Monday, April 23, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

5 Charged With Murder Following Fatal Beating of Obo Prison Inmate

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 07:15 AM PDT

Mandalay – Authorities at Obo Central Prison in Mandalay have filed criminal charges against five inmates over the death of a fellow prisoner in Cellblock No. 3 on Saturday.

Ko Kyaw Myo Thu, who was being held on a non-bailable charge of trespassing, was found dead on Saturday after the five inmates allegedly beat him to death.

According to prison authorities, the incident was triggered by a dispute between Ko Kyaw Myo Thu and another inmate, Ko Sithu Aung, over a right of passage within the crowded cellblock. Four of Ko Sithu Aung's friends also joined in the attack on Ko Kyaw Myo Thu, according to the charges.

"Prison authorities arrived quickly, however Ko Kyaw Myo Thu died on the way to the hospital," said a prison officer who asked not to be identified. "We are taking action based on prison rules, as well as filing murder charges at the police station against the five inmates."

The prison authorities said that Ko Sithu Aung and the four other suspects also attacked prison officials. All five are currently being held in an isolation unit. The murder charges were filed at Mandalay's No.2 police station.

Ko Sithu Aung and the four others were originally jailed on charges under Myanmar's anti-narcotics law.

"The responsible prison officers for Block No. 3 will also be punished according to prison rules for not being able to stop the fight," the senior prison official added.

According to the family of Ko Kyaw Myo Thu, who had been detained for about three months as he waited for his trial to be concluded, he was about to be released by the court.

"We are very sad because he was going to be free soon as the trial was nearly finished. Now we just want justice," said Ma Lei Lei Moe, the murdered man's wife.

Since Obo prison and many other jails across the country are overcrowded, disputes between inmates over places to live are common, although cases of inmates being beaten to death are quite uncommon.

The capacity of Obo prison is around 4,000. However, there are currently 7,000 inmates being held in the jail.

The post 5 Charged With Murder Following Fatal Beating of Obo Prison Inmate appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Wife Of ‘Scapegoat’ Police Officer in Reuters Trial Appeals for Help

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 04:37 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW & MANDALAY — The wife of a police officer who told a court that police had entrapped two Reuters reporters said her husband was a "scapegoat" and appealed for help from President Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

During a press conference in Mandalay on Sunday, Daw Tu called for justice for her husband, Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, saying her husband was "innocent."

As a prosecution witness, the police officer testified on Friday that the police had set up Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, while providing details about the Dec. 12 arrest.

Moe Yan Naing also revealed that the "trap" was masterminded by Police Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko.

The police captain has been detained since December last year for his interaction with the reporters, who were working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in Rakhine state. The reporters were arrested under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

"My husband didn't give any documents to them (Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo). Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko scapegoated my husband," Daw Tu Tu told the reporters in Mandalay on Sunday. "He is innocent."

Following the police captain's testimony, authorities on Saturday ordered the family to move out of a police housing complex where Daw Tu and one of their young daughters were living.

"I don't know where to go now," Daw Tu told an Irrawaddy reporter on Saturday after she received the eviction notice.

The eviction order went viral online, generating an angry reaction and public condemnation of the police action. Police spokesman Myo Thu Soe told the media on the same day that the family had to leave as they had overstayed their tenancy since March. But he didn't explain why the eviction was enforced right after Moe Yang Naing's testimony on Friday.

On Sunday, the unemployed woman told the media that her family has had to rely on relatives to survive as her husband hasn't received his salary since being detained.

"We haven't got his salary for four months. His salary is the only income we have to live on," she said. The couple has three children; the eldest is a university student.

After Moe Yan Naing's revelation of a police set-up and the alleged involvement of Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko during the court hearing on Friday, the plaintiff's lawyer submitted a motion seeking to have the police captain declared a 'hostile witness.'

The court will decide whether to accept the motion on Wednesday.

For now, Daw Tu said all could she do was appeal to the country's top political leadership for help.

"Mr. President, State Counselor, please don't let us down. We are helpless," she said on Sunday.

The Irrawaddy reporters Htet Naing Zaw contributed to this report from Naypyitaw and photojournalist Zaw Zaw from Mandalay.

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Tatmadaw Pushes Back KIA Battalions in Kachin State, Alliance Says

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 04:30 AM PDT

YANGON — The Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, pushed back two battalions of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) based in southern Kachin State on Friday and Saturday, according to the Northern Alliance.

In a message posted to its Facebook page on Saturday, the alliance of four ethnic armed groups said the withdrawn KIA forces included Battalion 11, under Brigade 2, and Battalion 26, under Brigade 8.

"They were shooting their big artillery at Battalion 11 nonstop. They even shot at Ka Sung village, where there are 1,000 people, and which is near our base. We did not want the local people to be harmed, so we withdrew from our base," the report said.

The Tatmadaw’s latest offensive started on April 11 and shows little sign of letting up, employing a combination of ground forces, shelling and air strikes. Residents of Lashio Township, across the border from Kachin in Shan State, said some 60 truckloads of Tatmadaw troops arrived on Sunday.

The alliance claimed that the Tatmadaw on Friday also fired 30 artillery shells at Brigade 5, located near the town of Laiza in KIA-controlled territory, and another 17 at Brigade 3, near a camp for families displaced by the fighting in northern Shan.

None of the members of the Northern Alliance have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government and military. And except for the KIA, all have been excluded from participating in the national peace process.

About 1,000 ethnic Kachin displaced by the latest fighting have arrived in Kachin State’s Namti Township in several waves since Saturday, according to the Kachin Baptist Convention, which is sheltering them in a local church.

"We were all worried that we were trapped in the middle of the fighting, so we fled our village," said La Jawng, who fled his home in Mogaung Township.

The Irrawaddy’s Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint contributed reporting to this story.

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Tatmadaw Troops Protecting Shan State Mine ‘Pose Human Rights Threat’

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 04:10 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The presence of Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) troops in eastern Shan State to protect a mining project has led to human rights abuses against civilians, according to the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), citing the recent alleged rape of an elderly woman by a soldier in Monghpyak town.

On the morning of April 2, the 73-year-old woman from Wan Huay village in Monghpyak was found lying on the ground with her sarong torn from her, with injuries to her head, including her ears, from which earrings worth about 150,000 kyats (US$115) had been ripped.

The old woman was hospitalized at Keng Tung Hospital and later transferred to Monghpyak Military Hospital, but three weeks after the attack she remains unable to talk or walk, according to Sai Tip Yee, Wan Huay village administrator.

The family filed a case at Monghpyak police station, but police have only filed a case of slashing and robbery, not rape, partly because the old woman is still weak and unable to talk about what happened on that morning, Sai Tip Yee told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

Police detained the alleged perpetrator, Private Nay Myo Thu, on the same day, but he was later transferred to military custody, so the case is no longer under civilian jurisdiction, said SHRF spokesman Sai Hor Hseng.

"We heard from the military that he [Private Nay Myo Thu] will be brought to the military court and they will take responsibility for this case, but we want him to stand trial in the civilian court in order to ensure justice for the victim," he said.

Shan rights advocate Sai Hor Hseng added that they "want justice for the victim and to end this sexual violence, because it is very dangerous for the public, especially women."

Such cases are not uncommon. In a case documented by the SHRF in 2015, a soldier accused of rape in Tachilek was transferred back to his base in Monghpyak and there was no further news of whether he would face legal action.

In a separate case in April 2015, an elderly Kachin woman, also 73, from Kachin State’s Momauk Township was the victim of an attempted rape by a Myanmar Army soldier, who was later sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for trespassing, illegal drug use and violating the military’s code of conduct. She died a year later in June 2016, without ever receiving justice for the sexual assault, despite a civilian court having accepted her case, according to a report by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand.

The SHRF said military impunity for sexual violence "must end," describing it as a threat to women nationwide. "SHRF therefore welcomes the new report by the UN Secretary General on conflict-related sexual violence, which blacklists the [Tatmadaw] for being 'credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape,'" the organization said in a statement Monday.

The militarization of Shan State has increased despite the ethnic Shan armed groups, such as the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South and the Shan State Progressive Party /Shan State Army-North, signing bilateral ceasefires with the government in 2012, and the former being a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.

In Monghpyak town alone, there are about 1,000 Tatmadaw troops stationed. The town has a population of about 6,000.

"Such a large military-civilian ratio is a constant source of fear for local residents, particularly women, given the ongoing military impunity for sexual violence," the SHRF statement reads.

According to Sai Hor Hseng, the huge military presence in the ethnic areas, especially in areas with ongoing conflicts, is partly to protect natural resources extraction companies, including Australian-run Access Asia Mining. The companies seek protection from the military for security, but it has a large impact on local residents.

Access Asia Mining plans a 150,000-acre gold-mining venture in Monghpyak. It is awaiting final approval from the Shan State government, SHRF said.

"We would like the company and army troops to withdraw from the areas," Sai Hor Hseng said, adding that when giant companies enter the areas to conduct business, the military takes responsibility for their security, and the arrangement has high social and environmental costs.

The post Tatmadaw Troops Protecting Shan State Mine 'Pose Human Rights Threat' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Two Elephant Poachers Detained in Chaungtha Forest Reserve

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 03:40 AM PDT

Two suspected poachers were detained by a combined team of authorities after an elephant carcass and weapons used for poaching were discovered in Chaungtha Forest Reserve near Ngwesaung Beach, Pathein Township in Irrawaddy Region on Sunday afternoon.

After receiving a tip-off about an elephant carcass, authorities questioned two suspects from Thitphyu Village, leading to the discovery of the carcass and weapons used in hunting the elephant.

"We have detained two suspected poachers and seized the elephant carcass, its removed skin, firearms and poisoned arrows. Four people were involved in the poaching but two of them managed to escape. The police are trying to arrest the escapees. The Forest Department will formally charge them for poaching," Police Lieutenant Colonel Khin Maung Latt told the Irrawaddy.

