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| Photo of the Week (April 14, 2014) Posted: 14 Apr 2014 12:28 AM PDT
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Democratic Voice of Burma |
| 3,000 displaced by recent Kachin fighting Posted: 14 Apr 2014 03:18 AM PDT A coalition of aid and relief groups working in Kachin State issued a statement on Monday warning that more than 3,000 civilians have been displaced by fighting in the southeast part of the state, which remains ongoing. Clashes between Burmese military forces and troops from the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) began last Thursday, 10 April, near the government-controlled town of Man Win Gyi, in an area of Mansi township that is wedged between China and northern Shan State. Tensions increased significantly in recent weeks as the government sent large numbers of troops to the area, ostensibly to assist implementation of the United Nations-funded national census, a process that was boycotted by the KIO. According to the statement issued by a group of organisations identifying themselves as the Joint Strategy Team, the clashes have forced most of the 800 inhabitants of the KIO-controlled Lagat Yang internally displaced persons (IDP) camp to flee. The frontline is less than a kilometre from the camp and several shells landed in the camp on Friday. Related StoriesSome of the IDPs from the camp have continued to stay in KIO territory while about 200 people are thought to have crossed into China. Most of the residents of Lagat Yang arrived there in November after the camp they were previously in at Nam Lim Pa was taken over the by the Burmese military. An additional 2,000 people including ethnic Kachin, Shan and Palaung from Bang Glam, Nam Hi, Na Lung, Nawng Jun, Nawng Luk and 19 other villages have also crossed into China over the last 72 hours, according to the statement. Most are now staying in the town of Nawng Dao in Shan temples or the homes of relatives. The 190 residents of another KIO-controlled IDP camp located in Hka Hkye Zup also fled to China by crossing a river over the weekend. Chinese authorities have allowed people to cross but continue to keep a close eye on the refugees and it remains unclear how long they will be allowed to stay. The statement noted that the fighting had created a "chaotic" situation on the Burma-China border which has yet to stabilise. The statement also called also for "an immediate cessation of hostilities", something that appears unlikely for now as Burmese Army units continued to attack KIO positions on Monday. The groups that signed on to the statement include all of the major local NGO and faith-based organisations involved in relief efforts Kachin State. The Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), Metta Development Foundation, Shalom Foundation, Wunpawng Ninghtoi (WPN), Karuna Myanmar Social Services (KMSS), the Kachin Women’s Association and BRIDGE all signed on to the statement. More than 100,000 civilians have been displaced in Kachin and northern Shan states since June 2011 when a 17-year ceasefire between the KIO and the Burmese military collapsed. Negotiations remain ongoing towards securing a nationwide ceasefire, but intermittent. fighting continues between the Burmese armed forces and several ethnic armed groups. |
| Posted: 13 Apr 2014 09:25 PM PDT Along western Burma's coastline thousands of people make their living from fishing. In the harbour in Gwa Township, Arakan State, crews of fishermen sort through nets and ropes as they prepare to spend a night at sea. A night on the water, however, could mean running into one of the many commercial and foreign fishing boats that operate in the area. Fifty-five year-old Thein Aung has spent the past 25 years working as a fisherman on the Arakan coastline and is chief of a local boat. He said the local fishermen cannot compete with the foreign boats. Once the local fishermen lay their nets the larger vessels will often pass through them, cutting the nets as they sail by. Thein Aung said it costs 20 million kyats (US$20,000) to replace them – a price that none of the fishermen can afford. There is a sinister side to the competition as Thein Aung explains they have received threats and intimidation from the foreign boats. "Some days there are about 19 ships in the area. When this happens, there is no place for us," Thein Aung said. "We can’t ask for compensation when our nets are cut. We are even afraid of being killed. These ships are that bad." They are told to stick to the shallows to fish and not venture into deeper water. However, this time of year — the early summer – yields the best catch, and Thein Aung cannot afford to miss a night of fishing. A net is cast into the water from one boat and is picked up by another. The two boats work together, forming a circle with the net to trap the fish. Once the circle is complete the crews start to haul in the nets. Related StoriesAs the night goes on the hulls steadily fill with anchovy, sardines and squid. On a good night the crew could earn a profit of US$200. After paying the boat rental fee and fuel, half will be shared among the crew and the other half will go to the boat owner, chief and captain. Tonight they have caught enough fish to make a profit but Thein Aung is still wary of the bigger boats. As the crew work tirelessly, lights on other vessels twinkle nearby. "Now they are shipping around the coast. Fishermen go out and they come across us. The boats cut the fishing nets. So the fishermen come back empty-handed. When this happens the crew have to sell their possessions at home," said Thein Aung. Luckily, the crew didn't run into any commercial boats tonight but he said nights like this are getting few and far between. Thirty years ago there were only a few local boats fishing off the waters around Burma. In the late 1980s the then military government started to sell fishing permits to foreign companies. In the last fiscal year the government earned an estimated US$12 million from selling these permits. Htan Htun, vice chairman of Myanmar Fishery Federation (MFF), said that the unchecked and unregulated fishing industry has caused fish stocks off the coast of Burma to fall dramatically. "There may be more than a thousand foreign fishing boats, operating legally and illegally. The local boats also increased. So the resources reduced," he said. No one knows the extent of overfishing on Burma's coastline, or what damage to marine life has been done. However, there could be hope on the horizon for local fishermen. In an attempt to ease overfishing, earlier this month Burma banned foreign fishing vessels from its waters. Burmese fishing companies also have to reduce their operations by 35 percent during April and May to allow fish stocks to replenish. Enforcement of the new rule is something only the government can ensure. |
