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Category: South Asia

Effort to combat Southeast Asian haze hit by USAID shutdown

Editor07 mins

BANGKOK — An initiative to combat air pollution in Southeast Asia has suspended its work following U.S. President Donald Trump’s sudden halt to international aid – just as the peak season for health-threatening haze unfolds in the region. The program, a collaboration between the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, NASA and the now shuttered U.S. aid agency, used satellite technology and geospatial data to help countries respond to cross-border environmental hazards such as agricultural land burning and forest fires. It also monitored and forecast air pollution. The annual deterioration in Southeast Asia’s air quality began with a vengeance last month as toxic pollution shrouded cities such as Bangkok and Hanoi for a week. UNICEF, the U.N.’s agency for children, this week released data that showed that poor air quality remains the largest cause of child deaths after malnutrition in East Asian and Pacific countries. “The suspension of the project during the regional haze season is unfortunate and presents challenges,” the disaster center’s air pollution and geospatial imaging expert, Aekkapol Aekakkararungroj, told Radio Free Asia. “The immediate consequence is that some of the planned activities, such as data integration and capacity-building efforts with local stakeholders, have been delayed,” he said. “This could potentially slow down the development and dissemination of tools that support timely decision-making and response strategies.” The State Department said Jan. 26 it had paused all U.S. foreign assistance overseen by the department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, during a review to ensure projects are consistent with Trump’s foreign policy agenda. The decision froze humanitarian programs worldwide — from landmine removal to HIV prevention — that are crucial to developing nations. Most of USAID’s thousands of employees have been put on leave from Friday, according to a notice that is now the only information on USAID’s website. The U.S. also has announced its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, or WHO, and the Paris Agreement to limit the increase in average global temperature to less than two degrees Celsius. Aekkapol said the disaster center is seeking funding from other international donors and if successful could resume its air pollution work within a few months. “I am optimistic that our efforts to secure alternative funding and partnerships will help us regain momentum by April,” he said. Collaboration with NASA would continue, he said. Child deaths Poor air quality is a health and economic burden worldwide that weighs particularly heavily on lower-income regions such as Southeast Asia. Although deaths in Asia linked to air pollution have declined substantially over the past two decades due to better healthcare and reduced indoor use of fuels such as coal for cooking and heating, they remain at alarmingly high levels, UNICEF officials said at a press conference in Bangkok on Thursday. Toxic air is linked to about 100 deaths a day among children under five in East Asia and the Pacific, UNICEF said, based on data compiled by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Use of dirty fuels for cooking and heating at home accounts for more than half of the deaths. Fine particles in the atmosphere — the basis of Southeast Asia’s annual haze — from land burning and fossil fuel sources such as vehicle exhausts also are a culprit. Its accumulation over cities or the countryside can depend on weather conditions. RELATED STORIES Musk says US aid agency will be closed Hotline unlikely to suffice in Mekong battle against dry season air pollution Top polluting nations dispute climate accountability at international court About two thirds of children in the region live in countries where particulate matter levels in the air exceed WHO guidelines by more than five times. Progress over the past two decades in reducing child deaths from air pollution “represents truly what is possible if we can keep this trajectory going,” said Nicholas Rees, an environment and climate expert at UNICEF. Maintaining the progress depends on factors such as political will, the strength of efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and the capacity of health systems, he told RFA. “Without that, I fear progress will not only be slower in the years ahead, but we may even reverse some of the gains we have made,” he said. Edited by Mike Firn. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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4 forest fires erupt across Tibetan areas

