Friday, September 8, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Analysis: Who Is Burning Homes in Rakhine State?

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 09:16 AM PDT

MAUNGDAW, Rakhine State — In the three weeks since Myanmar security posts were attacked by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), more than 2,600 homes have been torched in more than 60 villages.

Rights advocates have said that security forces and local extremist Buddhists could have committed these crimes as part of the Myanmar Army's clearance operations in northern Rakhine State, which followed coordinated attacks on police outposts by the ARSA on Aug. 25. In contrast, the Government Information Committee has said that Muslim militants burned these homes before leaving the villages, as the inhabitants seek refuge in Bangladesh.

Photos and stories have gone viral depicting Arakanese and Mro Buddhists, and Rakhine Hindus being killed or injured by Muslim militants, and describing their fear of them. Muslims speak of being afraid of security forces, militants, and Buddhist nationalists as well. Area residents are apprehensive about living near other communities of which they are now suspicious.

Amid this tension, the burning of homes has continued. On Thursday, Irrawaddy reporters and a group of journalists on a government-organized reporting trip witnessed that houses in at least two new villages, including a Muslim community called Gawdu Zara, had been torched.

Homes on fire in Gawdu Zara. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

The presence of non-Muslim local residents armed with swords and sticks seen at the blaze of an abandoned village on Sept. 7 in Maungdaw Township triggered suspicion as to why were they were there.

When asked, they answered in Burmese that they "came to look at what happened in the village," and said no more.

The journalists witnessed a few of them taking household items from the smoldering homes. Some held knives and slingshots as they walked between the houses.

A villager who carried away some looted household items in a cart—a mat, buckets, and kitchen utensils—told The Irrawaddy team that they "took them from those abandoned Muslims' homes," but these reporters did not hear them admit whether they had started the fire.

A local non-Muslim hides his face from the camera after he was seen looting from the site of the torched Gawdu Zara village, a Muslim community. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

Further down the village road, the group of journalists saw houses freshly set alight, a jug of gasoline left on the road and matches nearby, but, from the road, could see no people.

The police accompanying the journalists appeared at ease in this situation and did not interrogate or detain the looters.

It is possible that they might have been curious onlookers. They could have been carrying swords for their own safety in a time of chaotic violence. But the security forces should have questioned them about their presence at the scene and about the burning homes. If they were suspicious, the police should have proceeded according to protocol. But those things didn't happen.

These actions raise doubt about the authorities' framing of the situation in Rakhine State. After livestreamed reports and photos of the burning of Gawdu Zara went viral, the government said, hours later, that local administrative officials were investigating the incident.

If the government did not act according to the rule of law concerning those people looting from the abandoned homes, or the arson, the whole narrative could change, affecting Myanmar's image.

After just over two weeks of military clearance operations following ARSA attacks on police outposts, the UN has reported that 270,000 Muslims have fled across the border to Bangladesh; around 30,000 Arakanese Buddhists and Hindus remain internally displaced. Maungdaw Township remains under a dusk-to-dawn curfew, and many shops in the town itself have closed.

As of last week, some 15 members of government security forces have been killed, as well as 370 suspected militants, as of last week. The government announced on Friday that authorities have detained 50 more people who they suspect of being ARSA members. It is unknown how many civilians have been killed in total.

The post Analysis: Who Is Burning Homes in Rakhine State? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Locals Object to Mandalay Hill Cable Car Installation

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 08:59 AM PDT

MANDALAY — A proposal to build a cable car at Mandalay Hill, a landmark in the cultural center of Mandalay, has been widely criticized by locals.

The initial proposal, recently submitted by the Korean company Sky Dream Co. Ltd., to the regional government, was explained to local environmentalists, lawmakers and Mandalay Hill trustee committee members on Wednesday.

"Mandalay Hill is a city landmark, so we must not allow any project that would affect its scenery or nature," said U Hla Moe, a local parliamentarian who was present at the meeting.

Lawmakers at the event stated that locals were worried that the cable car would alter their beloved landmark.

"The Mandalay Hill trustee committee and local environmentalists also expressed their concern that the cable car installation would obstruct the view from the hill," U Hla Moe explained.

The project will cost about US$20 million and is expected to create job opportunities and increase visitors to the area.

The suggested base of the installation is on the western side of the hill.

Some locals criticize that the project is motivated by profit at the risk of environmental impacts, as the hill already has a staircase and road for visitor convenience.

