Monday, June 18, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Court to Decide on July 2 Whether to Charge Reuters Reporters

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 09:10 AM PDT

YANGON – After six months of preliminary hearings, a Yangon court will decide next month whether two Reuters journalists arrested while covering the Rakhine conflict will be charged with violating the Official Secrets Act.

Yangon's Northern District Court has heard from the plaintiff and 22 witnesses in the case against Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo.

On July 2, lawyers for both sides will make their arguments to the court regarding whether it should accept or reject charges against the journalists, judge U Ye Lwin said on Monday.

The last plaintiff witness, Police Major Tin Win Maung of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), testified Monday in the case's 27th hearing since January 2018.

Monday's cross-examination of the witness focused on the CID officer's actions during the questioning of the journalists at the time of their arrests in December.

Maj. Tin Win Maung said he was not present when the reporters were questioned at the Aung Thabyay military camp in late December, which is in contrast to the journalists' accounts, defense lawyer U Than Zaw Aung said.

Ko Wa Lone said his interrogators at the Aung Thabyay interrogation center included officials from the Bureau of Special Investigation, the military, the police special branch and the CID.

Defense lawyers pointed to numerous inconsistencies between the testimony provided by nearly two dozen witnesses and the accounts offered by the accused.

Defense lawyer U Khin Maung Zaw told The Irrawaddy he did not know whether the court would accept the charge, adding, "However, according to the information from our clients and the legal reviews, some of the testimony is hard to accept."

The advocate said, "We will try to state specifically which testimony should not be accepted when we make our arguments before the court."

In total, 22 out of an initial 25 witnesses testified; three were removed from the list of witnesses, including Police Sergeant Khin Maung Lin, who was fired by the police and whose whereabouts have been unknown since May.

U Than Zaw Aung said the court removed the sergeant from the witness list as he is still at large. He was initially believed to be hiding somewhere in Myeik, in southern Myanmar's Tannithary Region, but this turned out not to be the case.

The two Reuters reporters were arrested on Dec. 12 and accused of breaching the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

At the time of their arrest, the reporters were working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in Indin village in Maungdaw, Rakhine State. In April, the Myanmar military said seven soldiers had been sentenced to "10 years in prison with hard labor in a remote area" for participating in the massacre.

The killings took place during the military's crackdown following militant attacks on security outposts. The United Nations says the military crackdown sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

During the six months of preliminary hearings, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing was fired for testifying that the two reporters had been framed. The officer was sentenced to one year in prison for violating the Police Disciplinary Act.

Ko Wa Lone on Monday told reporters covering the trial that, "We are very sorry to hear of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's comments about us." He was referring to an interview with Japanese news outlet NHK World last week in which the State Counselor said the two Reuters reporters "were not arrested for covering the Rakhine Issues," but "because they broke the Official Secret Act."

Ko Wa Lone added, "We were not able to do our work due to being detained for six months. We totally believe justice will soon be served in our case."

The other detained journalist, Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, expressed doubt as to whether the State Counselor had been given correct information.

The post Court to Decide on July 2 Whether to Charge Reuters Reporters appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Quality Beefsteak, at Street-Food Prices

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 08:07 AM PDT

YANGON — Here's some good news for Yangon's foodies: Now you can get a tasty beefsteak at very reasonable prices — and you can experience this fine dining menu in a laid-back, streetside environment.

Steak on the Street opened as a weekend street-food stall near Yangon International School in February. Eight weeks later, it has become a "bomb" among meat lovers, known for its beefsteak and pork neck.

"Actually, we all have [other] professional jobs; the idea grew out of our private gatherings and family house parties, because one of our friends is really good at cooking beefsteak. He would always bring beef to the gatherings," said Ko Bo Gyi, one of the founders of Steak on the Street.

The open-air eatery Steak on the Street is located on Waizayanar Road, Yangon. (Photo: Aung Kyaw Htet/ The Irrawaddy)

One day, this group of friends — five in all — discussed ways of setting up their own business that wouldn't get in the way of their existing full-time jobs. That was when the weekend beefsteak stall popped up.

"We choose to open on the weekends because we all have full-time jobs during the week. And, as a fun business, initially we didn't take this very seriously at all," he said.

"After eight weeks, however, things got more serious." That's because the stand quickly developed a reputation on social media. In the beginning, the partners split up all the duties and did all the work themselves. Later, they decided they needed to hire staff.

