In counties like Burma and Laos residents are upset with the influx of investment and workers from neighbouring China. In northern Laos, Chinese stores offer cheaper goods and have forced out many local businesses. Political scientist Kraisak Choonhavan says Beijing used to take care not to upset its neighbours, but today freewheeling capitalist investment has taken over.
“Half the 4959 houses to be donated will be built in Pauktaw and the rest in six townships in Rakhine State. In Sittwe, 500 big huts will be built as well. The huts don’t matter, but if houses are built, land ownership issues will ensue. It would constitute giving them plots of land without scrutinising their citizenship. That is why we object.”
Monday, 18 March 2013 A plan to build 5000 homes for displaced members of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State has sparked a series of demonstrations. Protesters say the plan, which has been proposed by the Turkish NGO TIKA, could allow the Rohingya to own land in disputed areas.
Thousands of people defied police warnings to take to the streets in Sittwe, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-Oo on March 7 to voice discontent. Two activists were arrested, but released the same evening.
Last year, hundreds of people were killed and more than 100,000 displaced in outbreaks of violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine State.
U Kyaw Zaw, who led about 10,000 demonstrators in Sittwe, told The Myanmar Times: “Half the 4959 houses to be donated will be built in Pauktaw and the rest in six townships in Rakhine State. In Sittwe, 500 big huts will be built as well. The huts don’t matter, but if houses are built, land ownership issues will ensue. It would constitute giving them plots of land without scrutinising their citizenship. That is why we object.”
U Kyaw Zaw said Sittwe township police had turned down their application to demonstrate, so they submitted it to the state government, which had summoned them to answer questions, he said.
“The state government doesn’t handle matters relating to permission to build 5000 separate houses but the Ministry of Progress of Border Areas and National Races does, they say. However they didn’t deny officially that they had accepted the offer. They threatened us with legal action if we demonstrated.”
But demonstrations took place in the three townships to demand the enforcement of the 1982 citizenship law. On March 7, activists Kyaw Zaw Oo and Daw Nyo Aye were arrested, but were released on bail within hours, said U Kyaw Zaw Oo.
Translated by Thit Lwin http://mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/5171-rakhine-protesters-fight-against-planned-rohingya-housing.html
sourc emg Parliament has postponed debate on the Printing and Publishing bill and it may be withdrawn entirely after the interim Press Council drafts a media law, a member of lower house’s development committee for sports, culture and public relations said yesterday.
“The Printing and Publishing bill will not be discussed in this parliamentary session. It will be postponed,” MP Ye Tun said, adding that the decision was made by committee chairman Thura U Aye Myint.
He also said that officials from the Ministry of Information, which drafted the bill, would meet with members of the interim Press Council on March 23.
“The interim Press Council is drafting a media law and it will include sections on printing and publishing. Thus, the [Printing and Publishing] bill should be postponed until the media law comes out. If the media law includes sections on printing and publishing, then it is assumed that the Printing and Publishing bill will be withdrawn,” the MP said.
The Ministry of Information submitted the bill to Parliament on March 7 despite sharp criticism from associations of journalists, including the interim Press Council, which warned that if the bill became law it could be used to curtail press freedom.
Southern Criminal Court, Charoen Krung Rd, TIME 130pm
PLEASE COME AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT !! THANK YOU SO MUCH
Prachuap Khiri Khan pineapple canning company filed criminal defamation charges against a British human rights advocate over treatment of migrant workers by the company.
Natural Fruit Co Ltd, which has headquarters in Pran Buri, claimed that Andy Hall, a British citizen, had damaged its reputation with libellous statements about its relations with migrant workers, according to papers at the website of the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court’s website and NGO sources.
Mr Hall, 32, well-known in Thaland although he was reportedly in Myanmar on Tuesday, faces charges under the Computer Crimes Act that carry penalties of up to five years in prison on each count.
