Next month, the government in Nay Pyi Taw and many agencies involved in the crisis will come under intense pressure, he warned. The anniversary of a multi-recommendation report on the Rohingya by the former UN secretary-general that preceded the escalation of violence will draw the world’s focus.

Kobsak quit his position nearly two weeks ago as a senior consultant to the international advisory board tasked with making recommendations after alleged military actions against the Rohingya Muslim minority in the nation drew widespread condemnation.

Kobsak said he quit the post because he saw the board potentially becoming a part of the problem related to the crisis.

The existence of boards and committees could give the false impression that “we have done something to deal with the problems but in fact, we have not”, Kobsak told The Nation. “It’s a kind of self-delusion.”

International organisations working, funding and writing reports on the Rohingya issue were asking about the progress of the work, he said.

“How many have returned safely from refugee camps? Have their homes been rebuilt? Where are the schools for the children and what about public health service for them? These are among the questions that had no firm answers,” Kobsak said.

Kobsak is with Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

August 24 and 25 will mark the anniversary of the recommendation report by former UN chief Kofi Annan, and the militant attack on Myanmar security outposts. That attack prompted an overwhelming response by the Myanmar military, killing thousands of minority civilians and forcing 700,000 people to flee across the border into Bangladesh.

During the anniversary, extremists would be able to exploit the lack of progress on the work of the committee to radicalise the people and destabilise the region, Kobsak said.

The UN General Assembly and the Security Council would raise the Rohingya issue during the September meetings, he said. The European Union has imposed sanctions and the United States might soon follow suit, he said.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees living on steep muddy slopes are facing a very high risk of natural disaster during the monsoon season, he warned.

“We can neither play for time nor hope that time could solve the problem. Time is of the essence in this matter, and in fact it could worsen the situation,” he said.

Kobsak said his resignation was not a protest but rather a message to all concerned parties as he has a lot of sympathy for Myanmar’s people given the complexity of the issues.

“I’m nobody, but I had the honour to work on this tough issue. I blame nobody but speak with good intention from what I have seen,” he said.

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi picked former Thai foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai to lead an advisory board for the implementation of the Annan’s 88 recommendations. The board, made up of foreign experts but also with local members, would complete its mandate by the end of this year.

“The solution is already there, but we cannot just set up committees and committees to oversee the recommendations,” Kobsak said.

Kobsak’s resignation was regarded as another setback for Surakiart’s advisory board after the withdrawal in January of former US ambassador to the UN, Bill Richardson. Richardson had accused the board of “whitewashing” or “cheerleading” Aung San Suu Kyi over the Royingya crisis. Kobsak said Richardson’s pullout was premature.

The Nation could reach neither the Myanmar government nor Surakiart for comment yesterday. Surakiart, however, told Bangkokinsight website that Myanmar has already implemented 60 out of 88 of Annan’s recommendations. The government has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the UN Human Rights Council and UN Development Programme to prepare for the return of refugees, he said.

Rohingya political activist Khin Maung Myint said the Rohingya community in Myanmar had never seen any of the outcomes of the implementation, and the board and the authority have never listened to their opinion.

Rohingya met with Annan’s board twice but not with Surakiart’s team, he said.

“What they [Surakiart’s board] do is fly to the capital and have a lavish dinner, but don’t really tough out the solution about how to implement Annan’s recommendations,” said the activist, who is also known as Sam Naeem. “They cannot solve the problem by setting up commissions.”

Kobsak suggested that Myanmar’s authorities, notably the military, as well as the international community need to work with the new UN special envoy Christine Schraner Burgener. The former Swiss ambassador to Thailand and Myanmar knows the country very well, said Kobsak.

The Canidrome Club, owned by one of the city’s most powerful women Angela Leong, was until its shutdown Asia’s only legal dog-racing track.

The track, established in 1931, had long faced criticism from animal rights groups, who said the greyhounds were treated cruelly and sometimes put to death after a losing streak.

But the closure of the track in the semi-autonomous Chinese city had also raised fears over the fate of the dogs.

The government’s move follows a long wrangle between campaigners and billionaire Leong, a lawmaker in Macau and the fourth wife of gambling mogul Stanley Ho, who has denied the accusations of inhumane treatment.

