AllSBNews

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Opposition party claims harassment in Shan State
De-robed monks await trial after monastery raid
New approaches needed to help survivors of rape in Burma

Opposition party claims harassment in Shan State

Posted: 14 Jun 2014 02:09 AM PDT

An office of Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was told to remove party signage from their property or face retaliation, according to NLD officials.

Aik Ti, NLD information officer for Loilam district, told DVB that a man came to the party's office in Kyae Thee, southern Shan State, on 9 June to relay a message from the village tract headman that the signage must be immediately removed or the property would be burned down and the owner killed.

Local authorities could not be reached for comment.

"He said to take down the sign, and he said 'we will burn down your house and kill you' if we don't obey," Aik Ti said. "The owner of the building was afraid and ran to the district office. We told him not to sacrifice his life. We told him that if they come and take down the sign, he should let them do it."

Officials told him not to remove the signage himself, but not to interfere if someone came to take it down.

Shan State NLD chairperson Khin Moe Moe offered a similar account: "I told them that, if possible, they should ask the headman to provide a written letter explaining why the sign must be removed. If they don't do that and they take down the sign, I told them to take pictures. We cannot tell our members to sacrifice their lives.

"The area is remote and lawless, so I told them to take care for their security," she said.

The sign was erected in January of this year, shortly after Aung San Suu Kyi visited the Shan State capital, Taunggyi, as part of a highly anticipated trip that was mired in obstacles.

Shan State has been a particularly hostile environment for the NLD; in early June, a village chairman for the party was abducted from his home in Hopong Township and killed by unknown gunmen. The culprits and motivation for the crime are still unknown.

A year prior, more than 50 NLD party members were allegedly forced to resign at gunpoint following a land dispute with a local militia.

De-robed monks await trial after monastery raid

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 11:54 PM PDT

Five monks detained during a Tuesday night raid on the Mahasantisukha Monastery were de-robed and brought to court on Friday, according an officer at the Tamwe police station. The officer did not offer any further detail about the monks' arraignment or pending trial.

A monk from Magwe, U Parmaukkha, told DVB after observing part of the hearing, "When we heard that U Uttara and the other monks were put on trial, I went directly to the court. I asked the judge and he said it was true. They were brought to court today. Five monks were de-robed, and the next hearing will be on the 20th of June."

In the early hours of 11 June, the Sangha Maha Nayaka joined with police to raid the Mahasantisukha Monastery in Rangoon's Tamwe Township, where they sealed the perimeter and detained 37 people; five monks and 32 laypeople. All but the five monks were released the following day. The monks are believed to be detained in Insein prison, according to U Parmaukkha, though this has not been independently verified by DVB.

The Mahasantisukha Buddhist monastery is the domain of a well-known abbot, Penang Sayadaw, who is currently on a mission to Japan. It has for years been the subject of an ownership dispute between the abbot and the State Sangha Committee, which assumed control of the property some ten years ago while Penang Sayadaw was on a journey abroad.

The land of Mahasantisukha Monastery was originally donated in 1995 by former dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe to Penang Sayadaw. The monastery was confiscated by the military government in 2004 and put under the control of the State Sangha Committee, which reiterated in March 2013 that it legally owned the property and would not give it back to Penang Sayadaw. In October of last year, the president issued a notification returning the monastery to the revered abbot.

This provoked the State Sangha Committee to increase pressure on Penang Sayadaw, claiming that his continued defiance was an affront to Buddhist doctrine. Following the raid, officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Wednesday that the monks had no right to reside in the monastery and would face charges on account of violating the Buddhist code of discipline.

On Friday, several monks came forward claiming that they had been deceived by the Maha Nayaka when monks from 12 townships were summoned to assist with the late-night operation. On condition of anonymity, the monks told DVB that they were told that the monastery might be occupied by armed "elements from across the border".

"We really were not really sure what was going on," one witness said.

New approaches needed to help survivors of rape in Burma

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 09:08 PM PDT

As well as preventing sexual violence, assisting survivors of sexual violence in conflict has been a big theme at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, held in London this week. I was invited to take part in an expert panel on this subject at the summit, along with senior officials from the United Nations. Sadly though, I did not get the impression that there is a willingness to use the momentum from this summit to apply approaches to assist survivors of rape.

The situation in Burma is an example of how the current approach, largely based on the principle of co-operating with governments, can leave survivors of sexual violence without even the most basic humanitarian support, let alone the specialised support they need.

If the international community truly wants to assist survivors and end impunity, they have to address the problem of governments like Burma that do not cooperate. How do you provide assistance when the government of the country won't agree to you doing so? What action should be taken to ensure compliance with international law, justice and accountability, when the government of the country is committing the crimes and refuses to stop?

This is what is happening in Burma today. The Burmese government has now signed the Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence In Conflict. This centres around three main goals: prevention, assistance and ending impunity. But the Burmese government has not said anything about how it plans to implement this declaration, and based on the government's record of abiding by international treaties and agreements, full implementation of this declaration would be very surprising.

The simple truth is that today in Burma, the United Nations, governments, and many international humanitarian organisations have failed to take action to end impunity for sexual violence, and failed to provide assistance to survivors.

International groups on the ground need to re-think their current approach. Humanitarian organisations are lobbying for better access in ethnic conflict zones, which is a positive sign, but a slow process. We are very concerned that where limited access is finally given, international organisations often move into an area and create their own programmes, rather than supporting and strengthening existing community and civil society structures.

These local organisations need financing and support to expand. The arrival of international groups can actually weaken local civil society when competing services are set up, which in our situation is an enormous loss. We have built up local organisations in a very difficult operating environment. We are a vital building block for democracy and stability. Gender-based anti-violence services, education and prevention are matters the community must own and address, not simply allow them to drop on us from international organisations. Competing services also waste valuable resources and do not help us create a sustainable response.

In the case of gender-based violence in Burma, this approach effectively helps the government to suppress information about rapes and sexual violence committed by its army since no government-registered humanitarian international NGO will undertake documentation and advocacy. Only local community groups do this work. This adds to the sense of impunity the military already enjoys. Lack of documentation also undermines the hope that affected women will one day see justice for the crimes committed against them. Local organisations are the most effective way to build a system to win justice and support female victims. It is that simple, and the funding should be directly based on that.

Where access is denied, there is an unwillingness by most large donors to consider alternative mechanisms for ensuring humanitarian assistance. They won't fund cross-border aid, perhaps for fear of upsetting the government. Britain's DFID demonstrated that this fear is wrong. They began funding cross-border aid, and it had no impact on their other operations in Burma.

Support given to community-based organisations should include targeted assistance for women who have been subjected to rape and sexual violence. Members of the Women's League of Burma come from their communities and work within their communities. We have been providing services to women who have been subject to violence for many years, yet when funding is provided by DFID on this issue, where did it go? It went to large International NGOs, not our local organisations, and not to the survivors of sexual violence which those local organisations seek to help.

The community must own and solve these problems and provide lasting support to women. We can only do that with funding from international organisations which strengthens our programmes, skills and abilities. Local organisations should be funded not just to assist victims, but to advocate for new laws, document crimes, and provide community education about violence against women. This issue needs a comprehensive solution, not simply counselling and safe houses.

