Day: February 16, 2024

Some 300 members of a junta military unit and a border police force who fled to Bangladesh during an attack by the rebel Arakan Army have been repatriated to Myanmar, according to several Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

They were returned by sea on Thursday following a handover ceremony in Cox’s Bazar that was attended by five Myanmar junta officials and Myanmar’s ambassador to Bangladesh, a Rohingya refugee told Radio Free Asia.

“We learned that five representatives, including a police colonel of the Border Guard Police, came,” the Rohingya refugee said. “Also, we learned that Amb. Aung Kyaw Moe met with the chief of Border Guard Bangladesh and handed them over.”

Video showed uniformed Bangladesh guards escorting the junta troops and officers – some of them wounded – onto a ship. 

Cox’s Bazar is located on southeast Bangladesh’s coast near Myanmar’s western Rakhine state. Over the last decade, almost 1 million Rohingya refugees have fled from Myanmar to the Cox’s Bazar area, which has become the world’s largest refugee camp. 

The junta border guards who crossed over to Bangladesh were retreating from an attack by the ethnic Arakan Army on the Taung Pyo Let Yar outpost and a nearby strategic hill in Rakhine’s Maungdaw township on Feb. 4.

AA takes control of Myebon

The attack marked the latest blow to Myanmar’s military junta in Rakhine state, where the Arakan Army, or AA, ended a ceasefire in November that had been in place since the junta assumed power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup d’etat.

A total of 330 people crossed over to Bangladesh in early February, including Lt. Col. Kyaw Naing Soe, the commander of the junta’s No. 2 Border Guard Police battalion, 302 soldiers, four family members, two other military personnel, 18 immigration officers and four civilians, according to RFA sources on the Bangladesh border.

Elsewhere in Rakhine, the AA said it has captured all military council camps and police stations in Myebon township. The Arakan Army said in a statement on Thursday that it now controls seven towns in the state.

The AA has recently launched offensives in townships near the state capital of Sittwe, including Rathedaung and Buthidaung.

There are reports that the AA has warned the junta’s regional operations command in Sittwe, the Rakhine state capital, to surrender.

The junta has not released a statement about recent developments in Rakhine, and RFA’s calls to Hla Thein, junta’s spokesperson and attorney general of the Rakhine state, went unanswered on Friday.

Rebel victory in Kayah state

The junta has also suffered a loss to rebels in northeast Kayah state, where the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force, or KNDF, announced Friday that it had gained complete control of Shadaw city after a month-long battle.

The KNDF began attacking junta outposts surrounding a strategic hill in Shadaw on Jan. 15, the group said in a statement. 

On Jan. 21, they began a siege to a junta base after troops refused to surrender and the junta dropped in another 70 troops by helicopter, the KNDF said. A final attack on the base began on Monday. 

More than 160 junta soldiers, including a colonel and a lieutenant colonel, were either killed or captured, the KNDF said.

The junta hasn’t released a statement on the battle. RFA’s calls to junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun to seek comments on the KNDF’s claims went unanswered.

Translated by Htin Aung Kyaw. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.

A Cambodian court on Thursday sentenced two Taiwanese influencers to two years in prison on incitement charges after the pair staged and broadcast a fake kidnapping. 

Chen Neng Chuan, 31, who goes by the handle Goodnight Chicken, and Lu Tsu Hsien, 34, who goes by Anow, were arrested on Wednesday after they live-streamed two videos to YouTube on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 in which Chen claimed to have broken into a scam compound, been beaten and imprisoned, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency. 

The videos made headlines in Taiwan, where local media reported on his alleged abduction. 

According to a statement from the Sihanoukville provincial court, both men were sentenced to two years in prison and given a 4 million riel fine ($1,000.) The court statement said the pair came to  “Cambodia in an attempt to produce fake videos on human trafficking, detention and torture, rape and human organs selling.” 

