The battle over the word ‘Rohingya’

Hundreds of people gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, Burma, on Thursday with a simple demand: The United States must stop using the word "Rohingya."

"It is already clear that there is no such ethnicity as Rohingya in our country," a protester named Win Zaw Zaw Latt told Anadolu Agency before the demonstration. "We demand the U.S. as well as Western countries and the E.U. to stop using the term Rohingya."

To most of the world, the Rohingya are a Bengali-speaking Muslim minority in Buddhist-majority Burma, also known as Myanmar. More than 1 million Rohingya are thought to live in Burma, the majority of them in Rakhine state, along the western border with Bangladesh and India. Despite the size and long-standing presence of this community, the government does not consider its members Burmese citizens. (Courtesy of The Washington Post)

Myanmar's Transition: The 'Fun' Part is Over

Many have recently debated whether U.S. president Barack Obama’s foreign policy can appropriately be deemed “realist.” Whether or not it fits the academic definition, the Obama administration’s worldview has evinced an audacious level of pragmatism—a pragmatism perhaps best illustrated by Myanmar. Obama and Myanmar’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, found usefully practical partners in one another and have achieved impressively idealistic ends. Continued reform there, however, will require even more hard-nosed approaches to difficult dilemmas by both the United States and Myanmar.

In 2011, the Obama administration saw the shifting political dynamics in Myanmar as an opportunity to flex its campaign-pledged pragmatism and productively engage with a traditionally hostile regime. Following a limited opening by the military government, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the first such official to visit Myanmar in 56 years. While conferring with the recently-released Suu Kyi, she reportedly told Clinton, “I don’t want to be an icon, I want to be a politician,” and that she was ready to get her hands dirty in the hard work of politics. (Courtesy of The Diplomat)

Myanmar’s Natural Resources Minister Inspects Jade, Gold Mines in Kachin State

Myanmar’s natural resources minister on Friday began an inspection tour of the Hpakant jade mines and Mohnyin gold mines in Kachin state, where local residents are concerned about the environmental damage and deadly accidents their operations have caused, a state government official said.

Ohn Win, head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, is conducting the inspection through May 3 in response to a demand by civil society organizations in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state in late March that the new government form a commission to inspect jade mines that had violated industry regulations.

H La Aung, minister of natural resources and the environment in Kachin state, said Ohn Win will meet with the state’s chief minister and other members of the government on Saturday and travel to the town of Mohnyin on Sunday.

During the tour, members of the Kachin state government will discuss the problem of waste soil produced by mining activities and other environmental issues concerning the jade mines in Hpakant township with Ohn Win, he said. (Courtesy of RFA)

NGO: Sharp Drop in Human Smuggling in Andaman Sea Since May 2015

Illegal boat journeys from Myanmar and Bangladesh have decreased significantly in the year since Thailand launched a crackdown on human trafficking, but the root cause of the problem still festers, an activist fighting for Rohingya Muslim rights told BenarNews in an interview.

A year ago Sunday, the discovery of graves in the jungles of southern Thailand that contained the remains of people trafficked from those two countries triggered a crackdown by the Thai government against human smugglers.

A Thai maritime blockade on people-smuggling boats followed, which in turn precipitated a humanitarian crisis when thousands of desperate Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi migrants came ashore in neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia.

In Thailand, at least 90 people, including a Thai general, are now on trial on human-trafficking charges. (Courtesy of benarnews.org)

India, Myanmar start joint border patrolling

Assam Rifles Chief Lt Gen Harminderjit Singh Sachdev on Friday said that India and Myanmar had started joint border patrolling in some stretches of their "unfenced border".

"The patrolling has not started all over but in some specific areas. They (Myanmar Army) also come and we also go there (Myanmar)," Sachdev told IANS on the sidelines of the investiture ceremony of Assam Rifles.

India has been urging Myanmar to act against rebels including from the Manipur-based United National Liberation Front, People's Liberation Army (PLA), Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup and People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak, Assam-based United Liberation Front of Asom and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang operating from Sagaing and Chin State of Myanmar. (Courtesy of Business Standard News)

Poland and Myanmar sign Memorandum of Understanding

“You have come a long way”, U Zaw Min Win, Vice President of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce (UMFCCI), pointed out at his welcome speech for polish business leaders in an office tower in Yangon yesterday.

It is not quite sure if he is referring to the nearly 4000 miles air distance from Poland to Myanmar or to the economic success of this European country. Poland's economy has grown continuously since its membership in the European Union (EU) in 2004. It was the only country in the EU that could keep this increase even during the world financial crisis in 2009.

Hoping to maintain this streak of success in the future, the Polish Chamber of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) together with the UMFCCI on the 28 April. Representatives from eleven polish companies from food, IT and machinery sectors attended the ceremony to seek better relationships with local businesses. (Courtesy of Mizzima)

Army Reinforces troops near SSPP/SSA's Loi Say-LoiLeng Base

The Myanmar Army has dispatched reinforcements to the Loi Say-LoiLeng area in northern Shan State's Tangyan Township, where a Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) base is located, according to an SSPP/SSA information officer.

He said that over ten vehicles from the Myanmar Army were heading towards Tangyan on 24 April.  Last week, the Myanmar Army’s North Eastern Command ordered the SSPP/SSA to withdraw from the Loi Say-LoiLeng ridge in Tangyan Township by 22 April. This ridge is located to the west of the Salween River near territory controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

On 22 April the commander of the North Eastern Command ordered the SSPP/SSA to allow joint field inspections to be conducted on 27 April. (Courtesy of Mizzima)

Dilemma for Suu Kyi in push for peace process

Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called for a major peace conference with ethnic minorities - a chance again for Myanmar to progress towards the federal state the minorities have fought for for decades.

But analysts warn that despite her public support - her National League for Democracy (NLD) won the November 2015 election by a landslide - the military must be on the same page for any effort to succeed.

The leader of the NLD government told representatives of armed ethnic groups on Wednesday: "We have to work on holding a peace conference and including non-signatories of the NCA in the peace process at the same time." The NCA is the National Ceasefire Accord that was cobbled together last October by the previous government with eight armed groups. Several other armed groups did not sign the pact. (Courtesy of The Straits Times)

MSF requests price cut for pneumonia vaccine

MSF has presented a petition with nearly 400,000 signatures to pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline asking that they drop the vaccine cost to US$5 per child in all developing countries and for humanitarian organisations.

Pneumonia is the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths in Myanmar. Recent UNICEF data shows pneumonia accounted for 16 percent of under-five deaths in 2015, with 7516 losing their lives because of the disease.

Myanmar is due to introduce a new pneumococcal vaccine for pneumonia in the coming months. The $20 million project, co-financed by the government and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), is slated to run from 2016 to 2020. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Terror, disaster aid drills eyed

Singapore plans to co-host a regional anti-terrorist exercise while Thailand has agreed to organise a drill on humanitarian assistance and disaster mitigation.

The plans were announced at a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon and his Singaporean counterpart, Ng Eng Hen, in Moscow.

Gen Prawit is attending a meeting of Asean and Russian defence ministers in Moscow. The visit to Russia is the second in just over two months for Gen Prawit, who met Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in February.

The talks are being held alongside the fifth Moscow International Security Conference. Gen Prawit also has scheduled to have talks with the defence ministers of Laos, Myanmar, Russia, and Vietnam. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: News)

Three dozen repatriated from Malaysia as process hits more snags

Thousands of Myanmar workers languish in Malaysia’s notorious detention centres for months and even years awaiting citizenship documents from the Myanmar government. Some have overstayed their visa, while others immigrated without any documents to begin with. Stranded in the squalid facilities where they have little contact with the outside world, they must rely on civil society groups to help connect them with the embassy.

The lengthy wait appears to be a Myanmar-specific quandary, as detainees from other countries stay in the facilities for at most a handful of weeks before being repatriated, according to groups assisting the Myanmar workers. Many hoped the new government might expedite the process.

Last week, the floodgates briefly opened and 34 Myanmar workers were repatriated on April 22, according to the Yadana Setka Free Funeral Service Organization of Joho Township, which assists migrants in the Parka Narnat Camp. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

US to promote doing business in Myanmar

US business delegations will visit Myanmar next week to seek investment opportunities that will also promote the country’s economic growth, Scot Marciel, the newly arrived US ambassador, announced yesterday.

Speaking to domestic media, Mr Marciel said the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would also come to Myanmar in a demonstration of support for the new government.

“I am very pleased the administrator of US Agency for International Development Gayle Smith … will be visiting here. She is arriving this weekend and going up to Nay Pyi Taw for talks with the government to hear first-hand from the government about its priorities and where we can be helpful,” the ambassador said.

