The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Ma Ba Tha Leaders Demand Govt Action Against Rangoon Chief Minister
- Student Charged For Sending ‘Violent’ Text Message
- Police Raid Elephant Poaching Ring in Irrawaddy Division
- US Ambassador Meets ANP and Muslim Community in Sittwe
- Ethnic Armed Groups Seek Common Ground: Sources
- FMI Stock Prices Drop
- Whose Land is it Anyway?
| Ma Ba Tha Leaders Demand Govt Action Against Rangoon Chief Minister Posted: 07 Jul 2016 08:11 AM PDT  In response to Rangoon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein's recent criticism of Ma Ba Tha, the Buddhist monks heading the ultra-nationalist organization held an urgent meeting and press conference on Thursday calling for action to be taken against the Rangoon regional leader. (Photos: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Threatening to ignite nationwide protests, the Buddhist ultra-nationalist group known by the Burmese acronym "Ma Ba Tha" has called for action to be taken by the country's leadership against the Rangoon Chief Minister for his criticism of the organization. Rangoon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein said during a meeting with the Burmese community in Singapore on Sunday that Ma Ba Tha was "not necessary" in Burma, since the country already has the Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee—the clerical council appointed by the government that oversees monastic discipline. Upon returning from Singapore on Wednesday, Phyo Min Thein was confronted by a small protest by Ma Ba Tha supporters outside of the Rangoon International Airport. When asked by reporters what he thought of the demonstration, the minister confirmed his previous statement, saying, "We do not need Ma Ba Tha." In response to his comments, senior Ma Ba Tha leaders called an urgent meeting at their Rangoon headquarters on Thursday. "We seriously condemn the Rangoon Chief Minister's intentional attempt to destroy Ma Ba Tha," the group said in a public statement released after the meeting. "We will send a request to President U Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to take action against Rangoon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, who said Ma Ba Tha is not necessary." The organization identified Thursday, July 14, as a deadline for the government reprimand. It also insisted that Ma Ba Tha is a lawful association, claiming that it can be classified as a "non-governmental missionary group," while describing the Sangha Maha Nayaka as an authoritative clerical organization.  In response to Rangoon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein's recent criticism of Ma Ba Tha, the Buddhist monks heading the ultra-nationalist organization held an urgent meeting and press conference on Thursday calling for action to be taken against the Rangoon regional leader. (Photos: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy) Wirathu, one of the group's leading monks infamous for engaging in anti-Muslim hate speech, confirmed during a press conference after Thursday's meeting that, "if the government fails to take action [against Phyo Min Thein], we will instruct our members across the country to stage a nationwide protest." When asked by The Irrawaddy to comment on Phyo Min Thein's criticism, Wirathu said he was demanding an investigation into who is backing the Rangoon regional leader. "While other international monks' associations from foreign countries have paid us a lot of respect and are even proud of our Ma Ba Tha, why is this Buddhist chief minister saying that the country does not need Ma Ba Tha?" he asked. The nationalist monk also emphasized Ma Ba Tha's importance by referring to it as "an organization that fights for rights for our people" and that addresses problems created "when other religions insult [the people] or violate their rights." Since it was founded in 2014, the group has garnered international notoriety for its hardline anti-Muslim stance, which frequently spills into hate speech. It boasts multiple branches across Burma. In 2015, Ma Ba Tha successfully lobbied for the passing of four laws imposing restrictions on religious conversion, polygamy, interfaith marriage and childbirth. Rights groups have condemned these "Protection of Race and Religion" measures as discriminating against both women and religious minorities. Additional reporting by Kyaw Phyo Tha. The post Ma Ba Tha Leaders Demand Govt Action Against Rangoon Chief Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Student Charged For Sending ‘Violent’ Text Message Posted: 07 Jul 2016 07:56 AM PDT  Police attend a session on 'Service-Oriented Policing' in Rangoon on May 21. (Photo: Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A 17-year-old male private university student has been charged by Rangoon police under section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law for sending an SMS text message with violent content