Monday, September 18, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Rakhine Committee to Visit Maungdaw

Posted: 18 Sep 2017 04:54 AM PDT

YANGON —  Ten members of the government's Rakhine State committee—including permanent secretaries from eight ministries—began a two-day visit to conflict-torn Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships of northern Rakhine on Monday.

"After their trip, we will set priorities for implementing recommendations and draw an action plan within two weeks," chair of the government's Implementation Committee for Recommendations on Rakhine State U Win Myat Aye, who is Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

The committee was formed on Sept. 12 to implement the recommendations of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State and a government investigation commission led by Vice President U Myint Swe and includes 10 permanent secretaries from the ministries of home affairs, information, religious affairs, agriculture, transport, immigration and population, education, health and sport, construction, and social welfare.

U Win Myat Aye said the permanent secretaries from different ministries will review recommendations for their respective ministries based on the situation in northern Rakhine.

The ministry of construction permanent security will be investigating infrastructure and border fencing with Bangladesh, he gave as an example.

Maungdaw remains a conflict zone after attacks on 30 police posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on Aug. 25 which was launched hours after a Kofi Annan-led commission presented long-term solutions to addressing the issues in Rakhine.

According to UN figures, violence has left hundreds dead and over 400,000 Muslims have fled across the border to Bangladesh with reports of significant human rights abuses by government forces. Myanmar government announced about 30,000 Arakanese Buddhists, Hindus and Arakanese sub-ethnic residents also fled violence but nearly 4,300 returned to their homes last week.

Permanent secretary of Ministry of Information U Myo Myint Maung, who is also a member of the implementation committee, said he will not be attending this trip and will send the director-general of the ministry in his stead.

The post Rakhine Committee to Visit Maungdaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Karen Govt Shuns Lawsuit Against Nationalist Rally Organizers

Posted: 18 Sep 2017 04:47 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Karen State Government will not file a lawsuit against organizers of an unauthorized nationalist rally at Taunggalay Ground in Karen State capital Hpa-an on Sept. 10, according to state chief minister Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint.

The state government rejected the application for the event because of "security concerns," according to an organizer, but the rally went ahead, pushing an administrator to request that the state sue the organizers.

Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint decided not to take action "in consideration of their emotional outburst." The four speakers at the rally, including the ultranationalist monk U Wirathu, focused on the Rakhine crisis.

"We won't tolerate it next time," Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint told reporters after she attended a central executive committee meeting of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Naypyitaw on Sunday.

The Karen State Association for Protection of Race and Religion claimed about 40,000 people attended the event. The chapter—known by its Myanmar acronym Ma Ba Tha—has defied a countrywide ban by the State Buddhist Sangha authority from operating under its current name.

The state Buddhist authority banned U Wirathu from delivering sermons for one year, starting from March 10, due to his religious hate speech. Despite the ban, he addressed the crowd, aiming most of his words at the NLD government for what he said was its neglect of Buddhists.

Maung Thway Chun, chief editor of the Ma Ba Tha's recently suspended weekly journals, columnist for those publications, U Kyaw Swe, and writer Anyataya Kapiya also spoke at the event.

The Karen State chief minister said the "outburst was understandable" since about 30,000 Arakanese and Hindus were internally displaced in Rakhine State following Aug. 25 Muslim militant attacks on police stations, according to government figures.

The attacks provoked communal violence and an army crackdown which has seen about 400,000 self-identifying Rohingya flee to Bangladesh so far, according to the UN.

"We have a lot to do to move forward. There is no big problem in Karen State, and we don't want to blame monks [who participated in the event] as we were able to control the situation. They may have their grievances," said Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint.

After the rally, Karen State Ma Ba Tha released a statement calling on the government to officially deny self-identifying Rohingya recognition as an ethnicity in Myanmar, and to take prompt actions against Muslim militants in Rakhine.

Many of the self-identifying Rohingya are not allowed citizenship and endure travel restrictions along with a lack of access to education and healthcare.

In a recent interview with BBC, nationalist monks in Mandalay said they supported Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's stance on the Rakhine crisis.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Analysis: Australian Miner Eyes Opportunity Amid Conflict in Shan State

Posted: 18 Sep 2017 04:40 AM PDT

A recent announcement from Myanmar Metals, a mining firm listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has described northern Shan State's Bawdwin mining site as "one of the largest underdeveloped" zinc, lead, silver and copper deposits in the world.

The company—which was, until August, known as Top End Minerals—is currently in the process of acquiring mining rights for the locale.

It remains to be seen if the firm's lofty predictions will be realized. Even if detailed, ongoing studies of the area do indeed prove that the Bawdwin mine is as lucrative as Myanmar Metals hopes, developing and then running a mine in northern Shan State will be accompanied by significant challenges.

