Suu Kyi Steals Show at WEF in Bangkok

Jakarta Globe, Shoeb K. Zainuddin, May 31, 2012

Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu
speaks with Aung Saan Suu Kyi in Bankok on Thursday. (Photo courtesy
of Minister's Office)

             

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As heads of governments, business leaders and industry champions gather in Bangkok for the World Economic Forum’s East Asia summit, there is no denying who the star of the show is.

Aung Saan Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader from Burma, is the leading light of the forum. Wherever she has gone, she has attracted crowds and there is an instant buzz when she enters a room.

Her presence at the WEF in Bangkok, her first trip outside her homeland in 25 years, is a testament to the region’s growing clout on the world stage and is a demonstration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) ability to forge a common consensus.

“Aung Saan Suu Kyi’s presence in Bangkok is proof of the ongoing democratization process in Asean,” said Mari Elka Pangestu, Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Minister. “She knows what she wants for her country and she is reaching out to the world.”

The theme for this year’s WEF on East Asia, “Shaping the Region’s Future Through Connectivity,” is timely as the 10-member grouping of Southeast Asian nations gears up for the next stage of growth.

“This region is witnessing a great transformation and is at a crucial point in realizing its huge potential,” said Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization. “If Asean were one nation, it would be the 9th largest economy in the world today. The region has changed beyond recognition.”

The challenge for the grouping is to better integrate its economies especially with the 2015 Asean Economic Community now looming large. The region will have to boost greater air and sea connections as well as harmonize its tariff regimes if it is to boost greater intra-regional trade, tourism and capital flows.

Asean has a combined population of 600 million people, a nominal GDP of $1.8 trillion and a growth rate that is expected to exceed 5 percent on average for 2012.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono is leading a sizeable Indonesian delegation which includes Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, Mari Pangestu and a number of top corporate leaders.

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IMF chief Christine Lagarde pays NO TAX on her £300,000 salary (despite attacking Greece for dodging payment)

Daily Mail, 29 May 2012

• Questioned about Greek crisis head of IMF said country can help itself collectively 'by paying all their tax'
• Suggests that IMF's money would be better spent on African children than on people in Athens
• Lagarde takes home £298,675-a-year untaxed
• Receives further tax-free allowance package of £52,000

  

Laughing all the way to the bank:
 IMF managing director Christine Lagarde
 criticised beleagured Greeks for not
 paying taxes, while she earns a tax-free
salary herself

The head of the International Monetary Fund who controversially proposed that struggling Greeks should pay taxes contributes nothing herself to the public purse.

Christine Lagarde openly criticised citizens of the ailing EU country in an interview last week, but it has now emerged that the former French lawyer takes home every penny of her own £298,675 a year salary.

In addition the IMF managing director also receives a tax-free allowance package of £52,000 a year.

Ms Lagarde told the Guardian that she believes children in Niger with little schooling deserve the fund's money more than people in Athens.

She continued: 'Do you know what? As far as Athens is concerned, I also think about all those people who are trying to escape tax all the time.

'All these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax.'

She added: 'I think they should also help themselves collectively. By all paying their tax.'

Lagarde also criticised Greek citizens 'who are trying to escape tax,' and said the country needs to club together to make more of an effort to solve its economic problems.

Her comments came as the IMF increases the pressure on the Eurozone nation and makes it clear it will not be softening the terms of the nation's austerity package that is deeply unpopular with the country's electorate.

More...

• The Greeksshould not expect sympathy, says IMF boss Christine Lagarde who is 'moreworried' about schooling in Africa
• The truthis unpalatable, but Christine Lagarde is right to tell Greeks to pay theirtaxes

The former French finance minister took over from disgraced countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn in June last year with strong support including the British, U.S., Chinese and German governments and is now a year into her five-year term.

At the time the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy described her appointment as 'a victory for France.'

Others were less impressed however, with Oxfam labeling the decision 'farcical' because of what it judged to be a lack of transparency in the appointment process.

