Thursday, May 2, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Army Says 6 Villagers Shot Dead in Detention in N. Rakhine

Posted: 02 May 2019 08:01 AM PDT

YANGON—Six villagers from northern Rakhine State's Rathedaung Township were shot dead while in Army detention at around 2.00 a.m. on Thursday, while eight others were wounded and four were missing, according to the Myanmar Army.

The shooting took place in Kyauk Tan village, situated 17 km north of the Ratheadung urban area.

Those killed and wounded were among 275 people temporarily held by the Army at a government school in the village since Tuesday. The Office of the Commander-in-Chief announced the detention on the same day, saying that men aged between 15 and 50 in Kyauktan village were held on suspicion of having ties with the Arakan Army (AA).

Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun from the Tatmadaw (Military) Information Team confirmed the deaths of six villagers and injuries to eight others to The Irrawaddy on Thursday. He said the Army had no choice but to open fire on the detainees as they tried to snatch guns from the soldiers.

On Thursday evening, the military information team released another announcement on the incident, mostly identical to what Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy but with the addition that four people were missing.

"Around 1 a.m., some [detainees] started to get wild, shouting at the security forces and attempting to attack them. We issued some warnings, including firing some warning shots. But it was in vain. They even tried to snatch the security forces' weapons. So, the security forces finally opened fire," he said.

The brigadier general said the Army overtook some AA camps on April 28 and 30 near Buthidaung Township. He added the Army was informed that some escaped AA members were taking shelter at Kyauktan village, and interrogated 275 men, assuring them that if they had no ties with the AA they would be released.

As of Thursday afternoon, all eight wounded had been taken to the General Hospital in Sittwe, Rakhine State's capital. But the bodies of those killed were still in the village and villagers were under interrogation, according to some locals.

A schoolteacher from Kyauk Tan village said dozens of soldiers came into the village at around 10 a.m. on Tuesday and then ordered a village official to publicly announce that the Army would be questioning residents.

The village official announced that those aged over 15 must come to the school and if they failed to follow the order, the military would not be responsible for the consequences if someone hid or was found during household inspections by soldiers and border police. Then, about 400 men were assembled at the village school.

Later on, some 100 people aged under 15 and above 60 were released.  Until evening, the situation was calm but at around 2.00 a.m., the villagers were awoken by gunshots and some artillery explosions.

A schoolteacher said, "We clearly heard about 20 gunshots in the school at night and some very loud screaming of villagers was heard from there."

At 11 a.m. Thursday morning, the Army allowed wounded persons to be transported for medical treatment. At around 12 a.m., patients were transported by boat to Zay Di Pyin model village's hospital for emergency care. They were expected to be brought to Sittwe Hospital in the afternoon.

Zay Di Pyin villager Zaw Myo Tun helped the wounded patients at his village and live-streamed the situation.

One patient whose abdomen was wrapped in a bandage said that while detainees were sleeping in the middle of the school sports pitch, a detainee who had been scared by the detention jumped over the fence and escaped. Soldiers fired at the man and more than 200 detainees stood up to see what was happening. Unexpectedly, soldiers surrounded them from both sides and fired into the crowd.

The Irrawaddy was unable to reach any eyewitnesses by phone on Thursday.

The schoolteacher said that as of 10 a.m. this morning, dozens of soldiers were stationed in the village. Emergency rescue teams, including members of the International Red Cross (ICRC) as well as lawmakers, have been banned from entering the village to pick up the bodies or patients.

Schoolteachers and multiple sources from the village identified the dead villagers as Zaw Latt, Maung Win, La Phyu Thee, Than Khae Aung, Maung Than Oo, Aung Zaw Linn and Kha Mwee Chay.

In April, apart from Kayuktan village, several clashes happened between the AA and Army troops in Rathedaung Township.

The post Army Says 6 Villagers Shot Dead in Detention in N. Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Yangon Timeout

Posted: 02 May 2019 06:12 AM PDT

Silence is Golden Vol. 2 Launch

Silence is Golden is a DVD-magazine about contemporary art in Myanmar since the political changes of 2015 – 2019. Created by curator and artist Aung Myat Htay, the content features video interviews with some of Myanmar's most prominent contemporary artists including Htein Lin, Maung Di, Zun Ei Phyu, Sow Yu Nwe, Maung Day and more. The launch event will give attendees the opportunity to meet some of the featured artists and drinks and snacks will be provided.

May 3 | 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. | The Japan Foundation | No.70 Nat Mauk Lane 1, Bahan Township

Yangon ICT Fair

The biggest companies and players in Myanmar's ICT industry will come together for a three-day fair held this weekend at Tatmadaw Hall. Meet representatives of Nippon, Prolink, Technoland, Vanguard Business Solutions and many more. Companies will offer special promotions on products throughout the event.

May 3 to 5 | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. | Tatmadaw Hall | U Wisara Road, Dagon Township

Back to the 90s Party

Dance back to your youth at this 90s-themed party where DJ Eric will be playing the unmistakably cheesy top tunes from the 90s. Bicycle shorts, dungarees and other 90s attire are optional.

May 3 | 7 p.m. | The Penthouse | 8th Floor, Parkside One Building, 271-273 Bagayar Street, Sanchaung Township

Attachment — Art Exhibition by Ma Charm

Artist Ma Charm paints colorful abstract portraits featuring Myanmar women and the theme for this latest exhibition is attachment. Her paintings show attachment in various forms, be it to a pet, possession or person. This is her third solo exhibition and will run over three days this weekend.

May 3 to 5 | Gallery 65 | No. 65, Yaw Min Gyi Road, Dagon Township

Open Workshop at Turquoise Mountain

Witness the Turquoise Mountain artisans create handmade jewelry inspired by Myanmar's rich heritage. This event also sees the launch of a new line of Pippa Small-designed jewelry produced in collaboration with Turquoise Mountain, a non-profit organization which works in a number of countries and focuses on heritage restoration, traditional crafts and related skills and jobs.

May 4 | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Turquoise Mountain Myanmar | 14-16, 21st Street (Lower Block), Latha Township

May the 4th Be With You

This is a quirky Star Wars-themed open house day at Climb O' Clock climbing center. Anyone who comes to climb dressed in Star Wars-themed clothing gets to climb for free all day on Saturday!

May 4 | 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. | Climb O' Clock | 861 Zagar Street, South Okkalapa Township

Together Festival

This is said to be one of the biggest EDM festivals in Southeast Asia and now it's coming back to Yangon for a fifth year. DJs performing on the day include Jauz, Skimm, R3hab, Alison Wonderland and many other popular international acts. Tickets cost upwards of 35,000 kyats (general admission).

May 4 | 4 p.m. to 12 p.m. | Thuwannabhumi Event Park | Thanthuma Road, Thingangyun Township

Makers Market

This is the fifth Makers Market, a popular afternoon/evening event where you will find an exciting range of the finest locally made and handmade arts and crafts, clothing, food and food vendors and get the chance to meet the makers, designers and artists behind the products. Some interesting new vendors at this edition include Studio Art Face Myanmar, Apyone Myanmar Textiles and Moo Chuu Footwear.

May 5 | 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Karaweik Gardens | Kandawgyi Nature Park, Mingalar Taung Nyunt Township

Cinco de Mayo Festival at Yangon Yangon

Cinco de Mayo is a major festival which celebrates Mexico's victory over the French empire in the 1860s. Today a bigger event in the United States that at home, this festival is more of a celebration of Mexican culture and is marked with colorful parades, parties and plenty of drinking. In honor of the day, Yangon Yangon has an event with three hours of free-flow Mexican beer, tacos and nachos. Tickets 30,000 kyats (early bird) and 35,000 kyats (at the door).

May 5 | 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Yangon Yangon | Sakura Tower, Bogyoke Aung San Street, Kyauktada Township

G Talk Yangon: Touching on Equality 

At this sixth G Talk event, Little Dragons organizers Bradley Edwards and Josh Peck will talk about how their organization works in Yangon to empower youth and promote gender equality, education and youth development through sport.

May 6 | 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. | Hotel G | 5 Alan Pya Pagoda Street, Dagon Township

Standup Asia Live Comedy

Andrew Netto is one of Malaysia's biggest comedians and a famous emcee who is headlining this next comedy event by Standup Asia at Park Royal Hotel this Wednesday. He will be supported by Canadian Brian Aylward and Malaysian Prakash Daniel for a night of giggles. Tickets $8.

May 8 | 7:30 p.m. | Club 5 | Park Royal Yangon, Alan Pya Pagoda Street, Dagon Township

The post Yangon Timeout appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Tensions High Following Mon-Karen Clash at Three Pagodas Pass

Posted: 02 May 2019 06:02 AM PDT

Military tensions have heightened between Mon and Karen rebels over a territorial dispute in the strategic area of Three Pagodas Pass in Karen State near the Thailand-Myanmar border following a skirmish on Monday, according to local sources.

The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), blocked all roads into Tha Dein Village where the Mon National Liberation Army (MNLA) troops have a military base causing tensions to rise. Both sides have been closely watching the other's movements, with the KNLA calling in additional troops yesterday in preparation for an attack on the Mon group's base.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) informed the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, on Wednesday about the KNLA blocking roads in the area, confining locals to the village, including ill persons requiring treatment at hospitals outside.

According to the NMSP, following their complaint, the KNLA reopened one road.

"They opened one road only for civilians to use but they continue to block other roads in order to stop our troops' movements," Nai Oung Thein, the NMSP's deputy liaison officer, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

If the KNLA come inside the village, he said, his army will fight.

"We will not go [out] to attack them, but if they come into our area, we are prepared to fight them back."

A small clash broke out on Monday between the KNLA and the MNLA in a disputed territory where NMSP staff are carrying out a logging project. When KNLA troops came in to stop the logging, the skirmish broke out.

"The main problem is that they accused us of cutting timber in an area where they control. But this is not true—that area is under our control," he said.

In explaining the details on Monday's clash, he said the KNLA offered to negotiate via a local who came to the logging project area. But as soon as he left, the KNLA began firing at the NMSP soldiers anyway.

"They fired shots first and the shells fell near our troops. Fortunately, none of us were hurt," said Nai Oung Thein.

The fighting continued for thirty minutes before the KNLA troops left the area, according to the NMSP. Neither party has reported any casualties following the clash.

Regarding the suggested negotiations on the territorial dispute Nai Oung Thein said he did not know yet whether his party's top level would agree to meet with the KNU.

The NMSP liaison office has attempted to arrange a negotiation session with their opponent's liason office, but invites to the KNU side have gone unanswered.

When The Irrawaddy tried to contact the KNU liaison office at Three Pagodas Pass for comment, the relevant persons were unavailable.

