Thursday, June 28, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Myanmar Rescue Team Joins Search for Thai Footballers Missing in Cave

Posted: 28 Jun 2018 07:43 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — A Myanmar rescue team on Thursday joined the search for 12 missing Thai youth footballers and their coach, who are believed to be trapped inside Tham Luang Cave near the border between Myanmar and Mae Sai district in Thailand's Chiang Rai province.

The team is participating in the operation at the request of the Thai government.

Thai authorities requested the assistance because exits from the cave are believed to be located on the Myanmar side of the border, in Shan State's Tachileik District.

Also on Thursday, the Myanmar President's Office announced that it had ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Shan State government to cooperate fully with Thai authorities in searching for the group.

"Thai authorities said they have heard there are exits on the Myanmar side as well, and asked them to check whether the missing people were in the area. The search is now under way," said U Tun, Thai-Myanmar liaison officer at the Tachileik District Administration Office.

The Myanmar rescue team comprises local officials and workers from the Fire Department, Red Cross and various charities. They have begun the search in a cave that is believed to be connected to Tham Luang Cave, where the group of 13 has been missing for six days.

Meanwhile on the Thai side, volunteers and military teams including 45 Thai Navy SEALs have been deployed at the flooded cave complex, which runs for 10 km (6 miles) under a mountain in the northern province, Reuters reports.

The US military has also sent a search and rescue team at the request of the Thai government.

On Thursday, Thai PBS quoted government spokesman Lieutenant-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd as saying that Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha planned to visit the cave either Friday or Saturday to meet with families of the missing and to give moral support to the rescue teams.

The post Myanmar Rescue Team Joins Search for Thai Footballers Missing in Cave appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Companies Law to Take Effect in Shadow of Rakhine Crisis, Civil War

Posted: 28 Jun 2018 05:58 AM PDT

YANGON — Amid growing concern over the economic policies of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), a long awaited Companies Law will take effect on Aug. 1, bringing with it hopes of more foreign investment, greater transparency and improved regulation.

"The Myanmar Companies Law will create equal opportunity for both local and foreign investors. Generally, the law is more positive than negative," said U Zaw Phay Win, an economic adviser.

Approved by Parliament on Nov. 23, the law is seen as one of the NLD government’s major legislative achievements, replacing and incorporating elements of the 1914 Companies Act and the 1950 Special Companies Act.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government has made economic reform a key goal, viewing it as a means to help complete Myanmar’s democratic transition after nearly six decades of isolation under military dictatorship.

According to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), the Companies Law includes important reforms that will allow local companies to accept foreign capital and expertise via joint ventures and make business regulation more efficient and effective.


Number of foreign companies with local branches by year. (Source: DICA)

Key Changes

A review of the new law, DICA's public records and a report by the London-based international law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner reveals a number of key changes that will affect foreign investments.

The 1914 Companies Act defines a foreign company as any company with one or more shares owned by a foreign investor. A local company has to be 100 percent owned and controlled by Myanmar citizens. It also lets foreigners invest only in select sectors such as automobiles, fertilizers and construction materials.

The new Companies Law lets local companies have up to 35 percent of their shares owned by foreigners and expands foreign investment to other sectors including the export and import of finished goods, industrial equipment, pharmaceuticals, and retail and wholesale businesses. It also lets foreign investors trade on the Yangon Stock Exchange.

In its report, Berwin Leighton Paisner notes that the new law maintains a distinction between a "Myanmar company" and a "foreign company" and it says investors should note that foreign investment in certain sectors is still regulated through other laws addressing property ownership and the Myanmar Investment Law.

Until now, foreign companies applying for a certificate of incorporation had to obtain a "permit to trade" that by itself did not actually let them engage in trade with Myanmar. The new law abolishes that permit requirement.

The 1914 Companies Act stipulates that a private company must have at least two directors and that they reside in Myanmar. The new law allows for a single director who is an ordinarily resident — either a permanent resident or a resident for at least 183 days over a 12-month period beginning on the day the new law takes effect or the day the company is incorporated under the new law. If a private company has more than one director, only one of them has to follow the residency requirement.

