Philippines communist rebels caution Muslims on peace agreement | Asian Correspondent

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Is Naypyidaw Learning From Sri Lanka to End Civil War? | The Irrawaddy Magazine

Is Naypyidaw Learning From Sri Lanka to End Civil War? | The Irrawaddy Magazine
SAW YAN NAING / THE IRRAWADDY, Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Karen National Union (KNU) signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in January 2012. Since then, there have been disagreements within the KNU leadership over the ceasefire and the peace process. Some leaders, described as “pragmatists,” want to move quickly forward with the peace process, while others want to exercise caution.

Lt-Gen Baw Kyaw Heh is vice commander-in-chief of the KNU’s military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and is often described as “hardliner” as he advocates a slower approach due to his doubts over peace process. He is a former commander of the KNLA’s Brigade 5.

The Irrawaddy’s senior reporter, Saw Yan Naing traveled to the KNLA Brigade 5 area and met Lt-Gen Baw Kyaw Heh to discuss the peace process.

Question: What is your opinion on the peace process between the Burmese government and the ethnic armed groups so far?
Answer: In my opinion it is time for the Burmese government to transition and develop the country like other developing nations. They have been criticized for their administration that has for a longtime made no progress. That’s why they certainly have plans to reform, so that they are not criticized and pressured any longer. In a series of reforms, they will also try as much as they can to end the civil war and move forward to develop the country. But, they might have different way of thinking and approach to ending the war.
They want the ethnic groups to get involved into a “game” that they have set up. So, if we don’t think carefully, we are at risk of falling into the trap they set, and we will miss the goal that we want. We have to make sure that we don’t miss our target when we agree a ceasefire with the government. We must lay down a systematic plan and implement it precisely, step by step. We know that they have their own plans; for example to what degree they will categorize us and how much they will give us what we want. If we don’t go straight toward the target we want, we will fall in the trap they set for us.

Q: So what is the government’s plan for the ethnic groups? What do you think the Burmese government has in mind?

A: For example, we have to form parties and enter into Parliament in 2015. There must be one army in the country, and we are supposed to fight alongside the government against terrorists. So, we understand that we will be combined into one armed force under their [Tatmadaw] control.

I think the military is trying to come up with a new tactic to end armed conflicts with the ethnic minorities. In this case, I think they want to copy Thailand. They want to turn the ethnic armies into border guard forces. They will give some reasonable opportunities to the ethnic minorities, like Thailand gives to hill tribe ethnic people who live in Thailand. If ethnic groups get those opportunities, there might be no war. So, the Burmese government thinks again about giving opportunities to ethnic minorities that they didn’t give in the past. They will give us opportunities to disarm voluntarily. But, they will retain sovereignty. They won’t give the Karen a mandate to govern Karen State.

Q: Is there any positive change that has been emerging after the ceasefire between the government and the KNU? 

A: Positive and negative matters always come along. There are positive consequences after we reached a ceasefire. For example, fear and concerns about being attacked have been reducing among villagers. And people can speak and share information without fear. These are visible positive points. But, we don’t see invisible negative elements that might be behind the positive ones.

While they [government troops] cease firing at us, they have been trying to influence our communities and territories by means of social and political engagements. They spread their people in a friendly way among Karen communities and get themselves connected not only with civilians but also our soldiers. I see it as their tactic to expand their influence and control in our territories, but in a soft way. It seems the blood of some of our soldiers is getting cold, but among them [the government troops], it’s not. They divide their duties and roles and implement it very systematically. The government and the army acts precisely in accordance with their roles. So, if we take the ceasefire as a “business deal,” I think they won and we lost.

Q: Aung Min is the key peace negotiator for the Burmese government. He leads the peace negotiation team on behalf of the government. What do you think of Aung Min and his words?

A: I think he plays his role very well. He talks very cleverly. He speaks very lightly and makes promises very easily. To me, those who promise easily do not keep their word. So, the more flexibly he speaks, the more I doubt it. I don’t trust those who are sweet talkers. When we talk about important and serious issues, we have to talk seriously. Only those who talk seriously are serious and sincere in their words.

Q: Some say that KNLA Brigade 5 is stubborn. Others described its leaders as “hardliners.” What are your comments on that?

A: While other leaders are following plans that are set up by Aung Min or the Burmese government, I’m not following it. To me, I want to move very carefully and slowly to make things go according to our plan. I am cautious. So I am often against their plans, which I disagree with. They think that I don’t support the peace process and some even worry that I’m going to break it.

For example, Charles Petrie [the head of Norway-backed Myanmar Peace Support Initiative, or MPSI] came to meet me and asked me not to destroy the peace process. He questioned me repeatedly, “You won’t break the peace process, right?” He asked me three times. I told him that I won’t destroy it. I want to do it in appropriate way to secure a lasting peace. Then he said he will write a letter to Aung Min to let him know that I told him I won’t break the peace process.

Q: MPSI pilot projects are often criticized by community-based organizations. What do you think about these activities in war-affected ethnic areas including the KNU territories?

A: I didn’t accept the pilot projects from early on because we have experienced that the government army strengthened its troops during ceasefires with us in the past. And I worry that the government will exploit the development projects and NGOs as tools to strengthen its control in our communities, like has happened in some other countries.

Q: Which country and experiences you are talking about?

