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Myanmar junta blocks fuel to eastern border scam center town

Editor07 mins

Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese Myanmar’s junta has blocked the supply of fuel to a town bordering Thailand where scam centers are rampant days after Thailand cut cross-border power, fuel and internet services to the lawless enclave where fraud and forced labor have thrived. The Myawaddy district is under the control of a pro-junta militia known as the Border Guard Force, or BGF, that has opened up its zone to criminal networks, many run by Chinese networks, which operate extensive “pig-butchering” online fraud operations. Thailand, facing damage to its tourist industry because of public alarm throughout Asia about forced labor in the centers, cut off electricity and the internet and blocked the supply of fuel to Myawaddy on Feb. 5. The Myanmar junta has also stopped fuel reaching Myawaddy from central Myanmar ports to replace the supplies blocked by Thailand, Myawaddy residents told Radio Free Asia. Myanmar military authorities were not letting fuel trucks through a checkpoint at a bridge on the road between the town of Kawkareik and Myawaddy, they said. “There’s no fuel at all in the town,” said one Myawaddy resident who declined to be identified for security reasons. “More than 40 boxers are stuck at the junta checkpoint,” said the resident referring to fuel trucks. “We do not know what’ll happen tomorrow.‘’ RFA tried to telephone the junta’s spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Htun, to ask about the fuel restriction but he did not answer. The scams, known as “pig butchering” in China, usually involve making contact with unsuspecting people online, building a personal relationship with them and then defrauding them. The centres are often staffed by people lured by false job advertisements and forced to work. The rescue of a Chinese actor from a Myawaddy fraud center last month raised international alarm about the centers, triggered the cancellations of Thai holiday plans by frightened Chinese tourists and encouraged the Thai government to act. Chinese President Xi Jinping thanked Thailand’s visiting prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra last Thursday for the crackdown. RELATED STORIES EXPLAINED: What are scam parks? South Korea jails scam group leader for 8 years over Laos, Myanmar operation Myanmar border militia emerges as nexus in regional scam network Pumps run dry Ordinary residents of Myawaddy say the restrictions on power and fuel are hitting them as well as the scam centers. “Many businesses rely on fuel for pumping water, for everything. So while cutting fuel will affect the scam gangs it also impacts the public,” said the town resident. One Myawaddy gasoline pump said it only had enough fuel for a car or two but that was sold out even though the price had nearly doubled to 10,000 kyat (US$5) a liter. In the area’s main hub for scam operations at Shwe Kokko, 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Myawaddy, the price of fuel rose to almost 20,000 kyat before it sold out. “In Shwe Kokko, there’s absolutely no fuel. You can’t use a car at all,” said the resident. The ethnic Karen BGF emerged after a split in Myanmar’s oldest minority insurgent force, the Christian-led Karen National Union in the 1990s. Buddhist breakaway fighters formed their own force and allied with the military, which granted them control of Myawaddy. Analysts say the junta has turned a blind eye to the scam centers, and profited from them, while the BGF has helped the military keep KNU forces out of the main crossing point for trade on the Thai-Myanmar border. Facing pressure from all sides, the BGF has promised to clean up its zone and stop fraud and forced labor. On Sunday, it ordered Chinese nationals working in online operations to leave the town of Payathonzu, on the Thai border to the south of Myawaddy, by the end of the month. The junta leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, said last week the military would take action against money laundering. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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New traffic edict is Vietnamese communists’ ‘mission civilisatrice’