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| Dr Cynthia responds to Thameelay villagers Posted: 12 Apr 2014 09:00 PM PDT Displaced villagers from Thameelay in Rangoon who were provided resettlement by the Democratic Benevolent Karen Army (DKBA) in Karen State are now receiving healthcare from Dr Cynthia Maung's Thailand-based Mae Tao Clinic. The villagers, deemed squatters and evicted from Hlegu Township in Rangoon by local authorities in February, were last week offered new homes by the DKBA in Kyaukkhet village, on the Burmese side of the Thai border, near the armed group's base near Myawaddy. Buddhist monk Agga Dharma, abbot of the Aung Theikdi Monastery in Pegu where the villagers had previously taken shelter, said renowned philanthropist Dr Cynthia, whose facilities in Mae Sot have provided treatment to Burmese migrants and refugees since 1989, has set up a makeshift clinic in Kyaukkhet to provide healthcare for the 200 newcomers. "I was informed that 100 sacks of rice were donated by an Arakanese armed group and that Dr Cynthia Maung has erected a makeshift clinic for the Thameelay villagers, he told DVB. The senior monk said his monastery is now also facing relocation after the local Irrigation Department claimed it fell within the boundaries of a nearby reservoir. Related StoriesThere were originally around 80 households in Kyaukkhet before the DKBA brought in an additional 90 families – around 200 people – from the monastery in Pegu, officially known as Bago, last week. A community leader in Kyaukkhet said the Burmese government should provide healthcare and education for the village due to its growing population. "As our population grows, we would like to see government assistance for our children's education, to pay for teachers, and to implement a health service," he told DVB. "We should at least have a village-level medical centre." DKBA's Maj. Saw San Aung said his armed group will continue to provide help to people of any ethnicity displaced in Burma under similar circumstances to the Hlegu villagers. In the early morning on 4 February, Rangoon Division authorities began rolling in bulldozers to Thameelay village, announcing to the residents over loudspeakers that they were being evicted. Residents claim that five villages – Thameelay, Kywete, Innmati, Oakpho and Wapanat – were founded by groups of settlers in 1998. However, the military has claimed that it owns the land. The start of construction in 2001 on Hanthawaddy International Airport, 20 km from the villages, supposedly drew more and more people to the settlements, but also drew more attention to the sites. |
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The Irrawaddy Magazine |
| Posted: 11 Apr 2014 10:00 PM PDT  Thingyan is a time of high spirits for many, but others prefer more traditional celebrations. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — Never mind the heat: If you're one of Myanmar's hip young things, April is by far the coolest month. For a wet, wild week in the middle of the month, thousands of young people in Yangon and other cities around the country will do their best to wash away whatever sorrows they may have in a water fight that has to be seen to be believed. Despite the Buddhist origins of the Thingyan water festival, which marks the start of the traditional Myanmar New Year, this is for many an occasion to indulge in a lot of loud, free-spirited fun. Around Yangon, stages are erected and whole neighborhoods are turned into impromptu outdoor dance clubs, complete with blaring sound systems. Just add water—lots and lots of water—and your image of Myanmar as a staid, conservative country will dissolve before your eyes. But this is not to say that everyone is happy with the way many now celebrate the nation's most important holiday. "This is such a loss of our culture," says Mandalay-based writer Hsu Nget. "We used to celebrate peacefully, without spending huge amounts of money. Now if you go anywhere near Mandalay Moat, all you can see is big stages covered with ads." Particularly galling, he says, is the enormous waste of water, in a country where many of the poor in urban areas have little or no access to clean water. According to the outspoken writer, Thingyan revelers throw away 60 million gallons of water every year.
Fortunately for those who don't like the modern way of bringing in the New Year, some of the older customs live on. One is the Thingyan Thangyat, satirical performances that mock the wrongdoings of people in power—something that was banned until the government started introducing political reforms in 2011. Writers work on their Thangyat scripts for a month before Thingyan begins, both to ensure that they are funnier than those of their rivals—contests are held to choose the best performance—and to make sure that they don't cross any of the invisible lines that still mark the limits of free expression in Myanmar. "I have started writing my scripts and will have to submit them to the authorities [to be scrutinized] before Thingyan," Mitta, an artist living in Yangon, told The Irrawaddy in mid-March. Also on display will be colorful floats, which will feature more traditional music and dancing than that of the noisy stages that tend to steal the show every year. Lest the more spiritual side of Thingyan be forgotten, many will also mark the occasion by making offerings at Buddhist temples. "The younger people will throw water, but we will also clean the monasteries and stupas, and offer food to the monks," said Ko Ko Lay, a Mandalay resident. And to make sure that nobody gets left out of the fun, groups of traditional musicians, such as the Myoma Association in Mandalay, will travel around from place to place in colorfully decorated trucks to perform for elderly members of the community. Today's Thingyan might not be the way it used to be, but for those who have a chance to witness it in full swing, it will always be an event to remember. The post All the World's a Stage appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 11 Apr 2014 09:57 PM PDT  Not a drop to drink The post Not a drop to drink appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Making Opium (and the Past) Go Away Posted: 11 Apr 2014 09:43 PM PDT  Former intelligence chief Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt appears in a poster with UWSA leader Pau Yuqiang, in an image taken in Pangsang, on the Chinese border, in 1999. (Photo: Reuters) MONG LA, Shan State — Mong La's opium museum has to be one of the more interesting institutions created during the days of Myanmar's State Law and Restoration Council (SLORC). Located in Shan State's Special Region No. 4, an almost completely autonomous corner of northeastern Myanmar, the museum was founded by Lin Mingxian (also known as Sai Lin or Sai Leun), a former rebel commander in the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and long-time leader of his own 5,000-strong militia, the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA). During the 1990s, Lin and his group were alleged by US authorities to be heavily involved in the drug trade. Lin, who is of mixed Chinese and Shan heritage, has ruled over his 1,900-square-mile (4,950-square-km) Golden Triangle fiefdom ever since 1989, when he and his fellow ethnic comrades rebelled against the CPB's overwhelmingly Burman politburo and reached verbal ceasefires with the SLORC that split the CPB's territory and its massive cache of weapons four different ways. Built at the base of a hill close to Mong La's standing Buddha, the museum offers an interesting alternative to the NDAA region's other attractions—namely, its casinos, brothels and stores selling tiger skins and ivory. It is especially likely to appeal to those adverse to large crowds: On a recent visit, this correspondent found the museum devoid of any other visitors, or, indeed, of any staff. One of the museum's more memorable attractions is a life-size diorama portraying a drug addict's journey to recovery. Unfortunately, however, the glass case was caked in so much dust that it was rather difficult to see inside. But you can still see enough to get the general idea. The first scene shows two young men injecting heroin. Besides the telltale hypodermic needle, you can tell they are addicts because they are sporting long hair, jeans and matching "Bad to the