Chinese authorities in Tibet have forbidden aid workers and Buddhist monks from entering areas of the region struck by deadly earthquakes last week, three residents of the region and a Tibetan in exile told Radio Free Asia.
On Jan. 7, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Dingri county, near the border of Nepal. Chinese state media says it killed 126 people, but Tibetan sources said the toll was likely higher given that at least 100 people were killed in the town of Dramtso alone.
State media also said the disaster injured 337 people and displaced more than 60,000 people.
Starting Monday, authorities blocked off access, preventing monks, relief volunteers and aid providers from entering the affected area under the pretext of “cleanup,” and “security work,” the residents said under condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
The blocking of monks was painful for survivors because in Buddhist tradition, prayers and rituals are conducted at the end of each week for the first seven weeks after a person’s death.
Tibetans in other areas of Tibet, as well as those abroad or in exile in India, Nepal, Bhutan and elsewhere, gathered Monday to offer prayers.
Aftershocks
Since last week’s quake, more than 1,200 aftershocks have been reported by Chinese authorities.
On Monday evening, two strong aftershocks — with magnitudes of 5.1 and 4.6 — struck Dingri County’s Tsogo township (Cuoguoxiang in Chinese) and Tashizong township (Zhaxizongxiang), respectively, according to the United States Geological Survey.
According to a Dingri county official quoted by Chinese state media on Monday, “no casualties have been reported so far” in the latest aftershocks. The official added that “further investigation is underway.”
Information censorship
The Chinese government has also been deleting photos and videos about the impact of the earthquake from social media, residents said.
“Chinese state media has been focusing on propaganda activities such as having Tibetan children wave Chinese flags. They are forcing affected residents to express their gratitude to the Chinese government, and they display (Chinese President) Xi Jinping’s photos in the temporary shelters provided,” another resident said.
On Sunday, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the democratically elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, the government-in-exile based in Dharamshala, India, issued a statement in which he called on Beijing to “…ensure transparency and accountability in relief efforts by granting unrestricted and immediate access to international aid organizations and media delegations.”
Rescue workers conduct search and rescue for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 7, 2025.(Jigme Dorje/Xinhua News Agency/AP)
“Strict information censorship by the PRC government continues to pose significant challenges in verifying the accuracy of casualty reports and assessing the adequacy of relief operations,” Tsering said.
He also called on the Chinese government to “provide adequate assistance in rebuilding efforts that takes into account the traditional Tibetan needs and fundamental rights of the Tibetan people.”
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun, in a press briefing on Monday, responded to a query raised on Tsering’s statement, saying, “The disaster response and relief work is generally proceeding smoothly. We are confident in winning this tough battle of quake response and returning work and life to normal in the affected areas as soon as possible.”
Translated by Tenzin Pema. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Tibetan.
Russian missile and drone attacks are continuing across Ukraine as the country already faces a cold, dark winter after Russia’s strikes destroyed about half of the country’s energy infrastructure. This comes as Russia and Ukraine completed a prisoner swap, repatriating more than 300 prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates ahead of the new year. The Biden administration, meanwhile, has approved billions more in military and economic assistance to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office with a pledge to curtail aid and end the war. Since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago, Congress has approved $175 billion in total assistance to Ukraine. “Putin doesn’t want peace,” says Oleksandra Matviichuk, a leading Ukrainian human rights lawyer, who says Russia’s goal is to restore its empire by force. “Russian occupation means torture, rapes, enforced disappearances, denial of your own identity, forcible adoption of your children, filtration camps and mass graves,” she says.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Despite being bolstered by an unprecedented degree of Chinese diplomatic and material support, Myanmar’s military has had mixed results in the past few weeks, in the face of mounting economic and fiscal challenges.
The State Administrative Council (SAC) – as the junta is officially called – has continued to suffer military setbacks that have economic implications of their own.
With the capture of Kan Paik Ti, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has consolidated control of the entire border with China and stepped up their offensive in the mineral rich regions.
The KIA announced that it would allow the resumption of rare-earth mining in the Pangwa-Chipwi region, now under its control.
In Rakhine, the Arakan Army captured Toungup, which prevents overland supply to Kyaukphyu from the south.
The Arakan Army have captured the military’s last posts in Ann town, home of the headquarters of the Western Military Command and a major pumping station for the oil and gas pipelines to China.
Over 800 soldiers – mainly hastily trained conscripts – have surrendered in the recent campaign. The Arakan Army now controls 11 of 17 towns in Rakhine.
Arakan Army fighters pose outside a Myanmar junta military headquarters near Ann town after capturing it in this image released Nov. 13, 2024.
While there has been considerable tension between the Arakan Army and the fractious Chin opposition forces in the past, there’s been an unprecedented degree of cooperation now.
