Thursday, December 7, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Muslim village-head killed in Rakhine’s Maungdaw District

Posted: 07 Dec 2017 06:56 AM PST

YANGON – A Muslim village headman, Shaw Feik Amen, from Rakhine State's southern Maungdaw Township, was shot dead in his house by unidentified armed men on Tuesday night, a border police officer confirmed on Thursday.

Police Major Aung Win, citing testimonies of witnesses, said a group of residents from the same village of Du Nyaung Pin Gyee had allegedly burst into the victim's home to attack Shaw Feik Amen with guns and swords. The police officer, however, declined to provide the names of the suspects.

Du Nyaung Pin Gyee village is located about five kilometers from downtown Maungdaw and consists of more than 1,000 households. After the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), under its former name, Harakah al-Yaqeen (Faith Movement), attacked several dozen police border outposts in the surrounding area in late August, the majority of its residents fled to neighboring Bangladesh. However, some, including Shaw Feik Amen, chose to remain.

A primary school teacher, U Mg Tun, who lives in Kin Chaung village, not far from Du Nyaung Pin Gyee, told The Irrawaddy over the phone that he had heard some of the attackers crossed the river on a schooner from Bangladesh in order to kill the village administrative official for collaborating with the government.

Police Major Aung Win remarked that some Du Nyaung Pin Gyee residents had also come to a similar speculative conclusion but it was too soon to make an official statement as the case was still in the investigative stage.

U Mg Tun said Du Nyaung Pin Gyee village was mostly left alone during the Myanmar army's clearance operations and only a few houses were torched. Several hundred Muslims villagers had continued to live there despite the widespread armed clashes that had erupted across Maungdaw district following the ARSA raids. Moreover, nearly 700 villagers from Buthidaung Township had also temporarily sought shelter there.

During a government-sponsored diplomatic tour to Maungdaw Township in early October, which The Irrawaddy was also invited to attend — some Hindu and Arakanese villagers told the foreign envoys that residents had been warned by an unidentified group — believed to be ARSA members or supporters — to leave the village or they would be killed in the next round of attacks.

The threats came after Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi called on the international community to seek the full story of the conflict-torn region as many Muslim villages continued to live in peaceful conditions.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has delivered diplomatic briefings and televised speeches twice in recent months calling on Muslim religious leaders to participate in the government's reconciliation effort in Rakhine State as well as to convince Muslims to apply for the National Verification Card (NVC).

On Nov. 27, the All Myanmar Moulvi (Ulama Al Haqe) Organization released a statement encouraging Muslims who do not possess any kind of official documents such as associated or naturalized citizenship papers or a "white card" to apply for the NVC.

The group's statement urged Muslims who live in Myanmar to hold at least one identity card issued by the authorities in line with existing laws.

Kyaw Soe, Ulama Al Haqe's secretary-general, said that the statement was directed at the entire Muslim population of Myanmar rather than just the Rohingya people in Rakhine State and they purposefully stressed the effort was being carried out in the national and public interest. He assumed that many Muslims could be living in Myanmar without any identity papers as they are unfamiliar with government procedures on applying for them.

"I can guarantee that our statement emphasized the interest of the public as well as the government," Kyaw Soe said.

However, the prospect of dealings with the government remains fraught with fear for many Muslims. Forty-eight Muslims were brutally beheaded by a suspected militant group between October 2016 and August 2017 and a further 20 went missing after collaborating with the government.

In response to a question on whether the Ulama Al Haqe's effort could be effective on the ground as many people were killed for assisting government officials, Kyaw Soe said that although the group didn’t know the exact perpetrators of the crimes, his organization was adamantly opposed to the violent conduct of ARSA.

"We don't accept ARSA. All these things happened after they started the problem," he said of the unrest, which has resulted in more than 620,000 Muslim refugees fleeing to Bangladesh.

He added that if government officials invite his organization to help, they could explain details of the NVC application process to Muslims in local areas.

The post Muslim village-head killed in Rakhine’s Maungdaw District appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

US Grant to See Restoration of 19th Century Church Through

Posted: 07 Dec 2017 05:02 AM PST

YANGON — Restoration work on the 190-year-old Judson First Baptist Church in the Mon State capital of Moulmein will continue thanks to a second round of financial support from the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and help from conservation experts with the World Monuments Fund.

Built in 1827 by Adoniram Judson, an American missionary who spent nearly 40 years in Myanmar in the early 19th century, the church will receive an additional US$100,000 for its preservation. The church received US$125,000 in February 2016 from the same program. The World Monuments Fund aims to use the new grant to complete the two-year project.

Scot Marciel, the US ambassador to Myanmar, will announce the grant at the church on Saturday together with Mon State Social Welfare Minister Htein Linn and the church's pastor, Reverend David, the US Embassy's press invitation reads.

With hospitals and community organizations bearing the Judson name, the First Baptist Church represents America's longstanding engagement with Myanmar, the embassy said in a November statement. It added that the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has provided some US$225,000 to preserve cultural heritage sites in Myanmar since 2015. In 2013, US$500,000 was awarded for the restoration of the Shwenandaw Kyaung Monastery in Mandalay.

According to the World Monuments Fund, the restoration of Judson's church will be "an educational opportunity to introduce a cadre of local tradespeople, students and officials to cultural and architectural heritage conservation methods, building skills among Myanmar professionals that can be applied to similar sites in Moulmein and throughout the country."

In late September, leading members of Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) — an advocacy group founded in 2012 for heritage protection in the country's commercial capital — visited heritage buildings in Moulmein at the request of Mon State Chief Minister Aye Zan, who envisions the founding of a local conservation group similar to YHT. He has also asked for technical assistance from YHT for the restoration of other historical buildings in Moulmein.

Besides the First Baptist Church, other significant heritage buildings in Moulmein include a 19th century Buddhist monastery, the 120-year-old Yadanabon Myint Monastery built by King Mindon's consort Sein Tone, the residence and tomb of the fourth daughter of Myanmar's last monarch King Thibaw, the forestry office of the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation built in 1897, a cannon built in 1827 featuring the emblem of Britain's King Edward, and a watchtower built in 1912.

The post US Grant to See Restoration of 19th Century Church Through appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Drug Czar Rebukes Anti-narcotics Deal Between Yunnan, Wa Army

Posted: 07 Dec 2017 01:00 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — The chief of Myanmar's counter-narcotics police force has criticized the signing of an agreement between China's Yunnan Province and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) to cooperate on drug eradication.

Yunnan Province government officials and UWSA leaders signed an agreement on Friday in Panghsang, the capital of the Wa Self-Administered Division, to work together to eradicate drugs and grow substitute crops in the division.

"The Yunnan government's decision to sign an agreement directly with the UWSA can cause misunderstanding between the two countries," Brigadier General Mya Maung told reporters in Naypyitaw at the launch of the UN's Myanmar Opium Survey 2017.

At a meeting on drug eradication efforts in November in Kunming, China, Myanmar made it clear that China should consult with the Union government before signing any bilateral deals to fight drugs with Myanmar's subnational authorities along its border.

"We've said very clearly that they can sign [memorandums of understanding] and letters of agreement on growing poppy-substitute crops only with the Union government," Brig-Gen Mya Maung said. "They can't sign agreements with self-administered regions and state governments unless they are approved by the Union government."

"Perhaps there is some misunderstanding about the policies of the Union government and political practices in areas that share a border with China," he added.

He said China's team at the meeting in November was led by the deputy standing general secretary of the National Narcotics Control Commission of China and included officials from Yunnan's provincial government. The two countries, he said, agreed to get started on a poppy-substitution project in relatively stable parts of northern Shan State.

Political analyst Yan Myo Thein said the agreement between the UWSA and the Yunnan government was not unusual because the UWSA has been viewed as a distinct entity in Myanmar for a long time.

And because they share a border, he added, they may be cooperating in other areas as well.

"Unless political problems are solved through political means, the UWSA will remain a distinct entity," he said. "We need to build a true federal democratic Union promptly. Only then can similar problems and challenges be reduced."

The UWSA signed a ceasefire deal with the military regime in 1989. But it opted out of signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) with the government of U Thein Sein in 2015, saying it was unnecessary because the truce it reached with the previous government was holding.

It boasts of the largest and most powerful army among Myanmar's ethnic armed groups with an estimated 30,000 troops and leads other armed ethnic groups along the Myanmar-China border in the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee, which is demanding an alternative to the NCA.

The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Jeremy Douglas, who attended the report launch, urged armed ethnic groups to join Myanmar's fight against the illicit drug trade.

The total area of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar has decreased significantly in 2017 to 41,000 hectares, down 25 percent from the 55,500 hectares recorded in 2015, according to the report.

The report also reconfirms the link between conflict and opium cultivation in Myanmar, and that insecure areas with active insurgencies continue to produce at levels similar to 2015

Myanmar's opium cultivation reached a low in 2006 but increased in 2013 before starting to decline again the following year, said Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe.

In June, the UWSA claimed opium poppy fields had been completely eradicated from the southern part of the area it controls along the Thai border, more than a decade after it adopted policies to combat drug production.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Drug Czar Rebukes Anti-narcotics Deal Between Yunnan, Wa Army appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

ICG Urges World to Stay Engaged with Myanmar

Posted: 07 Dec 2017 12:44 AM PST

YANGON — The International Crisis Group suggested on Thursday that policymakers in the West should resist the urge to disengage with Myanmar, while warning of potential negative consequences of any punitive action taken against the country.