"Eight weeks means 16 days for our shop, and [as it became more popular] we had to adjust our timetables, such as for marinating our meat, and we needed to buy more meat," Ko Bo Gyi said.

The shop's popular beefsteak dish. (Photo: Aung Kyaw Htet/ The Irrawaddy)

Then, the owners decided to expand their hours, and move to a larger location beside South Okkala's City Mart. The new location, which opened in May, is open from 3pm to 10pm.

The business concept is a good quality steak served in a simple location at street-food prices. They have tried to maintain this concept after upgrading their stall to a proper shop, Ko Bo Gyi said.

"As you see, the shop is not too big and does not have air-conditioning; it's open-air. We decorated the shop with a lot of street signs, graffiti and so on," he said.

Even though the shop is not really a stall set up on the sidewalk, it is close to the street and simply decorated. The feeling is relaxed and the seating consists of wooden low tables and chairs. The shop can serve about 50 people in total, and fills many take-away orders.

The shop is busy with its own customers and many take-away orders. (Photo: Aung Kyaw Htet/ The Irrawaddy)

The shop's famous beef tenderloin steak is excellent; the beef is local but very tender. The sauce spread on the meat wasn't great, but not bad. Best of all, it only cost 6,000 kyats.

Another famous dish, pork collar, costs 4,500 kyats. This one is fine, if not as special as the steak. It's still worth it for its cheap price and good taste.

We also tried their chicken sausage (4,000 kyats), which mixes spicy and normal flavors in one dish. I thought this was so-so; maybe I'm just not a chicken lover. All the grilled items are served up with mashed potato and carrots.

The shop also has other choices on the menu, such as grilled prawn and papaya salad.

The entrance and grill at Steak on the Street(Photo: Aung Kyaw Htet/ The Irrawaddy)

I went there with a friend and the total bill was only 14,500 kyats, and we left with a full stomach.

The staff are part-time workers and most of them are students, but they were helpful and polite. The shop also pays attention to hygiene, with all of the grill operators and prep staff using masks, hats and gloves. The food was served in single-use plastic boxes.

It's easy to find the shop; it's beside South Okkala's City Mart as I mentioned before. They also accept phone orders and you can check this on their Facebook page, "STEAK on the Street".

The post Quality Beefsteak, at Street-Food Prices appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Flooding Causes Swathe of Devastation Across the Country

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 07:35 AM PDT

Mon—Flooding triggered by heavy rainfall has caused widespread damage in Chin, Magway, Rakhine, and in particular Mon State, where hundreds of local people were displaced by rising waters, according to local sources.

Incessant downpours have been recorded in different parts of Myanmar for a week. Some fishermen were reported to have disappeared in Rakhine, while landslides occurred in Chin State, where several bridges were also damaged. Over 800 people in Pwint Phyu town in Magway Division were forced to flee their homes because of the flooding.

Most of the people affected by the flooding lived near rivers or in coastal regions.

Heavy rainfall the whole night on Saturday and into Sunday triggered flooding in five townships in Mon state — Moulmein, Mudon, Thanbyuzayat, Ye, and Paung – causing people to seek refuge at religious halls and Buddhist monasteries. The first four townships suffered extensive flood damage, according to U Aung Naing Oo, the vice house speaker of the Mon State Parliament.

Local volunteer rescue teams and civil servants had worked together to rescue people in Moulmein, he said.

In Mon State, a bridge collapsed, trees were blown over, and landslides hit some areas. Local public transportation was halted yesterday including travel by car and train, although cars were able to travel again today after the rain stopped and the water subsided.

Two local women were reportedly killed in related events, according to a local source. A snake bit one woman in Moulmein during the flood, while another fell into a strong river current and drowned as she tried to cross the waterway.

A total of more than 2,000 people have been displaced in Moulmein, Ye, and Thanbyuzayat townships, according to the Than Lwin Times.

The Global New Light of Myanmar reported that U Win Myat Aye, the union minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, visited Mon State yesterday.

U Win Myat Aye and U Aye Zan, the chief minister of Mon State, met some local IDPs in Mottama, in Moulmein, to donate money while also distributing food to people staying in temporary camps at religious halls.

