented land can be taken back at any time. The ministry said it had provided temporary plots of land in East Dagon, on the outskirts of Rangoon, for 56 vegetable farming families to live on for six months. But that period has already expired, and the farmers say they have nowhere else to go. Thein Nyunt told The Irrawaddy that the ministry appeared to be conflating the two groups of former occupiers in its response, as it did not distinguish between the claims of the vegetable farmers and the pre-1990s owners. He said the vegetable growers simply wanted to be allowed to continue renting the land. "We are not encouraging them to violate the law by keep sticking in the area," he said. "They have been growing crops there for 20 years and paying taxes. We are not asking [the army] to give the land back to them as their own possession, but to rent them the land so that they can grow and keep their livelihoods," Thein Nyunt said, adding that the military should also compensate the original owners of the land properly. As for the claim the seized land will be turned into homes for veterans, Thein Nyunt said he was not certain this plan would ever come to fruition. U Kyaw, another lawmaker for Rangoon Division, said the new temporary land given to the vegetable farmers is very small—with plots measuring only 20 by 30 feet—and that much of the land was flooded and unusable. "The place is no bigger than cowshed," he said of the small temporary plots. Soe Mi Mi Thu, one of the vegetable growers who has campaigned against the eviction and is better known as Ma Tar, said she wanted to hold a press conference to clear up the confusion about the two different groups and their different demands. She also said the vegetable farmers had no security in their "temporary" land plots. "We don't know what the relevant department will arrange for us after the six months of temporary stay," Ma Tar said. Hundreds of the pre-1990s occupiers repeatedly protested last year, and set up a protest camp on the land in November. That camp was finally abandoned in December after Aung Thein Lin, a ruling-party lawmaker and a member of Parliament's Land Investigation Committee, promised to investigate the case urgently. The post Burma Defense Ministry Says Contested Land to Become Homes for Veterans appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

After Split, Me N Ma Girls Continue With US-Recorded Album Posted: 28 Jan 2014 01:25 AM PST The Me N Ma Girls in their old set up. From left to right: Cha Cha, Htike Htike, Kimi and Ah Moon. (Photo: MeNMaGirls/Facebook) Eighteen months after the Me N Ma Girls signed an agreement with a US music label, Burma's only pop girl band says they are making progress on their first international album, which is being recorded in a studio in Los Angeles. The group is, however, dealing with a major setback after two of the four members departed earlier this month, leaving only singers Ah Moon and Kimi to carry on as the Me N Ma Girls. Members Hitke Hitke and Cha Cha left the group after disagreements arose over their recording contract, according to Ah Moon. The group signed a deal with US label Power House Music in Los Angeles in June 2012 and travelled to the United States in April 2013 to record a single entitled "Girl Strong," an international pop style, English-language song. Ah Moon said Htike Htike and Cha Cha had been displeased to learn that their contract also gave the company ownership of any of their solo work. They then decided to leave Power House Music and the Me N Ma Girls in order to pursue solo careers. "The main reason for the split is that they want to be individual artists. Since signing the contract with the company, we are the artists of Power Music, either our individual art activities or group work is owned by the company," she said. "The company also wants a 100-percent commitment on this album as we are a first starter. And they were frequently absent, such as missing the practice session and late for work. It happened because the girls gave more times to their individual activities," Ah Moon said. "So the company did not keep working with them." Htike Htike told The Irrawaddy last week that she does not want to discuss leaving the band, adding, "I will hold a press conference later." Dan Hubbert, the CEO of Power House Music, could not immediately be reach for comment about the split of the band and the planned release date of their album. Burma's only girl band was originally formed under the name the Tiger Girls in 2010 after five girls were scouted by Australian dancer Nicole May in a talent contest in Rangoon that year. Ah Moon is an ethnic Kachin girl from Myitkyina, Kimi is a Chin girl from Kalaymyoe, and Htike Htike, Wai Hnin and Cha Cha are Burman girls from Rangoon. In 2011, the band was renamed the Me N Ma Girl. They quickly gained domestic and international attention as Burma's first pop girl band and enjoyed a number of hit singles. Wai Hnin left the group in 2013. After their deal with Power House they also performed live shows in Asia and Western countries including at the Women in The World Summit in April 2013 in New York. The remaining two members have recorded a number of songs for Power House and Ah Moon said they would now go ahead with the planned completion of a studio album, which she added is due for release some time this year. "We have recorded about seven, eight songs, but will still have to go to our studio in Los Angeles again in February for more recording," said Ah Moon. "There will be Burmese songs on the album too, but the album title has not been chosen yet," she told The Irrawaddy, adding that the band had written their own songs and lyrics but had also worked with