China's new European trade hub: An Irish town of 18,000 - Christian Science Monitor
The Athlone Institute of Technology hosts more than 200 Chinese students – one of the links that helped bring the trade hub to the town, says Prof. Ciaran Ó Catháin, the president of the school and one of the players in the project negotiations. Professor Ó Catháin would not disclose ...
Vietnam’s Problems, Promises - Asia Sentinel/RTÉ World Report
“We tend to lose around 20% of our staff every year after Tet” (the Vietnamese New Year), said Kim Jung Hee, manager of a factory in Binh Duong province, an hour's drive from Saigon's centre. Her Korean company NB Blue employs a thousand workers, in a clean and well-lit factory ...
Thailand sentences American to prison for insulting king - Los Angeles Times
"In Thailand they put people in jail without proof," Lerpong said Thursday, his arms and legs shackled, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. "I was born in Thailand, but this does not mean I am Thai. I am proud to be an American citizen."
DMZ: Road trip to the world's most heavily armed border - CNNGo
SEOUL - As the tour bus moves from central Seoul to the city outskirts, the seamless transition from one of the world's biggest and most vibrant cities to the world's most heavily armed border is as surreal as it is functional, with roadside bus-stops giving way to military watchtowers even ...
Potent mix for Timor-Leste - Asia Times
DILI - Land, corruption and poverty are all on the table as Timor-Leste gets into political mode ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2012, with one controversial figure already throwing his hat into the ring.
If Samuel Beckett met Pol Pot - Asia Sentinel/Irish Examiner
TIK PANHAO, CAMBODIA - In some of Cambodia’s thousands of killing fields, the bones of the dead can sometimes be seen, rising to the surface after storms or rain, like grisly emblems of an unburied past. Perhaps 16,000 died at the s-21 Detention Camp in Phnom Penh, or at Choeung ...
Voting ends in southern Sudan referendum - Sunday Tribune
Kyeli, Blue Nile State, Sudan - “Soon after we married, my husband was killed during the war”, says Hawa Abdul-Gadr. Her eyes show a suppressed grief, but her demeanour is purposeful. That said, there is a perceptible sadness - long-kept under wraps but perhaps closer to the surface than she ...
An unbreakable bond? – Asia Times
JERUSALEM – In 'The Great Divorce' C.S. Lewis attempted to allegorise about a reality which he admitted he could not know, but tentatively hoped to suggest. The US-Israeli relationship, to most, seems like an unbreakable bond, and any potential divorce might be regarded as unimaginable. But when Israeli Prime Minister ...
Narcotic use, drought rob babies of food – The Washington Times
DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia | When drought and food shortages hit, it is the very young who suffer first, and most. Weighing only 10 pounds, Ayaan is among nearly 100,000 Ethiopian children whose lives are at risk. Just four days before her first birthday, she is lighter than an average 3-month-old ...
Corruption trumps tribalism – New York Times (IHT)
Kenyans were cynical about their political establishment long before the latest election violence. One wisecrack doing the rounds since last year says "there is more chance of a Luo becoming president of the United States than president of this country" - referring to Barack Obama, whose father hails from the ...
International Lawyers Question Thailand’s Security Law – The Irrawaddy
February 8th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17761
A weak rule of law is contributing to political division and violence in Thailand, according to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ).
A report issued by the ICJ at a Bangkok seminar said the Thai government needs to find a balance between protecting citizens and guaranteeing security on the one hand, and maintaining the rule of law under international human rights obligations on the other.
The International Commission of Jurists is a non-governmental organization of lawyers from around the world which works “to ensure that international human rights law is actually implemented” at national levels,
At the Bangkok seminar, held at Chulalongkorn University, a panel discussed Thailand’s Internal Security Act (ISA). One panelist, Roger Normand, the ICJ’s Asia-Pacific director, acknowledged that the ISA is an improvement on original drafts, and is less-restrictive than the Emergency Decree that remains in force in the Muslim-majority south.
But a weak rule of law contributes to political divides and violence in Thailand, according to the ICJ, which said it was concerned at the ISA’s “failure to clearly define the concept of a threat to national security.” (more…)
Karen Refugees Warned Not To Talk – The Irrawaddy
February 7th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17760
The Thai military on Saturday warned Karen refugees at Tha Song Yang not to speak to the media or the UN’s refugee agency, the UNHCR––or risk arrest and deportation.
According to Blooming Night Zan, a spokesperson for the Karen Women’s Organization (KWO), army personnel entered camps where the Karen refugees are staying on Saturday afternoon. She told The Irrawaddy that army personnel entered the camps in plain clothes to evade the attention of international representatives and media.