The disputed area been seen peace since the NMSP signed a ceasefire with the Myanmar government in 1995. Both the KNU and the NMSP later made verbal agreements to work towards local development and economic improvement, especially in that area of forestry.

When the NMSP carried out a logging project there in the past, they agreed to give the KNU 400 Thai baht for every ton of timber they harvested. But this time, the KNU did not accept the payment, and instead insisted the area belongs to them only.

The post Tensions High Following Mon-Karen Clash at Three Pagodas Pass appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

With the Bear and the Dragon, Myanmar Military Plays Safe

Posted: 02 May 2019 05:43 AM PDT

Military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing's high-level visits to China and Russia in April demonstrated that Myanmar's once isolated military continues to diversify while keeping its traditional allies happy.

During his visit to China, the message from the commander-in-chief in Myanmar was loud and clear: "Myanmar regards China as an eternal friend and a strategic partnercountry," reads a press release issued by Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing's office as he was meeting with top civilian and military officials in Beijing.

The visit came ahead of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to China to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum and, more importantly, send a message toWa rebels as they were holding their 30th anniversary celebrations.

Myanmar needs China's support and understanding more than ever.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape a military crackdown triggered by coordinated attacks on security posts in Rakhine State by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. The UN called the military's actions a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

Last year, China voted against the UN Human Rights Council's move to establish a body to investigate possible genocide in Myanmar.

"Myanmar is thankful for China as a good neighbor for its correct stance and standing against the international community over the Rakhine State issue," the commander-in-chief said. Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing also told Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing that Myanmar's military was ready to cooperate on implementing China's ambitious BRI, which he said includes a host of projects that could benefit Myanmar. This statement should appease the Chinese.

But behind the handshakes and smiles between the two leaders, there is uneasiness. (The most recent visit was Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing's fifth. His first overseas visit as commander-in-chief of military forces was to Vietnam in 2011—a move seen by observers as snubbing "big brother" China.)

An SU-30 fighter jet / Scramble Magazine

'External Destructive Elements'

Diplomatic relations between Myanmar and the People’s Republic of China were established in 1950. They remain complicated due to China's economic and geopolitical interest in the country, unresolved border issues and Beijing's backing of ethnic insurgents in Myanmar along the Chinese border.

Underneath the rhetoric during his visit, the really pressing issue between China and Myanmar (which share a border that is more than 2,000 km long) is the powerful ethnic armies stationed along China's border with Myanmar. These groups, known collectively as the "Northern Alliance", are well funded, well armed, resourceful and backed by China.

During the visit, China requested that Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing extend the military's unilateral ceasefire. On Tuesday, the Army announced that the ceasefire has been extended until June.

In a limited edition, 99-page paper released in 2016, the Myanmar military specifically mentioned the military build-up of neighboring countries, and in particular China's involvement with ethnic armed groups along the border, though the paper also lauded China's emergence as a 21st-century power.

In the paper it mentioned "external and internal destructive elements who oppose national reconciliation and the development of border areas."

Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing is no stranger to Chinese and ethnic insurgents along the shared border.

In August 2009, then General Min Aung Hlaing, who was at that time chief of Special Operations 2, led an offensive against one of the ethnic groups in the region, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), forcing over 30,000 refugees to flee to the Chinese side.

The surprise offensive undoubtedly strained relations between the two countries, particularly as the Kokang are ethnically Chinese.

Beijing warned the junta at the time to "properly handle domestic problems and maintain stability on the China-Myanmar border." A headline in The New York Times bore the bold headline: "Myanmar Army Routs Ethnic Chinese Rebels in the North."

Chinese President Xi Jinping receives Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 10. / Commander-in-Chief's Office website

The Kokang are a Han Chinese group, and generally speak Mandarin. The MNDAA is led by Peng Jiasheng, who is believed to be hiding in China or in nearby Wa territory.

The conflict erupted again 2015 when the Kokang rebels launched an offensive to retake their former headquarters, Laukkai.

The Myanmar Army mobilized troops and employed air power to quell the offensive, prompting the Chinese to ask the two sides to resolve the dispute peacefully so that refugees who had fled across the border could return home.

Then-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing claimed he would defend Myanmar's sovereignty by driving out foreign ethnic nationals, specifically the ethnic Kokang Chinese. This no doubt upset the Chinese.

Myanmar's generals have always been cautious in their dealings with China, and Beijing has long been suspected of supporting certain armed ethnic groups in northern Myanmar, particularly the United Wa State Army and the Kokang.

Therefore, the issue of stability along the border with China was discussed during the recent visit. Myanmar promised to ensure stability in border areas and Beijing repeated its commitment to support peace and national reconciliation in Myanmar. But in reality, this is going to be difficult. Ethnic rebels based along the China-Myanmar border have developed not only lucrative trade ties but also patron-client relations with China. The Myanmar military's containment strategy over ethnic armed groups along the border definitely needs to be defined and reviewed.

Toys for Boys in Russia

After his China visit, Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing went to Russia in the same month to attend the 8th Moscow Conference on International Security. Myanmar shares no border with Russia and there are no proxy armies in Russia's pocket fighting against Myanmar; this means the two sides can get straight down to business.

Like China, Russia is not interested in issues of democracy, human rights and press freedom in Myanmar. It is a relationship of convenience between the two.

A rebel soldier of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army places an ammunition belt around the neck of another soldier at a military base in Kokang region on March 10, 2015. / Reuters

During the visit, Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing's delegation visited several military facilities. Russia is currently assembling six Sukhoi SU-30SM fighter jets for Myanmarunder a contract worth about US$204 million (310.66 billion kyats) signed between the two nations last year. Previously, Myanmar bought MiG29B fighter jets and Yak-130 trainer aircraft from Russia. Myanmar also operates Mi-17, Mi-24 and Mi-35 combat helicopters.

At a press conference, Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing praised Russia's military hardware, saying it was "very useful" for the Tatmadaw in key locations in Myanmar.

Upon meeting Snr-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Russian Defense Minister General Sergey Shoigu said, "I have learned that the Myanmar delegation visited Russian arms manufacturing enterprises and examined their production and manufacturing capacity. Now you have an independent opinion of our capabilities."

Interestingly, Shoigu said Russia considers Myanmar to be a reliable ally and strategic partner in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

Russia and Myanmar established ties in 1948, and three years later opened embassies in each other's countries. Like China, Russia also voted at the U.N Security Council to block a resolution on Myanmar over the Rohingya crisis.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Myanmar was the fifth-biggest importer of Russian weapons and aircraft in 2014, spending $20.4 million on Russian weapons in that year. Additionally, Myanmar sends officers to Russian military academies for training. (The Tatmadaw also sends officers to India, China, Japan and Israel.)

China is one of Myanmar's biggest trading partners but trade between Myanmar and Russia is very modest. Russia has invested in the energy sector but Russian businessmen still see Myanmar as a risky market.

However, Myanmar imports machinery, industrial equipment and vehicles, chemical products and metals from Russia and exports rice and textiles to the country.

Myanmar military troops take part in an exercise in the Irrawaddy Delta region on Feb. 3, 2018. / REUTERS

But defense ties between the two are strong, as Myanmar military leaders look beyond China to search for advanced and reliable weapons.

Moreover, Myanmar also sees Russia as a helpful "big brother" to counterbalance the influence of China, India and Western powers. Some observers see Myanmar as a strategic market for Russia, which is eyeing increased arms sales in the region.

Submarines Next?

Interestingly, Myanmar's military delegation paid a visit to St. Petersburg's Admiralteyskie Verfy Shipyard, one of the largest in Russia. There, the senior general and his team studied the manufacture, repair and maintenance of submarines.

It is an open secret that Myanmar's leaders want to acquire submarines, as the country has recently built up its naval capabilities. Over the past decade, Myanmar naval officers have undergone technical training in Russia, India and Pakistan. It is believed that Myanmar generals have been looking at several types of submarines, with diesel-powered models being the most likely option, as they are the best fit for Myanmar's waters.

When the military conducted its Combined Fleet Exercise-Sea Shield 2019 in the Bay of Bengal, Commodore Moe Aung, Navy chief of staff, told the press that Myanmar was planning to buy submarines.

The Royal Thai Navy signed a contract with China to buy a diesel-electric submarine in May 2017. The vessel is expected to be delivered by 2023.

In 2017, the Bangladesh Navy also bought two refurbished Type 035G (Ming class) submarines from China.

Over the past decade, the Myanmar Navy has upgraded its frigates, corvettes and missile boats, and improved its domestic shipyards with help from foreign countries, especially China and Russia. Looking at Thailand and Bangladesh, the Myanmar Navy wants to safeguard its long coastline and foreign and maritime security threats, as well as tackle human trafficking, arms smuggling, terrorism and drug trafficking.

Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and his delegation view the manufacture, repair and maintenance of submarines the Admiralteyskie Verfy Shipyard in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 16. / Commander-in-Chief Office's website

In 2008, Myanmar and Bangladesh sent warships into the Bay of Bengal amid escalating tensions over a vast disputed gas find. And with growing unresolved migration issues along the border, Myanmar military leaders no doubt see Bangladesh as a threat.

In 2001-02, Myanmar engaged in serious military skirmishes with Thailand on the northern border in Mae Sai-Tachilek.

Thailand scrambled F-16 jet fighters in the border region and successfully disrupted communications between commanders and frontline troops. Myanmar's generals were humiliated and subsequently bought Russian-made MiG-29 jet fighters and missiles, and even sent secret military delegations to North Korea to buy more weapons.

'Guardian of the State'

According to the 2016 defense strategy paper, in which the military outlined its strategies and policies, one of its key goals is to build a strong, competent and modern patriotic force to serve as the guardian of the state. The military has also improved relations with neighbors including Thailand, Vietnam, China, India, Japan and Russia.

The immediate concern Myanmar and the military face is continuing pressure from the West, including sanctions.

This week, the European Union extended an arms embargo and placed sanctions on 14 top military and border officials. Military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told the media that most of the military's weaponry systems come not from the EU, "but from Russia and China, so Myanmar will not be affected very much."

With Western sanctions on Myanmar remaining in place, Myanmar generals will have zero chance to forge military relations with the U.S., the E.U. and others in the West.

It is true that Myanmar's generals will have to contend with regional and traditional allies. The military is accused of human rights violations while wanting to retain its national political role. It is impossible that the generals will get a welcome reception in the West.

When it comes to the Bear and the Dragon, history teaches Myanmar's military leaders that their best bet is to play safe.

Aung Zaw is founding editor-in-chief of The Irrawaddy.

