Thursday, March 7, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Women Underrepresented in Formal Peace Process, Study Finds

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 06:47 AM PST

YANGON—More than 670 women are contributing to peace building in Myanmar, representing nearly 400 organizations, but only about one quarter of them serve as delegates to the formal Union Peace Conference process, according to the "Women Contributing to Peace" map released on Wednesday.

The study, conducted by Nonviolent Peaceforce and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), collected data from August 2018 to January 2019. The map, intended as a quick guide, lists 674 women from 383 organizations who contribute to peace building.

The maps, compiled for each state and region of the country, include well-known women leaders as well as peace advocates who are less visible. They include government officials, parliamentarians (of both the Union and state parliaments), representatives of civil society organizations, political parties, ethnic armed organizations, and the media and private sectors. Most of them participate in peace negotiations in five key sectors: economics, land and environment, politics, security and the social sector.

The map is, by necessity, incomplete, and will be updated gradually. They are designed to help peace process observers understand who is engaged, but the authors do not claim that it includes everybody.

"I hope you will treat this map as a tool, not as artwork," said Teresa McGhie, the director of USAID Mission in Myanmar, at the map's release.

The joint release by USAID and Nonviolent Peaceforce highlighted that, "By illustrating the wide range of women and organizations engaged in peace-related activities across the country, these maps counter the claim that there are no women in Myanmar with the expertise needed to resolve longstanding conflicts."

During the launch, there was a panel discussion focusing on the next steps for peace and security in Myanmar involving women with expertise on security, peace and gender and ethnic affairs.

A screenshot of the infographic 'Women Contributing to Peace'. / ISP-Myanmar

Daw Khin Ma Ma Myo, the director of the Myanmar Institute for Gender Studies, who also participated as a delegate to the security sector discussion in the Union Peace Conference sessions, said the current peace process needs to be reviewed in order to overcome the current deadlock and to draft genuine basic principles that actually reflect the democratic federal Constitution.

She said, "The current deadlock will be slowly overcome, as everyone understands that peace is necessary for the country, but what the stakeholders need to do is to rethink how and by when they are to achieve peace."

Sharing her own experience of being a UPC delegate, she said the key stakeholders, including the armed forces (the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, and the EAOs) and the political parties are upholding their position papers and defending them, so that is another factor contributing to the deadlock.

"Thus, the dialogues in those multi-stakeholder conferences [UPC] are not actual negotiations," she said, adding that the back-channel or sideline talks, or small-scale talks prior to the main conference, are important in peace talks.

Countering the claim that Myanmar has few women who have the capacity and skills to take part in the peace talks, other panelists highlighted that mindsets need to be changed to acknowledge that there are many resourceful women in the field.

U.S. Ambassador Scott Marciel told the audience during his closing remarks that as Myanmar has a lot of women with "knowledge, expertise and willingness to contribute to the process," it is important to include those women in the formal peace process and in all the discussions and dialogues.

"Around the world, research has shown that including women in the peace process greatly increases the chance that it succeeds and lasts," the ambassador said.

The post Women Underrepresented in Formal Peace Process, Study Finds appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Union Lawmaker Calls For Checks on Civil Service Board After Scandal

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 06:31 AM PST

YANGON — An Upper House lawmaker on Thursday called on the government to reckon with the fallout from the partnerships the Union Civil Service Board (UCSB) struck with two unaccredited foreign universities and to prevent such incidents in the future.

During a Union Parliament discussion on a bill submitted by the UCSB to amend the Union Civil Service Board Law in December, Upper House lawmaker U Myo Win said it was important to vet training programs carefully in light of the many bogus universities and diploma mills handing out fake degrees.

The following month, the President's Office announced that the UCSB had ended its partnerships with two such foreign universities — Hawaii-based Akamai University and an affiliated institution, Malaysia's EDS Business School — following a recent scandal.

The UCSB, a government agency responsible for recruiting and training civil servants, worked with Akamai and EDS in providing several courses since 2017 and a master's degree program in 2018 for high-ranking government officials.

Following the President's Office announcement, the UCSB has vowed to work only with legitimate universities in the future. But further details, or any explanation of how the relationships with Akamai and EBS were formed, have yet to emerged.

U Myo Win, who has a history of calling for civil service reform, said in Parliament on Thursday that the agency chose to partner with the two institutions without proper checks.

"How many people in Myanmar hold certificates from those universities? Will the government recognize those certificates? What about the public money spent on them? The government needs to take action on that. Lawmakers also need to enact legislation to prevent such cases from happening again," he said.

He suggested adding language to the UCSB Law amendment bill requiring the agency to announce in advance any plans to partner with foreign universities and institutions on training programs and provide an estimated budget to the government and Parliament for approval.

U Myo Win also suggested that the government approve all UCSB plans to hire foreign experts of consultants.

Last month, a UCSB spokesperson said no public money had been wasted in the Akamai and EBS tie-ups but refused to say how much was spent.

Following Thursday’s discussion, the Parliament speaker said the Upper House's Bill Committee would hold a hearing on U Myo Win’s proposals.

Ko Nay Yan Oo, who is studying at Oxford University in England and broke the scandal via Facebook, has petitioned the President's Office, State Counselor's Office and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the UCSB. The ACC could not be reached on Thursday for comment.

The post Union Lawmaker Calls For Checks on Civil Service Board After Scandal appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ukrainian Firm Will Reportedly Help Tatmadaw Build Plant for Military Equipment

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 05:17 AM PST

YANGON – A Ukrainian military import/export agency and the Myanmar Army recently signed a joint venture agreement to construct an assembly plant to build armored personal carriers (APCs) and self-propelled howitzers by 2020.

Defense Blog reported on Wednesday that Great Export Import Company had confirmed an initial delivery of equipment and machinery for use in the plant.

Defense Blog published a list of items, including descriptions and value figures, imported by the Ukspecexport agency. The total value was more than US$4.2 million, or more than 6 billion kyats.

The list includes components for a production line to assemble BTR-4U eight-wheeled APCs and 2S1U self-propelled howitzers, based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis. These are different from the BTR-3U eight-wheeled armored vehicles seen in military parades, combat drills and military blogs in Myanmar.

The Irrawaddy phoned Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the Office of the Commander-in-Chief, for comment on the Defense Blog report multiple times Thursday, but the calls went unanswered.

According to some Burmese-language military blogs, the Army used BTR-3U armored vehicle in Shan State's Laukai in operations against the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in 2016, alongside Chinese Type 92 light APCs. Some pro-military commenters said on Facebook that the BTR-4U is an upgraded version of the BTR-3U and can carry an additional eight soldiers.

