Wednesday, May 31, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Facebook Ban of Racial Slur Sparks Debate in Burma

Posted: 31 May 2017 07:57 AM PDT

RANGOON — An apparent Facebook ban on the word "kala," which originally was used to describe "foreigners," but has increasingly been used as a derogatory term for Muslims, has been criticized by some of Burma's netizens and scholars.

News and entertainment website Mashable reported that Facebook may have imposed the ban last week in response to feedback from Burma's online community, safety experts and NGOs in the country.

Nationalists often use the term kala as a racial slur against Muslims, who face widespread discrimination from nationalists in Burma. But the word transcends its links to people of Indian origin to encompass more benign meanings, such as the Burmese word for "chair"—kala-htaing—or the word for "lentil beans"—kala pae.

Facebook reportedly blocked posts with any reference to the word, drawing the ire of some netizens, many of whom wrote posts including the term kala and were temporarily barred from the site as a result.

Two Facebook users held an online protest called "We Own Kalar" on Wednesday to vent their objections to the supposed ban.

U Khin Aye, a former Burmese professor from the Rangoon University, told The Irrawaddy that the original meaning of the word was not derogatory.

"But it implies a bad sense when people use the word intentionally to insult a group of people," said U Khin Aye.

The scholar described Facebook's ban on any post that contains the word kala—such as kala pae—as "ridiculous."

"Those words have long been widely-used and have no racist meanings. If we don't use them, what else should we have to describe them?" he asked.

Historian Dr. Thant Myint-U said the term kala has been the Burmese language ethnonym for "Indians" for at least 900 years, in the same way that "Tayok" is for Chinese, and "Shan" for people who refer to themselves Tai or Thai.

"The word in Konbaung times was used more generally to refer to a perceived racial group, that included not only people from the sub-Continent, but also Persians, Arabs, and Europeans, the 'bayingyi kala,' including the English, sometimes the 'tho-saung' or 'sheep-wearing' kala," he told The Irrawaddy.

"Words that are not meant to be derogatory one day can easily become offensive to some people the next. Perceptions of ethnicity are everywhere a constantly changing and often very sensitive thing. But the real problem is not the word kala but the pathology of those who might use it in a racist or demeaning way," he added.

Lawyer U Kyi Myint said kala is an everyday term that he doesn't consider hateful.

"Maybe Facebook is excessively concerned," he said. "I personally think the ban may further fuel hatred. Myanmar is in a sensitive state now so I don't want anyone to exaggerate the hate speech issue."

According to historical records and novels, the word kala was also used to address someone with a brown complexion.

Co-founder of Religions for Peace Myanmar, Al Haj U Aye Lwin, said, "In the past, kala was not a hateful word. It depends on the intention of the speaker. But it has been used negatively lately. Today this word amounts to belittling and swearing."

Facebook is under global pressure to clamp down on hate speech, violent threats or deliberately misleading information on their platform.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko with additional reporting by Tin Htet Paing and Kyaw Phyo Tha.

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Security Concerns Hamper Tackling Illegal Gold Mining Around Indawgyi Lake

Posted: 31 May 2017 07:49 AM PDT

RANGOON — Burma's environmental ministry said it could not effectively take action against illegal gold mining around Indawgyi Lake in Kachin State's Mohnyin Township due to the proximity of clashes between government forces and ethnic armed groups.

Lower House lawmaker Daw San San Ei representing Mohnyin Township raised a question in parliament on Wednesday, inquiring how the government would take action against illegal gold mining around the lake which is damaging local ecosystems.

Indawgyi Lake—Burma's largest and South East Asia's third largest with a surface of over 100 square miles—was designated a "wetland of international importance" under the Ramsar Convention last year, aiming to address concerns over wetland loss and degradation.

According to research by local conservationists, Indawgyi Lake supports the livelihoods of thousands of people and is also home to a great diversity of water animals, fish and endangered migrating birds.

Indawgyi Lake is located some 30 km away from the nearest army base and though there are some troops stationed near the lake, locals say the road to the lake runs through an area where the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has a strong presence.