A presentation released by the Perth-based Myanmar Metals describes Shan State as "awash with opportunity," yet much of Myanmar's largest state continues to be awash with drug and arms trade, as well as ongoing conflict.

Clashes between the military and several ethnic armed groups have persisted in recent years across a wide stretch of countryside in northern Shan State. Namtu Township, where the Bawdwin mine is located, has seen repeated clashes between the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar's military, as recently as mid-September. There has also been fighting between the TNLA and the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), an armed group presently in a ceasefire with the central government. The TNLA continues to maintain a strong presence on the ground in the region despite military efforts to drive them out.

While Myanmar Metals touts the mineral potential of Shan State and the Bawdwin site, there does not appear to be any mention on the firm's website or in its filings with stock market regulators in Australia of the ongoing conflict and continued displacement of thousands of refugees in the region. This arguably leaves potential investors with an incomplete understanding of the situation on the ground in Namtu Township.

Other foreign mining firms who have sought to do business in northern Shan State have come up against a range of difficulties. In October 2014, the Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific Mineral Limited (APML) was granted an exploration permit for minerals in the region, a concession that included areas adjacent to the Bawdwin mine site. Reuters reported that just three days after APML was granted the permit, clashes between the army and the TNLA broke out near their concession.

Rights and Ownership

According to Myanmar Metals, the company's main priority with Bawdwin is "to obtain, assess and validate the historical geology, drilling, underground sampling, and mining data" that provided the basis for estimates, according to figures originally obtained by another Australian firm, Mandalay Mining Co. NL (MMC). In the late 1990s, Mandalay Mining had an exploration permit for the area around Bawdwin and conducted feasibility work there, but the firm's activities on the site were eventually suspended.

Whether the struggles Mandalay Mining faced when trying to move the project forward some 20 years ago will affect Myanmar Metals today remains to be seen. Should the firm go ahead with developing Bawdwin, it is likely that Myanmar Metals will face a series of regulatory hurdles in addition to the logistical issues involved with operating in a state that has been home to some form of civil war since the 1950s.

Myanmar Metals recently reached a deal with the local entity that currently controls the rights for Bawdwin, which enabled the Australian firm to "secure the option to acquire an 85% interest" in the mine. As part of the deal, Myanmar Metals paid what it described as a non-refundable deposit of US$1.5 million to Win Myint Mo Industries Co. (WMM). WMM have a mining and production sharing agreement for Bawdwin with Mining Enterprise No. 1, a state owned entity held by the Ministry of Mines. Myanmar Metals in turn borrowed the funds for this payment from Yandal Investments, a privately held firm that is controlled by mining entrepreneur Mark Creasy, dubbed a "superstar prospector" in his native Australia.

Information disclosed by Myanmar's first ever Extraction Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) report, released in November 2015, indicates that WMM is 60 percent owned by someone named Hla Myint Myanmar, with the remaining 40 percent owned by Aye Aye Aung. While the pair are officially the owners on paper, WMM has been described by local media covering Shan State as being a subsidiary of Asia World, the conglomerate founded by Lo Hsing Han, a Kokang Chinese entrepreneur dubbed the "Godfather of Heroin" by US officials in the 1970s. When The Irrawaddy visited Bawdwin back in 2015, Asia World was maintaining a skeleton crew at the mine site, which appeared to be barely functioning.

Lo Hsing Han's son Steven Law, who inherited control of Asia World from his late father, achieved a significant victory last year when both he and the company were removed from the US sanctions list. However, the US treasury department has yet to retract its claim describing the origins of Law's career: "Steven Law joined his father's drug empire in the 1990s and has since become one of the wealthiest individuals in Burma," read the announcement about Law's inclusion on the US sanctions list, which is still accessible on the US government's website.

A deal similar to the one put forward by Myanmar Metals saw Asia World make a payment of $500,000 last November to acquire an option to buy a 60 percent stake in Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar) Ltd (CRML). CMRL is an entity owned by Australian and Chinese investors and that operates a zinc refinery in Lashio—a major town in northern Shan State—as well as a zinc mine at Long Keng. The window for Myanmar Metals to move forward with this buy expired in August.

Following in Herbert Hoover's Footsteps

Bawdwin has been the site of mining operations for centuries. Before embarking on a political career, young Herbert Hoover—President of the United States from 1929 until 1933—initially traveled the world working as a mining engineer, and first arrived at Bawdwin in 1907, where both he and his wife contracted malaria. According to his memoirs, he and his colleagues saw tiger tracks in one of the mineshafts during a field visit. "To fight a Bengal tiger with a miner's candlestick made no appeal whatever to either of us. With no delay and with steadily increasing panic, we made for the entrance. The tiger, fortunately, was not of an inquiring turn of mind and did not come to greet us," wrote Hoover about his time in what became known as "the tiger tunnel."

