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Category: ASEAN

Protestant family of 13 expelled from their village

Editor012 mins

A family of 13 in Vietnam’s Nghe An province say they are being persecuted by local authorities for religious reasons. They told RFA at least one child was denied a birth certificate because the parents refused to renounce Protestantism. On June 15, Xong Ba Thong, from Na Ngoi commune in Ky Son district, sent a report to the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (Northern region). The report said his family faced persecution in Ka Bottom village even though it had been granted approval to join a legal religious organization. Expelled for following Christianity According to RFA research, the family of 26-year-old Xong Ba Thong has lived in this area for generations. The ethnic Hmong family had traditionally followed the local custom of ghost-worshiping. Thong said that around 2017, his entire family including his parents, younger siblings and himself voluntarily converted to Protestantism after learning about the religion through radio broadcasts. Around 2019, local authorities began demanding that the family renounce Protestantism and forced them to return to the local custom. “They said that here in Ky Son district, Na Ngoi commune and the whole of Nghe An province, no one followed a religion, but they said it was against the law to follow another religion. They also said that [by following Protestantism] we have greatly affected national unity,” Thong said. The family wanted to be officially converted to Protestantism and applied to join the Vietnam Evangelical Church (Northern) General Assembly. The application was approved in April this year. Instead of acknowledging the church’s approval and allowing Mr. Thong’s family to convert, local authorities increased pressure on them to try to force them to give up their religious beliefs. Local officials repeatedly visited their house to try to persuade family members to renounce Protestantism. They also repeatedly summoned Thong to the commune headquarters for “work”, including spending time with the cadres of Ky Son district on May 17. Thong said the “work” revolved around the request for his family to renounce Protestantism. “The day I met the district delegation, I read the law on belief and religion to them all and showed them all, but they said the law has no effect here, has no effect in the district, this province,” Thong said. Threats and sanctions for following a religion As well as putting pressure on the family, commune authorities also applied punitive measures. Sources told RFA local officials confiscated the family’s plow, which had been donated by the state for farming. They said local authorities took the plow because the family refused to renounce Protestantism and also confiscated some of the wood that the family had been planning to build a house with. Although the family has more than one hectare of rice fields, they are afraid to cultivate it due to threats. They have now abandoned it fearing any crops they grew there would be destroyed. The local government has also cut off the electricity to their house for more than a week. “It’s true that I can raise cattle here, but when it comes to trading, they don’t let merchants come and buy anything from the family,” Thong said. “Now our money has gone, we don’t have enough to eat and drink. In hard times we can use rice as a reserve but there is no electricity to grind it.” The campaign against the family culminated on June 4, when the government held a vote to expel Xong Ba Thong’s family from the locality. According to Thong, no one dared to vote against the decision. As a result of the vote the government no longer considers the family to be local citizens, does not allow them to use public services and even refuses to issue citizenship and birth certificates to some family members. RFA made repeated calls to the party secretary and chairman of Na Ngoi commune to verify the information, but no one picked up the phone. RFA then contacted Tho Ba Re, Vice Chairman of Ky Son district, who had previously directly campaigned for Mr. Thong’s family to renounce their religion. After RFA mentioned the family’s situation he refused to comment saying he was not authorized by the district president. An RFA reporter also sent an email to the General Assembly of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) to verify the information, but did not immediately receive a reply. The government mobilizes people “not to follow other religions” On May 1, Nghe An newspaper published an article about the An Dan model in Phu Kha 1 village, Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district near the border with Laos. It was co-written by the Ky Son District Committee for Mass Mobilization and the Commanding Committee of District Military, Na Ngoi Border Guard Station, Na Ngoi Commune Party Committee. Phu Kha 1 village is located not far from Ka Bottom village, where Thong’s family live. According to the article the An Dan model steering committee aims to encourage families living in Phu Kha 1 village to abide by the law and the village’s covenant, which is not to listen to or follow “bad” propaganda. It also instructs them not to follow other religions but only the long-standing beliefs and customs of the Hmong people. A Hmong Protestant pastor in Lao Cai province who is currently taking refuge in Thailand, told RFA the expulsion of ethnic Hmong Protestants from their locality for refusing to renounce their religion is quite common “This kind of case happens a lot, and has happened for many years,” he said. “There have been many such cases and when an appeal is made to higher authorities such as the province and the central government, they answer that it is because the commune or village authorities do not understand the law or the constitution about religion. They say superiors will investigate but many households have asked their superiors to solve it and, in the end, nothing came of it.” The pastor also said that if households do not leave the locality after formal expulsion it will…

