Democratic Voice of Burma

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• UNICEF emphasises Arakanese children over terminology
• China and Bangladesh pledge to build ‘Maritime Silk Road’
• Two missing after escape from Thai fishing trawler
• Mahasantisukha Monastery raided in Rangoon
• Debate on proportional representation continues in parliament
• Can Burma reclaim its status as a major rice player?
• Constitutional reform campaign builds steam

UNICEF emphasises Arakanese children over terminology Posted: 11 Jun 2014 04:11 AM PDT The primary concern for UNICEF is the plight of children in Arakan State, and not the lexicon employed to describe members of the community, says Bertrand Bainvel, the agency's leading official in Burma. Speaking to DVB on Tuesday after a series of criticisms in the media, Bainvel sought to play down questions on whether UNICEF had opted to change its policy of terminology in referring to the "Rohingya" community as "Bengalis", as preferred by the Burmese government and Arakanese Buddhist nationalists. "The primary concern for UNICEF is really the situation of children in Rakhine [Arakan] State, wherever they live, because the data shows that there is a serious problem there," said Bainvel. "If communities, people and political leaders in Rakhine State are interested in the situation of their own children, this is definitely what they should focus on, and create a climate and an environment in which a development partner can [create] dialogue with them and can define with them the most appropriate support … and agree on the best strategy," he said. According to an Eleven Media report on 6 June, a UNICEF representative in Sittwe used the common term "Rohingya" when referring to a Muslim community in that region, sparking outrage from local administrators. The report said that UNICEF's Bainvel was later compelled to personally apologise for the verbal faux pas, and promise that his agency would not use the term again. Bainvel told DVB on Tuesday that he had publicly apologised for an "oversight", but would not be drawn into redefining UNICEF policy on the matter nor respond to how the agency would refer to the Muslim group in the future. Related Stories UNICEF blasted for 'humiliating' concession as it tries to mend fences in Arakan Burma Business Weekly Children's art depicts pain of communal violence "I apologised for an oversight where a [particular] denomination was used, which led to a discussion which was not the focus of the forum – about whether it was appropriate or not to use the term 'Rohingya'. But this is essentially not the [main] discussion," he said. Reiterating the long-term needs of children in the Arakan region, the UNICEF spokesman said, "What I'm saying is that it does not help denominating children by one name or another." He said one out of every two children in Arakan State was affected by the communal violence that has plagued the state for the past two years, a situation he said was "appalling". Asked whether UNICEF was adequately able to continue its humanitarian activities in the restive region, Bainvel said the situation was still "very tense", but that they were "making every attempt at dialogue, to discuss, debate, and agree to disagree" for the sake of the children they are mandated to provide for. "The most worrying sector is health," he said. "With the rainy season, the environment becomes altogether more unstable. They [children] are more prone to water-borne diseases, and there is a sharp increase in cases of malnutrition." Pointing to the water and sanitation issues, he emphasised that UNICEF "can provide some immediate intervention, but the rainy season has already started, so we need to make sure we continue maintaining the facilities which have already been set up." After international aid workers were evacuated from Sittwe in March, Burma's Ministry of Health claimed that it could make up the shortfall in humanitarian supplies. Bainvel said that although the Ministry had organised additional resources, beefed up its capacity, and sent more teams to visit camps for internally displaced persons, "over time, it has been difficult to sustain because of the environment of pressures and threats". He elaborated by saying that many people in Arakan State blamed aid groups for helping one community over another. "This is not an environment that is conducive for people to work in," he said. His comments were echoed by Pierre Peron, the information officer in Burma for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or UNOCHA. "Of the staff from other international NGOs and UN agencies that were relocated following the attacks on UN and NGO offices [in March], about 50 percent have returned to Sittwe," said Peron. "We're currently working with all stakeholders to assist the return to full capacity of operations. "For the moment, the challenge is at a logistical level. We have offices outside of the seventh quarter of Sittwe that are no longer available. A lot of the landlords who used to lease properties both for accommodation and office space in Sittwe have been threatened and are no longer renting. "Simply put, there is not enough space for humanitarian workers to live or to work in," he said. Meanwhile, UNICEF announced on 4 June that it was unveiling a US$12-million project spread over two years to help the impoverished children of Arakan State, especially those affected by malnutrition. "Children in Rakhine State are poorer and less likely to access basic services compared to children in other parts of Myanmar," said Bainvel. "We need to prioritize the long-term development needs of Rakhine, so that every child gets the best possible start in life, regardless of ethnic, religious, or legal status." The UNICEF head representative told DVB on Tuesday that similar plans were in progress in Chin and Mon states, as the agency was prioritising the poorest regions of the country.

