Aid Groups in Rakhine State Required to Report Activities in Advance

 

U.N. agencies and international humanitarian groups in Myanmar’s Rakhine state will be required to report on their activities in advance and receive approval for them from a government-led committee as part of new measures following the latest violence in the troubled state, a panel member said Wednesday.The new rules come amid international calls for Myanmar to facilitate aid workers’ return to Rakhine amid a bitter humanitarian crisis following riots last month that led to the biggest disruption of aid in the area in years.

Aid groups who return will be required to submit information about their activities to the Emergency Coordination Center, a newly established body comprising state and central government officials as well as representatives from the United Nations, NGOs, and the local ethnic Rakhine community.

ECC member Than Tun, a Buddhist community leader in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe, said after a meeting of the body Wednesday that aid groups will need to submit the information at least seven days in advance and receive approval for their planned activities.“We agreed at today’s meeting that U.N. organizations and international NGOs must inform the ECC one week in advance on how they plan to help, how much aid, and where,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service.“They can begin their work when the ECC approves it,” he said. 

Chased out

The new rules follow the expulsion of international NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) from Rakhine state and rioting in Sittwe on March 26 and 27 that chased other groups from the state.

In a rampage that saw a 13-year-old girl accidentally shot dead by police, mobs of hundreds of ethnic Rakhines ransacked and hurled stones at aid groups’ offices following reports that an aid worker from Malteser International had taken down a Buddhist flag.

The ECC confirmed at Wednesday’s meeting that it would not be giving Malteser International or Doctors Without Borders (MSF) permission to return.Rakhine state government spokesman Win Myaing had said earlier this month that aid groups would need approval from the ECC to return to the state.Win Myaing said humanitarian organizations had previously operated in Rakhine State under memoranda of understanding with the central government in Naypyidaw, but state officials were not kept informed, leading to problems, according to local news outlet Mizzima.

International concern

The U.N. and foreign governments have called on Myanmar to help aid workers return to Rakhine state, which has been torn by violence between Buddhist Rakhine and Rohingya Muslims in recent years.

U.N. officials have warned that the violence and the humanitarian crisis posed a serious threat to the country's dramatic economic and political reforms as it emerges from decades under military rule.

Last week the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power urged Myanmar to intervene to stop communal violence there and protect humanitarian workers in Rakhine.

"We continue to support Burma's reforms, but are greatly concerned that without effective government intervention violence in Rakhine could worsen, lives will be lost, and the critically needed humanitarian presence will not be sustainable," Power said in a statement, using another name for Myanmar.

"The government must take urgent steps to avoid more violence and to prevent setbacks on the journey to democracy and prosperity,” she said.In a meeting with Myanmar’s President Thein Sein in the capital Naypyidaw earlier this month, a senior U.S. diplomat, the State Department’s Assistant Secretary for East Asian  and  Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel, raised concerns about the humanitarian workers’ lack of access to Rakhine State.Aid workers who fled Rakhine state following the riots warned of a growing humanitarian crisis for thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims living in refugee camps in the state following sectarian violence in the state in 2012.

The workers were providing assistance to 140,000 Rohingyas living in crowded displacement camps near the city of Sittwe and more than 700,000 other vulnerable people in remote, hard-to-reach villages.

Monks fight alleged overstep

 

A deputy district governor and a land tycoon are allegedly attempting to seize land deemed sacred by about 700 monks and residents who gathered yesterday in protest outside the unfinished Wat Kohbodhivong in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district.Banner-wielding participants said that tycoon Chheang Paksour and Deputy District Governor Chea Khema are conspiring to parcel out pagoda grounds, despite the area being demarcated as sacred by the Ministry of Cults and Religion in 2006.Locals allege that Phnom Penh-based Borey Peng Huoth’s The Star Platinum housing development is in cahoots with Paksour and Khema to build a housing project that would extend onto the sacred grounds.

