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Thailand’s Pheu Thai close to winning power after allying with pro-military ‘Uncles’

Editor2 years ago011 mins

After three months of political stasis following the May general election, Thailand’s parliament is expected to elect a government led by Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai Party. While establishing a new government could calm financial markets after months of uncertainty, it’s not going to calm political tensions in the country. The Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the May 14 polls (151), was unable to win Senate support for its coalition government. Pheu Thai tried to form its own coalition that excluded the “Two Uncles” parties, Palang Pracharath and United Thai Nation, fronted by the 2014 coup leaders Prawit Wongsuwon and Prayuth Chan-o-cha. With only 238 seats, Pheu Thai fell short of a majority in the lower house. Still, for a minority of senators, the jettisoning of Move Forward from the coalition and the pledge to not amend Article 112 – the draconian Lèse-Majesté law – was sufficient for their vote. Some were concerned about thwarting the will of the people, for fear of provoking street violence and roiling financial markets. But the job of the Senate is not to endorse the people’s will but to protect the interests of the conservative royalist-military elites and thwart political reform. As such, they withheld support, forcing Pheu Thai to invite the “Uncles” parties into the coalition. With the inclusion of Palang Pracharath (40) and United Thai Nation (36), the coalition had 314 of the 500 House votes and almost certain majority support in the upper house Senate to reach the needed 375-vote threshold to form a government. On Tuesday, Move Forward announced it would not support the Pheu Thai candidate because, it said, the new coalition would be going against the will of the people, making a Pheu Thai coalition with the conservatives inevitable. The coalition with Pheu Thai is the best-case scenario for the conservative royalist elites. The military-backed parties were humiliated at the polls and yet they have a seat at the table and a powerful position to thwart any public policy they deem not to be in the national interest. Although Pheu Thai has pledged that neither Prawit or Prayuth would have a cabinet position, that is far from certain. Giddy at the opportunity to be back in government, Palang Pracharath announced that it would support the government en bloc. Srettha Thavisin, the Pheu Thai Party prime ministerial candidate, speaks to journalists in Bangkok after polls closed on election day, May 14, 2023. Credit: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters Some senators have indicated they still will not endorse the government and are wondering why they stopped with Move Forward. They have it within their power to establish a minority government that excludes both Move Forward and their traditional nemesis Pheu Thai. The majority of the Senate seems to understand that a minority government, while possible, would lead to mass political unrest and would be unable to pass anything in Parliament, including the budget. No longer a progressive party There are three big questions to consider. First, is this a smart move for Pheu Thai? This fulfills leaders’ ambitions. They believe Pheu Thai is entitled to rule. This gives the party a clear majority government and the prime minister’s office, but that short-term gain comes at its long-term political interests. Rank-and-file members, in particular the Red Shirts, are clearly enraged that they are getting into bed with the leaders of the 2014 coup. Pheu Thai can no longer claim that it is a progressive party. People are already making comparisons to the Democrat Party, which went from being the second largest party to near political irrelevance after getting in bed with the military in 2008. Voters have never forgiven them. There are already concerns that some 25 Pheu Thai MPs, led by Chaturon Chaisang, could defect to the Move Forward in protest. They have denied this, but there is clearly discomfort with the inclusion of the “Uncles” parties. The Pheu Thai leadership is calculating that they will deliver enough to their constituents in the meantime so that their supporters will not defect to Move Forward, the new standard bearer of political opposition to military and royalist elites. Another way leadership would try to ameliorate dissatisfaction among teh party’s supporters is by negotiating a grand bargain for Thaksin Shinawatra’s return. Thaksin is a fugitive, having been sentenced to 12 years in four different trials. He has lived overseas for 15 years. He announced he would return on Aug. 10, but postponed his arrival on “health grounds.” It was clear that the delay in forming a government was the determining factor. If all goes to plan now that a national unity government is being formed, Thaksin will be arrested at the airport upon his arrival and appeal for a royal pardon after 24 hours of incarceration. Second question: What happens to Move Forward? Move Forward has proven itself as an adroit opposition party. Members will bide their time as the standard bearer for political reform, poaching Pheu Thai voters. Members have already filed 10 bills in keeping to their legislative principles and campaign pledges. The bigger question is whether the party will continue to exist and whether party leader Pita Limjaroenrat and other executives will survive politically. In addition to an investigation into media company shares, Pita and Move Forward face investigations and criminal complaints in both the courts and the Election Commission. This includes charges of violating Lèse-Majesté by proposing to amend Article 112 that allows the strict law against royal defamation. Like Future Forward in 2019, Move Forward could be dissolved, though it would quickly become a new party. Pita is looking at possible jail time, but more likely a 10-year ban on political activities. This leads to the third and final question: Will any of this bring about political unrest? If the conservatives quickly move to disband Move Forward or arrest Pita, then the potential for demonstrations, especially in Bangkok, which the party swept, is high. But the conservative elites are likely to clip Pita and Move Forward in a more…

