Asia

China’s Push for Accelerated Urbanization is Pushing Migrant Workers Toward Homelessness

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

SHANGHAI, China – Dozens of migrant Chinese workers are being evicted from their makeshift homes in old shipping containers in Shanghai due the new Chinese leadership’s desire to accelerate urbanization in the outskirts of the country’s “mega” cities.

A subdivided tenement awaits demolition in Huabei province of China. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

Neighborhoods like the shipping container village, about twenty minutes away from Shanghai’s wealthy financial district, have sprung up in the last twenty years to fulfill China’s desperate need for cheap housing.  Other unusual housing solutions include using tents, repurposing old industrial buildings, and subdividing farm houses to accommodate the droves of migrant workers that flock to urban centers.

China plans on spending roughly $6 trillion on improving domestic infrastructure, like building more housing, in order to serve the projected 400 million people that are estimated to move to urban centers in the next decade.

Though China plans on building more housing to fulfill their desperate housing needs, by destroying the makeshift neighborhoods like the shipping container village in Shanghai, the government is leaving thousands of poor, migrant workers without any housing.

Migrant workers, like Li Yanxin who runs a convenience store out of his shipping container to earn money, cannot afford regular apartments, which can cost as much as 2000 yuan per month (roughly $320 U.S.).  The poor must resort to renting smaller properties, like 12 square meter subdivided rooms, at the more affordable rate of 500 yuan per month (roughly $80 U.S.).

Around 130 million migrant, Chinese workers live in subdivided rooms in old farmhouses, which land owning farmers in villages have repurposed.  After the government usurps the land the old farmhouses sit on, the land will be rezoned and repurposed for development purposes.

The newly rezoned land can be sold at a very high price for lucrative commercial development.  These lands, in theory, will be repurposed for fulfilling the desperate housing needs; however, the evicted migrant poor will be unable to afford the luxury apartments that will most likely sit atop of the newly developed lands.

Other cities, like Beijing, are attempting to clean up crowded tenements, like the shipping container village and farmhouse subdivision tenements, by usurping the land, repurposing it, and raising rents.  This effectively prices out the poor who will no longer be able to afford the properties.

Beijing also will not allow migrant poor to purchase the new properties the city plans to build.  The migrant workers will only be allowed to rent, however, the number of available apartments to rent usually falls short of public need.

For further information, please see:

Reuters – China’s urbanization drive leaves migrant workers out in the cold – 30 March 2013

China Daily – Migrants: linchpin of China’s urbanization – 27 March 2013

New Tang Dynasty – China’s Urbanization Drive Puts Trillions into Officials’ Pockets – 27 March 2013

South China Morning Post – Managing China’s urban spread – 21 March 2013

China Denies Firing Weapons at Vietnamese Fishing Boats

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

HANOI, Vietnam – On Tuesday, China responded to Vietnam’s accusation of unlawfully firing on one of its fishing boats near the Paracel islands as a legitimate action.

Vietnamese soldier in the Spratly islands, another area of dispute. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

According to BBC News, China claimed that its patrol boats acted “reasonably” in an alteration with the Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea last week.  Furthermore, China states that it fired flares, not weapons, at the fishing boats.

“It [was] necessary and legitimate for China to take action against a Vietnamese shipping boat that has entered China’s waters for illegal activity,” stated Hong Lei, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.  “No damage was caused to the fishing boat from Vietnam at the time,” continued Mr. Lei.

Both China and Vietname claim the Paracel islands, a region China has controlled since a brief war with South Vietnam in 1974.

A Xinhua news agency report quoted an unidentified Chinese navy official characterizing Vietnam’s allegations as “sheer fabrication.”

“After the dissuasion by means of whistle-blowing, shouting and hand-flag guiding was of no avail, the Chinese naval vessels fired two red signal shells into the sky as a warning, and the signal shells burned out and extinguished in the air,” relayed the unidentified Chinese navy official.

However, Vietnam has filed a formal complaint with the Chinese embassy in Hanoi.

“Vietnam strongly protests, urging China to investigate and seriously deal with the wrongful and inhumane act, and compensate Vietnamese fishermen for their loss,” said Luong Thanh Nghi, a Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman.

The South China Sea is a disputed area and has been the root of controversy.  According to China, it possesses the U-shaped strip of the sea and points to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) for its authority.

Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan also have coinciding claims with China.  For instance, last year, the Philippines and China engaged in an extensive “stand-off” over another disputed area, the Scarborough shoal, straining their diplomatic relations. However, the Philippines is not the only country in the region whose relationship with China is deteriorating.

According to BBC News, this recent incident is fueling the existing anti-China feeling in Vietnam.  Before last week’s occurrence, a Chinese marine ship in the South China Sea chased two Vietnamese fishing boats.  Moreover, in recent months, China has increased its patrolling of the area.

The Chinese navy “are determined to safeguard the country’s sovereignty with their services on the South China Sea,” read the Xinhua report.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – China ‘fired flares’ at Vietnam boat in South China Sea – 27 March 2013

The Guardian – China denies starting fire on Vietnamese fishing boat – 27 March 2013

BBC News – China and Vietnam row over South China Sea clash – 26 March 2013

20 Dead in Religious Clash Between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar

By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MEIKHTILA, Myanmar – Myanmar declared a state of emergency on Friday and imposed martial law in four districts, including the city of Meikhtila, after violence broke out between Buddhists and Muslims.

Riot police attempt to restore calm and control in Meikhtila. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

A police report said the clash between the two religious groups started after a Buddhist couple had an argument with a Muslim gold shop owner.  The argument took a turn for the worse and sparked an eruption of violence involving hundreds of people.

At least twenty people have been killed so far and dozens more have been wounded.  One of the casualties was a Buddhist monk.  Thousands of other bystanders have been displaced from their homes due to the conflict and two camps have been set up to house the victims.

Mobs of Buddhists marched through Meikhtila’s Muslim districts with torches burning down Muslim homes and other establishments.  Myanmar’s state run television reported mosques burning in Yamethin along with 50 more homes.  Mosques and other Muslim buildings in Lewei and Naypyitaw were also set on fire.

Local residents in the affected cities and districts had complained that there were not enough local police forces to quell the unrest.  Myanmar President Thein Sein sent in national military forces to take charge of security.  An overnight curfew was also imposed to improve safety for the citizens.

Ethnic and religious tensions had been simmering underneath the surface of Myanmar’s communities during 49 years of military rule which ceased in March of 2011.  The military rule had quashed all dissent and kept conflicts in check.  The fledgling democracy is now challenged with the task of unifying one of Asia’s most ethnically diverse countries.

Myanmar is largely Buddhist; however, roughly 5 percent of the 60 million residents are Muslim.  Historically, there are well established and long standing Muslims communities in Yangon and Mandalay, two of Myanmar’s largest cities.

This most recent outbreak of violence is similar to the conflict between Rahkine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya last year in western Myanmar that affected and displaced more than 100,000 residents.  Human rights groups had warned that the western conflict could spread to other parts of the country.

In a separate incident last year, Buddhist monks held rallies against Muslims in the central part of Myanmar near the city of Mandalay.  The current conflict is described by locals as “unpredictable and dangerous.”

Many residents of Meikhtila, where the fighting was the worse, do not feel safe in their own communities.  An estimated 6000 residents have already fled their homes, including 1200 Muslims and have taken refuge at a police station and a large event stadium.

For further information, please see:

Charlotte Observer – Buddhists-Muslims violence spreads in Myanmar – 24 March 2013

Tulsa World News – Sectarian violence kills 20 in Myanmar; state of emergency declared – 23 March 2013

Reuters – Myanmar riots stoke fears of widening sectarian violence – 22 March 2013

Daily Mail – Myanmar riots stoke fears of widening sectarian violence – 21 March 2013

U.N. Passes Resolution Urges Independent Investigation of Sri Lankan Civil War

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, Sri Lanka – On Thursday, the United Nations’ Human Rights Council passed a resolution censuring Sri Lanka’s record.  In 2009, Sri Lanka’s military defeated separatist Tamil rebels after a brutal 26-year war; however, the war’s final phase is under heavy scrutiny.

A Sri Lankan Tamil woman holds a portrait of a missing relative. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian)

Twenty-five countries voted in favor of the resolution, thirteen against, and eight absented.

The resolution urges Sri Lanka to implement an independent and credible inquiry into the alleged war crimes.

