The KNU says nearly 200 Burmese soldiers were killed in a five-month battle
A total of 322 clashes took place in Hpapun district under the control of the Karen National Union (KNU) 5th Brigade in January, killing 194 people, including a deputy battalion commander in the military council.
In January, clashes between the military council and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) took place on a daily basis, killing three KNLA members.
During those battles, the battalion commander, A statement from the KNLA said that 201 people were wounded, including 12 battalion commanders.
The KNLA said five civilians were killed and 18 wounded in the shelling.
RFA has not been able to confirm the casualties in the statement, and is trying to contact the military council's deputy information minister, General Zaw Min Tun.
The KNU has denied previous KNU statements on the number of casualties in the fighting in Karen State.
The KNU said in a statement yesterday that it had dropped three bombs in the KNU Brigade 5 area in January alone and dropped 14 bombs. In addition, there are farms and villages where civilians work and eat. The statement said 182 artillery shells were fired into the fields.
Over 4,000 illegal Burmese arrested in Thailand in one month
More than 4,000 Burmese migrant workers were arrested in Thailand in January alone, according to labor activists.
The political and economic situation in Myanmar. Business; Due to the military crisis, there is a shortage of jobs. Min Oo, a labor official with the Burmese Education and Development Association (FED) in Thailand, said brokers were paying a large number of illegal immigrants to Thailand because of difficulties in obtaining legal passports.
Min Oo said the Thai Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTI) had recently submitted a letter to the Thai government urging the government to recruit 800,000 migrant workers in Thailand's tourism and service industries.
Thai labor activists say about 60,000 illegal Burmese migrant workers were arrested in 2021.
Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar are facing labor shortages in Thai businesses. Last August, the Thai government arranged for the repatriation of more than 400,000 migrant workers from Laos' three neighbors under a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), but so far no Burmese migrants have been allowed to enter.
Scandal "rescuing citizens": Why haven't the Ministers and Prime Ministers resigned?
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 31, 2022 requested to urgently rescue Vietnamese citizens stuck abroad because of the COVID-19 epidemic. However, at the meeting, Mr. Chinh did not accept any responsibility for the "rescue citizens" scandal.
Previously, on January 28, 2022, Lieutenant General To An Xo - Chief of the Office of the Ministry of Public Security told the press that the Director, Deputy Director and two officials of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had just been prosecuted and arrested. jailed for accepting bribes when making flights to rescue citizens stuck abroad during the recent COVID-19 outbreak.
Officials including Nguyen Thi Huong Lan - Director of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Do Hoang Tung - Deputy Director of the Department, Le Tuan Anh - Chief of the Office and Luu Tuan Dung - Deputy of the Citizens Protection Department committed misconduct. violations in the process of approving permits for companies to carry out flights to bring Vietnamese citizens home from abroad.
If in other free countries like Japan and Korea, I'm sure the Minister and Prime Minister would have resigned But in Vietnam it's different.
-Journalist Vo Van Tao
Journalist Vo Van Tao, when answering RFA from Vietnam on February 2, commented:
“When the epidemic happened before, the whole world was tense, but not in Vietnam, there was a mentality of many people wanting to return. Of course, there are also many people who do not have to work or study because of the epidemic. At that time, there was a policy to bring their relatives back. But recently, the Ministry of Public Security prosecuted four figures of the Consular Department - Ministry of Foreign Affairs related to the rescue. While you are in trouble, there are very bad people who raise the ticket price for you... like these four, the law has touched and the possibility of these four people facing prison terms."
However, journalist Vo Van Tao said that the policy of bringing people home is not only of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , but with the consent and direction of the Politburo and the Government:
“Why is it so negative? I think that if the immediate attribution is negative from the Government or higher... then there is no basis. But for such a negative to happen, the management is not thorough. That is, the superiors do not know how the subordinates do it, actually or pretend... While taking advantage of excessive profits, the plane ticket is going from five to six hundred to three thousand, which is five times six times more. . During the epidemic, people were confused, had no income, but were caught like that. I think the government's management is flawed. If in other free countries like Japan and Korea, I'm sure the Minister and Prime Minister would have resigned, But in Vietnam it's different."
