Siam News Network

European Pressphoto Agency/ECCC Former Khmer Rouge Head of State Khieu Samphan and deputy leader Noun Chea are seen in the courtroom during a public hearing at the ECCC. More than three decades after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the trial of some of its most senior surviving leaders – all adamant about their innocence – began today with one notable absence. One of the four “inner circle” members of the regime accused of genocide and crimes against humanity was excused from the long-awaited trials. Ieng Tirith, wife of the regime’s international face Ieng Sary and herself minister of social affairs during Khmer Rouge rule, was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial due Alzheimer’s disease and ordered to be unconditionally released.

Though prosecutors have appealed the decision, it has raised yet again the question that victims and activists have long-feared: Will the remaining Khmer Rouge leaders fall prey to old age before they can be held to account for atrocities they are alleged to have committed? “The impact of this long-delayed trial is a key concern,” said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. “At the current pace, at least one or two more of the accused are not going to see all of the trial played out.” Ieng Tirith – a graduate of the Sorbonne in Paris and the first Cambodian to receive a degree in English Literature – was indicted for crimes against humanity, and alleged to be directly responsible for planning, directing, coordinating and ordering widespread purges. Her sister was married to leader of the regime, Pol Pot. Judges on the tribunal unanimously found her to be mentally ill, but most Cambodian judges on the tribunal preferred that she be hospitalized and her condition reviewed in six months, rather than being released unanimously according to Clair Duffy, who is monitoring the court proceedings for the Open Society Justice Initiative.

This is what the prosecution is appealing for.

The rest of the accused – her husband and the regime’s former foreign minister Ieng Sary; Noun Chea, the Khmer Rouge’s number two man after Pol Pot; and former head of state Khieu Samphan – are all older than Ieng Tirith (who is 79) at 86, 85 and 80 years old respectively.

They are all alleged to be responsible for the death of an estimated 1.7 million people. Noun Chea, also known as “Brother No. 2,” was second in command to Pol Pot and is a graduate of Thammasat University in Bangkok, unlike many of the regime’s Paris-educated leaders. After years of delays owing to both political and procedural reasons, many activists and victims say they are already disappointed by the UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the tribunal in charge of the trials. In 1999 – two decades after the fall of the regime – a UN Group of Experts recommended an international tribunal, warning of political interference in the Cambodian court system, but the proposal was rejected by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. After years of negotiations, the ECCC was set up in 2003. “The process has been way too long, and will continue to take a long time,” said Mr. Ou Virak, whose father was killed by the Khmer Rouge before he was born. “The names of the three accused are all public names, names that the Cambodian people are used to hearing associated with the regime. We need to have a sense of justice and closure.” He expects the process to take at least another three to four years.

The release Ieng Tirith was ordered “unconditionally” by chamber judges of the tribunal, who cited the legal principle that all accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty. “The release of Ieng Thirith is only one reflection of how incredibly late these trials are coming into place,” said Theary Seng, founder of the Cambodian Center for Justice and Reconciliation and herself, too, a victim of the Khmer Rouge regime, having lost her parents and spent five months in prison.

She has withdrawn from the tribunal process, and instead put her energy into organizing public games of darts featuring the faces of the Khmer Rouge leaders along Phnom Penh’s riverfront – a “way of release” following victims’ frustrations with the trial process, mixed with “dark humor,” she said.

Some, though, say that the decision proves the court’s compliance with international standards of justice and fair trial. “From a legal point of view, I was expecting this to happen” said Ms Duffy in an interview.

She added that the decision, which may have been surprising to the public, was consistent with medical evidence and a good sign that the court was complying with international standards though it “compounds the concern” that justice for the victims will not be delivered before old age gets to the accused. In a judicial process already mired by delays and controversy , many victims are already disappointed by their slow recourse to justice. But their disappointment could be even more pronounced if the Khmer Rouge leaders do not make it to the trial’s finish line. “Cambodians will react more if the remaining three don’t see the end of the trial,” said Mr. Ou Virak. “They are so closely associated with the Khmer Rouge in the psyche of the Cambodian people”.

The trial commenced on Monday, Nov. 21.

