The government has resumed a controversial citizenship verification process in Rakhine State, an immigration official has revealed, amid pressure from Rakhine politicians to implement the 1982 Citizenship Act in the restive state.
The new government resumed the citizenship scrutiny process on May 1, U Myint Kyaing, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population told Frontier.
“It is one of the ministry’s projects for its first 100 days,” he said.
The process, which examines the credentials of Rakhine’s mostly stateless Muslim population, was launched as a pilot project by the previous government in June 2014 but suspended shortly afterward due to protests from the ethnic Rakhine community. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
May 12, 2016
Former MP Ro Shwe Maung's Speaking Notes At Oxford Rohingya Conference
Former MP Ro Shwe Maung's Speaking Notes for the Conference on “Myanmar democratic transition and persecuted Rohingya” at the Wolfson College, University of Oxford on 11 May 2016.
Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to speak at this important event via Skype.
Let me introduce myself. This before my name was U Shwe Maung. On 8 May 2016, I changed my name to Ro Shwe Maung. It means Rohingya Shwe Maung. I am a Rohingya. Please call me Ro Shwe Maung. I am a former Member of Parliament in Myanmar from 2010 to 2015. Authority denied my right to run for office again in 2015 General Election although I was a sitting MP. I was denied the right to contest the election because authority falsely claimed my parents were not citizens of Myanmar when I was born. I would like to say this is the most laughable joke in the 21st Century. I am not only one. All Rohingya candidates were targeted for exclusion. Dozens of Burmese Muslims candidates had also been rejected by election authorities. And make no mistake: it is because of our ethnicity and religion. (Courtesy of Rohingya Blogger)
Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to speak at this important event via Skype.
Let me introduce myself. This before my name was U Shwe Maung. On 8 May 2016, I changed my name to Ro Shwe Maung. It means Rohingya Shwe Maung. I am a Rohingya. Please call me Ro Shwe Maung. I am a former Member of Parliament in Myanmar from 2010 to 2015. Authority denied my right to run for office again in 2015 General Election although I was a sitting MP. I was denied the right to contest the election because authority falsely claimed my parents were not citizens of Myanmar when I was born. I would like to say this is the most laughable joke in the 21st Century. I am not only one. All Rohingya candidates were targeted for exclusion. Dozens of Burmese Muslims candidates had also been rejected by election authorities. And make no mistake: it is because of our ethnicity and religion. (Courtesy of Rohingya Blogger)
Which Really is a Controversial Term | By Aman Ullah
The Burmese foreign ministry led by Aung San Suu Kyi has told foreign diplomats to stop using the word “Rohingya”, prompting accusations that it has abandoned the minority Muslim community.
The foreign ministry sent an advisory to embassies in Rangoon this week warning them against the term, which is used by the stateless Muslim group to self-identify, but is rejected by the country’s nationalist Buddhist wing who view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
“We won’t use the term Rohingya because Rohingya are not recognized as among the 135 official ethnic groups,” “Our position is that using the controversial term does not support the national reconciliation process and solving problems” said Kyaw Zay Ya, a retired lieutenant-colonel who was elected as an MP for Ms Suu Kyi’s party last year and now serves in the foreign ministry. But he added that “it is not possible to enforce” the directive, and would be up to foreign governments to decide. (Courtesy of Rohingay Vision TV)
The foreign ministry sent an advisory to embassies in Rangoon this week warning them against the term, which is used by the stateless Muslim group to self-identify, but is rejected by the country’s nationalist Buddhist wing who view the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
“We won’t use the term Rohingya because Rohingya are not recognized as among the 135 official ethnic groups,” “Our position is that using the controversial term does not support the national reconciliation process and solving problems” said Kyaw Zay Ya, a retired lieutenant-colonel who was elected as an MP for Ms Suu Kyi’s party last year and now serves in the foreign ministry. But he added that “it is not possible to enforce” the directive, and would be up to foreign governments to decide. (Courtesy of Rohingay Vision TV)
From stone to image: Carving Buddha in a changing Myanmar
Pantamaw, the art of carving stone and marble, is one of Myanmar’s oldest traditional crafts. For generations, artisans have cleaved slabs of alabaster from the mountain quarries in Sagyin, which translates to marble, and brought the boulders to local workshops and the streets of Mandalay 30 miles (50 kilometres) south. Pantamaw sculpture dates back to the pre-Bagan era, when the highly refined art form took years of apprenticeship training before craftsmen were considered ready to produce figurines. Grandfathers and grandsons have passed their knowledge down to younger generations, and families have carved a livelihood out of this stone.
