The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Palaung Rebels Celebrates Insurgent History in Mountain Enclave
• NGOs Raise Concerns With US Official Over Human Rights, Lack of Reforms
• NGOs Seek Key Changes to Election Monitoring Rules
• Rangoon Police Launch Video Shop Crackdown After North Korean Pressure
• Burma’s Rising Imports Drive Overall Trade Boost
• Activists in Mandalay Call for Meeting on ‘Government Negligence’
• Villages, Residents Stand in Way of Dawei Rubber Farm
• Japan Proposes Record $42b Military Budget to Counter China’s Rise
• Critics Dog Cambodia’s Hun Sen as He Marks 30 Years in Power 
• Activists, Executives Advise Thailand How to Tackle Trafficking
• A Barber and a Bus Conductor

Palaung Rebels Celebrates Insurgent History in Mountain Enclave Posted: 14 Jan 2015 05:47 AM PST In the cold mountain weather, TNLA troops huddle near a fire to keep warm during the celebrations for the 52nd anniversary of Revolution Day. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) MAR WONG, Shan State — In an isolated mountaintop hamlet of northern Shan State, as hundreds of people celebrated the anniversary of the Palaung insurrection against the Ne Win government, the leader of one of the few ethnic armies yet to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government has said that a peace settlement remains a distant prospect. More than 650 troops from the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the insurgent group representing the Palaung people, marched in honor of the Revolution Day anniversary on Monday to the cheers of hundreds of onlookers, some of whom had traveled on motorbike for more than six hours from as far away as Lashio and Hsipaw . The TNLA has existed for less than four years, its two senior leaders were until recently based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot, and the people whose interests it claims to represent—a Buddhist minority of around half a million—are scattered across the sparsely populated expanse of northern Shan State and the Palaung Self-Administered Zone. The impressive turnout to the anniversary celebrations, at a remote and inaccessible part of the country and in temperatures barely above freezing, is a measure of the Palaung community's depth of hostility towards the government and the Burma Army. Revolution Day marks the beginning of the Palaung insurrection against the Burmese government on Jan. 12, 1963, a year after Ne Win's military government seized power in a coup, ushering in an era of increased Bamar dominance of politics and the military, and the often violent repression of ethnic identity and aspirations. “We should not forget our armed revolution," Tar Aik Bong, the TNLA chairman, told The Irrawaddy on Monday. "We should not forget the people who sacrificed their lives for our revolution. Our revolution cannot end yet, as our demands have not been met. Our people have the duty to carry out an armed revolution." While the TNLA does not have a long history, the re-emergence of a Palaung armed group is unsurprising in the context of the recent history of northern Shan State. After the Palaung State Liberation Organization (PSLO) signed a ceasefire agreement in 1991, it was forced to disarm by the Burma Army in 2005. In the time since, locals had to contend both with army harassment and pro-government militias, who took over former PSLO territory and conscripted young men into their forces. The pernicious opium trade, long used to finance ethnic armies and pro-government militias, also led to devastating consequences in Palaung communities after it was introduced following the PSLO disarmament. In the Palaung Self-Administered Zone township of Mantong, where the PSLO had ceremoniously handed over their weapons to government troops, the Palaung Women's Organization estimated in 2009 that 85 percent of the male population over the age of 15 were addicted to opium The group has claimed that pro-government militias are mostly responsible for peddling the drug in Palaung communities and are given free range to do so by authorities. In 2011, Tar Aik Bong and general secretary Tar Bone Kyaw sought military training from the Karen National Union and the Kachin Independence Army, with the intention of returning to Palaung territory and forming a new armed group. Four years on, backed by a formidable fighting force, Tar Aik Bong told The Irrawaddy that the Palaung people would not find a new peace with the Burmese government without significant concessions, particularly after the bitter experience of the PSLO's disarmament. "We have some difficulties which prevent us from signing a peace agreement," he said. "We found this during our last talks in September. There was a standoff during that time. The Burmese Army did not want to talk about a federal army. They did not want to talk about a military code of conduct. They did not want to talk about power sharing and governance issues." "If we look back at all of these together, they did not want to grant rights for our people. The reason we have to hold our guns is that we want to fight for our political rights, and we want to protect our land. If we don't get our political rights, our people will continue to use an armed revolution," he said. Fighting between the Palaung and the Burma Army has been ongoing in northern Shan State, which borders southern China's Yunnan Province. Leaders of the TNLA argue that most fighting was the result of self-defense, breaking out when the army came into their areas of control. They contend that the Burmese government is not interested in solving the conflict through political dialogue, and the incursions are part of an attempt to pressure the group into a ceasefire agreement. There was a triumphant air in Mar Wong on Monday, as the TNLA showed the crowd eight guns and ammunition confiscated from the Burma Army during recent fighting. The army claims a fighting force of 4,000 across six brigades, with Tar Aik Bong bullish about his force's prospects for future growth. Other estimates of TNLA troop numbers, however, have put the figure closer to 1,000 fighters. "As far as military equipment is concerned, it is easy