Librarian's Choice
Librarian's Choice
Source/publisher:
tomdispatch.com
Description:
"Tom Engelhardt launched Tomdispatch in November 2001 as an e-mail publication offering commentary and collected articles from the world press. In December 2002, it gained its name, became a project of The Nation Institute, and went online as "a regular antidote to the mainstream media." The site now features Tom Engelhardt?s regular commentaries and the original work of authors ranging from Rebecca Solnit, Bill McKibben, and Mike Davis to Chalmers Johnson, Michael Klare, Adam Hochschild, Robert Lipsyte, and Elizabeth de la Vega. Nick Turse, who also writes for the site, is associate editor and research director.
Tomdispatch is intended to introduce readers to voices and perspectives from elsewhere (even when the elsewhere is here). Its mission is to connect some of the global dots regularly left unconnected by the mainstream media and to offer a clearer sense of how this imperial globe of ours actually works..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-11
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera (REWIND)
Date of publication:
2007-00-00
Description:
"In 2007, Al Jazeera went undercover in Myanmar to report on monks? protests and the resulting crackdown by the military...
Back in 2007, the people of Myanmar were still living under harsh military rule. Among the first major international news stories Al Jazeera covered was the Myanmar government?s brutal crackdown on peacefully protesting monks.
News reaching the outside world at that time was scarce. But Al Jazeera correspondent Tony Birtley was one of the few international journalists who had managed to get into the country, and was able to film the unfolding events while working undercover at the very heart of the protests.
Ten years later, Yangon-based journalist Fiona MacGregor tells REWIND how the story has moved on.
"We have to remember that the military still plays a huge role here," she says."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-11
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Youtube
Description:
Talks, interviews, conversations etc.
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-11
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
www.via Google
Description:
About 2,200 results (February 2018)...
K. Yhome works at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-10
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of publication:
2017-12-06
Description:
"Unofficial English translation" though this version is from the DICA site and includes "english_version_6_dec_president_signed_version_cl.pdf" in the URL (see "Alternate URL", below)
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-10
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.09 MB
Local URL:
2017-12-06-Myanmar_Companies_Law-en-red.pdf
2017-12-06-Myanmar_Companies_Law-en-red.pdf more
Source/publisher:
Norwegian Refugee Council, Displacement Solutions
Date of publication:
2018-02-08
Description:
I. HOUSING, LAND AND PROPERTY ISSUES AND CONFLICT:
CAUSE, CONSEQUENCE AND CURE...
II. HLP ISSUES IN THE MYANMAR PEACE PROCESS
AND HOW BEST TO ADDRESS THEM...
III. PEACE AND POST-CONFLICT AGREEMENTS
AND HLP ISSUES: A COUNTRY-BY-
COUNTRY OVERVIEW...
IV. CONCLUSIONS....."Any successful outcome to the peace process in Myanmar will invariably need to address
the wide range of housing, land and property (HLP) rights issues that are central components in
all of the unresolved conflicts in the country. At least superficially, there is growing
evidence that
various actors engaged in the peace process are increasingly recognising
that the resolution of
HLP rights issues will be critical towards building
the foundations needed for the long-term peace
and stability of the country. The agreement of ten key land and environment principles at the
May 2017
Panglong 2
Summit by the
government and ethnic negotiating
armed ethnic
groups
provides an important basis for further agreement on HLP issues as the process unfolds. This
paper aims to bolster this process by providing
a brief overview of how HLP matters have been
addressed in other peace processes throughout the world over the past 25 years, some of which
may prove inspirational to peace negotiators in Myanmar. There is a wide range of experience
about how and in which manner HLP issues have been included in peace agreements, and HLP
issues are increasingly recognized for their multi-dimensional impacts upon conflict. Indeed,
HLP issues can be the cause of conflict, a consequence of conflict, and an important means for
securing
a sustainable peace following
conflict.
HLP concerns and the human rights and other
considerations attached to them are now widely agreed to form vital ingredients in the quest
for long-term economic vitality and social stability following
conflict. As a result, HLP issues are
growing
in prominence and are now viewed as key considerations in conflict prevention and
peacebuilding
initiatives...