Escaped Taiwanese drug lord ran trafficking ops from Cambodia prison

Editor2 years ago05 mins

A Taiwanese drug lord freed from his 52-year jail sentence by masked gunmen while he was on a prison-granted dentist visit was conducting secret drug trafficking operations from Cambodia to Taiwan as recently as in 2020, despite being behind bars in Siem Reap, Radio Free Asia has learned. Court documents from Taiwanese authorities uncovered by RFA Investigative reveal that Chen Hsin Han, a Taiwanese national arrested on drug charges in Cambodia in 2009, managed to smuggle nearly 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of heroin to an associate in Taiwan in 2020 using a middleman he met while incarcerated. It is unclear whether Cambodian prison authorities were aware that Chen was conducting these illicit activities while in jail. But the degree to which he had access to outside resources could help explain his stunning escape on Thursday morning, when he was sprung from police custody by five men wearing masks after they charged into a dental clinic Chen was visiting. Footage from the raid shows the men pointing guns at prison guards accompanying Chen whom they had tied up while they searched for the drug lord before escaping with him. The group apparently abandoned the Lexus they drove to make their getaway, which was found several hours later with guns, masks, clothes and other materials left inside, Prison Department spokesman Nuth Savna said. “The reason the suspects could free the prisoner was because they pointed guns at the guards,” he said. “If we fought they would shoot us.” Chen Hsin Han, who was in prison for drug trafficking in Cambodia, is seen in custody in this undated photo. Credit: Fresh News Chen, 45, was arrested in 2009 and later sentenced to 52 years for drug trafficking. Before the escape, he was being held at a prison near the provincial capital of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia. Court records from Taiwan described his role in at least two heroin smuggling cases dating to fall 2020. According to the documents, Chen masterminded one scheme to smuggle 28 cans of what was purported to be durian paste into Taiwan through Thailand. Chen instructed an associate, Nathan Guy Garrett – said to be a U.K. national he met in Siem Reap prison – to help with the shipments, but Thai authorities discovered that the containers were filled with heroin. Weeks later, Chen instructed Garrett to transport six handbags filled with 2 kilograms of heroin into Taiwan to help distribute them there with another associate, Chan Yuxuan. Chan Yuxuan, was arrested in November 2020, along with Garrett and a driver. They were indicted in 2021. Their charging documents noted WhatsApp communications with Chen about the schemes and that Chen had the ability to remotely control drug deliveries from prison. For example, when Garrett needed to take drugs to another city in Taiwan, he immediately reported to Chen that he didn’t have money for transportation. “Chen promised to transfer the money immediately.” Chen then instructed another Taiwanese individual to assist in transferring money to Garrett promptly, the indictment said. Cambodian police have arrested six men connected to Chen’s escape this week, but he remains at large as of Friday.

