Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Individual Documents
Description:
"On February 15, the United Nations (UN) released its Joint Response Plan 2019 (JRP) in Geneva, asking donors for an additional US$920.5 million to support around 900,000 Rohingya refugees stuck in squalid camps in Bangladesh.
JRP 2019 is a planning document reflecting a total wish list for funds that will be used by UN agencies and more than 100 other foreign and national non-governmental organizations.Funds requested also include various forms of support for 336,000 Bangladeshis living in “host communities” near the camps.
The document itself is a 94-page opus maximus that is heavy reading for the acronym-challenged faint of heart..."
Michael Hayes
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
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Description:
''Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, the government of Myanmar denies their armed forces raped Rohingya women and girls in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee the country since late 2017.
In a long-delayed submission to the United Nations women’s rights committee this week, Myanmar said there was “no evidence to support these wild claims” – a darkly risible denial to a very painful truth. The overwhelming evidence compiled by Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations, the media, and the UN uncovered gruesome accounts of rape, killings, and other crimes against humanity in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. A UN-backed fact-finding mission said the atrocities included genocidal acts.
Hundreds of Rohingya women and girls have said they were raped. I spoke to dozens of them. They risked both renewed trauma and stigma – with little real hope of remedy – to tell their stories. A 15-year-old girl, for instance, said soldiers dragged her out of her hut, tied her to a tree, and then raped her...''
Skye Wheeler
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2019-02-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Women's rights, UN (CEDAW) documents on discrimination against women, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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English
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''Recently, 31 Rohingya refugees who had fled atrocities in Myanmar found themselves trapped at the border between India and Bangladesh. Neither Indian nor Bangladeshi border guards were willing to accept them. The Indians insisted that the refugees were attempting an illegal entry from Bangladesh, while Bangladeshi authorities said that the refugees were being forcibly pushed out of India. One thing was certain: Going back to Myanmar was not an option.
Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims are among the most persecuted communities in the world. Long denied citizenship rights in Myanmar, subjected to pervasive discrimination and targeted in violent attacks, many have fled or been expelled. In their desperation, these refugees have walked long distances, swum across rivers to safety, or paid human smugglers for a place on flimsy boats to carry them across treacherous seas...''
Meenakshi Ganguly
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2019-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
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Description:
''Andrej Mahecic, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed deep concern over the humanitarian impact of the continuing violence and the “potential for both further internal displacement and the outflow of refugees”.
“As part of inter-agency efforts, UNHCR stands ready to support the humanitarian response in the affected areas in Myanmar”, he stated, noting that more than 720,000 mostly-Muslim Rohingya had fled a 2017 military operation in Rakhine state, which was condemned at the time as being tantamount to genocide, by the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights...''
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2019-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
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Description:
''Thirty Rohingya refugees were rescued from being trafficked to Malaysia in two separate incidents on Thursday night and Friday morning in the city of Cox's Bazar, officials said on Friday.
Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), a paramilitary force under Bangladesh's Ministry of Home Affairs, also detained two traffickers.
Of the 30 rescued, 17 were women, six were men and seven children, a BGB spokesman said.
According to BGB director Asaduzzaman Chowdhury, the first batch of 12 Rohingya were found in the Shah Parir Dwip region, close to the Bangladesh-Myanmar border at 10:30pm.
The 18 other refugees were spotted at Shilikhali, an area located near the refugee camps, at around 7am on Friday.
"Upon speaking to two members of the group we came to know that these people paid the traffickers two lakh takas ($2,400) for each family," said Chowdhury.
"We warned them that these kinds of adventerous moves could end up costing their lives as it is dangerous to cross the sea. After that we sent them back to their respective camps."
It has been 18 months since more than 730,000 mainly Muslim Rohingya fled persecution in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar and set up camps across the border about 40 kilometers south of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh's top tourist location.
The camps, sprawled over about 6,000 acres - just under half the size of Manhattan - have become more organised, but recent police activity suggested the risk of being trafficked had grown.
The latest trafficking incident took place a day after Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie finished her three-day visit to the camps just ahead of a $920 million funding appeal by the United Nations...''
Source/publisher:
Gulf Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
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Description:
''Visiting Bangladesh this week, Angelina Jolie, the Special Envoy for the UN Refugee Agency, said the world must not turn away from the nearly one million Rohingya refugees who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh. She urged continued support for those who have been displaced, until the Myanmar authorities show the genuine commitment needed to end a decades-long cycle of violence and displacement.
Yesterday in the capital, Dhaka, the Special Envoy held official meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, in which she expressed UNHCR’s gratitude to the people and Government of Bangladesh for their generosity in receiving over 700,000 refugees since August 2017. She reiterated UNHCR’s support for collective efforts to enable Rohingya refugees to live dignified lives in Bangladesh and the pursuit of lasting solutions. She also raised concerns that without an urgent expansion and strengthening of educational opportunities, the future of a generation of Rohingya children would be at risk. While in Dhaka, Jolie also visited two museums – the Liberation War Museum and the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum – where she viewed exhibitions about the country’s history, including its own experience of large-scale displacement.
Jolie began her three-day visit on Monday in Chakmarkul and Kutupalong refugee camps, where she heard testimonies from Rohingya women, children and men who have endured a lifetime of persecution and discrimination. There she witnessed some of the remarkable humanitarian response efforts to date, including a registration process, led jointly by the Government and UNHCR, that is providing many refugees with a legal identity for the first time. She also visited a transit centre for newly arrived refugees and a hospital giving much-needed care and support to women and girls...''
Source/publisher:
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Date of publication:
2019-02-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Statelessness
Language:
English
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Description:
''UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie heard testimonies this week from Rohingya refugees who have endured years of persecution and discrimination in Myanmar and survived a desperate flight across the border.
Speaking in Kutupalong refugee camp on Tuesday, Jolie said, “I am thankful that here in Bangladesh, Rohingya refugees have their existence recognized, and are being provided by the Government and UNHCR with documentation and proof of their identity – in some instances for the very first time in their lives.”
The visit marked Jolie’s 64th mission with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, since 2001, and her first mission to Bangladesh. She met with displaced Rohingya people in Myanmar in 2015 and in India in 2006. Decades of injustice have driven nearly 1 million Rohingya to flee their homes in Myanmar and seek refuge in Bangladesh – the majority of them in the last 18 months...''
Christopher Reardon
Source/publisher:
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Date of publication:
2019-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''U.N. refugee agency special envoy Angelina Jolie has visited camps in Bangladesh for Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and condemned the world's failure to prevent a crisis that saw 730,000 people driven from their homes...''
Source/publisher:
The Irish Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Statelessness
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Source/publisher:
Myanmar Ministry of Information via "The Global New Light of Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-02-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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pdf
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633.62 KB
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Description:
''Angelina Jolie has shared the stories of rape survivors during a visit to Rohingya refugee camps and said the responsibility to let them return “lies squarely with the government and the authorities in Myanmar”.
The envoy for the UN refugee agency said Myanmar must “show genuine commitment” to end violence that has driven hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims into neighbouring Bangladesh.
The Hollywood star made the comments on the second day of emotional meetings with Rohingya in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district where 740,000 Rohingya have taken refuge since August 2017...''
Source/publisher:
The Guardian via "Agence France-Presse"
Date of publication:
2019-02-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Statelessness, Statelessness
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''DEPARTMENT of Public Health,
in collaboration with Pauktaw
Township Public Health Department,
provided healthcare services
to the people at IDP Camps
in Pauktaw Township, Rakhine
State on 5 February.
For the first day, the healthcare
team led by head of Rakhine
State Public Health Department
Dr. Kyi Lwin rendered healthcare
services to 174 child patients
under 3 years of age and
other 51 pregnant women at the
Hnet Chaung and the Kyeinni
IDP camps, Pauktaw Township,
Rakhine State, where they examined
11 malaria patients, 12
patients who had tested TB disease,
11 patients who took the
treatment of dental health, 79
child patients, 43 pregnant women
and other 197 people sharing
medial knowledge. As an effort to
provide the healthcare services
for the first time, arrangements
had been made to provide the
medical treatments to 600 people,
who were from the Hnet Chaung
and the Kyeinni IDP camps, until
7 February. Similar healthcare
services would be rendered in
March and May, it was learnt.
— Maung Sein Lwin (Myanma
Alin)...''
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Ministry of Information via "The Global New Light of Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-02-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
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411.36 KB
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Description:
''Rohingya Villagers in Northern Rakhine State have informed BHRN of food and medical shortages as the conflict intensifies in the region between Burmese security forces and the ethnic Rakhine armed group, the Arakan Army (AA). While the International Committee of the Red Cross has been able to help several Rakhine villagers displaced by the conflict, Rohingya say restrictions imposed by the military have left them unable to receive aid. Some Rohingya villagers that spoke to BHRN have said that they haven’t been able to get aid since August 2017. Recently, Burma military has declared a unilateral ceasefire with most of the country’s many armed groups, they have excluded the Arakan Army from it and focused on isolating and targeting the Rakhine and Rohingya communities since.
“Burma must ensure the safety and security of all civilians. Burma has already restricted aid going into the area, forcing those who have nothing to do with the fighting to suffer needlessly. The international community has an obligation to take a stand against such actions, and prevent them from worsening as the conflict is likely to continue,” said BHRN Executive Director, Kyaw Win.
