Tuesday, June 12, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Aung San Suu Kyi to Chair Peace Talks in Mon State

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 09:00 AM PDT

YANGON – State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will chair peace talks in Moulmein, Mon State, this month.

This will be the seventh round of peace talks the State Counselor has chaired over the past 18 months, following talks in Naypyitaw (twice), Shan State, Mandalay Region, Kayah State and Irrawaddy Region.

Mon State and Union officials, along with members of civil society organizations (CSOs), met at the Mon State Government office on Tuesday to discuss details and the issues to be highlighted during the peace talks.

Officials declined to discuss details of Tuesday's meeting or the planned talks. State Counselor's Office spokesperson U Zaw Htay could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Mon State-based CSOs said the planned peace talks in Mon State had not been heavily publicized, adding that they had only heard second-hand information about the talks on Tuesday — two days before the talks are reportedly due to begin on June 14.

The situation is markedly different from the lead-up to peace talks in Panglong, Shan State in February 2017, when CSOs were informed of the planned talks about 10 days beforehand, said Min Aung Htoo, a coordinator of the Mon State CSOs Network who participated in those talks.

Mon State CSO members and Mon youth whom The Irrawaddy spoke to on Tuesday said that notwithstanding the NLD leader's efforts to hold such talks, the most important thing was to be able to reduce the fighting in the northern part of the country and implement federal democratic principles through the 21st-Century Panglong Peace Conference process.

"Talk alone is not enough. Peace talks have been held five or six times, so we don't have high expectations for them. It is important to reduce the fighting and establish the federal union that the indigenous people of Myanmar seek," Min Aung Htoo said.

"Those participating in the peace talks with the State Counselor must be knowledgeable about Mon State's issues and aware of the Mon people's desires. We don't want to see people who just wear traditional Mon dress but are unable to reflect on the current political and social issues," said Min Zar Ni Oo, the secretary of the Mon Youth Network, which represents Mon people throughout the country.

Though Mon State is now relatively peaceful with less armed conflict than other parts of Myanmar, "it does not mean that we have peace," Min Zar Ni Oo added. "As long as there are human rights violations, corruption, land confiscation and implementation of big projects without consulting the public, we cannot say we have peace," he said.

The post Aung San Suu Kyi to Chair Peace Talks in Mon State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

More than 100 Rohingya Refugees Wash Ashore on Rathedaung Beach

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 08:29 AM PDT

YANGON – More than 100 Rohingya refugees had a narrow escape in the Bay of Bengal on Monday as their damaged vessel drifted ashore in northern Rakhine State's Rathedaung Township. Some of those on board said the vessel had been bound for Malaysia, but it remained unclear Tuesday whether their journey had begun in Rakhine or a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

According to a statement from the government's Information Committee, local authorities were informed in the early hours of Monday that 104 people were sheltering on a stretch of beach between Aung Bala Chaung Wa village and Don Piek village near southern Maungdaw Township. The local officials discovered a 40-ft-long, 20-ft-high boat along with 60 female and 44 male passengers. According to passengers, the hull of the boat cracked as the vessel was buffeted by strong winds. The boat eventually drifted ashore in Rathedaung.

The statement referred to the stranded passengers simply as "Islam believers", avoiding the terms "Bengali" — the name used by many in Myanmar to refer to Muslims from northern Rakhine State, seeing them as immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh who arrived during British rule — and "Rohingya" (the term used by the community itself).

Authorities transported the refugees in four vehicles to Nga Khu Ya refugee reception camp in northern Maungdaw about 85 km from Don Piek village in Rathedaung Township in order to verify the group's origins.

U San Thein, a resident of Ahngu Maw village in Rathedaung Township who had been to the site where the boat made land, told The Irrawaddy that authorities initially discovered 65 people, and found the rest later in several groups at different locations. According to him, the group comprised 10 children, 35 men and 56 women — three fewer than the count later provided by officials. Some reportedly said they had been en route to Malaysia for five days, but passengers gave conflicting statements as to the vessel's point of departure.

Some of them said they had departed from a refugee camp in Bangladesh. About 700,000 Rohingya refugees are currently sheltering in camps there after being driven out by Myanmar military clearance operations against the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which staged serial attacks on government security outposts in August 2017.

As their account could not be verified, it remains unclear whether all of the passengers left from the same location in Bangladesh, or if in fact they are all from Rathedaung and were attempting to leave the strife-torn zone for a fresh start in another country. Travel by Rohingya Muslims is heavily restricted both in and outside Rakhine. Rohingya are occasionally arrested by police for attempting to travel to Yangon without the necessary documents from the Immigration Department.

According to the Information Committee's statement, in May 2015 authorities located and assisted 228 Bangladeshi boat people in southern Maungdaw before transferring them to the custody of Bangladeshi authorities. That same month, authorities discovered 743 boat people in Irrawaddy Division's Pyar Pon Township. After identifying them as Bangladeshi nationals with the help of the Bangladesh Embassy, it repatriated them through official channels.

U Ko Ko Thaw, an immigration official in northern Maungdaw's Taungpyo sub-township who is leading the process of registering displaced people, declined to answer specific questions when contacted via telephone by The Irrawaddy, saying the case is being handled by officials at the Nga Khu Ya reception camp.

Myanmar and Bangladesh signed a refugee reparation agreement in November 2017 but as of Tuesday not a single refugee had been transferred to Maungdaw reception camp through official channels. A small number of people have attempted to return from the Bangladesh camps to the Maungdaw border without authorization, leading to the arrest of 62 returnees by local authorities. Of these, President U Myint Myint has pardoned 58 and four have had the charges against them dropped. This group was sent to the refugee reception camp for registration. A few days after their return, about 10 of them fled the camp. Authorities believe they returned to their place of origin.

To accelerate the return of refugees from Bangladesh, the Myanmar government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with two UN agencies, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The MoU concluded a negotiation process that began in February. Moreover, the government last week announced plans to establish a credible investigation team including one high-profile international member and two Myanmar nationals to look into alleged human rights violations in northern Rakhine State linked to both ARSA and members of the security forces.

Min Aung Khine contributed to this report from Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State. 

The post More than 100 Rohingya Refugees Wash Ashore on Rathedaung Beach appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

WhatsApp the Media Platform of Choice for ARSA

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 05:16 AM PDT

YANGON — Facebook's recent blacklisting of a group of Myanmar Buddhist hardliners, including several monks notorious for hate speech against Rohingya Muslims, was a positive step, but it is not the only social media platform being abused to spread conflict in the country. In particular, concerns are growing about the wide use of the encrypted messaging application WhatsApp by Muslim militants who staged a series of deadly attacks against security outposts in Rakhine State last year.

The Myanmar government has denounced the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) as a terrorist group for its Aug. 25 attacks on security forces. According to news reports, ARSA and its followers have been among the most active adopters of WhatsApp, which they use to communicate their views to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. They use the service to drum up support, issue updates on the group's latest military movements and disseminate official press releases.

A number of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh told Reuters they had no idea whether the messages, often posted by people with phone numbers registered in the Middle East or other parts of Asia, were actually ARSA members.

Refugees also worry that Bangladeshi security forces are monitoring the messages and looking for ARSA supporters within the camps.

Myanmar is not the only country grappling with the use of WhatsApp by terrorists. The perpetrators of three separate attacks in the U.K. last year — the Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge attacks — were later found to have sent messages over the encrypted platform shortly before launching their assaults. Police there have been unable to access the contents of the messages, however.

U Nay Phone Latt, a lawmaker from Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy and an adviser to the Myanmar ICT for Development Organization, said it was WhatsApp's responsibility to monitor for suspicious messages shared via the application, adding that the company should have policies on what content can be viewed and which messages should be blocked.

"The Myanmar government needs to encourage the company to be responsible," said the adviser to MIDO, a local NGO focusing on ICT for development, Internet freedom and civic technology.

But WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, says privacy is an essential feature of the application. Every message is end-to-end encrypted, which means not even WhatsApp can see the content that is being shared.

"We've made it easy to block any phone number with one tap and we encourage people to report problematic messages to WhatsApp so that we can take action," a WhatsApp spokesperson told The Irrawaddy.

U Nay Phone Latt said the government should engage not only with Facebook but also other messaging developers to explain the problems Myanmar is currently struggling to cope with, including the spread of fake news and hate speech on social media, and urge them to help tackle the problem. Last week, a Facebook team led by the company's vice president, Simon Milner, visited Myanmar and met with Union Information Minister U Pe Myint to discuss what the company has been doing to tackle the problem of hate speech on its platform.

With 18 million accounts in a population of more than 52 million, Facebook is the most widely used social media platform in Myanmar. Since 2012, it has been heavily used by nationalists and others looking to instigate religious conflict — especially between Buddhists and Muslims — by spreading fake news.

The United Nations has said hate speech and incitement to violence against the Rohingya are rampant on Facebook.

In the wake of the ARSA-led attacks last year, the Myanmar military launched a clearance operation in areas with large Rohingya populations in northern Rakhine State. The operation caused nearly 700,000 Rohingya to flee to nearby Bangladesh. The exodus prompted international condemnation and accusations that the operation amounted to a crime against humanity.

The post WhatsApp the Media Platform of Choice for ARSA appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Who is Ruling the Country?’: Military Representative

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 04:08 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Showing disapproval of the government's decision to include a foreign expert on a new commission that will investigate widespread allegations of human rights abuses in Rakhine State, a military representative asked, "Who is ruling the country?" during a parliamentary session in Naypyitaw on Monday.

Military representatives and lawmakers from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and Arakan National Party (ANP) objected to the government's inclusion of a foreign expert in looking into issues in Rakhine State.

Military representative Colonel Myint Cho pointed out that prior investigations included both foreign and local committee members and questioned why the government had to rely on foreigners.

"The Kofi Annan-led [Rakhine State Advisory] commission and others were already formed with foreign experts. Does the government not trust those commissions? Or not trust its citizens? Will it only trust foreigners?" Colonel Myint Cho questioned during the parliamentary session.

Despite the opposition, the argument failed, as a majority of National League for Democracy lawmakers voted in favor of including a foreign expert.

All six of the military representatives who submitted arguments stated that they worried about the sovereignty of the country if there were foreign interference.

