Thursday, April 5, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy’s Guide to Yangon Nightspots

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 08:00 AM PDT

It has only been in the last five or six years that Yangon has had many decent places to go after 10 p.m. But the nightlife scene in Myanmar's commercial capital has grown rapidly in recent years; nowadays, there are a variety of options available and new bars and clubs seem to open daily.

Pubs, bars, clubs, and karaoke businesses are proliferating in Yangon and owners are trying hard to establish their own identity. To help readers navigate this crowded scene, The Irrawaddy has compiled a list of recommended new and trendy bars and restaurants.

Below you can find information on some of our favorite nightspots in Yangon.

NYX Rooftop Bar is busy with customers on its opening night./ NYX

NYX Rooftop Bar and Club

NYX is named after a Greek goddess, which serves as its logo. This rooftop bar and nightclub on the top floor of The One Entertainment building is found in Yangon's Shwegondine neighborhood.

Opened last December, NYX is a popular EDM venue, with well-known regional and international DJs spinning tracks at its weekly and monthly events. The club offers trance, trap, and deep house grooves.

Its rooftop bar is an open space with a cool atmosphere. The view takes in Shwedagon Pagoda and other features of Yangon's nightscape.

The bar's extensive menu includes draft beer, classic cocktails, Western food and snacks.

Drinks start at 2,000 kyats and food starts at around 4,000 kyats a dish.

Neither the bar nor the club charges an entrance fee; you can walk in and order what you want, but if you want a table in the club you need to open a bottle (starting from 80,000 kyats).

Open 5pm to 4am.

A bartender prepares a 'Red Eye' at After 8./ After 8

After 8: Your Guilty Pleasure

After 8 Shot and Cocktail Bar opened last November and has quickly become popular with celebrities and Yangon's youth thanks to its fashionable, fabulous cocktails and shots.

This open-air bar is located on the 4th Floor of Myanmar Plaza.

The cocktails and shots at After 8 are designed by "Cocktail Professor" Jarl de Vries from Amsterdam.

The bar's creative drinks menu runs to 48 shots, cocktails and other guilty pleasures. A shot will set you back 3,000 or 4,000 kyats; cocktails run 7,000 to 8,000 kyats.

The food menu includes snacks, salads, soups, mains and desserts at prices from 3,500 to 30,000 kyats.

Open 5 p.m.-2 a.m.

The entrace to Blow Hookah Lounge and Grill/ Blow

Blow Bar and Grill

Yangon's first luxury shisha lounge, Blow Bar and Grill, opened last January next door to After 8 on the 4th Floor of Myanmar Plaza.

The bar has styles of hookah offered at various prices; there is also an open-air bar.

High-end hookahs cost 45,000-50,000 kyats each for one-and-a-half hours.

Small hookahs are offered at prices ranging from 25,000 kyats to 30,000 kyats.

This is a shisha specialist bar, but they also serve classic cocktails, wine and beer.

The impressive food menu includes grilled king prawn, grilled whole fish, steak and Thai food. Prices start at 5,000 kyats.

Open 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The view from upstairs at Jazz in Time Music Bar/ Mayco Naing

Jazz in Time Music Bar

Jazz in Time Music Bar is Yangon's oldest jazz bar, having opened its doors back in August 2018.

You'll find it at the Bo Myat Tun Tower on Bo Myat Tun Street in Botahtaung Township.

This two-story venue presents Jazz Night every Wednesday and Thursday; the band plays blues every Friday and Saturday night with a free welcome drink.

Beer, wine, gin and cocktails are available at reasonable prices; Happy Hour is 5 p.m.-8 p.m. (all drinks 50 percent off).

International, Asian and Western food served.

Open 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The post The Irrawaddy's Guide to Yangon Nightspots appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Planning New Attacks, KIA Warns Illegal Miners to Get Out of Hukawng Valley

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 07:13 AM PDT

The Kachin Independence Army on Thursday warned illegal mine workers in the Hukawng Valley, including gold and amber miners, to leave as the group plans to launch guerrilla attacks against the Myanmar Army and plant landmines in the area starting April 10.

"You have all been warned to leave the mining areas. If you do not, you will be responsible for your fate," a statement issued by the KIA's Battalion 14 reads.

"Anyone with relatives working in mining areas needs to inform them," it reads.

The statement listed gold and amber mining areas including Shaduzup, Nam Byu, Nam Kawn, Tungmani, Dagum and Daba.

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy today that the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) continues to maintain bases in gold and amber mining areas that he said belonged to the KIA. The Tatmadaw seized the areas in their recent military offensive from January to March.

"Fighting will break out again soon when our KIA launches troop movements in the areas. Therefore, we issued a warning to illegal miners in the area to leave as our military operation will start soon," he said.

Battalion 14 had to abandon its headquarters in the second week of March in the Hukawng area after the Tatmadaw launched a major offensive. The KIA withdrew from their bases in the face of overwhelming force from the Tatmadaw.

The KIA has no more permanent bases in Hukawng, but continues to patrol in the area. It said that it also planned to use guerrilla attacks and land mines to fight the Tatmadaw.

The Tatmadaw launched a military offensive in the Hukawng Valley's Tanai area in its initial offensive in January. Later it seized areas that had been under KIA control including gold and amber mining areas. The Tatmadaw started its second offensive in the first week of March and the KIA was forced to abandon Battalion 14's base.

"There is a lot of tension between us and the Myanmar Army because we are based close to each other in the areas we control," Col Naw Bu said.

The Tatmadaw accuses the KIA of mining illegally in Hukawng, and claims this is one of the reasons it attacked the KIA. Once they had taken over the areas, however, they brought mine workers back and let them mine again, just as the KIA did.

"These were our areas. Therefore, we will launch an offensive to get them back," Col Naw Bu said.

The Tatmadaw had only brought in about 100 mine workers so far, but plans to bring in more, according to the KIA.

Peace talks between the Myanmar Army and the KIA have been held several times in recent years. However, they have been halted since February after the KIA issued a statement listing conditions for their peace talks with the Tatmadaw.

Similarly, the Tatmadaw asked the KIA to withdraw at least three battalions, including Battalion 14, which was in the Tanai area, and Battalion 12 and Battalion 27 in the Mansi Township area. However, the KIA refused to withdraw, leading to sporadic clashes in these areas. It eventually withdrew from the Battalion 14 base.

The Tatmadaw also attacked KIA Battalion 3 in Bamaw near Mansi Township on March 30 and 31, and tensions remain high there, according to local sources.

More than 100,000 people remain displaced from their homes after a 17-year ceasefire between the central government and the KIA collapsed in 2011.

The post Planning New Attacks, KIA Warns Illegal Miners to Get Out of Hukawng Valley appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawmakers in Mandalay Reject Call to Crack Down on Illegal Clinics

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 06:06 AM PDT

MANDALAY — The Mandalay Region Parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal to urge the government on taking legal action against illegal clinics and medical practitioners.

The proposal from lawmaker U Nyi Min Han received only 26 votes in favor from the 61 legislators present for the session.

"The chief minister said he recognized my proposal. However, Parliament decided to take a vote and it received only 26 votes," U Nyi Min Han said.

The lawmaker said an increasing number of life threatening incidents in Mandalay Region pushed him to raise the issue in Parliament.

"There were people who were not medical specialists giving patients the wrong treatment. Those patients arrived at government hospitals very late with very complicated conditions," he said.

In a case that came to light last month in Singu Township, about 32 km north of Mandalay City, a man with no medical background had been illegally operating on men and women who came to him with any disease. Patients developed life threatening infections as a result.

In another case also uncovered in March, more than 300 people had been infected with Hepatitis C at the illegal clinic of an unlicensed medical practitioner in a remote part of Myinchan District.

Mandalay also has a number of illegal clinics offering traditional Chinese medicine and giving its patients faulty treatment. In February, at least five cancer patients were admitted to government hospitals with complications as a result.

"There are illegal and unauthorized clinics which claim to be traditional medical practitioners that can cure cancer with their medicine. In reality their treatments create complications and life threatening side effects, and the patients have paid a great deal of money for the treatments," U Nyi Min Han said.

"Although there are already laws that can be used to take legal action, a lack of rule of law in this sector is creating the opportunity for such fake medical practitioners and illegal and unauthorized clinics to survive," he added.

According to the Medical Council Law, a person who is not a medical practitioner or does not have a general medical practitioner’s license may not provide medical treatment. Those who break the law may be fined and face up to five years in prison.

"Although Parliament’s rejection saddens me, it has attracted public attention that I believe will make the government or the authorities of the Medical Council turn their heads and strictly impose the rules to take care of this issue," U Nyi Min Han said.

The post Lawmakers in Mandalay Reject Call to Crack Down on Illegal Clinics appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Senior Police Officers From Rakhine State Transferred

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 05:38 AM PDT

Sixteen senior police officers from townships in Rakhine State have been ordered to transfer to other regions and states.

The police officers were ethnic Arakanese who were fulfilling duties as township police officers and heads of police stations. The order was dated March 21.

"All the police officers ordered to transfer were ethnic Arakanese. No Arakanese police officer is left in Rakhine State. The order did not provide reasons for doing so. As you know, this suggests that they do not trust us. They must have arranged for other police officers to replace us. Township police officers and heads of police stations are important posts that cannot be left vacant," said an anonymous police officer.