The Sri Lankan government has contended that its own investigation in 2011 should suffice. The Sri Lankan commission report cleared government forces of any violations. Despite the government’s report, human rights believe that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration has ignored prior demands for accountability and has delayed implementing the limited recommendations.

According to BBC News, during the United Nations’ Human Rights Council’s proceedings, representatives from Sri Lanka criticized the resolution for jeopardizing the current reconciliation process. Representatives also alleged that the Unites States is targeting countries that do not conform to its “political agenda.”

The resolution echoes the concern over recent Buddhist attacks on Muslims and Christians. It also recognizes development in reforming infrastructure and mentions “considerable work lies ahead in the areas of justice, reconciliation and the resumption of livelihoods.”

Amnesty International stated that the resolution highlighted violation rights but failed to create an independent and international inquiry into the issue.

Other concerns include concern over extra-judicial killings, disappearances, torture, threats to the rule of law, intimidation of civil society activists and journalists, and religious discrimination.

According to T. K. Elangovan, a DMK spokesman, the Sri Lankan government has not met commitments to rehabilitate its Tamil population.  “It is the moral duty of the government of India to see that these assurances were fulfilled or else to put pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to see these assurances are kept up. Why India is a silent spectator,” inquired Mr. Elangovan.

Keheliya Rambukwella, Sri Lanka’s media minister, stated that that matter has been blown up out of proportion. “As long as there are extreme elements in the world you have these things, in even the most five-star democracies,” said Rambukwella.

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Sri Lanka Criticizes UN Resolution on War Abuses – 22 March 2013

BBC News – UN passes resolution against Sri Lanka rights record – 21 March 2013

Voice of America – UN Vote on Sri Lankan Civil War Threatens Indian Government – 19 March 2013

 

 

High Court in the Philippines Delays Implementing the Responsible Parenthood Law

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

MANILLA, Philippines – On Tuesday, a decision by the Philippines’ highest court delayed the implementation of a reproductive health law providing free access to contraception and family planning.

Catholic Church not in favor of the “Contraception law.” (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

According to The Washington Post, the court voted 15-5 in favor of 10 separate petitions to stop the implementation of the Responsible Parenthood Law and pend oral arguments until June 18th.

This law requires government health centers to offer universal and free access to most forms of contraceptives to everyone, particularly the Philippines’s poorer citizens, who comprise a third of its population. Prior to the Responsible Parenthood Law, access to contraceptives was expensive and contingent upon the political affiliation of one’s local government. The law also mandates sexual education in public schools.

While advocates of the Responsible Parenthood Law believe that it should be implemented to combat poverty and maternal mortality, petitioners questioning the law’s legality welcomed the high court’s decision.

On December 29, 2012, President Benigno Aquino signed the law after 14 years of campaigning by public health and women activists groups. Edwin Lacierda, the spokeman for the President Aquino, stated that the government respects the high court’s decision and is confident about supporting the law’s merits.

The country has a population of 94 million, 80% of whom are Catholic, and one of Asia’s highest birth rates.

The Responsible Parenthood Law has received much opposition from conservative groups in the country and the Catholic Church.

“For me it’s a good sign, a victory for those who are against the law,” said Bishop Arturo Bastes of Sorsogon.  According to CNN News, Bishop Arturo Bastes believed that Pope Francis, who was officially inaugurated on the same day of the court’s ruling, would be happy to hear of the delay.

According to Mellisa Upreti, a regional director at U.S. based Center for Reproductive Rights for Asia, the Filipino government made a few concessions in deference to the Catholic Church.

For instance, the law did not legalize all forms of contraceptives, including emergency forms of contraception. The Responsible Parenthood Law also contains a measure that permits private and religious-influenced hospitals, the leading providers of health care in the country, to refuse reproductive health services based upon its religious objections.

Despite these concessions, its opponents are still concerned.  However, the Responsible Parenthood Law has its supporters.

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago believes that the law is necessary to help people in the Philippines “escape the vicious cycle of poverty by giving them options on how to manage their sexual lives, plan their families and control their procreative activities.”

The court will reexamine the law in 120 days.

For further information, please see:

CNN News – Top Philippine court hits pause on divisive contraception law – 20 March 2013

BBC News – Philippine high court delays contraception law – 19 March 2013

Washington Post – Philippine top court halts contraceptives law until it hears arguments over religion, abortion – 19 March 2013