The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Hope Fades in Burma Search for Buried Spitfires
• New Rules to Help Burmese Migrants Apply for Passports
• Take Control or Leave Opium Farmers Alone, Pa-O Leader Tells Burma Govt
• Ethnic Leaders Want Suu Kyi to Observe Signing of National Ceasefire
• ‘Made in Myanmar’—and With Vivid Colors
• On Obama’s Foreign Policy Report Card, Burma Gets a Pass
• America’s Cartoon Cat Garfield Gets TV Makeover in Indonesia
• Chinese Military’s Ability to Wage War Eroded by Graft, Its Generals Warn
• Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform?
• Thai Junta Boosts Spending on Defense, Education in Draft Budget

Hope Fades in Burma Search for Buried Spitfires Posted: 19 Aug 2014 03:45 AM PDT David Cundall, a British aviation enthusiast who has led the search for dozens of Spitfires believed to be buried in Burma, addresses the media in Rangoon on Jan. 9, 2013. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A quest to unearth dozens of British Spitfire aircraft thought to be buried in Burma looks likely to come to an unsuccessful end in October, with monsoon rains hampering excavation efforts as the two-year search contract's expiration nears. For years, rumors have persisted that many of the unassembled planes had been buried in Burma after World War II in 1945, though hard evidence to support the claims has not surfaced. During the war, the famed Spitfire fighter planes were used by the British in multiple theaters, including over Burma. David Cundall, a British citizen and aviation enthusiast who has acted as team leader, took the reins of the project in late 2012, telling journalists that searches would being carried out at three locations: in Mingaladon Township near Rangoon International Airport, Myitkyina Township in Kachin State and Meikhtila Township in Mandalay Division. Cundall said he believed there were at least 60 Spitfires buried after World War II by Britain's Royal Air Force. The majority of the planes were said to be buried within Rangoon's Mingaladon air base compound, today the site of the commercial capital's international airport. In mobilizing support for the search, Cundall has cited the testimonies of American, English and Burmese eyewitnesses who claimed to have helped bury the planes. However the excavation team has been prevented from digging around Mingaladon airport since June due to heavy rains. Excavation efforts have been carried out by Cundall's DJC company and local partner firm Shwe Taung Paw, with the permission of Burma's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). "We're going to end the project to excavate the Spitfires in October when the contract ends if there are no leads. We still believe that there might be Spitfires in Burma," said Tun Kyaw, a spokesperson for Shwe Taung Paw said. He said Cundall had returned to his home in Britain in June. "We've stopped surveying around the airport since June because of heavy rains. Since then, we have been prohibited from surveying in some restricted areas of the airport due to international air rules. We still hope that there might be Spitfires under the ground [in restricted areas], but we can't dig there," Tun Kyaw said. He added that excavations in Myitkyina and Meikhtila were halted early last year due to security concerns. "So Mingaladon Airport was our only major excavation site. Now, we are going to stop all surveying," Tun Kyaw said, adding that digs around Mingaladon had produced no trace of the planes. Win Swe Tun, the DCA's director general, told The Irrawaddy that the contract to search for the Spitfires would not be extended beyond October. The search team would be expected to cover the cost of restoring excavated airport grounds to their pre-hunt condition, he added. Tun Kyaw declined to reveal how much the team had spent on its Spitfire search. Early reports indicated that Belarus-based Wargaming.net, a video gaming company, had pledged to put up to US$1 million toward the project, before pulling out in February 2013. The iconic Spitfire is one of Britain's most famous combat aircraft and gained its reputation during the Battle of Britain, when the agile single-seat fighter played a major part in fending off the German aerial assault. While some 21,000 Spitfires were built, only 35 remain in a good enough condition to fly. Despite the enthusiasm generated among aviation enthusiasts by the prospect of the buried planes, a growing chorus of voices has cast doubt on their existence, with little in the way of official records that might be related to the rumor. The post Hope Fades in Burma Search for Buried Spitfires appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

New Rules to Help Burmese Migrants Apply for Passports Posted: 19 Aug 2014 03:28 AM PDT Illegal Burmese migrants who were arrested by Thai police in Mae Sot in early June. (Photo: Mann Myo Myint / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Burmese Embassy in Thailand is revising procedures for Burmese migrants to receive regular passports, the Burmese government says. The revision comes after many Burmese migrants were not able to apply for passports because they did not have a valid Burmese ID. After seizing power in a May coup, the Thai junta launched a crackdown on illegal migrant workers, putting pressure on people to apply for proper documentation. The Burmese Ministry of Labor announced on Monday that a 10-member committee of embassy officials and labor rights specialists would soon begin a "national verification process" to check the IDs of Burmese migrants in Thailand. Any migrant with a valid ID and household registration can apply for a regular passport, labor attaché Thein Naing told The Irrawaddy. But many migrants did not bring their IDs or household registration with them when they left Burma. And in the aftermath of the coup, they have been reluctant to return home to retrieve this paperwork, fearing they might be stopped from coming back to Thailand. Under the revised procedures for passport applications, migrants without IDs will need to return to Burma to acquire one. With a temporary stay permit issued from the Thai junta, they can make the trip and come back to Thailand without any trouble from law enforcement. The temporary stay permits were initially valid for only two months but were extended recently to March 2015 due to a backlog of applicants at one-stop service centers along the border. According to the ministry's statement, passports can be picked up at the embassy in Bangkok or at offices in three border towns: Tachileik, Myawaddy and Kawthaung. Kyaw Thaung, a member of the national verification committee, as well as a director of the Myanmar Association Thailand, said he believed it would be ineffective to check for Burmese ID cards in Thailand because so many migrants lacked official documents. "I recommend continuing to implement the current temporary passport process," he said. Thein Naing, the labor attaché, urged Burmese migrants to apply whenever possible for an MoU passport, available to those who have already agreed to a contract with an employer in Thailand. "It is the most effective way to solve labor dispute problems," he said. According to official figures last year, there were 1.7 million Burmese migrants legally registered in Thailand, while migrant rights activists estimated another 1.3 million migrants were unregistered. The Thai government says 190,000 Burmese workers have now registered for temporary stay permits, while another 150,000 are expected to register soon. The post New Rules to Help Burmese Migrants Apply for Passports appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Take Control or Leave Opium Farmers Alone, Pa-O Leader Tells Burma Govt Posted: 19 Aug 2014 03:02 AM PDT Farmers harvest opium poppies in northern Karenni State. (Photo: KADAC) RANGOON — An ethnic Pa-O political leader has issued advice to the Burmese government on its opium eradication efforts—either take serious action or stop harassing the farmers who are left with few choices but to grow poppies. Political parties met with government peace negotiators and ethnic armed groups in Rangoon on Monday in the latest talks in efforts toward a nationwide ceasefire agreement. A leader of the Pa-O National Organization (PNO) used the meeting to report his observations on the impacts of government opium eradication efforts in rural Shan State—where the Pa-O ethnic group mostly lives and where most of Burma's massive illicit opium crop is grown. Khun Soe Myint, a member of the PNO's Central Committee, said that although the government professes to take a zero-tolerance approach to poppy cultivation, local authorities regularly levy taxes against farmers growing the crop, which is used to produce heroin. But paying dues to unscrupulous local officials doesn't stop farmers later being targeted by the same authorities in so-called eradication efforts, he said. "Our region doesn't have shooting and gun-firing, but we don't feel safe because our opium plots get destroyed during the harvest season," Khun Soe Myint told The Irrawaddy after the talks, repeating his message to the government during the meeting. "They say it is part of a government project and they raid the houses of opium cultivators and arrest them since they find opium and drugs in their homes. The lives of opium cultivators are at risk." Khun Soe Myint said he had visited remote areas of Mauk Mae Township and Pin Laung Township and found that "75 percent to 100 percent" of all villagers lost most of their incomes to taxes collected by authorities or by local militias. He argued that rather than the current "muddled" approach, which left farmers in a precarious situation, the government should either allow opium cultivation in a regulated form or take charge by offering farmers some alternatives and taking action against local officials who break the law. "None of the villagers want to cultivate opium. They are doing this because of poor transportation [infrastructure] and the situation of the market for crops," he said. "If the government doesn't want them to cultivate opium, it should effectively take control over that issue. But now, it is acting muddled and the ones who finally have to suffer are the local farmers." According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Burma produced an estimated 870 metric tons of opium in 2013—a 26 percent rise on the previous year and the second largest opium crop in the world after Afghanistan. The post Take Control or Leave Opium Farmers Alone, Pa-O Leader Tells Burma Govt appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Ethnic Leaders Want Suu Kyi to Observe Signing of National Ceasefire Posted: 19 Aug 2014 01:33 AM PDT Ethnic leaders meet with Aung San Suu Kyi at her Rangoon home on Monday. (Photo: NLD chairperson / Facebook) RANGOON — Leaders from ethnic armed groups met with Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her house in Rangoon on Monday to discuss the ongoing peace process. Nai Hong Sar, head of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), an alliance of ethnic armed groups, said the meeting was informal. "We decided to meet her because we were in Rangoon. She was interested when we told her our peace process plans," he told The Irrawaddy. Ethnic leaders declined to comment when asked whether they sought advice from Suu Kyi as they negotiate with the government to sign a national ceasefire accord. Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, also declined to comment. This is the second time ethnic leaders have met with the NLD chairwoman. Ethnic leaders say they want her to participate more in the peace process, even perhaps as an eyewitness during the signing of the nationwide ceasefire accord, which could come as early as October. "We proposed this to the government already, but there has been no response yet," said Khun Okkar, secretary of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), another alliance of ethnic groups. Suu Kyi, a lawmaker in Naypyidaw, has herself expressed a desire to take a greater role in the peace process as the country attempts to recover from decades of civil war. There will be another meeting between the NCCT and the government's peace negotiation team early next month to hammer out remaining disagreements in the draft of the nationwide ceasefire accord. The NCCT has proposed a list of third parties to participate in the signing of the accord, including observers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, France and the United Nations. The post Ethnic Leaders Want Suu Kyi to Observe Signing of National Ceasefire appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘Made in Myanmar’—and With Vivid Colors Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:30 PM PDT A painting by Khin Zaw Win depicts an old mossy tree stump that seems to be bleeding, in a message about the dangers of excessive logging, at the Lokanat art gallery in Rangoon. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A group art show, "Made in Myanmar," is now on display at the Lokanat art gallery in downtown Rangoon, and as its name suggests, it features paintings that depict life in Burma. From ordinary people to ancient royalties, and from vibrant, native flowers to old tree stumps that have shriveled, a range of subjects can be seen in the paintings, which all employ vivid colors that seem to imply the colorfulness of Burmese culture itself. The exhibition's organizer, Khin Zaw Win, has been a part-time artist for almost 18 years. "I have organized this group show with friends who do not usually hold one-man shows. … It's been a while since we've last had an exhibition of our work," he said. Khin Zaw Win is showing a series of his own paintings, titled, "Save Me." Each painting, using bright red colors, depicts old mossy tree stumps that at first glance seem to be bleeding. "I want to say, 'Help us!' on behalf of the trees that are suffering pain from excessive logging," he said. "Made in Myanmar" is open to the public at the Lokanat Gallery of Art on Pansodan Street from Aug. 18-23 (9 am to 5pm every day). The post 'Made in Myanmar'—and With Vivid Colors appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

On Obama’s Foreign Policy Report Card, Burma Gets a Pass Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT Burma's President Thein Sein, right, is pictured alongside US President Barack Obama as they participate in a group photo at the East Asian Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Nov. 19, 2011. (Photo: Reuters / Jason Reed) Next year's elections in Burma will be a key indicator of how leaders in the country want to move forward, with many an assessment of the reform process hinging on the outcome. Among those who will be watching the election returns will be US President Barack Obama, for whom the stakes may be a bit higher than most: Having failed elsewhere in the world, Obama in 2014 finds his foreign policy assailed by critics, and his legacy on the global stage in doubt. In Burma, the US president has taken credit for reforms enacted since 2011, but has Obama gone "all in" on a questionable hand? Many in dissident circles have warned that there should be a Plan B. What if, as in 2010, the election is rigged and conducted without transparency? What if it lacks inclusivity? Will the United States stand by such a government as a partner in reform, as it has since Burma's nominally civilian leadership took power in 2011? John Kerry, the US secretary of state, visited Burma earlier this month and said the United States would do everything it can to encourage reform in the country, especially by supporting nationwide elections in 2015. "Next year's election will absolutely be a benchmark moment for the whole world to be able to assess the direction that Burma is moving in," he said in Naypyidaw. Kerry met Burma's President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the latter of whom remains constitutionally barred from running for president as the country heads into next year's pivotal elections. She met Kerry at her lakeside residence in Rangoon, the same venue where she received Obama in 2012—when the country's reforms were subject to much less skepticism than today. Indeed, many Burmese were counting on the United States to inject some life into a reform program increasingly viewed as stalled. Kerry would not leave the country empty-handed, the thinking went, without a concrete expression of the government's commitment to further reform. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org. Details of Kerry's talks with both Thein Sein and Suu Kyi, however, were not made public, with Kerry revealing little other than to say that he had a "frank" discussion with the president. He offered a slightly more critical assessment in remarks at the East-West Center in Honolulu following his trip to Burma. "Defining a new role for the military; reforming the Constitution and supporting free and fair elections; ending a decades-long civil war; and guaranteeing in law the human rights that Burma's people have been promised in name," he said, referring to some of the challenges still facing the Southeast Asian nation. "All of this while trying to attract more investment, combating corruption, protecting the country's forests and other resources. These are the great tests of Burma's transition. And we intend to try to help, but in the end the leadership will have to make the critical choices." Underneath all the rhetoric on democracy, human rights, and free and fair elections, there is major US commercial interest in resource-rich Burma, a country strategically located between China and India. Before Kerry's visit, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker in June made her first visit to Burma, a strong indication of Washington's high-level commercial push. The United States opened the way for economic engagement with an easing of sanctions on Burma in 2012. Last week the United States went further, waiving remaining sanctions on Burma's timber sector for one year. The decision was not without controversy, prompting an outcry from some civil society groups. During a visit in which she opened a new Commercial Service Office at the US Embassy in Rangoon, Pritzker stressed the United States' commitment to closer economic ties. As of April 30, 2014, American companies had plans to invest US$244 million in Burma's economy, and US exports had increased from $9.8 million in 2010 to $145.7 million in 2013. "Our Commercial Service officers help to increase opportunities globally, for our businesses and for yours," she said, adding that US companies would bring technical know-how and a commitment to corporate social responsibility. US businesses are coming to Burma in what looks like an increasingly unstoppable tide, and to facilitate investment, some blacklisted cronies may benefit. One already has, with Kerry staying at a blacklisted tycoon's hotel in Naypyidaw during his recent visit to Burma. Forced to respond to questions about the sleeping arrangement, the State Department insisted America's chief diplomat was not in violation of the blacklist sanctions, but not before controversy had been stirred. Those currently on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) list are prevented from doing business with US firms, but in June senior State Department officials met privately with some of these tycoons, telling them to put forward a request to have their names cleared. They would be expected to show their commitment to transition, sever ties with the military, avoid involvement in land seizures and respect civilian rule. It is only a matter of time, it seems, before some cronies are removed from the blacklist, having been sufficiently rehabilitated in the eyes of US officials at the Treasury Department. It is difficult to know whether the United States' fast-moving policy on Burma might have been different, more critical perhaps, had the international landscape been more kind to the US president. Once a pariah and still frequently taken to task by the international human rights community, Burma is Obama's foreign policy success story over the course of a presidency of global chaos that some critics have chalked up to a failure of White House leadership. In an address at West Point in May, he claimed, "We're now supporting reform and badly needed national reconciliation through assistance and investment, through coaxing and, at times, public criticism. And progress there could be reversed, but if Burma succeeds, we will have gained a new partner without having fired a shot." In an article in The New York Times published on Aug. 15, critics pointed out Obama's foreign policy struggles in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine as cause for "a palpable sense of disappointment with Mr. Obama's leadership on the world stage as well." With 58 percent of Americans disapproving of his foreign policy, according to a June poll, Obama needs a good news tale from abroad. Burma may be his best bet, but claiming credit for the move toward democracy, such as it is, won't sit well with the skeptics who assert that reforms remain incomplete and the military and its former generals are still calling the shots in a country that is far from a success story. The post On Obama's Foreign Policy Report Card, Burma Gets a Pass appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

