State In Myanmar Research Articles

Ovipositional preference of Trichogramma dendrolimi and Trichogramma ostriniae strains from Myanmar on different host egg ages of Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)

ABSTRACT Trichogramma (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) wasps are the most successfully biological control agents against the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée). To progress with biological control of this pest in Myanmar, we investigated the performances of three strains of T. ostriniae and two strains of T. dendrolimi on O. furnacalis eggs of different ages (6–12-, 12–24-, 24–36- and 36–48-hr) under choice and no-choice conditions. The ovipositional preference was significantly different among these tested strains. Two T. dendrolimi strains from Southern Shan State of Myanmar and China exhibited a strong preference on the younger, 6–12-hr-old host eggs. The two indigenous T. ostriniae strains showed no difference in ovipositional preference for the first three ages (6–12-, 12–24- and 24–36-hr), however, the preference of T. ostriniae from China was significantly higher on the 12–24-hr-old eggs. None of the strains tested strongly preferred the 36–48-hr-old eggs. Under no-choice conditions, all tested ages were accepted by all Trichogramma strains, however, the T. dendrolimi strains parasitised significantly fewer eggs with increasing host age. Wasp emergence rate was also higher (94%) from the 12–24-hr-old eggs while immature developmental time was significantly prolonged on the 6–12-hr-old eggs. Two T. ostriniae strains from Southern Shan State had a broader host age preference with higher parasitism, being 32 eggs/female, and produced a greater number of progeny (∼43). These two T. ostriniae strains were identified as the most effective Trichogramma strains of O. furnacalis. The present study provides valuable information for a potential biological control programme of this maize key pest in Myanmar.

Common Health Problems of ‘Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals’ “(FDMNs)” of Bangladesh

Background: Around a million FDMNs have settled in Cox’s Bazar, the southeast coastal district ofBangladesh. The geographically proximate country of Rakhine state of Myanmar following armed conflictin this area in August 2017 and created a unique humanitarian crisis. It is important to know the currenthealth status of FDMNs because, without this information, equal and equitable health service provision isnot possible. So, we conducted this study to explore the common health problems of FDMNs residing incamps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Method: This descriptive observational study was conducted from January 2018 to July 2019 at Cox’sBazar Medical College Hospital, Cox’s Bazar which first prioritized referred tertiary hospitals for FDMNs. Result: Among study FDMNs, Age ranges from 3 months to 97 years with a median age of 40 (25-60) years andmale to female representatives were almost equal (51.6% male and 48.4% female). Majority of the male werefarmers (engaged in agriculture, livestock and fish farming) and the females were house makers. One third ofthe primary respondents have formal education (i.e. religious education) in Myanmar. More than 30% of theparticipants reported having H/O recent death of family members in Myanmar with a median number of twomembers due to recent violence. 37% FDMNs were malnourished out of them 14.7% were severe. BCG scarmarks were found in 70% and only 40.7% were vaccinated with other vaccines in under five children.75.4%FDMNs were dependent on unqualified village doctors” for treatment. The most common NCD among theFDMNs people were COPD, DM, and HTN with risk factor tobacco use and frequent betel nut chewing.Chronic liver disease with underlying hepatitis C or Hepatitis B infection, HIV and TB were more common.Nearly one third FDMNs were clinically anemic. 42.9% of the participants reported do not won and use LLNin Myanmar. 73.2% FDMNs have knowledge about ORS use in diarrhea. Predominant diseases among admittedprimary respondents were CLD (15.7%) followed by COPD (13%), pregnancy complication and Injury (7.2%).Major causes of death in admitted FDMNs were COPD with its complication (25%) Cardiac disease (20%),CLD with Hepatic encephalopathy (15%), CNS infection and Septic shock (10%). Conclusion: This study identifies common health problems of the FDMN also called Rohingya refugeesin Bangladesh. FDMNs in Bangladesh are under significant health risks and necessary to scale up targetedhealth care policy and improvement of local GOB and non-Government health care facilities for them. J MEDICINE 2022; 23: 13-19

The Politics of Rohingya Ethnicity: Understanding the Debates on Rohingya in Myanmar

The Myanmar (Burmese) government has imposed denationalising policies on the Rohingya Muslim population. This paper argues that the Rohingya are an ethnic group of Burma who have been living in Burma since the eighth century AD. The article confirms an understanding of Rohingya ethnicity. This study is based on primary data from expert in-depth interview and available literature. The paper examines the government’s stand about ethnic cleansing and analyses the contested arguments of Rohingya existence in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. The evidence points to the Rohingya being an ethnic group with an established culture, distinct language, traditions and history, settled in Arakan.