The combined team of the local police, forest rangers and officials from the Forestry Department detained the two suspected poachers, Ko Htwe, known as Thaung Aye, and Nga Du, known as Chit Min Naing, together with two firearms, arrows, bottles of poison, gunpowder, knives, axes, elephant skin and flesh.

"Local people reported to the authorities that they had discovered an elephant carcass. When the team arrived at the village, the carcass had already been hidden. So, the team questioned the two suspected poachers who lived nearest to the scene. The two admitted poaching the elephant and showed the police the carcass, its skin and weapons," said Dr. Lin Lin Tun, leader of a local elephant conservation group.

The two suspected poachers have been detained at Ngwesaung Police Station and will be charged under Section 37 (a) of the Protection of Wildlife Act.

Poachers killed about 40 wild elephants, which were searching for food in Pathein, Ngapudaw and Thabaung during the period from 2011 to 2017, according to the Pathein Township Police Force.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

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UN Security Council to Make a Two-Day Visit to Myanmar

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 03:27 AM PDT

A team of 15 permanent representatives from the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council will visit Myanmar for two days early next month after being invited to examine the situation in Rakhine State by the Myanmar government.

During the two-day visit, the team will meet with the chairperson of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine (UEHRD) State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and officials in Naypyitaw before visiting Rakhine State, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs U Myint Thu told the Irrawaddy.

"The team will spend one day in Naypyitaw and will stay in Rakhine State another day. It has been a long time since they requested to visit Myanmar. The government invited them as a form of cooperation with the United Nations. We have sent our invitation through the permanent representative of Myanmar at the UN," said U Myint Thu.

The security council delegation will leave New York for Bangladesh on April 26 before concluding their visit to Myanmar on May 2.

Ambassadors from five neighboring countries of Myanmar, permanent member states of the UN Security Council and the ambassador of Singapore to Myanmar, as the current ASEAN chair, will also be invited to join the trip.

"We will explain what we have been doing to repatriate refugees. Dr. Win Myat Aye will clarify the details of UEHRD's arrangements for repatriation," he added.

Some news sources suggested to the Irrawaddy that the security council delegation was invited to Myanmar as China and Russia advised Myanmar to do so.

Although inviting members of the security council to Rakhine State could alleviate international criticism against the government for lack of transparency and media freedom, it is important to be prepared for consequences if Myanmar fails to meet their expectations, said Daw Pyone Kay Thi Naing, a member of the Lower House international relations committee.

"Inviting an important international body is an effective method. It might produce good outcomes as well as bad ones. Those who are responsible for tackling the problem should be prepared," she said.

Chief Minister of Rakhine State U Nyi Pu said that his government has arranged transportation and security for the delegates.

The Myanmar government has faced international criticisms for the exodus of Muslim refugees and human right abuses by security forces.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

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Staycation Culture Booms in Myanmar

Posted: 23 Apr 2018 02:19 AM PDT

The 'staycation' trend is booming in Myanmar and continues to grow in popularity.

Also known as a 'holistay' or 'daycation,' the fad took off in 2016 and 2017 in the country.

People are choosing staycations after intense periods of work or when they want to take a vacation but don't have time to travel. People take a day trip to see the city's sights and then stay overnight at a hotel, which allows them to relax in luxury with less planning, less travel and less stress.

"In other countries, there are staycation activities but in Myanmar, most people just see it as staying in a hotel in their town for a mini vacation," said Ma Thinzar Myat Mon, an assistant director of marketing and communications for the Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake.

Guests having a meal at the Novotel Yangon Max hotel restaurant. / Novotel Yangon Max

She added that staycations are most suitable for people who want to spend holidays in their towns or nearby cities with family or friends, especially on weekends on public holidays.

Generally, these types of guests spend the day relaxing by the pool, and using the gym, spa and other hotel amenities.

"Whether they want to relax by the pool or somewhere with a good view, read a book, chat with friends or play with their children, hotels are the best venues for staycations," Ma Thinzar Myat Mon said.

Deluxe room at the Novotel Yangon Max. / Novotel Yangon Max

The Chatrium Hotel began running vacation deals years ago for summer holiday, Thingyan and New Years. These deals appealed to both foreign and domestic travelers.

Currently, the Chatrium Hotel is offering a Summer Staycation package for USD$100 per room per night for 2 people including breakfast and complimentary use of the fitness center and swimming pool, plus other deals like 20 percent off spa services and 15 percent off at restaurants and bars.

Those choosing to stay two nights also receive a complimentary lunch or dinner at the hotel," said Ma Thinzar Myat Mon.

According to her, customers include a range of locals and foreigners, families and friends.

A guest relaxes at the Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Hotel’s pool. / Chatrium Hotel

The Chatrium's Summer Staycation package is open to all Myanmar citizens, FRC holders, expatriates and permanent residents and it is valid until May 10, 2018.

The Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake is one of Myanmar's leading hotels, located on Nat Mauk Street in Yangon's Tamwe Township.

Ma Joanna Yu, the marketing coordinator of another top luxury hotel the Novotel Yangon Max, said staycations benefit both the hotels and guests. Hotels see increased occupancy and guests received bundled packages with additional services at affordable prices.

The Novotel Yangon Max offers a staycation package that includes accommodation and breakfast for a family (two adults and two kids under 16 years old), available on weekends. The package runs from May 1 until Oct. 31 for $149 per night.

A deluxe room with a lake view at the Chatrium Royal Lake Hotel. / Chatrium Hotel

During Thingyan, the Novotel offered a discounted rate of $111, which many local families took advantage of, said Ma Joanna Yu.

Many locals with busy work schedules take advantage of these deals.

"I love staycation culture as a busy worker. I don't always have time to take a trip because of my schedule. So, my friends and I will get together and take advantage of hotel staycation deals," said 28-year-old Ma Thandar.

She added that she enjoyed that staycations don't require much planning, packing or preparation. She recently had a staycation with friends at the Sedona Hotel.

"We will do it again. Traveling somewhere new is better if possible, but a staycation with friends is also fun," Ma Thandar said.

The post Staycation Culture Booms in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India’s Modi to Visit China This Week as Rapprochement Gathers Pace

Posted: 22 Apr 2018 09:10 PM PDT

BEIJING — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China this week for an informal meeting with President Xi Jinping, as efforts at rapprochement gather pace following a testing year in ties between the two giant neighbors.

The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said the two would meet on Friday and Saturday in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

“Our common interests far outweigh our differences. The two countries have no choice other than pursuing everlasting friendship, mutually beneficial cooperation and common development,” Wang told reporters after meeting Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in Beijing.

“The summit will go a long way towards deepening the mutual trust between the two great neighbors,” he added. “We will make sure that the informal summit will be a complete success and a new milestone in the history of China-India relations.”

Modi has sought to reset ties after disputes over issues including their disputed border with Tibet and other issues.

The discussion with Wang was to prepare for the informal summit, Swaraj said.

“It will be an important occasion for them (Modi and Xi) to exchange views on bilateral and international matters, from an overarching and long-term perspective with the objective of enhancing mutual communication,” Swaraj said.

The Asian giants were locked in a 73-day military stand-off in a remote, high-altitude stretch of that boundary last year. At one point, soldiers from the two sides threw stones and punches.

The confrontation between the nuclear-armed powers in the Himalayas underscored Indian alarm at China’s expanding security and economic links in South Asia.

China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative of transport and energy links bypasses India, apart from a corner of the disputed Kashmir region, also claimed by Pakistan, but involves India’s neighbors Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives.

Modi’s previously unannounced Wuhan trip is even more unusual in that he will visit China again in June for a summit in Qingdao of the China and Russia-led security grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which India joined last year.

It is almost unheard of for foreign leaders to visit China twice in such close succession. Xi is also extending Modi the rare honor of a meeting outside of Beijing, which almost never happens unless there is a multilateral summit taking place.

Modi’s nationalist government has reversed course on its relationship with Beijing apparently after realizing its hard line on China was not working.

Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in India and who China considers a dangerous separatist, is also facing the cold shoulder.

In March, India issued an unprecedented ban on Tibetans holding a rally with the Dalai Lama in New Delhi to mark the 60th anniversary of the start of the failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Other areas of disagreement remain however between Beijing and New Delhi.

China has blocked India’s membership of a nuclear cartel and it has also been blocking UN sanctions against a Pakistan-based militant leader blamed for attacks on India.

The post India's Modi to Visit China This Week as Rapprochement Gathers Pace appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

In the Driver’s Seat: Seoul’s Peace Initiative Pays Off

Posted: 22 Apr 2018 07:24 PM PDT

As Myanmar ushers in a New Year with golden padauk in bloom, Korea is full of cherry blossoms signaling that spring has arrived. This time of year is one of the most beautiful and flowery seasons in Seoul. But this year is particularly special. A historic inter-Korean summit is taking place on April 27. This is the third such summit in history, with the most recent taking place 11 years ago in 2007. It is significant in many ways and it bears resemblance to Myanmar's noble endeavors for peace as well.

Recent developments in the Korean peninsula are remarkable. Just a year ago, tensions were high, to the point that there was speculation about another Korean war.

Immediately after assuming office last May, the government of the Republic of Korea under the new leadership of President Moon Jae-in undertook a peace initiative. The government did its utmost to ease tension and create an atmosphere of peace on the peninsula. At the center was the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, where South and North Korean athletes marched together at the opening ceremony under the same flag, symbolizing a unified Korea. The two Koreas formed a unified women's ice hockey team, which touched the hearts and minds of the people across the world. It was indeed an exhibition of the unique power of sports. In a sense, it also resonates with the "collective strength and united endeavor" echoed by the Myanmar government in its quest for greater unity in the Union.