China and Bangladesh pledge to build ‘Maritime Silk Road’ Posted: 11 Jun 2014 04:03 AM PDT Footage by CCTV Chinese President Xi Jinping and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed pledged on Tuesday to build an economic corridor that will link Bangladesh, Burma, China and India, according to a report by Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. On a state visit to Beijing on Tuesday, Wajed met with Xi to ink deals on several projects, including a study on flood prevention and the construction of a tunnel project under the Karnaphuli River in southeastern Bangladesh. Xi welcomed Bangladesh's participation in constructing a part of the economic corridor, which he dubbed the "Maritime Silk Road", said the Xinhua report. "Bangladesh is an important country along the Maritime Silk Road," said Xi, who first proposed the concept last year. Wajed said the four-nation economic route will be significant for the growth and development of South Asia. The agreement comes a day after Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin promised that Burma's transition will not affect Chinese relations. Related Stories Burma rejects Bangladeshi demands at border talks Bangladesh commander threatens Burma with 'befitting response' Thai junta defend coup in Burma According to CCTV, Liu stressed on Monday that China will not interfere in Burma's internal affairs, and opposes any pressure or sanctions imposed upon the Southeast Asian country. "We will continue to support [Burma] to explore and choose the path of development in accordance with its national conditions," Liu said when speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN East Asia Summit in Rangoon. He added that all parties should be working on building a "regional security structure" in order to reduce conflict and maintain stability in Asia.

Two missing after escape from Thai fishing trawler Posted: 11 Jun 2014 03:47 AM PDT Two Burmese migrants are lost at sea after attempting to escape from a fishing boat off the coast of Thailand, Thai media reported. A third escapee made it to shore alive and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he reported the incident to local police. The survivor, 23-year-old Maung Lay, was trafficked into Thailand and sold to a boat owner in Thailand's Phuket province about three weeks ago, according to the Thai Rath Daily. Maung Lay reportedly told police that a job broker promised him work at a fish-cracker factory for a fee of about US$300. The broker then facilitated his border crossing into Thailand and transport to the southwest coast. Maung Lay said he never arrived at the factory, and was instead forced to work long hours on a fishing boat with no breaks. After several weeks, he and two others decided to attempt an escape. He told police that he saw the other two men disappear into the water after swimming for several hours. Related Stories Burmese union leader elected to ILO's governing body Mae Sot 'hundi' operator arrested for links to drug trade DVB Debate: Ending slavery in Burma The two have not yet surfaced and are presumed dead. Maung Lay washed up on the beaches of Thalang district on the evening of 8 June, where local villagers found him and took him to the hospital. "We found out about him from the hospital," the superintendent of Tah Chat Chai Port police station told DVB by phone on Tuesday. "We are unable to determine exactly which boat they jumped from or the date of the incident." Police said that action will be taken if the boat owner can be identified, and that Maung Lay will be deported for entering Thailand illegally. On Tuesday, The Guardian published a damning investigative report connecting forced labour on Thai fishing boats to retailers worldwide. The report claimed that the world's largest producer of prawns, Charoen Pokphand, feeds its farmed prawns on fishmeal purchased from suppliers directly connected to boats manned by trafficked workers. Slave labour on Thailand's so-called "ghost-ships" often comes from employment brokers, like the one mentioned by Maung Lay. This kind of human trafficking is so prevalent in Thailand's multi-billion dollar seafood industry that the Thai Ministry of Labour established a separate police task force specifically for investigating boats and fisheries. Thailand is facing heavy pressure from the international community — particularly the United States — for endemic migrant abuses and a chronically poor record on human trafficking. The US State Department is due to release an annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report this month, which ranks trafficking records based on frequency, prosecutions and efforts to improve. Thailand has idled on the State Department's "Tier-2 watchlist" for four consecutive years, which means that this year's assessment must either raise or lower their ranking. A downgrade to Tier-3 status would subject Thailand to automatic economic sanctions.

