Friday, June 15, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Flooding Kills at Least Five in Magway, Displaces Thousands in Rakhine

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 07:44 AM PDT

MANDALAY – As the beginning of the monsoon season brings heavy rain and winds across Myanmar, many parts of the country have experienced floods and landslides in recent weeks, leaving villagers displaced and homes destroyed. Five people have died in Magway Division and more than 12,000 displaced in Rakhine State.

In Rakhine, heavy rain since June 3 has left many homes in the area inundated, especially in Mrauk-U, Ann, Min Pya, Taung Gote, Kyauktaw, with more than 12,000 people displaced, according to the Department of Disaster Management's official announcement on Thursday.

In an official statement, the department said it was cooperating with local authorities and civil society groups in Rakhine State to distribute safety kits and food.

Although the water level is decreasing, many locals are still stranded in makeshift shelters in monasteries and schools located on high ground, local lawmakers said.

"The water level has been falling since yesterday, but locals remain wary amid forecasts of heavy rain and rising water levels in the Laymyo River two days from now," said U Hla Thein Aung, a local lawmaker from the Arakan National Party, or ANP, who lives in Minpyar Township, the worst-affected area in Rakhine State.

Since June 3, heavy rain has swollen the Laymyo River to dangerous levels, causing its banks to erode and heavy flooding in Rakhine State's river basin area. High tides have worsened the flooding.

In Minpyar, floodwaters have reached as high as 10 feet in some villages.

According to local residents, at least 10 households from Shwetamar village in Minpyar have been forced to relocate due to erosion of the banks of the Laymyo River.

"Although the locals have received enough food and medicine, clean water is urgently needed, as the township's wells and ponds are contaminated by floodwater. We also need access to remote villages, as transportation has been cut off due to landslides," he added.

U Hla Thein Aung said landslides had occurred on mountains near Ann and Taung Gote, cutting off transportation of food to remote villages, whose residents' safety is at risk.

In Magwe Division, local residents were concerned about rising water levels in the Mone and Man rivers amid heavy rain in recent days, especially in the area around Pwintphyu Township, which experienced severe flooding in 2015.

According to the local authorities, at least 100 residents were relocated due to flooding on Monday. They are currently housed at 10 camps in Pwintphyu Township, awaiting further weather forecasts.

"A few lowland areas in the Saytotetayar and Pwintphyu regions have been deluged, though the water level has dropped significantly since yesterday. However, locals are very concerned, as they are still traumatized due to severe flooding in 2015," said U Myint Soe, a local official from the Magwe divisional office of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

According to the ministry, roads and small bridges in Minbu, Myothit, Salin and Pwintphyu Districts were washed away due to heavy rain and flooding on Monday. In these areas, five people died and 63 houses were destroyed. In Thayat District alone, about 70 villages were flooded, creating an urgent need for food and water.

Alerts and warnings of more rain in the area are expected to continue for a few days, but locals said the rain had subsided for the time being, and that water levels in the rivers were also decreasing.

"However, [false] rumors are spreading through social media that dams in the Pwintphyu area dangerously full, and the government has not issued any alerts to locals. Actually, none of that is true," explained U Tint San, a local parliamentarian from Pwintphyu, Magwe Division.

"We are constantly getting updated information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, which tells us that the dams are safe and the water levels in those dams are not at dangerous levels. We will visit the dam tomorrow to reassure the locals," he added.

According to weather reports from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, showers are forecast across the country, with heavy rains expected in certain areas of Irrawaddy Division, Rakhine State, Chin State, Kayin State, Mon State, Yagon Division and Pegu Division in two days, due to strong monsoon winds in the Bay of Bengal.

The weather report also predicted that the water level in the Laymyo River in Rakhine State will drop below the dangerous level in two days.

The post Flooding Kills at Least Five in Magway, Displaces Thousands in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Election Commission Urged to Share Details of Pending Poll

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 06:10 AM PDT

YANGON — The People's Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE) has urged Myanmar’s top election authority to announce details about the Nov. 3 by-elections as soon as possible so that parties and civil society groups can prepare to monitor the polls.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced the date of the election last month, along with an early voting schedule for those casting ballots away from their constituencies. It said observers could start registering for accreditation earlier this month and met with 72 parties contesting the November vote on Thursday in Naypyitaw to coordinate.