Fighting has been ongoing between the KIA and the Burma Army around Mohnyin, Mogaung, Tanai, Hpakant and Mansi townships, leading to displaced residents and school closures.

Responding to the lawmaker's question, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Ohn Win briefly explained that neither his ministry nor the Kachin State government has given permits to anyone for gold mining in the area and that the ministry needs cooperation from locals and non-government organizations to tackle the issue.

"Depending on how much security the [Kachin] state government could provide for our ground inspection, we will coordinate with regional administration to take action against illegal gold mining," minister U Ohn Win said to parliament.

He also added that a total of six miners had been arrested for illegal gold mining during the 2016-17 fiscal year.

U Win Zaw, a deputy permanent secretary with the ministry, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that there are "limitations" for ministry staff to be able to do regular ground inspections of illegal mining in the Indawgyi area.

Since Burma ratified the Ramsar Convention in 2005, three locations have been designated as Ramsar sites in the country—Moe Yun Gyi Wetlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Bago Division, the Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary in Kachin State and the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in the Irrawaddy Delta.

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State Counselor’s Office to Probe Allegations of Army Abuse in Viral Video

Posted: 31 May 2017 07:37 AM PDT

The Office of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in a statement on Wednesday that it had set up a probe into Burma Army abuses depicted in a video that went viral on Facebook over the weekend.

In the 17-minute video posted online on May 27, four civilians are shown being accused by Burma Army soldiers of belonging to the ethnic rebel group the Ta'ang Nationalities Liberation Army (TNLA) and appear to be subsequently tortured by a group of military men.

The TNLA told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the incident occurred in northern Shan State's Kutkai Township in 2015, when one of its soldiers and other civilians were arrested and tortured. Rights groups have also called for a probe into the alleged abuses.

The State Counselor's Office reiterated that the Burmese government respects human rights and pledged to investigate any allegations of violations of these rights; if such investigations prove the allegations to be true, the Office said it would take action in accordance with current laws.

When The Irrawaddy contacted Burmese government spokesperson U Zaw Htay and questioned how long the inquiry would take, he told the reporter to instead contact a Burma Army spokesperson. At the time of reporting, military representatives had not yet responded to questions.

According to a Facebook post on the page of the Office of the Tatmadaw's Commander-in-Chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the army is scrutinizing the incident, which was described as an allegation that soldiers had abused "four insurgents."

The post also stated that action would be taken if the allegations are discovered to be true.

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Burma Army Chief Discusses National Security With Turkish Ambassador

Posted: 31 May 2017 05:32 AM PDT

RANGOON — Turkish ambassador Kerem Divanlioglu met Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on Tuesday after Turkish citizen Muhammed Furkan Sokmen was detained in Rangoon International Airport last week and deported back to his home country via Bangkok.

Divanlioglu told the army chief Turkey was "facing terrorism in its undertakings for national defense" and that "outside interferences can work against national security, democratization, and development endeavors," according to a statement from the defense ministry on Wednesday.

Sokmen, formerly a director of the Horizons International School in Rangoon, was forced to leave the country on May 25 after he and his family were detained at Rangoon International Airport for 24 hours. Human Rights Watch reported that he was flown to Bangkok and then the next day transferred to Istanbul in Turkey, where he is now in custody.

Sokmen told The Irrawaddy that prior to his detention he had read reports online in Turkish that he was involved in illegal activities in Burma, which he said were fabricated.

Since a failed coup in Turkey, the Erdogan government has called for an international crackdown on people suspected of having links to the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen. More than 47,000 people have been placed in pre-trial detention since 2016, according to Human Rights Watch.

"Burma's recent detention and facilitation of the deportation of Furkan Sokmen back to Turkey is extremely concerning," Richard Weir, a fellow from the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, told The Irrawaddy.

"Mr. Sokmen is now in detention in Turkey facing a criminal investigation. It's not clear whether Burmese authorities seriously considered any of these very real risks of torture and deprivation of human rights to Mr. Sokmen before potentially committing him to the abyss of Turkish pretrial detention for unknown charges."