Rakhine State Police Chief Police Colonel Aung Myat Moe said the police officers were transferred in accordance with the rules and regulations of the police force, as some of them had been in their posts for a long time.

"Police headquarters releases transfer orders twice a year, one in December and another after matriculation examinations in March. The process takes place according to the transfer calendar. Most police officers in Rakhine State are members of Arakanese ethnic groups. It is just a coincidence, as no other ethnic groups work as police in Rakhine State. It has nothing to do with their ethnic origin,” said Pol-Col Aung Myat Moe.

Critics claimed that Arakanese police officers were transferred because high-ranking police officials had lost trust in them due to recent riots in Rakhine State.

The police officers were township police officers and heads of police stations from Sittwe, Minbya, Myebon, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun and Ramree townships in Rakhine State and were transferred to various posts in other states and regions as well as in other police departments.

 Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

The post Senior Police Officers From Rakhine State Transferred appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ministry Blames Fatal Bridge Collapse On Outdated Design

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 05:03 AM PDT

YANGON — The collapse of the Myaungmya Bridge in Irrawaddy Region on Sunday was the result of an outdated design, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Construction on Wednesday.

U Aung Myat Oo, a deputy director-general for the ministry’s bridge department in charge of maintenance, told The Irrawaddy that it had been difficult to inspect the bridge because of its outdated design.

“The bridge was outdated because it was built decades ago. The last section of steel cable was laid in concrete and this caused difficulties in inspecting it. The cable loosened and it collapsed into the river. It was its outdated design that caused the problem,” he said.

"Suspension cables are not laid in concrete in bridges that were built later. They are attached to the tower with nuts and bolts and can be seen easily. They can be checked easily," he added

The bridge collapsed because the cable in the concrete of the bridge tower became rusted and eventually broke, the ministry statement said.

The bridge had to be repaired immediately after it was built because one of its towers, which weighed 8,500 tons, sank into the ground and tilted 7 inches toward the river instead of 11 inches toward the bank as it should have, the statement added

It said the bridge had been checked regularly and that monthly inspections were carried out since it turned 20 years old in 2016.

The bridge collapsed on Sunday morning while a 16-ton truck was passing over it. The two people in the vehicle died at the scene.

Bridges in Myanmar are examined twice a year for maintenance and measures have been taken by the Ministry of Construction to prevent the collapse of any other suspension bridges in Myanmar, the statement said.

The Myaungmya Bridge was built in 1994 and inaugurated in 1996. It had stayed in use for 22 consecutive years.

The ministry told the public not to worry about the other 29 suspension bridges around the country because it has carried out maintenance work on them regularly.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

The post Ministry Blames Fatal Bridge Collapse On Outdated Design appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Analysis: A House Divided

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 12:21 AM PDT

Since independence in 1948, Myanmar’s ethnic groups have been fighting for equality and self-determination through armed struggle. The result is that Myanmar is witnessing one of the world's longest-running civil wars.

The quasi-civilian government of ex-General U Thein Sein, who took office in 2010, adopted a different approach with a peace process and the concept of a federal union. He managed to convince eight of 21 ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

Two more EAOs signed the agreement with the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government in February. But other groups have different views on the NCA and have opted not to sign.

This indicates a lack of unity among EAOs, which makes it difficult for them to gain bargaining power in political dialogue with the government, and more importantly with the Myanmar army, or Tatmadaw.

EAOs can be broadly divided into two groups: NCA signatories and non-signatories. Of the non-signatories, seven groups based along the China-Myanmar border have formed the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) and demanded an alternative to the NCA.

Led by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the FPNCC also includes the Arakan Army (AA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA).

The eight EAOs that signed the NCA with former President U Thein Sein’s government are the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF), the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO).

There are now only two of the 11-member United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) left — the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Arakan National Council (ANC)— after most of them dropped out to sign the NCA or join the FPNCC.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Lahu Democratic Union (LDU) became the latest groups to leave the UNFC and sign the NCA in February.

"It is true that there is no unity among EAOs. The UNFC is split into two, the NCA signatory group and the non-signatory group. And another group is the FPNCC, led by the UWSA. This is the result of [the Tatmadaw's] restrictions on signing the NCA," said political analyst U Than Soe Naing.

This gives the government and Tatmadaw the upper hand in political dialogue with EAOs and weakens the EAOs’ demands for a federal union, self-determination and equal rights.

"EAOs have different interests based on their geographical positions. They have formed united fronts to resolve this again and again, and those united fronts collapsed every time. They didn't work," said U Aung Thu Nyein, director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy.

"This makes the government and Tatmadaw think of holding separate talks with them, even if they don't intend to create divisions between them. Complete cohesion is impossible. But it would be best if they could find common ground to move forward," he added.

Due to the lack of unity, EAOs fail to press for a single federal demand in negotiations with the government and Tatmadaw, he said.

Meanwhile, the 10 NCA signatories appear to be failing to consolidate their positions, said U Aung Thu Nyein. He pointed out that those with less political experience from smaller EAOs have replaced veteran leaders with strong political backgrounds in the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC).

The fact that those with less political experience have replaced PNLO leader Colonel Khun Okkar and KNU Vice Chairman Padoh Kwel Htoo Win of the UPDJC has made it difficult for EAOs to press their demands with the Tatmadaw and the government, he said.

"It started with the KNU. It is the result of a younger generation trying to build influence in the KNU and beyond," said Col. Khun Okkar.

The colonel said he joined the UPDJC to advise Padoh Kwel Htoo Win and therefore resigned when he left the joint committee.

"Small players are playing prominent roles in the peace process. Only three to four of the NCA signatories are big groups and the rest are relatively small. But the leaders of the smaller signatories have taken senior positions [in the UPDJC]," said U Aung Thu Nyein.

"I've warned them. You want positions, but the other side doesn't treat you as equals. At the previous JICM [Joint Implementation Coordination Meeting on the NCA], both [State Counselor] Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the deputy army chief expressed disappointment that those who should have attended the meeting were absent," said Khun Okkar.

EAOs should avoid making negative statements and remarks, said Khun Okkar, because they can damage their relations with the government and the Tatmadaw and even halt the talks.

In January, the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) of the eight original NCA signatories held an emergency meeting and issued a statement with four agreements, including not to attend the next 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference until political dialogue procedures had been implemented.

"The statement was like a challenge and implied blame or coercion. So the government and the Tatmadaw were disappointed and didn't hold talks for nearly three months. They should learn a lesson from this," said Khun Okkar.

The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, held a meeting of its commanders in early January. They said they did not accept the Tatmadaw's demands for disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and would not attend the third session of the 21st Century Panglong unless it was postponed.

Since then, the Tatmadaw and KNU have hardly met despite the fact that they had good relations during U Thein Sein’s government. Then fighting broke out in early March when the Tatmadaw moved into an area controlled by the KNU to rebuild an old road. Some 2,000 ethnic Karen have fled the fighting.

"Ethnic groups should be prudent in negotiations. They should be aware that there will not be good results if they focus only on their requirements and rights," said U Hla Maung of the government's Peace Commission.

Meanwhile, uncertainty remains about the future of the FPNCC. The seven-member alliance has said that it would talk with the government as a group, but the government has insisted that separate talks be held with each member.

"Therefore, unity is very important for the EAOs," said Sai Ngin, third secretary of the RCSS.

The government said the second session of the 21st Century Panglong in May 2017 saw agreement on 37 points, though the RCSS said it did not agree with all of them.

While the third session of the Panglong is scheduled for early May, the RCSS and the NMSP are still unable to hold national-level political dialogues because the Tatmadaw is blocking public consultations in their areas.

"EAOs understand that we must be united. We don't want to suffer from the consequences of disunity. We've learned a lot of lessons," Sai Ngin said.

Unless and until there is unity among EAOs, self-determination and a federal union will remain a thousand-mile journey.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Analysis: A House Divided appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Envoy Says Prefers to Resolve Trade Dispute by Negotiation

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 10:58 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — The United States and China should avoid a trade war, China’s Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said on Wednesday, stressing that Beijing’s preference was to resolve the dispute through negotiations.

“Negotiation would still be our preference but it takes two to tango,” Cui told reporters after an hour-long meeting at the State Department with Acting US Secretary of State John Sullivan. “We will see what the US will do,” he added.

Cui said the meeting covered all aspects of the US-China relationship, which he described as “comprehensive and complex.”

“We discussed the overall relationship, including the trade aspects,” he said.

Cui and State Department officials said the meeting had been arranged before Washington announced proposed US tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese products, a move that provoked Chinese retaliation.

A US trade official said on Wednesday the United States may pursue negotiations to resolve deepening differences over trade, but he declined to say whether high-level meetings were planned.

One of the first opportunities for the United States and China to discuss the dispute will be on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting in Washington on April 20-22. A US official said no talks had been scheduled.

The State Department said afterward that both sides had discussed the need to restore “fairness and balance” in the economic relationship between the United States and China, the world’s largest economies.

Both sides agreed on the importance of pursuing a “constructive US-China relationship that produces meaningful results,” the department said in a statement.

The meeting also reaffirmed their commitment “to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” – a reference to their cooperation in resolving a crisis over North Korea’s development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States.

