Friday, October 26, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Myanmar, India Appoint Operator for Sittwe Port Project

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 06:11 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) early this week with India to appoint a private operator for Sittwe Port. The move is part of the Kaladan Multi Model Transit Transport Project under India's ambitious Act East Policy.

According to the MoU, the private operator will manage the operation and maintenance of a deep-water port in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State on the Bay of Bengal, as well as the Paletwa Inland Water Terminal in Chin State and associated facilities that are part of the transport project.

A statement from the Indian Embassy described the MoU, signed during Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale's visit to Myanmar, as "a significant step in the implementation of India's Act East Policy." It said the agreement would boost connectivity between the two countries and promote regional development, particularly in Chin and Rakhine states.

The statement said, "It would also add to local infrastructure capacity and help in creating more job opportunities for the local people."

India shares a 1,600-km-long border with Myanmar, whose strategic location between Southeast Asia and East Asia makes it important to New Delhi's Act East Policy.

India adopted its "Look East" policy in 1991 to enhance economic and strategic relations with Southeast Asia in an effort to strengthen its role as a regional power, and to provide a counterweight to China's influence in the region. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried the policy to the next level, renaming it the "Act East Policy."

The ambitious policy aims to develop comprehensive, close ties in politics, economics and security through developing trade relations with the Mekong countries and other states surrounding China, according to the report "India's Act East Policy Amid Myanmar's Centre-Periphery Conflict" published in 2017 by India's South Asian University. Myanmar serves as a crucial buffer state between China and India and also plays a crucial part in China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). One component of the BRI, the China-backed Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, is 100 km south of the India-backed Sittwe Special Economic Zone. A railway network is planned between China's Yunnan and Kyaukphyu to facilitate trade.

Indian Foreign Secretary Shri Vijay Gokhale and Myanmar Transport and Communications Ministry Permanent Secretary U Win Khant sign an MoU on Monday in Naypyitaw. / Indian Embassy in Myanmar / Facebook

New Delhi has been making efforts to get transit access through Bangladesh to ship goods to India's landlocked northeastern states. A key element of India's Act East Policy, the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project—for which it signed a framework agreement with Myanmar in 2008—expects to open sea routes and a highway transport system to link the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with its landlocked northeastern state of Mizoram through Myanmar's Rakhine and Chin states.

In Myanmar, the link will connect Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Chin State via the Kaladan River route, and Paletwa to Mizoram State by road. The project includes 158 km of waterway on the Kaladan River from Sittwe to Paletwa in Myanmar and a 109-km road component from Paletwa to Zorinpui along the India-Myanmar border in Mizoram.

The project also aims to reduce the travel distance from Kolkata to Sittwe by about 1,328 km through the use of waterways, reducing by three or four days the time needed to transport goods through the narrow Siliguri corridor, also known as the "Chicken's Neck."

According to the Kaladan Movement, the Indian government expects the Kaladan project to increase economic linkages with Myanmar and the rest of Southeast Asia. The Kaladan Movement is an alliance of civil-society organizations concerned about the human-rights, social, economic and environmental impacts of the Kaladan project. The estimated expense of the entire project of $480 million is being provided through the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

According to India media, the project is scheduled to be operational by 2019-20. The project is being implemented in four major phases. Phase 1 involves constructing jetties and a port facility in Sittwe to accommodate large cargo ships; Phase 2 involves dredging and widening stretches of the Kaladan River into a 160 km inland waterway transport system for cargo ships, including the construction of a port and transshipment terminal at Paletwa Town in Chin State; Phase 3 involves the construction of a 130-km two-lane highway from Paletwa Town to the Myanmar-India border crossing at Myeik Wa village; and Phase 4 will see the construction of a 100-km two-lane highway in Mizoram State from Lomasu to Lawngtlai. This will connect with the existing Indian National Highway and include the construction of a land customs station at Zorinpui in Mizoram.

Neither side has announced updates on estimated completion dates. According to Indian media, phases 1 and 2 were mostly completed between 2014 and 2016. Some projects have been halted due to the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State, according to India media reports.

U Mg Mg Soe, an expert in the history of Rakhine and an observer of social, economic and political developments in the state, said that while Rakhine made international headlines due to the communal violence between local Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the north, the conflict shouldn't impact the project due to its location several hundred miles to the south.

"The project will assist India to transport goods from Kolkata to its western states. We will only get service charges from the port," U Mg Mg Soe said.

He said that if Myanmar wants to see real benefits from the project, the government needs to establish direct trade with the eastern and southern states of India.

During the visit, Foreign Secretary Gokhale said that "India values its relationship and close cooperation with a close neighbor like Myanmar and will continue to deepen its cooperation with it in the areas of connectively, security, people-to-people relations and economic and commercial cooperation," according to the statement.

Under the Act East Policy, Myanmar and India opened two land-border crossing in August—at Tamu-Moreh in Manipur, northeastern India, and Rihkhawdar-Zowkhawtar in Mizoram—to facilitate closer trade and commercial ties.

The post Myanmar, India Appoint Operator for Sittwe Port Project appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawyer For Eleven Media Journalists Says Govt Stalling Mediation

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 05:49 AM PDT

YANGON — The lawyer for three Eleven Media Group journalists said the Yangon Region government had to take responsibility for not withdrawing its incitement lawsuit against the trio and preventing the Myanmar Press Council from stepping in to mediate, as per the president’s instructions.