Imposing: The headquarters of the IMF in Washington is where representatives
 of 184 countries aim to work together to foster global monetary cooperation
and secure financial stability

Mr Strauss-Kahn had been forced to step down under a media storm after he was charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid - the charges were later dropped.

Lagarde, 56, who began her career at Chicago-based law firm Baker & McKenzie, earns more than US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron who both pay taxes.

Mr Obama earns around £255,000 a year while Mr Cameron receives a salary of £142,000 for running the country.

Lagarde's salary could also go up in a few weeks as her contract entitles her to a pay rise on July 1 every year.

Lagarde does not pay tax in line with other international organisations such as the United Nations where workers are entitled to a similar tax break.

It comes under article 34 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations which declares that diplomatic agents are 'exempt from all dues and taxes, personal or real, national, regional or municipal.'

Contributors: Christine Lagarde earns more than both Barack Obama, left,
and David Cameron, right

Annual pay for UN workers start at between £29,000 to £51,000 with senior salaries range between £61,000 and £80,000 although this figure varies depending on where an employee is based.

A UN worker based in Geneva could expect to see their base salary increased by 106 per cent while even in Juba, the relatively poor capital of South Sudan, a UN worker could anticipate a 53.2 per cent top up of their salary.

Additional perks include rent subsidies and travel expenses, as well as subsidised medical insurance.

Frustration at the luxury, tax-free lifestyles of international public service workers is not a new issue, the argument dates back to the moment the IMF was created at the Bretton Woods economic conference in 1944.

British representatives felt salaries put forward by U.S. delegates were huge, but they were overruled.

The counter argument suggested by those who work for the organisation is that the whopping salaries are required to attract the best people from the well paid private sector.

However, studies have found that in fact most senior employees are already working in government positions.

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Pakistani doctor jailed after bin Laden hunt found guilty of Islamist militancy

Pakistan tribal court papers describe CIA aide Shakil Afridi as active supporter of Lashkar-e-Islam

guardian.co.uk, Jon Boone, in Islamabad, Wednesday 30 May 2012

Shakil Afridi's jail term in Pakistan led to the US Senate cutting the
country's aid by $1m for every year of his sentence. Photograph: Reuters

The doctor who angered Pakistan's powerful security agencies by helping the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden was sentenced to 33 years in prison on the basis of flimsy intelligence suggesting he was involved in Islamist militancy, a document from his trial has revealed.

The five-page summary verdict in Dr Shakil Afridi's case shows the antiquated tribal court that heard his case refused to consider evidence of his work for the CIA, which it said was outside its jurisdiction.

When Afridi's conviction came to light last week it was assumed he had been imprisoned for his work on a bogus vaccination programme intended to use DNA sampling to pinpoint the whereabouts of the former al-Qaida leader.

The announcement of his jail term provoked outrage in the US where the Senate symbolically cut aid to Pakistan by $1m (£640,000) for each year of his sentence.

But the trial document shows he was in fact found guilty of terrorism, not treason under Pakistan's much criticised Frontier Crimes Regulation, a set of draconian laws first imposed by the British on the Pashtun tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The court document said Afridi was an active supporter of Lashkar-e-Islam, a banned militant group, and its leader Mangal Bagh.

It also claimed he used his position as head of a government hospital to channel nearly £14,000 to the group and gave medical care to various militant commanders.

According to the document the case, which was presided over not by a trained judge but by the government-appointed "political agent" in consultation with a group of tribal elders, was based on "reports of different intelligence agencies" and statements by local people.

Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former political agent who once administered the same tribal agency where Afridi was tried, said the case would never have succeeded in regular court.

"This sort of evidence makes the case very weak legally," he said. "Finding tangible evidence linking him to Mangal Bagh is very, very difficult in the tribal areas where people can tell you just anything."