"I told representatives of the company that the installation would surely affect the area, so the company needs to consider the historical, cultural and religious effects," U Hla Moe added.

A company consultant said the proposal was still in its initial phase, and that two to three months would be needed to complete environmental impact assessment reports.

"We will do various tests such as soil tests, water tests and environmental impacts. The regional government will make a decision based on those reports," said U Mahn Tun, a consultant of Sky Dream Co. Ltd.

"If the project is allowed, there will be job opportunities in both construction and operation," he said, but that relies on government approval.

Mandalay Hill is about 800 feet above sea level and located northeast of Mandalay's city center. The hill is a major local travel destination and tourist attraction, where visitors can enjoy a view of Mandalay, especially at sunrise and sunset.

The post Locals Object to Mandalay Hill Cable Car Installation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Police Open Case Against Former Buthidaung MP

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 08:41 AM PDT

YANGON — Police have opened a case against former Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmaker U Shwe Maung (aka Abdul Razak) under the Counter-Terrorism Law for allegedly supporting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which has been declared a terrorist organization by the government.

Police Cpt Thaung Kywe of Buthidaung Myoma Police Station told The Irrawaddy on Friday that he filed a case against U Shwe Maung under Article 50 of the Counter-Terrorism Law. He said U Shwe Maung posted a video on his Facebook page, in which he supported the acts of ARSA and defended them.

He said the case has now been transferred to the criminal investigations department in Rakhine State capital Sittwe and the investigation is ongoing.

U Shwe Maung, a self-identified Rohingya former lawmaker reportedly now living in Texas in the United States, was elected to the Lower House seat of Buthidaung in northern Rakhine State in 2010 representing the once-ruling USDP. After he resigned from the USDP in August 2015, his candidacy to run in the general election that year was turned down.

On Aug. 28, he posted a Facebook Live video on the account named MP Ro Shwe Maung in which he called for the Myanmar government and military commander-in-chief to stop all violence against self-identifying Rohingya in Rakhine State immediately, if they genuinely wanted peace and security in the region.

"We won't just stand and watch the persecution. If the government and the army don't protect them, we will communicate and seek international assistance," he said in the 20-minutes of footage, in which he also said that he could not accept accusations of violence against the Muslim community.

He said that any unwanted problems were the fault of the government and army chief and accused security forces of burning villages and arresting civilians in his former constituency (Buthidaung). U Shwe Maung alleged that troops had collaborated with members of the Arakan National Party (ANP), who he said had detained and even killed women and children.

The government declared the ARSA – which launched a series of attacks on 30 police outposts on Aug. 25, killing 13 security force members – a terrorist organization, and said its supporters would be charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law.

Subsequent violence has left 28 civilians dead, internally displaced around 30,000 Buddhist Arakanese, Arakanese sub-ethnicities, and Hindus, and sent some 270,000 Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, according to the most recent UN figures available at the time of reporting.

The post Police Open Case Against Former Buthidaung MP appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Climbers to Settle Dispute over Tallest Mountain in Southeast Asia

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 06:01 AM PDT

YANGON — Three climbers from the Myanmar Hiking and Mountaineering Federation will attempt to summit Mt. Hkakabo Razi in Kachin State next August, in hopes of settling a dispute over whether it is Southeast Asia's tallest mountain.

The remote mountain, which is part of the eastern range of the Himalayas, has long been officially regarded as the tallest mountain in the country, measured at 19,296 feet (5,881 meters) above sea level, also making it the highest peak in Southeast Asia.

The question of whether Gamlang Razi, also in Kachin State, is taller was raised after a Myanmar-US team climbed it in 2013 and recorded a height of 19,258 feet (5,870 meters) above sea level. The team claimed that the mountain was actually the highest in the country, and that the earlier estimate overstated Hkakabo Razi's height, which their digital estimations found could be less than 5,800 meters (19,028 feet).

In the latest attempt to end the dispute, a team comprised of all men in their 30s: Ko Pyae Phyo Aung, Ko Aung Khaing Myint and Ko Zaw Zin Khaing, will begin their ascent in the first week of August 2018 to scientifically prove the height.

Ko Pyae Phyo Aung was one of first of two climbers from Myanmar who reached the summit of Mt. Everest in May of last year, and planted a Myanmar flag.

At the end of October, they will train at Ama Dablam Mountain in Nepal, which is higher than Hkakabo Razi at 6,812 meters above sea level.