China has traditionally been North Korea’s closest ally though ties have been frayed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles and Beijing’s backing of tough UN sanctions in response.

The post China Envoy Says Prefers to Resolve Trade Dispute by Negotiation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawyers for Reuters Reporters Argue for Myanmar Court to Dismiss Case

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 10:22 PM PDT

YANGON — Lawyers for two Reuters reporters jailed in Myanmar asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss the case against them, arguing there was insufficient evidence to support charges of obtaining secret government papers.

A court in Yangon has been holding preliminary hearings since January to decide whether Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Defense and prosecution lawyers made legal arguments in front of Judge Ye Lwin on Wednesday, after the defense filed a motion to have the case thrown out last week.

The reporters’ lawyers argued that the testimony from witnesses called by the prosecution was insufficient to charge the pair. They also pointed to what they said were inconsistencies in witness testimony and procedural mistakes made by the authorities during the arrest and subsequent searches.

“At this stage, after we’ve examined 17 witnesses, there’s nothing in the preliminary testimonies so they should be released now without being charged,” defense lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told reporters after the hearing.

During previous hearings one of the police witnesses told the court he had burned his notes from the time of the arrests. A civilian witness had the location where police say the arrests was made – which emerged as a key point of contention during the proceedings – written on his hand.

Another witness said he had signed the search form recording the reporters’ arrests before the items seized from them had been filled in.

Lead prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung argued against the dismissal of the case, reiterating the prosecution’s position that the documents the reporters had in their possession were secret and that the court could assume they intended to harm the security of the country.

Kyaw Min Aung did not respond to a request for comment after the proceedings.

Myanmar’s government spokesman, Zaw Htay, told Reuters by telephone that under Myanmar’s constitution the courts were independent, "so the judge will decide whether to dismiss the case or not."

Judge Ye Lwin adjourned the proceedings until April 11, when he is expected to rule on the dismissal motion.

"We Are Not Traitors"

Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been in custody since their arrests on Dec. 12.

The journalists had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in the village of Inn Din, in western Myanmar’s Rakhine State, during an army crackdown that has sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

They have told relatives they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some rolled up papers at a restaurant in northern Yangon by two policemen they had not met before, having been invited to meet the officers for dinner.

Police witnesses, however, have said the reporters were stopped and searched at a traffic checkpoint by officers who were unaware they were journalists, and found to be holding in their hands documents relating to security force deployments in Rakhine.

In its argument, the defense said the papers contained only publicly available information and could not be deemed secret.

Senior UN officials, Western nations and press freedom advocates have called for the release of the journalists and diplomats from France, Sweden, the United States and the United Nations were among those who attended Wednesday’s hearing.

“What the testimony heard so far has revealed…is a poorly prepared case, inconsistent statements by police witnesses, and what appears to be a blatant disregard for proper police procedures,” said the embassy of Denmark in a statement released before the hearing.

After the hearing Wa Lone told journalists that he was not "a traitor of the country."

“We only did our work as reporters. I want the people to understand that and want to tell them that I never betrayed the country,” said the reporter on the steps of the courthouse as he was being pushed inside a police truck.

Kyaw Soe Oo said the news media were important for Myanmar’s democracy.

“We followed the news and uncovered the Inn Din story. The reason why we did it is to give the vitally important information to the country,” he said.

Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, Hau Do Suan, said last month that the journalists were not arrested for reporting a story, but were accused of "illegally possessing confidential government documents."

The post Lawyers for Reuters Reporters Argue for Myanmar Court to Dismiss Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Wednesday, April 4, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Yangon Gov’t Halts $500 M Tower Project Until Flooding Fears Settled

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 06:02 AM PDT

YANGON — The developer of a $500-million tower project on military-owned land has been ordered to suspend work until the Yangon government approves its proposed safety measures for a 92-year-old reservoir nearby.

The Myayeik Nyo project, still in its early stages, is being developed on a 13-acre compound in Bahan Township home to the shuttered Myayeik Nyo Hotel. The developer, Zaykabar, ranks among Myanmar's largest construction companies and is run by tycoon U Khin Shwe.

Twelve buildings ranging in height from 382 feet to 412 feet and another three-story structure are slated for construction on the compound, which lies near a reservoir that distributes water to Yangon's 16 downtown townships.

Residents who live near the construction site are against the project because they fear that damage to the 20-million gallon reservoir could flood their neighborhood and cause water shortages across the city.

The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) told the developer to suspend work on the site in March and, seeing that the company had not complied, sent it a letter on Monday.

On Wednesday, U Khin Shwe told The Irrawaddy that he met with Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and some cabinet members the day before to discuss his safety plans for the reservoir.

"The chief minister told us to make sure the reservoir is safe. After the safety issue [is resolved], other things should go ahead," U Khin Shwe said.

The tycoon, who is related by marriage to U Shwe Mann — the third most influential person in the former military regime and now an important ally of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi — said his company would use bored piles and water seals to protect the reservoir.

"We've already consulted with technicians and will submit the proposal to the YCDC in one or two days," he said.

A YCDC member with knowledge of the project told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the committee had asked the developer to officially submit the proposal with signatures from relevant technicians or engineers before it is referred to the cabinet for approval.

"We will allow them to go ahead [with safety measures] after the cabinet agrees to the proposal. At the moment they haven't been allow to do anything yet," said the committee member, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the project.

Not a Joint Venture

Project director U Tun Win Han said Zaykabar won the military’s bid tender for the site in 2014.

"Under the terms of the lease, we are allowed to operate for 50 years with two 10-year extensions," he said.

U Khin Shwe said the project, scheduled for completion in 2020, was a landmark investment for Yangon and would feature both hotel space and serviced apartments. He said the company building it all, the China State Construction Engineering Corporation, was a contractor and not a partner.

"I want to make it a joint venture, but the MoU with the military forbids it. I will have to pay them from room sales,” he said, adding that 60 percent of the profits will go to the Chinese company.

He also warned that frequent suspensions of the project could scare off potential foreign investment in Myanmar.

"We used to think there would be investments for the US and EU. In reality they don't come, so we have to rely on China, even for the technology," he said.

Asked about local residents' fears of flooding, he said the construction was taking place far from the reservoir.

"But to lessen people's worries, we will make bored piles and add water seals to enhance safety. So nothing bad will happen," he said.

Some residents are not convinced.

"That's not for him to say, only for technicians from a third party," said Kokkine Avenue resident U Win Bo, who heads the Yangon Kokkine Reservoir Salvation Team, a lobby group of residents opposed to the project. They fear that their relatively sparsely populated residential neighborhood will lose its character once the high-rises go up.

"We need a solid guarantee from someone independent that the reservoir will be safe. It has to be revealed to the public,” he said. “So far, the project has no transparency."

The post Yangon Gov’t Halts $500 M Tower Project Until Flooding Fears Settled appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Landmine Campaigners Urge Action as Casualties Continue to Rise

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 05:31 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The number of accidents caused by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) continues to rise, and all stakeholders need to scale up efforts to protect children and families, according to UNICEF, citing information provided by the Myanmar Mine Risk Working Group (MRWG), an inter-ministerial agency.

At an event held in Naypyitaw on Wednesday to mark International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Actions, the UN agency, the European Union and other stakeholders warned that nine of Myanmar's 14 states and regions continue to be "contaminated" with landmines and ERW, posing an ongoing threat to the lives of children and families. International Day for Mine Awareness is observed every April 4.

Some 42 landmine casualties were reported in the first quarter of 2018, according to UNICEF. In 2017, 176 casualties (including 52 fatalities) were reported, mostly in Kachin and Shan states, up from 161 in 2016. In those two years, one in four of those injured was a child, and one in four accidents was fatal, according to the agency.

"Even though data is still unreliable and many casualties occurring in the conflict areas go unrecorded, Myanmar has some of the world's highest landmine incident rates," June Kunugi, UNICEF representative to Myanmar, told The Irrawaddy via email.

Women and children accounted for 43 percent of the casualties in 2017, she said.

In 2012 Myanmar initiated the MRWG, an inter-ministerial and inter-agency coordination platform under the co-leadership of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and UNICEF. Tasked with ensuring mine action intervention, it comprises representatives of 10 ministries, Myanmar's military (the Tatmadaw), and 41 national and international organizations. Its has state-level platforms in Kachin, Shan, Kayah (Karenni) and Karen states.

With EU support, MRWG has conducted mine risk education sessions in nine states and regions: Kachin, Shan, Kayah, Karen, Mon, Rakhine and Chin states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions. The sessions take place in schools, communities and IDP camps. The organization has also opened support and rehabilitation centers for landmine victims and offered other forms of psychosocial assistance.

Despite the progress made over the past two years, Kunugi told The Irrawaddy, "there are still areas out of reach for MRE [mine-risk education] partners, for instance Tanai and Phakant in Kachin State, and Namhsan and Kyaukme in Shan State, where communities live threatened by the dangers of landmines and ERW."

MRWG chairman U Myo Satt Aung told The Irrawaddy that additional mine awareness and victim support services would be implemented in other states and regions as soon as possible. He also serves as the deputy director general of the Rehabilitation Department under the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement.

UNICEF urged the government "to improve data and information management systems" in order to develop more effective victim support services, which it said would also "be key for enabling survivors to have ongoing access to much-needed health and social services."