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Low wages and soaring inflation push Laotians to Thailand

Editor012 mins

Hundreds of Laotians are lining up daily outside the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane to apply for or renew passports so they can go to neighboring Thailand, where they hope to find better paying jobs and escape crippling inflation at home. Laotians say it has become increasingly difficult to eke out a living in their country, given the rising costs of gasoline, food and daily necessities. A government plan to increase the country’s monthly minimum wage from 1.1 million kip (U.S. $75) to 1.3 million kip (U.S. $88) likely won’t be enough to keep workers home. “How can we live on 1.3-million-kip salary in the current situation?” asked a garment factory worker in Savannakhet province, adding that the minimum monthly wage should be at least 2 million kip (U.S. $150) because consumer prices have doubled. “The increase is too small, and salaries are too low,” he told RFA on Thursday. “As soon as I get my passport, I’m going to Thailand where the salary is three times higher.” Laos’ inflation rate stood at 12.8% in May — one of the highest in Southeast Asia — with a record 9% increase during the first five months of the year compared to the same period in 2021, according to the Lao Statistics Bureau. A lack of fuel and the ongoing depreciation of the kip are to blame for soaring inflation. “The Lao currency, the kip, is now floating and continuously losing it value,” said a factory worker in Champassak province in southern Laos. “The government should take the financial and economic situation into account while raising the minimum wage. Wages should be balanced with the cost of living.” Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh’s office on June 13 announced that the monthly minimum wage will increase to 1.2 million kip (U.S. $81) on Aug. 1. On May 1, 2023, it will increase to 1.3 million kip. “The government will speed up efforts to resolve the fragility of the macro-economy and normalize the situation,” Phankham said Monday at the start of the Lao National Assembly’s Third Ordinary Session, according to the local Vientiane Times. A member of the Lao Federation of Trade Unions said that his organization had asked the government to increase the minimum wage to 1.5 million kip (U.S $101) per month, but officials refused. “Inflation is too high, and the prices of all food and other goods are skyrocketing,” he told RFA. “The minimum wage is not enough for all living expenses. It might be enough only for fuel, but not for food.”  Some government officials at the provincial level also bemoaned the salary situation.  “A salary of 1.3 million kip is too low especially in current situation. We can’t live on that kind of income,” said an official from the Labor and Social Welfare Department of Luang Namtha province in northern Laos. The central government has raised the monthly minimum wage twice in the past seven years, in 2015 when the wage was 626,000 kip, and in 2018 when it was 900,000 kip. Laotians wait to submit passport applications to the Consular Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane, Laos, June 10, 2022. Credit: RFA Lining up for passports The current economic circumstances have prompted Laotians of working age to head next door to Thailand for better paying jobs. One Lao worker in Vientiane told RFA that in recent weeks he had observed about 500-600 mostly young people waiting each day outside the Foreign Affairs Ministry to submit passport applications, though the ministry was handling only 250-300 applicants. People arrived at the building the night before and slept on the sidewalk to ensure they would get in the next day, he said. “It’s crowded — packed,” said a young Laotian waiting in a long line to apply for a passport on Thursday. “The number of people lining up is growing. I’ve been in line since dawn.”  Officials are now accepting about 500 applications a day, up from 300 a couple of days ago to ease long waits, he said. Another passport applicant from Savannakhet province said there are long lines at the ministry because there is no online application process. Sisouphanh Manivanh, deputy director of the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department, which processes passport applications and renewals, told RFA on Tuesday that more citizens began applying for passports after Laos reopened its borders in May, following COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The department is adding more staff members and asking them to work overtime so they can accept more applications daily, he said. Meanwhile, Lao workers must deal with skyrocketing prices for gasoline, food and everyday products, which have nearly doubled, with the kip depreciating versus the Thai baht and other foreign currencies during the past five months. “Everything is bad now,” said one worker. “Our currency has depreciated, and the Thai baht is strong. We can earn at least U.S. $10 per day in Thailand, and every month if we earn U.S. $300 it means that we get about 5 million kip per month.” The factory worker in Savannakhet told RFA that the majority of young people in the province prefer going to Thailand to earn more money. “About 1,000 Thai baht is equivalent to more than 500,000 Lao kip or U.S. $30, so it is better than it is Laos now,” he said. “We’re facing gasoline shortages, and it’s also very expensive [in Laos].” Since land borders between Laos and Thailand were fully reopened on May 9, over 2,000 Laotians crossed the border daily compared to only 300 people during the first two weeks, according to a report issued by Thai customs officials on June 7. Laotians check their passport applications as they wait to submit them to the Consular Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Vientiane, Laos, June 10, 2022. Credit: RFA Crossing into Thailand Not everyone heading to Thailand is seeking a job. Lao tourists and commodities traders have also pushed up the number of people crossing the border, said a border guard…

