Tuesday, May 2, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Prospectors Sued After Finding Massive Jade Boulder on Company Land

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:16 AM PDT

MANDALAY – Five prospectors who found a jade boulder weighing 8.7 tons have been charged with theft in Kachin State's Lone Kin jade mining region.

According to police, U Nay Tun—the Deputy Director of Myamar Gems Enterprise office of Lone Kin—filed a lawsuit against prospectors Htoo Zaw, Mon Khaung, Naing Win, Wa Lone and Myo Khin, accusing them of forcibly interfering with the security who stopped them from taking the jade boulder from the mine site.

"We are still trying to arrest them… however, it is difficult to find them," said a police officer from Lone Kin police station.

The lawsuit was filed on Sunday under Article 382 of the Burmese Penal Code, which outlines punishment for theft specifically involving injury or death of others in order for the crime to be carried out.

The prospectors reportedly found the jade boulder on the premises of Tauk Pa Kyae jade mining company on April 26. After a brief confrontation with security, the prospectors took the boulder and stored it in a primary school compound.

After negotiations at a later date, the company gave the prospectors 130 million kyats (US$95,191), and the jade boulder was handed over to the Myanmar Gems Enterprise Office in Myitkyina.

The boulder is currently in an office of the gems and jewelry department in Myitkyina. Myanmar Gems Enterprise affiliated with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.

According to local jade miners, the prospectors were sued in vain, because the negotiation with the company had already been completed and a settlement had been reached.

"It is the custom here that prospectors go into the areas of the mining companies in the evening, after the mines have closed, and look for jade. They used to find precious stones sometimes, and no one was there to stop them," said jade miner U Zaw Moe Htet.

"Bringing a lawsuit against them despite negotiations with the company is the act of a tyrant. It is targeted at oppressing the prospectors for finding such a big and precious jade boulder, and this should be stopped," he added.

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Advocates: NLD Govt Has Failed to Advance Press Freedom

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:08 AM PDT

RANGOON — The National League for Democracy (NLD) government failed to make progress in increasing press freedom during its first year in office, local lobbyists and rights groups claimed on Tuesday, stressing that there is "no clear path forward" developed by the new government concerning the issue.

One day before the World Press Freedom Day 2017, advocates from 14 local organizations—including the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), Myanmar IT for Development Organization, PEN Myanmar, Myanmar Journalists Association, Yangon Journalism School, Burma News International and Article 19—issued an eight-page assessment report on the country's landscape concerning freedom of expression under one year of NLD government leadership.

The group evaluated situations in six particular areas—laws and regulations, media independence and freedom, digital freedom, freedom of assembly, speech and opinion, right to information, and safety and security—with a scale of 10 points for outstanding achievement and 0 for regression in each area.

According to the indicators, the NLD government only achieved 8 out of 60 points in all six areas—1.3 points on average for each sector—which reflects a situation between "no progress" and "very little progress" regarding freedom of expression.

"Acknowledging that the challenges for reversing decades of repression are significant, [assessment] participants pointed to multiple areas in which no clear path forward has been explicated by the new government, let alone embarked upon," the assessment stated.

Initial findings from the first six-month assessment from April-September of 2016 were used as a comparative baseline for this one-year assessment, according to the report. It also provides a total of 26 recommendations for all six sectors, including the abolishment of Article 66(d) of the 2013 Telecommunications Law to foster greater digital freedom, and to do away with government mouthpieces for media independence and freedom.

U Myo Myint Nyein, chair of PEN Myanmar, said at the Tuesday assessment report launch event that the NLD government maintains the old policies of the former ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party concerning the press, noting how state-owned newspapers and broadcast media still serve as government propaganda rather than as public service media.

He also emphasized an urgent need to enact the Right to Information Law that guarantees access to information across public sectors and establishes mechanisms for implementation in order to ease the challenges facing journalists when trying to collect official documents, given the history of media blackouts by Burma's previous governments.

"Some [government officials] are afraid to reply to [journalists' inquiries] while some think there is no need to do so or don't know how to," U Myo Myint Nyein said.