At an event in Naypyitaw on Wednesday, the participating organizations concluded that "progress is possible if all parties work to enable mine risk education in hard-to-reach areas; invest more in assistance for survivors; and initiate landmine clearance wherever possible."

The EU, UK Aid, UNICEF and their mine action partners urged the government to join the Mine Ban Treaty. Some 164 states have formally signed the treaty.

In a speech at the event on Wednesday, EU Ambassador Kristian Schmidt said he had been made aware that Myanmar was making preparations to join the treaty, and hoped it would do so soon.

He said the EU stood ready to support mine risk education and demining activities.

Schmidt called on all stakeholders – the government, the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed organizations — "to do the right thing for the country, for unity, for peace and justice for the next generations: stop laying mines, ban them and let's start the cleanup for a peaceful and prosperous future."

The post Landmine Campaigners Urge Action as Casualties Continue to Rise appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

YCDC Teams With UK-Based Company to Renovate Yangon Sewage System

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 04:09 AM PDT

YANGON — The Yangon municipality has teamed up with a UK-based company to renovate the commercial capital's sewage system, stated the British Embassy on Tuesday.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has funded specialist engineers from the UK to help the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) conduct a condition survey of the sewage system.

The original system was installed more than 130 years ago and was designed and manufactured by Hughes and Lancaster, now owned by SATEC, said the embassy's press release.

A combined team from YCDC, SATEC, and local engineers from Royal Haskoning DHV based in the Netherlands are conducting a thorough asset condition survey and will report findings to the YCDC and the Yangon regional government.

DFID has provided training in safety and emergency procedures to YCDC staff. The UK has also provided new safety winches and harnesses.

A British engineer. / British Embassy Yangon

According to historical records on Yangon, the town municipality built a Shone hydro-pneumatic sewage system in November 1887, and it was put into operation in December 1889.

After the second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852, the British brought in postal, drainage and sewage systems to Yangon.

At that time, sewage from different parts of the town was carried through underground ditches to a sewage pipe near Sule Pagoda and then drained into the Yangon River.

The system relied on the ebb tide to sweep away the sewage as there was no sewage plant at the time. But, it was not successful, as the tide also carried back the sewage.

The hydro-pneumatic system was introduced some 35 years later in response to a growing population and extended wards.

Today, the former capital dense with more than 6 million people is prone to flooding when it rains due to poor maintenance of the sewage system.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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ANP Repeats Call to Keep Rohingya Out of Southern Maungdaw

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 02:08 AM PDT

YANGON — Arakan National Party (ANP) lawmaker U Tun Aung Thein submitted a proposal to the Rakhine State legislature on Tuesday urging the union government not to resettle Rohingya refugees in southern Maungdaw Township.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army mounted a major attack on security posts across Maungdaw District and neighboring Rathedaung Township in late August. The Myanmar military launched a months-long clearance operation in response that has driven some 680,000 Muslim Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh.

Drawing on widespread reports of arson, rape and arbitrary killings by the military, the UN has called the its operation “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” Rights activists have urged the UN Security Council to refer Myanmar and its military leaders to the International Criminal Court.

Although Myanmar and Bangladesh authorities agreed to repatriate the refugees back to Rakhine in November, not one has been brought to a reception camp set up along the border in Maungdaw as of Tuesday.

U Tun Aung Thein’s proposal was not new. His party, composed of Buddhist Arakanese, suggested segregating Maungdaw Township along religious lines in November to Social Welfare Minister U Win Myat Aye, who also chairs the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine.

The minister has said the returnees would be resettled near their original homes.

"This proposal is not an objection to the repatriation project for those who fled to the neighboring country, but an encouragement to take them back systematically in a way that can meet the wishes of the public, who demand that they not be relocated in southern Maungdaw," U Tun Aung Thein said in Parliament.

He also said that establishing new ethnic Arakanese villages in southern Maungdaw would prove a more effective security measure than the barbed-wire fences along the border and the Navy patrols along the Naf River, which marks part of Myanmar’s border with Bangladesh. With the support of other Arakanese lawmakers, Parliament agreed to schedule debate on the segregation proposal during its next session in late April.

The proposal has the backing of some residents. In November, more than 30 Arakanese villages in southern Maungdaw Township issued a joint statement demanding that Rohingya returnees be resettled strictly in the north and warning that all ethnic Arakanese would leave Maungdaw if they were ignored.

In late 2017, the state Parliament approved a proposal calling on the Rakhine government to establish ethnic Arakanese villages in southern Maungdaw. On Tuesday, some Arakanese lawmakers rebuked the state cabinet, appointed by the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), for failing to follow through.

Separately, US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel visited the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, on Monday and held a one-hour meeting with the steering committee of the ANP. On Tuesday he met with Muslim community leaders at a local hotel, after authorities denied a trip to a camp on the city’s outskirts for people displaced by the communal violence.

ANP Vice Chairwoman Daw Aye Nu Sein, who joined Monday’s meeting, said the ambassador asked party leaders for their thoughts on repatriation. She said they told the ambassador that the NLD should listen to the ANP’s concerns on the matter.

"It's totally wrong that we are reporting our ideas to the union government via a foreigner even though we have many civilian elected lawmakers in both the regional and Union Parliament," Daw Aye Nu Sein said.

 

The post ANP Repeats Call to Keep Rohingya Out of Southern Maungdaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rakhine Field Investigation Delayed Months after Deadly Mrauk-U Incident

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 01:07 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — An investigation team formed by Rakhine State Parliament to investigate a deadly riot in Mrauk-U Township still cannot start the field investigation more than two months after the incident.

It is because members of the team are away on trips, said secretary of the team U Tun Tha Sein, who is also a lawmaker representing Mrauk-U Township in Rakhine State Parliament.

On Jan. 16, thousands of Mrauk-U residents staged a protest after officials banned a memorial event marking the 233rd anniversary of the end of the Arakan Dynasty. Local police opened fire on the crowd. Seven were killed and 12 were severely wounded in the crackdown.

U Aye Maung Thein, the father of one of eight detained protestors, has complained about the delay in the investigation.

"The Rakhine State Parliament formed the investigation team with an official notice. But, the team has not started the investigation. Are they afraid of the government? If the team is of no avail, what a shame for the Rakhine State Parliament," U Aye Maung Thein told The Irrawaddy.

U Tun Tha Sein said the team plans to start the investigation after the ongoing session of the state parliament ends. The team has conducted an informal investigation so far.

"We are not too late even though we have been unable to conduct a field investigation. Our team held informal interviews with voters, the parents of those who died in the riot, families of the eight detainees and eyewitnesses. We assume that we know about 75 perfect of what happened in regards to the incident," he told The Irrawaddy.

The investigation team was formed with nine lawmakers from Rakhine State Parliament on Jan. 29. In early February, the Rakhine State government issued an instruction to departments urging them not to cooperate with the investigation team because "it does not comply with the 2008 Constitution."

On Feb. 7, the state government also sent a letter to the state Parliament dominated by the Arakan National Party, stating that the investigation went against the 2008 Constitution. However, the government and the Parliament later reached a consensus over the investigation.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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WWF Confident Govt Set to Launch Crackdown on Illegal Wildlife Trade

Posted: 04 Apr 2018 12:00 AM PDT

YANGON — The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) expressed hope that its six-month campaign to raise awareness of elephant poaching and wildlife smuggling, which ended Wednesday, would lead to the closure of illegal wildlife markets in Yangon.

"We're hoping the [illegal wildlife] markets in Shwedagon [Pagoda] and Bogyoke Market close in April. We have initiated steps for their closure, and are now waiting for the government to make an announcement," WWF Myanmar partnership director Daw May Moe War said on Wednesday.

The six-month nationwide campaign "Voices for MoMos" was launched on Nov. 4 in response to an alarming increase in the rate of elephant poaching in Myanmar—estimated at almost one elephant per week since January 2017.

The campaign is named after a popular 64-year-old elephant in the Yangon Zoo whose name has become virtually synonymous with elephants among Myanmar's children. It calls on individuals and organizations to use their voices to speak up for the animals.

"Voices for MoMos" was organized by six international wildlife conservation agencies—WWF; Wildlife Conservation Society; Fauna and Flora International; Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association; Friends of Wildlife; and Grow Back for Posterity—in cooperation with Myanma Timber Enterprise and the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation.

At a press conference in Yangon on Tuesday, WWF said the campaign had raised awareness among shopkeepers at Shwedagon Pagoda and Bogyoke Market about the trade in illegal wildlife parts and products, and the relevant laws.

WWF will hold the "Voices for Wildlife" music festival in Yangon's Mahabandoola Park on April 7. The final public event related to the campaign, it is being organized with the support of the Danish Embassy.

Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein is set to attend the festival, and Danish Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen said he was hopeful the regional government would make an announcement on that day.

"There have been calls to halt the illegal wildlife trade in Yangon before Thingyan [in mid-April]. We don't know if it will happen, since we aren't the government. But I believe the concerned authorities will make a decision at the music festival on April 7," the ambassador said.

Organizers of "Voices for MoMos" have called for all illegal wildlife markets across the country to be closed over the next two years.

Handicrafts made from elephant skin and parts such as tails and tusks are sold in Yangon, Mandalay and at Kyaiktiyo Pagoda in Mon State, but most of them are smuggled into China and thriving wildlife markets in the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar converge, posing a grave threat to the survival of Myanmar's elephants.