In addition, the company filed a civil suit at the Nakhon Pathom Court claiming 300 million baht in civil damages caused by Mr Hall’s discussion of Natural Fruit and the migrant workers.
It is the second time Natural Fruit has instituted legal action against the British advocate. A previous suit cited interviews and allegedly libellous remarks Mr Hall made Jan 15-21 in Bangkok, including at a panel discussion at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT).
The suits alleged that at least three media outlets posted reports of interviews with Mr Hall. The lawsuits also cited, but did not charge, the human rights group FinnWatch, which has researched the issue of migrant workers at Natural Fruit.
According to the lawsuits seen at the court’s website, Natural Fruit claimed it “was damaged by (Mr Hall’s) accusation that it violated human rights and labour rights by hiring workers under 15 years” of age, paid them wages below the minimum wage, and provided no holidays or bonus, all illegal acts.
The company also denied reports it had illegally confiscated passports of workers.
“These reports and information have caused damage to the company, brought insults and hatred from the public, both inside the country and internationally,” the suits alleged.
The court scheduled the first preliminary hearing on the defamation charges for April 1.
NGO circles on Tuesday were buzzing with concern over the possible long prison sentences and high compensation demanded by Natural Fruit.
It is heartening to hear that at long last the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has taken the step to amend the 2008 Constitution.
It was all the more a surprise for the possible constitutional review was proposed by Aye Myint and Thein Zaw, both former generals and senior members of the ruling, military-backed USDP.
Sai Wansai
Whatever the case, if this is meant to really push the country into the right path of democracy and federalism, it will be a dream come true, especially for the non-Burman ethnic nationalities and the progressive democratic forces, but if this is just a pre-empt action of the USDP to dictate the process of constitutional amendment according to the liking and pre-conceived ideas of the Burmese military and ultra-nationalist Burman politicians, it would be a failure and won’t be able to fulfil the aspirations of all the peoples residing within Burma. In other words, the military-backed Thein Sein regime is aware that its military-favoured or military-supremacy constitution has no place in a real democratic world, much less the genuine federalism aspired by the non-Burman ethnic nationalities, which occupy 55% of the landmass and numbered 40% of the total population.
And so it seems, with one stroke, the USDP has put all the ethnic and democratic forces on a defensive position by taking away their major political campaign theme of 2008 Constitutional amendment. With the nation-wide election looming, which is to be held in 2015, this could put the USDP in, an election campaign, good stead.
Accordingly, the review committee would include members of many political parties and outside experts, a senior parliamentary official said. If this is the case, the gathering of such committee should be carefully chosen to represent all the peoples of Burma and not just according to the liking of the ruling USDP government. Continue reading “READ!! Constitutional amendment: Superficial or genuine ? SAI WANSAI”→
The December 2, 2011 was one of the most important dates as the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political wing of Shan State Army (SSA) has signed the first ever agreement between Myanmar government. Subsequently, following the agreement the two have officially met not less than 5 occasions in different locations. The two have met in union level at Taunggyi, and Kengtung. Among the many agreements the two have made, in which one of the most important for the RCSS/SSA includes to specify its active territories and to build its headquarters. According to sources from RCSS/SSA, Monghta, in the east and Homong, in the south are the two major territories to build its military headquarters, army camps and family housings. Nevertheless, until today agreement has not yet come into being as the Burma army has been obstructing to initiate the project, sources from RCSS/SSA said.
“To the best of our good-will, we will adhere to the truce agreement. But if we have no choice, we can’t help. Although according to the agreement made, Monghta and Homong are the territories given by the government; but the army do not want to follow suit. The army just want us to stay where they have specified. They want us to be like drops of water in their hands. We are told not to carry weapons where about we go. We are soldiers; we can’t go without weapons. We have not decided yet if we are withdrawing from the Loi Mut Nang Len bases,” RCSS/SSA spokesperson, Maj Lao Hseng told the SHAN.