Despite the fact that virtually all recent major peace processes and post-conflict periods
of reconstruction in other countries have sought to structurally address the severe HLP consequences of the conflict concerned, there is a significant risk in Myanmar that because of the deep
vested interests attached to so many of them, HLP issues will be perceived as too sensitive or
complex to be properly addressed in any eventual agreement. It is important, therefore, to foster
awareness about HLP issues among
those engaged in, or supporting
, negotiations and planning
for the post-conflict period. Without adequate preparation of all stakeholders involved in,
or supporting, the negotiation process, a national level settlement may be undermined by local
level HLP
grievances and conflicts. In the alternative scenario, in which there is no national level
agreement, an alternative strategy for sensitizing
actors to HLP risks and opportunities will nonetheless be required..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-08
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Law and policy on land in Burma/Myanmar, Conflict resolution - mediation - resources, Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to land, property and planning (commentary)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
466.18 KB
more
Source/publisher:
Democracy Now!
Description:
About 70 videos and audios from 19967
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-07
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Rights of indigenous peoples - Burma/Myanmar, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
International Crisis group (ICG)
Date of publication:
2018-01-31
Description:
"Crisis Group?s early-warning Watch List identifies up to ten countries and regions at risk of conflict or escalation of violence. In these situations, early action, driven or supported by the EU and its member states, would generate stronger prospects for peace. It includes a global overview, regional summaries, and detailed analysis on select countries and conflicts.
The Watch List 2018 includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh/Myanmar, Cameroon, Colombia, Egypt, Iraq, Sahel, Tunisia, Ukraine and Zimbabwe".....
Myanmar/Bangladesh section of ICG?s "Watchlist 2018": "Violent operations by the military, border police and vigilante groups in Myanmar have forced some 750,000 Rohingya to flee northern Rakhine for Bangladesh over the last twelve months. These numbers represent more than 85 per cent of the Rohingya population in the three affected townships. Significant bilateral and multilateral criticism ? in the UN Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights Council ? has failed to temper the approach of the Myanmar government and military. The UN, as well as the U.S. and other governments, have declared the 2017 campaign against the Rohingya ?ethnic cleansing” and likely crimes against humanity; some have raised the possibility that it may constitute genocide....While relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar are tense, there appears to be little risk of direct conflict between the two countries? armies. Likewise, in the view of Bangladeshi security forces, the possibility of the displaced Rohingya being recruited or used by Bangladeshi or transnational jihadist groups is low. Perhaps more dangerous, ahead of national elections to be held near the end of 2018, is that the presence of a large refugee population could ignite the simmering communal conflict among Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus as well as ethnic minorities, especially in the highly militarised Chittagong Hill Tracts. It also is worth noting that these refugees ? whose presence Bangladeshi politicians privately suggest could well be permanent ? are located in a part of the country where the influence of Hefazat-e-Islam (Protectors of Islam), a hardline coalition of government-allied Islamist organisations, is strongest. The Hefazat was first to respond to the refugee crisis. It has since threatened to launch a jihad against Myanmar unless it stops persecuting the Rohingya. Hefazat has in recent years gained significant influence over the nominally secular Awami League, the ruling party, and now holds effective veto power over the government?s social and religious policies..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-03
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Burma Centrum Nederland, Author
Date of publication:
1995-12-11
Description:
"The following
monograph
is
a draft background paper from
a presentation delivered
at a conference, ?The Muslim ?Rohingyas? of Burma”, organised
by the Burma
Centrum Nederland
in Amsterdam in December 1995. Given the paucity of available
data
at the time, the paper did not seek to be definitive. Rather, it was intended as a
draft for discussion, explaining dilemmas that the author had come across during the
previous decade when researching about ethnic politics in the country. The hope was
that, with the door to
Burma
gradually opening, other
analysts
and researchers would
be able to develop understanding about the sensitive ethnic
and political issues
involved.
Since this time,
the crisis in the Arakan-Bangladesh borderlands has further worsened,
with new violence, refugee outflows and a broader spread of ethnic nationality and
Buddhist-Muslim tensions within the country. In response, there has been greater
international awareness and research inter
est, but the divisions in local society and
politics have only become deeper.
This
monograph,
still
as a background draft for consultation, was published by the
Burma Centrum Nederland in a ?Rohingya Reader II” in October 1996. Scanned
versions have also
appeared on the Internet.
