The Irrawaddy Magazine

---

• Electricity Hike Opponents Face Charges for Illegal Mandalay Protest
• Biggest Shan Political Parties to Consider Merger
• Returning to Burma, and Scratching That Itch
• Humanitarian Crisis Looms in Western Burma as Foreign Aid Workers Leave
• When Religious Diversity Was Embraced in Burma
• Kachin National Park Planned to Protect Monkey Threatened by Logging
• ‘To Overcome the Mistrust, It Takes Time’
• From Civil War to the Refugee Camp to the Newsroom
• UN’s Ban Ki-moon Urges Burma to Ensure Aid Workers’ Safety
• Japan Relaxes Arms Export Regime to Fortify Defense
• Thailand OKs Extradition of Suspect in Arms Deal With Naga Rebels
• In Brussels, China Learns ‘Eurospeak’ to Seek Influence
• North, South Korea Trade Artillery Rounds into the Sea

Electricity Hike Opponents Face Charges for Illegal Mandalay Protest Posted: 01 Apr 2014 06:33 AM PDT A candle-wielding protestor against the government's electricity rate increase confronts police in Mandalay on Monday. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Four activists here who oppose a government electricity rate hike are facing criminal charges after staging an unauthorized protest last week, while other protestors saw their demonstration cut short by police on Monday night. Thein Aung Myint, Saw Hla Aung, Kyaw Myo Tun and Khet Khet Tin, who say they were brutally detained by police after staging a candle-lit protest in Mandalay on Thursday, were charged on Tuesday with violating Article 18 of the controversial Peaceful Assembly Law. "The authorities said we are charged under Article 18 because we did not have a permit to protest," said Thein Aung Myint, who was released on bail Monday after four days in detention. The activists said they applied for the permit, as required under Article 18, but were denied permission to protest by local authorities. "We oppose the brutal acts toward those who protested peacefully. We just wanted to send a message to the government that people disapprove of the electricity price hike, because the impact of this will be the hiking of basic commodity prices as well," he added. Meanwhile, another candle protest march on Monday in Mandalay was quashed by local police, who intercepted three activists on their way to the site of the planned protest. "We applied to protest in front of the Divisional Electricity Supply Office, but did not get the permission and the police even stopped us halfway [to the planned protest site]," said Toe Gyi, who organized the scuppered protest. "While protests in Rangoon have been allowed, I wonder why Mandalay authorities are so afraid of the protests," he added, referring to a candle-lit demonstration in Rangoon on Wednesday of last week, which was allowed to proceed with no arrests made. Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law requires that permission from local authorities be granted in advance of any protest. Violators can face up to one year in prison, or a maximum fine of 30,000 kyats (US$30). On March 19, Parliament approved a government proposal to increase electricity prices, starting on April 1. Under the new plan, households using under 100 kilowatt hours, or units, per month, have seen the rate remain at 35 kyats per unit, but the price has increased to 40 kyats per unit for usage from 101 and 200 units in a month, and to 50 kyats for those using more than 200 units. For businesses, the basic charge for those using less than 500 units per month is unchanged at 75 kyats per kilowatt hour. But large consumers using over 500 units will pay 150 kyats per unit above the 500 threshold. The post Electricity Hike Opponents Face Charges for Illegal Mandalay Protest appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Biggest Shan Political Parties to Consider Merger Posted: 01 Apr 2014 06:24 AM PDT From left to right, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with Khun Htun Oo of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) and activists including Aung Din, Dr. Cynthia Maung and Kyaw Thu at the National Endowment for Democracy awards in Washington in 2012. The SNLD is considering the possibility of teaming up with the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party for the 2015 elections. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — The two biggest political parties in Shan State will soon discuss the possibility of joining forces ahead of the 2015 general elections, a party leader says. Pressure is mounting for the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) to team up with the increasingly popular Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), which formed in 2012. After three MPs recently resigned from the SNDP, including two who switched allegiance to the SNLD, both parties plan to meet soon to consider their options for future collaboration, according to Sai Nyunt Lwin, secretary of the SNLD. "Two MPs joined the SNLD last week: Sai San Pey and Sai Win Myat Oo. The Shan people want us to work together, so we're going to discuss in detail with the SNDP in late May or early June," he told The Irrawaddy. By working together, he added, "I believe we can compete against the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party and the National League for Democracy party in Shan State in the general elections." He said the two parties might also merge for the by-elections, scheduled for later this year. The SNDP, also known as the White Tiger Party, formed in 1988 and became the biggest party in Shan State. It won 57 seats in Parliament during the 2010 general elections and one seat during by-elections in 2012. SNDP lawmakers have gone on to become state government ministers and union deputy ministers. The SNLD did not compete in the 2010 general elections because it was formed in 2012. Since then, however, it has grown to become Shan State's most popular party, with more members than the SNDP. Last week the SNLD announced at a conference in the capital of Shan State that it would contest the 2015 general elections. Following the announcement, some SNDP members have called for a merger with the SNLD to be more competitive against other large parties around the country. Sai Than Maung, an SNDP lawmaker representing the constituency of Kyaukme Township, said he had not yet decided whether to join the SNLD. However, he said many Shan people had signed signature campaigns calling for a collaboration of both parties ahead of 2015. "Leaders from the SNLD and the SNDP have some opposing ideas, but the Shan people want them to work together. … If the SNLD competes in the elections, they will be stronger than the SNDP in Shan State," he said. "Although I have not switched to the SNLD, I can say the SNLD is more popular now than the SNDP in Shan State. This is because the SNDP requires its members to be [university] graduates if they want to contest an election." One of the biggest points of divergence between the two parties is the question of compulsory military service. Unlike the SNLD, the SNDP has called for all Shan men to join the Burmese military for a short period of time. Divisions are also forming within the SNDP. Last week, Sai Jarm Pey (aka Sai San Pey), an MP representing Mongyai Township, told the Shan Herald Agency for News that he disagreed with SNDP chairman Sai Aik Pao's demand for a federal union in Burma based on 14 states. "This was not acceptable," the MP was quoted as saying. The SNLD, in contrast, has called for a federal union based on only eight states. The former military regime divided Burma into seven states and seven divisions. The divisions are mainly ethnic Bamar areas, while the states are ethnic minority areas. But many ethnic minority groups are calling to scrap the distinction between states and divisions. The SNDP chairman's vision would be for the seven divisions to each become a state. The SNLD's proposal would see the seven divisions merge into one state. The post Biggest Shan Political Parties to Consider Merger appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Returning to Burma, and Scratching That Itch Posted: 01 Apr 2014 05:28 AM PDT Burmese artist Htein Lin uses his hands to paint during a demonstration at Rangoon's River Gallery II, where his solo show "Beyond the Itch" is currently displayed. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — With "Beyond the Itch," his first solo show since 2006, Burmese artist Htein Lin is back. Famous for the paintings that he secretly worked on during his terms in the custody of the former military regime, the 48-year-old artist is now free to display 25 abstract-style artworks in public—a mix of work from his prison years and from time spent living abroad. "Now I'm trying to change to being a Rangoon-based artist from a London-based one," said the painter, who lived away from Burma for seven years for family reasons. In his latest solo show at Rangoon's River Gallery II, art fans will see the two major influences in Htein Lin's life: Buddhism—in his "Last Days of Buddha," an oversized acrylic-on-canvas painting that depicts the Lord Buddha being cremated, surrounded by his disciples—and Burma's political and humanitarian struggle—in paintings including four made during his imprisonment, using his prison uniforms as canvasses. The show is on until April 6 at the gallery between 37th and 38th streets in Rangoon's Kyauktada Township. In his self-portraits at the show, visitors can see the highly physical painting method he used behind bars, and still uses in his work. It was a process carried out rapidly in the middle of the night on a tarpaulin on his cell floor. Htein Lin painted without brushes, using his hands, fingers and nails to scratch out designs and patterns in paint before pressing cotton onto the painted surface to take a monoprint. Lucky visitors to the show might catch a performance of the technique by the artist, and even have the chance to have a go. The one-time political prisoner, who served seven years in total, said it was his art that pushed him to keep working during that time. "They are the best examples that you can only jail an artist, but not his creativity," he told The Irrawaddy, pointing to his self portraits hanging on the gallery wall. He explained that the title of his solo show represents his feelings during his seven years away from Burma. "I felt terrible homesickness at that time and it was like an itch to me," he said. "Now, I'm in Burma and it's gone." The post Returning to Burma, and Scratching That Itch appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Humanitarian Crisis Looms in Western Burma as Foreign Aid Workers Leave Posted: 01 Apr 2014 05:07 AM PDT Rohingya children collect water at a Rohingya IDP camp outside Sittwe on March 30, 2014. At least 20,000 people in displacement camps around Sittwe will run out of drinking water within 10 days. (Photo: Reuters) DHAECHAUNG VILLAGE, Burma —With food stocks dwindling and prices rising by the hour in his camp for displaced Rohingya in Burma's Arakan State, Hla Maung decided to ask a friend in the neighboring village for food. A bag of rice that cost 15,000 kyats (about US$15) in the camp on Saturday morning went for 25,000 kyats later that day, he said on his way to the home of his friend, a Rohingya fortunate enough not to have lost his house or fishing boats during outbursts of sectarian violence that periodically rock this western state on the Bay of Bengal. The situation is about to get dramatically worse for Hla Maung and tens of thousands of others dependent on food and water rations, said humanitarian workers evacuated after recent riots in the state capital, Sittwe. At least 20,000 people in displacement camps around Sittwe will run out of drinking water within 10 days, while food stocks will run out within two weeks, imperiling thousands more. The overall numbers of people facing shortages are likely much higher, because the aid workers were referring only to communities in the Sittwe area. Communities in other parts of the state will be affected also, because aid agencies used Sittwe as a staging point to bring supplies to 140,000 people in camps as well as about 40,000 more in isolated villages. While most recipients are ethnic Rohingya Muslims who make up a minority of the state's population, some majority ethnic Arakanese Buddhists also depend on humanitarian aid. Aid agencies were forced to halt operations last Wednesday when about 400 ethnic Arakanese Buddhists destroyed their homes, offices, warehouses and boats used to transport supplies. Police fired warning shots to quell the rioters and rescue aid workers from the mob, and none were killed or injured. Riots broke out again the following day and an 11-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet when police fired warning shots, while a 39-year-old woman received a minor gunshot wound, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. In the absence of nongovernment organizations (NGOs), the United Nations is working with the government to bring emergency supplies to camps, but that is only a short-term solution, said Pierre Peron, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "In the medium to long term, we really need safety and secure premises for NGOs," he said. "The government needs to ensure the safety and security of both international and national staff." Aid groups have long drawn the ire of some in the ethnic Arakanese Buddhist community who accuse them of favoring the Rohingya, who make up the vast majority of victims of violence that has displaced more than 140,000 since June 2012. NGO representatives have strongly denied allegations of bias, pointing out that they provide services to Arakanese Buddhist communities too. But aid workers have been threatened and harassed, according to the United Nations. Arakanese Buddhists have also held demonstrations demanding the government remove international NGOs from the state, and the recent riots prompted agencies to evacuate most of their staff from Sittwe. "They're making a list of anyone left working with NGOs and trying to finish the job," said an aid worker speaking on condition of anonymity. Resuming humanitarian work would be difficult, he said, because locals including subcontractors who transported food had been warned not to work with international agencies. "No one will rent us an office, car, lorry, tractor and no one will sell us anything," he said. Census Controversy The evacuations came as Burma prepared to launch its first census since 1983, which sparked controversy because it included questions on religion and ethnicity. Those are sensitive subjects in a country riven by sectarian tensions and especially in Arakan State, which is home to a million mostly stateless Rohingya whom the government refers to as