The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• An Intimate Look at Life and Love at ‘& Proud’ LGBT Photo Show
• Burma Government’s New Mobile Tax Criticized
• Activist Moe Thway to Face Charges for Unlawful Assembly
• ‘The Government Needs to Look out for Local Companies’
• Beaten, Jailed, Bailed: Letpadan Crackdown Victim’s Harrowing Ordeal
• At Meeting With Political Parties, President Pledges to ‘Seriously Consider’ Concerns
• ‘Boat People’ Crisis a Test for Asean’s Humanitarian Resolve
• Saving the Spirit of Shwedagon
• Neighborhood Watch
• Roads Before Welfare: India’s Modi Faces Dissent Over Spending Shakeup
• Ousted Thai PM Thaksin Says No Plans to Mobilize Supporters
• Brokers Tricking Rohingya Children onto Trafficking Boats
• Ordinary People Help Migrants as Asia Struggles with Crisis

An Intimate Look at Life and Love at ‘& Proud’ LGBT Photo Show Posted: 19 May 2015 05:48 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. RANGOON — A fresh photo exhibition offers an intimate view into Burma's LGBT community, challenging social stigma and misperceptions surrounding gender and identity in what is typically considered a conservative culture. & Proud, a local initiative focusing on LGBT events and awareness in Burma, teamed up with Colors Rainbow and YG—which hosts the popular monthly FAB party in Rangoon—to facilitate the show with assistance from the British Council. The LGBT, or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, community often faces discrimination in Burma, according to Hla Myat Tun of the advocacy group Colors Rainbow, which helped to organize the "& Proud LGBT Photo Exhibition" at Myanmar Deitta Gallery in downtown Rangoon. One motivation, Hla Myat Tun explained, was that negative depictions in popular media have done a great deal to alienate and stigmatize the LGBT community. Hla Myat Tun believes that artists can reclaim power over images and change the ways people view each other. "[Mainstream media] depicts LGBT as humiliating. We're not shown as human, so the public doesn't view us as human," he said of the images he sees in popular movies, advertisements and the like. "It gives people the wrong message." The & Proud exhibition and photo contest was conceived as a means to repair the misleading image so often put forth in the media: one that suggests that people who identify as LGBT are inherently promiscuous and lack dignity. The show features the work of a handful of local and international photographers, and displays a wide range of imagery. A striking series by Malaysian photographer KG Krishnan depicts gritty and intimate portraits of the faces and bodies of male-to-female transgenders. Prizes also went to artists who documented the daily life of a gay couple, a family that had two fathers and an adopted child, a playful lesbian kiss. Photographer Khin Pearl Yuki Aung, who won first prize for the best single shot, said that while she does not identify as LGBT, she entered the contest to share her respect for people's rights to self-identification, dignity, sexuality and expression. "It's nothing weird or special," she said. "It's about human rights. I only see that they are human and I don't isolate someone who is LGBT." & Proud opened on May 16, marking the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), observed on May 17 each year since 2004. Works will be on view until May 24. This is the second year in a row that the show has been held in Rangoon, and participation is growing. This year, & Proud also offered a photography course for aspiring local artists. Myanmar Deitta is located upstairs at building 49 on 44th street, between Merchant and Strand roads. The gallery is open daily from 10am to 5pm. The post An Intimate Look at Life and Love at '& Proud' LGBT Photo Show appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma Government’s New Mobile Tax Criticized Posted: 19 May 2015 05:21 AM PDT   The 5 percent levy will apply to subscribers of Burma's three telecommunication providers: state-owned Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications, Ooredoo and Telenor. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's government announced on Monday that millions of cellphone users in the country will need to pay a 5 percent tax on all mobile top-ups starting from June 1. The announcement brought online criticism soon after it was made at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Naypyidaw and posted on the official Facebook pages and websites of Burma's telecommunications operators. One Facebook user shared the news with an accompanying comment calling the new levy "a disgrace." "As per Union tax law, all top-up amounts will pay commercial tax of 5% starting from 1st June, 2015," Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) told its customers in a text message. The Communications Ministry said in its press release on Monday that the new tax provision was contained in an amendment to the Commercial Tax Law, which was passed by the Union Parliament on April 1. The 5 percent levy will apply to subscribers of Burma's three telecommunication providers: state-owned MPT, Ooredoo and Telenor. Ooredoo said in a message to its subscribers that it would not change the amount it charges for a given top-up card, and would instead provide less credit, meaning the purchase of a 1,000 kyats (US$0.90) top-up card would give the subscriber 952 kyats in phone credit. Moe Thway from Generation Wave suggested on his Facebook that the tax should instead be applied to current call rates. "If we buy a 10,000 kyats top-up card, everyone wants to use a full 10,000 kyats. But if we buy a 10,000 kyats top-up card and it says your main balance is 9,500 kyats, both the government and telecoms operators will get daily revulsion from users," he posted. Comparing it against other levies such as the country's commercial tax on restaurants, Nay Phone Latt, executive director of the Myanmar ICT for Development Organization, criticized the tax's "unavoidable" reach. "We can avoid the commercial tax at restaurants. We can choose not to buy food at restaurants and cook at home. But this, we can't avoid. We are all using phones. So it will be a heavy burden for the public," said Nay Phone Latt, an ex-political prisoner who rose to prominence as a dissident blogger under Burma's former military regime. "It is inconvenient to be charged 5 percent whenever we top up. I would like the government to consider another way, but now it seems they are tyrannizing people," he said. Aung Ko Ko, economist and writer, told The Irrawaddy that revenues generated by the tax could further the country's development, but only if allocated prudently. "If this money will go toward the country's development, people are happy to pay. If not, even I will cut my phone top-up expenses after June," he said. Than Htun Aung, director of the Communications Ministry's Posts and Telecommunications Department, said at a press conference in Naypyidaw on Monday that revenue collected from the new tax would be used "for the people." "We will use these collected taxes for the country's in-need sectors, such as health care, education and road transportation for the people," he said. Mobile penetration in Burma has skyrocketed since the foreign firms Ooredoo and Telenor rolled out their networks last year, breaking an MPT monopoly on the market that had put the