Securing a conviction under the peculiar FCR process under which defendants are denied the right to lawyers is much easier, however.

Some analysts suspect the claims about Afridi's involvement with militant groups may have been cobbled together after the court refused to take a view on his activities for the CIA, which happened well outside the tribal areas where the FCR writ runs.

Habib Malik Orakzai, head of the Pakistan International Human Rights Organisation, said the government did not want to risk the case in a regular, open court where it could potentially drag on for months or "be thrown out at any time".

He said: "The political agent has all the power. In simple words he is like a king who does not need proof but has the power to give any person any punishment."

The FCR also keeps Afridi's fate firmly in the hands of the Pakistani government, giving it the flexibility to use Afridi as a bargaining chip with the Americans at a later point, as many suspect will happen.

"In due course escape to the US could be facilitated for some quid pro quo", said Mohmand. The CIA reportedly offered Afridi and his family safe passage to the US soon after the killing of bin Laden, but he refused.

It is likely Afridi did become entangled with many of the leading militants operating in the tribal areas during his long career as a frontier medic – his access to such forbidding and dangerous territory was no doubt what attracted the CIA to him.

In 2008 Bagh fined him $11,00 for preforming unnecessary operations on several patients, the New York Times reported recently.

Mehmood Shah, a former security chief of the tribal areas, said it was quite possible for government officials to be "scared" of the militants they came across.

"At times they try to work out some understanding with them in order to survive," he said.

He remembered that Afridi had "a bad reputation", but not for involvement with militancy.

"He had weaknesses for womanising, drinking and making money without any principal," he said. "When we found he had been interfering with female colleagues I ordered he be removed."

Aung San Suu Kyi visits Burmese migrants in Thailand – video

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 30 May 2012

On her first trip outside Burma in more than two decades, the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visits Thailand before the World Economic Forum in Bangkok, which she will attend on Friday. The 66-year-old Nobel laureate is received by hundreds of cheering supporters when she visits a market that employs mostly Burmese migrant workers

China and Japan will start direct currency trading

Deutsche Welle, 29 May 2012

For the first time, China is going to let a major unit other than the dollar swap with its national currency. Beijing and Tokyo have agreed to start direct trading within days, with no bucks involved.

The two Asian economic powerhouses, China and Japan, will begin direct trading of their currencies from June 1, the governments in Beijing and Tokyo confirmed on Tuesday. The US dollar as an intermediary currency will no longer be used in bilateral operations.

"The move is to promote bilateral trade, facilitate the use of the yuan and the yen in international trade settlements and lower the cost of conversion," the China Foreign Exchange Trade System said on Tuesday.

China's central bank said it would support what it viewed as an important step in strengthening bilateral cooperation and developing financial markets. The direct currency trading decision came on the back of preparatory talks between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda last December.

Hedging against risks

Chinawill set a daily rate based on dealer quotes, with trade allowed to move within a 3.0-percent band above or below that figure. This compares with a 1.0-percent band of variance fixed to yuan-dollar trading. No fixed rates will be set in Tokyo trading, though.

"From June 1, the yen-yuan exchange rate will be constantly indicated in both markets, facilitating full-fledged exchange trading," Japan's Finance Minister Jun Azumi told reporters in Tokyo. "By not using the dollar as an intermediate currency, we can lower transaction costs and reduce settlement risks at financial institutions," Azumi added.

Chinais Japan's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade valued at $345 billion (275 billion euros). At present, an estimated 60 percent of commerce between China and Japan is settled in US dollars.

hg/mll (AFP, dpa, Reuters)

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Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau faces bribery charge

BBC News, 24 May 2012

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• Third Kwok brother arrested in HK

Property values in Macau soared as
 it overtook Las Vegas as the biggest
gambling destination

A billionaire Hong Hong-based property tycoon is facing charges in Macau of bribery and money laundering in the world's top gambling city.

The arrest of Joseph Lau comes on the heels of several other high-profile corruption cases involving politicians and real estate moguls.