The post With the Bear and the Dragon, Myanmar Military Plays Safe appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Struggle Continues for Myanmar Migrants in Thailand

Posted: 02 May 2019 05:20 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand—Myanmar migrant workers and advocacy groups in Thailand have called for their rights to minimum wages, safety at work, better accesses to social security and smoother work permit and visa extension application processes on International Labor Day, or May Day.

While many migrant workers participated in the May Day march in Phang-nga, southern Thailand, dozens more gathered for a discussion event on Wednesday in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, alongside migrant rights advocates and experts, to share their experiences with the Thai government authorities.

Nang Mya, a Myanmar housemaid working in Chiang Mai, said she doesn't get paid a full minimum wage despite working for eight hours a day.

"I want to earn the daily minimum wage (320 Thai baht in Chiang Mai), but I get 300 baht per day. When I asked my employer [about it], they said they could only give that amount," she said, adding that even though her pay doesn't meet the minimum, her job here earns her more than she earned in Myanmar.

Ko Latt, who works at a shop which sells Buddhist shrines said that even though he earns above the minimum wage, he doesn't receive payment for overtime.

"I have been working in Thailand for six years and I do not get days off for public holidays. If I take leave on those days, I do not get paid. And there is no payment for extra hours after eight hours a day. There is no lunch break either. The accommodation is bad too. If I get sick, the employer would not care and there are no labor rights," he told The Irrawaddy.

Other difficulties faced by migrant workers from Myanmar are higher costs for visa extensions, for obtaining official documents and social security issues, said Pi Thong Khan, adviser in migrant affairs at the Migrant Assistant Program (MAP) based in Chiang Mai.

"They (migrant workers) are worried about what to do when their visas expire next year," she said, saying the window during which migrants must renew their visas is between just 20 and 30 days. Additionally, an inadequate number of one-stop government service centers has led to the centers being packed with thousands of migrants which created more opportunities for brokers to exploit migrants.

To tackle illegal migration and to reduce issues with undocumented migrants, the Thai and Myanmar governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2009 and since then have introduced a number of schemes to improve the documentation process for those working in Thailand unofficially.

Many Myanmar migrants who had been working in Thailand for decades were unable to travel from one province to another until the government began issuing temporary Myanmar passports in 2009. Then, in 2013, there was a renewed push for migrants in Thailand to apply for regular passports which are valid for five years. To obtain these passports, however, all have to go through a national verification process to prove that they are Myanmar citizens, and to do this they must have national identification cards and household registration documents. And these are hard to come by.

"The passport should be one that migrants can use for a long time, and the cost should be reduced," Pi Thong Khan said, referring to the additional broker fees which migrant workers often have to pay in order to get the help of agents to overcome the complicated application processes.

"We don't want to have to go through brokers, as [we] have to pay them more fees than the normal costs," she added.

Despite these difficulties, as of September 2018 there are over 2.2 million people  Myanmar workers officially registered in Thailand. Myanmar workers make up the highest number of foreign workers followed at some distance by Cambodia (more than 820,000 workers) and Laos (nearly 300,000) who are registered.

Among the 2.2 million workers, those with certificates of identification make up more than one million. Those whose visas will expire in March 2020 are more than 777,000.

Labor rights groups estimate there could be tens of thousands more undocumented, particularly in the agriculture sector, construction and seasonal industries.

Jai Han, a construction worker who has been working in Thailand for 10 years said it would be good if "the Myanmar government could help migrant workers who hold certificates of identity to get official passports with the help of the embassy instead of [them having to go] back to Myanmar."

He also requested for the Thai government "to help migrants access safe working environments, to allow visa extensions for their dependents and to give migrant better work opportunities and not restrict them."

Although there are demands from migrant workers for better labor rights and from labor advocates for better government policies, the visa and passport processes are the same as ever, according to U Htoo Chit, director of the Foundation for Education Development, based in Phang-nga, southern Thailand.

He said he has seen many more Thai employers encourage their employees to obtain the official documents compared to previous decades, but that the government has not yet provided policies to smoothen processes for migrant workers.

Since the 2009 MOU process was introduced, many more in the fishery sector—considered the most exploited sector employing migrants—have become legal. There are now more than 20,000 official laborers working in Thai waters, he added. Last year, the Thai and Myanmar governments agreed to increase employment efforts aiming to hire more than 42,000 workers.

"We explained to the workers that having certificates of identity and going through national verification is good for them, but many of them could not afford the high cost [compared to their wages]," he said.

He added that for those who have had to leave their homes in Myanmar due to civil war and those who are not members of the indigenous ethnic groups, like Gurkhas and Muslims, the troublesome verification processes continue to hamper their efforts in obtaining the necessary official documents.

The post The Struggle Continues for Myanmar Migrants in Thailand appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

11 Years after Cyclone Nargis, Many Are Still Feeling Its Effects

Posted: 02 May 2019 04:50 AM PDT

Eleven years ago today, Myanmar experienced the worst natural disaster in its recorded history as Cyclone Nargis, generating winds of over 200 kph and torrential rainfall, took the lives of some 130,000 people.

The military government of the time declared Irrawaddy, Yangon and Bago regions, along with Mon and Karen states, as disaster areas. The Irrawaddy Delta bore the brunt of the disaster, with over 2 million people affected, including more than 100,000 fatalities.

While the cyclone caused catastrophic destruction, the situation was worsened by the government's failure to undertake real-time search and rescue operations, and its decision to restrict international aid.

While rehabilitation programs were launched, many Irrawaddy Delta residents left their hometowns to make a living in other parts of the country, as the industry that provided their major livelihood, fishing, was destroyed by the cyclone. More than a decade on, many families are still struggling to put the nightmare behind them.

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Township Lawmaker Accuses Hotels of Spoiling Ngapali’s Natural Beauty

Posted: 02 May 2019 04:25 AM PDT

SITTWE—A proposal was submitted on Monday to take legal action against hotels encroaching on Ngapali Beach, in the Thandwe region of southern Rakhine State.

Thandwe Township lawmaker Nai Kyue Aye submitted the proposal, saying that nine beachfront hotels—Aureum Palace Hotel, Jasmine Hotel, Amazing Hotel, Ngapali Paradise Hotel, Hilton Hotel, PVI Hotel, BT Bay Hotel, Memento Hotel and Jade Marina Hotel—have encroached on the sand area on the ocean side of their properties.

Those hotels, he said, have spoiled the natural beauty of the beach by constructing swimming pools, retaining walls, restaurants and security guard posts on the beach next to their hotels detracting from the beach's beauty.

In 2016, Ngapali was voted the top beach destination in Asia in TripAdvisor's Traveler's Choice Awards. Now, it is not even in TripAdvisor's list of top 25 beaches in the world.

According to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism guidelines on coastal beach resort areas, construction sites must be 50 meters back from the high-tide mark, must avoid building walls or fences that block views of the beach and must not use beach sand.

Of the nine hotels that have encroached on the beach, the Thandwe Township municipality has filed a lawsuit only against the Aureum Hotel, said the lawmaker.

The Rakhine State parliament has approved discussing Nai Kyue Aye's proposal. Rakhine State minister for planning and finance U Kyaw Aye Thein said he would make a field inspection this week.

Rakhine State Parliament Speaker U San Kyaw Hla called for a speedy investigation into the case.

According to the Thandwe branch of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Ngapali has 35 licensed hotels and guesthouses providing at least 1,300 rooms to tourists. There are also dozens of unlicensed hotels.

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Thai King Surprises with Royal Wedding Ahead of Coronation

Posted: 02 May 2019 02:00 AM PDT

BANGKOK—Just days before his official coronation, Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Wednesday married the deputy head of his personal guard force and gave her the title Queen Suthida.

The surprise announcement was carried in the Royal Gazette, and footage from Wednesday’s wedding ceremony was later shown on the nightly Royal News segment aired on all Thai television channels.

Vajiralongkorn, 66, also known by the title King Rama X, became constitutional monarch after the death of his revered father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October 2016 after 70 years on the throne.

He is due to be officially crowned in elaborate Buddhist and Brahmin ceremonies on Saturday, followed by a procession through Bangkok the next day.

In 2014, Vajiralongkorn appointed Suthida Tidjai, a former flight attendant for Thai Airways, as a deputy commander of his bodyguard unit.

Some royal observers and foreign media had linked Suthida romantically with the king, but the palace had previously never acknowledged a relationship between them.

The king made Suthida a full general in the Royal Thai Army in December 2016, and the deputy commander of the king’s personal guard in 2017. He also made her a Thanpuying, a royal title meaning Lady.

Among the dignitaries at the wedding were Prayuth Chan-ocha, the leader of the military junta that has run Thailand since a 2014 army coup, as well as other members of the royal family and palace advisers, the wedding footage showed.

Vajiralongkorn has previously been married and divorced three times and has seven children.

While the king took the throne after the death of his father, his formal coronation follows a mourning period for King Bhumibol, whose royal cremation was held a year after his death.

The post Thai King Surprises with Royal Wedding Ahead of Coronation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

President’s €35.7M Hydropower Loan Plan Presented to Union Parliament

Posted: 02 May 2019 01:49 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—Deputy Minister for Electricity and Energy U Tun Naing presented President U Win Myint's proposal to obtain €35.7 million (60 billion kyats) in loans from the French Agence Française de Développement (AFD), to be used for major repairs on five hydropower plants throughout Myanmar, to the Union Parliament on Tuesday.

The ministry said that hydropower plants, the main source of power production in Myanmar, are short of water due to rising temperatures across the country. The proposal comes at a time when the commercial capital Yangon and other major cities are experiencing frequent blackouts.

"After repairs, those plants will be able to produce an additional 81 million kilowatts in total per year," said the deputy minister.

According to the ministry, the five hydropower plants to be repaired are the Ye Nwe and Zaung Tu power plants in Bago Region, the Mone Chaung power plant in Magwe Region, the Kin Tar power plant in Mandalay and the Thapan Seik power plant in Sagaing Region.

The renovations will be phased over five years and scheduled to be completed in 2024. The loan will have to be repaid in 20 years at an interest rate of 0.68 percent.

Hydropower plants need major repairs every 10 years, according to the deputy minister. However, these five hydropower plants have not been repaired in between 10 and 30 years, and thus cannot operate at full capacity.

Those plants can currently generate a combined 565 million kilowatts per year, but they lose 246 kilowatts per year due to emergency shutdowns forced by mechanical breakdowns, the deputy minister told the Parliament.

Once repaired, the plants will be able to produce 646 million kilowatts in total, he said.

In the past, some repairs required were beyond the former government's budget, said Lower House lawmaker U Thant Zin Tun.

"These works must be done as the NLD (National League for Democracy) government fulfills the electricity demands as [ably] as it can," he told The Irrawaddy.