The speedy conviction followed a Feb. 15 press conference run by Sihanoukville Provincial Gov. Kuoch Chamroeun who said that the pair’s actions negatively affected the provincial reputation and “seriously defamed Cambodia’s reputation.” 

The United Nations estimates some 100,000 people nationwide have been trafficked and imprisoned by crime rings who force them through torture and threats to carry out online scams. While estimates are hard to come by, it is believed that across Southeast Asia, such scams have netted billions of dollars.

Most of the victims, both on the enslaved scammer side and on the scammed side, are Chinese nationals. 

The stories surrounding such trafficking have grown so widespread that they have scared off Chinese tourists — a key contributor to Cambodia’s economy. The Cambodian government has responded by blaming the media for negative reports.  

Translated by Yun, Samean. Edited by Abby Seiff and Malcolm Foster.

Myanmar’s junta has appointed police chiefs to oversee conscription across the country as the military regime proceeds with its speedy implementation of a draft law enacted earlier this week.

Observers said the move will help prevent Burmese of fighting age from escaping the draft by relocating to “liberated areas” controlled by ethnic armies, while the shadow National Unity Government, or NUG – the civilian government-in-exile – labeled those who enforce the law “war criminals” and vowed to hold them accountable.

The draft drive comes as resistance forces and ethnic armies have scored significant victories against the military in Myanmar’s three-year civil war. Since October, the military has been put on its heels by joint rebel offensives that overran dozens of military camps and resulted in hundreds of soldiers surrendering.

On Feb. 10, the junta announced that it had assigned civilian officers to replace Police Col. Koko Lwin, a Naypyidaw councilmember, as well as three police brigadier generals and 11 other police colonels who held positions as state and regional transport ministers.

The shuffle was made on the same day junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing announced that the People’s Military Service Law, enacted in 2010 by a previous military regime though it had never been enforced, would go into effect immediately.

On Wednesday, the junta reassigned the 15 senior police officials to direct public military conscription in the states of Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan; the regions of Ayeyarwady, Magway, Mandalay, Bago, Sagaing, Tanintharyi, and Yangon; and Naypyidaw, which is classified as a union territory.

Blocking draft dodgers

Commenting on the reassignments, Saw Khin Maung Myint, the junta’s minister of economy and spokesperson for Kayin state, said the 15 were “returned to their original roles … to avoid failure in their police duties.”

However, a police officer who joined Myanmar’s anti-junta Civil Disobedience Movement, or CDM, suggested that they had been assigned to more specific tasks related to the draft law roll-out.

“Now that the military service law has been enacted, the police colonels have returned to their original duties to effectively implement the law and to suppress democracy activists,” said the officer, who spoke to RFA Burmese on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

On Aug. 1, 2021, six months after the military seized power in a coup d’etat, the junta appointed the 15 as state and regional transport ministers. They proved instrumental in cracking down on youth who were leaving cities to join the armed resistance in the country’s ethnic army-controlled border areas.

Political commentator Than Soe Naing told RFA that the police chiefs will play key roles in enforcing the draft law.

“Young people who cannot avoid military service will move to areas controlled by ethnic armed organizations,” he said. “To prevent that, the role of the police becomes more vital and these police colonels have been appointed to enforce conscription.”

Troop shortages

According to Myanmar’s compulsory military service law, men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 face up to five years in prison if they refuse to serve for two years. 

Professionals – such as doctors, engineers and technicians – aged 18-45 for men and 18-35 for women must also serve, but up to five years, given the country’s current state of emergency, extended by the junta on Feb. 1 for another six months.

Conscription is slated to be implemented at the end of April 2024, with a goal of recruiting up to 60,000 service members each year, in batches of around 5,000 people, junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun said Wednesday.

Burmese of fighting age have told RFA they would team up with resistance fighters or leave Myanmar rather than serve as soldiers for the junta.

Enforcers to be ‘severely punished’

Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for the NUG’s President’s Office, said the shadow government plans to “take action” against those who implement the conscription law.