A: In my knowledge, I will say the Tamil rebels and the Sri Lanka government. I understand that Norway also get involved in Sri Lanka’s transition. The Tamil rebels lost their territory and bases after a ceasefire [in 2002] with the government as NGO projects, development, education, schools and health care operations came in into their areas.
It is like a cold war. You turn off your weapons, but you strengthen your control through social developments. So, I’m worried that the conditions here will be like that. The situation of Tamil rebels might not be the same as the Karen and the Sri Lanka government might not like the Burmese government. But, the theory of defeating rebels is the same.

Q: Burma is a multiethnic nation and has different armed groups. Apart from the government armed forces, there are more than a dozen ethnic armed groups. Burma’s Constitution says that one country must have one national army. But, ethnic minorities want a “federal army.” How Burma can fix its military structure?

A: It will be difficult to structure all ethnic troops and the government army into one armed force because all ethnic minorities want to govern their states. There should be a state guard [made up of the ethnic armed groups] and a union army. We can cooperate with the government army. But, state guards must not be centralized by the union army.

Q: We know that KNLA Brigade 5 has significant military strength. How do you get financial support to run your army?

A: The KNU has economic, taxation and forest departments. Financial support for our needs comes from those departments. And for our survival, we give some permits to those who want to come and conduct small-scale mining in our areas. We also permit some small-scale logging. We rely on taxation.

Q: In late 1980, ethnic minority armed groups formed the National Democratic Front (NDF). They vowed to fight and work together until they reach their common goal. But, some ethnic groups signed ceasefire agreements with the government in the 1990s individually. Now, they team up again and vow to come up with one voice in demanding their rights. Do you think it will work this time?

A: None of us are perfect. We all have strengths and weaknesses. So, we shouldn’t blame each other. I think when the Kachin went and signed ceasefire with the government in 1994, they might have had their own difficulties.

But, overall, the cooperation and unity within ethnic groups right now is not encouraging enough to me. We have to work a lot to make it better. We have been meeting and talking again and again, time has passed year by year, but unity among us is up and down. That’s why the Burmese government divided us into pieces. It is not that the Burmese government is so smart, but we ourselves also are not smart enough.

Thai PM Yingluck struggles to stay in power | Asian Correspondent

Thai PM Yingluck struggles to stay in power | Asian Correspondent
AP News, Jan 18, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — From inside her “war room” in a temporary office at the Defense Ministry, Thailand’s beleaguered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is watching television feeds of flag-waving protesters trying to bring down her government.

The demonstrators have taken over key pockets of central Bangkok, blocking off their territory with sandbag walls guarded by supporters. They refuse to negotiate, and they’re trampling campaign billboards bearing Yingluck’s image amid increasing doubt that the election she called for next month can be held.

Yingluck can’t order a police crackdown for fear of triggering a military coup. And she is now facing a serious legal threat: The country’s anti-corruption commission has announced that it will probe her handling of a controversial rice policy, an investigation that could force her from office if it is successful.

What’s the best way to deal with it all?

“Keep calm. And stay cool,” Yingluck said, flashing a brief smile as she rode an elevator at the Defense Ministry this past week, headed for a meeting to monitor the crisis and discuss strategy with top advisers.

Thailand has been plagued by sometimes bloody bouts of unrest ever since then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — Yingluck’s older brother — was overthrown by the army in 2006 amid charges of corruption and alleged disrespect for the monarchy. The coup touched off a societal schism that in broad terms pits the majority rural poor, who back the Shinawatras, against an urban-based elite establishment that draws support from the army and staunch royalists who see Yingluck’s family as a corrupt threat to their power.

The struggle has taken place against what analysts also see as a battle for control over a crucial transition period when the country’s 86-year-old monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, passes from the scene. But for much of it, Yingluck had stayed out of the spotlight.
Just three years ago, she was largely unknown — the director of a family real estate business, a political neophyte with no experience in government. Today, she is in the political fight of her life — a besieged prime minister who cannot use her own office and whose government has been displaced to myriad backup offices across Bangkok because demonstrators have surrounded her ministries.

“We’ve had to adapt the way that we work. I have ordered every ministry to adapt,” Yingluck said Thursday. “It’s like we are working by remote.”

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban — who is wanted by police on charges of insurrection — brazenly vowed to “capture” Yingluck and her Cabinet this past week. The threat is not taken seriously, but Yingluck takes no risks.

“I don’t go to anywhere deemed dangerous,” she said, responding to a question about her safety.

Since Monday, anti-government demonstrators have tried to keep up the pressure by marching across Bangkok, and seizing parts of the city. The protests have been peaceful, but violence has occurred nearly every night, with shooting attacks at protest venues and small explosives hurled at the homes of top protest supporters, including the city’s governor, a political rival of Yingluck’s.

On Friday, a grenade was hurled at marching demonstrators, killing one man and wounding dozens of people. Suthep, who was in the procession but was not wounded, quickly blamed the government. Yingluck urged the police to quickly make arrests, saying she opposed the use of force and was concerned that the situation was becoming increasingly chaotic.
Since assuming the premiership after 2011 elections, Yingluck has struggled to overcome allegations that she is her brother’s puppet. The Pheu Thai party’s landslide victory came largely thanks to Thaksin. The campaign slogan — “Thaksin Thinks, Pheu Thai Acts” — made the party’s political mechanics blatantly clear.