This comes after an overnight suspension of plans to begin the deportation of all remaining Karen refugees in the area, who fled a June 2009 military offensive in northeastern Karen State by the Burmese army and its proxy-militia, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), against the rebel Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). (more…)
Thailand remains split as verdict looms on ex-PMs assets – RTÉ World Report
February 7th, 2010
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0207/worldreport.html
Thailand is divided between Redshirt supports of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecoms billionaire who briefly owned Manchester City, and Yellowshirts, who claim that Thaksin is a threat to country’s revered monarchy.
This has all fed into a new round of military coups rumours. These are nothing new to Thailand, which has endured 18, some unsuccessful since absolute monarchy was ended in 1932.
Thaksin was deposed by the last coup, in 2006, and now is plotting a return to Thailand from exile. The current government is largely backed by the army, and opposes Thaksin. But is unstable, as it depends on a number of former Thaksin supporters for its narrow majority.
(more…)
Thai Govt Responds to Karen Landmine Fears – The Irrawaddy
February 5th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17752
BANGKOK—Acting Thai government spokesperson Dr. Panitan Wattanayagorn has told The Irrawaddy that the Thai authorities have been assured by their Burmese counterparts that the areas to which 3,000 Karen refugees are to be repatriated are clear of landmines.
Earlier, while addressing a forum on the Thai Internal Security Act at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Dr. Panitan said that the Thai government was assured of the sincerity of the Burmese junta, saying, “We do not look down on our neighbors as others may do. We have no reason to accuse them of anything wrong.”
However, at a press conference held at the National Human Rights Commission in the Thai government complex, Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) spokesperson Blooming Night Zan refuted the claims, saying that there is ample evidence that the area to which the refugees will be repatriated is mined. She pointed to injuries sustained by some of the refugees who crossed the border to tend to livestock left behind, including a pregnant woman who had her foot blown apart. (more…)
Forced Repatriation of Karen Refugees to Start – The Irrawaddy
February 4th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17743&Submit=Submit
Thai authorities will start deporting 3,000 Karen refugees living in Tha Song Yang camp back to Burma on Friday.
Karen refugees walk along a road on the Thai-Burmese border around 100 km north of Mae Sot in June 2009. (Photo: Getty Images)
Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) spokesperson Blooming Night Zan said that 35 families comprised of 165 people will be the first to be repatriated, while speaking at a press conference in Bangkok on Thursday.
This is despite pleas from the refugees and from more than 70 Thai and Thai-based Burmese NGOs that the group be allowed to stay in Thailand.
The refugees fled fighting in Burma between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Union (KNU) in June 2009, and now fear for their safety if they return to their homes in a heavily mined area still occupied by the DKBA. The DKBA is an ally of the Burmese army.
All 3,000 refugees are to be sent back to Burma by Feb. 15, according to Surapong Kongchantuk, the vice-chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee on Ethnic Minorities, the Stateless, Migrant Workers and Displaced Persons of the Lawyers Council of Thailand.
Surapong said that repatriation should be suspended until landmines are cleared from the refugees’ region of origin, and until the refugees are willing to go back voluntarily.
UNHCR spokesperson Kitty McKinsey told The Irrawaddy: “We met the Thai authorities on Jan. 28 to discuss this issue, and we reached an agreement with them that no forced repatriation would take place.” She said that the UNCHR expects the Thai authorities to honour that agreement.
Blooming Night Zan said that this is the second time the Thai military has sought to send the refugees back to Burma, despite the fact that “landmines are a real danger and there is no indication that these are clear.” (more…)
Assessing Thai Coup Rumors – ISN/The Irrawaddy
February 3rd, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17733
NEWS ANALYSIS/BANGKOK—Coup-mongering is nothing new to Thailand, but speculation about an impending putsch was revved-up last week when a column of more than twenty armored vehicles was seen on the streets of Bangkok.
The column was on its way from Bang Sue railway station to their barracks in Pathum Thani. Apparently the vehicles are being readied for deployment to Darfur, a dusty and desolate terrain vastly different from anything in Thailand. Thai troops are serving as part of the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in the vast western Sudan province.
It usually takes more than a few armored trucks to mount a coup, however, and, unexpected as the sight may have been, it takes more than a lone armored column on city streets to suggest that a coup is looming.
But with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in Europe at the Davos World Economic Forum, and an upcoming February 5-14 visit to the US by Army Chief Gen Anupong Paochinda, the coup gossip has gathered steam over recent days, suggesting that elements in the army could move in the absence of either man. (more…)
Burma Election Announcement in February? – The Irrawaddy
February 2nd, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17726&Submit=Submit
BANGKOK — According to sources in the Burmese military, junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe will announce the election timetable and law by the end of February.
The sources, who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the information discussed, say that the army is recruiting candidates from outside its own ranks to compete in military-backed parties during the election, targeting businesspeople and community figures such as teachers in townships and villages across the country.
