CNI News

13 August 2022

Amidst wars between Myanmar Army and Local People’s Defence Force (LPDF) in Shwe Bo District, Sagaing Region, Myanmar going on these days, the residents and strike committees cooperated, and anti-dictatorship strike movement was made in DePaYinGaMyay (Depayin) township today (August 13).

 Monywa general strike committee released a statement that Monywa main strike joined that peoples’ protest. 

Currently, there has been fights between Myanmar military and People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) in townships such as Shwe Bo,Depayin, Yinmabin and Kalay, Sagaing Region.

CNI News

13 August 2022

UEC mailed on August 11, 2022 to the political parties that the registered political parties in Myanmar must notify to the Union Election Commission (UEC) to meet with foreign organizations.

UEC said, “The political parties must put in their submission in advance to get the permission to meet with any foreign organization or individuals” as written in the letter sent to the political parties.

The political party leaders said that the letter sent by the UEC to the political parties is inconsistent with the democratic standards: they have to get permission first from UEC in order to accept a phone call from an embassy diplomat and that the political party is an independent association.

the letter sent by UEC to the political parties

In accordance with the provisions of Article 407 ( c ), 408 and Section 6 ( f ) of the Political Parties Registration Act, the political parties have an obligation to not avail themselves of money, material, other support, or their influence from the government or religious organization of any foreign country or any other association, and if they fail to abide by the stipulation, their registration as a political party will be revoked, said the Union Election Commission (UEC).

CNI News

13 August 2022

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs under SAC issued a statement on August 12 that strongly objected to the Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifudin Abdullah saying that the National Unity Government (NUG) and ASEAN should meet.

The Malaysian Foreign Minister delivered this speech in the ASEAN Day Celebration Ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on August 8 and at a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand on August 10.

There followed the announcement of SAC that states that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put in a vehement dissent to that speech.

The NUG Foreign Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung, the Deputy Minister U Moe Zaw Oo and the Malaysian Foreign Minister

The SAC Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that they strongly oppose the irresponsible statements of the Malaysian Foreign Minister encouraging the ASEAN members to engage with the illegal associations that are perpetrating the terrorists acts in Myanmar. The announcement continues to say that these reckless statements attempt to encourage the political instability and terrorist acts which is a flagrant violation of the internal affairs of an ASEAN member country as a whole.

Then, SAC also said that these statements are in breach of the Article (2) subsection (e) and (f) of the ASEAN Charter as well as the Article (2) subsection (7) of the United States Charter.
They said, “The statements for non-ASEAN countries to be involved in the process of implementing the 5 consensus points can undermine the authority of ASEAN as well as derail the actions of the ASEAN Chairman’s Special Representative.”

The SAC Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that any ASEAN country that really wants to see peace and stability in Myanmar should steer clear of the statements that will bring a hazardous effect to the national reconciliation in Myanmar.

The SAC Chairman attended the ASEAN Summit held on 24 April 2021

Currently in Myanmar, the Myanmar military overthrew the National League for Democracy (NLD) on February 1, 2021, claiming that they attempted to form a government without settling the ballot dispute of the 2020 General Election and declared a national state of Emergency.

In the aftermath, the State Administration Council (SAC) was formed in an attempt to become an official government whereas the members of the parliament from the ousted NLD party are also trying to oust SAC and to become a legitimate government by forming the National Unity Government (NUG).

CNI News

13 August 2022

News reports went viral on social media that holders of national registration card numbers beginning with 7/, 9/ and 11/ were not allowed to go to work in Japan.

However, Japanese employers were not likely to impose such restrictions, those who used to work in Japanese agencies and Japan told the CNI.

Ko Nay Oo, a director in Naytic Asia Agency, told the CNI, “ The restrictions have nothing to do with Japanese employers. They don’t know and are not interested in such issues. They will employ anyone who is willing to work for them. No foreign country has imposed such restrictions. Some people were likely to be prohibited from leaving the country at the airport  but local agencies, which did not want to put blame on someone else responsible for the prohibition, gave excuses in the name of the Japanese side.  When people go to other countries, they need to submit not NRC cards but passports. It was likely that some supporters of the Civil Disobedient Movement were prohibited from leaving the country at the airport as security officers there already had their lists and were taken by authorities for interrogation. So, some people posted such misleading reports on social media as no one wanted to give details.”

A construction stie in Japan.

