The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Kyat Continues Slide as Central Bank Mulls Options
• Tourism Chief: ‘Interest in Our Country Has Grown’
• Ongoing Cases of Abuse Put Child Rights in the Spotlight
• Explosion Kills 6 in Chin State Capital
• Death Toll Rises to 104 at Jade Mine Collapse in Hpakant
• Govt Spokesman Rejects Calls for Rohingya Citizenship
• Hong Kong Democracy Movement Sees Mixed Results in Polls
• Bangladesh Executes Two Opposition Leaders for 1971 War Crimes
• Nepal Police Fire on Ethnic Protesters Blocking Road; Two dead

Kyat Continues Slide as Central Bank Mulls Options Posted: 23 Nov 2015 03:44 AM PST A girl holds an umbrella decorated with Burmese kyat banknotes in Bagan, 2013. (Photo: Damir Sagolj / Reuters) RANGOON — Two weeks since Burma's general election on Nov. 8, the country's reference foreign exchange rate has slid further against the US dollar, sitting at just under 1,300 kyat against the dollar as of Monday. While the exchange rate hovered at around 1,270 kyat during the election period, as of Monday it was 1,299 kyat against the dollar, while the black market rate was believed to have tipped over 1,300 kyat for the first time since late October. "The black market rate is over 1,300 kyat today because of the [higher] Central Bank rate," said one speculator in Rangoon Division's Pabedan Township. At a meeting with tourism operators on Saturday, Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) deputy governor Sett Aung told reporters the bank was seeking to reverse the local currency's months-long depreciation in several ways, including by selling US dollars to local private banks in an attempt to drive down the value of the greenback. The kyat has seen a 30 percent slide against the US dollar since January, partly as a result of the country's widening current account deficit. On Oct. 13, the CBM announced the revocation of foreign exchange licenses that had permitted holders to accept transactions in US dollars to encourage use of the ailing local currency. Some observers however voiced concern that the move would only drive demand for dollars on the black market. "Export earnings are less than in the past and dollar demand is higher in the market," said Than Lwin, a senior consultant with Kanbawza (KBZ) Bank. "The Central Bank has to be flexible with the rate, so the black market rate will be higher than the central bank's rate. This will happen until the country has an open market, but I think this exchange rate will be the highest. It won't reach higher than 1,300." Burma was expected to see a massive drop in agricultural export revenues after torrential floods inundated more than one million acres of farmland from July. In early October, the World Bank forecast a slowdown in economic growth for the 2015-16 fiscal year, due in part to flooding and a lack of new investment. Than Lwin said the country's economic outlook would brighten when the new government is formed in 2016, with the expectation of more international loans for local private banks and new investment. Sett Aung also struck a positive note on Saturday, predicting a period of sustained growth ahead. To tackle inflation, he said the finance ministry should increase taxes, reduce government expenditure and offload government bonds. However he admitted the process would not be easy, as a tax increase would not be broadly welcomed and the government would struggle to reduce expenditure as reforms continue. "Here, the economy is growing by leaps and bounds. That's why inflation is high," he said. The post Kyat Continues Slide as Central Bank Mulls Options appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Tourism Chief: ‘Interest in Our Country Has Grown’ Posted: 23 Nov 2015 02:58 AM PST Phyo Wai Yarzar, chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Committee. (Photo: May Soe San / The Irrawaddy) On the back of the Nov. 8 elections, tour operators say there has been a surge the number of foreign tourists considering a trip to Burma. Phyo Wai Yarzar, the chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Marketing Committee, recently sat down with The Irrawaddy to talk about the current state of the tourism industry in the aftermath of the poll. What potential do you see in the tourism market now the election is over? Before the election, potential tourists were concerned that their visit might coincide with the election and that they might encounter an uprising. But there was not even an uprising during the 2010 election. And there was no problem this time, either. There was no confrontation between the ruling party and the opposition, even in the run-up to the election. This has set the best example. We learned that some foreign ministries issued warnings to their citizens not to visit our country in the two weeks before and after the election. But the fact that there was no violence or rioting has made international headlines. The news about the election and the decisive victory of the opposition has spread to countries around the world. This is good news for us. Because this is the news that Western democratic countries want to hear. Their interest in our country has grown. This bodes well for the potential of tourism, and I think the tourism industry will see progress soon. The hotels and tourism industry expects to draw about five million foreign visitors this year, but there are also predictions that it might fall short of this target. What do you think? The hotels and tourism minister [Htay Aung] said at a ceremony a