| US says Thailand, Malaysia Among Worst Human Trafficking Centers Posted: 20 Jun 2014 06:31 AM PDT  Rohingya Muslim illegal immigrants pray at a detention center during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand, in July 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha) WASHINGTON — The US State Department downgraded Thailand, Malaysia and Venezuela on Friday to its list of the world's worst centers of human trafficking, opening up the countries to possible sanctions and dumping them in the same category as North Korea and Syria. The three countries were all downgraded to the lowest "Tier 3" status in the US State Department's 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report as they did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. Thai officials repeatedly expressed confidence their country would be upgraded, submitting a 78-page report to the US government in April to make its case. The downgrades could cause some multinational companies to reconsider investments in industries accused of using trafficked labor such as fisheries, a lucrative business in Thailand, the world's largest exporter of shrimp. The countries could also lose US non-humanitarian and non-trade-related aid, and they could face US opposition to help from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The report said the majority of trafficking victims in Thailand—"tens of thousands … by conservative estimates"—were migrants from neighboring countries "forced, coerced, or defrauded into labor or exploited in the sex trade." A significant number were trafficked into the fishing industry, garment production and domestic work. The State Department also cited media reports of "trafficking-related complicity by Thai civilian and navy personnel in crimes involving the exploitation" of Rohingya Muslims who have fled Burma by the tens of thousands over the past year. Those reports included a Reuters story in December that documented a clandestine Thai policy to remove Rohingya from immigration detention centers and deliver them to traffickers and smugglers waiting at sea. Many Rohingya were then ferried back to brutal trafficking camps in Thailand, where some died. The State Department said that not only had the government "systematically" failed to prosecute trafficking into the fishing industry, but the Thai navy had also filed defamation charges against two journalists who reprinted reports of complicity of civilian and naval personnel in exploitation of Rohingya asylum seekers from Burma. That was a reference to criminal defamation charges filed by Thailand's navy against two journalists at Phuketwan, a small English-language news website based in Phuket, which published selected excerpts from a July Reuters report. The Reuters report, based on interviews with people smugglers and more than two dozen survivors of boat voyages, revealed how some Thai naval security forces worked systematically with smugglers to profit from the surge in Rohingya fleeing Burma to escape religious persecution. The Thai navy has also filed a criminal complaint against two Reuters journalists, alleging violations of the Computer Crimes Act. Reuters has not been charged and stands by its reporting, a Reuters spokesman said. "We have seen interlocutors who we think are actually trying hard, but of course that gets dragged down by the widespread official complicity," US Ambassador at-Large Luis CdeBaca of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons told Reuters. "It's kind of like an anchor that is holding the folks who seem to be wanting to make a difference back." Thailand, Malaysia and Venezuela promote themselves as modern, fast-developing countries, but their Tier 3 ranking puts them among the world's most lawless, oppressive and dysfunctional. A third of Tier 3 countries, among them Mauritania and Yemen, also appear on the United Nations list of least-developed nations. Many Tier 3 countries (Syria, Central African Republic) are at war; others (Zimbabwe, North Korea) are dictatorships. In the year ended March 31, the period covered by the report, the Thai government said it had made "significant progress" in combating human trafficking. It cited data that showed it convicted 225 people for this crime in 2013, compared with 49 in 2012, among other measures. But despite frequent media and non-governmental organization reports documenting forced labor among migrants, the State Department report said, the Thai government "demonstrated few efforts to address these trafficking crimes." "Impunity for pervasive trafficking-related corruption continued to impede progress in combating trafficking," the report said. The report found Malaysia had made "inadequate efforts to improve its flawed victim-protection regime" and had investigated fewer trafficking cases in 2013 than in 2012. The Malaysian downgrade had been largely expected. The report said Venezuela was making insufficient efforts to combat sex trafficking and forced labor as it had failed to come up with a written plan to bring it into compliance with minimum standards for eliminating trafficking. CdeBaca said the White House would make a decision on possible sanctions against Thailand, one of its oldest Asian treaty allies, within about 90 days. Last month, Washington canceled some security cooperation projects with Thailand to protest against the country's military coup on May 22. In April, US lawmakers called on the Obama administration to punish countries that do too little to fight trafficking, including Thailand and Malaysia, and said Burma—another country Washington has been seeking to boost ties with—should not receive a waiver to avoid sanctions over its record. Friday's State Department report said that while Burma did not fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, "it is making significant efforts to do so." Additional reporting by Andrew R.C. Marshall in Bangkok. The post US says Thailand, Malaysia Among Worst Human Trafficking Centers appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Photo of the week (20, June 2014) Posted: 20 Jun 2014 06:05 AM PDT |