The proposal earmarks €5.4 million for repair of the Ye Nwe power plant, €3.3 million for the Mone Chaung power plant, €16.4 million for the Zaung Tu power plant, €2.4 million for the Kin Tar power plant, €6.5 million for the Thapan Seik power plant and €1.7 million for the hiring of a consultancy firm for the projects.

"Those plants are like old buildings. Inferior [equipment] was bought [by the previous government] as there was no money," said U Myat Thin Aung, chairperson of Hlaingtharyar Industrial Zone. "The government will earn more [from electricity bills] if electricity can be supplied round the clock. I support repairing with loans."

Lawmakers wishing to debate the proposal are to register by May 3.

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Leave My Country Alone, Sri Lanka President Tells Islamic State

Posted: 01 May 2019 09:46 PM PDT

COLOMBO—Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said a foreign mastermind may have planned the Easter Sunday bombings, claimed by Islamic State, telling the militant group to “leave my country alone.”

Sirisena also warned it may be possible Islamic State had launched a “new strategy” by targeting smaller countries, Sky New said on Wednesday.

A government source told Reuters on Tuesday police and other security forces across the Buddhist-majority country had been ordered to remain on high alert because the militants were expected to try to strike again, before the holy month of Ramadan which starts on Monday.

Sirisena said authorities were aware of “a small group” of Sri Lankans who had travelled abroad to receive training from Islamic State over the past decade.

Investigations revealed the bombs used in the Easter attacks were made locally, the president said in the interview.

The suicide bombings on hotels and churches killed more than 250 people, including 40 foreign nationals.

Police suspect members of two previously little-known groups—National Thawheedh Jamaath and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim—of carrying out the attacks.

On Monday, Islamic State's media network published a video message purporting to come from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which would be his first appearance since declaring the jihadists' now-defunct "caliphate" five years ago.

In the video, a bearded man with Baghdadi's appearance says the Sri Lanka bombings were Islamic State’s response to losses in its last territorial stronghold of Baghouz in Syria.

In the Sky News interview, Sirisena said he had a message for Islamic State: “Leave my country alone.”

Sri Lankan authorities have previously said that they suspect the attackers had international links, although the precise nature of those connections aren’t known. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol, as well as other undisclosed foreign agencies, are helping Sri Lanka with the probe.

Local intelligence officials believe that Zahran Hashim, a Tamil-speaking preacher from the east of the Indian Ocean island country, may have been a key player in plotting the Easter bombings. Officials believe he was one of nine suicide bombers.

The post Leave My Country Alone, Sri Lanka President Tells Islamic State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

K-Pop Stardom Lures Japanese Youth to Korea Despite Diplomatic Chill

Posted: 01 May 2019 09:39 PM PDT

SEOUL—Yuuka Hasumi put high school in Japan on hold and flew to South Korea in February to try her chances at becoming a K-pop star, even if that means long hours of vocal and dance training, no privacy, no boyfriend, and even no phone.

Hasumi, 17, joined Acopia School in Seoul, a prep school offering young Japanese a shot at K-pop stardom, teaching them the dance moves, the songs and also the language.

She is one of an estimated one million other K-pop star wannabes, from South Korea and abroad, hoping to get a shot at super competitive auditions by major talent agencies that will take on just a select few as “trainees.”

“It is tough,” Hasumi said in Japanese, drenched in sweat from a dance lesson she attended with 15-year-old friend Yuho Wakamatsu, also from Japan.

“Going through a strict training and taking my skill to a higher level to a perfect stage, I think that’s when it is good to make a debut,” she said.

Hasumi is one of 500 or so young Japanese who join Acopia each year, paying up to $3,000 a month for training and board.

The school also fixes auditions for its candidates with talent management companies that have been the driving force behind the “Korean-wave” pop culture that exploded onto the world stage in the past decade with acts such as global chart topping boy band BTS.

The influx of Japanese talent that is reshaping the K-pop industry comes at a time of increasingly bitter political acrimony between the two countries that has damaged diplomatic ties.

That the tension has done little to dent the K-pop craze among Japanese youth, and the willingness by Korean agencies to take on Japanese talent, speak to the strength of the ties between their people, according to one long-time observer.

“They’re nuts about BTS over there in Japan,” said Lee Soo-chul, board member of Seoul-Tokyo Forum, a private foundation with members of diplomats and business executives from both countries.

K-pop groups, and veteran Korean musicians, are selling out concert halls throughout Japan, said Lee, a former head of Samsung Group’s Japanese operations. “There is no Korea-Japan animosity there.”

Deep freeze

Tensions rooted in Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of Korea have risen after South Korean court rulings against Japanese firms for forced labor, and amid a perception in Korea that Japan’s leadership has not adequately atoned for its colonial past.

But the popularity of Korean culture and K-pop music is on the rise in Japan, with many fans and artists saying they are not bothered by the diplomatic tension.

"I might get criticized for being Japanese, but I want to stand on a stage and make [South Koreans] know Japanese can be this cool," said Rikuya Kawasaki, a 16-year-old Japanese K-pop star hopeful who auditioned unsuccessfully in Tokyo for Acopia School.

For schools and agencies, Japan’s music market—the second largest after the United States and bigger than China—is a big prize and many have been on a campaign to recruit Japanese talent.

“It will be good if Japan and South Korea will get along through music,” Hasumi told Reuters during a break from her Korean language class.

Some Japanese transplants have already made it big. The three Japanese members of the girl band Twice helped make the group the second most popular act in Japan, after BTS.

Their success has prompted JYP Entertainment, the South Korean agency backing Twice, to plan the launch of an idol group comprising only Japanese girls.

JYP declined to comment for this story.

Agency officials are reluctant to discuss their success in Japan and the infusion of Japanese talent, wary of fueling a politically charged backlash, industry sources said.

Hard road to stardom

There’s no shortage of Japanese hopefuls willing to train under talent agencies’ watchful eye, some having left successful careers back home in search of K-pop fame.

“I've heard stories about no free time or not being able to do what I want. But, I think all of K-pop stars who are now performing have gone down the same road,” said Nao Niitsu, a 19-year-old college freshman from Tokyo.

During a visit to Seoul paid for by her mother, herself a die-hard BTS fan, Niitsu auditioned for 10 agencies and was accepted by five.

Debut is elusive, unlike in Japan where it is easier for idols to get a start and then can hone their skills and work on their appeal with the fans.

Miyu Takeuchi said it wasn’t a difficult decision to leave a 10-year career with a top idol band AKB48 back home in Japan to sign with the K-pop agency Mystic Entertainment in March as a trainee.

Even with her experience, she has seven hours of vocal training a day and two-hour dance lessons twice a week, plus early morning Korean lessons.

She is not allowed to have a boyfriend but she says she has no regrets, despite the fact there is no guarantee she will make it.

“I don’t know how long my training period will be, but it has to reach a point where my coaches and management company say ‘Miyu, you are a professional!'”

The post K-Pop Stardom Lures Japanese Youth to Korea Despite Diplomatic Chill appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thai King’s Elaborate Coronation by Numbers

Posted: 01 May 2019 09:16 PM PDT

BANGKOK—Thailand’s coronation ceremonies for King Maha Vajiralongkorn on May 4-6 will be the first the Southeast Asian nation has seen in 69 years, when the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej was crowned in 1950.

A monarch’s coronation is given the utmost priority in Thailand, where kings have traditionally long held a divine status, and that is reflected in some astounding numbers.

– 1,000,000,000 — Total cost in Thai baht of the coronation ceremonies, equal to about US$31.2 million.

– 69 — Years since Thailand’s last coronation, in 1950.

– 12 — The 12th coronation for kings of the reigning Chakri dynasty.

– Up to 200,000 — The number of citizens expected to line streets in Bangkok to view the ceremony. Millions will watch on television.

– 40,000 — Security personnel deployed during the ceremonies.

– 41,000 — Temples nationwide where monks will pray simultaneously and bless the king as he receives a golden plaque with his official name and title.

– 17,568 — Number of royal volunteers in Bangkok across the three days of the coronation.

– 795 — Number of “salute” gunpowder pellets fired by the armed forces—including army, navy, and air force—separately over three days of the ceremonies.

– 1,000,000 — value in baht (about $31,340) of one limited-edition platinum coin to mark the coronation. More than 200 orders have been made.

May 4: Bathing and crowning

– 10:09 — The time in the morning when coronation ceremonies officially begin on Saturday with purification rites. Nine is an especially auspicious number in Thai culture.

– 117 — Sources of water from around the country that have been brought to Bangkok to be blessed by Buddhist monks before being combined for the royal purification rituals on May 4. The sources include five major rivers, four sacred pools, across 77 provinces.

– 8 — Sides of the wood-carved throne on which the king will sit to receive the waters of purification. The eight sides represent cardinal and ordinal directions on a compass. The number eight is also auspicious.

– 1,000 — Streams of water that will from the canopied fountain that showers the king’s head in the ablution ceremony.

– 7.3 — Weight in kilograms, equal to 16 pounds, of the intricate gold-and-gem-inlaid crown that will be placed on the king’s head in the ceremony. The multi-tiered crown is 66 centimeters (26 inches) tall.

– 9 — Tiers of the royal umbrella under which the king will officially ascend to become a living god according to Thai beliefs.

– 4 — Ancient cannons from the 19th century, used specifically for the coronation, which will fire 10 volleys each.

– 343 — Personnel physically carrying the king in a royal palanquin from the Grand Palace to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to proclaim himself the Royal Patron of Buddhism, ending the first day of the ceremony.

May 5: Procession

– More than 1,300 — Number of personnel and officials in the Royal Procession, including the prime minister, members of the cabinet, a cavalry, and a marching band.

– 7 — Distance in kilometers the royal procession will cover on foot, from the Grand Palace to three temples and back, walking at about 75 steps per minute.

– 16 — Personnel carrying the royal palanquin, changing every 500 meters.

– 500 — Length of the royal procession of more than 1,300 personnel, in meters.

– 6 — Royal songs composed by late King Bhumibol that will be played by the marching band in the royal procession.

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019

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Military Extends Ceasefire in Kachin, Shan for 2 Months

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 11:03 PM PDT

YANGON—The Myanmar military on Tuesday extended its unilateral ceasefire in five regional commands in Kachin and Shan states for two months on Tuesday, with restive Rakhine State remaining exempt from the truce.

The Office of the Commander-in-Chief announced the extension on the last day of its original four-month truce, which started on Dec. 21. The decision came hours after peace talks ended for the day between the government and the four-member Northern Alliance comprising the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Ta'ang Nationalities Liberation Army (TNLA), Arakan Army (AA) and Kokang's Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in Muse, northern Shan State on Tuesday.

