The news article is about hardline Burmese monks and how they are refusing to stop using facebook despite mans posts and accounts essentially being banned for hate speech like offenses. These hardline monks believe the bans to be violations of their freedom of expression. Despite the bans the hardline monks are going to keep using FaceBook under fake profiles in order to “tell the truth” and spread their message. Many of these accounts are being deactivated after FaceBook asks them to delete posts, thus the creation of new accounts by the monks. Nearly 700,00 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after what is being called an “ethnic cleansing” event. There is also a bit of a language problem. The FaceBook community guidelines are in english, so when they were translated, biases arose. The Rohingya Muslims are viewed as “illegal immigrants” by many Buddhists.

I found this article interesting because it’s about a negative that has come with Web 2.0, ICTS, and social media. Here we can see a huge downside to these new forms of technology. They are allowing people, in this case monks, to express their radical or hateful opinions about Burma’s ethnic minorities. Instead of these new technologies fostering positive messages, it is allowing for these hardline monks to continuously harass and spread hateful content online with no real world punishments. They are even starting to do it anonymously. The problem in this situation is that because it is so easy to make a FaceBook account the monks can just continuously make new accounts and post hateful content. Along with a language problem, we are also seeing an ethnic and religious one similar to the LTTE in Sri Lanka.

Help Received: http://english.dvb.no/ Democratic Voice of Burma. Article Link: http://english.dvb.no/news/hardline-monks-in-burma-vow-to-stay-on-facebook-despite-ban/81043

Ethan Watts

           Summary: A major issue in recent years that Myanmar has been dealing with is the genocidal acts by the Myanmar government in the region of Rakhine. The Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar who live in this region has been under attack and have fled over the Bangladesh border by the masses. Now, after the governments have both been in communication, the Rohingya are refusing to return to Myanmar. Even with promise of repatriation by the Myanmar government, the Rohingya will not return until they are guaranteed rights. Multiple representatives from the Bangladesh refugee relief office have interviewed over 200 families, almost all of which wanted to stay in Bangladesh. There is widespread fear amongst the Rohingya that they will face the same issues they faced before they left.  

          This was not very surprising to me, due to how long this issue has gone on and the lack of government response to fix the crisis. In the article, many of the interviewed families still referred to the government as the Burma government. That says to me that the Rohingya people don’t see much of a change in the government at all. The many promises that were made when the government began to transition to a democratic system in 2008, but many, including the Rohingya, do not feel there has been much change at all. It does seem, however, that the Rohingya have not tried very much to negotiate what those rights are. After reading other articles, it appears that they are just demanding rights with no real open line of communication other than through the Bangladesh government.  

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/21/not-without-our-rights-rohingya-refugees-refuse-to-return-to-myanmar  

 

Summary: The Indian government has recently required their citizens to prove their citizenship. The National Register of Citizens is being used to obtain the information that proves each person in Assam is actually a citizen. Out of 33 million people in Assam, approximately 2 million have been deemed illegal. The government is only giving them 120 days to prove that they are legal citizens.

If these people cannot prove that they are legal citizens of Assam, they will be put in detention centers that are being made by the government. These centers will be spread throughout Assam, and the first one is about the size of seven soccer fields. The center will contain a school, hospital, and recreation area for the people inside. Also included will be an area for guards to live, a high wall with barbed wire to keep people in, and a watchtower.

Analysis: It seems unfair that the government of India will be making these detention centers for all these people to live in. It also seems very coincidental that the centers are being made just in time for the illegal citizens to be put in there. 120 days does not seem like enough time for nearly 2 million people to go through the process of proving their citizenship. With so many people going through the process at one time, the process will be backed up and not everyone will be able to prove their legitimate citizenship (assuming they are all legal). Isn’t it some sort of violation to only give these people 120 days? It seems that the government should be required to give these people more time. Will there even be a need for 10 of these centers? Maybe they won’t even need that many.