When the pandemic occurred in early 2020, the Vietnamese Government ordered to suspend entry for all foreigners and people of Vietnamese origin who were exempt from visas to enter Vietnam, due to concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. In fact, since that time, the Government has completely stopped commercial international flights entering Vietnam. Only a few flights a month to countries organized by the Embassy to bring Vietnamese people home, which the state press calls "rescue flights", are allowed to enter.
Therefore, thousands of Vietnamese people, including workers, international students, tourists in places like Japan, Dubai, Hong Kong... have expired contracts, lost jobs or expired visas, unable to return home.
At that time, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed to bring Vietnamese people back from abroad and have to be isolated in concentration. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the past two years, Vietnam has organized about 800 rescue flights to 60 territories. However, all the people that Radio Free Asia interviewed at the time said it was difficult to get information about schedules or flights to Vietnam.
But in fact, in the past two years, many rescue flights have returned to Vietnam, and those returning have to pay very high airfares and isolation costs, even many times the actual price.
As reflected by many people and has been reported by the domestic press, the one-way ticket price to rescue people from the US and Canada has reached 52-58 million VND per ticket, twice the normal price. Not to mention cumbersome paperwork, people returning home even though they have had enough vaccines, must also be isolated. According to Vietnamese people in the US, the isolation cost is about 500,000 VND/room/person with only breakfast, or up to 1.5 million VND/room/person with three meals.
Now they should have corrected the mistake, but Mr. Pham Minh Chinh introduced another wrong policy. That is not continuing to use domestic airlines to bring citizens back, but he licensed foreign airlines.
-Human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai
Responding to RFA from Germany on February 2, human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, commented:
“Things related to air ticket agents, embassies, later the Consular Department... have been around since mid-2020. At that time I wrote a warning about this situation, but until now now discovered that the Consular Department colluded to raise the ticket price to chop off Vietnamese people wishing to return home in the past two years. When it was discovered, it was too late, because 200,000 people had been badly exploited. Now they should have corrected the mistake, but Mr. Pham Minh Chinh introduced another wrong policy. That is not continuing to use domestic airlines to bring citizens back, but he licensed foreign airlines. While three Vietnamese airlines, Bamboo Airways, Vietjet Air, and Vietnam Airlines... are also facing difficulties due to the lack of routes and passengers.
According to Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai, the old policy of Vietnam was wrong, now the new policy is even more wrong. Not only harming Vietnam's airlines, but also harming the Vietnamese people.
Until February 1, 2022, the Ministry of Transport has issued regulations, Vietnamese nationals abroad who want to return home from now on will not have to go through any review, but only need to comply with the regulations. comply with regulations on epidemic prevention/control.
The ministry also allows airlines to sell tickets to all Vietnamese citizens abroad to return home. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam also immediately announced the issuance of permits for airlines to bring citizens home on regular and irregular flights without requiring any personnel review documents.
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are still many Vietnamese citizens stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In the Middle East and Africa, more than 600 Vietnamese have yet to return.
President Jokowi distributes Social Forest Decree and land certificates in North Sumatra
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo is scheduled to distribute a Social Forest Decree (SK), Agrarian Reform Object Land Decree (TORA), and land certificates for the people during his second working visit to North Sumatra, Thursday.
President Jokowi's working visit began with crossing from Ambarita Port, Samosir Regency, to Ajibata Port, Toba Regency. By boarding the Toba Caldera KMP, the President and his entourage took off at around 08.00 WIB.
"From Ajibata Port, the President will continue his journey to Sibisa Airport, Toba Regency, and then take off using the TNI AU Super Puma Helicopter to the Humbang Hasundutan Regent's Office Helipad," according to an official statement from the Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau received in Jakarta, Thursday.
In Humbang Hasundutan Regency, the President is scheduled to plant trees in Simangulampe Village, Bakti Raja District.
Not far from the tree planting location, the President will distribute a Social Forest Decree (SK) and an Agrarian Reform Object Land Decree (TORA).
After the event, the President is scheduled to return to the Helipad of the Regent's Office Humbang Hasundutan to then take off by helicopter to the Helipad of Sidikalang Main Stadium, Dairi Regency.
The Head of State then headed to Sudirman Square to hand over land certificates to the people.
The President is planned to distribute direct cash assistance to traders at the Sidikalang Main Market before then taking off to Soewondo Air Base, Medan City, by helicopter.
A number of Ministers of the Advanced Indonesian Cabinet accompanied the President on this working visit, namely Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono and Governor of North Sumatra Edy Rahmayadi.