Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Police Officer Shot Dead in Hunt for Suspected Drug Dealer in Northern Rakhine

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 06:30 AM PDT

YANGON —Lieutenant Thein Shwe, the acting police chief of northern Rakhine State's Rathedaung Township, was shot dead on Tuesday while he and two other officers were searching for a suspected drug dealer in the area.

Police Major Soe Naing told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the lieutenant’s body was taken to the local general hospital the day he was shot. He declined to provide further information because he was busy with funeral arrangements.

According to local news reports, Lt. Thein Shwe left downtown Rathedaung with Lance Corporal Win Tin and Special Branch Lieutenant Soe Naing Tun in a private car at about 1 p.m. to arrest a suspected drug smuggler in Kyauk Tan village. When they arrived, the suspect had already left and was believed to be hiding near the villages of Kharu Chaung and Rakhaung Chaung.

According to the same news reports, citing a police statement, the two survivors said they were ambushed by an armed group moments after stepping out of their car to search a roadside hut. The officers said they managed to escape and that Lt. Thein Shwe died at the scene.

It is unknown who informed the police of the suspect’s whereabouts. A team including local military and police officials visited the scene of the shooting on Wednesday to investigate. Senior officials could not be reached for details.

A police officer in Rakhine State who recently served in Rathedaung said Lt. Thein Shwe was a native of Rathedaung and had been investigating the high-profile case of union lawmaker U Aye Maung and author Wai Han Aung, who are facing multiple charges including treason for allegedly promoting support for the outlawed Arakan Army during a public speech in the township earlier this year.

Residents of Rathedaung told The Irrawaddy that the area where the lieutenant was shot dead was predominantly ethnic Arakanese and near the foot of the Awrama mountain range, where the Arakan Army fought with the Myanmar military in 2015 and 2016.

In a separate case in January, a recently transferred government administrator for Mrauk-U, in Rakhine’s Ponnagyun Township, was stabbed to death in a car heading toward the state capital, Sittwe. A few days after the murder, the Ministry of Home Affairs arrested four suspects in Yangon and blamed the Arakan Army for the attack, an accusation the armed group denied.

The post Police Officer Shot Dead in Hunt for Suspected Drug Dealer in Northern Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Peace, Charter Reform Take Back Seat as Myanmar President Stresses Social Issues 

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 06:19 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar's new president on Tuesday unveiled his reform agenda for the country, generating cautious optimism with a plan that places an emphasis on boosting living standards and addressing other popular discontents, while downplaying broader political problems such as the country's moribund peace process and the sensitive issue of amending the Constitution.

In his greetings to the country on Myanmar's traditional New Year's Day,  U Win Myint set out his government's 11-point reform plan. The points include providing affordable housing for civil servants, creating an independent and impartial judiciary, returning confiscated land to its rightful owners, boosting access to credit for small businesses, combating the illegal drug trade, tackling corruption and others.

The president's New Year's resolutions come amid criticism of the government, which is led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, over its failure to jump-start development despite having been in power for more than two years.

Yangon-based political commentator Yan Myo Thein said the president's priorities represent the realities the country is currently facing.

Notably absent from the policy plan, the commentator said, were the "how-to's" on Myanmar's two most challenging issues: striking a peace deal with the country's ethnic armed groups and amending the Constitution, which currently mandates a significant military presence in Parliament.

The NLD enshrined the search for peace with the armed groups and constitutional amendment in its electoral manifesto. Since coming to power in 2016, the NLD-led government has, at the direction of Daw Aung San Su Kyi, embarked on peace talks with the Army and the ethnic groups. Meanwhile, the Parliament has led the push for fixes to the charter. But two years on, there have been few tangible results on either front.

The lack of any mention of peace or constitutional reform in the president's speech prompted speculation that the president, the State Counselor and Parliament have decided to divide responsibilities.

Yan Myo Thein said that U Win Myint seems to be fully in charge of administration and national development, with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi likely to be handling the peace process and Parliament working on constitutional amendments.

"Given that she initiated the 21st-Century Panglong Union Peace Conference, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is likely to continue to take a leading role in the country's peace process," he said.

On the constitutional changes, the commentator said, dialogue is needed among the key stakeholders including civilians, military and ethnic groups, as the efforts made by Parliament in the past two years have come to nothing.

"Achieving a political agreement between them could overcome the constitutional crisis we now face [while the charter is amended through the parliamentary channel]," he said.

Asked about the president's focus on land rights, Dr Thaung Tun, one of Myanmar's leading advocates for farmers' rights and fair land-use policies, said he had no doubt that the president had good intentions and the political will to address the pressing issue. The country's agriculture sector provides jobs to 70 percent of the population, he pointed out.

The president said he would work for the return of farmland confiscated illegally and to ensure that compensation is paid. Regarding confiscated farmland that had not yet been earmarked for return, he vowed an expeditious review of all such land by the various review committees in consultation with state and regional governments, so that all released land could be returned to its original owners.

"But it's important that he approaches it with the correct strategy," warned the Peace and Justice Network director.

According to the now-defunct Parliamentary Land Investigation Committee, the military, government and private companies confiscated more than 500,000 acres of land between the 1980s and the early 2000s. 

In 2016, just months after taking office, the NLD-led government formed the Central Committee for Rescrutinizing Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands, chaired by Vice President U Henry van Thio, to investigate land-grab cases.

While it has secured the return of several thousand acres, the committee's powers are limited. It is purely an investigative body and does not set policy or make decisions. Additionally, some officials accused of involvement in land grabs have served on the committee, Dr. Thaung Tun said.

"It would be more helpful if the president enacted an emergency bill on the land rights issue while granting a mandate [to take action] to lawmakers, local elders and farmers," he said, explaining that decentralization could also help solve the problem, as it can't be taken for granted that the "people upstairs" know everything that's happening on the ground.

President U Win Myint also said his government would "implement reforms without hurting stability", starting "at the base level which is closest to the people, with whom sovereignty ultimately rests."

Yan Myo Thein said that if the president is truly interested in bottom-up reform, he needs to listen to voices expressed in the media and social media, and to consult CSOs, in order to learn what is really happening and needed on the ground.

"It's important that he make an effort to hear those voices," Yan Myo Thein said. "If he is content to accept rosy information fed to him by his subordinates, he will not achieve the goals he has set."

The post Peace, Charter Reform Take Back Seat as Myanmar President Stresses Social Issues  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

8,500 Released in Presidential Pardon, Including 36 Political Prisoners

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 04:14 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — "I had to be very careful not to commit even a small crime after I was released from prison, as Article 401 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure was tied to me despite my freedom," said U Issariya, a leading monk in the 2007 Saffron Revolution who was released from Hsipaw Prison six years ago in a January 2012 presidential pardon.

As of Tuesday, thousands of former political prisoners no longer need to feel this fear, as the new President U Win Myint issued a decree that nullified the "conditional release" stipulated in Article 401 (1) for those convicted on political charges.

Thousands of political prisoners were released conditionally under former President U Thein Sein, which meant they could be forced to serve the remainder of their initial sentences were they ever to be arrested again.

"This is the end of dictators' actions," said U Issariya, now an interfaith trainer at the Peaceful Myanmar Initiative.

President U Win Myint pardoned 8,541 prisoners in a New Year amnesty on Tuesday, including 36 political prisoners and 51 foreigners, also on the same condition that they would no longer face any additional consequences as they were released unconditionally from Article 401 (1).

The majority of those pardoned had been convicted on drug charges, and others had been charged with violating the Military Act or for alleged affiliation with an unlawful association.

Two ethnic Kachin pastors: Dumdaw Nawng Latt, 65, and Langjaw Gam Seng, 35, from Mong Ko, were released from Lashio Prison under the amnesty. They were sentenced to four- and two-year imprisonments respectively, under three charges including unlawful association in October 2017 for assisting journalists who were visiting the area and for allegedly helping the ethnic bloc the Northern Alliance spread wrongful information.

A Kachin farmer Laphai Gam was also released from Myitkyina Prison. He was charged in 2012 for allegedly being a member of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) under Article 17(1) of the 1908 Unlawful Association Act and with four counts under the 1908 Explosive Substances Act. He was sentenced to a total of 20 years imprisonment.

Other farmers released were seven Shan farmers from Hsipaw Prison, according to the AAPP. They were arrested and charged in April 2017 for plowing on confiscated land and sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Most of the political prisoners are members of ethnic armed organizations including the Karen National Union (KNU), Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), All Burma Students' Democratic Front, and Arakan Army (AA), as well as local farmers and residents in the conflict zones.

Other releases included some who were sentenced to death including ex-Major Win Naing Kyaw [from the Myanmar Army] and U Than Chaung also known as Sao Khun Kyaw, a member of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Arm- South (RCSS-SSA-S). Both were released from Tharyarwaddy Prison in Bago Region.

U Win Naing Kyaw was arrested in 2009 on his way back to Myanmar from Cambodia and sentenced to life imprisonment under the Emergency Provisions Act, Electronic Act's Article 33 (b), Official Secrets Act and Article 505 (b) of the Penal Code in 2010.