“[The area] has been sacred grounds for a very long time but has yet to receive traditional rites so the pagoda committee is asking to build one,” said Peuy Meta, a chief monk, referring to a pagoda.

The construction of the apartments and villas began in 2013 and a heavy police presence had initially stopped locals from protesting, said Chhoun Sovin, deputy chief monk of Wat Kohbodhivong.

“Tycoon Chheang Paksour and Chea Khema claimed Hun Sen allowed them to develop the area so monks and villagers kept quiet,” Sovin said.

In 2009, locals triumphed over a botched relocation plan following clashes with police.

The area holds special spiritual import. According to lore, a python lived on the grounds in harmony with residents for several years, and the recent arrival of a 40-kilogram turtle was seen as propitious.

Nearly 30 monks intend to reside on the grounds until the dispute is resolved. The community has filed complaints with District Governor Ly Saveth and intends to file a complaint with Prime Minister Hun Sen. Saveth and Khema could not be reached for comment.

An employee of Borey Peng Huoth unauthorised to talk to the press said the company owned the land and construction was nearly complete.

CNRP request rejected, again

 

Phnom Penh City Hall once again rejected the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party’s bid to hold campaigns for the coming council elections in Freedom Park yesterday but said the final decision is beyond its reach.After its first request was rejected on Tuesday for going against a National Election Committee (NEC) order banning permanent campaign bases, the CNRP filed a second bid with City Hall yesterday.In the new letter, the CNRP asked for permission to use either Freedom Park or Wot Botum during specific dates of the campaign period, which takes place between May 2 and 16, including its opening and closure. But, once again, the response was far from positive.

“With Democracy Square [Freedom Park], it is certain that we cannot give permission,” Phnom Penh Municipal deputy governor Khuong Sreng said yesterday. 

A ban on public gatherings is in place in the park, where security forces used violence to remove opposition lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua and a peaceful crowd earlier this week. Sreng said that City Hall would still consider allowing the CNRP to use the park near Wot Botum. But, he said, the decision ultimately fell to the Ministry of Interior and the Provincial Election Commission (PEC).

Sreng did not elaborate on when a final ruling under instructions of the PEC and Interior Ministry might be made.In yesterday’s letter, the CNRP said it expected between 3,000 and 5,000 people to join its campaigning at the sites as well as marches along Phnom Penh’s roads.

Morn Phalla, president of the CNRP’s executive committee in Phnom Penh, said yesterday that if the latest request is also denied, the party will look for other, unspecified locations.

Observers have labelled the upcoming council election as “undemocratic” as voting is only open to current commune council members.

Philippines and Hong Kong resolve hostage row

 

In a joint statement, the Philippines expressed "its most sorrowful regret" to the victims and their families.The wording of the apology appeared to fall short of Hong Kong's original demand but its leader CY Leung said the two sides had reached a "consensus".The seven tourists and their guide were shot dead by a former policeman.The vehicle was carrying 22 Hong Kong tourists and three Filipinos when it was hijacked by Rolando Mendoza, who was angry at being sacked from his job.

The hostage drama was broadcast live on television and radio and lasted for 11 hours.

It caused diplomatic strain between the Philippines and Hong Kong, with a Hong Kong inquest in 2011 criticising Philippine officials for their slow response to the crisis.

"The four demands made by the victims and their families on apology, compensation, sanctions against responsible officials and individuals, and tourist safety measures will be resolved and settled," the statement said."The Philippine government expresses its most sorrowful regret and profound sympathy, and extends its most sincere condolences for the pain and suffering of the victims and their families."The police director general of the Philippines has also written to the victims and their families, the statement added.The Philippines has also assured Hong Kong that "measures are being undertaken to hold to account those responsible and to see the outstanding proceedings conclude as soon as possible".The Philippines previously said it would not apologise for the hostage crisis, but instead expressed its "deepest regret" over the incident. The victims and their families had long demanded an apology from the Philippine government.Hong Kong imposed sanctions against the Philippines over the incident, including the removal of visa-free access for Philippine officials and diplomats in February.

