The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Parliament Approves 2018-2019 Budget
• Parliament Blocks Request for Review of 3,000 Kaman ID Cards
• The Importance of Reading Between the Lines
• Yangon Gov’t Loses $2.3m in Bus Services: Auditor General
• The Anti-Corruption Commission Lands Some Big Fish at Last
• Lawmaker Asks Govt to Let Minority Language Teachers Don Traditional Dress
• Rani Cuisine Offers a Taste of Northern India
• Human Traffickers Finding New Ways to Avoid Arrest
• Bangladesh Police Say NGOs Discourage Rohingya Repatriation
• US Sanctions Russian, Chinese Tech Firms over Funds for N. Korea
• Indian Nuns Demand Justice for Sister Allegedly Assaulted by Bishop
• Malaysian Police Question Those Paid Out of $972M in Najib’s Account

Parliament Approves 2018-2019 Budget Posted: 14 Sep 2018 07:33 AM PDT CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Parliament approved the 2018-2019 fiscal year budget on Thursday totaling some 24.72 trillion kyats ($16.1 billion), more than 230 billion kyats less than requested. The approved total for the coming fiscal year, however, which begins in October, is still significantly higher than the 20.59 trillion kyats approved for 2017-2018. The cuts to expenses, foreign loans and international support were made judiciously by the Parliament’s assessment teams, said Lower House lawmaker U Pe Than, who sits on the legislature’s Farmers and Labor Affairs Committee. The assessments were made after the proposed budget was submitted to Parliament on late July. "The deductions were made mostly to unnecessary expenses in each ministry, but the joint parliamentarians assessment teams put priority on current needs," U Pe Than said. The lawmaker said he believed the requests were made with care but added that pricing inconsistencies — discrepancies in the prices listed for similar or identical items by different ministries — were still found by the teams and fixed, accounting for some of the cuts. The largest cuts, worth 56 billion kyats, were made to the Construction Ministry. Another 1.7 billion kyats worth of cuts were made to requested defense spending, bringing its total down to 13 percent of the total budget, equal to what was approved for the previous full fiscal year. Cuts to the budget requests from ministries totaled 122.56 billion kyats, including 18 billion kyats from Health and Sports; 10.7 billion kyats from Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation; 8.5 billion kyats from National Planning and Finance; 8.3 billion kyats from Foreign Affairs; 4.7 billion kyats from Border Affairs; 2.6 billion kyats from Home Affairs; and 1 billion kyats from Education. More than 4.7 billion kyats were also cut from the requests from non-ministerial nation agencies, along with 11.84 billion kyats from the requests from the Central Bank of Myanmar, the Naypyitaw Union Territory Council and municipalities. The post Parliament Approves 2018-2019 Budget appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Parliament Blocks Request for Review of 3,000 Kaman ID Cards Posted: 14 Sep 2018 07:26 AM PDT YANGON—An urgent proposal calling for the review of the issuing of more than 3,000 pink identification cards which state the holder is ethnic Kaman, which were recently issued by the immigration department to Rohingya in southern Rakhine’s Ramree Township, was blocked by upper house on Monday. Arakanese upper house legislator Daw Htoot May submitted the motion on Monday this week but didn’t receive any response from parliament by Wednesday. The following day she approached the house speaker's office to inquire about the lack of response. She recounted the verbal explanation from upper house speaker U Mhan Win Khaing Than to The Irrawaddy by phone on Friday, saying that the speaker claimed her proposal doesn’t meet the Hluttaw Law’s Article (164). The article stipulates that an issue related to public interest or an urgent matter shall receive a Hluttaw decision and parliament shall not accept the proposal to discuss the issue if the relevant ministry has already taken action. The Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population previously told The Irrawaddy they had no plan to review the case. “The Kaman party has filed a complaint with the government but there has been a lack of action from the relevant ministry. I have explained those points and urged for a parliament debate to be allowed. I have tried my best, but all my efforts were in vain,” said MP Daw Htoot May. However, she claims that she will try to raise the issue by any means via a parliament channel. The MP had already inquired about the disputed Kaman ID cards with local authorities and reiterated that the IDs which had recommendations given by Ramree’s Kyauk Ni Maw Village trustees and Kaman community leaders. She criticized the unclear methods authorities used to label the recipients as genuine Kaman. Daw Htoot May pointed out, for instance, that despite the fact that the names of recommenders in regular NRC application forms appear in Burmese or Arakanese, the applicants' names apparently had religious Islamic titles such as "Abdu". She elaborated saying that since late 1990, almost all Kaman people were officially granted pink cards with stating their regional code (11). She said that during military administration, especially around 1990, the immigration department used to register the NRC applications with abbreviations for each town such as RRE for Ramree, KPU for Kyaukpyu and SDW for Thandwe townships respectively. It is also locally known as tri-fold card. Surprisingly, MP Htoot May has learned that some of RRE-registered applicant names reappeared among the 3,306 recently issued IDs. “As far as I know, no Kaman uses Islamic religious names nowadays in Ramree’s Kyauk Ni Maw. If Naypyitaw's immigration department truly believes that the applicants are genuine Kaman, then let me say that something is totally wrong here,” said Daw Htoot May. During communal riots between Rakhine and Rohingya communities in 2012, some Kaman were subjected to violence and dozens of their houses were burned to the ground as members of the Rakhine community thought Kaman were assisting members of the Rohingya community in getting the pink identification cards. Hundreds of Kaman were also forcibly displaced and kept in camps for years with authorities citing the segregation was a precaution against further clashes. As of today, none of those displaced have been allowed to return to their original homes and many Kaman from Ramree and Kyaukphyu townships have sought new lives in Myanmar’s commercial city Yangon and some in Mandalay. MP Htoot May corroborated Kaman social media and Kaman Party claims that by the end of 2017, there were less than one hundred Kaman in her constituency of Ramree. “Over IDs 3,00o being issued for Ramree Kaman is unrealistic. If they, the Napyidaw officials, are strictly maintaining their stance, this issue will certainly affect the Union in a matter of time. They should review [this case] before it is too late,” said the MP. She suggested that the government be transparent and collaborate with Kaman society groups and parties as well as Rakhine residents for a re-examination process on this issue. Kaman Social Network's, U Tun Ngwe, explained that most Kyauk Ni Maw residents received tri-fold cards during the military regime which gave them full citizenship rights as Muslims. However, the immigration department used the term “Rakhine/Islam” in the application, with "Rakhine" referring to the place where the applicant lives in rather than their racial background. When the military government revoked the tri-fold cards in order to replace them with pink cards, Muslim residents from rural areas in Ramree were unable to return them. U Tun Ngwe said the government should resolve the issue with transparency rather than hiding its wrongdoings. He said Kaman society and the Kaman National Progressive Party don't recognize the new ID recipients as Kaman. He recalled that in 2017, some Kyauk Ni Maw Muslims went to Naypyidaw to discuss citizenship rights and requested to be scrutinized in line with the 1982 citizenship law. He suggested the possibility that the immigration officials might have avoided using the controversial term “Rakhine/ Muslim” in the ID card, replacing it with “Kaman” for new applicants. “The government should announce this case to the public with transparency. We Kaman don’t want to see a black spot in our history. As you know we have previously been asserted by the Arakanese community who said that the Kaman represent a doorway for Bengalis. We don’t officially recognize the ethnic Kaman but they should be granted citizenship in my opinion,” said U Tun Ngwe. He urged the government to seek a pragmatic, rigorous approach to create a win-win situation for every group. The Kaman minority is one of the 135 officially recognized ethnic groups and one of the seven ethnic subgroups of Rakhine State. Unlike the Buddhist Arakanese, the Kaman are Muslim. They have been residing in Rakhine for centuries. During the Arakan Kingdom, the Kaman served as royal archers, but this profession vanished when the kingdom fell to the Burmese Konbaung Dynasty in 1784. Nowadays, there are about 45,000 ethnic Kaman Muslims across the country. The post Parliament Blocks Request for Review of 3,000 Kaman ID Cards appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Importance of Reading Between the Lines Posted: 14 Sep 2018 07:21 AM PDT Without the ability to read between the lines of a country's political rhetoric, grasping the nuances of its politics is virtually impossible. Myanmar is in a very complex situation indeed, one that requires more "reading between the lines" than most. Lacking this ability, many would-be analysts of Myanmar fall victim to a tendency to badly misread the situation here. The most recent example can be found in the international reaction to a reply that Myanmar's de facto leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, gave when she was asked about the likelihood of another military coup in the country. Speaking after delivering a lecture in Singapore in late August, she said she wasn't worried about the matter, adding with a laugh that all three of the generals in her cabinet are "rather sweet". The audience, most of whom were Singaporeans or people from other Asian countries, reacted with laughter. I think many people in the audience got it right, and that the many others in Myanmar who watched it online understood clearly what she meant. That is, they were well aware that in her description of the generals, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi didn't really mean that they were "sweet". But many foreign observers, especially Westerners, didn't get it at all. They were provoked to outrage by her words. Some analysts for Western media, including those participating in a discussion on CNN, interpreted it that way; they believe she really likes the generals and enjoys having them as ministers in her cabinet. That's simply wrong. In fact, the State Counselor's comment was a humorous one, delivered with a laugh and a witty look—and her audience