U Than Chaung, known as Col Sao Khun Kyaw, was arrested during combat between the Tatmadaw and the RCSS/SSA-S in January 2006 in Namkham Township in Shan State and given four death sentences and one life sentence.

He was a former leader of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front's northern camp and was allegedly responsible for the killing of 35 of its members in 1992.  The ABSDF was a student army that formed following the government's crackdown on nationwide pro-democracy protests in 1988.

Yan Naing Soe, known as Thein Zaw, was sentenced to life in prison in December 2010 for the charges including the Military Act [for joining the KNU after deserting the Myanmar Army]. He was released on Tuesday from Obo Prison in Mandalay. He said [to reporters in Mandalay], that he “did not expect to be released.”

"It is benevolent," said U Issariya, adding that the pardon on Tuesday included "the elderly, the ill and minor drug users, but did not include monsters."

Former political prisoners and the public welcomed the new president's pardons, as he was a former political prisoner as well.

"He [the president] is well aware that 401 (1) is an obstacle to former prisoners of conscience because he was one. The National League for Democracy (NLD) also has many political prisoners, so, he revoked this ruling," said U Bo Kyi, the secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

According to the AAPP, there are 18 political prisoners left in prison and 74 more facing trial for politically related charges while detained. There are 120 others facing trial who are not in detention. Among them are land rights activists, ethnic IDPs who were accused of unlawful association, and Reuters journalists Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo.

President U Win Myint's decree ensures that former political prisoners won't have to serve the remainder of their sentences if charged again, said U Bo Kyi.

The conditional release was unclear under the previous administration, according to U Bo Kyi. In 2013, former political prisoner Nay Myo Zin was rearrested on another charge and the court ruled that he needed to serve the remainder of his previous sentence before being released.

In a 2015 amnesty, former President U Thein Sein dismissed all of the charges against those facing ongoing politically related trials. U Bo Kyi says that many expect that the NLD government will use this ruling as a precedent to drop ongoing political lawsuits.

Many formal political prisoners now share their views online. Under the former military junta, they were given harsh punishments for their beliefs.

"Conditional release under 401 (1) was used to threaten political activists and we welcome the reversal," added U Ant Bwe Kyaw, the information committee coordinator for a new political party that is still in formation.

U Ant Bwe Kyaw was a former political prisoner who was sentenced to 65 years in prison in 2008 for participating in demonstrations against a fuel price hike a year earlier. He was released in 2012.

Sai Nyunt Lwin, the secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) also shared the same view that "the revocation was a great move, as 401 (1) was a black shadow for all political activists." Sai Nyunt Lwin was also freed from prison in 2012. Along with other Shan leaders, he was sentenced to 85 years imprisonment.

Zarni Mann contributed to this report from Mandalay.

The post 8,500 Released in Presidential Pardon, Including 36 Political Prisoners appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

 Crime Down but Fatalities Up During Thingyan Water Festival, Police Say

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 04:04 AM PDT

MANDALAY — A total of 109 crimes claimed 26 lives during the Thingyan water festival and Burmese New Year celebrations across the country, police said Wednesday.

Incidents including drunkenness, fights, accidents and drowning were reported to police during the period.

While crime as a whole was down from last year's New Year period, the number of fatalities rose, police said. In 2017, 208 crimes were reported, claiming 16 lives and injuring 194 people.

The number of injuries and deaths reported by police was lower than the numbers reported in local media, however.

In a separate report, Yangon Region police reported nine crimes resulting in four deaths and 17 injuries. Police said another 301 people injured in motor accidents and fights were admitted to hospitals in Yangon Region.

In Monywa, Sagaing Division, where New Year celebrations were held along the banks of the Chindwin River for the first time, three people drowned in the river and four people were killed in motorcycle accidents. More than 160 people were treated for injuries at Monywa Hospital.

More than 600 people were admitted to Mandalay General Hospital, most of them due to motorcycle accidents. According to officials at the hospital, eight unidentified bodies were received, along with six people who died due to accidents and drowning in the old moat at Mandalay Palace.

Official Mandalay police reports, however, list six fatalities during the holiday period: two drownings in the moat, two homicides and two motor accident deaths – along with 37 injuries sustained in fights and accidents.

"Every year there is a discrepancy between the numbers announced by the police and the hospital, because most people do not report incidents to the police. The police can only compile their report based on those incidents that are reported to them," said Ko One, a leader of Mandalay-based One-to-One, a charity group that cooperates with Mandalay General Hospital to assist people injured during the New Year celebration.

The post  Crime Down but Fatalities Up During Thingyan Water Festival, Police Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Of Health Care and Management Malpractice

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 03:36 AM PDT

A political decision at the top can have huge impact on the ground. There has been a furious response from young medical staff to comments made by Health Minister U Myint Htwe at a peace talk in Myaungmya Township, Irrawaddy Region, earlier this month. The minister said there was plenty of medicine available, even an oversupply, especially if expired stocks were taken into account. Many junior doctors struggling with shortages were among the loudest critics. U Myint Htwe soon issued an apology and clarification via social media, and the ministry acknowledged that there was indeed not enough medicine to go around.

The episode epitomizes a failed system, one that deserves scrutiny. It further exposes a health care system that has deteriorated over the decades and is struggling to rebuild. The National Health Plan (NHP) already laid bare the system’s failures and challenges, including a highly fragmented and complicated supply chain.

It is a wonder the health care system has even survived without logistics staff for many years. The central supply department takes care of all distribution of medicine. But policy and regulation dealing with procurement and distribution are weak. On top of that, the health budget is miniscule and largely dependent on external aid. This has led to limited capacity and inadequate infrastructure. A free essential medicine scheme introduced in 2013 by the previous government was popular but politically motivated.

The situation has hardly improved since the National League for Democracy took control of the government some two years ago. As part of its decentralization efforts, the procurement of medicine was shifted onto the shoulders of state and regional health officials. Although procurement guidelines are in place, little is known about how procurement takes place; the process lacks transparency. By obscuring the source of medicines, most junior staff don’t know where they come from. In addition, requested supplies usually arrive late — sometimes six months late — further exacerbating hospital shortages.

Given the woeful infrastructure and poor application of technology, the medical inventory system is naturally outdated. That makes it difficult to anticipate shortages and to be proactive. The lack of a dedicated logistics unit places the burden on medical officers not trained for such tasks. One of the main complaints from medical officers is that the medicine they receive is often nearly expired, placing pressure on them to dispense it quickly. These problems are rooted in the lack of a reliable data system or standardized management procedures. No one knows how much medicine has gone to waste as a result.

But the problems aren’t just technical.

A system born of politics can only be fixed with political will. When assessing failed states, discussions of political will and government capacity often come up. Capacity means the effectiveness of government systems. And as author Stephen Browne has said, the acid test for a government’s effectiveness is its use of resources. It has become a cliché to say that Myanmar has wasted its resources and failed to adequately fund its health care system, though the NLD has proven its commitment to change.

So the health minister’s recent comments came as a surprise. He was criticized for failing to reflect reality and for living in an echo chamber. He had probably been misinformed, which reinforces the popular perception of a bureaucratic elite standing like a wall between ministers and their frontline staff. It forced the minister to issue a clarification. His performance as a technocrat is not the issue here. But as a politician, he failed to communicate with his own staff, let alone the public. Rather, by proactively discussing the ministry’s challenges, he might attract buy-in from colleagues and at the same time make them more accountable.

Political will is needed not only at the ministerial level, but at all levels. All levels should be made aware of how the procurement system — which remains a politically sensitive topic of discussion — works. That sort of knowledge could empower medical staff to demand adherence to guidelines and further transparency, and inspire officials all along the supply chain to embrace genuine change. Everyone is responsible for making the system better simply by virtue of being a part of that system. We cannot simply expect change to come from above.

The current government talks more about big dreams than about attainable objectives. The NHP is ambitious, but the minister’s goals should be grounded. This episode is a wakeup call to talk openly and honestly about the health care system’s challenges and root problems. It is time to say “I can’t do that” and remove those who say “all is fine.”

Ye Min Zaw studies international development with a focus on peace processes, transitional issues and Rakhine affairs. He is also a medical doctor who has worked for many international organizations including UNICEF.

The post Of Health Care and Management Malpractice appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ongoing Offensives in Tanai Leave IDPs Trapped Between Warring Sides

Posted: 18 Apr 2018 01:56 AM PDT

About 2,000 Kachin internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain trapped in Tanai Township without sufficient food or water amid fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), according to local sources.

Kachin religious organizations and community leaders stated that IDPs were trapped in Awng Lawt village, where the Myanmar Army has engaged ground forces to target the KIA Brigade 2 headquarters.

Local organizations, churches and community leaders asked the army's Regional Operations Command 2 based in Tanai town for permission to rescue the IDPs, but were told it did not have the authority to grant the request.

The groups also sent a letter on April 12 to the Kachin State chief minister asking for access to assist the IDPs but they have not yet received a response.

Some religious and community leaders attempted to rescue the IDPs and reported that they assisted about 1,200 people who are currently taking refuge in Shagribum village, a one-hour walk from Awng Lawt.

The leaders reported that about 60 percent of the 1,200 people were women, and some 30 percent were elderly. Some of the IDPs were wounded or sick. They did not have proper shelter. Those assisting them reported enough food to last the displaced persons for two weeks.

