The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• EU-Funded Trade Development Program Launches in Naypyidaw
• Fresh Clashes in SSPP Territory after Ceasefire Rejection
• ‘Election’s Coming… Time for Another Amnesty!’
• Indian Parliamentarian Charged with Raping 14-Year-Old Maid
• Historic Pacific Trade Deal Faces Skeptics in US Congress
• Thai Junta Picks 21-Member Panel to Write New Constitution
• Cambodia Seeks Way Out of Post “Killing Fields” Mental Health Crisis
• A Place to Call Home for Those Living with Leprosy

EU-Funded Trade Development Program Launches in Naypyidaw Posted: 06 Oct 2015 05:38 AM PDT A worker stands near crates of fish at a fish export factory at Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone in Rangoon, April 19, 2013. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — A three-year European Union-funded program to help streamline new trading opportunities for Burma was launched during a ceremony in Naypyidaw on Tuesday. The EU-Burma Trade Development Programme, with a budget of €10.5 million (15 billion kyat), aims to strengthen Burma's economy by "facilitating trade and removing trade barriers," according to an EU press release issued on Tuesday. "It is essential to make the best use of the opportunities of international trade and preferential market access, such as to the EU, for the widest benefit of the Myanmar people," EU Ambassador to Burma Roland Kobia said in the statement. Kobia attended the official inauguration ceremony in Naypyidaw on Tuesday alongside Burma's Commerce Minister Win Myint. According to the EU statement, the program aims to strengthen consumer protection, enhance quality control, simplify customs procedures and modernize trade infrastructure. The fishery and beans sectors will be the program's initial focus. Fish exports already flow to the EU, while the beans sector requires improvements regarding packaging, post-harvest handling and regulatory compliance, the EU said. In cooperation with the commerce ministry, the program will run until 2017, with additional funding contributed by EU-member Germany. The EU exported €500 million (US$561 million) in goods to Burma in 2014, while its imports from the country totaled €400 million (US$449 million), according to European Commission statistics. The post EU-Funded Trade Development Program Launches in Naypyidaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Fresh Clashes in SSPP Territory after Ceasefire Rejection Posted: 06 Oct 2015 05:22 AM PDT Shan State Army-North soldiers on the frontline in 2012. (Photo: Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Fighting has erupted near the Mong Hsu Township headquarters of the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N), the armed wing of the Shan State Progressive Party, with no casualties reported so far despite three hours of pitched battle. Around 300 troops from the military's Eastern Command in Taunggyi clashed with the rebel group between 8:40am and midday on Tuesday, according to SSPP spokesman Lt-Col Sai La. "The base that was attacked is an important frontline on the route to our headquarters in Wan Hai village," he told The Irrawaddy. "The government's troops were still present in the area until Tuesday afternoon. We are still collecting information as to whether there were any casualties." The clash is the first since the Burma Armed Forces shelled areas under SSA-N control near Wan Hai on Aug. 7. Sai La speculated that the attack may relate to the SSA-N's decision not to sign the nationwide ceasefire accord, which the government is aiming to conclude on Oct. 15 with the support of seven ethnic armed groups. “We don’t know the reason why we are being attacked, but it has coincided with the time we have announced our decision not to sign the ceasefire agreement,” he said. The SSA-N renewed a 1989 bilateral ceasefire with the government in 2012, the year after two of its three brigades agreed to reconstitute themselves as a pro-government Border Guard Force. Since then, the rebel group says it has fought with government troops on more than 100 occasions and has since lost five base camps to the military. In August and September, areas under the control of the Shan State Army-South, the armed wing of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), also came under attack in Loilen district. In response to the clashes, the RCSS banned political parties from campaigning in several Loilen townships for the Nov. 8 general election, which was lifted on Thursday. The RCSS has been named as a possible signatory to the nationwide ceasefire agreement, but has yet to commit to the accord. Sai Kyaw Hla, the secretary of the Shan Nationalities Development Party (SNDP), which is contesting most constituencies in Shan State, told The Irrawaddy that if fighting continued in Loilen district, his party would have to reevaluate its plans to campaign in the area. "As there is lack of access to communication in thise areas, we have not heard about [Tuesday's] fighting," he said. "But we planned to go there to campaign this week—we will have to reconsider.” Additional reporting by Kyaw Kha. The post Fresh Clashes in SSPP Territory after Ceasefire Rejection appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Election’s Coming… Time for Another Amnesty!’ Posted: 06 Oct 2015 03:09 AM PDT ‘Election’s Coming… Time for Another Amnesty!’   The post ‘Election’s Coming… Time for Another Amnesty!’