couple of days ago that Myanmar had received 3.9 million foreign visitors by the end of October, including arrivals through airports and border gates. So I think the target is achievable. Which countries do you think will drive a rise in Burma's tourism arrivals? It is difficult to say. It does not depend on our country alone, but also on the visitor countries. They will travel only when they have extra cash. Previously, the UK market did not usually sell trips to Myanmar during its tourism fair, usually held in November, but this year they have been keenly selling trips to Myanmar. So I think we can expect a good increase in UK visitors to Myanmar. But we need to do more to attract EU countries. We need to get information about what might arouse their interest in Myanmar. The tourism market has opened up here and the government has started to provide assistance. It is important that the next government continues to give assistance. Being new, the next government will need to do some public relations work. I would suggest that rather than spending large sums on public relations, the new government promote tourism instead. If more tourists come and they subsequently recount their experiences, foreign countries will have greater trust [in the new government]. How much revenue has the tourism industry generated in Burma this year? We do not know exactly. The private sector does not know. It is difficult to get those figures. The World Trade Organization (WTO) carried out tourism satellite accounting in Myanmar, but it might take time for the government and the private sector to carry this out. We can't accurately calculate the revenue generated from the tourism industry using GDP. I am afraid that the current financial system in Myanmar can't precisely calculate the revenue of tourism-related businesses such as tour companies, tour guides, and souvenir shops. However, the president said that the tourism industry generated US$3 billion last year. I think it might increase this year. Where do you plan to develop new tourism sites in Burma? I don't think we need to develop new sites in the country. But there is a three-year tourism development project being carried out in Karenni State. The post Tourism Chief: 'Interest in Our Country Has Grown' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ongoing Cases of Abuse Put Child Rights in the Spotlight Posted: 23 Nov 2015 01:21 AM PST Children play in a creek in Naypyidaw, November 14, 2015. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) Whether at home, school or in the workplace, it is not uncommon for children in Burma to be hit or slapped for an indiscretion. This type of physical admonition—in other words, corporal punishment—is not currently prohibited under Burmese law. According to the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 47 countries have explicitly prohibited all corporal punishment of children and at least 51 states have committed to a full ban. The Global Initiative calls for the repeal of provisions in Burma's 1993 Child Law and of the Penal Code that may be interpreted as sanctioning corporal punishment and for a clear prohibition to be enacted. Many adults in Burma, including parents and guardians, seem to believe they have the right to physically admonish a child for his or her benefit, particularly inside the family home. Adults slapping or beating their children is regarded as normal among most conservative members of Burmese society. Children from poor backgrounds suffer most egregiously. Many are forced to drop out of school and enter the workforce at an alarmingly young age, working in tea shops, restaurants or as domestic helpers where they are vulnerable to physical punishment or other abuse by unscrupulous employers. Unfortunately, only a handful of cases of child abuse gain media attention. A recent case involved an eight-year-old girl living in the home of a military lawmaker in Rangoon Division's Bahan Township who was repeatedly beaten while naked by a household maid. Pictures of the abused young girl went viral on Facebook on Thursday and the Bahan Township police have since pressed charges against the housemaid under Article 66 of the Child Law for maltreatment. Nyo Nyo Tin, a Rangoon Division lawmaker, said further charges were likely after prosecutors gathered more evidence. However, she said the maximum punishment of two years imprisonment under Article 66 was too lenient. "It shows the legislative sector still needs to focus on enacting laws that are effective," she said. Increased use of social media and mobile phone technology has enabled citizens to more easily highlight alleged evidence of injustice, share information and implore the authorities to take action. Nang Phyu Phyu Lin, an independent consultant with the Gender Equality Network, said the public was more actively speaking out against incidents of child abuse and behavior was gradually changing. However she noted the prevailing view that adults' slapping or beating a child "to correct them for misbehaving" was generally deemed acceptable. Burma's military government signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and enacted the Child Law in 1993. Article 19 of the former mandates states to protect the child "from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child." However, Article 66(d) of Burma's Child Law outlaws willful mistreatment of the child, "with the exception of the type of admonition by a parent, teacher or a person having the right to control the child, which is for the