Military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said the truce had been extended as peace negotiations with the four non-signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) are ongoing, and the outcome of Tuesday's talks in Muse had been positive. He added that it would help the military achieve its goal of achieving peace by 2020.

"The ceasefire period was extended until June 30. The KIA, TNLA and MNDAA also requested the extension of the ceasefire," he said.

The military (or Tatmadaw) began the four-month truce on Dec. 21 at its Northern Command in Kachin State, and the Northeastern, Eastern, Central Eastern and Triangle commands in Shan State, saying those EAOs that had not yet signed the NCA needed to be able to hold peace negotiations with the government.

The military excluded from the truce Rakhine State in western Myanmar, citing the threat posed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which the government has denounced as a terrorist group.

Peace Commission members (right side of the table) and representatives of the Northern Alliance comprising the KIA, TNLA, AA and MNDAA (left) hold talks in Muse, northern Shan State, on April 30, 2019. They agreed to hold further discussions on bilateral ceasefire agreements. / Hla Maung Shwe / Facebook

But fighting in Rakhine between the AA and the military intensified following the AA's attacks on four border police outposts on Jan. 4. Since the truce began, some 30,000 residents of northern Rakhine State have been displaced by the fighting. Dozens of civilians have reportedly been killed, but the government puts the figure at just 12.

However, the military's stance toward the AA has not changed, Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun said. The Tatmadaw vowed to crush the AA to end its insurgent activity, which it said targeted administrative mechanisms and security forces manning national border posts. The Tatmadaw has used both heavy artillery and air strikes against the AA.

It was agreed at the Muse talks between the government delegation, led by the vice chairman of the Peace Commission, and representatives of the KIA, TNLA, AA and MNDAA that further discussions would be held on signing bilateral ceasefire agreements, according to both sides. The participating groups will meet again in the third week of May.

Major Mai Aik Kyaw from the TNLA confirmed that discussions on bilateral agreements would begin this month. He said they agreed on the need "to reduce military tensions and to move forward to political discussions, especially in Rakhine State." He said the Northern Alliance members viewed Tuesday's talks as constructive.

The government delegation had already shared its position on allowing the groups to each sign a bilateral agreement or Deed of Commitment before signing the NCA with the four EAOs at talks in Kunming, China on Feb. 25. U Hla Maung Shwe, an adviser to the Peace Commission, said the EAOs also shared their responses during Tuesday's meeting.

He said the government delegation focused its discussion on their proposals and echoed the view that the talks were "constructive" and that much progress had been made.

This is the third meeting between government and Northern Alliance negotiators this year. Officials from the government's National Reconciliation and Peace Center met them in March 21 in Naypyitaw.

Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint contributed to this story.

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The Day the First Train Pulled out of Yangon Central

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 07:12 PM PDT

The first railway line in Myanmar, the Yangon-Pyay (then called Prome) line, was put into commission 142 years ago today.

At the opening ceremony, the first train pulled by a steam locomotive No. A.O1 left Yangon Central Railway Station at 6 a.m. and headed to Insein Railway Station, carrying Commissioner Augustus Rivers Thompson and a number of distinguished guests. The train stopped at Kyeemyindaing and Thamine railway stations on the way.

On reaching the station at Insein, the commissioner inspected the nearby locomotive workshop before returning to central Yangon. The train arrived back in the Central Railway Station at 8 p.m. The opening of the railroad was a much-talked about event and was covered by newspapers of the time.

It took three years to build the Yangon-Pyay railway line and much of the construction was carried out by Indian laborers. Some parts of the 1,000-year-old city of Sri Ksetra outside modern Pyay were demolished to make way for the railroad.

The Yangon-Pyay railway line came into use 52 years after the world's first which is located in England, and 24 years after India's first railway line.

By building the railroad, the British could easily export Myanmar's products to Europe, and it also gave them increased military might towards upper Myanmar which had not yet fallen under colonial rule at the time.

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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

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Media’s Unfair Coverage Exhausts Military’s Patience: Spokesperson 

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 06:40 AM PDT

The secretary of the military's True News Information Team, Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, told a news conference in Naypyitaw on Tuesday that the media had exhausted the military's patience, giving it no option but to take legal action.

"This [the military's series of recent lawsuits against media organizations and critics] is a response to our grievances. If we remained silent, they would just take advantage of that [to commit more offenses]," he said in response to reporters' questions after a "four pillars" meeting of representatives of the media and the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

The military recently sued The Irrawaddy News and Radio Free Asia (RFA) for defamation over their coverage of recent clashes between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, in Rakhine State.

The military said the cases were opened because the media organizations' coverage was unfair.

"We will continue with the cases as per the law," Brig-Gen. Zaw Min Tun added.

Asked why the military has resorted to taking action under controversial laws instead of the country's media law, he said the latter only requires offenders to pay a fine, adding that this was not a harsh enough penalty.

The military's ire has not been limited to the news media. Since the second week of this month, senior military officials have opened cases against several critics including an activist, a human rights film director and student activists. The activists and director were detained soon after charges were filed against them.

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ARSA Denies Criminal Activities in Bangladesh Camps

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 06:25 AM PDT

YANGON – The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) has rebutted the findings of the International Crisis Group (ICG) released on Thursday, which warned that Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are being increasingly operated with impunity by ARSA militants and gangs.

Nearly 1 million Rohingya who were expelled by Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, operations in 2017 have been in Bangladesh camps now for over 18 months. Returning to where they once lived in western Myanmar's Rakhine State is still but a vague hope for them as fighting has intensified between the Arakan Army (AA) and government troops in northern Rakhine as of this month.

The United Nations has accused the military of acting against the Rohingya with "genocidal intent" and international rights groups are calling for the military chief Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in mishandling the crisis.

Amid numerous challenges for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, threats against camp leaders, civil society groups and political figures have become a major threat. The ICG's recent report "Building a Better Future for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh" claims ARSA militants and gangs mostly control the camps and often commit violence against the residents.

The report highlights the safety conditions of the camp's Rohingya community leaders, the likelihood of the repatriation project agreed by Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities being carried out, and encouragements for authorities to lift the ban on the provision of formal education in the camps.

The ICG mentions that groups vying for control in the camps include ARSA, which it says is seeking to "deploy deadly violence to further its aims: informal networks of religious leaders; non-violent political and civil society groups: and a random assortment of criminal gangs."

"Violent groups operate freely in the camps. As evening draws in and humanitarian workers withdraw to their bases in Cox's Bazar town, security is in the hands of untrained and unarmed night watchmen appointed from among the refugees," the report says.

ARSA announced its denial of the report findings via its Twitter account on Tuesday, stating it is based on hearsay and is baseless. It also accuses the ICG of trying "to defame and manipulatively discolor ARSA's legitimate long-running struggle" for the persecuted Rohingya community in Rakhine.

ARSA's Twitter page is used as a communication channel for the group and is where it posts strong English-language statements. It denied "any involvement in the act of intimidation and even likely extra-judicial killings as reported." The post invited credible international organizations to investigate such "perceived crimes," saying they are "ready to cooperate."

ARSA wrote that its own objective is to defend, salvage and protect the innocent Rohingya, an indigenous ethnic community of Rakhine State, and said they have rights to defend themselves under international law. They say that is why their attacks mainly target the Myanmar military.

Despite ARSA's denials, the ICG report stated that ARSA was likely responsible for the killing of Arif Ullah, a camp leader who was hacked to death in June 2018. Death threats against Arif Ullah made by ARSA had been widely circulated on Whatsapp, and accused him of being on good terms with the Bangladeshi army.

The ICG says refugees have expressed "serious concerns about their personal security" as the militants and gangs are "intimidating, kidnapping and killing with impunity." It criticized homicides and other forms of deadly violence that commonly happen at night, saying that the police rarely investigate the cases and the perpetrators have almost never been brought to justice.

The ICG report says, "A determined and often violent struggle is currently underway for de facto control of the camps." It quoted the expression of a prominent refugee leader that he was "unable to sleep at night" for fear of attack by militants and gangs.

The ICG suggested that the Bangladesh government ease restrictions on formal education in the camps, saying that local and international organizations are ready to provide such education. The report recommends the improvement of law and order in the camps by providing a regular and effective Bangladesh police service, investigating crimes and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Currently, Rohingya children largely rely on informal private "tuitions" in dwellings and networks of madrassas that purely teach the "Koran [and] do not adequately fill the formal education gap."

The ICG said that banning education in the camp creates a risk of transnational jihadists groups gaining "a foothold in the camps."

It claims the Chittagong-based Islamist movement Hefazat-e-Islam—which has publicly called for jihad against Myanmar—has considerable influence over the madrassa network in the camps, through the funding and religious scholars that it provides.

This is the second time ARSA has denied a report on the refugee camps following another publication titled "ARSA: End Abductions, Torture, Threats against Rohingya Refugees and Women Aid Employees" launched by Fortify Rights in March.

ARSA carried out a third ambush this year in Myanmar when they targeted a police van transporting officers in northern Maungdaw in Rakhine State last week. Myanmar's state-owned newspapers reported a police officer was wounded during the attack. Footage of the incident, which later went viral on Facebook, was believed to show men wearing ARSA uniforms.

In January, six police officers including a police colonel were wounded in the first ARSA attack of the year near Wat Kyein Village in Maungdaw. The second attack five days later saw three officers wounded in an artillery assault on police outposts near Wai Lar Taung Village.

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Large Corporations Dominate ‘TiME’ Transparency Ranking

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 06:15 AM PDT

The private sector is leading the way in terms of corporate transparency and disclosure, according to the latest Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises (TiME) report by the Myanmar Center for Responsible Business (MCRB).

In the 2019 report, known in Burmese as "Pwint Thit Sa", seven of the country's leading companies, including its largest retailer City Mart Holdings Co. Ltd (CMHL), First Myanmar Investment (FMI), Max Myanmar Group and Shwe Taung Group, maintained their status from last year's report among the top 10, and all continue to improve their disclosure.

In its fifth report to date, MCRB said the owners of some Myanmar companies clearly understand the business case for corporate governance and transparency and that maintaining an up-to-date website contributes to Myanmar's reform process.

The report assessed the websites of 248 large companies, including listed, public, privately owned and state-owned economic enterprises. The number of companies making information available increased from the 2018 and 2016 transparency surveys in which 182 companies and 100 companies were assessed respectively.

MCRB scored companies based on their online disclosure of information on their corporate profiles, corporate governance, sustainability management and reporting. In its assessment, it used criteria from the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) as well as those linked to the globally respected Integrated Reporting Framework.