Junta troops kill, burn 4 civilians in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor2 years ago02 mins

Junta troops killed and burned the bodies of a pregnant woman and three men in a gold mining area of Sagaing region’s Pinlebu township in Myanmar, the local People’s Defense Force told RFA on Friday. They said the victims were 21-year-old Wine Wine, who was eight months pregnant, her father Set Hlaing who owned a gold mine in the township, 21-year-old Shan Lay and Nyi Nyi whose age wasn’t given. Their burned bodies were found on Monday, according to the defense force information officer, who didn’t want to be named for safety reasons. “It happened next to Nant Ta Hauk creek beside Mu Le village at around 11 a.m. on August 14,” he said. “They killed them, and burned a house and dumped all the bodies in there.” Troops entered Mu Le village in the first week of August, arresting and interrogating locals. They burned more than 30 houses when they left the village, locals told RFA on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. The latest killings come after the troops entered the village for a second time this month. RFA was unable to independently verify the claims of the People’s Defense Force because phone and internet connections to Pinlebu township have been cut. The junta hasn’t released a statement on the killings. RFA contacted the junta spokesperson for Sagaing region, Tin Than Win, who said he was unaware of the incident. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Displaced Burmese want Thailand to set up safe zone as sanctuary from fighting

Editor2 years ago07 mins

Burmese citizens displaced by fighting and who have sought refuge on both sides of the Thai border want Thai lawmakers to approve a proposed safe zone to protect them from daily air raids and artillery attacks by Myanmar’s military, refugees and aid workers said. The IDP Assistance Committee in Kayah state’s Hpruso township said internally displaced civilians need the zone initiated to provide adequate aid and safety. Lawmakers in Thailand’s lower house on Aug. 10 proposed the implementation of the safe zone on the Thai border in the south of Myanmar as a refuge for those who from Kayah and Kayin states who have been repeatedly displaced by fighting between junta and rebel forces. Kanawee Suebsaeng, an MP from Thailand’s Fair Party, suggested that the zone be established 5 kilometers (3 miles) into Myanmar from the Thai border. “This area could lessen the impacts on the Thai people along the border as well as on the evacuees who enter the area so they can stay safely,” he said. About 300,000 internally displaced people are living next to the Thai border in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ranong districts, according to the lawmaker. The Karen Human Rights Group and Karenni Human Rights Group estimate that more than 200,000 people in Kayah state and nearly 600,000 in Kayin state have been displaced since the coup. Others have lost their lives as a result of fleeing the fighting, including 141 such deaths in Kayah state as of July, according to the Progressive Karenni People’s Force, an ethnic political organization. Refugees and aid workers support the measure given the growing intensity of the armed clashes since the Myanmar military seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup. A junta air strike destroyed this house in Myanmar’s Kayah state near the Thai-Myanmar border, July 12, 2023. Credit: Karenni Human Rights Group ‘No safety and security’ A displaced person from Kayin’s Myawaddy township who now lives in a camp that is a temporary home to about 600 refugees, said residents are not safe in their present location. “There is no safety and security in our area,” she said, adding that 100 people came to the camp for shelter following recent fighting in Let Khet Taung near Myawaddy. “The sound of the battle is getting closer. We have to run away.” Nearly the entire population of adjacent Kayah state, which also borders Thailand, have fled their homes due to fighting. An official from the Hpruso West Refugee Assistance Committee said a safe zone would be convenient for displaced people who are constantly worried about artillery shells and air strikes. When RFA contacted Kanawee Suebsaeng on Wednesday, he said Thai lawmakers would push for humanitarian aid for Myanmar refugees. He also said hat next week he and others would submit a letter to the house speaker detailing the issue and propose that top government officials issue a comprehensive outline of solutions. Thai officials must consider practical factors before implementing a safe zone, said Saw Nanda Hsue, spokesman for the Karen Human Rights Group, an independent community-based organization working to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar. “The questions of how long-term it will be, how many years it will accept refugees, and whether there are already donors to support refugees in the safe zone are major considerations,” he said. Aung Thu Nyein, the Thailand-based communications director for Myanmar’s Institute for Strategy and Policy, said it may not be easy to establish the safe zone which requires approval from Thailand’s national security council led by military authorities. “Even if the Thai parliament approves the implementation of the safe zone, the Thai government will have to have discussions and negotiations with the Myanmar military,” he said. RFA could not reach the Thai Embassy in Myanmar for comment. Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for Myanmar’s National Unity Government, said the shadow government has urged the international community to help establish a safe zone and to provide cross-border assistance to Burmese IDPs. Translated by Myo Min Aung for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Bangladesh bank freezes accounts belonging to U.S.-sanctioned Myanmar banks

