The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Unflattering Photos of MPs Get Reporters Banned from Parliament
• Interfaith Marriage Bill Passes Upper House With Prison Sentence Curbs
• ‘Stop Blaming Burma’: Anti-Rohingya Rally Held in Rangoon
• Boycotting Election Would Not be Practical: NLD
• Election Information Center Unveiled in Rangoon
• Memory! Film Fest Celebrates Celluloid in Rangoon
• Conservationists, Scientists Warn of Threat to Newly Discovered Species in Taunggyi
• China to Extend Military Reach, Build Lighthouses in Disputed Waters
• Burma on Track for November Vote, Challenges Remain: Election Commission
• Singapore’s Foreign Maids Exploited by Agents, Employers

Unflattering Photos of MPs Get Reporters Banned from Parliament Posted: 27 May 2015 08:26 AM PDT This photo appears to show a military lawmaker voting on behalf of his absent neighbor. (Photo: Hein Htet / Myanmar Post) RANGOON — Burma's Union legislature on Tuesday banned reporters from observing sessions after a series of embarrassing images went viral on social media, indefinitely locking the doors to a media observation room above the Parliament floor. Local and foreign media were previously granted access to a booth from which they could observe and broadcast proceedings, but journalists said on Tuesday they were turned away with no notice of when they would be allowed back in. "After the Lower House session was over [on Tuesday], they locked the door to the room where we sit before the Union session began," Aung Thu Ra, a reporter for the BBC, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. "We had to sit on chairs outside, where we couldn't see what was happening in the Parliament." Aung Thu Ra said that reporters were offered no explanation for the sudden ban, adding that "it seems like they are telling us to just do what they say, and not say anything about it." Zayar Phyo, a reporter for Mizzima News, said journalists could now only watch a live feed broadcast by government-employed videographers inside the Parliament. "The disadvantage is that we can't see the representatives while they are voting or watch their activities directly, we can only see what's aired on TV," he said, explaining that the state-sanctioned broadcast doesn't provide a complete picture all activities that reporters need access to. What prompted the ban is still unclear, though many journalists have attributed it to a photograph widely shared on social media showing two lawmakers asleep during a session. It was the second such snafu in under two months; lawmakers were outraged in mid-April when a local journal published photographs that appeared to show a military member voting on behalf of an absentee. Myint Kyaw, secretary of the Myanmar Journalists Network (MJN), told The Irrawaddy that he was still inquiring about the details and that the group would lobby against the media ban directly to the Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann. "What the Union Parliament director general, Kyaw Soe, said in today's Voice newspaper was confrontational, it seems like he is unsatisfied with the media for showing pictures of [lawmakers] sleeping, and making jokes on social media," Myint Kyaw said. "But he's just blaming the media for reporting on things, like the lawmaker who [appeared to] vote from someone else's desk, whereas the issue being reported on is what should be addressed." Additional reporting by Lawi Weng. The post Unflattering Photos of MPs Get Reporters Banned from Parliament appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Interfaith Marriage Bill Passes Upper House With Prison Sentence Curbs Posted: 27 May 2015 08:20 AM PDT   Lawmakers in Burma's Parliament convene a legislative session in Naypyidaw. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's Upper House of Parliament passed an amended bill covering interfaith marriages on Wednesday, with lawmakers voting to reduce prison sentences for violators of the law that were proposed by the legislature's lower chamber. The Buddhist Women's Special Marriage Bill, also known as the Interfaith Marriage Bill due to its provisions on marrying outside of one's faith, is part of a contentious legislative package known as the Protection of Race and Religion Bills that was first proposed by the Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha. Lawmakers on Wednesday voted in line with changes to a Lower House bill that were recommended by the Upper House Bill Committee and cut the maximum prison sentence for violators of multiple provisions from five years to two. In addition to the two year prison term, the Upper House bill sets a maximum fine of 1.5 million kyats (US$1,500) for any non-Buddhist man who is found to have insulted his Buddhist wife's faith, prevented his wife from having a Buddhist funeral, and destroyed or damaged his wife's sacred objects or place of worship. Any non-Buddhist man who is found to have persuaded his Buddhist wife to abandon her faith would be subject to a fine not exceeding 2 million kyats under