Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

-
Image
Mizzima Mizzima, one of Myanmar ’s most prominent news outlets and a press freedom advocate, obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative ( JTI ) certification from global audit firm Bureau Veritas , JTI says in a press statement 5 January.  Operating in clandestine mode within Myanmar and supported by an exiled team, Mizzima strives to fulfil its role as reliable source of news and information for the Myanmar public. “Your Journalism Trust Initiative certification affirms what audiences already know: that principled, transparent journalism matters. Congratulations on this achievement and on your continued contribution to informing citizens about Myanmar,” says Benjamin Sabbah , director of Journalism Trust Initiative “Myanmar’s ongoing conflict has created an intensely contested media landscape, where mis- and disinformation are increasingly deployed to reinforce state propaganda and the prevailing “official” narrative. Although Mizzima is already regarded as one of the most trusted ...
Post a Comment

New wave of Burmese migrant deportations underway

-
Wednesday, 23 May 2012 13:33 Mizzima News

Burmese illegal migrants are being rounded up in central Thailand and transferred to Mae Sot to be deported, according to reports.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced a crackdown on illegal migrant labourers in March.

Ten trucks were reported to have arrived in Mae Sot loaded with undocumented Burmese migrants on Tuesday.

The Thai-Burma Friendship Bridge on Asian Highway 1 linking Mae Sot, Thailand, with Myawaddy, Burma. Photo: Wikipedia

Also, about 20 police trucks left Khon Kaen late on Tuesday filled with migrants who numbered around 1,000. Many were believed to be working at the Dechapanit fishnet factory, which was raided on May 10, according to reports. The trucks arrived in Mae Sot on Wednesday, and the migrants were immediately processed into camps controlled by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), sources said. Nongovernmental organizations gave the migrants food and supplies prior to their deportation in the short time available and witnessed the deportations.

Worker advocates said information from the DKBA camps suggested many of the deportees would be processed through brokers and return to their jobs in Khon Kaen, Kanchanaburi and other areas. They said it was unclear if Thai authorities interviewed the deportees to establish cases of human trafficking or child exploitation prior to their deportation.

Advocates said many of the Khon Kaen workers were owed back wages and are destitute, which is likely to place them in deeper debt to brokers.

Sources said many of those arrested at the fishnet factory could potentially be classified as trafficking victims and up to 30 to 40 child workers between ages 13 to16 were also arrested in the raid.

Labour groups are concerned that the Burmese deportees could follow the usual path of being deported by Thai immigration officials into the hands of the DKBA armed group at the border gate. Workers deported to DKBA areas are often subject to human trafficking, re-trafficking, exploitation, violence, deceit and debt bondage. Usually, they have to pay between US $30 to $70 to obtain their release from DKBA-controlled camps, said labour advocates.

Thailand and Burma continue to have no systematic and protective mechanisms in place at borders to process Burmese deportees from Thailand.

Sources said many recently deported illegal Burmese migrants will soon arrive back at their jobs with the help of exploiting brokers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World's longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar

-
Image
Rakhine people travel by motorcycle in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 02 February 2021. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA By AFP The world's longest internet shutdown -- affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones -- has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar's troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following "emergency" orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Following Monday's military coup, mobile operator Telenor Group confirmed it had reinstated full services in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states on Wednesday. "Telenor Group and Telenor Myanmar have been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes," the company said in a stateme...
Read more

First ministerial meeting held

-
Image
Mizzima Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday morning, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team Xinhua reported. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled plans to include reopening religious buildings and pagodas, resuming domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as industries in line with COVID-19 rules and regulations, and revitalizing the country's economy.
Read more

Indonesia detains British woman on terror suspect list

-
Image
File photo of Indonesian police personnel standing guard. (Photo: AFP) AFP Indonesia has detained a British woman named on a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP Tuesday. Tazneen Miriam Sailar -- a Manchester-born convert to Islam married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria -- is not charged with terror offences. But she and her late husband are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists that includes several foreigners notorious in the West. Sailar, 47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia-born son, were being held in Jakarta after being picked up last year without documents allowing her to remain in the Southeast Asian nation, her lawyer Farid Ghozali said. "She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy," Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP. The embassy declined to comment, and it was unclear when...
Read more