The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Second ‘Panglong’ Conference to be Held in August
• Shake-Up Hits Pagodas’ Administration Committees
• State Counselor’s Office Behind Govt’s Agenda: Minister
• Observers Urge Govt To Create New Export Markets, Boost Trade Volume
• Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (June 28)
• Drug Bust in Sittwe Sparks Speculation of Rangoon Ring
• Military, 7 Day Daily Settle Libel Case
• Govt to Ban Renewal of Expired Jade Mining Licenses
• Nationwide Drug-Control Requires Peace, Say Police
• US to Downgrade Burma in Annual Human Trafficking Report: Sources
• Book Review: General Ne Win: A Political Biography by Robert H. Taylor

Second ‘Panglong’ Conference to be Held in August Posted: 28 Jun 2016 08:14 AM PDT State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, meeting with the eight ethnic armed groups that signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. (Photo: Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW & RANGOON — Ethnic armed group leaders and government peace negotiators have decided to hold the union peace conference—now branded the "21st Panglong Conference"—in last week of August, according to sources in Naypyidaw. President's Office spokesman Zaw Htay told media in Naypyidaw that the decision was reached on Tuesday in a meeting between State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the Peace Process Steering Team, a delegation drawn from eight ethnic armed groups that signed Burma's nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in October last year. "They decided to hold the 21st Century Panglong Conference no later than the last week of August," said Zaw Htay. Ethnic armed group leaders told Suu Kyi of their policy to include all ethnic armed organizations in the union peace conference—the majority of whom refused to sign or were excluded from the NCA—to which Suu Kyi agreed, according to Hla Maung Shwe, a member of the government's Panglong Preparatory Sub-Committee 2. "For Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the key is to include all concerned parties and establish a federal nation. She was satisfied [with the meeting] because it was a frank discussion," said Hla Maung Shwe. The meeting on Tuesday, at Naypyidaw's Horizon Lake View Resort, also included members of the government's National Reconciliation and Peace Center and the Joint Monitoring Committee-Technical Secretariat Center. Suu Kyi said to those assembled, "For the next generation, peace is the best legacy to pass on. Our country will develop only if it has peace. Development is impossible in a country without peace. And it will be peaceful only when there is unity." "There will be difficulties. But […] we can achieve it if we are committed in our efforts and in our cooperation," said Suu Kyi. She also urged all parties to "help build a genuine federal democratic union that grants safety and freedom. This can't be achieved by one side alone." However, she cautioned that building a genuine union would take time, noting that it had been almost seventy years since Burma gained its independence from the British. Suu Kyi also invited members of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an alliance of nine ethnic armed organizations who did not sign the NCA, to participate in the Panglong conference. Their participation, which remains in some doubt, would be crucial to the legitimacy of the peace process now led by Suu Kyi, since the absence of several of Burma's most powerful ethnic armed groups was widely perceived to have undermined the credibility of the NCA signed under the previous government. A delegation from the UNFC is due to visit Naypyidaw this week, and will meet with Suu Kyi in the first week of July, government sources say. A preparatory meeting for the 21st century Panglong Conference will be held on July 3 in Naypyidaw. The eight ethnic armed groups that signed the NCA will hold a meeting with the Panglong Conference preparatory sub-committees on July 4. Preparatory sub-committees 1 and 2 will then hold a meeting with Suu Kyi. The post Second 'Panglong' Conference to be Held in August appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Shake-Up Hits Pagodas’ Administration Committees Posted: 28 Jun 2016 08:06 AM PDT Devotees throng Shwedagon Pagoda during last year’s Full Moon Day of Tabaung, a Buddhist holiday. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The boards of trustees for Burma's three most famous pagodas—Rangoon's Shwedagon, Mon State's Golden Rock and Mandalay's Mahamuni—will be reformed, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture. Minister Aung Ko ordered the review of existing regulations of the boards and, if necessary, will require a redrafting in line with democratic policies at the suggestions from the ministry and the office of the Union Attorney-General. Director Myint Zaw Win of the Religious Affairs and Culture Ministry, informed The Irrawaddy of the plan on Tuesday. "The ministry is responsible for addressing the weaknesses and flaws of the trustee boards [which have been] highlighted by the public," he said. "Most of the [boards'] regulations have become out of date now." "Concerns about donations and sanitary issues are among the most received complaints," Myint Zaw Win said. Although the three pagodas are prized by the public, reforming trustee boards was not a usual procedure under the