Democratic Voice of Burma

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Burmese Academy Awards threatened by media boycott Posted: 28 Dec 2013 02:13 AM PST Media agencies in Burma have threatened to boycott this year's Academy Awards on 29 December unless they're provided the same access to the show as state-run media outlets. "If we are not allowed the same access to the event as the Ministry of Information, we have decided not to attend or cover it", said Myat Khine, chief editor of Snapshot News Journal. Several media groups said they were disappointed with the press procedures announced by the Myanmar Film Association on 21 December. "The Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise said at the press conference that only media personnel from the Ministry of Information will be allowed onto the arena", said Myat Khine. "Other journalists are not allowed down there, which we find very unfair – it's inappropriate to do something like this these days". However, the Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise told DVB that all media personnel at the event will be allowed to report from media boxes and that no one will be granted access to the arena in front of the stage. Related Stories Burmese govt attacks Sun Rays journal Burma amends controversial publishing law Burma's lower house passes media bill "We have arranged for all the media personnel attending the event to cover it", said Thein Htun Aung of the Myanmar Motion Picture Enterprise. "But unlike past years, no one will be allowed in the arena, the area where the awards will take place – neither the state media nor the private media. Instead they can cover the event from the media boxes set up for the reporters." This year's Academy Awards will include all movies made in 2012. And as previous events, it will be hosted at the Thuwunna Stadium in Rangoon. But for many in Burma's media, the drama has already begun.

Burma Business Weekly Posted: 27 Dec 2013 11:15 PM PST Ups and Downs The Burmese currency fell this week; in Rangoon the US dollar currently buys 985 kyat (4 kyat up from last week) and sells at 989 kyat (2 kyat up). Gold is up this week from 643,800 kyat per tical to 648,900. Fuel remains constant: petrol is at 820 kyat per litre, diesel 940 kyat, and octane 920 kyat. Good quality Pawsanhmwe rice sells in Rangoon markets this week for 1,200-1,300 kyat per basket while low-quality Emata rice is still at 859-900 kyat per basket. Burma files $1.2bn trade deficit Burma suffered a trade deficit of US$1.256 billion in the eight months to November of the fiscal year 2013-14, official media reported Saturday. During that period, foreign trade totaled $15.54 billion, of which the export amounted to $7.141 billion dollars and the import stood at $8.397 billion dollars, the Central Statistical Organization was quoted as saying by the New Light of Myanmar. Of the total export, border trade accounted for $2.012 billion. Private firms pump more petrol The Burmese authorities have granted green lights to the opening of 801 private fuel filling stations in the country this year. Altogether, 1,243 applicants have sought licenses for operating private gas stations since 2010, said the 7-Day News, adding that the remaining 442 applicants are under consideration for permission. Privately-owned gas stations have been allowed in Burma since June 2010, before which all gas stations were state run. Ooredoo contracts Nokia for 3G network Qatari telecoms firm Ooredoo has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to deploy its 3G network in Burma, which is due to be introduced in 2014. The two companies have signed a two-year agreement, which will see NSN construct a 3G radio access network on 900-MHz and 2,100-MHz bands. The deal reportedly includes network implementation, planning and optimisation, systems integration, and care services. Advertising in Burma hits new heights Advertising expenditure in Burma has increased this year to US$118 million, a fivefold leap from five years ago when it was just $24 million. By the end of this fiscal year, advertising is expected to hit $180 million, according to a report on 26 December by Channel News Asia. "The advertising scene is quickly changing with the creativity in foreign competition, which is in turn firing up the attempts of local companies in this fast-changing market," the report said, noting that renowned international brands like Coca-Cola and Unilever are the latest advertising game changers in Burma. Kaladan project scheduled to open in mid-2014 The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, jointly implemented by Burma and India, is expected to be completed by mid-2014, various media reports said on Thursday. The project is an Indian government initiative to connect Kolkata with Sittwe port in Burma by sea, then to Mizoram via river and road. The aim is to provide India with trade and transport links to its northeastern states, which are otherwise inaccessible overland via India's rugged mountainous region. According to the contractor Essar Company, the first of the three-phase project has been 70 percent completed, reported Xinhua. The first phase includes construction of Sittwe Deep Seaport and Paletwa Jetty in Chin state, dredging the Kaladan waterway and the construction of six vessels. The second phase covers construction of a 109 km-long road to link Paletwa with the Burma-India border region, and the third phase involves construction of a highway between India's Mizoram state and Chin state. The completion of a waterway and highway crossing Burma's Arakan and Chin states would help support better transport and trade between the regional countries, the report said. Burma and India signed the US$214 million contract in 2008. China still looks to Turkmenistan for natural gas China imported 1.73 million metric tons of natural gas via pipelines in 2013, up 8.2 percent on last year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs last week. Of that figure, natural gas from Burma still only accounts for 41,263 metric tons, following the opening of the Shwe gas pipeline earlier this year. Although China's gas imports from Turkmenistan fell 5.1 percent this year, the country was by far the largest supplier of natural gas to China with exports of 1.52 million metric tons. The Turkmen-Uzbek pipeline is operated by China's state-owned China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the same firm which has the main stake in the trans-Burma oil and gas pipeline project. Burma is 8th largest rice producer in the world China remains the largest producer of rice in the world with an annual turnover of some 143 million metric tons, followed by India on 99 million tons. Indonesia is third with 37 million tons, followed by Bangladesh (34 million tons), Vietnam (27 million), Thailand (20.5 million) and the Philippines (11 million tons). Burma is close behind with annual production estimated at 10.75 million tons, ahead of Brazil and Japan.   Related Stories Kaladan project scheduled for mid-2014 completion Foreign businessmen go homeless in Rangoon Business Weekly

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• In Burma, Facebook Is Increasingly Used for Social Activism
• Growing Grapes in the Golden Land
• As Car Market Expands, Japanese Models Rule

In Burma, Facebook Is Increasingly Used for Social Activism Posted: 27 Dec 2013 11:14 PM PST In keeping with trends in other developing economies, future Internet use in Burma could be via mobile or smartphones, rather than laptops or PCs. (Photo: Simon Roughneen / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The immense popularity of Facebook in Burma has turned the social networking site into the default medium for most Burmese internet users, and with its growing popularity has also come an increased use of Facebook for social activism and charity fundraising. The power of this new development was on show in early November when Kyi Lin, a betel nut seller in Pegu town posted a photo on his Facebook page of 93-year-old independence fighter Thakin Hla Kyaing begging at Pegu Bridge. Soon after, local media and the Burma Veterans Organization contacted him to inquire about the case, while a campaign began on Facebook calling on people to donate money to Thakin Hla Kyaing. Within a few weeks, the veteran—who had reportedly joined the Burmese independence movement in the 1930s when he was 16 years old—received an outpouring of support. "I saw him on Pegu Bridge begging, I took a photo of him and interviewed him. Then I posted about him on Facebook," said Kyi Linn. "Later, lots of generous well-wishers came out after they saw the Facebook post and helped him. Now he has over 10,000,000 kyat [US $10,000]." "We bought a garden and are building a house for him from the donated money," he said. "I think now, a person's life has been completely changed by a Facebook post." Decades of international sanctions have left Burma with one of the most underdeveloped telecom and internet networks in the world. Internet penetration is among the lowest in Asia and is slowly creeping up. According to some estimates, the country could now have close to one million internet users, and among them Facebook is hugely popular and it is the dominant medium for using the internet. The social networking site therefore offers Burmese charity groups a good opportunity to reach out to the public and volunteer and youth-based organizations have increasingly taken to Facebook to raise funds and organize activities. Chan Nyein Phyu, a member of Myanmar Story Teller, an organization that promotes youth reading, said, "We use Facebook to organize annual donation activities and ask for donations. Our story teller groups do edutainment activities such as telling stories to children." Myanmar Story Teller is one of 20 organizations that are part of the Rangoon-based Youth Volunteer Network, which does volunteering and