AP - Saturday, March 13
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian authorities have picked up 93 Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar who said they spent 30 days at sea in a crowded wooden boat, an official said Friday.
The Rohingya men, an ethnic group not recognized by Myanmar's military regime, had apparently been chased out of Thai waters before they were detained Wednesday off Malaysia's northern resort island of Langkawi, said Zainuddin Mohamad Suki, an officer with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.
The Thais denied they chased the boat away.
A fishing boat had earlier reported to the agency that the men were asking for food and water from passing vessels after their open boat experienced engine failure, he said.
Initial investigations showed they had been at sea for 30 days after fleeing their homeland, he said.
"Some of the men said they were chased out of Thai waters earlier before they made their way to Langkawi. They said they were sailing aimlessly in the hope of finding a country that will accept them," Zainuddin told The Associated Press.
Vimon Kidchob, spokeswoman for the Thai Foreign Ministry, however, said troops gave the men food and water, suggesting the men left Thai waters of their own accord.
"The Rohingyas were not chased out of the Thai waters. Thai troops on the Andaman Coast found a group of non-Thai people in boats, so they gave the people food and water and let them continue their journey," she said.
Thailand has acknowledged in the past towing away boats of Rohingyas, hoping they will land in other countries.
The Muslim Rohingyas number about 800,000 in Myanmar where they are denied full citizenship and face widespread abuses including forced labor, land seizures and rape, rights groups say.
Hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Middle East, and rights groups have expressed concern they will be tortured or killed if forced to return to Myanmar.
Zainuddin said some of the men detained suffered minor injuries and have been given medical treatment.
All 93 have been handed over to the immigration department in northern Kedah state and are likely to be sent to a detention center, he added.
Kedah immigration officers could not be immediately reached for comment.
Malaysia has the biggest number of Rohingya refugees in the region, more than 14,000, many of whom have stayed for years in the country, working illegally in plantations or factories, officials said.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Thai activists reject peace talks offer
Reuters - Monday, March 22
By Boontiwa Wichakul
BANGKOK - Opposition activists in Thailand rejected a government offer for dialogue on Sunday after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ruled out dissolving parliament and assigned a junior minister to attend the talks.
Red-shirted supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who rallied for an eighth day on Sunday, insisted they had not closed the door but would talk only with Abhisit and on the condition that house dissolution was on the agenda.
Abhisit earlier said Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat would represent the government at Monday's talks, which irked the opposition, who have vowed to protest in Bangkok for at least two more weeks, with reinforcements coming in from the provinces.
"We will talk with the prime minister only," one of the protest leaders, Jatuporn Prompan told reporters. "No one will meet with Chinnaworn."
The protests have so far been peaceful, which helped lift Thai stocks to a 20-month high last week, with foreigners continuing to pour money into the bourse, attracted by some of the cheapest valuations and best dividend yields in Asia.
About 30,000 "red shirts" remained at their encampment in Bangkok's historic heart, a day after at least twice that number fanned out across the city on motorcycles and pickup trucks to drum up support for their campaign.
Abhisit has refused to bow to pressure to dissolve parliament, insisting the country is too divided to face an election. Analysts said the talks would be futile because neither side had anything to bring to the table. Abhisit said the government was willing to listen to the "red shirts'" grievances but immediate house dissolution was not an option.
"Everyone from the coalition parties agree that the government will not dissolve the house," Abhisit said in a televised news conference.
"We should not go into too much detail, but we will probably discuss broad principles such as the right timing for house dissolution, and how," he said in an earlier address.
But analysts said the stakes were too high for both sides and talks were unlikely to produce any compromise.
"There's nothing to talk about," said Somjai Phagaphasvivat, a political scientist at Bangkok's Thammasat University.
"The minimum the 'red shirts' will accept is house dissolution and the government will not yield to that. The root cause of the problem will not be addressed and talks will just pave the way for more protests and upheaval in future."
GOVT SEEN UNLIKELY TO FALL
Investors and most analysts believe Abhisit's government is unlikely to fall as it has the backing of the military and wealthy establishment elites, accused by the "red shirts" of meddling in politics and undermining democracy.
Somjai said the premier's likely tactic was to wait for the protesters, many of whom are from rural areas, to become tired, frustrated and disheartened, and run out of steam.
