The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Parliament Sets Deadlines for Govt to Resolve Land Disputes
- Karen Army Lends a Hand to Hundreds of Homeless Near Rangoon
- Fighting Dashes Hopes of Homecoming for Displaced in Kachin
- Despite Growing Tourist Demand, Burma Keeps a Lid on Homestays
- Small Business Hopes for Millions of Burmese Face Govt Squeeze
- Govt Investigation ‘Failed’ to Address Alleged Rohingya Killings: UN Envoy
- Karen Group Criticizes JICA Development Proposals
- The ‘Broom’ That Saved Yangon
- Hpakant Jade Stone Estimated at 50 Tons
- A Boat Trip to Maungdaw
- In Vietnam’s Capital, Old Town Braces for Makeover
- Wife of China’s Jailed Nobel Laureate Liu Hospitalized
- A New Suit, Chemotherapy as Aging Koreans Prepare For Reunions
| Parliament Sets Deadlines for Govt to Resolve Land Disputes Posted: 20 Feb 2014 04:30 AM PST  Villagers protest against a copper mine project in front of Letpadaung hill, Sagaing Division, during a visit by Aung San Suu Kyi on March 13, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) The Union Parliament on Thursday ordered the government to resolve land-grab cases in Burma no later than June and September of this year. Parliament's Farmland Investigation Commission said Thursday that the responsible government bodies must find a solution to problems involving seized rice paddy plots by June, and by September for cases of lands that had been used to grow other crops. Lawmakers said the commission agreed to set time frames for resolution of the issue in accordance with the President Thein Sein's "Clean Government, Good Governance" policy, first announced in 2011. Ba Shein, a Lower House lawmaker from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) and a member of the Farmland Investigation Commission, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the commission felt compelled to set the deadlines in light of Deputy Home Affairs Minister Kyaw Kyaw Htun's "inadequate" response to a March 2013 commission report outlining the severity of the land-grab situation in Burma. "We urge the government to take the problem seriously," said Ba Shein. "It is their responsibility, because there are reports of farmers' protests almost every day for the return of their lands. If they [the government] had taken the problem seriously, it [protests] would not need to happen." Kyaw Kyaw Htun on Thursday countered that the government was working to solve the land disputes by forming a team led by Vice President Nyan Htun. Parliament formed the Farmland Investigation Commission in July 2012. Eight months later, the commission submitted its report on land-grabbing by the military, and subsequent reports detailed similar confiscations by government agencies and local authorities across the country. The initial report found that the military had forcibly seized about 250,000 acres of farmland from villagers, and lawmakers from the land-grab commission later said they had fielded more than 6,000 complaints on the broader issue. Nearly a year since the report was issued, Lower House lawmaker Banyar Aung Moe criticized government action on the land-grab cases as delayed. "Since the ministries have been unable to solve the problems in a timely manner, we have heard of problems on the ground," said Banyar Aung Moe, from the All Mon Region Democracy Party, referring to protests demanding the return of confiscated lands. "Also, the 'resolved' cases are not cleared; most farmers still haven't gotten their lands back because the relevant ministries are not doing their jobs." Despite the government's claim that the issue is being handled, Banyar Aung Moe said lawmakers were fielding reports from constituents that "some lands are now being seized again." Parliament will have further discussions to determine how to act against relevant authorities if the problems are not resolved within the set deadlines, lawmakers said. The post Parliament Sets Deadlines for Govt to Resolve Land Disputes appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Karen Army Lends a Hand to Hundreds of Homeless Near Rangoon Posted: 20 Feb 2014 04:03 AM PST  The remains of homes that were bulldozed by local authorities in Hlegu Township, Rangoon Division, earlier this month. (Photo: Zin Min Oo) RANGOON — An ethnic Karen armed group has offered property in Karen State to hundreds of people whose homes were bulldozed earlier this month in Rangoon Division after authorities said their villages were located on military-owned land. The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) has offered to drive the displaced residents from their temporary shelter—an overcrowded monastery in Hlegu Township—to available land near Myawaddy in Karen State, but their invitation has been turned down. "I invited them to come and stay in Karen State if they want. There's no hidden agenda behind this humanitarian act, though some have accused us of trying to recruit them as soldiers," Maj. San Aung of the DKBA told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. He said trucks with rice and other food were sent to the monastery in Hlegu Township on Wednesday. "If they do not want to come, I will not force them. If they are willing to come, we will arrange homes and they will be able to work at rubber and fruit plantations in the area," he added. "I do not know whether the land [in Hlegu] was owned by the military. What I do know is that every citizen has a right to own their home and land. …Without a home, a person cannot live. I could not ignore their suffering, which is why I'm trying to help as much as I can." Hundreds of people from Hlegu Township, about 45 kilometers northeast of Rangoon, have been homeless since local authorities bulldozed their homes earlier this month. More than 400 homes in Thameegalay village were torn down on Feb. 4, along with a monastery and a government-run school. Since then, homes in about 11 nearby villages have also been bulldozed. Some displaced residents are staying with relatives in other villages, but a majority are now seeking shelter at Aung Theikdi monastery near Thameegalay. Hundreds of people have crammed inside the monastery compound and in an open field nearby, where makeshift camps have been set up. However, they have been told they will need to move soon, and authorities have reportedly ordered the monastery to stop accepting new arrivals. "The monastery needs to provide food and shelter to more than 300 people who have nowhere to go," said Zin Min Oo, a Rangoon-based member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) who visited the monastery on Wednesday to deliver food and other donated supplies. "The abbot alone cannot feed all of them and will not be able to provide conditions for proper sanitation in the long term." Teachers and more than 50 children from a school in Thameegalay say they are struggling to continue their lessons, with final exams just around the corner. Parents have requested permission from authorities to remain at the monastery until after exams, so their school-aged children may continue studying. "We were saddened to see children spreading their books on the ground and studying under a tree," said Thet Khine, a local member of the NLD. "We will complain to Parliament, urging lawmakers and the authorities to take care of these displaced people." Despite the DKBA's offer, the displaced residents are not eager to relocate to Karen State. "We don't want to move from here, where we were born and have lived for decades," said Kyaw Sein, a resident from Thameegalay village who is staying in a camp outside the monastery. "We appreciate the invitation from the DKBA, but we want to try our best to win back our homeland first." He added, "Although we face difficulties for food and proper shelter, we believe the government will listen to our voices and give back our homes. To abandon the region would be a last option, if we have no other options left." The post Karen Army Lends a Hand to Hundreds of Homeless Near Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Fighting Dashes Hopes of Homecoming for Displaced in Kachin Posted: 20 Feb 2014 03:56 AM PST  A camp for internally displaced persons in Kachin State, northern Burma. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A recent outbreak of fighting marks a setback for people in Kachin State who want to return to their homes after being displaced by fighting between ethnic rebels and Burmese government troops, according to local aid groups. An estimated 120,000 people are living in about 100 temporary camps in both government-held territory and areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) after fleeing their homes during clashes in the state since a ceasefire broke down in June 2011. A relative lull in fighting and continuing talks involving the Kachin and most of Burma's ethnic armed groups toward a nationwide ceasefire had raised hopes that internally displaced persons (IDPs) could soon go home. But the Burma Army made an incursion into KIA territory in northern Bhamo Township on Feb. 12, killing at least two rebel troops. KIA Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Gun Maw told The Irrawaddy last week that the Burma Army had used a crackdown on illegal loggers as a pretext for the attack, and said the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), would have to reconsider the peace process after the attack. La Ray, who works with IDPs for the Kachin Baptist Convention, said the attack had dented tentative hopes of a return home before this year's wet season. "Because of the fighting between KIA and Burmese troops last week, it is unthinkable to hope of returning home, even though peace talks are going on," he said. "Hearing the news about the progress of the peace talks, the refugees formerly believed that they could return home very soon. But now the fighting is continuing, and some refugees are depressed. They are desperate, and say they will never be able to go home in their lifetimes." He added that many in the camps had turned to drugs, mainly heroin, to relive the boredom and hopelessness of their situation. "Although we are trying to educate them about drugs and giving moral encouragement, we are afraid this will become a popular habit among the refugees," La Ray said. Naw Din, head of the Karuna Myanmar Social Service relief team, said that while United Nations organizations like Unicef are delivering aid, access to some camps is limited, especially those in KIA-controlled areas—where about 60 percent of them are living. The Chinese Embassy in Rangoon announced this week on its Facebook page that the Chinese Red Cross Society was sending 10,000 boxes of rice, cooking oil, emergency medicine and other supplies to IDPs over the border, at a cost of 800 million kyat, or about $800,000. The embassy said the aid would be distributed by the Burmese Red Cross, but it was unclear whether it would reach the camps inside rebel territory. "The aid reaching camps located deep inside KIA/KIO controlled areas is still limited because of the continuous tensions between the government troops and KIA," said Naw Din. "It is not even easy for people in the camps that are outside of KIA-controlled areas because they have limited food and medicine as they depend a lot on the donations. If donors can't reach in time, food and medicines will be in shortage." The post Fighting Dashes Hopes of Homecoming for Displaced in Kachin appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Despite Growing Tourist Demand, Burma Keeps a Lid on Homestays Posted: 20 Feb 2014 03:27 AM PST  The Burma government only allows foreigners to stay in homestays in a handful of places, like on the trekking routes between Inle Lake and Kalaw in Shan State, pictured. (Photo: Simon Lewis / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Although foreigners are not officially allowed to stay in Burmese homes, the Ministry of Tourism will continue to allow homestays at a limited number of destinations, an official said this week. Homestays are increasingly popular among visitors to other Asian countries, and would offer some relief to the chronic lack of hotel rooms currently faced by Burma's tourism industry. But the government remains suspicious of foreigners lodging with locals. Officials say there are no plans to lift a general ban on homestays, part of restrictions dating back to military rule that ban unauthorized guests in Burmese homes, including other Burmese. At a hospitality and tourism conference in Rangoon on Wednesday, Aung Zaw Win, the director general of the Tourism Ministry, told The Irrawaddy that exceptions to this rule already existed. "For example, at Putao in Kachin State, northern Burma, it takes tourists many days to reach the snowy mountains from Putao and there are no hotels, so we must allow them to stay at villagers' homes, with the cooperation of regional authorities," he said. "Then there are the trekking places between Inle Lake and Kalaw Township [in Shan State], we are allowing foreigners to stay in this place, at homestays and monasteries." Aung Zaw Win said officials were concerned that people from different cultures, speaking foreign languages, could clash with Burmese if they stay in their homes. But there may be an alternative, he said. "I just learned about a homestay scheme in Malaysia where there are specific homes for foreigners in Malay villages," he said. "That means foreigners can't stay in villagers' homes. They are separate, but have the same facilities as a native home." He said the ministry would continue to work with local governments around the country in locations that might be suitable for homestays. Despite the concern of a culture clash, tourism officials are also looking to develop community-led tourism projects, and are planning workshops in some rural areas on community tourism. Kyaw Min Htin, managing director of Myanmar Polestar Travel and Tours, said an alternative to homestays was the bed and breakfast (B&B) model, where homeowners can set up a small business with rooms and food for tourists. "The B&B service is not the same as a homestay, which just provides accommodation, so it could happen soon in Burma," he said, adding that B&Bs could work both in rural areas that lack hotels and in Rangoon, where room prices have been driven up by short supply. Tourism numbers in Burma grew to 2 million in 2013, and the government is planning for 3 million this year. Aung Zaw Win said new hotel rooms were being constructed, and the number are increasing to meet the growing demand. “We’re issuing hotel licenses almost every day at the moment, it means many businesses know that the tourism sector is booming. Many hotels According to the ministry's figures, some 923 hotel licenses were issued in 2013, up from 721 the previous year. The number of rooms available in the country also increased from 25,000 in 2012 to 36,000 in 2013, the figures say. The post Despite Growing Tourist Demand, Burma Keeps a Lid on Homestays appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Small Business Hopes for Millions of Burmese Face Govt Squeeze Posted: 20 Feb 2014 03:20 AM PST  Farmers in Burma's rural areas are among those in need of micro-loans to lift them out of poverty. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) New restrictions on small-loan agencies in Burma could stifle micro-business developments critical to raising rural people out of poverty, an economist has warned. But other financial experts say restrictions have become necessary because some agencies have been rashly lending cash without sufficient safeguards. Scores of lending agencies, some commercial and some non-profit NGOs, have opened up in Burma where they are known as MFIs or microfinance institutions. The government's Microfinance Supervisory Committee (MSC) has imposed a lending cap of 500,000 kyat, equal to US$507, because it thinks there is a danger of the system running out of control. "It is the case that some of the licensed MFIs are overstepping the rules, and engaging in practices that would raise genuine prudential concerns," Burma economy expert Sean Turnell told The Irrawaddy. "However, the limit does constrain 'good' MFIs from undertaking lending that can make a critical difference—that is loans above $500 that could be genuinely transformational, allowing scale so that micro-enterprises can become the small to medium enterprises that Myanmar needs for development, and to create employment," said Turnell, a professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and co-editor of the Burma Economic Watch bulletin. An initiative to lend the equivalent more than $3 million to tens to thousands of rural people was due to get under way this month involving five local agencies, the US-based non-profit Pact Global Microfinance Fund (Pact) and the UN agency LIFT, the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund. LIFT's donors include the governments of a number of Western countries, mostly from the European Union but including the US, Australia and New Zealand. "We're proud to be working with our new partners and LIFT to profoundly improve the livelihoods and food security of as many as 45,000 families in places where there is no access to credit but an abundance of need for it," Pact representative Fahmid Bhuiya said in a statement in December. Reaction to the new Naypyidaw restriction on lending has been mixed. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) suggested there could be more flexibility on lending limits, but the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said MFIs needed to be properly regulated. The biggest small loans lender in Burma, Pact, and LIFT did not respond to requests this week from The Irrawaddy for comment. "Pact is recognized as a global leader in, and preferred partner for, lasting solutions in the areas of health, livelihoods and natural resource management. Our uniquely integrated approach, adapted to local needs in every one of the more than 25 countries where we work, is shaping the future of international development," the Washington-based agency says on its website. More than 100 MFIs are now in operating in Burma as the demand for cash credit among a huge rural population with no access to traditional banking services grows. Some of them are purely commercial businesses based in similarly poor and developing countries, such as Cambodia and Bangladesh. The IFC last year estimated that about 2.8 million people in Burma were being reached by micro-financing but suggested that the demand was four times greater. A recent report by the ADB on micro-financing across the region said there was a huge demand among the poor but it needed to be managed in a "financially sustainable way". "With microfinance becoming increasingly commercialized in the region, the study stresses the role of government and agencies such as ADB in addressing the financial needs of the poor, while at the same time ensuring the institutional sustainability of microfinance providers," the report said. "For microfinance to have a greater impact on reducing poverty in the region, it needs to better target the poor and focus more on educating them in using basic financial services." Turnell told The Irrawaddy that a number of MFIs which have sprung up recently in Burma "are little experienced in the methodologies required for successful microfinance. "That being the case, it may not be a bad thing that some of them are restricted according to loan maximums to protect themselves, and their clients." But instead of placing a blanket curb on MFIs, Turnell suggests an alternative. "Probably better would be a case by case regulation on this front, subject to individual institution assessment as to capacity. However, this would be very costly, and probably beyond the supervisory capacity of the [Microfinance Supervisory Committee] regulator. "Another answer might be to allow loans greater than $500, in exchange for a step up in capital employed, or some other metric that gets closer to those required by banks." With conventional banking still in its infancy in Burma and the much-vaunted Internet banking revolution via new mobile phone and wireless networks still a dream, MFIs remain the only potential source of capital for millions of Burmese—apart from the traditional high-interest loan sharks. The post Small Business Hopes for Millions of Burmese Face Govt Squeeze appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Govt Investigation ‘Failed’ to Address Alleged Rohingya Killings: UN Envoy Posted: 20 Feb 2014 03:13 AM PST  UN human rights rapporteur on Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana addresses a press conference in Rangoon on Wednesday. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The UN human rights rapporteur for Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana said a government investigation has so far failed to address allegations of the killing of dozens of Rohingyas in Arakan State last month. Quintana warned that he would urge the UN Human Rights Council to become involved in the investigation unless results of the government probe meet international standards. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has alleged that police and an Arakanese mob carried out a deadly raid on Du Chee Yar Tan, a Rohingya village in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, during operation to find a police sergeant who had gone missing during a patrol in the village. The government denies any violence took place and claims that a Rohingya Islamic militant group was involved in the killing of the policeman. Arakan State authorities and the Myanmar Human Rights Commission have conducted preliminary investigations into incident and said no Rohingyas were killed. A new inquiry into incident is led by Dr Tha Hla Shwe of the Myanmar Red Cross Society and will report its findings to President Thein Sein soon. Quintana said the Arakan State police chief had told him that "more than 100 policemen armed with live ammunition" carried out the operation in Du Chee Yar Tan village on Jan. 13-14, but had denied that his men had been involved in alleged killings. "However, I have continued to receive allegations of serious human rights violations being committed during this police operation, which also involved [Arakanese] mobs, including allegations of the brutal killing of men, women and children, sexual violence against women, and the looting and burning of properties," he said. "Domestic investigations have failed to satisfactorily address these serious allegations," Quintana said, adding that if government investigation did not improve "I will urge the UN Human Rights Council to work with the government of Myanmar to establish a credible investigation" into the incident. The UN envoy made the remarks at a press conference at Rangoon airport on Wednesday after a six-day visit to Burma, his last as a rapporteur after six years of monitoring the rights situation in the country. Quintana visited Arakan State and said he remained deeply concerned over rampant rights abuses against the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority in northern Arakan, where about 140,000 people, mostly Rohingya, are displaced by recurrent inter-communal violence between Rohingyas and Arakanese Buddhists. "Tackling the situation in [Arakan] State represents a particular challenge which, if left unaddressed, could jeopardize the entire reform process," he said. Quintana also visited Laiza in the Kachin conflict area, and the Letpadaung copper mine in Monywa and Thilawa Special Economic Zone, both areas of large-scale land evictions. During his Laiza visit Quintana said he "received allegations of more recent human rights violations following military clashes in Kachin State and northern Shan State, including cases of rape, arbitrary detention and torture during interrogation." He warned of the growing problem of forced land evictions, saying that "the rights of land users in Myanmar are currently not secure…Issues over land rights will be one of the major challenges of the government over the years to come." Quintana also took note of the recent roll back on media freedom in Burma. The government last month detained four journalists and an editor at Unity Journal because of a report claiming that the Burma Army has built a chemical weapons facility in central Burma. An Eleven Media journalist was sentenced to three months in prison in Karenni State last month, while the Information Ministry has tightened restrictions on foreign journalist visas. "I met journalists who described a prevailing climate of uncertainty and fear of arrest, particularly Reflecting on his six-year tenure as rights rapporteur, Quintana said he had seen great improvements, before adding that "there is limited space for backtracking though. As a senior government official admitted to me in [Naypyidaw] the democratic transition is still fragile." The UN envoy said a nationwide ceasefire, reducing the political powers of the military through constitutional reforms, the release of remaining political prisoners, as well as strengthening an independent judiciary are key remaining challenges for improving the human rights situation in Burma. The post Govt Investigation 'Failed' to Address Alleged Rohingya Killings: UN Envoy appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Karen Group Criticizes JICA Development Proposals Posted: 20 Feb 2014 03:02 AM PST  Workers try to clear a stretch of the road between Myawaddy and Pa-an after it was hit by a landslide following days of heavy rain last year. The Japanese government's international development agency is considering ways to accelerate development in Karen and Mon states. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) An ethnic Karen group has criticized an extensive report by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) about proposals for development projects in southeastern Burma. The 593-page report by JICA and Burma's Ministry of Border Affairs proposes wide-ranging development projects for Karen and Mon states, with the purpose of facilitating the eventual return of Burmese refugees. But the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN), a Thailand-based NGO focused on land rights and peace in Karen State, blasted the report on Wednesday for lacking input from local residents. The group said in a statement that the report, which was published in October, also fails to adequately address the development challenges created by decades of armed conflict in the region, while suggesting projects that could open the door to land-grabs. Saw Paul Sein Twa, director of KESAN, said the Japanese government's aid agency wrote the report after consulting with the Ministry of Border Affairs, the Karen and Mon state governments, and ethnic armed groups, but did not meet with local residents who would be most affected by the proposed projects. "We were surprised that we, the Karen people, did not know about the study or the plan," he told The Irrawaddy, explaining that he became aware of the report only after it was published recently on JICA's official website. He said proposals to build and expand roads might encourage the seizure of land. "Because Karen people still do not have proper documents to prove the land belongs to them," he said. "It will take time for that, and before they can prove it, big development projects will come in, pushing them out to the margins." In June last year, JICA met with leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU), the political wing of a major Karen armed group, to discuss the report. "They took recommendations from us. They explained their vision after having already discussed their plans with the government," said Mahn Mahn, secretary of the KNU. "We want to be informed about how local people can be integrated into the process. Public opinion should not be left out." He added that implementation of development projects should not be rushed, and should allow time for dialogue to solve political issues, including through a nationwide ceasefire. "Only after that should the projects begin," he said. He added that the KNU would meet with Japanese INGOs later this week to discuss refugee repatriation and regional development. The JICA report is a preliminary study that examines existing conditions and development issues in Karen and Mon states, which both lack infrastructure and basic services in remote areas due to decades of fighting between the government army and ethnic rebel groups. The report proposes specific projects to support regional development in both states, to help facilitate the return and resettlement of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). These proposals include the expansion of transnational road infrastructure from Thailand to Moulmein, to link a new port proposed at Kyaikkami in Mon State. The report also proposes upgrades to domestic road infrastructure, the establishment of free trade zones and industrial estates, and urban development in Moulmein, Pa-an and Myawaddy. A