fundraising for victims of natural disasters and emergencies. Chan Nyein Phyu said the social media site also plays a key role in raising funds for the network's charity initiatives, adding that it managed to collect about $10,000 to help victims of the deadly 2011 floods in Pakoku town in Magwe Division. "A lot of people donated money after learning about our fundraising posts on Facebook, people from Mandalay and abroad donated to the Youth Volunteer Network when we organized help for the Pakoku flood victims," she said. Htaik Htaik Aung, of Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO), said Facebook is increasingly being used in Burma for social activism and charity work, public awareness campaigns and advocacy, adding that Burmese entrepreneurs use the social media site to market their brands. "Myanmar people use Facebook for social networking purposes, businesses have started to use it to promote their brand, and it also used for campaigning and advocacy [for social causes]," she said. MIDO holds seminars to help develop ICT skills in organizations in Burma in order to further development goals. It has also taken on the issue of freedom of expression and lobbies the government to lift restrictive laws. Htaik Htaik Aung said in MIDO's work Facebook also plays a central role. "We do advocacy and campaign using Facebook. When we have activities, we announce advertising or promotions on Facebook," she said. However, the popularity of the social networking site among Burmese internet users has also rendered it a powerful tool for political activities. During the past year, the dark side of its influence has been on display during the outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence which have affected numerous communities across Burma. Burmese Facebook users have frequently used the social network to vent their opinions about the inter-communal tensions between Burma's Buddhists and the Muslim minority, often taking extreme positions, using hate speech and further fanning conflict. Htaik Htaik Aung said these developments were a source of concern for MIDO, adding, "We are doing research on how online hate speech about the religious conflict affects the community offline." "There has been lots of propagandizing on Facebook pages by religious extremists. Some pages intend to attack individuals with hate speech. Most hate speech is done under an alias, so we can never track who actually is doing it," she said. The post In Burma, Facebook Is Increasingly Used for Social Activism appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Growing Grapes in the Golden Land Posted: 27 Dec 2013 07:30 PM PST In the early days of Bert Morsbach's winemaking venture in Myanmar, the land is plowed in traditional style. (Photo: Aythaya Winery) YANGON — It's half a world away, but there's something about Shan State that reminds Bert Morsbach of his native Germany, where the hills in winemaking regions undulate with vineyards. "Whenever I go through southern Germany, all the mountains are full of grapes," says the winemaker, who more than a decade ago trod uncharted terrain by establishing the first ever vineyard in Myanmar. "In Shan State, in our area, in 10 to 20 years it will look like this." With its humid climate, Myanmar has never been known as a wine country, and when Mr. Morsbach got the idea to set up a vineyard here, very little was known about tropical viticulture. Unlike Europe, Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries experience an annual monsoon season, leaving grape harvests vulnerable to pests and fungal diseases that thrive in humidity. "That's why there was no wine in Myanmar for the past 150 years," says Mr. Morsbach. "The British tried, as did the French—here, in Thailand and in China—but they all gave up because of the rain and the fungus attacks." Another issue was sunlight. Wine grapes typically fare best with long days, but while the summer sun sets at about 9-10 pm in parts of Europe, Myanmar's daylight hours end at about 6-7 pm throughout the year. But these problems did not faze Mr. Morsbach. Originally from Dusseldorf in Germany's west, he had already pioneered other ventures in Asia—including a windsurfing company in Thailand and an organic basmati rice business in Myanmar in the 1990s. The latter venture enjoyed solid exports but was taken away by the former military regime, so he decided to branch out again. "I thought, if the country has 150 sunny days, it must be possible to grow wine," he says. And he was right. His winery, about 25 km north of the famous Inle Lake, produces an international-standard brand of reds, whites and rosés known as Aythaya that can be found in local stores and restaurants. With a successful harvest in 2004, it became Myanmar's first winery and remains one of only a handful of wine producers in the country today. Far from the European vineyards of France, Germany, Italy and Portugal—and from the New World growers of Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and the United States—Aythaya has allowed Myanmar to join a list of so-called "new latitude" wine countries, including Brazil, India, China and Thailand, that fall outside the traditional wine-producing heartlands. But jumpstarting production in Shan State wasn't easy. The first trick was finding grapes that could withstand the climate. Nearly all of Europe's classic wine grapes—including merlot, pinot noir and chardonnay—grew poorly in Myanmar. Mr. Morsbach had studied as a mining engineer in Germany and lacked formal training in winemaking, but with help from some of the world's few tropical viticulturists, he set out to find a selection of suitable grapes. Of about 100 varieties tested over five years, half a dozen survived. Among the lucky reds were shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo from Spain and dornfelder from Germany, while the winning whites were sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc. In 1998 he established a winery in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State, but after importing thousands of vines from Europe, he was forced to relocate due to fighting between ethnic rebels and the government. "I had to give up because my safety was not guaranteed anymore by the local Kayah State authorities," he says. He had grown rice in neighboring Shan State and knew the region offered a major perk: less rain, with about a third of Yangon's annual rainfall. A high elevation with cooler weather would also be ideal for growing grapes, so the winery was moved near the southern Shan State town of Aythaya, at an elevation of more than 1,200 meters. Mistakes were common in the early days. "We were throwing away our wine for two or three years," says Mr. Morsbach, recalling the unsuccessful harvests. Slowly, however, the project came together. About half the grapes were grown at the winery, while more than 1,000 farmers in the central Myanmar area of Meikhtila were contracted to grow the rest, as they had already been harvesting table grapes, which have a lower sugar content. From 20,000 bottles in 2004, the winery—known as the Myanmar 1st Vineyard Estate—produced 120,000 bottles in 2012. While some bottles are exported to China, most customers are local. Foreign tourists dominated sales initially, but Myanmar diners have quickly acquired a taste for wine and now make up the majority of the Aythaya market. Mr. Morsbach's brand could see a boost in sales after the Myanmar government recently cracked down on the sale of illegally imported foreign alcohol and wines. Over the past month it has become difficult to find foreign wines in Yangon grocery stores, but it was once possible to pick up a bottle from Italy, France, Australia or the United States for slightly less than the cost of Aythaya, which runs for between 8,000 kyat (US $8.30) and 14,000 kyat per bottle. The higher price was partly due to the production costs for a relatively low yield. The slight splurge may be worth it. Aythaya has received a number of positive reviews, with one Thailand-based critic praising the 2004 sauvignon blanc as a wine that "should worry France." Tourists can taste and decide for themselves at the vineyard, which offers guest rooms and a restaurant, while planning is underway to build a second winery next year in Meikhtila, which, with its central location, serves as a crossing point for travelers. Despite Mr. Morsbach's lead, winemaking has yet to take off in a big way in the Golden Land, which so far has just one other locally produced and international-standard wine, Red Mountain Estate. Still, some smaller wineries are reportedly springing up, and the German entrepreneur heartily welcomes more. "In Germany we have 20,000 winemakers," he says. "We can do here with two, three or four." A version of this story first appeared in the December 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The original has been edited slightly here to reflect recent changes in the government's policy on imported foreign wine. The post Growing Grapes in the Golden Land appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