| Thein Sein Picks New Religion Minister Amid Graft Allegations Posted: 20 Jun 2014 04:31 AM PDT  Former Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint attends a meeting of the state Sangha in Rangoon in May. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — President Thein Sein has moved quickly to plug a hole in his cabinet lineup, nominating Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Soe Win to replace Hsan Hsint, who had led the ministry until the president sacked him in a cabinet shakeup this week. Union Parliament lawmakers received the nomination letter to fill the vacant post on Friday, the same day that a note in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper announced that Hsan Hsint had been "terminated from his duty" amid reports of corruption allegations. Lower House lawmaker Pe Than told The Irrawaddy that he received the letter announcing the president's choice for Hsan Hsint's replacement on Friday. "If there are any lawmakers who want to object to this appointment of Deputy Minister Soe Win, they will have to send their objection, with the reason they object to him, by Tuesday of next week to the Office [of Parliament]," Pe Than said. In the note announcing Hsan Hsint's dismissal, Thein Sein invoked Section 235(c) of the Constitution, which allows the president to force the resignation of any minister who fails to adequately fulfill assigned responsibilities. "If he fails to comply, he shall be terminated from his duties," the charter states. "For myself, I don't know Soe Win personally, nor the fired Minister Hsan Hsint, but this is a corruption case," Pe Than said. Hsan Hsint has been accused of misusing 10 million kyats (US$10,000) from his ministry's budget for personal family interests, according to reports by Burmese-language media. Before becoming the religious affairs minister in January 2013, he was a lawmaker for the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), representing a constituency in Irrawaddy Division. The former minister is under investigation for several alleged misdeeds, including complaints about his handling of the Religious Affairs portfolio, presidential spokesman Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy on Friday. According to a source close to the matter who asked for anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case, Hsan Hsint has been detained by Burmese authorities. Ye Htut declined to confirm whether the former minister is being held, telling The Irrawaddy to inquire with the Ministry of Home Affairs, which he said is opening an investigation into people involved in the case. "Whether they will be charged or not will depend on the findings," he said. Phone calls to the Ministry of Home Affairs went unanswered on Friday. Hsan Hsint's firing follows a controversial raid on a Rangoon monastery by the state-backed Buddhist clergy that led to the arrest of five monks who appeared in court on Friday. Burma's government is also facing international opposition to bills that call for restrictions on religious conversions and interfaith marriage. Hsan Hsint is the first minister to be sacked by the Union government in the face of corruption allegations. In a December 2012 speech, Thein Sein said a "third phase" of his administration's reform program would be aimed at tackling corruption in government. In July of last year, Parliament approved an Anticorruption Law that has since led to the creation of an anticorruption commission. Critics say the commission lacks teeth, however, and Burma last year ranked 157th out of 177 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Pe Than said the presidential axing of Hsan Hsint would serve as a "good example" to other ministers and government officials who might also be on the take. "There was not this kind of action for corruption cases like this before, so we'd appreciate it if the president would keep this up," Pe Than said. According to an announcement from the Office of Parliament, the Union Parliament will make a decision regarding the president's nominee on June 25. With additional reporting from Nyein Nyein. The post Thein Sein Picks New Religion Minister Amid Graft Allegations appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Five Monks Released From Prison After Threat of Mass Protest Posted: 20 Jun 2014 05:14 AM PDT  The monks, dressed in white polo shirts, exit the courthouse in Rangoon on Friday. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Five Buddhist monks have been released from detention but are still facing charges after a state-backed Buddhist clergy raided their monastery in Rangoon earlier this month. After nationalist monk U Wirathu threatened to rally hundreds of thousands of fellow clergyman to protest the detainment, a court in Tamwe Township, Rangoon Division, announced on Friday that the five monks would be released on bail from the notorious Insein Prison and returned their robes. The bail for each defendant was 20 million kyats (US$20,000). More than 100 supporters of the monks gathered at the court to hear the announcement, which came the same day the country's religious affairs minister was fired for allegedly failing to uphold his duties. The minister is also facing allegations of corruption. Aye Cho, a senior lawyer for the five monks, said his clients had been charged with insulting religious feelings and beliefs, and with disturbing places of religious worship and assembly. The charges carry fines and prison terms of between one and two years. The raid on Rangoon's Maha Thanti Thukha monastery on June 10 has become a scandal in Burma, a Buddhist majority country that holds monks in high esteem. The state-backed clergy responsible for the raid evicted seven monks and 32 laymen from the monastery. The five detained monks, including the English national Sayadaw U Ottara, are followers of Penang Sayadaw U Pyinnya Wuntha, an 86-year-old abbot who has been involved in a dispute with the state-backed clergy over the ownership of the monastery since the early 2000s. The Ministry of Religious Affairs had backed the state clergy in the case and supported the raid. The post Five Monks Released From Prison After Threat of Mass Protest appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| NGOs, Political Parties to Discuss Inclusive Education for Disabled Children Posted: 20 Jun 2014 05:05 AM PDT  A girl with a hearing aid practices writing at the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Rangoon. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burmese groups advocating for the rights of disabled people said they plan to meet with Rangoon Division lawmakers and political parties on Saturday in order to discuss how the government can improve access to education for disabled children. Thiha Tun from Rangoon's Eden Center for Disabled Children said that even though current education policies are inclusive on paper, disabled children struggle to gain access to education because schools in Burma often refuse to accept students with disabilities. "Some schools' management thinks that disabled children should just stay home and don't need education," he said, adding that children with disabilities often need extra time and attention during their studies, a requirement that public schools are often unable or unwilling to meet. Eden Center has invited five lawmakers and members from the ruling and opposition parties to a workshop at the Yangon Education Center for the Blind, in Rangoon's Mayangone Township, where they will discuss pedagogical best practices and policies in mainstream education for pupils with disabilities. "We are doing this to discuss how we can build the inclusive education system for disabled children through politics," Thiha Tun said. "The government has the right policy but it needs be enforced properly." The Eden Center runs a Disabled Children's Inclusive Education Project that supports disabled children who are attending public schools and it advocates for stronger education policies for disabled pupils. Nyo Nyo Thin, a lawmaker in the Rangoon Division Parliament who will participate in the workshop, said there is a strong need to address the educational challenges facing disabled children. "Only 2 percent of all disabled people graduate so this share is very low, and the government has a duty to address that," she said. "The government is doing more on the disability issue than in the past. The draft law for a disability law is being prepared," Nyo Nyo Thin said. "But it is also important to include the representatives of disabled people in the decision-making" by the committee that will implement the new law. According to a national survey conducted by the government, 50 percent of all people with disabilities, including physical and intellectual disabilities, have never attended school, largely because they were denied entrance at the government's mainstream public schools. Outside mainstream schools, disabled students have few options, with just 15 special education schools in the entire country for the deaf, blind, physically disabled and intellectually disabled, including those with autism. There are also seven vocational training schools for people with physical disabilities. Some are run by the government while the others were established by NGOs. The post NGOs, Political Parties to Discuss Inclusive Education for Disabled Children appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Land-Grab Documentary Takes Top Burma Prize at Human Rights Film Festival Posted: 20 Jun 2014 02:57 AM PDT  Lin San Oo, second left, receives the Aung San Suu Kyi Award on behalf of 'This Land Is Our Land' director Sai Khon Kham in Rangoon on Thursday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A 30-minute documentary about land confiscation in Burma won two out of eight awards at the Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival held this week in Rangoon. The Burmese documentary, "This Land Is Our Land" by Sai Kong Kham, won the Aung San Suu Kyi National Film Award and the Vaclav Havel Library Award at the HRHDIFF award ceremony on Thursday evening. The second annual HRHDIFF honored filmmakers with eight awards for national, Southeast Asian and international documentary films, with the various prizes' namesakes paying tribute to prominent figures in human rights and pro-democracy movements globally. "Miners Shot Down," by the South African director Rehad Desai, offers a look into deadly anti-mining protests in his country in August 2012, and won the Aung San Suu Kyi Award in the International Film category. "The Last Refuge," which tells the story of Cambodia's Bunong people, won the Aung San Suu Kyi Award for Asean films. Other winners included "An Untold Sotry" by Joses Dennis, which took home the Min Ko Naing Award; the March13 award went to "The Seller," an animation by Zaw Bo Bo Hein; the Hanthawaddy U Win Tin Award was given to "Enter," a 15-minute film about the life of a political prisoner by Kaung Sint; and the Peter Wintonick Award was bestowed on "Article 18," shot by a trio of students of the Yangon Film Institute. The last award honors the late Canadian filmmaker Peter Wintonick, and was given to the best film in the festival's student competition. "Article 18"tells the story of political activists who have faced charges and been imprisoned under Article 18 of Burma's Peaceful Assembly Law over the last two years. The law has frequently come in for criticism in the human rights community and is up for discussion in Burma's Parliament. In a speech to close out the festival, Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, the director and founder of the event, said public interest and support for the films was "encouragement to keep organizing this International Film Festival." Festival organizers said the films attracted even more interest than the inaugural event in 2013, which drew some 20,000 people. Opening on Sunday with the Cambodian documentary "The Missing Picture," the festival screened 66 out of 67 documentary films at Rangoon's Waziyar and Junction Square Cineplex from June 15-18. The festival featured 32 Burmese films, nine Southeast Asia films and 26 international films, which were judged by a panel of 19 national and international jurists. The festival did not play out without controversy, however. One of the five short films shot by Burmese film students, "The Open Sky," was not screened due to threats aired via social media. The film depicts the friendship between two women, one a Buddhist and the other Muslim, in central Burma's Meikhtila, which was wracked by interreligious violence that killed more than 40 people in March 2013. Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi told The Irrawaddy earlier this week that the festival's organizing board and juries cancelled the screening because it appeared to have stoked lingering Buddhist-Muslim tensions, and that organizers were "not holding the film festival to create conflict." Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi on Thursday insisted that the screening was merely being postponed. "The film, when it shows later, will not be a censored version," he said. In the award ceremony's opening remarks, US Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell, his British counterpart Andrew Patrick and Igor Blazevic, the founder of Prague's One World Film Festival and an international adviser of the HRHDIFF, all made note of the controversy surrounding "The Open Sky." "Everybody who values the meaning of this event must oppose the use of threats or intimidation to suppress speech," Mitchell said. Patrick said the ability of a vocal minority to suppress opposing viewpoints was not in keeping with democratic values, and Blazevic expressed disappointment at not being able to screen the 20-muinute film because "the script is really good." Ko Ko Gyi, a leader of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, encouraged organizers to continue working to instill human rights values among the public. He said the film festival would also need to reach people in Burma's more remote regions, where human rights abuses are less publicized but no less important. "Because we need art creation, as it is the best tool to shape people's mindsets," he said. Starting next month, the festival will hit the road, with screenings to take place at 13 locations across Burma. Lin San Oo, one of four crew members behind "This Land is Our Land," paid tribute to the landholders in Magwe Division and Shan State who had the courage to tell of their hardships. "I would like to honor those farmers," he said on Thursday. The film's director, Sai Khon Kham, could not be at the awards ceremony, which was attended by about 300 people. The post Land-Grab Documentary Takes Top Burma Prize at Human Rights Film Festival appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Karen Rebels Refuse to Disband Police Force Posted: 20 Jun 2014 02:48 AM PDT  KNU soldiers stand guard with their assault weapons at Oo Kray Kee village in Karen State near the Thai-Burma border in January. (Photo: Getty Images) RANGOON — The Karen National Union (KNU) is refusing government orders to disband its police force, a Karen leader says. The government has accused the Karen National Police Force (KNPF), established under the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), of disturbing residents and travelers by collecting taxes and setting up checkpoints in Karen State and Tenasserim Division. In a confidential letter sent to the KNU on June 4, the Tenasserim divisional government demanded that the Karen police force be disbanded before causing further confusion or problems. The letter accused the Karen police of unofficially operating in a government-controlled district of Dawei Township, according to the Democratic Voice of Burma news agency. "Our police force will continue, now and in the future," P’doh Saw Bee Ler, chairman of KNLA Brigade 4, based in Dawei District, told The Irrawaddy on Friday. "There is no nationwide ceasefire agreement yet." He said the KNLA told the divisional government why the Karen police force was necessary. "Our police force actively works for law enforcement and cracks down on illegal drugs," he said. The KNLA established its police force in 1991. After the divisional government sent its order for the police force to be disbanded, about 80 troops from the government army attacked more than 10 KNLA soldiers in Dawei Township on June 14, leaving one man dead and raising concerns about the government's commitment to a nationwide ceasefire. The KNU signed a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the central government in 2012, after fighting for over five decades for greater autonomy. The post Karen Rebels Refuse to Disband Police Force appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘Real Estate Classifieds Work Better Online’ Posted: 20 Jun 2014 01:10 AM PDT  Michiel Bakker is the Burma country manager for House.com.mm. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) Launched in 2012, property portal House.com.mm is the largest online real estate marketplace in Burma. The website, part of the globally branded Lamudi real estate platform, offers sellers, buyers, landlords and renters a platform to find homes, land and commercial properties online. Michiel Bakker, the Burma country manager for House.com.mm, spoke with The Irrawaddy on Thursday about the state of the property market and the potential for further growth. Question: Why were you confident about creating an online property portal for Burma? Answer: Seeing the results and successes of property portals in more developed markets builds this confidence. In the end, real estate classifieds work better online. You see more information of properties, you can filter properties to only see the ones you are interested in, and it's accessible for free, anytime on any device with Internet connection. Q: Are most of your clients local or foreigners? A: Most clients are local. Hence, we have our homepage in Burmese, and English speakers need to switch. Despite that, we see around 30 percent of the visitors visiting the website from abroad. The most popular country after Myanmar [Burma] is Singapore, which is best explained by the numerous Burmese moving back to Myanmar and looking for property already in advance. Q: Where are prime locations for foreigners to rent in Rangoon? A: Most of the traffic from our English platform is looking for rental condos and apartments in Bahan, Kamaryut, Sanchaung, Dagon and the downtown townships. Especially Kamaryut and Sanchaung have seen a further increase in traffic. Q: What tips do you give to foreigners looking to rent in Rangoon?
A: First of all, I would like to invite them to have a look on our website. By asking a broker, you limit yourself to one source of information, while we gather properties from over 50 agents and brokers simultaneously. We have a great overview of the actual prices and properties on offer. Q: Your research shows that 75 percent of Burmese want to buy properties, rather than renting. Is this because property prices are skyrocketing? A: Prices are skyrocketing, but at the same time, other secure investment opportunities are not that numerous, so people continue to look for investment opportunities in real estate. Q: With the approval of the new condominium law, allowing foreigners to buy apartments above the sixth floor, do you expect the property market to become more active? A: The condominium law is a step in the right direction, but I don’t expect huge noticeable effects yet, especially since prices are currently high and foreigners might revert to investment opportunities abroad. Q: Burma's Internet communications are poor. Do you think an online portal will be more popular in the future? A: The Internet is continuously improving. When