Ending impunity is essential. And this process will only begin if the international community starts to act. A first step would be an independent international investigation by the United Nations. We support UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for Burma to "fully investigate and respond to current and historical human rights violations and abuses, including crimes of sexual violence". This is long overdue and without holding the perpetrators accountable we have no hope of stopping future violence.

And finally, there must be recognition of the political root causes of this problem in Burma – a military which is not under civilian control, and a government which is not fully accountable to the people. We need constitutional change, and we can't wait. We won't be able to address the major problems our country faces, including sexual violence, until there is constitutional change, democracy, and laws that protect us.

Wahku Shee is Joint General Secretary 1 of the Women's League of Burma

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect DVB editorial policy.

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Serene Sangkhlaburi
Thailand’s Rampant Trafficking May Carry Price
The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 14, 2014)

Serene Sangkhlaburi

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT

Sanghklaburi's location in the midst of mountains and beside a lake means there are often spectacular sunsets. (Photo: Aue Mon / The Irrawaddy)

Shhhh… Keep it to yourself: It's still a bit of a secret that some of Thailand's most charming towns are on the border with Myanmar.

Border-area connoisseurs may sing the merits of tranquil, hilly Mae Hong Son in the north and lush Umphang much farther south.

But fans of Sanghklaburi near Three Pagodas Pass tend to brook no argument: this place is the most magical of all.

Sangkhla's modest, traditional-style buildings and understated atmosphere born of the mix

of people who live here—Thais, Mon, Kayin, Lao, people from Dawei and a smattering of others including Chinese, Rakhine and Bangladeshis—give the town much of its unique flavor.

But it's the wooden bridge over the Vajiralongkorn dam built by the Mon community to link their section of the town with the rest, that perhaps most captures the imagination of visitors.

The longest wooden bridge in Thailand broke up under severe storms in July of last year. It's still in the process of being fixed, but meanwhile the intrepid local community lost no time in building a temporary replacement made of bamboo, which is currently still in use.

Sanghklaburi's mountainous location beside a large dam and vast forests makes for many spectacular sunsets. Mornings can be equally dramatic, being cool and often draped in wispy mists.

This article first appeared in the June 2014 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.

The post Serene Sangkhlaburi appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thailand’s Rampant Trafficking May Carry Price

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT

Migrant workers from Burma work on a fishing boat at the port of Mahachai, near Bangkok, on Sept. 24, 2011. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)

AMBON, Indonesia — He was too sick to eat, and Min Min Chan's chest ached with each breath he sucked. It didn't matter: The Thai captain warned him to get back on deck and start hauling fish onto the trawler or be tossed overboard. As a 17-year-old slave stuck in the middle of the sea, he knew no one would come looking if he simply vanished.

Less than a month earlier, Chan had left Burma for neighboring Thailand, looking for work. Instead, he said a broker tricked and sold him onto the fishing boat for US$616. He ended up far away in Indonesian waters before even realizing what was happening.

Tens of thousands of invisible migrants like Chan stream into Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, every year. Many are used as forced labor in various industries, especially on long-haul fishing boats that catch seafood eaten in the United States and around the world. Others are dragged into the country's booming sex industry. Ethnic Rohingya asylum seekers from neighboring Burma are also held for ransom in abysmal jungle camps.

Next week, when a US report on human trafficking comes out, Thailand may be punished for allowing that exploitation. The country has been on a US State Department human trafficking watch list for the past four years. Washington warned in last year's report that without major improvements, it would be dropped to the lowest rung, Tier 3, joining the ranks of North Korea, Syria, Iran and Zimbabwe.

Though Thailand says it is trying to prevent such abuses and punish traffickers, its authorities have been part of the problem. The United States has said the involvement of corrupt officials appears to be widespread, from protecting brothels and workplaces to cooperating directly with traffickers.

A downgrade could lead the United States to pull back certain forms of foreign support and exchange programs as well as oppose assistance from international financial institutions such as the World Bank. Washington has already cut some assistance to Bangkok following last month's Thai military coup.

Thailand is paying a US public relations company $51,000 a month to help in its push for better standing. The government issued a progress report for 2013, noting that investigations, prosecutions and the budget for anti-trafficking work all are on the rise.

"We recognize that it's a very serious, very significant problem, and we've been building a legal and bureaucratic framework to try to address these issues," said Vijavat Isarabhakdi, Thailand's ambassador to the United States. "We feel that we have turned a corner and are making great progress in this area."

At least 38 Thai police were punished last year or are being investigated for involvement in trafficking, but none has stood trial yet. Four companies have been fined, and criminal charges against five others are pending. But the government pulled the licenses of only two of the country's numerous labor recruitment agencies.

In Geneva on Wednesday, Thailand was the only government in the world to vote against a new UN international treaty that combats forced labor by, among other things, strengthening victims' access to compensation. Several countries abstained.

"Thailand tries to portray itself as the victim while, at the same time, it's busy taking advantage of everybody it can who's coming through the country," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division. "The exploitation of migrants, the trafficking, it comes through Thailand because people know they can pay people in the government and in the police to look the other way."

Chan's story is a common nightmare. A recruiter showed up in his village in Burma offering good money to work on a fishing boat in Thailand. Chan said after sneaking across the border by foot, he was sold onto a boat by the broker and told to hide inside to avoid being seen by Thai authorities.

"'You have to work at least six months. After that, you can go back home,'" Chan said the captain told him. "I decided, 'I can work for six months on this boat.'"

But after the ship docked 17 days later on eastern Indonesia's Ambon island, Chan met other Burmese workers who told a very different story: There was no six-month contract and no escape. Now thousands of miles from home, he realized he no longer owned his life—it had become a debt that must be paid.

Ambon, in the Banda Sea, is peppered with churches and pristine dive sites. At the port, deep-sea fishermen in tattered T-shirts and rubber boots form human chains on boats, tossing bag after bag of frozen snapper and other fish into pickup trucks bound for cold storage. Much of it will later be shipped to Thailand for export.

They speak Burmese, Thai and other languages. Their skin is dark from the sun, and some faces look far older than their ropey bodies.

On the cramped boat, Chan said he slept only about three hours a night alongside 17 other men, mostly Burmese, sometimes working on just one meal of rice and fish a day. There was no fresh water for drinking or bathing, only boiled sea water with a briny taste.

In his first month at sea, he got sick and didn't eat for three days. He was sleeping when the captain threatened him.

"Why are you not working? Why are you taking a rest?" Chan recalled him saying. "Do we have to throw you off into the water?"

Some of Chan's friends carried him onto the deck, where he was given medicine before getting back to work.

For the next year, he labored, hauling up thousands of kilograms (pounds) of fish as he tried to shake a stubborn cough. He saw land every couple of months, but there was no way to leave the port.

He said he was given occasional packs of cigarettes, noodles and coffee, but he never got paid.

Thailand shipped some $7 billion worth of seafood abroad last year, making it the world's third-largest exporter. Most went to Japan and the United States, where it ranks as the No. 3 foreign supplier.

