The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Civil Society Groups to Cooperate on Flood Rehabilitation Efforts
- Arrest Warrants Issued for Alleged NLD Billboard Vandals
- Rohingya MP and Mandalay Doctor Barred From Contesting November Election
- Rangoon Property Market Goes Cold Ahead of November Poll
- Election Commission Postpones Voter List Review
- Fishing Curbs Pledged for Mandalay Lake
- Rights Activist Andy Hall Indicted for Defamation in Bangkok
- As Election Nears, Survey Offers Insight Into Voters’ Views
- Taung Pyone Readies for Annual Nat Festival
- Turmoil at the Top Prompts Business Uncertainty
- Thai Police Fear Bangkok Bombing Suspect May Have Fled
- As North, South Korea Hold Marathon Crisis Talks, Seoul Talks Tough
- Malaysia Finds 24 More Bodies of Human Trafficking Victims
- Displaced Families Face Hardship in Kachin ‘Model Village’
- Fukuyama’s Flawed Take on Burma
| Civil Society Groups to Cooperate on Flood Rehabilitation Efforts Posted: 24 Aug 2015 05:50 AM PDT  Flood victims wait at their home in Zalun Township, Irrawaddy Division on Aug. 6 (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON—Around 50 organizations involved in relief efforts in flood-stricken parts of Burma have agreed to coordinate their efforts toward flood rehabilitation programs in the coming months, according to attendees of a conference held in Sittwe over the weekend. Dr. Kyaw Thu, director of the Paung Ku consortium of civil society groups, told The Irrawaddy that conference attendees wanted to build on emergency response and information sharing networks developed during the crisis to help villagers in future recovery efforts. Wunlark Foundation director Khaing Kaung San said that organizations involved in flood relief saw a need for civil society to assist in rehabilitation plans, as the Burmese government did not have the resources to prepare a long-term flood response on its own. "We don't want to depend on the government's resettlement plan, and the rehabilitation period will be more difficult than emergency response, this is why we're trying to organize," he told The Irrawaddy. He added that plans to merge and coordinate civil society rehabilitation efforts were likely to be finalized by the end of August. According to government statistics, by Monday the floods had affected more than 1.6 million people across 12 states and divisions. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Friday that nearly 1 million acres of farmland had been damaged since the floods began, with nearly 400,000 households displaced by the deluge. PanDeikTun, who attended the Sittwe conference as a member of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, said that the local organizations represented would work to coordinate their rehabilitation efforts with international non-government organizations. The post Civil Society Groups to Cooperate on Flood Rehabilitation Efforts appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Arrest Warrants Issued for Alleged NLD Billboard Vandals Posted: 24 Aug 2015 05:37 AM PDT  A defaced National League for Democracy (NLD) party billboardis picturedin Nansang Township, Shan State. (Photo: Facebook / U Nay Zaw) RANGOON — A court in Shan State has issued arrest warrantsfor members of a local militia who allegedly destroyed party signboards and flags of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). Five members, including a liaison officer, of the government-aligned Matkyanmilitant group were issued arrest warrants late last week, according to a senior legal officer from the NansangTownship court who spoke to The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity,citingthe sensitivity of the case. "The court issued the arrest warrant on Friday for five members," he said. Nay ZawNaing, a central committee member of the local NLD branch, told The Irrawaddy that partybillboards and banners were destroyed last month at 28 NLD offices in Nansang and MongNai townships. He said the party had learned that the warrantswere forwarded to the Burma Army's Eastern Central Command, seekingmilitary assistance in apprehending the men,given their ties to the local armed group. "The local police station informed us that we will learn the progress [whether the suspects have been arrested] of the case on Sept. 2, as the police will have to report back to the court on the case," he added. Authorities at the Nangsang police station could not be reached for comment on Monday. Four suspects from the militia group were briefly detained on July 21, the same night of the vandalism, after police said they caught the men destroying the NLDmaterials. The men subsequently admitted their affiliation with the Matkyanmilitia during an interrogation by police, township elders and NLD members. "They were brought to court the next day. The court transferred the case to the police but they released them as it was not a police case," said Nay ZawNaing, explaining that police were reluctant to pursue prosecution because of the men's links toMatkyan. "They didn't appearatthe next court hearing on July 29 and are still at large," he added."That's why they have had warrants issued." The Matkyan militia is an offshoot of the Mong Tai Army—the former forces of the infamous warlord KhunSa, who was dubbed an "opium king" by the Western press for his involvement in the global narcotics trade. After splitting from the Shan State Army-South, the 100-strong militia now operates under the control of the military's divisional command and Shan State Border Affairs Minister Col. Aung Thu, according to Taunggyi District NLD chairman Tin Maung Toe. "We think there is political motivation behind [the destruction of party paraphernalia]. They want to scare off the NLD supporters here," Nay ZawNaing said. With NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi planning to visit Shan State early next month, he said local party branchleaders would seek her advice onnext courses of action if there is no progress in the case after the Sept. 2 court hearing. News of the warrants comes as political parties nationwide gear up for the official start of the general election's campaigning period on Sept. 8. The nationwide vote is slated for Nov. 8 and could be Burma's first free and fair election in 25 years, though intimidation tactics and violence are concerns in the high-stakes election year environment.
