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Category: World

Pacific island countries facing faster sea level rise, UN says

Editor09 mins

The low-lying Pacific islands face severe threats due to rising sea levels, which are increasing quicker than anticipated, while heightened temperatures impact marine habitats, according to a new U.N. meteorological body report. The Pacific region is experiencing an approximate increase of 4 millimeters of sea level rise annually in certain regions, which is higher than the worldwide average of 3.4 mm per year, the World Meteorological Organization, or WMO, said in its 2022 State of the Climate report released on Friday. The Pacific islands most vulnerable to this rising sea level include nations such as Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, and the Maldives. These low-lying nations, often no more than a few meters above sea level, are alarmingly at the forefront of this crisis. Their unique geographies and limited land mass make them especially susceptible to even the slightest increase in sea level, threatening their very existence and the livelihoods of their residents. Separately, the report added that ocean heat and acidification threaten vulnerable marine ecosystems and their way of life. It said that weather-related disasters and climate change impacts are posing socio-economic risks and effects on key sectors like agriculture in the South-West Pacific region, which comprises all countries between Malaysia and Kiribati. The ocean absorbs over 90% of the surplus heat in our climate system, the WMO said, as the warming is responsible for about 40% of the average global sea-level increase due to the thermal expansion of seawater. It also impacts ocean currents and storm patterns. In 2022, the South-West Pacific experienced 35 recorded natural disasters that killed more than 700 people, with floods accounting for over 70% of these incidents, according to the report. These events impacted over 8 million individuals, inflicting an economic toll nearing U.S.$9 billion. In the Philippines and Fiji, storms were the predominant reason for the high death toll and the many affected individuals. A woman walks past a flooded market caused by monsoon rains and the recent typhoon Doksuri, in Balagtas, Bulacan province, Philippines, July 29, 2023. Credit: Reuters Even though the number of reported disaster events decreased in 2022, economic losses increased mainly due to a series of flooding events in Australia. Last year’s flood damage of U.S.$8.5 billion was over four times the 20-year average from 2002 to 2021. “Early warning is one of the most effective ways of reducing damage from disasters, as it empowers people to make risk-informed decisions for food security, as well as other sectors,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. “Despite continuous efforts to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems, the present report clearly shows that there are still significant gaps to be addressed to strengthen these systems to reduce the adverse impacts of hydrometeorological hazards in the region.” El Nino this year might make it worse The WMO said the three-year-long La Nina event, from 2020 to the start of 2023, had a temporary cooling influence, though 2022 still ranks within the top ten warmest years for the region, with the mean temperature of 0.2 to 0.3 degrees Celsius higher than during the last intense La Nina event in 2011. The report said that prominent marine heatwaves persisted for over six months in a vast region northeast of Australia and south of Papua New Guinea, specifically in the Solomon and Coral Seas. The region has now entered El Nino, which means drier and hotter weather. “This will have a big impact on the South-West Pacific region as it is frequently associated with higher temperatures, disruptive weather patterns and more marine heatwaves and coral bleaching,” said Taalas.  According to the WMO, the upper ocean (between zero and 700 meters below the surface) has warmed since 1993 in most of the Pacific’s South-West region. The report said that many regions in the Pacific region, including the Solomon Sea, Banda and Timor Seas, and regions east of the Philippines and the southern shoreline of Indonesia, have experienced significant warming, with the rates two to three times higher than the global average. The WMO said the glacier size in the western part of the Indonesian island of New Guinea decreased by 15% from 0.27 to 0.23 square kilometers between July 2021 and April 2022, while ice thickness dropped 24 meters from June 2010 to early 2021, with only 6 meters remaining in December 2022. July had warmest ocean temperature Earlier this month, another report from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, or C3S, said the global average sea surface temperatures continued to rise after a long period of unusually high temperatures since April 2023, reaching a new high of 20.96 degrees Celsius (69.73 degrees Fahrenheit) in July. Global ocean temperatures are usually warmest in March, so scientists say the record will likely keep increasing. Overall, the global mean sea surface temperature for the month surpassed the 1991-2020 average by 0.51 degrees Celsius, Copernicus said in its report on July 8. For July, the North Atlantic recorded temperatures of 1.05 C higher than usual, while marine heatwaves were observed south of Greenland, in the Labrador Sea, within the Caribbean region, and throughout the Mediterranean Sea. “These records have dire consequences for both people and the planet exposed to ever more frequent and intense extreme events,” said Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the C3S. “2023 is currently the third warmest year to date at 0.43ºC above the recent average, with the average global temperature in July at 1.5°C above pre industrial levels.” “Even if this is only temporary, it shows the urgency for ambitious efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which are the main driver behind these records,” she said. July also had the warmest global air temperature, according to the WMO. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