to buy from China. We have no problem buying it if we have money," he said. "As for manpower, more and more people are coming to join our troops. Our people feel they have been oppressed for long enough already." Despite the chairman's optimism, the armed group faces financial difficulties in sustaining its operations. According to communications officer Mai Aike Kyaw, the TNLA's monthly food budget is 150 million kyats, (US$146,000), a sum which would equate to about 25,000 kyats (US$24) per soldier under the army's assessment of its own strength. Lacking a border zone with China under their control, the TNLA cannot sustain its operations with a lucrative sideline in smuggled goods to the same extent as the Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army, which both maintain control over large swathes of border territory Tar Aik Bong says that allied armed groups are providing funding for the TNLA, with extra finances donated by Palaung businessmen and levied on Chinese trucks passing through the group's area of control. The TNLA is known to have close links with the KIA and has fought alongside the Shan State Army-North and the Kokang militia during the past year. With no headquarters, its soldiers operate out of temporary bases deep within their territory or are billeted in Palaung villages while they travel. "Our military's bases are at our feet. We do our work where we sit," said Mai Pan Sein, a TNLA leader. The TNLA met with the Burmese government in July 2013 and faced considerable pressure to sign a ceasefire agreement. While announcing their intention to refuse any settlement that omits specific political guarantees, the TNLA say they have sought more discussions with the government, only to be met with outright refusals and more troop deployments in response. "We could not conclude a ceasefire agreement after only meeting one time," Tar Aik Bong told his supporters on Monday. "We have not been given the right of negotiation. Based on our experience, we could not sign a peace agreement now. We could only sign a ceasefire agreement when we are given the right to more talks." The post Palaung Rebels Celebrates Insurgent History in Mountain Enclave appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NGOs Raise Concerns With US Official Over Human Rights, Lack of Reforms Posted: 14 Jan 2015 05:40 AM PST Tom Malinowski, United States Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, is visiting Burma this week. (Photo: State Department) RANGOON — Dozens of local NGO representatives and activists met with a senior US official during several meetings in Rangoon in recent days to voice their concerns over Burma's human rights situation, a lack of democratic and judicial reforms, and lawmaking by Parliament. A United States delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Tom Malinowski is visiting Burma this week to participate in the second bilateral human rights dialogue between Burmese and US officials in Naypyidaw on Wednesday and Thursday. Prior to the discussion, Malinowski visited Myitkyina, capital of conflict-affected Kachin State, and met with civil society organizations, religious leaders, political leaders, and international humanitarian organizations in Rangoon. Aung Myo Min, executive director of Equality Myanmar, said the talks he attended had focused on political prisoners and the rights situation, democratic reforms, and the social and rights impact of new laws passed by Parliament and President Thein Sein's nominally-civilian government. He said activists had complained to Malinowski that remaining colonial- and junta-era laws and the lack of an independent judicial system were impeding democratic reforms. "New laws that have emerged—mostly the well-known Peaceful Assembly Law's Article 18 and 19—are giving us lots of trouble too," he said, referring to clauses that set out prison terms of up to six months for holding unauthorized protests. "There are over 200 land rights and human rights activists who have been charged with Article 18 and 19," Aung Myo Min added. May Sabae Phyu, director of the Gender Equality Network, said activists voiced concerns over parliamentary lawmaking—such as the approval of the Education Bill last year, which is being vehemently opposed by student organizations—and plans to vote on four faith-related bills. The latter package of legislation is being pushed by nationalist Buddhist groups that have been fanning anti-Muslim sentiments; the bills would set out restrictions on interfaith marriage, religious conversion, polygamy and population controls. Khin Ohmar, coordinator of the Burma Partnership, an alliance of NGOs, said she had told the visiting US official that the Burmese government has showed little inclination to cooperate with civil society organizations and had taken to harassing them. "Democratic activists are treated as enemies by the government," she said. "They couldn't directly threaten us like they do to farmers and student activists, but they are finding ways to intimidate us." Khin Ohmar added that reforms of long-standing repressive laws were overdue as activists would like see "rule of law. We don't accept being ruled by oppressive law." Over the past year, concerns have grown over backsliding on Burma's political transition as democratic reforms and the country's peace process have stalled, while anti-Muslim violence has continued and repression of rights activists increased. US lawmakers and the White House officials have spoken out about the apparent backsliding on reforms, but have stopped short of calling for actions against the Burmese government. Earlier this week, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power told a foreign policy event hosted by an influential US Congressman that Burma "is still a long way from being a rights-respecting democracy." The post NGOs Raise Concerns With US Official Over Human Rights, Lack of Reforms appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NGOs Seek Key Changes to Election Monitoring Rules Posted: 14 Jan 2015 05:35 AM PST An election official shows ballots with votes for Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD as votes are counted in Rangoon during the 2012 by-election. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Local and international civil society organizations will request Burma's Union Election Committee (UEC) this week to make a number of important changes to the draft rules for independent election monitoring during the general elections in late 2015. NGO representatives said overall they were satisfied with the first draft of "the ethics, rules and procedures for election monitoring," which the commission sent to the NGOs for consultation in mid-December, but they suggested that several provisions need to be changed in order to bring the rules in line with international standards and address outstanding concerns. In late October or early November 2015, Burma is tentatively scheduled to hold its first free and fair democratic elections after decades of direct military rule. Dozens of local and several international NGOs will carry out independent monitoring of the polls. Some 30 NGOs are participating in the consultation process on the monitoring rules, which is being supported by the US-based International Foundation of Electoral Systems. On Thursday they will submit their suggested amendments to the commission. Thant Zin, project manager at Election Education Observation Partnerships, a group of local NGOs involved in the consultation, said the commission should amend Article 6 of the Code of Ethics as it bans monitors from conducting post-polling interviews with voters to determine for which party they voted. Few countries that have allowed independent election monitors have imposed a blanket restriction on conducting exit polls, which offer an important method of independently gathering information on how the public has voted. Thant Zin said it was important to amend Article 6 and allow monitors to interview voters, perhaps by specifying that such interviews can only be conducted at a certain distance from polling stations. Ye Kyaw Swar Myint, executive director of the People's Alliance for Credible Elections, said Chapter 5 of the draft lacks details on application and registration procedures for monitoring organizations. He said an article should be added to specify the criteria for accepting an organization's registration. "There are no criteria for rejecting registration and it means that the decision depends on the commission, so we want to know the exact criteria [for registration]… and how we can appeal if we are rejected," said Ye Kyaw Swar Myint, whose group was among eight NGOs that met on Monday to discuss the draft rules. Other points of concern include a provision in Chapter 7 that requires individual domestic monitors to register their ethnicity with the Election Commission. "In some ethnic states, there could be problems related to disclosing the ethnicity [of the monitor]. So we suggested to the UEC that they drop it," said Ye Kyaw Swar Myint. He said clarification is needed for vague language in Article 16, as it could be potentially be used to prevent monitors from publicly discussing polling irregularities. The article currently states monitors cannot speak out about results they observe during vote counting and "other related information" until the commission does. Some NGO representatives believe Article 19 needs to be clarified as it mentions that monitors can receive accreditation from the commission only 15 days before the election. Monitoring activities generally start months in advance of the polls and NGOs would need to know what activities they can carry out before receiving accreditation. Bidhayak Das, Burma country representative at the Asian Network for Free Elections, which participated in the consultation, said the draft rules "look like a well-researched document, expect for some sections that need more clarity. "For now all I can say is that we like all others are part of the process of submitting our feedback and we hope that all the questions asked will find meaningful answers." Su Su Hlaing, program manager of Karen Woman Empowerment Group said, her organization wanted Article 33 to be amended and drop the requirement for monitors to register with the local police station "and other departments" before they commence monitoring activities. Su Su Hlaing also criticized the one-month consultation period, saying it was too short for NGOs to provide the Election Commission with well-prepared suggestions for amendments to the monitoring rules. "I don't like the draft and they should have provided more time for commenting on the draft, as we need to discuss it [with NGOs] in other states and divisions," she said. "Most of the polling stations are situated in rural areas and we have to make sure that the draft rules are suitable for the people doing the monitoring in rural areas." Election Commission officials could not be reached for comment on the monitoring rules Wednesday. During the 2015 elections, the National League for Democracy of popular opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is the main challenger to the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a political organization filled with ex-junta members. In the past, concerns have been raised over the independence of the Election Commission, which is chaired by Tin Aye, a former junta general and ex-USDP lawmaker who was appointed by President Thein Sein in 2011. The commission's actions are being closely watched to see if it will be a fair arbiter in the important 2015 poll. The post NGOs Seek Key Changes to Election Monitoring Rules appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rangoon Police Launch Video Shop Crackdown After North Korean Pressure Posted: 14 Jan 2015 04:36 AM PST The promotional poster for The Interview, a Hollywood satirical comedy film depicting an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Photo: Rick Wilking / Reuters) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Rangoon Police have moved to charge distributors and seize copies of satirical comedy film The Interview, which depicts an assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, following pressure from the North Korean Embassy. After a meeting of Rangoon Division Chief