“Whoever aids in implementing the military service law by intimidating people, especially the youth, will be severely punished – including these police chiefs and other individuals, as well as organizations,” he said. 

The NUG on Tuesday noted that the junta is losing ground in battles across the country and claimed that it had activated the People’s Military Service Law to “use the people as human shields on the battlefields to uphold their own interests and power.”

The government-in-exile also said that it will designate as war criminals all individuals and organizations that assist in the law’s implementation.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

The Philippines this month launched coast guard patrols around Scarborough Shoal to safeguard its exclusive economic zone and challenge China, which for 12 years has dominated those waters vital to the Filipino fishing industry, the national security adviser said Friday.

Eduardo Año said the regular patrols, which began in early February, were in line with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s goal of achieving food security and making it safe for local fishermen to access prime fishing grounds. 

The triangle-shaped shoal became the focus of a landmark international court case over disputed waters in the South China Sea after Beijing took control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012. 

“The Philippine government has taken decisive action to protect the rights and safety of Filipino fishermen in the waters of Bajo De Masinloc,” Año said in a statement, using the local name for the shoal.

“The national government has directed the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to deploy their vessels for rotational deployment in BDM starting this month,” the security adviser said.

Scarborough Shoal, a resource-rich rock claimed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan, lies about 120 nautical miles west of Zambales, a coastal province in the main Philippine island of Luzon.

It has served as a traditional fishing ground and a natural shelter for Filipino fishermen against harsh weather at sea, and is considered a vital link to food security for many coastal communities in the Philippines.

“These efforts aim to ensure the safety and security of our Filipino fishermen in their traditional fishing grounds. Further, both PCG and BFAR were directed to distribute food packs, groceries and even fuel to support the fishermen in sustaining their activities,” Año said.

The announcement came amid China’s intensified aggressiveness in the waters in and around the shoal, which has effectively remained under Beijing’s control since a tense standoff with Manila in 2012. China has kept a permanent presence there with two coast guard ships guarding the mouth of the shoal.

Patrols launched

From Feb. 1 to 9, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, a Philippine Coast Guard ship, patrolled around the shoal but was harassed and blocked by China Coast Guard and maritime militia ships, according to PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela.

On Feb. 11, Tarriela said four Chinese ships shadowed the Philippine ship on more than 40 occasions. The official added that the Chinese ships performed dangerous maneuvers, even crossing the bow of the Philippine ship twice.

Gan Yu, a China Coast Guard spokesman, responded by accusing the Philippine ship of “intruding” into Chinese waters.

“When the warnings issued by the Chinese Coast Guard were ineffective, the Chinese Coast Guard adopted route control and forced evacuation measures against the Philippine ship in accordance with the law and the on-site handling was professional and standardized,” Gan said.

Año responded, saying “there is no truth” to the Chinese claim.

In December 2023, Chinese ships fired water cannon against three BFAR ships, damaging equipment on the Philippine ships.

Prior to that, China installed a 300-meter floating barrier at the southeast part of the shoal to block Philippine ships.

The National Security Council, Año said, “reaffirms the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Bajo de Masinloc and its surrounding waters,” saying these are recognized under international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of Manila, which had filed an arbitration case, and against Beijing’s sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea.

In the landmark ruling, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said the shoal was a traditional fishing ground for many fishermen of different nationalities, including Filipino and Chinese, and that Chinese actions there were illegal.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday, with the pair discussing ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and bilateral sticking points like the status of Taiwan.

“The two sides had a candid and constructive discussion on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues as part of ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition in the relationship,” the U.S. State Department said.

Blinken emphasized the importance of progress on the deals made by U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their meeting in San Francisco in November, “including on counternarcotics cooperation and military-to-military communications,” it said.

The two top diplomats also discussed the status of Taiwan and the South China Sea, to which China claims complete sovereignty, as well as Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Israel’s invasion of Gaza and relations between North and South Korea, according to a statement. 

“Both sides recognized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication,” it said, “including consultations and high-level meetings in key areas in the coming months.”