The Turkish ambassador and Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing discussed the Burma Army and problems Turkey is facing with national security and democracy. The defense ministry cited Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing as saying "anti-terrorism measures cannot be taken by a single country so cooperation between the two militaries is required in exchanging information."

Weir said any cooperation between the Burmese and Turkish governments on national security initiatives, including defense and anti-terrorism information sharing, should be preceded by discussions and commitments to protect human rights in all contexts.

"This is especially true for anti-terrorism policies where human rights are often sacrificed at the altar of national security," he said. "The Burmese military's record of abuses is long, well-documented, and perseveres without any genuine accountability."

"Turkey's record is also far from perfect. Turkey's president and government are governing the country under a draconian state of emergency in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in July 2016. The scale of the crackdown tells the story," he added. "A stronger military and security alliance between the two must serve to reinforce human rights, not diminish or degrade them."

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British Rights Activist Andy Hall Sues Thai Authorities

Posted: 31 May 2017 05:26 AM PDT

BANGKOK — A British rights activist filed lawsuits on Wednesday against Thai authorities and a major Thai fruit producer, accusing them of unlawful prosecution over a 2014 criminal defamation case against him which had been thrown out of court.

Rights activist Andy Hall has been involved in high-profile legal battles since the publication in 2013 of a report he researched for Finnish group Finnwatch on the treatment of migrant workers by Natural Fruit Company, Thailand's biggest producer of tinned pineapples.

Last year, he was found guilty of criminal defamation over the report and given a suspended three-year jail term in a case that alarmed rights groups who feared that it could set a precedent for the use of similar charges against others.

Hall's lawsuits relate to a separate criminal defamation case over comments he gave to Al-Jazeera television. That case was thrown out by the supreme court last year on the grounds that he was in Burma when he gave the interview.

In Hall's lawsuits, he accuses Natural Fruit, nine state prosecutors, and a senior police officer of wrongful and malicious exercise of their duty. He also accuses Natural Fruit of giving false information to authorities.

"I must defend myself against an unlawful prosecution and judicial harassment," Hall said in a statement from Brussels. He left Thailand last year.

Natural Fruit's lawyer, Somsak Torugsa, who was also accused along with the firm, told Reuters he was not worried.

"We're all innocent. I'll fight it and I'll file a counter suit," Somsak said, without giving more details.

Somnuek Siangkong, a spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General, told Reuters he could not comment as he has not seen a copy of the lawsuit.

The senior police officer said he had no comment.

Hall also faced civil defamation cases over both the report and the television interview.

Thailand, one of the world's key food exporters, employs an estimated 3 million migrant workers, mostly from neighboring Burma.

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Mandalay Chief Minister Investigates Use of Regional Development Funds

Posted: 31 May 2017 05:21 AM PDT

MANDALAY– The Mandalay divisional government said on Tuesday that it is now looking into the use of regional development funds handed over by the previous administration.

"We are thoroughly checking and investigating the funds, in accordance with the instructions of the President's Office," said U Zaw Myint Maung, the Chief Minister of Mandalay Division, as he outlined the regional government's work over the last year to the media.

As allegations have been reported concerning the misappropriation of regional development funds by the ex-cabinets of Irrawaddy and Magwe divisions, there has been particular interest in the status of the same funds in Mandalay Division, the biggest business hub in central Burma.

Mandalay's ex-cabinet was widely criticized for allegations of corruption, embezzlement and for giving the go-ahead to several development and investment projects reportedly without assessing the various potential impacts of such initiatives.

The chief minister noted that he is leading the government's investigative team, which includes experts and consultants, to reconsider the establishment of economic zones and development opportunities approved by the former administration.

"There are a number of business projects which we didn't know about. In our investigation, we found out that those projects were permitted by the ex-cabinet without any measure of their environmental or socio-economic impacts," he said.

The chief minister said Myo Thar Inland port and industrial park is also under government reconsideration as the contracts between the investor and the government come up for renewal.