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| Rohingya MP and Mandalay Doctor Barred From Contesting November Election Posted: 24 Aug 2015 05:16 AM PDT  Shwe Maung, the former Union Solidarity and Development Party MP who will run in Burma's November general election as an independent candidate. (Photo: Shwe Maung / Facebook) MANDALAY — Two prospective lawmakers—including a Rohingya Muslim man who has served in Burma's Parliament for the past five years—have been barred from competing in an upcoming election on the grounds that their parents are not citizens. Shwe Maung, who represents Arakan State's Buthidaung Township for the Lower House, and Dr. Win Myint, who planned to run for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Mandalay's Chan Aye Thar San Township, both plan to appeal the district-level rejections to the Union Election Commission. Elected in 2010 as a member of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Shwe Maung recently left the party and announced his candidacy as an independent. He is one of the few voices in Burma's Parliament to speak on behalf of the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority residing in western Burma's Arakan State. Rejection of his bid to contest in the majority-Rohingya township was just the latest blow for the beleaguered group, which recently saw many of its members stripped of their right to vote in the midst of a protracted and oft-criticized citizenship verification process. Despite Shwe Maung's current position as a lawmaker, the commission reportedly turned him down on the grounds that his parents were not Burmese citizens, a claim that he maintained was untrue. Physician Win Myint, a candidate for the NLD, was similarly rejected on the grounds that his father was a Chinese national living in Burma with a foreign registration card. The nominee's lawyer told reporters, however, that his father had attained naturalized citizenship in 1976. "His father received the nationality [card] in accordance with the law. Dr. Win Myint himself is a Burmese national and has carried out his civic duty as a doctor; rejecting Dr. Win Myint is unfair and we will submit an appeal to the Union Election Commission," the lawyer said at a press briefing in Mandalay on Monday. Win Myint was present at the briefing but was unwilling to field questions from the media due to a recent request by NLD leadership that candidates abstain from talking to the press. The order was instated to prevent prospective candidates from making any disqualifying errors while the election board scrutinized candidate lists, according to a party spokesperson. Burma's upcoming general election, which will be widely viewed as a barometer of reforms initiated in 2011, are set to be held on Aug. 8. The pre-election period has already been tarnished by concerns of mass disenfranchisement and flawed voter lists, while recent flooding—believed to be the nation's worst in decades—has compromised voter outreach and capacity of local election commissions.
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| Rangoon Property Market Goes Cold Ahead of November Poll Posted: 24 Aug 2015 05:03 AM PDT  A worker is seen at a construction site for Shangri-La Residences in Rangoon, September 20, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — The property market in Burma's commercial capital has seen little in the way of recent sales or investment as developers await the results of the country's general election later this year, real estate agents told The Irrawaddy. Skyrocketing property prices in Rangoon peaked in 2013 with speculation rife and increasing demand for rental and commercial space far outstripping supply. Previous government initiatives rejigging property and land taxes failed to arrest the upward trend which saw average prices for properties on Rangoon's main roads reach highs of between 700,000 and one million kyat per square foot in 2013. However, in 2015, market demand has fallen—although prices remain high—with little new investment. "There is no one playing the real estate market and purchasing power is decreasing this year," said Moe Moe Aung, general secretary of the Myanmar Real Estate Association. Demand for high-end property in prime locations in Burma's biggest city, such as Bahan, Kamayut, Mayangone and Sanchaung townships, has seen a significant decline and landowners are adopting a wait-and-see approach as a crucial nationwide election nears in November, Moe Moe Aung said. "[Demand] for properties priced above one or two billion kyat is significantly down this year," she said. "Although the government reduced some sales taxes, demand is still going down." In April, the government lowered the property sales tax to: three percent on deals up to 100 million kyat; five percent on deals from 100 to 500 million kyat; 10 percent on deals from 500 to 1 billion kyat; 20 percent on deals from 1 billion to 1.5 billion kyat; and 30 percent on deals above 1.5 billion kyat. All taxes are payable to the buyer, according to the vice chairman of the Myanmar Real Estate Services Association, Than Oo, who quoted the above figures to The Irrawaddy. Sales are also subject to a stamp duty, set at 5 percent of price value in Rangoon, while sellers are subject to a flat 10 percent tax rate, he said. Zaw Zaw, senior manager of Unity Real Estate, noted that land prices had not fallen despite dropping demand and that investors were more interested in the gold market. "In the past, investors came into the real estate market when they heard rumors of political change in the country. But this time, they're just eyeing gold and the US dollar rather than the real estate market," he said. "As prices are still high, people are only interested in investing in small scale land in areas like North Dagon and South Dagon. Demand for high-end properties is quite cool," he added. Sai Khun Naung, managing director of Sai Khun Naung real estate agency, told The Irrawaddy earlier this year that if the government wanted to reduce land prices, they would have to expand Rangoon as more people flock to the commercial hub to do business. "People rely on [Rangoon] for their businesses, which is why people prefer to stay here. But there is a lack of new housing projects in [Rangoon]. This is a major reason why property prices are still going up," he said. Despite the current stagnant state of affairs, Moe Moe predicted the market would see an upturn following the November election. "I'm optimistic about that," she said.