The pair last met in person in the lead-up to November’s summit between Biden and Xi in San Francisco and also spoke on the phone in December. A phone call between Biden and Xi in the near future has been suggested, but no details about any plans were issued Friday.

Blinken also met with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the conference. Wang, meanwhile, is set to also meet E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at the conference.

Earlier, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference that the United States had “responsibly managed competition” with China, “standing up to Beijing when necessary and also working together when it serves our interests”.

The annual security meeting in Munich runs until Sunday.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would require the State Department to offer Uyghur language classes to diplomats, place Uyghur speakers in all consulates in China and include Uyghurs in speaking programs in Muslim-majority countries.

The latest version of the Uyghur Policy Act, which has been introduced in past sessions of Congress without success, passed the House 414-6, but still faces a long journey in the Senate to become law.

Rep. Young Kim, a Republican from California, and Rep. Ami Bera, a California Democrat, led the introduction of the bill in the House, but it was also co-sponsored by 104 other House members. Both Kim and Bera praised the strong support in Thursday’s House vote. 

“The Uyghur Policy Act equips the U.S. with tools needed to support the basic human rights and distinct identities of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region subject to [China’s] inhumane treatment,” said Kim, who is also the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific.

The United States has labeled Chinese policies in the Xinjiang region a “genocide” and the U.N. human rights office in 2022 said that there was evidence of possible “crimes against humanity” being carried out.

Bera said he was pleased to see the legislation, which would also require the U.S. State Department to appoint a special coordinator for Uyghur issues, pass so decisively on a bipartisan basis.

“This bill takes crucial steps to bolster American efforts to safeguard the distinct ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic identity of the Uyghur people and promote respect for human rights and religious freedom in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” Bera said.

Overwhelming support

The only six House members to vote against the bill were all Republicans: Michael Cloud of Texas, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Thomas Masie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Chip Roy of Texas.

Massie and Greene have a history of opposing similar bills. 

The pair were the only two to vote against a House bill introduced last year to impose sanctions on China due to forced organ harvesting of Uyghurs and practitioners of Falun Gong, citing presidential overreach and their fears that legitimate organ sellers could be punished. That legislation ultimately passed 414-2.

The Uyghur Policy Act now heads to the Senate, where it has been championed by Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, and co-sponsored by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada, and Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas.

“The CCP is carrying out a disgusting campaign of genocide and human rights abuses committed against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups,” Rubio said in a statement after re-introducing the bill in the Senate in April last year.

“The United States cannot be silent in the face of such horrific abuse,” he said. “I urge my colleagues to quickly pass this bill.”

Still, the bill may still have a while to go before becoming law. 

It has yet to be marked up by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which would allow it to come before a vote of the chamber. The Senate is also currently in recess until Feb. 26, and is expected to focus on efforts for a deal to fund the federal government when it resumes.

Welcome step

Uyghur activists in the United States nevertheless welcomed the passage of the legislation as a further step toward its passage.

“Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and focus on getting the bill through the Senate so it can reach President [Joe] Biden and be signed into law as soon as possible,” said Uyghur American Association President Elfidar Iltebir in a statement.

Rushan Abbas, the director of the Campaign for Uyghurs, said her organization had worked closely with lawmakers in the House to push the bill towards passage, and was already doing the same in the Senate. She praised the strong bipartisan support.

“It is a clear indication that the U.S. Congress is earnestly addressing the plight of the Uyghur community and is committed to combating the ongoing genocide,” Abbas told Radio Free Asia.

“We extend our sincere appreciation to the legislators who have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to justice and human rights by standing in solidarity with the Uyghur people.”

Louisa Greve, director of global advocacy for the Uyghur Human Rights Project, said it was telling that originally it was expected that 10 House members would vote against the bill because of a view that “foreign policy is not important,” but four changed their mind.

“Even those who have a position, in general, to aim to avoid foreign policy completely as a member of Congress, some changed their votes. They did not want to be on the record for this bill,” she said.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.