The Korean government's peace effort is anchored in its unswerving conviction that there cannot be another war on the peninsula and that the Korean people should be the architects of its destiny. The upcoming inter-Korean summit will be held at Panmunjeom located within the demilitarized zone. The selection of venue is quite meaningful as Panmunjeom symbolizes the fact that Korea remains divided and it is still technically at war. This cross-border meeting will be a culmination of the Korean government's fearless efforts to open a new chapter for peace and stability on the peninsula. It will mark a significant turning point for building trust between the two Koreas. Likewise, for Myanmar's peace process, confidence building among ethnic minority groups is essential for the success of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference.

Seoul has also taken painstaking efforts to bring key partners on board. The inter-Korean summit will be followed by a summit between Washington and Pyongyang. We hope that it will mark another meaningful step toward the establishment of peace on the Korean peninsula. Moreover, it could provide an unprecedented opportunity for denuclearization of the peninsula. In this regard, recent high-level communications among the six parties, including the United States, China, Japan and Russia, are encouraging. To resolve the nuclear conundrum on the Korean peninsula, we need strong support from the international community as a whole. For Myanmar, international support is also important for its peace process, especially as it commemorates its 70th year of independence.

We sincerely hope that Korea's tireless efforts to realize permanent peace on the Korean peninsula and to improve inter-Korean relations will bear fruit in the near future. A denuclearized North Korea will lead to peace and prosperity not only on the Korean Peninsula but throughout the region at large. In turn, it will be a milestone event for the international non-proliferation regime as well. This is why the international community should encourage and support the upcoming inter-Korean summit.

Mr. Lee Sang-hwa is the South Korean Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Myanmar.

The post In the Driver's Seat: Seoul's Peace Initiative Pays Off appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Employment Project Supports Rehabilitated Drug Users

Posted: 22 Apr 2018 05:59 PM PDT

It was 2003 when Reverend Zau Tawng realized that most of his students from bible studies in Hpakant were using drugs. It saddened him to realize that the drug problems in his Kachin State homeland were as serious as the jade mining disasters, ongoing conflicts with ethnic armed groups, and internally displaced persons forced to flee their homes.

Clueless but eager to save young addicts, he tried operating a rehabilitation center in his hometown Mohnyin but drugs were easily accessible inside the rehab compound and the center was not a success. Realizing that Kachin State was not the right place for his venture, he moved to Yangon and bought four acres of land in Hlegu where he then founded the Harvest Rehabilitation Center in 2012.

"I empathize with the pressure and anxiety that the parents of addicts have to endure. That's why I decided to help them," said Zau Tawng. Since its opening in 2012, the center has housed 242 addicts mostly from Kachin and Shan states, reporting that some 75 percent of them do not relapse after leaving the facility.

Harvest students at an outdoor excursion. / Harvest Rehabilitation Center

Only accepting those who voluntarily enter the rehab process, Harvest Center operates as an abstinence-based residential program that offers sports, music, spiritual studies and therapy, not only to recover from addiction but to promote overall physical and mental well-being.

The Harvest Center welcomes drug addicts of any ethnicity and from any part of the country, as long as they are ready to close that chapter of their lives.

The center generally does not accept newcomers from June to October during its intensive withdrawal period. If addicts are ready to leave the facility, they travel around the country and share their recovery stories in November and December. But life after rehab is uncertain for many, who without jobs and stability face the possibility of relapse.

Zau Tawng was joined by his son Zaw Tu Hkawng, who had experience working in the health sector prior to the center opening. Zaw Tu Hkawng now manages programs for rehabilitated participants. After visiting rehab centers in New Zealand with the Myanmar Young Leaders program in 2017, he learned that employers were often hesitant to hire former drug users – not because they had bad experiences with them but because of a social stigma that painted them as an unreliable workforce. Zaw Tu Hkawng faced the same reaction when reaching out to small hotels and other businesses in the hospitality industry.

"I want to prove to employers that these rehabilitated men deserve a new start and that they can be responsible workers," he said.

With a strong desire to create job opportunities for his mentees from Harvest, he designed a program to help former drug users get job training called "Nurturing Rehabilitated Users for Employment," funded by international non-governmental group UnionAID of New Zealand. The program connects business owners who want to help their communities and rehabilitated young men who are seeking vocational training to move forward in their lives.

Of the 24 mentees who are currently living at Harvest, nine of them spent nearly two months at four different businesses receiving onsite training. Three of them worked at a bakery, two worked at a car repair shop, two at a video production business and two at pig farms from January 25 to March 12, 2018, six days a week. With daily reflections and reports from respective employers, the nine Harvest mentees successfully finished their training with support, encouragement and appreciation from employers and coworkers.

Naw San Min Thu, the owner of Orison Frozen Food and one of the employers, wanted her small bakery to be a responsible business. Having reminded her employees to be friendly and kind to the mentees before their arrival, she reminisced about the first day of job training.

Drug-free Harvest students at Orison bakery for the employment program. / Harvest Rehabilitation Center

"It was more of an excitement to meet these drug-free young men than worrying about them not getting along with my employees," she said. Although there were some awkward moments at first, her three mentees and coworkers got along well and became friends throughout the program.

Although the employment program ended, Naw San Min Thu offered permanent employment for her mentees to continue their work at Orison after noting their strong will to improve their lives.

"The three mentees were determined to make their lives better and I am very honored to be part of their journeys," she proudly said.

La Ja Aung, 36, went to Harvest nearly a year ago when he realized that continuing to use drugs would bring embarrassment and burden to his family as well as a possible end to his life. Withdrawal was difficult for him but he was committed.

After being trained and supported by Orison's familial work environment, La Ja Aung now dreams of owning a small bakery.

"A bakery is doable for a small family. I could also distribute baked goods from Orison as an alternative," he said. He hopes to earn a stable income and create a stable life for his family.

Students enjoying sports therapy at the Harvest center compound in Hlegu. / Harvest Rehabilitation Center

After managing a successful employment program, the father-son duo has bigger dreams and better plans to serve unprivileged youth in the country. So far running on donations and grants, Reverend Zau Tawng wants to make Harvest Rehab Center a sustainable institution that offers diplomas and degrees to its students in the future, and Zaw Tu Hkawng is ready to strategically implement his father's dream.

Despite big plans for the future, accommodations at the Harvest center are in need of an upgrade before the monsoon rains come. Reverend Zau Tawng is hopeful despite having a limited budget.

"We don't have enough to upgrade the entire building now but I believe we'll figure something out before the rainy season," said the reverend.

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Saturday, April 21, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

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A Day of Disgrace for Myanmar’s Already Tarnished Police Force

Posted: 21 Apr 2018 02:17 AM PDT

What a disgrace for the Myanmar Police Department! On Friday, a court was told that two journalists arrested in December had been targeted in a police plan to entrap them by offering them "secret documents".

Police Brigadier-General Tin Ko Ko allegedly threatened police officials with extrajudicial imprisonment if they did not arrest Reuters reporter Wa Lone after offering him purported secret officials documents, saying: "If you don't get Wa Lone, you will go to jail."

The assertion was made as part of court testimony given by Police Captain Moe Yan Naing, a prosecution witness in the case against the reporters, on Friday morning.

The police captain was himself detained, along with Police Lance-Corporal Khin Maung Lin, on Dec. 12 — the same day Wa Lone and his colleague Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested —for illegally interacting with the Reuters reporters the previous month.

The reporters were arrested on the evening of Dec. 12 soon after receiving purported secret official documents from Police Lance-Corporal Naing Lin. Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko gave the junior officer "secret documents from Battalion 8" with which to carry out his order to secure the journalists' arrests.

Since January, the court has been holding hearings to decide if the detained journalists are to be charged under the Official Secrets Act, legislation enacted during the British colonial era. The journalists were investigating the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslims in Inn Din village in Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township during an Army clearance operation. The Army operation was launched after a militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, attacked police outposts in the area in August last year. Seven soldiers were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for the killings of the Rohingyas, according to the military.

In fact, many people, including journalists, have suspected from the start that the two reporters were set up by authorities. Acting as a whistleblower, Capt Moe Yan Naing has now confirmed these suspicions.

The police captain told the court that Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko's actions were "unethical and damaged the integrity of the country on the international stage." During a break in the hearing, he told reporters, "I am revealing the truth because police of any rank have their own integrity. It is true that [the Reuters reporters] were set up."

Such a revelation of the truth by a police officer is quite rare in this country. Many will see the police captain's actions as praiseworthy. But he has taken this step at great personal risk; something he clearly understands, as he appeared nervous when talking to reporters yesterday. The police captain could face unexpected consequences for his revelations against his supervisor, and perhaps even from the Home Affairs Ministry, which supervises the Police Department.

Soon after the arrests in December, the Home Affairs Ministry said it would take action against Capt Moe Yan Naing and LC Khin Maung Lin for their roles in passing government documents to the journalists.

Now we will have to wait and see how the ministry reacts to the revelations that the whole affair was a plot hatched by Brig-Gen Tin Ko Ko, a senior officer. Many wonder if the brigadier-general acted alone. Did some big fish order him to act?

All security forces in Myanmar retain infamous reputations—the Police Department is not exceptional at all. This set-up of two journalists has brought more disgrace upon an institution that is already tarnished in the public's eyes.

Handling this issue is the responsibility of Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant-General Kyaw Swe, who is an appointee of the military commander-in-chief.

Myanmar President U Win Myint has an important role to play here. In his inaugural speech on March 30, he said, "I wish to urge the media sector, which serves as the ears and eyes of the public, to understand the seriousness of their duties and to hold in high regard the public sector that they serve."

Given the importance he appears to ascribe to the role of the media in society, President U Win Myint must not neglect this case. The country's integrity will be further damaged if unethical or crooked officials continue to pursue this case, which violates any reasonable standard of ethics, accountability and responsibility.

The post A Day of Disgrace for Myanmar's Already Tarnished Police Force appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

U Win Tin: Myanmar’s Revolutionary Journalist

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 10:43 PM PDT

Four years to the day since Myanamr lost one of its leading intellectual figures, U Win Tin, The Irrawaddy looks back on his enduring legacy. A beloved democracy activist, journalist, founding member of the National League for Democracy and a former political prisoner, U Win Tin lives on as an emblem of persistence and bravery for those seeking true democratic change in Myanmar.