price of a SIM card out of reach for most people in impoverished Burma. Though still a regional laggard, Reuters reported on May 6 that the three telecommunications providers had tallied 18.1 million active subscribers, in a country of 51 million people. Additional reporting by May Soe San in Naypyidaw. The post Burma Government's New Mobile Tax Criticized appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Activist Moe Thway to Face Charges for Unlawful Assembly Posted: 19 May 2015 04:48 AM PDT Moe Thway, a member of Generation Wave, at a protest on March 3 in Rangoon. (Photo: Steve Tickner: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Activist Moe Thway, a member of the pro-democracy group Generation Wave, said he will be charged with two counts of unlawful assembly for his participation in protests in Rangoon. Moe Thway told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that he was notified by Special Branch officers that the Kyauktada Township Police will seek charges against him for two separate demonstrations: one demanding justice for slain journalist Par Gyi, held last October; the other in support of student activists marching through central Burma, held in March. Both demonstrations took place in front of Rangoon's City Hall, and neither was permitted by local authorities. The charges both fall under the controversial Article 18 of Burma's Peaceful Assembly Law, a provision penalizing participation in public gatherings that are not preapproved. The activist said that he is traveling at the moment and "will deal with it when I am back." The Kyauktada Court referral officer, Kyaw Moe, told The Irrawaddy that the case has not yet reached the court. Moe Thway said that he and fellow demonstrator Nay Myo Zin had requested permission for the October protest but did not receive a reply from authorities. Some 200 activists congregated at City Hall nonetheless, including members of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, to demand justice for the killing of journalist Par Gyi, also known as Aung Kyaw Naing, while in military custody. Moe Thway said he has been charged several times for activities related to his activism since 2012, estimating that he had attended more than 200 court hearings since that time. Court officials could not confirm this estimate. He was also jailed for one month in 2013, but was granted amnesty after serving 20 days in prison, he said. Moe Thway warned that the jailing and intimidation of some of Burma's most prominent activists could damage the government's credibility. "If they keep jailing and arresting us like this, the public and the international community won't believe in the democratic transition. The government won't have the cooperation of the public if the public doesn't trust them," Moe Thway said. The post Activist Moe Thway to Face Charges for Unlawful Assembly appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘The Government Needs to Look out for Local Companies’ Posted: 19 May 2015 04:32 AM PDT   Nyo Myint, senior managing director of KBZ Group of Companies (Photo: JPaing / THE IRRAWADDY) Private insurance is still a nascent sector in Burma. Over the past two years, the government has begun to assess and approve insurers, but providers still struggle to establish themselves in the country's fickle business climate. Adding to the difficulty is a widely held cultural belief that insurance brings bad luck. Nyo Myint, senior managing director of KBZ Group of Companies, recently spoke with The Irrawaddy about the challenges and prospects of the insurance industry in Burma. The government has allowed more than 10 private insurers to work in Burma over the past two years, but the industry is still quite underdeveloped. Can insurers survive in Burma current business environment? There are 48 [types of insurance] established by the state-owned Myanma Insurance since 1962. The government has controlled everything for many years, that's why the insurance business never really reached the public. For example, life insurance is popular in other countries. If someone has life insurance, after he or she dies, his or her next of kin will get interest; insurance companies give them money. So life insurance is very popular in other countries. Then there is non-life insurance, the second stage, such as fire insurance or car insurance. In the past, there were no competitors to Myanma Insurance, so the services were not as good as they were in other countries. About three years ago, the government invited the private sector. The capital [required] for private companies was high, that's why there weren't very many applicants for licenses. There are only six companies offering life insurance and non-life insurance, out of a total of 11 companies. The rest can only do life insurance. I can say that those five that are only offering life insurance have not been successful recently, while the others are doing okay. Of non-life insurance, fire insurance tops the list, and comprehensive car insurance follows. Of those 48 types of insurance, how many are private companies allowed to offer? Actually, we are only allowed to offer seven. But life insurance, for instance, can mean a few different things: individual, group, sporting, snake insurance. Then there are six types of non-life insurance. Among non-life insurance, fire and car are popular, and there are others such as money transfer guarantees, savings and fatality insurance. The latter is highway travel insurance. Travel insurance is interesting because you can get it added to your ticket for about 300 kyats (US$0.30). If a person dies while traveling, the next of kin will be compensated with about 3 million kyats. A traveler can buy extra insurance, so they can be compensated 6 million, and so on. What types of insurance would you like to offer, but the government has not yet approved for private providers? There are some. Marine cargo insurance, we hope that it will be allowed for us soon. Then aviation insurance. The important thing for us is re-insurance. Normally, if we have to sell a big amount, we don't do it by ourselves; we usually work together [with other providers]. We used to work with foreign insurance companies. The government should allow this re-insurance for us as there are many foreign companies entering the country. Now we're pushing for co-insurance. If the amount is more than 500 million kyats, six non-life insurance companies will work together with Myanma Insurance to cover it. For now that's quite okay, but we need to develop more. Do you expect a rise in foreign investment to improve business for insurers in the near future? We can't do it alone. Foreign companies are coming, that's why we need re-insurance by the government. If we're allowed, whatever the amount by foreign companies, we can re-insure and work with other foreign insurance companies. The thing is the government is now allowing foreign banks and special economic zones. If we're competing with foreign firms, it will hurt us. That's why the government needs to look out for local companies, and to protect them. What are the biggest challenges in your field? As I said before, the regulations for re-insurance. Another challenge is that Myanmar Insurance is both a regulator and, at the same time, an operator. [Myanma Insurance] already has many good opportunities because it has worked for so many years here. It shouldn't be taking other opportunities. What they say is that we have no experience, that's why they are still controlling the sector. Now we have some experience, and it is time to allow us to use it. I hope the government will make the market fair for us in the future. The post 'The Government Needs to Look out for Local Companies' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Beaten, Jailed, Bailed: Letpadan Crackdown Victim’s Harrowing Ordeal Posted: 19 May 2015 03:24 AM PDT Aung Min Khaing being beaten by police during the crackdown on student protesters in Letpadan, March 10. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — The photo of Aung Min Khaing desperately fleeing a dozen baton-wielding police officers has become the defining image of the crackdown on student protesters in Letpadan. The 16-year-old student was released on bail from Thayawady Prison last week after more than two months detention. He is still facing trial on five charges under the Penal Code's unlawful assembly provisions, with a maximum sentence of 7.5 years if he is convicted. Though his parents are happy that he has been released, Aung Min Khaing is worried for his friends—scores of whom are still behind bars, facing the prospect of long prison terms—and he remains haunted by the police assault of March 10. "When stones began be thrown, a monk and I were on a car," he told The Irrawaddy. "Then police saw us and they dragged me out of the car, they also pulled the monk out of the car and beat him. As soon as I was out, they beat me with batons. They pushed and beat me from behind and I think they targeted my head and hands. At that time, a policeman tore off my longyi. I tried to pull it back, but I couldn't." Before he joined the abortive student march from Mandalay to Rangoon, organized to urge the government into changing the contentious National Education Law, Aung Min Khaing was an 11th grader at the No. 3 Basic Education High School in the Sagaing Division town of Shwebo. He served as chairman of the school's student union and was a committed member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, though his family had no prior history of political activism. "Teachers threatened me because I was involved in these activities," he said. "They said I would be kicked out of the school or arrested and imprisoned if I engaged in politics. There are between 30 and 40 students in our school who were interested in the protest against the Education Law, though some students could not afford to take part actively. I joined because I agreed that student unions at basic education schools should be formed freely and the education budget needed to be increased." While in Thaywady Prison, the detained protesters were given medical checkups. Aung Min Khaing, still bruised from the police assault on protest camp, was given the all clear. He told The Irrawaddy he is still suffering from the injuries he sustained in March. "I was not able to check their medical records," he said. "I had X-rays on my head and arms which they said showed I was fine. But I feel dizzy when I stand up or sit down or when the weather changes." Far from being cowed, the events of Letpadan and his imprisonment have left Aung Min Khaing more strident in his outlook. "I don't trust the government at all," he said. "They don't pay heed to people. They are only taking care of cronies and capitalists. The farmers are landless because their properties are confiscated. The government put students into prison. The cronies are the only people the government doesn't beat. I have are landless and their lands got confiscated. (The government) put students into prison. Cronies are the only people which the government does not beat." The post Beaten, Jailed, Bailed: Letpadan Crackdown Victim's Harrowing Ordeal appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At Meeting With Political Parties, President Pledges to ‘Seriously Consider’ Concerns Posted: 19 May 2015 03:20 AM PDT   President Thein Sein listens to a representative from one of Burma's political parties at a meeting in Rangoon on Monday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — President Thein Sein pledged to take the concerns of Burma's dozens of political parties into "serious consideration," but urged patience in addressing the country's challenges as he met representatives of those parties on Monday in Rangoon. "I'll bear in mind the issues raised by [political] parties and give them serious consideration. There are things that can't be done fast. Some things will have to take time," he said at the conclusion of the meeting, held at the Rangoon Division parliament building. A total of 137 politicians from 71 political parties attended the meeting, with several representatives afforded about five minutes to voice their concerns on a range of issues, including reform of the country's Constitution, upcoming national elections and the government's ongoing peace negotiations with ethnic armed groups. "The 2015 elections can be free and fair only if a peace deal is signed soon, I think. I want to see decentralization of divisional and state governments," said Sai Ai Bao from the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP). In a wide-ranging discussion on Monday, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) called for making the voting process as convenient as possible, including by increasing the number of polling stations nationwide; the National Unity Party (NUP) and Bamar People's Party highlighted land confiscation as a major ongoing concern that has seen several farmers and activists jailed for protesting land-grabs; and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) offered its perspective on the peace process and as yet unrealized efforts to reach a nationwide ceasefire agreement. Khun Thein Aung from the Union Pa-O National Organization told The Irrawaddy: "I would like to present the land [confiscation problem] of farmers to the president. Though there has been a certain progress in the peace process, [peace] has yet to be achieved. As I was only allowed five minutes, I could not discuss thoroughly, so I got straight to the point." The meeting was held in two parts, with the first portion offering the parties a chance to address their concerns to the president. The second section, after Thein Sein left the meeting, allowed attendees to continue a discussion on the general election with Union Election Commission (UEC) chairman Tin Aye. "Many farmers are landless as they have got their lands confiscated," a representative from the Bamar People's Party said at the meeting, adding that transparency by the UEC was necessary to ensure credible elections. Notable in its absence was any discussion of Burma's Rohingya Muslims, who have made international headlines in recent weeks as boats full of the minority group have been abandoned at sea by human traffickers amid a regional crackdown on the trade in human beings. No political party representative made mention of the Rohingya or their exodus from Burma, which has peaked in recent years as persecution and institutionalized discrimination in western Arakan State has deepened. The issue has ensnared Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, whose governments have turned the boats back out to sea in recent weeks, prompting condemnation from human rights groups and