This version is a 2017-generated
document in
PDF. The original text has been maintained, and there are no updates. It
is intended that the text should be read in the context of the understandings and
landscape of the
Arakan-Bangladesh
borderlands in 1995."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-03
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Arakanese/Rakhine/Rohingya history
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
180.84 KB
more
Source/publisher:
"Inside Asia" June-August 1985
Date of publication:
1985-08-00
Description:
THE KAREN STRUGGLE IN BURMA: "At a critical stage in Asia?s least reported but long-running
separatist war,
Martin Smith
assesses the most recent offensive
of Burmese government troops against the Karen rebels, and
speculates on a possible outcome and on the implications for
other ethnic minority rebel forces in Burma."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-03
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Armed conflict in Karen State - military activities and their impact on village life, including livelihood, health, education and land tenure security, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.01 MB
Local URL:
MS-Karen-IA1985-tpo.pdf
MS-Karen-IA1985-tpo.pdf more
Source/publisher:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Date of publication:
2018-02-01
Description:
"...After two weeks hearing accounts of suffering that has spanned a period of decades, it is difficult to sum up all my thoughts in this statement. In concluding, I would like to return to the three themes that recurred throughout my time in Bangladesh and Thailand:
People from Myanmar who are in Bangladesh and Thailand must be able to return home; to where they belong. For returns to be ever realized in a way that is voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable they must be treated as equals ? citizens of Myanmar with all the rights that the status affords. The situation is clearly not safe for Rohingya to return now but if the process is delayed indefinitely and the facts on the ground in Rakhine State change irreversibly, there may be nothing for them to return to. The international community needs to pressure Myanmar to create conditions for return before it is too late. This must be done in a principled way that prioritizes the need for these people to be recognized as Rohingya and as citizens of Myanmar.
Without equality, Myanmar will never be free from violence and the country?s tragic déjà vu will reverberate through the future as it has through the past. The cycle of violence must end, and Myanmar must be supported in implementing the profound and meaningful reforms that are so urgently needed. The democratic government can take the first step to a more hopeful future for Myanmar by making a break with the repressive practices of the past."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-03
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Associated Press (AP)
Date of publication:
2018-02-01
Description:
"The AP uncovered evidence of at least five mass graves at one location, Gu Dar Pyin, that bolster charges leveled by the U.S. and United Nations of ethnic cleansing in the country?s northern Rakhine state.
About 200 soldiers, known as Tatmadaw, swept into the area on Aug. 27, according to witnesses. One of them, Mohammad Sha, 37, a shop owner and farmer, told the news agency that he "hid in a grove of coconut trees near a river with more than 100 others. They watched as the military searched Muslim homes and dozens of Buddhist neighbors, their faces partly covered with scarves, loaded the possessions they found into about 10 pushcarts. Then the soldiers burned down the homes, shooting anyone who couldn?t flee, Sha said."..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-02
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Associated Press (AP)
Date of publication:
2018-02-01
Description:
"BALUKHALI REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh (AP) — The faces of the men half-buried in the mass graves had been burned away by acid or blasted by bullets. Noor Kadir finally recognized his friends only by the colors of their shorts.
Kadir and 14 others, all Rohingya Muslims in the Myanmar village of Gu Dar Pyin, had been choosing players for the soccer-like game of chinlone when the gunfire began. They scattered from what sounded like hard rain on a tin roof. By the time the Myanmar military stopped shooting, only Kadir and two teammates were left alive. Days later, Kadir found six of his friends among the bodies in two graves.
They are among at least five mass graves, all previously unreported, that have been confirmed by The Associated Press through multiple interviews with more than two dozen survivors in Bangladesh refugee camps and through time-stamped cellphone videos. The Myanmar government regularly claims such massacres of the Rohingya never happened, and has acknowledged only one mass grave containing 10 ?terrorists” in the village of Inn Din. However, the AP?s reporting shows a systematic slaughter of Rohingya Muslim civilians by the military, with help from Buddhist neighbors — and suggests many more graves hold many more people..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-02
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
AP via "Daily Mail"
Date of publication:
2018-02-01
Description:
"At least five previously unreported mass graves have been uncovered in Burma, in the newest piece of evidence for what looks increasingly like genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine state.
The Associated Press confirmed the existence of the graves around the village of Gu Dar Pyin, through interviews with more than two dozen survivors in Bangladesh refugee camps and time-stamped mobile phone videos.
The government regularly claims massacres like Gu Dar Pyin never happened, and has acknowledged only one mass grave containing 10 ?terrorists” in the village of Inn Din.
