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Category: Middle East

Manila, Kuala Lumpur to negotiate with Beijing in South China Sea

Editor011 mins

Malaysia and the Philippines have said that they’re willing to discuss oil and gas exploration with China in the South China Sea, a move that analysts say may cause friction within ASEAN as the Southeast Asian bloc wants to accelerate negotiation for a Code of Conduct in order to avoid conflict. On Tuesday the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said Manila would resume talks with Beijing on joint oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, despite the country’s Supreme Court already having ruled against such activities. The court in January decided that a trilateral joint exploration agreement between the Philippines, China and Vietnam – another party in the South China Sea dispute – was unconstitutional because it allowed “foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country’s natural resources” without observing required safeguards. The agreement was signed in 2005 but failed to materialize.  In 2018, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines and China also signed a document on Cooperation on Oil and Gas Development but Duterte himself terminated the talks last June after both sides failed to resolve the issue of sovereignty over Reed Bank in the Spratlys. For its part, Malaysia has informed China that it is ready to negotiate on the oil exploration in the waters both countries claim. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (L) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Mar 31, 2023. Credit: Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia via AP Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Monday that he told China’s President Xi Jinping during his recent visit to Beijing that, as a small country, Malaysia needs to continue with oil exploration but “if the condition is that there must be negotiations to secure [our rights], then we are prepared to negotiate.” On Tuesday the prime minister seemed to adjust his conciliatory tone by adding that he “insisted that the area … falls within Malaysia’s territory” and that “in the meantime our exploration efforts will continue.” Bilateral negotiations China responded that it is “firmly committed to safeguarding our lawful rights and interests in the South China Sea.” Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Mao Ning said at a Tuesday briefing that, at the same time, “we are ready to work together with the Malaysian side and continue to properly handle maritime disputes through dialogue and consultation.” Some other ASEAN countries that are also embroiled in disagreements with China over natural resources in the South China Sea – Vietnam and Indonesia – have yet to react to the latest developments but analysts warned against what they see as “China’s bilateral approach.” “Xi Jinping has used official state visits by President Marcos Jr. of the Philippines in January and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in April to press China’s claims in the South China Sea and to press for bilateral discussions,” said Carlyle Thayer, a veteran regional specialist. “China’s insistence on bilateral discussions has been consistent for the last decade and a half,” the Canberra-based analyst told Radio Free Asia, adding that China can “divide and conquer” using its superior economic weight. Another analyst, Collins Chong Yew Keat at Universiti Malaya, told RFA’s affiliate BenarNews that the scope and level of the negotiations remains to be seen “but it must not be based on a bilateral basis, as Beijing will exercise its burgeoning leverage and cards at its disposal now, to use economic tools and other measures to dictate more favorable terms.” A woman walks past a billboard showing the CNOOC 981 deepwater oil platform, used in the South China Sea, outside of the headquarters of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation in Beijing on July 28, 2016. Credit: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein ASEAN countries restarted negotiations with China on a Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, with the first round of talks taking place in the second week of March.  Several member states have accused China of impeding and harassing their oil and gas activities in areas within their exclusive economic zones that also fall within China’s nine-dash line that Beijing uses to claim “historic rights” to almost 90% of the South China Sea.  This imaginary boundary was declared as illegal by a U.N. tribunal in a case brought by the Philippines in 2016. ‘Not an indication of success’ “Indonesia has a long-standing policy of refusing to discuss maritime disputes with China on the grounds that its maritime boundaries are in accord with international law,” said Carl Thayer. Vietnam, which saw several oil development projects with foreign partners stopped under China’s pressure, has always maintained that any joint exploration should abide by international law, especially the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).   As a rule, Hanoi does not publicly criticize other ASEAN members’ policies but Vietnamese scholars said that Beijing-led joint projects in the South China Sea could become “dangerous precedents” if pursued. China has been offering other countries to “set aside dispute and pursue joint development,” viewing it “as a measure to assert sovereignty in the negotiated area,” wrote a Vietnamese researcher, Bui Sang Minh, in the South China Sea Studies Journal, which usually reflects the Vietnamese government’s stance.  “Most of the areas in which China has brought up such offers are well within other countries’ economic exclusive zones and continental shelves.”  As the Philippines and China are to resume talks, Manila should “try not to fall for the ‘setting disputes aside and pursuing joint development’ concept and refrain from prioritizing economic benefits over maintaining its sovereignty in the process,” Minh added. Some other analysts such as Jay Batongbacal, director of the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea at the University of the Philippines, said that a desire to settle disputes amicably “does not mean they will simply give in to China’s demands.” “An announcement that they will discuss and negotiate is not an indication of success in the bilateral approach,” he said. Meanwhile, Carl Thayer told RFA that in his opinion, “China’s bilateral approach is…

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Junta raids kill 2, force 5,000 to flee Sagaing region villages