An estimated 1,000 people have been displaced in Moulmein, the Than Lwin Times reported yesterday, while another 800 in Ye were forced to seek refuge from the floodwaters.

An Irrawaddy reporter visited flood-hit areas in Panga village, Thanbyuzayat, where 500 people had fled their homes, although some had returned today, according to relief workers.

As of press time, 350 people were staying in a monastery compound in Panga village where some community leaders were taking care of them.

One of the main economic activities in Panga is the production of salt, which is then distributed to other parts of Myanmar. According to local people, an estimated 50 million kyat of salt stocks were damaged by the flooding.

Nai Shein, an owner of a salt company, said that he lost only about 5 million kyat of salt. "I was lucky as I moved out a lot of my salt bags," he said.

Most of the flood victims were employees of the salt companies.

The rain stopped today, and people may able to go back home soon, depending on the weather, according to relief team members. The relief workers appealed for donations and cooked food for the flood victims.

"We do not have enough money. But, some people donated 400,000 kyat to us this morning," said Nai Chit Sein, the head of a relief team.

The salt company employees are mostly migrant workers who had travelled to Mon State for work. As such, they did not have their own homes to go to, and they did not want to go back to their homes in Pegu and Yangon as they expect the rain will stop soon.

U Aye Zan, the chief minister of Mon State, was due to visit a shelter at 2 pm, according to Nai Chit Sein.

Nai Lawi Chan, another member of the relief team from Panga village said, "We will help them the best we can. We cannot discriminate against them as they are Burmese. We need to help them as they are experiencing hardships," he said.

Some state workers were attempting to restore rail services yesterday after parts of the rail network were damaged by the flooding.

U Zaw Lin, a railway employee, said trains have not been able to run for two days.

There were also another two places where he and other state workers needed to repair the tracks, he said, adding that the trains may able to resume services after that.

The post Flooding Causes Swathe of Devastation Across the Country appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Court Revises Charges in U Ko Ni Assassination Case

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 05:40 AM PDT

YANGON — The Yangon Regional High Court on Monday revised the charges against several of the accused in last year's assassination of U Ko Ni, a constitutional lawyer and legal adviser to the ruling National League for Democracy.

"This is not a result of outside speculation. I make this ruling based on [my own] judgment," Yangon high court judge U Aung Naing said before announcing his decision.

The judge dropped charges relating to the importing/exporting and possession of firearms against accused conspirator Aung Win Zaw. He had been charged under Sections 19 (d) and 19 (f) of the 1878 Arms Act.

He will now face charges of conspiracy to commit murder under Section 302.(1) (b) of the Penal Code along with Kyi Lin, who fatally shot U Ko Ni, and taxi driver U Ne Win.

Additionally, the charge against fellow suspect Zeya Phyo was changed from conspiracy to commit murder to aiding and abetting an offender (from Section 302. (1) (b)/34 to 302. (1) (b)/109).

"Zeya Phyo will have to defend the charge of assisting in the murder, and not for conspiring to commit murder. The penalties for these two charges are much the same," said prosecuting lawyer U Khin Maung Htay.

Daw Pa Pa Win, a lawyer acting for Ko Zeya Phyo, said she would appeal to the Union Supreme Court to drop the charge against her client.

Gunman Kyi Lin is still faced with a charge of murder and a firearms charge.

Another accused conspirator, Aung Win Tun, is charged under the Penal Code's Article 212 with harboring an offender. The court granted him bail in March after he deposited 50 million kyats (about US$37,300) as a surety for his release from custody.

The post Court Revises Charges in U Ko Ni Assassination Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Red Cross to Pay For $300K Facelift of Insein Prison Visitors Area

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 05:33 AM PDT

YANGON — The visitors area at Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison will get a nearly $300,000 facelift aimed at reducing recidivism courtesy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the charity announced Monday.

"The upgraded facilities will allow detainees and their family members to maintain better relationships and reduce the strain of separation," the ICRC said in a statement.

The ICRC said the upgrades would include improved lighting, ventilation and privacy, new bathrooms, a coffee shop and a playground for children.

"The funding and design are fully supported by the ICRC," said U Myo Oo, a deputy director of the Insein Central Prison Department.

The partners expect the work to be finished early next year, at an estimated cost of 400 million kyats ($295,000).

The prison, the largest in the country, currently houses some 12,000 inmates.