At a press conference in Yangon on Friday, PACE said it planned to deploy 600 observers on election day and that 24 of its people would monitor the campaign period leading up to the poll.

PACE Executive Director Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint said his group would have observers in all 12 townships taking part in the by-elections but did not have enough information to plan for the race for Shan ethnic affair minister in Mandalay Region, for which voting will be regionwide.

While other cabinet ministers are appointed by the president, the 29 ethnic affairs ministers are elected.

"We don't have specific information yet on how many voting stations will be there for the voters to cast their ballots for the Shan ethnic affair minister,” Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint told The Irrawaddy.

“We heard three of the 26 townships in Mandalay have no ethnic Shan residents and some of them have very few, and that in those areas with few residents they will have to vote at the sub-electoral commission office. Only when we know about the voting stations and the statistics on Shan residents in the 23 townships can we include it in our monitoring list," he said.

The PACE director said independent election monitors recommended some changes to the UEC after the elections in 2015 and 2017 and wanted to know what came of them.

"We want to know what changes have been made and what still needs to be changed. These are also equally important for the upcoming by-election and the general election in 2020," he said.

Their recommendations included more transparency, changing the structure of the UEC, improving the voter lists and reviewing the composition of constituencies.

At Friday’s press conference, PACE also announced its plans to survey registered voters in the townships participating in the by-election on their views. It said the survey would start later his month and finish in early July.

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Five Perish as House Collapses in Mogok Landslide

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 02:56 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Five family members were killed when their house was destroyed by a landslide in Mogok, Mandalay Region, early Thursday morning.

The incident happened in the ward of Aung Thit Lwin in Kathae village tract in Mogok, said Mogok Township lawmaker U Saw Thaung Tin in the Mandalay regional parliament.

"Three houses on the hillside in Aung Thit Lwin collapsed at around 4 a.m. on Thursday, as it had been raining heavily the whole week," he said.

Family members from two of the houses had been taking shelter at a temporary camp opened at a Chinese temple in the ward when the landslide happened.

"But five family members in the third house were killed," U Saw Thaung Tin said.

Given the risk of landslides in a number of places due to heavy rains, concerned authorities have been evacuating local people to safer areas.

"There have been a few other landslides reported at several hillside villages in the township. But there had been no casualties [except for the latest fatal case]," said U Saw Thaung Tin.

"As the earth got wet from the rain, houses built on the hillside collapsed. There has been only a small amount of damage apart from the fatal case," said U Sein Myint, a resident of Kathae.

The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology said on Thursday that scattered rains are likely to continue across Myanmar.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Former Ambassador to Myanmar to Lead National Democratic Institute

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 02:00 AM PDT

YANGON — A former US ambassador to Myanmar has become the new president of an international nonprofit working to support and strengthen democracy around the world through citizen participation, and openness and accountability in government.

The Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) announced on Thursday that Derek Mitchell, who served in Myanmar from 2012-16, was approved by the institute's board of directors as president.

NDI Chairwoman Madeleine K. Albright said she was confident that the former ambassador would guide the organization with boundless energy and clear vision for many years to come.

"Throughout his varied and stellar career, Derek has been an innovator, a successful leader, and an eloquent advocate for improved governance and larger freedom. No one grasps better than he the intimate connection between the health of democracy abroad and the security of America at home," she said.

The chairwoman used to be a US Secretary of State and traveled to Myanmar in 1995. During her first visit, Albright delivered tough talk to Myanmar's generals, warning that the country would face continued isolation if the leaders of the military junta at the time did not take steps toward greater political freedom and democracy for Burmese people. She met in 1995 with military intelligence leader Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt and other government officials, as well as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

As the NDI chairman, Albright visited Myanmar again in 2013 and met again with the Nobel Peace Laureate as well as political parties, stating that the NDI was willing to assist the country in its ongoing transition to democracy.