Despite the journalists’ release on bail Friday, the Press Council said it would not mediate until the government dropped its lawsuit.

Eleven Media managing editors U Kyaw Zaw Lin and Nari Min and chief reporter U Phyo Wai Win walked free Friday afternoon after the Tamwe Township Court approved their bail request from last week.

The Yangon government filed a suit against the trio earlier this month accusing them of incitement under Article 505 (b) of the Penal Code for allegedly publishing false information relating to the use of public funds. They were arrested on Oct. 10 and detained at Yangon's Insein Prison.

The lawsuit and arrests drew strong public rebuke from critics who pointed out that the offending article was based primarily on remarks by lawmakers in a Yangon Parliament session about a recent report by the local auditor general. The lawmakers themselves insisted the story was accurate.

The lawsuit prompted President U Win Myint to tell the Yangon government to follow the Media Law, which says the Myanmar Press Council should attempt to settle complaints against the press before they reach the courts. The Yangon government submitted a complaint letter to the Press Council following the president’s directive last week.

Since then, the Press Council has called on the Yangon government to withdraw its lawsuit because the body's rules forbid it from intervening in a case that is already with the courts.

But the government has yet to drop the suit. Instead, on Oct. 19, it demanded that Eleven Media apologize for the article, but it has not said whether it would drop the suit if the news outlet complied.

The plaintiff, government official U Aung Kyaw Khaing, did not appear in court on Friday and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Press Council Vice Chairman U Myo Thant Tin told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the trio’s release on bail was not enough to allow the body to start mediating.

"Right after the withdrawal [of the suit]; only then can we intervene," he said.

The journalists' lawyer, U Kyee Myint, said he welcomed the bail but added that the government had yet to follow through on the Press Council’s request to drop the lawsuit.

"The president has given a clear order that the case has to be settled first with the Media Law. The Yangon government has to take responsibility for its failure. It should follow the president's instruction," he said.

Upon his release on Friday, U Phyo Wai Win told reporters outside the court that he stood by everything in the article.

The Irrawaddy reporter Htet Naing Zaw contributed reporting to the story.

The post Lawyer For Eleven Media Journalists Says Govt Stalling Mediation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

USDP Criticizes Ruling Party’s Trips to Minority Areas Ahead of By-Elections

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 04:59 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has questioned the honesty of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), citing government leaders' recent trips to ethnic minority regions with vacant constituencies ahead of the Nov. 3 by-elections.

The government is obliged to serve the interests of the people at all times, not just before an election, said U Nandar Hla Myint, spokesman for the USDP.

"As the by-election is about to be held, government officials go frequently [to ethnic minority areas] and do development work. It is not honest, if you ask my opinion. Only coming frequently and doing [local development work] ahead of a by-election draws criticism," he said.

"I've seen and heard that government officials at the Union, region and state levels have recently visited most of the places where the by-elections will be held and have undertaken development work there, and that chief ministers take immediate action when asked by those constituencies," he added.

On Oct. 19, State Counselor and NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited Kachin State's Myitkyina Township, where a by-election will be held for a seat in the Union Upper House representing the state’s Constituency 2.

Today she travelled to Chin State's Kanpetlet Township, where by-elections will be held for both a seat in the Union Lower House and in the local legislature.

"We believe the state counselor's trip is related to party affairs. She made the visit as a government official. But we believe that the trip is about both government and party affairs because she visited this particular place at this particular time," U Mana Naing, the USDP candidate of Kanpetlet, told The Irrawaddy.

NLD spokesman U Myo Nyunt denied that the state counselor’s trips were timed to coincide with the election campaign.

"We are doing [the campaign] on our own agenda. There is no connection at all," he told The Irrawaddy.

But political analyst U Yan Myo Thein also criticized Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's latest trips to ethnic minority constituencies.

"I think it is not appropriate to do that. Leaders will also think the same if they analyze this carefully. What I believe is that [the NLD] should applaud if ethnic parties win in ethnic constituencies," he said.

Across the country a total of 13 legislative seats — four in the Union Lower House, one in the Union Upper House and eight in regional parliaments — will be up for grabs in the by-elections.

The NLD is contesting all 13 vacant seats, while the USDP is fielding candidates only in constituencies outside ethnic minority regions.

The trips “are good for local people. Their regions will get developed. But in the eyes of the opposition, the ruling party is making full use of its authority for an electoral victory. I hope people can see this correctly," said U Nandar Hla Myint.

The former USDP government also came under fire when then-President U Thein Sein visited Meiktila in Mandalay Region ahead of the 2015 general elections and said the "Meiktila plain will turn green." The ambiguous statement made the front page of a state-run newspaper and drew criticism to the USDP, whose party flag is predominantly green.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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No Deals on Secession, Military Integration Without Consent of Shan People: RCSS

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 04:35 AM PDT

The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) would never consider integrating its forces into the Myanmar military or disavow its right to secede from the Union without consulting the Shan community, the group said on Friday.