Editor02 mins

Two people have been killed and around 5,000 have abandoned their homes as junta troops raided two villages in Tigyaing township, in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing region, residents told RFA. Locals said that a junta column with more than 70 troops fired heavy artillery and entered Nyaung Pin Thar village on March 30. A 20-year-old woman named Zar Chi Win was killed by a shell. “Zar Chi Win was hit by the junta’s heavy artillery shell and died on March 30, while she was trying to escape,” said a resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons. “The shell landed in the vicinity of Nyaung Pin Thar village.” Another column with more than 70 troops raided nearby Sit Tan village killing 30-year-old Than Pe Lay as he tried to escape, the local told RFA. “Than Pe Lay was shot dead by a column that entered Sit Tan village on April 2, while he was trying to escape near the village monastery,” he said. On the evening of April 3, the column that entered Nyaung Pin Thar village and the column that entered Sit Tan village combined and left the township.Calls to the military junta spokesman for Sagaing region, Aye Hlaing, went unanswered. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, between Feb. 1, 2021, when the military seized power in a coup, and April 3, 2023, a total of 3,206 people, including pro-democracy activists, were killed by the junta. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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Activists sue China’s education ministry over rainbow flag reprimand

Editor017 mins

Two LGBTQ+ students from Beijing’s Tsinghua University have lodged an administrative lawsuit against China’s Ministry of Education after being harassed and threatened by the authorities over their sexuality. In May 2022, Huang and Li bought 10 rainbow flags on the auction site Taobao, and left them on a small table in a campus supermarket, with a note that read: “Please take one #PRIDE.” The pair, who asked to be identified by pseudonyms for fear of further reprisals, had already given a great deal of thought to what they knew was a highly risky action. They considered posting about the flags on social media, but they knew the authorities would be able to track them down, as they had been forced to use their real names to sign up for an account. Then they remembered an anti-fascist poster that had mysteriously appeared on the wall of the campus supermarket, and that the lack of surveillance cameras in the area had meant the students who put it there were never found. It wasn’t until they had already put the flags in place that they realized that cameras had now been installed in the area, leaving them “terrified” over what would happen next. But Huang told herself that 10 rainbow flags wasn’t going to have a massive impact on the life of the university. Within two hours, they were getting calls from school officials wanting to talk to them about the flags, and warning them that the incident could affect their chances of graduating, and threatening them with possible expulsion. They refused to meet with officials, who then went and found them in their respective dorm rooms, accusing them of “distributing prohibited propaganda material.” By June 30, they had been issued with notification of punishment, and submitted a written defense to the student affairs office in accordance with school procedures. The school responded in July with disciplinary action in the form of a “severe warning,” which would remain on their official file and affect their chances of pursuing scholarships, further study or jobs working for the government. ‘I knew I was doing the right thing’ Huang and Li were furious, and vowed to fight back. “I was in a state of anger every day,” Li said. “But I knew I was doing the right thing, so I didn’t feel scared.” “It felt more as if I was getting some good practice in how to defend my own dignity, and that of my companion, and in not backing down.” Within hours of placing the flags, the students received calls from school officials wanting to talk to them about the flags. By July 2022, the school disciplined the students with a “severe warning” [shown], which would remain on their official file and affect their chances of pursuing scholarships, further study or jobs working for the government. Credit: Courtesy of the respondents They went public with the incident on July 18, posting to WeChat that they were being punished for the rainbow flag incident, in a post that garnered more than 100,000 views and which was later deleted by government censors. By the end of the month, they had filed an official complaint with the university, which upheld the original disciplinary action. So they took it further, lodging a complaint with the Beijing municipal education commission, arguing that they had left the flags for people to pick up, rather than distributing them, and that rainbow flags aren’t illegal in China. But the response from the government was the same as that of the university. Li, the child of a middle-class family, had been greatly affected by her experience of lockdown in the central city of Wuhan in the spring of 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I knew that a lot of people in my [residential] community had died, and I was affected by knowing that my neighbors were dying,” she said. “Since then, I’ve had no illusions about the current system at all.” The formal warnings issued to Huang and Li expired after six months, but that wasn’t good enough for the two friends, who wanted to dispel the notion that it is wrong to fly a rainbow flag. “It’s a matter of our reputation,” Huang said. “By punishing us, the school made a lot of people feel that we did something disgraceful.” “We also want to do some public advocacy on this matter, and start a public discussion about sexual minorities in universities,” she said. So Huang and Li took their lawsuit all the way to the top, lodging an administrative lawsuit with the Ministry of Education, and calling on its officials to review their case. “We have to take the legal process all the way, so that this winds up in the legal archives, in the media and in online archives,” Li said. “I believe that history will eventually judge us fairly.” “For me, this is a political declaration, and I have to take it all the way, or I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” she said. But both activists still feared possible retaliation from the authorities. Huang wrote to her family coming out as a lesbian, and detailing all of her actions and the reasoning behind them since May 2022, with a view to sending it if the police came looking for her. They submitted their case to the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court on Feb. 20, and have yet to receive a response. Party views on LGBTQ+ activists The ruling Chinese Communist Party currently regards LGBTQ+ rights activists as being influenced by “hostile foreign forces” seeking to undermine its rule, and openly queer public figures are gradually disappearing from mainstream media, film and television under the watchful eye of government censors. Huang and Li, who met at a queer book club and put the flags out to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Lesbophobia and Transphobia on May 17, came to a realization of their own sexuality in a piecemeal way, despite having…