Prior to Myanmar's 2015 parliamentary elections, which saw Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party win a landslide victory, the NDI supported the formation of the country's first citizen election observer group, the People's Alliance for Credible Elections, to mobilize over 5,000 citizen monitors throughout the country.

In 2012, Derek Mitchell became the first US Ambassador to Myanmar in two decades after Washington appointed a lower level diplomat to the Southeast Asian country after its military regime cracked down on the country's democracy movement.

Prior to his appointment in Myanmar, he was the special US representative and policy coordinator for Burma and was a key player in implementing the Obama administration's Burma policy.

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Why We Need to Recognize Migrant Domestic Workers’ Contribution to Our Economies

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 01:49 AM PDT

On Saturday we will celebrate two important days, the International Day of Family Remittances and the 7th anniversary of the adoption of the landmark Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) of the International Labor Organization (ILO). In light of that, let us take a moment to appreciate the significant economic and social contribution migrant domestic workers make to the homes, communities and countries where they are employed, as well as to those they originate from.

The ILO estimates that more than 67 million people, mostly women, are employed in domestic work around the world. Southeast Asia and the Pacific employ some 9 million domestic workers. More than 2 million of them are migrant domestic workers, constituting nearly 20 percent of all migrant workers in the region.

Due to an aging population, lower fertility rates and women's increasing labor force participation, the care economies in many countries in the region including Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand are heavily dependent on the work of migrant domestic workers. Projections indicate that the demand for domestic workers in the region will continue to grow in the near future, a demand that most likely will require migration.

At the same time, remittances sent home by migrant domestic workers also make a significant contribution to the well-being of their families and the development of their home countries.

Migrant Worker Remittances Contribute Considerably to Socio-Economic Development

A 2017 study by the ILO and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) surveying over 1,800 migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam upon their return from Thailand and Malaysia found that 93 percent of migrant workers regularly sent remittances home while working abroad. These remittances were used for a range of purposes, including immediate household needs, children's education, paying off debt, savings, and supporting family members.

Remittances remain hugely important to developing economies, and the Asia-Pacific region is the biggest receiver of remittances worldwide. According to the World Bank, officially recorded remittances to low- and middle-income countries worldwide reached $466 billion in 2017, an increase of 8.5 percent since 2016. Migrant workers from the Asia-Pacific region sent $256 billion home in 2017; this is more than 10 times the amount of development aid received in the region. A total of 320 million family members were supported by remittances across the region, and remittances contributed on average 60 percent to a receiving household's income. In Asia and the Pacific, the Philippines and Vietnam remained the top remittance destinations with inflows to the Philippines at $33 billion and to Vietnam at $14 billion in 2017.

The average cost to send remittances from Thailand to Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam ranges from 3 percent to 20 percent, depending on the service provider used, according to the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). Given that, we still have some work to do to realize Sustainable Development Goal Target 10 (c), which aims to reduce the transaction costs to less than 3 percent and eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 percent by 2030.

Barriers to Sending Money Back Home Safely Hampers Development

Maximizing the development impact of migrant remittances requires that migrant workers have access to affordable and migrant-friendly remittance and banking services. This is, unfortunately, not yet the case in the ASEAN region.

The ILO and IOM survey found that informal remittance channels were the most popular among migrants from Laos and Myanmar. Vietnamese migrants preferred using banks or hand carry, while Cambodian migrant workers preferred money transfer organizations. In addition to a greater risk for the migrant worker to lose their earnings on its way home, reliance on informal remittance channels in the region has led to the existence of a significant shadow economy which needs to be brought to formality.

Barriers to migrant workers' use of formal remittance channels include inaccessibility, high costs, low awareness of available remittance service providers, and a lack of trust. Lack of identification documents poses another challenge, especially for irregular migrant workers. Migrant domestic workers are among the most disadvantaged in accessing banking and formal remittance channels as they typically work very long days, have few days off, and are often unable to leave their places of work.