previous government, he added. The board of trustees for Shwedagon Pagoda held a meeting on Saturday and formed a temporary board with 15 members—six more members were appointed by the Union minister in addition to the current nine—to review regulations, Htun Aung Ngwe of the office for the trustee board told The Irrawaddy. "The temporary board of trustees is now working on redrafting the regulations and policies so that the new board can be formed in line with appropriate rules," Htun Aung Ngwe said. Shwedagon Pagoda is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Burma and has received an average of around 500 million kyats (US$426,000) in entrance fees every month from foreign visitors, according to the Jan-Mar 2016 figures on the pagoda's official website. The board reportedly employs around 850 staff and has an association with about 70 volunteer groups that assist in the daily maintenance of the pagoda. Shwedagon's board of trustees is known to be authoritative and controversial. Its current chairperson, Sein Win Aung—a retired ambassador—served as a member of the religious affairs advisory team in ex-president Thein Sein's administration. He is also an in-law of Thein Sein and allegedly has close ties with the former military-backed leader. The trustee board of Golden Rock Pagoda, located in Mon State's Kyaikto Township, also formed a 15-member temporary board on Monday, which decided to regulate hotels and guesthouses in the pagoda compound area. Only 135 hotel rooms were given permission to be built in the compound by the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism but an extra 106 rooms were found to have been constructed against the rules, the Religious Affairs and Culture Ministry's Myint Zaw Win said. No details on the new board for Mandalay's Mahamuni Pagoda were provided by the Ministry, but Myint Zaw Win told The Irrawaddy that it had already been reformed in the same vein as the other two pagodas. There are serious public concerns about the transparency and accountability of the trustee boards of the pagodas regarding monetary donations; in early April, there was an open letter from a tour guide to the minister of Religious Affairs and Culture demanding reform of the such boards throughout the country within the government's the 100-day plan. The post Shake-Up Hits Pagodas' Administration Committees appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

State Counselor’s Office Behind Govt’s Agenda: Minister Posted: 28 Jun 2016 06:35 AM PDT State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi walks out of a peace conference preparatory meeting on Tuesday in Naypyidaw. (Photo: Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The State Counselor's Office has been behind some of the government's most important initiatives—from prisoner releases to peace in Arakan State, according to an interview on Monday with Minister Kyaw Tint Swe. The State Counselor position was created in early April to give National League for Democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency, greater political influence. In mid-May, Kyaw Tint Swe was appointed the head of the State Counselor's Office, a Union-level ministry with a staff of 200. In an interview Monday with the state-run Myanmar News Agency, Kyaw Tint Swe revealed that his ministry is behind the release of political prisoners and student activists and the President's Office reform. It also played a role in transforming the Myanmar Peace Center into the National Reconciliation and Peace Center, as well as the formation of the Implementation Committee for Peace, Stability and Development of Arakan State and the organizing of the 21st Century Panglong Conference, a peace summit with ethnic armed groups set for late August. "These are the things we have done or are doing for the 100-day plan," the minister said. "Apart from carrying out [this] plan, we have to implement what the State Counselor Law states as long term." The law says that the office must aim to achieve the following goals: the flourishing of a multi-party democratic system in Burma, the emergence of the market economy, the establishment of a federal Union and the peace and development of the country. Kyaw Tint Swe said the ministry has helped release 453 political prisoners, political activists and student activists by dropping their ongoing cases in keeping with Suu Kyi's policy of "no political prisoners under the democratic government." He also said that the ministry had helped grant a presidential pardon to another 83 political prisoners who had been sentenced. On the ongoing ethnoreligious conflict in Arakan State, Suu Kyi led the Implementation Committee for Peace, Stability and Development of Arakan State. "It doesn't mean that other areas are not as important as Arakan State. But the situation out there could result in a state of emergency at any moment. That's why we are giving [this state] special attention," he explained. "At the moment, we are prioritizing stability and issuing National Verification Cards there. Then it will be followed by a citizenship verification process according to the 1982 Citizenship Law. Next, [there will be] infrastructure development and promoting investment and job opportunities in the area," he said. With national reconciliation in mind, Suu Kyi transformed the Myanmar Peace Center into the National Reconciliation and Peace Center not only to promote internal