Middle East Archives - Page 25 of 38 - Investigative Journalism Reportika

Vietnam promotes ‘problematic’ bid for UN Human Rights Council membership

Vietnam is mounting an assertive campaign to win a seat on the United National Human Rights Council in an Oct. 11 vote, but critics say Hanoi’s poor record at home and diplomatic support for major rights violators abroad disqualify the one-party state. Fourteen seats on the 47-member Council will be filled by the U.N. General Assembly full-member vote. The highest human rights body has long faced criticism that countries seen as major rights abusers are members who team up to shield each other from scrutiny. Critics say Hanoi’s record of cracking down on journalists, activists and social media commentators makes it a poor choice for the Council. And they say Vietnam would join the bloc of countries that block Council action on major crises, as it did in its previous 2014-16 term. “There is little doubt that Vietnam will be a problematic, highly negative influence on the Human Rights Council if it is elected to the 2023-2025 term,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division at Human Rights Watch (HRW). “In fact, at every opportunity, Vietnam does not hesitate to show its contempt for international human rights law, and if they get a seat, it’s highly likely they will seek to undermine meaningful actions by the Council,” he told RFA. Tuesday’s vote in New York comes days after China and its allies on the 47-member Council defeated a U.S. proposal that the Council hold a debate on a recent report by the body’s rights chief on abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Vietnam has conducted an intense propaganda and lobbying drive to support its effort to be elected to the Council. On Sept. 30, Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Binh Minh approved a huge public relations campaign intended to boost the country’s reputation in the human rights field. Under the project, all Vietnamese state agencies will regularly provide human rights information to the media by 2028, while state officials working in the field will receive communications training. Over the past month, state media have touted what they say are Vietnam’s human rights achievements and criticized the international community’s accusations of rights violations in the Southeast Asian country. Vietnamplus, an online newspaper, recently ran two stories titled “Vietnam attaches importance to international cooperation in human rights protection” and “Vietnam ready to contribute further to UN affairs.” The Voice of Vietnam online newspaper, meanwhile, ran a story titled “Vietnam pledges to make active contributions when becoming member of the UN Human Rights Council.” ‘Unworthy’ candidate Human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, a former political prisoner who now lives in Germany, said Vietnam was seeking Council membership for the 2023-25 term to boost its standing. “Authoritarian governments often try their best to join the United Nations agencies, including the Human Rights Council, so that they can use it to tell people inside their country that accusations of their human rights violations are inaccurate,” he told RFA. “The fact that the Vietnamese Communist government has made every effort to become a member of the Human Rights Council is for political purposes only,” he told RFA. “They will not make any contributions to protect the human rights of their own people as well as of other peoples in the world.” In April, a coalition of eight organizations from inside and outside Vietnam, including the Vietnam Human Rights Network, Human Rights Defenders, Dai Viet Quoc Dang and the Vietnam Independent Journalists Association, sent an open letter to the U.N. calling on it to reject Vietnam as a Council member for the next term. They said the country was “unworthy” because of its poor human rights record and support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Oct. 3, three NGOs — UN Watch, Human Rights Foundation and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights — jointly issued a report on rights abuses by the 14 candidate countries, including Vietnam, to circulate to U.N. diplomats. The report says that the rights situation inside Vietnam has not improved. It noted that when Vietnam served on Council from 2014-16, it opposed resolutions supporting rights victims in Belarus and Iran and failed to support resolutions on behalf of rights victims in Burundi and Syria. Another coalition of rights NGOs groups from Europe, the U.S. and Canada has called on U.N. member states to oppose the election of Vietnam, Afghanistan, Algeria, Sudan and Venezuela, countries deemed “unqualified” because of their grim human rights records and voting records on U.N. resolutions concerning human rights. London-based Amnesty International said Vietnam’s efforts to be elected to the Council flew in the face of the facts on the ground. “Vietnamese authorities should show that they are willing to uphold international human rights standards, but nothing could be further from the reality on the ground, where the government continues to pass laws that restrict freedom of expression and association while promoting a climate of fear among people who dare to speak out,” an Amnesty spokesperson told RFA. Getting worse in Vietnam Nguyen Dinh Thang said human rights in Vietnam had worsened since the country’s nomination as a Council member in April 2021. A further stain on the country’s human rights record was its vote against a resolution to dismiss Russia from the Council for invading Ukraine, he said. Vietnam does not deserve membership after years of rounding up its critics, said attorney Nguyen Van Dai. “Over the past four years, Vietnam has arrested many political dissidents who only had exercised their freedom of expression and press freedom,” he said. There are more than 100 political dissidents in jail, most of whom openly criticized the government for wrongdoings, including corruption and rights violations, though none of them opposed the state, Dai said. “They only raised social issues which were completely true,” he said. “Almost all of them only commented on and analyzed the issues raised by state media. They did not collect the information from somewhere or provide inaccurate information about the Communist government of Vietnam.” Vietnam is currently detaining 253 prisoners of conscience, according to the rights group Defend…

