Monday, November 21, 2016

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

USDP Criticizes Burma’s Economic Development as ‘Slow’

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 07:51 AM PST

The statement came at a meeting at the party's headquarters in Naypyidaw.

The post USDP Criticizes Burma's Economic Development as 'Slow' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Committee to Assess Government’s Budget Request

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 06:39 AM PST

The public accounts committee will review the government's supplementary budget request before a decision is made by lawmakers.

The post Committee to Assess Government's Budget Request appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Deputy Minister’s Dismissal Sends Waves through Political Circles

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 06:30 AM PST

The President's Office announces that Dr. Tun Win was dismissed from his duties, but gives no reasons for the firing.

The post Deputy Minister's Dismissal Sends Waves through Political Circles appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Artists to Campaign Against Surge in Child Rape Cases in Rangoon

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 04:30 AM PST

'We have invited as many artists as we can. And they have promised to go,' says Ko Maung Maung Aye, who is organizing the event on Kandawgyi Myaw Sin Island.

The post Artists to Campaign Against Surge in Child Rape Cases in Rangoon appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Locals in Northern Shan State Warned to Take Precautions As Fighting Escalates

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 04:01 AM PST

A joint force of four ethnic armed groups warns residents to limit movement in the region as battles escalate against the Burma Army.

The post Locals in Northern Shan State Warned to Take Precautions As Fighting Escalates appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Welfare Minister Tours Maungdaw

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 03:56 AM PST

Dr. Win Myat Aye is joined by regional ministers and a UNHCR representative to assess the humanitarian situation.

The post Welfare Minister Tours Maungdaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Places Army on High Alert after Shan State Clashes

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 12:18 AM PST

Multiple ethnic armed groups attack security posts in Muse and Kutkai townships in Shan State.

The post China Places Army on High Alert after Shan State Clashes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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National News

National News

Three 'handmade bombs' explode in Thaketa supermarket: official

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 03:30 AM PST

Three suspected handmade bombs exploded in a supermarket in southern Yangon last night authorities said, although no casualties were reported.

Ethnic armed groups launch attack near Muse

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:11 PM PST

A combined force of ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State yesterday launched an offensive against police and military outposts near the border town of Muse early yesterday morning, with at least eight people killed in the assault.

NCA breakdown led to Tatmadaw-RCSS clashes: ceasefire monitoring body

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:10 PM PST

Breaches of the terms of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) by both the Tatmadaw and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) caused clashes in early October, the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) has determined, following an investigative field trip to the affected area.

Calls for transparency mount amid weekend cabinet shake-up

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:09 PM PST

The president has axed a deputy minister, the first cabinet termination to occur since the National League for Democracy-led government took office at the end of March.

What Myanmar could learn from Singapore about urban water management

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:07 PM PST

Here is a vision of Yangon's future. Its 17 reservoirs, fed by 8000 kilometres (5000 miles) of drains, rivers and canals, provide ample fresh water to residents, while also serving as boating lakes and beachfront attractions. Its sewers and gutters are cleared of garbage, its streets are never flooded, and water is drinkable straight from the tap. Sadly, Yangon's present is nothing like this. The vision comes, in fact, from Singapore.

30,000 displaced by violence in northern Rakhine State: UN

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:06 PM PST

Up to 30,000 people have been displaced by renewed violence in northern Rakhine State, the UN said on November 18. Half of the displacement occurred over the course of the previous week, when dozens of people died in clashes with the military.

Exorcist says he was ‘possessed’ when he murdered children

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:05 PM PST

A self-proclaimed sorcerer who allegedly beat three children to death in an exorcism ritual appeared in court on November 18 when he told reporters he was possessed by a "dark spirit" at the time of the killings.

Pregnant Irrawaddy dolphin believed killed by electro-fisher

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:01 PM PST

Environmental activists believe a pregnant Irrawaddy dolphin was killed by illegal electro-fishers this month in Sagaing township.

New tuberculosis study coming in 2017

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 10:55 PM PST

Hoping to confirm a suspected slight decline in tuberculosis cases, the National TB Program will launch a prevalence study next year, the first since 2010.