"We are looking into this in detail and reconsidering every project. We will give permission if the projects fit well with our regional development [goals] and have little to no [negative] socio-economic or environmental impact. We will make an announcement once the investigations have been completed," U Zaw Myint Maung said.

During the press conference on Tuesday, the regional minister of agriculture, livestock and irrigation, the minister of electricity, transport and communication, and the minister of security and border affairs also met with the media and spoke about their work over the past year.

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KNU Calls for Withdrawal of Burma Army Troops

Posted: 31 May 2017 05:12 AM PDT

Local Karen National Union (KNU) leaders have called on Burma Army troops to withdraw in order to ensure a safe return for displaced villagers.

Several hundred internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Pla Kho area and Ei Htu Hta camp in Papun District in northern Karen State recently held a demonstration on the Salween River, calling for the Burma Army to withdraw its units.

The move came as humanitarian support dries up along the Thai-Burma border, pressuring refugees to return to their villages despite the Burma Army presence.

According to a Karen activist group, the number of Burma Army bases in Papun district has increased from 65 to 81 since a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2012, making displaced people feel unsafe amid numerous ongoing allegations of abuse by Burma Army troops.

A statement released by a KNU district committee supported the removal of troops in Papun District so that IDPs could return home without fear.

Papun District, also known as Mutraw District, is the territory of KNU Brigade 5, considered the strongest of the KNU's seven brigades. KNU Brigade 5 leaders say they are cautious regarding the ceasefire and peace process.

A displaced housewife, Naw Hsa Gay from Ei Htu Hat camp, said she dared not go home while Burma Army troops were still stationed there.

"I fled home because of their abuses and I dare not go back. I want Burma Army troops to move out completely from our areas and burn their bases. Only then, will we dare to return," she said.

Villager Saw Rer Ker said: "I want all land mines to be cleared and military bases removed from civilian areas so we can go back and stay peacefully. I hope to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government bring about this change."

Villagers also called for an end to human rights abuses, an end to military offensives in ethnic areas, and the removal of landmines from civilian areas. They also pressed for a code of conduct that is properly monitored.

The KNU's Mutraw District standing committee stated that the Burma Army occupation, expansion, and persecution were the root causes of decades of civilian fear.

"Until, and unless, the government withdraws its troops and army bases, there will be a lack of suitable land to use for livelihood, and no guarantee of a safe return for IDPs," said the KNU statement.

Some IDPs in Pla Koh area and Ei Htu Hta camp in Papun District have been displaced for more than four decades. Ei Htu Hta hosts about 3,000 displaced people from KNU brigades 2 and 5 who fled military offensives in 2006. These IDPs were told that humanitarian assistance would be cut in September and that they should begin preparations for their return.

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Govt Reiterates Rejection of UN Fact-Finding Mission

Posted: 31 May 2017 05:04 AM PDT

NAYPYIDAW — Burma's government will not accept members of a UN fact-finding mission appointed on Tuesday to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Arakan, Kachin, and Shan states, confirmed government spokesperson U Zaw Htay.

"[The mission members] will proceed according to their resolution, we will stand according to our statement released on March 24," said U Zaw Htay, referring to Burma's rejection of the UN's resolution to form the mission at the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva in March.

"We need the final report of Kofi Annan's commission," he said, referring to the Arakan State Advisory Commission headed by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan assigned by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last year, due to release a final report in August.

"We'll cooperate when [the commission report] comes out. And we will also take actions according to the report of the commission chaired by Vice President U Myint Swe," said U Zaw Htay.

The fact-finding mission is scheduled to present an update to the Human Rights Council at its 36th session in September this year and a full report at its 37th session in March 2018.

Burma's State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi—also chairperson of the Central Committee for Implementation of Peace and Development in Arakan State—reiterated she would only listen to the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led commission and that recommendations from any other individual or group may further fuel tensions between communities in Arakan State.

"Why do they need to come? We have not released false information. This is an internal issue of a sovereign country. The UN has no reason at all to form a fact-finding mission," the administrator of Maungdaw District told The Irrawaddy.