"The space will be twice as big as it is now, so families will have privacy. We will install glass walls between the prisoners and visitors. They can communicate through a phone line," U Myo Oo said.

The current facilities offer little privacy and separate inmates from visitors with mesh wiring.

The deputy director said he could not yet describe the upgrades in detail but insisted that the new facilities would comply with international standards. He said the prison would also inform inmates’ families of rule changes during the construction period and post them outside.

An Insein Prison inmate receives visitors at the current visitors area. (above). A rendering of the planned upgrades to the visitors area (below). / ICRC / Facebook

According to renderings of the upgrades provided by the ICRC, the new facilities will provide seating for both inmates and visitors, separate them with a combination of glass and metal bars, and include a separate waiting area for visitors.

Insein Prison data indicates that it receives about 600 visitors a day on weekdays and 2,000 on weekends, and that inmates average two visitors per visit.

The prison, which dates back to the 19th century, acquired a reputation for torturing political prisoners during the decades of military dictatorship that finally started to fade in 2011. Last year, the Home Affairs Ministry reported that the corrections department had relaxed its rules on family visits and started improving its education programs.

Also last year, however, the National Human Rights Commission reported that overcrowding was a problem at Insein Prison and recommended new dormitories.

"We still don't have a plan for upgrades inside the prison cells," U Myo Oo said.

In 2011 the ICRC helped install a water purification system in the prison to improve inmates’ health and CCTV cameras to improve security.

After a five-year gap, the ICRC resumed visits to the prison in 2013. It helps inmates stay in touch with their families, organizes prison visits, and makes recommendations to authorities on ways to improve inmates’ welfare.

The post Red Cross to Pay For $300K Facelift of Insein Prison Visitors Area appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Experts Raise Alarm Over Flood-Prone Location of ‘New Yangon City’ Project

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 05:20 AM PDT

YANGON — Urban planners have questioned the suitability of the proposed site of a massive project the Yangon government has vowed to develop on the western bank of the Yangon River, warning that the low-lying area is prone to flooding as it has a maximum elevation of just 5 meters above sea level.

The government in March launched the New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) with capital of US$7.5 million from development funds allotted by the Union government to regional and state administrations. The company was set up to oversee the resurrection of the controversial new city project, which was marred by murky dealings under the previous government. The project was and hastily approved less than a week before U Thein Sein's administration stepped down on March 30, 2016.

"This development will be known as the New Yangon City and upon its ultimate completion will cover an area twice the size of Singapore," according to a recent company press release.

The NYDC, whose chairman and CEO is property mogul Serge Pun of Yoma Strategic Holdings, plans to develop 20,000 acres of land as the first phase of the project. This will include five village townships, two bridges, power plants, water and wastewater treatment plants and a 10-square-kilometer industrial estate generating 2 million jobs. The company says the cost of initial infrastructure work in the first phase is expected to exceed US$1.5 billion.

But experts with more than 20 years of experience in town planning with the Ministry of Construction told The Irrawaddy that the area slated for the first phase of New Yangon City had never been town planners' preferred location.  They said even the previous military government ignored the area when they embarked on a series of city expansion projects on the outskirts of Yangon in the early 1990s.

The main reason? The low-lying topography of the area.

Back in the late 1980s and early '90s, the Ministry of Construction's Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development identified new areas of potential expansion for the Yangon City and Regional Development Planning Project, which was backed by the United Nations Development Program. The plan proposed new developments in the city's east and west in Dagon Myothit, Hlaing Thaya and Shwe Pyi Tha. These areas were developed by the military regime but not fully urbanized.

The site of New Yangon City, mostly farmland, was never even on the list.

"We hadn't put the area [across the Yangon River] under consideration as it is very low," said U Than Moe, one of the strategic planners for the project, explaining that the area's elevation is about 20 feet lower than neighboring Hlaing Thaya, which is around 30 feet above mean sea level.

As a town planner working for the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development at the time, U Aung Myint studied aerial photos of the area west of the Yangon River and did a site survey in the area that is now the proposed location of phase one of New Yangon City.

"We had to exclude it [from the proposed expansion plan] as it has an elevation of around 5 meters at the highest point. The other expansion areas are at around 30-40 feet. Even there, some areas lower than that height sometimes flood," the retired urban planner explained.

