The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- US Blacklists Burma Ruling Party Lawmaker
- NGOs, Farmers Concerned After Reviewing Draft Land Use Policy
- One Thing on Agenda at Karen Conference: Unity
- The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Nov. 1, 2014)
| US Blacklists Burma Ruling Party Lawmaker Posted: 31 Oct 2014 10:33 PM PDT  Union Solidarity and Development Party’s senior member and former Burmese junta general Aung Thaung addresses the media during a press conference. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury on Friday blacklisted a hard-line lawmaker of Burma's ruling party, accusing him of undermining political and economic reforms. Human rights activists step welcomed the action against Aung Thaung, who was industry minister under the former ruling junta and a leader of a pro-military organization blamed for mob attacks. His family has extensive business interests in Burma. The announcement came two weeks ahead of a visit to Burma by President Barack Obama for a summit of regional leaders. Obama on Thursday called Burma’s President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, urging credible elections next year and addressing sectarian tensions. The U.S. has rolled back most sanctions against the country as it has shifted from military rule since 2012. But to the chagrin of American companies wanting to invest there, Burma retains targeted restrictions against some individuals and companies. “By intentionally undermining the positive political and economic transition in Burma, Aung Thaung is perpetuating violence, oppression, and corruption,” said Adam Szubin, the director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which oversees the sanctions. “The United States firmly supports the Burmese government’s progress on reforms, and we remain vigilant about targeting those whose activities facilitate repression and dictatorship,” he said in a statement. Szubin was not more specific about those allegations, but did mention that Aung Thaung has been implicated in previous attacks on the democratic opposition. Aung Thaung was a leader in a pro-junta organization accused of conducting a 2003 attack on a convoy carrying opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi that killed a number of her supporters. He later served in senior leadership positions in the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party. Recent mob violence by Buddhist extremists against minority Muslims has stirred concern similar forces could be behind sectarian clashes that Western officials say could threaten Burma’s transition to democracy. Aung Thaung has denied any involvement. Aung Thaung could not be reached for comment Friday. Burma’s government spokesman did not immediately respond to an email on the matter. Since Burma embarked on democratic reforms, Burmese nationals added to the U.S. sanctions list have principally been officials suspected of trading weapons with North Korea. Blacklisted individuals and companies are prohibited from holding assets in the U.S. and doing business with Americans. Rights activists have long pushed for Aung Thaung to be included. John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch in Washington, said there were serious allegations over Aung Thaung’s complicity in past crackdowns, and that his family’s business ventures involved human rights abuses like land grabs and forced labor. “Burma cannot complete a transition to democracy if the existing military leadership and its cronies refuse to relinquish their power and corrupt revenue sources,” he said. The U.S. Embassy in Yangon itself recommended blacklisting Aung Thaung and two of his sons some six years ago, according to diplomatic cables obtained and released by WikiLeaks. The sons are still not sanctioned. A Sept. 19, 2008, cable said the sons, Pyi Aung and Nay Aung, amassed tens of millions of dollars running Burma’s second-largest timber company, exporting rice and winning contracts to explore for oil and gas. Nay Aung was also suspected of brokering arms deals with China and North Korea. When the Obama administration took office in 2009 and opened the door to diplomatic rapprochement with Burma, it shied away from sanctioning more officials as it sought to win the confidence of its ruling generals and encourage democratic reform. The post US Blacklists Burma Ruling Party Lawmaker appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| NGOs, Farmers Concerned After Reviewing Draft Land Use Policy Posted: 31 Oct 2014 06:30 PM PDT  Farmers from Rangoon Division's Swepyitha Township play instruments during a protest in January 2013 to demand compensation for loss of their land. (Photo: Aye Kyawt Khaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Some 70 representatives of farmers' organizations and civil society organizations from different parts of Burma gathered during a three-day meeting in Rangoon this week to hold the first of a number of discussions on the government's new draft national land use policy. They warned that the draft policy was distinctly "pro-business" and if left unchanged could affect the land rights of the country's impoverished farmers. Activists