benefit of the child." Rights groups have cited clear and robust legal protection as vital to protecting children's rights. Outspoken lawmaker Thein Nyunt has initiated several unsuccessful attempts to amend the Penal Code and the Child Law to provide better protections for children from sexual abuse—including proposals to apply capital punishment to rape offenders. "If such cases of abuse are increasing, we have to reconsider amending the Child Law in order to protect children," said Thein Nyunt, who leads the New National Democracy Party, adding that legal complaints regarding the abuse of young domestic workers were rarely filed. "We will have to wait and see how the new legislators take up the issue [of child rights] in the parliament." Thein Nyunt did not win reelection in Burma's Nov. 8 general election but pledged that he and his party would continue to work for better child protection measures. Despite the hurdles to legal reform, with Burmese citizens beginning to pay more attention to child rights issues, Nang Phyu Phyu Lin hopes behavioral and attitudinal change will follow. "As we were hit in our childhood, we tend to treat our kids the same way as we suffered," Nang Phyu Phyu Lin said. "Only with more awareness for children's rights can we stop ourselves from treating them that way." The post Ongoing Cases of Abuse Put Child Rights in the Spotlight appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Explosion Kills 6 in Chin State Capital Posted: 23 Nov 2015 01:07 AM PST A car overturned in Sunday night's blast. (Photo: The Hakha Post) RANGOON — Six people have died and another five are wounded after what appears to be an accidental explosion sparked Sunday night at a home in Hakha, the capital of Chin State. Five of the deceased were members of the same family, who lived as tenants in the home where the explosion occurred in Hakha's Zae Thit quarter. Investigators believe that the gunpowder stockpile belonged to one of the deceased. The explosion leveled the home with such force that it knocked a truck parked nearby onto its side. "We are still investigating what happened on the ground," Hong Ngai, the chief minister of Chin State, told The Irrawaddy "I think a witness can say exactly what happened there, he is now at the hospital." Hakha police confirmed that six had died in the inferno but declined to give further details, saying that an investigation was ongoing. Local authorities had earlier suggested the household lit a small bonfire for heat on the cool evening, which then accidentally spread to the gunpowder cache. Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Zabiak Thawn, the deputy editor of the local Hakha Post newspaper, said the deceased family had recently moved into the home after their previous home collapsed during the August landslides. The post Explosion Kills 6 in Chin State Capital appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Death Toll Rises to 104 at Jade Mine Collapse in Hpakant Posted: 23 Nov 2015 12:48 AM PST Small-scale miners in Hpakant scour a mountainside stripped bare by heavy machinery in search of jade. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Recovery of bodies at the site of a massive jade mine landslide in Kachin State's Hpakant Township continued on Monday, with the death toll rising to 104 by the evening prior. The landslide happened early Saturday morning when the piled tailings from a large-scale mining operation collapsed, burying an estimated 80 huts in an area where hand-pickers had settled to sift through the debris in search of the precious stone. Dah Shi La Seng, a Kachin State legislature MP-elect for Hpakant constituency, said the search for bodies was continuing and progress would be known later Monday, with many still missing. "As of Sunday evening at 6 pm, the total number [of deaths] reached to 104, as 26 more bodies were found on Sunday and 78 bodies were found on Saturday," the incoming National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker said, adding that most of the bodies recovered were men, with about three being women. Among the dead, most are internal immigrants who had traveled to Hpakant to try their luck at small-scale, illegal mining in the jade-rich region. The disaster, near Hpakant's Seik Mu village, is the fourth such incident to claim lives this year, according to local resident Shwe Thein, though Saturday's catastrophe far eclipsed previous landslides. "About two-thirds of the bodies of the hand-pickers are not yet identified, but the bodies are of those hand-pickers and local vendors around the mines," he said. The bodies are being taken to the Hpakant hospital first to record the deaths before being sent to two villages and Hpakant town for burial, Shwe Thein said. An uptick in deadly collapses of mining debris has been linked to the government's decision to allow companies to resume large-scale mining operations in the area in 2014, after suspending the practice in 2012 amid fighting between the government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). About a dozen people died due to landslides in the same area between January and March of this year. "This is the biggest, deadliest accident affecting those hand-pickers," Shwe Thein said. "Not only in terms of people's deaths, our environment too has been destroyed a lot by the waste pilings," Shwe Thein added, highlighting rising pollution affecting the Uru River. Locals and environmentalists say the once pristine Uru River, which flows into the nearby Chindwin River, has become contaminated with wastewater runoff from mining sites and has also seen its water level drop. The post Death Toll Rises to 104 at Jade Mine Collapse in Hpakant appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt Spokesman Rejects Calls for Rohingya Citizenship Posted: 22 Nov 2015 10:18 PM PST Minister of Information and spresident's spokesperson Ye Htut. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A spokesperson for President Thein Sein took to social media on Saturday to reject recommendations that Rohingya Muslims be granted a path to citizenship. "Our government's stance is that we wholly reject use of the term 'Rohingya'. We will grant citizenship rights to Bengali people who have stayed within the boundary of Rakhine [Arakan] State based on the 1982 Citizenship Law," read a Facebook post shared by Minister of Information Ye Htut, using the government's preferred term to refer to the stateless minority. "We will not grant the right of citizenship if it is not suitable to the 1982 law, even when there is pressure on us. This is our own sovereign power. There are laws in America and Britain and other Western countries about the right to grant citizenship. If it is not suitable to the rule of law in their countries, they do not grant citizenship." The minister's comments were made in the wake of the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review, a comprehensive human rights examination comprising recommendations from foreign governments, rights groups and civil society. The Burmese government rejected more than half of the review's 281 recommendations, including all those related to restoring civil and political rights to the country's stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, estimated to be 1.1 million people overwhelmingly concentrated in northern Arakan State. The post Govt Spokesman Rejects Calls for Rohingya Citizenship appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hong Kong Democracy Movement Sees Mixed Results in Polls Posted: 22 Nov 2015 10:04 PM PST A supporter of pro-democracy group Civic Passion stands in front of supporters of other candidates during a district council election campaign rally on Sunday. (Photo: Bobby Yip / Reuters) HONG KONG — Two democracy veterans lost their seats but at least six candidates who took part in crippling protests last year won office at district elections in Hong Kong on Sunday, the first real test of the city's pro-democracy movement since the demonstrations. The mixed results from the elections, in which a record number of people voted, will not significantly change the numerical make-up of pro-democracy and pro-government groups, but the election of six so-called Umbrella Soldiers reflects continued support for the pro-democracy movement. Poll results were being announced on Monday. District councilors wield little power, acting more in an advisory role in which they can push forward policies for the government in the Chinese-controlled city to consider. But the poll results may provide insight into how elections for the city's powerful Legislative Council, due next year, and a controversial leadership poll in 2017 could pan out. Democratic Party lawmaker Albert Ho, who faced stiff competition in the gritty new town of Tuen Mun in the western New Territories, lost his seat. So, too, did Frederick Fung, another pan-democratic candidate who ran in the working-class district of Sham Shui Po. The government said about 1.468 million registered electors, representing a cumulative turnout rate of about 47 percent, had cast their votes. "We believe that we got the highest number of voters ever turned out in a district board election," Chief executive Leung Chun-ying said late on Sunday. "This suggested that people are paying more attention to their voting right." About 900 candidates competed for 431 seats in 18 district councils, where pro-Beijing parties hold a majority, at a time when people are divided over the pace of political reform. Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that gives it substantial autonomy and freedoms, with universal suffrage promised as an "ultimate goal". The 79-day protests last year, when activists streamed on to highways to demand full democracy for the former British colony, became the biggest political challenge to Beijing's Communist Party leaders in years. The protests failed to persuade China to allow a fully democratic vote in 2017. Beijing says city voters have to choose from a list of candidates it has approved. The post Hong Kong Democracy Movement Sees Mixed Results in Polls appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh Executes Two Opposition Leaders for 1971 War Crimes Posted: 22 Nov 2015 09:55 PM PST Protesters, some of whom participated in the 1971 war of independence, rally outside the Supreme Court in Dhaka during the court's verdict on appeals by two opposition leaders, November 18, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh executed two opposition leaders on Sunday for war crimes committed during the 1971 war to break away from Pakistan, a senior police official said, in a move likely to draw an angry reaction from supporters. Islamist opposition leaders Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a former legislator from former premier Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), were hanged shortly after President Abdul Hamid rejected their appeals late on Saturday for clemency. "Both of them were hanged simultaneously on two separate platforms," the police