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| Election Commission Postpones Voter List Review Posted: 24 Aug 2015 04:48 AM PDT  A prospective voter searches for his name on voter lists prepared for the Yangon City Development Committee elections in December. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON— The Union Election Commission (UEC) has postponed a planned public review of voter lists that was due to commence on Sunday, claiming logistical difficulties posed by the country's recent flooding disaster. With 11 weeks left before November's landmark general election, UEC director Thein Oo told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the fortnight-long nationwide voter list display, originally scheduled between Aug. 23 and Sept. 6, will instead be held at some point later in September. "We postponed it because of recent flood crisis. Voters in flood-affected areas wouldn't be interested in checking their names on the list at the moment, and now is the time to focus on rehabilitation there," he said. Thein Oo said on Monday that an exact time for the voter list display had yet to be confirmed by the commission, but added that there would be avenues of appeal for eligible voters still omitted from the UEC's records, and that Burmese nationals living outside their township electorates would be given until Oct. 10 to register. "The voter lists which will be displayed this time have been revised with corrections submitted during preliminary voter list display periods. The voters can check again whether their information is correct or not. If not, they can apply to enroll again." The preliminary lists, released in four phases from March,were criticized by political parties and civil society groups, who said that the voter rosters were riddled with errors and risked potentially disenfranchising millions of people if left uncorrected. The opposition National League for Democracy claimed in June that 30-80 percent of voter list data in various Rangoon and Naypyidaw townships was inaccurate, prompting UEC chairman Tin Aye to admit that the preliminary lists contained "many errors". Sai Ye Kyaw Swar Myint, executive director of the People’s Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE) monitoring group, said his organization would observe the public display of voter lists in 110 townships across Burma. "We will monitor the process of the nationwide voter lists display and keep track of other important incidents, such as the closing of the sub-commission offices, threats, and insufficient complaint forms at the sub-commission offices through two weeks," he said, referring to a raft of complaints directed at the UEC during the publication of preliminary voter lists. Earlier in August, the UEC pushed back the deadline for the submission of candidate applications in response to floods that ravaged large swathes of northern and western Burma and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Nearly 1.6 million people have been affected by landslides and the inundation of villages, and at least 110 people have died, according to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. The UEC's candidate scrutiny process has also been extended, with the commission's vetting of applications to contest the poll now expected to conclude on Aug. 31. The post Election Commission Postpones Voter List Review appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Fishing Curbs Pledged for Mandalay Lake Posted: 24 Aug 2015 03:37 AM PDT  Fishermen cast their nets on Taungthaman Lake in Mandalay Division's Amarapura Township. (Photo: Hein Htet/The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Mandalay regional government will cease issuances of new commercial fishing licenses for Taungthaman Lake in a bid to conservethe body of water, which hosts Burma's iconic U Bein Bridge. Aung Maung, development affairs minister for Mandalay Division, announced the plan during the 13th regular session of the Mandalay divisionalparliament on Friday. "According to experts, Taungthaman Lake should be conserved as a freshwater lake for its beauty. So, we won't auction licenses to fish in the lake as of the coming fiscal year. We have also taken measures to prevent wastewater from flowing into the lake," said the minister. Amarapura Township'sTaungthaman Lake, which is spanned by the famed1,200-meter U Bein Bridge, has been used for commercial fishing since 1989.The Mandalay Division Fisheries Department and Mandalay City Development Committee are responsible for the auctioningof fishing licenses. Annually, an average of about 130,000 kilograms of fish is caught from Taungthaman Lake. Currently, tycoon Chit Khaing holds the sole commercial fishing license,a three-yearconcession that he secured with a bid of 500 million kyats (US$390,000) per year. The company hasset up fish breeding farmson the lake. "I am not complaining about it," Chit Khaing said. "Our fishing license has one year left. As fish are being bred in the lake, the ending of the auction will affect the market. I think they [the government]are trying to find a short-term solution for the problems of Taungthaman Lake." The decision comesless than four months after the Mandalay City Development Committee cracked down on factories in Mandalay's industrial zones that were dumping untreated wastewater into the lake. Meanwhile, plans to restore the aging U Bein Bridge were slated for this month, but high water levels on Taungthaman Lake have delayed the project, said Myint Kyu, the Mandalay Division finance minister, who is also responsible for heritage conservation in the region. At more than 150 years old, the teak bridge is a major tourist draw and is also heavily trafficked by locals.
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| Rights Activist Andy Hall Indicted for Defamation in Bangkok Posted: 24 Aug 2015 03:27 AM PDT  British rights activist Andy Hall speaks to the media at the Prakanong Provincial Court in Bangkok last September. (Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters) RANGOON — Migrant rights activist Andy Hall has been formally indicted on charges of criminal defamation and computer crimes in Thailand, the latest chapter in a long-running legal saga that the 35-year-old British national has characterized as "judicial harassment". Bangkok South Criminal Court ruled on Monday that the charges could proceed against Hall, who faces a maximum seven-year sentence if convicted. "I'm disappointed but I will respect the court's decision," Hall told The Irrawaddy. "I'm going to fight the case, and the case will expose many wrongdoings by many different people…I'm confident that in the end I'll be served justice and be acquitted of all charges." Natural Fruit, a pineapple processing company based in the Bangkok municipality of Thonburi and exporting to European markets, filed civil and criminal defamation complaints against Hall in February 2013. Hall had been contracted to conduct research for a report by European corporate watchdog Finnwatch that documented low wages, the employment of underage workers and other labor abuses against the company's largely Burmese migrant workforce. Finnwatch executive director Sonja Vartiala, said in a press statement on Monday that the prospects of a fair trial for Hall were "looking grim", and noted that no-one had yet been held accountable for the unlawful labor practices at the Natural Fruit plant. "The Bangkok South Criminal Court had an opportunity to put an end to a saga of intimidation, already lasting 30-months, aimed at nothing but gagging a human rights defender," she said. "Regrettably the court chose instead to press on with a trial of these unfounded charges." Hall is facing three other charges relating to the Natural Fruit report, including a criminal defamation charge for a June 2013 interview with Al Jazeera in Rangoon, and corresponding civil defamation cases seeking a total of US$14 million in damages. The Prakanong Provincial Court dismissed the criminal defamation charge arising from the Al Jazeera interview in October 2014. An appeal against the ruling, lodged by the Thai Attorney General and Natural Fruit, is expected by the beginning of 2016. Hall confirmed on Monday that he would remain in Thailand to contest the allegations. "I fight on against judicial harassment to give voice to systematic migrant rights violations [and the] dire situation of rights activists in Thailand," he wrote on Twitter after the indictment was handed down. Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, told The Irrawaddy that companies sourcing products from Thailand should ask the nation's leaders why a human rights activist was being prosecuted for drawing attention to labor abuses. "By prosecuting Andy Hall for his reporting on the exploitation of migrant workers, the Thai government has thrown its support behind a rights abusing company and revealed how little Bangkok cares about ending human trafficking or addressing cruel treatments meted out against migrants from Burma," said Robertson. "What's really in the dock today is Thailand's faltering commitment to tackle human rights violations in the supply chains of companies that export their products to Europe and North America." On Wednesday, representatives of 44 international labor and human rights organizations called on Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to ensure Hall's release from all charges and an end to the use of defamation and computer crimes prosecutions to punish rights activists. For the last year, Hall has worked to organize and raise funds for the defense of Burmese migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, the pair accused of murdering two British tourists on the southern island of Koh Tao in September 2014. It is expected that Hall will either be taken into pre-trial detention or given the opportunity to post bail when he next appears before the Bangkok South Criminal Court on Oct. 19. The post Rights Activist Andy Hall Indicted for Defamation in Bangkok appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| As Election Nears, Survey Offers Insight Into Voters’ Views Posted: 24 Aug 2015 02:43 AM PDT  A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Sittwe, Arakan State, during Burma's Nov. 7, 2010, general election. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Preliminary data released on Monday by an Asian research institution offer a window into the mindset of Burma's little-understood electorate just over two weeks ahead of the start of the Nov. 8 election's official campaign season. Much of the data confirm opinions that were long-assumed to be held among Burma's population of more than 51 million: A majority support democracy, greater autonomy for ethnic minorities and strengthening federalism, while distrust in the nation's judiciary and police force runs high; most people see land-grabbing as a serious issue, while "the economy" was viewed by 45 percent of respondents as the most serious problem facing the country; and a significant majority identify deeply with religion. Researchers deployed by the Taiwan-based Asian Barometer Survey polled 1,620 respondents across all 14 of Burma's states and divisions, taking a representative sample of the country at large and asking more than 200 questions on political, economic and social views. The survey results are not without surprises. Respondents were almost evenly split on whether the military should retain a role in politics, with 39 percent in favor and 40 percent against. A majority of respondents (57 percent) declined to respond when asked whether they supported constitutional amendments to two of the charter's most contentious provisions, articles 59(f) and 436. Article 59(f) bars popular opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from presidential eligibility, while Article 436 requires a vote of more than 75 percent to change the Constitution, granting the military an effective veto power. The survey recorded notable differences on some questions between ethnic minority respondents and those from the country's majority-Bamar population, including in opinions on empowering regional legislatures to select their state or divisional chief minister. A total of 64 percent of respondents supported the change from the current system of presidential appointment, but with 77 percent of ethnic minority respondents indicating that they favored the amendment, versus 60 percent of the country's ethnic Bamar majority. An effort to change the constitutional provision on chief ministers, backed vocally by ethnic minority lawmakers, failed to clear the 75 percent hurdle when it was put to a vote in Parliament in June. As expected, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was viewed as the party most likely to win respondents' future vote, though the numbers would appear to indicate a less dominant standing than the results of Burma's 2012 by-election would suggest. While noting that half of all respondents declined to express a party preference, 24 percent nationwide said they would vote NLD, compared with 16 percent who said they would choose the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The NLD secured a landslide victory in Burma's April 2012 by-election, winning 43 of the 44 seats it contested. The survey gives reason for hope among the country's ethnic minority political parties, documenting notable differences in party preference in ethnic minority regions, where only 17 percent said they would vote NLD, compared with 25 percent who chose "other party." Interestingly, the findings indicate that 62 percent of the electorate nationwide feels no party affiliation at all, upping the stakes for a fast-approaching campaign season starting Sept. 8, when parliamentary aspirants from more than 90 political parties will vie for voters' favor. The survey offered a degree of statistical verification for a long-presumed desire to see opposition leader Suu Kyi as president: Asked to state their preferred president, 26 percent nationwide said Suu Kyi, compared with 16 percent who supported incumbent Thein Sein, though again those declining to answer (54 percent) leave plenty of room for interpretation. Asked the related question on removing Article 59(f), 36 percent spoke in favor, with 7 percent against and 57 percent declining to answer. Despite their preference for Suu Kyi, 80 percent of respondents said they were "very" or "somewhat" satisfied with Thein Sein's performance. Looking ahead to the Nov. 8 vote, one-third of respondents felt the 2015 poll would be "completely free and fair," while only 4 percent thought the opposite, with one-third declining to answer the question. While the survey broadly found reason for the NLD and other opposition parties to be optimistic about their electoral prospects, the ruling USDP may take comfort in some of its findings. The military and the president, both of which are closely affiliated with the USDP, were viewed as two of the country's most trusted institutions. Parliament, also stacked with USDP members, earned "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of trust from 43 percent of respondents in total. Asked whether economic development or democracy was more important, 53 percent said the former, compared with 30 percent who preferred the latter. Unlike the NLD, the ruling USDP can take credit for economic growth and a surge in foreign investment since the lifting of Western sanctions during its term of office. Unsurprisingly, only 5 percent of respondents said Burma had achieved "full democracy," with fully 73 percent saying democracy in Burma had minor or major problems, or was not a democracy at all. The wide-ranging survey will offer analytic fodder for Burma researchers across socioeconomic fields of study, but with less than three months until the historic general election, it is the politically weighty data that are likely to attract the most attention in the near term. The survey adds to a small but growing body of research into public attitudes in a country where reliable statistics are in short supply. Indicative of the dearth of information, it was not until the release of 2014 census data that Burma's long-cited population figure of 60 million was debunked, when it was revealed that just over 51.5 million people were residing in the country. Asian Barometer Survey worked with the Yangon School of Political Science to conduct the survey from January to March 2015. Its full results are due to be released later this year.
