Aug 10, 2012
Violent protests hit South African city
Violent protests hit South African city: Cape Town officials point accusing finger at ANC Youth League, which had threatened to make the city "ungovernable".
US adds Hezbollah to Syria sanctions list
US adds Hezbollah to Syria sanctions list: Lebanese group denounced for "integral role" in violence in Syria, whose state oil company has also been targeted.
Conquer the back to school blues with Google tools
Conquer the back to school blues with Google tools: August is both an end to the lush freedom of summer and the beginning of another year of student life. As a rising senior at the University of Florida, this time is both exciting and anxiety-inducing. Even though I’m looking forward to many aspects of the school year, there are certain things about college—from book budgets to calculus study sessions—that can make it a headache.
But this fall, I feel more prepared to face the daily student grind. This summer, I had the chance to intern on the communications team at Google and got the inside track on some tools and tricks to make school a snap. For example, did you know there was an extension for Chrome that helps you stay focused on your work? Yup, didn’t think so! So I thought I’d share some of my new favorite tips—my “Survival Guide for Student Life”—to help make it easier for all students to get through the coming months.
Easy ways to coordinate your social and extracurricular life
Posted by Jenise Araujo, BOLD Intern, Communications Team
But this fall, I feel more prepared to face the daily student grind. This summer, I had the chance to intern on the communications team at Google and got the inside track on some tools and tricks to make school a snap. For example, did you know there was an extension for Chrome that helps you stay focused on your work? Yup, didn’t think so! So I thought I’d share some of my new favorite tips—my “Survival Guide for Student Life”—to help make it easier for all students to get through the coming months.
Easy ways to coordinate your social and extracurricular life
- Google+ Hangouts enables you to video chat with up to nine friends from your desktop, mobile phone or tablet. A great feature for when your club needs to discuss some last minute changes for the upcoming meeting.
- Stay on task with Hangout Apps like Symphonical, which provides a digital wall of sticky notes for virtual brainstorm sessions.
- With Google+ Events, invite all your friends to your get-together and attach a personalized video greeting to the invitation. During the event, photos from the party can be uploaded to the event page in real-time using Party Mode. So if you have to miss a party due to a study session, you can avoid that pesky FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)!
- Let your friends know what you’re up to by sharing your Google Calendar with them. Or create a shared calendar just for your study group.
- Stop the email flood from the ridiculous number of email lists you signed up for using Gmail’s auto-unsubscribe feature.
- No more sore eyes from crowded inboxes—Gmail's default mode is Priority Inbox so it automatically sorts your important messages for you.
- Cite your sources! Use Google Docs’ research tool to investigate highlighted portions of your essay and then generate a citation.
- Group projects call for collaboration. With Google Drive, you can use shared folders so everyone can access materials without having to email updates to each other.
- Using your laptop or phone, you can send any documents or presentations saved on your Google Drive to Fedex to be printed, thanks to Google Cloud Print.
- For those of you starting at university this year, Google Maps has 360-degree panoramic Street View imagery for many campuses around the world to give you a preview of your new stomping grounds.
- Back to school shopping is one of the most fun things about August. Find your way in and out of malls and department stores with indoor Google Maps on Android devices.
- We college students can’t go too long without homemade food. Search for your next flight home with Flight Search. (If flying makes you a bit queasy, track any care packages by typing the tracking code into the Google search bar.)
- Stay informed with Google Now. This feature, available on Android devices running Jelly Bean, can update you when the next bus is coming or provide the weather forecast for Saturday’s big game.
- Don’t break the bank on textbooks. Google Play has of millions of FREE (emphasis is important) books readily available such as "Pride and Prejudice" and "Gulliver’s Travels."
- With the new Nexus 7 tablet, you can take your Google Play books, music, movies, TV shows, magazines and apps (like My Majors and doubleTwist Alarm Clock) with you, wherever you go.
- Locate hard-to-find books online or at a library near you with Book Search.
- Put Chrome to work with educational apps.
- Not a fan of traditional note taking? Chromebooks are a super fast and virus-proof laptop. It starts seconds after you boot it and will last through a whole day of classes.
- A fair portion of us students aren’t fans of mental math. Type any equation into the Google search box to get the answers you need. It can graph functions as well.
- We know we spend too much of our time watching funny videos on YouTube, but there are video channels that can actually help us learn more about a variety of subjects—from astrophysics to world history. Find more educational channels at YouTube EDU.
Posted by Jenise Araujo, BOLD Intern, Communications Team
Congolese stream to new UNHCR refugee camp in Rwanda
Congolese stream to new UNHCR refugee camp in Rwanda: Some 20,000 refugees have fled violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the spring. More than 11,400 people now inhabit the new facility.
Planting the seeds of tolerance in South Africa through soccer
Planting the seeds of tolerance in South Africa through soccer: The project is trying to build understanding of refugees in a country where xenophobia has been a recurring problem
UNHCR reports more Syrian refugees in all neighbouring countries
UNHCR reports more Syrian refugees in all neighbouring countries: The population seeking safety reached 146,667 but UNHCR knows there are substantial additional refugees
Can the World Help Tibet?
Can the World Help Tibet?:
The international community needs to do more to help Tibetans protesting decades of repression under Chinese rule, analysts and human rights groups say, calling for pressure on Beijing at the U.N. and for dialogue with Tibetan groups.
With 47 Tibetans having self-immolated so far in opposition to Chinese rule, the Tibetan question has been highlighted across the globe, but international response to the fiery protests has been muted, the analysts and rights groups said.
“There is as much leverage as governments are willing to put in,” Sophie Richardson, China director at the Washington office of Human Rights Watch, told RFA in an interview.
Governments can sponsor a joint resolution, or even host a side event, at the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council to express their concerns about Tibet, Richardson said.
“We know that the Chinese government doesn’t like to be publicly criticized, but there is certainly no harm in calling them out on this kind of behavior, especially at a time when enormous numbers of people inside China are consuming this kind of information.”
Richardson noted that in human rights dialogues and other diplomatic meetings with China, the U.S. and EU frequently raise concerns about Tibet, but are rebuffed.
“If China’s government is consistently a bad-faith participant in these talks, have a dialogue instead with Tibetan human rights activists and writers who want to talk about these topics,” Richardson suggested.
“Or do one with the government and one with the activists, if for no other reason than to credential and give a platform to the people who are really trying to make a difference.”
Concerns ignored
International calls for China to address Tibetan concerns are routinely brushed aside by Chinese diplomats, who assert China’s right to rule the Himalayan region it invaded more than 50 years ago.
Nearly all of the self-immolators have called for the return to Tibet of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and for freedom for the Tibetan people as they challenge what they call political, cultural, religious, and social injustices.
Increasingly, ordinary Tibetans have been joining Buddhist monks and nuns in the fiery protests. At least two of them, young women, were the mothers of small children.
In response, Chinese security forces in the region have cracked down, arresting scores of Tibetans—including educators, writers, and cultural figures—and accusing outside forces of plotting the protests.
Writing in a Washington Post opinion piece on July 13, India-based Tibetan exile prime minister Lobsang Sangay made an urgent appeal to the world for help.
“Because we know that the democracies of the world recognize basic human rights and freedoms to be universal values, we ask the international community to intervene before our situation deteriorates even further,” Sangay wrote.
Lack of information
Speaking to RFA, a former State Department official and expert on Tibetan affairs said, “There should be coordinated demarches by concerned governments requesting access to Tibetan areas for fact-finding purposes for their own diplomats, the International Red Cross, and the U.N.”
“There is a real problem of lack of information and context about what is happening. The media has not been able to gain much access either, and this has inhibited coverage of the situation.”
“The U.S. should also look at using some of its mechanisms for blocking human rights abusers on visas and other issues, and apply these provisions to officials who are designing and implementing these deeply flawed policies [in Tibet],” she said.
Also speaking to RFA, New York-based Students for a Free Tibet president Tenzin Dorjee called for a strengthened “multilateral approach to pressure China to reverse its repressive policies in Tibet.”
“What we need is a Friends of Syria-style coalition, a Friends of Tibet group to raise the priority of Tibet as a humanitarian issue of global concern,” Dorjee said.
At the same time, Dorjee added, “We’re not putting all our eggs into the basket of political or diplomatic intervention.”
In a self-reliance movement in Tibet called Lhakar, or “White Wednesday,” growing numbers of Tibetans are making efforts to wear traditional clothes, speak Tibetan unmixed with Chinese, eat only in Tibetan restaurants, and buy only from Tibetan-owned businesses, Dorjee said.
“We emphasize the importance of noncooperation tactics in the long-term strategy of making China’s occupation too costly to maintain,” Dorjee said.
An 'ineffective' case?