However, Ko Myat Thu Aung, who used to work in Japan, told the CNI that many Myanmar workers who went to work in Japan under on-the-job-training programs fled from their employers recently and it was likely that some overseas employment agencies did not choose holders of NRC numbers starting with 7/, 9/ and 11/.

The number of Myanmar workers who fled from their primary employers has increased as they went to Japan out of their enthusiasm without considering the type of jobs they would be offered and could not bear the fatigue at jobs in Japan, he added.

Ko Myat Thu Aung said, “Japanese employers had to spend a lot of money and time to take in foreign workers but when the workers fled from them, they suffered losses. After encountering such issues frequently, they might ask Myanmar overseas employment agencies what kinds of workers they were sending. It was said that Japanese employers no longer wanted to employ Myanmar workers because many on-the-job training workers set a bad example. They think that employing Myanmar workers has a lot of problems and they can employ workers from any other countries like Vietnam and China, who can be hired easily without any problem. So, they hire workers from countries they like. They employed Myanmar workers as they had thought Myanmar workers would be more hardworking and useful at their workplaces but they had to face many problems when Myanmar workers fled from them.”

An agriculture farm in Japan.

Recently, the number of Myanmar nationals who want to work in Japan has increased dramatically and Japanese language schools are mushrooming in Myanmar since the Japanese language proficiency test conducted by the government of Japan is scheduled in December.

Yamazaki Thant, who has been sharing knowledge about Japan, told the CNI that Japanese employers hire anyone who meets the required qualifications and aspirants to go to Japan should study Japanese thoroughly without thinking of the NRC number restrictions.

He said, “Aspirants to go to Japan are mainly required to study Japanese and skills necessary for their jobs thoroughly. I don’t want them to derail from their focus by believing what other people say too much. I think they should mainly focus on their purpose of going to Japan and what is necessary for it by going straight without looking to the left or right.”

At present, the number of people aspiring to go to work in Japan is higher than that of the pre-pandemic period and they were seen jostling for application forms of the JLPT scheduled in December this year.

CNI News

13 August 2022 

Due to high demand and low supply in the gold market in Myanmar, gold traders and businessmen said that the price of gold has risen. 

Currently, the price of gold in Myanmar is rising to the point of reaching more than 2500,000 kyat per tical of Academy Gold Bar. 

The increase in the price of gold is due to conditions such as the surge in the demand of gold, the decline in the availability of raw gold and the increase in the domestic dollar price, said U Ohn Myint, the secretary of the Myanmar Gold Industry Association to CNI News. 

U Ohn Myint said, “In this season, there is little production of raw gold in our country. It is very little to the point that we can’t even mine for gold. If we can mine, it’s going to lead to water permeation and the collapse of the pit. That’s why there is less supply in gold. Another thing is that stored goods such as beans, sesame, and rice are sold in our country during this season. The amount of money that get from selling goes into buying gold again every year. Buying gold and holding in possession of it entails less supply and high demand. Another thing is that the exchange rate of Myanmar currency and dollar is also currently rising. That’s why the price of gold went up.”

 while seeing Myanmar gold bars (GETTY IMAGES)

According to the gold industry, gold buyers are increasingly looking for gold bars to collect. The demand in jewelry is on the decrease and the sales are on the high. 

The rising gold prices also had repercussions on small and medium gold shops. There are only purchases in gold bars and the lack of demand in jewelry (e.g. gold rings, necklaces, bracelets) had led some gold shops to come to a standstill since they could not afford to produce more goldware.

Therefore, more and more goldsmiths are becoming unemployed since gold jewelry is not in production anymore, said U Ohn Myint, the secretary of the Myanmar Gold Industry Association. 

He said, “Gold prices are rising. However, the grassroots people prioritize reselling to buying. Craftsmen do their job mainly for the basic class to wear. The well-off people would only go for gold bars. That’s why the goldsmiths are facing unemployment,’’ he said to CNI News Agency. 

The current gold price is in a situation where it may continue to rise. Controlling this situation depends on the trade market of gold merchants in Yangon and Mandalay, said a gold market analyst Ko Ne Lin Khant to CNI News Agency.