U Win Tin spent 19 years in prison for his opposition to the former military regime, but his principles never wavered. With this article from The Irrawaddy archives, originally published on the day of his death, we revisit what it was he stood for and his relevance today.

Burmese journalist U Win Tin was a true believer in democracy and press freedom. He never hid his disdain for the repressive military regime and continued to challenge Myanmar's current nominally civilian government.

U Win Tin spent seven thousand nights in Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison, but he had no regrets and continued to boldly carry the flag of democracy and helped keep the opposition movement alive. "The dictators can only detain our bodies, not our souls," he once said while in prison.

The way he confronted Myanmar's repressive rulers was so uncompromising and inspiring that the generals feared him, and with good reason. In Myanmar and beyond, many loved and respected the man who, together with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has become a symbol of the country's long struggle for democracy.

As I learned the news of his passing this morning I thought of his determination, intellectual steadfastness and the principles he upheld, and, most importantly, his contribution to the democracy movement.

Among his fellow political activists and contemporaries, U Win Tin stood out as a bit different and, though it was not his intention, he outshone many other opposition figures.

One reason for this was his unbending stance and sharp reading of the political situation during the repressive regime and the current democratic transition. He remained very critical and cautious of the ongoing political reforms—a healthy and welcome approach in my view.

U Win Tin was always ready to express his opinions to the media, he was eloquent and precise, and unlike many other opposition members he didn't shy away from criticizing his party leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Devoted to Political Life

U Win Tin was never married, but devoted his life to books, newspapers and politics. Many adored him as an example of a completely selfless man who cared about Myanmar's people and showed particular concern for the younger generation.

Even when he became older and suffered from increasing health problems, he would not bother people around him with his ailments; instead he would ask them to leave him while always thanking them for their visit.

Right up until the end he was quick to offer his witty or harsh criticism of the former junta leaders, the current government, while also occasionally criticizing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Last year, he said that the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader has been too reconciliatory toward the current government. "Some of us would like to push the military into the Bay of Bengal," he told The Washington Post, "She only wants to push them into Kandawgyi Lake," a reference to a lake in central Rangoon.

During my first visit back to Myanmar in 2012, I went to meet him and asked whether it was the right decision for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to enter the by-elections that year and enter Parliament.

He paused, looked at me with smile and said, "You know she enjoys a Hollywood star status and she is a really popular figure."

After he was released from prison in 2008, we spoke on the phone and he outlined some of the differences between himself and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Suu Kyi is a VIP prisoner—we spent our times in dog cells and we were treated inhumanely. Our feelings and sentiments towards the generals is not the same as Aung San Suu Kyi. She always looked at them with some understanding and she sees the military as her father's army. But we don't," he said.

Despite such frank remarks, he never expressed any doubt about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's leadership of the NLD and maintained she was the only political figure capable of leading Myanmar to democracy.

Nearly Two Decades Imprisoned

In 1989, U Win Tin was a journalist when he backed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the leadership of the NLD that she had formed.

The same year he was thrown into prison under trumped up charges and accused of being "a communist" by the military regime that had taken power in a coup. He would spend almost two decades in prison.

I had a chance to speak with U Win Tin shortly before the 1988 uprising began during a literary talk of the kind that were regularly held in a discreet manner in the old socialist Myanmar of former strongman Gen Ne Win.

At a friend's house in downtown Rangoon, some 30 writers had gathered to hear the bespectacled U Win Tin speak about the increasingly tense political situation.

I noticed he was outspoken but calm, and he voiced concern over the fate of Myanmar's youths and students in those difficult times.

Looking back, I've wondered if he foresaw the uprising at the time or that he would soon face decades in detention and become one of the most prominent and longest serving political prisoners in Myanmar.

The regime would later find out that it had been wrong to put the iron-willed U Win Tin in prison. Unable to break him physically or psychologically, the generals finally gave up and ordered him released in September 2008.

He continued to oppose them even then and refused to sign a form outlining conditions that he should follow upon his release. Prison officials dragged him from his cell and dropped him at his friend's house.

While in prison, he was often visited by foreign diplomats, US congressmen, International Red Cross officials and UN Human Rights investigators. He became one of Myanmar's most well-known political prisoners and reports of his ailing health regularly appeared in the international press.

Western governments, human rights organizations and press freedom groups repeatedly tried to intervene in order to free him. U Win Tin pressed on in spite of his health problems and maltreatment in prison, where he remained politically active.

In the 1990s, he asked Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to stay the course when the regime applied a divide- and-rule strategy against the NLD in order to pressure the party into joining a military-backed national convention to draft a new constitution.

At one point, he and his prison inmates secretly compiled an 83-page human rights report and smuggled it out through a visiting UN special rapporteur.

Enraged prison officials raided cells and dug up books, papers, news bulletins, two radios, and publishing materials. U Win Tin and dozens of political prisoners were punished with solitary confinement in tiny "dog cells" and received extended jail sentences.

His former inmates recalled how U Win Tin always encouraged them to unite and stand up against any unjust treatment imposed on them in prison.

Ironically, he also spent time with some members of the former regime who were imprisoned after Snr-Gen Than Shwe ordered a purge of U Khin Nyunt's powerful Military Intelligence (MI) units in 2004. Several high-ranking MI officers, including one who had been in charge of U Win Tin's case, were thrown into prison and shared a cell next to his.

Win Tin also spent time in prison with the grandsons of former dictator Gen Ne Win, who were convicted on high treason charges in the early 2000s by Snr-Gen Than Swhe's regime. Late last year, when they were released, one of Gen Ne Win's grandsons immediately went to see the old political activist.

During a funeral in Rangoon in October, former spy chief U Khin Nyunt walked up to U Win Tin to shake his hand. U Win Tin showed no anger, but later told The Irrawaddy that the MI officers should apologize to the nation for what they had done.

U Win Tin was a keen, unrelenting government critic to the very end, intent on taking down all the obstacles on Myanmar's long road to democracy.

Without his guiding light, it's hard to imagine how the democracy movement will treat the many challenges ahead during this unpredictable democratic transition, where there are still many wolves in sheep's clothing.

The post U Win Tin: Myanmar's Revolutionary Journalist appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Still Waiting for an Apology

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 08:31 PM PDT

To mark the fourth anniversary of National League for Democracy co-founder U Win Tin’s death on April 21, we republish this interview with the long-time political prisoner, conducted by Irrawaddy senior editor Kyaw Zwa Moe. The interview, conducted in December 2013, concerns the imprisonment and torture of political activists (including himself) and U Win Tin’s view that Myanmar’s former military rulers, starting with ex-Military Intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt, owe the nation, former political prisoners — and even themselves — an apology. Also interviewed is Hnin Hnin Hmway of the Democratic Party for New Society.

The discussions were recorded for Dateline Irrawaddy and broadcast on DVB. The video, with English subtitles, can be found here. The following text is an English translation of the transcript of the discussions with Win Tin.

 Kyaw Zwa Moe: Former Chief of Military Intelligence Unit General Khin Nyunt once said that he is not accountable for the arrests and imprisonments because he was just following orders and thus he can't apologize to anyone.

U Win Tin, you were arrested in 1989 by the Military Intelligence and underwent torture that resulted in loss of your teeth and you spent 19 years in prison. How do you want to respond to General Khin Nyunt's remarks?

Win Tin: I met him by chance at the funeral of Guardian [journalist] U Sein Win [in November 2013]. He told me to let bygones be bygones. I didn't reply anything because there were many people around and I didn't want to argue with him. However, our brief meeting was photographed and the news spread across the media and online.

When the media interviewed me how my response would be on his remarks, I answered in three points. Point one is that these Military Intelligence personnel, including their seniors and those who ordered them, must apologize to us, former political prisoners, the people and also themselves.
Because what they did was wrong. Point two is to correct the wrongs and prevent any transgressions in the future. The intelligence personnel might still be active in current governance mechanisms, so we must prevent intelligence personnel from committing any such deeds; they must apologize and correct their transgressions.

Point three is related to rehabilitation of the former political prisoners, which is what we have been doing already. Those former generals with their enormous treasure troves, obtained either from the state or through their powerful roles, should consider contributing to the rehabilitation activities for former political prisoners or establish funds for that. These are the points I mentioned to the media. However, Khin Nyunt said, "To whom should I apologize?" in another case. So my response for that was first: The political prisoners, former intelligence prisoners, and exiles, and second: The people, and third: themselves.

KZM: Can you tell me about your experience of the interrogation and torture you endured in prison?

WT: They used a lot of torture methods and there are many people who have experiences like me. I want to tell you about an exceptional experience. They interrogated me on my first night in the prison. They interrogated me for six days and I had to scream when they tortured me. While they were doing this they wore masks, so that we didn't know who they were. I strongly objected to that because I am a politician and a leader of a political party. I lost all of my teeth within a year because of the torture. In 1991, when they started to release some prisoners, they had people with missing teeth receive implants and receive medical service. By then, I had no more teeth and I had to eat with just my gums.

KZM: Was the rice served in prison hard?

WT: The rice was hard and I couldn't even chew it with my gums. My suffering lasted for 7 years and they only implanted my new teeth in 1998. That was an exceptional experience. There might be people who underwent similar or much worse experiences then my own. No one can bear such torture and no one is willing to endure torture.

KZM: U Win Tin, who do you consider responsible for the [1988] coup? Was it General Khin Nyunt, Senior General Than Shwe, or Senior General Saw Maung? Was General Khin Nyunt the right hand man of General Ne Win at that time?
 
WT: I don't know what exactly was going on in the army at that time. But there is a word I always use in talking about the coup, which is that the bones will crow one day and tell the real story, because the truth can't be hidden all the time. It will be revealed one day. I didn't know what the military intelligence were doing back then, but now we are getting some picture of what they were doing from what they say now in the media from people like General Khin Nyunt, or the grandsons of U Ne Win who were just released from prison.

