The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Is a Cabinet Reshuffle on the Horizon in Burma?
• Extinction Looms as Notorious Rosewood Loggers Set Sights on Burma Species, Group Warns
• Canada Welcomes Tycoon Tied to Drugs, but Denies Visa to Kachin Activist
• ‘Businesses With Compelling Stories are Suitable to Be Listed’
• Angelina Jolie Calls for Refugee Support in Visit to Thai Border Camp
• Govt Mum on Grounds for Sacking Religious Affairs Minister
• Arakan Party Concerned Army General Will Become Chief Minister
• ‘Burma is Like a Cancer Victim’
• Nominated Religious Minister Is Also a Graft Suspect: Lawmaker
• Thai Junta Gets Tough on World Cup Gambling
• US Professors Troubled by Confucius Institutes
• Wear White to Protest Singapore Pink Gay Rally, Religious Groups Say
• We Called Her ‘Mummy’

Is a Cabinet Reshuffle on the Horizon in Burma? Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:57 AM PDT Burma's President Thein Sein attends a session of the 21st Asean and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh in 2013. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — After Burma's religious affairs minister was fired last week, a cabinet reshuffle will likely follow soon, according to an official close to the president. "I heard there will be some cabinet reshuffle soon," the source said, requesting anonymity. President Office's director Zaw Htay declined to comment on Tuesday about the possibility of a shakeup. "Some union ministers will be allowed to resign from the cabinet," the 7day Daily newspaper reported on Sunday, quoting another source close to the government who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Politicians and political researchers said it was difficult to guess whether President Thein Sein might reshuffle his cabinet because Burma "lacks indicators" to evaluate the performance of ministries. "If he reshuffles, it would be to improve his cabinet's performance," said Aung Thu Nyein, a political researcher at the Myanmar Development Resource Institute, noting that Thein Sein's term ends in 2015. Aung Thu Nyein said changes to the cabinet could also signal a push to consolidate power. In other countries, public opinion polls or NGO guidelines help gauge the performance of ministries, "but in Burma there are no such indicators," he said. Lower House lawmaker Hla Swe said that over the past three years, some ministries have been effective and others have been ineffective. "But the views of the president, the public and the Hluttaw [Parliament] are different, so it depends on the views of each side," he said. "We parliamentarians assess the cabinet on the basis of the budget expense of each ministry and its performance," he added. He noted improvements in the ministries of commerce and railway transport, while saying the ministry of mining has seen no change. Khin Maung Swe, chairman of the National Democratic Force, a small political party, said he could not understand the government's reasoning for appointing certain ministers and firing others. "It's not effective if the changes of ministers do not solve the corruption problem. Those who are most corrupt are still working in their posts, while those who are less corrupt are fired," he said, referring to media reports that the former religious affairs minister, Hsan Hsint, is being investigated for allegedly misusing 10 million kyats (US$10,000) from ministry coffers. President Thein Sein has reshuffled his cabinet twice since taking office in 2011. The first reshuffle came in August 2012 and the second in July 2013. The post Is a Cabinet Reshuffle on the Horizon in Burma? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Extinction Looms as Notorious Rosewood Loggers Set Sights on Burma Species, Group Warns Posted: 24 Jun 2014 05:45 AM PDT A warehouse in Dong Ha , Vietnam, housed hundreds of tons of illegally logged Siamese rosewood. (Photo: EIA) RANGOON — Burmese tree species tamalan and padauk are disappearing at an extremely rapid pace as Chinese traders have begun targeting their high-value wood, and the species could be logged to extinction in Burma within as little as three years, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has warned. Voracious Chinese demand for so-called rosewood species used to make "Hongmu" luxury furniture has set rosewood prices soaring in the past five years, giving rise to an illegal and aggressive trade in Mekong region countries. In Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, rosewood species have all but disappeared, and the trade has fueled corruption and violence, according to the UK-based group, which said that an investigation into the situation in Burma reveals that Chinese traders have now turned to Burmese rosewood species to supply the Hongmu industry. "We know from investigating this that padauk and tamalan are next. If the Myanmar government doesn't move they are going to be in the same situation as Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia—Laos already has nothing left," Faith Dorethy, EIA's forest campaign team leader, told The Irrawaddy in an interview in Rangoon. "Myanmar is the next frontier in rosewood." EIA research of Chinese trade data found that import of tamalan (also known as Burmese tulipwood) and Burmese padauk has skyrocketed in recent years. Over the period 2000-2013, China imported 624,000 cubic meters of Burmese rosewoods with a value of US$737 million, but a third of this wood was imported in 2013 alone. "Signs of extreme growth are already showing for 2014," EIA said, adding that in the first quarter of this year the value of rosewood imports soared to about $240 million, more than double the whole 2012 trade. The rapid increase in Burmese rosewood imports means that, "Virtually overnight, Myanmar has become the biggest Hongmu log supplier to China worldwide, surpassing more traditional suppliers such as Vietnam and Laos," the agency said in a briefing provided to The Irrawaddy. A reported spike in illegal seizures of tamalan and arrests of illegal loggers by Burmese authorities in recent months offered further indications of a rapid increase in the illicit rosewood trade, EIA said. It noted that media reports indicate that logging has "dramatically increased in Sagaing Division." Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Forestry data estimates that Burma has stocks of 1.6 million cubic meters of tamalan and 1.4 million cubic meter of padauk, according to EIA. It warned that if Chinese imports continue at 2013-2014 rates, "A realistic timeframe for commercial extinction would be somewhere between 3-13 years. Clearly, there is little room for complacency if these species are to be saved." EIA has sent the results of its investigation to the Burmese government and urged it to register tamalan and padauk as threatened species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix III, so that the government can seek technical assistance from CITES to regulate domestic trade. Subsequently, it should seek CITES III listing, which would ban all international trade in tamalan and padauk. "The first step the government can take is to show political will and engage with the CITES process," said Dorethy, adding that Burma should also pressure China to ban all import of Burmese logs. Ba Ba Chor, head of the Myanmar Timber Merchants Association, told The Irrawaddy that the booming rosewood trade "is an open secret," adding that the deputy environment minister has announced in recent months that authorities confiscated around 15,000 tons of tamalan and padauk. "So if we can catch 15,000 tons, who knows how much [rosewood] escaped," said Ba Ba Chor, who added that he only deals in teak and regular hardwoods. New research by EIA found that Chinese