Local Chin Defense Forces and the Arakan Army have interrupted resupply convoys from Magwe into Ann, capturing at least 14 soldiers.
Ceasefires in Shan state
In northeastern Myanmar near the border with China, the Chinese stepped up their pressure on the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA.
On Dec. 4, the MNDAA, which has been fighting for years for autonomy for the Kokang region, declared a ceasefire in its war against the military, the second insurgent force in days to cite pressure from China for its willingness to talk peace.
The move followed the TNLA’s announcement that they would agree to talks with the junta.
Soldiers march during a parade commemorating Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on March 27, 2023.
The regime’s counter offensive in northern Shan state continues to make little headway, and the battles have been pitched and casualties high. The regime continues to intentionally target civilians with air power.
The opposition has suffered some setbacks in Karenni and in Magwe and Sagaing, where logistics troubles continue to impede their gains. Karen forces continue to opportunistically ambush junta forces.
But the junta is facing its own resource challenges, and is desperate to reverse its losses ahead of Chinese-supported elections that are scheduled for 2025.
But with only 40% of Myanmar’s territory under its full control, it’s hard to see how elections could serve as anything but a shambolic off-ramp for the generals.
Despite the overall 12% contraction of the economy since the February 2021 coup d’etat, the junta’s defense expenditure has surged by 222%, from 1.746 trillion kyats in 2021 to 3.703 trillion kyats in 2022 to 5.635 trillion kyats (over US$2.7 billion) in 2023.
The regime has not disclosed its defense budget for 2024 or 2025.
Tight finances ahead
At a recent meeting of the SAC’s Financial Commission, Gen. Soe Win acknowledged that Min Aung Hlaing had directed spending on security to take precedence over all other public spending, despite the fact that the military’s provision of these public goods and social services has withered in the past three years.
Vendors wait for customers at their roadside food stall during an electricity blackout in Yangon on April 26, 2024.
A recent Radio Free Asia report found that the country is producing only 300MWs of electricity, a 25% decline since the coup, with many power generating facilities inoperable, or beyond the junta’s control. The country requires 540MW.
Where the money for increased defense spending will come from, is anyone’s guess. Finances are tight for the junta, with foreign exchange in perpetually short supply.
The regime’s currency controls remain in place, which has devastated the business community, forcing them to sell their foreign exchange at artificially low rates, prompting more companies to try to hide their assets abroad.
The opposition’s control of four of the five official crossings with China has added to the financial pain, as border trade can be conducted in yuan and kyats, not dollars.
That is the crux of the regime’s lobbying of China to pressure the TNLA and MNDAA, two members of the Three Brotherhood Alliance that had led offensives against the junta since October 2023, to stop their offensives.
Foreign investment has fallen each year since the coup, from $1.64 billion in FY2022-23 to $661 million in FY2023-24. Now, more than three years in, investors have lost all confidence.
Myanmar junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing looks at pearls at the Myanmar Gems Emporium, Nov. 18, 2024.
The military government’s Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA), revealed that foreign investment in the first seven months of FY 2024-25 totaled only $226 million.
DICA’s data, as reported in Myanmar-Now, shows that most of that investment went to existing projects and operations; only four of 33 this year are greenfield investors.
Scaring up revenue
The junta has been searching for new sources of revenue.
The regime’s Minister of Energy, Ko Ko Lwin, held talks with the chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation in Beijing, where they discussed additional sales of oil and gas, and improbably increasing the capacity of Myanmar-China oil and gas pipelines.
Min Aug Hlaing made a show of attending the Myanmar Gems Emporium in Naypyidaw on Nov. 18, 2024, which remains one of the few reliable income streams for the junta.
The Irrawaddynoted that each year since the coup, the offered lots of jade have increased – from 1,955 in 2021, to 2,150 in 2022 and 4,025 in 2023.
The TNLA has worked to deprive the junta of proceeds from the ruby trade in Mogoke.
While it has allowed individual miners to continue, the TNLA has blocked all large-scale mechanized mining, which has been dominated by the military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Limited.
Short on manpower, the junta is doing everything it can to force overseas workers home to be conscripted.
A new regulation puts the onus on manpower agencies to recall workers who have been conscripted. They have lobbied the Thai government to send the 2 million legal residents and upwards of 3 million undocumented Myanmar nationals home.
Those that continue to work abroad are a cash cow for the junta.
In September the SAC enacted a rule to force the expatriate workers to transfer 25% of their remittances through formal bank channels, where they must use the official exchange rate of 2,100 kyats to the dollar and 56 kyats to the baht. The black market rate is 3,400 kyats to the dollar and around 100 kyats per baht.
Economic warfare
The junta, however, is also waging its own economic warfare on the opposition.
While the junta has not been able to retake Mogoke or Lashio, it is actively bombing the towns to disrupt economic activity.