Following a President's Office announcement at the end of May that the government would establish an independent commission to investigate human rights issues in Rakhine State, USDP lawmakers urged State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to lead the commission and include only locals.

Those in support of including foreigners stated that the investigation commission should not cause a fight between the military and the government and that both should work for the benefit of the country.

U Thiha Thwe, a columnist from Yangon, said the new commission should not be just for show, but that it should work hard to clear up any doubts held by the international community, or else the country's image would continue to be affected.

"If you want to protect the military's image, you have to accept whoever will help clear these negative allegations," said U Thiha Thwe.

"The new committee is not like the UN fact-finding mission. There will be only one foreign expert. If the opposition uses this to attack the government, it could affect both the military and the country," he added.

The opposition has said that foreign decisions on the acceptance of refugees and other issues facing Rakhine are unacceptable and that it is the military's duty to uphold the Constitution and the country's "three main national causes"—non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation of sovereignty.

The vice minister of the State Counselor's Office U Khin Maung Tin explained that the government had to review the situation wisely, so as to not face an ICC [International Criminal Court] referral. He added that there is a lack of trust from the international community regarding the commission formerly called to investigate, and the Myanmar government has refused to give a UN fact-finding mission access to the country.

 Translated from Burmese by Zarni Mann.

The post 'Who is Ruling the Country?': Military Representative appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

KIA Blasts Myanmar Military on Anniversary of Civil War in Kachin

Posted: 12 Jun 2018 02:22 AM PDT

MON STATE — The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) accused the Myanmar military of genocide and human rights abuses including rape and murder on Saturday to mark the seven-year anniversary of fighting in Kachin State.

In a speech broadcast by the KIA’s State TV from Laiza, the group’s headquarters, Colonel Naw Bu, a spokesman for the KIA, said the adversaries had clashed 3,862 times since the collapse of a bilateral ceasefire agreement in 2011.

“There have been 447 clashes from the beginning of 2017 to May 2018 alone,” he said, claiming that the KIA only fights in self-defense.

Col. Naw Bu said the military has deployed 108 battalions against the KIA in Kachin since 2011 and another 90 in territory the group claims in northern Shan State. He said the military has also formed five militias in Kachin and 29 in Shan to fight the KIA as well.

The military itself, he added, fired on KIA forces more than 400 times since the start of 2017 and shelled them over 430 times in strikes that also hit towns and villages, killing four civilians and wounding six.

The spokesman also claimed that landmines laid by the military have injured 1,339 people over the past seven years, including 19 children and some KIA fighters.

The fighting has destroyed 406 villages and driven some 130,000 people from their homes — including some 6,000 since early 2017 — to 13 refugee camps spread across several townships, he said. The inventory of destroyed buildings, he continued, included 24 Buddhist monasteries, 256 schools, 264 hospitals and clinics and 311 churches.

Col. Naw Bu accused the military of having raped 124 women and murdered 90 of them.

The KIA said at least 300 innocent people have been arrested over the course of the fighting and that 78 of them were tortured in custody. Activists have also been arrested and convicted for staging protests against the fighting without permission.

The spokesman accused the military of genocide and of a campaign to Burmanize the Kachin as well as the country’s other ethnic minorities. He said the fighting continues only because the military has repeatedly rejected the KIA’s offers to negotiate a peace deal.

The military in turn has blamed the latest round of fighting that broke out earlier this year on the KIA and denied that it had launched an offensive.

The post KIA Blasts Myanmar Military on Anniversary of Civil War in Kachin appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Trump Says Summit is ‘Very, Very Good,’ Kim Calls it Prelude to Peace

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 09:49 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — US President Donald Trump said he had forged a “good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the start of a historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday, as the two men sought ways to end a nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula.

Should they succeed in making a diplomatic breakthrough, it could bring lasting change to the security landscape of northeast Asia, like the visit of former US President Richard Nixon to China in 1972 led to the transformation of China.

“There will be challenges ahead,” Kim said, but he vowed to work with Trump. Both men sat alongside each other against a backdrop of North Korean and US flags, with Kim beaming broadly as the US president gave him a thumbs up.

The combatants of the 1950-53 Korean War are technically still at war, as the conflict, in which millions of people died, was concluded only with a truce.

With cameras of the world’s press trained on them, Trump and Kim displayed an initial atmosphere of bonhomie.

Both men had looked serious as they got out of their limousines for the summit at the Capella hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa, a resort island with luxury hotels, a casino, manmade beaches and a Universal Studios theme park.

But they were soon smiling and holding each other by the arm, before Trump guided Kim to the library where they held a meeting with only their interpreters. Trump had said on Saturday he would know within a minute of meeting Kim whether he would reach a deal.

After some initial exchanges lasting around 40 minutes, Trump and Kim emerged, walking side-by-side through the colonnaded hotel before re-entering the meeting room, where they were joined by their most senior officials.

Kim was heard telling Trump through a translator: “I think the entire world is watching this moment. Many people in the world will think of this as a scene from a fantasy…science fiction movie.”

Asked by a reporter how the meeting was going, Trump said: “Very good. Very, very good. Good relationship.”

Kim also sounded positive about the prospects.

“We overcame all kinds of skepticism and speculations about this summit and I believe that this is good for the peace,” he said. “I believe this is a good prelude for peace.”

Trump was joined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, and John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff, for the expanded talks, while Kim’s team included former military intelligence chief Kim Yong Chol, foreign minister Ri Yong Ho and Ri Su Yong, vice chairman of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Markets Calm

As the two leaders met, Singapore navy vessels and air force Apache helicopters patrolled, while fighter jets and a Gulfstream 550 early warning aircraft circled.

Financial markets were largely steady in Asia and did not show any noticeable reaction to the start of the summit. The dollar was at a three-week high and the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares was largely unchanged from Monday.

While Trump and Kim search each other's eyes and words for signs of trust or deceit, the rest of the world will be watching, hoping that somehow these two unpredictable leaders can find a way to defuse one of the planet’s most dangerous flashpoints.

A body language expert said both men tried to project command as they met, but also displayed signs of nerves.

In the hours before the summit began, Trump expressed optimism about prospects for the first-ever meeting of sitting US and North Korean leaders, while Pompeo injected a note of caution whether Kim would prove to be sincere about his willingness to denuclearize.

Officials of the two sides held last-minute talks to lay the groundwork for the summit of the old foes, an event almost unthinkable just months ago, when they were exchanging insults and threats that raised fears of war.

Staff-level meetings between the United States and North Korea were going “well and quickly,” Trump said in a message on Twitter on Tuesday.

But he added: “In the end, that doesn’t matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!”

Pompeo said earlier the summit should set the framework for “the hard work that will follow,” insisting that North Korea had to move toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.

North Korea, however, has shown little appetite for surrendering nuclear weapons it considers vital to the survival of Kim’s dynastic rule.

Sanctions on North Korea would remain in place until that happened, Pompeo said on Monday. “If diplomacy does not move in the right direction … those measures will increase.”

The White House said later that discussions with North Korea had moved “more quickly than expected” and Trump would leave Singapore on Tuesday night after the summit, rather than Wednesday, as scheduled earlier.

Kim is due to leave on Tuesday afternoon, a source involved in the planning of his visit has said.

One of the world’s most reclusive leaders, Kim visited Singapore’s waterfront on Monday, smiling and waving to onlookers, adding to a more affable image that has emerged since his April summit with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

‘Changed Era’

Just a few months ago, Kim was an international pariah accused of ordering the killing of his uncle, a half-brother and scores of officials suspected of disloyalty.

The summit was part of a “changed era,” North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said in its first comments on the event.

Talks would focus on “the issue of building a permanent and durable peacekeeping mechanism on the Korean peninsula, the issue of realizing the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern,” it added.

Ahead of the summit, North Korea rejected unilateral nuclear disarmament, and KCNA’s reference to denuclearization of the peninsula has historically meant it wants the United States to remove a “nuclear umbrella” protecting South Korea and Japan.

Trump spoke to both South Korea’s Moon and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday to discuss developments ahead of the summit.

“I too, got little sleep last night,” Moon told his cabinet in Seoul as the summit began in Singapore.

“I truly hope it will be a successful summit that will open a new age for the two Koreas and the United States and bring us complete denuclearization and peace.”

The post Trump Says Summit is ‘Very, Very Good,’ Kim Calls it Prelude to Peace appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

What’s for Lunch? Trump, Kim Summit Menu a Blend of Western, Asian Flavors

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 09:38 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — Beef ribs and sweet and sour pork: US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be served a working lunch that combines the flavors of East and West during their historic meeting in Singapore on Tuesday.

A menu released by the White House showed the two leaders will sit down to starters that include prawn cocktail and avocado salad, a Southeast Asian-flavored green mango salad dish with honey lime dressing and fresh octopus, as well as “oiseon," a Korean dish of stuffed cucumber.

Main courses include beef short rib confit, served with potato dauphinois and steamed broccoli; sweet and sour crispy pork and fried rice with an “XO” chili sauce as well as a Korean dish called “daegu jorim”, which is a soy braised cod fish with radish and Asian vegetables.

For dessert, Trump and Kim and their delegations would have a choice of dark chocolate tartlet ganache, Haagen Daaz vanilla ice cream with cherry coulis and tropezienne, a cream-filled pastry.

The post What’s for Lunch? Trump, Kim Summit Menu a Blend of Western, Asian Flavors appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 09:13 PM PDT

Myanmar Music Festival

International and Myanmar musicians will perform at this event.

June 17, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. National Theater. Free entry.

 

Metamorphosis

This event features a creative blend of traditional Burmese music, dance and song, Chinese music, and Western classical music.

June 16, 4 p.m. Sedona Hotel. Free entry.

 

Berlin Club Night

German DJs Cee and Phon.O will be spinning in the new auditorium, where their beats will blast until late night.

June 16, 8 p.m. until late. Goethe Villa, Kabar Aye Pagoda Road, corner of Nat Mauk Street. Free entry.

 

International Education Fair Myanmar

Various universities will present opportunities for earning a bachelor's degree abroad.

 June 16-17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sule Shangri-La Hotel.

 

No Commitments

Yu KT is teaming up with DJ Seeger to offer up an inventive blend of dance floor heat, sampling from the global underground.

