Day: February 20, 2024

Junta troops arrested around 600 civilians after their flights from Yangon landed at two airports in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, according to family members and sources with knowledge of the situation, who said the military is holding them on suspicion of attempting to join the armed resistance.

The arrests come amid the enactment of a conscription law that has sent draft-eligible civilians fleeing from Myanmar’s cities, saying they would rather leave the country or join anti-junta forces in remote border areas than fight for the military, which seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat.

On Monday, junta soldiers detained nearly 500 passengers after they arrived at the airport in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe from Yangon. They were transferred to a military camp at the Lawkananda pagoda, their relatives told RFA Burmese.

The same day, more than 60 passengers from Yangon were similarly arrested after landing at the airport in Kyaukphyu city and taken to Rammawati City Hall, family members said.

Pregnant women, children, and the elderly among the passengers were released the same day, they said, although the exact number was not immediately clear.

The family member of a detainee at the Sittwe airport told RFA that there is no way to contact those being held.

“We only knew that all the passengers from the Yangon-Sittwe flight were taken by car to Lawkanada pagoda for inspection as soon as they landed at the airport,” said the family member who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “It was discovered that many passengers – around 500 – are being held. We don’t know what they are being inspected for.”

The military has also cut off phone and internet connections in the area, and troops stationed at the Lawkananda pagoda do not allow civilians to enter the compound, sources told RFA.

The passengers who landed at Kyaukphyu airport were arrested and “immediately taken by car to Rammawati City Hall,” where they are being held for “interrogation,” said a resident of the city.

“Some of them who have residential documents or were on household lists were released,” the resident said. “The people from other areas have not been released,” he added, noting that one resident of Ramree township “was handcuffed and taken to the military camp.”

Rakhine youth returning

Armed clashes broke out in Rakhine state after the ethnic Arakan Army, or AA, ended a ceasefire in November that had been in place since the coup. Since then, the military has controlled routes in and out of the region by land and water, forcing people to rely on air travel.

After the junta announced the enforcement of the People’s Military Service Law on Feb. 10, Rakhine youth working and studying in Yangon were barred from registering for temporary residency in the city. Fearing arrest, a growing number of them have returned home, according to sources in Yangon. 

A resident of Yangon told RFA that troops at the two airports in Rakhine arrested the passengers on suspicion of planning to join anti-junta armed groups in the state.

“The Rakhine people in Yangon were forced to return home [after they were barred from registering for residency],” he said. “They were told to go back home for military service, even though they were studying and working … Although the passengers produced their IDs, they were arrested on suspicion of planning to join the Arakan Army.”

RFA has also received reports of junta troops arresting youths on the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway, Mandalay–Myitkyina Highway, and on their way to Kayin and Chin states.

Sources were unable to provide the exact number of detainees and RFA was unable to independently verify their claims.

Attempts by RFA to contact Rakhine State Attorney General Hla Thein, the junta’s spokesperson in the region, for comment on the arrests and investigation went unanswered Tuesday.

During three months of fighting in Rakhine, the AA has captured Pauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myay Pon and Taung Pyo townships in the state, as well as Paletwa township in neighboring Chin state.

The conflict in Rakhine is escalating amid AA offensives on the junta-controlled townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Ramree.

Maungdaw camp captured

On Monday, the AA captured a military outpost in Maungdaw’s Pe Yang Taung area after a nine-hour battle, according to a statement released by the Three Brotherhood Alliance of ethnic armies, which includes the AA.

AA fighters recovered “more than 10 bodies of junta soldiers,” as well as weapons and ammunition from the camp, the statement said. 

The Three Brotherhood Alliance said that over the course of the fighting, which took place from around 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the military launched three airstrikes from fighter jets.

The seizure of the outpost in Pe Yang Taung comes days after the AA captured two junta-affiliated Border Guard Force outposts in Bodhigone and Narula, near Maungdaw, on Feb. 16.

The military has not released any information about the fighting, and Hla Thein was unavailable for comment.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.

The National Election Committee said opposition activist Rong Chhun and his newly formed political party are banned from campaigning ahead of this Sunday’s Senate election, citing his 2021 criminal conviction.

Rong Chhun campaigned in northwestern Banteay Meanchey province and met with hundreds of supporters of the Nation Power Party in Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang provinces over the last week.

The prominent labor activist and the former vice president of the opposition Candlelight Party announced in November that he would join the Nation Power Party as a senior adviser.

His recent campaigning prompted the National Election Committee, or NEC, to remind provincial election committees that he can’t legally engage in campaign activity because of the 2021 conviction, NEC spokesman Hang Puthea told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.

