The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- MSF Returns to Arakan Amid Scrutiny
- Parliament Votes in Favor of Tripling Lawmakers’ Salaries
- Mixed Reception in Burma for Tumbling Global Oil Price
- Rights Groups Call Seek Justice for Slain Kachin Women
- Time to Stamp out Hate-Speech
- Protests Continue as Lawmakers Urged to Amend Education Law
- Upper House Speaker Canvasses MPs for Reform Suggestions
- MSF Resumes Work in Arakan State After Govt Ban
- Fearing Bad Business, Thai Community Votes to Evict HIV Hospice
- The Guilty and the Innocent: China and Illegal Logging in Myanmar
- UN Criticizes Sexist Language of Burmese Monk Wirathu
- Manila: China’s Reclamation in Disputed Reefs Now ‘Massive’
- Cambodia’s Freewheeling Internet Lands Autocratic Hun Sen in Quandary
| MSF Returns to Arakan Amid Scrutiny Posted: 22 Jan 2015 06:02 AM PST  Medicines in a pharmacy which also serves as a makeshift clinic at the Thae Chaung camp for internally displaced people in Sittwe, Arakan State, on April 22, 2014. (Photo: Minzayar / Reuters) RANGOON — The quiet resumption of limited health services in western Burma has attracted the scrupulous gaze of local authorities and community leaders, who cautioned that they will be "watching" to ensure that aid organizations remain within the bounds of certain activities. Médecins Sans Frontières-Holland (MSF) said on Tuesday that they had begun their re-entry into the restive Arakan State in mid-December, 10 months after the Burmese government banned them from the area when the group made statements that it had treated people it believed were injured during sectarian clashes. "We will be watching what they are doing," Win Myaing, a spokesperson for the Arakan State Government, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. "If their purpose is to provide medical assistance, then do it. Someone who does medical assistance cannot plant trees…They cannot do any other tasks." Arakan State has suffered several bouts of riots between its majority Arakanese Buddhist and minority Muslim populations since 2012. International aid organizations in the state have been accused of bias in delivering services, as many of them work primarily with communities displaced by the violence. The vast majority of those displaced were stateless Rohingya Muslims, who are denied legal status and stripped of basic rights by a controversial citizenship law. Nearly 140,000 of Burma's estimated 1.1 million Rohingya are still living in squalid camps where they are denied mobility and lack basic services such as education and health care. Many locals claim that aid workers are unfairly bent toward Muslims, and some officials have insinuated that they have spread "false news" among both the local and international communities. Humanitarian aid groups have denied accusations of bias and misinformation. Arakanese community leader Khin Maung Gyi, a member of the state's dominant Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, told The Irrawaddy that the community will remain vigilant to prevent aid workers from "giving untrue news" to the international community. He added that it is the government's responsibility to "control them from saying such things." Despite tension and added scrutiny, some members of the community welcomed the return of MSF, which is one of the state's main providers of HIV treatment, primary health care and other life-saving assistance. "It's good that people will get medical assistance, because people were dying of causes that should have been treatable," said Kyaw Min, a Rohingya politician and chairman of the Rangoon-based Democracy and Human Rights Party, echoing widely-held concerns that the absence of aid led to preventable deaths. Since December 17, 2014, MSF has resumed limited services in four townships: Maungdaw; Buthidaung; Sittwe; and Pauktaw. A spokeswoman for MSF told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the group has since carried out more than 3,480 outpatient consultations and about 550 consultations with pregnant women. MSF has also assisted Burma's Ministry of Health with the provision of a speedboat to enable hospital referrals in various parts of the state. The spokeswoman said that while the group is not operating at its former capacity, "we take this new situation as an opportunity to identify areas of urgent health need and then implement medical activities, when appropriate in support of the Ministry of Health, to meet those needs." Full details about the extent of permitted activities have not been disclosed, but community leaders said that they will be monitoring their activities closely for signs of misconduct. Nyo Aye, an Arakanese women's rights activist who has been a vocal participant in several protests against foreign aid organizations and international observers such as the US human rights envoy, Yanghee Lee, told The Irrawaddy that while the group does not object to the return of MSF, "we are watching what they do." Despite the reception from some outspoken members of the Arakanese community, the MSF spokeswoman said that the state government and the Ministry of Health have offered their "continued support" for the organization, stating that "our services are well received by the communities we serve." The post MSF Returns to Arakan Amid Scrutiny appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Parliament Votes in Favor of Tripling Lawmakers’ Salaries Posted: 22 Jan 2015 05:49 AM PST  A shot of Parliament in Naypyidaw in 2011. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — A joint session of Burma's Parliament on Thursday voted in favor of an immediate tripling of salaries for national level lawmakers. With the decision parliamentarians ignored a revision to the bill by President Thein Sein that would have introduced the sharp pay rise gradually. Aung Kyi Nyunt, a member of the Upper House, told The Irrawaddy, "Union Parliament approved the increase of salary with 323 supporting votes, 175 objecting votes and 15 abstained from voting." The law will raise monthly salaries for Lower and Upper House members, from about US$300 to $1,000 per month and will take effect on April 1, the start of the new fiscal year. The law also increased the daily expense allowance for Union level lawmakers from $10 to $20. Lawmakers in the legislatures of divisions and states will benefit from a salary hike that will raise their monthly income from $200 to $500, while lawmakers from self-administered zones and divisions will see a raise from $100 to $300. "The current salary is very low and we cannot effectively help our