Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)

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Title: Myanmar nationalists hold pro-military rally amid tensions with government
Description: "Hundreds of Myanmar nationalists rallied in the country’s commercial capital on Sunday in a show of support for the military, amid tensions between the civilian government and the army ahead of elections expected later this year. Around a thousand protesters marched from Yangon’s famed Shwedagon pagoda to City Hall downtown to accuse the administration of Aung San Suu Kyi of allegedly failing to protect the country’s Buddhist majority and for proposing constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the military. The proposed reforms have led to tensions between Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and military lawmakers, who hold a veto over amendments. Speaking at the rally, nationalist activist Win Ko Ko Latt criticized those planning to push through the reforms, comparing them to the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China. “We can see how deadly the Wuhan virus is,” he said, referring to the Chinese city where the outbreak was believed to have originated. “I declare from here that those people who are trying to change (the constitution) are more frightening than the Wuhan virus.” Government spokesman Zaw Htay and NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-11
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Title: Residents Flee 20 Rakhine Villages in Surge in Myanmar Fighting After Local Internet Ban
Description: "More than 1,100 residents from 20 villages in Myanmar’s war-torn northern Rakhine state have fled a surge in fighting between government troops and the rebel Arakan Army, a local administrator and a lawmaker said Monday. The new wave of internally displaced persons (IDPs) comes amid the daily shelling of communities and the restoration of an internet service ban in five townships where the armed conflict has intensified during the past year and the population of displaced has swelled past 100,000 people. “So far, we’ve got over 1,100 IDPs,” said Nyi, administrator of Buthidaung’s Thaykan Kwasone village, adding that the fleeing villagers arrived on Feb. 5-9, a day after the Myanmar Army, Navy, and Air Force launched clearance operations in the area. “The Social Welfare Ministry is providing assistance for 600 IDPs, though we have requested more,” he said. “The [displaced] have been divided up between the monastery and in a village. We’re building temporary camps for those who exceed the capacity of the monastery.” The IDPs are from Konedan, Kularchaung, Zeyarmyaing, Oophauk, Thameehla Ywathit, Thameehla Ywa Haung, and Ohnchaung villages in Rathedaung township and from Kyaukpyin Seik and Seikkhu villages in Buthidaung township..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-11
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Title: The Rohingya Conflict: An Analysis through the Lens of the Geopolitical Economy of Resources
Description: "Worldwide 70.8 million people were forcibly displaced from their home because of armed conflict, generalized violence and human rights violations. These millions of stateless people have been denied national identity and fundamental rights (education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement) (UNHCR, 2019a). According to UNHCR, 67% (Two-thirds) of all the refugees worldwide belong to only five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia (UNHCR, 2019b). The Rohingya ethnic minority group is among some of those stateless people who used to live in the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Myanmar is a multiethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious country which has 135 official ethnic groups. All of these ethnic groups are aggregated in eight major ethnic groups where Bamars (32% of the total population) are the majority, and intrastate conflicts are often recorded between the Burmese military force (Tatmadaw1 ) and other ethnic armed groups (Stokke et al., 2018:3-4, 46; Strömberg, 2018:6; François and Souris, 2018:12; Mithun, 2018:648). In contrast, compared to the other ethnic conflicts in Myanmar, “The Rohingya conflict is highly asymmetrical in terms of power, resources and military assets as the Rohingya population as a group has very few resources, military or otherwise”. Describing the Rohingya conflict as a two-party conflict is difficult. It is more like systematic discrimination, denial of human rights and violence, specifically against the Rohingya civilians (SIDA, 2019:2)..."
Source/publisher: Academia.edu (USA) via Mostakim Bin Motaher
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-11
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Title: Belonging in a New Myanmar: Identity, Law, and Gender in the Anthropology of Contemporary Buddhism
Summary: "Recent literature on Buddhism in Southeast Asia and especially Burma or Myanmar has focused on Theravada formations in traditional and modern contexts.1 Theravada civilizations, in particular,...
Description: "Recent literature on Buddhism in Southeast Asia and especially Burma or Myanmar has focused on Theravada formations in traditional and modern contexts.1 Theravada civilizations, in particular, are characterized by elite institutions, by their use of a prestige language, Pali, and by related, vernacular narratives that convey in art, manuscript, and print cultures the ethical values or imaginaries of this religious tradition. These imaginaries are sustained through social discourse, cultural practices, and regional networks.2 The study of traditional Theravada Buddhist social formations thus presumes an encompassing hegemony that is grounded in truth claims about particular civilizational narratives, teleological histories, and the moral universe they embody. Showing how Theravada Buddhist literature, practices, and discourse have shaped local and regional histories has allowed scholars to go beyond received distinctions between text and practice in the study of Theravada Buddhism. Anthropological studies in particular have centered on Buddhist institutions, monastic and lay practices, and ritual exchange, around which social hierarchies are constructed. Interdisciplinary and transregional studies on Theravada formations also describe the cultural and historical contexts in which the ‘Pali imaginary’ has been articulated and trace its vernacular iterations in social practices, particular formations, and local and transregional discourses that distinguish Theravada civilizations (Schober and Collins 2012, 2017)..."
Source/publisher: Juliane Schober via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-10
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Title: The Dark Side of Liberalization: How Myanmar's Political and Media Freedoms Are Being Used to Limit Muslim Rights
Description: "Divisive groups have taken advantage of Myanmar’s much lauded new political and media freedoms to pursue an agenda that will limit the civil and political rights of the country’s Muslim population. This article examines how extremist groups such as the Ma Ba Tha have exploited these new political and media freedoms and analyses the policy agenda they have pursued. The article argues that the enforcement of the four Protection of Race and Religion Laws will disadvantage Myanmar’s already politically marginalized Muslim residents by creating a de facto religious test for full Myanmar citizenship rights. Despite considerable evidence that Myanmar’s democratization process has stalled (Anguelov 2015; Eck 2013; Irrawaddy 2014; Kingsbury 2015; Sifton 2014), the country has nonetheless liberalized more during the last five years than throughout the previous five decades of direct military rule (Hlaing 2012; Renshaw 2013; Ware 2012; Zin and Joseph 2012). This article examines the freedoms that have accrued to Myanmar’s residents since the country’s 2010 national elections began a transition to a notionally civilian administration. It will briefly describe the nature of these freedoms and the opportunities they have provided for the country’s long-suppressed pro-democracy groups to organize and engage with the political process. However, the darker consequences of these freedoms will be addressed as well. It will be shown that increased freedoms to express political opinions, combined with a growing, less censored media landscape and ready access to the Internet and mobile phones, have provided opportunities for divisive voices to enflame religious and ethnic tensions and promote discriminatory policies, often to the detriment of Myanmar’s Muslim population (Freedom House 2013; Holland 2014; Trautwein 2015)..."
Source/publisher: Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-10
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Title: The Limits of Press Freedom in Myanmar.
Description: "For over half a century, Myanmar had no real press, not much freedom and certainly no press freedom. An absurdly oppressive military dictatorship turned the South-East Asian country into a pariah state where private daily newspapers were prohibited, the rightful president were in house arrest and the internet was a place where the term 'democracy' wouldn't exist either. But now, something exciting is happening in Myanmar, and it is happening at a dizzying speed. Under president Thein Sein, Myanmar currently experiences an unprecedented political transition. The government is trying to shed its rogue status and has freed not only political prisoners from jail, but also one of the most repressed media systems in the world from an all-encompassing paralysis. Suddenly, the formerly ignored journalists find themselves at the frontline of democratic reforms. After Thein Sein's government abolished all censorship in August 2012 and allowed private newspapers in April 2013, now is the time to critically ask what the relaxation of state control towards media freedom mean – and which changes it brought along for journalists and citizens. In this study, the effects and limits of the political liberalization towards political newspaper coverage should be examined..."
Source/publisher: Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-10
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Title: Abandoned and Apartheid (A case study of Myanmar’s Rohingya Migrants)
Summary: "State sponsored persecution and subsequent migration of Rohingya has emerged as a serious challenge to existing International system as the international community despite recognizing the fact that...
Description: "State sponsored persecution and subsequent migration of Rohingya has emerged as a serious challenge to existing International system as the international community despite recognizing the fact that Rohingya are subjected to systemic persecution and genocide could only silently witness the burning villages and capsizing boats of Rohingya refugees effectively failing to respond to the crisis. Forced migration of Rohingya has therefore posed serious questions to the effectiveness of incumbent International security regime centered around UNSC; and international human rights regime particularly Genocide convention and International Refugee Convention of 1951. This essay presents to its readers a chronological record of the longstanding crisis surrounding Rohingya and response of the regional as well as international players at different stages of the conflict. Thus, An attempt has been made to understand the anatomy of Rohingya migration crisis with an aim to explore doable options to resolve this protracted humanitarian issue.."
Source/publisher: Iqra University via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Humanity and Security: Internal and External Dynamics behind the Muslim Rohingya Refugee Crisis, The role of Turkey and Bangladesh
Description: "The concepts of Human rights have become most crucial and also momentous issues of the current history in Muslim as well as western countries. In all respects, the history, as well as the philosophy of human rights, has been to confirm the human reverence, religion, impartial of a nation, race and also colour. Articles, Theories, and also some conduct have been introduced to assure initial ethics and morality. On the other hand, There is one of the groups in the world has been deprived of their basic human rights like Rohingya refugee Muslims. The Rohingya are Muslim communities who have encountered overwhelming disparity of Myanmar since their countries turn to autocracy in 1962. However, Rohingyas are one of the most oppressed minorities in the world. Their situation has impoverished by Myanmar’s current prejudiced democratization and to rebuild ‘Buddhism’, whereas a newly opened public space has been unfortunately filled with persecutions, unrestricted arrests, using religion to escalate oppression, oppression, and also assassination have been repeated again and again against this minority group. For this reason, Most of the Rohingya people try to escape from their motherland, searching for a new and better life, but most of them die at the sea area and some of them coming to Bangladesh. This lachrymose news made the world commiserate with the Rohingya as well as alleged Human rights infractions in Rakhine State are a reason for anxiety at the world’s community. UNO, EU, NAM, SAARC and also ASEAN international organizations only denounce this matter. But, Most of the Imperialist countries like the US, UK, China, Russia, and India are directly stoking with supporting to Myanmar because of their self-interest to controlling South Asia, Australia, and Africa continents even though Turkey is the main partner of Bangladesh for dealing Rohingya issues along with a proactive approach since 1990. Another reason is that there is a plethora of natural resources in Arakan like iron, uranium, coal, petroleum as well as the maritime line about of 300 Kilometers and also a strategic area for military whatever they want to control itself. However, OIC, D8 and also Muslim International organizations should build up as a strong platform to ensure basic human rights in the United Nations about this. This research tries to show that an overview of the Rohingya crisis from the Human rights perspective including the role of Turkey and Bangladesh. Therefore, this research will highlight that the residence place of Rohingyas like an independent Arakan state might be a proper solution to this Rohingya refugee crisis..."
Source/publisher: Balkan and Near Eastern Journal of Social Sciences
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Introduction: Myanmar Media Historically and the Challenges of Transition
Description: "At the end of August 2018, as this book was about to go to press,the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) released its report summarizing the main endings and recommendations of its Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. Thereport outlines serious human rights violations and abuses in Kachin,Shan and Rakhine States. It recommends that six senior military agures be investigated for genocide against the Rohingya, including Myanmar’s armed forces commander-in-chief Senior General MinAung Hlaing, and that the case be taken up by the InternationalCriminal Court (ICC), or alternatively that an ad hoc internationalcriminal tribunal be created (Human Rights Council 2018). 1 The report notes that “The role of social media is significant. Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a contextwhere for most users Facebook is the internet. Although improved inrecent months, Facebook’s response has been slow and ineffective” p. 74). Facebook quickly responded to the report’s release byremoving the accounts of eighteen high-profile army figures in Myanmar, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and fifty-two Facebook pages, which had a combined total following of close totwelve million users (Facebook 2018).A few days later, two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were sentenced to seven years in prison under the Official Secrets Act over accusations of holding secret government documentsthat they intended to share with international media and the ethnicarmed group Arakan Army (Sithu Aung Myint 2018). The two werearrested in December 2017 after investigating a massacre of Rohingyamen and boys in the coastal town of Inn Din in northern Rakhine State. After responding to a call from police officers, who met them in a restaurant and handed them documents, the journalists were arrestedfor having the documents in their possession. As they were beingtaken away from the court after the sentencing, Wa Lone was quotedas saying, “We know we did nothing wrong. I have no fear. I believein justice, democracy and freedom” (Shoon Naing and Aye Min Thant2018, 122). The arrest and subsequent sentencing were met with nationaland international condemnation, as was the rejection of their appealin early 2019. At a public protest to call for their release, organizer EiEi Moe, from the pro-democracy youth movement Generation Wave,described their jailing as “blocking the eyes and blinding the ears ofthe public” (Dunant and Su Myat Mon 2018, 115). 2 These events underscore the complexities of Myanmar’s muchlauded “transition”. Celebrated early on for the release of imprisoned journalists and the end of pre-publication censorship, hopes forincreased freedom of expression and media freedom were tempered by the crackdown that followed. Much has happened in the mediasector since the controversial elections in 2010 organized by themilitary junta and boycotted by Aung San Suu Kyi and the NationalLeague for Democracy (NLD), including reforms to laws that hadrepressed the media for decades. Some argue that these changes area continuation of the military government’s Seven Step Roadmap toDisciplined Democracy, announced in 2003 (see the interview withThiha Saw, this volume; Lall 2016; Rogers 2012)..."
Source/publisher: Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Micropolitical Opportunity Structure in Burma
Description: "On September 22, 2007, a group of monks and protestors marched past barricades in downtown Yangon, Burma1 , chanting the words of Buddha’s loving kindness. They stopped outside the house where Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was serving her sentence of house arrest and she tearfully greeted them at the gate. Four days later, the Burmese military cracked down violently on the peaceful demonstrations, killing at least nine unarmed protestors. During the Saffron Revolution, hundreds of thousands of citizens took to the streets to peacefully protest against the repressive military regime. This was the largest social movement in Burma since the 1988 protests, which led to the deaths of 3,000 people in the resulting government crackdown. Why did the people of Burma choose to participate peacefully with the knowledge that the military government would undoubtedly respond with violence? How does a country with no civil rights or political freedoms find peaceful means for conflict resolution?..."