As Car Market Expands, Japanese Models Rule Posted: 27 Dec 2013 07:20 PM PST Traffic jams in Yangon are becoming a major downside of the rapidly expanding car market. (Photo: Reuters) YANGON — Like most residents of Myanmar's largest city, U Myint Maung never imagined that he would one day be able to buy a car of his own. Now, however, the 63-year-old retired government official is the proud owner of a used Toyota Belta—a vehicle that not so long ago would have been far beyond his means. Until very recently, Myanmar was probably one of the most expensive countries in the world to purchase a car. Under the former military regime, import restrictions sent prices sky high, making it impossible for all but the well-connected to buy high-end vehicles or even relatively new used models. That all changed in 2011, when the current quasi-civilian government took power and started steadily opening up the country's economy. Since then, the Ministry of Transport has changed the rules for importing cars eight times, starting with a scheme that allowed owners of decades-old clunkers to replace them with newer models. That first step toward liberalizing the domestic automobile market saw the import of more than 100,000 cars, mostly from Japan and South Korea. Then, in 2012, the government announced that anyone with a foreign savings account could import cars. Soon car showrooms were placing more orders for vehicles from Japan. According to Daw Mar Lar, the director of the Best Auto car showroom in Yangon, small used cars with 1.3-liter engines from Japan are especially popular because they're reasonably priced and generally in good condition. Another plus, she said, is that it's easy to find spare parts. Dealers say that over the past two years, used cars from Japan—which can be shipped to Yangon from any major port in Japan within about three weeks of receiving payment—have made up about 95 percent of sales in a rapidly expanding market. "Nissan vans, Suzukis, the Toyota Probox, the Honda Fit, the Honda Vitz and the Nissan March are now in strong demand in my showroom," said Daw Mar Lar. "Most of these models sell for around 10 million kyat (US $10,340)." "Demand has increased a lot, because in the past, such imported cars would have cost several times as much as they do now," she added. Import licenses can be issued by several different ministries, including the ministries of transport, commerce and customs, and must specify the age and make of the vehicle to be imported. Several Toyota models, including the Harrier, Mark II, Mark X, Hilux Surf, Probox, Belta and Landcruiser, are among the most popular. Growing demand for cars has also brought increasing competition among car dealers. In Yangon, more than 200 showrooms have opened since 2011. Each one is required to deposit $100,000 with the government and provide a surety of 300 million kyat ($310,000), plus pay an annual fee of $900 to the government, said the owner of one showroom. These expenses mean that many dealers still prefer to operate out of one of three major trading centers that dominated Yangon's car market until 2011. According to Ko Tun Myat, a broker at the St. John's trading center in Lanmadaw Township, cars sold here typically cost about 500,000 kyat ($517) less than the same models on sale in showrooms. On the other hand, he said, his customers must get a license plate within 20 days of making a purchase, whereas those who buy from showrooms have up to a year before they have to replace their dealer plates. "But in the end, it all depends on what the customer wants," he said. "If someone likes a car they see here, they'll buy it. But if they can get what they're looking for at a reasonable price from a showroom, they'll buy it there." A bigger worry, he said, is that prices overall are falling—something that he hopes will change next year, when the government is expected to allow the import of 2009 models. Although Japanese cars have a clear lead in the race to capitalize on Myanmar's car craze, other country's carmakers are also hoping to position themselves for future growth in one of the world's last large frontier markets. US automaker Ford and Mercedes Benz from Germany already have a presence here, and are soon to be joined by Jaguar Land Rover, a British brand now owned by India's Tata Motors. But it could be Japan's nearest neighbor, South Korea, that offers the stiffest challenge to Japanese preeminence. Hyundai Motors, which opened its first showroom in August and has plans to open 14 dealerships across the country by 2018, said it hopes to capitalize on the popularity of South Korean pop culture in Myanmar to expand its market share in the country. "Young people in Myanmar who watch Korean dramas visit our showroom and look for cars that were shown in the dramas," said Oh Sei-young, the chief executive of Kolao Holdings, the sole dealer for Hyundai in Myanmar, according to a report by Reuters. "Hyundai is really keen on the Myanmar market." For now, however, Japanese cars look set to rule the roost for the foreseeable future. "Japanese used cars will continue to be most people's number one choice because they really meet their needs," said U Thura Kyaw, a customer service agent at the Diamond Auto showroom, citing the good value for money of Japanese cars and the ease of finding replacement parts. At any rate, with import barriers steadily being lowered, all that remains for Myanmar's car market to really take off is the introduction of a system of credit that puts car ownership within reach of more consumers. So far, however, only a few showrooms offer installment plans—most requiring a 30 percent down payment and full payment within 15 months. "If we could get long-term installment plans to buy cars in the future, everyone would be able to own a car, just like in neighboring countries," said retiree and first-time car owner U Myint Maung. The post As Car Market Expands, Japanese Models Rule appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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Shan Herald Agency for News

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• To Hopeland and Back (Part VI)
• To Hopeland and Back (Part VI)
• To Hopeland and Back (Part VI)

To Hopeland and Back (Part VI) Posted: 27 Dec 2013 09:32 PM PST Saturday, 28 December 2013 09:00 S.H.A.N.   Day Five, Monday 16 December 2013 Today, apart from our continued discussions on the New BNI structure and functions, we were visited by two guests, who certainly wouldn't want to jeopardize their newly gained cordial relationship with the Burmese authorities by getting their identities revealed by me. Their reports to the meeting, I think, are quite illuminating. Here are the excerpts: The country's leadership is undergoing a cultural shock process between time honored practice of unquestioned obedience to authority and the emerging new culture of obedience only after one's questions are satisfactorily addressed. ("I saw a  boss, who clearly was an ex-army officer, was hotly cut down to size by a young trainee") One of the problems our newly independent young journalists and activists are facing is that they know very little about what had happened since 1988, let alone before it. When we talk about millions of IDPs, refugees and migrants and countless rights abuses against them, they are dumbfounded. They will need a lot of guidance from those who are in the know. Another surprising revelation was that trainings are being conducted in Thailand again, after a period of moving inside the country. "Before, it was because of security we ran our trainings outside Burma. Now it's the cost. Organizing trainings inside has proved to be more expensive than organizing them outside."

To Hopeland and Back (Part VI) Posted: 27 Dec 2013 09:29 PM PST Friday, 27 December 2013 09:00 S.H.A.N. Day Four, Sunday, 15 December 2013 Nothing much to report except for one thing.  When I opened the door of our meeting room to look for my shoes (prized at 3,000 baht or $ 100 but purchased at half the price during the New Year's clearance soles), I found they had disappeared. And I wasn't alone either. All participants with new footwears also found them missing. 6 of BNI members' Logos: Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA), Katarawaddy Times (KT), Karen Information Center (KIC) Karenni, Khonumthung News (KN) Chin, Mizzima News and Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) After a few grumbles, I succeeded in calming myself down. Well, in a city where a worker's salary is K 100,000 ($ 100) or less, that is bound to happen, I told myself. Luckily, I received a pair of old shoes from the BNI secretary which fit me. And I returned to my room much chastened. Interestingly, it coincided with reports of soaring rents in Rangoon. When I asked what the reason was, an informed source replied, "Some people are in a hurry to whitewash their black money." And why isn't the government doing something about it? "Because it'll stir a nest of hornets that can spiral out of control. It already has more than enough problems to address."

To Hopeland and Back (Part VI) Posted: 27 Dec 2013 08:53 PM PST Thursday, 26 December 2013 09:00 S.H.A.N. Day Three, Saturday, 14 December 2013 Today we discussed the BNI's new vision (what we want it to be) and mission (what we want it to do). As to be expected, instead of going straight to the point, the process went a roundabout way, that is, by answering questions: How has BNI benefited each group? What does each group wants the BNI to do? We also debated whether or not we should continue to use the word "ethnic" to represent the non Burmans or turn to "indigenous" instead. "We were told ethnic Burmans and Chinese should also be counted as ethnicities," said one. "But we don't want that, do we?" But later, after failure to agree upon a better word, all went back to "ethnic", although nobody seems to like it much either. 6 of BNI members' Logos: Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA), Katarawaddy Times (KT), Karen Information Center (KIC) Karenni, Khonumthung News (KN) Chin, Mizzima News and Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) Finally, the following vision and mission were spelt out: Vision The emergence of a broad and independent ethnic media network in support of the development of a federal democracy that is peaceful and just Mission The ethnic media network will focus on the following tasks: Capacity building for member organizations Advocacy for press freedom and ethnic rights Networking both at home and abroad Of course, there are further debates about membership and the new BNI structure which I don't want to bore the readers. Suffice it to say the day ended with all of the participants being friends again.

