Thursday, 25 December 2014
Monday, 22 December 2014
Uprooted and resettled into the heart of Kachin's drug crisis
Uprooted and resettled into the heart of Kachin's drug crisis
A relocation to make way for a dam has landed villagers in a dangerous spot.
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| Recovering drug addicts Tu Lum (left) and Mar Seng speak with ucanews.com at a drug rehabilitation center in Kachin state |
“It looks good from the outside, but inside there’s not much,” said Joseph Naw Ja, who works for the Catholic diocese in the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina tackling the areas chronic drug problem.
The families were relocated in March 2010 from the fertile area at the confluence of the Malikha and Maykha rivers, which combine to form the Ayeyarwady. It was an unwilling move, but their ancestral homes had been in the way of the US$3.8 billion Chinese-backed Myitsone dam.
The massive hydropower project was suspended by Myanmar President Thein Sein in 2011 in a move that marked a sea change in his country’s international relations — shunning Chinese investment in favor of reconciliation with the West. There’s a chance the project might be resumed following elections next year, but the public mood remains strongly in opposition.
Either way, there have been no indications that the villagers will be allowed to move back. For now, they find themselves in an area with few opportunities for work, and which local anti-drug campaigners say is riddled with drug addiction and drug trafficking — a disastrous combination.
“Many people come from [the town] Myitkyina to buy drugs in the next village. Everyone knows that’s where you buy drugs,” said Joseph, himself a former addict.
On the outskirts of the so-called model village lies a Catholic Church-supported drug rehabilitation center. Three bamboo huts house 59 drug addicts; a rustic effort by local people to tackle the scourge of opium, heroin and methamphetamine addiction.
Tu Lum, a nervous 21-year-old who was forced into rehab at the camp by his parents, said he became addicted to heroin shortly after the relocation. His family was given compensation, but they lost the productive land on which they used to grow crops.
“After the relocation, I went to work on the banks of the Ayeyarwady, panning for gold,” he told ucanews.com.
“We had to work through the rainy season, so our boss would give us opium to make us keep working in the conditions.”
“I tried to keep away from drugs, but I couldn’t help it, and I ended up moving on to heroin.”
In the camp, there is no methadone and no 12-step program — only the Bible, and ‘the bath’. Addicts take it in turns to douse themselves with cold water, providing short-term relief from the agony of withdrawal.
“You feel like you are burning. You can’t sleep,” said Tu Lum.
Another of those from the relocation village currently in recovery is Mar Seng, 28, who said he was getting clean because his addiction had ruined his relationship with his wife.
However, he said he was not sure what kind of work he could find in the area of the resettlement village.
“There are no opportunities here. Many people have gone away to work in the jade mines at Hpakant, or in gold mining areas,” he said. Rates of addiction — as well as HIV/AIDS — are reportedly extremely high in mining communities in Kachin state.
“Those are the only options really,” Mar Seng added.
Just four of those in the camp were among those resettled to make way for the dam, according to Myo Seng Naw from the local community's drug eradication committee, who is in charge of the rehabilitation camp. But many others in the so-called model village are involved in the drug trade, either as users or dealers, he said.
“Almost every family in the village deals drugs or has a member who uses drugs,” he said.
As well as running the camp, the drug eradication committee collects intelligence on drug dealing, and launches vigilante raids against traffickers moving through the area. But Myo Seng Naw said a local police colonel is often a hindrance to their efforts.
“He has put pressure on us not to eradicate the drugs,” he said, adding that he suspected local officials made money from the narcotics trade. “He warns the dealers when we tell him we will do something.”
Allegations of inaction by the authorities in relation to Kachin’s drug problem are common. Church and community-based organizations claim to be making headway in the fight, but say they have little support from the government.
Religious leaders estimate that more than 50 percent of local youth are drug addicts, and many leaders believe that allowing the drug trade to flourish is part of a government plot to undermine the Kachin ethnic group.
A report by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand published in October said that since fighting resumed between ethnic Kachin rebels and government forces in 2011, the authorities have allowed pro-government militias to grow opium, produce heroin and manufacture methamphetamine in parts of Kachin and Shan states.
“Due to the government’s lack of political will to crack down on the drug problem, and widespread corruption, there is no strict law enforcement against drug dealing. Only small-time dealers and users are arrested,” the report said.
“There is a good deal between the dealers and the police around here,” said a mother of three young children living a short drive from Aung Myin Thar village, who asked not to be named. She said that addicts regularly congregate at the back of a local convenience store, and are never troubled by the authorities.