Yingluck’s opponents say she is carrying on the practices of her billionaire brother by using the family fortune and state funds to influence voters and cement her grip on power. But she has widespread support among Thailand’s poor majority because of the populist policies that have brought them things like virtually free health care.

During her first two years in office, Yingluck walked a careful tightrope with the army and her political rivals, managing an unspoken truce that kept the nation calm. But the last few months have badly shaken her grip on power. Critics say she brought much of it on herself with a badly misjudged attempt to rehabilitate Thaksin in a general amnesty bill that triggered widespread opposition. Thaksin, now living in Dubai, has lived overseas since 2008 to avoid a jail sentence on corruption charges that he says were politically motivated.

Yingluck’s economic competence has also come under attack, particularly over a disastrous rice pledging scheme that has cost the government billions of dollars, left it with massive amounts of unsold rice and drawn criticism from the International Monetary Fund. On Thursday, Thailand’s anti-corruption commission announced that it would investigate her role in it, saying she may have been criminally negligent.

A separate corruption case now under scrutiny could also see Yingluck’s party thrown out of office and its members barred from politics.

Although clashes between police and protesters have occurred, Yingluck has mostly taken a soft approach to dealing with the latest unrest, ordering security forces to avert violence. It is a strategy that risks making her appear weak, but one she must pursue because she does not want to give the army any reason to intervene.

Last month, Yingluck dissolved the lower house of Parliament and called Feb. 2 elections to ease tensions. But Suthep is demanding reform before any vote is held. The protesters want to install a non-elected council of “good people” to take power, while Yingluck says the constitution bars her from stepping down as caretaker prime minister and allows no legal means to delay the ballot.

The result is deadlock, with no clear way out.

“She’s not done a bad job, given that she has responded to everything that has been thrown at her,” said Chris Baker, a political economist who has co-authored several books about Thaksin. “I don’t think there’s very much she can do in terms of negotiation at the moment.”

The tone of the protest movement has become venomous in recent weeks. The Thai tradition of politeness has been cast aside, and Yingluck’s femininity, an asset at the start of her term, has been used against her in crude tirades from the protest stage.

The strain has been evident, and Yingluck has occasionally teared up in public, once asking: “Do you not want me to set foot on Thai soil anymore?”

On Friday, a confident Yingluck said she was doing her best.

“I don’t know what happened to democracy in Thailand,” she told reporters. “But we have to keep (our) democracy. That’s why we have to … have elections as soon as possible.”

Is China Betting on a Suu Kyi Presidency? | The Irrawaddy Magazine

Is China Betting on a Suu Kyi Presidency? | The Irrawaddy Magazine
ECHO HUI / THE IRRAWADDY, Friday, January 17, 2014

RANGOON — China seems to have softened its stance toward opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party amid a democratic transition in Burma that could see the former political prisoner one day elected president.

More visible efforts have been made by China in recent months to reach out to Burma’s biggest opposition party, which many expect will beat out the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in elections scheduled for 2015.

In December, a 10-member delegation from the NLD led by Nyan Win, the party secretary and a close confidant of party leader Suu Kyi, traveled to China at the invitation of the Chinese People’s Institute for Foreign Affairs, a semi-official Chinese organization.

The visit by the NLD members was the fourth of its kind last year, and came as both sides seek to enhance engagement ahead of parliamentary elections in 2015, according to analysts. Following the polls, the new Parliament will select Burma’s next president.

Chinese Ambassador to Burma Yang Houlan told The Irrawaddy this week that China stands ready to engage with all of Burma’s political parties, including the NLD, as long as they are willing to help further the sound development of relations with China. He also assured that China would continue to maintain inter-party exchanges with the NLD in future.

“Myanmar-Chinese friendship and cooperation will not change fundamentally, but the way to deal with it has to be reviewed as there are new actors involved,” said former Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win in a meeting on the recent developments of Burma’s reform last week. “Previously it was easy because there was only the government, but today we are practicing multi-party democracy.”

Meanwhile, Chinese state mouthpiece the Global Times published an interview with Yang on Oct. 21 of last year, in which the ambassador said his embassy would like to arrange a visit for Suu Kyi to China “at a convenient time for both sides.”

Though no concrete date has been set and Yang said Suu Kyi’s visit is “still out of the schedule,” the ambassador acknowledged that given her international profile and popularity among Burma’s people, an invitation from China was only a matter of time.

A retired deputy director general at Burma’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kyee Myint, told The Irrawaddy that understanding sentiment toward China among the Burmese people was one of Beijing’s most important challenges. “The government of China has more capacity to control its own people, especially its business people, but China cannot control Myanmar’s people and their wishes,” he said.

Yang too stressed mutual respect between the two nations, adding that China would honor Burma’s democratic process and would not interfere in its internal affairs.

Suu Kyi has expressed a willingness to visit China in the past, but she has insisted that the invitation should come from the Chinese government. She has previously declined invitations that came from semi-official Chinese organizations.

The Burmese democracy icon Suu Kyi’s relations with China are a relatively new development. For decades, the Chinese government refrained from any formal contact with Suu Kyi or her party, with her strong pro-democracy stance at odds with China’s own record of human rights abuses under a one-party communist regime.