Bone" T-shirts. In the next scene, one of the duo is lying dead with a needle protruding from his arm while the other is being led away in handcuffs. The survivor is then seen in a hospital bed being well looked after. In the last scene, the survivor is clearly a changed man: Not only has he kicked drugs, he's also gotten a haircut and put on a longyi. Much of the rest of the museum is made up of faded propaganda photos from the military's anti-narcotics drives and similarly themed murals. Another section has a series of pictures from the SLORC regime's negotiations with various factions that broke away from the CPB. Unmentioned in the captions is the presence of the late Lo Hsing Han in several of the photos. Dubbed the "godfather of heroin" by US authorities, Lo was an ethnic Kokang Chinese drug lord turned tycoon who served as a key mediator during SLORC's talks with the ex-CPB groups. Although Snr-Gen. Than Shwe officially stepped down as Myanmar's head of state nearly three years ago, a large portrait of him still hangs next to the front entrance, with an awkwardly worded quote of his in English. "The drug abuse control because it is related to all the people of the entire world is a very huge and difficult task. We are willing to warmly welcome sincere participation by anybody. Even if there is no assistance whatsoever, we will do our utmost with whatever resources and capability we have in our hands to fight this." The same quote is also featured in the Yangon drug museum, which opened in 2001 and was apparently modeled after the one in Mong La. One thing you won't find here are any reminders of another former SLORC leader who played an even bigger role in bringing the region's drug lords "into the legal fold," to use the old SLORC-speak. The numerous photos previously on display of the NDAA's long-time ally, deposed Military Intelligence Chief Gen. Khin Nyunt, were removed long ago. Prior to his fall from power in 2004, the notorious spy chief inaugurated the museum's opening and frequently attended Mong La drug-burning ceremonies. When the museum was officially opened in April 1997, Lin and his NDAA were making regular appearances in the US State Department's annual International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports. The reports accused Lin of being heavily involved in the drug trade, alongside his former CPB comrades in the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Kokang-based Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), led at the time by Lin's father-in-law, Pheung Kya-shin. Apparently Lin didn't appreciate his annual denunciation by the US government. "I don't think I need to defend myself at all. It's not worth refuting what the United States has alleged about me," Lin told international reporters during a stage-managed anti-drug event held in Mong La in 1999 on the 10th anniversary of his group's ceasefire with the government. The comments reported by Reuters appear to be one of the few times anyone from the NDAA has ever spoken to international media. The official opening of the opium museum coincided with Lin declaring his little kingdom opium-free—a move that appears to have impressed US authorities enough that in 2000, the US State Department described Lin as having "successfully rid his area of opium cultivation." Although he was no longer appearing in their annual narcotics reports, US diplomatic cables continued to describe Lin as a "drug trafficker" who oversaw what one embassy official described in 2005 as a "James Bondian private police force." Like the NDAA, the UWSA and the MNDAA have also implemented opium bans. The shift away from opium saw all three groups establish large-scale rubber plantations across their respective territories. But not everyone is celebrating. According to a February 2012 report published by the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI), these plantations, financed by Chinese government crop-substitution programs, have benefited Yunnan-based business interests, but pay former opium farmers far less than they could earn in the past. But if anyone is complaining, Beijing doesn't seem to be listening: In a report cited by TNI, the Chinese government said it was "a blessing for mankind that Yunnan has helped the 4th Special Zone of Myanmar." Apart from working on huge rubber plantations or migrating, farmers who used to grow opium are left with few options. "Development interventions by international NGOs and UN agencies to provide farmers with sustainable, alternative livelihood options to offset the impact of opium bans have been grossly insufficient, and are merely emergency responses to prevent a humanitarian crisis," write TNI researchers Tom Kramer and Martin Jelsma in an article published shortly after their report was released. Of course, none of this makes it into Lin's museum, where unpleasant aspects of the present—like the embarrassing facts of the past—are treated like things sometimes best forgotten. The post Making Opium (and the Past) Go Away appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| ‘Railway Man’ Revisits War Prisoner’s Horror and Forgiveness Posted: 11 Apr 2014 07:34 PM PDT  Tourists walk on the infamous Thailand-Burma "Death Railway" at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand. (Photo: Reuters) NEW YORK — Shortly before wrapping up filming for "The Railway Man," a World War Two drama about a former British Army officer and victim of torture, actor Colin Firth dreamt he was drawing a map of a railway but was bluffing and didn't know how to do it. The English Oscar-winner saw the dream as a metaphor for the film, based on a true story and best-selling autobiography, and the responsibility he felt in portraying a man who had suffered in silence for decades before finding the power of forgiveness. "I was supposed to know and I didn't know. And in the dream there were old men needing me to get it right, saying you've got to join it up. You've got to say where it goes," the actor said in an interview ahead of the film's US release on Friday. Firth, 53, plays Eric Lomax, a man with a passion for trains and railway timetables who meets his wife on a train decades after he had been tortured as a prisoner of war during the building of the Thailand-Burma Railway, or what became known as the "Death Railway." The railway, built by the Empire of Japan in 1943 to support its attack on the British colony of Burma, used forced labor, including Asian civilians and Allied prisoners of war, many thousands of whom died of beatings, disease, starvation and exhaustion. Like many men of his generation Lomax didn't talk about the war but relived his experiences in nightmares, until he was coaxed into confronting his demons and tormentor. Firth won a best actor Oscar in 2011 for "The King's Speech," about King George VI's battle to overcome a speech impediment, and was no stranger to playing silent, brooding types. But Lomax's harrowing story of the suffering of thousands of prisoners of war, the torture inflicted by their captors and their inner torment was different. "It did reflect how it felt because nothing equivalent to this had ever happened to me," Firth said about the dream. "Every so often you're called to interpret a story which is very, very precious and that was the case with this. It became personal," he added. Silent Suffering Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky ("Burning Man" and "Better than Sex") thought Firth was perfect for the part and that it was a role and a character the actor couldn't say no to. Nicole Kidman, the 2003 best actress Oscar winner for "The