The Macau government said in a statement Saturday the 533 greyhounds were in “normal health condition”. They were being cared for by government specialists and volunteers from animal rights groups, including Macau-based Anima, which had called for an end to dog-racing.

The government last week slammed Leong’s company Yat Yuen for delaying efforts to find new homes for the dogs, saying it acted irresponsibly.

It said the company could be punished under the Animal Protection Law.

Yat Yuen did not respond to a request for comment.

Anima estimated that some 70 dogs died or were killed in 2016 due to injuries, illnesses or for underperformance, the South China Morning Post has reported.

Police arrested Michael Blanc on the day after Christmas in 1999 at the tropical island’s airport with 3.8 kilogrammes (8.4 pounds) of hashish hidden inside scuba diving canisters.

The now 45-year-old was originally given a life term — narrowly escaping the death sentence handed to some other foreign drug traffickers, including two members of the notorious Bali Nine who were executed in 2015.

Blanc’s prison term was later cut to 20 years and then in 2014 he won something that few foreigners get in Indonesia — parole.

The former cook arrived at the airport in Jakarta escorted by Indonesian immigration officials, and accompanied by his mother, Helene Le Touzey, who gave up her life in France to spend nearly two decades in Indonesia campaigning for his release.

The two departed on a Turkish Airlines flight at 9 pm local time (1400 GMT). They are expected in France on Sunday.

The life sentence handed out by an Indonesian court, which rejected Blanc’s claim that he was carrying the drug-filled gear for a friend, was criticised in France as overly harsh.

Paris raised the issue at the highest levels, with the then-prime minister Francois Fillon bringing it up during a visit to Indonesia in 2011.

In 2008, Blanc’s sentence was cut to 20 years thanks in large part to his mother’s efforts.

Le Touzey later helped secure her son’s parole in 2014, despite the fact that Indonesian law does not usually allow conditional release of foreigners after serving just two-thirds of their sentence.

Blanc’s three-year parole period ended in July 2017, after which he was required to finish one year of probation.

Indonesia has some of the world’s toughest drug laws.

More than 70 people, including 42 foreigners, are facing the firing squad for drug offences, according to the Coalition for the Abolition of Death Penalty in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

Indonesia has executed several drug traffickers since President Joko Widodo took office in 2014.

Among them were foreign nationals, including two Bali Nine members arrested in 2005 for an attempt to smuggle heroin from Indonesia to Australia.

The executions of Australian ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran sparked diplomatic outrage and a call to abolish Indonesia’s death penalty.

Although Jakarta suspended executions last year, Widodo has said the country is facing a “drug emergency” and previously ordered police to shoot traffickers who resist arrest.

High-profile cases like that of Australian national Schapelle Corby, who spent more than nine years behind bars for smuggling marijuana into Bali, have stoked concern that Indonesia is becoming a drug destination.

Corby was deported in 2017 after several years of parole.

Authorities said the Hong Kong National Party (HKNP), a well-known but small group with a core membership of around a dozen, is a potential threat to national security and public safety.

Around 500 protesters from different pro-democracy parties gathered in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district for a march organised by the Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), a group that does not support independence.

They included around 50 supporters of pro-independence groups, who waved flags and banners — including one that read “only two countries have two systems”, a reference to the “one country, two systems” arrangement under which Hong Kong is currently governed.

“No matter what political ideology you have, we need to protect our freedom of speech and freedom of association,” said Chung Hon Lam, high school student and convenor of pro-independence group Studentlocalism.

Lam accused the government of using “national security” as an excuse to target pro-independence parties, and warned it other pro-democracy parties could be targeted too.

The protest came after John Lee, Hong Kong’s secretary for security, said he was considering a police request to ban the HKNP.

Lee did not elaborate how the party was damaging national security, but said under the city’s laws, national security includes safeguarding the “territorial integrity and the independence of the People’s Republic of China”.

Semi-autonomous Hong Kong enjoys freedoms unseen on the mainland, which are protected by the 50-year handover agreement between Britain and China.

But fears are growing that Beijing is trampling the deal. It is the first time such a ban has been sought since Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, and is the latest move to stifle any calls for independence, which have infuriated Beijing.

Britain has voiced concerns over the suppression of political activity in the city.

“The UK does not support Hong Kong independence, but Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and its rights and freedoms, are central to its way of life, and it is important they are fully respected,” the British foreign office said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The UAE and China have agreed to enhance cooperation in all fields to higher levels and forge overall strategic partnerships,” the official WAM news agency said.