Myanmar has faced international criticism for its army's recent campaign against Rohingya Muslims in the western part of the country, where more than 600,000 Muslims have fled across the border to Bangladesh. The army has been condemned for committing human rights violations including torching homes, arbitrary killing and rape.

In the wake of the exodus, the European Union and the United States imposed sanctions against Myanmar's military leadership. Last month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson labeled the army's sweep through Rakhine State as ethnic cleansing, after a visit to the country.

The warning by the Brussels-based NGO, which monitors democratic transitions worldwide, urged international policymakers not to lose sight of the distinction between the government and the people, "who should not pay the price for the actions of a military that is constitutionally outside of democratic control."

"People-to-people exchanges with the West through academic, cultural and commercial interactions and tourism are crucial for a country that was isolated for so many decades," the report says, while warning that the Myanmar people's aspirations for "a better economic future must not be forgotten" as the country is home to millions of the poorest people in Southeast Asia.

Among the four action points suggested by the group were maintaining development assistance and non-military engagement, and leaving in place recently reinstated trade preferences by the EU and US, which it said were "critical in supporting manufacturing jobs in the country and shouldn't be revoked."

As the US was considering imposing economic measures against those responsible for the atrocities committed against the Rohingya, the report also calls on the international community to work carefully to minimize the collateral impact of any targeted sanctions.

"Recent experience in Myanmar shows, however, that ostensibly targeted sanctions can have broader systemic impacts on the economy that should be avoided," it says.

The ICG said that based on its contemporaneous research, until 2012 Myanmar was under some of the most stringent bilateral sanctions of any country and these did almost nothing to influence the then military regime "but caused significant damage to the general economy and the fortunes of ordinary people."

The report also urges the international community to do all it can to mitigate the humanitarian disaster in Rakhine State and influence the situation in other ways, including providing substantial humanitarian support to Rohingya refugees, to reduce the risks of a further humanitarian catastrophe. Plus, it said, the international community should push Myanmar for a political decision to implement key recommendations of the Annan commission, including its suggestions on discrimination, segregation and citizenship.

"Meaningful progress on these issue is vital to creating an environment conducive to voluntary repatriation, and giving international credibility to Myanmar's efforts," the ICG said.

Given China's support for Myanmar on the Rohingya issue due to its significant economic interests in Rakhine State, the NGO also cautioned Naypyitaw against taking the country's northern neighbor's blanket support for granted. China doesn't want this to come at the cost of its important relations with Bangladesh and the wider Muslim world, it said, which was part of the reason why it allowed the recent UN Security Council presidential statement to be issued.

Security Risk

Despite their organized raids in August, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army has not launched any new attacks since.

Based on interviews with ARSA members in camps in Bangladesh in September and November, the ICG says it appears most of the group's organizers and fighters are now in the camps, having fled along with the rest of the population.

The report says the group may thus shift to cross-border attacks as acquiring operating space in Bangladesh is a more realistic option given Bangladesh's anger and frustration towards Myanmar.

"If ARSA launches cross-border attacks, it could aim at opportunistic security targets in northern Rakhine or turn to attack any non-Muslim villagers resettled on Rohingya lands," the report said.

"New ARSA attacks would reinforce anti-Rohingya sentiment within Myanmar and prompt heightened security measures that would further diminish prospects for an eventual refugee return."

The post ICG Urges World to Stay Engaged with Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Army Restrictions Leave Tanai Residents Lacking Basic Commodities

Posted: 06 Dec 2017 10:59 PM PST

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — As the Tatmadaw has restricted the transportation of basic commodities in conflict-torn Tanai Township, Kachin State, locals have run out of fuel and are suffering a rice shortage.

The Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) has restricted the transportation of goods in the region for more than a year, but the situation worsened after June 3, when the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Tatmadaw renewed fighting and displaced hundreds of locals from N'Ga Ga and Nambyu villages.

Tanai residents told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that diesel fuel ran out a few days ago, as fuel trucks from Myitkyina have been stuck at military checkpoints.

Only gasoline can be bought, and one Tanai resident said the price is up to 6,000 kyat per gallon in some places where previously it had been about 4,200 kyat.

Locals also said the price of rice sacks had risen to double or triple the going rate in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. They now costs 40,000 to 60,000 kyats per sack depending on quality, and they average around 20,000 in Myitkyina.

The Kachin State security and border affairs minister Col Thura Myo Tin told the Kachin State Parliament on Monday – in a response to a question by lawmaker U Zaw Win – that the Tatmadaw's Northern Command scrutinizes the transport of rice and petrol in order to obstruct gold and amber miners who pay extortion money to the KIA in areas without rule of law.

U Zaw Win, a National League for Democracy lawmaker representing Tanai Constituency No. 2, questioned Parliament on Monday as to what the government was doing in regards to his urgent motion – in which he proposed that the government allow free transport of these goods, as was passed in March.

Despite the state security and border affair minister stating that the transport of such goods is now permitted following scrutiny, lawmakers insisted and showed evidence to Parliament that people were facing difficulties in obtaining these basic goods.

"There has been a food shortage in the state because people have been unable to farm due to the frequent fighting. Now, with the Tatmadaw controlling the delivery of goods, locals' lives have gotten harder," said Kachin State lawmaker Maran Ja Seng Hkawn.

Renewed fighting, following the breakdown of a 17-year ceasefire, broke out between the KIA and Tatmadaw in June 2011. More than 100,000 people have been displaced, including villagers from Tanai Township.

Local pastor Mung Dan said that villagers used to be able to buy rations of rice and fuel arranged at the township, village and ward levels but that this had stopped this week due to a shortage for unknown reasons.

"We don't know why, but the quota system is no longer available and we are short of these supplies."

Lawmaker Maran Ja Seng Hkawn said the government would have to tackle this situation wisely, so that people aren't taking advantage of those in hardship.

The Tatmadaw's actions seem to undermine the image of the NLD, said Tanai resident U Zaw Tan, as this crisis happened soon after the NLD governance began.

"Now the residents of Tanai have lost trust in the government and everyone is saying that the government cannot do anything," he said, adding that even without fighting in the town, locals are neither free to travel nor trade.

The post Myanmar Army Restrictions Leave Tanai Residents Lacking Basic Commodities appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar’s Opium Crop Plummets, But No Victory Over Asia’s Narco-boom: UN

Posted: 06 Dec 2017 09:14 PM PST

BANGKOK — A "dramatic" drop in opium cultivation in Myanmar underscored a regional boom in demand for illegal synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, which many Asian countries are struggling to combat, a senior UN official said on Wednesday.

The area under opium poppy cultivation dropped by a quarter between 2015 and 2017, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report released on Wednesday.

"The drop in opium production is welcome, but it is not a victory," Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC's chief in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, told Reuters.

"It appears to confirm that the shift in the regional drug market to synthetic drugs is well underway, and that the opium economy is being disrupted."

China and most Southeast Asian countries have reported growing demand for methamphetamine – a highly addictive synthetic drug also known as speed, shabu and yaba – and the Philippines is waging a bloody "war on drugs" to tackle it.

Meanwhile, regional demand for heroin, which is derived from opium poppies, has remained stable or decreased, with many younger drug users preferring methamphetamine, according to UNODC data.

The UNODC estimated that Myanmar's Shan and Kachin states cultivated 41,000 hectares of opium poppy in 2017, a 25 percent drop from the 54,500 hectares reported in its last survey in 2015.

For the previous decade, opium cultivation had increased annually before stabilizing at high levels, according to UNODC data.

The area under cultivation in Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, hit a record high of 328,000 hectares in 2017, the UNODC said last month.

Myanmar's interior minister, Kyaw Swe, said in a statement released by the UNODC that his government was "pleased to see progress" and would support programs that provide alternative livelihoods to opium-growing communities.

Myanmar is the source of most of Southeast Asia's methamphetamine, which is mostly produced in lawless border regions outside the government's control.

Douglas also said it was "reasonable to assume" that Asian organized crime groups were making or planning to make fentanyl, a synthetic opioid many times more potent and profitable than heroin.

Shifting Market

In October, President Donald Trump said "the flood of cheap and deadly fentanyl" in the United States was fuelling a public health emergency of opioid addiction and death.

"People like to stretch profits in any business, and fentanyl is the ultimate profit-stretcher," said Douglas. "You can cut out the poppy farmers completely."

Growing opium poppies employs or provides incomes for hundreds of thousands of people in Myanmar, most of them in remote, mountainous areas of Shan and Kachin states.

Cultivation and production of opium poppies continued to flourish at 2015 levels in conflict-plagued areas of those states, which remained a "safe haven for those who run the drug trade," said Douglas.

Government troops have been fighting insurgencies by various ethnic minority guerrilla groups for decades, and both sides have been implicated in the drug trade.

According to the UNODC survey, opium cultivation plummeted in 2017 despite the government scaling back its poppy-eradication efforts.

Myanmar destroyed 3,533 hectares of opium poppies in 2017, down from 13,450 hectares in 2015.

Its giant neighbor China remained the largest market for the heroin made from Myanmar's opium.