Burma has undergone seismic political changes since Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who sat at the top of the country’s military regime, officially stepped down to make way for his hand-picked successor, President Thein Sein. The latter took office in March 2011 and has since introduced democratic reforms to the nation’s formerly authoritarian political system.
Thein Sein early this year said he supported changing the country’s  Constitution to allow “any citizen” to become president, an apparent reference to Suu Kyi, whose political ambitions are constrained by a military-drafted Constitution that bans her from running for president.

However, Than Shwe is considered to still wield influence among leaders of the quasi-civilian government, and the retired dictator in October was reportedly “concerned about the ongoing political process,” according to Shwe Mann, a member of the former regime and current speaker of Parliament. That, and a shrinking window in which to pass constitutional amendments that would then need to be ratified by a national referendum, have cast doubts on the viability of a Suu Kyi presidency.

Australia cannot stop Japanese whaling, expert says | Asian Correspondent

Australia cannot stop Japanese whaling, expert says | Asian Correspondent
Rowena Dela Rosa Yoon Jan 13, 2014 

An International law expert from the National University of Australia said Australia cannot stop the Japanese from whaling in the Southern Ocean and its relentless monitoring activities have no legal ground.

Donald Rothwell told the ABC  that Australia’s surveillance may compromise the country’s claim to sovereignty over the Antarctic.  
Speaking to Lucy Carter, Rothwell asked:

 Well the key issue that really needs to be asked is what is Australia’s capacity from a legal perspective to undertake any form of surveillance or monitoring and ultimately law enforcement against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean?

From the international law perspective, it’s really not in doubt that Australia has no capacity under international law to seek to go and enforce the provisions of the whaling convention against the Japanese whalers.

Nisshin Maru rams The Bob Barker in one of the clashes in the Southern Ocean (Photo: Sea Shepherd)

Japan, for one, does not recognize Australia’s sovereignty beyond its Exclusive Economic Zone and will not bow to any pressure from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to impose a prolonged and “unnecessary” whaling moratorium.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, along with other previous Japanese governments, made this point clear long time ago. The Ministry pointed out that Japan “strongly supports the protection of endangered species” but it also needs to defend its research activities which prove that “whales are not endangered.” Japan maintains its position as responsible and that that it uses a comprehensive approach to whaling and sustainable use of marine resources.


The Ministry argued that from the 1980’s, whale species were abundant again following IWC’s measures to protect marine species in the 1960s and 1970s. During those times, several whale species were over-harvested and effective measures to protect the endangered species were urgently called for. Japan said IWC “did an outstanding job on this subject in the mid-1970′s to protect blue whales and other endangered species, and Japan highly appreciates its effort.”

This year, Japan’s Minister for Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, Yoshimasa Hayashi,  informed the IWC that the Japanese fleet would be operating anywhere between waters south of Africa, and south-east of New Zealand.  He added that he had issued “special permits” to send the fleet to take up to 935 Antarctic minkes,  50 fin whales, and 50 humpbacks.

Yushin Maru and the Kyo Maru No.1 transfer whales to the Nisshin Maru factory ship, Southern Ocean/ Dec 21, 2005

Norway, Iceland aid Japanese whale imports

In defiance to the IWC, Norway and Iceland are helping Japan to import tonnes of whale meat this year.

Washington DC-based Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) announced a statement it has obtained new documents showing Norway is playing a key role in Iceland’s massive exports of whale to Japan. 

Iceland is shipping the bulk of whale meat and blubber to Japan’s Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd via Norway. Kyodo is implicated in the controversial whaling within Australia’s Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha announced in December last year that it would begin imports of Norwegian whale meat in 2014. The company said the imports will be sold “in order to help subsidize future Japanese scientific whaling efforts.” 

Norway’s Environment Agency granted Reine-based Lofothval two permits to send whale products to Japan. One shipment of 5,000 kg is identified as whale meat only from Lofothval, while a second shipment is identified as a re-export of 5,000 kg of Icelandic minke whale meat and blubber, AWI claims.

Another Norwegian company, Myklebust Trading AS,  also sought government’s permission to ship up to 34,381 kg of minke whale products to the Toshi International Company in Japan. This would be the second shipment from Myklebust to Toshi since 2013, AWI said. Statistics shows that 14.1 metric tons of whale meat were imported from Iceland into Norway in February 2013.

AWI said anti-whaling countries are enraged with the latest Japanese whale imports that will soon spark protests before the International Court of Justice which is expected to issue a ruling this year on a case filed by Australia calling for Japan to stop whaling.

The iconic whales at the entrance of Taiji (Photo: Japan Focus.org)

Taiji vows to uphold whaling tradition

Taiji, a small island-townhip in southeastern Japan, notorious for its tradition of marine mammal slaughter, has forged community alliance to support the long-held tradition of whaling. This township stubbornly insists that “whales have no national borders, they live in deep seas, and  migrate freely across and through the waters of national jurisdiction, hence different people have different views about the whales.”


The general perception of whale in Taiji is that whale is part of the marine food resources, and whaling is no different from hunting and farming. 

Japan, like Norway, Denmark, Russia, and Iceland treats whale meat as food, and where the consumption of marine food resources exceed the consumption of land animal meat. 

It is believed that Japan and Iceland have the longest life expectancy — possibly attributed to people living a lifestyle of a balanced diet coming from the sea.

In its Declaration on Traditional Whaling (2006), summit attendees denounced the “double standard” given by conservationists to criticize whaling as a cruel act.