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Rohingya refugees are stuck in limbo a decade after violence forced them to flee

Editor011 mins

More than 130,000 Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine state remain stuck in makeshift camps that are often short of food and opportunity, unable to return to their homes after sectarian violence with Buddhists forced them to flee a decade ago. The communal fighting with ethnic Buddhists in Rakhine began on June 8, 2012, and spread across the state in western Myanmar, leaving more than 200 people dead and the communities of tens of thousands of Muslims burned. The refugees were forced to live in squalid settlements scattered around the state, including ones on the outskirts of Sittwe on the Bay of Bengal coast. Rohingya again faced mass violence in August 2017 when Myanmar forces brutally attacked communities in northern Rakhine. The attacks triggered an exodus of more than 740,000 people into neighboring Bangladesh, where they have also lived in sprawling settlements. Moe Moe An Ju, 37, who lives in Sittwe’s Thae Chaung camp, said she and her family do not get enough to eat and she cannot afford to send her five children to school. “There is no work here,” she told RFA. “When things went awry, I had to pawn my rations book the relief team had given me. We cannot live without eating, right? If we had curry one day, we’d have fish the next day. We have beef just once a month. Even for that, we have to try very hard. I can’t send my children to school because there is no money. How can we do that?” Before the violence of 2012, Moe Moe An Ju and her husband worked as bamboo traders in Sittwe’s Setyonzu industrial zone.   Many families have struggled like hers to make ends meet since they were forced to take refuge at the Thae Chaung internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, surviving on 500 kyats (27 U.S. cents) per person a day from the World Food Program.  Successive governments ruling Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country of 54 million people, have ignored the plight of the Rohingya, despite calls by the members of the minority group to solve the problem. This includes the military junta that seized control from the elected government in a February 2021 coup. Fighting in Rakhine between the Myanmar military and the ethnic-Rakhine Arakan Army, as well as with People’s Defense Force militias battling junta forces following the coup, have left the Rohingya stuck in a no-man’s land. Those living in the camps say they are subject to a system of apartheid, sealed off from the rest of the country with barbed wire fencing and security checkpoints. Viewed by Myanmar as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, they are prohibited from leaving even though the camps lack jobs, educational opportunities and humanitarian aid. ‘We are still waiting’ Ten years since the 2012 violence, prospects for the Rohingya living in the camps have not improved, with many saying they continue to experience shortages of food and shelter. Faysal Mauk said he could not find work on his own because the authorities do not allow the Rohingya to travel freely. “We are facing much hardship here,” he said. “We could at least find something to do in the old place, but not here. We could have food only if we went out to sea. Otherwise, we’d have nothing to eat.” “We could find some kind of work if we went to a Rakhine village, but after living here for 10 years, I no longer feel like going there,” he said. “We are so used to living in the camp now. When we can find something, we can have food. If not, we don’t.” Before June 2012, Fayzal and his family lived in Setyonzu, one of the areas along with Mingan and Magyee-myaing wards in Sittwe that were destroyed.  The Thae Chaung camp has more than 2,700 refugee households and a population of over 14,000. Other displaced Muslims from Thetkei-byin, Darpaing, Mawthinyar and Sanpya wards, west of Sittwe, are spread among 14 settlements.  After their homes were torched during the 2012 communal violence, ethnic Rakhines, who are predominantly Buddhist, moved into the communities abandoned by the Rohingya. Refugees said government officials have ignored their pleas to address this issue, along with other hardships they face. Kyaw Hla, who is in charge of the Thae Chaung camp, said the Rohingya still hope to return to their original places of residence one day. “Nothing has been done for more than 10 years now, but we are still waiting,” he said. “We will go back to our areas, our villages, and live again like we did before — just as we had lived and worked in the past, both Rakhines and non-Rakhines together. We still have our hopes, though it has not happened yet.” In the meantime, some Rohingya are borrowing money to pay traffickers to transport them via land or sea to Muslim-majority Malaysia where they believe a better life awaits, but more than 600 have been caught and arrested in the past six months.   RFA could not reach the military regime’s spokesmen for comment. ‘They have no future’ Rohingya political activist Nay San Lwin, cofounder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, said Myanmar leaders have done nothing to help the Rohingya. “The main important thing is the goodwill of the rulers of the country, [but] they just want to oppress the Rohingya,” he said. “They just want to hurt them. They do not even recognize the Rohingya as human beings.” “People in the IDP camps in Sittwe are not refugees from other countries,” he said. “Their homes and belongings were set on fire. Their land was confiscated. These people have now been locked up in refugee camps for more than 10 years. They have no opportunities. They have no future, so I don’t think we need to talk further about how their human rights are being violated.” The situation for the Rohingya is unlikely to improve under the current military regime, said New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).  “The Myanmar junta’s unyielding oppression of the Rohingya people…