The BTR-4U APC was launched in March 2014 by the Ukraine Army's Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The vehicle is equipped with a 30mm cannon, coaxial machine gun (7.62mm) and four Konkurs or Baryer anti-tank (AT) missiles. It can also be armed with a 30mm automatic grenade launcher instead of two AT missiles.

Defense Blog reported in May 2016 that Myanmar bought 10 BTR-3Us from Ukraine in 2003 and that in 2010 the military began acquiring spare parts for the vehicles from Ukraine.

The Myanmar military has also bought about 20 Mi-17 helicopters in various versions since 1995. Since then the Ukraine Army has been supplying parts and training provided by foreign specialists for Myanmar. The Mi-17 chopper can carry up to 30 troops. They are used by the Myanmar military for transportation.

In January 2018 after a visit to Myanmar, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant-General Alexander Fomin revealed that Myanmar planned to purchase six Sukhoi Su-30 twin-engine fighter aircraft. The Myanmar Army has never publicly announced what version of the Sukhoi SU-30 it plans to buy from Russia.

The post Ukrainian Firm Will Reportedly Help Tatmadaw Build Plant for Military Equipment appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Timeout

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 05:02 AM PST

Art, Nature & Heritage of Inle: Artist Residency Exhibition

After completing residency programs at Inle Lake in January, four Myanmar artists are displaying the artwork they created at the lake. See the paintings, sculpture and photography of Sai Htin Linn, Htet Myo Htut Aung (Pinky), Pyae Phyo Thet Paing and Aung Thu Phyo who were asked to represent the natural landscape, culture and traditions of Inle through their work. This event is held in conjunction with My Yangon My Home, The Loft Hotel and Inle Lake View Resort and Spa.

March 1 to 9 | The Loft Hotel | No. 33, Yaw Min Gyi Street, Dagon Township

Saudades Art Exhibition

Four artists from across the world will exhibit their work at Gallery 65 for four days. The collective works of artists Ardy Timmer-Cuijpers (Netherlands), Mafi Espirito Santo (Portugal/ S Africa), Sandar Khaing (Myanmar), and Zun Ei Phyu (Myanmar) will be shown. Saudade in Portuguese is a key emotion word that conveys "a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves." The four artists explore, recollect, re-enact and retrace what has since passed but remains alive in their consciousness.

March 7 to 10 | Gallery 65 | No. 65, Yaw Min Gyi Road, Dagon Township

Live Music with New Direction

Atlas Rooftop Bar and Lounge continues to keep us entertained and relaxed on Friday evenings when we have the chance to wind down after the busy week and clink glasses with friends to toast to the weekend. Live music will be provided by New Direction who will play pop hits in this breezy rooftop setting.

March 8 | 8 p.m. | Atlas Rooftop Bar & Lounge | Uniteam Building, 84 Pan Hlaing Street, Sanchaung Township |

Korea Day

For those of you who love everything Korean, get yourselves to Lotte Hotel this weekend. This event organized by the Myanmar-Korea Tourism Development Working Group is all about promoting Korea's food, culture and tourism. There will be a photo booth with traditional Korean outfits all weekend and live performance by Project K, Rose Quartz and Key on Saturday morning from 9 a.m. Famous Myanmar travel blogger May Zune Win of I Love Traveling will be there to give tips on traveling to Korea and Nu Myat Theingi Oo of Nu Myat Around the World travel blog will give a talk about why you should travel to Korea on Sunday afternoon.

March 9 and 10 | Sapphire Ballroom | Lotte Hotel Yangon, 6½ Mile, Pyay Road, Hlaing Township

Women's Rights Week Outdoor Screening

To conclude the French Institute's week-long event schedule as part of International Women's Day, there will be a screening of the French film "The One" which is about the challenges women face in their professional lives. The film is in French with English subtitles.

March 9 | 6:30 p.m. | Institut Français de Birmanie | 340, Pyay Road, Sanchaung Township

'Bent Nails' Performance Art

The performance art scene in Yangon is certainly growing and is supported in no small part by independent contemporary art gallery Myanm/art. Well-established artist Zoncy will collaborate with the Thinkers for a final performance before jetting to Germany for her next artist residency program. The image of "bent nails" offsets the theme of mistakes and perhaps even regret: "Bent nails make me think of mistakes, or that which cannot be corrected again without a time machine."

March 9 | 6 p.m. | Myanm/art | 3FL, 98 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township

Live Music with Ruthless Jambalaya

Union Bar & Grill will be the venue for live music on Saturday evening by a trio of musicians who are well-known in the Yangon live music and open-mic scene. They play jazzy funk music with a smattering of blues that will have you tapping your toes, shaking your hips or taking to the floor to dance the evening away.

March 9 | 8 p.m. | Union Bar & Grill | 42 Strand Road, Botahtaung Township

Level 2 Sessions House & Techno

Level 2 Sessions is a regular club night which showcases the best house and techno DJ talent in Yangon. This Saturday night, Karl Ross, Lion Grünenberg and Yu KT will play "eclectic and underground-oriented music" at Level 2, a Yangon nightclub with top quality sound and lighting and a true underground club atmosphere. Tickets are 8,000 kyats and include a free beer.

March 9 | 11 p.m. | Level 2 | Compound of Yangon International Hotel, Corner of Ahlone Road and Pyay Road, Dagon Township

3 Issues 3 Acts

Students of Parami Institute will perform three short plays which they have also written and directed themselves. The plays deal with real issues facing young adults like themselves and others in Myanmar today. Titled "Slash and Burn," "Phantom Coercion" and "Legacy," the students developed their scripts through research and interviews, and workshops with professional performers and directors.

March 10 | 7 p.m. | Parami Institute of Liberal Arts & Sciences | Shwe Gone Plaza, Intersection of Kabar Aye Pagoda Road and Shwe Gone Daing Road, Bahan Township

G Talk: Little by Little

Julie Garnier, founder of Lilla clothing company, will give a talk about "slow fashion," discussing why and how our clothing choices make a difference to the environment. This is the third session of G Talk, a regular seminar event which is organized to share knowledge and inspire people of Yangon.

March 11 | 5 p.m. | Hotel G | 5 Alan Pya Pagoda Street, Dagon Township

Wathann Animation Workshop

Organized by the Wathann Filmfest and The Japan Foundation, this workshop in Burmese language takes place over five full days and offers a unique chance to learn about animation for children's cartoons. Three top Japanese animators will share their skills with budding animation artists and incorporating culture into cartoons will be a central theme.

