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Showing posts from December, 2017

Burmese govt invites Naga rebels to peace talks

The Burmese government has extended an invitation to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) to join the third round of national peace talks  in Naypyidaw next month . The Naga rebels, who did not attend either the first or second session of the  Union Peace Conference , met yesterday in Yangon with the government-backed Peace Commission headed by Dr. Tin Myo Win. Following that meeting, Burma’s Ministry of Information announced that it was sending an official invitation to the NSCN-K to join January’s summit, known unofficially as the 21st Century Panglong Conference. Although the Naga armed group signed a state-level ceasefire accord with the government in April 2012, it was not a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signed between the then Thein Sein administration and eight ethnic armed groups in October 2015. Representatives of the NSCN held a preparatory meeting with the government in July 2016 aimed at paving the way for the Nagas to

About 3,000 NVC and NID cards issued in Maungtaw Township, Rakhin

By  Mizzima   On   Saturday, 30 December 2017 An official from Rakhine State Immigration and Population Department said nearly 3,000 people from Shwe Zar Village, Maungtaw Township, Rakhine State have been issued National Verification Cards (NVCs) and technology-based National Electronic IDs (NIDs), a pilot programme, according to a report in the Global New Light of Myanmar on December 29.  “NVC works by the ministry were started in 12 October with 60 staff as per the instruction of the State Counsellor Office. Currently, 50 staff divided into four groups are carrying out the programme. The four groups have already issued NVCs to 1,457 people and NIDs to 1,503 people of Shwe Zar Village, Maungtaw Myoma west ward and Myoma south ward in Maungtaw Township,” said Maungtaw District Immigration and Population Department Assistant Director Than Shwe. Although the staff from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population is continuing the process of issuing NVCs and NIDs in the

Public Urged to Report Corruption at Latest Peace Talk

By NYEIN NYEIN 29 December 2017 YANGON — State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urged the public not to be afraid to complain if they spot any wrongdoing by ministers and civil servants during her fifth public “peace talk” on Friday in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State. She said channels for complaints were open to the public and encouraged people to exercise their democratic rights and responsibilities. She was responding to comments from Ko Mario, a 26-year-old farmer who highlighted the public’s fear of the government and Tatmadaw, the common term for Myanmar’s military, in the area. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that if members of the public failed to raise their complaints they would be abetting injustice. “If the administrators do wrong, the public has the responsibility to complain,” she said. “It is your right. And if we don’t know, we cannot take any action. So don’t be afraid.” “You must value yourselves and use your authority and ability,” she continued. “We, the Union

NSCN-K invited to Union Peace Conference

The Peace Commission invited the National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang (NSCN-K) yesterday to attend the third meeting of the Union Peace Conference- 21st Century Panglong, state media reported on 29 December. The invitation was offered by Dr. Tin Myo Win, Chairman of the Peace Commission (PC) following a meeting between the commission and the NSCN yesterday at the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre (NRPC) in Yangon. At the meeting, the two sides discussed stability and development in the hilly areas of Naga and participating in the upcoming third meeting of the Union Peace Conference-21st Century Panglong, which is scheduled to be held next month. The NSCN-K has not yet signed the NCA, but they signed the state-level ceasefire agreement with the government in April, 2012. They have had no clashes with the Tatmadaw since 2000. http://www.mizzima.com/news-domestic/nscn-k-invited-union-peace-conference

Myanmar extends curfew in northern Rakhine to ensure further security

By   Global Times/Xinhua On  Thursday, 28 December 2017 Myanmar local authorities extended the curfew order in Maungtaw, a sensitive area of conflict in the northern part of Rakhine state, for another two months to ensure further security, stability and rule of law, Myanmar News Agency quoted the Maungtaw District General Administration Department as reporting Wednesday.  The order, which has taken effect from Monday, continues to ban assembly of more than five persons and going outside from dusk to dawn between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m local time.  The original curfew order was imposed shortly after the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) extremist terrorists launched coordinated attacks on police outposts in Maungtaw on Aug. 25, displacing residents from a number of areas in Maungtaw area.  Meanwhile, all displaced people taking shelter in Sittway, capital of Myanmar's Rakhine state, have returned homes as the situation in the state has returned to normal.  The local