Bengali, implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. While "Rohingya" is not listed on the census form, people have the option to check "other" and ask enumerators to fill in their ethnicity. Some Arakanese Buddhists threatened to boycott the census out of concern that it could lead to official recognition for the Rohingya. As a symbol of their opposition to the census, Arakanese Buddhists in Sittwe hung prayer flags outside their homes. One flag hung outside the offices of the aid group Malteser International was taken down last Wednesday as it violated the organization's rule against displaying religious or political symbols. After rumors spread through the city that a female international aid worker had desecrated the flag, about 400 rioters massed outside Malteser International's office at about 8 pm and began throwing stones before attacking other NGO and UN premises, according to an internal UN report. The UN Population Fund, which helped organize the census, said in a statement on Friday that it was concerned about the violence and noted that Burma's government had committed to allowing respondents to identify their ethnicity themselves. "This commitment cannot be honored selectively in the face of intimidation or threats of violence," it said. The government appears to have backtracked on that commitment. On Saturday, government spokesman Ye Htut told reporters that census enumerators would not register households identifying themselves as "Rohingya," but only as "Bengali." Census workers in Arakan State told Reuters they were following the directive. "All of them are saying themselves that they are Rohingya," said Sein Win, a schoolteacher and volunteer enumerator in San Pya village. "Then we need to do nothing, since the order from above is that we don't need to write down a race that does not exist." Reporting by a Reuters journalist in Dhaechaung village and Reuters reporter Jared Ferrie in Yangon. The post Humanitarian Crisis Looms in Western Burma as Foreign Aid Workers Leave appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

When Religious Diversity Was Embraced in Burma Posted: 01 Apr 2014 04:00 AM PDT Smoke rises from the scene of communal violence in Meikhtila, Mandalay Division, in March 2013. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) Many different issues related to religion are emerging in Burma, foremost among them being the discord between Buddhists and Muslims, which seems to deepen by the day. It should not be this way. Religion in Burma has become besmirched because of an opportunistic few who seek to exploit it. Around 1970, I was a high school student, and a Buddhist, in Kyaukse, a town in Mandalay Division. Ethnic Chinese and Muslims were among my friends back then. I accompanied a Chinese friend to his house on Chinese New Year's Day and ate my fill of Chinese snacks. On that day his father gave me a red envelope, too, in the Chinese tradition. Likewise, during Christmas time, my friends and I accompanied my English teacher, a Christian, when he went from house to house singing Christmas carols. In our caroling troupe, there were only three or four Christians—the rest were Muslims and Buddhists. Nonetheless, we sang Christian songs as one and very much enjoyed our time together. Our happiest moments were during the famous "Elephant Dance Festival," a well-known occasion in our country. During the festival, dozens of elephants, made out of a bamboo frame, papier-mâché and fine black satin decorated with intricate, colorful embroidery, compete for the prize of best elephant dance and most nicely decorated pachyderm. An amateur "elephant" team formed by me and my friends also joined the event. We were not very good at dancing, but we sang whatever songs came to our minds and danced as best we could. Our team comprised Buddhists, Muslims and Christians, and it was fun. During the observance of Eid al-Adha, my friends and I accompanied our Muslim friends on visits to Muslim villages, where we were given up to eight kilograms of beef, and even stayed overnight in one of the villages. Back then, Eid was celebrated by Buddhists as well, with festivities including anyein (tradition dance troupe) performances. Buddhist monks were asked to take care of crowd control during the celebration, while Muslims and Buddhists in the audience were not to be outdone by one another in rewarding the dancers with applause and pocket change. Such interreligious mingling, and the friendships it fosters and is fostered by, is increasingly rare in Burma these days. Eid is no longer celebrated by Buddhists—no anyein and no merrymaking anymore. Muslim communities keep themselves away from Buddhist pagoda festivals, and some Buddhists are guilty of equal associative discrimination. Both sides should not treat each other like this. It is certain that the world is watching the religious situation in Burma as the country marches toward democracy—a political development that itself is considered a source of the problem, as complicated issues are more openly discussed, and inflammatory rhetoric is allowed to spread in the name of free expression. Both Buddhist and Muslim religious leaders should not take their eyes off this matter and should try their best to bring the situation back to the way it once was. I miss the goodwill and friendly relations among Christians, Muslims and Buddhists of my youth. The first battalion commander I met after graduating from the military academy was Col Thura Kyaw Kyaw Cho. Though he was a Christian, the colonel initiated his two sons into the Buddhist order and accompanied them to monastery. During Christmas time, Tin Tin Myint, the commander's Buddhist wife, led Christian soldiers on caroling rounds. I was the lead guitarist while Maung Thein, a Muslim, played bass. The Christian commander died somewhere in the northeast, while Maung Thein retired from service with a medical pension after he was shot in the back. Christians and Muslims like these two men dared to sacrificed their lives for our country. I will always miss my Christian commander and Muslim comrade in arms. Those who are responsible for fomenting religious tensions should think about whether they are contributing to the kind of nation that we as a people aspire to, and those concerned about the state of relations between Buddhists and Muslims should speak up for the kind of interreligious harmony that Burma once knew. Hla Swe, a retired lieutenant-colonel, is a member of the Upper House from constituency No. 12 in Magwe Division, representing the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The post When Religious Diversity Was Embraced in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Kachin National Park Planned to Protect Monkey Threatened by Logging Posted: 01 Apr 2014 03:54 AM PDT The critically endangered Myanmar Snub-nosed Monkey photographed with a camera trap in 2010. (Photo: FFI) RANGOON — An international environmental organization said it is working with the Burmese government to create a national park in Kachin State's Hsalaw Township in order to protect the forests of the critically endangered Myanmar Snub-nosed Monkey, which are being logged by traders supplying timber to nearby China. Flora and Fauna International (FFI) discovered the species in 2010 after installing camera traps in the region, which is part of the eastern Himalayas. Recently, a FFI