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Junta jets bomb village in western Myanmar, killing 10

Editor010 mins

Two Myanmar military jets bombed a village in western Myanmar on Thursday where there was no fighting, killing at least 10 people and injuring 20 others, according to ethnic rebels and residents. The seemingly unprovoked attack on Khuabung village in Thantlang township in Chin state, near the Indian border, is the military’s latest use of air power in its sprawling offensive against anti-junta People’s Defense Force paramilitaries and ethnic armies. It’s a tactic that has become increasingly common as the country’s armed resistance makes greater gains. Such attacks are typically undertaken by the military to support troops fighting anti-junta forces with devastating effect. Chin National Front spokesman Salai Htet Ni told RFA Burmese that the strike by the two jets was unprovoked and clearly targeted a civilian population. However, Thantlang is one of several townships under martial law that the junta has targeted with multiple airstrikes since the start of the year. “They attacked this morning [at around 10:00 a.m.] without any battles happening,” Salai Htet Ni said. “They dropped bombs into a civilian village.” At least 10 residents were killed and 20 injured, he said. The airstrike set many of the village’s houses on fire, residents said. Khuabung, around 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the seat of Thantlang township, is home to more than 230 people living in 53 households. Increasing airstrikes According to the Chin Human Rights Organization, the military launched at least 53 airstrikes, dropping more than 140 bombs, on the townships of Mindat, Hakha, Matupi and Thantlang in the first two months of 2023 alone.  The strikes killed five members of the Chin National Front and three members of local anti-junta People’s Defense Force, and also injured six civilians. In addition to the strike on Khuabung village on Thursday, the military also used Mi-35 aircraft to bomb areas it suspected were occupied by local PDF groups, the Chin National Front said. The military has yet to issue any statement regarding the bombing of Khuabung and attempts by RFA to reach Thant Zin, the junta’s spokesperson for Chin state, went unanswered on Thursday. A report issued by the U.N. human rights agency earlier this month said that junta airstrikes in Myanmar had more than doubled from 125 in 2021 to 301 in 2022. The report followed a joint statement on March 1 by Amnesty International, Global Witness, and Burma Campaign (U.K.) urging governments to sanction companies that sell jet fuel to the junta to limit the country’s air force. While international sanctions have limited the air force to some extent, former military officials in Myanmar have said they will never be fully effective while powerful countries, such as Russia and China, are backing the junta. Deaths and displacements in Shan state News of the airstrikes on Thantlang came as RFA learned that at least 33 civilians were killed and more than 5,000 displaced from southern Shan state’s townships of Pinlaung, Pekon and Mobye during the first three months of the year alone. Yin Lianghan, a spokesperson for the Shan Human Rights Foundation, said his organization had compiled the statistics after interviewing Buddhist monks displaced by the violence, as well as aid workers in the region. “These people have been severely displaced because of the junta’s heavy artillery shelling and a massacre in the Nam Neint village,” he said, referring to an incident on March 11, in which junta troops killed 21 civilians, including three monks, in a dawn raid on a monastery in Pinlaung before setting fire to the village. “The main reason why they have become refugees is because of the junta’s extrajudicial killing of innocent civilians,” he said. Residents who fled villages in southern Shan state, Myanmar, are seen in the town of Pinlaung, Sunday, March 26, 2023. Credit: Comet social group Junta Deputy Information Minister Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun has told pro-junta media that the Karenni National Defense Army committed the massacre in Nem Neint village, but the KNDF claims that it was the handiwork of the military. According to Shan Human Rights Foundation, at least two children were among those killed by the military shelling in Pinlaung and Mobye townships since the start of the year.. Tensions rising Khun Bwe Hone, the information officer for the ethnic Pa’O National Defense Force, told RFA that the deaths and displacements occurred amid rising tensions between the military and the ethnic Karrenni Nationalities Defense Force in the three townships, as the junta is preparing a major offensive in the area. “The junta is reinforcing its troops,” he said, noting that most villagers have already left the area in anticipation of the fighting. “Our defense forces have warned them to flee to safety. That’s why they left. This battle is likely to be drawn out because we are determined to fight against the military dictatorship … to the end and the enemy is going to do what it has set out to do, too.” A woman who fled fighting in the area told RFA on condition of anonymity that civilians are pouring into the seat of Pinlaung township from nearby villages to take refuge in camps for the displaced. A monastery and residential homes burn in Nam Neint village, Pinlaung township on March 11, 2023, following a raid by Myanmar junta forces. Credit: Inn Sar Kuu The exact number of refugees is unknown, said aid worker Khun Kyaw Shwe. While the refugees are receiving assistance from social support groups and area residents, they are in “desperate need of medicine,” as well as food and access to clean water, he said. “At the moment, local medical teams are taking care of them with what little medicine they have,” Khun Kyaw Shwe told RFA. “The demand for medicine is quite severe. The refugee camps are dealing with outbreaks of malaria, influenza and respiratory infections.” Only around 20 days of food stores remain for the camps in Pinlaung, he said, urging international donors to help fill the gaps. RFA was unable to reach Khun Thein Maung, the junta’s…