“A large part of her trip is to hear from the government what the needs are, what the priorities are. That will help us not only immediately, but in the future to determine how best to use our assistance.” (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

No moral compass to save the Rohingya

The Rohingya of western Myanmar have become one of the world's most-persecuted groups of people. They continue to die in tragic circumstances, as witnessed again last week when a boat overfilled with would-be refugees capsized off the coast of Arakan State, resulting in at least 20 deaths, including those of nine children.

"This accident serves as a tragic reminder of the vulnerability that many communities and families face in this area of Rakhine," declared Janet Jackson, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar. "Their only option is to use this mode of travel in order to access livelihoods and other basic services that are essential for a dignified life." (Courtesy of The Nation)

MPC to Be Renamed ‘National Reconciliation and Peace Center’

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s state counselor and de facto leader of the new National League for Democracy (NLD) government, has proposed renaming the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) as the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC).

The suggestion came as she met with the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC), which includes members of the Burma Army, on Wednesday in Naypyidaw, Gen. Saw Issac Po, vice-chairman of the JMC, told The Irrawaddy.

The JMC is comprised of representatives from the government, the MPC, the Burma military and the eight non-state armed groups that signed the so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) with the former government of President Thein Sein in 2015.

Suu Kyi’s personal physician, Dr. Tin Myo Win, has been tipped to lead the renamed organization. State media on Thursday would concede only that the doctor will assume a prominent role in Burma’s peace process: Suu Kyi “announced the appointment of Dr. Tin Myo Win as the peace negotiator for the nationwide ceasefire agreement” at her meeting with the JMC on Wednesday, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

What Hong Kong can contribute to a rising Myanmar

Whenever Myanmar made news over the past few months, pundits focused on the country’s astonishing political transition.

Clad in longyis (Burmese sarong) and ethnic dress, Myanmar’s MPs convened the first elected parliament since 1962.

But will these spectacular political developments translate into an economic miracle that is needed to lift Myanmar out of poverty?

Even in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest and most dynamic city, the economic growth of the last five years has been strikingly uneven.

Despite the mushrooming of shopping malls, condos and chic bistros, most of the city’s population remains desperately poor.

There are untold stories of deprivation in Yangon’s slums. (Courtesy of ejinsight.com)

Myanmar monk builds pagodas in church and Muslim area

A Myanmar Christian leader appealed for calm Wednesday after an influential Buddhist monk built pagodas within the compound of a church and near a mosque, in a country beset with religious tensions.

The incursions began last month when supporters of the monk U Thuzana, the Myaing Gyi Ngu Sayadaw, erected a religious statue and planted a Buddhist flag on the church's grounds in Karen state.

They returned on Saturday to erect a pagoda, according to local Anglican Bishop Saw Stylo.

The supporters have since moved on to build a pagoda near a mosque in a Muslim-majority village in the same township of Hlaingbwe, he said. (Courtesy of Mizzima)

ALP Spokesman: Party Members Threatened With Arrest

Central executive committee members of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), the political wing of the Arakan Liberation Army, were threatened with arrest by Col. Htein Lin, the security and border affairs minister of Arakan State, ALP spokesman Khine Myo Tun said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Htein Lin summoned ALP representatives for questioning about a statement from the party on April 24. The statement lodged several allegations against the Burma Army, including accusations of the military having committing war crimes, breaking the Geneva Convention and other aspects of international law, removing locals from their land, forced labor and the capturing and sometimes killing of villagers in conflict zones.

It claims members of the ALP could act as witnesses to the alleged abuses. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

Chinese firm to restart Myanmar’s only coal plant

China’s Wuxi Huagaung Electric Power Engineering is upgrading the entire Tigyit plant in southern Shan State near to the famous Inle Lake, which has been out of use for several years.

Local authorities held a public meeting in a village near to the site on April 24 to explain the company’s environmental and social impact assessment activities, ahead of the power plant’s reopening, the Electric Power Generation Enterprise (EPGE) announced on April 25.

A tender to operate the coal-fired power plant under build-operate-transfer terms was issued by the previous government and Wuxi Huagaung was selected as the winner, the announcement said. The investment agreement for the plant’s long-term operation was signed on October 22 last year. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Fourteen refugees found abandoned in forest a year after Thai crackdown

More than a dozen refugees abandoned by people smugglers have been found in a southern Thai forest, police said yesterday, almost a year after a crackdown which has forced traffickers to find new routes.

Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar’s western Rakhine State – who are forced to live in apartheid-like conditions and are officially called Bengalis by the government – have for years fled their homeland seeking work in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

“Fourteen Rohingyas, including kids as young as a few years old, were found at around 6am,” Police Captain Panuwat Chomyong, a highway officer in central Chumpon province, told AFP.

Smugglers abandoned the group ahead of a police checkpoint, Pol Capt Panuwat said, adding they had initially entered Thailand through Kanchanaburi province, a much more northern entry point than those usually used by traffickers. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Karen Troops Fight Alongside Arakan Army

After days of traveling from Karen State, Col. Saw San Aung and dozens of troops arrived in Arakan State last week to help the Arakan Army (AA) fight the Burma Army.

The troops are Karen freedom fighters—a Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) splinter group, and other ethnic armed forces from groups that the Colonel did not specify. He described the fighters as a federal army, formed discreetly by ethnic leaders.

Making pillows of stones and singing to his troops, Col. Saw San Aung attempted to keep morale high for the soldiers he calls “freedom fighters” during the rough trip to western Burma’s Arakan State.

“At times, we did not have food and could not sleep, but this is the life of a rebel,” he said.

The trip was not smooth, as the troops trekked through the jungle from Taungoo to Pegu Yoma to Arakan Yoma, occasionally using cars and boats, but favoring walking through the jungle in order to bring necessary weapons, he added. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

Myanmar nationalists protest US use of 'Rohingya'

Around 500 Buddhist nationalists have staged an unauthorized demonstration outside the U.S embassy in Yangon to protest the use of the term "Rohingya" to describe the country's stateless and persecuted Muslim minority.

Many such nationalists refuse to even recognize the term, instead referring to the Muslim ethnic group as "Bengali" which suggests they are illegal immigrants from neighboring country Bangladesh.

Win Zaw Zaw Latt, from the Yangon-based Myanmar National Network, told Anadolu Agency prior to Thursday's demonstration in the country's commercial capital that it had been organized to tell the U.S. embassy to respect the government and people of Myanmar.

"It is already clear that there is no such ethnicity as Rohingya in our country,” he claimed. “We demand the U.S. as well as western countries and the EU to stop using the term Rohingya.” (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)

Rakhine chief minister says IDPs from all communities need aid

Rakhine State’s new chief minister says both Buddhist and Muslim communities displaced by conflict need more aid before the onset of the monsoon season.

U Nyi Pu of the National League for Democracy told The Myanmar Times yesterday on his return from IDP camps near Mrauk-U damaged by storms last week that he intended personally to visit camps for internally displaced people from both communities.

“The government has to provide displaced people with settlements that are good, safe and comfortable places for both communities,” he said by telephone from the capital Sittwe.

The international community is also mobilising aid for civilians displaced by renewed fighting this month between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group based in northern Kachin State but with its roots in Rakhine State’s Buddhist majority.

Pierre Peron, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said UN aid workers this week had visited six out of eight locations where an estimated total of about 1000 recently displaced civilians are sheltering in the townships of Buthidaung, Kyauktaw and Rathedaung. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Genocide and Democracy in Burma

South East Asia is a miracle of modernization. In the course of a few generations, the region has experienced startling change. Singapore makes parts of the United States look like the Third World; you can barely turn around in Thailand without bumping into a convenience store or a car-parts factory. Malaysia, too, has raised living standards dramatically. Over the past fifteen years, even former laggards like Vietnam and Cambodia have managed to get into the act.

There has been one particularly glaring exception to this pattern of growing prosperity: Burma (also known as Myanmar). For most of the past half-century, the country of fifty million people has been sinking steadily deeper into poverty and stagnation. The generals who seized power in 1962 took what had been one of the region’s engines of growth and drove it into the ground. (Courtesy of The National Interest)

Russian Defense Minister meets with Myanmar’s Defense Minister Sein Win

Bilateral cooperation between Russia and Myanmar is developing dynamically, especially in the naval field, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday, 26 April, at a meeting with Myanmar’s Defense Minister Sein Win, according to a report by the TASS news agency.

“During nearly 70 years of relations Russia and Myanmar have established strong friendly ties. The political contacts have become more active in recent years. The bilateral cooperation is developing dynamically, especially in the naval field and culture,” Shoigu said. (Courtesy of Mizzima)

Shwe Mann Hits Back against USDP Expulsion

Former Union Parliament Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann has come out swinging against his expulsion from the Union Solidarity and Development Party, telling a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that he had acted in the public interest by collaborating with the new government.