March 13 to 17 | Film Development Center | No. 50, Golden Valley Road, Bahan Township

The post Yangon Timeout appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thai Court Bans Party for Nominating Princess for PM

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 04:10 AM PST

BANGKOK—A Thai court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of an opposition party for nominating the king’s sister as its candidate for prime minister in a March 24 election, the first since the military seized power in a 2014 coup.

Banning the Thai Raksa Chart party just over two weeks before the general election struck a blow to opposition parties’ chances of defeating parties allied to the military junta that has ruled for nearly five years.

“The court has ordered that the party be dissolved,” Judge Taweekiet Meenakanit said in the Constitutional Court ruling, which also banned the party’s executive board members from politics for 10 years.

Thai Raksa Chart is one of several parties loyal to ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in an election that broadly pits his supporters against establishment parties, including one that has junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as its prime ministerial candidate.

Opposition parties say Prayuth’s candidacy, combined with electoral laws allowing the junta to appoint the 250-seat upper house Senate, could result in an elected government that extends military influence.

Police had deployed more than 1,000 officers in and around the court and cordoned off the surrounding area ahead of the ruling.

Party leader Preechapol Pongpanich, who was visibly emotional, told reporters outside the court the party accepted the ruling.

“We all had good intentions for the country,” he said.

Supporters were seen crying, saying they would vote instead for other opposition parties.

The Election Commission asked the court to dissolve the party after it nominated Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi for prime minister, which the commission described as “antagonistic toward the constitutional monarchy.”

The princess relinquished her royal titles in 1972 but is still officially treated as a senior member of the royal family, which is highly revered in Thailand.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn strongly opposed his sister’s nomination, calling it “inappropriate” and unconstitutional and her candidacy was swiftly disqualified by the Election Commission.

While Thai Raksa Chart is not the largest pro-Thaksin party, dissolving it would weaken his supporters’ strategy of fielding several separate parties in the hope of securing more seats for Thaksin loyalists.

'Moving forward'

Parties aligned to Thaksin’s populist policies have won every election since 2001, but changes in electoral laws have effectively diluted the popular vote, in a bid that his loyalists say is aimed at banishing his influence.

New rules put in place by the outgoing military government benefit smaller parties at the expense of the top vote-winning parties through a complex formula when 150 “party-list seats” are shared out in the 500-seat House of Representatives.

The other 350 seats are directly elected.

Because the main pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai party will be limited in party-list seats, Thai Raksa Chart and other allied parties were formed to reap the benefits awarded to smaller parties.

“Thai Raksa Chart is deployed tactically to mop up party-list seats to complement Pheu Thai,” Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, told Reuters before the ruling.

“It was plausible in view of the princess’s short-lived candidacy that the Thaksin-aligned parties even had a shot at a simple majority had her nomination not been nullified.”

Thaksin lives in self-exile to avoid a graft conviction he says was politically motivated.

His opponents have sought to portray his movement as insufficiently loyal to the monarchy – which he vehemently denies – and Thai Raksa Chart’s nomination of the king’s sister was intended to refute that assertion.

With Thai Raksa Chart banned, its voters will likely switch to another pro-Thaksin party, Thitinan said, though the ruling clearly hurt his supporters’ chances.

The princess, who broke with royal tradition by attempting to enter politics, is in Germany, according to her posts on Instagram.

“It’s a very sad and depressing story,” the princess said in an Instagram comment, replying to supporters informing her of the news.

The post Thai Court Bans Party for Nominating Princess for PM appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Govt, Military Use U.N. Opium Report to Slur Enemies, Shield Allies

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 03:42 AM PST

It is clear to see that Myanmar authorities had a great deal of influence on the Myanmar Opium Survey the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released in January.

Many of us know who really grows the opium, and their ties to the authorities. Instead, the UNODC has put most of the blame on the ethnic armed groups fighting the Myanmar military.

The report was a joint effort of the UNODC and Myanmar government. The UNODC and the government’s Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control would have each written a draft and then combined them.

The result reflects the way Myanmar authorities regularly accuse the ethnic armed groups they are fighting of growing opium and using the profits to buy weapons. The report reads less like a product of the UNODC than of the government.

Of course the UNODC could not have released the report without the government’s approval, so it must be biased.

The UNODC accused the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a mostly ethnic Kachin armed group that engaged in heavy fighting with the military last year in northern Myanmar. Though the rivals have met several times in China for talks, sporadic fighting has continued.

Kachin State accounts for 15 percent of the opium produced in Myanmar. The rest comes from neighboring Shan State. We all know where the 15 percent in Kachin is grown.

According to the Transnational Institute, a research and advocacy group based in the Netherlands, most of the poppy cultivation in Kachin takes place it two locations: in Sadung Township bordering China and inside a tiger reserve in Tanai Township, which are effectively under military and government control.

Why did the UNODC fail to mention that a local border guard force under the military’s supervision is the one growing poppy in Sadung? The military clearly did not want fingers pointed at one of its allies.

The UNODC could cooperate with the KIA in many ways to combat opium production in Kachin State. But this report sullies the KIA’s reputation, so it may now be unwilling to cooperate. The KIA advocates against drugs and has even cracked down on production, but the UNODC failed to mention this. It also failed to mention the work of Pat Jasan, a vigilante group that detains drug users and destroys poppy crops.

In northern Shan State, meanwhile, the Pansay militia allows locals to grow poppy in area under its control and then takes a cut of their revenue, all while fighting with the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, another ethnic armed group in conflict with the military. Why did the UNODC not mention that?

Instead, the UNODC also accused the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army — yet another ethnic armed group fighting the military — which has a small area of control in Shan State’s Kokang region near the Chinese border.

But the government does not dare to blame the United Wa State Army (UWSA). The powerful ethnic armed group claims it has stopped growing poppy, but some still believe it continues to cultivate crops in a few remote areas in northern Shan. Again, the UNODC failed to accuse the UWSA.

The government and military have been blaming the country’s drug trade on their most hated enemies for a long time. The UNODC should get wise to the ruse. Otherwise, it will continue to be their tool.

The post Myanmar Govt, Military Use U.N. Opium Report to Slur Enemies, Shield Allies appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Local Food Businesses Victorious at Awards Night

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 02:39 AM PST

YANGON—Wednesday night was an occasion to honor the most talented people in Myanmar's dining, nightlife and travel industries. The annual Myanmore Awards, now in their sixth year, saw 17 coveted awards handed out at a glamorous gala event held at Novotel Hotel.

In a city where unique and exciting new restaurant concepts crop up so regularly, competition in the dining scene is fierce. Nevertheless, locally-owned restaurants repeatedly came out victorious in the 2019 Myanmore Awards: Orng Kitchen won Restaurant of the Year, Burma Bistro was awarded Newcomer of the Year and Kachin restaurant Mu Ai was awarded best local cuisine restaurant. Bodhi Nava, a new café by the same owner as former award-winner Green Gallery, won Café of the Year, while Le Planteur's executive chef Jean Marc Lemmery was announced this year's Chef of the Year.