The group issued a statement Friday clarifying its position on two points discussed at a meeting with leaders of the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw), the government, Parliament and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in Naypyitaw on Oct. 15-16.

"The issue of non-secession from the Union involves all ethnic Shan; therefore we will stand with the Shan people and would never make [such a promise] without the consent of all our people," the group said in the statement's first point.

"Regarding the establishment of a single national army, we would accept it based on international practices and principles. But we will [only] fully accept the creation of a single army once all sides have fully agreed on how to settle security sector issues. Until we can reach a security agreement through negotiated settlement, we will not accept an integrated army," the statement's second point reads.

Colonel Sai Oo, a spokesperson for the RCSS based in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that, "We cannot ignore the desires of our ethnic people. Therefore, we will continue to stand with them," he said.

Regarding the creation of a single army, Col. Sai Oo said, "We need to look at how the current Tatmadaw was formed, and study international practice on integrating armed forces. There should be a Union army in our country."

However, "We cannot accept the establishment of a single army as an attempt to disarm us," he said.

The RCSS has signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the Myanmar government and participated in peace negotiations along with other EAO signatories.

RCSS chairman General Yawd Serk participated in the Naypyitaw meeting but was not happy with the discussions of non-secession and integrating the military, according to some EAO leaders. Such was his dissatisfaction that at one point he even decided not to attend the second day of the meeting, though he later relented.

Some ethnic leaders believe the Myanmar Army proposes the two points for discussion at peace talks as a way of extracting concessions from EAOs without having to use force.

This approach will never lead to lasting peace in Myanmar, they said, because it favors one side (the Tatmadaw) while asking the other (the EAOs) to disarm.

Myanmar's peace process has deadlocked over the two issues. Sao Khun Sai, a political adviser to the RCSS based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, said the Myanmar Army would have to decide whether it wants to pursue a win-win peace process or one that was "win-lose."

If the Myanmar Army is the only side that gains from the peace process, there will be no peace, he said. The result will in fact be a "lose-lose" process, he said.

Other EAOs, including the Karen National Union (KNU), are similarly unhappy with the Tatmadaw's proposal to create a unified army and its demand that the organizations agree never to seek secession. While the KNU has not published its opposition in a formal statement, two senior leaders of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) told the Karen Peace Support Network that they disagreed with the Tatmadaw's proposal on military integration.

KNLA commander General Saw Johnny the network on Oct. 22 that in a democratic country, the Army should be under the control of the president. However, he said, the Myanmar Army was under the control of neither President U Win Myint nor the country's de facto leader, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We all know they protect the 2008 Constitution, and took 25 percent [of the seats in] Parliament. They want a single army, but that won't happen within the next 20 years. A federal army will only be created when all people live in peace and stability. All ethnic armed groups should be able to participate in it," Gen. Saw Johnny said.

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Hundreds Flee Fighting Between RCSS, Two Northern Alliance Members

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 02:25 AM PDT

YANGON—Nearly 750 residents of Mong Yin village in northern Shan State's Namtu Township have fled fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army South and a joint force of the Ta’ang Nationalities Liberation Army and the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army North this week.

The displaced villagers are currently sheltering in Namtu town.

Tensions over a territorial dispute began to escalate again between the RCSS/SSAS and Northern Alliance members TNLA and SSPP/SSAN on Oct. 22. Fighting erupted on Oct. 24, forcing residents of nine villages to flee after artillery fire threatened their homes.

It was still not safe to return on Friday, and villagers remained in temporary shelters in Namtu town, said Sai Ba Nyan, vice chairman of Namtu Township's relief team for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

While no fighting was reported on Friday, "The [ethnic armed organizations'] troops are still present on the routes to the IDPs' homes, and they are afraid of being questioned," he said.

Lacking adequate food and shelter, the IDPs have sought aid from locals and the Social Welfare Department, Sai Ba Nyan said.

They want the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to stop fighting, he said.

"We want no fighting," Sai Ba Nyan said. "We would like to ask that they resolve their conflict at the negotiating table rather than with weapons."

The last time fighting erupted in the area, it broke out north of the Namtu tributary, forcing villagers to flee south of the river. This time the fighting is south of the Namtu tributary, so the displaced fled into the town, he said.

Frequent clashes between EAOs near Namtu this year have disrupted farming. In mid-July, more than 1,000 people fled to temporary shelters in Namtu and nearby Hsipaw Township after fighting broke out. They were forced to spend a week in the shelters before heading home.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy last week, RCSS chairman General Yawd Serk said his group and both the TNLA and SSPP "would need to negotiate differences of opinion" regarding the clashes.

In May, two residents of Mansa village in Namtu were injured during an exchange of fire between the SSPP and TNLA.

The post Hundreds Flee Fighting Between RCSS, Two Northern Alliance Members appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Northern Rakhine Women’s Center to Open to ‘Promote Social Cohesion’

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 01:55 AM PDT

YANGON — In order to promote social cohesion between Muslim, ethnic Arakanese and Hindu communities in northern Rakhine’s Maungdaw Township, the Union government has approved the construction of a women's center, said social welfare minister Dr. Win Myat Aye.

The minister said the government believes that the center will play a vital role in confidence building, as well as providing development and job opportunities. Women from different communities will be able to exchange opinions on a number of different issues at the center, Dr. Win Myat Aye said.