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Four forest fires have erupted in various parts of Tibet over the past two weeks, with a major one in Kyirong county near the border with Nepal raging uncontained after it swept through 40 square kilometers (15 square miles), according to satellite images and sources with knowledge of the situation. Chinese state media has provided only general reports, with no casualty figures. Tibetan sources told Radio Free Asia that Chinese authorities have restricted local residents from sharing details about the disasters on social media. Four forest fires have erupted across Tibet, causing property damage and wildlife loss.The largest fire, which broke out Jan. 23, was burning in a heavily forested area of Kyirong county in Shigatse prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, or TAR, according to the sources, satellite images and a map from the NASA FIRMS, or Fire Information for Resource Management System. The region supports a diverse range of wildlife, including long-tailed gray leaf monkeys, leopards, musk deer, elk, peacock pheasants, snow chickens and herds of wild donkeys. It is also home to over 100 tree species, including rare varieties such as Tibetan longleaf pine, longleaf spruce and Himalayan yew. The locations, red marks, of active forest fires of the past 14 days in Tibet.(Planet Labs) Local Chinese officials said the cause of the fires was unknown and under investigation. Few firefighters dispatched The fires have continued to spread after two weeks because Chinese authorities dispatched only a few firefighters, according to the source outside Tibet but in contact with residents on the ground. “Chinese authorities have dispatched only a few firefighters so that the fire was not contained, even over 10 days after it first broke out,” the person said. Areas affected by the forest fire in Kyirong county, Tibet, are shown between Jan. 23 and Feb. 26, 2025, in this animation using imagery from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS).(Animation by RFA) In Gangri township of Bachen County in Nagqu in the TAR, one Tibetan netizen wrote on Chinese social media on Wednesday: “Even though it has been days since the first fire outbreak, there’s no help in extinguishing the fire. Who’s going to save us?” Past wildfires Wildfires have erupted in Sichuan’s Nyagchu county before. In December 2024, a blaze broke out on the mountains near Chuka town that took a week to put out. Another fire in March of that year resulted in significant property damage. Located in the hilly plateau area of northwest Sichuan, Nyagchuka county boasts a diverse and rich biodiversity due to its varied topography and climate. It is home to 196 species of large fungi, including 126 edible varieties, as well as an abundance of medicinal plants such as cordyceps, astragalus and fritillaria. Smoke rises from the forest fire in Kyirong county, Tibet, Feb. 3, 2025.(Planet Labs) The forest fire in Zamthang county, which occurred around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, reportedly threatened several surrounding villages as it spread. The Sichuan Provincial Forest Fire Brigade dispatched 495 people and 93 vehicles to the fire scene, official state media said. Additional reporting by Dolma Lhamo, Tsering Namgyal, Tenzin Norzom and Tashi Wangchuk. Edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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China thanks Thailand for scam crackdown; militia frees foreigners

Editor06 mins

MAE SOT, Thailand – Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked Thailand’s visiting prime minister on Thursday for a crackdown on scam centers in Myanmar a day after Thailand cut off electricity and internet services to five hubs for the illegal operations just over its border. As Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was meeting Xi in Beijing, a Myanmar militia allied with the junta released 61 trafficked foreigners from one of Myanmar’s major scam zones and handed them to Thai authorities over the border. Online fraud has mushroomed in parts of Southeast Asia over recent years, often relying on workers lured by false job advertisements and forced to contact people online or by phone to trick them into putting money into fake investments. Would-be investors have been cheated out of billions of dollars, with many perpetrators and victims believed to be from China, research groups say. Reports about the centers have hit the headlines in recent weeks after a Chinese actor was rescued from eastern Myanmar, alarming the public across Asia and leading to a rash of tour group cancellations to Thailand and raising the prospect of economic damage. Thai officials have also cited national security for their decision to cut electricity and internet to the enclaves in Myanmar, though they have not elaborated. Xi thanked the visiting Thai leader for her government’s action, China’s CCTV state broadcaster reported. “China appreciates the strong measures taken by Thailand to combat online gambling and phone and online scams”, CCTV cited Xi as saying. “The two sides must continue to strengthen cooperation in security, law enforcement and judicial cooperation” to “protect people’s lives and property,” Xi said. RELATED STORIES EXPLAINED: What are scam parks? Scam park victim returns to Hong Kong after Thai rescue China, Mekong countries agree to combat scam centers, arms trafficking Militia promises action With the pressure growing, the Myanmar militia group that has overseen and profited from the fraud operations in the Myawaddy region, the Border Guard Force, or BGF, sent 61 foreign workers to Thailand on Thursday and vowed to wipe out the illegal businesses. BGF spokesperson Lt.-Col. Naing Maung Zaw said the 61 foreigners, including some from China, were sent over a bridge across a border river from Myawaddy to the Thai town of Mae Sot. A Thai group that helps victims of human trafficking said 39 of those released were from China, 13 from India, five from Indonesia and one from Malaysia, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. Media photographs showed Thai officials speaking to the 61, who included some women, as they sat on rows of plastic chairs. Many of them wore blue surgical masks. Last month, BGF leaders said they had agreed with operators of the scam centers to stop forced labor and fraud, and Naing Maung Zaw repeated a promise to clean up his zone. “At some time, we will completely destroy this scamming business. That’s what we’re working on now,” he told Radio Free Asia, adding that the utility cuts had hurt ordinary people more than the scamming gangs. Thai Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai greeted the 61 as they crossed into Thailand. “Please feel free to give us information and cooperation which will be useful for eradicating this,” Phumtham told them. “Please inform everyone about the conditions there,” he said before the 61 were taken to an immigration facility for paperwork. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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China is deporting Tibetans trying to visit family in Tibet