imports of illegally logged Burmese rosewood species is skyrocketing. (Graph: EIA) He said he supported EIA's recommendation to list tamalan and padauk under CITES and to pressure China into regulating cross-border timber trade, before adding, "They should be listed as endangered; the problem is that to make the law is very easy, but to implement the law is very difficult." Staff at the Ministry of Environment's Forest Department said senior officials were not available for comment on the EIA report. Officials have previously blamed lawlessness created by the conflict with ethnic Kachin rebels in northern Burma for the rampant timber trade, but claimed that the recently formed Forest Police Department was successfully cracking down on illegal logging in many parts of Burma. Burma's reformist government has indicated that it is willing to reduce deforestation and regulate the timber industry. Beginning April 1, it banned the export of raw logs and allowed only sawn wood to be exported. Rare Woods Sought After in China EIA has earlier spoken out against the clear-cutting of hardwood species in Burma, such as teak, through illegal logging, logging concessions and expansion of plantations. This has been occurring on a massive scale in northern Burma in the past decade, with an estimated $5.7 billion worth of timber smuggled overland into China from 2000 to 2013 through unregulated trade, the agency said in March. The rosewood trade is different in that the high-value species grow among other trees in the forest and are located by local villagers and brokers, after which loggers come to take out individual trees. The brownish-red rosewood is prized in China for crafting traditional Hongmu furniture. This Qing and Ming dynasty-style furniture disappeared during the Cultural Revolution, but in recent years replicas have become a status symbol among China's nouveau riche who pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hongmu sets made from the increasingly rare wood. Dorethy said illegal rosewood trade was proliferating throughout the Mekong region "because of the Hongmu industry and the fact that they have a standard of species that qualify as Hongmu—those species are what traders, companies and loggers are going for." The Hongmu industry, which according to EIA enjoys Chinese state support, identifies 33 rosewood species from across the globe as suitable for crafting furniture. Six species are from Burma, and tamalan and padauk are the most sought after. Tamalan is mostly found in Sagaing Division, and to a lesser extent in Shan and Kachin states, and Mandalay Division. Padauk is concentrated in Shan State and found in Magwe, Mandalay and Sagaing divisions. Soaring Prices, Violence and Corruption With declining rosewood stocks in the Mekong region and strong Chinese demand, prices for tamalan and padauk have risen sharply in Burma, and as brokers search for increasingly rare trees, impoverished villagers are being sucked into the trade, according to local timber traders. A trader, who asked not to be named, said, "Actually most of the trade is in tamalan. Padauk is very rare, we don't have much padauk anymore. In [Kachin State] if a villager found a padauk tree, they can get $50 or $100 just to show the location of the tree." He said tamalan was being sold in Kachin State "at seven times the price of teak," which would constitute prices of between $10,000 to $15,000 per cubic meter, a fortune in the impoverished communities of northern Burma. EIA said criminal gangs run by Chinese traders influence the supply chain down to village level, while authorities, border officials and rebel groups are taxing or taking bribes to allow the lucrative trade. Ba Ba Chor, of the Myanmar Timer Association, said, "It's a long route from the forest to the border, so you can imagine that all are involved—security persons, administrative persons, all are involved. Local traders, also the army, the KIA [Kachin Independence Army], Chinese traders. It's kind of a mafia business." Dorethy said Burmese rosewoods were being logged unsustainably and without government permits and trucked into China's Yunnan Province, despite the fact that Yunnan authorities officially instated a log import ban in 2006 and in violation of Burma's log export ban from April this year. She described the rapidly expanding rosewood trade in Burma as "a crisis" and said, "The consequences are not just environmental but also social. "Right now, the number one species [demanded by Chinese traders] is Siamese rosewood, there is about two or three years left and with that comes an increasing violence towards park rangers and villagers—it's a war zone in Thailand's forests right now." "In Thailand, villagers are being paid in yaba [to log] by brokers," she said, referring to the local term for methamphetamine tablets. "There have been dozens of killings of Cambodian loggers crossing into Thai forests, and there has been an increase of Thai rangers getting killed trying to protect the last trees." She added that the government should be "more transparent" about the problem of large-scale rosewood logging, adding that auctioning of seized tamalan and padauk stocks had been shrouded in secrecy. "So how do we know that the companies that are involved in illegal logging are not the same companies buying up the timber through these auctions?" Dorethy said. The post Extinction Looms as Notorious Rosewood Loggers Set Sights on Burma Species, Group Warns appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Canada Welcomes Tycoon Tied to Drugs, but Denies Visa to Kachin Activist Posted: 24 Jun 2014 04:36 AM PDT Steven Law listens to a speech during a luncheon for Asean economic ministers in Toronto on June 5, 2014. (Photo: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada) After years as a staunch critic of Burma's former military junta, Canada signaled a sea change in its priorities toward the country earlier this month when it welcomed a tycoon with deep ties to the drug trade, but denied entry to a human rights activist because she lacked financial resources. Though unrelated, the two visits—one by all accounts a success, the other aborted before it even began—serve as a jarring reminder of Burma's transformation from a country once regarded as one of the world's most ruthlessly repressive states to a nation now seen as a prime destination for foreign investment. No longer a pariah since its new, nominally civilian government started introducing reforms after taking power in 2011, Burma now sends trade delegations around the world to drum up interest in its undeveloped but resource-rich economy. It was as part of one such trade mission that Steven Law, the head of Asia World, one of Burma's largest conglomerates, paid a low-key visit in the first week of June to two of Canada's largest cities—a visit that went completely undetected by the Canadian media, despite his well-documented ties to Burma's former ruling regime and its thriving drug trade. Law, who made the trip under his Chinese name, Lo Ping Zhong, was one of four businessmen traveling with Burma's Minister of National Planning and Economic Development Kan Zaw during a four-day "Asean Economic Ministers Roadshow" organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and their Canadian hosts that began on June 2. Economic ministers from nine member states of the regional grouping took part in the visit, which included meetings with their Canadian counterpart and other senior federal and provincial officials. It appears that Law went to some pains to avoid attracting attention during the trip, not only identifying himself by his little-known Chinese name (he also has several other aliases, including a Burmese name, Tun Myint Naing), but