also complained that the public had limited options to suggest changes to the policy. On Oct.18, the government released the draft national land use policy, an important step in its effort to draw up legislation to regulate land tenure in Burma. The government's policy decisions will affect farmlands, urban land use and forests for years to come, and are key to regulating a surge in land investment. In recent years, Burma has seen a sharp rise in the number of cases of farmers complaining of land grabs by well-connected companies, while many old cases of land grabs by the Burma Army remains unsolved. Kyaw Thu, director of Paung Ku, a consortium of NGOs, said the meeting, held Monday through Wednesday, is part of a civil society initiative aimed at analyzing the draft policy and consulting the public on suggestions for amendments. Kyaw Thu said six meetings had been planned in order to gather opinions from farmers, NGOs and the wider public, adding that these meetings were important because the government's efforts to consult the public about the policy were inadequate and rushed. "We are afraid that the government will try to approve the policy without considering the opinions of the public, especially the farmers," he said, adding that the civil society meetings would complement the government's public consultation process. The government has announced that the new draft is open for public comments and that it will hold public consultations in all 14 states and divisions, with two more events planned in Shan State and one in Naypyidaw, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Transnational Institute (TNI). The consultation phase is scheduled to end in the third week of December. Kyaw Thu said concerns were growing as the government has released few details about its consultation process, while the amount of time scheduled for the consultation phase was too short for farmers and NGOs to properly study the policy and suggest amendments. "The 17 [consultation] meetings will not be successful as they are being held in a very short span of time, and probably the government will only select the people they want to invite," he said, adding, "Only a few people know the details of these meetings, like the dates, times and places." "We will not have enough time to explain this policy to the people and farmers, and to receive their opinions," said Aung Kyaw Kyaw, a lawyer supporting the Magwe Division Farmers Union, who attended the civil society meeting this week. "There are some parts to review, amend, add, and to eliminate. We are hoping to compile them all in short time," he said. "Although the draft policy was written without consultation with the farmers or the citizens or the people who are working on this issue, we believe the government will listen to us for the sake of the poor farmers." Aung Kyaw Kyaw said the current draft laid an emphasis on protecting the interests of investors and on facilitating rapid mechanization of Burma's underdeveloped agriculture sector. "The policy is focusing too much on investment and industrialization. The policy fails to ensure land ownership for grassroots level farmers," he said. "If this law would be enacted without review, only the government, businessmen and companies will become land owners and the farmers, who once owned the lands, will become landless labors." Myint Thwin, a lawyer who supports farmers involved in land disputes, said the draft policy was not all bad. "There are also some good points on deforestation and landownership. However, we still need to push the government to pass this policy only after consulting the voices from the bottom," he said. TNI said in its report that the draft needed significant changes based on the suggestions by farmers and the wider public in order for it to bring socio-economic benefits to all of Burmese society. The Netherlands-based institute warned that the current draft policy would "create a legal environment that is greatly beneficial for a small group of large national and international companies, but which has the potential to be hugely disadvantageous for millions of small-scale farmers." The post NGOs, Farmers Concerned After Reviewing Draft Land Use Policy appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| One Thing on Agenda at Karen Conference: Unity Posted: 31 Oct 2014 05:18 PM PDT  A car tries to scale the hill on rough roads, en route to the DKBA Headquarters in Sone Seen Myaing. (Photo:Lawi Weng/The Irrawaddy) (Photo:Lawi Weng/The Irrawaddy)A car tries to scale the hill on rough roads, en route to the DKBA Headquarters in Sone Seen Myaing. (Photo:Lawi Weng/The Irrawaddy) (Photo:Lawi Weng/The Irrawaddy) SONE SEEN MYAING, Karen State — About a five-hour drive from Myawaddy through mountainous jungle, hundreds of people gathered this week at the headquarters of the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) to debate the future of the ethnic Karen people's rebel armed forces. Armed leaders, village elders, ethnic politicians and more than 200 civil society representatives came together in the remote town with one thing on the agenda: unity. The Karen Ethnic Armed Group Conference, hosted by the DKBA, was meant to last three days and focus on establishing a unified alliance of Karen armies called the Kawthoolei Armed Forces (KAF). The DKBA is a breakaway faction of Karen State's most dominant insurgent group, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). The Karen are an ethnic minority with an estimated population of 7.5 million, most of them living in the land-locked southeastern state bordering Thailand. The Karen have been at war with Burma's central government for more than 60 years to achieve greater autonomy. Those decades have transformed the rebel movement; splinter groups, religious differences and leadership quarrels have left the Karen resistance still strong but fractured.  