Day: July 28, 2021

Families stricken with COVID-19 are hoisting flags above their homes in Myanmar’s most populated cities to solicit much-needed donations during a third wave of the coronavirus that critics say has been poorly mismanaged by the military regime.

Aid groups and volunteers launched the campaign on social media in recent days, calling on needy families quarantining because of an infected loved one to display the flags—white for food and yellow for medication—so that they know where to donate supplies.

The campaign, which allows for groups to anonymously assist households, comes after authorities began arresting social activists and healthcare volunteers in an entrapment scheme involving false requests for aid, sources told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

Ko Myo, who lives in eastern Yangon’s Thingangyun township, told RFA that he had raised a white flag after his 76-year-old mother became sick and he needed to take off time from work to care for her, leaving him with little money to buy food.

“In the beginning, I thought I’d have to rely on myself—I even had to pawn my bicycle to get [my mother] to the clinic,” he said.

“After finding out about the campaign online, I talked to my neighbors and [raised a flag], and I received help. It was wonderful. I got assistance from groups and individuals, and even some well-wishers from as far away as Mandalay.”

Daw Htwe Yin, a vendor from eastern Yangon’s North Dagon township, told RFA that after she was no longer able to work, she displayed a white flag on her roof and donations soon followed.

“After I asked for help online for food, I received dried noodles and cooking oil and rice,” she said.

“At the moment, I only need food, as I can’t leave my home to run my shop. I really want to say thank you to those who have helped me.”

Myanmar is struggling with a devastating third wave of COVID-19 infections, the number of which rose Wednesday to a total of 279,119 since the country’s first recorded case in March last year. The official monthly infection rate has jumped from around two percent of those tested in April 2020 during the first wave to 23 percent earlier this month, and at least 7,845 have died in the country.

Meanwhile, the country’s hospitals are operating at maximum capacity and turning away all but the most seriously ill. Others must settle for treatment at home, but shortages have left families scrambling to secure basic medical supplies, including the oxygen they need to keep their loved ones alive.

Efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 in Myanmar were dealt a serious blow when the country’s military seized power on Feb. 1, claiming that a landslide victory by the NLD in the country’s November 2020 ballot was the result of voter fraud.

The junta has provided no evidence to back up its claims and has violently responded to widespread protests, killing 936 people and arresting 5,400, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Tens of thousands of people, including many healthcare professionals, have left their jobs to join a nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in opposition to junta rule.

More than 4,600 people have died from COVID-19 over the past two months, according to the junta’s Ministry of Health and Sports, although the actual number is believed to be substantially higher, based on reports by charity groups that provide free burial services.

The junta said Tuesday that it would build 10 new crematoriums in Yangon that can handle a total of more than 3,000 bodies each day, but the announcement drew criticism from members of the public who say authorities should be spending money to control the spread of the coronavirus, rather than on measures to deal with the dead.

A failure to act

A member of the Healthy Youth welfare group in Yangon’s Mayangone township, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her organization decided to provide food and medical aid to those hoisting the flags because the government had failed to act.

“Some of them are really sick and the family can’t afford to go out shopping. For people like that, our group buys and sends stuff,” she said.

“Some [donors] pay the cost of the merchandise. We don’t charge any delivery fees. For those who don’t have money, we even provide a small amount of money from our funds.”

She said her group can only assist about 30 of the households who have asked for help, due to financial constraints.

Min Han Htet, chairman of the Dagon University Students Union, said the junta is “doing nothing” to help people who are suffering during the third wave of COVID.

“People are facing not one problem, but two during this period. Many are suffering from the aftereffects of the military coup. Unfortunately, the third wave of COVID is raging uncontrollably, but we just have to rely on ourselves,” he said.

“People need food to be well-nourished. The next step is to have enough medicine. The last step is health care. That’s what the yellow flag is for—to get medical help.”

Min Han Htet said help can be sought through the Facebook page “COVID-19 True Information Myanmar,” and that those who make requests will be connected to charity groups that manage donations.

Junta to blame

Meanwhile, the junta is arresting aid volunteers helping homes with flags raised. On July 24, soldiers in central Yangon’s Sanchaung township arrested several volunteers who were delivering medicine and food to flag-bearing houses, only to free them later.