Palaung Lawyer Detained After Gambling Den Shooting

By LAWI WENG 29 December 2017 An ethnic Ta’ang (Palaung) lawyer has been detained by police in Muse Township in northern Shan State in connection with a shooting in Lashio in Kaung Mu Tong quarter on Dec. 22, Ta’ang Legal Aid (TLA) reported yesterday. Police accused Mai Myo Aung of involvement in a Dec. 22 confrontation in a gambling den that escalated and left one person shot dead and another injured. He is being held at a police station in Muse’s Kaung Mu Tong quarter, the TLA said. The aid group and the man’s wife allege that the police have physically abused the lawyer and refused to release alleged video footage implicating him. “He was not at the location of the shooting. He was not even aware there had been a shooting. He was at another location on personal business, but the police have accused him of involvement,” said Mai Shein Htun, a TLA committee member who is assisting the lawyer. In a statement, the TLA said Mai Myo Aung had been beaten while in custody. His onl

Reuters Reporters Held in Myanmar Were Handed Papers, Then Arrested: Families

By REUTERS 29 December 2017 YANGON — Family members of two Reuters reporters detained in Myanmar said on Thursday the pair had told them they were arrested almost immediately after being handed some documents by policemen they had gone to meet. Wa Lone, 31, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 27, were arrested on Dec. 12 on suspicion of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act. The Ministry of Information has cited the police as saying they were “arrested for possessing important and secret government documents related to Rakhine State and security forces.” The two journalists had worked on Reuters coverage of a crisis in the western state of Rakhine, where an estimated 655,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from a fierce military crackdown on militants. In the first account of the circumstances of the arrests from the journalists themselves, Wa Lone’s wife, Pan Ei Mon, told a news conference her husband said that he and Kyaw Soe Oo had a meeting at a restaurant on Dec. 12 with two police offic

UN Rights Investigator Calls for Pressure on China, Russia over Myanmar Abuses

By REUTERS 29 December 2017 SEOUL — The United Nations’ independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar has called for international pressure on China and Russia to try to get them to oppose human rights abuses in Myanmar. UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee, who was last week barred by the Myanmar government from visiting the country, singled out China and Russia because they had failed to back some moves in the UN aimed at trying to halt the Myanmar military’s crackdown on the Rohingya Muslim community in Rakhine State. “I’d like to ask the international community to continue to work with China and Russia to persuade them to stand on the side of human rights,” Lee told Reuters in an interview. Neither has joined the United States, the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in condemning the crackdown that has led to the exodus of what aid agencies estimate to be 655,000 refugees into Bangladesh. In response to Lee, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswo

4 Convicted Muslims Get Additional Prison Time

By ZARNI MANN 29 December 2017 MANDALAY – A district court in Mandalay sentenced four Muslim men to between seven and 15 more years in jail for their alleged links to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), adding to related sentences they received last year. The four, including well-known local artist U Zaw Min Htwe, were arrested in 2014, accused of working with the KIA to establish an Islamist fighting force. In 2016, a court in Amarapura Township sentenced U Zaw Min Htwe, U Myint Thein and U A. Ra Mahn to 25 years in prison for incitement, high treason and having contact with an illegal association. At the time, U Khin Maung Shwe was sentenced to 27 years in prison. On Thursday, facing related charges under the Counter-Terrorism Law, U Zaw Min Htwe, U Myint Thein and U A. Ra Mahn were sentenced to an additional seven years in prison. U Khin Maung Shwe was sentenced to another 15 years. “We’ve told the court for years that we had no connection with the KIA and had no intenti