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Suu Kyi’s son urges young Burmese to ‘never give up’ on democracy

Editor018 mins

Radio Free Asia’s Soe San Aung spoke with Kim Aris, the son of former State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, last week.  Suu Kyi served as Myanmar’s de facto leader following national elections in 2015, which her National League of Democracy won by a landslide. The party also won the 2020 national elections, but the military seized power from the democratically elected government on Feb. 1, 2021.  The army immediately arrested civilian leaders, including Suu Kyi, who were in Naypyidaw for the convening of the newly elected lower house of parliament. She was held at Naypyidaw Prison until last month, when a source told RFA that she was relocated to “a more comfortable state-owned residence.” Aris is living in the United Kingdom and has been unable to contact his mother since the military coup. Aung San Suu Kyi smiles at her youngest son, Kim Aris, during their visit to Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar, July 12, 2011. Credit: Khin Maung Win/AP RFA: You’ve been involved in supporting the Burmese community in London and you’ve been finding funds to support back home. First, tell me what you’ve been doing to support the spring revolution, the nationwide wave of popular resistance to the Myanmar military following the 2021 coup.  Kim Aris: But I never really wish to be a public figure. I kind of already stand by and see what others do and what is needed. And as my mother’s son, I have a unique position whereby I can speak out to the world. Outside of the Burmese community, people aren’t very aware of what’s happening. So I’m doing what I can to raise funds and awareness for the cause.  RFA: As we know, your mother, Aung San Suu Kyi, was once given the chance to leave Burma, but chose to stay with the Burmese people over her family. How would you describe your mother?  Kim Aris: It always saddens and angers me that my mother has sometimes been portrayed as cold hearted because she was unable to be by my father’s side while he was dying. I was nursing him at that time, and I can say that he did not wish for her to return to England.  We wanted to be by her side in Burma. Unfortunately, the military couldn’t find it in their heart to allow him his dying wish. And from my point of view, I’ve never felt like she left me. I was with her when she was first put under house arrest in Burma. And it never felt like she abandoned me in any way.  Also in Burma, everybody’s now lost their parents to the military. It’s not as though I’ve actually lost my mother. People in Burma are going through far worse than what I have been through. It’s lucky for me that my mother left me here in England, where it’s safe. I feel privileged. Compared to what’s happening to the people in Burma, I have a very easy life. Aung San Suu Kyi smiles to supporters as she sees off her son Kim Aris at Yangon International Airport, Dec. 7, 2010. Credit: Khin Maung Win/AP RFA: Now your mother, Aung San Suu Kyi, is under house arrest again. Have you had any contact with her?  Kim Aris: As far as I’m aware, she’s not actually under house arrest. She’s in prison somewhere. The military has said that she’s been moved into house arrest, but there’s been no evidence that that’s actually the case.  I have had no contact with her. And the military hasn’t responded to any requests I have made for contact or to inform me of her whereabouts. In the past, I have had some contact when she was under house arrest in Yangon, but now I don’t know what condition she’s being kept under or where she is.  RFA: We are aware that you went to the Burmese embassy to give a birthday gift to your mother, but they didn’t let you in and they didn’t even say anything to you. How many times have you sent a request to the junta to get in contact with her?  Kim Aris: There’s actually very little point to corresponding with these people because I haven’t received any response ever. So I’ve tried various other avenues, such as through the British Foreign Office and via the International Red Cross, but they’ve had the same result, which is no response.  RFA: I’m sorry to hear that. But in the last amnesty, they commuted some of your mother’s sentence. What was your reaction?  Kim Aris: It’s a military gesture. The military has used these tactics in the past to try and appease the international community whilst they still continue to perpetrate all sorts of atrocities against their own people every day. And even with the reduced sentence, my mother would still be over 100 when she’s released.  RFA: So you’ve been back to Burma, like when your mother was released in 2010. What was your perception about the country?  Kim Aris: Well, obviously the situation there was incredibly sad, especially since the country was going through a period of development. There was a great deal to look forward to. Now, all of that has been taken away. The country has gone backwards since the coup. So it seems like it is worse now than it was back in 1988.  RFA: Yeah, it’s like the country is in chaos right now. You know, young people are fighting back for their freedom. What’s your point of view about today’s crisis? Kim Aris: Well, from what I can gather, the situation is not sustainable for anybody. The military aren’t as strong as people think they may be. They have lots of high tech weaponry, but they do not have the manpower that the people have. And I hope that this war cannot go on for too much longer. No more bloodshed.  But obviously, that’s not going to happen any time soon. Hopefully things will play out before…