With the deadline of March 20, 2013 the RCSS/SSA must withdraw its bases from Loi Mut Nang Len in the east of Salween, instructed by deputy commander-in-chief of triangle region, said RCSS spokesperson.
“That means it is clear that they [Burma army] don’t want us to build our headquarters in Mongton. In fact, this area has been one of our former bases; even this they do not want us to make a settlement, needless to say if in other places. Our term of agreement with the government is now over a year. Nevertheless we have not yet realize anything from the agreement, Maj Lao Hseng complains.
Similarly, SSA bases in Homong were instructed to withdraw by the end of February. But SSA took time to withdraw and only on in the first week of March were completely relocated. As to what reason is unknown the Burma army were shelling with heavy artilleries for 2 days over the former SSA bases.
WESTERNERS, YOU HAVE TO LOOK BEHIND ALL THE VIOLENCE NEWS !!!! this was prepared from some groups ,as goverment hardliners to stop the reform process of president U Thein Sein, thank you .
President Thein Sein speech to the Nation english burmese
Ongoing riots in Myanmar are not conflicts between Buddhists and Muslims but are intentionally planned by a certain group of perpetrators, according to a statement released by the All Myanmar Islam Association on Tuesday.
The six-point statement said that the religious issue has been exaggerated into the main issue for the conflict. Riots are intentionally created by the ill-will of perpetrators who want to damage the peace and tranquility of the state, the statement said without naming the perpetrators.
The statement also said the people who want to live peacefully are opposed to the riots.
The statement blames authorities, saying they have poorly handled the riots in which lives and property of Muslims were lost or destroyed.
The association also called on the government to take immediate action against any person or organisation that had a hand in the rioting, in accordance with the law.
The Islam Association expressed thanks to the monks, Buddhist laypeople, Christians and Hindus who helped and guarded Muslim people during the crisis without showing discrimination.
State of emergency in
Meiktala, Mahlaing, Wintwin, Thazi Area only.
More than 20 People Killed in Sectarian Violence in Meikhtila
The true story of Meik-hti-lar incident by HTAY TINT
Let the world know the truth :
Meik-hti-lar Burning By Race Riots! (21-March-2013)
This is the true story of Meik-hti-lar incident between
Burmese Buddhists and Bengali Muslims there.
Today March 20 at about 9 in the morning U Khin Maung Win and Daw Aye Aye Naing came to New Weint Sein gold shop (Muslim-owned) to sell their gold comb. The husband and wife U Khin Maung Win (46) and Daw Aye Aye Naing (45) were together with their two young children.
The Shop-owner Muslim woman Myint Myint Aye (a) She-tar then broke the gold comb into two pieces and rubbed both pieces on their grading stone and also applied acid on them. She then decided to offer only 50,000 kyats for the gold worth at least 100,000 kyats.
The Buddhist couple refused to sell at that low price and asked her to re-join two broken pieces together. The Muslim woman refused and told them to leave and a heated argument broke out. They finally came to blow after the Benmgali-Muslim shop-owner and her elder sister bitch slapped the Burmese-Buddhist couple.
Daw Aye Aye Naing then started yelling out to the Burmese bystanders for help. Meanwhile the Bengali-Muslim husband of the shop-owner Htun Htun Oo (a) Ar-shit and his employee Nyi Nyi came in and started hitting U Khin Maung Win with timber 2×4 pieces. They both were yelling out that the Burmese-Buddhist couple and their children were trying to rob their gold shop.
As their Muslim relatives from other Muslim gold shops nearby joined the brutal attack on the Burmese-Buddhist family the bystanders started shouting at them to stop such unjust violence and they then called the police.
About twenty minutes later policemen arrived and they closed New Weint Sein Muslim gold shop and arrested Htun Htun Oo (a) Ar-shit and Nyi Nyi. But their accomplice Muslim women Myint Mtyint Aye (a) She-tar, Netty, and Boat-pwa escaped through the rear entrance of their shop.