More than two decades later, their findings are still relevant. The Strategic Urban Development Plan of Greater Yangon report prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2016 recommends serious consideration be given to flooding when it comes to developing low-lying areas.

Quoting a 2016 flood-management study by the Asian Development Bank, the report warns that areas along the west bank of the Yangon River (including the slated site for New Yangon City) are vulnerable to cyclonic surges of 2 to 5 meters — a height similar to the tidal wave caused by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

"So, land development costs should be taken into consideration for any development in the area," according to the report.

'Extremely Costly'

Both U Than Moe and U Aung Myint said that as town planners they are not against the idea of expanding the city.

They said, however, that the proposed location of the new city would best be reserved for future use, as it will require a huge amount of investment just to develop the land, given the low-lying nature of the area.

U Aung Myint prepared a conceptual plan for a new city in the same area for a private company under the previous administration a few years ago. The senior town planner said the lowest point in the area is just over 7 feet above sea level, meaning that a huge amount of earth would inevitably be required to fill the site for any development there, something he said would be "extremely costly."

"You would need landfills as high as 30 feet if you want to build a new city there," he said.

He included this recommendation in the plan for the project, prompting one minister in the then Yangon government to ask "Are you serious?" as the proposed landfill was as high as a three-story building.

"Where would you get the soil needed to fill 20,000 acres? Even if it were available, there would be transportation costs. Then you would have to wait for several years to allow the landfill to fully subside [and become hard enough to build on]," U Aung Myint said.

Map of the key elements of the NYDC project. (Photo: NYDC)

Another urban planner, Dr. Kyaw Latt, agreed that the new city area had potential for use in the future, but said now was not the right time, given the costly bridges that would be needed to connect the site to Yangon. Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and NYDC have announced that two bridges will be built as part of the project. A key project map posted on NYDC's website shows one of the proposed bridges spanning the Yangon River from Kyimyindaing Township. The map does not show the second bridge.

The retired planner from the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development explained that the bridge would need to be high enough for international cargo ships making port calls at terminals and wharfs \on the eastern bank of the river, right across from project area, to pass under.

"If you build that high, the bridge's approaching lanes on the Yangon side would probably be landed in Sanchaung Township. All hell would break loose, as it is already a very congested area," he said, referring to the fact that the township is among the most overpopulated areas in Yangon with a density of more than 1,000 people per hectare. That is far higher even than Dhaka, one of the most densely populated cities in the world with an average of 555 people per hectare.

"The only possible solution, according to transportation planning experts, is an underpass tunnel. But that would cost around US$1.5 billion. You shouldn't spend that much when the country's economy is not in good shape," he added.

Smart City

Chief Minister U Pyo Min Thein does not seem persuaded by the experts' warnings and concerns, however.

Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein (third from left) and the NYDC board of directors attend the company's launch in March. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

During the NYDC launch ceremony, he told the audience that the less developed western bank of the Yangon River had to be transformed.

"We will make it happen. We want to see Yangon's old town become a green business hub with heritage buildings, while the new one across the river will be a smart city with development," he said.

The chief minister said the cost of investment in the project would not be borne solely by the government, but would be supported by public-private partnerships, adding that he "hoped to attract investment."

Regarding the topography of the project site, CEO Serge Pun said the company had kick-started a flood-risk assessment (FRA) for the New Yangon City project with Royal HaskoningDHV, a Dutch company that advises on the entire flood-risk management cycle, from concept to feasibility to impact assessment.

"Since late April, Royal HaskoningDHV has started site visits and data collection, and the company will submit a final report in October 2018," he writes in a weekly blog entry on the NYDC website.

The FRA's results and recommendations will be incorporated into the town planning, building design, and policy guidance of NYDC's New Yangon City project, he said.

The post Experts Raise Alarm Over Flood-Prone Location of 'New Yangon City' Project appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh Rights Body Readies Sexual Violence Cases Against Myanmar for ICC

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 05:00 AM PDT

DHAKA — Bangladesh’s National Human Rights Commission has urged the country’s Foreign Affairs and Law ministries to assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in prosecuting Myanmar over its alleged crimes against the Rohingya in Rakhine State last year and identified 53 alleged victims of sexual violence.

In separate letters to each ministry on June 10, commission Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque said the rights body firmly believed that — apart from ongoing bilateral initiatives between Bangladesh and Myanmar to reach a permanent solution to the Rohingya crisis — it was “very important to approach the ICC."