The United Nations estimates the industry employs 2 million people, but it still faces a massive worker shortage. Many Thais are unwilling to take the low-paid, dangerous jobs that can require fishermen to be at sea for months or even years at a time.

An estimated 200,000 migrants, mostly from neighboring Burma and Cambodia, are laboring on Thai boats, according to the Bangkok-based nonprofit Raks Thai Foundation. Some go voluntarily, but a UN survey last year of nearly 600 workers in the fishing industry found that almost none had a signed contract, and about 40 percent had wages cut without explanation. Children were also found on board.

Forced or coerced work is more common in certain sectors, including deep-sea fishing and seafood processing plants where some workers have reported being drugged and kidnapped.

Long-haul fishermen like Chan have it the worst. They are worked around the clock seven days a week with very little food and often no clean water. They risk getting fouled in lines, being swept overboard during storms or losing fingers cleaning fish.

But often the biggest threat is their captain. A 2009 UN report found that about six out of 10 migrant workers on Thai fishing boats reported seeing a co-worker killed. Chan faced abuse himself and saw one sick Burmese fisherman die. The captain simply dumped the body overboard.

Thailand's progress report highlighted increased boat and workplace inspections, but the United States has said those do not combat trafficking in an industry where "overall impunity for exploitative labor practices" is seen. The United States recommends increased prosecutions of employers involved in human trafficking.

The problem is also rampant in the country's notorious sex industry. More than three-quarters of trafficking investigations launched last year in Thailand involved sexual exploitation. Thai girls and women were abused along with those from neighboring countries.

Another challenge surrounds the recent influx of Rohingya Muslims. An estimated 75,000 have fled Burma since communal violence exploded there two years ago, according to Chris Lewa of the nonprofit Arakan Project. The Buddhist-dominated country considers Rohingya to be noncitizens from Bangladesh, though many were born in Burma.

Many Rohingya brought to Thailand are held at rubber plantations or forest camps by armed guards until they can find a way to pay the typical asking price of $2,000 for their release, according to victims and rights groups. Those who get the money often cross the border into Malaysia, where tens of thousands of Rohingya have found refuge. Those who don't are sometimes sold for sex, forced labor, or they are simply left to die.

The Thai government, however, does not address these asylum seekers as trafficking victims in its report. It said fleeing Rohingya enter Thailand willingly, even though "most of them fall prey to smugglers and illegal middlemen." However, Vijavat, the Thai ambassador, said some cases are now being treated as trafficking.

Rights groups allege corrupt Thai officials are sometimes involved, including deporting Rohingya straight back into traffickers' hands.

"I believe we have more good officers than bad ones," said police Col. Paisith Sungkahapong, director of the government's Anti-Human Trafficking Center. He said migrants in the country illegally "are pushed back through proper channels. Immigration will contact their counterpart in Myanmar or whichever country, and make sure they return there safely."

In a letter last month to US Secretary of State John Kerry, a group of 18 human rights groups and labor organizations highlighted the Rohingya issue, while urging the US government to put more pressure on Bangkok to crack down on the seafood industry and keep fish caught by slaves from ending up on American dinner tables.

"The [Thai] government continues to be at best complacent, at worst complicit, in the trafficking of migrant workers from neighboring countries to provide inexpensive labor for export industries," they wrote.

After a year on the boat, Chan finally started getting paid: about $87 every two months. He continued working for a total of three and a half years, until he started coughing blood and became too weak to continue.

When he asked the captain if he could go home, he was told to get back to work.

"I thought it was better to die by jumping into the water than to die by being tortured by these people," he said. "When I was about to jump, my friend grabbed me from the back and saved me."

His crew members instead convinced him to slip away the next time they made land, and he eventually escaped into Ambon where a local woman helped him get treatment for tuberculosis. After recovering, he decided to stay with her, and she treated him like a son. He worked odd jobs for the next four years, but never stopped dreaming of home.

Finally, at age 24, he found someone at Indonesia's immigration office willing to help. And in March, the International Organization for Migration arranged for him and 21 other trafficked Burmese fishermen to fly home.

Hours before boarding the plane, Chan wondered what would be left of his old life when he landed. More than seven years had passed without a letter or a phone call. He had no idea if he would be able to find his family, or even if they were still alive.

"After I knew the broker sold me into slavery … I felt so sad," he said. "When I left Myanmar, I had a great life."

Associated Press writers Robin McDowell in Rangoon and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

The post Thailand's Rampant Trafficking May Carry Price appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 14, 2014)

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT

Fined Dutch Firm Used 'Deceit' to Avoid US Sanctions Against Burma

A Netherlands-based company has been fined millions of dollars for selling airplane parts to Burma during the period of US economic sanctions.

Fokker Services, a division of Fokker Technologies Holding BV, is being fined US$21 million for "deceit and trickery" in selling equipment to Burma, Iran and Sudan over a five-year period of sanctions, said UPI news agency quoting the US Attorney's Office.

The firm falsified documents suggesting parts were destined for other airlines when they were actually sent to airlines in the banned countries, UPI said.

"For years, Fokker Services treated US export laws as inconveniences to be 'worked around' through deceit and trickery. Today's prosecution sends a clear message that there will be consequences for those who seek to profit from violating and circumventing US trade laws," US Attorney Ronald C. Machen said in a statement.

The company made over 1,100 illegal shipments of parts and equipment to the three countries, the US Attorney’s Office said.

The report did not identify which companies in Burma bought the Fokker equipment.

Thai Coup Slows Cross-Border Import of Vehicles, Say Traders

The military takeover in Thailand has slowed car imports into Burma, a report said.

More than 1,000 vehicles are stockpiled on the Thai side because "border trade has been limited to basic commodities and only at certain hours of the day," said Eleven Media quoting traders.

At one crossing point, into Myawaddy, up to 100 cars per day were imported before the coup, but now they were only crossing the border a few at a time, traders reportedly said.

The surge in vehicle numbers in Burma has also led to sharp rise in oil fuel imports. Demand for diesel and petrol grew 5 percent in the financial year ended in March to over 40,000 barrels a day, Reuters said quoting Ministry of Energy data.

Some of this fuel also has to come from Thailand across land borders because Rangoon port cannot handle large tankers.
Car imports in the 2012-13 financial year totaled over 330,000, and trucks over 74,000, according to Reuters.

Scores of Vietnamese Firms to Showcase Goods and Services in Rangoon

Vietnam will stage a large trade and investment promotion exhibition in Rangoon later this month.
The five-day event starting June 26 will involve 80 firms and feature agricultural equipment, construction machinery, cosmetics and food products.

The trade exhibition coincides with a series of market research visits to Burma by 50 Vietnamese businesses, said Pho Nam Phuang, director of Vietnam's trade promotion office in Rangoon, quoted by Eleven Media.

The research is being conducted at shopping malls and supermarkets in Rangoon and Mandalay, she said in a press conference at the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI).

The research will look at trends in Burma as well as possible obstacles to Vietnamese companies, UMFCCI official Myo Thant told Eleven Media.