It said this would “contribute to cementing and intensifying cooperation, boost joint development and prosperity, which is consistent with the common interest of both countries and their peoples”.

China and the UAE had already signed on Friday a raft of economic agreements and in the run-up to Xi’s visit they agreed oil and trade deals.

Xi met UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also ruler of Dubai, and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan during his visit.

Abu Dhabi was the Chinese president’s first stop on a tour which now takes him to Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa.

A joint statement by China and the UAE, published Saturday by WAM, said the two countries were committed to bolster cooperation across the board, including politics, economy, oil, gas and security.

There would also be joint military training, the two countries agreed.

The United Arab Emirates was “keen to deepen cooperation” which China’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure plan, the statement added.

The ambitious trillion-dollar project aims to revive the ancient Silk Road trading routes with a global networks of ports, roads and railways.

On Thursday, the UAE’s state-owned DP World announced an agreement between the two countries to build a new trade zone in Dubai as part of that project.

A strategic cooperation framework between state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and China National Petroleum Company was among the deals signed on Friday, the UAE company said.

On Thursday ADNOC announced it had awarded two contracts worth $1.6 billion (1.4 billion euros) to BGP Inc, a subsidiary of CNPC, for a seismic survey in the emirate.

The survey will search for oil and gas in onshore and offshore sites covering an area of 53,000 square kilometres (20,500 square miles).

China is the United Arab Emirates’ top trading partner and the UAE is also one of the top 15 crude suppliers to China.

The southeast Asian country is prone to monsoon storms and floods, which frequently claim hundreds of lives every year.

Typhoon Son Tinh — the third tropical storm to hit Vietnam since the start of the year — made landfall Wednesday night, damaging infrastructure and crops through Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces.

Heavy rains have continued in the wake of the typhoon, unleashing floods and landslides across vast areas of the country, including in the capital Hanoi.

According to a latest online report by the disaster office, at least 10 people have been confirmed dead and another 11 are missing in the mountainous northern provinces of Yen Bai and Thanh Hoa.

About 4,000 houses have been damaged and tens of thousands of hectares of crops destroyed, the office said, warning of more heavy rains to come.

State media ran images of floods in remote areas where villagers are using boats to move around. Several communities are still isolated, reports said.

In Hanoi, flood water inundated several streets.

“We had to move all our furniture upstairs because the ground floor was flooded,” Hanoi resident Tran Anh Huong told AFP.

“We were all trapped in the house.”

Vietnam’s rainy season is between June and November, bringing about serious human and material damage.

Last year, 389 lives were claimed by natural disasters, with material damages reportedly reaching $2.6 billion, the government said.

The city-state announced Friday that hackers had broken into a government database and stolen the health records of 1.5 million Singaporeans, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who was specifically targeted in the “unprecedented” attack.

Singapore’s health minister said the strike was “a deliberate, targeted, and well-planned cyberattack and not the work of casual hackers or criminal gangs”.

While officials refused to comment on the identity of the hackers citing “operational security”, experts told AFP that the complexity of the attack and its focus on high-profile targets like the prime minister pointed to the hand of a state-actor.

“A cyber espionage threat actor could leverage disclosure of sensitive health information… to coerce an individual in (a) position of interest to conduct espionage” on its behalf, said Eric Hoh, Asia-Pacific president of cybersecurity firm FireEye.

Hoh told national broadcaster Channel NewsAsia that the attack was an “advanced persistent threat”.

“The nature of such attacks are that they are conducted by nation states using very advanced tools,” he said.

“They tend to be well resourced, well-funded and highly sophisticated.”

Healthcare data is of particular interest to cyberattackers because it can be used to blackmail people in positions of power, said Jeff Middleton, chief executive of cybersecurity consultancy Lantium.

“A lot of information about a person’s health can be gleaned from the medications that they take,” Middleton told AFP Saturday.

“Any non-public health information could be used for extortion. Russian spy services have a long history of doing this,” he added.

Medical information, like personal data, can also be easily monetised on criminal forums, said Sanjay Aurora, Asia Pacific managing director of Darktrace.

“Beyond making a quick buck, a more sinister reason to attack would be to cause widespread disruption and systemic damage to the healthcare service — as a fundamental part of critical infrastructure — or to undermine trust in a nation’s competency to keep personal data safe,” he told AFP.