Editor04 mins

A commentary by David Hutt As one theory goes, as a country becomes wealthier, its streets should become more orderly and safe. Or to use the favored word of the Vietnamese Communist Party, the roads need to become more “civilized.” Any visitor to Hanoi or Saigon, however, cannot help but notice that economic development hasn’t been coupled with vehicular orderliness. At least, that was until the authorities introduced a new edict at the beginning of January. Traffic fines have since risen tenfold, with the biggest tickets over US$1,500. Cars that don’t stop at red lights can be fined US$780, up from US$230 last year. Fines have also been increased for drunk drivers, those who park on the pavement, those speeding, etc, etc. According to local media, opening a car door in an unsafe manner will now result in a penalty of US$860, up from US$23. Vehicles wait at a red light at an intersection in Hanoi on January 8, 2025.(Nhac Nguyen/AFP) One question is how to tell whether the latest traffic edict has been a success or not. By the reduction in traffic-related accidents or deaths? By the severity of the fines imposed? A danger is that it becomes a numbers game. On the other hand, there’s a risk that conformity with the law only lasts for as long as the police keep issuing crippling penalties, which may not be for too long. I hear the police in Ho Chi Minh City are again allowing motorists to turn right at red lights at some intersections. When, in 2007, the government introduced a regulation requiring motorbike drivers to wear helmets, most responded with ironic obedience—they wore cheap, light-weight baseball-cap headgear that were in keeping with the letter of the law but not the spirit. No country’s police can enforce traffic regulations alone; it requires a majority of drivers to accept that laws about speeding or stopping at traffic lights or parking only in parking zones are more beneficial for the whole than the informal codes that regarded these as suggestions to be ignored when convenient. As has always been the case in Vietnam, any lasting change will have to come from the bottom up. David Hutt is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) and the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of Ij-Reportika. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Gyalo Thondup, Dalai Lama’s older brother, dies aged 97

Editor08 mins

Gyalo Thondup, an elder brother of the Dalai Lama who played a crucial role in the history of modern Tibetan, has died at his home in Kalimpong in northeast India aged 97. One of six siblings to the Tibetan spiritual leader, he leaves behind a legacy built on a lifetime of advocating against Chinese rule in Tibet. At different points in his life, Thondup made numerous – at times desperate – attempts to save Tibet’s traditional culture and self-governance, including seeking U.S. support for an armed resistance against the Chinese Communist regime, as well as through dialogue with Beijing, engagement with global leaders, and raising Tibet’s plight with the United Nations. Groomed from a young age to serve as an advisor to his younger brother, Thondup’s singular role in advancing the Tibetan cause – often as the unofficial envoy of the Dalai Lama – as well as his early efforts to reform Tibet’s social and political systems have been met with a mix of reverence and controversy. China’s Deng Xiaoping, 1978.(AP) The meeting gave rise to a series of formal negotiations between the Dalai Lama’s official envoys and the Chinese leadership that continued until they ground to a halt in 2010. Beyond his position as a brother to the Dalai Lama, he held high offices within the Tibetan government-in-exile, serving as Prime Minister in 1991 and Minister for Security from 1993 to 1996. Yet an account of his life – The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong, co-written with Anne Thurston and published in 2015 – reflects deepest on his most controversial role, as the linchpin of a secret U.S.-backed campaign to arm and train Tibetan resistance fighters from 1956 to 1974. ‘Chief architect’ of the Tibetan resistance When the People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet in 1949, Thondup was in Taiwan. Unable to return home, he went to the U.S., where an older brother, Thubten Jigme Norbu, had gone ahead to earlier, and was there introduced to contacts at the CIA, the American intelligence agency. But according to Thondup, it was not until 1956, when he had been living back in India and serving as a back channel source for what was going on in Tibet that the CIA approached him again with concrete plans to help train Tibetans to take up arms against the Chinese. “The CIA was prepared to train some of the freedom fighters as radio operators and guerrilla warriors,” he writes in Noodle Maker. “[U.S. Admiral] John Hoskins wanted me to introduce him to some of the Tibetan fighters. I was happy to oblige.” The resistance was not supported by the Dalai Lama, who as a figure of peace cannot back the taking up of arms on his behalf, but Thondup could. Beginning in 1957, he helped recruit fighters who would be sent to U.S. training camps in subsequent years. Some 200 fighters were eventually trained at Camp Hale, a secret location in Colorado. Many of these fighters were later airdropped into Tibet to set up radio communications with Langley, which has later been credited for enabling the timely asylum granted to the Dalai Lama after his flight into exile from Tibet. A 1963 brochure created by Ken Knaus and Tibetan trainees portrays Chinese leader Mao Zedong leading the destruction to Tibetan way of life.(STCIRCUS Archive of Tibetan Resistance via Hoover Institution Library & Archives) Though Thondup was one of several intermediaries between the Tibetan and U.S. governments, his status as the Dalai Lama’s brother meant that “in the eyes of the U.S. government, Gyalo was not just an intermediary; he was the chief architect of the Tibetan resistance,” according to Carole McGranahan, anthropologist and author several studies on Tibet’s resistance. But in his later years, he seemed to express some regret for trusting the Americans, who ended the training program by 1974 amid warming relations between Beijing and Washington during the Nixon era. His criticisms of the approach taken by the U.S. and other governments in turn created significant controversy around Thondup within the Tibetan community. Nevertheless, Thondup, in what may have been his last media interview, told RFA in November 2024: “My hope is that Tibetans work together in unity and harmony and make Tibet’s culture, Tibet’s situation known to the whole world, and without losing heart continue to find ways to overcome difficulties, so everyone please work hard.” Additional reporting by Passang Dhonden, Lobsang Gelek, and Passang Tsering; edited by Kalden Lodoe and Boer Deng We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Prime Minister Hun Manet, has your father incited violence or not?