June 16, 10 p.m. LEVEL 2, Yangon International Hotel Compound, Dagon Tsp.

 

FAB XTRA (Crazy Hat Theme)

This is a club night for LGBT and friends. The craziest hat will receive a prize.

June 16, 10 p.m. until late. PYRITE Club, near Inya Lake Hotel.

 

Rainy Season Handicraft Sales

Orders will be accepted with a 10 percent discount for lamps, chandeliers, bookshelves and more.

June 12-15, Yangon Handmade Creations, No. 29, Yae Kyaw Market, Zizawar Street, Pazundaung Tsp.

 

New Treasure Group

This exhibition will feature the work of dozens of artists.

June 16, ongoing for three months. No. 84 (A), Thanlwin Street, Golden Hill Avenue, Golden Hill Valley, Bahan Tsp.

 

HB-The First Solo Show

This exhibition marks the 73rd birthday of Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

June 19-21, Ahla Thit Art Gallery, No. 17, University Avenue Road.

 

Seven Point Art Exhibition

Seven artists will showcase their creations.

June 13-17, MAOC Art Gallery, No. 188, 192, Bogyoke Market.

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

Reuters Reporters Say Deprived of Sleep During Myanmar Probe

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 09:11 PM PDT

YANGON — Two Reuters reporters accused in Myanmar of possessing secret documents were subjected to sleep deprivation and asked if they were “spies” during police interrogations, their lawyers suggested during questions posed to a police witness on Monday.

Cross-examining Police Captain Myint Lwin at a court in Yangon, defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung asked if he was aware the two reporters were “not allowed to sleep” for three consecutive days during the initial police probe after their detention on Dec. 12.

He also asked the witness whether reporter Kyaw Soe Oo was “forced to kneel down” on the floor for more than three hours during questioning by investigators.

In what has become a landmark press freedom case, the court in Yangon has been holding hearings since January to decide whether Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, and his Reuters colleague Wa Lone, 32, will be charged under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. The alleged offenses carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

Captain Myint Lwin, the officer in charge of the Yangon police station that conducted the preliminary inquiry after the pair were arrested, denied the reporters were deprived of sleep or made to kneel, saying officers were not allowed to “do such a thing” under his command.

He also denied, under cross-examination, that the reporters were sent to a specialist interrogation facility after their arrests, saying they were detained at the police station in northern Yangon until his team finalized the preliminary probe and handed the case to a police crime investigation unit on Dec. 26.

After the hearing, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo confirmed details of their treatment, telling reporters they had been questioned every two hours for about three days after their arrests by different officers, who asked if they were “spies."

Wa Lone said it was “completely untrue” that they had remained in a regular police station.

“It is mental and physical torture,” a second defense lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters after Monday’s proceedings, adding that evidence gathered through such methods was unlawful and should not be presented to the court.

Prosecutor Kyaw Min Aung declined to comment at the end of the hearing.

Police spokesman Myo Thu Soe, contacted by telephone, said he was not aware of the matter and declined to comment.

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment after Monday’s hearing. Previously, he has declined to comment on the case or the conduct of the investigation, saying Myanmar’s courts are independent and the case would be conducted according to the law.

“Deeply Concerned"

Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said in a statement the news agency had long been deeply concerned about how the reporters were treated during their interrogation.

“No one, including Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, should be subject to mistreatment of the kind they describe,” he said.

“It is for this reason, and many others, that we hope the court will bring this matter to an end as swiftly as possible, and restore the press’s confidence in its ability to work safely and responsibly in Myanmar.”

At the time of their arrest, the reporters had been working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men and boys in a village in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The killings took place during a military crackdown that United Nations agencies say sent nearly 700,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.

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

After the hearing, Kyaw Soe Oo, in handcuffs, told reporters that he was made to kneel on the floor for “three to four hours” when he refused to give the address of a hotel where he had been staying in Yangon or divulge details of the Reuters investigation.

Global advocates for press freedom, human rights activists, as well the United Nations and several Western countries, have called for the release of the Reuters journalists.

On Monday, diplomats from the European Union and France – as well as others – observed the proceedings.

The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

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Monday, June 11, 2018

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Organizers of Myitkyina Anti-War Protest Face Legal Action

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 07:06 AM PDT

MYITKYINA — Police plan to bring charges against the organizers of a demonstration held in Myitkyina on Saturday to mark the seventh anniversary of the resumption of military clashes in Kachin State.

Thousands of people attended a prayer event to mark the anniversary on Saturday at the Manaw Ground in the Kachin State capital. A 17-year truce between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) collapsed on June 9, 2011.

Organizers had received official approval for the assembly. According to police, however, they continued the event beyond the permitted time and staged a drama for which permission had not been granted.

They would be charged under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law, police said.

"Their agenda for the assembly didn't state that they would stage a drama. And the time allowed was only until 12 p.m. We will bring charges for these two reasons," said Police Major Myint Moe of Myitkyina Township Police.

Describing the event, Kachin Baptist Convention chairman Dr. Hkalam Samson said, "They just reenacted the atrocities of the war. By war, they mean both sides. Those who participated in the performance have suffered for seven years. They just wanted to express their grievances, and everyone should understand that."

The Kachin Peace Network said on Saturday that Yangon authorities had banned the holding of public events to mark the anniversary. The network condemned the ban, saying it was made without a sound reason.

It urged the government to lift restrictions on civilians' freedom of expression in conflict areas, and to protect the fundamental rights of citizens.

According to the Joint Strategy Team, a network of civil society organizations helping internally displaced persons, clashes have forced more than 120,000 people from their homes to 167 camps in Kachin and northern Shan State.

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Yangon Lawmakers Say Port Project Short on Specifics, Ask for Details

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 05:34 AM PDT

YANGON — Yangon Region lawmakers today complained about the government’s plans to build a large new port near the mouth of the Yangon River for being short on specifics.

The regional government submitted plans last week for a 1,053-acre multipurpose terminal with a 2.2-km waterfront in Kawhmu Township, in Yangon's south. The government said the new port would also feature a liquid bulk terminal for storing oil imports.

The new terminal would handle both exports and imports as the draught of the river in the area was nine meters, deeper than at the existing Thilawa port nearby, according to the government’s project report.

"As the results of the feasibility study by Royal Haskoning and Surbana Jurong point out, the project has good potential to be successful. That's why the government submits the report about the project to Parliament," the report says.

The government says the project will promote regional development, create jobs and attract foreign investment. But frustrated by the lack of details, six lawmakers on Monday raised several questions and concerns. They wanted to know how much the project would cost, how long it would take to build, and the social and environmental impacts it might have on surrounding areas.

During the discussion, lawmaker U Nay Phone Latt said the project report failed to explain why the new port was needed and how the government would develop it.

"The report says the government could make the most of the project's proximity to the sea. But with the project’s slated oil storage facilities, the government should also care about the new port's social and environmental impacts on local livelihoods," he said.

Fellow lawmaker Daw Soe Pa Pa Hlaing said the project should not be discussed yet because the report was missing the most crucial information of all — how the land, now occupied by farms, would be legally confiscated.

Lawmakers agreed that the government should submit more details about the project.

The speaker asked the government to send a relevant official to the Parliament on Wednesday to explain the project further.

The post Yangon Lawmakers Say Port Project Short on Specifics, Ask for Details appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Coal Miners Given Permission to Resume Controversial Projects in Shan State

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 04:42 AM PDT

The Union government has given permission to two coal-mining companies in Mongkaing Township in southern Shan State to resume operations despite opposition from local people.

The two companies, Pyae Aung Hein and Hein Mitter, received permission to restart their coal-mining operations in Mongkaing after temporarily stopping work following protests by local groups.

Sai Lynn Myat, a member of the Shan State government and the minister of natural resources, environment and electric power, told The Irrawaddy today that the Union government had sent a letter to the Shan State government granting permission for the mines to reopen, but asked the companies to negotiate with local residents to avoid conflicts.

"Our government received a letter dated May 30, allowing those two mining companies to continue working," Sai Lynn Myat said.

The Pyae Aung Hein and Hein Mitter companies were granted permission in 2014 by the central government in Naypyitaw to start coal-mining projects in Mongkaing Township, which is in Loilem District, southern Shan State.

The Shan Herald Agency for News reported last year that the coal-mining operations would cause irreparable damage to 2,000 acres of land, including conifer forests, mountains and farmland.

Local ethnic Shan residents protested several times, and operations at the two mining sites, which are beside each other, were suspended. Hundreds of ethnic Shan protested in May last year to demand the two companies leave the region.

Some ethnic Shan lawmakers including local community leaders sent letters to the Union and state parliaments, and the government asking for the mining operations to cease amid concern they will cause environmental damage in Mongkaing.

The two companies suspended work three months ago, according to local sources, but mining may start up again soon now that they have permission from the Union government.

"Our local people will not accept those mining companies even if the Union government allows them to resume working in our township," said Sai Lon, a state lawmaker in Mongkaing.

"But I heard that the companies will negotiate with our local people, especially with our Buddhist monks. They will try their best to find a negotiated settlement," he said.

"The companies should move out from our region. That is the best way," he said.

Sai Shwe Thein, a senior member of the National League for Democracy from Mongkaing Township said, "We do see it as a good thing that mining companies come and invest in our town. But there needs to be transparency.

"There are lawmakers and community leaders in Mongkaing. The company needs to negotiate and talk with these people. If there is transparency, our local Shan will not demand they leave," he said.

He said the companies also needed to share some of the proceeds from the mines with the local community, as well as support healthcare and education programs, and build better infrastructure for local people.

"There should be a monitoring committee to check that the mining companies are bettering the environment base as they promised," Sai Shwe Thein said.

Local ethnic Shan are worried about water runoff from the two coal-mining operations will pollute the environment and their farmlands. They are also worried about their health as the two mines are only seven miles away from the town area, sources said.

The post Coal Miners Given Permission to Resume Controversial Projects in Shan State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Pao Mon: Mon Kitchen 

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 02:30 AM PDT

MOULMEIN, Mon State — In the Mon State capital of Moulmein, traditional Mon dishes available at Pao Mon or "Mon Kitchen" let visitors experience the local cuisine.