Source/publisher: Syracuse University (New York)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims - Whose Responsibility to Protect?
Description: "Myanmar is on a long and tedious road to democratic transition. As the country prepares for General Elections in 2015, the struggle to maintain hegemony and legitimacy is becoming even more intense for Thein Sein‘s Union Solidarity and Development party, given the public support enjoyed by the newly revived opposition party National League for Democracy led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. This transition and struggle to maintain status quo is coming at a high price for Myanmar, particularly for those belonging to the ethnic minority groups. This paper is particularly concerned with the situation of one such minority group — the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The Rohingya Muslims live in the Rakhine state bordering the Bay of Bengal in the west. Despite an estimated 1-2 million Rohingya Muslims living in the region, they are not recognized as ethnic minority group by the Myanmar government but are believed to be Bangladeshi migrants who have settled in the state illegally. This perspective has given birth to all the discriminatory policies and actions against them since beginning of the last century. In June 2012, sectarian violence broke out between the majority Arakanese Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims, triggered by the rape of a 28-year old Buddhist woman by three Muslim men. The violence in October was on a larger scale and much more lethal. The ensuing violence since June has reportedly claimed hundreds of lives and caused thousands of Rohingyas to flee their homes. As of July 2013, an estimated 140,000 Rohingya Muslims have been displaced from their homes. An unaccounted number of people are dying almost daily in the open sea as they attempt to flee to neighboring countries on rickety boats, and many more are dying due to systematic blockade of aid, food, water or medicine supply in the Rohingya IDP camps. Several factors clearly indicate that the ongoing violence is much more than sectarian clash..."
Source/publisher: European Peace University via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Myanmar’s Top-Down Transition: Challenges for Civil Society
Summary: "The political landscape of Myanmar has changed signifcantly since former dictator Than Shwe paved the way for a series of wide‐ranging reforms in 2011. A nominally civilian government was sworn in...
Description: "The political landscape of Myanmar has changed signifcantly since former dictator Than Shwe paved the way for a series of wide‐ranging reforms in 2011. A nominally civilian government was sworn in and political prisoners were freed. Most visibly, long‐term opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has ascended to power after her long‐banned opposition party – the National League of Democracy (NLD) – won the historic elections of 2015 by a wide margin. The country’s vibrant civil society also benefted from the lifting of restrictive laws on media and public mobilisation. Despite these remarkable transformations, Myanmar’s transition has seemingly slowed down and the space for progressive social and political action has contracted once again. Particularly worrying is the situation in the country’s borderlands, where long‐running sectarian conficts have escalated since 2011. In order to understand the challenges that persisting authoritarianism, state violence, and civil war pose to civil society in Myanmar, this article situates contemporary social and political action within a historical analysis of political transition. It asks about: (a) the nature of political transition in Myanmar, (b) the challenges that the trajectory of political transition poses for civil society actors, and (c) the implications for international development and peace‐building initiatives. This article argues that Myanmar’s political transition should not be understood as a process of democratisation that is driven by pro‐democratic forces and which might eventually lead to liberal democracy. Viewing the country’s transition through the lens of democratisation is not only misleading but deeply problematic. Political reforms were planned and executed by the country’s military: the Tatmadaw. The emergent hybrid civil–military order safeguards authoritarian rule and military dominance. This top‐down nature of political transition poses signifcant challenges for civil society. In combination with fragility and confict, liberalising the public sphere has not only benefted progressive social and political action but has also enabled the growth of uncivil society,3 whose pursuit of exclusionary identity politics fuels sectarian violence..."
Source/publisher: IDS Bulletin
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Paradox Of Rohingya Crisis: A Legacy Of History
Summary: "Rohingyas are the inhabitants of historical Arakan (RakhineState) of Myanmar. Arakan shares nearly 171 mile-longcommon border with Bangladesh. Its toatal area is 14,914 sq mileswhich contains...
Description: "Rohingyas are the inhabitants of historical Arakan (RakhineState) of Myanmar. Arakan shares nearly 171 mile-longcommon border with Bangladesh. Its toatal area is 14,914 sq mileswhich contains approximately 3 million population according to the census of 2014. Out of this, there are around one million Rohingyas in Arakan (Farzana, 2017, p. 2). It is a piece of land along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal from the Naaf river on the border of Chittagong to cape Negaris. Topographically, it is separated from the mainland of Myanmar by Yoma range in one side and widely connected to the Bay of Bengal in the other side. That is why it is known as the ‗Gate Way to the Far East‘ (Yunus, 1994, p. 7). Because of its geographical location, it started to atract the seafarers from the very ancient period. It was one of the maritime activities centre in the South Asia. With this Arakan grew up with economic development and multi cultural environment. However, because of the geographical condition, Arakan remained as an independent entity from the very ancient period. According to archaeological evidences, the earliest human settlement in Myanmar dates back to 11,000 BC (Maw, 1995, pp. 213-220). In case of Arakan, antique relics have been found from Indo-Aryan groups who arrived from the Ganges Valley to Arakan as early as 3000 BC. And these people were basically from the ancient India. Hence, the culture of Arakan was influenced by India instead of mainland of Myanmar at least up to the 10th century because of its easy access to the Gangetic land and the Bay of Bengal instead of mountainous boundary on the other side..."
Source/publisher: Borno Prokash Ltd. via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Reworking the Colonial- Era Indian Peril: Myanmar’s State-Directed Persecution of Rohingyas and Other Muslims1
Description: "Myanmar’s widely hailed transition from military dictatorship to a Chinese model of great commercial opening and calibrated political liberalization— “discipline flourishing democracy,” as the generals call it—has had one unintended consequence for the country’s military-controlled government: ugly things have been exposed.4 Suddenly, the dark secrets of this predominantly Buddhist nation of 51 million people with diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds have been laid bare. Te world now has access to hitherto-closed-of sites of religious and ethnic persecution via international media such as CNN, BBC, wire news agencies, and so on. First, the world witnessed the eruption of two large bouts of violence in 2012 between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhist Rakhine communities in the western coastal region of the country.5 Within a year, there were incidents of organized violence against Muslims in about one dozen towns and neighborhoods across the country.6 Burmese social media sites were littered with various hues of genocidal comments, articles, analyses, and updates, and remain so to date. Many openly call for the slaughter of all Muslims (or Kular, in Burmese), while others are more specifc about the type of Muslims that should be killed: the phrase “kill all illegal Bengalis,” a popular racist reference to Rohingyas, indicates that they belong in former East Bengal (Bangladesh) and not in Buddhist Myanmar.7 Led by Buddhist monks, protests sprang up in the Rakhine state and in other major urban centers such as Mandalay and Yangon; they called on the quasi-civilian, military-backed government of ex-General Tein Sein to crack down on Muslims and expel all Bengalis to any country, Muslim or Western liberal, that would take them. In fact, in President Tein Sein’s meeting with António Guterres—the then visiting head of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)—in Naypyidaw in August 2012, Tein Sein stated that “the only solution” to the troubles in Rakhine was either to send unwanted Rohingyas to countries that may be prepared to accept them as refugees or to contain them in UNHCR-administered camps.8 Burmese media outlets, including those run by former Burmese political exiles, echoed the ofcial and popular view that Rohingyas were illegal Bengali migrants with no organic ties to the country..."
Source/publisher: Maung Zarni and Natalie Brinham
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: The Rohingya conflict: Genesis, current situation and geopolitical aspects
Description: "The word “Rohingya” was used for the first time as "Rooinga" (= inhabitant of Arakan, today's province Rakhine) in 1799 in the "Journal Asiatic Researches" for a longestablished population in Rakhine (Ibrahim 2016, Gill 2015). Later they were called "Muslim Arakanese". Myanmar is one of the most ethnically diversified societies of the world. 135 "ethnic nationalities" with numerous subgroups are officially recognized in the Burma Citizenship Law from 1982, but the ethnic Rohingya were not included (Farzana 2017, 2018). In the first constitution of Myanmar in 1947, all people living at that time in “Frontier Areas” and who intended to stay permanently were considered citizens and accepted as “The People of Burma” (Farzana 2018). However, when General Ne Win came to power in 1962, the Rohingya were deemed as not compatible with other ethnic groups in Burma. Other Muslims, who do not belong to the Rohingya, have Myanmar nationality (Ibrahim 2016). The Muslims in Rakhine have not always identified themselves as an independent group. But a uniform concept with an identifying name had political advantages, since recognition as an ethnic group would increase the chances to gain the right to citizenship. The common experience generated by decades of discrimination contributed further to the identity formation of the Rohingya. The term "Rohingya" as an ethnic group spread only after the major refugee movements with the human rights debate through international organizations (Farzana 2017; Bochmann 2017)...ဓ
Source/publisher: Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: The Southeast Asian " Boat People Crisis " of 2015: Human (In)Security, Precarity, and the Need for an Ethic of Cohabitation
Description: "This paper problematizes the situation of vulnerable migrants, in particular, that ofrefugees and asylum seekers in Southeast Asia as against policy pronouncements towards a people-centered ASEAN. As a case in point, the paper highlights the so-called Boat People Crisis of 2015 and argues that the events that lead to and resulted from it reveal a situation ofhyper-precarity, as well as a crisis of and for human security. Additionally, the paper offersJudith Butler’s notion of an ethic of cohabitation as a means of substantiating claims for a people-centered community. From Visions of a ‘People-Centered’ Community to PrecarityMany trace the emergence of visions for a ‘people-centered’ ASEAN community to the development of human security or otherwise less state-centric approaches to security in the region. As early as the 1960s, Indonesia’s concept of ketahanan nasional or national resilience, Malaysia under Mahathir, and Singapore’s notion of Total Defence, all embrace a concept of security that goes beyond the military dimension to incorporate political, economicand socio-cultural dimensions (Caballero-Anthony, 2004: 160). Nishikawa argues that suchformulations were still essentially state-centric because protecting territory and resourcesfrom internal and external threats continue to be the main concerns for Southeast Asiancountries as a result of its postcolonial experiences. Nonetheless, since the 2004 VientianneAction Programme (VAP), which outlines ASEAN’s program of actions towards the creationof an ASEAN Security Community (ASC), Nishikawa agrees that there has been a move awayfrom a traditional military definition of security towards a more a more people- centeredapproach (Nishikawa, 2009: 217)..."
Source/publisher: Southeast Asia Research Centre via Academia.edu (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: The State of southeast asia: 2020
Description: "For the second year running, the ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute conducted The State of Southeast Asia survey from 12 November to 1 December 2019. A total of 1,308 respondents from the ten ASEAN member states participated in the 2020 edition of the survey, which seeks to understand the perceptions of Southeast Asians on regional affairs and ASEAN’s engagements with its Dialogue Partners, especially the major powers. The survey which was conducted online drew from a specialised pool of respondents from five professional categories: research, business and finance, public sector, civil society, and the media. The purposive sampling method was used, based on two criteria: respondents must be Southeast Asian nationals and have adequate knowledge of regional affairs as inferred from their profession and job scope. The survey findings are not meant to be representative of the extant Southeast Asian view on regional affairs. They do, however, serve to present a general view of the prevailing attitudes among those in a position to inform or influence policy in ten ASEAN member states on regional political and economic issues. The survey has eight sections: (1) background of respondents, (2) regional security outlook, (3) major powers’ regional influence and leadership, (4) geo- economics and regional integration, (5) geopolitics and regional architecture, (6) China and US’ engagements with the region, (7) perceptions of trust, and (8) soft power. The survey contains 58 questions, of which 18 touch on “baseline” issues which were included in last year’s survey. The remaining 40 questions, which are highlighted in the report with an asterisk (*), address new issues for the regional discourse in 2020. The findings for the “baseline” questions for the preceding and current years are presented side-by-side to facilitate comparative analysis. We have also taken the liberty to rearrange the ordering of the questions and organise them under new headings to improve the report’s clarity and cohesion. For the purpose of readability, the figures in this report are rounded up or down to the nearest one decimal point..."
Source/publisher: ASEAN Studies Centre
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-09
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Title: Rohingya justice: Why the ICJ's public rebuke of Myanmar matters
Sub-title: The ICJ's order that Myanmar does all it can to prevent genocide offers the Rohingya hope for the future.
