Friday, April 6, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Veteran Democracy Activist Faces Challenges in Bid to Launch New Party

Posted: 06 Apr 2018 04:23 AM PDT

YANGON — In the course of founding a political party with the intention of strengthening Myanmar's multiparty democracy, U Ko Ko Gyi has faced an unexpected challenge: choosing an acceptable name.

Relenting in the face of criticism of his original choice, the Four Eights Party, the veteran pro-democracy activist now says the organization will be registered as the Four Eights People's Party.

Early last year, U Ko Ko Gyi and his colleagues—who were among the leading members of the student-led 8888 Uprising in August 1988—started laying the groundwork for setting up the Four Eights Party, conducting multi-stakeholder consultations and setting up organizing committee offices in towns around the country.

When the party founders tried to register the organization with the Election Commission in December, they drew criticism from those who see the designation "8888" as a symbol of the struggle for democracy, and as such, as the property of the entire country. These critics say "8888" should not be available for use by a particular party. The organizers were accused of trying to appropriate the imagery and symbols of the historic movement.

The pushback over the name continues, as the party awaits the commission's approval for registration.

Last week, the commission told the organizers it was concerned about potential disputes that might arise over the name, and asked them to reconsider.

U Ko Ko Gyi said the party's original name was decided upon only after yearlong consultations with multiple stakeholders. Most of the party's founding members were actively involved in the nationwide democracy movement, he added.

U Ko Ko Gyi and other leading members of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society’s committee to found a political party attend a press conference on Dec. 17. (Photos: Myo Min Soe/ The Irrawaddy)

However, to accommodate the criticisms and suggestions, he said the party would re-register as the Four Eights People's Party.

"Some suggested adding something before or after 8888 [the original name]. In response to this, we have revised the name," he said.

He said he hoped the party will soon be registered by the commission, adding that if there are any more objections, the party will address them through legal means.

Other parties had used the iconography of 8-8-88 in their name, he said.

"I won't respond to disputes over the name anymore. I want to focus on educating the public about the party's policies and implementing them," U Ko Ko Gyi added.

The party's other priorities include getting former activists who are returning from exile involved in the country's transition, and the rehabilitation of former political prisoners and their families, he said.

If the party's registration is approved, the new party will serve as an alternative choice for voters.

U Ko Ko Gyi said his aim was to foster the development of political pluralism so that people have many choices.

During the transition from dictatorship to democracy, voters had backed a particular party with the aim of ending the unpopular military regime. Now, U Ko Ko Gyi said, there is a need to move toward the next stage in the country's democratization process, which involved giving voters the opportunity to refine their preferences.

"Democracy is about enabling people to make choices," U Ko Ko Gyi said.

After engaging in politics for nearly 30 years, the 56-year-old veteran politician said he aimed to play a more active role.

U Ko Ko Gyi rose to prominence during the student protests in 1988, which grew into a nationwide pro-democracy movement against the former military junta. He spent about 19 years in and out of prison before being released in 2012 under a presidential pardon.

"A political party has an official platform to state its opinions and suggestions. And if people give us a mandate, we can implement our thoughts and goodwill through policies and laws," he said.

He said there was a mistaken notion among the general public that the sole objective of political parties is to gain power.

Even without winning an election, a political party can monitor and make constructive criticism about the actions of the government, he said.

"Sometimes, the political terminology can sound very grand—'federalism', 'Constitution', 'electoral system'—but those are just arguments between politicians. To the general public, politics is the rice pot," he said.

The new party will work to provide services that improve people's daily lives, U Ko Ko Gyi said.

The post Veteran Democracy Activist Faces Challenges in Bid to Launch New Party appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Painting the Practice of Victim-Blaming in a New Light

Posted: 06 Apr 2018 04:10 AM PDT

Artist Chuu Wai Nyein will never shake the memory of the time her sister was sexually assaulted some eight years ago in Mandalay. A man groped her sister and ran away. Among Chuu Wai Nyein's many responses to the experience was a heightened interest in female identity and standing up for women.

In her new solo exhibition, "One-Ten-Hundred", many of the paintings depict half-naked women; it is the artist's answer to the widespread practice in Myanmar society of victim-blaming in rape cases. "I don't accept that women always need to dress modestly, or that there would be no [rape] if women wore modest attire," Chuu Wai Nyein said.

"I don't mean women should be able to go naked. But their dress has nothing to do with rape," she said.

Some of the works draw parallels between the court ladies of the Yadanabon Era and the current status of women in Myanmar. The Yadabanon Era refers to the reign of King Mindon in the mid- to late 19th century.

In Myanmar society, women are encouraged to wear modest attire, like their predecessors in the monarchical period, especially the Yadanabon Era, supposedly did. The era is widely considered the epitome of tradition in Myanmar and as a true Burmese cultural reference point for girls and women today.

But based on documents she has seen from the Yadanabon period, Chuu Wai Nyein believes the truth was far more complex.

"Women of the Yadanabon Era were not as I had imagined, and been led to believe. While their attire reflected the unique taste of the Yadanabon Era, I also found them to be free and fashionable," she said.

"It has probably been the mode of court ladies since time immemorial to wear revealing dress or go topless," Chuu Wai Nyein said. "But this is just my feeling, and not based on historical research. Maybe it is not historically accurate."

Two years after the sexual assault on her sister, Chuu Wai Nyein started to draw Myanmar women—their lives, the restraints upon them, the "glass ceiling," but also their confidence and courage.

She studied with famous painters in Mandalay and Yangon while attending Mandalay Technological University.

Her grades were good enough to get into a master's degree program at the university, but she chose to do a postgraduate degree in painting at the National University of Arts and Culture in Mandalay.

The engineer-turned-artist has held three solo exhibitions focusing on Myanmar women, and plans to hold both group and solo exhibitions this year and next in New York and France.

"There have been calls for women to wear modest attire. OK—we'll wear long-sleeved blouses and long pants. Can you guarantee women won't ever be harassed or raped?" the artist asked.

Chuu Wai Nyein's solo exhibition at Gallery 65 in Dagon Township, Yangon, runs through Sunday. Paintings are available for purchase for between $150 and $850.

The post Painting the Practice of Victim-Blaming in a New Light appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Agrees to UN Security Council Visit; Where, When to be Decided

Posted: 06 Apr 2018 03:29 AM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar has given the UN Security Council permission to visit the country, including conflict-torn Rakhine State, after blocking its requests for months.

U Myint Thu, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the government has agreed to let the UN Security Council visit. But he added that critical details including exactly where and when they would travel had yet to be worked out, and that Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN in New York had been put in charge of those negotiations.

"They proposed a trip to come here last month.” U Myint Thu said. “We agreed to let them come.”

The ministry said delegates from neighboring countries, permanent member states of the Security Council and Singapore, as the current ASEAN chair, would join the trip.

The UN has been asking Myanmar to allow the visit since militant attacks on several security posts in northern Rakhine triggered a massive clearance operation by the military that has driven nearly 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh. The operation has generated widespread reports of arson, rape and murder by Myanmar’s security forces. The UN has called it a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, which the military denies.

The UN wants to send a team to northern Rakhine to investigate the alleged rights abuses. But Myanmar has repeatedly denied its requests, claiming the area was too insecure.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry now says the government wants to accommodate the UN.

"To be cooperative, we will let them come to our country and we will help them with the trip. We will try our best to help them with the trip," U Myint Thu said. "Based on their request, we will negotiate about when they will come and the people they want to meet," he said.

He said the delegates would also visit Bangladesh, where most of the refugees are sheltering in sprawling camps near the border.

The post Myanmar Agrees to UN Security Council Visit; Where, When to be Decided appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Placing Spotlights Casts Shadows

Posted: 06 Apr 2018 02:08 AM PDT

Last Friday, media releases all over the English and Burmese-speaking internet reverberated with the news that top human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will join the legal team for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo's ongoing court case.

I see at least two tiers of issues going on here, recognizing that there are many others (such as the military's cause of national security and the impunity that accompanies it, and the shameful layers of disinformation in Rakhine State).

The first is personal, the need for a timely resolution and for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo to be returned to their families as soon as possible. The second is more political and relates to the way issues of political freedoms transpire in Myanmar courts and the role local lawyers are enabled to play.

The first issue is self-evident: There is no good argument justifying the prolonged incarceration of the two journalists, who have been wrongfully prosecuted under archaic laws simply for reporting the news. Yet a tension emerges with the second issue: how cases of such international interest proceed in Myanmar and how the country's lawyers can go about their jobs.

Reuters' recruitment of Amal Clooney instantly elevates the case further into global exposure. For those of us who have not been privy to Reuters' strategy meetings, we can only imagine it forms part of a mission to draw more attention to the case and place additional pressure on the Myanmar government, as we will hear back from the court next week.

I am a dedicated fan of Ms. Clooney, but her involvement in this way jars with me. Some further questions need to be asked: Has the current legal team requested outside help to argue the case? Were other senior lawyers in Myanmar approached to take this case and did they refuse to do so? I ask these questions because the recruitment of a foreign lawyer risks reinforcing a misplaced assumption widely held by numerous observers in the rule of law space that local lawyers are inept at their jobs.