Realizing the Development Potential of Remittances

To make sure that remittances can contribute to development and reach their destinations safely and affordably, the ILO is working on a number of initiatives on both the demand and the supply side of financial services. On the supply side this involves working with financial institutions so they can develop adequate financial services and products matching the need of the migrant worker. One of the initiatives linked to the demand side of financial services is the soon-to-be-launched SaverAsia. SaverAsia is a digital platform that helps migrant workers compare remittance costs to find the best rates and money saving options. The portal also helps migrant workers find financial services such as savings, payments, credit and insurance products suited to their needs. A first-user-group testing of SaverAsia will take place in Singapore next week with Indonesian and Filipino migrant domestic workers, and it will be formally launched in September 2018.

More Remains to Be Done

Saturday is an important opportunity not only to recognize the contribution that migrant domestic workers, most of who are women, make to their host countries, but also to celebrate their important role in supporting socio-economic development of their home countries.

However, in addition to building individual migrant workers' capacity to make wise choices about their finances, an enabling environment needs to be created to maximize the development potential of their remittances. This requires making safe, affordable and migrant-friendly remittance and banking services available to all women and men migrant workers.

Also of critical importance are partnerships at the national, bilateral and regional levels that make migration a win-win proposition for countries of origin, destination and migrants themselves. Decent work for domestic workers, the essence of the Domestic Workers Convention, can only be achieved through a commitment to improving laws, making employers and workers aware of their obligations and rights, and partnerships among governments, workers and civil society that empower women migrant workers and protect their rights.

Tomoko Nishimoto is assistant director-general and regional director of the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

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Myanmar Army Chief Asks UN Envoy for ‘Constructive’ Relationship

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 01:26 AM PDT

Mon State — Army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing urged the United Nations to seek constructive relations with the country during a meeting with the UN’s recently appointed special envoy on Myanmar in Naypyitaw on Thursday.

In a post to his Facebook page, the army chief said he told Christine Schraner Burgener that the UN’s cooperation could help improve Myanmar's situation. He said the UN faced challenges with locals in Rakhine State — where its assistance to Rohingya Muslims has angered many Buddhist Rakhine — but was welcomed elsewhere.

Schraner Burgener is on her first visit to Myanmar since her appointment as special envoy in April and is also scheduled to meet with ethnic armed groups, civil society organizations, religious leaders and diplomats. She will be looking into the situation in Rakhine State, the peace process, democratization efforts and human rights.

The trip comes amid heavy international pressure on the army, or Tatmadaw, over its alleged abuses in Rakhine State — including widespread reports of arson, rape and murder — that have driven some 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh since August.

“When conflicts arise, it is necessary to distinguish between the act of individuals and that of the Tatmadaw. Myanmar is still weak in democracy experience, wisdom and other sectors such as education and health. In its effort to build up a standard army, the Tatmadaw is trying to work in cooperation with the international community,” the general’s post said in English.

But he said the sanctions and “bias” against Myanmar were not constructive, and that the spread of fake news about the situation in Rakhine State would only lead to more hatred, misunderstanding and resistance to cooperation.

The general said some representatives of the UN Security Council had come to Myanmar in April with a bad attitude and, employing a pair of Burmese expressions, told the envoy: "Let the amicable relations last long and let the hatred shorten," and "Try to make a big case small and a small case disappear."

"It is therefore necessary for the UN to bring effective, constructive relations," he said.

The army has defended its actions in Rakhine State as a legitimate counterinsurgency operation against the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, whose attacks on security posts in August triggered the crackdown.

In his meeting with Schraner Burgener, the general also said the army had a duty to protect the country and that it respected the rule of law.

“In the issue of Rakhine State, the Tatmadaw was just serving its duty of restoring regional peace and stability and protecting the lives and property of the ethnic people. It has never done any acts that may harm the other country, other organizations and the human society,” he said.

Separately, Matt Pottinger, the US National Security Council’s senior director for Asia, is also in Myanmar for a three-day visit. During a press conference in Yangon on Thursday, he said the US would impose further targeted sanctions on Myanmar Army officials who committed human rights abuses.

In December the US imposed sanctions on General Maung Maung Soe — who oversaw the army’s crackdown in Rakhine State last year — that effectively shut him out of the US financial system. The US House of Representatives endorsed measures to impose sanctions on more army officials last month.