In the past, elephants were mainly poached for their tusks, but they are increasingly targeted for their hide, and the number of poached elephants been rising.

Dr. Zaw Min Oo, a manager at Myanma Timber Enterprise, confirmed that the illegal trade in elephant hide had grown since last year, though the business has existed in the country for a long time.

Myanmar's elephant population is now estimated at between 1,400 and 2,000—a drastic decline from about 10,000 in the 1940s, according to the Forestry Department.

The post WWF Confident Govt Set to Launch Crackdown on Illegal Wildlife Trade appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thailand Makes One of its ‘Largest Ever’ Crystal Methamphetamine Busts

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 09:51 PM PDT

BANGKOK — Thailand has made one of its largest crystal methamphetamine busts, seizing 700 million baht ($22.42 million) worth of the drug, police said on Tuesday, as the United Nations warned Southeast Asia was being flooded with illegal drugs from the “Golden Triangle” region.

Police said 700 kg of the drug, known as ice, was seized on March 28 in southern Chumpon Province and were destined for Malaysia.

The drugs were produced in the Golden Triangle region, where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. Two Thais and two Malaysians were arrested in connection with the bust.

The methamphetamine market has expanded at an alarming rate in East and Southeast Asia. In 2015, experts in several countries in the subregion reported an increase in the use of both crystalline methamphetamine and methamphetamine tablets.

Among amphetamines, methamphetamine represents the greatest global health threat, a 2017 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug report said.

“These big seizures are indications that there is a relentless supply pumping out of the Golden Triangle and north Shan to flood Southeast Asian markets and also transit Southeast Asia to high value markets like Australia, New Zealand and potentially further,” Jeremy Douglas, the UNODC’s chief in Southeast Asia, told Reuters.

Police displayed the haul on Tuesday at a government compound north of Bangkok. Other drugs on display included 890 million baht ($28.51 million) worth of illicit drugs, including cocaine, cannabis and ecstasy, seized in various busts between March 25 and April 1.

Most of the drugs were produced outside of Thailand and were trafficked through the country en route to Australia, North America and Europe.

“The prices we announced are the values in Thailand,” Police Lieutenant General Sommai Kongvisaisuk, commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, told reporters.

“Once the drugs pass through Thailand the prices will increase,” Sommai said, adding that disruptions to supply chains have done little to stall production.

“We have intercepted a lot of drugs over the past year … but the production capacity remains untouched.”

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As Myanmar Economy Rebounds, Sanctions Risk Gives Some Investors Pause: IMF

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 08:58 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — The government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is opening the economy and growth is rebounding in Myanmar, though the possibility of broader Western sanctions over the Rohingya refugee crisis is nevertheless giving some foreign investors pause, according to a senior IMF official.

Shanaka Jay Peiris, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission chief to Myanmar, said in a recent interview that initial data reviewed by the IMF indicated that some foreign investors were delaying final approval of projects until there was clarity about how the situation may unfold.

“The numbers we have for FDI (foreign direct investment) aren’t showing it yet … but foreign investment approvals are slowing down, so there is some indicator that going forward FDI may be weaker,” Peiris told Reuters following the publication last week of the IMF’s latest review of Myanmar’s economy.

“Since August, investors are taking a pause. It isn’t a surprise,” he said. He said it was unclear which projects were being delayed and added that more data was necessary to better understand whether the “pause” was temporary or not.

However, leading indicators such as FDI project amounts approved by Myanmar’s government for the first 10 months of fiscal 2017/18 from April show “a marked slowdown” since September 2017, according to the IMF.

For now, FDI inflows for 2017/18 still look to be a “solid number,” Peiris added.

While it is too soon to know what it could mean for the overall economy, Peiris said: “We have to see whether project approvals were temporarily lower or will be a trend, as well as whether actual FDI inflows will fall by much. The magnitude would also matter.”

“We are not operating under the assumption that there are going to be broad economic sanctions,” he added, downplaying the risk of a decline.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay said that, “Especially in Myanmar, because of the Rakhine issue, tourism has come down, investments and FDI have come down too,” adding that the authorities were working hard to ensure macroeconomic stability.

The report by the IMF, which follows annual consultations with the government, followed a November visit to Myanmar, the first since nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown condemned by the international community.

The World Bank announced on Oct. 13 it was delaying the release of $200 million in budget support for Myanmar in response to the “forced displacement of the Rohingya.”

Both the United States and Canada imposed sanctions against a general in Myanmar’s military for his role in the crackdown against the Muslim Rohingya. The European Union said in February it was preparing sanctions against military leaders to hold them accountable for their role in the crisis.

The Trump administration’s aid chief, Mark Green, said last month he will visit Myanmar soon for talks with the government and see for himself conditions of the Rohingya refugees.

Targeted Sanctions

Peiris said the IMF believed that any more Western sanctions would likely target individuals in the military and not the economy.

“If the sanctions are limited to the military personnel, which has been the case to now, we believe it will be less of an impact” on the economy,” Peiris said. “If it is broader, it would be more worrying.”

Overall, the IMF sees economic growth picking up toward an estimated potential rate of about 7-7.5 percent after lower-than-expected growth of 5.9 percent in 2016/17.

The United States remains concerned about the plight of the Rohingya, a Treasury official told Reuters, declining to comment on the status of sanctions investigations. Another US official said the Trump administration was reviewing all options on Myanmar.

When asked by Reuters how concerned the government was about more sanctions, the Myanmar spokesman said such actions would affect “the whole country” because Myanmar was no longer a military dictatorship but instead run by “a democratic government elected by the people.”

“They shouldn’t do the economic sanctions,” the government spokesman said. “If the investments are affected, then it affects the people.”

Opening Up

The IMF visit came shortly before Myanmar introduced regulations to bring the country’s banks closer to international standards and force them to recover mostly open-ended “overdraft loans” that make up the bulk of their lending.

Myanmar’s central bank deputy governor, Soe Thein, told Reuters in November that private banks had been given more time to clear most of their loan books.

Private banks account for more than half of banking system assets and the largest six private banks hold around 80 percent of private bank assets, according to the IMF.

The new rules compel banks to open their books to the central bank, and Peiris said initial data raised concerns about the need for more bank capital.

“It is more fragile than what has been published, so banks will have to raise capital and recognize losses,” he said.

“The question is whether owners are willing to put up the money, and if they can’t, will they try to find partners? How that will evolve is hard to tell but they will need more capital,” he said. The Fund would have a better perspective of the situation during its next visit later this year, he said.

“We and the central bank do have a sense that it is a significant issue,” he added.

Asked whether the government agreed with the IMF assessment on the banks, the Myanmar government spokesman said reforms were important to build economic stability.

“It is necessary to be careful,” he said, “We cannot afford to make any mistakes.”

The post As Myanmar Economy Rebounds, Sanctions Risk Gives Some Investors Pause: IMF appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Coffee Conquers Conflict for Business-Savvy Farmers in the Philippines

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 08:53 PM PDT

MOUNT APO, Philippines — Five years ago, Filipina farmer Marivic Dubria would buy Nescafe sachets to serve visitors because she was embarrassed by the quality of the coffee she grew next to her main vegetable crops.

Life was tough for her family in Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, as they struggled to earn $1,000 a year from their produce, with their coffee beans fetching only 20 cents per kilo from local traders.

But Dubria is now one of hundreds of farmers nationwide who are brewing up a storm with training from Coffee For Peace (CfP) – a social enterprise striving to boost growers’ profits, protect the environment and foster peace between communities.

Having learned how to grow, harvest and process high-quality Arabica beans at a time when global demand for coffee is soaring – it is set to hit a record high this year – Dubria exports her crop to buyers as far away as Seattle for at least $5 per kilo.

“But it’s not all about the money – it’s about taking responsibility for the environment and other communities,” Dubria told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in her home on Mount Apo while brewing a pot of thick, aromatic, treacle-like coffee.

Beyond helping coffee growers get a better deal, CfP aims to encourage dialogue between communities, with tensions ranging from colonial-era conflict between native Muslims and Christian settlers to land and resource disputes between ethnic groups.

The Philippines is battling to restore order to troubled Mindanao, where militant groups have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, and five decades of communist insurgency and separatist bombings have displaced at least 2 million people.

By bringing people together through trade, businesses with a social mission can help build peace, industry experts say.

“Social enterprise presents an emerging pathway or approach to conflict resolution,” said Angel Flores, East Asia business head at the British Council, which backs companies seeking to help people, invest in the environment and tackle social ills.

“Being inclusive, participatory and prioritizing community benefit over personal agendas enhances the social fabric from a place of distrust to … confidence and mutual understanding.”

“Farmerpreneurs"

CfP was set up in 2008 on the conflict-hit southern island of Mindanao, after its founders stopped Christian and Muslim neighbors going to war over the ownership of a rice field.

The men were invited to put down their guns and talk over coffee, a tradition that quickly spread across the region.

CfP offers a three-year scheme to train farmers to produce coffee while encouraging native and settler communities and various tribes to harvest and process the beans together.

While the social enterprise buys the farmers’ beans above market value – selling them on to local coffee shops and exporting as far as Canada – communities can sell to any buyer, but are encouraged to demand higher prices.