Burma Still to Sign Visa-Free Travel Deals With Four Asean Countries

Visa-free travel into Burma for all citizens of Asean, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, should be implemented by the end of this year, the country's tourism industry chief said.

Burma has already signed visa-free agreements with five of the 10 Asean members, but negotiations have still to be finalized with four other countries, including neighbor Thailand, said tourism federation secretary-general Kyi Thein Ko.

Burma is current chairman of Asean and the aim is to achieve visa-free travel across the 10 member countries by the time Naypyidaw hands over the chairmanship in January, he told regional travel trade publication TTR Weekly.

Next year is also supposed to herald the beginning of the Asean Economic Community, a European Union-style open trading market.

Burma has signed visa-free agreements with Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam Philippines and Brunei, but has still to sign with Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, TTR Weekly said.

The political disruption in Bangkok, the ousting of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the subsequent military coup has disrupted an agreement with Thailand, said Kyi Thein Ko.

"We understand Thailand agreed to visa-free facilitation at international airports, but not overland checkpoints, which was part of the proposal from our side," he was quoted by TTR Weekly as saying at a tourism conference.
Bangkok has still not resolved the issue of work visa renewals for hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrant workers who cross the land border in Thailand.

Indian Firm Builds Port, Road and Dredges River 'Without Consultation'

A group of NGOs has called for greater transparency on plans for India's US$214 million transport project to link the Arakan State port of Sittwe with the landlocked Indian state of Mizoram.

The development, involving port reconstruction, dredging of the Kaladan River, and a new 130 kilometer-long road, is going on without any consultation with affected communities in Arakan and Chin states, the Kaladan Movement alleged in a statement this week.

The Indian industrial conglomerate Essar is overseeing the project and is currently reconstructing Sittwe port to handle large ships and renovating Paletwa town port facilities.

"The highway component of the Kaladan Project is to be built by an as yet unnamed Burmese construction company, and the exact route of the highway or timeframe for its construction has never been publicly announced," said the group of NGOs.

The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

The group said "significant riverbed dredging at four locations" will be necessary to make the river usable for 300-ton vessels which will carry container cargoes transferred from larger ships docking in Sittwe.

The NGOs said at one location villagers were told 16 acres of their agricultural land was to be confiscated for use as a mud dump, until they resisted and managed to negotiate to save their land.

Elsewhere, dredging had forced village homes and a monastery to be abandoned.

The post The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (June 14, 2014) appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

National News

MPs express surprise over not-so-secret voting
Myanmar, Bangladesh border guards pledge cooperation
Govt rejects minimum drinking age

MPs express surprise over not-so-secret voting

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 02:16 PM PDT

Hluttaw representatives expressed surprise – and some concern – after learning that voting in parliament is not secret, and the results of their deliberations are clear for all to see.

Myanmar, Bangladesh border guards pledge cooperation

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 01:17 PM PDT

Myanmar and Bangladesh have reached an "in principle" agreement to open liaison offices on the border and increase security cooperation in the troubled area.

Govt rejects minimum drinking age

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 12:18 PM PDT

Hluttaw members are calling time on the nation's antiquated drinking laws, which they say are apparently being broken every day.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Burma Business Weekly
Bangladesh, Burma reach agreement on border crisis
‘We are ashamed of ourselves,’ says monk who helped raid Mahasantisukha
FDA advises using only reputable beauty products
Mandalay farmers begin ‘plough protest’ on 3,000 acres

Burma Business Weekly

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 03:58 AM PDT

Ups and Downs

The Burmese currency remained stable this week, with the buying rate finishing on Friday at 966 kyat – up 1 kyat compared to the week before – and the selling rate dropping slightly to 970 kyat. Meanwhile, the price of gold increased to 657,100 kyat per tical, compared to last week's rate of 649,800 kyat. Fuel prices remained the same, with petrol selling at 820 kyat per litre, diesel at 950 kyat per litre, and octane at 920 kyat per litre. The price of rice also did not fluctuate, with the high-quality Pawhsanmwe rice continueing to sell at 1,300 to 1,600 kyat per basket and low-quality Manawthukha rice going for 900 kyat per basket.

JICA dismisses accusations of negligence

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) rejected allegations that it betrayed its own guidelines on "environmental and social considerations" in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, in which it has a 10 percent equity stake. These allegations are from residents of the Myaing Thar Yar resettlement village, home to 68 families displaced by construction of the project's 400-hectare first phase. Masahiko Tanaka, JICA's chief representative in Burma, claimed that issues of compensation and compliance with "international standards" are ultimately the government's responsibility.

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Authorities Charge Monks in Dispute With Govt-Backed Clergy
Burma Teachers Group Balks at Performance-Based Transfer Scheme
Photo of the Week (13, 06, 2014)
Burma’s Upper House Votes to Change Electoral System
Knee-Deep in Rangoon’s Rainy Season
Suu Kyi’s Presidential Bid Not Dead Yet: NLD
Investment in Rice Milling Key to Boosting Export, Report Says
India Rebuffs ‘Simplistic’ UN Criticism Over Sex Crimes
Ferry Family Boss Eludes South Korea’s Biggest and Most Bizarre Manhunt
Neymar Leads Brazil to 3-1 Win Over Croatia
Junta Engineers World Cup Coup for Thailand

Authorities Charge Monks in Dispute With Govt-Backed Clergy

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 05:51 AM PDT

Monks look on Tuesday night as the State Sangha organized a raid to remove U Pyinnya Wuntha's followers from Maha Thanti Thukha Buddhist monastery in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Authorities in Rangoon's Tamwe Township charged five Buddhist monks with religious offenses on Friday after they became embroiled in a dispute with the government-backed Buddhist clergy over the ownership of a large Rangoon monastery.

The monks were reportedly disrobed and sent to Insein Prison to await their trial, which could result in a prison sentence.

"It's true, we brought them to the court, but I don't' want to say any more [about this case]," Ye Myo Hein, a police officer involved in the case, said when asked whether the monks had been charged with religious offenses.

Burma's Penal Code Article 295 to 298 carries provisions that set punishments for acts that insult religious feelings and beliefs, or disturb places of religious worship and assembly. The charges carry fines and prison terms of between one and two years.

U Pamaukkha, a monk who went to the trial at Tamwe Township Court, said, "They were charged with offending religion by the court.

"Five monks, including U Ottara, were forced to change their robes and they were sent to Insein Prison."

The five were part of a group of seven monks and 32 laymen who were evicted from Rangoon's Maha Thanti Thukha Buddhist monastery on Tuesday by the government-backed Buddhist clergy, the Sangha Maha Nayaka, and subsequently apprehended. The laymen and two monks were later released.

They are followers of Penang Sayadaw U Pyinnya Wuntha, an 86-year-old abbot who has been involved in a dispute with the State Sangha over the ownership of the monastery since the early 2000s. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has backed the State Sangha in the case and supported the Tuesday raid.

Burma's former military regime built the large monastery in the late 1990s at a cost of about US$8 million and put U Pyinnya Wuntha in charge, presenting him with legal ownership documents.