spokesman at the Ministry of Border Affairs in Naypyidaw declined to comment on the development plans in a telephone interview. JICA were not able to offer comment on Wednesday or Thursday in response to the criticisms by KESAN. However, in a summary of the report, JICA clarified that the proposals were put forward "only as candidates for possible implementation." "They should be discussed with stakeholders including ethnic minority groups as well as local residents, and their implementation will be subject to the result of the discussions," it said. Under the former military government, refugees fled across the Thai border amid Burmese government military offensives, the persecution of ethnic minorities and the suppression of political dissent. President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government has since 2011 signed ceasefire deals with most ethnic armed groups, including in Karen and Mon states. As the peace process continues, the government is planning for the eventual repatriation of Burmese refugees in camps on the Thai border. However, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has repeatedly said that conditions in southeast Burma are not yet suitable for the organized return of the refugees. The post Karen Group Criticizes JICA Development Proposals appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 20 Feb 2014 01:35 AM PST  U Kyaw Thein Lwin sits in his living room with a painting depicting the battle in Wektaw behind him. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) U Kyaw Thein Lwin, who prefers to be called "Uncle K.T.," is an exuberant, talkative person. When asked about Dha-Byet-See ("The Broom"), he rolls his eyes and smiles as he prepares to tell a story about his days as a young navy officer and his role in the famous Battle of Insein. A year after Myanmar regained its independence, civil war threatened to tear the country apart. An ethnic Kayin rebellion had started and Kayin soldiers in the national army had mounted a mutiny. In early February 1949, Kayin rebels overran the Air Force Ordnance Depot in Yangon's Mingaladon Township and seized ammunition and guns, which they used to take over neighboring Insein Township. The Kayin rebels decided to seize control of Insein because of a series of arson attacks that appeared to target the area's large Kayin community. Some, including U Kyaw Thein Lwin, later came to believe that Gen. Ne Win, one of the legendary "Thirty Comrades" who fought against the British during World War II, was behind the attacks, which succeeded in agitating local Kayin civilians and forcing a showdown with the Kayin rebels. Soon after the Kayin seized Insein, the two highest-ranking ethnic Kayin serving in the armed forces—Commander-in-Chief Gen. Smith Dun and wing commander Saw Shi So—were dismissed, and Gen. Ne Win was given control of the army. Now firmly in charge, the country's future dictator ordered an airlift of battle-hardened veterans from the 5th Burma Rifles stationed in Rakhine State to the capital. Believing that time was not on their side, the Kayin rebels appealed to fellow Kayin in the Second Karen Rifles stationed in Pyay—"the best-equipped battalion of our army at that time," according to U Kyaw Thein Lwin—to rush down to help them in Insein. They answered the call of their ethnic brethren, and it fell to U Kyaw Thein Lwin and his comrades to stop them. U Kyaw Thein Lwin, who at the time was a young, British-trained navy officer, was assigned to defend the city with two Bofors guns, including one nicknamed "The Broom" because of the efficiency with which it swept away any hostile force in its path. It was at Wetkaw, in Bago Region, that then Capt. Kyaw Thein Lwin used the Bofors guns to cut down the Kayin troops coming down from Pyay. The guns were mounted on wheels and were capable of firing 40-mm shells at 120 rounds per minute. He opened fire point-blank at 500 yards, knocking out advancing armored personnel carriers. Halted in their tracks, the Kayin mutineers were unable to join the rebels in Insein and were forced to flee to the Bago Yoma mountain range. After 112 days of fierce fighting, the Battle of Insein ended in a victory for the government side, and the landscape of the ethnic struggle changed forever. "We were very close to the complete fall of the government," U Kyaw Thein Lwin, who is now in his mid-80s, recalled. "Every day, we had situation meetings [in the War Office] where British officers advised us." Ironically, after a hard day fighting with Kayin soldiers, he would often spend his evenings in the company of Kayin girls, taking them to see American movies in Yangon. Needless to say, he didn't discuss what he was doing in Insein and beyond. U Kyaw Thein Lwin came away from the experience of fighting the Kayin with real respect for his adversaries. "I defended the city as a soldier. It was never about race or nationalism," he insisted. Later, while studying in London in the 1950s, he had to leave the navy because he was suspected of sympathizing with the Kayin. What if things had turned out differently? U Kyaw Thein Lwin said that even if the Kayin had succeeded in their bid to seize control of Yangon, they wouldn't have been able to form a government, because they simply weren't ready to do it on their own. "They would have had to form an alliance with the Burmans. Then there would probably have been a decent government," he said. Yan Pai contributed to this article. A full account of U Kyaw Thein Lwin's involvement in the Battle of Insein is available in his book, "Dha-Byet-See: The Gun that Saved Rangoon" (published under his pen name Myom-Lwin). The story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy print magazine. The post The 'Broom' That Saved Yangon appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Hpakant Jade Stone Estimated at 50 Tons Posted: 19 Feb 2014 11:30 PM PST  A jade stone, estimated to weigh some 50 tons, is pictured in Hpakant, Kachin State. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A massive jade stone recently discovered near a village in Kachin State's Hpakant region is believed to weigh about 50 tons, though with half the rock yet to be unearthed, its exact mass remains unknown. After visiting the discovery site and sizing up the raw jade stone in Wai Ka village amid tight security, local jade merchant U Cho said initial reports of its size were likely underestimated. "We estimate that the stone might be bigger," he told The Irrawaddy. "What we had heard [that the stone was thought to weigh about 20 tons] was because the body of the stone is still buried in the ground. But, we don't know how much it will be worth." Government troops were deployed this week to guard the area where the jade stone is located. As a result, local small-scale jade miners have been completely barred from searching for jade in the surrounding area. The jade stone, described by locals as being "as big as a Mitsubishi Pajero truck," was found by a small-scale miner, Aung Naing Win, on Feb. 9 in Hpakant Township. The region, west of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, is known for possessing some of the world's best jade. Contacted by The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, a staffer at the