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Read Ij-Reportika coverage of this story in Tibetan. Tashi, an ethnic Tibetan and Belgian citizen, was elated when he heard last November that China had expanded its visa-free stay to 30 days for 38 countries, including Belgium, from the previous 15 days. He immediately began making plans to visit relatives he hadn’t seen in 26 years, as the previous 15-day limit was too short a duration for such a long trip. As the departure day approached, Tashi — whose name has been changed for safety reasons per his request — was filled with “a mixed sense of excitement and apprehension,” he told Ij-Reportika. Tashi is one of several ethnic Tibetans who have been denied entry to China from European countries under this visa-free policy. When in late January Tashi boarded his flight from Brussels to Beijing, he envisioned taking a connecting flight to Chengdu, from where he expected to make the 20-hour drive to his hometown in the historic Amdo region in Qinghai province. “After 26 years, I thought my dream of returning had finally come true,” he said. “I imagined celebrating Losar [the Tibetan New Year] with my family, attending the Monlam Festival, and revisiting the place where I grew up.” “But mine was a journey interrupted,” he said. Signs mark the immigration section at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, January 2025.( Ij-Reportika) At least six Chinese officials took turns grilling him in a small room for 18 hours, Gyatso said. They questioned him on a range of subjects, including his escape from Tibet to India in 1994, his move to Belgium and his citizenship status there, and details about his relatives’ professions. Afterwards, the officials told him that he would not be allowed to return to his hometown because they found a photo of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan national flag — both banned in China — when searching his belongings and mobile phone. Queried about Dalai Lama links Similarly, in the case of Tashi, officials repeatedly accused him of being a follower of the Dalai Lama. He told Ij-Reportika that authorities accused him of being part of a campaign under the Dalai Lama, as seen by Beijing, to split Tibet from China, even though his work focuses solely on Tibetan language and culture. “This made me realize just how important my work is and knowing my work is meaningful and effective strengthens my resolve to do more,” Tashi said. <imgsrc=”” alt=”Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, offers blessings to his followers at his Himalayan residence in Dharamsala, India, Dec. 20, 2024.” height=”960″ width=”1500″>Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, offers blessings to his followers at his Himalayan residence in Dharamsala, India, Dec. 20, 2024.(Priyanshu Singh/AFP) During more than eight hours of questioning, Tashi was asked about items among his belongings, apps on his mobile phone and the volunteer work he’d been doing in Belgium since 2006 concerning the preservation of Tibetan cultural and linguistic identity. “With each passing minute, they probed deeper, inquiring about every activity I had been involved in while volunteering in Belgium,” he said. Despite the quizzing, officials already “seemed to know every detail, right down to specific dates” about his activities, he said. When authorities informed Tashi that he needed to return to Belgium, they confiscated his passport and flight tickets and escorted him to immigration where he had to wait for another 13 hours without food or drink. “With nowhere to get sustenance, I sat there feeling helpless,” Tashi said. The Belgian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an Ij-Reportika request for comment. Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Ij-Reportika via email that the Chinese government does not engage in any discrimination with regards to its visa-free policy. “The Chinese government administers the entry and exit affairs of foreigners in accordance with the Exit and Entry Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China and other laws and regulations,” Liu said. “Patriotic overseas Tibetans are an important part of the overseas Chinese community,” he added. “The Chinese government has always been very caring about their situation, and there is certainly no discrimination.” Additional reporting by Tsering Namgyal, Tenzin Tenkyong and Dickey Kundol. Edited by Tenzin Pema for Ij-Reportika Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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In the Myanmar military, life insurance for soldiers isn’t paying out