Daw San San Aye, the director general of the social welfare ministry who is assigned to women's projects across the country, said the center was a plan made by stakeholders in Maungdaw rather than the ministry.

Over the past two weeks, the Rakhine Women's Network held a women's forum in downtown Maungdaw and invited community leaders, government officials, and the prominent South African politician and businessman Roelf Meyer, who is said to have coined the women's center project.

Daw San San Aye stated that the project would be funded by an international donor and that the site has not yet been selected.

She told The Irrawaddy to reach out to the Center for Diversity and National Harmony for more information, as it has been an active participant. The CDNH could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

"This is the first project of its kind in Maungdaw and the government expects good outcomes," Daw San San Aye added.

Daw Yin Myat Oo, who organized the women's forum in Maungdaw, said the center would likely be located between Myo Thu Gyi village and the entrance of Maungdaw town. She added that initial meetings between Muslim and ethnic Arakanese participants focused on combatting domestic violence, tackling unemployment among women in the region, human trafficking, and a free exchange of views between the two sides to promote harmony.

Rohingya Muslim women in Maungdaw face many restrictions and do not have much access to education. This exchange could help them realize what they need, said Daw Yin Myat Oo.

Daw Nu Nu Khin, a Muslim community leader said that Muslim women are restricted from freedom of movement and that their lack of education could be attributed to discrimination in government schools.

She estimated that the literacy rate of Muslim women in Maungdaw could be as low as 1 percent and added that even after graduating, these women are unable to obtain jobs in government departments. She hopes this will change in the future.

Daw Nu Nu Khin told The Irrawaddy that women have been trying to implement such a center in recent years, but that it was put on hold following Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacks on border guard posts in August 2017 and subsequent Myanmar Army clearance operations in Rakhine State that forced some 700,00 Rohginya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The army has been accused of widespread extrajudicial killings, rape and arson. A UN report stated that the Myanmar Army acted with "genocidal intent" and the international community has called for accountability.

Daw Nu Nu Khin elaborated that the majority of Muslim women, particularly in northern Rakhine State’s strife-torn Maungdaw district, are unable to explain properly even where they lived and worked in their daily lives. They were by far the most vulnerable group in the wake of 2017 Rakhine crisis, she said.

According to government statistics, nearly 430,000 Rohingya women lived in Maungdaw and Rathedaung Township before the 2017 conflict. It’s unclear how many Muslim women remain in these towns.

Daw Nu Nu Khin speculated that more than 80 percent of the Muslim women previously living in Maungdaw district are now in Bangladesh.

In terms of the women's center in Maungdaw, prominent Myanmar women’s rights and peace activist Ma May Sabe Phyu, also director of the Gender Equality Network, remarked that initiating trust building between women from different communities is beneficial, as women are more flexible and better negotiators than men.

Women in conflict zones face numerous challenges in their daily lives and they will come together to share resources and avoid clashes post conflict, she said.

“Hatred indiscriminately targets all women, no matter what they believe,” said Daw May Sabe Phyu.

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Lawmaker Files Slander Complaint Against NLD Spokesman

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 01:49 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — A former member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) has filed a complaint against a spokesman for the party under the Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens.

Upper House lawmaker U Tin Aung Tun, from Magwe Region, said NLD spokesman U Myo Nyunt's statement to the media about his resignation from the party sullied his name.

The lawmaker filed the complaint with police in Magwe's Minbu Township on Tuesday under Article 10 of the law.

Following an NLD central executive committee meeting in Naypyitaw on Sept. 23, U Myo Nyunt told reporters that the party had accepted the resignation of U Pe Chit of Yangon Constituency 9 and U Tin Aung Tun of Magwe Constituency 5.

"They said that party rules were too strict and they were also not happy that they had to make cash contributions to the party," the spokesman said when reporters asked him why the two men had resigned.

According to party sources, NLD lawmakers have to contribute 25 percent of their monthly salaries — 250,000 kyats ($158) — to the party.

"I filed the complaint because I believe what he said breached this law. I am filing the complaint because what he said is not true and damaged my reputation," U Tin Aung Tun told reporters.

U Tin Aung Tun said he left the NLD simply because he no longer wanted to be a party member. He denied having given the reasons U Myo Nyunt claimed.

U Myo Nyunt said he did not specifically name U Tin Aung Tun in his remarks on Sept. 23.

"I just said it generally to refer to that group,” he said, referring to the lawmakers who had submitted resignation letters. “I didn't mean to defame like he said."

He said U Tin Aung Tun filed the complaint out of anger with public criticism.

"People voted for them not because of who they are, but because they were from the NLD. And people are angry because they resigned from the party after becoming lawmakers," the spokesman said.

The Law Protecting the Privacy and Security of Citizens has rarely been used to file defamation charges since it was enacted in March 2017, said lawyer U Khin Maung Zaw.

Article 8 (f) of the law bars anyone from unlawfully interfering with a citizen's personal or family matters or from acting in any way to slander or harm a citizen’s reputation in the absence of an order, permission or warrant issued in accordance with existing laws or permission from the president or a Union-level government body.