But in 2002, after U Pyinnya Wuntha went on a visit abroad, the government claimed it found evidence of corruption at the monastery and it granted control over the building to the State Sangha.

Most of U Pyinnya Wuntha's followers were forced to leave but a small group was allowed to stay; these last followers were evicted and apprehended by the State Sangha on Tuesday night.

U Pyinnya Wuntha condemned the raid in a phone call from Japan Thursday and claimed he had full ownership over the monastery.

Win Htein, who is a lawyer and a lawmaker in Rangoon Division's legislature, said it was uncommon for authorities to charge monks under criminal law, as the clergy has its own rules and a special office to resolve disputes between monks.

He said police had failed to give prior warning of the raid, adding that it remains unclear on what grounds the five monks were being charged for offending religion. "There is a special office and a rules handbook for monks when there is a dispute. By bringing monks to a civilian court, police ignore these laws," said Win Htein.

The open dispute between Buddhist monks and the unusual actions by authorities have fascinated Burma's predominantly Buddhist public, which deeply revers the clergymen.

U Wirathu, the nationalist monk who is the public figurehead of the 969 movement that has been spreading anti-Islamic messages throughout Burma, has sought to publicly weigh in on the case.

He said he supported the evicted the monks. "They stayed at their own monastery. They were innocent. By putting innocent monks in prison, [the government] will get punishment from all monks in the country," Wirathu said.

The post Authorities Charge Monks in Dispute With Govt-Backed Clergy appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Teachers Group Balks at Performance-Based Transfer Scheme

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 05:47 AM PDT

The road leading to the Convocation Hall at Rangoon University is seen in 2013. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — The Myanmar Teachers' Federation has said it "strongly condemns" the Education Ministry's new approach to handling transfer orders for Burma's university educators, which will see their postings determined by peer-based performance evaluations.

The Education Ministry recently issued details of a new procedure to rate the performance of teachers beginning this academic year, with the announcement communicated to rectors at Burma's universities. Educators' performance ratings will be based on an evaluation of 10 different factors and will be carried out by departmental colleagues.

The evaluations will be used to determine university educators' promotions and transfer orders. Across Burma, university educators are rotated every one to three years, based on a combination of need and the requests of the educators. Because the nation's more remote campuses are generally less desirable, the system sought to incentivize far-flung postings by tying promotions and pay raises to service in isolated areas.

Previously, transfer orders and promotions were determined largely by tenure, with longer-serving classroom educators given priority in the event that multiple requests were made for a given teaching position. Now, competing requests will be resolved via the peer-based performance evaluations.

Zaw Myo Hlaing, deputy chairman of the Myanmar Teachers' Federation, said that among other complaints, the MTF considered the evaluations to be a poor gauge of the effectiveness of education professionals.

"The evaluation form includes 10 points. The questions look like questions you would ask of an ordinary civil servant but do not have relevance to university teachers," he told The Irrawaddy.

"The [sample] questions are like, 'Whether [the teacher] is willingly performing their duties,' 'Whether [the teacher] has good communication with their colleagues," said Zaw Myo Hlaing, who is also an assistant lecturer at Dagon University in Rangoon.

The MTF said additionally, the new system could sow ill will among teaching colleagues.

"Some factors can incite enmity among teachers and divide them. The evaluations are also not related to the nature of teachers' work," the statement said.

The federation also criticized the evaluation system as biased, with classroom-based university educators being put under the microscope while senior administrative personnel like rectors and directors general escaped scrutiny.

The new system "fails to conduct evaluations on positions that need rating," the MTF statement said. "The practice of evaluating only lower positions for ordinary education staff shows that the Education Ministry lacks goodwill and is not sincere toward teachers and the whole education sector, thus the Myanmar Teachers' Federation strongly condemns the Education Ministry's administrative change."

The MTF also called on the ministry to issue transfer orders as soon as possible for affected teachers, some of whom have already begun teaching for the year but could receive transfer orders at any point.

Transfer orders are normally received in November of the preceding academic year but have not yet been issued this year, with the ministry blaming the death of former Education Minister Mya Aye for the delay. Mya Aye died in December 2013 and his successor, Khin San Yi, was not appointed until February.

The post Burma Teachers Group Balks at Performance-Based Transfer Scheme appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Photo of the Week (13, 06, 2014)

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 05:44 AM PDT

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Burma’s Upper House Votes to Change Electoral System

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 05:27 AM PDT

A session of the Upper House of Parliament in Naypyidaw. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Burma's Upper House of Parliament has voted to adopt a proportional representation (PR) system for the nomination of Upper House lawmakers in 2015.

One hundred and seventeen lawmakers, a majority in the Upper House, voted on Wednesday to switch from the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, which benefits dominant parties, to a PR system, which tends to benefit smaller parties. Eighty-five lawmakers, mostly from the military, the National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic minority parties, voted against the change.

After approving the decision, the Union Election Commission will work with Upper House lawmakers to draft regulations and bylaws for the new electoral system. The Lower House will not be affected by the Upper House's vote, but will likely discuss next week the possibility of also adopting the new electoral system in 2015.

Under the current FPTP system, the winning lawmaker in each constituency wins a seat in Parliament. Under a PR system, the number of seats won by a party is proportionate to the number of votes received.

Military lawmakers oppose a PR system, as does the NLD, the country's biggest opposition party, which would likely see major gains during the 2015 election under a FPTP system. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), expecting losses to the NLD, supports the PR system, as does the National Democratic Force (NDF), a small party.

The Upper House has formed a 42-member commission to consider which PR system will be most appropriate for its purposes in 2015. The commission is said to include both supporters and opponents of PR.

"We will cover a wide range of views in our consideration," said NDF lawmaker and commission member Khin Wine Kyi, who first made the proposal to adopt a PR system in the Upper House. She said the commission did not have a time frame for completing its task.

Ethnic political parties, which, under the current electoral system, would likely win seats in their constituencies of ethnic minority states, oppose the change to PR.

"We prefer the old FPTP system because our voters, also in the ethnic regions, are familiar with it, and that would mitigate the chances of any confusion," ethnic Mon lawmaker Banyar Aung Moe told The Irrawaddy, adding that many ethnic minority voters are not able to read Burmese, the language in which ballots are written.

In the Lower House, NDF lawmaker Aung Zin, who represents Rangoon's Pazuntaung Township, said he has been pushing for a PR system since last year because he believes it is best suited for a multi-party democracy.

"I think it will come up for discussion next week [in the Lower House]," he told The Irrawaddy.

"The public is not bad at voting," he added, in response to concerns among ethnic lawmakers that a PR system would confuse voters. He said the Burmese people had experience heading to the polls in the 1990 election, the results of which were annulled by the former regime, as well as the 2010 election and the 2012 by-election, which saw opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi elected to the legislature.

He also stressed the important role of the Union Election Commission in counting votes in 2015.

Ba Shein, an ethnic Arakanese lawmaker in the Lower House, expressed concerns about any change to the electoral system.

"As an ethnic parliamentarian, I would like to ask whether it is in accordance with the 2008 Constitution," he said, when asked about PR.