Minister Myint Swe and North Korean ambassador Mr Kim Sok Chol on Sunday, the embassy sent a facsimile to the divisional government requesting "proper action immediately to stop the copying, distributing and selling" of The Interview in Rangoon, according to a document seen by The Irrawaddy. The office of the Rangoon Division government refused to comment when asked about the message. Two movie stores in Botahtaung and Latha Township were named in the message as distributors of the film, including the M2M Shop on Latha Bounkyi Street, which was raided on Monday by township police officers who seized over 180 copies of foreign films. "The seizure is part of the regular crackdown on uncensored films, and The Interview was among the foreign films seized," said Latha Township deputy police chief Kyaw Kyaw Aung, who said the raid was a response to complaints. "The owner of the shop has now been charged under the Video Act." The junta-era 1996 Television and Video Act prevents the illegal copying of films and the distribution of films contrary to censorship directives, with a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment or a fine of 100,000 kyats (US$97). Other movie sellers have shut their doors this week, with shop owners in Yuzana Plaza and Kyauktada Township telling The Irrawaddy they had been warned of possible arrest if found with copies of The Interview in their possession. Nonetheless, copies of The Interview remain freely available in the streets of Rangoon for 500 kyats (US$0.49). Released by a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment, The Interview depicts two American journalists, played by Seth Rogen and James Franco, who are coerced by the United States government into assassinating North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un. Referred to by the North Korean Embassy's facsimile as a "psychological plot" movie, Sony Pictures initially pulled the film after the company's computer networks were compromised, allegedly by state-sponsored North Korean hackers. The film has since been screened in the US, but Sony has stated that the film will not receive a public release in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Australia and New Zealand. The North Korean Embassy in Rangoon was sought for comment. Additional Reporting by Nyein Nyein. The post Rangoon Police Launch Video Shop Crackdown After North Korean Pressure appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma’s Rising Imports Drive Overall Trade Boost Posted: 14 Jan 2015 04:27 AM PST Trucks filled with goods cross the Friendship Bridge from Mae Sot in Thailand to Myawaddy in Burma. (Photo: Moe Kyaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's total trade volume this fiscal year is expected to rise by least US$5 billion compared with the previous 12 months, government data show, but economists warn that a rising trade deficit threatens to undermine that growth. In the nine months from April 1, 2014, to Jan. 2, the total trade volume reached nearly $21 billion, according to Ministry of Commerce figures, surpassing the previous fiscal year's $18.6 billion in trade. Of the total trade, exports decreased slightly to $8.6 billion, while imports increased by $2.5 billion to reach $12.3 billion. Yan Naing Tun, the deputy director general at the Ministry of Commerce, confirmed the rising import-export disparity but declined to offer a reason for the widening trade deficit when asked by The Irrawaddy. Burma's main imports are electronics, agriculture-based equipment, automobiles, refined oil products, processed foods and machinery, while the country's biggest exports are commodities like rice, timber, jade and gems, oil and gas, and beans and pulses. Out of last year's total trade, exports accounted for $8.9 billion while imports totaled $9.8 billion. The 2013-14 full-year trade deficit was only $866 million, compared with just under $3.7 billion through the first nine months of the current fiscal year. Dr. Maung Maung Lay, the vice chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), said the government needed to lower the trade deficit by limiting "unnecessary" imported goods to Burma. "Actually, for developing countries, the imported products are always higher than exported goods, but the government has to control the trade deficit not to become an extreme amount. If not, inflation will become an issue soon," he said. "As far as I know, the government is considering canceling unnecessary projects, and trying to collect more taxes to control the trade deficit," he added. Maung Maung Lay said that in looking for the unnecessary, the government could target high-value imports such as luxury items. The value of the Burmese kyat has taken a hit over the last year, in part due to the US dollar's resurgence but also potentially linked to the widening trade deficit. The kyat has weakened about 20 percent since it was floated in April 2012, with the Central Bank on Wednesday listing it at 1,025 kyats to the dollar. "The floating currency rate is a related concern in terms of the trade deficit's impact," Maung Maung Lay said. He added that if frequently smuggled goods—such as timber, jade and other precious stones—were included in Burma's export total, the trade deficit would shrink considerably. "It is certain that if these smuggled goods were legal exports, export volume would rise. That's why mobile teams are seriously checking for these smuggled goods now," he said. Illicit goods including gemstones, timber, wildlife parts and precursor drugs have been seized along the Sino-Burmese border near Muse, with an estimated total value of $27 million over the past two years, Ministry of Commerce officials said recently. Thaung Win, the executive director of the rice exporter Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation, echoed calls for a government role in curbing the deficit. "With the rice export market, China banned Burmese rice [imports] last year. Export is legal from our side, but not on the China side. That's why there were problems with agricultural products' export," he said. "But even if we can export rice regularly, the amount of imported goods is increasing—you can see that there are a lot of cars imported, electronics and goods used for construction and factories, so import volume will continue to increase in future." The post Burma's Rising Imports Drive Overall Trade Boost appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Activists in Mandalay Call for Meeting on ‘Government Negligence’ Posted: 14 Jan 2015 04:18 AM PST   A flyer advertises a public meeting in Mandalay, planned for this upcoming Friday, to call out the government on problems facing Burma. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Activists in Mandalay are preparing to hold a public meeting this week in Burma's second city, with thousands of farmers, laborers, students and average citizens expected to join a gathering aimed at spotlighting government shortcomings. The organizers have said that the meeting on Friday has been called to create public awareness about the lack of rule of law, right abuses and other failings of Burma's government. "There are many things happening in our country that show the lack of rule of law and negligence of the government. A recent example is the death of Khin Win, a farmer from Letpadaung. The government is still neglecting to take action against the police," said Thein Aung Myint from the Movement for Democracy Current Force, one of the organizers of the meeting. Khin Win was shot dead by police last month when protestors clashed with officers at the controversial Letpadaung copper mine in central Burma. Friday's meeting will aim to inform the public and the government, according to organizers, that the latter is handling an array of issues poorly, from labor rights abuses and conflicts drawn along ethnic or religious lines to oppression of journalists and land rights conflicts nationwide. "The government has handled these matters poorly so that the problems still exist. If these matters are neglected, they will become the main obstacles to becoming a democratic country," said activist Aye Thein. "And, we want to urge the government to act fairly—to lessen the oppression of students, political activists and Buddhist monks, and to better control communal conflicts that threaten stability and peace," he added. Organizers, mainly made up of rights activists and young Buddhist monks, said they would not seek permission from authorities to hold the meeting, raising the possibility that they could be charged with violating Burma's Peaceful Assembly Law. The 8am gathering will take place at Phayagyi A Lae Tike Monastery, located south of Mandalay's well-known Mahamuni Pagoda. "The meeting is open and welcomes whoever is interested in justice and wants to create a better country. We will submit the results from the meeting to government officials, and local and international organizations, to push the government to perform its best for its citizens," said Moe Htet Nay, a student activist from Mandalay. Calls for the meeting come at a time of growing disillusionment at home and abroad over a reform program in Burma that began in 2011 but appears to have lost steam in recent months.   The post Activists in Mandalay Call for Meeting on 'Government Negligence' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Villages, Residents Stand in Way of Dawei Rubber Farm Posted: 14 Jan 2015 12:49 AM PST A new gravel road cuts through the forested Tanintharyi Mountains and connects the planned Dawei SEZ with nearby Thailand. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Sixteen villages inhabited largely by indigenous ethnic Karen people in Dawei district, where a major special economic zone in southern Burma is planned, will be leveled to make way for a large-scale rubber plantation, according to local residents. The 50,000-acre plantation in southernmost Tenasserim Division will be operated by Myanmar Mahar Dahna Co. Ltd. in the Thein Baw Oo village tract of Tenasserim Township. The first phase of the project will cover 5,000 acres across an area in which six villages are currently sited, local inhabitants say. Paw Say Wah, a rights advocate from the Candle Light Group, a community-based organization in Dawei district, told The Irrawaddy that local villagers and organizations are against the project because of its anticipated effects on local inhabitants of the six villages and surrounding farmlands. "The government granted 5,000 acres to them [Myanmar Mahar Dahna]. But now villagers are against the project. They don't want to lose their lands and villages. We are trying to speak out against it in advance, before the company brings their machines and destroys everything," said Paw Say Wah. Locals say there are about 500 villagers living in the six villages that will initially be affected by the rubber plantation. According to documents obtained by The Irrawaddy, the office of the Tenasserim Division government granted permission to Myanmar Mahar Dahna Co. Ltd. to cultivate 5,000 acres of rubber trees in the project's preliminary phase. A senior official at Myanmar Mahar Dahna on Wednesday confirmed that local authorities had granted permission to begin developing the 5,000-acre plot. He added that the company was ready to start clearing land, but has not yet started the work due to local opposition to the project. "We stand with civilians. We planned to establish the business in order to help local people. Most of them are ethnic Karen and they are very poor. We will provide work skills for free. When the project happens, we will even provide them with jobs and salaries," said the senior company official, who asked for anonymity. "We are ready to start the project, but we still have to deal with local people to manage their opposition to our project. So, we are holding off on the project," said the official. He denied local villagers' assertion that there are six villages located within the 5,000 acres of the project's first phase. "There are no villages there. It is virgin land. … We will discuss it with local villagers," said the official, adding that Myanmar Mahar Dahna was not like other companies that conduct their business operations without considering the will of local people. The official also said that the company planned to