finger-pointing among the Asean member states. The post At Meeting With Political Parties, President Pledges to 'Seriously Consider' Concerns appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Boat People’ Crisis a Test for Asean’s Humanitarian Resolve Posted: 19 May 2015 01:31 AM PDT Migrants react aboard a boat tethered to a Thai navy vessel in waters near Koh Lipe island on May 16, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) LONDON — Just days after Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma in 2008, Surin Pitsuwan, then secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), swiftly called on its member states to provide urgent humanitarian aid to the survivors. With thousands of lives at risk because of the military government's resistance to letting foreign aid workers into the country, Asean stepped in to lead an emergency relief operation for the more than two million people affected by the disaster. Humanitarian agencies praised Asean for leading an effective response by acting as a bridge between the junta and the international aid community. Seven years later, the picture could not be more different. Southeast Asia is gripped by a looming humanitarian crisis as boatloads of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma and Bangladeshis escaping poverty at home face sickness and starvation at sea. But Asean has been silent, despite international calls for a regional response and the United Nations expressing alarm over a potential humanitarian catastrophe. "It wasn't easy to deliver aid to Myanmar in 2008," Surin, a former Thai foreign minister, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "But the situation was a bit less complicated than today because it was a natural disaster not a crisis with very deep political complexities," he said. At the core of Asean's inaction is its principle of non-interference in internal political affairs of its member states, observers said. "There is a lot of sensitivity, a lot of prejudices and a lot of mutual suspicion that make it difficult for any entity to do something about this situation," Surin said. The United Nations has said the deadly pattern of migration across the Bay of Bengal would continue unless Burma ends discrimination against the Rohingya. Most of Burma's 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in clashes with ethnic Arakanese Buddhists in 2012. "It's a humanitarian crisis of very large proportions, it's shocking and it requires the highest level of urgency to deal with it," said Surin. Faced for years with the exodus of thousands of Rohingya, other countries in the region have been reluctant to take responsibility for the latest wave of migrants. In the past week Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia all turned away or towed the crowded migrant boats away from their shores. Neither is there a conclusive plan over what to do with about 2,500 migrants who have landed in Malaysia and Indonesia over the past week or some 5,000 others still stranded at sea in rickety boats with dwindling supplies of food and water. Malaysia, the current chair of Asean and one of the region's richest countries, says it has already taken in 120,000 illegal migrants from Burma and made it clear that it wants no more. "Asean has the capacity to be very effective in crisis management but only if there is political will," Lilianne Fan, a former adviser to the bloc's special envoy on post-Nargis recovery, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Even if there was more willingness to deal with the situation, Asean lacks a legal framework for protecting refugees even though disasters and conflicts uprooted 7.8 million people in the Asia-Pacific region in 2013, according to the United Nations. Only two Asean member states, Cambodia and the Philippines, have signed the United Nations' Refugee Convention. "Refugees are part and parcel of Asean's social fabric," said Fan, a researcher at the London-based Overseas Development Institute think-tank. "By doing nothing it is out of step with the social and humanitarian reality of the region." Asean's widely praised role during Cyclone Nargis has often been credited with inducing Burma's ambitious reform process, which started in 2011 when President Thein Sein began his term as the country's first civilian president in decades. It sparked a wave of foreign investment, and critics say a focus on doing business with Burma is stopping other countries from taking a tougher stance on human rights abuses. "Asean talks a lot about the rule of law and democracy but it is in a state of paralysis over this crisis," Charles Santiago, chairman of Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It is just focusing on investment, so you won't see Asean put pressure on Myanmar when there are so many investment opportunities there," said Santiago, a member of parliament in Malaysia for the opposition Democratic Action Party. Asean was unavailable to comment despite several attempts to contact it. The post 'Boat People' Crisis a Test for Asean's Humanitarian Resolve appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Saving the Spirit of Shwedagon Posted: 19 May 2015 12:01 AM PDT   Shwedagon: Devotees at Shwedagon Pagoda on the Full Moon Day of Tabaung on March 4. (Photo: Sai Zaw/The Irrawaddy) In 1871, the local Sangha in Rangoon were seeking assistance in restoring the 'htidaw', or ornament, that sat at the top of Shwedagon Pagoda's spire. They refused to approach the British, who had by this time consolidated their hold on Lower Burma, as they did not recognize the legitimacy of the new occupying power. When King Mindon heard the news from his palace in Mandalay, he sent a new diamond-studded htidaw down the Irrawaddy River by steamer, and it has shone from the top of Singuttara Hill ever since—though the British colonization would prevent the king from ever seeing it with his own eyes. No other place in Burma rivals the pagoda's historical, political, religious and cultural significance of Shwedagon. Independence leaders rallied crowds on its grounds. It was the site of Aung San Suu Kyi's first public speech and it was a sanctuary to those fleeing persecution during the 1988 crackdown. Aung San was buried nearby, while his wife Khin Kyi and former United Nations Secretary-General U Thant were interred in mausoleums near the pagoda's southern entrance. In recent times, many have sought to capitalize on Shwedagon's iconic status for their own ends. It has been the site of rallies organized by hardline Buddhist nationalists. A replica pagoda, Uppatasanti, was built in Naypyidaw to legitimize the relocation of Burma's capital to the center of the country. The generals of the former military regime infamously sought to absolve themselves of their misdeeds by renovating Shwedagon and other nearby religious monuments. What the junta gave with one hand, they took away with the other—nearly 52 acres of land next to Shwedagon, owned by the military, was sold to local company Thu Kha Yadanar in 2013 after an auction by the Quartermaster General's Office, at a reported lifetime cost of US$221 million. That land is now the site of the Dagon City 1 and 2 developments. Three more construction projects in the area spread over a further 20 acres have also been granted approval by the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC), the Rangoon