America’s Cartoon Cat Garfield Gets TV Makeover in Indonesia Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:48 PM PDT A drawing of Garfield from the comic strip's official Facebook page. (Photo: Garfield / Facebook) JAKARTA/SINGAPORE — The comic strip cat Garfield was created in America, but the animated television series based on the famous Jim Davis cartoon character is produced at a sprawling studio on the Indonesian resort island of Batam. Infinite Studios started in 1997 as a film post-production company with 13 people. In part building on the success of Garfield, it has diversified into creating its own content production as well as animation and visual effects, with facilities that employ 200 people in Indonesia and Singapore. Southeast Asia has been emerging as a film production center, with an expanding local workforce and growing exports to the region or even to the traditional creative powerhouses like the United States and Europe. "The Southeast Asian region is very new to the media game. I think we've been in the business for about a decade or just over a decade, whereas the rest of the world has had a lot of time developing their creative economy," Infinite Chief Executive Mike Wiluan told Reuters. "I think it's a great opportunity. When we go out to the world, we come out as a region as opposed to just coming out as a singular country and trying to compete within such a small region." The film industry in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam is worth a total of $1.15 billion in 2014 through ticket sales (box office) and cinema advertising, and is projected to jump nearly 17 percent to $1.34 billion by 2018, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates. Britain's Pinewood Studios Group, famous for its James Bond film franchise, partnered the Malaysian government's investment arm Khazanah Nasional Berhad to open Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in June. American studio The Weinstein Company will use the $170 million complex in the southern Malaysian state of Johor as the shooting site for "Marco Polo," a series about the Italian merchant traveler from Venice, media reported. It will be shown on US video streaming service Netflix. In Singapore, "Star Wars" creator Lucasfilm launched a visual effects and animation hub in January to work on Hollywood blockbusters and bolster its marketing efforts in Asia. 'Creation Bible' The learning curve to animate Garfield, which started as a comic strip by Davis in 1978, is not too steep for Infinite's team of animators who are mostly Indonesians, Wiluan said. France's Dargaud Media, which owns the rights to "The Garfield Show," has come up with a "creation bible" which is followed by the subcontractors in the production process. "It basically enables anyone to follow the instructions of how this character would look, feel and act," Wiluan said. "I guess why Garfield has been so successful all over the world is because it's the adventure of a really cute cat and everyone understands it." On top of bringing to life characters originating in the West, Southeast Asian film makers are increasingly tapping on local culture to create unique content that appeals to both domestic and international markets. "The Raid 2," an action movie co-produced by Indonesia's PT. Merantau Films about a police officer using the traditional silat martial arts to fight thugs, was shown at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to several positive reviews. Malaysian animation studio Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd produces the popular "Upin and Ipin" television show about a pair of 5-year-old twins experiencing their first-ever fast in the Muslim month of Ramadan. The show is broadcast by the Disney Channel, Turkey's Hilal TV, as well as television stations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Jakarta; Additional reporting by Anuradha Raghu in Kuala Lumpur. The post America's Cartoon Cat Garfield Gets TV Makeover in Indonesia appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Chinese Military’s Ability to Wage War Eroded by Graft, Its Generals Warn Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:42 PM PDT Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army practice with guns in a drill during an organized media tour at a PLA engineering academy in Beijing on July 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Petar Kujundzic) BEIJING — As tensions spike between China and other countries in Asia's disputed waters, serving and retired Chinese military officers as well as state media are questioning whether China's armed forces are too corrupt to fight and win a war. A slew of articles in official media in recent months have drawn parallels with the rampant graft in the People's Liberation Army and how a corrupt military contributed to China's defeat in the Sino-Japan War 120 years ago. The concerns are striking given the rapid modernization of the PLA, from the development of stealth fighter jets to the launch in 2012 of China's sole aircraft carrier. Backed by a budget that is second only to the United States, China's military is projecting power deep into the South and East China Seas, unsettling the region as well as Washington. But two scandals have shone the spotlight on deeply rooted graft in the PLA—a key target of President Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-corruption drive. China said in June it would court-martial Gen. Xu Caihou, who retired in 2013 as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the top military decision-making body, for taking bribes. Earlier this year authorities charged one of his protégés, Lt-Gen Gu Junshan, with corruption. Gu was the deputy head of the PLA Logistics Department until he was sacked in 2012. Sources have told Reuters that Gu stands accused of selling hundreds of military positions, raking in millions of dollars from a position that gave him sway over appointments and development contracts for military-owned land. What worries some generals and other Chinese experts is that the buying and selling of senior jobs—long an open secret in China—has led to those with talent being cast aside. "However much you spend on the military, it will never be enough if these corrupt officials keep appearing," retired Maj-Gen Luo Yuan, one of China's most widely read military figures, told Shanghai-based online news portal The Paper last week. "The money sucked up by corrupt officials like Xu Caihou and Gu Junshan is hundreds of millions or billions of yuan. How many fighter jets could you build with that? If corruption is not excised we will be defeated before we even go into battle." Reuters has not been able to reach either Xu or Gu for comment. It is not clear whether they have lawyers. The Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the corruption in the PLA. Bloody Nose From Vietnam Xi has demanded that the 2.3 million strong armed forces, the world's largest, become more combat ready, although the government stresses it wants peaceful ties with its neighbors. Chinese forces were last seriously tested in 1979, when the army invaded Vietnam as punishment for Hanoi's ousting of Cambodia's China-backed leader Pol Pot. The PLA, however, was beaten back by Vietnam's battle-hardened troops. China stepped up a crackdown on corruption in the military in the late 1990s, banning the PLA from engaging in business. But the military has gotten involved in commercial dealings in recent years due to a lack of checks and balances, sources say. For officers who pay bribes to be promoted, corruption is a way to make a return on their investment, military experts say. Examples of graft include leasing military land to private business, selling military license plates, illegally occupying PLA apartments or taking kickbacks when buying food or equipment. Underscoring his resolve to tackle such graft, Xi is set to promote Gen. Liu Yuan, a whistleblower whose accusations in 2012 paved the way for the corruption charges against Xu and Gu, to the Central Military Commission, sources told Reuters this month. Liu is currently political commissar of the PLA's Logistics Department. "Corruption in the military absolutely must be eliminated, this is imperative for the development of our armed forces," a retired senior officer told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Warnings From the Past The growing concern within China over military corruption has coincided with the 120th anniversary of the start of the Sino-Japan War, which ended with the signing over of Taiwan to Japanese control a year later, a national humiliation that resonates in China to this day. Ties with Tokyo, long strained over Japan's occupation of parts of China before and during World War II, have worsened because of an increasingly ugly spat over the ownership of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Coastguard ships and fighter aircraft from both sides routinely face off around the islands, fueling fears an accident could spark a clash. Chinese newspapers have focused on how military corruption was a key reason for China's defeat to Japan in the waning years of the Qing dynasty, a theme taken up last week in the weekly paper the Study Times, published by the Central Party School, which trains rising officials. "In the late Qing dynasty …. the military [was] unbearably degenerate with lax discipline, superficial training, gambling, frequenting brothels, smoking opium and other wantonness running rampant," it wrote. It is an issue being discussed at length by China's military establishment. "Military corruption is at a dangerously unprecedented level," Maj-Gen Kun Lunyan, an influential military commentator, wrote in May in the Global Times tabloid. "Do we want this historic tragedy to be repeated by our people's army?" Kun wrote, noting that soldiers today "abhor" the practice of only being able to get promoted if they "rely on cash to buy their way up." China's Communists don't have to go back 120 years to understand the importance of having a clean military. The party is aware that one reason the Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war and were forced to flee to Taiwan in 1949 is because of rampant corruption. Writing about that period last month, the official Xinhua news agency reminded its readers that "corrupt elements" were executed by firing squad as Mao Zedong plotted his revolution in the caves in northeastern China in the 1930s and 1940s. "History proves time and time again that the biggest threat to the military is not the test of gunfire and smell of gunpowder, but the encroachment of corruption into the ranks," it said. The post Chinese Military's Ability to Wage War Eroded by Graft, Its Generals Warn appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform? Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:38 PM PDT Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform? The post Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Junta Boosts Spending on Defense, Education in Draft Budget Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:31 PM PDT Thai Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thai junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha, stressing that the military had a "limited time" in power before a return to civilian rule, submitted a draft fiscal 2015 budget on Monday, with defense and education receiving hefty increases. The military seized power in May after months of street demonstrations which led to the ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The Ministry of Education was allocated 498.16 billion baht (US$15.66 billion), a 3.2 percent increase from last year's budget and 19.5 percent of the total budget allocations. Prayuth has called for education reforms as part of his plans to reshape the country and restore political stability. Defense spending, which typically increases in Thailand after a coup, grew 5 percent from last year's allocation to 193.07 billion baht ($6.07 billion). "If we don't increase the budget and purchase new weapons, then nobody will fear us," Prayuth told reporters. The 2.58 trillion baht ($81.08 billion) draft budget, up around 2 percent from 2014, was submitted to the military-dominated National Legislative Assembly and will be considered by ad-hoc committees and adopted in the coming weeks. "The NCPO wants every ministry to put the budget to the best use possible because we have a limited time in power," Prayuth said, referring to the National Council for Peace and Order, as the junta is formally known. The economy may expand 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent next year, he added, as the political situation stabilizes. The National Economic and Social Development Board, which compiles gross domestic product data, on Monday trimmed its 2014 full-year growth forecast to 1.5-2.0 percent from a 1.5-2.5 percent range. Thailand avoided recession in the second quarter, the state planning agency said on Monday, but questions remain about the pace and depth of growth. The board said it expected to see steady economic recovery in the second half of the year. Prayuth, who led the May 22 coup, will likely become prime minister in coming days, according to legislature members. Prayuth has outlined a three-phase plan of reconciliation, formation of a government and elections in 2015. "I hope that in 2015 the country will come into its own," Prayuth said. "We seized power in order to improve confidence in the country." Since taking power, the junta has made delayed payments to rice farmers, capped fuel prices and made a point of reassuring foreign investors that Thailand will return to democracy within a year. It has also approved urgent infrastructure projects. The moves appear to have helped consumer confidence which rose to the highest in 11 months in July, data this month showed. The post Thai Junta Boosts Spending on Defense, Education in Draft Budget appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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National News

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• Enumeration of Rohingya a "complete failure", census observers say
• Crime undermining development: UN
• Ceasefire draft could be finalised in September, government and ethnic groups say
• Humanitarian action - the compassion of peoples and states

Enumeration of Rohingya a "complete failure", census observers say Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:12 PM PDT Independent observers of the nationwide census conducted earlier this year have called the enumeration of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State a "complete failure", saying the process fell short of international standards because the minority group was barred by the government from self-identifying.

Crime undermining development: UN Posted: 18 Aug 2014 04:51 PM PDT The Ministry of Planning signed a four-year agreement with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on August 18 to "strengthen the rule law and address significant crime and drug issues," according to a statement from the organisation.

Ceasefire draft could be finalised in September, government and ethnic groups say Posted: 18 Aug 2014 03:34 PM PDT The government and the ethnic armed groups told a news conference last week that the final draft of the national ceasefire agreement could be finalised in September.

Humanitarian action - the compassion of peoples and states Posted: 18 Aug 2014 03:33 PM PDT This week we celebrated World Humanitarian Day on August 19. This is the day the United Nations, the Red Cross Movement and other humanitarian organisations celebrate the many humanitarian acts that take place in the disasters and armed conflicts that cause so much suffering in our world.

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Photo of the week
• Observers Say Burma’s Census ‘Successful’—Except in Arakan State
• Press Council to Meet Monthly With Information Minister
• Burma’s Tourism Industry Struggles to Keep Up With Surging Visitor Numbers
• One Civilian Killed After TNLA, Govt Troops Clash
• Another Round of Ceasefire Talks Set for September
• 9 Burmese Workers Injured in Bangkok Factory Blast
• Inequality and the Need for Redistribution
• Helping Burmese Refugees Start New Lives in New Zealand
• Name of Muslim Group in Burma Goes Unspoken
• Elderly Ex-Sex Slaves Want Solace, Help From Pope 
• Thousands Join Anti-Occupy Rally in Hong Kong as Democracy Fight Heats Up
• Across Asia’s Borders, Labor Activists Team Up to Press Wage Claims

Photo of the week Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:44 AM PDT The post Photo of the week appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Observers Say Burma’s Census ‘Successful’—Except in Arakan State Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:19 AM PDT A volunteer collects census data in Arakan State. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's first nationwide census in three decades was conducted successfully and in line with international standards across the country, with the exception of Arakan State, according to a team of independent observers. A team of 46 national and international monitors witnessed how the census was conducted between March 30 and April 10 in all 15 of Burma's states and divisions. The Independent Observation Mission witnessed a total of 2,193 interviews in 901 different enumeration areas in 121 townships, according to a statement dated Aug. 14. "The Mission described the Myanmar Census as successful on the whole and in line with international standards, except in Rakhine [Arakan], where almost all communities that wanted to self-identify as 'Rohingya' (who the Government call Bengali) were not counted," said the statement distributed by the UN Information Center in Rangoon. "At the time of the observation, it was noted that some parts of Kachin State, controlled by the Kachin Independence Organisation, were not enumerated." Rohingya are not included in the list of 135 official ethnic groups in Burma. In a last minute change of policy, the government announced that the name many in the Muslim minority in Arakan State use to refer to themselves be excluded from the UN-backed census. "By not allowing these specific subpopulations to self-identify and be counted, the census in these areas fell short of international standards," the mission's report said. "If the missing populations are not included, based on a proper count or estimation, the resulting undercount will have a negative impact on the census results at the State and Region level and the national level." Outside of Arakan State, the observers said the census enumeration process was well organized and the enumerators, trainers and supervisors were well trained. Census awareness raising activities were effective and the public were "generally positive about the census." However, they did note some shortcomings in the census process based on their observations. The observers said census enumerators "seldom explained the census," failed to "explain the concept of confidentiality of response," and did not ask specifically about the night of March 29, the chosen night that the so-called "de facto" census was supposed to record. "[A] large portion (31 percent) of the enumerators did not systematically refer to the census night to determine who was in the household on that reference night, which is a core concept of a de facto census," the monitors' 124-page-long report said. The observers' report said that sometimes enumerators also filled out the forms using inferences rather than directly asking the respondents. "Questions on religion, ethnicity, education and household characteristics and assets were sometimes inferred or directed from what the enumerator could observe (for instance, after asking the ethnicity of the head of household and spouse, the enumerator filled in the ethnicity of their biological children without asking)," it said. "Additionally and even though most respondents could self-identify their ethnicity, the observers noticed that most enumerators only recorded the main ethnicity rather than the sub-ethnicities." Salai Isaac Khen, a member of National Technical Advisory Board for the census, said he agreed with the findings of the observation team, which chimed with problems he encountered while monitoring the census in Chin State. "[Enumerators] did not emphasize questions on disability according to the guidelines. They also did not ask specific questions on ethnicity, and just record it with their own guess as enumerators are locals," he told The Irrawaddy. Salai Isaac Khen, who is also coordinator of the Chin national supporting committee on the census, said these issues meant that while gender and population figures in the census would likely be accurate, ethnicity and religion results might not be acceptable. The question of ethnicity in the census has been highly controversial, drawing 80 complaints nationwide, he said, and the census commission has decided to withhold the results on ethnicity from the main census report, due to be published next year. Ethnicity data will be released in 2016—after the national elections—following a review of complaints by a team consisting of parliamentarians from the ethnic affairs committee, ethnic representatives, academics and experts. "We are trying to avoid the use of ethnic data [from the census] in the coming election's voter list," Salai Isaac Khen said. The post Observers Say Burma's Census 'Successful'—Except in Arakan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Press Council to Meet Monthly With Information Minister Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:06 AM PDT The Interim Press Council meets with Information Minister Ye Htut. ( Photo: Ye Htut / Facebook) RANGOON — Burma's Interim Press Council says it will ramp up engagement with the government by holding monthly meetings with the Ministry of Information. The council met for the first monthly meeting on Saturday with newly appointed Information Minister Ye Htut in Rangoon. "The Ministry of Information and the Interim Press Council will collaborate with each other as partners to implement the president's media reform and the development process, and we will meet once a month," the council said in a press release. Ye Htut, formerly the deputy minister for information, also described the ministry and the council as "partners" in a post on his official Facebook page. "The MOI [Ministry of Information] is not superior to the council and will not try to control it," he wrote. Pho Thauk Kya, vice-chairman of the council, told The Irrawaddy that a date had not yet been set for next month's meeting, but that the minister would join it. "This is the first time we have had regular meetings with the information minister," he said. During the meeting on Saturday, according to the press release, both parties discussed ethical issues and problems that journalists face during the newsgathering process. "We also negotiated the rules and regulations for the media law to make it easier for journalists to deal with government officials. It's quite OK and there were no major disagreements between us," Pho Thauk Kya said. In a separate meeting with the Myanmar Journalists Association (MJA) on Sunday, Ye Htut said he would also arrange monthly meetings between the ministry and the MJA, state media reported Monday. The minister said he would invite heads of state departments to answer questions from the MJA and the Foreign Correspondents' Club. The post Press Council to Meet Monthly With Information Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma’s Tourism Industry Struggles to Keep Up With Surging Visitor Numbers Posted: 18 Aug 2014 04:54 AM PDT Foreign tourists sightsee at Shwe Indein Pagoda near Shan State's Inle Lake. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The number of tourists coming to Burma looks set to exceed the government's prediction of 3 million this year, but the industry is still struggling to meet visitors' expectations, according to industry experts. The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism announced last month that more than 1.6 million people visited the country in the first seven months of 2014, up from 1.1 million in the same period last year. "I expect that the number of tourist arrivals will reach the government's expectation of 3 million this year as 50 percent of the target has already been reached," Phyo Wai Yar Zar, the chairman of Myanmar Tourism Marketing. A new e-visa system is likely to boost visitor numbers even further, he said. From Sept. 1, visitors can apply for and pay for tourist visas online, avoiding lines at Burmese Embassies abroad. "It will be much easier for the potential visitors to plan their trips to Myanmar," Phyo Wai Yar Zar said. Tourism has boomed since the Burmese government began political and economic reforms, and the number of visitors only topped 1 million for the first time in 2012. But the industry has struggled to keep up, and hotel rooms remain expensive due to short supply. But as well as falling short in terms of capacity, local hotels have been criticized for providing service that doesn't meet international standards. "In service management, the objective is not just to maximize profits; the ultimate aim is to satisfy the customer and keep them as your patrons for as many years as possible," Phyo Wai Yar Zar added. Maung Maung, chairman of the World Quest International travel and tour agency, said tour operators had trouble explaining to customers that paying high room rates—often US$300 a night—does not guarantee good service in Burma. "Three-star hotels demand five-star room rates, but they don't offer many services," he said, "not only in Rangoon, also in Mandalay, Inle and Bagan too." Maung Maung also said that this year visitor numbers were receiving a boost Burma's chairmanship of Asean, which means hosting hundreds of meetings involving foreign delegates, as well as the recent Unesco World Heritage listing of three ancient Pyu cities. But reaching the government's target of 5 million visitors next year might prove difficult if the poor service and high prices are not addressed, Maung Maung said. Jef Tupas, a Filipino journalist who visited Rangoon last year, said the options for tourists do not compare favorably with those in the Philippines. "There is more to be done for Yangon to make it more appealing to tourists," he said. "Hotels are expensive and there is nothing much to see around Yangon. But I think the Burmese people are the number [one] tourist attraction. They are friendly, happy and accommodating." The post Burma's Tourism Industry Struggles to Keep Up With Surging Visitor Numbers appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

One Civilian Killed After TNLA, Govt Troops Clash Posted: 18 Aug 2014 04:44 AM PDT TNLA troops on the march in northern Shan State's Kyauk Mae Township. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — One civilian was shot dead and another hospitalized with a gunshot wound following a clash between government troops and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) on Monday morning in northern Shan State, according to the ethnic rebel group. The two civilians were fired upon while walking in the area shortly after the clash took place in Namkham Township, said TNLA spokesperson Mai Aie Kyaw, who claimed that the Burmese Army suffered 10 casualties in the preceding fighting. Nyi Nai Jar was killed and Yai Tun Than was admitted to the hospital in the border town of Muse, he said, accusing the government's Infantry Division 88 of killing the men. The TNLA spokesperson said troops from the two sides faced off for 15 minutes in Namkham Township's Mansep-Oilaw village. Fighting broke out when the two armed groups met along a road while traveling about 10 miles south of the town of Namkham. "The fighting stopped when our troops withdrew after 15 minutes. Our ground troops reported that 10 troops from Infantry Division 88 were killed and wounded," said Mai Aie Kyaw. The rebel spokesperson said TNLA troops also reported another clash on Sunday night in Kyauk Mae Township, which claimed the lives of two government soldiers. The Burmese Army continues to move troops in the area, which the ethnic Palaung armed group lays claim to, according to Mai Aie Kyaw. Fighting has been less frequent this month compared with July, he said, when the TNLA reported clashes every week. The TNLA and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are the only two major ethnic armed groups that have not signed ceasefires with the Burmese government. Hostilities have been exchanged regularly over the last several months between government troops and ethnic rebel fighters in northern Shan and Kachin states. Peace talks are ongoing between ethnic armed groups and the Burmese government, which is seeking to have a nationwide ceasefire agreement signed in October. Negotiations have been held up by a number of sticking points, including matters related to troop repositioning and a code of conduct, the latter of which rebel groups are pushing as a means to reduce clashes. The post One Civilian Killed After TNLA, Govt Troops Clash appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Another Round of Ceasefire Talks Set for September Posted: 18 Aug 2014 02:30 AM PDT NCCT leader Nai Hong Sar at the meeting at the Myanmar Peace Center on Saturday. (Photo: Thaw Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — The Burmese government and ethnic leaders say they will hold another round of peace talks early next month to hammer out final disagreements before setting a date for the nationwide ceasefire accord. Leaders of the government's Union Peace Working Committee and the ethnic's Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) announced on Sunday that further talks would be needed after concluding three days of meetings at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) in Rangoon. "We have settled many sections [in the draft single text] left from the previous [May] meeting. There are only few paragraphs left," said Minister Aung Min, the vice-chairman of the UPWC and the head of the MPC. "I believe we can settle them in our upcoming meeting in early September. If we can agree on these paragraphs, we can set the date for the nationwide ceasefire accord." Nai Hong Sar, head of the NCCT said, "All the negotiations went well, except further negotiations are needed to discuss the transition period, how many groups should participate in political dialogue, and how many groups will be signatories of the nationwide ceasefire agreement." In the draft text of the seven-chapter ceasefire accord, four paragraphs need further discussion, according to participants at the meetings that started Friday. They said detailed negotiations over a federal political system would be tackled later, during political dialogue that will follow the signing of the ceasefire accord. The government has agreed that peace talks will be based on achieving a "federal system," aimed at guaranteeing democracy, equality and self-determination for ethnic minorities. On Monday, political parties will join the government and the NCCT at another meeting in Rangoon. The post Another Round of Ceasefire Talks Set for September appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

9 Burmese Workers Injured in Bangkok Factory Blast Posted: 18 Aug 2014 12:25 AM PDT A screenshot from Thai TV 3 shows the aftermath of a boiler explosion at a cloth-dyeing factory in Bangkok. (Photo: Thaitv3.com) Nine Burmese workers are being treated at Bangkok's Samut Prakan hospital after a boiler exploded at a cloth-dyeing factory on Sunday morning, injuring 22 people in total. Thein Naing, labor attaché at the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok, said that two Burmese workers were among five people who sustained serious injuries in the blast in the city's Samut Prakan Muang district. "Two Myanmar people are in the intensive care unit, while seven [Burmese], who were hurt from burns and the debris, are receiving treatment for injures," Thein Naing said. "I talked to a couple of workers who can speak, but others were asleep, maybe due to the medicine they were given for the pain." A boiler in the dyeing factory exploded at dawn, blowing off the factory's roof. The blast was caused by the boiler being empty of water, and caused damage worth an estimated 1 million baht (US$31,000), according to the Bangkok Post newspaper. Night shift workers were on duty at the time, but no one was killed. The injured Burmese, who are legally registered as migrant workers, were in their lodgings behind the factory at the time of the blast. "As it was Sunday, they were at home, preparing to go for their shift or resting on their day off," said Thein Naing, who went to meet the workers on Sunday afternoon. The attaché said he had talked to the Thai employer and Thai social welfare authorities to make sure the Burmese workers are given health care and compensation in accordance with Thai law. "The Thai employers said they would take full