Min Han Htet said the junta is responsible for those who have died as a result of its obstruction.

“Right now, while we people are helping each other, the junta is harassing and arresting volunteers and committing acts that are truly unethical,” he said.

“They are committing crimes and violating human rights. The main culprit for all these deaths from COVID is the junta.”

A cursory investigation by RFA documented 83 homes with flags raised in Yangon during the four days from July 20 to 23, but the actual number is much higher, according to aid groups.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived in Vietnam on Wednesday for talks scheduled on regional security issues, including the South China Sea, where China has encroached on waters and maritime resources claimed both by Vietnam, the Philippines and others.

Austin will meet on Thursday with his counterpart, Minister of Defense Gen. Phan Van Giang, and with Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in the first visit to Vietnam by a high-ranking U.S. official since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January.

Talks on Thursday will likely focus on efforts by the U.S. and its allies and partners “to meet the region’s security challenges, and cooperation ins maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” said Carl Thayer—emeritus professor at Australia’s University of South Wales Canberra—in remarks sent by email to RFA’s Vietnamese Service.

Talks will also likely focus on COVID recovery, a theme of Austin’s speech in Singapore on Tuesday, Thayer said, adding that the defense secretary had presented a detailed list of U.S. assistance on offer, including testing equipment, oxygen cylinders, ventilators, vaccine storage and mobile clinics.

The U.S. has already shipped 5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam, already in widespread lockdown to contain the spread of the disease, with 3 million doses sent on Sunday alone, according to news sources.

Secretary Austin is also expected to take part in a ceremony honoring Vietnam’s war dead, Thayer said, adding that a Memorandum of Understanding reportedly will be signed “regarding U.S. assistance to identify the locations and remains of Vietnamese soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.

Strategic partnership

Also in comments sent to RFA, Ha Hoan Hop—visiting senior fellow at Singapore’s Institute of South East Asian Studies—said that the two sides in Thursday’s talks “will exchange information about security and peace situations in the Indo-Pacific area and in Southeast Asia, especially in the South China Sea.”

There is also a possibility that discussions will be held on raising the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam from a “comprehensive partnership” to a “strategic partnership,” Hop said, adding, “That [will be] the core topic in the talks between the two defense ministers, as well as in the meeting with the Vietnamese president and prime minister.”

“This is also an opportunity for the US defense secretary to see how the coastguard ships that the US donated to the Vietnamese coastguard are being used. There might also be some other secret talks that they will not reveal to the public,” Hop said.

In his Tuesday speech in Singapore, his first visit in the region with a final stop in the Philippines on Friday, Austin repeated the U.S. view that China’s claim to almost all the South China Sea “has no basis in international law” and encroaches on the sovereignty of other states in the region, the Associated Press said in a report early Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, Beijing’s unwillingness to resolve disputes peacefully and respect the rule of law isn’t just occurring on the water,” Austin said, pointing to recent Chinese aggressive moves against India military threats against Taiwan, and genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims in northwest China’s region of Xinjiang.

Speaking in response in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused the U.S. of interfering in China’s internal affairs and sowing discord among regional countries “with the aim of serving its own geopolitical interest.”

“We admonish the U.S. side not to make an issue about China at every turn and do more for the benefit of peace and stability in the region,” Zhao said.

Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.

Five unidentified bodies have been discovered in Myanmar’s remote Sagaing region, days after junta troops arrested several people in the area, a scene of heavy fighting for months, and two weeks after villagers found more than a dozen corpses left to rot in a nearby forest.

Residents of Kani township told RFA’s Myanmar Service that the body of a man was discovered hanging from a tree in a forest outside of the town center on Tuesday and that a closer investigation revealed four graves containing the remains of what they believe are at least 10 people.

“The bodies were found on Tuesday. A man was also found hanging from a tree with a noose around his neck. The victim was over 60 years old,” one resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal.

“Four bodies were found in one shallow grave. There are still some graves to be dug up, but people are scared to do so, fearing they might trigger landmines. It’s difficult.”

