The international community has called for access to Myanmar’s Rakhine state in order to provide humanitarian assistance to the more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees now pouring into Bangladesh.

United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia Patrick Murphy said this involved “first and foremost, restoring humanitarian assistance so that those in need can be assisted by the international community and by Burmese (Myanmar) authorities”.

“That restoration of access would also allow accurate assessments of those needs. This is a complicated part of the country, and more specifically, a complicated part of Rakhine state itself,” he said.

The latest wave of violence erupted in Rakhine late last month as Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) launched a coordinated attack on government security outposts, prompting a heavy handed response from the Myanmar military. According to a United Nations report, more than 1,000 people have died, including a dozen security officials.

The violence displaced hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Rohingya, within Myanmar and notably to neighbouring Bangladesh, which had already been sheltering more than 300,000 documented and undocumented members of ethnic minorities who fled between 2005 and 2015.

Dhaka does not have the space to cope with half a million refugees, not to mention food and other resources needed for them, said Bangladeshi officials. They added that the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and World Food Programme (WFP) were now providing assistance to people along the Bangladesh border with Myanmar.

A Bangladeshi official said the IOM, WFP and others had no access to the people in Rakhine state, adding that “doors are closed from everywhere”. The Rohinyga are facing more dangerous challenges to connect with the outside world as the Myanmar military has planted landmines at the border areas. Last week, Dhaka summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to protest this after a series of explosions maimed Rohingya refugees fleeing the violence in Rakhine state.

The official said Bangladesh does not have problems with Myanmar and is willing to be a good neighbour to help contain extremists or terrorists operating along the border, if any. But, he added, “our point is that, please exercise restraint in your military operation, and please give the international community access to Rakhine state”.

Innocent civilians’ houses are being burnt down and these people were now creating “a huge crisis”, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The US also called for Myanmar authorities – both the elected civilian government under the de facto leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi and the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) – to take responsibility by providing security and safety to the people.

“Security forces, in fact, need to be there to protect civilian populations and to address the threats posed to the governing structure,” Murphy said. “At the same time, they have a responsibility to carry out those activities in accordance with the rule of law and international human rights.”

In order to end the crisis, the US called for Myanmar’s government to fully implement recommendations addressed by a commission led by former UN chief Kofi Annan, which were released around the same time as the August 25 attack in Rakhine state.

“It won’t be easy. There are over 80 recommendations, but many of them address the underlying conditions in Rakhine state that cause so much friction and challenges,” Murphy said.

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi officials urged Asean, of which Myanmar is a member, to actively address the Rohingya crisis as a regional issue.

Foreign ministers of the group who will gather in New York late this month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly are expected to discuss the Rohingya crisis, according to an official at the Thai Foreign Ministry.

“It should not be only the problem of Bangladesh. Asean should look at this as a regional issue, because eventually regional security [relies on] stability,” the Bangladeshi official said.

“As Bangladesh will not allow them to go any further into the country, where will they go? There are also some human trafficking networks. So we should sit together; and we should address it right away.”

For the first time at Changi, T4 will feature a facial recognition system that will capture a passenger’s photo at different stations, centralised security screening, as well as start-to-end self-service options for check-in and other processes.

Announcing the opening date in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Sept 6) morning, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that since the completion of construction last December, T4 has undergone extensive trials.

To date, Changi Airport Group (CAG) has conducted more than 100 trials, involving 2,500 airport staff and 1,500 volunteers, he said. Volunteers included members of The People’s Association and students from tertiary institutions who role-played as passengers.

Khaw said: “After endless rounds of testing and fine-tuning, we are ready to open T4… Another big step forward in our journey as a global air hub.”

Nine airlines – the AirAsia Group (which comprises four airlines), Cathay Pacific Airways, Cebu Pacific Air, Korean Air, Spring Airlines and Vietnam Airlines  – will operate from the new terminal.

Cathay and Korean Air will be the first two to move on Oct 31, followed by Cebu Pacific and Spring Airlines on Nov 2, and the AirAsia Group and Vietnam Airlines on Nov 7.