Mahasantisukha Monastery raided in Rangoon Posted: 11 Jun 2014 12:22 AM PDT The Mahasantisukha Monastery in Rangoon's Tamwe Township was raided on Tuesday night by officials from the Religious Affairs Department and riot police who escorted the resident monks to the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee while detaining their supporters. The Buddhist monastery is the domain of a well-known abbot, Rev. Penang Sayadaw, who is currently on a mission to Japan. It has for years been the subject of an ownership dispute between the abbot and the State Sangha Committee – the highest office of Buddhist clergy in the land – which assumed control of the property some ten years ago while Penang Sayadaw was on a journey abroad. The clergy then rented the location to film producers as a commercial enterprise until the abbot's return last year ignited a legal dispute. Tamwe Township police have confirmed to DVB that 32 monastery staff – 17 men and 15 women – were released on Wednesday at 9am. However, security forces continue to be deployed around the compound. The land of Mahasantisukha Monastery was originally donated in 1995 by former dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe to Penang Sayadaw, who is so named because he was previously based in a monastery on the Malaysian island of Penang. Buddhist monks from Mahasantisukha Monastery in Rangoon's Tamwe Township are escorted away by officials from the Religious Affairs Department and riot police on the night of 10 June 2014. (DVB) The monastery was confiscated by the military government in 2004 and put under the control of the State Sangha Committee, which reiterated in March 2013 that it legally owned the property and would not give it back to Penang Sayadaw. However, on 1 October last year, the president issued a notification returning the monastery to the revered abbot. This action only provoked the State Sangha Committee to increase pressure on Penang Sayadaw, claiming that his continued defiance was an affront to Buddhist doctrine. In February of this year, Penang Sayadaw, also known as U Pannavamsa, wrote to President Thein Sein requesting that he intervene again in the ongoing dispute. He also reportedly sent videos, photographs and copies of other documentary evidence to prove he was the original owner of the land grant. But on 15 March, the State Sangha Committee sent an open letter to Penang Sayadaw, reclaiming the plot of land, and giving him and his supporters until 31 March to vacate the premises. Last night, the Buddhist brotherhood finally put their threats into action. Penang Sayadaw has travelled the world as an envoy of Burmese Buddhism and was a prominent dissident during the 2007 Saffron Revolution, drawing the ire of the then ruling junta. Related Stories Burma invites public to review faith conversion bill Battle lines drawn on Interfaith Marriage proposal Women of Burma speak out against Interfaith Marriage Act

Debate on proportional representation continues in parliament Posted: 11 Jun 2014 12:12 AM PDT Discussion on a recent proposal to switch to a proportional representation (PR) voting system continued this week in the parliament's upper house, with the majority of parliamentary members being opposed to it. Submitted last week to the parliament by the National Democratic Front (NDF), the proposal seeks to reform Burma's electoral system from a first-past-the-post system to a PR system before the general elections scheduled for 2015. Supporters of the PR system say that it would be suited to Burma's multi-party democracy and would reduce wasted votes, as the first-past-the-post system tends to favour the dominant two parties. Phone Myint Aung, upper house member, told DVB that discussions on Tuesday were joined by ten parliament members. Six of them, including a representative from the military, were opposed to switching to the PR system. "One Tatmadaw [Burmese military] representative, four from the National League for Democracy [NLD] and one from the Rakhine [Arakan] National Party were against it, and the rest – all from the Union Solidarity and Development Party [USDP] – voiced their support for it," Phone Myint Aung said. Monday's discussion between eight parliament members also had the two attending USDP members showing their support for the PR system. According to NLD central committee member Win Myint, the NLD is staunchly against changing the electoral system. He told DVB over the weekend that Burma has no history of the PR system and that the topic is "not currently relevant" in the political arena. But NDF member Khin Waing Kyi believes that this new system can ensure that every vote – even those for smaller political parties – will count towards ensuring a representative in parliament. "If the parliament uses the PR system, all the parties can compete and all the voters can have their vote represented," Khin Waing Kyi said. The Nationalities Brotherhood Federation, an alliance of 15 ethnic political parties, held a press conference in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, declaring their objection to the proposal. According to NBK spokesman Sai Hla Kyaw, the alliance will stage campaigns in ethnic populated areas to discourage a change. "We will try to discourage switching to the PR system in ethnic areas and if this doesn't work, we plan to stage public protests," said Sai Hla Kyaw, adding that he does not believe a PR system would benefit their smaller ethnic parties. "Our ethnic parties are not substantial enough to run elections nationwide and we can only focus on our relative regions," Sai Hla Kyaw said. "Switching to the PR system will allow major parties who can compete all across the country to take seats proportionally, leaving no chance for smaller parties like us to join the parliament." Whether or not the PR system would benefit smaller, more regionalised parties – like the ethnic political parties — is up for debate, said Ashley South, an independent political analyst, who nonetheless believes that it is important for ethnic communities to be properly represented. Related Stories NLD will 'never give false hope to the people', says Suu Kyi Burma to consider proportional representation Amend the constitution ‘for the stability of the country’, says Suu Kyi "It seems that PR would benefit some ethnic political parties, but is less welcome by others – particularly those seeking to represent geographically concentrated ethnic nationality populations, who may do better with a first-past-the-post system," South told DVB by email. He added that military-backed parties – such as the USDP – might be more inclined to back a PR voting system to secure support in the coming election. "Adopting a PR system in [Burma] might also help military-backed political parties, which could otherwise find themselves with few members of parliament after 2015," he said. "This could be useful in terms of securing support and buy-in for democratic transition, on the part of the Myanmar Army."