But China was also reporting what Douglas called "a significant shift in market dynamics," with demand for heroin dropping alongside rising demand for methamphetamine.

"The regional drug market is changing, and governments need to change how they deal with it," he said.

He urged countries to increase their focus on synthetic drugs and the precursor chemicals used to make them, and to do more to tackle demand through prevention campaigns and voluntary, community-based rehabilitation programs.

The post Myanmar's Opium Crop Plummets, But No Victory Over Asia's Narco-boom: UN appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Wednesday, December 6, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Civil Society Organizations Seek Greater Participation in Panglong Peace Conference

Posted: 06 Dec 2017 07:10 AM PST

YANGON—Civil society organizations (CSOs) specializing in conflict resolution have asked that they be allowed to send delegates to the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference and called for an equal opportunity to participate in discussions on all topics related to peace.

The CSOs made the request in an open letter to leaders of the peace process including State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Some 145 representatives of 92 CSOs participated in the 17th Civil Society Forum for Peace (CSFoP) in Yangon on Dec. 4-5. They discussed key developments and challenges facing the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference, including women's and security affairs, as well as the current conditions faced by people living in the country's various states and regions.

In the open letter published Wednesday, the representatives made more than a dozen recommendations concerning the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference, military affairs and joint monitoring of ceasefires.

Mi Kun Chan Non, a spokesperson for the Mon Women's Organization and a delegate to the CSFoP, told The Irrawaddy that CSFoP representatives should be entitled to delegate status at the Panglong conferences, rather than their current role as observers

"CSO members include many resourceful individuals with expertise in different sectors. They are able to provide input and suggestions for all five sectors — political, economic, social, security, and land and environmental affairs — of the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee," Mi Kun Chan Non said.

The government has been criticized for failing to recognize CSOs' contributions to the peace process.

The open letter also called for a review of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in order to further its goals of national reconciliation and peace. The CSO representatives urged the leading stakeholders to publicize the results of their meetings and the records of political dialogues held at each stage.

It also urged the Tatmadaw — the Myanmar Army — and all ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to declare a joint nationwide ceasefire. A similar ceasefire proposal has been put forward for negotiation by a separate bloc of EAOs, the United Nationalities Federal Council. The UNFC has proposed eight points for discussion that would allow its members to sign the NCA if the government and Tatmadaw agree to its terms.

The third session of the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference is scheduled to convene in the last week of January, according to the 6th Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting held in late November.

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Rakhine Lawmakers Push for Regional Minister’s Impeachment

Posted: 06 Dec 2017 05:33 AM PST

YANGON—Rakhine State Lower House Speaker San Kyaw Hla on Monday established a five-member team to investigate lawmakers' claims that state Municipal Affairs Minister Min Aung has failed to perform his duties properly.

Lawmakers said they were not properly consulted on the state budget the minister presented to Parliament, and have raised concerns about what they claim are his careless comments on sensitive issues.

On Nov. 29, 17 members of the state Parliament from the Arakan National Party (ANP), the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lodged a letter of complaint against Min Aung. San Kyaw Hla has declined to disclose the lawmakers' identities or specific charges.

Of the seats in the Rakhine Parliament, nine are held by the NLD, three by the USDP, 21 by the ANP, one by an independent and 12 are reserved for the military.

In accordance with parliamentary procedure, the House speaker established an investigative panel that includes at least one representative of each political party. According to an official announcement released by Parliament, lawmakers have demanded the minister be impeached, claiming his dereliction of duty has harmed the nation and the public interest.

Responding to the move, Min Aung said, "I have no idea about the accusations. I will be able to tell you more after Parliament resolves it." The minister will get a chance to defend himself when the state Parliament resumes its regular session on Dec. 19.

NLD-appointed Min Aung is the first regional government minister to be targeted for impeachment since the current Union government took power two years ago. He is also the spokesperson for the State Government, frequently appearing alongside Chief Minister Nyi Pu.

A member of the investigation team, NLD lawmaker Naing Kywe Aye, told The Irrawaddy over the phone on Wednesday that lawmakers would submit details to the House speaker during the forthcoming parliamentary session to assist the panel in establishing whether the minister is guilty or not.

The lawmaker cited the dissatisfaction expressed by MPs during a parliamentary session earlier this week after Min Aung presented the government's budget for fiscal 2018-19 and announced a tender for a project to develop three-story markets in Gwa, Tungup, and Kyauktaw without seeking parliamentary approval for the projects.

Asked by The Irrawaddy whether the regional minister had violated parliamentary procedure, Naing Kywe Aye said, "Of course. Even after the regional Parliament approves the fiscal year budget, it still needs the approval of the Union Parliament. After that, a tender process can start. I think lawmakers will add that as one of the topics [to be investigated]."

Naing Kywe Aye admitted that Parliament had received several complaints related to Min Aung's lack of transparency in handling construction project tenders.

"To verify the cases, we will summon some of the losing bidders who filed complaint letters," he said.

Online, there has been much discussion of the fact that this is not the first time tension has flared between the ANP and the NLD. In March 2016, Arakanese lawmakers walked out of Parliament to protest Nyi Pu's was appointed chief minister.

Several outspoken lawmakers have complained that state Cabinet members consistently ignore the role of elected civilian lawmakers.

"Whenever Cabinet members are called on to answer questions in Parliament, one regional minister attends and offers incomplete answers to lawmakers' questions on behalf of the other ministers. Then they decline to answer follow-up questions from legislators," Naing Kywe Aye said.

Than Maung Oo, an independent Arakanese lawmaker representing Ramree constituency (2), said a rift had developed between lawmakers and state-level Cabinet members over the ministers' refusal to provide comprehensive answers to lawmakers' questions.

He corroborated Naing Kywe Aye's claim that the 2018-19 fiscal year budget was drafted by government officials and submitted to the Parliament without going through a consultation process involving lawmakers.

Lawmakers oppose the proposed budget, claiming government bureaucrats have allocated huge sums to their departments, in amounts that exceed the development budget for the entire state.

Than Maung Oo said there were not enough ministers in the current state government to properly handle all of the Cabinet portfolios. "Take the Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, for example. It has 12 directors general. So one minister cannot keep track of what their staff are doing on the ground," the lawmaker said. After coming to power, the NLD consolidated the state Cabinet, reducing the number of ministries to six (not including the Ministry of Border Affairs, which is fully controlled by the Myanmar Army). As a result, each minister has to manage nearly a dozen departments, stretching the capabilities of less experienced ministers in particular, critics of the policy say.

Lawmakers also accuse Min Aung of having been careless on several occasions in his comments about sensitive questions raised in Parliament.

"Speaking in Parliament on behalf of the border affairs minister, he recklessly answered questions regarding an incident that left a number of local people dead before the Aug. 25 serial attacks," Than Maung Oo said.

The post Rakhine Lawmakers Push for Regional Minister's Impeachment appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Two Northern Alliance Members Reportedly Clash in Shan State

Posted: 06 Dec 2017 03:49 AM PST

Clashes broke out on Tuesday night between members of the Northern Alliance armed groups the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) in Namtu Township, according to local sources.

Two army officers from the SSA-N, the armed wing of the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), told The Irrawaddy that fighting continued throughout the night.

"We heard our troops clashed with the TNLA, but we do not yet know the exact reason why," said Col Sai Su and Col Sai Phone Han from the SSA-N.

"We will provide detailed information when we get the ground report," said Col Sai Su.

The clash broke out around 9 p.m. near Mong Yin, where TNLA troops came to launch an anti-drug campaign, according to local sources in Namtu town.

Shan and Palaung (Ta'ang) people live in Mong Yin, but the majority are Shan, according to Tar Hla Kyaw, a resident in Namtu.

"We heard that the Shan disliked that the Palaung came to launch an anti-drug campaign," said Tar Hla Kyaw.

Locals say that tension escalated over the past few days leading to the clash.

However, the TNLA's Information Department issued a statement that fighting broke out between the TNLA and the Myanmar Army in the Mong Yin area but did not mention fighting between the two Northern Alliance members.

The TNLA report stated that fighting broke out at 10 a.m. in Mong Yin between the TNLA and Infantry Battalion 344 of the Myanmar Army.

Brig-Gen Tar Phone Kyaw of the TNLA told The Irrawaddy that he did not hear about clashes between his troops and the SSA-N.

The TNLA and SSPP are both members of the Northern Alliance bloc. They have joint forces in northern Shan but ground troops occasionally clash due to territory disputes.

The TNLA and SSPP have not signed nationwide ceasefire agreement yet. The two groups have had numerous clashes with the Myanmar Army in northern Shan State.

The post Two Northern Alliance Members Reportedly Clash in Shan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Nationalist Group Members’ Bid to Form Political Party Rejected

Posted: 06 Dec 2017 02:49 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — The Union Election Commission (UEC) has rejected an application to form a political party filed by a group of laypersons belonging to the ultranationalist Buddhist association Ma Ba Tha.

The UEC rejected the application at its meeting on Nov. 23, saying some of the group's members were not in compliance with the Political Parties Registration Law.

"We'll ask [the UEC] what 'not in compliance with the Political Parties Registration Law' means. The UEC said some [members] are not in compliance. So, we'll ask who they are. For example, if there are three members who are in violation, can we replace them and resubmit the application? We'll ask it for clarification within a few days," Maung Thway Chon, one of the leaders of the proposed party, told The Irrawaddy.