I spent most of 2017 living in Myanmar and researching how particular local lawyers mobilize for justice, as part of a thesis for my own studies in law. I went to central Myanmar, where I lived with a team of dedicated lawyers and activists who advocate for farmers in land-grab cases. I went to the north, near the Chinese border, where lawyers rally against military power by representing ethnic minorities embroiled in criminal proceedings. Around Yangon, I observed the daily rhythm of law offices where lawyers act for unaccompanied minors, vulnerable women and the homeless.

The fragmentation of political issues across the country leads to varying specialties for activist lawyers. Lawyers in Myitkyina aligned with the Kachin ethno-nationalist movement know the nuances of the Unlawful Associations Act far more intimately than their colleagues in Yangon. Lawyers working across the dry zone who operate in tandem with civil society organizations to advocate for farmers' rights know the law of trespass extremely well. I would expect that there are numerous senior lawyers who have acted in Official Secrets Act cases — the law under which the two journalists have been charged — several times before.

Of course, the lawyers I met arguably represent the sector's elite. It would be a stretch to claim they are representative of Myanmar's legal profession at large. Following the military takeover in 1962, the practice of law fell swiftly into decline. Legal education deteriorated. The bar association lost autonomy. The lawyers who speak truth to power in activist communities across the country do so in spite of decades of adverse structural conditions. In some ways they are the exception to the rule: They have been able to educate themselves when the legal education has been deficient, through mentoring relationships with the profession's elders, and opportunities for career development with local and regional civil society initiatives.

These lawyers and their mentors are no strangers to grave personal risk. Many of them, or members of their immediate community, have been political prisoners. Most of them are embedded in the pro-democracy movement. Throughout the career metamorphoses of the democratic transition, some veteran activist lawyers have entered political office and now occupy seats in the state-level and national-level legislatures as NLD representatives. One politician who I met, aged in her early thirties, juggles a position in the state-level legislature with taking land rights cases pro bono in her spare time.

I include these narratives because we too easily forget the toils and quiet victories of local lawyers when our eyes turn, star-struck, to a foreign import. Some may think it is terrific Ms. Clooney is drawing more attention to the case. But I wonder, looking into the long-term ramifications, if she could be better placed to play a different role.

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo's legal team have argued for the case to be dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Should this eventuate, it is more likely than not that Ms. Clooney will receive credit for their achievement. Yet it is the lawyers on the local team who have done the legwork up until this crucial moment and who shoulder all of the personal risk for their involvement in the case.

These perceptions matter because, despite millions in donor funding pledged toward strengthening rule of law in Myanmar, many foreign consultants still know very little about the lawyers in the country who have fought for political freedoms all their lives. Ms. Clooney's inclusion in Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo's legal team risks unwittingly sustaining tiresome and out-of-touch beliefs that there are no lawyers in Myanmar who are equipped to successfully advocate for justice and political freedoms of their compatriots. I would tell those tempted to think so that there are plenty.

This article was originally published online by Tea Circle on April 5.

The post Placing Spotlights Casts Shadows appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Humanitarian Affairs Team Visits Strife-Torn Maungdaw in Rakhine State

Posted: 06 Apr 2018 12:47 AM PDT

YANGON — The deputy emergency relief coordinator of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) visited northern Rakhine State on Thursday to meet with Buddhist and Muslim communities and hear their concerns.

Maungdaw District Deputy Director U Ye Htoo said Ursula Mueller arrived in the morning with a nine-member team and immediately headed for Kai Gyee village in the south, home to a community of ethnic Mro, a sub-group of the state’s majority Buddhist Arakanese.

Six locals from the village were killed by suspected Muslim Rohingya militants in early August, after which some 50 Mro families fled the Mayu mountain range for the surrounding lowlands.

A few weeks later, on Aug. 25, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) attacked nearly 30 border police posts and a military base in northern Rakhine. The Myanmar military then launched a massive clearance operation targeting Rohingya communities that sparked widespread reports of arson, rape and murder and has driven nearly 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. The UN has called the military’s actions a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, and rights advocates have urged the UN Security Council to refer the country’s army leaders to the International Criminal Court.

After her visit to Kai Gyee, Mueller travelled to Pan Taw Pyin village, on the outskirts of Maungdaw town, to meet with a Muslim community, and then on to the village of Shwe Zar, a mixed community of Arakanese, Rohingya and Hindus that largely escaped last year’s violence, and a refugee reception camp at Hla Phoe Khaung, near Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh.

OCHA Myanmar spokesman Pierre Peron sent The Irrawaddy a brief statement on the trip via email in lieu of answering specific questions.

It said Mueller visited a camp for Rohingya displaced by communal violence in 2012 in the state capital, Sittwe, and that she met with both Buddhist and Muslim communities, local government officials and humanitarian aid partners on the same day.

"The deputy emergency relief coordinator listened to the concerns of people in all communities and discussed ways to improve humanitarian assistance, protection and essential services, as well as livelihoods and job opportunities for all people in need," the statement said.

Her itinerary suggests the OCHA team did not reach parts of northern Maungdaw that saw the worst of last year’s violence, nor other villages in the area that survived at least partly intact, including Ngan Chaung, Nga Sar Kyu and Nga Khu Ya.

A Muslim resident of Ngan Chaung told The Irrawaddy by phone that villagers were being prevented from leaving without a recommendation letter from the village head.

"We have been stuck here for almost seven months. We have no access to health care in town, no freedom of movement and no education for schoolchildren," he said.

The man said the village was spared the arson attacks of late 2017 but added that nearly 5,000 residents had fled fearing arrest, leaving only about 700 people behind.

During a government-led tour of Maungdaw for local journalists last week, one villager told The Irrawaddy that he was fined 200,000 kyats ($151) by border police for traveling without a permit. He said his village receives regular humanitarian assistance from the government and international aid agencies, but not enough to make up for the income they are losing out on because of the curfews and travel restrictions.

The relative calm of recent months was abruptly shaken on Wednesday when a Mro woman was hacked to death by unidentified men while she and seven others were fishing and foraging for edible plants near Kha Maung Seik Town.

Though Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in November to repatriate the Rohingya who have fled across the border since last year, the returns have yet to begin.

The post UN Humanitarian Affairs Team Visits Strife-Torn Maungdaw in Rakhine State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Students Fined Over Anti-War Performance

Posted: 06 Apr 2018 12:13 AM PDT

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — The Pathein Township Court in Irrawaddy Region on Wednesday fined eight of nine students who were sued by the Myanmar Army for defamation more than a year ago.

The Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, sued nine students for defamation in January last year after they staged a drama that was critical of military clashes with ethnic armed groups during a peace discussion at the Pathein Hotel in Pathein, the capital of the Irrawaddy Region.

The students performed a satirical comedy in which a news agency called 'Oxygen' interviewed the supporters of conflict in Myanmar. The drama was deemed to mock those who held protests in favor of the Tatmadaw.

"We did not want to harm either the military or ethnic armed groups," lead organizer of the drama Ko Aung Khant Zaw told The Irrawaddy in January last year. "The message of our drama is that we don't want wars."

Two students were fined 50,000 kyats each, and six others were fined 30,000 kyats each. The ninth student Myo Ko Ko failed to appear in court, and the Pathein Township Court will issue an arrest warrant for him.

"The judge assumed that the script we recited during the drama did not directly refer to soldiers and their families (but was instead simply an anti-war message). So, he only imposed a fine on us," said Ko Aung Khant Zaw.

After four months of trials at the Pathein Township Court, the judge decided to charge only lead organizers Ko Aung Khant Zaw and Ko Myat Thu Htet for defamation and acquitted the seven others.

Then, the army appealed to the Pathein District Court, which overruled the verdict of the township court. The township court then heard the case again and imposed a fine.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Students Fined Over Anti-War Performance appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Heritage Building Demolished to Make Way for US$500-Million High-Rise

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 10:28 PM PDT

YANGON — A British colonial-era building that appears in the Yangon City Heritage List has been torn down by a developer to make way for a construction project in Yangon's Bahan Township.

The building, named The Mayor's Residence, in the 13-acre compound of the now-defunct Myayeik Nyo Hotel was demolished in February by Zaykabar Company, which is developing a US$500m project on the site comprising 12 buildings with heights ranging from 382 to 412 feet.

The project on military-owned land has been suspended until the Yangon government approves its proposed safety measures for a 92-year-old reservoir nearby.

Company chairman U Khin Shwe told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the old building needed to be demolished to pave way for the project.

"It no longer exists," said the tycoon.

As the name suggests, the Mayor's Residence was once home to Yangon's mayors. The last resident was U Aung Thein Lin in the early 2000s.

The city municipal body, the Yangon City Development Committee, started a survey in 1996 to list buildings with heritage value across the city; as of 2001 it comprised 188 structures—mostly religious and British colonial-era buildings. The criteria for their selection was to be architecturally significant; more than 50 years old; and not under private ownership.

