Wednesday, August 3, 2016

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

Posted: 03 Aug 2016 06:30 AM PDT

The Karen Human Rights Group present their new report, "Hidden Strengths, Hidden Struggles," in Rangoon on Wednesday. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Land confiscation and rights abuses linked to the continued militarization of ethnic minority regions in southeastern of Burma has had particularly adverse impacts on women, ethnic Karen human rights advocates said at a press conference in Rangoon.

While the launching of the peace process in 2011 and a series of bilateral ceasefires with ethnic armed groups has lessened certain abuses, including forced labor and extrajudicial killings, new business opportunities have led to an increase in land seizures, they said.

The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) has documented the experiences of women in rural areas of Karen and Mon states and Tenasserim and eastern Pegu divisions, and has compiled four years' worth of findings on the effects of landmines, land confiscation, forced labor, torture and violence against women in a report released on Wednesday.

The report, "Hidden Strengths, Hidden Struggles: Women's Testimonies from Southeast Myanmar," was based on the analysis of 1,048 documents, including 98 interviews with separate women, said KHRG advocacy officer Jasmin, who pointed out a change in the type of abuses suffered by local women since 2012.

2012 was the year the previous government reached a bilateral ceasefire with the Karen Nation Union, the largest ethnic Karen armed group whose operations span the area of study, and which also signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in October last year.

Jasmin said, "In our report ten years ago ["Dignity in The Shadow of Oppression," published in Nov 2006], cases of rape and forced porterage [for the Burma Army] were extensively documented. In our report this year, accounts of such abuses have lessened, with a change in the form of rights abuses."

"Because of the peace process, we now have more business operations, and land confiscation has become the main problem," Jasmin added. "They are losing their livelihoods and still being displaced due to that."

Despite the signing of both bilateral and "nationwide" ceasefire agreements, the presence of Burma Army troops across rural areas continues to threaten the safety of local people, especially women, said the rights advocates.

They added that a lessening in hostilities has had the side effect of diminishing the authority of women at the village level. Over 60 years of civil conflict, with the enrollment of men in rebel armies, women have had to step forward and become village leaders. With the return of men over the last few years to their traditional positions of authority in the community, women have lost these roles.

Jasmin said the report aimed to heighten the public's awareness "of the experiences of women and their changing roles in the southern part of the country."

However, the KHRG advocates noted that locals in the area of study still fear to talk openly about instances of abuse, making it hard to verify and adequately document them.

The KHRG also urged the government, legislators and the Karen National Union to "improve justice mechanisms" and create secure avenues for women facing gender-based violence and abuses linked to land confiscation to file cases with local authorities, and "bring perpetrators before independent and impartial civilian courts."

The KHRG framed these demands with reference to Burma's obligations under the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which Burma signed in 1997.

Win Mra, chairman of Burma's National Human Rights Commission, attended the press conference and commended the KHRG's report, which he said "fairly documents human rights violations, the situation since the ceasefires and the [2015] election, and abuses against women."

He stressed the importance of implementing the recommendations contained in the report, rather than merely continuing to document cases and hold seminars and workshops.

"Our [national human rights commission] is doing the same activities as the KHRG and as the Gender Equality Network. We will not stop with workshops. We will continue working to achieve results," Win Mra said, with reference to the commission's partnership with UN Women on empowering rural women.

The post Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burmese Bank Signs Trade Financing Agreement With ADB

Posted: 03 Aug 2016 05:49 AM PDT

Chief Executive Officer of United Amara Bank, Thein Lwin, signs off on a trade finance agreement on Wednesday, August 3, at Rangoon's Sedona Hotel with the Asian Development Bank, represented by Burma country director Winfried Wicklein. (Photo: United Amara Bank / Facebook)

Chief Executive Officer of United Amara Bank, Thein Lwin, signs off on a trade finance agreement on Wednesday, August 3, at Rangoon's Sedona Hotel with the Asian Development Bank, represented by Burma country director Winfried Wicklein. (Photo: United Amara Bank / Facebook)

RANGOON – The United Amara Bank (UAB) signed off on a trade finance agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday at Rangoon's Sedona Hotel that allows UAB a letter of credit (LC) insuring them for US$4 million for each international transaction the bank makes.

