The Irrawaddy Magazine

---

• Rangoon Mayor Dismisses YCDC Members, Prepares for City Election
• Thilawa SEZ Claimants Look to New Land-Grab Body
• Cronies Disappointed As US Sanctions Extended
• Testimony in Double Rape-Murder of Kachin Teachers Faces Obstacles
• Labor Rights Protestors Forcibly Detained Near Naypyidaw
• Abbot of Yay Pu Monastery Found Guilty of Forestry Offense
• President Htin Kyaw Opts for the Bear Hug
• Militant Attacks Force Bangladesh’s Gay Community Into Hiding
• China’s State Media Make Rare Remarks on Cultural Revolution
• US Eases Sanctions on Burma in Bid to Promote Reforms

Rangoon Mayor Dismisses YCDC Members, Prepares for City Election Posted: 18 May 2016 07:42 AM PDT Ballots being cast in the 2014 election for Rangoon’s city council, a vote restricted to heads-of-households. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The mayor of Rangoon informed reporters on Wednesday that by-laws have been amended to allow the terms of serving members of the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) to be terminated after less than 18 months in office. The changes will also allow members of political parties to stand as candidates in upcoming city elections. A new committee will be soon formed to expedite the elections, Mayor Maung Maung Soe told reporters at his Rangoon office. The Rangoon Division Chief Minister and other high-ranking bureaucrats are to appoint four new executive committee members to the YCDC, who will work "closely" with the mayor to hold the municipal election in a manner that is "neutral" and cost-effective. The mayor declined to comment on the specifics of the municipal election, and dismissed the more probing questions from reporters. Earlier this month, the impending YCDC election had faced postponement due to the expressed intention of the Rangoon Division Chief Minister, U Phyo Min Thein, to amend the relevant electoral law to expand voting rights beyond heads-of-households. This has yet to be carried out, and the mayor did not mention the initiative, leaving it unclear whether the YCDC election will meet the critical international standard of universal adult franchise. The mayor's announcement comes after disaffection among the YCDC's membership spilled over into public statements this week. Elected members rejected an order from Rangoon's mayor to alter the YCDC electoral by-law as a means of removing them from their positions before their terms had formally concluded. However, the unelected mayor has overruled their objections. Rangoon Mayor Maung Maung Soe, who was appointed to his post last month by President Htin Kyaw, chairs the YCDC, the city's municipal authority since 1990, which is nominally independent of the divisional government and other levels of Burma's administration. The YCDC currently has 115 elected committee members, including four individuals representing four districts of the commercial capital who serve within the YCDC's executive committee. All were voted in during 2014's citywide election—the first in more than 60 years but which, similar to village tract and ward elections staged earlier this year, only permitted heads-of-households to vote. The executive committee of the YCDC is made up of nine members, including and led by the mayor. Until Monday, the group included four members appointed by the previous government—all with military backgrounds—and four elected in the 2014 poll. Three of the appointed members resigned on Tuesday; their terms had been over since March 31 when the previous government had stepped down. A statement was issued on Tuesday with the signature of the Rangoon Division Chief Minister, declaring that the terms of both elected and appointed YCDC members had been completed—in accordance with the amendment of Article 64 of the YCDC electoral by-law. The article formerly allowed serving members to work until the day prior to newly elected members taking their oaths. "The by-law has been changed. Therefore, all committee members are automatically dismissed. It's not just about him," said the mayor, referring to Khin Hlaing—an executive member who publicly complained of his looming dismissal this week with other YCDC members. "I was really upset when they posted on Facebook that the 'three elected members' [Khin Hlaing and his associates on the executive committee] should now control the municipality. It's like a coup,'' said the mayor. In response to the amendment of the YCDC electoral by-law, Khin Hlaing and two other elected YCDC members held a press conference at Rangoon's City Hall on Tuesday. A small confrontation with security guards took place beforehand, belying how tense the dispute within the YCDC has become. Khin Hlaing and his associates claimed that the mayor and chief ministers had attempted to remove all members without informing them. The mayor told reporters that Article 64 of the YCDC electoral by-law contravened the principal law governing the YCDC. This prompted him to submit a proposal to amend the by-law to the Rangoon chief minister. "[The provisions of] the by-law should not supersede the main law,'' said the mayor. Article 83, barring political party members from contesting in municipal elections, has also been changed to allow for their participation. The mayor claimed