The AP findings suggest not only the military?s slaughter of civilians but the presence of many more graves with many more people...The UN special envoy on human rights in Burma [Yanghee Lee] said the military?s violent operations against Rohingya Muslims bear ?the hallmarks of a genocide”..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-02
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
www via Google
Description:
About 1,050 results (January 2018)
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-31
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Environmental Justice Foundation
Date of publication:
2017-12-00
Description:
Executive summary:
•
Each of the last three decades has been successively
warmer than any preceding decade since 1850,
and in
2015 temperature rise exceeded 1.0°C, compared to pre-
industrial times, for the
first time.
These changes will
have an escalating, negative impact on our environment,
economies, livelihoods and security globally. These
impacts will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable
groups in society, and those who have contributed least to
climate change will be
first and worst affected by it.
If unchecked, some predict that climate change could draw
up to 720 million people back into extreme poverty
and
create millions or even billions of climate refugees.
A study published in 2013 suggested that the effects of
climate change could precipitate as much as a 56% increase
in the frequency of intergroup conflicts across the world.
•
Climate change can take the form of slow-onset
environmental degradation, such as the melting of polar
ice caps and rising sea levels, increased salinization of
groundwater and soil, droughts and desertification from
changed precipitation levels. It can also take the form
of sudden-onset disasters including storms and
floods,
heatwaves and wildfires. The number of weather-related
natural disasters has risen on all continents since 1980.
From 1970 to 2012 there were 8,835 disasters related to
climate,
of which 3,496 took place between 2001 and
2010.
More than half of these were related to rainfall
patterns; both
floods and droughts are increasingly evident
in many parts of the world.
•
Climate change is resulting in the destruction of
livelihoods, infrastructure and communities and ?
without further action ? is likely to force people to leave
their homes and drive forced migration.
In 2016 extreme
weather-related disasters displaced around 23.5 million
people.
Since 2008, an average of 21.7 million people
were displaced each year by such hazards.
This does
not include the people forced to
flee their homes as a
consequence of slow-onset environmental degradation,
such as droughts.
•
EJF defines all these people as climate refugees:
?persons or groups of persons who, for reasons of sudden
or progressive climate-related change in the environment
that adversely affects their lives or living conditions, are
obliged to leave their habitual homes either temporarily
or permanently, and who move either within their
country or abroad.”
•
Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns
will have widespread, large-scale negative impacts on
food production and food security. Between 1985 and
2007, droughts drove a 13.7% loss in cereal production,
compared to just 6.7% in losses between 1964 and 1984.
Drought is one of the key factors for agricultural failure
and it is expected that the increase in intensity, frequency
and duration of such droughts - all consequences of
climate change - will bring about significant declines to
crop yields.
•
Environmental change can be seen to drive conflicts
over land or resources, which in turn can lead to the
displacement of people.
Forced migration can be triggered
by environmental conflicts, but forced migration due to the
scarcity of food or extreme weather events can also in itself
trigger conflicts.
The interaction between different social,
economic and political variables ? as well as environmental
factors ? are strong influencers of wars and armed conflicts
in vulnerable countries.
•
This report includes a focus on impacts of changing
weather patterns on food security, and how this helped
fuel the Syrian war. The Syrian war, now in its seventh
year, has resulted in more than 470,000 deaths
and
13.5 million people require humanitarian assistance.
6.6 million people have been internally displaced
and
nearly
five million people are residing in camps in Turkey,
Jordan and Lebanon
as well as an estimated 1.2 million
seeking refuge in Europe.
Whilst the war was not solely
a result of climate change, the intertwining effects of
drought, rural to urban migration, and the increasing
unrest due to a lack of government measures to avoid
water scarcity, unemployment and growing inequality,
corruption and political oppression are clear.
•
EJF urges the international community to acknowledge
the reality of climate change and take urgent action to
limit the crippling effects on our global community.