At the same time, though, the Tibetan people themselves have sometimes been “ineffective” in making their case to the world, said Jamyang Norbu, a Tennessee-based blogger and writer on Tibetan affairs.
The Tibetan people have an historic claim to independence and want to be free, Norbu said.
But support campaigns launched outside Tibet have focused on a confusing range of narrower issues—for example, the protection of religious freedoms or protection of the environment.
Tibetans, as a people, have to decide “what we really want,” Norbu said.
“We have to get our act together before we ask the world for anything,” he said.
Reported by Richard Finney.
The international community needs to do more to help Tibetans protesting decades of repression under Chinese rule, analysts and human rights groups say, calling for pressure on Beijing at the U.N. and for dialogue with Tibetan groups.
With 47 Tibetans having self-immolated so far in opposition to Chinese rule, the Tibetan question has been highlighted across the globe, but international response to the fiery protests has been muted, the analysts and rights groups said.
“There is as much leverage as governments are willing to put in,” Sophie Richardson, China director at the Washington office of Human Rights Watch, told RFA in an interview.
Governments can sponsor a joint resolution, or even host a side event, at the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council to express their concerns about Tibet, Richardson said.
“We know that the Chinese government doesn’t like to be publicly criticized, but there is certainly no harm in calling them out on this kind of behavior, especially at a time when enormous numbers of people inside China are consuming this kind of information.”
Richardson noted that in human rights dialogues and other diplomatic meetings with China, the U.S. and EU frequently raise concerns about Tibet, but are rebuffed.
“If China’s government is consistently a bad-faith participant in these talks, have a dialogue instead with Tibetan human rights activists and writers who want to talk about these topics,” Richardson suggested.
“Or do one with the government and one with the activists, if for no other reason than to credential and give a platform to the people who are really trying to make a difference.”
Concerns ignored
International calls for China to address Tibetan concerns are routinely brushed aside by Chinese diplomats, who assert China’s right to rule the Himalayan region it invaded more than 50 years ago.
Nearly all of the self-immolators have called for the return to Tibet of exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and for freedom for the Tibetan people as they challenge what they call political, cultural, religious, and social injustices.
Increasingly, ordinary Tibetans have been joining Buddhist monks and nuns in the fiery protests. At least two of them, young women, were the mothers of small children.
In response, Chinese security forces in the region have cracked down, arresting scores of Tibetans—including educators, writers, and cultural figures—and accusing outside forces of plotting the protests.
Writing in a Washington Post opinion piece on July 13, India-based Tibetan exile prime minister Lobsang Sangay made an urgent appeal to the world for help.
“Because we know that the democracies of the world recognize basic human rights and freedoms to be universal values, we ask the international community to intervene before our situation deteriorates even further,” Sangay wrote.
Lack of information
Speaking to RFA, a former State Department official and expert on Tibetan affairs said, “There should be coordinated demarches by concerned governments requesting access to Tibetan areas for fact-finding purposes for their own diplomats, the International Red Cross, and the U.N.”
“There is a real problem of lack of information and context about what is happening. The media has not been able to gain much access either, and this has inhibited coverage of the situation.”
“The U.S. should also look at using some of its mechanisms for blocking human rights abusers on visas and other issues, and apply these provisions to officials who are designing and implementing these deeply flawed policies [in Tibet],” she said.
Also speaking to RFA, New York-based Students for a Free Tibet president Tenzin Dorjee called for a strengthened “multilateral approach to pressure China to reverse its repressive policies in Tibet.”
“What we need is a Friends of Syria-style coalition, a Friends of Tibet group to raise the priority of Tibet as a humanitarian issue of global concern,” Dorjee said.
At the same time, Dorjee added, “We’re not putting all our eggs into the basket of political or diplomatic intervention.”
In a self-reliance movement in Tibet called Lhakar, or “White Wednesday,” growing numbers of Tibetans are making efforts to wear traditional clothes, speak Tibetan unmixed with Chinese, eat only in Tibetan restaurants, and buy only from Tibetan-owned businesses, Dorjee said.
“We emphasize the importance of noncooperation tactics in the long-term strategy of making China’s occupation too costly to maintain,” Dorjee said.
An 'ineffective' case?
At the same time, though, the Tibetan people themselves have sometimes been “ineffective” in making their case to the world, said Jamyang Norbu, a Tennessee-based blogger and writer on Tibetan affairs.
The Tibetan people have an historic claim to independence and want to be free, Norbu said.
But support campaigns launched outside Tibet have focused on a confusing range of narrower issues—for example, the protection of religious freedoms or protection of the environment.
Tibetans, as a people, have to decide “what we really want,” Norbu said.
“We have to get our act together before we ask the world for anything,” he said.
Reported by Richard Finney.
BANGLADESH: Poultry industry still reeling from bird flu
BANGLADESH: Poultry industry still reeling from bird flu:
 | DHAKA, 9 August 2012 (IRIN) - The poultry industry in Bangladesh has yet to rebound from an outbreak of bird flu in 2007 that closed two-thirds of the country's 150,000 related businesses and left half of the five million people who earned their income from it unemployed. |
OPT: Renewed barrier construction threatens Palestinian heritage
OPT: Renewed barrier construction threatens Palestinian heritage:
 | RAMALLAH, 9 August 2012 (IRIN) - Palestinian communities in the West Bank have expressed alarm at widely reported news that Israel will resume the construction of its “separation wall” after a five-year delay. |
ZIMBABWE: Divisions over a new constitution
ZIMBABWE: Divisions over a new constitution:
 | HARARE, 9 August 2012 (IRIN) - After three years in the making, Zimbabwe's proposed 150-page draft constitution was deemed unacceptable by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and rejected by civil society. It was endorsed by ZANU-PF's political opponents. |
COTE D'IVOIRE: Desperation after last IDP refuge razed
COTE D'IVOIRE: Desperation after last IDP refuge razed:
 | DUEKOUE, 9 August 2012 (IRIN) - On the morning of 20 July, after an attack that killed four people around Duékoué, a town in Côte d'Ivoire's turbulent west, a huge crowd surrounded the nearby Nahibly camp hosting 5,000 internally displaced people (IDPs). |
SENEGAL: Texting for birth certificates
SENEGAL: Texting for birth certificates:
 | KOLDA, 9 August 2012 (IRIN) - Only a handful of births are registered in the remote Kolda region of southern Senegal, but a new mobile phone application that allows parents to text the details of a newborn to obtain a birth certificate could cut down school drop-outs when the children are older. |
NEPAL: Land could sow “seeds of serious discontent”
NEPAL: Land could sow “seeds of serious discontent”:
 | KATHMANDU/NEPALGUNJ, 10 August 2012 (IRIN) - Little progress has been made in Nepal in returning land confiscated by former Maoist rebels during a decade-long civil conflict to the original owners. Researchers say this is in violation of a 2006 peace deal. |
MALI: Malnutrition - Worrying in north, rising in south
MALI: Malnutrition - Worrying in north, rising in south:
 | BAMAKO/MOPTI, 10 August 2012 (IRIN) - At Koutiala reference hospital in the Sikasso region of southeastern Mali, 300 children are crammed into one room, most of them attached to drips while they receive blood transfusions to treat severe malnutrition with complications, usually malaria. “Even after several years here, I'm taken aback when I see them,” said Johanne Sekkenes, head of NGO Médecins sans Frontières in the capital, Bamako. |
ZAMBIA: Dreaming of a minimum wage
ZAMBIA: Dreaming of a minimum wage:
 | LUSAKA, 10 August 2012 (IRIN) - “This is like a prayer answered for me. Our government has really done well to remember us, to think about us,” Priscilla Mwemba, a domestic worker in the Zambian capital Lusaka, told IRIN after the government imposed non-negotiable minimum wage scales that will more than triple the 22 year old's monthly salary. |
CHAD: Darfur’s forgotten refugees
CHAD: Darfur’s forgotten refugees:
 | GOZ-BEIDA, 10 August 2012 (IRIN) - Ten years after fleeing violence in the Sudanese region of Darfur, Abdulla Juma Abubakr has no intention of returning home. |
IRAQ-SYRIA: Iraqi Kurdistan welcomes Syrian brethren, for now
IRAQ-SYRIA: Iraqi Kurdistan welcomes Syrian brethren, for now:
 | DOMIZ CAMP, 10 August 2012 (IRIN) - The autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq is home to 10,000 Kurdish refugees who fled the conflict in Syria. In Iraqi Kurdistan, they not only found refuge, but also a feeling of belonging they did not have in Syria. And now they may not want to go home. |
SLIDESHOW: A long week in the Philippine floods
SLIDESHOW: A long week in the Philippine floods:
 | MANILA, 10 August 2012 (IRIN) - Years of haphazard urban planning, combined with worsening weather events, are bringing death and destruction to the Philippines more often. The country of 100 million people has seen huge slum areas multiply, while riverside communities and upscale city developments have grown across an archipelago battered by about 20 storms annually, some of them deadly. |
COTE D'IVOIRE: Gunfire and fear in Abidjan
COTE D'IVOIRE: Gunfire and fear in Abidjan:
 | ABIDJAN, 10 August 2012 (IRIN) - A recent wave of armed attacks in Côte d'Ivoire's commercial capital, Abidjan, is lowering hopes of a steady return to security in a city that suffered some of the worst fighting during the 2010-11 election violence. |
ICG Report - Indonesia: Dynamics of Violence in Papua
Indonesia: Dynamics of Violence in Papua: The only measure likely to halt violence in Indonesia’s Papua province in the short term is a major overhaul of security policy.