understood this. As she said it, the audience laughed along with her. And the moderator responded laughingly with a comment about her "very charming reply". Similarly, I am sure many people in Myanmar watching online fully grasped that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi chose the words "rather sweet" because she is unable to offer an opinion such as "rather bad", given the country's hybrid political situation and the military's constitutionally privileged position of power. Another important fact is that she knows she cannot control the military. Some viewers may also have misinterpreted a comment the State Counselor made while addressing the likelihood of another military coup, when she said, "Our relationship with the Army is not that bad, you know." Her tone was clearly ironic. Reading between the lines, one can see that she views the relationship between the military and her government as "not good"—or even that "it's terrible." Such faulty interpretations are understandable. Myanmar's politics are more complicated than most. But without being able to read between the lines on some key issues, it becomes very difficult to make sense of the situation. If we can grasp such nuances, we can understand the reality. The intelligence information we've gathered backs up the assessment of sour relations between the military and the National League for Democracy-led government. Even those comments made by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Singapore left the military unhappy, because the State Counselor said her government was trying to amend the undemocratic articles of the Constitution that guarantee the military's political power, such as the rules stating that 25 percent of seats in Parliament are occupied by unelected military appointees and that three key Cabinet positions are filled by military officers—the very same officers she described as "rather sweet." One former high-ranking Army official who is close to the commander-in-chief confided that the top military leaders feel that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi chose the wrong time and place to talk about amending the Constitution, given the many problems the country faces. In fact, when the NLD was in opposition in Parliament under the previous government from 2011 to 2016 and discussed amending the Constitution, the military never showed the slightest interest in the idea. It has always firmly taken the position that its job is to safeguard the Constitution. And in the absence of a political miracle in the country, this stand is highly unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. On Aug. 27, when social media platform Facebook announced that it had removed the account of military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, along with 17 other military-related accounts and 52 Facebook pages associated with the military, the military leaders suspected the government of involvement in the closure. That might not be the case. But such deep suspicion of the NLD-led government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by the military has created an atmosphere in which she must choose her words carefully, and comment indirectly, in order not to offend the military leadership. So, to truly understand Myanmar's politics, please try to read between the lines. The post The Importance of Reading Between the Lines appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Gov’t Loses $2.3m in Bus Services: Auditor General Posted: 14 Sep 2018 05:54 AM PDT YANGON—Yangon Auditor General Daw Khin Than Hla said the two public-private partnership bus companies — majority owned by the Yangon Region government—made 3.5 billion kyats ($2.3 million) in losses during the 2017-18 fiscal year. In 2017, the regional government's 70-billion-kyat ($45 million) investment in the two companies Yangon Bus Public Co. Ltd. (YBPC) and Yangon Urban Public Transport Co. Ltd. (YUPT), was met with some skepticism among lawmakers. In May this year, MPs requested that the auditor general examine the government's spending. The auditor general Daw Khin Than Hla said the companies haven't made any profit yet, using the report for the 2016-17 fiscal year to prove her point in parliament on Friday. She said a total of 3.5 billion kyats was made in losses during the 2017-18 fiscal year. The YBPC made a loss of nearly 3 billion kyats ($1.9 million) while the YUPT made 603 million kyats ($390,000) in losses. In the 2016-17 fiscal year, the YBPC made 1.1 billion kyats ($710,000) in losses, while YUPT gained 25.5 million kyats ($16,500) in profits. Daw Khin Than Hla suggested that it is necessary to ask for more realistic bus fares based on the distance of a passenger's journey in order to earn a profit. The regular maintenance of buses, enforcing rules and regulations along bus lines and expanding bus routes are also needed in order to make the service for more convenient for commuters, she added. Yangon regional lawmaker U Kyaw Zay Ya said the MPs will ask for accountability and responsibility from the government for losing billions of public budget in the upcoming session. "We can't just allow this loss of public budget. We need to find ways to reduce the losses," he said. Currently, there are 25 bus companies including YBPC and YUPT operating 119 bus lines in Yangon with more than 6,000 buses. The lawmakers are set to discuss the auditor general's report in an upcoming session of parliament. The post Yangon Gov't Loses $2.3m in Bus Services: Auditor General appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Anti-Corruption Commission Lands Some Big Fish at Last Posted: 14 Sep 2018 05:29 AM PDT The decision by Myanmar's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to take action against the attorney general of Yangon Region and five other officials for taking bribes in exchange for withdrawing a murder case is a landmark move in a country plagued by rampant, chronic corruption in every sector of the government, including the judicial system. The commission announced on Thursday that the attorney general, a judge, three law officers and a police officer have had cases filed against them under the Anti-Corruption Law that would, if the accused are found guilty, earn them maximum sentences of 10 to 15 years in prison. The senior positions of the officials involved make this the most high-profile case in which the anti-graft body, which was established two years ago, has been able to open cases. In an indication of the public's disdain for corrupt officials and the practice of taking bribes—which has long been an open secret among Myanmar citizens—the commission's move has received strong public approval. Much to the people's elation, the graft body has been able to catch some "big fish" this time, ensnaring high-ranking officials occupying such senior positions as attorney general, deputy district judge and Yangon regional law officer. This is not simply the joy of watching high officials fall from grace—the people know that targeting senior officials is one of the best ways to stem the tide of corruption. Moreover, by sending a signal that the administration takes seriously its pledge to implement the rule of law, the move goes some way toward assuaging the concerns of the Myanmar people, who are coping with the effects of economic mismanagement by the government they voted for. Let's not forget that the previous administration under former president U Thein Sein failed to tackle corruption despite enacting the Anti-Corruption Law in 2013. The ACC must keep doing its job, as there are many, many more big fish out there and the law states that the fight against corruption is a national cause. At the same time, we must wait and see to what extent the commission takes action against the accused. In May, despite receiving complaints and conducting an investigation, it declined to take legal action against the country's former finance minister, saying there were insufficient grounds to bring charges under the Anti-Corruption Law. It should be remembered that the cases against the regional attorney general and others involved in the withdrawal of the murder case were only filed by the ACC after a public outcry prompted the president to intervene and call for a review of the case. For now, however, kudos to the commission chairman and his team. The ACC has achieved a tangible outcome. It has a presidential mandate to take action against anyone, whoever they may be, and report back to him if it faces any intervention from "someone upstairs" during its investigations. Let's hope that in future it will be more pro-active, and independent, in excising the cancer of corruption from the body of the nation. The post The Anti-Corruption Commission Lands Some Big Fish at Last appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawmaker Asks Govt to Let Minority Language Teachers Don Traditional Dress Posted: 14 Sep 2018 03:58 AM PDT Mon State — An ethnic Karen lawmaker is asking the Education Ministry to let ethnic language teachers in government schools wear their traditional dress. Nang Moe Moe Htwe, who represents Karen State’s Hlaingbwe Township in the Upper House of the national Parliament, sent a letter to Education Minister U Myo Thein Gyi on Thursday on behalf of some of the ethnic Karen teachers in her constituency. She said the intent was to encourage Karen youth to appreciate and know how to wear their traditional garb. "Some people do not wear their traditional dress at our traditional festivals. But it is a problem not only among the Karen community. Many of our ethnic people have the same problem,” she told The Irrawaddy. In her letter, she asks the Education Ministry to let all ethnic Karen teachers in Karen State wear traditional dress. "It was not only ethnic Karen teachers from my township who wanted to wear their traditional dress. Other ethnic Karen teachers in Karen State also wanted to wear their traditional dress for sure," the letter says. During the previous military regime, Myanmar’s many ethnic minorities were not allowed to study their own languages. With the start of democratic reforms earlier this decade, however, the government began hiring ethnic minority teachers to teach their native tongue in government schools but requires them to wear the standard white and green uniform. Nang Moe Moe Htwe’s letter is the first time the union government has been asked to let teachers wear their traditional dress. Since she posted the request on Facebook, other ethnic minorities have expressed support and suggested that other minority language teachers be allowed to wear their traditional dress as well. Nai Rot Ga Kao, program coordinator for research and advocacy from the Mon National Education Department, said it was important for the government to recognize ethnic minority teachers. He suggested the government let them wear their traditional dress at least once a week if not every day. Nai Rot Ga Kao said Mon language teachers in Mon State started wearing traditional dress when the democratic reforms began but had to stop last year, when the government introduced a minority language teaching curriculum, made the teachers