– Hyper-connected –

Wealthy Singapore is hyper-connected and on a drive to digitise government records and essential services, including medical records which public hospitals and clinics can share via a centralised database.

But authorities have put the brakes on these plans while they investigate the cyberattack. A former judge will head an inquiry looking into the incident.

Singapore officials have cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the attackers.

“With regard to the prime minister’s data and why he was targeted, I would say that it’s perhaps best not to speculate what the attacker had in mind,” said David Koh, head of Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency.

The hackers used a computer infected with malware to gain access to the database between June 27 and July 4 before administrators spotted “unusual activity”, authorities said.

While Singapore has some of the most advanced military weaponry in the region, the government says it fends off thousands of cyberattacks every day and has long warned of breaches by actors as varied as high-school students in their bedrooms to nation states.

Earlier this month US intelligence chief Dan Coats described Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as the “worst offenders” when it came to attacks on American “digital infrastructure”.

The government sends anyone who tries to enter the country by sea to camps on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island or on Nauru in the Pacific for processing.

Protestors took to the streets to mark the fifth anniversary of the policy’s reintroduction, when in 2013 Canberra significantly toughened its stance, signing deals with the Pacific nations and declaring anyone arriving by boat had “no chance” of being settled in Australia.

“The policy that was introduced in 2013, to expel people — the ‘Fortress Australia’ policy that they (the government) put in place — that has to go,” rally organiser Ian Rintoul from the Refugee Action Coalition told Sydney protestors.

“So we fight to close the detention centres on Manus and Nauru, but we fight in that process to bring them here.”

Hundreds marched through Sydney shouting, “Free, free the refugees”, with banners stating, “Five years too long, evacuate Manus and Nauru”. Joint rallies were held in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth.

Canberra says its policy deters people from embarking on treacherous sea journeys, but rights groups and the United Nations have slammed the wealthy nation for turning its back on vulnerable people, as reports of abuse, suicide and despondency filter out of the camps.

“Any country that openly rejects compassion and instead tortures people who we know are innocent, in order to make them a deterrent… has somehow lost its soul,” said Father Dave Smith, who recently returned from a visit to the Manus camp.

An Iranian man died in a apparent suicide on Nauru in June, with his body arriving in Australia last week after what Rintoul said took much lobbying of a reluctant Australian government, which initially said the man would be buried in Nauru or repatriated to Iran.

The deceased man’s mother, who requested his body be buried in a place the family could one day visit, remains on Nauru with her younger son but has been refused entry to Australia for the burial, Rintoul added.

This was the fifth death on Nauru since Australia’s offshore detention ramped up in July 2013, rights groups say, while seven have died on Manus during the same period.

Canberra has tried to resettle those recognised as refugees to third countries such as the US, and more than a hundred have been moved there, according to the Refugee Action Coalition.

But they say some 1,600 people remain on Nauru and Manus.

Retired Thai lawmaker and ambassador Kobsak Chutikul was secretary for the panel hand-picked by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to advise her government on how to handle the aftermath of a military campaign that drove the minority out of the country.

The brutal crackdown started in August last year and left hundreds of Rohingya villages razed to the ground.

Refugees to Bangladesh have recounted horrifying testimony of widespread murder, rape and torture in violence the UN and US have branded as ethnic cleansing.

Kobsak Chutikul said his position became untenable ahead of a second full meeting of the panel with officials in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw this week.

“I verbally gave my resignation in a staff meeting last Tuesday (10 July),” he told AFP by phone from Bangkok.

The board, he said, risks becoming a “part of the problem”.

“It lulls authorities into thinking they have done enough to respond to the concerns of the international community, that they’ve ticked that box,” he added.

“It becomes dangerous in terms of an illusion that something is being done… that they’re going to do something while Rome burns.”

– ‘Winging it’ –

The credibility of the advisory board was undermined early on by the resignation of veteran US diplomat Governor Bill Richardson a one-time close confidant of Suu Kyi.

He left the panel in January in a vicious war of words with the Nobel laureate.

The government insisted it had terminated his involvement but Richardson said he stepped down due to fears the committee would only “whitewash” the causes of the Rohingya crisis.