At the same time, Rohingya in Rathedaung Township have informed BHRN of fighting near the villages of Ye Khone Taing and Aa Ka Taung and said that Burmese soldiers have stationed in their villages, putting civilians at increased risk. Those in the area reported gunfire and what they believed to be artillery in fighting between the Burmese security forces and the Arakan Army. The Burmese military has also deployed helicopters in the conflict following statements from Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration’s calls to ‘crush’ the insurgents.
While the majority of Rohingya living in Northern Rakhine State fled to Bangladesh in 2017, many remained behind and have continued to suffer from lack of food and medicine while being unable to find work or food as restrictions on movement imposed by Burmese authorities have prevented them from leaving their villages. Rohingya villagers in rural areas of Buthidaung and Rathedaung have said that people are again fleeing due to these shortages and fear of spillover of violence from the conflict.
The Burmese Government must allow full access to NGOs to all areas in Rakhine State, especially to those areas facing conflict where people are most in need and most vulnerable. Burma must work towards a ceasefire with the Arakan Army in concert with its ceasefire with other armed groups. The International Community cannot wait for another full-blown crisis to emerge before acting and must address these issues now before they are beyond repair. To ensure a peaceful solution and avoid further chaos and suffering, sanctions against the Military and their business interests must be on the table as a means to ensure consequences for egregious behaviors...''
Kyaw Win
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) via "Progressive Voice"
Date of publication:
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
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209.51 KB
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Description:
''Canada wants to play a role in solving the Rohingya refugee crisis, The Bangladesh Chronicle and New Age reported on February 5. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s special envoy to Myanmar, Bob Rae, stressed during a recent visit to Bangladesh the need for productive initiatives to solve the crisis.
Rae said after a meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen that “talks are underway, but we don’t know whether they’ll be successful.” So far, no refugees have been repatriated to Myanmar.
According to estimates by United Nations agencies and the Bangladesh foreign ministry, the number of “undocumented Myanmar nationals and registered refugees in Bangladesh is 1,116,000,” news sites reported. “This is not just a problem for Myanmar and Bangladesh, but will be an issue for other countries in this region,” Rae said...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Canada wants a transition plan for the Rohingyas as the repatriation process appears slow amid the refugees' lack of willingness in returning to Myanmar due to insecurity and non-conducive conditions in Rakhine.
“Not short or long-term, we need to make a transition plan for the Rohingyas,” said Bob Rae, Canadian prime minister's special envoy to Myanmar, insisting on providing education and income generating activities for the refugees. If they do not get education and jobs, they would turn to crimes and radicalisation, he said.
His comments come just days before the UN launches a joint response plan and appeals for $920 million for the Rohingyas this year.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, however, called for continuous pressure on Myanmar from the international community for Rohingya repatriation. Providing education to the 400,000 Rohingya children could act as a pull factor for the refugees, he said, adding, “We need to address these pull factors.”
The suggestions came at a panel discussion on potential long-term implication of the Rohingya crisis jointly organised by the Canadian High Commission in Bangladesh and Reading Club Trust at the Westin Dhaka hotel. Diplomats, academics, students and civil society members attended it...''
Bob Rae
Source/publisher:
The Daily Star
Date of publication:
2019-02-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Triggered by a wave of rebel attacks, the recent surge in hostilities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state marks an ominous watershed in a hitherto low-intensity conflict between Arakan Army (AA) insurgents and government forces.
After four years of low-key political and military infiltration from bases several hundred kilometers away on Myanmar’s northern Chinese border, assaults by hundreds of ethnic Rakhine fighters on four police posts in early January appeared to indicate the ethno-nationalist rebel group had shifted its operational focus squarely back onto its home-turf in Rakhine state.
he military, or Tatmadaw, responded at speed by air-lifting crack units into Rakhine from other parts of the country and ratcheting up operations backed by artillery and air power aimed at “crushing” rebels who now operate across almost all townships in the northern half of the state.
Last week, on January 31, the Tatmadaw staged a day of well-publicized war games in Meiktila in central Myanmar show-casing a range of improved capabilities, not least parachute assaults, low-level air strikes and aerial resupply drops. Attended by armed forces commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the drills were clearly intended to send a blunt message both to the general public and the AA: the gloves are coming off...''
Anthony Davis
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-02-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
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''The reporting for this article was supported by The Masthead, The Atlantic’s membership program. Learn more.
YANGON, Myanmar—By Kamal’s own admission, his family used to be “very rich.” His father owned a successful trading business, which sent fish and thanaka—a fragrant cosmetic paste made from tree bark—to be sold in neighboring Bangladesh. Their home in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State in western Myanmar (also known as Burma), was a two-story structure in a busy quarter, and Kamal, a Muslim, taught English at a local church...''
Source/publisher:
The Atlantic
Date of publication:
2019-02-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
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Description:
''The Rohingya crisis continues to take a heavy toll on the nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya remaining in Myanmar, and Myanmar’s international reputation, and remains a significant barrier to peace. No durable solution is on the horizon for the refugees, most of whom are in crowded camps exposed to health and natural disaster risks. Muslims remaining in Rakhine State suffer increasingly entrenched conditions of apartheid, with limited access to essential services and livelihoods. The human catastrophe on both sides of the border represents a major threat to peace and security. The ethnic Rakhine are also on a collision course with Naypyitaw, particularly over the detention and potential high treason conviction of a key Rakhine leader. This has undermined the Rakhine population’s confidence in politics and is driving broad support for the Arakan Army insurgency, which has sharply escalated attacks and threatens to tip the state into prolonged armed conflict. Elsewhere, in the north east, armed conflict has eased due to the unexpected declaration by the military on 21 December of a unilateral ceasefire in Shan and Kachin States. However, clashes between ethnic armed groups continue, the peace process remains moribund, and insecurity is exacerbated by increasingly lucrative opportunities for armed groups in drug production, human trafficking, and a range of other illicit activities...''
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (ICG)
Date of publication:
2019-01-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Shan, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
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''Ethnic Rakhine insurgents have attacked four police stations in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, provoking a military counteroffensive. Escalation could imperil both prospects for Rohingya repatriation and the country’s transition toward civilian rule. All sides should step back from confrontation and pursue talks about Rakhine State’s future.
On 4 January – Myanmar’s Independence Day – the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic Rakhine group, launched coordinated attacks on four police outposts in northern Rakhine State, killing thirteen officers and injuring nine others. The attacks followed months of low-grade violence in the state, including a roadside bomb attributed to the AA that struck the chief minister’s convoy but did little damage. The government has directed the military to launch “clearance operations” against the group, which will likely precipitate further violence and civilian casualties. Thousands of civilians have already fled villages near the raided outposts. The attacks signify a dangerous shift from politics to insurgency as the means of addressing ethnic Rakhine grievances. The state is already afflicted by the Rohingya mass flight; an escalated fight between ethnic Rakhine and the government would represent a blow to Myanmar’s political transition to civilian rule and be difficult to stop. All sides should step back from confrontation and instead discuss how best to address Rakhine grievances through political channels...'' ''မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏လွတ်လပ်ရေးနေ့ ဇန်နဝါရီ(၄)ရက်နေ့တွင် ရခိုင်တိုင်းရင်းသားလက်နက်ကိုင်အုပ်စုဖြစ်သော ရခိုင့်တပ်မတော် (AA) သည် ရခိုင်ပြည်နယ်မြောက်ပိုင်ရှိ ရဲကင်း (၄)ခုကို တပြိုင်နက်တည်းတိုက်ခိုက်ရာ ရဲတပ်ဖွဲဝင် ၁၃ ဦးကျဆုံးခဲ့ပြီး ၉ ဦးဒဏ်ရာရရှိခဲ့သည်။ ပြည်နယ်အတွင်းဝန်ကြီးချုပ်ယဉ်တန်းကို အနည်းငယ်ထိခိုက်မှုဖြစ်စေခဲ့သော မိုင်းဗုံးခွဲမှုအပါအဝင် AA ကလုပ်ဆောင်ခဲ့သော အသေးစား...''
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group (ICG)
Date of publication:
2019-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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''A chickenpox outbreak in Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps has raised a public health concern in the region, officials say.
The number of patients with chicken pox, also known as varicella, reported last week was 5,376, which is more than double the number reported the week before, according to a World Health Organisation report published on Thursday.
Chickenpox cases had earlier been reported on several occasions, but more and more cases kept coming since the second week of January. As many as 10,240 cases were reported between January 2018 and January 31 this year. Of them, 9,972 cases were reported last month...''
Source/publisher:
The Daily Star
Date of publication:
2019-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
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''The number of varicella cases reported in week 4 has increased to 5 376, which is more than double from week 3. WHO and the health sector are working in collaboration with community health working group; education sector and risk communication group for multi-prong response
Partners were provided with important guidance on key issues such as temperature control storage, disposal of drugs and content of Emergency health kits were shared with partners through a health logistics meeting
WHO was involved in developing a microplan for water quality surveillance in refugee camps for 2019.
The health sector is actively coordinating a systematic ratinalisation process to reduce duplication of health facilities in the refugee camps SITUATION OVERVIEW There are an estimated 909 000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, according to the latest ISCG situation report (9 January 2019). This includes 33 956 previously registered refugees from Myanmar in Kutupalong refugee camp and Nayapara refugee camp. Rohingya refugees continue to arrive in Bangladesh, though the overall influx has slowed substantially since the onset of the crisis in late August 2017. Lately, new refugees have arrived from India. All refugees, including new arrivals, face compounding vulnerabilities including health. WHO has been responding to this crisis since September 2017 to date. Summary of response actions from epidemiological weeks 3 and 4 2019 are presented below; according to the WHO teams...''