Description: "On January 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague imposed emergency "provisional measures" on Myanmar regarding its actions against and treatment of the Rohingya minority - my people. To the average person this may sound like incomprehensible legalese. But for many Rohingya, who had long been waiting for the international community to take meaningful action to end their suffering, this was some of the best news they had ever received. With this decision, the United Nations' "World Court" effectively instructed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi to respect the requirements of the 1948 genocide convention and bring an end to its military's attacks on the Rohingya. This decision marked the first time that a credible international body said "enough" to the government that for so many decades has abused and oppressed us. My people's plight captured global headlines in August 2017, when the Tatmadaw (the Myanmar military) launched a vicious "clearance operation" in the Rakhine State, which was home to more than a million Rohingya. Over the course of a few weeks, soldiers rampaged through the region, killing thousands, committing mass rapes, burning villages to the ground, and driving more than 700,000 people to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh. As shocking as the violence was, it was only the tip of the iceberg. For decades, the Myanmar authorities have confined the Rohingya to a virtual open-air prison in the Rakhine state. It denied us citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering us stateless. Our freedom of movement even within Myanmar is extremely limited. We are expected to acquire official permission, and often pay bribes, to leave our home villages. Healthcare and education are off-limits to most Rohingya. This is all part of a deliberate effort by Myanmar not only to dehumanise us, but also to make our lives so miserable that we have no option but to leave..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-08
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Title: Rohingya refugees allowed to go to school
Sub-title: Change of heart by Bangladesh government is greeted enthusiastically by refugee advocates
Description: "Rohingya children living in Bangladesh refugee camps will be allowed to receive a formal education after a change of heart by Dhaka, in a move welcomed by rights activists. Nearly one million Rohingya, including more than half a million children, live in the squalid and crowded camps near the southeastern border with Myanmar, whence many had fled in 2017 after a brutal military crackdown. The children were previously barred from studying the curriculua used in Bangladesh and Myanmar, and instead received primary education in temporary learning centers set up by the UN children’s agency UNICEF. “We don’t want a lost generation of Rohingya. We want them to have education. They will follow Myanmar curricula,” Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen told AFP on Tuesday. The decision came after a meeting of a national task force set up by the government. Local media reported that a pilot program involving more than 10,000 students would be launched soon, with UNICEF and Dhaka jointly designing the curriculum. The refugee children will be schooled in Myanmar history and culture up to age 14, and will also receive skills training so they can take up jobs back in Myanmar when they return home, the foreign ministry said..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-08
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Title: Stop ignoring us: Rohingya refugees demand role in running camps
Sub-title: Refugees in Cox’s Bazar complain the international aid community does not utilise their experience and say the lack of education risks creating a ‘lost generation’
Description: "In a tea room just outside Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee camps, a group of young activists fiddle with their phones, which have suddenly started pinging in chorus now they are finally reconnected to the internet. To circumvent a government internet blackout around the camps in Cox’s Bazar, they have to break a ban on travelling to nearby Bangladeshi towns, from where they can communicate and coordinate messages for the international community. With simple smartphones the activists have been able to build some kind of Rohingya voice, speaking to the world through WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. But their efforts have often been frustrated, mostly for a more fundamental reason than the technological barrier in place since August: they believe the aid community sent to help them is not listening. “The Rohingya community are not weak, but the situation makes us weak,” says Mohammad Arfaat, an activist who was part of a Rohingya team that made a short film about how violence had forced them from Myanmar in 2017. He has been calling for more help for Rohingya to launch their own initiatives, for everything from education to arts, but complains there has been no support. “The Rohingya youth are very talented … but nobody sits, nobody talks with them, so their voices have stopped,” says Arfaat..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-08
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Title: Europeans Press For Action on Rohingya After China, Vietnam Shield Myanmar at UNSC
Description: "European member states of the United Nations called for Myanmar on Tuesday to take measures to hold to account those responsible for committing human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims after the Security Council failed to support an order by the international body’s top court to protect members of the minority group. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Jan. 23 ordered Myanmar to implement emergency provisions to protect Rohingya living in the country from genocide and to preserve evidence of atrocities from a 2017 military-led crackdown targeting them. After the Council did not reach an agreement on issuing a declaration urging Myanmar to comply with the ICJ’s order, current Council members France, Estonia, Germany, and Belgium, and former member Poland issued a statement calling on the Southeast Asian nation to take measures to prevent a Rohingya genocide. “Myanmar must address the root causes of its conflicts” and take “credible action to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations,” the joint statement said, according to news wire reports. “Myanmar must also create conditions for and facilitate a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Myanmar,” the statement said, referring to the yet to be realized repatriation of some of the more than 740,000 Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh during the crackdown. The Rohingya who have been officially approved for repatriation have refused to return, citing safety concerns and demands for full citizenship..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-07
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Title: Hasina seeks EU support for Rohingya return to Myanmar
Description: "Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought continued support of the European Union (EU) to ensure safe, dignified, and sustainable return of the displaced Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar, a media report said on Friday. "The Bangladesh Prime Minister thanked the EU members, including Italy, for their support to the cause of the Rohingya," The Daily Star newspaper quoted a joint statement issued on Thursday after talks between Hasina and her Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte in Rome, as saying. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Hasina's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said both sides welcomed the January 23 decision of International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Rohingya crisis. Karim said that Conte appreciated Bangladesh's management of the Rohingya crisis, adding that he encouraged Hasina to continue with the policy of hospitality. In its January ruling, the ICJ directed Myanmar to prevent the alleged genocide against the Muslim minority community. The court said Myanmar must "take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts" described by the convention. Nearly 738,000 Rohingya refugees are living in camps in Bangladesh since Aug. 25, 2017, following a wave of persecution and violence in Myanmar that the UN has described as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing and possible genocide. Myanmar does not use the Rohingya term and also doesn't recognize them as its citizens, arguing that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher: Daijiworld.com
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-07
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Title: Myanmar Again Cuts Rakhine State’s Internet
Sub-title: Restore Telecommunications, Allow Aid to Conflict Areas
Description: "Myanmar authorities have issued a surprise order reinstating the shutdown of mobile internet traffic in five townships in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine and Chin States. Added to four other Rakhine State townships where mobile internet service has been blocked since June 2019, this leaves nine townships unable to get online, causing an information blackout that affects approximately one million people. The Ministry of Transport and Communications’ directive to internet and telecommunications providers cited security requirements and public interest as the reasons for re-imposing the shutdown, which had been lifted in the five townships in September. The Norwegian Telenor Group issued a statement to inform the public of the directive, and said it was seeking further clarification from the ministry. This communications shutdown places civilians at risk as the fighting between the ethnic-Rakhine Arakan Army and Myanmar’s military intensifies. About 106,000 civilians have been displaced by the conflict. Blocking local communities’ ability to communicate makes it harder for civilians to obtain help when needed, and significantly more difficult for humanitarian agencies to assist vulnerable populations. The Rakhine State government has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis by imposing restrictions on aid access in eight townships..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-07
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Title: Some Rohingya Return to Myanmar But Find Little There Left For Them
Description: "The more than 600 Rohingya refugees who have returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh of their own volition say they have not yet been able to go back to their original villages and are facing hardship in violence-ridden northern Rakhine state nearly three years after their expulsion by army troops. Thousands of members of the Muslim minority group were killed during a brutal military-led crackdown on their communities in 2017, while more than 740,000 others escaped across the border, where they now live in sprawling displacement camps in southeastern Bangladesh. Despite an agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingya refugees who receive approval to return, none of the displaced Rohingya has shown up at border crossings to go back to northern Rakhine state through the official program, citing fears of ongoing discriminatory policies and more violence. A refugee named Chowbi told RFA's Myanmar Service that he returned to northern Rakhine on his own in September 2019 via the Taungbyo border crossing. The 35-year-old fled Oodaung village during the August 2017 violence, which included indiscriminate killings, mass rapes, and community torchings, and lived for two and a half years in the Thankhali refugee camp in Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-07
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Title: Commentary: International law has its limits in protecting the Rohingya in Myanmar
Sub-title: The reach of the International Court of Justice is limited in ameliorating violent conflicts within or between states, says Hurst Hannum.
Description: "Myanmar has been ordered by the International Court of Justice to take “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority country that has suffered “mass killing, mass displacement, mass fear [and] overwhelming … brutality” at the hands of the military. Over 700,000 Rohingya fled or were forced out of the country since 2016, most to neighbouring Bangladesh. The order comes after the African state of Gambia in November 2019 filed a complaint of genocide of the Rohingya against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide requires a specific intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. READ: Myanmar already protecting Rohingya, ruling party says after world court's order The United Nations (UN) General Assembly and numerous human rights organisations have for years condemned Myanmar’s attacks on the Rohingya..."
Source/publisher: "CNA" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
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Title: EU states urge justice in Myanmar at UN Security Council
Description: "The UN Security Council's EU member states called Tuesday for Myanmar to bring to justice those who have carried out human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims. France, Estonia, Germany and Belgium urged Myanmar to comply with measures meant to prevent genocide set forth by the International Court of Justice, in a joint statement issued following a closed-door Security Council meeting. The text was also signed by former Security Council member and EU state Poland. But it marked the first time the EU members have issued a joint Security Council statement without Britain, which exited the union on Friday. Britain was among the countries that requested the meeting on Myanmar, alongside France, Germany, Belgium and the United States. China, an indispensable ally for Myanmar, opposed issuing a joint declaration by the entire council, according to a diplomatic source. "Myanmar must address the root causes of its conflicts," the joint statement said, urging the southeast Asian nation to take "credible action to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations." "Myanmar must also create conditions for and facilitate a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Myanmar," they said..."
Source/publisher: "The News International" (Pakistan)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
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Title: ICC to now investigate Myanmar for crimes against Rohingyas
Sub-title: The International Criminal Court has officially launched an investigation into Myanmar.
Description: "Phakiso Mochochoko, director of the Department of Jurisdiction, Cooperation and Complementarity, made the announcement at a press conference at Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka this afternoon. “Justice will be delivered,” Mochochoko said following the announcement. Investigations from the Office of the Prosecutor will now carefully and thoroughly seek to uncover the truth about what happened to the Rohingya people in Myanmar which brought them here to Bangladesh, the press release added. The ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression..."
Source/publisher: "The Daily Star" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
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Title: Myanmar reimposes Internet shutdown in conflict-torn Rakhine, Chin states
Description: "Myanmar has reimposed an Internet shutdown in two conflict-torn western states, after partially lifting the blackout five months ago, a leading telecoms operator said late on Monday. Norwegian mobile operator Telenor Group said in a statement the transport and communications ministry had ordered for mobile Internet traffic to be stopped again in five townships in Rakhine and Chin states for three months. A months-long Internet blackout in four Rakhine townships - Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, and Myebon - and one in Chin state had been lifted in September amid peace talks seeking to end clashes between government troops and ethnic insurgents. Officials cited "security requirements and public interest" for the reinstatement, Telenor said, adding that four other townships remain under a blackout first imposed in June last year. Tun Tun Nyi, a Myanmar military spokesman, said the army was unaware of the shutdown. "We don't know and we haven't heard about it," he told Reuters by phone on Tuesday..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK) via "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
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Title: UN fails to take action on order against Myanmar on Rohingya
Sub-title: Myanmar's allies China and Vietnam block vote on a joint statement forcing EU member states to make separate report.
Description: "The UN Security Council on Tuesday discussed the International Court of Justice's order that Myanmar do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya Muslims, but failed to agree on a statement. China, an ally of Myanmar, as well as Vietnam, which is a member of the regional Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) along with Myanmar, objected, diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because it was a closed-door meeting. More: 'As expected': People in Myanmar shrug off ICJ Rohingya ruling After ICJ ruling, Myanmar denies genocide against Rohingya Myanmar: Defending genocide at the CJ Instead, the European Union members of the council urged Myanmar in a joint statement to reporters afterwards to comply with the measures ordered by the UN's top court, stressing that they were "compulsory under international law." France, Germany, Belgium and Estonia along with former council member Poland also urged Myanmar "to take credible action to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations."..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-05
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Title: Bangladesh allows education for Rohingya refugee children
Summary: " Rohingya children living in Bangladesh refugee camps will be allowed to receive a formal education after a change of heart by Dhaka in a move welcomed by right activists. Nearly one million...
Description: " Rohingya children living in Bangladesh refugee camps will be allowed to receive a formal education after a change of heart by Dhaka in a move welcomed by right activists. Nearly one million Rohingya, including more than half a million children, live in the squalid and crowded camps near the southeastern border with Myanmar, where many had fled from in 2017 after a brutal military crackdown. The children were previously barred from studying the curriculums used in Bangladesh and Myanmar, and instead received primary education in temporary learning centres set up by the UN children's agency UNICEF. "We don't want a lost generation of Rohingya. We want them to have education. They will follow Myanmar curricula," Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen told AFP on Tuesday. Support more independent journalism like this. Sign up to be a Frontier member. The decision came after a meeting of a national taskforce set up by the government. Local media reported that a pilot programme involving more than 10,000 students would be launched soon, with UNICEF and Dhaka jointly designing the curriculum. The refugee children will be schooled in Myanmar history and culture up to age 14, and will also receive skills training so they can take up jobs back in Myanmar when they return home, the foreign ministry said. "I can't express my joy with words ... generations of Rohingya hardly had any education in their homeland in Myanmar as they were discriminated there and were robbed of their citizenship," Rohingya youth leader and human rights activist Rafique bin Habib said..."
Source/publisher: Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-04
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Title: Behind Myanmar’s Military Alibi: A Path for Compliance with the ICJ’s Order to Protect Rohingya
Description: "In the wake of the ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Myanmar to prevent genocide against the Rohingya going forward, the initial excitement was tempered by pragmatics—how this important court order can be enforced so that it actually protects the 600,000 Rohingya who remain in Rakhine State. To be sure, there is no confusion that these measures are binding—as the court noted, they create international legal obligations that require Myanmar’s compliance. But how can the international community guarantee that Myanmar actually does anything? And does Myanmar’s civilian government have the capacity to do what is needed? The answers to these questions are mixed, generally relying on exertion of geopolitical pressure, including through the United Nations Security Council, to which the order has been transmitted. As a general rule and absent a concrete enforcement mechanism, ICJ orders have a reliable compliance rate. However, looking at the Myanmar case in context, and in particular the measures requiring prevention of the commission of genocide by Myanmar’s military, compliance will require a serious and concerted effort by both the international community and the civilian government..."
Source/publisher: "Just Security"
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-04
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Title: Two Rohingya women killed in Myanmar shelling
Description: "Two women, one pregnant, were killed and seven other people were wounded when shells hit a Rohingya village in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The army rejected accusations from a local lawmaker, a villager and the Arakan Army (AA), a rebel group, that the Myanmar military was responsible for the shelling at Kin Taung, two days after the United Nations' highest court ordered Myanmar to protect the Rohingya. Maung Kyaw Zan, a member of the national parliament for Buthidaung township in northern Rakhine state, said shells fired from a nearby battalion hit Kin Taung village in the middle of the night. "There was no fighting, they just shot artillery to a village without a battle," he told Reuters by phone, adding it was the second time this year that civilians had been killed. Soe Tun Oo, a Rohingya villager living a mile from the village, told Reuters by phone that two houses were destroyed. A military statement confirmed the deaths, but blamed the AA, a Rakhine ethnic rebel group which has been fighting for greater autonomy in the state for more than a year. Two military spokesmen did not answer calls seeking comment. "AA terrorists committed firing at Bengali villages with the use of heavy weapons and planting mines," the statement said. The Arakan Army said in a statement on its website that there was "ample evidence" that the army committed the killings without giving specific details. It accused Myanmar's forces of "deliberate, false and misleading lies" aimed at discrediting the group. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the details of the incident. At a press conference on Feb 3, the army objected to the story about the deaths that Reuters had published on Jan 25, saying the account was biased. It referred specifically to the headline on the story, which blamed the army for the deaths, citing the member of parliament. It said it had filed a complaint to the Myanmar Press Council (MPC), which adjudicates disputes between authorities and news media..."
Source/publisher: "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-04
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Title: U.N. Court Orders Myanmar to Protect Rohingya Muslims
Description: "Rejecting arguments made by Myanmar’s civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled on Thursday that Myanmar must take action to protect Rohingya Muslims, who have been killed and driven from their homes in what the country’s accusers call a campaign of genocide. The court said Myanmar must “take all measures within its power” to prevent its military or others from carrying out genocidal acts against the Rohingya, who it said faced “real and imminent risk.” It also essentially put Myanmar under court oversight, telling it to submit regular reports to the tribunal explaining what steps it had taken. The decision is the first international court ruling against Myanmar over its military’s brutal treatment of the Rohingya. While the court has no enforcement power, any member of the United Nations can request action from the Security Council based on its rulings. “The chances of Aung San Suu Kyi implementing this ruling will be zero unless significant international pressure is applied,” said Anna Roberts, executive director of the rights group Burma Campaign UK..."