Recognising Timor-Leste’s Veterans
Recognising Timor-Leste’s Veterans: Recognising and honouring the contribution of Timor-Leste’s veterans, or national liberation combatants, is a keystone of the state’s broader social policies. The responsibility to provide recognition (valorização) and tribute (homenagem) to the national heroes is laid out in Article 11 of the Constitution. Over the past ten years, successive governments have sought the best means for implementing this responsibility.
Chile: Investigate Police Violence Against Mapuches
Chile: Investigate Police Violence Against Mapuches:
The Chilean authorities should carry out a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the alleged unlawful use of force by police against members of the Mapuche indigenous community, Human Rights Watch said today. Officers found responsible for any unlawful use of force should be held to account and the injured civilians ensured an effective remedy.
read more
The Chilean authorities should carry out a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the alleged unlawful use of force by police against members of the Mapuche indigenous community, Human Rights Watch said today. Officers found responsible for any unlawful use of force should be held to account and the injured civilians ensured an effective remedy.
read more
France: Renewed Crackdown on Roma
France: Renewed Crackdown on Roma:
(Paris) – French authorities’ renewed efforts to shut down Roma camps and remove Eastern European Roma from the country raise serious concerns about France’s compliance with its international obligations, Human Rights Watch said today.
read more
French authorities’ renewed efforts to shut down Roma camps and remove Eastern European Roma from the country raise serious concerns about France’s compliance with its international obligations.
read more
Aug 9, 2012
Aug 8, 2012
Romney confuses ‘Sikh’ with ‘sheik’
Romney confuses ‘Sikh’ with ‘sheik’:
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney mistakenly confused the words “Sikh” and “sheik” at a fundraiser here Tuesday night when he offered his condolences to the victims of last weekend’s shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.
Read full article >>
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney mistakenly confused the words “Sikh” and “sheik” at a fundraiser here Tuesday night when he offered his condolences to the victims of last weekend’s shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.
Read full article >>
Algae threatens S. Korea's water supply
Algae threatens S. Korea's water supply: South Korea is on high alert over fast-spreading algal bloom .....
 |  |
VIDEO: Chaos caused by Philippine floods
VIDEO: Chaos caused by Philippine floods: At least 19 people have died in severe floods in the Philippine capital, Manila, and nearby areas.
In the hill country of Vietnam…
In the hill country of Vietnam…:
THE air in Sa Pa is refreshing after the broiling lowlands of Vietnam. It feels strange to be wearing shoes and a jersey in this, Southeast Asia’s version of an alpine resort.
Views from Sa Pa, Vietnam. Pic: Natasha von Geldern.After many centuries of southwards migration from China and northwards migration from Indonesia, the hill country of Vietnam is a fascinating mix of ethnic minorities.
They are a tiny, strong, proud people wearing colourful and detailed costumes. With their elaborate headdresses, embroidered tunics and jingling silver jewellery, they crowd into the town of Sa Pa to market their wares.
In the market piles of pomegranates look a manky greenish brown but the outer skin is peeled away to reveal translucent fruit that turns to sweetest water between your teeth.
Vietnam hill tribes in Sa Pa market. Pic: Natasha von Geldern.A handful of women make careful examination of a new sickle in the market. Each chicken must be pinched, prodded and weighed.
A walk through terraces of rice growing takes me to the nearby Black Hmong village of Cat Cat, where I watched the dying of the indigo hemp cloth from which they fashion their clothing.
I pass people walking up the hill road to the market town, loaded down with goods to sell, or carrying empty bamboo carriers ready to buy.
A few people have donkeys or small horses loaded down with saddle packs, tempted onwards by long poles of sugar cane.
The village houses are made of packed earth and built around an altar. One I saw had a page of newspaper for each year carefully pasted on the walls.
The rice paddies are green velvet slivers along the wooded valleys, or curving patchworks of yellows and greens in the flatter areas. The rising terraces are steep against the skyline like the steps of an ancient temple.
A view of the rice terraces. Pic: Natasha von Geldern.Each field is divided by earth dykes along which children lead their buffalo or ride their bikes.
A few hours drive away is the village of Bac Ha, where a weekend animal market is attended by hundreds of Flower Hmong people from miles around.
Vibrantly embroidered skirts, turbans and shirts, combined with the cacophony of livestock noise make this market an assault on all the senses.
Back in Sa Pa I enjoy the views over misty fields, thick jungle and mountainous country from the café and hotel terraces.
The evening air cools quickly as I chat to the young jewellery vendors and decide how badly I want to eat a pizza at the café after months of Asian food.
THE air in Sa Pa is refreshing after the broiling lowlands of Vietnam. It feels strange to be wearing shoes and a jersey in this, Southeast Asia’s version of an alpine resort.
Views from Sa Pa, Vietnam. Pic: Natasha von Geldern.
They are a tiny, strong, proud people wearing colourful and detailed costumes. With their elaborate headdresses, embroidered tunics and jingling silver jewellery, they crowd into the town of Sa Pa to market their wares.
In the market piles of pomegranates look a manky greenish brown but the outer skin is peeled away to reveal translucent fruit that turns to sweetest water between your teeth.
Vietnam hill tribes in Sa Pa market. Pic: Natasha von Geldern.
A walk through terraces of rice growing takes me to the nearby Black Hmong village of Cat Cat, where I watched the dying of the indigo hemp cloth from which they fashion their clothing.
I pass people walking up the hill road to the market town, loaded down with goods to sell, or carrying empty bamboo carriers ready to buy.
A few people have donkeys or small horses loaded down with saddle packs, tempted onwards by long poles of sugar cane.
The village houses are made of packed earth and built around an altar. One I saw had a page of newspaper for each year carefully pasted on the walls.
The rice paddies are green velvet slivers along the wooded valleys, or curving patchworks of yellows and greens in the flatter areas. The rising terraces are steep against the skyline like the steps of an ancient temple.
A view of the rice terraces. Pic: Natasha von Geldern.
A few hours drive away is the village of Bac Ha, where a weekend animal market is attended by hundreds of Flower Hmong people from miles around.
Vibrantly embroidered skirts, turbans and shirts, combined with the cacophony of livestock noise make this market an assault on all the senses.
Back in Sa Pa I enjoy the views over misty fields, thick jungle and mountainous country from the café and hotel terraces.
The evening air cools quickly as I chat to the young jewellery vendors and decide how badly I want to eat a pizza at the café after months of Asian food.
Indonesian manufacturing and the middle-income trap
Indonesian manufacturing and the middle-income trap:
Author: Vikram Nehru, Carnegie Endowment
Indonesia’s economic performance is deservedly attracting a lot of praise these days.
Its economic growth has been the highest in Southeast Asia, its inflation has been low, its fiscal policy has been prudently managed, the sovereign debt burden has declined, and its external payments have been broadly in balance. The Indonesian economy emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis, which is further proof of its resilience. And in recognition of the country’s solid financial situation, two credit rating agencies have upgraded Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating to investment-grade level.
Yet this story of growth with stability is diminished in one crucial respect: Indonesia’s excellent performance has been driven by services and commodities, not by manufacturing. In fact, the role of manufacturing has significantly declined in all dimensions of the economy: its value added, its share of exports and its share of employment. So far Indonesia’s export growth has been driven by robust global commodity prices, thanks in part to China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for raw materials.
Indonesia should be concerned that manufacturing is declining in importance. Manufacturing is an important driver of growth because it tends to generate large economies of scale within firms, industries and urban areas, which in turn creates a virtuous circle between competitiveness and scale. By creating high-quality jobs, manufacturing significantly boosts productivity and wages. And as manufacturing firms become part of regional and international production networks, they benefit from specialisation, international know-how, transfer of technology and access to markets.