"I was a bit shocked when they announced the winner of the Restaurant of the Year award," said Orng Joitamoi, head chef and owner of Orng Kitchen who won Chef of the Year in 2018.

"Last year, when we won Chef of the Year there was a huge pressure on me. We kept trying harder and working harder and I think our food and our restaurant improved about ten fold in the process. This award means a lot for me personally and for the whole kitchen: we have worked so hard for this."

In the bar scene, Bar of the Year was awarded to Penthouse and Sanchaung institution Win Star beer shop took home the Myanmar Beer Outlet of the Year award. Nikki Barltrop, chief operating officer of the 57Below group of restaurants which include Gekko, Union Bar and Grill and Parami Pizza, was commended for constantly raising the bar in the food and beverage industry through her commitment to quality and was awarded Special Award for Contribution to Excellence.

Previously awarded to Isabel Sway Htin and Htet Myet Oo of Rangoon Tea House fame, this year the KBZ Entrepreneur of the Year award went to another foodie, Myat Phoo Wai of NooDi noodle shop.

After plans to hold a separate hospitality and tourism awards event in December fell through, Myanmore instead added a new travel category to the awards this year. The Best Experience award went to the well-established Balloons Over Bagan, an operation owned by Memories Group, while Tourism Industry Figure of the Year was awarded to the hard-working May Myat Mon Win for her tireless efforts in promoting tourism in Myanmar. Hotel of the Year went to Sofitel Inle Lake Myat Min.

The post Local Food Businesses Victorious at Awards Night appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rohingya Trading Identity for Partial Citizenship, More Rights in Rakhine State

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 02:29 AM PST

YANGON — More than half of the 7,000-plus Muslim Rohingya who have applied for citizenship in Rakhine State over the past three years have now been accepted following a wave of approvals in just the last few months, according to the Ministry of Labor, Population and Immigration.

U Shein Win, deputy director general of the ministry’s National Registration and Citizenship Department, said most of them failed to qualify for full citizenship because they lacked the necessary family records going back seven decades.

In any case, the recent wave of citizenship cards has been raising both hopes and old grievances across the strife-torn region. It has drawn a mixed reaction among Rohingya in Maungdaw Township and the more than 700,000 who have fled to Bangladesh since late 2017 to escape a military crackdown in northern Rakhine.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in early 2018 to repatriate the refugees, but the process has yet to begin in earnest. Only a few dozen have returned to Myanmar to date, mostly outside of official channels.

Recently, authorities in Rakhine have issued more than 100 green cards granting partial citizenship to Rohingya who stayed in Maungdaw as an incentive to entice more of the refugees back.

According to Maungdaw residents, more than 400 applicants are still awaiting decisions on what sort of citizenship they will receive — if any.

Myanmar's Citizenship Law was enacted in 1982 under the Ne Win regime, creating three categories of citizenship with varying privileges: full, associate and naturalized. The accompanying cards are colored pink, blue and green, respectively. The laws stipulates that anyone whose ancestors arrived Myanmar before Jan. 4, 1948, the day Myanmar gained independence from Britain, is eligible for one of the three.

All applications are vetted in Naypyitaw by the Central Body, made up of top officials from several government ministries.

People walk between stalls at a market in Maungdaw town in northern Arakan State on November 11, 2014. / Reuters

Thousands of cards issued

U Shein Win said the “program” was initiated in 2016, a few months after the national elections that swept the National League for Democracy to power.

He said the majority of the applicants were those with National Verification Cards (NVCs), which grant Rohingya residence in Myanmar while they apply for citizenship.

The NVCs were thought up by the previous administration, headed by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, to replace the so-called white cards. The white cards had allowed holders to vote in the 2010 general elections but were revoked after the communal riots that swept across the country two years later, disenfranchising many Rohingya in the process.

U Shein Win said the government had issued 14,000 NVCs in Rakhine, and at least half the holders have applied for citizenship. He said the government handed out citizenship cards to those applicants in two groups earlier this year and had only one group left to vet.

"Most of the applications have been approved; I just don't know the specific number…. I think there is only one batch to be completed." he said.

U Shein Win said most of them have received green and blue cards. A few pink cards went to those with the most complete family records. "Pink cards appear to be the fewest,” he said.

More rights

Some Rohingya applicants say the Central Body recently approved 74 green cards.

Abdul Rashid (name changed for his safety), from Maungdaw, said his family was among the lucky few granted pink cards because they had records going back seven generations.

He said many applicants thought they would get full citizenship, but added that most could not produce the necessary family documents dating back to 1948 or beyond and received green or blue cards instead. He said some of those granted green cards were dissatisfied and have appealed the decision, while others have refused to even take them.

Amir Hamza (name changed) is still awaiting a decision on his application.

He said the cards — whether pink, blue or green — label them as ethnic Bengali rather than Rohingya, which they consider themselves, but have been accepted regardless by most as a ticket to a better life. Because even as naturalized citizens, he said, they can move freely, own property, access education, vote and get passports.

"Although we prefer Rohingya over Bengali, a green or pink card is a necessity, so we exchanged our [ethnic] status to have a practical life," Amir Hamza said.

U Shein Win, the immigration official, confirmed that the new cards labeled the holders Bengali, reflecting the government’s position that they are the descendants of Bangladeshi laborers brought to Myanmar by the British before independence.

Rohingya children fly improvised kites at the Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, in December 2017. / Reuters

A tough choice

It remains unclear how many NVC holders have submitted applications nationwide as of February.

According to the President’s Office, the Immigration Department issued nearly 760,000 white cards and about 470,000 have been surrendered as of December 2016.

Since then, the department has distributed about 6,000 NVCs to those who surrendered their white cards.

Amir Hamza, who is on good terms with some local officials, said that about 150 green cards were handed out in Rakhine as of February.

He said that so long as Rohingya insisted on being identified as such, they would never gain citizenship.

"We lose our identity, but we have greater opportunities. I think my decision [to apply] was not wrong," he said.

Naturalized and associate citizenship is open to anyone who entered, or whose parents entered, Myanmar after 1948, or who has a Foreign Registration Card. However, those citizens are not allowed to become diplomats, members of parliament or run for president or hold other senior government positions.

Abdul Rashid and Amir Hamza said some Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh also want to apply for the citizenship cards but are afraid they may be targeted by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. The militant group launched the attacks on police posts in Rakhine State that triggered the military crackdown in 2017, and some of its members are reported to be hiding in the camps among the refugees.