MATA activists head to high court to appeal copper mine case

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 10:51 PM PST

After a township court upheld a verdict against three environment activists last week, they are appealing the charges of unlawful assembly, trespassing and wrongful restraint at the high court.
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Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News

Commentary on "Daw Suu ramping up pressure on UNFC"

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 03:25 AM PST

UNFC would sign when the NLD-Military regime accepted all-inclusivity of ethnic armed organizations; bilateral ceasefire declaration between the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armies; the negotiation process that adhere to tripartite dialogue composition, which for decades has been endorsed by the UN; and the commitment of agreeing to a genuine federal form of government.


Using military pressure to push the non-signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement is back firing as the recent so-called Northern Alliance, involving the Kachin, Palaung, Kokang and the Arakan armed forces, started an offensive to take the heat out for the KIA, which has been enduring the military onslaught of the Tatmadaw for a few months in a row.

According to the ethnic sources, the ethnic offensives didn't come about lightly, but only after weighing the pros and cons.

The speculation that the NLD-Military regime is going according to its prescribed roadmap, without considering the UNFC proposal might be the real factor to heighten the military conflict, rather than be a sitting duck, while hoping to achieve a favorable negotiation stance with the blessing of Aung San Suu Kyi.

In other words, Suu Kyi is now considered to be fully with the Tatmadaw, at the expense of all the non-signatories ethnic resistance armies.

Link to the story: http://english.panglong.org/2016/11/21/commentary-on-daw-suu-ramping-up-pressure-on-unfc/

Civilians flee as hostilities intensify in Muse, Kutkai

Posted: 21 Nov 2016 01:22 AM PST

Four ethnic armed groups released a statement on Monday, demanding a halt in civilian movement in Muse and Kutkai townships due to an intensification of hostilities in northern Shan State.

The four militias – Arakan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) – have launched a joint military operation against Burmese government forces in the area.

"Our ethnic people are requested to stop travelling in northern Shan State because of the dangers posed by military activities," said the statement. "Local people are also advised to take precautions, and to support this inevitable joint military exercise for the protection of all ethnic peoples."

The groups attacked Burmese military outposts and a police station in the Muse Township villages of 105 Mile, Mong Koe and Parng Zai, as well as Namkham and Kutkai areas in the early morning yesterday.

"The Burmese armed forces have been launching offensives in the ethnic territories of Kachin, Kokang, Ta'ang, Arakan and Shan for a long time," read the statement. "The military pressures have been mounting increasingly. The Burmese armed forces have also intensified their assaults. They are not only using 105-120mm heavy artillery to target innocent civilians, but are also arresting, torturing and killing indigenous people."

For decades, Burma's government forces have launched offensives and operations against ethnic armed groups.

Col. Tar Pong Kyaw, the secretary of TNLA, told The Irrawaddy on Sunday that "Ethnic groups cannot hide in the jungle any more—the time has come to fight in the towns."

Monday's statement also noted that the Burmese armed forces continue to attack ethnic armed groups including those that signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government in October 2015. The AA, MNDAA, TNLA were excluded from signing the accord.

Yesterday, it was reported that four policeman and an unknown number of civilians had been killed or wounded in the clashes.

According to a resident in the 105 Mile: "At least four police officers were shot dead."
Meanwhile, Nang Khin Tar Yi, an MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) representing Hsenwi Township, said, "A bomb exploded on the highway between Hsenwi and Muse townships, causing injuries to three people. They are currently being treated at a local hospital."

Local sources also told Shan Herald that they had eye-witnessed military's jets, trucks and troops heading into Muse.

Since yesterday, villagers in close proximity to the hostilities have been fleeing their homes and seeking shelter in Muse town or across the border in China.

According to a report in this morning's state-run press, the four ethnic armed groups also attempted to blow up three bridges into the town.

Yesterday, the Chinese embassy in Burma issued a warning to its citizens, advising against travel to the conflict areas.

"The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar has been watching the situation closely, urging all parties in the conflicts to exercise restraint by taking concrete and effective measures for an immediate ceasefire so as to resume peace in the China-Myanmar border area as soon as possible," the statement said.

"The Embassy reminds the Chinese citizens in Myanmar to watch out for their own safety by avoiding going to those conflict areas," it added.