From the discovery of the five bodies, the source said he believes that “no fewer than 10 people” were killed at the site, citing the three unexplored graves.

The victims have yet to be identified, but sources noted that there had been clashes on Monday in nearby Zee Pin Dwin village between military troops and members of the People’s Defense Force (PDF) militia formed to protect villagers following the military’s Feb. 1 coup d’état.

Additionally, they said, the military arrested at least 10 men from nearby villages in Kani on July 24 who had been in hiding.

Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the killings went unanswered Wednesday.

Fighting has raged between junta forces and the PDF in Kani in recent months, and residents recently told RFA that they found the hog-tied and severely beaten bodies of at least 15 people scattered in the jungle surrounding Yin and Kone Thar villages on July 11-12, days after a government military unit left the area.

Photos obtained by RFA of that discovery show several rigid, discolored corpses littered face down on the forest floor, either naked or wearing soiled clothing, stretched tight from swelling during decomposition.

The victims were not members of the PDF, but rather a group of civilians ranging in age from their late teens to mid-60s who were arrested after attempting to flee the arrival of junta troops on July 8, the residents said at the time.

Rights groups have called for the mass killing in Kani to be classified a war crime and litigated accordingly.

Militiamen slaughtered

Also on Wednesday, a PDF source in Sagaing’s Monywa township told RFA that junta troops killed more than 30 militia fighters in Kani township, including five Monywa PDF members sent as reinforcements during Monday’s clashes in Zee Pin Dwin village.

“The PDFs went there because the villagers were calling for help. As soon as they did, they became trapped in a killing field. The military attacked them everything they had, including heavy weapons. One guy who went to bring back the bodies of his comrades was also shot at,” the source said.

“We found out [about the fighting] on Monday night, but we weren’t sure of their fate. We thought they could have lost their way in the forest. But [on Tuesday] some villagers said there were about 30 dead bodies.”

The five members of the Monywa PDF were identified as Chan Myae Soe, Kaung Htet, Htet Naing Oo, Kyaw Hlwan Htet and Naing Ye Khant.

On Feb. 1, Myanmar’s military staged a coup, seizing power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), rejecting its landslide victory in November 2020 general elections as the result of voter fraud. The junta has provided no evidence to back up its claims and citizens from all walks of life have protested the junta.

Amid nationwide turmoil, the military has stepped up offensives in remote parts of the country of 54 million that have led to fierce battles with several PDF militias, including in Kani township, where more than 15,000 people from some 40 villages have been displaced by fighting between the two sides since April 2.

Residents of Kani said that villagers are also forced to flee because military troops regularly steal their valuables, destroy their homes, and arrest and torture them.

A resident told RFA that “hundreds of troops” stormed Zee Pin Dwin village on Wednesday morning, driving villagers into the jungle.

“We wanted to fight back but we were surrounded from three sides. We had to run during the heavy rain. They came from the front, from the main road and from the south. All we could do was flee for safety,” said the resident, who declined to be named.

“The other day, they fired four rounds of RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) at people fleeing into the jungle. They will kill us if we are found hiding in the forest, but if you remain at home, you could get killed too.”

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

North and South Korea have restored an inter-Korean hotline cut off last year by Pyongyang amid deteriorated relations, in a move that experts called a positive step, but warned against overinterpreting its significance.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged multiple letters since the third anniversary of their April 2018 summit, and have been renewing their goal of rebuilding their strained relationship, the South’s presidential office said Tuesday after communication lines were reopened.

North Korea’s state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said the resumption of communications meant that “Now, the whole Korean nation desires to see the north-south relations recovered from setback and stagnation as early as possible.”

“According to the agreement made between the top leaders, the north and the south took a measure to re-operate all inter-Korean communication liaison lines from 10:00 on July 27,” it said.

The U.S. Department of State told RFA that it welcomed the resumption of communications.

“The United States supports inter-Korean dialogue and engagement and welcomes today’s announcement on the restoration of inter-Korean communications lines.  This is a positive step,” a department spokesperson said.

“Diplomacy and dialogue are essential to achieving complete denuclearization and to establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula,” said the spokesperson.