Link (Reference): https://www.businessinsider.com/india-building-mass-detention-center-illegal-immigrants-assam-citizenship-2019-9

In September of this year, the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena met with senior police officers. During this meeting, President Sirisena told the police to act unbiased in the upcoming Presidential Poll. In the meeting, they also discussed how an officer’s health should be a priority. The president chiefly held the Presidential Secretariat to address long-standing problems of the Police Department and establish an overall better police service. Having this covert meeting is particularly interesting because Sri Lanka is a semi-presidential system. Meaning the president is head of state and head of government while the Parliament, headed by a prime minister, handles the governing body of Sri Lanka. Since the President of Sri Lanka has a large deal of power it could be potentially concerning how he speaks to people, such as the police, about tempering with things such as elections that could potentially have significant outcomes. There could be lingering thoughts of whom else the president might be trying to persuade other than police officers. Could President Sirisena potentially be heavily influencing other government officials or private corporations for his gain? Also, it makes one wonder with actions such as these is Sri Lanka truly a free and or democratic nation? As you peel back the layers of the Sri Lankan government there could potentially be instances, such as the Presidential Secretariat, where corruption heavily influences the Sri Lankan government. Thus, could be a large influencer to just how free Sri Lanka is.

Link: https://www.news.lk/news/politics/item/27481-president-instructs-police-to-act-unbiased-during-polls

Over the past couple of months tensions in Bangladesh have been rising. In the past, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had mentioned that she supported the allowance of refugees entering the country in order to escape the threats and violence that was occurring in the neighboring country of Myanmar. With the past acceptance of hundreds of thousands of refugees, Prime Minister Hasina seems to be withdrawing her previous statement. 

 

To rival her previous acceptance of refugees, the state of Bangladesh is in the process of building a wall around the perimeter of the refugee camp. The main job of the wall is to prevent the refugee camp from being expanded by the many Myanmar citizens that are flooding the country. Not only are walls being emplaced around the Rohingya camp, but they are also being fortified in over 30 other camps within Bangladesh. 

 

With tons of people flowing in the country officials are worried about drug smuggling by the Myanmar refugees. With accusations being made on some of the refugees, violence has surged in some camps and Bangladesh law enforcement has taken action to flush out the drug smugglers. Not only does this look bad on both Myanmar and Bangladesh, but to top it off the Bangladesh government has halted internet access for those within the refugee camps. 

 

Bangladesh is familiar with the tactic of internet censorship so it will be interesting to see what is in store for the offline refugees. Will they obey the internet shutdown from the government, or will they find more creative ways to become activists by bypassing the standard use of internet mobilization?

 

References:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/bangladesh-to-install-fences-around-rohingya-refugee-camps/2019/09/26/eff2f268-e073-11e9-be7f-4cc85017c36f_story.html 

Link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pakistan-to-close-all-routes-to-afghanistan-ahead-of-presidential-polls/articleshow/71316135.cms

This article notes that Afghanistan has placed a travel ban on the Pakistani-Afghani border. With their elections, just yesterday, they were worried that the Taliban might try to “disrupt the process”. This speaks volumes against the common stereotypes of the Middle East/South Asia. Not all nations in that region are anti democracy and with that not all nations harbor significant numbers of terrorists. On a more relevant note, obviously Pakistan has a terrorist problem. One can only wonder how such groups must impact the political process in Pakistan.

Q1: How frequently do the Taliban and like groups fight the political process in Pakistan?

Q2: Does the Taliban have a significant media influence? Do they use encryption by chance, when communicating with their followers?

Q3: How effectively does the Pakistani government use digital media to fight Taliban propaganda?

Situation: The Indian government has revoked the guarantee of special rights to the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir. These rights included the right to make its own constitution and make laws with the exception of laws that include defense, communications, and foreign affairs. Additionally, the Indian government sent thousands of troops to Kashmir, and imposed a new set of rules on the citizens.