state-owned Myanmar Gems Enterprise in Naypyidaw said she was not allowed to comment on the jade stone discovery in Hpakant. Asked for contact details for an individual authorized to speak to the media, the staffer said she was not at liberty to provide that information. The Myanmar Gems Enterprise operates under Burma's Ministry of Mines. Small-scale miners in the region operate unlicensed, and thus have no legal claim to jade that they discover. Most of them deal in the black market trade. Legal ownership of the stone in Wai Ka village remains unclear. Licensed miners are allowed to reap the profits of their jade discoveries, subject to government taxation, but Burma's 2008 Constitution stipulates that the state "is the ultimate owner of all lands and all natural resources above and below the ground, above and beneath the sea, and in the atmosphere in the Union." Burma produces the vast majority of the world's jade. It is often smuggled over the border to China in a massive unregulated trade, without ever being taxed. A July 2013 report by the US-based Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University put the sale of Burmese jade at as high as US$8 billion in 2011. Most jade mining companies that operate in Hpakant are run by Chinese businessmen or Burmese cronies. One of the biggest industry players is the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL), a Burmese military-run conglomerate that dominates many sectors of the country's economy. The post Hpakant Jade Stone Estimated at 50 Tons appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 19 Feb 2014 10:23 PM PST  A young woman works at a fish market in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State. (Photo: Sanay Lin / The Irrawaddy) ARAKAN STATE — It's a five-hour boat ride and then a short drive from the Arakan State capital to Maungdaw, a predominately Muslim township in the country's west that became a major concern for the Burmese government following allegations that dozens of people were killed there last month. Setting off from Sittwe early in the morning, a boat winds north along Kaladan river, packed with hundreds of passengers, and then connects with Mayou River as it heads west. Most passengers are Arakan State natives, traveling to a destination where foreign tourists are banned, and where international NGOs have sought access in recent weeks but have largely been denied. For entertainment on a journey earlier this month, a video played from a television on board. The program of choice was a Buddhist dhamma talk, featuring a senior monk who was a member of the nationalist 969 movement, which opposes interfaith marriage and urges people in Buddhist-majority Burma to shun Muslim businesses.
Passengers listened as the monk spread messages of fear, warning that Muslim men were trying to bolster their numbers in the country, in part by marrying multiple wives and having many children. "Look at Pakistan, which was Buddhist in the past. It has become a Muslim country because the Muslims have such a large population. Our people need to be careful," the monk said. Anti-Muslim rhetoric has become common in Arakan State, especially since 2012, when two bouts of inter-communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims left scores dead and about 140,000 people displaced. The majority of victims were Rohingya, a Muslim minority that faces severe discrimination because local Buddhists allege that they came illegally from neighboring Bangladesh, although many trace their roots in Burma back generations. "We feel we are going to have a war with them. We heard their armed groups have been active along the border, and that this will spread," says Thein Tun Aye, an Arakanese Buddhist in Sittwe, referring to government claims that the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), an Islamist militant group, was involved in the killing of a policeman in Maungdaw last month. In Sittwe, a coastal town of some 180,000 people, Buddhists and Muslims have been segregated since the violence in 2012, with many Muslims confined to a ghetto-like neighborhood known as Aung Mingalar. That's where Rohingya rights activist Aung Win must go whenever he wants to visit his parents, offering money to officials in order to enter. "I pay security forces a bribe of 20,000 kyats [US$20] every time," he tells The Irrawaddy, adding that his own home is in Bume Quarter, also in Sittwe. About an hour's drive from the town, thousands of people continue to take shelter in camps after being displaced by the violence. They have received limited assistance from the government and international humanitarian organizations, but some say they struggle to feed their families. "We do not have enough food here. I'm especially worried for my children," says Zohra, a 30-year-old Muslim woman who lives in Thetkepyin camp. She says she is afraid to return to her home in Sittwe and will continue to live in the camp, despite the poor conditions. In many ways, Sittwe seems a world away from Maungdaw, where Buddhists are a small minority compared with Muslims. The township is known in the state as the "western gate," with Buddhists claiming that it is the entry point for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. A river demarcates the two countries, and Rohingya fishermen work on boats to haul in their daily catch with nets. During The Irrawaddy's visit earlier this month, a teenage boy said he earns about 2,000 kyats ($2) per day but can sometimes make about 5,000 kyats if he's lucky. In a group of about 20 people, only two fishermen spoke Burmese. The Burmese government built a fence to block illegal immigrants from entering the country. The fence included barbed wire at a security compound, but not far away the wire had been removed, with large gaps between the poles in the ground. A police officer with the border guard security force, speaking on condition of anonymity and requesting not to be photographed, said the fence stretched for almost 5 kilometers. About 15 minutes away from the river by motorbike is the town of Maungdaw, home to 23,000 people, of whom about 20,000 are Muslim. At the call to prayer, bearded men in long white tunics walk together to a mosque, while women wear black niqabs that leave only their eyes visible. Earlier this month, the town appeared busy but peaceful during the day. At night, however, the roads were quiet. After dark, Buddhists could be found walking the streets, but most Muslim residents remained inside. Tensions have lingered after allegations of violence in Du Chee Yar Tan village, about 45 minutes away from Maungdaw town by motorbike. The village in southern Maungdaw Township was allegedly where more than 40 Rohingyas were killed by a Buddhist mob last month, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Burma government has vehemently denied these killings, but Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a medical humanitarian organization, says it treated 22 wounded people in the village in the days following the alleged attack. Security officials warn outsiders not to enter Du Chee Yar Tan alone. "They do not trust other people except Muslims. So, if you are going inside the village, it will be dangerous for you," police lieutenant Wai Phyo Zaw