The demolished residence was on the list along with the Mayor's Guest House, another British colonial-era Heritage-listed building in the same compound.

The Mayor's Guest House is seen in a picture likely taken in the early 2000s.

According to Myayeik Nyo Project director U Tun Win Han, the Guest House remains intact, but the residence was destroyed during the site-clearing process.

"We are now using it as an office," he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

Yangon possesses many historical buildings constructed during its long, magnificent history. The city has the largest collection of late 19th- and early 20th-century colonial architecture in Southeast Asia.

According to the Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO advocating for heritage protection, the project area was known as Mount Pleasant during the British colonial days. Many mansions belonging to high officials, including the Mayor's Residence and the Mayor's Guest House and the residence of the manager of Chartered Bank, were located there.

The YHT estimates that both listed buildings are believed to have been built before 1920, based on their designs.

Screenshot of YCDC's Yangon City Heritage List.

Both U Khin Shwe and U Tun Win Han insisted that the residence was no longer a Heritage building as it had been through several heavy renovations.

"The roof and floor were replaced in the early 2000s. It was heavily damaged during Cyclone Nargis in 2008. So we renovated the entire building. That's why it is no longer a Heritage building," U Khin Shwe said.

Yangon Heritage Trust said the demolition of the Heritage-listed Mayor's Residence was a "total mistake."

"It is on the publicly announced list. But when it comes to Heritage buildings, we haven't got any strict and precise process to ban tearing them down," said YHT director Daw Moe Moe Lwin.

Myanmar has a Heritage Building Protection Law, which was enacted in 2015. The law dictates that any building more than 100 years old is qualified to become a Heritage building.

But the law can be applied to the buildings listed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture. So it's unclear whether the demolition of the Heritage building listed by the YCDC is against the law.

The YCDC was not immediately available for comment on Thursday.

Daw Moe Moe Lwin of YHT rejected Zaykabar's excuse.

"You can't simply tear down a Heritage building because it was renovated. It doesn't reduce the value!" she said.

The post Heritage Building Demolished to Make Way for US$500-Million High-Rise appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Vietnam Jails Prominent Human Rights Lawyer, Five Other Activists

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 09:52 PM PDT

HANOI — Vietnamese human rights lawyer and activist Nguyen Van Dai was jailed for 15 years on Thursday, his wife said, along with five other activists who were given prison terms of seven to 12 years.

Dai, 48, was charged in a Hanoi court with activities “aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration” at a tightly guarded trial in the communist country.

“I’m very disappointed with the trial and strongly protest it,” Dai’s wife, Vu Minh Khanh, said. “He is innocent and he pleaded innocent at the trial. He will continue to fight and will appeal the verdict”.

Despite sweeping reforms to its economy and showing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party retains tight media censorship and has zero tolerance for criticism.

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States was “deeply troubled” over the conviction of the six, adding that people had a “right to the fundamental freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”

She said in a statement that Washington was concerned about “a disturbing trend of increased arrests, convictions and harsh sentences of peaceful activists” in Vietnam and urged the country to “release all prisoners of conscience immediately.”

Commenting on the trial, foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told reporters on Thursday that Vietnam’s efforts to promote human rights was “widely recognized” by the international community.

“In Vietnam there is no such thing as a ‘prisoner of conscience,' and there’s no such thing as people being arrested for ‘freely expressing opinion,'” Hang said.

In March 2013, Dai and others formed the “Brotherhood for Democracy,” which conducted anti-government activities to “build multi-party democracy” in Vietnam, according to a copy of the official indictment against Dai seen by Reuters.

“The Vietnamese government should thank them for their efforts to improve the country instead of arresting and putting them on trial,” Human Rights Watch Asia Director Brad Adams said.

Dai had been awaiting trial since his arrest in December 2015. He previously served four out of five years of a prison term he received in 2007 for “anti-state propaganda."

Hundreds of police were posted outside the court during Thursday’s trial and a planned march by families of the detained activists was stopped.

Hanoi-based activist Nguyen Chi Tuyen said police arrived at his house as the trial began and followed him for the entire day.

“They followed me to my office, invited me to coffee, waited outside my office, followed me back home, and now they’re waiting outside my house again,” said Tuyen, who added that police had put glue in the lock of the house of a fellow activist to stop him going out.

“They did it at night,” Tuyen said. “He had to break it to get out."

The post Vietnam Jails Prominent Human Rights Lawyer, Five Other Activists appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Philippines’ Duterte Cites ‘Genocide’ in Myanmar, Says Will Take Refugees

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 09:40 PM PDT

MANILA — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Thursday “genocide” was taking place in Myanmar and he was willing to accept Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing from it, though Europe should help too.

The United Nations and rights groups say some 700,000 people, most of them Rohingya, have fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh since August last year when Rohingya militant attacks on the security forces sparked a military crackdown.

The United Nations and several Western countries have said the Myanmar action constitutes ethnic cleansing but Myanmar rejects that. It says its security forces have been conducting legitimate operations against "terrorists."

Duterte, in a wide-ranging speech to farmers and agriculture officials at the presidential palace, touched on various issues including his recent decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court over its decision to open a preliminary investigation into his bloody war on drugs.

Drawing the ire of officials in Myanmar, Duterte then expressed sympathy for the Rohingya and offered to help.

“I really pity the people there,” Duterte said. “I’m willing to accept refugees. Rohingyas, yes. I will help but we should split them with Europe.”

He also mentioned the inability of the international community to resolve problems in Myanmar.

“They can’t even solve the Rohingya. That’s what genocide is, if I may say so,” Duterte said.

Myanmar has rejected any suggestion genocide is taking place and its government spokesman, Zaw Htay, said Duterte’s comments did not reflect the real situation.

“He doesn't know anything about Myanmar," Zaw Htay told Reuters. “The usual behavior of that person is to speak without restraint. That's why he said that.”

Duterte’s comments were broadcast live on television and later included in a transcript of his speech, issued by his office.

Such a denunciation by a Southeast Asian leader of a neighbor is rare.

Both the Philippines and Myanmar are members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, which has long upheld a convention of withholding criticism of fellow members.

Duterte did not refer by name to Myanmar leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been heavily criticized abroad for failing to stand up for the largely stateless Rohingya, only saying: “That woman, she is my friend.”

The post Philippines' Duterte Cites 'Genocide' in Myanmar, Says Will Take Refugees appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Thursday, April 5, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy’s Guide to Yangon Nightspots

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 08:00 AM PDT

It has only been in the last five or six years that Yangon has had many decent places to go after 10 p.m. But the nightlife scene in Myanmar's commercial capital has grown rapidly in recent years; nowadays, there are a variety of options available and new bars and clubs seem to open daily.

Pubs, bars, clubs, and karaoke businesses are proliferating in Yangon and owners are trying hard to establish their own identity. To help readers navigate this crowded scene, The Irrawaddy has compiled a list of recommended new and trendy bars and restaurants.

Below you can find information on some of our favorite nightspots in Yangon.

NYX Rooftop Bar is busy with customers on its opening night./ NYX

NYX Rooftop Bar and Club

NYX is named after a Greek goddess, which serves as its logo. This rooftop bar and nightclub on the top floor of The One Entertainment building is found in Yangon's Shwegondine neighborhood.

Opened last December, NYX is a popular EDM venue, with well-known regional and international DJs spinning tracks at its weekly and monthly events. The club offers trance, trap, and deep house grooves.

Its rooftop bar is an open space with a cool atmosphere. The view takes in Shwedagon Pagoda and other features of Yangon's nightscape.

The bar's extensive menu includes draft beer, classic cocktails, Western food and snacks.

Drinks start at 2,000 kyats and food starts at around 4,000 kyats a dish.

Neither the bar nor the club charges an entrance fee; you can walk in and order what you want, but if you want a table in the club you need to open a bottle (starting from 80,000 kyats).

Open 5pm to 4am.

A bartender prepares a 'Red Eye' at After 8./ After 8

After 8: Your Guilty Pleasure

After 8 Shot and Cocktail Bar opened last November and has quickly become popular with celebrities and Yangon's youth thanks to its fashionable, fabulous cocktails and shots.

This open-air bar is located on the 4th Floor of Myanmar Plaza.

The cocktails and shots at After 8 are designed by "Cocktail Professor" Jarl de Vries from Amsterdam.

The bar's creative drinks menu runs to 48 shots, cocktails and other guilty pleasures. A shot will set you back 3,000 or 4,000 kyats; cocktails run 7,000 to 8,000 kyats.

The food menu includes snacks, salads, soups, mains and desserts at prices from 3,500 to 30,000 kyats.

Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m.

The entrace to Blow Hookah Lounge and Grill/ Blow

Blow Bar and Grill

Yangon's first luxury shisha lounge, Blow Bar and Grill, opened last January next door to After 8 on the 4th Floor of Myanmar Plaza.

The bar has styles of hookah offered at various prices; there is also an open-air bar.

High-end hookahs cost 45,000-50,000 kyats each for one-and-a-half hours.