official said. Mujahid, 67, of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, and Chowdhury, 66, were hanged at Dhaka Central Jail. The Supreme Court had previously rejected their appeals against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for genocide and torture of civilians during the conflict. The Border Guard Bangladesh paramilitary force has been deployed across the country to tighten security. Muslim-majority Bangladesh, until 1971 East Pakistan, has seen a rise in Islamist violence in recent months, with two foreigners and four secular writers and a publisher killed this year. Mujahid was found guilty on five charges including torture and the murders of intellectuals and minority Hindus while he commanded Al Badr, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani army, during the war to break away from Pakistan. Chowdhury, former legislator from former premier Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was convicted in Oct. 2013 on charges of genocide, religious persecution, abduction and torture during the war. "While we are saddened that we have lost our father by way of a motivated and predetermined trial and where the country is gagged from speaking out, we find hope in the fact that the international community recognizes the injustice and that fairness and truth shall be restored in Bangladesh," Humam Quader Chowdhury, a son of Chowdhury, told Reuters. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened an inquiry into crimes committed during the war in 2010, paving the way for prosecutions by a war crimes tribunal that Islamists have denounced as part of a politically motivated campaign aimed at weakening Jamaat-e-Islami's leadership. Two Jamaat leaders have been executed, one in Dec. 2013 and another in Apr. They declined to seek clemency from the president. BNP spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon said: "Salauddin has fallen victim to persecution because of his political identity, and he has been denied justice." Osman Farruk, a senior leader of the BNP, said that until there was political dialogue, the violence would continue. Badiul Alam Majumder, secretary of rights group Citizens for Good Governance, agreed. "Otherwise the ongoing killings and attacks will not be stopped," he told Reuters. Moqbul Ahmed, acting Amir of Jamaat, said in a statement that Mujahid was a victim of government conspiracy. He called a day-long general strike on Monday across the country. The government denies accusations of interference in the judiciary. East Pakistan broke away to become independent Bangladesh after a war between India and Pakistan. About three million people were killed. The post Bangladesh Executes Two Opposition Leaders for 1971 War Crimes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nepal Police Fire on Ethnic Protesters Blocking Road; Two dead Posted: 22 Nov 2015 09:43 PM PST Nepalese police personnel stand guard to stop the protesters near the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal September 30, 2015. (Photo: Navesh Chitrakar / Reuters) KATHMANDU, Nepal — Police in southern Nepal opened fire on ethnic protesters blocking the nation's main highway, killing two in fresh violence that threatened to escalate political tensions, officials said Sunday. Police were trying to stop the protesters from blocking the main East-West highway when they were attacked with petrol bombs, spears and bricks around midnight, police official Bhim Dhakal said. He said that 25 policemen and several protesters were injured in two separate attacks. The two protesters were killed in the Bhardaha and Rupani areas, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of the capital, Kathmandu, Dhakal said. A curfew was imposed to stop further violence. The clashes are expected to escalate the tensions, just as months- long protests by the Madeshi ethnic group over Nepal's new constitution had eased over the past few weeks during a series of festivals in the Himalayan nation. The Madeshi say the new constitution unfairly divides Nepal into seven states with borders that cut through their ancestral homeland. The Madhesis and other small ethnic groups also want the states to be larger and to be given more autonomy over local matters. The protesters have imposed a general strike in southern Nepal since September and blocked the main border crossings with India, resulting in severe fuel shortages across Nepal. At least 48 people have been killed in the protests since August. There is no official count of the injured. India, which has close cultural ties with the Madhesi community, has expressed concern over the new violence. Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted that his government was "distressed at [a] loss of lives in police firing," and that a political solution was required. Nepalese authorities have been rationing gasoline for taxis and public buses, but there's been no fuel for private cars. Police have been escorting trucks through south Nepal at night to bring both passengers and cargo to cities in the north, including Kathmandu. Talks between the protesting groups and government have made little progress, but both sides have said they would continue. Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli called a meeting of the main political parties later Sunday to discuss the Madhesi demands. The post Nepal Police Fire on Ethnic Protesters Blocking Road; Two dead appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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