also giving his title as managing director of Yadanar Taung Tann Gems Co. Ltd, an entity that appears to be the latest in a long string of obscure Asia World subsidiaries. This circumspection would seem to be well justified. Law and his late father, the notorious drug lord Lo Hsing Han, have been on the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list since early 2008. A press release announcing the inclusion of the father and son on the OFAC list claimed that "In addition to their support for the Burmese regime, Steven Law and Lo Hsing Han have a history of involvement in illicit activities." The statement went on to describe Lo Hsing Han as the "Godfather of Heroin" and "one of the world's key heroin traffickers dating back to the early 1970s." It added that "Steven Law joined his father's drug empire in the 1990s and has since become one of the wealthiest individuals in Burma." Keeping a Low Profile If Law's Canadian hosts were aware of his reputation south of the border, they did a good job of hiding it. In a photograph taken at a luncheon co-hosted by the Asia Pacific Foundation and the Canada-Asean Business Council at Toronto's upscale Royal York Hotel on June 5, the final day of the visit, he appears relaxed, wearing a name tag identifying him as Lo Ping Zhong and showing no signs that he was at the center of a controversy over his right to be there. That event, attended by Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast and "around 100 of Canada’s leading entrepreneurs" (according to a press release issued by Indonesia's Ministry of Trade), was just one of several encounters between Law and senior Canadian officials. A few days earlier, in Vancouver, he also attended a meeting between Fast and the Burmese delegation, and another with British Columbia's premier, Christy Clark, and the province's minister of international trade, Teresa Wat. By meeting a delegation that included one of Burma's most notorious businessmen, Fast appeared to be ignoring advice he gave to Canadian firms during his first visit to Burma nearly two years ago to assess the country's economic and political reforms. "They are undertaking comprehensive economic reforms here [but] many of those reforms have not been concluded. That's why we strongly encourage Canadian companies to exercise great caution and ensure that if they enter this market, they have trusted partners that show the highest level of integrity," he told a group of Canadian reporters during a press conference held in Naypyidaw in September 2012. Nor was Law the only member of Kan Zaw's entourage who should have raised eyebrows. Burma’s newly appointed honorary consul to Canada, former Toronto area MP Bryon Wilfert, confirmed that the Burmese minister was also joined by another businessman on the US sanctions list—Win Aung, head of Dagon International and chairman of Burma's chamber of commerce, who was described in leaked diplomatic cable from 2007 as "one of several cronies who not only financially supports the [regime of dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe], but also uses his contacts with the senior generals to amass and maintain his fortune." "Mr. Lo Ping Zhong was there, as were Aye Win, Zaw Min Win and Win Aung. All were present," Wilfert told The Irrawaddy by phone when asked who accompanied Kan Zaw as part of the Burmese delegation. Like Win Aung, Aye Win and Zaw Min Win were representing the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Not on the List By embracing a trade delegation that included Steven Law, the Canadian government seems to be signaling a dramatic shift away from its past stance against Burma's defunct military regime. Following a brutal crackdown on protesting monks in September 2007, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper banned most forms of trade and investment in Burma by Canadian firms or individuals, in what it described as the world's toughest sanctions against the country. Despite these strict measures, however, both Steven Law and his father were conspicuously absent from the list of individuals targeted by Canadian sanctions, even though both men were on similar Australian, European and US lists. In April 2012—the same month that Canada lifted its comprehensive economic sanctions following similar moves by Australia and the EU—it updated its list of 38 individuals subject to restrictions for their affiliation with the former regime, but Law was still not among them. This is surprising, because Asia World remains one of Burma's most controversial companies. Founded in 1992, it has served primarily as a way for the Lo clan to launder its profits from a heroin "concession" granted by Khin Nyunt, then a powerful figure within the Burmese junta, through investment in a wide portfolio of legitimate businesses. These have included stakes in hotels, toll roads, supermarkets and ports, often in partnership with investors from Singapore or Malaysia. (According to The Economist's obituary of Lo Hsing Han, by 1998, more than half of Singapore's investments in Burma, valued at US$1.3 billion, were made with Asia World.) During the final years of the Than Shwe regime, Asia World also partnered with Chinese state-owned firms on two of Burma's biggest construction projects—the Shwe gas pipeline, linking the Arakan coast and China's remote, energy-hungry southwest, and the suspended Myitsone hydropower dam in Kachin State, also designed to meet China's insatiable appetite for electricity. More recently, Asia World has also been accused of involvement in large-scale land-grabbing in northern Shan State, where a dam is being constructed on the upper Salween River at Kunlong—again, to meet China's energy needs. According to the Shan Human Rights Foundation, the company has seized farmland in 60 villages to build the dam, and also confiscated land to complete a 100-km highway to the Chinese border used to bring supplies to the dam. With no shortage of cash or Asian partners keen to invest in projects in Burma, it is possible that Law's visit to Canada was less about seeking new sources of capital, and more about taking advantage of the "mutual investment opportunities," which the British Columbia government says Premier Clark highlighted during her meeting with the Burmese delegation and their Asean counterparts. One has to wonder if Law is really the kind of person Clark wants her province’s businesses to partner up with, given that Asia World’s more legitimate areas of operations involve some of the most controversial development projects in Burma today. An Investment-fueled Conflict One of the consequences of Asia World's investments in northern Burma has been an intensification of conflict in a part of the country where the presence of a megaproject is almost invariably followed by an increase in troops on the ground. Tensions over the Myitsone dam, where Asia World partnered with dam building giant CPI, have been blamed by many for the collapse in June 2011 of a 17-year-old ceasefire between Burma's government army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Although the project was officially suspended by presidential decree some three months after the conflict began, it has yet to be canceled and none of the thousands of villagers displaced to make way for the dam have been allowed to move back to their homes. Similarly, fighting has intensified in northern Shan State since Asia World and a different Chinese partner began another dam project at Kunlong in 2012. Clashes between government troops and the KIA and its ethnic Palaung allies now occur regularly in this heavily militarized area. It was against this backdrop that Seng Zin, a well-known rights activist from Kachin State, was planning to travel to Canada