the bill passed by the Upper House, and sentenced to no more than two years in prison. The Upper House voted to increase the maximum fine for violations of articles pertaining to the duties of township administrators, who are designated as marriage registration officers in the bill and are responsible for the Interfaith Marriage Bill's bureaucratic burden. Those tasks include publically posting notification of an interfaith couple's intent to marry, informing parents of the Buddhist woman if she is under 20 years old and fielding objections to any such matrimony. The maximum prison sentence for marriage administrators who fail to follow the letter of the law was unchanged from the Lower House bill at six months, while fines rose from 50,000 kyats to 200,000 kyats. The Interfaith Marriage Bill was approved by Burma's Lower House of Parliament on March 19 and sent to Upper House lawmakers. The upper chamber's Bill Committee recommended the changes passed on Wednesday, in addition to other minor revisions. The legislation now returns to the Lower House, which can offer its own amendments or pass the bill as is. The Interfaith Marriage Bill, which has come under harsh criticism from women's rights advocates and members of the international community, does still require Buddhist women to seek permission from local authorities before marrying a man of another faith. Another piece of legislation that was part of the Protection of Race and Religion Bills was signed into law by President Thein Sein last week. That law allows local authorities in certain circumstances to impose a birth-spacing order limiting women to only one child every three years, though the legislation does not appear to include punitive penalties for violating the restriction. The Race and Religion Protection package includes two other bills that Parliament is expected to put to votes, one covering religious conversions and the other banning polygamy. The post Interfaith Marriage Bill Passes Upper House With Prison Sentence Curbs appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Stop Blaming Burma’: Anti-Rohingya Rally Held in Rangoon Posted: 27 May 2015 05:43 AM PDT   Click to view slideshow. RANGOON — Around 300 people joined a protest in Rangoon on Wednesday to call for an end to international pressure on Burma over the Bay of Bengal migrant crisis. Wearing shirts that read "Boat People are not Myanmar, Stop Blaming Myanmar", the crowd marched around the Kyaikkasan Grounds in Tamwe, declaring that Burma had not contributed to the exodus of boat people from Arakan State and Bangladesh in recent months. "Boat people are from Bangladesh, stop making [up the] story of Rohingya, stop lying for Rohingya, [there are] no Rohingya in Myanmar," the demonstrators shouted in Burmese and English. Unlike previous anti-Rohingya rallies, The Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, led by Buddhist nationalist monks, appeared not to be responsible for the mobilization, though a contingent of monks from the group did participate. Organizers told the Irrawaddy that the midday rally was arranged by Ha Pyar Zar (Arakanese for "Golden Pagoda"), an umbrella group which brought together the nationalist organizations Rakhine Youth, the Myanmar National Network and Rakhine Rakeda (Protect the Arakan People). Maung Maung Kha, one of the rally organizers, said that the demonstrators had sought and failed to receive permission from the government to protest in front of the United Nations offices in Rangoon. "We hosted today's protest because we wanted to tell to other countries to stop putting pressure on our country about the boat people problem," he told The Irrawaddy. "We also want to give a message to Thailand, which will hold a meeting on May 29, to stop blaming our country." "Indeed, we wanted to protest to UN and the UNHCR," he added, referring to the UN's refugee agency. "They should check before they blame our country. They should check who these boat people are." In a May 19 joint press release, the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration said that 25,000 migrants and refugees from Bangladesh and Myanmar had made the voyage across Andaman Sea in the first quarter of 2015. Nearly 1,000 people are believed to have drowned. Deputy US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, told a Rangoon press conference on May 22 that more than half of those embarking across the Andaman Sea were from Arakan State. "Our best information, based on the work that we've done with the United Nations is that a significant number, a majority, are in fact from Rakhine State, are Rohingya, and left because of desperate conditions that they faced in Rakhine State," he said. Senior monk U Thuta Nanda, a South Okkalapa resident, said he was motivated to join Wednesday's protest by his concerns that the Muslim population of Burma would increase dramatically due to an influx from neighboring Bangladesh. He claimed that Burma's Muslim minority was attempting to join the governing Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), the