By Tess Bacalla
CHIANG MAI, Thailand, Dec 9 (TerraViva) – Countries in the Mekong region have indeed opened their borders and former foes become friends, but several of them are still ruled by authoritarian governments that put limits on media and other freedoms.
Aung Zaw, exiled Burmese editor of ‘The Irrawaddy’ magazine, stressed this contrast during in his opening remarks at Wednesday’s opening of the Mekong Media Forum in this northern Thai city, where he has lived and fought for Burma’s freedom since fleeing the repressive state 21 years ago as a student activist.
In this kind of environment – where openness has filtered through all economies in the region but not necessarily into their political environments — the founder and editor of the magazine focusing on Burmese and South-east Asian issues said journalists need to raise fundamental questions to authorities lest they remain buried and allow the region’s repressive regimes to remain in power unchallenged.
This while scores of people continue to languish in oppressive environments — such as Burma where there are 2,000 political prisoners — that denies them of fundamental freedoms as well as economic opportunities in an otherwise resource-rich region.
“The role of journalists is not about nurturing media organisations; it is about having the courage to tell the truth,” and being committed to the pursuit democracy in an environment dominated by repressive regimes,” said Aung Zaw.
The Mekong region consists of China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Thailand through which flows the Mekong River, one of South-east Asia’s most important river systems.
The Forum brings together more than 200 participants—composed of about a hundred journalists and at least a hundred other media professionals and analysts, development experts and civil society members—for four days of discussion around critical issues confronting the media within the region.
“If you look at the Mekong countries, these used to be hostile to each other, but borders have opened up and people travel a lot” while trade has been increasing, he said, highlighting some of the major changes that have swept across the region through the years. Yet, these countries are still ruled by authoritarian states.
Although it has become a region with some of East Asia’s healthiest growth rates, the region faces a host of complex issues, including cross-border disputes and migration, poverty, environmental degradation, human trafficking and HIV/AIDS.
Experts say such social ills have been brought about in part by increased economic and socio-cultural integration. “Intensified illegal activities such as smuggling, drug trafficking, prostitution, and gambling are concentrated along the economic corridors, threatening border communities,” states a report by the Asian Development Bank.
Aung Zaw said journalists have a “watchdog,” not a “lapdog,” role to perform. “We should be raising questions to our authorities” to make them “accountable and transparent.”
He challenged the Mekong journalists at the Forum to collectively rally around the cause of press freedom and democracy, citing the issues that bind them together—issues bordering on repression, specifically of the press—and notwithstanding the diversity within Mekong societies.
“Are we united enough to defend ourselves? Are we united enough to defend our brother and sister journalists who are locked in prison (notably those in Burma), to protect our press freedom?” These, too, are the very important questions to ask in this forum, Aung Zaw added.
“When we talk about Mekong region, there’s a link (among the countries),” he said. Burma, for example, continues to be in power because countries such as Cambodia, Laos, China, Vietnam and Thailand “continue to support this pariah regime. They are very good at defending each other’s interests.”
Because the military junta continues to hold sway in Burma, at least 2 million Burmese have fled to neighbouring Thailand to work as migrant workers, many of whom labour under deplorable working conditions and extremely low wages. Among the biggest casualties of the repression in Burma are journalists. “You can see how the Burmese government continues to crack down on journalists,” he said.
Aung Zaw said that the media, for instance, should be looking into why some international donors to Mekong countries appear to be much more keen on providing support for big infrastructure projects in the region, and not for initiatives that push democratic space.
Journalists can dig deeper into Japan’s recent pledge of 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in aid to the Mekong countries, he suggested. “What is behind it? What is (its underlying) agenda?” asked the Burmese journalist, who launched the ‘Irrawaddy’ magazine in Thailand in 1993.
He said that often, proponents of development projects “don’t talk about building a democracy, press freedom, and how to develop seasoned journalists”. Yet the development process relies very much on how media follow, reports and monitors the most important issues for the countries they report on. “Our participation (as journalists) is very vital in the face of such development projects,” he added. (END/TV/IPSAP/MTB/JS/09)
