Tuesday, August 14, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Residents, Some Lawmakers Oppose Hotel on Former Wildlife Area Near Inle Lake

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 07:21 AM PDT

YANGON – Lawmakers of Nyaung Shwe Township, southern Shan State, have joined local residents in objecting to the proposed construction of a hotel on 90 acres of prime land in a village in the Inle Lake area.

The Inle hotel zone already occupies more than 620 acres of land, and residents and lawmakers urged that there should be no more new hotels built in nearby areas.

The land in Mai Thaut village was once a wildlife preservation area, but the protected status of the land was removed just before the former military junta ended its authoritarian rule. U Thein Aung, the former forestry minister and then chief minister of Irrawaddy Region, in March 2011 approved the removal of 90 acres from the Inle wildlife sanctuary so that a luxury hotel could be built on it by Myanmar Naing Group Co. Ltd.

Local residents told The Irrawaddy this week that they will continue their objection, simply to protect the biodiversity and wildlife in the Inle area.

"We did not know about the hotel project before. We have become aware of the importance of preserving these areas; we oppose [the plan] and we will continue doing so," said Ma Khaing Khaing Tun, an Inle resident.

The developers initially planned to start the hotel project in 2016, as they received permission to do so in 2011, but it was stopped after local residents objected. Their efforts resumed in mid-June this year. According to a notice from the district resettlement and land record office, any objection to the hotel project would have to be made before Aug. 15.

"We will see whether the government will allow the hotel project to continue or not, as the deadline for the objection is on Wednesday," said U Nay Myo, a Lower House lawmaker representing Nyaung Shwe.

Innthar Ethnic Affairs Minister Dr. Tun Hlaing, Lower House lawmaker U Nay Myo and state lawmakers U Khin Maung Win and U Thein Zaw Moe joined the locals' signature campaign against the hotel project this month.

"As a resident of Inle region, I want the area to be preserved, as Inle Lake already faces a lot of environmental challenges," U Nay Myo said.

In order to protect its rich biodiversity, residents of the Inle Lake region cannot build structures — not even huts — within 10 miles of Inle Lake, said Inle residents, on the orders of the wildlife preservation committee.

"We have a hotel zone already, and as it is inside the Inle Wildlife sanctuary, it will affect the natural biodiversity," added U Thein Zaw Moe, a state lawmaker from Nyaung Shwe Constituency 2.

The lawmaker said there had been some efforts by the developers to persuade locals to accept the project by promising to support village development with infrastructure like roads and bridges.

"No permission should be given to build the hotel on this important land," said Dr. Tun Hlaing, who is also the vice chair of the Inle Lake conservation committee.

"If the cabinet approves the hotel project on those 90 acres, it will have both environmental and social impacts," he said, partly because locals are not even allowed to build any structures designed to protect the sanctuary. The minister added that the cabinet must uphold its responsibility to conserve natural diversity.

The post Residents, Some Lawmakers Oppose Hotel on Former Wildlife Area Near Inle Lake appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

KNU Leader Has Changed His Tune on the Chances for Peace

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 06:29 AM PDT

MON STATE — I met senior Karen National Union (KNU) leader Padao Mahn Nyein Maung during the Karen New Year in 2013. He was very actively working for peace at that time, and it seemed to me that he felt it was the right time to work with the government and the Myanmar Army. I met him in Ah Lone Township, Yangon Division, where a large Karen community and a number of journalists were celebrating the New Year.

The KNU had signed a ceasefire agreement with the government after fighting the state for more than 50 years. The KNU was the country's oldest and strongest armed rebel group, and had long refused to sign an agreement with the military regime.

However, the political reforms embarked upon under then-President Thein Sein had convinced the KNU to change its mind. I asked Padao Mahn Nyein Maung what he thought the benefits of signing a ceasefire would be. His reaction was quite defensive. He told me that he knew what I was really trying to ask. "You journalists always have a negative viewpoint," he said. "How can I say what the benefits are for our ethnic Karen? We have only just signed the ceasefire agreement."

Some journalists, including myself, were disappointed by his behavior. Padao Mahn Nyein Maung was instrumental in bringing the KNU to the table to sign a peace agreement with the government, according to some Karen sources. Earlier, he had been sentenced to life in prison after being detained in China for attempting to cross the border in order to travel to Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army. The government of then-President U Thein Sein initially approached Padao Mahn Nyein Maung about making peace with the KNU while he was still in prison.

Padao Mahn Nyein Maung received an amnesty along with other political prisoners under the U Thein Sein administration and was successful in bringing the KNU to the table to sign a peace deal. At that time, Padao Mahn Nyein Maung took the view that he and the KNU could work for peace. He continually praised the administration for its commitment to seeking peace and always spoke positively about the peace process. The KNU was the ethnic armed group with the closest relationship with the government and the Myanmar Army at that time.

At that time, the KNU was a member of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). There was a long debate among members of the bloc about whether to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). After deciding to sign it, the KNU left the UNFC. The government was extremely pleased by this development, and by the UNFC's subsequent loss of influence. Within the KNU, however, the leadership was divided about whether to sign the NCA. Naw Zipporah Sein, who was a former vice chairman of the KNU, disagreed with the decision to sign the pact. She and others did not want the KNU to leave the UNFC. However, a group of KNU leaders including Padao Mahn Nyein Maung were happy to leave the UNFC and decided to sign the NCA.

It has been over three years since the KNU signed the NCA. But the situation has changed, and the relationship between the KNU, the government and the Myanmar Army has changed as well. Fighting recently broke out between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)'s Brigade 5 and the Myanmar Army over the latter's decision to rebuild an old road through a KNLA-controlled area.

Padao Mahn Nyein Maung has changed his tune a lot since the NLD government took power. He has grown more pessimistic about peace, telling reporters at the recent third session of the 21st-Century Panglong Peace Conference in Naypyitaw that no one could touch the 2008 Constitution, which was written by the Myanmar Army. He even said he did not think the conference would help the peace process, as the Myanmar Army did not allow discussion of political issues.

Many people in the country view Padao Mahn Nyein Maung as a supporter of the Myanmar government. So it was a surprise to see him criticizing the peace process, the Myanmar Army and the government.

Padao Mahn Nyein Maung told some reporters during the 68th Karen Martyrs' Day in Hinthada Township, Ayeyarwady Division, that the KNU could not build peace and national reconciliation with the Myanmar Army, as military leaders and government authorities did not allow the Karen people to celebrate the occasion.

The Myanmar Army's action was disrespectful and would damage the peace process, he said, adding that the KNU could not establish trust with the Myanmar Army. He said the Karen people had the right to pay respect to their leaders and celebrate Karen Martyrs' Day.

"If they [the Army] continue to oppress ethnic groups, it will render meaningless all the work done to achieve peace, create unity among ethnic groups, and achieve national reconciliation," Padao Mahn Nyein Maung said.

The post KNU Leader Has Changed His Tune on the Chances for Peace appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Central Bank Drops Exchange Rate Limits

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 06:23 AM PDT

YANGON — The Central Bank of Myanmar announced on Monday that private banks and exchange counters are no longer required to trade within the official exchange rate band in a move meant to help prevent price manipulation and settle recent fluctuations.

The announcement does not explicitly say whether the Central Bank was adopting a floating exchange rate. But experts said the move was another step in that direction, after the Central Bank adopted a managed floating exchange rate during the previous government administration.

Up until Monday, the Central Bank allowed private banks and exchange counters to trade only within a 0.8 percent band. But when the gap between the Central Bank’s reference exchange rates and market rates grows wider than that, the rule becomes hard to abide by. It also creates a bottleneck for some foreign exchange transactions.

The rule also puts a strain on banks’ current account transactions, making foreign banks in particular reluctant to participate in the foreign exchange interbank market.

A financial expert said removing the exchange rate band would likely help with foreign exchange transactions and liquidity flow to some extent.

The Myanmar kyat has been depreciating against the US dollar for the past two months. U Myint, who served as chief economic adviser to the previous president, warned that if the government fails to keep the exchange rate stable the economy could be in deep trouble.

The Central Bank said it would be providing loans of between $300 million and $400 million to private banks and exchange counters to try to keep the rate stable.

The post Central Bank Drops Exchange Rate Limits appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Shady Bagan Projects Reported to Anti-Corruption Commission

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 05:37 AM PDT

MANDALAY – Locals of Bagan, the archaeological zone in central Myanmar, said they have filed a complaint to the Anti-Corruption Commission of Myanmar and requested an investigation into development and conservation projects that were done in their area.

Save Bagan, a local activist group focusing on the conservation of heritage and environmental protection, told The Irrawaddy that it submitted a complaint to the commission on Aug. 6, which was signed by more than 8,000 locals.

"There have been many unjust incidents where local hoteliers were sued while the cronies and rich businesspeople who built their hotels inside the archaeological zone are still out of the reach of the law," said Ko Myo Set San, a leader of Save Bagan.

The group said a complaint was also sent to the President's Office, regarding hotels that have ancient pagodas in their compounds.

In early June, the group urged the government to declare a safe zone for about 100 ancient pagodas and temples that are located inside the leased compounds of hotels and other private compounds in Bagan.

After receiving no reaction from the authorities, the group decided to gather signatures from locals and send the complaint to the President's Office and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

"We suspect there is corruption at the local authority level. We've requested that the commission investigate both the local administration offices and the Department of Archaeology, who are the responsible bodies that have allowed the hotels to operate like that," Ko Myo Set San said.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture reportedly held a series of meetings with the hotel owners in early August and said they were looking for the best way to create a win-win situation for both the businesspeople and the conservation of the region, and to make sure there would be no more similar negative impacts on Bagan in the future.

The group also said the current landscaping projects in Bagan have no transparency or clarity in their budgets.

A few months ago, a cement sidewalk was constructed at Ananda Pagoda. When locals and visitors showed their dissatisfaction and sent complaints, it was removed.

A similar reaction occurred when the local authorities announced plans to build a public toilet at Alodawpyae Pagoda and manmade hills for watching sunrise and sunset. The projects were halted after public disagreement.