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Cambodian American activist Theary Seng transferred to remote prison

Editor06 mins

Authorities in Cambodia have transferred Cambodian American democracy activist Theary Seng to a remote prison, a move that her lawyer said will isolate her from her family and legal counsel. Theary Seng was arrested on Tuesday while she protested a mass trial that convicted her and more than 50 other democracy advocates on charges related to their association with the banned opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP). She began serving her six-year sentence for treason the same day at Prey Sar prison in the capital Phnom Penh. But prison authorities have confirmed to RFA that Theary Seng has since been transferred to Preah Vihear Prison in the country’s far north. “We have foreseen risks in keeping her in Phnom Penh, and for the sake of ensuring her security and to maintain public order, we transferred her to a higher security prison,” Nuth Savna, spokesman for the General Prison Department, told RFA’s Khmer Service on Friday. Theary Seng’s lawyer, Choung Chou Ngy, told RFA that the move could complicate an appeal, which would be reviewed by a court in Phnom Penh.   “The prison didn’t tell me why they transferred her. I don’t know the reason. … The transfer affects my rights to defend her because I lose opportunity to see her. She has the right to appeal, so I need to see her to explain to her about the process and her right to appeal,” he said. “If she decides to appeal, I will prepare a case for her,” Choung Chou Ngy said. “It is difficult for a lawyer to defend her while she is so far away and the court will have a problem because it has to transport her from Preah Vihear.” Choung Chou Ngy said that he was unable to see his client while she was held at Prey Sar, which he said was a violation of her rights. Marady Seng, Theary’s brother, told RFA that he was also unable to meet his sister while she was detained at the Phnom Penh prison. Officials cited COVID-19 restrictions as the reason, he said. “Since June 14, we have no new information. I have been concerned since her arrest I don’t have any information about her health or whether she was harmed. This is not justice,” he said. “What the government has done is too much. I urge the government to release her immediately.” Am Sam Ath of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights told RFA that Theary Seng’s detention is another example of Prime Minister Hun Sen pressuring human rights advocates. “Putting her away from her family and friends will isolate her and impact her emotionally,” Am Sam Ath said. He noted that the government has used similar tactics to isolate incarcerated other opposition politicians and activists.  Theary Seng and the other convicted activists were all in some way connected to the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) before the country’s Supreme Court dissolved the party five years ago, a decision that paved the way for Hun Sen to tighten his grip on the country and squash criticism of his government.  The treason charges against the activists stem from abortive efforts in 2019 to bring about the return to Cambodia of CNRP leader Sam Rainsy, who has been in exile in France to avoid what his supporters say are politicized charges against him.  Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

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ASEAN Special Envoy won’t meet Suu Kyi during Myanmar visit