that the earlier prohibition was "inappropriate for the current situation," because now "many people are not non-partisan." Soe Tun, chairman of the Myanmar Farmers' Association and a serving member of the YCDC, wrote a Facebook post on Wednesday morning claiming that YCDC members had expected their terms in office to extend to five years from their 2014 election date, and were now unexpectedly being made to quit. This has caused considerable dissatisfaction, the Facebook post continued, because the elected members have worked in their posts for barely one and a half years, although the government's term is five years. Soe Tun urged to the government to "summon all elected members to explain" the situation, and to set a date for the upcoming YCDC election. Khin Maung Tint, an elected YCDC member, told The Irrawaddy that he received the letter ordering his dismissal today, and was busy clearing his documents from the office. He claimed that he and his colleagues had done their best to serve the public during the course of their short term, working honestly and attempting to root out bribery within the institution. "I don’t want to say who was right or wrong," Khin Maung Tint said in reference to the recent actions of the mayor and chief minister. "Decide it for yourself. We respect the law. We are leaving now." The post Rangoon Mayor Dismisses YCDC Members, Prepares for City Election appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thilawa SEZ Claimants Look to New Land-Grab Body Posted: 18 May 2016 06:15 AM PDT A man looks at his watermelon field near the Thilawa SEZ outside Rangoon on Oct. 2, 2012. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — Locals living on land designated for the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) southeast of Rangoon are hoping a new government committee on land confiscation will help freeze the project's implementation until lingering disputes over compensation are resolved. In a statement this week, three villagers expecting to be impacted by phase two of the SEZ's development urged the recently created Central Review Committee on Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands to see to it that the affected populace—numbering 300 people—is justly compensated in accordance with the law before expansion of the SEZ moves forward. The statement was prompted by the National League for Democracy (NLD) government's formation of the committee earlier this month, according to Mya Hlaing, a farmer from the Thilawa area and one of the three co-signatories. "We have discussed an agreement [on compensation] but we haven't reached it with the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee. And we are afraid that we will have a clash between us if they force works in the project area before we get compromise," Mya Hlaing said. Mya Hlaing said he was not opposed to the plan in principle, but wanted to see it implemented lawfully. The first phase of the project, covering some 400 hectares, was beset by complaints from locals over compensation and resettlement arrangements of displaced villagers. "The project is for development and so, due to that development's impact on people, it needs to be developed with a plan including [issues related to] confiscation, resettlement, and life-insurance for those people," Mya Hlaing told The Irrawaddy. Mya Hlaing expressed concern that the new government might not be adequately apprised of the villagers' grievances, first aired under the previous government, which initiated the SEZ. He added that this week's statement was intended to keep the issue on people's radar—not merely the government's, but also to remind the media and average citizens of affected landholders' outstanding concerns. Aung Than, secretary of the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee, said phase two of the project was underway. He said the 700-hectare plans for phase two could be subject to change depending on conditions on the ground, and expected about 100 hectares to be developed by the end of 2016. He said outstanding claims were being handled according to "international law," citing the involvement of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the project. The post Thilawa SEZ Claimants Look to New Land-Grab Body appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cronies Disappointed As US Sanctions Extended Posted: 18 May 2016 06:00 AM PDT The US Department of the Treasury, pictured in September 2015. (Photo: Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — In wake of the extension of most of the US sanctions on Burma on Tuesday, several cronies have remained on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, despite the expectation that they would be removed. Sanctioned businessman Khin Shwe, chairman of the Zay Kabar Group of companies, told The Irrawaddy, "Some people have suggested that I hire a lawyer, but this is an American policy matter, so I have decided not to pursue the issue." He said nine of the individuals on the SDN list believed they had a good chance of being removed, and, therefore, eight of them had hired lawyers to negotiate with the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Ultimately, their pleas fell on deaf ears—all nine of the businessmen remained on the