to a young woman on Saturday. At a Wednesday press conference, Rangoon Division chief of police Col Win Naing said that the offending student, Min Khant Maung Maung, had testified to the police while being placed under custody on Monday that he had "accidentally" sent the message to the young woman. The student explained to the police that he was a keen computer game enthusiast who likes to "joke" with his gaming colleagues over SMS. On this particular instance, he mistyped the recipient's phone number before sending one such joke. Police Maj Hla Wai read the offending message at the press conference: "Got 80 AK-47 assault rifles and 20 C-4 bombs. Will attack Junction Square car park and Myanmar Plaza [both major Rangoon shopping complexes] around 2 p.m. on July 10. When the mission is completed, come to withdraw the money, Yakuzi." The young woman who received this message, Theingi Kyaw of Rangoon's Botahtaung Township, informed the township police the same day. The Rangoon Police said, "Honestly, we didn't want to take action against him." He admitted that the police were initially shocked by the message and immediately tracked down the number of the 17-year-old student who had sent it. He said they decided to press charges against the young man to make an example to the public not to communicate such "bad jokes"—which, if disseminated widely, could cause "instability" in society. Since last month, the Rangoon police have beefed up their street presence in relative crime hotspots such as Hlaing Tharyar, South Dagon, Thanlyin and Kamayut townships, in a special drive to reduce murder, rape and violent crime. The drive is officially being conducted with the "collaboration" with local residents—under the norms of "community policing"—and the police have claimed a 60 percent reduction in crime compared to previous months. The post Student Charged For Sending 'Violent' Text Message appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Police Raid Elephant Poaching Ring in Irrawaddy Division Posted: 07 Jul 2016 06:41 AM PDT  Police seek clues at a site of a poached elephant in the Irrawaddy Division. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Authorities apprehended a member of an elephant poaching ring on Wednesday near Bhamo Creek in Irrawaddy Division's Myittaya forest reserve while three other members managed to escape. "We raided the poaching ring at night while they were asleep, after they had heated the elephant meat [to preserve it]. Police tried to grab their guns because they were loaded. But, they woke up and three of them got away amid gunfire. A forest police officer grabbed the other one," said Ngapudaw Township ranger Win Zaw, who took part in the raid. Acting on a tip from locals, forest police force second lieutenant Hein Zaw Tun, Ngapudaw sub-township police station commander lieutenant Kyaw Zin Aung, ranger Win Zaw and a village administrator teamed up and followed the poaching ring for three days in the forest before finally conducting the raid on Wednesday night. The poacher, who is from Ngaphe Township, was arrested with two percussion lock firearms, gunpowder, poison, elephant hides, elephant meat and two tusks, according to the Ngapudaw Forestry Department. The three escapees were also from Ngaphe Township and police are still after them, said Win Zaw. "Poaching rings usually include four to five people with at least two to three guns. They kill elephants and transport the tusks, hide and meat to Mandalay," he added. The Forestry Department will prosecute the arrested poacher under laws protecting wildlife and natural areas. A local police station in Pathein Township also raided a five-member poaching ring from Ngaphe Township in January. Police arrested two members, but three others—including the ringleader—escaped. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Police Raid Elephant Poaching Ring in Irrawaddy Division appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| US Ambassador Meets ANP and Muslim Community in Sittwe Posted: 07 Jul 2016 06:21 AM PDT  US Ambassador to Burma Scot Marciel visits the segregated Muslim enclave of Aung Mingalar in the Arakan State Capital Sittwe. (Photo: Phoe Thiha) RANGOON — United States Ambassador Scot Marciel made his first trip to Arakan State on Wednesday. Talks were held in the state capital Sittwe with the Arakan National Party (ANP) and with stateless residents of a segregated Muslim ward, Aung Mingalar. Tun Aung Kyaw, secretary of the ANP—which represents the interests of the Buddhist majority in Arakan State—told The Irrawaddy that they received the ambassador at their head office in Sittwe. Scot Marciel, who started his post as US Ambassador to Burma in April, reportedly asked ANP leaders about their relationship with the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and the ANP's plans for developing Arakan State. Tun Aung Kyaw said they were unable to respond to the latter, since "we