peace, but to include everyone in the peace process, Kyaw Tint Swe said. He explained that was the reason that the Panglong Conference Preparatory Sub-Committee 1 is reaching out to armed groups that did not sign last year's nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), while also discussing the terms of the peace talks with NCA signatories. "If the non-NCA signatories could be able to join the conference, the 21st Century Panglong Conference will be a huge step for the peace that we all have been longing for," he said. The post State Counselor's Office Behind Govt's Agenda: Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Observers Urge Govt To Create New Export Markets, Boost Trade Volume Posted: 28 Jun 2016 05:48 AM PDT People rest by bags of rice that are waiting to be transported from a local mill in Kyaiklat town, Irrawaddy Division, May 24, 2012. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — A recent World Bank report says that trade growth in Burma could reduce poverty and boost prosperity, but local observers say in order for that to happen the government must implement economic policies that increase export markets. The Myanmar Diagnostic Trade Integration Study released last week by the World Bank said the keys to success are further reforms to encourage more open trade—a shift away from over-dependence on natural resources and the development of soft infrastructure. The statement continued that Burma's trade volume is increasing quickly and there is enormous potential for future growth. But, since the new government assumed power in April, clear economic policies have yet to be announced. Many international organizations, including the World Bank, have taken an active interest in working with Burma's government to develop its economic prospects. Minister of Commerce Than Myint said the government would use the World Bank's report as a blueprint to develop Burma's trade program, and the minister invited both technical and financial partners to collaborate. "The country has a comparative advantage in its significant natural and agricultural resources, untapped labor and a location that shares borders with markets accounting for 40 percent of the world's population," said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank country manager for Burma. He added that Burma's reintegration into the global economy presented the country with a unique opportunity to translate trade growth into more job opportunities, income gains and prosperity, as well as decreased poverty. Soe Tun, vice chairman of the Myanmar Rice Federation said he was not satisfied with the recent trade volume, as many exporters were waiting to see what policies the new National League for Democracy-led government would enact. "By the numbers, export volume has declined, especially for rice and agricultural products. We do not have an African market now, and the Chinese market is declining. We need government support for this industry," he said. "International organizations have a positive point of view, but in reality, the trade situation here is getting worse," Soe Tun added. He explained that rice export expectations for this fiscal year are expected to decline from last year's 1.8 million tons. "It may be less than 1.5 million tons this year," the vice chairman said. "That's why the government needs to have better strategies." Maung Maung Lay, vice chairman of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), said that the World Bank report had a positive tone but he does not expect much as long as the government still needs to help the private sector. The government needs to provide a one township-one product strategy and support small and medium enterprises in order to boost trade volume, he added. "One township, one product" projects—in which the government encourages diversification and commercialization by considering each township's existing local resources as viable exports—have had success in neighboring countries, but fizzled in Burma under previous governments. Burma imported some US$16 billion in goods in the 2014-15 fiscal year, and exports totaled more than $11 billion, leaving a deficit of $4.9 billion, according to ministry estimates. The World Bank stated that a boom in trade and investment has boosted average economic growth by more than 7 percent per year. The report also emphasized that trade-related reforms and programs could help reduce poverty and support the peace process. The World Bank recommended that Burma address skills shortages, improve access to finance, develop the tourism sector, and connect lagging regions to markets through better infrastructure. The post Observers Urge Govt To Create New Export Markets, Boost Trade Volume appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (June 28) Posted: 28 Jun 2016 05:31 AM PDT The Irrawaddy picks 10 interesting events happening in Rangoon this week. 