Neither services nor commodities deliver the same economy-wide benefits as manufacturing, and their ability to create significant numbers of high-quality jobs is considerably more limited. Though some observers have welcomed increased services employment in Indonesia, the bulk of this growth has been in low-productivity informal activities. This is because there just aren’t enough high-productivity employment opportunities available in the services sector yet. If there were, one would expect to see real wages rising. But the real wage of Indonesia’s unskilled labour — the bulk of the labour force — has declined steadily over the last five years. As a result, between 2006 and 2011 Indonesia saw the second largest increase in income inequality worldwide.
To boost manufacturing and reverse this trend, Indonesia needs to address three priorities.
First, it must quickly build more infrastructure because manufacturing growth is sensitive to the availability of infrastructure — especially energy, roads, ports and telecommunications. Indonesia’s pattern of growth is beginning to resemble India’s, where infrastructure is in a deplorable state. The government is already taking steps to reverse this trend such as passing the long-awaited Land Acquisition Law in May 2012, and allocating US$150 billion to finance infrastructure projects over the next five years.
Second, Indonesia must cut through some of its notorious red tape. Companies consistently identify corruption and the bureaucracy as the biggest obstacles to doing business in Indonesia. The World Bank’s 2012 Doing Business indicators revealed that Indonesia has dropped three places from last year, to 129 out of 183 countries. Indonesia gets particularly bad marks when it comes to starting a business, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency, in part because the authority in these areas has been decentralised to local governments.
But it’s not all bad news. Much progress has been made in improving the investment environment, with several city governments establishing one-stop shops for business licenses, and the national government setting up a computerised system for business registration.
Finally, Indonesia must adopt an exchange rate policy that is supportive of manufacturing. The country’s real effective exchange rate has appreciated nearly 24 per cent since early 2000, driven by rapid growth in commodity export earnings on the back of high global commodity prices. Indonesia is arguably suffering from a case of Dutch disease, where high commodity earnings drive the exchange rate to the point that manufacturing becomes internationally uncompetitive. The wrong response would be to protect Indonesian manufacturing against international competition — and there are some indications that policies may be going down this slippery slope.
Instead, Indonesia should create a commodity fund that collects the royalties and other tax earnings denominated in foreign exchange, invest these conservatively in financial assets, and use the long-term real earnings to finance development projects on a sustainable basis. This would reveal a more realistic picture of Indonesia’s long-term public finance situation while helping the exchange rate reach a level that is both market-driven and supportive of manufacturing.
The praise that Indonesia is receiving for its macroeconomic management should not lead to complacency. Rising volatility in global commodity markets turn the Indonesian economy’s dependence on the production of commodities into a risky business. And commodities cannot be relied on to drive long-term growth, increase wages and lead to a more equal distribution of income. Only by developing its manufacturing sector can Indonesia avoid the middle-income trap that has ensnared so many other middle-income countries. And for that it needs continued and steady reforms of its policies and its bureaucracy.
Vikram Nehru is a senior associate in the Asia Program and Bakrie Chair in Southeast Asian Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
An earlier version of this article was first published here by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Author: Vikram Nehru, Carnegie Endowment
Indonesia’s economic performance is deservedly attracting a lot of praise these days.
Yet this story of growth with stability is diminished in one crucial respect: Indonesia’s excellent performance has been driven by services and commodities, not by manufacturing. In fact, the role of manufacturing has significantly declined in all dimensions of the economy: its value added, its share of exports and its share of employment. So far Indonesia’s export growth has been driven by robust global commodity prices, thanks in part to China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for raw materials.
Indonesia should be concerned that manufacturing is declining in importance. Manufacturing is an important driver of growth because it tends to generate large economies of scale within firms, industries and urban areas, which in turn creates a virtuous circle between competitiveness and scale. By creating high-quality jobs, manufacturing significantly boosts productivity and wages. And as manufacturing firms become part of regional and international production networks, they benefit from specialisation, international know-how, transfer of technology and access to markets.
Neither services nor commodities deliver the same economy-wide benefits as manufacturing, and their ability to create significant numbers of high-quality jobs is considerably more limited. Though some observers have welcomed increased services employment in Indonesia, the bulk of this growth has been in low-productivity informal activities. This is because there just aren’t enough high-productivity employment opportunities available in the services sector yet. If there were, one would expect to see real wages rising. But the real wage of Indonesia’s unskilled labour — the bulk of the labour force — has declined steadily over the last five years. As a result, between 2006 and 2011 Indonesia saw the second largest increase in income inequality worldwide.
To boost manufacturing and reverse this trend, Indonesia needs to address three priorities.
First, it must quickly build more infrastructure because manufacturing growth is sensitive to the availability of infrastructure — especially energy, roads, ports and telecommunications. Indonesia’s pattern of growth is beginning to resemble India’s, where infrastructure is in a deplorable state. The government is already taking steps to reverse this trend such as passing the long-awaited Land Acquisition Law in May 2012, and allocating US$150 billion to finance infrastructure projects over the next five years.
Second, Indonesia must cut through some of its notorious red tape. Companies consistently identify corruption and the bureaucracy as the biggest obstacles to doing business in Indonesia. The World Bank’s 2012 Doing Business indicators revealed that Indonesia has dropped three places from last year, to 129 out of 183 countries. Indonesia gets particularly bad marks when it comes to starting a business, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency, in part because the authority in these areas has been decentralised to local governments.
But it’s not all bad news. Much progress has been made in improving the investment environment, with several city governments establishing one-stop shops for business licenses, and the national government setting up a computerised system for business registration.
Finally, Indonesia must adopt an exchange rate policy that is supportive of manufacturing. The country’s real effective exchange rate has appreciated nearly 24 per cent since early 2000, driven by rapid growth in commodity export earnings on the back of high global commodity prices. Indonesia is arguably suffering from a case of Dutch disease, where high commodity earnings drive the exchange rate to the point that manufacturing becomes internationally uncompetitive. The wrong response would be to protect Indonesian manufacturing against international competition — and there are some indications that policies may be going down this slippery slope.
Instead, Indonesia should create a commodity fund that collects the royalties and other tax earnings denominated in foreign exchange, invest these conservatively in financial assets, and use the long-term real earnings to finance development projects on a sustainable basis. This would reveal a more realistic picture of Indonesia’s long-term public finance situation while helping the exchange rate reach a level that is both market-driven and supportive of manufacturing.
The praise that Indonesia is receiving for its macroeconomic management should not lead to complacency. Rising volatility in global commodity markets turn the Indonesian economy’s dependence on the production of commodities into a risky business. And commodities cannot be relied on to drive long-term growth, increase wages and lead to a more equal distribution of income. Only by developing its manufacturing sector can Indonesia avoid the middle-income trap that has ensnared so many other middle-income countries. And for that it needs continued and steady reforms of its policies and its bureaucracy.
Vikram Nehru is a senior associate in the Asia Program and Bakrie Chair in Southeast Asian Studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
An earlier version of this article was first published here by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Timor-Leste's 'business as usual' government
Timor-Leste's 'business as usual' government:
When Timor-Leste's new Cabinet was announced, there was a flurry of critical comment within Timor-Leste, about both the size and composition of the ministry. Some critics were unhappy that an expanded ministry would cost more and potentially lead to more corruption while others railed against Timor-Leste becoming an ‘oligarchy’ rather than a democracy.
The positive aspect of this commentary is that is shows that Timor-Leste is a plural political society expressing a range of political views. It is also important to note that while some of the commentary reflected partisan political positions, much of it also reflected a genuine concern over the size and capacity of the government.
The new ministry, with 17 ministers, is not especially large by any standard and is much smaller than many of other countries. The criticism therefore reflects on the inclusion of vice-ministers and secretaries of state, who exercise quasi-ministerial functions.
read more
When Timor-Leste's new Cabinet was announced, there was a flurry of critical comment within Timor-Leste, about both the size and composition of the ministry. Some critics were unhappy that an expanded ministry would cost more and potentially lead to more corruption while others railed against Timor-Leste becoming an ‘oligarchy’ rather than a democracy.
The positive aspect of this commentary is that is shows that Timor-Leste is a plural political society expressing a range of political views. It is also important to note that while some of the commentary reflected partisan political positions, much of it also reflected a genuine concern over the size and capacity of the government.
The new ministry, with 17 ministers, is not especially large by any standard and is much smaller than many of other countries. The criticism therefore reflects on the inclusion of vice-ministers and secretaries of state, who exercise quasi-ministerial functions.
read more
Ahmadis lose hope this Ramadan
Ahmadis lose hope this Ramadan: The fraternity that unites millions of Muslims around the world during Ramadan doesn't extend in Pakistan to the Ahmadi community. Seven of the four-million strong group, which was declared non-Muslim in 1974, have been murdered in targeted killings this year. As places to worship safely are destroyed, the persecution is intensifying. - Zofeen Ebrahim (Aug 8, '12)
Baloch insurgency faces uncertain future
Baloch insurgency faces uncertain future: A shift from systematic militancy to indiscriminate violence by insurgents from Pakistan's Balochistan reflects the separatist movement's desperation as the West prepares to leave Afghanistan. Should Afghan security crumble after the 2014 withdrawal, Indian spymasters on the AfPak border will find it increasingly hard to supply weapons, finances and training to the militants. - Khuram Iqbal (Aug 8, '12)
Kakuma Camp in Kenya Surpasses its 100,000 Capacity
Kakuma Camp in Kenya Surpasses its 100,000 Capacity: UNHCR has serious concerns as refugees continue to arrive and the camp area cannot expand without a new source of water.