Editor2 years ago2 years ago07 mins

Bangladesh’s Sonali Bank has frozen the accounts of two Myanmar state-owned banks due to U.S. sanctions against them, its chief executive officer said Wednesday. Confirmation of the action came after the United States Embassy in Dhaka sent a letter to the government requesting that Bangladesh comply with such sanctions, which was then forwarded to the Bangladeshi state-owned bank, according to documents seen by BenarNews. But Md. Afzal Karim, Sonali Bank’s chief executive officer, and managing director, said action had already been taken against the accounts of Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank. He did not say precisely when. “We have already frozen the accounts of the two banks due to the OFAC sanction,” Karim told BenarNews on Wednesday, referring to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, an agency under the U.S. Treasury Department that enforces sanctions. Karim said the two Myanmar banks had total deposits of US$1.1 million in Sonali Bank. “This money cannot be transacted [on],” he said. “For more than a month, the accounts of the two banks [in Sonali Bank] are not being used for any transactions.” Karim said that after Sonali Bank had frozen the accounts, the Myanmar junta had requested Bangladesh to make the accounts available for a transaction. “We were requested by Myanmar to open the account. However, it will not be possible to open until the sanction is lifted,” Karim said. He said he was relieved that Sonali Bank did not have many funds in accounts in the two sanctioned Myanmar banks. “We don’t have much money there. One bank has 17,000 euros, another has [200,000] dollars,” he said. “They have more money with us.” In June, Washington announced its sanctions against three entities, including the two banks controlled by the Burmese military, which overthrew an elected government in February 2021. The U.S. Treasury said the two banks “facilitate much of the foreign currency exchange within Burma and enable transactions between the military regime and foreign markets, including for the purchase and import of arms and related materiel.” Since the military coup, the Burmese junta has cracked down on mass protests, killed nearly 4,000 people, and arrested thousands more, according to human rights groups. The United Nations said more than 1.8 million people had been forced to flee their homes in Myanmar because of violence since the coup. The United States, in a letter to the Bangladesh foreign ministry dated Aug. 3, reminded it of the sanctions on the two Myanmar banks and urged Dhaka to “take appropriate action.” The ministry then sent a letter to the Sonali Bank, the Ministry of Finance, and the Central Bank of Bangladesh informing them about the U.S. embassy letter. “On June 21, we imposed sanctions on three entities in response to atrocities and other abuses that the regime committed against the people of Burma,” according to an excerpt from the embassy’s letter. “These designations reinforced our objectives of denying the regime access to foreign currency and further preventing the regime from purchasing arms that could be used to commit atrocities and other abuses.” BenarNews contacted the U.S. embassy in Dhaka for details but did not immediately hear back. Bangladesh-Myanmar trade is small. The South Asian country mainly exports potatoes, biscuits, and plastic products to Myanmar, and imports wood, frozen fish, ginger, and onions. In fiscal year 2022, Bangladesh imported goods worth around $128.5 million from Myanmar, its next-door neighbor, and exported items worth $3.9 million to Myanmar. The U.S. sanction on the two Myanmar banks that have accounts in Sonali Bank should not be a financial burden on Bangladesh, said Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of Mutual Trust Bank. “Since Bangladesh does not have a large amount of business with Myanmar, there will not be a significant bottleneck due to this reason,” he told BenarNews. “There is no reason to worry about it.” BenarNews is an Ijreportika-affiliated news service.