A car being washed on the mountain road between Kawkeraik and Myawaddy townships, en route to the DKBA Headquarters in Sone Seen Myaing. (Photo:Lawi Weng/The Irrawaddy) Earlier this month, leaders of four Karen armed groups announced a plan to fortify their resistance; the establishment of the KAF would unify Karen soldiers as allies against the Burma Army while retaining each group's uniforms, insignia and command structures. "Our Karen armed groups have scattered; we need to have one armed force in order to protect our people," said DKBA Chief Gen. Saw LahPwe, addressing Wednesday's crowd in his mother tongue, Sgaw Karen. The initial proposal to establish the KAF came about after intermittent fighting broke out in three townships between Burmese troops and a number of smaller ethnic Karen forces, including the DKBA. Attacks against these groups, some feared, risked derailing the country's fragile peace negotiations; many viewed the skirmishes as small parts of a more strategic offensive by the Burma Army. Ethnic military leaders moved fast to find a remedy, and on Oct. 14, commanders of the state's two biggest armed groups—the KNLA and the Karen National Defense Organization (KNDO), both armed units of the KNU—and two KNLA breakaways—the DKBA and the KNLA Peace Council—all endorsed the KAF. The KNU, however, quickly distanced itself from the plan, revealing a widening gap between the Karen leadership's military and political aims. The KNU has also struggled with internal disputes between pro- and anti-ceasefire elements, which ultimately led it to "temporarily suspend" participation in the country's most powerful ethnic alliance, the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), while maintaining its place in peace negotiations as a member of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT). The KNU's apparent bend toward signing a ceasefire was perhaps underscored by the group's Central Standing Committee meeting earlier this week, after which it announced that it would prolong UNFC suspension and postpone unification until the issue could be discussed at their next congress, two years from now. "What will Karen people do about this in the meantime? Within two years, even the president will be replaced, the KNU will have a new chairperson," said Col. Saw Kyaw Thet, commander of the DKBA's 5th Brigade. His concerns were echoed by nearly all attendees of the Sone Seen Myaing summit when the KNLA's 7th Brigade commander, Gen. Paw Doh, explained the KNU's position on Wednesday. "We will decide at the KNU congress," Paw Doh announced to the crowd, who came to the meeting expressly to secure a plan for unity and equality among the Karen resistance's disparate forces. "We understand that everyone here wants peace and unity. I will bring all decisions made here back [to the KNU], and we will discuss the reunion of the Kawthoolei armies." There was one set of voices in these discussions that seemed unanimous: civilians.  A sign in front of a DKBA base reads, “We need generals who fight for peace, not for combat.” (Photo:Lawi Weng/The Irrawaddy) "If the Karen armed groups could form an allied force, I feel that we will have peace and there will be no more fighting," said ???, a 45-year-old Karen man who attended the meeting in traditional attire. Eh Phaw Wah, a member of the Karen Youth Network, said that unity is something that all Karen people wanted, young and old. Disunity among Karen military and political leadership, she said, was a recurrent topic among the members of her organization, who overwhelmingly support a united Kawthoolei Armed Forces because they no longer feel protected. "When I told our youth members that the Karen will form an allied armed group called Kawthoolei, they were very happy about it," she said, emphasizing that she hoped to see it happen immediately because local people are still anxious and worried because of recent fighting. "They feel that this alliance will provide security." The post One Thing on Agenda at Karen Conference: Unity appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Nov. 1, 2014) Posted: 31 Oct 2014 05:00 PM PDT US Soap Conglomerate Cleans Up in Burma With $100Mln Deal American soap and hygiene products giant Colgate-Palmolive has paid around US$100 million to buy Burma's biggest toothpaste brand Laser. The deal is "one of one of the biggest acquisitions by a foreign company" in Burma, the Wall Street Journal said. "Colgate confirmed it had acquired