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| Taung Pyone Readies for Annual Nat Festival Posted: 24 Aug 2015 02:26 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. Despite flooding in some areas of Mandalay after heavy monsoonal rains in recent months, Taung Pyone village, located around 14 km north of the city, is gearing up to celebrate its annual nat (spirit) festival, the largest in the country. Dozens of glittering shrines dedicated to two slain brothers, known locally as Min Gyi and Min Lay, have been decked out to welcome worshippers for the week-long event which begins on Tuesday. Shops, restaurants and street stalls selling local delicacies and various trinkets line the village's main road which leads to the shrines dedicated to the brothers' and other spirits. "Most of the shops are now ready to welcome visitors, since they usually come some days ahead of the festival. Our village will receive thousands of visitors from across the country," said local tea-shop proprietor Mya Mya Aye. During the nat festival, widely known as Taung Pyone Pwe, the usually quiet village is filled with the sound of drums and music and the hum of chattering crowds. Dancers and devotees flock to the shrines and the scent of flowers, candles and incense fills the air. Taung Pyone Pwe is held in honor of the two brothers, who, as legend has it, would eventually achieve nat status after their execution at the hands of King Anawrahta. The main shrine to Min Gyi and Min Lay is in the center of the village. As the story goes, the doomed pair failed to fulfill their duty of each contributing a brick and a handful of sand to a wish-fulfilling pagoda and lost favor with the king. They are the most popular of the 37 nats deified by the Burmese. Children who live along the road to Taung Pyone are also planning to join in the revelry, with some help from generous festivalgoers. "We received about 30,000 kyat during the festival last year," said Aung San Hlaing, a 12-year-old boy from Taung Pyone. "We bought some snacks and candies. We hope we will have fun this year too. Sometimes we go near the nat shrine to dance with our friends. It is so much fun." Colorful makeshift bamboo huts and small shops have been set up around the normally deserted local train station, in the center of Taung Pyone, ready to greet worshippers traveling by train from Mandalay. The train leaves from Mandalay's Thaye Zay station, a popular tourist attraction about 1 km north of the city's ancient moat and the site of a buzzing bazaar. Usually crowded in the early morning until about 10 am, local vendors at the unique bazaar sell local produce on and along the railway track. As the whistle of an incoming train sounds, the vendors draw back their wares to make way. The cost of a ticket from Thaye Zay station to Taung Pyone is only 100 kyat, with trains leaving every 15 minutes to cover increased demand on the 30-45 minute route. "We always go to the festival to perform annual rituals and to receive blessings from Min Gyi and Min Lay. If we [didn't go], we would face bad omens," San Htay, a vegetable vendor at Thaye Zay station bazaar, told The Irrawaddy. Just a few kilometers north of the station, another interesting local tradition is on view during the festival—an earthenware toys fun fair. Locally produced and colorful, the clay toys draw particular interest from children. The fair is known locally as "Oh Bote Khoe Pwe," which refers to a curious tradition of stealing the earthenware goods on a day regarded as auspicious. The tradition started decades ago when children would steal the toys from vendors on one particular day during the Burmese month of Wakhaung. "Stealing is not good, however, it is a tradition to tease the vendors, just for fun" said Htay Htay Win of Mandalay, who accompanied her children to the annual fair. "The children should steal only one or two. The vendors happily shoo them away, sometimes running after the children to make fun." Although the earthenware items, which vary from kitchen utensils to animal figurines, piggy banks and Pyit Tine Htaung (a bottom-heavy, egg-shaped toy with a painted face that always stays upright), have been eclipsed in popularity by more modern toys in recent years, parents still bring their children to the fair to keep in touch with tradition. For their part, local vendors are unfazed at seeing their wares disappear if it brings happiness to the young, playacting thieves. "The stealing does not affect our business as the children, and even some adults, steal just a few toys for fun. We are happy with the tradition as we can share happiness with the children," said toy vendor Nyunt Wai. "We receive a lot of profit as many children nowadays ask their parents to buy these colorful toys for them. Some adults from other cities also buy the toys as souvenirs. They are not durable but children love to play with them and we are happy to see that," she added.
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| Turmoil at the Top Prompts Business Uncertainty Posted: 23 Aug 2015 11:22 PM PDT  06-09-12 Currency – PHOTO – Jpaing RANGOON — In Burma's business environment, where many prominent firms have close ties to officialdom, political developments at the top can have major ramifications for the economy. It remains to be seen how significantly the political turmoil that recently engulfed Burma's ruling party will play out in Burma's business sector. When Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann was ousted from the leadership of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, local businesses feared the potential economic fallout as the former chairman's two sons are part of a wide business network. Speculation was rife that the government might probe the Shwe Mann family's business empire, following junta-era strategies of the past in an attempt to discredit the embattled former general. Almost immediately, the rumors began to spread. There was speculation that the Ta Za-established Asia Green Development Bank would take a serious hit since Shwe Mann's eldest son Aung Thet Mann was a majority shareholder. Other companies, including Kanbawza (KBZ) Bank and Air Bagan, were also said to be heading for financial trouble because of their links to Shwe Mann. Such speculation gained traction after the government forced the closure of Cherry FM, a radio station run by Shwe Mann's daughter-in-law, shortly after the former chairman's removal, prompting theories of a government-led gag order on his family and allies. Shwe Mann's two sons are well-known businessmen in Burma. Aung Thet Mann is still on the US Treasury Department's blacklist from which Shwe Mann himself was only removed in September, 2012. Aung Thet Mann is the CEO of Ayer Shwe Wah which received lucrative government contracts to supply fertilizers to farmers throughout the delta. His brother Toe Naing Mann owns Red Link Communications. There are always economic implications after political turmoil, said Dr Soe Tun, the chairman of the Automobile Importers Association. "We've experienced this in the past, after reshuffles or a change in politics, businesses related to affected officials usually fall down," he said. A pertinent past example is the case of Burma's former prime minister and spy chief Khin Nyunt. Following his arrest in 2004, authorities moved in on his family's business operations, including Bagan Cybertech of which his son, Ye Naing Win, was chief executive officer. Khin Nyunt was subsequently accused of corruption. The general most vocally pressing that charge was the junta's then third most powerful figure, Shwe Mann. Khin Nyunt's actions "could have led to the disintegration of the Tatmadaw [Burma's armed forces] and posed extreme danger for the country," Shwe Mann was quoted as saying at the time. Dr Soe Tun said times have now changed and businesses involved in legal dealings should not be unfairly targeted due to their links to power. "Now the political situation has changed, it should be like it was in the past. If a company is in a good line of business, even if it is related to such [high-ranking] people, the government should not mete out the same treatment as before," he said. Provided firms pay regular taxes, create jobs and have a modicum of transparency, they should not be punished, Dr