Maung Thway Chon accused the UEC of discriminating against Ma Ba Tha, which has locked horns with the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government several times over the past year.

"Their denial of our request to form a party, before we have had a chance to act [as a party], is a suppression of nationalism and goes against democratic norms," Maung Thway Chon said.

Ma Ba Tha grew out of 969, a nationalist movement established in 2012 to organize boycotts of Muslim-owned businesses. In 2013, 969 members rebranded the group as the Association for Protection of Race and Religion, commonly known by its Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha.

The row between Ma Ba Tha and the government erupted when Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein described the group as "unnecessary" while addressing a gathering of Myanmar residents of Singapore in June 2016.

Ma Ba Tha demanded that President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi take action against the chief minister over the criticism. Their demand was ignored and the state-backed clerical organization Ma Ha Na announced that Ma Ba Tha was not a "lawful monks' association" as "it was not formed in accordance with the country's monastic rules."

Ma Ba Tha has since accused the government of favoring Muslims and failing to protect Buddhism. Some of its leading members, including U Wirathu, have preached anti-Muslim sermons, while Ma Ba Tha has produced a number of publications, overseen by Maung Thway Chon, that regularly feature anti-Muslim articles.

In May, Ma Ha Na banned Ma Ba Tha from operating under its current name and ordered that its signboards be taken down across the country by July 15. Since then, Ma Ba Tha has rebranded itself as the Buddha Dhamma Charity Foundation.

In late May, as Ma Ba Tha celebrated its fourth anniversary, Maung Thway Chon unveiled a plan to form a political party that he said would work for the national interest, unity and sovereignty.

He said Ma Ba Tha had 10 million members in nearly 300 townships across the country.

"It doesn't mean they all have to be members [of the new party]. If they want to protect race and religion, they are welcome. Non-members are encouraged to join as well," he told The Irrawaddy in May.

He said the party would work separately from Ma Ba Tha, and would be a distinct entity engaged solely in politics.

"If the UEC rejects us again, we will submit a writ," he said.

U Ye Htun, a former Lower House lawmaker representing Shan State's Hsipaw Township, said the UEC might be concerned that the party intends to exploit religious feelings for political purposes, which is banned under the 2008 Constitution.

"I don't know which provisions their members are not in compliance with. The UEC needs to clarify this. At the same time, political parties must steer clear of religion," said U Ye Htun.

Asked about the reason for the rejection, UEC chairman U Hla Thein referred The Irrawaddy to the agency's letter to Ma Ba Tha and declined to comment further.

Lower-ranking UEC officials said the decision was made by the UEC leadership, adding that they did not know the reason for the rejection.

There are currently 95 political parties in Myanmar, according to the UEC's website.

The post Nationalist Group Members' Bid to Form Political Party Rejected appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt, Employers, Employees Set to Meet to Discuss Minimum Wage

Posted: 05 Dec 2017 11:47 PM PST

YANGON — The government will meet with employer and employee representatives later this month in hopes of bridging the wide gap between the two groups' competing proposals for a new minimum wage.

"We plan to hold a forum in the third week of December in Yangon. Parliamentary committees will also be present," U Win Shein, director-general of the Directorate of Labor at the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, told The Irrawaddy.

Employees have proposed a new rate of 5,600 kyats (about $4.11) for an eight-hour work day, a significant increase over the current rate of 3,600 kyats. Employers have proposed a new rate of approximately 4,000 kyats.

U Khin Maung Aye, chairman of a garment manufacturers association at the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, called the employees' proposal "unreasonable."

"Roughly speaking, it should be fine to pay around 4,000 kyats. We can't afford to pay more than that. If we do, we will go into the red," he said.

However, the average daily expense of an individual worker is around 6,600 kyats, according to a survey by the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM).

"We will hold discussions and propose a rate based on that fact," Ko Win Zaw, a CTUM central executive committee member, told The Irrawaddy.

On Sunday, hundreds of workers staged protests in Yangon and Mandalay to demand a 5,600 kyats minimum wage.

In February, the National Minimum Wage Committee, tasked with determining the minimum wage, was reformed with economists, officials of relevant ministries and representatives from labor and employer groups.

Since then it has met three times. It met most recently in October, when minimum wage committees from the regions and states discussed their survey results and tentatively agreed to a new rate of between 4,000 and 4,800 kyats.

According to the Directorate of Labor, the coming meeting is likely to finalize the rate, which will then be sent to Parliament for approval.

The Minimum Wage Law was enacted in March 2013. The current wage of 3,600 kyats came into effect on Sept. 1 the same year.

It applies nationwide to workers across all sectors, except small and family-run businesses that employ fewer than 15 people.

According to the law a new rate must be set every two years.

The post Govt, Employers, Employees Set to Meet to Discuss Minimum Wage appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Forces May Be Guilty of Genocide Against Rohingya, UN Says

Posted: 05 Dec 2017 08:58 PM PST

GENEVA — Myanmar's security forces may be guilty of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority and more of them are fleeing despite a deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh to send them home, the top UN human rights official said on Tuesday.

The United Nations defines genocide as acts meant to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. Such a designation is rare under international law, but has been used in contexts including Bosnia, Sudan and an Islamic State campaign against the Yazidi communities in Iraq and Syria.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, was addressing a special session of the Human Rights Council which later adopted a resolution condemning "the very likely commission of crimes against humanity" by security forces and others against Rohingya.

Myanmar's ambassador Htin Lynn said his government "disassociated" itself from the text and denounced what he called "politicization and partiality."

Zeid, who has described the campaign in the past as a "textbook case of ethnic cleansing," said that none of the 626,000 Rohingya who have fled violence to Bangladesh since August should be repatriated to Myanmar unless there was robust monitoring on the ground. He described reports of "acts of appalling barbarity committed against the Rohingya, including deliberately burning people to death inside their homes, murders of children and adults; indiscriminate shooting of fleeing civilians; widespread rapes of women and girls, and the burning and destruction of houses, schools, markets and mosques."

"Can anyone – can anyone – rule out that elements of genocide may be present?" he told the 47-member state forum.

Shahriar Alam, Bangladesh's junior foreign affairs minister, told the session in Geneva that his country was hosting nearly one million "Myanmar nationals" following executions and rapes.

Mainly Buddhist Myanmar denies the Muslim Rohingya are its citizens and considers them foreigners.

These crimes had been "perpetrated by Myanmar security forces and extremist Buddhist vigilantes," Alam said, calling for an end to what he called "xenophobic rhetoric..including from higher echelons of the government and the military."

Criminal Investigations

Prosecutions for the violence and rapes against Rohingya by security forces and civilians "appear extremely rare," Zeid said.

Marzuki Darusman, head of an independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar, said by video from Malaysia: "We will go where the evidence leads us."

His team has interviewed Rohingya refugees, including children in the Bangladeshi port city of Cox's Bazar, who recounted "acts of extreme brutality" and "displayed signs of severe trauma."

Myanmar has not granted the investigators access to Rakhine, the northern state from which the Rohingya have fled, Darusman said. "We maintain hope that it will be granted early in 2018."

Pramila Patten, special envoy of the UN Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, who interviewed survivors in Bangladesh in November, said: "I heard the most heart-breaking and horrific accounts of sexual atrocities reportedly committed in cold blood out of a lethal hatred of these people solely on the basis of their ethnicity and religion."

Crimes included "rape, gang rape by multiple soldiers, forced public nudity and humiliation, and sexual slavery in military captivity," Patten said.

Myanmar denies committing atrocities against the Rohingya. Its envoy Htin, referring to the accounts, said: "People will say what they wanted to believe and sometimes they will say what they were told to say."

Kelley Currie, US ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council, said the Rohingya's lack of Myanmar citizenship was "the fundamental root cause of this crisis," adding: "Stop denying the seriousness of the current situation."

The post Myanmar Forces May Be Guilty of Genocide Against Rohingya, UN Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Tuesday, December 5, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

U Wirathu: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi a Threat to National Religion and Identity

Posted: 05 Dec 2017 06:27 AM PST

In an interview with The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, ultranationalist monk U Wirathu offered his personal views on the current situation in Rakhine State and the government's legal action against nationalist Buddhist monks. The Irrawaddy's senior reporter Zarni Mann met with U Wirathu at the Dhama Thaharya Kyaung at Masoeyein monastery.

The Army and the government have been criticized for their handling of the conflict in Rakhine State. What is your view?

The government has been unreliable on this matter. So, we have had to rely solely on the Tatmadaw [Myanmar's military]. Personally, I fully support [military chief] Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and I believe him when he says the Tatmadaw will provide full protection to minorities in Rakhine State in order to protect them from genocide. When it comes to protecting the national identity, we only have him to rely on.

But the Army's actions in relation to the conflict in Rakhine State have resulted in fresh sanctions and condemnation.

I've read about that. I have to say it is inappropriate. This sort of operation [like the one the military is conducting in Rakhine] should be the responsibility of the government, not the Tatmadaw. The institution most responsible for handling such conflicts is the government. Taking action against the Tatmadaw rather than the government is a mistake.

Nonetheless, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of numerous honors and awards over her handling of the Rakhine situation.

No. No. What I want to say here is that taking action against the Tatmadaw by violating the country's sovereignty is wrong. Taking action against our country's leaders like this is unfair. What the international community should do is to talk with the government to find the best solution. I'm against any intervention like that by foreign countries.