Fighting first spread to western Kachin's Tanai Township last year after the military announced operations there to clear out gold and amber-mining sites in KIA-controlled areas.

Hundreds of villagers and thousands of itinerant miners and their families were forced flee Tanai in mid-2017 and again in February this year. Many were trapped between warring sides until they could be evacuated.

The Myanmar Army has again launched offensives targeting different KIA battalions in the area. Air forces were reportedly used beginning on April 11. Col Naw Bu, a KIA spokesperson, said that the airstrikes stopped, however, artillery strikes continue as well as ground force attacks, including near the KIA headquarters in Laiza.

Sig Npawp Yawhan, 54, was wounded in an airstrike on April 11 that killed his son, reported local organizations assisting the IDPs.

At least two civilians were killed by artillery strikes, one in Laiza and another in Awng Lawt village, according to the organizations, adding that at least four other civilians were injured in the most recent round of attacks.

While State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government has asked ethnic armed groups to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), the Myanmar Army has continued to launch military offensives against the KIA, Ta'ang National Liberation Army, and others.

Many ethnic armed groups have lost trust in the army and the government. They have urged the Myanmar Army to stop its offensives during the country's ongoing peace process.

The military retains autonomy from civilian oversight and the attacks continue despite peace negotiations.

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

Peace talks have been held numerous times between the two armed groups. The Myanmar Army has repeatedly asked the KIA to withdraw from some of its bases in areas rich in amber, jade and gold mining, as well as in an area that will fall along China's One Belt One Road initiative. The KIA has refused to withdraw, and cites ongoing human rights abuses carried out by the Myanmar Army.

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Thailand Taps Tourists to Fight Human Trafficking — and Keep the Country Smiling

Posted: 17 Apr 2018 10:06 PM PDT

BANGKOK — At Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, a video repeats scenes of tourists visiting Thailand’s sunny beaches and its vibrant nightlife, but at the end comes a warning.

“Human trafficking and slavery are against the law in Thailand. Perpetrators will be severely punished,” it says, followed by a hotline number for people to report cases.

From airports to shopping malls, Thailand is ramping up a campaign targeting tourists in its latest effort to keep the country free from human trafficking, as officials eye better international ratings.

The Southeast Asian nation is consistently ranked as one of the world’s best tourists destinations. Government data showed Thailand welcomed a record 35 million visitors in 2017, and forecasted it to rise to 37.6 million this year.

But it has also come under the international spotlight in recent years over what rights groups describe as widespread human trafficking, including women forced into selling sex and fishermen trapped in conditions akin to modern slavery.

The US State Department last year left Thailand on a Tier 2 Watchlist — just above the lowest ranking of Tier 3 — in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, saying it had not done enough to tackle human smuggling and trafficking.

Eyeing a better ranking, the government has vowed a cleanup. In recent months, it partnered with airlines and charities to warn visitors against involvement in trafficking, while urging them to spot and report potential cases.

“Every effort is important,” Weerachon Sukhontapatipak, a Thai government spokesman, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“We are doing our best,” he said. “Therefore we hope the situation in Thailand will be better, and it will be recognized by the international community.”

A growing number of countries around the world are turning to the tourism sector to help combat human trafficking, including training frontline hotel and airline staff to spot the signs.

There has also been a rise of “advocacy tourism,” where holidaymakers sign up for travel packages to learn about issues like modern slavery.

In-Flight Videos, Hotel Trainings

At Thai airports, banners greet visitors with warnings that human trafficking could “destroy” the country. A video flashes the message: “Keep Thailand the Land of Smiles for all.”

The government has also enlisted Thai Airways to show anti-trafficking in-flight videos on its international routes since February, said Nuttavika Tamthai, a spokeswoman for the national carrier.

In shopping malls, cinemas and train stations across the capital, Bangkok, videos show visitors how to look out for signs of human trafficking.

Some highlight sex exploitation, while another shows a child begging under a separate campaign called “Can You See Me?”

“This is a step in the right direction,” said Malina Enlund from the anti-trafficking group A21, which has partnered with Thai authorities on the campaign since mid-2017.

“The Thai government alone cannot solve the problem. We need the hotel groups. We need the tourists. We need everybody who can to join in,” Enlund said.

The Australia-based group is training hotel staff in Thailand’s seaside resort of Pattaya — a hotspot for sex tourism — on how to spot trafficking signs.

The Thai tourism body said in March that Thailand is aiming to move forward as a “quality destination” and it strongly opposed any form of sex tourism.

An estimated 425,500 people live in conditions of modern slavery in Thailand, according to the Global Slavery Index 2016 by the Walk Free Foundation, a charity group, including migrant workers from Cambodia and Laos and women exploited in the sex industry.

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Lucky for Some: Chinese City Launches Wind Power Lottery to Ease Grid Strains

Posted: 17 Apr 2018 09:50 PM PDT

SHANGHAI — The city of Yanan, a major wind power base in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, has introduced a lottery system to decide which wind projects will go ahead this year, a sign that grid constraints are forcing local governments to restrict capacity.

China has been aggressively developing alternative power as part of its efforts to cut pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Grid-connected wind power reached 163.7 gigawatts (GW) last year, up 10.1 percent on the year and amounting to 9.2 percent of total generating capacity.

But capacity expansion has outpaced grid construction, and large numbers of wind, solar and hydropower plants are unable to deliver all their power to consumers as a result of transmission deficiencies, a problem known as curtailment.

According to a Yanan planning agency notice seen by Reuters, the city was given permission to build 900 megawatts of wind capacity this year, but 1,300 megawatts (or 1.3 GW) have already been declared eligible for construction, forcing authorities to whittle down the total number of projects.

“After study it was decided that the lottery method should be used to determine what plans will be submitted (for approval) to the provincial development and reform commission,” it said.

The authenticity of the document was confirmed by a local municipal government official. He declined to give his name or provide details.

China aims to raise the share of non-fossil fuels in its total energy mix to around 15 percent by the end of the decade, up from 12 percent in 2015.

But while renewable power has grown rapidly, around 80 GW of wind capacity was still unable to transmit electricity to consumers in 2015. Wasted wind power amounted to around 12 percent of total generation in 2017, according to the energy regulator.

An environmental group is currently suing grid companies in the northwest for failing to fulfill their legal obligation to maximize purchases of local renewable power.

To try to prevent waste, China has drawn up guidelines aimed at preventing new plant construction in regions already suffering from surplus capacity.

It also released draft guidelines last month for a new renewable energy certificate system that will force regions to meet mandatory clean electricity utilization targets. The scheme is expected to help alleviate curtailment.

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More Pressure Needed on Myanmar to Take Back Rohingya: Bangladeshi PM

Posted: 17 Apr 2018 09:26 PM PDT

LONDON — Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Tuesday more international pressure was needed on Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees, rejecting an assertion claim by the Myanmar government that it had repatriated a family of five.

“The international community needs to put more pressure on Myanmar so that they take back their own people and ensure their security,” Hasina told an audience in London.

“Myanmar says they are ready to take back the Rohingya, but they are not taking the initiative.”

UN officials say nearly 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to escape a military crackdown since August, amid reports of murder, rape and arson by Myanmar troops and Buddhist vigilantes in actions which the United Nations has likened to "ethnic cleansing."

Myanmar has denied nearly all allegations, saying it has been waging a legitimate counter-insurgency operation.

Speaking at a separate event in London, Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson and Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland called for a meaningful investigation into reported atrocities.

“The (Myanmar) authorities need to demonstrate that they are serious about the safety and security of the Rohingya,” Johnson said.

Hasina said Bangladesh had submitted the names of 8,000 Rohingya families for repatriation to Myanmar, but that Myanmar had so far refused to take them back.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete a voluntary repatriation of the refugees in two years.

She disputed an assertion by Myanmar that it had repatriated five members of a Rohingya family from Bangladesh, describing them as having been living in the no man’s land between the two countries.

“They were living in the borderlands, with some of their family members in their camps. Maybe (Myanmar) wants to show the world they are taking them back. It’s a good sign. If they want, then why only 1 family? We have already submitted the names of 8,000 (Rohingya) families, but they’ve not taken them back,” she said.

Hasina also confirmed a plan to move 100,000 Rohingya refugees to a uninhabited low-lying island in the Bay of Bengal, dismissing fears that it would put them at the mercy of floods.

“We are expecting to move those who are in a vulnerable place to the island. Bangladesh can always be flooding and it does. The camps are very unhealthy. We have prepared a better place for them to live, with houses and shelters where they can earn a living,” she said.

“Where they are living now, the monsoon season is coming up, there can be land erosions, accidents are taking place.”

Aid agencies, however, are fearful of the relocation plan and believe it would expose Rohingya refugees to cyclones, floods and human traffickers.

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Saturday, April 14, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Preserving a Musical Water Festival Tradition

Posted: 14 Apr 2018 01:20 AM PDT

Kyaw Kha: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week we'll discuss Thingyan Than Gyat (antiphonal chants). Ko Min Thway Thit, of the Oway Than Gyat group, and Ko Myittar, of the  Thardu-par-byar Than Gyat group, will join me to discuss this. I'm The Irrawaddy's chief reporter, Kyaw Kha.