During trading in a gold shop (GETTY IMAGES)

Ko Ne Lin Khant said, “Mainly, we have to look at our traders. If the big traders from Yangon and Mandalay do a lot of trading, we even fell back to near 23 lakhs the other day. So, the merchants in Mandalay sold a lot that time. There, over 24 lakhs came close to 23. It’s mainly traders. The surge in Mandalay gold sales would lead to the decline in the Yangon gold market. There is connection between these two. The traders are also a force to be reckoned with. Because if there are some traders who play the market too much, it would lead to market fluctuations depending on the traders. For them, trading is not 1 part 2 parts. The traders would go in starting from 10 visses, subsequently leading the market to become very volatile. In that kind of situation, the gold price would be more volatile than normal.” 

Since Myanmar gold prices change depending on the global gold price and local dollar price, the domestic dollar price may rise even more as a result which would lead the local gold prices to continue to rise as well, the analysts said.

Today in the local gold market, the price of one tical of Academy Gold Bar is 25,500,000 kyats and one US dollar is calculated at 2,700 Myanmar kyats reportedly.

CNI News

12 August 2022

The Arakan Army has detained Lt-Col Khaing Paw Lin, a central executive committee member of the Arakan Liberation Army not because of his affiliation to the ALP but because of crimes he committed, according to AA Spokesperson Khaing Thukha.

At a press conference on 11th August, the AA spokesperson said that Lt-Gen Khaing Paw Lin was detained for his crimes but refused to elaborate on the details of his crimes.

He said, “It is true that we have detained him. I have already said that. Now, I have explained the reason for detaining him. There is no serious issue to negotiate between the AA and the ALP. We will have to take action against anyone who are guilty of crimes. He has been detained not as a member of the ALP but as a criminal. To tell the truth, we are not handling the matter because he is an ALP member.”

Lt-Col Khaing Paw Lin of the ALP. (ALP)

The ALP announced that the AA abducted Lt-Col Khaing Paw Lin from the ALP at his house on 2nd August, 2022.

Then, members of the ALP detained a resident of Narzi Village in Sittwe on 8th August, accusing him of involvement in the arrest of Lt-Col Khaing Paw Lin.

As the United League of Arakan and its armed wing, the AA, announced at the press conference that there must be only one armed organization in Rakhine State, negotiations over the arrests of each other’s members were not likely, Rakhine Politician U Pe Than told the CNI.

Leaders of the ALP and the AA.

U Pe Than said, “The ULA/AA has adopted a policy that there must be only one armed organization in Rakhine. It was also learnt that they detained Lt-Col Khaing Paw Lin not for his political affiliation but for his criminal acts. So, the ALP abducted suspected informers and hard-cores in the arrest of Khaing Paw Lin. “Based on these and statements made at the press conference, it is unlikely that they will engage in negotiations. I think they will detain members of the ALP if it causes trouble for the public or undermines the position of the AA by joining hands with the junta. Moreover, they announced at the press conference that there must be only one armed organization in Rakhine State, I don’t think negotiations are possible,” U Pe Than said.

The CNI contacted the ALP for comments over the issue unsuccessfully as the party did not answer the phone.

Both the ALP and the ULS/AA are armed organizations of Rakhine ethnic group but the former is a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement but the latter is still negotiating to do so.

CNI News

12 August 2022

A Rakhine youth accused of involvement in the death of a Thai citizen after his fingerprints were found on the scene would be released soon, Ko Thein Tun, a labour activist from the Migrant Workers’ Rights Network, who was helping the accused told the CNI.

A court in Songkhla Province examined the accused and three witnesses including Maung San Aye Ko on 9th August.

Ko Thein Tun told the CNI, “Maung San Aye Ko was sentenced to two years and one month in prison for smuggling migrants but he couldn’t be a broker. He was one of the five people for whom warrants were issued in the murder case but he was not involved in the case. His lawyer said Ko Aung Ko Win would surely be acquitted but it was difficult to tell how many court hearings it would take. The next hearing is scheduled on 25th August. Evidence against him was inconclusive and was not sound enough to send him to prison. However, other accused like Chit Ko Ko have not been tried at the court. The court will give its verdicts after all the accused have been tried.”

Four out of the five people for whom warrants were issued are at large and Chit Ko Ko, who was detained with Maung San Aye Ko, will be examined at the court on 25th August.

Maung San Aye, who was sentenced to 2 years and one month in prison for smuggling migrants.