U Zin Linn, a consultant from Burma News International, said the report is "not to pressure or blame the government, but to give constructive suggestions," since the NLD must reform respective sectors according to principles of transparency and accountability.

A recently released index by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) ranked Burma 131 out of 180 assessed countries around the world in 2017 concerning press freedom. It went up 12 places, but dropped 3.66 points in comparison to the 2016 index, with the report stating that self-censorship in Burma continues in connection with government officials and the military.

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Lawyers’ Network Demands Justice for Land Grab Protester Killed by Police 

Posted: 02 May 2017 08:11 AM PDT

RANGOON — The Myanmar Lawyers' Network will appeal to the attorney general to reopen the case of a woman who was killed by police after it discovered the case was closed in 2015.

Daw Khin Win was killed by a stray bullet on Dec. 22, 2014 during clashes between police and locals, who were protesting against land seizures near the Letpadaung copper mining project.

Chinese mining firm Wanbao had fenced in the land of farmers who refused to take compensation from the government and the company for their confiscated land.

U Maung Maung Soe, a leading member of the Myanmar Lawyers' Network, told a press conference at Tawwin Hninzi Hall in Rangoon on Saturday they would seek a court order from the Union attorney general's office to investigate the case.

"We learned not long ago from the [Monywa] district police officer and the district judicial officer that the case had been closed," he said. "We asked when and they said since August 12, 2015. It was a long time ago."

He explained the network would ask for a writ of mandamus—a court order to a lower authority to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion.

"We will apply for the writ in the first week of May," he added.

Fellow network member U Aung Thein said that he could not accept the township police station had closed the case.

"Rather than find out who shot dead [Daw Khin Win], we want to know who ordered the shooting," he said. "There was the shooting only because someone had given the order. I can't accept Myanmar Police Force has closed the case irresponsibly."

Daw Khin Mar Aye, a relative of Daw Khin Win, hopes that the new government would do justice to the case.

"We voted for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the hope that it would stand by farmers like us against what had happened to us in the time of [President] U Thein Sein," she said. "We have asked the lawyer's network for help because we want to see that justice is done."

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Murky Waters: Burma’s Law on Pornography

Posted: 02 May 2017 07:54 AM PDT

Taking advantage of Internet freedom in Burma can run huge risks—especially if you have aspirations to be a porn star or a producer in the porn industry.

Last week, police began investigating those who allegedly produced and intended to sell via social media a HD porn movie. But it is unclear what laws would be used to jail the filmmakers and actors.

A conviction would also leave customers disappointed.

The actress in the movie—entitled 'The Violet of Myanmar'—wears a surgical mask throughout the film, concealing her identity.

"Who was she?" Some audience members eagerly asked. They may never find out, now that she is believed to be on the run.

Reportedly the first HD Burmese adult film released for worldwide audiences, 'The Violet of Myanmar' caused one social media user to remark: "Our country is taking to the international stage!"

The nationalist Buddhist association Ma Ba Tha, known for its turgid conservative views, did not release a statement on this occasion.

Police told local media they were launching a criminal investigation to take action against those behind the film and said the production is "concerned with technology."

Perhaps the most relevant legislation is Burma's Electronic Transactions Law, which bans "receiving or sending and distributing any information" detrimental to state security, law and order, community peace and tranquility, national solidarity, the national economy, or national culture. Violators can face fines and jail for seven to 15 years.

No matter what police say, one cannot deny there is a market for such material, and since there are no web restrictions on adult movie sites, Burmese people can still turn to the Internet.

In this case, the law is obscure because Burma doesn't have any regulations on adult movies, unlike the US, Japan, the UK, and other European countries. In many Southeast Asia nations, the creation, distribution, sale, and rental of explicit adult movies and pornography is prohibited.

Yet in Burma, much needed laws and restrictions on the industry are absent.

Adult or pornography movies are called Nyit Nyan Yoke Shin, or A Pya'car, both meaning "dirty movies" in Buddhist-majority Burma.

But one could find and buy foreign adult films on the streets of Rangoon, Mandalay, or somewhere near the China border where porn DVDs are sold openly on the streets.

