The Australian Department of Defence plans to spend about A$400,000 (US$310,580) on English lessons, event attendances and training courses for members of the Burmese military last year and this year, documents released under freedom of information laws show.
Myanmar’s armed forces, also known as the Tatmadaw, has faced international condemnation and accusations of ethnic cleansing in recent months for perpetrating a fresh wave of attacks against the country’s minority Rohingya population. About 688,000 Rohingya refugees have fled over the border to Bangladesh since August last year.
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee has said the situation bears “the hallmarks of a genocide.”
Photo: AFP
In 2017 to 2018 the Australian defense department is to spend A$398,000 (a A$126,000 increase on last year’s spending) on English lessons and on funding Myanmar’s participation in the Pirap Jabiru multilateral military exercises in the region that Australia cohosts with Thailand.
Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi is due to visit Sydney this month for the ASEAN-Australia special summit.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Thursday last week said that the Burmese government’s treatment of Rohingya is expected to be discussed.
Australian allies including the US, UK, Canada, France and the EU have cut ties with the Burmese military over the violence. The US and Canada have imposed targeted sanctions against Burmse military leaders.
In recent months the Burmese military has also courted controversy through purchases of fighter jets from Russia and ballistic missiles from North Korea.
“Defense has a modest program of engagement with Myanmar in non-combat areas, with a focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping training and English-language training. This engagement is designed to expose the Tatmadaw to the ways of a modern, professional defense force and highlight the importance of adhering to international humanitarian law,” a briefing note produced by the Australian defense department said.
The note, anticipating a challenge on why the UK and the US have acted differently, said: “Each country needs to make its own decision on engagement with the Tatmadaw.”
While an arms embargo, introduced in 1991, remains in place, Australia has so far diverged from its allies and resisted calls from groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to suspend military cooperation with Myanmar.
Australia held its first bilateral defense cooperation talks with Myanmar last year and plans to hold further talks this year.
“Australia’s bilateral defense engagement with Myanmar is limited to humanitarian and non-combat areas such as disaster relief, peacekeeping, aviation safety and English-language training,” an Australian defense department spokesperson said. “Maintaining this engagement has enabled senior Australian military officials to directly raise concerns on Rakhine with their Myanmar counterparts.”
Last year, the Australian defense department offered Tatmadaw officers English lessons and study places in Australia for courses on aviation safety, maritime security, operational law, joint warfare and peacekeeping. One Tatmadaw officer received a scholarship from the defense department to study for a master of peace and conflict at the University of Sydney.
In June last year, Australia gave Myanmar advice on how to carry out an air accident investigation following the deaths of 122 people when a Y-8 military plane crashed.
The spokesperson gave the example of Lieutenant General Angus Campbell’s meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw, at the Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference in Seoul in September last year.
Amnesty International’s crisis campaigns coordinator Diana Sayed said the Australian government’s strategy of continued engagement and careful diplomacy cannot be justified given the extent and extremity of the crisis.
“This business as usual approach is unacceptable and is only going to further damage Australia’s international reputation, especially as Australia takes up its seat on the UN human rights council,” Sayed said. “The decisions of the US, the UK and the EU to cut military ties, and the recent sanctions imposed by Canada all show that Australia is out of touch with the rest of the world when it comes to this crisis.”
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
RSS