Editor011 mins

Part of a three-story series to mark the fourth anniversary of Myanmar’s 2021 coup, looking at how the military treats its own soldiers. The 2021 coup that plunged Myanmar into civil war has been a disaster for its military. It has lost control of much of the country, and thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded in the face of rebel advances. That’s also made it one of the riskiest places on Earth to enlist as a soldier – one where life insurance sounds like a sensible idea to those on the front line and a risky business for those offering it. Not so Myanmar, where members of the armed forces are required to take out life insurance provided by a company run by the son of army chief and coup leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. The scheme is operated by Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance, or AMMMI, established in June 2013, when Myanmar opened up life insurance to the private sector. The company, however, is believed to be a subsidiary of Myanmar Economic Corporation, one of the military’s two sprawling business conglomerates. Myanmar military chief Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw on June 10, 2017, at a donations event for victims of the military transport plane crash in the Andaman Sea.(Aung Htet/AFP) “It should surprise nobody that control of the military life insurance policies for Myanmar’s army rests with the son of Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Corruption in Myanmar’s military flows from the top down,” said political analyst Jonah Blank from the Rand Corporation, a think tank partially funded by the U.S. government. “Corruption permeates every rank, with profits flowing straight to the top,” he told RFA. RELATED STORIES ‘My father’s death wasn’t worth it’: Poverty awaits families of Myanmar army dead Myanmar’s forced conscription: How the junta targets young men for military service ‘We protect the family’ Former Maj. Tin Lin Aung, who defected from the military after the coup, said a service member starts paying premiums with their first paycheck, and the policy’s beneficiary is their spouse or other nominated family members. Ei Ei Aung, an independent online insurance agent, said that when life insurance was operated by state-run Myanma Insurance soldiers would be fully covered in the event of their death as soon as they submitted their first premium. Things became more flaky when Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance, whose motto is “We Protect the Family,” took control. 10,000 kyat banknotes currently in use in Myanmar.(RFA) Aung Myint Moh Min has a variety of policies catering for different ranks. Payouts on maturation of a policy or the death of the policyholder start as low as $110. Those cost the equivalent of $1.55 to $2.65 per month, depending on the lifespan of the policy. There are policies offering higher payouts with higher monthly premiums. RFA could not find publicly available financial information about the current operations of AMMMI, but if the number of military personnel is estimated at 130,000 and each person contributed $2 a month in premiums, the Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance company would be raking in more than $3 million a year in life insurance premiums. Concerns over the life insurance have intensified in the past four years since the coup, as conflict has escalated across Myanmar, and the military’s casualties have mounted. Insurance agent Ei Ei Aung told RFA there are many ways the company avoids paying out. “In the military, there are numerous cases where families of deceased soldiers fail to claim compensation,” she said. “This may be due to family members being unaware of the soldier’s death, lack of notification from responsible superiors, or insufficient communication. As a result, many compensation claims go unprocessed and are ultimately lost,” she said. Aung Myint Moh Min Insurance Company deducted a 25,000 Myanmar kyat ($11.93) monthly premium for life insurance from a captain’s August salary in 2020. Capt. Zin Yaw, who left the Burmese military in 2021, provided this document to RFA.(Zin Yaw) Missing out Relatives of Min Khant Kyaw, a 23-year-old from Ayeyarwady region, learned from authorities in November of his death in the military, without saying how, when or where he died. It was the first time the family had learned he was even in the military. Now they say they don’t know how to claim any benefits for him as they have no idea which unit he fought in. “The key issue is that the person connected to the deceased must be aware of the death and notify the insurance company,” Ei Ei Aung said. “If a death goes unreported, the family of the deceased misses out on significant rights as well. As a result, even though it is undeniable that these people have died, many do not receive the benefits they are due.” This is not the only benefit that the junta or its associates are accused of pocketing. Former and current soldiers told RFA that deductions from their salaries were made to buy shares in the two military-run conglomerates, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation, which have interests in everything from banking to mining and tobacco, and tourism, and are a direct source of revenue for the military. In 2020, Amnesty International released documents showing that MEHL had funneled up to $18 billion in dividends to the military. According to military defector Capt. Lin Htet, soldiers are coerced into buying shares according to a sliding scale according to rank, requiring payments of between 1.5 million and 5 million kyats ($110 and $330). Capt. Zin Yaw, another defector, said the practice has been that if foot soldiers can’t come up with the full amount on the spot, deductions are taken from their pay. Before the coup, annual dividends were paid to soldiers in September each year, but defectors and serving soldiers have told RFA dividend payouts became sporadic after the coup and stopped altogether in 2023. “I left the army in 2023,” said Lin Htet. “From 2021 to 2023, MEHL paid us the benefit…