During the regime of dictator Ne Win, police would crack down on the sale and possession of porn tapes because they said it was against Burmese culture and laws.

They would also arrest sex workers and people in possession of condoms, which illegal to buy and sell during the so-called socialist period.

Those who wanted to watch foreign-made adult films had to count on having friends in the elite. Nobody would bother them in the safety and protection of rich and influential people's houses.

Like in North Korea, reports say that possession of pornography or erotic movies became widespread among political and army elites during the late 1990s. Unsurprisingly, most adult and pornography movies watched in North Korea are currently made abroad, as they are in Burma.

Ne Win and his police were tough on condoms and prostitution, but it slowly loosened up in the late 90s. Condoms became available to buy in big shops and now you can buy them in convenience stores.

Prostitution is still illegal in poverty-stricken Burma, though sex workers wait in the lounges and bars of various establishments, from guesthouses to five-star hotels.

Some young girls can also be seen waiting on the roadside for customers.

Faced with economic hardship, many young women seek steady income selling sex, but there are no clear laws and regulations for the sex trade.

When the regime was in power, police were known to solicit money from sex workers and brothel owners. Now there are some sex workers associations in Burma, but they remain low key.

Burma's political opening received praise at home and abroad, but its society remains relatively conservative. As in the past, sex is still a taboo subject. Sex education is not provided at schools and parents generally avoid talking about it.

Now brothels masquerading as KTVs and guesthouses are mushrooming all over Rangoon and Mandalay, as obtaining licenses has become easier.

In its initial 100-day campaign, the new government targeted unlicensed massage parlours and KTVs. In May 2016, authorities closed down nine massage parlours in Naypyidaw to ensure the rule of law.

Art of Myanmar, the production group behind 'The Violet of Myanmar,' stated it aimed to produce more genre-specific and hardcore porn films in the future.

First they would have to find their porn stars, who might be in hiding, and then deal with the country's obscure laws.

 

The post Murky Waters: Burma's Law on Pornography appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma Army Officer, Businessmen Arrested for Drug Possession in Arakan State

Posted: 02 May 2017 05:57 AM PDT

RANGOON – A Burma Army officer, a soldier, and two businessmen were arrested in possession of stimulants with a street value of 880 million kyats in northern Arakan State on Monday morning, border police Major Zaw Zaw Nay Hein told The Irrawaddy.

Maungdaw businessmen Thein Tun Naing and Zaw Oo drove a luxury Pajero vehicle 24 kilometers from Buthidaung—where Maj Ye Zeyar and Private Thein Naing, also in the car, were based—to Maungdaw Township on Monday morning. A combined task force stopped the vehicle at the three-mile gate in Maungdaw and found 400,000 methamphetamine pills, said the police major. Each "yaba" pill is worth 2,000 kyats in the local market, he added.

"We just checked the vehicle and discovered drugs," Maj Zaw Zaw Nay Hein said, adding that they had no tip-off prior to the routine search.

The joint operation team transferred the four suspects to Pyin Phyu police station in northern Maungdaw.

The officer responsible for continuing the investigation in Pyin Phyu could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The State Counselor’s Office Information Committee, tasked with providing updates on issues in Arakan State, released a statement on Tuesday evening saying that ”the army would carry out a further investigation [in order] to take action” against the officer and soldier implicated in the arrest.

The Irrawaddy phoned President's Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay several times on Tuesday to inquire about the incident, but at the time of reporting, there had been no answer.

Three months ago, an anti-narcotics task force uncovered 4.6 million methamphetamine tablets and a handgun and ammunition from Buddhist monk Arsara of Shwe Baho village monastery in southern Maungdaw Township.

In June 2016, the police seized nearly 800,000 stimulant pills, worth about 2.3 billion kyats, from a suspected drug trafficker in Arakan State's capital Sittwe. The police report stated that the suspect was only a transporter and had planned to deliver the drug shipment to a monk who lived near the Bangladeshi border.