Court sentences Cambodian land activists who tried to travel to capital for protest

Editor2 years ago05 mins

A provincial court on Tuesday sentenced 10 activists to one year in jail in a case that stems from several long-running land disputes that have triggered protests in Cambodia’s southwestern Koh Kong province. The activists were arrested in late June after they tried to travel to Phnom Penh to submit a petition to the Ministry of Justice. The Koh Kong Provincial Court convicted them of malicious denunciation and incitement to provoke chaos. They were ordered to pay 10 million riel (about US$2,400) to tycoon Heng Huy, whose company is involved in one of the land conflicts in the coastal province near the Thai border. Illegal land grabs by developers or individuals are not uncommon in Cambodia, where officials and bureaucrats can be bribed to provide bogus land titles. Disputes over land are one of the major causes of social disturbances throughout Southeast Asia. “The activists have endured numerous disputes dating back as far as 2006, after companies linked to tycoons Ly Yong Phat and Heng Huy established sugar plantations on community land,” the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, or Licadho, said in a statement. “However, the activists’ efforts to protect their land have been continually met with authority-led harassment,” it said. Police threatened other community members who gathered in front of the provincial police station on June 30 after the arrests. They later prevented people from gathering in front of the provincial court. But on Tuesday, about 100 people were able to demonstrate in front of the provincial court to show support for the defendants, activists told Radio Free Asia. One defendants’ sentence was fully suspended, while the remaining nine intend to appeal, activists told RFA. Other recent decisions One of the defendants, Kert Nov, told RFA that she is worried about how her family will be affected if she is jailed. “I won’t accept the one-year jail conviction because I didn’t breach any law,” she said. “I will appeal the decision.” Radio Free Asia was unable to reach court spokesman Sou Sovannara and provincial Gov. Mithona Phuthong for comment on the sentences. Several other court decisions were issued this month related to Koh Kong land disputes. The Supreme Court on Aug. 4 upheld additional convictions of malicious denunciation and defamation against Det Huor, a representative of Koh Kong villagers who has led demonstrations in Phnom Penh. On Aug. 2, the provincial court found two women activists, Phav Nheung and Seng Lin, guilty of defamation and incitement to provoke chaos. Both were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and ordered to pay 40 million riel (approximately US$9,600) in compensation. In Koh Kong, hundreds of villagers have also accused Ly Yong Phat, a senator from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and casino tycoon with business interests in the province, and the Chinese-backed Union Development Group, UDG, of encroaching on their land. UDG is building a US$3.8 billion project that includes a seaport, resorts and casinos in Koh Kong. Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.

Beaten in prison for marking Martyrs’ Day, two Burmese inmates die

Editor2 years ago2 years ago05 mins

Two Burmese political prisoners beaten by the ruling military junta’s prison authorities for participating in a ceremony marking Martyrs’ Day have died of their injuries, sources with knowledge of the situation said. They were among four inmates authorities physically assaulted in Tharrawaddy Prison in Bago region on July 19 for marking the national holiday. The holiday marks the memory of renowned fallen figures within Burma’s independence movement, including Gen. Aung San, father of deposed and jailed former State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, seven other independence leaders, and one bodyguard who were gunned down by a group of armed men in uniform while holding a cabinet meeting in Yangon on July 19, 1947. The holiday is marked annually by both pro-democracy groups and the military junta, which seized control of the elected government in a February 2021 coup and later sentenced Suu Kyi to 33 years in prison following trials that rights groups have condemned as shams. The two inmates — Than Toe Aung, organizer of the National League for Democracy’s youth group in Yangon’s Thanlyin township, and Hla Soe from the town of Thone Sal in Bago’s Tharrawaddy (Tharyarwady) district — died after they were taken to the prison hospital, sources close to the prison told Ijreportika on Monday. The other two beaten inmates also received treatment in the prison hospital. They were among the inmates in the men’s section of the detention center who held a saluting ceremony and discussion to commemorate Martyrs’ Day, while female prisoners in the women’s section wore black ribbons. Solitary confinement Because of these activities, prison guards placed 16 male inmates and 15 females in solitary confinement. Four of them were severely tortured and had required medical treatment in prison since July 21. Prison authorities have not notified the victims’ families about their deaths, Nyo Tun, a former political prisoner and a friend of Than Toe Aung, told Ijreportika. “The news that the two political prisoners have died came from not just one source, but from two or three from the prison,” he said. Than Toe Aung, serving six years in prison for violating the Explosive Substances Act, died on Aug. 5 from severe head injuries. Hla Soe, serving 20 years for violating the Counter-terrorism Law, died on Aug. 8. Thaik Tun Oo of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network said he was able to confirm the death of the two prisoners. Ijreportika could not reach the spokesman of Myanmar’s Prison Department for comment. Prison guards have allowed some of the female inmates who participated in commemorating the holiday to return to their cells, while the situation of the men’s section remains unknown, said people close to the prison. As of Aug. 14, more than 19,700 pro-democracy activists and civilians had been detained by authorities under the military junta since the February 2021 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based rights group. Translated by Myo Min Aung for Ijreportika Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Expanding settlement prompts rise in croc attacks in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwaddy Delta

