At one time, the Myanmar Gems Traders Association had €93 million (US$103.9 million) in its bank account. But, now, all that money is gone, and the scandal over where it went is poised to embroil former President Thein Sein.
On Thursday, 81 members of the Myanmar Gems Traders Association held a press conference in Rangoon, calling on the Ministry of Resources and Environmental Conservation and the managing director of the state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise to address the so-far unexplained loss of €93 million from the association’s coffers.
Kyaw Kyaw Oo, central executive committee member of Myanmar Gems Traders Association, told reporters that they have been awaiting the conclusions of the state-run Myanmar Gems Enterprise’s investigation team, which began looking into the affair in late May. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
June 3, 2016
Sagaing workers accuse MPs of breaking promise
Sagaing workers will write to five MPs who failed to raise their issue in Parliament although the lawmakers allegedly promised to submit an urgent proposal, according to their lawyer Aung Thurein Tun.
The five MPs and the workers met on May 16 to discuss plans to hold a tribunal involving the employer, employees and government, to allow 15 worker representatives to attend the trial and the remaining workers to observe, to submit an important proposal to Parliament and provide accommodation until issue is solved. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
The five MPs and the workers met on May 16 to discuss plans to hold a tribunal involving the employer, employees and government, to allow 15 worker representatives to attend the trial and the remaining workers to observe, to submit an important proposal to Parliament and provide accommodation until issue is solved. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Will Genocide Be the True Cost of State Building in Myanmar?
“If we mix religion and politics then we offend the spirit of religion itself,” said Myanmar’s independence hero Aung San, addressing his Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League party in 1946.
Seventy years on, for his daughter and globally revered human rights icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, the doctrine has changed.
Deeply entrenched nationalism has blurred the line between religion and politics as Myanmar seeks to build a viable state. And it’s pitting the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s pragmatism against her principles—with the lives of the nation’s Rohingya minority at the center.
“[Aung San]…wanted the Buddhist Sanghas [associations] to retain their traditional roles and abstain from politics,” writes author Nilanjana Sengupta in her book A Gentleman’s Word. “Their contribution to nation building could be in spreading the message of brotherhood and freedom from fear but not in inflammatory communal politics.” (Courtesy of thediplomat.com)
Seventy years on, for his daughter and globally revered human rights icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, the doctrine has changed.
Deeply entrenched nationalism has blurred the line between religion and politics as Myanmar seeks to build a viable state. And it’s pitting the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s pragmatism against her principles—with the lives of the nation’s Rohingya minority at the center.
“[Aung San]…wanted the Buddhist Sanghas [associations] to retain their traditional roles and abstain from politics,” writes author Nilanjana Sengupta in her book A Gentleman’s Word. “Their contribution to nation building could be in spreading the message of brotherhood and freedom from fear but not in inflammatory communal politics.” (Courtesy of thediplomat.com)
Calls to Legally Define Political Prisoners Rebutted in Parliament
In Thursday’s session of the Lower House of Parliament, an Arakan National Party (ANP) lawmaker asked whether the government intends to establish legal definitions for “political prisoners” and “political offenses.”
The issue of officially defining “political prisoners” has been of long-standing concern to political activists and civil society in Burma. Previous military-backed governments—including the administration of President Thein Sein—have dismissed this category, claiming that no one was incarcerated for “political” reasons.
The ANP lawmaker Pe Than took the floor of the chamber, saying that instituting legal definitions for “political offenses” and “political prisoners” would protect political activists from being treated as criminals while in prison, and would also pave the way for reparations to be given to Burma’s many former political prisoners who suffered human rights violations while incarcerated. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
The issue of officially defining “political prisoners” has been of long-standing concern to political activists and civil society in Burma. Previous military-backed governments—including the administration of President Thein Sein—have dismissed this category, claiming that no one was incarcerated for “political” reasons.
The ANP lawmaker Pe Than took the floor of the chamber, saying that instituting legal definitions for “political offenses” and “political prisoners” would protect political activists from being treated as criminals while in prison, and would also pave the way for reparations to be given to Burma’s many former political prisoners who suffered human rights violations while incarcerated. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
President Htin Kyaw: Missing in Action
The National League for Democracy (NLD)—which weathered over two decades in opposition to military dictatorship, with the death and imprisonment of scores of its members—assumed power at the end of March, after a landslide win in the November general election.
Ever since, the Burmese people and the international community have been eager for clarity and detail on the NLD’s intended policies—its roadmap for deepening, or recalibrating, the political and economic reforms launched under the previous administration.
Htin Kyaw, Burma’s new president, gave a notably short speech during his inauguration. In the course of three minutes, he delivered broad-brush promises to the nation: “Our new government will implement national reconciliation, deliver peace throughout the country, develop a constitution that could pave the way towards a democratic union, and enhance living standards.” (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Ever since, the Burmese people and the international community have been eager for clarity and detail on the NLD’s intended policies—its roadmap for deepening, or recalibrating, the political and economic reforms launched under the previous administration.
Htin Kyaw, Burma’s new president, gave a notably short speech during his inauguration. In the course of three minutes, he delivered broad-brush promises to the nation: “Our new government will implement national reconciliation, deliver peace throughout the country, develop a constitution that could pave the way towards a democratic union, and enhance living standards.” (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
As Bangladesh Counts Rohingya, Some Fear Forced Relocation
Bangladesh’s government began its first census of undocumented Rohingya refugees on Thursday, setting off fears that it might lead to a mass relocation or forcible repatriation of the refugees to Myanmar.
The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group in western Myanmar described by the United Nations as the most persecuted minority in the world, have crossed the border in waves over several decades.
About 32,000 are sheltered in camps administered by the United Nations, but hundreds of thousands more live undocumented in squalid, makeshift camps or scattered around southeast Bangladesh, vulnerable to human traffickers and exploited as cheap labor. (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group in western Myanmar described by the United Nations as the most persecuted minority in the world, have crossed the border in waves over several decades.
About 32,000 are sheltered in camps administered by the United Nations, but hundreds of thousands more live undocumented in squalid, makeshift camps or scattered around southeast Bangladesh, vulnerable to human traffickers and exploited as cheap labor. (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
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