Hours," plays his wife Patti Lomax, and Jeremy Irvine, who made his feature film debut in "War Horse," is the young Lomax, whose story is told in flashbacks. Sweden's Stellan Skarsgaard ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) plays Lomax's friend Finlay. Hiroyuki Sanada ("The Wolverine") rounds out the cast as the Japanese interpreter and tormentor Takashi Nagase, whom Lomax confronts decades later and amazingly forgives and befriends. "It reminds us of what we are capable of as human beings, the very best and the very worst," said Teplitzky. The film was shot in Australia, Thailand and Scotland, where Firth and Kidman met Lomax and his wife. Lomax died in 2012, at the age of 93, while the film was being edited. Reading the book and meeting Lomax were invaluable for Firth because his role is so silent and the feelings are internalized. "I had to inhabit imaginary memories," he said. "Being equipped with so little, it meant a lot to be equipped with that." Firth was also surprised by the reaction to the film, which has already opened in Australia and Britain, and what it has unearthed. He said people have contacted him and Patti Lomax saying their father, grandfather or uncle had been there too during the war and hadn't spoken about it until now. "Sometimes you are an instrument for a story that really needs to be told properly and I think Eric was conscious of the fact that it wasn't just his precious book, that he was actually speaking for all the guys that didn't speak out," Firth said. The post 'Railway Man' Revisits War Prisoner's Horror and Forgiveness appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (April 12, 2014) Posted: 11 Apr 2014 07:18 PM PDT Burma's Economic Revival Leaves China Struggling to Compete China's investment in Burma "plummeted" in 2013 to only US$20 million or 5 percent of the value invested in 2012, Chinese media reported. And last year's figure was a mere 1 percent of the value of Chinese investment in Burma in the peak year of 2010, said China Radio International. "The rules of the game in [Burma] have changed. In 2011, a civilian government came to power. China's plummeting investment coincides with the announcement of the 2012 foreign investment law," the radio said quoting the China Business News newspaper. "As for ranking of foreign investors, China lost the leading position for the first time in four years and dropped to around 10th," the paper reported. "The sharp contrast of China's dropping investment in [Burma] and the rising total volume of FDI (foreign direct investment) is due to the failure of the Chinese companies to change their own game and catch up with developments [in Burma]," the radio station said in its report. It said there was a degree of inevitability about China losing its No.1 investor status with the ending of Western sanctions and a changing economic culture in Burma. "Chinese companies need to understand the situation, change their mindset, put themselves in Improved Business Confidence Boosts Burma's Growth Forecast Burma's economy is forecast to grow by an average 7.8 percent over the next two years. The annual increase is predicted by the Asian Development Bank for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 financial years. It's slightly higher than the bank's estimate of economic growth during the financial year ended in March. "Growth [in 2013] was supported by rising investment propelled by improved business confidence, commodity exports, buoyant tourism, and credit growth, complemented by the government's ambitious structural reform program," said the ADB in a statement. Burma's international investment profile was raised last year by several major factors, including the award of telecommunications licenses, airport construction bids, hosting the World Economic Forum on East Asia and staging the Southeast Asian Games, said the ADB report. The higher profile has been helped with a "broad array of reforms, unifying the exchange rate, improving monetary policy, increasing tax collection, reorienting public expenditure toward social and physical infrastructure…and liberalizing agriculture and trade." Ancient Art Treasures on Show in New York Will Aid Burma's Tourism Burmese art treasures go on a show in New York next week for the first time at a prestigious exhibition which will draw attention to Burma as an attractive place to visit, a tourism newspaper said. The exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will focus on the religious art of Southeast Asia's ancient kingdoms. "It features 160 stone, terracotta and bronze sculptures of which 22 are from [Burma], the first pieces of art loaned by Rangoon after emerging from decades of international isolation," said TTR Weekly. "We are especially honored that the government of Myanmar has signed its first-ever international loan agreement in order to lend their national treasures to this exhibition," museum director Thomas Campbell told TTR Weekly. The beautifully presented and painstakingly curated "Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia 5th to 8th Century," opens next Monday and runs until 27 July. The exhibition, which will also feature art from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, opens on April 14 and last until the end of July. Curator John Guy said the museum attracts over 6 million visitors a year and Southeast Asia "could expect spin-off benefits such as enhanced tourism and cultural cooperation." Indian Firm Says It's Still Hopeful of Share in Burma's Offshore Oil Hunt Indian state-owned oil and gas developer ONGC Videsh said that despite failing to win any of Burma's offshore exploration blocks awarded in March it still expects to be involved in the industry's development. Videsh had a swap arrangement with another international bidder which did win a block in the bidding round for 30 offshore blocks, India's Business Standard said. "We had a pre-bid understanding with an international oil company that if we were to win any shallow-water acreage, they will farm-in [take a share], Videsh managing director S. P. Garg told the newspaper. "Similarly, in case that company was successful in picking up any of the deep-sea acreages it bid for, we would get a stake." Gard declined to identify its potential partner. The firms that won deep-water bids are: Total, Ophir Energy, Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Mitsui Oil, ConocoPhillips and Statoil. Bangkok's Failure to Sign Labor Conventions 'Hurts Migrant Workers' The continuing problems of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand are directly linked with the fact that Bangkok has never signed international agreements on worker rights, a European NGO chief said. "Thailand hasn't ratified the core conventions on freedom of association and collective bargaining and migrants are not allowed to form trade unions," the executive director of Finnwatch, Sonja Vartiala, told The Irrawaddy. "Migrant workers are not able to represent themselves". Finnwatch, based in Helsinki, has published a new report exposing a range of labor abuses in factories in southern Thailand involving mainly Burmese migrant workers. These include below legal minimum pay, forced long hours without rest, and use of child labor. The NGO draws attention to goods imported by Finland and other European countries from factories in Thailand where workers are badly treated. "In the end it's always about the price—getting the products manufactured at the cheapest price possible," said Vartiala. The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (April 12, 