Myanmar's exiled media starting to head home

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/myanmar-exiled-media-starting-to-head.html [/postlink] Publication Date : 23-04-2012

News of Myanmar's exiled media returning home has excited the community of dissidents and media activists around the world.

With the Arab Spring and increasing democratisation in various parts of the world, journalists who fled many other countries for an extended period of time are also returning home. However, they all face different challenges during these transitional periods, depending on how media-friendly the government in power is. Having operated without interference, these media outlets and journalists are fiercely independent and highly professional, with a hard-earned creditability.

It is only in recent years that stories from exiled media began to emerge on how they contributed to the dramatic political changes on their home fronts. Once they were the official targets of attacks. Now they have gained respect even from those who previously tried to oppress them. Returning media exiles share one common important trait: they all have promised to serve as faithful watchdogs in their societies — something they have done from thousands of kilometres away in different time zones. Truth be told, nowhere have the changes been as radical and impressive as in Myanmar.

Myanmar's case is intriguing because the government decided to invite exiled media early on during its reform process to return and contribute to nation-building and media professionalism inside the country. There are many exiled Burmese journalists of varying quality and experience working for a dozen news organisations, including ethnic minority news outlets, or blogging. The New Delhi-based Mizzima News has made a successful transition into Burma with a local printing licence. The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma is negotiating with the Nay Pyi Taw authorities for a broadcasting licence in the future.

Currently, the government is focusing on print media. Burmese News International, an umbrella for small ethnic media groups based in Thailand, hopes to set up offices in minority areas.

Other groups including the Chiang Mai-based Irrawaddy have made similar moves, but are being more cautious. Interestingly, each exiled media organisation planning to return to Burma has also worked out a contingency plan by maintaining overseas offices in case of a reversal in the reforms.

Burmese journalists are highly trained and professional. For decades, they had to operate overseas, sometimes far away from their own country, gathering and then dispatching news back to the country, to which they had no direct access. They are among the most innovative groups among worldwide exiled media today through the use of satellites and every kind of media technology. For instance over the past two decades, the DVB developed a sophisticated network of reporters and secretive ways of delivering their news reports on a day-to-day basis. Relying on groups of clandestine journalists, including the well-known underground video journalists, inside the country, they informed the Burmese at home about what was really going on in their backyards.

Recently, DVB also filed a report on the thank-you party given by opposition party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, filmed by one of its journalists. It was the only media outlet that reported on the reception, which was rather controversial as only 19 journalists were invited.

Among journalists, debates continue as to whether it was a faux pas on the part of the National League for Democracy to express appreciation to journalists or media outlets that reported positively on Suu Kyi and the party's activities. Indeed, it is no secret that she has been the subject of positive news reports since her release. Before and during the by-election campaign in March, almost all printed media, barring the government-run media, filled their front pages with her photos and quotes. Indeed, editors and reporters at home are now facing a dilemma on how to cover her stories and activities without putting too positive a spin on it. In this case, DVB shows the unique character of exiled media.

Unlike other closed societies, the Burmese authorities realise the urgency and benefits of rallying exiled media to their side. They have taken concrete steps to attract them, with the goal of integrating the exiled media into the wider society as soon as possible.

In recent months, censorship has been partly eased, pending the new media law, which is due by the end of this year. Within Asean, especially among the members with restrictive media, this trend is quite disturbing because the Burmese media scene is receiving positive international media coverage. For decades, Burma's media freedom ranked among the world's worst in various global media indexes. But this will change with the new evaluation next year.

That helps explain why the exiled journalists visiting Burma to hold talks with the authorities were asked to impart their experience and professionalism obtained overseas to their local colleagues. Some were even asked privately to help train officials dealing with spokespeople for various ministries to improve media communication.

Burma aside, it is hard to know the exact number of exiled media organisations around the world. It is estimated that there are around 50 outlets covering at least 20 locations including Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Belarus, Yemen, Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Cuba, Bhutan, Tibet, Sudan and Eritrea. Every day, hundreds of journalists-in-exile, some of them political activists, work from their homes or offices to inform their own people and the rest of the world of the "real news", using their own limited resources and outside funding.

All around the world, undemocratic governments, especially dictatorial ones that have made an about-face, understand media operations and their weaknesses and strengths. Their leaders know and can play along with the journalists' ethos and pledge to respect media independence and integrity, but when push comes to shove, the authorities immediately put them down. That helps explain why there is still so much suspicion of the changes taking place in Burma and elsewhere.