"It is a completely open door for foreign investment. The economic environment will be more competitive and attractive to investment. More importantly, we need to prepare for the change," said U Than Lwin, senior adviser at Kanbawzaw Bank and a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Myanmar.

"We need to be ready for modern technology," he said.

It also used to take at least seven people to set up a company with more than one investor, which it defines as a “public” company. Only three people will be required under the new law, one of whom must still be a Myanmar citizen and ordinary resident.

Memorandums and articles of association will also be replaced with company constitutions, charters and other forms.

The new law also includes a set of duties for directors, including the duty to act with care and diligence and in good faith in the company's best interests, not abuse their positions or misuse information, abide by the law and the company’s constitution, and to avoid reckless trading.

The 1914 Companies Act requires companies wanting to reduce their share capital to secure permission from the courts first. The new law does away with the requirement, but the level of approval needed from shareholders will depend on the type of capital reduction.

Relative size of investment by Myanmar citizens by sector as measured by value in 2018. (Source: DICA)

Reregistration

Under the new Companies Law, all existing companies need to re-register electronically with Myanmar Companies Online (MyCO), the company affairs divisions of DICA.

In order to set up the electronic registry system, DICA closed down the divisions on Saturday and will reopen it on July 31.

If a company fails to re-register electronically, it will be struck from the official enterprises list, DICA Director General U Aung Naing Oo said during a press conference on Monday.

All company registration and filing processes will resume on Aug. 1 through MyCO, and companies will have until January to re-register.

According to DICA, there are more than 50,000 local companies and 7,000 foreign companies currently registered.

The NLD government has made earlier efforts to attract foreign investment, including legal reforms that have liberalized the banking sector, loans for small and medium enterprises and new transparency rules.

"The government is working very hard to bring in foreign investment to save our economy. But politics is more important than the economy. The Rakhine and Kachin conflicts have already prevented some potential foreign investment," said U Zaw Phay Win, the economic adviser.

"If we want to improve the country's economy, we must have a decent political image. So I don't expect investment to increase enormously in the short term," he said.

International human rights groups have been urging foreign investors to shun Myanmar both over the violence in Rakhine State and the country’s long-running civil war with various armed ethnic groups.

"The civil war is a part of the problem when we expect foreign investment," said U Myo Min, the CEO of PS Business School.

"If we want foreign investment, we need to promote the country’s image, including stopping the civil war in Kachin and Shan states," he said.

In 2017 the Asia Foundation published research that said the civil war was inherently linked to economic development and that peace was essential to developing a national economy under a government pushing for more foreign investment.

Some of the country’s most ethnically diverse states are also the richest in natural resources, but decades of fighting has kept many potential investors at bay.

Herzfeld Rubin Meyer & Rose closed its Yangon office in February after five years of business here. Eric Rose, who headed the office, told Asia Times that the Rakhine crisis was one reason for the decision to shut down. He said it had ruined Myanmar’s reputation and scared off Western investors.

U Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing, chairman of the Smart Group of Companies, said the Companies Law would attract new investment but added that it was too late for some, nothing that friends of his from Taiwan had already pulled their investments out of Myanmar after losing hope.

"When we talk about investment, we need to think about all the factors including the crisis. Under the current government, Myanmar fell in rank for ease of doing business. For some investors, Myanmar is no longer a place to do business. The Rakhine crisis is one of the reasons they cited," he said.

In the World Bank’s 2018 ease of doing business ranking Myanmar fell one place compared to the year before to 171st out of 190 countries. Fellow ASEAN members Cambodia and Laos ranked 141st and 125th, respectively. Vietnam ranked 68th.

"Because of the Rakhine crisis, I don't expect Western and European investment. Under the new law, only China will come," Soe Tun, a central committee member of the Myanmar Rice Federation, told The Irrawaddy.