Many restaurants in Myanmar focus on international cuisine, forgetting to promote local dishes. Pao Mon fills that gap.

The restaurant has been in business for two years, featuring sweet, sour and hot flavors, as almost every dish uses dried Marian plum and green chili.

String bean salad. / Pao Mon / Facebook

Pao Mon is a social enterprise run by a team of incredible indigenous women from the Mon Women's Organization (MWO), which aims to empower women. The restaurant was started to preserve Mon tradition and culture, serve local dishes and teach Mon cooking.

The chef, Ngu Wah (aka) Mi Khamoon Khit Chan, had been interested in cooking since she was a child. She joined the MWO in 2001 and contributes her culinary skills to the group.

She said that she just wants others to be able to know about and try Mon dishes. She ensures that the vegetables, fish and meats are all locally sourced when possible to help local farmers. As Mon State is near the Thailand-Myanmar border, the farmers have to compete with imported goods.

Green fish curry with rice. / Pao Mon / Facebook

Along with sharing the food, customers can spend time with the chef, learning how to prepare Mon dishes.

Mi Khamoon Khit Chan's sense of cooking comes naturally, and she has been taught by local elders. She challenges herself and succeeds in creating delicious meals for her customers.

Pao Mon restaurant. / Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy

"There are not many restaurants where you can get local dishes. We want to promote our traditional foods. We don't use MSG or artificial flavors. The foods are all natural, fresh and healthy. We try to be sustainable through this social enterprise so that we won't need outside support in the long run," said Mi Kun Chan Non, the vice chair of the MWO.

The MWO's purpose is to empower women in the community through vocational skills such as hand weaving and cooking. Along with community development and social enterprise, it also raises awareness about women's involvement in politics.

Pao Mon is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Monday and customers can also order dishes in advance by calling 09425329170. For groups, pre-order is preferred. The restaurant is located on the corner of Myaing Tharyar Road and Third Street, about a 15-minute drive from downtown Moulmein.

A group of three or four that does not pre-order should expect to wait about 25 minutes for their meal to be prepared.

Customers can also buy traditional Mon sarongs and other souvenirs at Pao Mon, as well as enjoying the local food.

The post Pao Mon: Mon Kitchen  appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Chairman Defends Anti-Graft Body After Dismissing Claims Against Ex-Minister

Posted: 11 Jun 2018 01:15 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Anti-Corruption Commission will not forgive anyone if there is strong evidence of graft, commission Chairman U Aung Kyi said at a press conference in Naypyitaw on Saturday.

"We are obliged to take legal action against anyone if there is strong evidence that they were involved in corruption after this [anti-corruption] law took effect. So I'd like to request the aggrieved party or those who witness corruption to file complaints with strong evidence," U Aung Kyi said.

The commission had just announced that it would not be pursuing legal action against former Planning and Finance Minister U Kyaw Win — who resigned last month amid reports that he was under investigation for taking bribes — for a lack of evidence.

The chairman also warned that the commission would file defamation charges, under Article 59 of the Anti-Corruption Law, against those who file complaints with the intention of defaming someone.

U Aung Kyi said the commission has been able to alleviate some of the corruption the public has long endured, comparing the number of complaints filed with the graft-busting body today and in the past.

"Anti-corruption efforts are on the right track," the chairman said.

Since the commission’s shakeup in November, the number of complaints has increased by the month, from 353 in December to 581 in January, 593 in February and 607 in March.

The number hit 640 in April, then nearly doubled to 1,057 in May, said U San Win, the commission’s secretary.

Of the more than 3,800 complaints the commission has received, he said it has handled 3,045.

The commission is only responsible for taking action against corruption and is not responsible for other offenses.

Last week, both houses of the Union Parliament approved a bill amending the Anti-Corruption Law to grant the commission a broader mandate.

Most significantly, the changes give the commission the authority to investigate any civil servant who is seen to be unusually wealthy at its own discretion. Until now, it could only probe allegations of corruption in response to formal complaints filed with strong supporting evidence.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

 

The post Chairman Defends Anti-Graft Body After Dismissing Claims Against Ex-Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

N. Korean, US Officials Meet to Narrow Differences on Eve of Trump-Kim Summi

Posted: 10 Jun 2018 09:30 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — US and North Korean officials were in talks in Singapore on Monday in a late bid to narrow differences before their leaders hold an unprecedented summit meeting aimed at finding ways to end a nuclear stand-off on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump arrived in the tropical city-state on Sunday for the historic meeting, which will be the first time leaders of the two countries have come face-to-face.

Key gaps remain over what denuclearization would entail for two countries that have been enemies since the 1950-1953 Korean War, and the officials were trying to push the agenda forward before the leaders meet on Tuesday.

Commenting for the first time on the agenda, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said the two sides would exchange “wide-ranging and profound views” to reset relations. It heralded the summit as part of a “changed era."

Discussions would focus on “the issue of building a permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism on the Korean Peninsula, the issue of realizing the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern,” KCNA said.

In the lead up to the summit, North Korea rejected any unilateral nuclear disarmament, and KCNA’s reference to denuclearization of the peninsula has historically meant that Pyongyang wants the United States to remove its “nuclear umbrella” protecting South Korea and Japan.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is also in Singapore, said in a tweet that Washington was “committed to the complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

Many experts on North Korea, one of the most insular and unpredictable countries in the world, remain skeptical Kim will ever completely abandon its cherished nuclear weapons. They believe Kim’s latest engagement is aimed at getting the United States to ease the crippling sanctions that have squeezed the impoverished country.

A Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US side was entering the talks with a sense of optimism and an equal dose of skepticism given North Korea’s long history of developing nuclear weapons.

“We will not be surprised by any scenario,” said the official.

With the eyes of the world following him, Trump flew into Singapore’s Paya Lebar Air Base aboard Air Force One on Sunday, fresh from a divisive G7 meeting in Canada with some of Washington’s closest allies that further strained global trade ties.

Asked by a reporter how he felt about the summit, Trump said: “Very good."

In a tweet on Monday, he said: “Great to be in Singapore, excitement in the air!”

Kim had arrived hours earlier in a plane loaned by China, which for decades has been North Korea’s only major ally. Both leaders were greeted on arrival by Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

The summit’s venue is the Capella hotel on Sentosa, a resort island off Singapore’s port with luxury hotels, a Universal Studios theme park and man-made beaches.

"Spur of the Moment"

Trump, speaking in Canada on Saturday, said any agreement at the summit would be “spur of the moment,” underscoring the uncertain outcome of what he called a “mission of peace."

He initially touted the potential for a grand bargain with North Korea to rid itself of a nuclear missile program that has advanced rapidly to threaten the United States.

But he has since lowered expectations, backing away from an original demand for North Korea’s swift denuclearization.

He has said the talks would be more about starting a relationship with Kim for a negotiating process that would take more than one summit.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said US and North Korean officials would hold working-level talks on Monday. She said the US delegation would be led by Sung Kim, a veteran diplomat who recently held talks with North Korean officials.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Monday’s meeting appeared aimed at making 11th-hour progress ahead of the summit since Sung Kim’s earlier talks did little to narrow a gap between the two sides on the definition of denuclearization or win agreement on tangible commitments from Pyongyang toward dismantling its nuclear arsenal.

Their Entourages

Trump is to meet Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday while Kim has no official agenda.

Kim arrived at Singapore’s Changi Airport after his longest trip overseas as head of state, wearing his trademark dark “Mao suit” and distinctive high-cut hairstyle. He has not left his country since taking office in 2011 other than to visit China and the South Korean side of the border Demilitarized Zone.

Traveling with him were top officials including Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, Defense Minister No Kwang Chol and Kim Yong Chol, a close aide of Kim who has been instrumental in the diplomacy that culminated in Tuesday’s summit.

Kim Yo Jong, leader Kim’s younger sister, was also spotted in his delegation. She emerged as an influential figure in Pyongyang’s opaque leadership in February, when she led a North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Officials who arrived with Trump include Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.

Bolton's hardline rhetoric last month infuriated North Korea and nearly derailed the summit. He called for North Korea to follow a “Libya model” in negotiations. Libya unilaterally surrendered its nuclear weapons program in 2003, but its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed in 2011 by NATO-backed rebels.

The post N. Korean, US Officials Meet to Narrow Differences on Eve of Trump-Kim Summi appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysian PM Mahathir Says Growing Countries Need Different Trade Protections

Posted: 10 Jun 2018 09:10 PM PDT

TOKYO — Growing nations like Malaysia need different trade protections and, while Kuala Lumpur is not against trade pacts such as the Trans Pacific Partnership, the TPP must be renegotiated, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Monday.

Mahathir, 92, became premier for the second time last month after Malaysians, angered over accusations of massive corruption, voted out a coalition that had led the country for the six decades since independence.

Mahathir told an international seminar in Tokyo on his first foreign trip since the election that different economies needed different rules in order to compete fairly with giants such as the United States and China.

“Small countries cannot compete on the same terms as bigger countries,” he said on the second day of a three-day visit, during which he will woo Japanese investment and meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other officials.

“We are not completely against the TPP but it needs to be re-negotiated … so that smaller countries would have the chance to compete because they would be given certain handicaps,” he said.

Mahathir said the ideal would be a broad trade pact such as the East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC) he proposed during his previous administration.

“Yes, I am still in favor of EAEC. In the past, of course, we were not able to do this due to the objections of America, but now America seems to become isolationist again so it is not in a position to demand that we cannot form EAEC,” he said.

Such a group would also be useful in the face of China’s surging economic power.

Mahathir’s visit is seen as a sign of Malaysia’s move away from China, which contentiously pumped billions of dollars into the scandal-tainted administration of ousted leader Najib Razak.

The new government has said some Chinese companies are under suspicion of being used to cover up the graft scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that contributed to Najib’s downfall.

Mahathir said foreign direct investment should involve bringing in capital and ideas.

“We have to deal with China whether we like it or not, we should deal with it as a group,” he said.

Mahathir did not make any reference to the 1MDB investigations.

He said Malaysia hoped to possibly start a new national car project, perhaps with help from Southeast Asia, but did not give further details.

State-owned Proton was founded in 1983 during an industrialization push in Mahathir’s first term. Its domestic market share peaked at 74 percent a decade later but Geely bought 49.9 percent of the struggling carmaker last year, marking the Chinese automaker’s first push into Southeast Asia.