"Abhisit is holding all the cards," he added. "He knows this can't go on for months."
The lack of violence and stability of a government that has put Southeast Asia's second largest economy on course for recovery has reduced short-term risk concerns. But investors remain hesitant about long-term expansion in a country beset by deep social rifts.
Much of the divisiveness centres on Thaksin, the assumed leader and financier of the movement, who is loved by Thais as much as he is loathed.
Overthrown in a 2006 coup and sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for graft, the twice-elected Thaksin is fighting to return from self-imposed exile and wrestle back de facto political power through his allies in the opposition party.
Security was stepped up late on Saturday after two attacks on what the authorities said were symbolic targets. It was not known who was behind the attacks and protesters denied responsibility.
A grenade exploded in the compound of the Defence Ministry, close to the protest site, slightly wounding two people, while an explosive device was hurled at the headquarters of the National Anti-Corruption Commission in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok.
Protest leaders were planning to raise the intensity of their rally on Monday and Tuesday. They might seek to make Abhisit's job impossible by following him and blocking his every move.
The premier is avoiding his office, parliament and his home for security reasons and has based himself at a heavily fortified military compound, travelling around the city by helicopter.
By Boontiwa Wichakul
BANGKOK - Opposition activists in Thailand rejected a government offer for dialogue on Sunday after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ruled out dissolving parliament and assigned a junior minister to attend the talks.
Red-shirted supporters of ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who rallied for an eighth day on Sunday, insisted they had not closed the door but would talk only with Abhisit and on the condition that house dissolution was on the agenda.
Abhisit earlier said Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat would represent the government at Monday's talks, which irked the opposition, who have vowed to protest in Bangkok for at least two more weeks, with reinforcements coming in from the provinces.
"We will talk with the prime minister only," one of the protest leaders, Jatuporn Prompan told reporters. "No one will meet with Chinnaworn."
The protests have so far been peaceful, which helped lift Thai stocks to a 20-month high last week, with foreigners continuing to pour money into the bourse, attracted by some of the cheapest valuations and best dividend yields in Asia.
About 30,000 "red shirts" remained at their encampment in Bangkok's historic heart, a day after at least twice that number fanned out across the city on motorcycles and pickup trucks to drum up support for their campaign.
Abhisit has refused to bow to pressure to dissolve parliament, insisting the country is too divided to face an election. Analysts said the talks would be futile because neither side had anything to bring to the table. Abhisit said the government was willing to listen to the "red shirts'" grievances but immediate house dissolution was not an option.
"Everyone from the coalition parties agree that the government will not dissolve the house," Abhisit said in a televised news conference.
"We should not go into too much detail, but we will probably discuss broad principles such as the right timing for house dissolution, and how," he said in an earlier address.
But analysts said the stakes were too high for both sides and talks were unlikely to produce any compromise.
"There's nothing to talk about," said Somjai Phagaphasvivat, a political scientist at Bangkok's Thammasat University.
"The minimum the 'red shirts' will accept is house dissolution and the government will not yield to that. The root cause of the problem will not be addressed and talks will just pave the way for more protests and upheaval in future."
GOVT SEEN UNLIKELY TO FALL
Investors and most analysts believe Abhisit's government is unlikely to fall as it has the backing of the military and wealthy establishment elites, accused by the "red shirts" of meddling in politics and undermining democracy.
Somjai said the premier's likely tactic was to wait for the protesters, many of whom are from rural areas, to become tired, frustrated and disheartened, and run out of steam.
"Abhisit is holding all the cards," he added. "He knows this can't go on for months."
The lack of violence and stability of a government that has put Southeast Asia's second largest economy on course for recovery has reduced short-term risk concerns. But investors remain hesitant about long-term expansion in a country beset by deep social rifts.
Much of the divisiveness centres on Thaksin, the assumed leader and financier of the movement, who is loved by Thais as much as he is loathed.
Overthrown in a 2006 coup and sentenced in absentia to two years in prison for graft, the twice-elected Thaksin is fighting to return from self-imposed exile and wrestle back de facto political power through his allies in the opposition party.
Security was stepped up late on Saturday after two attacks on what the authorities said were symbolic targets. It was not known who was behind the attacks and protesters denied responsibility.
