The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Suu Kyi to Meet With Migrant Workers During Thailand Visit
- US Investment in Burma Forecasted to Increase
- Burma Army, Arakan Army Soldiers Clash Again in Arakan State
- Ethnic Armed Groups to Meet Before Panglong
- Arakan State Government to Enumerate Displaced Muslims in Camps
- Ma Ba Tha Calls For Release of Jailed Nationalist
- Mandalay Journalist Sentenced on Police Assault Charges
- Activists Urge Government to Enact Gender Quotas
- Hong Kong Students Split from Tiananmen Anniversary Vigil
- Visibility Belies Discrimination Against Transgender Thais
| Suu Kyi to Meet With Migrant Workers During Thailand Visit Posted: 06 Jun 2016 08:39 AM PDT  Aung San Suu Kyi smiles at people gathered to meet her at the Mae La refugee camp, near Mae Sot at the Thailand-Burma border, on June 2, 2012. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma State Counselor and Foreign Affairs Minister Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with Burmese migrant workers in Thailand during her visit to the country in late June, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kyaw Zeya, a director-general from the foreign affairs ministry, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that specific itineraries have yet to be finalized; the two countries' officials are still hashing out the details for the three-day visit scheduled from June 23 to 25. Suu Kyi will reportedly visit the fishing town of Mahachai in Samut Sakhon, which is home to a large Burmese migrant worker community. "In promoting mutual relations and cooperation between our two countries, Burmese migrant worker issues also play an important role," Kyaw Zeya said. "She will go and meet them in order to hear their experiences and the difficulties they are facing," he added, regarding Suu Kyi's trip. Kyaw Zeya also said that Suu Kyi has plans to visit Thailand's refugee camps, but he was unable to confirm further details. Zaw Htay, the President Office's spokesperson, declined to comment on whether President Htin Kyaw would join Suu Kyi on the trip. A Thailand-based migrant workers' rights activist, Andy Hall, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the visit would be a dual opportunity for Suu Kyi to tackle the issue of migrant worker exploitation in Thailand and to keep a promise she made during a visit to Mahachai in 2012. Suu Kyi's 2012 trip to Thailand was her first outside of Burma after being released from house arrest, under which she was first placed in 1989. During this visit, she vowed to help Burmese migrant workers once she was in a position to do so. "This time, she would go back to Mahachai. [I think] she wants to keep her promise to the migrant community," Andy Hall said. "I think Suu Kyi will be trying to push the Thai government to give more training [to migrant workers] to increase [their] skills so that they can come back home to [Burma] and help build the country's economy." Sein Htay, president of the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN), said that Burmese migrant workers in Thailand believe that Suu Kyi will take the issue of migrant worker exploitation seriously, given her powerful position in Burma. "Burmese migrant workers hope that she will help to improve legal protections for them, something that needs to be addressed urgently," he said. Sein Htay also emphasized the importance of skills training and the need for access to education and healthcare for migrant workers and their children, and how these issues need to be worked into long-term plans between the two countries. According to MWRN's estimation, there are some 3 million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. The post Suu Kyi to Meet With Migrant Workers During Thailand Visit appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| US Investment in Burma Forecasted to Increase Posted: 06 Jun 2016 08:29 AM PDT  A factory worker inspects packages of Coca-Cola bottles on a conveyer belt at the new Coca-Cola plant in Rangoon on June 4, 2013. (Photo: Sean Havey / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — US investment in Burma has strong potential to increase this year, experts said at a US-Burma Economic Relations seminar in Rangoon on Monday. Entitled "US-Burma Economic Relations: The Next Phase," the seminar was jointly organized by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and the United States Chamber of Commerce. With the former playing host at their Rangoon head office, local and foreign experts attended alongside government officials and US Ambassador to Burma Scot Marciel. "Most US investors are interested in investing in services, IT and the telecommunications sector [in Burma]. I expect there will more US investors coming this year after the Myanmar Investment Commission is reconstituted [under the new government]," said Aung Naing Oo, director general of the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration. "Though there has been little US investment here so far due to sanctions and other remaining restrictions, after the easing of some sanctions and investment limits this year, I expect more US investors