“For my children I pray that the drug eradication efforts will work,” she said, “but I will send them to other areas when they are older.”
Many in Aung Myin Thar village itself wish to return to their former home.
“Our land has already been prepared for the dam building. But if we were allowed, we would go back, even though our house is not there anymore,” said Daw Tung Roi, the 48-year-old matriarch of a family of nine that was resettled.
The family received about $5,000 in compensation, and still get the odd sack of rice from China Power Investment, the Chinese state-owned company behind the dam project. But Daw Tung Roi said the money ran out quickly as the family has had very little income.
“It’s true there’s no work around here,” she said, cursing the stony, unproductive ground at her new home.
“We’ve heard about drug problems in recent years. I don’t know much about it…. But, I suppose most of the parents here don’t really know what their kids get up to.”
Source: ucanews.com
Christian refugees emerge from Cambodia jungle
Christian refugees emerge from Cambodia jungle
Eight Montagnard villagers were met by a UN team early Saturday, according to rights workers.
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The group sought refuge in the jungle in Cambodia's northeastern Rattanakiri province for more than seven weeks.
Fears had mounted for their health in the malaria-ridden jungle area where they remained hidden — but in contact with rights groups and the UN — fearing arrest and deportation by Cambodian authorities.
A UN official and a local rights activist said that eight Montagnards, including a woman, emerged from their hiding spot and were met by a UN team early Saturday.
"We are transporting them out of the jungle," the UN official said by telephone.
Rights activists said another group of five remained in the jungle and were considering contacting the UN soon.
"Montagnard" is a French term referring to the patchwork of mainly Christian ethnic minority groups that live in Vietnam's mountainous Central Highlands region.
Many Montagnard groups practice forms of evangelical Protestantism, which puts them at odds with Vietnam's communist rulers who tightly control religion.
Khieu Sopheak, a Cambodian interior ministry spokesman, accused the UN of violating the kingdom's sovereignty by rescuing the asylum-seekers without Cambodian authorities.
"They can bring them to Phnom Penh, but whether or not they are considered as refugees will be decided by the host country," he said.
The UN has said local Cambodian authorities had denied UN access to help the Montagnards, who were from the Jarai ethnic minority group and reportedly suffering from various physical ailments including dengue fever and malaria.
"Now, they are happy because they met with the UN directly," said Chhay Thi, Rattanakiri coordinator for the Cambodian rights group Adhoc.
"They hope they will not be arrested and deported," he added.
In 2001 Vietnamese troops crushed protests in the Central Highlands, prompting an exodus of Montagnards.
Vietnam routinely asks Cambodia to return Montagnard people who flee.
In May 2011 thousands of Hmong people — one of the Montagnard groups — gathered in Vietnam's remote northwest apparently awaiting the arrival of a "messiah".
The gathering was broken up by authorities in circumstances which remain unclear.
Dozens of people have been jailed over the incident, which Vietnam has cast as a separatist plot to overthrow its communist government.
Source: AFP/UCAN
China arrests US Christian aid worker near North Korean border
China arrests US Christian aid worker near North Korean border
Peter Hahn detained Friday on charges of embezzlement and counterfeiting receipts, said his lawyer.
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Peter Hahn, a North Korean-born naturalized US citizen, was formally arrested on Friday on charges of embezzlement and counterfeiting receipts, his attorney Zhang Peihong said.
Many Christian groups, mostly run by South Koreans, are active along the border. But they are forced to operate underground as China bans foreign missionaries and vows to arrest refugees escaping persecution in North Korea.
Hahn has been based in the border city of Tumen since the late 1990s, when he founded a Christian NGO providing aid to North Korea and help for refugees. He set up a vocational school for local teenagers in 2002.
A source with direct knowledge of the case who declined to be named told AFP that several foreign workers associated with Hahn's charity have been deported in recent months.
Authorities this summer froze Hahn's bank accounts and barred him from leaving China, according to Chinese media reports.
The 74-year-old maintains his innocence of the charges, which "cannot be stood-up," Zhang added.
Hahn is likely to face trial within three months, he said. The maximum sentence for the two crimes is 12 years in prison.
US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed the arrest at a briefing and said a consular officer visited Hahn in jail on Friday.
It comes months after Chinese authorities leveled espionage accusations against a Canadian couple also living close to the North Korean border who provided aid to Christians fleeing the country.