in August to attend a human-rights training program in Ottawa. The long-time member of the Kachin Women's Association of Thailand (KWAT), a women's rights group started by exiles from northern Burma, had been invited to take part in the program by the Nobel Women's Initiative, which offered to cover all her expenses. Despite having received a visa to visit France earlier in the year, however, immigration officials at the Canadian embassy in Bangkok denied her the chance to take part in the training program in Ottawa, citing her lack of financial resources. The decision—made the same week that Steven Law was meeting senior government officials in Canada—did not come as a surprise to the outspoken women’s rights advocate. "A lot of Burmese government authorities and businessman can travel abroad now, but we activists still have great trouble," she said. Seng Zin said she had planned to use her trip to speak with Canadian authorities about Burmese troops' record of sexual violence against women in Kachin State. Since the conflict in her home state began in 2011, KWAT has released a series of reports documenting such abuses. "I want to tell the Canadian government that in Burma there are a lot of human rights violations going on and some kinds of investment have made this worse. There are many things that haven’t changed, the cronies are doing very well now that they are legitimate, but the people are still suffering," she said. The post Canada Welcomes Tycoon Tied to Drugs, but Denies Visa to Kachin Activist appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘Businesses With Compelling Stories are Suitable to Be Listed’ Posted: 24 Jun 2014 04:00 AM PDT Ye Min Aung is managing director of Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation Ltd. (Photo: Ye Min Aung / Facebook) When the Yangon Stock Exchange launches next year, five public companies will be listed. Among them is Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation Ltd (Mapco), the first public agricultural company in the country. Mapco's managing director Ye Min Aung recently caught up with The Irrawaddy about his company's activities and challenges ahead of the stock exchange launch. Question: Mapco has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Yangon Stock Exchange. When will the company officially be listed? Answer: Mapco was established in 2012 and currently has around 1,400 shareholders. Mapco intends to be listed in the Yangon Stock Exchange by October or November of 2015, when the YSE is up and running. Q:  After the Yangon Stock Exchange launches, what will be the remaining challenges for businesses here? A: [Poor] human resource capability and capacity is one of the major challenges faced by the business community in Myanmar [Burma]. This is due to inadequate attention and support to investment in human capital by the former political system. Now we are in a new era, and there is a need to do more about human capital enrichment and human resource development. Most staff members in the business community are trying very hard to understand international practices. Language barriers and financial limitations to achieve international education standards are also contributing to a knowledge gap.  Q: What is Mapco's capital? A: Mapco has so far accumulated about 11 billion kyats (US$11 million), and that's increasing. However, this will not be sufficient, and we will need more equity and capital to do agribusiness and agro-based investment. Agribusiness-related production and export are very much vital for rural development and poverty alleviation in Myanmar, and Mapco intends to play a substantial role in this noble task, and therefore we decide to be listed in YSE to gain more capital and to build trust with our shareholders. Q: Are you confident that an agribusiness will perform well in the stock exchange, even though the country's agricultural sector sees less foreign direct investment than other sectors. Do you think Burmese people are interested in buying your shares? A: FDI in the agriculture sector is very little because there are many risks associated with it. But foreign companies are now forming JV [joint ventures] with locally experienced, reliable parties to become involved in Myanmar's agriculture sector. For example, a top international company, Mitsui is now going into a JV with Mapco. … This will benefit the sustainable business environment of Myanmar. I hope that listing in YSE will attract more local and foreign shareholders.  Q: How much do Mapco shares cost? A: Mapco is selling shares at the Mapco office. We have an investor relations department already. The share face value is set at 10,000 kyats per share, and the share price is subject to demand and supply. Q: What regulations do you expect to see in the future as brokerage houses open in the country? A: The Myanmar Securities and Exchange Law was enacted last year. We are waiting for regulations, directives and policies, and we are also expecting the formation of a securities exchange commission to monitor and supervise the related industry and its activities. Q: What kinds of companies do you expect to be listed on the YSE after 2015? A: In fact, businesses with compelling stories are more suitable to be listed. In Myanmar, my personal opinion is agriculture companies, infrastructure and construction companies, government business agencies and banks are highly likely to be listed.  Q: Has Mapco learned from the mistakes that other countries in the region made when starting their own stock exchanges? Burma is the ninth country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to launch one. A: Mapco has studied the Thai, Malaysia and Singapore stock exchanges. We are focusing nowadays on preparing and building good corporate governance, responsible reporting, transparency and good corporate ethics, which we view as important.  Q: There's currently a lot of interest in real estate investments in Burma. Do you think Burma's investment style might change after the stock market launches? A: I hope there are positive and constructive improvements that come with a capital market and stock exchange. But predictable and sustainable policy and regulatory framework, pro-business attitudes and the government’s full attention and pragmatic support will very much determine whether the stock exchange will function successfully or not. The post 'Businesses With Compelling Stories are Suitable to Be Listed' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Angelina Jolie Calls for Refugee Support in Visit to Thai Border Camp Posted: 24 Jun 2014 03:05 AM PDT Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, right, talks with Baw Meh, a Karenni refugee at the Ban Mae Nai Soi camp in Mae Hong Son province, northern Thailand, on June 20. (Photo: R. Arnold / UNHCR) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Hollywood superstar Angelina Jolie, who also serves as a special envoy of the UN's refugee agency, has urged the international community not to forget about the Burmese refugees living for decades in camps on the Thai-Burma border. Jolie urged the world to continue supporting the refugees, as humanitarian funding from some international donors has dried up and amid reports of indirect pressure for their repatriation from the host nation Thailand. Jolie made the comments during her visit to one of the world's longest-running refugee situations on the Thai-Burma border, where an estimated 120,000 Burmese refugees have been living in nine camps, some for more than 30 years. "She [Jolie] appealed to the international community not to forget about this group," UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman Vivian Tan told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. "That