well-known US composers on the album. Ah Moon said the band had tried to follow their artistic desire to write their own songs, instead of adapting popular international songs for a Burmese audience by covering them in the Burmese language—a practice that has been popular among local artists for decades. Yet, the 23-year old, who is a Foreign Language graduate majoring in Russian at the Yangon University of Foreign Language, said she also carefully considers the opinions of the Burmese public and their reaction to the Me N Ma Girls' international performance style. "I am prepared to accept any kind of feedback from our Burmese audience, as there could always be different opinions on our appearances and performance," said Ah Moon. The singer, who is also known by her Kachin name Lung Sitt Ja Moon, said her first music idol was Michael Jackson, while she also ranks contemporary artists like Rihanna, Beyoncé and Demi Lovato as inspirations. "Burma's famous singers Lay Phyu, Ahge and Myo Gyi from Iron Cross band and Burmese women singers Chan Chan, Irin Zin Mar Myint and Ni Ni Khin Zaw are also role models for me," she said. The Me N Ma Girls are scheduled to perform in Rangoon on Feb. 8-9 at the Japan Entertainment Festival, which is being organized at National Theater of Yangon. They will sing the Japanese songs as well as their own songs in English. Earlier this month, Ah Moon and Kimi visited several other Asian countries, including Malaysia, where they had a broadcast interview with Malaysia's Red FM and also visited local charity the Ti Ratana orphanage. Ah Moon said she had greatly enjoyed this visit. "There are a lot of kids, from 8 months to 18 years old, we met with those orphans and had fun singing to them. It was our dream to help those people in need. We do such charity works in Burma too," she said. The post After Split, Me N Ma Girls Continue With US-Recorded Album appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Air KBZ Plane Evacuated After Wheels Overheat at Rangoon Airport Posted: 28 Jan 2014 01:18 AM PST An Air KBZ plane refuels at Rangoon International Airport. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — An Air Kanbawza (Air KBZ) airplane was evacuated on the runway of the Rangoon International Airport on Tuesday morning, after smoke began to rise from its wheels while taxiing, according to a statement. The statement posted on Air KBZ's official Facebook page said the aircraft was readying to take off on a domestic flight to Heho in Shan State at 7:51 am when its wheels overheated. All 65 passengers were transferred to another plane after the "technical error," the statement said, adding that no one was hurt. "It happened before the takeoff. The wheels got overheated on the runway," said the Air KBZ general Manager Myat Thu. Burmese airline Air KBZ is owned by Kanbawza Bank, and part of business empire of tycoon Aung Ko Win. The bank also owns an 80 percent stake in Myanmar Airways International, the country's international flag-carrying airline, in which the Burma government is the other shareholder. Burma's domestic airlines have a patchy safety record, and in December 2012, an Air Bagan flight crash landed near Heho airport, killing one passenger and a motorcyclist who was hit by the aircraft. According to a recent report from Reuters, there were four serious accidents in 2012 among the small number of airlines flying domestic routes in Burma. The post Air KBZ Plane Evacuated After Wheels Overheat at Rangoon Airport appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Cambodian Police Break Up Rally Pressing for TV Station Posted: 27 Jan 2014 10:09 PM PST Protesters clash with security guards as they attempt to break through to Freedom Park in central Phnom Penh on Monday. (Photo: Reuters) PHNOM PENH — Cambodian military police used smoke grenades and batons on Monday to quell a protest by demonstrators demanding that a new television channel be allowed to broadcast, wounding at least eight people, witnesses said. The demonstration was in breach of a ban on public gatherings imposed by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is enduring one of the biggest challenges to his 28-year rule and mounting criticism of bloody crackdowns on dissent. Military police and guards working for Phnom Penh city authorities chased down opposition-aligned protesters near the Information Ministry, with police wielding batons and electric prods. Journalists were among the wounded, according to Reuters witnesses. The protest was against the ministry’s refusal to grant a broadcast license to a new television channel run by a staunch government critic in a country where the broadcast media is accused of lacking political independence. The violence was the latest episode in a months-long political crisis in Cambodia, which was for years racked by conflict but which recently saw more than a decade of unprecedented growth and stability. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) has held some of the biggest rallies the country has ever seen as part of its campaign for a re-run of a July election it says it was rigged in favour of Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). CNRP has been joined by unions representing 350,000 garment factory workers who held strikes last year over the government’s refusal to meet its demands for higher pay. Five workers were killed on Jan. 3 when security forces fired live ammunition to quell a protest. Military police spokesman Kheng Tito said the ongoing crackdown was necessary to ensure public order. The ban on gatherings, he said, would only be lifted when CNRP lawmakers ended their boycott of parliament and worked with the ruling party to resolve the conflict. 