we launched the website in Myanmar two years ago, we did not expect the amount of visitors we are having today. So far, the Internet is improving and we are not even halfway there. With the opening of the telecoms sector with Telenor and Ooredoo, the Internet further improving and the launch of our [phone] application today, we expect the results to get even better. Since looking for properties on a phone or computer are so convenient, I am confident that within years most of the real estate sales and rentals will be mediated through our platform. The post 'Real Estate Classifieds Work Better Online' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Myint Myint Khin, Well-Known Doctor and Writer, Dead at 91 Posted: 20 Jun 2014 01:02 AM PDT  Dr Myint Myint Khin in 2012. (Photo: RNW.nl) Dr Myint Myint Khin, who is famous for her writings on health and education in Burma, has died on Thursday in Rangoon. She was 91 years old. She had been receiving treatment for heart and kidney failures during the past four months, according to her son Dr Myint Zan. Her funeral will be held on Saturday in Rangoon. Born in Pathein, Irrawaddy Division, Myint Myint Khin attended Rangoon University in 1938. After earning a bachelor degree of arts from the university, she joined a medical college that led her to do further studies in England and the US. After working as a professor and head of department in Institute of Medicine Mandalay for nearly 20 years, Myint Myint Khin became a professor of medicine at the National University of Malaysia, and then a consultant at the World Health Organization's Southeast Asia Regional Office. She was married to an orthopedic surgeon Dr San Baw, who invented bone substitute treatment with ivory. Myint Myint Khin penned numerous works on health and child education in Burma. Health topics she tackled ranged from HIV/Aids, to smoking to cancer, as well as how to prepare food with microwave oven. Last year, she published a collection of her English poetry book "Poetry for Me." At her time of death, she was working on a book "A History of Medical Education in Burma," according to Myint Zan, who said she was collaborating with other medical doctors to tell the history of medical education in Burma from British colonial days to current times. The post Myint Myint Khin, Well-Known Doctor and Writer, Dead at 91 appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Govt Pushes Ahead With 3 Salween, Irrawaddy Tributary Dams Posted: 19 Jun 2014 11:14 PM PDT  Karen communities calling for the protection of the Salween River release a bamboo raft on the river in Papun District, Karen State, in March 2013. (Photo: Karen Rivers Watch) RANGOON/NAYPYIDAW —The Burmese government is pushing ahead with the construction of a large hydropower dam on the Salween River and two dams on tributaries of the Irrawaddy River, senior officials have said in remarks to Parliament and interviews with The Irrawaddy. They said the government will commission third-party, international consultants to study the environmental and social impacts of six dams that are being planned on the Salween River. Deputy Minister of Electrical Power Maw Thar Htwe told Parliament on Wednesday that the Kunlong dam on the Salween River in northern Shan State and the Chibwe and Laiza dams on the upper tributaries of the Irrawaddy River in northern Kachin State are being constructed. "Joint venture agreements with foreign investors have been signed and the Chibwe, Laiza and Kunlong projects are being implemented," Maw Thar Htwe said, according to state-owned newspaper The Mirror. The Kunlong dam, also known as the Upper Salween dam, reportedly has a capacity of 1,400 megawatt (MW), 90 percent of which will be exported to nearby China. In 2010, Chinese energy firm Hanergy signed an agreement with the then-military government and joint venture partner Asia World, a Burmese conglomerate owned by US-sanctioned businessman Steven Law, the son of the late drug lord Lo Hsing Han, to implement the project. In 2007, China Power Investment (CPI) Corporation signed an agreement with the Burmese junta to develop a total of seven dams on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin State, including the suspended Myitsone dam. The agreement included the 2,000-MW Chibwe dam and the 1,560-MW Laiza dam. The majority of the energy produced by the dams would be destined for export to China. "By implementing these [three] projects, the state will earn annual revenues of US$367 million and we will be able to use 2,620 megawatt in the country. It will take at most seven years to complete these projects; the electricity will become available in the [fiscal] year 2021-2022," the deputy minister was quoted as telling Parliament. He added that Burma currently produces 4,362 megawatt in energy per year and will see an annual growth of energy demand of around 13 percent, some of which will have to be provided by hydropower dams. In February 2013, state media reported that the government approved feasibility studies for six hydropower dams on the Salween River: the Kunlong, Naung Khar, Mann Taung, Mongton, Ywathit and Hatgyi dams. International Consultants Minister of Electrical Power Khin Maung Soe told The Irrawaddy in an interview in Naypyidaw last week that the government would commission international consultants to carry out environmental and social impact assessments for all planned Salween dams. "Our government will not carry out these [assessments], nor the company that implements the project. We will ask a third party to ensure a fair assessment and will call a tender [for the studies] for transparency sake," Khin Maung Soe said. The ministry has previously said that Kunlong project would displace 418 people from four villagers in Kunlong Township in northern Shan State. Deputy Minister Maw Thar Htwe told The Irrawaddy that a Singaporean consultant had been hired to carry out the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Kunlong dam. "We have a Singaporean group … doing the assessment. We will form a committee to provide compensation [and relocation] for the displaced villagers," he said, adding that the committee would include representatives of various ministries, local authorities and company representatives. Minister of Electrical Power Khin Maung Soe told The Irrawaddy that the Chibwe Dam was nearly completed, but added that the construction and operations of dam projects in Kachin State were being disrupted by the ongoing fighting between