Source/publisher: "The New York Times" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-04
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Title: Education the answer to Rohingya kids’ plight
Description: "Children have a right to learn and a right to an education that will support their development, growth and ability to build their future. This right to an education does not end in times of emergency. In fact, it is even more essential that children who have escaped conflict and witnessed atrocities should have access to the safe haven of schools and learning opportunities. Such children need a space to be with peers, play and learn, a space where their parents know they are safe. The impact of this space, and the stability and routine it offers, where children can grow, learn and simply be children cannot be overstated. Many Rohingya children had their lives interrupted, the ground beneath their feet ripped from under them, as they fled horrific violence in their home country more than two years ago. Education can counter this chaos, providing at least some stable ground where these children can plant their feet – ground on which they can begin to recover and rebuild. This is why a recent announcement by the Bangladeshi government is immeasurably important. This week it announced that it will provide Rohingya refugee children with access to expanded education opportunities including skills training, based on the Myanmar curriculum. Not only is this an essential first step toward giving Rohingya children back some of the stability they have lost since being forced to flee to Bangladesh, it also prepares them to reintegrate back into Myanmar society when they are able to return in a safe, voluntary and dignified manner..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-03
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Title: ICJ ruling shows Rohingya crisis rights and wrongs
Sub-title: Landmark initial ruling against Myanmar also raises doubts about UN impartiality and credibility
Description: "Given the persistent global publicity and intense lobbying on behalf of persecuted Rohingya refugees, a provisional decision handed down on January 23 against Myanmar by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague came as no surprise. The ICJ, the United Nations’ principal judicial organ, ordered Myanmar to take measures to stop killing and harming Rohingyas and to implement “all measures within its power to prevent genocide.” The ruling, likened in reports to a “restraining order”, said Myanmar’s government must further ensure that its military does not “attempt to commit genocide or conspire to commit genocide.” At the same time, ICJ judges underlined in dry legalese that the initial ruling would in no way prejudice the court’s dealing with the “merits of the case”, meaning it has not yet decided whether or not genocide was committed. The court did go further than requested by Gambia, the country which has brought the case to the ICJ on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), by ordering Myanmar to report on measures taken to comply with the ruling in four months and thereafter every six months. The initial ruling will add more international pressure on Myanmar to hold those responsible for alleged crimes against humanity to account, but will also likely cause the nation’s leaders to more deeply entrench their position of denial..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-03
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Title: International law in spotlight following Myanmar genocide verdict
Description: "The Rohingya, who have been described by the UN as the most persecuted minority in the world, experienced a glimmer of hope last week, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a remarkable ruling that those members of the community remaining in Myanmar currently face a credible threat of genocide. This was the first time that a genocide case has been brought before the ICJ by a signatory county — in this case, The Gambia. The case before the ICJ took an unexpected turn in November, when Aung San Suu Kyi, the long-time pro-democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and currently the most powerful person in the civilian government in Myanmar, announced that she would defend Myanmar against the charges of genocide in person before the court in The Hague. For a while, Suu Kyi’s former friends and allies in the international community sought to make sense of what was happening to the Rohingya by casting her as a prisoner of fate to the military establishment, which still controls most of the reins of power in the country. But as Suu Kyi became an increasingly prominent apologist for the army, and even adopted the language of those clamoring for the genocide by denying the very identity of the Rohingya and casting them as foreign “Bengalis,” we have increasingly run out of doubt to give her the benefit of. All possible doubt was finally dispelled when she appeared before the ICJ, casually admitting that war crimes had taken place, but that what had happened could not be genocide because there was no genocidal intent. She made this case while still refusing to utter the word “Rohingya” and insisting that she was talking about “Bengalis” — an “other” she should not be expected to be responsible for..."
Source/publisher: Arab News (Saudi Arabia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-03
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Title: Myanmar Update: Court Order tries to Protect Rohingya Muslims from Genocide
Sub-title: The Myanmar military’s years-long campaign against the Rohingya Muslims left hundreds of villages a smoldering pile of debris.
Description: "Myanmar has been ordered by the International Court of Justice to take “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority country that has suffered “mass killing, mass displacement, mass fear [and] overwhelming…brutality” at the hands of the military. Over 700,000 Rohingya fled or were forced out of the country since 2016, most to neighboring Bangladesh. The order comes after the African state of The Gambia in November 2019 filed a complaint of genocide of the Rohingya against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide requires a specific intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. The U.N. General Assembly and numerous human rights organizations have for years condemned Myanmar’s attacks on the Rohingya. The country – which was slowly emerging from the global economic and political isolation that followed its 1989 military coup by making some very modest concessions to democracy – has also been subjected to new sanctions..."
Source/publisher: The National Interest Online (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-03
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Title: The persecuted Rohingya now have legal protection, but will it amount to anything?
Sub-title: The ICJ ruling on Myanmar is a rare bright point in a woeful international response. Unfortunately its powers are limited
Description: "On Thursday the internet in Kutupalong, a city-sized refugee camp in south-eastern Bangladesh, was switched back on for a few hours. The camp’s residents gathered around their phones as, 5,000 miles away in The Hague, the international court of justice (ICJ) delivered a ruling on Myanmar’s treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority. They cheered as the court issued a set of legally binding obligations: that Myanmar’s military does not commit acts of genocide against some 600,000 Rohingya who still live in the country, and that evidence of past crimes remains intact. This was the first legal victory for Rohingya since 2017, when upwards of 700,000 were driven into Bangladesh in a campaign by Myanmar’s military that produced the most concentrated outflow of refugees anywhere since the Rwanda genocide in 1994. Responding to attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in late August 2017, military units acted with such ferocity that, within two months, the country had been emptied of nearly half its entire Rohingya population. Those who made it to Bangladesh recounted how troops encircled villages at night and opened fire, cutting down those who fled. Satellite imagery revealed more than 380 destroyed villages, and in the year that followed, new security bases were built where Rohingya homes once stood. Yet until now, there had been little substantive international action..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-03
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Title: Bangladesh: Rohingya children get access to education
Description: "The Bangladesh government has announced it will offer schooling and skills training opportunities to Rohingya refugee children, two and a half years after they were forced to flee crimes against humanity in Myanmar. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have been campaigning for the nearly half a million Rohingya children in Bangladesh’s refugee camps to be allowed to enjoy their right to quality education, warning of the costs of a ‘lost generation’. “This is an important and very positive commitment by the Bangladeshi government, allowing children to access schooling and chase their dreams for the future. They have lost two academic years already and cannot afford to lose any more time outside a classroom,” said Saad Hammadi, South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International. “It is important that access to appropriate, accredited and quality education be extended to all children in the Cox’s Bazar area, including Rohingya refugees and the host community. The international community has a key role to play here in ensuring the Bangladesh government has the resources it needs to realize this goal.” Up to now, the Bangladesh government had resisted calls to grant Rohingya refugee children access to education, limiting learning opportunities to a few provisional learning centres that offer playtime and early primary school lessons scattered across the refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar district. A few children who managed to gain access to local secondary schools were expelled on the government’s instructions..."
Source/publisher: "Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-02
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Title: Myanmar Rohingya: World court orders prevention of genocide
Sub-title: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Description: "The decision comes despite de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi defending her country against the accusations in person last month. Thousands of Rohingya died and more than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh during an army crackdown in 2017. UN investigators have warned that genocidal actions could recur. The ICJ case, lodged by the African Muslim-majority nation of The Gambia, called for emergency measures to be taken against the Myanmar military until a fuller investigation could be launched. The man who took Aung San Suu Kyi to the world court Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know The Lady who fell from grace Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist state, has always insisted that its military campaign was waged to tackle an extremist threat in Rakhine state. In her defence statement at the court in The Hague, Ms Suu Kyi described the violence as an "internal armed conflict" triggered by Rohingya militant attacks on government security posts..."
Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
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Title: Myanmar’s get out of jail free card
Sub-title: So-called Independent Commission of Enquiry whitewashes military abuses in bid to elude genocide charges
Description: "Myanmar’s government made a stunningly rare admission of wrongdoing recently when it admitted that “war crimes” had been perpetrated against Muslims in Rakhine state during the violence of 2017. Unsurprisingly, it concluded the savagery did not constitute genocide as United Nations (UN) and other human rights investigators have suggested. The government made the admission following the finalization of the Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) report, the executive summary of which was made public just days before the United Nations’ International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced temporary provisions on Myanmar in its ongoing proceedings on genocide charges. The ICOE’s conclusions evinced two broad international receptions: one of measured acknowledgement that it admitted to serious crimes previously flatly denied by the administration of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi – and thus provides a foundation for further discussion on accountability – and another of blithe indifference. While the report should be dismissed as another exercise in cynical codswallop from an unrepentant military and civilian government, the ICOE experience nonetheless signals something more. That is, the report bids to peddle a sense of official partial closure on what happened in Rakhine state and that government business may now return to normal..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
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Title: Preventing genocide in Myanmar: Court order tries to protect Rohingya Muslims where politics has failed
Description: "Myanmar has been ordered by the International Court of Justice to take “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority in the Buddhist-majority country that has suffered “mass killing, mass displacement, mass fear [and] overwhelming…brutality” at the hands of the military. Over 700,000 Rohingya fled or were forced out of the country since 2016, most to neighboring Bangladesh. The order comes after the African state of The Gambia in November 2019 filed a complaint of genocide of the Rohingya against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide requires a specific intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. The U.N. General Assembly and numerous human rights organizations have for years condemned Myanmar’s attacks on the Rohingya. The country – which was slowly emerging from the global economic and political isolation that followed its 1989 military coup by making some very modest concessions to democracy – has also been subjected to new sanctions. But this is the first judicial intervention in the crisis. Can international law protect the Rohingya when diplomacy, politics and sanctions have failed?..."
Source/publisher: "The Conversation"
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
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Title: Swiss Cooperation Programme Myanmar 2019 – 2023
Description: "At the juncture of East, South and Southeast Asia, Myanmar is home to a culturally and ecologically diverse country with rich traditions. In a largely rural but rapidly changing economy, around 54m people of different ethnic and religious groups strive to overcome a legacy of armed conflict, military rule and self-imposed isolation. In spite of substantial progress during the past decade, about 14% of the population is undernourished, 29% of children are stunted and the maternal mortality rate is 282 deaths per 100,000 births, the second-highest in the region. The Government of Myanmar is managing a challenging transition towards democracy, a peaceful and pluralistic society as well as an open and inclusive economy. Through the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) 2018-2030, the country is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2017, attacks on 30 police posts in Northern Rakhine by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) provoked a violent response by the security forces Executive summary that reportedly resulted in the death of 10,000 people and caused more than 700,000 to flee to Bangladesh. Denouncing the lack of accountability, several Western countries imposed targeted sanctions, private investments slowed, and the country came under increasing international criticism. Under the integrated Swiss Cooperation Strategy Myanmar 2013-2017, extended through 2018, Switzerland supported initiatives in vocational skills development, agriculture and food security, health, social services and local governance as well as peace promotion, democratisation and protection, with a total expenditure of CHF 179m over 6 years..."
Source/publisher: "Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation" (Bern)
Date of entry/update: 2020-02-01
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Title: 'As expected': People in Myanmar shrug off ICJ Rohingya ruling
Sub-title: Despite indifference to legal cases some ethnic minority groups are backing the Rohingya to push back against military.
Description: " While thousands rallied in Yangon in December to support Myanmar's government as it contested allegations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, the public response to the first of the court's rulings has been decidedly more muted. The ICJ imposed a series of provisional measures on Myanmar last week, ordering it to take certain action to prevent future acts of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority. The judges also rejected Myanmar's motions to dismiss the case, which means the trial will now proceed to hear arguments on the alleged genocide itself. The decision brought criticism from officials. Than Htay, the chairman of the military-aligned opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party claimed “all 52 million people” in Myanmar would disagree with it, according to The Standard Time Daily, a local newspaper. But on the streets of the country's biggest city, the ruling barely registered. Two students who spoke to Al Jazeera separately both said neither they nor their friends particularly cared about the ICJ. “Yes I know about it, but I don’t really follow it,” said one. Another woman, from Rakhine but living in Yangon, said the result was “as expected”. When asked if she agreed with the ruling, she said: “Yes. It should be.” The ICJ case against Myanmar was brought by the Gambia accusing the country of committing genocide in its actions against the Rohingya and a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine in 2017 that sent 740,000 people fleeing across the border to Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-31
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Title: 'Great news': Bangladesh allows education for Rohingya children
Sub-title: Under new programme, 10,000 Rohingya boys and girls to be enrolled in grades 6 to 9, a move hailed by rights groups.
Description: "Rights groups and activists have welcomed Bangladesh's decision to allow Rohingya children living in sprawling refugee camps to receive a formal education, calling it a "positive step". To date, only one-third of Rohingya child refugees - who fled a brutal 2017 crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar - are able to access a primary education through temporary learning centres run by international agencies. More: Rohingya facing 'lost generation' of children out of school A boy who can sing: The life of a Rohingya child refugee Akter, 20, expelled from university for being Rohingya Starting in April, a pilot programme led by the UNICEF and Bangladesh government will initially enrol 10,000 Rohingya boys and girls up to the age of 14 in the sixth to ninth grades, where they will be taught the Myanmar school curriculum and receive skills training, officials said on Wednesday. "It is a great news for us," Nay San Lwin, co-founder of Free Rohingya Coalition, told Al Jazeera. "As of now, at least the children can study up to grade 9 and youth can join skill trainings," he said. Primary education is provided to more than 145,000 children by a network of 1,600 UNICEF-run small learning centres in the refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh, where more than one million Rohingya, nearly half of whom are children, have been living since they fled persecution in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-31
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Title: Rights Group Finds Myanmar Makes No Headway Curbing Abuses by Military
Description: "Myanmar’s military continued to carry out serious human rights violations in 2019, while the government made no progress addressing the pervasive impunity of soldiers who committed abuses, London-based Amnesty International said Thursday in a new report on repression in Asia. The military’s violations included war crimes in Kachin, Rakhine, and Shan states where government forces have been engaged in armed conflict with ethnic armed groups, the rights organization said. Civilians, state lawmakers, and local officials have reported soldiers detaining and sometimes torturing villagers suspected of aiding the enemy or of being rebel fighters themselves in the conflict zones, especially in northern Rakhine state. “The military committed serious violations against civilians, including unlawful attacks, arbitrary arrests, torture and other illtreatment, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and forced labor” in Rakhine state, where government forces have fought the rebel Arakan Army (AA) in heightened hostilities over the past year, the report said. “Many of them constituted war crimes,” it said..."