Damage from airstrikes by Myanmar junta forces is seen in Mogok, Mandalay region, on Nov. 12, 2024.
China’s border closures and internet and electricity outages of opposition-controlled crossings have put considerable financial pressure on the citizens in territories near the frontier controlled by ethnic armies.
Fuel distribution is now legally banned to the entire Rakhine state, northern Shan State, Kachin with the exception of the state capital Myitkyina. Some 26 townships in Sagaing region, a township in Magwe, and two in Mandalay have suffered the same bans.
As short on resources as the junta is, they still have advantages over the opposition.
But saddled with corruption and plummeting morale, will it be enough?
Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Zachary Abuza.
Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem vows to continue fighting Israel until acceptable cease-fire terms are offered.
California Sen. Alex Padilla condemns Trump’s pledge for largest deportation operation if re-elected.
Supreme Court allows Virginia to resume voter registration purge aimed at preventing non-citizens from voting after emergency appeal from Republican administration.
San Jose mayor joins partners for grand reopening of Pacific Motor Inn homeless shelter, which provided emergency housing during COVID-19 shutdowns.
Israel’s three-week siege of northern Gaza has killed at least 1,000 Palestinians. Most of the dead are women and children. On Saturday, Israeli forces withdrew from Kamal Adwan Hospital just one day after storming it, with health officials saying that soldiers detained dozens of male medical staffers and some of the patients. This comes as the Israeli government has banned six medical NGOs from entering Gaza despite the dire humanitarian crisis stemming from repeated displacements of the population, widespread disease, injuries from Israeli attacks, hunger and more. Some 43,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its war on Gaza last October, according to local officials, although the true toll is likely far higher. “The healthcare infrastructure is destroyed. Many of the local doctors have been either killed or kidnapped. The patients are left stranded; no one is providing any help to them,” says Mosab Nasser, CEO of FAJR Scientific, one of the six medical aid groups banned by Israel.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
Myanmar’s junta is increasingly targeting aid workers under the pretext that they are supporting the country’s armed opposition, arresting more than 20 in Mon state since June, according to members of civil society groups.
Since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat, aid groups have filled significant gaps in social services under junta rule – stepping in to deliver much needed food and supplies to the displaced, assist with recovery efforts following natural disasters, and provide critical medical care and burial services for civilians caught in the crossfire of Myanmar’s years-long civil war.
But volunteers told RFA Burmese that as rebel groups have enjoyed more success on the battlefield in recent months, the junta has increasingly accused their organizations of “aiding terrorists,” putting them at risk and creating a chilling effect on the crucial work they do.
Sources with ties to volunteer organizations said that since June the military has arrested more than 20 aid workers in Mon state alone, eight of whom have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law.
At least four aid workers were murdered over the same period of time in the Mandalay region, and none of the cases have been solved by authorities, said the sources, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
Arrests in Mon state
On Oct. 9, three members of the Ownerless Social Aid Association in Mon state’s Thanbyuzayat township, including the group’s chairman, were arrested and charged with anti-terrorism laws for allegedly supporting the anti-junta People’s Defense Force, or PDF, said a source close to the organization.
“The chairman, the driver, and the chief financial officer were prosecuted for supplying the PDFs with one sack of rice and 50,000 kyats (US$25), three viss (1 viss = 3.6 pounds) of dried fish and rice, and 200,000 kyat (US$95), respectively,” the source said.
Local PDF units were formed by civilians to protect their communities from the military and many have pledged allegiance to the country’s shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, made up of officials deposed in the coup.
In June, the military arrested four volunteers with the Kawt San Nai Social Aid Organization Association in Mon’s Kyaikhto township and five from the Lamaing Youth’s Social Aid and Rescue Organization, including the group’s chairman, and charged them under the Counter-Terrorism Law, sources said.
The military also arrested aid workers in Mon’s Mawlamyine, Ramanya, Bilin, Thahton and Mudon townships and sentenced them to long prison terms, they said, adding that civilians in need of medical care died because of the resulting suspension of humanitarian aid.
Beyond Mon state, junta authorities arrested six members of the Thukha Kari Social Aid Association in Sagaing region’s Sagaing township during the first week of May for allegedly supporting the PDF.
Four killed in Mandalay
The crackdown on aid workers may have contributed to a sense of impunity for the unidentified gunmen who on Sept. 25 arrested and killed Soe Win, the chairman of the Moe Metta Social Volunteers Organization, in Mandalay region’s Ngazun township and three other volunteers from the same group the following day, a resident told RFA.
“The chairman was arrested first and then killed,” said the resident. “The next day, a senior member [of the group] and his nephew were also arrested at the same time [as well as a third aid worker]. Later, they were killed and their bodies were thrown into a garbage dump. We still don’t know which group killed them.”
