The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Officials Vow, Once Again, to Clamp Down on Hpakant Mining
- Former Diplomat, Junta Apologist to Lead Powerful New Ministry
- Controversial Private Rangoon Hospital Project Scuttled
- Return of Seized Land a Top NLD Priority: Deputy Agriculture Minister
- Urban Planners Urge Change of Direction on Rangoon ‘New City’
- Talks Fail, Sagaing Labor Protestors Resume March to Naypyidaw
- Rohingya a Term ‘People Can’t Accept,’ Shwe Mann Tells US Ambassador
- Push for Citizenship Verification Brings Contentious Law Into Focus
- High-Tech Devices Take Cheating to New Level in Thai Schools
- Quietly, Vietnam Hosts Arms Gathering Attended by US Companies
| Officials Vow, Once Again, to Clamp Down on Hpakant Mining Posted: 12 May 2016 07:47 AM PDT  A vast wasteland of denuded hills and mountains has been created by jade mining around the once-verdant hinterland of Hpakant. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Union Minister Ohn Win on Wednesday promised to rein in the destructive jade mining projects centered in Kachin State's Hpakant region, saying he will bar new extraction ventures from being launched in the jade-rich area. The bold declaration was in response to Khin Maung Myint, an Upper House lawmaker with the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Kachin State, who urged that action be taken not only in light of the scores of deaths in recent months from landslides in mining areas, but also regarding the lack of environmental safeguards in place to curb the effects of ongoing projects. Ohn Win, Burma's minister of natural resources and environmental conservation, said a management committee consisting of relevant departments and local authorities from the Hpakant region would need to be formed to inspect mining firms and oversee their excavation, disposal and environmental pollution prevention procedures. "There are regulations that firms must follow. When these regulations aren't followed, disciplinary action must be taken against disobedient firms," Ohn Win said. However, Da Shi La Seng, an NLD legislator representing Hpakant Constituency No. 2, pushed back, saying that the government always claims that it will investigate mining activity but that it has never succeeded because most mining companies enjoy a cozy relationship with local authorities, such that whenever high-level bureaucrats are called in for inspection, "all the backhoes suddenly disappear" from the mining sites. "During Union Minister Ohn Win's tours [of the mines], [mining] vehicles are missing because businessmen are tipped off. But when he leaves, the vehicles are all over the terrain," Da Shi La Seng said. He added that the minister should do an unannounced visit if he was truly keen to investigate the Hpakant region, and that he should work with both civilians and local NLD members. According to Da Shi La Seng, one of the primary challenges to enforcing the law when it comes to jade mining in Hpakant is that firms are not beholden to state-level ministers. The Ministry of Mines, which was subsumed into Ohn Win's ministry under a cabinet restructuring, has said previously that although it issued permits for 10,282 vehicles and heavy-mining construction equipment to the Hpakant region, only 6,109 of these vehicles are in use. Roughly 4,000 vehicles, such as excavators, bulldozers and dump trucks, have been banned. More than 850 licenses have been issued to firms to mine at over 8,000 sites since private companies were given permission to mine in 2007. The region has been plagued by a string of landslides since late last year, including a collapse on Nov. 21 that killed more than 100 people. The post Officials Vow, Once Again, to Clamp Down on Hpakant Mining appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Former Diplomat, Junta Apologist to Lead Powerful New Ministry Posted: 12 May 2016 06:35 AM PDT  Kyaw Tint Swe speaks as Burma's ambassador to the United Nations during a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on Oct. 5, 2007. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — A career diplomat, and past defender of Burma's dire human rights record under military rule, has been chosen to head the powerful new Ministry of the State Counselor's Office under Aung San Suu Kyi. Win Htein, a senior member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), confirmed to The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the name of Kyaw Tint Swe, a former ambassador and permanent representative of Burma to the United Nations during the military regime, would be submitted to the Union Parliament on Friday. The creation of the new ministry was approved on Tuesday in the Union Parliament. President Htin Kyaw has defined the ministry in broad terms—implementing the "missions of national reconciliation, domestic peace, national development and the rule of law"—suggesting a powerful if unclear role within Burma's new balance of executive power. The ministry relates to the position of state counselor, created for National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi the previous month, to the chagrin of the military. The position guarantees Suu Kyi access to Parliament and all branches of government, and a mandate to shape policy at the highest level. Suu Kyi was barred from the presidency by a clause in the military-drafted 2008 Constitution disqualifying those with foreign spouses or children. The 71-year-old Kyaw Tint Swe joined Burma's Foreign Affairs Ministry in 1968 and worked in Burma's embassies in Israel, Malaysia, Germany, Thailand and Japan, according to a UN