Small hookahs are offered at prices ranging from 25,000 kyats to 30,000 kyats.

This is a shisha specialist bar, but they also serve classic cocktails, wine and beer.

The impressive food menu includes grilled king prawn, grilled whole fish, steak and Thai food. Prices start at 5,000 kyats.

Open 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The view from upstairs at Jazz in Time Music Bar/ Mayco Naing

Jazz in Time Music Bar

Jazz in Time Music Bar is Yangon's oldest jazz bar, having opened its doors back in August 2018.

You'll find it at the Bo Myat Tun Tower on Bo Myat Tun Street in Botahtaung Township.

This two-story venue presents Jazz Night every Wednesday and Thursday; the band plays blues every Friday and Saturday night with a free welcome drink.

Beer, wine, gin and cocktails are available at reasonable prices; Happy Hour is 5 p.m.-8 p.m. (all drinks 50 percent off).

International, Asian and Western food served.

Open 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The post The Irrawaddy's Guide to Yangon Nightspots appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Planning New Attacks, KIA Warns Illegal Miners to Get Out of Hukawng Valley

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 07:13 AM PDT

The Kachin Independence Army on Thursday warned illegal mine workers in the Hukawng Valley, including gold and amber miners, to leave as the group plans to launch guerrilla attacks against the Myanmar Army and plant landmines in the area starting April 10.

"You have all been warned to leave the mining areas. If you do not, you will be responsible for your fate," a statement issued by the KIA's Battalion 14 reads.

"Anyone with relatives working in mining areas needs to inform them," it reads.

The statement listed gold and amber mining areas including Shaduzup, Nam Byu, Nam Kawn, Tungmani, Dagum and Daba.

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy today that the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) continues to maintain bases in gold and amber mining areas that he said belonged to the KIA. The Tatmadaw seized the areas in their recent military offensive from January to March.

"Fighting will break out again soon when our KIA launches troop movements in the areas. Therefore, we issued a warning to illegal miners in the area to leave as our military operation will start soon," he said.

Battalion 14 had to abandon its headquarters in the second week of March in the Hukawng area after the Tatmadaw launched a major offensive. The KIA withdrew from their bases in the face of overwhelming force from the Tatmadaw.

The KIA has no more permanent bases in Hukawng, but continues to patrol in the area. It said that it also planned to use guerrilla attacks and land mines to fight the Tatmadaw.

The Tatmadaw launched a military offensive in the Hukawng Valley's Tanai area in its initial offensive in January. Later it seized areas that had been under KIA control including gold and amber mining areas. The Tatmadaw started its second offensive in the first week of March and the KIA was forced to abandon Battalion 14's base.

"There is a lot of tension between us and the Myanmar Army because we are based close to each other in the areas we control," Col Naw Bu said.

The Tatmadaw accuses the KIA of mining illegally in Hukawng, and claims this is one of the reasons it attacked the KIA. Once they had taken over the areas, however, they brought mine workers back and let them mine again, just as the KIA did.

"These were our areas. Therefore, we will launch an offensive to get them back," Col Naw Bu said.

The Tatmadaw had only brought in about 100 mine workers so far, but plans to bring in more, according to the KIA.

Peace talks between the Myanmar Army and the KIA have been held several times in recent years. However, they have been halted since February after the KIA issued a statement listing conditions for their peace talks with the Tatmadaw.

Similarly, the Tatmadaw asked the KIA to withdraw at least three battalions, including Battalion 14, which was in the Tanai area, and Battalion 12 and Battalion 27 in the Mansi Township area. However, the KIA refused to withdraw, leading to sporadic clashes in these areas. It eventually withdrew from the Battalion 14 base.

The Tatmadaw also attacked KIA Battalion 3 in Bamaw near Mansi Township on March 30 and 31, and tensions remain high there, according to local sources.

More than 100,000 people remain displaced from their homes after a 17-year ceasefire between the central government and the KIA collapsed in 2011.

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Lawmakers in Mandalay Reject Call to Crack Down on Illegal Clinics

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 06:06 AM PDT

MANDALAY — The Mandalay Region Parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal to urge the government on taking legal action against illegal clinics and medical practitioners.

The proposal from lawmaker U Nyi Min Han received only 26 votes in favor from the 61 legislators present for the session.

"The chief minister said he recognized my proposal. However, Parliament decided to take a vote and it received only 26 votes," U Nyi Min Han said.

The lawmaker said an increasing number of life threatening incidents in Mandalay Region pushed him to raise the issue in Parliament.

"There were people who were not medical specialists giving patients the wrong treatment. Those patients arrived at government hospitals very late with very complicated conditions," he said.

In a case that came to light last month in Singu Township, about 32 km north of Mandalay City, a man with no medical background had been illegally operating on men and women who came to him with any disease. Patients developed life threatening infections as a result.

In another case also uncovered in March, more than 300 people had been infected with Hepatitis C at the illegal clinic of an unlicensed medical practitioner in a remote part of Myinchan District.

Mandalay also has a number of illegal clinics offering traditional Chinese medicine and giving its patients faulty treatment. In February, at least five cancer patients were admitted to government hospitals with complications as a result.

"There are illegal and unauthorized clinics which claim to be traditional medical practitioners that can cure cancer with their medicine. In reality their treatments create complications and life threatening side effects, and the patients have paid a great deal of money for the treatments," U Nyi Min Han said.

"Although there are already laws that can be used to take legal action, a lack of rule of law in this sector is creating the opportunity for such fake medical practitioners and illegal and unauthorized clinics to survive," he added.

According to the Medical Council Law, a person who is not a medical practitioner or does not have a general medical practitioner’s license may not provide medical treatment. Those who break the law may be fined and face up to five years in prison.

"Although Parliament’s rejection saddens me, it has attracted public attention that I believe will make the government or the authorities of the Medical Council turn their heads and strictly impose the rules to take care of this issue," U Nyi Min Han said.

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Senior Police Officers From Rakhine State Transferred

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 05:38 AM PDT

Sixteen senior police officers from townships in Rakhine State have been ordered to transfer to other regions and states.

The police officers were ethnic Arakanese who were fulfilling duties as township police officers and heads of police stations. The order was dated March 21.

"All the police officers ordered to transfer were ethnic Arakanese. No Arakanese police officer is left in Rakhine State. The order did not provide reasons for doing so. As you know, this suggests that they do not trust us. They must have arranged for other police officers to replace us. Township police officers and heads of police stations are important posts that cannot be left vacant," said an anonymous police officer.

Rakhine State Police Chief Police Colonel Aung Myat Moe said the police officers were transferred in accordance with the rules and regulations of the police force, as some of them had been in their posts for a long time.

"Police headquarters releases transfer orders twice a year, one in December and another after matriculation examinations in March. The process takes place according to the transfer calendar. Most police officers in Rakhine State are members of Arakanese ethnic groups. It is just a coincidence, as no other ethnic groups work as police in Rakhine State. It has nothing to do with their ethnic origin,” said Pol-Col Aung Myat Moe.

Critics claimed that Arakanese police officers were transferred because high-ranking police officials had lost trust in them due to recent riots in Rakhine State.

The police officers were township police officers and heads of police stations from Sittwe, Minbya, Myebon, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun and Ramree townships in Rakhine State and were transferred to various posts in other states and regions as well as in other police departments.

 Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

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Ministry Blames Fatal Bridge Collapse On Outdated Design

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 05:03 AM PDT

YANGON — The collapse of the Myaungmya Bridge in Irrawaddy Region on Sunday was the result of an outdated design, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Construction on Wednesday.

U Aung Myat Oo, a deputy director-general for the ministry’s bridge department in charge of maintenance, told The Irrawaddy that it had been difficult to inspect the bridge because of its outdated design.

“The bridge was outdated because it was built decades ago. The last section of steel cable was laid in concrete and this caused difficulties in inspecting it. The cable loosened and it collapsed into the river. It was its outdated design that caused the problem,” he said.

"Suspension cables are not laid in concrete in bridges that were built later. They are attached to the tower with nuts and bolts and can be seen easily. They can be checked easily," he added

The bridge collapsed because the cable in the concrete of the bridge tower became rusted and eventually broke, the ministry statement said.

The bridge had to be repaired immediately after it was built because one of its towers, which weighed 8,500 tons, sank into the ground and tilted 7 inches toward the river instead of 11 inches toward the bank as it should have, the statement added

It said the bridge had been checked regularly and that monthly inspections were carried out since it turned 20 years old in 2016.

The bridge collapsed on Sunday morning while a 16-ton truck was passing over it. The two people in the vehicle died at the scene.

Bridges in Myanmar are examined twice a year for maintenance and measures have been taken by the Ministry of Construction to prevent the collapse of any other suspension bridges in Myanmar, the statement said.

The Myaungmya Bridge was built in 1994 and inaugurated in 1996. It had stayed in use for 22 consecutive years.