An ambulance belonging to the Lamaing Youth’s Social Aid and Rescue Organization in Ye township, Mon state, Myanmar, is seen Oct. 7, 2024. (Lamaing Youth’s Social Aid Rescue Organization via Facebook)
The killings took place in Ngazun’s Moe Taung village, where the military and pro-junta militias are known to operate, as well as the PDF, the resident said.
RFA has been unable to independently confirm who was responsible for the killings.
Chilling effect on aid groups
An aid worker, who also declined to be named, said that volunteer groups now feel under threat and unable to operate because of the crackdown.
“At present, most of the relief groups in Mon state have suspended their ambulance services [because of the risk],” said the aid worker. “Earlier, we were able to take rural patients who needed intensive treatment to major hospitals in Yangon and Mawlamyine cities. But these days, the junta won’t even allow us to transport patients in critical condition.”
When asked about the crackdown, Saw Kyi Naing, the junta’s spokesperson and social affairs minister for Mon state, said that he hadn’t heard of the arrests.
“People who abide by the rules and directives can travel freely because all of the groups have been registered,” he added.
Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the arrest and jailing of aid workers went unanswered Tuesday.
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
South Korea’s spy agency said Friday that North Korea had decided to send “large-scale” troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine, with 1,500 special forces already in Russia’s Far East undergoing training.
The National Intelligence Service, or NIS, released detailed satellite images it said showed a first deployment, saying it estimated the North could send around 12,000 soldiers in total.
The North was spotted transporting its special forces troops to Russian territory on a Russian naval transport ship between Oct. 8 and 13, according to the NIS.
North Korea and Russia have moved noticeably closer over the past year or more amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
If confirmed, the move would be a rare foray by the long-isolated and nuclear-armed North into a foreign conflict.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says this image shows North Korean personnel gathered within the training ground of Russia’s Khabarovsk military facility on Oct. 16, 2024. (Airbus Defense and Space via South Korea’s National Intelligence Service/AFP)
About 1,500 North Korean soldiers were transported during the first phase, using four amphibious landing ships and three escort vessels owned by Russia, the NIS said.
These troops were moved from areas near the North Korean cities of Chongjin, Hamhung and Musudan to Russia’s Vladivostok, said the NIS, adding that a second phase of transport is expected to occur soon.
They have been stationed across various locations in the Far East, including Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk and have been issued Russian military uniforms and weapons, according to the agency.
12,000 troops expected
The NIS said that they are expected to be sent to the front lines once they complete their “adaptation training,” adding that it expects a total of 12,000 troops, including those from the country’s most elite military units, could be deployed.
South Korea’s presidential office said Seoul has been closely tracking North Korea’s troop movement to Russia from the beginning in coordination with its allies, and will continue to monitor the situation and take all necessary measures proactively.
NATO chief Mark Rutte said Friday the alliance could not yet confirm South Korean intelligence’s report, but it is in “close contact” with its partners.
“At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort,” Rutte told reporters following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
“But this, of course, might change,” he said.
Rutte added NATO was “in close contact” with its partners, particularly South Korea, which was taking part in this week’s talks as part of the so-called Indo-Pacific Four, along with Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
“We will certainly have that conversation with them to get all the evidence on the table,” said Rutte.
Separately, EU spokesperson Peter Stano said in a statement: “Continued military support from the DPRK to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine will be met with an appropriate response.” The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, is North Korea’s official name.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited Ukrainian intelligence reports saying that North Korean personnel had already been deployed in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, with an additional 10,000 troops being prepared to join the fight.
Zelenskyy suggested that Russia is relying on North Korean forces to compensate for its substantial troop losses, as many young Russians seek to avoid conscription.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun told lawmakers in early October that North Korea was likely planning to send troops to Ukraine to fight alongside Russia.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Oct. 10, however, dismissed the claim as “fake news.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly submitted the bill to the lower house of parliament on Monday to ratify the treaty with North Korea on a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which was sealed in June.
The treaty was signed by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 19 in Pyongyang after their summit talks during the Russian President’s state visit.
The new partnership includes a mutual defense assistance clause that would apply in the case of “aggression” against one of the signatories.
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.
The International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank are poring over a highly-critical audit of a multimillion dollar COVID-19 aid package in Solomon Islands, partly supported by the two institutions, that found widespread mismanagement and potential corruption.
The report from the Solomon Islands Auditor General Office highlighted a litany of problems surrounding delivery of the SBD$309 million (US$37 million) emergency funding for businesses and households between 2020-21.
Though the audit notes the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic and the “heightened the inherent risk for expediting procurements,” it paints a damning picture of missing documentation, conflicts of interest, procedural breaches and possible fraud.
“We are currently going over the report and will be discussing it with the authorities,” an International Monetary Fund, or IMF, spokesperson told RFA affiliate BenarNews.