constituency's people. So now, when the salary increases we can frequently go our constituency," said Aung Kyi Nyunt. Union Parliament first put forth the proposal for the salary increases in late 2014, but Thein Sein intervened after the bill was sent to him and revised its implementation to make the introduction of the raise more gradual. The president said on Monday that decisions about lawmakers' salaries should be made not by lawmakers themselves, but by government administrators after calculating the annual budget. However, on Tuesday a parliamentary committee that had drafted the bill advised against accepting the president's amendments. By comparison, deputy Ministers earn about $2,000 per month, while ministers are paid $3,000. Director generals' salaries were on par with lawmakers at $200 to $300 per month. Military seat-holders are paid according to their rank. The post Parliament Votes in Favor of Tripling Lawmakers' Salaries appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Mixed Reception in Burma for Tumbling Global Oil Price Posted: 22 Jan 2015 05:34 AM PST  Vehicles line up for fuel at Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) outside Rangoon in 2014. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — The plunge in global oil prices in recent months has proven to be good news for Burmese consumers, but is shrinking profit margins for the country's crude exporters, industry observers told The Irrawaddy this week. Since June, global crude oil prices have fallen from about US$110 per barrel to $50 per barrel due to a supply-demand imbalance, bringing prices to their lowest level in almost six years. Crude oil exports, along with natural gas, are a major component of the Burmese economy, making the global price slump a cause for concern, Burma's deputy minister of energy has acknowledged. "Foreign earnings will decline due to the global oil price [drop]," Deputy Energy Minister Aung Htoo said, in response to a question from a lawmaker on the domestic impact of the global oil market's tumble. Aung Htoo said the price drop would affect the country's natural gas sector as well, but the minister added that growing production at the relatively young Shwe and Zawtika offshore gas blocks would help offset the dip in the commodity's global market price. While significant interest and investment in Burma's oil reserves has accompanied to country's opening to the West in recent years, Aung Htoo said foreign investment in the oil and gas sector would be lower than in past years as companies wait for the global oil market to recover. In December, Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) signed four production-sharing contracts with foreign firms for the development of deep-water exploration and drilling sites. Aung Htoo on Wednesday did not mention how many barrels of oil per day Burma currently produces. The minister said the country could seize on an opportunity presented by the rock-bottom price of oil. "We have suggested to the government that while the oil prices are dropping, we should buy diesel from abroad and store as much as we can as strategic oil reserves so that we can receive short-term benefits. The international oil price drop has both positive and negative impacts on Myanmar," Aung Htoo told lawmakers. Ken Tun, the chairman of Parami Energy Group of Companies, said oil-producing and services-oriented companies in the oil and gas sectors would see the global market drop cut into their bottom lines, while firms currently in just the exploration phase of production might be unaffected if prices rebound before their wells come online. "It is sure that if global oil prices keep declining, the country's earnings will decrease, but for us, a services company, it won't hurt that much because the number of foreign oil and gas companies is increasing here," he said, while adding that Parami could be affected if oil prices stay low for an extended spell. "For example, if production companies cut their costs, reduce human resources, the services companies will be affected. These companies will also have to make cuts," Ken Tun said. He added that the oil market slump offered a good opportunity for the government to craft a better energy policy, such as reducing costly subsidies on oil imports and building up a network of refineries around the country. "This is a good time to create a better energy policy by the government," he said. "We have potential in the oil and gas exports market and could be a regional hub if we can start implementing a better policy in the energy sector," he said. While Burma does have crude exporters, a lack of refining capacity means the country is a net importer of refined oil products. Burma produced about 20,000 barrels of oil per day in 2013, according to various estimates, but a London-based international business risks analysis firm forecast last year that the figure could drop to less than 17,000 barrels per day by 2023. "We're still importing oil and gas, about $4.5 billion per year, so if we can control it now, it will definitely be beneficial for us," Ken Tun said. The oil market's ill tidings for exporters has been good news for consumers and manufacturers in Burma, however, as fuel costs have fallen as well, though not as precipitously. Myat Thin Aung, chairman of Rangoon's Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, said that as a result, daily commodity prices could fall by 3 to 4 percent. "Manufacturers are now happy because fuel prices are falling. Production costs will decrease, so they can sell at lower prices," he said. The Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, Rangoon's biggest, is believed to host some 500 factories that set up shop since the zone was created in the early 1990s. "Every summer season, we have to use our own generators to run factories because the government can't supply 24-hour electricity, so I expect that the cost of fuel will be less this summer," he said. "I hope that prices for people's daily goods will fall significantly soon," he added. The post Mixed Reception in Burma for Tumbling Global Oil Price appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Rights Groups Call Seek Justice for Slain Kachin Women Posted: 22 Jan 2015 04:28 AM PST  Nang Seng Nom/The Irrawaddy RANGOON — Rights groups in Rangoon have asked the Burmese government to seek justice for two Kachin women found dead on Tuesday in the northern Shan State village of Kaung Kha. At a press conference on Thursday, rights activists said the government had a duty to find and punish those responsible for the gruesome