Hoover's involvement with and expansion of the Burma Mine Corporation at Bawdwin earned him much of his fortune, according to his biographer; during the colonial period, Bawdwin was considered one of the most lucrative mines in the world.

The Second World War saw much of the infrastructure at the mine severely damaged by fighting. Though operations began again after the war, the mine's nationalization in 1965 by General Ne Win's newly installed regime led to a significant drop in production at Bawdwin. New Zealand academic Peter John Perry chalked this up to mismanagement in his book "Myanmar (Burma) Since 1962: The Failure of Development."

The site was also attacked during the Ne Win years by various armed groups at war with the government. In 1974, Ne Win's regime was forced to withdraw all foreign advisers from the area, after a German mining technician working at Bawdwin was kidnapped by an ethnic armed group and held for ransom, which the West German government was compelled to pay.

The Bawdwin mine remained state-owned until it was sold off during the rapid wave of privatization that took place at the end of Snr-Gen Than Shwe's regime. Reports from the area indicate that years of mining operations at Bawdwin have significantly polluted the surrounding landscape, with toxic runoff from the site flowing into local waterways. The result of decades of mining operations, has, in the words of one report from 2000, left a "deleterious impact on the health of workers and local residents," a legacy to be considered as the rights to the site may shift once again to new prospectors.

The post Analysis: Australian Miner Eyes Opportunity Amid Conflict in Shan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Tatmadaw Representatives in Parliament Call for Govt-Military Cooperation

Posted: 18 Sep 2017 03:53 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Myanmar Army-appointed representatives in Parliament called for cooperation between the military and the government in line with the military-drafted 2008 Constitution at a parliamentary gathering for International Day of Democracy 2017 in Naypyitaw on Friday.

As he submitted the military representatives' paper on democratization to Parliament, Lt-Col Moe Kyaw said the National League for Democracy (NLD) government and the Tatmadaw should not be viewed separately and should instead work together.

"This will protect democracy so that it can grow. Democratic norms are not the factors that decide the perpetuity of democracy, but the strength and efficiency of institutions," he argued.

"Democracy can't be copied. It should fit the history, geography and reality of the host country. Making an exact copy would result in adverse consequences," he added.

In his closing remarks, Lower House speaker U Win Myint preached the merits of mutual tolerance, forgiveness, and fairness for the promotion of democracy.

"Dictatorship, which is the opposite of democracy, those who abuse democracy, and those who try to grab power by dishonest means and not through free and fair election, are dangers to democracy," he said.

He also called for the public to help protect peace, stability of the state, national reconciliation and rule of law.

National League for Democracy (NLD) submitted a paper, saying that it is struggling to operate the country's administrative mechanism within the limits of the 2008 Constitution, and that it is trying to be a corruption-free government.

"The biggest challenge doesn't lie in [creating plans for] political reforms, but basically in persuading [bureaucrats] to change their mindset and have a sense of morality, although some don't want to change because of personal interests," said NLD lawmaker of Kalaw Township Daw Pyone Cathy Naing, who submitted the paper.

She touted the Union Peace Conference as the downfall of dictatorship and victory for those wanting federalism.

Centralization is the opposite of democracy, said Lt-Col Moe Kyaw, highlighting criticisms about the centralization of power within the ruling NLD, as well as checks and balances between the NLD-led government and the NLD-dominated Parliament.

"Without development, rule of law, and stability, the democratic transition would not be smooth and internal peace can't be achieved," he said.

Various parties—including the main opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and ethnic parties—submitted papers on the day.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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‘Myanmar will Worsen if the Peace Process Stalls’

Posted: 18 Sep 2017 12:16 AM PDT

Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South (RCSS/SSA-S), one of the signatory ethnic armed groups of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), recently held separate meetings with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Vice-Senior General Soe Win, deputy commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Army, and foreign diplomats in Myanmar.

The group has clashed with the Myanmar Army at least 20 times since it signed the NCA in October 2015. RCSS/SSA-S Chairman Gen Yawd Serk talked to The Irrawaddy about the meetings, peace process and the Rakhine crisis.

What did you discuss with the Chinese diplomats?

Overall, two things—we urged China to encourage Myanmar's peace process, and encourage [armed ethnic] groups along the Myanmar-China border to sign the NCA. We also exchanged views on the problems facing Myanmar.