Source: AFP/UCAN
Malaysia police return seized hymnals to Catholic priest
Malaysia police return seized hymnals to Catholic priest
Books returned 'without any damage or conditions', priest says.
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| Father Cyril Mannayagam (right) conducts a service in an Orang Asli settlement |
Father Cyril Mannayagam said the books were handed over to him at the Ledang district police headquarters in Tangkak at 9:45pm Thursday without any conditions.
Father Cyril, who was accompanied by his lawyer, said the hymnals were in good condition and were not stamped with any warning by authorities.
"I am very happy that the books have been returned to me without any damage or conditions attached by the authorities," he said. "And I am glad that the authorities did not prolong this further and gave me back the books in time for Christmas."
He said he would send the books on to Orang Asli parishioners, for whom they were originally intended.
Father Cyril had earlier said he would not accept the books if they had been damaged or if the authorities attached a condition to the usage of the books.
The hymnal books, with the word "Allah" and a crucifix on the front cover, were seized by police on December 5 after being sent for photocopying at a bookshop in Tangkak.
When the priest returned to pick up the books, several policemen told him to follow them to the nearby police station for questioning.
Police previously said the priest was being investigated under Section 298A of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will on grounds of religion.
Following the incident, Johor police had come under criticism, with lawyers citing a decision by the Supreme Court in 1988 which rendered the law used on Father Cyril as unconstitutional.
Father Cyril, who has worked with the Orang Asli Christian community for over four years, said the books were meant for a Christmas service with some 100 Orang Asli parishioners in Bekok.
Source: The Malaysian Insider
Candidates promise no election violence during pope’s Sri Lanka trip
Candidates promise no election violence during pope’s Sri Lanka trip
Cardinal Ranjith says he has received assurances that the contentious poll will go smoothly.
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“Both [opposition and incumbent] candidates assured the bishops that they can control election violence before and after the election,” said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith at Abhayarama Temple in Colombo on Thursday evening.
“Bishops asked them explicitly whether after the election, [they will accept] that only one will be victorious and one will be the loser. Then both agreed to welcome the Holy Father as scheduled on January 13 and avoid post-election violence,” Ranjith said at a press conference during a Congress of Religions event.
The election coincides with the long-planned papal visit on January 13-15. Concerns have been raised over the potential for violence, but also that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has tried to capitalize on the papal visit in his battle for an unprecedented third term. Last month, election posters featuring Pope Francis and Rajapaksa were displayed in neighborhoods around the capital Colombo.
Church officials, in turn, have called for a postponement of the election, while some Catholic voters have urged the pope to cancel his visit altogether.
“We appealed to the government to either postpone or give more time for the papal visit after the election,” Ranjith said.
Rajapaksa, 69, called the election two years ahead of schedule and faces an unexpected challenge from his former party general secretary and health minister, Maithripala Sirisena. They are considered the two strongest candidates among the field.
The Congress of Religions, made up of leaders from a range of faiths, appealed to the political parties to ensure free and fair elections and avoid violence.
Professor Bellanwilla Wimalaratne Thero, a Buddhist monk, said the candidates should speak truthfully without stirring up hatred.
“There was election violence in the earlier presidential elections, and we appeal [to] all citizens to exercise their rights of selecting their leader without fear,” he said.
Opposition political parties, meanwhile, demonstrated at the Elections Secretariat yesterday to call for a free and fair election.
Already, election observers say there is an increase in the number of complaints about pre-election violence compared to previous polls.
Keerthi Tennakoon, executive director of the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections, said that 317 complaints have been lodged and that police have not arrested the suspected culprits in some places.
“Several shooting incidents have been reported and an unidentified group destroyed the stage of an opposition candidate and the group burned a vehicle with a sound system for a meeting," Tennakoon said.
“There have also been complaints that the military has been used to campaign for the president,” Tennakoon added.
The Vatican confirmed the pope’s three-day apostolic visit to the country in July. During the visit, Pope Francis is set to canonize the 17th century Indian missionary priest, Blessed Joseph Vaz.
Some lay leaders and priests expressed concern over politicization of the papal visit and appealed to the Vatican to delay his trip to the country.
Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, said he had renewed hope over the past two weeks, as the number of violent incidents began dropping. But, he said, it was important that the government takes pains to prevent violence.
“There is a possibility of post-election violence and the settling of scores in the aftermath of a close and bitterly fought election,” Perera said.
“The pope's visit would be a positive factor in ensuring that the security forces and police do not permit post-election violence to get out of hand,” he said.
Source: ucanews.com
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