Mahathir praised the peaceful transition since the election and said he would stay in power as long as the people of Malaysia wanted him.

The post Malaysian PM Mahathir Says Growing Countries Need Different Trade Protections appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Give Us an Identity to Stop Myanmar Exodus, Urges Award-Winning Rohingya Lawyer

Posted: 10 Jun 2018 09:03 PM PDT

LONDON — Stateless Rohingya must be recognized as citizens of Myanmar and given identity documents so they can safely stay in the country instead of fleeing abroad like hundreds of thousands of members of their community, an award-winning lawyer said on Sunday.

Kyaw Hla Aung, a Rohingya lawyer from Myanmar who was named the winner of the Aurora humanitarian prize, has for decades fought for the rights of the world’s largest stateless minority.

Rohingya Muslims are denied citizenship in Buddhist-majority Myanmar where they numbered more than 1 million as of last year.

But about 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since August after insurgent attacks triggered a response by the army.

“We belong on this land. This government is denying our citizenship,” Aung told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview from Armenia, where the award ceremony was held.

“We are citizens of Myanmar, so why have we become stateless?” added Aung, who spent 12 years in prison due to his work. “We cannot keep going from our land to other countries.”

The Rohingya Project estimates there are 4 million Rohingya around the world, the majority living outside their ancestral land since Myanmar excluded them from the country’s recognized ethnic groups in 1982, effectively rendering them stateless.

The United Nations refugee agency says the Rohingya are the biggest minority among an estimated 10 million people who are stateless, a status that deprives them of an identity, rights, and jobs.

The latest exodus of Rohingya Muslims followed a crackdown last August by the military in the northwestern Rakhine state. Rohingya refugees reported killings, burnings, looting and rape, in response to militant attacks on security forces.

The UN and aid agencies have described Myanmar’s counteroffensive as ethnic cleansing, which the state denies.

Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed in January to complete the voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees by 2020, followed up by an agreement with the UN last month aimed at eventually allowing those in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice.

Yet Aung said the lack of documents and citizenship for the Rohingya would hinder their ability to go home and resettle.

“How can these people produce their documents for the government? They are trying to do such things to call us stateless,” added Aung, who said he would give most of his $1.1 million prize money to aid groups helping Rohingya refugees.

The Aurora prize runner-ups were Indian campaigner Sunitha Krishnan, co-founder of the anti-trafficking charity Prajwala, and Héctor Tomás González Castillo, a Franciscan friar in Mexico who provides shelter for migrants headed to the United States.

The post Give Us an Identity to Stop Myanmar Exodus, Urges Award-Winning Rohingya Lawyer appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Saturday, June 9, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

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No Grounds to Act Against Ex-Planning and Finance Minister, Anti-Corruption Commission Says

Posted: 09 Jun 2018 05:47 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW – No legal action will be taken against former Union Minister for Planning and Finance U Kyaw Win under the Anti-Corruption Law as the complaints against him could not be substantiated, U Aung Kyi, the chairman of Myanmar's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), said at a press conference on Saturday.

U Soe Tint, an ACC member who led the investigation against U Kyaw Win, said the commission had investigated all eight allegations made against the ex-minister, but did not have grounds to bring charges relating to any of them under the Anti-Corruption Law.

The agency has submitted its findings to President U Win Myint, he said.

Despite the commission's finding that there is no solid evidence of corruption against U Kyaw Win, public interest in the reason for his resignation remains high.  When The Irrawaddy pointed this out to U Aung Kyi, he said it was the responsibility of the government to provide information on this to the public.

"We are not asserting that he is innocent [or guilty]. We are saying that the complaints are not substantive enough to allow us to conclude that he has violated the law. Therefore, we have not taken any action," U Aung Kyi said.

The decision applies only to the complaints received by the ACC, and the commission has not investigated whether other instances of corruption may have occurred beyond the original complaints, he said.

U Soe Tint said three of the eight points raised in the complaints were related to personal affairs and fell beyond the scope of the investigation. Others related to allegations of money laundering via a private bank, and the moving of oversight of the Farmers Development Bank to a department under the Ministry of Planning and Finance, both of which occurred under the previous administration. Two of the allegations were found to be false or made without evidence.

The commission did not find evidence to support an allegation of bribery in which a businessman supposedly arranged a golf competition involving all ministries in the name of the minister of planning and finance, U Soe Tint added. "It did not appear that [he] accepted any favors from the businessman or that the businessman bribed him. This allegation did not meet the definition of corruption under the Anti-Corruption Law, and we decided there was insufficient evidence."

Regarding allegations that U Kyaw Win's son possesses luxury vehicles, a search of the former minister's home in Yangon revealed that the vehicles there were ordinary vehicles with multiple owners, according to the commission.

"These are not luxury vehicles. The vehicles are related to [U Kyaw Win's son's] businesses and thus he could have had such vehicles to conduct his work," U Aung Kyi said.

The commission received complaints against U Kyaw Win on May 3. It interviewed 22 people including senior officials, staff, businessmen, complainants, the accused and witnesses between May 7 and 22.

"We have no authority to decide whether the retired minister violated the law or not. We can only investigate in accordance with the Anti-Corruption Law," U Aung Kyi said.

The post No Grounds to Act Against Ex-Planning and Finance Minister, Anti-Corruption Commission Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

This Week in Parliament (June 4-8)

Posted: 09 Jun 2018 12:55 AM PDT

Monday (June 4)

In the Lower House, lawmaker U Maung Myint of the Union Solidarity and Development Party questioned the transparency of four gas-fired power supply projects in which the Ministry of Electricity and Energy gave initial permission to private companies without seeking tenders. The lawmaker had an argument with electricity and energy minister U Win Khaing and Lower House Speaker U T Khun Myat in response urged the lawmakers to mind their manners.

Tuesday (June 5)

New finance and planning minister U Soe Win was sworn in at the Union Parliament.

Wednesday (June 6)

USDP lawmaker U Sai Kyaw Moe submitted an urgent proposal, raising objection to the government's plan to include an international member on an independent investigation commission that will investigate the issues regarding Rakhine State. His peer lawmaker U Maung Myint suggested that the commission be led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Lower House passed a bill amending the Anti-Corruption Law with minor changes to the legislation passed by the Upper House.

The most significant change made to the law was that the Anti-Corruption Commission will be allowed to investigate at its own will any civil servants who are seen to be unusually wealthy. Until now, it could only probe allegations of corruption in response to formal complaints filed with strong supporting evidence.

The Upper House passed the bill amending the broadcasting law as passed by the Lower House.

The new changes restrict a person from owning more than a 30 percent stake in a private broadcasting service or a private print media agency if that person already owns a 50 percent stake in an organization of either type.

Thursday (June 7)

Military representatives to Myanmar's Lower House of Parliament criticized the Joint Coordination Committee of the Union Parliament, saying that it was formed and operated without transparency. They said they were never informed regarding the activities of the committee although it was formed in 2014 and has been cooperating with international agencies since then.

Friday (June 8)

There was no parliamentary session on Friday as the speakers of both houses attended an urgent meeting with the president, the state counselor, and the army chief.

The post This Week in Parliament (June 4-8) appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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Friday, June 8, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

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Another Two Suspects in Custody Over Malaysian Drug Haul

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 09:10 AM PDT

YANGON – Police last week detained two people in connection with last month's record drug haul in Malaysia, which was believed to have been shipped from Myanmar, customs agents told The Irrawaddy.

The detention by anti-narcotics police of a married couple — one of them the owner of the Nice Guy Clearance Service Agency in Yangon and the other the director of the U Kaung Trading Company — occurred prior to Tuesday's arrest in Mandalay Division of Haj Yassin (also known as Maung Maung) in connection with the case, they said.

The customs agents, who are close to Nice Guy Clearance Service Agency, told The Irrawaddy the couple is being held for questioning in Yangon. According to a police statement issued Wednesday, Seik Kan Myo Ma police station on June 2 opened a case against the suspects on multiple charges that carry unlimited imprisonment terms or the death penalty. This was followed by the apprehension of Haj Yassin in Mandalay.

The police statement named the companies with which the couple is involved but not the individual suspects. It was thanks to information they supplied that anti-narcotics police were able to arrest Haj Yassin at a checkpoint on the Pyin Oo Lwin-Mandalay Highway on Tuesday and transfer him to Yangon. On the same day, police remanded Haj Yassin and sent him to a mental hospital.

The Irrawaddy has learned that Nice Guy Clearance Agency is owned by U Min Naing, and that his wife, Daw Thida Moe, serves as director of U Kaung Trading Company, which also provides trading firms with customs and port document processing services. U Kaung Trading Company was registered at the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) in 2012 with U Aung Zay Yar Oo and U Thar Oo named as inactive directors. The DICA records show the company's business license expired in 2013. U Aung Soe Moe is believed to be acting as managing director and Daw Thida Moe as director of the company.

Based on DICA's records and a copy of Daw Thida Moe's business card seen by The Irrawaddy, two reporters from The Irrawaddy on Thursday visited U Kaung Trading Company located in Kyauktada (lower block) in an effort to confirm the arrests. About five to seven employees were seen working on documents, many in manila files clearly marked "U Kaung Trading" in Burmese. There were no banners or other signage on the exterior of the building identifying the premises as housing the offices of U Kaung Trading or Nice Guy Purified Water (a firm related to Nice Guy Clearance Agency) in front of the building or apartment.

Some customs agents working at the office told The Irrawaddy that their boss Daw Thida Moe had not been to the office this week, but declined to provide further details. Attempts to call two mobile phone numbers for Daw Thida Moe reached devices that were switched off. Pictures uploaded by individuals named U Min Naing and Daw Thida Moe on Facebook indicate that the latter also acts as the owner of the Nice Guy purified drinking water factory in Hlegu Township.

A Ministry of Home Affairs statement did not mention customs agent U Min Naing, his wife Daw Thida Moe or U Kaung Trading Managing Director U Aung Soe Moe by name. They simply referred to "accomplices" of Haj Yassin, adding that they are still investigating the suspected drug trafficking ring.