team comprising members of the local Law Waw tribe made the first ever sighting and video recording of the elusive primates, which are believed to number only between 260 to 330 individuals, the group said in a statement Monday. "From this footage we are able to determine that they clearly live in large groups, unlike other leaf-eating monkeys … This means their social organization and behavior is similar to other snub-nosed monkeys," said Frank Momberg, FFI's program director for Burma. "It also means that larger groups require large home ranges and that larger areas of contiguous forest need to be protected to ensure the survival of the species." The Myanmar Snub-nosed Monkey has a long tail and black fur with white ear tufts and beard. It lives at higher altitudes in mixed temperate forests in the summer and descends to lower reaches near villages when snow falls in winter. Momberg told The Irrawaddy that FFI has held discussions with local, state and national level authorities about creating an approximately 230,000-hectare national park to protect the mountain habitat of the Snub-nosed Monkey from illegal loggers, which are decimating Kachin State's forests in order to supply a vociferous Chinese demand for high-grade timber. "[A]ll levels of government have in principle supported the gazettement of a new national park, Imaw Bum [Imaw Mountain], to protect not only the Myanmar Snub-nosed Monkey, but also other endangered and charismatic species such as Red Panda and Takin [a type of goat-antelope]." Takin, a rare Himalayan hoofed mammal, which was photographed for the first time in Kachin State in 2010. (Photo: FFI) "A joint team of biologists from the Forest Department and FFI have just returned from Imaw Bum to complete the biological justification for the notification of a new national park," he said, adding that the planned park would border on a Unesco World Heritage Site in China's Yunnan Province, where the primates have also been spotted. The area's proximity to China is proving a huge challenge to the monkey's survival as—like in other parts of Kachin—old growth forests are being logged in Imaw Bum and sent across the border to China through a massive, unregulated trade in timber extracted from ethnic conflict areas beyond government control. "The National Park notification will at least provide a strong legal basis to outlaw Chinese illegal logging in the area and put further pressure on the Chinese government to curb illegal logging on Myanmar territory," Momberg said. He said the planned park area was under control of National Democratic Army of Kachin—a pro-government militia—and added that it was not directly impacted by the ongoing Kachin Independence Army insurgency, although the rebels control an area south of the park. Senior officials at the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry did not immediately reply to emailed queries about the planned national park. FFI has been working in Burma since 2006 and works with the Environment Ministry to carry out biodiversity surveys, develop species conservation programs and support the designation of new protected areas. It runs conservation projects Kachin State, Magwe, Irrawaddy and Tenasserim divisions and in the Imaw Bum area it has been implementing a community program to provide alternative livelihoods in order to end local hunting for food and traditional medicine. The post Kachin National Park Planned to Protect Monkey Threatened by Logging appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘To Overcome the Mistrust, It Takes Time’ Posted: 01 Apr 2014 02:58 AM PDT Elders Martti Ahtisaari and Gro Harlem Bruntland visit Shwe Zet, a camp for internally displaced persons run by the Kachin Baptist Convention, near Myitkyina, Kachin state, on Wednesday last week. (Photo: Kaung Htet / The Elders) CHIANG MAI — The Elders, a group of independent world leaders, paid a visit to Burma and the Burmese community in Thailand last week. It was the group's second visit to the country in six months to assess the country's reforms and meet with key figures. On this visit, The Elders focused on learning about Burma's peace process and listening to refugees' voices. The Irrawaddy reporters Nyein Nyein and Lin Thant chatted with delegation members Gro Harlem Bruntland—the deputy chair of the Elders, former Norwegian prime minister and former director general of the World Health Organization—and Martti Ahtisaari—the former President of Finland and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The pair discussed their trip and gave their views on the peace process and the situation for refugees on Burma's borders. Question: What is The Elders' role in Burma's peace process? Gro Harlem Bruntland: Our impression is that they, both the government and the leadership across the border, are willing to meet us, which is important. We are grateful for that, which is why we can come back and continue a dialogue and discussion with them. We are not mediators. We want to have a supporting role, getting to know key people in the process and encourage the process. Q: How would you evaluate your meeting with Burma President Thein Sein and the military's commander-in-chief, Snr-Gen Min AungHlaing, in Naypyidaw? GHB: The main points are they are working to promote the peace, to get ceasefires and to start the political dialogue and to deal with the constitutional questions. They are expressing this in a positive way as their intentions, as you can imagine. We hear all the voices when we meet the number of other groups who are experiencing conflicts, feelings and concerns, who are not happy, who feel things are too slow and who don't trust. We get a picture there are considerable distances between different parties to this conflict, that there are problems to be overcome. Also compare to their intentions and their hopes we heard half a year ago, things are going slowly as you know. The chief peace negotiator [Minister Aung Min] who we also met twice, [hoped for a quick peace process], which has not been fulfilled. We can observe there is much to be overcome and a lot of issues that need to be addressed in the political dialogue, because there are no clear solutions to many of the issues. Martti Ahtisaari: We have been involved with conflicts all over the world. I don't think conflict in Myanmar is any different from those in a sense. There is enormous mistrust. Yet it is a natural thing and takes a long time before people can overcome mistrust. It is, you sit and you talk, and the dialogue hopefully is inclusive in a society that people can feel they have a chance to express what they think. Perhaps some of their views can be taken into consideration into the peace process. But the important thing is to encourage people to move forward now. Q: As you said, both parties play a key role in the ceasefire and political dialogue. In the case of Burma, the Tatmadaw is one of the key players. But, in reality, it is still fighting in northern Shan State and Kachin State, and other areas. Did you discuss this issue with Min Aung Hlaing? GHB: We have asked questions. In fact there still are conflicts going on. Also he [Min Aung Hlaing] explained in the last four weeks or so, it is less than it was in Jan and Feb. Again it moves maybe in the right direction, although there is no stopping of every conflict yet. And there is not really a fully agreed