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‘I Am Not a Turncoat’: Thura Shwe Mann

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 12:52 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — "I am not a turncoat," said Thura Shwe Mann, the former head of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the current chairman of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission of Myanmar's Parliament predominated by the National League for Democracy (NLD).

The ex-general, who was considered the third most powerful man in the military regime led by retired Snr-Gen Than Shwe, defended his move to ally himself with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi before the 2015 general elections.

He was serving as the Speaker of the Lower House under U Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government when he tried to forge ties with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was then a legislator in the Lower House.

U Shwe Mann said he cooperated with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the interest of the country and because he believed the USDP would win the 2015 election. But critics believe that he made the move for his political survival due to uncertainty regarding his future with the USDP.

"I told her [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] to hold an appropriate office and support me if I won [the election]. I said it was up to her if she won. I am not a turncoat," said U Shwe Mann during the launching of a report on Thursday on the resignation of the constitutional tribunal under President U Thein Sein's government.

He said so apparently in response to U Soe Thane, one the confidants of the former president and ex-President's Office minister, who wrote that some top-level USDP party leaders with more than 40 years of military service surrendered to the opposition NLD because the latter was much more likely to win the 2015 poll.

"They were traitors, becoming turncoats although they were saying that cooperation was necessary for the sake of the country and countrymen," writes U Soe Thane in his book "Myanmar's Transition & U Thein Sein: An Insider's Account."

With an evident power struggle between the two sides since the start of democratization in 2010, U Shwe Mann claimed that ex-president U Thein Sein acted like an authoritarian in the elected government.

During the military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chairman Snr-Gen Than Shwe was the top leader of Myanmar and any order signed by him was considered a decree, which the cabinet had to follow, said U Shwe Mann.

There was friction between the government and Parliament because U Thein Sein issued orders as if he were the head of the SPDC although any law had to be passed by Parliament in a democracy, said U Shwe Mann.

"Because he acted as if he were the SPDC chairman, lawmakers didn't accept it. He asked us to legislate what he wanted and there was friction," he said.

U Shwe Mann said he is not clear on whether he has been dismissed by the USDP or if he is still considered a member.

He was purged from the USDP chairmanship in August 2015 due to tension between himself and then President U Thein Sein. Other senior party members were also purged along with him.

U Shwe Mann said he submitted his resignation from the party some six months ago. "Three other colleagues and I submitted our resignation. The USDP replied to those three that their resignation was accepted. But their reply to me was ambiguous and I want it to be clear," said U Shwe Mann.

U Shwe Mann graduated with Intake No. 11 of the Defense Services Academy in 1965. He was elected to the Lower House from Zayarthiri Township in a 2010 poll.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Journalist Prepares ‘Pop Art’ Birthday Tribute for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Posted: 15 Jun 2018 12:09 AM PDT

Many people will be wishing the best for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is still widely regarded as the hope of Myanmar, on June 19, when she turns 73.

Despite her age, the popular leader still appears full of beans and apparently much more active than her ministers, as she spoke with locals during peace talks in Mon State on Thursday, just five days before her birthday.

Hlaing Bwa is one of the many admirers who want to celebrate her birthday. The journalist-cum-artist has drawn 73 sketches of the state counselor to mark her 73rd birthday.

The artist, a big fan of Andy Warhol, the American artist and leading figure in the pop art movement, has chosen Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to introduce this modern visual art form to Myanmar.

"I feel like pop art is still strange for Myanmar people. Pop art is about drawing public figures. So, I thought Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would make the perfect figure and subject for this. And I also want to celebrate her birthday," said Hlaing Bwa.

The exhibition, titled "73 Sketches", features pop art versions of 73 portraits measuring 12×10 inches plus a 5×15-foot illustration depicting 73 figures of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Because of her influence, I had difficulties depicting her character. Only after failing with around 20 paintings, could I grasp it. Deep colors do not match her. They make her look aggressive. So, I mostly used sweet colors and focused on her beauty," Hlaing Bwa said.