Soe Tun said. "Who knows who is behind some businesses? [Shwe Man's family] might be linked with many other businessmen. Our country's businesses are actually dependent on them in a way that is not [evident] in other countries," he added. Myat Thin Aung, chairman of Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, said economic ramifications had always followed high-level political shifts in Burma, hitting not only the business sector but also the population at large. "People who are close to government or are relatives of officials have good opportunities in business. They have many business links to each other," he said. Sean Turnell, an Associate Professor in Economics at Sydney's Macquarie University, said firms with links to Shwe Mann would be anxious in the current climate. "Financial markets hate instability of any form, and of late [Burma's] has been at the serious end of concerns," he said. "I think it is not in as good shape as the government would have wanted. The wheels have fallen off rather and the reform narrative is looking decidedly ragged. Time for a reboot." Current economic anxieties in Burma come on the back of a weak kyat that has been in steady decline against the US dollar since May. Consequently, demand for the dollar has increased and the Myanmar Central Bank has been forced to lessen reliance on black market currency trading by selling US dollars to private exchange counters. Senior researcher Tin Maung Than of the Myanmar Development Resource Institute said Burma's economy was particularly vulnerable when shifts in the political landscape occurred. Good business conduct had yet to be established, he said. "There is no rule of law if there are no established [modes of] conduct and institutions. If there is no institutional governance… the economy will be impacted whenever political turmoil arises," he added. The post Turmoil at the Top Prompts Business Uncertainty appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Thai Police Fear Bangkok Bombing Suspect May Have Fled Posted: 23 Aug 2015 10:06 PM PDT  A digital billboard showing a sketch of the main suspect in last Monday’s attack on Erawan shrine in Bangkok. (Photo: Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters) BANGKOK — Despite new surveillance video that may offer a possible clue to the bombing in central Bangkok that killed 20 people, Thai police said Sunday that the perpetrators may have already fled the country, and that they will “need some luck” to catch them. Surveillance video leaked to Thai media shows a man in a blue shirt placing a bag on a riverside walkway, then kicking it into the water on Monday night shortly after the explosion several kilometers away at the downtown Erawan shrine. About 18 hours later, at 1 pm Tuesday, an explosion took place at the same spot near a busy pier, causing no casualties. Col. Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for Thailand’s ruling junta, also said that closed circuit television showing the main bombing suspect was used to trace the route he took to and from the site of Monday evening’s rush-hour attack. He said that a police sketch of the suspect had been distributed to border posts. Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said he believes the perpetrator would have timed an escape carefully and “wouldn’t have much time to stay around.” “I suspect that he may have left, but we will keep searching, in case we can find others who may be in the country or find clues, evidence and witnesses who may have seen him,” he told Channel 3 TV network. Police have offered a reward that on Friday was raised to 3 million baht (US$85,000). On a police arrest warrant, the suspect is described as a “foreign man,” although a military spokesman said a connection to international terrorism seemed unlikely. Thailand’s police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said investigators would need some luck to catch those behind the attack. “I have to say we need some luck. If the police have good fortune, we might be able to make an arrest, but…if the perpetrator has good fortune maybe they can get away,” he told reporters Sunday after a ceremonial show of security strength meant in part to reassure the public over safety. Meanwhile, authorities have arrested two people for allegedly spreading “false information,” apparently in connection with the shrine bombing. A student who posted a bomb threat on Facebook was arrested in Ayutthaya on Saturday and was charged with a computer crime that is punishable by up to five years in jail and a fine of 100,000 baht ($2,800), Winthai said. He did not give details of the second arrest except to say it happened in Bangkok. Ayutthaya is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Bangkok. Winthai said the two people were arrested for spreading “false information causing confusion in society,” but did not say whether their posts were directly linked to the bombing. So far the operation to find who carried out the attack appears to have made little headway, with apparently contradictory statements coming from the military-backed government and the police. Theories abound as to who was responsible for the attack. They include ethnic Uighurs angry that Thailand repatriated to China more than 100 of their countrymen who had fled from there; Islamic separatists who have been carrying out an insurgency in southern Thailand for a decade; frustrated supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra angry at the military government that opposes his return to politics; and rival factions within the army contending for power.
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| As North, South Korea Hold Marathon Crisis Talks, Seoul Talks Tough Posted: 23 Aug 2015 09:55 PM PDT  North Korean soldier films as British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond (obscured) visits the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, August 11, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) SEOUL — South Korean President Park Geun-hye talked tough on Monday, demanding that North Korea apologize over a recent landmine incident, even as the bitter rivals held marathon negotiations in a bid to defuse tensions that have brought the peninsula to the brink of armed conflict. Park said anti-North propaganda broadcasts would continue unless Pyongyang took responsibility for landmine explosions early this month that wounded two South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two countries. North Korea denies it laid the mines. The incident has escalated into a crisis that saw both sides exchange artillery fire on Thursday and ramp up their military readiness. The United Nations, the United States and the North's lone major ally, China, have all called for calm. "We need a clear apology and measures to prevent a recurrence of these provocations and tense situations," Park told a meeting with her top aides, according to a statement released by her office. "Otherwise, this government will take appropriate steps and continue loudspeaker broadcasts." Seoul and Washington were reviewing the possibility of bringing in "strategic" US military assets, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said, without elaborating. During a standoff two years ago when the North threatened military action in response to joint exercises by US and South Korean forces, the United States flew stealth bombers over the peninsula and sent an aircraft carrier to the area. "Our position at this point is to deter the North's provocation," Kim told a news briefing. "But if they wage provocation, our response will be merciless and they will truly feel sorry." North Korea had deployed twice the usual artillery strength at the border and had around 50 submarines away from base, the South's defense ministry said. Marathon Talks North Korea's state media has also kept up its anti-South rhetoric as the inter-Korean talks continued at the Panmunjom truce village inside the DMZ. The negotiations began on Saturday evening, shortly after North Korea's deadline passed for Seoul to halt the anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts or face military action. They broke up before dawn on Sunday and restarted that afternoon. The delegates were "continuing talks for long hours in the midst of the critical situation" on the peninsula, Min Kyung-wook, a spokesman for South Korea's presidential Blue House, told reporters, without giving details. Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor of North Korean studies at Korea University in Seoul, said the unusually long session was a good sign. "They are not talking for the sake of a breakdown but for the sake of agreement. There must be a lot of fine-tuning and convincing between the two parties," Yoo said. Park's national security adviser, Kim Kwan-jin, and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo are representing the South in the talks. Hwang Pyong So, the top military aide to the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, and Kim Yang Gon, a veteran North Korean official in inter-Korean affairs, are representing Pyongyang. Ties have been virtually frozen since the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship, which Seoul has blamed on a North Korean submarine. Pyongyang denies responsibility. Days after the landmine incident, Seoul began its propaganda broadcasts in random three-hour bursts from 11 banks of loudspeakers, including news reports and K-pop music from the South, resuming a tactic both sides halted in 2004. The crisis escalated on Thursday when the North fired four shells into the South, according to Seoul, which responded with a barrage of 29 artillery rounds. North Korea declared a "quasi-state of war" in front-line areas and set an ultimatum for Seoul to halt its broadcasts. That deadline passed on Saturday without any reported incident. The United States, which has 28,500 soldiers based in South Korea, is conducting annual joint military exercises with the South. North Korea regularly condemns the maneuvers as a preparation for war. The post As North, South Korea Hold Marathon Crisis Talks, Seoul Talks Tough appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Malaysia Finds 24 More Bodies of Human Trafficking Victims Posted: 23 Aug 2015 09:31 PM PDT  Malaysian police carry a coffin with unidentified remains of Rohingya people found at a traffickers camp in May, on June 22, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian police said on Sunday that they have found 24 more bodies of suspected human trafficking victims in jungles bordering Thailand. Authorities said in May that they had discovered 139 suspected graves in abandoned jungle camps in the northern Malaysian state of Perlis, a remote area bordering Thailand that trafficking syndicates were using as a transit point. Most of the victims were believed to be from Burma's persecuted Rohingya minority or impoverished migrants from Bangladesh. Police said in a brief statement on Sunday that 24 bodies were discovered this past week, in addition to 106 bodies found earlier. The bodies have been sent for autopsy, the statement said. No further details were available. The discoveries in northern Malaysia followed similar revelations earlier in May in Thailand, where police unearthed 36 bodies from shallow graves in seven abandoned camps on the Thai side of the border. The discoveries have exposed hidden networks of jungle camps run by human smugglers, who have for years held countless desperate people captive while extorting ransoms from their families. Most of the victims were part of a wave of people who fled their homelands to reach countries like Malaysia, where they hoped to find work or live freely. Human rights groups and activists say the area along the Thai-Malaysia border has been used for years to smuggle migrants and refugees, including Rohingya Muslims. In many cases, they pay human smugglers thousands of dollars for passage, but are instead held for weeks or months while traffickers extort more money from their families. Rights groups say some have been beaten to death, and The Associated Press has documented other cases in which people have been enslaved on fishing boats.
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| Displaced Families Face Hardship in Kachin ‘Model Village’ Posted: 23 Aug 2015 07:26 PM PDT
 A schoolgirl and friend ride on a bicycle in the Kachin State village of Ngwe Pyawon Aug. 7. (Photo: Hkun Lat / Myanmar Now) MYITKYINA — Situated along a muddy dirt road that winds through southern Kachin State's lush green hills, Ngwe Pyaw Model Village can only be reached after a bumpy, 90-minute car ride from the state capital Myitkyina. Ngwe Pyaw, which means 'wealthy village' in Burmese, was founded by the government in May 2014 as a pilot resettlement site, but it is wealthy only in name as the 283 displaced families here struggle to get by due to its isolation, a lack of fertile farmland and livelihood opportunities. "We can get day labor jobs only three or four days per month and the wages are paid a few days later," Lei Wai Khaing, a 27-year-old ethnic Kachin, told Myanmar Now. She explained that villagers eke out a living by working irregular jobs such as motorbike taxi drivers, rubber plantation laborers and crafting jewelry from locally mined amber. Many of the family members are separated as some are forced to seek jobs in Myitkyina, or even further away in major cities like Mandalay and Rangooon, the commercial capital in lower Burma. "My daughter sometimes goes to Rangoon to sell pieces of amber, leaving my granddaughter with me at the village," said Khin Cho Kyi, 54, who earns some money from doing laundry in the village and from collecting firewood in the surrounding hills. She uses it to support a family of three. "My younger sister became disabled after a car accident so I cannot leave her to work in the town," said Lei Wai Khaing, whose family includes a sister suffering from a stroke. At the site—built in a clearing of shrub forest on red, laterite soil where few crops can grow—the families live in simple houses made of bamboo and corrugated-iron roofs on 12-by-18 meter plots. There are three ponds to supply them with water, while one dispensary provides medicine to the community. "Although villagers do not need to worry about shelter, they are still concerned about food and income," said village head Aung Swe, who added that the homes were rickety and vulnerable to heavy rains and gusts of wind. Pilot Project The government funded the model village as a pilot project that offers a temporary resettlement alternative to the camps for civilians who have been displaced by the Kachin conflict in northern Burma. Now in its fourth year, the war has caused some 120,000 people to flee their homes in hundreds of villages in Kachin State and northern Shan State. About half of them live in camps in government-controlled areas, while the remainder live in camps in Kachin Independence Army-controlled parts, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). UN agencies and international aid groups have been supporting the displaced in government-controlled areas, but aid to those in rebel areas has been limited due to government restrictions on access. At Ngwe Pyaw, families receive around $11 per month in household income support from international aid organizations, according to UNOCHA in Burma. The residents—a mix of ethnic Kachin, Shan and some Burmese—used to live in camps, and before that they fled their villages in Waingmaw, Thargaya, Myitkyina, Nant Saram and Mai Na townships in 2011. Khin Cho Kyi recalled how she barely escaped Saram Village in Waingmaw Township, where she owned a teashop, when mortar shells landed close by in June 2011. "I ran from my village under life-threatening conditions and I could not bring any belongings," she told Myanmar Now. Government officials could not be reached for comment on the model village project and Kachin aid workers said it remains unclear whether more were being planned. Khon Jha, an activist with the Kachin Peace Network, said the model village established at Ngwe Pyaw offered some improvement in living conditions for the displaced civilians, but she stressed it was only a temporary solution for the long-suffering families. "The establishment of this village is good for the displaced people. But it is more crucial to ensure that they can go back to their native villages, which can happen only if the fighting between ethnic armed groups and the government stops," she told Myanmar Now. This article originally appeared on Myanmar Now.