Among the many points of the Declaration,

It is a double standard by giving a name to a particular whale” (read – dolphin!) and treating the issue on the individual animal basis while promoting culling of over-populated wildlife (kangaroo, deer, and camel) by treating the cull issue on a species basis for the sake of preservation of species and not focusing on its aspect of cruelty.

Australia’s relentless surveillance

The Bob Barker sustained damage from the Japanese fleet. (Photo: Sea Shepherd)

Sea Shepherd Australia’s (SSA) Operation Relentless is out in the Southern Ocean to disturb the Japanese whalers. SSA reported last week it located the three Japanese vessels and took footage of one ship carrying three slaughtered minke whales.

The Japanese Yushin Maru No.3 also pursued The Bob Barker, but it stopped the chase when The Bob Barker crossed Australia’s EEZ, 200 miles of Macquarie Island. The harpoon ship stopped one mile outside the zone, the SSA Captain Peter Hammarstedt reported.

The Steve Irwin and The Sam Simon have been patrolling the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary in pursuit of the Nisshin Maru. SSA said the Japanese vessels have been running for more than a week with little likelihood of being able to stop to poach whales.

SSA Chairman Bob Brown, for the first time, was in high spirits and satisfied with the support of the Federal Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt. Brown said Hunt has been contacting the Japanese authorities over the impending invasion of the Australian Whale Sanctuary, which includes the EEZ, by the harpoon ship.

“Once again Sea Shepherd has seen the Japanese whaling fleet’s tactics thwarted. But we are mindful that the fleet is publicly committed to killing another 931 Minke Whales as well as 50 Fin Whales and 50 Humpbacks,” Brown said.

Cambodia’s garment factory workers: Ripe for exploitation

Cambodia’s garment factory workers: Ripe for exploitation
Albeiro Rodas, Jan 11, 2014

Eight days after the crackdown on garment factory workers and opposition rallies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia seems normal this weekend. The national television continues its regular programs showing Thai and Korean soap operas, karaoke videos and news about curious things in the West like the polar freezing in US or “national news” like the January 7′s Liberation Day Anniversary. The crackdown gets some mentions on TV, such as to announce that factories are  filing cases in court against trade unions for “incitement to strike, damage to property and assets”.

Cheap manpower has attracted companies from countries like China, South Korea and Vietnam to Cambodia to serve big customers such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Gap and H&M.

Cambodia has two very important factors to guarantee such cheap manpower: a lot of young people and a large rural population. Eighty percent of Cambodians were living in rural areas in 2009 (NIS, 2009, p.1), while 22 percent of Cambodians are between 15 and 24 years old (Index Mundi, 2013). As poverty is mostly concentrated in rural areas, factory workers are mostly farmers with low levels of education and few options to do other things in their fight to break the poverty line.

Emigration is also high, with Thailand, China, Malaysia and South Korea the main destinations. There is a wave of legal migration through certain agencies promoting domestic servants in Malaysia or construction workers in Thailand.  In 2013 Thailand agreed to pay 300 baht per day as minimum wage to employees, approximately 10 US dollars or 40,000 Riel. In Cambodia, many workers earn just $3 a day. However, those working in other countries are not there legally. According to VOA Khmer, 160,000 migrant Cambodian workers are looking to be legalized in Thailand alone, with many working off the books in the sex trade, illegal fishing or construction jobs (Chun Sakada, 2012, para. 1)

(MORE: Civil society groups ramp up pressure on Cambodian govt)

Strikes at Cambodian garment factories are not rare, with conditions so bad and hours so long that mass faintings are also not uncommon. As these workers suffer, Cambodia’s leaders and industrialists are getting rich. A few years ago most of these workers supported the CPP government, but policies of land grabbing and eviction of farmers and now the latest brutal crackdown is further undermining the popularity of the government.

For many the impact would be deeply negative causing a sudden inflation and unemployment. What is true is that keeping a low minimum wage in Cambodia, will attract soon a crisis not only in the garment sector, but in other areas too. Offering cheap manpower to promote foreign investment can be a good thing, but not when the government stands by as its people toil for pittance. At the same time, discontent young workers will tend to look jobs in other sectors such as the tourist industry.

The strike crackdown attracted international condemnation as security forces opened fire on protesters armed with stones asking to earn US$160. It shocked not only human rights defenders around the globe, but also multinationals that are at last becoming more sensitive to  the conditions of the workers that make their products. International clothing retailers like Adidas, Columbia, Puma, Gap, H&M and Levi Strauss, said this week that they oppose violence and called on the government to find a peaceful solution to the problem, stating also that workers have the right to work in a safe and secure environment. (Kimseng Men, 2014, para. 5)

The Washington Post has a good article on whether the minimum wage kills jobs or not, saying “it doesn’t appear to worsen unemployment in any noticeable way” (B. Plumer, 2013, para. 2).

In a study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, it is explained why the increase of minimum wage does not mean necessary an increase on unemployment:

In the traditional discussion of the minimum wage, economists have focused on how these costs affect employment outcomes, but employers have many other channels of adjustment. Employers can reduce hours, non-wage benefits, or training. Employers can also shift the composition toward higher skilled workers, cut pay to more highly paid workers, take action to increase worker productivity (from reorganizing production to increasing training), increase prices to consumers, or simply accept a smaller profit margin. Workers may also respond to the higher wage by working harder on the job. But, probably the most important channel of adjustment is through reductions in labor turnover, which yield significa

For Indonesian jihadists, Syrian civil war beckons | Asian Correspondent

For Indonesian jihadists, Syrian civil war beckons | Asian Correspondent
AP News, Jan 10, 2014

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The young Indonesian was raised in an extremist household and graduated from a boarding school notorious for teaching generations of terrorists. So it was perhaps no surprise that when Muhammad Fakhri Ihsani left to study in Pakistan, the lure of jihad proved inescapable.