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The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Burma’s First ‘TechCamp’ to Take Place in January
• In Kachin State, an Act of Kindness on Christmas
• Cooperative Loan System Dogged By Corruption Complaints
• CPI’s Social Responsibility Report Slammed as Propaganda
• Fire Destroys Houses in Mae La Camp on Thai-Burmese Border
• Photo of the Week (Dec 27, 2013)
• Rural Debt Drives Thais to Foreign Fields
• Ngwe Saung: A Tourist Paradise at the Expense of the Locals
• ‘The Genie is Out of the Bottle’
• Food Prices: A Bricks and Mortar Problem for Indian Economy
• UN Rights Boss Urges Thailand to Drop Charges Against Journalists
• Thai Election Body Urges Delay in Polls Amid Clash

Burma’s First ‘TechCamp’ to Take Place in January Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:21 AM PST A press conference on Thursday to announce January's "TechCamp" event, featuring Sarah Hutchison of the US Embassy, left, and Mido's Nay Phone Latt, second from right. (Photo: Mido) RANGOON — Civil society groups hope that Burma's first "Tech Camp"—a US Embassy-backed event that will be held in January—will help to those striving for democracy in the country. The two-day event on Jan. 13-14, to be held at the Myanmar ICT Park in Rangoon, will bring together an estimated 150 people, including representatives of civil society organizations and so-called "technologists," around the theme "Technology Unites Us." Well-known Burmese blogger Nay Phone Latt, the executive director of Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (Mido), told reporters at a press conference to launch the event Thursday that the "TechCamp" was an opportunity help the country's burgeoning civil society. "Civil society groups in our country are not developing enough since they don't know how to use technology efficiently in their work," he said, adding that a strong civil society was vital for building democracy in Burma. "There are many ways to apply technology in civil society work. This conference will let them know how technology can help in their work. We hope to develop a network by this conference and to collaborate between civil society and technologists to develop civil society more." Htaike Htaike Aung, also from Mido, gave the example that those wishing to monitor Burma's upcoming elections in 2015 will need to get to grips with technology. Text messaging, databases and Google maps will prove crucial for keeping an eye on the all-important polls, she said. Tech Camps are a US State Department initiative, 17 of which have been held worldwide since 2010. "We want every type of persons to be able to participate and travel, and accommodation costs will be covered for selected participants from outside of Yangon, mostly [with] funds from USAID [the US government's overseas aid arm]," Sarah Hutchison, assistant public affairs officer at the US Embassy in Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy. The post Burma's First 'TechCamp' to Take Place in January appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Kachin State, an Act of Kindness on Christmas Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:10 AM PST Children receive gifts at a camp for internally displaced persons in Kachin State. (Photo: Sann Bawk Rar) RANGOON — In a rare opportunity for indulgence, ethnic Kachin children were eager to enjoy sweet treats on Christmas day when a benefactor from Rangoon visited the temporary displacement camp where they spent the holiday. "They chose the cakes instead of the blankets that I gave to them, even though the weather is so cold," said Sann Bawk Rar, a Kachin fashion designer who traveled north from Burma's biggest city to Kachin State this week, stopping at eight camps in Mansi Township and Mai Ja Yang town over the course of six days. A majority of Kachin people are Christian, and this year an estimated 100,000 civilians in Kachin State spent the holiday in displacement camps, after fleeing from renewed fighting between the government army and Kachin armed groups since 2011. With clashes continuing this week, thousands more reportedly continued to flee their homes. Sann Bawk Rar, 35, who was also displaced amid fighting in Kachin State as a child, says she visited the camps with three friends, including a well-known Kachin singer, to donate gifts and entertain the children. "We sang Christmas songs, played games and shared presents," she told The Irrawaddy, adding that they also handed out religious pamphlets about Jesus. Ten thousand children each received two hats, a pair of gloves and a pair of socks, she said, adding that her team offered 25 million kyats (US$25,000) worth of goods. The funding came from donations from Kachin people around the country and living abroad, she said. A 17-year ceasefire agreement broke down between the government army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in 2011, with fighting escalating dramatically in late December last year with air raids on Lajayang, near the KIA stronghold of Laiza. Clashes have calmed but continued this year, after peace talks started between both sides in February. However, fighting was reported over the past week, as the government army launched an offensive at a frontline outpost in southern Kachin State on Christmas Eve. The children in displacement camps have seen their studies interrupted. "These children are going to be the future leaders, they will be our next generation. We should not abandon them like this," Sann Bawk Rar said. She said her team met with 1,800 new arrivals at a displacement camp in Nam Lim Pa village, Mansi Township, where fighting has increased in recent months and clashes occurred Christmas Eve. "The people just arrived there one month ago," she said of a nearby camp. "It is very cold there, and they have no shelter. They use blankets to cover up when they sleep, but with heavy snow the blankets get wet at night." About half of displaced civilians in Kachin State are staying in rebel-held areas, and while local Kachin aid groups have offered support, international aid organizations have had limited access to their camps. The post In Kachin State, an Act of Kindness on Christmas appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Cooperative Loan System Dogged By Corruption Complaints Posted: 27 Dec 2013 04:04 AM PST A farmer plows fields in Dala Township, Rangoon Division. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Villagers from Naypyidaw's Ottarathiri Township have accused officials of corruption and nepotism in their allocation of loans to farmers through the government's rural cooperative schemes, a local National League for Democracy (NLD) member said. The complaints highlight long-standing concerns over the decades-old cooperatives system, which has been criticized as outdated and ineffective in addressing rural poverty. Khin Maung Tint, chairman of the NLD in Ottarathiri Township, said farmers from Tet Shein village had sent a complaint to local authorities alleging that their village administrator had failed to provide cooperative loans to farmers and instead granted loans to friends and relatives. "There are some people who were not given any loan because their farmlands had been confiscated but at the same time, there are some others who were given loans because they are somehow related to him [village administrator]," Khin Maung Tint alleged. "Villagers who get along with the administrator only need to pay half of the interest rate," he added. Under the government's cooperatives policy, groups of farmers and poor urban communities can apply for microfinance loans if they join local cooperatives. Myint Aung, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Cooperatives, denied officials were favoring friends and relatives in the granting of loans. "Everyone, who is a member of a cooperative and pays regular fees of 5,000 kyat [US $5], can borrow money," he said. Zaw Myo, the deputy director-general at the ministry, acknowledged, however, that his ministry received recurrent complaints about nepotism among local officials in charge of granting loans through the cooperative system. "Our ministry has received complaints from farmers stating that loans were only given to relatives or close colleagues of village officials," he said, adding that his ministry struggled to oversee the vast rural cooperatives network that is disbursing about $100 million in loans to Burma's poor. "It is difficult for us to manage over 60,000 villages across the country," Zaw Myo said. A lecturer at the Civil Servant Training Department in Rangoon's Hlegu Township said he had found that most officials involved in administering the cooperatives scheme were using it to enrich themselves. "A percentage is cut from loans and taken by responsible officials," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "One official I know has taken about three million kyat [USD 3,000] and invested it in his own business," he alleged. Burma's cooperative policy was set up by the British colonial administration in the early 20th century. During past decades of military rule, the government continued to use the policy to address widespread poverty in the country. There are more than 10,000 primary cooperative societies with 470,000 members in Burma, according to estimates of the International Finance Cooperation. In August, Burma received $100 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, which President Thein Sein said he will use to fund cooperative programs that support farmers and the urban poor. The Chinese loan doubled the government's budget for its cooperatives programs. Opposition lawmakers and economists have questioned the government's decision to expand its cooperatives program through Chinese loans, as the policy has proven an ineffective, is plagued by corruption and pushes farmers into debt. "The cooperative system has never been successful in Burma's history," Dr Maung Maung Soe, a retired economics professor at the University of Distance Education in Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy in August, adding that Burma's poor instead need interest-free credit through other programs. The post Cooperative Loan System Dogged By Corruption Complaints appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