Far-stretching Strategy of Myanmar Junta to Forcefully Displace the Rohingya: Bangladesh, Regional and International Responses

The world continues to see large refugee flows, and the challenges comprising these population migrations are anticipated to become increasingly complicated as a result of rising social, economic, ethnic and especially religious conflicts. In the south-east Asia, this problem has become acute with Rohingya refugees. Northern Rakhine State in Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist and authoritarian despite a majority Arakan Muslim population and a minority Rakhine Buddhist population. Exclusionary citizenship laws and military actions against Arakanese Muslims, often known as Rohingyas, have forced them to depart Myanmar and seek refuge in Bangladesh. This circumstance pictured the inhuman role of the material world to the persecuted Rohingya refugees. The manuscript aimed at delineating Myanmar’s long-term oppressive and illegal strategy of dislocating Rohingya, and the attitude of the host-state Bangladesh, the regional and global superpowers, and instruments in this respect. The short article is designed in accordance with the qualitative method where information has been collected from different sources predominantly from scholarly articles. The manuscript has also suggested that the buzzword ”Rohingya issue” can be solved only if the Sino-Indian mutual understanding takes liberal steps with neutral support towards Bangladesh and Myanmar including asylum-seeker Rohingya refugees

Rohingya Refugees in South Asia: An Exploration of Social Borders and the Margins

By reviewing the case of the Rohingya, a marginalized community in the postcolonial state of Myanmar, this article (as part of a special section on South Asian border studies) explores the perspective of Rohingya refugees and conceptualizes social borders from the voices of the refugees. Juxtaposing postcolonial borders with narrations of Rohingya in India brings out the politics of the marginalized communities in the country’s borderlands. The article shows how borderscapes are shaped for refugees that articulate ideas of social justice and recognition. Building on international studies of the Rohingya, I conducted fieldwork into the situation of the Rohingya in India. The resulting interviews add to our understanding of Rohingya refugees and address a scarcity of literature on the Rohingya in border studies. Through the analysis, I discover the history of the Rohingya identity in Myanmar, which contextualizes their statelessness. Social borders and state legislation reinforce barriers to citizenship and sharpen the exclusion of migrants, refugees, and other stateless peoples in South Asia. 
 Keywords: South Asia, Refugees, Rohingya, post-colonial states, boundaries, borders, margins, Southeast Asia, marginal communities.

State, Mind, and Legibility Without Writing in the Wa State of Myanmar

ABSTRACT State legibility is an extended metaphor of writing, but does not have to be based on writing itself. In the Wa State of Myanmar – a de-facto state with high levels of illiteracy – state legibility is produced through a centralisation of information in military government and a grid-like re-organisation of settlement patterns. This article explores two correlations between projects of state legibility and ways of addressing others’ intentions: First, centralisation of information forces subordinates to consider the intentions of the centre. Second, living in a grid forces people to consider each other’s minds. State legibility, through the use of media that reference the results of action, enables verbalising others’ intentions as their ‘minds’, that is, as the inner source of action. In a society where public mind reading has historically been discouraged, these projects have facilitated a regime of intention management in which public mind reading is central.

Flood hazard zonation of upper kolodyne using GIS and multi criteria decision analysis in Mizoram, India

Kolodyne is the largest river in Mizoram. The river originates in Myanmar where it flows in a southerly direction and enters Mizoram where it is called Chhimtuipui river and it becomes the international border between India and Myanmar. The Kolodyne river meets several rivers in Mizoram before it enters Chin State in Myanmar again. The upper Kolodyne river has caused destructive floods recently, however, attempts to delineate the flood hazard zones have not been carried out. This river is a source of livelihood for many families in the region and it had wrecked havoc in the past monsoon seasons with the loss of lives and property. The potential flood hazard zonation of the upper Kolodyne watershed using geographic information systems and multi-criteria decision analysis has revealed that about 40% of the total watershed fall in the high and very high potential zones and flood control measures are needed to be updated.