now it is important to continue supporting them, so that they can find a solution to their future in exile. She asked the world community to keep supporting them." During her visit to Ban Mae Nai Soi, a remote Karenni refugee camp in northern Thailand's Mae Hong Son province, Jolie also called for urgent action to end the vicious cycle of violence and displacement worldwide, amid news last week that the world's displaced population has exceeded 50 million people for the first time since World War II. Due to a decades-long civil war in Burma, successive generations of Burmese refugees have lived in the camps on the Thai-Burma border. Restrictions on movement mean some generations have never known anything but life in the camps. During her trip to the Karenni camp, Jolie visited one such family, whose elderly matriarch Baw Meh said the family had lived in the refugee camp for 18 years, having arrived to Ban Mae Nai Soi in 1996. "She [Jolie] mostly listened to what the refugees wanted. She was trying to understand how they are surviving in the camp and what their plans are for the future," Tan said. In a short video released by the UNHCR, Jolie told of how refugees had fled across with no idea of the future that would await. "Many thought they would be gone for a few weeks. No one imagined they would still be here 30 years later," Jolie said. Baw Meh, the Karenni mother who met Jolie said, "We ran by ourselves not knowing where we were going. I thought we would come here and then go straight back home. But, we couldn't go back." "My children became adults in the camp. They had children here. If my great grandchildren have children, I will be hunched like a tiger," Baw Meh joked. Burma's reformist government has undertaken an ambitious attempt to reach peace with the country's ethnic armed groups, and all but two of the rebel groups have signed ceasefire agreements. With the peace program yielding a fewer hostilities between the government military and rebel factions and a reduction violence against civilian populations, some have begun to ponder a future in which Burmese refugees are able to return home. However, with peace talks bogging down in recent months, intermittent clashes despite the ceasefires and ongoing reports of human rights abuses against civilians, many have said repatriation is a nonstarter at the moment. Meanwhile, refugees are finding it increasingly difficult to survive in Thailand as humanitarian assistance, including rice rations, has been reduced over the last year. Last week, Thai authorities and representatives from NGOs and the UNHCR held a meeting in Mae Sot, Thailand, to discuss repatriation plans for Burmese refugees on the border. "After 30 years in exile, the best solution we can give these refugees is the right and power to choose their own way forward," Jolie said in a press release by the UNHCR on Friday. Jolie has made trips to the refugee camps in the past, with last week's visit her third, during which she also met with refugee community leaders. The post Angelina Jolie Calls for Refugee Support in Visit to Thai Border Camp appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Govt Mum on Grounds for Sacking Religious Affairs Minister Posted: 24 Jun 2014 02:15 AM PDT Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint has been accused of misusing government funds. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The government has continued its silence surrounding last week's sacking of Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint. On Monday, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Brig-Gen. Kyaw Kyaw Tun told reporters during a break in Parliament that he could not reveal the details of the case against the sacked minister. "We still can't disclose anything about U Hsan Hsint yet," he said, adding that he could neither confirm nor deny reports that the former religious affairs minister is being detained Yamethin Prison in Mandalay Division.  ' State-run media announced on Friday that Hsan Hsint had been forced to resign because he had failed to adequately carry out his duties. The announcement came after a scandalous raid on a prominent monastery in Rangoon, and amid opposition to a ministry-drafted bill to restrict religious conversion. Presidential spokesman Ye Htut said Hsan Hsint was under investigation for several alleged misdeeds, including poor handling of the religious affairs portfolio. Burmese-language newspapers have reported, however, that the former minister misused ministry funds for personal family interests. The post Govt Mum on Grounds for Sacking Religious Affairs Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Arakan Party Concerned Army General Will Become Chief Minister Posted: 24 Jun 2014 02:08 AM PDT Deputy Border Affairs Minister Gen. Maung Maung Ohn (R), seen in this file photo from 2010. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Arakanese lawmakers said they are worried that a Burma Army general will become the replacement for the Arakan State chief minister who resigned last week, adding that they want to decide who becomes the next minister because they are the majority party in the state. President Thein Sein announced last week that Hla Maung Tin, the chief minister of strife-torn Arakan State, was "allowed to resign," but no details were provided as to why the lawmaker of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), who was appointed in 2010, stepped down. The President's Office on Friday it announced that Deputy Border Affairs Minister Gen. Maung Maung Ohn will become a member of the Arakan State legislature. The Arakan National Party (ANP) said they believe that he will be appointed as the new chief minister on Wednesday during a meeting of the state parliament. "They are calling us for an urgent meeting tomorrow so I know we will have to discuss that Gen. Maung Maung Ohn will become the next chief minister," said Aung Mrya Kyaw, a local ANP lawmaker, adding that this procedure had been used in the past to appoint a chief minister. The general headed the government commission that investigated the Sittwe riots in March, during which more than a dozen UN and humanitarian aid groups offices were ransacked by Arakanese Buddhist mobs. The ANP demand, however, that lawmakers in the state legislature—where the ANP holds 18 of the 34 seats—are consulted over the appointment. "The best thing to do is to let our 34 civilian MPs here appoint a chief minister, instead of [letting the government] choosing someone from the army," Aung Mrya Kyaw said. "Because those who come from the army do not understand the whole situation here, and it could even become worse if the army manages it." Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution centralizes executive powers over the divisions and ethnic states with the government in Naypyidaw, which has the authority to directly appoint a region's chief minister. The ANP demands that local lawmakers are consulted and that an ANP lawmaker is chosen as the new chief minister because their party holds the majority. "We should have the right to decide who will run our state, but this Constitution does not let us decide this," Aung Mrya Kyaw said. "We ethnic [groups] ask for amendments to this Constitution because it currently does not let ethnic people run their own states." "In a democratic system, only those who are elected can be appointed as chief minister. So we disagree to appoint Gen. Maung Maung Ohn," added Khin Maung Gyi, an ANP central committee member. Under the former military regime, senior military officers held all positions in the cabinet and ran Burma's states and divisions as chief ministers. Under the current nominally civilian government, the army controls the Border Affairs, Home Affairs and Defense ministries. Ethnic minority groups have long fought a political and armed struggle against the Burman-majority army and central government in order to seek greater political autonomy, cultural rights and control over natural resources in their regions. Since 2012, Arakan State has experienced waves of deadly inter-communal violence between Arakanese Buddhist majority and the Rohingya Muslims, a stateless minority of around 1 million people who suffer gross human rights violations at the hands of security forces, government authorities and Arakanese nationalists. International human rights groups have accused the Burmese government of colluding with Arakanese nationalist groups during the attacks on the Rohingya, and contributing to the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim group from communities in northern Arakan State. Some 140,000 displaced Rohingya live in crowded camps from where they cannot leave, while about 89,000 Rohingya fled by boats last year in a desperate attempt to reach Malaysia. The post Arakan Party Concerned Army General Will Become Chief Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘Burma is Like a Cancer Victim’ Posted: 24 Jun 2014 12:08 AM PDT A painting of Rangoon General Hospital at the 'Cancer' exhibition in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — For some people outside the country, Burma is one of Asia's last economic frontiers—a land of untapped business opportunities. But artist M.P.P Yei Myint sees it differently. "Burma is like a cancer victim," the Burmese painter said at his sixth solo show, now open to the public at Lokanat Gallery in downtown Rangoon. Simply titled "Cancer," the exhibition boasts 54 paintings that reflect the artist's diagnosis of what ails his native Burma today. "From government to education to health to culture, everything is in bad shape. They have been deteriorating over time like the health of a cancer victim," said Yei Myint, whose paintings can also be found at national art galleries in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan. As a longtime resident of Nyaung U, a town that abuts the ancient templescape of Bagan, he witnessed the reckless renovation of centuries-old Buddhist shrines by Burma's previous military dictatorship. That crude attempt at restoration ruined the heartland of Burma's ancient civilization, Yei Myint says, and now he sees Burma facing another threat: a flood of investment coupled with crony capitalism, all in the name of a booming tourism market that has taken off since the country opened to the West in 2011. "Like cancer cells, they are killing Bagan. When I tried to see the bigger picture, I came to realize that the whole country is suffering the same as under the decades-long military dictatorship, corroding everything in the country," Yei Myint said. With these things in mind, he began in 2008 to work on a series of paintings, most of which are featured at the Lokanat Gallery exhibition. "When I tried to think about the title for this exhibition, the word 'cancer' popped up in my mind," explained the 61-year-old artist. In oil paintings crafted with a painting knife, he portrays the forms of ancient temples in Bagan; buildings of the Burmese Parliament complex in Naypyidaw; the old High Court building in downtown Rangoon; the convocation halls of Rangoon and Mandalay universities; and encroaching Chinese influence in Mandalay, the country's cultural heart in upper Burma. In all of these paintings, there is one constant: A moon hovers over the scene, partially covered by a dark cloud. It is a bad omen, the artist explained, symbolizing that the wider national institution represented by the building is in decay. Does it mean Yei Myint is wholly pessimistic, seeing no hope for a brighter future? "Not really," the artist insists. "The partially covered moon means we still have hope. As long as we are aware of what is happening in the country and have a desire to fix these things together, we will have a better future, of course." Win Pe, a leading Burmese contemporary artist, said Yei Myint's artworks are based on political and national awareness of the issues Burma is facing today. In a remark in the exhibition's guestbook, he writes: "His styles and color compositions go well with the exhibition title. Well done." "Cancer" runs through Tuesday. The post 'Burma is Like a Cancer Victim' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Nominated Religious Minister Is Also a Graft Suspect: Lawmaker Posted: 23 Jun 2014 10:54 PM PDT Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs Soe Win, center, talks to Muslims at a temporary camp for displaced people at Htan Kone village, Sagaing Division, on August 26. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — President Thein Sein's replacement pick for the graft-tainted religious affairs minister who was fired last week has also been accused of corruption, a lawmaker says. Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Soe Win has been tapped to replace former Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint, who lost his job amid media reports that he allegedly misused 10 million kyats (US $10,000) from the ministry coffers. But Soe Win, who will become the new minister if Parliament approves his nomination on Wednesday, is a graft suspect himself. According to a ruling party lawmaker, he was accused of corruption three years ago while working at the Ministry of Information, and court proceedings are still under way. While serving as a director of the Ministry of Information's News and Publishing Enterprise, Soe Win allegedly misused 800 million kyats that had been allocated for the purchase of printing paper for the state-run Myanmar Ahlin newspaper, according to Hla Swe, a Lower House lawmaker for the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). "There are still court proceedings—it is not finished yet," the lawmaker told The Irrawaddy, adding that a cashier, accountant and distributor who worked under Soe Win were also facing charges. Hla Swe said corruption was widespread in government ministries, but that he believed the former religious affairs minister, Hsan Hsint, was not fired for graft. "He did not commit any corruption but was against the president. That's why he was fired," the lawmaker said. "He was like rotten fruit in the cabinet, not following the president's orders." State-run media announced on Friday that Hsan Hsint had been forced to resign because he had failed to adequately carry out his duties. The announcement came after a scandalous raid on a prominent monastery in Rangoon, and amid opposition to a ministry-drafted bill to restrict religious conversion. Meanwhile, Burmese-language newspapers have reported that the former minister misused ministry funds for personal family interests. Presidential spokesman Ye Htut said Hsan Hsint was under investigation for several alleged misdeeds, including poor handling of the religious affairs portfolio. The presidential spokesman declined to confirm whether the former minister had been detained or to comment on specifics of the investigation. Some Parliament sources have speculated that Lower House lawmaker Aung Nyein, a former colonel and former director of the Ministry of Information, will object to Soe Win's nomination. Aung Nyein is now chairman of the Lower House's Public Complaint and Appeal Committee. He could not be reached for comment. The post Nominated Religious Minister Is Also a Graft Suspect: Lawmaker appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Junta Gets Tough on World Cup Gambling Posted: 23 Jun 2014 10:43 PM PDT A Thai soldier stands next to a billboard to promote the Brazil World Cup 2014 as passers-by walk past outside