the Burma Army and Kachin rebels. The status of the Laiza dam remains unclear. Civil Society Concerns Hydropower projects are highly controversial in Burma due to their heavy environment and social impacts, while many large projects are located in ethnic conflict areas, such as some of the dams proposed on the Salween River, which runs through Shan, Karen and Mon states in eastern Burma. A lack of information often surrounds the projects, many of which were first planned during the military regime and involve Chinese state-owned or Thai companies, and joint ventures with companies owned by Burmese tycoons. Dam sites have often seen increased militarization, leading to human rights abuses against local civilians and clashes with ethnic armed rebel groups. Local communities losing land to the projects or access to water resources are often not properly consulted, nor compensated, activists have alleged. Union Parliament Speaker and Union Solidarity and Development Party chairman Shwe Mann told the government during parliamentary discussions on Wednesday that developing Burma's energy supply through new dams and coal-fired plants was "imperative" for the country's future development. He warned, however, that proper impact studies and compensation measures should be carried out, and added that those displaced by dam projects should be offered jobs. Most of the energy generated by the planned dams is set for export to China and Thailand. A total of 64 dam project sites have been identified by the Burmese government in the past decades, 46 of these projects reportedly involve foreign investors. Civil society organizations have long monitored the projects, but it has been difficult to establish the exact status of the projects, and whether official permission has been granted or if work on the ground has started. "The energy generated from these projects is not intended for the benefit of our country, but to sell it to others," said Khin Phyo Wai, a Burma project coordinator of the Mekong Energy and Ecology Network based in Thailand. "We never hear whether they conducted an environmental or social impact assessment for these projects," he said, adding, "Most of the projects are being carried out without the public knowing." The Burma Rivers Network has said that, "The six [Salween River] dam projects with a combined capacity of about 15,000 megawatts, planned by Chinese, Burmese and Thai investors, are threatening the future of the people and the rich biodiversity of the Salween basin." The group has called for an immediate halt to the Salween dam projects and in March 2014 it presented a petition opposing the dams that was signed by 30,000 people from ethnic areas, 130 civil society groups and political parties in eastern Burma. "There is great concern that Asia World Company, notorious for poor construction standards, has been contracted to start building the Kunlong dam on the Salween River," the Burma Rivers Network said in a statement last year. "Already, communities in over 60 villages have lost lands and houses due to construction of access roads in preparation for the Kunlong dam in northern Shan State. Accelerated logging and mining by military crony companies is also taking place along the river in the potential dam flood zones," the group warned. Additional reporting by Paul Vrieze. The post Govt Pushes Ahead With 3 Salween, Irrawaddy Tributary Dams appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma’s President Sacks Religious Affairs Minister Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:48 PM PDT  Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint has been accused of misusing government funds. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's minister of religious affairs has been sacked for not performing his duties efficiently, while the chief minister of restive Arakan State has resigned, state media reported Friday, In an announcement in The New Light of Myanmar newspaper that Religious Affairs Minister Hsan Hsint has been fired, President Thein Sein said the Constitution affords him with the power to force the resignation of any minister who fails to adequately fulfill assigned responsibilities. "If he fails to comply, he shall be terminated from his duties," states Section 235 of the charter. Hsan Hsint has also been accused of misusing 10 million kyats (US$10,000) from his ministry's budget for personal family interests, according to reports by Burmese-language media. The reports could not be independently verified by The Irrawaddy. Before becoming the religious affairs minister in January last year, Hsan Hsint was a lawmaker for the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), representing a constituency in Irrawaddy Division. He was also the deputy commander of the Rangoon divisional military command. His firing follows a controversial raid on a Rangoon monastery by the state-backed Buddhist clergy that led to the arrest of five monks who will stand trial on Friday. Burma's government is also facing international opposition to bills that call for restrictions on religious conversions and interfaith marriage. On Friday, Thein Sein also announced in state media that the chief minister of Arakan State, Hla Maung Tin, would be allowed to resign of his own volition. The resignation comes after a senior UN aid official said earlier this week that she had seen "appalling" conditions at camps for displaced Rohingya in the western Burma state. "I witnessed a level of human suffering in IDP camps that I have personally never seen before," Kyung-Wha Kang, the UN deputy emergency relief coordinator, said on Tuesday, following a visit to the camps last week. The post Burma's President Sacks Religious Affairs Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Migrant Exodus Puts Strain on Ailing Thai Economy Posted: 19 Jun 2014 10:29 PM PDT  A multi-language sign, written the Thai, Cambodian and Burmese languages, is seen as a construction laborer works at a building site in Bangkok on June 18, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha) SAMUT PRAKARN, Thailand — Lek Numthong, who supplies foreign laborers for construction sites on the fringes of the Thai capital, normally has a truckload of workers eager to make a day's wage. But his pick-up has been all but empty for a week. Only two Burmese workers are sitting in the back. About 200,000 Cambodians, a key component of the migrant workforce, have turned tail and gone home. The clumsy rhetoric that