'Beautiful Room' Art Exhibition Lokanat Gallery will showcase 33 paintings from artist Nay Tun. Prices for the work range from $150 to $450. Where: No.62, First Floor, Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Tsp. When: Saturday, July 2 to Thursday, July 7 Artists and Artisans Exhibition Various artists from South Okkalapa Township will hold a group exhibition at Bogyoke Market's Myanmar Artists and Artisans Association. Prices for the art range from $50 to $2500. Where: Myanmar Artists and Artisans Association (Central), Bogyoke Market When: Wednesday, June 29 to Sunday, July 3 'The Beauty from Inside' Exhibition Artist Kaung Khant Kyaw will hold an art exhibition at Cloud 31, where 38 paintings will be on display with prices ranging from $100 to $650. Where: Cloud 31 Art Gallery, No. 49/51, first floor, 31st Street (Middle Block) When: Sunday, July 3 to Thursday, July 7 Think Gallery Show Seven artists display their work in an exhibition entitled 'Think to Think.' The group will showcase about 35 paintings with prices between $150 and $7,500. Where: Think Art Gallery, No. 23, Nawady Street, Dagon Tsp. Tel: 095143266 When: Saturday, July 2 to Sunday, July 10 'The Damage Done' | Photographs by Pailin Wedel and Hkun Lat An exhibition featuring photography by Pailin Wedel and Hkun Lat, among others, looks at the scourge of drugs in Myanmar and how people are struggling to deal with it. The exhibition was facilitated by the Drugs Policy Advocacy Group (DPAG) Myanmar. Where: Myanmar Deitta, 3rd floor, No.49, 44th Street When: Sunday, June 26 to Saturday, July 2 Open-Mic Storytelling Night – Theme: Family Yangon Speaks and Yangon Toastmasters present an open-mic storytelling night. Have a story about your family that is too good not to share? Anyone and everyone is welcome to tell a family tale at this event. If you have a story to share, prepare your 5-8 minute story and let us know at the door that you'd like a chance to speak. Just want to listen? That's ok too. When: Wednesday, June 29, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm Where: Pansuriya Gallery – No 100, Bogalayzay street, Botahtaung Tsp. Black Orchid Red Line The black orchid is a rare, local species that grows in the northern part of Kachin State. Multiple factors threaten its existence, including deforestation and illegal trade. During the last century, the black orchid has been labeled extinct several times. Through images, sounds, sculptural installations and archival material, get an impression of the elusive black orchid and its natural habitat in the northernmost part of Myanmar. Where: Goethe Villa Yangon – No.8, Koh Min Koh Chin Road, Bahan Tsp. (Next to Golden Butterfly Hotel) When: Saturday, June 25 to Monday, July 4 Global Education Interact’16 In collaboration with prestigious multinational universities and colleges, Smart Resources is hosting Global Education Interact'16. To those who are interested in pursuing a degree abroad, we are pleased to offer over 150 universities and colleges and over 200 programs of study in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Singapore, and Thailand to help you choose a program or degree based on your interests. Where: Novotel Yangon Max, Pathein Room When: Saturday, July 2, 1pm to 4pm YOGA Friday’s Master Instructor Thiha teaches a 1.5-hour class every Friday. Yoga mats are provided, and class costs 7,000 kyats. Where: Friday, July 1, 6:30pm to 8pm When: Infinity Fitness, 33A Baho Road, Sanchaung Tsp. Glow Party Glow Party features an unforgettable LED experience like never before along with live DJ's. The admission fee is 15,000 kyats. Where: Sky Bar, Yangon International Hotel, Pyay Road, Ahlone Tsp. When: Saturday, July 2, 9pm to 2am The post Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (June 28) appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Drug Bust in Sittwe Sparks Speculation of Rangoon Ring Posted: 28 Jun 2016 04:44 AM PDT Suspected drug trafficker Kyaw Thu Lin at a Sittwe police station on Monday. (Photo: Tayzar / Facebook) RANGOON — Police seized nearly 800,000 methamphetamine and stimulant pills from suspected drug trafficker Kyaw Thu Lin at the Sakrokyeya Jetty in the Arakan State capital of Sittwe on Monday. Aung Myint Oo, the head of Sittwe's No. 2 Police Station, confirmed the seizure and said they had launched an investigation into the origin of the drugs. The police's report said the suspect was planning to deliver the shipment, which came from North Dagon, Rangoon, to a monk near Burma's border with Bangladesh. Police estimate the drugs are worth more than 2.3 billion kyats (US$1.95 million). According to Aung Myint Oo, this is the second largest drug confiscation in Arakan State this year. A representative from the Buthidaung police confirmed to The Irrawaddy that over 1 million pills were seized in Buthidaung Township at the end of December 2015. "Kyaw Thu Lin is just a transporter," said Aung Myint Oo. "The [drugs] came from Rangoon and now we are trying to trace their route." Speculation on social media was widespread that this seizure was linked to the largest drug confiscation in Burmese history, which was worth 133 billion kyats (nearly US$113 million) and seized in Rangoon in July 2015. The police chief declined to provide details on a possible Rangoon connection. "We cannot provide some information to the media yet because we are still in the process of verification," he said. The post Drug Bust in Sittwe Sparks Speculation of Rangoon Ring appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Military, 7 Day Daily Settle Libel Case Posted: 28 Jun 2016 02:42 AM PDT 7 Day Daily cover page. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Burma Army settled a libel lawsuit that it brought against local media outlet 7 Day Daily for publishing a story that it claimed could "destroy the unity of the military." The military filed the case against 7 Day Daily, a Burmese newspaper based in Rangoon, on Saturday for a news story published on April 24, which included former general Shwe Mann's message to graduates of the Defense Services Academy urging them to work with the country's newly-elected democratic government. The case was filed under Section 131 of Burma's colonial-era Penal Code which punishes anyone who "abets mutiny or attempts to seduce an officer from his allegiance or duty," a crime which carries up to ten years in prison. The 7 Day Daily newspaper printed notifications on Tuesday, saying they published the story with no intention of instigating disloyalty to the State or the military or encouraging soldiers not to perform their duties. "We are very sorry that the story has caused misunderstanding which led to the current situation. We 7 Day Daily would like to inform the Tatmadaw [the Burma Army] and fellow citizens with respect that we had no intention of harming anyone in our publishing of the story and we just published it honestly," the statement read. Burma's Press Council released a statement on Monday stating that it wanted the case to be settled through negotiations. "The source is not a fake account. 7 Day reported what Shwe Mann said on his Facebook page and they also cited that," Kyi Min from the Myanmar Press Council said. "That's why we thought the case should be settled out of court." The post Military, 7 Day Daily Settle Libel Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt to Ban Renewal of Expired Jade Mining Licenses Posted: 28 Jun 2016 02:22 AM PDT Buyers examining a jade lot. (Photo: Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — Burma's government will not allow jade miners to renew their licenses when they expire in an effort to reduce raw production and promote more profitable high-end jade products, said Win Htein, director general of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. "We will not reduce the number of mining fields, but we will ban the renewal of expired mining licenses. We will draw up a management plan that meets international norms and we will allow jade miners to resume their operations only when we can be sure that mining does not cause environmental deterioration," Win Htein told reporters in Naypyidaw. The ministry has decided to ban jade production in all mining areas including Hpakant, Lone Khin, Mohnyin and Hkamti once current licenses expire. The director general said that the ministry also plans to reduce jade sales, in an effort to stem the flow of raw jade out of the country in favor of encouraging local entrepreneurs to purchase the stones with value-added intentions. Up to 10,000 lots of raw jade were sold at Naypyidaw's jade and gems emporium in previous years; but, at this year's emporium, the ministry promoted polished jade products and only offered about 6,000 jade lots for sale. "Even if jade is sold on a small scale, the market will remain. The reduction in production will have some impact on our jade exports to China, but we'll reduce raw jade production and try to promote value-added products so that future generations can benefit from jade resources as well," Win Htein said. Over 6,000 jade lots, 300 pearl lots and 600 gems lots are for sale at the 53rd emporium, which continues through the first week in July. The event has sold over US$3 million worth of gems so far, according to a press release from the emporium. The post Govt to Ban Renewal of Expired Jade Mining Licenses appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nationwide Drug-Control Requires Peace, Say Police Posted: 28 Jun 2016 01:14 AM PDT The Rangoon divisional government oversaw the destruction of over US$19.7 million worth of seized narcotic drugs to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Sunday. (Photos: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — The production and trafficking of narcotic drugs can be controlled nationwide only after peace, stability and the rule of law have been restored in Burma's ethnic minority borderlands, said Police Col Zaw Lin Tun, head of planning at the Burma Police's anti-drug squad. He was quoted at the press briefing after a ceremony marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Trafficking held at the Myanmar International Convention Center-2 in the capital Naypyidaw on Sunday. "The 21st Century Panglong Conference could contribute a lot to drug control. If peace were restored, we would be able to investigate drug trafficking more deeply. Drug control and peace are interrelated," the police colonel said. The "Panglong" peace conference has been planned for July, with the aim of securing peace between the government and Burma's various ethnic armed groups, who have controlled large swathes of the borderlands for decades. According to statements made at the Naypyidaw press briefing, the police have been applying two primary methods in drug control—searching vehicles that ply known trafficking routes, and employing informers to expose trafficking rings. Those arrested for drug-related offenses are mostly drug abusers or retail traffickers. Police claim they are unable to get at wholesale traffickers and ringleaders because they reside in "ethnic areas" which are not yet at peace. Zaw Lin Tun said, "Most drug-related cases have been uncovered along trafficking routes. We get the drivers and, after investigating, the distributors who act as middlemen. Taking further steps is very difficult because the main culprits