Not good enough

Al Haj U Aye Lwin, a former member of the now-defunct Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, said issuing green cards to Rohingya in Maungdaw with the requisite family records was not good enough.

As a commission member, he visited the refugee camps in Bangladesh several times and learned that many of the refugees had National Registration Cards (NRCs), which the Myanmar government started issued in 1951 to every citizen but later demanded back. Many Muslims, particularly those in Rakhine State, did not turn them in.

After a popular nationwide uprising in 1988, the government began issuing Muslims with the white cards. U Aye Lwin said many white card holders therefore likely had NRCs before. He urged authorities to consider that before granting applicants anything less than full citizenship.

"If the recipients accept green cards or associate citizenship, we have nothing to say. But once they accept the green card, it means they are being downgraded from full citizenship," said U Aye Lwin, a member of the Myanmar Interfaith Dialogue Group.

He noted, however, that the children of those getting green cards now would eventually be able to apply for full citizenship themselves.

Given the ongoing violence and persecution in Maungdaw, Amir Hamza said he may move to Yangon whatever color card he gets in hopes of starting a new life.

"Once we own that card, we can travel freely across the country," he said.

And given how many times different identity cards have been issued to Rohingya in the past only to be revoked later, many remain wary of the latest effort.

Asked about those concerns, U Shein Win laughed.

"That will never happen because this program is being carried out by the state,” he said. “Don't worry."

The post Rohingya Trading Identity for Partial Citizenship, More Rights in Rakhine State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

French Man Jailed for Drone Flight Awaiting Deportation

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 01:27 AM PST

NAYPYITAW—A French national who was sentenced to one month in prison with hard labor after flying a drone near the Union Parliament Building completed his sentence Wednesday but remains in detention in Naypyitaw awaiting deportation.

Though he has served his time in Yamethin Prison, Arthur Desclaux now faces deportation under the Immigration Law. However, he is being held at a police station in Ottarathiri Township until someone can be found to act as surety for him, township immigration officer U Myint Zaw told reporters. He remains in detention at the police station as he faces a 10-million-kyat bill for the deportation and there is no one to cover it.

"Unfortunately, his family doesn't have friends here. So far, there is no one who can act as surety for him, so he has to stay here. The [French] Embassy can't act as surety because it needs to be done by a person," U Myint Zaw said.

According to the Immigration Law, Immigration officials are authorized to detain a foreigner for a maximum of 15 days before permission is granted for deportation. However, the Immigration Office is expected to act promptly out of consideration for the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The counselor at the French Embassy said he believed the sentence of one month in prison was appropriate, as Desclaux flew the drone in a restricted area near Gate 2 of the Union Parliament building on Feb. 7.

Desclaux entered Myanmar through the Myawaddy border checkpoint from Mae Sot town in Thailand's Tak province on Jan. 30. He arrived in Naypyitaw by bicycle on Feb. 7. He was arrested while flying the drone on the same day, before he had even found accommodation in the city.

Arthur Desclaux's bicycle. The French national arrived in Naypyitaw by bicycle on Feb. 7. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

He was charged under Article 8 of the 2012 Export and Import Law for illegally bringing a drone into the country. The law prohibits people from exporting and importing restricted materials. Violators face up to three years' imprisonment and a fine if convicted.

Desclaux said he was unaware of the need to declare the drone. He would not have been imprisoned if he had declared it.

After his release from prison on Wednesday, the French national was charged by the Civil Aviation Department and the Immigration Department with two additional offenses: violating the 1934 Burma Aircraft Act and visa regulations.

He confessed to violating both laws. The Ottarathi Township Court fined him 50,000 kyats for the first charge, and 100,000 kyats for the second charge. The French Embassy paid the fines for him.

The township judge said the court gave Desclaux a light sentence considering as he is a foreigner and not familiar with Myanmar's laws, and had already been imprisoned under the Export and Import Law.

The post French Man Jailed for Drone Flight Awaiting Deportation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Another Village Official Slain in Northern Rakhine

Posted: 07 Mar 2019 01:22 AM PST

SITTWE—An administrative official was stabbed to death in Thayet Tabin village in Rakhine State's Kyauktaw Township on Tuesday.

U Ba Saw, 47, was found dead with multiple stab wounds at his shop on a road just outside the village, said fellow village administrator U Saw Maung Thein.

"He ran a shop on the road near the village. He lived there alone, and his family lives in the village. His son found his father's body in the shop on Tuesday and informed the authorities," U Saw Maung Thein said.

The victim sustained four knife wounds; three in the chest and one in the throat, according to the police.

Kyauktaw police chief Police Captain Soe Lwin said U Ba Saw's body had been sent to the township hospital for a post-mortem examination.

"We are in the process of investigating," he told The Irrawaddy, adding that the motive was still unknown.

The victim had served as the secretary of the village administrative body under the former military regime, and was serving as an administrator responsible for 100 households in the village at the time of his death.

There has been a rash of unsolved murders in northern Rakhine State recently, and local villagers have been frightened by the latest incident, U Saw Maung Thein said.

On Feb. 12, U Maung Kyaw, a village administration official in his 50s, was shot dead by an unknown gunman in the village of Thayagon in Minbya Township.

U Maung Aye Thein, 56, a resident of Pan Myaung village in Minbya Township, met the same fate on Jan. 22.

On Dec. 24, U Khin Than Maung, a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Arakan League for Democracy, was gunned down at his house in Kya Inn Taung village, Myebon Township.

The post Another Village Official Slain in Northern Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Italy Mulls Preliminary Belt and Road Deal With China

Posted: 06 Mar 2019 09:19 PM PST

ROME — Italy is negotiating a preliminary deal to become a part of China’s giant “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan to boost trade, a government official said on Wednesday, in a move that could upset the United States.

Junior Industry Minister Michele Geraci said that if Italy did sign an accord when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the country later this month, it would be non-binding and just “an initial framework.”

However, in a sign there is no government unity on the issue, another junior minister cautioned against any such move, saying more thought had to be given about national security.

“At this moment, I do not think we should proceed with the signature,” Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Guglielmo Picchi wrote on Twitter.

Both Picchi and Geraci represent the coalition, far-right League party.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), championed by Xi, aims to link China by sea and land with Southeast and Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, through an infrastructure network on the lines of the old Silk Road.

Aside from boosting trade and investment, Xi aims to advance exchanges in areas such as science, technology and culture.

Italian officials said Xi was due to visit Italy from March 22-24 and would spend at least one day in Palermo, the capital of the island of Sicily.