Editor011 mins

A commentary by David Hutt When a footman finds a pest in the pantry, does he ask the King whether he should stamp on it? What about if the King has been speaking for years about the need to “crush” and “destroy” and “eliminate” pests that infect his palace? Early last month, a former Cambodian opposition politician, Lim Kimya, was shot dead in the streets of Bangkok. The Thai police are still investigating the crime, but we know that several suspects are tied to elite Cambodian politics, including one who was an advisor to Hun Sen, the ruling party chief and former prime minister. Sam Rainsy, the exiled opposition leader, is convinced that Prime Minister Hun Manet, who took over from his father in 2023, and Hun Sen were personally behind the assassination. Cambodia’s Senate President Hun Sen, left, and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet appear at a ceremony marking Cambodia’s 71st Independence Day celebrations in Phnom Penh on Nov. 9, 2024.(Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP) So I ask: can anyone who has listened to Hun Sen over the past few years think that he doesn’t want political opponents to be killed? Put differently, suppose you’re an enterprising upstart who wants to please his political masters or a recent convert to the CPP cause. If you had even only given a cursory glance over Hun Sen’s comments, would you think that the most powerful man in the land, who has ruled for more than four decades, wants you to treat political opponents with utmost respect and toleration or would you think he wants you to treat them with utmost violence? He was talking about something different, but Sok Eysan, the CPP’s greying spokesperson, noted in November that “statements from the party’s leader [Hun Sen] often translate into action.” Indeed, Cambodian politics often resembles working towards the Samdech. So let’s take a few examples of Hun Sen’s statements over the past few years. Last June, an audio recording was leaked of him imploring supporters to “smash” and “destroy” opposition activists. “You must smash this force to a point that they no longer disturb us,” he told his underlings. According to another account, he reportedly said that “we must crush and suppress the color revolutionaries one by one to maintain peace for the people.” RELATED STORIES Cambodian gov’t official denies role in Bangkok shooting of opposition critic Widow says shooting of former Cambodian lawmaker was ‘definitely political’ Thai police seek Hun Sen adviser believed linked to Bangkok killing of critic In 2023, Hun Sen was almost kicked off of Facebook after live-streaming a speech in which he warned opposition supporters that he would rally CPP folk to “beat you up” and “send people to your place and home.” “Either you face legal action in court, or I rally CPP people for a demonstration and beat you guys up,” he stated. Per a different translation, he stated: “There are only two options. One is to use legal means and the other is to use a bat.” The same year, speaking about activists who allege he has close ties to Vietnam, Hun Sen proclaimed: “You cannot escape [prison] because you are a fish in a barrel. I can break your neck to eat any time I want to.” Ahead of the 2017 local elections, he said if there were any protests, “the armed forces will crack down on them immediately … If war happens, let it be.” That same year, in an even more overt statement, he warned his political opponents: “you should prepare your coffins.” In a speech to troops in 2019, he called on the military to “destroy … revolutions that attempt to topple the legitimate government,” adding he is “not afraid to issue an order.” “Better to see the death of four or five people rather than the death of tens of thousands and millions,” he claimed. As for anyone in the military who is disloyal, he added, “they must be destroyed.” He then noted: “I am the one who steers the wheel.” Statements = action Only, he isn’t apparently at the helm when opponents and critics are destroyed (even figuratively). But this hasn’t stopped Hun Sen’s underlings from aping his terminology. For instance, five days before Kem Ley was shot dead in 2016, a general called on the military to “eliminate and dispose of [anyone] fomenting social turmoil.” All this must be coupled with the escalation of legal terminology. The government wants to pass legislation now that would brandish political opponents as “terrorists,” on top of Hun Sen’s claims that his opponents are “traitors.” So, according to his own spokesperson, Hun Sen’s statements “often translate into action.” And Hun Sen isn’t shy about admitting the immense power he wields in the country. Thus, would a reasonable person listening to these aforementioned comments think that Hun Sen hasn’t committed “incitement to commit a felony or disturb social security?” Granted, Hun Sen and his ilk could say that they were just being evocative; that when they say “smash” and “destroy” and “eliminate” and “suppress,” they only mean it figuratively. Okay, one can figuratively “smash” an opposition movement or even metaphorically prepare one’s coffins. But what about the warning to “use a bat” or to “beat you up?” Frequently, Hun Sen has specifically referenced physical violence as a comparison to legal prosecution. There is no way other than the literal to interpret him saying that it would be justified to “eliminate” five people in 2019 or 200 people in 2017 to safeguard the rest of society. Worse, his recommendations of violence are unspecific. He never says who should constitute the five or 200 people who could be “eliminated” for the sake of the greater good. He never says who specifically he thinks needs to be “crushed.” What is an underling supposed to think? That political opponents and activists, who the most powerful person in Cambodia says are “traitors” and “terrorists,” aren’t really a threat to the nation? That they should be tolerated? That one…