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Thousands of ‘Terrorism Suspects’ on ‘Shanghai List’ Include Uyghur Children, Elderly

Editor03 mins

>>> See the special page here. May 11, 2021 The recently leaked document provides new insight into how China characterizes extremist threats. More than three quarters of the names on a recently leaked Chinese government list of some 10,000 “suspected terrorists” are ethnic Uyghurs, while the document includes hundreds of minors and the elderly, providing rare insight into how Beijing characterizes threats it has used to lock up more than a million people. In 2020, a group of Australian hackers obtained the list, which was culled from more than 1 million surveillance records compiled by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau “Technology Division” and, after vetting it for authenticity, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) published it last month. The PSB unit is responsible for building databases and “image, wireless, and wired communication systems,” according to ABC, and experts say it most likely determines who should be placed on watchlists and further investigated as potential threats to the state. Most of the entries on the document, which RFA’s Uyghur Service has obtained a copy of and refers to as the “Shanghai List,” include dates of birth, places of residence, ID numbers, ethnicity, and gender of the individuals, nearly all of whom are referred to as “suspected terrorists,” although some are identified as having “created disturbances.” More than 7,600 of the people listed on the document are ethnic Uyghurs, while the rest are mostly Kazakh and Kyrgyz, fellow Turkic Muslims. The list, which analysts believe was compiled in 2018 at the latest, contains entries for individuals from all walks of life in Uyghur society, including ordinary citizens, children as young as five and six years old, senior citizens in their 80s, and Uyghurs who have lived and traveled abroad, as well as Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) who have never been abroad before. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Freeze to US aid hits Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar hard