The hotline had been inactive since June 2020 when Pyongyang shut it down, with state media reporting at the time that it was because Seoul was not taking action to stop groups in the South from launching balloons carrying anti-Kim regime leaflets across the border into North Korean territory.

Pyongyang then blew up an inter-Korean liaison office inside North Korea later in the month.

Cautioned optimism

North Korea watchers in the South expressed doubts to RFA’s Korean Service that the restored hotlines would soon lead to warmer relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.

“The argument that North Korea will actively engage in dialogue by restoring these communication lines is still speculative,” Kwak Gil Sup, president of the One Korea Center, told RFA Tuesday.

Kim In-tae of the Institute for National Security Strategy told RFA that the restoration of lines cut off by Pyongyang should not be blown out of proportion.

“At this point, it cannot be evaluated as significant enough to be regarded as the beginning of a change in the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

Several experts outside of Korea told RFA that Pyongyang’s motive for restoring communications was open to debate.

“We know and have seen reporting on North Korea’s dire food situation brought on by the pandemic. While we can’t pinpoint Pyongyang’s motivation for restoring the communication lines to the food situation, it’s certainly a possibility,” analyst Soo Kim of the California-based Rand Corporation’s told RFA.

“Kim [Jong Un’s] foolish pride is a hindrance to directly appealing for international aid. But he knows that the current South Korean government is unlikely to turn a blind eye to the North’s humanitarian situation. By opening the door to ‘communication’ with Seoul, Kim may be indirectly appealing for assistance from the South,” she said.

Expectations of change should be kept in check, Soo Kim said.

“We may see Kim slightly modify his demeanor towards the South, but once he extracts what he needs from the relationship, he is likely to discard Seoul once again,” she said. 

Restoring communication could be a tactical move by Pyongyang to help South Korean progressives in the upcoming presidential election in 2022, or it could be to put pressure on the U.S., the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum’s Ralph Cossa told RFA.

“It’s also typical of the North’s behavior. First they terminate a communications link. Then they later get credit just for restoring it,” Cossa said.

“The real question is, what will they have to say once the link is reestablished? Will they be more forthcoming regarding denuclearization? I very much doubt it. Will they make some major positive gesture toward to South? We will have to wait and see but I would not hold my breath,” he said.

The fact that Moon and Kim have been exchanging letters is more significant, but bringing the hotline back online is “a small but meaningful step,” Mark Barry, Associate Editor of International Journal on World Peace, told RFA, noting that it occurred on July 27, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice agreement that ended hostilities in the Korean War in 1953.

“North Korea appears to be projecting that it is reasonable and open to relations with other nations. If it is going to request international food or medical assistance, then today’s move helps pave the way. I would not be surprised if South Korea tries to provide some modest food aid in August or September until the new harvest is ready,” he said.

North Korea is dealing with a grain shortage and last year’s harvests only produced enough to meet the population’s demand for about 10 months, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Analyst Bruce Klingner of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation told RFA that bringing the hotline back is a carrot offered by Pyongyang with strings attached.

“North Korea’s resumption of communication lines will be hailed by some as a thaw in inter-Korean relations that portends great opportunities for dialogue and negotiations. Such a view is inevitably followed by advocacy for Washington and Seoul to refrain from anything deemed ‘provocative’ and to offer yet more concessions and benefits,” Klingner said.

Ken Gause of the Virginia-based CNA think tank said the move could be aimed to stoke and exploit tension between Seoul and Washington ahead of annual joint military exercises scheduled for later this month.

“North Korea now mysteriously just comes back up on the net, you know, reestablish communications with South Korea, which of course is going to incentivize South Korea to say we need to downplay the exercises,” he told RFA.

Video conference

News of the letter exchanges between the leaders of the two Koreas prompted speculation about another inter-Korean summit in the near future.

Reuters news service reported Wednesday that Moon and Kim were planning a summit, citing South Korean government sources, but Park Kyung-mee, a spokesperson for the presidential Blue House said the report was “not true” and “there have been no discussions” to that end.

The Reuters report also said that Seoul and Pyongyang discussed rebuilding the liaison office.
South Korea’s defense and unification ministries confirmed that an inter-Korean phone call took place Tuesday as agreed.