By then time was about 10 in the morning and the Burmese crowd there was only about fifty. People thought that the escaping Muslim women were hiding in the upstairs apartment of Taw-win Yadanar Muslim gold shop next door. So they told police and the policemen went up there.
They found no Muslim women they were looking there except two teenage Muslim girls ferafully hiding there from the gathering Burmese crowd. Police and some local Buddhists then escorted them to safety through the angry crowd. Some Burmese threw stones at them but nothing serious happened to them as both Bengali-Muslim girls were wearing motorcycle helmets as precautions.
When the police and their charges got back at the police station there were big crowd of Burmese Buddhists waiting there. Requested by the district administrator and district police chief the town elders asked the crowd to disperse and at about 11 in the morning the crowd left the police station.
But the crowd at the New Weint Sein gold shop were getting bigger by the hour without a heavy police presence there and at about 1 in the afternoon the crowd turned violent and started destroying the New Weint-Sein gold shop and other Muslim gold shops in the area.
New Weint Sein, Taw-win Yadanar, Shwe Nandaw, Yunwady: all Muslim-owned gold shops were completely destroyed. All were affluent three-stories concrete buildings.
Burmese-owned Taing Chit gold shop was partly destroyed also as it was too late when the Buddhist mob discovered the Buddhist statue and Buddhist flag left inside the shop by the fleeing Buddhist owners.
By then about thirty riot police arrived at the scene but they just watched the destruction as a group of Buddhist monks also arrived and made an understanding with the police that they would control the Buddhist crowd not to target other Muslim properties in the town except the Muslim gold shops they had already started destroying.
As a precaution police detachments were sent to the mosques all over town and policemen with shields and bamboo sticks stood guard right in front of every mosque in Meik-hti-lar.
A Buddhist monk was killed by Muslims and deadly riots spread
A Buddhist monk was killed by Muslims and deadly riots spread
Unfortunately at that time a Buddhist monk from Hanzar village of One-dwin township had come into the Meik-hti-lar town as a passenger on a motorbike and they were unknowingly riding through the Da-hart-tan Muslim ward the biggest Muslim quarters in Meik-hti-lar.
Already-agitated Muslims saw the Buddhist monk and chased the motorbike and managed to strike the Buddhist monk from behind with a sword and he fell to the ground from his pillion-riding position on the motorbike. He had a long deep gash on back of his head just above his left ear.
Despite the desperate pleas for mercy from the rider the Muslims forcefully took off his robe and brutally dragged the direly-wounded Buddhist monk into the nearby Myo-ma Mosque. Once inside the mosque they poured acid and petrol all over the wounded Buddhist monk and burned him alive. Only his discarded-robe and a large pool of blood were left at the spot on the road where he fell off the motor bike wounded.
Once that tragic news reached the crowd at the gold shops they immediately marched to Da-hart-tan Muslim ward and burned down the said Myo-ma Mosque and the nearby Muslim houses.
Muslims there retaliated by burning the Burmese houses and striking back at the attacking Buddhist mob. As Muslims were more numerous there many Buddhists were killed and wounded in that Muslim ward.
There are now 16 wounded Buddhists in the Meik-hti-lar Hospital and three were almost fatally wounded. So far one Burmese Buddhist died at the hospital and a few burnt-out corpses of unknown race have been recovered from the Muslim ward by the police.
During the riots a Muslim man driving a ten-wheeler truck tried to run over Burmese mob but he was hit in the eyes by Buddhists’ sling-shot balls and he lost control of his truck which was stopped after hitting a concrete building. He was pulled down from the truck and the Buddhist mob burned him alive.
The race riots were going on strong till 10 in the night when the district administration has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew (Act-144) indefinitely and the armed-riot-police battalions finally took over the whole town of Meik-hti-lar.
By 10:30 in the night all the mosques in Meik-hti-lar were burning and the local Muslims have taken all their young children, their women, and their old people out of the town in a long convoy of cars and trucks seen heading towards Taunggyi in the East. Only some Muslim men are left in the town to guard their properties.