responsibility for all the damages," said, Thein Naing. The post 9 Burmese Workers Injured in Bangkok Factory Blast appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Inequality and the Need for Redistribution Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:00 PM PDT A worker and her son walk past graffiti in Yangon. (Photo: Reuters) Some may argue that inequality is a global trend affecting not only developing countries but developed countries as well. While that may be true, the effects of inequality are far more harmful for poor countries than wealthy ones. This is because wealthy countries have arrived at their current positions from relatively equal societies. If one looks at so-called East Asian developmental states, one will find that they had redistributed lands and their societies were quite equal owing to war or expulsion from the federation. Their governments have implemented many redistributive policies and established social safety nets for the most vulnerable, albeit imperfect ones. On the other hand, the poor countries arrived at their current status due to unequal distributions of rights and opportunities. As a result, the poor have become more vulnerable with increases in inequality. Carles Boix, a political scientist from Princeton University, wrote that inequality and asset specificity are the two main obstacles to democratization. In other words, the wider the gap between haves and have-nots, and the more a country relies on specific assets such as oil, the more difficult it is for a country to democratize. According to Boix, the powerful elites who control natural resource-based assets have very few incentives to democratize. The majority in the country are poor while almost all the nation's wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small minority who fear they will be forced to redistribute their wealth through higher taxes and expropriations at a grand scale if they lose power. To defend their interests, they will not give up power and hold free and fair elections, Boix's empirical research finds in his book "Democracy and Redistribution." In this context, Myanmar is where it is today because of a highly unequal distribution of assets and resources. The extremely wealthy crony class was born out of this method of primitive accumulation. Although it is difficult to find a reliable figure for the country's gini-coefficient, which measures income inequality, anecdotal evidence suggests inequality in Myanmar is getting worse. It is not difficult to grasp the extent of inequality: One just needs to go to peri-urban areas like the Yangon townships of Hlaing Tharyar or South Dagon, let alone consider rural Myanmar, where 70 percent of the country lives. Myanmar is also dependent on its natural resources, making a transition to liberal democracy look like a faraway dream, if Carles Boix's theory holds true. But I hope that is not the case, and believe there is reason to hope. Here's why: In my opinion, if the powerful elites properly understand their self-interest, they will engage in large-scale redistribution programs. They will pay more attention to the health and education of the ordinary people. In the 21st century, economies are knowledge-based, meaning labor productivity and technological innovations will become the decisive factors for any business organization. To bring about technological change and increased labor productivity requires a lot of human capital. Cronies in Myanmar cannot expand their businesses without human capital. They are trying to shift their investments from extractive industries to the service sector in this liberalization phase. They should also try to shift from extractives-exclusive economic system to an inclusive one and bring their financial resources to the surface for more productive activities. This will produce a win-win situation: Cronies need human capital to build their businesses, while the ordinary people, most of whom are poor, need increased access to health and education services, and greater opportunities for their futures. Another argument in favor of a redistribution of the cronies' wealth relates to political stability. When one looks at the instable countries of the world such as Syria, Iraq or Libya, the main drivers are inequality and poverty. Land confiscations and water scarcity in Syria drove people from rural areas to urban cities, where these people ended up unemployed. They just needed a spark to ignite social upheaval. That was the main cause of civil war there, as pointed out by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. And a country will be more vulnerable to global issues like Ebola if a majority of the population is poor and uneducated. In this age of globalization, policymakers everywhere should take into account the three broader goals of economic development, environmental conservation and social justice. Some cronies have reportedly approached the inner circle of democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. While some might cringe at this, it should be welcome news if their intention is to help empower poor people through her foundations and other charitable organizations. With the enormous resources at their disposal, they can do many things to alleviate poverty and increase human capital. They must realize that their way of doing business is unsustainable. For decades, Myanmar's cronies have wreaked much havoc on the environment and society as a whole, profiting all the way. Going forward, let's hope their own enlightened self-interest and concern for the common good will encourage them to redistribute some of that wealth. Khine Win is director of the Sandhi Governance Institute, which focuses on promoting good governance in Myanmar. The post Inequality and the Need for Redistribution appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Helping Burmese Refugees Start New Lives in New Zealand Posted: 17 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT Annie Coates helps Burmese refugees in New Zealand to adjust to their new lives. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) Sparsely populated New Zealand could be said to be punching above its wait in terms of Burmese refugee intake. About 2,000 Burmese, largely coming from refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border, now live in the island nation of 4.4 million people. Annie Coates, an ethnic Karen woman who has lived in the capital Wellington for more than 30 years, is helping those transplants adjust to life in the southern hemisphere, working with the refugee community on health, education and other social issues. In 2009, she received the Prime Minister's Social Hero Award in recognition of her work. Formerly with the ChangeMakers Refugee Forum, Coates now works independently, volunteering her time to teach English, assist with job hunting and even babysitting for refugees. The Irrawaddy spoke with Coates in Wellington about her role in supporting the Burmese refugee community in New Zealand. Question: How do you help Burmese refugees in New Zealand? Answer: I was working many jobs in the past, when Burmese refugees began coming to New Zealand in the 2000s. At that time, I took leave to help them. I was what's called a cross-cultural worker. I helped them to rent houses and with health issues, because at that time, there was a language barrier in communicating with Kiwis [New Zealand citizens]. For social support, I helped them by, for example, staying overnight to babysit. I am not actually a qualified social worker, but just serve in a supporting role. Most of them are young people and they do not have any relatives in New Zealand, so I become automatically their mother or grandmother. There are 38 children I have been taking care of here. And also I'm helping to recommend some Burmese who apply for visas to come here who are the wives or husbands of people here. Q: How many Burmese are there living in New Zealand? Are they all refugees from the Thai-Burma border camps? A: Almost 2,000 Burmese are living here. Mostly they are living in the biggest city, Auckland. More than half the total Burmese are living there. About 200 live in Wellington, and also Nelson. Most of them grew up on the Thai-Burma border, ethnic Karen and Kayah [Karenni] from Burma. But ethnic Chinese and Rakhine [Arakanese] are coming from Malaysia. They might be economic refugees who are here to seek jobs. But they come here without a visa as there is a lot of corruption in Malaysia. There are many Burmese who queue in front of the UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] office in Malaysia to get here. If someone is arrested by Malaysian police, the UNHCR issues refugee cards for them, so some are intentionally paying bribes to police to arrest them, so they can easily get refugee cards and come here. There are no official refugee camps in Malaysia, but there are detention facilities holding some Burmese people. Q: Are you supporting all of them or do you have to be selective, given the number of Burmese refugees coming to New Zealand? A: I am helping them through social humanitarian activities; there is not a political agenda. I support whoever needs support. I help them using my own money. While I was working in cross-cultural support in refugee services, there were barriers to helping them, like forbidding emotional attachment [to refugees]. That's why after my contract ended, I decided to independently support Burmese refugees myself. Q: Can these refugees become New Zealand citizens? A: They have been granted permanent resident status. After five years, they can apply for citizenship here. After they have been granted citizenship, some people take a chance and move to Australia. Q: What about job opportunities for Burmese refugees here? Is it easy for them to find employment? A: There are a lot of job-seeking agencies for them here. After they get to New Zealand, they receive an orientation; they are taught the English language and also undergo a skills assessment. If they provide some information about their background [such as education and work histories] in Malaysia or Thailand, it's easy to access jobs. But some people still have difficulties getting a job here. The problem is the language barrier, though there are many job vacancies here. Some people get a chance to study here while working at the same time. As long as they're trying hard, staying here is good for them. Q: Is it true that some Rohingya refugees are also coming to New Zealand? A: I have heard about that, but no one here in Wellington. Some have lived on the Thai-Burma border for a long time as refugees. They are registered in the UN list as Karen, but the names on their ID cards are Muslim names. However they can speak the Karen language very well. The post Helping Burmese Refugees Start New Lives in New Zealand appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Name of Muslim Group in Burma Goes Unspoken Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:54 PM PDT Young Rohingya girls stay at a primary school several kilometers outside of Sittwe. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) WASHINGTON — Burma's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims have been denied citizenship, targeted in deadly sectarian violence and corralled into dirty camps without aid. To heap on the indignity, Burma's government is pressuring foreign officials not to speak the group's name, and the tactic appears to be working. UN officials say they avoid the term in public to avoid stirring tensions between the country's Buddhists and Muslims. And after US Secretary of State John Kerry recently met with Burmese leaders, a senior State Department official told reporters the United States thinks the name issue should be "set aside." That disappoints Tun Khin, president of the activist group Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK. He said by not using it, governments are co-operating with a policy of repression. "How will the rights of the Rohingya be protected by people who won't even use the word 'Rohingya'?" he said. Burmese authorities view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, not one of the 135 officially recognized ethnic groups. Longstanding discrimination against this stateless minority, estimated to number 1.3 million, has intensified as Burma has opened up after decades of military rule. More than 140,000 Rohingya have been trapped in crowded camps since extremist mobs from the Buddhist majority began chasing them from their homes two years ago, killing up to 280 people. Racism against the Rohingya is widespread, and some see in the communal violence the warning signs of genocide. The United States has called on the government to protect them. When President Barack Obama visited Burma less than two years ago, he told students at Rangoon University: "There is no excuse for violence against innocent people. And the Rohingya hold themselves—hold within themselves the same dignity as you do, and I do." Yet neither Kerry this month, nor top human rights envoy Tom Malinowski during a June visit, uttered the term at their news conferences when they talked with concern about the situation in Arakan State, where sectarian violence is perhaps worst. Buddhist mob attacks against Rohingya and other Muslims have spread from the western state to other parts of the country, sparking fears that nascent democratic reforms in the nation could be undermined by growing religious intolerance. The State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly, said the United States' position is that to force either community to accept a name that they consider offensive—including the term "Bengali" that the government uses to describe Rohingya—is to "invite conflict." The department says its policy on using "Rohingya," however, hasn't changed. Foreign aid workers have been caught up in the tensions. Buddhist hardliners have attacked homes and offices of aid workers it accuses of helping Muslims and not the smaller number of Buddhists also displaced by the violence. Doctors Without Borders was expelled by the government in February and is still waiting to be allowed back. The humanitarian situation has worsened. The UN said the number of severe malnutrition cases more than doubled between March and June, and the world body's top human rights envoy for Burma, Yanghee Lee, last month called the situation "deplorable." She said she'd been repeatedly told by the government not to use the name "Rohingya," although she noted under international law that minorities have the right to self-identify on the basis of their national, ethnic, religious and linguistic characteristics. Burma's Information Minister Ye Htut said in an email to The Associated Press that the name had never been accepted by Burmese citizens. He said it was created by a separatist movement in the 1950s and then used by exile activists to pressure Burma's former military government at the United Nations in the 1990s. While there is a reference to "Rohingya" by a British writer published in 1799, use of the term by the Muslim community in Arakan State to identify themselves is fairly recent, according to Jacques Leider, an expert on the region's history. Rohingya leaders claim their people are descendants of Muslims who settled in Arakan State before British colonial rule, which began after a war in 1823. The British occupation opened the doors to much more migration of Muslims from Bengal. Current Burmese law denies full citizenship to those whose descendants arrived after 1823. The name debate is reminiscent of whether to call the country by its old name, Burma, or Myanmar—the title adopted by the then-ruling military junta in 1989. Washington still officially uses "Burma," although US officials also refer to "Myanmar"—a sign of the improved ties with the former pariah state. But in this contest over semantics, the stakes are higher. Rohingya were excluded from a UN-supported national census this spring if they identified themselves as Rohingya. They face stiff restrictions on travel, jobs, education and how many children they can have. They are also unwelcome in Bangladesh, where they have fled during crackdowns inside Burma since the 1970s. Either because of government prodding or a desire to avoid confrontation, staff of foreign embassies and aid agencies in Burma rarely say "Rohingya" in public these days, and may simply say, "Muslims." In June, the UN children's agency even apologized for using the term "Rohingya" at a presentation in Arakan State, an incident which drew criticism from rights activists. "Any humanitarian agency or donor who refuses to use the term is not just betraying fundamental tenants of human rights law, but displaying cowardice that has no place in any modern humanitarian project," said David Mathieson, senior researcher on Burma for Human Rights Watch. Associated Press writer Robin McDowell in Rangoon contributed to this report. The post Name of Muslim Group in Burma Goes Unspoken appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Elderly Ex-Sex Slaves Want Solace, Help From Pope  Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:48 PM PDT Pope Francis blesses a child as he arrives for a closing Holy Mass of the 6th Asian Youth Day in Haemi Castle in Haemi, south of Seoul, on August 17, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL— Lee Yong-soo hopes a meeting Monday with Pope Francis will provide some solace for the pain that still feels fresh more than seven decades after Japanese soldiers forced her into prostitution during World War II. Lee, 86, and a group of other elderly former "comfort women" will sit in the front row during the last Mass of the pope's five-day trip to South Korea. Francis cannot solve a long-running grievance that has become a major hurdle to better ties between neighbors and US allies Japan and South Korea, but the women are looking for greater global attention as they push Japan for a new apology and compensation. They also want a chance to share with the pope their feelings on the brutality they suffered as girls. "If we do get a chance to speak with him, I want to cling to him in tears and ask him to help us resolve our pain," Lee, a devout Catholic who was 15 when forced into sexual slavery, said by telephone. "I want to ask him to help us end this problem in a peaceful way." Time is running out. Only 55 of the 238 women registered as official victims of sexual slavery survive, according to Seoul's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family website. Their average age is 88. Two have died this year. Lee and other victims regularly speak to the media about their grievances against Japan, and some of the women give public testimony in Japan and the United States and take part in protests. A weekly demonstration in their honor has been held in Seoul for more than 20 years. The women plan to give the pope a copy of a painting of a young woman in traditional Korean clothes who represents victims who have died. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, suggested the pope might meet the women privately, something Francis did with relatives of the victims of a South Korean ferry sinking. It's unlikely that Francis will offer anything more than words of prayer and solidarity. Lombardi has previously said it's not Francis' place to intervene in political disputes but, instead, to offer pastoral care and comfort. Various historians estimate that 20,000 to 200,000 women from across Asia, many of them Koreans, were forced into Japan's military brothel system during the war. Japan has apologized many times over the years, including a landmark 1993 statement by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono that acknowledges Japan's responsibility over military brothels and says wartime documents, statements and other records were enough to assume many women were deceived or forced into them. Some previous premiers have also written letters of apology to the women. But past apologies and efforts at private compensation are seen by many as insufficient, especially as they're consistently undermined by incendiary comments from Japanese politicians, officials and right-wing activists. There was renewed anger last week when three Japanese ministers visited a Tokyo shrine that honors World War II dead, including convicted war criminals. Kang Il-chul, 87, who was taken by the Japanese military to China when she was 14, has high expectations for the pope. "Even if I am soon on my deathbed, I'll be happy knowing that I have met this great man," Kang said by telephone. "Koreans, women and men, were dragged away by the Japanese military. I want the pope to amplify this message for future generations." Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield contributed to this report. The post Elderly Ex-Sex Slaves Want Solace, Help From Pope  appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thousands Join Anti-Occupy Rally in Hong Kong as Democracy Fight Heats Up Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:42 PM PDT Thousands of pro-Beijing protesters gather to march in the streets to demonstrate against a pro-democracy Occupy Central campaign in Hong Kong August 17, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG — Tens of thousands gathered in sweltering heat in Hong Kong on Sunday to protest against a pro-democracy campaign that has threatened to shut down the city's financial district, exposing a deepening rift over political reforms in the former British colony. The rise in tit-for-tat street protests between pro-Beijing and pro-democracy groups underscores the challenges China faces in shaping its vision for the political future of Hong Kong. Backed largely by Beijing-friendly groups, the Alliance for Peace and Democracy says it "desires peace and no violence" and has denounced the pro-democracy Occupy Central movement that has said it will lock down the centre of the city if Beijing does not allow truly democratic elections for a leader in 2017. "We want to show that the march doesn't have to be violent and angry. It can be happy," said Robert Chow, a former Hong Kong radio host and spokesman for the alliance. The group says it has so far collected close to 1.5 million signatures, including that of Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, saying the "illegal" Occupy campaign would tarnish Hong Kong's reputation and hurt business. It wasn't possible to independently verify the number, which exceeded the almost 800,000 votes in Occupy Central's unofficial poll on democracy in June. The anti-Occupy campaign kicked off early on Sunday with a run through the centre of the city that attracted about 1,500 in temperatures as high as 30 degrees Celsius, organizers said. The all-day rally, which marks the end of the alliance's month-long signature campaign, was overshadowed by speculation that some business groups had pressured people to take part. One Chinese participant surnamed Chen, who is in her 60s, said some people attended simply because they like running. "I bumped into a friend. She's running with colleagues from a property management firm. She said her firm encouraged her to run and she took part because she likes running," she added. More people, mostly groups of elderly, showed up later in the morning to offer a flower "for peace," with different groups wearing the same colored T-shirts and hats. Occupy Central has said its movement is peaceful, demanding a "genuine choice" for Hong Kong's 5 million eligible voters. After annual protests marking the anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China last month, hundreds of police started removing protesters from the heart of Hong Kong's business district as they tried to stage a sit-in after a rally to demand greater democracy. Elderly Rally "We do not support Occupy Central because it will bring trouble and instability to the city," said retiree Law Kwai-wing, 77, who said he had traveled across the border from China's Guangdong province as part of a bus tour organized by the pro-Beijing Federation of Trade Unions (FTU). The group planned to stay for less than an hour before returning across the border from Hong Kong for lunch, which tour members would pay for themselves, he added. Many rally participants, mostly elderly, told Reuters they had been provided with free transport by various political and business groups. In one district, about 150 people boarded buses organized by the Hong Kong Livestock Industry Association. One man interviewed by Reuters said he had boarded a bus from an outlying area of Hong Kong and was given a HK$30 subsidy for lunch. "It is normal to have a little bit of a subsidy when you are at a march. Some [marches] give more, some less, but this time we only get a little money for food," said Chan Chiu-fat, 55, who was wearing a straw hat. In a Whatsapp message seen by Reuters, people were offered HK$350 ($45) to attend the rally "for five hours." The message sender, however, declined to provide their name or background. Alliance spokesman Chow dismissed such messages as fake and attempts to discredit the campaign. Debate has raged over the format of the election for Hong Kong's next leader in 2017. Pro-democracy groups have called on Beijing to allow open nominations rather than only letting "patriotic" pro-Beijing candidates to stand. Beijing has allowed Hong Kong—returned to Chinese rule in 1997—to go ahead with a popular vote in 2017, the most far-reaching experiment in democracy in communist China. Some analysts said the rally reflected Beijing's determination to curtail the momentum of Occupy Central through a formidable grassroots mobilization of supporters and the United Front Work Department—an organ of the Communist Party that works to propagate Party interests. A group of pro-democracy lawmakers said they would press ahead with the campaign to gridlock Central, if Beijing fails to come up with a proposal that meets their demands. The post Thousands Join Anti-Occupy Rally in Hong Kong as Democracy Fight Heats Up appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Across Asia’s Borders, Labor Activists Team Up to Press Wage Claims Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:33 PM PDT   Employees work at a garment factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo: Reuters) JAKARTA/PHNOM PENH — Labor leaders behind the biggest strikes in Cambodia's US$5 billion garment industry knew last year they had a strong case for higher wages: they had already compared notes with activists in neighboring countries. The result was a 25 percent increase in the minimum pay for an estimated 600,000 garment workers, to $100 a month, the biggest jump in around 15 years. Now, they're asking for more. Negotiations over pay and working conditions have typically remained within national borders, but activists are now bringing more muscle to the table and putting more pressure on employers and governments by using shared experiences in nearby markets. For global companies that have shifted production to Southeast Asia's low-cost manufacturing hub, this could mean less room for wage bargaining, a squeeze on profits and maybe even higher price tags on anything from shoes and clothing to cars and electronics appliances. "I see a trend towards more and stronger collaboration among labor leaders that can take different shapes and forms, from exchanging information to partnerships," said Peter van Rooij, director of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Jakarta, noting ties would likely strengthen with next year's planned economic integration by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Thousands of workers in China, Indonesia and Cambodia have protested in recent months at local firms supplying US sportswear company Nike Inc to press for better pay and conditions. Up to 4,000 workers at Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing Co, which makes clothes for Nike, went on strike in May last year demanding higher wages to keep pace with transport, rent and healthcare costs. Hotel Lobby Across Asia's low-cost garment manufacturing industry in particular, there have been more strikes as unions use a shortage of skilled workers to press for better pay and improved safety—an issue highlighted by the April 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, which killed at least 1,130 people. Members of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) have reported a jump in the number of strikes to 147 last year from fewer than three dozen in 2011. Other international brands hit by protests at Cambodia-based suppliers last year include H&M Hennes and Mauritz AB, Wal-Mart Stores Inc , Gap Inc and Puma SE. Following the Bangladesh disaster, local unions reached out to international labor representatives, said Annie Adviento, director of IndustriALL's Southeast Asia office, helping create the landmark Accord on Fire and Building Safety—a legally binding agreement signed by more than 150 apparel firms and the unions that requires factories to have independent safety inspections with the results made public. IndustriALL, which represents 50 million workers in 140 countries worldwide, said it arranges meetings two to three times a month to bring together labor activists from across Asia, something that was rarely done before last year. "Issues are not being kept secret at the national level anymore. The capacity of the unions to share information has improved," said Adviento. "We're doing many exchanges this year as we found they are very effective and we intend to continue in 2015," she said, adding Cambodia and Bangladesh have been "high profile cases" for the global labor union. "We communicate with each other and we give duties to this international union to lobby in asking for pay rises," said Chea Mony, president of the Phnom Penh-based Free Trade Union. Said Iqbal, who heads the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions, with more than 1.4 million members, said he has been invited to Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to share his experiences with other activists. "Our motto is clear—say no to cheap wages. We're spreading that principle in Southeast Asian countries," he told Reuters. Iqbal said the meetings arranged by IndustriALL can be seminars for up to 50 people, or gatherings drawing a group of labor leaders from several countries to a hotel in one of the region's capitals, where they compare minimum wages and talk about social security and other labor-related issues. "We're trying to spread the principle of 'concept, lobby, action'," said the 46-year-old, recalling how he became involved in labor activism to fight the kind of poverty that forced his mother to sell cakes to fellow workers in a Jakarta textile factory just to make ends meet. "That probably took root in my mind and heart. A person can work for decades for one company and still remain poor. I felt a call to really fight at the labor unions," he said. Union Influence When negotiating with the GMAC and the Cambodian government, unions have drawn on examples from other Asian countries such as Thailand—which last year brought in a national daily minimum wage of 300 baht ($9.42)—said Pav Sina, president of the Collective Union Movement of Workers. While the GMAC agreed to gradually raise the monthly minimum pay to $160 by 2018, the unions—which have power and influence over Cambodia's economy—are pushing for $177 a month and have threatened more strikes, Pav Sina told Reuters. In Jakarta, capital of Southeast Asia's largest economy, the minimum monthly wage has jumped around 60 percent to 2.4 million rupiah ($205.30) over the last two years, partly due to intense lobbying by labor activists. That compares to 1,820 yuan ($295.79) a month in Shanghai—the highest in China, once the world's "cheap factory." Even as wages rise, labor activists are confident they aren't at risk of pricing themselves out of the market. Arief Budiman, President Director of consultancy PT. McKinsey Indonesia, says global firms recognize Asia's "market opportunity" and expanding consumer base. "Companies have threatened to move out of Indonesia, but I think that's just an empty threat," said Wahidin, an official at the Indonesian Muslim Workers Brotherhood. "The reality is that few have closed, and in fact more want to expand here." In an emailed statement, Nike said it takes a "long-term approach" to sourcing decisions—it has contract factories in 44 countries—and is always looking to improve its supply chain, through increased productivity and efficiency.   The post Across Asia's Borders, Labor Activists Team Up to Press Wage Claims appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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