CPI’s Social Responsibility Report Slammed as Propaganda Posted: 27 Dec 2013 03:41 AM PST A town built to house staff members for the Myitsone dam project in Kachin State. (Photo Seamus Martov / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — The first social responsibility report has been published by the Chinese backer of the Myitsone dam project in north Burma, detailing tens of millions of dollars in investment to benefit the local people. But Burmese activists and opposition lawmakers have slammed the report, calling it a piece of propaganda aimed at garnering support for an unpopular project that has left thousands of people displaced and polluted a vital waterway. The Upstream Ayeyawady Confluence Basin Hydropower Co. (ACHC), part of the state-owned Chinese Power Investment Corp., released its first social responsibility report on Thursday for the Myitsone and six other hydropower dam projects along the Irrawaddy River. The largest of these dams, Myitsone, was suspended in 2011 by President Thein Sein following opposition from the Burmese public, while construction of the others has continued. The social responsibility report, which covers 2010-2012, says ACHC invested US$10 million to conduct an environment impact assessment, $6.68 million for environment protection, $25 million to resettle displaced local residents, $20 million to construct roads and bridges, $564,000 on rice donations, and $100 to assist agricultural production. But the company has been accused of publishing the report just for show, in a bid to restart Myitsone after 2015, the end of Thein Sein's term. "We, the Kachin people, are not enjoying the benefits of it," Khon Ja, coordinator of the Kachin Peace Network, said of the project. "Everything China did was for their own good name. They are trying to improve their reputation, to win the support of the people." Over the past two years, more than 400 households comprising over 2,500 people have been displaced by the hydropower projects. If construction on the Myitsone dam continues, activists say another 4,000 households in 47 villages will be displaced. CPI has constructed houses in two main resettlement villages. The homes appear sturdy on the outside, but residents say the builders opted for poor quality wood. They also say the villages experienced heavy flooding during the raining season this year. CPI's Yunnan subsidiary owns 80 percent of the shares in ACHC, while Burma's Ministry of Electric Power owns 15 percent and Burmese conglomerate Asia World Co. owns 5 percent. ACHC has invested about $25 billion on the seven hydropower projects, with construction expected to last 15 years, followed by a 50-year operating period, says Guo Gengliang, vice president and board director of the company. According to the contract, the Burma government has offered land but will not offer direct capital investment for construction. "The Myanmar [Burma] government will gain about $54 billion in income by means of tax payment, free power and free shares, accounting for 60 percent of the total revenue of the Ayeyawady [Irrawaddy] projects," Guo Gengliang told The Irrawaddy. He added that after the concession period, hydropower assets totaling about $25 billion would be transferred to the Burma government, free of charge, for continuous operation. In addition to courting the Burma government, CPI has tried to win favor with Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the past year members of the NLD have visited China and reportedly learned more about the hydropower projects. But NLD members of Parliament have also criticized the social responsibility report, saying the Chinese company should have released more information earlier. "They want the recommendation of the people, and they want to restart Myitsone again," Win Htein, an NLD lawmaker representing Meikhtila Township, Mandalay Division, told The Irrawaddy. Win Myo Thu, an activist from Economically Progressive Ecosystem Development (EcoDev) and Advancing Life and Regenerating Motherland (Alarm) Group who has long campaigned against the hydropower projects, said he believed the timing of the report was deliberate. "China thinks people will like them for helping with the SEA Games, so it seems like a good opportunity to win support, since the China government has said they cannot continue [with Myitsone] without the approval of the [Burmese] public," he said. "If they continue the project, there may be conflict between the Chinese and Myanmar, in a high-risk political arena." The Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), regional sporting event, closed in Burma on Sunday. Burma was hosting the event for the first time in over four decades. Beijing reportedly offered Burma nearly US$33 million in technical assistance for the Games, including for the opening and closing ceremonies, while accepting Burmese athletes for training on Chinese soil. Myitsone could also be a consideration as the Burma government attempts to negotiate a peace deal with ethnic armed groups in Kachin State, where the hydropower projects are located. "They are urgently trying to do peace talks now, and China releases this report. They want to end fighting with the KIA, because construction for Myitsone will require transportation through KIA areas," said Khon Ja, from the Kachin Peace Network, referring to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Of the impact on local residents, she added that while the resettlement villages had access to electricity, most of the power would support Myitsone. "We just get a small amount," she said. "There are six ongoing projects along the Ayeyawady [Irrawaddy] basin, and most of them are needed to supply electricity to Myitsone." Ar Htone, a resident from Aung Myin Thar village, where families have been resettled, said children in the village now needed to take a boat across the river to attend high school. The resettlement, she said, has not benefited the people, despite CPI's investment. "The report is just to restart Myitsone in 2015. We don't want Myitsone to continue because we, the local people, are suffering a lot and losing out in our agricultural work," she said. Others say the hydropower dams have polluted the river. Cho, a resident in Myitkyina Township, Kachin State, said officials were "trading the country's natural resources." "China and local authorities are playing chess to make it seem like their hydropower projects have been well received by the public. The report is just propaganda," he told The Irrawaddy. In the social responsibility report, Kyee Soe, director-general of Burma's Department of Hydropower Planning, under the Ministry of Electric Power, offers praise for ACHC. "It is bound to win understanding and support from the people of Myanmar. The further advancement of the Ayeyawady Projects will boost the economic development of Myanmar," he wrote Jin Honggen, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Burma, also expressed a desire to restart the construction at Myitsone. "We hope the project could be restarted in the future, and ACHC could continue to work hard in such aspects as environmental protection, talent training and job creation, realize harmonious development among the nature, environment and society, and make new contributions to the local development," he wrote in the report. The post CPI's Social Responsibility Report Slammed as Propaganda appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Fire Destroys Houses in Mae La Camp on Thai-Burmese Border Posted: 27 Dec 2013 03:15 AM PST Students walk in Mae La camp, near the Thai-Burmese border in Mae Sot district, Tak province. (Photo: Reuters) A fire broke out Friday afternoon in Mae La camp, the largest Burmese refugee camp across the border in Thailand, destroying more than 100 temporary shelters, said local sources in the camp. The Mae La camp in Tak Privince is currently home to more than 40,000 Burmese refugees, mostly ethnic Karen people who fled their homes and have been taking shelter in Thai soil for more than two decades. Schoolteacher Naw Cherry told The Irrawaddy that the fire caused by an electrical fault in wiring at a compound for students in Zone C of the camp's Section 3. The fire was brought under control after seven fire trucks arrived, she said. "The fire started at about 2 pm. A friend of mine also lost her house in the blaze. But, it is now under control," said Naw Cherry. P’leh Wah Paw, a housewife in Mae La refugee camp, said her neighbors’ houses were completely gone. The fire destroyed the bamboo homes very fast as it was windy, she added. "I went to run and escape because I have a baby. I couldn’t help my neighbors," said P’leh Wah Paw, adding that the fire was under control by about 3:30 pm. Some sources in the camp, however, said that the fire destroyed as many as 170 houses. There are about 300 houses in Zone C, said the residents. Mae La camp is located about 60 kilometers from the Thai border town of Mae Sot, opposite Myawaddy in Burma. In June 2012, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi paid a visit to Mae La camp, where she was greeted by thousands of refugees. There are about 140,000 Burmese refugees residing on the Thai-Burmese border in nine refugee camps, the largest being Mae La. Since 2010, these refugees have come under pressure to return to their homes in Burma as the country opens up. Aid and supplies for these refugees have been reducing or being cut, in what the refugees see as an indirect pressure from the international community, and the Thai government, to return home quickly. The post Fire Destroys Houses in Mae La Camp on Thai-Burmese Border appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Photo of the Week (Dec 27, 2013) Posted: 27 Dec 2013 02:34 AM PST A tattoo artist works on the face a customer during the Botahtaung pagoda festival in Rangoon. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) The post Photo of the Week (Dec 27, 2013) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rural Debt Drives Thais to Foreign Fields Posted: 27 Dec 2013 02:19 AM PST Pachanida Laopom, 15, holds a photograph of her father, Buala Lampom, the Thai rice farmer who committed suicide in Sweden. On the right is Rattana Seetang, Buala's wife. (Photo: Marwaan Macan-Markar / The Irrawaddy) BAN LAO YAI, Thailand — When Buala Laopom, a rice farmer, left his village in July, it was to find relief from an expanding household debt trap. The 39-year-old had set his sights on Sweden. His first trip abroad was to pick blueberries over three months during the Scandinavian summer. It was a well-worn path for many from Thailand's rural northeast. Buala was among 6,000 migrant workers who departed in July for a tempting prospect: earn in three months what they would normally reap from a year's work in the paddy fields. This annual journey came a month after the monsoon rains had helped farmers in villages like Baan Laoyai prepare their fields through June for a fresh rice crop. But his plans were not to be. A month after harvesting the foreign fruits, Buala had not been paid. By mid-September he had joined a protest in Umea, a city in northern Sweden. It was staged by hundreds of the estimated 500 Thai blueberry pickers deprived of the promised wage. The target of their ire was M-Phoenix Enterprise, a Thai labor company, which had signed the contract with the migrant workers. In early October, the ashes of Buala's cremated body were flown back to this village, which has the familiar array of Thai-style houses on stilts by the side of shimmering green paddy fields. He had hanged himself in a public toilet in Umea during the middle of the protests. "He couldn't sleep after realizing that the payments were not being made," Rattana Seetang, his wife, said in a soft, halting voice. "He told me over the phone he was worried that he will have nothing after three months in Sweden. He felt cheated." Buala's fate and the plight of the unpaid berry pickers have prompted an investigation by Thailand's Department of Special Investigations (DSI). In their crosshairs is M-Phoenix Enterprise. "The workers are paid based on the weight and price of the fruits they collect," trotted out Tongtip Hongkannan, a representative of the Thai labor recruiter, to explain company policy. "This year the price of berries is low." It is a view that hardly impresses Thai labor rights activists, who normally have their hands full exposing abusive practices inflicted on the over two million migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia laboring in Thailand. "The Thai labor company has tried to cheat the migrant workers," says Patchanee Kumnak, director of the Thai Labour Campaign, a Bangkok-based activist group. "Minimum wages have to be guaranteed, such as the 80,000 baht (US $2,600) per month that Thai farmers working as berry pickers in Sweden have been promised." Such wage guarantees are now part of the formal process that covers most Thais laboring in foreign countries. Last year saw some 103,400 Thais seek jobs abroad, swelling the number of Thai migrant workers to about 385,130, according to the Department of Labor. Sweden, Finland and Israel are magnets for those drawn to the agriculture sector. Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore attract those seeking employment in the manufacturing sector. This story of abuse has also exposed another troubling reality of rural Thai life. Many of the berry pickers who flew to Sweden had, like Buala, taken loans to secure the contract and initial expenses for foreign employment. That amount—close to 80,000 baht—added to other household debt they were already grappling with. "They take loans from the formal or the informal sector since it is such a big amount," says Patchanee. It is a risk that has paid off in the past, says Somsak Saameusap, a farmer. During a stint as a berry picker in Sweden three years ago, he returned with 150,000 baht ($5,000) as his saved income. "I earned that in three months and it helps pay off my debts," the 37-year-old said. The promise of such earnings has prompted many debt-ridden farmers to become migrant workers, notes Dusadee Ayuwat, a professor at the faculty of social science at Khon Kaen University, in Thailand's northeast. "Rural debt has increased and farmers expect to find a quick solution by going abroad as migrant workers." Borrowings are not limited to pay for farming expenses, ranging from fertilizer and pesticides to fuel. Changing lifestyles across the Khorat Plateau, Thailand's northeastern rice bowl, is also driving up the household debt burden. This trend toward becoming more semi-urban has precipitated a rising demand for cars, refrigerators, televisions, computers and mobile phones. "It means they want to have a more comfortable life," Dusadee told The Irrawaddy. "Yet, this debt has become a big problem in villages." Such a burden in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy is raising alarms in some quarters. In October, Standard & Poor's, the global ratings agency, warned that household debt in Thailand had hit 77 percent of the gross domestic product in 2012, up from the 55 percent in 2008. In Indonesia, the region's largest economy, the household debt burden hovers well below 20 percent of the GDP. Homes in rural Thailand account for the greatest share of debt. It stood at an estimated 168,000 baht ($5,600) per household in 2012, according to official statistics. Loans for household expenses made up 33 percent of the borrowings, while agriculture-related debt accounted for 15 percent. Currently, a solution rolled out by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra when he began his first term in 2001 is still available. It is the micro-credit "Village Fund" program aimed at offering debt relief for each of the country's 75,000 villages. Governments that succeeded Thaksin—who was driven out of power by a 2006 military coup and now lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a jail term for corruption—have strengthened the initiative. This fund, which offers villagers loans of up to 20,000 baht ($660), is now worth an estimated $7.2 billion. Yet, the presence of this fund and the formal banking sector has not stopped rural communities from turning to loan sharks for easy credit. The less cumbersome procedure to borrow from moneylenders remains a draw, despite the usurious rates they charge. Some offer credit that demands an interest of two percent every day for a 24-day period. Accounts of villagers being charged three percent interest daily also abound—compelling the borrower to fork out 1,095 percent in interest payments alone for an entire year. "People have become trapped in this debt cycle," says Jose De Luna Martinez, senior financial economist at the World Bank's Thai office. "The loan sharks are quite aggressive about getting their loans back, and sometimes the debtor feels obliged to borrow from another moneylender to pay for an existing loan." The post Rural Debt Drives Thais to Foreign Fields appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Ngwe Saung: A Tourist Paradise at the Expense of the Locals Posted: 27 Dec 2013 01:36 AM PST The beach at Ngwe Saung, from where locals were moved to make way for tourist resorts. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) NGWE SAUNG, Irrawaddy Division — This stretch of beach was once an untouched coastal area providing livelihoods for local residents with plentiful coconuts, fish and fertile farmland. But beginning in the early 1990s, the entire populations of seven villages—Bukwelay, Kyauk Kyi, Kyauk Hse, Zee Hmaw, Chaukchaung, Magyi Hmaw and Phone Mg Kyai—were forced to relocate, with little or no compensation. "This area was full of coconut trees and we were [living] in the jungle till 15 years ago," said Khin Than, once a resident of Kyaukkyi, in Ngwe Saung. Here in western Irrawaddy Division, not far from the border of Arakan State, the original residents speak mostly Arakanese and the cuisine of the state just to the north is eaten. The sleepy area now known collectively as Ngwe Saung was unknown to the outside world until companies run by cronies of the Burmese military regime—such as Yuzana, Htoo Trading, Kanbawza and Asia World—began developing hotels, rubber plantations and shrimp farms. (08.35.06) A boy carries seafood for sale to tourists on the beach at Ngwe Saung, Irrawaddy Division. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) Development has forced the locals into smelly, crowded communities, which were created in the swampy hinterland. "We were not used to staying in such muddy ground at first," said San Htay, a former resident of Zee Hmaw village, where the "Sunny Paradise" hotel now stands. "They [authorities] came to our houses, built around the coconut trees. They took down all our homes early in the rainy season in 2000 and relocated us to the place where we live now," said the 37-year-old, with a tear in her eye. "We cannot do anything, we cannot say anything," she said of the futility of standing up to the authorities in the past. Ngwe Saung has since then been upgraded to the status of a township in its own right, and can be reached easily from Rangoon, via the division capital of Pathein and a new road. Local and foreign tourists alike are flocking to the beach in increasing numbers. The beach was the site of sailing events for Burma's Southeast Asian Games this month. And visitor numbers, as for the whole of Burma's tourism industry, are expected to keep growing. The locals claim that they did not get any compensation for their land except small payments for each coconut tree that was in a location where a hotel would be built. "At that time, we were told to count our coconut trees and bring the number to the village authorities," said Khin Than, a former resident. Villagers thought they were being asked to take stock of their trees for tax purposes. "When we arrived there, the authorities said the government would take the land, so they will give us compensation for our trees," said San Htay, another local whose family used to have 4 acres of coconut trees. "We lost a lot. We dared not to say anything," she added. "The payment at that time was 2,500 kyat [about US$2.50] per coconut tree." As well as the loss of their coconut trees and easy access to the plentiful fisheries on the coast, farmland was converted into shrimp farm. "Our 6 acres of farmland was seized by Yuzana's Unit (D) shrimp farm," said San Htay, referring to part of the Yuzana conglomerate, which is run by Union Solidarity and Development Party lawmaker Htay Myint. Hla Win, manager of the Yuzana shrimp farm, insisted the company had followed all regulations, and had repeatedly answered questions from the authorities about the relocation of farmers. "I have no authority to talk about this in detail," he said, adding that higher-ups in the company were responsible for talking about the issue. Staff at Yuzana's headquarters said they could not comment. Despite years of locals complaints, little action has been taken to address their concerns. The confiscation of land and farmland continued until 2005 in Ngwe Saung, with land used by local authorities and for road construction, or converted into rubber plantations and shrimp farms. About 1,000 farmers in all lost their homes, cashew plantations or farmland. "My 25 acres of cashew trees were set on fire by the Shwe War Myay company in 2005 to make way for a rubber plantation," said San Shwe. Only after a year of complaining to the divisional military commander San Shwe and others received compensation for their plantations. His 4 acres of coconut farms and 8 acres of farmland in Phone Mg Kyai village—a former settlement on a small island—were also seized for shrimp farming. "The authorities seized several hundreds of acres of land by simply looking at the map, and all of our farmland and gardens were amongst the land they wanted," said San Shwe. Villagers claim that then divisional military commander General Khin Maung Than, confiscated their land for his own rubber plantation in Taunggatone—land which is now the site of the "Bay of Bengal" hotel. "No one received compensation," said San Shwe. On the mountain road to Ngwe Saung from Pathein, a large part of the seized land is left unused. In July, the locals sent a letter to President Thein Sein and the Irrawaddy Division chief minister asking that farmland not now being used by the companies is returned to its original occupants. In Ngwe Saung, some of the villagers returned to their land to plow, but were prosecuted earlier this year for trespassing. Residents say they have heard assurances they will get some kind of compensation, but no official announcements have been made by the companies or the authorities. The post Ngwe Saung: A Tourist Paradise at the Expense of the Locals appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘The Genie is Out of the Bottle’ Posted: 26 Dec 2013 10:49 PM PST National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman, far right, looks on as NED Democracy Award winners (from left to right) U Aung Din, U Kyaw Thu, Hkun Htun Oo and Dr. Cynthia Maung hold up an award. (Photo: NED) YANGON — For decades, there was no love lost between the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Myanmar's military regime. As an organization funded by the US Congress and tasked with promoting democracy across the globe, the NED earned the junta's ire by funding exiled Myanmar dissidents and ethnic minority causes opposed to the former ruling generals' authoritarian rule. Now, after more than two-and-a-half years of democratic reforms under President U Thein Sein, the once icy relationship appears to be thawing. In October, an NED delegation led by its president, Carl Gershman, visited the country to meet with civil society leaders and government officials in Naypyitaw and Yangon. The Irrawaddy's founder Aung Zaw sat down with Mr. Gershman at the tail end of that trip to talk about the ongoing reform process, the challenges of democratic transition, and his meetings with men who once considered him the enemy. Question: This was your first trip to Myanmar. What were your impressions? Answer: I think a process has been started that's going to be very difficult to turn back. I met a lot of people in both civil society and independent media, as well as in the government, and everybody wants to at least show that they're committed to this process. Everybody says they're for democracy. Admittedly, it's the beginning