"We oppose the use of a PR system in these early years of our country's transition. It is unclear whether this system would really reflect minority rights."

The post Burma's Upper House Votes to Change Electoral System appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Knee-Deep in Rangoon’s Rainy Season

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 04:32 AM PDT

Young men push a car through the floods at Thamine Junction, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Rangoon, on Thursday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON — On Thursday morning, people in Rangoon awoke to cloudy skies. With rainy season officially here, they knew it would be a wet day, at best. More likely, it would be a day of flooding.

The city of more than 6 million people is prone to flooding whenever heavy rains fall, thanks to a poorly maintained drainage system. Even downtown, people are regularly forced to wade through flooded streets after only a few minutes of rain because the drains are blocked with trash.

Earlier this year, the government boasted that it had spent more than 12 billion kyats (US$12 million) to improve the drainage system. Scenes from recent rainy days suggest that the investment has not been effective.

Thursday's downpour lasted only a few hours, but it was enough to disrupt life in the Southeast Asian city, as most of the roads and railways connected to downtown were inundated with water. With traffic at a standstill, workers were late to the office and schools were temporarily closed in some areas.

After a few hours of rain, I found myself taking pictures at Thamine Junction, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Rangoon. Around me, public buses and cars were stopped dead in the deluge, while people were wading through knee-deep water. In houses, residents struggled to bucket out the invading rains.

Flooding at the junction did not subside until afternoon. Local people said the floods coincided with a rising tide at nearby Hlaing River, somewhat preventing the water levels from dropping.

Standing at a bus stop near the junction, a resident openly blamed the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) for failing to maintain the drainage system.

"The flooding is worse because the drainage system choked with trash. Water always overflows onto the road, even after a few minutes of rain. That shows they don't do their job well," he said.

The post Knee-Deep in Rangoon's Rainy Season appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Suu Kyi’s Presidential Bid Not Dead Yet: NLD

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 03:54 AM PDT

Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi smiles before delivering the annual Godkin Lecture at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Sept. 27, 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

MANDALAY — There is still hope for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to become president, her National League for Democracy (NLD) party says, after a parliamentary committee said it would not endorse amendments to a constitutional article that currently blocks her from the post.

The Constitutional Amendment Implementation Committee, tasked with making recommendations to Parliament before lawmakers vote on amendments, says it believes there should be no change to Article 59(F), which bars Suu Kyi from Burma's top post.

But lawmakers are not bound to follow the committee's recommendations, meaning that Suu Kyi's presidential bid is not dead yet.

"According to law, Parliament has to make a decision about this amendment, with votes from the parliamentarians," party spokesman Nyan Win told The Irrawaddy.

"Since the decision [not to endorse an amendment] was made only by the committee, it is too early for us to comment. We need to wait and see the decision of the Parliament and the parliamentarians."

On June 6, only five members of the 31-member Constitutional Amendment Implementation Committee voted to endorse changes to Article 59(f), according to a committee member from the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

The committee comprises seven unelected military lawmakers, 15 USDP lawmakers, two NLD lawmakers and eight lawmakers from other political parties.

Article 59(F) is controversial because it states that a president cannot have a spouse or children who are foreign nationals. Suu Kyi's two sons from her marriage to the late scholar Michael Aris are British nationals.

The post Suu Kyi's Presidential Bid Not Dead Yet: NLD appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Investment in Rice Milling Key to Boosting Export, Report Says

Posted: 13 Jun 2014 03:42 AM PDT

A farmer plants rice seedlings in a paddy field on the outskirts of Rangoon. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — A new World Bank report said Burma can greatly increase its agricultural exports if it can improve the quality of rice through investments in rice mills, while it should also reduce transport costs and formulate policies to support rice export and agricultural production.

Burma's reformist government aims to improve agricultural productivity and rice exports, and it has set a goal of exporting 4 million metric tons of rice by 2020. The report, titled "Capitalizing on Rice Export Opportunities", said that since reforms began in 2011 rice exports have significantly increased, but in the past two years export volumes levelled off at about 1.3 million tons annually.

It said much of the rice produced in Burma is of low quality and unfit for export to high-value markets such as the European Union, where Burmese products are exempt from import tariffs under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences, which grants least developed countries preferential market access.

"The current rice export strategy favors the production of low quality rice, which is largely sold to Africa and China. Consequently, farmers have earned minimal profits and agribusinesses have skipped necessary investments," a World Bank press release said. "The situation is worsening as the global demand for low quality broken rice is shrinking."

Burma's agriculture sector is the country's largest employer and 70 percent of all Burmese live in rural areas, but under the previous military regime the sector saw little improvement in agricultural productivity, while rice exports fell sharply compared to the 1960s.

Paddy yields in Burma are among the lowest in Southeast Asia at 2.5 metric tons per hectare and most rice mills used outdated machinery that produces rice with a high percentage of broken grains, making it unsuitable for foreign export markets, according to the World Bank.

"The milling sector operates with obsolete processing units that causes about 15-20 percent losses in quality and quantity during the milling," it said, adding that the government should take measures to attract foreign investment to the rice milling sector so that it can upgrade its machinery and produce better quality rice for export.

The report said the government should also take steps to make commercial loans more easily available to rice millers, who need capital to buy up paddy stocks for milling.

"A more efficient milling sector would give strong incentives to kick-start farm productivity growth as illustrated by the recent experience in Cambodia, but investments in public goods will be the key to maintain that growth over the long run," the report.

Other short term measures include establishing a predictable trade policy and lowering port charges and reducing export procedure costs. "Yangon Port, the main export gate, is small, outdated and with limited capacity during monsoons. The export procedure costs are some of the highest in the region," the report added.

To improve long-term rice production the World Bank said Burma's government should take steps such as improving water management, engaging farmers into decision-making, providing land tenure security and making investments in rural roads that connect farms to markets.

Soe Tun, general secretary of the Myanmar Rice Exporters Association, shared the conclusion of the World Bank report and he told The Irrawaddy in a recent interview that total rice exports in 2013-2014 had in fact dipped to 1.2 million tons, down from 1.47 million tons the year before.

According to the association, about 60 percent of exported rice goes to China and another large share is sent to South Africa, while small quantities of high-quality rice were shipped to the EU and Japan, with the latter receiving about 5,000 tons of Burmese rice last year.

Upgrading the country's rice mills, Soe Tun said, would be a key step towards boosting exports. "Our rice milling industry is quite old; more than 90 percent of total rice mills in Burma are of low quality… That's why we can export very little high-quality rice to Japan last year," he said.

Agriculture and rice milling have so far failed to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) required for improving rice production and processing.

"There is very little FDI in this agriculture sector. The investment rate in this sector is not increasing," Soe Tun said. "We need support from the government, and should work together with others in the private sector, government and other INGOs and local NGOs to improve the sector."

"We need to upgrade our cultivation system as well as the milling system. [And] we're facing a lack of infrastructure to export rice, for example, logistics fees are quite high, 25 percent of total [production costs are spent on logistics," said Soe Tun.

"Now, the transport costs of from Yangon to Muse [a Burma-China border crossing] is more than the transport cost from Yangon to Africa."