China, Russia say North Korea launch provoked by US military drills

Editor3 years ago3 years ago06 mins

A U.S.-led push to condemn North Korea’s launch of a missile across Japan was blocked by China and Russia in the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, with the veto powers saying Pyongyang was provoked by recent U.S. military drills. The meeting of the 15-member council was called by the United States after North Korea fired a missile across Japanese territory into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, violating council resolutions banning Pyongyang from such tests. The test missile launch was condemned by the 12 other members of the U.N. Security Council – Albania, France, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, India, the United Arab Emirates, Ghana, Mexico, Kenya, Brazil and Gabon. Each called for a return to “dialogue” between countries in the region. But Russia and China – who had opposed a public council meeting and in May vetoed a resolution to impose new sanctions against North Korea for its new program of test launches – both said the United States was also at fault. Russia’s deputy representative to the United Nations, Anna Evstigneeva, defended the test launches, and blamed the context of what she termed America’s “unilateral security doctrine in the Asia-Pacific region.” She noted that the United States, Japan and South Korea last month carried out military exercises in the Sea of Japan using a nuclear aircraft carrier that she said focused training on hitting key targets in North Korea. “It is obvious that the missile launches by Pyongyang are a consequence of a short-sighted confrontational military activity surrounding this country conducted by the United States, which hurts their own partners in the region and also hurts the situation in Northeast Asia as a whole,” Evstigneeva said. China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, mirrored the comments, also blaming U.S.-led drills for Pyongyang’s launch. “We have also noticed the multiple joint military exercises held by the U.S. and other countries recently in the region,” Geng told the Security Council. “A brief examination will reveal that [North Korea’s] launch activities took place either before or after such military activities and did not exist in isolation.” Pedestrians walk under a large video screen showing images of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un during a news update in Tokyo on Oct. 4, 2022, after North Korea launched a missile prompting an evacuation alert when it flew over northeastern Japan. Credit: AFP ‘Blaming others’ However, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaking for a second time after first making a case to condemn North Korea’s actions, said the explanation from China and Russia made little sense. “As we expected, instead of putting the blame where the blame lies,” Thomas-Greenfield said, “Russia and China want to blame others for their actions.” She said that U.S.-led drills with South Korea and Japan were carried out “responsibly and consistent with international law” and that there was “no equivalency” with the “unlawful, reckless” missile launches by North Korea. Japan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ishikane Kimihiro, who is not currently sitting on the council but was invited to address it, called on the council to enforce “unanimously adopted” resolutions banning such tests. “This council should be mindful that it is being tested and that its credibility is at stake. Silence is not an option,” Ishikane said. “North Korea has violated multiple Security Council resolutions and this council should act and provide an outcome that restores its credibility and fulfills its responsibilities.” The North Korean missile test was the first to pass through Japanese territory in five years, and flew 2,800 miles at 17 times the speed of sound. The United States and South Korea conducted their own missile tests in response earlier on Wednesday, with a malfunctioning South Korean missile crashing into an air force base on the outskirts of the coastal city of Gangneung.