A Blue House official told South Korean media that he was hopeful that the restoration of communication could lead to another summit.

“Now that the two Koreas will continue to engage in working-level consultations, we can think of establishing a video conference system,” said Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House’s senior public communication secretary.

An unnamed Blue House official told the South Korean Hankyoreh newspaper, “President Moon Jae-in had previously suggested North Korea hold a video conference. We can aim for a non-face-to-face summit.”

Reported by Kyung Ha Rhee, Sangmin Lee and Albert Hong. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.

Violent political conflict since the February military coup and a deadly third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic have pummeled Myanmar’s economy, with the World Bank predicting a double-digit contraction of GDP this year and many urban residents struggling with shrinking incomes and rising food prices.

The military ouster of the country’s elected civilian-led government nearly six months ago came after a year of business and travel lockdowns to prevent the spread of the pandemic had hobbled the country’s $75 billion economy.

The Feb. 1 coup d’état brought widespread anti-military protests and walkouts by civil servants and white-collar workers that were met with military violence, killing more than 900 civilians.

Post-coup turmoil has disrupted critical services, including transportation, telecommunications, and public health and education — chaos that has hampered the fight against the third wave of the coronavirus and set the stage for worse economic hardship for Myanmar’s 54 million people.

The World Bank, in an economic update published Monday, said Myanmar’s economy is expected to contract by about 18 percent in the current fiscal year (Oct. 2020-Sept. 2021), threatening to wipe out progress the country had made over the past decade of increasingly civilian rule that the coup has cut off.

Following weak economic growth in 2020, the new double-digit contraction would mean that Myanmar’s economy is about 30 percent smaller than it would have been without the COVID-19 pandemic and the military coup, with the number of people living in poverty likely to be double early 2019 levels by early next year, the World Bank’s “Myanmar Economic Monitor” said.

“The loss of jobs and income and heightened health and food security risks are compounding the welfare challenges faced by the poorest and most vulnerable, including those that were already hit hardest by the pandemic last year,” said Mariam Sherman, World Bank country director for Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos in a statement issued Monday.

For people in the Yangon region, the country’s most populous region with 6 million people, the bleak numbers translate into fewer jobs and lower income, higher food prices, and food insecurity.

“People have been in trouble since the first wave,” said San Myint Htay, a housewife in Dala township.

“Jobs have been scarce, and the coup has taken a turn for the worse. With rising unemployment in the country, rising commodity prices could lead to famine,” she told RFA’s Myanmar Service.

San Myint Htay said the price of staples like rice, sunflower cooking oil and eggs have nearly doubled.

Third wave has ‘compounded problems’

The World Bank report noted that Myanmar’s currency, the kyat, has depreciated by around 23 percent against the U.S. dollar between late January and July, leading to higher prices for imported goods, including fuel.

Nay Nwe from Yangon’s Thingangyun township, who lost her job after the coup, said many workers have been forced to leave their positions because of the closure of factories and many small local companies.

“After the coup, almost everyone became unemployed, and now COVID has become so powerful and is ravaging us really badly,” she said. “Many lives will be lost without money for emergencies.”

As of Wednesday, Myanmar recorded nearly 284,100 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including almost 5,000 new infections, and 8,210 deaths, including 365 new fatalities, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Sports.

Soe Tun, a Myanmar economist, said the economic downturn following the coup would get worse in the rest of this year as the pandemic takes its toll.

“COVID has really hit hard in the third wave,” which began in early July, he said. “There are so many infections. I think the next six months will be difficult because the third wave has compounded problems that arose after the current coup.”

When the contagious respiratory virus hit Myanmar in March 2020, it led to business closures and lockdowns that hit the country’s garment factories, tourism industry, and international trade. In addition, international sanctions have been imposed on military-owned businesses since the coup.

Economist Zaw Pe Win said the economy will not recover until next year if the current political instability continues.

“The economy is a part of politics, and if the political situation gets worse, the economy will only get worse,” he said. “Looking at things at present, politics here will not be good for the next one or two years. If the political situation is not good, the economy will not be good at all.”

A charity worker told RFA that despair and hunger can drive people to take drastic actions.