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IJ-REPORTIKA IRAN REVOLUTION

Most important women’s emancipation movement against radicalism in Iran

Editor09 mins

The death of Mahsa Amini on September 16 sparked the largest protests in years in Iran, which have since erupted. The nation’s morality police had detained the 22-year-old for not donning her hijab properly and wearing skinny jeans, which are charged with enforcing stringent standards about dress and behavior. Amini’s family claims that she was beaten and had many blows to the head. Police and the administration have refuted the allegations, saying she died of an “underlying condition.” Protesters reject this official narrative, and demonstrations are still taking place nationwide. Iranians of different ages, ethnicities, and gender identities have participated in the protests, although young people have been the majority among those who have turned to the streets. “women started this wave of protest, But, everyone else joined.  Women and men are shoulder-to-shoulder. All of Iran is united.For the first time in the history of Iran since the Islamic Revolution, there is this unique unity between the ethnicities. Everyone is chanting the same slogan. Their demand is the same.”  Ramyar Hassani, spokeswoman for the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, People used all the means to protest According to Hassani, nearly all “peaceful, non-violent” protest tactics have been used in Iran. Women have burned their hijabs during enormous street protests that have taken place in all of Iran’s main cities and numerous small towns, frequently while dancing at the same time. Others have even had their hair chopped off. Schools, universities, and the country’s crucial oil industry have all reported strikes, and businesses have frequently closed their doors. On November 21, the Iranian football team declined to play its national anthem during the World Cup in Qatar, and supporters have screamed anti-regime chants outside of stadiums. In Iran, violent skirmishes have occasionally broken out, and protesters have set security force headquarters on fire. The attempts to crackdown Hassani claims that security forces have been suppressing protesters “quite severely” since the beginning, particularly in regions where there are ethnic minorities, such as Kurdistan and Balochistan. People have been shot for blowing their horns in support of demonstrators, and a large number of journalists (including those who broke the news of Amini’s death), attorneys, celebrities, athletes, and members of civil society have been imprisoned. According to the US-based Iran Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 458 people have died and several hundred have been injured as of December. This number includes 63 children. There have been more than 18,000 detentions. But given how much gets unreported, these numbers could perhaps be far higher. According to the Iranian authorities, more than 60 members of the security forces have been killed. To disperse protesters in Kurdish areas, troops, heavy weapons, and military vehicles have been sent there. Here, Hassani alleges that murders were committed without regard for the victim, and he adds that detainees were housed in warehouses as jails overflowed. Although there is no proof, the administration has accused other nations like Israel and the US, which it refers to as the “Great Satan,” of inciting unrest. In November, Iran’s top court demanded that the “main elements of the riots” receive severe penalties, urging people to “avoid showing unnecessary sympathy” at this time. France and Germany strongly condemned the execution of the first protester by the Iranian authorities in December for alleged “corruption on earth,” or efsad-fil-arz. We anticipate more executions. The deep-rooted cause of the protests The Islamic policies of the government, particularly those pertaining to dress code, have stoked deep-seated resentment in Iran. There were protests even when the hijab (headscarf) became required in 1983; discontent has persisted ever since. According to Roulla, an Iranian political activist and researcher who requested anonymity for security reasons, frustrations have gotten worse since hardliner Ebrahim Raisi took office in 2021 and stepped up regulation of women’s attire. Protests, however, also focus on the shortcomings of reform. Iranian human rights attorney Shadi Shar claims that for many years, Iranians greatly bet on the notion that things would improve as promised by reformist politicians. “But nothing took place… The Islamic Republic itself needs to fall, is the message that is now loud and plain.“ Former presidents Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami tried to bring Iran closer to the West, lessen social restrictions and bring more democratic freedoms, though these efforts largely failed. Making matters worse Inequality has increased while Iran’s economy has fallen apart in recent years. Hassani claims that while ordinary Iranians see no future, “young people on the streets watch the sons and daughters of those in power having a comfortable existence as their parents rob the people’s riches.” International sanctions were imposed on Iran after then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, which was designed to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran’s currency fell precipitously as a result, with ordinary Iranians bearing the brunt of these economic blows. Why these protests are different The protests of today, which are larger and more widespread than those of 2019, stand out because practically all facets of society have come together to support them. As opposed to the “middle-class issues” of vote manipulation that dominated unrest in 2009, according to Roulla, lower segments of society protested fuel price increases in 2019. He says Amini was an “average girl,” which is the “basic explanation” of why there is more harmony now. She wasn’t an activist, nor was she from a large city. It’s a lot simpler to empathize with that because she was murdered after being kidnapped from her family. The Iran Revolution is in full swing. Ij-Reportika will cover all its facets even though the Iran regime has ordered several gags on the publication of the truth.