murders. "Our country has signed United Nations convention to protect the rights of women," said Pyone Cho, a leader of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society. "The government needs to protect women. They should find out who is responsible and inform our people." The two victims, aged about 20 years old, had come to Kaung Kha two years earlier to teach as volunteers with the Kachin Baptist Convention. Both were found dead in their shared bedroom on Tuesday morning, their bodies badly beaten, partially naked and showing signs of violent struggle, according to Kaung Kha villagers. A nurse from the hospital in Muse where autopsies are being conducted on the women, speaking to The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, said that doctors had determined both victims were raped. The autopsy report has yet to be made public. Ah Khon, a rights activist from Kachin Peace Network, told reporters that villagers had accused the Burma Army of responsibility for the deaths. “Villagers found footprints from an army boot and other evidence, including an army-issued belt near the two bodies," Ah Khon said. The Burma Army denied the accusations, after sending an investigation team on Wednesday to interrogate 20 soldiers among a contingent recently stationed in Kaung Kha. “Whoever committed this crime, whether military or civilian, the government should punish them," said Mya Aye, an 88 Generation Peace and Open Society leader, at Thursday's press conference. "The government has a duty to provide justice for this case.” Mya Aye said he was concerned that the case will escalate tensions between Kachin and Burmese communities, citing heated exchanges on social media in the days since the deaths were announced. "This is not a normal case. This could relate to the political and racial problems [of our country]. We are very worried. Our country's peace talks could be threatened because of this case," he said. Right groups in Rangoon called on people to wear black for one week in remembrance of the deaths and plan to hold a prayer session at Maha Bandoola Park tomorrow. "Kachin people have been hurt mentally and physically by this case. It is very sad and we should show our support," said Karen women's rights activist Susanna Hla Hla Soe. The Kachin Baptist Convention has organized a funeral for the women on Friday in the Kachin capital of Myitkyina. The post Rights Groups Call Seek Justice for Slain Kachin Women appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Posted: 22 Jan 2015 01:49 AM PST  Nationalist monk Wirathu (center) takes part in a protest against United Nations envoy Yanghee Lee in Rangoon on Friday. (Photo: Reuters) Wirathu is in the news again. But this time, even some of his followers feel that the nationalist Buddhist monk went too far when he called a visiting UN rights envoy a "whore" and a "bitch" in a recent public speech. "It is intolerable for UN Special Rapporteurs to be treated in this way and I call on religious and political leaders in Myanmar to unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred, including this abhorrent public personal attack against a UN-appointed expert," he said. Sadly, it is unlikely the Burmese government will take any serious action against Wirathu, who has been accused of preaching anti-Muslim hate speech that has fanned religious violence since his release from prison in 2012. The controversial monk—who many Burmese Buddhists feel should be stripped of that religious title—has exercised his right to "freedom of expression" to incite hatred and violence, as if he has been granted special permission to do so. The state has so far been unmoved. Wirathu's latest diatribe was delivered to hundreds of his supporters at a rally in Rangoon on Jan. 16, the same day the UN Special Rapporteur for Burma Yanghee Lee concluded her second visit to the country. Last November, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also faced hostility from Buddhist monks, and the government, who objected to his use of the term Rohingya during the ASEAN Summit. There have also been some organized attacks and intimidation during previous UN visits. In August 2013, then UN Special Rapporteur for Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana slammed the government for failing to protect him when his convoy was attacked near Meiktila in central Burma, where anti-Muslim violence broke out in March that year, leaving at least 44 people dead. Following the incident, the UN envoy said in a statement that his vehicle "was descended upon by a crowd of around 200 people who proceeded to punch and kick the windows and doors of the car while shouting abuse." "The state had a responsibility [to protect me]…and it failed," Quintana said. Some believed that the attack was well organized and that security forces did nothing to intervene. Lee's reports and statements on human rights in Burma have reflected the reality on the ground. At the end of her 10-day official visit to the country on Friday, the envoy offered a blunt assessment of the human rights situation. "Valuable gains made in the area of freedom of expression and assembly risk being lost," she said. "Indeed, there are signs that since my last visit, restrictions and harassment on civil society and the media may have worsened." Many human rights activists and journalists working in the country will not dispute her view. During her visit, Lee traveled to crisis-prone Arakan State where she said the atmosphere between Buddhists and Muslims remained "hostile." "I saw internally displaced persons in Muslim camps living in abysmal conditions with limited access to food, health care and essential services," Lee said. She stressed that international human rights norms "must be at the centre of a solution" in Arakan State. "Collective punishment of the entire Muslim population in the State for the deeds of a limited number of perpetrators from the violence in 2012 is not the answer," she said. At the UN General Assembly in September, the government asked the international community to cease its annual resolution on the country's human rights record and drop Burma from its broader human rights agenda. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin told officials at the General Assembly in New York that Burma was now at the "middle tier of the human rights ladder" and no longer needed to be targeted by sponsored resolutions or the UN's Human Rights Council. "All major concerns related to human rights have been addressed to a larger extent in the new Myanmar," Wunna Maung Lwin said. Not true. Back home, prisons are beginning to fill with more and more political prisoners; conflict in Kachin State shows few signs of abating; and the government continues to use excessive force to silence dissent—including against farmers protesting against the Letpadaung copper mine project in Central Burma in December. If hate-speech like Wirathu's continues unchecked, it's also possible that more serious communal violence will occur. Still the government seems to operate in an alternate reality. At the Asia-Europe meeting in Milan, Italy, in October, President Thein Sein urged the EU to stop submitting annual reports on human rights in Burma, as "considerable progress in human rights protection" had been made under his government. Burma is a long way from realizing genuine democracy and respect for human rights. But to demonstrate it is serious about tackling hate speech and addressing religious violence, the government should condemn Wirathu's verbal slur and ask the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Sangha Council to take appropriate action. The post Time to Stamp out Hate-Speech appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Protests Continue as Lawmakers Urged to Amend Education Law Posted: 22 Jan 2015 01:12 AM PST
 Students protesting the National Education Law in Rangoon in November 2014. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's President Thein Sein urged Parliament to reconsider a new National Education Law after student protests resumed in Mandalay earlier this week, a move that was greeted with cautious acceptance by advocates. Education advocate Nan Lin welcomed the President's remarks as a positive step, but emphasized that stakeholders would like to see four-party talks between a student-led committee, advocates, lawmakers and government administrators before any amendments are made to the legislation. "Our committee is afraid that [lawmakers] will not hold a four-party dialogue, so we will continue the protests until we get a guarantee for four-party talks," he told The Irrawaddy. Nan Lin joined scores of students and education professionals earlier this week as they set of from Mandalay to Rangoon on a 638 kilometer (400 miles) march in a revamped campaign against the legislation, which was passed by the Union Parliament on Sept. 30, 2014. The law has been controversial from the outset, its detractors claiming that it centralizes control over education and restricts the formation of student bodies. Students and professionals claimed that the draft was rushed through Parliament without adequate consultation with relevant stakeholders. Passage of the law prompted widespread student and teacher demonstrations in Burma's largest cities. A 15-member coalition called the Action Committee for Democratic Education (ACDE) was formed and demonstrations were suspended in November 2014, as members issued an ultimatum that the legislation be amended to reflect the will of students and educators within 60 days. The deadline passed without resolve, and protests resumed on Tuesday to demand a response from lawmakers. The President's recent statement to Parliament urged lawmakers to address key issues as they review the law, acknowledging that stakeholders have made clear demands to decentralize schooling and allow for the formation of student unions. The statement recommended that Parliament "form an independent organization comprising suitable persons for quality assessment." Ye Zarni Tun, a member of the ACDE, told The Irrawaddy that the President's statement indicated that the government is acknowledging the seriousness of their concerns, albeit not swiftly. "Some points in the law are really weak," said Ye Zarni Tun, "and now the President knows about it. We had to try for 66 days for the President to know." Others remarked, however, that the statement alone will not resolve key issues and lawmakers will need to make concerted efforts to include students and teachers in any further discussions of the law because the current text does not represent any of their demands. Arkar Moe Thu, a university teacher and member of the National Network for Education Reform, said the President is being duped by lawmakers into believing that the legislation is progressive. "If President Thein Sein's government really wants to change, they can't let lawmakers cheat them," he said. "If they look only at the [current] document, they won't see the wishes of the people." The post Protests Continue as Lawmakers Urged to Amend Education Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Upper House Speaker Canvasses MPs for Reform Suggestions Posted: 21 Jan 2015 08:48 PM PST
 Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's Upper House Speaker has set a Friday deadline for Upper House MPs to provide input into mooted six-party constitutional reform discussions. Upper House lawmaker Myint Tun, a member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party told the Irrawaddy that Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint said during the parliamentary session on Wednesday that he would attend the constitutional forum and members had until Jan. 23 to offer suggestions for the agenda. "He said he would discuss proposals based on our input," said Myint Tun. Myint Tun tabled the original call for six-party talks last November, outlining a proposal for a meeting between President Thein Sein, Burma Army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, the speakers of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament, National League for Democracy (NLD) Leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a member of the ethnic nationality parties to discuss constitutional reforms. Myint Tun's resolution was unanimously accepted by Parliament later that month. In the days that followed, however, Minister of Information Ye Htut told Radio Free Asia that a six-party meeting would be "impractical", and the army chief reportedly told members of the Karen National Union that he would not accept six-party talks because he wanted the inclusion of more stakeholders. On Monday, President Thein Sein issued a statement to the Union Parliament, offering what appeared to be in-principle support for the six-party discussion but noting the six-party proposal lacked detail and a specific framework for how constitutional issues would be discussed. Myint Tun said he would send his input on the peace process and constitutional amendments to Khin Aung Myint by Friday. "I will feed them my suggestions on those issues. Whether they agree or disagree is another matter for their discussion," he said.