A grenade exploded in the compound of the Defence Ministry, close to the protest site, slightly wounding two people, while an explosive device was hurled at the headquarters of the National Anti-Corruption Commission in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok.
Protest leaders were planning to raise the intensity of their rally on Monday and Tuesday. They might seek to make Abhisit's job impossible by following him and blocking his every move.
The premier is avoiding his office, parliament and his home for security reasons and has based himself at a heavily fortified military compound, travelling around the city by helicopter.
Cambodia: Ban on Marriages to South Korean Men
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 19, 2010
Cambodia has temporarily barred its citizens from marrying South Korean men, after two dozen women were sold into marriage by matchmakers, an official said Friday. Koy Kuong, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the ban would remain in place while the government worked to ensure that South Korean men hoping to marry Cambodian women were able to first prove that they were single and did not have a prison record. “We want to make sure that their marriages are real marriages, not fake, and not involved with human trafficking,” Mr. Koy Kuong said. It was the second time the government had imposed such a ban.
Published: March 19, 2010
Cambodia has temporarily barred its citizens from marrying South Korean men, after two dozen women were sold into marriage by matchmakers, an official said Friday. Koy Kuong, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the ban would remain in place while the government worked to ensure that South Korean men hoping to marry Cambodian women were able to first prove that they were single and did not have a prison record. “We want to make sure that their marriages are real marriages, not fake, and not involved with human trafficking,” Mr. Koy Kuong said. It was the second time the government had imposed such a ban.
American released from Myanmar returns to US soil
By BRETT ZONGKER, Associated Press Writer Brett Zongker, Associated Press Writer – Fri Mar 19, 6:48 pm ET
CHANTILLY, Va. – A pro-democracy activist jailed for months in Myanmar after trying to visit his sick mother in prison arrived home in the United States on Friday, capping weeks of discussions between the ruling military junta and the U.S. State Department.
Nyi Nyi Aung (nee nee ong) was reunited with his fiance at Washington Dulles International Airport. He gave Wa Wa Kyaw (wah wah chaw) a long hug and said he was thankful to be home.
Still, the homecoming was bittersweet, he said.
"My freedom is not really the point. We want to try to reach freedom for Burma," Nyi Nyi Aung said, using the other name for Myanmar. "My family and friends all stay in prison, so I feel not really happy."
The 40-year-old has worked full-time in recent years from his Maryland home, funded by grants, to promote democracy in Myanmar. A political refugee, he became a U.S. citizen in 2002 after seeking asylum but has traveled back to his homeland many times without incident.
This time Nyi Nyi Aung, also known as Kyaw Zaw Lwin (chaw zow loo-ehn), was arrested in Yangon's international airport upon arrival Sept. 3, accused of plotting to stir political unrest.
Authorities took him to an interrogation center where he said he was beaten and denied food and water for a week. The Washington-based advocacy group Freedom Now said he was held in solitary confinement and later placed in a military dog kennel with no light, bathroom or bed.
Nyi Nyi Aung was convicted in February of forging a national identity card, possessing undeclared foreign currency and failing to renounce his Myanmar citizenship when becoming an American citizen. He denied the charges.
Conditions improved somewhat when Nyi Nyi Aung was sent to prison, he said.
"The prison was physically fine, but mentally, they torture you," he said.
He had lost 20 pounds by the time he returned home, said his fiance Wa Wa Kyaw.
"He looks tired, exhausted," she said. "He's very strong in spirit."
The couple lives in Montgomery Village, Md., and Nyi Nyi Aung last returned to Myanmar in 2008. Last year, he desperately wanted to return, knowing the health of his mother, who has cancer, is failing.
"He was having nightmares about his mother," said Wa Wa Kyaw.
He was the only known U.S. political prisoner in Myanmar, though at least 2,100 other political dissidents are detained there, according to the group Freedom Now.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece for the junta, said the government pardoned and deported Nyi Nyi Aung after giving "special consideration to bilateral friendship" after the U.S. State Department requested his release.
A U.S. consular official escorted him out of Myanmar, and the State Department in Washington welcomed Nyi Nyi Aung's return Friday.
"His release is not something that happened just because the Burmese decided to be nice," said State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid. "It happened because U.S. officials over several weeks made a determined effort to engage Burmese contacts that they have developed over the past year to make it clear how important his release is to the United States.