The LC is a bank guarantee service for those involved in import-export business ventures. When a cash payment must be made, a third party (the ADB) makes a guarantee on behalf of the service provider (the UAB). An LC process can adopt varying time frames, with some banks specifying that one transaction is allowed every two to three months, according to Kyawt Kay Khaing, UAB's Chief Business Officer.

"ADB will allow [UAB to make transactions of] US$4 million each time. If the specified rate is up, the traders need to wait until next time," she said.

The project aims to boost Burma's trade volume. Currently, the LC approach is not practically popular among small and medium businesses in Burma, who continue to perform transactions using the more traditional Telegraphic Transfer (TT) method. This involves customers transferring the money after receiving goods from a foreign company. In addition to being risky, Burmese businesspeople widely criticize the TT system as delaying trade flow.

ADB's country director for Burma, Winfried Wicklein, stressed that he believes the impact of the trade finance program will bring benefits not only for domestic businesses in Burma as they connect with international commercial communities, but also new opportunities for local banks to extend their business with international banks.

UAB owner Nay Aung is the son of Aung Thaung, who is now deceased but was once a notorious hardliner in Burma's former military regime. Many famous conglomerates and figures with ties to military generals have been faced with US economic sanctions, including former general Aung Thaung. Yet Nay Aung's UAB has never been featured on US sanction lists.

A board member of UAB, Than Win Swe, confirmed that UAB is not on the US sanction list.

"If UAB was on the sanction list, how could ADB collaborate with UAB?" he said.

The UAB's Chief Executive Officer, Thein Lwin, stated that their customers could now potentially connect with 200 ADB partner banks in the US, Europe and other Asian countries; ADB, he said, will issue a Foreign Letter of Credit on behalf of UAB if the foreign banks require an additional guarantee or confirmation.

Both UAB and ADB's senior officials pointed out that under this deal, Burmese businesspeople will be backed by a AAA rating, ADB's highest credibility score.

The UAB will officially launch applications on August 15 for those clients who want to access the bank's credit scheme. Interested applicants need to provide trading licenses issued by the Ministry of Commerce. Customers are not required to pay any service charges for utilizing the LC, however, they must guarantee fees required by the bank for financial transactions, according to Kyawt Kay Khaing.

Kyawt Kay Khaing declined to provide specific information about guaranteed fee rates because they are designated by ADB, and the fees depend on both the foreign country and the banks involved. For example, the rates for transactions in Asia and in Europe are different.

The agreement is a part of ADB's Trade Finance Program (TFP), which offers both guarantees and loans to banks to facilitate international trade. At Wednesday's signing ceremony, Rangoon divisional chief minister Phyo Min Thein and the Central Bank's deputy governor Set Aung presented honors to both the ADB and the UAB.

The post Burmese Bank Signs Trade Financing Agreement With ADB appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma’s Peace Process and the Swiss Bank Account

Posted: 03 Aug 2016 04:34 AM PDT

Burma's former chief peace negotiator Aung Min at a meeting with ethnic leaders in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in February. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy)

Burma's former chief peace negotiator Aung Min at a meeting with ethnic leaders in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in February. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy)

Burma's peace negotiators must be able to open a Swiss bank account if they want to achieve their goals in the peace process.

Such first-rate advice was the legacy of Aung Min, the former government's chief negotiator at the Myanmar Peace Center, which has been rebranded as the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) under the leadership of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

You may ask: How is Burma's peace process related to Swiss banking?

In a recent publication, "Peace Process and the Analyses of Those Involved," Aung Min wrote a 12-page reflection on how he had led peace talks with the ethnic armed organizations through shuttle diplomacy, a tactic used throughout his leadership. In the article, he explained the term shuttle democracy by telling the "Swiss Bank Account" story.