“We don’t treat them as suppliers or just part of the chain – they are farmerpreneurs,” said CfP senior vice president Twinkle Bautista.

“The aim is to unite the settlers and indigenous people to teach each other, share techniques and tools … and harmony,” she added. “Our product is peace – coffee is just the tool.”

For Kagawad Abe and his indigenous community, setting up a processing center through CfP has brought them closer to the Christian settlers – who work with them to process their beans.

“It has also brought women together, and given them a chance to work independently … to contribute to the tribe,” he said.

About 80 percent of CfP’s coffee-growing partners are women.

“Just five or so years ago, we didn’t really know each other – but now we are talking and working together,” Abe added.

CfP says business is booming, having tripled sales to at least $46,000 last year from $15,000 in 2012 and won United Nations and regional awards for promoting peace and development.

Although social enterprises in the Philippines have more than tripled in the last decade to 165,000, many are struggling due to limited state support and a lack of funding, said the British Council and the Philippines Social Enterprise Network.

CfP’s success is likely largely due to its unusual mission, said Gerry Higgins, chief executive of Community Enterprise in Scotland (CEIS), Britain’s largest agency to support the sector.

“Coffee for Peace is unusual … there aren’t many social enterprises that recognize that if a community is resilient and sustainable, (then) fewer conflicts will emerge,” Higgins said.

Conquerors of Coffee

By walking farmers through every step of the supply chain, CfP says they no longer see the coffee industry as “a mystery”.

Once dependent on traders and big brands such as Nestle, the world’s biggest coffee maker and producer of Nescafe, farmers can now demand higher prices for better quality beans, CfP said.

Yet winning communities over remains a major challenge.

Some are proud of their traditional methods and reluctant to embrace change, while others are wary of civil society groups and used to instant cash or aid, rather than long-term support.

“We had to convince and convince our people, many times, to move from the traditional to the technical way of doing things,” said Baby Jerlina Owok, chieftain of a native tribe which has seen their coffee beans almost double in value in recent years.

Yet for women such as Owok and Dubria and their coffee cooperatives, the ambitions are much bigger than making money.

Pointing at huge swathes of coffee trees covering the hills, painting once barren land vibrant shades of green, Dubria spoke about planting more to combat deforestation and soil erosion.

Lastly, she said they need to share their prosperity.

“We need to encourage and help other communities to produce quality coffee,” she said. “We want to pull them up – to improve their standard of living – so they can experience what we have.”

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KNU Still Wants Talks with Military to Settle Standoff After Meeting Postponed

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 08:12 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Karen National Union (KNU) said it will keep trying to negotiate with the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, to end a recent standoff after the Tatmadaw postponed a scheduled meeting last week.

The KNU sent its military affairs negotiation team to the meeting, which was recommended by the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC), but pulled it back after the Tatmadaw refused to attend, said KNU General Secretary Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo. He said the Tatmadaw called it off because the commander of the KNU's Brigade 5, stationed in the area of the standoff, had not been invited.

In a statement released on Monday, the KNU said the commander was not a member of its negotiation team and that a Brigade 5 major who had been sent to the meeting was.

The negotiation team was formed in 2016 to deal with military disputes but has yet to have any formal talks with the Tatmadaw, Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo said.

The seven-member team is led by Brigadier General Saw Eh Kulu Thein of the KNU’s Brigade 3. He who is also vice chairman of the Bago Regional JMC.

The latest fighting began in early March when the Tatmadaw moved into an area of Karen State claimed by Brigade 5 to rebuild an old road. Some 2,000 ethnic Karen have fled the fighting.

The KNU has asked the Tatmadaw to withdraw so that they can return home, and Karen community elders wrote to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for help last week.

"The standoff goes on, but both sides are trying to keep their troops from further engagement," Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo said.

"It is important that both sides' military delegations discuss the issue," he added.

On the JMC’s Facebook page, Major General Myat Kyaw, commander of the Tatmadaw’s Southern Command and chair of the Bago Region JMC, was quoted on Saturday as saying that the standoff was “just a misunderstanding because the Tatmadaw is rebuilding the road started in 2008 for administrative purposes only, not for military operations, and there was no deployment on the hills along the road."

The KNU says it cannot allow the roadwork and that the Tatmadaw should only enter the area with prior permission.

“It should not be continued while the KNU and the government are at the stage of building trust,” said Padoh Saw Tadoh Moo.

The Tatmadaw usually says that all disputes with ethnic armed groups should be settled by the JMC. The KNU says the JMC lacks the authority to make the necessary decisions because it is mandated only to monitor and verify ceasefires.

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Free Music Festival Aims to Raise Awareness of Illegal Wildlife Trade

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 05:53 AM PDT

The "Voices for Wildlife" music festival will be held on April 7 in Yangon's Mahabandoola Park with the aim of supporting efforts to stamp out illegal wildlife sales across the country.

Organized by the Voices for Momos organization with the support of the Danish Embassy, the music festival is the first ever held specifically to raise public awareness of the illegal wildlife trade and to urge the government, at both the Union and regional levels, to take steps to end illegal wildlife sales.

"Through the concert, we hope to put the spotlight on one of the biggest global challenges faced not only by Myanmar but many countries — the illegal wildlife trade," Danish Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen said at a press conference at Pansuriya Café on Tuesday.

"Ending wildlife trafficking is a responsibility of all of us, and while these sales continue in Myanmar, its wildlife remains in peril," the ambassador said. "We congratulate the government of Myanmar on steps already taken to protect wildlife, and we urge the government to also develop a solid framework to end this trade."

Local entertainers including Bunny Phyo, Chuu Sit Han, Kyaw Thiha, Irene Zin Mar Myint, Naw Naw, Pann Yaung Chel, Wyne Lay, Zaw Pyae, Charlie, and The Peacists will perform at the concert. The event is open to the public free of charge and will run from 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Lin Htet, a composer known for creating pieces that use both traditional and Western instruments, will serve as the festival's music director.

The concert is the crowning event in the five-month public campaign "Voices for Momos," which was launched in November 2017. Through a series of public events, "Voices for Momos" has raised public awareness of the dangers facing Myanmar's wild elephants, which are on the brink of extinction due to poaching for their hides and other parts.

Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and his wife Daw Khin Mi Mi Kywe will attend the event.

"The support for this campaign has been overwhelming with voices from all sectors speaking out to protect elephants and all wildlife here in Myanmar and around the planet. We are very grateful for the support of these entertainers who have volunteered their time and talent. If you haven't already signed up to take part, then do and be part of history in the making," said Christy Williams, country director of World Wild Fund for Nature Myanmar.

"Voices for Momos" was launched to stem the crisis of elephant poaching and skinning in Myanmar. It aims to encourage individuals and organizations across all sectors to use their voice to call for the end of illegal wildlife sales in Myanmar, according to organizers.

The post Free Music Festival Aims to Raise Awareness of Illegal Wildlife Trade appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rights Groups Slam Jailing of Ex-Child Soldier for Telling His Story

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 05:41 AM PDT

More than 150 rights groups have asked the government and the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) to release a former child soldier who was last month sentenced to two years in prison with hard labor for discussing with the media his forced recruitment into the army and subsequent history of legal problems.

The rights groups issued a statement saying that Aung Ko Htwe, now 26, was only exercising his rights and did nothing wrong when he related to the media his experiences as a child soldier and his later problems with the law.

In 2005, at the age of 14, Aung Ko Htwe was abducted at Yangon's central railway station and forcibly recruited into the Tatmadaw, according to his family. Two years later, he escaped with two others. In the process of escaping, they killed the owner of a motorbike while stealing it. One of the three reportedly strangled the victim, though Aung Ko Htwe later said he was not involved in the killing.

The trio was charged with murder and found guilty; all received death sentences, though Aung Ko Htwe was just 16 at the time. In 2013, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Aung Ko Htwe was eventually released in July 2017 after serving 10 years in jail.

Shortly after his release, he gave an interview to Radio Free Asia (RFA) describing his experiences. The army charged him under Article 505 (b), a section of Myanmar's criminal code related to incitement. He was eventually sentenced to two years in prison.

"We rights groups condemn the decision to sentence him to prison. The punishment violates his rights," the organizations said in a statement issued on April 1.

Going further, the groups asked the government and the army to release him unconditionally and drop additional charges that he is facing. Police added an extra charge under Section 7 of a 2010 law that prohibits destruction of the Union seal. The offense is punishable by three years in prison.

Aung Myo Min, the director of Equality Myanmar, one of the 154 right groups that signed the statement demanding Aung Ko Htwe's release, said: "He has done nothing wrong, but they [the government] used the law to punish him."

Myanmar ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991. Despite having agreed not use underage soldiers, however, the Tatmadaw recruited Aung Ko Htwe.

"The government must learn from Aung Ko Htwe's experiences in order to prevent this from happening again. The government needs to find a solution, and cooperate with Aung Ko Htwe. This would be the best way to have a really strong law," U Aung Myo Min said.

U Aung Myo Min said, "Our country has some laws that are used to punish citizens. These laws are used selectively. [Authorities] act like cats, using their claws when they need to hunt for prey, but retracting them when they don't need them."

Genuine rule of law is about protecting the rights of citizens, but in Myanmar, the laws are not used to protect citizens, according to the right groups.