“The need for reforms to improve fiscal governance and public financial management in Solomon Islands has been underscored by the IMF, and we will continue to encourage and support the country in advancing these reforms.”
The audit’s findings are likely to reinforce public concern about thriving corruption in Solomon Islands. The country scored 43 out of 100 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index last year, with 0 indicating “highly corrupt” and 100 “very clean.”
The economic stimulus package, endorsed in May 2020 by the cabinet of former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, was funded by the Asian Development Bank, or ADB, the government and other development partners.
At the same time, the IMF approved US$28.5 million in emergency financing to help the country address urgent balance of payments needs. Honiara agreed to publish an audit of all COVID-19 related spending as part of the deal.
The ADB, which handed out US$20 million to the government’s COVID-19 response plan and the stimulus package, said it was aware of the audit and ready to investigate any alleged complaints of wrongdoing it received.
“The ADB’s Office of Anticorruption and Integrity takes all complaints of alleged integrity violations in ADB supported projects seriously,” it said in a statement.
Since its release earlier this month, the auditor’s report has made waves in Solomon Islands, a Pacific nation of about 700,000 people that lies some 1,750 kilometers (1,087 miles) off Australia’s east coast, between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Political pressure is growing on police to open an investigation into the findings, but Commissioner Mostyn Mangau has said he was waiting for a referral from the auditor general.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said the report would be tabled in parliament and debated, but it had not yet been discussed in cabinet.
“There are processes there to be followed,” he told reporters in Honiara.
He added the audit “comes under the prerogative of the Minister of Finance,” who was out of the country.
Sogavare took up the post of finance minister after serving as prime minister between 2019 and 2024.
Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Jeremiah Manele speaks at a press conference in Canberra on June 26, 2024. (AFP)
The economic stimulus package was managed by a small, overstretched team in the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The arrangement resulted in “many control weaknesses and control breakdowns,” Auditor General David Teika Dennis said in his report.
The audit report found, for example, that senior officials personally signed for many payments for beneficiaries but provided no evidence they had handed the payment on to the designated person.
“This was a significant breakdown of internal control – allowing government officers to sign for payments for beneficiaries who may not even be aware they are due to receive payment or how much they are to receive was a major fraud risk,” the audit report said.
“We identified one government officer who had personally signed for 251 Imprest Account cheques worth approximately SBD$6.8 million. The officer was also involved in encouraging and preparing applications for individuals.”
Funds were also paid to members of parliament to spend in their constituencies, but there was very little documentation to show how the money was used, the report said.
Overall, less than 10% of successful grant applications for aid could be provided to auditors, who also faced obstruction and delays while trying to do their work.
Charley Piringi contributed to this report from Honiara.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Harry Pearl for BenarNews.
The International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank are poring over a highly-critical audit of a multimillion dollar COVID-19 aid package in Solomon Islands, partly supported by the two institutions, that found widespread mismanagement and potential corruption.
The report from the Solomon Islands Auditor General Office highlighted a litany of problems surrounding delivery of the SBD$309 million (US$37 million) emergency funding for businesses and households between 2020-21.
Though the audit notes the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic and the “heightened the inherent risk for expediting procurements,” it paints a damning picture of missing documentation, conflicts of interest, procedural breaches and possible fraud.
“We are currently going over the report and will be discussing it with the authorities,” an International Monetary Fund, or IMF, spokesperson told RFA affiliate BenarNews.
“The need for reforms to improve fiscal governance and public financial management in Solomon Islands has been underscored by the IMF, and we will continue to encourage and support the country in advancing these reforms.”
The audit’s findings are likely to reinforce public concern about thriving corruption in Solomon Islands. The country scored 43 out of 100 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index last year, with 0 indicating “highly corrupt” and 100 “very clean.”
The economic stimulus package, endorsed in May 2020 by the cabinet of former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, was funded by the Asian Development Bank, or ADB, the government and other development partners.
At the same time, the IMF approved US$28.5 million in emergency financing to help the country address urgent balance of payments needs. Honiara agreed to publish an audit of all COVID-19 related spending as part of the deal.
The ADB, which handed out US$20 million to the government’s COVID-19 response plan and the stimulus package, said it was aware of the audit and ready to investigate any alleged complaints of wrongdoing it received.
“The ADB’s Office of Anticorruption and Integrity takes all complaints of alleged integrity violations in ADB supported projects seriously,” it said in a statement.
Since its release earlier this month, the auditor’s report has made waves in Solomon Islands, a Pacific nation of about 700,000 people that lies some 1,750 kilometers (1,087 miles) off Australia’s east coast, between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Political pressure is growing on police to open an investigation into the findings, but Commissioner Mostyn Mangau has said he was waiting for a referral from the auditor general.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele said the report would be tabled in parliament and debated, but it had not yet been discussed in cabinet.
“There are processes there to be followed,” he told reporters in Honiara.