The letters said the commission had conducted investigations separate from the government’s initiatives to resolve the crisis.

"A group of researchers trained by international experts secretly documented the testimonies of 53 women who experienced sexual violence in Myanmar," the letters said, adding that the commission was willing to share its evidence if and when a case against Myanmar at the ICC begins.

The letters followed the ICC’s request that Bangladesh opine on whether Myanmar could be prosecuted at the court over its alleged crimes last year in Rakhine State, where a military crackdown has driven some 700,000 mostly Rohingya to Bangladesh with reports of arson, rape and murder in what the UN has called a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

Though Bangladesh recognizes the ICC, which is based in The Hague, Myanmar does not.

Dhaka-based daily the New Age reported that Bangladesh submitted its comments to the ICC on June 11 to help the court decide whether it has jurisdiction to investigate Myanmar for forced deportation across an international border. It reported that Bangladesh tacitly stressed the need to hold the perpetrators accountable.

The court was scheduled to hold a closed-door hearing on the matter on June 13, diplomats told the New Age, as ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda was seeking an expedited decision both on its jurisdiction and for permission to launch a preliminary examination.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation deal in late November for the voluntary return of “forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals” sheltering in Bangladesh since October 2016, when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Rakhine State during another outbreak of violence at the time.

At a public seminar in Dhaka on June 4, former ICC Prosecutor Kate Vigneswaran stressed the need to maintain international standards while collecting and recording evidence of crimes against humanity against Rohingya and to identify the individuals involved in Rakhine State, according to the New Age.

In a June 4 activity report, Doctors Without Borders said it treated 377 survivors of sexual and gender-based violence between Aug. 27 and April 30 involving victims ranging from 9 to 50 years of age. But it said the actual number of victims of such attacks was likely higher.

"Sexual violence is often underreported due to the shame and stigma associated with sexual assault, limited knowledge about medical and psychological support available, and the fact that access to health care in Myanmar was restricted heavily," the report said.

The aid group said it was also stepping up its mother-and-child and reproductive health care services in the refugee camps in Bangladesh, where many births take place at home in unsafe and unhygienic conditions. But it said many women and girls were seeking medical care for pregnancies resulting from rape, which could lead to unsafe abortions and death without support.

Doctors Without Borders said some women carrying babies from rape feared returning to their communities and were being sent to shelters run by other organizations, though space was very limited.

"We do know that there are a number of women/girls of child-bearing age within the settlements of Cox's Bazar District. We expect deliveries to continue but it is not possible for [us] to predict or speculate about the number of expected deliveries at any one time" the report said.

Refugees Protest for Safe Repatriation

On Saturday, on the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr, several hundred Rohingya residing of the Cox's Bazar camps held peaceful protests to reiterate their conditions for returning to Myanmar and to insist they be included in the negotiations.

The Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights said it organized protests in 24 locations across the camps.

The protesters held up banners and posters in English that read "Include Rohingya in Agreements About Rohingya," "Dignified Repatriation Must Include Full Citizenship Rights as Rohingya Ethnic Group" and "UNHCR Please Talk to Us About the MoU."

The UN refugee agency signed a memorandum of understanding with Myanmar earlier this month offering its assistance with the repatriation. It said the deal creates a "framework of cooperation" to achieve the "voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable" repatriation of Rohingya refugees, but few details have been made public.

Video footage of the protests shared with The Irrawaddy by participants shows them wearing white plastic bags while marching through the camps and chanting “Yes Dignity, Dignity, Dignity,” 'Yes Security, Security, Security” and “Yes Rohingya Citizenship.”

"We wear white bags because white means that we want peace, security and safety," said Mohamed Eleyas, one of the organizers.

Many refugees say they fear returning to Myanmar — which refuses to recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group or grant citizenship to those who identify as such — without international monitors on the ground.

Rights activist Nur Khan Liton said it was important to include Rohingya representatives in bilateral and multilateral deals on their repatriation because they were the victims.

"If it is not done, it will create many complexities in the future," he told The Irrawaddy.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the press, said security and intelligence agencies suspect others were involved behind the scenes in organizing the protests to coincide with the religious holiday and were searching for them.

A rights activist, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said he received phone calls from some of those agencies asking after the organizers.