website. From 2001 to 2010 he served as Burma's permanent representative to the United Nations. Representing Burma in several international conferences, Kyaw Tint Swe countered allegations of the Burma Army's violation of human rights and abuses against civilians in conflict zones. He claimed that Burma was "a victim of a systematic disinformation campaign," according to a 2012 report by Burma Partnership, a Thailand-based pro-democracy group. "I reiterate that these allegations were maliciously fabricated by two well-funded NGOs," Burma Partnership quoted from Kyaw Tint Swe's statement to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly in 2003. Until 2013, Kyaw Tint Swe also served as vice chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC), a body founded in 2011 under former President Thein Sein. The MNHRC has been harshly criticized by human rights advocates as lacking independence, transparency and effectiveness in safeguarding the fundamental rights of Burmese citizens. Kyaw Tint Swe also worked alongside Suu Kyi on the Letpadaung Investigation Commission, which in 2013 produced a controversial report on the Chinese-backed Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division—recommending that mining should proceed if certain environmental and social safeguards are met—prompting fury from local farmers who had lost their land to mine. The NLD's pick for Suu Kyi's State Counselor Office's ministry has put to bed widespread speculation that her close ally and longtime personal physician, Dr. Tin Myo Win, would take the position. Tin Myo Win has also been tipped to assume a leading role in negotiating peace with Burma's ethnic armed groups. The post Former Diplomat, Junta Apologist to Lead Powerful New Ministry appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Controversial Private Rangoon Hospital Project Scuttled Posted: 12 May 2016 05:43 AM PDT  The 4.3 acre site of a new US$70 million 250-bed private hospital development close to Rangoon General Hospital. (Photo: Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's Parliament put the brakes on a controversial multi-million dollar international private hospital project on Thursday. The hospital had been approved by the previous government to be built on government-owned land in Rangoon, but it provoked a public backlash due to the project's lack of transparency and the perception that public land was being misappropriated. On Thursday, five out of seven lawmakers who registered to discuss the bill, and the Union minister of health, argued to scrap Parkway Yangon, a US$70 million international private hospital project being built on land owned by the Ministry of Health near Rangoon General Hospital. Union Minister of Health Myint Htwe joined the five lawmakers to voice his opposition to the hospital project, saying, "After considering the pros and cons of the project from a professional standpoint, I support the proposal to halt [the lease of the land to a private hospital]." The proposal was put forward by a lawmaker last week who objected to the private sector use of government-owned property as "the land should be used for the public [Rangoon General] Hospital since Rangoon residents overwhelmingly rely on public hospitals for medical care." Situated on a 4.3-acre plot of land at the corner of Pyay and Bogyoke Aung San roads, IHH Healthcare Berhad, through its subsidiary Parkway Healthcare Indo-China, broke ground on the 250-bed hospital in Rangoon in January. However, the project was quickly attacked by critics who said it was siphoning off government resources for private use. Two military lawmakers offered a contrarian viewpoint. The project would "support the private sector," they said. "And having an international hospital in the country would save money." But the vast majority of lawmakers were unmoved, and the motion was passed by acclamation, halting the land lease. "As there is no objection, the Parliament has approved the measure halting [the land lease]," said Win Myint, the Lower House speaker. In his address to Parliament, Myint Htwe said the investors first approached the Ministry of Health in September last year, and the previous administration allowed them to use the plot of land in December. "The ministry's decision was approved by the government in December last year," he said. "But there was no tender." According to the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Parkway hospital project was jointly run by Singapore-based Parkway Pantai and Burmese investors, with 67.5 percent stake held by the foreign firm and 32.5 percent owned by local partners. The Burmese partners reportedly include Win Aung, president of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) and his Dagon Group, and Aung Moe Kyaw, the chairman of International Beverages Trading Company. Neither Parkway nor its Burmese partners were available for comment on Thursday. The project drew criticism from medical professionals and students in the Black Ribbon Campaign for Myanmar, a movement launched last year to protest against the appointment of military officers to positions within the Ministry of Health. Dr. Ahlinka, the leader of the movement, told The Irrawaddy that the group's effort to gather a petition from medical professionals and the public achieved success. She said the group was able to collect nearly 2,000 signatures and submitted them to the president, the minister of health and the Union Parliament in March. "I'm really happy because today we have witnessed the Parliament living up to its motto, 'The Parliament's voice is the people's voice,'" Ahlinka said. "The