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fifa world cup in Qatar

Is Qatar FIFA 2022 the Most Controversial World Cup ever?

Editor110 mins

The latest in the slew of controversies that have surrounded the FIFA World Cup is the blocking of Tod TV by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, disappointing millions of football fans in the country. Tod TV is the popular streaming service of the Qatari broadcaster BeIN and is the FIFA World Cup’s official streaming platform. While the reasons for this sudden action on behalf of the Saudi authorities are unclear, it is not helping Qatar’s case which is already neck-deep in controversies around the tournament. It is yet another addition to the many issues being raised with respect to Qatar’s suitability as a football World Cup host, the fairness of the entire bidding process, the problems created by the local climate, and the ever-emerging news on human rights violations happening in the country.  Bribing the FIFA officials to win the bid to host the World Cup The most controversial issue surrounding the World Cup is the alleged corruption by the Qatari authorities in winning the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Qatar was accused of providing more than $3 million to FIFA officials as bribes in exchange for the bid to host the 2022 edition. Though the allegations were later dismissed, this was not the first time such allegations of corruption were leveled against FIFA. Russia and Brazil too brought to the surface similar allegations against the working of FIFA. The lack of infrastructural preparedness The unsuitability of Qatar to host such a massive and significant football event has prompted another set of issues around the tournament. The lack of infrastructural preparedness is the biggest of these issues. Neither did they have world-class stadiums, nor enough hotels to accommodate the swarms of football fans that were likely to flood the country to watch the games. The primary reason perhaps is Qatar’s limited history in the sport itself. Given the lack of football culture in Qatari society, it makes little sense to bid for such a large event. The adverse climate The climate is the second big reason why Qatar is a terrible choice of place to host the event. The hot and humid climate of Qatar is a nightmare for any outdoor sporting event, turning it into a health hazard for not just the incoming fans but also the thousands of workers engaged in building the required sports infrastructure. Most of these workers were migrants coming from Southeast Asia and Africa, who over the last several months ended up being trapped in very abusive working conditions. The extensive construction in the run-up to the tournament, including the building of seven new stadiums and about a hundred hotels took a massive toll on not only the health but also on the lives of these workers. The exploitation of the workers and the Kafala System The manner of treatment meted out to the workers employed to complete various infrastructure projects in a speedy manner right before the tournament has prompted public outrage across the globe. The Kafala system practiced in the Middle-eastern countries has been a source of controversy for a prolonged period of time. It is primarily a system put in place to heavily monitor migrant laborers, putting the Gulf-based employers of these workers in-charge of their visa and legal status and giving them the reins to exploit these workers as they deem fit. Interestingly, various global publications had not only predicted but also warned against the potential abuses and death that workers were likely to face in the build-up to this tournament. Unfortunately, most of these warnings were ignored by the world as we waited for them to turn true. In August 2022, the Qatari authorities arrested and deported over 60 migrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Egypt, and the Philippines, who were protesting against the non-payment of wages by their employer, the Al Bandary International Group. Some of these demonstrators had not received their wages for months. The death of the construction workers The exact number of deaths of migrant workers is still unknown. Some estimates, including one by the Guardian, report that at least 6,500 migrant workers have died since 2010 when Qatar won the bid to host the World Cup. The Qatari officials, as expected, deny these figures. The official figures state that 37 people have died while working on projects related to the football tournament and eventually 34 of those deaths were deemed unrelated to the job. Since then, human rights groups across the globe have been demanding further investigations into these deaths facilitated by this systematic modern-day slavery regime in the Gulf. The Religious Extremism The religious extremism of the country is perhaps the icing on the cake, making it the most problematic location ever to host the event. Being the first Muslim country to host the event, it is bringing its own flavor to the event. Similar to other countries in the region, Qatar has guardianship laws that put several restrictions on the liberties of women, including their rights to make work-related decisions, seek education, and even certain aspects of healthcare being dependent on the permission given by the male family members. In addition, homosexual relationships between consenting men are illegal in Qatar and can result in imprisonment of one year. Reports of harassment, abuse, and forced conversion therapies are not rare in Qatar. It, therefore, came as a surprise to everyone that FIFA, while being well aware of Qatar’s stand against homosexuality, still went on and approved its bid. It went as far as saying that LGBTQ fans can ‘refrain’ from sexual activities while in Qatar. Lastly, much to the disappointment of millions of fans, mere two days before the tournament, FIFA confirmed that no alcohol would be sold inside the stadiums, in line with the high amount of restrictions on the sale of alcohol in Qatar. Perhaps Qatar had high hopes with respect to the FIFA World Cup hosting, hoping to elevate its status as the Middle East region’s sporting hub and help its case in becoming a regional…

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China uses carrots and sticks to boost Uyghur-Han intermarriage-report