“We are still negotiating the details of the MOU [memorandum of understanding], and it might or might not be signed,” Geraci said. “It is an initial framework. It is not a contract. There are no commitments. There are no funds and no obligations.”

Italy fell into recession at the end of 2018 for the third time in a decade and the government is eager to find ways to boost the economy and revive the stalled construction sector.

Pressure

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the United States was irritated by the prospect of Italy joining the BRI, and had warned the project could significantly damage Rome’s international image.

“We view BRI as a ‘made by China, for China’ initiative,” the newspaper quoted Garrett Marquis, White House National Security Council spokesperson, as saying.

Geraci said he had not seen any sign the United States was annoyed or concerned.

“Our goal does not seem to me to be controversial,” he said. “It is about helping companies do business.”

An Italian diplomatic source told Reuters that Rome was facing “a lot of pressure” from China to sign a MOU, but added that if an accord was reached it would be “an empty box.”

Picchi, who is close to League leader Matteo Salvini, said allowing China to help build Italy’s 5G high-speed telecom network and giving it access to other infrastructure was a security issue that needed further review.

A number of European Union states have signed MOUs with China, including Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Malta, Poland and Portugal. If Italy signs, it would be the first Group of Seven major industrialized nation to do so.

An EU spokesperson in Brussels said the EU was cooperating with Beijing on the initiative, but added that this was “on the basis of China fulfilling its declared aim of making it an open platform which adheres to market rules, EU and international requirements and standards.”

Past EU optimism over dealing with China has turned to frustration over Beijing’s slowness to open up its economy and a surge of Chinese takeovers in critical sectors. There has also been pressure from the United States to shun China over espionage fears.

The post Italy Mulls Preliminary Belt and Road Deal With China appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

INSIGHT—Long Before Trump’s Trade War with China, Huawei’s Activities Were Secretly Tracked

Posted: 06 Mar 2019 08:53 PM PST

The surprise arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in December quickly turned the executive, Meng Wanzhou, into a central figure in a trade war between two economic superpowers.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters he would consider intervening in her case—a potential action he alluded to again two weeks ago—if it would help close a trade deal with China.

Meng’s lawyer on Wednesday told a Canadian court that he has concerns the allegations against her have a political character, noting Trump’s comments on the case.

But U.S. probes of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. for allegedly evading U.S. sanctions on Iran were not rooted in Trump's trade aspirations. Long before Trump initiated a bitter trade war with China, Huawei activities were under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, according to interviews with ten people familiar with the Huawei probes and documents related to the investigations seen by Reuters.

The U.S. focus on Huawei intensified after years of investigation into smaller Chinese rival ZTE Corp., and relied in part on information collected from devices of company employees traveling through airports.

Two of the sources said a critical point took place in August 2017, when deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein—best known for his oversight of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the U.S. election—handed a lead role to Brooklyn prosecutors to pursue possible bank fraud charges against Huawei.

Fifteen months later, that strategy would help land Meng in a Canadian jail.

The U.S. investigations of China’s top telecom companies were spurred by reports by Reuters over six years ago, detailing possible Iran sanctions violations by both ZTE and Huawei, as well as close ties between Huawei and Skycom Tech Co. Ltd.—a suspected front company doing business in Iran.

A spokesperson for Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, has denied the charges in the sanctions case, and did not provide further comment to Reuters. Meng has said she is innocent of the charges. ZTE, which pleaded guilty in 2017 for illegally shipping U.S. goods to Iran, did not respond to requests for comment.

U.S. Justice Department spokesperson Nicole Navas Oxman said the government pursues cases “free of any political interference and follows the evidence and rule of law in pursuing criminal charges.”

Airport evidence grab

On Dec. 1, 2018, Meng was stopped at Vancouver International Airport as she walked up the jetway after her flight, according to a lawsuit she filed on Friday accusing the Canadian government of violating her rights. Border officers examined her passport and escorted her to an area for secondary screenings.

While there, she was instructed to surrender her two mobile phones, an iPad and a personal computer, along with their passwords, the suit alleges, and the officers viewed the devices’ contents.

Reuters has not been able to determine what information was found on Meng's devices, but it is not the first time she and other Chinese telecom executives have turned over such property to border patrol agents.

In the years leading up to the Huawei indictment, U.S. officials had been capturing information that would influence the investigation when telecom executives passed through U.S. airports, according to a number of sources familiar with the Huawei and ZTE investigations and the Meng indictment.

For example, Meng arrived in the United States via John F. Kennedy International Airport in early 2014. The indictment says investigators found “suggested talking points” on one of her electronic devices, stating among other things that Huawei's relationship with Skycom was “normal business cooperation.”

Meng had been pulled into a secondary screening at the airport that time as well, and her electronic devices were taken, according to a person familiar with the stop. After a couple of hours, the devices were returned and she was freed to go, the person said.

Another border search, this time on Sept. 12, 2014, of executives from rival ZTE also supported U.S. investigators long-held suspicions of how Huawei might have been doing illicit business in countries subject to U.S. sanctions, one of the sources told Reuters.

ZTE’s CFO at the time was stopped at Boston’s Logan Airport after flying in from London with an assistant, the person said.

The assistant was carrying a Lenovo laptop containing a confidential ZTE document, dated Aug. 25, 2011 and signed by four top executives, about the need to establish front companies to supply U.S. procured items needed for projects in embargoed countries.

The airport stop provided key evidence against ZTE in its legal battle with the United States, according to U.S. officials. But it also identified a company as “F7” and how it used a front company to serve as its agent for contracts in sanctioned countries. F7 was Huawei, according to the individuals familiar with the ZTE and Huawei investigations.

The document was posted on the U.S. Commerce Department website in March 2016 when ZTE was placed on a list of companies that were restricted from buying parts and components from U.S. suppliers. Shortly after the public posting, the New York Times reported that the description of F7 offered by ZTE matched Huawei.

A month later, the Commerce Department sent a subpoena to Huawei in the United States demanding information on the company’s exporting American technology to Iran, according to a court document and one of the people familiar with the Huawei probe.

From ZTE to Huawei

With the case against ZTE wrapping up, more than a dozen people from Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Homeland Security and Justice, gathered in Washington on Feb. 14, 2017 and talked about how they were moving forward against Huawei, according to a person familiar with matter.

Brooklyn prosecutors discussed the relationship between Huawei and HSBC, a bank that was required to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors in any investigation until the end of 2017 for violating U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws, the person added.

In late 2016, HSBC began to conduct an internal bank probe of Huawei. In the weeks and months following the meeting, HSBC helped authorities obtain evidence of links between Skycom and Huawei, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The probe found Meng met in 2013 with a HSBC banker. She later gave him a copy of the PowerPoint presentation, which the U.S. indictment says misrepresented Huawei's control of Skycom.