Mr Lau, head of Chinese Estate Holdings, has denied any wrongdoing.

Allegations against Mr Lau surfaced in the trial of Ao Man-long, Macau's former secretary of transport.

Mr Ao was the highest-ranking official ever arrested by Macau's anti-corruption agency.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Lau and another tycoon offered a bribe to Mr Ao, in exchange for a successful bid for a valuable parcel of land.

Property values in Macau have soared in the last few years, as it overtook Las Vegas as the world's top gambling destination.

This case comes just months after Hong Kong's wealthiest property developers, the Kwok brothers, and a former senior government official were arrested on suspicion of bribery.

No charges have been filed against the brothers, but the unprecedented arrests have shocked residents in Hong Kong.

Trading in shares of Chinese Estates Holdings were suspended in Hong Kong after it emerged that Mr Lau will face prosecution.

Mr Lau's fortune has been estimated at $6.5bn (£4bn) by the Sunday Times Rich List, making him one of the richest people in the world.

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Vietnam jails 3 for anti-government leaflets

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press, Hanoi, Vietnam, Thu, 05/24/2012

An official says a court in central Vietnam has sentenced three political activists to up to three and a half years in prison for distributing anti-government leaflets.

Presiding Judge Vi Van Chat said that the three were convicted of "spreading propaganda against the state" at Thursday's half-day trial in Nghe An province.

He says they were also ordered to serve up to 18 months under house arrest, adding that the fourth defendant was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Chat declined to give details.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, says in a statement that the four are Catholic activists who were arrested after passing out pro-democracy materials. He called for their immediate release.

clockwise from top left] Catholic activist Chu Manh Son;

 Catholic activist Dau Van Duong; Catholic activist Hoang Phong;

Catholic activist Tran Huu Duc (Photos: Thanh Nien Cong Giao)

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Russia pays tribute to US budget

Pravda, 21.05.2012

There are many elementary things that recieve no attention at all, although they can be extremely important. If you take a Russian banknote in your hands, you will see that it says: "Note of the Bank of Russia." If you take a look at Soviet banknotes, you will see that they say: "State Treasury Note." It means that it is not the Russian state that makes the money that all Russians use in their everyday lives today. This is a consequence of 1991 - the time when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Modern-day bank notes are made in today's Russia on the base of the Constitution, as well as on the base of the laws about the Central Bank. The production volumes of today's banknotes in Russia are proportionate to the volume of the purchased virtual foreign currency. In other words, in order to pay, let's say, a note of 100 rubles to a cashier in a supermarket, the Russian economy has paid the United States of America the face value of this note.

If we add the structure of the Russian reserves, the general systems of balance of payments, the crediting mechanism - i.e. the elements of economic sovereignty, which Russia does not have, - then we will see that today, Russia pays nearly $200-300 billion to the US. This amount corresponds to the taxes, which Russian tax-payers pay - without customs payments.

Conditionally, every Russian citizen pays two taxes. One of them goes to the Russian budget, and the other one - in the same amount - goes to the American budget. Russia spends this money on the inflation mechanism, because this money is withdrawn from the economy. Therefore, Russia will never solve the inflation problem until it solves the problem of the Central Bank. Hungary tried to do it, for example, but was punished for it.

Russia is not alone here, of course. America defeated many countries of the world. The above is not a specific problem of Russia. That is why the USA consumes a half of the world's GDP because they collect tribute from everyone, not just Russia. 

Sergey Fyodorov

State Duma deputy

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Levi’s, Gap Garment Workers on Strike in Cambodia

Jakarta Globe, May 23, 2012

Garment workers shield themselves from the sun with leaves as they

protest in Phnom Penh. (Photo: Reuters)

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Phnom Penh. Workers at a large Cambodian garment factory that makes clothes for Levi’s, Gap and other well-known international brands are striking for more pay and better working conditions.