2014) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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| Campaigners urge Thingyan revellers to avoid unruly behaviour, drunkenness Posted: 12 Apr 2014 12:10 AM PDT Six Rangoon-based youth organisations this week launched a campaign urging revellers celebrating the Thingyan Water Festival to avoid unruly behaviour, drunkenness and dressing inappropriately as a measure to protect Burma's image. The six youth groups, including Myanmar Youth Capacity Building Network (MYCBN), Myanmar Youth Initiative and Think for Future, unveiled the campaign on 10-11 April with promotional information delivered to passers-by at busy areas in Rangoon such as Inya Lake, People's Square and downtown shopping malls. Aung Zin, chairperson of the MYCBN, said that due to the extra attention focused on the country as ASEAN chair this year, Burmese people should seek to promote their cultural image on the international stage. "At the moment, Burma is receiving a lot of attention from the international community as well as our ASEAN neighbours," he said. "If we behave in the same way as previous years – getting drunk and wearing inappropriate clothing – it could lead them into believing that we are not so culturally sensitive." Meanwhile, the Myanmar Film Association (MFA) has also issued a statement urging film stars to celebrate the festival in appropriate fashion after photographs of scantily clad celebrities taking part in last year's Thingyan circulated on the internet. "As we become more globalised, we see more and more pictures of scantily clad celebrities on the internet – we are issuing this statement to remind the young generation to consider their cultural values," said Aye Kyu Lay, vice-chairman of the MFA. |
| China Closes Border as Thousands Flee Kachin War Posted: 11 Apr 2014 10:44 PM PDT Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who have already been displaced twice and some even trice, have to flee once again as battles rage in southern Kachin State and northern Shan State between Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese Government troops. Mass evacuation began as fighting continues to rage in Nawng Luk, Nawng Lum, Lahkum Pa, Nam Hka, Lagat Daw, Kyak Hpra, and Gawng Ngu Yang areas in Mansi Township. A local official said on Thursday that about 1,000 IDPs living in Lagat Yang IDP camp, about 1,000 Shan villagers and Kachin civilians living in Ulang Pa District have fled to Man Win Gyi and the Chinese side of the border – Nam Gu and Nong Dao. Some IDPs have been relocated to Nawng Mun, a Shan village close to the China border, by KIO's IDP and Refugee and Relief Committee (IRRC) and some have been moved to Man Win Gyi area under Burmese government control. Mungmau Baptist Association and Karuna Social Service have been helping IDPs who have fled to Man Win Gyi with bedding and foods. Related StoriesMary Tawm, coordinator of a local aid group Wunpawng Ninghtoi (WPN) said, "I am very worried about the IDPs because some of them fled from Namlim Pa in November 2013. Those IDPs include Kachin, Palaung and Shan nationalities. IDPs had no time to take their belongings, they had to run immediately and could not even finish their dinner". She said, "On the other side of the border, Nawng Dao, there are many Chinese soldiers watching along the border and it's difficult for IDPs to go there too". Heavy fighting continues in southern Kachin State this morning and the sound of heavy artilleries can be heard from the Chinese side of the border, said an aid worker who has fled to Nong Dao. He said, "Fully armed Chinese soldiers are patrolling along the border and border crossing at Bang Hkam Gate has been suspended." Despite the unwelcome by Chinese authorities, more IDPs and local residents are expected to cross the border as fighting has intensified in areas close to Man Win Gyi IDP camp, Hka Hkye IDP camp and a few villages located along China-Burma border. This article was first published in Kachinland News on 11 April 2014. |
| Anti-Corruption Commission tackles Regional Administrations Posted: 11 Apr 2014 10:16 PM PDT Regional Administrations have been the focus of a third of the cases lodged by the newly formed Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and verified by the Ministry of Home Affairs, according to a Burmese lower house MP. Thein Nyunt, a parliamentary representative for Rangoon Division, says that over 300 complaints have been submitted by members of the public to the ACC, headed by vice-president Sai Mauk Kham. The Ministry of Home Affairs has ratified 90 of those complaints – including 25 directed against regional government administrations, 11 against the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, 10 against the Ministry of Home Affairs and three cases against the Supreme Court. Thein Nyunt said he was surprised that there were only three complaints verified against the Supreme Court, amid widespread public criticism of corruption among judicial authorities. In a statement released on Wednesday and reported by state-run paper The New Light of Myanmar, the ACC warned that legal action will be taken against those who lodge a complaint without "concrete evidence". The ACC maintained that those who can prove that they have suffered "loss due to bribery and corruption" are invited to appeal. The 15-member ACC was established by presidential decree ahead of the legislation that enables it, and signed into law on 7 August 2014. Accusations of corruption from domestic and international critics have been a constant thorn in the side of Thein Sein's quasi-civilian reformist government. The extent of corruption in Burma is "really quite stunning", Sam Zarifi, regional director of the International Commission of Jurists, told DVB in early April, in relation to alleged misconduct in the timber industry. Literally every sector, Zarifi said, is and will for some time remain dominated by government cronies, especially in the booming extractive sector, where profit margins are high. ACC findings have, however, lead to arrests. Late last month, a former government administrator of Pwintbyu, Magwe Division, was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of embezzling over 260 million kyat (US$260,000) from funds designated to buy fertiliser for farmers. That sentence was the harshest levelled against a corrupt government official in Burma to date and lent legitimacy to the ACC and the Anti-Corruption Law. Eradicating corruption in Burma is inextricably linked to greater media freedom, Zarifi stressed to DVB last week, as journalists, activists and citizens remain as watchdogs. Those freedoms took a hit this month, however, with the jailing of DVB correspondent Zaw Pe, which Human Rights Watch described as an attempt to "intimidate the press and curtail their ability to investigate corruption and malfeasance." Zaw Pe's case, which ended in a one-year jail term for "disturbing a civil servant" as well as trespassing, was heard at local and high court levels in Magwe and Naypyidaw respectively, fuelling further speculation as to corruption within the Burmese judicial system. |
| Posted: 11 Apr 2014 10:01 PM PDT
Ups and downs The Burmese kyat is stable at: 961 kyat to the dollar, buying rate; and 963 kyat, selling rate. Gold is up in Burma from 665,300 kyat per tical last week to 674,200 kyat this week. The price of fuel remains unchanged: petrol is 820 kyat per litre; diesel 950 kyat; and octane 920 kyat a litre. Rice is up in price at Rangoon markets for the second week running, good-quality Pawhsanmwe selling in Rangoon for 1,300 to 1,600 kyat per basket.
