Myanmar morning news for November 9

Dozens of Rohingya flee camps by boat, reviving memories of 2015 tragedy
Dozens of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Bangladesh have boarded boats to try to reach Malaysia, officials and aid workers said on Thursday, raising fears of a fresh wave of such dangerous voyages after a 2015 crackdown on people smugglers.
— Reuters

Journalist charged with causing public alarm via Facebook
A correspondent for Radio Free Asia and editor in charge of the Magwe Journal in Magwe Region has been charged under Section 68 of the country’s Telecommunications Act for allegedly posting information on his Facebook page that frightened the public, police said.
— Myanmar Times

Myanmar agrees smaller deal for China-backed port after ‘debt-trap’ concern
Myanmar on Thursday signed an agreement with China’s state-run CITIC Group to begin work on a deep-sea port in the west of the country, after negotiations that saw the initial phase of the project scaled back over fears of a “debt trap”.
— Reuters

21 bills to be tackled in upcoming 10th regular sitting of parliament
The 10th regular sitting of the Hluttaw will start on November 12 and is expected to debate reports about the budget, taxes, and national debt for the fiscal year 2017-18.
— Myanmar Times

Guns almost fall silent in Karen State
President Win Myint said that guns had almost fell silent in Karen State because the peace process and now the State was enjoying fruits of peace and development.
— BNI

Myanmar-Laos border gate receives international status
The border gate between Myanmar and Laos has been upgraded and given international status, according to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population.
— Myanmar Times

EU Mulls Withdrawing Trade Preferences for Myanmar and Cambodia, Given Rights Concerns
The European Commission said last week that it is mulling the temporary removal of trade preferences to Myanmar, and is preparing to remove Cambodia’s preferences, citing urgent concerns over both countries’ compliance with fundamental, international human and labour rights conventions.
— ICTSD

Myanmar not a source of drug chemicals says senior official
Myanmar is the biggest producer of methamphetamines in the Golden Triangle, the area bordered by Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, but it is not a source of the “precursor” chemicals used to produce the drug, Major General Aung Thu, deputy minister of Home Affairs said yesterday.
— Myanmar Times

China Gate Closes Following Changes to Burma’s Border Pass System
Chinese authorities closed the border gate crossing from northern Shan State’s Muse on Monday after Burmese authorities changed the type of card used for temporary border passes.
— BNI

Myanmar-Laos border gate receives international status
The border gate between Myanmar and Laos has been upgraded and given international status, according to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population.
— Myanmar Times

Kesi Locals Move to Reclaim 5,000 Acres of Land Seized by Tatmadaw
Land owners, village headmen and parliamentarians held a meeting in southern Shan State’s Kesi Township to discuss measuring and reclaiming 5,000 acres seized by the Burmese military more than 20 years ago.
— BNI

Rohingya Fearful of Forcible Repatriation to Myanmar
Rohingya Muslims who fled a brutal military campaign in Myanmar last year are living in fear after being told they are on a list of over 2,200 people due to be forcibly returned to the country this month.
— VOA

Bangladesh rescues Malaysia-bound Rohingya refugees from sea
Bangladesh’s coast guard has rescued 33 persecuted Rohingya Muslims and detained six alleged human traffickers from a fishing trawler headed for Malaysi
— Press TV

Myanmar meet didn’t discuss Rohingya issue
India did not discuss the deportation of Rohingya with Myanmar at a meeting held last month.
— The Hindu

Mon Party to Register
The newly formed Mon Party held its first central executive committee meeting on November 2 in Mawlamyine last week to determine the organization’s future.
— BNI

Rights groups urge release of two jailed journalists
More than 50 international organisations called on Myanmar State Counsselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to free two journalists who were sentenced to seven years jail each for violating the country’s Official Secrets Act.
— Myanmar Times

Golden Triangle’s Drug Production Expands, Diversifies Amid Opioid Concerns
Organized crime groups are expanding and diversifying drug production in Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle amid fears the region could emerge as a hub for synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
— The Irrawaddy

‘Skeletons Covered in Skin’: Inside Myanmar’s Prison Labor Camps
Eight prisoners made a break for it, ignoring the pain in their emaciated bodies as they sprinted from the labor camp in Kabaw Valley in Myanmar’s northern Sagaing Region.
— The Irrawaddy

EU Commits $13.7M to Expand Peace Program In Kachin, Shan States
The European Union has committed 12 million euros ($13.7 million) to fund the second phase of its Durable Peace Program in Kachin State and expand it into northern Shan State through to February 2022.
— The Irrawaddy

From Myanmar to Mexico, transnational criminal groups are trafficking more drugs than before: UN
High-level delegations from government ministries and agencies across Asia are meeting on Wednesday (Nov 7) in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw to discuss a new strategy to combat synthetic drugs: focus on the chemicals needed to make them.
— Straits Times

Military Chief Asks Visiting Chinese Diplomat for Continued Support
Myanmar’s military chief told a visiting senior Chinese official that he hoped China would further promote its stand on political reforms in Myanmar and foster good relations between political forces, the public and ethnic groups in the country.
– The Irrawaddy

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Buys Land in Naypyitaw for Her Foundation
State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has bought more than 90 acres of land in the capital’s Ottarathiri Township for 700 million kyats ($444,000) for her Daw Khin Kyi Foundation to open a vocational training school and establish a forest.
— The Irrawaddy

US Pretzel Chain Auntie Anne’s to Open in Yangon Next Year
Myanmar’s first outlet of Auntie Anne’s, the U.S. chain of pretzel shops, will open in Yangon next year.
— The Irrawaddy

Rohingya crisis, Suu Kyi under the microscope at Southeast Asia summit
The customary cordiality of Southeast Asian summits may be missing when the region’s leaders meet next week due to sharp differences over Myanmar, whose military has been accused of genocide against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority.
— Reuters

Rakhine investigation panel appoints two local experts
The Independent Commission of Enquiry on Northern Rakhine has appointed two experts to lead a panel of legal, forensic and criminal investigation personnel that will collect information and data on alleged human rights abuses in the strife-torn area, the President’s Office says.
— Myanmar Times

University to replace absentee students
A Yangon University committee is set to replace some 500 students who passed entrance examinations for the university but failed to enroll for 2018-2019 academic year, a university official confirmed.
— Myanmar Times

Myanmar is arresting people for being gay under colonial-era sodomy law
At least two recent arrests of LGBTI Myanmar citizens using the country’s anti-gay law has shaken the community.
— Gay Star News

Memory! Festival: old movies that couldn’t be more current
The sixth Memory! International Film Festival, happening in Yangon from November 9 to 18, will focus on press freedom and democracy. Its goal is to connect the challenges of the past with those faced by journalists today.
— Frontier Myanmar

Feature photo Tribal Action Group

This week’s Myanmar morning news feature photo acknowledges World Science Day for Peace and Development, November 10.

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Myanmar morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Myanmar news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Myanmar morning news for November 9 added by John Le Fevre on November 9, 2018
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John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.