You have been conducting rehearsals for Thingyan Than Gyat. I hope those Than Gyat will represent the people. What will your Than Gyat be about?

Min Thway Thit: The slogan of our group is Oway, representing the people's voices. As in previous years, our Than Gyat will reflect social problems facing the people and shortcomings of the executive branch, as per our slogan. We speak up for the people on their behalf and reflect social, political and economic issues.

KK: What will the Than Gyat of Thardu-par-byar be about?

Myittar: “Thardu” is the word used by Myanmar people at donation ceremonies. In Burmese it means “good.” Our Than Gyat are amusing and satirical and urge people to do good deeds, not to have evil minds, and to have good hearts.

KK: What will your group mainly point out?

Myittar: We'll highlight the law. It is important. I was banned from engaging in art for ten years for no apparent reason. And it was not a written ban, but an oral ban. But our Than Gyat for this coming Thingyan will not be about my experience, but about things which have been reported in dailies and weeklies, for example drug seizures. You have seen the reports about the seizures of containers of drugs in the newspapers. The chant will use two homonyms (in Burmese) — "the outer wheel is for driving, the inner dope is for selling." Again, the owners were never arrested, but the containers loaded with drugs were seized. So we’re asking if the steering wheel or the car keys drove the drugs.

KK: Than Gyat groups are required (by the government) to submit their Than Gyat scripts to the censorship committee. Have you submitted yours?

MTT: I didn't.

Myittar: We are not competing in the antiphonal chant contest (organized by the government). Our group only does it for entertainment. We will perform at the wards, pavilions and places that invite us. We don't mind if the place is far or near; we will perform anywhere if invited. But I have asked that they cover our fuel costs, because cars can't be driven on water.

KK: I think the censorship committee has concerns, for example, about racial and religious chants.

Myittar: Of course.

KK: Why do you think they review the Than Gyat? Do you think they should do so or not?

MTT: The announcement of the committee said it wants to make sure Than Gyat have no words that might incite racial and religious feelings or contain personal attacks. But then, most of those who write Than Gyat are artists. Most ordinary people do not know how to write Than Gyat properly.  Artists who write Than Gyat represent and serve the interests of the people, so we don't believe they would write chants about things that might harm the interests of the people. Everyone accepts that art is the birth right of people. And most artists cherish peace and understand its importance. So I believe they won't make personal attacks or provoke conflicts between races and religions. Genuine artists won't do that. This is from an artistic point of view. Again, from a political point of view, freedom of speech is the basic feature of a democracy. We can say that it is not a democracy without it. If we are a democracy, why restrict the expression of people or artists or politicians? If we want to show the international community that we are building a democracy, there is no reason for such restrictions. From a political point of view, such regulations should not be imposed. It is unnecessary when there are other regulations the government should enforce, for example to reduce road accidents and so on during the Thingyan festival. The government has not issued necessary regulations but issued regulations that are unnecessary. From a political point of view, it is unnecessary to scrutinize Than Gyat. Than Gyat were allowed without restrictions since the time of the monarchy. They are not loaded political speeches.  By nature they are satirical and constructive criticism and reflect public opinion. They are not a problem. Requiring to submit Than Gyat is destroying their nature. Because of this we didn't submit our Than Gyat scripts to the censorship committee. We don't want to submit them and we think that regulation is unnecessary.

KK: So Than Gyat are a form of art, and represent public voices. U Myittar, you have written Than Gyat since the time of the Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP) government and you continue to compose them. How would you define Than Gyat?

Myittar: Some people think that Thingyan Than Gyat are all about politics. It is not true. It is making fun, in a constructive way, of rumors or of what is happening in the town. For example, avian flu breaks out in foreign countries, but we say Myanmar does not need to worry and we should only be worried about boiled garden pea flu and water convolvulus flu (which are the main food for many people in Myanmar because they cannot afford chicken).

KK: We can say that Than Gyat were repressed under the military regimes. They came back to life around 2012, and younger people like you, Ko Min Thway Thit, have composed Than Gyat. Why did you join the circle of Than Gyat groups?

MTT: We grew up in a period when there were no Thingyan Than Gyat. We developed an interest in them only after former Than Gyat composers tried to revive them after 2010. Previously we only knew about Than Gyat from parents, and our knowledge about them was largely limited. Later, Than Gyat groups emerged and we found that they represent the voices of the people and that what they point out in an amusing way is true. From them we can hear the truth that people from all walks of life accept. So we thought it was a lovely tradition of the country, and we felt that we should maintain it. And we also want the people of our generation to appreciate it. So from the old antiphonal chant composers we learned their experiences, their knowledge and how they created Than Gyat in their time. And from books we learned the history of Than Gyat, their rules of composition and their forms, from the Yadanabon period (of King Mindon) to the modern Than Gyat created by (director) Maung Myo Min. As we learned about Than Gyat we fell in love with them. And we want to spread them among the youth. Again, rap, which is popular among youth today, is also a form of expression. It may be recited fast or slow with different melodies. The basic concepts of the two are the same. We believe a young person will definitely like Than Gyat if he understands and appreciates their nature. So we have created Than Gyat believing that this lovely tradition should be maintained and hoping to spread it among the youth.

KK: U Myittar, you have composed Than Gyat since the time of the BSPP government. Have you seen any tangible changes resulted from Than Gyat during that time?

Myittar: In 2012 a foreign language school provided funding to revive the tradition. Thingyan antiphonal chant composers came together. I invited Maung Maung Myint from the Four Signs group established by U Kyemon, and other friends. Director Maung Thi also joined us to write Than Gyat. But when we submitted the Than Gyat scripts (to the government censorship board), we were not allowed to sing. Those Than Gyat were not critical of the government. We only spoke about the price differences between now and the past. In the past, a longyi was 30 kyats, but now it is 6,000 kyats. Our Thardu-par-byar group — including Kutho, Bay Lu Wa and me — sang Than Gyat during Thingyans in 2012 and 2013.  In 2014 we saw other antiphonal chant groups. This is a change. Previously the door was shut, and we three gradually opened it. And later all those who loved Thingyan pushed the door together, and the door finally opened. It is a change and an achievement, I believe.

KK: Are there people who are afraid of Thingyan Than Gyat?

Myittar: Those who are immoral and who do not have sympathy will fear them. We are a Buddhist-majority country, and we must have sympathy and integrity. It is taught by Buddhist monks and at schools also. It is also included in civic education. How precious sympathy and integrity are to a person in life! We sing Than Gyat to urge people to have sympathy and integrity.

KK: Ko Min Thway Thit, what measures do you think are required to restore the vitality of antiphonal chant composers?

MTT: There is a need to provide a great deal of support. Antiphonal chant groups go around in cars and sing out of their own pockets because of their interest in Than Gyat. There is a lot of room for improvement in terms of composing techniques. There is a generation gap and we can only learn what is in our reach. There have been no public workshops on Than Gyat or paper-reading sessions that people could participate in. While there is a need for technical support, there is also a need to provide Than Gyat groups with financial support so that they can perform in every Thingyan. Creating Than Gyat needs more than paper and a pen. We need to gather people and arrange cars. If Than Gyat composers can dedicate more time to writing Than Gyat, we will see better Than Gyat.

KK: What are the differences between the BSPP government and now regarding Than Gyat?

Myittar: Costs are different. When I was a student, I got a shield made of wood (as a prize in a Than Gyat contest). It was quite memorable and I miss that moment even though it was not a cash prize. And I was happy when revelers called the shield a condensed milk tin. It is the taste of Thingyan. Nobody shouts “condensed milk tin” today. Revelers don't care who wins the prize. But they do watch the decorated Thingyan cars in the evenings. As in the past, revelers now follow and watch the decorated car they like…. We sing Than Gyat because it is our hobby. As you have said, Thingyan is just for fun for many people. But Than Gyat singers spend out of their own pockets and urge people to have sympathy and integrity. In fact, they are philanthropists working for the country and the people and for peace. I have written in my Than Gyat that singing peace songs will not bring peace, but dialogue around the table will. As I said during the performance at the dinner reception for the new president: "I am not teaching grandma how to suck eggs. It is better to spell Nyein Chan Yay (the Burmese word for peace) as Nya than Nga." But I was not able to explain it during the performance. I said it because Nya means peacefulness of night and Nga can mean ego (in Burmese).

KK: Thank you for your contributions!

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Preserving a Musical Water Festival Tradition appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Thursday, April 12, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Zuckerberg Urged to Take Genuine Steps to Stop Use of FB to Spread Hate in Myanmar

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 08:13 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar digital rights advocates and civil society representatives on Thursday urged Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to hire a "sufficient" quantity of Myanmar-language content reviewers who have a good understanding of the situation in the country, and to implement effective systems to curb hate speech and messages inciting violence.

The US-based social media giant has been accused of contributing to the spread of fake news and hate speech in the country via accounts opened by users who seek to inflame communal conflict.

Last week, a group of six Myanmar civil society organizations published an open letter to Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive officer, in which they criticized the "inadequate response" of the company in reviewing reports of hate speech on the social media platform.