Division government and the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). Aung Zaw is the founding editor-in-chief of The Irrawaddy. At the end of January, the MIC halted work on the five developments, pending a review by the Myanmar Engineers Society and a committee of the YCDC. The suspension appears to remain in force, but the resulting publicity around the projects has led to an increasing tide of criticism. On Sunday, over 300 people attended a forum about the potential impact of the developments on Shwedagon, listening to testimony from architects, geologists and engineers which warned that the developments could affect the structural integrity of the sacred site. Developers say they have abided by the law in pursuing these projects, and there is no reason to doubt them: the question is why stricter regulations were not in force to prevent these sorts of developments to begin with. Numerous critics have expressed concern with the projects blocking the view of Shwedagon. Progress on a draft zoning law that would restrict future development proposals around the pagoda to a height of 62 feet has been stalled for nearly 18 months. Independent experts at Sunday's forum said that insufficient consideration had been given to the impact of the five developments on the surrounding area. If this proves to be the case, legal change is needed to ensure that future building approvals are contingent upon a comprehensive engineering and environmental analysis, at arms length from decision makers in government. Above all, the public response to this affair shows that the people of Rangoon want a voice in how their city is developed. Future projects of this magnitude should be thrown open to public consultation and feedback, rather than being the sole prerogative of the YCDC, the divisional government and the MIC. It is the public who are custodians of the pagoda and its history, and they have made their desires clear: they want to keep the horizon that King Mindon never had a chance to cast his eyes upon. Aung Zaw is the founding editor of The Irrawaddy. The post Saving the Spirit of Shwedagon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Neighborhood Watch Posted: 18 May 2015 10:05 PM PDT Click to view slideshow. LASHIO, Shan State — Fed up with the daily sight of drug users in their local neighborhood, Ah Zeng and other Kachin youth leaders decided to take matters into their own hands. "At the time we didn't have a good plan. We just didn't like these drugs in our area," said Ah Zeng, a resident of Block 5, a small neighborhood set on a mountain just north of Lashio in northern Shan State. Ten Kachin youth leaders formed a small association last year called the White Group supported by the Kachin Baptist Church. They began educating other young people in their community on the dangers of using drugs. They also began night patrols aimed at warning drug dealers and users—who often came to the mountain from other areas of Lashio to use drugs—to move on. Support for White Group has grown, attracting many young people in the community. They planned to open a drug rehabilitation center for users in the neighborhood very soon. However, their work has not been without its setbacks. One night last September, several youth and village leaders confronted a known local drug dealer after he was observed meeting an addict near his home. According to Ah Zeng, two village leaders struck him on the head and he ran away. He returned shortly afterwards with his father. When the suspected dealer attacked one of the village leaders with a stick, the youth group retaliated. One member broke the man's jaw. Two weeks later, 10 members of the group found themselves in court, where they were ordered to pay 4 million kyat (about US$3,900) to the suspected dealer's father in order to avoid prosecution. They were forced to borrow money from people in their local community to cover the fine and so far have only been able to pay back half the loan. Meanwhile, the alleged dealer's wife was recently incarcerated for using heroin, Ah Zeng said. An Uphill Battle The Block 5 neighborhood has long been a favorite meeting spot for drug users. "Our village is a good place to sell and use [drugs] because there is a forest behind the Chinese temple where they can hide from police raids," Ah Zeng said. "When the children went to school they would see needles on the street and people using drugs." Myanmar remains the second-largest producer of opium in the world after Afghanistan, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's annual Southeast Asia Opium Survey for 2014. The overwhelming majority of poppy cultivation takes place in Shan State. The report found that a total of 57,600 hectares in northern Myanmar was under opium poppy cultivation in 2014, compared to a low of 21,600 hectares in 2006. It also documented spiraling rates of drug use in the region, warning that the use of opium more than doubled and the use of heroin and amphetamine-type stimulants tripled in poppy-growing areas of northern Myanmar from 2012 to 2014. Block 5 was already infamous in Lashio as a place to buy and use drugs when U Sein Linn, a traditional ethnic Palaung doctor, moved to the area around 20 years ago. U Sein Linn said that after the Myanmar Army built an infantry base not far from Block 5, the road to Mong Yaw—a town about two hours' drive away with many poppy farms—was greatly improved, making it easier to transport drugs to the local community. However, since the youth group formed last year, U Sein Linn said he had seen a visible reduction in the number of drug addicts in the area. Zau Bawk, a pastor at the Eden Kachin Baptist Church near Block 5, is a former heroin addict. He managed to kick a 12-year addiction with the support of his family and friends and his religious faith. With two friends, one of whom lost a brother to drugs, and the support of the Kachin Baptist Church, Zau Bawk helped establish a drug rehabilitation center for male youth about seven miles outside of Lashio. They used group therapy, prayer sessions and agricultural activities to help youths overcome their addiction. Zau Bawk estimated that he helped around 3,700 addicts kick the habit during the five years he served as the center's director. Since resigning in order to better support his family, Zau Bawk said these days the center isn't as effective as it once was because none of the current staff have personal experience with drugs. During his time there, when patients would seem hopeless and say they still hungered for the drug, Zau Bawk would draw on a simple, yet effective, inspiration. "I told them that I used to be a drug user, yet I stopped," he said. This article originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Neighborhood Watch appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Roads Before Welfare: India’s Modi Faces Dissent Over Spending Shakeup Posted: 18 May 2015 09:59 PM PDT A health worker weighs a child under a government program in New Delhi, India, on May 7, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) NEW DELHI — As Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes one year in office, his cuts in federal welfare spending on the poorest of India's 1.25 billion people are coming in for sharp criticism, including from within his cabinet. In a break with India's socialist past, Modi has saved money on federal