Editor07 mins

ASEAN Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn will not be allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi on his second visit to Myanmar, military council spokesman Gen. Zaw Min Tun told RFA. The National League for Democracy leader and State Counsellor has been detained since the Feb.1, 2021 coup. Suu Kyi has been sentenced to 11 years in jail on 19 counts and faces further charges that could keep her in prison for as long as 100 years. When asked about possible meetings with Suu Kyi, and former Myanmar president Win Myint, the spokesman said the ASEAN Special Envoy was only scheduled to meet with ethnic armed groups currently holding peace talks with the junta. “At this time, meeting with the appropriate and deserving people will be on schedule,” he said. “The people who deserve to be met do not include those who are being prosecuted and are on trial.” Sokhonn, who is also Cambodia’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, is scheduled to make his second visit to Myanmar as ASEAN Special Envoy on June 29 and 30. The focus of his visit will be the urgent need for humanitarian assistance in Myanmar but ASEAN leaders, including Cambodia’s Prime Minister, have called for meetings with Suu Kyi and officials from the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), considering talks with them to be key to resolving the conflict. The military council scheduled meetings between Sokhonn and some members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) during the Special Envoy’s first visit in March this year but cancelled meetings with some NLD members due to political opposition from NLD MPs who have left the country. Political analyst Ye Tun said the trip could not be considered a success if the ASEAN Special Envoy was not allowed to meet with Suu Kyi at a time when the situation in Myanmar is deteriorating. “He would be even more disappointed if he was not allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and if the military does not comply the Cambodian Prime Minister’s request not to impose the death penalty on former NLD MP Phyoe Zeya Thaw, and others,” he said. “Cambodia stands by the pressure being applied by ASEAN. If it comes to nothing during the trip the feeling will be that the Special Envoy cannot do anything effectively in his visit.” A file photo of Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, who serves as ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar. CREDIT: AFP Cambodia is the current chair of ASEAN and, in a call with Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on May 1, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged Myanmar’s junta chief to allow the special envoy to meet with Suu Kyi. He also asked the military leader to take further steps to implement the five-point consensus for Myanmar, reached with ASEAN’s foreign ministers in April 2021. Failure to achieve all the points in the consensus in more than a year has led to growing criticism at home and abroad and Sokhonn will use his second visit to focus on the sticking points in the agreement. Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has spoken up in global summits, calling for specific talks between the Special Envoy, Suu Kyi and NUG leaders, arguing that the five-point consensus includes an agreement to hold a dialogue with all stakeholders in Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi will spend her 77th birthday on June 19 in detention. During her 34-year political career she has been repeatedly arrested and prosecuted by successive military governments, spending 17 of her birthdays in detention. Pro-democracy activists are expected to mark the Nobel Laureate’s birthday on Sunday with nationwide protests, according to Crisis24. “The largest protests will probably occur outside government buildings and in other popular protest sites, such as public squares, in major cities like Yangon and Mandalay. Hundreds to thousands of people will probably participate in larger demonstrations,” the global security consultancy said in an alert on Thursday. Authorities are likely to step up security, causing disruption to transport and businesses, it said. Crisis24 also warned of the likelihood of clashes between protestors and security forces and the risk of explosions targeting security personnel and facilities, both in the countryside and in cities including Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw.

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UK investigates Vietnamese billionaire’s funding of Oxford University college

Editor04 mins

The British government is investigating a £155 million (U.S.$191 million) grant to Oxford University’s Linacre college by a Vietnamese billionaire. Education Minister Michelle Donelan told the House of Commons that the ministry would give an update in the next few days after looking into the grant from VietJet founder Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao. Donelan’s comments came in response to questions from a fellow Tory MP as the House of Commons considered the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill on Monday, British media reported. Conservative MP Julian Lewis asked Donelan whether she was concerned at conditions set by the Vietnamese billionaire such as renaming Linacre ‘Thao College,’ considering Vietnam is a country where people seldom enjoy freedom of speech Dr. Nguyen Quang A, co-founder and former director of Vietnam’s Institute of Development Studies, told RFA businesses that want to prosper in countries such as Vietnam need to have a good relationship with the government. “In Vietnam and China officials use political power to make money from citizens and business owners. The relationship between businesses and the government is the crystallization of corruption. One party uses money to gain political influence and to enrich themselves while the official uses his power to enrich himself. That is corruption. This relationship is reciprocal,” he said. Responding to RFA’s questions by text, human rights activist Nguyen Thi Hai Hieu, a fifth-year student studying in the UK, said the British government’s suspicions were completely justified. She said she agreed with the decision to investigate the donation, adding that she suspects it to be a money-laundering case involving the Vietnamese government. Hieu said she believed that investing in colleges or supporting scholarships for Vietnamese students was a good idea but not necessary even though she considered the British education system to be better than Vietnam’s. She said Vietnam should prioritize investment in its own education system because there are many disadvantaged areas in the country, where equipment and facilities in schools are still limited. Thao signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Linacre College on October 31, 2021. After signing the MoU and receiving the first £50 million of the agreed funding, Linacre College said it would approach the Privy Council, a group of politicians who advise the Queen, to ask to change the school’s name to Thao College. Critics say that changing the school’s name would lose the history of the collage, named after Thomas Linacre, a British scholar, humanities researcher and physician. Linacre used to treat ‘Utopia’ author Sir Thomas More, along with Cardinal Wolsey, chief advisor to King Henry VIII.