The six groups are Phandeeyar, Myanmar ICT for Development (MIDO), Equality Myanmar, Burma Monitor, Center of Social Integrity, and Myanmar Human Rights Educator Network.

The open letter followed Zuckerberg's interview with US-based digital media outlet Vox, in which he said the company's systems had stopped a harmful message from being sent between users in Myanmar via Facebook's Messenger application. He said his company is paying a lot of attention to the detection of such messages. In response, the CSOs expressed surprise that he had raised that particular case as an example of the effectiveness of his systems, saying it exemplified "the very opposite of effective moderation."

The case mentioned in the letter involved two different messages sent separately to Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar in September last year, with the aim of inciting violence. The groups raised the case with Facebook but the messages circulated on social media for days.

At a press conference at the downtown Yangon office of Phandeeyar, the six CSOs and human rights activists issued a six-point demand to Facebook, calling on it to emphasize detection, ban individuals who spread hate speech on the platform, invest more in technology to monitor such speech, and to be more transparent in implementing systematic mechanisms, among other things.

Aung Myo Min, executive director of the Myanmar-based human rights advocacy group Equality Myanmar, said the intention of the open letter was not to control the use of Facebook in Myanmar or individual freedom of expression, but to prevent abuse of the platform to sow hatred among communities.

"Facebook has become an essential part of our daily social life," Aung Myo Min said.

"When there are increasing abuses of the platform, it's more dangerous and harmful for a country like Myanmar," adding that fake news and hate speech can easily do harm and cause violence in a country that is so religiously and ethnically diverse.

"It puts a real burden on the government too," he said.

Overreliance on Third Parties

Htaike Htaike, director at MIDO, said the open letter created an opportunity to highlight the challenging situation in Myanmar when it comes to using Facebook.

"The case we stressed in the open letter was not the only incident involving Facebook that incited religious conflict. There were several similar cases in the past," she said.

"If Facebook only relies on reports and information from groups like us, it will be impossible for the company to implement effective and sustainable mechanisms to tackle hate speech in the long run," she said.

In a personal apology letter to the Myanmar CSO groups on April 6, Zuckerberg said his company was building artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help Facebook identify abusive, hateful or false content even before it is flagged by community members.

The groups responded with another letter the following day stressing that the proposed improvements would not be sufficient to ensure Myanmar users receive the "same standards of care" as those in the U.S. or Europe.

"When things go wrong in Myanmar, the consequences can be really serious — potentially disastrous. You have yourself publicly acknowledged the risk of the platform being abused [to do] real harm," the letter read.

Human Resources or AI?

According to initial reports by The Guardian and The New York Times published in mid-March, political marketing firm Cambridge Analytica gained access to the personal data of 50 million Facebook users harvested through a third-party app. The number of Facebook accounts affected by the massive data scandal was later revised to as many as 87 million.

During Zuckerberg's appearance at the U.S. Senate hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday over the scandal, he was asked by Vermont Senator Patrick J. Leahy about his company's alleged role in spreading hate speech against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The senator also raised the issue of death threats against Myanmar journalist Aung Naing Soe that were spread on Facebook in November 2016.

"What's happening in Myanmar is a terrible tragedy, and we need to do more," Zuckerberg answered. When asked by Senator Heahy if he would dedicate resources to make sure hate speech is taken down within 24 hours, he replied he was "working on this."

He said Facebook was hiring "dozens" more Myanmar-language content reviewers to look for hate speech, as well as working with civil society organizations to identify "specific hate figures" who should be banned from the social media site, and working with product teams to make specific changes for the country's users.

However, Chan Myae Khine, a local tech enthusiast and owner of a digital marketing enterprise, said Facebook — as one of the biggest tech companies on Earth — needs proper AI tools rather than human resources, and to sit down with linguists, Burmese-language professors and local tech experts to create algorithms that could detect and block hate speech.

"[Hiring more Myanmar language-speaking people] is certainly not the solution as humans can always be biased and it is not practical to monitor [over] 18 million users with a hundred people," she said.

For Thant Sin, Phandeeyar's Tech for Peace manager, trying to implement AI in an automated detection system would face many difficulties in Myanmar as the country is still struggling to come up with a standard font, while Facebook content in Myanmar can be displayed in many different ethnic languages.

"Hate speech and fake news are not only being spread in the Bamar language but also in other ethnic languages," he said, adding that newly developed AI solutions deployed with sufficient human resources would be beneficial and effective.

Low Digital Literacy and Fake News 

Another challenge facing Myanmar is the general public's low level of digital literacy, he said.

"Many people still treat Facebook as if it were the Internet," he said.

According to a survey of 3,000 people last year, 38% of the surveyed people get most, if not all, of their news from Facebook. Many trust fabricated and fictitious news on the platform without verifying the source. Given such a situation, many minority groups get targeted online.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state and crossed into Bangladesh since insurgent attacks sparked a security crackdown last August.

United Nations officials investigating the crisis said last month that Facebook had been a source of anti-Rohingya propaganda. Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, said social media sites had played a "determining role" in Myanmar in spreading misinformation and hate speech that led to the violence.

Even though the platform has had negative impacts and caused harmful consequences in the country, it has also played an important role in Myanmar's democratic transition by supporting the electoral process and encouraging public engagement in politics, as well as empowering people to express their opinions and be heard as the country opened up to the world after years of isolation, Thant Sin said.

When asked by The Irrawaddy if Facebook is generally causing more harm than good in Myanmar, Chan Myae Khine disagreed, saying that underlying hatreds are a fundamental problem of the conflicts in the country.

"Any kind of conflict in Myanmar, including religious and racial ones, are because of the hatred rooted in the society. If there was no Facebook, they would still be using any platform they could access to spread hatred," she said.

"Having said that, Facebook has the power to spread things quickly and without verification."

The post Zuckerberg Urged to Take Genuine Steps to Stop Use of FB to Spread Hate in Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

SSPP, Peace Commission to Hold Two-Party Talks

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 05:33 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – The Shan State Progressive Party and the government's Peace Commission will meet at the party's Wan Hai headquarters in northern Shan State's Kehsi Township within the next three weeks, according to the commission.

According to sources close to the SSPP, the government approached the party through Sai Aik Pao, the chairman of the Shan Nationalities Development Party and the former Shan State minister for mining and forestry, late last month, proposing bilateral talks.

The two sides are currently negotiating a date for the meeting. As the Peace Commission is scheduled to meet the Karenni National Progressive Party on April 23-25, it is believed the government delegation could meet the Shan armed group after that.

The SSPP is a member of the seven-member Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), a northeast-based armed alliance which has a policy of insisting on holding collective talks with the government. Despite the policy, however, two of its members — the Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army — have met the government delegation separately on previous occasions at the behest of Chinese officials.

Peace Commission secretary U Khin Zaw Oo, a former lieutenant-general, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the meeting is planned for either late April or early May at Wan Hai.

He confirmed that they "had communicated about holding talks, as mentioned in the SSPP's statement issued on Wednesday evening," but declined to reveal what would be discussed.

On Wednesday, a fake statement was circulated online purporting to be from the SSPP and announcing that it had made plans to meet unilaterally with the PC because the KIA and UWSA had done so.

A few hours later, the SSPP issued an official statement reading: "There was a fake statement which attempted to divide the FPNCC alliance and sabotage the Peace Commission and the SSPP's optimistic approach toward national reconciliation, the peace process, regional stability and development."

Sai Nyunt Lwin, the secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, shared the SSPP's view, telling The Irrawaddy on Thursday, "It [the fake statement] is an attempt to weaken trust and cause quarrels among the FPNCC members, and to cause misunderstanding between the Shan armed group members."

Chit Min Tun contributed to this report.

The post SSPP, Peace Commission to Hold Two-Party Talks appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Concerns Raised Over Public Display of Sacred Buddhist Relic

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 05:21 AM PDT

YANGON – An unprecedented public display and procession of a sacred relic of the Buddha by the Yangon Regional Government has prompted fears that the more-than-2,500-year-old strand of hair could be damaged.

Previously enshrined in the relic chamber of Yangon's Botahtaung Pagoda, the casket was taken out from the chamber on April 1 under the supervision of Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, some senior Buddhist monks and pagoda trustees.

U Sein Maw, the director of Yangon Region's Ministry of Religious Affairs, told The Irrawaddy last week that the relic was temporarily taken out to allow repairs to be done in the chamber.

"The interior of the chamber needs renovation. Water leaks from its ceiling," he said.

According to the history of the pagoda, the religious structure was originally built by ethnic Mon some 2,500 years ago. Legend has it that two trader brothers, Tapussa and Bhalika, encountered the recently enlightened Guattama Buddha and made offerings.

The sacred hair relic of the Buddha enshrined at Botahtaung Pagoda is now open to the public to observe at a prayer hall in the pagoda compound. (Photo: Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy)

In return, the Buddha gave the brothers eight strands of his hair, which they presented to the then King of Yangon (Okkalapa). The king ordered the pagoda be built to enshrine some of the hairs while other strands were enshrined at the Shwedagon Pagoda. Due to the relics, both pagodas have become centers for pilgrimages by Buddhist devotees.

The sacred hair relic is now on open view to the public at a nearby prayer hall. At the time of The Irrawaddy's visit to the pagoda trustee board's office last week, some women were donating their jewelry and gold bracelets to the trustees.