The trip will be sponsored primarily by the Htoo Foundation, the philanthropic branch of Burmese tycoon Tay Za's sprawling business conglomerate. The foundation donated US$35,000 for the Nepalese training trip on Sept. 6.

Chairman of the Myanmar Hiking and Mountaineering Federation Dr. Nay Soe Maung told The Irrawaddy that the trio has about 10 years of experience in mountaineering and that they will be prepared for their ascent next summer.

In 2014, an eight-member team from the Universities Hiking and Mountaineering Association and the Invitation of Nature (ION) Foundation made the ascent, however, only two climbers reached the ice-capped peak, becoming the first Myanmar climbers to do so, but they went missing on the descent.

The post Climbers to Settle Dispute over Tallest Mountain in Southeast Asia appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Govt to Fence Remaining 40-mile Border with Bangladesh

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 04:42 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Myanmar government will fence some remaining 40 miles of the 170 mile-border with Bangladesh without delay, U Zaw Htay, spokesperson of the President's Office, told The Irrawaddy.

He announced the plan amid news reports that there was no budget for fencing in the Home Affairs Ministry's current fiscal year.

"We will fence it by all means; it won't wait until next year. We don't know where the funds will come from, but we'll do it anyway," he told The Irrawaddy after the State Counselor's Office press conference on Rakhine State on Wednesday.

A high-level meeting including the members of National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) was held in Naypyitaw on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the situation in Rakhine State and issues relating to rule of law in Myanmar.

President U Htin Kyaw, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, both of the country's vice presidents, the Upper House Speaker, Military Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the deputy military chief, and the ministers of home affairs, defense, and border affairs – all of whom are the members of NDSC – were present at the meeting.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Vice President U Myint Swe, Military Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and his deputy discussed the urgent repair and construction of fences along the Bangladeshi border, a speedy budget allowance for the process, and increasing security troops in areas where the existing border fence has been compromised.

Upper House lawmaker U Khin Maung Latt of the Arakan National Party (ANP) said he believed that Parliament would approve the fencing budget if asked.

"Fencing is a must. Problems arose because the fence was compromised. Compared to fences used internationally, ours are very low in quality. You can see that the fencing was broken and crossed," U Khin Maung Latt told The Irrawaddy.

Border Affairs Minister Maj-Gen Than Htut has also told The Irrawaddy that his ministry is working for the development of Rakhine State and border areas as a priority.

The post Myanmar Govt to Fence Remaining 40-mile Border with Bangladesh appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt Investigates Controversial Arson Photos

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 04:00 AM PDT

YANGON – The Myanmar government announced that it was investigating controversial photos posted online that claimed to show Muslim residents burning down their houses in conflict-torn Maungdaw, Rakhine State, on Thursday evening.

President's Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay released a statement that warned, "Everyone will be treated equally by the law, whoever is behind the case."

The photos went viral online on Thursday morning, with some local news outlets erroneously publishing the photos as news. Netizens questioned the authenticity of the photos, some pointing to inconsistencies in religious dress and others stating that the men in the photos were Hindu men that were currently sheltering in Maungdaw after their village had been burned at the end of August.

In the photos, people pour fuel on thatched houses and light them on fire. U Zaw Htay tweeted the controversial images and captioned them "Bengalis [Rohingya] setting fire to their own homes."

When strong public criticism resulted, the government spokesman deleted his post and stated that the government would investigate the images. He then called on the public not to behave unethically to try to prove that Muslim residents were torching their own homes, a claim that has been brought against them. Government officials have blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army for torching thousands of homes, while fleeing civilians have accused Myanmar Army soldiers.

Human Rights Watch analyzed satellite imagery that showed widespread burning in at least 17 distinct areas in Rakhine State since ARSA attacks on police outposts occurred on Aug. 25. The rights group has called for access to independent monitors to assess the source of the fires and the allegations.

U Zaw Htay added, "Govt won't accept any fake," in his post.

The post Govt Investigates Controversial Arson Photos appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

RCSS/SSA to Meet State Counselor, Likely to Focus on Ceasefire Monitoring  

Posted: 08 Sep 2017 12:32 AM PDT

YANGON — Chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and commander-in-chief of its armed wing the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S) General Yawd Serk and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will meet soon, according to sources close to both sides.

General Yawd Serk is likely to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the second week of this month, and will also meet Myanmar Army Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice Snr-Gen Soe Win at the same time, according to sources.