Myanmar activists say junta will use SIM card registration to target opposition

Editor3 years ago09 mins

A recent order requiring anyone buying a SIM card to register their identity is a bid by Myanmar’s military regime to crack down on anti-junta activities by leveraging personal data, analysts and pro-democracy activists said Monday. On Sept. 19, the Department of Post and Telecommunications under junta’s Ministry of Transport and Communications announced that it will cancel all SIM cards that haven’t been registered with a national ID card and confiscate any remaining balance on the cards. The announcement said that junta authorities will check the registered data against Myanmar’s census data, and warned that any telecom operators or SIM card vendors found in violation of the new registration system will be subject to prosecution. Speaking to RFA Burmese on Monday, observers and analysts said that the military regime is trying to weaken anti-junta movements by cutting off their support network. “They say this kind of thing is for the sake of the people’s security, but it is obvious that they don’t care about that,” said one participant in a resistance movement, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. “This is just an attempt to facilitate finding, arresting and suppressing those engaged in resistance activities. It’s all about making it easier to identify the user of a specific phone SIM card if [authorities] receive information about activities associated with that number.” The resistance member noted that the military has also tightened its control over routes used for transporting food supplies to fighters with anti-junta People’s Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary groups that it has been unable to defeat militarily. A resident of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city, told RFA that while the governments of many countries require that people register their identity before they can purchase a SIM card, the junta intends to use the information to crush those who challenge its rule. “It is crucial that this information is only in the hands of credible organizations,” the resident said. “There is no more security [under the junta]. Anything could happen if this data is in the wrong hands. At the least, it could lead to extortion. We have heard of scammers contacting cellphone users to say that their number is on a wanted list and demanding money to remove it.” Control of telecom sector Nearly a year after the military seized control in Myanmar in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup, Norway-based telecom operator Telenor shut down its operations in the country, citing growing challenges in terms of compliance with rules and regulations. In the months following the coup, the junta had barred senior executives of major telecoms, including Telenor, from leaving or entering the country freely without obtaining special permission. And in July 2021, the junta reportedly ordered the firms to track the devices of political dissidents and report on their behavior. A company named Shwe Byine Phyu, with reported ties to top junta leaders, has since stepped in to provide telecom services in Telenor’s place under the brand “Atom.” Recently, Qatar-based telecom operator Oredoo, which is the third most popular brand in Myanmar, also sold its investments for U.S. $576 million to Singaporean company Nine Communications, reportedly owned by a Myanmar national who is close to the military. Junta authorities have allegedly pressured the two telecom operators to install surveillance software in their equipment that will allow them to identify users and intercept their signals. Cellphone users in Myanmar now have no choice but to use the services of telecom providers MPT and Mytel, which are officially controlled by the junta, or Oredoo and Atom, which are believed to be controlled by military-aligned entities. An IT expert who spoke on condition of anonymity told RFA on Monday that the new SIM card regulations will give the junta control of cellphone users’ personal data and make it easier for authorities to make arrests. “They can’t use surveillance on individual citizens, so they are trying to collect all information related to SIM cards,” he said. “I assume they have ordered software to be installed to tap phone conversations and track cellphone users. This is very dangerous.” Activists at risk Myo Swe, the director general of Myanmar’s Department of Post and Communications, which is now under junta control, dismissed concerns about the new SIM card registration system. “This is normal procedure. We are cross checking the cellphone users’ information with that in the immigration database,” he said. “We are only making this announcement so that users can register more accurately. This process will eventually allow for smoother transactions using mobile finance and other services.” Myo Swe refused to comment when asked by RFA whether the regulation had been introduced to deter resistance activities. Sai Kyi Zin Soe, a political analyst, told RFA that the new registration system will put activists at risk, noting that the junta canceled hundreds of accounts for mobile money transaction services in September. “This is extremely dangerous for those engaging in anti-junta activities,” he said. In addition to shutting down accounts used for mobile money transactions, the junta has also blocked cellphone and telephone services and humanitarian assistance in Sagaing and Magway regions and Chin state, where its troops have encountered some of the strongest resistance to its rule. According to data provided by telecom operators in Myanmar – a country of 54.4 million people – 20 million people own MPT SIM cards, 18 million own Atom SIM cards, 15 million own Oredoo SIM cards and 10 million own Mytel SIM cards. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung for RFA Burmese. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Infuriated with Mahsa Amini protests Iran raids Kurdish in Iraq

Editor3 years ago3 years ago17 mins

Iran has hurled missiles and drone strikes across the border into Iraq’s Kurdistan region – killing nine people. The raid comes after the Iranian regime accused Kurdish militias there of stoking turmoil that has rocked the Islamic republic. Dozens of protestors have been killed in demonstrations following the death of Masha Amini, who was killed after being violently apprehended in Tehran for breaching Iran’s strict rules on the hijab. Protests were held for the twelfth night in a row yesterday, despite internet restrictions designed to stop gatherings and contain images of the unrest from being published.Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused Iraq-based Kurdish groups of ‘attacking and infiltrating Iran from the northwest of the country to sow insecurity and riots and spread unrest’. According to Iraqi Kurdistan authorities, “A barrage of missiles and drones killed 9 and wounded 32“. A senior Kurdish official told our associate AFP that there were ‘civilians among the casualties’. In Baghdad, Iraq’s federal government summoned the Iranian ambassador over the strikes, while the UN mission in Iraq condemned the attack, saying, “rocket diplomacy is a reckless act with devastating consequences”. The United States said it ‘strongly condemns’ Iran’s deadly strikes in Iraqi Kurdistan and warned against further attacks. ‘We stand with the people and government of Iraq in the face of these brazen attacks on their sovereignty,’ State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, called on Iran’s hardline President Ebrahim Raisi not to use disproportionate force against protesters. Amini had been visiting Tehran with her family on September 12 when she encountered Iran’s notorious ‘Guidance Patrol’ – widely referred to as the morality police – and died after a violent blow to the head. The woman was arrested along with her brother and female relatives after leaving an underground station despite being ‘dressed normally’, one of Amini’s cousins said. ‘The police officer told (her brother), ”We are going to take her in, instill the rules in her and teach her how to wear the hijab and how to dress” Amini’s cousin “Woman, Life, Freedom!” has been the rallying cry in the protests since Amini’s death as women have burned their headscarves in bonfires or symbolically cut off their hair, cheered on by crowds. But Iranian riot police have been deployed in their droves to force protestors to abate. One clip obtained and shared by Radio Farda – a US-funded Persian station based in Prague – showed officers in black body armor shooting up at apartment windows in Tehran’s Ekbatan Town, one of the dozens of places demonstrations have erupted. “We are increasingly concerned about reports of rising fatalities, including women and children, related to the protests,” the UN chief’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. Fars news agency said Tuesday that around 60′ people had been killed since Amini’s death on September 16, up from the official toll of 41 authorities reported on Saturday. But the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said the crackdown has killed at least 76 people. More than 1,200 arrests, mostly of activists, lawyers, and journalists, have been made by Iranian police since the protests began, according to authorities, after Iranian judiciary chief, Gholam hossein Mohseni Ejei stressed ‘the need for decisive action without leniency’ against any who are seen to be instigating protests. Attempts by the Iranian authorities to limit the protests have drawn condemnation from around the world. Tensions with Western powers have grown this week, with Germany summoning the Iranian ambassador, Canada announcing sanctions, and Tehran calling in the British and Norwegian envoys. The condition of women in Iran has been miserable due to draconian Hijab Rules and cruel Hijab Police. Spain on Wednesday summoned the Iranian ambassador to express its “objection to the repression of the protests and the violation of women’s rights”. Meanwhile, the son of Iran’s late shah hailed the protests as a landmark revolution by women and urged the world to add even more pressure on the current clerical leadership. Reza Pahlavi, whose father was toppled in the Islamic Revolution of 1979, called for greater preparation for a future Iranian system that is secular and democratic. Other governments must stand with these courageous protesters and hold Iranian officials to account for their abuses US think-tank Freedom House