The post Investment in Rice Milling Key to Boosting Export, Report Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

India Rebuffs ‘Simplistic’ UN Criticism Over Sex Crimes

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 11:07 PM PDT

Demonstrators from All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the recent killings of two teenage girls, in New Delhi May 31, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

GENEVA — India has rebuffed accusations by a U.N. investigator that sex crimes are rife in the world’s biggest democracy, calling her analysis "simplistic" and full of "sweeping generalizations".

India’s large northern state of Uttar Pradesh has seen a wave of violence and sex crimes, including the rape and murder of two girls aged 12 and 14, which stirred national outrage.

The United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, said violence against women was systematic and continued "from womb to tomb" in a report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"According to numerous interlocutors, the physical, sexual and psychological abuse of women in the private sphere is widely tolerated by the State and the community," Manjoo wrote.

In its response, posted on the Council’s website on Thursday, India called that allegation "baseless". It said she had made "unsubstantiated yet sweeping generalizations".

"We do not agree with the labelling of ‘violence against women in India as systematic’," India said. "Such a sweeping remark smacks of a highly prejudiced state of mind."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that respecting and protecting women should be a priority for the 1.25 billion people in India. "The government will have to act," Modi said, breaking his silence on the crime wave.

Manjoo, a South African law professor, said India should try to raise awareness of practices such as acid attacks against women who refuse a marriage proposal, so-called honor crimes where family members murder a woman because they believe she has dishonored them for example by opposing an arranged marriage, as well as executions of women branded as "witches".

Her report ranged from decrying degrading tests used on rape victims to urging India to define marital rape as a criminal offence and to repeal a law that criminalized consensual same-sex behavior.

On honor killings, the government said it gave "due consideration" to an Indian Law Commission report that had suggested a legal framework to tackle the practice.

It said "witch-hunts" were not a national phenomenon and complaints were always investigated. It said Manjoo should have informed the government if she knew of specific cases where there had been a complaint but no investigation.

India’s response to Manjoo’s report listed 16 allegations that it said were not backed up by facts.

The examples it gave included her claim that sexual violence was widespread across the country, that members of the security forces had committed mass rapes, that trafficking of women and girls to and from India was widespread, and that police and officials discriminated against people from certain castes.

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Ferry Family Boss Eludes South Korea’s Biggest and Most Bizarre Manhunt

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 10:56 PM PDT

A South Korea navy officer gives a briefing about a rescue operation to the family members of missing passengers onboard the sunken passenger ship Sewol in the port city of Jindo on April 25, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon)

SEOUL — South Korea's biggest and most bizarre manhunt, linked to a ferry disaster in which hundreds drowned, has come full circle at the compound of a sect known for its organic ice cream as police on Thursday used earth movers to search for tunnels.

Police have raided the grounds of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Anseong, a two-hour drive south of Seoul, twice as they try to flush out church co-founder Yoo Byung-un, 73, South Korea's most wanted man since the Sewol ferry sank in April killing more than 300 people, mostly children from the same school.

But, so far, Yoo, a businessman and photographer who was once jailed for fraud, has eluded capture in a case that has become an embarrassment for authorities already under pressure for their handling of the disaster.

Yoo is wanted on charges of embezzlement, negligence and tax evasion stemming from a web of business holdings centered on I-One-I, an investment vehicle owned by his sons that ran the shipping company, Chonghaejin Marine.

Chonghaejin owned the Sewol, which sank off the southwest coast on April 16 on a routine journey from Incheon on the mainland to the southern holiday island of Jeju.

Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and teachers from the same school. Only 172 people were rescued and the remainder are all presumed to have drowned.

The hunt for Yoo, who once held a photographic exhibition at the Louvre in Paris, has sent authorities chasing leads from the sect compound to remote towns in southwestern Jeolla province—and back again to the compound.

The latest raid began on Wednesday and involved 6,000 police and investigators. Besides Yoo and one son, prosecutors said they were looking for two middle-aged female sect members known as "mamas" accused of helping him escape. Dogs roamed the compound sniffing for scent from Yoo's belongings.

Last month, police arrested a man on suspicion that he delivered organic food grown and marketed by the church to Yoo, as well as one of his drivers. Some church members handed out ice cream to police and journalists on Wednesday. Others threatened to fight police.

One said church members would protect Yoo.

"I don't know where he is, but he won't turn up until everything is clear about why the ferry sank," a man who said he had been a sect member for 30 years, told Reuters outside the compound.

"I respect him as a mentor. He is our fellow believer and we will protect him."

Authorities have offered a half-million-dollar reward for Yoo, the maximum allowed for an individual in a criminal case, and quietly enlisted the military, a sensitive subject in a country where memories remain vivid of troops mobilized to suppress democracy movements from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Police said they believe Yoo and one son are still in the country. Another son is based in the United States and his whereabouts could not be established by Reuters.

"We haven't received information that they have stowed away or left for somewhere. We believe we can capture Yoo and his son," Lee Sang-won, commissioner of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, said.

Yoo's daughter, Yoo Som-Na, has been held in France since May 28 after Interpol called for her arrest "for fraud and embezzlement." She was denied bail on Wednesday.

There have been no charges against Yoo directly related to the ferry disaster, although prosecutors are trying to establish a link between the financial charges and the sinking.

Fifteen members of the ferry's crew are on trial on charges ranging from homicide to negligence after they were caught on video abandoning ship as the children stayed put in their cabins.

Enlisting the military's help in the hunt shows just how desperate the government is to catch Yoo and satisfy an outraged public's demand for accountability.

"Basically in the south and west, the units based there have been looking out for people illegally entering, especially at night," Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told a news briefing. "Related to that, there's a chance Yoo Byung-un may try to secretly flee, so guard duties are focused a little more on people being smuggled out."

Fatigue has become a factor as the manhunt drags on, with about a dozen investigators photographed sprawled out napping in a gym inside the Anseong compound during Wednesday's raid.

President Park Geun-hye this week said "it made no sense" that such a massive search operation had come up empty, and some sect members suggested the raid was staged to placate a bloodthirsty public.

Yu Chang-seon, an independent political commentator, said the search was excessive, expressing a minority view in a country still in mourning.

"Considering the charges against Yoo, this is basically a financial case," he said. "We should be holding him responsible to some degree, but the scale of the whole thing is unprecedented."

The post Ferry Family Boss Eludes South Korea's Biggest and Most Bizarre Manhunt appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Neymar Leads Brazil to 3-1 Win Over Croatia

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 10:19 PM PDT

Brazil's Neymar celebrates his goal against Croatia during their 2014 World Cup opening match at the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters)

SAO PAULO — Neymar gave Brazil a winning start to its home World Cup, scoring twice to lead the host nation to an unconvincing 3-1 victory over Croatia in the opening game on Thursday.

In his 50th match with Brazil, the 22-year-old forward scored a goal in each half to help the hosts survive an early scare and escape disaster in front of a packed Itaquerao Stadium after Croatia had taken an early lead.