Editor07 mins

China mixes financial, education and career incentives with coercive measures such as threats to families under state policies to promote intermarriage between majority Han Chinese and ethnic minority Uyghurs in the restive Xinjiang region, a new report by a Uyghur rights group has found. The Uyghur Human Rights Project analyzed Chinese state media, policy documents, government sanctioned marriage testimonials, as well as accounts from women in the Uyghur diaspora, that government incentivizes and coercion to boost interethnic marriages has increased since 2014. “The Chinese Party-State is actively involved in carrying out a campaign of forcefully assimilating Uyghurs into Han Chinese society by means of mixed marriages,” said the report. The findings on forced marriage by Washington, DC-based NGO come as Western governments and the United Nations have recognized that Chinese policies in Xinjiang amount to or may amount to genocide or crimes against humanity. Forced labor, incarceration camps and other aspects of China’s rule in Xinjiang have drawn sanctions from Britain, Canada, the European Union and the United States. The study, “Forced Marriage of Uyghur Women: State Policies for Interethnic Marriage in East Turkistan,” draws on state media propaganda films, state-approved online accounts of interethnic marriages and weddings, state-approved personal online testimonials from individuals in interethnic marriages, as well as government statements and policy directives. “The Party-State has actively encouraged and incentivized ‘interethnic’ Uyghur-Han intermarriage since at least May 2014,” the Uyghur Human Rights Project says in the report, released on Nov. 16. Interethnic marriage policies gained momentum after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a “new era” at the Xinjiang Work Forum in 2014, touting a policy of strengthening interethnic “contact, exchange, and mingling,” the report said. “Uyghur-Han intermarriage has been increasing over the past several years since the Chinese state has been actively promoting intermarriage,” said Nuzigum Setiwaldi a co-author of the report. “The Chinese government always talks about how interethnic marriages promote ‘ethnic unity’ and ‘social stability,’ but these actually are euphemisms for assimilation,” she told RFA Uyghur. “The Chinese government is incentivizing and promoting intermarriage as a way to assimilate Uyghurs into Han society and culture. Carrots include cash payments, help with housing, medical care, government jobs, and tuition waivers. When it comes to sticks, “young Uyghur women and/or their parents face an ever-present threat of punishment if the women decline to marry a Han ‘suitor,’” the report said, citing experiences of Uyghur women now living in exile. “Videos and testimonies have also raised concerns that Uyghur women are being pressured and forced into marrying Han men,” said Setiwaldi. The report cites an informal marriage guide for male Han party officials published in 2019, titled “How to Win the Heart of a Uyghur Girl.” Han men who want to marry Uyghur women are told that the woman they love “must love the Motherland, love the Party, and she must have unrivaled passion for socialist Xinjiang,” it said. Commenting on the report, scholar Adrian Zenz said the Chinese Communist Party’s “policy of incentivizing Han and coercing Uyghurs into interethnic marriages is part of a strategy of breaking down and dismantling Uyghur culture.” Zenz, a senior fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C., was the first outside expert to document the network of mass internment camp for Uyghurs launched in Xinjiang in 2017 and he has analyzed China’s Uyghur population policies. The intermarriage strategy serves the goal of “optimizing the ethnic population structure, breaking the ‘dominance’ of concentrated Uyghur populations in southern Xinjiang as part of a slowly unfolding genocidal policy,” he told RFA. “It’s important that people pay attention to the different forms of human rights abuses that are taking place in the Uyghur region, particularly those that are underreported, like forced marriages,” said Setiwaldi.  “People can raise awareness and push their governments to hold the Chinese government accountable.” China had no immediate comment on the report. Last month, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement dismissed U.S. efforts to debate the U.N. report, saying, “the human rights of people of all ethnic backgrounds in Xinjiang are protected like never before” and “the ultimate motive of the U.S. and some other Western countries behind their Xinjiang narrative is to contain China.” Written by Paul Eckert for RFA.

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Nearly 1.7 million new refugees of conflict in Myanmar since coup