We note the imperative for greater consensus and support
for vulnerable nations to increase their resilience to
climate risks and adapt to their impact. We call for an
international agreement that will clarify the rights
and ensure the protection of climate refugees, with the
immediate appointment of a United Nations Special
Rapporteur to convene, initiate and guide preparatory
discussions towards this end. Most important of all, is the
need to end our ?carbon addiction? and meet our shared
international commitment under the Paris Agreement,
to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that
temperature rise is kept below 1.5°C on pre-industrial levels"
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-30
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Climate change and conflict
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
3.46 MB
Local URL:
EJF-2017-12-beyond_borders-red.pdf
EJF-2017-12-beyond_borders-red.pdf more
Source/publisher:
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw
Date of publication:
2017-12-06
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-29
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ) English (draft)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.99 MB 1.39 MB
more
Source/publisher:
"Washington Post"
Date of publication:
2018-01-26
Description:
"For the past two months, I have served on an international panel designed to help the Myanmar government arrive at just and reasonable policies for its conflict in Rakhine state, including its long-suffering Rohingya minority. This week I resigned. The reason: I have little confidence in the body?s ability to address the critical challenges facing the region and the country.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the country?s effective leader, is isolated and unwilling to listen to constructive criticism. Her government is focused on getting things done quickly instead of getting them done right. If Myanmar, also known as Burma, is to have any hope of preventing a further downward spiral to the crisis in Rakhine state and restoring its international reputation, immediate and dramatic changes are required. A continuation of the current approach is likely to lead to a dangerous cycle of violence that threatens both Myanmar?s hopes for peace and democracy and broader regional stability..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-28
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera (Inside Story)
Date of publication:
2018-01-26
Description:
"Frustration over Myanmar?s handling of the Rohingya crisis has boiled over into an argument between Aung San Suu Kyi and her former friend, now critic, Bill Richardson.
The former US ambassador to the UN resigned from an advisory panel set-up by the government after accusing members of trying to ?whitewash? the crisis.
And in his resignation letter, Richardson accused members of being a ?cheerleading squad? for the government.
Officials reacted by accusing Richardson of having his own agenda.
His criticisms raise further doubts about a deal to repatriate nearly 700,000 Rohingya refugees stuck in Bangladesh...
Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom
Guests:
Tun Khin - President, Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK
Matthew Smith - Chief executive, Fortify Rights
Phil Robertson - Deputy director, Human Rights Watch Asia Division
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-27
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Youtube
Date of publication:
2008-04-15
Description:
"The award-winning sister-brother team of Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and investigative journalist David Goodman traveled the country to detail the ways in which grassroots activists have taken politics out of the hands of politicians. "Standing up to the Madness" tells the stories of everyday citizens who have challenged the government and prevailed. Amy Goodman is an internationally acclaimed journalist and host of the daily grassroots global news hour Democracy Now!, which airs on more than 600 radio and TV stations around the world and on Democracynow.org. David Goodman is an award-winning independent journalist, the author of seven books, and a contributing writer to Mother Jones. Go to http://www.democracynow.org/ for more on the daily TV/radio news program Democracy Now!. This event took place on April 15, 2008, as a part of the Authors@Google series..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-26
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
"The Sydney Morning Herald"
Date of publication:
2018-01-25
Description:
"Bangkok: Myanmar?s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is living in a ?bubble” and blames her country?s woes on the media, United Nations, human rights groups and other countries, according to one of her most powerful international allies.
US diplomat Bill Richardson quit a 10-member international panel set up to advise Myanmar on the Rohingya crisis, saying it was conducting a ?whitewash” and accusing Suu Kyi of lacking ?moral leadership"..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-25
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Mandy Sadan
Description:
A website related to the book of the same title edited by Mandy Sadan."This website contains some materials that are intended to illustrate or to extend some of the chapters in the book. More material will be added as time permits. You will find general information in About the Book; abstracts for each chapter, questions for further research and supporting documentation in Contents; you can Read the Introduction in full and download it; we also encourage ?Thinking about ...? how the issues raised in the book map onto bigger questions about how societies adapt themselves to war-peace transitions, with a particular emphasis on understanding history, experience, aesthetics and culture, and mobilities."
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-24
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Kachin (economic, social, cultural, political), Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Ceasefire and ex-ceasefire Groups, Various groups
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
"Nikkei Asian Review", Crisis Group
Date of publication:
2017-12-22
Description:
"Most went back home from Bangladesh in two earlier exoduses, but this time is different... The signing of a repatriation agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh on 23 November has raised expectations — and concerns — of an imminent return of Rohingya refugees to northern Rakhine state. But the reality is that no repatriation is likely in the foreseeable future.
Many of the 700,000 Rohingya who fled over the past year would choose to return under the right circumstances — Myanmar is their home, where they have lived for generations, and they see no future for themselves and their children in the Bangladesh camps. But much would need to change.
First and foremost is physical security. This is a deeply traumatized population, many of whom suffered or witnessed acts of horrific violence. They will not be ready to return unless they are assured of their safety. This seems an unlikely prospect, given that the government and military both deny the extent of the abuses that occurred — the military exonerated itself through an internal investigation that found not a single shot had been fired at civilians and state media regularly denies allegations of abuses reported by human rights organizations and the international media. Many of the abuses, including sexual violence, were perpetrated by military-backed vigilante groups made up of non-Muslim villagers in the area, who operate with considerable impunity.