Workers at the Nice Guy factory also said that their boss had not shown up for several days. Factory manager Myo Zar Ni said, "I have nothing to say about my boss." He strongly denied a statement by police alleging that Haj Yassin had stored a large quantity of drugs at the factory and transported them in a Kia Bongo vehicle to a warehouse in lower Pazundaung. According to the manager, the Nice Guy factory had been open for a few years, and he had been working there for about four months.

According to the police report, suspected drug dealer Haj Yassin, 44, a resident of Tarmwe's Nat Mauk quarter, contacted U Kaung Trading about exporting goods in container Log No. FSCU 9911521, in which nearly 1.2 tons of illegal narcotics were loaded, disguised as packages of tea. Malaysian police estimated the narcotics had a street value of USD18 million, making it the largest seizure in the country's history. It is unclear whether the narcotics were packed into the tea packages at the Nice Guy factory or at the lower Pazundaung facility.

Kaung Trading Company, the Nice Guy Customs Clearance agency and the Nice Guy factory are owned by U Min Naing's family. It is unclear how or why Haj Yassin, a Muslim whose family's origins lie in northern Rakhine State, came to be storing tons of illegal drugs in a factory owned by a Yangon Buddhist family like that of U Min Naing.

Myanmar Army clearance operations in response to deadly Rohingya insurgent attacks in August 2017 have caused nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The UN Security Council has described the resulting mass devastation as "ethnic cleansing" and urged Myanmar authorities to allow a credible investigation into alleged rights violations in Rakhine.

According to a post on Facebook by social influencer Aung Naing Htwe, who has at least 190,000 followers, a suspect named Aung Zaw Win, 55, who owns the SHINE construction company and was arrested at Yangon International Airport in March for allegedly funding the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (a Rohingya Muslim insurgent group), has close ties with Haj Yassin. Aung Zaw Win is currently detained at Buthidaung Prison awaiting trial. He secured a spot on the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)'s ticket in the 2010 election for Maungdaw Township but resigned from the party after then-president Thein Sein revoked Rohingyas' "white cards", temporary election documents which would have allowed them to vote in the election in that year.

Police have not elaborated on the background of Haj Yassin, or whether he is genuinely involved in either the trading or construction businesses.

The Irrawaddy found two Facebook accounts with the name Haj Yassin, one with a profile picture showing a house and one with a profile showing a car. The account with the car as a profile picture has around 1,020 "friends", while the other one has only 180. Two Facebook account holders named U Min Naing and Haj Yassin are friends on Facebook and have commented on each other's pages periodically since 2015. Some netizens strongly criticized the omission of the suspects' names from the police statement and questioned how tons of drugs could be stored at a drinking water factory and then successfully clear X-ray checks and other shipping procedures. The container was loaded on the Pathein Star vessel, which entered Myanmar Industrial Port (MIP) during the Myanmar Water Festival period. It departed on April 16 and arrived at Klang Multi-Terminal, a port in Selangor, Malaysia on April 19.

The anti-narcotics police officer who is handling the operation could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The post Another Two Suspects in Custody Over Malaysian Drug Haul appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hot Local Indie Bands Bring Rare Energy to Yangon’s Nightlife

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 08:33 AM PDT

The live music scene in Yangon is small, with most of the events taking place in bars featuring indie, metal, punk and hip-hop acts.

A few months ago, a great local indie band, The Peacists, released their first album, a collaboration with another band called General Tiger Gun.

I loved the album and when I heard The Peacists and two other up-and-coming indie bands, The Reasonabilists and Mooni, would perform at the 7th Joint Bar, I decided I had to be there, front and center to catch all their songs.

The energetic The Peacists perform to the crowd. /Htet Wai

The gig happened last night, with the bands kicking off their performance at around 8pm, an hour after the scheduled start time of 7pm.

We had arrived at the bar before 7pm along with a small crowd to catch the bands doing their sound checks and happily waited for the chance to lose ourselves in this funky indie music.

The vocalist from The Peacists provides a forceful rendition of of the group's popular songs /Htet Wai

7th Joint Bar has two floors with the bands playing on the ground floor. There were a few tables and room for about 20 to 50 people to stand, more or less face-to-face with the band. We took the nearest table as the band finished their set-up.

The gig was opened by The Peacists, who set the tone for an energetic show and quickly got the crowd going. The band has three members while the vocalist from The Reasonabilists also joined in as a guest guitarist.

They performed their popular songs from their album and the bar came alive with The Peacists' melodic tunes about love, earth and people.

The Reasonabilists get their turn to shine. /Htet Wai

Getting to stand right in front of the band and feeding off their energy was a great experience.

The drumbeat and the bass had everybody shaking their heads and legs along with the music. The guitarist was jumping around with his guitar while the vocalist was busy with his microphone and a guitar as well.

The band performed a total of seven songs — all original. The crowd wanted more; but the band couldn't continue, undermined by a broken guitar string.

The Reasonabilists then stepped in to keep the crowd happy.

The Reasonabilists' lead singer cuts loose. /Htet Wai

The vocalist has an energetic and sweet voice while he also plays the guitar as well. The band started with their own song, an English-language song called "Flowerbed", while their set of six more songs included covers of classics such as "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers and "With or Without You" by U2.

The crowd roared their appreciation and sang along. The vocalist showed great control of his voice so as not to destroy the famous songs he was covering.

The Rreasonabilists style was a bit different from that of the Peacists but the crowd loved it and they ended their set gracefully.

The crowd lets down its hair. /Htet Wai

When Mooni took to the stage, the crowd had thinned. Maybe because the lead vocalist is a foreign girl and it was getting late, and people were thinking about having to get up and go to work the next morning.

But our group stayed until the end, even though we didn't know the band's songs. But they performed well, playing about seven songs to the small remaining crowd.

The gig finished around 11 pm but the bar stayed open, playing international indie and rock songs on its sound system. So, instead of a typical boring Thursday night in Yangon we had a funky night of lively indie music. People were still chilling at the bar, while we left with our great new memories.

The post Hot Local Indie Bands Bring Rare Energy to Yangon's Nightlife appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Gov’t Holds Rare Top-Level Security Meeting on Rakhine State

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 07:01 AM PDT

YANGON — Key National Defense and Security Council members including the president, state counselor, Army chief and other senior Myanmar officials met at the Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw on Friday to discuss the latest developments in restive Rakhine State.

The high-level meeting including members of the NDSC was the first since President U Win Myint took office in late March, and only the second since the National League for Democracy-led government took power more than two years ago.

The council comprises President U Win Myint, Foreign Affairs Minister and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar Army Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's two vice presidents, the speakers of the upper and lower houses of the Union Parliament, the deputy military chief and the ministers of home affairs, defense and border affairs.

The officials discussed the government's signing of a memorandum of understanding with UN agencies on the return of refugees from Bangladesh, the formation of an investigation commission, the latest Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore, and border security problems, according to the President's Office.

The meeting was joined by the ministers of the State Counselor's Office and international cooperation, and the deputy minister for the President's Office.

Executive director Ko Ye of the Tagaung Institute of Political Studies said the government and the military appeared to be locked in a struggle over Rakhine State, with the two sides taking different views on the issue.

"I think the meeting is also being held to inform the military about the [government's] recent signing of an MOU regarding the refugee repatriation process, and the inclusion of an international member in its new commission of enquiry," he said.

After a recent visit to Myanmar by a UN Security Council team, the council urged that transparent investigations be conducted into accusations of violence against Rohingya Muslims, warning that failure to do so could lead to military officials being referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The President's Office announced plans on May 31 to establish a three-member independent commission of enquiry to investigate "violations of human rights and related issues" that occurred during violence that engulfed northern Rakhine after Rohingya militants attacked security posts there in late August. It said the body will consist of three people including an international member and be assisted by local and international legal and technical experts.

On Wednesday, the country's main opposition and former ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), submitted an urgent proposal to the Lower House imploring the government to exclude foreigners from the commission.

Parliament approved discussion of the USDP's proposal and had scheduled debate for Friday. However, it was announced on Thursday that sessions of the Upper House and Lower House scheduled for Friday had been canceled.

USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint alleged that the establishment of the commission was intended by the government to put the military as well as the country in danger.

The USDP released a statement opposing the commission.

The post Gov't Holds Rare Top-Level Security Meeting on Rakhine State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bagan Civil Group Demands Action Over Ancient Temples On Hotel Grounds

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 05:32 AM PDT

Mandalay – Locals from Bagan, the archaeological heart of Myanmar, urged the government on Thursday to declare safe and free zones for ancient pagodas and temples located inside hotel grounds and private compounds.

The Save Bagan civil society group told journalists there are about 100 pagodas and temples situated on land leased by hotels and in private compounds in Bagan. Authorities have so far done nothing to address the situation despite appeals from civil groups.

"We've submitted complaints over the past two years when we have had the chance to meet the regional minister and authorities from other related departments, but nothing has happened," said Ko Myo Set San, a leader of Save Bagan.

The group said it has met several times with the chief minister of Mandalay Division, representatives of the Archaeological Department, Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, local administration officers and officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs in recent years.

"So far we've collected over 8,000 signatures from Bagan locals that were sent along with the complaint requesting safe and free areas be declared for those pagodas and temples inside hotel grounds and in private compounds," he said.

The group sent the petition to State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the regional chief minister.

According to locals, the "ugly situation" is the result of past military government's decision to permit the building of hotels in Bagan, starting in the 1990s.

"There are 22 pagodas inside the Eden Group's hotel compound alone. Inside the Ayar Hotel compound, there is Aggatae Temple with its beautiful mural paintings. If visitors want to visit it, they need to get permission from the hotel first, which is bothersome," Ko Myo Sat San explained. "We want to fence off those pagodas and temples, to separate them from the private compounds, and allow people to visit them with no conditions."

The group said that when it sent its complaint to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the minister, Thura U Aung Ko, replied that fencing might not be possible because the grounds were leased to the private sector [the hotel investors] on long terms.

"The minister told us that we would have to wait 15 or 20 years until the leases expire, but that nothing was certain. What if the investors renew their contracts?" said Ko Myo Sat San.

"Since Bagan is trying to be registered as a World Heritage site with UNESCO, we are very concerned that this ugly situation may affect that," he added.