Again, it is absolutely unfair to strip Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of her honors and awards. The Westerners are childish to do this. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not seek those awards and honors. It was they [the West] who awarded her and honored her. Stripping her of the honors and targeting people with sanctions or taking other such actions is inappropriate.

The government is now implementing the recommendations included in the report of Mr. Kofi Annan's commission in accordance with international standards and human rights. Isn't this a good development?

The report is satisfactory to all sides [but] it is not perfect. Initially the commission said the report's recommendations should be implemented as soon as possible. Later it said only the most urgent recommendations should be implemented immediately. So it is difficult for me to say if it is good or not. However, one thing I can say is there are many suggestions in the report that threaten the stability of the country. For example, it recommends that the government give citizenship to those who are not entitled to citizenship. Its proposal that the government amend the 1982 Citizenship Act poses a threat to the country. If the government agrees to do this, we will have to oppose it. I believe Buddhist monks and their supporters will take to the streets should the government agree to these recommendations.

However, many Myanmar citizens fled to a neighbouring country during the conflict. Shouldn't they have a chance to return to their homes?

I never said no one can come back. Everyone who deserves to come home must have the chance to do so. There are clear rules and regulations for this process, requiring that documents be checked. Anyone who can present the proper documents should be allowed to come home.

Pope Francis recently visited our country. As his visit came amid the criticism over the human rights issue in Rakhine State, the international community hoped he would address this. However, the pope did not mention the Rohingya explicitly and was widely criticized for that.

The pope is a religious leader. He is doing what religious leaders should do, which is to tell people to love each other, to help each other and to be patient. However, he did use the term "Rohingya" before visiting us. And afterwards, when he was in Bengladesh, he used the term "Rohingya". So to me, this means he is using his position as a religious leader to act as a political figure, rather than acting as a religious leader.

On the other hand, I have to question the international community on this point. Is it an abuse of human rights not to use the word "Rohingya"? The people of this country don't accept the term "Rohingya", so the Pope did not use it [here]. We have nothing to say regarding his diplomatic behavior. Personally, I do not like the way he used "Rohingya" before and after visiting our country.

In the past, you supported Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. What changed? Do you believe as some nationalists do that she is using human rights to oppress religion and nationalism, in particular through a series of lawsuits against nationalist groups?

We feel that we are being deliberately targeted. I believe we are being oppressed and that one day Buddhism and the Myanmar national identity will be replaced by other religions and by foreigners. I now see her as a threat to the country's religion and national identity.

When the State Sangha authorities declared Ma Ba Tha an unlawful association, the Mandalay divisional government reportedly ordered that the group's signs be taken down. However, some nationalists are reportedly still displaying them.

They [the authorities] are the ones who do not understand the law, which is why they issued that order. Maybe they believe they can intimidate us by issuing such orders. What I do know is that Ma Ba Tha would not have any problems if Ma Ha Na and the government obeyed the law. They are acting like scarecrows. Ma Ba Tha is not an unlawful association. People label Ma Ba Tha as "unlawful" based solely on the statement from Ma Ha Na; they are blinded by it. If they really see Ma Ba Tha as unlawful, they should take their claim to the courts. We are still working under Ma Ba Tha.

At a meeting last month the State Sangha authorities reportedly considered an appeal against the ban on you conducting public sermons. What is the status of that appeal?

There's nothing special about that. I just did it as a test, because we heard many different views [concerning the ban] in the town — apart from Gabaraye [i.e., the State Sangha] — that the decision to ban me had been made by a few senior monks. Some monks said that if they had been at the meeting, there would have been no ban. I'd like to know what would happen if all 47 senior member of Ma Ha Na were present. What I discovered was that in gatherings at Gabaraye, all views are the same. When talking about the 47 senior members of Ma Ha Na, even my teacher can't be trusted.

The post U Wirathu: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi a Threat to National Religion and Identity appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Analysis: Under Pressure, Aung San Suu Kyi to Seek Chinese Investment

Posted: 05 Dec 2017 04:18 AM PST

Myanmar is in China's embrace today. Facing political pressure and the threat of sanctions over the situation in Rakhine State, the government is seeking China's diplomatic and economic support.

It seems China will not hesitate to assist Myanmar. However, Myanmar's approach will be cautious and calculated as it also fosters other friendships in the region.

The government of Myanmar and its powerful military consider China an important and strategic partner but don't want to be seen as relying heavily on China alone.

The government is expanding its economic cooperation with other countries including Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, India and Japan. Singapore remains the top investor, having invested more than US$4 billion this fiscal year, followed by Vietnam with $1.3 billion. However, while important regional allies, they are not political heavyweights in the international arena with the clout to protect Myanmar.

Even so, Myanmar's armed forces will be cautious with China, given that it has provided arms and logistical support to rebel groups in the north for decades. It's not clear just how much trust and confidence Myanmar's generals have in Beijing.

In the 1990s, when the regime was desperately looking for jet fighters and ammunition, China sold low-grade jet fighters, weapons and ammunition to Myanmar's junta. The generals have diversified since then, purchasing jet fighters and military hardware from others including Russia, India, Pakistan, Israel and some Eastern European countries. Today, Myanmar is expanding military and defense cooperation with India, Russia, Japan and Thailand.

Nevertheless, one can see more military cooperation between the People's Liberation Army of China and Myanmar's armed forces. The China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and the Myanmar Army have pledged to expand collaboration with a view to growing defense trade and related technologies.

NORINCO announced the plans in a press release on Nov. 28, although the agreement was reached a few days earlier, the company said, in meetings between NORINCO President Wen Gang and Myanmar Army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

In its press release, NORINCO said it had a "long history of cooperation" with Myanmar and that it was looking to continue to provide the country's army with defense products and services and to continue to "expand and enhance areas of cooperation."

The US was preparing to help train Myanmar's army officers and expand military-to-military engagement, but violence and allegations of human rights violations in Rakhine State have shut down the contacts while the US Congress considers imposing sanctions.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's recent visit to China indicates that the two countries will strengthen economic ties. In a meeting with Suu Kyi, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged her to further expand bilateral cooperation.

The China-Myanmar economic corridor is new, proposed in November when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to Naypyitaw.

The corridor will arrive in three phases, expanding to Mandalay, Yangon and the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in troubled Rakhine State. It is part of a grand plan to boost connectivity between four countries: Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.

The project will connect Kunming in China with Kolkata in India, then add Mandalay, Dhaka and Chittagong. It is part of China's grand geopolitical and economic strategy, connecting Beijing straight to the Indian Ocean.

Neither is India being left out of Myanmar's own geopolitical rebalancing. Suu Kyi wants her country to continue strengthening economic and political ties with India too. She studied in India, where her mother served as ambassador in the 1950s.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Myanmar in September, when he backed Suu Kyi's government and offered assistance and development initiatives for Rakhine State.

Mandalay Region Chief Minister Zaw Myint Maung has been to Kolkata seeking Indian investments in central Myanmar (he has also accompanied Suu Kyi's on her latest visit to China).

India shares a 1,600-km border with Myanmar along four northeastern states. Some Indian militants seeking separation and autonomy are based in Myanmar. Myanmar's army leaders have promised to push them out, but neither the region nor the Indian rebels are priorities for the government or the military.

Beijing Looks to Restive Rakhine

During her visit to Beijing and meetings with Chinese leaders, Suu Kyi is believed to have discussed several economic projects and existing contracts signed under previous governments, including the regime that ruled the country until 2010. They include the controversial Myintsone project suspended under President Thein Sein, the Letpadaung mining project, and the Kyaukphyu deep-sea port and related pipeline and railway projects in the area.

The China-Myanmar corridor will no doubt boost China's trade and political influence. Moreover, planned highways, railroads and pipelines will give China direct access to the Indian Ocean. It will be interesting to see what the government can renegotiate with China to benefit its impoverished country, Rakhine State and the people.

The contracts are under review and it is believed that the current government has been trying to renegotiate them with China.

Unsurprisingly, China has backed Myanmar over the crisis in Rakhine State from the start; it has even offered to mediate.

In the first week of November, a Chinese delegation visited Rakhine State to assess the situation. The delegation, from China's Asean Economic and Cultural Association, was accompanied by Myanmar's Hintha Akari Co and seen meeting several key leaders.

Interestingly, during the trip the Chinese delegates said one planned project was to help Myanmar extend and strengthen fencing along the state's border with Bangladesh.

It seems China is shifting its attention to Rakhine State.

So, while the West — the US in particular — considers imposing targeted sanctions on Myanmar's generals and scaling back ties with the military, China is thinking of building highways and railroads.

The post Analysis: Under Pressure, Aung San Suu Kyi to Seek Chinese Investment appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Couple Arrested in Kachin After 1,000 Bullets Found at Their Home

Posted: 05 Dec 2017 03:31 AM PST

Former freelance photographer John San Linn and his wife were detained in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina on Monday night, after police found more than 1,000 bullets at their home in Myawaddy near the Thailand-Myanmar border, according to local police.

Lwin Maung Thein, a police officer in Myitkyina, told The Irrawaddy: "We detained him. The police in Karen State told us to arrest him. It is their case."