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indian Parliamentarian Charged with Raping 14-Year-Old Maid Posted: 05 Oct 2015 10:50 PM PDT The veiled mother of a teenage girl who was raped and hanged from a tree in an unrelated incident in northern India, May 31, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) GUWAHATI, India — A politician in northeastern India has been arrested and charged with raping his 14-year-old maid, police said, after a month-long investigation which triggered public protests by students over the authorities' lack of action. Police in the tea- and oil-rich region of Assam said state legislator Gopi Nath Das had gone into hiding in early September after his maid accused him of raping her in his car. "Gopi Nath Das has been arrested today," Indrani Baruah, Kamrup district superintendent of police, said late on Sunday, adding that he was picked up near Guwahati, Assam's main city, after a police search which involved raids at three residences. The legislator, who is in his late 50s, has been charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Baruah added. Das, an MP with the opposition party All India United Democratic Front, has denied the charges and said there is a political conspiracy to malign him ahead of state elections next year, police said. Reports of employers abusing their domestic workers are common in India, including failure to pay them or provide adequate food and shelter, making them work long hours, and even locking them up. Some are subjected to physical and sexual violence. But the abuse is difficult to detect as it is hidden within the home, and under-reported because victims are often frightened to go to the police. In November 2013, an Indian parliamentarian and his wife were arrested after their maid was found dead in their Delhi home. The MP was charged with concealing evidence and his wife with murder. The case has not yet come to court. The post Indian Parliamentarian Charged with Raping 14-Year-Old Maid appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Historic Pacific Trade Deal Faces Skeptics in US Congress Posted: 05 Oct 2015 10:45 PM PDT Melinda St. Louis speaks during a protest outside the hotel where the Trans-Pacific Partnership Ministerial Meetings are being held in Atlanta, Georgia, September 30, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) ATLANTA — Twelve Pacific Rim countries on Monday reached the most ambitious trade pact in a generation, aiming to liberalize commerce in 40 percent of the world's economy in a deal that faces skepticism from US lawmakers. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact struck in Atlanta after marathon talks could reshape industries, change the cost of products from cheese to cancer treatments and have repercussions for drug companies and automakers. Tired negotiators worked round the clock over the weekend to settle tough issues such as monopoly rights for new biotech drugs. New Zealand's demand for greater access for its dairy exports was only settled at 5 am EDT (0900 GMT) on Monday. If approved, the pact would cut trade barriers and set common standards from Vietnam to Canada. It would also furnish a legacy-shaping victory for US President Barack Obama, who will promote the agreement on Tuesday in remarks to business leaders in Washington. The Obama administration hopes the pact will help the United States increase its influence in East Asia and help counter the rise of China, which is not one of the TPP nations. Lawmakers in the United States and other TPP countries must approve the deal. Five years in the making, it would reduce or eliminate tariffs on almost 18,000 categories of goods. Initial reaction from US Congress members, including Democrats and Republicans, ranged from cautious to skeptical. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, warned the pact would cost jobs and hurt consumers. "In the Senate, I will do all that I can to defeat the TPP agreement," he tweeted. Many of Obama's Democrats, as well as labor groups, fear the TPP will cost manufacturing jobs and weaken environmental laws, while some Republicans oppose provisions to block tobacco companies from suing governments over anti-smoking measures. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who heads the Senate Finance Committee, was wary. "I am afraid this deal appears to fall woefully short," said Hatch, who had urged the administration to hold the line on intellectual property protections, including for drugs. US lawmakers can approve the deal or vote it down, but not amend it. Currency, Drugs, Dairy, Auto Policies Ministers said the agreement would include a forum for finance ministers from participating countries to discuss currency policy principles. This takes into account, in part, concerns among US manufacturers and critics who suggest Japan has driven the yen lower to benefit its car exporters and other companies. But Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell from Michigan, home of the US auto industry, said currency has not been fully dealt with. "Nothing that we have heard indicates negotiators sufficiently addressed these issues," she said. The United States and Australia negotiated a compromise on the minimum period of protection to the rights for data used to make biologic drugs. Companies such as Pfizer Inc, Roche Group's Genentech and Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical could be affected. The agreed terms fell short of what the United States had sought. Under the deal, countries would give drugmakers at least five years' exclusive access to clinical data used to win approval for new drugs. An additional period of regulatory review would likely mean drug companies would have an effective monopoly for about eight years before facing lower-cost, generic competition. Politically charged dairy farming issues were addressed in the final hours of talks. New Zealand, home to the world's biggest dairy exporter, Fonterra, wanted increased access to US, Canadian and Japanese markets. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the deal would cut tariffs on 93 percent of New Zealand's exports to the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Peru. "We're disappointed there wasn't agreement to eliminate all dairy tariffs but overall it's a very good deal for New Zealand," Key said. The United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan agreed to auto trade rules on how much of a vehicle must be made within the TPP region to qualify for duty-free status. The TPP would give Japan's automakers, led by Toyota Motor Corp, a freer hand to buy parts from Asia for vehicles sold in the United States, but sets 25-30 year phase-out periods for US tariffs on Japanese cars and light trucks. The deal between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam also sets minimum standards on issues ranging from workers' rights to environmental protection. Trade ministers said the TPP would in future be open to other countries, including potentially China. "There is a real opportunity for China to be a part of this," Malaysian Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed said. Though Obama painted the deal in part as a way of stopping China from writing the rules of the global economy, China's Ministry of Commerce broadly welcomed the agreement in the hope it would "promote and make common contributions to Asia-Pacific trade, investment and economic development." The post Historic Pacific Trade Deal Faces Skeptics in US Congress appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thai Junta Picks 21-Member Panel to Write New Constitution Posted: 05 Oct 2015 10:36 PM PDT Thailand's National Reform Council (NRC) members attend a session in which a vote on a draft of a new Thai constitution takes place, at the parliament in Bangkok, Thailand, September 6, 2015. (Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand's military government appointed a new committee Monday to write a post-coup constitution after an unpopular earlier draft was rejected last month in a move that has delayed elections until at least 2017. The new 21-member committee will start work Tuesday and has six months to write its draft charter, which needs approval from the legislature before being submitted to a national referendum, said Meechai Ruchupan, a legal expert and former Senate speaker who also led a panel that drafted another post-coup constitution in 2007. Meechai told reporters that one of the committee's first items of business will be to decide whether to start from scratch or work from the draft rejected last month. A junta-appointed legislature dismissed the proposed charter that sparked strong opposition from almost all sides of Thailand's political divide. The committee includes lawyers, academics, and civil servants, said Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krua-ngam. The junta-appointed legislature's dismissal in Sept. of a draft written by a junta-selected committee marked what analysts called a clear sign of the military government's desire to stay in power longer, despite having initially promised quick elections. The junta, which seized power in a May 2014 coup that overthrew the elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has said it will put in place a constitution that protects against corruption and abuse of power before holding new elections. Critics say that any new charter under the junta will be aimed at preventing a political comeback by Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed in a 2006 coup after being accused of corruption and disrespect for the revered king. Thailand has remained divided since, with Thaksin's supporters and opponents struggling for power at the ballot box and in the streets, sometimes violently. Meechai led a panel that drafted the post-2006 coup's constitution and made clear Tuesday it wasn't his choice to head the latest Constitution Drafting Committee. "On Friday, Prime Minister Prayuth invited me over," he told journalists Monday, referring to the former army chief who led the coup and is now serving as interim prime minister. "I asked him how necessary is it for me to take the job? And he said, 'It's very necessary. It's unavoidable.'" One of the most contentious provisions in the draft rejected last month was the amount of power given to the military. It included provisions for a 23-member panel, including military members, that would have been empowered to take over from the parliament and prime minister in times of "national crisis." Almost all parties criticized it, and the draft risked being voted down in a referendum that had been planned for early next year. The post Thai Junta Picks 21-Member Panel to Write New Constitution appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cambodia Seeks Way Out of Post “Killing Fields” Mental Health Crisis Posted: 05 Oct 2015 10:28 PM PDT Pen Lay, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, is seen in his house in a hamlet in Cambodia's Angkor Chey district, September 21, 2015. (Photo: Astrid Zweynert / Reuters) PREAH AONG KAR, Cambodia — Hing Phon thought she was losing her mind when night after night terrifying nightmares jolted her awake as she dreamt of her husband, eldest son and 18 other relatives being killed by the Khmer Rouge during their brutal reign in Cambodia. Pitting poorer farmers against richer ones, the Khmer Rouge inflicted extreme cruelty and violence on people in her village in the southern province of Kampot when they took control of the area in the early 1970s. "So many nights I could not close my eyes because the memories of my loved ones would haunt me," the 81-year-old said, resting in the shade outside her house in a hamlet some 120 km (75 miles) south of the capital Phnom Penh. "We lived through a nightmare," she said, her back stooped from years of forced labor in the fields during Pol Pot's "year zero" quest to create a classless, agrarian society. During the regime's genocidal wave of terror from 1975 to 1979, at least 1.8 million people—about a quarter of the population—died through torture, execution, disease, overwork or starvation. It is a legacy that left millions of Cambodians with psychological scars the impoverished country is ill-equipped to deal with due to deep-rooted mistrust and a lack of money for reconciliation and mental health treatment, experts said. Cambodia has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, a study by the Royal University of Phnom Penh said, with 27 percent of those surveyed suffering from acute anxiety and almost 17 percent from depression. It also has more people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder than any other nation, with estimates ranging from 14 to 33 percent, compared to a global average of less than 0.4 percent, according to a study by the US-based