Muslim population of Meik-hti-lar has dangerously swelled to the alarming level recently as the restless Muslim refugees fleeing from the recent racio-religious riots and unrests in Kyak-pa-daung, Kyauk-se, Ya-me-thin, and Taung-ngu and other places all over Burma had gathered at Meik-hti-lar the middle junction of various highways in Burma.
(Translator’s Notes: Meik-hti-lar is the epicenter of Buddhist heartland in middle Burma. I used to know the area very well as my paternal clan is from Ma-hlaing a large township just a few miles north-west of Meik-hti-lar. The completely-Burmese area back then was basically the cradle of extremely brutal civil war between the ruling Socialists and the rebelling Communists in the whole 1950s.
Back then my late father Bo Htun Hla – an ex-army officer from Japanese-trained BNA (Burma National Army) and one of few trusted lieutenants of late General Aung San – was the Divisional Commanding Officer of 5,000 strong Communist 3M (Ma-thone-lone) Division controlling the triangular area of Mandalay-Meikhtilar-Myingyan during late 1940s and early 1950s.
Of course the Burmese Communists (CPB) were defeated there by the then-Socialists-controlled Burmese Army together with various Buddhist militias financed and armed by U Nu – Kyaw Nyein Socialist government.
Burmese there are most brutally militant compared to other Burmese anywhere else in Burma. In addition to the traditional weapons like long swords (Nghet-kyee-daung Dah) and long spears (Hlan-shay) openly carried by most men, most villages there has a cache of British Lee-Enfield .303 rifles secretly buried in the village ground. And the youths from that area are the main lifeblood of Burmese army which recruits only the Buddhist Burmese.
There were hardly any Muslims in that area before the 1970s. It seems now that within less than 40 years the invading Bengali-Muslims with massive financial support from Saudi Arabia have become the commercially dominant group building mosques and madrassas all over the place and the native Burmese-Buddhists must have deeply resented them and the eventual result is this racio-religious riots and the Muslim-cleansing which will follow like in the recent Arakan riots.)
During the recent unrest in Meikhtilar, middle Myanmar, some buddhist youths escorted out about 1700 Muslims to the distinct stadium today.
21.MARCH UPDATE
Authorities imposed a curfew in Mandalay Region’s Meikhtila town last night after a fight over a hair clip at a gold shop threatened to escalate into a religious riot, officials told Eleven Media.
The incident began at a gold shop near the town’s market at about 10am yesterday and the curfew was imposed at about 9pm under section 144 of the Constitution after a mosque was set aflame in late afternoon. The fire at Thirimingalar Mosque was quickly extinguished by neighbours, town residents said.
As of noon today five people were killed and another 22 injured in the fighting, staff at the town hospital said, adding that most of the injuries were head wounds.
Myanmar’s national police force said at 3.40am today that one monk and another man had been killed and four other injured by flames.
Stones were thrown at police and reporters taking photos yesterday afternoon when a crowd of about 200 stormed three buildings near the gold shop.
The clashes erupted following an argument over the price of a gold hair clip at a shop owned by a Muslim vendor.
Town resident Khin Maung Win and his wife tried to sell the hair clip to New Waitsein Gold Shop for 140,000 kyats (about US$160) at about 9am. The son-in-law of the shop’s owner offered them 105,000 kyats for the hair clip, and then took it to the market to assess the gold. When he returned he said he could only pay them 50,000 kyats because the hair clip was broken, according to a police complaint from Khin Maung Win’s wife.
Following a quarrel over the hair clip – which Khin Maung Win and his wife said was broken while it was being assessed – the shop owner threw the clip at Khin Maung Win and his son-in-law and a shop assistant began assaulting him, the man’s wife said.
She filed a lawsuit at Meikhtila Police Station after her husband was injured.
By 2.15pm about 200 people had gathered near the gold shop and then destroyed six shops in three nearby buildings.