The third session of 21st Century Panglong Conference will be held soon. NCA non-signatories may be able to attend it, but would be barred from joining the decision-making process. What is the view of NCA signatories on this?

It is good if they can attend. But it depends on the government.

RCSS designated the areas of Homein and Mong Hta [in Southern Shan State] as its headquarters. It also signed the NCA with the government. What did the deputy commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Army discuss at the meeting?

We agreed to designate those areas as our headquarters in the Union-level peace talks. What the army understands is all the RCSS should be stationed there. But, according to our agreement at the Union-level peace talks, we'll only deploy 60 troops there. We don't have any agreement with the army about territories in state- or Union-level agreements or even in the NCA.

According to our understanding, the ceasefire is about stopping fighting. We should stop at the places where we are and stop exchanging fire. We've opened liaison offices in Taunggyi, Kholan, Kengtung, Tachilek, Muse, and Mong Pan to avoid misunderstandings, but the army barely makes contact with those liaison offices.

[Editor's Note: SSA-S has about 8,000 troops active in a number of townships in eastern, southern and northern Shan State.]

There are concerns that the Rakhine crisis can hinder the peace process. What is RCSS's view on it?

We know no more than was reported about the issue in the news. According to news reports, the crisis seems to be a big issue, but it appears not as serious as it sounds.

There were no serious armed clashes, and what we saw in the media is they were attacking with swords and sticks. We think it is just an inter-communal issue. Therefore, I don't think it will impact upon peace. The country will get worse if the peace process is stalled. The Rakhine issue should also be resolved through dialogue; otherwise, the problem won't end. It is important that we know the root cause of the problem, and address it. It is not a problem that needs to be settled with arms.

In Rakhine, some of the Muslim community self-identifies as Rohingya, but most Myanmar citizens reject that term and only recognize them as "Bengalis," implying they are interlopers from Bangladesh. What is RCSS's view on this?

We have limited access to news reports about the issue and barely know about the history. We have no idea about it, so no comment.

What do you say to allegations that RCSS is supporting Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) to use it as a bargaining chip in the peace process?

We've nothing to do with it. We are [geographically] separated by the Irrawaddy River.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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Rights Group Urges New Myanmar Sanctions Over Rakhine Crisis

Posted: 17 Sep 2017 11:15 PM PDT

YANGON — A rights group has called for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo against the Myanmar military in response to an offensive that has sent 410,000 self-identifying Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh to escape what the UNhas branded ethnic cleansing.

The latest spasm of violence in western Myanmar's Rakhine State began on Aug. 25, when Muslim insurgents attacked police posts and an army camp, killing about 12 people.

Rights monitors and fleeing self-identifying Rohingya say Myanmar security forces and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes responded with what they describe as a campaign of violence and arson aimed at driving out the Muslim population.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejects that, saying its forces are carrying out clearance operations against the insurgents of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which claimed responsibility for the August attacks and similar, smaller, raids in October.

The Human Rights Watch group said Myanmar security forces were disregarding condemnation by world leaders over the violence and the exodus of refugees, and the time had come to impose tougher measures that Myanmar's generals could not ignore.

"The UN Security Council and concerned countries should impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the Burmese military to end its ethnic cleansing campaign," the groups said in a release.

About a million Rohingya lived in Rakhine State until the recent violence. Most face draconian travel restrictions and are denied citizenship in a country where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Myanmar government leader and Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has faced a barrage of criticism from abroad for not stopping the violence.

The military remains in charge of security policy and there is little sympathy for the Rohingya in a country, also known as Burma, where the end of army rule has unleashed old animosities and the military campaign in Rakhine State has wide support.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is due to make her first address to the nation on the crisis on Tuesday.

The United States has called for the protection of civilians and a deputy assistant secretary of state, Patrick Murphy, is due in Myanmar this week.

He will travel to Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, to meet government officials and representatives of different communities, including self-identifying Rohingya, but he is not seeking to travel to the conflict zone in northern Rakhine State.

'Strategically Sound'

Human Rights Watch called for governments to "impose travel bans and asset freezes on security officials implicated in serious abuses; expand existing arms embargoes to include all military sales, assistance, and cooperation; and place a ban on financial transactions with key … military-owned enterprises".

For years, the United States and other Western countries imposed sanctions on Myanmar aimed at ending military rule and supporting Suu Kyi's campaign for democracy. Myanmar's response was to build closer ties with giant northern neighbor, China.

U.S.-Myanmar ties have been improving since the military began withdrawing from the running of the country in 2011, and paved the way for a 2015 election won by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

A Trump administration official said the violence made it harder to build warmer ties, and there would likely be some "easing" of the process in the short term, but he did not expect a return to sanctions.