But the methods that made the marble-carving workshops of old so unique are being replaced. As the power grid in Myanmar continues to stabilise, the use of electric tools is replacing the traditional hammer and chisel, and government-backed private companies are blowing up the mountainsides to more quickly harvest marble for the increasing demand of Buddha statue shipments abroad. As a result, Buddha statues are being mass-produced and machine-made, and many of the young craftsmen skip learning how to create a statue by hand – the pantamaw practice once considered important. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
But the methods that made the marble-carving workshops of old so unique are being replaced. As the power grid in Myanmar continues to stabilise, the use of electric tools is replacing the traditional hammer and chisel, and government-backed private companies are blowing up the mountainsides to more quickly harvest marble for the increasing demand of Buddha statue shipments abroad. As a result, Buddha statues are being mass-produced and machine-made, and many of the young craftsmen skip learning how to create a statue by hand – the pantamaw practice once considered important. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
MILITARY STRENGTHENS GRIP ON CIVIL SERVICE
In a quiet effort to extend its reach, Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs has created a new position at the upper levels of its ubiquitous General Administration Department.
GAD officials recently told Frontier that the new post of director was created in the weeks leading up to the Thingyan holiday, replacing the old position of deputy director, who previously stood as the highest authority in district-level administration.
The GAD is a civil service body that staffs regional and state governments nationwide, providing administrative services all the way down to the district and township level. Falling under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the department is ultimately answerable to Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
GAD officials recently told Frontier that the new post of director was created in the weeks leading up to the Thingyan holiday, replacing the old position of deputy director, who previously stood as the highest authority in district-level administration.
The GAD is a civil service body that staffs regional and state governments nationwide, providing administrative services all the way down to the district and township level. Falling under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the department is ultimately answerable to Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Yangon police crackdown widens
Police patrols on the night of May 10 targeted street-side “beer stations” as well as high-profile bars, with managers ordered to close on time at 11pm or face court action.
In recent weeks bars in downtown Yangon had been keeping their doors open well beyond specified closing times, taking advantage of what had appeared to be a relaxation of rules following months of periodic clampdowns.
But Police Major Thein Aung made clear yesterday that the 11pm closing time would be enforced as part of the new government’s “100-days” crackdown on crime and rule-of-law campaign. Illegal massage parlours have also been raided and closed and will be prosecuted, police said. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
In recent weeks bars in downtown Yangon had been keeping their doors open well beyond specified closing times, taking advantage of what had appeared to be a relaxation of rules following months of periodic clampdowns.
But Police Major Thein Aung made clear yesterday that the 11pm closing time would be enforced as part of the new government’s “100-days” crackdown on crime and rule-of-law campaign. Illegal massage parlours have also been raided and closed and will be prosecuted, police said. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
The Rohingya: A preview to the next genocide of our time
This magazine has published at length articles about the situation of the Rohingya people of Myanmar. According to the U.N., they are the most persecuted minority in the world at the moment. But awareness of their issue by the international community is uneven. A number of U.N. agencies and global NGOs are monitoring the situation very closely and have been vocal advocates on behalf of the group. Yet in an international news agenda dominated by the affairs of the U.S., China and Russia, as well as the rising tide of Islamist violence in the Middle East and worldwide, the “internal affairs” of a country like Myanmar, which has never really been in the international spotlight, is not something likely to capture global attention. Even when the issue did come to the fore in the spring of 2015, the international media presented it as the South East Asia migration crisis, but the underlying causes of the migration — the desperate conditions that Rohingya face in the country of their birth — were largely glossed over. (Courtesy of theislamicmonthly.com)
‘Dignity’ at Stake, Speaker Tells Parliament in Rebuke of MP’s Facebook Lament
Burma’s Lower House Speaker Win Myint warned parliamentarians on Wednesday not to post comments on social media that “would undermine the dignity and integrity of Parliament,” after a lawmaker took to Facebook to express disappointment that a proposal she had put forward was rejected.
Win Myint also took the lawmaker, Khin Saw Wai of the Arakan National Party’s (ANP), to task for talking to the media about her proposal before it had been formally submitted, a violation of parliamentary protocol.
“[Talking to the media] could lead to a misunderstanding of what’s going on in the Parliament,” he told the Lower House on Wednesday. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Win Myint also took the lawmaker, Khin Saw Wai of the Arakan National Party’s (ANP), to task for talking to the media about her proposal before it had been formally submitted, a violation of parliamentary protocol.
“[Talking to the media] could lead to a misunderstanding of what’s going on in the Parliament,” he told the Lower House on Wednesday. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Parliament Votes to Deepen Military Ties with Russia
Burma’s Parliament on Tuesday approved President Htin Kyaw’s proposal to deepen and formalize the country’s longtime military cooperation with Russia.
“This cooperation would contribute to turning the Tatmadaw [Burma Army] into a standard army for national defense,” said military representative Brig-Gen Than Lwin.
“The two countries have already maintained military cooperation for a long time. Burmese students [cadets] frequently study for master’s and doctorate degrees at Russian [military] academies.”