Police from Myitkyina and Myawaddy cooperated to arrest the pair. John San Linn worked as a freelance photographer in Kachin and Karen states in the past.

The police found 1,020 12.7 mm bullets under his house. The investigation is ongoing and police officer Lwin Maung Thein said he did not yet know whether the seized ammunition was thought to be linked to the Kachin Independence Army.

Ethnic rebels in northern Shan State often use these bullets. They can be used to destroy unarmored vehicles, penetrate lightly armored vehicles and damage external ancillary equipment.

The police officer said that John San Linn and his wife would be transferred to Karen State to face charges.

Police filed charges until Article 19 of the Arms Act for unlicensed possession of arms/ammunition, said Myawaddy police officer Thet Naing Soe.

"We have been trying to arrest him for a long time," Thet Naing Soe added.

He said that an anonymous source had provided the information used to arrest them.

John San Linn and his wife have two children.

The post Couple Arrested in Kachin After 1,000 Bullets Found at Their Home appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Wild Elephants Destroy Home, Crops in Ngapudaw Township

Posted: 05 Dec 2017 02:00 AM PST

PATHEIN — Two herds of hungry wild elephants destroyed a house and crops in a village in Irrawaddy Region's Ngapudaw Township on Monday.

According to locals, each herd included at least five elephants. The herds arrived separately from the east and west of the Pathein-Mawtin Road in the township's Dipayone Kwethit village on Monday evening.

"The two herds were only about 500 feet from each other. They seemed to be starving. They came close to the fences of our houses and ate bananas and other crops. Because they came so close to people, Forestry Police had to fire shots to scare them away," said Tin Chaung village tract administrator U Tun Lay, who helped police drive the wild elephants away.

A house in Dipayone Kwethit was destroyed by elephants that had wandered into the backyard to eat crops. The elephants were not aggressive toward villagers, local residents said.

"The elephants approached the fences of our houses, but didn't appear to be hostile. It seems they had been chased by a group of elephant poachers," said U Tun Lay.

"When one household scared them away, they went to another house. If that house scared them off, they went to the next one. The villagers were too scared to sleep that night [on Monday]. They made noises and lit fires [to keep the elephants away from their houses]," he added.

The elephants were still in the woods near the village on Tuesday morning, he said.

An "elephant-scaring" team was on its way to the village on Tuesday, Khun Pyone Naing, head of Ngapudaw Township Forestry Department, told The Irrawaddy.

The team, formed in June this year and made up of non-governmental organization workers, Forestry Police offers and Myanma Timber Enterprise staff, is tasked with scaring away elephants from human settlements and protecting them from poachers. It conducts regular patrols in forests, and when necessary drives away wild elephants with the help of domesticated elephants.

"Such places are frequently visited by wild elephants. We will drive them back into the forest with the assistance of domesticated elephants," Khun Pyone Naing said.

For the time being, Forestry and local police are providing security for the village.

According to local residents, wild elephants usually visit farms in search of food from the time of the paddy harvest in November until around May, just before the rainy season starts.

Elephants have seen their habitats shrink dramatically due illegal logging in recent decades, said Sai Zaw Oo, a supervisor at the Myanmar Elephant Lovers Association, which is based in Ngapudaw Township

"So, they come to human settlements to eat paddy, banana and other crops grown by humans. And this has led to human-elephant conflict" he said.

"At the same time, this has given elephant poachers the opportunity to hunt wild elephants that come and search for food," he added.

Last year, four local villagers were killed in elephant-human conflicts that erupted after the animals started eating crops near Ngwe Saung Beach in the west of Pathein Township, according to the Ngwe Saung Beach police station.

On Nov. 30 Forestry Department personnel had to drive away a wild elephant after it destroyed a house and killed a pig in Kyaukphya village tract in the west of Pathein Township.

The post Wild Elephants Destroy Home, Crops in Ngapudaw Township appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Carpetbagging in Myanmar’s Ethnic Areas

Posted: 05 Dec 2017 01:53 AM PST

With the transition in 2011 to a new hybrid civilian-military government in Myanmar, a number of international development/assistance carpetbaggers – organizations and individuals – have flocked to the country. Many of them are opportunist international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), United Nations organizations (UNOs),  international development agencies (IDAs), and consultants which go into the conflict and ceasefire ethnic areas in countries to take advantage of the unsettled social, economic, and political conditions for organizational and/or individual self-interests.

Carpetbaggers is a term that was used to describe those persons who moved, immediately after the US Civil War, from the North to the former Southern rebellious states to take advantage of the unstable social, economic, and political climate. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. Their name came from their luggage, which was manufactured from old carpets. The present day international development/assistance carpetbaggers, who carry backpacks now, are conflict/disaster seekers who prey on disaster areas and weak/collapsed states, such as Myanmar, in a similar manner as do "ambulance chasing" lawyers who rush to the scene of an accident to take advantage of any injured parties.

These international development/assistance carpetbaggers do not conduct any Do No Harm/conflict analysis; or if they do, they don't use it to understand the conflict dynamics and power/influence relationships of the situation on the ground so as not to really "Do No Harm."  Moreover, there is no sharing of these Do No Harm/conflict analyses with local stakeholders to ensure their validity.  Consequently, the international development/assistance carpetbaggers strengthen the centralization of the political, administrative, and fiscal powers of the Myanmar Government in social services while the ethnic people seek decentralization – an important aspect of their economic and political aspirations for the past seventy years.

Such actors undermine the social services provided by the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) in their administered areas by not obtaining operating permission from local EAO administrative officials; degrade local ethnic community-based organizations (CBOs)/civil society organizations (CSOs) by drawing experienced staff away with compensation packages above local prevailing terms; pay above local market rates for facility leases, driving up local lease rates; provide direct overlapping local services, such as in health care; and, use logframes to push their own priorities which are not that of the local community or ethnic partnership organization(s).

This situation also plays into the hands of local Burman and ethnic business cronies who utilize their networks within the Myanmar Government, state/region/township governments, and/or Tatmadaw to influence decisions regarding local international development/assistance for the benefit of their own business interests.

The Myanmar Government and Tatmadaw take advantage of this "ignorance" or "Do Not Care" attitude of the international development/assistance carpetbaggers in a proxy economic counter-insurgency strategy involving development, nation building, humanitarian assistance, and conflict resolution/peace building programs in the ethnic areas.

In essence, international development/assistance is co-opted and "weaponized" by the Myanmar Government and Tatmadaw against the EAOs by undermining the social and economic support given by the EAOs to their supportive ethnic populations as well as to push the EAOs toward the acceptance of unfavorable ceasefire terms and political compromises.

The international development/assistance carpetbaggers take political sides by complementing the economic concessions given by the Myanmar Government to those EAOs, which have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), while failing to similarly engage with EAOs which have not signed the NCA.

As one ethnic leader commented to a visiting INGO, "You Doing No Harm is harming us."

The international development/assistance carpetbaggers are driven by basic human greed for financial rewards (e.g. salaries and grants), status/recognition (e.g., official posting titles, CV citations, and housing/transportation special benefits), and/or other personal gains through the exploitation of situations involving development, nation building, humanitarianism, and conflict resolution/peace building. There are multiple types of international development/assistance carpetbaggers:

  • Development carpetbaggers
    The international development carpetbaggers fund/build roads, bridges, and communications systems in the ethnic areas that extend the administrative and military reach of the Myanmar Government and Tatamdaw. They may or may not conduct Conflict Analyses, Environmental Impact Assessments, or Social Impact Assessments. However if done, they may only be paper-based, fill-in-the-blank exercises. Consequently, there are issues of environmental degradation and uncompensated/poorly-compensated land confiscations, resulting in displacement of ethnic people. Moreover, the resultant physical infrastructure may allow penetration by the Tatmadaw of vehicles and heavy armaments into conflict areas which were previously inaccessible. Of course, corruption follows as well.
  • Nation-building carpetbaggers
    The ethnic areas are targeted for nation building, which strengthens the control of the Myanmar Government and extends its administrative and Tatmadaw reach without the necessity of any power/resource sharing arrangements with the ethnic people. These opportunist nation-building carpetbaggers are eager to assist the autocratic Aung San Suu Kyi's Myanmar Government to become more efficient and effective in entering, controlling, and exploiting the ethnic areas. They have agreed with the Burma Government, in the so-called Naypyitaw Accord, to align their projects with Burma Government policies. It does not matter that nation building, without sustainable peace, undermines the now seventy year ethnic quest for political, administrative, fiscal, resource, and security power sharing and ethnic equality promised to them by General Aung San, Aung San Suu Kyi's father, when they formed the Union of Burma in 1948 with Burmans.
  • Humanitarian carpetbaggers
    There is the proliferation of humanitarian activities into the ethnic areas, especially in regard to health, education, and poverty reduction by some opportunist INGOs, UNOs, and IDAs. This allows for the further extension of Myanmar Government's administrative and Tatmadaw control in the ethnic areas through these proxies to undermine the relationship of the EAOs with their ethnic peoples' support base. These humanitarian carpetbaggers also must adhere to the Naypyitaw Accord. Many do not obtain memorandums of understanding (MoUs) from the EAOs which may control their targeted areas of operations or work with local CBOs/CSOs which are equipped to provide any necessary international assistance directly to their own people. Of course, the humanitarian assistance is also a source of additional overhead/administrative funding, salaries, housing/transportation special benefits, CV citations, and donor and organizational publicity for these humanitarian carpetbaggers. An Afghan analyst is reported to have remarked, "INGOs are the cows that drink the milk themselves" (Quoted in Making States Work, July 2004: P. 13).
  • Conflict resolution/peace building carpetbaggers
    One cannot forget the conflict resolution/peace building carpetbaggers who prey on conflict situations such as in the ethnic areas. These are the opportunist international academicians, institutes/think tanks, foreign governments, and foundations that are advising the Myanmar Government and EAOs about ceasefires and political dialogue. They are there to "help" the EAOs to "return to the legal fold". These carpetbagging consultants get grants and publicity for their ceasefire/peace building "back seat driving" and Western "cookie-cutter" solutions which, in any case, are not contextually-based to the unique Asian/Burma social, economic, political, and security sector realities in Burma. In short, they are more "cows that drink the milk themselves".