Article 10 states that those who violate Article 8 will be sentenced to between six months and three years in jail and fined between 300,000 kyats ($190) and 1.5 million kyats ($950).

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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NLD Prepares For By-Election Losses in Rakhine, Shan

Posted: 26 Oct 2018 12:31 AM PDT

MANDALAY — The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) believes it may lose the November by-elections in Rakhine and Shan states, said U Zaw Myint Maung, the chief minister of Mandalay Region and chair of the party’s Mandalay chapter.

"[Rakhine and Shan] are ethnic [minority] regions. Besides language barriers, there are other pressures. To be frank, we have no confidence [of victory]," he said on Monday after a meeting with civil society groups.

"In the beginning we also had some difficulties with Chin State, but things have improved a lot now. It has been the same with Karen State," he added.

The Shan State Parliament is dominated by the NLD’s main opposition, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), while the Arakan National Party dominates in Rakhine State.

Across the country, a total of 13 legislative seats — four in the Lower House, one in the Upper House and eight in regional parliaments — will be up for grabs on Nov. 3.

The NLD is contesting all 13 seats, while the USDP is fielding candidates only in constituencies outside of ethnic minority regions.

In all, 69 candidates from over 20 political parties and some independents are contesting the by-elections.

The four vacant Lower House seats are in Chin State's Kanpetlet Township, Shan State's Laihka Township, Mandalay Region's Myingyan Township and Yangon Region's Tamwe Township. The vacant seat in the Upper House is in Kachin State's Constituency 2.

The vacant regional parliament seats are in Chin State's Matupi Township, Sagaing Region's Tamu Township, Bago Region's Oktwin Township, Rakhine State's Rathedaung Township, Magwe Region's Minbu Township, Yangon Region's Seikkan Township, Mandalay Region's Thabeikkyin Township, and the ethnic Shan constituency in Mandalay.

"At first, candidates were very concerned. But they have been encouraged because the party's central executive committee has campaigned in those areas,” U Zaw Myint Maung said, noting that the NLD was using the language of the local communities to communicate with potential voters.

"This is to show that the NLD is made up of various ethnicities and that it can engage in ethnic affairs," he said.

"Though the challenge is huge, the most important thing is the decision of the people. We have to accept the decision of the people," he added.

On Oct. 19 State Counselor and NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi travelled to Myitkyina in Kachin State, where she visited a boarding school for students and camps for internally displaced people in the area. The party has denied claims from local parties that the trip was part of the NLD’s election campaign.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Chinese Journalist Charged in UK After Slapping Man at Conservative Conference

Posted: 25 Oct 2018 10:21 PM PDT

LONDON — A female Chinese reporter has been charged with assault after allegedly slapping a volunteer at an event on the sidelines of the UK’s Conservative Party conference last month where they were discussing political freedoms in Hong Kong.

Kong Linlin, a 48-year-old reporter for the country’s state-run broadcaster China Central Television, was arrested after the incident at the event that featured pro-democracy supporters from the former British colony.

West Midlands Police said she had been charged with common assault and will appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on Nov. 7.

China Central Television, also known as CCTV, is Beijing's largest TV network, with dozens of channels and ambitious plans to expand internationally.

Kong did not respond to a request for comment left at her company’s offices in London.

Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” principle, with the guarantee of a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed elsewhere in China.

But calls for outright independence are a red line for China’s Communist Party leaders, who deem the global financial hub to be an inalienable part of the nation.

A spokesman for the Chinese government had previously described the reporter’s treatment as “completely unacceptable” and said she herself was assaulted for asking questions.

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FBI Searches Florida Mail Center in Hunt For Sender of Package Bombs

Posted: 25 Oct 2018 10:14 PM PDT

MIAMI — Federal agents searched a US mail facility near Miami on Thursday night racing to find who sent 10 pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and critics of US President Donald Trump as leads pointed to Florida as the possible origin of the packages.

Investigators are treating the devices as “live” explosives, not a hoax, said James O’Neill, police commissioner of New York City, where two of the parcels have surfaced since the bomb scare began Monday with a device addressed to billionaire Democratic Party donor George Soros.

A federal law enforcement source told Reuters the devices were thought to have been fashioned from bomb-making designs widely available on the internet.

Investigators believe the packages, which were intercepted before reaching their intended recipients, all went through the US Postal Service at some point, that source said. None detonated and no one has been hurt.

Authorities have branded the parcel bombs, coming less than two weeks before national elections that could alter the balance of power on Capitol Hill, as an act of terrorism, though they have declined to say whether the devices were built to be functional.

Bomb experts and security analysts say that based on the rudimentary construction of the bombs it appeared they were more likely designed to sow fear rather than to kill.

But the episode sparked an outcry from Trump critics who said his frequent expressions of inflammatory rhetoric against perceived enemies among Democrats and the press was stoking a climate ripe for politically motivated violence.

After first calling for “unity” and civil discourse on Wednesday, Trump lashed out again Thursday at the “hateful” media, while his supporters accused Democrats of unfairly suggesting the president was to blame for the bomb scare.

Florida Warehouse

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, in an interview with Fox News Channel, confirmed that Florida was the starting point for at least a portion of the bomb shipments.

“Some of the packages went through the mail. They originated, some of them, from Florida,” she said. “I am confident that this person or people will be brought to justice.”