"People are too invested in the last five years of thawing, which is understood by everyone to be strategically sound," said the official, who declined to be identified.

"Long-term, the trajectory is probably tighter relations."

Bangladesh is struggling to cope with the influx of refugees, many of them women and children, and aid workers fear people could die due to a lack of food, shelter and water, given the huge numbers fleeing the violence.

Bangladesh has said all refugees must go home. Myanmar has said it will take back those who can verify their citizenship.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's foreign supporters and Western governments that have backed her will be hoping to see her make a commitment to protect the rights of the Muslim minority in her Tuesday address.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's domestic supporters could be disappointed if she is perceived to be caving in to foreign pressure and taking the side of a Muslim minority blamed for initiating the violence.

In a rare expression of support for the Rohingya from within Myanmar, a group from the Karen ethnic minority, called for the military to halt its operations.

"We have seen the devastation caused by this criminal military," the Karen Women's Organization said, referring to decades of army operations against autonomy-seeking Karen insurgents that sent more than 100,000 villagers fleeing to Thailand.

"They must be treated like the war criminals they are … Economic sanctions should be also considered," the group said.

Karen insurgents have made peace with the government.

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Marking 70 Years of US-Myanmar Relations

Posted: 17 Sep 2017 09:50 PM PDT

Today we commemorate a milestone anniversary in the relations between the United States and Myanmar. It was 70 years ago today, on September 18, 1947, that the US Department of State announced that the governments of Burma and the United States had "agreed to exchange representatives with the rank of ambassador." That announcement was made months before Myanmar's formal independence—meaning that our formal relations actually began even before the independence of modern Myanmar itself.

Our relationship has been a rich one, and has often been carried out at the highest levels, starting with President Harry S Truman's congratulatory message to President Sao Shwe Thaike when Myanmar declared independence on January 4, 1948. From Vice President Richard Nixon ringing the wishing bell at Shwedagon Pagoda in 1953, to the historic first trip to Myanmar by a US president when President Obama visited in 2012, US leaders have shown that Myanmar matters to America.

US President Barack Obama and Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi meet at Suu Kyi’s home in Yangon November 19, 2012. President Obama became the first serving US president to visit Myanmar. (Reuters)

At the same time, we know relations have not always been smooth. During the days of Myanmar's military regime, they were often strained nearly to the breaking point. But while relations between our governments have varied over time, what has remained constant is our friendship with, and commitment to, all people in Myanmar. We have built a partnership, formalized as the US-Myanmar Partnership in 2016, based on mutual respect and shared values, especially the values of democratic governance, peace, and the opportunity of a better life for all.

When the people of Myanmar freely and clearly chose to live in a democracy in 2015, the United States stood with them and today remains committed to supporting Myanmar's democracy and this democratic transition. We have always been, and remain, advocates for prosperity, peace, and national reconciliation in Myanmar. We show that commitment to the people of Myanmar when we send students to the United States on scholarships, help farmers increase their incomes, or bring our Peace Corps volunteers to teach English here, opening up life-changing opportunities for young children. I, like every member of my Embassy team, am proud to be a part of these efforts and this friendship.

An anniversary is a time to reflect, to take stock of our shared history. It is also a time to address the present and look to the future.

 

We are friends, and friends speak to each other openly and honestly. Today, we mark this anniversary while a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Rakhine State that must be addressed. The United States has publicly condemned the August 25 attacks against security forces, but we are also deeply troubled by the ongoing violence in Rakhine, where some 400,000 people have fled their homes. We have called for Myanmar security authorities to respect the rule of law, stop the violence, and end the displacement of civilians from all communities. We welcome the government's commitment to provide humanitarian assistance to victims as quickly as possible and encourage them to do so. We also welcome the government's efforts to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State to address the root causes of this conflict and build a better future.

All of this we have done in the spirit of our 70-year-old friendship and our ongoing commitment to the people of Myanmar. We are ready and willing to work together to restore peace, foster tolerance, and help all communities in Rakhine recover from this tragedy. And we stand ready and willing to continue and deepen our friendship with the Myanmar people, for the next 70 years and beyond.

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How is Coverage of Rakhine Affecting Myanmar’s Image?

Posted: 17 Sep 2017 07:28 PM PDT

Kyaw Zwa Moe: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! It has been three weeks since violence broke out in Rakhine State's Maungdaw. But, conflicts continue on the ground. We'll discuss to what extent the home ministry has been able get the situation under control, to what extent the situation on the ground can impact on Myanmar's image on the international stage, and how political opportunists are instigating instability elsewhere in the country. Ethnic affairs analyst Ko Maung Maung Soe and journalist Ko Thiha who has recently covered developments in Rakhine State join me to discuss this. I'm Irrawaddy English editor Kyaw Zwa Moe.