Bagan is home to over 3,000 ancient pagodas and temples built between the 9th and 11th centuries. The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture has sought to register Bagan as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The nomination dossier was submitted in 2016 and a team of experts from UNESCO is due to visit Bagan this September. Their report is to be brought up for deliberation at the UNESCO World Heritage Site convention in 2019.

"Currently, Nyaung U district administration office is doing a landscaping project at 17 prominent pagoda and temples where they are growing grass and have no transparency," Ko Myo Set San explained.

The group said since Bagan is located in the dry zone and already has its own natural dry zone landscape that matches the ancient temples, the grass patches are not needed and, in fact, negatively affect the ancient temples and pagodas.

"Growing grass is unnecessary but the authorities are doing it and we suspect they are doing this project to show off and squeeze money [from the government] to put in their pockets or just wasting money, thus we reported it to Anti-Corruption Commission," he added.

The group said the Anti-Corruption Commission has told them they will be in touch within two weeks. When The Irrawaddy contacted the commission, it said it could not comment yet as the case is new and needs to be investigated first.

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Myanmar Asks Bangladesh to Stop Calling Rohingya Refugees ‘Nationals,’ ‘Forcibly Displaced’

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 05:29 AM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar claims that Bangladesh has agreed to stop labeling the IDs it has been issuing Rohingya refugees “Myanmar National’s Registration Card.”

The request came during a three-day visit to Myanmar by Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali that included a day-trip to northern Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township, where military operations triggered by militant attacks on security posts in August 2017 drove some 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh seeking refuge.

The United Nations has labeled the military operations ethnic cleansing, and international rights groups have called on the UN to refer Myanmar military chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing to the International Criminal Court over widespread reports of arson, rape and murder by security forces.

On his visit, Abul Hassan held meetings in Naypyitaw and Rakhine State with Vice President U Myint Swe, Social Welfare Minister U Win Myat Aye, State Counselor’s Office Minister U Kyaw Tint Swe and with an interfaith group in Yangon.

On Saturday, Myanmar announced that it reached seven agreements with the foreign minister including a promise “to revise the language used on the cards issued by Bangladesh.”

On Monday, U Win Myat Aye told The Irrawaddy that Myanmar asked Abul Hassan to change the language on the ID cards Bangladesh was issuing the refugees that describe them as Myanmar nationals and to stop referring to them as “forcibly displaced.”

Neither the announcement nor the social welfare minister explained what Myanmar wants “Myanmar National’s Registration Card” replaced with.

But U Win Myat Aye said Myanmar objected to “forcibly displaced” because, he claimed, most of the refugees were not technically forced out by the military. He conceded that some were forced, but that most left later on as the gradual departure of neighbors made it untenable for them to continue to make a living in their communities.

“They just left very gradually and no government officials gave orders or forcibly drove them out. The real situation is not the way they describe it,” said U Win Myat Aye, claiming that the refugees object to the term as well.

He said some of the displaced people may be Myanmar nationals but most of them would need to go through a verification process.

An Aug. 11 press release from the Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Ministry, however, a day after Abul Hassan’s meeting with U Myint Swe, makes no mention of any agreement on nomenclature and actually uses the term “forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals” twice.

Bangladesh started issuing the refugees ID cards in September, but most Rohingya refused to accept them because they did not specifically identify them as Rohingya, which Myanmar refuses to recognize as an ethnic group. The laminated paper cards, written in English, include the holder’s name, age, place of birth, nationality and parents’ names. At the time, Bangladeshi officials were quoted by international media claiming that the omission of ethnicity was in line with international practice.

Examples of the ID cards Bangladesh began issuing refugees in September. (Photo: Supplied)

In early October, Bangladesh started issuing new ID cards labeled “Rohingya People Registration” that included their place of birth and listed their nationality as Rohingya. It is unclear whether the first cards were revoked or replaced.

Both cards were issued by Bangladesh’s Immigration Department.

Separately, Bangladesh and the UN’s refugee agency have jointly started issuing the refugees over 12 years old yet another type of ID card that includes anti-fraud features including biometric data but no ethnic identity.

In addition to changing the wording of the Bangladeshi ID cards, Myanmar said, Abul Hassan agreed to set up a hotline between the two governments to discuss repatriation, expedite the repatriation process, hand out the agreed-to repatriation forms in the camps, and ensure that the forms were filled out voluntarily.

Saturday’s statement said Abul Hassan also vowed to have the remaining four of five promised refugee transit camps on Bangladesh’s side of the border built soon, step up joint anti-narcotics operations along the border, cooperate on a joint survey of the border between posts 34 and 35 and help Myanmar repatriate the refugees taking shelter there.

In its own Aug. 11 statement on the visit, the Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Ministry said Abul Hassan urged Myanmar to prepare villages and housing in northern Rakhine State for the refugees to return to and that he was told that 42 sites had been identified.

It said Bangladesh also asked Myanmar to help convince prospective returnees to accept Myanmar National Verification Cards (NVCs) and that Myanmar agreed to send teams to the refugee camps to explain their advantages. Most Rohingya refuse to accept the NVCs because they do not guarantee them the Myanmar citizenship they believe they are entitled to.

The post Myanmar Asks Bangladesh to Stop Calling Rohingya Refugees ‘Nationals,’ ‘Forcibly Displaced’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

5 Months On, Lawmakers Still Waiting to Debate Proposed Protest Law Changes

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 05:25 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Lower House of Parliament has yet to begin debate on proposed amendments to the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law nearly five months after they were submitted to the chamber.

The bill was forwarded to the Lower House in March. Twenty civilian lawmakers from different parties and 60 military representatives have registered to debate the bill, said U Kyaw Soe Lin, secretary of the chamber’s Bill Committee.

Because the debate is likely to take a while, the committee recommended that lawmakers discuss the bill in a separate meeting and approve or reject the amendments by consensus, but lawmakers rejected the idea.

"None of the lawmakers is willing to compromise on the bill. They insist that they will debate it in Parliament. So we have submitted their request to Parliament as it is their right," U Kyaw Soe Lin told reporters on Monday.

U Thein Tun Oo, spokesman for the Union Solidarity and Development Party, speculated that debate was being delayed because of opposition from his party and civil society organizations.

"When the bill was first submitted to the Upper House, we opposed it because it denies the rights of citizens. The bill denies the rights of citizens enshrined in the Constitution," U Thein Tun Oo told The Irrawaddy.

In March, the Upper House of Parliament approved the set of controversial amendments to the law despite strong opposition from activists and rights groups who claim the changes would further restrict the freedom of expression.

Even some lawmakers from the ruling National League for Democracy voted against the bill, which was approved with 113 votes for and 78 votes against.

If the changes are fully approved, Article 4 (d) of the law will require would-be protesters planning peaceful assemblies and processions to inform police in advance of not only their agenda and estimated numbers, but also the estimated cost of the event and the identities of the people or organizations paying for it.

The most controversial part of the bill would stipulate jail terms for those convicted of provoking or exhorting others to organize or participate in demonstrations by bribing or paying them or for doing anything else with the intention of harming the stability, rule of law, peace and tranquility of the community.

The provision was criticized as being too broadly written; activists warn it could be exploited to stifle political dissent.

U Tun Tun Hein, a member of the NLD’s central executive committee, told reporters in March that the existing law was enough to regulate people who want to stage protests with good intentions.

"But if it is applied for destructive purposes, we have to do what it takes in the interests of the country," he said.

U Kyaw Soe Lin said the bill was likely to be discussed during the current session of Parliament.

The General Administration Department of the Home Affairs Ministry and the police are the primary agencies responsible for enforcing the protest law.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Govt Investment Body Announces New Criteria for Private Education Institutions

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 04:41 AM PDT

YANGON — The Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) announced 17 points of standard criteria for private education services on Monday, with specific guidelines on organizational structure, standards for instructors and the school environment.

The government investment body stated that the criteria apply to private schools and training centers that offer certificate qualifications, diplomas and bachelor's degrees to students, for Myanmar- and foreign-owned companies or organizations as well as joint ventures.

Publication of the new criteria comes four months after the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) announced that Myanmar would allow foreigners to make full capital investment in private schools and other educational institutions.

Since MIC opened the education sector to foreign investors, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand have expressed interest in investing in Myanmar, according to DICA.

In June, US educational provider Kaplan Inc. opened Kaplan Myanmar University College in Yangon offering certificate courses, degree programs, Master of Business Administration programs and short courses for students.

If they can afford it, many parents in Myanmar prefer to send their children to private schools for a higher standard of curriculum, which makes it easier to later join foreign universities for further study. According to the Ministry of Education, some 600 private schools were in operation during the 2016-2017 academic year in Myanmar.

DICA says the education services can only offer a certificate, qualification, diploma or bachelor's degree that has been approved by the related ministry. They need to provide information on the type of course content to be used at the school as well as the syllabus type and the educational background of the members of the institution who are responsible for administration, management and learning activities.

Private school teachers will need to present their teaching credentials and details of their teaching experience as well as a brief biography.

Education services need to have adequate numbers of teachers as well as administration staff and an appropriately sized school compound and sufficient buildings.

According to DICA, the investor will need to get signed agreements from at least 10 people who live around the site of the proposed private school outlining that they have no objections to the establishment of a school. A document of recommendation from the relative ward administrator is also required.

Having an appropriate environment for education is another element of the criteria. DICA stated that the school administrator needs to keep the school compound, surroundings, classrooms and practical rooms in conformity with health, cleanliness and tidiness and prove preparation measures for health emergency, security measures and a firefighting system.

Other points outline the necessity of having a recommendation from the relevant ministry depending on the type of school to be established as well as rules prohibiting drug and alcohol consumption and sexual harassment of students and teachers.

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Lack of Funding Fueling Corruption in Forestry Sector, Senior Official Says

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 04:35 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—More than 3,200 Forestry Department staff overseen by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation have been subject to disciplinary action over the past seven years, department director U Khin Maung Win said, adding that the problem is largely a result of under-funding.

They were disciplined for violations including bribery and corruption, negligence, misconduct, and poor performance, said U Khin Maung Win during a workshop on combating corruption in the forestry sector at the ministry on Monday.

"The main reason [for disciplinary action] was negligence. The second was their poor track record in arresting illegal loggers. Most of the staff members disciplined were rangers," he said.