Ethnicity and Buddhism in Keng Tung, Shan State of Myanmar

This article aims to explain the reconstruction of an ethnic group inhabiting at religious sites from being a minority ethnic group to become a part of social structure in the traditional state of Keng Tung and Muang La, Shan State of Myanmar. The key factors in the reconstruction were legends and tales, settlement, religion, customs, and architecture of places of religious worship. These factors contributed to the ethnic group’s function as a mechanism of a traditional state.

Access to Whose Justice? Survivor-Centered Justice for Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Northern Shan State

Abstract In 2019, the United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted Resolution 2467. The resolution was to encourage the international system to promote a survivor-centered response to conflict-related sexual violence. The role of local women-led civil society organizations has been identified as the crucial “first-response” mechanism to institute survivor-centered justice. In a situation of ongoing conflict, what agency do civil society organizations have to safely operate “first-response” survivor-centered justice? In this article, we examine the local practices of responding to conflict-related sexual violence in northern Shan State in Myanmar. This article finds that women-led local civil society organizations are indeed crucial first responders and a vital resource for promoting survivor-centered justice-seeking practices. The article also identifies the compromises and risks these civil society organizations experience that limit their agency to deliver survivor-centered justice. Local civil society organizations are constantly navigating local gendered norms, a patriarchal, unrepresentative formal legal system, and a hostile conflict environment. The positionality of local civil society organizations to local armed ethnic organizations and the state itself requires strategic consideration by the international community when recommending local civil society to deliver survivor-centered justice.

Shanpanootols G and H, Diterpenoids from the Rhizomes of Kaempferia pulchra Collected in Myanmar and Their Vpr Inhibitory Activities.

Two new trihydroxy derivative of Δ8(14),15-isopimarane diterpenoids, shanpanootols G (1) and H (2), along with three known analogues were isolated from the ethyl acetate-soluble extract of Kaempferia pulchra rhizomes collected in Shan State of Myanmar. The structures of these compounds including their absolute configurations were elucidated by the combination of one dimensional (1D) and 2D-NMR spectroscopic methods, high resolution mass spectrometric technique, and the experimental and the calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. The isopimarane diterpenoids (1-5) were tested for their Viral protein R (Vpr) inhibitory activities against TREx-HeLa-Vpr cells. Shanpanootol H (2) and (1R,2S,5S,9R,10S,13R)-1,2-dihydroxypimara-8(14),15-dien-7-one (4) exhibited anti-Vpr activities at the 5 µM treated dose.

The making of land use decisions, war, and state

ABSTRACT During a civil war and its aftermath, rival powerholders frequently engage in decision-making over land use, for example, via land acquisitions or legal reforms. This paper explores how powerholders influence land use decision-making and what their engagement implies for territorial control. We analyse three cases of land use changes in Myanmar’s south between 1990 and 2015, where the Myanmar state and an ethnic minority organization fought over territorial control. We gathered qualitative data with a mix of methods and visualised actor networks and institutions. Our analysis reveals that the state managed to increasingly control decision-making over local land use from a distance by employing actor alliances and institutions such as laws and incentives, whereas the ethnic organization lost influence. We conclude that engaging in land use decision-making plays a crucial role in influencing the outcomes of a civil war and that it represents a form of war- and state-making.

The health response to the Rohingya refugee crisis post August 2017: Reflections from two years of health sector coordination in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

On August 25 2017, an unprecedented influx of Rohingya refugees began from Rakhine State in Myanmar into Bangladesh’s district of Cox’s Bazar. The scale and acuteness of this humanitarian crisis was unprecedented and unique globally, requiring strong coordination of a multitude of actors. This paper reflects on the health sector coordination from August 2017 to October 2019, focusing on selected achievements and persisting challenges of the health sector strategic advisory group (HSSAG), and the health sector working groups including epidemiology and case management, sexual and reproductive health, community health, mental health and psychosocial support, and emergency preparedness. In the early days of the response, minimum service standards for primary health care were established, a fundamental initial step which enabled the standardization of services based on critical needs. Similarly, establishing standards for community health outreach was the backbone for capitalizing on this important health workforce. Novel approaches were adopted for infectious disease responses for acute watery diarrhoea and varicella, drawing on inter-sectoral collaborations. Sexual and reproductive health services were prioritized from the initial onset of the crisis and improvements in skilled delivery attendance, gender-based violence services, abortion care and family planning were recorded. Mental health service provision was strengthened through community-based approaches although integration of mental health programmes into primary health care has been limited by availability of specialist psychiatrists. Strong, collaborative and legitimate leadership by the health sector strategic advisory group, drawing on inter-sectoral collaborations and the technical expertise of the different technical working groups, were critical in the response and proved effective, despite the remaining challenges to be addressed. Anticipated reductions in funding as the crisis moves into protracted status threatens the achievements of the health sector in provision of health services to the Rohingya refugees.