The Rakhine youth whose fingerprints were found on the scene was from Kyai Te Village in Sittwe and his father is a carpenter. He mortgaged his house to send two of his sons to work in Malaysia together with some people from the village.

She was glad to hear that her son would be released soon, Daw Than Kyi May, the mother of Ko Aung Ko Win, told the CNI.

“I couldn’t eat or sleep well before I heard the news. Now, I am glad and can do everything as usual. My health has imporved because my son would be released soon. My husband was so excited that he could not sleep the whole night. It was one of the happiest days in my life. I think I will be happier when my son arrive back. Although we are poor, we will lead a happy family life together with all family members and will be able to eat two meals a day by taking up whatever jobs we can get,” she said.

The two witnesses who appeared at the court were not able to provide enough evidence to prove that the accused was involved in the crime and they were released on 9th August before being sent to a immigration detention centre at the border on 11th August to repatriate to Myanmar.

The mother of the accused, Ko Aung Ko Win

The accused will be repatriated to Myanmar after the court has reached a verdict, said Ko Thein Tun of the MWRN.

“However, we don’t know whether the court will prosecute him for illegally entering Thailand. It depends on the judge but I don’t think so because he has been in police custody for a long time. Moreover, authorities have released more than 400 people who were detained for the case. All of them including Hnin Wutye and Tun Min Soe were sent to the immigration detention centre. He will surely be acquitted but will have to appear at the court until the case has been closed,” he said.

The accused has been standing trial since June and the MWRN is offering assistance for him.

CNI News

12 August 2022 

It is reported that a delegation led by Japanese MP (member of parliament) Mr. Hiromichi Watanabe met with the chairman of SAC, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and discussed Myanmar’s political situation including greater cooperation in business and investment. 

The meeting was held in Nay Pyi Taw on the afternoon of August 11. 

In that meeting, it is known that Myanmar’s political progress and changes, promoting the friendship and cooperation of two countries, enhancing the cooperation of business relations and investment and Myanmar’s political situation are discussed

CNI Interview

12 August, 2022

Major-General Min Aung Hlaing said that more ethnic groups must participate in the political stage, the Hluttaw, in order to claim their regional rights in accordance with the law.

However, Myanmar's political situation is complicated and uncertain, so the ethnic groups are still unable to consider fully entering the parliament and are relying only on the armed path.

The reason for this is that powerful parties and groups within the parliament have rejected the discussions presented by the ethnic groups in the parliament with a majority of votes, and there are people who have turned their backs on the parliament and turned to the armed path.

CNI has asked Colonel Khun Okker, an ethnic armed leader, about these situations.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and SSPP Vice-Chairman (1) and Commander-in-Chief Sat Khe Thai

Q ။ ။ When SSPP and SAC met for peace, SAC said that Hluttaw is the highest political body in a democratic system and that these ethnic groups must participate more in Hluttaw, which is also a political stage, in order to claim their rights in accordance with the law. Considering what they said, could you share your opinion about how much interest do you think ethnic groups and ethnic armed organizations have in this Hluttaw scene?

A ။ ။ Legally speaking, under normal circumstances, speaking of normal circumstances, there are different types of normal conditions. Under the conditions that fully accord with democratic rights, the parliament can do its work willingly. Because of that, Hluttaw can do its work willingly. The government can do its job, the judiciary can do its job and when these three powers can do their job, Hluttaw can also be relied upon since it can work freely. Under normal circumstances, the parliament is reliable.

Q ။ ။ Yes, sir. In the past parliamentary debates, when these ethnic groups presented the demands for their rights, they said that they had experienced disapproval and rejection by a majority vote. Because of that, there are those who chose the armed path. So, how much confidence can we have for these ethnic groups to be involved in the parliament?

Myanmar Parliament

A ။ ။ Now, Hluttaw that emerged in Burma, Hluttaw under U Nu, Hluttaw under U Ne Win, the Union Hluttaw and the State Hluttaw under U Thein Sein. Strictly speaking, they cannot be called a parliament under this form of democracy. Therefore, since the Tatmadaw has 25 percent of the parliament, it is against democracy.
Only 75 percent of the people who were elected turned up, and the party who won only 75 percent was once again dominant. So, the right to speak for ethnic parties and members of ethnic parliaments has shrunk. It shrank quite a lot. So, there is no reason to claim success in any way. According to the current structure made under 2008, there is no reason to be entitled to any rights.