Between fiscal 2011-12 and 2017-18, the ministry took action against 3,272 staff. It took action against a further 121 from April to the end of July this year.

Around 35 percent of those disciplined were rangers, while their deputies accounted for the second-largest group, at 34 percent.

A total of 82 staff members of the Forestry Department were the subject of corruption and bribery complaints. The department has taken action against nearly 50 of them, and is investigating the remaining cases.

Director U Khin Maung Win lamented that staff are overstretched and the department is seriously under-resourced with a workforce of just 5,300 staff to take care of over 74 million acres of forest.

Moreover, the department lacks the funds needed to purchase machinery and equipment to manage the forests, he added.

Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Ohn Win called for greater efforts to eliminate corruption in the country's forestry sector.

U Myint Wai, a lawmaker representing Rakhine State's Gwa Township in the Lower House of Myanmar's Parliament, claimed that Forestry Department staff do not even have the funds and equipment to transport seized logs in order to hand them over to the department.

He said that if the necessary assistance were provided in a timely manner, Forestry officials would be able to arrest more illegal loggers, thereby reducing both corruption and illegal logging.

"Staff don't want to spend money out of their own pockets to arrest illegal loggers. It seems that it is easier for them to take money from illegal loggers and let them go. [Failure to fund the officials] essentially encourages corruption among those who wouldn't ordinarily be corrupt," U Myint Wai said.

According to the ministry, more than 250,000 tons of teak and other hardwoods were seized over the past seven years. The ministry arrested 306 foreigners and 39,265 locals and seized an unspecified amount of machinery in connection with illegal logging.

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Internal Revenue Dept to Implement Online Tax Payment System

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 04:19 AM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar's Internal Revenue Department has invited banks and mobile money operators to submit an expression of interest to implement an online tax payment system.

In an announcement released on Monday, the IRD said it would implement i-banking, mobile banking, and a mobile payment system to make tax payments more convenient.

The monthly commercial tax, special goods tax and income tax – which needs to be paid every three months – can be paid online.

U Tun Min Thu, deputy director of the IRD, said these three taxes are the ones most often paid by taxpayers.

He said the payment system would help taxpayers, reducing the time spent on manual payments.

The deputy director added that he expects the system will be up and running about three to six months after the EOIs are submitted.

Interested service providers were asked to submit before 2 p.m. on Aug. 30.

The IRD introduced an online tax payment system in February in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyitaw to some of the highest taxpayers including those from the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Yangon.

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Dam Bursts in Kyaukphyu Township

Posted: 14 Aug 2018 01:18 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — More than 300 people were evacuated after the Nga La Pwe Dam in Kala Ba Taung village of Rakhine State's Kyaukphyu Township burst on Monday.

The dam lies in close proximity to urban wards of Kyaukphyu and was breached on Monday at noon due to rising tides.

More than 300 people from over 70 households near the dam were evacuated. "They were evacuated to Thein Taung monastery," Kyaukphyu Township municipality chairman U Than Lwin told The Irrawaddy.

The dam was built on a lake that was previously used to farm fish. Currently, it is managed by the Irrigation Department. According to locals, the dam also burst last year.

U Poe San, a lawmaker representing Kyaukphyu Township in the state Parliament, blamed the local government for its negligence regarding the dam break.

"I went to see the dam on Monday at noon. The administrator of Nga La Pwe village told me that he had informed the Irrigation Department long ago that the embankment of the dam needed to be fixed," U Poe San told The Irrawaddy.

"But no one came and saw the dam. So, it was caused by departmental negligence," he added.

Navy soldiers, local police force, firefighters and locals are fixing the embankment.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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A Woman’s (Political) Work is Never Done

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 10:49 PM PDT

Ma Mee Mee, a prominent member of the 88 Generation Students group, died in a car accident on Monday while on her way back to Yangon from Irrawaddy Region. She was 47 years old. The Irrawaddy revisits this story from November 2012 about the activist, who urged women to take a more active role in politics.

As a former political prisoner, Thin Thin Aye knows something about fear: that you should never let it stand in your way. That's why the veteran activist, better known as Mee Mee, has made it her mission to persuade other Burmese women to set aside their fears and take a more active role in politics.

Since her release from prison in January of this year, Mee Mee has done much to live up to her own advice. As a prominent female member of the 88 Generation Students group, she is living proof that there is plenty of room for women in Burmese politics, if they choose to get involved.

"The political landscape is changing, and women are participating in politics more now than they did two decades ago," says Mee Mee, speaking to The Irrawaddy during a trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she was taking part in a series of workshops with exiled women's groups.

The 40-year-old veteran activist is actively engaged in efforts to empower women through the Women's Center, led by fellow 88 Generation leader Nilar Thein. The 88 Generation group has made women's empowerment one of its major issues, along with human rights, peace in ethnic areas and workers' and farmers' rights.

Mee Mee has been imprisoned three times for her role in Burmese politics—in 1988, 1996 and 2007—and has spent a total of 10 years behind bars in nearly half a dozen prisons: Insein, Tharrawaddy, Pathein, Kathar and Shwebo.

She was just 16 the first time she was thrown in jail for taking part in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising. Then, at the age of 24, she was locked up again in her final year of studying zoology at Dagon University in Rangoon, this time for leading a student demonstration. After five years and nine months without contact with her two children, she was released from Tharrawaddy Prison in 2002.

Her third spell in prison began after the 2007 Saffron Revolution, when she received a 65-year sentence for leading protests against a dramatic rise in fuel prices. She was freed in January as part of a general amnesty that saw the release of hundreds of prominent political prisoners.

Since her time in prison in the mid-1990s, Mee Mee has suffered chronic pain in her joints due to the dire conditions under which she was forced to live. "I was arrested in winter, and for three months I stayed in a cell with nothing except a dirty mat in it," she said.

Like other political prisoners, she was denied access to paper and reading materials, something she remembers as a real hardship. During her more recent prison term, however, she was not as severely restricted.

"This time I was allowed to read, so I had chance to study about issues that interest me," she said. Unfortunately, she added, things were not much better in other respects, due to the attitude of some prison staff, who seemed to think it was their duty to mistreat prisoners.

Since her release from prison, Mee Mee has joined the network-building efforts of the 88 Generation group, traveling around the country and learning how to use social media to develop what the group calls its "Discussion on Peace and Open Society"—an initiative led by its most prominent members, Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi and Mya Aye.

Her own role in this effort has been to draw women into the discussion. She said that despite meeting many women who participate in everyday political activities, most say they don't know how to get more politically involved.

The main obstacle for women, she said, is fear, something that most Burmese understand only too well after decades of oppression. But gender stereotypes are also a problem, as "Women tend to exclude themselves from political roles," she said.

As much as she would like to change this mindset, however, Mee Mee doesn't simply urge women to ignore social attitudes or their own reluctance to get involved in activities that many still see as potentially dangerous. Rather, she appeals to their own innate capacity to understand issues that really matter to them.

"I would not force them to accept any ideology without knowing the meaning of it themselves," she said. "I want women who join politics to be able to think for themselves about what is right or wrong, using their own critical thinking."

Part of this process is teaching women that they are already actively engaged in politics. "If they are doing philanthropic work, we have to explain to them that this is also political work. Gradually, their thinking changes," she said.

Of course, it's not enough just to change women's attitudes—men's mindsets also have to be taken into consideration. On this score, however, Mee Mee said that she finds that men are more open-minded about giving women a role in politics than they would have been in the past.

Although some now say that a quota should be set to make more room for women in politics, Mee Mee said the first priority should be to ensure that women are qualified to fill leadership roles, by giving them the skills they need to succeed in politics.

"It doesn't mean anything to set aside 30 percent of political positions for women, if they don't have specific skill-sets," she said. "We need more women politicians who have the courage to speak the truth and who have the ability to do so."

Courage is also needed to deal with issues to don't have any easy answers. During a number of recent trips to Arakan State with Nilar Thein, Mee Mee saw first-hand that some attitudes die hard. There is a lot of work to be done there to develop people's thinking about many things, she said about her encounters with local people in the strife-torn state.

Asked what she thought about the participation of women in exiled political groups, Mee Mee said that she was greatly encouraged by what she has seen during her trip to Thailand.

"Burmese women activists are so strong here in Thailand and I would like to see women inside the country become more like them. So we have to do more networking within the country as well as outside," she said. She pointed out that a major difference between women inside Burma and those outside the country is that former have far less access to gender-related knowledge.

Although sheer determination to do the right thing has been the driving force in her life, Mee Mee said she could not have come this far without the support of her family, especially her husband, who has been very understanding of her efforts.

"I'm not the perfect mother or housewife, and I don't think I ever will be," she said, noting that she has not been able to spend as much time with her family since her release as she would have liked.

Despite her obvious passion for politics, however, Mee Mee said she has no interest in becoming a politician and running in the 2015 election.

"I will continue to work for the people as one of them, in accordance with the 88 Generation Students group's 10-year plan to carry its Peace and Open Society activities," she said.

The post A Woman’s (Political) Work is Never Done appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Fire Hits Myanmar Hospital, Patients Evacuated on Stretchers

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 10:37 PM PDT

YANGON — A fire broke out in a hospital in Myanmar’s largest city of Yangon late on Monday, forcing staff to evacuate patients on stretchers and in wheelchairs, rescuers said.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries from the blaze that started in a room in Yangon General Hospital’s cancer department, a fire department official said.

Smoke rose from the colonial-era building in the city center. Emergency crews removed medical equipment as staff waited in pitch-black corridors in other parts of the hospital after a power cut.

About 60 patients on stretchers and in wheelchairs were evacuated from the ward, emergency worker Thet Lin said.

“[The fire] is in the cancer department. It started from a vacant room. I haven’t received any information on deaths or injuries from a preliminary report,” the deputy chief of staff at the fire services department, Ye Htut, told Reuters by phone.

Firefighters have not yet determined the cause of fire, he added.

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S. Korea Marks First ‘Comfort Women’ Day, Drawing Japan’s Protest

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 10:27 PM PDT

SEOUL — South Korea’s government plans to unveil on Tuesday a new monument as part of the first official day marking Japan’s wartime use of “comfort women,” a euphemism for girls and women forced to work in Japan’s wartime brothels.