ceasefire either. So it illustrates the need to get to the point of ceasefire, a reality so that people can get peace, and feel confident in their own areas. It is not easy to have political dialogue when shooting is happening. This is again an argument: it is important to get to a ceasefire so we can avoid these kinds of incidences, which create uncertainty, fear in the people. Q: You also visited a camp for internally displaced persons in Myitkyina, Kachin State, and a refugee camp in the Burmese-Thai border and learnt about the peace process and the healthcare situation for those people. How would you describe the situation? And what should the international community be doing about that? GHB: We will urge and encourage a more inclusive process, to listen to the different groups and including thinking about the importance of expertise and training that has been going on, on health and education in the border areas here, so that that capacity there does not get lost, but it is used and incorporated into a future peace situation. We have been asking those questions. Also the chief minister in Kachin State explained that health and education is crucial. It is raising conflict about the uses of natural resources, and human rights issues. But development means human rights to the people for health and education…. You invest in the people of your country, so they are healthy and educated. MA: I must say that we both have been visiting many camps in our lifetimes. Both camps we visited, we were impressed, because they were well run, people were very professional and are hard working. You always see when you see children; they cannot act. It is always nice when you walk around and see smiles on their faces. We feel very comfortable when seeing that sort of professionalism there. What we of course notice when people have to be there for this case, many have not seen anything else except the camp, it is a big area on the Thai side for instance. It is important that we encourage the international community to continue its assistances because the conflict is not yet over. Discussions are starting, more or less because the political dialogue has not properly even started yet. There are issues that we can tell when we meet our colleagues in different international organizations, in public debate and so on. It was a very positive visit to those camps, but it is always impressive when you see how well people are taking care and they themselves are actively participating in that process. GHB: It illustrates also there is human capacity built in those clinics [like the Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot] and those camps. They are valuable to the future of Myanmar and should be taken care of, should be used. Q: What would be your suggestion to solve Burma's conflicts and the problems it is facing in its transition to democracy? GHB: I think, as I said before, more inclusiveness, listening to all the different ethnics and other groups in such a way that political dialogue can be real and include all the needs and the points of view, it is a broad range. The inclusiveness is necessary. MA: There has not been that much dialogue, as conflict has been raging for decades. So it is not easy to move from that to an inclusive process. We know that from all over the world; that is the best medicine at this stage. It is very demanding and not an easy process, because people, government particularly, had not been inclusive in the past. They have different behaviors and patterns. To change that it is a challenge. We need wisdom, both wise men and women, now on all sides; common wisdom in the society. We have seen very wise individuals as we have been talking to them.It is our task to help them and try to encourage them and recognize them at the same time, that it is not the very smooth route. To overcome the mistrust, it takes time. The post 'To Overcome the Mistrust, It Takes Time' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

From Civil War to the Refugee Camp to the Newsroom Posted: 01 Apr 2014 02:14 AM PDT Saw Yan Naing during his recent visit to the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, the United States. (Photo: Ahmady Meuraxa) RANGOON/HONOLULU — Born in a remote village in eastern Burma's Karen State, where civil war raged for decades and education opportunities are very limited, I could have never imagined I would one day have the opportunity to become a professional journalist writing for a Burmese and international audience. Despite many challenges on the way, I became one of the first ethnic Karen to join a journalism training course at The Irrawaddy in 2004 in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, after which I was eventually able to join the magazine. Since then, I have been able to build up my professional skills as a journalist and I have had opportunities to report on numerous important issues in Burma, while I also learned a great deal from participating in overseas journalism training workshops. Most recently, for three weeks in February and March, I was awarded a place in the East-West Center's "Challenges of Democratic Transition" program. The Honolulu-based center invites talented journalists from all over the globe to participate in the program as part of the 2014 Jefferson Fellowship, a unique opportunity that I consider a highlight of my career as a journalist. The East-West Center was established in 1960 and is an important institute that deals with US public diplomacy and international governance in the Asia Pacific region. During meetings with different US officials, experts, academics, politicians and activists, I gained a good understanding of the US federal system and its military structure, which I think offers valuable lessons for Burma's democratic transition. I was also able to share my experiences of the situation in Burma during a panel discussion at the center and learned about the viewpoints of other participants from Asia Pacific, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US. Earlier, I also had other opportunities to learn through journalist workshops and training abroad. In 2010, I worked with the Asian Network for Free Elections as an international observer during the elections in the Philippines' Mindanao, an autonomous Muslim region marred by religious tensions. A Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) fellowship in the same year, allowed me to travel to Jakarta to report about the democratic transition in Indonesia. In December 2010, I attended a "Human and Civil Rights" workshop at the International Academy for Leadership of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Germany. For me, my recent trip to Honolulu marks a high point in my work as a journalist and reminds me how I have come a long way from the days as a child fleeing from Burma Army attacks in the mid-1990s and settling in the Karen refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. Life in the camps was extremely difficult for our family. As a young Karen I had few opportunities to get proper education, nor did I have legal status in Thailand, or even guarantees of safety. Some of my friends eventually took up jobs as local school teachers, medics, and staffers of non-governmental organizations, while many applied for the UN refugee agency’s resettlement program where they tried to seek a better life in third