Source/publisher: "RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-31
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Title: View From The Neighbourhood: ICJ on Rohingyas
Sub-title: A weekly look at the public conversations shaping ideas beyond borders — in the Subcontinent. Curated by Asad Ali
Description: "The editorial again pointedly ends by saying that since “What Bangladesh has been saying has found a voice at the World Court, we once again appeal to the entire world to step up its effort to assist Bangladesh in protecting the Rohingyas, and to hold Myanmar accountable for its many crimes that must not be ignored any longer.” The grim situation of the Rohingyas in Myanmar and the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), The Hague — ordering Myanmar to urgently take “provisional” measures to protect the Rohingya from violence — is highlighted in an editorial in Daily Star. It recounts the ICJ verdict to justify “what Bangladesh has been saying at the top of its voice”. The editorial, right at the outset, says, “We hope the whole world is listening at last.” It then goes about putting into perspective the Rohingya crisis and Myanmar’s inability to deal with it in a humane manner: “Declaring there is prima facie evidence of breaches of the 1948 genocide convention, the court found that the Rohingyas remaining in Myanmar were “extremely vulnerable” to violence at the hands of Myanmar’s military. And, therefore, the panel of 17 judges, in its unanimous ruling, asked Myanmar to report back to it within four months on the actions it has taken to prevent any serious harm being done to the Rohingyas and every six months thenceforth.” The editorial goes on to say that, “We owe a debt of gratitude to Gambia for bringing this matter to the attention of the ICJ. Despite the fact that the ruling dealt only with the Gambia’s request for so-called preliminary measures, the equivalent of a restraining order for states —not the court’s final decision — it nevertheless could pave the way for Myanmar to finally be held accountable for its atrocities against the Rohingyas.”..."
Source/publisher: "The Indian Express" (India)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-31
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Title: The changing face of Myanmar’s raging Rakhine war
Sub-title: Nation’s most volatile and fast shifting armed conflict complicates China’s Belt and Road ambitions
Description: "Historically ethnic conflict in modern Myanmar has been a glacially slow-moving disaster, debilitating the nation’s politics while shifting only incrementally from one decade to the next. In 2019, the eruption, spread and intensification of nationalist revolt in Rakhine state abruptly upended that familiar landscape with sobering implications for an already fragmented and floundering peace process and domestic security more broadly. The new war in Rakhine state, pitting the military against the local Arakan Army (AA), a widely popular force led by a young and ideologically committed leadership, is also increasingly impacting Myanmar’s regional standing at a range of levels. China’s push for economic connectivity to the Bay of Bengal, stage-center during President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to Myanmar, will now need to navigate the hostilities already lapping close to the projected deep-sea port and special economic zone at Kyaukphyu, a crucial component of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Poor prospects for any repatriation of the Muslim Rohingya refugee population camped in neighboring Bangladesh, estimated as high as one million, are now further receding, while additional migrant flows out of the state towards Southeast Asia are slowly gathering pace..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-30
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Title: ICJ, finally, acts on the Rohingyas of Myanmar | Opinion
Description: "The inability of international law to effectively address situations of mass human rights atrocities, in particular genocide, within States has been the source of much consternation for international lawyers. The term genocide, deriving from the Greek prefix genos meaning race or tribe and the Latin suffix cide meaning killing, was coined by Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It was soon codified as an independent crime under the 1948 United Nations Convention, acceded to by around 152 states. However, in over 70 years of operation of the Convention, the record of establishing State responsibility for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide has been unsatisfactory, illustrated by well-documented failures in Cambodia, Rwanda and Yugoslavia. However, in a significant ruling on the Rohingya issue, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) took tentative steps towards remedying In its preliminary judgment, the ICJ unanimously granted provisional measures, at the request of Gambia, directing Myanmar to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of all acts, including by any persons subject to its direction, control or influence, which constitute genocide under the convention in relation to the Rohingya people in its territory; and take all measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence related to the allegation of genocide. More strikingly, the ICJ sought to oversee the implementation of its provisional measures, directing Myanmar to submit a report to the court on all measures taken to give effect to the order, within four months from the date of the order, and thereafter every six months until the final decision.its otherwise unenviable record of adjudicating allegations of genocide..."
Source/publisher: "Hindustan Times " (India)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-30
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Title: This tiny African country got the U.N.’s top court to investigate Myanmar for genocide
Sub-title: Why would Gambia step up for the Muslim minority Rohingya thousands of miles away?
Description: "On Thursday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a unanimous ruling that ordered Myanmar to “take all measures within its power” to protect its ethnic minority Rohingya population from genocide. The case — against which Myanmar’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, argued unsuccessfully — ended up in front of the ICJ because of a tiny African country thousands of miles away. Here’s what you need to know about this story. How the case got started The case before the ICJ started a few weeks ago, when Gambia accused Myanmar of violating the United Nations’ 1948 Convention on Genocide. Suu Kyi flew to The Hague to defend her country, arguing that her government’s actions were legitimate counterinsurgency efforts against rebels in Rakhine state. Gambia requested immediate measures to prevent further harm to the Rohingya. Last week’s ruling was the ICJ’s response. The ICJ has not yet ruled whether genocide has been committed. The court demanded that Myanmar report back within four months on what steps it has taken and preserve any evidence relevant to the genocide case..."
Source/publisher: "The Washington Post" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-30
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Title: Myanmar Rohingya: Government rejects ICJ ruling
Sub-title: Myanmar has responded defiantly to a ruling by the UN's top court ordering measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya Muslims.
Description: "The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it presented a "distorted picture of the situation". Thousands of Rohingya died and more than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh during an army crackdown in 2017. The measures imposed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are binding and not subject to appeal. However the ICJ has no way of enforcing them. The case was lodged by the African Muslim majority nation of The Gambia. The ruling warned that genocidal actions could recur. The man who took Aung San Suu Kyi to the world court Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know The Lady who fell from grace Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its own commission, the Independent Commission of Enquiry, found that there had been no genocide in Rakhine state. However it did say that war crimes had occurred, and were being investigated and prosecuted by Myanmar's national criminal justice system. It also blamed condemnation by "human rights actors" for affecting Myanmar's bilateral relations with some countries. "This has hampered Myanmar's ability to lay the foundation for sustainable development in Rakhine," it added in a statement..."
Source/publisher: "BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-29
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Title: Myanmar warns sanctions over Rohingya genocide will push it closer to China and dismisses ‘debt trap’ concerns
Sub-title: International Court of Justice ordered emergency steps to protect Rohingya, threatening Myanmar’s European trade privileges...China accounts for a quarter of all foreign direct investment into Myanmar, second only to Singapore, government data shows.
Description: "Myanmar signalled that closer ties with China offer an economic buffer if human-rights concerns cause Western nations to curb trade privileges or investment. The persecution of the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority has sparked global condemnation, and led to an International Court of Justice order last week for emergency steps to protect Rohingya from genocide. The controversy imperils Myanmar’s European trade privileges and is spurring calls for sanctions. “The more sanctions Western countries impose on us, the more likely that is to boost our ties with our Asian alliances,” Commerce Minister Than Myint said in an interview in the capital, Naypyidaw. “We’ve opened the door to everyone.” During President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar earlier in January – the first state visit by a Chinese leader in almost two decades – the two countries agreed to expedite several projects as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Yet a tightening embrace of China risks leaving Myanmar overreliant on its giant neighbour, a concern that has long vexed some officials. “When it comes to mega projects, we always want to see more options,” Than Myint said in the January 21 interview. “So we usually encourage Western companies not to be worried about doing business here. If they decide not to come, then we will have no choice but to cooperate with Asian partners.” In records going back to 1988, China accounts for a quarter of all foreign direct investment into Myanmar, second only to Singapore, government data shows..."
Source/publisher: "Bloomberg News" (New York) via "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-29
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Title: Real justice for Myanmar's Rohingya will require more than an ICJ ruling
Description: "Rohingya Muslims, described by the UN as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, have finally seen a beacon of light in the fight for justice driven forward by Gambia. The historic decision by the UN's International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Myanmar is now legally bound to protect Rohingya Muslims from genocide, and stipulated four provisional measures they must take in doing so. This unprecedented ruling means that Myanmar's government must prevent any Rohingya Muslim in the country from being killed and reserve any evidence of a genocide that has already happened. In spite of this ground-breaking turning point in the path to justice, concerns still exist in the steps to seeking accountability to bring the perpetrators of the crimes against Rohingya to account. The Myanmar military crackdown in 2017 saw thousands of Rohingya Muslims killed, and 700,000 flee to neighbouring Bangladesh. Rohingya communities continue to be subjected to indiscriminate killing and gang rape. Pregnant women, babies, children and the elderly have not been spared. With so many accounts and evidence of human rights violations, it is shocking that Myanmar continues to evade accountability..."
Source/publisher: "The New Arab" (London)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-29
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Title: Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (The Gambia v. Myanmar)
Description: "Present: President YUSUF; Vice-President XUE; Judges TOMKA, ABRAHAM, BENNOUNA, CANÇADO TRINDADE, DONOGHUE, GAJA, SEBUTINDE, BHANDARI, ROBINSON, CRAWFORD, GEVORGIAN, SALAM, IWASAWA; Judges ad hoc PILLAY, KRESS; Registrar GAUTIER. The International Court of Justice, Composed as above, After deliberation, Having regard to Articles 41 and 48 of the Statute of the Court and Articles 73, 74 and 75 of the Rules of Court, Makes the following Order: 1. On 11 November 2019, the Republic of The Gambia (hereinafter “The Gambia”) filed in the Registry of the Court an Application instituting proceedings against the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (hereinafter “Myanmar”) concerning alleged violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (hereinafter the “Genocide Convention” or the “Convention”)..."
Source/publisher: International Court of Justice (ICJ) (The Hague)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
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Title: China, Russia under pressure from Myanmar Rohingya genocide ruling, Bob Rae says
Description: "China and Russia face pressure to prevent genocide in Myanmar after Thursday’s decision by an international court called on the South Asian country to stop the killing, says Canada’s special envoy to the crisis. The unanimous decision by the International Court of Justice is a strong signal to Russia and China, which have blocked the United Nations Security Council from referring the violence to the International Criminal Court, said Bob Rae, who the Liberal government tapped to take part in diplomatic efforts to address the deadly crisis. Rae and Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne both urged Myanmar to fully comply with the ruling from The Hague-based court, which demanded it protect its minority Muslim Rohingya population from genocide. Champagne said Canada will work with its allies to keep the pressure on Myanmar. The 17 judges on the panel called on Myanmar to do everything in its power to stop what it said was a genocide against the Rohingya. The court flatly rejected Myanmar’s plea — put forth by the country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi — that the case be thrown out. Suu Kyi, a one-time icon of peace who has since been stripped of her honorary Canadian citizenship, denied there was a genocide..."
Source/publisher: "Toronto Star" ( Toronto)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
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Title: ICJ orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya
Sub-title: Top UN court finds 'irreparable damage' caused to Rohingya; orders Myanmar to take steps to prevent genocide.
Description: "The Hague-based International Court of Justice has ordered Myanmar to take emergency measures to prevent genocide of the Rohingya. In a unanimously-ruled order issued by a panel of 17 judges, and read by presiding Judge Abdulaqawi Ahmed Yusuf, the court upheld the provisions of the 1948 Genocide Convention - saying Myanmar had "caused irreparable damage to the rights of the Rohingya". More: Myanmar finds war crimes but no genocide in Rohingya crackdown Myanmar to release its Rohingya crackdown investigation results ICJ to rule on emergency measures in Myanmar genocide case According to the Statute of the ICJ, the court has the power to order provisional measures when "irreparable prejudice could be caused to rights which are the subject of judicial proceedings". The court found that the condition of urgency had been met in this case. In November the Gambia filed a suit against Myanmar alleging it was committing "an ongoing genocide against its minority Muslim Rohingya population" and violating the 1948 Genocide Convention..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
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Title: Myanmar ordered to prevent genocide against Rohingya by top UN court
Description: "The top court of the United Nations has ordered Myanmar to prevent acts of genocide against the country's persecuted Rohingya minority and to stop destroying evidence, in a landmark case at The Hague. The case was brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands by the tiny West African nation of Gambia, which in November alleged that Myanmar committed "genocidal acts" that "were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a group" through mass murder, rape, and destruction of communities. It asked the 15-judge court to enact provisional measures to compel the Myanmar government and military to end all acts that amount to or contribute to genocide, and to ensure Myanmar preserves evidence that could play a part in the case. The emergency measures act like an injunction while the main genocide case gets underway. That central case has not yet been heard and it could take years to reach a verdict..."
Source/publisher: "CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
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Title: Will ICJ ruling help the Rohingya? I Inside Story
Description: "The International Court of Justice, the world's highest court, has ordered Myanmar's government to prevent it's military from committing acts of genocide against the Rohingya. The ICJ has also warned that the Rohingya Muslim minority remain at serious risk of genocide and ordered the country to abide by the genocide convention, and take all measures within its power to prevent further killings. The case brought by The Gambia last year accuses Myanmar of committing an ongoing genocide against its minority Muslim Rohingya population. Myanmar denies the allegations. Thursday's ruling comes just days after an inquiry backed by Myanmar's government dismissed allegations of genocide. Myanmar's leader Suu Kyi says the Rohingya have 'exaggerated' abuses. So what does this ruling mean and will Myanmar abide by the orders? ..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
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Title: Will Myanmar respect ICJ order to stop genocide against Rohingya?
Sub-title: Experts celebrate landmark ruling, but have little hope that gov't which denies genocide will prevent further violence.