The three-member mission comprises Indira Jaising of India, Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka and Christopher Dominic Sidoti of Australia with Jaising serving as the chair.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

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Nowhere to go for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh After Cyclone Wrecks Camps

Posted: 31 May 2017 04:22 AM PDT

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh — Left drenched and near destitute by a cyclone that hit Bangladesh a day earlier, thousands of Rohingya refugees hunkered down in the ruins of their camps on Wednesday, waiting for help after a night in the rain.

At least seven people were killed and 50 injured by Cyclone Mora, according to Mohammad Ali Hussain, the chief administrator of Cox's Bazar district, a sliver of land in southeast Bangladesh bordering Burma.

The border area that bore the brunt of the storm is home to refugee camps for Muslim Rohingyas who have fled from their homes in northwest Burma to escape communal violence and Burma army crackdowns.

"Initial reports suggest damage to shelter in camps sheltering Rohingya refugees, is severe," the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator for Bangladesh said.

The Bangladeshi government has estimated that in all, there are about 350,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh following a new influx last October, when the Burma army launched an offensive in response to insurgent attacks.

Authorities in Cox's Bazar and neighboring Chittagong district evacuated 350,000 people from low-lying areas before the storm roared in from the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday.

But most Rohingyas remained in their flimsy shelters in the camps when the storm struck, with priority given to evacuating only the most vulnerable, like heavily pregnant women.

Omar Farukh, a community leader in Kutupalong camp—one of several camps for Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar—described the misery of those left behind.

"We have passed a difficult time. We had no tin or plastic sheets above our heads and almost all of us passed the night in the rain," Farukh told Reuters by telephone.

"We tried to save our belongings, whatever we have, with pieces of plastic sheet."

A senior UN official working in Cox's Bazar said there had been no reports of deaths in the camps, only some injuries.

Still Waiting

The cyclone formed after monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in Sri Lanka, off India's southern tip, killing 202 people in recent days, authorities said, adding 96 people were missing.

An Indian navy boat rescued 33 Bangladeshis at sea off Chittagong, and recovered one body, the Indian mission in Dhaka said. It was not clear if the people had been on a boat that sank or were washed into the sea by a storm surge.

Transport and communications were in chaos in northwest Burma, state media there said.

Camps for internally displaced Rohingya in Burma suffered extensive damage, and there were pockets of damage in the broader community, but no reports of casualties, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

When the storm hit Bangladesh it brought wind gusting up to 135 kph (85 mph) and heavy rain.

By daybreak on Wednesday the storm had died down with only a steady rain falling. Airports and ports reopened.

Rohingya community leader Farukh said aid agency officials had visited the Kutupalong camp to see what was needed.

A relief worker who had visited the Balukhali camp estimated that one in four huts there had been damaged but there were no serious injuries and people had begun repairs.

Beyond the camps, officials were also assessing the damage elsewhere in Cox's Bazar. The chief administrator said 17,500 houses had been completely destroyed and 35,000 partially damaged in the district.

"Almost all rickety houses in the district were completely or partially destroyed by the cyclone. Not only Rohingya houses," Hussain said.

The cyclone lost some of its force as it moved inland and across the eastern border into India.

Strong wind and heavy rain battered houses, brought down electricity lines, and damaged telecommunication towers in India's Mizoram state, cutting communications and power.

The Meteorological Department said the weather system was very likely to continue to move north-northeast and weaken into a cyclonic storm and later into a depression.

Other northeastern Indian states had received heavy to very heavy rainfall since Tuesday evening.

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Burma Army Investigates Kachin State Deaths

Posted: 31 May 2017 01:40 AM PDT

The Burma Army began an investigation into the murder of three Kachin men allegedly tortured and killed by army troops, according to a press release issued by the office of the military's commander-in-chief on Tuesday.

Nhkum Gam Awng, 31, Maran Brang Seng, 22, and Labya Naw Hkum, 27, from Maihkawng internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Mansi Township, Kachin State, were reportedly arrested by Battalion 319 on May 25. Their maimed bodies were found on Sunday.