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Justice for Myanmar: Vietnamese telco helps junta track deserters

Editor06 mins

Viettel has been helping Myanmar’s junta track civilians and military deserters, according to Justice for Myanmar (JFM), which called for immediate sanctions against Viettel Global Investment (VGI), a unit of Vietnam’s largest mobile carrier. Viettel is owned by Vietnam’s defense ministry and VGI holds a stake in Telecom International Myanmar, which runs mobile company Mytel. “Mytel … is a key pillar in the Myanmar military’s business network, providing revenue, technology and surveillance capabilities,” JFM said in a news release. The activist group said leaked documents show Mytel has been working with military commanders to offer customized phone numbers to personnel that include their ID number. Over four years Mytel has given hundreds of thousands of free SIM cards to military personnel, as well as civil servants and members of the former National League for Democracy government, enabling the military to monitor them, Justice for Myanmar said. “Mytel is a product of the Myanmar military’s systemic corruption, supporting war criminals including Min Aung Hlaing and the illegal military junta that he is heading, with revenue, technology and intelligence,” Justice for Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung told RFA by email. Analysis shows that Myanmar’s military is set to earn more than U.S.$700 million from Mytel over 10 years, using the profits to fund continued war crimes and crimes against humanity, the report said.  The spokesperson said the Vietnamese military also stands to benefit from its stake in Mytel’s parent company through access to data military infrastructure, including bases for mobile phone towers and the Myanmar military’s fiber optic cable network. “In seeking profits, military generals have handed the Vietnam Ministry of National Defence unprecedented access to military secrets, including personnel data and access to military bases. This is data that was not even available to the previous National League for Democracy-led government or the parliament that the military has attempted to dispose of. It includes the names, ranks and ID of personnel at a national level, organized by military base, and the personal call data of the majority of Myanmar military personnel,” Maung said. “While Vietnam is an ally of Myanmar’s militaristic regime, Viettel and the Ministry of National Defense of Vietnam can use and misuse this data if desired, even in their own national interest,” Yadanar Maung said. Justice for Myanmar called for immediate targeted sanctions against Mytel owner Telecom International Myanmar as well as Viettel Global Investment. It also called for an immediate boycott of Mytel to stop money flowing into the pockets of the military. RFA emailed Viettel to ask for their comments on the report but did not immediately receive a response. Following the military coup in February last year, many soldiers and police defected to join the civil disobedience campaign. JFM claimed they were still being monitored by military authorities with the help of Mytel’s sim cards. JFM said Mytel’s profits should not be used by Myanmar’s military to buy weapons and equipment to target the opposition but should be used to serve the interests of the people. In December 2020, Justice for Myanmar released documents it said showed that Viettel was supporting the modernization of Myanmar’s military through technology transfers and training, to improve the technical capacity of the military.  Therefore, “Viettel and the Ministry of National Defense of Vietnam are contributing to military operations in ethnic Myanmar areas and supporting and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity,” JFM said. More than 1,900 people including children have been killed by the military, and more than 11,000 people have been detained and tortured, JFM said, citing the Myanmar Association for the Support of Political Prisoners.

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Britain investigates Vietnamese billionaire’s funding of Oxford University college

Editor04 mins

The British government is investigating a £155 million (U.S.$191 million) grant to Oxford University’s Linacre college by a Vietnamese billionaire. Education Minister Michelle Donelan told the House of Commons that the ministry would give an update in the next few days after looking into the grant from VietJet founder Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao. Donelan’s comments came in response to questions from a fellow Tory MP as the House of Commons considered the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill on Monday, British media reported. Conservative MP Julian Lewis asked Donelan whether she was concerned at conditions set by the Vietnamese billionaire such as renaming Linacre ‘Thao College,’ considering Vietnam is a country where people seldom enjoy freedom of speech Dr. Nguyen Quang A, co-founder and former director of Vietnam’s Institute of Development Studies, told RFA businesses that want to prosper in countries such as Vietnam need to have a good relationship with the government. “In Vietnam and China officials use political power to make money from citizens and business owners. The relationship between businesses and the government is the crystallization of corruption. One party uses money to gain political influence and to enrich themselves while the official uses his power to enrich himself. That is corruption. This relationship is reciprocal,” he said. Responding to RFA’s questions by text, human rights activist Nguyen Thi Hai Hieu, a fifth-year student studying in the UK, said the British government’s suspicions were completely justified. She said she agreed with the decision to investigate the donation, adding that she suspects it to be a money-laundering case involving the Vietnamese government. Hieu said she believed that investing in colleges or supporting scholarships for Vietnamese students was a good idea but not necessary even though she considered the British education system to be better than Vietnam’s. She said Vietnam should prioritize investment in its own education system because there are many disadvantaged areas in the country, where equipment and facilities in schools are still limited. Thao signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Linacre College on October 31, 2021. After signing the MoU and receiving the first £50 million of the agreed funding, Linacre College said it would approach the Privy Council, a group of politicians who advise the Queen, to ask to change the school’s name to Thao College. Critics say that changing the school’s name would lose the history of the collage, named after Thomas Linacre, a British scholar, humanities researcher and physician. Linacre used to treat ‘Utopia’ author Sir Thomas More, along with Cardinal Wolsey, chief advisor to King Henry VIII.