The ministry told the public not to worry about the other 29 suspension bridges around the country because it has carried out maintenance work on them regularly.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

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Analysis: A House Divided

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 12:21 AM PDT

Since independence in 1948, Myanmar’s ethnic groups have been fighting for equality and self-determination through armed struggle. The result is that Myanmar is witnessing one of the world's longest-running civil wars.

The quasi-civilian government of ex-General U Thein Sein, who took office in 2010, adopted a different approach with a peace process and the concept of a federal union. He managed to convince eight of 21 ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

Two more EAOs signed the agreement with the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government in February. But other groups have different views on the NCA and have opted not to sign.

This indicates a lack of unity among EAOs, which makes it difficult for them to gain bargaining power in political dialogue with the government, and more importantly with the Myanmar army, or Tatmadaw.

EAOs can be broadly divided into two groups: NCA signatories and non-signatories. Of the non-signatories, seven groups based along the China-Myanmar border have formed the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) and demanded an alternative to the NCA.

Led by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the FPNCC also includes the Arakan Army (AA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA).

The eight EAOs that signed the NCA with former President U Thein Sein’s government are the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF), the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO).

There are now only two of the 11-member United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) left — the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Arakan National Council (ANC)— after most of them dropped out to sign the NCA or join the FPNCC.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) became the latest groups to leave the UNFC and sign the NCA in February.

"It is true that there is no unity among EAOs. The UNFC is split into two, the NCA signatory group and the non-signatory group. And another group is the FPNCC, led by the UWSA. This is the result of [the Tatmadaw's] restrictions on signing the NCA," said political analyst U Than Soe Naing.

This gives the government and Tatmadaw the upper hand in political dialogue with EAOs and weakens the EAOs’ demands for a federal union, self-determination and equal rights.

"EAOs have different interests based on their geographical positions. They have formed united fronts to resolve this again and again, and those united fronts collapsed every time. They didn't work," said U Aung Thu Nyein, director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy.

"This makes the government and Tatmadaw think of holding separate talks with them, even if they don't intend to create divisions between them. Complete cohesion is impossible. But it would be best if they could find common ground to move forward," he added.

Due to the lack of unity, EAOs fail to press for a single federal demand in negotiations with the government and Tatmadaw, he said.

Meanwhile, the 10 NCA signatories appear to be failing to consolidate their positions, said U Aung Thu Nyein. He pointed out that those with less political experience from smaller EAOs have replaced veteran leaders with strong political backgrounds in the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC).

The fact that those with less political experience have replaced PNLO leader Colonel Khun Okkar and KNU Vice Chairman Padoh Kwel Htoo Win of the UPDJC has made it difficult for EAOs to press their demands with the Tatmadaw and the government, he said.

"It started with the KNU. It is the result of a younger generation trying to build influence in the KNU and beyond," said Col. Khun Okkar.

The colonel said he joined the UPDJC to advise Padoh Kwel Htoo Win and therefore resigned when he left the joint committee.

"Small players are playing prominent roles in the peace process. Only three to four of the NCA signatories are big groups and the rest are relatively small. But the leaders of the smaller signatories have taken senior positions [in the UPDJC]," said U Aung Thu Nyein.

"I've warned them. You want positions, but the other side doesn't treat you as equals. At the previous JICM [Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting on the NCA], both [State Counselor] Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the deputy army chief expressed disappointment that those who should have attended the meeting were absent," said Khun Okkar.

EAOs should avoid making negative statements and remarks, said Khun Okkar, because they can damage their relations with the government and the Tatmadaw and even halt the talks.

In January, the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) of the eight original NCA signatories held an emergency meeting and issued a statement with four agreements, including not to attend the next 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference until political dialogue procedures had been implemented.

"The statement was like a challenge and implied blame or coercion. So the government and the Tatmadaw were disappointed and didn't hold talks for nearly three months. They should learn a lesson from this," said Khun Okkar.

The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, held a meeting of its commanders in early January. They said they did not accept the Tatmadaw's demands for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and would not attend the third session of the 21st Century Panglong unless it was postponed.

Since then, the Tatmadaw and KNU have hardly met despite the fact that they had good relations during U Thein Sein’s government. Then fighting broke out in early March when the Tatmadaw moved into an area controlled by the KNU to rebuild an old road. Some 2,000 ethnic Karen have fled the fighting.

"Ethnic groups should be prudent in negotiations. They should be aware that there will not be good results if they focus only on their requirements and rights," said U Hla Maung of the government's Peace Commission.

Meanwhile, uncertainty remains about the future of the FPNCC. The seven-member alliance has said that it would talk with the government as a group, but the government has insisted that separate talks be held with each member.

"Therefore, unity is very important for the EAOs," said Sai Ngin, third secretary of the RCSS.

The government said the second session of the 21st Century Panglong in May 2017 saw agreement on 37 points, though the RCSS said it did not agree with all of them.

While the third session of the Panglong is scheduled for early May, the RCSS and the NMSP are still unable to hold national-level political dialogues because the Tatmadaw is blocking public consultations in their areas.

"EAOs understand that we must be united. We don't want to suffer from the consequences of disunity. We've learned a lot of lessons," Sai Ngin said.

Unless and until there is unity among EAOs, self-determination and a federal union will remain a thousand-mile journey.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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China Envoy Says Prefers to Resolve Trade Dispute by Negotiation

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 10:58 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — The United States and China should avoid a trade war, China’s Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said on Wednesday, stressing that Beijing’s preference was to resolve the dispute through negotiations.

“Negotiation would still be our preference but it takes two to tango,” Cui told reporters after an hour-long meeting at the State Department with Acting US Secretary of State John Sullivan. “We will see what the US will do,” he added.

Cui said the meeting covered all aspects of the US-China relationship, which he described as “comprehensive and complex.”

“We discussed the overall relationship, including the trade aspects,” he said.

Cui and State Department officials said the meeting had been arranged before Washington announced proposed US tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese products, a move that provoked Chinese retaliation.

A US trade official said on Wednesday the United States may pursue negotiations to resolve deepening differences over trade, but he declined to say whether high-level meetings were planned.

One of the first opportunities for the United States and China to discuss the dispute will be on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting in Washington on April 20-22. A US official said no talks had been scheduled.

The State Department said afterward that both sides had discussed the need to restore “fairness and balance” in the economic relationship between the United States and China, the world’s largest economies.

Both sides agreed on the importance of pursuing a “constructive US-China relationship that produces meaningful results,” the department said in a statement.

The meeting also reaffirmed their commitment “to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” – a reference to their cooperation in resolving a crisis over North Korea’s development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States.

China has traditionally been North Korea’s closest ally though ties have been frayed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles and Beijing’s backing of tough UN sanctions in response.

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Lawyers for Reuters Reporters Argue for Myanmar Court to Dismiss Case

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 10:22 PM PDT

YANGON — Lawyers for two Reuters reporters jailed in Myanmar asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the case against them, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support charges of obtaining secret government papers.

A court in Yangon has been holding preliminary hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Defense and prosecution lawyers made legal arguments in front of Judge Ye Lwin on Wednesday, after the defense filed a motion to have the case thrown out last week.

The reporters’ lawyers argued that the testimony from witnesses called by the prosecution was insufficient to charge the pair. They also pointed to what they said were inconsistencies in witness testimony and procedural mistakes made by the authorities during the arrest and subsequent searches.

“At this stage, after we’ve examined 17 witnesses, there’s nothing in the preliminary testimonies so they should be released now without being charged,” defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told reporters after the hearing.

During previous hearings one of the police witnesses told the court he had burned his notes from the time of the arrests. A civilian witness had the location where police say the arrests was made – which emerged as a key point of contention during the proceedings – written on his hand.

Another witness said he had signed the search form recording the reporters’ arrests before the items seized from them had been filled in.

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung argued against the dismissal of the case, reiterating the prosecution’s position that the documents the reporters had in their possession were secret and that the court could assume they intended to harm the security of the country.

Kyaw Min Aung did not respond to a request for comment after the proceedings.

Myanmar’s government spokesman, Zaw Htay, told Reuters by telephone that under Myanmar’s constitution the courts were independent, "so the judge will decide whether to dismiss the case or not."

Judge Ye Lwin adjourned the proceedings until April 11, when he is expected to rule on the dismissal motion.

"We Are Not Traitors"

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in custody since their arrests on Dec. 12.

The journalists had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in the village of Inn Din, in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State, during an army crackdown that has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

They have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Police witnesses, however, have said the reporters were stopped and searched at a traffic checkpoint by officers who were unaware they were journalists, and found to be holding in their hands documents relating to security force deployments in Rakhine.

In its argument, the defense said the papers contained only publicly available information and could not be deemed secret.

Senior UN officials, Western nations and press freedom advocates have called for the release of the journalists and diplomats from France, Sweden, the United States and the United Nations were among those who attended Wednesday’s hearing.

“What the testimony heard so far has revealed…is a poorly prepared case, inconsistent statements by police witnesses, and what appears to be a blatant disregard for proper police procedures,” said the embassy of Denmark in a statement released before the hearing.

After the hearing Wa Lone told journalists that he was not "a traitor of the country."