will come," he added, citing recent meetings between US business groups and local investors, as well as members of the government, since April. Aung Naing Oo said that, since April, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has scrutinized 102 investment proposals (around 50 local and 50 foreign, including some from the US). The MIC is currently being reconstituted and is scheduled to resume its work in mid June—after which, these proposals will be approved as soon as possible, he said. US Ambassador to Burma Scot Marciel told the seminar attendees that the American government strongly supported both Burma's transition to democracy and its economic reforms. He said he believed the US private sector could play a role in fostering "broad-based growth" with what he described as its high standards of transparency, good corporate governance and American access to superior technology. Marciel added that support for the private sector in Burma, particularly in trade and investment, would be crucial for the new government's success. Marciel said that the US was not directing sanctions at the Burmese economy; instead the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) was in place to target specific individuals known to be involved in illicit activity or to have close links with Burma's military, which remains beyond civilian oversight. However, the ambassador acknowledged the outsized influence that many on the SDN list still have on Burma's economy. Marciel also defended the ongoing ban on gem imports from Burma to the US, due to the gem industry's role in fueling conflict in Burma. Dr. Aung Tun Thet, an advisor to the UMFCCI, said in the seminar that US investors should come quickly, and invest in the right areas. "It is time to invest in Myanmar," he said. Dr. Maung Mg Lay, vice president of the UMFCCI, told the seminar that the government needed to untangle more of its cumbersome bureaucracy in order to attract more foreign investors. Maung Mg Lay also stressed that the ultimate goal of the US in Burma should be to lift all sanctions and reinstate the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a preferential tariff system from which he said Burma would stand to benefit. "For the US to bring to technology and skills [to Burma] is important," Maung Mg Lay said. John Goyer, senior director for South East Asia for the US Chamber of Commerce, released a White Paper at the conference that included policy recommendations aimed at both the American and Burmese governments. Burma has "an ambitious and daunting economic agenda," John Goyer said at the seminar. "The US business community fully supports [Burma's] efforts to modernize and open [its] economy and wants to be a partner in these efforts." In 2015, US exports to Burma were at US$227 million while imports were at $144 million, according to figures from Burma's Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration. The total approved US investment in Burma stands at US$248 million. The post US Investment in Burma Forecasted to Increase appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Burma Army, Arakan Army Soldiers Clash Again in Arakan State Posted: 06 Jun 2016 07:54 AM PDT  The Arakan Army's fifth anniversary celebrations in Laiza, Kachin State, April 2014. (Photo: Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy) A Burma Army battalion and Arakan Army (AA) soldiers fought for around half an hour on Sunday afternoon near Rathedaung Township's Kharu Chaung and Rakaung Chaung villages in Arakan State, but no casualties from either side were reported. Wai Hun Aung of the Wunlark Development Foundation said that it took upward of an hour for the fighting to fully cease but that it was not as serious as previous incidents of conflict. He said that the residents of the villages' 200 households had already fled because of previous skirmishes between Burma Army and AA troops. The Arakan State government and local civil society organizations recently collaborated to secure emergency response and humanitarian assistance for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rathedaung Township's villages, having built 17 temporary tents in Rakaung Chaung, 30 in Pae Thadu, 64 in Rayso Chaung and 20 in Kyauktan. Five primary schools were also built. More than 2,000 villagers are sheltered in temporary camps in Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung and Mrauk-U townships in Arakan State. AA Col Nyo Twan Awng confirmed the fighting on Sunday, noting that this particular area is especially prone to conflict since both sides operate in the vicinity. Recently, fighting broke out unexpectedly when the two armed groups were discovered to be patrolling the same territory. Last week, President Htin Kyaw's chief peace negotiator Tin Myo Win convened a delegation to re-start negotiations with non-signatories of the 2015's nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), reportedly including the AA, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), who were previously excluded from NCA talks. These three armed organizations are working with the government to set a date and venue for a meeting. Col Nyo Twan