Targeted sanctions on arms sales key to ending violence in Myanmar: observers

Editor3 years ago08 mins

Myanmar’s junta is using weapons purchased from abroad to commit “war crimes” against its people and must be targeted with new sanctions to end violence in the country, former military officers and political observers said Monday. On Friday, the United Nations human rights office in Geneva said in a report that countries should do more to prevent money and arms from reaching the junta, which rules through terror and repression. The office called for further isolation of the military regime, which it said had failed to govern effectively, suggesting U.N. members impose bans on arms sales and more narrowly defined sanctions to prevent its business network from gaining access to foreign currency. While the U.S., Britain, Canada and the EU have imposed sanctions on Myanmar since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup, several countries have continued to supply the junta with arms — most notably Russia, China and Serbia. Speaking to RFA Burmese on Monday, former army Capt. Lin Htet Aung, who is now a member of the anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), said sanctions are key to cutting the junta off from the modern weapons and raw materials it needs to maintain its hold on power. “The military’s domestic production capacity cannot provide all the weapons it needs for the army,” he said. “Missiles and heavy weapons and their accessories, as well as ammunition used by its armed forces, are all imported from abroad. All these things, as well as raw materials, have to be purchased from foreign nations.” The CDM captain said the military will continue to commit human rights violations, including bombing attacks on towns and villages, if the international community fails to level effective sanctions. On June 18 last year, the U.N. General Assembly approved a proposal to ban arms exports to the Myanmar military. One hundred and nineteen countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 36 countries — including China, India and Russia — abstained. Russian ally Belarus voted against it. Myanmar junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and his team inspect weapons and equipment at the Higher Military Command School in Novosibirsk, Russia, July 16, 2022. Credit: Myanmar military Ineffective sanctions Observers told RFA that the junta continues to obtain military equipment and technology via large domestic and international arms brokering companies. Hla Kyaw Zo, a Myanmar political analyst based in China, said sanctioning these companies would have a significant effect on ending the junta’s domination. “Western countries consider their own interests and big arms companies are more or less connected with the Western world, so this issue is difficult to discuss,” he said. “If the West blocks [these sales] effectively, it’ll be good, but I don’t think they will press on the issue.” According to a list compiled by NGO Justice For Myanmar, there are more than 150 companies selling arms to Myanmar’s military, 135 of which are based in Myanmar, Russia and Singapore. Yadana Maung, the group’s spokeswoman, told RFA that many companies have been able to evade Western sanctions, meaning financial and military support continues to flow to the junta. Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayningha Strategic Studies Institute, which is made up of former military officers, said using human rights to justify sanctions against Myanmar is “weakening the defense of the country.” “All we have heard so far is the noise they’re making about human rights,” he said. “In reality, what we understand is that they are using that premise to allow those who are pulling the strings to obtain more power.” He said the junta will continue to purchase arms from its allies despite attempts to block them. Propping up a brutal regime In February, former U.S. Rep. Tom Andrews, who serves as U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said in a report to the U.N. Security Council that countries should stop selling arms to the junta, citing a brutal crackdown on civilians since the coup. The report called out permanent Security Council members China and Russia, as well as India, Belarus, Ukraine, Israel, Serbia, Pakistan and South Korea, for selling the weapons, which Andrews said are almost certainly being used by the military to kill innocent people. However, analysts say it is unlikely that the sale of arms to the junta can be cut off completely as Russia and China, which are its main suppliers, wield veto power at the Security Council. In the meantime, junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing has visited Russia three times in the 19 months since the coup. During his last trip, earlier this month, he signed an agreement with Russian government officials to build a nuclear reactor factory in Myanmar. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