But the 21-year-old didn’t sneak into nearby Afghanistan or the lawless border areas, as scores of other foreigners have in recent years. Indonesian authorities believe that after flying to Turkey, he and three other Indonesian students traveled overland to Syria to fight there with fellow countrymen and jihadists from all over the world.

Their journey in August shows how determined some Indonesians are to join what has become the new theater of choice for international jihadists. It also points to an emerging threat for Southeast Asian authorities, who have successfully clamped down on militants in recent years, largely preventing them from forging links with their brethren overseas.

While security agencies in Europe and beyond are worried about militants returning from Syria, Indonesia knows only too well how foreign battlefields, training opportunities and contact with al-Qaida can lead to deadly results. Indonesian veterans of the Afghan jihad spearheaded attacks in the 2000s against local and Western targets, including nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people.

The Syrian conflict is also helping fuel an increasingly bitter hate campaign against Shias in Sunni-majority Indonesia, where until a few years ago sectarian divisions, let alone conflict, were largely unheard of. Syrian veterans are only likely to exacerbate this.

“We have to learn from our bitter experience in the past,” said Ansyaad Mbai, head of the country’s anti-terror agency. “Every Indonesian who ends up in Syria needs to be watched. We have to anticipate the fact that when they return they will have new abilities and skills in warfare.”

In interviews, Mbai and two other Indonesian anti-terror officials estimated there were around 50 Indonesian militants fighting against the regime of Bashar Assad, out of up to 11,000 foreigners believed to have become opposition fighters. They said that number is expected to grow. Many were already living or studying in the Middle East when they left. The estimate was based on information from Syrian authorities and their own investigations in Indonesia and Turkey.

Indonesian humanitarian groups staffed by hardliners or those with known links to extremists have been raising funds across Indonesia with little transparency. Some are traveling to regions of Syria under the control of militants, treating fighters and handing out cash and relief funds to civilians and local authorities. One organization has traveled at least eight times to the front line in Latakia region, a stronghold of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, according to their literature.

Indonesia has more Muslims than any other nation, but the brand and practice of Islam is markedly different from the austere version common in parts of the Middle East and South Asia. Militant Islam has a long history in Indonesia, dating back to the country’s birth in 1945, but it has struggled to gain significant followers even as the torch of jihad has been handed down through the generations.

The Ngruki boarding school, on the main island of Java, and its network of teachers and ex-students have been central to militant activity in the country since the early 1990s. A close look at those taking part — and advocating for — the war in Syria reveals it remains a central node of extremism, apparently intent on making Syria a new venue for those wishing to take part in jihad.

Ihsani and the three other Indonesians who left Pakistan with him attended Ngruki. The first Indonesian known to be killed in the conflict, Riza Fardi, was also a graduate. His death was reported on Arabic jihadi websites in late November, along with a photo of him taken in the region, smiling with other fighters.

Bambang Sukirno, another Ngruki graduate and a Bashir associate, took part in a humanitarian mission to Latakia last year, according to video interviews he gave to Islamist media on his return. Sukirno published the autobiography of Bali nightclub bomber Imam Samudra, who writes lovingly of his experience fighting jihad in Afghanistan.

“We have learned that some of our alumni are involved in the struggle in Syria, but once again I reiterate that we can’t monitor or follow what our students do after they graduate,” said Wahyudin, Ngruki’s principal. The cleric, who goes by a single name, used a similar defense when confronted with the fact that former students and teachers were convicted of carrying and planning out terrorist attacks inside Indonesia in the 2000s.

Ihsani’s father, Sholeh Ibrahim, has been a teacher at the school for years, and heads the extremist Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid organization in Solo, where the school is located. JAT is campaigning for Islamic law in Indonesia, is anti-Christian and supports al-Qaida’s vision. At least 30 members have been convicted for terrorist offenses over the last four years, and the U.S. State Department declared it a foreign terrorist organization in 2012.

The head of the organization nationwide, Abu Bakar Bashir, is serving a 15-year jail sentence for supporting the establishment of a militant training camp. From behind bars, the cleric issued a call for jihad to Syria year.

Ibrahim said he last spoke to his son Aug. 21. He didn’t mention any travel plans, but asked about his family in Indonesia and spoke of his activities at college in Islamabad, Pakistan, a popular destination for Indonesians looking for cheap degrees in Islam. Ibrahim said neither he nor any of his son’s friends have heard from him since.

Despite being a proponent of jihad, Ibrahim said he was worried.

“Honestly speaking, as father, I’m concerned,” said Ibrahim. “But I trust in Allah and his will, and I’m sure he (Ihsani) will choose a blessed path.”

A sustained crackdown by Indonesian authorities since 2002 has reduced the threat of large-scale terrorism against Western or civilian targets in Indonesia and elsewhere in the region. But small groups of militants continue to plot, train for and carry out attacks, mostly against police targets, across the country of 240 million people.