Description: "In a ruling that the Rohingya minority have celebrated, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect the mostly Muslim minority. On Thursday, a panel of 17 judges unanimously decided that Myanmar should take "all measures within its power" to prevent genocide, following a case filed by The Gambia in November. Presiding Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said Myanmar has "caused irreparable damage to the rights of the Rohingya", referring to a military campaign of violence in Rakhine state that saw more than 740,000 members of the ethnic minority flee to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2016 and 2017. More: ICJ orders Myanmar to protect Rohingya Myanmar finds war crimes but no genocide in Rohingya crackdown 'Justice served': Rohingya in Bangladesh hail ICJ order While academics and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh welcomed the judgement, others have urged caution - now, they say, there must be increased international scrutiny on Myanmar's treatment of the minority..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
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Title: World Court Rules Against Myanmar on Rohingya
Summary: "The International Court of Justice (ICJ) order on January 23, 2020, directing Myanmar to prevent all genocidal acts against Rohingya Muslims is crucial for protecting the remaining Rohingya in...
Sub-title: International Court of Justice Unanimously Orders Measures to Prevent Genocide
Description: "The International Court of Justice (ICJ) order on January 23, 2020, directing Myanmar to prevent all genocidal acts against Rohingya Muslims is crucial for protecting the remaining Rohingya in Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said today. The court unanimously adopted “provisional measures” that require Myanmar to prevent genocide and take steps to preserve evidence. Myanmar’s military committed extensive atrocities against the Rohingya, including murder, rape, and arson, that peaked during its late 2017 campaign of ethnic cleansing, forcing more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. In September 2019, the United Nations-backed International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found that the 600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar “may face a greater threat of genocide than ever.” “The ICJ order to Myanmar to take concrete steps to prevent the genocide of the Rohingya is a landmark step to stop further atrocities against one of the world’s most persecuted people,” said Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “Concerned governments and UN bodies should now weigh in to ensure that the order is enforced as the genocide case moves forward.”..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-24
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Title: Court to rule in case accusing Myanmar of Rohingya genocide
Sub-title: The International Court of Justice decision comes in a case brought by the African nation of Gambia on behalf of an organization of Muslim nations...At public hearings last month, lawyers for Myanmar's accusers used maps, satellite images and graphic photos to detail what they call a campaign of murder, rape and destruction.
Description: "The United Nations' highest court is set to rule Thursday on whether to order Myanmar to halt what has been described as a genocidal campaign against the country's Rohingya Muslim minority. The International Court of Justice decision comes in a case brought by the African nation of Gambia on behalf of an organization of Muslim nations that accuses Myanmar of genocide in its crackdown on the Rohingya. At public hearings last month, lawyers for Myanmar's accusers used maps, satellite images and graphic photos to detail what they call a campaign of murder, rape and destruction amounting to genocide perpetrated by Myanmar's military. The hearings drew intense scrutiny from around the world as Myanmar's former pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi defended the campaign by military forces that once held her under house arrest for 15 years. Suu Kyi, who as Myanmar's state counselor now holds an office similar to prime minister, was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for championing democracy and human rights under Myanmar's then-ruling junta. Buddhist-majority Myanmar has long considered the Rohingya to be "Bengalis" from Bangladesh even though their families have lived in the country for generations. Nearly all have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They are also denied freedom of movement and other basic rights..."
Source/publisher: Arab News (Saudi Arabia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
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Title: International court to rule in Myanmar Rohingya genocide case
Sub-title: Momentous pronouncement follows Hague hearing at which Aung San Suu Kyi gave evidence
Description: "The United Nations’ highest tribunal is to deliver its decision on whether emergency measures are required to prevent Myanmar conducting genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority. The momentous pronouncement on Thursday follows a three-day hearing at the international court of justice in The Hague last month at which the Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi defended her country against accusations of systematic human rights abuses and war crimes. The ruling on the need for “provisional measures” will be read out at 10am local time by the court’s president, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, and may take more than an hour to deliver. The hearing will be broadcast live on the ICJ website. The case was brought by the Gambia, a predominantly Muslim west African state that alleges Myanmar has breached the 1948 genocide convention enacted after the Holocaust. It argues that the violence is continuing..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
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Title: Myanmar Panel: War Crimes But No Genocide Committed Against Rohingya
Description: "An independent panel created by the Myanmar government has concluded that government security forces committed war crimes against Rohingya Muslims but that they did not commit genocide against the ethnic minority. The findings were included in a report released Monday by the Independent Commission of Inquiry. The commission, established by the government in July 2018, says it was “tasked to investigate allegations of human rights violations and related issues” after terrorist attacks in 2017 by a Rohingya insurgent group in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The Myanmar government responded to the attacks with a military-led crackdown against the insurgent group, known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh during the weekslong crackdown that was widely condemned internationally..."
Source/publisher: "VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
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Title: Myanmar: Government Rohingya Report Falls Short
Sub-title: War Crimes Admitted, but Full Findings Not Released
Description: "Myanmar’s investigation of its 2017 “clearance operations” contains selective admissions of military wrongdoing but does not begin to address the massive violations by government security forces against Rohingya Muslims, Human Rights Watch said today. Myanmar’s donors and concerned governments should be clear that the Independent Commission of Enquiry’s report falls well short of creating the conditions for justice and accountability or the safe return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. The 15-page executive summary released by the Office of the President on January 21, 2020 acknowledged that members of Myanmar’s security forces committed war crimes and serious human rights violations against “Muslims” in northern Rakhine State. Yet it found “no evidence of gang rape committed by Myanmar’s security forces,” despite extensive documentation of widespread rape against Rohingya women and girls by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar and human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch. The summary found no evidence of genocidal intent and did not address alleged crimes against humanity. The government has yet to release the full report..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
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Title: Rohingya refugees pray for justice as court to rule in genocide case
Description: " Rohingya refugees who fled persecution and violence in Myanmar are praying for justice as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague prepares to deliver an initial verdict on Thursday in a genocide case filed against Myanmar. More than 730,000 Muslim Rohingya fled an army offensive in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in 2017. The United Nations says gang rapes and mass killings were carried out with “genocidal intent”. Hundreds of villages were burned to the ground and later razed. Myanmar denies the charges of genocide. Gambia has asked the ICJ to order “provisional measures” to prevent more harm, a first step in a legal case that is expected to run for years. It has also asked judges to order Myanmar to ensure any evidence of atrocities is preserved. At the world’s largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, where the Rohingya who fled are settled, many hope for a ruling in their favor after years of persecution. “The Burmese (Myanmar) government and the army tried to wipe out the entire Rohingya community. We want justice,” said 30-year-old refugee Nurul Amin, who fled to Bangladesh with his pregnant wife during the 2017 army crackdown..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
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Title: Will the ICJ order Myanmar to stop the Rohingya genocide?
Sub-title: The International Court of Justice is set to decide on emergency measures to stop the genocide of the Rohingya.
Description: "The highest court of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, will on Thursday be issuing its much-anticipated decision on a request for "emergency measures" in a landmark genocide case against Myanmar. The case against Myanmar was filed by The Gambia in November, alleging that Myanmar was committing "an ongoing genocide" against its minority Muslim Rohingya population. Myanmar denies those allegations. The appearance of Myanmar's political leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, at the ICJ - also known as the "World Court" - in The Hague in December brought the case into the international spotlight. Experts describe the case as an "historic legal challenge" - but have expressed concerns about whether Myanmar will comply with whatever the court orders..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
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Title: World Court to rule on emergency measures in Rohingya genocide case
Description: "The International Court of Justice will rule on Thursday on a request by Gambia for emergency measures in Myanmar to halt violence immediately against Rohingya Muslims, to protect the ethnic minority and to preserve evidence of past abuses. The small, mostly Muslim West African country launched the lawsuit in November at the United Nations’ highest body for disputes between states, accusing Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya in violation of a 1948 convention. The case has not yet been heard in full and Thursday’s ruling deals only with Gambia’s request for so-called preliminary measures, the equivalent of a restraining order for states. It gives no indication of the court’s final decision, which could take years to reach. Gambia has requested that Myanmar take action to prevent violence, including murder, rape, or other atrocities that could constitute genocide. It has also asked judges to order Myanmar to grant access to U.N. bodies investigating alleged crimes against Rohingya. The World Court’s rulings are final and without appeal, but it has no real way of enforcing them..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-23
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Title: Atrocities against Rohingyas: ICC starts investigation
Sub-title: 'As far as I am aware an ICC team is currently visiting Bangladesh'
Description: "The International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun its investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity and other atrocity crimes committed by Myanmar against hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people sheltered in Bangladesh, said sources in Dhaka and The Hague, the Dutch capital, the house of the court. “Yes, the investigation has already begun. Multiple visits by experts from the office of the ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to Bangladesh have already taken place,” a source in The Hague familiar with the investigation told Dhaka Tribune. “As far as I am aware an ICC team is currently visiting Bangladesh,” he said. The purpose of the visits of the ICC teams is to gather necessary evidence from different sources, he added. “They (ICC teams) are coming and going. They work independently without any alignment with the government. We will only provide any support if we are asked,” a source at the Foreign Ministry told this correspondent, adding, “I don’t know if any team from the ICC is currently visiting Bangladesh.” The activities of the ICC will mostly be focused on Cox’s Bazar for obvious reason, said the sources. The Prosecutor’s office did not respond to the emails from Dhaka Tribune seeking its comments in this regard. The ICC is an intergovernmental organisation and international tribunal with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression..."
Source/publisher: "Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
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Title: Is Myanmar guilty of genocide?
Summary: "It was recently reported that Myanmar had conceded that it had committed “war crimes” against its Rohingya Muslim community. This is as far as Myanmar has ever gone in admitting responsibility for...
Description: "It was recently reported that Myanmar had conceded that it had committed “war crimes” against its Rohingya Muslim community. This is as far as Myanmar has ever gone in admitting responsibility for the atrocities committed against its Rohingya minority. Still, to some observers, this is not good enough. On 20 January, a Myanmar-appointed panel concluded that some soldiers likely committed war crimes against the Rohingya but that the military, however, was not guilty of genocide. The "Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE)" released the results of its probe just ahead of a ruling by the United Nation's (UN) top court on whether to impose urgent measures to stop alleged ongoing genocide in Myanmar. "There is insufficient evidence to argue, much less conclude, that the crimes committed were undertaken with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical (sic), racial or religious group." The fact that the ICOE would not admit that Myanmar’s military, also known as the Tatmadaw, were actively engaging in genocide as has been alleged, however, did not bode well with human rights groups..."
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
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Title: Myanmar inquiry into treatment of Rohingya criticised after finding no evidence of rape
Sub-title: Government-appointed investigators failed to meet alleged victims living in Bangladesh
Description: "A Myanmar government-backed inquiry that dismissed allegations of genocide against the Rohingya has been condemned as a deeply flawed cover-up, after it failed to interview a single victim of rape. The full report of the panel inquiry, which has been criticised by the UN, was not made publicly available. It is not clear how many Rohingya were interviewed by the panel. An executive summary of the findings were released just days before the International Court of Justice, which is hearing a genocide case against Myanmar, is due to announce whether or not it will request for emergency measures to prevent further harm against Rohingya. In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya people fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh following a military-led crackdown in Rakhine state in which villages were burned, women raped and thousands killed. A UN fact-finding mission later declared that the violence had “genocidal intent”. The long-overdue report by the Myanmar-appointed inquiry stated that it did not travel to meet any of the more than one million Rohingya refugees living in refugee camps in Bangladesh, blaming the neighbouring country’s government for failing to facilitate visits..."
Source/publisher: "The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
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Title: OPINION - Myanmar gov't doggedly continues with its genocide denial
Sub-title: 'Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her partners in crimes should know that denial is a part of genocide'
Description: "After having co-presided with the visiting Chinese president Xi Jinping over the signing of 33 agreements, including bilateral trade deals, Memorandums of Understanding, strategic partnership agreements, and technical cooperation, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was all smile again this Monday. On the official website of Myanmar's Independent Commission of Enquiry, smiley Ms Suu Kyi was seen posing for cameras as the former Deputy Foreign Minister of the Philippines Ms Rosario Manalo presented her with the final report of the Myanmar-established Independent Commission of Enquiry which the Philippines diplomat chaired. The Free Rohingya Coalition, an international network of Rohingya refugee activists and their supporters, issued a statement, refuting the findings of the commission that there is “no” or “insufficient” evidence to establish the genocidal intent behind Myanmar’s destruction of the Rohingya community in Rakhine state and the mass deportations of estimated 800,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh in 2016-2017..."
Source/publisher: "Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
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Title: Pages with references to "Rakhine" from "The Global New Light of Myanmar" 22 January 2020
Description: "The Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) was established by the Office of the President on 30 July 2018 to investigate the allegations of human rights violations in Rakhine during the internal armed conflict between Myanmar’s Defence Services and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in 2016-2017. 2. The Independent Commission of Enquiry has investigated the allegations of human rights violations and related issues following the attacks. The Union Attorney General’s Office has received, from the President, the comprehensive report submitted by the Independent Commission of Enquiry to the President with around 450 pages including 31 annexes. 3. The Commission has concluded, based on evidence it has collected, that members and collaborators of ARSA, members of the Myanmar’s security forces and civilians committed crimes such as killing of civilians, disproportionate use of force, looting of property, and destruction of abandoned homes of Muslims in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung Townships during the internal conflict in Northern Rakhine, and that the Commission has found particularly serious loss of life in the villages of Min Gyi (Tula Toli), Chut Pyin and Maung Nu. 4. The Union Attorney General’s Office will coordinate and cooperate with the relevant departments and organizations to ensure further criminal investigations and, where the evidence is compelling, prosecutions. 5. With regard to criminal conduct described in the report, the Union Attorney General’s Office will be providing information on the progress of investigations and prosecutions..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Ministry of Information via "The Global New Light of Myanmar"
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-22
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Title: China supports Myanmar despite Rohingya genocide accusations
Description: "China’s president Xi Jinping expressed his support for Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is accused of overseeing a genocide against Rohingya Muslims. During a meeting in Myanmar with Suu Kyi, Xi signed 33 infrastructure and trade deals between the two countries, a move that makes China Myanmar’s largest investor. According to Myanmar’s state-run media, Xi called his visit a “historical moment” for their bilateral relations. Suu Kyi, a 74-year-old Nobel peace laureate, was once seen on the same level as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. Her reputation has been damaged however, when she defended her country against a genocide complaint at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. She said that Myanmar was defending itself against attacks by militants. The country denounces claims that it tried to exterminate the minoruty in a bloody 2017 crackdown by its military, during which some 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee into camps in Bangladesh. Next week the court will rule on whether “emergency measures” should be taken against Myanmar..."