Ko Thiha, you have just come back from a government-guided [press] tour in Rakhine State. What did you see on the ground, because we've seen fake photos. How is the administration there?

Thiha: Alel Than Kyaw village, whose police station was attacked [on August 25], was hit hardest. We were there. We were also in Muslim villages which were destroyed by fire. We were also in ethnic Arakanese villages. We saw big flocks of unattended poultry and cattle wandering around in abandoned villages, mostly Muslim villages. We saw damaged bazaars in Muslim villages. We have been to villages and bazaars where Muslim and ethnic Arakanese people live and sell together. Some shops were burnt and some were just damaged, and goods remained intact in there. We also saw looters. The administrative officials and security forces should give protection for those places which have experienced conflicts and from where people have fled. Otherwise, crimes can happen afterwards. We saw arson attacks every day on our trip. Though we were not at the scenes of fire in person, we could see flames. There were also reciprocal accusations. And they will not stop if security personnel are not guarding those places. It is difficult to say who is responsible.

KZM: You mean for arson attacks?

Thiha: Circumstances allow anyone to loot belongings, household appliances and cattle and poultry left behind by those who fled conflicts. So, it is also possible for anyone to carry out arson attacks. If security forces are guarding, I think there might not be arson attacks in abandoned villages. It would be difficult for anyone to carry out arson attacks if there are systematic security arrangements.

KZM: You mean security and administrative agencies don't and can't give protection to those villages to prevent arson attacks?

Thiha: Yes, and to prevent looting and theft as well. There should be more systematic arrangements. Again, there are villages where militants were hiding. I heard that they return to those villages secretly at night. If security forces guard those villages, they will be able to arrest militants. So, there is a need to take better care of those villages.

KZM: U Maung Maung Soe, what have you heard from those areas? Administration has collapsed in those areas as Ko Thiha has pointed out. We've seen various news reports on the issue. Foreign news agencies claimed that it is Arakanese people who set fire to villages, and there were also reports of Muslim people torching villages. What measures should be taken to put things under control there?

MMS: My view is at the same time [the government] is responding to the attacks of ARSA [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army]…. some normality has been restored now. Almost all the ethnic people have fled from their homes—their population is just about 30,000, and more than 26,000 have fled. The [number of] Bengali people who have fled to the other side [Bangladesh] is reported to have increased from 100,000 to 300,000.

KZM: The figure is around 300,000 now.

[Editor's Note: The self-identifying Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine is referred to by many in Myanmar as "Bengali." Additionally, UN figures have increased since this interview, and now suggest that about 400,000 have fled to Bangladesh as of Sept. 15]

MMS: Figures are changing. Under such circumstances, besides responding to ARSA for security, [the government] must firstly have a plan to stabilize the region.

KZM: As quickly as possible?

MMS: Yes. What is required right now is to form a committee to stabilize Maungdaw, before implementing recommendations of Kofi Annan's commission on the Bengali issue. That committee must be formed with government officials, and Tatmadaw and police who are responsible for security as well as local ethnic people and Bengali people.  That committee should survey the number of ethnic and Bengali villages, and put them under administrative control, and provide assistance and protection for them. This is the first thing to do. Another thing is the belongings of the people who have fled from their homes should be safeguarded as Ko Thiha has said. There will be cattle and personal valuables left behind. There should be a committee to take responsibility to keep them safe with the help of security forces. The possible controversy over ownership of those things is not the problem now. The government must first handle the chaotic conditions; otherwise there will be looters and opportunists exploiting the situation. So, there must be a committee tasked with this. At the same time, the government must survey the population of Bengalis in the region. And they must be put under the government's jurisdiction. The government must also provide help to them. There is an urgent need to form a committee to do these [tasks].

KZM: We haven't seen such steps from the government so far, have we?

Thiha: Yes, we didn't see it in our tour.

KZM: About the arson attacks, there are people who asked someone to deliberately set fire to houses and took and spread pictures. The woman in Muslim clothes in those pictures was found to be a Hindu woman, and the pictures were made up. The government said it would take action against such actions. What did you see and hear about such things?

Thiha: We received those pictures during our tour. At first, we believed in those pictures. The people who gave those pictures to us told us as if they took those pictures themselves. But later we thought that we needed to verify those pictures and should not release them immediately. Then, those pictures spread on internet, and it was pointed out that they were fabricated photos. After ARSA attacked 30 police outposts, including the one in Alel Than Kyaw village [on August 25], we have seen propagandist pieces in international [media] with fabricated news reports and pictures [saying] that counter military operations had killed many innocent civilians and Muslims. Their propaganda was so strong that the attack of ARSA was even covered up. As they [ARSA] attack on the ground [in Rakhine State], they also try to win the attention and sympathy of the international community by spreading fake reports through international media and social media.