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

Editor011 mins

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

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Escaped Taiwanese drug lord ran trafficking ops from Cambodia prison

Editor05 mins

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

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

Editor02 mins

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

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

Editor07 mins

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

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Landmine kills inmate and driver during Myanmar prison transfer

Editor03 mins

Two people died and five others were injured when the truck taking them from Sagaing region’s Monywa prison to prisons in Mandalay region hit a landmine, a member of a pro-democracy group told RFA Thursday. The 12-wheel truck was the lead vehicle in a convoy with four other military vehicles, taking around 100 political prisoners to Obo and Myingyan prisons on Wednesday afternoon. Civil Disobedience Movement doctor, 33-year-old Zaw Htwel Aung and the unnamed driver of the truck were both killed when the vehicle hit a mine near Monywa township’s Myay Ne village, according to Aung Nay Myo of the Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee. He said another political prisoner, Arkar Nyein Chan, who was shackled to the doctor was critically injured. Dr. Zaw Htwel Aung was serving a 10 year prison sentence for alleged terrorism offenses. Thike Tun Oo, a Political Prisoners Network official, told RFA the doctor died on the way to hospital.. “We know that about five people were critically injured along with him,” he said. “And we heard that another mine was triggered when they drove a bit further and about 20 more people were injured.” It’s not known who laid the landmines on the Sagaing-Mandalay road. The junta has not released a statement on the incident. RFA called the junta’s Sagaing region spokesperson, Tin Than Win, but there was no response. Three months earlier, two women political prisoners were injured when the vehicle they were in hit a landmine as it traveled from Monywa prison along the same road. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.

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

Editor07 mins

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

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Heavy artillery kills child in Myanmar’s Sagaing region

Editor03 mins

Junta heavy artillery killed a nine-year-old boy in Sagaing region’s Yinmarbin township, residents told RFA Wednesday. They said the boy, Kyaw Thiha, died Tuesday when a shell hit his home in Pay Kone village. Five other people were injured in the shelling and are being treated locally. Locals blamed the attack on troops who are providing security for the China-owned  Kyae Sin Taung and Letpadaung Taung copper projects situated nearby. The military commander of the anti-junta People’s Defense Force stationed between Yinmarbin and Salingyi townships told RFA there was no reason for the shelling because his force was not fighting with junta troops Tuesday. Bloodstains on Myauk Yamar bridge, Sagaing region, where locals believe junta troops killed three villagers they arrested five days earlier, August 16, 2023. Credit: Citizen journalist Separately, villagers found the bodies of three men near a bridge over the river that runs between Yinmarbin and Salingyi townships on Wednesday, a local eyewitness from Yinmarbin Township who didn’t want to be named for security reasons told RFA. “Three bodies were found near the Myauk Yamar bridge this morning,” he said. “Two can be confirmed to be from Lel Ngauk village and the whereabouts of the other one is still under investigation. The bodies were cremated this morning.” He identified two of the dead as 44-year-old Thein Wai and 47-year-old Kyaw Nyan. Residents say the villagers were arrested around five days ago when they encountered a column of nearly 100 troops heading towards Yinmarbin township. Photographs obtained by RFA show bloodstains on Myauk Yamar bridge which locals say indicate the men were killed there. The junta spokesperson for Sagaing region, Tin Than Win, told RFA that he didn’t know about the killing of the men or the shelling of Yinmarbin. Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

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

Editor05 mins

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

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