The report notes that while the overall disclosure of information by the companies, particularly those in the top 20, is up, the average score of all companies assessed dropped from 7 percent in 2018 to 5 percent this year.

Regarding the private conglomerates' continued dominance of the transparency survey list, MCRB director Vicky Bowman said, "This shows that what motivates their owners and top executives is not regulatory requirements but the business case for transparency, corporate governance and sustainability."

She added, "They see it as a means to attract investors and business partners, and build their social license to operate. But they also see a focus on performance—for example on energy efficiency—as a means of making savings for their bottom line."

Nicolas Delange, managing partner at Yever, a consultancy firm, said, "Most companies and business leaders are embracing transparency because being transparent is the key for them to get access to funding and convince their stakeholders and shareholders that they are doing good and well."

According to Bowman, the criteria are "a way to measure whether the company 'walks the walk' or just 'talks the talk'. It is more challenging, as it requires companies to put in place systems to capture and measure performance data."

"Above all I would like companies and government departments and enterprises to see that maintaining an up-to-date website is a win-win situation, which avoids misunderstanding between them and their stakeholders, whether these are voters, shareholders, journalists or potential investors, and is an important contribution to Myanmar's reform process and SDG16, which concerns effective, accountable and inclusive institutions," she told The Irrawaddy in an email interview. SDG16 is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN in 2015. It refers to the goal of securing peace, justice and strong institutions.

According to the report, the situation concerning corporate governance, transparency and business integrity in Myanmar "has generally been improving" since political reforms were introduced in 2011 under the administration of former President U Thein Sein. It said the incumbent National League for Democracy (NLD) government continued the regulatory reforms including a new Investment Law in 2016, and a new Companies Law in 2017.

In August 2018, the government adopted the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, which outlined steps to improve corporate governance and disclosure rules, and to enforce them, as well as ways to fight corruption and improve sustainability.

This is the second report on the subject of transparency released this month. In early April, the International Finance Corporation in partnership with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar, the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) and the Yangon Stock Exchange published the Myanmar Corporate Governance Scorecard (MCGS), in which 24 large companies were assessed using the ASEAN CG Scorecard criteria.

Bowman explained, "That MCGS study found that the average score of the 24 companies they assessed was 31 percent, compared to an ASEAN average of 69 percent or more. This partly reflects the greater number of publicly listed companies in some ASEAN markets, but also reflects the fact that CG [corporate governance] is a new concept for many Myanmar companies.  Those that are keen to adopt it are pressing ahead."

MCRB said that 108, or 44 percent, of the companies assessed (based on 2017 DICA data) do not have corporate websites and most of those that do publish little or no corporate governance and performance data.

The five companies listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange had an average score of 32 percent based on a total of 143 criteria, and continue to outperform the public and private companies assessed, where the average score in each category was 4 percent.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) were included in the 2019 report for the first time. Among the 28 SOEs, Construction and Housing Development Bank  and Yangon Electricity Supply Corporation led the way in terms of disclosure. Overall, however SOEs—including the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation—had the lowest average score in terms of overall disclosure of corporate governance information.

The report outlined a set of recommendations to the government for enforcing regulatory requirements to disclose information and getting companies to abide by the law.

"Regulatory requirements to disclose beneficial ownership data, currently mentioned in several different directives from the Central Bank and others, should be made consistent and the information should be available via MyCo, the companies register. The government regulators—mainly the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM) and DICA—should start to enforce these requirements, including through fining companies who do not comply," Bowman said.

However, most companies seem unaware of the extensive regulatory disclosure requirements for listed and public companies with more than 100 shareholders.

"Companies should disentangle the finances of their company from their foundations or donation programs, and improve the governance and transparency of these, to reduce the scope for these being used for corruption," Bowman said.

According to DICA, there were 61,631 companies registered as of March this year, but many of them are small and medium-sized enterprises and not included in MCRB's assessment.

The report also highlighted issues such as corruption, environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and beneficial ownership. Of the companies assessed, 52 disclosed their subsidiaries, of which 19 companies disclosed beneficial ownership data.

According to Bowman, "It [information about beneficial ownership] facilitates banks in undertaking customer due diligence, which is why it is already mentioned in CBM [Central Bank of Myanmar] Directive 21/2015, and helps in combating money laundering. For the extractives sector, it will also enable Myanmar to be compliant with the EITI standards, which should encourage more responsible and transparent investment in the sector."

The government formed a beneficial ownership (BO) task force last June to encourage businesses to make more information available to the public as part of implementing the EITI standards. As an EITI candidate country, Myanmar is trying to meet 2016 EITI standards, one of which is having businesses' BO information made available to the public.

According to Delange at consultancy firm Yever, as "Investing is all about trust," investors will shun companies that do not disclose information on governance, strategy, shareholding structures and the like.

"Companies which are able to embrace transparency will have—and already have—a competitive advantage over their peers: we talk more about them, we respect them more, and we are more keen to do business with them. As an employee I may want to join a good company, as a customer I will select a company selling good products, as an investor I will choose a company with a good reputation. Therefore, being able to disclose information about ownership is essential for building trust. Moreover, in certain sectors—finance, extractive, etc.— it can be mandatory," he said.

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Renewed EU Sanctions Don’t Affect Us: Military Spokesperson

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 04:57 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar's military, or Tatmadaw, has said the European Union's (EU's) renewed embargo on arms and equipment wouldn't have any serious impact on it because the majority of its arsenal are of Russian and Chinese origin.

On Monday, the bloc extended sanctions which are already in place for a further year until April 2020.

The sanctions comprise of an embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by military and border guard police, restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications, and a prohibition on military training and cooperation. Plus, asset freezes and travel bans on 14 people for serious human rights violations against the Rohingya population and civilians in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states.

Military spokesperson Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun told the media on Tuesday that a majority of the military's weaponry system doesn't come from the EU, "…..but from Russia and China, so Myanmar will not be affected very much." He added that as the military is trying to develop into a "standard army," it would accept technology from any country.

This was a rare admission by a senior military official about the sources of military weaponry.

Crippled for decades by international sanctions—especially by those imposed by the West—it has long been an open secret that the military relies on Russia and China for hardware. However, they have rarely revealed that. The two powerful countries have been long-time supporters of the military regime, especially since the 1990s and early 2000s during a time when Myanmar was shunned by the international community for its human rights abuses and political oppression. Even now, decades later, military ties between them still appear to be strong.

On April 21, Myanmar's military chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing left for Russia for his third trip since taking his post in 2011. During the six-day trip, at the invite of Russia's defense minister, he participated in the 8th Moscow Conference on International Security. He also met the government of the Russian Federation and military leaders and visited plants and factories in Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, Murom, Saint Petersburg and Moscow.

According to the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services website, in Ulan-Ude, he visited an aviation plant; he viewed the MIG-29 Service Support Center in Moscow while admiring a skills demonstration and the firing of armored vehicles manufactured by the OJSC Muromteplovoz Factory in Murom.

During his trip, Russian news outlets reported that six Sukhoi SU-30SM fighter jets are being assembled for Myanmar under a contract worth about US$204 million (300 billion kyats) which was signed between the two nations last year.

Prior to his Russian trip, also in April, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing was in China for a fifth time since 2011. He visited an armored vehicle training school in Beijing and met with senior officers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) on April 11.

It wasn't known if the military chief made any deals on military hardware with China this time, but records show that Myanmar owns a number of Chinese-made aircraft. In June 2017, a Y-8 military tactical transport aircraft crashed into the Andaman Sea, killing 124 people onboard. The plane was made in China. The military later blamed bad weather for the crash.

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China to Provide 1 Billion Yuan Socioeconomic Grant to Myanmar

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 02:25 AM PDT

YANGON—China will provide a grant of 1 billion yuan (225.39 billion kyats, or approximately US$148 million) for socioeconomic development projects under an economic and technical cooperation agreement signed in Beijing last week.

Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Monday that the 1 billion yuan would be used to support socio-economic development, particularly projects to improve people's livelihoods, feasibility studies for major projects and humanitarian assistance for IDPs in northern Myanmar.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently completed a six-day visit to China to attend the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is Xi'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 officially became a BRI partner country after signing a 15-point MoU establishing the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) in September. 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).

More than 5,000 high-level delegates from over 150 countries attended the 2nd BRI Forum, including 37 heads of state and government, and representatives of international organizations.

On Thursday last week, as part of the forum, Myanmar and China signed three agreements: the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation; a Memorandum of Understanding on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) Cooperation Plan (2019-2030); and a Memorandum of Understanding on the Formulation of the Five-year Development Program for Economic and Trade Cooperation, which aims to enhance cooperation in investment and productivity.

According to the ministry's statement, the MoU on CMEC will promote cooperation in the following areas in line with the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan: industry, transportation, energy, agriculture, "digital silk road", finance, tourism, environmental protection, people-to-people exchanges, science and technology, personnel training, water resources and flood prevention and control.

China has proposed 30 projects under the CMEC, but Myanmar has only approved nine so far. Under the CMEC agreement, the Myanmar government agrees to build three border economic cooperation zones in Shan and Kachin states.

Amid growing public concern that involvement with BRI projects will incur unsustainable debt to China, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said at the High-Level Meeting Session 1, which was held under the theme "Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future," that all BRI projects "must win the confidence and support of local people".

Myanmar serves as a land bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia, in close proximity to large economies such as China, India and ASEAN. It has always been Myanmar's policy to maintain close and friendly relations with all nations, especially with its neighbors, she said.

She also expressed her belief that "BRI projects selected in line with Myanmar's national plan and priorities will contribute to its endeavors for the improvement of much needed infrastructure that will not merely enhance domestic connectivity but also improve cross-border connectivity."

The State Counselor held separate bilateral talks with Xi and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang during the trip. The Foreign Ministry statement said the two sides emphasized promoting bilateral cooperation under the BRI framework; continued provision of assistance to Myanmar's efforts for peace and national reconciliation; maintaining peace, stability and rule of law along the border areas, including a successful repatriation process in Rakhine State; and continued support to Myanmar at the UN and in other international forums.

China's recent effort to revive the controversial Myitsone Dam inflamed negative sentiments among the people in Myanmar. It was widely expected that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would use the Beijing visit to discuss the most controversial China-backed projects in Myanmar including Myitsone. However, the Myanmar President's Office said the dam was not on the agenda in Beijing, while promising that all developments related to the dam would be handled transparently and that nothing would be done without the public's knowledge.

Yangon-based ethnic affairs and China analyst U Maung Maung Soe told The Irrawaddy that the small grant comes at a time when local political tensions over Myitsone are on the rise.