Source/publisher:
Reliefweb
Date of publication:
2019-02-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
750.69 KB
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Description:
''The ability to treat large volumes of waste on-site at Rohingya camps, rather than having to transport it elsewhere, is a critical step to safe and sustainable disposal of such waste in emergency situations, said the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
"This will significantly reduce health risks for refugees and host communities, and the likelihood of the outbreak of disease," UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said at a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on Friday.
UNHCR and Oxfam have together put into service this week in Cox's Bazar the biggest human waste treatment facility ever built in a refugee settlement, said the spokesperson.
The facility, funded by UNHCR, can process the waste of 150,000 people – 40 cubic metres a day, reports the UNB.
Close to a million Rohingyas live in a complex of settlements in the Cox's Bazar area.
Kutupalong, the largest refugee settlement in the world, is home to more than 630,000 refugees, and managing the waste in this terrain requires innovative approaches...''
Mahmud Hossain Opu
Source/publisher:
Dhaka Tribune
Date of publication:
2019-02-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''The statement was made in an interactive dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on his oral update on the situation, at the Human Rights Council.
The statement read as follows:
“The Government of Myanmar is duty-bound to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of human rights violations. Yet impunity at domestic level necessitates international action: to secure criminal accountability, to provide redress and to deter repetition of crimes under international law.
In May, the government announced a new inquiry into rights violations in Rakhine State. Its mandate, composition and legal framework remain unclear – and there is no indication this will be more effective than previous national inquiries – which have not shed light on the facts, have rarely led to prosecutions and have failed to provide redress.
Justice cannot be further delayed. The International Commission of Jurists supports calls for establishing an international accountability mechanism...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2018-07-04
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, US State Dept. - reports on human rights in Burma
Language:
English
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Description:
''Its creation follows at least eight other special government inquiries and boards conducted since 2012 in Rakhine State alone.
In a five-page legal briefing, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) assesses the inquiry in reference to standards on the conduct of investigations.
The ICJ finds that the ICOE cannot reasonably be seen as having any chance of being independent, impartial, or making an effective contribution to justice or accountability for the crimes under international law. To the contrary, giving any recognition to it is likely to undermine and delay effective international measures for justice and accountability...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2018-09-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), General human rights violations against specific groups, Discrimination against the Rakhine, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
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272.19 KB 540.9 KB
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Description:
''The ICJ called on Myanmar’s government to act as swiftly as possible to address the root causes of violence, discrimination and under-development in Rakhine, as well as for enhanced engagement by the international community in efforts to effectively address the situation, and to take measures to ensure that security operations are conducted in accordance with international human rights standards.
The military operations follow attacks by ARSA on August 25 on police posts and a military base in which at least 12 police, military and government officials were killed, along with a large number of attackers (according to government figures).
In the wake of the attacks on 25 August, the military launched what it has termed as a “clearance operation,” and the government announced that parts of northern Rakhine State have been designated as a “military operations area.”''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2017-09-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Business and Human Rights (global, regional, thematic), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
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Description:
''Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday renewed her call to the international community to force Myanmar to take back its over one million Rohingya nationals from Bangladesh.
“Myanmar must take back its nationals and the international community should help Bangladesh send back the Rohingyas,” she said.
The PM made the comments when visiting Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Quoc Dzung, also special envoy to the Vietnam prime minister, met her at the Gono Bhaban.
PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.
He said the PM mentioned that Bangladesh has prepared a temporary shelter for the Rohingyas at Bhashan Char to provide them with a better living place...''
Source/publisher:
The Daily Star
Date of publication:
2019-01-31
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Police in India's northeastern state of Tripura have arrested 31 Muslim Rohingya who were fleeing a recent crackdown by India's Hindu nationalist government.
The group, which included 16 children and six women, was arrested on Tuesday after it was denied entry into Bangladesh and border officials from the two nations failed to agree on what to do with them.India regards the Muslim-majority Rohingya as illegal aliens and a security risk and has ordered that tens of thousands of them who live in scattered settlements and slums around the country be identified and repatriated to Myanmar.
READ MORE
Over 1,000 Rohingya flee India for Bangladesh fearing crackdown
As many as 1,300 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh from India in recent weeks as fears of deportation to Buddhist-majority Myanmar sparked an exodus...''
Tanmoy Chakraborty
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-22
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Earlier this month, India sparked panic among its long-suffering Rohingya refugee population by deporting a family of five to their home country of Myanmar, where they will most certainly face human rights violations and imprisonment. This expulsion came on the heels of the controversial forced repatriation of seven Rohingya men last October.
For Rohingya refugees currently residing in India, who the authorities claims are as many as 40,000, this second deportation seemed to harbinger a frightful pattern, especially as India's far-right government had previously pledged to deport all Rohingya. Ruling party officials have made such threats despite international law prohibiting states from refoulement, sending persons to nations where they risk persecution. In Myanmar, such persecution is a near-certainty. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh after an army crackdown more than a year ago...''
Ashley Starr Kinseth
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''On 6 September 2018, an ICC Pre-Trial Chamber ruled that the Court could exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation (as a crime against humanity) of the Rohingyas from Myanmar into Bangladesh, since one element of the crime (crossing a border) took place in Bangladesh, which is a State party to the Rome Statute.
The Chamber noted that the same rationale could apply to other crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court “if it were established that at least an element of another crime … or part of such a crime is committed on the territory of a State Party,” citing persecution and other inhumane acts as possible examples in this case. The crime of genocide was not directly addressed.
The ruling did not address other crimes allegedly committed against the Rohingya, or crimes against other minorities elsewhere within Myanmar, including in Shan and Kachin States.
The proceeding is still at an early, pre-investigation, phase. If at the conclusion of a preliminary examination the Prosecutor assesses that there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, she must first seek authorization from the Pre-Trial Chamber...''
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Date of publication:
2018-09-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Racial or ethnic discrimination: ethical and legal standards, Human rights policies of various actors in Burma/Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Chicago has one of the largest number of Rohingya refugees to have been resettled in the United States.
More than 1,600 Rohingya are based in Chicago, having spent years in Malaysia after fleeing persecution and violence in Myanmar in the 1990s and 2000s.
Rohingya are an ethnic, mostly Muslim minority who have faced decades of discriminatory policies and violence in Myanmar where the government considers them illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
The Rohingya Cultural Center of Chicago was founded in 2016 by Nasir Zakaria, a Rohingya refugee who settled in the US in 2013.
The centre provides English lessons and Quran classes, as well as computer training, translation services and assistance with resettlement paperwork.
It also organises football teams for the youth.
Last December 2018, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution labelling the Rohingya crisis as "genocide".
President Donald Trump has capped the number of refugees that can be resettled in the United States in 2019 at 30,000, the lowest ceiling a president has placed on the refugee programme since its creation in 1980...''
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Six border guard police officers were wounded in an ambush by the Arakan Army (AA) on Wednesday in northern Rakhine State, according to Myanmar Army spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun.
He said the AA ambushed a vehicle with border guard police on board at around noon north of Maungdaw Township’s Kyee Kan Pyin Village, where the board guard police have a base.
“One was seriously wounded and the rest sustained minor injuries,” Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy. “It happened in the north of Kyee Kan Pyin, not near the [border] fence. It was closer to the motor road. As far as I know, they were ambushed, which was followed by an exchange of fire.”
All the six wounded officers have been sent to Yangon for medical treatment, he added.
Khine Thu Kha, a spokesman for the AA, claimed that there was no clash in Maungdaw on Wednesday...''
Min Aung Khine
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Six policemen, including one police colonel, were wounded during an ambush by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Wednesday in northern Rakhine State, according to an announcement on State media on Saturday.
Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) announced on Saturday that a police van with security forces from No. 2 Border Guard Police Headquarters on board was attacked near Wat Kyein Village in Maungdaw Township. The government said ARSA, a Rohingya insurgent group which also launched serial attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine State in 2017, was behind the ambush. The group has been denounced by the government as a terrorist organization since the 2017 attacks.
Despite the attack taking place a few days ago, the government’s announcement came only after a short video allegedly recorded at the scene went viral online early on Saturday. The footage includes the date of the attack and bears an ARSA logo...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Three officers were wounded by artillery shells in a two-hour assault on a police post in northern Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township Thursday morning by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), according to the General Administration Department (GAD).
It was the militant Muslim group’s second reported attack on police in the area in as many weeks.
U Hla Tun Tin, an official with the GAD’s Kyein Chaung office in northern Maungdaw, said the attack near Wai Lar Taung Village began at about 7 a.m., according to an initial police report.
Citing the report, he said about 40 ARSA fighters crossed into Myanmar from Bangladesh near border marker No. 41 and tried to seize the post, which lies some 200 meters from the border. But he said the officers managed to repel the assault with the help of reinforcements from a neighboring regiment after two hours.
“They broke through the border fence and ambushed them with artillery.” U Hla Tun Tin told The Irrawaddy.
The police, he added, said the militants were well armed and managed to destroy some structures before retreating back across the border. He said ARSA had also mounted an attack near Maungdaw’s Wat Kyein Village on Jan. 16...''