countries such as United States, Canada and Australia. I decided to stay in Thailand and find a way to follow and uncover the events and struggle that Burma's dissidents and ethnic minorities were experiencing under the country's brutal and repressive military regime. In 2004, I saw an opportunity to do such work through journalism and I applied for a journalist training course at The Irrawaddy in Chiang Mai. In the following year, I studied news reporting with the US-based Internews, an international non-profit organization empowering local media worldwide. In 2007, I finally had the chance to permanently join The Irrawaddy and I began to write regular stories for organization's news website and monthly print magazine. Due to my background, I quickly developed reporting expertise in ethnic issues, the border situation and the long-running internal conflicts that have tormented the country's ethnic minorities. Along the way, from fleeing through to the jungle, to refugee camps, to The Irrawaddy newsroom and various educational trips abroad, I have built up in-depth knowledge of Burma's internal conflicts and the country's precarious democratic transition. I remain concerned about the ongoing peace process, and whether it will truly bring peace, prosperity and equal rights to all of Burma's citizens. That's why I will keep writing about the injustices and key decisions taking place in Burma and ethnic regions until all the gun falls, not temporarily but permanently. Saw Yan Naing is a senior reporter of The Irrawaddy Magazine and a fellow of East-West Center’s 2014 Jefferson Fellowship. The post From Civil War to the Refugee Camp to the Newsroom appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

UN’s Ban Ki-moon Urges Burma to Ensure Aid Workers’ Safety Posted: 01 Apr 2014 12:59 AM PDT A warehouse of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is seen damaged by recent violence in Sittwe, Arakan State, on March 28, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday urged Burma's government to protect UN and international aid workers and ensure a peaceful and credible census in troubled Arakan State, where Rohingya Muslims have been the targets of a Buddhist mob attack. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN chief delivered the two messages to President Thein Sein during a phone conversation on Sunday. Ban was responding to Thursday's attack on the offices and homes of international aid workers, including the UN World Food Program, in the Arakan State capital, Sittwe, and the country's first census in 30 years, which began Sunday and has been widely criticized for stoking religious and ethnic tensions after the government denied the long-persecuted Muslim minority the right to identify themselves as "Rohingya." Burma, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million, emerged from a half-century of military rule in 2011. But newfound freedoms of expression that accompanied its transition to democracy have given voice to religious hatred, causing violence that has left up to 280 people dead and sent another 240,000 fleeing their homes. Ban urged the government to uphold its obligations toward the safety and security of all international staff members and to ensure the protection of property, Dujarric said. The secretary-general also said that impunity cannot be tolerated in the context of Burma's reform process and called for the protection of all civilians and the full respect for the rule of law. He also welcomed the initial measures undertaken by the authorities so far. "Given the heightened tensions and anxieties among various communities in Rakhine [Arakan] with regard to the nationwide census, the Secretary-General underlined the importance for this critical exercise to be undertaken in a peaceful and, above all, credible manner," Dujarric said. The post UN's Ban Ki-moon Urges Burma to Ensure Aid Workers' Safety appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Japan Relaxes Arms Export Regime to Fortify Defense Posted: 01 Apr 2014 12:34 AM PDT Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, reviews Japan Self-Defense Forces' (SDF) troops during the annual SDF ceremony at Asaka Base in Asaka, near Tokyo, on Oct. 27, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Issei Kato) TOKYO — Japan eased its weapons export restrictions on Tuesday in the first major overhaul of arms transfer policy in nearly half a century, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seeks to fortify ties with allies and bolster the domestic defense industry. In a move likely to anger China, where bitter memories of Japan’s past militarism run deep, the government decided to allow arms exports and participation in joint weapons development and production when they serve international peace and Japan’s security. That is a shift from a decades-old policy of banning all weapons exports in principle, although quite a few exceptions to the rule have been made over the years, such as the transfer of arms technology to the United States, Japan’s closest ally. "This is beneficial for Japanese companies in that they can take part in joint development and joint production and have access to cutting-edge technology," Takushoku University Professor Heigo Sato said. "If you live in a closed market like the Japanese defense industry does, you clearly lag behind in technological development." But even under the new regime, Japan is to focus mainly on non-lethal defense gear such as patrol ships and mine detectors and says it has no plan to export such weapons as tanks and fighter jets. The move comes when Sino-Japanese ties have been chilled due to a territorial dispute over a group of East China Sea islets and Abe’s visit in December to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, seen by critics as a symbol of Japan’s wartime aggression. Japan’s self-imposed restrictions on arms exports have virtually excluded defense contractors such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and IHI from the overseas market and made it difficult for them to cut costs and keep abreast of technological development. Competition Tough Japan’s defense budget slipped for a decade through 2012, raising concerns that some of the smaller and less diversified arms makers might be forced to go out of business. The new export policy alone will unlikely help Japanese defense makers establish a big presence overseas, although some high-performance Japanese components, such diesel engines for ships, stand out among potential competitors. "It’s not as if Japanese [defense] goods will start selling right away because of this. The government still needs to play a leading role in their overseas expansion. Various governments are already competing fiercely out there," said Bonji Ohara, research fellow at the Tokyo Foundation, a think tank. "Competition dictates prices. Of course, they cannot set the kind of prices they are setting for the domestic market," said Ohara, who once served as a Japanese navy attaché in China. One of Japan’s potential defense gear exports is Kawasaki Heavy’s submarine diesel engines, which do not require air and allows submarines to stay submerged for an extended period. When Japanese Defense Ministry officials visited Australia last year, Canberra showed interest in them, a Japanese government official said. Another one is ShinMaywa Industries’ US-2 