Editor2 years ago011 mins

Ko Min was making his way across a creek near his home where he regularly goes to catch crabs when he suddenly felt himself grabbed and pulled under water. “At first I thought I’d been hit by a log until I touched it and realized that it was a crocodile,” said the 20-year-old from Myanmar’s Ayeyarwaddy region. “It dragged me deep into the water and rolled me over and over, before smashing me against the riverbed.” Recounting the attack of just over a year ago, Ko Min said that while he could barely swim because he was wearing boots and clothing, he managed to fight off the crocodile and escape. “I was able to hit it with the crab hammer I had in my hands and run away up onto the shore,” he said. Ko Min was taken by fellow residents of Bogale township’s Baw Ga Wa Di village to nearby Ka Don Ka Ni Village District Hospital, where he was treated for severe wounds to his thigh and pelvis. Doctors told the young man he was lucky to survive. The incident highlights the dangers associated with settlement expansion in southwestern Myanmar, where people and wild animals are coming into increasing contact with one another in their search for food. Others have been less fortunate in attacks that residents of Bogale township say are increasingly common as endangered fresh and saltwater crocodiles of up to 5.5 meters (18 feet) in length spread out from their habitat in the Mein Ma Hla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary some 30 kilometers (18 miles) downstream and villagers expand their farmland. The 500-square-kilometer (190-square-mile) protected area is an mangrove-covered island that is home to diverse wildlife situated in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, where the Bogale River empties out into the Andaman Sea. At least two people from Baw Ga Wa Di village have died in crocodile attacks in the last year alone, while others say they have had to fight for their lives to escape the encounters. Call for authorities to act Khin Pa Pa Hlaing said her husband, Ye Naung Tun, was killed by a large crocodile while removing a fishing net from the water near their village on July 27. The 29-year-old has a four-year-old daughter and became a father for a second time, just a month ago. Khin Pa Pa Hlaing told RFA that local officials have done nothing to help her family since Ye Naung Tun died, but she said she isn’t interested in financial assistance. “What I want is for them to catch and kill the crocodile that killed my husband – that will satisfy me,” she said. “I don’t want these crocodiles swimming free. I don’t want to hear of other people who met the same fate as my family, nor do I want to experience it again … I don’t want anybody to suffer like me.” A 13-year-old girl from Baw Ga Wa Di named Sapal Aye was also killed in a crocodile attack in the past year. U Myint, a member of Sapal Aye’s family, told RFA the young girl was a “good student” who was attacked while “fetching water from the river to wash her clothes and to cook.” Authorities provided Sapal Aye’s family 300,000 kyats (US$142) in compensation for her death. In the coastal villages of Bogale township, people are killed every year in crocodile attacks. In addition to the two Baw Ga Wa Di villagers in the past year, a child from the village was killed by a crocodile four years ago, prompting authorities to put up signs warning residents not to enter the water. Nonetheless, a man from Baw Ga Wa Di named Thant Zaw Oo was attacked by a crocodile in the past year, while residents of nearby Hlay Lone Kwe village have had to be hospitalized recently due to crocodile attacks. Fresh and saltwater crocodiles are protected by Myanmar’s Forestry Department, and killing them is prohibited. A wild crocodile lies on a stream bank in a village in Bogale, Myanmar, Feb. 2023. Credit: Citizen journalist Out of respect for the ban, Baw Ga Wa Di Village Chief Soe Khaing has called on officials to act. He said that while he informed local police about Ye Naung Tun’s death, they did not inform the Forestry Department about the incident. “The people are afraid that they will have to go to jail if they [take action to] defend themselves against the crocodiles,” he said. “Even though [authorities] have put up a sign warning villagers not to go into the water, the people will starve if they don’t. We use the water to earn a living. What we want is for the authorities to drive the crocodiles away.” Attempts by RFA to contact Ayeyarwady Region Social Affairs Minister Maung Maung Than for this report regarding the conservation of crocodiles in Bogale township went unanswered. Need for buffer zones, awareness A high-ranking official with the Environmental Conservation Department told RFA that incidents involving crocodiles and humans in Bogale township are on the rise because village populations are growing and inhabitants are clearing the mangrove forests and swamp land to farm. “As a consequence, crocodiles have fewer places to live and their need for food has grown as well,” said the official, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns. “An undeveloped country like Myanmar cannot sufficiently create space for animals to safely coexist with people, as in developed countries, so incidents like these continue to occur.” The official said that while the crocodiles involved in attacks were likely looking for food, “they don’t intend to eat people.” He called for an expansion of conservation areas for the crocodiles, as well as “buffer zones” that people cannot enter and an increase in awareness efforts. An expert working on wildlife conservation in Myanmar noted that because crocodiles are protected, their number will only increase, creating a need for blocking off areas from human access beyond the Mein Ma Hla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary. “Everyone knows that…