Editor09 mins

On the Thai-Myanmar border, sick patients are being sent home from hospital. In Laos, school meals have been interrupted. And in Cambodia, hundreds of staff at the agency responsible for clearing land mines have been furloughed. The U.S. State Department on Friday in Myanmar due to AIDS, and testing and treatment programs have allowed hundreds of thousands to access antiretrovirals as well as lower the likelihood of contracting the virus in the first place. On Tuesday, the Trump administration issued a waiver permitting distribution of HIV medications, but this does not appear to restart broader preventative programs. In Bangladesh, where more than 1 million Rohingya who fled violence in Myanmar live in that has sent the cost of food and other basic goods skyrocketing. In Houaphan, which is one of the poorest provinces in the country, a school meals program has already had to scale back, according to a teacher who spoke to RFA on the condition of anonymity. Cambodia Like Laos, Cambodia still struggles with the legacies of decades of conflict as unexploded ordnance continues to maim and kill. The U.S. halt on funding demining programs is likely to set the government back in its goal to be mine-free by the end of the year. Chok Sopheap, then-executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, delivers a speech to mark International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023, in Phnom Penh.(Heng Sinith/AP) Heng Kimhong, executive director of the Cambodian Youth Network, said that the suspension of U.S. government assistance would reduce some of its activities related to youth empowerment and the ability to protect natural resources. A USAID fact sheet issued last year noted that deforestation contributed heavily to climate change in Cambodia, which is considered particularly prone to natural disaster. Still, Heng Kimhong said he was “optimistic” funding would be restored as the U.S. is “not a country that only thinks about itself,” he said. “The United States is a country that protects and ensures the promotion of maintaining world order, building democracy, as well as building better respect for human rights.” Tibet Tibet’s government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration, or CTA, represents the Tibetan diaspora and administers schools, health centers and government services for Tibetan exiles in India and Nepal. Several sources speaking on the condition of anonymity told RFA that the suspension affects programs run by the CTA, the Tibetan Parliament and a range of Tibet-related non-governmental organizations, raising concerns over the continuity of key welfare programs supporting Tibetans outside of China. An upcoming preparatory meeting for the Parliament-in-Exile was postponed as a result of the funding pause, sources told RFA. “The directive applies uniformly to all foreign aid recipients. Since Tibetan aid has been secured through congressional support and approval, efforts are underway to work with the State Department and relevant agencies to expedite the review and approval process for continued assistance,” Namgyal Choedup, the representative of the Office of Tibet in Washington, told RFA. A person holds an “Aid Tibet” sticker before a press conference to highlight the plight of Tibetans, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 2023.(Stefani Reynolds/AFP) Various Tibetan NGOs and activist groups based in India expressed their concerns about the impact of the freeze in foreign assistance programs and said they hoped it would be soon lifted. Gonpo Dhondup, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, emphasized the importance of U.S. aid for the Tibetan freedom movement and community stability. Tsering Dolma, president of the Tibetan Women’s Association, said assistance has been crucial for maintaining the exile Tibetan community. “Despite the 90-day suspension, I hope an alternative arrangement can be made to ensure continued U.S. support,” Tashi, a Tibetan resident in Dharamsala, told RFA. North Korea While the U.S. has long banned providing aid to the North Korean government, it has been a supporter of North Korean human rights organizations. Such programs help with global advocacy efforts on behalf of those living inside the closed nation, and also support refugees abroad. A representative from a North Korean human rights organization, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said the group received the stop-work order from their U.S. funders Saturday and requested an exemption waiver. “We will not be able to pay staff salaries, making furloughs or contract terminations inevitable. Backpay is also impossible because providing backpay would imply that employees worked during that period.” Ji Chul-ho, a North Korean escapee who is the director of external relations at the South Korea-based rights organization NAUH, told RFA he worried about the longer term impacts of such a pause. “While this is said to be a temporary suspension of grant expenditures, I worry that it will lead to a reduction in North Korean human rights activities and make it harder for various organizations to raise their voices collectively,” he said. Sean Kang, co-founder of the Ohio-based North Korea Human Rights Watch, told RFA a funding pause was hugely disruptive. “U.S. government projects related to North Korea require meticulous planning and scheduling, maintaining security, and being carried out cautiously over the medium to long term,” he said. “A three-month [pause] in such projects can cause significant disruptions, and if funding is ultimately canceled, all the efforts made so far could be wasted, leading to an even greater loss.” Reporting by RFA Burmese, RFA Khmer, RFA Korean, RFA Lao, and RFA Tibetan. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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About 5,000 people displaced by war return to Myanmar border town

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last month for the arrest of the junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in connection with the 2017 violence. The United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar has also vowed to investigate abuses by the AA. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Moveable feasts: Asia offers many ways – and dates – to celebrate the New Year