reside in border areas beyond the reach of the rule of law. So, we have had to give up our attempts." Burma's police claim that the cultivation of opium and drug trafficking are common in the borderlands and that ethnic armed groups, even if not directly involved in drug production or trafficking, allow traffickers to set up factories in areas of their control, extracting money from them in exchange for protection. The police failed to arrest the ringleaders, or those higher up the criminal chain, in the five largest drug hauls over the last year, including 2.1 million amphetamine tablets seized in Muse, on the Chinese border in northern Shan State, and 26.7 million stimulant tablets confiscated in Mingaladon Township in Rangoon in July 2015. Although special anti-drug operations have been carried out in Rangoon and Mandalay—alongside efforts in other divisions and states, under a "100-day plan"—difficulties persist. Vice President Myint Swe, an old regime hardliner who was elected to his post by the military, told the attendees at the Naypyidaw ceremony that the government was "cooperating" with the eight ethnic armed groups that singed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) last year to eradicate poppy cultivation and drug trafficking in their respective areas. "It is necessary to make continued efforts to dramatically reduce the drug problem in the country through the peace process," Myint Swe said. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Nationwide Drug-Control Requires Peace, Say Police appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

US to Downgrade Burma in Annual Human Trafficking Report: Sources Posted: 27 Jun 2016 11:23 PM PDT Samboo, a 12-year-old soldier in the Karen rebel army, poses with a gun in a jungle camp near the Thai border in January 2000. (Photo: Reuters) WASHINGTON/YANGON — The United States has decided to placeBurma on its global list of worst offenders in human trafficking, officials said, a move aimed at prodding the country’s new democratically elected government and its still-powerful military to do more to curb the use of child soldiers and forced labor. The reprimand of Burma comes despite US efforts to court the strategically important country to help counteract China’s rise in the region and build a Southeast Asian bulwark against Beijing’s territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea. Burma’s demotion, part of the State Department’s closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report due to be released on Thursday, also appears intended to send a message of US concern about continued widespread persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority nation. The country’s new leader, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticized internationally for neglecting the Rohingya issue since her administration took office this year. Washington has faced a complex balancing act over Burma, a former military dictatorship that has emerged from decades of international isolation since launching sweeping political changes in 2011. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening to Burma is widely seen as a key foreign policy achievement as he enters his final seven months in office, but even as he has eased some sanctions he has kept others in place to maintain leverage for further reforms. At the same time, Washington wants to keep Burma from slipping back into China’s orbit at a time when US officials are trying to forge a unified regional front. The US decision to drop Burma to “Tier 3,” the lowest grade, putting it alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, was confirmed by a US official in Washington and a Bangkok-based official from an international organization informed of the move. Another person familiar with the matter said: “I’m not going to turn you away from this conclusion.” All spoke on condition of anonymity. A Tier 3 rating can trigger sanctions limiting access to US and international aid. But US presidents frequently waive such action. The decision was one of the most hotly contested in this year’s report, and followed concerns that some assessments in last year’s human trafficking report were watered down for political reasons. There was intense internal debate between senior US diplomats who wanted to rewardBurma for progress on political reforms and US human rights experts who argued that not enough was being done to curb human trafficking, the US official said. A Reuters investigation published last August found that senior diplomats repeatedly overruled the State Department’s anti-trafficking unit and inflated the grades of 14 strategically important countries. The State Department denied any political considerations but US lawmakers called for reforms in the decision-making process. This year’s decision on Burma marked a win for the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was set up to independently grade countries’ efforts to prevent modern slavery, such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labor or prostitution. Because Burma had been on the so-called “Tier 2 Watch List” for the maximum four years permitted by law, the State Department either had to justify an upgrade or else automatically downgrade it. A Tier 3 ranking means that anti-trafficking efforts do not meet “minimum standards” and it is “not making significant efforts to do so.” State Department spokesman John