Newly arrived Rohingya refugees say hundreds want to leave Myanmar

Editor3 years ago3 years ago012 mins

Hundreds of people were waiting to cross into Bangladesh from Myanmar, a small group of newly arrived Rohingya told BenarNews, amid fierce fighting close to the border that has sparked diplomatic protests over reports of artillery and mortar shells landing in Bangladeshi territory. One of the new arrivals said he saw “several hundred” people clustered along a river that separates Cox’s Bazar district in southeastern Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and who were trying to cross the frontier several days ago. It was not immediately clear what happened to those other people apparently displaced by intense clashes in recent weeks between Burmese junta forces and Arakan Army (AA) rebels. In Bangladesh, where the government has tightened security along the border amid the violence in Rakhine, authorities have not confirmed reports of any new refugee arrivals or influx into Cox’s Bazar. Meanwhile, a Rohingya leader said that at least five Rohingya fleeing Myanmar had arrived at a Cox’s Bazar camp in recent days. “Two Rohingya families of five people, including two infants, have taken shelter at the Lambasia camp in Ukhia,” Muhammed Jubair, secretary general of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), told BenarNews. The adults were identified as Abul Wafa, his wife, Minara, and another woman, Dildar Begum. Wafa said they fled from Buthidaung in Myanmar on Sept. 6 as junta and AA forces clashed. “The junta started torturing the Rohingya in Buthidaung,” he told BenarNews. “That’s why we came to Bangladesh to save our lives, but we are also hiding here.” “When we were entering Bangladesh, we saw several hundred Rohingya people, mostly women and children waiting to leave near the Naf River,” Wafa said. Two days earlier, on Sept. 4, the Foreign Ministry issued a news release expressing “deep concern” over mortars that reportedly landed on the Bangladeshi side of the frontier the day before. The release noted that Myanmar Ambassador U Aung Kyaw Moe was summoned regarding the incident, just as he had been summoned on Aug. 21 and 28. “During the meeting, the ambassador was also told that such activities are of grave threat to the safety and security of the peace-loving people, violation of the border agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar and contrary to the good neighborly relationship,” the ministry said. On Tuesday, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said he expected firing inside Myanmar along the border to end soon. “We heard that a group called Arakan Army was fighting with the government forces inside Myanmar. When the government forces attack the Arakan Army, some shells land inside our territory,” he told reporters. “Our Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), as well as Foreign Ministry, have strongly protested the incidents by calling the ambassador of Myanmar.” Refugees’ accounts Jubair said Wafa and the others sheltered with a relative after arriving in Bangladesh before moving into another camp. Wafa said his group gave a boatman a piece of gold jewelry to carry them across the Naf River because they had no money to pay him. Dildar Begum, 22, said her husband, Syed Ullah, was killed by the “Mogh army” a month ago. She was referring to the Arakan Army although “Mogh” is a term that Rohingya also often use to refer to the Burmese military. “I fled with Wafa’s family to Bangladesh as there was no other option for me,” she told BenarNews. In Rakhine state, an official with the AA rebels denied that the group was targeting members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority. “The allegations on AA targeting Muslims are not just wrong but baseless accusations, because the fighting [in the state between Arakan Army and junta troops] has been more than a month,” Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the rebel group, told RFA Burmese. “We want to question back, did you guys see or hear any report of a Muslim killed or injured by the fighting? Did you hear any report or see anyone saying there was a shell or a bullet from AA falling in a Muslim village so far? Otherwise, it is just an accusation with other intentions to defame our organization.” Despite the claims made by the Rohingya, Md. Shamsud Douza, Bangladesh’s commissioner for Refugee Relief and Repatriation, said there was no official information about any new arrivals from Rakhine state infiltrating Bangladesh territory. “Clashes are occurring between two groups in Myanmar. It is very normal that it will create some tension on our border as a neighboring country,” he told BenarNews. “Our decision is very clear – we cannot allow even a single Rohingya to enter Bangladesh.” Robiul Islam, additional superintendent of police, said his unit was “not sure about a fresh entry of Rohingya but we are looking into the matter.” Sheikh Khalid Mohammad Iftekhar, a senior official of Border Guard Bangladesh, said the border police force had tightened security at the frontier to prevent any attempts by refugees to enter the country. From January to June, 478 Rohingya were denied entry and four were arrested, according to the BGB. Repatriation hopes A Rohingya who lives in Maungdaw, Myanmar, and asked to not be named for security concerns, said that the increasing conflict in the state had dampened Rohingya hopes for repatriation. “It will be difficult for them to return in this situation. The current situation will not allow them to come here,” the resident told RFA. “The situation here is not very good. There is no security. People here are fleeing to other areas because fighting is going on. In this situation, they will not be able to come back.” Fighting between the military and the AA resumed in July. Oo Maung Ohn, a resident of Maungdaw Township, blamed the resurgence in Rakhine State after a nearly two-year ceasefire on the junta. “Do you know why all this fighting resumed? They (the junta) closed the roads and started the fighting and they arrested many innocent people,” he told RFA. “They arrested village administrators, questioned them and hit them.” Rakhine State Attorney General Hla…