country's two largest political parties, in an attempt to steer the country towards Muslim doctrine. "We found that they have 25% of the power in both political parties already," the monk said. "They are active in our country now. They will destroy our pagodas and our Buddhist religion." U Thuta Nanda added that the Burma Army needed to remain stationed in Arakan State, or the entire region would become Muslim-dominated. According to the Pew Research Center, 3.8 percent of the total population of Burma was Muslim, a figure that is expected to remain static through to at least 2030. A phone call to NLD lawmaker Min Thu confirmed that his party presently had no Muslim MPs sitting in the Union Parliament. A survey of the Parliamentary Handbook, published by Myanmar Consolidated Media, found that of the USDP's 336 MPs in the Union Parliament, a total of three belonged to the Muslim faith. Additional reporting by Kyaw Phyo Tha and Yen Snaing. The post 'Stop Blaming Burma': Anti-Rohingya Rally Held in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Boycotting Election Would Not be Practical: NLD Posted: 27 May 2015 04:45 AM PDT NLD patron Tin Oo in Rangoon on May 27, 2015. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Representatives of Burma's leading opposition party said on Wednesday it will not boycott a highly anticipated general election scheduled for later this year, the latest in the party's perpetual flip-flop on the issue. At a press conference in Rangoon, party patron Tin Oo warned that abstaining could cause a confrontation with the current government and would not resolve the opposition's qualms with the administration. "We need to be practical. If we don't join the election, it would seem that we don't believe in democracy," Tin Oo said during the event, which was jointly held with the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society. "Only when we are able to convince the [Burma] Army will we be able to get what we want without confrontation," he added in reference to amending the country's 2008 military-drafted Constitution. Burma's Union Election Commission announced on Tuesday that "the election will be in November," following recent speculation over the feasibility of the government's timeline. The Commission also said that a constitutional referendum, which was initially set to place in May or June of this year, likely would not happen until after the general election. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said in April that boycotting the election was an "option" if the divisive charter remained unchanged. The NLD central committee has yet to officially announce that it would join the race. "We will let you know when the UEC announces the exact date of the election," said central committee member Win Htein, when asked at Wednesday's conference when the party planned to publicly commit to the polls. 88 Generation leader Min Ko Naing, also present at the conference, said that while his organization did not intend to join the race as a political party, it would remain committed to pushing for charter reform. "Now is the time for the [Burma Army] to decide," Min Ko Naing said, referring to whether Burma's powerful military would agree to constitutional amendments. "It could happen sooner or later, depending on the vision of whoever is in charge of the Army." The NLD boycotted Burma's last general election in 2010, but participated in by-elections two years later that landed the opposition 43 seats in Parliament. Since entering the legislature, the party has made charter reform one of its top priorities. Last year, the party teamed up with 88 Generation activists to launch a nationwide petition for reform that earned nearly five million signatures. Recommendations for amendments have been made by a parliamentary joint committee, but remain stalled in the Union Parliament. "We will keep on pushing for constitutional amendment through public participation and non-violence," Min Ko Naing said. "It may take time but we are not dragging our feet." In a joint statement released on Wednesday, the NLD and 88 Generation declared that they shared the democratic goals of a federal union, and are willing to ally with any political organizations that could help them materialize that goal. The post Boycotting Election Would Not be Practical: NLD appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Election Information Center Unveiled in Rangoon Posted: 27 May 2015 04:17 AM PDT The UEC Information Center opened in Rangoon on Tuesday. (Photo: Union Election Commission) RANGOON — Ahead of much-anticipated elections late this year, Burma's Union Election Commission (UEC) has launched an Information Center in Rangoon and a new website where eligible voters can check their names against voting lists compiled by the commission. At an opening ceremony on Tuesday, UEC chairman Tin Aye said the Information Center would allow interested parties to access elections-related data faster and more conveniently in Rangoon, where most of the