land should belong to the people." The post Controversial Private Rangoon Hospital Project Scuttled appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Return of Seized Land a Top NLD Priority: Deputy Agriculture Minister Posted: 12 May 2016 03:31 AM PDT  Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Tun Win at his office in Naypyidaw this week. (Photo: Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — Land tenure rights and food security for all farmers in Burma has been described by Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Tun Win as one of the top priorities of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government. "Our government wishes to give back land to the rightful owners," said Tun Win, referring to the smallholder farmers who still make up the bulk of Burma's population. He was speaking to reporters from his office on Tuesday. A legacy of land seizures by the former military government, in collaboration with crony companies, has in recent years been compounded by large-scale investments from neighboring countries, notably in extractive industries and energy production. Some of the more high-profile examples, such as the vast Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division, operated jointly by Chinese company Wanbao and a Burmese military conglomerate, have been met by the sustained mobilization of dispossessed farmers claiming higher compensation or the return of their land. This has led, at times, to violent confrontations with the police. In his statement, the deputy minister implored people to be patient over this "complicated issue," while the government formulates clear laws and procedures for the return of confiscated land. "Government authorities at various levels, including township development committees, and the military have grabbed land on false 'public' pretexts and sold it off in plots," said the deputy minister. "Roadside land with signboards reading 'No Trespassing' can be seen in many places. In fact, those lands have been sold," added the deputy minister, who described such acts as black marks on the nation's image, tantamount to misappropriating the country's soil. "It is the duty of the new government to give back these lands to the rightful owners." In 2012, Burma's Union Parliament set up the Farmland Investigation Commission to probe cases of land confiscation. The following year, the Land Utilization Management Central Committee was established. Headed by former Vice President Nyan Tun, it was charged with implementing the findings of the commission and facilitating the return of seized land. Earlier this week, more than 8,000 villagers from Kachin State in northern Burma sent an open letter to the new government calling on it to resolve a massive land confiscation dispute with Yuzana Company Limited, a Burmese conglomerate blacklisted by the United States. More than 270,000 acres of farmland in the remote Hukawng region of Hpakant Township was seized by Yuzana in 2007 for agricultural ventures, including cassava and sugarcane plantations, according to the villagers. Ta Gon, one of the villagers party to the letter, said, "I believe the government for which we have voted will help us with this. We have suffered for 10 years and could not even afford to provide schooling for our children." According to findings of the Farmers Affairs Committee in the Upper House of Parliament, as many as 2 million acres of land across Burma could be considered "confiscated." Also earlier this week, President Htin Kyaw formed a Central Review Committee on Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands, chaired by Henry Van Thio, one of Burma's two vice presidents. The committee is couched within the executive branch and distinct from existing parliamentary committees with similar portfolios. It is tasked with monitoring state and divisional governments' handling of land disputes, and enabling the return of land to dispossessed farmers from government ministries, state-owned enterprises and private companies. At the time this new executive committee was announced, the President's Office urged that further land acquisition be postponed until disputes are settled in accordance with the law. The post Return of Seized Land a Top NLD Priority: Deputy Agriculture Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Urban Planners Urge Change of Direction on Rangoon ‘New City’ Posted: 12 May 2016 02:08 AM PDT  Sule Pagoda is seen among the buildings of downtown Rangoon on Sept. 23, 2015. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — Urban planners in Rangoon are arguing for the commercial capital's expansion to be focused on meeting the needs of the people, rather than enriching real estate developers, according to interviews with The Irrawaddy. According to Toe Aung, director of urban planning at the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), the municipal body is encouraging development of Rangoon's northeast sector. The northeastern area covers more than 17,000 acres, has a low population and would not require a new bridge to transport construction materials and equipment, said Toe Aung. This would make its development less complicated than in the southwest area, which is separated from the rest of the city by the Hlaing River. "There also would be fewer complications due to land confiscations [in the northwest] because the majority of the land there is owned by the government," Toe Aung told The Irrawaddy. Outside of the city's core, Greater Rangoon was split into seven zones—Northeast, Southwest, Thanlyin Township, Dala Township, Htantabin Township, Hmawbi