The ceremonies marking the first “Memorial Day for Japanese Forces’ Comfort Women Victims” threaten to exacerbate a sensitive diplomatic issue with Japan, South Korea’s neighbor and a key ally of the United States in efforts to contain North Korea.

Japan has said the issue was resolved by a 2015 deal, struck by a previous, conservative South Korean administration, under which Japan apologized to the victims and provided 1 billion yen ($9.03 million) to a fund to support them.

But South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s administration has spotlighted the emotionally charged issue and has called for Japan to do more, despite backing down in January from formally renegotiating the deal.

In March, Moon described Japan’s wartime use of comfort women as “crimes against humanity,” with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga calling Moon’s remarks “extremely regrettable.”

Tokyo has protested over other existing monuments in South Korea dedicated to comfort women, including one in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, as well as the move late last year to establish a day to remember comfort women

A think-tank funded by the South Korean government devoted to researching the issue also opened earlier this month.

The comfort women issue has been a regular cause for contention between Japan and neighbors China and North and South Korea since the war.

On Tuesday morning, over 50 activists joined a sit-in protest in front of Japan's de facto embassy in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, asking for a formal apology and demanding monetary compensation for Taiwanese who were forced to work in its wartime brothels.

“Japanese government should apologize,” the crowd shouted, wearing black shirts with their faces covered by white masks.

Japan colonized the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and occupied parts of China before and after the war.

Japan says the matter of compensation for the women was settled under a 1965 treaty. It says that in 2015 it agreed to provide the funds to help them heal “psychological wounds.”

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Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 10:09 PM PDT

Sound Weaving

Peoples' memories and their thoughts about memories have been recorded and edited for listening at this sound art event which is the second part of a project initiated at last year's second annual My Yangon My Home Festival.

Aug. 16-22, 9:30 pm to 4:30 pm. National Museum. Free admission.

 

Japanese Games

Various Japanese games are introduced every Wednesday.

Aug. 15, 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Japan Culture House, Room 322B, 2nd Floor, Building C, Pearl Condo, Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd, Bahan Tsp. Free admission.

 

Film Night: Lola rennt

The 1998 German thriller "Run Lola Run" will be screened.

Aug. 15, 6:30 pm to 8 pm. Goethe-Institut, corner of Kabar Aye Pagoda Rd and Nat Mauk St, Bahan Tsp. Free Entry.

 

Jazz Night

Local musicians will perform live jazz tunes.

Aug. 15, 7 pm to 10 pm. Sarkies Bar, The Strand Hotel. Reservation: 01 243377~79.

 

Study in Japan Fair

There will be 35 organizations including Japanese universities, professional training colleges, Japanese language institutions and scholarship sponsorship associations for interested attendees to discuss in detail and find out any information they need to know.

Aug. 18, 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. Novotel Hotel. Tel: 09-2618 41054.

 

Seafood Night

This seafood buffet features a variety of delights to choose from including appetizers, salads, soups, hot dishes, fresh oysters, BBQ, desserts, fresh fruits, juices, wine and beer.

Aug. 17. The Square Restaurant, Novotel Hotel. US$32 per person. Tel: 09-251185989.

 

Job Fair

Several employers and recruiters will attend this job fair looking to recruit potential admin, HR and sales staff.

Aug. 18, 9 am to 4 pm. Novotel Hotel.

 

Pullman Art Night

Celebrated artist Win Pe’s paintings will be exhibited at this art night. Profits will be donated to a charity organization which is focusing on health and education in Myanmar.

Aug. 15, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Pullman Yangon Centrepoint at No.65, Corner of Sule Pagoda Rd and Merchant St, Kyauktada Tsp. Free Admission.

 

6 Pack

This is a group art exhibition of six artists.

Aug. 17-19, 43 Art Gallery, 43rd Street, between Mahabandula and Merchant streets, Botahtaung Tsp.

 

Unlocking the Potentials

This art exhibition showcases the evolution of Htoo Aung Kyaw's creations.

Throughout August. De Mart Store, Pansodan St, Kyauktada Tsp.

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

HK Activist to Speak at Press Club on Tuesday, Despite Chinese Pressure

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 09:44 PM PDT

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong independence activist is due to speak on Tuesday at the city’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) despite pressure from Chinese officials to cancel the event.

The invitation to Andy Chan, a founder of the Hong Kong National Party, drew strong criticism this month from China’s Foreign Ministry and a former leader of the ex-British colony.

The FCC, which has hosted public figures and newsmakers since it was founded in 1943, said it would press ahead with the luncheon speech.

A number of Reuters journalists are FCC members.

Chan’s speech is titled “A politically incorrect guide to Hong Kong under Chinese rule,” according to an FCC flyer.

“I will persist with my principles,” Chan, 27, told Reuters. He said up to three people had been following him around the city in the past week. He said he had confronted some of them but could not determine their identity.

“I’m worried that someone may interfere or try to stop me from speaking,” he said.

Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, states that the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is an “inalienable” part of China.

Four groups have sought police permission to protest outside the club, including the Defend Hong Kong Campaign, which planned to condemn the FCC for “promoting Hong Kong independence," said a notice posted on the Hong Kong police website.

“The police will deploy appropriate manpower in accordance with the actual situation,” a police spokesman told Reuters in an email.

China’s Foreign Ministry, which has an office in Hong Kong, this month urged the club to cancel the event.

Leung Chun-ying, a former Hong Kong chief executive who is now vice chairman of a leading advisory body to China’s parliament, this month criticized the FCC on Facebook for hosting a “secessionist.”

He said the club paid “token rent” to the government for its century-old heritage building in the central business district – comments that stoked concerns among some members about the FCC’s future.

Reuters emailed Leung for comment but there was no immediate response.

In an Aug. 6 statement, the FCC said: “We believe that in free societies such as Hong Kong it is vitally important to allow people to speak and debate freely, even if one does not agree with their particular views.”

Hong Kong operates under a “one country, two systems” agreement that promises it a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed in China.

Democracy advocates, however, have bristled against China’s perceived attempts to tighten control over the city and to limit its freedoms and democratic reforms.

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Monday, August 13, 2018

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Youth Should Be Encouraged to Take Part in Peace Process, Camp Participants Say

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 08:18 AM PDT

YWA NGAN, southern Shan State — Steps need to be taken to engage young people in Myanmar's peace process and actively involve them in it, instead of simply regarding them as passive beneficiaries, according to both young people themselves and agencies working to empower them.

"A lot of people just look at young people as the [potential] beneficiaries, but here it is really about young people getting involved, young people engaging in some of these processes," said Janet Jackson, the country representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Myanmar.

Pointing to more than seven decades of armed conflict and inter-communal violence, especially in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, she said the challenges facing youth in Myanmar today are "more pronounced in Myanmar's conflict-torn states," adding that young people are forced to bear the brunt of these conflicts.

However, the views of young people are not widely heard in peace-building processes led by political leaders and policy-makers.

As part of the effort to empower youth and to ensure that more voices from within the diverse youth community are heard, youth camps have been organized by local youth empowerment groups and financed by UNFPA Myanmar. The project aims to promote tolerance among young people and to amplify the voices of youth in Myanmar's peace process.

In Ywa Ngan township, one of two ethnic Danu self-administrative townships, some 300 young participants from 12 indigenous groups gathered for a week to take training sessions on personal development, leadership and building inner peace.

The Irrawaddy observed the youth camp activities and the young people's participation in them over the weekend and found that many young ethnic residents are eager to contribute their skills and knowledge to their communities.

"As we have seen over the last four days, a lot of young people here have got a lot of views that we, the adults and the people [involved] in the process, can learn from, by understanding what the youth's experiences have been like, and how they feel… In some ways [they have been] cheated from the opportunities they could have had. But it is not too late," Jackson told The Irrawaddy.

"It is now about looking at some of the social aspects, and how that needs to be improved. It is also about looking at the dialogue and peace process; how they can have a seat, how they can have a voice and how they can participate in some of the dialogue to give their perspectives,” added Jackson. “So this then [makes the] peace process much more holistic and it really looks at not just one or two facets of partners and agents in peace, but it looks at wider communities that need to be involved in peace."

Peace must be there for everyone, regardless of age, and youth participation should not be overlooked, said Nay Phone Latt, a Yangon Region lawmaker and author.

Nay Phone Latt, who participated as a speaker during the International Youth Day celebration on Aug. 12 in Ywa Ngan, said "Safe Spaces for Youth" — the theme of this year's International Youth Day — are indeed necessary, as young people need security in their lives.

Young people actively participated in discussions on issues related to safety and security in their communities.

"We don't fee safe physically, mentally or [online] in our environment," said Ma Pan Ei Thazin, a 24-year-old trainer at the youth camp.

She added that wherever they are, whether in rural ethnic areas or urban communities, there is a threat to youth's physical safety due to war and crime. On the Web, they face the problem of limited access to accurate information, as well as the danger of cyber-bullying. The youth camps allow young people to be aware of those challenges and show them ways to overcome them.

"We want everyone to be free from conflict and live peacefully," said Ko Aung San Tun, an ethnic Taungyoe participant in his 20s from Aung Pan Township.

As a young man from a remote area, he said that thanks to the camp he now has greater awareness of peace and peace building, as well as of digital literacy and how to use the Internet wisely.

Policymakers should consider taking up the recommendations that have come out of the youth camps, Nay Phone Latt, the regional lawmaker, told The Irrawaddy.

He added that they need to "allow the youth to participate" in Myanmar's future country-building activities, as there are many young people who are capable of doing so. He also urged young people to try different ways to engage, rather than waiting to be invited.

Dr. Tun Hlaing, the Shan State government's Innthar ethnic affairs minister, said more such events are needed, as they are a positive occasion for young people.

"The government cannot do it alone, and neither can the civil society groups. We all must work together," he told The Irrawaddy, adding that his participation in the International Youth Day commemoration in Yaw Ngan was intended to show that the older generations support youth not only in Myanmar but all over the world.