Excerpt from:
Khmer Rouge Trial Missing a Marquee Defendant

This summer China passed a new law, which technically went into effect on October 15, requiring foreign workers and their employers to contribute to a social security fund. To help foreigners living in China better understand what the new social security tax means, China Real Time has compiled a list of facts that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has revealed thus far:

1. Pricing

Every city will have its own pricing scheme, requiring companies to pay a percentage of an employee’s salary to the social security fund. The individual contribution will hover around 10% of the employee’s salary. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recommends that every individual check with a local bureau to determine rates.

For Beijing, companies will contribute the following percentage based on an employee’s salary per month, with a salary cap of 12,603 yuan ($1,981):

2. Start Date The law will be implemented by year-end and money will be collected according to an Oct. 15 start date, requiring retroactive payments.

3. Medical Insurance The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security says the medical insurance plan will allow foreigners to choose which hospitals they’d like to go to. An unspecified percentage of expenses will be reimbursed using the funds from the account.

Officials have not yet specified whether insurance will cover a foreigner beyond China’s borders.

Upon leaving China, foreigners will be able to collect the unused portion of the individual contribution to the medical insurance fund. Corporate contributions cannot be collected.

4. Maternity Insurance The Ministry has not yet specified if maternity insurance will cover multiple births

5. Unemployment The Ministry said it is working with employment and visa agencies to devise a plan that will allow unemployed foreigners to collect.

6. Pension Pensions can be collected if the foreigner has contributed for 15 years. They will be paid until death.

The Ministry has not specified a retirement age for foreigners or how foreigners will collect the fund.

Upon leaving China, foreigners will be able to collect the individual contribution to the retirement fund. Corporate contributions cannot be collected.

7. Contract Workers Contract workers and workers who would be forced to pay on behalf of the company and themselves can visit the local bureau of the social security office to have their cases reviewed. The Ministry will reconfigure payments for individuals.

– Laurie Burkitt and Kersten Zhang

After keeping its currency tightly linked to the US dollar for years, China in July 2005 revalued its currency by 2 % against the US dollar and moved to an exchange rate system that references a basket of currencies.

The Chinese government faces numerous economic development challenges, including:
(a) reducing its high domestic savings rate and correspondingly low domestic demand through increased corporate transfers and a strengthened social safety net;
(b) sustaining adequate job growth for tens of millions of migrants and new entrants to the work force; (c) reducing corruption and other economic crimes; and
(d) containing environmental damage and social strife related to the economy’s rapid transformation.

China is also the second largest trading nation in the world and the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods.
The PRC government’s decision to permit China to be used by multinational corporations as an export platform has made the country a major competitor to other Asian export-led economies, such as South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia.

Available energy is insufficient to run at fully installed industrial capacity, and the transport system is inadequate to move sufficient quantities of such critical items as coal.

Technology, labor productivity, and incomes have advanced much more rapidly in industry than in agriculture.

A report by UBS in 2009 concluded that China has experienced total factor productivity growth of 4 per cent per year since 1990, one of the fastest improvements in world economic history.

The market-oriented reforms China has implemented over the past two decades have unleashed individual initiative and entrepreneurship, whilst retaining state domination of the economy.

Both forums will start on Tuesday.

But “this is just a beginning.

It also aims to sell more than 15 million of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in the world each year by then.

China’s challenge in the early 21st century will be to balance its highly centralized political system with an increasingly decentralized economic system.

Agriculture is by far the leading occupation, involving over 50% of the population, although extensive rough, high terrain and large arid areas – especially in the west and north – limit cultivation to only about 10% of the land surface.

China is the world’s largest producer of rice and wheat and a major producer of sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet, barley, peanuts, corn, soybeans, and potatoes.

Due to improved technology, the fishing industry has grown considerably since the late 1970s.

Offshore exploration has become important to meeting domestic needs; massive deposits off the coasts are believed to exceed all the world’s known oil reserves.

There are large deposits of uranium in the northwest, especially in Xinjiang; there are also mines in Jiangxi and Guangdong provs.

Hydroelectric projects exist in provinces served by major rivers where near-surface coal is not abundant.

Taiyuan and Xi’an are important centers in the less populated interior, and Lanzhou is the key communications junction of the vast northwest.

Original post:
Cough it Up: A Guide to China’s New Foreigner Social Security Tax

Announcement of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Subject : Announcement on Flooding Situation in Bangkok ———————– M.R.

Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the Governor of Bangkok, revealed that the general flooding in Bangkok is gravely concerned. Normally, the level of the Chao Phraya River is equivalent to the level of high tide with an inclusion of a constant of approximately 1.30 m.

Therefore with reference to the forecasted level of high tide for today the level at the River could be expected at 2.35 – 2.40 m. which is over the maximum height of the water barrier along the River. Yesterday the level hit the record with the expectation that today the level would be higher than yesterday.

Since high tides are expected at this week so the level of the River could definitely pose certain amount of problems. BMA, hence, instructs those residing along the River and all connecting passages of water from the River to pay extraordinary cautions to the situation and be prepared to move their valuable belongings including electrical outlets to safe locations. For those residing behind the barrier should also take extra precautions as well. It is anticipated that BMA would require more than 10 millions sand bags under this unfortunate circumstance to construct and further strengthen barrier as well as to provide special cares to several places of importance, i.e.

The Siriraj Hospital, the Royal Palaces including the other Palaces.

Thus far several canal and Khlong Prapa have returned to normalcy.

The Lak Si District has been cleared of the flood whereas the Don Mueang District still is being affected. Khlong Tawee Watana recorded a rising level of 12 cm. With more opening at the gate, Khlong Prem Prachakorn still recorded an increase of more than 5 cm. , however, the flood is pushed into Khlong Lad Prao. In coping with future consequences of the inundation, BMA has moved electrical control units of the sluice gates to higher and safe ground.

The Governor cleared the misunderstanding among the public that the District of Bang Plad had not pay adequate attentions resulting in heavy flooding in the area particularly Charan Sanit Wong Road last evening. As a matter of fact the District of Bang Plad has monitored the situation all along very closely but the damaged was done on an old wall of private properties which could only be accessed with difficulty.

So the news reports on this issue were very inaccurate.

The Governor referred to the attempts of BMA in protecting the area where Vibhavadi Road intersecting with Khlong Rangsit with the construction of sand bag barrier which now with  unfortunate could not stop influx of the flood. BMA therefore further attempts by constructing  new line of barriers at Khlong Song, Chandharubeksa Road, the Air Forces Headquarters and another connecting segment of the Vibhavadi Road to allow an access to the Flood Relief Operation Center.

The Governor admired and was pleased with the decision of the Prime Minister in keeping the Center at the present site even it has been threatening with the approach of the flood. Moreover, BMA in cooperation with the Department of Highways will today reinforce the existing barrier of the Sai Mai Road. Rom Klao Road, and King Khaew Road of which some spots need to be reinforced to attain the height of 3.00 m. M.R.

Sukhumbhand Paribatra stressed that since the beginning of the mishap all personnel of BMA have worked very hard and put the most of their efforts to relief the hardship of people of Bangkok with strong determination and intention of lessening burdens being experienced by the people. But it is very discouraging and detrimental to the devotion of the BMA personnel when their efforts and operations are hampered by certain groups of people. It could be very well understood if the opposing to the operations, i.e. construction and reinforcement of barriers, control of flood via opening of sluice gates to certain extents, etc., are well intended and supported with rational. However, if those opposing based on personal rational and political as well as impartial opinions, the Governor believes that general public would not be able to accept those opposing.

Therefore, at this critical moment amidst unfortunate circumstances general public should be cooperative and provide lending efforts to BMA and also other government agencies.  BMA will apply all efforts in providing supports to its personnel.

Those affected by the inundation and strive to report to work have always been admired and praised, meanwhile those affected and not report to works will not be recorded as absentees.

Time : 11.00 a.m.

See the original post here:
OFFICIAL: Announcement on Flooding Situation in Bangkok, 25 Oct,2011

Thailand’s Prime Minister today announced that Bangkok faced a looming disaster as she consolidated special powers for flood control and drainage.

The 2007 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act was put into place take responsibility for mana gement of the flooding, just short of declaring a state of emergency. Under her control, the priority for managing the floods is to speed up the drainage into the sea via the east of the capital.

The government is also set to coordinate its efforts with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to operate all sluice gates in and around the capital, effectively taking full control of the waterways in the city.

The armed forces would also be responsible for maintaining and defending dykes and levees set up to stem the flow of floodwaters.