Source/publisher: New Europe (Brussels)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-21
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Title: Myanmar finds war crimes but no genocide in Rohingya crackdown
Sub-title: ICOE report comes days before UN's top court issues ruling on whether urgent measures are necessary to stop genocide.
Description: "A commission set up to investigate the 2017 crackdown in Rakhine that led hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim Rohingya to flee Myanmar, has concluded that while some soldiers probably committed war crimes there was no genocide. The Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) released the findings of its investigation, but not the full report, to the country's president on Monday, a few days before the United Nations' top court is set to rule on whether to impose urgent measures to stop the alleged continuing genocide in Myanmar. More: Transcript: Aung San Suu Kyi's speech at the ICJ in full Rohingya refugees reject Aung San Suu Kyi's 'lies on genocide' Top court to rule on emergency measures against Myanmar on January 23 The ICOE conceded some security personnel had used disproportionate force and committed war crimes and serious human rights violations, including the "killing of innocent villagers and destruction of their homes". But the crimes did not constitute genocide, the panel decided..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-21
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Title: Myanmar panel: Security forces likely committed war crimes
Description: "An independent commission established by Myanmar’s government has concluded there are reasons to believe that security forces committed war crimes in counterinsurgency operations that led more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. However, the commission, headed by a Philippine diplomat, said in a report given Monday to President Win Myint that there is no evidence supporting charges that genocide was planned or carried out against the Rohingya. The Independent Commission of Enquiry announced its findings in a statement posted on its Facebook page and the full report does not appear to have been publicly released. Nevertheless, it went further than any public statements issued by Myanmar’s government in suggesting government forces were guilty of major abuses. “Although these serious crimes and violations were committed by multiple actors, there are reasonable grounds to believe that members of Myanmar’s security forces were involved” in war crimes, serious human rights violations, and violations of domestic law in 2017, it said. “The killing of innocent villagers and destruction of their homes were committed by some members of the Myanmar’s security forces through disproportionate use of force during the internal armed conflict,” it said..."
Source/publisher: "Associated Press" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-21
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Title: UN envoy: We are putting pressure on Myanmar to ensure peace in Rakhine
Sub-title: The envoy visited a refugee camp near the Naikhongchhari border
Description: "Visiting UN envoy Yanghee Lee on Monday suggested that the United Nations (UN) have been applying increasing diplomatic pressure to stop genocidal atrocities in the Rakhine state of Myanmar and ensure an environment that is fit for the safe return of Rohingya refugees. During her visit, the special envoy met representatives and leaders of different Rohingya organizations at the government office conference room in Kutupalong refugee camp, Ukhiya. Later, she met five out of the 63 Rohingya refugees who had recently relocated in the refugee camps in Bangladesh after serving prison sentences. Yanghee Lee then visited a refugee camp near the Naikhongchhari border and spoke to refugees at the camp. Previously, she visited Bangladesh in January 2018 to visit the refugee camps..."
Source/publisher: "Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-21
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Title: War crimes, not genocide committed against Rohingya: Myanmar probe
Description: "A Myanmar-appointed panel concluded on Monday (Jan 20) that some soldiers likely committed war crimes against its Rohingya Muslim community but the military was not guilty of genocide, findings swiftly condemned by rights groups. The "Independent Commission Of Enquiry (ICOE)" released the results of its probe just ahead of a ruling on Thursday by the UN's top court on whether to impose urgent measures to stop alleged ongoing genocide in Myanmar. It conceded some security personnel had used disproportionate force and committed war crimes and serious human rights violations, including the "killing of innocent villagers and destruction of their homes". But the crimes did not constitute genocide, the panel decided. "There is insufficient evidence to argue, much less conclude, that the crimes committed were undertaken with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical (sic), racial or religious group." Military operations from August 2017 forced about 740,000 Rohingya to flee over the border into sprawling camps in Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher: "CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-21
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Title: Belt and Road Initiative: China, Myanmar ink raft of deals
Sub-title: Beijing seeks to cement its hold over its neighbour increasingly isolated by West amid Rohingya crisis
Description: "China and Myanmar yesterday inked dozens of deals related to Belt and Road Initiative to speed up infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian nation, as Beijing seeks to cement its hold over a neighbour increasingly isolated by the West. But no major new projects were agreed during the two-day visit by President Xi Jinping, the first of any Chinese leader in 19 years. Analysts said Myanmar was generally cautious of investments by Beijing and was also being careful ahead of elections later this year. Still, Xi and Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi signed 33 agreements shoring up key projects that are part of the flagship Belt and Road Initiative, China’s vision of new trade routes described as a “21st century silk road”. They agreed to hasten implementation of the China Myanmar Economic Corridor, a giant infrastructure scheme worth billions of dollars, with agreements on railways linking southwestern China to the Indian Ocean, a deep sea-port in conflict-riven Rakhine state, a special economic zone on the border, and a new city project in the commercial capital of Yangon. They did not address a controversial $3.6 billion Beijing-backed mega dam, where work has been stalled since 2011, reflecting the contentiousness of Chinese investment in Myanmar, where many are uncomfortable with the sway Beijing has over its smaller neighbour..."
Source/publisher: "The Daily Star" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-20
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Title: China president holds talks with Myanmar
Summary: "China has reaffirmed its willingness to provide further support, within its capacity, to Myanmar in the Rohingya repatriation process and resettlement of the displaced people from Rakhine State....
Description: "China has reaffirmed its willingness to provide further support, within its capacity, to Myanmar in the Rohingya repatriation process and resettlement of the displaced people from Rakhine State. This was mentioned in a statement issued on Sunday at the end of the visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s two-day state visit to Myanmar. The two countries signed a number of deals. The Chinese side supports the efforts of Myanmar to address the humanitarian situation and promote peace, stability and development for all communities in Rakhine State, reads the statement. Myanmar reiterated its commitment to receive verified displaced people based on the bilateral agreement reached between Myanmar and Bangladesh, according to the joint statement. Myanmar thanked China for its understanding of the complexity of the issue and for all its support to Myanmar. Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a repatriation deal on November 23, 2017. On January 16, 2018, Bangladesh and Myanmar inked a document on ‘Physical Arrangement’, which was supposed to facilitate the repatriation..."
Source/publisher: newagebd.net
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-20
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Title: China struggles in new diplomatic role, trying to return Rohingya to Myanmar
Description: "In a muddy field in western Myanmar, hundreds of Chinese shipping containers fitted with single narrow windows stand in neat lines, empty of the refugees they were designed to host. The gray boxes were sent by China two years ago as quick and cheap housing for some of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar for Bangladesh during a military-led crackdown in 2017 that the United Nations said was conducted with genocidal intent. The empty containers, situated near the town of Maungdaw in Rakhine state, reflect months of failed efforts to entice the Rohingya to return to Myanmar despite a diplomatic drive by the country’s close ally and neighbor, China. In a sharp departure from its official policy of non-interference in the affairs of other countries, China has positioned itself as the key mediator in resolving the protracted crisis. But like the Indonesian and United Nations envoys who previously attempted to mediate between the parties, China is finding the business of diplomacy tough going, with little signs that the crisis will soon be resolved..."
Source/publisher: "Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-20
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Title: Can Xi Jinping’s visit help China cash in on Myanmar’s image crisis?
Sub-title: Chinese president’s two-day trip comes as nations mark 70 years of diplomatic ties...US sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders over alleged ‘serious human rights abuses’ described as a blow to Southeast Asian nation’s dignity.
Description: "Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar this week is special in several ways. It is Xi’s first overseas trip of the year and the first visit to the Southeast Asian country by a Chinese president since 2001. This year also marks the 70th anniversary of formal diplomatic ties between the two countries. A recent Xinhua commentary said that “a good neighbour is better than a far dwelling relative”, referring to China’s ties with Myanmar. Some observers view geopolitics concerning Myanmar in black-and-white terms: a National League for Democracy (NLD) government would lead to closer ties with the West and less so with China. The Rakhine issue effectively put paid to such earlier prognosis. If anything, there has yet to be any respite to the general downturn in relations between Myanmar and the West. In fact, the situation has worsened. Following a round of sanctions by Western powers in 2018, the US treasury department last month imposed new sanctions against Myanmar’s top military leaders over alleged “serious human rights abuses”, a move that Myanmar’s military (the Tatmadaw) criticised as “targeted political pressure” which “hurt the dignity” of the military. A month earlier, the Tatmadaw was accused by the US of possessing chemical weapons..."
Source/publisher: "South China Morning Post" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
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Title: Long-term solutions for the Rohingya response
Description: "Two years after the people of the Rohingya minority fled Myanmar, 900.000 refugees are trying to rebuild their lives in neighbouring Bangladesh. NORCAP experts support the humanitarian response and our projects target some of the most critical gaps in the assistance. The violence and abuse against the Rohingya population in Myanmar led to 750.000 refugees entering Bangladesh in less than three months at the end of 2017. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) referred to the attacks as “textbook ethnic cleansing”. Today, the district of Cox’s Bazar, only a few kilometres from the Myanmar border, houses one of the world’s largest refugee camps, with close to 900,000 refugees living in temporary shelters. The concentration of people in these camps is amongst the densest in the world and the conditions are poor. People lack proper shelters, toilet facilities, clean water and food. The national authorities in Bangladesh and Myanmar have established a repatriation agreement, but few Rohingya are willing to return to Myanmar as long as the Myanmar government does not guarantee them citizenship and protection from further violence..."
Source/publisher: Norwegian Refugee Council (Oslo)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
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Title: Myanmar: First state visit in almost 20 years highlights China’s role in human rights crisis
Summary: "Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s two-day state visit to Myanmar, which begins on Friday 17 January 2020, Amnesty International’s Regional Director, Nicholas Bequelin, said: “President Xi’s...
Description: "Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s two-day state visit to Myanmar, which begins on Friday 17 January 2020, Amnesty International’s Regional Director, Nicholas Bequelin, said: “President Xi’s government has expressed its desire to help solve the situation in Rakhine State. While this is welcome in principle, the reality is that China’s engagement has failed to yield positive results for the people of Myanmar. “China must stop using its position in the UN Security Council to shield Myanmar’s senior generals from accountability. This has only emboldened the military’s relentless campaign of human rights violations and war crimes against ethnic minorities across the country. “Almost a million Rohingya languish in refugee camps in Bangladesh while 600,000 still in Myanmar continue to live under appalling conditions of apartheid. If it fails to pressure Myanmar to ensure justice and restore Rohingya’s rights, China’s efforts to resolve the situation will remain ineffective – and counter-productive. “With major economic and infrastructure agreements expected to be signed during President Xi’s visit, the absolute lack of transparency over such agreements is deeply disturbing. Investment in infrastructure can help raise living standards and realize human rights through improved access to basic services and employment. But these benefits are not delivered if those who bear the heaviest cost - the women, men, and children whose homes, health, livelihoods might be affected – are not adequately consulted before construction starts and protected from potential harm. Human rights, transparency, and consultation with communities should be at the heart of these projects.”..."
Source/publisher: "Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-19
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Title: China and Myanmar 'stand together' despite Rohingya backlash
Sub-title: A 2017 military crackdown on the Muslim minority, which UN investigators have called genocide, forced some 740,000 people over the border into Bangladesh. Beijing has stood strongly beside Myanmar and the Asian giant is now the country's largest investor even as distrust of its ambitions lingers among the public.
Description: "China and Myanmar inked dozens of mammoth infrastructure and trade deals after a meeting Saturday between President Xi Jinping and fallen rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi, as Beijing doubles down on its support for a government under fire for its treatment of Rohingya Muslims. The Chinese leader's two-day state visit to Myanmar's purpose-built capital comes as Western investors cast a wide berth around the country due to the Rohingya crisis. A 2017 military crackdown on the Muslim minority, which UN investigators have called genocide, forced some 740,000 people over the border into Bangladesh. Beijing has stood strongly beside Myanmar and the Asian giant is now the country's largest investor even as distrust of its ambitions lingers among the public. More than 30 agreements were signed Saturday on Xi's final day of his visit -- with Suu Kyi and Xi seated across from each other on long tables alongside related ministers..."
Source/publisher: "The Economic Times" (India)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-18
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Title: China's Xi makes a 'historic' visit to Myanmar
Summary: "China's President Xi Jinping will visit Myanmar on Friday to ink massive infrastructure deals and extend influence in a neighbouring country whose ties with the West were frayed by accusations that...
Sub-title: China's President Xi Jinping is expected to tie up Belt and Road Initiative deals during his visit to Myanmar.
Description: "China's President Xi Jinping will visit Myanmar on Friday to ink massive infrastructure deals and extend influence in a neighbouring country whose ties with the West were frayed by accusations that it conducted genocidal policies against ethnic Muslim-majority Rohingya people. This is Xi's first visit to the Southeast Asian country as the leader of China - and the first visit of any Chinese president in 19 years. Analysts say Xi will bid to revive stalled multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects central to his flagship Belt and Road Initiative, which is described as a "21st-century Silk Road". More: Myanmar to release its Rohingya crackdown investigation results ICJ to rule on emergency measures in Myanmar genocide case World Bank gives China billions in loans despite US objections Xi is scheduled to meet state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and army chief Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyitaw, in addition to meeting with the heads of minor political parties. Historically, the two countries have had a sometimes fraught relationship, with many in Myanmar suspicious of the tremendous sway that China holds over its smaller neighbour..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-17
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Title: India’s ominous threat to Rohingya Muslim refugees
Description: "The tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to India to escape widespread and systematic violence and discrimination in Myanmar face an existential threat from a new source: India’s government. Early this month, a senior government minister announced that Indian authorities would move expeditiously to deport the country’s sizable Rohingya refugee population back to Myanmar regardless of the risks to the refugees. “There are no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ … what would happen here is that the next move would be in relation to [the deportation] of Rohingyas,” Jitendra Singh, minister of state for development of the North Eastern Region, stated on January 4. Singh justified that call for Rohingya deportation on the terms of India’s controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The CAA, passed by India’s Parliament on December 12, explicitly denies the rights of Muslim “irregular immigrants,” those who lack UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) identity cards. Singh’s comments constitute a visceral threat to the safety of the thousands of Rohingya who have sought safety in India over the past decade. The government estimates that 40,000 Rohingya refugees live in India, of whom fewer than half possess UNHCR identity cards designed to protect them from “harassment, arbitrary arrests, detention and deportation.” Those refugees have fled Myanmar government-imposed institutionalized discrimination, including restrictions on movement, education and health-care access, as well as spasms of deadly violence such as the bloody purge perpetrated against Rohingya in northern Rakhine state in late 2017..."