A police bomb squad and canine units joined federal investigators on Thursday examining a US mail distribution center at Opa-Locka, northwest of Miami, Miami-Dade County police said.

The sprawling warehouse, where authorities believe several of the parcels were processed, appeared to remain in operation during the search, with tractor-trailer traffic continuing to and from the facility as police were seen walking around the loading docks.

On Wednesday, two days after the first package arrived at Soros’ home, the FBI identified five more targets — President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former CIA director John Brennan, and California Representative Maxine Waters. Two packages were found addressed to her.

Brennan’s package was sent in care of the Manhattan bureau of CNN, where he has appeared as an on-air analyst.

On Thursday, the investigation widened with the discovery of three additional packages — two intended for former Vice President Joe Biden in his home state of Delaware and one for Hollywood actor Robert De Niro in Manhattan.

More to come?

“It does remain possible that further packages have been or could be mailed,” William Sweeney, assistant director of the FBI, told an afternoon news conference in New York.

The FBI has said that at least five of the packages bore a return address for the Florida office of U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who formerly chaired the Democratic National Committee. Holder’s package ended up rerouted and delivered to the Wasserman Schultz return address.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombs, and the public was asked to report any tips.

The parcels each consisted of a manila envelope with a bubble-wrap interior containing “potentially destructive devices,” the FBI said. Each was affixed with a computer-printed address label and six “forever” postage stamps, the agency said.

Sweeney said all of the devices were being sent to the FBI’s crime lab in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.

Most of the intended recipients were high-profile Democrats and all were known to be outspoken critics of Trump, foils for his political rhetoric or both.

Trump long questioned Obama’s US citizenship and referred to Clinton, whom he defeated in the 2016 presidential race, as “crooked Hillary.” He has derided Waters publicly as “low-IQ Maxine.”

The president revoked Brennan’s security clearance after the ex-CIA chief, a veteran intelligence official in Democratic and Republican administrations, lambasted Trump’s Russia summit performance as “nothing short of treasonous.”

Biden once said he would have fought Trump if they were in high school, while De Niro received a loud ovation when he hurled an obscenity at Trump at the Tony Awards in June.

At a Wisconsin rally on Wednesday night Trump, who has denounced news media organizations as an “enemy of the people,” called attention to “how nice I'm behaving tonight" but on Thursday morning he attacked the media again.

“A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News,” Trump wrote. “It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!”

The post FBI Searches Florida Mail Center in Hunt For Sender of Package Bombs appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Singapore to Hang Two Drug Traffickers Amid Calls for a Halt

Posted: 25 Oct 2018 10:08 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — Singapore is due to execute two convicted drug traffickers on Friday after hanging a man on Wednesday for the same offense amid fresh calls for the wealthy state to abolish the death penalty.

Human rights group Amnesty International called on Singapore to follow the example of neighboring Malaysia and end capital punishment.

“Singaporean authorities must halt the imminent executions of Prabu N. Pathmanathan, a 31-year-old Malaysian national, and of another man whose name has not been released,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Wednesday.

“News of these planned executions follow the reported execution of another man today, and that of three men, on 5 October, also for drug-related offenses.”

Pathmanathan was convicted of smuggling drugs from Malaysia into Singapore in 2014, according to court documents.

Malaysia’s newly elected cabinet, which took power in May, said this month it would abolish the death penalty by the end of the year.

“I will issue a letter to the Singapore government to urge them to give Prabu a chance,” Malaysian Law Minister Liew Vui Keong told reporters on Wednesday.

Singapore has some of the toughest anti-drugs laws in the world, and its customs forms warn arriving travelers of "death for drug traffickers” in no uncertain terms.

Amnesty International says that 15 countries have laws for the death penalty for drug-related offenses.

“But Amnesty International recorded executions for drug-related offenses in only four – China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Singapore,” it said.

Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs, which runs both the Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau and the Singapore Prison Service, could not be immediately reached for comment.

A candlelight vigil, expected to be attended by anti-death penalty activists, will take place later in the day.

The post Singapore to Hang Two Drug Traffickers Amid Calls for a Halt appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Former Malaysian PM Najib Faces Six More Corruption Charges over State Funds

Posted: 25 Oct 2018 09:51 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — Former Malaysian premier Najib Razak was charged with six counts of criminal breach of trust involving government funds worth more than $1.5 billion on Thursday, adding to the 32 charges he already faces for money laundering and graft.

His former treasury chief, Irwan Serigar Abdullah, was also charged with criminal breach of trust, becoming the highest-ranking civil servant to be charged since Najib was unexpectedly ousted in a general election in May.

The two pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Each charge carries a jail term of up to 20 years, a financial penalty and a whipping sentence, but both Najib and Irwan would be exempted from whipping as they are over the age of 50.

“Nothing in the charges show that any of the acts I undertook resulted in any benefit to me,” Najib said at a press conference after the court hearing.

“There shouldn’t be any belief that any of the monies stated in the charges were lost, or that there were any elements of self-interest.”

The new administration led by Mahathir Mohamad has been cracking down on corruption and has charged several former senior government officials, including Najib’s former deputy.