The military will play a key role in defending important points of infrastructure, including Bangkok’s airports – Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi around the Grand Palace and Siriraj Hospital, and the city’s tap water system.

The Ministry of Transport would be responsible for ensuring a smooth flow of traffic throughout the capital, and other agencies would also be involved in the setting up and plans shelters and arranging evacuations`

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BANGKOK FLOODS: PM Issues disaster warning for Bangkok

With China accounting for 64 of the 937 wealthiest people on the latest Forbes global rich list, and the country battling an ever-widening wealth gap, the issue of charity has begun to loom large over the world’s second-largest economy. Do those who’ve profited from the country’s rise feel a responsibility to help those left behind? Is the government, which has retreated from many social services, doing enough to encourage others to step in and help?

One organization with extensive experience navigating China’s uncertain nonprofit landscape is cleft-lip and cleft-palate medical charity Operation Smile. Founded in 1982, the organization first came to China in 1991. In that time, it has provided free surgeries to more than 20,000 Chinese children and has plans to run 26 additional medical missions, each serving between 100 and 300 children around the country this year.

Operation Smile co-founders Dr. Bill Magee and his wife Kathy recently arrived in Beijing to launch a youth conference at a local university, part of the organization’s continuing celebration of its 20^th anniversary in China. Dr. Magee spoke with The Wall Street Journal about the state of charity in China and the challenges foreign nonprofits still face in the country. Edited excerpts:

Operation Smile has been in China for two decades now. What’s changed in terms of operating a charity in China over that time?

The first time I came into Shanghai in 1991, I took about a five-hour car ride into Hangzhou, and at the West Lake at that time there was only one hotel. You take a look at Hangzhou today and it’s a massive, major city—and it’s modern. Shanghai now has one of the largest and possibly best surgery hospitals in the world. So the medical infrastructure is phenomenal, and yet the reality is, just like in Brazil and a number of other significant countries like India, you have a massive area that’s still impoverished.

The challenge is how do you deliver care side-by-side with the people in the country? So it’s been exciting to get on board, not only the medical community, but the business community. Marriott, for instance, has adopted us as the charity for Beijing for next year, which has been very helpful.

How much of your China funding comes from multinationals in China such as Marriott and how much from Chinese businesses themselves?

It mostly starts with the multinationals, to be honest with you. And that’s understandable because the multinationals are deeply embedded in the need for corporate responsibility. I think those same needs will develop within Chinese companies. They’re just not as far along with it as the multinationals are right now.

What about individual donations? There’s been a lot of discussion, ever since the Bill Gates and Warren Buffet charity tour came to China last year, around the culture and logistics of giving in China as Chinese people get wealthier. What’s been your experience with that?

It’s interesting. We’re still struggling with this, like everybody else, because the status of nonprofits in China makes it difficult to get the appropriate licenses so people can donate to you. But if you take Vietnam, where we’ve been for 22 years, you can really see the maturation of that process. I think it’s just a matter of time. If you look at where nonprofits were in the U.S. 10, 20 years ago—the progress since then has been phenomenal.

My best guess is that as this country continues to mature and progress, with as successful as they’re becoming, they’re going to grow in the same way. People with affluence will have to share some of it with people who don’t have it. The people here want to help. They just don’t know how to right now. The laws have to change a little, and the recognition of it has to change—the celebration of people who give has to change.

As a charity in China, you’re required to work with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. How does that affect what you do vs. in other places?

We can’t promote ourselves to raise money, but we have do a charity hospital in Hangzhou, which is I think the first completely free charity hospital in China. Because that was licensed by the Chinese, we’re allowed to receive money there.

China can be tough. We can’t bring in consumables (like sutures and gauze), for instance. We have to purchase them here. Normally we get things donated in the U.S. and bring them in, but we’re not allowed to do that. It costs us about $20,000 to do that.

How optimistic are you that the rules will loosen up to allow you to be more active here?

Over the past 20 years, there’s definitely been some loosening. It’s hard to predict the pace of that. And I think if were to ask government officials ‘What’s the pace? What’s the plan?’ I doubt you’d ever get a clear answer.

Things happen, and you just have to stay on top of it. It’s not one of those things where you go in and demand that change occur over night. I think what you have to do is show, really respectfully, that you can be trusted and that you’re there, not for an ulterior motive, but for just the right reasons. Because we’re not a religious or political organization, it’s a little bit easier to show that to people in a very dramatic way.