civil servants and required them to adhere to the standard uniform. "The government should even allow ethnic [minority] students to wear their traditional dress as in Thailand, where students are allowed to wear their own traditional ethnic dress one day a week,” he said. The post Lawmaker Asks Govt to Let Minority Language Teachers Don Traditional Dress appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rani Cuisine Offers a Taste of Northern India Posted: 14 Sep 2018 02:33 AM PDT YANGON — When an Indian friend recommended an Indian restaurant in town, it didn't take me long to make a plan to go to the restaurant and try the foods. Going there, I had a lot of expectations but when I arrived in front of the shop all I saw was a small restaurant empty of customers and I started having major doubts about my friend's advice. The restaurant, called 'Rani Indian Cuisine', is located on the ground floor of the new Golden View Tower, near Kandawgyi Park's Karaweik entrance. The staff warmly welcomed my friend and I into the shop where we were also greeted by the owner. The restaurant is small and clean with just a few tables. Some framed photos decorating the walls seemed a bit out of context for the style of this restaurant. Honestly, I don't know much about Indian cuisine as this city doesn't have a lot of upscale Indian restaurants compared to others like European, Italian, Chinese and Thai restaurants. Jeera Rice and curries at Rani Cuisine. (Photo: Htet Wai/ The Irrawaddy) My friend and I decided to choose a variety of dishes and also asked for recommendations from the staff. The owner, a friendly young lady, recommended the plain roti (1,000 kyats), jeera rice (2,500 kyats), chicken masala (5,000 kyats), dal tadka (3,500 kyats) and mutton rogan josh (6,000 kyats) after discussing our preferences with us. While waiting for the food, we had a short conversation with the owner who explained that Rani Cuisine focuses on north Indian cuisine. She emphasized that they use traditional north Indian cooking methods, introducing dishes such as tandoori chicken and palak paneer to Yangon's foodies. "The food styles of northern and southern India are different. Most of the people from northern India eat a lot of bread like naan and roti with their curries. Only a few people eat rice with curry and our shop is focusing more on a northern Indian style of cuisine," said Ma Zarchi Mon, the owner of Rani Cuisine who has a mix of Myanmar and Nepali heritage. She added, "Customers can get a real experience of northern-style Indian food at our shop, but we do serve rice for some general curries." Most of their customers are expats from India who live in Myanmar for business matters. Hotel guests from nearby areas also come to the restaurant a lot. "We don't use a lot of masala, dried herbs or color powder. We prepare the food like it's homemade because our foreign customers also miss their home and homemade curries," she said. After 20 minutes, the dishes were served one by one. The strong smell of Indian cooking came to my nose. Dal tadka, a northern Indian version served at Rani Cuisine.(Photo: Htet Wai/ The Irrawaddy The plain baked roti includes three rolls and is made with wholegrain, the chicken masala and mutton rogan josh dishes are a red color, and the dal tadka is yellowish. The dishes are served in small portions and come with mint chutney. It was a kind of Indian food tour starting with roti eaten with dal tadka and rogan josh. Spoons and forks were provided but the roti is supposed to scoop up the curry and be eaten with your fingers. The rogan josh was thick, a little salty and sour with a tomato flavor. It was an aromatic dish and the mutton meat was really tender. The chicken masala is a common curry for Indian people and the meat was soft while the taste was a bit sour and spicy. If you don't like masala flavors, it is recommended not to try this one because the smell is strong and my friend couldn't eat it. The dal tadka was my favorite dish at the restaurant. It is effectively a bean soup cooked with Indian flare. Pigeon beans are used in this dish and it is thick with a good smell. It tastes perfect with roti as well as rice. After having the meals, I regretted my negative first impression. Though the restaurant is not huge, nor very pretty and was rather empty when we visited, the taste of the food was really good and reasonably priced. The post Rani Cuisine Offers a Taste of Northern India appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Human Traffickers Finding New Ways to Avoid Arrest Posted: 14 Sep 2018 02:21 AM PDT NAYPYITAW — New challenges face the human trafficking squad of Myanmar's police force in the fight against cross-border trafficking of Myanmar women into China, said the police. "The number of human trafficking cases has not declined over the past years," said, Police Colonel Thet Naung, "and a new form of trafficking has emerged." Chinese men now legally marry Myanmar women before selling them back in China and in some cases even force them to be surrogate mothers, said the police colonel during the event held to mark Anti-Human Trafficking Day in Naypyitaw on Thursday. According to existing laws in Myanmar, Buddhist women are allowed to tie the knot with foreigners who are also Buddhists. In most of the trafficking cases they have investigated, said the police, Myanmar women married not because they fell in love with Chinese men, but because the Chinese men gave a large dowry to their parents. Though the nuptial laws in China prohibit arranged marriage and marriage for dowry, those laws do not prescribe penalties for violation, said the police colonel. "Chinese men marry them officially and take them [to China] with official passports. As it is legal, it is difficult for us to control," he said. "There are other situations." For example, Myanmar women who are convinced by middlemen that they will get jobs in China cannot bring about arrest the arrest of traffickers by the squad. "Victims are brought through the border into China. We stop them on the way, but then they say we can't prohibit a Myanmar citizen holding a citizenship identity card from going freely inside the country," said the police colonel. There were 1,609 cases of human trafficking involving 3,850 victims from 2006 through 2017, and 4,556 perpetrators were arrested. Most of the cases involved China. The number of cases that went unreported is likely to be more than that of reported cases in Myanmar, as is the case with human trafficking across the world. According to the police, some victims have reported that they have been forced to live with as many as five Chinese men and have given birth at least three times. They also reported being forced to marry men with mental and physical disabilities. "There are many of such cases," said police colonel Thet Naung. Last year, around 74 percent of victims were trafficked to China, four percent to Thailand, 0.29 percent to Malaysia, and 21.28 percent within the country itself, said Vice-President Henry Van Thio at the event on Thursday. Most of the cases involved forced labor, forced marriage, the sex trade and forced adoption, said the police. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Human Traffickers Finding New Ways to Avoid Arrest appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh Police Say NGOs Discourage Rohingya Repatriation Posted: 14 Sep 2018 12:16 AM PDT DHAKA — Bangladeshi police in Cox's Bazar district stated in an internal report that local and international non-governmental organizations and UN agencies were discouraging Rohingya Muslim refugees from being repatriated to Myanmar. The internal report, prepared at the end of June by district special branch officials, stated that there was no concrete evidence of this allegation. It also mentioned that few NGOs were willing to share information regarding funding and suggested that the Bangladesh government confer with the district special branch before allowing foreign funding to be given to NGOs operating in the area. The report was prepared under former Cox's Bazar police superintendent AKM Iqbal Hossain, who was transferred on Sept. 9 and was unable to be reached for comment. The newly appointed ABM Masud Hossain will soon assume the post. Cox's Bazar deputy commissioner Kamal Hossain, however, contradicted the report and said on Sept. 10 that development partners were being monitored but that no specific allegations had been made in regards to the repatriation of the Rohingya. Some 700,000 Rohingya fled northern Rakhine State in Myanmar beginning in August 2016 after attacks on security posts prompted Myanmar Army “security clearance operations.” An official at the Inter-Sector Coordination Group, which is coordinating the humanitarian response to the Rohingya refugee crisis, in Cox's Bazar seeking anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue told The Irrawaddy the group had heard about the allegations in the police report. "The police officials who prepared the report were already transferred. We explained the matter to the concerned authorities. The RRRC [refugee relief and repatriation commission] office is inquiring about the issue," said the official. "We are working closely with our partners," said refugee relief and repatriation commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam, the lead officer coordinating refugee and Rohingya issues in Cox's Bazar, when asked about the allegation that Rohingya are being discouraged from repatriation. Help Cox's Bazar executive director Abul Kashem explained why he thought the police would have made such an allegation. "Basically, most of us are talking about the dignified and protected repatriation of the Rohingya to their homeland. People could misinterpret this as discouragement," said Kashem. Rohingya Repatriation Movement convener Hamidul Hoque Chowdhury, in Cox's Bazar, defended the police report. "Although we do not have specific evidence, the nature of the development activity and the delay in repatriation give us the sense that these groups are interested in extending the crisis," he said. "NGOs and even UN agencies want them [the Rohingya] here. It creates jobs with handsome salaries. And this has happened year after year. They don't want the Rohginya to be repatriated," he said. "Not a single Rohingya was repatriated in the last year," he added. Mia Seppo, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Bangladesh, told The Irrawaddy: "The UN does not consider the conditions in NRS [Northern Rakhine State in Myanmar] conducive for return. That said, the UN will not stand in the way of anyone who wants to return voluntarily." Currently, 86 local and 36 international NGOs are implementing various projects along with 11 UN agencies at various Rohingya camps in Bangladesh. Over 50 non-governmental organizations working in Rohingya camps were named recently in various dailies since Aug. 17, stating that their operations in Ukhiya and Teknaf were "banned." On March 6, the NGO Affairs Bureau set a framework for the local and international aid organizations to bring "transparency and accountabilities" to their activities. In the framework, the NGOs were asked to provide all information to the Cox's Bazar district administration and the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission regarding development activities, project implementation, funding, and employees. The post Bangladesh Police Say NGOs Discourage Rohingya Repatriation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