Township and Hlegu Township—in a plan for the city put forward by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. In 2013, the Japanese organization released a city plan and predicted Rangoon's population would balloon to 10 million by 2040, and recommended to the Rangoon Division legislature that the northeast zone be developed first. A Rangoon-based urban planning expert, Than Moe, told The Irrawaddy that the government should prioritize areas that are close to job and education opportunities, and their top concern should be the welfare of residents, not the profits of real estate developers. "The government should not let developers plan projects for the city expansion," he said. "The government has to take the lead when it comes to urban planning and policy-making. Then it could open bids to developers, who would help them realize [the government's] goals." Developing the southwest sector, a top priority for the previous government, was not a suitable choice for the initial city expansion, said Than Moe. "We have to think about water and electricity supply issues before deciding to develop a new part of the city," he said. For the past two years, development of the southwest has been shrouded in controversy extending beyond the concerns over infrastructure. In 2014, Myanmar Say Ta Nar Myothit won the exclusive contract to develop the area. The company was run by two Chinese businessmen, known as Xiao Feng and Xiao Sen, who had close ties to then-Rangoon Chief Minister Myint Swe. The shadowy tender generated public outcry due to its lack of transparency, and the city decided to suspend the project in June 2014. In January this year, a new tender was offered, and three companies won with a US$8 billion bid: Yangon South West Development Company, Shwe Popa Internationational Construction Company, a subsidiary of conglomerate Shwe Thanlyin, and Business Capital City Development, a company run by prominent developer Maung Weik. Yangon South West Development Company is run by the two Chinese businessmen who had won the first tender. No progress has been made on the development since the project was awarded in January. YCDC's Toe Aung said the project should be put on hold until bridges and other infrastructure can be built. "Without proper transportation infrastructure, it would be more costly for developers and everything would become more expensive than it should be for the future residents of the area," he said. "The request for tenders was premature," he said. "At the time, [YCDC] had only completed a conceptual plan and hadn't done any detailed surveys of the area. Rushing a project like this would only be of benefit to developers, not the people." Kyaw Latt, an urban planning expert and an advisor to YCDC, wrote in the April 21 issue of the state-run daily, The Mirror, that the government should enact a proper urban planning law that would govern the behavior of developers and regulate the compensation of property used for building. "Developers investing in projects for their own benefit at the exclusion of important buildings like public schools, hospitals and markets are a big obstacle to healthy urban development," he wrote. In an interview with The Irrawaddy last month, Rangoon's new chief minister, Phyo Min Thein, pledged to review all controversial city projects and prioritize the public good over corporate interests. The post Urban Planners Urge Change of Direction on Rangoon 'New City' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Talks Fail, Sagaing Labor Protestors Resume March to Naypyidaw Posted: 12 May 2016 01:43 AM PDT  Labor rights protestors resting in Wundwin Township resume their march to Naypyidaw on Thursday. (Photo: Hnin Aung / Facebook) MANDALAY — Protestors from a plywood factory in the Sagaing Industrial Zone resumed their march to Naypyidaw on Thursday, following five days of negotiations in the capital and Wundwin Township, where they rested, with no results. The workers said negotiations between the protestors, the factory and the Ministry of Labor did not fulfill their demands, and so they have continued their march in an attempt to meet with President Htin Kyaw. During last week's meeting at the Ministry of Labor, authorities agreed to re-employ and compensate 60 protestors who were previously fired, take action against any company found flouting labor rights laws, and not sue the workers who continue to protest. However, the workers did not get a copy of the agreement and found themselves lacking proof of these pledges. "[The authorities and the company] did not give us any assurances or tell us when they would finalize the agreement," said Khaing Min, a worker who represented the group during talks in Naypyidaw. "By the end of the meeting, the authorities had not given us a clear solution or timeline for what we had agreed to. We felt insecure and had no guarantee for our rights or job security," he added. On Monday morning, protestors who had been resting in Wundwin Township, in Mandalay Division, resumed their march. "We have no other choice. We need to meet with President Htin Kyaw. He is the only person who will handle the dispute fairly," said Hnin Aung, a protestor. Dozens of workers from Myanmar Veneer Plywood Private Ltd. began their march from Sagaing Division to Naypyidaw two weeks ago to demand workers' rights. They have asked the factory to reduce their daily work hours from 12 to eight and to re-employ workers who had been fired following an initial protest. The post Talks Fail, Sagaing Labor Protestors Resume March to Naypyidaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Rohingya a Term ‘People Can’t Accept,’ Shwe Mann Tells US Ambassador Posted: 12 May 2016 01:05 AM PDT  US Ambassador to Burma Scot Marciel and Shwe Mann meet in Naypyidaw on Wednesday. (Photo: Thura Shwe Mann / Facebook) RANGOON — Shwe Mann, chairman of an influential legal review committee and former member of the military ruling elite, warned new US Ambassador to Burma Scot Marciel to be "careful" about using a term that "the Myanmar people can't accept," during a meeting in the capital Naypyidaw on Wednesday. The term in question is "Rohingya," referring to a largely stateless Muslim minority residing in western Arakan State. The Burmese government and much of the population do not recognize the right of the persecuted minority to self-identify as Rohingya, instead labeling them "Bengalis," implying that they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. Shwe Mann's words represent a marginally stronger—but consistent—stance to that of Aung San Suu Kyi, state counselor and minister of foreign affairs, who last week asked the US Embassy not to use the term after nationalist protesters demanded that her National League for Democracy (NLD) government condemn the use of "Rohingya" by members of the international community in Burma. During the Naypyidaw meeting, Shwe Mann talked about a recent protest in front of the US Embassy in Rangoon. He said it was "caused by the use of a term that is not accepted by Myanmar citizens." On April 28, hundreds of Burmese nationalists, and a contingent of monks from the ultra-hardline Buddhist association Ma Ba Tha, staged a protest outside the US Embassy to condemn the American's mission use of "Rohingya" in an April 20 statement offering condolences and expressing concern after at least 21 internally displaced Muslims died when their boat capsized near Sittwe, the Arakan State capital. The protesters contended that "there are no Rohingya" in Burma. Shwe Mann told the ambassador to "be mindful" of using a term capable of sparking such conflagrations. Shwe Mann is considered a close ally of Suu Kyi, and has fallen substantially out of favor with both the military and the retired military elite of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), including former President Thein Sein. In August last year, Shwe Man was ousted as the USDP acting chairman in an internal party coup. Then on April 22, Shwe Mann received a letter of expulsion from the party after he was appointed by the NLD to the chairmanship of the Legal Affairs and Special Issues Commission, an influential body tasked with reviewing laws and assisting parliamentary committees. He is still fighting his expulsion. Marciel began his tenure as ambassador in Burma last month, succeeding Derek Mitchell, who was appointed in 2012 as the first US ambassador in the country since 1990. "If you proceed carefully around such issues, the relationship and a level of collaboration between Myanmar and America will be much improved," Shwe Mann said, according to a post on Shwe Mann's Facebook page about the meeting. According to the Facebook post, Marciel said he had used the term because there was no alternative—not because he wished to stand against or disrespect the Burmese people's wishes. "In the future, I will be careful about using terms that displease the Myanmar people," the ambassador was quoted as saying in Shwe Mann's Facebook post. A day before this Naypyidaw meeting, Marciel was asked about the embassy's position in the aftermath of the Foreign Affairs Ministry's request, during his first meeting with the media and civil society groups in Rangoon. "They get to choose what they want to be called," he said at the event, referring to the Rohingya. "That's a fundamental international practice and we respect that. That's been our approach and it will continue to be our approach." The post Rohingya a Term 'People Can't Accept,' Shwe Mann Tells US Ambassador appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Push for Citizenship Verification Brings Contentious Law Into Focus Posted: 12 May 2016 12:34 AM PDT  A pink-colored national identity card, designating full Burmese citizenship. (Photo: Pyay Kyaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A proposal submitted to the Lower House of Burma's Parliament late last week by a lawmaker of the Arakan National Party (ANP) urged the government to "resolve citizenship issues" in Burma in accordance with the 1982 Citizenship Law. The proposal suggested that a nationwide citizenship verification drive be undertaken—although it remained vague on the focus and scope of the proposed exercise. The contentious 1982 legislation defines eligibility in racial terms and renders stateless most Rohingya, a Muslim minority residing in western Arakan State. The ANP lawmaker Khin Saw Wai stated that "illegal migration from another country" and an influx of "Bengalis" had led to violence and instability in Burma. "Bengali" is the term used by the Burmese government and much of the general population of Burma for the Rohingya, implying they are interlopers from Bangladesh—the country alluded to by Khin Saw Wai. "Illegal immigration has affected rule of law and the security and sovereignty of Burma," Khin Saw Wai of the ANP went on. Resolving citizenship problems is a national concern, and the lack of action taken to address this fragile situation is "sad," she told the Lower House of Parliament. Khin Saw Wai cited the long borders Burma shares with China, India and Bangladesh, and the communities dispersed on either side of these fluid boundaries, as a source of vulnerability for Burma. She blamed "misconduct, abuse of power and