country's political parties, civil society groups and media outlets are based, according to a UEC press release. The chairman said that through the center, updated documents and information about the election would be made available, including relevant laws and regulations, orders and instructions issued by the UEC, and materials on the commission's operations. The new Information Center is located on Shwe Li Road in Rangoon's Kamayut Township, and the election commission's deputy director, Hla Maung Cho, told The Irrawaddy that it will be open from Monday to Friday and will be staffed by at least one UEC official at all times. The UEC also launched the https://checkvoterlist.uecmyanmar.org website on Tuesday, saying voters would be able to search their names online in addition to checking them at election subcommission offices in their wards. The rollout of the website was not an unequivocal success, however, with some Rangoon voters who attempted to check their names on the website complaining that their searches did not produce a match. "There are going to be complaints like that," said Hla Maung Cho. "We are not now posting all of the voter lists. Only the voter lists in 13 townships in Rangoon are now posted and we will update it gradually." In Rangoon, physical copies of the voter lists were put up in the wards of 14 townships on Monday, and will remain posted from 9 am to 4 pm daily through June 7. An initial batch of 10 Rangoon townships was made public from March 30 to April 12. The eight townships of the Naypyidaw Union Territory also released voter lists on Monday, though the UEC's new website did not allow for a search of those rolls as of Wednesday. The UEC has said the voting rosters will be made public in four stages, with the last releases on June 22. The purpose of the exercise is to allow eligible voters to ensure that they will be able to cast a ballot by checking that their names are on the lists. Voters are also being instructed to inform local election officials if names are erroneously included on a list. The compilation of accurate voter rolls is viewed as an important gauge of the 2015 poll's credibility. The UEC has said it is committed to ensuring a free and fair election in November amid intense international scrutiny in the lead up to what could be Burma's first credible poll in 25 years. The electoral commission has not yet announced a date for Election Day. The post Election Information Center Unveiled in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Memory! Film Fest Celebrates Celluloid in Rangoon Posted: 27 May 2015 01:58 AM PDT The Memory! International Film Heritage Festival will run from May 29 to June 7 in Rangoon. RANGOON — The lights go down but the sounds don't stop in Rangoon's rundown movie palaces, where the crackle of sunflower seeds competes effortlessly with high-decibel action tracks. It's one of those rare places where you can go to a cinema and not forget that you're completely surrounded by strangers. That's part of what Séverine Wemeare and Gilles Duval want to preserve: a sense of collective activity and shared memory that only the movies provide. The pair founded the Memory! International Film Heritage Festival in 2013 with the hope of instilling their love of repertory cinema across Southeast Asia. For its first two years the festival was held in Phnom Penh, but it might now find a new home in Rangoon. The 10-day festival, which features more than 50 films from around the world, will run from May 29 to June 7 at the Nay Pyi Taw Theater in downtown Rangoon. All screenings are free, as are discussions with special guests that a few of our readers might consider famous (Catherine Deneuve, Michelle Yeoh, to name a few). While the program is international, four classic Burmese films will be screened in their original 35mm formats—a very rare occurrence, one that is unlikely to be repeated in the near future. The roster is a delight for classic film fans and a great primer for those curious about cinematic history. The program features three live musical accompaniments, all of which are promising. Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi classic about class disparity, Metropolis, will screen at the National Theater with two pianos, while Burma's Itö (also known as Han Htoo Lwin) will provide a modern score for Alice Guy's 1906 The Consequences of Feminism. One of the first animated feature films ever made, The Adventures of Prince Ahmed, 1926, will be shown with a live performance of traditional Burmese music conducted by Kyi Soe Tun. Many of the films in the program may be obscure to casual moviegoers, but don't let that stop you. Duval recommended A Girl of the Bush (May 30, 4pm), and Black Narcissus (June 2, 4pm). Wemeare suggested—if you haven't seen it yet—the classic Breakfast at Tiffany's, starring Audrey Hepburn (June 7, 9am). And if you have seen it, get a later start and watch Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life at 8pm on closing night, because (in this reviewer's opinion) it is