China-Bangladesh Geopolitical Relations: A Study of Some Geostrategic and Geoeconomic Issues in the Context of the Bay of Bengal

Geopolitically, the Bay of Bengal is very important because it is connected with Andaman Sea and Malacca Straits. Moreover, the Bay of Bengal has direct links with South Asia and South East Asia including the Indian Ocean. Particularly, both China and India are very interested in the Bay of Bengal for mineral resources. Through the Bay of Bengal, China wants a direct connectivity between China and Indian Ocean through either South East Bangladesh or Rakhine state of Myanmar. This study has dealt with the importance of the Bay of Bengal in the light of China’s geopolitical desire, trade and investment, oil and gas, and regional connectivity. Many geopolitical issues of China and Bangladesh have been discussed in this study. The main objective of this study is to focus on strengthening the relationship between China and Bangladesh, so that these two neighboring countries can be beneficiaries through trade and investment, regional connectivity, expanding the exports and imports. And these two friendly countries can be also beneficiaries through constructing the deep seaports along the Eastern Coastal Zone of Bangladesh, particularly Southeast Cox’s Bazar. The findings of this study are that, the relationship Between China and Bangladesh in the light of the geopolitics and geo-economic issues is, of course, pivotal for both countries for trade and investment, and for economic cooperation and development. Methodologically it is a qualitative study, which is based on both primary and secondary data. Keywords: China, Bangladesh, Geopolitical Relations, Bay of Bengal

Sexual violence against women as a weapon of Rohingya genocide in Myanmar

ABSTRACT Between 25 August and 13 October 2017, more than half a million Rohingyas of the Rakhine State of Myanmar fled to Bangladesh, as their homes were set ablaze by military and security. Countless women were victims of sexual violence. According to the United Nations, these are considered to be acts of ethnic cleansing. This paper aims to address the Myanmar genocide of 2017, highlighting strategies, practices, processes, and actions of sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) against Rohingya women used by the Myanmar military and security forces to terrorise the Rohingyas. This paper also addresses how Rohingya women survived the dangerous conditions of genocide and were able to develop their agency and successfully brought themselves to safety. Based on the interviews with forty female Rohingya refugees from the shelters in Bangladesh, this paper also describes how Rohingya women coped with these strategies of GBV used against them.

Notes on new distribution records of Euaspa motokii Koiwaya, 2002 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclinae) from Bhutan

This paper reports Euaspa motokii, Koiwaya, 2002, a newly recorded butterfly species from Bhutan. Its known distribution range extended from Kachin State of Myanmar to eastern Arunachal Pradesh and is now further extended to the Himalayan foothills of central Bhutan. Currently, Bhutan has two Euaspa species, pavo and motokii. With this record Bhutan now lists 760 species of butterflies.

Care and silence in women’s everyday peacebuilding in Myanmar

ABSTRACT This article draws on feminist perspectives on the everyday to explore women’s everyday experiences of peace in Kayah state in Myanmar. We locate the daily practices women engage in to maintain life and minimise violence, making visible women’s contributions to everyday peace. In addition, we examine the ways in which women are disproportionally affected by war and prevented from benefitting from post-war changes. Our findings demonstrate that practices of care and silence are key avenues for women’s everyday peacebuilding, through which women sustain peace, ensure survival, and minimise violence in their families and wider communities. At the same time, however, these practices are conditioned by and may contribute to gendered insecurity and marginalisation for women. Through this focus, our analysis shows how women’s positioning in gendered relations of power may both enable their agency in peacebuilding and reinforce their gendered inequality and marginalisation in the post-war period. We conclude that while everyday peace practices may hold the potential for positive change, these can also contribute to the reproduction of inequality, oppression and structural violence.