Myanmar Drops Charges, Frees TRT Journalists

By THE IRRAWADDY 29 December 2017 YANGON — Two foreign journalists and two Myanmar nationals who were sentenced to two months in prison for attempting to fly a drone near Myanmar’s Parliament in Naypyitaw were released on Friday, after police withdrew additional charges. The four—Turkish state broadcaster TRT World producer Mok Choy Lin from Malaysia, freelance camera operator Lau Hon Meng from Singapore, and their interpreter Ko Aung Naing Soe and driver U Hla Tin from Myanmar— were arrested on Oct. 27 and sentenced to two months in prison on Nov. 10 under the 1934 colonial-era Myanmar Aircraft Act for filming with a drone. At a Dec. 26 court hearing, the plaintiffs, police officer Tun Tun Win and immigration official U Htay Win, withdrew the additional charges under the 2012 Export and Import Law for illegally bringing the drone into the country and Section 13 (1) of the 1947 Immigration Act. The latter was brought separately against the two foreign journalists after their vi

$10M Land Reclamation Project in Restive Rakhine Readies for Sales

By MOE MYINT 29 December 2017 YANGON — A $10 million land reclamation project by South Korea’s BXT International and the Rakhine State government in the state capital Sittwe is now half complete and will be ready for land sales next month, a local cabinet minister said. The project update came at a press conference in Yangon organized by realtor iMyanmarHouse and joined by Rakhine’s minister for finance, revenue and economy, Kyaw Aye Thein, and BXT Managing Director Steve Park. With a population of some 150,000 people, Sittwe has been segregated since 2012 communal riots between ethnic Arakanese and Rohingya that displaced tens of thousands of Muslims. The government ranks the state as the least developed in the country. The Myanmar Investment Commission approved the reclamation project, which will add 90 acres of seaside land next to the Sittwe jetty, in 2016. “We all know Myanmar has experienced a little turmoil, especially in the Rakhine region, and I’m really sad for wh

Plundered jade mountains leave gaping hole in govt revenue

The government is conducting a long-overdue review of the opaque, graft-riddled jade industry, which is dominated by powerful vested interests whose activities are costing Myanmar billions of dollars a year in lost revenue. By NYAN HLAING LYNN | FRONTIER AT THE jade shops of the Chinese city of Ruili, the silver-haired man was conspicuous in his longyi and  tike pone  – a traditional Myanmar jacket – among the crowd clad in pants and skirts. Known in Myanmar as Shweli, the town is across the border from Muse. It is known as “Jade City” because of the huge volumes of high-quality jadeite that pass through on the way to markets in China, where the precious green stone gouged from the earth in Myanmar is particularly coveted. Jade is one of the country’s most valuable natural resources but the industry is riddled with corruption and notoriously opaque. Trading in the stone can be a precarious business, as the silver-haired man well knows. “My life is gone,” said U Than Nyun

Why China’s plan helps solve Rohingya crisis

By Song Qingrun Source:Global Times The  Rohingya  crisis has developed into a grave issue in Myanmar's politics and diplomacy. It has caused a mass exodus of Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh, who are living in pathetic conditions. Nonetheless, a fundamental resolution of the issue is hard to find. The UN, the US, the EU and Muslim countries pressurized Myanmar and even said that the crisis "looks like ethnic cleansing," calling for sanctions on the country's military authorities. But repeated censure and pressure have not worked. On November 19, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi laid out a three-phase plan to address the issue in the Rakhine State during his visit to Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw. In the first phase, an on-site cease-fire should be called and stability in social life should be restored so that people can live in peace without becoming homeless. Through the joint efforts of all parties, this goal has basically been realized and a recurrence of w

UN taking sides could worsen Rohingya crisis

By Zhang Yi Source:Global Times  China, Russia and some regional countries have opposed a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on Sunday to address the  Rohingya  crisis in Myanmar. Tens of thousands of Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh during the crisis after a military operation was launched by the Myanmar government in Rakhine state in late August. While Myanmar authorities insist that the campaign was aimed at rooting out Rohingya militants who attacked police posts, the UN called the situation in Rakhine similar to "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing." The Rohingya crisis is a serious long-term issue for the Myanmar government that arose from a complex historic, ethnic and religious backdrop. It has evolved from a matter of domestic politics to one of regional security and international concern. The US, traditionally vocal about human rights, has re-imposed selective sanctions on Myanmar, the latest blacklisting a Myanmar general responsible for s