More than 5,000 workers from the Singaporean-owned SL Garment Processing failed to reach an agreement with their employers on Tuesday to end an 11-day strike.

Ath Thon, director of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers, said workers are demanding an increase in their base pay of $61 a month for eight-hour days, six days a week.

He said they want a $5 salary hike and an extra $25 a month for transportation and housing.

SL Garment’s website says it makes clothes for more than two dozen international labels that include J. Crew, Old Navy, Banana Republic, H&M and Levi’s, whose website in turn lists the company as a supplier.

Cambodia’s garment industry is the main foreign exchange earner for the poor Southeast Asian country. Its garment exports in 2011 were worth about $4.3 billion.

“We will not stop our strike until our problems are solved,” said Teng Ry, 24, one of thousands picketing the factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

He said workers were regularly required to work on their one day off a week or denied sick days and ordered to work up to 16-hour shifts.

Long shifts are compensated with overtime pay but factory owners are not respecting Cambodian labor law by requiring employees to work against their will, he said.

Eah Chip Eang, the personnel manager for SL Garment Processing, said he regretted that a bargaining session with worker representatives, union officials and social affairs ministry officials failed to reach an agreement.

He accused the union representative of refusing to negotiate, and said the workers’ demands were too much for the company to accept, even though the demand for $25 for transportation and housing had been reduced to $10.

He also denied that his company forces workers to work against their will and up to 16 hours per day, while acknowledging that some do work overtime.

Associated Press

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Bo’s ouster may alter China’s N. Korea policy

The Jakarta Post, Song Sang-ho, Asia News Network (The Korea Herald), Seoul, South Korea, Wed, 05/23/2012

The ouster of high-flying politician Bo Xilai from China’s Communist Party leadership in March is expected to readjust the direction of its North Korea policy, possibly toward restraining provocative behavior and encouraging openness, a renowned US expert said.

Gordon Flake, executive director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, said that after the downfall of Bo representing the “old-school, reactionary” faction, reformists could gain more clout and consider recalibrating its approach to the North.

“He [Bo] was being attacked directly in person by [Chinese premier] Wen Jiabao and others who have been pushing for a much more open, reform-minded faction,” he said during a lecture earlier this month.

“Right now, at least, the reformist faction is ascended and that would lead to some hope that the Chinese might be willing, in the coming weeks or months, to further mitigate their approach to North Korea.”

Bo, a charismatic advocate of Maoist ideology, and reformist party leaders had been at loggerheads over key policy directions. Amid allegations of corruption and abuse of power, Bo, considered a candidate for the party’s nine-member Politburo, was sacked in March, revealing a deep factional fissure.

At the conference organized by the local think tank Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Flake focused on how this year’s political transitions in China, South Korea and the US will influence their North Korea policies.

Touching on the possibility of China rethinking its handling of the North, Flake pointed to the considerable pressure it has recently applied on the country to deter further provocations, calling it a “remarkable step.”

Flake said the UN Security Council presidential statement issued after the North’s failed rocket launch in April was much stronger in its wording than the one adopted in 2009.

“This time, [the UN statement said] any future launches, whatever it may be, are against the rules. For China to say that to North Korea is a remarkable step. [As is] agreeing to further sanctions, and also putting forward a very clear warning against further provocative behavior,” he said.

China has long been criticized for supporting the North even after it launched military provocations such as the 2010 sinking of South Korea’s corvette Cheonan that killed 46 sailors.

China watchers have said that Beijing does not want to see any instability in North Korea as it prefers the status quo, and that the North is of great strategic value as a buffer against American power.

Offering his view of China’s North Korea policy, Flake said Beijing has “three nos” ― no nukes, no collapse and no war.

China has always tried to balance the three priorities, but it apparently started to give much more weight to “no collapse” after former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il suffered a stroke in the summer of 2008, he said.

But too much focus on “no collapse” apparently broke the balance of China’s priorities in its North Korea policy.