amphibious aircraft. India is already in talks with the Japanese government for possible procurement. Under the new rules, Japan still bans weapons exports to countries that are involved in international conflicts and shipments that breach U.N. Security Council resolutions such as exports to North Korea and Iran. In announcing the new rules, Japan stressed that it would remain a nation "striving for peace" and screen each case to see if exports should be allowed, a move to assure its neighbors that Japan is not taking a path to a military power. Besides the easing of arms export rules, Abe last year raised Japan’s defense budget for the first time in 11 years and aims to lift its ban on exercising the right of collective self-defense, or aiding an ally under attack. These moves, coupled with his Yasukuni visit, prompted criticism in China that Japan is lurching toward militarism. Under its post-war, pacifist constitution, Japan drew up the "three principles" on arms exports in 1967, banning sales to countries with communist governments or those involved in international conflicts or subject to U.N. sanctions. Over time, the rules became tantamount to a blanket ban on exports, but that later became riddled with exceptions. The post Japan Relaxes Arms Export Regime to Fortify Defense appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thailand OKs Extradition of Suspect in Arms Deal With Naga Rebels Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:44 PM PDT Naga tribesmen stand in line at their New Year festival in 2012. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) BANGKOK — A Thai court on Monday approved the extradition to India of a Thai man suspected of helping to sell nearly US$2 million of arms to an insurgent group. India’s National Investigation Agency charged Wuthikorn Naruenartwanich and three others in 2011 with criminal conspiracy to wage war against the Indian government. It said they sold arms to Naga rebels who have been fighting the central government for more than 50 years, despite a 1997 a cease-fire. The Nagas consist of several tribes inhabiting parts of northeastern India and northwestern Burma. Indian authorities accused Wuthikorn of buying weapons, including nearly 1,000 rifles and an unspecified number of rocket-propelled grenades, for resale to the rebels. A Bangkok Criminal Court said it approved the extradition because prosecutors presented sufficient evidence that Wuthikorn is the same person wanted by India. He was arrested in Bangkok last August. If convicted, he could face a possible death penalty. During initial questioning, Wuthikorn told police that he was a restaurant owner in Bangkok and denied any involvement in arms deals. Thailand and India signed an extradition treaty last May after about 20 years of negotiations. Wuthikorn’s case is believed to be the first allowed under the treaty. The post Thailand OKs Extradition of Suspect in Arms Deal With Naga Rebels appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Brussels, China Learns ‘Eurospeak’ to Seek Influence Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:38 PM PDT European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, right, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, left, welcome China's President Xi Jinping at the European Council in Brussels on March 31, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Yves Herman) BRUSSELS — At the height of the euro zone crisis, a Chinese official quipped that Europe was being reduced to a "wonderful theme park" for tourists. That view no longer has much currency as Beijing recalibrates links with the world's biggest trade bloc. Beijing's growing realization that China needs strong influence in Europe's de facto capital, Brussels, has been cemented by President Xi Jinping's visit to the EU's institutions this week, the first ever by a Chinese leader. Xi did not come offering business deals and little of substance came out of a summit on Monday. But a change in tone from confrontation to cooperation could mark a new chapter in Sino-European ties, EU officials say. Nurtured over the past decade as China and its businesses seek to protect and promote their interests in Europe, Beijing's diplomatic charm offensive is being consolidated by Xi, who became president a year ago with an ambitious reform agenda. Gone are the days when China maintained a low-key embassy focused mainly on Belgium and the Chinese ambassador would decline invitations to attend lunches, let alone speak at them. With her designer French handbags, China's new ambassador to the EU, Yang Yanyi, has become a regular at cocktail parties and talks on EU-China relations since arriving in January, handing out business cards that even carry her mobile phone number. The now 90-strong diplomatic mission to the European Union, housed in a vast former Hewlett-Packard building, has in recent months opened its doors for families to try calligraphy and ping-pong. Diplomats have thrown a Chinese new year's party with dragon dancers for the Brussels' diplomatic elite and were instrumental in organizing the loan of two giant pandas to a Belgian zoo. Ambassador Yang even recently charmed her way into the European Parliament's "President Salon," a rooftop hall usually reserved for visiting dignitaries, to promote Chinese telecoms company Huawei. That was despite EU suspicions that Huawei owes its success to subsidies Europe says are illegal. "I have no illusions that our partnership will be irritant free," Yang told Reuters. "Disagreements and disputes are normal, but we can work them out." Such language was unheard of a year ago, when Beijing and Brussels appeared to be on the verge of a trade war because of a multi-billion euro dispute over Chinese solar panel imports, the biggest ever trade row between the two. While that case, in which Brussels accused Beijing of trying to corner the European market with cheap Chinese goods, was resolved amicably, it also reminded China that Brussels has the power to affect its interests. Brussels' glass-and-steel European quarter of diplomatic missions, the European Commission and the European Parliament, not only makes policy for the bloc's 500 million citizens but is designed to project Europe's influence across the world. "When it comes to international regulation and decision-making, there are three cities in the world that count: Washington, Beijing and Brussels," said a former senior US official who has worked in all three capitals. While Chinese officials had their doubts during the euro zone's near-meltdown, Beijing has taken that message on board. From tracking rulings by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to decisions on EU trade policy, Chinese officials and companies are watching closely, learning the EU's acronyms, jargon and working practices, and establishing how best to act. Whereas once, Chinese companies kept a low profile and relied on the Ministry of Commerce to represent their interests, major corporations such as Huawei, the world's second largest telecoms equipment firm, now have their own public relations teams, and others are following suit. Leading Chinese media, including state-run news agency Xinhua, the People's Daily and China Daily, have an expanding presence to keep track of China's widespread involvement with the EU across issues of trade, finance, law and regulation. Xinhua, for