KZM: One of the most noticeable examples is the deputy Turkish prime minister spreading propaganda with fake photos, and Myanmar's government responded to it.

Thiha: Yes, it is. So, there might be people in Rakhine who thought of countering fake with fake. This is how I see the fabricated photos [of the Myanmar side]. [Myanmar] is not as good as them at fabricating. So, it was easily exposed. In the cases of killings and arson attacks on the ground, responses may vary depending on walks of life, social standards and attitude. I think the [fabricated] photos [of Muslim torching their houses] are acts of some people who responded to wrong with the other side of wrong.

KZM: Myanmar's image has been badly marred in the international community in connection with this issue. According to the UN, around 300,000 have fled to the other side. This has received international coverage. But there are also fabricated reports at the same time. So how do you think we—especially the government—should respond to these [reports]?

MMS: Firstly, they should respond with practical actions, for example, forming a stability committee to stabilize and assert administrative control in Maungdaw. Secondly, I think it would be best to allow media unfettered access into the area. The more the media is restricted, the deeper international trust will decline. Our country is used to state-run newspapers, the old propaganda pieces such as 'BBC and VOA Airing Skyful of Lies' don't work now. If ARSA really did terrorist acts, we must give the media access into the area. We must show the international community what they are doing. This is the best response for us. This is the problem in Maungdaw, and it is important not to drag it to other parts of the country. Since the first week of September, it has been portrayed as racial or religious issue and hate speech was spread. There were rumors that there would be attacks on September 11. Buddhists claimed that Islam would do jihad, and Islamic jihadists claimed that Buddhists would demolish Islamic mosques. We need to find out and take actions against those who spread such rumors. We have cyber police who can do this. Actions must be taken against them. Anyway, the case that happened in Taungdwingyi can be called a terrorist act.

KZM: Do you think there are opportunists who manipulate the Maungdaw case for their political gains? Was the Taungdwingyi case organized or was it just accidental?

MMS: There are two parts. Some young people with extreme religious and racial views may be involved, and political opportunists maybe also involved. No matter who does such things—either political opportunists or those with radical views—under the current circumstances, one thing is sure—the image of our country will be tarnished by this.

KZM: Such acts are not acceptable.

MMS: Yes. Another thing is instigating violence elsewhere in the country will not help solve the problem. In the case of the problem in southern Thailand, they don't bring the problem to Bangkok. The problem happened a long time ago, and has yet to be resolved. But they don't bring that problem to Bangkok. But in our case we are bringing the Maungdaw problem to Yangon and Mandalay. We should only focus on how to correctly solve the Maungdaw problem in Maungdaw. Another thing is that not only the image of the government is marred by the conflicts as some people think; the image of the Myanmar society will also be marred, and so is the image of Buddhism.

KZM: The image of the whole country will be marred.

MMS: Again, the image of those who are responsible for security will also be marred. They need to be consciously aware of this.

KZM: Ko Thiha, the government is taking actions, yet some actions are not satisfactory. The Union Solidarity and Development Party [USDP] and other civil society organizations [CSOs] have held discussions on the Rakhine issue. Recently, USDP had a discussion, attended by its chairman. What did you hear from them about their responses?

Thiha: Partly because it is an ex-ruling party, and partly because it is the opposition now, it seems that they are opposing any action of the government—not just supporting the good actions and criticizing the bad ones. Whenever chances arise, they always try to portray the civilian government as unqualified, incapable, and not understanding administration. Under current circumstances, official political parties should have righteousness and restraint with their criticism of the government, considering the interests of the country.

KZM: Ko Maung Maung Soe, what is your assessment of it? It concerns the whole country though it is happening in Maungdaw. It can impact the political image of the whole country. What is your assessment of the stances of various institutions: the government, political parties and Tatmadaw on this issue?

MMS: My view is USDP should cooperate with NLD to solve this. It should not blame it. Because the problem broke out in 2012 and went on for around four years under the USDP government before the power transfer in 2016. Those people stayed in refugee camps for over four years. It has only been more than one year since the NLD government has tried to solve this problem. The problem exploded after five years. I didn't see any concrete steps taken by the USDP government to solve the problem during its term. I'm not casting blame one-sidedly. The USDP government worked on the peace process and formulated the NCA [nationwide ceasefire agreement] and the NLD government is now working on that path. But the USDP government did nothing about the Rakhine issue. So, the NLD government does not have any plan in hand to continue. It has to start a new one. The USDP should cooperate with the NLD government because it did nothing about the Rakhine issue while it was in power and also because the case has gotten international attention.