The devastating hyperinflation in the post COVID world

Editor3 years ago9 months ago019 mins

Countries are in shambles in the post COVID world due to hyperinflation. China, India and Japan bounced back but not all!!

Video shows Vietnamese workers making dramatic escape from casino in Cambodia

Editor3 years ago09 mins

A video reportedly showing dozens of Vietnamese workers making a dramatic escape from a Chinese-managed casino in Cambodia has prompted new questions about worker abuse as a U.N. human rights official tours the country. More than 42 Vietnamese workers escaped from the Koh Thom casino complex in Kandal province in Cambodia as seen in the video posted by media outlet VnExpress on Aug. 18. The video shows the workers jumping into a river, chased by guards swinging metal rods. Cambodian authorities have detained the Chinese manager as it investigates allegations of forced labor and worker abuse. One person had been recaptured and another was missing in the river, VOD reported on Monday. A 16-year-old worker from Vietnam’s Gia Lai province was found dead in the Binh Di River, which the workers had jumped into as they fled the casino, the Vietnamese news outlet VnExpress reported on Aug. 20. Authorities also have arrested two Vietnamese in neighboring An Giang province, across the border from Kandal, for their alleged role in helping Vietnamese illegally enter Cambodia to work. Kandal provincial prosecutor Ek Sun Reaksmey told VOD that authorities were preparing to send back to Vietnam the one person who was recaptured by the Pacific Real Estate Company, registered under the name Tai Ping Yang Fang Di Chan Wu Ye Guan Li. The workers ran from the company’s building. The incident comes as more attention is focused on Chinese-run casinos in Southeast Asia and allegations of business scams, prostitution and worker abuse, including holding employees against their will. Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng ordered immigration officials and police officers to develop a plan to fight human trafficking, which plagues the region. Sar Kheng addressed the casino workers escape with the press on Aug. 18 after an inter-ministerial agency meeting at the Interior Ministry on fighting human trafficking. “We went down there to see the situation. It was not entirely true, but partly true,” he said. “Our mission is to rescue the victims and bring the ringleader to justice.” Sar Kheng said that authorities had arrested a “ringleader or manager” and have some of the workers involved in a case in Kandal’s Chrey Thom village. “Preliminary information regarding the swimmers to Vietnam [is that] they may have come to work illegally,” he said “When it came to arguing over salary or other issue, they ran away and swam across the canal to Vietnam.” Kandal Gov. Kong Sophoan wrote on Facebook that he led a delegation to review the dispute between the foreign workers and the company at the Pacific Real Estate Company in Chry Thom village in Koh Thom district. “I had a meeting with the company and encouraged them to abide by Cambodian laws and the Constitution, respect their business licenses, and absolutely not engage in human and drug trafficking,” he wrote. “Regarding the Vietnamese people who escaped the workplace and swam to Vietnam, the authorities must continue to investigate according to the law,” he wrote. Tricked into working there Two workers told VnExpress that they were tricked into working at the casino and then exploited. One woman said employees had to create fake social media profiles and find people to buy into a phony dating platform or risk beatings. Kouch Chamroeun, governor of Preah Sihanouk province also known for its Chinese-run casinos and related crime, told Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, on Aug. 19 that there is no human trafficking in Sihanoukville, a popular coastal destination for tourists. Muntarbhorn, who was appointed to his position in March 2021, is touring the country from Aug. 15 to Aug. 26, his first official visit. The U.N. envoy is meeting with government representatives, human rights defenders and other stakeholders to assess Phnom Penh’s efforts to safeguard human rights. During the meeting, Kouch Chamroeun claimed that authorities have investigated allegations workers were being illegally detained by businesses in Sihanoukville but found instead employees working normally, with some relaxing and playing on their cell phones, according to a Facebook post by the Preah Sihanouk provincial administration. The workers said the workers who had complained to the authorities that they were being detained against their will really just wanted to change workplaces, the governor added. Chhay Kim Khoeun, spokesman for Cambodia’s General Commissariat of National Police, did not respond to a request via the Telegram instant messaging service for an update on the investigation into the case. Chum Sounry, Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, could not be reached for comment regarding a request by Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Phnom Penh’s help in investigation into the case. On Monday, two people in An Giang province were arrested for their roles in the incident and charged with making arrangements for others to leave Vietnam illegally, according to state media. Nguyen Thi Le, 42, and Le Van Danh, 34, who both live in Long Binh town organized for six of the workers to be employed in the casino with “light workloads and high wages.” Le told authorities that in May an unidentified person in Cambodia had asked her to join him in bringing Vietnamese workers to Cambodia. She contacted Danh to help by picking up the workers and taking them to the riverbank where she would accompany them to Cambodia. Le said she received payment of 300,000 dong (U.S. $13) from the Cambodian man, of which she paid Danh 100,000 dong (U.S. $4.30). Translated by Sok Ry Sum for RFA Khmer and Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Interview: ‘It was the truest and most precious thing about that time’