With the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement in 2015 by some EAOs and the accession of the Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party to government offices in 2016, the door is now wide open to even more international development/assistance carpetbaggers to reap organizational and/or individual benefits in the ethnic areas of Myanmar.

International development/assistance carpetbaggers have been "called-out" in numerous books and articles over the past half century. They ignore or dismiss such "calling out", as in this article, since they know that recipient countries need international development/assistance.

They give a bad reputation to those international development/assistance organizations which do good transparent and impartial work, and understand and properly respond to local social, economic, and political environments. While there has been some progress in reining these international development/assistance carpetbaggers in, many are still "out there". In this sense, they have come to Myanmar and are now spreading, like a virulent development/assistance virus, into the ethnic areas of Myanmar.

The ethnic people have been striving for self-autonomy, ethnic equality, and peace for almost seventy years. They desire sustainable peace through equitable power/resource sharing and security sector reform before international development/assistance.  International development/assistance are aspects of peace building, which should occur after, not before, peacemaking and peacekeeping. The Myanmar Government and Tatmadaw use peace building to avoid power/resource sharing with the ethnic people.

However, if the EAOs cannot resist the lure of international development/assistance, then they must vet and control access into their administered areas by international development/assistance organizations to ensure they don't undermine the EAO's popular support base, fracture the EAO or its alliances, and contribute to corruption. Moreover, wherever possible, international development/assistance must be channeled through local ethnic CBOs or CSOs in a fully transparent and responsible manner

The following are recommendations to control international development/assistance organizations seeking to implement activities in EAO-administered areas:

  1. All international development/assistance organizations, operating in EAO-administered areas, should be required to register with the governing EAO and only those who receive approval would be able to implement their project(s). Registration applications would include, as appropriate, local CBO/CSO partnerships, Conflict Analyses, Environmental Impact Assessments, and/or Social Impact Assessments.
  2. MoUs are signed between the EAO and registering international development/assistance organizations and such MoUs will govern the scope and terms of operations.
  3. The registration documentation is shared with the locally-affected communities for their comments and concerns.
  4. For approved registrations, written official authorization and personal identification cards are issued by the EAO.
  5. The activities of registered organizations are monitored by the EAO or an approved local ethnic CBO/CSO on a quarterly basis to ensure that they are in active and full compliance with the terms and scope of their MoUs, including expected outcomes, impact, and utilization of funding. Intentional noncompliance would be cause for termination of the project and exit of the offending organization(s).

Engagements with conflict resolution/peace building organizations and individuals must be evaluated as to appropriateness in respect to the political-military situation in Myanmar, Burma/Asian values, conflict history, conflicts-of-interest, political bias, conflict resolution/peace building experience, and other relevant factors.  Myanmar is an Asian multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-religious country with a long history of insurgency and dissent. There are no Western counties which have similar characteristics and can serve as a conflict resolution model for Myanmar. Consideration should be given to power/resource sharing models in Asia, such as in India, and to extent, models in Africa.

The ethnic people have suffered enough from the Myanmar Government and Tatmadaw since Independence. They don't need to be also deceived or exploited by some international development/assistance organizations and individuals which say "we have come to help you" with development/assistance, but really want to drink the milk themselves or serve as the willing or unknowing economic counter-insurgency tool of the Myanmar Government and Tatmadaw.

The EAOs must strictly vet, control, and monitor international development/assistance organizations and individuals and say "No" to international development/assistance carpetbaggers: they are not welcome to do their "carpetbagging" in Myanmar's ethnic areas.

This article originally appeared in Tea Circle, a forum hosted at Oxford University for emerging research and perspectives on Burma/Myanmar.

The post Carpetbagging in Myanmar's Ethnic Areas appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘They Are Bringing Her Down’

Posted: 04 Dec 2017 11:43 PM PST

YANGON — The Oxford City Council stripped Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of its Freedom of the City award last Monday, an honor it bestowed on her in 1997. She collected the award in person in 2012, after 15 years under house arrest.

"Oxford has a long tradition of being a diverse and humane city, and our reputation is tarnished by honoring those who turn a blind eye to violence," Councilor Mary Clarkson said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The city joined a number of other British institutions that have stripped the state counselor of honorary titles given in recognition of her long struggle for democracy and her fight against oppressive military rule in Myanmar, all referencing the latest crisis in Rakhine State.

Following orchestrated attacks by a Muslim militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, against police posts and an army base on Aug. 25, Myanmar's 72-year-old de facto leader has faced strong international censure for failing to criticize the military's response and to speak out against violence toward Rohingya Muslims.

Subsequent clashes and security operations by the Myanmar Army have left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands displaced, including more than 620,000 Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh amid reports of killing, rape and arson by the military.

During a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Naypyitaw on Nov. 15, the state counselor insisted that she has not been silent about the humanitarian crisis.

"I think what people mean is that what I say is not interesting enough. But what I say is not meant to be exciting, it's meant to be accurate. And it's aimed at creating more harmony and a better future for everybody, not for setting people against each other," she said at the time.

"We mustn't forget that there are many different communities in Rakhine, and if they are to live together in peace and harmony in the long-term we can't set them against each other now. We cannot make the kind of statements that drive them further apart. This is the reason why we are very careful about what is said."

Among the groups and institutions criticizing her government's response to the Rohingya crisis, those in the UK seem to be the most active.

Last month, the London School of Economics voted to revoke an honorary presidency awarded to her in 1992. Before Oxford, the city councils of Glasgow and Sheffield stripped her of their own freedom of the city awards.

Oxford University's St. Hugh's College, from which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi graduated in 1967, removed her painted portrait and name from its common room. One of Britain's largest trade unions, Unison, has suspended an award it had given her.

The Irrawaddy interviewed scholars, politicians and activists to find out why they believe Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is being stripped of her awards and what they think of the practice.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak / Supplied

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, associate professor and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University

Some places and people in the UK undoubtedly and understandably feel betrayed by ASSK [Aung San Suu Kyi]. They had huge and unrealistic expectations for her to come into power under democratic rule and take Myanmar forward. However, Myanmar is beset with deep-seated structural problems — e.g. internal conflicts — that precede and transcend Ms. Suu Kyi. She can only do so much, and she is achieving a democratic transition like she was supposed to. But it is premised on a compromise with the Tatmadaw. She cannot have the cake and eat it, too. She cannot just come to power and kick out the army overnight.

It’s like these UK places withdrawing her recognition because they feel jilted, a deep disappointment in the face of the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine. The Rohingya issue gnaws at the collective conscience of the international community. They want quick answers and are quick to blame. They can blame the Tatmadaw and [Senior General] Min Aung Hlaing, but they have already been blamed aplenty. They can relate more by blaming Ms. Suu Kyi because they are familiar with her.

It’s like the international community has put her up on the highest pedestal and made her into a global democracy icon, way beyond what she is capable [of] and what the reality on the ground would countenance. And now they are bringing her down.

The withdrawals of honors in the UK also reflect the facile views these institutions held of her in the first place. The world is complicated. Rakhine is an intractable mess.

Of course anything to do with the Tatmadaw does not go down well with international stakeholders. There is so much baggage and ill will regarding the army’s misdeeds in the past. That ASSK is working with the Tatmadaw and Min Aung Hlaing taints her in the eyes of [the] international community.

At the same time, I do think ASSK can take more risks on the Rakhine crisis. She can leverage her immense moral authority against the army for a more acceptable outcome…. Moreover, she has shown that she is a poor executive, with no message and no messenger — i.e. the virtual absence of a decent communications team.  She micromanages too much, does not have a grand strategy, and does not know how to be [the] transitional and transformative leader her country needs at this time.  And she has not groomed others to help and succeed her.

Al Haj U Aye Lwin / The Irrawaddy

AI Haj U Aye Lwin, chief convener for the Islamic Center of Myanmar and member of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State

We appreciated the Western nations very much for their help and support for democracy in Myanmar.  But their actions right now could put the democracy that they want to flourish in reverse. If the democratic forces are weak, the dictatorship will come back.

In her first public address [on the Rohingya crisis], the state counselor already said that she condemned any human rights violations and unlawful violence and that action would be taken against anyone, regardless of race, religion, or political standing, who violated human rights. She also said she would speak with those who have fled and those who have stayed in the state.