According to reports, in late September 2016, Maungdaw police confiscated two massive hauls of drugs, totaling over 15 million amphetamine tablets, in the compound of a construction company, hidden under brick piles and in a truck that was covered with sand.

The police have not yet apprehended the suspects yet.

Col Shwe Nyar Maung of the anti-narcotics police force in Naypyidaw told The Irrawaddy that drugs flow to Burma from neighboring countries' borders such as China, Thailand and India and some are smuggle via waterways.

He said, "Drug dealers target Yangon as a transit [destination] and experienced smugglers distribute the stimulants abroad."

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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Skip Washington Summit of SE Asia Foreign Ministers

Posted: 02 May 2017 05:47 AM PDT

RANGOON — Burma leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has declined an invitation to meet US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Washington this week alongside top diplomats from Southeast Asia, citing other commitments, Burma officials said on Tuesday.

Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi—who serves as Burma's foreign minister while also being de facto head of its civilian government—would send a senior official in her place, said Zaw Htay, director general of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's office.

The Washington talks come amid signs members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which includes Burma, are tilting diplomatically towards China as the Trump administration's policy on the region remains unclear.

ASEAN foreign ministers are due to meet Tillerson on Thursday for talks covering trade, territorial claims in the South China Sea and crime, among other issues.

ASEAN stepped back from highlighting the maritime disputes between its members and China at a summit that concluded at the weekend, while Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has sought closer ties with Beijing.

Burma's President Htin Kyaw spent six days in China last month, signing an agreement that will see oil pumped through a pipeline across Burma to southwestern China, and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is due to visit Beijing for a summit on President Xi Jinping's signature “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure program in mid-May.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency under Burma's army-drafted constitution, but effectively leads the government through the specially created post of "State Counselor."

"The State Counsellor won't go to the US because she has another meeting with the EU on that day," Zaw Htay said.

The US Embassy in Rangoon had no immediate comment, and referred inquiries to the State Department in Washington.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Brussels on Monday for the first stop of an official tour of Europe, where she will also visit Britain and Italy.

National Security Adviser Thaung Tun would go to Washington in her place, Zaw Htay said.

Diplomats in Rangoon say President Donald Trump's policy towards Burma— considered a success story of former President Barack Obama's “pivot” to Asia—is so far uncertain.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi assumed power in 2016 following a landslide election win after Burma's former military leaders initiated a political transition.

She travelled to the United States in September, when Obama agreed to drop all remaining sanctions against Burma, an international pariah for decades under junta rule.

Since then, Burma has been sharply criticized in the West over violence against minority Rohingya Muslims.

Kyaw Zeya, permanent secretary at the ministry of foreign affairs, said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not planning to visit the United States in the near future.

But he dismissed the notion her absence from Washington was an indicator that ties were cooling in favor of China, saying Burma sought good relations with all major powers.

"We don't promote relations with any country at the expense of another," Kyaw Zeya said.

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Govt Asks UNFC to Sign ‘Deed of Commitment’ to Attend Union Peace Conference

Posted: 02 May 2017 05:30 AM PDT

RANGON—Government peace negotiators have asked ethnic bloc the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) to sign a "deed of commitment" to attend the upcoming Union Peace Conference on May 24.

A delegation from the government's National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) led by Dr. Tin Myo Win met with the UNFC's Department for Political Negotiation (DPN) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand last Friday for the fifth round of formal peace talks between the two sides.

"They asked us to attend the 21st Panglong peace conference at the meeting, but we replied that if we were invited as observers, we could not attend," New Mon State Party (NMSP) central committee member Dr. Nai Shwe Thein, who attended the meeting, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.

"They even asked us to sign a 'deed of commitment' to attend," he said, adding that government negotiators were keen to have all UNFC members sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).

Dr. Nai Shwe Thein said ethnic armed group leaders would discuss whether or not to sign the deed, but added that the NMSP had already agreed to follow the NCA principles that would have them attend the Union Peace Conference.

In his opening speech on Friday, Dr. Tin Myo Win emphasized the need to reach a solution through negotiation, in order to fulfill the public's expectations in building peace and federalism.