– Josh Chin. Follow him on Twitter @joshchin

In recent years, China has re-invigorated its support for leading state-owned enterprises in sectors it considers important to “economic security,” explicitly looking to foster globally competitive national champions.

The government vowed to continue reforming the economy and emphasized the need to increase domestic consumption in order to make China less dependent on foreign exports for GDP growth in the future.

China is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years.

Available energy is insufficient to run at fully installed industrial capacity, and the transport system is inadequate to move sufficient quantities of such critical items as coal.

Its mineral resources are probably among the richest in the world but are only partially developed.

A report by UBS in 2009 concluded that China has experienced total factor productivity growth of 4 per cent per year since 1990, one of the fastest improvements in world economic history.

By the early 1990s these subsidies began to be eliminated, in large part due to China’s admission into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, which carried with it requirements for further economic liberalization and deregulation.

China now ranks as the fifth largest global investor in outbound direct investment (ODI) with a total volume of $56.5 billion, compared to a ranking of 12th in 2008, the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.

” Although the figure is already “quite amazing,” the volume is “not large enough” considering China’s economic growth and local companies’ expanding demand for international opportunities, Shen said.

China is aiming to be the world’s largest new energy vehicle market by 2020 with 5 million cars.

Although China is still a developing country with a relatively low per capita income, it has experienced tremendous economic growth since the late 1970s.

Even with these improvements, agriculture accounts for only 20% of the nation’s gross national product.

In terms of cash crops, China ranks first in cotton and tobacco and is an important producer of oilseeds, silk, tea, ramie, jute, hemp, sugarcane, and sugar beets.

Hogs and poultry are widely raised in China, furnishing important export staples, such as hog bristles and egg products.

Oil fields discovered in the 1960s and after made China a net exporter, and by the early 1990s, China was the world’s fifth-ranked oil producer.

There are also deposits of vanadium, magnetite, copper, fluorite, nickel, asbestos, phosphate rock, pyrite, and sulfur.

Major industrial products are textiles, chemicals, fertilizers, machinery (especially for agriculture), processed foods, iron and steel, building materials, plastics, toys, and electronics.

Taiyuan and Xi’an are important centers in the less populated interior, and Lanzhou is the key communications junction of the vast northwest.

See more here:
China’s Charity Challenge: ‘People Want to Help, They Just Don’t Know How’

China’s longest river, the Yangtze, has been at the heart of historic floods this summer that have killed dozens of people and laid waste to hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland. But to users of one of China’s most popular social media sites, it no longer exists. Searches for the Yangtze’s Chinese name – Chang Jiang (长江)—on Sina.com’s Weibo microblogging platform came up empty on Wednesday, as did searches for a number of other Chinese rivers, yielding instead the service’s standard censorship notice: “According to the relevant laws, regulations and policies, the results of this search cannot be displayed.” Why the sudden aversion to flowing bodies of water? The likeliest explanation is a torrent of rumors circulating online since Tuesday that former president Jiang Zemin is either gravely ill or has already died. Mr. Jiang’s surname means “river.” The Chinese rumor mill has wrongly predicted Mr. Jiang’s death before. But the latest round of speculation comes just days after the 84-year-old former leader conspicuously failed to show up at celebrations marking the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. He would be the longest-serving and in many ways most significant Chinese leader to have died since Deng Xiaoping in February 1997. Regardless of whether the rumors are true, Sina is taking no chances. In addition to “river,” the company has also blocked searches for “death” in various iterations as well as “301 Hospital,” a reference to the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing where top leaders are often treated. Beyond blocking searches, the service’s human censors have also been busy hand-deleting posts that mention the former leader. Chinese microbloggers have employed a variety of tricks in an apparent attempt to get around the blocks. With Weibo censors blocking searches the word for “hung” (挂了), a common Chinese euphemism for death, users have been circulating an image showing an empty set of clothing hanging out to dry, pants hiked up to chest level the way Mr. Jiang preferred. It’s not the first time China’s censors have gone to great lengths to prevent Internet users searching out information on the country’s top leaders. At various times, Chinese language searches for “carrot” on Google have been blocked , apparently because one of the three characters in the word matches the surname of current Chinese president Hu Jintao. There are some inconsistencies in Sina’s apparent effort to quash the speculation surrounding Mr. Jiang. While “myocardial infarction” is blocked, “heart attack” mysteriously is not. Searches for “301 Hospital” that use Chinese characters for the numbers instead of Arabic numerals likewise produce results. As always, it remains unclear whether the censorship effort has managed to calm speculation about Mr. Jiang’s death or encouraged it further. Jiang-related rumors and commentary remained rife Wednesday night on Twitter, which is blocked in China but can be accessed by means of firewall circumvention software. And while Sina’s content police have gotten wise to the image of the empty suit of clothing, it remains available on Google+ . – Josh Chin. Follow him on Twitter @joshchin