one of the greatest movies ever made. Maybe the most irritating thing about film festivals is that they tend to have schedules that don't work for people who have jobs. The film you'll want to see but probably can't is Insiang, which is on at 9am on Thursday, June 4. The Filipino feature, a 1976 drama about a young woman seeking revenge for a lifetime of cruelty, was recently restored and debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. The entire lineup is strong; if you close your eyes and drop a finger on the schedule, there's a very good chance it will land on a movie you'll enjoy or, at least, find interesting. It's worth going just to pick up the program, a 184-page book that doubles as a download list, with detailed synopses of every single film. The programmers, Wemeare and Duval, gave themselves only one very general constraint: All of the films relate in some way to the theme of "women," which could mean just about anything. Many of the films they chose, however, feature strong female leads, are directed by women, or provide unique insight into women's private lives. A strong curatorial agenda that reflects a woman's perspective is novel anywhere in the world, but especially so in Burma, where women are often underrepresented in nearly all aspects of public life—from pop culture to politics. Wemeare and Duval founded the Memory! International Film Heritage Festival three years ago because, as Wemeare said, "there was absolutely no event dedicated to film heritage in Asia." Globally, there are only a handful of projects that source and celebrate film as a social and historical artifact. Burma is unique among Southeast Asian nations because, aside from having a long and lively "golden era" of movie-making, the masterworks of Burmese cinema have been relatively well-preserved. The pair scoped out Burma last year as a potential host for the festival, partly because of its rich and unexamined cinematic history. After a successful test-run in Rangoon, they met with the Ministry of Information in Naypyidaw last November to discuss a partnership. Wemeare said she was taken aback by the ministry's enthusiasm and openness. "So we go into the office of the Minister [of Information, Ye Htut]," she recalled, "and we had a strong, plain and frank welcome. We are from a different country, we read the press and everything, and we tell him, 'You have to understand that this is going to be about films from everywhere, from any period. Is that fine?' And he said yes." Our Picks: The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967, Jacques Demy, May 29 at 4pm) *Lead actress Catherine Deneuve will attend this opening night event Lola Montès (1955, Max Ophüls, May 30 at 1:30pm) Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962, Agnès Varda, May 31 at 9am) Master Class – A conversation with Catherine Deneuve and director Olivier Assayas (May 31 at 12 noon) Mr. Sun Stone (1983, Daw Thin Thin Yu, May 31 at 1pm) *Director Daw Thin Thin Yu will be joined by actresses Daw Swe Zin Htaik, Daw Khin Thida Htun and Daw Nwe Nwe San for this Myanmar Film Treasures event Insiang (1976, Lino Brocka, June 4 at 9am) Passerine Bird (1962, Nguyen Van Thong & Tran Vu, June 5 at 10:30am) Imitation of Life (1959, Douglas Sirk, June 7 at 8pm) Nay Pyi Taw Theater is located on Sule Pagoda Road between Bogyoke and Mahabandoola roads. The full schedule of events is available at www.memoryfilmfestival.org. The post Memory! Film Fest Celebrates Celluloid in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Conservationists, Scientists Warn of Threat to Newly Discovered Species in Taunggyi Posted: 27 May 2015 01:44 AM PDT Tylototriton shanorum, the new crocodile newt species native to Taunggyi, which was identified by Japanese and Chinese researchers last year. (Photo: Tim Johnson) RANGOON — The future of a new species of crocodile newt found in the Shan State capital of Taunggyi is being threatened by development, water pollution and poaching, according to conservationists and researchers. The tylototriton shanorum, native to Taunggyi, was identified as a new species by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Kyoto University in Japan last year, based in part on samples of the newt collected by Burmese herpetologist Kyi Soe Lwin and deposited at the California Academy of Sciences more than a decade ago. A report released on Wednesday by the World Wide Fund for Nature, which chronicled the species discovered in the region last year, said that the breeding ponds vital to the species' survival were being encroached upon by waste residue and a new construction project on the grounds of Taunggyi University. "According to local experts, construction…threatens to cut off the water flow to their core breeding ponds, threatening their survival," said the report. "Many are killed by traffic during season migrations to and from breeding ponds, which are increasingly clogged with litter." The drying up of the breeding ponds appears to have continued unabated, despite the presence of a large sign