“We only did our work as reporters. I want the people to understand that and want to tell them that I never betrayed the country,” said the reporter on the steps of the courthouse as he was being pushed inside a police truck.

Kyaw Soe Oo said the news media were important for Myanmar’s democracy.

“We followed the news and uncovered the Inn Din story. The reason why we did it is to give the vitally important information to the country,” he said.

Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Hau Do Suan, said last month that the journalists were not arrested for reporting a story, but were accused of "illegally possessing confidential government documents."

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Yangon Gov’t Halts $500 M Tower Project Until Flooding Fears Settled

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 06:02 AM PDT

YANGON — The developer of a $500-million tower project on military-owned land has been ordered to suspend work until the Yangon government approves its proposed safety measures for a 92-year-old reservoir nearby.

The Myayeik Nyo project, still in its early stages, is being developed on a 13-acre compound in Bahan Township home to the shuttered Myayeik Nyo Hotel. The developer, Zaykabar, ranks among Myanmar's largest construction companies and is run by tycoon U Khin Shwe.

Twelve buildings ranging in height from 382 feet to 412 feet and another three-story structure are slated for construction on the compound, which lies near a reservoir that distributes water to Yangon's 16 downtown townships.

Residents who live near the construction site are against the project because they fear that damage to the 20-million gallon reservoir could flood their neighborhood and cause water shortages across the city.

The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) told the developer to suspend work on the site in March and, seeing that the company had not complied, sent it a letter on Monday.

On Wednesday, U Khin Shwe told The Irrawaddy that he met with Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and some cabinet members the day before to discuss his safety plans for the reservoir.

"The chief minister told us to make sure the reservoir is safe. After the safety issue [is resolved], other things should go ahead," U Khin Shwe said.

The tycoon, who is related by marriage to U Shwe Mann — the third most influential person in the former military regime and now an important ally of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi — said his company would use bored piles and water seals to protect the reservoir.

"We've already consulted with technicians and will submit the proposal to the YCDC in one or two days," he said.

A YCDC member with knowledge of the project told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the committee had asked the developer to officially submit the proposal with signatures from relevant technicians or engineers before it is referred to the cabinet for approval.

"We will allow them to go ahead [with safety measures] after the cabinet agrees to the proposal. At the moment they haven't been allow to do anything yet," said the committee member, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the project.

Not a Joint Venture

Project director U Tun Win Han said Zaykabar won the military’s bid tender for the site in 2014.

"Under the terms of the lease, we are allowed to operate for 50 years with two 10-year extensions," he said.

U Khin Shwe said the project, scheduled for completion in 2020, was a landmark investment for Yangon and would feature both hotel space and serviced apartments. He said the company building it all, the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, was a contractor and not a partner.

"I want to make it a joint venture, but the MoU with the military forbids it. I will have to pay them from room sales,” he said, adding that 60 percent of the profits will go to the Chinese company.

He also warned that frequent suspensions of the project could scare off potential foreign investment in Myanmar.

"We used to think there would be investments for the US and EU. In reality they don't come, so we have to rely on China, even for the technology," he said.

Asked about local residents' fears of flooding, he said the construction was taking place far from the reservoir.

"But to lessen people's worries, we will make bored piles and add water seals to enhance safety. So nothing bad will happen," he said.

Some residents are not convinced.

"That's not for him to say, only for technicians from a third party," said Kokkine Avenue resident U Win Bo, who heads the Yangon Kokkine Reservoir Salvation Team, a lobby group of residents opposed to the project. They fear that their relatively sparsely populated residential neighborhood will lose its character once the high-rises go up.

"We need a solid guarantee from someone independent that the reservoir will be safe. It has to be revealed to the public,” he said. “So far, the project has no transparency."

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Landmine Campaigners Urge Action as Casualties Continue to Rise

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 05:31 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The number of accidents caused by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) continues to rise, and all stakeholders need to scale up efforts to protect children and families, according to UNICEF, citing information provided by the Myanmar Mine Risk Working Group (MRWG), an inter-ministerial agency.

At an event held in Naypyitaw on Wednesday to mark International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Actions, the UN agency, the European Union and other stakeholders warned that nine of Myanmar's 14 states and regions continue to be "contaminated" with landmines and ERW, posing an ongoing threat to the lives of children and families. International Day for Mine Awareness is observed every April 4.

Some 42 landmine casualties were reported in the first quarter of 2018, according to UNICEF. In 2017, 176 casualties (including 52 fatalities) were reported, mostly in Kachin and Shan states, up from 161 in 2016. In those two years, one in four of those injured was a child, and one in four accidents was fatal, according to the agency.

"Even though data is still unreliable and many casualties occurring in the conflict areas go unrecorded, Myanmar has some of the world's highest landmine incident rates," June Kunugi, UNICEF representative to Myanmar, told The Irrawaddy via email.

Women and children accounted for 43 percent of the casualties in 2017, she said.

In 2012 Myanmar initiated the MRWG, an inter-ministerial and inter-agency coordination platform under the co-leadership of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and UNICEF. Tasked with ensuring mine action intervention, it comprises representatives of 10 ministries, Myanmar's military (the Tatmadaw), and 41 national and international organizations. Its has state-level platforms in Kachin, Shan, Kayah (Karenni) and Karen states.

With EU support, MRWG has conducted mine risk education sessions in nine states and regions: Kachin, Shan, Kayah, Karen, Mon, Rakhine and Chin states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions. The sessions take place in schools, communities and IDP camps. The organization has also opened support and rehabilitation centers for landmine victims and offered other forms of psychosocial assistance.

Despite the progress made over the past two years, Kunugi told The Irrawaddy, "there are still areas out of reach for MRE [mine-risk education] partners, for instance Tanai and Phakant in Kachin State, and Namhsan and Kyaukme in Shan State, where communities live threatened by the dangers of landmines and ERW."

MRWG chairman U Myo Satt Aung told The Irrawaddy that additional mine awareness and victim support services would be implemented in other states and regions as soon as possible. He also serves as the deputy director general of the Rehabilitation Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

UNICEF urged the government "to improve data and information management systems" in order to develop more effective victim support services, which it said would also "be key for enabling survivors to have ongoing access to much-needed health and social services."

At an event in Naypyitaw on Wednesday, the participating organizations concluded that "progress is possible if all parties work to enable mine risk education in hard-to-reach areas; invest more in assistance for survivors; and initiate landmine clearance wherever possible."

The EU, UK Aid, UNICEF and their mine action partners urged the government to join the Mine Ban Treaty. Some 164 states have formally signed the treaty.

In a speech at the event on Wednesday, EU Ambassador Kristian Schmidt said he had been made aware that Myanmar was making preparations to join the treaty, and hoped it would do so soon.

He said the EU stood ready to support mine risk education and demining activities.

Schmidt called on all stakeholders – the government, the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed organizations — "to do the right thing for the country, for unity, for peace and justice for the next generations: stop laying mines, ban them and let's start the cleanup for a peaceful and prosperous future."

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YCDC Teams With UK-Based Company to Renovate Yangon Sewage System

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 04:09 AM PDT

YANGON — The Yangon municipality has teamed up with a UK-based company to renovate the commercial capital's sewage system, stated the British Embassy on Tuesday.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has funded specialist engineers from the UK to help the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) conduct a condition survey of the sewage system.

The original system was installed more than 130 years ago and was designed and manufactured by Hughes and Lancaster, now owned by SATEC, said the embassy's press release.

A combined team from YCDC, SATEC, and local engineers from Royal Haskoning DHV based in the Netherlands are conducting a thorough asset condition survey and will report findings to the YCDC and the Yangon regional government.

DFID has provided training in safety and emergency procedures to YCDC staff. The UK has also provided new safety winches and harnesses.

A British engineer. / British Embassy Yangon

According to historical records on Yangon, the town municipality built a Shone hydro-pneumatic sewage system in November 1887, and it was put into operation in December 1889.

After the second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, the British brought in postal, drainage and sewage systems to Yangon.

At that time, sewage from different parts of the town was carried through underground ditches to a sewage pipe near Sule Pagoda and then drained into the Yangon River.

The system relied on the ebb tide to sweep away the sewage as there was no sewage plant at the time. But, it was not successful, as the tide also carried back the sewage.

The hydro-pneumatic system was introduced some 35 years later in response to a growing population and extended wards.

Today, the former capital dense with more than 6 million people is prone to flooding when it rains due to poor maintenance of the sewage system.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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ANP Repeats Call to Keep Rohingya Out of Southern Maungdaw

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 02:08 AM PDT

YANGON — Arakan National Party (ANP) lawmaker U Tun Aung Thein submitted a proposal to the Rakhine State legislature on Tuesday urging the union government not to resettle Rohingya refugees in southern Maungdaw Township.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army mounted a major attack on security posts across Maungdaw District and neighboring Rathedaung Township in late August. The Myanmar military launched a months-long clearance operation in response that has driven some 680,000 Muslim Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh.

Drawing on widespread reports of arson, rape and arbitrary killings by the military, the UN has called the its operation “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” Rights activists have urged the UN Security Council to refer Myanmar and its military leaders to the International Criminal Court.