KZM: Thank you for your contribution.

The post How is Coverage of Rakhine Affecting Myanmar's Image? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Where There’s Struggle, There’s Hope

Posted: 17 Sep 2017 06:28 PM PDT

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, a series of mass protests led by Buddhist monks against Myanmar's military government. In this commentary from November, 2007—just two months after the demonstrations—The Irrawaddy English edition editor Kyaw Zwa Moe illuminates the power of hope in the country's fight for democracy.

The September 2007 uprising was a struggle between the sons of Buddha and the forces of darkness and repression. In the struggle for democracy, hope is the key. The battle lines are drawn more clearly now than ever before

Nothing can defeat Burma's military regime—at least to date. All attempts at peaceful or violent means including armed struggle, people's uprisings, international sanctions and political engagement have failed.

Most recently, even the Buddha's Dhamma was quashed by the guns of the ruling Buddhist generals. The streets of Rangoon were stained with the blood of monks who religiously and peacefully chanted the "Metta Sutta," the Buddha's words of loving kindness:

"Let everyone be free from harm. 
Let everyone be free from anger. 
Let everyone be free from hardship."

During the past four decades, thousands of innocent lives have been sacrificed in the hope of creating a democratic nation based on the rule of law. The road ahead sometimes looks like a repeat of the past, filled with the same sort of wishful thinking, meaningless proposals and condemnations that are repeated year after year—yet nothing changes.

For me, September 2007 seems like déjà vu. As a high school student-protester in 1988, I was frozen in my tracks by the sight of a gleaming bayonet at the end of a rifle held by a soldier with hate in his eyes, ordering me to back off. Luckily, I wasn't one of the thousands of protesters who were shot, stabbed or beaten on the street.

In September, it was clear the generals were as determined as ever to beat down anyone who protested, including monks. This time, the demonstrators, with anger and tears, stepped back before thousands were again killed.

This time, it was a battle against the Buddha's words, chanted by the Sangha—the sons of the Buddha. Leading monks repeated over and over: "It is a fight between Dhamma (justice) and Ah-dhamma (injustice)."

This time, with lightning, well-calculated moves, the pro-democracy movement was quickly beheaded as most of the seasoned opposition leaders, including prominent activist Min Ko Naing and his fellow leaders, were quickly rounded up by security forces.

The Burmese generals who are seen as "stupid," "uneducated" and "unqualified" by many of their critics have again outwitted the people of Burma and the international community.

Unlike in 1988, there were no serious discussions to continue the uprising through some other means, such as armed struggle. Various ethnic rebel groups have waged the region's longest armed struggle since the late 1940s, able in some cases to achieve a standoff, but with no hope of further gains.

The September 2007 uprising is a struggle that hasn't ended. It will continue—just ask the political prisoners who are in the junta's notorious prisons throughout the country.

I was imprisoned from 1991 to 1999, spending time in two prisons. Once you commit yourself to opposing the junta, the struggle never ends. In prison, we sat in our cells, anxiously hoping for strong UN resolutions. We hoped for strong support from regional neighbors. Unfortunately, our hopes were in vain. The UN and the neighboring countries offered no meaningful change.

Some things are different this time. I do not believe my former fellow prisoners, including some leaders of the 88 Generation Students group who are now in prison, hope for any quick fixes.

There it is: no hope for quick fixes. But as long as the people continue to struggle, there is hope.

My only true certainty is in the unwavering spirit of those committed leaders who will continue to struggle for democracy in spite of the harsh crackdown. I know that if they never stop struggling for positive change, hope will live.

For instance, a coup within the military is always a possibility. As more information floods the world, including inside Burma, there must be officers who have more enlightened liberal views, who understand that Burma has more to gain by joining the world community. The fact that such officers have not yet acted doesn't mean there's no hope.

Also, how about the leaders of China and India, two of the generals' allies that have viewed the crackdown as an "internal affair?" That type of head-in-the-sand attitude is dangerously anachronistic in today's world and is doomed to backfire. China has clout, and there is hope that it may use its power to influence the generals to move toward some form of power-sharing, even while holding on to power. That would be a step in the right direction.

So, there's still hope for the democracy movement.

Recently, I spoke with leading activists who are deeply engaged in the democracy struggle.

"We confront their bullets," said one of them. "We put our heads under their clubs. We sacrifice and do as much as we can. Soon we will be thrown in prison again. We don't know when we will come out from that hell. Who outside can carry out this task?"

That is the question the pro-democracy movement inside and outside the country and the international community must now answer.

The post Where There's Struggle, There's Hope appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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