social and subsidy expenditure and pumped it into an infrastructure stimulus he hopes will trigger a spurt in economic growth. The government says lower welfare spending will be compensated for by giving state governments a larger allocation of tax revenues to spend as they choose. But state chiefs, government officials and a cabinet minister have warned that the spending shakeup endangers the country's most vulnerable. Maneka Gandhi, women and child development minister in Modi's cabinet, has said the impact of the policy will be borne by India's estimated 300 million poor. "This may result in a situation where the focus is lost on critical programs related to malnutrition of children … nutrition for pregnant and lactating mothers," Gandhi wrote in an April 27 letter to the finance minister, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. "I am afraid to point out that political fallout of such a situation can be grave." Those warnings have been echoed privately by at least three impoverished states who say they are being shortchanged. In his first full-year budget, approved by parliament on May 7, Modi halved funding for a scheme that gives millions of poor children free food and drastically cut allocations to make clean water available in rural areas. On the other hand, funding for roads and bridges more than doubled and is now higher than the sum allocated to education. The cuts to nutrition and water stand out because of the precarious condition of India's poor. Four of 10 stunted children in the world are Indian, more than sub-Saharan Africa. In 2013, the country recorded 50,000 maternal deaths. About 1.5 million children die each year before the age of 5. Modi's first year in office has seen a string of successes, including forging closer ties with major trading powers, boosting foreign investment and cutting red tape. His approval ratings remain high, although he faces growing headwinds in the countryside, where bad rains and low crop prices have affected the 70 percent of the people that live there. The fear is that the spending squeeze will hit when the most vulnerable need more help. "Increasing signs of rural distress in India make Modi's cuts politically risky," said Milan Vaishnav of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'Supply Side' Modi's gamble is that infrastructure investment will generate dividends for the poor in time for the next general election by increasing the economy's capacity to grow through better roads, ports and railways. At the same time as taking away central funding, Modi has increased the share of taxes given to states to 42 percent from 32 percent, money that, if well spent, can cover the shortfall from the spending cuts. The policy shift is championed by economists in a new body called Niti Aayog, or policy commission, Modi's replacement for the Soviet-style Planning Commission set up by post-independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru. It is headed by Columbia University's Arvind Panagariya, who advocates fiscal stimulus to invest in infrastructure and restore growth, and rely on the growth to later finance health and other social spending. One senior government official aware of the strategy said his main priority this year was to find ways to efficiently spend the ramped-up rail and road budgets. "This has an element of risk because it is not clear how effectively this stimulus can actually be delivered on the ground due to leakage, weak capacity, and so on," Vaishnav said. Junior Finance Minister Jayant Sinha said the emphasis was on the supply side so the rural economy grows without overheating, but denied programs were being cut. He pointed to increased funding for a rural work scheme that was a flagship of the last, left-leaning government. "Yes, there are certain programs where we have had, from the central side, a reduction," he told Reuters. "But that's because we are going through a reset of the fiscal architecture," he added, referring to states' increased share. States Protest States will this year receive about US$28 billion more taxes, while the cuts reduce support to central programs run by states by about $18 billion, according to the Center for Budget and Governance Accountability. While that's an overall gain of $10 billion, poorer states who rely more on central support say they face net losses. Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of the impoverished state of Odisha, lodged his protest in an April 29 letter to Modi, saying the new policies put a burden of $335 million on Odisha, a cut that is "beyond its means." "The loss … is not going to be set off by the 10 [percentage point] increase in devolution," he wrote. "This will have an adverse impact on the social economic development of some of the most vulnerable and backward regions of the country," he said in the letter seen by Reuters. Officials from the health ministry shared his concerns, telling a parliamentary panel that the budget will have a "major impact" on plans to provide free medicine and strengthen clinics. "Past experience shows that if spending is left to the states … [health] will take a back seat," the panel said in its report. Health Minister J.P. Nadda has publicly denied a shortfall in the health budget. Either way, rural health care is precarious. "Health workers don't come to our village, there is no government help," said Ayat Mohamad, from the state of Haryana, waiting with his undernourished 9-month-old grandson at Delhi's federally run Kalawati Saran hospital. The hospital is filled with children from rural areas suffering from malnutrition worsened by poor hygiene. The post Roads Before Welfare: India's Modi Faces Dissent Over Spending Shakeup appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ousted Thai PM Thaksin Says No Plans to Mobilize Supporters Posted: 18 May 2015 09:52 PM PDT   Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, right, and his then-wife Potjaman wade through photographers at a criminal court in Bangkok on July 31, 2008. (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL — Thailand's fugitive former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said on Tuesday he had no plans to mobilize his "Red Shirt" supporters but called the first year of the junta government which came to power in a coup "not so impressive." Thaksin, who lives abroad to avoid a jail sentence handed down for graft in 2008, has rarely spoken about Thai politics since the military toppled the remnants of the government of his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, a year ago. Yingluck was removed from office days before the army staged the 2014 coup after months of protests in Bangkok. She has since been banned from politics for five years, and faces a possible jail term over her role in a money losing rice subsidy scheme. Thaksin, who was in the South Korean capital to speak at a conference, told Reuters there was no plan for his son, Oak, to take over leadership of the Puea Thai Party. He called on the Thai people not to resort to violence. "No, we want to see the government be a success, but it's difficult, as you can imagine," Thaksin said on the sidelines of the conference, when asked if there were any plans to mobilize his "Red Shirt" supporters. "It's not so impressive yet," he said of the first year of the military government. "They have to work harder. They