It remains to be seen how Burma's exiled media come to terms with their new turf. Their hard-headed investigative skills and other media talents will certainly be useful in monitoring and checking the authorities' performance to ensure that they genuinely work for democracy and the wellbeing of the people.

By
Kavi Chongkittavorn The Nation

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Earth Day Photo

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/earth-day-photo.html [/postlink]

An aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The Great BArrier is the world's largest coral reef system, with over 3,000 individual reefs and over 900 islands stretching for over 1,600 miles. The reef is located in the Coral Sea off the coast Queensland, Australia. (Frans Lanting/Corbis)

The Sahara Desert is the world's second largest desert after Antarctica. Deserts are defined by their lack of moisture, not their temperature. The Sahara covers over 3.6 million square miles, most of northern Africa. (Stephen Strathdee/Getty Images)

The Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, illuminate the night sky over Denali National Park, Alaska. (Getty Images)

The Iguazu Falls are located on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipi, who fled with her mortal lover in a canoe. In a rage the god sliced the river, creating the falls. (Peter Adams/Getty Images)

The Grand Canyon, carved by the Colorado River in Arizona. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and at some points is over a mile deep. A recent study shows the canyon began to form some 17 million years ago. (Tiffany Hagler-Geard/ABC NEWS)

The Amazon rainforest of South America. Deforestation in the Amazon basin threatened many plant and animal species that only exist here. From 2002 to 2006, the conserved land in the Amazon rainforest almost tripled, and deforestation rates dropped as much as 60 percent. (Getty Images)

Sugar maples on a riverbank in Vermont show their peak colors in the fall. Vermont is the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States. About 77 percent of the state is forest, covered mostly with conifer, sugar maples and northern hardwoods trees. (Ron and Patty Thomas/Getty Images)

A woman in traditional clothing carries a basket of flowers along rice terraces in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. Ubud is a town on the Indonesian island of Bali. (Martin Puddy/Getty Images)

Angel Falls, Venezuela, is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, 3,212 feet high. The waterfall drops over the edge of Auyantepui mountain in the Canaima National Park. Water from the falls enters into the Krep River, also known as the Rio Gauya. (Getty Images)

Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak 29,029 feet above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas mountain range in Nepal. (John Wang/Getty Images)

Upper Antelope Slot Canyon is located on Navajo land near Page, Arizona.The Navajo name for the canyon means "the place where water runs through the rocks." The canyon was formed by the erosion of sandstone, mostly due to flash flooding. It has been accessible by permit only since 1997, when the Navajo people made it a Navajo Tribal Park. (Getty Images)

The Na Pali coast in Kauai, Hawaii. Also known as the Garden Isle, Kauai lies 105 miles northwest of O'ahu. It is the oldest of the main Hawaiian islands, approximately 6 million years old. (Masa Ushioda/Getty Images)

The Perito Moreno Glacier in the Los Glaciares National Park, in Santa Cruz province, Argentina. This icefield is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water. (Getty Images)

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China and Russia hold first navy exercises

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/china-and-russia-hold-first-navy.html [/postlink]

Updated April 22, 2012, 5:52 pm

 

China and Russia launched their first joint naval exercises Sunday, with war games in the Yellow Sea that come amid tensions between China and its Asian neighbours over territorial claims.

The six days of drills -- the first dedicated exercises involving navies of the two countries -- are taking place off China's east coast, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Although China has said the military exercises are designed to improve regional stability, they come at a time when Beijing is boosting military spending and more forcefully stating its case in territorial disputes.

China's army newspaper warned Saturday that other military exercises now taking place in Asia between the United States and the Philippines could lead to armed confrontation over the disputed South China Sea.

China and several of its neighbours have rival claims to uninhabited islands in the strategic maritime region, which is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas and straddles strategic shipping lanes vital to global trade.

Beijing and Tokyo also have a long-running dispute over another chain of islands in the East China Sea, called Diaoyu by China and Senkaku by Japan, which sit in rich fishing grounds that may also harbour energy resources.

China has 16 naval vessels and two submarines taking part in the exercises while Russia has four warships, according to state media.

They will focus on joint air defence, anti-submarine tactics and search and rescue, as well as simulated rescue of hijacked vessels and anti-terrorism drills.