On April 22, Shwe Mann and 16 other members were kicked out of the former ruling party after a vote by the USDP’s central executive committee held at the party’s Nay Pyi Taw headquarters. Those expelled had taken roles in the new government, including new ministers Thura U Aung Ko and U Thein Swe, along with several members of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Commission, of which Shwe Mann is the chair.

NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had invited Shwe Mann and several of his allies to staff the commission soon after lawmakers from the new parliament took their seats at the end of January.

Speaking to a Nay Pyi Taw press conference at 2pm, Shwe Mann told reporters that the decision of he and his supporters to take a role in the commission under the new National League for Democracy government was not intended to antagonise former President U Thein Sein, who resumed his formal duties as USDP chairman this month. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)

Myanmar Muslim leader urges calm amid ‘incitement’ by Buddhist monk

One of Myanmar’s top Muslim leaders urged calm Tuesday, after he accused a militia-style monk and his disciples of trying to incite violence by building an unauthorized Buddhist structure in the shadow of a mosque in the country’s southeast.
“These are people who want to create an unstable situation [between the majority Buddhists and minority Christians and Muslims],” Tin Maung Than, secretary-general of the country’s official Muslim body, the Islamic Religious Affairs Council Myanmar, told Anadolu Agency by phone Tuesday.
“We request our people not to quarrel with them. We don’t want to see inter-communal violence anymore.”
On Monday evening, powerful Buddhist monk Thu Zana, known as Myaing Gyi Ngu Sayadaw (abbot), and his disciples constructed a stupa — a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing Buddhist relics — in Shwe Gone village in Karen State despite objections from mosque caretakers and regional government officials. (Courtesy of The Muslim News)

EU arms embargo extended for one year

The European Union has extended its long-standing arms embargo against Myanmar by one year, after which the decision will be reviewed again.

Arms sanctions would be continued at least until April 30, 2017, the EU said. Under the restrictions it is forbidden for EU countries to sell or export arms and related material, with the exception of non-lethal military equipment, to Myanmar.

The April 21 statement also refers to the ban on sales of “equipment which might be used for internal repression”. Military means are used domestically against Myanmar’s plethora of ethnic armed groups in the world’s longest-running civil wars. During military rule the junta also sent its troops to quell peaceful protests, like the monk-led popular uprising against the military dictatorship in 2007. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Suu Kyi faces tough task to lift economy

Myanmar's first civilian administration will face the Herculean task of producing economic achievements as the country battles difficult reforms amid a lack of skilled labour, according to Thai academics.

Samarn Laodamrongchai, from Chulalongkorn University's East Asian Studies Institute, said Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi will focus on the nation's workforce to drive economic prosperity and benefit from the Asean Community over the next five years.

Business sectors in Thailand were likely to benefit from the change in Myanmar, including finance and banking, telecommunications, textiles and garments, hotel and tourism, construction, furniture, and agriculture and fisheries, he told a seminar Tuesday on "Who actually has the power in Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi or the military," organised by the institute. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: News)

For investors, Myanmar is still for the brave

The dust has settled in Naypyitaw, where a government led by the National League for Democracy has replaced the quasi-democratic, military-backed regime of President Thein Sein. With some of the political uncertainty about the country's future now shelved and the economy in good shape Myanmar is arguably primed for economic takeoff.

Gross domestic product grew by an annual 7.2% in 2015 and is forecast to achieve 8.4% growth in 2016, the Asian Development Bank estimates. And yet, faced with a myriad of internal challenges after 50 years of military rule, Myanmar remains a frontier market, ripe for pioneering private equity investors but perhaps not for more mainstream investors, however large.

PE firms are starting to make an impact, although challenges remain even for these daring risk-takers. TPG Capital, one of the world's largest PE fund managers, has clinched two sizeable deals in Myanmar, including an investment in early 2014 in Apollo Towers Myanmar, a telecommunications infrastructure provider, and the purchase of 50% of Myanmar Distillery Company, one of the country's largest spirits producers, in December. (Courtesy of Nikkei Asian Review)

India needs to do more in Myanmar

In what some are seeing as the first step toward a stronger assertion of its interests in Myanmar, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will arrive in Nay Pyi Taw on May 1 in the country’s first high-level engagement with Myanmar since the National League for Democracy government took office. The minister will meet President U Htin Kyaw and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who also holds the post of foreign minister.

As India is the world’s largest democracy and Myanmar’s immediate neighbour, many are wondering why the visit did not take place sooner: Ms Swaraj is already three weeks behind China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the first foreign dignitary to visit Myanmar since its handover to an elected civilian-led government on March 30.

The larger goal of Ms Swaraj’s mission is to strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India’s Act East Policy, which was initially introduced by the Congress government as “Look East Policy”. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

New Travel Restrictions Limit Rohingya Access to Healthcare

Authorities in Arakan State have imposed new restrictions on the Rohingya minority’s access to medical treatment in Rangoon, after local sources reported that many patients did not return to the region after traveling to hospitals in the commercial capital.

Authorities including police, immigration officers, and the border affairs minister hosted a meeting with approximately 40 Rohingya community leaders in the Arakan State capital of Sittwe on Tuesday. Chief regional immigration officer Wai Lwin reportedly informed those at the meeting of the stricter regulations to be imposed on the Muslim minority, who are denied citizenship in Burma.

According to Aung Win, a Rohingya rights activist who participated in the meeting, the new rules state that Rohingya who are sick must now first visit the public hospital in Sittwe for an assessment of their condition; if further treatment is needed, they can apply for permission to travel to Rangoon.

Patients would now be required to obtain a recommendation from the head of the Sittwe hospital in order to make such a trip. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

Police tighten Rakhine security

Rakhine police have tightened security as intelligence reports warn that Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) forces may enter the state, according to Sittwe district police.

Officers from army, police, immigration department and anti-narcotics task forces are included in the operation. The team is mainly checking entrance gates in costal towns, Ann, Mrauk-U, Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships, inspecting people and their bags. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)

Rakhine residents rally in support of ANP

Thousands of people held a public rally in support of the Arakan National Party (ANP) in Taunggup, Thandwe and Gwa townships in Rakhine State on Tuesday, reports say.

The participants said they support the opposition status of the ANP and said they believe the ANP should form the Rakhine State government.

“We support the ANP, and this is a display of our support. Moreover, we’ve observed the ruling government using the constitution, which they opposed to during the old government. And we also want the central government and the state government to resolve the armed conflicts happening now and to protect displaced residents,” said Myint Moe, a leader of the rally.

Another protestor, Sein Chit, said he hoped the National League for Democracy (NLD) government would reform the constitution, but he began to feel that the ruling party has used it to silence ethnic minority parties when they contradict the NLD. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)

Rakhine traders ask funding for Bangladesh border zone

Rakhine businesspeople are asking the Union government to provide more than K1 billion to allow them to complete a trading zone on the border with Bangladesh by the end of the year.

They say the zone will allow local companies to rebuild trade ties with neighbouring Bangladesh and beyond, to India and China. According to government figures, trade between Myanmar and Bangladesh fell by two-thirds following inter-communal violence in Rakhine State in 2012.

U Aung Myint Thein, president of Maungdaw Border Trade Chamber of Commerce, has made the plea to Union Minister of Commerce U Than Myint on behalf of local trading associations.

They are asking for up to K1.5 billion to complete Maungdaw’s Kanyin Chaung trading zone – which will centre around trade in fisheries products – by December. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Ceasefire monitoring committee meets without new govt

The main committee monitoring last year’s nationwide ceasefire accord is set to resume its work in Nay Pyi Taw today but without any representatives of Myanmar’s new government.

Members of the Union-level Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) said its two-day meeting would go ahead and that it was likely that delegates appointed by the former military-backed government would attend the talks.

Observers of Myanmar’s stalled peace process say structures put in place by former president U Thein Sein are ticking over pending an announcement by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of how her government intends to proceed. A government spokesperson said over the weekend that a public statement revealing the new policies will be announced “very soon”. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Dispatches: Burma’s Rohingya Muslims in Desperate Straits

Last week’s tragic boat accident off the coast of Burma’s Arakan State killed an estimated 20 Rohingya Muslims, including nine children, and left another 20 missing. The government-controlled newspaper, Global New Light of Myanmar, made a rare admission that the tragedy, in which a packed boat capsized in heavy seas, resulted from government travel restrictions that prevent Rohingya from traveling overland, forcing them to travel by boat even when conditions are dangerous.

The accident underscores the serious plight of Burma’s long-persecuted Rohingya minority. The boat was making a regular trip from an internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camp in Pauktaw to the markets near camps around the state capital, Sittwe. (Courtesy of Hunma Rights Watch)

Three Armed Groups Opt Out of Talks With Former Govt Peace Delegation

Three ethnic armed organizations actively fighting the Burma Army have decided against meeting a former government peace delegation in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai next month, according to a leader from one of the groups.