South Korea ferry disaster: New arrests

 
Police have also raided offices of companies linked to the ferry's owners.
Search teams are continuing to recover bodies from the submerged hull of the passenger ferry.
One survivor has described taking the agonising decision to save himself as the ship capsized and water washed away students he was trying to rescue.The number of people known to have died in the accident has reached 150, with another 152 still missing, most of them teenage children from a single school in Ansan, outside the capital Seoul.An emotional memorial service took place near the school on Wednesday, with friends and family members laying flowers in front of photographs of some of those who died.The government is under strong public pressure to find out why the ferry capsized.
Twenty-two of the 29 members of the ferry's crew survived and prosecutors say the 11 arrested were on the bridge when the ship listed and sank within two hours of distress signals being sent.
The BBC's Jonathan Head on the island of Jindo, where the recovery operation is being co-ordinated, says authorities are moving quickly against those they blame for the disaster.

Investigators remove evidence from the house of an executive at the Chonghaejin Marine Company

Footage of the disaster shows passengers clambering on the side of the listing ferry awaiting rescue

Companies associated with Incheon-based Chonghaejin Marine Company, which owned the 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry, have also been raided by police as part of the investigation.
Authorities have issued 30-day travel bans to more than 70 executives connected with Chonghaejin and its affiliates while they are investigated on possible charges ranging from criminal negligence to embezzlement.
"We will also make efforts to retrieve profits made out of criminal acts and track down hidden assets to support financial compensations for [potential] lawsuits by families of the victims and the missing," a prosecutor told AFP.

A memorial for the missing school children has been set up in Ansan, the hometown of many of the students

Survivors have spoken of the struggle to save the hundreds of passengers trapped below the tilting decks as cargo containers toppled into the sea.
Lorry driver Eun-su Choi spoke of his regret in an interview with the BBC at being unable to come to the rescue of passengers trapped on the vessel.
He had made the ferry journey hundreds of times. He had just had breakfast and gone up on the deck to smoke when disaster struck.

A truck driver onboard the ferry tells the BBC how he tried to save passengers

"All of a sudden the ship tilted and started to sink. Containers started to fall off into the sea, and I realised we were going to capsize," he said."I was clinging on to the handrail. I tried to save some of the students in the cafeteria. They were sliding around on their knees by the cashier's desk."
He added: "We were trying to pull them up with a fire hose, but it was very difficult to rescue them. We then decided to climb up, but I now regret it."He said his friend managed to pull a six-year-old girl to safety after she was passed by her parents and other passengers, hand to hand.
He said the parents and passengers, who did not survive the ordeal, were "the bravest people of all".
All of the people he saw helping the girl were swept away by the water, he added.
'Akin to murder'
 
Reports suggest that passengers were told to remain in their rooms and cabins as the ship listed, amid confusion on the bridge over whether to order them to abandon ship.
The first distress call from the sinking ferry was made from a mobile phone by a boy with a shaking voice, officials told Reuters.

Divers have begun to access cabins on the ferry, as Jonathan Head reports

His plea for help was followed by about 20 other emergency calls from children on board the ship.
A crew member quoted by local media said that attempts to launch lifeboats were unsuccessful because the ship was listing too severely. Only two of the vessel's 46 lifeboats were reported to have been deployed.South Korean President Park Geun-hye has condemned the conduct of some of the crew, calling it "akin to murder".

Crabster robot

• The crabster robot is the size and weight of a Smart car
• It is designed to work up to 200m below the surface in high tidal currents where divers are unable to operate
• A 500m-long cable allows four operators to control the robot from a surface vessel. Data is also fed to the surface via the cable
• It is equipped with 10 optical cameras and a long-range scanning sonar

MH370 search: Object found on Australian coast wasn't from missing plane

 

A metal object that washed ashore on Australia's coast wasn't from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, officials said.Detailed pictures of the object were enough to convince investigators that it wasn't a lead in the search for the missing plane, the Australian agency leading the search for the aircraft said on Thursday.Officials had previously called the piece of metal, which appeared to have rivets on one side, an "object of interest" in the search.Police picked it up near Augusta, Australia, roughly 1,000 miles away from the suspected crash site, after many futile days of searching for the missing plane.