Second is the ability to sustain livelihoods. The repatriation agreement provides that people will be able to return to their places of origin. If this is allowed in practice, and they are able to reclaim their land, they fundamentally require freedom of movement, to reach their farms and fishing grounds, to go where their day labor is needed and to access markets. This requires reassurance on physical security, as well as lifting the onerous movement restrictions and curfews put in place following attacks in late 2016 and August 2017 by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militants..."
Richard Horsey
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-06
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Climate State
Date of publication:
2017-04-26
Description:
"The Reality of Climate Change is a global warming documentary about many of the problems and the solutions to the climate crisis. Material was sourced from various sources, ranging from Carl Sagan outlining climate change back in 1990, to Roland Emmerich?s 2004 pre-production of The Day After Tomorrow, the 2006 documentary Global Warming: What You Need to Know, and content from more recent times. This is a pre release, if you have suggestions for improvements, feel free to post it in the comments."
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-02
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Description:
Mission Statement:
"The Scripps mission is to seek, teach, and communicate scientific understanding of the oceans, atmosphere, Earth, and other planets for the benefit of society and the environment..."
Date of entry/update:
2018-01-01
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Climate change science - institutes and individual climate scientists, Climate Change science - Sea-level rise
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera (The Listening Post)
Date of publication:
2017-11-11
Description:
"On The Listening Post this week we bring you a special show on climate change and the news coverage that seldom matches the scale and the urgency of the problem.
This year, once again, extreme weather events - hurricanes, floods, wildfires - have provided the news media with the opportunity to address a planet-sized elephant in the room: climate change.
But once the storm has passed, the media too moves on. The latest round of global climate talks is happening right now in Germany but the media attention has been sparse.
Earlier this year, climate change came second in an international public survey of global threats and yet journalists still regularly fall short. The Listening Post?s Will Yong asks why."
Lisa Hymas, Nicholas Beuret, Martin Lukacs, Amantha Perera, Jenni Monet
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-31
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) via Youtube
Date of publication:
2017-04-12
Description:
Erudite and ironic overview/history of the dangers of climate change and nuclear war.
Noam Chomsky
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-31
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (Singapore)
Date of publication:
2017-12-26
Description:
"The exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar?s western Rakhine state has created one of the world?s most urgent refugee crises and perhaps the most pressing humanitarian challenge to face Asia over recent decades. Estimates suggest that as many as 600,000 have left Myanmar for neighbouring Bangladesh over recent months, following a military crack-down in the aftermath of attacks by Rohingya militant groups. Media commentary of the crisis has focused on allegations of ethnic cleansing, which have been strongly denied by Myanmar?s government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi?s National League for Democracy. However, both the deeper causes of the current problems and what now needs to happen to resolve the crisis remains little understood. This event will focus on both of these issues — what caused the current events, and what now needs to be done to bring it to an end? — with together an expert panel with direct experience of Myanmar and attempts to resolve similar humanitarian crises in other parts of the world..... The panelists consist of: ## Mr Adam Cooper, Myanmar Country Representative, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue ## Assoc Prof Francesco Mancini, Associate Dean and Visiting Associate Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy ## Ms Moe Thuzar, Coordinator, Myanmar Studies Programme, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies ## Ms Emma Hogan, South-East Asia Correspondent, The Economist This event is moderated by: Mr James Crabtree, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Centre on Asia and Globalisation, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy".....It is not quite clear when the discussion took place. The page states that the video was "published" on 26 December 2017, but is this the actual date of the discussion?
Panel discussion with: Mr James Crabtree, Ms Moe Thuzar, Ms Emma Hogan, Prof Francesco Mancini
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-27
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Goran BMW Overlander
Date of publication:
2017-04-13
Description:
"For over a century, a railway line has crossed Myanmar?s Shan province. The Mandalay - Lashio Express connects the hot lowlands with the green mountains of Shan State in north-east of the country..."
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-26
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Railways
Language:
English commentary, Burmese
more
Source/publisher:
CBC News
Date of publication:
2017-12-20
Description:
"The UN independent investigator into human rights in Myanmar is calling for stronger international pressure to be exerted on Myanmar?s military commanders after she was barred from visiting the country for the rest of her tenure.
Yanghee Lee said she had been due to visit in January to assess human rights across Myanmar — including alleged abuses against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.