Aung said that a "greeting" of sorts between the two sides could happen within a week. "A greeting is better than no meeting—it's like something is better than nothing," the AA colonel explained, adding that details of the encounter would be revealed in due course. Col Nyo Twan Aung also criticized Burma's previous government for failing to achieve peace in a country long plagued by civil war. "Peace was at the top of the agenda, and it was a very popular goal in Burma. But despite several government attempts, peace was never realized, because their [government officials'] dishonesty prevented them from reaching this goal," he said. The post Burma Army, Arakan Army Soldiers Clash Again in Arakan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ethnic Armed Groups to Meet Before Panglong Posted: 06 Jun 2016 07:49 AM PDT  A peace delegation from the government meets leaders from the UNFC on June 3 in Chiang Mai. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) plans to hold another summit to find common ground among all ethnic armed groups in the run-up to the 21st Century Panglong Conference to be hosted by the government. Htun Zaw, secretary of the UNFC—an alliance of ethnic armed groups that opted out of signing last year's so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the Burma Army—said that the eight groups that signed the NCA will also be invited to join the summit. "It is better for us to facilitate the ethnic armed groups' discussion [of] issues first among themselves before we go to the Panglong Conference," said UNFC Joint-Secretary Htun Zaw. The UNFC did not set a date or location for the summit yet. But some sources close to ethnic leaders said that the UNFC may hold this ethnic conference in Mai Jai Yang, which is in Kachin Independence Army-controlled territory. "We ethnic armed groups should find our own common ground so that we can speak with one united voice," said Htun Zaw. "That is why we have decided to have another summit." A peace delegation from the government recently met representatives from the UNFC in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The non-state armed group leaders said they will encourage their members to attend the Panglong Conference after the Burmese government officials told them that all ethnic armed groups were welcome. But whether all ethnic armed groups will be actually invited to Panglong—which is based on an interethnic conference by the same name held in 1947—remains a matter of debate. During NCA talks last year, the Burma Army intentionally excluded three groups with which they had been engaged in active conflict: the Arakan Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. And despite faith in Aung San Suu Kyi's new peace effort, skepticism pervades regarding the National League for Democracy's ability to incorporate these ethnic armed organizations into the Panglong Conference. The Burma Army has kept quiet about the inclusion of these three groups, who have recently clashed with government forces. But the UNFC has not stayed silent. "They have to let all of our members attend the conference," said UNFC Vice Chairman Nai Hong Sar to Voice of America over the weekend. "But if the Burma Army still does not accept these three members, we may reconsider attending [the Panglong Conference]." The post Ethnic Armed Groups to Meet Before Panglong appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Arakan State Government to Enumerate Displaced Muslims in Camps Posted: 06 Jun 2016 06:24 AM PDT  Muslim residents of a displaced persons camp' in Myebon, Arakan State, pictured in 2014. (Photo: J Paing / The Irrawaddy) The Arakan State government has said that it will begin counting the Muslim populations still residing in displaced persons' camps in Kyaukphyu, Ponnagyun and Myebon townships—so as to facilitate planning and development, the state government claims. Many of Arakan State's Muslims were left out of Burma's 2014 census because they refused to identify as "Bengalis," the term used by members of the government and the general public to refer to the country's stateless Rohingya minority concentrated in northern Arakan State. The term implies they are illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh. Min Aung, a spokesperson for the Arakan State Government, told The Irrawaddy that the enumeration of Muslims in camps in the three townships would begin on June 7. Besides the Rohingya, Muslims in the Kyaukphyu, Ponnagyun and Myebon camps also include those of the Kaman ethnicity—a community which, unlike the Rohingya, form an officially recognized group in Burma and are eligible, in theory, for automatic citizenship. However, many Kaman were victims of the 2012 and 2013 anti-Muslim riots in Arakan State; in the camps, they face the same restrictions on movement and on access to employment, education and healthcare as the Rohingya. "We already have population numbers for the [Buddhist Arakanese] people in the three townships. We will now collect information from Muslim communities who disputed [their ethnic designation in the 2014 census]," said Min Aung, in reference to the insistence of the government that