Kirby said: “We will not comment on the contents of this year’s report until after the report is released.” CHILD SOLDIERS Deliberations on Burma’s record focused heavily on efforts to halt the military’s recruitment and use of child soldiers as well as forced labor, especially the coercion of local villagers to perform some work. Such practices have been documented by international human rights groups and are also outlined in last year’s State Department report. A key issue that the U.S. administration considered before Burma’s downgrade was alleged government complicity in human trafficking, including its failure to prosecute any civilian officials for their involvement in it, according to the person familiar with the situation. While the Burma military is credited with significant progress toward curbing the use of child soldiers, such as allowing international inspections of military bases, there was no indication the problem had been completely eradicated as the U.S. anti-trafficking office had urged, the source said. Human rights groups had lobbied U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry against upgradingBurma, saying it would be unearned. The diplomatic blow to Burma’s government could be softened by the fact that the TIP report covered efforts during the year ending in March, under the previous administration of former junta general Thein Sein. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, assumed her government role in April, after her party won the country’s first democratic elections in five decades. But with the generals still controlling three security ministries and holding a lock on 25 percent of seats in parliament, US officials grappled with whether a downgrade could undermine cooperation from the military against human trafficking. For her part, Suu Kyi has recently unsettled US officials by calling on them not to use the term “Rohingya” to refer to the Muslim minority in the country’s north. Many in Burma refer to them as “Bengalis,” insinuating that they are stateless illegal immigrants. The United States has urged Burma to treat them as citizens. The 2015 TIP report highlighted that the government’s denial of citizenship to an estimated 800,000 men, women and children in Burma — the majority of them ethnic Rohingya — “significantly increased this population’s vulnerability to trafficking”. “The chronic, chronic abuse of the Rohingya has not been dealt with at all,” a U.S. congressional aide said, suggesting support on Capitol Hill for a downgrade this year. The post US to Downgrade Burma in Annual Human Trafficking Report: Sources appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Book Review: General Ne Win: A Political Biography by Robert H. Taylor Posted: 27 Jun 2016 06:30 PM PDT Robert Taylor's biography of General Ne Win. "As for the control of civil disturbances, I have to inform the people throughout the country that when the army shoots, it shoots to hit; it does not fire into the air to scare," said Burma's dictator Ne Win when he announced his resignation as chairman of the then-ruling Burma Socialist Programme Party at its extraordinary congress on July 23, 1988. Anti-government demonstrations had begun in the old capital Rangoon and other cities, and, on August 8, 1988, millions of people across the country took to the streets to vent their frustrations with 26 years of dictatorial rule and disastrous economic policies which had turned what once had been one of Asia's most prosperous countries into one of the poorest. And then, as Ne Win had pledged, the military did not "fire in the air to scare"—thousands of people were gunned down when soldiers fired their automatic weapons into crowds of unarmed demonstrators. It was a massacre even bloodier than what happened in China a year later, when its pro-democracy movement was crushed by military might. However, Robert Taylor, a prolific writer on Burmese affairs, seems to believe that such a horrific event in Burma's modern history is worth no more than two peculiarly worded sentences: "It was impossible for him [Ne Win] to sleep, as the noise of the demonstrators was quite loud and could easily be heard on Ady Road [Ne Win's residence]. Once, when shots were heard, Ne Win indicated that they were probably fired by monks." (p. 529) Taylor's voluminous, 620-page biography of the general who turned Burma into a political and economic wreck, and who ruled with an iron fist for more than two decades, must go down in the history of literature as one of the most sycophantic portraits of a ruthless dictator ever written by a Western academic. Events after Ne Win's coup d'état on March 2, 1963, when he overthrew Burma's democratically elected government, are described in this manner: "Despite the unfortunate events that marked the first months of the Revolutionary government, including the death of Sao Shwe Thaike's son, and the students' demonstrations at the university, and the unwillingness of political party leaders to accept Ne Win's socialist vision, there were still events to sheer Ne Win and assure him that he was undertaking the right way to unify Myanmar's fractious politics." (p. 267) Any other historian would have written that the "unfortunate" death of the 17-year-old son of Burma's first president Sao Shwe Thaik happened when soldiers stormed into his family home in Rangoon during the night of the coup and gunned down the young boy in cold