March 27 - April 3, 2015

Humanitarian aid: government says it can meet food and health needs

Private media

Democratic Voice of Burma – “Arakan government say they can meet food, medicine needs” April 3, 2014

• UNOCHA announced that last week’s evacuation of over 170 aid workers from Arakan region has already impacted the region. “Nearly 15,000 children in IDP camps no longer have access to psycho-social support, while lifesaving therapeutic treatment for more than 300 children with severe acute malnutrition in Sittwe has been suspended”.
• According to the government however, food and medical needs have already been distributed to IDPs and impoverished populations, and will continue to be distributed.
• Spokesperson Win Myaing said that the 12 people suspected of linked to the violence against UN and NGO offices in Sittwe have been arrested.

Myanmar Times – “Census off to a bad start in Rakhine State” April 1, 2014

• International standards for the demographic census are being ignored in Rakhine state as enumerators refuse to consider Rohingya as an ethnicity. Officials do not stop at every home in the IDP camp of Te Chuang
• Humanitarian and international observers had predicted that the census would provoke ethnic tensions in Myanmar, and that conditions were not right for the census to take place.
• Security officials claim that some camp residents who would have chosen to use the term “Bengali” aced pressure from neighbors to stick to the name “Rohingya” – a suggestion strongly denied by camp residents.
• Ethnic Rakhinese residents said they would boycott the process if people were allowed to refer to themselves as Rohingya.
• Government spokesman Ye Htut, stated that “if a household wishes to identify themselves as Rohingya we will not register it.”
• Many residents of the camps feel the census data collectors are not taking the Rohingyas into consideration. 

The Irrawaddy – “Kachin Won’t Suffer From Missing Out on Census: KIO” April 3rd, 2014

• The northeastern region of Burma controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has not allowed census enumerators to collect data in the region. A rebel leader explains that this will not negatively impact the local people. KIO officials do not believe that Kachin people would be properly represented in the data collection.
• Ye Htut, spokesperson for Burma President Thein Sein told reporters that the government agreed with rebels to collaborate on taking the census in conflict areas that would otherwise be off-limits to enumerators.
• The United Wa State Army told media that its members would volunteer to take care the census themselves, rather than allowing government census teams into their territory in eastern Shan state. 

Government – armed groups relations

Private media

Burma News International – “Ceasefire has priority over political dialogue: military chief” March 30th 2014

• A ceasefire agreement between the government and armed ethnic groups must take priority over political dialogue between the two sides, according to Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
• The government’s Union Peace Working Committee and the armed ethnic groups’ Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team announced earlier last month that they had agreed to form a joint committee responsible for drafting a ceasefire agreement in the first week of April.
• President U Thein Sein said the government agreed with leaders of armed ethnic national groups to sign a nationwide peace agreement soon. 

Military continues strong role in politics

Private

Radio Free Asia – “Myanmar President Says Military Should Continue Key Role in Politics” March 27th, 2014

• President Thein Sein said earlier this month that the military would remain a key component in politics even as the country embraces reforms. Any reduced role of the military will depend on whether the government can forge permanent peace with armed rebel groups and establish a culture democracy among the population,
• Under the constitution, Myanmar’s military has a mandatory 25 percent control of parliament. The United Solidary and Development Party along with the Armed Forces control more than 80 percent of parliament.
• Since Myanmar has a significant history of military intervention in politics, critics suggest that the democratic transition for Myanmar will not be successful until the military drastically reduces its political involvement.
• Many agree that the constitution needs to be amended in order to reflect the full conformity with democratic norms and values. Thein Sein agrees but has not made steps to realize it.