The consulate confirmed that many Burmese civilians had escaped the conflict by fleeing onto Chinese territory, and that the Chinese authorities have "taken in those who have crossed the border, and sent the injured ones to hospitals for medical treatment."

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)

To Hopeland and Back The 23rd trip

Posted: 20 Nov 2016 11:06 PM PST

Drugs take you to hell

Disguised as heaven.

Donald Lynn Frost, Chairman,

 Sturgis Bancorp, Inc.

Opium tincture (Photo: healthy.kaiserpermanente.org)
On my way to Mingladon, where the bus is waiting to pick up inbound drug experts. I drop in at the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) office to pick the party leadership's  brain for tomorrow's gathering in Naypyitaw.

I'm not disappointed. A lot of them I've already read and written. But there are also two specifics I've never heard about:

·         The government-owned  Burma Pharmaceutical Industry (BPI) used to have poppy farms in Taunggyi and Lashio before 1988 to obtain opium for its product, opium tincture
(Opium tincture, about which I have only a rough idea, is an oral linquid medication used to control diarrhea and relieve pain. But it is also a controlled drug, because of its unwholesome side effects: sedation, constipation, itching, and physical and psychological dependence

·         The UN also used to have poppy fields in Taunggyi, Lashio and Kengtung, 2 acres each, to
MR Disnadda Diskul Na Ayudhya
Secretary General of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation
(Photo:hrd.nida.ac.th
estimate each year's output in the Shan State. The source however doesn't know if the fields are still around

At 10:30, I'm off to Mingaladon, where Tom Kramer of Transnational Institute (TNI) and his wife Nang Pann Ei Kham of Drug Policy Action Group (DPAG), with their hired bus, are waiting for the likes of us.

Among the passengers, when the bus starts, are people I know: Sai Long of Myanmar Opium Farmers Forum, John Buchanan of Institute for Strategy and Policy, Col Hkam Awng, former CCDAC Secretary General now working with Mae Fah Luang Foundation in northern Thailand. The Foundation, established by the late King's Mother, has development projects in Yawng Kha and Mongtoom (Monghsat township) and
Col Hkam Awng (left) commemorating the 
110th Birth Anniversary of Somdej Ya b
y Mae Fah Luang Foundation under 
Royal Patronage (11 Nov 10)
Mae Jok and Loi Taw Kham (Tachilek township), townships across Chiangrai Province, plus in Yenangyauing. "If you think the people's life on the Shan-Thai border are terrible, you should take a look at those in the central dry basin," he tells me. "But after our 6-year project, they are noticeably better off."

The distance from the old capital to the new capital is 327 km (203 miles). But it takes us 6 slow hours, including 1 ½ hour for lunch and snack, to get there. The bus is going as if  it is riding waves. But our driver is good. So I manage to catch some naps on the way.

At some point, someone is relating to us about the conversation among opium farmers, which goes something like this:

Farmer A:        We have to pay tax to 5 different armed groups.
Farmer B:        You're lucky. I have to pay tax to 7 groups.
Farmer C:        I must be the luckiest. Because I have to pay only two armed groups.
Former A/B:    Which groups ?
Farmer C:        The MA (Myanmar Army) and the PMF (People's Militia Force, the extended arm of the MA).

We also discuss future plans:

·         Visiting Doi Tung, Mae Fa Luang district, Chiangrai Province.

*For readers unfamiliar with different English labels used by the two countries, the following should be the guide for them:

Burma                                                             Thailand
Village                                                             Village (Muban)
Village Tract                                                   Tambon
Sub-Township                                                  Sub-District (King-Ampher)
Township                                                         District (Ampher)
District                                                                        Province (Jangwat)

The Royal Ace Hotel , Naypyitaw.
(Photo: asiatravel)
·         Direct Myanmar Army/EAO consultations on drugs ("Government meeting CSOs are okay. But without open discussions between the MA and the EAOs, nothing is going to change," a CCDAC official is quoted as saying.)

·         Study mission to licit occultation in India and Australia (it appears legal production is not without problems either)


We are greeted and entertained at Naypyitaw's Royal Ace Hotel by CCDAC officials among whom are Police Colonels Zaw Lin Tun and Myint Thein. The latter says he's from Taunggyi. 
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