apparently precipitated their departure may be the first misstep in the efforts by the generals now running the country to revive an economy battered by months of political turmoil. "They've scared them," said Lek. "Almost every Cambodian worker without a permit has fled. Gone." Thailand's military seized power last month in a bloodless coup, saying it acted to end half a year of often violent protests that triggered the removal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted by the army in 2006, was premier for more than five years. The junta rounded up activists and announced policies with a nationalist tinge it said would "get Thailand back in order." Last week, a junta spokeswoman said the army would "arrest and deport illegal migrants." Unverified stories of Cambodians being beaten, or even killed, spread quickly through fields and construction sites, setting off a rush to the border. The ministry of labor says about 70 percent of those who have left were in the building and farming sectors. Foremen at building sites, where casual workers earn the equivalent of less than US$10 a day, have scrambled to find replacements. Somchao Tanterdtham, managing director at N.C. Housing PCL, a real estate developer, says business has been hit. "I know that around 80 percent to 90 percent of workers have disappeared from some projects," he said. But workers from Burma have stayed put. They form the largest group among Thailand's 2.3 million registered foreign laborers. In Burma, newly emerged from nearly five decades of dictatorship and isolation, the labor market offers fewer options than Cambodia and its large garment industry. "Why would I go? There is no job for me in Burma," said Than Za, as he picked lychees and dumped them in a large basket at an orchard in Rayong, 140 miles (85 miles) southeast of Bangkok. Since the Cambodians started heading for the border, the military has denied there is any plan to deport migrant workers. Foreign ministry officials met the Cambodian ambassador and said workers without papers were welcome to return to Thailand—and its better-paid jobs—once their documents were in order. "Tightening regulations is not aimed at migrants but to punish those who take advantage of them," Jeerasak Sukhonthachart, the ministry's top official, told Reuters. Southeast Asia's wealthier economies are heavily reliant on migrant workers from their poorer neighbors. Thailand, the region's third biggest importer of migrant labor after Malaysia and Singapore, has enforced regulations loosely and many workers face exploitation and ill-treatment. Employers frequently confiscate identification documents to keep unregistered workers from running off and to maintain pay rates below the national minimum wage. There are no official statistics on the number of undocumented workers in Thailand, but government estimates have put the figure at more than 1 million. Christian Lewis, of political risk consultants Eurasia Group, said the recent tough talk was lip-service to the ultra-nationalists who are among the coup-makers most ardent supporters, and the effects of the exodus were likely to be short-lived. "It will probably not see much serious follow-up action since certain sectors of the economy depend so heavily on imported labor," Lewis said. "I don't see it presenting an outsized risk to stability. It is unlikely to redraw the lines of support for the junta." Some employers on the ground remained unfazed. "We rely on technology more than human labor, so the impact should be limited," said Prasert Marittanaporn, senior executive vice president at CH Karnchang Pcl, one of Thailand's largest construction firms. At a Bangkok construction site, where more than 1,000 laborers poured cement and perched on the edge of unfinished flats well beyond their means, Cambodian worker Suphan, 42, thought many of his countrymen would soon return. "They will come back soon," he said. "Maybe in a few weeks because there are no jobs for them at home." Some workers suggested politics might have played a role and accused nationalists and Thaksin's rivals of spreading rumors. Thailand and Cambodia have a history of enmity but Cambodia's veteran leader, Hun Sen, was a close ally of Thaksin, who wooed rural voters with social benefits while in office. Bangkok's traditional elite vilified Thaksin for his close relationship with Hun Sen against the background of a long-running territorial dispute. Workers said Thailand's fraught relations with its neighbor sowed unease among Cambodians. "We were told they wanted to make an example of us because Hun Sen is Thaksin's friend," said Rith Chavy, 21, a bricklayer. Analysts said illegal migrants in any event made for a convenient scapegoat for generals craving legitimacy. "The conservative establishment feels that these foreign migrants will cause problems in the future, including a rise in criminal activities," said Kan Yuenyong of the Siam Intelligence Unit. "There is some benefit to having a common enemy so that the public feels the military is safeguarding them." Additional reporting by Saranya Suksomkij and Kochakorn Boonlai in Bangkok. The post Migrant Exodus Puts Strain on Ailing Thai Economy appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| China Jails Anti-Corruption Activists After High-Profile Trial Posted: 19 Jun 2014 10:09 PM PDT  Paramilitary policemen patrol in formation at Tiananmen Square, Beijing, in March. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Three Chinese activists who campaigned for government officials to disclose their wealth were jailed on Thursday in the culmination of a high-profile trial that underscores Beijing’s resolve to clamp down on dissent. The activists were among more than a dozen detained in recent months for their anti-corruption activism. Rights groups say the crackdown on the group throws into sharp relief the limits of President Xi Jinping’s campaign against graft. Despite a few pilot schemes for low level officials to disclose their assets, any public discussion of the wealth of senior leaders remains strictly off limits. Graft oils the wheels of China’s government and probes into Party elites have revealed billions of dollars in undisclosed assets, often held by trusted friends or family members. Two of the activists, Liu Ping and Wei Zhongping, were sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison for using a cult to damage law enforcement, gathering a mob to disturb order in public places, and picking quarrels and