What we understand from these is that on September 17, one day before the coup, U Kyawt Maung and Colonel Tin Hlaing, I am not sure if it was him, put General Khin Nyunt in charge and they went to meet General Ne Win to present the [88 Uprising] situation and push for a coup. Ne Win replied them that they must inform the leaders before the coup as it is a military procedure and asked them to inform the leaders like Colonel Aye Ko, U Than Oo and Colonel Kyaw Soe. When they came back the next day after informing these leaders, General Ne Win asked them to do what they have to "go and arrest who you need to arrest", even him if they have to. By saying this, General Ne Win gave them permission to arrest anyone they wanted and stage a coup. What I understand from this is that it was General Khin Nyunt who pushed for the coup and General Ne Win gave the order.

KZM: As you have lived through different ages like the Japanese occupation and the like, I would like ask: Do you consider the era of General Khin Nyunt after the 1988 coup the most terrible period in Burmese history?

WT: It can be said it was the most terrible, the cruelest and the worst period in our history. At the time of Japanese occupation, I was very young and I can't remember the atrocities of Japanese Kempeitai. What I can say is that I have lived through that era, [the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League] era and the following eras; so of all the eras I have lived, the era of the Military Intelligence Unit was the harshest, the most lawless, and the worst among all these eras.

When they put me on trial at the Military Court, they produced some witnesses whom I didn't know and they didn't know me either. I objected to that at the trial. When they brought me at the court, they handcuffed me tightly and I screamed. After sentencing me to 10 years, the military intelligence officers who were there called the judge to leave the trial for a while. When the judge came back, he added one more year to my sentence, because I screamed. The total sentences I received amounted to 21 years, not just 20 years. There were a seven-year sentence, a three-year sentence and an eleven-year sentence handed to me. And they reduced a year from my total sentence only later. The Military Intelligence Unit was behind the Military Court in sentencing me, including sentencing me to a year more for screaming at the court.

KZM: What about your experience U Win Tin? You had an operation while you were in prison?

WT: Let me explain a bit about what Ma Hnin Hnin Hmway just mentioned about sleeping on the concrete floor with just a mat. When I was in the interrogation camp it was January, during the winter. They didn't provide us mats. Because Ko Thet Khaing tried to commit suicide by slashing his veins with a blade the authorities tried to suppress the news for fear that they will face blames from superiors and told them that he used the bamboo slats instead.

As a result, they took all the mats from us to prevent any more cases like that. That's why we had to sleep on the bare concrete floors. Although General Khin Nyunt said he was acting in accordance with the orders from above, he himself was among those who gave such orders to those below him. He must apologize for that as well. I went through operations for hernia and was hospitalized for heart problems and benign prostatic hypertrophy, but they delayed the operation many times. In January 1990, while I was suffering from hernia and lying in my bed, they just gave me some shots instead of sending me to the hospital. I suffered from these problems for five years and only in 1995 they sent me to hospital.

Than Shwe alone is not responsible for all these violations. Khin Nyunt and his underlings also played their roles in ignoring cases like these, as they wished us to die. So Khin Nyuint and others are responsible for these and they can't just blame the top man Than Shwe.

KZM: They played a major role in crushing political activists?

UT: They all are responsible.

KZM: There are 162 recorded cases of death in custody after 1988 as far as I know. And during the years 1988, 1989 and 1990, there were about 3,000 to 4,000 political prisoners. How many political prisoners do you think they held through their reign? Can it be about ten thousands political prisoners during their reign until 2004?

WT: I don't know about this statistically because I am not responsible for political prisoners' affairs institutionally. But I always tell the media that there could have been about 10,000 political prisoners. And there will be hundreds of thousands of family members related to these political prisoners. Those who are responsible for these deeds must also take care of them and apologize to them. I am happy to see that my estimation of the numbers of political prisoners is close to the assumptions of institutions working for the affairs of the political prisoners.

KZM: There were people imprisoned from all walks of lives, starting from 14, 15 year-olds to educated doctors, lawyers, engineers to people like you who are political party leaders and journalists. That's why some people are accusing them of committing crimes against humanity. What do you think about this accusation?

WT: Accusations like these emerged around 2009 in places like United States, at the United Nations and among human rights organizations.  And they are suggesting to prosecute those responsible. I've also commented that they committed crimes against humanity. By 'they' I mean people like General Khin Nyunt, Than Shwe and even Thein Sein. He was also a member of that group that committed such crimes.

KZM: But he released many political prisoners under his administration.
 
WT: They can't compensate for their crimes so easily. It depends on the severity of the crimes. I think these two are not related. There were those in the international community who were working back to prosecute them in 2009, like Ko Aung Din from the US, and people in about 13 countries, including the US. The army knew that and they had to change their course or face the consequences. They benefited from the change they carried out and tried to free themselves from the accusations.

However, they are still responsible for what they did and they will still be recorded in history as those who committed crimes against humanity. History is not a judge and it can't give them any punishments. However, history will never forget what they did; their atrocious crimes against humanity will remain in history. That's what I want to say.

The post Still Waiting for an Apology appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Friday, April 20, 2018

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Anti-Corruption Commission Files Case Against FDA Chief

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:49 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Anti-Corruption Commission of Myanmar on Friday filed a corruption case against the director-general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Dr. Than Htut, the director-general of the FDA, which is under the Ministry of Sport and Health, is accused of demanding personal favors from a company that won a tender to build two laboratory buildings at the FDA's Naypyitaw's headquarters, as well as structures at 12 FDA district offices around the country.

The anti-graft agency has not disclosed the name of the company involved, but it is believed to be the Ye Taik Myotaw company.

According to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the case was opened against Dr. Than Htut under Article 56 of the Anti-Corruption Law of 2013 at Zabu Thiri Township police station. The agency said it had found that Dr. Than Htut abused his position to demand personal favors from the company in return for the contracts.

Article 56 states that, "Other than the Political Post Holder, if any other Authorized  Person  is  convicted for  committing  bribery; he/she shall  be  punished  with  imprisonment  for  a  term of not more than 10 years and with a fine."

U Than Zaw Win, an ACC inspector, would act as plaintiff in the case, said commission spokesman U Han Nyunt. He declined to disclose how long the ACC had been investigating the FDA chief.

The commission receives about 500 complaints a month, according to the spokesman.

The ACC's probe found that the director-general had demanded construction materials with which to build a house in Naypyitaw's Shwe Kyar Pin quarter; as well as materials for another two-story building, a swimming pool and fencing in Ywar Thit village in Naypyitaw. All together, the materials were worth more than 151 million kyats.

Dr. Than Htut, 60, was trained as a civilian physician, and later served as a military doctor. He was also an assistant professor at the Yangon University of Public Health. He joined the FDA as deputy director-general in March 2015, and was later promoted to his current position.

This is the first case publicly announced by the ACC since the inauguration of President U Win Myint, who has vowed to crack down on bribery and corruption. At a meeting on April 12, the president urged ACC chairman U Aung Kyi and other members to step up their efforts against corruption. He also encouraged the ACC in its work during his speech to mark the traditional Myanmar New Year on Tuesday.

Moe Moe contributed to this report from Naypyitaw.

The post Anti-Corruption Commission Files Case Against FDA Chief appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Who is Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko?

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:28 AM PDT

 

YANGON — On Friday, a police captain and prosecution witness in the case of two detained Reuters journalists testified that Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko masterminded a setup to arrest the reporters, Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo.

Here is what we have learned about the brigadier general so far.

Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko served as commander of the Border Guard Police (Headquarters) in Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township. The force was established on March 10, 2014, and took over police stations and outposts previously overseen by the Immigration Department.

The Border Guard Police are responsible for security and law enforcement at the border. Their duties include collecting information, monitoring the border, preventing cross-border crime, counter-terrorism, responding to riots, and cooperating with local military battalions.

They also inherited the duties of the Immigration Department, including immigration control, citizenship registration, monitoring population growth, preventing illegal trade, combatting smugglers, and supervising the taxation of border trade.

The Border Guard Police are also responsible for civilian administration, which covers public welfare, disaster prevention and management, and search and rescue operations. They are also responsible for promoting bilateral ties with neighboring countries in line with international laws and procedures.

Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko also headed the No. 1 Security Police Command in Naypyitaw and in October 2017 was transferred to head the No. 2 Security Police Command in Yangon, a position he still holds.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Who is Brig. Gen. Tin Ko Ko? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Facebook Slow to React to Violence, Hate Speech in Myanmar

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:20 AM PDT

When mass killings or religious strife take place in Myanmar, the conflict spreads to social media, leading to yet more slaughter on the ground.

There is no doubt that the next major conflict in Myanmar will start on social media or in cyberspace. But who will take the blame, and how can the problem be resolved?

Facebook has definitely played a role in Myanmar's ethnic and racial conflicts, especially in northern Rakhine State. Who will stop those who abuse and misuse the platform is an open question, and there is no clear answer.

Recently, Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, told reporters that social media had played a "determining role" in Myanmar.

"It has…substantively contributed to the level of acrimony and dissension and conflict, if you will, within the public. Hate speech is certainly of course a part of that. As far as the Myanmar situation is concerned, social media is Facebook, and Facebook is social media," he said.

A few weeks ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was asked about his company’s role in the Rakhine crisis during an appearance before a US Senate panel.

"What’s happening in Myanmar is a terrible tragedy, and we need to do more," he replied.

Facebook is now hiring "dozens" more Burmese-language content reviewers to look for hate speech. It is also working with civil society to identify "specific hate figures" who should be banned, and with product teams to come up with new technical solutions to the problem. A number of civic organizations and human rights groups in Myanmar shared a detailed presentation with US lawmakers on how the social media platform helped spread hate speech in the country. But those trying to tackle the problem face a number of major challenges.