A particular focus is how billions of dollars went missing from state fund 1Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB), founded by Najib in 2009.

Four of the six charges filed on Thursday involving about 4.78 billion ringgit relate to a settlement agreement between 1MDB and Abu Dhabi state fund IPIC, said Azam Baki, a deputy commissioner at the anti-graft agency.

In 2017, 1MDB had agreed to pay $1.2 billion to the Abu Dhabi fund, in a settlement agreement following a dispute between the two over bond payments, according to the companies.

The 1MDB-linked charges allege Irwan and Najib committed the breach of trust offence with 220 million ringgit of government funds meant for Kuala Lumpur International Airport Berhad, 1.3 billion ringgit meant for a subsidy and cash aid program and 3.3 billion ringgit of other government funds.

Najib’s lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client did not personally benefit from these transactions.

“These were funds that were initially allocated for a purpose, but on priority was revised, in the face of urgency and dire straits the nation was placed into. For the purposes of settlement of the IPIC issue, an executive decision had to be undertaken very honestly,” Shafee told the court.

He said the other two charges relate to a pipeline project and the East Cost Rail Link (ECRL), a $14 billion project that was the centerpiece of China’s infrastructure push in Malaysia.

The project, signed under Najib’s premiership, was suspended by Mahathir who has said the deal was “unfair” to Malaysia.

Bail Amount

The judge released Najib and Irwan after setting a bail of 1 million ringgit each.

Prosecutors had earlier asked for 3 million ringgit bail for Najib, but the former premier’s lawyers said it was getting difficult for Najib to settle bail after having paid 4.5 million ringgit in bail since July.

“I would like to ask that my client is given at least three weeks for him to settle the 1 million bail because it has become very difficult for my client, even before and in the latest case,” Shafee said, adding Najib’s bank accounts remain frozen.

The judge ordered the bail be paid in 10 days.

Najib is already facing 32 money laundering, graft and breach of trust charges over transactions linked to 1MDB. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is due to begin next year.

His wife, Rosmah Mansor, was charged with money laundering earlier this month and had to pay bail of 2 million ringgit.

US authorities allege that $4.5 billion was siphoned from 1MDB and that about $700 million was diverted into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

The post Former Malaysian PM Najib Faces Six More Corruption Charges over State Funds appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Global Pressure Mounts on Myanmar to Act on Accountability in Rakhine Crisis

Posted: 25 Oct 2018 09:32 PM PDT

UNITED NATIONS — China, backed by Russia, failed on Wednesday to stop a United Nations Security Council briefing by the chair of a UN inquiry that accused Myanmar’s military of genocide against Rohingya Muslims and urged the 15-member council to push for justice.

“Atrocities continue to take place today,” Marzuki Darusman, chair of the UN Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar, told reporters ahead of the council briefing. “It is an ongoing genocide that is taking place.”

Global pressure is mounting on Myanmar to act on accountability after a Myanmar military crackdown in the western state of Rakhine last year drove some 700,000 of the largely stateless minority over the border into Bangladesh.

Australia on Tuesday slapped travel and financial sanctions on five top Myanmar military officers, accused of overseeing brutal violence against Rohingya Muslims by units under their command, following similar moves by the European Union and United States.

Darusman told the Security Council that remaining Rohingya in Rakhine were “at grave risk” and returning those who have fled “in this context is tantamount to condemning them to life as sub-humans and further mass killing.”

Myanmar has rejected the findings of the UN report.

“We are willing and able to take on the accountability issues for any alleged human rights violation where there is sufficient evidence,” Myanmar’s UN Ambassador Hau Do Suan told the Security Council.

The military crackdown followed attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts. Myanmar has denied committing atrocities against the Rohingya, saying its military carried out justifiable actions against militants.

“The crimes we have heard echo those committed in Rwanda and Srebrenica some twenty years ago. The Security Council acted in those two situations. It acted too late to prevent them which is all to our lasting shame but it did act to ensure accountability,” British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce told the council.

Britain coordinates council action on Myanmar and Pierce said she would push for “accountability that genuinely ends the Burmese military’s impunity.”

The UN inquiry’s report, released in August, called for the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, targeted sanctions and set up an ad hoc tribunal to try suspects or refer them to the International Criminal Court (ICC)

The report accused Myanmar’s military of gang rapes and mass killings with “genocidal intent” and called for its commander-in-chief and five generals to be prosecuted under international law.

Myanmar has denied most of the allegations in the report, blaming Rohingya “terrorists” for most accounts of atrocities.

“National sovereignty is not a license to commit crimes against humanity or genocide,” Darusman told the council. “The Rohingya and all of Myanmar’s people, in fact the entire world, is looking at you to take action.”

However, diplomats say council veto powers China and Russia are likely to protect Myanmar from any action. Myanmar’s UN ambassador said the country would never accept an ICC referral.

Britain, France, the United States and six other members requested Wednesday’s briefing, but China called a vote to try to stop it. Nine countries voted in favor of the briefing – the minimum needed – while China, Russia and Bolivia voted against and Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea and Kazakhstan abstained.