The men were arrested at Hka Pra Yang village, about three miles from the IDP camp, while they were collecting firewood, according to camp officials and community elders.

Families and friends of the men went searching for them on Sunday, after hearing gunshots, and found their bodies buried about five miles from Hka Pra Yang village.

Police investigating the crime took the bodies to a hospital in Mansi Township on Monday morning for postmortems and returned them on Monday afternoon. Locals said this was the first incident of murder in the area.

The commander of Battalion 319 met camp officials and community elders twice on Monday.

"He met us briefly at 5 p.m. and summoned us again at 8:30 p.m. He told us to tell the truth. We did, and he said that he would take action in line with the military code of conduct," camp official Naw Mai told The Irrawaddy.

"He sounded like he was confessing it [the deaths]," he added.

According to postmortem results seen by The Irrawaddy, Maran Bran Seng sustained skull fractures, an eight-centimeter entry bullet wound in his chest and a four-centimeter exit bullet wound in his left shoulder blade.

Labya Naw Hkum sustained skull fractures as well as knife wounds and had about five centimeters of his left ear cut off.

Nhkum Gam Awng sustained five knife wounds in each knee, and one gunshot wound.

Nann Zein La Ja, a member of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), said the legs of all three men were stabbed so that they could not stand. The bodies were buried at the cemetery in Maihkawng village on Monday, he added.

"There are no troops other than the Burma Army here," he said. "Battalion 319 has been stationed in Maihkawng for almost a year and there were no problems between them and the local villagers before. But this time it is quite serious, and has caused panic among villagers. People from the camp dare not go outside now."

The three victims were fathers, said Nann Zein La Ja, and their families along with camp officials want to prosecute those responsible in a civilian court. According to camp officials, the case had been reported to the UNHCR office in Kachin State's Bhamo Township.

The commander of Battalion 319 and the Burma Army's information team could not be reached for comment.

Maihkawng IDP Camp currently provides shelter for more than 800 people from some 20 villages who have been displaced by clashes between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since June 2011.

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Mon State’s Mottama Wetlands Receive International Recognition

Posted: 30 May 2017 10:59 PM PDT

MOULMEIN, Mon State — The Mon State government held a ceremony in Kyaikto Township on Tuesday to mark the designation of Mottama wetlands as the fourth Ramsar Site in Burma.

A Ramsar site is a wetland site recognized for international importance under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO for the conservation of wetland areas worldwide.

Since Burma ratified the Ramsar Convention in 2005, three sites have been designated as Ramsar sites in the country—Moe Yun Gyi Wetlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Bago Division, the Indawgyi Wildlife Sanctuary in Kachin State and the Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in the Irrawaddy Delta.

The fourth site, a 45,000-hectare wetland, is located to the mouth of the Sittaung River, stretching along the eastern shore of the estuary in the Kyaikto and Bilin townships of Mon State.

Mottama is one of the world's most important wintering areas for the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper, with half of the world's estimated 1,000 spoon-billed sandpiper population visiting each year.

The government made the bid for recognition of the Mottama wetlands as a Ramsar Site in 2014, said Mon State chief minister Dr. Aye Zan in his speech at the ceremony.

The area, however, was suffering from illegal fishing and overfishing, which led to serious steep decline in fish stocks and fish production, said the chief minister.

"Silting and changes in direction of waterways have also resulted in bank erosion, and locals have consequently lost their farms and houses," said the chief minister.

The ceremony was attended by ministers of the Mon State government, lawmakers and some 600 locals.

The Mottama wetlands meet six of the nine Ramsar criteria, said Mon State minister for natural resources and environmental conservation U Min Kyi Win.

Currently, there are 2,265 Ramsar sites across the world. According to a 2014 survey, there are 99 potential Ramsar sites in Burma—11 in Mon State, three in Arakan State, three on the Chindwin River, and 85 in Irrawaddy Delta, said the minister.