nearby which declares the area to be a newt preserve. In the Oct. 2014 edition of the Natural History Bulletin of the Siam Society, where the discovery of the new crocodile newt was first published, the three researchers who identified the species said that two infants of the species raised in captivity had been found for sale in a Japanese pet shop. "Effective management for the protection of this new species must be taken into action urgently," the article read, adding that the introduction of regulations to prohibit the trade of wild newts in Burma was needed to protect the wild population. According to the WWF's report, last year a total of 139 new species were discovered across the Greater Mekong region, which comprises Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Five other species were discovered in Burma last year, including four plants and a wormlike limbless amphibian found in Irrawaddy Division, joining around 200 species formally identified as belonging to the same order as the infamous "penis snake" native to the Brazilian rainforest. The WWF has identified new road projects, hydroelectric dams, an increase in deforestation and illegal poaching as ongoing threats to the region's biodiversity. "This report is a wonderful opportunity to share with the world the incredible biodiversity of the Greater Mekong Region and particularly Myanmar," said Michelle Owen, the conservation program manager of the WWF's Burma office. "Many of these species face threats from the illegal wildlife trade, deforestation, habitat loss and unsustainable infrastructure development." The post Conservationists, Scientists Warn of Threat to Newly Discovered Species in Taunggyi appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China to Extend Military Reach, Build Lighthouses in Disputed Waters Posted: 26 May 2015 11:42 PM PDT Copies of the annual white paper on China's military strategy are placed on a table for distribution to journalists during a news conference in Beijing on May 26, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — China outlined a strategy to boost its naval reach on Tuesday and held a groundbreaking ceremony for two lighthouses in disputed waters, developments likely to escalate tensions in a region already jittery about Beijing's maritime ambitions. In a policy document issued by the State Council, the Communist-ruled country's cabinet, China vowed to increase its "open seas protection," switching from air defense to both offense and defense, and criticized neighbors who take "provocative actions" on its reefs and islands. China has been taking an increasingly assertive posture over recent years in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, where Beijing has engaged in land reclamation in the Spratly archipelago. China, which claims most of the South China Sea, criticized Washington after a US spy plane flew over areas near the reefs last week, with both sides accusing each other of stoking instability. It has overlapping claims with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei in the South China Sea, through which US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said China's reclamation in the Spratlys was comparable with construction of homes and roads on the mainland. "From the perspective of sovereignty, there is absolutely no difference," he told reporters. Some countries with "ulterior motives" had unfairly characterized China's military presence and sensationalized the issue, he said. Surveillance in the region was increasingly common and China would continue to take "necessary measures" to respond. "Some external countries are also busy meddling in South China Sea affairs. A tiny few maintain constant close-in air and sea surveillance and reconnaissance against China," the strategy paper said in a thinly veiled reference to the United States. It said China's air force would shift its focus from territorial air defense to both offense and defense, and building airspace defenses with stronger military capabilities. China also hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the building of two lighthouses in the South China Sea, broadcast on state television, defying calls from the United States and the Philippines for a freeze on such activity. The construction was to help maritime search and rescue, disaster relief, environmental protection and navigational security, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. Wu Shicun, president of the government-affiliated National Institute for South China Sea Studies, said the lighthouses were among the first of planned civilian-use facilities in the region. "The reefs are located near an important commercial shipping route, so there will be continued development to maintain the security of those shipping lanes," he said in an interview with Reuters. The People's Liberation Army's nuclear force, known as the Second Artillery Corps, would also strengthen its capabilities for deterrence and nuclear counterattack as well as medium- and long-range precision strikes, the