operate the rubber plantation with the aim to support Burmese refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), should they decide to return to the area amid ongoing negotiations between the government and ethnic Karen rebels. A significant portion of the populations in Burma's ethnic regions have been displaced over the course of decades of civil war. Myanmar Mahar Dahna applied for the 50,000-acre concession in Tenasserim Division and signed a joint venture agreement with Thai Hua Rubber Holdings, a company that operates rubber plantations and manufactures rubber-based products in Thailand. According to the ethnic media outlet Karen News, Myanmar Mahar Dahna also plans to construct an antimony processing plant in southern Karen State's Hlaing Bwe Township. As economic and political reforms have opened Burma up to unprecedented domestic and foreign investment, development projects have mushroomed across the country, often resulting in land disputes. Both the Thai and Burmese governments have ambitious plans for Tenasserim Division, where the multi-billion dollar Dawei special economic zone (SEZ) is envisioned. The project, which will include a deep-sea port and industrial park, would better link Thailand and Burma, but has struggled to attract investment. The post Villages, Residents Stand in Way of Dawei Rubber Farm appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan Proposes Record $42b Military Budget to Counter China’s Rise Posted: 13 Jan 2015 10:22 PM PST Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks during an annual military exercise in Funabashi, east of Tokyo on Jan. 11. (Photo: Yuya Shino / Reuters) TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government approved a record $42 billion military budget on Wednesday, with outlays rising for a third year to counter China’s rising military might. The draft budget for the fiscal year from April includes a 2.8 percent rise in defence spending to 4.98 trillion yen, for items such as planes, naval vessels and fighting vehicles to guard waters bordering China, which has a long-running dispute with Tokyo over Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea. "The situation around Japan is changing," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said on Sunday. "The level of defence spending reflects the amount necessary to protect Japan’s air, sea and land, and guard the lives and property of our citizens." Abe has reversed a decade of military spending cuts as he seeks a more robust posture for the long-pacifist government, although his modest increases are dwarfed by China’s double-digit rises in defence spending. Beijing said last March it was raising annual defence spending by 12 percent to $130 billion. Japan’s new outlays will help pay for troop-carrying Boeing Co Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, Northrop Grumman Corp Global Hawk surveillance drones, Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd’s P-1 submarine hunting planes and stealthy Soryu submarine. The budget also includes spending to relocate US troops away from Okinawa island, where locals have protested a heavy American presence. The post Japan Proposes Record $42b Military Budget to Counter China’s Rise appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Critics Dog Cambodia’s Hun Sen as He Marks 30 Years in Power  Posted: 13 Jan 2015 09:11 PM PST Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Council of Ministers in Phnom Penh July 22, 2011. (Photo: Reuters) NEAK LOEUNG, Cambodia — Hun Sen, Cambodia’s tough and wily prime minister, marked 30 years in power Wednesday, one of only a handful of political strongmen worldwide who have managed to cling to their posts for three decades. Since first taking up the job of prime minister at age 33, he has consolidated power with violence and intimidation of opponents that continue to draw criticism from human rights advocates. But he could also take some credit for bringing modest economic growth and stability in a country devastated by the communist Khmer Rouge’s regime in the 1970s, which Hun Sen had abandoned as they left some 1.7 million people dead from starvation, disease and executions. In a speech inaugurating the country’s longest, 2,200 meter (7,200 foot) bridge across the Mekong River on Wednesday, Hun Sen, 62, defended his record, saying that only he was daring enough to tackle the Khmer Rouge and help bring peace to Cambodia. "If Hun Sen hadn’t been willing to enter the tigers’ den, how could we have caught the tigers?" he said. He acknowledged some shortcomings, but pleaded for observers to see the good as well as the bad in his leadership. Born to a peasant family in east-central Cambodia, Hun Sen initially joined the Khmer Rouge against a pro-American government. He defected to Vietnam in 1977, and accompanied the Vietnamese invasion that toppled his former comrades in 1979. The timely change of sides led to his being appointed foreign minister, then prime minister of the Vietnamese-supported regime in 1985. Since then, he has never left the top post despite being forced to temporarily accept the title of "co-prime minister" after his party came in second in a 1993 U.N.-supervised election. Four years later, he deposed his coalition partner in a bloody coup. "It is superficially true that relative peace and stability occurred during the reign of Hun Sen’s three decades in power. But Hun Sen’s ‘achievements’ are only relative to the blackness of the Khmer Rouge," said Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights activist. Historian David Chandler, a Cambodia expert at Australia’s Monash University, has characterized Hun Sen as "intelligent, combative, tactical, and self-absorbed." According to the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, Hun Sen has been linked to a wide range of serious human rights violations: extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, summary trials, censorship, bans on assembly and association, and a national network of spies and informers intended to frighten and intimidate the public into submission." In 2013 elections, it seemed Hun Sen’s grip on power had been shaken when