In Myanmar there is an ongoing battle between two fonts: Zawgyi and Unicode. A post written on Facebook in Burmese will almost certainly be written in Zawgyi.

Some smartphones manufacturers such as Samsung use both fonts due to market demand. It is no doubt a nightmare for developers and Facebook reviewers to reconcile this.

Unicode should be the official font, yet Zawgyi remains dominant among internet users. As long as this is not reconciled, it will remain an issue for Myanmar, whose people are rapidly adopting Facebook, smartphones and the internet. Will the government have to intervene?

Second, during Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before US lawmakers, there was no intelligent Q & A about allegations that Myanmar army officers trained by Russia were involved in spreading the rumors, hate speech and fake news. Nor were there any questions about terrorists and campaign groups that sided with ARSA to spread fake videos and news.

Indeed, regarding Russia and Myanmar, military relations between Moscow and Naypyitaw have gone from strength to strength for the past several years. More than 4,000 Myanmar officers studied in Russia between 1993 and 2013, more than from any other Southeast Asian country. They studied aviation, nuclear technology and cyber warfare.

About 600 military personnel from Myanmar are studying at Russia's higher military education institutions right now.

Cyber warfare is not new in Myanmar.

In the past, two leading media websites operating in self-exile came under attack several times. A three-year investigation by Swedish cyber security firm Unleash Research Labs identified the army as a key player in a string of attacks against the websites of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and The Irrawaddy dating back to 2012.

Exiled media outlets covering Myanmar are no strangers to cyber attacks. Coordinated assaults on DVB and The Irrawaddy have taken place during most major political events, including the general election in November 2010. The military was also found to be behind a series of cyber attacks on pro-democracy media outlets around the time of the historic 2015 elections and was reported to have ties to hackers who targeted websites belonging to the Thai government.

When violence erupted in northern Rakhine State last year, The Irrawaddy found more than a dozen identical fake social media pages with thousands of followers. Facebook took the pages down, but only weeks after being notified.

Since Myanmar started opening up in 2011, many citizens have become glued to social media. U Ye Htut, the minister of information under the previous government, was known as the "Minister of Facebook" because of the considerable time he spent on the platform sharing news and comments and attacking the administration’s critics. Many government officials with accounts have used them to spread hate speech and violent threats.

Well-connected tycoons and other well-known individuals have also set up several social media teams to attack opponents and rivals or spread false news and rumors to counter bad press.

Ultranationalist monk U Wirathu used his Facebook page to launch attacks on Muslims and incite hate. The page was allowed to keep running for months, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers. Where were Facebook’s monitors then?

The Myanmar military's psychological warfare department is believed to have hundreds of trained officers running multiple Facebook accounts posting sexy pictures and using female names to attract followers and then spread fake news whenever the country faces a racial or religious crisis.

Likewise, people and groups sympathetic to ARSA, terrorists, ethnic armed groups and nationalist extremists have also produced and shared fake news and inflammatory cartoons to incite more violence or gain international support.

The extensive misuse of social media platforms has been happening for years, but counteraction has been slow in coming. Facebook can no longer turn a blind eye to the misuse of its own network. Otherwise, it will be accused of being complicit in Myanmar’s ongoing crisis.

The post Facebook Slow to React to Violence, Hate Speech in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NMSP Urged to Defy Army Over Limits Placed on Public Meetings

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 07:07 AM PDT

Mon civil society organizations, political parties and community leaders have urged the New Mon State Party (NMSP) to refuse to hold public meetings in Myanmar Army-controlled areas as a way of expressing their unhappiness with an Army order that not more 40 representatives from Mon community groups join the gatherings, which are intended to provide a forum to discuss the peace process, local sources said.

The NMSP, the political wing of the Mon National Liberation Army, signed the NCA in February with the Myanmar government and the Army, and had planned to hold public meetings in five townships: Nyi Zar, Wa Zin, Moulmein, Mudon, and Three Pagodas Pass.

After holding the public meetings, the NMSP planned to hold a national level peace dialogue in Ye town from May 5 to 7. The party is seeking suggestions from ethnic Mon communities to propose at the Panglong peace conference.

The community leaders urged the NMSP to disobey the order from the Army at the first public meeting, in Nyi Zar on April 9 to 11, and it subsequently invited 250 representatives from civil society organizations, political parties, community leaders and other groups to the event.

"The Army has told the NMSP to limit the number of representatives at the meetings to 40 people. Of course, they could still hold the meetings if they wanted but, from our viewpoint this is part of their strategy to suppress the Mon psychologically," said Nai San Hlaing, an executive committee member of the Mon National Party (MNP).

The NMSP should not hold further public meetings if the Army places restrictions on the number of representatives who can attend, he said.

"If the NMSP holds them, our party will not send representatives. Our party will not participate in the meeting if the number of representatives is limited," Nai San Hlaing said.

The NMSP plans to hold a second meeting in Wa Zin, which like Nyi Zar is in Mon-controlled territory, on April 26 and 27, and again plans to invite 250 representatives. But the party is still considering whether or not to hold the meetings in the other three locations, which are under the control of the Army, after Mon leaders urged them not to.

The CSO Network based in Mon State also told the NMSP not to organize the meetings to protect the dignity of the ethnic group. "The Army told them (the NMSP) that only 40 representatives could join the meeting. We told the NMSP that if they did what the Myanmar Army said our Mon people would look down on the NMSP. The NMSP will have no dignity if they acquiesce to the Army's demand," Nai Aung Htoo, a coordinator of the CSO Network in Mon State, told The Irrawaddy.

Nai Hong Sar, who is the vice chairman of the NMSP, said his party would negotiate further with the Army over the number of representatives allowed to attend the meetings in Moulmein, Mudon, and Three Pagodas Pass.

"We want to hold the public meetings in those three locations, so we will negotiate more with them," Nai Hong Sar said.

"We accept their position," he said, referring to the CSO, political parties, and community leaders. "Even in the NMSP we know that if we give in to the Army's order, they will seek to further restrict our political movement in the future."

The NMSP is worried, however, that if it does not hold the meetings in the Army-controlled areas, some Mon people may think the party was not giving them the opportunity to have their say in the peace process, and it was worried about future political cooperation between Mon people and the NMSP.

Before signing the NCA, the NMSP leaders did not think the Myanmar Army would restrict representatives from participating in public meetings. So, NMSP leadership did not raise the issue before signing the ceasefire agreement.

The NMSP also claimed that as part of the negotiations leading up to the signing of the NCA, the Army had promised to return two bases that it had seized from the MNLA last year. But, it has yet to do so.

The NMSP expected that they would have more time and a better relationship with the Army after signing the NCA, party officials said. But, the NMSP leadership now feels regret that the Army has used the NCA as a tool to restrict its political movement as well as the movement of its troops.

Before signing the NCA, the NMSP was able to freely organize meetings with no limitations on the location or number of representatives who attended. But now they cannot do that, said some members of the NMSP.

The post NMSP Urged to Defy Army Over Limits Placed on Public Meetings appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Investment Forum Hopes to Garner Foreign Interest

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 05:06 AM PDT

YANGON — The Yangon Region Investment Committee hopes to boost foreign investment through an upcoming investment forum that is slated for May 9.

Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, who also chairs the Yangon Region Investment Committee, told reporters at a press conference on Friday that the country's commercial capital has a high potential for investments.

He said there are plenty of opportunities up for grabs in Yangon including industrial zones, city expansion, housing projects and other development projects.

About 300 foreign and 200 local investors are expected to attend the forum, which is organized by the Yangon Region Investment Committee (YRIC) along with other partners.

The forum will take place at the Novotel Yangon Max Hotel.

U Myo Khaing Oo, secretary of the YRIC, said he expects the forum will attract a lot of foreign investment.

The committee approved 40 foreign and 9 local businesses in the manufacturing sector and other service sectors with a total pledged amount of US$59 million and 23 billion kyats, from August, 2017 to April 11. Those approved 49 businesses are expected to create some 22,000 local job opportunities.

The officials said that the forum will provide information on company registration, regulations, tax exemption, investment application procedures and other investment opportunities to facilitate easy access for investors.

"For this year, our expectation is rule of law and a clean city, as well as boosting the city's economy," chief minister U Phyo Min Thein said.

He pledged the conservation of city heritage and environmental protection along with the economic developments.

The chief minister said the committee will hold the investment forum annually.

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Myanmar Says Refugees in Bangladesh Have Not Received Repatriation Forms

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 04:17 AM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar claims that Bangladesh authorities have failed to distribute repatriation application forms to Rohingya refugees its neighbor is sheltering despite a repatriation agreement the two governments signed in November.

The claim came after a 10-member team from Myanmar visited the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar on April 11-13 to meet some of the 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled to Bangladesh since late August, when attacks on security posts in northern Rakhine State by the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) triggered a military crackdown in the area.

The team included U Win Myat Aye, the social welfare minister, U Aung Htun Thet, deputy head of the government’s Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, and representatives from the Myanmar Women’s Federation and different religious communities.

In December, Myanmar handed Bangladesh the application forms it wanted refugees interested in repatriation to fill out, after the two countries had agreed to a Joint Working Group that would vet applicants’ backgrounds to confirm that they had been residents of Myanmar.

The following month, Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe visited Bangladesh to share information about several hundred suspected ARSA members Myanmar believed were hiding among the refugees. At the same time, Bangladesh handed the general forms for 8,032 refugees who had applied for repatriation.

At a press conference on Thursday at the National Peace and Reconciliation Center in Yangon, U Win Myat Aye said the refugee camp representatives his team met last week all said they had never seen any application forms.

"No one knows about the application form," he said.

U Win Myat Aye said Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and Home Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Khan admitted that the completed forms for the 8,032 refugees were not the ones the two governments had agreed to.

Delegates who visited Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh last week held a press conference in Yangon on Thursday. (Photo:Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy)

“They admitted that the forms handed to Myanmar were not the forms agreed to when the [repatriation] deal was signed on Nov. 23, 2017,” he said.