MPE invites foreign bidders for refinery State-owned Myanmar Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE) is inviting tender for foreign companies to enter into a joint-venture for the production of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) at a refinery in Nyaungdon in the Irrawaddy delta, a move the government says will help tackle the growing demand for natural gas in the country. Currently, there are three LPG refineries in Burma: one in Magwe division's Minbu, run by Japan's Mitsubishi Corp; and two Chinese-backed refineries in Nyaungdon and Magwe's Kyunchaung.
Awards for Burma's top 100 taxpayers Burma's 100 top taxpayers will be presented honorary certificates on Monday by the Internal Revenue Department (IRD), according to an official from Rangoon Division tax office. The awards are based on tax payments for the 2012-13 financial year; Kanbawza Bank has been declared the highest taxpayer for that year. The IRD also announced that 8,000 companies which have failed to pay tax will be prosecuted.
Pepsi enters Burmese market PepsiCo has reentered the Burmese soft drink market. Pepsi brand drinks had previously been manufactured and distributed in Burma, however economic sanctioning forced the American company out in 1997. Local Burmese firm MGS Co, in conjunction with Korean firm LOTTE Chilsung, is handling product distribution. Bottles of Pepsi now come at the cost of 200 kyat in Burma, as the brand competes with its chief rival, Coca Cola, who opened its first manufacturing plant in Burma in 2013.
Three Novotel five-star hotels to open in Burma French hotel group Accor has announced the planned opening of three five-star hotels in Burma. The hotels will open in Rangoon, Naypyidaw and Inle Lake respectively. Accor, the company behind the famous Novotel hotel chain, runs hotels and resorts across 92 countries. Novotel Inle Lake is due to be open for guests before the coming November to February tourist season, with Naypyidaw and Rangoon to follow.
Singaporean consultancy firm branches out into Burma Singaporean firm Surbana International Consultants Pte Ltd, which specialises in consultancy for large-scale construction projects, has opened a branch office in Rangoon. Surbana's president Liew Mun Leong, speaking at the launch ceremony in Rangoon on Sunday, said the consultancy firm will continue to look to expand in Burma. The firm is currently involved in two housing projects overseen by the Ministry of Construction, and hopes to be involved in a wide range of large construction projects. Transport infrastructure is to be a focus for Surbana, who will pursue links to future airport projects.
Myanmar Film Development Company publicly listed The Myanmar Film Development Company (MDFC) has been floated as a publicly listed company with shares now available for purchase. The MDFC, founded by many well-known faces of the Burmese film industry, has already sold most of the 150,000 shares placed on sale, according to a company spokesperson. Shares were made available primarily to members of the film industry, although 5,000 are now available to the general public. The MDFC has announced that profit from the sale will be spent on the building a DVD factory in Rangoon.
ADB reaffirms support for Burma Speaking with Burmese President Thein Sein on 4 April, Takehiko Nakao, president of Asian Development Bank (ADB), praised the social and economic reforms in the country and reaffirmed ADB's support to speed up development and poverty alleviation. Nakao also mentioned that ADB is keen to support investment in Burma's energy, transport, urbanisation, agriculture, education and health sectors.
Bank of India paves the way into Burma The Central Bank of Myanmar has announced that the state-owned Bank of India (BOI) has been given permission to open a representative office in Burma, joining nearly 40 foreign banks which are waiting for the green light to open branches in the country, a move expected this year. Founded in 1906, BOI was nationalised in 1969. It currently has over 4,500 branches in India and across the world.
Burmese garment exports hit $1 billion The total export value created by Burma's garment sector in the 2013-14 fiscal year hit a record high, amounting to over US$1 billion, an increase of about 25 percent from the previous year, according to an official from the Ministry of Trade and Commerce who also noted that he expected investment to pour into the garment sector in industrial zones such as the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, construction of which is currently underway.
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| Posted: 11 Apr 2014 04:36 AM PDT Japan's extensive development portfolio in Burma has reached the tourist capital of Bagan, with a 10 April agreement to help develop tourism infrastructure over the next three years. The Japan International Cooperation Association (JICA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Burma's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism on Thursday, pledging technical assistance for development in the ancient city and archeological zone until 2017. Bagan, in central Burma's Mandalay Division, is one of the country's most magnetic tourist attractions. The area is home to more than 2,000 temples and pagodas built during the Pagan Dynasty between the 10th and 14th centuries. The site has not achieved UNESCO World Heritage site status, largely thought to be because of poor restoration work undertaken by the military junta in the 1990s. JICA, an independent agency that oversees official development assistance for the Japanese government, has a hand in almost every developmental pot in Burma. Japan is Burma's largest foreign aid donor, having pledged approximately US$1.5 billion in assistance since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in 2012. Related StoriesJapan has pledged assistance in various sectors, including an 8 billion yen (US$78.5 million) health package and myriad infrastructure projects. JICA has announced plans to draft a comprehensive 30-year master plan for Burma's former capital and financial centre, Rangoon, similar to a plan devised to urbanise the Lao capital of Vientiane. The agency has also been an advocate for the development of deregulated trade hubs in Burma, serving an advisory role for Burma's legislature as they drafted the country's first Special Economic Zone Law, passed by Burma's newly formed parliament in January 2011, just before a wave of reforms swept the country. Among the principal prospectors in Burma's new deregulated zones, Japanese companies have thus far placed bids on several manufacturing opportunities in the Thilawa SEZ, primarily for car manufacturing, with Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Toyota all submitting tenders. In October 2013, JICA concluded a survey of southeastern Burma which recommended the development of additional infrastructure connecting the Dawei SEZ in southern Tenasserim Division with Thilawa. JICA's report met with criticism from civil society groups, who rejected claims that planning was inclusive of the region's many ethnic minority voices. Japan is Burma's tenth largest investor, having channeled more than US$300 million into the private sector by the end of 2013. |