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Political prisoner executions would backfire on Myanmar junta, say analysts

Editor010 mins

As talk that Myanmar’s junta was set to hang veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy and three other men went viral on social media Thursday, other junta opponents and analysts said carrying out the executions would backfire against the military regime that has ruled the country since a coup last year. The rumored executions at dawn Thursday did not take place, but critics said carrying out death penalties handed down after brief, closed trials on terrorism charges would bring more international opprobrium and galvanize domestic opposition against the unpopular junta. “There will be calls for more pressure against the junta in the international arena, and the junta will find it more difficult to impose their rule on young people across the country,” Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for New Society, told RFA. “I think more people will be out on the streets,” he added. On June 3, Ko Jimmy, lawmaker Phyo Zeyar Thaw of the National League for Democracy party that was banned after the military overthrew the country’s elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, and two other men lost appeals of their death sentences. The junta rejected the possibility of a pardon for the condemned men. Ko Jimmy, whose real name is Kyaw Min Yu, was a prominent leader of the pro-democracy 88 Generation Students Group who fought military rule three decades ago. The 53-year-old activist was arrested in October after spending eight months in hiding and was convicted by a military tribunal in January under the Counter-Terrorism Law. He was accused of contacting the National Unity Government (NUG), and People’s Defense Force (PDF), an opposition coalition and militia network formed by politicians ousted in the Feb. 1 coup that the junta has declared terrorist organizations. In September, the NUG declared a nationwide state of emergency and called for open rebellion against junta rule, prompting an escalation of attacks on military targets by various allied pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed groups. Myanmar democracy activist Ko Jimmy (L) and former Myanmar lawmaker Phyo Zeya Thaw (R) in a combination photo created on June 3, 2022. Credit: AFP/Myanmar’s Military Information Team First judicial execution since 1988 Ko Jimmy was also accused of advising local militia groups in Yangon and ordering PDF groups to attack police, military targets, and government offices, and asking the NUG to buy a 3D printer to produce weapons for local PDFs. The four death sentences, as well 111 others that have been handed down by junta courts between the military’s 2021 coup and May 19 this year, have drawn criticism from legal experts and rights groups, who say the regime is threatening the public with unfair executions. The United Nations, Washington, Ottawa, and Paris have issued statements strongly condemning the decisions in the cases now proceeding to execution. An appeal against carrying out what would be the first judicial execution in Myanmar since 1988 came from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who wrote junta leader Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on June 10, urging him to “reconsider the sentences and refrain from carrying out the death sentences.” If carried out, the executions “would trigger a very strong and widespread negative reaction from the international community” and hurt efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Myanmar, wrote Hun Sen, in his capacity as 2022 rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member. Thiha Win Tin, a former member of the All Burma Federation of Students’ Unions, Said plans to execute the four would spark an angry reaction from many quarters of society which don’t accept the legitimacy of the junta or the military tribunals that meted out the death penalty. “This is not a death penalty. They were simply arrested and ordered to be killed,” he said. “It’s not just Phyo Zeyar Thaw and Ko Jimmy. Many of our comrades have been killed during interrogations, some killed on the streets–unarmed and peaceful protesters arrested late in the night,” added Thiha Win Tin. Hatred of army will grow Mar Kee (also known as Kyaw Kyaw Htwe), a political ally of Ko Jimmy since the 1980s, said “the consequences will not be good” if the executions were carried out. “There were people in the country who accepted Jimmy and Zeyar Thaw and their work, and there were those who didn’t. Even those who didn’t accept them, as well as those in the middle, would be outraged if the death penalty were to be imposed on people for their political beliefs,” he told RFA. “I think the hatred against [the army] will grow.” Local anti-junta PDFs groups and other regime opponents have issued a series of warnings in recent days that they would retaliate if Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeyar Thaw and the others were put to death. Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, at a conference in Naypyidaw Thursday, defended the planned executions as a necessary measure by a sovereign country, but did not say when they would take place. “Innocent people lost their lives because of these two’s encouragement [of anti-junta militias],” he said. “I just said innocent people. I am not talking about security personnel.” “At least 50 lives were lost thanks to their support. So how can you say it’s not fair?” said Zaw Min Tun. The junta has not provided evidence to support the allegations, and the spokesman did not elaborate. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a Thai-based advocacy group, said that 1,958 people have been killed and 14,139 anti-regime activists across the country have been arrested in more than 16 months since the military coup. Of those, 11,081 are still in custody.   Political analyst Sai Kyi Zin Soe said no one in Myanmar would believe in the multi-party elections the military has promised to hold in 2023 if the executions were carried out. “When the elections are held in 2023, these guys, who were supposed to be contesting the elections but have been executed unfairly, would be absent,” he told RFA….