Prominent candidates are likely to include leaders of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a “civil society organization” supported by the junta. The USDA has an estimated membership of 20 million people, many of whom have been forcibly recruited. (more…)
The China Trade-off – The Irrawaddy
February 1st, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17688
The China-Asean free trade deal is a milestone as Southeast Asian nations test the waters of economic competitiveness.
Cover of February print edition of The Irrawaddy
Almost one-third of the world’s population is covered in the China-Asean Free Trade Area (CAFTA), which came into being on Jan. 1. However, CAFTA is only the third largest free trade zone in the world, after the European Economic Area and the North American Free Trade Agreement zone (NAFTA). Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) governments hope that their economies will benefit as businesses get easier access to Chinese markets.
Most of the optimism seems to be coming from China, however, as the long-negotiated deal becomes a reality. The Chinese news agency, Xinhua, ran numerous feel-good stories talking up the merits of the new agreement, quoting officials, business people and academics in Asean states in a series of reports outlining the possible benefits of freer trade. With Chinese exports to the US and Europe down and not likely to recover anytime soon, Asean countries offer China more economic opportunity, as the more developed member-states seek to boost domestic consumption.
However, Asean was immediately put on the defensive, with Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan refuting claims that CAFTA would be detrimental to the bloc. In a press release marking the new agreement, he said, “Asean has the capacity to be the supply chain for China’s booming economy, which has been very much propelled by the gradual trade liberalization under the China-Asean FTA (Free Trade Agreement).” (more…)
Debating aid and Haiti – ISN
January 29th, 2010
All over Port-au-Prince, thousands of buildings will need to be razed and rebuilt (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?lng=en&id=111942
Aid to Haiti has largely failed in the past, and now faced with the daunting task of rebuilding the capital from the bottom up, many wonder whether international development plans will be lost in the rubble, Simon Roughneen
writes for ISN Security Watch.
Much of Haiti’s capital lies in ruins after the devastating January 12 earthquake. Up to 200,000 people are thought to have died, many now buried in mass graves outside the city. Hundreds of thousands more are homeless, sleeping in the open or in makeshift camps cobbled together with whatever blankets or sheeting people could get hold of. Delivering sufficient quantities of emergency assistance to so many people is proving a logistical nightmare, with the already limited Haitian infrastructure pulverized by the disaster.
While the emergency phase is from over, already Haiti and interested parties such as the US and Canada are looking to the longer term, and trying to raise money and figure out ways to help the western hemisphere’s poorest country get back on its feet – if it ever was fully so – in the months and years ahead.
As memories of the disaster fade, this will be a tall order. Already various notions of a ‘Marshall Plan’ for Haiti have been floated, evoking the US-led public-private partnership that helped rebuild Europe after World War II. Moreover, the task at hand has reignited the debate over the utility of development aid, with some wondering just how effective such a scheme could be in a Haiti that has received around $9billion in foreign assistance in recent decades.
The aid failure
Garaudy Laguerre is head of the Institute for Advanced Political and Social Studies in Port-au-Prince. He told ISN Security Watch, “This earthquake has profoundly affected or destroyed the little state structure that existed, it has also exposed, in our view, the failure of international aid in the way it has been conducted and used in Haiti.” (more…)
More Differences Between the Haiti-Burma Disasters – The Irrawaddy
January 28th, 2010
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=17680
Haiti President René Préval on Wednesday said that the country’s legislative elections would be postponed indefinitely due to the impact of the Jan. 12 earthquake. The change of plans stands in stark contrast to the Burmese junta, which didn’t let the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 get in the way of a nationwide constitutional referendum that proceeded as planned mere days later.
Quake survivors in Port-au-Prince are living in the open, in makeshift camps. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Haiti’s polls were scheduled for Feb. 28 and were seen as an important next step in stabilizing Haiti’s fragile democracy. Brazil-led UN peacekeepers have operated in Haiti since 2004, after politicized gang violence.
“The electoral campaign should have opened tomorrow and for obvious reasons, that won’t be able to happen,” Préval said in an interview at his temporary office.
Préval has been criticized by many Haitians, particularly in the vocal and influential expat lobby based in the US, for his apparent reticence after the earthquake. A New America Media/Bendixen & Amandi poll surveyed Haitians living in South Florida and across the country and found 63 percent disapprove of how Préval’s government has responded to the natural disaster.
With government buildings destroyed, the government has been forced to meet at a police station and under a nearby tent.
Préval says he did not want to be seen to be milking the disaster for public relations benefits. He said that as he toured Port-au-Prince the night of the earthquake and the next day, “A lot of people would have chosen to go and be filmed touring hospitals, to talk to the injured. . . . I chose to get to work and try to find help to deal with the catastrophe.” (more…)