paper said. "China faces many complex maritime security threats and challenges and requires a navy that can carry out multifaceted missions and protect its sovereignty," Wang Jin, a senior colonel, told reporters. The paper also cited "grave threats" to China's cyber infrastructure, adding that China would hasten development of a cyber-military force. Self-ruled Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, called on all South China Sea claimants to shelve their disagreements to enable talks on sharing resources before a conflict breaks out. Japan meanwhile will join a major US-Australian military exercise for the first time in a sign of growing security links between the three countries as tensions fester over China's moves. All three nations have said they are concerned about freedom of movement through the South China Sea and air space. China's Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday it had carried out military training for party cadres from border and coastal areas on border defense, among other topics. The trainees, who visited military combat units, developed a better understanding of the "national security situation," said a statement on the ministry's website. The post China to Extend Military Reach, Build Lighthouses in Disputed Waters appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma on Track for November Vote, Challenges Remain: Election Commission Posted: 26 May 2015 10:03 PM PDT Union Election Commission Chairman Tin Aye on May 26, 2015. (Photo: UEC) RANGOON — Burma plans to go ahead with an election in November despite the challenges it faces in completing an electoral roll in the many areas of the country that have suffered ethnic conflict, the country's election commission chairman said on Tuesday. The country is gearing up for a historic election in November, the first free vote in 25 years and a milestone in the country's transition to democracy after 49 years of military rule ended in 2010. "The election will be in November," Tin Aye, chairman of Burma's Union Election Commission, told reporters on Tuesday. The commission will announce the actual polling date in August, he added. Among the challenges is completing a full electoral roll that includes voters in camps for internally displaced people in areas that have seen ethnic conflict, and the millions of citizens living abroad, Tin Aye said. A patchwork of ethnic insurgencies has bedeviled Burma since its independence in 1948. Similar challenges prevented the completion of the nation's first census in 30 years in 2014, when the country registered 51.4 million people, some 10 million less than expected. Candidate and constituency lists will be announced in September, Tin Aye said, and election campaigning will be permitted for 60 days. Any referendum on the constitution should be held at a later date, he said. There has been some discussion among leading political figures on holding a referendum at the same time as the vote to amend the controversial charter, which reserves considerable power for the country's military and bans Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president. But a referendum must have the support of the military, and politicians have yet to identify which items of the constitution they would consider changing. The post Burma on Track for November Vote, Challenges Remain: Election Commission appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Singapore’s Foreign Maids Exploited by Agents, Employers Posted: 26 May 2015 09:45 PM PDT   Indonesian domestic workers are pictured during a hairdressing and make-up class at the office of the Transient Workers Count Too charity in Singapore. (Photo: Astrid Zweynert / Thomson Reuters Foundation) SINGAPORE — The promise of a salary five times what she could make at home prompted Nabila to leave Indonesia and her family for a job as a domestic worker in Singapore. What she did not realize was that it would be eight months before she earned a cent because of deductions made by the employment agency that brought her to Singapore. With a 17-hour working day that started at 5am, a “very demanding” employer and dinners that consisted of leftovers, the 30-year-old said she was driven to despair. “I was desperate when I realised that I wouldn’t get paid for such a long time,” said Nabila, whose monthly salary was S560 ($424). “I came to Singapore because I need money for my two children so that they can go to school. I need every cent.” Employment agencies are part of a complex web spun across Southeast Asia by brokers and agents that allow the domestic workers virtually no say in their working conditions. Reports of domestic workers being burned, beaten and raped have sparked outrage in Asia, which has the largest share of the world’s domestic workers at more than 21 million. The Philippines is the only Asian nation to have ratified the International Labour Organisation’s convention on domestic workers, which bans recruiters from taking money from workers’ wages to recoup placement fees, among other measures. The