have to understand the world, and the mentality of the people who have been in democracy for many years. "I think democracy will prevail sooner or later, but we have to be patient, and we have to be peaceful," he said. "Don't resort to any kind of violence." Thai junta leader and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said last week that he was not worried about Thaksin's public appearance or whatever comments he might make. The military ousted Thaksin in 2006, exacerbating a sharp divide between his supporters in the poorer north and northeast and the traditional royalist-military establishment in the capital and the south. More than a decade of political strife has seen at times violent street protests from both Thaksin supporters and their opponents. With bases in Dubai and London, Thaksin travels frequently in Asia. The post Ousted Thai PM Thaksin Says No Plans to Mobilize Supporters appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Brokers Tricking Rohingya Children onto Trafficking Boats Posted: 18 May 2015 09:48 PM PDT A Rohingya child who recently arrived by boat has his picture taken for identification purposes at a shelter in Kuala Langsa, in Indonesia’s Aceh Province, May 18, 2015. SITTWE, Arakan State — The boy was shoved onto the wooden vessel with hundreds of other Rohingya Muslims. For days, the 14-year-old sat with his knees bent into his chest, pressed up against sweaty bodies in the cabin's rancid heat. Women cradled coughing babies. The crew paced back and forth with belts and iron rods, striking anyone who dared to speak, stand up or even those who vomited from the nauseating stench and rolling waves. Rohingya have been fleeing persecution in predominantly Buddhist Burma for years, but that was not the central reason Mohammad Tayub ended up on the ship anchored off the coast of western Arakan State two weeks ago. He said he was simply tricked by brokers, now capitalizing on poverty and a growing sense of desperation. Two men approached him while he was tending cattle, he said, offering him a job in Malaysia and saying that if he wanted to help earn money for his family, this was his best chance. They took him to the shore on the back of their motorbike, offering assurances he wouldn't have to pay for the boat ride. He hoped at least to go home, pack a bag and say goodbye, but by that time, it was already too late. "I'm never going to see my mother again," he thought when inside the ship, his body pressed up tightly against strangers on all sides. "I wanted to cry, but I knew I'd be beaten again if I did." Tayub had no way of knowing there is little chance of an exit for thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis stranded in the sea since a crackdown on human trafficking networks in Thailand earlier this month left the region grappling with a monumental humanitarian crisis. They are growing weaker each day as the navies of three Southeast Asian nations have pushed crowded rickety boats out of their respective waters, each nation fearing that any sign of acceptance could trigger a mass exodus that would swamp its shores. Survivors say dozens have died and an increasingly alarmed United Nations has warned that the boats could turn into "floating coffins." But that has not stopped brokers like the ones who approached Tayub in Burma. All are still eager to earn the US$100 they receive from the ship's captain for each body delivered regardless of what happens after they leave, according to Maung Maung, a community leader who has researched trafficking in camps in and around Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State. The captains know they can earn more money — thousands of dollars per person from family members — once they leave the country's terrestrial waters. For those trapped inside the vessels until the crew is given the go-ahead to leave, the shore is tantalizingly close, a few hours away by boat. "I wanted to jump in the water and swim back home," Tayub said, "but the crew were all armed. I knew they'd shoot me." The government claims Burma's 1.3 million Rohingya are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh, though many of their families arrived generations ago. Denied citizenship, they are effectively stateless and have faced violence and state-sponsored discrimination for decades. After the country of 50 million started moving from dictatorship to democracy in 2011, newfound freedoms of expression lifted the lid off deep-seated hatred of the dark-skinned religious minority, making them even more vulnerable. Up to 280 Rohingya have been killed since mid-2012, and some 140,000 were chased from their homes by machete-wielding extremist Buddhist mobs. They now live under apartheid-like conditions in camps where they can't work, get an adequate education or receive medical care. They have been told there's little chance they will be allowed to vote in upcoming general elections and that those who cannot prove their families have been in the country since it gained independence from Britain in 1948 could face deportation or indefinite detention in camps. As result, more than 100,000 Rohingya and neighboring Bangladeshis have fled by boat in the last three years, the biggest exodus of boat people in the region since the Vietnam War, says Chris Lewa of the non-profit advocacy group Arakan Project. Now it is not just religious and ethnic persecution but abject poverty, desperation and greed within their own communities that have torn the social fabric and driven Rohingya to leave. Though police, navy and other government officials profit, the brokers themselves are almost all Rohingya. The Associated Press interviewed nine families whose children have been taken by traffickers. It also interviewed six young victims, several community leaders and a smuggler in Sittwe. Maung Maung, one of the community leaders, rattled off names of more than a dozen men and women working full time to fill ships with human cargo. Residents were quick to confirm them, saying it's no longer a secret. The giant wooden vessel that carried Tayub was among five migrant ships bobbing last week in the Bay of Bengal that separates Burma and Bangladesh. The brokers promise men jobs and offer pretty young girls the prospect of marriage if they agree to board the ships. It may cost them nothing to board, but the migrants are unaware that they will be held hostage in jungle camps or at sea until their poor families somehow come up with enough money to pay their ransom. Activists also say some women end up being sold into prostitution. Until recently, the first stop for boats leaving the Bay of Bengal was Thailand, long considered a regional trafficking hub. Men, women and children were often held until brokers could collect up to $2,000 from relatives. Those who could pay continued onward, usually to Malaysia, because the Muslim country faces a shortage of unskilled workers. Those who couldn't come up with the money were sometimes beaten, killed or left to die. At suspected migrant camps in the mountains of southern Thailand, authorities have unearthed dozens of bodies from shallow graves since May 1. They have also arrested dozens of people, including police, politicians and a suspected trafficking kingpin. The crackdown, however, had the unintended consequence of spooking agents and brokers, who started holding the migrants offshore in overloaded