He added the audit “comes under the prerogative of the Minister of Finance,” who was out of the country.
Sogavare took up the post of finance minister after serving as prime minister between 2019 and 2024.
Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Jeremiah Manele speaks at a press conference in Canberra on June 26, 2024. (AFP)
The economic stimulus package was managed by a small, overstretched team in the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The arrangement resulted in “many control weaknesses and control breakdowns,” Auditor General David Teika Dennis said in his report.
The audit report found, for example, that senior officials personally signed for many payments for beneficiaries but provided no evidence they had handed the payment on to the designated person.
“This was a significant breakdown of internal control – allowing government officers to sign for payments for beneficiaries who may not even be aware they are due to receive payment or how much they are to receive was a major fraud risk,” the audit report said.
“We identified one government officer who had personally signed for 251 Imprest Account cheques worth approximately SBD$6.8 million. The officer was also involved in encouraging and preparing applications for individuals.”
Funds were also paid to members of parliament to spend in their constituencies, but there was very little documentation to show how the money was used, the report said.
Overall, less than 10% of successful grant applications for aid could be provided to auditors, who also faced obstruction and delays while trying to do their work.
Charley Piringi contributed to this report from Honiara.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Harry Pearl for BenarNews.
Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned to Washington and met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia faces a reckoning in this year’s presidential election.
Lawmakers grilled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy at a contentious House Appropriations subcommittee meeting today, questioning the ability of the United States Postal Service to effectively handle mail-in ballots for this year’s presidential election.
New York Mayor Eric Adams says he’s “not surprised” by federal corruption charges and has no plans to resign.
Community members and immigrant justice groups gathered outside the San Francisco office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to show support for immigrants detained at the Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde ICE detention centers in Kern County, California.
We speak with Brett Murphy, the ProPublica reporter behind a blockbuster exposé that revealed the Biden administration ignored warnings from its own experts about Israel blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza in order to keep supplying the country with weapons. USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the State Department’s refugees bureau both concluded earlier this year that Israeli authorities routinely impeded delivery of food and medicine into the devastated Palestinian territory, where hunger, disease and displacement have wreaked havoc on the civilian population. Although U.S. law requires the government to stop arms shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed aid, Secretary of State Antony Blinken ignored the findings and told Congress Israel was not restricting humanitarian assistance — helping to keep weapons flowing to the Israeli military to continue its assault on Gaza.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
More than 30,000 people are in urgent need of aid in eastern Myanmar’s Kayah and neighboring Shan states after being inundated by Asia’s worst storm of the year, but volunteers say the country’s junta is blocking the delivery of relief items and donations.
Typhoon Yagi brought heavy rain to the region early last week, causing rivers to overflow their banks and triggering deadly flash floods and runoffs that on Monday the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said have affected more than 630,000 people.
Flooding killed more than 300 people and left at least 200 others missing, local media reported on Thursday, though some relief workers fear the toll will be higher. The typhoon destroyed more than 2,000 houses, more than 1,000 schools, nearly 370 religious buildings and more than 640,000 acres of farmland.
Volunteer workers told RFA Burmese that more than 30,000 people – including residents and those displaced by conflict in the aftermath of the military’s February 2021 coup d’etat – in Loikaw, Demoso, Shar Taw, Hpasawng, and Hpruso townships in Kayah state, as well as Pekon township in southern Shan state, are urgently need relief aid.
However, the junta has restricted the delivery of relief items under the pretext that they are going to rebel groups.
A relief worker in Kayah state said that their team had to turn back when junta forces in Loikaw prevented them from accessing flood-affected areas.
“We were stopped at the entrance gate to Loikaw city,” said the worker who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “Junta forces from Light Infantry Battalion 530 are stationed at this checkpoint, causing many aid groups to retreat,” he said.
As a result, flood victims have yet to receive local and international relief aid, he added.
These areas are under the control of the ethnic Karenni Nationalities Defence Force and Karenni Army, and the junta had previously banned the delivery of food there, causing residents increased hardship amid the flooding.
In Bago region, which lies to the southwest of Kayah state, more than 20,000 residents from over 100 villages along the eastern bank of the Sittaung River are also facing difficulties and are in need of relief, aid workers said.
But evacuations have been hampered by junta restrictions, residents said.
RFA tried to contact junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement for comment on the situation, but received no response.
Donor payments blocked
To compound matters, aid distributors are reporting that bank accounts using Myanmar’s KBZ Pay mobile payment system to transfer funds for flood relief had been blocked as of Tuesday.
Some people who have collected donations for flood victims told RFA they received notifications that their accounts had been temporarily suspended under Myanmar’s Anti-Money Laundering Law.
“In the note section of the transfers, they [the donors] wrote ‘for the flood,’” said one woman whose account was blocked. “As a result, my account was closed … with over 7 million kyats (US$3,335) remaining in it. I can no longer receive donations or transfer money to other accounts.”