He has also incorporated a famous poem by one of Myanmar's most celebrated poets, Zaw Gyi in the big painting. "Pann Pan Lyet Pe", which metaphorically translates as "I don't mind difficulties" is a favorite poem of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

"There are a lot of challenges for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at present. But she has endured them and keeps going. This poem relates to her life and her efforts at state building. So, I have incorporated this poem in the painting," said Hlaing Bwa, who is the deputy editor-in-chief of Democracy Daily, a Burmese-language daily.

The exhibition will be held at the Ahla Thit Gallery on University Avenue Road near Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's residence from June 19 through June 21.

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‘Where is Singapore?’: Trump-Kim Summit a PR Coup For Tiny City-State

Posted: 14 Jun 2018 10:14 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — As images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un strolling by revelers at a rooftop bar the night before an unprecedented meeting with President Donald Trump circulated around social media sites, US citizens started asking “Where is Singapore?”

“Singapore,” the tiny Southeast Asian city-state that played host to nuclear talks earlier this week, was the most searched term on internet search engine Google in the United States on Monday with over 2 million hits.

Related searches during those 24 hours included “Where is Singapore,” “Singapore summit” and “time in Singapore.”

Blanket media coverage on Monday included Kim’s surprise tour of the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel and its surrounding gardens, and the first hours of the meeting with Trump on the resort island of Sentosa.

Singapore said it spent S$20 million ($15 million) on the summit, a figure that drew the ire of some citizens. However, marketing experts say the coverage generated from the event could be worth more than 10 times that.

“It places Singapore on the map for international audiences,” said Oliver Chong, executive director of communications and marketing capability at the Singapore Tourism Board.

Tourism contributes around 4 percent to Singapore’s GDP per year. Visitor arrivals hit a record 17.4 million last year, boosted by China, its top market, and India.

But just months ago, lifestyle magazine Time Out ranked Singapore among the world’s least exciting cities.

Andrew Darling, CEO and founder of communications agency West Pier Ventures, said it would cost more than S$200 million to generate the kind of publicity Singapore has received so far by hosting the summit.

Media intelligence firm Meltwater said the coverage over the three days around the summit equated to $270 million of advertising, while the month leading up to it was worth $767 million.

“The Trump-Kim Summit has arguably been the single most important event that brought Singapore to the attention of the most people around the world,” said Jason Tan of media advertising agency Zenith Singapore.

“For many Asians, Singapore as the choice of destination reinforces our image as an efficient and safe country. For Americans who might not be as familiar with Asia, the summit definitely brought Singapore into the global spotlight.”

Still, even some who should know better struggled to accurately place Singapore — known as the Little Red Dot in reference to its depiction on a map.

The US State Department mistakenly made Singapore a part of neighboring Malaysia in a note issued in connection with the summit, drawing a slew of snide comments on social media.

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Malaysia to Seek Return of 1MDB Money From Banks, Political Parties

Posted: 14 Jun 2018 10:06 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia intends to recover all funds illicitly taken from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and determine whether there are grounds for claims against companies, including Goldman Sachs, that profited from dealing with the beleaguered state fund.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that a plan was “on the table” to ask all individuals and political parties to return money that came from 1MDB, which was allegedly used as a slush fund by former prime minister Najib Razak.

Having defeated his former protege in an election last month, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s administration has launched an investigation into how the fund founded by Najib lost billions of dollars.

Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and repeated earlier this week that he did not benefit or steal money from 1MDB.

Lim said the government would also scrutinize the $600 million paid in fees to Goldman Sachs for raising nearly $6.5 billion in three bond sales between 2012 and 2013 for 1MDB. Critics said the fees earned from those bond issues were far in excess of the normal 1-2 percent fees a bank could expect.

“We will be looking at the possibility of seeking claims from Goldman Sachs, where there are grounds to do so… definitely,” Lim told Reuters in an interview.

Reuters had reported last week that according to sources familiar with the issue Malaysia is considering asking the US Department of Justice (DoJ) to get Goldman Sachs to return fees earned from the bond issues.

Civil lawsuits filed in 2016 by the DOJ alleged that over $2.5 billion raised from those bonds were misappropriated by high-level 1MDB officials, their relatives and associates.

He also said Malaysia will look at the conduct of other banks involved in 1MDB transactions.