"This joint military exercise is a long scheduled one between China and Russia in order to uphold regional peace and stability," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a regular news briefing on Thursday.

China and Russia have together participated in four military exercises since 2005, some involving other countries, state media has said.

China's drills with Russia have taken place through a regional grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which groups the two with central Asian countries in a forum originally established to counter NATO influence.

With military cooperation between the old Cold War allies on the rise, some analysts questioned the value of China holding exercises with Russia, given Moscow's diminished role.

"It's worrisome to its neighbours," said Joshua Eisenman, senior fellow in China studies at the Washington-based American Foreign Policy Council.

"Countries like Korea, Japan, Vietnam and India are already concerned about China's role in the region," he told AFP.

"From a Chinese perspective, I don't see the value of this type of military exercise to building long-term strategic trust with its neighbours."

Earlier this month, China and the Philippines dispatched vessels to enforce rival claims to a group of islands in the South China Sea.

The Philippines and the United States also started major war games as a timely boost to their military alliance, as part of Washington's "pivot" towards Asia, which has provoked displeasure from China.

The People's Liberation Army Daily, a newspaper known for its nationalistic editorial stance, on Saturday issued a warning to the United States over its participation.

"The mentality behind this sort of military exercise will lead to the road of military confrontation and armed force as a resolution," the newspaper said.

Chinese experts see the exercises with Russia as giving its military chances to interact with a modern navy. Yin Zhuo, an expert who advises the Chinese navy, said the number of ships involved was unprecedented.

"Both sides will have deep exchanges in terms of tactics and technology," Yin told state television.

Japan has so far not commented on the Sino-Russian drills.

But Japan's defence ministry said in a recent report that China was becoming increasingly active in waters near Japanese territory while Russia was holding more frequent military exercises in its far east region.

BEIJING (AFP)

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Already in Myanmar’s Reformation, an Impasse

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/already-in-myanmars-reformation-impasse.html [/postlink]  April 22, 2012, 12:29 am

Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

Newly elected as a member of Parliament, Aung San Suu Kyi is balking at taking the oath of office.

HONG KONG — Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and 42 members of her National League for Democracy insist they will not take the oath of office on Monday unless a single problematic word is changed: The newly elected members of Parliament are refusing to swear that they will “safeguard” the Constitution. Instead, they want to say they’ll “respect” it.
The deadlock is serious enough that an N.L.D. spokesman said Friday that it was “highly unlikely” that his party’s members would be sworn in. The Constitutional Court is said to be considering the matter.
In recent months, international observers and diplomats have been nearly giddy about democracy breaking out in Myanmar (which a few nations still insist on calling Burma). When the N.L.D. won a by-election in a landslide earlier this month, it signaled the kind of truly nonviolent revolution that the West has been pining for. Senior Western envoys and even heads of state have been showing up at Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s house like starry-eyed pilgrims arriving at Lourdes.
Many political analysts have been “heralding a new political dawn in Burma’s history,” as the Burmese editor Kyaw Zwa Moe puts it. “But things appear precarious at the moment” over the swearing-in issue.
Some see the widely revered Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi making a major political misstep over a minor point of contention.
“By participating in the election, Aung San Suu Kyi chose to play by the regime’s rules,” said the analyst Min Zin, writing on the Transitions blog of Foreign Policy magazine. “Now she needs to pick her battles rather than wasting valuable energy in a fight over symbolism.
“There’s an old Burmese proverb: ‘If you choose to live like a bug inside a chili pepper, you can’t really complain if you start feeling hot.’ ”

If the deadlock over wording sounds like a splitting of political hairs, it does present at least two causes of realpolitik concern for Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues.
First, she made a rewriting of the Constitution a principal promise of her recent campaign. The document — drafted by the military and passed in a heavily manipulated referendum in 2008 — is not exactly the Magna Carta. For one thing, it automatically tithes one-fourth of the seats in Parliament to the military.
Swearing to “safeguard” the Constitution is not exactly how she and the others in the N.L.D. want to begin their historic legislative tenures. On the other hand, if they don’t take their seats and boycott the session, they’ll have no way at all to amend the Constitution. (Even so, it will be a challenge: The opposition only holds about 7 percent of the seats in Parliament.)
Second, if the opposition lawmakers, having sworn to safeguard the Constitution, then try to amend it, hard-liners in the government could use that “betrayal” as a legal pretext for unseating them, bringing charges, or even locking them up. Worse and stranger things have happened in Myanmar over the past half-century.
Plenty of generals retired from the military to take up seats in the new Parliament in 2010, and they presumably have little patience for Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and her democratic inclinations. They know that she’ll gore their ox, given the chance. She has promised as much.
Most Burma-watchers are anxious to see if the military will remain the black spot on the X-ray of a democratic Myanmar. It does not appear that the generals will go quietly: In a recent speech, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the commander in chief, reiterated the importance of the military’s continuing role in politics and its dedication to preserving the existing Constitution.