Last week in Yangon’s Thongwa township, a 50-year-old woman tried to jump off a bridge because she could not afford not afford food, medicine, or medical treatment for her ailing husband.

“She was standing on the bridge at Thongwa. We just happened to get to the spot when she was about to make the jump. We gently persuaded her and brought her back,” said May Ei Ei Phyo, an aid worker with the Thongwa Relief Society.

“She used to pick up trash with her husband, and now her husband is sick,” she said. “They have nothing. They have no food.”

Reported by Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

Authorities in Laos have arrested a popular young Lao musician and producer known for singing songs criticizing official corruption in the one-party communist state, sources in the country say.

Syphone Vongchinda, better known as Ther Una, was taken into custody last week in the Sepon district of Savannakhet province in southern Laos, according to a district police officer and his neighbors.

“According to reports, he was summoned and taken away by provincial police,” the district police officer told RFA’s Lao Service on July 27, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know why they arrested him,” he said.

Ther Una is currently being held and questioned at the Provincial Police Headquarters in Kaysone Phomvihane City, capital of Savannakhet province, the officer added.

Requests by RFA for comment from the provincial police headquarters received no response this week.

Also speaking to RFA, one of Ther Una’s neighbors confirmed the musician’s arrest, adding, “The reason for his arrest is still unknown.”

“Because Ther Una lives close to me in the same village, I want to know why he has been detained,” he said.

A fan of Ther Una’s music who regularly follows him on Facebook said he wasn’t sure of his arrest. “But I’ve noticed that he has stopped all his activity on social media like Facebook for a while now.”

“I saw a post on one Facebook page saying he’d been arrested, but I’m waiting for an official announcement from the authorities,” another music fan said. “They may not announce anything about this case, though, since they usually only broadcast the arrests of drug traffickers on their show,” he said.

Now in his late twenties, Ther Una is a well-known performing artist in Laos, with more than a million followers on YouTube and his Facebook page and fans in next-door Thailand. He is also the owner of Una Studio, which produces songs, videos, news, and short feature stories about social and economic issues in the country.

Concert shut down

On Oct. 14, 2018, police in Savannakhet’s Kaysone district shut down a benefit concert held by Ther Una to raise funds for schools in remote areas after they objected to a slogan found on T-shirts sold at the site, sources told RFA in an earlier report.

The concert had run for only 40 minutes before police closed it down and attempted to detain a concert organizer found wearing a T-shirt carrying the slogan “No bribes for jobs!”

Speaking to RFA the following day, Ther Una said that authorities should have shown more consideration to the concert’s organizers and audience, simply warning them not to wear the T-shirts if they were inappropriate.

“This should not have been a big enough deal to stop our concert,” he said.

A year later, Ther Una published a song titled “Poor Guy With a Degree,” telling the story of a high school graduate from the countryside whose parents sold their rice field to finance his college education, but who later couldn’t find a job because he had no money to bribe the officials who could help him get one.

Interviews with US, EU ambassadors

Host of Una Studio interviews in July last year and April this year with U.S. Ambassador to Laos Peter Haymond, Ther Una spoke in Lao with Haymond about U.S. aid programs to Laos supporting initiatives in education, nutrition, health, and anti-trafficking efforts, and the clearance of unexploded ordnance left behind in Laos after the Vietnam War.

And in an Una Studio interview conducted in English in December last year, Thun Era spoke with European Union Ambassador to Laos Ina Marciulionyte about EU efforts to promote European investment in Laos and to support rural schools and provide financial and health-care support to victims of flooding in Savannakhet.

Ther Una is also a close friend of Lao blogger Houayheuang Xayabouly, also called Mouay, now serving a five-year prison term for criticizing the Lao government in posts online.

Mouay, now in her early 30s, was arrested Sept. 12, 2019, a week after she voiced her concern about the government response to flooding in the country’s southern Champassak and Salavan provinces in a Facebook Live video.

The delayed government response had left many Lao villagers stranded and cut off from help, she said in the video, which was viewed more than 150,000 times.

In an annual survey of press freedom released in 2021, Laos was ranked 172 out of 180 countries for the previous year by Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) which said the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party “exercises absolute control over the media.”

Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.