Tar Bong Kyaw, the general secretary of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that his group, as well as two allies—the Arakan Army (AA) and the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA)—would not meet with the representatives led by former Lt-Gen Khin Zaw Oo.

The TNLA general explained that they were opting out of the talks because they would not be considered “official.” (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

Myanmar parliament speaker's son resigns as personal assistant

The son of Mann Win Khaing Than, the Myanmarese parliament's new speaker, has resigned as his father's personal assistant and has been replaced by the deputy director in the House of Nationalities, a media report said on Tuesday.

The resignation came a day after the president's office issued a directive banning cabinet members from appointing as personal assistants their spouses, children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, nieces, nephews and grand children, Xinhua news agency reported.

Only public servants can occupy such posts, the directive said.

According to the reports, former speaker of the House of Nationalities Khin Aung Myint appointed his son as his personal assistant and he served for five years. (Courtesy of Business Standard News)

IS MYANMAR IN 2016 LIKE SPAIN IN 1936?

I have been reflecting on two recent commentaries from the online edition of the New York Times, to which I have signed up for the daily op-eds. One was by Republican Senator John McCain, and it was not about the US presidential race. McCain eulogised the American volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). The last American volunteer, Delmer Berg, who served in the International Brigades, died recently at the age of 100. The other piece is a review of Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, by Adam Hochschild.

The Spanish Civil War was a nasty little war (little only by comparison to the world wars because half a million people died) and was seen as a dress rehearsal for World War II. Atrocities were committed by both sides.

In “Salute to a Communist”, published on March 24, McCain writes:

They fought on the Republican side, in defense of the democratically-elected leftist government of Spain, and against the Nationalists, the military rebels led by Gen. Francisco Franco. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)

Double marginalisation of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities

For the first time in over half a century, Myanmar has a government with a popular mandate, led by the National League for Democracy. Although the armed forces still have extensive political powers under the 2008 constitution, and may seriously curtail the independent action of the new government, the inauguration of President U Htin Kyaw represents a radical increase in the internal and international legitimacy of the Myanmar state.

Paradoxically, this coincides with a setback for the ethnic minorities and their struggle for autonomous status within a federal state, to be negotiated as part of a national political dialogue. Myanmar’s ethnic minority organisations now face a double marginalisation – militarily as well as politically.

There are two main tiers in Myanmar’s peace process. The first is the process of negotiations between the government and the many ethnic armed groups. The second tier is a wider process of including ethnic minorities in political decision-making at the Union, state and regional levels, transforming the existing political structure from within. The success of the first tier is tremendously important for the second. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Gambira Convicted on Immigration Offences in Mandalay

Mandalay’s Maha Aung Myay Township Court on Tuesday afternoon sentenced U Nyi Nyi Lwin, better known by his ordination name U Gambira, to six months’ imprisonment for violation of the Immigration Act.

The former monk, one of the leaders of the 2007 popular protests known internationally as the Saffron Revolution, was arrested on January 21 and accused of violating Section 13.1 of the Act, prohibiting individuals from remaining in Myanmar after the expiry of their legal entry.

Travelling through the Tachileik border crossing on January 16, Gambira’s entrance into the country was approved by Myanmar immigration officers and he was allowed to travel on to Mandalay without incident, before a large contingent of police officers arrested him five days later.

Though residing in Thailand for several years after his release from prison in 2012, Gambira never relinquished his claim to Myanmar citizenship. His Australian wife, Marie Siochana, told Frontier last month that her husband still possessed valid identification documents that proved he was a lawful citizen of Myanmar. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)

New agreement brings no end to war on drugs in ASEAN

A global meeting on drugs failed to deliver a highly anticipated shift from a punitive approach to narcotics, disappointing Myanmar advocacy groups.

The outcome of the UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs held last week in New York instead resulted in a draft resolution that brings little new to the table, experts said.

Nang Pann Ei, a coordinator of the Drug Policy Advocacy Groups, called the UNGASS meeting significant because Myanmar civil society was able to speak up for opium farmers facing the constant threat of crop eradication. But she voiced disappointment about the resulting policy document, saying it has “some serious gaps”. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)

Yangon among Myanmar’s ‘industrial’ hubs

Yangon, Bago, Mandalay and Sagaing have been labelled potential “industrial hubs” by Myanmar’s Industry Ministry.

These cities are highlighted thanks to their location, the ministry said.

According to its report completed after a nationwide survey, the four cities possess transport facilities and relatively developed infrastructure.

Industrial growth in the cities is also expected to boost economic activities in nearby areas.

The government is urged to prioritise regions for industrial development, taking into account the availability of skilled labour, raw materials and transport networks. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)

Why we should care about Rohingyas

It is almost a year to the climax of last year’s Rohingya refugee crisis, the aftermath of a crackdown by Thai authorities on land-smuggling routes that led to the surge of boats packed with Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees and economic migrants crossing the Andaman Sea. Many, if not all, were sailing for Malaysia. 

Readers will remember the gripping headlines and even more gripping photos and videos of desperate, emaciated individuals on rickety boats, in some cases abandoned by their smugglers, begging for food, water and shelter. 

Policymakers feared being “swarmed” and Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian navies were involved in “human ping-pong pushbacks” of refugee boats. 

Individuals, non-governmental organisations and fishermen took it upon themselves to seek out boats and provide help. 

There was also criticism by international organisations of the initial reluctance of the three countries to accept refugees. 

Overall, it made for a tragic yet riveting media circus. (Courtesy of nst.com.my)

The Rohingya Football Club

The Rohingya people from Myanmar/Burma are arguably the "most persecuted people on earth."
They have been made stateless in their own country and have been subject to extreme ethnic-based violence and discrimination perpetrated by sectors of the Burmese government and community. Many are forced to flee their homeland and many arrive in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, Rohingya refugees are allowed to stay for now, but they have no health care, education, security or employment support. They are sometimes extorted by local criminals, and children have been kidnapped and sent into slavery or tenured work situations.

Throughout this ordeal, the Rohingya have not resorted to organised violence even in their own defence. (Courtesy of pozible.com)

Myanmar Rejects Bangladesh Border Police Claim about Rohingya Expulsion

Myanmar’s government has rejected claims by the Border Guard Bangladesh that hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have been sent back to Myanmar.

A report of 340 Rohingya Muslims being sent back to Myanmar from Bangladesh this month was “not true,” Zaw Htay, a spokesman for Myanmar’s President’s Office, said in an interview Sunday.

“We checked with authorities concerned after seeing this story. The top levels didn’t know anything and then we asked security and border officials on the ground and learnt the event didn’t take place. That’s why we said this story was not true,” he said.

“It’s a highly sensitive issue between Bangladesh and Myanmar. If we have to accept people, the decision has to come from the Union government. And there are immigration procedures,” he went on to say.

“We have to make detail[ed] checks whether they are really from Myanmar. We can’t do it without [a] verification process. We won’t handle it lightly. And we’ll let the media know,” he went on to say, calling the story “unbalanced.” (Courtesy of benarnews.org)

South Asia's forgotten, forced migration and its stories

Facing an inexorable enemy, they fled - the lucky ones flying out, some over the sea, while most others had to trudge across difficult terrain with a range of predators, including two-legged ones, to reach safety. Left behind in all cases were properties and businesses built painstakingly over the years while ahead was an uncertain future. They were not the Partition refugees but victims of a earlier displacement - Indians fleeing Burma as World War II arrived.

However, their story, occurring just a few years before 1947, is less-known, as is of the glittering Indian presence in Burma (renamed Myanmar only in 1989), and a part of British India till 1937.

Till the war, ethnic Indians made over half of Rangoon's population and 16 percent of the whole country - including a large chunk not technically British subjects as they hailed from Portuguese Goa. Survivors have now thinned out and memories obliterated but there was a time when catchy Hindi film song "Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon" would have not been strange for Indian audiences as well as the setting of the Ashok Kumar-starrer "Samadhi" (1950). (Courtesy of bignewsnetwork.com)

Clashes resume in Kachin State between KIO and army

The past few weeks have seen a resumption of fighting in Kachin state between government forces and troops from the Kachin Independence Army's (KIA). The latest wave of fighting began when the Burma Army troops attached a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) outpost near the group's Laiza capital on Thursday April 7th.


While KIA troops have clashed frequently with army forces in Shan State, this month's clashes have been the first army attack on KIA positions in Kachin since since last year.

The Kachin News Group (KNG) has learned that fighting at the Pau Se outpost on 17 April resulted in losses for KIA forces. The outpost is located west of Nam San Yang on the Myitkyina to Bhamo Road. The Burma Army attacked the KIA post which was mostly manned by troops from the KIO's local militia, known in Kachin as MHH. with three columns after the Kachin troops conducted their prayers at around 11 am on Sunday April 17th. Two soldiers were killed and seven were injured, according to a KIA official, who spoke on condition anonymity. The KIA was forced to retreat from their outpost following the attack he said. (Courtesy of kachinnews.com)

Extreme Weather Kills 13, Destroys Hundreds of Pagodas

Gale-force winds and hailstorms have killed more than 10 people and destroyed homes, religious buildings and livestock in northern Burma since Friday.

