YANGON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua)-- Myanmar police are investigating human trafficking cases involving 93 child victims in November alone, a record number compared to that of previous months, according to Myanmar's Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division on Saturday.
The authorities saved more than 500 out of 617 victims including about 100 children this year.
During the past 11 months, a total of 120 cases were exposed and 226 of 355 traffickers were arrested in the country, of which Shan state topped the list with 36 cases, followed by Mandalay and Yangon with 17 cases each and Kachin 13 cases. (Courtesy of Xinhua English News)
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Myanmar's first UNESCO biosphere reserve launched
Nay Pyi Taw: Myanmar has launched the country's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve - Inle Lake in Shan state, opening a new chapter in its commitment to bio-diversity and eco-system conservation.
Inle Lake was designated as Myanmar's first biosphere reserve under UNESCO's Man and the Bioshpere (MAB) programme in Paris in June this year.
UNESCO official highlighted the need for innovative technical and eco-technological solution which are key for preserving the lake along with education and research activities through an inclusive management framework for the lake. (Courtesy of english.manoramaonline.com)
Inle Lake was designated as Myanmar's first biosphere reserve under UNESCO's Man and the Bioshpere (MAB) programme in Paris in June this year.
UNESCO official highlighted the need for innovative technical and eco-technological solution which are key for preserving the lake along with education and research activities through an inclusive management framework for the lake. (Courtesy of english.manoramaonline.com)
Myanmar: the challenges of power
On 4 December, the leader of Myanmar’s opposition, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the previous month’s general election, had a two-and-a-half hour meeting with Senior General Than Shwe, the leader of the military junta that had kept her under house arrest for 15 of the 21 years after 1989. The meeting provided grounds for optimism that there could be a peaceful transfer of power early in 2016 from Myanmar’s present military-supported government to one led by the massively popular Suu Kyi.
Though Than Shwe nominally retired in 2011, he is widely believed to exert considerable influence over the Tatmadaw (the country’s armed forces, which were founded by Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, during the independence struggle against the British in the 1940s) and, by extension, the current government. Details of the meeting are unknown, but in a Facebook post Than Shwe’s grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, quoted the general as saying of Suu Kyi: ‘It is the truth that she will become the future leader of the country’ and ‘I will support her with all my efforts’. (Courtesy of iiss.org)
Though Than Shwe nominally retired in 2011, he is widely believed to exert considerable influence over the Tatmadaw (the country’s armed forces, which were founded by Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, during the independence struggle against the British in the 1940s) and, by extension, the current government. Details of the meeting are unknown, but in a Facebook post Than Shwe’s grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, quoted the general as saying of Suu Kyi: ‘It is the truth that she will become the future leader of the country’ and ‘I will support her with all my efforts’. (Courtesy of iiss.org)
Asylum row highlights Thai human trafficking
Police weigh defamation case against investigator who fled to Australia and has implicated senior security officials.
Thai police say they are considering a defamation case against a police officer who fled to Australia and is claiming political asylum.
Police Major-General Paween Ponsirin was the most senior police official entrusted with the investigation into human trafficking after mass graves were discovered in southern Thailand in May.
Only weeks before a human trafficking trial was due to begin in Thailand, Paween said that his investigation had implicated senior military and police officials in the racket.
He told Australian media on Thursday that he now fears for his life.
Jakthip Chaijinda, the Royal Thai police chief, said an investigation would now decide whether Praween's comments were defamatory.
"I don't know the reason why he had to go and speak about this issue but he should not talk about this because it could damage the country," Jakthip said. (Courtesy of mwcnews.net)
Thai police say they are considering a defamation case against a police officer who fled to Australia and is claiming political asylum.
Police Major-General Paween Ponsirin was the most senior police official entrusted with the investigation into human trafficking after mass graves were discovered in southern Thailand in May.
Only weeks before a human trafficking trial was due to begin in Thailand, Paween said that his investigation had implicated senior military and police officials in the racket.
He told Australian media on Thursday that he now fears for his life.
Jakthip Chaijinda, the Royal Thai police chief, said an investigation would now decide whether Praween's comments were defamatory.