'Scary and Worrying' Police clashed on Sunday with anti-government protesters and garment workers who were demanding the release of 23 people jailed for their involvement in the recent strikes. "These instances of violence happened one after another and it has now become a very scary and worrying trend," said Chan Soveth, a worker with the Adhoc human right group. "Without talks between the CPP and CNRP, we’re worried violent crackdown will occur in the whole country," Chan Soveth said, adding that some CNRP activities had been disrupted by CPP supporters in several provinces. The violence comes ahead of a U.N. human rights hearing on Cambodia in Geneva, where CNRP leader Sam Rainsy and human rights groups will seek support from member states to end the deadlock. Hun Sen has refused to resign, allow an independent investigation into the election, or hold another ballot. "Since the beginning of 2014, respect for human rights in Cambodia – including the treatment of human rights defenders – has worsened significantly to the point of crisis," the Licadho and Amnesty International rights groups said on Sunday. Yim Sovann, CNRP spokesman, said the party would stick to its demands for a fresh election and electoral reforms. "The situation has become worse, with crackdowns everywhere," he said. "We don’t know how the CPP wants to end this crisis." The post Cambodian Police Break Up Rally Pressing for TV Station appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

US to Press Sri Lanka Again at UN Rights Council Posted: 27 Jan 2014 10:03 PM PST Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa speaks ahead of a meeting of the Commonwealth in November, at which Sri Lanka came under pressure over allegations of war crimes during its civil conflict. (Photo: Reuters) WASHINGTON — The United States said Monday it will sponsor a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council that Sri Lanka is worried could call for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes during the island nation's civil conflict. Hoping to head off that threat, a top aide to Sri Lanka's powerful president is in Washington this week, trying to persuade the Obama administration and lawmakers that Sri Lanka is on a path toward national reconciliation, nearly five years after crushing a quarter-century rebellion by ethnic Tamil fighters. While Sri Lanka has enjoyed relative peace since then, it hasn't satisfied concerns, principally from Western nations, over the fate of tens thousands of Tamil civilians in the dying months of the war in 2009, when government forces were closing in on Tamil Tiger rebels cornered on a sliver of land in the island's northeast. A UN report previously said as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians died, mostly in government attacks, but Sri Lanka denies such a high toll and has repeatedly denied it deliberately targeted civilians. In November, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would call for a UN-backed investigation into allegations of war crimes unless there was progress on postwar reconciliation by March, when the UN Human Rights Council holds a bi-annual session. During the past two years, the council passed resolutions calling on Sri Lanka to conduct its own investigations into war crimes allegations against both government troops and the Tigers. The US State Department said Monday it would be sponsoring a resolution on Sri Lanka this March, but wouldn't say whether it would call for an international investigation. But officials said that the fact the US is pushing a third resolution in as many years reflects concern over a lack of progress in addressing outstanding issues of accountability and reconciliation, as well as over land seizures, religiously motivated attacks and unsolved cases of attacks on journalists. Earlier this month, the US Embassy in Colombo prompted Sri Lankan anger when it posted a photograph on Twitter of US Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Stephen Rapp visiting a site in the country's north where it said hundreds of families were killed by army shelling in 2009. Human Rights Watch has previously reported that a makeshift hospital in that area came under repeated fire. But Lalith Weeratunga, secretary to Sri Lanka's president and his point man on government's own reconciliation efforts, said there was no record that hundreds of people were killed there. "You can't just pass judgment like that," he told The Associated Press. He denied any such targeting of civilians by the Sri Lankan armed forces, or even the use of heavy weapons in the final months of the war, although he acknowledged there could have been "collateral damage" during the fighting when the Tamil Tigers were using civilians as human shields. Weeratunga, speaking ahead of a meeting with the top US diplomat for South Asia, Nisha Biswal, likened the threat of an international inquiry into war crimes to a sword of Damocles hanging by a thread over Sri Lanka—a reference to the mythical story from ancient Greece. He argued the government has only had 18 months to implement the recommendations of its own reconciliation commission. He warned that if that process was mishandled, it could trigger renewed conflict. "I can't use an American method for resolving issues in my country. I have a Sri Lankan way of doing it," he said. Outlining the government's achievements since the war, Weeratunga said 250,000 of the nearly 300,000 displaced people have been resettled, and a panel of judges is examining some 13,000 petitions by families of missing people. A Tamil-led northern provincial council elected last fall shows political devolution has begun in Sri Lanka, he said. Tamils, however, still