Rohingya could not self-identify as such in the census, but had to accept being enumerated as "Bengalis" as a condition of their inclusion, which many refused outright. "We wanted the total population for the three townships. It would be hard to implement future development projects if we did not know exact population sizes," he said. Aung Lwin, an ethnic Kaman from a Myebon camp, appeared to consider the enumeration exercise as a precursor to the government granting opportunities to apply for citizenship. To this end, he said he would be prepared to identify as "Bengali"—an illustration of how this term can be arbitrarily applied to other Muslims in Arakan State besides the Rohingya. Aung Lwin said that officers from the Immigration Department would be coming to his camp on Tuesday. However, the link between this enumeration exercise and the reported resumption last month of a previously stalled citizenship verification drive in Arakan State, which allows stateless Muslims the opportunity to apply for citizenship (with Rohingya having to identify as "Bengali"), is not currently clear. Arakan State government spokesperson Min Aung did not draw this connection in his statements to The Irrawaddy. As part of the former government's Rakhine State Action Plan unveiled in 2014, a pilot citizenship verification program was carried out in displaced persons' camps in Myebon Township. Out of the 1,094 Muslims applicants, 209 were declared eligible for citizenship in September 2014—although most were reportedly Kaman, and a large majority, 169, qualified only for naturalized citizenship. After an outcry from Arakanese Buddhist residents in Myebon and the state capital Sittwe, the program was swiftly suspended. The post Arakan State Government to Enumerate Displaced Muslims in Camps appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ma Ba Tha Calls For Release of Jailed Nationalist Posted: 06 Jun 2016 05:43 AM PDT  Ma Ba Tha’s third annual conference on Saturday in Rangoon. (Photo: Ma Ba Tha / Facebook) RANGOON — Buddhist extremist group Ma Ba Tha issued a statement Sunday in support of nationalist provocateur Nay Myo Wai, who is under arrest and facing trial for allegedly defaming Burma's president, state counselor and army commander-in-chief on social media. The Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, better known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha, released an eight-point statement after the conclusion of their annual conference on Sunday, saying that someone had created fake Facebook accounts to implicate Peace and Diversity Party Chairman Nay Myo Wai in the defamation of President Htin Kyaw, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. The statement warned that the detention of Nay Myo Wai would damage the image of the new government that has vowed to prioritize the rule of law, complaining that the politician has been denied bail. "The authorities should avoid this kind of unjust action, and we strongly urge them to promote the rule of law by reviewing U Nay Myo Wai's case," the statement said. The party chairman has been detained since May after Wai Yan Aung, an executive member of the Burma Teachers' Federation, filed a lawsuit against him under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law and accused him of defaming the most powerful trio in Burma. The Ma Ba Tha also urged the government to "protect" Buddhism as it is the faith of the majority of the Burmese citizens, and called on the government to declare there are "no Rohingya in the country" and implement the 1982 Citizenship Law, which denies the ethnic group—who are Muslim and reside in Arakan State—citizenship in Burma. Ma Ba Tha on Sunday urged its followers to support the controversial Protection of Race and Religions Laws, which place new sanctions on polygamy and adultery, add restrictions on religious conversions and interfaith marriage and give the government new powers to implement birth control measures. The association was behind drafting the laws and lobbied hard for their enactment. Rights groups and other observers have alleged that the laws, passed by the Union Parliament under the previous government, were aimed at the perennial target of the Ma Ba Tha's propaganda, Burma's Muslims, which are estimated to comprise about 5 percent of the country's population. Founded in 2014, Ma Ba Tha is made up of a group of nationalist monks who view themselves as the guardians of Buddhism. They are accused of spreading anti-Muslim sentiment throughout the country. Currently, it has nearly 300 branches across Burma. In their Sunday directive, Ma Ba Tha encouraged all 300 branches to open Facebook accounts for information sharing and collaboration on the issues of race and religion. The post Ma Ba Tha Calls For Release of Jailed Nationalist appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Mandalay Journalist Sentenced on Police Assault Charges Posted: 06 Jun 2016 05:10 AM PDT  BBC reporter Nay Myo Lin is seen at Mandalay's Chanmyathazi Township court on Monday. (Photo: Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON— A Mandalay-based journalist working for the BBC's Burmese language