By MARK MCDONALD

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Japan to write off $3.7bn Burma debt

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/japan-to-write-off-37bn-burma-debt.html [/postlink] 21 April 2012

The Burmese president is on a five-day visit to Japan

Japan has agreed to write off more than $3.7bn (£2.29bn) of debt owed by Burma and to resume development aid. 

The accord came at talks in Tokyo between the countries' leaders. They also agreed to plan a special economic zone near Rangoon.

Burma has begun political and economic reforms in the past year, since a civilian-led government ended nearly 50 years of direct military rule.

Burma is rich in natural resources but its people remain poor.

President Thein Sein is the first Burmese leader to visit Japan for almost three decades. He has introduced reforms since coming to power in November 2010.
'Last frontier market'
The announcement of the debt write-off and resumption of aid was made jointly by Thein Sein and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda after talks.

"At a time when Myanmar's [Burma's] democratisation is reaching a key stage, Japan is declaring to further support its efforts to reform and to continue bolstering assistance," Mr Noda told a news conference.

The BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says the joint plans to be drawn up for the special economic zone in Burma could give Japanese firms a head start in winning business in what is seen as one of Asia's last frontier markets.

Thein Sein's visit comes as EU nations prepare to ease sanctions. An announcement is expected on Monday, diplomatic sources say.

They predict an end to a travel ban and asset freeze for many officials, with only the arms embargo to remain in place.

The US and Australia have already eased some sanctions on Burma following the political reforms.

Earlier this month, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won 43 out of the 45 seats it contested in by-elections, with Ms Suu Kyi herself winning a seat.

Opposition MPs are to take their seats in parliament on Monday, but a row over the oath they swear could delay this.

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Hundreds of Myanmar nationals seek refugee status

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/hundreds-of-myanmar-nationals-seek.html [/postlink]  Making pavements as their homes, over 500 hundred Myanmar nationals, among them women and children, have camped for the past 12 days near the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office here, demanding a refugee status.

"Life is not easy for refugees like us, who fled our country... at the age of 18... I have faced torture, extortion, trauma and starvation," Dilwana Begum, who works as a maid in Jammu, told IANS. "We are at least happy that unlike in our own country or Bangladesh, in India we feel safe and are not harassed for being Muslims. But the UNHCR is not paying heed to our plight."

Since April 9, Begum and over 500 people like her belonging to Burmese Rohingya community, a Muslim community hounded out from Myanmar (formerly Burma), have made temporary sheds of polythene sheets by the rear compound wall of the UNHCR office in B-2 Block of Vasant Vihar in south Delhi, demanding refugee cards.

"We were issued a asylum seeker card in August 2011 by the UNHCR, but it deprives us from lot of facilities that a refugee would get. We want a refugee card. Our children need education, better living conditions like water to drink and toilets. But we are deprived of this as we don't have a refugee card," said Zia-ul-Rahman, a refugee who left Myanmar two years ago and now lives in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.


The refugees say that for the past 12 days, most of them did menial jobs to get food and water.

"We are at their doorsteps seeking help, but the UNHCR has not even reached us to see how we are managing here with small children and old people, hope they know the real meaning of human rights," lamented Abdul Hafeez, who stays at the camp.

Hafeez speaks very little Hindi, and through an interpreter told IANS: "I lost my parents four years ago as the Burmese Junta shot them saying that they did not support the military regime. I had to discontinue my education. Like other refugees from Burma and countries like Afghanistan, Somalia, we need a refugee status so that I can continue my studies."

Another refugee, Mamoon Rafeeq who works as teacher in Jammu said that the Rohingyas have been sidelined in Myanmar as they are a Muslim community.

"Unlike other Myanmarese refugees, Rohingya has been sidelined because we are Muslims. Other Myanmar refugees who are Christians and Buddhists are given refugee card," Rafeeq claimed.