boats. Fearing arrest, captains abandoned vessels, leaving thousands of men, women and children to fend for themselves on the open ocean. Off the Burma coast, Tayub and everyone else on the wooden boat seemed destined to meet the even more uncertain fate once the vessel left, though it was unclear to those on board what they were waiting for. As the number of passengers climbed to about 300, they were convinced the ship would soon set sail and their families would never know what had happened. Some were able to leave, but only if they could somehow pay the brokers anywhere from $100 to $300 to disembark. On Tayub's 12th night on board, he heard a boat pull up and loud voices. He was shocked to hear someone call, "Come out people from the Sittwe area!" He rushed to the deck with 13 other boys and girls, tripping between the bodies and legs of the other tightly packed passengers. The kids didn't know it then, but their parents had learned what had happened and paid a local community leader to rescue them. They argued, negotiated, and eventually, after handing over hundreds of dollars, the ship's broker let them disembark. When they arrived at shore hours later, eyes red from crying and their stomachs concave after days of eating nothing but a few handfuls of rice and slices of potato, they rushed to their parents' arms. Some said they knew when their children disappeared that there was only one place they could be: the ships. Every village and camp in the area had stories about missing children or relatives and friends. "When we left from the ship, the rest of the people were crying and shouting," Tayub said. "They wanted to go home, too." Instead, he said, the crew beat them, and shot their guns in the air to shut them up. The post Brokers Tricking Rohingya Children onto Trafficking Boats appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ordinary People Help Migrants as Asia Struggles with Crisis Posted: 18 May 2015 09:43 PM PDT Rohingya migrants sleep inside a shelter in Kuala Langsa, in Indonesia’s Aceh Province, on Monday. (Photo: Roni Bintang / Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — For hundreds of migrants stranded at sea in sinking boats, the first helping hand came not from governments but from fishermen who towed them to safety. The desperation of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh has not compelled neighboring countries to take them in, but has inspired compassion—and pleas for help—from ordinary people across Southeast Asia. Sympathetic Malaysians have launched donation drives to help feed migrants who have flooded ashore in the past two weeks. In Indonesia, where fisherman rescued three boats last week and saved 900 lives, villagers have donated clothing and home-cooked meals. Aid groups estimate that thousands more migrants—who fled persecution in Myanmar and poverty in Bangladesh—are stranded in the Andaman Sea after a crackdown on human traffickers prompted captains and smugglers to abandon their boats. But more than two weeks into the spiraling humanitarian crisis, the stance of Southeast Asian governments remains unchanged — none wants to take the migrants in, fearing that accepting a few would result in an unstoppable flow. A political cartoon in Thailand’s The Nation newspaper on Monday summed up the official reaction, showing a boatload of Muslim Rohingya refugees being kicked back to sea by people on the shores of Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. “On the one hand, we’re seeing governments quibbling and struggling to find ways to deal with these boat people. But on the other hand, it’s encouraging to see that the people in this region have responded very generously to these boat people,” said Vivian Tan, a Bangkok-based spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. “The public response has been overwhelming and governments really need to follow this example and let people disembark as soon as possible,” Tan said. One prominent Islamic scholar in Malaysia noted that the government is still searching for a Malaysia Airlines plane believed to have crashed at sea over a year ago, “while those who are still alive, we leave to die out at sea.” “Where is our humanity?” Asri Zainal Abidin, a state mufti in Malaysia, wrote on his Facebook page. Navy ships from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia intercepted boats last week packed with desperate, hungry migrants, giving them food and water and then sending them away — a move that drew strong international criticism. The UN warned that pushing away boats of starving people could create a crisis of “floating coffins.” It also sparked outrage in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, where sympathetic citizens and Muslim groups have launched donation drives to collect food, clothing and medical aid for a boatload of more than 1,100 migrants who landed at a Malaysian island on May 10 and are being held at a detention camp. Another prominent Malaysian, Marina Mahathir, a social activist and daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, issued an appeal last week for anyone with seaworthy boats to send aid to the migrants still at sea. “Our chief concern is those still out at sea because this is a real humanitarian crisis,” she said. “We need to provide some sort of solution. I don’t think we can wash our hands of this.” An online petition is calling on the Malaysian government to put humanity before politics. “We the people want incoming migrants who have been abandoned at sea by traffickers to be rescued and cared for by our elected Malaysian government,” it says. Malaysia is the current chair of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and has called for a meeting of the foreign ministers of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand on Wednesday. But Malaysian officials have said they will not take in more refugees. Malaysia is the desired destination for most of the migrants—it has already hosted more than 45,000 Rohingya over the years, according to the UN—but now says it can’t accept any more. The Rohingya Muslims have faced decades of state-sanctioned discrimination in Myanmar, which is predominantly Buddhist. In the past three years, Rohingya were targeted by violent mobs of Buddhist extremists, leaving hundreds dead and sparking an exodus of more than 120,000 people, according to the UN's refugee agency. The UN has called the Rohingya one of the most persecuted groups in the world. In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, officials have appealed to villagers on loudspeakers not to get too close to the migrants who were towed ashore in eastern Aceh province by fisherman, fearing they could spread disease. But villagers have ignored the orders. Hundreds have thronged the two warehouses where the migrants have been housed since their Friday arrival, bringing rice, instant noodles, clothing and even some home-cooked meals. “We have to help them, because they are our brothers,” said Hayaturrahman Djakfar, who came with a group that donated sarongs, towels, headscarves, children’s clothes and food. “And because they are struggling for a better life and protection. There is no reason not to help them.” The post Ordinary People Help Migrants as Asia Struggles with Crisis appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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