Moe Myint
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rakhine, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''In its latest report issued on Thursday, the International Crisis Group (ICG) urged China to put pressure on the Myanmar Army to extend its unilateral ceasefire to Rakhine State in order to address ongoing armed clashes there between government troops and the Arakan Army (AA).
The report, entitled “A New Dimension of Violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State”, contains five sections detailing the insurgency waged by the AA, arbitrary arrests of prominent Rakhine politicians, the indiscriminate killings of protesters in Mrauk-U last year and the political grievances between Arakanese political parties and the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), as well as encouraging both sides to restrain from further offensives in the region.
Regarding the ICG’s advice, Yangon-based ethnic affairs analyst U Maung Maung Soe said China has been playing a major role in facilitating the peace dialogue for the Northern Alliance group for several years, adding that a Chinese envoy even recently disused the ongoing violence in Rakhine with AA leaders in Kachin State’s Laiza, where the Kachin Independence Army and the AA headquarters are located.
But any encouragement to the military to extend the ceasefire to cover Rakhine State should firstly involve negotiations between the actors, U Maung Maung Soe said.
“Without having any negotiations between them, it’s really tough to discuss possibilities,” he said.
As part of the solution, the ICG suggested the Myanmar government initiate dialogue with ethnic Rakhine representatives over key political, economic and social issues. It also recommended the authorities consider releasing Aye Maung and other ethnic Rakhine political prisoners.
The report mentioned that political dialogue between the Union government and Arakanese stakeholders should cover the repatriation process for Rohingya refugees who have been sheltering for more than one year in Bangladeshi camps, the rebuilding of Rohingya communities, economic development and power sharing between the central and state governments...''
Moe Myint
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''A military column raided an entire village and looted gold, jewelry, cash and dozens of mobile phones from the villagers of Tha Mee Hla Village in Rathedaung Township in northern Rakhine State on Saturday, according to Arakanese lawmakers.
Rathedaung Township representative, Lower House lawmaker Daw Khin Saw Wai said that she was initially informed by a villager over the phone on Saturday. Considering how serious the allegations were, she asked regional lawmaker U Than Naing to get firsthand accounts from the victims on Sunday morning. U Than Naing then went to the village to confirm the incident.
“Firstly, I thought it’s hard to believe because we never expect such kind of treatment from the army,” said Daw Khin Saw Wai.
U Than Naing posted on social media on Sunday stating that he found only 10 homes in the village spared of bullets out of a total 84 homes. Some homes were struck by artillery fire and had bullet holes. He wrote that a seven-year-old child had been wounded by an artillery explosion near his home and had to be immediately transported to Sittwe General Hospital for medical treatment. Another two women from Tha Mee Hla were also wounded by artillery shells...''
Moe Myint
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''The head of the U.N. children’s fund urged Myanmar on Monday to implement the recommendations of a panel on the Rohingya crisis led by former U.N. head Kofi Annan, saying it had yet to create conditions right for the return of refugees from Bangladesh.
Speaking at a forum in the capital, Naypyitaw, UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said children from the Rohingya Muslim minority, a persecuted and mostly stateless community from Buddhist-majority Myanmar, were living “a precarious and an almost hopeless existence” in camps in neighboring Bangladesh.
About 730,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine state, in western Myanmar, since a military crackdown in 2017 after Rohingya insurgents attacked security posts, U.N. agencies estimate. Tens of thousands remain behind in Rakhine, where they are subjected to restrictions on movement and have limited access to healthcare and education.
Fore said Myanmar’s “commitment” to enacting the recommendations of Annan’s committee – which include ensuring freedom of movement and access to education – would help mend the lives of suffering children...''
Source/publisher:
U.S.News
Date of publication:
2019-01-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''The displaced Rohingya population prefers living in the cramped and squalid refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, rather than living in a potentially better-sheltered and relatively more comfortable facility on Bhasan Char.
The Bangladesh government is almost at the final stage of relocating 100,000 Rohingyas who were forcefully driven away from their land in a Myanmar army crackdown.
However, the unwillingness of the Rohingyas to relocate to the remote island is delaying the relocation plan.
Construction has already been carried out at Bhasan Char, previously known as Thengar Char, a river island which emerged twenty years ago at the mouth of the Meghna River.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to formally inaugurate the housing complex on the flood- prone isolated island soon...''
Sushanto Biswas
Source/publisher:
Dhaka Tribune
Date of publication:
2019-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Delhi is yet to respond to the repeated requests from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Professor Yanghee Lee to visit India that houses around 40,000 Rohingyas from the Rakhine state.
“No reply yet,” Professor Lee told the Dhaka Tribune at a press briefing in a Dhaka hotel on Friday evening.
The press conference was arranged following her visit to Bangladesh from January 19 to January 25 to visit the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char Island.
She had expressed concern over the deportation of Rohingyas from Saudi Arabia and pushing of Rohingyas into Bangladesh by India and urged to ensure their protection terming them as the world’s most persecuted community from Myanmar...''
Source/publisher:
Dhaka Tribune
Date of publication:
2019-01-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''While Bangladesh may have opened its borders to Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar’s genocide, the prolonged stay has soured relations between the host country and the displaced community.
A researcher from University of Singapore has opined that a strong link between the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission and the local government can help mitigate problems among displaced Rohingya people and the host community.
In a lecture Sunday on “Complex Humanitarian Emergencies and Disaster Management in Bangladesh: The 2017 Rohingya Exodus” at the BRAC Centre, Dr Alistair DB Cook identified several obstacles to providing humanitarian support for all and resolve the problem.
Dr Cook’s research, co-authored by Foo Yen Ne – a senior analyst at NTS Centre – was published last year by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Dr Cook is also Coordinator of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme at the University in Singapore...''
Dr. Alistair DB Cook
Source/publisher:
Dhaka Tribune
Date of publication:
2019-01-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''The United Nations is again warning that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh cannot be sent back to Myanmar, because it is not safe.
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, who has been visiting Bangladesh, says the crisis could have global consequences...''
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
British High Commissioner in Dhaka Alison Blake has appreciated Bangladesh's achievements and amazing development stories, saying the United Kingdom will remain a partner in the country's development journey.
''She said this while talking to reporters after her meeting with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday, reports UNB.
The British envoy said: "I have congratulated the Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) on Bangladesh's achievements and the amazing development stories."
The high commissioner said she shared with the minister how her government was excited about being able to work together to build stronger relationship with countries like Bangladesh.
Blake also appreciated the government's fresh offer to have dialogue with other political parties.
"I welcome very much the government's attempt to establish a dialogue with all the political parties, because Bangladesh has set a very ambitious target of a fully developed country status by 2041," Blake said, adding that there is enormous work before Bangladesh to achieve the goal...''
Source/publisher:
Dhaka Tribune
Date of publication:
2019-01-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''There appears to be no chance of Rohingya repatriation in the near future as Myanmar has completely failed to create a situation conducive for the return of hundreds of thousands of persecuted people to Rakhine, a United Nations human rights expert said on Friday, urging Bangladesh to get prepared for a long haul.
Instead of creating a favourable situation for the return of the Rohingyas, Myanmar is in fact on a mission to force the remaining Rohingyas in Rakhine to flee to Bangladesh through different types of crimes and intimidations, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Professor Yanghee Lee told a press conference at a local hotel upon completion of her seven-day visit to Bangladesh.
She thanked the Bangladeshi authorities for facilitating her visit on Thursday to Bhashan Char, where the government wants to relocate the Rohingyas, but urged upon Bangladesh not to hurry in sending these people to the isolated island in the Noakhali district...''
Source/publisher:
Dhaka Tribune
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"A UN human rights expert on Rohingya refugees has warned Bangladesh against rushing to relocate them from Cox’s Bazar to Bhashan Char island until a framework for their protection has been agreed".
Ro kyaw tho
Source/publisher:
bdnews24.com
Date of publication:
2019-01-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''In 2018, UNICEF extended lifesaving services to over 1.2 million people affected by the crisis. This included 380,000 people provided with access to safe drinking water; 20,000 children under 5 treated for severe acute malnutrition; and 1,235,475 people over 1 year old who received oral cholera vaccine.
More than half of Rohingya refugee children aged 4 to 14 have now been engaged in non-formal basic education by UNICEF and the Education Sector. UNICEF reached 145,209 Rohingya children in 2018 with support from 4,028 trained teachers.
UNICEF and the Department of Social Services launched an integrated case management and cash assistance programme in June 2018, benefitting 4,200 children and 3,000 foster caregivers.
Comprehensive preparedness and mitigation measures taken with both government and NGO partners in advance of the monsoon in June 2018 resulted in no major epidemics or outbreaks. Actions such as chlorination of water points, intensive C4D messaging, relocating at-risk facilities and establishing mechanisms to reunite children separated during extreme rain, were some of the measures taken...''
Source/publisher:
Reliefweb
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
237.57 KB
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Description:
''ON 3 January, six Muslims, including
Mahmut Salem, were
transferred by the India government
to Myanmar government
at the Tamu-Moreh border gate,
and they are now being reunited
with their families, according to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In order to transfer the six
Muslims, assessments were conducted
by the Ministry of Labour,
Immigration and Population on
whether they were originally
from Myanmar and had earlier
resided here, and then the information
was relayed to the Myanmar
Embassy in Bangladesh.