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Migration from Myanmar to Thailand surges amid fighting, COVID concerns

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The number of migrants crossing illegally from Myanmar to Thailand has surged in recent months as residents of regions near the border flee fighting with government troops and outbreaks of COVID-19, sources say. Nearly 20,000 migrants trying to cross the border were arrested by Thai police during the last five months alone, with many discovered in life-threatening situations, according to the Foundation for Education and Development, a Thai-based NGO. Some had been left behind by traffickers in caves or forest areas near the border, foundation spokesman Min Oo said in a statement. “Sometimes Thai police officers would find them after receiving tips from local residents, and the migrants would then sometimes try to escape,” he said. “Just the other day, a car full of Myanmar migrants fell off the road into an abyss. Also, two women died of suffocation after being left in a crowded car in the jungle. There have been shootings on the road as well,” he said. “The situation is very bad.” The number of Myanmar migrants detained by Thai police is growing day by day, with many now facing shortages of food and shelter, Min Oo said. Most were forced to flee their homes in Myanmar’s Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions and Karen and Kayah states following the Feb. 1, 2021, military coup that overthrew civilian rule, he added. Others trying to cross have been looking for work after factories in Myanmar shut down due to fighting and the spread of COVID-19 in the military-ruled country, said Thida Win, a resident of Magway region’s Yayzagyo township now working at a garment factory in Thailand after crossing the border in April. “Most of the factories in Myanmar were closed because of COVID and the coup, and as a result many people were left without jobs. So instead of just sitting at home they took loans and came to Thailand to work,” she said. “Because we are here illegally, we don’t dare go out except to go to work and then return home. I send every penny I earn back to my sisters, and when my debt is paid, I will call my brother and sister here to work too, as they have no jobs where they live,” she said. Aung Ko Win, a second-year university student from Sagaing who is currently looking for work in a small Thai border town, said people pay between 20,000 and 30,000 baht ($571.59 to $857.39) if they want to work illegally in Thailand. “We are suffering from the war in Sagaing, so I left my family and came to Thailand when it became difficult to earn a living at home, and after passing through many checkpoints on the way, I got here and am now staying with a friend,” he said. “I have no idea where to find a job. I’ll have to take any kind of work that comes by. All of this is for the sake of my family.” Most illegal migrants in Thailand work in the construction and fishing industries or in factories, with others working as house maids or as hired hands in farming, sources say. They can earn between 10,000 and 15,000 baht a month, but because they work illegally they have no insurance or labor rights. Reached for comment, Adisorn Kerdphol — an official with the Migrant Workers Group in Thailand — told RFA he has raised the issue of the detained migrant workers with the Thai government, while a staff member of the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok dealing with migrant workers told RFA that the Thai government would deport the migrant workers after their release from jail. Speaking to RFA on Thursday, Pairote Chotikasathien, the director general of the Thai Ministry of Labor’s Department of Employment, said that Thailand has since January brought Myanmar workers into the country legally to fill labor shortages in industry and the fishing sector. “As for the illegal workers, we will propose to the government that they have them registered, hopefully by late June or sometime next month,” he said. Meanwhile, workers coming into Thailand illegally will still be detained and repatriated by the same route through which they entered. And though immigration law stipulates that an illegal migrant may be jailed for up to two years and fined 20,000 baht, they are normally just sent home, he said. The International Labor Organization said in a 2021 report that around 1.6 million people were unemployed in Myanmar following the spread of COVID and the military coup, with 25 million — more than half the country’s population — possibly facing famine by the end of 2022. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Additional reporting by Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok. Written in English by Paul Eckert and Richard Finney.

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Investigative Journalism Reportika © March 2022 by Ij-Reportika is licensed under CC BY 4.0