According to the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library, the pagodas and temples on private lands have already been declared safe zones, which allows members of the public to visit them freely between 6am to 6pm, every day.

"As for our department, we cannot do more than this yet, for this situation happened a long time ago and it will take time to resolve. There are many steps to negotiate with the investors and many other related government offices," said U Aung Aung Kyaw, director of the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library's Bagan branch, which is part of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture.

"We also have concerns about this matter. So, we are making sure not to repeat the mistakes of the past, especially when we do conservation of our heritage. At the same time, we are carefully choosing the best way for the development of the region," he said.

Apart from putting up fences to designate safe zones for the pagodas and temples, the petition also urges the government to investigate some hotels located on the banks of the Irrawaddy River that have dumped sand and soil to extend their riverside holdings.

"We've seen some hotels add sand to the river bank, and some have even built bungalows for their guests. We officially want to request the central government investigate such hotels and take action to conserve the nature of the Irrawaddy River," Ko Myo Sat San said.

Bagan, the country's major tourist attraction, is home to pagodas and temples dating from the 9th to the 13th centuries.

Since 1994, the country has sought to register the area as a UNESCO list of World Heritage Site. However, Bagan was initially ruled ineligible due to its failure to meet the requirements of World Heritage Site status, allegedly on account of mismanaged development plans and sub-standard, inauthentic restoration efforts under previous governments, especially in the 1990s.

In 2016, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture again nominated Bagan for a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing.

As the required dossiers have been submitted, members of the World Heritage Site Committee are due to visit Bagan in mid-2018. The site's nomination will be brought up for deliberation at UNESCO's World Heritage Site convention in 2019.

The post Bagan Civil Group Demands Action Over Ancient Temples On Hotel Grounds appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Is Kyaukphyu in Danger of Slipping Out of Our Hands?

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 04:45 AM PDT

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has stated that she wants to reform the country's education sector. If that is her intention, we must make a serious effort to educate the younger generation about history and geography so that they develop a fuller understanding of Myanmar's neighboring countries.

In particular, a country we should be making a serious effort to study is China.

Myanmar still doesn't have a think tank dedicated to studying China, its intentions, its geopolitical interest in the region or its hugely ambitious regional development strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative, and its implications.

Myanmar's border with China is more than 2,000 km long, but few Myanmar citizens have much idea about China's rising political and economic power, beyond vague feelings of fear and resentment. Nor does the Myanmar public have access to the information and data needed to fully understand China's declared mega-projects in Myanmar, let alone Beijing's shadowy influence over several powerful ethnic insurgent groups in northern Myanmar.

China's leaders have promised to assist the "peace process." But what is the cost of this assistance to Myanmar?

Given China's past assistance to repressive regimes and exploitation of Myanmar's natural resources, many in this country are worried about China's plans, and this has the potential to fuel anti-China sentiment.

In 2011, when then-president Thein Sein ordered the suspension of the Myitsone Dam, a controversial hydroelectric project financed by a state-owned Chinese company, many applauded the move. The decision angered China but it was popular with the Myanmar public.

China has approached Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government about reviving the dam project but nothing appears to have come of that. Greenlighting a restart for the project would be political suicide.

At any rate, Beijing has switched its attention to another area in Myanmar in which it has a strong economic and strategic interest.

Since last year China has signaled that its attention is now focused on building a deep-sea port in Kyaukphyu, in western Rakhine State.

The port will give China access to the Indian Ocean via Myanmar in one of the Belt and Road Initiative's many planned trading corridors.

As The Irrawaddy has repeatedly emphasized, Kyaukphyu is important to China when it comes to long-term strategic influence, both commercial and military, because Beijing needs to secure oil imports from the Middle East and trade routes to and from Africa and Europe.

China has already built oil and gas pipelines in Kyaukphyu and proposed a railway link, though that project is currently suspended.

In any case the Kyaukphyu project is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Myanmar. The most important question is: Who will own the project in the future? Under the current terms, China holds 70 per cent and Myanmar's government and local companies hold 30 per cent.

Concerns have been raised that the US$9 billion price tag for the port development is artificially high and that the port will fall under China's exclusive control if Myanmar were to default on its debt. The good news for now is that the project is under review.

One doesn't have to look too far for a precedent; Asia analysts point to Sri Lanka's Hambantota port. Colombo was unable to service its China-held debts relating to the project and Beijing now exercises de facto sovereign control over the strategic facility.

Critics of the project see Kyaukphyu as part of a disturbing pattern — already visible from the Horn of Africa to South Asia to our own region — in which Chinese investment is linked to exorbitantly high-interest loan agreements. When a host country falls behind in its payments, a deal is struck whereby Beijing assumes greater control of the strategically important project.

Some analysts would go further and say the projects that China is taking on around the world are rigged decisively in their favor in a concerted policy of "debt diplomacy."

Many here at home fear the Kyaukphyu project is in danger of leading Myanmar into a similar "debt trap."

Looking at this and other examples around the region, Myanmar's leaders must think twice before agreeing to China's plans. Such critical decisions require both vision and imagination.

Realistically, the Kyaukphyu project cannot be canceled, but Naypyitaw will have to think carefully about how the port is managed, its long-term development plans for the region, and the flow of trade. Who will benefit from the project?

To begin with, we must take a close look at the financing. What are the interest rates and terms of repayment to China? What will be the consequences if Myanmar can't pay back the loans? Rakhine is one of the poorest and least developed states of Myanmar. The real benefits of developing a port there must accrue to the Rakhine population and the country, not just to investors.

So, what to do with the Kyaukphyu project from here?

The simplest answer — if we don't want to fall victim to China's debt diplomacy — would be to halt the project once and for all. A second option, perhaps, might be for Myanmar to put the project under the control of a publicly listed state enterprise — or set one up for this purpose — which would be bound by stock exchange rules and subject to greater transparency, and then invite more investors to participate.

The post Is Kyaukphyu in Danger of Slipping Out of Our Hands? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rebel Group Sends ‘Tax’ Letter to Shan State Schools

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 02:37 AM PDT

YANGON — The Kachin Independence Organization/Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA) has reportedly sent extortion letters to 21 private and boarding schools in northern Shan State’s Muse Township.

Private schools that received the letter told The Irrawaddy that they arrived on Tuesday.

The letter bore the seal of the KIO/KIA and was reportedly sent out by the taxation section of the KIA’s 9th Battalion in Kutkai District.

"The letter was not directly sent to our school. But all the 21 letters were sent to a school, and it was asked to send letters to other schools," said a teacher who asked not to be named.

The letter asked the school owners to pay taxes for the 2017-18 fiscal year at the battalion’s taxation section by June 15.

Nine of the schools were asked to pay 1.5 million kyats ($1,106) each. Another 11 were asked to pay 1 million kyats each, and a kindergarten was asked to pay 900,000 kyats.

“This is not extortion, but annual taxation as usual,” the letter said.

Police Lieutenant Colonel San Win, of the Shan State police force, said private schools have reported the letters to the police.

"I don't know if they paid the money. This is the first time I heard that they asked for money from schools. You might have heard reports of them asking for money from industrial zones, bus service providers and banks. It is not unusual," he said.

The Commander-in-Chief’s Office of the Myanmar Army also reported the letters on Thursday. It said a man arrived by motorbike at the Galaxy private school on Tuesday evening and handed over letters addressed to the 21 schools.

The Irrawaddy called the phone number provided in the letter. The person who answered said he was with the KIA’s 9th Battalion and that the money had to be paid at an office in Ruili, a city in China’s Yunnan Province that sits just across the border from Myanmar. When asked about the requested taxes, he said he was not authorized to answer and that his supervisors were not in the office.

Colonel Naw Bu, information officer for the KIO/KIA, did not deny the KIA collects taxes from businesses, but he said he did not know about the letters sent to the schools in Muse.

"I didn't see those letters, and I have gotten no report about them. So I can neither confirm nor deny that those letters were sent by us. But according to our policy, we always do it," he said, referring to collecting taxes from businesses.

The KIO regularly collects taxes from businesses in Muse — based on their size — because the township is under the control of its 9th Battalion.

Col. Naw Bu declined to comment about the total amount of tax it collects per year or about its tax rates.

Other armed ethnic groups collect taxes in northern Shan State as well.

The KIA also levies taxes in Kachin State for their “revolutionary fund” and occasionally collects tolls along some of the state’s roads.

Most businesses do not bother to file complaints with police or other authorities and pay the taxes.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Child Dies in Shan State Flooding

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 02:25 AM PDT

YANGON — A child died in a flood in Shan State's Taunggyi after heavy rains on Tuesday, said the Naypyitaw disaster management department.

"Drainage ditches were filled with rainwater in the Kyaung Gyi Zay ward of Taunggyi on June 5. The 10-year-old boy washed his feet in a ditch and because the water was flowing rapidly, he was carried away and died," officer U Than Kyaw Htay of the department told The Irrawaddy.

Fourteen households with some 60 people were also affected by flooding, which inundated their houses on the same day in another ward of Taunggyi, said the department.

Dozens were forced from their homes due to flooding in Lashio in northern Shan State. Torrents of water were also reported in Nan Lan village tract in Hsipaw Township, affecting dozens more.

The Shan State disaster management department denied news reports that two people were killed due to flooding in Nan Lan village tract.

"No one died or was injured. People from 11 houses had to move. Currents were high in the morning, but subsided in the evening," head of the department U Soe Naing told The Irrawaddy.

Despite rising water levels in rivers across the country, they may not reach danger levels this month. People do not need to worry about severe flash floods at this time," said director-general U Kyaw Moe Oo of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

"There are low-pressure areas in the Bay of Bengal and this has caused heavy rains in central Myanmar and Shan State. Heavy rains have also come in along the coastal areas; they are likely in Tanintharyi, Bago, Irrawaddy and Rakhine," he said.

The post Child Dies in Shan State Flooding appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Military Representatives Criticize Parliamentary Committee for Lack of Transparency

Posted: 08 Jun 2018 12:21 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Military representatives to Myanmar's Lower House of Parliament have criticized a parliamentary committee that they say was formed and operated without transparency.

On Thursday, lawmakers discussed the 2016-17 report of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of the Union Parliament—the first discussion of its function since it was formed some four years ago at the Lower House.