The first arriving and departing flights at T4 will be operated by Cathay Pacific – CX659 from Hong Kong which is scheduled to arrive at 5.40am and CX650, which will depart from here to Hong Kong at 6.50am.

Tan Lye Teck, the airport’s executive vice-president (airport management), said: “The past months have been a very crucial period for us as we conducted intensive tests and trials, not only to ensure that the systems work well, but also to understand how passengers navigate the new terminal, including interacting with initiatives such as self-service options which may be less familiar to them.”

CAG has identified areas of improvement following those trials, he said.

Feedback gathered from trial participants has also been very useful to help fine-tune systems and processes. Tan said: “We will take the next few weeks to complete the last set of trials as we prepare for the commencement of operations at T4.”

There will be no Skytrain linking T4 to the other terminals so those with connecting flights will be moved to a transfer lounge where they will be bussed to T2. They can take a Skytrain to T1 and T3 from there.

A public shuttle bus service will also be provided.

To further improve access to and from the new terminal, bus services 24, 34 and 36, which currently serve the other three terminals, will also call at T4 from Oct 22, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a separate release.

A new route – Service 110 – will also be launched to operate between Sengkang and Changi’s four passenger terminals, LTA said.

Apart from extensive use of technology to achieve efficiency and manpower savings of up to 20 per cent, T4 promises to be a visual treat for travellers and visitors.

Designed with high ceilings and open spaces, it projects a modern, clean look. Highlights include a Perakanan-themed heritage zone featuring a six-minute cultural show and a 70m by 5m wall showcasing Singapore’s skyline and Asean landmarks, as well as a whimsical animated clip on suitcases being screened before a flight.

At the heart of T4 is a grand-scale kinetic sculpture, Petalclouds, spanning 200m. Combining art and technology to create a harmonic collective choreography of six identical petal clouds, the sculpture depicts clouds moving slowly through the horizon.

While there will be no Skytrain linking T4 to the other terminals, those with connecting flights will be moved to a transfer lounge where they will be bussed to T2. They can take a Skytrain to T1 and T3 from there. A public shuttle bus service will also be provided.

T4 will be able to handle up to 16 million passengers a year, bringing Changi Airport’s total annual handling capacity to 82 million passengers.

The next big capacity injection will be the completion of T5 by the end of the next decade. When fully completed, the mega passenger terminal will be bigger than T1, T2 and T3 combined.

Provincial Governor Prof. Dr Somkot Mangnomek gave a progress report on the project yesterday when speaking to media on the sidelines of a meeting held between government cabinet members, the Vientiane mayor and provincial governors.

The governor said that all the equipment required for construction of the plant had been assembled in Xieng Khuang and it would take several months to build the factory.

“So far the company has invested US$17 million in the project and is breeding some 1,000 cattle which have given birth to over 100 calves,” Prof. Dr Somkot said.

Officials said some 300-400 calves were expected to arrive in Laos in the coming months.

The Lao-Japan Agro Development Company Limited will import 1,000 more pregnant cows from Australia in the near future.

Prof. Dr Somkot was optimistic that the project would generate revenue for Laos as well as provide job opportunities for local people.

“From now until 2030, the company will invest US$70 million in the project. The company has hired 200 workers and is paying the requisite taxes to the province,” the Governor said, adding that the plant would supply milk to Laos and to Vietnam.

Director of the Xieng Khuang provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Somsamone Phalichan, told Vientiane Times on Thursday that the cost of construction of the factory could be as high as US$14 million. Sufficient milking machines have been purchased so that 100 cows can be milked at one time.

Many tonnes of milk would be produced each day and 70 percent of the beef produced would be destined for export.

Xieng Khuang province is an ideal cattle production base but is still facing challenges. Much of the land still harbours UXO and there are limited roads to enable the transport of milk and beef.

The Lao-Japan Agro Development Company Limited is confident that Xieng Khuang province will be an ideal supply base for beef products for local consumption and for Asean markets as demand is on the rise year by year.