The post Upper House Speaker Canvasses MPs for Reform Suggestions appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| MSF Resumes Work in Arakan State After Govt Ban Posted: 21 Jan 2015 11:34 PM PST  An MSF worker provides medical treatment to a family in Arakan State. (Photo: MSF) RANGOON — An international medical group has resumed work in an area of west Burma after a nine-month government ban on its presence in one of the poorest parts of the country over allegations of bias. Médecins Sans Frontières-Holland (MSF) said Tuesday it was allowed to resume work on Dec. 17 in Arakan State, where it has provided health and emergency assistance since 1992. The government ordered the international medical group out of Arakan in February 2014 after the group said it had treated people it believed were victims of sectarian violence. The government denied an attack had taken place and accused MSF of being biased in favor of members of the minority Muslim Rohingya community. Aid groups have drawn the ire of some Buddhists who accuse them of favoring the Rohingya. Humanitarian groups reject accusations of bias in favor of Muslims. Almost 140,000 of Burma’s 1.1 million Rohingya, most of whom of whom are stateless, remain displaced after deadly clashes with Buddhists in Arakan in 2012. The withdrawal of the agency, which had operated in the area for more than 20 years, left half a million Rohingya without access to reliable medical care. "We hope to continue this dialogue with the authorities to ensure that those who need it most in Rakhine [Arakan] State are able to access the healthcare they need," Martine Flokstra, MSF Burma operational adviser in Amsterdam, said in a statement. The organization said that since restarting its clinics last month, it had done more than 3,480 consultations, mostly with people with diarrhea, respiratory infections, and chronic conditions. MSF is the largest provider of HIV/AIDS care in Burma, currently treating more than 35,000 HIV patients nationwide, as well as 3,000 people for tuberculosis. The post MSF Resumes Work in Arakan State After Govt Ban appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Fearing Bad Business, Thai Community Votes to Evict HIV Hospice Posted: 21 Jan 2015 11:26 PM PST  A nurse takes care of a patient at the Glory Hut Foundation in Thailand's Chonburi province on Jan. 20. (Photo: Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters) LANG NERN, Thailand — "Residents of Lang Nern do not want Glory Hut Foundation to bring people with AIDS to live in this community", read the white banner that went up last month after villagers voted to evict the hospice. The vote is not legally binding, but it effectively ostracised the foundation and the 48 people living there at the time, who were given six months to leave this community of 500 near the seaside resort town of Pattaya. "I do not hate them. They are just in the wrong place," Wichien Weruwan, chief of Lang Nern, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation outside his home as eight other community members nodded in agreement. "Everything about Glory Hut affects the business environment and our way of life." Thailand is often hailed as an HIV success story—having slashed infection rates and focused on awareness to combat stigma—but the gang up against Glory Hut has exposed the deep-seated discrimination that persists. Villagers complain that Glory Hut did not seek their permission before moving in eight months ago, and worry that their presence and trash is exposing them to diseases. "We are so stressed out that the district doctors came to check the villagers' mental health. We’re wondering what are we breathing in," said Lang Nern deputy chief Prasert Changlek. One elderly man said his children did not visit him for New Year's because of Glory Hut. However, money seems to be the crux of the problem. Residents fear the presence of people living with HIV will deter potential investors and tenants from this former farming village now reaping the rewards of being an easy commute and less crowded alternative to Pattaya. "Would you want to move into a house next to an HIV foundation? The people who live here want a nice environment," said Sudarat Lunbab, a resident who runs a sizable real estate venture with 33 rooms. "It’s bad for us both mentally and economically," she added, her voice rising with each sentence. "I took loans from the government…there would be a lot of impact on me." "Such an incident is an exception and really goes against the trend in Thailand. Many other communities in the country have been extremely supportive of people living with HIV," said Tatiana Shoumilina, Thailand director of UNAIDS. Thailand, which cut the estimated number of people infected from 143,000 in 1991 to 8,100 in 2013, is one of the few countries in the region prioritising the reduction of HIV-related stigma, Shoumilina added. Glory Hut chairwoman Pornsawan Christpirak, who is also HIV-positive, said the organisation posted a sign clearly explaining its plans prior to moving in, but should have consulted the villagers in person. "We didn’t need to do that in the first two places we stayed so I didn’t know," Pornsawan said in Glory Hut’s brightly painted office. "I went and apologised, in public as well as individually, but they didn’t want to talk to us." In response to complaints that Glory Hut was dumping hazardous medical waste in the community’s trash site, Pornsawan says they have always disposed of hazardous waste at the Bang Lamung Hospital, a 30-minute drive away. Since the Dec. 12 vote, five hospice residents have passed away, and 18 have returned to their homes. Funded by donors and the city of Pattaya, Glory Hut employs three nurse aids to care for the 25 people still living in its neat, cheery one-storey wooden homes—who are either too ill to move or have no family to go back to. Pornsawan said the community never discussed their grievances with Glory Hut, sending letters to government officials instead. Nov. 27 was the first time the two sides sat down to talk. Glory Hut was told to leave but refused. Fifteen days later, villagers voted with a public show of hands. Thirty people—all from the hospice—voted for Glory Hut to stay, while 131 voted against them. After that, once-friendly neighbours stopped talking to them, Pornsawan said. Mai Chaiyanit, chief of Nongprue sub-district—where Lang Nern is located—warned there could be violence if Glory Hut insists on staying. Their predicament has triggered an outpouring of support. Norwegian and Thai business owners donated 99,999 baht ($3,000), and Glory Hut’s Facebook page details several more gifts of food and money. On the day the Thomson Reuters Foundation visited, Pongsuang "Note" Kunprasop—founder of the Dudesweet parties in Bangkok—brought a cheque for 70,000 baht ($2,100) raised from a New Year’s party he organised. Still, community members insist that Glory Hut leave. "How could they just come in and start building without permission? If it was so easy for them to come in, can’t they just move out? Why are they so stubborn?" asks Sudarat, the owner of 33 properties. "People who come to tell us that we can live together—they do not live here." The post Fearing Bad Business, Thai Community Votes to Evict HIV Hospice appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| The Guilty and the Innocent: China and Illegal Logging in Myanmar Posted: 21 Jan 2015 11:21 PM PST  Trucks loaded with Burmese timber wait to cross a river on the Burma-China border. (Photo: EIA) The recent escalation of tensions in northern Myanmar as the result of the Myanmar military's crackdown on illegal logging and timber trade once again pushed the issue of Myanmar high up on China's foreign policy priorities. Some are worried about rising armed conflict along the Chinese border, refugee inflows and the attendant national security challenges. Some are concerned with the potential role the United States has played in the escalation of tensions and China's strategic vulnerability if the United States is seeping into China's "backyard." More importantly, since more than 100 allegedly Chinese illegal loggers were arrested during the crackdown and hundreds of Chinese workers reportedly trapped in the volatile conflict zone, the security of overseas Chinese nationals has once again become a heatedly discussed topic in China. Nationalists have called for China's political and even military intervention in the conflict to "rescue" the Chinese. Many Chinese analysts and media hold the strong view that the Chinese loggers are somehow innocent. Despite common knowledge that the Myanmar government had imposed a timber export ban since April 1, 2014, they insist that Chinese logging in northern Myanmar is acceptable because the Chinese businessmen had obtained approval and permits for their activities from local ethnic groups and the local military. To ship the timber back to China, they pay these local authorities hundreds of dollars in tolls per truck. From their perspective, since all local "procedures" and "requirements" are fulfilled, they are no longer legally liable. It is further argued that the recent crackdown on illegal logging resulted from disagreements on how to divide up the spoils within the Myanmar military, rather than enforcement of the law. The ethnic groups also plead "not guilty." The distribution of economic benefits related to natural resources in their own territory has always been a major sore spot between ethnic groups and the Myanmar government. Believing themselves to be the rightful owners of the resources on their land, ethnic groups such as the Kachin have bargained fiercely. The issue has also been a major obstacle in peace negotiations, hindering the conclusion of a nationwide peace accord. Especially for groups such as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the resource extraction and trade with China are a main source of revenue, regardless of its legality. It is also a practice with an established history, so some have argued for a case of legal precedent. From the Myanmar government and military's perspective, cracking down on illegal logging is the state's legal responsibility. According to government officials, because the Ministry of Forestry's law enforcement capacity is limited in northern Myanmar's conflict zones, the better-equipped Myanmar military carried out the mission. Strategically, the crackdown does serve to undermine and block the ethnic groups' revenue, but that fact does not make the action any less legitimate. On their side, one group is indeed guilty: the corrupted local government officials and military officers who have allowed the illegal logging and smuggling to continue for their own personal benefit. While everyone is motivated by their own interests, the only two parties worthy of being called "innocent"—also the biggest victims—are Myanmar's forest and the local people. According to the Myanmar government, the percentage of its territory covered by forest has dwindled from more than 60 percent in the 1970s to around 40 percent in 2010. There are different figures on the country's current forest coverage, although both Chinese state media and a Myanmar news outlet reported a 20 percent figure in 2012 and 2013, respectively, with both citing government officials. Chinese loggers complain that they can no longer find logs of decent size in Kachin State and now have to travel deep into the Sagaing Division in search of exploitable timber. The longer travel distance means higher shipment costs and more money to be paid to local officials and military officers for safe passage. Yet the business has continued and prospered, raising wild assumptions about how much profit they are making. Indeed, people on the Chinese side of the border passionately see illegal logging in Myanmar as an easy and quick way to get rich as long as they know how to "handle relations with the locals in charge." The greed undermines everything. Few people are concerned about the sustainable development of local communities beyond the exhaustion of timber and other natural resources. Locals' definition of a good future is reduced to making enough money out of the resource while it lasts and get their families out. The vested interests hinder the peace process between the central government and local ethnic groups; the less managed and monitored the region is, the easier it is for people to reap personal benefits at others' expense. In this sense, China's commercial interests have fueled and exacerbated ethnic conflicts inside Myanmar. The Chinese government might claim that such illegal resource extraction is carried out by individual businessmen and do not represent Beijing's policy. However, the authorities have been inexcusably sluggish in actively preventing or managing the situation through simple measures such as blocking the entry of illegal timber at the border or strict inspection of timber materials and serious punishment for transporting or possessing illegal timber. For anyone who has witnessed the hundreds of timber trucks in the Yunnan border town of Ruili, fully loaded with logs from Myanmar, it is difficult