The affected areas were in Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe divisions, as well as Shan and Arakan states, claiming the lives of 13 people and injuring dozens. Storms damaged more than 15,000 homes and killed hundreds of cattle, local media reported on Monday.

According to a report on Saturday from the office of Burma’s military commander-in-chief, a 30-minute-long gale-force wind toppled more than 800 pagodas in the Kakku Pagoda compound about 30 miles outside of Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State. The pagoda complex boasts a cluster of more than 2,400 religious structures, believed to be many centuries old. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

How the NLD Can Fulfill Its Promise of Peace

Burma’s new government has declared that finding a solution to the country’s decades-long civil war is one of its top priorities. That is clearly in line with the policies of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), which stated when the party was formed in September 1988, “[t]he forty-year history of [ethnic] relations has been a chapter of misfortune verging on the tragic … the development of the country has suffered greatly since 40 percent of the national budget has to be devoted to defence requirements … for these reasons we must seek a lasting solution to the problems of the ethnic minorities … it is the aim of the League to secure the highest degree of autonomy consonant with the inherent rights of the minorities and the well-being of the Union as a whole.”

But in order to achieve peace, it is also obvious that the new government must find a novel approach to this issue.

In late 2012, Thein Sein, the previous president, set up an organization called the Myanmar Peace Center and, with massive financial support from the international community, embarked on an ambitious program of talks with Burma’s many ethnic armed organizations (EAO). But the problem was that the Myanmar Peace Center put the cart before the horse by asking the EAOs to sign a “nationwide ceasefire agreement” first and hold political talks later. In practice, that meant that groups which agreed to a ceasefire with the government army would be rewarded with lucrative business opportunities. And then, perhaps, some political talks would be held. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

David I. Steinberg: Aung San Suu Kyi's sanctions conundrum

The United States maintains certain sanctions in Myanmar against many individuals, military-led institutions, and other organizations for their involvement in the Southeast Asian nation's unpleasant past. Although the most basic sanctions have been lifted and the country is in the process of moving from military to civilian rule, in order to continue the remaining sanctions regimen, each May the U.S. president must issue an order indicating that "the actions and policies of the Government of Burma continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

This is bizarre considering that the U.S. has opened a trade office, encouraged responsible investment, and is actively engaged in an economic aid program in the country formerly known as Burma. If one were to take the U.S. statement seriously, its government is encouraging its citizens who are involved in these programs to put their safety in jeopardy by operating in Myanmar. Although this is simply a U.S. bureaucratic requirement, how the Burmese or foreign investors may feel about it raises other issues. (Courtesy of Nikkei Asian Review )

China-Myanmar relation in the Suu Kyi's age

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Myanmar counterpart Aung San Suu Kyi in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar on April 5.

Despite Suu Kyi's close relations with the West, China's top diplomat was the first foreign minister to have visited the Southeast Asian country after its new government took office earlier this year, which demonstrates Suu Kyi's friendly attitude toward its neighbor and her willingness to tackle domestic problems by cooperating with China in the wake of its political upheaval.

Wang's visit showed that the change in Myanmar's political landscape is not hindering bilateral relations. However, it should be noted that China and Myanmar, which share a long and porous border, still face a number of difficulties.

Closer together

The two leaders' meeting came one week before the country's New Year water festival at a time when the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Suu Kyi, was bracing for new challenges as the ruling party of the country. Wang also met with top leaders including President Htin Kyaw, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and General Secretary of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) Tin NaingThein.(Courtesy of china.org.cn)

Malaria Control among neglected populations along the China-Myanmar Border

As a malaria control staff member in Yunnan Province of China, I have been working on the China-Myanmar border for 27 years. I’ve heard many stories about malaria, experienced many malaria situations, and joined many intervention activities.

Understanding the high death rates

In November 2003, more than 100 deaths occurred in Kokang, Shan Special Region in Myanmar. At the time, local people and the authorities didn’t know the cause of these deaths. Chinese investigators suspected Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or plague to be the main cause of these deaths.

Eventually, experts from Yunnan Institute of Parasitic Diseases (YIPD) confirmed it was malaria. For 13 days, between November 7 and November 19, 1392 new cases of malaria and 125 deaths were detected across 30 villages in Kokang, Myanmar. (Courtesy of On Health)

Pagoda Near Church Inflames Religious Tensions in Karen State

A Buddhist monk and spiritual leader of an ethnic armed group stoked religious tensions last week when he and his followers built a pagoda on the property of an Anglican Church in Hlaingbwe Township, at Kondawgyi village in Karen State.

The monk, U Thuzana, is also an influential figure within the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), a splinter group of the predominantly Christian-led Karen National Union, a fellow ethnic armed organization.

Hundreds of his supporters this month brought bricks, cement and other building materials to construct the pagoda. Some among the group were members of the DKBA and wore military uniforms while building the shrine.

This was not the first time U Thuzana, 73, has used provocative measures to “proselytize.” The monk believes that these types of actions will generate good karma, according to a Karen Buddhist leader in Hpa-an, the state capital. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

Anti-war protests spreading across Rakhine State

Protests against the civil wars between the Myanmar Defense Services (Tatmadaw) and the Arakan Army (AA) that erupted in Butheedaung, Yathedaung and Ponngyun townships starting on April 16 are being planned to take place around Rakhine State.

Hundreds of displaced people have fled their homes to seek safety in other villages due to the recent clashes in Rakhine State.

The protesters will demand that the government to stop the fighting and ban illegal arrests and porterage committed by the armies. They will also raise money to assist war victims.

“A meeting about the protest was held in Ponngyun yesterday. We are going to stage a protest against all civil wars. The residents of this area do not want wars. Although battles have occurred among the armed groups, these should not affect uninvolved residents. Nonetheless, people have had to flee to safety due to the fighting. We are going to urge the government to swiftly carry out rescue operations,” said Kyaw Than.

The Arakan National Party (ANP), the ruling party in Rakhine State, also urged the new Union government and the Rakhine State committee to work to end the fighting. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)

The Monk in Blue Robes

It was after Ashin Nyar Na, 77, had ordained as a monk about 40 years ago and studied the three books of Buddhist teachings known as the Tipitika that be began to have doubts about his beliefs. They were a radical departure from the Theravada Buddhism that predominates in Myanmar and have cost him dearly in terms of freedom.

When he was released from Myitkyina jail under presidential amnesty in January he had spent almost 16 behind bars. It was his third prison sentence. A comment on social media said his jail terms stand as a powerful symbol of the state of religious freedom in Myanmar.

The unorthodox monk who has been prepared to spend 16 years in prison for his beliefs lives in a simple concrete building at his threadbare monastery in a rubber plantation on the bank of the Zalathaw Dam near Bago, a three hour drive from downtown Yangon.

He is constantly watched by government agents. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)

ANP demands Rakhine ceasefire

The Arakan National Party (ANP) is urging the Rakhine State government to cooperate with Nay Pyi Taw to stop conflict raging in the state.

A statement said the ANP always wanted national reconciliation and to end civil war, while protecting the Rakhine people.

It expressed worries about fighting with the Arakan Army (AA), the rising numbers of refugees and the need for food, accommodation and health care.

The fighting hindered national reconciliation, weakened the rule of law and stability under the new government.

The National League for Democracy administration should take full responsibility not to allow the use of civilians as hostages and porters by the military, not to displace villagers and to protect civilians from losing their lives and property, the statement said. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)

Eight Killed As Golf Ball Hailstones, Storms Lash Myanmar

Violent storms which saw hailstones the size of golf balls rain down across Myanmar have killed at least eight people in recent days, toppled pagodas and damaged thousands of buildings, officials said today according to Channel News Asia.

The freak storms struck across five states on Friday and Saturday after weeks of heatwave temperatures regularly topping 40C (104F).

The Global New Light of Myanmar said more than 1,700 pagodas were damaged by gale force winds in the southern state of Shan on Friday night many of them belonging to a building complex build in the XVI century . (Courtesy of plenglish.com)

Dos and don’ts for FM Aung San Suu Kyi

For the first time in its history, there will be a Nobel Peace laureate and the world’s most famous political icon in the family of the Asean Ministerial Meeting (AMM), which serves as the Asean annual meeting. Myanmar’s new Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi needs to know a few things about the organisation, with which she has had a dreadful relationship in the past.

Last Friday, she met with Asean diplomats to ensure the importance of Asean-Myanmar relations as a precursor to her numerous Asean-related meetings in the next four years. After all, each year, Asean holds nearly 1,000 meetings in its headquarters in Jakarta and in member capitals.