FOOD: Price shock hotspots
FOOD: Price shock hotspots:
 | JOHANNESBURG, 6 August 2012 (IRIN) - As global grain prices begin to climb, the Sahel countries of West Africa, those in the Horn, and in central and southern Africa - many of which depend mainly on imported cereals to feed their people - are most exposed to the impact of more expensive food, said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Around the world plenty of people are already living with high food prices, and more will be joining them. |
Analysis: Nepalis speak out on federalism
Analysis: Nepalis speak out on federalism:
 | CHITWAN, 6 August 2012 (IRIN) - The debate on federalism in Nepal, and how to share political power and natural resources, has centred on the issue of recognizing ethnic groups. A constitution still remains to be written six years after a decade of civil war ended, but the Constituent Assembly, elected to draft a new constitution and function as a parliament, has been dissolved. |
HEALTH: Major price cut for rapid TB test
HEALTH: Major price cut for rapid TB test:
 | NAIROBI, 7 August 2012 (IRIN) - The cost of a highly accurate, rapid diagnostic test for tuberculosis (TB) has been reduced by 40 percent under a new agreement between the US government, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the health financing mechanism, UNITAID. |
MALI: Not a fragile state, yet
MALI: Not a fragile state, yet:
 | BAMAKO/MOPTI, 8 August 2012 (IRIN) - Drissa Keita, 42, fled south to Bamako, the capital of Mail, with 18 family members when Islamist extremists overran Gao in the northeast in early April. Once a civil servant, he now lives eight to a room in his brother's house, without electricity. “Conditions are very difficult… I want to return - all of my children were born in Gao - but we can't go back [while it is] under the current regime.” |
Analysis: Patronage stalls Yemen’s transition
Analysis: Patronage stalls Yemen’s transition:
 | SANA'A, 8 August 2012 (IRIN) - Nearly six months after his ousting from power, former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh continues to hold significant influence and control over military forces in the country. What are the new President's prospects as he battles to stamp out patronage and gain control? |
LEBANON-SYRIA: No school today - Why Syrian refugee children miss out on education
LEBANON-SYRIA: No school today - Why Syrian refugee children miss out on education:
 | WADI KHALED, 8 August 2012 (IRIN) - Hayat*, a dark-haired 12-year-old, searches for a familiar face among a circle of children playing a name game. She knows some of the kids. They have fled from the central Syrian city of Homs with their families, just as she has. Others are unknown to her; they are from the Lebanese border region of Wadi Khaled, where she and her family have found refuge. |
MALI: Some parties open to negotiations
MALI: Some parties open to negotiations:
 | OUAGADOUGOU, 8 August 2012 (IRIN) - Iyad Ag Ghali, Secretary-General of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Dine, one of the Islamist groups in control of northern Mali, met with Burkina Faso's foreign affairs minister, Djibril Bassole, in Kidal on 7 August and said he is open to engaging in mediation efforts to reunite the country. |
Ivory Coast links ex-president to attacks
Ivory Coast links ex-president to attacks: Interior ministry holds fighters aligned with Laurent Gbagbo responsible for recent deadly raids targeting troops.
Bahrain charges policemen over abuses
Bahrain charges policemen over abuses: Charges against 15 officers follow investigation recommended by independent panel that studied last year's uprising.
Egypt launches deadly air strikes in Sinai
Egypt launches deadly air strikes in Sinai: Egyptian forces kill 20 people during air strikes on Sinai, in response to deadly attack on Sunday on a police station.
Floods submerge most of Philippine capital
Floods submerge most of Philippine capital: Emergency workers rush food, water and clothes to more than a million people displaced and marooned in Manila.
Blackwater to pay fine to settle arms charges
Blackwater to pay fine to settle arms charges: US security contractor formerly known as Blackwater agrees to pay $7.5m fine over charges including arms trafficking.
Egypt's president fires intelligence chief
Egypt's president fires intelligence chief: Intelligence chief and governor of Northern Sinai sacked days after attack near border with Israel left 16 officers dead
US temple gunman 'shot himself'
US temple gunman 'shot himself': FBI confirms gunman Wade Michael Page died of self-inflicted gunshot wound though he was shot at by police.
Nigeria state imposes curfew after shootings
Nigeria state imposes curfew after shootings: Curfew in central state of Kogi follows sectarian shootings, the latest in a spate of violence rocking the country.
IDP News Alert, 8 August 2012
IDP News Alert, 8 August 2012: Northeast India: 400’000 people internally displaced following violent riots
Mexico: Thousands displaced by violence in Sinaloa
Côte d’Ivoire:  One year since election violence, special rapporteur describes IDP situation as “direâ€
North Korea: 84,000 left homeless following floods
China & the Philippines: Hundreds of thousands displaced by typhoons Saola and Damrey
Mexico: Thousands displaced by violence in Sinaloa
Côte d’Ivoire:  One year since election violence, special rapporteur describes IDP situation as “direâ€
North Korea: 84,000 left homeless following floods
China & the Philippines: Hundreds of thousands displaced by typhoons Saola and Damrey
Aug 7, 2012
Religious Leaders Barred
Religious Leaders Barred:
Vietnamese police on Monday blocked religious leaders and disabled war veterans from attending a gathering organized by a pagoda associated with a banned Buddhist group, beating and detaining one minister, the head monk told RFA.
Monks at the Lien Tri Pagoda, a temple in Thu Duc on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City and under the unsanctioned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), held the gathering to provide a free vegetarian meal and gifts to disabled Vietnam War veterans who lack assistance from the government.
But around 100 plainclothes police surrounded the temple to prevent participants from entering, the head monk, Thich Khong Tanh, told RFA.
Local Christian leaders were also invited, and one Protestant minister was beaten and taken away to the police station for questioning, he said.
Two Catholic priests who resisted police attempts to block them from attending were allowed into the pagoda grounds only after agreeing to delete photos they had taken of the scene outside the temple, Tanh said.
Activists invited to the gathering, including prodemocracy physician Nguyen Dan Que, rights lawyer Nguyen Bac Truyen, and formerly imprisoned journalist Truong Minh Duc, phoned Tanh to tell him they were being closely watched and could not leave their homes, he said.
Unsanctioned group
Tanh and the Lien Tri Pagoda have long been targeted by authorities for refusing to submit to the official Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the only recognized Buddhist body in the one-party communist state, where religious activity is closely monitored and religious groups must operate under government-controlled management boards.
The unregistered UBCV, with followers around Vietnam, has clashed with officials since its founding in the 1960s. Its leader, Thich Quang Do, lives under house arrest at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City.
As UBCV’s Commissioner for Humanitarian and Social Affairs, Tanh has previously distributed food and relief funds to veterans, natural disaster victims, and other needy people.
Last month, authorities prevented UBCV monks and followers from attending anti-China demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, sending police officers to Lien Tri Pagoda and blocking Tanh from joining the protest, the group said.
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
Vietnamese police on Monday blocked religious leaders and disabled war veterans from attending a gathering organized by a pagoda associated with a banned Buddhist group, beating and detaining one minister, the head monk told RFA.
Monks at the Lien Tri Pagoda, a temple in Thu Duc on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City and under the unsanctioned Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), held the gathering to provide a free vegetarian meal and gifts to disabled Vietnam War veterans who lack assistance from the government.
But around 100 plainclothes police surrounded the temple to prevent participants from entering, the head monk, Thich Khong Tanh, told RFA.
Local Christian leaders were also invited, and one Protestant minister was beaten and taken away to the police station for questioning, he said.
Two Catholic priests who resisted police attempts to block them from attending were allowed into the pagoda grounds only after agreeing to delete photos they had taken of the scene outside the temple, Tanh said.
Activists invited to the gathering, including prodemocracy physician Nguyen Dan Que, rights lawyer Nguyen Bac Truyen, and formerly imprisoned journalist Truong Minh Duc, phoned Tanh to tell him they were being closely watched and could not leave their homes, he said.
Unsanctioned group
Tanh and the Lien Tri Pagoda have long been targeted by authorities for refusing to submit to the official Buddhist Church of Vietnam, the only recognized Buddhist body in the one-party communist state, where religious activity is closely monitored and religious groups must operate under government-controlled management boards.