of what will be a long and difficult process, but there are many things I saw that give me hope. I had a meeting with about 40 young people, mostly women, mostly from minority groups. They're hungry to understand democracy. There's more hunger to understand and work for democracy here than in the United States today, where we tend to take it for granted. Among the government officials, they want someone like me to endorse what they're trying to do, and as long as they stay on the right path, that's fine with me. I know transition is very difficult, but I remain hopeful because one of the things that has happened here is that the system has opened up and people like The Irrawaddy are back here. You're opening up political space and when you open up political space, people get educated, people's expectations grow. As we say often, the genie is out of the bottle. You can't put it back in. That's the nature of democracy. Q: How do you see the Myanmar-America relationship evolving? A: One of the leaders I met with complained about the past and felt that the sanctions the United States imposed on Burma were a terrible mistake—that a policy of engagement would have been much better. I explained that it's very difficult for the United States to have a friendly relationship with a dictatorship. I remember when Chile was under the rule of [Augusto] Pinochet, the relations were extremely difficult and unfriendly. Once Chile had a democratic election, it was night and day. Relations changed and we had a friendly relationship. I could see that relations could be very difficult if the process moves backward. That could really complicate things. Q: Some critics say power and wealth in Myanmar are still controlled by the same people who have governed—brutally and undemocratically—for decades. What do you say to those who feel that justice has not yet been served? A: Certain things are easier to achieve than others. It's very easy to have an opening, maybe negotiate an agreement on constitutional or electoral reform. Those things can happen quickly. But just as in 1989 when communist governments fell, going from there to changing a system that grew up over decades is very difficult. You've raised the issue of transitional justice. It's something you're going to have to work out. That's not going away. In some countries, like Russia, they've done nothing on that. And the crimes under Stalin were, frankly, much worse. And I don't think Russia can become a democracy unless they deal with what happened in the gulag, where millions of people were killed. You cannot forget that. In South Africa and Chile, they dealt with it through a truth and reconciliation process, without being punitive. Other countries deal with it differently. Q: Have you gotten a sense that there's a political will to discuss this? A: It may be too early. I don't know. The people who are really committed to human rights, they want justice now. But that means you're going to have problems with some of the people that were responsible for the crimes of the past. It's not going to be easy, but you can look at other national experiences as to how that can be done in a way that makes a distinction between those who were part of the system and people who really were responsible for crimes. Q: Is it a good thing that the West is engaging with the military? A: I think if it's the right kind of training, yes. For them to understand what the proper, modern relationship is between a military and society, where the military doesn't rule over the society but protects the nation, and what makes a professional military. To have programs on that, I think that's all positive. Q: Given its track record, do you really think Myanmar's military can be taught to respect human rights and democracy? A: They've now committed themselves to that. Do I think they'll actually do it? I don't know, but I do believe that having them commit to that is important, because then you have a standard that you can hold them to. When our country was founded, we had in the Declaration [of Independence], "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Well, that wasn't true. We had slavery and fought a civil war over that. Then we had 100 years of inequality and Martin Luther King, Jr. said those words were a promissory note—that this is what's owed to the people, and that's what the whole civil rights movement was based on. Having a commitment to these things, getting those words into the Constitution, into law, gives the people a legal legitimacy and a basis on which to carry out a struggle. One of the leaders that I met was concerned about the gap between expectations and reality. Yes, there is a gap, and that gap is going to continue to exist. And if they don't measure up to those expectations, there are going to be continued protests. Q: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has said Myanmar's Constitution is one of the world's most difficult to amend. Are you optimistic that it can be done? A: I've looked at the complexities of it and how difficult it will be to make changes to the Constitution. At the same time, it's perfectly clear that this is not a democratic Constitution. And it's a Constitution that is going to have to change. And you have people in the government that are on different sides of this issue. That's a good sign. Divisions within the ruling group are always helpful to democratic progress. Q: There has also been some criticism of the opposition since the reforms began. Daw Aung Suu Kyi, for example, has come under fire for her silence on the Rohingya issue and for being overly accommodating to business interests at the expense of landholders in the case of the Letpadaung copper mine. A: Just as the government will be divided, the opposition, too, will be divided. There is an inevitable tension between human rights and democratic transition. Ultimately, they have to go together. And I think it could be a creative tension. Hopefully, the people who are raising the issues of political prisoners, ethnic rights, religious extremism, and so forth, will help make the process of negotiation and compromise more accountable to the people. I agree with you that the process underway can neutralize some of the voices for ethnic rights, for human rights, and so forth, because [the government and the opposition] are trying to agree right now, and that makes it very difficult to raise sensitive issues. But clearly, there are going to be people who raise these sensitive and difficult issues and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is going to have to speak about these things. Disclosure: The Irrawaddy is funded in part via a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy. This story first appeared in the December 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post 'The Genie is Out of the Bottle' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Food Prices: A Bricks and Mortar Problem for Indian Economy Posted: 26 Dec 2013 09:57 PM PST Laborers sit at the construction site of a residential complex before starting their day’s work in Kolkata on Dec. 21. India’s biggest cities face a worsening shortage of migrant manual laborers. (Photo: Reuters) GURGAON, India — Three months since journeying more than 700 miles (1,130 kms) from his village in central India to take a job in this bustling city near the capital, New Delhi, Charan is already looking forward to a 10 percent pay rise. He isn't an engineer or programmer. He hauls bricks and sand at a local construction site for less than $100 a month. India's biggest cities face a worsening shortage of migrant manual laborers like 26-year-old Charan, who goes by only one name. While India has long suffered from a dearth of workers with vocational skills like plumbers and electricians, efforts to alleviate poverty in poor, rural areas have helped stifle what was once a flood of cheap, unskilled labor from India's poorest states. Struggling to cope with soaring food prices, this dwindling supply of migrant workers are demanding—and increasingly getting—rapid increases in pay and benefits. "After paying for food we are left with almost nothing. We need a wage hike," said Charan, who sends a part of whatever he and his wife, who works at the same site, manage to save to their parents back home in Chhattisgarh state. If their employer refuses to give them an adequate raise, they are confident they'll find better-paying jobs at one of the hundreds of other sites dotted around Gurgaon. Such gains by migrants and the rural poor don't come without a cost to the rest of the country. More than pressuring corporate profits, these rapid blue-collar wage increases threaten efforts to quell inflation by India's new central bank chief, Raghuram Rajan, the former International Monetary Fund economist who took over as governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in September. Rajan has made price stability a policy priority, calling it a prerequisite for reviving economic growth that has slipped to 5 percent a year, the lowest in a decade. Despite little evidence that interest rates can control food prices, Rajan has raised rates twice since taking over to prevent food-price inflation from spilling over into the wider economy. He has warned of another hike next month if prices don't cool significantly. "India has become a high-cost economy," said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at India Ratings & Research. "Persistently high inflation is a recipe for disaster." Take onions, which figure in almost every Indian meal. Prices for onions shot up 190 percent to $1.60 a kilogram in the past year, making them more expensive in India than in the United States, where incomes are roughly 35 times higher. That helped push vegetable prices up 95 percent in the past year and pushed India's headline inflation rate in November to 7.5 percent, a 14-month high. And while vegetable prices are expected to start easing next month following a bumper harvest, subsidized government purchases of grains and rising farming costs mean overall food inflation is not likely to slow down much. Rural Programs Farming costs are also being driven higher by a government-run, rural employment guarantee program that uses public works projects to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment each financial year to each rural household with adult members willing to work on irrigation, reforestation, soil conservation and road construction. Since its rollout in 2006, the program has helped boost livelihoods on poor Indian farms. In the largely rural state of Andhra Pradesh, according to one study, the program has enabled households to boost spending by a tenth, and raise spending on items other than food by almost a quarter. Rural wage increases have jumped, from 2.7 percent a year before the program to 9.7 percent after its passage. Since 2009, nominal agricultural wages have climbed by more than a fifth a year, with non-farm rural wages up almost 17 percent. Adding to wage inflation is a pickup in economic activity and job creation in laggard states of central and eastern India, which in the past used to be the main source of migrant labor. Improved law and order and greater focus on development have helped boost growth in poorer states such as northeastern Bihar, whose economy has been growing by roughly 11 percent a year since 2006. While that's not enough to reverse India's broader economic slowdown, migration of workers has dramatically slowed down. With jobs and wages rising so fast at home, big cities offer less of a lure to rural workers. Bihar estimates