The Myanmar Embassy issued
a Certificate of Identity for the
six, who were then transferred at
the border on 3 January. The six
were received by Ministry of Labour,
Immigration and Population
Tamu District Deputy Director
U Myo Aung at the Tamu-Moreh
border gate. They were then sent
to Sittway via Magway and An.
While the six Muslims were undergoing
the issuing of NV Cards
and put on record in a e-ID, they
were temporarily placed under
the care of the Thakkepyin Village
administrator in Sittway
Township. After these processes
are completed, they will be
transferred to their families in
Buthidaung and Maungtaw townships...''
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Ministry of Information via "The Global New Light of Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-01-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
144.68 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
''More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled violence at the hands of security forces in Myanmar - that's in the last year alone. Today, nearly a million of them live in refugee camps in Bangladesh, where, as NPR's Sasha Ingber reports, they're using traditional music to document atrocities and hold on to who they are.
SASHA INGBER, BYLINE: Inside a dim mud house a 40-minute bus ride from Thangkali refugee camp, Mohammed Taker takes his instruments off a shelf. The 35-year-old keeps his mandolin and harmonium stashed here, coming in the morning and going back to the refugee camp in the evening.
MOHAMMED TAKER: (Through interpreter) If the government finds out that I'm singing songs, they will find me.
INGBER: He's worried that if he plays music in the camp, informants from Myanmar - formerly known as Burma - will send word to the government.
TAKER: (Through interpreter) We have people in our community who are friends with the Burmese government, and maybe they will sell them information. It's possible to find me because I'm one of only a few musicians. (Playing mandolin)...''
Sasha Ingber
Source/publisher:
National Public Radio (NPR)
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
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Description:
''UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee has said that it is clear that Rohingya refugees cannot return to Myanmar in the near future.
She has urged the Bangladeshi government to prepare to host the refugees for the long term and is concerned about the security of the refugees.
Bangladesh's government plans to move around 100,000 refugees to an island in the Bay of Bengal, where the government said they will have access to education and healthcare, but the UN special rapporteur has concerns about the island's isolation.
Al Jazeera's Natasha Ghoneim reports from Dhaka...''
Natasha Ghoneim
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Some 4,500 people have been displaced in the fighting in recent weeks, Mr Ostby noted, adding that the Myanmar authorities have announced that they intend to “crush” the so-called Arakan Army insurgents.
“I think the situation as far as we know, has not broken out to major fighting, but there have been more troop build-ups”, Mr Ostby said, before speaking of his shock at attacks on police outposts last Friday that claimed 13 officers’ lives.
Noting that humanitarian access to communities in need of help in Rakhine state “has not improved since 2017” - when some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled violence there to neighbouring Bangladesh - the UN official warned that facilities were not in place to cope with yet more mass movement of people...''
Ruslana Sirman
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Myanmar’s army says it killed 13 ethnic Rakhine fighters in counter attacks, after the well-armed group carried out deadly strikes on police posts earlier this month.
Rakhine state has seen new levels of violence in recent weeks between the Arakan Army (AA) – insurgents fighting for greater autonomy for ethnic Rakhine Buddhists – and security forces.
Many of the battles are taking place in the same region from which more than 720,000 Rohingya Muslims fled to Bangladesh after August 2017, when the army launched a crackdown the UN deemed ethnic cleansing.
The AA are a more formidable force than the fighters claiming to represent the Rohingya and have inflicted historically higher death tolls on the military.
On Myanmar’s independence day on January 4, the AA launched pre-dawn raids that killed 13 police officers and wounded nine before the army stepped in, setting off violence that has displaced thousands...''
Source/publisher:
The Guardian
Date of publication:
2019-01-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
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Description:
''The United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, on Friday said Myanmar security forces have been engaged in an intimidation campaign against Rohingya people living in border areas and camps in Bangladesh to ensure they do not return to Myanmar.
“It is evident that Myanmar is not working to create conditions for return for the Rohingya but is engaging in a sustained campaign of violence, intimidation and harassment,” she told a press conference at a hotel in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Friday evening. The press conference marked the conclusion of her 11-day visit to Bangladesh and Thailand.
To the contrary, she said, Myanmar security forces have continued to force Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh...''
Muktadir Rashid
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Myanmar's army chief should be prosecuted for "genocide" against the Rohingya, a United Nations' human rights investigator has said.
Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, added that holding the perpetrators to account for their crimes was necessary before the refugees who fled the country could return...''
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Bangladesh and the UN must continue to work together to improve the conditions for nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees.
The year 2018 was a dire and desperate year for the Rohingya minority from western Myanmar. Two-thirds of the population that had been living in western Rakhine State before the end of 2017 remain displaced in crowded camps in Bangladesh. The several hundred thousand who remain in Myanmar face serious restrictions, and what the chair of an independent, international fact-finding mission describes as an “ongoing genocide.”
What will the year 2019 have in store for the Rohingya? Here are key developments to keep an eye on and some thoughts on what must be done to improve the outlook...''
Daniel Sullivan
Source/publisher:
Fair Observer
Date of publication:
2019-01-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"On November 26 last year fed up of being ignored, Rohingya refugees in camps in southeastern Bangladesh did something out of ordinary: they went on strike. For three days, leaders of the Rohingya community declared, that no man or woman working in the camp as a shopkeeper, teacher, health worker, or builder – would providing their crucial manpower.
The call to arms was in response to new identity cards issued by the Bangladesh authorities and the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. The ‘smart’ cards did not identify their ethnicity as ‘Rohingya’..."
Vidya Krishnan
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-23
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Rather than creating conditions for the return of the Rohingyas, Myanmar is engaging in a sustained campaign of violence, intimidation and harassment of the ethnic minority, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar said yesterday.
“I spoke to one woman who arrived in Cox's Bazar a matter of days ago after her father was stabbed to death by Myanmar security forces. A man I spoke to told me that he and his entire family fled recently after his mother and sister were abducted and raped,” Yanghee Lee said...''
Source/publisher:
The Daily Star via "Reuters"
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''A U.N. human rights envoy said Friday that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees won’t be able to return to Myanmar soon because of threats to their safety in the Buddhist-majority nation.
Myanmar has been criticized by global rights groups and many nations for state-sponsored violence against ethnic minorities.
Yanghee Lee, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, also criticized India and Saudi Arabia for mistreatment of the Rohingya in those countries amid global calls for protections for Rohingya Muslims.
Lee spent 10 days in Thailand and Bangladesh, speaking to refugees living in Bangladesh, authorities, U.N. agencies and international experts. More than 700,000 Rohingya refugees have fled into Bangladesh since late August 2017.
“It is clear that Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh cannot return to Myanmar in the near future,” she said...''
Julhas Alam
Source/publisher:
The Washington Post
Date of publication:
2019-01-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''A DELEGATION led by United
Nations Secretary General’s
Special Envoy on Myanmar, Ms.
Christine Schraner Burgener,
visited the IDP camps in Pauktaw Township, Rakhine State
yesterday.
The delegation was accompanied by Rakhine State Electric
Power, Industry and Transportation Minister U Aung Kyaw Zan
and officials.
The UN Special Envoy and
delegation first visited Kyain
Ni Pyin and Anauk Ye villages
where Islamic people are living,
and interviewed them about the current ground conditions on
food, clothing, shelter, occupation, education, and health. They
also met separately with the
women and interviewed them
about women’s rights and health
care. Afterwards, the UN Special
Envoy and delegation explained
about the processes of National
Verification Card-NVC issued by
the government to the people...''
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Ministry of Information via "The Global New Light of Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-01-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
908.04 KB
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Description:
''China supports the Myanmar government's efforts to protect domestic stability and approach to resolving the Rohingya issue, Premier Li Keqiang told the country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi, after US Vice-President Mike Pence offered a strong rebuke.
Mr Pence on Wednesday (Nov 14) voiced Washington's strongest condemnation yet of Myanmar's treatment of Rohingya Muslims, telling Ms Suu Kyi that "persecution" by her country's army was "without excuse".
Meeting Ms Suu Kyi on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Singapore, Ms Li said China attaches great importance to its ties with Myanmar and would build on their tradition of friendship, China's Foreign Ministry said late on Thursday...''
Source/publisher:
The Straits Times
Date of publication:
2018-11-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Abul Kalam, Bangladesh’s refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told Reuters “a new course of action” needed to be adopted on repatriation that took into account refugees’ key demands.
More than 720,000 Rohingya fled a sweeping army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017, according to UN agencies. The crackdown was launched in response to insurgent Rohingya attacks on security forces.
Rohingya refugees say soldiers and Buddhist civilians killed families, burned many villages and carried out gang rapes. UN-mandated investigators have accused Myanmar’s army of “genocidal intent” and ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has denied almost all the accusations, saying its forces engaged in a counter-insurgency operation against “terrorists”...''
Source/publisher:
South China Morning Post
Date of publication:
2018-11-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
'' Mr. President, First, China regrets that the Security Council heard the briefing by the Human Rights Council Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar. Such a practice undermines the unity of the Council and is not conducive to the cooperative efforts of Security Council members to resolve the issue of Rakhine State in Myanmar.
Recently, with the joint efforts by the countries concerned, the countries in the region and the UN agencies, good progress has been made in resolving the issue of Rakhine.