While the display is a rare chance for Buddhists to see the sacred relic, conservationists are concerned that something bad might happen to this piece of "national heritage" during the display and procession. The relic is scheduled to be brought to another prayer hall at the Shwedagon Pagoda on Apr. 19, and will be kept there for public display until Apr. 24.

"Should a piece of national heritage like the sacred hair relic be out for a long time due to its fragility? What if it is accidentally damaged during the display and procession?" asked Daw Moe Moe Lwin, the director of the Yangon Heritage Trust.

The ceremony to take out the relic casket from the chamber on Apr 1. (Photo: Zaykabar Company / Facebook)

"I wonder if precautions have been taken," she said.

She made a comparison with Sri Lanka's Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy where that country's most important Buddhist relic— a tooth of the Buddha—is enshrined in a heavily guarded room and only open to devotees and tourists during periods of offering or prayer.

"Even when you are in the room, you don't actually see the tooth. It's kept in a gold casket which contains a series of six caskets of diminishing size," she explained.

To address the concerns, U Sein Maw said they had a well thought-out plan to protect the relic.

"We have been discussing the best way to carefully put the relic casket in the car and transport it from Botahtaung to Shwedagon Pagoda," said the religious official.

He added that the renovation of the relic chamber was part of a thorough restoration plan for the pagoda that includes recasting all the gold on the pagoda structure and replacing it on the pagoda's old umbrella, vane and diamond bud.

U Sein Maw revealed that they have estimated between 50 to 60 kilograms of gold would be needed to coat the umbrella crown, diamond bud and vane.

On April 1, the chief minister and his wife, Yangon Mayor U Maung Maung Soe, some senior monks, some businessmen from the Zaykabar conglomerate and the Shwe Than Lwin group joined a ceremony to remove the relic and circulate the pagoda three times while holding it.

During World War II, the pagoda was completely destroyed by the British Royal Air Force when they bombed jetties along the Hlaing River.  The relic casket was found among the rubble as workers cleared the remains of the structure. The pagoda was reconstructed in the early independence era of Myanmar.

The post Concerns Raised Over Public Display of Sacred Buddhist Relic appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Wa Restaurant Brings Food From the Mountains to the Big City

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 04:19 AM PDT

There are a lot of different ethnic restaurants in Yangon, making it easy to find Shan, Mon, Rakhine and Chin foods. I recently made a rarer discovery, a restaurant selling Wa food. Called Root Kitchen, it has been introducing Yangon residents to the food from upper Myanmar for two years from its location on Bo Myat Tun Road.

Root Kitchen serves traditional Wa food from the northern part of Shan State. Most of the ingredients as well as the tealeaves and traditional Wa liquor come directly from the Wa region, a two-day journey from Yangon.

Root Kitchen is the mission of three ethnic Wa including two sisters, Ipkaw Pang and Phyone Poung Yon.

"I was working in Singapore and when I arrived back in Yangon I didn't see anything that was representative of Wa culture. So, I thought I should do something for our ethnic group and find a way to educate other people about us. And, I decided to use food," said Ipkaw Pang of her modern little restaurant.

A traditional Wa dish called Pumpkin Moik, which is served at Root Kitchen in a wet style./Htet Wai/The Irrawaddy

She notes that there is another Wa restaurant in Yangon but adds the "food we serve is more authentic."

Root Kitchen opened its doors in the lower part of Bo Myat Tun Road in 2016. The restaurant's signboard is a bit small, so you need to look for it carefully.

When I visited, it was already after lunchtime at around 3pm but there were still a few tables of guests. A big timber and driftwood table stood just inside the entrance. Cushion covers feature Wa traditional textile designs. The walls are decorated with Wa musical instruments, traditional fabric weavings in bamboo frames and a bull's head.

"As you see, we decorated the shop with bits of Wa culture but not too much. We just added a twist to the modern decorations to keep it comfortable," Phyone Poung Yon said.

With the subdued lighting and soft music playing in the background, the restaurant has a warm vibe.

Smoked beef salad/Htet Wai/The Irrawaddy

A little book is placed on every table that includes an introduction about the Wa people, their traditional dishes and the ingredients used as well as details on where they come from. It also lists the food available at the restaurant.

A traditional Wa dish is Moik, which comes in three kinds: dry, wet and soupy. Root Kitchen offers only the wet style.

"We think people will easily accept the wet type because it's not too dry and not too wet. So, it will be OK for people tasting it for the first time," Ipkaw Pang said.

Moik is like a soup or stew cooked with a strain of brown rice that comes from the sisters' hometown in Wa, and which, they said, is essential for cooking Moik properly.

The Wa dishes offered on the menu are mainly boiled, grilled, or come in the form of a salad and many are spicy. Most of the dishes also claim to provide health benefits.

"Usually, Wa people live in mountainous areas. So, when they go into the jungle to hunt, they also pick herbs. Then, they put everything together in the meal and cook it with brown rice," Phyone Poung Yon explained.

I opted for their popular 'Pumpkin Moik' (3000 kyats), and could taste the freshness of the pumpkin and pumpkin leaves. It was not very wet, nor very dry, while the brown rice was soft and overall it was very tasty.

Grilled lamb chop /Htet Wai/The Irrawaddy

I tried another hot item, 'Spicy Chicken and Glass Noodles', which came in a large portion that was too much for two people. It was a spicy soup and a bit oily but the taste leaves you craving more.

The item my companion and I liked the most was 'Smoked Beef Salad' (8000 kyat), which we fully recommend trying. First, they put the beef out in the sun to dry, and then smoke it. Then, they stretch the smoked beef into small strips. Finally, they make mix it in a salad with chili.

Among the grilled items, I tried 'Lamb Chop' (11,000 kyat), which included three pieces on three bones. The meat was so soft and had a strong aroma of charcoal because of the way it was grilled. That makes the meal special, and I recommend that one too.

Lettuce wrap fish fillet /Htet Wai/The Irrawaddy

There is a great variety to choose from on the menu and staff is helpful and friendly. If you want to know about of a particular item's ingredients, just ask and they are happy to explain.

Root Kitchen offers Wa food that is quite different from the usual Myanmar fare you can get in Yangon. Most of the dishes are spicy but the particularly hot ones are marked with a small chili icon on the menu. You can also tell the waiter whether you want it to be more spicy or less.

Phyone Poung Yon, left, and Ipkaw Pang, the two sisters who help run the Root Kitchen/Htet Wai/The Irrawaddy

The cocktail menu offers "Root Specials" mixed with Wa liquor such as Root-O-Tea, Wa Tang Clan, Wajito and so on. They also have fresh juices and several varieties of coffee. (The drink prices range from 2000-7,000 kyat).

The chef at Root Kitchen is not Wa, but he has been trained by the owners and can cook Wa foods very well, Ipkaw Pang said.

A bartender making a drink at Root Kitchen's bar /Htet Wai/The Irrawaddy

"There'll be a new chef joining us in the coming month. So, there'll be a new menu that will come with him," she added.

So, if you are a foodaholic and want to try some new ethnic foods, Root Kitchen is a worthy place to chill. I recommended it for all visitors.

The post Wa Restaurant Brings Food From the Mountains to the Big City appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

President Orders Anti-Corruption Panel Not to Be Influenced by Powerful Figures

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 02:59 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—President U Win Myint has instructed members of the Anti-Corruption Commission not to be influenced by powerful figures in undertaking their duties, and to report to him if they encounter cases of powerful people protecting those accused of corruption.

The president issued the instruction during a meeting with the commission members at his residence in Naypyitaw on Wednesday.

The commission is the first governmental body to meet the president since his inauguration. President U Win Myint addressed the topic of fighting corruption in his inaugural address to Parliament.

The president said corruption negatively impacted foreign investment, national development and the image of the country, and urged the commission to work without fear or favor.

"He said this because there are people who would protect the accused. [These people] might come to the commission and try to talk us into reducing the punishment for the accused. In such cases, the president instructed us not to pardon [the accused]," commission member Daw Lei Lei Thwin told reporters in Naypyitaw.

The commission members were encouraged by the president's words and vowed to fight corruption head on, she said.

The commission expects to open more offices in accordance with the instructions of the president, according to its spokesperson, U Han Nyunt.

President U Win Myint also met Union Chief Justice U Htun Htun Oo and the other Supreme Court judges. He called for judicial impartiality and swift trials, and urged the judges to show logical consistency and moral courage in applying the law.

Only when the country is corruption-free and is governed by the rule of law will it attract more foreign investment, he said.

Political analyst Dr Yan Myo Thein said the president's meetings with the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Supreme Court judges represented a major step forward in fighting corruption and promoting the rule of law.

"There is a need to educate people and mobilize their support in fighting corruption. With widespread public participation, anti-corruption efforts will work better," he said.

"Rather than taking action against low-level civil servants, it is important that the Anti-Corruption Commission monitors the situation and investigates senior government officials like ministers, deputy ministers, permanent secretaries, directors-general, and leaders of the ruling party who are accused of corruption," he said.

From January to March, the Anti-Corruption Commission received more than 1,700 complaints of bribery and corruption, most of them against the Home Affairs Ministry.