The post Bangladesh Rights Body Readies Sexual Violence Cases Against Myanmar for ICC appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Uncertainty Surrounds 8888 Party Name

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 02:56 AM PDT

YANGON — U Ko Ko Gyi, chairman of the organizing committee for the formation of the Four Eights People's Party, said that he hoped the Union Election Commission (UEC) would give him a fair answer regarding the party's name following surrounding controversy.

After the UEC announced on May 5 the proposed registration of the Four Eights People's Party, more than 200 people filed objections regarding the party's name.

The commission then ordered the party organizers to change the name, logo and party flag.

"I asked if the commission would reconsider its order if tens of thousands of people support the party name, since it said it rejected the name because of the objection of some 200 people," U Ko Ko Gyi told the press on Friday about his meeting with UEC officials the previous day.

"But they said that they would not reconsider because it was a decision made by a plenary meeting of the commission," he added.

Early last year, U Ko Ko Gyi and his colleagues—who were among the leading members of the student-led, pro-democracy 8888 Uprising in August 1988—started laying the groundwork for setting up the Four Eights Party.

When the party founders tried to register the organization with the election commission in December, they drew criticism from those who see the designation 8888 as a symbol of the struggle for democracy, and as such, as the property of the entire country. These critics say 8888 should not be available for use by a particular party.

The organizers were accused of trying to appropriate the imagery and symbols of the historic movement.

Then, party organizers changed the name to the Four Eights People's Party, and the UEC gave the green light for the party's registration under the proposed name in April. But again, the name drew criticism.

U Ko Ko Gyi doubts that the UEC has verified that those who raised objections hold citizenship ID cards and live where they stated in their objection letters.

The politician earlier said the party's original name was decided upon only after yearlong consultations with multiple stakeholders. He has defended that most of the party's founding members were actively involved in the nationwide democracy movement, and therefore, the party deserves its name.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Uncertainty Surrounds 8888 Party Name appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Parliament Approves Govt Security Measures to Prevent Terrorism

Posted: 18 Jun 2018 01:14 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Parliament approved a proposal without holding a vote for the government to take necessary security measures to prevent terrorist attacks in Myanmar, especially northern Rakhine State.

Military representatives to the Lower House of the Union Parliament expressed concern that Rakhine State's Maungdaw would become a disputed territory like Kosovo.

Military representative Col Tun Ohn Thein blamed the illegal immigration of Muslims as the root cause for Kosovo's succession from Serbia as he discussed the proposal of former Lieutenant-General U Thaung Aye of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) at the Lower House on Friday.

In the case of Kosovo, Muslim Albanians illegally immigrated into Yugoslavia, which resulted in conflict between local Christian Serbs and Muslim Albanians, said Col Tun Ohn Thein.

In the Kosovo War, some Islamic countries backed the Albanians against the Serbs in response to perceived religious repression, he said, adding that on the ground, many Serbs had to flee Kosovo.

"Similarly, whenever there is conflict in northern Rakhine State, Arakanese and ethnic people have to flee. The difference is that [Rakhine] is not a racial conflict; it was prompted by an attack by extremist Bengali terrorists," he said, referring to an attack by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on border guard posts in August of last year and using 'Bengali' as a derogatory term used largely against Rohingya Muslims implying that they are interlopers from Bangladesh.

NATO intervened in Kosovo on the pretext of human rights without the permission of the UN, said Col Tun Ohn Thein, expressing his concern that foreign agencies might attempt a similar intervention in Rakhine.

The national security of Myanmar was broken by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attack in northern Rakhine State, said military representative Lt-Col Ye Min Oo, adding that some countries and agencies are supporting the 'Bengalis' due to misinformation.

"The sovereignty of the state is being threatened by pressures from various sides," said Lt-Col Ye Min Oo.

The current government is not afraid of international pressures and has never been hesitant to respond as necessary to the international community, said Daw Pyone Cathy Naing, a lawmaker of the ruling National League for Democracy.

It is important to cooperate strategically with the international community and diplomatically control intervention from powerful countries, she said.

"The current government will be the first government [of Myanmar] to address the root causes of the issues in Rakhine. That's why it has been taking steps to ensure rule of law and transparency," said Daw Pyone Cathy Naing.

The closed-door policy and the policy of denying the existence of problems, which successive governments followed, no longer work now, said the lawmaker.