In mid-September, the first UNHCR-UNDP joint mission visited 23 villages in Rakhine. In mid-October, the second joint mission visited 26 villages in Rakhine. The Myanmar government has promised to give the joint missions full access to the entire territory of Rakhine and to actively implement the tripartite MOU. The recommendations contained in the report of the Rakhine State Advisory Board are being implemented.
Recently, the Independent Commission of Enquiry on Rakhine started its work and held meetings. In consultation with Bangladesh, it will go to Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh to conduct an investigation for fulfilling the commitment of seeking accountability for human rights violations in Rakhine after the attacks by the Rohingya Salvation Army in October 2016 and August 2017. In mid-October, Myanmar once again received the visit of Ms. Burgener, Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Myanmar. The Special Envoy held in-depth exchanges with Myanmar leaders and officials, and visited Maungdaw and Buthidaung to get first-hand information on the situation in Rakhine. The joint working group of Myanmar and Bangladesh will hold its third meeting by the end of this month. His Excellency Foreign Minister Ali of Bangladesh indicated recently that on the basis of the Bangladesh list of 8,000 people and the list provided by Myanmar, the first batch of people are expected to be repatriated soon. The international community must note and fully recognize the above progress...''
Source/publisher:
Permanent Mission of the people's Republic of China to the UN
Date of publication:
2018-10-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, “One Belt, One Road” initiative
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''The Yangon Region High Court has rejected an appeal by two incarcerated Reuters journalists, Thet Oo Maung (a.k.a Wa Lone) and Kyaw Soe Oo, and upheld the original seven years prison sentence passed on them by the Yangon Northern District Court. The pair were arrested on 12 December 2017 and they were sentenced on 3 September last year. The journalists were arrested after their work exposed a massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Inn Din Village, which the military was then forced to admit occurred.
“These men have been imprisoned to intimidate the free press in Burma and punish those who expose the military. They should be celebrated for their work, but instead, they continue to suffer in prison unjustly for it. Burma has clearly shown the world that it will not stand for free speech if it is against their own interest,” said BHRN’s Executive Director, Kyaw Win.
After their arrest, the state-owned newspapers said the reporters had approached members of a battalion of the security force to obtain information and facts related to the Rakhine region. It said they illegally obtained the information with an intention to pass it on to foreign news agencies and that they were arrested along with the documents, which include confidential information.
In an interview with the NHK news agency last June, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said the two journalists were not arrested because of their reporting on the Rakhine issue but for a breach of the Official Secrets Act. Her comment came a month before the court decided to indict them on a charge under the same law...''
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
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83.09 KB
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''ARTICLE 19 condemns today’s decision by the Yangon High Court to uphold the conviction of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Reuters journalists who helped expose a 2017 massacre of Rohingya civilians in Rakhine State by Myanmar Army soldiers.
“The court’s decision to uphold the convictions of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo is a disgraceful act of repression and an assault on press freedom,” said Matthew Bugher, ARTICLE 19’s Head of Asia Programme. “By upholding the result of a sham trial, the court has surrendered its independence and aided the government in its crackdown on expression.”
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in December 2017 shortly after being handed a set of official documents by police officers in an apparent set-up operation aimed at obstructing their reporting on human rights violations in Rakhine State. On 3 September 2018, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted by a Yangon district court under section 3.1(c) of the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. The pair, who were jointly named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2018 alongside other journalists, were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment under the Act. State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi later defended the judgment at the World Economic Forum on ASEAN in Hanoi, Viet Nam, to harsh criticism from over fifty human rights organizations.
On 5 November 2018, an appeal was filed in the Yangon High Court. The journalists’ lawyers argued that the conviction should be overturned because of due process violations, the lack of consideration given to evidence of a police set-up, and the failure by the prosecution to prove the key elements of the crime...''
Source/publisher:
Article 19 via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Any remaining shred of hope for the release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo quickly vanished today when the court denied their appeal for an overturn of their conviction handed down in September last year. They were charged with violating the Official Secrets Act following entrapment by police who handed them documents that formed the basis of the charges laid against them.
The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is deeply saddened by and aghast at today’s turnout of events. To say that the two reporters’ consequent conviction and seven-year sentence was a dark day for press freedom would be an understatement. The denial of their appeal is an appalling reaffirmation of Myanmar’s rejection of genuine democracy and sends an unmistakable signal that press freedom is in great peril in a country, once a pariah state, that had held out hope that it was making great strides toward democratic reform.
SEAPA appeals to the Myanmar government to reverse the conviction of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. It’s time to deliver on its promised reform, an essential component of which is upholding and protecting press freedom and freedom of expression.
Media should not be punished – jailed or killed – for reporting the truth. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo do not deserve to languish in prison for doing their job...''
Source/publisher:
Southeast Asian Press Alliance via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
English
Local URL:
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Description:
''Bangladesh is poised to begin returning several thousand Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. This repatriation is unlikely to be voluntary and should not proceed. It would not only violate Bangladesh’s international legal obligations and jeopardise the safety of the refugees, but risks triggering violence and greater instability on both sides of the border. Bangladesh and Myanmar should immediately halt the plan. The UN, including the secretary-general’s special envoy and the UN refugee agency, should continue to firmly oppose it, both in public and in private, and establish a process whereby Rohingya refugees are consulted about their future. The U.S., European Union (EU), Australia, Canada and others also should press Bangladesh and Myanmar to halt the returns and instead work to create conditions conducive to voluntary repatriation...''
Source/publisher:
International Crisis Group
Date of publication:
2018-11-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
362.74 KB
more
Description:
''Irwin, of World Uyghur Congress, compares Europe’s response over the Uighur issue to its vocal criticism of the Myanmar government, which now faces European sanctions over its maltreatment of its Muslim Rohingya population.
Some in the international community have described Myanmar’s brutal clearance operations that have driven over 700,000 Rohingya over the border into Bangladesh as a “genocide.” Now, some are starting to refer to what is happening in Xinjiang as the beginning of a genocide...''
David Hutt
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
'' Myanmar’s security forces have clashed with ethnic rebels in the country’s western Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on January 2.
The clash happened near Saytaung in Buthidaung township and involved rebels from the Arakan Army (AA) group of the Rakhine, the Buddhist majority in the state.
Rakhine state also has a Muslim minority, the Rohingya, who live in the state’s northern townships. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled across the border into Bangladesh after an armed Rohingya group attacked police and military outposts in August 2017. The Myanmar army launched a massive offensive in the area in retaliation to the attack...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''When Myanmar security forces launched its now notorious “clearance operations” in western Rakhine state in August 2017, it was not the first time the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority had fled en masse into neighboring Bangladesh.
But a failed attempt to repatriate a first group to Myanmar in November and the construction of solid, concrete buildings on an island off the Bangladeshi coast signal an entirely new situation is emerging: a Palestine-like scenario with a permanent, stateless and impoverished refugee population ripe for exploitation by extremist groups in South and Southeast Asia...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2018-12-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Statelessness, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Bangladesh’s overcrowded, hilly, and rain-soaked mega camp for ethnic Rohingya refugees is precarious for everyone, but especially for people with disabilities. More than 700,000 people reside in the camp after fleeing the Myanmar military’s campaign of ethnic cleansing more than a year ago...''
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2018-09-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"As China surges forward again in Myanmar, new pressure to restart a controversial dam project could represent a watershed moment for bilateral relations.
The Beijing-backed US$3.6 billion Myitsone dam project, which if built as previously designed would flood 600 square kilometers of forestland in northern Kachin state and export 90 % of the power produced to China, was suspended by Myanmar’s previous military-dominated government in September 2011."
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-16
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''On August 30, 2017, Hassina Begum, a 20-year-old ethnic Rohingya woman, was among the few survivors of a massacre of unspeakable brutality. Just days after a deadly attack by Rohingya militants against Burmese security forces, hundreds of Burmese soldiers in uniform, along with ethnic Rakhine villagers armed with machetes and wooden sticks, attacked the village of Tula Toli, officially known as Min Gyi, in Maungdaw Township in Burma’s Rakhine State, also known as Arakan State.
The advancing soldiers trapped several hundred unarmed Rohingya Muslim villagers, including Hassina, on the large bank of the river, which surrounds Tula Toli on three sides. As they approached, some fired at the crowd, others toward people trying to flee. While some Rohingya managed to escape, swimming across the fast-moving river or dashing to the surrounding hills, many terrified villagers could not run away or swim. Families with young children had no chance to flee...''
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2018-12-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''(New York) – Myanmar should disband its commission of inquiry into abuses in Rakhine state because it is clearly unwilling to seriously investigate alleged grave crimes against ethnic Rohingya, Human Rights Watch said today.
At a news conference on December 12, 2018, Rosario Manalo, chair of the Independent Commission of Enquiry, stated that the commission had found “no evidence” to support allegations of human rights abuses in the four months since it officially opened its investigation. Her statement shows that the commission is disregarding evidence and testimony collected by United Nations fact-finders, the United States State Department, and international human rights organizations since violence broke out in Rakhine State in 2016...''
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2018-12-19
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were convicted on trumped-up charges. The massacre that they were investigating at the time of their arrest has been admitted to by the Myanmar military, and a senior police officer testified in court that the two journalists were set up by the police. That officer was subsequently jailed but is awaiting release.
“Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have spent more than a year in prison since their arrest in December 2017, separated from their family and their young children.
“One day in prison was already an injustice. This appalling farce must end now. Myanmar authorities must release the two journalists immediately and unconditionally. They must also ensure that the people of Myanmar have the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including by repealing or amending the oppressive laws that are used against journalists, activists and human rights defenders.”