blood. The ex-President and then Speaker of the Upper House of the Burmese Parliament was led away and died, most likely extra-judicially executed, in military custody a few months—no one knows exactly when—after his detention. The other "unfortunate event"—student demonstrations against the coup—was, in fact, the first massacre carried out by the new military government. On July 7, soldiers armed with newly issued German G-3 assault rifles, surrounded the campus at Rangoon University—and opened fire. Officially, 15 students and lecturers were killed and 27 wounded. But both neutral observers and students who were present during the shooting assert that the university looked like a slaughterhouse where not 15 but hundreds potential leaders of society in many fields lay sprawled in death. Sai Tzang, another of Sao Shwe Thaik's sons, wrote after the event: "It was clear that the soldiers were firing not merely to disperse the crowds, but were under orders to shoot to kill." During the night after the massacre, the military dynamited the historic Rangoon University Students' Union building, reducing it to rubble. As for the troublesome leaders of Burma's political parties, who were opposed to Ne Win's pseudo-socialist ideas, they were arrested. Taylor also makes the extraordinary claim that the military seized power in 1962 partly because the Shan princes, or sawbwas, "were beginning to organize armed opposition to the government." (pp. 255-256) It is correct that a Shan rebellion broke out in 1958, but the sawbwas had nothing to do with it. It was organized by university students, a former officer of the Union Military Police, and local nationalists. The sawbwas, led by Sao Shwe Thaik, were opposed to armed struggle and presented their demands for a new federal structure at a seminar that the Prime Minister at the time, U Nu, had convened in Rangoon just before the coup. Needless to say, all the participants in the seminar were arrested too. Apart from Sao Shwe Thaik, another Shan sawbwa, Sao Kya Hseng of Hsipaw, was also arrested and murdered in custody. The story and fate of Sao Kya Hseng and his Austrian wife Inge is the theme of a recent movie, Twilight Over Burma, which could not be shown at this year's Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival in Rangoon. According to the BBC: "The invited audience in Rangoon was told censors thought it damaged the army’s image and national reconciliation." As for eliminating threats to national unity, British Burma specialist Martin Smith wrote in his obituary of Ne Win for the Guardian on December 6, 2002: "Far from quelling opposition, Ne Win's tactics created a new cycle of insurgencies. At one stage, the deposed prime minister U Nu also took up arms with Karens and Mons in the Thai borderlands, while Beijing lent military backing to the Communist Party of Burma in the mountainous northeast." In the same vein—blaming non-Burman and other rebels for the country's woes—Taylor claims that, during the August-September 1988 pro-democracy uprising, "insurgent groups along the border were taking advantage of the chaos to attempt to enhance their own positions." (p. 530). In fact, one of the most remarkable features of the events of 1988 was that the ethnic rebels and the insurgent Communist Party of Burma, did nothing at all to "take advantage" of the situation, or to link up with the urban movement. Instead there were clashes between Karen and Mon rebels at Three Pagodas Pass over claims to territory. It was only after the military had stepped in on September 18—not to seize power, which it already had, but to shore up a regime overwhelmed by popular protest—that the ethnic rebels joined hands with pro-democracy activists who had fled to the border in the wake of a second massacre in Rangoon and other cities and towns. It would be tedious to list all other inaccuracies and distortions of history that Taylor's book contains. But it is worth noting that Taylor is not an outcast among Burma watchers. He is closely affiliated with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, a supposedly serious academic institution based in Singapore, and his comments on contemporary Burmese politics have appeared in the Nikkei Asian Review, a not particularly successful attempt to emulate the old and well-respected Hong Kong weekly Far Eastern Economic Review, which folded in 1994. More importantly, Taylor's account of the life and rule of what Smith refers to as the "last great Asian despot" is an insult to the people of Burma and all those who lost loved ones in massacres carried out by the military in urban as well as frontier areas where the non-Burman nationalities live. They deserve better—and so does Burma, which has been misruled and terrorized by successive military-dominated regimes since 1962. Whether the situation will improve under the present government remains to be seen. But, against the backdrop of repression and tyranny that Ne Win left behind, it would be an almost insurmountable task for any civilian government to achieve national reconciliation and restore economic prosperity. That is the tragic legacy of the Ne Win era. Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and author of several books on Burma. The post Book Review: General Ne Win: A Political Biography by Robert H. Taylor appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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