"Politically, we made a lot of progress," Dr. Tin Myo Win told The Irrawaddy on Friday, adding that they had discussed details concerning the DPN's nine-point proposal.

DPN leaders asked the NRPC negotiators whether the government could fulfill any of the UNFC's nine points in its proposal for signing the NCA, according to Dr. Nai Shwe Thein.

"We asked them at the meeting how many of the points they could accept. We even told them if they agreed to all nine points from our request, then, we would sign the NCA," said Dr. Nai Shwe Thein.

In addition to attending the peace talks under the UNFC bloc, two of its members—the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and Shan State Progress Party (SSPP)—also took part in meetings led by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) in which armed groups based in northeastern Burma rejected the NCA and called for it to be replaced.

It was not clear from the meeting whether some of the active ethnic armed groups based in the region have abandoned the UNFC's NCA position.

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U Zaw Htay: Govt Will Not ‘Dig Up Past’ Over Magwe Embezzlement

Posted: 02 May 2017 04:21 AM PDT

NAYPYIDAW — Director-general of Burma's State Counselor's Office U Zaw Htay said that the government's policy of "no retrospection" meant it would not take punitive action against Magwe Division's ex-chief minister U Phone Maw Shwe currently embroiled in an embezzlement case.

U Zaw Htay admitted U Phone Maw Shwe's actions were punishable, but told reporters at a press conference at the Ministry of Information in Naypyidaw on Saturday that the National League for Democracy (NLD) government would not take retroactive action against him for fear of risking the country's process of democratization.

"The policy of the new government is not to dig up the past," said U Zaw Htay. "If we do so, there is a likelihood that [the country's progress] might reverse."

He said that this policy was not uncommon among countries undergoing democratic transition and that the State Counselor's approach is to do as well as she can in line with the policies of the new government, no matter what the previous government had done in the past.

"If we dig into the past, it will never end—from the time of the military government to the time of the Burma Socialist Program Party. That's why we have only instructed [U Phone Maw Shwe] to pay back an appropriate amount," said the director-general.

The embezzlement was revealed after a lawmaker asked a question about the missing regional development funds of the former Magwe Division government in parliament last year.

According to an investigation by the Bureau of Special Investigation under the Ministry of Home Affairs, missing funds collected as tax from small-scale oil producers in the time of U Phone Maw Shwe amounted to 7.5 billion kyats.

The government in early April instructed U Phone Maw Shwe to return 1.7 billion kyats, four cars, a digger, and two boats which he donated in his capacity as the chief minister to the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), as well as over 1.57 billion kyats which he transferred to Shwe Thuka Microcredit Association.

According to the Magwe Division government, U Phone Maw Shwe informed it by letter that he would return over 3 billion kyats—over 1.7 billion kyats donated to USDP and over 1.57 billion kyats transferred to the lending firm—by the last week of July.

In the letter dated April 27 and addressed to Magwe Division chief minister Dr. Aung Moe Nyo, U Phone Maw Shwe said that chairman of Shwe Thukha Microcredit Association U Kyi Tun would act as his representative in returning the funds.

"I still don't have direct contact [with U Phone Maw Shwe], and I have to consult with my ministers how those funds will be used [when I get them back]," said Dr. Aung Moe Nyo.

The letter stated that 500 million kyats out of 1.57 billion kyats transferred to the microcredit association would be returned in the first week of May. The remaining money would be returned by the last week of July, as it would take time for the lending firm to collect money from borrowers.

It also said that the vehicles donated to the USDP would be returned by April 30, but it is still unclear if they have been returned or not.

It is against election laws for a political party to accept and use public funds, and is punishable by abolishment of that party. USDP spokesperson Dr. Nandar Hla Myint has, however, denied receiving any donation from U Phone Maw Shwe.

Political commentator Dr. Yan Myo Thein said the new democratic government should not forgive corrupt officials at all, even if they are members of the former government.

"This is public funds, and the government, the parliament, and the military are responsible to prevent them [from being misused]" Dr. Yan Myo Thein told The Irrawaddy, adding that the misappropriated funds must be returned and those responsible investigated and charged in line with existing laws.