First of all, Suu Kyi must be humble. For her entire life since 1990 she has been at the centre of global attention and media headlines related to democratic development and inspiration in Myanmar and beyond. As a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, she has received worldwide recognition that no other Asean minister has ever attained. (Courtesy of The Nation)

Myanmar jailed 18 years for killing man

A 33-year-old Myanmar national has been jailed for 18 years by the High Court after he admitted to causing the death of his countryman, whose body parts were found in three plastic bags dumped along a highway.

Myo Myint, who has been living in Malaysia since 2007, had earlier been charged with murdering Rohingya refugee Thet Lwin between 9pm on July 29 and 11.20am on Aug 1, 2014, in Kampung Sri Paya, Kelapa Sawit, Kulai.

The offence carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction. (Courtesy of The Star Online)

Chinese Modernization Comes to an Isolated People

The narrow valley is one of the most remote and pristine in China. Monkeys, Asian black bears and the rare goatlike takin roam through rain-soaked forests above a river the color of jade. In spring, hillsides are splashed with pink rhododendron blossoms. Until two years ago, snowfall on a mountain pass blocked vehicle access for many months each year.­

Now, in this sliver of land on the eastern rim of the Himalayas, the government is building new roads, expanding telecommunications and encouraging commercial ventures to alleviate poverty. Li Yingchun, who used to hike five days over a snowcapped mountain range from a village here to attend a boarding school, said a new paved road that runs through a seven-kilometer tunnel slicing into the mountains had made life easier. (Courtesy of The New York Times)

Zhulian targets Indochina markets for growth

Multilevel marketing (MLM) company Zhulian Corp Bhd has been expanding into markets such as Myanmar, which already contributed close to 10% of its total revenue.

Zhulian is also looking to enter other countries in Indochina as the management sees great potential in these markets.

“We are in the process of expanding into other Indochina countries, namely Laos and Cambodia.

“It is a challenging market as direct sales is a fairly new concept in these countries, but we see great potential there as these are emerging economies in Asean,” said Zhulian group managing director Danny Teoh Meng Keat. (Courtesy of The Star Online)

Liberalization in Burma creates new investment opportunities

Since Burma (also known as Myanmar) began to re-engage with the outside world in 2010, the country has made great strides in liberalizing politically and economically. The military junta has stepped back from running the country, former leading general Thein Sein has accepted defeat after contentious 2015 elections, and the government is now in the hands of National League for Democracy (NDL).

Since officially gaining power in 2016, the NDL has worked to empower its Nobel-Laureate leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, by creating the post of State Counsellor for her, as she is barred by the Constitution from holding the Presidency. Ms. Kyi has shown every intention of further reforming Burma, starting with the recent freeing of its few remaining political prisoners.

Due to Burma’s ongoing economic liberalization, natural resources, and geographic positioning, it has the potential to experience prolonged and rapid growth. While not without risks, Burma offers international investors many new opportunities in 2016. (Courtesy of Global Risk Insights)

UK campaign group calls for release of U Gambira

Burma Campaign UK yesterday called for the immediate and unconditional release of U Gambira, and all the remaining political prisoners in Myanmar.

U Gambira was a leader of the 2007 Saffron Revolution and a former political prisoner. He was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to 68 years in prison. He was released in 2012.

On 19 January 2016, he was arrested by around 20 police officers at his hotel room in Mandalay. He was charged under the Myanmar 1947 Immigration Act for illegally crossing the border and entering the country.  U Gambira, who now lives in Thailand, travelled to Myanmar to obtain a new passport, and he was able to cross the Thailand-Myanmarborder at an official crossing point without facing any problems. (Courtesy of Mizzima)

Britain's crumbling colonial heritage laid bare in shocking pictures

From former colonial splendours of the Raj to whaling stations in the South Atlantic, they are far-flung and fast crumbling outposts of Britain’s centuries-old overseas heritage.

The dilapidated and decaying legacies range from mansions and parks that were the pride of India and Burma to churches, cemeteries and plantations fading away from neglect on tropical islands in the Andaman and Caribbean seas.

But a leading British conservation and heritage expert has now made the economic case for Government support to help save colonial and industrial treasures to promote Britain abroad as well as to bolster local regeneration.

“At a time when so much public debate is focussed on Britain’s role in Europe, I think we often forget that we built much of the modern world,” Philip Davies, a former director of English Heritage, told The Telegraph. (Courtesy of telegraph.co.uk)

Britain's crumbling colonial heritage laid bare in shocking pictures

From former colonial splendours of the Raj to whaling stations in the South Atlantic, they are far-flung and fast crumbling outposts of Britain’s centuries-old overseas heritage.

The dilapidated and decaying legacies range from mansions and parks that were the pride of India and Burma to churches, cemeteries and plantations fading away from neglect on tropical islands in the Andaman and Caribbean seas.

But a leading British conservation and heritage expert has now made the economic case for Government support to help save colonial and industrial treasures to promote Britain abroad as well as to bolster local regeneration.

“At a time when so much public debate is focussed on Britain’s role in Europe, I think we often forget that we built much of the modern world,” Philip Davies, a former director of English Heritage, told The Telegraph. (Courtesy of telegraph.co.uk)

Thein Sein: A Presidential Timeline

Frontier looks back over key events during the term of President U Thein Sein, an unassuming former general whose reforms laid the foundation for a transformed Myanmar.

On March 30, the five-year tenure of President U Thein Sein came to an end. When he took office after the flawed 2010 general election, few expected the diminutive former general who had served as the junta’s prime minister to bring much change to a country that had been under the military’s harsh grip for almost five decades. However, the political, economic and social reforms that he introduced surprised even the most optimistic observers.

Thein Sein’s term was not without controversy, though, and as he handed power to U Htin Kyaw, political prisoners still languish in jail, ethnic conflict persists in parts of the country and a genuinely national ceasefire remains elusive. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)

Villagers in Manipur wary of losing land to Myanmar

Leery of fencing work along Indo-Myanmar border, a committee of about 40 villages in Manipur has announced it will not allow any government official or work inside their area.

"No government agent shall be permitted to enter these border villages," said Ngachomi Ramshang, the general secretary of 'Chandel-Ukhrul Indo-Myanmar Border Land Protection Committee'.

The committee has been formed to represent the people of 40 tribal villages in Ukhrul and Chandel districts who fear that the central and state governments might allow their land to be ceded to Myanmar, Ramshang said.

He said the Information Centre for Hills Areas Manipur (ICHAM) has been undertaking a border survey in the backdrop of the "undenied fact" that Manipur's territory is coveted through "missing" and "reappearing of boundary pillars deep inside Manipur's territory".

ICHAM also represents people who fear loss of their land to the neighbouring country.

India has been constructing a fence along the 1,624-kilometer Indo-Burma border to control smuggling, drug trafficking and insurgency. (Courtesy of thestatesman.com)

Myanmar's USDP Expels 17, Including Former Assembly Speaker

Myanmar's opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party has expelled former party chairman and parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann and 16 of his allies in the military-affiliated party, a senior USDP official said on Saturday.

"About 17 members who are not obeying party rules and disciplines were allowed to leave from the party," Tint Zaw, a member  of the USDP's Central Committee, told RFA's Myanmar service.

Tint Zaw said the decision was taken at a meeting of senior party leaders to plan for upcoming by-elections, and that those expelled included Shwe Mann affiliates Aung Ko and Maung Maung Thein.

He did not elaborate on what party rules the party members had violated, but suggested a link between the expulsions and Shwe Mann's decision in February to accept an appointment by incoming leader Aung San Suu Kyi as chairman of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission. That body supports parliamentary committees as they amend existing laws and draft new legislation. (Courtesy of RFA)

Rakhine MPs deny rebel ties

The Arakan National Party (ANP) denied accusations that it had joined hands with the Arakan Army (AA) to create clashes with government forces in order to destabilise Rakhine State.

Tun Aung Kyaw, general secretary of the ANP, was questioned about Facebook accusations that the party collaborated with the AA to destabilise the new state government formed by the National League for Democracy.

The ANP won a majority of seats in the Rakhine State parliament in November's election but the NLD, which only won eight state seats, used its constitutional right to select all the regional governments and chief ministers. The ANP declared it would work in opposition to the new state administration.

Tun Aung Kyaw said the party policy for what is one of the poorest states was that it could never participate in violence. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)

Aung San Suu Kyi must stand up for embattled minorities

Gethin Chamberlain, in his excellent report on the post-election challenges faced by Aung San Suu Kyi and others (News), poses several questions, not least about the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority who are facing relentless persecution. In addition, the control and the power belong, as ever, to the army, which still holds a quarter of parliamentary seats .

Deep concerns are being expressed and a recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur for Burma has said that “the Rohingya people are gradually been decimated”. Only last week, 65 Rohingyas were drowned as they tried to flee the country in flimsy boats .