US Sanctions Russian, Chinese Tech Firms over Funds for N. Korea Posted: 13 Sep 2018 10:39 PM PDT WASHINGTON/SEOUL — The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on a China-based tech firm, its North Korean CEO and a Russian subsidiary, accusing them of moving illicit funding to North Korea in violation of US sanctions. The new sanctions target China-based Yanbian Silverstar Network Technology Co, its North Korean chief executive Jong Song Hwa, and a Russian-based sister company, Volasys Silver Star, the US Treasury Department said in a statement. “These actions are intended to stop the flow of illicit revenue to North Korea from overseas information technology workers disguising their true identities and hiding behind front companies, aliases, and third-party nationals,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. Mnuchin warned companies across the globe “to take precautions to ensure that they are not unwittingly employing North Korean workers for technology projects.” South Korea’s foreign ministry said the move was in line with the United States’ resolve to keep up sanctions to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula while carrying out dialogue. A manager at Yanbian Silverstar, who would only give his family name Jin, said the allegations were “impossible”. “I’ve never heard of Jong Song Hwa,” he told Reuters. The administration of US President Donald Trump has maintained sanctions pressure on Pyongyang in an effort to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, which are a threat to the United States. Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June at a summit in Singapore where Kim agreed in broad terms to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. North Korea has however given no indication it is willing to give up its weapons unilaterally, as the Trump administration has demanded. Washington has also accused Russia of violating UN sanctions on North Korea by granting work permits to North Korean laborers despite Russia’s denial of any such actions. US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused Moscow on Thursday of seeking to cover up breaches of UN sanctions on North Korea by Russians. “Vicious Slander" North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said US accusations that it was responsible for cyber attacks in 2014 and 2017 were a “smear campaign” and a man sanctioned by Washington earlier this month did not exist. Washington charged and sanctioned Pak Jin Hyok and a Chinese-based front company he worked for, Chosun Expo, over the 2017 global WannaCry ransomware cyberattack and the 2014 cyberassault on Sony Corp. Park worked as part of a team of hackers, known as the Lazarus Group, to try to breach multiple US businesses, including defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp, US officials said, though there was no evidence the company was breached. KCNA said Pak was “non-existent” and the act of cyber crimes mentioned by Washington “has nothing to do with us.” “The US farce of prosecution is none other than a vicious slander and another smear campaign full of falsehood and fabrication designed to undermine the DPRK,” KCNA said, referring to the country’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “In reality, the US is the chief culprit responsible for posing security threats in cyberspace.” The post US Sanctions Russian, Chinese Tech Firms over Funds for N. Korea appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indian Nuns Demand Justice for Sister Allegedly Assaulted by Bishop Posted: 13 Sep 2018 09:58 PM PDT NEW DELHI — A group of Indian Catholic nuns are staging a rare street protest in the southern state of Kerala demanding justice after an alleged sexual assault of a nun by a bishop. Police have called the bishop named in the complaint for a second round of questioning next week. The bishop has denied wrongdoing. The case comes at a time when the Christian community, which accounts for 19 percent of the state’s population, is reeling under an erosion of trust as sexual abuse cases involving the clergy pile up. Five priests were arrested last month in two different sexual assault cases, while last year, a Catholic priest who was trying to flee the country was arrested after a minor he is accused of having sex with gave birth. The nun in a letter said she wanted the Vatican to intervene. She said she was forced to make matters public after several attempts to seek justice from within the church failed. The protest, now in its sixth day in Kochi, Kerala’s financial hub, is gathering momentum as the locals, activists, writers and politicians come out in support. A man, who is on an indefinite hunger strike, lay in front of the stage where the protesting nuns sat. A nun coordinating the protest dismissed allegations that they were trying to disgrace the church. “Our fight is for the truth. We will not back out unless the truth is established and the nun is given justice,” she told Reuters. The Catholic Church in Germany acknowledged a “depressing and shameful” legacy of sexual abuse on Wednesday after a leaked study said clerics had abused thousands of children over 70 years. The leaked study was published on the day that Pope Francis, who has made several attempts to tackle a spreading sexual abuse crisis that has badly tarnished the Church’s image worldwide, summoned senior bishops from around the world to the Vatican to discuss the protection of minors. The post Indian Nuns Demand Justice for Sister Allegedly Assaulted by Bishop appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysian Police Question Those Paid Out of $972M in Najib’s Account Posted: 13 Sep 2018 09:52 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian police investigating a scandal at state fund 1MDB are questioning more than 50 individuals who received payments from a sum of $972 million that entered the personal bank account of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, an official said on Thursday. A total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated by high-level officials of the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and their associates, the US Justice department has said. The fund, founded by Najib, is at the center of money-laundering probes in at least six countries, including Singapore Switzerland and the United States. Police are recording statements of those who received funds from Najib’s personal account, among them some with political affiliations and foreigners, said deputy police chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim. “We are in the process of taking their statements,” Noor Rashid told a news conference. Asked if any of the 50 would be charged in the investigation, he replied, “There is a possibility.” Reuters could not immediately reach a spokesman for Najib to seek comment. A total of 132 money laundering transactions have been identified and further investigations are being pursued, the police said in a statement later. Police added that statements have been taken from 64 people, including Najib and his daughter Nooryana Najwa Najib, with more to come, as they track down those involved, or persons of interest, in the scandal. Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, have been barred from leaving Malaysia after his decade in power ended in a shock election defeat in May, and the new prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, relaunched an investigation into the troubled fund. The scandal erupted in 2015 after media reports that about $681 million was deposited into Najib’s bank account. Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing, maintaining the funds were donations from a Saudi royal and the bulk handed back. Noor Rashid said a total of $972 million went into Najib’s account, however, after moving through accounts linked to several companies, some of which he named as Good Star Limited, Aabar and Tanore. Malaysian and global investigations, including chargesheets filed by the US DoJ, have identified these firms as among those used to allegedly siphon off billions of dollars from 1MDB. Many of the transactions happened overseas and the police have sought the help of foreign agencies, Noor Rashid added. Najib has pleaded not guilty to money laundering charges against him this year in connection with a former 1MDB unit. His lawyer was also charged with money laundering on Thursday. The post Malaysian Police Question Those Paid Out of $972M in Najib’s Account appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Myanmar Gets First Foreign Investments for Power Projects in Fiscal Year Transition
• Gov’t Signs MoU with Beijing to Build China-Myanmar Economic Corridor
• BREAKING: Yangon Attorney General, Five Others Arrested for Corruption in Comedian’s Murder Case
• Chinese Company Lobbies Locals on Reboot of Suspended Myitsone Dam Project
• No Guarantee Not to Secede: Ethnic Armed Group Leaders
• Home Affairs Ministry Admits Difficulty Fighting Drugs
• Public-led Meeting on Mandalay’s Crime Crisis Forced to be Postponed
• Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents
• Lawyer of Former Malaysian PM Najib Charged with Money Laundering
• Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Defends Court Decision to Jail Reuters Journalists
• Bangladesh Says it Won’t Assimilate Rohingya Muslims
• Analysis: In Quake-Prone Japan, Attention Shifts to Flood Risks as Heavy Rains Increase
• Cambodia Leader Tells World to Stay Out of Indochina Politics