"You could say it is just to soothe the people's feelings [over the Myitsone issue] and to assist border stability. The absence of larger grants at this time means the Myanmar government may need to negotiate [with China on major issues]."

At the 2nd BRI Forum, China signed more than $64 billion in deals with several countries. It repeatedly reassured existing and potential partners that Beijing does not intend to saddle them with unsustainable debts and aimed to benefit all parties involved in the initiative.

The post China to Provide 1 Billion Yuan Socioeconomic Grant to Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Overall Corruption Situation Has Not Improved, Anti-Graft Chief Says

Posted: 30 Apr 2019 01:10 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—Despite the strenuous efforts that have been made to fight corruption, the practice remains rampant in the country, Anti-Corruption Commission chairman U Aung Kyi said.

The chairman stressed the severity of the situation as he submitted his agency's annual report for 2018 to the Union Parliament on Monday.

To assess the level of corruption and gauge the success of its measures to combat it, the commission hired an independent third party to conduct a nationwide survey. The survey, which did not include Chin State, was conducted from October through December.

"According to the survey, corruption had not declined significantly by the end of 2018, and remained at the usual [level]," U Aung Kyi told Parliament.

Asked for their opinions on the major factors contributing to corruption, survey respondents cited a self-interested mindset, resistance to change, ineffective action against corruption, and poor rule of law in certain places.

Corruption will remain as long as there is vast bureaucracy in government departments, said Lower House lawmaker U Nay Myo Tun of Htantabin Township.

"For example, even the process of applying for a citizenship ID card is not simple. And [departments] ask for a lot of information and people can't present all the documents. So, they choose to pay bribes in order to get things done, which leads to corruption. Unless procedures are streamlined in the departments, this will continue to happen," U Nay Myo Tun told The Irrawaddy.

The commission received 1,054 complaints in 2018, of which only 46 could be handled under the Anti-Corruption Law. The remaining 1,795 complaints were referred to the concerned departments for action according to the code of conduct for civil servants.

Of the 1,795 complaints it handed over to the departments, the commission said action was taken on 536 complaints.

The Education Ministry will establish complaint-handling counters in the basic education sector next academic year, which starts in June, said the deputy director-general of the ministry, U Ko Lay Win.

"For example, people with links to the Education Ministry offered appointments [as basic education teachers] and transfers [to schools in major cities] in exchange for money. They asked that the money be transferred via Wave Money," he said.

Wave Money, a provider of mobile financial services, is a joint venture between Norwegian telecom operator Telenor and local bank Yoma Bank.

"In that case, we asked the Home Affairs Ministry to investigate. We can sue the perpetrators under other laws, but not under the Anti-Corruption Law," he added.

In cases of corruption among education staff and teachers, an internal investigation is done and action is taken against them under the code of conduct for civil servants. Punishments include demotions among other steps.

"Corruption will not die unless and until it is viewed as a sin, as shameful by society. [But what is happening in reality is] that people take pride in getting rich due to corruption. That wrong notion is entrenched in society," said Yangon-based author Zarni Soe Htut.

Fighting corruption will take time, said U Aung Kyi, calling corruption the major obstacle to poverty reduction and development, and a problem that weakens the entire society, with harmful political, administrative, economic and cultural effects.

"It is a long-term process to be carried out with a grand strategy that takes into consideration the structure of the country, strength of institutions, behaviors of citizens, traditions and customs," he said.

The fourth amendment to the Anti-Corruption Law has given the commission a broader mandate. The amended law gives the commission the authority to investigate any civil servant who is seen to be unusually wealthy at its own discretion. Previously, it could only probe allegations of corruption in response to formal complaints filed with strong supporting evidence.

The commission can also take action against bribe givers under the new law. The amendments also expand the anti-graft body's reach, with commission branches to be opened in other states and regions. The new law also focuses on educating the public about combating corruption, starting in primary schools as well as in government departments.

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Cambodian PM says China Ready to Help if EU Imposes Sanctions

Posted: 29 Apr 2019 11:13 PM PDT

PHNOM PENH—China will help Cambodia if the European Union (EU) withdraws special market access over its rights record, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Monday as he announced a 600 million yuan (US$89 million) Chinese aid package for his military.

Hun Sen, who is on a five-day trip to China to attend a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum in Beijing, held bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping and signed several agreements with Cambodia’s most important ally.

Cambodia benefits from the EU’s “Everything But Arms” trade scheme which allows the world’s least developed countries to export most goods to the EU free of duties.

But Cambodia risks losing the special access to the world’s largest trading bloc over its human rights records.

During a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Li pledged to help Cambodia if the EU withdraws the market access, according to a post on Hun Sen’s official Facebook page.

“In this regard … Prime Minister Li Keqiang also confirmed his efforts to help Cambodia,” the post said.

China is Cambodia’s biggest aid donor and investor, pouring in billions of dollars in development aid and loans through the Belt and Road initiative, which aims to bolster land and sea links with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Unlike, Western countries, China does not question Cambodia’s record on rights.

The EU, which accounts for more than one-third of Cambodia’s exports, including garments, footwear and bicycles, in February began an 18-month process that could lead to the suspension of the special market access.

Among the agreements Hun Sen struck in China was one for Huawei Technologies to help Cambodia develop a system for 5G technology. The Chinese tech giant has ambitions to build the next generation of data networks across the world and boasts 40 commercial 5G contracts worldwide.

China also agreed to import 400,000 tons of Cambodian rice, according to Hun Sen’s Facebook page.

“China will continue to support the national defense sector in Cambodia, and in this regard, the Chinese president announced that China will provide 600 million yuan to Cambodia’s defense sector,” the post said.

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China’s Xi Appeals to Youth Patriotism on Centenary of Student Protests

Posted: 29 Apr 2019 11:04 PM PDT

BEIJING—President Xi Jinping appealed to China’s youth on Tuesday to love the country and dedicate themselves to the Communist Party, warning on the centenary of student-led protests there was no place for those who ignored the country’s needs.

The May 4 Movement of 1919 started out as anti-imperialist student protests against a decision at the Paris Peace Conference, after World War One, to award Japan control of German concessions in China’s Shandong province.

It soon encompassed a broader debate about how China should modernize, having only just overthrown the emperor and ushered in a republic in 1911.

The issue of student protests is especially sensitive in China this year, which also marks three decades since the bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests on and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4.

Speaking to officials and youth delegates at the Great Hall of the People, Xi said China’s young should be grateful to the party, the country, the society and the people.

“Tell every Chinese person that patriotism is one’s duty, is an obligation,” Xi said, in comments carried live on state television.

“For Chinese youth of the new era, ardently loving the motherland is the foundation of building the body and of talent,” he added.

Xi also warned about the need for young people to be morally upstanding and avoid what he termed “mistaken thoughts.”

“In the new era, Chinese youth should consciously establish and practice the core values of socialism, and be good at drawing morality from the traditional virtues of the Chinese people,” he said.

“Consciously resist mistaken thoughts such as the worship of money, hedonism, extreme individualism, and historical nihilism,” Xi added, referring to attempts to reevaluate core events and personalities of the party’s revolutionary past.

Despite the optimism the May 4 Movement brought at the time, the period following it was marked by turmoil and civil war in China, which eventually lead to the overthrow of the Republican government which fled to Taiwan after the Communist revolution in 1949.

Xi said that China had to make achievements on the back of its own work, and not rely on anyone else. “A bright China is not a gift that can be given by anybody,” he said. While May 4 remains widely discussed in China, June 4 is taboo in China and it will not be marked by any officially approved events.

Xi is expected to be outside the country in early June this year, on a state visit to Russia and Central Asia.

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Death by Diet—The Race to Transform the World’s Bad Food Habits

Posted: 29 Apr 2019 10:28 PM PDT

ROME—Half a century ago farmers grew rice, sesame and pulses on the land around Myint Soe’s village in Myanmar. Now only paddy fields remain.

Technology has made farming easier, but government policy and climate change have slashed the variety of foods being produced by villagers, and they fear this is killing them when combined with an explosion of fast-food.

“Now we don’t know where the oils we eat come from because we buy what’s quick and cheap and easy,” said Myint Soe, 59.

He said many people are suffering from cancer, hardening of the arteries and other ailments, likely caused by eating low-quality oil, sugary drinks, salty snacks and instant noodles.

Fellow farmer Kyaw Lin, 47, said younger, thinner people were now having strokes.

What is happening in Thar Yar Su is just a microcosm of one of the world’s biggest problems—deadly diets, which have now overtaken smoking as the world’s biggest killer.

Data shows one in five deaths worldwide in 2017 was linked to unhealthy diets in both poor and rich countries as burgers and soda replaced traditional diets and a warming planet impacted the variety of crops grown.

The Global Burden of Disease study by the U.S.-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation said unhealthy eating is killing 11 million people a year, up from 8 million in 1990—while smoking kills about 8 million people a year.

Meanwhile billions of people lack the nutrients their bodies need.

United Nations’ figures show the global population is both hungrier and heavier than it was five years ago, and food and policy experts fear the escalating food crisis could fuel conflicts and migration without action to reverse this trend.

“We cannot only focus on tackling hunger anymore,” Jose Graziano da Silva, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said of the agency’s plans for the next two years. “We are witnessing the globalization of obesity.”

"Tipping point"

Jessica Fanzo, a professor at Johns Hopkins University and co-chair of the annual Global Nutrition Report—described as the world’s most comprehensive report on nutrition—said diets were “the number one cause of disease, disability and death.”

“We’ve already reached the tipping point,” she added, emphasizing that “massive changes” were needed.

Too many children are not growing or developing properly due to a lack of food while obesity is escalating, she said.

After decades of concentrating on how to feed an expanding global population, political leaders are realizing that nutrition—not hunger—is the new frontier, and the focus is shifting from providing enough food to food that is good.

Alan Dangour, professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said governments have not thought enough about how environmental change will impact food.

“We could have successful trade policies which enable food to be passed between countries in a sensible way, in a fair way,” he added. “If that doesn’t happen, we could see civil unrest [and] mass migration.”

Gerda Verburg, UN assistant secretary-general and coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, told a public forum in Rome this year that the future of food was “not in the calories … but in the quality and diversity.”

Governments, companies and aid agencies are now racing to shake up the world’s unhealthy food habits, using legislation, educational campaigns, new and reformulated products, and greener ways of farming.

The challenges, however, are huge—not least because climate change threatens to reduce both the quantity and quality of crops, lowering yields.

Nutrition researchers said healthier, plant-based traditional foods and plant species are being shunned for Western fast-food diets laden with sugar, salt and fat.

The fruits and vegetables backed by nutritionists as crucial to good health were expensive for many, while research funding for them was “virtually non-existent,” said Emmy Simmons, senior adviser at the Washington DC-based think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.