Value of total approved investment by country from 1988 to 2018. (Source: DICA)

As of Dec. 31, actual foreign direct investment for the current fiscal year stood at $3.7 billion, with approved foreign direct investment at $5 billion, according to DICA. The largest investor was China.

"The Rakhine crisis is hurting our economy and foreign investment. If the political climate is not good, China will be the winner under the new law," said U Than Lwin. "Although the law is perfect, we need a good political climate."

The post Companies Law to Take Effect in Shadow of Rakhine Crisis, Civil War appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Well-Connected ‘Ethnic Affairs Association’ Lobbying to Develop Popular Yangon Park

Posted: 28 Jun 2018 05:05 AM PDT

YANGON – The Myanmar Ethnic Entrepreneurs Association (MEEA) has urged the Ethnic Affairs Ministry to take over Yangon's National Races Village from the Ministry of Agriculture so that the site can be developed with international partners.

The 220-hectare park is located near the Thanlyin-Yangon Bridge in Thaketa Township. It features replicas of houses in the styles of the eight major national races, and of national landmarks such as Mon State's Golden Rock Pagoda (also known as Kyaiktiyo Pagoda); Karen State's Mount Zwegabin; and Htukkanthein Temple in Rakhine State's Mrauk-U Township. Opened in 2002, the site was the brainchild of the then chief of Myanmar Intelligence, Khin Nyunt. Two years later, he was purged and jailed by military dictator Than Shwe.

The village was intended to promote national unity by offering a vision of ethnic harmony between the various races of Myanmar.

MEEA currently has 27 core members, including a number of prominent businessmen. Its steering committee includes chairman U Yaw Satt, the owner of the Shwe Leik Pyar Hotel near Kandawgyi Lake and operator of a gem mining business in Mogok; Lahpai Khun Hsar; U Shwe Hein, who operates a business in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ); and Rakhine businessman U Aye Win. Dr. Aung Htun Thet, chief coordinator of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, and U Zaw Aye Maung, Yangon Region's Minister for Rakhine Ethnic Affairs and a member of the Arakan National Party, are patrons of the association.

The organization's stated goal is to support traditional ethnic businesspeople both locally and internationally and to act as a business facilitator, rather than seeking to make a profit itself. In particular, it was set up to help ethnic small-business operators find markets in Myanmar and overseas, and to offer them financial and technical support.

However, speaking on condition of anonymity, a credible source close to MEEA told The Irrawaddy: "Let me frankly tell you that this is just trying to exploit the name of the Ethnic Entrepreneurs Association for their own interests. They are always talking about doing business at every single meeting, rather than discussing matters [related to assisting the community]," he said.

The source pointed out that if the leading committee members, mostly wealthy businessmen, were serious about helping ethnic entrepreneurs, they would help to fund the association. To the contrary, far from contributing cash, the wealthy team members are seeking to collect 10 million kyats as a membership fee from each ethnic group, including the Rakhine, Chin, Kachin and Karen. Some members of the steering committee are not satisfied with this move, believing MEEA is beginning to act like a commercial enterprise, the source said.

MEEA executive committee member U Min Banyar San confirmed the plan to develop the National Races Village during a phone interview with The Irrawaddy last week. He is the son of Union Ethnic Affairs Minister U Naing Thet Lwin, whose lackluster performance in the role has drawn criticism that he is not carrying his weight as part of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's handpicked Union government team.

While some sources on the committee voiced criticisms of the plan to The Irrawaddy, committee member Min Banyar San argued that the association is not asking the Union government to directly hand over the park's large grounds for commercial purposes. If supervision of the park were handed over to the Union Ethnic Affairs Ministry, the association would advise the ministry on running it as a joint-venture project, he said.

The Irrawaddy was shown a document listing the decisions made by MEEA's executive committee at a meeting in the UMFCCI building held early this month. The document includes a proposal to request 6 acres of land situated on Ahlone Road, a prime location near People's Park, from the Yangon government to establish an ethnic people's convention center, and suggests the steering committee make Yangon State Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein another patron of the organization. It also outlines plans to establish a public bank to represent MEEA in line with Central Bank rules and regulations. Central Bank provisions require interested parties in the establishment of a bank to deposit at least 20 billion kyats. U Min Banyar San also said that a proposal for the location of a new MEEA office was made by patron U Zaw Aye Maung.