Marcelo found his own net while trying to clear a low cross by Ivica Olic in the 11th minute, but Neymar then showed why the nation's high hopes are all pinned on him.

He equalized in the 29th minute, clearing a defender in midfield before making a run toward the edge of the area and firing a perfectly placed low shot that went in off the post.

The game turned on a controversial penalty awarded by Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura in the 71st minute when striker Fred went down inside the area under minimal contact from defender Dejan Lovren.

Neymar scored from the spot for his 33rd goal with Brazil. The Barcelona star got a standing ovation when he was substituted near the end of the match.

"It's important to start these tournaments with the right foot, with a victory," Neymar said. "I'm happy that I got to score, but the entire team deserves credit. We maintained our calm and showed we could battle back."

The Croatians were furious.

"If that was a penalty, we should be playing basketball. Those kinds of fouls are penalized there," Croatia coach Niko Kovac said.

"That is shameful, this is not a World Cup referee. He had one kind of criteria for them and another for us. The rules were not the same," Kovac said.

As Croatia searched desperately for an equalizer, Oscar added to the lead in the first minute of injury time with a toe poke from just outside the penalty area.

Croatia had a few good chances toward the end and had a goal disallowed in the 83rd after the referee ruled Olic had fouled Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

The host nation hasn't lost the last nine times it played in the opening match. South Africa was held by Mexico to a 1-1 draw four years ago.

A draw would have been a huge disappointment for Brazil, which had won its opening match the last eight times. The five-time champion entered the home tournament having won 15 of its last 16 games, including five in last year's Confederations Cup, the warm-up tournament it won. The team hadn't been held to a draw in the opener since a 1-1 result against Sweden in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

"The team didn't give up," Brazil defender David Luiz said "We knew it would be hard but we played well and got that first goal and then the victory."

The result kept Croatia without a win in its last five World Cup matches. Its last triumph was a 2-1 win over Italy in 2002. The Croats didn't play in South Africa four years ago.

The tournament finally got underway as planned after months of talk about the preparation problems that plagued Brazil since it was picked as host seven years ago.

The troubled Itaquerao, which wasn't fully finished for the opener, held up without major setbacks to fans or the match itself, although part of the lights atop the pitch went out a few times for brief periods in the first half.

Despite the support from most of the more than 62,100 fans in attendance, Brazil got off to a slow start and allowed Croatia to threaten early. It opened the scoring with one of its first chances as Marcelo failed to clear Olic's cross. The ball was slightly redirected by striker Nikica Jelavic before the Brazilian defender touched it backward into the goal.

"I stayed calm because if I let myself get down I would have hurt the team," Marcelo said. "It's not the first time that this has happened, so you have to stay relaxed to help the team."

The penalty kick was awarded when Fred appeared to be tugged inside the area by Lovren. The Croats insisted Fred wasn't touched and at least five Croatian players swarmed around Nishimura of Japan to protest.

Neymar converted his shot from the spot even though Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa touched the ball and nearly made the save.

Neymar had received a yellow card in the 27th for elbowing Real Madrid playmaker Luka Modric.

The other Group A match will be played between Mexico and Cameroon in Natal on Friday.

The post Neymar Leads Brazil to 3-1 Win Over Croatia appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Junta Engineers World Cup Coup for Thailand

Posted: 12 Jun 2014 10:15 PM PDT

Singers Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull perform during the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup at the Corinthians arena in Sao Paulo on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters)

BANGKOK — The military junta that overthrew Thailand's elected government struck a blow for freedom Thursday—the freedom to watch soccer.

As part of its goal to "return happiness to the Thai people," the junta engineered a World Cup coup that will enable the country's many soccer fans to watch all of the tournament's 64 matches for free.

The move is the latest to highlight the irony of the junta's pursuit of happiness, as it tries to win support by embracing populist policies after kicking out an administration less than a month ago that it criticized for doing the same thing.

"We hope that every Thai will receive happiness from viewing the 2014 World Cup games. Please watch and enjoy, all of you," said Lt. Gen. Chatudom Titthasiri, president of the army's Channel 5 television station.

The generals stepped in Wednesday by asking regulatory officials to find a way to deliver the World Cup to the masses. The intervention came after the telecom regulator lost its second court case seeking to have RS International Broadcasting air the matches on free TV channels.

RS, the company holding the exclusive broadcast rights, had planned to allow just 22 games to be broadcast for free. Viewing the remainder of the matches would have required fans to buy a 1,590 baht ($50) decoder box, a sum too pricey for many fans, especially in low-income rural areas.

On Thursday, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission held a news conference to announce it had struck a 427 million baht ($13 million) compensation deal with RS so the entire World Cup can be shown on free channels.

The tournament, which starts in the middle of the night Thailand time, will be broadcast on two military-run channels, in addition to a digital channel owned by RS.

The fee falls far short of the 766 million baht ($23 million) that RS had proposed to make up for the losses of its decoder boxes and licensing fees, the regulator said.

The company had initially threatened to black out the World Cup if it was forced to broadcast it for free. But its chief operating officer, Pornpan Techarungchaikul, tweeted a reaction to the deal that stayed on script with the theme of happiness, saying the company was "willing to cooperate" so all Thais could watch the event for free.

The junta that seized power May 22 has curbed freedom of expression, banned political assembly of more than five people, and has no plans to restore civilian rule any time soon. It has also summoned and temporarily detained hundreds of activists, politicians, academics and journalists who have been warned not to criticize the coup.

On Thursday, a military court extended the detention of prominent activist Sombat Boonngam-anong for an additional 12 days. Under martial law, Sombat could face up to 14 years in prison on possible charges of inciting unrest, violating cyber laws and defying the junta's orders. Sombat had spearheaded an online campaign calling for people to raise a three-finger salute borrowed from "The Hunger Games" to show opposition to the coup.

Last month's coup ousted the civilian government of ex-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, which had faced months of street protests that left dozens dead and the government paralyzed. The junta said it acted to restore order.

The military government now says that new elections will take at least a year, after political reforms occur. In the meantime, it has launched an official campaign to bring back happiness, something it says the divided nation desperately needs.

The campaign has involved weekly free concerts that offer free food and free haircuts. Authorities have announced that this week's concert will include free flu shots and entertainment including dog shows.

On Sunday, the junta is offering free admission nationwide to cinemas screening the latest installment of a popular Thai movie, "The Legend of King Naresuan 5," a nationalistic, historic epic.

While some soccer fans were bound to cheer the junta for its World Cup freebie, not all were pleased.

"This is not the way to create sustainable happiness," said Manchester United fan Paisarn Ruchisawatwong, who is rooting for the Brazil national team. "The World Cup comes and goes, but what happens next? Will the economy be good? Will Thais stop fighting? You can't just sweep our problems under the carpet by giving us free soccer matches."

For those who don't follow the sport, it seemed a high price to pay.

"I don't watch soccer, so I disagree with spending millions of baht to let everyone watch the World Cup for free," said Supanan Thaodai, a 27-year-old freelance art director in Bangkok. "The money should be spent on things that benefit everyone."

The post Junta Engineers World Cup Coup for Thailand appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

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Friday, June 13, 2014

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