Anticipating future growth of the project, the company has asked the government for more land.

“Currently the cattle husbandry project is operating on an area of 500 hectares. However, they have asked for another 4,500 hectares,” Mr Somsamone said.

“The main challenge for us is finding large plots of land in one place as requested by the company. We have forwarded the matter to the government for resolution.”

Xieng Khuang’s economy has grown by 8.5 percent annually and GDP was up from 2,500 billion kip in 2015 to 2,979 billion kip in 2016.

The agriculture sector grew by 3.01 percent, industry was up 11.31 percent, and the service sector grew by 12.11 percent, with annual GDP per capita standing at US$1,500.

Around 270,000 Rohingya have fled since August 25 when militant attacks sent unrest churning through Rakhine, arriving in Bangladesh hungry and exhausted and squashing into already overcrowded refugee camps.

Tens of thousands more are believed to be on the move inside Rakhine, fleeing burning villages, the army and ethnic Rakhine mobs — who Rohingya refugees accuse of attacking civilians — only to become stranded in hills without food, water, shelter or medical care.

Bangladesh has urged Myanmar to stem the exodus by providing for the displaced inside the country and provide ‘safe zones’ for the Rohingya.

Around 27,000 Buddhists and Hindus have also been displaced following attacks by Rohingya militants and are receiving government help in monasteries and schools.

But the Rohingya, a stateless group refused citizenship by Myanmar, have been left to fend for themselves in what rights groups allege is a part of systematic campaign to force them out of the country.

Two weeks after violence scorched through the country, the government has said it will establish three camps in north, south and central Maungdaw — the epicentre of the violence and a Rohingya majority area.

“Displaced people who are currently spread out will be able to receive humanitarian aid and medical care” distributed by local Red Cross workers, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Saturday.

The report did not refer directly to the Rohingya but mentioned village clusters where the minority lived until the unrest.

Branded ‘Bengalis’ — shorthand for illegal immigrants from Bangladesh — the Rohingya have long been subjected to discrimination in mostly Buddhist Myanmar.

More than 350,000 have fled since October when a new Rohingya militant group launched attacks on police posts.

That represents around a third of the estimated total of Rohingya in Myanmar.

Around 120,000 have languished in basic displaced camps following religious violence in 2012, while the rest are subject to suffocating restrictions on their movement and rights to work.

Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, on Friday said over a thousand people may have been killed in the subsequent army crackdown, the majority likely to be Rohingya.

In an interview with AFP she said Myanmar’s star politician Aung San Suu Kyi, a fearless democracy campaigner under the former junta, had failed to use her moral authority to defend the Rohingya.

“I think we need to delete our memories of the imprisoned democratic icon,” Lee said, explaining that Suu Kyi was now a politician not a rights defender.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been condemned for her refusal to bend to pressure and speak out for the Rohingya including by Suu fellow Nobel laureates Malala Yousafzai and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Ma’s family and her doctors have blamed each other for denying her the surgery that could have eased her suffering.

The tragedy has attracted intense attention in China, with many wondering how Ma could be denied such a common procedure.

There is no clear answer, but the incident has sparked a national discussion on everything from the high cost of health care and patients’ rights to the dangers of traditional Chinese family values.

The conversation reached fever pitch this week after leaked security footage showing Ma on her knees in front of her family in a hospital corridor went viral.

In response to the uproar, the official People’s Daily said in an editorial that no matter who is ultimately to blame, the incident should serve as a national wake-up call.

“It is necessary to pay more attention to pregnant women’s feelings, and pay greater respect to their autonomy,” it said.

“We need to have more empathetic understanding and care for them. We cannot only think about policies and interests.”

Trading blame

The hospital and Ma’s family have traded blame for refusing her request for a Caesarean, presumably provoking her to kill herself rather than continue suffering through an excruciating labour.

The hospital has said it recommended Ma undergo the procedure, but that she and her husband insisted on natural birth in the belief it was better for the child.

As evidence, the hospital posted Ma’s surgery log on its official social media account, showing the family had denied her requests.