told The Irrawaddy, adding that he would send no less than 10 well-armed officers into the area for any operation. The Irrawaddy went ahead and investigated the situation in Du Chee Yar Tan. Read more here. The post A Boat Trip to Maungdaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| In Vietnam’s Capital, Old Town Braces for Makeover Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:07 PM PST  Tourists sit on stools and drink beer outside a beverage shop along a street at the old quarters in Hanoi on Sept. 29, 2011. (Photo: Reuters / Kham) HANOI — Tourists, hawkers and motorcyclists rub shoulders every morning in the congested alleyways of Hanoi's low-rise Old Quarter, which seems generations away from the office towers and electronics megastores springing up in other parts of the capital. The quarter's street grid, laid out in the 15th century, is still dominated by dilapidated shops selling everything from brass gongs to bamboo scaffolding. It is now among Asia's best-preserved urban hubs of traditional commerce—thanks largely to decades of inattention. The 82-hectare (203-acre) downtown area is crammed with Buddhist temples, pagodas and French colonial shophouses, whose original tiles and peeling yellow paint have become a draw for foreign visitors. But with property values high, this neighborhood could change dramatically in the coming years as similar ones already have in Singapore, Shanghai and many other cities. Authorities want to begin gentrifying the Old Quarter by relocating 6,200 households between this year and 2020. New construction is likely a few years away, but some residents already have been relocated. Some of them are nervous, though not necessarily over lost history. They worry about being exiled to the city's dusty margins, and of being forced to accept a bad deal from a Communist government that has generated public discontent across Vietnam by forcing people off their land with compensation far below market rates. Pham Dinh Tranh, a retired jeweler in the Old Quarter, has watched many of the traditional jewelry workshops of Silver Street slowly morph into cafes and souvenir shops. The 82-year-old wouldn't mind a change of scene: The Silver Street home he shares with his extended family is cramped and the roof leaks. But he said Hanoi officials will need to make a convincing case for relocation. "We're willing to go, but not if they take this property and resell it for profit," Tranh said. Vu Thi Hong, an official with the Hanoi government's Old Quarter Housing Relocation Project, said the main goal of the planned relocations is to reduce population density while preserving cultural heritage. With about 66,000 people, the quarter has a population density of 823 people per hectare (2.5 acres)—nearly eight times New York City's. One Silver Street temple—formerly occupied by long-term squatters—has been refurbished and opened to the public, with assistance from architectural consultants from the French city of Toulouse. During an interview at the temple, Hong said compensation for relocations is paid at market rates determined by the government. City planners have not yet decided what will be constructed once current residents are relocated, she added, but new buildings won't exceed three stories. She said a few hundred Old Quarter residents have been moved in the last decade from weathered temples and pagodas, and authorities plan to build an apartment complex on Hanoi's outskirts to house thousands of others. "Most of those who have already been moved say they have a better life now," Hong said, adding that the government pays up to 81 million dong (US$4,000) per square meter at streetfront properties. In Hanoi's real-estate market, the average transaction price at Old Quarter properties is currently between $12,500 and $15,000 per square meter, according to Nguyen Son, a property agent in Hanoi. That exceeds the average price of $9,337 per square meter paid at luxury residential properties across Shanghai, as calculated last year by the London-based consultancy Knight Frank. Pham Ba Bao, who was relocated from Silver Street in 2010, is not entirely satisfied with his new situation. The retired bicycle maker used to live in the temple that has since been refurbished. He said he received 900 million dong ($42,300) and later purchased an apartment about seven miles away for 474 million dong ($22,278). "We're happy with this apartment, but we can't make a living," Bao said recently at his new place, down the street from some gasoline storage tanks. He said he used to earn 200,000 ($9.50) to 300,000 ($14) per day selling tea outside the temple, but foot traffic in his new location is minimal. He now survives mainly on the 3 million dong ($141) per month his daughter-in-law earns as a hairdresser. Scholars say vendors and artisans were among the first residents of the Old Quarter's 36 streets. When some traders fled to the former US-backed South Vietnam in the 1950s, the north's Communist government seized their shophouses and divided them into apartments. Romain Orfeuvre, an architect from Toulouse who works in Hanoi, said the Old Quarter resisted change decades ago because of stunted economic development during Vietnam's wars against France and the United States, and more recently because authorities have been reluctant to evict squatters. Hoang Thi Tao, who runs a newspaper stand near the Old Quarter, is cautiously optimistic about the impending changes. "The project will help to make the Old Quarter prettier, improve its residents' living standards and lure more foreign tourists," Tao said. "But it'll also require a lot of resources and determination on the government's part. They'll need to give big compensation offers to persuade those people to leave." The post In Vietnam's Capital, Old Town Braces for Makeover appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Wife of China’s Jailed Nobel Laureate Liu Hospitalized Posted: 19 Feb 2014 09:03 PM PST  Liu Xia, the wife of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, holds a photo of Liu Xiaobo during an interview in Beijing October 3, 2010.(Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — The wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo has been admitted to a Beijing hospital after police refused to allow her to seek medical help overseas, a close family friend said on Thursday. Liu Xia, who has been under effective house arrest since her husband Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, suffers from heart problems, possibly severe depression, and other ailments made worse during her time under guard, her friends say. She was admitted to another hospital earlier this month under heavy police guard but the hospital told her to leave after a day without giving a reason, said Mo Shaoping, a prominent human rights lawyer and a close family friend. Liu Xia was admitted to the second hospital on Tuesday but it is unclear how long she will remain there because her family has been told by police not to disclose details about her condition and whereabouts, Mo said. "Her family had proposed seeking medical treatment overseas but the police didn’t approve it," Mo said. It was then that Liu’s family was told to find treatment for her in Beijing. In December, Liu Xia’s