Thai Court Extends Deadline for Counter Appeal in Koh Tao Murder Case

By KYAW KHA 27 December 2017 CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Thailand’s Supreme Court has approved Thai prosecution lawyers’ request to extend their counter appeal deadline by one month in the case of two Burmese migrants who were sentenced to death for the murder of two British backpackers. The defense team—made up of members of the Lawyers Council of Thailand, legal advisers from the Myanmar government, and members of non-governmental organizations advocating for labor rights—submitted a 319-page appeal to Thailand’s Supreme Court in August. Since then, Thai prosecution lawyers have asked four separate times to postpone the deadline for them to counter the appeal. The prosecution team is set to submit their argument against the appeal on Jan. 23, said defense lawyer U Aung Myo Thant. “They are not yet ready to make the final plea, and therefore set the date for the 23rd of next month,” he told The Irrawaddy. Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin—both in their early 20s—were sentenced by th

Journalists Appear in Court after 15 Days of Interrogation

By NYEIN NYEIN 27 December 2017 YANGON — “We have not made a mistake, neither violations of the media law nor ethics. As we have to face this situation, we will face it as best we can,” said Ko Wa Lone, a detained Reuters journalist who appeared at the Mingalardon Township court on Wednesday for the first time since his arrest on Dec. 12. Ko Wa Lone and his colleague Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested for allegedly violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act and questioned at the Aung Tha Pyay police interrogation center in Mayangone Township for 15 days. Ko Wa Lone told reporters that he was “fine” and faced no mistreatment during the detention. Two police officers who were also detained along with the reporters did not appear at the court on Wednesday. The pair saw their family members for the first time since their arrest. Ma Pan Ei Mon, the wife of Ko Wa Lone (aka) Thet Oo Maung, and Ma Nyo Nyo Aye, the sister of Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, were able to talk to their loved ones and fol

Monks Get Jail, Hard Labor for Anti-govt Protest

By ZARNI MANN 27 December 2017 MANDALAY — A court in Chanmyathazi Township, Mandalay Region, on Wednesday sentenced six nationalist monks to a year and a half in prison with hard labor for taking part in an anti-government protest. The Buddhist monks were all arrested during a police raid on their protest camp in early August and later charged with incitement under Article 505 (b) of the Penal Code. They had been calling on the government to step down for failing to protect national interests. “One year and six months in prison is too harsh. We will submit an appeal to the higher courts,” said U Aung Ye Soe, the monks’ lawyer. U Kyaw Myo Shwe, a layman also facing an incitement charge for taking part in the same protest, is still on trial and has requested bail for health reasons. He was arrested two days after the monks when he showed up at court for his lawsuit against a Myanmar Now reporter. U Kyaw Myo Shwe’s next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 3. There are still

Frontier reporter wins top journalism accolade

By SEAN GLEESON | FRONTIER YANGON —  Frontier  senior reporter Ko Mratt Kyaw Thu has won the Kate Webb Prize for Asian Journalists, it was announced Monday. The first Myanmar recipient of the prestigious award, Mratt Kyaw Thu was recognised by the selection committee for his coverage of conflict and communal strife across the country last year. The seasoned reporter was in Maungdaw in early October 2016 to chronicle attacks on police and military posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, which unleashed a massive security crackdown and sent around 90,000 refugees streaming across the border into Bangladesh. Elsewhere, he documented clashes in northern Shan State that prompted people to flee their homes in dozens of villages last year, in a conflict that threatened to undermine the government’s fragile peace process. “It was a really great moment for me when  AFP  called to say that I’ve won this award. I've never felt this kind of moment in my life, I couldn’t belie