Foreign diplomats in China treated to tour of Xinjiang and ‘happy’ Uyghurs

Editor2 years ago010 mins

A Chinese government-sponsored visit to Xinjiang by 25 Beijing-based ambassadors and other diplomats from developing countries has come under fire by human rights activists for pushing an official narrative that the mostly Muslim Uyghurs in the far-western region are thriving, despite the reality of severe repression. The delegation, which included diplomats from Dominica, Myanmar, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Nicaragua and Mexico, visited the western autonomous region from July 31 to Aug. 3. Xinhua news agency and CGTN, China’s state-run international TV broadcaster, covered the diplomats as they visited Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, the cities of Aksu and Kashgar, and other significant locales to observe the region’s “economic and social progress” and affirm that “the local population in Xinjiang is living a happy life.” And the Chinese government’s efforts appear to have paid off. “During our time in Xinjiang, we had open conversations with the local people and observed that they lead content and happy lives,” Martin Charles, the ambassador to China from the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica, told Xinhua. “We didn’t come across any instances of forced labor, and there were no indications of human rights violations,” he said. China is relying on government-organized visits for foreign officials and influential people from various professions to promote an alternative vision of Uyghur life in Xinjiang amid growing condemnation by Western nations over its maltreatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The U.S. government and several Western parliaments have declared that the ongoing human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, torture, forced sterilizations of Uyghur women, and forced labor, amount to genocide and crimes against humanity. China has also denounced a report issued nearly a year ago by the U.N. high commissioner for human rights that documented cases of severe rights abuses in Xinjiang. The report said that the abuses could constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity. Though the groups invited to tour the region are diverse, they have one thing in common: They all support China’s “Xinjiang policy.” ‘Telling the story of Xinjiang well’ In early February, another visiting delegation of Beijing-based ambassadors and diplomats from African countries, including Senegal, Benin, Mali, Rwanda, Madagascar, Malawi, Uganda, Lesotho and Chad, visited Xinjiang and expressed support for China’s policies there. All the countries maintain strong economic ties with China because many have benefited from Chinese-built and financed infrastructure projects under the Belt and Road Initiative. They also support China within the United Nations. Members of the delegation of diplomats who visited in July also expressed their rejection of a previous proposal by the U.N.’s top human rights body to hold debate on alleged rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The proposal by mostly Western nations, including the United States, was voted down in October 2022. Six days before the diplomats visited Xinjiang, the Chinese government organized a seminar in Urumqi to convey its narrative of the region. During discussions about “telling the story of Xinjiang well,” participants emphasized reaching overseas audiences by transmitting the narrative in languages other than Mandarin Chinese. Hector Dorbecker, counselor for economic-commercial and financial affairs at the Embassy of Mexico in Beijing, tries to play dutar, a long-necked two-stringed lute, in Jiayi village of Xinhe county, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Aug. 2, 2023. Credit: Zhao Chenjie/Xinhua via Getty Images In late December 2018, a delegation of diplomats from Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, and 12 other countries, all stationed in Beijing, visited Xinjiang on an agenda organized by the Chinese government, which presented “re-education” camps as voluntary vocational training centers. The Chinese government has also sponsored foreign journalists on trips to Xinjiang. Chinese officials arranged for a group of journalists from 10 foreign media outlets to tour major cities in Xinjiang in April 2021 