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''(New York) – The Myanmar government committed grave abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities throughout 2018, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2019. Democratic space diminished in the face of increasing government actions to stifle free speech and peaceful assembly.
A United Nations investigation found that the Myanmar military had committed the “gravest crimes under international law” in operations in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan States since 2011, calling for senior military officials to face investigation and prosecution for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes...''
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The Arakan Army, one of Myanmar’s newest and least known insurgent groups, has been hurled from obscurity to prominence after a series of escalated attacks that threaten to tilt the country’s already volatile Rakhine state towards all-out war.
On January 4, Myanmar’s Independence Day from British colonial rule, the Arakan Army staged one of their most brazen and belligerent attacks after several weeks of expanded ambushes and engagements with Myanmar security forces..."
David Scott Mathieson
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"There was no shortage of bad news from Myanmar in 2018 and few foresee cause for new hope in the year ahead. The Rohingya refugee crisis, the possibility that Myanmar’s military leaders may be held to account on charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court, and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s fall from grace as a pro-democracy icon dominated international media coverage of the country.
At the same time, the United States imposed limited sanctions on certain Myanmar military leaders for their roles in the abuse of Rohingya; the European Union contemplated whether to remove the country’s tariff-free access to the bloc for the same reason...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2018-12-28
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Armed conflict in Kachin State - ceasefires and ceasefire talks, Statelessness
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''United Nations member countries thwarted an attempt by China to slash proposed funding for investigations into Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims. This ensures that a newly established UN body will have the necessary financing to gather and preserve criminal evidence for future trials.
After marathon negotiations – during which China called for cutting the proposed budget in half – the UN General Assembly’s budget committee approved without a vote some US$28 million for investigations in Myanmar, only slightly less than the proposed US$29 million budget...''
Louis Charbonneau
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2018-12-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Myanmar has postponed a planned visit by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, The New Age, a Bangladesh daily, reported on January 15.
Myanmar authorities canceled the trip following renewed fighting between government forces and ethnic rebels in Rakhine State.
Thirteen Myanmar police officers were killed by Arakan Army militants on January 4 in attacks near the border with Bangladesh. Grandi was supposed to visit areas where hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya refugees fled from to Bangladesh in 2017.
The UNHCR was supposed to oversee a repatriation of the refugees in accordance with agreements reached between Myanmar and Bangladesh, but The New Age quoted an unnamed UN Security Council diplomat as saying the Myanmar side had “done nothing at all and didn’t particularly want that to be exposed.”
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, UN Human Rights pages on Myanmar
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''UNION Minister for Social Welfare,
Relief and Resettlement Dr.
Win Myat Aye received Japan’s
State Minister for Foreign Affairs
Ms. Toshiko Abe at the ministry
in Nay Pyi Taw yesterday.
During the meeting, they
discussed matters related to
Japan’s assistance for Rakhine issue, works being carried out by
six UN organizations in Rakhine
State with the assistance by Japanese
government, preparation
for receiving displaced persons
and reception programs in accord
with the bilateral agreement
with Bangladesh government,
distributing fact-sheets...''
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Ministry of Information via "The Global New Light of Myanmar"
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
827.84 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
''The chief of the Arakan Army (AA), Tun Myat Naing, recently spoke with The Irrawaddy’s Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint about his group’s policies and accusations by the President’s Office that it has ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-17
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against Muslims in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Ethnic Rakhine rebels killed 13 Myanmar police officers Friday in a coordinated attack on the country’s Independence Day, according to the army.
Rakhine state has seen a surge in violence in recent weeks between the Arakan Army (AA) rebels – who are demanding greater autonomy for their Buddhist ethnic group – and security forces, displacing thousands.
It has added a fresh layer of complexity and danger to the violence in an area already scored by deep ethnic and religious enmity, which saw hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims forced over the border by a brutal army crackdown in 2017...''
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-05
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rakhine
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state has been wracked by armed conflict over the past several weeks, as escalated and expanded fighting between Myanmar security forces and the rebel Arakan Army erupts across several townships.
The new clashes are destabilizing a region already wracked by the Myanmar military’s now notorious “clearance operations” that drove over 700,000 Rohingyas into neighboring Bangladesh, a campaign of violence the United Nations has reported as crimes against humanity..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''A court in Myanmar has rejected an appeal by two reporters of the Reuters news agency, sentenced to seven years in jail for breaking the country's Official Secrets Act, in a case that rallied press freedom advocates.
Lawyers for Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, had filed the appeal in November against their conviction, citing evidence of a police set-up and lack of proof of a crime. The appeal argued that the original trial was conducted in an "unjust manner" and had called for the reporters' immediate release.
But High Court judge Aung Naing on Friday said the lawyers failed to submit enough evidence to prove the pair's innocence. He said "it was not acceptable" to say that the defendants had acted according to journalistic ethics...''
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Thu Thu Aung, Poppy McPherson
Source/publisher:
Reuters
Date of publication:
2019-01-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years in September in a case condemned around the world.
They exposed the summary execution of 10 Muslim Rohingyas by the security forces during the military's anti-Rohingya operation in 2017.
But the judge called their terms "suitable punishment" and said the defence had not proved their innocence.
Both were arrested carrying official documents handed to them by police officers. They maintain their innocence, saying the authorities set them up.
When arrested the two were investigating a mass execution of Rohingyas, hundreds of thousands of whom have been forced to flee destruction and persecution in the northern Rakhine province of Myanmar (also called Burma)...''
Source/publisher:
BBC News
Date of publication:
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against Muslims in Burma/Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''The war in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State is likely to intensify as more government forces have been deployed to the area in the wake of rebel attacks on police stations, The Irrawaddy, a Myanmar website, reported on January 10.
Thirteen policemen were killed and nine injured in the attacks, which were carried on January 4 – Myanmar’s independence day – by the Arakan Army (AA), a local rebel group fighting for autonomy for the state.
The Irrawaddy quoted AA commander Tun Myat Naing as saying that government soldiers “are coming by air and by road” and justified the raids because police units based in the area had helped the Myanmar Army attack the AA in December...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The war in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state is likely to intensify as more government forces have been deployed in the area in the wake of rebel attacks on police stations, The Irrawaddy, a Myanmar website, has reported.
Thirteen policemen were killed and nine injured in the attacks, which took place on January 4 – Myanmar’s independence day – by the Arakan Army (AA), a local rebel group fighting for autonomy for the state.
The Irrawaddy quoted AA commander Tun Myat Naing as saying that government soldiers “are coming by air and by road” and justified the raids because police units based in the area had helped the Myanmar Army attack the AA in December...''
Bertil Lintner
Source/publisher:
Asia Times
Date of publication:
2019-01-13
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Two Reuters journalists in Myanmar lost their appeal Friday against their conviction and seven-year jail sentences.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in December 2017 for violating Myanmar's Official Secrets Act.
The judge who upheld the conviction said the journalists' lawyers did not provide sufficient evidence to prove their innocence. "It was a suitable punishment," High Court Judge Aung Naing said of the sentence.
The men say they were arrested in a setup by police intended to inhibit reporting on a massacre of Rohingya, a minority Muslim group...''
Source/publisher:
VOA
Date of publication:
2019-01-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The authorities in Saudi Arabia have deported at least 13 Rohingyas, the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star reported on January 9. The Rohingyas, who were deported on January 8, had entered Saudi Arabia with passports from Bangladesh “several years back,” the report said.
They were detained and deported after they had admitted they were Rohingyas from Myanmar, not Bangladeshis. They were sent back to Bangladesh on a Saudi Arabian airlines flight and many more may be deported soon, according to The Daily Star...''
Bertil Lintner
Date of publication:
2019-01-10
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Refugees from Burma: general reports, Statelessness
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
Put simply, 2018 was a difficult year for Myanmar. The fallout from the Rohingya crisis has increased as the UN and assorted parliaments and governments have labelled it genocide and applied targeted sanctions. While humanitarian access and diplomatic dialogue have improved, the situation on the ground remains dire, with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh refusing to leave. Domestically, the NLD government of Aung San Suu Kyi faces growing criticism over the lack of movement in the peace process and the slow pace of reforms, particularly economic ones. As the country struggles both domestically and internationally, many wonder if Myanmar’s historic effort to reform and democratize is being lost in transition. Nevertheless, Aung San Suu Kyi and her party remain popular overall. If she can secure greater international involvement in resolving the Rohingya crisis—for instance, through the UN and ASEAN—encourage greater economic growth, and catalyze some high-profile reforms, such as to the banking sector and local public administration, both international support and Myanmar public opinion will likely be reinvigorated...''
Source/publisher:
Asia Foundation
Date of publication:
2019-01-02
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Rakhine insurgents have killed 13 policemen and injured nine in attacks on four police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state as the country marked Independence Day, the official news agency said.
Fighting renewed in Rakhine state in early December between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army, which wants greater autonomy for Rakhine, where the mainly Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group makes up the majority. The Arakan Army does not cite religion as a factor in its insurgency.
It was also in the restive western state that a military-led crackdown in 2017, following attacks by Rohingya Muslim insurgents, prompted hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee westwards to neighbouring Bangladesh...''