However, the UNHCR officials say that they discussed the issue with the refugees four to five times, but were not persuaded by their arguments.


The officials said they will now meet 10 representatives of the community on May 20.

"We don't use the term Rohingya - we refer to this group as Muslims from northern Rakhine state. In India, there is no national legal framework for refugees, and because of this there are different approaches to different groups of people," Nayana Bose, associate external relations officer UNHCR, told IANS.

"We have already registered them as asylum seekers and issued identity cards. The card is similar to the refugee card as it helps prevent harassment, arbitrary arrests, detention and expulsion," Bose said.

"Moreover, we are having an on-going dialogue with this group, and for their own safety and well-being, we have asked them to go back to their residential places in India. We have offered to meet their representatives in a more structured manner, to see how best we can assist them, as we do with all groups of refugees and asylum seekers," Bose added.

By Pratibha Raju, New Delhi, April 21
 

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Myanmar Wins Japan Debt Forgiveness as Thein Sein Visits Tokyo

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/myanmar-wins-japan-debt-forgiveness-as.html [/postlink]

Myanmar’s President Thein Sein won a debt forgiveness deal from Japan on his first visit as head of state that opens the way for the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest creditor to resume financing ports, bridges and roads.

Japan will forgive 303.5 billion yen ($3.7 billion) in loans and interest to Myanmar, according to a statement distributed to reporters before Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met Thein Sein today. Japan will also roll over 198.9 billion yen of debt with a new loan, while vowing to resume aid.

Thein Sein is courting investment from Japan amid a shift toward democracy over the past year that’s encouraged re- engagement with developed nations after five decades of military dictatorship. Honda Motor Co. is among companies expressing interest in Myanmar, a nation of 64 million people between India and China.

Japan will extend economic cooperation to “support Myanmar’s efforts for reforms in various areas towards its democratization, national reconciliation and sustainable development,” Noda said in the statement.

Japan agreed to complete a feasibility study by year’s end to develop a port and industrial estate at Thilawa, 25 kilometers south of Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, according to a statement. The industrial zone would promote Japanese investment and help grow Myanmar’s economy, the statement said.

Continuing Changes

The world’s third-largest economy pledged 403 billion yen in loans to Myanmar between 1967 and 1987, according to foreign ministry data. Japan attached conditions to parts of the debt deal announced today, such as canceling 176.1 billion of overdue charges after “monitoring the continuation of Myanmar’s reform efforts in a one-year period,” according to the statement.

As part of the agreement with Japan, Myanmar agreed to discuss settling arrears with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, it said.

Cheap wages, natural resources, historical ties and concern over China’s influence in Myanmar make the nation important for Japan, said Kei Nemoto, a professor specializing in Myanmar at Sophia University in Tokyo. Policy makers “are now thinking that the time is right to deepen engagement with Myanmar, otherwise Japan may lose in the competition with other countries,” he said, noting that China, India and South Korea have increased ties with the Southeast Asian nation.

Reassess Sanctions

European Union envoys on April 23 will reassess sanctions on Myanmar following by-elections this month that included dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. EU governments will probably suspend most sanctions against Myanmar to reward the country for progressing from military rule toward democracy, an EU official told reporters in Brussels yesterday on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. has announced that it will ease trade and financial restrictions on certain sectors, without providing details.

Thein Sein met Noda after a regional summit involving leaders from Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. Tomorrow Thein Sein will visit power plants run by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) and Electric Power Development Co., also known as J-Power, according to Japan’s foreign ministry.

Yangon had the cheapest wages among 31 cities in Asia, according to a Jetro survey last year. Workers in the former capital earned less than $2 per day on average, compared with $4 in Cambodia, $5 in Vietnam and $14 in Thailand, the report showed.

Italian-Thai Development Pcl (ITD), Thailand’s biggest construction company, is pushing Japan to provide financing for an $8.6 billion deep-sea port and industrial estate in Dawei, a Myanmar coastal town less than 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Bangkok. The company has named Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. as potential investors.

Honda is interested in building a motorcycle plant in Myanmar, Hiroshi Kobayashi, president and chief executive officer of Asian Honda Motor Co. (7267), told reporters in Thailand on March 31. NTT Data Corp., the Tokyo-based provider of network- system services, said on April 19 it plans to form a subsidiary in September that will have as many as 500 employees by 2017.

By Daniel Ten Kate and Takashi Hirokawa - Apr 21, 2012 6:42 PM GMT+0900

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