to believe that the Chinese government has done its fair share in preventing the illegal trade. Therefore, the so-called "rescue" of the illegal Chinese loggers captured and detained in Myanmar is a nonissue and an oxymoron. Any Chinese worker or businessman operating in Myanmar against the Myanmar law should be put on trial and prosecuted based on territorial jurisdiction. China has in the past prosecuted and executed foreign offenders according to Chinese law, and therefore should respect the Myanmar government's jurisdiction over the case. To call for China's political or military intervention is not only ignorant, but also represents a dangerous hegemonic foreign policy dimension that China should be particularly warned against. Under the four principles established by President Xi Jinping for China's peripheral foreign policy—amity, honesty, mutual benefits and tolerance—China needs to demonstrate genuine concern and support for Myanmar's national reconciliation and development through real actions. Allowing the illegal trade to prosper fuels the conflict and deepens the disparity between the government and ethnic groups. Watching local communities' futures be destroyed is neither amicable nor honest. Nor is it beneficial to Myanmar. Simply claiming that Sino-Myanmar relations are in great shape does not do the job. Real actions need to be taken by China to punish the guilty and protect the innocent. Yun Sun is a fellow with the East Asia program at the Henry L. Stimson Center and a non-resident fellow with the Brookings Institution. The post The Guilty and the Innocent: China and Illegal Logging in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| UN Criticizes Sexist Language of Burmese Monk Wirathu Posted: 21 Jan 2015 09:29 PM PST  The Buddhist monk U Wirathu arrives to a rally denouncing the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Yanghee Lee, in Rangoon on Friday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The United Nations' human rights chief urged Burma's leaders to condemn an ultranationalist Buddhist monk who called a visiting UN envoy a "bitch" and a "whore" during a public rally last week. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said language used by U Wirathu during Yanghee Lee's 10-day trip to the Southeast Asian country was "utterly unacceptable." "I call on religious and political leaders in Myanmar to unequivocally condemn all forms of incitement to hatred including this abhorrent public personal attack," Zeid said in a statement released from Geneva on Wednesday. "It's intolerable for UN special rapporteurs to be treated in this way," he said, calling the language "sexist" and "insulting." Newfound freedoms of expression that accompanied predominantly Buddhist Burma's transition from a half-century of military rule in 2011 lifted the lid on deep-seated prejudice against members of the country's Rohingya Muslim minority, and those seen as defending them. Wirathu has been accused of inciting violence with hate-filled, anti-Islam rhetoric that has left hundreds of people dead since 2012 and which has forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes, most of them Rohingya in Arakan State. Lee was the focus of criticism at a rally attended by Wirathu and several hundred other people, many of them monks, last Friday. The visiting rights envoy had criticized several pieces of legislation proposed by a coalition of nationalist Buddhist monks, including a bill that would place curbs on interfaith marriage and religious conversions, saying they were discriminatory toward women and minorities and could inflame tensions. "We have explained about the race protection law, but the bitch [Lee] criticized the laws without studying them properly," Wirathu shouted from a stage to the loud applause from the crowd. "Don't assume that you are a respectable person because of your position. For us, you are a whore." Most of Burma's 1.3 million Rohingya live under apartheid-like conditions in Arakan State. Denied citizenship by national law, they have limited access to adequate healthcare and education, and face restrictions on movement. More than 100,000 have fled the country in the last two years. The post UN Criticizes Sexist Language of Burmese Monk Wirathu appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Manila: China’s Reclamation in Disputed Reefs Now ‘Massive’ Posted: 21 Jan 2015 09:23 PM PST  Protesters display placards as they march to the Chinese consulate office in Makati, Manila, on June 12, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) MANILA — China's land reclamation in contested reefs in the South China Sea has become "massive," and is continuing despite protests from other countries, a Philippine official said Wednesday, citing surveillance photographs. Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Evan Garcia and the top US diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Russel, said after annual security talks that their governments have separately urged Beijing to stop activities that could worsen tensions and violate a 2002 accord designed to prevent armed conflicts over disputed islands and reefs. "It is massive, just look at the photographs. These are not small adjustments. These are huge activities that are obviously designed to change the status quo," Garcia said in a joint news conference with Russel. "Let me add also that the massive reclamation of China in the South China Sea is a clear violation of what we have agreed upon" in the 2002 accord, Garcia said. "It is not helpful in terms of finding a way forward and it is not an example of what anybody would understand as self-restraint." The photographs Garcia referred to were not immediately distributed to the media. The Chinese Embassy in Manila had no immediate comment, but Beijing's foreign ministry has said that the area where the reclamation is reportedly underway is part of China's territory, and that any Chinese activities there should be of no concern to Manila. In May last year, the Philippine government released military surveillance photos of Chinese land reclamation in Johnson South Reef, called Mabini in the Philippines and Chigua in China, in the disputed Spratly chain of islands, reefs and atolls. Military chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang told reporters two weeks ago that China's reclamation work in at least three reefs appeared to be "50 percent complete," including one with an elongated portion that is 1 to 2 kilometers (1/2 mile to 1.2 mile) long and could be turned into an airstrip. Catapang told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the latest surveillance photos of China's reclamation work were obtained by the military in October and new photographs would be pursued. The Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia have protested the reclamation on Johnson South Reef and other reefs. The reclaimed areas could be used by Beijing as a military base and a resupply and refueling hub, according to military officials. Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the sprawling sea that China claims virtually in its entirety. China's reclamation work and other related activities are "an ongoing concern" for the United States and other nations, which rely "on freedom of navigation and sea lanes and the principle of unimpeded, lawful commerce" in the South China Sea, Russel said. The South China Sea has some of the world's busiest commercial sea lanes. "But behavior that raises tensions, behavior that raises questions about China's intention and behavior that would appear to be inconsistent with the principles that I've enumerated work counter to those goals," he said. Russel and Garcia said their governments support a peaceful resolution of the disputes based on international law. The post Manila: China's Reclamation in Disputed Reefs Now 'Massive' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Cambodia’s Freewheeling Internet Lands Autocratic Hun Sen in Quandary Posted: 21 Jan 2015 09:19 PM PST  Cambodian online activist Thy Sovantha, 19, shows a Facebook page with images of dead businessman Ung Meng Cheu and Thorng Sarat, a tycoon police suspect of masterminding the shooting in Phnom Penh December 11, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) PHNOM PENH — The CCTV footage is blurry but graphic. A gunman stands over a cringing victim, firing bullet after bullet into his body until the Phnom Penh street is spattered with blood. The brazen killing of Cambodian businessman Ung Meng Cheu by an unknown assassin on Nov. 22 shocked the nation. It went viral on Facebook and WhatsApp, prompting Cambodia's usually sluggish police to quickly arrest six suspects. The footage of the killing showed the burgeoning power of social media in a youthful country where Internet usage has soared in recent years. For Prime Minister Hun Sen, who this month celebrated 30 years in power, the Internet's popularity is both a threat and an opportunity. It has allowed millions of Cambodians to register widespread discontent with his iron-fisted rule. His Cambodian People's Party (CPP) was re-elected in 2013 with a greatly reduced majority. On the other hand, it has also offered the CPP's aging leadership a direct route to young voters before the next general election in 2018. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) claimed Hun Sen cheated his way to victory and launched months of post-election street protests. They ended with a bloody military crackdown which killed five garment workers and injured dozens. Many CNRP supporters remain in jail. But there was no crackdown on the Internet, as many critics had feared. In October, Hun Sen's cabinet set up an ominous-sounding "Cyber War Team" to monitor online content to "protect the government's position and prestige". But so far the unit has done little. The government has also scrapped a potentially draconian cyber-crimes bill, while police appear to have backtracked on earlier vows to monitor Internet service providers and cell phone data. The government would be in a "precarious position" if it clamped down, said Silas Everett, the Asia Foundation's country representative in Cambodia. "Given the big youth bulge, moves to restrict, censor or overtly monitor social media users in Cambodia are likely to be received by the public as a step backwards," said Everett. "That understanding (is) reflected in the government's announcement that the cyber-crimes law has been shelved." More Cell Phones than People Soaring use of Internet-connected smart phones has allowed Cambodians to sidestep government-controlled television, radio and newspapers. In 2008, only about 70,000 people had access to the Internet, according to government statistics. Today, the figure is 3.8 million and most of them are young: About 70 percent of the country's 14 million people are under 30. There are now more cell phones used in Cambodia—20 million—than there are Cambodians. Many government ministers have Facebook or Twitter accounts, and Everett said the Ministry of Interior planned to increase its use of social media. Although a late adopter, Hun Sen's Facebook page has more than 640,000 "likes." The page of his arch-rival, the CNRP leader, Sam Rainsy, boasts over a million. Murdered businessman Ung Meng Cheu was the chairman of Shimmex Group, a firm whose interests include real estate and jewelry. His killer didn't even bother hiding his face. Police say they are hunting for Cambodian tycoon Thorng Sarat, 37, whom they suspect of masterminding the shooting. The six suspects arrested are Thorng Sarat's parents and bodyguards. Neither Thorng Sarat nor family members could be reached for comment. The shooting prompted outrage and turned some Internet users into amateur sleuths. Thy Sovantha, 19, is a student activist whose Facebook page has nearly 500,000 likes. Two days after the killing, she posted photos showing what she said were striking similarities between the gunman and a policeman later spotted at the crime scene. Thy Sovantha compared the policeman's clothes, complexion and other features. "He's 99 percent like the killer," she concluded. Her post was liked or shared more than 24,000 times. This pressured the police "to work faster to catch the real killers," Thy Sovantha told Reuters. "Police can't handle crimes as they did before," she said. "They have to work very carefully because people… have Facebook to follow news." General Chuon Sovann, Phnom Penh's police chief, denied that one of his officers was the gunman. Speaking with Reuters, he blamed social media for spreading "false information." The six suspects have denied the charges and said that their confessions were coerced. This has fuelled debate over whether police have caught the right people. In one notorious case, police arrested the wrong men for killing union leader Chea Vichea in 2004. The two men spent five years in jail before Supreme Court released them last year. Chea Vichea's killers remain at large. The post Cambodia's Freewheeling Internet Lands Autocratic Hun Sen in Quandary appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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