have no power to carry out development in the state." This was a pointed reference to their marginalization by the NLD, which controls the Arakan State government and appointed the chief minister from within their own ranks—angering the ANP, which has the largest plurality of seats in the state parliament, and which has since vowed to act in "opposition" to the NLD. The ANP have also been excluded from a high level committee on Arakan State, chaired by Suu Kyi and featuring the NLD chief minister alongside various Union ministers. During the meeting, the ANP secretary said his party would collaborate with the NLD on any project that could deliver "positive impacts for the Arakanese." However, they would respond strongly if the NLD were to do things "unacceptable for the Arakanese." Such "unacceptable" actions may include granting citizenship to large numbers of stateless Rohingya Muslims. The ANP have been adamant that most of those who self-identify as Rohingya are illegal "Bengali" migrants who do not belong in the state. The ANP have previously insisted that any granting of citizenship is carried out in strict adherence to the 1982 Citizenship Law, which precludes citizenship for most Rohingya as an "unrecognized" ethnic group in Burma. Scot Marciel then proceeded to Aung Mingalar, the only Muslim enclave remaining in Sittwe after anti-Muslim riots in 2012. It functions effectively as an internment camp, with a heavily armed police presence and restricted access in and out. Zaw Zaw, an Aung Mingalar resident who was present at the meeting, said the ambassador had "come to see the situation on the ground for himself." Muslim community leaders complained to the ambassador that, contrary to their expectations, their condition had not changed significantly under the new NLD government. Particularly, they wished to regain freedom of movement, so as to access medical care and education and to participate in trading, as was the case before the 2012 riots. "Our first priority is to get back [to a] normal situation," Zaw Zaw told The Irrawaddy after the meeting. He said that, during the 30-minute meeting, they discussed the government's new scheme of issuing "National Verification Cards" (NVCs) to stateless Muslims, as a precursor to being scrutinized for citizenship eligibility under the 1982 Citizenship Law. The scheme has been met with suspicion by Muslim communities in some areas of the state, in part because the new cards bear no information on the religion and ethnicity of the bearer. Prior to his trip to Arakan State, the ambassador had met in Naypyidaw with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who branded the NVC scheme a positive "first step" for stateless Muslims aspiring to Burmese citizenship. However, according to Zaw Zaw, the residents of Aung Mingalar expressed distrust in the process. They considered it an unnecessarily convoluted and uncertain undertaking for those families who had lived in Arakan State over multiple generations. According to Zaw Zaw, the ambassador "promised" to relay their concerns personally to Suu Kyi, although he did not specify when he would do so. Some freelance journalists have posted on Facebook that the meeting in Aung Mingalar was closed to outsiders and they had been unable to gain information about it. Aung Mingalar resident Zaw Zaw commented on the relatively light security presence during the meeting, and the absence of state-level ministers—in direct contrast to the visit by Yanghee Lee, United Nations rapporteur for human rights in Burma, on June 23. "It's quite strange. Nobody followed him," he said. At the conclusion of her visit in Burma, Yanghee Lee publicly criticized the police in Arakan State for their intrusive conduct, which included photographing and questioning local interlocutors before and after her meetings with them. The US ambassador also met with the speaker of the Arakan State Parliament San Kyaw Hla along with other state government officials. The ambassador declared the US government's intention of supporting agricultural development in Arakan State, although he reportedly did not go into the specifics of such engagement. Throughout the various meetings held in Sittwe, the ambassador avoided using either of the contentious terms "Bengali" or "Rohingya." In April, Burmese ultra-nationalists protested outside the US Embassy in Rangoon against the Embassy's use of the term "Rohingya" in a public expression of condolence over deaths in a recent boat accident. According to a subsequent Facebook post from the US Embassy, the ambassador also hosted a dinner for trade officials in Arakan State, "to discuss U.S. assistance efforts and how business and trade can improve the lives of communities" in Arakan State. The post US Ambassador Meets ANP and Muslim Community in Sittwe appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ethnic Armed Groups Seek Common Ground: Sources Posted: 07 Jul 2016 05:07 AM PDT  Ethnic leaders attend a conference in Law Khee Lar, Karen State, January 2014. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) Signatories and non-signatories of last year's nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) will hold a meeting to prepare for an upcoming ethnic summit, where groups will cooperate toward building a federal union, sources said. The meeting will take place in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand on Friday and will include representatives from the Coordination Team (CT)—a delegation that represents eight NCA signatories—and leaders from the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an alliance of nine NCA non-signatories. Khun Myint Tun, chairman of the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) told The Irrawaddy that the meeting is in preparation for the upcoming ethnic summit, which is planned for July in Mai Ja Yang, a conflict-torn region in Kachin State, northern Burma. "Ethnic leaders will talk about what we have done thus far in the peace process and how to cooperate in the future regarding our stand on whether or not to sign the NCA," said Khun Myint Tun, whose PNLO signed the NCA. "They will try to find a common objective in order to establish a federal union in our nation," he added. Representatives of the eight ethnic armed organizations that signed the NCA met with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma Army Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in late June, and proposed their plan to hold an ethnic summit in Mai Ja Yang. The ethnic representatives will use the summit to talk about the upcoming Union Peace Conference, which was proposed by the state counselor and is scheduled for late August. Suu Kyi instructed government bodies to include both NCA signatories and non-signatories in the conference. She will meet UNFC leaders in July to hear their recommendations for the peace process. The post Ethnic Armed Groups Seek Common Ground: Sources appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Posted: 07 Jul 2016 04:53 AM PDT  People wait at the Yangon Stock Exchange in Rangoon, Burma, on March 25, 2016. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — Four months after the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX) began trading First Myanmar Investment (FMI) shares, the price has suffered a drop of 16 percent, putting the company's stock at its lowest value yet. On Thursday, share prices for FMI, one of Burma's largest public companies, fell to 21,000 kyats (US$18), a decline from 25,000 kyats (more than $21) in June. "FMI share prices are declining this month more than last month," an official from the YSX told The Irrawaddy. The company opened trading on March 25 at 26,000 kyats per share, with stock peaking at 41,000 kyats ($35) one month later. Shares later stabilized at around 30,000 kyats (nearly $26). According to the FMI's official website, the FMI's trade volume is 2,371 shares, reaching a value of more than 47,790,000 kyats (nearly $41,000). The market value of outstanding shares was listed at just over 493.8 billion kyats (nearly $423 million) on Thursday. Tun Tun, chief financial officer of FMI, told the local 7 Day Daily newspaper on Wednesday that one explanation for falling prices could be the international impact of the recent "Brexit" vote in the United Kingdom—a referendum held in late June in which the British public voted to leave the European Union (EU). "Like other international markets, here we are directly affected by Britain," he told the Burmese media outlet. However, local economist Aung Ko Ko disputed this claim, pointing out that such external circumstances would not likely affect a local stock exchange market in Burma, particularly since the country does not currently have strong economic ties to Britain. "If some [Burmese] companies have relationships with EU companies, it might have some impact. In my view, the there may be other reasons why the FMI's prices have declined," Aung Ko Ko said. One explanation, he said, could be that the government—the market regulator—is limiting the minimum and maximum number of shares to be traded. "If the regulator has not fixed the minimum and maximum prices for those listed companies, the market will become more dynamic and more people will be interested in investing here, like Thailand," Aung Ko Ko explained, adding that Burma's stock market is "quiet" in comparison to that of its neighbors. The post FMI Stock Prices Drop appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Posted: 07 Jul 2016 03:01 AM PDT  Farmers in Sagaing Division use a hand drawn map to discuss where their land, government projects, and other resources are located. (Photo: Caitlin Pierce) The farmers of Kyon Dayel Village were ecstatic to read in the newspaper that Ayer Shwe Wah was releasing 40,000 acres of land that the company had acquired under the military government's 1990s Lowland Development