corruption" from government agencies for the alleged numbers of "illegal migrants" holding citizenship. Khin Saw Wai cited former holders of "white cards," which bestowed "temporary" citizenship—estimated at 700,00 by the United Nations, the overwhelming majority being Rohingya in Arakan State—as being in need of proper "verification" by the government, as well as the large numbers across Burma without any documentation, many of which "could be illegal," she said. "The 1982 Citizenship Law is a strong law," Khin Saw Wai said, which lays out clear rules for gaining citizenship. She cited the chapter which states that "naturalized" citizenship, a subordinate category to "full citizens" with fewer rights, can be obtained by members of "non-recognized ethnic groups" if they have lived in Burma prior to 1948 or one of their parents holds a category of citizenship. Another ANP lawmaker, Aung Thaung Shwe, supported the proposal for the government to systematically "examine" the citizenship status of residents across Burma, to strengthen "sovereignty, security and the rule of law." He said that the problem of "illegal migration" started during the British occupation of Burma: "The British allowed foreigners to enter freely into Burma." The British annexed the Arakan coast, along with the southeastern coastal strip of Tenasserim, after the first Anglo-Burmese War concluded in 1826, making it one of the first British-ruled territories in Burma. Under British rule, a growing economy and demand for labor brought substantial immigration, particularly from India—of which Burma was designated an administrative province up until 1937. Bangladesh later gained independence from India, in 1971. "The 1982 Citizenship Law suffers from weak enforcement, due to a general absence of the rule of law," said Aung Thaung Shwe of the ANP. "That is why illegal migration takes place, especially in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, which border Bangladesh. These now suffer from overpopulation," Aung Thaung Shwe said. Members of the Lower House voted to discuss the ANP proposal, potentially as soon as this week. Those wishing to discuss the matter were to register for a speaking slot by Wednesday of this week. These comments in Parliament come against the backdrop of an existing, but stalled, citizenship verification program aimed at the displaced Muslim population in Arakan State. The program remains a pillar of the Rakhine State Action Plan, first unveiled by the Burmese government in 2014 in response to the sectarian violence of 2012. The scheme would allow Rohingya individuals to apply for citizenship—under the 1982 law—on the condition that they self-identify as "Bengali." A pilot citizenship verification program was then carried out in IDP 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, a recognized Muslim minority group, and 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. It remains stalled, and a reluctance of many Rohingya to identify as "Bengali," which they consider undermines their claim to belonging in Burma, has contributed to the stalemate. The magazine Frontier Myanmar on Wednesday reported that the verification program had resumed on May 1, citing the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population. Contacted by The Irrawaddy, however, Sittwe-based Rohingya rights activist Aung Win said he had heard no word of a resumption. Under previous laws, such as the 1948 Union Citizenship Act and the 1949 Residents of Myanmar Registration Act, most Rohingya enjoyed de facto citizenship rights by virtue of being born within Burma, and from 1958 held what were known as National Registration (or "tri-fold") Cards that entitled them to equal rights with other Burmese citizens, including running for elected office. Many still posses them. The 1982 Citizenship Law, enacted under the military-socialist regime of Ne Win, narrowed eligibility for full citizenship along racial lines. Those not included within 135 recognized ethnic groups must demonstrate that all four grandparents made Burma their home, and that both themselves and their parents were born in Burma. However, since the vast majority of people in Burma went without documents prior to rules requiring registration introduced in 1951, this is very difficult for most to prove. Second- and third-class categories of "naturalized" and "associate" citizenship were established by the 1982 law, with diminishing rights, including ineligibility for political office or enrollment in medical and engineering colleges. Many of Indian and Chinese descent were placed into these categories. The law rendered the majority of the Rohingya in Arakan State stateless, since they are conspicuously absent from the 135 listed ethnic groups and found it difficult to prove residency over multiple generations. For tens of thousands displaced be the 2012 violence, the problem is compounded by the fact that they fled their homes, many of which were burned to the ground, leaving documents attesting to family histories behind. In a nationwide citizenship verification process begun in 1989 and extending into the 1990s, many Rohingya received Temporary Registration Certificates (popularly known as "white cards"), designating them as "temporary citizens." This secured their residency but denied them the rights of even "associate" or "naturalized" citizenship—including leaving one's home township without official permission—and left their status vulnerable to arbitrary administrative action. In February 2015, former President Thein Sein declared "white cards" invalid. They were replaced with so-called "turquoise