list. "I didn't participate in the arms trade or any other illegal businesses, so I don't care what they do," said Khin Shwe. "After [the sanctions], many Burmese businesses went to China because they couldn't do business with the US." The statement from OFAC said, "To incentivize further democratic reforms and maintain pressure on targeted individuals and entities and the military, certain sanctions remain in place." "As such, OFAC identified as blocked and added to the SDN List six companies that are owned 50 percent or more by Steven Law or Asia World Co. Ltd.," read the statement. In December 2015, the US temporarily eased sanctions on Asia World Company, by extending a six-month waiver for use of Rangoon's Asia World Port by American companies. The owner of Asia World, Steven Law (also known as Htun Myint Naing), is linked to the illicit drug trade through his father, Lo Hsing Han, a notorious drug kingpin who died in 2013. Another businessman, "Pepsi" Thein Tun, chairman of Tun Foundation Bank and MGS Distribution, told The Irrawaddy that it is significant that the US lifted the ban on seven state-owned business enterprises, but it seemed the US had not changed its policy toward certain individuals. "People in Burma were expecting US assistance when the country became democratic," Thein Tun said. "The economy can develop more quickly if they lift sanctions, but now the US has shown that it doesn't support us." He also said that there remain some private firms that tried hard to be removed from the US sanctions list, but failed. "They were deliberately trying to get the [sanctions] lifted," said Thein Tun. "But now, the US is still sanctioning them." "The US sanctions prevent Burma from developing our businesses," he added. Khin Shwe remarked that the American government's behavior in this regard has been very different from that of some of its allies. "[The US] is not like Japan," Khin Shwe said. "They don’t help us like Japan. They just pay lip service to the notion of helping Burma." He also said that the US should support Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in order to drive economic growth. "If Daw Aung San Suu Kyi fails to deliver economic growth due to the US sanctions, she will face serious problems and the Burma Army might be back," he said. "The US should take a broader view and consider long-term issues." Another blacklisted businessman, Zaw Zaw, CEO of Max Myanmar Holding Co. Ltd., also voiced disappointment at remaining on the SDN list. "Burmese companies that run accountable businesses and are not involved in land confiscation issues should be removed from the sanction list," he said. "These companies help serve the people of Burma." "I will keep working to follow [the US] rules and serve the people of Myanmar," said Zaw Zaw. Kristine Gould, the head of PACRIM Research Associates, an American research firm that studies Burma, told The Irrawaddy that individuals on the SDN list must do more to show the OFAC they are not involved in improper business deals and that they have taken steps to correct the behavior that initially led to their inclusion on the list. "In Zaw Zaw’s case, he has to prove that he is no longer receiving preferential treatment from the Myanmar Army and that he isn’t involved in improper business deals, land grabbing, and other human rights abuses," said Gould. Adam Szubin, Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in the statement that Burma had reached an historic milestone over the last year by holding competitive elections and peacefully transitioning to a democratically elected government. "Our actions today demonstrate our strong support for this political and economic progress while continuing to pressure designated persons in Burma to change their behavior," wrote Szubin. Seven state-owned enterprises and three state-owned banks were removed from the SDN, giving the institutions the right to engage in commercial activities with US businesspeople and banking institutions. The seven state-owned enterprises are: Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Myanmar Pearl Enterprise, Myanmar Gem Enterprise, No. 1 Mining Enterprise, No. 2 Mining Enterprise, No. 3 Mining Enterprise, and the Cooperative Export-Import Enterprise. The three state-owned banks are Myanma Economic Bank, Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank. The post Cronies Disappointed As US Sanctions Extended appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Testimony in Double Rape-Murder of Kachin Teachers Faces Obstacles Posted: 18 May 2016 04:57 AM PDT Mourners attend the funeral of two murdered Kachin teachers in Myitkyina. (Photo: 88 Generation Peace and Open Society / Facebook) RANGOON — The testimony of several senior army officers implicated in the double rape-murder of two Kachin teachers did not proceed as planned on Wednesday, sources say. Three officers, including Capt. Min Twin and Maj Aung Phyo Myint, arrived at a police station in Shan State's Lashio Township at around 10 a.m. to testify. But Kachin community leaders were surprised to discover that only police officers could directly question the soldiers. "The army officers had told us that we could start our questioning. But once we tried to do this, they told us that we