Editor010 mins

Nearly 1.7 million people have been displaced by conflict in Myanmar since last year’s military coup, bringing the total number of refugees who have fled fighting in the country to more than 3 million and putting a heavy strain on aid resources in the Southeast Asian nation. The Institute for Strategy and Policy, an independent research group, said in a report earlier this month that as of Nov. 2, at least 1,650,661 people had been forced to escape conflict in regions that include Sagaing, Magway, Bago, Chin and Kayah in the more than 21 months since the military took power in Myanmar. The new refugees join an estimated 497,200 internally displaced persons who fled conflict before the Feb. 21, 2021 coup and at least 1,019,190 who have crossed Myanmar’s borders into the neighboring countries of Thailand, India and Bangladesh due to fighting both prior to and after the putsch, the group said. The new total of 3,167,051 represents roughly six percent of the country’s population of 54.4 million. As the number of refugees continues to swell, amidst a protracted conflict in Myanmar’s remote border regions between the military and anti-coup paramilitary groups and ethnic armies, local and international aid groups say the junta has barred them from accessing those in need or hampered efforts to deliver crucial supplies to camps for the displaced. Speaking to RFA Burmese on Wednesday, a refugee in Chin state’s war-torn Kanpetlet township said medicine and food resources at their camp have nearly dried up, putting an already vulnerable population at greater risk. “We are in a very difficult situation,” said the refugee, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal by the military. “We are in desperate need of medicine for the elderly, pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers, and children under the age of five.” According to ethnic Chin human rights groups, conflict since the military coup has created more than 110,000 new refugees in Chin state, more than 60,000 of whom fled to other regions of Myanmar and more than 50,000 of whom crossed into India’s Mizoram state to escape the fighting. In Kayin state, the ethnic Karen National Union said that daily battles between the military and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, had caused at least 186,471 people to flee their homes in the Karen-controlled townships of Hpapun, Kawkareik, Kyainseikgyi, and Myawaddy as of Aug. 16. Meanwhile, more than 130,000 ethnic Rohingya refugees who fled violence in Rakhine state in 2012 and 2017 remain in more than 10 camps for the displaced in Sittwe township, aid workers say. Aid undelivered The scale of the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar prompted an agreement between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the junta to facilitate the immediate distribution of aid to refugees in the country through the military regime’s Ministry of International Cooperation at a May 6 meeting in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Nonetheless, aid groups – including U.N. agencies and NGOs – say they have been blocked from doing so or that the supplies they have handed over to the junta remain undelivered under the pretense of security risks. Attempts by RFA to contact the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management via email for comment on why aid has largely been withheld from Myanmar’s refugees went unanswered Wednesday, as did requests for comment to Ko Ko Hlaing, the junta’s Union Minister for International Cooperation. Banyar, the director of the Karenni Human Rights Group, said that junta restrictions have made the distribution of relief impossible in the country, and advised that aid groups “leave Myanmar officially.” “Providing humanitarian aid through the countries bordering Myanmar will be more effective,” he told RFA. Other groups have suggested that ASEAN’s relief agency had overestimated its ability to deliver. In a statement on Nov. 1, the Thailand-based Border Consortium, which has assisted refugees along the Thai-Myanmar border since 1984, said the agency “lacks experience” in responding to emergency situations and claimed that efforts to distribute aid to rural Myanmar would remain fruitless without the military’s blessing. Rohingya migrants are escorted after their boat carrying 119 people landed on the coast of Bluka Teubai, North Aceh, Indonesia, on November 16, 2022, after surviving a five week journey at sea. Credit: AFP Rohingya refugee arrests The new figures for refugees of conflict in Myanmar came as reporting by RFA found that authorities had arrested at least 388 Rohingyas who tried to flee refugee camps in Rakhine state and neighboring Bangladesh for Malaysia between Oct. 17 and Nov. 11. Authorities in Myanmar do not recognize Rohingyas as citizens of the country, despite members of their ethnic group having a long history in Rakhine state, and subject them to discrimination and movement restrictions. Among those arrested in the three weeks ending Nov. 11 were 60 members of a group of 80 Rohingyas, including 45 children, whose boat sank near Ayeyarwaddy region’s Bogale township as it made its way to the Andaman Sea on Oct. 30, leaving 20 people missing. A Bogale resident who is helping the detained Rohingyas told RFA that the 60 Rohingya are being detained at the township’s police station on immigration charges. On Oct. 20, authorities arrested 117 Rohingyas who they said were trying to leave Myanmar for Malaysia at a house in Yangon region, and 54 Rohingyas – including a pregnant woman – who planned to the same destination near Ayeyarwady region’s Maubin township two days later. On Nov. 2, authorities in Kayin state’s Kawkareik township arrested 101 Rohingyas attempting to flee to Thailand from Rakhine state’s Buthidaung township, sources said. According to data collected by RFA, authorities in Myanmar have arrested at least 992 Rohingyas who tried to flee their homes between December 2021 and mid-October 2022. Among them, 223 have been sentenced to between two and five years in prison under Myanmar’s immigration laws. Translated by Myo Min Aung. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Fed up with COVID lockdowns, migrant workers in Guangzhou break through barriers