the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party mounted an unexpectedly strong challenge, winning 55 seats in the National Assembly and leaving Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party with 68. The opposition alleged the results were rigged and its lawmakers at first boycotted the legislature. But then, Hun Sen brokered a deal with opposition leader Sam Rainsy and the parliament resumed work, with the longtime leader again appearing unscathed. Human Rights Watch said in Wednesday’s report that "Cambodia is in the process of reverting to a one-party state." "After 30 years of experience, there is no reason to believe that Hun Sen will wake up one day and decide to govern Cambodia in a more open, inclusive, tolerant, and rights-respecting manner," said the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams, who authored the report. "The international community should begin listening to those Cambodians who have increasingly demanded the protection and promotion of their basic human rights." The post Critics Dog Cambodia's Hun Sen as He Marks 30 Years in Power  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Activists, Executives Advise Thailand How to Tackle Trafficking Posted: 13 Jan 2015 08:47 PM PST Armed police provide security to Police Maj-Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, who leads a campaign against human trafficking in Thailand, as they sail up a river in toward a trafficking camp in Satun, southern Thailand, on March 27, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand must empower victims of trafficking and forced labor to complain and must crack down on corrupt officials if it wants to tackle its human trafficking problem, activists and food industry executives say. Thailand is scrambling to clean up its act after the US State Department named it in June as one of the world's worst centers for human trafficking, saying it was a source, destination and transit country for forced labor. The State Department said most victims of trafficking in Thailand were from neighboring countries and were forced or defrauded into labor, with tens of thousands exploited in the commercial sex trade, on fishing boats or as domestic servants. As it prepares to submit a report on 2014 to the State Department by March, Thailand has announced a slew of measures including steep fines for offenders and a budget to hire 700 anti-corruption staff to investigate cases. In interviews with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, rights activists, Thai food industry association leaders and executives of the world's largest seafood companies—some of which have been accused of exploiting trafficked and forced labor—said serious law enforcement was key. "The law enforcement system is broken and corrupt. The people responsible for enforcing the law and ensuring security often are the people who are complicit in the abuses," said Andy Hall, a migrant rights researcher and activist. "It's not like it's a secret. It's not like it's difficult to investigate and punish people involved. … There needs to be a push to stop this kind of behavior. There needs to be a crackdown." Deputy Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai reiterated on Monday a government vow to go after perpetrators of human trafficking "no matter what uniform they're wearing." Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said this empty promise has been repeated over the years but never yields results. "What makes this Thai government think the outcome of yet another 'corrupt officials' campaign is going to be any different this time? At best, a couple of officials who are small fish and less well connected than others will be caught and made examples of, but not much will change," Robertson said. Robertson and other activists urged the Thai government to empower migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos—the majority of trafficking victims—to defend themselves. The government has registered 1.6 million previously undocumented migrant workers, which should help combat trafficking by giving them legal papers. What this means, in principle, is that "no one can stop them on the street, no one can arbitrarily detain them or deport them or ask them for money," said Jeff Labovitz, the head of the International Organization for Migration in Thailand. However, activists say workers must have freedom of movement and the right to change employers as they wish. Many migrants have their passports and documents confiscated by employers or labor agents, making them vulnerable to arrest, harassment or extortion. They should also be able to complain without retaliation. "Empowered migrant communities will fight back against traffickers, and could become the Thai government's best ally in identifying human traffickers and going after them," Robertson said. In addition to registering migrants, the Thai Frozen Foods Association proposed registering brokers and setting clear limits on their fees to prevent them from deceiving laborers. Thiraphong Chansiri, the president and CEO of Thai Union Group—the world's largest producer of canned tuna which owns Chicken of the Sea and recently purchased Bumble Bee Seafoods for US$1.5 billion—urged closer coordination among government agencies. He also pressed the private sector to ensure their operations upheld good labor practices and complied with labor laws in the entire supply chain. Charoen Phokphand Foods Plc (CP Foods)—which a probe by Britain's Guardian newspaper last year alleged had labor violations in its shrimp supply chain—offered the most concrete examples of efforts to ensure a clean supply chain. "While we found no evidence of labor abuses in our entire supply chain, we have nonetheless completely locked down our supply chain to 30 fishmeal plants and 380 fishing vessels, for which we have full visibility and traceability on sustainability and social issues," said Andy Lohawatanakul, senior vice president of CP Foods. The company is conducting on-site audits of fishmeal producers with the Department of Labor Welfare and Protection and the Department of Fisheries, he said. "Only those fish meal suppliers [and the fishing vessels they work with] who agree that they will record crew manifests at every arrival and departure from port, record and keep full vessel fishing logs, and agree to regular audits will be approved as suppliers to CP Foods." The post Activists, Executives Advise Thailand How to Tackle Trafficking appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Barber and a Bus Conductor Posted: 13 Jan 2015 04:00 PM PST A still showing a scene from "The Barber." (Photo: Yangon Film School) YANGON — In a small, unassuming shopfront in North Dagon Township, U Tin Htun reflects on the sense of shame he felt as a child after his father told him to learn the barber trade, a station in life he thought well beneath his talents. Years later, after he was pensioned off by the Ministry of Industry and left scrambling for a means to provide for his son's education, U Tin Htun sharpens a pair of scissors in preparation for the day's trade as he playfully concedes the merits of his father's advice. The languid working life of U Tin Htun is the subject of "The Barber," a new featurette by Anna Biak Tha Mawi, a first-time director and recent graduate of the Yangon Film School. Now in its ninth year, the school has cultivated something of an austere house style among its filmmakers that is unembellished by narration and firmly in keeping with the guiding principles of the cinéma vérité movement. The resulting films offer a remarkable window into Myanmar's social and cultural fabric which, in "The Barber," is channelled through U Tin Htun's gentle benevolence and refined sense of irony. Shot over two days, a steady stream of clients are captured on the barber's chair, some the silent recipients of his good humor, others eager to impart their own wisdom. In one instance, U Tin Htun notices a scar on the back of a trishaw driver's neck. The barber gently remonstrates with him when told it's the product of a recent fight with his wife before offering a 100 kyat discount when he learns the customer is short of cash after a night's drinking. In between jobs, U Tin Htun recalls being picked up one morning to cut the hair of a former government minister. Refusing to have his hair trimmed and dyed in the office, the minister asks the barber to come to the pagoda instead. After official business intrudes, he eventually accompanies the minister by car to Bago, and on a plane to Bagan and then Mandalay. It is after midnight and U Tin Htun is 700 kilometres from home before the haircut is finished. For the director, the barber's candid warmth made him a compelling subject, allowing her to immortalize a profession in flux, as old-fashioned, sole-proprietor street barbershops in Yangon gradually give way to more modern hair salons. "I like his way of talking and his behavior towards each customer," said Anna Biak Tha Mawi. "He is very friendly and adapts easily to customers of different ages and different backgrounds. He gives special care to his customers and he really values his job." Premiering on Dec. 6 at the Yangon Film School's annual showcase, "The Barber" was accompanied by another debut by recent graduates centered on 29-year-old Ma Myat Su Mon, the eponymous subject of "The Bus Conductor." Supplementing her husband's meager income as a driver and supporting a young daughter, Ma Myat Su Mon rises early each morning to shepherd passengers on, off and around a clapped out bus as it travels through downtown streets and outer townships. Passengers stand bemused by the rare sight of a female conductor, and her methods of gentle persuasion, in a vocation where barked orders and jostling are much more par for the course. Naturally, Yangon's decrepit bus fleet posed its own logistical problems for the filmmakers. "The cameraman and sound recorder had to work in very difficult conditions," said director Daw Ngwe Ngwe Khine. "The buses in Myanmar are very fast and very crowded and they had to shout to get space for us to pass. We explained the sort of film we were making and eventually everyone was happy to participate." Both documentaries display a remarkable finesse—a feat made all the more impressive by the Yangon Film School's swift crash course for new talent. Lindsey Merrison, the founder and director of the Yangon Film School, attributes the success of the films to the school's prevailing format. "We bring them from zero to quite competent filmmakers in the space of seven weeks," she said. "The films [our graduates make] are portraits because it's suitable for people with no experience of making documentaries—the day-in-a-life portrait provides a natural trajectory to work around." The Yangon Film School has benefitted from a transparent and upfront relationship with the government over the last decade, partnering with organizations such as the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization for a screenwriting program and establishing itself as a cultivator of local talent and production skills. With the advent of a somewhat less censorious oversight regime, the school was able to do something previously unthinkable in 2012 by hosting a screening of its award-winning Cyclone Nargis documentary and appending the real names of its crew to the final credits. Publicizing such insights into the powerful as those proffered by U Tin Htun, would also likely have been out of the question in years gone by. While the school undergoes an audacious expansion of its activities, including the launch of a fellowship program and plans to produce more feature-length and dramatic works, risk assessments remain the final determinant of whether a project goes ahead. The organization is always conscious of the uncharted lines which determine what productions are acceptable. "Things are more relaxed than they used to be, though you still have to be careful," said Ms. Merrison. "Anyone wielding a camera in this country needs to exercise some caution." Additional reporting by Nobel Zaw. This article first appeared in the January 2014 print edition of The Irrawaddy Magazine.  The post A Barber and a Bus Conductor appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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