Editor3 years ago010 mins

Three years after millions took to the streets of Hong Kong in protest at the city’s diminishing freedoms and to call for fully democratic elections, a new documentary is showing audiences around the world just what motivated them to risk arrest, injury or worse at the hands of riot police. Beijing has long claimed that the movement was instigated by “hostile foreign forces” who wanted to challenge and undermine the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by fomenting dissent in Hong Kong. But for documentary film-maker Ngan Chi Sing, the complex political and psychological forces that drove people to face down an increasingly repressive regime can be expressed as a single thing: love. And he’s not just talking about romance, although that did play a part. “There is also the love of one’s own land, love for this city, and the love of the older generations for our young people, for those Hongkongers who sacrificed [their well-being and freedom] for people they had never met and didn’t know,” Ngan told RFA in a recent interview. “I often say that this was the truest and most precious thing about that time, for me, anyway,” said Ngan, who goes by the English name Twinkle. Ngan started out with the intention of recording the protests, turning up at the front line, day in, day out, shooting intense footage of pitched street battles and chanting crowds, and interviewing young Hongkongers insistent that the government listen to their five demands: revoke plans to allow extradition to mainland China; allow fully democratic elections; release all protesters and political prisoners; chase down those responsible for police violence and stop calling protesters “rioters.” Then leader Carrie Lam eventually withdrew plans to amend the law to allow the extradition of alleged criminal suspects to face trial in mainland China, but not before the city had erupted in a summer of protest that saw crowds of one and two million people march through the streets, the occupation of the Legislative Council, and the defacement of the Chinese flag and emblems outside Beijing’s Central Liaison Office. But the city’s government — under intense political pressure from Beijing — has since gone full tilt in the opposition direction when it comes to the other four demands. Instead of an amnesty or an end to the government’s use of “rioters,” to describe the protesters, there is now an ongoing crackdown on peaceful political opposition and public dissent. Documentary film-maker Ngan Chi Sing. Credit: Ngan Chi Sing Why take the risk? More than 10,000 people have been arrested on protest-related charges, while the authorities are prosecuting 2,800 more under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020. Given the risks, why did so many turn out to defend themselves from behind makeshift barricades of traffic barriers, umbrellas and trash cans? It’s one of the first questions Ngan puts to a masked protester on the front line in 2019. “I am a Hong Konger born and bred, and Hong Kong is now under occupation,” comes the hoarse reply. Ngan started shooting the film during the last June 4 candlelight vigil for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, initially without any aim other than recording these events for posterity. He said he still recalls vividly that many participants that night in Victoria Park held their candle in one hand, and a leaflet calling for a public rally against plans to allow extradition to mainland China in the other. But he didn’t always feel a sense of journalistic separation from what he was filming. Filming in Sheung Wan on July 28, 2019, Ngan got a heavy dose of tear gas. “The front-line protesters pulled me into the umbrella barricade formation … sheltering me and washing my eyes so I could carry on filming that day,” Ngan he said. “This had a dramatic impact on me.” “I had previously been looking at these young people through my lens, like a journalist, to film the dangers they faced, and to see whether they were afraid,” he said. “But in that moment they rescued me, I became one of them.” A scene from “Love in the Time of Revolution.” Credit: Ngan Chi Sing Political asylum Ngan said he had very little experience of film-making or journalism before the protest movement, but after the incident in Sheung Wan, he decided to make a film from his footage. He shot footage and interviewed people for more than a year, until February 2020. In November 2021, fearing his materials would be confiscated by police, he brought everything to the U.K., where he is currently applying for political asylum. One of the things that struck him was the relative lack of experience of nearly everybody involved in the protests. As the movement’s “hands and feet” were increasingly being arrested and taken off to detention centers to await trial, new protesters took their place at the front line who were often younger and less experienced than their predecessors in the movement. Nonetheless, the movement embraced everyone, and it was this aspect that drove Ngan’s storytelling when cutting the film. “I am an amateur myself, and no one has heard of me,” Ngan said. “The people behind the scenes and the people I interviewed were amateurs too.” “So many people paid a price and are now silently living with consequences they should never have had to bear,” he said. “The political prosecutions are still happening.” Now in London, Ngan feels that he can give them the recognition that is their due. “These amateurs will never be in the spotlight, so I want to bring out their voices and their stories,” he said. “Love in the Time of Revolution” has screened at a documentary festival in Switzerland, a Hong Kong Film Festival in Sydney, and will premiere in the U.K. on Aug. 20. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Critics say Cambodia tries to trick UN official into believing it respects rights