China’s UN Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu told the council “it should not get involved in country-specific human rights issues” and that the briefing would be counterproductive to efforts to solve the situation.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had always maintained that the international community should allow a compromise and cooperation between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

“The Security Council is not the appropriate place to discuss human rights issues,” she told a regular news briefing, adding that the briefing interfered with the talks between Myanmar and Bangladesh and was not beneficial to an appropriate resolution of the issue.

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the nine members who called the meeting of “intentionally torpedoing” council consensus on the issue.

The post Global Pressure Mounts on Myanmar to Act on Accountability in Rakhine Crisis appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Swamped With Plastic Waste: Malaysia Struggles as Global Scrap Piles Up

Posted: 25 Oct 2018 09:28 PM PDT

PULAU INDAH, Malaysia — Hundreds of sacks filled with plastic waste from the United States, Britain, South Korea and Spain spill onto the streets of an industrial zone in Pulau Indah, an island town just an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur and home to Malaysia’s biggest port.

The stench of burning plastic and fumes from nearly a dozen recycling factories wafts through the neighborhood, even as more container-loads of plastic waste are unloaded.

Pulau Indah — ironically, the name means “beautiful island” in Malay — is one of many towns in Malaysia where illegal plastic recycling factories have popped up in recent months as the Southeast Asian nation became the top choice for plastic waste exporters from around the world.

The trigger for this dumping deluge was a Chinese ban on waste imports from the beginning of this year, which disrupted the flow of more than 7 million tons of plastic scrap a year.

Malaysia quickly became the leading alternative destination, importing nearly half a million tons of plastic waste between January and July from just its top 10 source-countries.

Dozens of factories have opened up in Malaysia to handle that waste, many without an operating license, using low-end technology and environmentally harmful methods of disposal.

“The situation is getting worse, especially with more and more illegal plastic recycling factories,” Yeo Bee Yin, Malaysia’s minister of energy, technology, science, climate change and environment, told parliament last week.

Used plastic is recycled into pellets, which are then used to manufacture other plastic products. But the process comes with pollution risks. Plastic unsuitable for recycling is burnt, which releases toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. Or it ends up in landfill, potentially contaminating soil and water sources.

Yeo said she does not want Malaysia to be the “trash can” for developed nations. But Housing Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin, who oversees the waste management department, told Reuters that the government also does not want to miss out on a business that could be worth billions.

Both ministers are members of a government committee studying its options for dealing with the growing pile of plastic waste.

Burning Plastic

In the Pulau Indah industrial zone, Reuters reporters saw nearly a dozen recycling plants, many of them without signboards or company names, though government data shows only two factories in that area have a license to import plastic waste.

One of the bigger ones, Jingye Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, was shut down in August for not having a license, according to an official notice seen by Reuters.

But workers in the factory and others nearby say it reopened within weeks, and when Reuters reporters visited earlier this month, it was operating. Plastic waste was stacked up within the premises and all along the road.

The factory supervisor declined to comment.

Company records show Jingye was set up in Malaysia in October 2017, three months after China said it would ban imports of foreign waste from 2018. Reuters could not reach the owners of the factory and no contact details were listed in records.

One worker in the industrial zone, who did not want to be identified, said there were as many as eight illegal factories in the zone and many openly burned plastic that cannot be recycled.

“Every night they burn. I see black smoke at night, so I go over and ask him ‘why are you trying to kill me?’ They ignore me,” he said.

In the nearby district of Kuala Langat, authorities found 41 factories operating illegally, many of them run by Chinese companies, according to Housing Minister Zuraida. Around 30 were shut down by authorities in the last three months after residents complained of open burning of plastic and health complications.

Stricter Rules

It is unclear how the illegal factories are sourcing plastic waste. Zuraida said some of the 95 companies that have a permit to import and recycle such waste are subcontracting to illegal factories as they lack the capacity to handle such volumes.

Malaysia’s imports of plastic waste from its 10 biggest source-countries jumped to 456,000 tons between January and July, versus 316,600 tons purchased in all of 2017 and 168,500 tons in 2016.

The United States, the world’s top exporter of plastic waste, sent 178,238 tons of such waste to Malaysia between January and July, nearly twice as much as it sent to its second top destination, Thailand, according to the United Nations’ trade database and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.

Britain, another big plastic waste exporter, sends a quarter of its waste to Malaysia, also more than any other country.

Environment Minister Yeo estimated that the plastic recycling industry would earn Malaysia 3.5 billion ringgit ($841.95 million) this year.

Zuraida said she planned to introduce new rules soon that will make it harder for factories to qualify for an import license.

“I understand plastic recycling is quite lucrative. So I am also thinking, should we miss this economic opportunity? This is something the committee will study,” Zuraida told Reuters.

If such an option is pursued, Malaysia would do so on strict terms, require high-end, green technology and allow factories to operate only in heavy industrial areas, she said.

The factories are currently located haphazardly, including near or within residential areas. In Kuala Langat, southwest of Kuala Lumpur, a massive recycling factory nestled between palm plantations was shut down three months ago.

But 3-meter-tall towers of plastic waste — mostly consumer packaging material from the United States, Britain, France, Netherlands, Germany and Australia — were still piled in the front yard. A large plot of land next to the factory has been turned into a dumping site for scrap.

The post Swamped With Plastic Waste: Malaysia Struggles as Global Scrap Piles Up appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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