The Observer report is timely because it has given us a rare and convincing account of the challenges ahead. Aung San Suu Kyi represents the ambition that Myanmar can become a democratic country and the hope is that she will finally be prepared to stand up for the rights of Muslim people. (Courtesy of The Guardian)

Israeli Ambassador talks development and Myanmar relations

Israel has a long relationship with Myanmar including development and technological exchanges as well as strong defence ties.

In an exclusive interview with Mizzima, Israel’s Ambassador to Myanmar Mr Daniel Zohar Zonshine talked with Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint.

I would like to start with the bilateral relationship between Israel and Myanmar what are the priorities between the two countries?

Myanmar and Israel have very good relations that have existed for many years. The priorities in our relations, from my point of view, at least, would be to make Israel more relevant to Myanmar and show the people and the government of Myanmar that Israel is relevant to them in many ways. From the economic, medical, and social points of view, to name few. These are long term priorities.(Courtesy of Mizzima)

Suu Kyi Scores Obama Byline With 5th ‘Most Influential’ Listing

Time magazine on Thursday released its annual list of the world’s “100 Most Influential People,” with National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi taking a spot for the fifth time among its pantheon of the powerful.

Suu Kyi’s profile for Time’s 2016 iteration was written by US President Barack Obama. In his text Obama, who with 11 appearances holds the record for being featured on the list the most times, described his meetings with the NLD leader and what her guidance could mean for Burma’s future.

“Burma still faces huge challenges, and its success will depend on ending long-running conflicts and upholding the human rights of all ethnic groups and religions. But democracy is poised to deliver a future of greater promise and prosperity,” Obama wrote.

The magazine began compiling the annual list in 1999, and Suu Kyi was also among Time’s top 100 in 2013, 2011, 2008 and 2004. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)

Hart to Heart: Helping refugees find home in Savannah

Hka Tawm has a dream for her 4-year-old son. Her dream is that she wants him to learn English, get an education and grow up to help people just as others have helped her family.

Tawm, 34, is a refugee who, with her husband and son, fled the ethnic violence that has engulfed Burma (Burma officially changed its name in English to the Union of Myanmar in 1989. Tawm and her interpreter still refer to it as Burma.).

They escaped to a refugee camp in Malaysia, then were resettled on refugee status in Savannah.

Tawm said in an interview this week through an interpreter that she is thankful for the help with food, housing and employment her family has received from Lutheran Services of Georgia in Savannah during the seven months they’ve been here. (Courtesy of SavannahNow)

The San Francisco-Burma Connection

On a recent trip to Myanmar, I came across a curious tribute atop Mount Popa, high above the red temples of Bagan. After ascending slowly between nats, religious relics and a cantankerous group of monkeys (one of them greedily chugging a can of Red Bull, and all of them eyeing me suspiciously), I finally made it to the summit.

Here, more than 7,600 miles away from San Francisco, I spotted an engraved plaque that read, “Burma Superstar Restaurant, San Francisco, CA, Sept. 3, 2012.”

This engraving conjured up images of lines outside the iconic restaurant on Clement Street in the Richmond district. I’ve waited in that line, raved over the tea leaf salad and joined friends for dinner here — and all the while I had no concept of its ties to the motherland.This engraving conjured up images of lines outside the iconic restaurant on Clement Street in the Richmond district. I’ve waited in that line, raved over the tea leaf salad and joined friends for dinner here — and all the while I had no concept of its ties to the motherland. (Courtesy of The Bold Italic)

Rakhine MP demands controversial ethnic census

Lower House MP for Rathedaung constituency Khin Saw Wai, from the Rakhine National Party, has proposed scrutiny of the so-called "Bengali" population in Rakhine State in line with the controversial 1982 Citizenship Law.

She claimed: “I’ve tabled a motion to scrutinise the population in line with the 1982 Citizenship Law because there are so many 'Bengalis' in Rakhine State, especially in Maungdaw and Buthidaung.

"They entered into Myanmar illegally from Bangladesh," Khin Saw Wai alleged controversially.
"There also are those who have been living here without registration. That is why I propose it.”

She claimed that only 25 per cent of Rakhine State residents were registered. What should be done to those who were not eligible for citizenship after scrutiny under the junta's 1982 law should be considered later, she added. Numerous human rights groups condemn the law. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)

Myanmar or Burma? Take your choice, Suu Kyi tells diplomats

Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has made clear to foreign diplomats: It doesn’t matter if they call her country Myanmar, or its old name, Burma.

Suu Kyi gave her position Friday in a speech to the foreign diplomatic corps. She is the government’s de facto leader in the specially created post of state counsellor, and also is foreign minister. Her National League for Democracy party took power from an army-backed government at the end of March.

Democracy supporters in Burma balked when the then-ruling military renamed the country Myanmar in 1989. The military in turn was irritated when activists and their supporters abroad — including many Western governments — insisted on sticking with the old name. (Courtesy of The Washington Post)

21 Rohingya Drown As Boat Capsizes; World Silent

At least 21 people, belonging to the persecuted Rohingya minority in Myanmar, drowned after their boat capsized near Sittwe Township on Tuesday. 

“There are conflicting reports of the precise number of people on board but local reports say that at least 15 are still missing,” said Chris Lewa of the Arakan Project which monitors Rohingya migrants. 

"This accident serves as a tragic reminder of the vulnerability that many communities and families face in this area of Rakhine," said Janet Jackson, the UN's resident and humanitarian co-ordinator in Myanmar. "Their only option is to use this mode of travel in order to access livelihoods, and other basic services that are essential for a dignified life,” Jackson added referring to the travel ban imposed on the minority community. In addition to their movement, access to services, including healthcare, is severely restricted by authorities. 

Tuesday’s incident barely made headlines, as the Rohingya are rarely accorded space in the narrative on global refugees. Last year, for a brief period, the Rohingya claimed international attention as several boats carrying members of the group who were fleeing their home country were stranded at sea, being denied entry from destination countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. (Courtesy of thecitizen.in)

Fighting in Rakhine Forces 300 Hundred Myanmar Villagers to Flee Homes

Ongoing clashes between Myanmar army soldiers and an armed ethnic group have forced about 300 villagers in Buthidaung township to flee their homes in western Myanmar’s war-ravaged Rakhine state, a local government official said.

About 30 children and senior citizens are among those who left the area during the latest army offensive against the Arakan Army (AA), said Shwe Kyaw Aung, director of Buthidaung’s development committee.

The refugees have sought shelter in the township’s Sithaung village, according to local media reports.

“Township administrators, members of parliament, and some civil society organizations are helping them find food and a place to stay,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “We have placed them at the village’s middle school.” (Courtesy of RFA)

Bangladesh Deports Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar

Bangladesh’s border guard this month deported at least 340 Muslim Myanmar nationals – more commonly known as Rohingyas – without any resistance from Myanmar border police, the head of the agency said Thursday.

“Over the last 20 days, we caught illegal Myanmar nationals, photographed them and sent 340 of them back to their homeland,” Lt. Col. Imran Ullah Sarker, chief executive of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), told BenarNews.

The latest batch of 20 Rohingyas was turned back Wednesday with no obstruction from the BGB’s counterpart on the Myanmar side of the border, after these members of the neighboring county’s Muslim minority were caught trying to cross into Bangladesh without proper papers, Sarker said.

The process of catching and sending Rohingyas back to Myanmar has, in fact, been occurring over the past several months, leading to a slight reduction in the number entering Bangladesh, he added.

“This is very unusual that the Myanmar border police have allowed the Rohingyas in,” former Bangladeshi ambassador Ashfaqur Rahman told BenarNews. (Courtesy of benarnews.org)

Student activist returns home to fight malaria

On a blistering hot October day last year, the air thick with impending rain, Myaing Myaing Nyunt and I lurch in a wooden oxcart toward Sa-ka-pin, a small village in the rich agricultural lowlands about 20 kilometers northeast of Mandalay, Myanmar. We grip the splintery sides of the cart as the animals plunge chest deep in the muck; when they swish their tails, mud splatters everywhere. It’s 1 month before Myanmar’s historic election, and with us in the back is a young doctor with “NLD,” the initials of Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party, the National League for Democracy, shaved into his close-cropped hair. A second cart carrying township medical officers follows close behind. We stop at a wide, shallow river, where a man in a dugout canoe ferries us across. Two more carts are waiting for us.