couldn't. Only police officers could. They would only let us write our questions down on paper for the police officers to ask," said Zau Raw, a leader from the Kachin Baptist Convention, an organization investigating the case. "We [Kachin community leaders] wanted to ask our questions directly—one-by-one and to each of the three officers testifying. But the police wouldn't allow it. So we told them that we wouldn't proceed if this was how the questioning was going to be done," Zau Raw added. The police reportedly told the community leaders that they had to apply for permission from the Ministry of Defense and from the President in order to question military officers directly. Some 40 army officers were asked by the Kachin Baptist Convention to provide testimony in the case, but the Burma Army—which usually prefers to seek justice through military tribunals—only allowed three of its officers to be questioned. The bodies of the two ethnic Kachin teachers—Maran Lu Ra and Tangbau Hkawn Nan Tsin, both 20 years old—were found dead on Jan. 20 last year in northern Shan State's Kaung Kha village. According to villagers, the area had recently been occupied by government forces, leading Kachin community leaders to suspect that members of Burma Army were involved in the murders. The post Testimony in Double Rape-Murder of Kachin Teachers Faces Obstacles appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Labor Rights Protestors Forcibly Detained Near Naypyidaw Posted: 18 May 2016 04:16 AM PDT Police forcibly detain labor rights protestors in Tatkon Township on Wednesday. (Photo: Thiha / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — Police in Tatkon Township forcibly detained labor rights protestors marching from Sagaing Division to Naypyidaw, three weeks into the march and just miles outside the capital. About 100 workers from a plywood factory in the Sagaing Industrial Zone joined the march to the capital in late April, following a failure to negotiate with the company after the dismissal of over 100 employees in February. Police put up barriers outside Tatkon Township, which is part of the greater Naypyidaw Union Territory, where workers agreed to talk to Myo Aung, chairman of the Naypyidaw Council. Protestors waited for an hour and a half but the chairman never showed up. The chairman later sent a message saying he would meet with five representatives, but protestors insisted they would all meet with him, a demand township administrators denied. Around 1 p.m., police removed the barriers and protestors continued their march. Police encircled the group and proceeded to forcibly detain protestors using police shields. One protestor responded, "It is totally unacceptable for the government we voted for to arrest us now," adding, "I wish I had cut [off] my pinky," in reference to the ink that was put on people's fingers after they voted in the landmark 2015 election. Tatkon Township administrator Yi Mon said that legal action would be taken against protest leaders but it is likely that women, as well as elderly or sick protestors, would be released. "The higher level authorities will release them and arrange to send some of them back home," he said, adding, "We will take action against the rest in line with the law. We are discussing whether or not to sue them." A total of 76 protestors were detained and three detainees have been hospitalized, according to Yi Mon. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Labor Rights Protestors Forcibly Detained Near Naypyidaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Abbot of Yay Pu Monastery Found Guilty of Forestry Offense Posted: 18 May 2016 02:23 AM PDT U Eindaka, the abbot of the Yay Pu monastery in Mogok, speaks to supporters outside the courthouse in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Division, on Wednesday. (Photo: Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy) PYIN OO LWIN, Mandalay Division — A court here has ordered U Eindaka from Mandalay Division's Mogok Township to pay a 20,000 kyats fine (US$17) or spend three months in prison under Burma's Forestry Law, with the fine paid by his supporters following the verdict on Wednesday. U Eindaka, the abbot of the Yay Pu Monastery in Mogok widely known as "Yay Pu Sayadaw," was arrested in June of last year, charged with multiple counts in connection with his attempt to restore the monastery and rebuild an old pagoda inside the building's compound. The court ruled Wednesday that he had run afoul of the Forestry Law by illegally possessing timber for the monastery renovation. "Although the court found Sayadaw guilty of illegally possessing the timber piled at his monastery, the court decided to give him the lightest sentence," said the judge of the Pyin Oo Lwin Township Court, at the abbot's hearing on Wednesday. Faced with the choice, U Eindaka had intended to take the prison sentence. "I will not pay a fine because I'm not guilty," he told supporters outside the courthouse. "I have to say, the judicial system of our country is still not reforming." However, supporters of the abbot collected enough money to pay the fine. "We don't want our Sayadaw to be in prison anymore. Although he didn't want to pay the fine, we will provide it because we want his freedom," said Soe Htay, one such supporter. U Eindaka was initially also charged with religious defamation and of an offense under Burma's Mining Law, the latter for digging up earth around the area where he intended to rebuild the pagoda. He was defrocked as a result of the charges. In April, the court dropped the religious defamation charge as part of a broader presidential amnesty. His trial for the remaining Mining Law offense will continue on Thursday at the Pyin Oo Lwin District Court. The post Abbot of Yay Pu Monastery Found Guilty of Forestry Offense appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