The post President Orders Anti-Corruption Panel Not to Be Influenced by Powerful Figures appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Tatmadaw Launches Major Offensive Against KIA Headquarters, Bases

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 02:51 AM PDT

The Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) attacked the Kachin Independence Army's headquarters and other bases on Wednesday in a major new offensive including both ground and air strikes, according to local sources. The attacks follow the KIA's raid on a Tatmadaw base earlier this week.

KIA spokesperson Colonel Naw Bu told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the Tatmadaw was using artillery to shell areas surrounding the KIA's headquarters in Laiza.

"They started shelling our Laiza headquarters at 2 pm [local time]. They also attacked some of our other bases. They used fighter jets to strike KIA Brigade 2 and KIA Battalion 11," Col Naw Bu said.

Brigade 2 and Battalion 11 are based in the Hukawng Valley, where the KIA recently announced the launch of a guerrilla-style military offensive, including the laying of landmines, against the Tatmadaw. Illegal mine workers in the area were given a deadline of April 10 to leave the area.

The Tatmadaw's attacks killed one civilian banana plantation worker and wounded three others on Wednesday, according to the Northern Alliance.

Col Naw Bu confirmed that some civilians had been wounded.

The Northern Alliance is a bloc of armed ethnic groups including the KIA, TNLA, AA, and MNDAA. It issued a statement on its Facebook page saying that the civilian casualties occurred when a shell landed on the plantation at 4 pm local time.

The Alliance said the Myanmar military used both air and ground forces to attack the KIA's Brigade 2 and Battalion 11 until 4 pm, with artillery barrages continuing until 5 pm.

The Tatmadaw attacked at least five KIA locations in the Hukawng Valley, according to the Northern Alliance, which said the Myanmar military had effectively declared war on it by attacking one of its members.

The escalation of fighting in Kachin follows the KIA's April 6 raid on the Tatmadaw's Battalion 86, which is under Regional Operations Command 2, based in Tanai Township.

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

The Tatmadaw has ordered 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.

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.

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Mon Party Holds Meeting to Justify Ceasefire Deal, Get Feedback

Posted: 12 Apr 2018 02:34 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The New Mon State Party (NMSP) wrapped up a three-day meeting on Wednesday to explain its reasons for signing the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in February and to gather public feedback.

The NMSP and Lahu Democratic Union signed the agreement at the same time, joining the original eight ethnic armed groups that joined the NCA in 2015.

More than 250 people joined the NMSP’s meeting this week in Ye Township, Mon State, including politicians, academics and civil society representatives.

Nai Ong MaNge, a member of the NMSP’s executive committee, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that his party took recommendations from the participants and explained the NCA process, including how its political, social and military provisions would be carried out.

“People have different perceptions of what the NCA is. Some think it is just a political agreement. Others think it is just a military agreement,” he said. “We explained the NCA implementation process to the stakeholders, about the political dialogue and joint ceasefire monitoring.”

Last month the NMSP cancelled a public consultation for ethnic Mon in neighboring Karen State because the Myanmar army insisted that attendance had to be limited to 30 people. But Nai Ong MaNge said the NMSP can hold meetings of any size it wants in areas it controls in Mon State.

"The public consultations should be able to convene where our Mon people reside so that they can hear all of our concerns. But it is hard for us to say something because we don't know exactly what deals they [the NMSP and government] made” before signing the NCA, said Nai Ong Mon, a civil society representative who attended the meeting.

He told The Irrawaddy that participants shared their thoughts on peace building, federalism and other issues concerning land and the economy.

The NMSP said it would hold a second, similar meeting in another NMSP-controlled part of Mon State on April 26 and 27.

Nai Ong MaNge said the party would then hold a national-level political dialogue in Ye on May 5-7, in preparation for the government-led 21st Century Panglong peace conference scheduled for later that month.

The post Mon Party Holds Meeting to Justify Ceasefire Deal, Get Feedback appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Special Report: How the Families of 10 Massacred Rohingya Fled Myanmar

Posted: 11 Apr 2018 10:33 PM PDT

KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh — Rehana Khatun dreamed her husband came home. He appeared without warning in their village in western Myanmar, outside their handsome wooden house shaded by mango trees. “He didn’t say anything,” she said. “He was only there for a few seconds, and then he was gone.” Then Rehana Khatun woke up.

She woke up in a shack of ragged tarpaulin on a dusty hillside in Bangladesh. Her husband, Nur Mohammed, is never coming home. He was one of 10 Rohingya Muslim men massacred last September by Myanmar soldiers and Rakhine Buddhists at the coastal village of Inn Din.

Rehana Khatun’s handsome wooden house is gone, too. So is everything in it. The Rohingya homes in Inn Din were burned to the ground, and what was once a close-knit community, with generations of history in Myanmar, is now scattered across the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh.

A Reuters investigation in February revealed what happened to the 10 Rohingya men. On September 1, soldiers snatched them from a large group of Rohingya villagers detained by a beach near Inn Din. The next morning, according to eyewitnesses, the men were shot by the soldiers or hacked to death by their Rakhine Buddhist neighbors. Their bodies were dumped in a shallow grave.

The relatives of the 10 men left behind that afternoon wouldn’t learn of the killings for many months — in some cases not until Reuters reporters tracked them down in the refugee camps and told them what had happened. The survivors waited by the beach with rising anxiety and dread as the sun set and the men didn’t return.

This is their story. Three of them fled Inn Din while heavily pregnant. All trekked north in monsoon rain through forests and fields. Drenched and terrified, they dodged military patrols and saw villages abandoned or burning. Some saw dead bodies. They walked for days with little food or water.

They were not alone. Inn Din’s families joined nearly 700,000 Rohingya escaping a crackdown by the Myanmar military, launched after attacks by Rohingya militants on Aug. 25. The United Nations called it “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” which Myanmar has denied.

On Tuesday, the military said it had sentenced seven soldiers to long prison terms for their role in the Inn Din massacre. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay told Reuters the move was a “very positive step” that showed the military “won’t give impunity for those who have violated the rules of engagement.” Myanmar, he said, doesn’t allow systematic human rights abuses.

Reuters was able to corroborate many but not all details of the personal accounts in this story.

The Rohingya streamed north until they reached the banks of the Naf River. On its far shore lay Bangladesh, and safety. Many Inn Din women gave boatmen their jewelry to pay for the crossing; others begged and fought their way on board. They made the perilous crossing at night, vomiting with sickness and fear.

Now in Bangladesh, they struggle to piece together their lives without husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. Seven months have passed since the massacre, but the grief of Inn Din’s survivors remains raw. One mother told Reuters her story, then fainted.

Like Rehana Khatun, they all say they dream constantly about the dead. Some dreams are bittersweet — a husband coming home, a son praying in the mosque — and some are nightmares. One woman says she sees her husband clutching a stomach wound, blood oozing through his fingers.

Daytime brings little relief. They all remember, with tormenting clarity, the day the soldiers took their men away.

“Allah saved me”

Abdul Amin still wonders why he was spared.

Soldiers had arrived at Inn Din on Aug. 27 and started torching the houses of Rohingya residents with the help of police and Rakhine villagers. Amin, 19, said he and his family sought refuge in a nearby forest with more than a hundred other Rohingya.

Four days later, as Inn Din burned and the sound of gunfire crackled through the trees, they made a dash for the beach, where hundreds of villagers gathered in the hope of escaping the military crackdown. Then the soldiers appeared, said Amin, and ordered them to squat with their heads down.

Amin crouched next to his mother, Nurasha, who threw her scarf over his head. The soldiers ignored Amin, perhaps mistaking him for a woman, but dragged away his brother Shaker Ahmed. “I don’t know why they chose him and not me,” Amin said. “Allah saved me.”

The soldiers, according to Amin and other witnesses, said they were taking the men away for a “meeting.” Their distraught families waited by the beach in vain. As night fell, they returned to the forest where, in the coming days, they made the decision that haunts many of them still: to save themselves and their families by fleeing to Bangladesh — and leaving the captive men behind.

Abdu Shakur waited five days for the soldiers to release his son Rashid Ahmed, 18. By then, most Rohingya had set out for Bangladesh and the forest felt lonely and exposed. Abdu Shakur said he wanted to leave, too, but his wife, Subiya Hatu, refused.

“I won’t go without my son,” she said.

“You must come with me,” he said. “If we stay here, they’ll kill us all.” They had three younger children to bring to safety, he told her. Rashid was their oldest, a bright boy who loved to study; he would surely be released soon and follow them. He didn’t. Rashid was one of the 10 killed in the Inn Din massacre.

“We did the right thing,” says Abdu Shakur today, in a shack in the Kutupalong camp. “I feel terrible, but we had to leave that place.” As he spoke, his wife sat behind him and sobbed into her headscarf.

“Day of judgment”

By now, the northward exodus was gathering pace. The Rohingya walked in large groups, sometimes thousands strong, stretching in ragged columns along the wild Rakhine coastline. At night, the men stood guard while women and children rested beneath scraps of tarpaulin. Rain often made sleep impossible.