Project. The farmers remember distinctly the day in 1999 when big machines arrived in their fields and company representatives told them the land now belonged to the project. But, after 15 years of waiting, the farmers were dismayed to learn that the land would not be returned to them; instead, the tenant farmers who had leased the land from Ayer Shwe Wah since 1999 had applied to register this released land themselves. According to the now defunct Parliamentary Land Investigation Committee, the military, government ministries, and private companies have released or given back over 400,000 acres to the State since 2013. This is only a fraction of the 2 million acres that the Farmers' Affairs Committee in the Upper House of Parliament believes could be considered "confiscated." In reality, this "returned" land often doesn’t reach the individuals from whom it was initially taken. At least 25 percent of land grab or local land dispute cases handled by the network of paralegals working with Namati—a legal empowerment organization focused on land rights in Burma—involved farmers trying to access and restore their rights over land that had been released. Rather than being fully resolved by the formal government mechanisms, historic land disputes between government ministries, the military, or companies and farmers are now transforming into local inter-communal conflicts. A report to be released next week by Namati highlights several reasons why this happens. Firstly, a complex history of land-related laws in Burma contributed to the development of an unofficial shadow system of land tenure and possession in the country; and laws and mechanisms for resolving land disputes remain opaque. In many instances, official records do not reflect actual land use, limiting the evidence available for farmers to reclaim their land. In the case of many of the Kyon Dayel farmers, land that their families had been farming for over 50 years at the time of confiscation still appears on official maps as "grazing land." By the letter of the law, this would make those farmers ineligible for compensation or restitution. Second, there is no legal definition of "original farmer" or guidance on how to resolve cases when there are competing claims. Are the Kyon Dayel farmers "original farmers," even though they were farming "grazing land"? Should the tenant farmers who benefitted from—but were not complicit in—the land confiscation be stripped of any rights to the land that has formed the basis of their livelihoods for the past 15 years? Thirdly, farmers reclaiming seized land must present two key pieces of evidence that are difficult for many to obtain. These are: proof in the form of tax receipts or eyewitness testimony that they previously possessed the land; and specific maps and coordinates that demonstrate that the same plot of land has been released. Such maps and coordinates are not publicly available; accessing them remains a function of whom you know. This creates opportunities for those with powerful connections to take advantage of the system. Finally, the return of land at the local level is managed through the General Administration Department (GAD). This is where the complexities around the issue come into focus. Evidence suggests that the military was involved directly, or indirectly through family connections, in over 50 percent of land grab cases handled by paralegals working with Namati. The military's oversight of the GAD, via the Ministry of Home Affairs, creates a conflict of interest in the resolution of these cases. Since January, the National League for Democracy—which now heads the government—has prioritized the resolution of land grab cases and to that end established the Central Committee on Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands, tasked with monitoring state and divisional government's handling of land disputes and the return of seized land. On July 1, Naypyidaw Council chairman Myo Aung announced the central committee's aim of settling all land grab disputes within six months. This high-level attention is great news for the country and thousands of farmers whose land was taken without due process or compensation. But, the committee would do well to take a measured approach to the resolution of these cases. Putting in place guidelines and transparent mechanisms that are truly responsive to the complexity of these cases on the ground, and which the average citizen can understand, is important to ensuring that land disputes do not morph into inter-communal conflicts. Burma has one shot at providing restorative justice to these farmers: getting it right should take precedent over clearing the docket quickly. Caitlin Pierce is the Myanmar Policy Advisor for Namati, a legal empowerment organization focused on land rights in Burma. The post Whose Land is it Anyway? appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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