She invited diplomats and officials to observe the problem too. She has done all of this under difficult circumstances. In her second public address [on the Rohingya crisis], she spoke of the repatriation of refugees, houses to be rebuilt for the residents in the state, and programs to improve their lives. She had already formed the committees to implement the programs as well, as per the commission's recommendations.

I would like to tell them [Western critics] to consider carefully the conditions in Myanmar. There are forces trying to exploit religion for political gain, especially the hatred of Muslims. So speaking out however they want to is not essential. It is only important to do the things that need to be done to resolve the problems. They need to understand that. They are doing it to give moral support [to the refugees], but they are blaming the democratic forces and weakening them, which makes the dictators happy.

U Thant Thaw Kaung / The Irrawaddy

U Thant Thaw Kaung, founder of the Myanmar Book Center and Myanmar Book Aid and Preservation Foundation, a leading book importer and distributor in Myanmar

No one asked when they gave those awards. In Myanmar there is not only the Rakhine issue. We will show the world by our actions what needs to be done, as the state counselor said.

Ko Mya Aye / The Irrawaddy

Ko Mya Aye, a prominent Muslim political activist since the 1988 uprising

It is not good for the image of the state counselor or for our country. We felt upset. But it will all be over if we resolve everything fairly and justly.

I think it depends on the institutions and student unions in the UK. I don't know on what norms and standards they based their decisions. I assume that both accurate news and fake news reaches them. And accurate and fake information reaches the state counselor too.

Myawaddy Mingyi Sayadaw / Myawaddy Sayadaw/ Facebook

Myawaddy Mingyi Sayadaw, a senior Buddhist figure

Is it a small thing that Daw Suu has done? Who says she doesn't deserve those awards? Compared to her, those titles are too small. It is too childish to withdraw what they gave. Wait and see. Only those who revoked the awards will lose their dignity in the end, not her.

The post 'They Are Bringing Her Down' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Poems Highlight Love, Struggles of Migrant Workers in Singapore

Posted: 04 Dec 2017 09:24 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR — When night falls after her 14-hour workday, Indonesian domestic worker Deni Apriyani retreats to her room in Singapore and reaches for a pen to jot down her feelings, in poem after poem.

"I usually write about my daily life," the 27-year-old said.

"I feel satisfied – it's like you have just released something heavy in your head," Apriyani told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from Singapore where she has been a domestic helper for an expatriate family since 2013.

Like tens of thousands of maids in Singapore, Apriyani rises at dawn to clean, cook and look after children but this largely invisible domestic workforce and other migrant workers in the city-state often live in the shadows.

Now a small number have taken to poetry to write about their daily struggles, being homesick, love and joy in an annual contest which aims to break down barriers with Singaporean society by showcasing migrant workers' literary talents.

Apriyani won the first prize at this year's competition on Sunday with a poem about domestic abuse, which was based on an account from a woman in her home village in Indonesia.

Organizers said they have seen steadily rising entries since the competition was launched in 2014, with over 100 submissions this year from migrant workers representing eight countries including Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Philippines.

The poems were mostly written in their own languages before being translated into English.

Organizer Shivaji Das said he had seen a surge in what he termed "activism poems" in recent years, which talk about the struggles of migrant workers.

"We have seen poems about their work situations, such as not being treated nicely, not being paid or around their living conditions," said Das, an Indian-born management consultant and author who moved to Singapore 12 years ago.

Migrant rights groups allege mistreatment of domestic helpers is widespread although the Singaporean authorities have consistently denied this.

Das said the aim of the competition was to give migrant workers "a voice and a platform."

"It is much more powerful to have them speaking about themselves in their own voice, their dreams and fears."

"The whole idea is when you see them in this way, you tend to appreciate them more as a complete human being, instead of being just an economic machine," Das told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Singapore counts on a large number of migrant workers in sectors ranging from construction and manufacturing to the service sector.

The post Poems Highlight Love, Struggles of Migrant Workers in Singapore appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 04 Dec 2017 08:59 PM PST

Air Kanbawza Lethwei Fight | Dec. 10

Myanmar, French and Japanese boxers will compete in this Lethwei challenge fight.

Dec. 10, 2 pm. Theinbyu Stadium. Tickets between 10,000 and 30,000 kyats at 01-557787, 01-8605145.

Zero Platform: International Performance Art Festival | Dec. 8-10

This event will feature two days of performance art and a one-day seminar. More than 30 artists from Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Finland, Poland, Germany and Belgium will participate.

Performances Dec. 8-9, 4 pm to 8 pm. Thakhin Mya Park. Seminar Dec. 10, 1 pm to 4 pm. New Zero Art Village, Pane-Nae-Gone Village, Hmawbi Tsp.

Book Fair | Dec. 7-17

Yangon University Library will showcase rare books to celebrate the university's 97th anniversary.

Dec. 7-17. Yangon University Library.

Myanmar International Fashion Week | Dec. 8-10

This event will showcase the latest fashion and jewelry items.

Dec. 8-10, 6 pm to 9 pm. Shwe Htut Tin Ground. Tickets at 01-553711, 01-551143, 01-400760

808 Festival Yangon 2017 | Dec. 9

Boombox Cartel, Coone, DVBBS, Timmy Trumpet and Vini Vici, BG b2b Blacklix, BG X Hane and Kitty will perform.

Dec. 9. Thuwunnabhumi Event Park, Upper Pansodan Street. Tickets 25,000 kyats to 75,000 kyats at 09-43174433

Festive Christmas Performance | Dec. 9

This event features carol singing with a performance by the Orchestra for Myanmar and a special guest conductor from Poland, Maestro Wojciech Czepiel.

Dec. 9, 7 pm. Holy Trinity Cathedral, Bogyoke Road, next to Bogyoke Market. Free entry for people of all faiths.

Nay Myo: Solo Poetry Day | Dec. 9

The respected poet and artist will recite old and new poems.

Dec. 9. 2 pm. Yangon Book Plaza, 5th Floor, Thanzay Market, Lanmadaw Tsp. Tickets 5,000 kyats. (Admission includes Nay Myo's new book, a drink and entry into a lucky draw to win one of his paintings.)

Property Show | Dec. 9-10

High-end flats will be on sale at discounted prices at this event.

Dec. 9-10, 9am to 7 pm. LOTTE Hotels & Serviced Apartments, No. 82, Sin Phyu Shin Avenue, Pyay Road, 6½ Mile.

Morning Glory Exhibition | Dec. 6-10

Hundreds of paintings by more than 40 female artists tackling a range of subjects will be showcased at this exhibition.

Dec. 6-10. Myanmar Artist and Artisan Association, Bogyoke Market.

Warm Sunshine Exhibition | Dec. 8-12

This art exhibition features modernist works by Nay Myo.

Dec. 8-12. Ahla Thit Art Gallery, No. 17, University Avenue Road, Bahan Tsp.

The post Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rakhine Govt to Return Hindu Refugees to Maungdaw

Posted: 04 Dec 2017 08:29 PM PST

YANGON – At the request of the state government, all Hindu internally displaced persons (IDPs) currently sheltering in Danyawaddy football stadium in Rakhine's capital Sittwe returned to Maungdaw on Tuesday, according to Hindu community leader U Ni Mal.

On Nov. 28, the Arakan State Cabinet summoned Hindu community leaders to discuss the relocation. After attending the meeting, U Ni Mal disclosed that the state government wants all Hindus moved from the temporary IDP camp, as it plans to hold a football tournament in the coming weeks.

According to U Ni Mal, the government informed displaced Hindus that a temporary structure has been constructed for them right behind the Maungdaw District administrative office. Regional authorities pledged Hindus would be allowed to return to the places they were living in before the Aug. 25 attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in Maungdaw.

In response to ARSA attacks, the Myanmar Army launched attacks on the group, which resulted in more than 620,000 Rohingya refugees fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. The international community has accused government troops of committing ethnic cleansing during the operations.

The Myanmar and Bangladesh governments signed a Memorandum of Outstanding (MoU) on a refugee repatriation agreement a couple of weeks ago in Naypyidaw. But details have not been officially announced yet.

"No one wants to return to their place of origin, as entire villages were butchered by aggressive Bengali attackers. We don't trust them. We told them it's impossible," said U Ni Mal.

Since the armed conflicts erupted in Maungdaw, more than 3,000 Hindus have fled to Sittwe Township and at least 1,200 have sought refuge in separate locations in Maungdaw district as well. As stability has been restored to the region, some Hindus have returned independently to Maungdaw. As of last week, 552 people remained in camps, with 352 returning on Sunday.

On Thursday, the remaining 200 people will be returned to Maungdaw. U Ni Mal said the state government would provide transportation and food for the displaced people.

U Ni Mal helped local authorities to unearth a mass grave containing the bodies of 45 Hindus in northern Maungdaw's Ye Baw Kya village in September. More than 50 additional bodies have yet to be recovered, though eight Hindu women among those returning from Bangladesh have shown authorities a crime scene near Baw Talar village.

"Dozens of Hindus were slaughtered near Baw Talar creek, but the killers threw the bodies into the creek. So we can't find them," said U Ni Mal.

He said he had received death threats via phone from Muslims angered that he has cooperated with the authorities.

"They are pissed off at me as I assisted authorities to find Hindu corpses. Actually, I was helping to locate the bodies to assist grieving families and my relatives, but they accuse me of being a government man," he said.

The post Rakhine Govt to Return Hindu Refugees to Maungdaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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