A statement by his office Saturday said that Kobsak’s resignation “further reinforces the concerns” he held.

Kobsak, however, told AFP that he thought Governor Richardson’s departure had been premature.

But he said the board’s poor organisation and funding severely curtailed its work.

“We were winging it on the fly, not really in full grasp of the full facts and figures. Everyone was all over the place — we don’t have a permanent office anywhere,” he told AFP.

Suu Kyi’s reputation lies in tatters internationally for her failure to speak up on behalf of the Rohingya Muslims, a stateless group persecuted over decades in Myanmar.

There was no immediate reaction from her office or the panel.

The advisory board has so far dismayed rights groups for not mentioning the word ‘Rohingya’ — a name Buddhist-majority Myanmar rejects, preferring the pejorative term ‘Bengali’ that implies the community are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Kobsak Chutikul said the international community should rally round new UN special envoy Christine Schraner Burgener, who he said “offers the best hope in the circumstances”.

Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay broke formal protocol as he ushered the Prime Minister and his wife up the stairway to the door of the airplane.

The Thai Prime Minister responded in equal measure – hugging Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay twice before boarding the aircraft. Bhutanese officials including cabinet ministers, and members from the foreign embassies in the country waved and waited until the plane took off.

Soon after the foreign ministry issued a joint press release wherein the Thai Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for ‘the warm welcome and gracious hospitality extended to him and the members of his delegation during the visit.’

He also thanked for the successful visit of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to Bhutan in 2016 for the agriculture for school lunch project.

Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay thanked the Thai government for the courtesies extended to His Majesty The King, Her Majesty The Queen, and His Royal Highness the Gyalsey during their Majesties’ visit to attend the Royal Cremation of His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in October 2017.

Lyonchhen said that Bhutanese were deeply saddened by the passing of His Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and that Their Majesties’ visit to pay respects and attend the Royal Cremation Ceremony reflects the mutual respect and close relations between the two Royal Families.

Their Majesties also granted an audience to the Prime Minister and his wife, Associate Professor Naraporn Chan-o-cha and hosted a banquet lunch for the visiting delegation.

An ENT centre by next year

Lyonchhen Tshering Tobgay welcomed Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s proposal to support the implementation of the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat (EENT) care service project. The project, which also marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries, includes establishing an EENT centre in Bhutan to treat patients and train Bhutanese health professionals.

Other milestones

The two leaders emphasised the importance of working together in the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals through sharing of best practices and experiences based on their respective and complementary development philosophies of Gross National Happiness (GNH) and Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) of His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that both sides could discuss a community development model based on the application of the GNH and SEP towards the realisation of the SDGs.

Thai Prime Minister also agreed that Thailand would provide more opportunities for human resources development for Bhutanese, including Friends from Thailand Programme. Thailand has been providing support and assistance in priority areas of socio-economic development such as engineering, economics, public health, education, management, and agriculture.

The two prime ministers held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral relations as well as cooperation in the regional and international fora such as United Nations, BIMSTEC, and Asian Cooperation Dialogue. The two leaders also recognised the need to strengthen cooperation in science, technology, and combating transnational crimes.

The two leaders agreed to work together through the annual bilateral consultations, the joint trade committee, and the joint agriculture-working group to promote trade and economic cooperation.

The prime ministers also recognised Bhutan’s construction and hospitality sectors as potential areas for Thai investment. Investors from Thailand are already investing in the hotel industry.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2017 to promote tourism. The leaders encouraged the authorities concerned to work together on tourism promotion under the theme “two kingdoms, one destination” through joint marketing, package tours, and promotion of Buddhist tourism.

The two sides also agreed to finalise pending MoUs to enhance connectivity between the two countries to promote trade, tourism, trade, and people-to-people contact on a mutually agreed time.

The Prime Minister also visited One Gewog One Product outlet in Thimphu. The development project, between Queen’s Project office of Bhutan and Thailand International Cooperation Agency, is a replica of One Tambon One Product of Thailand, has benefitted 400 families in 80 gewogs.

The delegation also offered prayers and butter lamp at the National Memorial choeten.

The visit took place in the tradition of regular exchange of high-level visits between the two countries.

“The visit has greatly contributed to further strengthening the bilateral relations between the two Kingdoms bound by deep reverence to the institution of monarchy as well as shared common cultural and spiritual heritage,” the joint press release stated.