example, now has 50 journalists accredited to the EU, more than any other news organization worldwide. "Once we moved here, we realized the importance of Brussels because it's the center of Europe, with all the capitals linked together," said Leo Sun, the head of European public affairs for Huawei, which opened a Brussels office in 2009. Call Off the News Conference Even government agencies such as China's aviation authority use public relations and lobbying firms in Brussels, while the Ministry of Commerce can act as an adviser to Chinese companies facing EU trade investigations, helping them to line up the best consultants to lobby for them. There are growing pains, however. EU officials say the unwillingness of senior Chinese officials to hold news conferences following high-level meetings in Brussels is a constant source of conflict because the European Union prides itself on its openness to the media. Following one meeting with Chinese ministers in Brussels last year, one EU official made a point of taking extra questions at a news conference rather than walking his Chinese counterpart to the car, as the Chinese delegation requested. The European Commission also insists on flying its best EU interpreters back from Beijing to Brussels to ensure EU officials are properly translated into Chinese from English and French at such events to avoid their comments being tampered with. Brussels is also resisting China's calls for a free-trade agreement with the European Union because of Beijing's policy of heavily subsidizing state-owned exporters. China wants to be considered a "market economy"—meaning decisions are made based on supply and demand, not the state—to receive better treatment in trade disputes. "There are serious differences and frictions in the relationship," said Duncan Freeman, a political analyst at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary China Studies. "But these are becoming more normal, which is the way it should be." Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Ethan Bilby in Hong Kong. The post In Brussels, China Learns 'Eurospeak' to Seek Influence appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

North, South Korea Trade Artillery Rounds into the Sea Posted: 31 Mar 2014 11:31 PM PDT Amphibious assault vehicles of the South Korean Marine Corps throw smoke bombs as they move to land on shore during a US-South Korea joint landing operation drill in Pohang March 31, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL — North Korea fired more than 100 artillery rounds into South Korean waters as part of a drill on Monday, prompting the South to fire back, officials in Seoul said, but the exercise appeared to be more saber-rattling from Pyongyang rather than the start of a military standoff. The North had flagged its intentions to conduct the exercise in response to UN condemnation of last week's missile launches by Pyongyang and against what it says are threatening military drills in the South by US forces. North Korea also accused the South of "gangster-like" behavior at the weekend by "abducting" one of its fishing boats and threatened to retaliate. The South said it had sent the boat back after it drifted into its waters. More than 100 North Korean shells out of 500 or so fired landed in South Korean waters, prompting marines from the South to fire back with more than 300 rounds into the North's waters, defense officials in Seoul said. Seoul also scrambled F-15s on its side of the maritime border, they said. "We believe the North's maritime firing is a planned provocation and an attempt to test our military's determination to defend the Northern Limit Line and to get an upper hand in South-North relations," South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said. In Washington, the White House called North Korea's actions "dangerous and provocative" and said the country's threats and provocations only isolate it further. "We remain steadfast in our commitment [to] the defense of our allies and remain in close coordination with both the Republic of Korea and Japan," White House National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Lalley said. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he would raise US concerns about the North's behavior during a trip to China next week. "The North Koreans have to stop these provocative actions," he told reporters. "Obviously when I'm in China that will be a subject that I will discuss with my counterpart." The Northern Limit Line, a maritime border that wraps itself around a part of the North's coastline, has been the scene of frequent clashes and in 2010, four people were killed when North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. "It's up to the two militaries either to recognize or reject their own claimed line, and challenge the other's. This goes back and forth, so this is probably another episode of that," said Daniel Pinkston of the International Crisis Group. Earlier in 2010, a South Korean naval vessel was sunk close to the line by what an international commission said was a North Korean torpedo, although the North denies involvement. The line was drawn up at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and North Korea does not recognize it. The two sides are still technically at war as the conflict ended in a mere truce, not a treaty. The residents of Baengnyeong Island, one of the remote islands close to the firing area, were evacuated to bomb shelters as a precaution, a government official said by telephone. North Korea has ratcheted up its rhetoric in recent weeks and conducted a series of missile launches, mostly short-range, in response to what it sees as the threat posed by a series of joint U.S.-South Korean military drills that are held annually. The current drill called Foal Eagle ends on April 18. "At a time that South Korea and the United States are conducting military exercises using sophisticated equipment, the North is unlikely to be reckless enough to do anything that will lead to a sharp worsening of the situation," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "There is an element of trying to show displeasure at the South Korea-U.S. drills and to pressure the South, but it doesn't seem the North wants this to blow up into something bigger." China, which hosted several rounds of now-defunct multilateral talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear weapons programme, nevertheless said it was concerned at the exchange of fire and called for restraint from both sides. "The temperature is rising at present on the Korean peninsula, and this worries us," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beijing. He added that China was also concerned by the North's threat to carry out more nuclear tests. North Korea threatened nuclear strikes against the South and the United States last year after the United Nations tightened sanctions against it for conducting its third nuclear test. Financial markets in South Korea were unmoved by the latest developments, with the stock market's benchmark KOSPI turning higher from early losses to finish up 0.2 percent and the won extending gains to end onshore trade up 0.4 percent against the dollar. The post North, South Korea Trade Artillery Rounds into the Sea appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Irrawaddy Magazine To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610