Can Burma reclaim its status as a major rice player? Posted: 10 Jun 2014 11:55 PM PDT Imagine Burma being the second largest rice exporter in the world, just behind Thailand, while Vietnam is the world's fourth largest rice importer. This was the situation in the international rice market 50 years ago. However, when you think of major players in international rice markets, Burma, officially known as Myanmar, doesn't come to mind despite its neighbors dominating world rice trade. It has remained close to self-sufficiency in rice for the last 50 years and despite exporting rice in most years, much smaller nations like Uruguay and Cambodia have been exporting more rice in recent years. This is despite the fact that Burma is the seventh largest rice producing country in the world. It has been exporting rice to sub-Saharan African countries and its neighbor Bangladesh, but these trade volumes are not consistent year to year. Instead, it may be argued that Burma sees international rice markets as a way of getting rid of surplus rice stocks. Could Burma once again become a major rice bowl for international markets like neighboring Thailand? It has huge natural resources for growing rice like the Irrawaddy Delta; however, average rice yields have been flat and actually dropped slightly over the last decade. Domestic rice consumption is still very high with 50 percent of daily calorie consumption per person coming from rice, but there has been a decreasing trend where locals are substituting rice for other foods. Burma also has the second lowest population growth rate in Southeast Asia behind Thailand. Whether Burma can re-establish itself as one of the world's major rice exporters really depends on if it can complement its reducing domestic demand for rice with addressing stagnating rice productivity.   This article was originally published in Oryza on 10 June 2014. Oryza is an industry leader in rice and a media partner of DVB.  Author Adam John is a PhD economics candidate at the Agricultural and Food Policy Studies Institute at Universiti Putra Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and is based in Stockholm. His thesis looks at international rice prices and their effects on rice markets.  The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not reflect DVB editorial policy. Related Stories Gap's entry to Burma could bring more good tidings, MGMA says Burma Business Weekly Burma needs modernized rice mills, says industry association

Constitutional reform campaign builds steam Posted: 10 Jun 2014 07:55 PM PDT The campaign for constitutional reform continued on Tuesday as activist group 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (88GPOS) joined the National League for Democracy (NLD) in central and southeastern Burma, greeted by crowds in the thousands. Myint Naing, central executive committee member of the NLD's regional branch in Sagaing Division, said more than 10,000 people joined the 10 June rally in Monywa, where the party's central committee member Tun Tun Hein, district executive Thida Win, and renowned activist Ko Ko Gyi of 88GPOS delivered speeches in support of amending Article 436 of Burma's 2008 Constitution. "The event, hosted at a privately-owned field in Monywa, began at around 8am in the morning with a sea of people spread out across the field," said Myint Naing. "The speakers lectured the public on the history of the 2008 Constitution – how it centralises veto power, granting control to just one group." Speaking at the rally, Ko Ko Gyi said that Article 436 – which effectively grants the military veto power over any other constitutional change – remains one of the toughest obstacles to achieving a truly democratic government in Burma. "Article 436 is like the gate to a compound; unless that gate is opened, we will never be able to open any of the doors or windows to our house," he said. Related Stories NLD will 'never give false hope to the people', says Suu Kyi Politician murdered in Taunggyi Burma to consider proportional representation A similar event was held in Tenasserim Division's Myeik [Mergui], also on Tuesday, with speeches from Min Ko Naing of 88GPOS and NLD central committee members U Htay, Sein Nyunt, Htin Linn Oo and regional youth coordinator Okkar Min. "We will continue to raise awareness among the public about the shortcomings of the Constitution, and as Min Ko Naing said, to call for laws that protect the people," said Htin Linn Oo. Amendment of Article 436 could allow the possibility of amending Article 59(f), a clause that prevents Burmese citizens with foreign relatives from running for the presidency. Presently, NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was married to a British man and has two children, is effectively banned from running for president in the November 2015 general elections. The NLD and 88GPOS teamed up for a nationwide campaign for charter reforms on 17 May in Rangoon, and have since been touring across the country. The next rally is planned for Kawthaung, Tenasserim Division, on 14 June.

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