a shopping mall in Bangkok on June 23, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha) BANGKOK — Thailand's military leaders are cracking down on illegal gambling, which is forecast to soar during the World Cup, as part of a campaign to clean up the country and restore its image. The national police force said on Monday it had arrested 1,677 people involved in World Cup betting from June 9 to 21 and shut down 675 illegal gambling websites. "Thais are quite addicted to gambling and the World Cup is a period when gambling spikes," deputy police spokesman Anucha Romyanan told Reuters. "People are still trying to access gambling websites so we’re locating those websites and shutting them down." Apart from horse racing and the national lottery, most forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand, including casinos and Internet wagering. But gambling remains a popular national pastime. Many Thais cross the border to play in Cambodian casinos, while others bet illegally on sports such as Muay Thai, or Thai boxing. Thais are expected to spend around 45 billion baht (US$1.4 billion) on World Cup betting, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. "This tournament only happens every four years, so Thais take advantage of the occasion," said Thanawat Polvichai, director of the university's Center for Economic and Business Forecasting. "People’s salaries are higher than four years ago and soccer betting has become easier due to higher Internet penetration," he told Reuters. The junta, which took power in a bloodless coup last month, has embarked on a campaign to "clean up society," cracking down on activities such as drug-taking and gambling. It has also pursued foreigners working in Thailand illegally. That helped spark an exodus of more than 200,000 Cambodian migrant laborers from Thailand over the past two weeks. The junta denies it is targeting foreign workers, who are vital for industries such as fishing and construction, saying it is merely trying to regulate the migrant workforce. The clean-up campaign extends to Buddhist monks after a series of high-profile misconduct cases in recent years, including that of Wirapol Sukphol, the "jet-setting monk," who was defrocked after a YouTube video showed him on a private jet sporting aviator sunglasses and carrying a Louis Vuitton bag. Around 95 percent of Thailand's population is Buddhist and religion is considered an essential pillar of society, but junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha says the country has lost its moral compass and he wants to "return morality to Thailand." Last week, the National Office of Buddhism set up a hotline for the public to inform on errant monks. Additional reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak. The post Thai Junta Gets Tough on World Cup Gambling appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

US Professors Troubled by Confucius Institutes Posted: 23 Jun 2014 10:29 PM PDT A plaque is unveiled at a ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Confucius Institute at the University of Chicago on June 1, 2010. (Photo: The University of Chicago) BUFFALO, New York — University professors in the United States have joined their Canadian counterparts in urging universities to cut ties with Confucius Institutes unless the agreements that bring them to campus are re-worked to guarantee academic freedom. A report by the American Association of University Professors said universities "have sacrificed the integrity of the university and its academic staff" by allowing the Chinese government to supervise curriculum and staff at the institutes it has established on more than 100 North American campuses to promote Chinese culture and language. "Allowing any third-party control of academic matters is inconsistent with principles of academic freedom, shared governance, and the institutional autonomy of colleges and universities," the report by the association's Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure said. The Canadian Association of University Teachers raised the same issues in December following an instructor's human rights complaint alleging discrimination based on her belief in Falun Gong, a spiritual group that has been banned in China. The complaint led McMaster University in Ontario to close its Confucius Institute last year after the complaint was settled through mediation. The Beijing headquarters for the Confucius Institutes, the Office of Chinese Language Council International, known as Hanban, did not respond to requests from The Associated Press for comment. However, the Communist Party's flagship newspaper, People’s Daily, ran an article Friday seeking to refute the AAUP report's claims, quoting representatives from foreign institutions from Germany to Thailand who called them unfounded. When reached by the AP, directors at several Confucius Institutes in the United States also defended the institutes, saying the AAUP doesn't understand how they work. "The university comes first, and then the Confucius Institute, which must operate within the rules of the university," said Xu Zaocheng, director of the institute at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. "It is true that it is a program under the Chinese Ministry of Education, but the accusations reflect the Cold War mentality," Xu said. The Chinese "fund these activities, but they are not controlling them," said Stephen Dunnett, chairman of the bi-national committee that oversees the University at Buffalo’s five-year-old institute. "If they came here and said we will give you this money but we’re going to control it: We’re going to pick the curriculum, we’re going to pick the teachers by ourselves, and we’re going to teach or not teach what we want … What US university would ever do that?" he said. With more than 400 already now spread across more than 100 regions and countries, China expects to have 500 Confucius Institutes by next year, program officials have said, along with 1,000 Confucius classrooms in primary and secondary schools. Universities partner with a Chinese school to establish the programs, with the host school providing space and an administrator in exchange for $100,000 or more yearly from Hanban, as well as text books. Teachers receive a monthly salary from the Chinese government of $1,500 to $2,100. "We have free speech on campus, and to say these teachers are trying to indoctrinate the 19-year-old, 20-year-old students at the University of Chicago—I personally have found it to be ridiculous," said Dali Yang, Confucius Institute director at the University of Chicago, where more than 100 professors have been lobbying for eviction. The AAUP recommended universities cut ties unless agreements with Hanban are rewritten to give the universities unilateral control over teachers, curriculum and texts, and Confucius Institute teachers the same academic freedoms as other university faculty. AP writers Didi Tang and Christopher Bodeen contributed from Beijing. The post US Professors Troubled by Confucius Institutes appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Wear White to Protest Singapore Pink Gay Rally, Religious Groups Say Posted: 23 Jun 2014 10:13 PM PDT Participants dressed in pink enjoy a picnic before taking part in the forming of a giant pink dot at the Speakers' Corner in Hong Lim Park in Singapore on June 29, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Edgar Su) SINGAPORE — Some Christians have joined Muslims in Singapore urging followers to wear white this weekend in protest at the sixth annual "Pink Dot" gay rights rally, which attracted a record 21,000 people last year. Singapore is seeing growing anger over issues ranging from immigration and rising living costs to gay