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Govt Gives Gold Mine Operator Final Warning to Hand Back License

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 08:14 AM PDT

YANGON — The government has given one of the largest gold mine operators in Mandalay Region a final warning to hand back its license for failing to make its payments or be blacklisted and prosecuted.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation terminated the license of the National Prosperity gold mining company on May 17 after the firm, which operates in the Moehti Moemi region of Mandalay's Yamethin Township, failed to hand over the remaining gold payments it owes the state.

The ministry’s No. 2 Mining Enterprise published a notice in state-run newspapers on Monday stating that the firm had not handed back the license even after being asked in writing six times.

"If the company fails to return the license in two weeks, it won't be allowed to do any business by the ministry and legal actions will also be taken." the notice said.

National Prosperity, headed by local businessman U Soe Tun Shein, was granted permission to mine for gold in the area in 2011 under then-President U Thein Sein's administration, agreeing to pay about 5.57 tons of gold to the state over an initial five-year term. In 2013 the company requested and received a three-year extension to the payment period, said the Natural Resources Ministry’s director general, U Than Daing.

He said the company was also allowed to continue operating the mine for another 17 years under a production-sharing contract once it paid the full 5.57 tons.

He said the company has failed to pay the monthly installments it agreed to in 2013 since April 2016, now totaling 1,270 viss (2,032 kg) of gold.

The ministry first ordered the company to suspend operations on Nov. 8, 2017. As National Prosperity Gold continued to operate and miss its payments, the ministry revoked its license on Feb. 17 and terminated its agreement with the company on May 17.

U Than Daing said the company had no choice but to return the license now that the agreement was terminated.

"It is not because they couldn't afford to pay. They had the production, but they didn't pay,” he said.

In March the ministry filed a case against the company's chairman, U Soe Tun Shein, at the Yamethin Township police station under the Mines Law for continuing to operate after being ordered to stop.

U Than Daing said the ministry would also prosecute the company to recover the owed payments.

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’88 Generation Student Ma Mee Mee Dies

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 07:47 AM PDT

YANGON — Ma Mee Mee, a prominent member of the ’88 Generation Students group, died in a car accident on Monday while on her way back to Yangon from Irrawaddy Region. She was 47 years old.

Born Thin Thin Aye, her political activism started as a high school student when she joined the 1988 uprising to topple the military regime of General Ne Win. She was arrested three times between 1988 and 2012.

In 2007, when the ’88 Generation Students group led protests against the military regime over rising fuel and commodity prices, Ma Mee Mee was actively involved. Pictures of her with her fist raised appeared in international media including The New York Times and drew the attention of the regime, driving her into hiding. She was arrested later that year and sentenced to 65 years in jail.

The protests the group started in 2007 evolved into the “Saffron Revolution,” during which Buddhist monks took the place of leading members as they were arrested. The protests turned bloody when the military started firing at participants.

After her release in 2012, Ma Mee Mee became a deputy of the women’s department of the ’88 Generation Peace and Open Society group, which made women's empowerment one of its priorities along with human rights, peace in ethnic minority areas and workers' and farmers' rights.

As a former political prisoner, she knew something about fear — that you should never let it stand in your way. That is why the veteran activist made it her mission to persuade other Myanmar women to set aside their fears and take a more active role in politics.

Ma Mee Mee, center, joins a security line in front of the house of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during a public speech by the Nobel laureate in Yangon in June 1996.

Her own role was to draw women into the discussion. She said that despite meeting many engaged women, they did not know how to get more politically involved.

The main obstacle for women, she said, was fear, something most people in Myanmar understand only too well after decades of oppression. But gender stereotypes were also a problem, she said, because "women tend to exclude themselves from political roles."

As much as she wanted to change that mindset, however, Ma Mee Mee did not merely urge women to ignore social attitudes or their own reluctance to get involved in activities that many still see as potentially dangerous. Rather, she appealed to their own innate capacity to understand issues that deeply mattered to them.

She once told The Irrawaddy that she would not force them to accept any ideology without knowing the meaning of it themselves.

"I want women who join politics to be able to think for themselves about what is right or wrong, using their own critical thinking," said she.

In a condolence letter, the ruling National League for Democracy party described Ma Mee Mee as “a comrade at the forefront of the country’s democracy movement” and said it was very saddened by her death.

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Organizers of Karen Martyrs’ Day Event in Ayeyarwady Division Face Lawsuit

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 07:27 AM PDT

MANDALAY – A senior member of the Karen National Union ethnic armed group and four other organizers are being sued for holding the 68th Karen Martyrs' Day in Hinthada Township, Ayeyarwady Division, on Sunday.

The organizers held the ceremony, ignoring instructions from the local authorities to remove a backdrop with Karen text displayed and proceeding to make a speech on the history of the martyrs which authorities had also forbidden. Authorities are suing the organizers saying that permission for the event was not sought.

Pado Mahn Nyein Maung, senior member of the KNU said he and the four other local organizers received a notice, signed by the Hinthada Township administration officer, to present to themselves to their office, and face a law suit for organizing the ceremony without permission.

"Me, Saw Kyaw Oo and the others visited their office this morning and we were told that we have to face a law suit for holding the ceremony without permission," Pado Mahn Nyein Maung told The Irrawaddy.

Pado Mahn Nyein Maung said the authorities told them they could not to hold the ceremony unless the backdrop was removed and the speech about the history of the Karen martyrs as not given.

"I am very disappointed with this. The authorities want us to go behind bars for being a part of this ceremony, and they do not want the Karen people to know more about their history. This is really bad and if they continue oppressing the ethnic people, there will be no peace in the country for sure," he said.

Organizers claim there were security personnel and police waiting at the venue threatening to stop the ceremony forcibly from Saturday evening. After Pado Mahn Nyein Maung and other leaders talked with the administration officer, they withdraw. However, while the ceremony was taking place as scheduled on Sunday, the organizers received notification of the lawsuit.

"The actions of the local authorities as well as the chief minister of Ayeyarwady Division is insulting the Karen people," said Pado Mahn Nyein Maung.

"This incident shows that the ongoing peace process is just a show, which will never reach its goal since there's no respect for the ethnic people and their history, culture and dignity," he added.

Pado Mahn Nyein Maung said the central government also needs to review their actions in which they restricted the Karen Martyrs' Day ceremonies in other cities such as Yangon and Be Ga Yet Village in Kangyidaunt Township, which is the birthplace of one of the Karen martyrs Saw Ba U Gyi as well as Myaungmya, Einmae and Pantanaw Townships in Ayeyarwaddy Division.

In Yangon, the ceremony was given permission to be held in St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Insein Township following negotiations between the authorities and Karen Affair Minister Naw Pan Thinzar Myo. Using the word 'martyr,' however was forbidden.

As in other cities, the speech about the history of the Karen martyrs was forbidden at the Yangon ceremony. Photos of Saw Ba U Gyi and other Karen leaders also had to be removed from the venue.

In KNU-controlled areas in Karen State, the commemoration ceremonies were only given permission following negotiations between KNU leaders and Karen State's Security and Border Affairs Minister.

"The State Counselor will participate in the wrist-tying ceremony in Yangon soon as an act of unity, but such actions will be go in vain if there's no respect for the ethnic peoples' dignity, their martyrs and their historical events," said Pado Mahn Nyein Maung.

"And though there are many ethnic cultural celebrations which the government are participating in, these actions on our Karen Martyrs day clearly highlight that those are the just a show of the government which is taking opportunities to show they are working on reconciliation," he added.

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Nationalists Rally in Yangon to Denounce New Ban on Ma Ba Tha

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 06:13 AM PDT

YANGON — Hundreds of Buddhist nationalists gathered in Yangon on Saturday to protest against an edict from the state Buddhist clerics authority banning Myanmar’s leading nationalist organization and ordering it to take down its signs by next month.

The clerics authority, the State Sangha Maha Nayaka, or Ma Ha Na, decided last month to ban the country’s largest nationalist group, the Buddha Dhamma Parahita Foundation, formerly called the Association to Protect Race and Religion but better known by its Myanmar acronym Ma Ba Tha.

The Ma Ha Na’s five-point proclamation against the group also included a ban on all activities under the foundation's name, an order to take down its signposts across the country within 45 days and a threat to take legal action against those who failed to comply.

In response to the proclamation, the foundation warned the government and the country's senior monks that the ban could cause disunity among the Sangha and spark a public outcry. It also sent forms to its chapters across the country asking them if the foundation should continue with its campaign "to protect race and religion" or comply with the proclamation, noting that the organization was founded on the principle of consensus rule.

During Saturday’s rally in Yangon, organized by Dhamma Wunthanu Rakhita, an affiliate of the Ma Ba Tha, several hundred supporters of the Buddha Dhamma Parahita Foundation expressed their wish that the organization continue to exist.

"Do you agree that the foundation should exist to protect race and religion?" an organizer asked the audience of Buddhist monks and laymen three times in succession.

"Yes we do!" they replied in unison.

U Thein Aung, the chairman of Dhamma Wunthanu Rakhita, told the media that his group wanted the foundation to persist so that it could continue to protect race and religion. Formed in April 2017, the group is made up largely of laymen and led by senior Ma Ba Tha monks dedicated to "protecting" race and religion "when it comes to cases in which Buddhist monks can't be involved.”

"If we are under pressure [from the government], we will consult with our senior leaders for negotiations. The last thing we want is to not take the signposts down," U Thein Aung said.

Ashin Sopaka, a leading monks of the Buddha Dhamma Parahita Foundation, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that several groups including Dhamma Wunthanu Rakhita were gathering input from members on whether the foundation should disband. He said the foundation would announce the results before the 45-day deadline expires.

"We will move forward depending on the public consensus," he said.

Founded in 2014 — two years after religiously motivated riots largely targeting Myanmar’s Muslim minority — and now with chapters across the country, Ma Ba Tha has become virtually synonymous with Buddhist-led nationalism.

Some of its leading members, including U Wirathu, have preached anti-Muslim sermons, claiming that the country's Buddhist foundations are under assault, that Muslims are threatening to outnumber Buddhists, and that Myanmar needs to be vigilant against fundamentalist influences. The nationalist monk was banned from Facebook early this year due to his fiery posts against Muslims.