that immigration of unskilled workers last year dropped by two-fifths. That's shutting down an important source of workers for industries that have come to rely on them, particularly the construction sector that accounts for 8 percent of India's GDP. "Wages in states like Bihar are more or less comparable to those in Delhi," said Ram Kumar, a contractor who supplies workers to different construction projects around Gurgaon. "But the cost of living is much cheaper than Delhi. So there's not much to gain from coming to big cities." Add-on Benefits Wages for blue-collar workers, skilled and unskilled, are growing by an estimated 15 percent a year, according to government data, faster than the 6 percent average inflation rate, but barely above the 13 percent average annual increase in food prices. Construction workers have managed to do better, with wages rising at an average of 18 percent annually since 2009, according to data from India's Construction Industry Development Council, a joint government-private sector body. "Inflation is leading to the need to increase wages," said Kumar Gera, chairman at Gera Developments, a real estate developer in western India. "When workers come and tell you they can't afford essential food items with what they are earning, you have to raise wages." To retain workers, some companies provide canteens with free food, clinics and even day-care and schools, in addition to on-site housing. At the residential site where Charan works, for example, Emaar MGF Land Ltd—a joint venture between Dubai's Emaar Properties PJSC and MGF Development Ltd—IL&FS Engineering and Construction Co Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd have all built military-style barracks for workers next to the construction sites. Weak demand has so far not allowed developers to pass rising labor costs on to buyers, but that appears certain to change. Rajan Kale, a tendering manager at port and road builder Man Infraconstruction Ltd., said rising wages trimmed the company's net profit by about 2 percent last year, contributing to an overall 34 percent drop in profit. His company plans to start including annual wage increases of up to 15 percent into its project budgets, he said. That may not be enough for workers coping with India's rising grocery bills. Last week, Kumar, the labor contractor, pulled his 15 workers from one construction project after its developer refused their demand for a 10-15 percent pay increase. "Workers are ready to switch employers for a hike of as little as 10 rupees," Kumar said. Now his team is working for a different company at a different site—earning 20 percent more. The post Food Prices: A Bricks and Mortar Problem for Indian Economy appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

UN Rights Boss Urges Thailand to Drop Charges Against Journalists Posted: 26 Dec 2013 09:13 PM PST A Thailand Immigration Police van carries a group of Rohingya Muslims to a port outside Ranong city Oct. 30. (Photo: Reuters) GENEVA — The top UN human rights official urged Thailand on Thursday to drop criminal charges against two journalists accused of defamation for citing a Reuters investigation into the role of Thai naval security forces in smuggling Rohingya asylum seekers. A Reuters investigation, based on interviews with people smugglers and more than two dozen survivors of boat voyages, revealed in July how some Thai naval security forces work systematically with smugglers to profit from the surge in Rohingya fleeing Myanmar to escape religious persecution. Thailand’s navy denied the Reuters report, which was published in July. Select portions of Reuters’ report were later cited by Phuketwan, a small English-language newspaper based in Phuket. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay voiced concern on Thursday that two Phuket-based journalists, editor Alan Morison and reporter Chutima Sidasathian, have been charged with defamation and breaching the Computer Crimes Act for quoting the Reuters article. "We urge the Government of Thailand to drop the charges against Mr. Morison and Ms. Sidasathian and to ensure the freedom of the press in the country," Pillay’s spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement issued in Geneva. Pillay’s office in Bangkok has been in touch with the government about the case and the charges filed by the Royal Thai Navy, the spokeswoman told Reuters. Criminal prosecution for defamation has a chilling effect on freedom of the press, the statement said. "The criminal charges against Mr. Morison and Ms. Sidasathian could have serious implications on Phuketwan’s future operations, possibly compromising its ability to report on issues related to Rohingya asylum seekers to the public," it said. If convicted, the two journalists face up to two years’ imprisonment on the criminal defamation charges and five years in prison for breaching the Computer Crimes Act, as well as fines of up to 100,000 Thai baht ($3,100), it added. "We stand by our story," Reuters spokeswoman Barb Burg said of the news agency’s original report. "It was fair and balanced, and we have not been accused of criminal libel." The Rohingya are a stateless, mainly Muslim ethnic minority who the United Nations says are the victims of religious persecution in mostly Buddhist Myanmar, also known as Burma. Earlier this month a Reuters investigation in three countries uncovered a clandestine policy to remove Rohingya refugees from Thailand’s immigration detention centers and deliver them to human traffickers waiting at sea. The Rohingya are then transported across southern Thailand and held hostage in a series of camps hidden near the border with Malaysia until relatives pay thousands of dollars to release them. The United Nations and the United States promptly called for investigations into the latest findings. Thailand will help the United Nations and United States with any investigation into the findings of the Reuters report that Thai immigration officials moved Myanmar refugees into human-trafficking rings, the prime minister has said. A former Thai magazine editor was jailed for 10 years in January for insulting the royal family under the country’s lese-majeste law, a sentence that drew condemnation from Pillay, international rights groups and the European Union. The post UN Rights Boss Urges Thailand to Drop Charges Against Journalists appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Election Body Urges Delay in Polls Amid Clash Posted: 26 Dec 2013 09:09 PM PST An anti-government protester (L) uses his knife during a clash with riot policemen at the Thai-Japan youth stadium in central Bangkok Dec. 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand's election commission on Thursday called for upcoming polls to be delayed as street battles between security forces and protesters seeking to disrupt the ballot killed a police officer and injured nearly 100 people, dealing fresh blows to the beleaguered government. The government quickly rejected the call. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra wants the Feb. 2 polls to take place as scheduled, believing she would win handily and renew her mandate. The street violence adds to pressure on her to take a tougher line against the protesters, who are trying to force her from office, risking more chaos and possible intervention by the army. The hours-long unrest took place outside a Bangkok sports stadium where election candidates were gathering to draw lots for their positions on ballots. Protesters threw rocks as they tried to break into the building to halt the process, while police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Police said protesters fired live bullets, one of which killed the officer. Four election commissioners left the stadium by helicopter to escape the violence, some of the sharpest since a long-running dispute between Thailand's bitterly divided political factions flared anew two months ago, pitching the Southeast Asian country into fresh turmoil. The protest movement regards the Yingluck administration as corrupt, illegitimate and a proxy for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a 2006 military coup. It is demanding that the elections be delayed until Yingluck leaves office and reforms are implemented. The election commission said in a statement that it was urging the government to consider postponing the elections, citing the security situation. Commission head Somchai Srisutthiyakorn denied the body was "involving itself in politics" by urging a delay in the polls. "We have good intentions and want to see peace in this country," he told reporters. Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana said the government was unable to change the date of the polls. "Feb. 2, 2014, was set as the election date in the royal decree dissolving Parliament, and there is nothing within the constitution or the law that gives the government the authority to change this date," he said. He reiterated that the government was willing to discuss reforms with the protesters, but insisted that the elections must take place as scheduled. According to the constitution, elections must be held 45 to 60 days from the date that Parliament is dissolved. The anti-government protests began in late October, but Thursday's violence was the first in nearly two weeks. At least 96 people were injured from both sides as protesters armed with sling shots and wearing gas masks fought with police. An officer was struck by a bullet fired by the protesters, police said at a news conference. He died after being airlifted to a hospital, said police Col. Anucha Romyanan. Later in the day, protesters stormed a government building, vandalized cars and blocked a major road leading to the smaller of Bangkok's two airports. Police have made no move to arrest the protest movement's ringleader, Suthep Thaugsuban, who is demanding the country be led by an unelected council until reforms can be implemented. The authorities have to tread carefully, as a crackdown would likely provoke greater violence and chaos. That could give the military, which has staged 11 successful coups in the past, a pretext to intervene again. In a speech to supporters Thursday night, Suthep said he regretted the violence, but denied that the protesters were responsible, instead blaming infiltrators or supporters of Yingluck. He vowed that the protesters would succeed in toppling the government. Thailand has been wracked by political conflict since Thaksin was deposed seven years ago. The former prime minister now lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction, but still wields influence in the country. Thaksin or his allies have won every election since 2001 thanks to strong support in the north and northeast of the country. His supporters say he is disliked by Bangkok's elite because he has shifted power away from the traditional ruling class, which has strong links to the royal family. On Wednesday, Yingluck announced a proposal for a national reform council to come up with a compromise to the crisis, but it was rejected by the protesters. The country's main opposition party, which is allied with the protesters, has announced it is boycotting the elections. Yingluck led the country for two years relatively smoothly. But in October, her government tried to introduce an amnesty law that would have allowed Thaksin to return to the country as a free man, sparking the latest round of unrest. The post Thai Election Body Urges Delay in Polls Amid Clash appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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