Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma

Children in Arakan State face malnutrition after aid workers’ exodus

Posted: 23 Apr 2014 04:21 AM PDT

Muslim Rohingyas living in shelters in Burma's western Arakan State have said they are facing a severe lack of nutrition as a result of aid workers evacuating the region following attacks on their homes and offices in March.

A Rohingya woman called Sarshidar said her husband was killed during a riot in 2012 and she used to receive help from international aid agencies and private donors. However, now, she and her children are forced to have only one meal per day.

She said that her children have been the most affected as they have growth and health problems.

“My children have been facing food problems for three months. We have no food support or medicine – nothing. The donors have all gone,” she said.

Hundreds of international aid workers have been evacuated from Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, after their offices and warehouses were attacked on 27 March.

“When we’ve got food aid, we have money. We can help each other when someone has health or nutrition problems. Now, no one has money here and there are no NGOs to help,” said Mohamad Ali, a displaced resident.

Aid organisation Plan said at the beginning of 2014 that there were “high rates of chronic malnutrition in the camps” and “children are at particular risk.” Plan has called for measures to be put in place to ensure their protection and well-being.

However, Win Myaing, the deputy director of the Arakan State Ministry of Information, said he was unconvinced that the families were really suffering from a food and aid shortage.

“There is a [Rohingya] group who have refused medical treatment from both the government and AZG [MSF-Netherlands]. They are pretending that the government is neglecting them," he said.

Win Myaing added that he believes Muslim refugees intend to put pressure on the Burmese government through international media.

Meanwhile, INGOs targeted in the March mob violence are facing difficulties in resuming humanitarian operations in western Burma amid security concerns and a lack of available accommodation, according to the UN's national information officer for Burma, Aye Win.

"The [Burmese government] has pledged to find the INGOs suitable locations but this may also be difficult as most landlords in the area are reluctant to rent their venues following the incident last month," Aye Win said.

"Amid these issues and due to extensive damage to their offices in the violence, it might take them a while to resume normal operations."

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The Burmese government has set up an Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) with union-level government officials including the Border Affairs Minister, representatives from UN, INGOs and the local Arakanese public.

In a meeting on Wednesday, Than Tun, a Buddhist community leader in Sittwe and member of the ECC said the UN and INGOs would only be allowed to resume work if they provided the ECC with detailed accounts of their operations.

"Regarding the UN and INGOs bid to resume operations in the area, the ECC decided they will not be allowed to resume operations unless they can provide specific details on their procedures; inform us where they will operate and the amount of aid materials they intend to provide to certain communities," he said.

"MSF [Médecins Sans Frontières] and Malteser International have not yet resumed operations in the area and we would like to say they will not be able to."

Malteser International was at the centre of the attack in March, when a staff member removed a Buddhist flag from the Malteser warehouse, enraging a crowd that had formed.

Win Myint, spokesperson for the Arakan State Government, said only UN agencies would be allowed to resume work in the region, MSF and Malteser International would not be permitted back.

"The people of Arakan approve the reopening of offices by the UNHCR and other organisations but they do not want MSF and Malteser back here – this has already been made clear," said Win Myint.

However, according to Aung Myat Kyaw, Rakhine Nationalities Development Party member and lawmaker in the Arakan State Parliament, a plan is underway to accommodate UN and INGO offices altogether in one compound in Sittwe.

Press freedom campaigns to be launched across Burma

Posted: 23 Apr 2014 02:48 AM PDT

A series of public campaigns for press freedom and the release of jailed reporters are being prepared by media organisations and correspondents across Burma.

Nyan Soe Win, a reporter based in Moulmein, Mon State, confirmed that media workers have alerted local police of their intention to organise a peaceful protest calling for the release of DVB's Zaw Pe, who on 7 April was sentenced to serve one year in prison. Zaw Pe was charged under Penal Code articles 353 – "disturbing a civil servant", and 448 – "trespassing", after attempting to conduct an interview with a Magwe education department official.

The DVB video-journalist (VJ) was investigating a case of potential corruption regarding the awarding of Japanese-funded scholarships. The father of a student-applicant, Win Myint Hlaing, accompanied Zaw Pe to the Magwe education office; he too was arrested and will serve the same sentence.