Rong Chhun was sentenced to two years in prison for a conviction that stemmed from his criticism of the government for not addressing border disputes with Vietnam.

He was freed from prison in 2022, but the government has said he can’t campaign for candidates or participate in other political activities for a five-year period after his release.

Election committees in a number of provinces, including Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang, followed up with notification letters sent to the Nation Power Party on Monday.

“His internal actions are his internal affairs,” Hang Puthea told RFA. “But the provincial election committees have had to remind the party to avoid any confusion in regard to Rong Chhun.” 

Voters will choose 58 senators from eight constituencies in Sunday’s election.

In May, the NEC ruled Rong Chhun ineligible for the ballot ahead of the July 23 national election. He would have been listed as the Candlelight Party’s top candidate in Kandal province, opposite then-Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Later in May, the NEC ruled that the Candlelight Party couldn’t field any candidates for the National Assembly in the July election, citing inadequate paperwork. 

That led to Rong Chhun’s decision to join the Nation Power Party, which he called a “party for youths and the younger generation.”

Rong Chhun told RFA he should have the right to conduct political activities despite the criminal conviction. He said the party will review the NEC’s statements on his case before taking any action.

“To restore the country’s reputation, the government must allow politicians and people to have full freedom in order to welcome the international community,” he said. “If the government continues to restrict people’s freedom and politicians, the national community will condemn [the government].”

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.

Villagers in northeastern Laos say they’re struggling to access enough water for washing and bathing after an upstream chicken farm began polluting a widely used creek earlier this month. 

The incident marks the second time in as many months that villagers in Viengxay district, Houaphanh province have suffered from environmental damage caused by an agribusiness. In January, a burst sewage pipe at a pig farm in a nearby village spilled into the river, killing hundreds of pounds of fish. 

Some 140 families living in Nathaen village have been coping with the impacts of the upstream chicken farm for years, but the problem became particularly bad this month, according to villagers. 

“In the past, the problem happened and it was over [quickly]. This year, the problem started again this week and it looks likely to continue for the whole year,” said a villager who asked not to be named for security reasons. “We cannot use water from the creek … Many people have had no water to bathe or wash their clothes.”

The villager went on to explain that while those who live in the center of the village can access a centralized underground water system, those on the outskirts rely heavily on the creek for daily use. Many of the villager’s neighbors are now seeking water from relatives who have access to wells or underground water tanks. 

Another villager who asked not to be named described the water as “green as a vegetable.” 

He noted that district-level authorities had visited the village in prior years but have yet to put a stop to the polluting practices. 

A Viengxay district official told RFA that the authorities are aware of the issue and have met with the farm owner to address it.

“No fish died from this incident, but people are still afraid to use water from the creek,” the official said. “The problem really affects villagers.”

Another district officer said the farm owner signed an agreement after officials visited on Feb. 14. In it, the owner vowed to address the problem by moving his chicken farm further from the creek. 

“The owner said that initially the farm released waste water from the chicken farm to the nearby vegetable yards as fertilizer, but the wastewater somehow leaked into the creek and then the problem happened.”

Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Abby Seiff and Josh Lipes. 

Vietnam has indicted former police chief Do Huu Ca, who was a key figure in a violent forced eviction 12 years ago, on five different charges related to bribery, state media reported Tuesday.

The retired chief of police in the northeastern city of Hai Phong is among 10 others accused of “fraud to usurp assets, tax evasion, illegal purchase of invoices and State budget paying documents, taking bribes and giving bribes.”

Ca, 65, was arrested about a year ago on the fraud charge and is but one among many Vietnamese officials facing criminal charges amid a sweeping government anti-corruption campaign.

He is best known for his leading role in a 2012 forced eviction at a farm in the wetlands of Hai Phong’s Tien Lang district that led to a shootout in which four policemen and two civilians were wounded. Six civilians were arrested and prosecuted for their involvement.

The eviction was later concluded by the Central Government to be illegal, and several local officials were prosecuted.

Ca was the Hai Phong City police chief from 2010 to 2013. He was a member of the Hai Phong City Standing Communist Party Board, the Hai Phong People’s Committee, the Hai Phong City People’s Council Session, and party chief and director of the Hai Phong City Police.

 Translated by An Nguyen. Edited by Eugene Whong and Joshua Lipes.

Hungry North Koreans are swooping in ahead of cleaning crews for large public events to collect the butts of filtered cigarettes, which they then sell for meager sums of cash, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.

The cigarette butts have filters made of fibers that can either be recycled into new cigarettes or used to make clothing, sources said.