Authorities haven't said what they think the object could be.

Possible promising leads have turned out to be false alarms for weeks in the lengthy search for the missing plane, which disappeared mid-flight on March 8 with 239 people aboard. One major challenge that's complicated the search: the ocean is full of garbage. Other objects search teams have spotted in the Indian Ocean turned out to be trash, jellyfish and fishing gear.Bad weather grounded planes searching for signs of debris on Wednesday. And a high-tech underwater drone found no sign of the Boeing 777 jetliner.And as the search came up empty again, a key question loomed: Are they looking in the right place?"They have been searching for more than a month. All of the ships, the planes, the satellites they're using, not even a small piece of the plane was found," Steve Wang, whose mother was aboard the aircraft, told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Thursday.

Abbott: 'We may rethink the search, but we will not rest'

Up to 11 military aircraft and 11 ships are set to search for the plane on Thursday.

And there's still ground left to cover.The Bluefin-21 has scanned more than 90% of the underwater search area set out by investigators."We will continue with the search operation until we fully cover the search area," Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transport minister, said Wednesday.Stormy weather postponed the air search for a second day Wednesday. The ships plying the waters off the coast of Australia kept their vigil.And despite the search efforts for MH370 repeatedly coming up empty during the 48 days since it started, there's no suggestion the hunt in the southern Indian Ocean is anywhere close to ending.Quite to the contrary, according to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

"We are not going to abandon ... the families of the 239 people who were on that plane by lightly surrendering while there is reasonable hope of finding something," he said Wednesday. "We may well rethink the search, but we will not rest until we have done everything we can to solve this mystery."

The investigation into Flight 370 is the responsibility of Malaysia. Australia is leading the search for the missing aircraft and participating in the investigation as an accredited representative.

What comes next?

Malaysian and Australian authorities are already mapping out a long-term strategy for the search, which could go on for months or years, if the two-year search for Air France Flight 447 is any guide.

Guidelines drafted by Malaysia raise the possibility of a significantly wider search area should the current underwater search fail to turn up evidence of the plane. The document discusses how best to deploy resources, including new underwater search assets.If the underwater search comes up empty, it could ground the air search as well, CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien said.

"If it doesn't pan out, then all the equations that have been put in the mix to determine where debris might be ... all of that is for naught," he said.The next logical step after the underwater search is to "rethink all of the information we have at hand," ocean search specialist Rob McCallum told CNN.An expanded search area might include the last 370 miles of the plane's flight path, perhaps 15 miles on either side, he said.He also said it would make sense to turn to deep-towed sonar, which provides less resolution than the Bluefin-21 but about 10 times the range.

What happens if data recorders are found

Investigators would love to find the flight data recorders from Flight 370, a potential treasure trove of information into what happened to the jetliner and the 239 passengers and crew on board.

If found, the "black boxes" probably would go to the Australian Transport Safety Board's accident investigation lab.But the investigation is officially Malaysian, so that country's officials would decide where the boxes would go.

Australia is just one of a handful of countries that have the capability and technical know-how to decipher what's inside a black box.The Malaysian Cabinet approved the appointment of an international investigation team to look into the disappearance of Flight 370, Hishammuddin said.The names of the members will be announced next week, he added. He also said the team will not be looking at the criminal aspects of the investigation, which remain under the Royal Malaysian Police."The main purpose is to evaluate and determine the cause of the accident," Hishammuddin said.Malaysia has completed a preliminary report on the incident, as required by the International Civil Aviation Organization, but has not released it publicly, he said.