CHINA’S VISION OF REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY, ECONOMIC CORRIDOR AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR BANGLADESH

Geopolitically South Asia is very important for China’s vision of regional connectivity, trade and development cooperation. In terms of Sino-South Asian geopolitical and economic relations, it might be said that the Bay of Bengal is very important, because it is connected with Andaman Sea, Malacca Straits, which has direct link with South Asia and South East Asia. Both China and India are very interested in the Bay of Bengal for mineral resources which has an easy link with Bangladesh, Myanmar and Indian Ocean. Through the Bay of Bengal, China wants direct regional connectivity between China and Indian Ocean through either South East Bangladesh (Cox’s Bazar) or Rakhine state of Myanmar for the expansion of its trade and development cooperation. This study has dealt with the importance of South Asia in light of the China’s geopolitical desire, trade and investment, oil and gas, development cooperation and regional connectivity in South Asia including Bangladesh. It is a qualitative study in nature, which is based on primary and secondary data. Many geopolitical issues of China, South Asia and Bangladesh have been discussed in this study. The finding is that the relationship Between China and South Asia in light of the China’s vision of trade and investment, economic corridor, and development cooperation is, of course, pivotal for both regions.

Para‐nationalism: Sovereignty and authenticity in the Wa State of Myanmar

AbstractIf nationalism is defined as a claim to sovereignty based on authenticity, para‐nationalism is nationalism in the state of war: urgent, yet ultimately futile. Modern warfare makes it particularly urgent for historical latecomers to national unity to claim their national sovereignty. Those claims, however, sometimes have to be postponed for the very same reason of military pragmatism. The double bind of nationalism at war is illustrated with the case study of the Wa State of Myanmar: Persistent military threat imparts great urgency to the promotion of authentic culture, the purification of a shared language and the rationalisation of violence. Yet at certain moments and places, the same objectives are put aside, in favour of working with what is at hand. Rather than a semiotic circle, it is suggested that the entanglement of para‐nationalism and war is primarily a pragmatic bond, which is accessible to ethnographic analysis.

Pioneers of the plantation economy: militarism, dispossession and the limits of growth in the Wa State of Myanmar

The characteristic mobility of highland populations in Southeast Asia relied to a large extent on their particular adaption to an ecological environment: swidden cultivation of tubers on mountain slopes. This ecology corresponded to cosmologies in which potency was limitless, or at least had no fixed and delimited precinct (as did the rice paddies and Buddhist realms in the valleys). Military state building, modern transport, and new crops and agricultural technologies have effectively ended swidden cultivation. In this article, I follow the pioneers of the plantation economy in the Wa State of Myanmar, who dispossess local populations of their land and employ them as plantation labour. The limits of growth and potency they encounter are (a) in the natural environment and (b) in the resistance of local populations. Yet, even though there are such limits, the potency to which these pioneers aspire is still limitless. It is however channelled through a new economy of life, epitomised in the plantation, nourished in excessive feasting, and maintained by the kinship dynamics of capture and care.

SAY ‘NO’ RACISM TOWARDS ROHINGYA REFUGEE

Racism is a global question. It is now happening in many countries of the world. Many poor and needy people are now getting tormented and conflicted due to racism and military conflicts. In this individual proposal, I would like to talk about a racial conflict currently happening at Rakhine and Arakan States in Myanmar. I would argue that the Rohingya Refugee Crisis should be banned at any cost by the influential global leaders since it is a big challenge for two neighboring countries, like Bangladesh and Myanmar. According to the United Nations, the Rohingyas are the most persecuted minority groups in the globe. From 2012 to the present, the whole world has witnessed Myanmar’s renewed waves of full-fledged genocide campaign, hate crimes, and ostracizing against the most vulnerable and unarmed Rohingya population in the name of national security. Myanmar is responsible for the worst sufferings of the Rohingya. Consequently, it has failed to perform its obligation under the International Law to protect its citizens, which amounts to internationally wrongful acts. According to Articles 31 and 41 of the UN Draft Articles on Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts, the responsible state is under an obligation to make full-repairation for the injury caused by its internationally wrongful acts. Are the Rohingya Refugees not the nations of the states? Don't they have Human Rights? How long will the tormented and downtrodden communities tolerate such cruelty and injustice? What sorts of role will International Law and the UN play for the Rohingya refugees? For this purpose, I would like to motivate the world's intellectual figures so that the Rohingya Refugee crisis must be protected through an everlasting solution. No people of the world must be neglected like the Rohingya refugees. All human beings are equal in the eye of the law; they have the same blood and same body. Anyway, the light talk aims to focus on the conflicting senses of the minority groups in the light of Racism and taking precautionary steps.