"If the government fails to take decisive legal action against the misappropriation of public funds for fear that it might reverse [the country's progress], and harm national reconciliation efforts, the trust of the international community and our citizens in the democratization process will decline," he added.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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KRC Shares Kachin Research with Wider Audience

Posted: 02 May 2017 03:57 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – Experts on Burma's Kachin State conflict shared their research from the area with an international audience at a seminar titled "War in Northern Myanmar," held at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand on Monday.

The Kachinland Research Center (KRC) looked at a range of issues, from the civil war and causes behind Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) rebellion, to the voices of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to Kachin customary law, art, literature and history.

The seminar was intended to share KRC research with a wider audience, said Maran Ja Htoi Pan, anthropologist and associate director of the KRC.

Last week, the Kachin scholars also held the Kachinland Study Symposium to share their research with locals in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State.

Seven speakers, both Kachin and foreign, highlighted the effects of almost six years of renewed conflict between the Burma Army and the KIO on the lives of locals.

The KIO had a 17-year ceasefire with the previous military government from 1994-2011, but the recent conflict has displaced more than 100,000 people.

The KRC was started last year to conduct research and draw wider attention to the political and democratic transition, the peace process, security, drug issues, and development during the ceasefire period, said Dan Seng Lawn, a political analyst and the KRC director.

He said this research fills a gap, documenting the effects of a war that greatly shaped the lives of ethnic Kachin, whether they stayed at home or fled.

The KRC will launch its first academic, peer-reviewed journal in October.

Research presentations also focused on traditional Kachin understanding of gender identity and the sexual violence endured throughout the civil war, with the recent high-profile case of two Kachin schoolteachers who were raped and murdered in Shan State in 2015.

Maran Nang Htoi Rawng, a joint general secretary from the Kachin Women's Association Thailand, said some of the sexual violence against women is considered private due to customary laws.

"These laws need to be widely understood in order to understand sexual violence in our state due to civil war," she said, highlighting that women are most often the victims of sexual violence but due to customary laws they have limited power as decision makers.

Gender activists added that women are not in decision-making roles, and that they are needed there in order to safeguard their security and represent themselves in talks related to the peace process with the government and armed groups.

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Protesters Submit Petition Against Naming of Gen Aung San Bridge in Mon State

Posted: 02 May 2017 02:12 AM PDT

MOULMEIN, Mon State — A petition of over 90,000 signatures protesting the naming of a bridge linking Chaungzon and Moulmein townships in Mon State after Burma's independence hero Gen Aung San will be submitted to the President's Office on Tuesday, as the divisional chief minister confirmed the bridge will officially open on May 9.

"We thought the government would open the bridge on May 1, so we planned to submit the petition last Thursday, but when they put up the bridge's signboard up on Wednesday, we decided to submit the petition by May 2," Min Aung Mon, spokesperson of the committee demanding the name change of the bridge, told The Irrawaddy.

Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan told media on Tuesday an official opening ceremony for the bridge will be held next Tuesday and that Lower House Speaker U Win Myint and other speakers from Mon, Karen, Tennaserim and Bago Divisions will attend.

A committee was formed of local community elders, women's groups, monks, youth leaders, human rights and political activists to protest the bridge's name, which was approved by the Union Parliament's Lower House in March.

The group launched the petition campaign in Mon and Karen states and Bago and Rangoon divisions on April 13, and originally garnered over 120,000 signatures before April 26.

"Most of them [signatories] believed we could get the name changed if we submitted the petition," Min Aung Mon told The Irrawaddy.

"But as the signboard was put up on the evening of April 26, some got angry and burned their signed papers, saying that their signatures were useless. So, we have only just over 90,000 signatures left now," he said.

When the Irrawaddy called the Union Ethnic Affairs Minister U Nai Thet Lwin to ask him about the petition, his personal officer quoted him as answering "sad, but no comment."

The bridge cost 59 billion kyats (US$4.4 million) and is open to the public between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. from April 27 to March 6 ahead of its official inauguration.