| Hundreds flee as census-related clashes break out in Kachin Posted: 11 Apr 2014 04:35 AM PDT Fierce fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Burmese government forces in Mansi Township has forced hundreds of Kachin IDPs and villagers to seek sanctuary in Namhkam and at the Burma-China border. No casualties have yet been announced. Lamai Gum Ja, a mediator in ongoing peace talks, said hostilities broke out on Thursday morning in Lagatyang and Nantlon in Bhamo District as Burma's military forces were sent in to accompany enumerators conducting a census in the area. "We have confirmation that clashes occurred on Thursday and also again this [Friday] morning after government troops moved into the area on the pretext of the census," he told DVB. He said that by Friday morning, the government troops had spread to the hamlets of Nawnglon and Lwehkawche, forcing villagers at nearby displacement camps to flee in fear to the Burma-China border. "If this situation persists, it may lead to the collapse of the entire peace process," he concluded. Hundreds of other internally displaced persons (IDPs) and villagers reportedly fled to Namkham in northern Shan State. Related StoriesSai Hseng Wan, chairman of Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) in Namhkam, said hundreds of people had evacuated the villages of Manswam, Kaungnawng and Kunchai after heavy shelling in the area, and had taken refuge in Namhkam. He said the SNDP called an emergency meeting on Thursday afternoon to coordinate relief supplies for the IDPs. Speaking to DVB on Friday, Presidential spokesman Ye Htut, the government's deputy information minister, said: "So far, we have not received details of any clashes. However the census operations have been going smoothly. The polls were completed in Shan State, but there are some areas left [for census-taking] in Kachin State." Neither the KIA not its political wing, the Kachin Independence Organisation, was available for comment. On Friday, Free Burma Rangers, which conducts mobile medical operations in the region, reported that more than 1,800 people had been displaced in Thursday and Friday's fighting. "On 10 April 2014, the Burma Army launched infantry attacks, supported with mortar fire, against Kachin Independence Army positions in the La Gat Yang and Man Win areas along the Kachin-Shan border southwest of Namhkam town. The attacks lasted from 10:00 until 20:00 hours," its report read. Kachinland News also reported the assault, saying that government forces launched multiple offensives on KIA positions near the Burma-China border. Again, the Burmese government's policy of ensuring that its national census was conducted, even in rebel-controlled areas, was seen as instrumental in the decision to secure a hold in the Mansi Township villages. "About 1,000 Burmese army troops arrived last week in Man Win Gyi area in Kachin-Shan border and threatened KIA local officers to allow [the] census in KIA-controlled territories or face a military action," said Kachinland News. However, Burma's state-run media resolved to view the situation through a somewhat rosier lens: "As part of the nationwide census-taking process, the census enumerators are carrying out their tasks with the help of the armed forces in some regions that face some difficulties in Kachin and northern Shan states," reported the New Light of Myanmar on Thursday. The Burmese authorities maintain that the national census, the first in over 30 years, has been a success; however, a lack of access to conflict zones and a debacle over the counting of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State has cast doubts over the accuracy of the population count. |
| Zaw Pe’s lawyer to launch appeal Posted: 11 Apr 2014 02:53 AM PDT The lawyer representing jailed DVB reporter Zaw Pe announced on Thursday that he will launch an appeal against the sentence to a higher court. "In the capacity of his defence lawyer, I will appeal against the sentence to a higher court," said Thein Tun, Zaw Pe’s counsel. Speaking to DVB staff and other local reporters in Magwe on Thursday, Thein Tun explained the incident that some are calling proof of Burma’s “backslide” on media reform. On 7 April Zaw Pe and a father of a student, Win Min Hlaing, were sentenced to one year imprisonment for trespassing and disturbing a civil servant after they visited the Magwe Division Education Department to conduct an interview. "Zaw Pe went to a public area and took photos. This does not constitute physical harassment. The officials themselves stated that there was no verbal harassment either," he said. Win Kyi from Magwe Division's Journalists Association was also present at the discussion and said Zaw Pe's sentence reveals corruption in Burma's legal system. "The sentencing indicates that the judicial sector is being interfered by the executive sector," he said. DVB's Burma Bureau Chief, Toe Zaw Latt said DVB would keep campaigning for Zaw Pe's release. "We are concerned that the government authorities will continue to use these laws against journalists who ask questions they don't like. Therefore we will keep campaigning and building a case," he said. Related StoriesDVB is also planning to organise a protest with members from other media organisations after the Thingyan Water Festival. On Thursday, staff from DVB gathered at Sule Pagoda in downtown Rangoon to pray for Zaw Pe's release, wearing t-shirts with the slogan, "Stop media oppression". Fellow reporter Aung Soe Htike said Zaw Pe's sentencing is unjust. "The jailing has brought up a lot of questions about Burma's media freedom. Zaw Pe went to a public area to conduct an interview and was prosecuted for disturbing a civil servant and trespassing, which we see as a big threat to media freedom," he said. On 8 April, the day after Zaw Pe's sentencing, DVB reporters in Mandalay gathered at the Aungdawmu Pagoda for a similar prayer ceremony. |
| Election Commission curbs Suu Kyi’s campaign trail Posted: 11 Apr 2014 01:46 AM PDT The director of Burma's official electoral body, the Union Election Commission (UEC), told DVB on Thursday that plans are in motion to change the regulations for election campaigning so that candidates may only campaign in their respective constituencies. He said the new regulation would also prohibit fellow party members or party leaders from campaigning in a constituency on another candidate's behalf. The move will undoubtedly be seen by Burma watchers as an attempt to rein in opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has led the campaign for her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), across the country during previous elections. Burma's next general election is scheduled for late 2015. "Regarding election campaigning, we are looking to introduce a new directive to revise the regulation that previously allowed individuals appointed by election candidates to campaign in constituencies on their behalf," said UEC director Thaung Hlaing. "This will make the procedure more compact and ensure free and fair elections." He said that several amendments on electoral bylaws and regulations, including a curb on the allocated period for campaigning, will be officially announced in the near future after meetings with political parties. Related StoriesThu Wai, chairman of the Democratic Party-Myanmar, criticised the UEC's revision of regulations, insisting it is completely normal for party leaders to campaign in support of their candidates. "It is the responsibility of party leaders to assist their candidates' campaigns in constituencies across the country – this is how it has been done in the past, based on our experience with elections," he said. NLD central executive committee member