Q ။ ။ Even under the last NLD government, there were some things that were not approved when the ethnic rights were presented and demanded. That’s why they are saying that in the 2023 election that will be held by this miliary council, how much can we trust them when this is part civilian government and part junta?

A ။ ။ From what I see, it is a kind of power sharing. If it is a form of power sharing, it will just be at a level of sharing. It will not become the parliament that guarantees our ethnic rights if that’s the case.

Q ။ ။ Now, when the peace talks are held with these ethnic armed groups, they are talking about holding elections in almost every group. So, why do you think they told the armed groups about this election?

ethnic groups
A ။ ။ To put it clearly, the current SAC, only has these ethnic groups as their partner organizations. Therefore, they consult them and ask for their opinions. How could we ask an enemy to do that? The enemy will just oppose, cancel, and destroy everything we’ll say.
Now that the ethnic groups are their partners, it is like consulting our allies. However, it is assumed that this will be successful only if the opposing forces, who are now major enemies, cooperate. If they are going to forcefully protest to destroy it, I don’t think this election will have good prospects since we are still in a volatile situation.

Q ။ ။ Yes. So can SAC use the upcoming 2023 election as a political exit? Do you think it really is a political exit?

A ။ ။ What we think is more than a political exit. They are currently holding power in accordance with the provisions of the state of emergency provisions enacted in 2008. It has a 2-year term. At the end of the term, how it will be continued depends on them.
If they do it according to the constitution, it is possible that they will end the authority they have attained in accordance with the constitution. We will have to wait and see how it will end and then continue from there. The authority given by the constitution will be terminated in this election. As election can be defined as the last act of authority given by the constitution.

Q ။ ။ Yes. Recently, the ASEAN Special Envoy said he will meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and use his power to put a stop to the violence that is currently happening in the country and the miliary also seemed to be agreeing with him. This is a matter for meeting and discussion, and we would like to know how Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would respond. Can she accept it or not?

A ။ ။ This question is difficult for us to answer. Now they are competing in the international diplomatic front. The government outside and the one reigning inside are competing against each other and we will have to see how this will change the balance of power. As for the Eastern Group, China and Russia are on the side of the Miliary Council and the Western Group is on NUG’s side.

I think Daw Suu’s decision will also depend on how strong and how the balance will be in these power scrambles. I don’t think Daw Suu will be in a rush to decide.

I just assume that Daw Suu will make a decision depending on the unfolding political circumstances if the ASEAN Special Envoy comes in this September.

That’s why it is difficult to make a guess and this is also the time when the competing level of both sides is strong.

ASEAN Special Representative Prat So Khun and General Min Aung Hlaing

Q ။ ။ Yes, some politicians have considered that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will not accept this meeting. If she did, she would have to make some kinds of comment or remark. Otherwise, she would be seen as keeping silent. That’s why they said she will deny the meeting. What do you think of it?

A ။ ။ This is also hard to predict. There is nothing impossible in politics. There will be changes considering the political climate and the international ups and downs.
That’s why I think that whether it’s the election issue or Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s attitude, it’s always changing at the same time. So, it is hard to say in advance whether they will have happened or not. Very often, the prediction goes south. So, it is better to take a guess when it happens.

Q ။ ။ Yes, Colonel. Now, when will the second round of peace talks with SAC be resumed?

A ။ ။ I don’t know. Because after the execution of those four people, the civic movements and social upheavals have accumulated an acceleration which I do not think will be a smooth process. If that even happens, it will probably coincide with the time the ASEAN Special Envoy will come out.
The ASEAN Special Envoy is supposed to come this September, so it will be before that ASEAN Envoy arrives. I don’t see much of that happening in August. I don’t know if it will be released the same time that ASEAN Envoy comes. So far, we haven’t seen the exact invitation. I have only heard that it is all up in the air and there is something special about it. We don’t know the plan yet.

Q ။ ။ Yes, now, what do you want to say as a colonel about SAC’s announcement for the ethnic groups to be more involved in the parliament which is the political platform to demand their rights?

A ။ ။ From what he said, to enter Hluttaw, one must go through the election. According to democratic law, only the person who wins that election becomes a member of parliament. However, there is a need to remove those who are already members of parliament without entering the election.

If so, then what they say is indeed true. If the system that does not require an election to become a minister is still in place, the parliament will not be a reliable parliament. That's all.