The story goes: Once upon a time, there was a rich man who had a very beautiful daughter. There was also a broker who wanted to arrange a marriage between the daughter and a poor boy in town. He asked the rich man to allow his daughter to marry the poor boy, but the rich man refused because of the boy's poverty. The broker said the boy had a Swiss bank account. Thinking that a person with a Swiss account must be wealthy, the rich man agreed to the nuptial.

Then, the broker went to the daughter and urged her to marry the boy, but she refused. The broker explained that her father had approved the match. She was then afraid of losing the rights to her father's wealth and agreed to marry the boy. The broker again went to the boy and urged him to marry the daughter of the rich man. The boy said she would not marry him because he was poor. When the broker said that she already agreed to marry him, the boy agreed as well.

Finally, the broker went to a Swiss bank and asked them to open an account for the boy. The bank refused. The broker told the bank that the boy was going to be the son-in-law of a billionaire. Knowing that, the Swiss bank agreed to open an account for the boy.

U Aung Min wanted readers to understand that he had played the role of the broker in the story and was able to open a Swiss bank account to achieve his goal. Transposed to the peace process, he was able to achieve the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) between the government and several ethnic armed organizations by using his brand of shuttle diplomacy.

The story could also be understood through the well known Machiavellian principal, "the ends justify the means," implying that any means necessary are acceptable in achieving one's goals.

But, if Aung Min actually led the peace talks with the ethnic armed organizations over the past four years with the Swiss bank account story as a template, it was nothing but deception, no matter how noble the results were.

What is worse is that he wrongly interpreted shuttle diplomacy. The term was first coined when Henry Kissinger shuttled between countries while acting as the US government's negotiator in a peace process between Israel, Egypt and Syria following the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

The term shuttle diplomacy is used when a peace negotiator has to deal with multiple parties; shuttle between the parties numerous times to seek a consensus; understand that all goals will not be met initially and that flexibility must be encouraged; and be able to shift from negotiator to counselor in order to persuade concerned parties in instances of deadlock.

Most importantly, from what we know about Kissinger's Israel-Arab negotiations, he did not employ the underhanded tactics described in Aung Min's Swiss bank account story to persuade concerned parties into agreement.

It is telling that eight ethnic armed organizations did not sign the NCA even though they participated fully in negotiations and had agreed in principle to the pact. It could be that there were additional reasons behind their abstention, other than the exclusion of the Arakan Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.

With the publication arriving at a critical period, while the government is preparing for the 21st Century Panglong Conference, it was assumed that it would contain profound ideas and invaluable tips for the new NRPC leadership, in their efforts to resume peace talks.

However, Aung Min's advice differs sharply from the political philosophy of Aung San Suu Kyi, who now chairs the NRPC. Since 1988, she has always believed that "the means justify the ends," indicating that if the means were morally acceptable, the end would preserve the political integrity she values so highly.

The post Burma's Peace Process and the Swiss Bank Account appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Social Welfare Minister: Deforestation and Exploitation of Resources Contributed to Flooding

Posted: 03 Aug 2016 03:53 AM PDT

Burma's Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister Win Myat Aye talks to the media at the Parliament in March 2016. (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

Burma's Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Minister Win Myat Aye talks to the media at the Parliament in March 2016. (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

As Burma once again experiences serious flooding, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement has invited civil society organizations (CSOs) to join the ministry's relief and rescue efforts. The ministry is set to meet CSOs in Mandalay on August 6 and has invited organizations from Kachin, Chin and Shan states, as well as Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay divisions. Floods have affected more than 50,000 people so far, most of them in Arakan State and Mandalay and Magwe divisions. Win Myat Aye, minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, spoke to The Irrawaddy's Htet Naing Zaw about his ministry's plans to address the rising water levels.

What have you been doing to respond to the flooding?