cards" on an uncertain legal basis. The new cards appear to offer the same limited rights as white cards, providing for residency but little else. "Temporary citizens" also had their voting rights removed last year in an amendment to the electoral laws prior to the November general election The 1982 Citizenship Law has been strongly criticized as discriminatory by members of the international community. The UN General Assembly in December 2014 adopted a resolution calling on the Burmese government to amend the law so that it no longer discriminates against the Rohingya. In an open letter sent to President Thein Sein in January 2015, US-based advocacy organization Human Rights Watch urged the Burmese government to accept the UN's call. "Burma's discriminatory citizenship law not only deprives Rohingya of citizenship, but for decades has encouraged systematic rights violations," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "Amending the law to bring it in line with international standards is the first step for resolving this long-standing human rights abomination." Criticism of the 1982 law within Burma has been more muted. However, Ko Ni, an outspoken legal advisor to the NLD who strongly criticized the previous government's policies toward minorities, told The Irrawaddy that the 1982 Citizenship Law does not align either with existing Burmese law or with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was a discriminatory move made under the military dictatorship of Ne Win and the law needs to be amended, Ko Ni said, adding that ethnicity and religion should not feature on citizenship documentation, since this also can lead to discrimination. "If someone is born in Burma and lives there all their lives, we have to regard them as a citizen of Burma," Ko Ni said. "It is harmful if people are divided into 'classes.'" The post Push for Citizenship Verification Brings Contentious Law Into Focus appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| High-Tech Devices Take Cheating to New Level in Thai Schools Posted: 11 May 2016 10:41 PM PDT  A student sits amid trees and bushes painted to beautify the campus on the first day of the new semester at Rangsit University in Bangkok on Jan. 5, 2012. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Glasses with embedded cameras and smartwatches with stored information seem like regular spy equipment for the likes of James Bond, but for three students applying to medical school in Thailand, they were high-technology cheating devices. Bangkok's Rangsit University canceled its examinations on Saturday and Sunday for admission to its medical and dental faculties following the discovery of the unusual modus operandi by three female students. While cheating has long been a problem in Thai schools and colleges, the use of high-tech gear—the cameras were used to take pictures of the test sheet and the smartwatches to receive answers from someone outside—has taken the practice to a whole new plane. "We've never found cheating of this level—involving high-technology," university official Kittisak Tripipatpornchai told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We've had some cases of students copying from one another, which is quite normal. But now we're going to be paying much closer attention," said Kittisak, the director of academic standards office at the private university. Cheating is a marked aberration in the list of good behavior expected of Thais. From a young age, Thais are taught to be polite, tolerant, respectful and to avoid confrontation. But educators say cheating has flourished because of an education system that makes exam scores the only criterion for assessing a student's ability and granting admission into places of higher learning. The three students caught red-handed have been blacklisted by the university and will not be allowed to take the replacement exams on May 31 and June 1. It was an elaborate scheme. Three agents posing as students photographed the question sheets with tiny cameras embedded in their eye-glasses. They left the room after the mandatory 45-minute lock-in period and transferred the pictures to a laptop manned by another person. That person transmitted the images to one or more private tutorial institutes where the three students were enrolled. Exam answers were then electronically transmitted to the smartwatches worn by the women, still in the examination room. Test supervisors were alerted after the first watch was seized during the Saturday morning session, the second was found on the same day in the afternoon session. The third watch and two glasses were seized Sunday. Kittisak said the three students purchased 100 percent-guaranteed admittance packages from the private tutorial institutes for 800,000 baht (US$23,000). Cheating is so rampant that schools have tried to find creative ways to combat it. Chulalongkorn University installed overhead cameras in some of its examination rooms, while in 2013 Kasetsart University created anti-cheating hats made from stapling two A4 paper sheets to a headband to resemble blinders worn by horses. Rangsit's president, Arthit Ourairat, posted pictures of the electronic devices on his Facebook page, getting nationwide attention from the media and the public. "If you can't take responsibility for your own life, you don't deserve to become a doctor, which is a career that has to take responsibility for others' lives," wrote Namstok Punika, a Facebook user in response to Ourairat's pictures. One student's parents met with university officials. The father said he didn't know anything about the cheating, said Kittisak. "But