Read the rest here:
Following Jiang Death Rumors, China’s Rivers Go Missing

Indonesia is defending its support for migrant workers days after an Indonesian maid was beheaded in Saudi Arabia for killing what she said was an abusive employer. Indonesian officials say that starting in August, they will stop sending workers to Saudi Arabia until officials there can guarantee their protection. Officials say the move is a sign they are committed to protecting their citizens, but migrant worker support groups are skeptical.

Saudi execution

The execution of Ruyati binti Sapubi, 54, has provoked a flurry of critical Indonesian media coverage of the government’s protection of migrant workers rights.  

This week, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke out against her death sentence and said the actions of the Saudi government broke with international norms because Riyadh did not notify Jakarta before it executed Sapubi.

Migrant workers groups have long said the government should do more to protect workers. Officials say the moratorium on migrant workers in August and other labor initiatives demonstrate that they are committed to addressing the issue.

“The first step we have taken in the past month was to ensure that we have a better monitoring for prospective employers,” said Michael Tene, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. “Our embassy in Saudi Arabia has put in place stringent conditions before the embassy can endorse the request from prospective employers to employ Indonesian workers,” Tene stated.

Abuse claims

Most of the 1.2 million Indonesians employed in Saudi Arabia are domestic workers. They often complain of being made to work long hours, having requests for return trips home denied, unpaid wages and in some cases grave physical abuse.

Some 23 Indonesian migrants are currently on death row in Saudi Arabia for crimes they allegedly committed while working in the country.

Although Sapubi pleaded guilty to killing her employer, she said it was because she was overworked, isolated and abused. Another Indonesian worker in the home has said Sapubi was repeatedly punched and kicked by her employer. Indonesian officials say Saudi courts should have taken her condition into consideration in granting her clemency.

Temporary moratorium

Indonesia has already implemented several temporary moratoriums on sending workers to Saudi Arabia. The latest came last November, when migrant worker Sumiati Salan Mustapa, 23, was hospitalized in Medina after her employer allegedly burned her with a hot iron and slashed her face with scissors.  

The head of support group Migrant Care, Anies Hidayah, is skeptical that the government’s August moratorium will be any different from the others.

She says this is one sign that the government acknowledges the case of Ruyati and many others. But she says she also deplores the fact that it will wait until August to implement it because by then there will not be any momentum. Hidayah says if the government were serious, it would implement the moratorium now.

Lawmaker initiative

A special team of Indonesian lawmakers has also come together to work on improving the mechanism for recruitment and placement of workers in the Gulf area. The team’s deputy chairperson, Eva Kusuma Sundari, says they need to improve vague, overly broad legislation that focuses more on placement for migrant workers than protection.

Critics of the government’s policy on sending workers abroad say they are more interested in the money they send home to their families and the benefits that placement agencies bring to the economy.

Indonesian migrant workers remit more than $7 billion each year, money that support groups say is one of the most effective forms of poverty alleviation. Sundari says it is another sector ripe for corruption.

Labor protection

Just weeks ago, both Saudi Arabia and Indonesia reversed their opposition to a legally binding convention on labor protections for domestic workers at an International Labor Organization summit in Geneva. It was the same summit at which President Yudhoyono took to the podium and spoke of his country’s strong efforts to defend its migrant workers.

The Saudi government has not issued a formal response to the planned August moratorium, but Tene says it is unlikely to harm relations with Indonesia. He says the Indonesian government will be able to absorb the workers who were planning to go to Saudi Arabia, while those already employed there will be able to stay until their contracts expire.