Following the RFA interview, Aung Ko Htwe was sentenced to six months' jail for contempt of court. He refused to appear in court following this, but police forced him to appear. The court finally sentenced him to two years' imprisonment last month.

The police later brought additional charges for which he faces additional sentencing in future.

The rights groups criticized the lack of rule of law in the country, as increasing numbers of people are sent to prison on contempt charges after criticizing the courts.

"The government first needs to consider whether the critics' arguments are valid or not. The critics point out incorrect rulings by the courts. If the courts do not reform, rule of law will not be upheld, and the people will not respect the courts anymore," U Aung Myo Min said.

The post Rights Groups Slam Jailing of Ex-Child Soldier for Telling His Story appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Farmland Rented Out by Previous Governments Under Investigation

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 03:46 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Authorities in Naypyitaw will investigate to find out whether some 30,000 acres of confiscated land leased to agri-businesses by previous governments are being used as intended.

The Naypyitaw Council formed two vacant, fallow and virgin lands inspection teams on March 6, said lawmaker and team member U Maung Maung Swe, adding that authorities will seize any inactive land and use it for other purposes, including farming.

Each group has six members and includes a lawmaker and officials from the Agriculture and General Administration departments, and will start work before Myanmar's New Year festival.

"We will start inspection in Ottarathiri District before Thingyan, and then Dekkhinathiri District. We have rough data about which areas are inactive," said U Maung Maung Swe.

The two teams will then have to present their survey reports and photos to the Naypyitaw Union Territory Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Central Committee.

The committee can seize land that remains inactive four years after a permit was issued, the lawmaker said.

As of 2005, thousands of acres of land were confiscated to establish agricultural zones including mango and castor oil plantations in Naypyitaw. Land in those zones was then leased to private businesspeople for farming.

According to existing laws governing land use in Myanmar, fallow, vacant and virgin land can be leased for up to 30 years for agricultural purposes.

Some businesspeople, however, did not do any farming and their land has remained inactive for years.

Some of that land might have been confiscated from farmers, said Lower House lawmaker U Than Soe Aung, of Naypyitaw’s Pyinmana Township.

The previous government of U Thein Sein issued permits for about 8,000 acres of land to grow mangos just months before the National League for Democracy (NLD) took office in early 2016. The original owners continue to complain that their land was grabbed, said Lower House lawmaker U Thant Zin Htun, of Naypyitaw’s Dekkhinathiri Township.

"When nothing is done on that land, it is a loss not only for the country but also for the farmers and locals whose land was confiscated," he said.

"I had eight acres of land confiscated in 2010. I just want to get that land back because nothing has been done with it. And  I don't need compensation either," said U Than Tun Aung, a farmer in Dekkhinathiri.

The Naypyitaw Union Territory Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Central Committee plans to complete the inspection before the eighth regular session of Parliament resumes, said U Maung Maung Swe.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Farmland Rented Out by Previous Governments Under Investigation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Huge Haul of Smuggled Teak Seized in Southern Rakhine

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 03:37 AM PDT

YANGON — More than 30 tons of smuggled teak were seized in the village of Kaing Shae near Taungup Township in southern Rakhine State on Monday, according to a local forestry official.

Sawn teak and teak logs were found in the compound of a concrete mixing facility owned by Aung Myin Thit Co near Kaing Shae village, Taungup Township Forestry Department official U Lwin Ko Oo told The Irrawaddy.

"I am sure it is smuggled teak; otherwise it would have the mark of Myanma Timber Enterprise," he said.

The Forestry Department opened a smuggling case under Article 42 of the Forestry Law, he said.

Taungup Township Administrator Hla Moe Oo confirmed the teak haul at the compound of Aung Myin Thit Co, adding that authorities are still investigating the ownership of the company, though one of the owners was reportedly identified as U Win Zaw.

Aung Myin Thit Co built a paved road in Taungup last month. According to U Lwin Ko Oo, the company is not a sole proprietorship, but a partnership, and authorities are still trying to determine the identities of the other partners.

A security guard was present on the company's compound at the time of the raid, but he had not been working for the company for long and did not own the teak, U Lwin Ko Oo told The Irrawaddy.

The large teak logs were not likely to be from the Rakhine Mountains, said U Lwin Ko Oo, because "there are no more teak trees with trunks that are 12 inches in diameter in the Rakhine Mountains."

He said the logs might have been smuggled in from Magwe Region via the Padaung-Ann route.

Some media sources in Taungup suggested the teak logs had been stockpiled for sale in local markets or to be smuggled into foreign countries. Teak and other timber is often smuggled into Malaysia and Thailand via Thandwe, Gwa, Taungup and Ma-Ei townships in northern Rakhine State, they said.

Myanmar banned the export of timber logs in 2014, and the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government has restricted logging since 2016 in a bid to curb deforestation.

The ban has forced Myanma Timber Enterprise to rely on existing stockpiles of timber to meet domestic and international demand. Whenever demand exceeds supply, smugglers arise to fill the gap. Illegal logging has long been a persistent problem in Myanmar.

Last year, U Lwin Ko Oo reported the seizure of around 30 tons of smuggled hardwood stockpiled in rivers and creeks in Thandwe and Ann townships. The latest seizure was likely intended to be supplied to the domestic market rather than for illegal export, he suggested.

"If they want to smuggle those logs by water, they would store them in creeks, and not on land," he said.

The post Huge Haul of Smuggled Teak Seized in Southern Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Air Force Jet Crashes in Bago, Kills Pilot

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 02:37 AM PDT

YANGON — A Myanmar Air Force jet crashed on Tuesday near a village in Taungoo town, Bago Region, killing the pilot.

The Myanmar military's Office of the Commander-in-Chief announced that an F-7 from Taungoo airbase went down due to mechanical failure while on a training mission.

The search and rescue team from the airbase found the wreckage near Kyun Kone and Myauk Yay Kyi villages.

The pilot Major Arkar Win succumbed to his injuries despite treatment at a military hospital in Taungoo, said the announcement.

In June of last year, a Chinese made Y-200 F military transport plane crashed into the Andaman Sea in the southwest of Tanintharyi Region's Dawei due to bad weather and killed all 122 people – military staff members and their families including 15 children – on board. The crash was listed as the worst accident in Myanmar Air Force history.

A military helicopter crashed in central Myanmar, killing three military personnel on board in June 2016.

Five military personnel were killed in February 2016 after an air force aircraft crashed in the country's capital, Naypyitaw, according to media reports.

The post Air Force Jet Crashes in Bago, Kills Pilot appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Judge and Lawyer Arrested by Anti-Corruption Commission

Posted: 03 Apr 2018 02:03 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — Police have opened a case against a judge and a lawyer in Rakhine State's Thandwe Township.

Thandwe Township police arrested lawyer Daw Khin Cho Win on Sunday, said police lieutenant of the Thandwe police station Kyaw Myo Htike.

"The Anti-Corruption Commission arrested her and we assisted the arrest," police lieutenant Kyaw Myo Htike told The Irrawaddy.

The Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement on Sunday evening that it opened a case against U Oo Thein Tun, who previously served as the judge of Thandwe Township and is now serving as the Kyaikto Township judge, and lawyer Daw Khin Cho Win.

According to the statement, the commission received complaints accusing U Oo Thein Tun, while serving as the judge of Thandwe Township in 2016, of receiving more than 16.2 million kyats of bribes in two lawsuits as well as manipulating evidence.

The commission launched an investigation and found that the judge did receive 6.2 million kyats from a plaintiff in a lawsuit, and that he also misused his power to manipulate evidence.

The commission also found that lawyer Daw Khin Cho Win bribed the judge with more than 4.7 million kyats, which she asked her client to pay, in the same case. The commission has opened a case against the two under the 2013 Anti-Corruption Law.

"We only arrested the lawyer. U Oo Thein Tun is no longer in Thandwe. He is the judge of Kyaikto Township now. The Anti-Corruption Commission will arrest him and they will both be investigated by the commission," said police lieutenant Kyaw Myo Htike.

Daw Khin Cho Win is now detained in Thandwe Prison on remand.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Judge and Lawyer Arrested by Anti-Corruption Commission appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysia Outlaws ‘Fake News,’ Sets Jail of Up to Six Years

Posted: 02 Apr 2018 10:51 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia on Monday approved a law against “fake news” that would allow for prison of up to six years for offenders, shrugging off critics who say it was aimed at curbing dissent and free speech ahead of a general election.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government secured a simple majority in parliament to pass the Anti-Fake News 2018 bill, which sets out fines of up to 500,000 ringgit ($123,000) and a maximum six years in jail. The first draft of the bill had proposed jail of up to 10 years.

The government said the law would not impinge on freedom of speech and cases under it would be handled through an independent court process.

“This law aims to protect the public from the spread of fake news, while allowing freedom of speech as provided for under the Constitution,” Law Minister Azalina Othman Said told Parliament.

The law defines fake news as "news, information, data and reports which is or are wholly or partly false" and includes features, visuals and audio recordings.

It covers digital publications and social media and will apply to offenders who maliciously spread “fake news” inside and outside Malaysia, including foreigners, if Malaysia or a Malaysian citizen were affected.

Co-opted by US President Donald Trump, the term “fake news” has quickly become part of the standard repertoire of leaders in authoritarian countries to describe media reports and organizations critical of them.