Although Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities agreed to repatriate the refugees back to Rakhine in November, not one has been brought to a reception camp set up along the border in Maungdaw as of Tuesday.

U Tun Aung Thein’s proposal was not new. His party, composed of Buddhist Arakanese, suggested segregating Maungdaw Township along religious lines in November to Social Welfare Minister U Win Myat Aye, who also chairs the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine.

The minister has said the returnees would be resettled near their original homes.

"This proposal is not an objection to the repatriation project for those who fled to the neighboring country, but an encouragement to take them back systematically in a way that can meet the wishes of the public, who demand that they not be relocated in southern Maungdaw," U Tun Aung Thein said in Parliament.

He also said that establishing new ethnic Arakanese villages in southern Maungdaw would prove a more effective security measure than the barbed-wire fences along the border and the Navy patrols along the Naf River, which marks part of Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh. With the support of other Arakanese lawmakers, Parliament agreed to schedule debate on the segregation proposal during its next session in late April.

The proposal has the backing of some residents. In November, more than 30 Arakanese villages in southern Maungdaw Township issued a joint statement demanding that Rohingya returnees be resettled strictly in the north and warning that all ethnic Arakanese would leave Maungdaw if they were ignored.

In late 2017, the state Parliament approved a proposal calling on the Rakhine government to establish ethnic Arakanese villages in southern Maungdaw. On Tuesday, some Arakanese lawmakers rebuked the state cabinet, appointed by the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), for failing to follow through.

Separately, US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel visited the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, on Monday and held a one-hour meeting with the steering committee of the ANP. On Tuesday he met with Muslim community leaders at a local hotel, after authorities denied a trip to a camp on the city’s outskirts for people displaced by the communal violence.

ANP Vice Chairwoman Daw Aye Nu Sein, who joined Monday’s meeting, said the ambassador asked party leaders for their thoughts on repatriation. She said they told the ambassador that the NLD should listen to the ANP’s concerns on the matter.

"It's totally wrong that we are reporting our ideas to the union government via a foreigner even though we have many civilian elected lawmakers in both the regional and Union Parliament," Daw Aye Nu Sein said.

 

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Rakhine Field Investigation Delayed Months after Deadly Mrauk-U Incident

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 01:07 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — An investigation team formed by Rakhine State Parliament to investigate a deadly riot in Mrauk-U Township still cannot start the field investigation more than two months after the incident.

It is because members of the team are away on trips, said secretary of the team U Tun Tha Sein, who is also a lawmaker representing Mrauk-U Township in Rakhine State Parliament.

On Jan. 16, thousands of Mrauk-U residents staged a protest after officials banned a memorial event marking the 233rd anniversary of the end of the Arakan Dynasty. Local police opened fire on the crowd. Seven were killed and 12 were severely wounded in the crackdown.

U Aye Maung Thein, the father of one of eight detained protestors, has complained about the delay in the investigation.

"The Rakhine State Parliament formed the investigation team with an official notice. But, the team has not started the investigation. Are they afraid of the government? If the team is of no avail, what a shame for the Rakhine State Parliament," U Aye Maung Thein told The Irrawaddy.

U Tun Tha Sein said the team plans to start the investigation after the ongoing session of the state parliament ends. The team has conducted an informal investigation so far.

"We are not too late even though we have been unable to conduct a field investigation. Our team held informal interviews with voters, the parents of those who died in the riot, families of the eight detainees and eyewitnesses. We assume that we know about 75 perfect of what happened in regards to the incident," he told The Irrawaddy.

The investigation team was formed with nine lawmakers from Rakhine State Parliament on Jan. 29. In early February, the Rakhine State government issued an instruction to departments urging them not to cooperate with the investigation team because "it does not comply with the 2008 Constitution."

On Feb. 7, the state government also sent a letter to the state Parliament dominated by the Arakan National Party, stating that the investigation went against the 2008 Constitution. However, the government and the Parliament later reached a consensus over the investigation.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Rakhine Field Investigation Delayed Months after Deadly Mrauk-U Incident appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

WWF Confident Govt Set to Launch Crackdown on Illegal Wildlife Trade

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 12:00 AM PDT

YANGON — The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) expressed hope that its six-month campaign to raise awareness of elephant poaching and wildlife smuggling, which ended Wednesday, would lead to the closure of illegal wildlife markets in Yangon.

"We're hoping the [illegal wildlife] markets in Shwedagon [Pagoda] and Bogyoke Market close in April. We have initiated steps for their closure, and are now waiting for the government to make an announcement," WWF Myanmar partnership director Daw May Moe War said on Wednesday.

The six-month nationwide campaign "Voices for MoMos" was launched on Nov. 4 in response to an alarming increase in the rate of elephant poaching in Myanmar—estimated at almost one elephant per week since January 2017.

The campaign is named after a popular 64-year-old elephant in the Yangon Zoo whose name has become virtually synonymous with elephants among Myanmar's children. It calls on individuals and organizations to use their voices to speak up for the animals.

"Voices for MoMos" was organized by six international wildlife conservation agencies—WWF; Wildlife Conservation Society; Fauna and Flora International; Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association; Friends of Wildlife; and Grow Back for Posterity—in cooperation with Myanma Timber Enterprise and the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.

At a press conference in Yangon on Tuesday, WWF said the campaign had raised awareness among shopkeepers at Shwedagon Pagoda and Bogyoke Market about the trade in illegal wildlife parts and products, and the relevant laws.

WWF will hold the "Voices for Wildlife" music festival in Yangon's Mahabandoola Park on April 7. The final public event related to the campaign, it is being organized with the support of the Danish Embassy.

Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein is set to attend the festival, and Danish Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen said he was hopeful the regional government would make an announcement on that day.

"There have been calls to halt the illegal wildlife trade in Yangon before Thingyan [in mid-April]. We don't know if it will happen, since we aren't the government. But I believe the concerned authorities will make a decision at the music festival on April 7," the ambassador said.

Organizers of "Voices for MoMos" have called for all illegal wildlife markets across the country to be closed over the next two years.

Handicrafts made from elephant skin and parts such as tails and tusks are sold in Yangon, Mandalay and at Kyaiktiyo Pagoda in Mon State, but most of them are smuggled into China and thriving wildlife markets in the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar converge, posing a grave threat to the survival of Myanmar's elephants.

In the past, elephants were mainly poached for their tusks, but they are increasingly targeted for their hide, and the number of poached elephants been rising.

Dr. Zaw Min Oo, a manager at Myanma Timber Enterprise, confirmed that the illegal trade in elephant hide had grown since last year, though the business has existed in the country for a long time.

Myanmar's elephant population is now estimated at between 1,400 and 2,000—a drastic decline from about 10,000 in the 1940s, according to the Forestry Department.

The post WWF Confident Govt Set to Launch Crackdown on Illegal Wildlife Trade appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thailand Makes One of its ‘Largest Ever’ Crystal Methamphetamine Busts

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 09:51 PM PDT

BANGKOK — Thailand has made one of its largest crystal methamphetamine busts, seizing 700 million baht ($22.42 million) worth of the drug, police said on Tuesday, as the United Nations warned Southeast Asia was being flooded with illegal drugs from the “Golden Triangle” region.

Police said 700 kg of the drug, known as ice, was seized on March 28 in southern Chumpon Province and were destined for Malaysia.

The drugs were produced in the Golden Triangle region, where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. Two Thais and two Malaysians were arrested in connection with the bust.

The methamphetamine market has expanded at an alarming rate in East and Southeast Asia. In 2015, experts in several countries in the subregion reported an increase in the use of both crystalline methamphetamine and methamphetamine tablets.

Among amphetamines, methamphetamine represents the greatest global health threat, a 2017 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug report said.

“These big seizures are indications that there is a relentless supply pumping out of the Golden Triangle and north Shan to flood Southeast Asian markets and also transit Southeast Asia to high value markets like Australia, New Zealand and potentially further,” Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC’s chief in Southeast Asia, told Reuters.

Police displayed the haul on Tuesday at a government compound north of Bangkok. Other drugs on display included 890 million baht ($28.51 million) worth of illicit drugs, including cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy, seized in various busts between March 25 and April 1.

Most of the drugs were produced outside of Thailand and were trafficked through the country en route to Australia, North America and Europe.

“The prices we announced are the values in Thailand,” Police Lieutenant General Sommai Kongvisaisuk, commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, told reporters.

“Once the drugs pass through Thailand the prices will increase,” Sommai said, adding that disruptions to supply chains have done little to stall production.

“We have intercepted a lot of drugs over the past year … but the production capacity remains untouched.”

The post Thailand Makes One of its ‘Largest Ever’ Crystal Methamphetamine Busts appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

As Myanmar Economy Rebounds, Sanctions Risk Gives Some Investors Pause: IMF

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 08:58 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — The government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is opening the economy and growth is rebounding in Myanmar, though the possibility of broader Western sanctions over the Rohingya refugee crisis is nevertheless giving some foreign investors pause, according to a senior IMF official.