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Campaign for Uyghurs, ‘Teacher Li’ nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Editor08 mins

The rights group Campaign for Uyghurs and freedom of expression advocate Li Ying, known as “Teacher Li” on social media, were nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize by two U.S. congressmen who are members of a China panel. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican and chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, and fellow member Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, made the announcement on Feb. 5. The praised the nominees in a statement for their “unwavering commitment to justice, human rights, and the protection of the Uyghur people against genocide and repression.” ‘Teacher Li’ and the Campaign for Uyghurs nominated for Nobel PrizeAbout 12 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs live in northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where they face repression by the Chinese government, which includes mass arbitrary detentions, forced labor, family separations, religious persecution and the erasure of Uyghur identity and culture. “In the face of one of the most pressing human rights crises of our time, Campaign for Uyghurs and Teacher Li continue to shine a light in the face of adversity, while challenging injustices and amplifying the voices of those too often silenced,” Krishnamoorthi said. Moolenaar noted the CFU’s “tireless advocacy and bold testimony” in ensuing that the world can’t ignore the truth about the Uyghur genocide in Xinjiang, and in amplifying victim’s voices to pierce the Chinese Communist Party’s wall of silence. A Campaign for Uyghurs press release announces that the Uyghur rights organization has been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.(Campaign for Uyghurs) In the past, other Uyghur advocacy groups and individual activists, including the World Uyghur Congress, Uyghur Human Rights Project, prominent Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, and former World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer, were nominated for the Nobel Prize. ‘White Paper’ movement Li Ying, a social media influencer who now lives in exile in Italy, rose to prominence during the ”White Paper” movement of November 2022, when thousands of people gathered in the streets of cities across China to protest lockdowns and mass quarantines President Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy. The protests, in which people held up blank sheets of paper to show they felt authorities had robbed them of their voices, were also triggered by an apartment fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, where dozens died, apparently because they were locked in their building. Li took to social media to tell the world in videos and texts about the White Paper protests on his X account “Teacher Li is not your teacher”. While X is banned in China and news of the protests was heavily suppressed by the authorities, young people who supported the movement still found ways to send Li footage, photos and news of the protests. Li, whose audience has grown to 1.8 million followers, continues to post news censored by the Chinese Communist Party in China, despite Beijing’s targeting of him, his family and online followers. When Li woke up in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 6, his mobile phone was flooded with text messages congratulating him on the nomination, he told Radio Free Asia. “I never thought that this would happen to me, because there are many human rights lawyers and activists who are currently locked up in China’s detention centers and prisons,” he said, adding that they were more deserving of the nomination. “At the very least, this nomination demonstrates to the world, and to my family, that their son is not a traitor, and that he is really doing something to help the Chinese people,” said Li, who has been called a “traitor to the Chinese people” by Communist Party supporters. “So, in that sense it is a recognition of what I do,” he said. Mongolian rights Ethnic Mongolian Hada, an ailing dissident and political prisoner from China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region who goes by only one name, has also been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Mongolian dissident Hada displays a sign expressing support for herders in Mongolian and Chinese, Jan. 15, 2015.(Photo courtesy of SMHRIC) In January, four Japanese lawmakers nominated Hada for his continuing advocacy on behalf of ethnic Mongolians living under Chinese Communist Party rule, despite years of persecution. Hada has been imprisoned or placed under house arrest in China since 1995 because of his activities. He is a co-founder of the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance, a campaign group that advocates for the self-determination of Inner Mongolia, a northern region of China. The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in October by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, and awarded on Dec. 10, 2025. Additional reporting by RFA Mandarin. Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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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