"We want to construct an ethnic people's center [on 6 acres] which will contain a theater to exhibit cultural heritage and traditional costumes. Basically, people will have a place to visit where they can try ethnic foods and dress, and see traditional dances in Yangon," U Min Banyar San said.

He confirmed the details of the plan seen in the document but said that they are still being worked out. If the regional government approved the plan for a convention center, the association intends to construct a theater in which to hold cultural exchange programs for various ethnic groups. MEEA would also promote Myanmar's ethnic cultures in the international arena, he said. According to him, the organization has still not been properly registered with the government. It is expected to hold a grand launch ceremony in July. After that it plans to recruit new members from each ethnic region and elect a new steering board and chairman.

Despite the direct involvement of Yangon Region's minister for Rakhine ethnic affairs, U Zaw Aye Maung, in the association, ethnic affairs ministers in Mon and Rakhine states said they were unaware of the organization's structure, goals or business plan. U Aung Myint Khine, Mon State's minister for Karen ethnic affairs, told The Irrawaddy over the phone on Wednesday that he had heard a few things about MEEA, as U Min Banyar San had lobbied businessmen in Mon State a few months ago. He suggested the association prioritize the promotion of ethnic cultural activities and indigenous people's rights, along with boosting small and medium-sized businesses and farms in ethnic regions, instead of going into business itself.

"That association is not under government management. Seeking opportunities under the guise of being a civil society organization or promoting ethnic people's rights seems wrong to me," U Aung Myint Khine said.

The post Well-Connected 'Ethnic Affairs Association' Lobbying to Develop Popular Yangon Park appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

8-Year-Old Boy Killed in Military Shelling in Shan State, TNLA Claims

Posted: 28 Jun 2018 04:57 AM PDT

Mon State — An 8-year-old boy was killed and seven others were wounded in shelling by the Myanmar military in Shan State’s Kutkai Township on Thursday morning, according to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Metta Shin, a community-funded emergency response team.

They said the casualties occurred between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. when the military’s Infantry Division No. 88, stationed at a Buddhist monastery on a hill outside the victims’ village, shelled the area.

Metta Shin and the TNLA’s Information Department reported that the 8-year-old boy, Mai Ko Ko, was wounded by the shelling and died on the way to a local hospital. They said the shelling also injured the boy’s parents and 7-year-old brother, who were being treated at a military hospital in Kutkai, and a 50-year-old woman.

Major Tar Aike Kyaw, of the TNLA, told The Irrawaddy that his fighters had not engaged Myanmar military troops for the past two weeks but added that they had clashed near the village before.

"We had no troops in the village. There wasn’t even any fighting. But they shelled the village intentionally,” he said.

U Thein Aung, a township resident who lives near the village, told The Irrawaddy that an artillery shell landed in the boy’s house. He said TNLA troops had slept in the village overnight but left early in the morning before the shelling began.

The TNLA has repeatedly accused the military of shelling civilian villages in the past, sometimes fatally, and always with impunity.

Yanghee Lee, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, accused the military of violating human rights in Shan State and elsewhere while addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.

Though hostilities between the military and Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups typically ratchet down during the rainy season, clashes do occur, and thousands of civilians in Shan and Kachin states remain displaced by previous rounds of fighting.

The post 8-Year-Old Boy Killed in Military Shelling in Shan State, TNLA Claims appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Kyat Slumps Against the Dollar

Posted: 28 Jun 2018 03:22 AM PDT

YANGON — The kyat-dollar exchange rate has weakened by more than 50 kyats so far in June, and the Central Bank of Myanmar expects it may soften further.

The reference rate of the Central Bank has increased by 51 kyats from K1344 per US dollar since June 1 to K1395 on Thursday (June 28).