The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye, had earlier on Monday urged the government not to rush the legislation through Parliament.

“I urge the government to reconsider the bill and open it up to regular and genuine public scrutiny before taking any further steps,” David Kaye said in a Twitter post.

Others Consider Laws

Other countries in Southeast Asia, including Singapore and the Philippines, are considering how to tackle “fake news,” but human rights activists fear that laws against it could be used to stifle free speech.

Malaysia is among the first few countries to introduce a law against it. Germany approved a plan last year to fine social media networks if they fail to remove hateful postings.

Malaysia already has an arsenal of laws, including a colonial-era Sedition Act, that have been used to clamp down on unfavorable news and social media posts.

News reports and social media posts on a multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) have hounded Prime Minister Najib, who faces arguably his toughest contest in a general election this year that could be called in days.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing in connection with losses at the fund.

A deputy minister was quoted in media last month as saying any news on 1MDB not verified by the government was “fake.”

Lim Kit Siang, a senior opposition lawmaker with the Democratic Action Party, described the bill as a “Save Najib from 1MDB Scandal Bill” which would criminalize news on the affair.

The post Malaysia Outlaws ‘Fake News,’ Sets Jail of Up to Six Years appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Philippines Starts Vote Recount in Marcos Son’s Contest for Vice Presidency

Posted: 02 Apr 2018 10:48 PM PDT

MANILA — The Philippines on Monday began a manual recount of votes in a vice presidential election after the son and namesake of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos contested the outcome, while the incumbent assured supporters her win was not in doubt.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a former senator popularly known as Bongbong, is furious about having lost to Leni Robredo by about 260,000 votes in a May 2016 election he says was marred by massive cheating.

Many political commentators believe Marcos has ambitions to become president one day, and wanted to use the vice presidency as a steppingstone. Opinion polls had shown him the clear leader ahead of the vote, which is separate from that for the presidency.

The recount, ordered by the Supreme Court, began with Marcos questioning the condition of some ballots from the town of Bato in Robredo’s home province of Camarines Sur.

“In four precincts in the town of Bato, all ballots are wet and thus useless,” he told reporters. Alluding to foul play, he added that the ballots seemed to be “only recently wet.”

Audit logs for most of the precincts were missing, he said, and he had seen a ballot box with a hole sealed with a masking tape.

“We have nothing to fear because the truth is what we are fighting for,” Robredo, a one-term congresswoman before the 2016 election, said in a speech after a mass service organized by her supporters in the largely Roman Catholic country.

Robredo, who hails from a decades-old political clique that opposes Duterte and helped oust Marcos in 1986, had lodged a counter protest, questioning results in about 8,000 voting precincts.

Although he was not his running mate, Marcos is on good terms with President Rodrigo Duterte, who has made numerous concessions to the Marcos family.

He has constantly praised the leadership of the late dictator, fuelling concern among some Filipinos that he might cling on to power.

Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972 and held power for 14 years until his removal in a bloodless, military-backed “People Power” uprising.

The post Philippines Starts Vote Recount in Marcos Son’s Contest for Vice Presidency appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cambodian Farmers Sue Thai Sugar Group Mitr Phol Over Alleged Land Grab

Posted: 02 Apr 2018 08:51 PM PDT

PHNOM PENH — Farmers from Cambodia have filed a lawsuit in a Thai civil court against Asia’s largest sugar producer, accusing it of rights abuses after it allegedly kicked farmers off their land, a rights group said on Monday.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 3,000 people, is the first class-action lawsuit filed in a Thai court by plaintiffs from another country against a Thai company operating outside Thailand, the group, Inclusive Development International, said in a statement.

The plaintiffs accuse sugar producer Mitr Phol of violently displacing them in Cambodia’s northwestern Oddar Meanchey province between 2008 and 2009 to make way for plantations.

“Since Mitr Phol took my land, my family and I have suffered tremendously,” Ma Okchoeurn, one of the affected people, said in a press release issued by the rights group.

“My house was burned down. I was arrested without reason, and as a result my family had nothing to eat and had to collect trash to survive. To this day, I have no land or house.”

Mitr Phol said in a statement emailed to Reuters it had invested in Cambodia in “a good faith partnership” with the government and got temporary concessions in compliance with all local and national laws and with assurances from authorities that "all temporary concession areas had been processed legally and transparently."

It said it had withdrawn from the project in 2014 due to a combination of factors including political tensions along the Thai-Cambodia border, business risks, adverse agricultural conditions and negative publicity.

Mitr Phol said after it withdrew from the project, it had recommended that the Cambodian government return land "to the affected communities."

Seng Loth, a spokesman at Land Management Ministry, which was responsible for the government’s involvement in the project, said when contacted by Reuters he was in a meeting and too busy to comment.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said he could not comment and referred queries to the Land Management Ministry.

Cambodia has awarded big concessions to foreign companies, mainly from China, Vietnam and South Korea, to operate mines, power plants and farms, in order to attract foreign investment.

Rights groups have said some concessions have led to forced evictions and land disputes.

The post Cambodian Farmers Sue Thai Sugar Group Mitr Phol Over Alleged Land Grab appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UNHCR Concerned Over Safety of 56 Rohingya Refugees in Stormy Seas

Posted: 02 Apr 2018 08:44 PM PDT

DHAKA — The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Monday it was concerned about the safety of 56 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar on a boat bound for Malaysia in stormy seas.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled from their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State into Bangladesh after militant attacks in August sparked a military crackdown that the United Nations and Western countries have said constitutes ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar rejects that saying its forces have been waging a legitimate campaign against “terrorists” who attacked government forces.

The boat, which a UNHCR spokesman said was believed to have set sail from Rakhine State last week, stopped at an island in southern Thailand on Saturday evening after a storm.

It was the first Rohingya vessel, plying a route refugees have used for years to get to Southeast Asia, to be spotted off Thailand in more than a year. There are signs that overcrowding in Bangladeshi camps could prompt many others to make similarly perilous voyages.

“Given the poor weather conditions currently prevailing in the waters off the west coast of the Thailand-Malaysia border, we are concerned for the safety of the refugees," said Caroline Gluck, a UNHCR spokeswoman based in southeast Bangladesh.

“If they are found to be in distress, we hope they will be rescued and allowed to disembark in accordance with international maritime law," she said in an email.

The boat was restocked with essential supplies in Thailand on Sunday before setting back out to sea, on its way to Malaysia, Thai police said.

The UNHCR said it was in touch with Malaysian maritime authorities and was ready to provide any necessary assistance to the refugees when they arrived.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya fled by sea following an outbreak of sectarian violence in Rakhine State in 2012, some falling prey to human traffickers.

That exodus peaked in 2015, when an estimated 25,000 people fled across the Andaman Sea for Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Rights groups expect another surge in Rohingya boats sailing for Southeast Asia, even if not at the levels of the past.

The post UNHCR Concerned Over Safety of 56 Rohingya Refugees in Stormy Seas appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 02 Apr 2018 08:38 PM PDT

Lethwei Fight | April 8

Boxers from Myanmar, Thailand, China and elsewhere will face off in the ring, with the main event between Myanmar's Soe Lin Oo and Thailand's Payak Samui.

April 8, 2 p.m. Theinbyu Stadium. Ticket information here

 

Ni Ni Khin Zaw: Retro REDVolution Show 2018 | April 7-8

Ni Ni Khin Zaw will perform jazz, pop, soul and swing with dance classics.

April 7-8, 7 p.m. National Theater, Myoma Kyaung Street, Tickets 30,000-150,000 kyats. Tel: 09-977009157, 09-4555 73442

 

Cartoon Festival | April 2-8

Rare cartoon books will bring your childhood memories back, especially for those born in the 1970s and 1980s.

Through April 8, Yangon Book Plaza, 5th Floor, Thanzay Market, Lanmadaw.


Zumba in Bubbles and Colors Thingyan | April 7

There will be dozens of singers, traditional dances, water throwing and other entertainment programs.

April 7, 2 p.m. Minder Ground. Free entry.

 

Clean Yangon Campaign | April 8

Everyone can join this campaign to keep Yangon clean.

April 8, 4 p.m. Pazundaung Garden. Register at 09-420021003, 09-420026477 and 09-798892006

 

Voices for Wildlife Music Festival | April 7

Myanmar's most celebrated singers and DJs will lead this event to raise awareness about elephant poaching and the illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar.

April 7, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mahabandoola Park, Free entry.

 

Shan Thingyan in Yangon | April 7

Shan people living in Yangon will come together to hold their first Thingyan celebration in the capital.

April 7, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Kandawgyi Hmawsinkyun

 

Myanma Plaza Thingyan Festival | April 5-8

Lucky draws, discount coupons, gifts, entertainment and more at Myanma Plaza.

April 5-8, evenings. Myanma Plaza.

 

Yangon Zay: Thingyan Edition | April 8

Organic fruits will be on sale with entertainment and kid activities.

April 8, 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. The Tea Factory, Kanyeiktha Street, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road.

 

Cross Over Vol. 4-5 | April 4-8

This is a group art exhibition of Japanese artists.

April 4-8, New Treasure Art Gallery, No. 84A, Thanlwin Street, Golden Valley, Bahan Tsp.

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