Win Myint told DVB that he believes this new regulation will damage the election's credibility. "If this new regulation is approved [by the UEC], the 2015 elections will not be free and fair – this makes it obvious the authorities are already looking to play dirty," said Win Myint. During the 2012 by-elections, NLD leader Suu Kyi travelled across the country to campaign for her party's candidates running for seats in 44 constituencies. The NLD won 43 of the by-election polls; Suu Kyi herself was elected in the southwestern Rangoon constituency of Kawhmu. The UEC announced less than two weeks ago that it also planned to curb the campaign period for by-elections scheduled to take place later this year. Tin Aye, the UEC chairman, told DVB that the Commission will cut the time period for campaigning at the upcoming by-elections from its current duration of three months; however, he said it had not been decided yet what the new campaign period would be. "Political parties often voice the opinion that the time allowed for election campaigns is rather short. However this is not the case compared to other countries – for example in Malaysia, they only allow two weeks' campaigning whereas we currently allow three months," he said. "We are planning to curb the amount of time allowed for campaigning as we believe the longer the period, the more violence there will be." For more background: https://www.dvb.no/news/general-election-will-be-nov-dec-2015-says-ec-chairman-burma-myanmar/38722 |
| Posted: 10 Apr 2014 10:39 PM PDT  Zaw Pe has been a DVB undercover VJ since 2007 Name: Zaw Pe [also spelt Zaw Phay] Sentence: One year Prison: Thayet Age: 40 Occupation: DVB VJ Arrest date: 24 August 2012 Sentence date: 7 April 2014
On 7 April 2014, Zaw Pe and Win Myint Hlaing were sentenced each to one year in jail, and later transported to Thayet prison in Magwe division. In August 2012, video journalist Zaw Pe and Win Myint Hlaing,a father of a student, were charged with trespassing and disturbing a civil servant after they visited the Magwe Division Education Department to conduct an interview about a Japanese-funded scholarship programme. Zaw Pe was released on bail in September 2012, after having paid a 10 million kyat bond (amounting to US$11,494 in 2012). Zaw Pe has worked for DVB as an undercover VJ since 2007. He is a former political prisoner, having partially served a three year prison sentence in 2010 for shooting video without a license. Reactions to DVB VJ Zaw Pe's jailing: US Campaign for Burma: “Zaw Pe’s unjust sentencing is a severe blow to press freedom in Burma. The Burmese government is actively backsliding on its high-profile media reforms by tightening restrictions on domestic and foreign media through law, censorship, and devious surveillance practices. The Burmese government should unconditionally release Zaw Pe, end the practice of politically arresting and charging journalists, and build a legal atmosphere in which being a journalist is not a criminal act.” Burma Campaign UK: "The jailing of Zaw Pe is the latest step in what appears to be a concerted effort to intimidate and restrict the media. There is serious backsliding on media freedom and there needs to be a very robust response from the international community." US Embassy Rangoon: "The sentence given to Zaw Pe sends the wrong message to the international community and local journalists on the Union Government's commitment to sustaining freedom of expression and to political reform." UK Embassy Rangoon: "We are concerned by the jailing this week of DVB reporter Zaw Pe in Magway. Media freedoms are an essential element of democracy, and it is important that they are protected." Committee to Protect Journalists: "Today’s conviction of journalist Zaw Pe is the latest indication that Burma’s once-promising democratic reform program is rapidly being reversed. With at least five journalists now in jail, President Thein Sein’s vows to uphold press freedom ring increasingly hollow. We call for the immediate release of all reporters being held in Burma.” Human Rights Watch: "Zaw Pe's sentencing is another reprehensible example of the government's recidivism on press freedoms, pulling out military era provisions to intimidate the media. Unfortunately the national level parliament is failing to repeal these petty provisions utilised by capricious local officials and is instead drafting laws that will intimidate the press and curtail their ability to investigate corruption and malfeasance." Democratic Voice of Burma: "DVB is confident that reporter Zaw Pe (a.k.a. Thura Thet Tin) was fulfilling his responsibility as a news reporter to inquire about a scholarship programme at the Magwe Township Education Department, which was in the public interest and therefore completely denounce his sentencing." "Despite all the government officials' pledges of press reform, we believe the jailing of Zaw Pe is an obstacle to media freedom in the country, and we call for the unconditional release of the reporter and his co-defendant." You can join the calls to free Zaw Pe by using the hashtags #FreeZawPhay and #FreeBurmaVJ |
| Burmese migrants assume false identities to work in Thailand Posted: 10 Apr 2014 09:45 PM PDT Some Burmese migrant workers have been assuming new identities in a bid to return to work in Thailand after completing the four years of employment they are entitled to, a source from a labour NGO says. More than 150,000 workers are required to return to their home countries after having worked in Thailand for four years. They must also legally wait at least three before they can return and resume employment, according to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Burma, officially known as Myanmar, and Thailand. Authorities amended the MoU to reduce the waiting period to one day, but the amendment has not taken effect because the caretaker government is not authorised to endorse it. Related StoriesAs the current restriction stands, workers whose four-year employment deadlines have expired have already returned to their countries. Many have changed their names and obtained new passports in order to dodge the three-year wait and return to Thailand immediately. But the cabinet has recently passed a resolution allowing migrant workers at the end of their four-year employment to remain in the country for another 180 days, or until a new government is elected. To stay on for an extra 180 days, workers must secure a special permit. They must be taken by their employers to obtain the permit at designated labour service centres in Chiang Rai, Tak, Ranong, Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon, Thailand's Employment Department chief Prawit Kiangpol said. Workers who leave the country and change their names will technically be working as “newcomers” upon their return to Thailand. This means they will be without social security privileges in the first several months of their employment, according to the source. The law stipulates workers must contribute to the social security fund for at least three consecutive months to qualify for free medical coverage. For medical coverage in case of childbirth, the minimum contribution period extends to seven months. Mr Prawit said the 180-day reprieve was granted to avert damage to the economy from a feared labour shortage resulting from the MoU amendment not yet being endorsed. This article was originally published in the Bangkok Post on 11 April 2014.
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