Leitner Center for International Law and Justice. Even though Cambodia is training more health professionals in post-conflict trauma, there are fewer than 50 psychiatrists in the country of 15 million people, the study said. Living Cheek by Jowl With The Enemy One of the locals who joined the Khmer Rouge was Pen Lay, the son of a poor farmer in a village just a few minutes' drive away from Phon's. Lay said he was recruited by force and had no choice but to arrest villagers before they were executed by the Khmer Rouge. "They ordered me to do these things. I had to do it or die myself," said the frail 58-year-old, speaking in his native Khmer through a translator. He smiled nervously as he related how he almost starved when the Khmer Rouge forced him to clear forests. Experts say that throughout Cambodia villagers are living side by side with the alleged killers of their loved ones. Despite Buddhist teachings that help to contain conflict many find it hard to accept that the guilty walk freely among them. A 2011 study by the University of California, Berkeley found two thirds of Cambodians would like to see perpetrators "hurt or miserable" and that one third would seek revenge if they could. Amid this apparent desire for vengeance, the "Victim-Former Khmer Rouge Dialogue Project" is a rare attempt to reconcile villagers and heal society. Run by the local charity Kdei Karuna and the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Cambodia, the project brought former Khmer Rouge soldiers together with civilians in a seven-month-long reconciliation programme. Tim Minea, executive director of Kdei Karuna, said the process was fraught because of decades-old hostility. "It is difficult, especially to take the first steps, because often people don't even want to talk to each other," the sociologist said. Reconciliation is further complicated by the fact that many former Khmer Rouge soldiers see themselves as victims too, a fact many survivors find hard to accept, he added. "I also lost my father and my brother. My youth was severely disturbed and then I lived in fear [of retribution] for so many years," said Lay, the former soldier. For Phon the most salient moment in the reconciliation process was when Lay said his actions during the Khmer Rouge regime were wrong and immoral. Justice But Not Reconciliation A handful of Khmer Rouge leaders accused of atrocities during the 1970s "killing fields" era are being tried by a UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh. It kicked off in 2006 but has so far only secured three convictions. While the tribunal has helped to bring some justice, Cambodia still has a long way to go towards reconciliation, said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-CAM), the country's leading research centre into the Khmer Rouge atrocities. "We're stuck in the victim/perpetrator view of our history," he said. A textbook about the genocide published by DC-CAM and distributed to schools in 2009 has helped to improve understanding but only a few international donors have earmarked funds for reconciliation projects, he said. Seventy percent of Cambodians were born after the genocide but almost everyone has a family member who was killed, tortured or forced into hard labor by the Khmer Rouge. Praying Together Four years after the end of the reconciliation project, participants say it has helped them come to terms with the past and improved relationships between the villagers. Phon says she still has some sleepless nights but feels more at peace now thanks to the project and her Buddhist faith, which was banned by the Khmer Rouge. "We all share the same blood. There can't be harmony for future generations if we don't reconcile," she said, watching some of her 21 grandchildren play in the garden. This month the villagers will gather at the local pagoda to mark Pchum Ben, an annual festival honoring their ancestors, and pray at a stupa built to commemorate the killing of 400 people there by the Khmer Rouge.   Tes Ding, a 65-year-old former monk defrocked by the Khmer Rouge and forced to work in the fields, wants to find funds to extend the area where people can sit to pray around the stupa, surrounded by paddy fields the Khmer Rouge used as mass graves. "Our country will never be at peace if we feel hatred towards each other," he said. The post Cambodia Seeks Way Out of Post "Killing Fields" Mental Health Crisis appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Place to Call Home for Those Living with Leprosy Posted: 05 Oct 2015 07:58 PM PDT Click to view slideshow. The multi-ethnic residents of Naung Kan leprosy colony in eastern Shan State share surprisingly similar stories. After contracting the disease, many were forced to leave their mountain villages in the heartland of the Golden Triangle and wander the countryside on their own—in some cases for decades—until arriving at this colony run by Catholic nuns around 5 miles from Kengtung. After several visits, I became increasingly curious as to how these ethnic minority residents remained so strong after being ostracized from their communities so many years ago. Dramatic photographs that focused on their sometimes startling deformities would naturally evoke pity. But they deserved more than this. These people weren't helpless victims; they were survivors. Despite their predicament, they were still fiercely independent and retained their pride. Everyone fended for themselves as much as they could manage. Most cooked their own meals and kept their private spaces clean. Some residents raised their own chickens. Others rose each day to work in the colony's gardens. Burma still reports some 3,000 new leprosy cases annually and the capacity to detect cases in remote or conflict-affected regions remains problematic. The residents of Naung Kan may have lost their place in the world after contracting the disease but, here, they have found a new place to call home.   The post A Place to Call Home for Those Living with Leprosy appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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