"That quiet diplomacy has paid off with his arrival here today."
Ties between the two countries are strained.
The United States recently modified its strict policy of isolating the junta with hopes that increased engagement would encourage change. But the Obama administration has said it will not lift sanctions on Myanmar unless it sees concrete progress toward democratic reform. Most notably, U.S. officials seek the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and freedom for her party to participate in elections expected later this year.
As a teenager in Myanmar, Nyi Nyi Aung helped organize students during the country's 1988 pro-democracy uprising, which was violently suppressed by the military, and later fled to the United States.
Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement that the imprisonment was an affront to the rule of law.
"While I am pleased Nyi Nyi Aung has been set free, we must continue to press for the release of all political prisoners held by the Burmese junta," Van Hollen said.
___
Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
CHANTILLY, Va. – A pro-democracy activist jailed for months in Myanmar after trying to visit his sick mother in prison arrived home in the United States on Friday, capping weeks of discussions between the ruling military junta and the U.S. State Department.
Nyi Nyi Aung (nee nee ong) was reunited with his fiance at Washington Dulles International Airport. He gave Wa Wa Kyaw (wah wah chaw) a long hug and said he was thankful to be home.
Still, the homecoming was bittersweet, he said.
"My freedom is not really the point. We want to try to reach freedom for Burma," Nyi Nyi Aung said, using the other name for Myanmar. "My family and friends all stay in prison, so I feel not really happy."
The 40-year-old has worked full-time in recent years from his Maryland home, funded by grants, to promote democracy in Myanmar. A political refugee, he became a U.S. citizen in 2002 after seeking asylum but has traveled back to his homeland many times without incident.
This time Nyi Nyi Aung, also known as Kyaw Zaw Lwin (chaw zow loo-ehn), was arrested in Yangon's international airport upon arrival Sept. 3, accused of plotting to stir political unrest.
Authorities took him to an interrogation center where he said he was beaten and denied food and water for a week. The Washington-based advocacy group Freedom Now said he was held in solitary confinement and later placed in a military dog kennel with no light, bathroom or bed.
Nyi Nyi Aung was convicted in February of forging a national identity card, possessing undeclared foreign currency and failing to renounce his Myanmar citizenship when becoming an American citizen. He denied the charges.
Conditions improved somewhat when Nyi Nyi Aung was sent to prison, he said.
"The prison was physically fine, but mentally, they torture you," he said.
He had lost 20 pounds by the time he returned home, said his fiance Wa Wa Kyaw.
"He looks tired, exhausted," she said. "He's very strong in spirit."
The couple lives in Montgomery Village, Md., and Nyi Nyi Aung last returned to Myanmar in 2008. Last year, he desperately wanted to return, knowing the health of his mother, who has cancer, is failing.
"He was having nightmares about his mother," said Wa Wa Kyaw.
He was the only known U.S. political prisoner in Myanmar, though at least 2,100 other political dissidents are detained there, according to the group Freedom Now.
The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece for the junta, said the government pardoned and deported Nyi Nyi Aung after giving "special consideration to bilateral friendship" after the U.S. State Department requested his release.
A U.S. consular official escorted him out of Myanmar, and the State Department in Washington welcomed Nyi Nyi Aung's return Friday.
"His release is not something that happened just because the Burmese decided to be nice," said State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid. "It happened because U.S. officials over several weeks made a determined effort to engage Burmese contacts that they have developed over the past year to make it clear how important his release is to the United States.
"That quiet diplomacy has paid off with his arrival here today."
Ties between the two countries are strained.
The United States recently modified its strict policy of isolating the junta with hopes that increased engagement would encourage change. But the Obama administration has said it will not lift sanctions on Myanmar unless it sees concrete progress toward democratic reform. Most notably, U.S. officials seek the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and freedom for her party to participate in elections expected later this year.
As a teenager in Myanmar, Nyi Nyi Aung helped organize students during the country's 1988 pro-democracy uprising, which was violently suppressed by the military, and later fled to the United States.
Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement that the imprisonment was an affront to the rule of law.
"While I am pleased Nyi Nyi Aung has been set free, we must continue to press for the release of all political prisoners held by the Burmese junta," Van Hollen said.
___
Associated Press Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
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