to defend its policies in the region and dispel reports of human rights abuses. In August 2019, Chinese Communist Party officials hosted another group of foreign journalists, most of whom worked for state broadcasters from countries along the Silk Road economic belt, putting them up in fancy hotels while they toured Xinjiang and lecturing them on China’s measures to stop terrorism and separatism in the region. The officials took the journalists to some mosques still left standing though authorities had closed, demolished, or turned into museums many others in Xinjiang, to a “re-education” camp they said was a vocational training center, and to shows where young Uyghurs danced and sang. rights activists weigh in Henryk Szadziewski, director of research at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, said the arranged visits are “a consistent tactic employed by the Chinese government to conceal their wrongdoings” during which they use others to amplify their messages. “Whether it is a western vlogger doing a travel blog or diplomats from countries that are friendly, or that rely on China in terms of its economy, or [face] threats or pressure, they put out this message that Xinjiang is now safe and prosperous as a region,” he said. While China invites people from nations sympathetic to its perspective to visit Xinjiang, it has rejected requests by the U.S. and human rights groups that independent investigators be able to visit the region. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, said all visits to Xinjiang by foreign diplomats were designed by China to cover up rights abuses. “If everything is fine, why not let in independent international investigators, particularly given the mountain of evidence of some of the most serious crimes under international law?” she asked. “So, it’s not clear why some people got to go and others don’t unless Beijing has something to hide,” she said. Sayragul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh who testified about the abuse she witnessed while detained in a “re-education” camp in Xinjiang, cautioned visiting diplomats against ignoring China’s rights abuses in the region and becoming accomplices to them. “They know and can see China is lying, but they are turning a blind eye,” she said. “These are the countries that rely on China, but for them, this is a rare opportunity….

Junta airstrike kills 4 civilians in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor2 years ago03 mins

Four civilians, including an eight-month-old child, were killed and at least 10 injured when a junta jet bombed a township in Myanmar’s Sagaing region on Friday morning, residents told RFA. The jet bombed a monastery in Sagaing township’s Ta Laing village, where displaced people were sheltering, according to a local who didn’t want to be named for fear of reprisals. “At around four in the morning, the jet hovered and dropped a bomb as a junta column entered Ta Laing village, hitting the monastery gate and causing casualties,” said the local. “Junta troops raided the village in the early morning and civilians were also arrested but there was no fighting.” The local said around 80 troops entered the village after the airstrike and detained around 20 villagers, who were still being held as of Friday afternoon local time. A local People’s Defense Force member, who requested anonymity, told RFA that troops fired rocket-propelled grenades at the monastery when they withdrew on Friday afternoon. “On the way out of Ta Laing village, the junta troops opened fire with two shots with shoulder-fired weapons toward the monastery,” he said, adding that a battle with his anti-junta militia was almost certain to happen. Locals said more than 6,000 civilians from villages in Sagaing township fled their homes ahead of the junta raid. Calls to the junta’s spokesperson for Sagaing region, Saw Naing, went unanswered. Junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said on July 31 that the junta is staking out territory and declaring martial law in parts of the country in order to restore peace and stability. The junta has extended the state of emergency for another six months, further pushing back plans to hold national elections to replace the military regime that has run Myanmar since a February 2021 coup.. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Category: ASEAN