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Ominous Signs of an Asian Hub for Islamic State in the Philippines

Posted: 30 May 2017 10:04 PM PDT

MARAWI CITY, Philippines — Dozens of foreign jihadis have fought side-by-side with Islamic State sympathizers against security forces in the southern Philippines over the past week, evidence that the restive region is fast becoming an Asian hub for the ultra-radical group.

A Philippines intelligence source said that of the 400-500 marauding fighters who overran Marawi City on the island of Mindanao last Tuesday, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas, including from countries in the Middle East.

The source said they included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport.

"IS is shrinking in Iraq and Syria, and decentralizing in parts of Asia and the Middle East," said Rohan Gunaratna, a security expert at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

"One of the areas where it is expanding is Southeast Asia and the Philippines is the center of gravity."

Mindanao has been roiled for decades by bandits, local insurgencies and separatist movements. But officials have long warned that the poverty, lawlessness and porous borders of Mindanao's predominantly Muslim areas mean it could become a base for radicals from Southeast Asia and beyond, especially as Islamic State fighters are driven out of Iraq and Syria.

Although Islamic State and groups affiliated to the movement have claimed several attacks across Southeast Asia in the last two years, the battle in Marawi City was the first long drawn-out confrontation with security forces.

On Tuesday, a week after the fighting began, the government said it was close to retaking the city. As helicopters circled, troops cleared rebel positions amid explosions and automatic gunfire, moving house by house and street by street.

Last year, Southeast Asian militants fighting for Islamic State in Syria released a video urging their countrymen to join the cause in the southern Philippines or launch attacks at home rather than attempting to travel to Syria.

Jakarta-based terrorism expert Sidney Jones passed to Reuters some recent messages in a chatroom of the Telegram app used by Islamic State supporters.

In one, a user reported that he was in the heart of Marawi City where he could see the army "run like pigs" and "their filthy blood mix with the dead bodies of their comrades."

He asked others in the group to pass information on to the Amaq News Agency, a mouthpiece for Islamic State.

Another user replied, using an Arabic word meaning pilgrimage: "Hijrah to the Philippines. Door is opening."

The clash in Marawi City began with an army raid to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of Abu Sayyaf, a group notorious for piracy and for kidnapping and beheading Westerners.

Abu Sayyaf and a relatively new group called Maute, both of which have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, have fought alongside each other in Marawi City, torching a hospital and a cathedral, and kidnapping a Catholic priest.

The urban battle prompted Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to impose martial law across the whole island of Mindanao, an area roughly the size of South Korea with a population of around 21 million.

Fighters From the Middle East

The head of the Malaysian police force's counter-terrorism division, Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, named four Malaysians who are known to have travelled to Mindanao to join militant groups.

Among them were Mahmud Ahmad, a Malaysian university lecturer who is poised to take over the leadership of Islamic State in the southern Philippines if Hapilon is killed, he said.

Security expert Gunaratna said that Ahmad has played a key role in establishing Islamic State's platform in the region.

According to his school's research, eight of 33 militants killed in the first four days of fighting in Marawi City were foreigners.

"This indicates that foreign terrorist fighters form an unusually high component of the IS fighters and emerging IS demography in Southeast Asia," Gunaratna said.

According to an intelligence brief seen by Reuters, authorities in Jakarta believe 38 Indonesians travelled to the southern Philippines to join Islamic State-affiliated groups and about 22 of them joined the fighting in Marawi City.

However, an Indonesian law-enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the actual number of Indonesians involved in the battle could be more than 40.

Indonesia officials believe some militants might have slipped into Marawi City under the cover of an annual gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat just days before the fighting erupted. The Tablighi Jamaat is a Sunni missionary movement that is non-political and encourages Muslims to become more pure.

An Indonesian anti-terrorism squad source told Reuters that authorities have beefed up surveillance at the northern end of the Kalimantan and Sulawesi regions to stop would-be fighters travelling by sea to the southern Philippines and to prevent an influx of others fleeing the military offensive in Marawi City.

"The distance between Marawi and Indonesian territory is just five hours," the source said. "It should not get to the point where they are entering our territory and carrying out such [militant] activities."