But Myanmar told her she was no longer welcome.
"From what I see right now, I?m not sure if they are feeling pressured. I?m not sure if there is the right kind of pressure placed on the military commanders and the generals," she later told Reuters by phone from Seoul.
Myanmar security forces may be guilty of genocide against Rohingya: UN
Destruction of Rohingya villages continues: Human Rights Watch
She said it was alarming that Myanmar was strongly supported by China, which has a veto at the UN?s top table in New York. Other countries, including the United States, and human groups were advocating targeted sanctions on the military, she said..."
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-20
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2017-10-00
Description:
"Foundation of Fear.
Since 1992, the Karen Human Rights Group has
been documenting villagers? voices on the human
rights situation in southeast Myanmar. 25 years on,
KHRG presents this extensive review, an analysis
of villagers? current concerns seen in the light of 25
years of testimonies on human rights and abuse.
By revisiting these testimonies we can understand
ongoing obstacles to peace, security and freedom
for local community members in southeast Myanmar,
and prevent human rights abuses from being
forgotten, silenced and, crucially, from continuing
and being repeated..."
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-16
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports, Various rights: reports of violations against several ethnic groups, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Village and urban resistance
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), Karen
Format :
pdf
Size:
4.77 MB
more
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times"
Date of publication:
2017-12-15
Description:
"Country is third on the list of total victims over the last decade and one of only two governments worldwide to use the weapon in 2016... Only country listed every year?
?Myanmar is the only country on the planet which has the unfortunate distinction of being listed every year for its use of mines, both by the government and non-state armed groups, since 1999 when the Landmine Monitor began its work,” the campaigner said.
Myanmar?s military, the Tatmadaw, has been fighting armed ethnic groups around the country for about 70 years. But even with the push for peace since the previous military-dominated Thein Sein regime, more than 1,000 people have been injured or killed by mines.
Over the past decade, Myanmar is third on the list of total victims, behind only Afghanistan and Colombia ? and that ranking is based on figures that Moser-Puangsuwan said were ?not even close to accurate”, partly because the government still does not record mine casualties..."
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-16
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
www via Google
Description:
About 158,000 results (December 2017)
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Sand mining and trade - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English (+?)
more
Source/publisher:
Vimeo
Date of publication:
2013-00-00
Description:
"The multi award-winning eco-thriller by Denis Delestrac...
By the end of the 21st century, beaches will be a thing of the past. That is the alarming forecast of a growing number of scientists and environmental NGOs. Sand has become a vital commodity for our modern economies: we use it in our toothpaste, detergents, and cosmetics, and computers and mobile phones couldn?t exist without it. Our houses, skyscrapers, bridges and airports are all basically made with sand: it has become the most widely consumed natural resource on the planet after fresh water. The worldwide construction boom fuelled by emerging economies and increasing urbanization has led to intensive sand extraction on land and in the oceans, with damaging environmental impacts. Sand Wars takes us around the world as it tracks the contractors, sand smugglers and unscrupulous property developers involved in the new gold rush, and meets the environmentalists and local populations struggling to reverse the threat to the future of this resource that we all take for granted."
Denis Delestrac
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, (commentary, speech and subtitles)
more
Source/publisher:
"Earth Island Journal"
Date of publication:
2016-02-04
Description:
"Booming construction fuels sand mining, threatens coastal environment and tourism...
Around every corner waits a new truck. Workers dig their shovels into the powdery white sand of Myanmar?s Ngapali beach, the country?s top seaside destination, and lift it onto the truck beds. Vast craters dot the coastline. Many are bigger than the swimming pools of the nearby luxury hotels...
A booming construction industry is fueling illegal sand mining in Ngapali, Myanmar...
As a main ingredient of cement, sand is a vital component in almost any construction, whether that of a skyscraper or a middle-class home, a countryside road or a vast bridge. But the resource is finite, and as construction booms in Myanmar and across Asia, the industry has fuelled the illegal mining of sand — with harsh implications for Myanmar?s environment and burgeoning tourism industry..."
Denise Hruby
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-15
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sand mining and trade - Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
ALTSEAN-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma), ICAR (International Corporate Accountability Roundtable)
Date of publication:
2017-12-08
Description:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
"Myanmar?s transition from the military junta to democracy that started in 2011 gained ground when
the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi took office in April 2016.
However, the military elite still maintains extensive economic and political power. The military
presides over the ministries of Home Affairs, Border Affairs, and Defense, and holds effective veto
power over constitutional changes.