Source/publisher:
The Guardian
Date of publication:
2019-01-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''YANGON—More than nine years after it was formed by 26 Arakanese (Rakhine) youths, the Arakan Army (AA) today is a 7000-member strong army which is gaining progress in its bid to establish a stronghold in its homeland, Rakhine State.
Hundreds of AA troops launched a coordinated attack on four border guard police outposts in Buthidaung Township on Friday. Only after the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) sent reinforcements and attacked from the air, the AA troops retreated.
Thirteen police were killed in the attack during which the AA abducted 18 police and their family members who they later released.
The conflict plays out as Myanmar comes under growing pressure from the international community regarding the exodus of Rohingya from northern Rakhine State into Bangladesh following brutal military clearance operations spurred by serial attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on a number of police outposts in August 2017...''
Source/publisher:
The Irrawaddy
Date of publication:
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
The Arakan Army has denied that it is allied with a Rohingya Muslim terrorist group and objected to a Myanmar government spokesman’s warning to its supporters not to back the insurgent group after it conducted deadly attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine state last week, RFA reported.
At a news conference on Monday, President’s Office spokesman Zaw Htay accused the AA of having ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Muslim terrorist group that in August 2017 launched deadly assaults on 30 police outposts and an army base in northern Rakhine state.
In a statement on its website and Facebook page, the AA said Zaw Htay’s statements were inappropriate, viewing them as an attempt by the government and the military to stir up misunderstanding between the Arakan military group’s allies and ethnic Rakhine support base.
Source/publisher:
Mizzima
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Myanmar’s leaders on Monday vowed to “crush” an insurgency in western Rakhine state by the Arakan Army (AA), demanding that ethnic Rakhines end support for the armed group that killed 13 policeman in coordinated attacks during the country’s Independence Day last week.
Zaw Htay, director general of President Win Myint's office, said Myanmar’s de facto leader State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi discussed the AA’s attacks during a meeting on national security held with the president, military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and other cabinet members.
“The president’s office has instructed the military to launch an operation to crush the terrorists,” he told a news conference in the capital Naypyidaw.
“The Myanmar government has denounced the AA as a terrorist organization and ordered the military to implement effective counter-insurgency measures against it,” he said.
Zaw Htay also said that the AA’s attacks were a “stab in the back” and that political differences divisions should be resolved through discussion.
On Friday, Myanmar’s Independence Day, members of the AA used both light and heavy weapons to attack four police outposts in Buthidaung township, killing 13 officers and injuring nine others. Zaw Htay accused the AA of having ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Muslim militant group that in August 2017 launched deadly assaults on 30 police outposts and an army base in northern Rakhine state, triggering a brutal military crackdown that killed thousands and drove more than 725,000 Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh...''
Source/publisher:
Radio Free Asia
Date of publication:
2019-01-07
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies)
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''The Arakan Army on Tuesday denied that it is allied with a Rohingya Muslim militant group and objected to a Myanmar government spokesman’s warning to its supporters not to back the insurgent group after it conducted deadly attacks on police outposts in northern Rakhine state last week.
Coordinated assaults by the AA on four police outposts in Buthidaung township on Jan. 4 left 13 policemen dead and injured nine others. The rebel force said it lost three of its soldiers in the violence.
At a news conference on Monday, President’s Office spokesman Zaw Htay accused the AA of having ties to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Muslim militant group that in August 2017 launched deadly assaults on 30 police outposts and an army base in northern Rakhine state, triggering a brutal military crackdown that killed thousands and drove more than 725,000 Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh.
In a statement on its website and Facebook page, the AA said Zaw Htay’s statements were inappropriate, viewing them as an attempt by the government and the military to stir up misunderstanding between the Arakan military group’s allies and ethnic Rakhine support base.
AA commander-in-chief Major General Tun Myat Naing also posted an online message that the AA does not have any connection to ARSA...''
Source/publisher:
Radio Free Asia
Date of publication:
2019-01-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''Frequent clashes between Myanmar security forces and Buddhist rebels in Rakhine state have spread alarm among thousands of Rohingya refugees living in no-man's-land on the country's border with Bangladesh, as concerns grow over the intensified fighting.
More than 730,000 members of the mostly Muslim minority have fled Myanmar to escape a brutal military-led crackdown that started in 2017. Most of the Rohingya have taken shelter in sprawling refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh but some have been living in limbo on the border, unwilling to enter the settlements or return home...''
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2019-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Peace processes, ceasefires and ceasefire talks (websites, documents, reports and studies), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''This month we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To mark the occasion, we have asked Human Rights Watch experts to reflect on some of the key human rights challenges in their area of specialty.
There is no more daunting challenge for the human rights movement than trying to spare civilians from the litany of abuses associated with the raging conflicts of our time, those that are claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and causing millions to flee across international borders. Where there once was outrage and demands for action, complacency has set in. How did it come to this?
For a while, the world seemed determined to put an end to the most horrendous crimes facing humanity. Buoyed by the end of the Cold War, outraged by the genocide in Rwanda and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, a global movement was born in the new millennium with a powerful rallying cry, echoing that of Holocaust survivors: never again. Its ideas were radical at the time: no government was to hide behind its sovereignty to massacre its own people and no head of state was to stand above the law...''
Philippe Bolopion
Date of publication:
2018-12-10
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''It’s been one year since Myanmar police arrested Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on December 12, 2017. Over the past year, Myanmar’s increasingly restricted state of press freedom has been laid bare for the world to see.
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo have been imprisoned since their arrest while investigating a massacre by the military in the village of Inn Din in Rakhine State. On September 30, a court convicted them of violating the country’s Official Secrets Act and sentenced both to seven years in prison.
Their conviction in the face of strong evidence that the police handed them documents as part of a plan to trap and arrest them has sent a chill through the Myanmar media. “After the Reuters journalists were arrested, most journalists were asking ‘Who will be the next victim?’” said a local journalist. “We are always asking ourselves, ‘What if we print that story? Will there be a problem for us?’” Reporting on abuses by the military and Rohingya Muslims is considered particularly risky...''
Linda Lakhdhir
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2018-12-12
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Human rights policies of various actors in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''On December 10, the world marks 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Regrettably, instead of the anniversary signalling the enduring impact of human rights, some are fearing the “end of human rights.” Here we highlight some of the rights challenges that captured the world’s attention this year, illustrating the struggle to secure human rights is far from over...''
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2018-12-09
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
''“How can we go back?” Mohammad, a Rohingya refugee in a Bangladesh camp called to tell me. “They will kill us if we go back.”
There is panic in the refugee camps, he said, after Myanmar and Bangladesh announced plans to start refugee repatriations very soon. While the Bangladeshi government accepted approximately 700,000 Rohingya refugees after the Myanmar army’s ethnic cleansing campaign, Rohingya say authorities are now pressuring them to return.
Around 30 families are supposed to leave shortly. Security forces have been deployed in the refugee camps even as Bangladeshi officials said that there won’t be any forced returns.
Myanmar authorities say they have verified the identities of 4,000 Rohingya to be returned, but no one quite knows who is on that list. Some, fearing that they are included, have fled from the camps. Others threaten or attempt suicide...''
Meenakshi Ganguly
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2018-11-14
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"The suffering of the Rohingya people in 2017 is beyond superlatives. The violence and brutality in the stories of those who have had opportunities to share are difficult to fathom, but as you hear one after another, they also become sadly repetitious. Masses of humanity have been uprooted from their villages in Burma, heaped into refugee camps in Bangladesh and awaiting an unknown fate. Once again, our ability to comprehend how one person suffers is overwhelmed by the scale on which the suffering is happening.
The oppression of the Rohingya people has been ongoing for years, but on August 25th, 2017, as tens of thousands of fleeing refugees turned into hundreds of thousands – it became an issue the world could no longer ignore. Displacement on this scale, happening so quickly, was an extraordinary event. The Burma Army conducted a near-eradication of Rohingya people from Burma with incredible efficiency as more than 600,000 people fled their homes in the space of three months. In the months following the initial attacks, that number would climb to 720,000 as people kept coming. The stories from the refugees paint a pretty clear picture: the Burma Army came in trucks, surrounded villages, shot indiscriminately, killing villagers as they fled and chasing them to neighboring Bangladesh. Then the soldiers burned the villages to the ground. Again and again. Satellite photos of burned villages corroborate these accounts..."
Source/publisher:
Free Burma Rangers
Date of publication:
2018-10-20
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In August 2018, the newly-trained Free Burma Ranger Rohingya team completed their first mission to help the people and get the news out from their home of Arakan State, which the Burma Army heavily controls. The team crossed from Bangladesh into Burma amidst border patrols, Burma Army gunfire, and monsoon rains. Once on the Burma side, the rangers hiked for several hours through the night, finally taking refuge in an abandoned village.
During the next two weeks, the team based out of abandoned villages, gathering photos and videos of villages destroyed by the Burma Army during their “clearing operations” begun in August of 2017. At times, the rangers had to hide nearby to avoid Burma Army patrols in the areas they reconned.
Nearly one year later, many of the destroyed villages the rangers discovered and recorded were mostly overgrown by jungle vegetation. In this jungle environment, it does not take long for evidence of destruction to be swallowed by nature..."
Source/publisher:
Free Burma Rangers
Date of publication:
2018-10-04
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas
Language:
English
Local URL:
more
Source/publisher:
Free Burma Rangers
Date of publication:
2018-11-30
Date of entry/update:
2018-12-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
813.29 KB
Local URL:
more