See the article here:
Indonesia Imposes Moratorium on Sending Workers to Saudi Arabia

A new law that prohibits Shanghai residents from owning more than a single dog may have more bark than bite. Shanghai published a new set of pet ownership rules May 15, including a stipulation that each household would be limited to a single dog. The rule sparked a howl of parallels to China’s one-child policy, the now 30-year-old intrusion into personal lives that has slowed population growth but also led to concerns over human rights and the future supply of workers. The fact that authorities feel a need to pinch the pooch population isn’t all bad. According to the Shanghai Daily, the government believes there are some 750,000 pet dogs in the city of 20 million people, a fact that might help correct the impression that China is a nation where dogs are only either found on menus or executed for being disease carriers . And with some estimates putting the cost of raising pet dogs in the tens of thousands of dollars , the existence of so many of them in the city could also be read as a positive sign of growing household wealth. Jokes aside, one fact puts a leash on the narrative that authorities are simply applying the single-child policy to canines. The one-dog edict has actually been on the books in Shanghai at least since 1993 and restated in subsequent campaigns, for instance against rabies . One-dog rules have also been adopted in the past five years across China, including the cities of Beijing, Chengdu and Guangzhou. Indeed, the thrust of Shanghai’s new policy appears to be a 75% reduction in fees to register a pet dog, to 500 yuan, about $77, from 2,000 yuan. suggesting the basis for the city’s effort is to get more than the current 20% of the dog population registered. The cost for registration gets cut in half if a dog is neutered. Emerging from an animal hospital this week with her Chihuahua, 66-year-old Kang Qingju said the fee cut was “good news” that finally compelled her have the 18-month-old dog vaccinated and made “legal.” Local newspapers in recent days suggested Ms. Kang wasn’t alone in her rush to get the shots and required identification microchips . Zhu Weifen, a veterinarian at Shanghai Aibei Veterinary Hospital, said she was busy vaccinating dogs over the weekend so they can be registered with the police. “People are more willing to pay that sum of money to secure their dog’s safety,” said the animal doctor. Whether owners of multiple dogs in Shanghai can expect to face the wrath of the law remains an open question. The rules don’t apply retroactively and dog owners say there are simple workarounds to owning a kennel of hounds, for instance using multiple addresses for licensing. “There’s always been something called a one-dog edict here in Shanghai,” say Lee-Anne Armstrong (EDS: CQ name), foster care director at Second Chance Animal Aid Shanghai (http://www.scaashanghai.org/), an agency which nevertheless now intends to deny second adoptions rather than simply discourage them as in the past. Ms. Armstrong applauded official efforts to modernize the system: “The spirit is that owners will be held responsible, not that dogs are a nuisance,” she said. The new law also includes requirements to leash dogs and pick up after them, while outlawing abandonment and cruelty to pets. “Several parts of this law are in the right direction,” she said. How much appetite the government will have for enforcing the single-dog rule is an open question. The job falls to Shanghai’s police department, the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Shanghai authorities set up a website ( in Chinese ) with information about their new policies and outreach services. A government spokesman referred further questions to a local National People’s Congress statement, which quoted an official named Hong Kemin as saying the penalty for unregistered, unvaccinated dogs after May 15 would be as high as 1,000 yuan . Still, over the years, numerous tough-sounding Shanghai edicts have quickly lost their oomph, from the almost yearly bans on cigarette smoking (see here , here and here ) to “wars” on jaywalking and horn honking . The question many dog owners have now is where the money raised will be going. Out walking his small Pomeranian this week, Dong Changfu, a 71-year-old retiree, was among the doubters. “My dog is small and harmless,” he said. “No one has ever complained about her. I clean her waste and she never barks or bites people. I don’t care about the registration. It’s just the government’s trick to get more people spend more money. ” Mark Ma, the 29-year-old owner of a Shetland sheepdog, welcomed the push toward licensing but said he hopes fee revenue will be allocated toward making life better for pets in the city. “For example, they could expand dog-friendly areas, so that dogs could play there without interfering with people,” Mr. Ma said. – James T. Areddy and Yang Jie. Follow James on Twitter @jamestareddy

See the article here:
Shanghai’s One-Dog Policy More Bark Than Bite