I have been inspecting the situation on the ground. I just got back from Magwe, Minbu, and Pwintphyu [in Magwe Division]. We have seen floods in towns along the Irrawaddy River. The flooding was severe in Minbu, and some villages, along with [locals'] cattle, had to be relocated. We are providing relief supplies in these places. I met those affected and comforted them.

It seems that the floods may not subisde over the next two days, so we have talk with the Magwe regional chief minister and the border affairs and security ministers to move people to safer places.

It is not that all the townships are facing flooding—only townships along the Irrawaddy River. There has been no flooding in inland towns. We have not yet declared a state of emergency, because the effect of the floods is not nationwide. When the waters subside, it will go downstream into Lower Burma, so we are doing preventative work, such as evacuating people and cattle in advance.

Does your ministry have a sufficient budget for the relief and rescue work?

We do have a sufficient budget. We also have disaster preparedness funds, and we are also cooperating with civil society organizations, but their participation is still low. Maybe it is just because the floods have not caused a serious impact.

Which places were hit the hardest?

You can check the flood mapping which we have posted on our ministry's Facebook page and our website. We have an emergency response center and that center has published a flooding map in cooperation with international partners. It will be clearer if you have a look at the map. For the time being, Magwe and Minbu have been hit worst by floods.

What are the short-term and long-term plans of your ministry to address the flooding, since we also saw devastating floods last year?

Speaking of a long-term plan, we need to take a look back at the causes of this. Deforestation and exploitation of resources contributed to this. Waterways and tributaries have silted up, which caused floods. These things need to be solved in the long run. Our ministry is also making plans to solve it. We have dredged watercourses in Pegu and the floods there are not as severe as last year's. The long-term solution is afforestation and dredging of watercourses. And we'll do it, but for the time being, we have to [focus on] rescue.

The disaster preparedness central committee is led by the second vice-president and I am the vice chair. The central committee is set to meet on August 5 and the meeting will be attended by all the chief ministers in the division and state governments and concerned ministries. In the meeting, we will discuss solutions.

What is your message to flood victims?

Some Facebook users have posted the photos of last year's floods, and in some cases, this has led people into thinking that the situation needs to be treated as a state of emergency. So, I want people to verify the news. I would like to urge them to continuously watch the announcements of Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV), and Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, and our ministry.

Some users have shared incorrect news and last year's weather predictions by experienced meteorologists, which misled the people. I want to stress that people need to verify these reports.

We have a hotline, and people can contact directly us for any inquiries round the clock: 067-404666 or 067-404777. You can enquire, send information and seek advice at those numbers. What's more is that we have developed an Android application. We will upload it soon on our website for download. Through this app, users will be able to contact us for help.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Social Welfare Minister: Deforestation and Exploitation of Resources Contributed to Flooding appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Security Increased After ISIS Hit List Targets Aung San Suu Kyi

Posted: 03 Aug 2016 03:47 AM PDT

State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi is pictured holding a meeting with peace negotiation teams in Naypyidaw in July. (Photo: Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy)

State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi is pictured holding a meeting with peace negotiation teams in Naypyidaw in July. (Photo: Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — President Office's Spokesperson Zaw Htay said that State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi's security would be increased, in response to reports that she was on an ISIS target list in Malaysia.

"We don't need to worry too much but we also can't underestimate it. We will take this matter seriously and will increase security during her local and international tours," Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

The Straits Times reported on Tuesday that Aung San Suu Kyi was on an ISIS hit list sent to Maylasia's Negri Sembilan police station on Monday, along with the Malaysian prime minister, his deputy, the attorney-general, the inspector-general of police, and three ministers.

The report stated that the two-page letter entitled "IS threat" included photographs of the targeted leaders and claimed there were about 700 ISIS militants in Negri Sembilan. Malaysian police have dismissed the claim.

It said police would investigate the authenticity of the letter and try to establish the identity of the sender.