the Laser brand of toothpaste and personal care products from Shwe Ayar Nadi Company, a local privately held business group," the Journal said. The two firms did not disclose the value of the purchase but the US business newspaper cited unnamed Colgate sources saying it was approximately US$100 million. "[Colgate-Palmolive] will acquire Laser's manufacturing and tube-forming facilities and will produce Laser brand toothpaste, along with importing Colgate brand goods from Thailand," the Journal said. Sales of personal hygiene and beautifying products in Burma totalled US$318 million in 2013, according to research firm Euromonitor International, which said sector growth was running at 14 percent. "Euromonitor has identified [Burma] as one of the 20 markets that will offer the most opportunities for consumer goods companies globally," the Wall Street Journal said. Thai Bank's $60Mln to Turn Rangoon Courthouse into 5-Star Hotel A Thai bank is lending US$60 million to finance the conversion of one of Rangoon's colonial-era buildings into a five-star Kempinski brand hotel. Siam Commercial Bank has advanced the loan to turn the former Small Claims Court building on Strand Road into a 230-room hotel that will be managed by Germany-based Kempinski AG. The conversion and refurbishment work will be done by Burma's JL Group and Thai firm Kanok Furniture and Decoration, said a bank statement. The new hotel is due to open in 2016, the bank said. Other reports have said up to 500 jobs will be created, mainly service staff. There is a close link between Siam Commercial Bank and Kempinski, since both are majority-owned by Thailand's Crown Property Bureau, an agency that manages the Thai royal palaces and also administers the country's biggest property and land portfolio. A Kempinski managed hotel is due to open in Naypyidaw on Nov. 1, in time to accommodate high-profile delegates to the Asean and East Asia summits from Nov. 9-12. Located next to Naypyidaw's convention center, it has 106 rooms and 35 suites. The hotel website lists its most expensive accommodation, the Royal Suite, at $4,000 per night. Over 3Mln Motorbikes on Burma's Roads 'Smuggled Into the Country' Four out of every five motorcycles on Burma's roads were smuggled into the country, a senior government official has claimed. That means more than 3 million bikes are illegal, Deputy Railway and Transportation Minister Chan Maung said. "The number of illegally imported motorcycles may be higher still as many are thought not to have registered for licence plates," the Myanmar Times said, referring to a statement made by Chan Maung in Naypyidaw. Most of the illegal bikes are smuggled across the border from China, but some also enter Burma from Thailand. Chan Maung warned that there would be no more amnesties, which allowed illegal bikes to become officially registered. In future, owners caught with illegal motorbikes will be fined or have the vehicles confiscated, he said. Western-Style Finger-Licking Fast Food Set for Bonanza in Burma Growing numbers of people moving from village to city and rising urban incomes will create a fast-food boom for foreign brand franchises, a report said. "Opportunities for food & drink companies in [Burma] will be driven by strong macroeconomic and demographic fundamentals," said Business Monitor International (BMI). These factors are making Burma a new frontier market for fast food companies such as Yum! Brands, which recently announced it would open a KFC franchise in Rangoon in 2015. "With a population of 50 million, [Burma] is a sizeable market. Fast food companies will also benefit from ongoing urbanization as we expect the share of urban population to reach 40 percent by 2024, up from 34 percent in 2014," BMI said in an analysis of the market. "As disposable income and private consumption rise over the next few years, the middle class will expand, resulting in strong opportunities for food companies." UK Foreign Office's Burma Links 'About Business, Not Human Rights' The British Foreign Office has dropped human rights as its priority in Burma in favor of promoting trade, an NGO has alleged, as Foreign Minister Hugo Swire avoided questions in the London House of Parliament this week about the rise in political prisoners in Burma. "Swire also avoided answering a question in Parliament about whether or not he shared concerns expressed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma about the backtracking of reforms," Burma Campaign UK said. "Hugo Swire is either trying to avoid talking about the number of political prisoners because it is embarrassing for his government, which has been praising the regime, or because he doesn't want to embarrass the Burmese government, as he is trying to win business deals with them," said campaign director Mark Farmaner. However, the embassies of the United States and Britain this week urged the Burmese government to order a transparent investigation into the recent killing by the Burma Army of Burmese journalist Aung Kyaw Naing. The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (Nov. 1, 2014) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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