“By emphasizing too much no collapse, they actually increased the risk of war and they allowed North Korea to announce its uranium enrichment program with no consequences,” he said.

“So, you can argue that by focusing on one no, you are really messing up the other two nos.”

Flake said that the United States’ approach to the communist state is unlikely to be affected by it being an election year.

“The Obama administration’s approach was always structured as probing. It was testing North Korea’s intent,” he said.

“Now, the truth is, you may disagree with the actuality of what the North intended, but the interpretation in Washington is undeniably that North Korea failed that test with the decision to go ahead with the missile launch.”

Having said this, he stressed the North’s failure to show seriousness about its agreement it struck with the US in February would only make Washington’s consistent policy stance more firm.

“There is no denying that [Republican presidential hopeful] Romney campaign will look for any excuse to portray the Obama administration as weak,” he said.

Sharing his thoughts on the leadership change in South Korea, Flake said he does not see any dramatic policy change coming.

“You cannot imagine away the [sinking of] Cheonan and the shelling [of the island of Yeonpyeongdo]. These issues are all there. It does not matter whether it is Moon jae-in or Park Geun-hye [who wins the presidential election]. They still have to be dealt with [it],” he said.

“More importantly, North Korea is different. Even if a South Korean administration came in and said we want to go back to the Sunshine Policy [of engaging the North], North Korea’s capacity to accept that is different now.”

The leadership transition in Russia may not affect its stance on North Korean issues as it is not a real change of government, Flake said.

“Dmitry Medvedev from Vladimir Putin and then Putin from Medvedev: It does not really represent a change in government. Obviously, Russia has a very important role to play in North Korea. Russia’s North Korea policy is constant,” he said.

Citing its long history of cooperation with the US on nuclear arms control, Russia, compared with China, is a relatively responsible player when it comes to the issues of North Korea’s missile and nuclear tests, he said.

“China is viewing these issues still primarily through a regional context, through their alliance with North Korea and their proximity to the North. Russia views non-proliferation issues through a global context, institutional context,” he said.

Flake said that due to its political instability, Japan is not able to play a proactive role in engaging Pyongyang.

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"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Caroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“…..   Here is the prediction: China will turn North Korea loose soon. The alliance will dissolve, or become stale. There will be political upheaval in China. Not a coup and not a revolution. Within the inner circles of that which you call Chinese politics, there will be a re-evaluation of goals and monetary policy. Eventually, you will see a break with North Korea, allowing still another dictator to fall and unification to occur with the south. ….”

Magazine Wins Rare Court Ruling for Burmese Media

Jakarta Globe, May 23, 2012

In this 2004 file photo, Burmese refugees shout slogans during a rally. A
private  news magazine in Burma won a rare court victory Wednesday, and
will  not have to reveal the name of a reporter who wrote about corruption at
government ministries. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman) 

   

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Rangon. A private news magazine in Burma won a rare court victory Wednesday, and will not have to reveal the name of a reporter who wrote about corruption at government ministries.

“The Voice” weekly still faces a defamation suit over the article published in March. The initial court ruling means it will be allowed to protect its reporter’s name, lawyer Win Shwe told The Associated Press.

Lawsuits involving the media are a new development in Burma and part of an easing of censorship under the reform-minded government that took office last year.

Under the previous military regime, strict media censorship determined what was fit to print, and violators faced severe penalties.

Despite the new freedoms, publications still follow their old policy of writing anonymously on sensitive subjects.

In the article published in March, The Voice wrote about misappropriation and irregularities in the accounts of several ministries including information, agriculture, industry and mines from 2009-2011. The article cited a report from the auditor general’s office to the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

The Mines Ministry filed a defamation suit in response to the article and demanded that editor-in-chief Kyaw Min Swe reveal the article’s author. The defamation hearing will continue June 6.