The unregistered UBCV, with followers around Vietnam, has clashed with officials since its founding in the 1960s. Its leader, Thich Quang Do, lives under house arrest at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Ho Chi Minh City.
As UBCV’s Commissioner for Humanitarian and Social Affairs, Tanh has previously distributed food and relief funds to veterans, natural disaster victims, and other needy people.
Last month, authorities prevented UBCV monks and followers from attending anti-China demonstrations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, sending police officers to Lien Tri Pagoda and blocking Tanh from joining the protest, the group said.
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
Health Officials Demand Equal Care
Health Officials Demand Equal Care:
Cambodia is instructing doctors to practice without regard to socioeconomic status, according to the country’s top health official, amidst reports that women have been left to die during childbirth and other patients have been refused treatment because they did not have the money to pay for services.
Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said Friday that improvements in healthcare quality and service have over the past two years substantially decreased the number of maternal and child fatalities across Cambodia, which has the highest infant mortality rate in the Southeast Asia.
He said that since 2010 the ministry has worked to teach doctors not to differentiate between the rich and the poor—a practice which has led to some doctors refusing to admit pregnant women and other patients who could not cover certain medical fees.
“We are working on a process to improve maternal and child health,” Mam Bunheng said, adding that the ministry is also in the process of drafting a code of conduct for midwives.
“We are also working to improve our midwives in health centers and referral hospitals,” he said. “We are working to train midwives to work in communities.”
Mam Bunheng said that doctors have been instructed to admit poor patients and that the Ministry of Health has allocated equity fund reserves for providing treatment and food to the underprivileged.
He said that the government has helped about two million poor patients nationwide through the equity fund foundation.
Expensive fees
But the health minister’s statement runs contrary to reports that have recently surfaced in Cambodia about discriminatory practices against the poor in hospitals around the country, particularly in rural areas.
Nob Mean, a farmer from northwestern Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, told RFA that he had been referred to a hospital that had charged him a number of fees for medical services.
“The referral hospital has asked me for money to pay for my bed. It’s expensive,” he said.
“The hospital charged me 81,500 riels [U.S. $20]. It’s a lot of money for the poor,” he said, adding that he considers service in the country’s health industry to be about 60 percent positive, but that he would like the government to bring the standard closer to 100 percent.
Lor Vannthary, a physician who works for a domestic health nongovernmental organization, said that while the government has paid more attention to health issues in recent years, a number of problems remain in the industry.
“Referral hospitals have been built, but they lack a sufficient number of doctors. Young graduating doctors are refusing to work in remote areas of the country and instead prefer the city,” he said.
“Also, some doctors don’t pay close enough attention to patients staying in state hospitals because they have their own private hospitals—the doctors are not being paid enough to work.”
Heng Tai Kry, a secretary of state with the Ministry of Health, acknowledged that some doctors are unable to pay enough attention to their patients, adding that this is largely due to working long hours with many different patients.
He denied the claim that negligence on the part of doctors is a result of low pay.
“Doctors are paid enough to live, but sometimes the demand is too great and we can’t please everybody,” he said.
“The same problem exists even in places like the U.S. and Singapore.”
‘Desperately poor’
Cambodia’s Ministry of Health oversees more than 1,000 hospitals and 5,000 doctors across the country.
According to the London-based nongovernmental organization Health Poverty Action (HPA), some 78 percent of Cambodians live in “deep poverty,” with four of out five living on less than U.S. $2 a day. The group calls healthcare provision in the country “desperately poor.”
Some 58 percent of people in mountainous areas were living below the poverty line in 2004, it says, up from 40 percent ten years earlier.
“While poverty has decreased overall in recent years, the health of indigenous people living in mountain areas has declined dramatically, along with the quality of health services available to them,” the group said.
HPA says that with 98 deaths per 1,000 live births, Cambodia has the highest infant mortality rate in Southeast Asia.
Reported by Tin Zakariya and Sok Serey for RFA’s Khmer service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Cambodia is instructing doctors to practice without regard to socioeconomic status, according to the country’s top health official, amidst reports that women have been left to die during childbirth and other patients have been refused treatment because they did not have the money to pay for services.
Minister of Health Mam Bunheng said Friday that improvements in healthcare quality and service have over the past two years substantially decreased the number of maternal and child fatalities across Cambodia, which has the highest infant mortality rate in the Southeast Asia.
He said that since 2010 the ministry has worked to teach doctors not to differentiate between the rich and the poor—a practice which has led to some doctors refusing to admit pregnant women and other patients who could not cover certain medical fees.
“We are working on a process to improve maternal and child health,” Mam Bunheng said, adding that the ministry is also in the process of drafting a code of conduct for midwives.
“We are also working to improve our midwives in health centers and referral hospitals,” he said. “We are working to train midwives to work in communities.”
Mam Bunheng said that doctors have been instructed to admit poor patients and that the Ministry of Health has allocated equity fund reserves for providing treatment and food to the underprivileged.
He said that the government has helped about two million poor patients nationwide through the equity fund foundation.
Minister of Health Mam Bunheng speaks with reporters, Aug. 3, 2012. Credit: RFA
Expensive fees
But the health minister’s statement runs contrary to reports that have recently surfaced in Cambodia about discriminatory practices against the poor in hospitals around the country, particularly in rural areas.
Nob Mean, a farmer from northwestern Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province, told RFA that he had been referred to a hospital that had charged him a number of fees for medical services.
“The referral hospital has asked me for money to pay for my bed. It’s expensive,” he said.
“The hospital charged me 81,500 riels [U.S. $20]. It’s a lot of money for the poor,” he said, adding that he considers service in the country’s health industry to be about 60 percent positive, but that he would like the government to bring the standard closer to 100 percent.
Lor Vannthary, a physician who works for a domestic health nongovernmental organization, said that while the government has paid more attention to health issues in recent years, a number of problems remain in the industry.
“Referral hospitals have been built, but they lack a sufficient number of doctors. Young graduating doctors are refusing to work in remote areas of the country and instead prefer the city,” he said.
“Also, some doctors don’t pay close enough attention to patients staying in state hospitals because they have their own private hospitals—the doctors are not being paid enough to work.”
Heng Tai Kry, a secretary of state with the Ministry of Health, acknowledged that some doctors are unable to pay enough attention to their patients, adding that this is largely due to working long hours with many different patients.
He denied the claim that negligence on the part of doctors is a result of low pay.
“Doctors are paid enough to live, but sometimes the demand is too great and we can’t please everybody,” he said.
“The same problem exists even in places like the U.S. and Singapore.”
‘Desperately poor’
Cambodia’s Ministry of Health oversees more than 1,000 hospitals and 5,000 doctors across the country.
According to the London-based nongovernmental organization Health Poverty Action (HPA), some 78 percent of Cambodians live in “deep poverty,” with four of out five living on less than U.S. $2 a day. The group calls healthcare provision in the country “desperately poor.”
Some 58 percent of people in mountainous areas were living below the poverty line in 2004, it says, up from 40 percent ten years earlier.
“While poverty has decreased overall in recent years, the health of indigenous people living in mountain areas has declined dramatically, along with the quality of health services available to them,” the group said.
HPA says that with 98 deaths per 1,000 live births, Cambodia has the highest infant mortality rate in Southeast Asia.
Reported by Tin Zakariya and Sok Serey for RFA’s Khmer service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Woman Strips, Self-Immolates
Woman Strips, Self-Immolates:
Updated at 12:30 p.m. EST on 2012-08-07
A Tibetan woman took off her clothes and self-immolated in a monastery's grounds Tuesday to protest Chinese rule in Gansu province in China's northwest region, sources inside Tibet said.
Dolkar Tso, a 26-year-old mother of two, died after setting herself on fire near a stupa at the Tso monastery in the southern part of Kanlho (Gannan, in Chinese) prefecture at around 2.30 p.m. local time, the sources said
The incident was witnessed by other Tibetans circumambulating the monastery, and as they attempted to save her she told them to let her die.
"She took off her clothes and burned herself naked," one source inside Tibet said, citing eyewitnesses who heard her shout slogans calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
"She survived initially when the Tibetans put out the fire, and when the local monks arrived she called on them to hit her on the head with a stone and kill her so that the Chinese would not take her into custody alive," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
When the monks took Dolkar Tso to the monastery, her family members arrived and insisted they take her home, but she died on the way, the sources said.
She was a resident of Tsoe Tasa village in the Kanlho area.
“Despite the best efforts of the Chinese government, Tibetan protests continue and Tibetans continue to share information with the world about them," said London-based advocacy group Free Tibet's director Stephanie Brigden.
"The Tibet Spring will not go away simply because the world chooses to look away. It is time for leaders around the world to break the silence and speak out for Tibetan freedom,” she said.