Editor05 mins

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

Editor07 mins

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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Myanmar authorities arrest 475 young people in Yangon in January: group

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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Myanmar junta authorities arrested nearly 500 young people in the biggest city of Yangon in January for conscription into the military and other reasons, a pro-democracy monitoring group said on Wednesday. Young people have been at the forefront of opposition to the junta that seized power four years ago, ending a decade of tentative reform that had given the public hope for an end to decades of stifling military rule. The junta, facing a growing insurgency since its coup, enforced a conscription law in early 2024 targeting men aged 18 to 35 to make up for heavy losses in battles against allied pro-democracy and ethnic minority guerrilla groups. But many young people are fleeing or finding other ways to dodge the draft leading to mass arrests by military officials to fill the ranks. “The junta is arresting people for many reasons, including public conscription – 475 have been captured,” said a member of an anti-junta group called the Rangoon Scout Network, which monitors political action in the former capital of Yangon. “They’re always waiting to arrest people. To be released, you have to pay a bribe of between 1 and 1.3 million kyat (US$475-$620). If you can’t pay, you’re conscripted.” RFA tried to telephone the Yangon region’s junta spokesperson, Htay Aung, to ask about the situation but he did not respond. The member of the Rangoon Scout Network, which has no connection with the global Scout Movement, did not say how many of those detained in January were men and how many were female. It said 58 of them had been detained and then released but there was no word on the others. According to data compiled by the network and allied groups, 241 of those arrested in January were simply chased down on the street in city neighborhoods such as North Dagon, Insein, Tamwe, Thingangyun and Ahlon. Among the others, 77 were arrested for violating guestlist registration rules, aimed at tracking where people stay, 58 were picked during spot check and 51 of those grabbed had outstanding warrants, the network said. RELATED STORIES Myanmar’s forced conscription: How the junta targets young men Myanmar military regime enters year 5 in terminal decline Students from coup-hit Myanmar lament loss of canceled ‘DEI’ scholarships The pro-democracy parallel government in exile, the National Unity Government, said the junta had trained nine classes of conscripts, or 40,000 people in all. Late last month, members of the public said the junta had begun initial steps to draft women for active military service. The military has faced significant setbacks in fighting that has engulfed townships across the country over the past year or more; thousands of people have been killed and some 3.5 million have been displaced. The military also wants to expand its area of control in the run-up to an election, expected late this year, that the generals hope will improve their legitimacy. Anti-junta groups say an election organized by the military will be a sham. Myanmar has endured strict isolationist military rule since 1962, apart from a decade of reform when democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi won two elections and many people dared hope that their country was at last taking its place in vibrant Southeast Asia as a stable democracy. The military’s ousting of Suu Kyi’s government on Feb. 1, 2021, on what were widely derided as bogus accusations of electoral fraud, crushed those hopes. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. 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