Ashin Waravumsa, the abbot of the village of Boenat on Belu Island who is also a member of the committee demanding the name change, told The Irrawaddy "the bridge saves us [Mon people] physical discomfort, but not mental disturbance."

"Whenever we cross the bridge, we feel upset in our minds and hearts. We prefer the name Salween Bridge, Chaungzon which is an appropriate name for the region or Yamanya Bridge, which reflects Mon identity," said the abbot.

The 5,203-foot bridge was built in Feb. 2015 and was originally given the name Salween Bridge, Chaungzon.

Mon State Chief Minister Dr. Aye Zan said the NLD government has already set a policy on naming bridges across the country. He explained that the policy has four categories depending on the length of bridges.

"The first category says the biggest and longest bridges will take Gen Aung San's name while the medium bridges will be named in relation to the region they are located," he said.

Campaigners at a meeting on Saturday accused the National League for Democracy (NLD) government of ignoring the voices of local ethnic people, saying the naming was contrary to the government's federal Union rhetoric.

Dr. Aye Zan told reporters in early April that he did not want to "argue about the choice of words."

This article was translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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More Signs of Refugee Repatriation on the Thai-Burma Border 

Posted: 02 May 2017 01:05 AM PDT

BAN MAE SALIT, Thailand — Community workers are busy with meetings, travel, and workshops as Burma prepares for the repatriation of some 98,000 refugees living on the Thai-Burma border.

New houses for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are currently under construction in several locations controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), Burma's longest-running ethnic armed organization, which signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the Burmese government.

About 50 new houses sit in a model village called Mae Salit, a project funded by foreign donors including the Nippon Foundation, a Japanese non-profit that closely follows Burma's peace process.

Some IDPs and refugees have already returned to these model villages. Sources say about 1,000 homes will be built by the Nippon Foundation upon completion.

According to Karen News, an ethnic Karen media outlet, there are some 3,200 KNU refugees and family members that have so far returned to the Lay Kay Kaw model village in 2017.

With the cooperation of the Thai government and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), some KNU leaders and the Burmese government began preparations for repatriation after the signing of the NCA in 2015.

One source in Mae Sot who is familiar with the matter told The Irrawaddy that INGO representatives briefed KNU leaders at the group's recent congress and said funding for refugees on the border would end in about four years.

"They [INGOs] asked KNU leaders to be prepared to take responsibility for the refugees once the funding ends," said the source, who asked for anonymity.

Other preparations are underway, with UN representatives from Rangoon visiting refugee communities to discuss repatriation plans and NGOs launching pilot projects to support IDPs and refugees who want to undertake agriculture and livestock projects.

"We are busy with meetings and visitors these days," said Saw Honest, chairman of the Mae La refuge camp, referencing frequent visits from donors, NGOs, and others.

Saw Tu Tu, a leader of the Karen Refugee Committee (KRC), told The Irrawaddy that food assistance would soon be cut for refugees who live in Ei Htu Hta camp, an IDP camp in Karen State. Camps along the border are seeing reductions in donor money and aid since Burma's shift toward democracy.

Quoting NGO sources, Saw Tu Tu said some 200 refugees households in Ei Htu Hta camp are preparing to return home when their assistance ends in August. Other households are still undecided, as many who were displaced by conflict still report feeling unsafe returning home while Burma Army troops are stationed in and near civilian areas.

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Trump would be ‘Honored’ to Meet N. Korea Leader

Posted: 02 May 2017 12:55 AM PDT

SEOUL, South Korea — US President Donald Trump on Monday opened the door to meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un, saying he would be honored to meet the young leader under the right circumstances, even as Pyongyang suggested it would continue its nuclear weapons tests.

"If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump told Bloomberg News, comments that drew criticism in Washington.
"Under the right circumstances I would meet with him," Trump said.

Trump did not say what conditions would need to be met for any such meeting to occur or when it could happen, but the White House later said North Korea would need to meet many conditions before a meeting could be contemplated.
"Clearly conditions are not there right now," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.

"I don't see this happening anytime soon," Spicer added.