President Htin Kyaw Opts for the Bear Hug Posted: 18 May 2016 01:05 AM PDT President Htin Kyaw Opts for the Bear Hug The post President Htin Kyaw Opts for the Bear Hug appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Militant Attacks Force Bangladesh’s Gay Community Into Hiding Posted: 17 May 2016 11:35 PM PDT Xulhaz Mannan, left, was the founder of Bangladesh's first and only LGBTQ magazine. (Photo: Samantha Power / Facebook) DHAKA — Weeks after suspected Islamist militants hacked Bangladesh's most prominent gay rights activist to death in his apartment along with an associate, another friend received a chilling message that he was next in line. "Say your prayers, confess to God for your sins. Eat or drink whatever you wish to, nobody can save you," read the handwritten letter, delivered to his home in Dhaka. Bangladesh's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community was already marginalized in a country where same-sex sexual activity is illegal and many people strongly disapprove. Now it has been pushed further into the shadows after Xulhaz Mannan, editor of the country's first LGBT-themed magazine, and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy were murdered in the capital on April 25. The attack, claimed by the regional arm of al Qaeda, was the first of its kind to target the community, although it followed similar killings in the last 16 months of university professors, bloggers and atheists who published views critical of Islam. Reuters interviewed eight members of Bangladesh's LGBT community, some of them activists. All but one spoke on condition they not be named, because of the threat to their safety. Based on their own and others' experiences, they said some people had scrubbed Facebook pictures that hinted at same-sex relationships or de-activated profiles altogether. Several had gone into hiding in safe houses in Dhaka arranged by local and foreign friends, while others fled to the countryside, considering it safer than the teeming capital. "There is this constant, creepy feeling of being followed by someone, even if in reality we are not," said a young gay professional, who froze in fear last week when he mistakenly thought a man carrying a bag was approaching him with a machete. "This is what is crippling our everyday life. Any bag can have a machete, which can crack my skull open for being a free thinker." Some have moved to more secure apartment blocks with close circuit television, while others are taking self-defense classes. Islamic State Versus Al Qaeda? The slaying of the two gay men is part of a broader pattern of killings claimed by Islamist militants, who have stepped up a violent campaign in the mainly Muslim nation of 160 million people. At least 23 people have been hacked to death with machetes since February 2015. Most attacks occurred in homes, but some happened in broad daylight. The main groups claiming these murders have been al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Islamic State, lending the impression of an intensifying rivalry between two movements engaged in global jihad and trying to lure recruits. That prospect has raised alarm in India and the United States, diplomats in the region said, particularly with US forces engaged in battling Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan facing its own militant threat. On the quiet street where Mannan, 35, lived in a small apartment block, neither neighbors nor the security guard who let the killers in, believing them to be couriers delivering a package, were prepared to speak. Friends said Mannan's home was like a "shrine" for members of the gay community, where they could celebrate birthdays and once staged a mock same-sex marriage. They added that they were too scared even to visit his grave, lest someone see them. The size of Bangladesh's LGBT community is impossible to estimate, activists said, given that only a small proportion of its members openly admit it. 'Criminals, Sinners or Perverts' A few days after Mannan's death, hate messages appeared online saying his mother should also be executed for producing a "bastard son," said Shahanur Islam, a gay rights campaigner who left Dhaka for an undisclosed location after the attack. "There is so much hatred against us that we fear they will go after our parents and brothers and sisters." None of the members of the gay and lesbian community who Reuters spoke to said they had approached police for protection, because they feared further harassment. Some worried that the police investigation into the double murder could "out" them as gays when they had spent a lifetime trying to hide that identity. "In the eyes of the law we are criminals, in the eyes of our religion we are sinners and from the viewpoint of society we are perverts," said the young professional. Bangladesh police said on Sunday they had arrested a home-grown Islamist militant in connection with the murder of the gay campaigner and his friend. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said no one involved in the killings would be spared, whether the victims were bloggers or homosexuals. But he urged people to respect religious sensitivities. "I request everyone to express views moderately. We have learned that Xulhaz was an editor of an LGBT magazine and used to work to protect the rights of gay people. It is not in line with our society," he told reporters. A lesbian woman said her plight was even more difficult than that of homosexual men; women were simply forced into marriages, or worse. "My family is not aware of my case," the 20-year-old college student from the north of the country said by telephone. "I suspect they would kill me if they come to know about it." The post Militant Attacks Force Bangladesh's Gay Community Into Hiding appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China’s State Media Make Rare Remarks on Cultural Revolution Posted: 17 May 2016 10:33 PM PDT Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at Tiananmen Square, where the portrait of late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong is seen, on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution in Beijing on May 16, 2016. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — China's official media reaffirmed on Tuesday the Communist Party's longstanding judgment that the Cultural Revolution was a catastrophic mistake after staying silent on Monday's 50th anniversary of the start of the decade-long upheaval. The official party mouthpiece People's Daily published an opinion piece on its website precisely at midnight on Tuesday unequivocally praising the 1981 party resolution that condemned the bloody political movement launched by Mao Zedong to enforce a radical egalitarianism. "Our party has long taken a solemn attitude toward bravely admitting, correctly analyzing and firmly correcting the mistakes of our leadership figures," the piece read. The party has long suppressed open discussion of the tumultuous period, fearing that could undermine its legitimacy to rule and lead to direct criticism of Mao, the founder of the communist state who remains a revered figure. So political observers have been closely observing the party leadership's attitude toward the milestone as a bellwether of the country's ideological direction. No official commemorations have been held, although some Mao loyalists have staged private events. Since taking power in 2013, President Xi Jinping has made frequent references to Mao, centralized control and deployed political stagecraft carrying echoes of Mao's rule, drawing criticism from Chinese liberals and political opponents. The official commentary on Tuesday sought to thoroughly lay to rest any further debate of the Cultural Revolution and urged the country keep moving ahead under Xi. The 1981 resolution "on the Cultural Revolution [as a catastrophe] has withstood the test of time and it remains unshakably scientific and authoritative," it said. "We summarize and absorb history's lessons with the goal of using history as a mirror to better move forward." In a separate commentary, the Global Times newspaper published by People's Daily said the events of 50 years ago had inculcated an abhorrence of disorder and craving for stability among the Chinese public. "Completely denying the values of the Cultural Revolution is not only an understanding throughout the party, but also a stable consensus of the whole of Chinese society," the paper said. The post China's State Media Make Rare Remarks on Cultural Revolution appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

US Eases Sanctions on Burma in Bid to Promote Reforms Posted: 17 May 2016 09:58 PM PDT A view of the Asia World port at the Hlaing River in Rangoon on May 14, 2016. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) WASHINGTON — The United States eased some sanctions on Burma on Tuesday to support ongoing political reforms, but maintained most of its economic restrictions in an effort to punish those Washington sees as hampering the country's newly elected government. US officials said they were easing sanctions to encourage the "historic" progress in Burma, including the formation of the country's first democratically elected government in more than 50 years. The moves included removing Burmese state-owned banks from a US blacklist and the lifting of sanctions against seven key state-owned timber and mining companies. Officials said they hope the actions will eliminate key obstacles to trade in Burma. Potential investors in Burma have long complained that the blacklisting of some of the country's biggest banks made business in the country too risky. Major firms including General Electric, Western Union Co., Gap Inc., and Coca-Cola have made business forays into Burma, and the moves announced on Tuesday will ease their and other companies' ability to operate there. The US Treasury Department also extended indefinitely a sanctions exemption that allows banks