Director-General Daw May Toe Win of the Reference Exchange Department of the Central Bank told The Irrawaddy yesterday that the rate — K1380 per US dollar on Wednesday — would likely further weaken.

And it did, rising by 15 kyats to K1395 per US dollar on Thursday. Meanwhile, the selling rate in the market is around K1404 per US dollar.

"According to our analysis, the currencies of our trading partners have depreciated more than our currency has. The policy of the United State is the most important factor. As it has increased its interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, its currency has appreciated, and the currencies of others have depreciated. Its currency is strong," Daw May Toe Win said.

The exchange rate has been weakening since the second week of June, said dollar dealers, who blame several factors including the Central Bank's elevated reference exchange rate, a decline in the gold price in the international market, manipulation in the domestic market, and the saving of dollars by potential outbound travelers, plus unconfirmed reports that ministries have been forced to find foreign currency themselves.

"China has devalued its currency. As a result, the currencies of its ASEAN trading partners have also declined," foreign currency dealer U Moe told The Irrawaddy.

"The exchange rate may continue to weaken if the World Bank and the Central Bank of Myanmar do not intervene," he said.

As the country's exports are low at present, the higher rate for kyat-dollar conversion will lead to higher commodity prices, exporters said.

Currency dealer U Khin Maung Win also mentioned online gambling as a possible factor as the World Cup 2018 is currently being played in Russia.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Yangon Parliament Approves New Municipal Law

Posted: 28 Jun 2018 03:20 AM PDT

YANGON — The Yangon regional Parliament approved the new municipal law on Wednesday, successfully barring the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) from engaging in business.

The draft law included dozens of controversial provisions including the formation of YCDC-run business parties responsible for construction, the service industry, recreation and others.

"Parliament was able to successfully remove the whole chapter regarding the formation of YCDC-run businesses. YCDC is not allowed to do business. It will only continue to perform in its original duty of providing services to the public," said lawmaker U Hla Htay of Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township.

Experts appointed by the regional government and the Yangon municipality drafted the new YCDC Law following a request by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in late 2016. The law was intended to replace the existing 1922 City of Rangoon Municipal Act and to supplement the 2013 YCDC Law.

The bill amending the 2013 YCDC Law was put forward to the regional Parliament on Feb. 2. It will be presented in a week to Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, who will sign it into law.

"It is against democracy for a democratic government to engage in business. The municipality is only intended to provide services to the public and all of the lawmakers do not want it to do business," said Daw Kyi Pyar, a lawmaker from Kyauktada Township.

It will be difficult for small and medium enterprises to survive in the market economy if the government engages in business, she said.

The regional government asked for nearly 7 billion kyats in its budget proposal for the 2018-19 fiscal year for the municipality's city bank to expand its banking services.

The new YCDC law also creates a vice mayor position to assist the mayor in managing Yangon. It also abolishes district-level committees and only keeps township-level committees.

It also allows the regional government to form a security and discipline enforcement team. Previously, it had to seek the permission of the Home Affairs Ministry to do so. This suggests that the regional government will be directly responsible for security matters in the future.

Another key amendment is that anyone who is at least 18 years old will be allowed to vote in the municipal poll now. Previously, only one person in a household, usually the breadwinner, was allowed to cast a vote.

The new law also allows anyone who is at least 25 to contest a municipal poll.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Yangon Parliament Approves New Municipal Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Company Developing Taungthaman Lake Guarantees Eco-Friendliness of Project

Posted: 28 Jun 2018 01:34 AM PDT

MANDALAY — A company that is developing a resort and culture park on the eastern bank of Mandalay's landmark Taungthaman Lake has guaranteed its eco-friendliness amid local concern over the environmental impact of the project.

U Khin Maung Tun, an information officer at the Taungthaman Thitsar company, said the business will be loyal to Taungthaman Lake, during the third round of public consultations on the resort project with locals of Ywa Thit village near the lake on Tuesday.

"Ours is a company that will be loyal to Taungthaman Lake. The interests of the region take precedence over those of the company. Not only the company but also local residents will benefit if this area is urbanized," said U Khin Maung Tun.