Syria represents a rare training and battle opportunity for the current generation of Indonesian militants.

Most of the foreign fighters in the country come from the Middle East. Estimates of the numbers of Western European fighters range from 396 to 1,937, according to a recent study by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization.

It’s unclear where or with whom the Indonesians are fighting. According to the center, most of the foreigners are grouped with the Nusra Front or the Islamic State in Iraq, the two opposition brigades that are closest to al-Qaida.

“Anybody coming back from Syria is going to have immediate credibility and legitimacy in the jihadi movement,” said Sidney Jones, the director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict. “There might be people coming back who can take any of these amorphous, feckless groups of extremists and drill them into shape.”

While the country’s extremist fringe is rallying around Syria, it is also apparent most mainstream Indonesian Muslims are not signing up to the cause because it means having to embrace the uncompromising — and still unpopular — sectarian vision that is at the heart of the conflict.

Only around 20 people showed up at a recent meeting at a mosque in west Jakarta organized by hardliners who had returned from a Syrian humanitarian mission. A question from a reporter as to why Indonesians should take sides in a civil war in a Muslim country when other causes, for example Palestine, were still pressing, was met with a smattering of applause from those present.

Joserizal Jurnalis, a doctor who has led humanitarian missions to help Muslims in Afghanistan, Lebanon and elsewhere, has angered many fellow Indonesian Islamists by refusing to go to Syria or supporting the cause.

He says those rallying around Syria are “those close to al-Qaida only.”
“It’s a sectarian war. It’s not clear to me why we should be helping in the slaughter of other Muslims,” he said.

Will the Asean Chair Strain Myanmar’s Resources? | The Irrawaddy Magazine

Will the Asean Chair Strain Myanmar’s Resources? | The Irrawaddy Magazine

WILLIAM BOOT / THE IRRAWADDY, January 9, 2014

Burma’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) begins in earnest next week when it hosts its first major regional meeting—a gathering of foreign ministers from the 10 member countries.

The meeting next Wednesday in Bagan will be the first of hundreds of Asean events, including two leaders’ summits, during Burma’s year-long leadership of the huge trading bloc. And 2014 is a crucial year for the 40-year-old regional grouping, as it moves toward a unified market along the lines of the European Union.

But as Burma itself strives to re-emerge as a viable economy after decades of isolation, how much of a strain will the Asean chairmanship be on a country with limited resources?

“Managing the [Asean] chairmanship will impose extra burdens upon a narrow cohort of able people who are managing the reform process, but who are already grossly verworked. To this extent, the chairmanship could be an unwelcome distraction,” economist and Burma expert Sean Turnell told The Irrawaddy while visiting Rangoon.

“On the other hand, the country is receiving assistance in the role from prior chair countries, which is likely to be helpful both for the matter at hand, and perhaps more broadly in terms of public administration.”

Some in giant neighbor India have welcomed Burma’s prominent role this year in Asean, saying Indian and Burmese businesses will likely benefit from new opportunities.
“Holding of the Asean [leadership] symbolises [Burma’s] re-entry to the global community. At the same time, it gives [Burma] another opportunity to demonstrate that it is committed to democracy and wider integration with the world outside,” Saroj Mohanty, a strategic analyst at the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), wrote in a commentary last month.

“However, doubts have been raised about the country’s ability to steer a grouping as significant as the Asean in a rapidly changing strategic environment in the region where the US, China, Japan and the EU are intensifying their re-balancing efforts.This has been further compounded by the internal challenges the country faces and its abysmal infrastructure.”

Burma’s failure so far to improve its dilapidated infrastructure continues to affect economic progress, with poor roads and inadequate electricity supply. Hosting major events draws attention to these problems and makes them worse for local people, critics say.

“During the World Economic Forum, [hosted by Burma in 2013] many infrastructure problems were made glaringly obvious,” the Southeast Asia Globe magazine reported.

“For most, travel to the capital, Naypyidaw, involved a long journey by road from [Rangoon] airport. Only a select few were able to land at the capital’s airport and, for those lucky enough to alight there, the 30-minute taxi ride into town often cost more than the flight. Upon arrival, many found a shortage of hotel rooms along with poor internet connections and frequent power cuts.”

Such a negative experience for high-profile business or political visitors clearly does not help Burma’s image, but Turnell, a professor at Macquarie University in Australia and co-editor of the Burma Economic Watch, believes the year-long leadership of Asean will help Burma in more ways than one.

“The chairmanship shines a light on the country in ways that, perhaps, might encourage further reforms and dissuade more negative elements,” he told The Irrawaddy this week.

It will be too late for the Asean year and all the many hundreds of comings and goings between Rangoon and Mandalay and Naypyidaw, but plans at least have been drawn up to greatly improve the railway system.

Ironically, perhaps, it is Japan and not Asean countries stepping forward to help improve Burma’s infrastructure.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is finalizing arrangements with the Ministry of Rail Transportation for a US$200 million loan agreement to finance modernization of the Rangoon-Mandalay line. The refurbishment is aimed at cutting the journey time between the two commercial cities by half.

Burma’s other giant neighbor, China, has so far said little about the 2014 leadership of Asean. This might be a reflection of the allegations that Beijing sought to manipulate the 10-nation bloc’s foreign policies during Cambodia’s 2012 stewardship.