news service was sentenced on police assault charges to three months' imprisonment with hard labor by Mandalay's Chanmyathazi Township court on Monday. Forty-year-old reporter Nay Myo Lin was charged with Article 332 of Burma's Penal Code, which covers "voluntarily causing hurt to deter [a] public servant from his duty," and carries a punishment of up to three years in prison or a fine. The initial complaint was filed by Lance Corporal Ba Maw over an alleged altercation between the policeman and the journalist during a demonstration last year. The 2015 protest was held by several dozen Mandalay-based students and activists demanding the release of those arrested in "the Letpadan crackdown," in which students were imprisoned in Pegu Division for demonstrating against Burma's controversial National Education Law. According to a claim made by police, authorities tried to stop protesters on motorbikes and caused several drivers to fall. Nay Myo Lin was among those who were caught up in the accident, after which he allegedly hit one of the officers. Defense lawyer Thein Than Oo told The Irrawaddy that the jail term was an unexpected punishment as the court could have chosen to impose a monetary penalty instead. "Three months' imprisonment is too much," he said. "He was caught up in a complicated collision and supposedly hit an officer [by] accident." The lawyer said that the reporter has the right to lodge an appeal against the conviction, and that he will act on Nay Myo Lin's behalf after hearing from the family. Nay Myo Lin is the husband of Zarni Mann, a Mandalay-based reporter for The Irrawaddy. The post Mandalay Journalist Sentenced on Police Assault Charges appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Activists Urge Government to Enact Gender Quotas Posted: 06 Jun 2016 04:10 AM PDT  A group photo after a women's empowerment workshop in Naypyidaw on Saturday. (Photo: Khin Thandar Zaw / Facebook) NAYPYIDAW — Women's rights activists urged legislators to enact a gender quota system to increase women's representation in political leadership at a panel discussion in Naypyidaw on Saturday. The "Women's Empowerment Leads to True Transformation" workshop was organized by the Women's Organizations Network (WON) and the Gender Equality Network (GEN), and attended by about 300 participants including legislators and activists. Gender equality activists said that political parties should initiate progress by instituting internal quota systems, and then introducing quotas to political leadership once in office. "The panel discussion focused on gender quotas, which we need laws and policy for," said Nang Phyu Phyu Lin, steering committee member of the GEN. "For this, we rely on the legislators." She said the groups shared research findings on the advantages and disadvantages of gender quotas at the introductory meeting between new government representatives, lawmakers and women's rights groups. Despite Aung San Suu Kyi's prominent leadership role as State Counselor, foreign affairs minister and chairwoman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, women hold drastically less than 30 percent of the positions in the legislative and executive sectors—the goal outlined in the 1995 Beijing Platform of Action, to which Burma was party along with numerous other countries. After November's general election, women parliamentarians hold 13 percent of elected seats in the Union Parliament. When included with the military appointees to Parliament, that number drops to about 10 percent—double what it was in the last session of Parliament after the 2012 by-election. Burma's cabinet currently contains only one woman: Suu Kyi herself. Rights activists said that gender quotas would be an immediate response to overcoming the injustice of the former system. Quotas would play a key role in improving women's opportunities for political leadership, said Nang Phyu Phyu Lin. "The quota system that we have been asking for is temporary. We will not accept the argument that quotas may bring unqualified women into leadership roles. Nobody was born with these skills; we have to be empowered and learn them through experience," she added. Campaigns to set a minimum quota for women's representation at 30 percent have been active, predominantly with previously exiled women's rights groups such as Women's League of Burma (WLB). Gender rights activists have increasingly raised the issue within Burma since the shift to a quasi-civilian government in 2011 and throughout the democratic transition. Last year, lawmaker Khin Saw Wai from the Arakan National Party (ANP) raised the issue in Parliament, but to no avail. In Burma, some lawmakers still view gender equality as a taboo subject. Shwe Shwe Sein Latt, NLD lawmaker and renowned women's rights advocate said gender inclusion in every sector, from grassroots to Parliament, is “a delicate matter that requires a careful approach.” “Awareness about gender equality needs to be introduced to the new parliamentarians, as we [rights advocates] did in the past with lawmakers from the first-term parliament,” she said. “We need to build greater awareness by sharing with the new