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Migrat workers whose movements have been restricted by rolling lockdowns and compulsory COVID-19 testing under China’s strict zero-COVID policy have taken to the streets of the southern province of Guangdong in recent days, according to video clips uploaded to social media. One video clip reportedly shot in Haizhu district of the provincial capital Guangzhou on Monday night showed hundreds of people surging along a street, shoving over traffic barriers and arguing with police and disease prevention personnel in protective gear. It was the latest outpouring of resentment in China over restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the virus. In another clip posted to Twitter, people are shown smashing barriers before flinging what appear to be plastic crates at workers and officials in protective gear, while a woman exclaims from behind the camera: “Wow, that’s going too far! So scary!” Dissatisfaction with the frequent lockdowns was the main reason driving the protests, said a man who gave only his name as Xu. “They’d been locked up so long and couldn’t do business, and so they just rushed out,” he told Radio Free Asia. “Last night a ton of people broke through the quarantine barricades. Seems like special police were sent in,” he said. “I don’t know how many people were there.” Xu said people have been locked up for weeks in areas where the protests broke out. Long-term closure and inability to work, coupled with insufficient supplies, were the main reasons for people’s protests. Local authorities did not respond to requests for comment. In another video, dozens of people face off in an alleyway with dozens of disease control personnel and police across fallen traffic barriers, before the camera pans to show police holding down a man restrained by cable ties with a foot on his neck.   Footage sent to Radio Free Asia showed hundreds of people running along two different streets, trampling traffic barriers and shouting, while another shot showed hundreds standing still and facing off near a COVID-19 testing station, with some people pushing over barriers. ‘Love of freedom’ And in a clip sent to RFA’s Cantonese Service, people apparently confined to apartment buildings in Guangzhou sing the anthem of the 2014 Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, “Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies,” by Hong Kong rock band Beyond, to the night sky. “Forgive me, my whole life I’ve had a love of freedom,” the crowd sings in Cantonese, the lingua franca of both Guangdong and Hong Kong. Chinese media outlet Interface News reported that the protests had prompted local leaders to hold an emergency meeting on Monday night to tweak the way the zero-COVID policies are being enforced. The Guangdong province health commission said via its official WeChat account on Tuesday that “adjustments” would be needed to local policies, slashing quarantine periods from seven days at a quarantine camp plus three days observation at home to five days in quarantine and three days at home. Local officials must arrange for the “timely release” of people once their quarantine and home isolation periods are completed and the necessary negative tests completed, the commission said. Local officials should avoid being overly rigid in enforcing restrictions, and do a good job of preventing and responding to risks, the statement said. China’s health ministry reported 17,772 new locally COVID-19 cases on Monday, including 1,621 confirmed cases and 16,151 asymptomatic infections, the biggest spike since late April. Of those, 5,633 new locally transmitted infections were in Guangdong. Two sub-districts of Haizhu district have been locked down, including Liwan and Panyu. Translated and written by Luisetta Mudie, edited by Malcolm Foster.

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Lao preacher arrested previously for evangelism found dead and badly beaten

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A Lao Christian preacher who had previously been arrested for evangelism was found dead and badly beaten a few days after disappearing, villagers told Radio Free Asia. A few days before his body was found with signs of torture, two men believed to be district authorities visited Sy Seng Manee, 48, they said. His corpse was found on Oct. 23 with his motorbike in a forest near a road to Donkeo village in Khammouane province. Local residents said they believe Sy was murdered because of his religious beliefs and preaching. A villager, who is also a soldier and lives in a community north of Donkeo, told RFA that he witnessed the preacher’s abduction. He saw three men get out of a black truck with no license plates, grab Sy and violently push him into the vehicle and drive away. The villager who requested anonymity for safety reasons said at the time he believed the men were authorities arresting a drug dealer or criminal, so he went on his way. But after hearing about the preacher’s death, he realized that the man was Sy. He then informed others in his community about what he had seen, and they, in turn, told Sy’s family. Lao police said they are still investigating the death. The Law on the Evangelical Church, which took effect in December 2019, gives Christians in Laos the right to conduct services, preach throughout the country and maintain contacts with believers in other nations.  But they still often face opposition from residents or local authorities in this predominantly Buddhist nation. In March, officials in Savannakhet province ordered a Christian family to remove social media posts and videos of villagers attacking a man’s coffin during his funeral in December 2021 because they opposed the family’s faith and struck mourners and pallbearers with clubs, RFA reported. The family buried the patriarch in their own rice field, but authorities and residents continued to harass them. Authorities expropriated their land in February, and other villagers torched their home, relatives and other sources said in an earlier report. Former arrest Local authorities first arrested Sy in August 2018 because he held weekly meetings in his house to preach to the villagers, locals said. Authorities tried to force him to sign a document denouncing the Christian faith and pledging that he would stop preaching, but he refused and was jailed for three days and fined.  A few years after his release, Sy began preaching again until he disappeared this October and turned up dead. “His death was due to his belief in Christianity,” said a village resident who declined to be identified out of fear for his safety.  The resident said he heard that authorities may have arrested Sy when they went to a gathering. “They don’t like the Christian religion, so that’s what they do,” he said.  A Christian preacher in Nakai district, where Donkeo village is located, said he believes that Sy was murdered because his Christian belief displeased local residents. “Each district is different in terms of other religious beliefs,” said the preacher, who declined to be named for fear of his safety. “Some provinces are strict and some are loose when it comes to harassment.” One Christian villager said he now feared for his own safety because the same might happen to him and other believers in the village. He called on police to quickly arrest the murderers.  “If the murderers are not arrested, it will strongly affect the Christian community,” he told RFA. “In the past, each time a situation like this happened, there was a related sector responsible for thoroughly investigating the case.”  Translated by Sidney Khotpanya for RFA Lao. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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