to finance shipments coming in through Burmese ports, even though key terminals are controlled by blacklisted businessman Steven Law. The issue had forced Western banks to cut financing of trade into the country until the US Treasury granted a six-month exemption in December. But the United States also strengthened measures targeting Law, who was blacklisted for alleged ties to Burma's military. Six companies owned 50 percent or more by Law or the company he controls, Asia World, were added to Treasury's blacklist. The announcement highlighted a key challenge for Washington, as it seeks to both encourage political reform while maintaining pressure on those it sees as spoilers. More than 100 individuals and groups remain on Washington's sanctions blacklist for Burma, making them radioactive to the international community and barring US banks or companies from making deals with them. "There can be a tension here," a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity. "Some of these actors are key economic players." Tuesday's announcement reflects what will be a stilted process of bringing back trade into Burma, said Peter Harrell, a former senior State Department official who was part of the first efforts to lift sanctions on Burma in 2012. "I think this is a significant step. I don't think it's a massive step," said Harrell, now a senior adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "The practical reality is if you can't do business with military-owned companies, chunks of the economy are going to remain off limits." The US moves followed a landmark November election in which the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, won a landslide victory. A Constitution drafted by the country's former military rulers bars her from becoming president. US officials began lifting trade and financial sanctions against the country after military leaders launched reforms that led to a civilian government being formed in 2011, beginning its transformation from a half-century as an international pariah. The sanctions decision, reported by Reuters on Friday, came before a visit to the Southeast Asian nation by Secretary of State John Kerry on May 22. President Barack Obama, in a letter to Congress, said he was extending for one year the legal underpinnings for those sanctions that remain and provided his justification for doing so. He said Burma had made significant progress on reforms since 2011, but that "concerns persist regarding continued obstacles to full civilian control of the government, the ongoing conflict and human rights abuses in the country, particularly in ethnic minority areas, and military trade with North Korea." Despite the sanctions lifting, Washington has deep concerns about alleged human rights violations in predominantly Buddhist Burma, particularly violence against the minority Rohingya Muslims, the officials said. Reluctant to Re-Engage The US actions on Tuesday removed three state-owned banks from the US blacklist, and authorized transactions with two other banks that are still blacklisted. The changes mean that most transactions with all Burmese financial institutions will be allowed as of May 18. "The adjustments we are making today are to try and facilitate a broadening of the aperture so that the investment that's intended can take place," a senior US official said. Though the United States began unwinding sanctions on Burma years ago, US banks have been reluctant to re-engage with the country because of concerns that key sectors of the economy are still controlled by businessmen linked to the military. No US bank has yet opened a correspondent banking relationship with a Burmese bank, considered an important step in accessing the global financial system. While the moves on Tuesday help pave the way for basic transactions necessary for investment, US citizens are still barred from striking deals with individuals and companies on the blacklist. "Businesses are going to look for more," said Erin Murphy, a former State Department official who worked on Burma sanctions issues. "They still have to conduct extensive due diligence, not just on reputational concerns but also whether or not who they're dealing with is blocked." The United States is also easing restrictions on Americans living in Burma, allowing them to conduct everyday transactions like renting apartments. The State Department also loosened its requirement that US companies investing in Burma disclose their dealings. Previously, companies had to make those disclosures if their total investment reached $500,000 or more. That cap has now been raised to $5 million. The requirement was intended to promote greater transparency in Burma. But it had a chilling effect on companies wanting to avoid criticism from human rights and other groups for dealing with the country, said Murphy, now a principal at Inle Advisory Group, which advises businesses investing in Burma. The $5 million cap will likely mean major corporations will still have to disclose their business there, but will allow for modest investments without the disclosures. The post US Eases Sanctions on Burma in Bid to Promote Reforms appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Irrawaddy. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States