“We’ve got to see the nexus, whether they were at fault.”

Lim said the United Malay National Organization (UMNO), the party Najib had led until his election defeat, and from which Mahathir resigned in order to join the opposition, was not the only party to have received 1MDB money.

“To be fair, UMNO is not the only political party that received money,” Lim said. “Those who have taken money from 1MDB, should return it to the country.”

International Effort

Lim said the DOJ and enforcement agencies in several other countries were giving strong cooperation to Malaysia’s efforts to recoup 1MDB funds, and bring prosecutions.

A proposal to monetize assets acquired using 1MDB funds that U.S. authorities are looking to seize under its anti-kleptocracy program was an option under consideration, Lim said.

The DOJ is seeking to seize $1.7 billion in assets allegedly bought with funds stolen from 1MDB, including a Picasso painting, shares in a Hollywood production company, a yacht and nearly $200 million in jewelry.

Last month, Malaysian police said that cash worth 114 million ringgit ($28.6 million), jewelry and over 400 luxury handbags were seized from several apartments linked to Najib, as part of their probe into 1MDB.

Lim said his ministry is also investigating several “highly suspicious” deals made by Najib’s administration to determine if they were carried out to help pay for 1MDB dues.

He declined to identify the deals, but said Malaysia was investigating state-run palm oil agency Felda’s $500 million acquisition of a non-controlling stake in Indonesia’s PT Eagle High Plantations Tbh.

He did not say if the Felda deal, which was criticized for being expensive, was linked to 1MDB.

Last month, the finance ministry said about $500 million raised from a land sale by the government to the central bank, along with funds from sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, were used to pay 1MDB’s liabilities in 2017.

Lim said the government will have to pay an estimated 50 billion ringgit in debts and interest accumulated by 1MDB.

“We are forced to pay that much against our will,” Lim said, adding that the government has sufficient funds, but may consider restructuring debt to clear 1MDB’s dues if it can secure better yields.

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Sri Lanka Jails Extremist Buddhist Monk for Six Months Over Threats to Woman

Posted: 14 Jun 2018 09:30 PM PDT

COLOMBO — A Sri Lankan court on Thursday jailed for six months a Buddhist monk accused of inciting violence against Muslims after finding him guilty of intimidating the wife of a missing journalist, in a case seen as a test of the independence of the judiciary.

Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, the secretary general of the hardline Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or “Buddhist Power Force”, was found guilty of having threatened the woman, Sandhya Eknaligoda.

“I have done my duty towards the country,” Gnanasara told reporters as he boarded the bus taking him to prison. “Why should I regret?”

In 2016, Gnanasara interrupted a court hearing over the abduction of the journalist, Prageeth Eknaligoda, in which military intelligence officials were accused.

He shouted at the judge and lawyers because the military officials had not been allowed bail, and threatened Eknaligoda's wife.

On Thursday, Magistrate Udesh Ranathunga sentenced the monk to two terms of six months in jail, to be served concurrently, as well as a fine of 1,500 rupees, and a payment of 50,000 rupees ($313) as compensation to the journalist’s wife.

The judge rejected Gnanasara’s request to make a statement after he expressed disagreement with the sentence. He was taken to prison while fellow monks, who attended the hearing in his support, chanted Buddhist scriptures.

Gnanasara faces a separate contempt of court case over the same incident. It was not immediately clear if he would appeal against Thursday’s sentence.

Dilantha Vithanage, the chief executive of the monk’s BBS group, told Reuters it would appeal against the verdict.

The monk has faced accusations in cases regarding anti-Muslim violence, hate speech, and defaming the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

The BBS, led by Gnanasara, has been alleged by Muslims and some government ministers to have stirred up violence against Muslims and Christian, mainly in Buddhist-dominated parts of Sri Lanka, allegations the monk has denied.

In 2014, Gnanasara signed a pact with Myanmar’s Ashin Wirathu, who once called himself “the Burmese bin Laden” in what they called the first step in a broad alliance against conversions by Islamists in the region.

The post Sri Lanka Jails Extremist Buddhist Monk for Six Months Over Threats to Woman appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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