Religious significance
Free Tibet said the Tso monastery in Tso city is of great religious significance to Tibetan Buddhists. People from the area participated in large-scale protests against Chinese rule in 2008.
Dolkar Tso's self-immolation was the 46th by Tibetans challenging Beijing’s rule since the current wave of fiery protests began in February 2009, with nearly all of the protests taking place in Tibetan-populated provinces in western China.
A day earlier, a Tibetan monk at the restive Kirti monastery in Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan prefecture burned himself while protesting Chinese rule and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. He is believed to have been taken away by Chinese security forces.
Lobsang Tsultrim, a 21-year-old monk from Kirti Monastery, set himself on fire in Ngaba's main street, which the local people have re-named "Martyrs Street" due to the large number of Tibetans who have self-immolated there.
"Following his protest, local authorities drove him to the county hospital. He was removed after 30 minutes and his current well-being and whereabouts are unknown," Free Tibet said.
Lobsang Tsultrim, a keen basketball player, was beaten by Chinese forces for taking part in demonstrations against Chinese rule in 2008, it said.
Underlying problems
Tibetan groups say the wave of self-immolation protests will continue until the underlying problems in the Tibetan-populated areas are addressed by the Chinese authorities.
Beijing’s increased restrictions in the wake of the burnings have only served to increase the sense of injustice and discrimination felt by Tibetans under Chinese rule, said U.S.-based International Campaign for Tibet's vice-president Bhuchung Tsering.
“As long as Tibetans continue to be denied the opportunity to live a life of equality, respect, and dignity, it is clear that they will undertake actions to convey their feelings,” he told a recent congressional hearing.
Chinese authorities however have labeled the self-immolators as terrorists, outcasts, criminals, and mentally ill people, and have blamed the Dalai Lama for encouraging the burnings.
Reported by RFA's Tibetan service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Paramesawaran Ponnudurai.
Updated at 12:30 p.m. EST on 2012-08-07
A Tibetan woman took off her clothes and self-immolated in a monastery's grounds Tuesday to protest Chinese rule in Gansu province in China's northwest region, sources inside Tibet said.
Dolkar Tso, a 26-year-old mother of two, died after setting herself on fire near a stupa at the Tso monastery in the southern part of Kanlho (Gannan, in Chinese) prefecture at around 2.30 p.m. local time, the sources said
The incident was witnessed by other Tibetans circumambulating the monastery, and as they attempted to save her she told them to let her die.
"She took off her clothes and burned herself naked," one source inside Tibet said, citing eyewitnesses who heard her shout slogans calling for freedom in Tibet and the return of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
"She survived initially when the Tibetans put out the fire, and when the local monks arrived she called on them to hit her on the head with a stone and kill her so that the Chinese would not take her into custody alive," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
When the monks took Dolkar Tso to the monastery, her family members arrived and insisted they take her home, but she died on the way, the sources said.
She was a resident of Tsoe Tasa village in the Kanlho area.
“Despite the best efforts of the Chinese government, Tibetan protests continue and Tibetans continue to share information with the world about them," said London-based advocacy group Free Tibet's director Stephanie Brigden.
"The Tibet Spring will not go away simply because the world chooses to look away. It is time for leaders around the world to break the silence and speak out for Tibetan freedom,” she said.
Religious significance
Free Tibet said the Tso monastery in Tso city is of great religious significance to Tibetan Buddhists. People from the area participated in large-scale protests against Chinese rule in 2008.
Dolkar Tso's self-immolation was the 46th by Tibetans challenging Beijing’s rule since the current wave of fiery protests began in February 2009, with nearly all of the protests taking place in Tibetan-populated provinces in western China.
A day earlier, a Tibetan monk at the restive Kirti monastery in Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan prefecture burned himself while protesting Chinese rule and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama. He is believed to have been taken away by Chinese security forces.
Lobsang Tsultrim, a 21-year-old monk from Kirti Monastery, set himself on fire in Ngaba's main street, which the local people have re-named "Martyrs Street" due to the large number of Tibetans who have self-immolated there.
"Following his protest, local authorities drove him to the county hospital. He was removed after 30 minutes and his current well-being and whereabouts are unknown," Free Tibet said.
Lobsang Tsultrim, a keen basketball player, was beaten by Chinese forces for taking part in demonstrations against Chinese rule in 2008, it said.
Underlying problems
Tibetan groups say the wave of self-immolation protests will continue until the underlying problems in the Tibetan-populated areas are addressed by the Chinese authorities.
Beijing’s increased restrictions in the wake of the burnings have only served to increase the sense of injustice and discrimination felt by Tibetans under Chinese rule, said U.S.-based International Campaign for Tibet's vice-president Bhuchung Tsering.
“As long as Tibetans continue to be denied the opportunity to live a life of equality, respect, and dignity, it is clear that they will undertake actions to convey their feelings,” he told a recent congressional hearing.
Chinese authorities however have labeled the self-immolators as terrorists, outcasts, criminals, and mentally ill people, and have blamed the Dalai Lama for encouraging the burnings.
Reported by RFA's Tibetan service. Translated by Karma Dorjee. Written in English by Paramesawaran Ponnudurai.
Supporters Want Reason for Delay
Supporters Want Reason for Delay:
Updated at 3:30 p.m. EST on 2012-08-07
Around twenty supporters of three Vietnamese bloggers accused of "conducting propaganda against the state” gathered in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday to demand an explanation from Vietnamese court officials for the delay of their trial on the day it was scheduled to begin.
Vietnamese authorities postponed the trial last week, claiming defense lawyers had called for the delay following the self-immolation death of the mother of one of the accused.
But the attorneys for Ta Phong Tan, a Catholic former policewoman, Nguyen Van Hai, better known by his online alias Dieu Cay, and Phan Thanh Hai, known as Anh Ba Saigon, denied ever having made any request to the court.
One of the supporters, Father Dinh Huu Thoai from the Catholic Redemptorist Order, said his group of fellow bloggers had traveled to the court with Nguyen Van Hai’s ex-wife seeking an answer from officials.
“We went with Dang Thi Tan … The relatives of the two other detained bloggers live far away, so they couldn’t join us,” he said.
“Our purpose is to make clear why the trial was postponed. [The court officials] can’t just do whatever they want.”
Repeated claims
The supporters said that after asking the whereabouts of the court’s chief judge, a court clerk informed them that he was absent for the day, but they later saw him entering the court and approached him.
The chief judge reiterated the court’s earlier claim that the defense attorneys had requested the delay “to ensure the rights of the defendants and their legal benefits” and left for his chambers.
When the group of supporters returned home from the court on Tuesday they reported being under close surveillance by local authorities.
The bloggers’ lawyers said last week that they had been told by a court clerk to pick up an official notice informing them that the postponement had been a result of their request, but they maintain that they had only asked the court to ensure “appropriate legal procedures be respected.”
No new date has been set for the trial.
Bloggers' trial
The postponement came as authorities on Friday launched an investigation into the self-immolation death of Ta Phong Tan’s mother, Dang Thi Kim Lieng, who set herself ablaze in front of a municipal building in Bac Lieu province earlier this week in protest of her daughter’s trial.
A family member said Lieng was also troubled by a threatened eviction from her town over a personal land dispute which the government had not resolved, despite numerous petitions sent to officials.
Washington has expressed concerns over Lieng's death and called on Hanoi to release all three bloggers.
The three bloggers are charged with "distorting the truth, denigrating the party and state" for politically critical blogging and for posting hundreds of articles on a banned website known as the "Free Journalists Club" of Vietnam.
They face a maximum of 20 years in prison, based on the charges under Article 88 of Vietnam’s criminal code, a draconian provision that prohibits “conducting propaganda against the state.”
Wider crackdown
London-based human rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday said the detention and trial of the three bloggers is part of a wider crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in the country, along with recent mass arrests in the capital Hanoi over the weekend.
On Aug. 5, authorities arrested and detained around 30 people, including at least four prominent bloggers, during a peaceful protest against China's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. All of the detainees were later released.
“The ongoing crackdown has put bloggers, writers, lawyers, labor activists, members of religious groups, farmers, business people and democracy activists behind bars,” said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s researcher on Vietnam.
Following reports of the delay of the trial for the three bloggers, Amnesty called on the Vietnamese government to "immediately and unconditionally" release them, adding that their detention is "arbitrary under international law."
“The three bloggers are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression through their online writings,” Abbott said.
“The mass arrests of peaceful protestors in Ha Noi and the ongoing detention of the three bloggers sadly reflect the dire situation of freedom of expression in Vietnam.”
'Prioritize rights'
Amnesty noted that Vietnam announced its intent to gain a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council and has sought to strengthen its relationship with the United States and other countries.
It said donor countries must do more to push the Vietnamese government to improve its human rights record, and commended Washington for demanding the release of Nguyen Van Hai and the other bloggers.