Nyunt, a malariologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMD) in Baltimore, is visiting Sa-ka-pin to assess the extent of one of the biggest problems facing an ambitious campaign to wipe out malaria from the Mekong region (see feature story on How drug resistance triggers war to wipe out malaria in the Mekong region): the number of people infected with malaria who have no symptoms. It’s part of a unique collaboration led by Nyunt and her husband, molecular epidemiologist and malariologist Chris Plowe, who heads the Institute for Global Health at UMD. They are working with government scientists in Myanmar to forge the scientific and political links needed to drive malaria from her native country. The project has brought Nyunt back to Myanmar after more than a quarter-century of living abroad, much of it in exile. (Courtesy of sciencemag.org)

Indo-Myanmar media dialogue discusses issues of both countries

An Indo-Myanmar media dialogue with participation from journalists and academicians has discussed a wide range of issues concerning both the countries.

The two-day event jointly, organised by Heinrich Boell Foundation, Institute of Social Sciences, Burma Centre, Delhi and Asian Confluence here saw participation of a six-member delegation from Myanmar.

Myanmar's Member of Parliament from Kachin and Shan states and Pulitzer prize winning journalist Ester Htu San said there is a need for Indian media's presence in Myanmar.

She said there is huge presence of Chinese media in Myanmar and exchange of dialogue between China and Myanmar often takes place. (Courtesy of Business Standard News)

New luxury river cruise gives fine taste of Myanmar’s culture

When the snow in the highest Himalayas melts, the Irra-waddy river swells almost to bursting each August. Yet by January, the water lapping at the banks of Myanmar’s life-giving river had receded so far that our ship occasionally had to alter its course.

Jutting out from the coffee-coloured waters were ridges and mounds of sand that the captain was no doubt keen to avoid. After all, the Strand Cruise, the floating offshoot of Yangon’s famed colonial-era hotel, had only been in service a few short months. An upside was found to those pesky sandbanks, however, in a manner typical of this trip: they provided the setting for imbibing glasses of champagne as twilight fell on the penultimate evening of the journey.

The Irrawaddy flows from those northern snow-capped peaks through the heart of Myanmar before emptying into the Andaman Sea, making it the country’s longest river. It is navigable for about 1,500km from its mouth, but for those who wish to soak up Myanmar’s key cultural sites, the stretch between Bagan and Mandalay holds the greatest allure. (Courtesy of sea-globe.com)

Denial of healthcare” used by Burmese regimes as a Genocide weapon against Rohingya

European Rohingya Council has participated in two expert panel discussions, organized by ISCI and Waging peace on the Genocide happening in Sudan and in Burma against Rohingya minority. The first panel discussion was held in Parliament at the House of Lords on Thursday 14th April and second one was on Monday 18th April 2016 at the Queen Marry University of London.

The idea of these panels is to focus on the failures of the international community in Sudan and Myanmar, and the lessons that could potentially be learned to go forward. ISCI researchers recently travelled to Myanmar, and produced a report which agrees that the Rohingya are now facing the final stages of a genocidal process. And as the situation in Darfur again deteriorates, many are concerned that genocide is still in its 13th year. Therefore the question of the international response to both situations needs to be brought into more serious attention. (Courtesy of theerc.net)

President’s Office Calls Out Media Company For Alleged Govt Bribe

 Burma’s President’s Office sent a warning on Wednesday to a media company who they allege gave a large monetary gift to a government official during Burma’s Thingyan festival last week.

The statement released by the office reported that a media company took part in the annual Thingyan New Year water festival in Naypyidaw by staging a pavilion and inviting ministerial officials to the performances that followed.

The announcement did not mention the media company’s name.

“Among them was a personal assistant of a ‘VIP’ who was given a package filled with five million kyats as present [by the media company],” the statement said.

It added that the individual later found the money upon inspection and complained about it to his senior officer.

President’s Office Minister Aung San Suu Kyi released guidelines on gifts for civil servants on April 4, barring any government employee from accepting anything worth more than 25,000 kyats, or just over US$20, in an attempt to fight against rampant corruption in the country. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)

Singapore Ambassador discusses long Myanmar friendship

In an exclusive interview, Ambassador of Singapore Mr Robert Chua discusses Singapore’s long friendship, relationship and trade with Myanmar.

The interview was conducted by Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint.

I would like to start with the bilateral relationship. What would you say are the priorities for Singapore’s relationship with Myanmar?

Well I think first and foremost, we regard Myanmar as an old friend and neighbour. We have known each other since the time of Singapore’s self-government in 1959 because many friends in Myanmar said Mr Lee Kuan Yew sent many civil servants to come to then Burma to learn development.  So that is one starting point of our relations and from there, there was a very strong building of relations at the political leaders level. Then of course businessmen from both sides built a relationship and as more Myanmar people came to work and study in Singapore, we had the foundation of people-to-people relations.  My Myanmar friends tell me there are over 100,000 Myanmar people living in my country.  Now the number of Singaporeans living in Myanmar is growing, a few hundred. So with such exchanges, I think this strengthens the relationship between our countries.  People-to-people ties are a very strong element between our countries. I think on our priorities, we will continue to be a good and friendly neighbour to Myanmar and continue to support Myanmar in a practical area where we have learned and benefitted from many developed countries and that is human resource development, capacity building. (Courtesy of Mizzima)

Myanmar Police to Drop Charges Against Remaining Political Prisoners

Myanmar’s police force is working to drop charges against remaining political prisoners over the next several days under the direction of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, a police official said Wednesday.

“There could be more than 100 charges that we will consider dropping,” officer Tun Min of the Myanmar Police Criminal Department told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

“The procedure for this is that police must request that judges at courts abolish the charges first,” he said. “Everything will be done in a short time after we have received orders from courts to drop the charges.”

Charges will be dropped against those prosecuted under Articles 505(b) and 143 of the country’s penal code, as well as Article 18 of the country’s Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law, Tun Min said. (Courtesy of RFA)

Bangladesh-Myanmar rail connectivity

Bangladesh has finally taken the decision to get connected to the Trans-Asian railway, one of the most comprehensive networks of rail lines that connect Europe with Asia. The 129 km rail track will span from Dohazari to Gundum near Myanmar border via Cox's Bazaar. The original project was supposed to start in 2010. The delays we have faced in land acquisition and access to funding has meant inordinate delay, with the project cost shooting up from Tk1,852 to Tk18,034 crore. The feasibility study carried out by the Asian Development Bank necessitated changes in the original plan, for instance the move from metre gauge to broad gauge, all contributed to project delay.

Regardless of the hold-up in coming to a decision on this most strategic of connectivity issues, the construction of this rail line will facilitate massive cross border trade between the country with Myanmar and China. The movement of bulk goods from China to Bangladesh and vice versa by rail should shorten lead times significantly and open up new areas of business such as tourism. That we have lost valuable time which has raised the cost of this project manifold is not the question to ponder upon at this stage. (Courtesy of The Daily Star)

No smooth ride: many bumps on India-Myanmar-Thailand road plan

After the initial rush, the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) road project has hit a slow track. According to sources, among the issues slowing implementation are a relatively cold Thailand and infrastructure inadequacies in Myanmar.

Mid-2015, India had proposed seamless movement of cargo, scheduled (bus) and non-scheduled (private) passenger vehicles between Moreh in Manipur and Mae Sot in Thailand. This was similar to the Bhutan-Bangladesh-India-Nepal (BBIN) motor-vehicles pact (MVA) inked outside SAARC in June 2015.

However, unlike BBIN, the three IMT countries are yet to complete the agreement scheduled to be signed in March. No consensus emerged during negotiations among India, Myanmar and Thailand alternately at Bangkok and Delhi last year. (Courtesy of thehindubusinessline.com)

Rohingya boat victims ‘forced’ to travel by sea

Witnesses to a boat capsize off Myanmar that left some 20 people dead, including children, say the victims were from the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority and blamed the tragedy on travel restrictions that forced them to journey by sea.

At least 21 people, including nine children, died after a packed boat capsized in choppy waters on Tuesday as it approached the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe, according to the United Nations.

Most of the passengers were inhabitants of Sin Tet Maw, in Paukaw township, a camp for Rohingya Muslim minority members forced from their homes by bouts of communal violence.

“It (the boat accident) happened because of unsafe transport… we cannot use direct transport (overland) to Sittwe to buy goods or medicine,” Rohingya activist, Kyaw Hla Aung, said from Sittwe. (Courtesy of Saudi Gazette)

Foreign investment in Myanmar jumps 18% amid political transition

Foreign direct investments in Myanmar rose 18% during the full year ended March 31, with the capital inflow fueled by economic growth expectations for a country making a historic break from its military-led past.

About $9.48 billion worth of foreign investments were approved, data by Myanmar's investment authority shows. The amount is dwarfed only by the roughly $20 billion logged in fiscal 2010, which was marked by a series of investments by Chinese enterprises in hydroelectric power projects. The government started keeping records in fiscal 1988.

Fiscal 2015's figure, however, is the largest since Myanmar started undergoing democratic reforms in 2011. Not only did relations with the international community improve, but the foreign investment law put in place by the previous administration of President Thein Sein also contributed. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)