MYANMAR: Thailand Asked to Probe Myanmar Junta Boss’s Links to Criminal Underworld

Posted by Asia Views | Jan 13, 2023 | 0 |

MYANMAR: Thailand Asked to Probe Myanmar Junta Boss’s Links to Criminal Underworld-Irrawaddy-Jan 12

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) have called on the Thai government to probe junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s ties with a Myanmar crony arms broker who was arrested in September in Bangkok. Tun Min Latt, 53, an arms broker for Myanmar’s junta, was arrested along with three Thais in dawn raids in Bangkok on Sept. 17 and indicted on Dec. 13 on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and transnational organized crime. “The Thai authorities should conduct an investigation into the ties of Min Aung Hlaing and his family with the underworld, and make its findings public. If it is found that they have broken Thai laws, they should be charged in a Thai court,” APHR chairman Charles Santiago said in a statement on Wednesday. “Myanmar generals have been engaging in illicit businesses for decades. Senior officers like Min Aung Hlaing not only plunder Myanmar’s natural resources paying close to no taxes, but are also involved in the narcotics trade, or at the very least turn a blind eye to it and are paid for doing so,” he added. Over 200 million baht (US$5.4 million) worth of drugs and other items were confiscated from Tun Min Latt and his accomplices, the Thai police said.Based on the seizure records, Justice for Myanmar (JFM), a covert activist group tracking the junta’s businesses, said items confiscated from the arms broker’s Bangkok home included the title document for a Bangkok four-bedroom condo worth nearly US$1 million belonging to Min Aung Hlaing’s son Aung Pyae Sone. Tun Min Latt runs the Star Sapphire Group of companies, which brokered imports of Israeli reconnaissance drones and aircraft parts for the Myanmar Air Force, according to sources. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/thailand-asked-to-probe-myanmar-junta-bosss-links-to-criminal-underworld.html

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

MYANMAR: Thailand Asked to Probe Myanmar Junta Boss’s Links to Criminal Underworld

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