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| Fukuyama’s Flawed Take on Burma Posted: 23 Aug 2015 07:14 PM PDT
 Francis Fukuyama, academic and author of The End of History and the Last Man, at the Phandeeyar offices in Rangoon on Wednesday. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy) Over the past year I have worked alongside indigenous ethnic communities from Burma who fled mass atrocities committed by the central government and military. Despite violence and repression, these communities have built up incredible civil society organizations, and are tirelessly advocating for peace, justice, and human rights. But the international community is not listening. When foreign experts come to Burma, they usually focus on only one thing: foreign investment. Political theorist Francis Fukuyama is only the most recent in a long line of academics, development professionals, and ambassadors to ignore the calls of ethnic activists in order to promote neoliberal economic policies as the cure for Burma's failing transition to democracy. In an interview published earlier this month by The Irrawaddy, Professor Fukuyama remarked that economic reforms should be prioritized over seeking justice for past abuses. While this approach may jive with zoomed-out political science models of democratic transition, it is utterly inconsistent with the needs of Burma's war-torn ethnic communities. Fukuyama seems to be forgetting that violent conflict in Burma is far from over. Just before Fukuyama's visit, the Myanmar Peace Monitor reported 31 armed clashes and more than 2,000 new internally displaced persons in the month of July alone, despite the government's purported commitment to pursue a Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA). These ethnic communities—who have endured torched villages, rape, forced labor, and arbitrary killings at the hands of Burma's military—deserve genuine peace and for perpetrators to be held accountable for war crimes. That is why ethnic civil society activists are so urgently calling for peace and justice in Burma—to end the suffering and begin the healing process for millions of refugees and conflict-affected people. Fukuyama seems to be telling these activists to cool it and wait quietly while economic reforms take hold. Meanwhile, Burma's military continues to undermine the peace process and launch massive military offensives, often targeting civilians, in Kachin, Shan, and Karen states. Even worse, the economic reforms Fukuyama so eagerly recommends would only serve to further enrich the generals and cronies responsible for mass atrocities and human rights violations, and entrench the centralized control of a deeply undemocratic government. But he does present a convenient way to root out the cronies: investment from a company like General Motors. According to his analysis, foreign investment, specifically competition from American companies, will magically force the cronies to fold, leading to economic growth which will then lead to democracy. However, Fukuyama has grossly misinterpreted Burma's crony-capitalist system. It's not that military cronies operate specific sectors (i.e. the auto industry)—it's that they control the entire economy. And as Coca Cola recently found out when its links to the notorious jade business were revealed, no matter how much "due diligence" is done for business in Burma, enriching a crony is inevitable. Let's imagine an American company comes to open a factory in Burma. Their executives might fly there on Air Bagan, originally owned by blacklisted crony Tay Za. They'll arrive at the new international terminal and purchase an office block at Hledan Center, both constructed and operated by Asia World, a crony company founded by one of Burma’s most notorious drug kingpins Lo Hsing Han. They might buy land that was confiscated from villagers by KMA Group, and use Max Myanmar cement to build their factory, profiting regime favorites Khin Maung Aye and Zaw Zaw. They might have no choice but to purchase electricity produced by a dam that flooded the homes of thousands of villagers without their consent, built by crony company IGE (a firm run by the sons of the late industry minister and alleged Depayin massacre mastermind Aung Thaung). Burma's cronies aren't afraid of foreign investment; they've been planning for it, knowing it will line their pockets with American cash. Perhaps most troubling is Fukuyama's recommendation that Burma needs a technocratic brains trust to design its economic reforms, inspired by the Berkeley Mafia in Indonesia and the Chicago Boys in Chile. The privatization, deregulation, and liberalization policies of the Chicago Boys and Berkeley Mafia may have spurred "economic growth", but they also propped up the brutal Pinochet and Suharto regimes. Their failed neoliberal policies led to ongoing rampant, unsustainable natural resource extraction in both Chile and Indonesia, causing devastating environmental damage and dispossessing indigenous peoples from their land and livelihoods. Is Fukuyama really suggesting that Burma should emulate this model? If so, the country stands poised to make the same mistakes, welcoming a flood of foreign investment and resource extraction, without adequate safeguards for the environment or human rights. Burma's indigenous peoples are already being forcefully displaced from their land by foreign investment in palm oil, rubber, dams, roads, mines, and industrial zones—all in the name of economic growth. And without political agreements between the government and ethnic groups for how decision-making power and the benefits of development will be shared under a decentralized, federal system, increased foreign investment is likely to derail the fragile peace process and lead to more violent conflict. Fukuyama's recommendations for Burma—holding off on justice, increasing foreign investment, and recruiting a neoliberal brains trust—are packaged as a prescription for achieving a liberal democracy, but are actually only the key ingredients for a liberal economy. Economic growth might bring some benefits for the people of Burma, but not before a full peace agreement is reached, ethnic grievances resolved through political dialogue, human rights and environmental safeguards implemented in policy and practice, and justice achieved for conflict-affected communities. If foreign investment continues without these crucial steps, it will only exacerbate poverty, displacement, environmental destruction, and conflict, further stalling Burma's tenuous path to democracy. Fukuyama himself admits he is not very knowledgeable about Burma, and he is just one of many influential figures touting foreign investment as the key to the country's transition. Those who wish to see meaningful change in Burma would do well to cut through this brand of obsolete neoliberal rhetoric, and instead listen to the voices of local people who have suffered for so long. After all, true democracy in Burma will only come from the people, not from the military-controlled government. And the people of Burma are urgently calling for peace and justice—only then can they begin to build a sustainable and inclusive economy. Jared Naimark is an International Public Service Fellow from Stanford University working for human rights and environmental justice in Burma.
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