"We will issue a press release on the meeting in a few days," RCSS/SSA spokesman Col Sai Ngin told The Irrawaddy.

The meeting is likely to focus on ceasefire monitoring since clashes have still occurred frequently between the two sides, despite the RCSS/SSA signing the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the government in Oct. 2015.

The State Counselor's Office invited Gen Yawd Serk for talks at the end of August, according to an RCSS/SSA statement released on Aug. 24.

"We welcome the State Counselor's invitation because it is a move that strengthens mutual trust toward the goal of peace," read the statement.

The RCSS/SSA will form a working team to make preparations with the government side for the talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also the chairperson of the National Reconciliation and Peace Center.

"We believe the visit will contribute to building trust, the peace process and building a federal Union," read the statement.

However, Gen Yawd Serk told The Irrawaddy in July that 2017 might not be the "year of peace" that State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Htin Kyaw have envisioned.

President U Htin Kyaw said in his Burmese New Year speech in April that they have aimed for 2017 to be a peaceful year, which State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also stressed in her speech during the second session of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference in May.

There were skirmishes between the two forces in March, April and July this year, and joint ceasefire monitoring committees at the national and state levels have not been able to address the problem.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post RCSS/SSA to Meet State Counselor, Likely to Focus on Ceasefire Monitoring   appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Asia Must Lead Charge for Pollution-free Planet: UN Environment Head

Posted: 07 Sep 2017 10:08 PM PDT

BANGKOK — Asia-Pacific – home to more than half the world’s population and some of its fastest-growing economies – is a key battleground in the fight against pollution, one of the biggest threats to the planet and its people, the UN environment chief said.

An estimated 12 million people die prematurely each year because of unhealthy environments, 7 million of them due to air pollution alone, making pollution "the biggest killer of humanity," Erik Solheim told the first Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment in Bangkok this week.

Humans have caused pollution and humans can fix it, said Solheim, executive director of UN Environment, in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the four-day summit.

"The struggle for a pollution-free planet will be won or lost in Asia – nowhere else," said the former Norwegian minister for environment and international development.

The sheer size of Asia-Pacific, as well as its continued economic growth, put it at the heart of the challenge, he added.

The region's development has been accompanied by worsening pollution of its air, water and soil. Its emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide doubled between 1990 and 2012, and the use of resources such as minerals, metals and biomass has tripled, according to the United Nations.

World Health Organization figures also show Asia has 25 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities in terms of fine particles in the air that pose the greatest risks to human health. The pollution comes largely from the combustion of fossil fuels, mostly for transport and electricity generation.

Solheim said Asia is also a major contributor of plastic polluting the world's oceans – and solutions can be found in the region. He pointed to a huge beach clean-up campaign in Mumbai that inspired Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to overhaul the country's waste management system.

"There's enormous environmental opportunity," Solheim said. "Asia has by and large strong governments, and they have the ability to fix problems."

Coal No Longer King?

Solheim said fighting pollution by moving towards renewable energy sources such as wind and solar would also benefit efforts to curb climate change, which scientists say is stoking more deadly heatwaves, floods and sea level rise around the world.

But environmentalists worry that Asia's demand for coal, the most polluting of the major fossil fuels, is likely to grow for years to come.

Figures from a forum organised by the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Singapore earlier this year show that some 273 gigawatts of coal power are still being built, although much more has been put on hold.

In July, analysts told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that Japan, China and South Korea are bank-rolling coal-fired power plants in Indonesia despite their pledges to reduce planet-warming emissions under the Paris climate deal.

The landmark 2015 Paris Agreement seeks to limit the rise in average world temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. Experts say curbing or ending the use of coal is required if this goal is to be reached.

Globally, many countries – including China – are shutting down or suspending plans for coal-fired power plants as costs for wind and solar power plummet.

Solheim is optimistic, noting that the International Energy Agency significantly raised its five-year growth forecast for renewables led by China, India, the United States and Mexico.

"There are very, very few people in the world who believe that the future is coal," he said. "I think we will see the shift [to renewables] happening much faster than people tend to believe."

On US President Donald Trump's decision to pull his nation out of the Paris Agreement, Solheim sees a silver lining.

"The surprising judgement of history may be that Donald Trump did a lot of service to this fight against climate change by withdrawing, because he galvanized the reaction of everyone else," said Solheim.

"All the big, iconic companies of modern capitalism – Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon – they immediately said, 'We will move into the green economy.'"