ILO says recruitment fees should not be charged to any worker. “Despite this, charging and overcharging of recruitment fees is prevalent across the region and governments need to do more to ensure that recruitment agencies are punished when they overcharge and workers reimbursed,” Max Tunon, a senior ILO project officer, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Trapped by Fees In the wealthy city state of Singapore, charging for recruitment services is not illegal but the government has put a cap on the amount local agencies can deduct at two months’ salary. Many agencies get around the law by saying they need to charge more to cover fees with agencies in Indonesia, the Philippines and Burma where most of Singapore’s estimated 220,000 foreign domestic workers come from. “It’s a practice that traps women with a lot of debt and makes them endure all sorts of abuses to eventually get their salary, from emotional to physical and sometimes even sexual abuse,” said Jolovan Wham of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME), a charity supporting domestic workers with legal assistance, training and basic medical care. HOME says employers withholding payment is the second most common complaint they deal with after emotional abuse. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) says foreign domestic workers are fully protected by the law in the country of 5.4 million people, and errant employers and agencies are subject to scrutiny, fines and imprisonment. “Singapore has numerous measures in place to ensure the welfare and protection of foreign domestic workers here, including legal protection, education, safeguards and dedicated avenues for redress,” a spokesman said in emailed comments. Long List of Abuses At Singapore’s Katong Shopping Centre, domestic workers push each other in wheelchairs, while others change nappies on dummy babies, displaying their skills in public view at one of the many “maid agencies” in the building. “It’s a degrading way to put them on display, like they’re a commodity,” Wham, HOME’s executive director, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Activists say another example of discrimination against foreign domestic workers is their exemption from Singapore’s Employment Act, which regulates working conditions for locals. Instead they are covered by a law for foreign workers that puts the onus on employers and agencies to make sure they are not exploited. “It’s a 24/7 job—always on standby, no guaranteed resting hours and often no privacy,” said Noorashikin Abdul Rahman, president of the Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) charity. Many domestic workers still work seven days a week even though the government introduced a compulsory weekly day off for them in 2013. Employers can opt out of this by offering to pay. Often, workers dare not say ‘no’ even if they only get paid an average of S$17 if they work on their day off, Ummai Ummairoh, president of the Indonesian Family Network (IFN) said. “What we really want is better protection by the law,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Singapore’s maids are forbidden to live away from their place of work, which for many means being on call all the time. Some said they have to share rooms with their employer’s children or elderly relatives and sleep in the hall or the living room, unable to sleep until the employer goes to bed. Poverty a Key Driver At HOME’s shelter for domestic workers, a Filipina said she was dismissed without notice by her American employer after four months because she did not know how to cook Western food. Still owing money to the employment agency, she now faces having her work permit cancelled and being forced to return to Mindanao, a particularly poor region of the Philippines. “I can’t make enough money at home to support my kids, so I will have to go abroad again, pay all the fees again,” said the 29-year-old, who declined to be named, fighting back tears. Unlike in Hong Kong, another top Asian destination for domestic workers, those in Singapore are not allowed to form a union and must rely on informal networks and charities for help. Ummairoh is proud that the IFN and its counterpart, the Filipino Family Network, provide classes in English, computer studies, hairdressing and make-up skills. “We hope this will help to give them some useful skills for getting better jobs, especially when they return home,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. A plan by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to stop domestic workers from working abroad is unlikely to succeed unless there are better jobs available at home, said Ummairoh. “It will just lead to more women leaving illegally, which will make them even more vulnerable because they won’t be documented with the authorities and have no redress if things go wrong,” Ummairoh said. The post Singapore’s Foreign Maids Exploited by Agents, Employers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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