The woman, who also declined to be named, said she was forced to post a message to Facebook asking that donors stop sending money to assist with flood relief.
Since the military coup, the junta has tightened monitoring of internal payment systems to prevent funds from being directed to rebel forces.
Myanmar refugees, who fled a surge in violence as the military cracks down on rebel groups, with food aid, Jan. 15, 2022, on the Thai border in Thailand’s Mae Sot district. (AFP)
According to RFA’s inquiries, at least five accounts belonging to flood relief workers and distributors have been closed, although it remains unclear how many have been affected nationwide.
When RFA contacted the KBZ call center for clarification regarding the restricted KBZ Pay accounts, representatives stated they were “not authorized to comment.”
On Wednesday, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar called on neighboring countries to provide cross-border assistance to flood victims and to facilitate relief aid delivery in coordination with rebel groups and the junta.
But aid workers say the junta continues to obstruct flood aid in areas controlled by the armed opposition, citing military operations as the reason.
Translated by Aung Naing and Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
New York, September 11, 2024—The Taliban must stop harassing the popular London-based broadcaster Afghanistan International, which they accused of conducting a “propaganda war against us,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
In his September 4 speech, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Stanekzai attacked the independent outlet as an “enemy” for reporting that aid relief sent to the flooded northern province of Baghlan had been allegedly misused. This latest criticism follows the Taliban’s ban in May on journalists and experts from cooperating with Afghanistan International and on people providing facilities for broadcasting the channel in public.
Separately, on September 4, Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice officials met with Afghan media executives in the capital Kabul and gave them verbal orders to replace Persian words — which they described as “Iranian” — with the Pashto equivalent in their reporting.
Persian, also known as Farsi, is the most widely spoken language in Afghanistan and in neighboring Iran. But the Taliban mainly speak Pashto and they have removed Persian words from signboards for public institutions and spoken out against the teaching of Persian in universities since their return to power in 2021.
The officials also ordered the journalists to respect Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
“The Taliban must immediately halt their campaign of intimidation against Afghanistan International and lift their restrictions on Persian-language reporting,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Taliban’s recent vice and virtue law has already emboldened their notorious morality police to further restrict the media, threatening to annihilate press freedom gains made during the two previous decades of democratic rule in Afghanistan.”
CPJ’s text messages to Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid requesting comment went unanswered.
Myanmar’s junta must allow greater aid access to civilians, the Red Cross chief said at the end of a visit to the war-torn country, warning that the conflict has created a humanitarian crisis that’s put “countless people” at risk.
The United Nations says about 3 million people have been forced from their homes by fighting between junta troops and those who oppose the military’s Feb. 1, 2024, coup d’etat, many since clashes surged at the beginning of the year.
The comments from International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric came as aid workers told RFA Burmese that 40,000 people had been displaced in central Myanmar’s Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions by junta airstrikes and troop raids between Aug. 1 and Sept. 10.
In a statement following her Sept. 5-9 trip, Spoljaric warned that a breakdown of healthcare services in Myanmar is leading to a rise in preventable diseases, while a lack of medical supplies is worsening the suffering of the wounded and chronically ill.
“Many families in Myanmar are going without basic medicines and health care, face food shortages and have limited access to clean water and sanitation. They live with the fear of conflict and violence,” she said in a statement. “The disruption of livelihoods is leaving countless people without the means to sustain themselves.”
Spoljaric noted that the military’s regular use of explosive weapons in populated areas has led to an increase in civilian casualties, while restrictions on the movement of people and goods has limited access to essential services for many communities.
During her visit, Spoljaric met with junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to discuss the ICRC’s goals in the country and urged him to allow greater access to conflict-affected areas – particularly in Shan, Kachin, Rakhine, Chin, Kayah, and Kayin states.
She also traveled to Rakhine state, where the military killed 70 people, including its troops in rebel captivity, in airstrikes on Sunday and Monday.
International humanitarian organizations have been helping civilians displaced by fighting in the region but most groups have withdrawn staff and suspended their work as the security situation has deteriorated.
Spoljaric said that the ICRC is engaging in dialogue with all stakeholders in the conflict “to remind them of their obligation to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian actors.”
Airstrikes displace 40,000
On Tuesday, residents and relief workers told RFA that junta troops had resumed offensives against villages in Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions, and that the air force is carrying out bombardments more frequently there.
A resident of Su Yit Kone village, in Mandalay’s Natogyi township, told RFA that nearly everyone had fled into the jungle because of the threat of airstrikes.
“The junta is intentionally destroying local houses every day to make the people afraid,” said the resident who, like others interviewed for this story, declined to be named due to security risks. “The villages aren’t active anymore. When it becomes dark, everyone beds down in the jungle.”