The post Asia Must Lead Charge for Pollution-free Planet: UN Environment Head appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Muslims ‘Refuse to Accept’ ARSA

Posted: 07 Sep 2017 07:30 PM PDT

MAUNGDAW, Rakhine State — Muslims in northern Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township told The Irrawaddy they have rejected the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army's (ARSA) attempts to recruit villagers in recent weeks.

Self-identifying Rohingya villagers from the Shwe Zar village tract—an area home to 13,000 people, most of whom are Muslims, but among the residents are Hindus and Buddhists—told The Irrawaddy that they had responded firmly to pressure from the group.

Sarad Ah Mein, a medic from Shwe Zar's Kat Pa Kaung village, said ARSA members had approached the village tract committee weeks ago about recruitment.

"They came at night," he said. "We refused to accept the terrorists' mobilization. Our committee rejected them in their approach," he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, referring to the ARSA. The organization has been denounced as a terrorist group by the government after it attacked 30 police outposts on Aug. 25. Military clearance operations have since ensued in the region, and 146,000 Muslims have fled to Bangladesh, according to UN figures. The government has said that 27,000 Buddhist and Hindu villagers are internally displaced.

"We told them, 'please don't trouble the villages. If you do so, we all will suffer a lot. Please go back,'" Sarad Ah Mein said, recalling the meeting. "We all have been living with Rakhine [Buddhists] here and we haven't had any problems. We want to keep living in that way."

Mamud Jolly, another villager from Shwe Zar, reiterated the community's rejection of the ARSA's tactics. "We don't accept them. We don't support any terrorism act. That's what I want to say."

Sarad Ah Mein alleged that to speak negatively about the ARSA was dangerous, and that to do so would be a risk to their lives.

According to the government statistics, 63 Muslims have believed to have been killed by militants between October 2016—when the first attacks on police outposts were launched—and mid-August of this year.

Displacement and Insufficient Aid

 Since the Aug. 25 attacks, the Myanmar government has responded to the ARSA with intensified military action in the region, causing mass displacement across communities. Northern Rakhine State remains embroiled in conflict and those internally displaced or trapped in their villages are in need of humanitarian aid.

Maungdaw, once a bustling border town focused on trade, had grown quiet on Wednesday, when The Irrawaddy visited. Few shops opened, and many houses appeared locked. The area remains under a dusk-to-dawn curfew, but administrative staff who fled to the state capital of Sittwe last week have since returned.

The Shwe Zar area saw a clash between Muslims and Hindus on Aug. 26 in a village bazaar, after which Hindus and Buddhists reportedly fled. Apart from this, Shwe Zar initially seemed to have been spared some of the violence of the surrounding areas, which has included the torching of homes and mass displacement.

According to an update from the Government Information Committee on Wednesday, 6,845 houses in 60 villages had been burned down. The government said the fires were set by the ARSA and its supporters. Militants, in turn, cite the army as the perpetrators.

But the number is almost certainly higher at the time of reporting, as The Irrawaddy witnessed the burning of dozens of houses in Gawdu Zara Muslim village, near Maungdaw, on Thursday afternoon. There are also reports that houses were torched near Kyein Chaung village—home to both Buddhists and Muslims—on Wednesday night.

Munee, a Muslim woman and mother of four from the Shwe Zar tract, told The Irrawaddy that villagers were short of food since the bazaar had closed.

"We are told by the police just to stay in our village and not to worry," she said.

Her husband works in Malaysia, Munee explained, adding that he was unable to transfer her necessary funds because markets, shops and private banks were closed.

"I don’t know what to say. We just cry and cannot think of anything," she said. "We can’t go out either to Maungdaw or to other villages. We have no support from either from the government or NGOs."

Sarad Ah Mein explained that villagers have had to halt their work as fishermen and traders, as they are confined to their villages. The consequence, he said, "is that we are in need of food."

Yet government representatives maintain that they are providing aid to those in need.

Local and national civil society groups are offering support to some of the displaced, but many remain beyond the reach of these efforts, particularly in overcrowded temporary relief camps.

As is true elsewhere in Myanmar, women and children make up the majority of the displaced in Rakhine State. Hindus taking shelters at one of eight relief camps in Maungdaw told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they want to go home as soon as possible, but only with a guarantee for their security.

However, Maungdaw District administrator U Ye Htut said that the district remains an "operational area," or a conflict zone.

The post Muslims 'Refuse to Accept' ARSA appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)