Ma Ba Tha was mostly tolerated under the previous administration of President U Thein Sein despite its inflammatory practices. The association approached the then-president to approve a controversial set of four laws on race and religion that imposed restrictions on interfaith marriage, birth spacing, polygamy and conversion. When the laws were passed in 2015, Ma Ba Tha celebrated with a large public rally and praised U Thein Sein.

But the association has faced restrictions since the National League for Democracy came to power in 2016. The new government declared Ma Ba Tha an “unlawful monk association” after only three months in office. Though the announcement drew criticism from nationalists, the association and its laymen supporters have since kept a low profile. Their warnings of public upheaval never eventuated, apart from a few small sit-ins in Yangon and Mandalay that were largely denounced by the public.

In 2017 Ma Ba Tha changed its name to the Buddha Dhamma Parahita Foundation after the Ma Ha Na's decision to ban the association. Following that decision, its headquarters in Yangon and some of its chapters elsewhere replaced their signs to reflect the change. But some of the chapters in Karen State and Mandalay Region have kept the old name and signs, claiming that they do not violate Sangha laws or procedures and that they conform with the Constitution and the Association Registration Law.

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MoU for Dala Industrial Development Project Signed

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 05:59 AM PDT

YANGON – The Yangon regional government and South Korea-based Myanmar Company Wooree signed a memorandum of understanding for the Dala Industrial Development Project on Saturday, a project to be implemented on the west bank of Yangon River near the ongoing Yangon-Dala bridge project in one of Yangon's undeveloped townships according to the Yangon regional government.

The Yangon government has not announced details of the Dala Industrial Development Project or estimations of cost. Yangon's Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein said the bridge will benefit the industrial development project and will also support Yangon Region's economic development.

The industrial development project will be a part of the Yangon-Dala bridge project which is a friendship bridge between Myanmar and South Korea. The bridge project will begin in September this year and is expect to be completed during the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

The Yangon-Dala bridge project agreement was reached under then-president Thein Sein's government and is expected to cost $137.8 million in loans from South Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund with the Myanmar government promising to provide an additional $30.3 million. The bridge will connect Phone Gyi Street in downtown Yangon with Bo Min Yaung Street in Dala Township.

During a recent Yangon regional parliament session, the regional government proposed a project called "Yangon Regional Economic Development" to be implemented in 11 townships across Yangon Region, however the proposal was not approved due to a lack of details. According to a Dala lawmaker, Dala Township is included in the townships proposed in the project.

Thousands of Dala Township residents took to the streets in July, 2018 to show their solidarity with the government’s plan to build a bridge across the Yangon River that will connect the township and Yangon. (Photo: Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy)

"I guess that the Yangon government will present the MoU and more details about the project in the coming parliament [session]," U Tun Yin, a lawmaker in Dala Township told the Irrawaddy.

"They need parliament approval. They can't implement the project if we don't agree," he said.

The parliament will need to determine how the company will pay compensation to the land owners in the project area where there are many different forms of land ownership including paddy fields and residential quarters. The parliament can approve the project after lawmakers testify the potential benefits and challenges of the project, U Tun Yin added.

Lawmakers expect that the industrial development project will begin before the bridge project is complete and that an estimated 1,500 acres will be needed.

"We won't reject the project, if [it] will give job opportunities to the local people," U Tun Yin said.

According to a post on the official Yangon Regional Government's Facebook page, Union Minister for Commerce U Than Myint, Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and regional government officials attended the MoU signing ceremony as government representatives.

Dala Township is one of the city's most underdeveloped townships and is currently accessed from downtown Yangon only via a public ferry. In contrast to the nearby downtown Yangon area, it is populated with old wooden fishing boats, small houses and squatter huts. During summer, water can be scarce and many people lack access to clean water. It is difficult to cross the river during the monsoon season when local residents use small ferries to access downtown Yangon with a number of deaths due to ferry accidents every year. In June, more than 1,000 residents from Dala, Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships in Yangon were joined by residents of Ayeyarwady Region in a protest calling for the rapid implementation of the Yangon-Dala bridge in order to avoid more ferry accidents.

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Tatmadaw Report Concludes 2 Kachin Men It Killed in January Were KIA Troops

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 05:30 AM PDT

MON STATE — The Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) said two Kachin men shot dead by government soldiers in January were Kachin Independence Army personnel killed in battle, contradicting claims by local civilians that they were IDPs who were arrested, tortured and executed.

The two men, Hpaugan Yaw, 65, and Nhkum Naw San, 35, were residents of Maing Hkawng IDP camp in Mansi Township. They were killed on Jan. 31 while attempting to return to their village to check on their animals, according to other IDPs.

Their bodies were found in March when local residents defied a Tatmadaw order and went to search for the missing pair.

The Ministry of Defense said yesterday that based on evidence obtained from local authorities in Maing Hkawng who examined the bodies, and testimony from locals, the Army had concluded in a report that the two IDPs were killed in battle and were members of the KIA.

That report states that according to local authorities, U Nhkum Naw San's skull was shattered by a powerful gunshot to the head, and U Hpaugan Yaw was also shot in the head. His skull contained an exit wound, it said.

Therefore, the Army concluded in its report that the two were killed in battle. The implication of the Army's report appears to be that, as there were reportedly no other wounds other than the fatal gunshots on their bodies, the two were not tortured.

The Tatmadaw also said it had asked a laboratory in Yangon and police in Napyitaw to test the dead men's clothing for traces of blood and gunpowder. The lab found blood but no powder residue, according to the Army.

"The fact that the lab did not find gunpowder residue on their clothing shows that the two men were not shot at close range," the Army said in its report.

According to the Tatmadaw, experts concluded that the two were clearly shot and killed during combat against the Army.

It added that an Army investigation team from Naypyitaw traveled to Maing Hkawng in the second week of July to gather testimony. They spent six days collecting testimony from 39 people including relatives of the victims, township authorities and Myanmar Army personnel.

The team allowed witnesses to record their statements in their own handwriting, and had them sign it. Those who could not write were able to submit recorded voice statements, according to the report.

The Tatmadaw added that some people had spread lies that the Army coerced the testimony.

The Myanmar Army also released photos of bullets, a phone and two KIA uniforms, which it said belonged to the two deceased men.

However, a member of the Kachin Baptist Convention who participated in the retrieval of the bodies said the Tatmadaw's report contradicts what he saw on the ground.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity for reasons of personal security, he recalled seeing many dark colored wounds on the bodies.

Some IDP camp leaders believed that the two IDPs were tortured before they were murdered, he said.

In its report, the Tatmadaw rejected the accusation that its troops murdered the men. It added that police were in the process of withdrawing a murder case against it begun by the victims' family.

Kaw Awng, a member of the family, filed a lawsuit after the two men disappeared. After the bodies were found, she accused the Army of murder.

The Myanmar Army countersued the woman under the Unlawful Association Act on grounds that her relatives were alleged KIA members, reportedly prompting the woman to go into hiding.

It has been six months since the murder case was first opened. The KBC asked the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) to investigate possible rights abuses, but the agency limited its investigation to talking with the Myanmar Army, according to some KBC members at Maing Hkwang IDP camp. The commission's report, issued in June, concluded that the two were members of the KIA and were combat casualties.

Since the bodies were found in March, rights groups have repeatedly asked the Myanmar government to take action against any Army personnel found to have murdered the two IDPs. But their appeals have been met by repeated denials from the Myanmar Army.

David Baulk, a Myanmar specialist with the group Fortify Rights, said "the Myanmar military's continued denial of any wrongdoing in this case is a depressingly familiar story. The military has once again shown it is more concerned with absolving itself than holding those responsible to account. It is cruelly ironic that the military insists it is the protector of Myanmar's people while attacking them throughout Kachin State, and denying aid to those whose lives depend on it.

"While the military continues with these brazen denials, ethnic minority communities throughout the country are demanding justice. It's clear that Myanmar's authorities have no intention of holding themselves to account for mass human rights violations. The U.N. Security Council needs to step up and refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court."

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Lawmakers, Civil Society Oppose Shan Hydropower Project

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 04:18 AM PDT

YANGON — Shan State lawmakers and civil society organizations have called for a halt to a hydropower project being built on the Namtu River in Kyaukme Township, northern Shan State.

The project is being built in Upper Yeywa village in Kyaukme Township and so far is about 40 percent complete.

Nan San San Aye, a lawmaker of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) in the Shan State Parliament, said the water level in the river might rise up to 40 feet upon completion of the dam, which could submerge the village of Ta Long in Hsipaw Township.

"The whole village will have to be relocated when the project comes into operation. All of the farms will be destroyed. Villagers don't want to move. We will stand by the people as we are elected by them," said the lawmaker on Friday.

The village has over 200 households with more than 500 people. It has 174 acres of paddy fields and 184 acres of cropland.

The project was initiated by the Ministry of Electricity and Energy under President U Thein Sein's government in the 2010-11 fiscal year. Infrastructure includes a diversion tunnel, main dam, and hydropower plant, according to the ministry.

The 280-megawatt hydropower plant will generate an annual supply of 1409 kWh, which will be distributed to the national grid, said deputy permanent secretary of the ministry U Htay Aung.

Though the project started in the 2010-11 fiscal year, local residents reportedly did not know about it until 2014, said Nan Khin Mar Aye from the Hsipaw Women's Entrepreneurs Network.

According to a joint statement released by civil society organizations in Hsipaw Township on Aug. 8, the government is planning to build four hydropower projects along the Namtu River—three in Kyaukme District in northern Shan State and one in Mandalay Region.

"Authorities said the village is in a low-lying area and asked the villagers to relocate. I totally oppose this dam project. We can't exchange the livelihoods of locals for a project that will only benefit companies and the government," said Daw Nan San San Aye.

The company building the dam said it would help Ta Long villagers relocate to another village in Nan Ma Khaw village tract, and provide land in recompense.  However, Nan San San Aye said the proposed land is owned by other villagers and other land is not suitable for cultivation.

"The company has set a timetable for relocation, compensation and reclamation of land in its [corporate social responsibility] publication. But, it has not implemented it. They might not have completed field surveys of the village where it said it would give land in recompense. Those lands have owners," said Nan San San Aye.