The legal and economic reforms that accompanied the transition have not yet addressed holdover
problems from the military rule. The rule of law, including the administration of justice and law
enforcement, remains weak. Corruption is endemic. Discrimination and abuses against women and
ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities continue. Human rights abuses linked to business activities
are routine. Meanwhile, the government is actively pursuing new economic opportunities and
foreign investment, which has hit record high in recent years. It is thus urgent to close gaps in laws,
policies, and practices so that businesses operating and investing in Myanmar do not further
threaten human rights.
ALTSEAN-Burma and ICAR have partnered to support the development of a National Action Plan
(NAP) on business and human rights in Myanmar by producing a ?Shadow” National Baseline
Assessment (NBA) to assess legal and policy gaps, and identify where further efforts are required.
This NBA is developed based on the guidance under ?National Action Plans on Business and Human
Rights: A Toolkit for the Development, Implementation, and Review of State Commitments to
Business and Human Rights Frameworks” (Toolkit), which was developed by ICAR and the Danish
Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) in June 2014.2 In accordance to the Toolkit, the NBA analyzes the
States? implementation of Pillars I and III of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and
Human Rights (UNGPs), and focuses specifically on those Guiding Principles which represent
obligations of the State.
The NBA is primarily based on desk research. The project team also conducted a number of
consultations with select experts and hosted one workshop with representatives from grassroots
organizations to ascertain preliminary findings, complete data gaps, and update the NBA in view of
ongoing legislative and policy changes. The following presents a list of findings and
recommendations to address critical issues and challenges..."
Marie Krizel Malabanan, Tessa Cerisier, Debbie Stothard, Sophia Lin
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-14
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
ALTSEAN-Burma archive, Rule of Law - Burma/Myanmar-specific, Rule of Law, Business and Human Rights (Burma/Myanmar-related)
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.79 MB
more
Source/publisher:
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), (Doctors Without Borders
Date of publication:
2017-12-12
Description:
"Surveys conducted by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in refugee settlement camps in Bangladesh estimate that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Myanmar, in Rakhine state, between 25 August and 24 September. As 71.7% of the reported deaths were caused by violence, at least 6,700 Rohingya, in the most conservative estimations, are estimated to have been killed, including at least 730 children below the age of five years..."
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-14
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Home Office (UK)
Date of publication:
2017-11-17
Description:
Policy
summary:
3.1.1
"Official
and societal
discrimination against Rohingya in
Burma
is
widespread.
Denial
of citizenship
severely restricts
their rights to study, work,
move
freely, marry, practise their religion and
access health services.
In security
operations,
there have been consistent allegations
of
Rohingya been victims
of
torture, indiscriminate killings, burning of houses and rape
by the security
forces
and other state actors.
3.1.2
In
general,
the level and cumulative
effect
of the denial of rights and state
discrimination against the Rohingya population in Rakhine State is such that
it amounts
to persecution.
3.1.3
Rohingya who live outside of Rakhine State may also be able to
demonstrate a need for international protection depending on their personal
circumstances.
3.1.4
Where a claim
is
refused, it is unlikely to be certifiable as ?clearly unfounded?..."
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-12
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Google
Description:
About 3,150 results (December 2017)
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-12
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English, Spanish
more
Source/publisher:
UN Human Rights Council via UN Webcast
Date of publication:
2017-12-05
Description:
5 Dec 2017 - Draft Resolution A/HRC/S-27/L.1, 27th special session of the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation of the minority Rohingya Muslim population and other minorities in the Rakhine State of Myanmar...
SPEAKERS:
Myanmar (Concerned Country), Mr. Htin Lynn
Saudi Arabia, Mr. Fahad Almutairi(Introduction of Draft Resolution)
Bangladesh, Mr. Shameem Ahsan
Myanmar, Mr. Htin Lynn
China, Mr. Jiang Duan
India, Mr. Rajiv Kumar Chander
Philippines, Ms. Maria Teresa T. Almojuela
Japan, Ms. Mitsuko Shino
Ecuador, Mr. Walter Schuldt
Mr. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli, President of the Human Rights Council (Adoption)
Bangladesh, Mr. Shameem Ahsan
United States of America, Ms. Kelly Currie
Egypt, Mr. Alla Youssef
Indonesia, Mr. Hasan Kleib
Mr. Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli, President of the Human Rights Council (Closing Remarks)
Date of entry/update:
2017-12-10
Type:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more