A weekly publication “The Modern” faced an earlier defamation case over an article that alleged truck drivers had bribed engineers at the Construction Ministry to let them use a certain bridge, even though their vehicles exceeded the weight limit. One of the engineers sued the publication, but the two sides settled after the magazine printed a correction.

Burma’s Press Scrutiny Board has ended censorship on subjects such as health, entertainment, fashion and sports — but many in the media say the arrival of lawsuits is a new threat to media freedom.

Articles on general news and religion are still required to go through censors prior to publication, but the Press Scrutiny Board says it will end all forms of censorship in June.

Associated Press

RI stops sending workers to Middle East countries

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,  Tue, 05/22/2012

Muhaimin Iskandar: (JP/Berto Wedhatama)

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar says Indonesia is imposing a moratorium on the travel of Indonesian migrant workers to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria indefinitely.

"We won't lift the moratorium as long as our workers abroad have yet to see more certain policies regarding legal protections and the fulfillment of their basic rights," Muhaimin said, as quoted by Antara news agency, on the sidelines of a meeting with families of migrant workers in Tulungagung, East Java, on Monday evening.

Muhaimin said his ministry was concerned that many Indonesian workers were implicated in legal cases in those countries, but stopped short of detailing the exact numbers.

However, he claimed that his ministry has been trying to lobby the relevant authorities to demand more protections, social guarantees and safety assurance for Indonesian workers, but so far the efforts have yet to achieve any significant outcome.

Muhaimin compared the slow progress with the Middle Eastern states to new deals reached between the Malaysian and Indonesian governments.

He said the Malaysian authorities have allowed Indonesian workers one day off each week, granted a minimum wage of 800 ringgit (US$256) and ensured they get to keep their own passports while working.

"We are about to lift the ban for Malaysia, but so far no private agencies here have started sending workers to Malaysia," he said.

Bahrainis protest Saudi Gulf union proposal

Deutsche Welle, 18 May 2012

Opposition activists in Bahrain have rallied to protest a proposed union with neighboring Saudi Arabia. Some protesters view the plan as an attempt by Riyadh to end the uprising in the Gulf island nation.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Bahrain on Friday, denouncing proposals for closer military and political cooperation with neighboring Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

The mainly Shiite demonstrators blocked one of the island nation's major highways outside the capital, Manama, in a rally that stretched for nearly five kilometers (three miles). The demonstrators chanted slogans such as "No, no unity" and "Bahrain is not for sale."

On Monday, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council met for a summit meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to disclose closer union between the organization's six member states. The council is comprised of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The meeting postponed any decisions on closer political integration for later in the year. Some critics believe the proposal is a push by Saudi Arabia's Sunni monarchy to consolidate its regional power against its main rival, Shiite Iran.

Regional power politics

Bahrain, a small island state in the Persian Gulf, plays an important strategic role in the region: it is home to the US Navy's fifth fleet. Once a province of Iran, a Sunni monarchy currently rules over the majority Shiite population.

In February 2011, mainly Shiite activists - inspired by the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt - rose up against the Al Khalifa monarchy, calling for greater political participation. At least 50 people have died in the unrest so far. The monarchy blames the unrest on Iran.

Saudi Arabia, which has a large Shiite population in its eastern, oil-producing regions, deployed troops last year to help shore up the Al Khalifa family. Some opposition activists suspect that Riyadh wants to use the GCC proposal to secure control over Bahrain and deny Tehran influence in the region.

Protests against a Saudi-Bahraini union also took place in Iran on Friday, with the cleric Kazem Sediqi delivering a sermon broadcast live on state radio.

"This is an ill-fated plot that is taking place with the American and Zionist (Israeli) green light but they should know that the people of Bahrain and the region, Muslims around the world and in Iran will never tolerate it," Sediqi said.

"Instead of surrendering to its own people, it (the Bahraini government) is surrendering its identity, with total abjectness, to another country," Sediqi said.

slk/jm (AP, Reuters)

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