SNLD lawmakers in northern Shan State went to Ta Long village on Saturday and listened to the wishes of the people.

In 2016, a SNLD lawmaker asked a question about the dam at the Shan State Parliament. But, the Shan State government said it was unable to answer because the project was directly handled by the Union government.

The SNLD lawmaker from Hsipaw Township in the Lower House of the Union Parliament is planning to urge Parliament to halt the project, said Nan San San Aye.

Moreover, Shan civil society organizations are also planning to garner signatures of locals in 37 villages along the Namtu River against the project.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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9 Years On, Mong Thongdee Still Hopes For Thai Citizenship

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 02:36 AM PDT

Remember the little stateless boy born to a family of Myanmar migrant workers in Chiang Mai who won Thai people's hearts with his superb paper plane skills back in 2009? Mong Thongdee became Thailand's champion at the age of 12 before going on to capture 3rd place at a paper plane contest in Chiba prefecture in Japan the same year.

But he had a dream beyond the trophies – Thai citizenship.

Mong was showered with praise and promises upon his triumphant return. Politicians and bureaucrats lined up to assure him that it was just a matter of time before he would get what he wanted.

It was the closest that Mong believed he got to realizing his dream. But as the governments came and went, Mong was quickly forgotten. Nine years on, Mong is now an adult and yet he is still waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.

In an interview with the Thai PBS recently, Mong recalled the attention and publicity he got upon his return from Japan in 2009 and how many of the "phuyai" came forth to promise him Thai citizenship. Mong admitted that he was complacent and didn't try to pursue the case himself, believing that all those "phuyai" would take care of it.

Under Thai law, people classified as stateless – mostly illegal immigrants and members of the various ethnic groups and their offspring – are entitled to Thai citizenship if they can prove they have done good deeds for Thai society. Mong is just one of tens of thousands of people who were born in Thailand and classified as stateless. Without Thai citizenship they cannot travel freely, are not entitled to health care services from the state, and are often denied education opportunities.

Disillusioned, Mong, with the encouragement of his teachers, decided to move ahead on his own to get what he believes he deserves. Mong said he sought letters of certification to prove his contributions to the country from Thai PBS, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Mong said he has been helping train forest rangers how to operate drones.

Thai PBS has issued a letter to certify that Mong has assisted with its training course in drone photography and in using drones to take aerial pictures for its drone competition program.  He is still waiting for certifications from the other two state agencies.

The stateless young man is currently training students of Ban Huay Sai school in Muang District of Chiang Mai how to fold paper planes and how to fly them properly in preparation for the national paper plane competition at Impact Muang Thong Thani on Aug. 28.

The interest in Mong has been revived by the recent "Wild Boars" soccer team rescue operation. Three of the young footballers and their coach faced the same plight as Mong but were granted Thai citizenship last week.

Mong congratulated the Wild Boars footballers and noted that his case was more complicated. Mong was born in Thailand to parents who are migrant workers from Myanmar while the Wild Boars boys and their coach were children of ethnic hill tribe people living in Thailand.

As Mong's hope was rekindled, good news finally came last week when he was informed by the Local Administration Department that he was to receive his Thai citizenship soon. He was told that his case was now in the hands of the Interior Ministry, which is awaiting a reference letter from the Ministry of Science and Technology confirming his contribution that has brought fame to the country.

After nine years of empty promises, Mong can only hope that this is not going to be another disappointment.

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State Counselor’s Choice of Helicopter Causes Stir

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 01:45 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — A government spokesman said State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not use a military helicopter during a recent trip to central Myanmar because the visit related to personal matters involving the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity established in 2012 in memory of her late mother.

After a public talk on the national peace process in Pakokku Township, Magwe Region, on Thursday, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited the foundation’s branch office on Popa Mountain and attended the opening of a library in Nyaungbin village, in Mandalay Region’s Singu Township, the childhood home of International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University Rector Ashin Nandamabhivamsa.

During the trip she also visited a police training school in Sagaing Region, met with officials and attended the Mandalay Youth Development Festival.

To get around she took a helicopter provided by the Htoo Group of Companies, a conglomerate owned by tycoon Tay Za.

"Her trips were related to the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation and not related to the government. So we didn't request a [military] helicopter," said government spokesperson U Zaw Htay.

He said recent bad weather had also made the ground too wet for a military MI-17 helicopter to land safely.

There was widespread speculation that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not use a military helicopter because of strained relations with the military, or Tatmadaw.

"It is not because we have a poor relationship with the Tatmadaw. We the government didn't ask for it. We also told the Tatmadaw in advance that we would not use their helicopters because of conditions on the ground," said U Zaw Htay.

U Ye Tun, a former lawmaker who represented Shan State's Hsipaw Township during ex-President U Thein Sein's administration, said government officials should avoid taking military helicopters for safety reasons.

"I accompanied President U Thein Sein on his trip to Chin State. The [Tatmadaw] helicopter was not very safe, ” he said. “The government should have strong and safe helicopters and should not rely on the Tatmadaw for every trip."

Some also raised safety concerns over Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s decision to take a motorboat across a swollen river from Nyaungbin village to visit Ashin Nandamabhivamsa on Yakkansin Mountain.

"It started raining heavily while she was opening the library in Nyaungbin village. It was not possible to fly to Mt. Yakkansin because heavy rains reduced visibility. But she had to offer lunch to the rector sayadaw by 11 a.m. So we went there by motorboat. It was plan B, arranged by the regional government,” U Zaw Htay said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Police Investigate Shooting in Mandalay

Posted: 13 Aug 2018 01:40 AM PDT

Gunmen shot a couple traveling by motorbike in Mandalay's Chanmyathazi Township on Monday, killing a woman and critically injuring a man, according to witnesses and local police.

Li Zhu Kuan, and her husband, Huo Lao Peng, left home just before the incident to go grocery shopping, according to the woman's nephew.

"The woman was shot in her head and died on the way to the hospital. The man was shot in the chest and is in critical condition," said the duty official of the Chanmya Thida social welfare group, which sent the pair to Mandalay General Hospital in its ambulance.

According to witnesses, two gunmen fired three shots and then fled. Locals ran after the gunmen and seized one man, who they handed over to the police.

"I was sitting in front of my home and saw two men shoot at a couple that was riding a motorbike. The couple suddenly collapsed and the two men ran away. People gathered and chased after them. One man was arrested about two blocks from the scene of the crime," said U Than Win.

A pistol and 12 bullets were seized from the gunman, who is currently detained at Aung Pin Lae police station, according to the duty officer.

The duty officer confirmed the incident but refused to provide details, stating that the suspect had been questioned but that the case was still under investigation.

The nephew of the deceased woman told The Irrawaddy that his aunt Li Xiu Chuan and uncle Haw Lao Phein left the house just a few minutes before the incident to go grocery shopping. The police visited the family's home, located a few kilometers from the shooting, on Monday.

The police visited the family's home, located a few kilometers from the shooting, on Monday.

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North, South Korea Begin Talks Before Possible Pyongyang Summit

Posted: 12 Aug 2018 11:40 PM PDT

SEOUL — North and South Korean officials began high-level negotiations on Monday, with one South Korean newspaper report suggesting the two sides could be planning for a summit in Pyongyang later this month.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in April at a truce village along their mutual border and agreed to have another summit in autumn, this time in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang.

A South Korean delegation led by Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon began the latest round of talks with counterparts led by Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North’s reunification committee, at the truce village of Panmunjom.

“As the Pyongyang summit of the leaders of North and South Korea is being pursued, I believe that we can give concrete answers to the problems that the people hope and wish for,” Ri said during the talks, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.

Citing an unidentified South Korean official, the Kookmin Ilbo newspaper reported earlier on Monday that the next summit could be held as soon as late August.

The schedule had mostly been coordinated with North Korea and the summit would likely be held in Pyongyang, it said.

A spokesman for South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Sunday officials hoped such details would be decided at Monday’s talks.

“We hope that the timing, venue and the size of the delegation that will visit North Korea will be decided,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said, declining to comment on specifics.

North Korea’s Kim has a held a flurry of diplomatic summits with the leaders of South Korea, China, and the United States this year.

Moon and Kim also had a surprise meeting at the border in May, making Moon the only South Korean leader to have met a North Korean leader twice. A visit by Moon to Pyongyang would be the first to be held this year in North Korea’s capital.

The North has been heavily sanctioned over its pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles but Kim and Trump agreed at their landmark summit in Singapore in June to work towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

North Korea has denounced US-led efforts to maintain sanctions despite what Pyongyang says are goodwill gestures, including halting its weapons testing and returning the remains of US troops killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

US officials familiar with the talks, however, told Reuters that North Korea had yet to agree to a timeline for eliminating its nuclear arsenal or to disclose its size, which US estimates have put at between 30 and 60 warheads.

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Japan’s Akihito Pushed Imperial Boundaries to Reach Out to Asia

Posted: 12 Aug 2018 11:36 PM PDT

TOKYO — When Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko stood, heads bowed, at a seaside cliff on Saipan 60 years after a bloody World War II battle, their silent prayers conveyed a message many felt resonated louder than words.

On that June 2005 visit – one of many war-related trips during Akihito’s three-decade reign – the royal couple paid their respects at memorials not only for Japanese but also American and Korean war dead.

“I think the emperor felt heartfelt pain and mourning for those who died, and that we must not forget the tragedy of the war and should convey that to the generations who have not experienced it,” Shingo Haketa, former grand steward of the Imperial Household Agency, which manages the monarch’s affairs, told Reuters in an exclusive interview.

Haketa and a half-dozen other associates of the emperor recounted to Reuters how after the death of his father on Jan. 7, 1989, Akihito carved out an active role as symbol of peace, democracy and reconciliation.

Although he cannot directly influence government policy, Akihito has created a broader consciousness of Japan’s wartime past, experts say.

That is a sharp departure from the legacy of his father, Hirohito – once revered as a “living god” in whose name Japan fought World War II. Hirohito’s comments about the conflict were vague after Japan’s defeat, and he remained a divisive figure because of his role.