Tun Wai, a Lower House lawmaker from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), said he supported the strengthening of military ties in light of potential long-term gains, but he expressed concern over to what extent signing a formal agreement with Russia might affect Burma’s ability to exercise an active and independent foreign policy. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
“This cooperation would contribute to turning the Tatmadaw [Burma Army] into a standard army for national defense,” said military representative Brig-Gen Than Lwin.
“The two countries have already maintained military cooperation for a long time. Burmese students [cadets] frequently study for master’s and doctorate degrees at Russian [military] academies.”
Tun Wai, a Lower House lawmaker from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), said he supported the strengthening of military ties in light of potential long-term gains, but he expressed concern over to what extent signing a formal agreement with Russia might affect Burma’s ability to exercise an active and independent foreign policy. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Arakanese Ceasefire Signatory Threatens Fighting
Last year’s “nationwide ceasefire agreement” may already be unraveling, as one of its signatories, the Arakan Liberation Army (ALA), has threatened to pull out of it, according to ALA communications officer Khine Myo Htun, who added that fighting with the Burma Army could break out at any time.
Tensions between the ALA and the Burma Army have been rising since last month amid skirmishes in Arakan State between the Burma Army and another Arakanese ethnic armed group, the Arakan Army, with the ALA accusing government troops of committing war crimes, forcing villagers to porter and using civilians as human shields, as well as of violations of the Geneva Convention.
The military demanded evidence following the allegations. But after the ALA provided 15 audio and video files that they claim corroborate their accusations, the military responded by pursuing criminal charges against ALA spokesman Khine Myo Htun. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Tensions between the ALA and the Burma Army have been rising since last month amid skirmishes in Arakan State between the Burma Army and another Arakanese ethnic armed group, the Arakan Army, with the ALA accusing government troops of committing war crimes, forcing villagers to porter and using civilians as human shields, as well as of violations of the Geneva Convention.
The military demanded evidence following the allegations. But after the ALA provided 15 audio and video files that they claim corroborate their accusations, the military responded by pursuing criminal charges against ALA spokesman Khine Myo Htun. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Burma’s President Calls on Thailand to Protect Migrant Workers
Burma’s President Htin Kyaw called on Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai to strengthen labor rights protections for millions of Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, during a meeting with a Thai delegation led by Don at the Presidential Palace on Monday.
Burmese labor rights organizations in Thailand welcomed the move, urging the two governments to work together to ensure Burmese migrant workers in Thailand are treated with dignity and equality.
Though Thai laws on labor and migrant workers ostensibly grant equal rights for workers regardless of race or religion, hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrant workers do not enjoy those rights, according to Aung Kyaw, vice chairman of the Thailand-based Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN). (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Burmese labor rights organizations in Thailand welcomed the move, urging the two governments to work together to ensure Burmese migrant workers in Thailand are treated with dignity and equality.
Though Thai laws on labor and migrant workers ostensibly grant equal rights for workers regardless of race or religion, hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrant workers do not enjoy those rights, according to Aung Kyaw, vice chairman of the Thailand-based Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN). (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
NLD Faces Daunting Task in Reforming Ruined Universities
On a recent April morning, Aung Kyaw Soe got off the bus near the University of West-Rangoon after spending some two hours in traffic to reach the campus located on the city’s outskirts.
“When we take the public bus to the university we break out in a sweat and are not fresh to begin teaching,” complained the Botany Department lecturer.
Like many universities and colleges built under Burma’s former military regime, the University of West-Rangoon was constructed in a remote part of town and lacks on-campus student housing—part of a deliberate effort by the junta to curtail potential student mobilization. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
“When we take the public bus to the university we break out in a sweat and are not fresh to begin teaching,” complained the Botany Department lecturer.
Like many universities and colleges built under Burma’s former military regime, the University of West-Rangoon was constructed in a remote part of town and lacks on-campus student housing—part of a deliberate effort by the junta to curtail potential student mobilization. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
Myanmar's New Government Looks to Stop Corporate Land Theft
Myanmar’s freshly elected government has formed a new committee to tackle a land-grabbing pandemic that still plagues the impoverished Southeast Asian country despite a recent transition away from military dictatorship.
Shortly after being elected in a landslide victory in late 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party announced that it would prioritise bringing an end to the prolific and violent spate of land seizures. To that end, on Tuesday the government announced the formation of a Land Use Management Central Committee.
The new committee will oversea and regulate respective departments in handling land-related matters in all stages of administration, from regional to village-level decisions, according to NGO Global Witness. (Courtesy of telesurtv.net)
Shortly after being elected in a landslide victory in late 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party announced that it would prioritise bringing an end to the prolific and violent spate of land seizures. To that end, on Tuesday the government announced the formation of a Land Use Management Central Committee.
The new committee will oversea and regulate respective departments in handling land-related matters in all stages of administration, from regional to village-level decisions, according to NGO Global Witness. (Courtesy of telesurtv.net)
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