When asked after his conviction about the impact of his charges on press freedom in Burma, Zaw Pe replied:

"Prosecuting journalists for trespassing and disturbing civil servants will prevent them from approaching government offices in the future. It will compromise the balance of news."

Meanwhile, media workers in Prome, Pegu division are also planning a protest.

On 21 April, local news correspondents in Magwe gathered for a Buddhist prayer ceremony dedicated to Zaw Pe at the Myathlon Pagoda. Zaw Pe is a Magwe native, and is now being held in Thayet prison within the state. It is his second imprisonment in Thayet, having served nearly two and a half years on a 2010 charge of filming without a license. Zaw Pe was a DVB VJ at that time.

Zaw Pe's recent conviction came as the trial of five media workers from the Burmese language journal Unity Weekly continues. The Unity staffers were arrested in connection with a 25 January report alleging the existence of a chemical weapons facility in Magwe division. Four Unity journalists and their CEO face the charge of "exposing state secrets" and could be charged with up to 14 years in prison.

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Than Htay, joint-secretary of the Myanmar Journalists Network, said a meeting with representatives from various media organisations has been scheduled for 26 April when future campaigns will be coordinated. According to Than Htay, campaigns will focus on the release of all journalists behind bars in Burma, as well as the promotion of media freedom in general.

The group also plans to appeal to parliament in order to take the issue straight to President Thein Sein, who since taking office in 2011 has stressed the importance of press freedom and lauded his government's media reforms.

 

 

 

 

Mourners turn out for Win Tin’s funeral

Posted: 22 Apr 2014 11:37 PM PDT

Hundreds of mourners have turned out for the funeral of National League for Democracy (NLD) co-founder and veteran journalist U Win Tin, which is taking place at the Yay Way Cemetery in Rangoon on Wednesday afternoon.

Win Tin passed away at Rangoon General Hospital on Monday, 21 April, from kidney failure.

Among those in attendance for the veteran politician's burial in North Okkalapa Township are fellow NLD party members and representatives of other political parties in Burma, and faces from the world of entertainment and media.

The funeral ceremony is scheduled to run from 12 noon until 5pm.

Win Tin, former editor of the renowned Hanthawaddy Daily newspaper, co-founded the NLD along with Aung San Suu Kyi before being imprisoned in 1989. He spent 19 years behind the bars, the majority of that time in solitary confinement. He was eventually released under an amnesty in 2008. He continued to wear his blue prison uniform after his release as a symbolic protest against the military dictatorship and in solidarity with other political prisoners who remain behind the bars.

A book published by Win Tin after his release, A Human Hell, described sobering details of the physical and psychological torture that political inmates were subjected to.

While being one of the closest-aides to party leader Suu Kyi, he was also known for his straightforwardness in expressing disagreement with her.

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Food poisoning strikes at Buddhist ceremony in Pegu

Posted: 22 Apr 2014 08:25 PM PDT

Around 270 people in Pegu [Bago] Division have been hospitalised with food poisoning after eating milk-noodle soup at a Buddhist ordination ceremony in the town of Thegon on Monday.

A local resident told DVB that children were the first to suffer from stomach problems after eating the soup, which was served en masse to the novice monks and attendees as part of an alms ceremony.

"The children ate first and some of them immediately fell ill," he said. "Then the adults who were eating began experiencing the symptoms of food poisoning."

He added that the novices who were being ordained escaped unscathed as they declined to eat when they saw the effects on the laypersons at the gathering.

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He said that those with serious conditions were transported to Thegon Public Hospital while 70 others with mild symptoms were treated at a local medical clinic in nearby Inbinhla.

A villager who was hospitalised after eating the soup said, "I ate one bowl of noodles, and after about an hour and a half I felt terrible cramps in my stomach. I had to be rushed to the hospital."

A similar incident of food poisoning reportedly occurred at a similar merit-making ceremony in the village two years ago.

Health officials have warned that cooking food for large numbers of people can be hazardous in the hot dry season.

On 19 April, around 200 residents in Pawlaw village, near Myawaddy in Karen State, were hospitalised after eating rice at a religious ceremony.
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