Akihito, 84, will abdicate next year. On Aug. 15, he will for the last time as reigning emperor take part in an annual memorial ceremony honoring war dead held on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender.

His retirement comes amid tensions with China and the Koreas, and his legacy appears threatened by a Japanese drift to the right mirrored in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative agenda.

Japanese political leaders have expressed regret, remorse and apology for their country’s wartime actions. But remarks by the emperor have a different weight, experts say.

“Emperors are like popes – their gestures carry a symbolic message,” said Andrew Horvat, a visiting professor at Japan’s Josai International University.

Pushing the Envelope

Politicians have sometimes undercut official apologies, but Akihito’s message has remained consistent.

“People see (Akihito and Michiko) as sincerely and respectfully trying to reach out to wartime victims in a deeply symbolic and very reconciliatory way,” said Jennifer Lind, a Dartmouth College professor who has written about apologies.

Friends and scholars credit Akihito’s post-war education with laying the foundations for how he forged his role. Influences included Quaker tutor Elizabeth Vining and former Keio University head Shinzo Koizumi, who saw many of his students die in the conflict.

“Currently, most Japanese people think that the emperor is gentle and kind,” Mototsugu Akashi, a former classmate, told Reuters. “But that is clearly a post-war phenomenon.”

The makeover of the monarchy began after Japan’s surrender in 1945, when Akihito was 11.

In theory, the emperor can say what he likes as long as his remarks don’t violate the post-war constitution, which defines the emperor as “the symbol of the State and the unity of the People”, devoid of governmental power and unable to interfere in politics.

In practice, Akihito’s public remarks are carefully vetted to ensure they don’t violate those rules, with delicate discussions determining how forthright he can be.

Akihito strained against those limits, say those who know him.

“I know that for one or two speeches, he was angry with the Imperial Household Agency and foreign ministry about the words to be used,” said Michael Barrett, who knew Akihito while head of the British Council in Japan during the 1990s.

“It was said that they (the imperial couple) were birds in a gilded cage, but he opened the door of that cage,” he added.

Conservative Backlash

In one early example, Seoul in May 1990 wanted the new emperor to apologize for Japan’s often-brutal 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean peninsula.

Ruling party lawmakers objected, and Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu offered to apologize instead to South Korean president Roh Tae Woo.

Akihito, however, had his own ideas.

“The current emperor wanted to make clear that it was Japan that caused the suffering of the Korean people,” Makoto Watanabe, a former imperial grand chamberlain, an aide to the emperor, told Reuters in an interview.

Ultimately, Akihito had his way after private negotiations with government officials.

“I think of the sufferings your people underwent during this unfortunate period, which was brought about by my country, and cannot but feel the deepest regret,” he said at a banquet for Roh.

The early years of Akihito’s reign saw a flourishing of debate over Japan’s responsibility for World War II and a series of government apologies.

The statements, and efforts to teach children about Japan's wartime actions, sparked a conservative backlash against a view of history seen as undermining national pride and identity.

In 1992, Akihito became the first modern Japanese monarch to visit China. Domestic right-wing groups opposed the trip, while Chinese activists demanded an apology.

While in China, the emperor said he felt “deep sorrow” for the suffering Japan inflicted on the Chinese people.

The next year, he began visits to wartime sites, beginning in Okinawa, where resentment lingered against mainland Japan over the islanders’ wartime sacrifices.

Overseas Battlefield

Six decades after the war’s end, he visited Saipan, a US territory, on his first trip to a foreign battleground.

“He had felt strongly that he wanted to pray for all the souls who died in the war, not just domestically but overseas, not just Japanese but all the people of the world,” Haketa said.

“Usually, the emperor’s overseas trips are in response to requests by the government, but this trip was based on his strong personal desire,” he added.

Despite Akihito’s age and health problems – he has had heart surgery and been treated for prostate cancer – he has continued his travels.

In 2015 he and Michiko went to Palau’s tiny Peleliu Island, site of a fierce battle in 1944. In 2016 they visited the Philippines and this year returned to Okinawa.

On the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat, Akihito expressed “deep remorse” over the war, a nuanced departure from his annual script.

Many liberals and moderate conservatives saw it as a subtle rebuke to Abe, who a day earlier had expressed “utmost grief” for the suffering Japan inflicted but said future generations should not have to keep apologizing.

Months later, Akihito told a news conference to mark his 82nd birthday: “I believe having thorough knowledge about the last war and deepening our thoughts about the war is most important for the future of Japan.”

Akihito’s heir, Oxford-educated Crown Prince Naruhito, 58, holds similar views on teaching about the tragedy of the war.

"It is important to look back in a humble way on the past and pass on correctly the tragic experiences of war … from the generation that experienced the war to those who have grown up without first-hand knowledge of it," Naruhito told a news conference ahead of his 55th birthday.

But it is unclear how much impact Naruhito will have, partly because like most Japanese, he did not experience the war.

“If he speaks of remorse, many people will ask, ‘Remorse for what?'” said Keio University imperial law professor Hidehiko Kasahara.

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Arrested and Killed: Inside the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s War on Drugs

Posted: 12 Aug 2018 10:13 PM PDT

DHAKA – Bangladesh police arrested Riazul Islam as he was walking home from his in-laws’ house. At 3:15 a.m., he was shot dead in a sandy field beside a set of railroad tracks north of Dhaka.

Police say he was killed in a gunfight with other drug dealers, and they recovered 20 kilograms of marijuana from the site. His parents say the officers extorted money from them and then killed him.

“I knew my son was in police custody. All of a sudden my son was dead. I couldn’t believe it. The police took money and they still killed him,” said his mother, Rina Begum.

Bangladesh is the newest frontline in state-backed drug crackdowns in Asia, and Islam is one of more than 200 people shot dead by police in Bangladesh since May, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the campaign.

Critics say the crackdown reflects Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian rule ahead of a general election, due by December. That was also shown in its response to recent student demonstrations over road traffic deaths, including the use of rubber bullets and the arrest of a prominent photographer.

Hasina emphasized that the police and intelligence agencies would now tackle the drug problem in the same tough way they had countered violent extremism in recent years.

Such campaigns can be popular with voters, as has been shown by President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody drug war in the Philippines.

Hasina’s office did not respond to questions about whether the drugs campaign was a populist ploy.

Bangladesh’s drug war 

Mounting death toll

The bodies appeared rapidly after Hasina’s pronouncement. And, just like the Philippines, the killings appeared to follow a script: Suspects died in “gunfights,” typically at night, and weapons and drugs were found nearby.

In more than a third of the 211 killings recorded by Dhaka-based human rights group Odhikar since mid-May, the suspects were arrested before they were killed.

The police are overseen by Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who denied the police were executing suspects.

“Our law enforcement people don’t kill, they don’t execute anyone. It is impossible. If they do so they will be fired at that moment,” he told Reuters. “It is not a lawless country.”

After Islam was arrested, according to the police report, officers took the “top terror” of the neighborhood to the field beside the railroad tracks to draw in and arrest other drug dealers. The other dealers “sensed” the officers’ presence and began firing randomly, and “to save life and government property,” the officers fired back.

“Roni was shot and fell down. He died on the spot,” according to the report, which said two officers were wounded.

Islam’s autopsy report, read to Reuters by a hospital official, noted that a single bullet entered his head near his left ear and exited near his right. Each of the two officers was treated for small areas of tenderness and swelling on one hand, according to records at another hospital.

None of the six witnesses in the police report saw Islam die, they told Reuters.

One of the six, handyman Mohammad Bappy, who lives at the edge of the field where Islam was shot, snapped photos of Islam’s dead body. One of the pictures shows blood on the ground beneath Islam's head.

“There was no gun,” he said. “If there had been a gunfight we would have heard lots of firing from two sides. That didn’t happen.”

Kamal Hossain, the officer in charge of the operation, said drug use leads to crime and arrests don’t work.

“They come out on bail and they do the same thing, selling and using drugs,” he said. “Every drug dealer should be killed. Then drugs can be controlled.”

Little data

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, US ambassador to Bangladesh and the European Union have all expressed concern about the killings of drug suspects in Bangladesh.

After a government official in the southern city of Teknaf was gunned down by Rapid Action Battalion police in May, the state-funded National Human Rights Commission sent a letter to the ministry in charge of the police to remind it of human rights.

But Hasina pressed on.

“Drugs destroy a country, a nation and a family,” she told Parliament in June. “We will continue the drive, no matter who says what.”

Most of the killings took place in May, when there were 129 as the campaign began, but then dropped to 38 in June before picking up to 44 in July.

Drugs have long been a concern for the Bangladesh government, which bans consumption of alcohol by Muslims, who make up the vast majority of the population.

But it’s not clear how much drug use has grown or even how many people use drugs. Asked for figures, Bangladesh’s narcotics deputy intelligence chief said there were none.

“We have no government statistics or non-government statistics about users,” Nazrul Islam Sikder said, adding, “But we guess 7 to 8 million.”

Drug seizures data from the Department of Narcotics Control suggests the drug trade has grown, but much of the increase happened three years ago, long before Hasina launched the crackdown. The data shows a dramatic increase in methamphetamine or “yaba” pill seizures beginning in 2015.

No one believes the official accounts of the killings, said Rashid Alam, a 50-year-old manager of a garment factory near the field where Islam was shot, but he is more concerned about the scourge of drugs use for communities.

“We understand he is a drug dealer and the police shot him,” he said. “That kind of death is okay. Good job, really.”

Critics of Hasina say the crackdown is meant to show voters she is responding to popular concerns and to strike fear in political opponents ahead of the election. According to media reports, some of those killed were activists of the opposition Bangladesh National Party.

For Ashrafuzzaman Zaman, liaison officer of the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, the politics of the drug crackdown are clear.

“You kill 200 people and you make 150 million afraid, today or tomorrow you can also be one of them. That is the message the government is giving to the people,” he said.

Hasina’s office did not respond to the allegations from her critics.

But Home Minister Khan denied the campaign was a cover to target opposition politicians, and said no drug offender is treated differently from another.

“His identity is only as a criminal,” he said. “Even if he has a link with the ruling party, he will not be spared.”

The post Arrested and Killed: Inside the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s War on Drugs appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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