“In recent years, China’s shadow has loomed large over Asean proceedings. In its 2012 stint as chair, Cambodia was heavily criticised for toadying to China over the South China Sea dispute,” reported the Southeast Asia Globe.

“If Beijing tries to overplay its hand and push the [Burma] government too hard on Asean matters, it’s likely that [Burma] will push back,” the Globe quoted Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, as saying. “[Burma] will likely not repeat Cambodia’s mistake.”

The Asean year will certainly put the international spotlight on Burma, but whether it will bring more business investment into the country will only become clear by the end of 2014.
One foreign company certain to benefit—in prestige terms, at least—from Burma’s stewardship is the upmarket carmaker BMW. The German firm is providing almost 100 luxury limousines to the Naypyidaw government to carry Asean VIPs to and from meetings.

Analysis: Battle lines drawn in Burma’s fight for democracy | Asian Correspondent

Analysis: Battle lines drawn in Burma’s fight for democracy | Asian Correspondent
Zin Linn, Jan 07, 2014


Burma’s existing Constitution, approved in a May 2008 referendum, is controversial since it was prearranged by means of subjective legal principles. It says the military commander-in-charge can take sovereign power if the country is in a dangerous situation. In late July last year, a three-day Ethnic Conference organized by the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) held in Chiang Mai, Thailand unanimously rejected the military-sponsored 2008 constitution after serious discussion.

The Ethnic Conference also made a resolution to draft a new constitution based on federalism by the end of the year. Some politicians have expressed worries that the move could bring about more conflict between ethnic rebels and the military.

Ethnic-based political parties in Burma (Myanmar) and ethnic rebel groups negotiating armistice agreements with the government after decades of military conflict have called for amendments that allow self-determination for ethnic citizens.

Speaking while on a trip to Australia in November, Burmese opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi told an audience at the Sydney Opera House that the country had still not “successfully taken the path to reform” because the military-written 2008 constitution bars the country from becoming a democracy.

Trevor Wilson, a visiting fellow at the Department of Political & Social Change, ANU College of Asia & the Pacific, said, “Both publicly and privately, Suu Kyi urged Australians and Australian organisations dealing with Myanmar to be aware of policies and practices consistent with responsible, transparent and democratic standards, and not to focus unduly on building relationships with the present undemocratic government and its supporters, including business cronies. She made it clear that she hoped Australia would provide increased support for Myanmar’s democratisation process, as being advocated by the NLD [National League for Democracy], and would have carefully noted reactions to these calls.”
Burmese army Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing holds significant influence on the proposed constitutional reforms considering the constitution reserves 25 percent of seats in parliament for the military. It also requires a 75 percent parliament majority for a charter changes following a nationwide referendum. Suu Kyi insists that a constitution is undemocratic when it can be amended or not amended in line with the will of one man who is in an unelected position.

According to the Nobel Laureate, the measures for making any constitutional change in Burma (Myanmar) were among the most inflexible in the world. Citizens cannot have genuine democracy under such a constitution.

Last month Burma’s ruling party leader was cautioned after speaking out in favour of reform. Thura Shwe Mann, chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), made his remarks during the party’s central committee meeting on December 28.
“Myanmar’s democratic reform attracts attention both locally and internationally. Failure to take correct measures for national unity and national reconciliation can cause difficulties in the reform efforts. That can also harm the process for peace, stability and development, provoking unexpected consequences,” said Shwe Mann, according to news reported by the Eleven Media Group.

The NLD’s chairperson earlier said that the opposition would boycott the next general election unless the Constitution was changed. The NLD refused to take part in the 2010 poll, criticizing the voting as inequitable. The Constitution and election laws unfairly gave privileged to the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party in the 2010 election through which former general Thein Sein became president.

This time the National League for Democracy (NLD) said that it will contest in the 2015 election though Article 59 (F) of the Constitution blocks party leader Suu Kyi from running for president, a NLD spokespersons told a press conference on December 28.

For the time being, the NLD has already put forward its proposition to revise 168 provisions in the existing Constitution to the parliamentary 109 joint-committee on constitutional review, Nyan Win said. One of the constitutional clauses that the NLD suggested to amend is Article 59 (F) that bars anyone whose spouse or children are overseas citizens from leading the country— a clause widely believed to be targeted at Suu Kyi whose two sons are British citizens.

However, there is discontent among the public with the situation of within NLD. Some old members say that several former USDP followers are joining the party in search of opportunities. According to some pro-NLDs, the main opposition party needs to re-organize its structure of the village and ward-ship levels in order to be tough enough for 2015 general elections.

Suu Kyi has publicly warned party members against in-fighting and jockeying for position that could damage the party ahead of next year’s elections.

But, Burma’s political scenario in 2014 seems more complicated than ever because there will be do-or-die struggles between the ‘pro-2008 Constitution faction’ and ‘anti-2008 Constitution parties’ that is basically connected with the presidential selection in 2015. In addition, there are many more challengers for the presidency office; with rumours putting sitting President U Thein Sein, Lower House Speaker U Thura Shwe Mann, and the military chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing as the frontrunners.

Amid constitutional barriers, the chances of Aung San Suu Kyi becoming president next year seem very slim. To challenge the presidential position in 2015, she has an uphill battle to change the most restrictive articles of the current constitution. So, 2014 will be a hostile year ahead as the democratic parties have to defend a fierce offensive by the ruling party and its crony alliance that monopolizes the country’s business interests.