Ma had signed an authorisation granting her husband the right to make medical decisions on her behalf, it said, adding the hospital therefore “had no right to change the delivery method without (his) consent”.

But Ma’s husband, Yan Zhuangzhuang, told the Beijing Youth Daily that he had agreed to his wife’s surgery: it was the doctor who said it was unnecessary.

Under Chinese law, the decision should have been made by the person herself, according to Feng Lihua, an expert on medical disputes at Beijing’s Zhongdun Law Firm.

“It cannot be authorised by other people,” he told AFP.

Online uproar

The controversy has been hotly discussed for days, and by the end of the week the hashtag “Yulin pregnant woman jumps to death” was the third highest trending topic on the Twitter-like Weibo.

The incident is under police investigation, but the question for many is why Ma was not allowed to choose her own course of care.

Some commenters argued the family was not able or willing to pay for the surgery — a common problem in a country where anything other than the most basic medical care can be out of reach for the average person.

Others have wondered whether government policy was at least partly to blame for Ma’s death.

China has long kept a tight rein on women’s reproductive rights, sometimes using force.

After decades of promoting a strict “one-child” policy to limit its booming population, China has reversed course, pushing women to have two children in hopes of rejuvenating the country’s greying labour force.

While C-sections are favoured in China as a less painful option, the government has pressured hospitals to reduce the Caesarean rate which is among the world’s highest.

“The hospital wants to limit C-sections and the families don’t want to spend money,” said one commenter, airing a view that was widely expressed on social media.

“This type of system and this type of family produced this type of tragedy.”

The government has also pushed a return to more traditional, Confucian values that privilege the family over the individual.

What that means for childbirth is that husbands and their mothers — not women themselves — are more likely to call the shots.

“Why can’t the hospital carry out a C-section upon her request?” wrote one commenter on Weibo.

“Simply because her family does not agree? What kind of rule is this?”

MCRB director Vicky Bowman said the paper describes discrimination in policy, law and practice against several groups in Myanmar including women; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people; people living with HIV; people with disabilities; ethnic minorities; and religious minorities.

“We would like to see all companies combat discrimination and make a commitment to having inclusivity, diversity and equal opportunity as core business values,” she said.

Women, members of ethnic minorities and people with disabilities face discrimination at some workplaces, she said. Companies must be aware of the forms that it takes in Myanmar to combat discrimination effectively.

“While there are some obviously discriminatory laws still on the statute books, much of the discrimination in Myanmar today is a matter of societal attitudes, just like it is around the world.

“That means it may be ingrained in the way the company, and its workers, go about their jobs,” she said.

“A manager may not even be aware of something being discriminatory, particularly when it concerns indirect discrimination.

“This briefing paper aims at raising awareness of where the company might be failing to spot discrimination, or failing to act on it.”

The paper provides practical recommendations to companies to address the challenges they are facing, including specific recommendations for each high-risk group.

Companies must be alert to discrimination in their hiring practices, and should create favourable conditions for people living with disabilities to apply for jobs.

“Businesses need to be aware of potential discrimination in their workplaces,” she said.

In June, the organisation held a consultation with representatives from women’s groups, organisations working on behalf of LGBT people, people living with HIV and disabilities, and ethnic and religious minorities, to collect their suggestions.

The paper urges training on religious discrimination for all company workers to improve interfaith relations.

It also recommends providing services and facilities to consumers of all religions in a non-discriminatory and fair manner, and ensuring company advertisements do not perpetuate religious stereotypes and instead support a message of diversity.

“Discrimination can start with the recruitment process. Businesses routinely require applicants to show their Citizenship Scrutiny Cards (ID cards) to verify age, and whether individuals have the right to work in Myanmar.

“However, these cards currently also list the individual’s religion and ethnicity, which could reinforce biases in decision-making about who is selected,” it says.

It is equally important that employment applications focus on qualifications including education and experience rather than some discriminatory measures such as marital status, physical appearance, religion, ethnicity or any other information that is not relevant to the ability to do a job, it added.