Police, fire fighters, monks and town elders tried to disperse the crowd, but at about 3 pm an angry mob stormed the buildings again.
Meikhtila district police began imposing security in the area soon after, the Myanmar Police Force said.
Thirimingalar Mosque was set afire at about 5.30pm but the flames were quickly extinguished by neighbours, police said.
Town residents said some people tried to use the violence to instigate a religious clash, but authorities implemented a curfew in time to control them.
The curfew bans public gatherings and any interference with public officials’ work, including police.
Besides the mosque, other buildings were also set aflame and more than 10 motorbikes were destroyed, but all fires were put out by 8pm, police said.
Police are preventing anyone from entering the town through its front and back gates.
Police said that order had been restored by midnight. “Only a few people are left at the site now. We are trying to solve the problem,” an officer said.
Officers from two other townships in Yamethin district are providing assistance, another officer said, adding that “senior divisional officials are overseeing the situation”.
“The town is also being patrolled. Although the crowds have been dispersed there are still some groups here and there,” he said early this morning.
By noon today the situation was calm, police told Eleven Media’s reporter in the town.
News about Rioting in Meikhtelar(Myanmar) with Muslims terrorists
photo credit lotus man
Condition dis- arrangement in Meikhtelar(middle part of myanmar) due to muslims terrorist Real condition is described as follows.The new is taken by local people called by phone. On March 20 about 11:00AM couple of young girl and her grand-mother came to Haji U Tun Aye’s(name Tine Chit ) gold shop which is situated at the easten part of the Meikhtelar Myoma market to sell their jewelries.After reaching to shop,the owner Muslims woman checked their jewelries and gave very low price. So the owner old woman refused to sell this and told to re-give their jewelries..At this time,Muslims woman destroyed the jewelries because if she destroyed this, the old woman can not sell to this on other shops.So the old myanmar woman becomes disappointed and told to re-pay for damage.The muslim woman refuse to give and shouted as buglers and help to fight to myanmar old woman and her young girl.At the same time, muslims workers came here and fought to old myanmar woman and her younger girls with sticks and swords.The myanmar old woman is now dying and her younger girl is on the hospital.The owner muslims woman is under-arrest.But the one of fighter muslims man is still free.Due to hear this new,Meikhtelar township people felt short-temper , shout to arrest the free muslims guy and take legal action to owner.The market was took care by local authorities now.
Japan has seized aluminium alloy rods that can be used to make nuclear centrifuges from a Singapore-flagged ship found to be carrying cargo from North Korea, the government said Monday.
The five rods were discovered on the ship during its call at Tokyo port last August and were confirmed to be aluminium alloy through tests conducted over the past six months, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.
“The aluminium alloy is extremely strong and can be used in centrifuges, which are products related to nuclear development,” Suga said at a regular news briefing.
The rods were being stored at a private warehouse and the government on Monday ordered the firm to hand them over.
The items are the first to be confiscated under a special law passed in 2010 that allows Tokyo to inspect North Korea-related ships suspected of carrying materials that can be used in nuclear and missile programs.
The ship was reportedly on its way to Myanmar when it arrived in Tokyo via the Chinese port of Dalian. Suga confirmed the ship arrived via Dalian but said its cargo was bound for a “third country.”
The North has conducted three nuclear weapons tests, in 2006, 2009 and last month, and disclosed in 2010 that it is developing a program to enrich uranium using centrifuges. That would give it a second way to produce material for atomic weapons, in addition to its long-standing plutonium program.
United Nations sanctions resolutions require member states to inspect cargo suspected to be linked to the North’s nuclear development.
Myanmar was suspected of pursuing military and nuclear cooperation with North Korea during the long rule of the military junta, which finally came to an end in 2011.
The White House said last November that the slowly democratizing nation had taken “positive steps” to reduce its military relationship with the North.
Sai Wansai
democracy for burma 
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