lawmakers.” She echoed the importance of political parties initiating the quota system internally as a first step. The post Activists Urge Government to Enact Gender Quotas appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Hong Kong Students Split from Tiananmen Anniversary Vigil Posted: 05 Jun 2016 11:35 PM PDT  Thousands of people take part in a candlelight vigil to mark the 27th anniversary of the crackdown of the pro-democracy movement at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, Victoria Park, Hong Kong, June 4, 2016. (Photo: Bobby Yip / Reuters) HONG KONG — While Hong Kongers crammed into a park Saturday to remember the victims of China's bloody crackdown on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square 27 years ago, many student groups held rival events in a sign of the widening rift in the city's pro-democracy movement. The annual evening vigil at Victoria Park is the only large-scale public commemoration on Chinese soil of Beijing's brutal crackdown. About the only sign in Beijing that it was the anniversary of the event was the tightened security around Tiananmen Square. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people were killed as tanks and troops converged on Beijing on the night of June 3-4, 1989. The topic remains taboo in China and any form of commemoration, whether public or private, is banned. Organizers in Hong Kong, a semiautonomous city that enjoys many civil liberties not seen in mainland China, said 125,000 people attended Saturday's vigil, but the crowd appeared to be smaller. Police gave an estimate of 21,800. Missing from the crowd were the student groups that had been longstanding supporters of the annual vigil. Instead, a dozen student organizations held discussion forums on Hong Kong's future. The move underscores the split that emerged between younger and older generations of pro-democracy activists over Hong Kong identity following 2014 protests against the Chinese government's decision to restrict elections in the city. Student leaders decided to abstain from the vigil after they quit the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China—the vigil's organizer—in April because they felt one of the alliance's main aims, fighting for democracy in mainland China, was no longer realistic. Vigil leaders on Saturday evening laid a wreath at a makeshift memorial. The crowd, holding candles that turned the park into a sea of flickering lights, observed a minute of silence. The start of the event was briefly disrupted by activists, some wearing masks, who tried to storm the stage. They yelled slogans and carried flags calling for Hong Kong's independence. Police said they arrested a 24-year-old man. Lily Wong, a 21-year-old legal assistant, attended the vigil with her friend Cecilia Ng, 19, a recent high school graduate. They didn't disagree with some of the criticisms leveled by the student groups, such as a format that is repeated every year and doesn't appeal to the younger generation, but they said it remained vital for the pro-democracy movement. "This is not a perfect event, but there are some meaningful things for us," Wong said. "It is very important for Hong Kong." In Taiwan's capital, Taipei, Wu'er Kaixi, one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen protests, was among about 200 people who gathered at Liberty Square for a memorial event. "The spirit of June 4 is an act of courageous humans pursuing the universal value of freedom," Wu'er said. "This spirit will not be crushed under machine guns and tanks. It will not die because of [the Chinese government's] suppression." Ahead of the anniversary in China, family members of those killed in the crackdown were placed under additional restrictions. At least half a dozen people were reportedly detained in recent days for attempting to commemorate the events. The US State Department called for a "full public accounting of those killed, detained, or missing and for an end to censorship of discussions about the events of June 4, 1989, as well as an end to harassment and detention of those who wish to peacefully commemorate the anniversary." Asked Friday about the anniversary, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had "long ago reached a clear conclusion about the political turmoil at the end of 1980s and other related issues." China's explosive economic growth in the years that followed "proves that the path of socialism with Chinese characters we chose to follow … is in line with the fundamental interests of the Chinese people, and it represents a wish shared by them all," Hua told reporters at a daily news briefing. The post Hong Kong Students Split from Tiananmen Anniversary Vigil appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Visibility Belies Discrimination Against Transgender Thais Posted: 05 Jun 2016 11:30 PM PDT  A Thai transgender woman looks on wearing a red ribbon painting during a march through Pattaya resort town to raise awareness on World Aids Day, Pattaya, east of Bangkok, Thailand, December 1, 2015. (Photo: Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters) BANGKOK — The most dangerous place in high school for Jetsada