HSBC told Reuters that it provided information in response to demands from the Justice Department.

The U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington D.C., meanwhile, pursued a more traditional export control investigation against Huawei, which included the accusations of attempted illegal shipments of computers to Iran disclosed in the Reuters 2012 story.

A grand jury subpoena was issued to the U.S. subsidiary of the company in April 2017, the first clear sign to Huawei that the probe had turned criminal.

Armed with that knowledge, the company moved U.S.-based Chinese employees who knew about its Iranian dealings out of the country and otherwise concealed and destroyed evidence, the prosecutors allege. Meng and other Huawei executives also began to avoid travel to the United States, prosecutors say.

In the late summer of 2017, according to two of the sources close to the Huawei investigation, Rosenstein chose Brooklyn as the venue to file charges and the Washington U.S. Attorney’s office dropped out of the case. Brooklyn was already working with a money laundering unit at the Justice Department. The national security division also merged with the Brooklyn prosecution team.

Legal experts said since most evidence of any illegal U.S. goods in Iran presumably existed outside the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities, the bank fraud route presented a potentially quicker path to indictment. They added that bank fraud charges are more likely to lead to arrest by other countries for extradition to the United States than export controls or sanctions violations, and have a longer statute of limitations.

Meng and the company were charged with bank and wire fraud. The PowerPoint presentation's "numerous misrepresentations" were central to the charges brought against Meng herself, the indictment shows.

Twelve months after Brooklyn got the case, prosecutors secretly obtained a warrant for Meng’s arrest.

Less than four months later they learned she was stopping in Vancouver en route to Mexico on Dec. 1, and asked the Canadians to detain her at the airport.

The post INSIGHT—Long Before Trump's Trade War with China, Huawei's Activities Were Secretly Tracked appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nowhere to Call Home: Yangon Slum Dwellers Face Eviction Threat

Posted: 06 Mar 2019 08:44 PM PST

YANGON — Than Chaung was among the lucky ones when Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in 2008. He and his family survived the country’s worst natural disaster, fleeing to Yangon as the storm killed nearly 140,000 people and battered millions of homes.

But a decade on he was forced from his home again last December, this time by men wielding sledgehammers under orders from authorities to clear the shanty town where he lived.

The demolition of Nyaung village in Hlaing Thar Yar, an industrial zone in northwest Yangon, was the third last year, part of a government plan to relocate 440,000 slum dwellers in the city where 30 percent live in informal settlements.

Since the easing of political and economic restrictions began in 2011, demand for industrial land has surged — while natural disasters and a manufacturing boom in Yangon and Mandalay have spurred migration to these cities.

Than Chaung and other residents said they were hardly consulted or compensated for losing their homes, which they said they built on land they bought from another villager.

Last year, a court ruled that their claim was not valid because the land belonged to a factory.

“They said we have to move because this is not our land. But we paid money for it,” said Than Chaung, showing a photograph of a handwritten note that he said was a receipt for the purchase.

“We have lived here for many years. We cannot afford to go anywhere else.”

With growing migration from rural areas, Yangon’s population is forecast by the United Nations to nearly double to more than 11 million by 2040, placing an enormous strain on resources.

Many migrants come in search of jobs in factories and end up in the dozens of shanty towns built in recent years.

Authorities said residents are encroaching on private land, and relocation will improve the lives of the tens of thousands living in shanty towns that lack electricity, running water and sewage systems, and that are prone to flooding.

But human rights groups and the U.N.’s settlements agency, UN-Habitat, warned forced resettlement could make people poorer.

“There is a history of government-orchestrated forced resettlement in Myanmar and in Yangon in particular, to make way for urban development,” UN-Habitat said in a report last year.

“Development-induced forced displacement and resettlement is increasing, uprooting and impoverishing people and undermining basic human rights.”

A spokesman for Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) did not respond to e-mails and calls seeking comment.

“Problematic”

As Asian cities expand quickly, governments have struggled to provide sufficient affordable housing as construction of luxury apartments and glitzy malls booms.

From Mumbai to Manila, the urban poor settle under bridges, along creeks and railway tracks, and beside landfills, under threat of forced evictions by authorities keen to modernize the cities and build more offices and malls.

In Myanmar’s commercial capital, Yangon, few informal settlements remain within the city, in contrast to other cities in the region, said Eben Forbes, an independent researcher.

“The historical practice has been to clear squatters from central Yangon and relocate them to new towns at the periphery,” Forbes told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“This practice is problematic due to the trauma that eviction causes, the government’s inability to extend basic urban services to the peripheral areas, and potential political consequences.”

YCDC estimated the city will need more than 1.2 million housing units by 2040 for migrants and slum dwellers.

Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein had pledged to “solve the squatter problem” before the end of his term in 2020.

Last month he said about 130,000 households had been issued “smart cards,” and would be prioritized for relocation.

“There are problems, and we will take time and effort to solve them,” he was quoted as saying in the Myanmar Times.

Challenges

Hlaing Thar Yar, with nearly half a million residents, is the city’s largest industrial zone, crammed with export units of manufacturers of garments, car parts and processed foods.

Authorities have said slum residents will be resettled in two townships more than an hour’s drive from central Yangon. Construction was to be completed by 2020, with easy access to jobs, schools, hospitals and public transport.

But UN-Habitat, in its report, advised against forced resettlement and encouraged in-situ upgrades instead.

From a total 423 informal settlements it mapped in Yangon, about 130 were suitable for upgrading, while the rest were in hazardous areas such as river banks and railway tracks, it said.

But authorities were “skeptical about in-situ incremental upgrading and prefer resettlement at this time,” it added.

In Nyaung village, where about 600 families live, more than a dozen families, including Than Chaung’s, spent about two weeks on the streets after their homes were demolished in December.

Then they knocked down the metal barricades placed around the rubble and tried to rebuild their homes, Than Chaung said.

His neighbor, Kyaw Su, who moved to the area nearly 20 years ago in search of work, was afraid her home will be next.

She has been selling fried snacks on the street since the demolition, too afraid to go to her job in a garment factory.

“What if they come back and knock down my house? Living like this, we can never be sure there won’t be more evictions,” she said.

The post Nowhere to Call Home: Yangon Slum Dwellers Face Eviction Threat appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Gandhi Preaches Non-Violent Revolution in Myanmar

Posted: 06 Mar 2019 06:28 PM PST

Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule, arrived in Myanmar on March 7, 1929 to collect donations from Indian nationals in Myanmar to raise funds for the Handloom Association of India, and share his experiences with Myanmar people.