That is why the farm sector must adapt to make healthier foods accessible to all, said Marie Ruel, director of poverty, health and nutrition for the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Fast-food frenzy

The latest Global Burden of Disease study found the world on average ate only 12 percent of the recommended amount of nuts and seeds—but drank 10 times more sugary drinks and consumed nearly twice as much processed meats.

Modern diets are contributing to ballooning overweight and obesity figures, and a rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as stroke, cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Treating these diseases will cost the world more than $30 trillion—about 40 percent of today’s global GDP—between 2010 and 2030, according to a report from the World Economic Forum and Harvard University.

“Today, not a single country has been able to reverse the trend in obesity and NCDs,” said Karel Callens, deputy leader of FAO’s strategic program to end hunger and malnutrition.

“People are starting to suffer from all those chronic diseases at a much earlier age because now they’re getting exposed to poor nutrition, bad diets and lifestyles from a much earlier age.”

This situation could cause life expectancies to fall, experts warned, including in wealthy countries like Spain, home to the famed Mediterranean diet long praised by nutritionists for being rich in olive oil, fish and fresh produce.

For that traditional diet has been abandoned by the younger generation in favor of fast-foods like burgers, sodas and French fries, said Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez, professor of preventive medicine at the University of Navarra in Pamplona.

This was the main reason about 35 percent of Spanish adults are now obese and close to another 35 percent overweight, he said.

“This is a failure and a humiliation for public health,” said Martinez-Gonzalez.

Big food corporations have put a lot of effort and money into thwarting public campaigns and research to improve diets, he said, a charge echoed by other scientists and nutritionists.

For example, in 2016, companies making sugary drinks spent almost $50 million lobbying against U.S. government initiatives to reduce consumption of the beverages, wrote a team of experts led by New Zealand’s University of Auckland in January.

In Africa, the situation looks particularly dire, said IFPRI’s Ruel, as economies, populations and cities are predicted to expand quickly in the coming decades.

Hunger, alongside obesity and an emphasis on calorific staple crops, together with rising incomes and availability of unhealthy foods bode ill for the continent, she said.

Asian nations are fighting similar challenges.

Myanmar hopes to diversify what its people eat and grow to help the 30 percent of adolescent girls now anemic due mainly due iron deficiencies and one-fifth of women who are overweight.

That includes cultivating crops other than the staple rice—such as pulses, vegetables and fruit—using better fertilizers and improving livestock production, said Kyaw Swe Lin, director-general at the agriculture ministry.

Changing climate

Additional threats to diets stem from the world’s failure to rein in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main greenhouse gas that is heating up the planet, according to scientists.

Agriculture, forestry and other uses of land account for nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the FAO.

Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 emitted by burning fossil fuels, clearing forests and other actions could reach 550 parts per million (ppm) by 2050, reducing iron, zinc and protein levels in staple crops, said Samuel Myers, principal research scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

In 2017 concentrations of CO2 hit a record high of 405.5 ppm, figures from the World Meteorological Organization showed.

Vitamins and minerals are vital to human development, disease prevention and wellbeing, yet more than 2 billion people are estimated to be deficient in micronutrients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Working with scientists growing six staple foods across three continents, Myers and colleagues estimated that in 2050, emissions would cause zinc-deficiency in an additional 175 million people and protein-deficiency in 122 million more.

South and Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East would be most at risk, but the nutrient reductions may be less obvious than a loss of calories, so people may not adapt their diets without a push, they added.

On the other hand, hotter temperatures could actually offset nutrition loss linked to higher CO2 levels, said a study by researchers from the University of Illinois and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published in January.

This two-year field study of soybeans found increasing temperatures by about 3 degrees Celsius boosted the amount of iron and zinc in the crop.

They are now trying to understand the causes and whether humidity plays a part, said Carl Bernacchi, a scientist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.

Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall associated with climate change would also exacerbate water scarcity, change the relationships between crops, pests and pathogens, and shrink the size of fish, scientists have warned.

A global review of historical reports by researchers from the University of Sydney and University of Queensland warned that more than 40 percent of insect species were at risk of extinction, mainly because their habitats had become farm land.

Climate change could worsen their decline, further damaging food networks, other scientists have said.

Earlier this year, scientists led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research unveiled an ideal diet for the health of the planet and its people.

It was dominated by fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and legumes, most of which depend on pollinating insects, said Harvard’s Myers.

“I want to shine a spotlight on the need to start embracing more pollinator-friendly practices,” added Myers, who has started studying the demise of insects.

Dangour, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia—where food demand was expected to rise the most, according to the World Bank—would likely be hit hardest by falling yields.

This could create “a tremendous imbalance in where people live and where food is”, he said.

Old and new

Governments may be slow to react, but scientists, economists and entrepreneurs are coming up with some innovative ideas about how to change agriculture and launching revolutionary products, some based on ancient foods. For example, improved knowledge of the vast community of microbes living inside humans has led to a better understanding of health and disease in the past decade. These microbes, especially in the gut, have been linked to depression, allergies and obesity—and they are affected by diets and exposure to antimicrobials, biologists said.

Antimicrobials are drugs that destroy dangerous pathogens, making them essential for human and animal health, but whose misuse and abuse can lead to drug resistance.

They are used to promote growth in livestock farming and aquaculture—and also in crops—thereby entering the human food supply, said FAO’s Callens.

Research by the U.S.-based University of Georgia found a correlation between obesity rates and the amount of antibiotics prescribed in each U.S. state between 2011 and 2014, linked to the way antibiotics disrupt stomach bacteria.

This points to how the industrialization of agriculture, while allowing the world to feed a growing population, is having unintentional consequences for human health, Callens said.

“We really need to rethink, not just what and how we eat as people, but how we actually produce and process food,” he said.

In the Asia-Pacific region, home to the largest number of hungry and malnourished people and where obesity is rising, businesses are coming up with ways to keep weight down and diseases at bay.

These include seafood grown in a lab, plant-based alternatives to meat to suit the Asian palate, and fiber and sugars that can lower the glycemic index of food, a measure of how quickly it raises blood sugar levels.

This could help reduce the incidence of diabetes, which affects 422 million people globally and killed about 1.6 million in 2016, according to the World Health Organization.

In India, confectionery giant Mars Inc. and charity Tata Trusts recently launched a snack made from yellow peas, targeting people like Chhaya Sunil Jadhav, a local health worker whose daughter fell ill from eating cheap, salty chips. “If it is nutritious, I will buy this,” said Jadhav, trying the new crunchy squares, which cost 10 rupees ($0.15) per pack and are high in iron, protein and vitamins.

Other food aficionados are rediscovering local, often forgotten, grains and plants that are inexpensive and easily available, such as moringa from which Cameroonian mother and entrepreneur Rosette Fien makes organic cereals for children.

Brazilian chef Bela Gil uses babassu coconut flour, rich in iron, fiber and vitamins, from the Amazon to make healthy cookies, while Indian chef Anahita Dhondy is popularizing traditional cereals such as millet and sorghum.

Planet veggie?

Healthier diets could also require consumers in rich countries to reduce their meat intake.

So scientists and vegetarian advocates are turning to more subtle ways and an understanding of human nature to shift behavior, instead of relying on laws and food taxes.

Those measures include tweaking the names of dishes to make them sound indulgent and tasty, like “slow-roasted caramelized zucchini bites” instead of “lighter-choice zucchini.”

At the other end of the spectrum are millions of refugees and people forced from their homes whose health and nutrition are highly dependent on food from governments and aid agencies.

As seen in camps for families who have fled violence in Burkina Faso, most had to leave their animals behind, and have no land to grow their own fresh food.

With U.N. figures showing wars, persecution and other violence have driven a record 68.5 million people from their homes, more people than ever are dependent on food aid—and for longer periods, making it critical for rations to be nutritious.

But the majority must survive on cereals, beans and oil, because it is too expensive for humanitarian agencies to distribute meat, milk and vegetables, aid workers said.

“We’re covering the basics. If we could do more, we would want to do more,” said David Bulman, the U.N. World Food Programme representative for Burkina Faso, citing funding as the main constraint.

Providing a wholesome diet in refugee camps, remote areas and places with few resources is a logistical and cost challenge, especially when some residents are there for decades.

“The modern-day crises are not short-term,” said Corinna Hawkes, director of the food policy center at City, University of London and co-chair of the Global Nutrition Report.

“There’s no question that the current world of food aid is not fully caught up with that.”

Even for those not trapped in a crisis, nutritious foods like fruit and vegetables are often costly and out of reach.

This is partly because they are in short supply—a situation that is unlikely to change, according to a study by researchers, led by the University of Illinois, published last December.

If the world wants more healthy food, producing fruit and vegetables has to be profitable but is hampered by a lack of reliable water supply, land tenure and labor, said Christopher Barrett, a professor at New York’s Cornell University.

Part of the problem is agricultural subsidies focused on grains and cereals, which Barrett said amounted to more than $1 billion a day in high-income countries.

“It’s absolutely absurd. And it’s not at all aligned with what’s most necessary for good human health,” he said.

While the knowledge already exists to feed the world’s population well without destroying the planet, using it effectively is a matter of political and personal will, nutritionists and scientists said.

“If we can employ very sophisticated technology to send people into space, why can’t we tackle something very basic, which is how to feed ourselves and stay healthy?” asked FAO’s Callens.

The post Death by Diet—The Race to Transform the World’s Bad Food Habits appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Day the British Blew Up the Sagaing Bridge

Posted: 29 Apr 2019 06:58 PM PDT

Seventy-seven years ago today, retreating British forces destroyed the Sagaing Bridge to prevent invading Japanese troops from pursuing them. Also known as the Ava Bridge, the span linking Mandalay and Sagaing had been built by the British during the colonial period.

The center of the structure finally collapsed after being dynamited by British troops around 18 times.

The 3,948-ft-long road, rail and pedestrian bridge boosted the flow of trade in the country after it was opened in 1934 by Governor Sir Hugh Lansdown Stephenson.

It was built by India's Braithwaite Co. at a cost of 14.3 million rupiahs. The company imported cement from India and had the quality of the bricks and stones used to build the bridge tested at Rangoon University.

The bridge was not renovated during Japanese rule. Authorities attempted to repair the bridge in 1946, but at that time it was difficult to order the trusses needed from abroad, and the bridge was not repaired until 1953.

Myanmar President Dr. Ba Oo re-opened the bridge the following year. The historic structure is now a tourist attraction in Sagaing. A new span, the Ayeyawady Bridge (Yadanabon), was built in 2008 and both bridges are in use at present.

The post The Day the British Blew Up the Sagaing Bridge appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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