Myanmar Gets First Foreign Investments for Power Projects in Fiscal Year Transition Posted: 13 Sep 2018 06:57 AM PDT YANGON — Myanmar has received its first foreign investments in the power supply sector in the transitional six-month fiscal period, which started on April 1, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). A gas-fired power plant will be built in Mandalay Region’s Singaing Township as part of a joint venture between China's Power Gen Kyaukse and two Myanmar companies, DICA Deputy Director-General U Than Aung Kyaw said during a press conference in Yangon on Tuesday. Construction of the $92.7 million, 145-megawatt plant is expected to begin next year. The Myanmar Investment Commission approved the project at a meeting on Friday. "Most of the rural villages are in remote areas and are out of reach of the national grid. It is good that foreign investors have invested in the country's power supply sector. But it would be better if electricity bills were low," U Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing, chairman of the Myanmar Oil and Gas Entrepreneurs Association, told The Irrawaddy. The Investment Commission also approved a power project in Myeik, Tanintharyi Region. Min Zaw Ni Fisheries Co, a local company, will invest more than 9.5 billion kyat ($6.1 million) to produce electricity with generators and distribute it in the township. In the 2017-18 fiscal year, the Investment Commission approved five foreign investment projects in the power supply sector from Singapore, Japan and China totaling $406 million, according to DICA. They were a 230-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Mon State operated by Myanmar Lighting (IPP) Co; a paddy-husk biomass power plant operated by Myaung Mya FM Biomass Power Co. in Irrawaddy Region; the 99-megawatt Chipwe Nge hydropower dam in Kachin State by Chipwi Nge Hydro Co; a diesel generator-powered 10-megawatt project also in Mon State; and a 19-megawatt power supply project for i-Land Estate in Bago Region operated by i-Land Park Myanmar Ltd. The Investment Commission also approved four power supply projects from citizens worth $78 million and more than 10.7 trillion kyats. They include a hydropower project in Shan State, a power project with residual fuel oil in Mon State, a power project with fossil fuel also in Mon State, and a coal-fired power plant in Shan State, according to DICA. Domestic electricity consumption has increased 15 percent annually in Myanmar. Currently households pay 35 kyats per unit up to 100 units and 40 kyats for every unit after that up to 200 units. Any unit above 200 costs 50 kyats. Industrial users pay 75 kyats per unit up to 500 units, 100 kyats for every unit after that up to 10,000 units, 125 kyats for every unit after that up to 50,000 units, and 150 kyats for every unit after that up to 300,000 units. The price drops to 100 kyats for each unit above 300,000. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Myanmar Gets First Foreign Investments for Power Projects in Fiscal Year Transition appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Gov’t Signs MoU with Beijing to Build China-Myanmar Economic Corridor Posted: 13 Sep 2018 05:34 AM PDT YANGON—Myanmar on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China agreeing to establish the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, according to a statement from the China National Development and Reform Commission. The agreement was signed by Myanmar Minister of Planning and Finance U Soe Win and He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The NDRC, China's top economic planning agency, aims to construct basic infrastructure across key economic centers in Myanmar. The estimated 1,700-kilometer-long corridor will connect Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan Province, to Myanmar's major economic checkpoints—first to Mandalay in central Myanmar, and then east to Yangon and west to the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ). According to the statement, the two officials discussed the agreements between the leaders of the two countries and ways to promote the economic corridor's construction. The 15-point MoU was finalized at the working-group level in February, according to Myanmar's Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA). Under the MoU, the governments agree to collaborate on many sectors including basic infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, finance, human resources development, telecommunications, and research and technology. To implement construction of the economic corridor, related ministries in both countries are required to form working groups and joint committees, so that the ministries can set priorities in terms of infrastructure development projects. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the proposal to build the CMEC following a meeting with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw in November 2017. Wang said the economic corridor would enhance investment in development and trade under Chinese-Myanmar cooperation as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI is Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy project. Unveiled in 2013, it is also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. The project aims to build a network of roads, railroads and shipping lanes linking at least 70 countries from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia, fostering trade and investment. Myanmar occupies a unique geographical position in the BRI, lying at the junction of South Asia and Southeast Asia, and between the Indian Ocean and southwestern China's landlocked Yunnan province. In recent months, Beijing agreed to a new deal with the new chairman of the Kyaukphyu SEZ vowing that the project will not lead to an excessive debt burden on the Myanmar government. Kyaukphyu is a key strategic project under the BRI, as it is expected to boost development in China's land-locked Yunnan province. The project will provide China with direct access to the Indian Ocean and allows China's oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca. In June, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in Naypyitaw to discuss bilateral relations. At the meeting, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi vowed to strengthen cooperation on the BRI with China, Chinese media reported. China is Myanmar's top investment partner. According to DICA, China invested USD20.01 billion between 1988 and May of this year in the country. The post Gov't Signs MoU with Beijing to Build China-Myanmar Economic Corridor appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

BREAKING: Yangon Attorney General, Five Others Arrested for Corruption in Comedian’s Murder Case Posted: 13 Sep 2018 05:27 AM PDT YANGON—Myanmar's Anti-Corruption Commission has filed cases against the attorney general of Yangon Region and five other officials including a judge, law officers and a police officer for accepting more than 70 million kyats (nearly US$46,300) to drop the case against three suspects in the murder of Facebook comedian Aung Yell Htwe. In an announcement on Thursday, the commission said it had found that Yangon Region Attorney General U Han Htoo; Judge U Aung Kyi from the Yangon Eastern District Court; Yangon Region law officer U Thein Zaw; Yangon Eastern District law officer U Ko Ko Lay; Yangon Eastern District deputy law officer Daw Thit Thit Khin; and Police Lieutenant Chit Ko Ko took bribes from U Khin Maung Lay, father of suspect Than Htut Aung (a.k.a Thar Gyi), in exchange for their roles in dropping the case. Anti-Corruption Commission spokesperson U Kyaw Soe told The Irrawaddy that the accused received a total of 72 million kyats (nearly US$46,300) in cash, along with other gifts including bottles of Blue and Gold Label Scotch Whisky, as bribes. Judge U Aung Kyi received the largest sum—33 million kyats (nearly $21,200)—while the attorney general received 15 million kyats (nearly $9,600). The commission confirmed to The Irrawaddy that all six of the accused have been detained at Thuwunna Police Station. Cases against the suspects have been opened under two different articles of the Anti-Corruption Law. If found guilty they face maximum sentences of between 10 and 15 years in prison under the Anti-Corruption Law. Than Htut Aung is one of three suspects in the fatal beating of Aung Yell Htwe who surrendered themselves in the presence of their parents soon after the incident in January 2018. All of them were controversially freed on July 25 by the Yangon Eastern District Court. The court's decision is being reviewed by the Yangon High Court. The Anti-Corruption Commission said on Thursday that Yangon Region Attorney General U Han Htoo approved a request from the victim's family to drop the case without making a full assessment in exchange for a bribe from U Khin Maung Lay. The commission filed the case against U Han Htoo under Article 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law on Thursday at Yangon's Thuwunna Police Station. Article 55 states that any political post holder convicted of committing bribery shall be imprisoned for not more than 15 years and fined. Judge U Aung Kyi of the Yangon Eastern District Court released the three murder suspects in exchange for a bribe from the same person, the commission said in the announcement. Police prosecutor Lt. Chit Ko Ko also took a bribe from Than Htut Aung's father and then failed to fully investigate the case according to police procedure, thereby abusing his power, it said. According to the commission, law officers U Thein Zaw, U Ko Ko Lay and Daw Thit Thit Khin allegedly intentionally built the murder case in such a way that it would be adjudged as lacking sufficient grounds to warrant further investigation. The commission opened cases against all five under Article 56 of the Anti-Corruption Law. 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." The commission said it would present U Khin Maung Lay as a plaintiff witness. In exchange for his testimony, the commission will not file a case against him, it said. The case is the second-biggest the ACC has opened since it was founded in 2017. The biggest was its investigation into alleged corruption by the country's then finance minister, U Kyaw Win, in May. The commission dropped the case in June as the complaints against him could not be substantiated. U Kyaw Win resigned from the post. The post BREAKING: Yangon Attorney General, Five Others Arrested for Corruption in Comedian's Murder Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Chinese Company Lobbies Locals on Reboot of Suspended Myitsone Dam Project Posted: 13 Sep 2018 05:15 AM PDT YANGON — The state-owned Chinese company behind the controversial Myitsone hydropower dam in Kachin State is stepping up efforts to convince local residents and officials to back the stalled project. Mung Ra, a ward administrator in Alan Village, located near the intended dam site, said officials with China’s State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) told them at a meeting on Tuesday that the project would improve local’s lives. "They explained to us that the Myitsone dam project is totally safe, we don't have to worry about negative consequences," he told The Irrawaddy. "They claimed that our village will get benefits, especially electricity.” He said only about 20 local officials were invited to the project briefing. The SPIC officials, Mung Ra said, claimed that the dam would even benefit people across the planet and that the Chinese-backed Chipwi hydropower dam in Kachin has helped electrify and develop local communities already. At an estimated cost of $3.6 billion, the 6,000-megawatt dam would send 90 percent of its electricity to southern China’s Yunnan Province, according to the investment agreement. Entrance gate to the Myitsone dam site in Kachin State, as seen in 2013. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) Myitsone is one of seven hydropower projects planned for the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River as well as the Mali and N’Mai, at whose confluence the Irrawaddy begins. Work started in 2009 — when SPIC was known as the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) — with the construction of Aung Myin Thar Village for displaced locals and was expected to take 10 years. In 2010, authorities forcibly resettled more than 2,100 people to Aung Myin Thar from five villages. According to a government newspaper, CPI spent about $25 million on the resettlement plan. In 2011, then-President Thein Sein suspended the project amid widespread public concern about the dam’s social and environmental impacts. But China is hoping the restart work on the dam to help meet its mushrooming power demands. The project remains in limbo. After the National League for Democracy took power in 2016, the government set up a 20-member commission including the chief minister of Kachin to review the dam and its likely impacts on the environment and local communities. The commission has produced two reports to date, but the government has yet to release either. Environmentalists say the dam site has some of the highest biodiversity in the world and warn that the project would both destroy the natural beauty of the Irrawaddy River and disrupt water flow. They say it could potentially flood an area the size of Singapore, destroying livelihoods and displacing more than 10,000 people. In August, two days after 60,000 people were displaced by a dam collapse in Bago Region, SPIC met with residents near the Myitsone dam site to reassure them that its project would be carried out under the supervision of the world’s best dam builders. Among the villages the company visited was Naung Chain. Myanmar nationals protest against the Myitsone dam project outside the Myanmar Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sept. 22, 2011. / Reuters "We already told them we don't accept the dam. But they approached us in many ways. They keep saying we don't have to worry. But we are residents; we cannot risk our lives based on what they promised," Roi Ja, a Naung Chain resident, told The Irrawaddy. "They said they will build the thickest wall, that the dam would not be breached. But we don't believe them," she said. Though Naung Chain Village is 16 kilometers downstream from the dam site on the banks of the Irrawaddy, residents still worry that their homes will be flooded if it ever breaks. "They often come to the villages and asked us what our needs are. I am worried the Myitsone will restart soon," said Mung Ra, the Alan Village ward administrator. In July, Chinese state newspaper Global Times reported that Beijing was not giving up on the Myitsone dam and claimed that Myanmar’s decision to suspend the project was driving down investor confidence in the country. Kachin State Chief Minister U Khat Awng could not be reached for comment about the project. U Win Myo Thu, director of environmental protection group EcoDev, said SPIC wants an answer on the dam before a planned visit to Myanmar by Chinese President Xi Jinping in November. “Before his visit, they want to find the potential result. If we cancel the project, they want to be fully compensated," he said. Under the original deal, CPI owned 80 percent of the project, the Myanmar government 15 percent and Myanmar-based Asia World the rest. SPIC says Myanmar will owe it $800 million in compensation if the government cancels the dam but could earn $500 million a year in revenue if it goes head. The government is currently paying the company $50 million a year in compensation while it is suspended. Myanmar has drawn increasingly close to China over the past year as relations with the West have frayed over its treatment of its Rohingya minority. Some critics of the dam worry Beijing’s growing leverage could pressure the government into striking a new deal on the dam. The government recently inked a new deal with another state-owned Chinese company that clears the way for work to resume on the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone, a component of President Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative that will give China direct access to the Indian Ocean and boost development in landlocked Yunnan Province. China and Myanmar on Sunday also signed a memorandum of understanding on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, according to the Global Times. The corridor would connect Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, with Kyaukphyu through Mandalay and Yangon. A 2017 poll by the Yangon School of Political Science found that 85 percent of people in Myanmar oppose the Myitsone dam. "All [environmental experts] have suggested the project should be canceled, but we are not sure what Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's decision will be," said U Win Myo Thu. "It doesn't depend on the cabinet. It depends on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We are waiting to see her decision.” The post Chinese Company Lobbies Locals on Reboot of Suspended Myitsone Dam Project appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

No Guarantee Not to Secede: Ethnic Armed Group Leaders Posted: 13 Sep 2018 05:14 AM PDT MON STATE — Ethnic armed groups cannot make a promise never to secede from the Union as Myanmar does not yet have a real democracy or federal union, according to ethnic leaders. Members of the 10 ethnic armed groups who have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), who make up the group called 'NCA-S EAO', held a four-day meeting in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand on Sept. 8 to 11, at which ethnic leaders agreed to revert to their former stance based on the Panglong Agreement with leaders vowing not to undo what the historic leaders, including Gen. Aung San, made written agreements on. The ethnic leaders in attendance gave several reasons for not being able to guarantee they will not secede from the Union. "The first reason is that our older leaders made a written agreement. They wrote it with their hands and we will not delete it with our feet. If we do, we won't be able to escape the blame our ethnic people will lay on us," said Nai Hong Sar, vice chairman of the New Mon State Party who attended the NCA-S EAO meeting. "The second reason is that we have not yet seen what type of rights the government will give our ethnic people, and we don't even know yet what type of federalism the government would establish. Also, the current democracy doesn't appear to be a real one yet, he said. "If we have to agree whenever the (army) pressures us, our future movements may be restricted. Therefore, we all agreed to take a stand and not give them the promise," he said. While peace negotiations are ongoing in some respects, they say the Myanmar Army continues to oppress ethnic people in the country, and this has influenced the sentiment among ethnic leaders that they cannot make this commitment to the Myanmar Army. The Myanmar Army has not allowed discussion on political issues at the peace conferences because the ethnic leaders refuse to make the promise never to secede from the Union and, according to the ethnic leaders, this is why the peace talks are in a deadlock. Ethnic leaders said that the army should reconsider this restriction because peace negotiations cannot move forward otherwise. A statement issued by the NCA-S EAO on Sept. 11 said that ethnic leaders and the Myanmar Army need to meet as soon as possible in order to overcome this current deadlock. Ethnic leaders from the NCA-S EAO also requested a meeting with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss with her how to find a solution to the impasse in the peace process. The NCA-S EAO has decided to hold an ethnic summit in the future to which they will also invite non-signatories of the NCA. The summit is intended as a forum for discussions on how to build a new Myanmar that has equal rights for ethnic peoples, democracy, and a federal system. The post No Guarantee Not to Secede: Ethnic Armed Group Leaders appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Home Affairs Ministry Admits Difficulty Fighting Drugs Posted: 13 Sep 2018 04:24 AM PDT NAYPYITAW — The Home Affairs Ministry admitted that it is weak in controlling the smuggling of illicit drug precursors into the country, said deputy minister Major-General Aung Thu. "Since it is difficult to fully control the border gates, we can't adequately control the smuggling of precursors into the country. So there are challenges in fighting drugs," the deputy minister told the Upper House of Parliament. The deputy minister said so in response to the complaint by lawmaker U Tun Tun Oo of Mandalay Constituency (2) that Yaba tablets can now be easily bought across the country. The ministry has installed since August modern narcotics detection equipment, which can be used to inspect through exhaust pipes, doors, dashboards, tires and other hidden spaces within a vehicle, at inspection gates along the route used to smuggle drugs, said the deputy minister. Moreover, the ministry is also planning to equip X-ray machines that can scan a whole truck, he added. "In my question, I urged the ministry to undertake a special anti-narcotics operation. But the deputy minister gave the usual answer. I'm not satisfied with it," lawmaker U Tun Tun Oo told reporters. He said he would meet the Mandalay regional government and urge it to crack down on drug dealers in the region. "Despite his [deputy minister's] answer in Parliament, there are a lot of weaknesses on the ground. [Anti-drug efforts] are not encouraging. To be frank, the mice heavily outnumber the cats. In some areas, lawmakers dare not speak out for fear that their families will be hurt then," lawmaker Dr. Khun Thaung Win of Kachin State Constituency (11) told The Irrawaddy. The ministry said that it seized over 2 trillion kyats worth precursors and other lab equipment smuggled through the border in 27 cases within eight months from January through August. The invention of compact tablet-making machines and easier access to illicit drug precursors has contributed a lot to the production and supply of Yaba tablets across the country, said U Tun Tun Oo. Ko Naung Naung Lat, 22, who spent years behind the bars for drug abuse, told The Irrawaddy: "I experimented with drugs, and became addicted. Later, I found myself ready to do anything, good or bad, to get money. According to the 2017 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Myanmar's poppy plantations declined from 55,500 hectares in 2015 to 41,000 hectares in 2017. Similarly, opium production declined from 647 metric tons in 2015 to 550 metric tons in 2017. In May, the President's Office created an anti-drug department and incentivized the public to participate in the fight against drug production and dealing. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Home Affairs Ministry Admits Difficulty Fighting Drugs appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Public-led Meeting on Mandalay’s Crime Crisis Forced to be Postponed Posted: 13 Sep 2018 03:19 AM PDT MANDALAY — A meeting to discuss Mandalay's public security affairs, which was planned to be held on Thursday, was forced to be postponed because permission from local authorities had not been granted on time. The discussion, organized by local civil society groups and elders of Mandalay, was to be about how the public would take a role in security matters of the city. "The local authorities asked us to apply for permission and we submitted the permission [application], however, we did not receive any reply regarding the permission to hold the event so we have to postpone it," said U Tin Ko Ko Oo, one of the organizers. Organizers said the application for permission was submitted on Tuesday to Chan Aye Tharsan Township administration office, Mandalay's district administration office and Mandalay's regional administration office, but no reply has yet been received from officials. "Since the authorities asked us to seek permission, we do not want to hold the meeting without it in order to avoid any confrontation with the local authorities, we decided to postpone the event until we receive the permission," U Tin Ko Ko Oo said. An increase in crime and robberies around Mandalay, especially in late evenings, have caused locals and travelers to feel threatened and this is what motivated the local CSOs to organize the meeting. The aim of the meeting is to find out how the public and CSOs could work to decrease the crime rates and reduce public fear. "Our ambition is to find a way to educate the public on safety measures and how they can help the security personnel, police and victims if they witness a crime," explained U Tin Ko Ko Oo. "We are not going to push the authorities or put the blame on them, however, we suspect that because the local authorities do not want us to interfere with their job, they dare not give us permission for our discussion," he added. In recent weeks, Mandalay has seen a wave of deadly incidents in which robbers used guns, swords and daggers to rob the victims' motorcycles, mobile phones and money. The incidents have evoked fear in the locals and discourage them from going out alone in the late evening. Some local CSOs and individuals have taken it upon themselves to form small groups to patrol their respective areas at night and one such group has been able to arrest a couple of robbers and hand them over to the police. Starting this week, the chief minister of Mandalay Region and the divisional police chief have begun leading a patrol of about 300 police every night, covering every corner of the city and crime rates are said to have significantly dropped already. "The news of the robberies has affected us in many ways, especially psychologically, and we are afraid when night falls and we feel unsafe. The buzzing Mandalay nights have gone because of this fear and Mandalay is not the same the city," said U Nyi Pu Lay, the famed author and an elder of Mandalay. "We are here to give our opinions on how can we help or how can we participate to revive the safety of Mandalay, but we are speechless that there is still no permission for holding the meeting," he added. The post Public-led Meeting on Mandalay's Crime Crisis Forced to be Postponed appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents Posted: 13 Sep 2018 02:25 AM PDT YANGON — Myanmar Army soldiers reportedly raided a house in Kachin State's Hpakant on Tuesday and detained three men they claimed were insurgents extorting money for the Arakan Army. The raid happened at a house in the village of Ah Hmike Pon Gone in Hpakant around 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The village was formerly a dumpsite for mining waste but later prospectors came and resided there.  About 1,000 prospectors from Rakhine State currently live there. "People in plain clothes arrived around 10 a.m. in three cars and shot at the house. And they also dragged a few people into the cars. A few Arakanese people were abducted. I don't know if they were dead or alive. For the time being, the house has been blockaded by soldiers," said an Arakanese eyewitness who did not want to be named. "Only Arakanese people live here. We are quite shocked by the shooting. People are in a state of panic. They do nothing wrong and only search for stones. They are worried that they will also be shot," he added. The raided house. / Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Office Other prospectors living in the ward also said on the condition of anonymity that they did not know the reason behind Tuesday's shooting, that the shooters were in plain clothes, and that a complaint had not been filed with the police because the abducted Arakanese youth were single and without family members in the area. According to the local ward administrators and community elders, there are more than 200,000 prospectors in Hpakant from across the country. When asked about the incident by The Irrawaddy, the Hpakant Township police force said to ask the Myanmar Army, also known as the Tatmadaw. In a statement, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services said that security forces searched the mines in response to news that extortion money was being collected from prospectors. Near a pile of waste close to the ward of Maw Wun, insurgents shot four times with small arms. The Tatmadaw returned fire. Four fled and three were arrested, according to the statement. The Tatmadaw, in its statement, referred to them as Arakan Army (AA) insurgents. The statement said that the three detainees are San Shwe Tha from Pauktaw Township, and Than Naing and Win Soe from Minbya Township, adding that the three were responsible for collecting extortion money that they handed to their group leader Hla Thein. Tatmadaw troops are after four men including Hla Thein who fled, and will increase security to prevent insurgents from collecting extortion money in Hpakant, its statement said. "It is an accusation," said press officer Khine Thu Kha of the AA, adding that the three are not AA members. "Hpakant is not a place under the control of the AA, but under the Myanmar Army. They treat all Arakanese as AA members, and [the shooting and abduction] is the bullying of Arakanese youth who earn an honest livelihood." "Shooting at a house without any warrant is not what a government is supposed to do. It is an act of scoundrels. To put it in other words, it is a war crime against citizens," said Khine Thu Kha. Dashi La Seng, a Kachin State lawmaker representing Hpakant Township, said that he does not know details about the shooting. According to the Constitution, Hpakant is under the direct control of the Union government while the Myanmar Army provides security for the town. There are nine battalions in Hpakant and the Tatmadaw is solely responsible for security of the area, the lawmaker said. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. The post Myanmar Army Raids Home, Detains Alleged Arakan Army Insurgents appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawyer of Former Malaysian PM Najib Charged with Money Laundering Posted: 13 Sep 2018 01:42 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR — The lawyer of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was charged with money laundering on Thursday by anti-graft agents looking into how billions of dollars went missing from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Muhammad Shafee is leading a defense team for Najib who faces charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power at SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. Najib has denied any wrongdoing. In charges read out at a court in Kuala Lumpur, Shafee was accused of money laundering for allegedly receiving proceeds totaling 9.5 million ringgit ($2.29 million) from illegal activities through checks issued by Najib. The charges were brought by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) which is investigating alleged fraud and misappropriation at 1MDB, a fund founded by Najib. 1MDB is at the center of money-laundering probes in at least six countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore. A total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to the US Department of Justice. Malaysia reopened the probe into 1MDB after Najib, who chaired the fund’s advisory board, was defeated by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in a stunning election win in May. Najib has pleaded not guilty to abuse of power and other charges arising the 1MDB investigation. Mahathir has vowed to punish people responsible for the 1MDB scandal and also to get back all the misappropriated funds. Singapore returned 1MDB funds worth $11.1 million to Malaysia last week, Malaysia also got back a $250 million superyacht. Malaysia’s Finance Minister said on Thursday that recovery of the 1MDB assets was going much slower than expected. Malaysia “will be lucky if we get 30 percent back” from the 1MDB funds, Lim Guan Eng told a group of reporters at the CLSA Investors’ Forum in Hong Kong. The post Lawyer of Former Malaysian PM Najib Charged with Money Laundering appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Defends Court Decision to Jail Reuters Journalists Posted: 13 Sep 2018 01:36 AM PDT HANOI — Myanmar government leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday said two jailed Reuters journalists can appeal their seven-year sentence, and that their jailing had nothing to do with freedom of expression. Asked how she felt about jailing journalists as a democratic leader, Suu Kyi said: “They were not jailed because they were journalists, they were jailed because…the court has decided that they have broken the Official Secrets Act.” She made her comments at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi in response to a question from the forum moderator who asked whether she felt comfortable about the reporters being jailed. The journalists, Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were found guilty on official secrets charges and sentenced earlier this month in a landmark case seen as a test of progress towards democracy in Myanmar. Their imprisonment has prompted an international outpouring of support, including a call for their release by US Vice President Mike Pence. The journalists were investigating the killing of Rohingya villagers by security forces at the time of their arrest last December, and had pleaded not guilty. “I wonder whether very many people have actually read the summary of the judgment which had nothing to do with freedom of expression at all, it had to do with an Official Secrets Act,” Suu Kyi said. “If we believe in the rule of law, they have every right to appeal the judgment and to point out why the judgment was wrong.” When asked to comment on Pence’s call to release the journalists, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi responded by asking if the critics felt there had been a miscarriage of justice. “The case has been held in open court and all the hearings have been open to everybody who wished to go and attend them and if anybody feels there has been a miscarriage of justice I would like them to point it out,” she said. The guilty verdicts of the two Reuters reporters on Sept. 3 have sharply divided public opinion in Myanmar. On Wednesday Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were honored by a foundation set up by the late Win Tin, one of the country's most prominent political prisoners and a close ally of a Suu Kyi. In granting the prestigious award, the foundation said it would oppose their convictions and demand their release. Zaw Htay, spokesman for the office of Myanmar’s president, was not immediately available to comment on Suu Kyi’s remarks. Earlier on Thursday, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the same WEF session said in hindsight her government could have handled the situation in Rakhine State better. “There are of course ways in which we, with hindsight, might think that the situation could have been handled better,” she said. “But we believe that for the sake of long-term stability and security we have to be fair to all sides…We cannot choose and pick who should be protected by the rule of law.” Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Rakhine after government troops led a brutal crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on 30 Myanmar police posts and a military base in August 2017. UN investigators last month said Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with “genocidal intent”, and that the commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted for the gravest crimes under international law. Myanmar has denied allegations of atrocities, saying its military carried out justifiable actions against militants. The post Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Defends Court Decision to Jail Reuters Journalists appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh Says it Won’t Assimilate Rohingya Muslims Posted: 12 Sep 2018 10:04 PM PDT HANOI — Bangladesh has no plans to take in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees permanently, its foreign secretary said on Wednesday, adding that they “belong” to Myanmar, from where they fled. Some 700,000 Rohingya refugees crossed from the west of mostly Buddhist Myanmar into Bangladesh from August last year, according to UN agencies, when Rohingya insurgent attacks on Myanmar security forces triggered a sweeping military response. Bangladesh and Myanmar reached a deal in November to begin repatriation within two months, but it has not started, with stateless Rohingya still crossing the border. “We are not thinking of assimilating them in Bangladesh. They belong to Myanmar,” Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi. He also called on developed countries to take in more Rohingya on a humanitarian basis. The Rohingya would stay in refugee camps until they return to Myanmar or are resettled in other countries, Haque said. UN investigators last month said Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with “genocidal intent,” and that the commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted for the gravest crimes under international law. Myanmar has denied allegations of atrocities, saying its military carried out justifiable actions against militants. It has built transit centers for refugees to return, but UN aid agencies say it is not yet safe for them to do so. The Rohingya in Bangladesh are housed in camps in Cox’s Bazar. With a delay in the repatriation plan, Bangladesh has been preparing new homes on a remote island called Bhasan Char, which rights groups have said could be subject to flooding. Haque told Reuters the island could be ready within months for the Rohingya to move in, adding that the plan to house the Rohingya there was only temporary. Bangladesh’s prime minister this month urged the global community to increase pressure on Myanmar to ensure the repatriation of the Rohingya. The post Bangladesh Says it Won’t Assimilate Rohingya Muslims appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Analysis: In Quake-Prone Japan, Attention Shifts to Flood Risks as Heavy Rains Increase Posted: 12 Sep 2018 09:58 PM PDT TOKYO — Japanese have long been conditioned to prepare for earthquakes, but recent powerful typhoons and sudden, heavy rains have brought to the forefront another kind of disaster: flooding. Experts warn that thousands could die and as many as 5 million people would need to be evacuated if massive dikes and levees in low-lying eastern Tokyo are overwhelmed by surging floodwaters. The cities of Osaka and Nagoya also face flood risks, experts say, amid an increase in sudden heavy rainfall across the country in recent years, a symptom linked to global warming. “Japan’s major metropolitan areas are, in a way, in a state of national crisis,” said Toshitaka Katada, a professor of disaster engineering at the University of Tokyo. In July, parts of western Japan were deluged with more than 1,000 millimeters (39 inches) of torrential rain. Gushing water broke levees and landslides destroyed houses, killing more than 200 people in the country’s worst weather disaster in 36 years. “If this happened to Tokyo, the city would suffer catastrophic damage,” said Nobuyuki Tsuchiya, director of the Japan Riverfront Research Center and author of the book “Capital Submerged,” which urges steps to protect the city, which will host the 2020 Olympics and Rugby World Cup games next year. Particularly vulnerable are the 1.5 million people who live below sea level in Tokyo, near the Arakawa River, which runs through the eastern part of the city. In June, the Japan Society of Civil Engineers estimated that massive flooding in the area would kill more than 2,000 people and cause 62 trillion yen ($550 billion) in damage. Experts could not say how likely that scenario was. But in recent years, the government has bolstered the city’s water defenses by building dams, reservoirs and levees. But the pace of construction is too slow, said Satoshi Fujii, a special adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is known for pushing big infrastructure projects. “They need to be taken care of as soon as possible,” he told Reuters. John Coates, chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission for the Tokyo 2020 Games, said the city should “take into account the potential for some of these disasters that seem to beset your country.” In tacit acknowledgement that more needs to be done, the transport ministry late last month asked the finance ministry for 527 billion yen for levee reinforcement and evacuation preparation in next year’s budget. That’s a third more than the current year. Surrounded by Water Tokyo was last hit by major flooding in 1947, when Typhoon Kathleen inundated large swaths of the city and killed more than 1,000 people across Japan. A survivor from that disaster, 82-year-old Eikyu Nakagawa, recalled living on the roof of his one-story house with his father for three weeks, surrounded by water. He remembered a pregnant woman who had taken refuge in a two-story house next door. “The baby could come any minute, but we could not bring a midwife to her or take her to a doctor,” he said. “I was just a kid, but I lost sleep worrying that she might die.” A similar disaster today would be much worse, Nakagawa predicted, because the area around his house in Tokyo’s eastern Katsushika ward, once surrounded by rice paddies, is now packed with buildings. “It’s going to be terrible,” he said. “Now it’s so crowded with houses. Little can be done if water comes.” Intense rainfall is on the upswing across Japan. Downpours of more than 80 millimeters in an hour happened 18 times a year on average over the 10 years through 2017, up from 11 times between 1976-85. Warming global temperatures contribute to these bouts of extreme weather, scientists say. “Higher ocean temperatures cause more moisture to get sucked up into the air,” said University of Tokyo’s Katada. “That means a very large amount of rain falling at once, and typhoons are more likely to grow stronger.” Just last week, western Japan was battered by Typhoon Jebi, the strongest typhoon to make landfall in 25 years, which killed at least 13 people and inundating the region’s biggest international airport. Evacuation Nightmare In late August, five low-lying wards in Tokyo jointly unveiled hazard maps outlining areas at high risk of flooding, and warned that up to 2.5 million residents may need to evacuate in case of a major disaster. The maps, which will be available to residents online and via hard copy, show how deep floodwater would likely be for each area, and how long each area would remain underwater. But such maps were largely ignored during the deadly flooding in western Japan in July. If a disaster hits during weekday working hours, the number of evacuees could swell to 5 million, including those from neighboring wards, says Tsuchiya – a logistical nightmare. Tokyo prefecture has grown to 14 million people, with millions more in surrounding areas. Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has called for a new ministry that would focus on disaster prevention and recovery. Currently that is overseen by the Cabinet Office, which handles other disparate tasks such as laying out basic fiscal policy and nurturing technological innovation. Companies also are waking up to the danger of floods, said Tomohisa Sashida, senior principal consultant at Tokio Marine & Nichido Risk Consulting. “We have been often approached for quake-related business continuity plans.” he said. “But now they realize they need to keep flood risks in mind and flood-related consultations are certainly on the rise.” The post Analysis: In Quake-Prone Japan, Attention Shifts to Flood Risks as Heavy Rains Increase appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cambodia Leader Tells World to Stay Out of Indochina Politics Posted: 12 Sep 2018 09:43 PM PDT HANOI — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday that countries outside Indochina are too critical of politics in the region and that it should be left to solve its own problems. In a speech alongside other regional leaders, Hun Sen pointed to the international condemnation of his country’s recent election, which was seen by many as a farce after the main opposition party was dissolved. He also cited the international outcry over the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. “Countries which are outside of the region always slap our heads and tell us what to do,” Hun Sen said at a panel discussion with leaders from Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi. “I raised this issue not as a message for any particular country, but I would like to say that these Mekong countries are the political victims, so I request outsiders of the region who don’t know about the issues to let us solve our problems.” Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won all 125 parliamentary seats in a July general election, which the United Nations and some Western countries have said was flawed because of the lack of a credible opposition among other factors. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved late last year ahead of the election. Hun Sen also said Myanmar, whose military has been accused by the United Nations of carrying out mass killings and gang rape on Rohingya Muslims with “genocidal intent,” was misunderstood. Myanmar has denied allegations of atrocities, saying its military carried out justifiable actions against militants. “It’s accused of genocide, but do you all understand about Myanmar? Do you know about Myanmar? They have to solve a lot of challenging issues in relation with security,” Hun Sen said. The post Cambodia Leader Tells World to Stay Out of Indochina Politics appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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