He addressed the people at Jubilee Hall and Fytche Square (now Mahabandoola Park) in Yangon. He held talks with Buddhist monks at Shwedagon Pagoda and said, "I am glad to find you telling me that the hponegyis (Buddhist monks) are leading the political movement in Burma, but you have a serious responsibility upon your shoulders when you undertake leading a political battle.

"History shows that the clergy has not always interfered with the political matters to the benefit of mankind. Very often unworthy ambition has moved the clergy of the world as it has moved unscrupulous men to take part in politics, and if now you hponegyis aspire to lead the political movement of this, one of the fairest lands on the face of the earth, you are shouldering a tremendous responsibility."

In his two-week visit, he visited several towns in central and lower Myanmar. In Mandalay, he said, "In India it is a common saying that the way to swaraj (which means independence for India) is through Mandalay. The British government has taught you too a great lesson by incarcerating one of India’s great sons here."

"The way to swaraj is the way of suffering—indeed no country has come to its own without suffering."

Indian political leader Subhas Chandra Bose was imprisoned in October 1924 in Mandalay for two and half years due to his defiance of colonial rule.

During his visit, Gandhi said, "I have no other and no better guidance to offer to you than to commend to your attention the general principle of non-violence, in other words, self-purification."

He wrapped up this, his third visit to Myanmar, on March 24. Prior to the 1929 visit, he had been in Myanmar in 1902 and 1915.

Gandhi's preaching of non-violence later influenced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in her fight for democracy. Gandhi Hall and Gandhi Hospital became significant places in Myanmar's political and healthcare systems. U Nu, who became Myanmar's first prime minister, paid a visit to Gandhi in New Delhi in 1947 before his assassination the following year.

The post Gandhi Preaches Non-Violent Revolution in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Gov’t Losing Its Way on National Reconciliation

Posted: 06 Mar 2019 06:17 PM PST

On Feb. 12—Union Day—in Loikaw, Kayah State, police marked proceedings by firing rubber bullets into a crowd of demonstrators who were peacefully protesting against the construction of a statue of General Aung San. There has been no information on whether the government provided any assistance to those injured by police. The demonstrators feel these statues are not representative of their own independence and ethnic struggles. Previous statues of Aung San in Mon, Kachin and Chin states were also met with protests. By Feb. 21 the government had opened 86 cases against 55 youths over the Kayah protests; the cases were later withdrawn and the protesters released. The protests and construction of the statues has halted for a month while the two sides negotiate.

The repression of these protests in such a violent manner is short-sighted. It will only inflame tensions, and add weight to the protesters' claims that the "Bamar" government does not care about their struggle. This has dire ramifications for the already stalled national reconciliation process. The firing of rubber bullets into a crowd of unarmed peaceful protesters, on the day that the Myanmar government is supposed to be celebrating national unity, is as ironic as it is barbaric. Yet this is no isolated case; the government response in Kayah State provides a blueprint for the repression of ethnic identity across the country.

In Rakhine State, increased violence between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) is highly concerning. This outbreak of violence has also led to an increase in the repression of civilians due to alleged association with the AA. So far, 40 people have been arrested under the 1908 Unlawful Association Act 17(1) in Rakhine State alone, including 24 IDPs who fled Chin State due to fighting near their homes. Around 6,000 civilians have recently been displaced due to the armed clashes. The most recent spate of arrests is not helping the situation; it has only exacerbated an already tense situation in Rakhine State and is only likely to increase the local population's sympathy for the AA.

Meanwhile, protesters in Kachin State continue to be arrested and detained, be it for holding anti-war protests or, as was more recently the case, organizing protests against the Myitsone Dam. The arrest in February of Bernadette Ja Hkawng for violating the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law (PAPPL) while protesting against the dam came in the same week that the World Kachin Congress bestowed its inaugural Kachin human rights awards on three Kachin community leaders who are currently serving jail sentences over last year's anti-war protest.

Such arrests and repression are not always political, or aimed solely against ethnic groups. In February, seven students from Yadanabon University in Mandalay Region were arrested and sentenced to three months in jail with hard labor. The students had burned portraits of officials as a protest against a lack of campus safety following the murder of a student near the campus in December last year.

The rationale behind these arrests is weak and does not stand up to scrutiny. It should be clear to all lawmakers and politicians that the arrests will not help national reconciliation. Nor will these arrests stop the protests, as the country's political history shows. After the bloody suppression of the 88 movement, dissent did not stop. After the bloody suppression of the Saffron Revolution in 2007, dissent did not stop. Nor will dissent stop in Kayah State after the firing of rubber bullets into an unarmed crowd.

The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), so many of whose members are former political prisoners, knows all too well that you cannot stop democratic protests with violence and repression. To stop such protests you must tackle their root causes by holding discussions with demonstrators. To crack down on these protests as it has done is not only morally wrong—no one should be jailed or beaten for exercising their democratic rights—but also a terrible move politically; the party is doing itself no favors. National reconciliation in Myanmar is a difficult enough process; we don't need the government making it harder by deepening and exacerbating long-held grievances.

Nor is national reconciliation helped by the government's determination to incarcerate journalists, as in the cases against the two Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. Myanmar Now journalist Swe Win has also suffered for his reporting, having to undergo an unnecessarily protracted trial after being accused of defaming ultranationalist monk U Wirathu by one of his supporters. The trial further demonstrates the government's poor commitment to freedom of expression.

Cracking down on protest in this way is politically expensive, costing the NLD precious support in ethnic areas. The NLD had huge popular support in 2015, but it may not be able to count on this backing come 2020. If the rights of ethnic citizens are not of concern to the NLD, then maybe purely political considerations will be. This clumsy, heavy-handed approach only fuels the mistrust of people—especially ethnic people—in the NLD-led government.

These actions serve to highlight the lack of justice on offer in Myanmar today. The laws used to detain and arrest these protesters, students and civilians are not befitting of a democratic government. The laws were written by a British colonial government in order to stifle dissent and maintain the status quo. It is unethical for such inherently repressive laws to be used against civilians. Moreover, it is perverse for the NLD to imprison the next generation of activists using the very laws under which they themselves were jailed.

The Unlawful Association Act, Article 505(b) of the Penal Code, the Telecommunications Code, the PAPPL, and other repressive laws are all evidence of a legal system that stifles what it is supposed to protect. If the NLD wants to take meaningful steps toward building a real democracy, it needs to amend and repeal such legislation, or at the very least, stop tormenting ethnic civilians under archaic laws no longer fit for purpose.

Bo Kyi is a former political prisoner and joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The post Gov't Losing Its Way on National Reconciliation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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