Most lawmakers from the USDP, Arakan National Party, and Tatmadaw discussed the issues in Rakhine from the perspective of national security.

The deputy minister for home affairs said that he would listen to the decision of Parliament. Parliamentary Speaker U T Khun Myat asked the opinion of the proposer and he urged its approval. The proposal was approved without a vote.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Parliament Approves Govt Security Measures to Prevent Terrorism appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thousands Protest in Vietnam Against Foreign Investment Plans

Posted: 17 Jun 2018 10:15 PM PDT

Thousands of people in central Vietnam demonstrated peacefully on Sunday against government plans to lease new economic zones to foreign investors, witnesses told Reuters, a few days after protesters in a nearby province clashed with police.

Protesters fear the leases may be snapped up by investors from powerful neighbor China, with which Vietnam has a rocky history, and were also upset about a recently-passed cybersecurity law that they worry would limit free speech.

Public protests in Vietnam are usually quickly quelled by the police. The ruling Communist Party, despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, retains tight media censorship and tolerates little criticism.

Security on Sunday was tight in many cities and provinces in Vietnam, with a large presence of police in public areas.

But in central Ha Tinh province, thousands of people attending a Sunday mass protested peacefully against the laws, three witnesses told Reuters, confirming livestream footages on Facebook.

Protesters held signs that said “No leasing land to Chinese communists for even one day” or “Cybersecurity law kills freedom.” The protest in Ha Tinh province lasted for two hours on Sunday morning without a clash with the police, witnesses said.

Earlier this week the Vietnamese government vowed to punish “extremists” it said had instigated rare clashes with police where protesters hurled bricks and Molotov cocktails at police and damaged some government buildings in Binh Thuan province.

Vietnam’s National Assembly chairwoman on Friday said the lawmakers condemned “the acts of abusing democracy, distorting the truth, provoking, causing social disorder and greatly affecting the people’s life.”

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, in a talk with Hanoi citizens on Sunday, called for the people to be calm and trust the Communist party and the government, state-run radio news website Voice of Vietnam reported.

“[We] do this for the nation, for the people and no other purpose, and no one is that foolish to hand over land to foreigners for them to come and mess things up,” Trong was quoted as saying.

The post Thousands Protest in Vietnam Against Foreign Investment Plans appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Assets Registered to Thai Crown Property Bureau to Be Held Under King’s Name

Posted: 17 Jun 2018 09:13 PM PDT

BANGKOK — Assets previously registered to Thailand’s Crown Property Bureau will now be held “in the name of His Majesty," the bureau said on its official website on Saturday, the latest shake-up in royal affairs under King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

The Crown Property Bureau said its assets will now be “subject to the same duties and taxation as would assets belonging to any other citizen." Previously, assets registered in the name of the Crown Property Bureau were exempt from tax.

“The removal of exempted status was accomplished in line with His Majesty’s wishes,” the statement said.

The exact size of the Crown Property Bureau is not made public, but Forbes magazine valued the bureau’s holdings in real estate and other investments at more than $30 billion in 2012.

King Vajiralongkorn, 65, who became monarch after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in 2016, has overseen a number of changes to the way royal affairs are managed since taking the throne.

A royal property law was amended in July last year to formally give the king full control of the Crown Property Bureau, which manages the multi-billion dollar holdings of the monarchy and controls huge swathes of land in Bangkok.

A senior official at the Crown Property Bureau declined to comment when contacted by Reuters by phone about the changes.

Palace representatives did not respond to several Reuters attempts to reach the palace for comment.

Saturday’s announcement is an extension of the July 2017 legal change and gives even greater authority to King Vajiralongkorn, who has shown himself increasingly assertive since the death of his father.

In March, stock exchange data showed the king acquired a nearly $150 million stake in the country’s biggest industrial conglomerate, Siam Cement Group Pcl. In October, shares worth over $500 million in Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) were transferred to the king.

The king is listed as SCB’s seventh-largest shareholder.

Also in March, King Vajiralongkorn appointed Air Chief Marshal Satitpong Sukvimol as director-general of the Crown Property Bureau, replacing Chirayu Israngkun Na Ayuthaya who had held the post since 1987.

The post Assets Registered to Thai Crown Property Bureau to Be Held Under King’s Name appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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