"We are very shocked about the refugees’ claims about the application forms," said U Hla Tun, who joined last week’s visit to the camps as a Hindu representative.

U Win Myat Aye said Bangladesh’s foreign affairs minister urged the home affairs minister to supply the refugees with the correct application forms and provide Myanmar with the completed applications as soon as possible. But officials at the press conference declined to say whether Bangladesh had an explanation for why the correct forms had not been distributed and filled out to begin with.

The team also claimed that Bangladesh ignored its requests to arrange meetings for the team with Rohingya imams, with refugees Myanmar had already agreed to allow back, and with Hindus who have also fled Rakhine since August. U Hla Tun said Bangladesh authorities replied that the Hindu camp was too far away.

"In fact, the Hindu camp is situated on the way to the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps," he said.

U Win Myat Aye said the camp representatives were also ill informed about Myanmar’s National Verification Card (NVC) and that he expounded on its virtues. He said he told the representatives that the cards allowed for free movement, doing business, access to education, crossing international borders and fishing near international waters. The minister said he emphasized that cardholders were eligible for citizenship after five months.

"Most of them have no idea about the benefits of holding an NVC," he said.

However, Myanmar does not grant citizenship to people who identify as Rohingya because the government does not legally recognize them as an ethnic group.

During the team’s visit to the refugee camps, camp representatives presented their own list of 13 demands on Myanmar, including property rights, ethnic rights and education.

On Thursday, U Win Myat Aye said he believed the representatives had been “well trained” to make those demands by people he did not name. Even so, he said the trip had been “very successful” because the two countries were able to clear up some “misunderstandings” and agreed to speed up the repatriation process.

"When we asked the refugees whether they want to come back to Myanmar, all of them unanimously answered that they want to return as soon as possible," he said.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

The post Myanmar Says Refugees in Bangladesh Have Not Received Repatriation Forms appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Police Officer Admits to ‘Setting Up’ Two Reuters Journalists

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 03:33 AM PDT

YANGON — Police deliberately sought to entrap two Reuters reporters by handing them confidential government papers, a prosecution witness testified in court on Friday.

Police Captain Moe Yan Naing told the court that Police Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko ordered the police to ensnare the two Reuters reporters — Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo — who are facing trial for violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Moe Yan Naing was the officer interviewed by Wa Lone in November about police operations in Rakhine State. He was one of two officers from the paramilitary 8th Security Police Battalion who the police identified in December as "allegedly involved in the case."

Moe Yan Naing said he had been under arrest since the night of Dec. 12 and had been told to testify on Friday as a prosecution witness.

He was among several policemen interrogated by a police "information team" about their interactions with the Reuters reporters, he told the court on Friday.

Moe Yan Naing described to the court how Brigadier General Tin Ko Ko, who led the internal probe, had instructed Police Lance Corporal Naing Lin to arrange a meeting with Wa Lone that night and to hand over secret documents from Battalion 8 as part of a "set-up"to trap the two journalists.

He then ordered the Htaunt Kyant regional police force to arrest Wa Lone upon his departure from the restaurant, the meeting place.

Tin Ko Ko was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

"I am revealing the truth because police of any rank have their own integrity. It is true that they were set up," Captain Moe Yan Naing told reporters.

Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo have been charged under the Official Secrets Act for possessing confidential government papers and face a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison if found guilty.

The Home Affairs Ministry has said that it would take action against Captain Moe Yan Naing and Lance Corporal Khin Maung Lin for their role in passing the government documents to the two journalists.

The court appearance by the two police officers took place on Friday at Yangon North District Court.

The post Police Officer Admits to 'Setting Up' Two Reuters Journalists appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

International University to Be Built in Naypyitaw

Posted: 20 Apr 2018 01:26 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Naypyitaw's municipal administration has announced plans for an international university to be built in the capital's diplomatic zone in Dekkhinathiri Township.

The Naypyitaw Development Committee (NPTDC) is awaiting project approval and land allocation in the diplomatic zone by the Foreign Ministry and the President's Office, committee member U Min Thu told The Irrawaddy.

South Korea will fund and provide technical assistance for construction of the university, which is expected to take less than two years, U Min Thu said. The university is expected to open its doors in 2020.

A delegation representing the university's founding committee led by Sung Ki Baik visited NPTDC officials in early March to discuss the project.

The institution will provide instruction in a wide variety of vocational subjects tailored to the needs of the region and local people, U Min Thu said. The name of the university has yet to be decided, he said.

"The university is part of the initiative to make Naypyitaw a smart city," U Thant Zin Tun, a lawmaker representing Dekkhinathiri Township in the Lower House, told The Irrawaddy.

Over 1,500 acres of land were earmarked as a diplomatic zone when the administrative capital was established more than a decade ago. The NPTDC has proposed building a university on 300 acres in the zone, U Min Thu said.

"This is very good for the future of local children. We should welcome it as it will unlock not only educational opportunities but also business and job opportunities in the town," U Nanda Kyaw of Zayar Real Estate Agent told The Irrawaddy.

Naypyitaw comprises eight townships covering 2,724.75 square miles with a population of over 1 million people, many of whom are civil servants, according to the NPTDC.

Zayarthiri Township is home to the University of Agriculture, University of Forestry and University of Veterinary Science.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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After Bumpy 2017, Tourism Sector Looks for Clear Skies

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 11:00 PM PDT

YANGON —Myanmar's tourism sector has been booming since the country began opening its doors to the outside world in 2011, after decades of isolation under military rule. Tourist arrivals surged from 800,000 in 2011 to 4.7 million in 2015. But the sector had a setback late last year with the outbreak of violence in Rakhine State, which saw hundreds of people killed and drove almost 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. In the wake of the violence, tourists cancelled their trips. Many raised safety concerns and moral objections.

The Irrawaddy spoke recently with Daw May Myat Mon Win and Daw Yin Myo Su about the country’s tourism sector, the Rakhine conflict’s impact on the industry and their efforts to counter the setback.

Daw May Myat Mon Win is chairwoman of Myanmar Tourism Marketing, vice-chairwoman of the Myanmar Tourism Federation, and general manager of the Chatrium Hotel Royal in Yangon. Daw Yin Myo Su is managing director of the Inle Princess Resort in Shan State and the Mrauk-U Princess Resort in Rakhine State, and founder of the Inle Heritage Foundation.

Daw May Myat Mon Win. / The Irrawaddy

Daw May Myat Mon Win, how did the latest crisis in Rakhine State impact the tourism market?

Followed the crisis, people were asking whether it was safe and ethical to travel to Myanmar. As for safety, Myanmar has restricted areas, but all tourist destinations are safe to visit. Another concern that travelers raised was ethics, from a humanitarian point of view. The sensationalized headlines and pictures of the crisis had an effect. The impact was mostly from Western countries. They felt it was unethical to visit Myanmar. But there are also those from other countries who don't really mind. They see travel as separate from politics and that conflicts happen in their countries as well as in other places.

There are many who believe they should not visit Myanmar because that would constitute support for the human rights abuses in Rakhine. What do you think of that?

We can't say nothing happened in Rakhine. But it is hard to differentiate the news that is true and false. When people make assumptions based on their personal biases, it is very harmful to the situation. What I would like to say is don't politicize tourism. Our country has faced a lot of challenges and difficulties. The peace process has not yet achieved its goal. It's been going on for a very long time. It is difficult for them to understand Myanmar’s complex problems. But if they really want to help us, they need to support tourism. The Rakhine conflict started because of poverty. The community there has been excluded and isolated. Tourism has a very broad scope. It’s not just hotels. It also has an indirect economic impact on local small businesses like restaurants, vendors, souvenir shops. It can drive the local economy, which benefits different groups, different ethnicities and different religions in the country.

Is the market still suffering from the crisis?

It is. Travelers usually make decisions and forward bookings three months, six months or 10 months before their trips. But this is not the end of the road.  We can't just despair and do nothing. We need to continue promoting destinations and a positive view of the country to counter the negative views. We need to give our country a facelift. So far we have not been able to do much. That's why the negative publicity has taken over. It is important to make a priority of countering it. And in giving the country a facelift, tourism has to play a key role.

What are the plans for 2018?

We expect most of the increase in visitors to come from Asian countries this year. We have marketing activities throughout this year in Japan and will target the world's largest outbound tourism market — China. Not only Myanmar, but also the US, UK and French are enticing Chinese tourists. We plan to have marketing activities there. But we have a small budget while other countries have a decent budget for tourism marketing. Neighboring Thailand spends hundreds of millions of dollars to promote itself globally. For instance, at ITB Berlin (the world's largest tourism trade fair) Indonesia spent $1.5 million while we had only $150,000 to $100,000 allocated from the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism and collected another $50,000 from private operators. This must be considered seriously.

Daw Yin Myo Su. / The Irrawaddy

Daw Yin Myo Su, how is the tourism sector doing right now?

The number of visitors from Europe has declined significantly, as well as from [other] Western countries. We have seen an increase in arrivals from Asian countries. But most Westerners stay at least two weeks to four weeks because they have come from quite far. But Asians, they come mostly for weekends, so the length of stay is different. If we ask whether it is good or bad, the situation is not good right now.

We are all working to attract visitors. Some offer discounts. Some target more Asian countries and do promotions there. There are promotions for domestic tourists also, because locals are traveling more than before. Everyone is struggling to cover operating costs, maintenance and salaries for staff. Looking at the positives, we can improve our skills as we struggle to attract travelers, unlike before. But it is also important to attract good and responsible travelers for sustainable tourism, and not just focus on quantity.

You are in Inle and Mrauk-U, which are among the country's most popular tourist destinations. What impact has the Rakhine conflict had there?