claim discrimination by the ethnic Sinhalese. Human rights activists also say the government is not serious about probing reported abuses by its own armed forces, accused of targeting hospitals and blocking food and medicine as a war strategy. "At some point, you have to come to terms with the reality that this government has no intention of delivering accountability," said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch in Washington. "If they are not going to do it, then the international community has to." The newly elected Tamil-run Northern Provincial Council said Monday it wants to prove that the central government carried out an operation "akin to genocide" to win the civil war. It passed a resolution to conduct its own internationally supervised count of the dead and missing civilians to back its claim. That's a response to a census of the dead, wounded and missing civilians being undertaken by the central government, the results of which are expected out in time for the UN session. The post US to Press Sri Lanka Again at UN Rights Council appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

China Says New York Times Reporter Broke Visa Rules, Will Leave Posted: 27 Jan 2014 09:43 PM PST A woman exits the New York Times Building in New York on Aug. 14, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that a China-based reporter for the New York Times broke rules on residence visas and would be leaving the country before the end of the week, in a case which could sour Beijing's relations with Washington. The issue of media freedom for foreign reporters in China has attracted high-level concern in the United States, especially over worries that the government is denying visas for organizations that carry negative stories about China. Last month, US Vice President Joe Biden expressed concern, while on a visit to Beijing, over China's efforts to restrict the activities of foreign news organizations. Neither the New York Times nor Bloomberg News has been given new journalist visas for more than a year after they published stories about the wealth of family members of former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and current President Xi Jinping, respectively. The New York Times applied for a journalist accreditation in China for US national Austin Ramzy in the middle of last year, after he left Time magazine. Ramzy remained in the country on the visa that he had received while working for Time, which was valid until the end of 2013. Chinese authorities then issued him a 30-day visa, valid until Jan. 30, ostensibly to give him enough time to prepare to leave the country. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Ramzy informed them in May that he was no longer working for Time magazine and he handed back his government-issued press card, which foreign reporters are required to have to report legally in the country. "But Austin Ramzy did not, in accordance with Chinese regulations, apply to other Chinese departments to change his visa type and his residence permit type, which previously was for Time," Qin told a daily news briefing. "Regretfully, Austin Ramzy did not do this, and he continued to use his existing residence permit to come and go from China. So his actions were in contravention of China's rules," he added. Residence permits in China are contingent upon employment, and foreign nationals are supposed to leave the country when they no longer work for the organization which sponsored their residence permit, or else convert to another visa type. Ramzy declined to comment when reached by Reuters, and the New York Times did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. "The NY Times, following rules, handed Foreign Ministry a visa application for Austin Ramzy last June. They have not approved it," Edward Wong, acting Beijing bureau chief for the Times, said on Twitter. Qin said that Ramzy had admitted to the Foreign Ministry to contravening China's rules, and that the ministry had granted Ramzy a visa valid until the end of January to give him time to sort out personal affairs. Qin added that the Foreign Ministry was currently handling the New York Times' request for accreditation for Ramzy, but that it would not be completed before Jan. 31, implying that he would have to leave when his visa expires on Jan. 30. If that happens, Ramzy's case will be the second time in 13 months that a New York Times reporter has had to leave China. Chris Buckley, a former Reuters journalist, had to leave Beijing in December 2012 after the government did not approve his accreditation for the New York Times. Buckley has not yet received approval to return to China as a resident journalist. He works from Hong Kong. The newspaper has another outstanding China visa application, for Philip Pan, its Beijing bureau chief in waiting. Asked whether China would grant journalist visas to either Buckley or Pan, Qin said it was China's sovereign right to decide to whom it granted journalist accreditations and visas. Foreign reporters working in China face numerous difficulties, including interference, or even violence, when covering sensitive issues such as protests and dissidents' trials. China says foreign media are granted wide-ranging freedoms. In November, the Chinese government rejected a visa application by Paul Mooney, an American journalist to whom Thomson Reuters had extended an offer to work in China. The government gave no reason for the rejection. Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Sui-Lee Wee. The post China Says New York Times Reporter Broke Visa Rules, Will Leave appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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