"I don't know the reason why he had to go and speak about this issue but he should not talk about this because it could damage the country," Jakthip said. (Courtesy of mwcnews.net)
Gambia's president declares Islamic statehood
Gambia's president has declared the West African country an Islamic republic saying the decision was made because Islam is the religion of most citizens and the nation must break away from its colonial past.
President Yahya Jammeh made the declaration at the end of a political rally held on Friday at the coastal village Brufut, about 15km west of the capital Banjul.
"In line with the country's religious identity and values, I proclaim Gambia as an Islamic state," the Gambian leader said.
About 90 percent of Gambia's 1.8 million people are Muslim. The country gained independence from Britain in 1965.
"Gambia cannot afford to continue the colonial legacy," Jammeh said. (Courtesy of Yahoo Maktoob News)
President Yahya Jammeh made the declaration at the end of a political rally held on Friday at the coastal village Brufut, about 15km west of the capital Banjul.
"In line with the country's religious identity and values, I proclaim Gambia as an Islamic state," the Gambian leader said.
About 90 percent of Gambia's 1.8 million people are Muslim. The country gained independence from Britain in 1965.
"Gambia cannot afford to continue the colonial legacy," Jammeh said. (Courtesy of Yahoo Maktoob News)
Adrift with the boat people: Photographs reveal shocking realities about the Rohingya
One of the most disturbing photographs taken by Saiful Huq Omi is of a baby. Kept in a net, like a fish, which dangles from a hook high above a bed. On the bed, cloth bundles are pushed to its edges, a belt snakes through the centre and, unnoticed at first glance, a revolver rests on a pillow. The baby has turned over on his stomach, his face pressed against the net; he is bawling. “This is a Rohingya child, born in Malaysia, and an illegal immigrant like his parents. When the parents go to work, the children are kept in these swing cradles for safety,” says Omi.
His image of dawn appears to be a refreshing contrast. Behind the clouds and over the ragged earth, the sun rises with the promise of a new day. A man stands silhouetted on the horizon, pointing far away. Omi’s images reveal their meanings in instalments and a viewer staring at this beautiful landscape for a few moments finds it turning darker. The eye is drawn to upturned and neglected boats in the foreground and the thick black clouds that swoop over the frame. Nature seems to have clawed through the soil. The photograph now evokes loneliness and fear. The man at the centre is a Rohingya refugee from a camp in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh; he is pointing toward his home on the other side of the river Naf, which divides Burma and Bangladesh. During the shoot, he told Omi: “Just across the river Naf is my home. It is two miles but, for me, a refugee without a passport, it is like two million miles. My mother is there. How do you feel when you know your mother is 30 minutes away from where you are standing, and you will never be able to see her again?” (Courtesy of The Indian Express)
His image of dawn appears to be a refreshing contrast. Behind the clouds and over the ragged earth, the sun rises with the promise of a new day. A man stands silhouetted on the horizon, pointing far away. Omi’s images reveal their meanings in instalments and a viewer staring at this beautiful landscape for a few moments finds it turning darker. The eye is drawn to upturned and neglected boats in the foreground and the thick black clouds that swoop over the frame. Nature seems to have clawed through the soil. The photograph now evokes loneliness and fear. The man at the centre is a Rohingya refugee from a camp in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh; he is pointing toward his home on the other side of the river Naf, which divides Burma and Bangladesh. During the shoot, he told Omi: “Just across the river Naf is my home. It is two miles but, for me, a refugee without a passport, it is like two million miles. My mother is there. How do you feel when you know your mother is 30 minutes away from where you are standing, and you will never be able to see her again?” (Courtesy of The Indian Express)
Imaginary homeland
Dec 12, 2015- Hassan Hassan, a resident of Konchi village in Burma’s Rakhine’s state, returned home on May 20, 2012 from Maungdaw to find that his house had been reduced to cinders. His parents, little sister and four younger brothers were missing. The conflict between the Rohingya Muslims and the Buddhists in the Rakhine had set his village ablaze. The 19-year-old had been working in Maungdaw as a plumber when he heard the communal riots had spilled across the state. But he arrived home too late, he says.
In 2012, at least 80 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced as the Muslim and Buddhist communities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state attacked each other. (Courtesy of Kathmandu Post)
In 2012, at least 80 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced as the Muslim and Buddhist communities in Myanmar’s Rakhine state attacked each other. (Courtesy of Kathmandu Post)
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