Taesombat was the boys' bathroom. Her makeup, her lipstick, her accessories became signals to fellow students who targeted her with cruel jokes, insults and physical abuse. But Jetsada refused to hide her transgender identity. The visibility of transgender people, especially in Bangkok, might make Thailand appear more liberal than other countries regarding their identity. But the reality, they say, is that transgender Thais face deep discrimination, scorn and aggression. Often, it happens in bathrooms, where closed doors and expectations of privacy ensure secrecy for the perpetrators. When Jetsada complained to her teacher that she had been sexually harassed in the bathroom, the teacher blamed it on her makeup. When she appealed the teacher to act, the teacher said the harassment was a consequence of being a sexual deviant. "Growing up in an all-boys school, I didn't feel comfortable going into the boys' toilet," said Jetsada, now 32. "I was afraid for my life. I was afraid of getting bullied or sexually harassed." Jetsada always chose to use the girls' bathroom, despite the risk of being scolded or reprimanded. Facing a teacher's wrath was the better option. If she couldn't get access to the girls' toilet, Jetsada would wait until school ended or she brought a transgender friend to stand guard in the boys' bathroom. Transgender Thais say the situation here is similar to the United States, where conflicting state laws and federal policy on the matter are being hotly debated. Lawsuits have been filed to challenge the Obama administration's directive allowing transgender people to use bathrooms matching their gender identity, as well as a North Carolina law requiring people to use bathrooms of their birth gender. In Thailand, the discrimination partly comes from religious beliefs about sexual behavior. Most Thais are Buddhists, who are supposed to live by the Five Moral Precepts—the third of them being to avoid sexual misconduct. People born with the wrong gender identity are believed to have brought it on themselves by sinning in a past life. Thais also consider a transgender life miserable because they think a person born in the wrong body won't find love. Transgender people appear to be able to live openly in the Thai capital, attracting little attention on the streets and in restaurants and shopping malls. But the country does not legally recognize gender changes, same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex parents or commercial surrogacy. Discrimination in employment, the provision of goods and services, hate speech and crimes were made illegal only last September when the Gender Equality Act became effective. Before 2015, transgender people had no laws to protect them against being unjustly turned down for a job or harassed. And transgender people are still targets of violence. A research project by Transgender Europe on killings of trans and gender-diverse people in 65 countries, counted 137 reported murders of transgender people in North America from January 2008 to December 2015. Thailand has only seen 14, but the number is deceptive. Police in Thailand, as well as in many countries, often identify victims as men, rather than transgender, according to Jetsada, who now is executive director and co-founder of the Thai Transgender Alliance, which works to raise awareness and understanding about the identities and rights of transgender people in Thailand. "Even though many foreigners think we're LGBT-friendly in Thailand, there's still so much violence and hatred toward us," said a government liaison officer, Chinnarat Buttho. "Although in high school, I had not started dressing as a woman, I always knew that my heart was one of a woman's. But I was always taught by society's rules that I have to go to the boy's room. I looked like a boy but I showed female mannerisms. I was bullied a lot because of it." Chinnarat, now 32, started dressing as a woman when she pursued a master's degree, and her friends and family have become more comfortable and accepting of her choice. She has not used the men's bathroom since then. Many transgender people, despite holding university degrees, are unable to find work in their respective fields, said Jetsada. "Many people I know still struggle with discrimination at job interviews; many times they don't get hired because of their identity," said Jetsada. "When faced with the question of whether they're willing to cut their hair short, stop wearing makeup, act like a man for a job, many are unable to disclaim and lie about their identity. The sex industry becomes their only option." Chinnarat and Jetsada believe that allowing a transgender person to use the bathroom where they feel most comfortable is a decision that would lead to a more inclusive and accepting society. "How do you live in the same world with people who have such differing opinions and perspectives from yourself?" asked Jetsada. "You teach people ways to coexist and in the long run, just hope that it gets better." The post Visibility Belies Discrimination Against Transgender Thais appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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