The Myanmar Investment Commission gave the green light to the project in March. The company is waiting for the approval of the Mandalay City Development Committee to start construction, U Khin Maung Tun told The Irrawaddy.

According to him, the company has obtained 40 acres of land that were previously farmland to build the resort and the park. The wastewater from the project will not be drained into Taungthaman Lake, but into nearby Pan Yan Taw creek.

"We won't sustain ourselves by hurting local people," said public relations officer U Thein Than Oo of the company.

The company will turn the surroundings of the lake into man-made forests in three years, he added.

The company has hired Yangon-based OSHE Services to conduct environmental and social impact assessments as well as a heritage impact assessment, as the site is near Taungthaman Lake and U Bein Bridge, which spans the lake.

Those reports were submitted to the Mandalay Region Environmental Conservation Department last year, said director U Soe Myint of OSHE Co.

The project was given the go-ahead in mid-2015 under the previous government. But the current administration suspended it months after it took office in 2016 due to problems related to the use of farmland for the project, an unknown source of funds, and procedural requirements.

"Only when it is in line with necessary laws and procedures, will a development project last and be beneficial to the people," U Myat Thu, the Mandalay Region planning and finance minister, told The Irrawaddy.

The regional government launched an investigation into the project after local residents of Amarapura Township complained about its impact in September 2016.

Locals have complained that water levels in the lake have risen to unprecedented levels in the past two rainy seasons following the piling soil for foundations by the company in 2016.

Some of the buildings of the project were removed as their height exceeded 40 feet, the maximum height allowed in the ancient cultural zone.

"Locals can report to us if the company doesn't keep its promises. We will do an immediate inspection," said director Dr. Tin Min Maung of the Mandalay Region Environmental Conservation Department.

The project is scheduled for completion in five years and will include a resort, shop-cum-houses, and convention centers, said U Khin Maung Tun.

The culture park intends to revive and promote Burmese culture and history, he said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Company Developing Taungthaman Lake Guarantees Eco-Friendliness of Project appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Focus on Cities Could Cut China’s Emissions 30 Percent: Researchers

Posted: 27 Jun 2018 09:54 PM PDT

LONDON — China could slash its climate-changing emissions by 30 percent if all its cities cleaned up pollution from their dirtiest power plants and factories, researchers said on Wednesday.

The world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases needs to focus on its urban areas in order to meet national-level targets under the international Paris Agreement to curb global warming, according to scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

“To do this successfully you need to have a good idea of how to cut pollution at a local level without devastating local economies,” said lead researcher Dabo Guan.

A world-first analysis of emissions data from 182 cities across China shows the importance of setting emissions control policies for urban areas, Guan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Improving the efficiency and environmental impact of the top five percent of polluters in cities could see China’s emissions fall by 30 percent, according to Guan, a professor of climate change economics at the UEA.

The analysis revealed a vast discrepancy in the economic growth and carbon footprint of China's cities, which range from high-tech urban hubs to coal-dependent manufacturing bases.

To curb pollution, each city requires a “different low-carbon road map” specifically tailored to its economy, energy industry and carbon dioxide output, Guan said.

Under the Paris Agreement, China pledged to decrease its carbon intensity — the amount of climate-warming carbon dioxide it produces per unit of economic growth — by 60 percent.

China’s wealthiest cities, such as Shanghai, have significantly cut emissions in the past five years by investing in renewable energy and outsourcing energy-intensive production to other regions.

But manufacturing cities in northern Shanxi province, which rely heavily on coal, saw an annual average increase of more than 1.5 percent.

Investment in hi-tech equipment, such as energy-efficient boilers, is the most effective way for China's worst-polluting cities to reduce their emissions, Guan said.

The post Focus on Cities Could Cut China’s Emissions 30 Percent: Researchers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rescuers to Drill Hole in Thai Cave in Hunt for Missing Boys

Posted: 27 Jun 2018 09:19 PM PDT

CHIANG RAI, Thailand — Thai rescue workers will drill a narrow shaft into a cave where 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach are believed to be trapped by flood waters, Thailand’s interior minister said on Wednesday, the fourth day of a search that has been hampered by heavy rain.

The boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach, went missing on Saturday after soccer practice when they set out to explore the Tham Luang cave complex, even though it is known to be prone to flooding in the rainy season.

Thai volunteers and military teams, including 45 navy SEAL unit members, have been deployed at the flooded cave complex, which runs 10 km (6 miles) under a mountain in the northern province of Chiang Rai.

“Tomorrow we can drill into the mountain but we won’t drill too deep. Just enough to allow people through,” interior minister Anupong Paochinda told reporters in Bangkok.

“We are trying every way to find the children,” he said.

While distraught relatives and friends gathered at the mouth of the cave, rescue workers pumped out water, but persistent heavy rain has slowed their progress.

“Water is the biggest challenge. There is a lot of debris and sand that gets stuck while pumping,” Army officer Sergeant Kresada Wanaphum told Reuters.

“We have to switch out units because there is not enough air in there,” he said before heading back down the cave.

According to messages the boys exchanged before setting off, they had taken flashlights and some food.

Apart from some footprints and marks left by their muddy hands near the cave entrance, nothing has been seen or heard of them since Saturday evening, and the race to find them has dominated Thai news.

“I’m confident all are still alive,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.

"Massive Amounts" of Water

Vern Unsworth, a British cave explorer based in Chiang Rai who has joined the search, said a lot of water was seeping into the cave from two directions.

“There is a watershed inside, which is unusual. It means there is water coming in from two directions,” Unsworth told Reuters. “The biggest challenge is the water. Massive amounts.”

Three divers coming from Britain were expected to reach Thailand on Wednesday evening to join the search, the interior minister said.

The US military has sent a search and rescue team at the request of the Thai government, Lieutenant Commander Nicole Schwegman, a spokeswoman for the US Indo-Pacific Command, told Reuters.

Thailand has asked the United States for survivor detection equipment, Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said.

“We hope this equipment will allow us to locate the spots that we need to reach faster,” Weerasak told reporters.

A guidebook described the Tham Luang cave as having an “impressive entrance chamber” leading to a marked path. It then described the end of the path and start of a series of chambers and boulders.

“This section of the cave has not been thoroughly explored. After a couple of hundred meters the cave reduces in size to a mud floored passage 2 meters wide and 3 meters high,” author Martin Ellis wrote in “The Caves of Thailand Volume 2.”

Nopparat Kantawong, the head coach of the team who did not attend practice on Saturday, said the boys had visited the caves several times, and he was hopeful they would stick together and stay strong.

“They won’t abandon each other,” Nopparat told reporters.

The post Rescuers to Drill Hole in Thai Cave in Hunt for Missing Boys appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Rights Envoy Urges Myanmar to End Discrimination Against Rohingya

Posted: 27 Jun 2018 09:13 PM PDT

GENEVA — The United Nations human rights investigator on Myanmar called on the government on Wednesday to “dismantle the system of discrimination” against the Rohingya Muslim minority and to restore their rights to citizenship and property.

Yanghee Lee, addressing the UN Human Rights Council, said conditions were not ripe for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to return to Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State.

“The refugees' return to Myanmar must occur in full respect of the norms and standards of international refugee law and international human rights law,” she said.

U Myint Thu, permanent secretary of Myanmar’s foreign ministry, told the UN council that his government could not work with Lee “because of her lack of objectivity” and called for her replacement.

Myanmar’s government was taking “concrete steps” on humanitarian access to Rakhine State, accountability for alleged human rights violations and implementing the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, he told the Geneva forum.

He did not elaborate further.

More than 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya have escaped Buddhist-majority Myanmar since last August, when attacks by Muslim insurgents triggered a military offensive that the United Nations has likened to ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar denies the accusations and has said it waged a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

The post UN Rights Envoy Urges Myanmar to End Discrimination Against Rohingya appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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