In Pa Zi Gyi village, in Sagaing region’s Kanbalu township, residents have been sheltering in the jungle since April 2023, when a junta airstrike killed more than 170 people and leveled all but three of the village’s 400 homes.
A building smolders following a junta airstrike, April 11, 2023, Pa Zi Gyi village in Kanbalu township, Sagaing region, Myanmar. (Citizen photo)
With airstrikes on the rise in the region, “we still don’t dare go back home,” one resident said, adding that junta planes are “constantly seen flying overhead.”
“Our village has turned into a wilderness,” he said. “We survive on collecting herbs and vegetables from the forest.”
The resident said that the displaced are only occasionally visited by small charity groups, who help supplement their food supplies.
Central region under assault
Meanwhile, junta ground forces are also stepping up raids on villages in the region.
On Tuesday, Data For Myanmar, which monitors arson attacks in Myanmar, reported that junta troops razed more than 1,043 houses in Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions in the first half of 2024 alone.
Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the reasons for the uptick in attacks in central Myanmar went unanswered Tuesday.
Buildings lie damaged from junta bombing, Sept. 2, 2024 in Maung Kone village, Tigyaing township, in Sagaing region. (Tigyaing Township People’s Administration via Facebook)
An official with the insurgent People’s Defense Force in Mandalay said that the junta sees central Myanmar as a militarily strategic region because it connects northern Shan, Kachin and Chin states to the rest of the nation.
“The people of central Myanmar have suffered a lot from the fighting, but they will persevere,” he said. “Victory by the armed opposition could present huge challenges to the junta because of the region’s strategic value, which is likely why the military is making a push there.”
Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.
A photo of an aircraft has been shared in Chinese-language social media posts alongside a claim that it shows a Chinese plane disguised as a Red Cross flight entering Ukraine to help Russia.
But the claim is false. The photo in fact shows a plane that carried a group of doctors to the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2020 following the outbreak of COVID-19.
The photo was shared here on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Aug. 24, 2024.
“China officially sent troops to participate in Russia’s ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine, with the first 15,000 troops entering the war under the name of the ‘Red Cross Forces’,” the caption of the photo reads in part.
The photo shows a white airplane on a landing strip with what appears to be China’s flag emblazoned on its tail.
Several Chinese online users recently claimed that China had officially sent soldiers to fight alongside Russia. (Screenshots/X)
China has repeatedly denied allegations that it supplies Russia with weapons amid accusations that it has built up Russia’s war machine by providing critical components.
Beijing exports more than $300 million worth of dual-use items – those with both commercial and military applications – to Russia every month, according to the U.S.-based think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The think tank added the list included what the U.S. had designated as “high priority” items – necessary for making weapons, from drones to tanks.
The U.S. in May imposed sanctions on about 20 firms based in China and Hong Kong, saying one exported components for drones, while others helped Russia bypass Western sanctions on other technologies.
China said it was not selling lethal arms and “prudently handles the export of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations.”
The claim about the airplane carrying Chinese troops to Russia was also shared on X here and here.
But the claim is false.
A reverse image search on Google found it was published in Chinese-language media in 2020, as seen here and here.
According to the reports, the image shows a Chinese plane carrying doctors to Wuhan following the outbreak of COVID-19 as part of relief efforts and epidemic control.
Keyword searches found no credible or official reports about China sending troops to Ukraine to help Russia.
Did an unmarked Chinese plane transport aid to Russia?
Separately, a photo and a video of an aircraft with no markings were shared on X alongside a claim that they show a Chinese plane transporting prohibited materials to either Russia or Iran.
Several online users claimed China sent prohibited materials to Russia using unmarked planes. (Screenshots/X)
But the claim is false.
A closer look at the photo and the video found the word “ATLAS” written next to the hatch of the plane and the number “704” marked near the landing gear.
Keyword searches using these two clues found the plane in fact is from the U.S. cargo airline Atlas Air and has nothing to do with China.
Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke and Taejun Kang.
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in today’s complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers’ understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Zhuang Jing for Asia Fact Check Lab.
The World Health Organization has completed the first phase of a critical polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza. After health officials confirmed Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years, the Israeli military agreed to calls for limited humanitarian pauses on its attacks in order for aid organizations to carry out vaccinations. But “there’s real practical, operational problems with this current pause,” says Yanti Soeripto, president and CEO of Save the Children US, whose staff is part of the vaccine drive. “It is not a ceasefire at all. It is an eight-hour pause every day.” As Israel has repeatedly attacked civilians awaiting the provision of aid over the course of its war, it is “difficult to reach normal coverage numbers” — especially for the two-dose vaccine course necessary to vaccinate against polio. Soeripto also discusses outbreaks in other current war zones, including the recent outbreak of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and warns that “these diseases often cause even more casualties than bombs and bullets.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.