provoking disputes. "It isn’t fair, it isn’t just," said Si Weijiang, Liu’s lawyer, reached by phone. "The laws can just be bent however (the government) wants in politicized cases." Another activist, Li Sihua, was sentenced to three years in prison, also for picking quarrels and provoking disputes. The sentences were handed down on Thursday by a court in the poor central province of Jiangxi. Court officials could not be reached for comment. Human rights groups condemned the judgment. In a statement, Amnesty International called the charges "preposterous". "Having a small private gathering and holding a banner in a lobby entrance demanding financial transparency from officials should not in any way constitute ‘picking quarrels’ and ‘illegal assembly’," said William Nee, a China researcher for Amnesty, according to the statement. Si said it was up to the activists to decide whether they would appeal, but added he didn’t believe an appeal would be successful or have any meaning. 'End Dictatorship' The activists, encouraged by Xi’s anti-corruption campaign, took photographs of themselves holding banners and placards that read "Strongly urge officials to disclose their assets" and "Xi Jinping, immediately end dictatorship". The photos were widely circulated online. "What was written on the signs is simply a suggestion to the country’s new leaders. It’s completely within the scope of freedom of expression that’s within our country’s constitution," Si said. The activists were part of a group called the New Citizens Movement, which advocates for officials to disclose their wealth and favours working within the system to create change. Its well-known founder, Xu Zhiyong, was sentenced in January to four years in prison, sparking criticism from the United States, European Union and rights groups. "This is a crazy retaliation, a shameless retaliation, which has no connection with the law, the legal system or rule of law," the New Citizens Movement said in a statement on its website. "This is not just a retaliation against Liu Ping, Wei Zhongping and Li Sihua but retaliates against and dishonors the rights of citizens." Prominent human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, who had represented members of the New Citizens Movement, was detained last month after he attended a meeting in a private home to commemorate the anniversary of the bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Pu’s case is ongoing. The post China Jails Anti-Corruption Activists After High-Profile Trial appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Indonesia Presidential Candidate Hit by Human Rights Accusations Posted: 19 Jun 2014 10:02 PM PDT  Prabowo Subianto, presidential candidate from the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, shouts slogans to supporters during a campaign rally at a stadium in Jakarta on March 23, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Beawiharta) JAKARTA — Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto faced fresh accusations of criminal behavior on Thursday after his former boss released details of a military council’s findings that led to his discharge from the armed forces nearly 16 years ago. Opinion polls suggest that Prabowo has been closing in on the front-runner ahead of the July 9 presidential election. But his campaign has been repeatedly dogged by accusations of widespread human rights abuses during his days as a top general, in particular during unrest that brought down his former father-in-law and long-serving autocrat Suharto in 1998. The latest accusations were detailed at a news conference by Suharto’s last armed forces chief, Wiranto, who now heads a small political party which is backing Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, the man polls predict should win the two-man race for the presidency. Wiranto, whose comments were carried live on a pro-Jokowi television station, read out details from the findings of a military council which said Prabowo has deliberately misinterpreted orders and told troops who were not under his command to arrest activists. The council said in the document, signed in August 1998, that Prabowo’s "actions tend towards a habit of neglecting systems of operations, hierarchy, discipline and law". It also accused him of criminal behavior by kidnapping the activists. "It was proven by the honorary council that Prabowo was involved in the kidnappings case … what is clear is that he was discharged for that reason," Wiranto said, declining to get into a debate about whether it was an honorable or dishonorable discharge. Prabowo’s brother, and the central figure in his presidential campaign, recently insisted that the former general was following orders. 'Defend the Truth' Wiranto insisted that he was not making his announcement in his capacity as a politician. "As a Muslim, my duty is to straighten out something that isn’t correct and, as a former soldier, to defend the truth and justice," he said. But the manner of the announcement, and its timing, suggest that the Jokowi camp is worried by the increasing popularity of Prabowo whose tough, action-man image and nationalist rhetoric in support of ordinary Indonesians, plus a well-organized campaign, appears to have struck a chord with many voters. Some opinion polls shows that Jokowi’s once huge lead has shrunk to single digits. Wiranto himself has long been under a cloud over accusations of human rights abuses carried out by the military when it was under his command during the unrest that led to Suharto’s downfall and later when troops laid waste to large parts of East Timor after it voted to become independent after almost a quarter of a century of Indonesian rule. Both he and Prabowo have in the past been refused visas to enter the United States, apparently over their human rights records. The document from the military council has been circulating on the Internet for the past few weeks but this was the first time that any of the former generals involved publicly released its contents. One of the generals who signed the document in 1998 is current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The subject is deeply sensitive in the Prabowo camp. Recent requests by Reuters to interview Prabowo have been met by requests that its reporters do not challenge him on his human rights record and focus questions on other issues. The post Indonesia Presidential Candidate Hit by Human Rights Accusations appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