“Amnesty International is calling on donor countries to prioritize human rights in their developing relationships with Vietnam,” Abbott said.
“They must do all that they can to support those whose voices the Vietnamese authorities are trying to silence.”
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Updated at 3:30 p.m. EST on 2012-08-07
Around twenty supporters of three Vietnamese bloggers accused of "conducting propaganda against the state” gathered in Ho Chi Minh City Tuesday to demand an explanation from Vietnamese court officials for the delay of their trial on the day it was scheduled to begin.
Vietnamese authorities postponed the trial last week, claiming defense lawyers had called for the delay following the self-immolation death of the mother of one of the accused.
But the attorneys for Ta Phong Tan, a Catholic former policewoman, Nguyen Van Hai, better known by his online alias Dieu Cay, and Phan Thanh Hai, known as Anh Ba Saigon, denied ever having made any request to the court.
One of the supporters, Father Dinh Huu Thoai from the Catholic Redemptorist Order, said his group of fellow bloggers had traveled to the court with Nguyen Van Hai’s ex-wife seeking an answer from officials.
“We went with Dang Thi Tan … The relatives of the two other detained bloggers live far away, so they couldn’t join us,” he said.
“Our purpose is to make clear why the trial was postponed. [The court officials] can’t just do whatever they want.”
Repeated claims
The supporters said that after asking the whereabouts of the court’s chief judge, a court clerk informed them that he was absent for the day, but they later saw him entering the court and approached him.
The chief judge reiterated the court’s earlier claim that the defense attorneys had requested the delay “to ensure the rights of the defendants and their legal benefits” and left for his chambers.
When the group of supporters returned home from the court on Tuesday they reported being under close surveillance by local authorities.
The bloggers’ lawyers said last week that they had been told by a court clerk to pick up an official notice informing them that the postponement had been a result of their request, but they maintain that they had only asked the court to ensure “appropriate legal procedures be respected.”
No new date has been set for the trial.
Bloggers' trial
The postponement came as authorities on Friday launched an investigation into the self-immolation death of Ta Phong Tan’s mother, Dang Thi Kim Lieng, who set herself ablaze in front of a municipal building in Bac Lieu province earlier this week in protest of her daughter’s trial.
A family member said Lieng was also troubled by a threatened eviction from her town over a personal land dispute which the government had not resolved, despite numerous petitions sent to officials.
Washington has expressed concerns over Lieng's death and called on Hanoi to release all three bloggers.
The three bloggers are charged with "distorting the truth, denigrating the party and state" for politically critical blogging and for posting hundreds of articles on a banned website known as the "Free Journalists Club" of Vietnam.
They face a maximum of 20 years in prison, based on the charges under Article 88 of Vietnam’s criminal code, a draconian provision that prohibits “conducting propaganda against the state.”
Wider crackdown
London-based human rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday said the detention and trial of the three bloggers is part of a wider crackdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in the country, along with recent mass arrests in the capital Hanoi over the weekend.
On Aug. 5, authorities arrested and detained around 30 people, including at least four prominent bloggers, during a peaceful protest against China's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. All of the detainees were later released.
“The ongoing crackdown has put bloggers, writers, lawyers, labor activists, members of religious groups, farmers, business people and democracy activists behind bars,” said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s researcher on Vietnam.
Following reports of the delay of the trial for the three bloggers, Amnesty called on the Vietnamese government to "immediately and unconditionally" release them, adding that their detention is "arbitrary under international law."
“The three bloggers are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression through their online writings,” Abbott said.
“The mass arrests of peaceful protestors in Ha Noi and the ongoing detention of the three bloggers sadly reflect the dire situation of freedom of expression in Vietnam.”
'Prioritize rights'
Amnesty noted that Vietnam announced its intent to gain a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council and has sought to strengthen its relationship with the United States and other countries.
It said donor countries must do more to push the Vietnamese government to improve its human rights record, and commended Washington for demanding the release of Nguyen Van Hai and the other bloggers.
“Amnesty International is calling on donor countries to prioritize human rights in their developing relationships with Vietnam,” Abbott said.
“They must do all that they can to support those whose voices the Vietnamese authorities are trying to silence.”
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
A Bright Light Goes Out in the Tribal Belt
A Bright Light Goes Out in the Tribal Belt:
Women's rights activist Farida Afridi at her desk. Photo: Youtube user BlueVeinsPakMy heart broke when I heard about the death of Farida Afridi, a 25 year-old Pakistani woman who was shot in Peshawar, Pakistan last month. Afridi was a brave champion of women’s rights. Along with her sister Noor she founded the Society for Appraisal & Women Empowerment in Rural Areas (SAWERA), a local woman-led NGO dedicated to the empowerment of women and peace in the Khyber Agency of Pakistan’s tribal belt. As the human rights manager for SAWERA, Afridi was active in promoting social and economic development, with a particular focus on marginalized women and children.
Local Taliban groups are suspected in the attack on Afridi, who was shot in the head as she left her house to go to work on July 4. She reported having received threats from the Taliban before the attack, and chillingly predicted her own death a month ago.
Afridi is not the first social worker to be murdered by militants, who have publicly declared that they would kill anyone found working in the fields of social and human rights. The Taliban are opposed to NGOs that work in these fields because they see them as on-the-ground proof of Western interference and infiltration in the social system of the tribal belt. Social workers Zartif Khan Afridi and Mukarram Khan Atif were also shot and killed in the past year.
For her part, Afridi, who had a Masters in Gender Studies, correctly identified patriarchy as the root cause of the marginalization of women in the Khyber Agency. According to SAWERA’s website, in the tribal areas patriarchy allows men to keep women from gaining an education. Furthermore, a lack of peace and security in the region have stunted social and developmental progress. As a feminist and activist, Afridi challenged both the patriarchy and the violence. She courageously faced dangerous conditions to work in sectors as varied as social engineering, participatory development, disaster relief, gender mainstreaming, and poverty alleviation.
To assuage her family’s fears about her safety and honor Afridi always respected the religious and cultural boundaries of her deeply conservative society. By wearing a chador and full-face veil, and avoiding controversial programs like AIDS and family-planning awareness, Afridi and her sister managed to overcome traditional and cultural resistance to development, but they did not overcome the local militancy.
Afridi’s senseless and violent death could have been prevented if the government had provided her with adequate security. But in Pakistan, women who work for the improvement of their sisters’ plights never get the same protection as army generals and politicians. This, I’m afraid, is the real tragedy of my country.
A Pakistani women’s rights activist is murdered—but why wasn’t she protected?
Women's rights activist Farida Afridi at her desk. Photo: Youtube user BlueVeinsPak
- Pakistan is a country of contradictions – full of promise for growth, modernity and progress, yet shrouded by political, social and cultural issues that undermine its quest for identity and integrity. My bi-monthly column “Pakistan Unveiled” presents stories that showcase the Pakistani struggle for freedom of expression, an end to censorship, and a more open and balanced society.
- Bina Shah is a Karachi-based journalist and fiction writer and has taught writing at the university level. She is the author of four novels and two collections of short stories. She is a columnist for two major English-language newspapers in Pakistan, The Dawn and The Express Tribune, and she has contributed to international newspapers including The Independent, The Guardian, and The International Herald Tribune. She is an alumnus of the International Writers Workshop (IWP 2011).
Afridi is not the first social worker to be murdered by militants, who have publicly declared that they would kill anyone found working in the fields of social and human rights. The Taliban are opposed to NGOs that work in these fields because they see them as on-the-ground proof of Western interference and infiltration in the social system of the tribal belt. Social workers Zartif Khan Afridi and Mukarram Khan Atif were also shot and killed in the past year.
For her part, Afridi, who had a Masters in Gender Studies, correctly identified patriarchy as the root cause of the marginalization of women in the Khyber Agency. According to SAWERA’s website, in the tribal areas patriarchy allows men to keep women from gaining an education. Furthermore, a lack of peace and security in the region have stunted social and developmental progress. As a feminist and activist, Afridi challenged both the patriarchy and the violence. She courageously faced dangerous conditions to work in sectors as varied as social engineering, participatory development, disaster relief, gender mainstreaming, and poverty alleviation.
To assuage her family’s fears about her safety and honor Afridi always respected the religious and cultural boundaries of her deeply conservative society. By wearing a chador and full-face veil, and avoiding controversial programs like AIDS and family-planning awareness, Afridi and her sister managed to overcome traditional and cultural resistance to development, but they did not overcome the local militancy.
Afridi’s senseless and violent death could have been prevented if the government had provided her with adequate security. But in Pakistan, women who work for the improvement of their sisters’ plights never get the same protection as army generals and politicians. This, I’m afraid, is the real tragedy of my country.
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