Trump, who took office in January, had said during his presidential campaign he would be willing to meet with Kim.

His administration has since said North Korea must agree to abandon its nuclear and missile programs and has sought to pressure Pyongyang economically and diplomatically while insisting that military options remain "on the table."

On Friday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the United Nations Security Council that Washington would not negotiate with North Korea.

US Vice President Mike Pence, earlier on Monday, said Trump had made clear "that the era of strategic patience is over."

Later on Monday, a US State Department spokeswoman said in a statement: "The United States remains open to credible talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula; however conditions must change before there is any scope for talks to resume," adding that North Korea must abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Despite that, Trump's statement that he would be "honored" to meet Kim—as well as his description of the young North Korean leader over the weekend as "a pretty smart cookie"—sparked fresh concern over his approach to North Korea.

"I don't see much coherence in the Trump administration's statements," said Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "If there is to be any hope of getting Kim Jong Un back to the negotiating table to discuss denuclearization, the US has to articulate a clear position."

John Sifton, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said Trump had established a troubling pattern of paying compliments to foreign leaders with shaky human rights or autocratic reputations. "You don't have to be a psychologist to see that he admires leaders who ignore the rule of law," he said.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been high for weeks, driven by fears the North might conduct a long-range missile test, or its sixth nuclear test, around the time of the April 15 anniversary of its state founder's birth.

Early on Monday, North Korea said it would bolster its nuclear force "to the maximum" in a "consecutive and successive way at any moment" in the face of what it calls US aggression and hysteria.

North Korea, technically still at war with the South after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty, regularly threatens to destroy the United States, Japan and South Korea and has said it will pursue its nuclear and missile programs to counter perceived US aggression.

Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible, while China said last week the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control.

In a show of force, the United States has sent the nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group to waters off the Korean peninsula to join drills with South Korea to counter a series of threats of destruction from North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"Now that the US is kicking up the overall racket for sanctions and pressure against the DPRK, pursuant to its new DPRK policy called ‘maximum pressure and engagement’, the DPRK will speed up at the maximum pace the measure for bolstering its nuclear deterrence," a spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement carried by its official KCNA news agency.

North Korea's "measures for bolstering the nuclear force to the maximum will be taken in a consecutive and successive way at any moment and any place decided by its supreme leadership," the spokesman said.

Reclusive North Korea has carried out five nuclear tests and a series of missile tests in defiance of UN Security Council and unilateral resolutions. It has been conducting tests at an unprecedented rate and is believed to have made progress in developing intermediate-range and submarine-launched missiles.

It test-launched a missile on Saturday which Washington and Seoul said was unsuccessful but which nevertheless drew widespread international condemnation.

 

The post Trump would be 'Honored' to Meet N. Korea Leader appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka Intercepts Boat Carrying 30 Rohingya Refugees

Posted: 01 May 2017 09:56 PM PDT

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s navy intercepted a boat carrying 30 Rohingya refugees who had been living in India and two suspected Indian traffickers after they tried to enter the country illegally, police said on Monday.

The island nation’s navy and coastguard stopped the boat and its human cargo, which included 16 children, off Sri Lanka’s northern shores on Sunday, police spokesman Priyantha Jayakody said.

"The 32 people were produced before the magistrate on Monday, who remanded them until May 2," he told Reuters. "They have lived in India for more than five years."

A local human rights official who met the Burmese refugees said their planned final destination had been Australia, which lies more than 4,200 miles from Sri Lanka.

"They said they got refugee status in New Delhi after coming to India five years back, via Bangladesh. They are from six families," the official said, asking not to be named.

Tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya have fled predominantly Buddhist Burma since 2012. Refugees, residents and human rights groups say Burma forces have committed summary executions, raped women and burned homes.

More than 1 million Rohingya live in apartheid-like conditions in Burma’s Rakhine State, where many in the Buddhist majority consider them interlopers from Bangladesh.

About 69,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since October, straining relations between the two neighbors who each see the stateless Muslim minority as the other nation’s problem.

The post Sri Lanka Intercepts Boat Carrying 30 Rohingya Refugees appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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