Editor3 years ago3 years ago08 mins

Cambodian labor activists said a visiting United Nations human rights official was given the false impression that the country supports worker rights by authorities who paused a violent crackdown on a months-long protest by a group of former casino employees while the official toured the site. Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Cambodia, is on an 11-day official visit to the country, his first since assuming office in March 2021. His tour included a meeting with the group of former NagaWorld Casino workers who have been protesting since they were among 1,300 laid off by the casino in December 2021. The workers say they were unfairly fired and offered inadequate compensation. “I was pleased to be able to visit striking workers and see them exercise their freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly today,” Vitit Muntarbhorn wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. During the visit, the former workers were uncharacteristically allowed to protest directly in front of the casino on Wednesday and Thursday. United Nations Human Rights in Cambodia also monitored the protest on Wednesday, releasing video footage on Facebook with a statement acknowledging that the protest was peaceful. “The UN Human Rights Cambodia office welcomes today’s developments and looks forward to authorities continuing to protect strikers’ rights, including the right to #peaceful #assembly and #FreedomofExpression,” the statement said. But the scene has not alway been so peaceful. The striking workers have more typically been met by police officers, who often used violence to force the protestors onto buses, which would then shuttle them to quarantine centers on the outskirts of town on the premise that their protests violated COVID-19 prevention measures. Some strikers have been injured in the crackdown, now in its ninth month. One woman said she suffered a miscarriage as a result of her injuries inflicted by police. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, told RFA’s Khmer Service that the new hands-off approach to the worker over the past few days is a ruse intended to convince Vitit Muntarbhorn and the U.N. that Cambodia respects human rights, but things will return to normal once he leaves. “The government wants to save face and trick the rapporteur,” Rong Chhun said. “Please, Mr. Rapporteur, don’t believe this trick. … [Later] there will be more freedom restrictions.” The rapporteur’s presence alone was enough to get authorities to ease restrictions, Chhim Sithar, leader of the NagaWorld union that represents the strikers, told RFA. “Before the arrival of the rapporteur, there were serious violent attacks [on the strikers] which injured at least two women recently. It is completely different now,” she said. “We have observed that [Prime Minister] Hun Sen requested that [the rapporteur] report positive things about Cambodia, so violence has been reduced. This is just a show to make sure that the rapporteur can’t see factual events,” she said. Government supporters say that the special rapporteur is being shown the true Cambodia. “Those who accuse the government of faking respect for human rights are trying to create a toxic environment to destroy the government’s reputation,” Kata Orn, spokesman for the government-backed Cambodian Human Rights Committee, told RFA. He said that there is an understanding between the workers and the authorities that allows the workers to strike without any crackdown. Political analyst Kem Sok told RFA that the rapporteur should gather information from all the stakeholders before making any statement. “Hun Sen has no desire to respect human rights and democracy otherwise it is a threat to his power,” he said. U.S. delegation A group of U.S. lawmakers led by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) also visited Cambodia this week as part of their tour of Asia. During a meeting with more than a dozen government officials, Markey urged Cambodia to protect human rights, political freedoms and free speech. “Cambodians overcame decades of war and chaos that cost the country millions of lives, and deserve to enjoy the democratic freedoms they were promised. The government must release political prisoners, end the crackdown against opposition parties, and allow for freedom of expression and a free press,” Markey said in a statement. Markey also called for the release of Cambodian American activist Theary Seng, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for her outspoken opposition to Hun Sen. The delegation also met with opposition leader Kem Sohka, who is on trial for what critics say are politically motivated charges of treason. “I thank Mr. Kem Sokha for his bravery and willingness to continue to stand up for the rights of all Cambodians despite ongoing harassment by the government,” said Markey. “All charges against him should be dropped immediately, and he and the Cambodia National Rescue Party should be free to participate in elections.” Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Category: Middle East