International Commission of Jurists

Myanmar to trim Kyaukphyu cost but drops Annan’s strategic review suggestion

July 18, 2018 by Thiha

Nay Pyi Taw’s plan to reduce the cost of Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone, including the proposed deep-sea port, will help cap its external debt load and avoid repeating Sri Lanka’s Hambantota’s precedent, according to London-headquartered research firm BMI Research. At the same time, a government committee has dropped any mentioning of commissioning a Strategic Environmental […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Asia analyst, BMI Research, central bank, Chair, China, Chinese Investment, Chinese sources, CITIC-led consortium, deep sea port, DICA, director-general, Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, domestic capital market, economic adviser, Environmental and Social Impact Assessments, ESIA, Export-Import Bank of China, former Rakhine Advisory Commission, Hambantota Port, Hong Kong, ICJ, ILO, International Commission of Jurists, International Labour Organisation, Kofi Annan, KSMC, Kyaukphyu SEZ, Kyaukphyu SEZ Management Committee, Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone, labour market assessment, Loans, MIC, Ministry of Planning and Finance, Myanmar investment commission, NLD, permanent secretary, planning and finance minister, Rakhine State, Raphael Mok, sea, Sean Turnell, SEZ Central Executive Committee chair, Sri Lanka, State Counsellor, Strategic Environmental Assessment, U Aung Soe, U Soe Win, U Than Myint, U Thaung Tun, U Tun Tun Naing

Clashing with the law, SEZ body to resurrect Dawei megaproject

July 18, 2018 by Thiha

Myanmar’s SEZ working body announced that the long-suspended Dawei SEZ project will be resurrected this October, in a move which is set to clash with the Environmental Conservation Law because there is no known site-wide environment assessment conducted or approved. U Than Myint, chair of the SEZ Central Working Body, said during a meeting with […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: 2015 Environmental Impact Assessment, Bangkok, Chair, Charlie Thame, Commerce Minister, Dawei, Dawei megaproject, Dawei SEZ, Dawei SEZ Project, ECC, EIA, EIA consultation process, Environmental Compliance Certificate, Environmental Conservation Law, hluttaw, Htee-Khee village, ICJ, International Commission of Jurists, Italian-Thai Development, ITD, Japan, Loan, Myanmar, National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, NGOs, Premchai Karnasuta, Private Sector Development Committee, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, Sean Bain, Tanintharyi communities, Tanintharyi Region, Thai firm, Thailand, Thammasat University, the ICJ’s legal adviser, U Than Myint, World Wildlife Fund, WWF

Dawei SEZ is for the few, not the many

February 23, 2018 by Thiha

A few elites will benefit from reviving Dawei SEZ, but what about the rest? Civil society organisations demand authorities to halt the controversial Dawei project and rethink. CIVIL society organisations have demanded the authorities to reconsider the plans to revive the controversial Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ). They argued that a site-wide environment impact assessment […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: agriculture, Bo Bo, civil society organisations, Community Response Group, Community Sustainable Livelihoods and Development, community-based tourism, ComReG, CSLD, Dawei Development Association, Dawei Probono Lawyer Network, Dawei SEZ, Dawei SEZ project areas, Dawei Special Economic Zone, DDA, deputy commerce minister, Deputy Director, DPLN, Dr Charlie Thame, EarthRights International, EIAs, Environment Impact Assessments, Fisheries, ICJ, International Commission of Jurists, Italian-Thai Development, ITD, Japan, Kyaukphyu SEZ, land lease contract, Legal Consultant, Myanmar, Myanmar law, Nay Pyi Taw, paddy lands, Paung Ku, Progressive Voice, rakhine, Rays of Kamoethway Indigenous People and Nature, RKIPN, Sean Bain, SEZ, Tanintharyi Region, Tanintharyi River Indigenous People Network, Tavoyan Women's Union, Thailand, Thammasat University, TRIP NET, TWU, U Aung Htoo

Dawei SEZ’s grave human rights violations, forced evictions and flawed EIAs come under fire

February 21, 2018 by Thiha

From flawed land acquisition, destroyed farmlands to the lack of transparency, this project is failing on many human rights measures and threatening the lands and livelihoods of communities. DAWEI Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has been accused of grave human rights violations including forced evictions, a lack of transparency and environmental disruption as the land lease […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: apan International Cooperation agency, Bo Bo, Dawei SEZ management committee, Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ), deputy commerce minister, Deputy Director, Dr Charlie Thame, EarthRights International, Environment Impact Assessments (EIAs), Environmental Resources Management (ERM), ICJ, International Commission of Jurists, international legal consultants, Italian-Thai Development, JICA, Kyaukphyu SEZ, Legal Consultant, rakhine, Sean Bain, Social Impact Assessment (SIA), Tanintharyi Region, Thammasat University, U Aung Htoo

China’s $10 billion strategic project in Myanmar sparks local ire

June 13, 2017 by Thiha

KYAUK PYU: Days before the first supertanker carrying 140,000 tonnes of Chinese-bound crude oil arrived in Myanmar’s Kyauk Pyu port, local officials confiscated Nyein Aye’s fishing nets. The 36-year-old fisherman was among hundreds banned from fishing a stretch of water near the entry point for a pipeline that pumps oil 770 km (480 miles) across […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: administrator of Kyauk Pyu, aung san suu kyi, Bay of Bengal port, Beijing, China, Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Chinese developer, Chinese workers, CITIC Group, development laws, head of the Myanmar Centre, International Commission of Jurists, Kyauk Pyu Special Economic Zone, Maday Island, Myanmar, Myanmar management committee, Myanmar-based legal consultant for human rights, Myanmar-China relations, Myanmar's environmental laws, Myanmar's poorest regions, Myanmar’s president Htin Kyaw, Myitsone Dam hydroelectric project, national law, northwestern state of Rakhine, PetroChina, pipeline operator, Sean Bain, Southwest China, strategic project, Than Htut Oo, Vicky Bowman

China’s plans for Myanmar town hold few local opportunities

November 15, 2016 by thiha

KYAUKPYU, Myanmar (AP) — China’s plan for its foothold on the Bay of Bengal, on Myanmar’s western coast in restive Rakhine state, includes an industrial zone, oil refinery and deep-water port that could transform a sleepy, remote town of 30,000 into a thriving business hub. The plan for Kyaukpyu is central to Beijing’s ambitions in […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: AP, Bay of Bengal, Beijing, Buddhists, Burmese in Mandalay, China, CITIC Group, David Steinberg, Farmers Association, International Commission of Jurists, Khin Nyunt, Kyaukpyu, Muslims, Myanmar, Rakhine State, The Associated Press, The Myanmar Government, World Bank

Economic sanctions can no longer power Myanmar’s democratic transition, US ambassador says

September 23, 2016 by thiha

US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel yesterday defended the decision to purge the sanctions list, referring to the embargoes as no longer politically expedient and a constraint on trade between the two countries. “The cost of maintaining sanctions is greater than that of easing the sanctions,” he said, adding that the decision had been thoroughly […]

Filed Under: Latest News Tagged With: Daniel Aguirre, International Commission of Jurists, Rakhine State, US Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel, US President Barack Obama

Myanmar kicks off investment law modernisation

March 10, 2015 by thiha

Until March 26, the Myanmar government will welcome civil society consultations on a new investment law, which will combine the Myanmar Citizens Investment Law and the Foreign Investment Law. Titled “The Investment Law of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar”, the law was drafted in cooperation with the World Bank’s financial arm, the International […]