On Feb. 16, North Korea celebrated the Day of the Shining Star, the birth anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un’s late father and predecessor Kim Jong Il. 

It is customary for every resident of every city to present flowers at statues of the late “Dear Leader,” and people can spend several hours in the town square waiting in line for their turn. 

“The flower ceremony in Chongju ended at noon,” a resident of the northeastern province of  North Pyongan told RFA Korean, speaking anonymously for reasons of personal safety. “After the event, many women came to pick up cigarette butts around the street and in front of the statue, where thousands of people had gathered to give flowers.”

He explained that men who are bored of waiting often light up a smoke, and then throw the butts on the ground when they’re done. RFA reported previously that there is a ban on smoking in public, but it is often only enforced for women. 

The resident said that most of the people gathering the cigarette butts after the Day of the Shining Star were women.

Filtered cigarettes were once a sign of wealth and status that only rich people could afford in North Korea, while most smokers used hand-rolled cigarettes with no filters.. In the 2010s, state-owned factories started making filtered cigarettes more cheaply and they became widely available, giving rise to more cigarette butt litter.

A resident of North Pyongan’s Ryongchon county reported a similar scene of women gathering cigarette butts following the laying of wreaths for Day of the Shining Star at an area monument called the Tower of Eternal life.

“You can get money for filtered cigarette butts if you take them to people who make winter clothes,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing security concerns. “But, if you take them to those who make cigarettes, you can sell them at a slightly higher price. So some farmers survive by picking up cigarette butts at stations and marketplaces.”

The price of 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs.) of filtered cigarette butts is around 10,000 won (US$1.13) which is the same price of about 3 kilograms (6.6 lbs.) of corn at the market, the resident explained.

“We know that we can find lots of cigarette butts at political events such as the Day of the Shining Star,” she said. “Some of the farmers choose to pick up cigarette butts rather than participate in the event itself.”

Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.

Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong has accused U.S. authorities of “harassing” Chinese students studying in America and called for law enforcement to instead work harder to “ensure the safety” of Chinese diplomatic personnel sent to the United States.

The comments came during talks with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in Vienna on Sunday, according to a report by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua. Both Wang and Mayorkas were in Austria after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

The meeting was ostensibly about renewed cooperation between China and the United States to stem outflows from China of precursors for the synthetic opioid fentanyl, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security called those talks “candid and constructive.”

“The two sides also made commitments with respect to continued law enforcement cooperation, technical bilateral exchanges between scientists and other experts, scheduling of precursor chemicals, and furthering multilateral cooperation,” it said in a statement.

U.S. and Chinese law enforcement officials held the first meeting of the new bilateral Counternarcotics Working Group on Jan. 30, following an agreement struck by U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their high-profile summit in San Francisco last year.

However, the Xinhua report said Wang “also urged the U.S. side to stop harassing and interrogating Chinese students for no reason, and ensure that Chinese citizens enjoy fair entry, treatment and full dignity.”

The report said that Wang also called for the United States to stop officially listing China as a “major drug source country,” and to “take concrete and effective measures to ensure the safety of Chinese diplomatic and consular missions and personnel” in America.

The statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security noted only that the pair discussed “areas of concern within the bilateral relationship” and agreed to continue discussions on the matters.

Claims of harassment

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin last month accused the United States of deporting “tens” of Chinese students from the United States after detaining and interrogating them for hours, with many having arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport.

Wenbin described the deportations as “political” and said the students were detained for hours without being allowed to contact anyone, despite having obtained the correct visas to study in America.

But the U.S State Department, which by policy does not comment on individual visa cases, has said that any decision to deny entry to a Chinese student would not have been for political reasons. 

U.S. officials have also noted the comparatively large number of Chinese students who have gained entry without any issues.

“We have about 300,000 Chinese students studying in the United States,” said deputy spokesman Vedant Patel at a Feb. 5 press briefing, calling for more students to study in the United States.

“Our visa process is quite rigorous and quite solid,” he said. “Without speaking to anybody’s specific visa circumstance, the process is adjudicated in the utmost strict, rigorous, and legal manner.”

Beijing’s complaints follow warnings from the United States last year that Americans considering visiting China should reconsider their travel due to the growing number of “exit bans” on people trying to leave.

Meanwhile, Chinese students studying in the United States have complained of being monitored and harassed by other Chinese nationals after expressing criticisms of China’s government. 

A Georgetown University student told a congressional hearing in December that the harassment made him feel that “no matter where in the world you are … you’re never free” of Beijing’s grasp.