Mrauk-U has been the worst. Throughout all of 2017 Mrauk-U saw only about 2,000 foreign visitors, based on entrance fee collection data. That number is quite low compared with recent years. It has declined by nearly half. We had to run at a loss in Mrauk-U. Because I have 100 staff there, I have done my best to keep running. We have heard words that we have never heard before — mass murderers, intolerant nation, unkind, no sympathy. While the majority of people think like that, how can we ask and entice people to visit? It makes sense to think like a traveler going on vacation. Why would they want to visit a place where the news is all terrible? But the problem is that there are those who think Yangon and Inle are very close. If they aren’t familiar with the map of Myanmar, there might be some who think the whole nation is in crisis. But because the conflict is happening in Rakhine, we can't assume the whole nation is like that.

Many have asked whether it is ethical to visit Myanmar. What is your view on that?

Isolation is not a solution. If the economy gets worse and education does not improve, a similar problem could happen again. The problems in Rakhine are mainly because of the failure to integrate and invest in the education of the communities there. It has undone the work of the past 70 years. It can’t be resolved in seven days, seven months, or even seven years. A long-term commitment is needed.

How important is the tourism sector to the country?

Just at my resorts, there are 400 [staff] for the small, 23-room Mrauk-U resort and the 36-room Inle resort. And I’m talking only about hotels. There are also tourism-related businesses: weaving, tour guides, souvenir shops, handicrafts sellers. And if we talk about restaurants, there are also vegetable and meat sellers, transportation, and so on. The drop in visitors affects them all. And if people become hungry and scared as a result, that could indirectly promote extremism.

What are the main changes needed to develop the tourism sector?

Number one is to develop infrastructure for better transportation and telecommunications at the [tourist] destinations, and to develop direct flights from overseas to the main destinations. We also need to maintain the fast-tract online tourist visas that were introduced. Cooperation between the ministries needs to be improved because their directives on travel restrictions often change. For example, tourists come to visit an area because there are no restrictions, but once they arrive it’s changed. It is not good for the country's image. We also need to provide a platform for small [businesses] with a clear direction and capacity building for skilled laborers in the industry.

The post After Bumpy 2017, Tourism Sector Looks for Clear Skies appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Philippines Decries European Parliament’s ‘Interference’

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 10:11 PM PDT

MANILA — The Philippines decried what it said was interference in its internal affairs by the European Parliament, which urged the Southeast Asian nation in a resolution to end “extrajudicial killings” and abandon plans to reintroduce the death penalty.

About 4,100 people have been killed by police in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte took power in June 2016 in what the authorities say were shootouts during anti-narcotics operations.

At least 2,300 drug-related deaths have occurred separately, at the hands of what police say are unknown assassins.

The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning Philippine authorities for “trying to justify these murders with falsified evidence.”

“The European Parliament has crossed a red line when it called for unwarranted actions against the Philippines,” Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

The European Parliament and its members have criticized the Philippines’ brutal “war on drugs” several times, infuriating Duterte, who has directed his frustration at the European Union as a bloc instead.

European lawmakers also called on Manila to remove “human rights defenders” from its list of what it considers as terrorists, including Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.

They also condemned “the intimidation and the abuse” of human rights defenders, activists and journalists, and said reintroducing the death penalty in the Philippines was against its international obligations.

“In case the members of the European Parliament are not aware of it, may we remind them that their recommended actions already constitute interference in the affairs of a sovereign state,” Cayetano said.

He said the European Parliament’s resolution was based on “biased, incomplete and even wrong information and does not reflect the true situation on the ground.”

The post Philippines Decries European Parliament’s ‘Interference’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘No Job, No Money’: Life in Vietnam for Immigrants Deported by US

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 09:51 PM PDT

HO CHI MINH CITY — It wasn’t until Pham Chi Cuong saw the plane waiting to deport him from the United States that it sunk in that he was about to be sent back to Vietnam, the country he fled in 1990.

Cuong and at least three other deportees who had lived in America for decades were returned to Vietnam in December 2017 as part of a renewed Trump administration push to deport immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States.

The expulsions were carried out despite a 2008 bilateral agreement that Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to 1995, many of whom had supported the now defunct US-backed state of South Vietnam, would not be sent back.

Cuong and the other men, who spoke to Reuters this week in Ho Chi Minh City, said they spent the 17-hour flight in enforced silence, their hands and legs in restraints.

Adjusting to life in Vietnam, the men all said, has been difficult. They said they were viewed with suspicion by Vietnamese officials and have had trouble finding work.

“If you ask me ‘do you want to come back to the US?’ I’ll give you the answer ‘yes,' but I don’t know how,” said Cuong, who left a wife and children back home in Orlando, Florida.

Another of the men, who asked to be identified only by his last name of Nguyen, told Reuters he was asked by local police officials when he returned to Vietnam if he worked for the CIA.

He said he was deported to Cam Ranh Bay, a place he had fled after the war because of his family’s connections to the losing side. “I ran away from there,” said Nguyen.

“There were a lot of Americans there at the time, and my family worked for them,” he added. “My uncle died in the war. He was a South Vietnamese soldier."

It is not known how many pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants like Nguyen and Cuong have been deported so far, but the Trump administration is seeking to send back thousands, Washington’s former envoy to Hanoi told Reuters in an interview last week. Vietnam has expressed reluctance to take back pre-1995 immigrants.

Of the 8,600 Vietnamese nationals in the United States that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says are subject to deportation as of December last year, “7,821 have criminal convictions." an ICE spokesman said. The agency said it could not say how many of the immigrants slated for deportation arrived before 1995.

The White House has declined to comment on the Vietnamese deportations. But the Trump administration has labeled Vietnam and eight other countries “recalcitrant” for their unwillingness to accept their deported nationals.

Abuse and Discrimination

The son of an American serviceman stationed in Saigon during the war, Cuong is “Amerasian,” which he said subjected him to abuse and discrimination in Vietnam after the war.

He didn’t attend school and spent years ostracized and working in rice fields before leaving the country in 1990 on a program that gave Amerasians like him a chance to resettle in the United States.

But despite being born to an American father and raising three American children in Florida, Cuong never became a US citizen.

It hadn’t seemed necessary, he said, since he had come to the country legally and was allowed to work. Then, in 2000, Cuong was convicted of assault and battery and sentenced to 18 months in jail. In 2007, he was given one-year probation for driving under the influence.

Both times, Cuong was warned that his crimes made him eligible for deportation under US law, but at the time Vietnam was not accepting deportees back. He was relieved in 2008, when the bilateral agreement on repatriations was signed in which the return of pre-1995 refugees was specifically barred.

After his arrests, Cuong checked in regularly with ICE as he was required to do, and stayed out of trouble.

He held down a steady job as a sushi chef and put his son through three years of college.

But in October, 2017, he was taken into custody by ICE and two months later found himself on a plane back to Vietnam.

‘Utterly Shocked'

Another of the deportees, Bui Thanh Hung, is also Amerasian, born in 1973 to a Vietnamese mother and an American soldier who died during the war.

Hung was convicted of domestic violence in 2010, which he says came after he walked in on his wife and another man. He spent six years in prison. Last year, he was released into ICE custody and deported in December.

“Over here, I have no job, no one to support me, no house to live in”, said Hung. He said he was relying on new acquaintances to stay temporarily at their homes.

Many immigration advocates say they assumed the United States would be particularly reluctant to expel Amerasians like Hung and Cuong, because of their American fathers and the discrimination they had faced in post-war Vietnam.

“Those of us in the Southeast Asian community were utterly shocked,” Tin Nguyen, a US-based lawyer, said of the ongoing deportations. Nguyen volunteers with the Southeast Asian Coalition nonprofit and has been working with the deportees.

"It was as if they forgot about the Vietnam War."

Cuong and Bui were deported with around 30 other deportees from Asian countries on a plane that dropped people off in Myanmar and Cambodia before reaching its final destination, Vietnam.

Now back in the country they once fled, the men said they receive little support from the Vietnamese government and were struggling to find work.

"I got no money," said Cuong. "My wife, sometimes she gives me a couple hundred dollars, but nobody helps me, nothing."

The post 'No Job, No Money’: Life in Vietnam for Immigrants Deported by US appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Citing Rohingya Massacre, Myanmar Army Chief Urges Soldiers to Obey Law

Posted: 19 Apr 2018 09:21 PM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing has told military personnel in the country that they must obey the law, citing as an example the sentencing of seven soldiers for a massacre of Rohingya Muslim men that was the subject of a Reuters investigation.

In a speech at a military school in the country’s north, Min Aung Hlaing told soldiers they "must abide by the military codes of conduct and international laws and conventions," according to a translation posted on his official Facebook page on Thursday.

“No one is above the law. Actions will be taken if someone breaks the law. The problems in Inn Din village … were solved in line with the Geneva Convention and legal action was taken against military officers and other ranks who failed to respect the law,” said Min Aung Hlaing, in his first direct comment on the killings.

Seven soldiers were sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor this month for taking part in the massacre of 10 Rohingya men in the village of Inn Din, in northwestern Rakhine state, last September.

The massacre was being investigated by two Reuters journalists – Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 – who were arrested in December and remain in custody accused of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act.

The authorities told Reuters in February the military opened an internal investigation into the killings independently and that it was unrelated to the Reuters reporters, who they said were accused of obtaining unrelated secret government papers.

The Rohingya men were buried in a mass grave in early September after being hacked to death or shot by Buddhist civilian neighbors and soldiers. Reuters published its story on the murders in February.

The killings were part of a larger army crackdown on the Rohingya, beset by allegations of murder, rape, arson and looting, unleashed in response to Rohingya militant attacks on security forces in late August.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar as a result, according to United Nations agencies. The UN and the United States described it as ethnic cleansing – an accusation that Myanmar denies.

Min Aung Hlaing, one of the most powerful people in a country where the constitution requires the civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to share power with the military, reiterated in his speech the army’s position that the Rakhine operation was a legitimate counteroffensive against "Bengali terrorists."

The post Citing Rohingya Massacre, Myanmar Army Chief Urges Soldiers to Obey Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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