Amid this desperate throng was Shaker Ahmed’s wife, Rahama Khatun, who was seven months pregnant, and their eight children, aged one to 18. Like many Rohingya, they had escaped Inn Din with little more than the clothes they wore. “We brought nothing from the house, not even a single plate,” she said.

They survived the journey by drinking from streams and scrounging food from other refugees. Rahama said she heaved herself along slippery paths as quickly as she could. She was scared about the health of her unborn child, but terrified of getting left behind.

Rahama’s legs swelled up so much that she couldn’t walk. “My children carried me on their shoulders. They said, ‘We’ve lost our father. We don’t want to lose you.'” Then they reached the beach at Na Khaung To, and a new ordeal began.

Na Khaung To sits on the Myanmar side of the Naf River. Bangladesh is about 6 km away. For Rohingya from Inn Din and other coastal villages, Na Khaung To was the main crossing point.

It was also a bottleneck. There were many Bangladeshi fishing boats to smuggle Rohingya across the river, but getting on board depended on the money or valuables the refugees could muster and the mercy of the boatmen. Some were stranded at Na Khaung To for weeks.

The beach was teeming with sick, hungry and exhausted people, recalled Nurjan, whose son Nur Mohammed was one of the 10 men killed at Inn Din. “Everyone was desperate,” Nurjan said. “All you could see was heads in every direction. It was like the Day of Judgment.”

Crossing the Naf

Bangladesh was perhaps a two-hour ride across calm estuarine waters. But the boatmen wanted to avoid any Bangladesh navy or border guard vessels that might be patrolling the river. So they set off at night, taking a more circuitous route through open ocean. Most boats were overloaded. Some sank in the choppy water, drowning dozens of people.

The boatmen charged about 8,000 taka (about $100) per person. Some women paid with their earrings and nose-rings. Others, like Abdu Shakur, promised to reimburse the boatman upon reaching Bangladesh with money borrowed from relatives there.

He and his wife, Subiya Hatu, who had argued over leaving their oldest son behind at Inn Din, set sail for Bangladesh. Another boat of refugees sailed along nearby. Both vessels were heaving with passengers, many of them children.

In deeper water, Abdu Shakur watched with horror as the other boat began to capsize, spilling its passengers into the waves. “We could hear people crying for help,” he said. “It was impossible to rescue them. Our boat would have sunk, too.”

Abdu Shakur and his family made it safely to Bangladesh. So did the other families bereaved by the Inn Din massacre. During the crossing, some realized they would never see their men again, or Myanmar.

Shuna Khatu wept on the boat. She felt she already knew what the military had done to her husband, Habizu. She was pregnant with their third child. “They killed my husband. They burned my house. They destroyed our village,” she said. “I knew I’d never go back.”

The only photo

Two months later, in a city-sized refugee camp in Bangladesh, Shuna Khatu gave birth to a boy. She called him Mohammed Sadek.

Rahama Khatun, who fled Myanmar on the shoulders of her older children while seven months pregnant, also had a son. His name is Sadikur Rahman.

The two women were close neighbors in Inn Din. They now live about a mile apart in Kutupalong-Balukhali, a so-called mega-camp of about 600,000 souls. Both survive on twice-a-month rations of rice, lentils and cooking oil. They live in flimsy, mud-floored shacks of bamboo and plastic that the coming monsoon could blow or wash away.

It was here, as the families struggled to rebuild their lives, that they learned their men were dead. Some heard the news from Reuters reporters who had tracked them down. Others saw the Reuters investigation of the Inn Din massacre or the photos that accompanied it.

Two of those photos showed the men kneeling with their hands behind their backs or necks. A third showed the men’s bodies in a mass grave. The photos were obtained by Reuters reporters Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, who were arrested in December while investigating the Inn Din massacre. The two face charges, and potentially 14-year jail sentences, under Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act.

Rahama Khatun cropped her husband’s image from one of the photos and laminated it. This image of him kneeling before his captors is the only one she has. Every other family photo was burned along with their home at Inn Din.

The post Special Report: How the Families of 10 Massacred Rohingya Fled Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Minister Assures Rohingya in Bangladesh Repatriation is a Priority

Posted: 11 Apr 2018 09:45 PM PDT

KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh — A Myanmar minister told Rohingya Muslim refugees in Bangladesh on Wednesday their repatriation was a priority during the first visit by a top Myanmar official to victims of what the United Nations says was “ethnic cleansing” by the Myanmar army.

Social Welfare Minister U Win Myat Aye, who is leading rehabilitation efforts in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State, met about 50 Rohingya gathered in a community center run by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the Kutupalong refugee camp in southeast Bangladesh.

Acknowledging their mistrust and fear of Myanmar, U Win Myat Aye told the Rohingya to set aside the past and prepare to “go back to your own residences,” promising new villages would be built with hospitals and schools.

“The most important thing is to start the repatriation process as soon as possible. We can overcome all of the difficulties,” he said as he left the meeting.

A Bangladesh foreign ministry official said his country wanted to show the visiting minister the challenges it was facing in hosting the refugees. U Win Myat Ayat is expected to meet Bangladesh’s foreign minister in Dhaka on Thursday.

Bangladesh wants the refugees to go home as quickly as possible and officials said this week they hoped the minister’s visit would speed up repatriation.

But some refugees have said they are worried about going back to Buddhist-majority Myanmar, fearing persecution.

When asked about whether Rohingya could be granted Myanmar citizenship, which they had been long denied, the minister replied: "We are trying to have that.”

For now, Myanmar is offering Rohingya national verification cards (NVCs), which some refugees regard as inadequate.

The meeting became heated only when U Win Myat Aye tried to persuade the refugees to accept the NVCs, telling them they would be given an opportunity to apply for nationality later.

"Before, applying for the citizenship card took very long and [you] don't get it in the end. Now, it won't take long and you might get it. You might get it according to the law."

Dozens crowded around the minister, showing him their parents’ and grandparents' identity documents and raising their voices to be heard.

Some remained unconvinced by the minister’s words and later voiced their doubts about the Myanmar government’s sincerity.

"At first I was glad to hear the minister was coming here, but after hearing his speech I am very upset," said Mohammed Showife, 29, from Buthidaung.

"The Myanmar government does not wish to solve the problem," Showife told Reuters.

Myanmar has rejected accusations of ethnic cleansing in Rakhine, saying its security forces launched a legitimate counter-insurgency operation on Aug. 25 in response to Rohingya militant attacks.

According to UN officials, nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since then. Refugees have reported killings, burnings, looting and rape by members of the Myanmar security forces and Buddhist vigilantes.

Myanmar has dismissed most such accounts, but the army said on Tuesday that seven soldiers had been jailed for 10 years with hard labor for participating in a massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in a village in September.

The two countries reached a deal in November to begin repatriation within two months, but it has not begun, with Rohingya, who face restrictions on their movements in Myanmar, still arriving in Bangladesh.

Huts of bamboo and plastic sheets will provide meager shelter for refugees when the monsoon rains and storms hit Cox’s Bazar, the low-lying coastal strip bordering Myanmar where the camps are located, in June.

The minister asked the refugees whether it was better for them to go to Myanmar or somewhere else. They responded in unison: "We want to go to Myanmar."

The post Myanmar Minister Assures Rohingya in Bangladesh Repatriation is a Priority appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh, UNHCR to Ink Preliminary Plan on Rohingya Repatriation

Posted: 11 Apr 2018 09:31 PM PDT

DHAKA/GENEVA — The United Nations refugee agency is set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh laying out a framework for the voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, an agency spokesman said on Wednesday.

The MoU is aimed at establishing cooperation between the UN agency and Bangladesh “on the safe, voluntary, and dignified returns of refugees in line with international standards, if and when the conditions are conducive to returns,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Andrej Mahecic.

Mahecic and Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque said the MoU will be signed on Friday in Geneva.

Another Bangladeshi official involved in the discussions said the MoU is likely to state that the UNHCR will vet all refugees being repatriated to ensure that the process is 100 percent voluntary.

“The whole return process will be operated as per the UNHCR, so there will be no force put on the refugee to go back,” said the source.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled a military crackdown and crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine State since August. The refugees are living in cramped camps at Cox’s Bazar, and Bangladesh is keen to urge the refugees to return home soon, especially with the oncoming monsoons expected to cause major devastation at the camps.

The official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to discuss matters with the media, said the UNHCR is expected to run a few transit sites along the border that will house refugees before they are transferred to temporary resettlement shelters in Rakhine State.

The official added that the UN body is expected to arrange sufficient funds to run the repatriation program and that both the parties would conduct promotional activities urging people to return to Myanmar.

A Myanmar minister told Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh on Wednesday that their repatriation was a priority, in the first visit by a top Myanmar official since last year’s exodus.

The bilateral MoU would be an early step in the process; work on a deal involving Bangladesh, Myanmar and the UNHCR is ongoing. That tripartite deal would aim to provide guarantees around the resettlement and safety of those that agree to be repatriated, along with assurances that officials of the UNHCR will be allowed to regularly inspect these sites.

Htin Lynn, Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told Reuters later on Wednesday that he was confident that his country could reach a deal with the UNHCR by the end of April covering safe and voluntary repatriation.

The post Bangladesh, UNHCR to Ink Preliminary Plan on Rohingya Repatriation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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