then how would a high school student be able to pay 800,000 baht on their own?" The post High-Tech Devices Take Cheating to New Level in Thai Schools appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Quietly, Vietnam Hosts Arms Gathering Attended by US Companies Posted: 11 May 2016 10:19 PM PDT  Soldiers hold rifles while marching during a celebration to mark Reunification Day in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, on April 30, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) HANOI / WASHINGTON — Vietnam hosts a defense symposium this week attended by top American arms manufacturers, ahead of a visit by US President Barack Obama and as Washington weighs whether to lift an arms embargo on its former enemy. Secrecy has surrounded the event staged by the communist country and attended by firms including Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It coincides with the biggest arms buildup in the country since the Vietnam War. There has been no mention in state-controlled media and defense reporters are not covering the forum. Efforts by Reuters to gain permission to attend have been unsuccessful and Vietnam's defense ministry could not be reached for comment. Vietnam has accelerated efforts to build a military deterrent and is the world's eighth largest weapons importer, as neighbor China intensifies its push to fortify South China Sea islands it has either occupied or built from scratch. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think-tank, which tracks defense trade over five-year periods, Vietnam's total arms imports during 2011-15 represented a 699 percent jump from 2006-10. The Hanoi symposium comes amid debate within the US administration over whether to respond to Vietnam's longstanding request to remove an arms embargo that is one of the last major vestiges of the Vietnam War era. Washington eased the embargo in late 2014, but has said any decision to lift it completely would hinge on the extent to which Vietnam has demonstrated progress in improving its human rights record. Its top envoy in that field, Tom Malinowski, was in Hanoi earlier this week. Vietnam has been in talks with Western and US arms manufacturers for several years now to boost its fleets of fighter jets, helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft, although Russia, its traditional supplier, maintains a dominant position. Industry sources say Hanoi is keen on US weapons yet wary of the threat of a future embargo even if the current one ends. The countries do have a common concern in China, however, whose assertiveness in the South China Sea has alarmed Washington. Obama is due to start his Vietnam visit on May 22, the first by a US president in a decade, underlining the rapidly warming relationship between the countries at a time of testy ties and growing mistrust between Hanoi and Beijing, which have competing claims to the Paracel and Spratly islands. Modernization Needs A spokesman for Lockheed Martin confirmed the company was attending the Hanoi event. Boeing is also attending, although the firm made it clear it was not in contravention of the embargo. "I would like to point out that any defense-related sales to Vietnam will follow development of US government policy on Vietnam," a spokesman said. "We believe Boeing has capabilities in mobility and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance platforms that may meet Vietnam's modernization needs." Those needs have included the purchase of six modern Kilo-class submarines from Russia equipped with Klub cruise missiles, Russian-built S-300 surface-to-air missile batteries, and from Israel, Galil assault rifles and AD-STAR 2888 radars. Its navy is making Tarantul-class corvettes, known as Molniyas, modelled on Russian designs and equipped with 16 missiles with a range of 130 kilometers (80 miles). Though the communist parties that run China and Vietnam officially have brotherly ties, experts say Beijing's brinkmanship has forced Vietnam to recalibrate its defense strategy. A report in the defense ministry's People's Army Newspaper Online in March quoted the vice defense minister, Lt-Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh, as saying Vietnam's relationship with the United States lacked defense industry cooperation, and Hanoi wanted Washington "to provide modern, suitable and adaptable technology." Its outreach so far has been weighted toward Russia, India and Israel in procurements, but analysts say it is unlikely to seek formal military alliances and would stick to its foreign policy of not relying on a single power. It has, however, mulled joint exercises with another South China Sea claimant at odds with China, the Philippines, and has received recent visits by Singaporean and Japanese warships at its new international port at Cam Ranh Bay, a strategic deep-water base that is home to its submarines. Tim Huxley, a regional security expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore, said Vietnam's interest in getting the arms embargo lifted was not only about access to US technology, but boosting its bargaining power. "It reflects concern about what's happening in the South China Sea and its need to restructure and re-arm, with a greater emphasis on greater naval and air capability," he said. "It wants to widen options available and have more choices in the international market place in terms of range of technology and its negotiating position." The post Quietly, Vietnam Hosts Arms Gathering Attended by US Companies appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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