friends said she refused to seek medical help because she is afraid of further punishment. Liu, who has not been convicted of any crime, is rarely allowed out of her home, except for occasional visits to her husband and family, and is almost never permitted visitors. Ye Du, a writer and a friend, said Liu told him of her heart problems when they spoke recently by telephone. "Last month, she said her heart was not feeling too good and she was sent to the hospital, where they told her that her heart was lacking blood," Ye said. Ye confirmed Liu’s family had asked to seek medical help for her overseas, possibly in Europe, but police had rejected the request. "The environment that she’s been placed in, having been put under house arrest for so many years, is the main reason (for her worsening health), and they thought that going overseas was the only way they could fully guarantee that she will have good treatment," Ye said. Another friend, Ma Shaofeng, said Liu had told him when they spoke a week ago she had suffered a heart attack. The United States and the European Union have repeatedly urged China to let Liu Xia move freely again. Liu Xiaobo, a veteran dissident involved in the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests crushed by the Chinese army, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 on subversion charges for organizing a petition urging the overthrow of one-party rule. Liu Xia filed an extraordinary appeal for her husband’s retrial last month, a move that could renew the focus on China’s human rights record. The Chinese government says that Liu Xiaobo is a common criminal and has rejected as unwarranted interference any criticism of its handling of the case by foreign governments. The post Wife of China’s Jailed Nobel Laureate Liu Hospitalized appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| A New Suit, Chemotherapy as Aging Koreans Prepare For Reunions Posted: 19 Feb 2014 08:58 PM PST  Jang Choon, who has been selected as one of 82 participants of the reunion ceremony this Thursday, poses for photographs with a picture of his youngest brother Jang Ha-choon whom he will meet at a reunion ceremony, at his house in Namyangju, east of Seoul Feb. 19, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL — South Korean octogenarian Jang Choon has bought a new suit, hoping to finally make it to North Korea this week to meet the family he has not seen since the 1950-53 Korean War. Kim Dong-bin, a 78-year-old diagnosed with lung cancer in September, has been undergoing chemotherapy that he says will allow him to meet the elder sister he was separated from over 60 years ago before he dies. Jang and Kim are among 82 South Koreans selected to make the trip north across the world's most heavily fortified border, a frontier that separates two countries that remain at war after their conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The six days of family reunions scheduled to start on Thursday take place under the cloud of a UN report on human rights abuses in North Korea, which investigators have said were comparable to Nazi-era atrocities. Pyongyang has rejected the report, describing it as a concoction by the United States and its allies, Japan and the European Union. But, the North appears to be willing to maintain a rapprochement with South Korea that may be crucial as it seeks food for its people. "I am afraid my family in North Korea might still think I came to the South to live a good life for me alone," said Kim, who fled south when he was 16, fearing US attacks on Pyongyang during the war. "Before I die, I must explain that I did not abandon my family, that I was swept up by the refugee flow during the chaos. Resolving this misunderstanding is the first thing I want to do in person with my sister," he said, adding that chemotherapy was working for him. The reunions used to be held roughly annually, but have not taken place for three years as tensions between the two Koreas spiraled higher after the South said the North sank one of its naval vessels in 2010. In later months, the North shelled a South Korean island and Pyongyang threatened nuclear attacks last year. "My youngest brother Ha-choon had not even started school when I last saw him," said Jang, the eldest of four siblings, one of whom has died. "But now he's an old man like me," said the 81-year-old, sporting the light brown suit and maroon tie that he has bought for what he believes will be his last meeting with his remaining brother and sister, who remain in the North. Conscripted by the North Korean army at the age of 19, Jang was captured and, when given a choice to return to his home in North Hamgyong Province near the Russian border, he opted to stay in the South. Of the 128,000 people registered in South Korea as coming from families that were torn apart by the Korean War, 44 percent have already died and more than 80 percent of survivors are over 70-years-old, according to South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations. Can't Die With My Eyes Closed Last September, the North abruptly announced an indefinite postponement of reunions that had been scheduled for shortly after the Korean Thanksgiving holidays. This year it demanded that South Korea and the United States halt military drills at the price of holding the reunions, although it later said it would allow them, opening a door to potential dialogue between Seoul and Pyongyang. The possibility of food shortages could have been a factor. "Now it's almost March, when the new farming season must begin, and Kim Jong Un has no means to feed his people," said Kim Seok-hyang, professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University. "He must get outside help. But looking around, the US won't give him anything, China doesn't seem willing to give anything and then there's the UN human rights report pressuring him. The family reunions card is his last resort because he can't neglect his people." But South Koreans visiting the Mount Kumgang resort in the North have other issues in mind. Kim, the cancer patient, has prepared gifts such as down jackets, socks and long johns for his sister. "Winters are harsher up in the North and we know that heating systems are crude there," he said. There have been 18 family reunions since the first in 1985 and a total of 18,143 South and North Korean brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers have met. The events have never been regular and the two Koreas have squabbled over the details of the events, like deciding on the venue. After the first four, in which families traveled back and forth between Seoul and Pyongyang, North Korea has insisted on hosting the events on its soil. "The North fears exposing their people to the outside world so they want to shroud their people from looking at the South's successful way of life," said Kim, the professor. For the families, the politics are secondary. "I swore to myself, I must not die before I meet my brother and sister," said Jang, the 81-year-old. "I just cannot die with my eyes closed if I don't see them this time." The post A New Suit, Chemotherapy as Aging Koreans Prepare For Reunions appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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