Shanaka Jay Peiris, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission chief to Myanmar, said in a recent interview that initial data reviewed by the IMF indicated that some foreign investors were delaying final approval of projects until there was clarity about how the situation may unfold.

“The numbers we have for FDI (foreign direct investment) aren’t showing it yet … but foreign investment approvals are slowing down, so there is some indicator that going forward FDI may be weaker,” Peiris told Reuters following the publication last week of the IMF’s latest review of Myanmar’s economy.

“Since August, investors are taking a pause. It isn’t a surprise,” he said. He said it was unclear which projects were being delayed and added that more data was necessary to better understand whether the “pause” was temporary or not.

However, leading indicators such as FDI project amounts approved by Myanmar’s government for the first 10 months of fiscal 2017/18 from April show “a marked slowdown” since September 2017, according to the IMF.

For now, FDI inflows for 2017/18 still look to be a “solid number,” Peiris added.

While it is too soon to know what it could mean for the overall economy, Peiris said: “We have to see whether project approvals were temporarily lower or will be a trend, as well as whether actual FDI inflows will fall by much. The magnitude would also matter.”

“We are not operating under the assumption that there are going to be broad economic sanctions,” he added, downplaying the risk of a decline.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said that, “Especially in Myanmar, because of the Rakhine issue, tourism has come down, investments and FDI have come down too,” adding that the authorities were working hard to ensure macroeconomic stability.

The report by the IMF, which follows annual consultations with the government, followed a November visit to Myanmar, the first since nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown condemned by the international community.

The World Bank announced on Oct. 13 it was delaying the release of $200 million in budget support for Myanmar in response to the “forced displacement of the Rohingya.”

Both the United States and Canada imposed sanctions against a general in Myanmar’s military for his role in the crackdown against the Muslim Rohingya. The European Union said in February it was preparing sanctions against military leaders to hold them accountable for their role in the crisis.

The Trump administration’s aid chief, Mark Green, said last month he will visit Myanmar soon for talks with the government and see for himself conditions of the Rohingya refugees.

Targeted Sanctions

Peiris said the IMF believed that any more Western sanctions would likely target individuals in the military and not the economy.

“If the sanctions are limited to the military personnel, which has been the case to now, we believe it will be less of an impact” on the economy,” Peiris said. “If it is broader, it would be more worrying.”

Overall, the IMF sees economic growth picking up toward an estimated potential rate of about 7-7.5 percent after lower-than-expected growth of 5.9 percent in 2016/17.

The United States remains concerned about the plight of the Rohingya, a Treasury official told Reuters, declining to comment on the status of sanctions investigations. Another US official said the Trump administration was reviewing all options on Myanmar.

When asked by Reuters how concerned the government was about more sanctions, the Myanmar spokesman said such actions would affect “the whole country” because Myanmar was no longer a military dictatorship but instead run by “a democratic government elected by the people.”

“They shouldn’t do the economic sanctions,” the government spokesman said. “If the investments are affected, then it affects the people.”

Opening Up

The IMF visit came shortly before Myanmar introduced regulations to bring the country’s banks closer to international standards and force them to recover mostly open-ended “overdraft loans” that make up the bulk of their lending.

Myanmar’s central bank deputy governor, Soe Thein, told Reuters in November that private banks had been given more time to clear most of their loan books.

Private banks account for more than half of banking system assets and the largest six private banks hold around 80 percent of private bank assets, according to the IMF.

The new rules compel banks to open their books to the central bank, and Peiris said initial data raised concerns about the need for more bank capital.

“It is more fragile than what has been published, so banks will have to raise capital and recognize losses,” he said.

“The question is whether owners are willing to put up the money, and if they can’t, will they try to find partners? How that will evolve is hard to tell but they will need more capital,” he said. The Fund would have a better perspective of the situation during its next visit later this year, he said.

“We and the central bank do have a sense that it is a significant issue,” he added.

Asked whether the government agreed with the IMF assessment on the banks, the Myanmar government spokesman said reforms were important to build economic stability.

“It is necessary to be careful,” he said, “We cannot afford to make any mistakes.”

The post As Myanmar Economy Rebounds, Sanctions Risk Gives Some Investors Pause: IMF appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Coffee Conquers Conflict for Business-Savvy Farmers in the Philippines

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 08:53 PM PDT

MOUNT APO, Philippines — Five years ago, Filipina farmer Marivic Dubria would buy Nescafe sachets to serve visitors because she was embarrassed by the quality of the coffee she grew next to her main vegetable crops.

Life was tough for her family in Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, as they struggled to earn $1,000 a year from their produce, with their coffee beans fetching only 20 cents per kilo from local traders.

But Dubria is now one of hundreds of farmers nationwide who are brewing up a storm with training from Coffee For Peace (CfP) – a social enterprise striving to boost growers’ profits, protect the environment and foster peace between communities.

Having learned how to grow, harvest and process high-quality Arabica beans at a time when global demand for coffee is soaring – it is set to hit a record high this year – Dubria exports her crop to buyers as far away as Seattle for at least $5 per kilo.

“But it’s not all about the money – it’s about taking responsibility for the environment and other communities,” Dubria told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in her home on Mount Apo while brewing a pot of thick, aromatic, treacle-like coffee.

Beyond helping coffee growers get a better deal, CfP aims to encourage dialogue between communities, with tensions ranging from colonial-era conflict between native Muslims and Christian settlers to land and resource disputes between ethnic groups.

The Philippines is battling to restore order to troubled Mindanao, where militant groups have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, and five decades of communist insurgency and separatist bombings have displaced at least 2 million people.

By bringing people together through trade, businesses with a social mission can help build peace, industry experts say.

“Social enterprise presents an emerging pathway or approach to conflict resolution,” said Angel Flores, East Asia business head at the British Council, which backs companies seeking to help people, invest in the environment and tackle social ills.

“Being inclusive, participatory and prioritizing community benefit over personal agendas enhances the social fabric from a place of distrust to … confidence and mutual understanding.”

“Farmerpreneurs"

CfP was set up in 2008 on the conflict-hit southern island of Mindanao, after its founders stopped Christian and Muslim neighbors going to war over the ownership of a rice field.

The men were invited to put down their guns and talk over coffee, a tradition that quickly spread across the region.

CfP offers a three-year scheme to train farmers to produce coffee while encouraging native and settler communities and various tribes to harvest and process the beans together.

While the social enterprise buys the farmers’ beans above market value – selling them on to local coffee shops and exporting as far as Canada – communities can sell to any buyer, but are encouraged to demand higher prices.

“We don’t treat them as suppliers or just part of the chain – they are farmerpreneurs,” said CfP senior vice president Twinkle Bautista.

“The aim is to unite the settlers and indigenous people to teach each other, share techniques and tools … and harmony,” she added. “Our product is peace – coffee is just the tool.”

For Kagawad Abe and his indigenous community, setting up a processing center through CfP has brought them closer to the Christian settlers – who work with them to process their beans.

“It has also brought women together, and given them a chance to work independently … to contribute to the tribe,” he said.

About 80 percent of CfP’s coffee-growing partners are women.

“Just five or so years ago, we didn’t really know each other – but now we are talking and working together,” Abe added.

CfP says business is booming, having tripled sales to at least $46,000 last year from $15,000 in 2012 and won United Nations and regional awards for promoting peace and development.

Although social enterprises in the Philippines have more than tripled in the last decade to 165,000, many are struggling due to limited state support and a lack of funding, said the British Council and the Philippines Social Enterprise Network.

CfP’s success is likely largely due to its unusual mission, said Gerry Higgins, chief executive of Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEIS), Britain’s largest agency to support the sector.

“Coffee for Peace is unusual … there aren’t many social enterprises that recognize that if a community is resilient and sustainable, (then) fewer conflicts will emerge,” Higgins said.

Conquerors of Coffee

By walking farmers through every step of the supply chain, CfP says they no longer see the coffee industry as “a mystery”.

Once dependent on traders and big brands such as Nestle, the world’s biggest coffee maker and producer of Nescafe, farmers can now demand higher prices for better quality beans, CfP said.

Yet winning communities over remains a major challenge.

Some are proud of their traditional methods and reluctant to embrace change, while others are wary of civil society groups and used to instant cash or aid, rather than long-term support.

“We had to convince and convince our people, many times, to move from the traditional to the technical way of doing things,” said Baby Jerlina Owok, chieftain of a native tribe which has seen their coffee beans almost double in value in recent years.

Yet for women such as Owok and Dubria and their coffee cooperatives, the ambitions are much bigger than making money.

Pointing at huge swathes of coffee trees covering the hills, painting once barren land vibrant shades of green, Dubria spoke about planting more to combat deforestation and soil erosion.

Lastly, she said they need to share their prosperity.

“We need to encourage and help other communities to produce quality coffee,” she said. “We want to pull them up – to improve their standard of living – so they can experience what we have.”

The post Coffee Conquers Conflict for Business-Savvy Farmers in the Philippines appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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