The post Ominous Signs of an Asian Hub for Islamic State in the Philippines appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lessons From Gettysburg

Posted: 30 May 2017 09:49 PM PDT

Earlier this month, following my program in Washington, DC, Donald and Narin Jameson, old friends of mine, drove me to State College, Pennsylvania, where Penn State University has its main campus.

It was overcast with a little rain and we passed the Gettysburg battlefield, a national historical park. The Civil War is one aspect of US history that I have been studying continuously, driven by my desire to better understand the current situation in Burma.

John Brandon of the Asia Foundation was kind enough to give me an in-depth tour of the main Washington monuments in between the appointments, which we attended together.

At the Potomac River, he said Confederate General Robert E. Lee's lands had been just across the water. After the war, they had been taken over by the US government and part of it became Arlington National Cemetery. "The Confederacy had been just across the river from Washington," he said.

Again, at Gettysburg, north of Washington, Robert E. Lee had mounted an ambitious "left hook" and brought the war to the north, threatening Washington at the same time.

The bold gamble may have led to the destruction of the Union Army and could have brought the US government to seek terms. The history of the US would have been different if the outcome at Gettysburg had been otherwise, hence why it is acknowledged as the most momentous battle of the war.

Director of the Tampadipa Institute, Khin Zaw Win. (Photo: Supplied)

There are monuments marking key battle positions like Round Top, and also commemorating the various state regiments and contingents. Fifty-one thousand soldiers had been killed, wounded or missing on both sides in just three days of fighting—July 1-3, 1863.

My friend Don remarked that there had been no US Army as such at that time—only the state contingents. But there was a unified command, and later the commander General Ulysses S. Grant, became president. As we in Burma talk about the future of armed forces, there have been some references to the US Army at the time of the Civil War.

In the same senseless way that the US fought the bloodiest war in its history, Burma has had a civil war stretching more than 70 years with no definite end in sight. Why do these wars have to be fought?

Together with President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and the abolition of slavery, another reminder and lesson from the American Civil War is that it had been fought over secession. Without disregarding all the various issues that have been dissected, it is really hard to imagine how two American nations could have co-existed in harmony and peace.

I am not attempting to draw straight parallels between the US of the 1860s and the Burma of today. At the same time, the insights here and there cannot be avoided, particularly for a country thrashing about in a search for a resolution. One big difference is the existence and magnitude of external powers' involvement in the civil wars.

Everyone is talking about peace and reconciliation. It is continually repeated that the issues in the conflict require political solutions and not military ones. How simple things would be if that were actually the case. But the sad reality is that the political and the military are intertwined, with an additional geostrategic angle, increasingly becoming all too apparent. And in all three overlapping approaches, Burma is still woefully inadequate.

In Burma's current ongoing peace process, just as there are many who repeat that the promises of the Panglong Agreement were not honored, there are equally those who had warned that the secession article should not have been included. In Burma's return to a freer atmosphere, both sides have the right to speak their minds.

The second session of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference ended on May 29. In its final two days, the contention and deadlock was over the non-secession commitment. The ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) assert that they had never considered secession and therefore this article is unnecessary and even offensive.

The government side feels that they need this assurance, since there has been bitter experience over the matter in the past. I would say both sides have reason for their positions, and furthermore need to understand the other side better.

This is a situation that is subtle, nuanced, delicate, and fraught at the same time. Is it so bad that there is no one in a responsible position who understands both sides? If you look closely, there are no ethnic nationality advisers whatsoever to the government and military leadership.

One is forced to ask: did they bother to identify and appoint far-sighted and trusted advisers from the ethnic nationalities? People who understands the nuances and subtleties? And I don't mean token appointments. The least the top leadership could have done is to seek people who do.

One over-arching feature is the context in which federalism and secession are being discussed. Burma is a democracy now, and a multi-ethnic one at that. Decisions on the nation's future cannot be made by a handful of leaders but have to be taken to the public.

Yes, I do not deny that secession must be discussed, but the entire people of this country must make the final decision.

Khin Zaw Win is the director of the Tampadipa Institute.

 

The post Lessons From Gettysburg appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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