rights—all in a country where dissent is actively discouraged and political gatherings require a permit regardless of how many people are involved. Last year's Pink Dot rally was held just months after the High Court rejected a petition to repeal a law which criminalizes sex between men. Ustaz Noor Deros, a Muslim teacher, launched the WearWhite movement last week, urging Muslims not to take part in the Pink Dot event on Saturday, and to wear white garments to prayers on that night as they usher in the holy month of Ramadan. Its Facebook page has attracted more than 3,000 "Likes." "The movement's genesis was from our observations of the growing normalization of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) in Singapore," the WearWhite website says. That movement has been joined by Lawrence Khong, head of the Faith Community Baptist Church, and the LoveSingapore network of churches. He encouraged members of his church to wear white at this weekend's services. Khong said that WearWhite movement was meant to defend the official position of the government. "We cannot and will not endorse homosexuality. We will continue to resist any public promotion of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle," Khong said in a Facebook posting. The majority of Singaporeans appear to be against same-sex marriage, even as Pink Dot has seen growing support since it began in 2009 and attracted corporate sponsors including BP, Goldman Sachs and Google. A study by the Institute of Policy Studies released at the start of this year found that 78.2 percent of Singaporeans felt sexual relations between two adults of the same sex was always or almost always wrong, and 72.9 percent of them were against gay marriage. Singapore government ministers have called for restraint amid growing support for the WearWhite movement, though human rights activists say there should be clearer condemnation of discrimination. "The state needs to come in and take on a clearer role from a legal perspective," said Braema Mathi, president of MARUAH, a human rights group. The post Wear White to Protest Singapore Pink Gay Rally, Religious Groups Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

We Called Her ‘Mummy’ Posted: 23 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT Dr. Daw Myint Myint Khin was a well-known doctor, writer and teacher. (Photo courtesy of Daw Myint Myint Khin's family) One of our treasures is gone! In a great loss for the Burmese, particularly for the women of Burma, Dr. Daw Myint Myint Khin, a well-known doctor, teacher and writer whom many of us fondly and respectfully called "Mummy," passed away at the age of 91 last week, after receiving treatment for heart and kidney failures. In addition to her work in medicine, she was a pioneering feminist who championed liberty, and whose influence was known at home and abroad. Her accomplishments made me and others feel proud to be Burmese women. Daw Myint Myint Khin was born in Pathein, Irrawaddy Division, and received a bachelor's of arts degree in Rangoon before pursuing her medical studies in England and the United States. She became a professor and head of department at the Institute of Medicine in Mandalay before taking up a position as a professor of medicine at the National University of Malaysia. Then she served as a consultant at the World Health Organization's Southeast Asia regional office in New Delhi. She published 11 books, as well as her first poetry book, "Poetry for Me," at the age off 88. I met Mummy in Singapore at a Burma studies conference in 2006. After hearing my talk about race, gender and sexuality in the reconstruction of politics in 20th century Burma, she came to me and said, "Well, you are right. And you see that our culture has changed. We are not the same. We are not who we used to be." "Our womanhood has fallen so far behind," she said. "We were once admired by our sisters in the West because of our cultural liberty, and for the freedoms that did not exist in the West at the time. But in the current state, the position of Burmese women does not reflect our traditional culture." As she continued, she became frustrated: "This is a military-made culture; this is not Burmese culture. It is an embarrassment for us. Patriarchy has succeeded in recent years. We are now truly backward." I witnessed Mummy's wit and courage further when we went for a meal of famous fish-head curry in Singapore's Little India. As we squeezed in the back of a taxi and continued our conversation in Burmese language, the Singaporean driver asked where we were from. From Burma, we replied, much to his surprise. "Really! From Burma?" he said. "We have many Burmese construction workers here in Singapore. But you speak not-bad English!" His patronizing comment infuriated Mummy. With light shining in her eyes, she responded, "Because of our government's Dr. Khin Mar Mar Kyi mismanagement of our country, we are in this position. If we were given half the chances that you get, we would achieve twice as much. Don't tell me, we speak English—of course we speak English! You Singaporeans speak only Singlish. We speak the Queen's English." The astonished driver looked at her in his rearview mirror and said nothing more. In December 2012, I had an opportunity to join Australian Women Leaders' Delegation to Myanmar, made up of 16 prominent women from Australia, the United States and East Timor. The group, ranging from age 21 to 69, included parliamentarians, academics, bankers and practitioners from development sectors. Hoping to show the delegation what it's like to be a woman in Burma, I organized meetings with Burmese women's organizations and women leaders. Among them was Dr. Daw Myint Myint Khin, who, once again, proved to be strong and spontaneous. The delegation was impressed by what she had done and continued to do. At the age of 90, she was continuing to organize care for "older" professional doctors (many of whom were surely younger than she was). After the meeting, the delegation continued to talk about her, fondly referring to her as Mummy. The delegation members were so inspired by her and were encouraged to boost their collaboration with other Burmese women's leaders. One said; "Burmese women are truly natural leaders, very able and very strong. We would be so honored to work with them." Today their organizations are working with different women's organizations in Burma to empower women. The loss of Daw Myint Myint Khin is incalculable. By example, she showed us what a Burmese woman can do for her country and people. Her life is a reminder of how much our culture and our positions have declined over the decades. Today Burmese women's participation is sidelined, our decision-making is denied, our capacities are marginalized and even our hearts are subject to discipline and punishment. Our matrilocal culture has been reduced to nothing in the name of race, religion, and sovereignty. Mummy, a towering figure, will inspire us to fight for the rights and freedoms we once enjoyed in our traditional culture, for the liberties that were so envied by our sisters in the West. Her name may not be included in any official his-tory, but she has written HER-STORY, which will be kept in our memory. Dr. Ma Khin Mar Mar Kyi is an award winning social anthropologist and gender specialist at the University of Oxford. She previously worked as a lecturer at the Australian National University and a senior adviser for the Australian government, universities and INGOs. She is the director of an acclaimed film "Dreams of Dutiful Daughters." Currently she is working as a senior adviser in Burma. The post We Called Her 'Mummy' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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