The committee was formed to facilitate coordination between the two houses of the Union Parliament as well as cooperation between the Union Parliament and international partners, international Parliaments, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

Military representatives claimed that lawmakers were not officially informed when the committee was established in June 2014 under President U Thein Sein's government. Though the committee was formed at the Lower House and named the Joint Coordination Committee, the Upper House did not have such a committee.

Lawmakers were informed only when the committee was abolished and reformed as the Joint Coordination Committee of the Union Parliament in 2016, said military representatives, adding that the functions and activities of the committee were never reported to lawmakers.

The USDP and IPU provided US$13.7 million to the committee from 2013 to 2017, said Daw Wint Wah Tun, a National League for Democracy lawmaker, who discussed the committee report on Thursday.

JCC vice chairman and Upper House lawmaker U Aung Kyi Nyunt said that he could not comment because he was not present at the parliamentary session on Thursday. Another member and Lower House lawmaker U Phyo Zeya Thaw declined to comment, saying that concerned lawmakers will explain more in detail regarding the JCC next week.

According to the 2016-17 report, the JCC was formed at the Union Parliament level in May 2016 and led by the vice chairman of the Lower House. The report says that the JCC is cooperating with 13 international partners.

Military representatives asked the JCC to exercise caution in cooperating with international agencies and ensure no state secrets are leaked.

They said that even the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission has to seek the Union Parliament's approval for its formation and yearly extensions, but in the case of JCC, it was never done.

"Lawmakers were not informed when committee members were changed. And even the Union Parliament website does not provide information about the committee," military representative Major Zin Lin told the reporters.

Military representatives welcome the formation and objective of the JCC, but "we raised an objection because it was not formed in line with parliamentary laws and rules," he added.

"We are legislators, and it is important that legislators do not break the law. Only then, will we be able to do checks and balances on others," he said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Military Representatives Criticize Parliamentary Committee for Lack of Transparency appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cut More Trees! Cambodians Challenge Conservation

Posted: 07 Jun 2018 10:34 PM PDT

TA BOS, Cambodia — The Cambodian rosewood had stood for hundreds of years, but its value finally proved too hard to resist and the giant tree came crashing down — inside a protected forest.

It’s unclear exactly who was behind the felling — nobody has been charged — but it set off a series of events that culminated in hundreds of villagers rejecting their community forest in favor of cutting more trees.

The incident underscores the challenge of protecting the country’s forests, which researchers say have been rapidly disappearing due to logging and agricultural land concessions granted to companies.

Cambodia has among the highest deforestation rates in the world, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances in 2017.

The Southeast Asian nation lost 1.6 million hectares between 2001 and 2014, including 38 percent of its “intact forest landscape," which the study defined as “a seamless mosaic of forest and naturally treeless ecosystems.”

Conservationists have fought for years to convince the government and people in remote areas to check deforestation, and the community forest model has been a key strategy.

Local residents agree to preserve a community forest, although they are allowed to continue to farm areas already under cultivation, as well as harvest timber needed for construction — if they receive permission.

That model is broken, according to Ben Davis, who has worked in conservation in Cambodia since 1992 and set up the community forest near Ta Bos village in the province of Preah Vihear.

Davis has helped non-governmental organizations (NGOs) establish other community forests, which he said had ended up being logged as soon as no one was around to enforce protection.

“Unless there’s an NGO that is living there in the forest,” he said, trailing off. “The minute they’re gone…”

Davis, an American, and his Australian wife, Sharyn, live with their two children in the community forest where they have set up an eco-tourism lodge, and he often accompanies Ministry of Environment forest rangers on patrol.

A year ago, rangers startled some men who had just cut down the ancient rosewood, which Davis said was the biggest in the forest.

Authorities decided to confiscate the tree, but the rainy season delayed them and it lay in the jungle until this past April, said Davis and Pov Samuth, the local commune chief.

After the rangers hauled the rosewood to the village common area, residents protested, demanding that it be turned over to them, Davis and Pov Samuth said.

Davis said villagers recently sold one section of the tree — 1.7 meters long and more than a meter in diameter — for $10,000.

“It’s no wonder this thing set off a firestorm,” he said. “You can see why the villagers are hell bent on taking the forest over.”

About 400 residents demonstrated outside Davis’ house in April, and hundreds have applied their thumbprints to a petition demanding his eviction.

“We are not satisfied, because they said the area should be protected for the next generation, but villagers can’t go into the forest to do our work,” said Rorn Chhang, who added her thumbprint to the petition.

Her sister, Sorum Chhang, said she owned 20 hectares in the forest, which she began clearing in 2001.

“A few years ago, they came and said it belongs to the protected area, so they don’t allow me to do anything on my land,” said Sorum Chhang, who has no ownership documents.

Time to Talk

As the controversy continued, government officials in the capital, Phnom Penh, decided to meet with the villagers to explain the regulations around community forests.

About 300 people crowded into a wooden pagoda in the center of the village to speak to Lay Piden, deputy chief of law enforcement and governance at the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Nowadays, there are restrictions even to walk into the forest,” one man said to nods and murmurs of agreement.

After a heated discussion, Lay Piden said the villagers seemed most interested in figuring out how to keep felling trees, as they had before the community forest was established.

“Now, the officials from the Ministry of Environment prohibit them,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “That’s why they come here and get mad.”

Meas Nhem, director of the Phnom Tnout Wildlife Sanctuary, where the community forest lies, denied that residents are prevented from entering the protected area.

“We are not strict with the villagers,” he said by phone. “We allow them to take yields from the forest, but what we ban is deforesting for farming land and selling to dealers.”

Debt and Deforestation

Davis said almost every family in the village has taken out loans, putting up their land as collateral, and they struggle to service the debt.

Pov Samuth, the commune chief, concurred.

“Nearly all villagers take money from the banks,” he said. “Some need to cut the trees to construct houses, and some also sell for paying the bank.”

Debt-driven deforestation in the Phnom Tnout Wildlife Sanctuary has raised fears among conservation groups.

In April, eight organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund, released a statement warning of “the rapid rate of destruction” and urged authorities to “enforce the rule of law.”

Already this month, three villagers have been arrested for cutting down a massive padauk tree, an endangered, luxury hardwood that is carved into furniture and musical instruments.

Davis said the rosewood incident had emboldened residents, as some had gained from the illegal felling.

“They hope to get away with it again,” he said.

The post Cut More Trees! Cambodians Challenge Conservation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

As Kim Arrives in Singapore, No North Korean Comrades in Sight

Posted: 07 Jun 2018 10:18 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — Stella Choi, the principal of a Korean language school in a drab tower in downtown Singapore, works just across the elevator lobby from the modest suites that make up North Korea’s embassy.

Yet the South Korean national, who runs the iSpeak Korean Language Center, says she has neither seen nor spoken to any of her Northern neighbors or people entering the embassy since they moved in two years ago.

Choi’s experience is consistent with the extremely low profile Singapore’s small community of North Koreans has kept in recent years as diplomatic pressure on their home country made traveling and working abroad increasingly difficult.

But they have disappeared in recent years as UN sanctions tightened around Pyongyang, and Singapore has been among the countries that have dutifully implemented resolutions to cut trade ties, ban transactions with North Korean banks and cancel the work passes of its citizens.

North Korea’s place in the world – and that of its diaspora – comes into focus in Singapore next week, when the city-state hosts the first ever summit between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un will discuss ending the North’s nuclear weapons and missile programs in return for diplomatic and economic incentives.

Singapore, a global trading and financial hub, was once home to a close-knit group of a few dozen North Korean diplomats and businessmen responsible for channeling money, fuel and goods to the secretive state.

While it still maintains diplomatic ties, North Korea’s embassy has moved from a three-story property in a lively neighborhood of heritage shop-houses to its present unassuming home.

“I hope to see them one day. Since the North and South Korean relationship is getting better, I may even be able to speak to them,” said Choi.

Reuters has visited the North Korean embassy multiple times over the last year but on all but one occasion there appeared to be nobody there. Reuters did once meet the embassy’s first secretary, Ri Pyong Dok, while he was entering the embassy in February 2017, but he declined comment.

In a call in recent weeks to the embassy to ask about preparations for the summit, a North Korean staffer also declined comment.

The Singapore foreign ministry has four North Korean officials and their spouses in its list of diplomatic and consular staff as of June 2018.

Strategically Managed

“The sanctions and the pressure that was put on by the US and its allies were definitely … key motivating forces that encouraged him (Kim Jong Un) to consider engaging more, and to come out and have this summit,” said Nicholas Fang, director of security and global affairs at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

North Korea has always strategically managed its expatriate population, mainly sending them to allies like China and Russia, where they feel they will not be corrupted by Western ideals.

Singapore is probably the most diplomatically neutral place where they’ve based people historically – more for trade reasons than diplomacy, said John Kim, a Korean-American businessman who advises a non-profit offering training in entrepreneurship and business in North Korea.

Kim said he had not spoken to a North Korean in Singapore in around five years. The last person John Kim spoke to told him there were around 50 North Koreans operating in the city-state, mainly in industries like shipping, although there are no official figures of the size of the community.

In contrast, there are about 20,000 South Koreans living in Singapore.

In November, Singapore suspended all trade with North Korea to comply with tightening UN regulations.

In March, Singapore said it had revoked the work permits of all remaining North Koreans in the country.

A long-time South Korean resident of Singapore who did not want to be named said until a few years ago, groups of North Koreans would come into South Korean-run restaurants for barbecue dinners and would sometimes strike up casual conversations with the South Korean patrons or staff.

They would be relaxed and friendly, though there was occasionally tension in the banter, reflecting the rivalry between the two states, he said.

One more prominent North Korean figure in Singapore was Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of the current leader who was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur airport last year.

A socialite, he often drank at a plush bar on the top of the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel or in one of the city-state’s many karaoke joints, according to one of his friends, who declined to be named, citing safety reasons.

The friend said Kim Jong Nam was down-to-earth, self-deprecating and open to jokes about his family connections.

“We would always ask, ‘So Kim, what do you think about communism?' and he’s was always saying, ‘I’m all about peace and love.”

The post As Kim Arrives in Singapore, No North Korean Comrades in Sight appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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