"Given the nature of IS activities, the group generally works by connecting with in-country networks. Although we haven't faced terrorist attacks, we will watch suspicious networks closely. We will also cooperate with the international community, including Asean and the Malaysian police," Zaw Htay said.

ISIS is an acronym for the jihadist group known as The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (or the Levant). The armed organization controls areas of conflict-torn Iraq and Syria.

The post Security Increased After ISIS Hit List Targets Aung San Suu Kyi appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Analysis: China’s More Proactive Policy Could Hold the Key to Peace in Burma

Posted: 03 Aug 2016 02:45 AM PDT

Ethnic armed group leaders, including UNFC vice chairman Nai Hong Sar, enter Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State, having passed through Chinese Immigration. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)

Ethnic armed group leaders, including UNFC vice chairman Nai Hong Sar, enter Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State, having passed through Chinese Immigration. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)

So that they could attend the summit in the border town of Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State, the Chinese authorities allowed ethnic armed group leaders to travel freely through Chinese territory from the Muse border in northern Shan State—a marked departure from previous practice.

In 2011, senior Karen National Union leader Mann Nyein Maung was detained by Chinese immigration officers while also transiting through China—to reach the border town, and Kachin Independence Army headquarters, of Laiza in Kachin State—and was handed over to the Burmese authorities. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he was released in a 2012 amnesty.

China had also been steadfast in its support for Burma's military regime prior to the 2011 handover to a nominally civilian government, lending the country an economic lifeline while it remained isolated by stringent sanctions from Western countries.

As the ethnic armed group leaders crossed the border into China at Muse, they were reportedly treated courteously by Chinese immigration officials and allowed to proceed freely on the one hour drive to the border connecting Mai Ja Yang in Kachin State.

Tar Bong Kyaw, secretary of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (a group conspicuously absent from the Mai Ja Yang summit), told The Irrawaddy in Ruili—the Chinese border town opposite Muse—how Chinese authorities "ignore our traveling now."

He recalled how Chinese intelligence officers would "chase" him in the past—but they now let him travel through China "without restriction." He commented that he would not have been able to meet the Irrawaddy reporter "in a public place" in previous times.

Conventionally muted on the topic of Burma's politics and its long-running civil conflicts, China has recently become more vocal and demonstrative in its support of Burma's peace process.

During the Mai Ja Yang ethnic armed group summit, which ran July 26-30, China's Special Envoy on Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang gave an address on the opening day, stating that China backed "all the forces that support internal peace in Burma."

Sun Guoxiang announced that China had donated US$3 million to the Joint Monitoring Committee, a body overseeing the commitments of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement reached between the previous government and eight ethnic armed groups in October last year.

This more proactive stance may reflect a growing realization of the importance of peace in Burma for China, given their substantial economic interests in Burma, and their long—and perennially unstable—shared border.

Every day at the Muse border, fleets of trucks can be seeing ferrying large quantities of goods between the two countries. Most of the towns on the border with China that are controlled by ethnic armed groups—such as Mai Ja Yang, Laukkai, Pangshang and Mongla—now resemble Chinese towns, their growth having been driven by investment from Chinese businessmen.

Burma's most powerful ethnic armed groups, the United Wa State Army and the Kachin Independence Army—alongside others such as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (Kokang), the National Democratic Alliance Army (Mongla), and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army—have benefitted from border trade agreements with Chinese authorities, alongside private Chinese investment.

China's leverage over a wide portion of Burma's ethnic armed groups is therefore considerable. China's role may be key to resolving Burma's peace process.

In his address at the Mai Ja Yang summit, the Chinese envoy said he expected all ethnic armed groups to attend the "21st Century Panglong" Union Peace Conference scheduled for later this month, where a peace deal including a blueprint for federalism is hoped to be reached.

However, he cautioned that resolution might not come all at once. Using the example of a train undertaking a journey, the envoy said that not all passengers would get off at the same station, but at separate stations along the line.

The post Analysis: China's More Proactive Policy Could Hold the Key to Peace in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)