Encryption: The lions of the plains have created a new set of rules that the elephants must now follow. Under normal circumstances, the elephants were allowed to make their own rules as long as they allowed the lions to defend them and create alliances with other species. Due to the new rules, the lions have taken these rights from the elephants and they have sent many lions to impose a new set of rules on the elephants. The elephants will be meeting at the watering hole on Sunday night to discuss how to keep the water clean and maintain its freshness so that it is fair to all. All are welcome to attend.

Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/india-revokes-kashmir-special-status-latest-updates-190806134011673.html

Situation:

In early August 2018, two college students in Bangladesh were killed by a speeding public bus. Following this incident, thousands of college students took to the streets to protest dangerous drivers in the country. They have been stopping vehicles and demanding they show their drivers license and paperwork. This encryption is a young adult calling their fellow college students to the streets to take part in the peaceful protest. The term horses will be used to replace cars and path will be used to replace roads.

Encryption:

Horses stroll along the path charging over the innocent. Take charge. We must protect all those walking along these paths without their own horse. If we line the path, we can stop the horses and keep them regulated and guarantee they are qualified to stay on the path.

It will be peaceful. We will control and stopping the loud beasts and direct them to be as careful as possible. No more innocent lives should be taken at the hand of unruly horses or their belligerent owners.

Help Received:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bangldesh-protests-us-ambassador-marcia-bernicat-car-attack-dhaka-students-violence-a8480226.html

The United Nations banned all non-essential Sri Lankan troops from serving with U.N. Peacekeeping operations. This happened in response to Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, who had previously been accused of war crimes, being appointed as the chief of the Sri Lankan army. Although this decision was directly correlated with Silva being appointed, in the past the Sri Lankan troops have not done a great job of being UN Peacekeepers, with allegations of past sexual assaults being brought up.

As it says in the article, I think it is good that the UN is not allowing these war crimes to go unnoticed. However, they mention a lack of vetting from Sri Lankan troops as US Peacekeepers, which led to the sexual assaults happening. If this is the case then why doesn’t the US themselves vet which troops are able to be UN Peacekeepers, instead of leaving it up the countries?

https://www.newsweek.com/united-nations-bans-sri-lankan-troops-over-general-accused-war-crimes-1461639

 

September 26^th, 2019

 

Dear Hlaing,

 

I was wondering if you would like to come with me and our group on the trip to the Nay Pyi Taw Safari Park this year. I already have many people interested in coming and we’ve already made the proper arrangements and reached out to the leaders of the trip. The group will form up at the park across from my apartment next Saturday night, the 1^{st .}of November, at 0930. Make sure to bring your phone so we can communicate in case anybody gets lost, or maybe somebody will forget something at home.

 

Since you have never been on the yearly trip with us, I’ll tell you how last year’s safari went. It started out in the morning. Our tour guide had a knife in case any snakes jumped at us. They usually aren’t very violent, but last year a couple of them lunged out from a tree and bite some of us. A few people ended up in the hospital. They can also shoot venom from a distance. To take precautionary measures, this year we are also bringing some anti-venom and face masks so nothing gets in our mouths or eyes. As the safari went on more tour groups joined us and some of them are coming this year as well. We ended up with a huge group by the end of the safari. Last year somebody also died because they were run over by the car (this is very rare). I would also recommend brining something to write on, we like to hold up signs to let other tour groups know who we are and what we’re about. We may also have to split up and relocate elsewhere for some of the activities. Once again, please bring a phone and have Facebook. We use the messaging system and our Facebook page to communicate with each other.

 

One of my main goals this year is to see the infamous albino elephant at the park. It is very hard to find. He is like the king of the park so it will be great if we catch his attention.

 

I am expecting this year’s trip to be very effective. Remember, don’t provoke any of the animals, especially the snakes and look out for the white elephant. Remember, the park across from my apartment next Saturday night, the 1^{st .}of November, at 0930.

 

Sincerely,

 

Kywe Htin

 

Help received: google used for finding a park in Burma and some other minor things, momjunction.com for Burmese names, goaway.com for Myanmar nature and wildlife information.

 

Ethan Watts