Editor07 mins

Hundreds of millions of people in China and other parts of East Asia are on the move this week to celebrate New Year’s with family gatherings, feasts and traditional activities honoring ancestors and hoping to bring good fortune. Colloquially known as “Chinese New Year,” the Lunar New Year falls on Jan. 29 this year, but it can come as early as Jan. 21 or as late as Feb. 20. In 2026, the holiday falls on Feb. 17. The variation is the result of using a lunar calendar based on the phases of the moon, modified into a lunisolar calendar that addresses leap years to keep it roughly in line with the solar year of the Western, or Gregorian, calendar. Most East Asian nations adopted the Gregorian calendar in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, and the lunisolar calendar is used for cultural events, religious ceremonies, and for some people, birthdays. A Chinese woman lights a prayer candle during a service at Dhanagun Vihara in Bogor, West Java, Jan. 28, 2025, on the eve of the Lunar New Year of the Snake.(ADITYA AJI, Aditya Aji/AFP) The reason “Chinese New Year” is a misnomer is that the holiday is also observed on the same date in South Korea and Vietnam –- two neighbors of China that were heavily influenced by Chinese culture centuries ago. Like China, they will ring in the Year of the Snake on Wednesday. In South Korea, the holiday is called Seollal and features a return to hometowns, the wearing of traditional hanbok attire, playing folk games, and performing rites and offering food to deceased relatives to honor the family lineage. Young people bow deeply before their elders and receive gifts and money, and rice cake soup is a main treat for the holiday, which is a three-day affair. Kim Dynasty and Tet North Korea, separated from the South in the wake of World War II in a division cemented by the 1950-53 Korean War, returned to the practice of celebrating the Lunar New Year in 1989, and made it an official holiday in 2003. But the most important holidays in North Korea focus on the birthdates of founder Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, the father of current leader Kim Jong Un. Even Lunar New Year is observed mainly by visits to statues of the two elder Kims. Tibetan women prepare for a ritual dance as they celebrate the Losar, or Tibetan New Year in Kathmandu, Nepal, Feb. 23, 2023.(Bikram Rai/AP) The ceremony Monlam (“Wish Path”) held at major monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism entails monks chanting and praying to bring peace and good fortune to their Himalayan region. The Uyghurs of the Xinjiang region, annexed by China in 1949-50, celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year. It falls on or near the Spring Equinox and will be observed on March 20 this year. The holiday is observed by various ethnic groups in countries along the Silk Road, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, central Asian states and Turkey. For the Uyghurs, facing repression under Chinese rule and heavy-handed assimilation policies, there is a strong emphasis on preserving cultural identity through gatherings, feasts of special food, music and dance. RELATED STORIES Cash-strapped Chinese take the slow train home for Lunar New Year China swamped with respiratory infections ahead of Lunar New Year travel rush In song and dance, Uyghurs forced to celebrate Lunar New Year Splashing water, Buddhist rites In Southeast Asia, while Vietnam follows the Chinese-inspired calendar and traditions, the traditionally Buddhist nations of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar mark the solar new year in mid-April, when the sun enters the sign of Aries the Ram. Revelers take part in mass water fights on the first day of Songkran, or Thai New Year, in Bangkok on April 13, 2024.(Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP) The people of Myanmar celebrate the Burmese New Year, called Thingyan, or Water Festival, by throwing buckets of water on each other and on Buddha images as an act of prayer to wash away misfortunes to welcome the new year. It falls on April 13-16 this year. Edited by Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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I was 10 when my father paid a smuggler to take me out of Tibet

Editor05 mins

When my editor asked me to report on the secret journey Tibetans take to escape into exile, I did not think that there was much worth writing about. It is the story of almost everyone in my community. It is not news, and we are in the news business. But as I reported the story, I could feel its power – and it reminded me of details of my own journey that I hadn’t thought about in years. I was born in Kham, in eastern Tibet, my parents’ first born. A brother and sister followed, and the five of us lived with two cousins in a home that sat in a valley where the Salween River flows, surrounded by farm fields and mountain peaks. My mom sold produce in a town closer to the border with China, and I remember her taking me with her to pick the fruit to sell, teaching me a little Chinese as we worked. When she sold the fruit, she would bring back Chinese toys. All the neighborhood kids would gather around to play with me and my new plastic guns and cars. I loved the attention the gifts from my mother brought me. Lobsang Gelek and his housemates at Kempty Falls in Mussoorie, India, during summer vacation in 2006.(Provided by Lobsang Gelek/RFA Investigative) I haven’t spoken to my family since then, though I occasionally get word through relatives also in exile that they are safe and healthy. I hope that sometimes they see videos I do for RFA or read articles I write and know that I am well. Back in Nepal and India reporting for RFA last year, I felt nostalgia and emotion I did not expect after one of the people I interviewed shared a similar story of having walked in the snow with little food. In just a few weeks, I’ll become a parent myself. As I approach fatherhood, I admit that sometimes I feel anger toward my father for his decision. But I try not to blame him because I know he did what he thought was best for me. And I think he did give me a brighter future – I would never have been here in the U.S., or met my beautiful wife, who, like me, was also smuggled out of Tibet as a child, if I had stayed back. Like all expecting parents, we’re anxious and excited for what’s to come. One thing I know for sure: I will never send my child far away from me. The pain of separation is something that lingers in your soul, until the moment you can be finally reunited. I still hope for that day. Edited by Jim Snyder and Boer Deng. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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