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-17
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Title: Myanmar Has Blazed a Path to Democracy Without Rights
Description: "The paradox at the heart of the Rohingya genocide has always been Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Just a few short years ago, the Rohingya regarded the international democracy icon as their champion and defender in an increasingly hostile Myanmar. Last month, she was standing before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, defending the soldiers and politicians who erased the Rohingya from their native lands in Myanmar. Her history is a lesson for the optimists who thought democracy would also bring liberalism—and a disturbing portent of the compatibility of democracy and oppression that’s playing out from New Delhi to Budapest. The Rohingya Muslim minority have been a favorite target for successive Buddhist central governments in Myanmar, previously known as Burma, for almost the entire post-imperial history of the country. But they have been far from the only target. Other, smaller, Muslim groups have always been on the radar of the Theravada nationalist military juntas that ruled the country between 1962 and 2011. Christian groups and a plethora of borderland ethnic groups such as the Chin, Kachin, Shan, and Karen were also oppressed under the juntas..."
Source/publisher: "Foreign Policy" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-17
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Title: Rights group: Myanmar continues to deny Rohingya rights
Sub-title: Bangkok-based Fortify Rights says Myanmar government instructing officials to issue IDs describing Rohingya as 'Bengali'
Description: "Myanmar continues to deny basic citizenship rights to persecuted Rohingya community, a rights group said on Thursday. The Bangkok-based Fortify Rights group revealed internal communications in the Myanmar government directing junior officials to issue National Verification Cards (NVCs) to Rohingya in internment camps. "The document states the team would be tasked with issuing NVCs to 'Bengali people' -- a term often used by Myanmar officials to refer to Rohingya, implying that they are from Bangladesh and their ethnic Rohingya identity does not exist," the group said in a statement that included the testimonies of five Rohingya people. The rights group demanded Myanmar take steps to "urgently restore full citizenship rights to Rohingya". "New evidence collected by Fortify Rights […] confirms that Myanmar authorities are continuing to force and coerce Rohingya to accept National Verification Cards, which effectively identify Rohingya as foreigners and strip them of access to full citizenship rights," it added. Fortify Rights also assessed a new strategy by Myanmar that it said sought to close camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)..."
Source/publisher: "Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-17
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Title: Rights group denounces Japanese envoy for comments on Myanmar Rohingya
Description: "Tokyo-based human rights activists on Wednesday decried recent remarks by Japan's ambassador to Yangon, who told local media he did not think the Myanmar military committed genocide on the Rohingya Muslim minority in the country. More than 730,000 Rohingya fled the Southeast Asian nation to Bangladesh in 2017 after a military-led crackdown. The United Nations has said the campaign was executed with "genocidal intent" and included mass killings and rape. The military offensive has sparked a series of ongoing legal cases filed in recent months at courts across the globe, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), both based in the Hague. Zaw Min Htut, vice president of an advocacy group, Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan, said the ambassador's remarks were "disturbing". "I am very disappointed and appealing again to the Japanese government. Please try to help Rohingya people and don't side with criminals," Zaw Min Htut told foreign correspondents in Tokyo..."
Source/publisher: "Japan Today" (Japan)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-16
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Title: Why Myanmar’s genocide denial will come back to haunt it
Description: "Maung Zarni is the co-founder of FORSEA, a grass-roots organization of Southeast Asian human rights defenders, and the co-author of “Essays on Myanmar’s Genocide of Rohingyas.” Last month, Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi took the stand at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague to rebut allegations that her country’s systematic persecution of its Rohingya population amounts to genocide. Aung San Suu Kyi, once lionized for her stand against an oppressive military dictatorship, strenuously denied the charges — despite reams of evidence and the presence of nearly 1 million Rohingyas in refugee camps in Bangladesh. They ended up there after fleeing a so-called counterterrorism campaign by the Myanmar military in 2017 that left uncounted thousands dead..."
Source/publisher: "The Washington Post" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-16
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Title: China's Xi visits Myanmar to drive home Belt and Road plan
Description: "China's President Xi Jinping arrives in Myanmar this week to nail down multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deals in a country abandoned by many in the West appalled at the "genocide" of Rohingya Muslims on leader Aung San Suu Kyi's watch. Xi's two-day visit, his first as president, will seek to cement Beijing's position as Myanmar's largest investor and strategic partner. The much-trumpeted China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) aims to connect the Middle Kingdom to the Indian Ocean, a key route in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative that envisions Chinese infrastructure and influence spanning the globe. In addition to offering tens of billions of dollars in investment, China shields its neighbour at the United Nations, where pressure is mounting for accountability over the Rohingya crisis. Yet the relationship between the countries is tangled. Ethnic conflicts sizzling in border zones and the impact of dams, pipelines and transport links risk awakening hostility over Chinese intentions..."
Source/publisher: "Radio France Internationale (RFI)" ( Paris)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
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Title: ICJ to rule on emergency measures in Myanmar genocide case
Sub-title: UN court's decision on measures to prevent more harm against Myanmar's Rohingya minority expected on Jan 23.
Description: "The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, will issue a decision on a request for emergency measures in a genocide case against Myanmar on January 23, the Gambian Ministry of Justice said on Twitter on Monday. The mainly Muslim West African country filed the suit in November, alleging Myanmar was committing "an ongoing genocide" against its minority Muslim Rohingya population. More: Myanmar: New Al Jazeera documentary uncovers Rohingya abuse Myanmar: Defending genocide at the ICJ Myanmar cannot be trusted to put own soldiers on trial: Gambia The ICJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gambia has accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in a military campaign that expelled more than 730,000 Rohingya from the country. It asked the ICJ to order "provisional measures" to prevent more harm, a first step in a legal case that is expected to go on for years..."
Source/publisher: "Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
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Title: Myanmar Military, AA Swap Blame for Civilian Deaths in Chin State
Description: "The Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) have denied responsibility for the deaths of three civilians killed last week in Chin State’s Paletwa Township. According to local residents, a teacher from Se Phalaung Village and two civilians from Kyet U Wa Village in Paletwa were abducted by a group of men last Tuesday and the three were found dead on Friday with their hands tied and knife wounds in a forest a little over 3 kilometers from urban Paletwa. The Khumi Affairs Coordination Council (KACC), a local civil society organization, said in a statement on Friday that the three were abducted by AA fighters. Two days later, the AA released a statement denying responsibility for their deaths and accusing the Myanmar military of being responsible for the killings. The same day, the Myanmar military responded that the three were killed by the AA. “All the villagers know [that the three were abducted by the AA]. The AA’s accusation is baseless. They arrested the three while they were sitting in their house around 8 p.m. on Jan. 7. Everyone knows it was the AA,” said military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun..."
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
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Title: Myanmar: Seeking International Justice for Rohingya
Sub-title: Crackdown on Free Expression Tightens
Description: "The Myanmar government faced increasing pressure during 2019 for international justice for its human rights violations against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2020. Respect for free expression and assembly also declined sharply during the year as the authorities escalated their use of repressive criminal laws. “Myanmar’s failure to hold its military accountable for atrocities against the Rohingya is finally turning the wheels of international justice,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “Two international courts are now examining whether Myanmar committed genocide and who should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.” In the 652-page World Report 2020, its 30th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in nearly 100 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth says that the Chinese government, which depends on repression to stay in power, is carrying out the most intense attack on the global human rights system in decades. He finds that Beijing’s actions both encourage and gain support from autocratic populists around the globe, while Chinese authorities use their economic clout to deter criticism from other governments. It is urgent to resist this assault, which threatens decades of progress on human rights and our future..."
Source/publisher: "Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
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Title: Myanmar's Rakhine state teetering towards war
Summary: "Rakhine state is descending into growing turmoil. Globally long associated primarily with the brutal oppression of the Rohingya, the much wider dimensions of Rakhine's troubles are now visible,...
Description: "Rakhine state is descending into growing turmoil. Globally long associated primarily with the brutal oppression of the Rohingya, the much wider dimensions of Rakhine's troubles are now visible, including their international implications. Given their complexity, a broader perspective is badly needed to help bring about stability, development and prosperity for all Rakhine's people. Governments around the world, but especially in the region, have a legitimate role to play in helping to find solutions. Rakhine lies at the crossroads of Asia and its stability, ethnic harmony and economic promise are important for both South Asia and Southeast Asia. As a matter of course, that includes Asean. Moreover, its membership reflects a diversity similar to that of Rakhine state. It is to be hoped that in-depth discussions on this issue will be held at the Asean foreign ministers retreat in Vietnam this week..."
Source/publisher: "Bangkok Post" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
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Title: Rakhine restaurants shut down, accused of funding 'terrorism'
Sub-title: Myanmar’s anti-money laundering authority alleged the Yangon eateries were used as fronts to fund the Arakan Army
Description: "The Central Body on Anti-Money Laundering ordered two Rakhine restaurants in Yangon to shut down last week, alleging the businesses were being used to launder funds to the Arakan Army (AA), an armed ethnic group warring with the Myanmar military in Rakhine state. One of the restaurants is co-owned by Aung Myat Kyaw, the brother of AA chief Twan Mrat Naing. The other is owned by well-known Rakhine singer Win Ko Khaing. Both restaurants specialise in Rakhine cuisine, known for its seafood and spice. Aung Myat Kyaw’s Tamwe township restaurant, Phoenix, opened in 2015. Win Ko Khaing opened Maha Nwe in South Okkalapa township in October. Aung Myat Kyaw has been on trial since being deported from Singapore last July for allegedly funding the AA, which the Tatmadaw has accused of terrorism. He was deported with five other Rakhine natives then living in Singapore; they currently face prison sentences of 10 years to life. Singapore’s home ministry accused the six of using the city-state “as a platform to organize support for armed violence” in Myanmar. Aung Myat Kyaw and several of the deportees were members of the Arakan Association Singapore, an organisation that held social and cultural events for Rakhine migrants living in Singapore. Association chair Hein Zaw was among them..."
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
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Title: UN expert on Myanmar on her final mission to Bangladesh
Sub-title: Myanmar continues denying Yanghee Lee access to that country
Description: "Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee will carry out her final mission to Bangladesh next week. Lee will visit Thailand and Bangladesh from January 15 to 23 on her final leg as the rapporteur. She will come to Bangladesh from Thailand. Despite her last request to visit Myanmar being denied by the government, Lee will visit Thailand and Bangladesh to speak to interlocutors and receive information about the situation in Myanmar from both sides of the border, said a news release forwarded by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on Tuesday. Myanmar has been constantly denying her office access to the country since 2017. Myanmar’s denial of access has not dissuaded me from doing everything I can to impartially report to the international community accurate first-hand information that has been provided to me during my visits to the region,” Lee said. “My mission and the end of my tenure come at a critical time for human rights in Myanmar and I will continue to strive to do my utmost to improve the situation,” she said. Lee has held the mandate of special rapporteur since 2014 and enjoyed biannual visits to the country until she was denied entry from December 2017. She will report to the Human Rights Council session in March, 2020..."
Source/publisher: "Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-15
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Title: Myanmar continues to make mistakes of the past
Summary: "January 4 marked the 72nd anniversary of Myanmar’s independence from Britain. The civil war in which the country – a patchwork of diverse ethnic regions, with mutually incomprehensible languages,...
Description: "January 4 marked the 72nd anniversary of Myanmar’s independence from Britain. The civil war in which the country – a patchwork of diverse ethnic regions, with mutually incomprehensible languages, unerasable regional identities and distinct political histories – was born has come a full circle. It is noteworthy that modern Myanmar was not the creation of nationalists. It was born out of the external shock of the Second World War and the dissolution of external colonial powers. Few Myanmar nationalist historians have acknowledged this historical fact, for it fundamentally and effectively undermines the nationalist historiography that typically glorifies and exaggerates the contributions of the ethnic-Burmese (Bama) nationalists – particularly State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s father and the Tatmadaw (military), originally a fascist proxy created by Japan as part of its wartime design against British rule in colonial Burma. Today, being an important site of the geopolitical rivalries among external powers, including China, India, the US and Japan, coupled with multiple domestic ethnic fault lines, Myanmar faces the very real prospect of another external shock, more than at any point in the country’s seven-decade post-independence history..."
Source/publisher: "Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-14
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Title: Myanmar sends Rohingya captured at sea to Rakhine
Summary: "Nearly 200 Rohingya Muslims arrested at sea last month by Myanmar's navy after a voyage of hundreds of kilometres have been sent back to Rakhine state, officials said Monday. Seasonal calmer...
Description: "Nearly 200 Rohingya Muslims arrested at sea last month by Myanmar's navy after a voyage of hundreds of kilometres have been sent back to Rakhine state, officials said Monday. Seasonal calmer waters have seen an increase in the number of Rohingya putting their lives in the hands of traffickers in a desperate bid to reach Malaysia or Indonesia by boat. But few make it as far as Kawthaung, Myanmar's southern-most tip, where the group of 173 were picked up mid-December. Images taken on Monday showed 17 men, women and children looking exhausted from their ordeal as they climbed down from a wooden boat on to a beach near western Rakhine state's capital, Sittwe. Wearing identification numbers around their necks, they lined up on the sand clutching their meagre belongings before being escorted away by armed police. They were taken to Thechaung camp, while the remaining 156 were transported further north to Ngakhuya camp in Maungdaw township, Rakhine State minister for security and border affairs said. Ngakhuya is a processing site for returning refugees on the Bangladeshi border. "I'm not sure whether action will be taken against them or not," Colonel Min Than told the media, adding that their fate would be decided by the UEHRD, a government department overseeing Rakhine..."
Source/publisher: "The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-14
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Title: 16 children killed in Myanmar’s conflict zones in 2019 – UNICEF
Description: "UNICEF Myanmar has expressed deep sorrow over the death of four children last week when an explosive device went off while they were collecting fire wood in the forest near Htike Htoo Pauk village of Buthedaung Township in Rakhine State. Five more children were injured in the incident. UNICEF, in a statement, said it was deeply concerned about the continued reports of killings and injuries of children, as a result of intensified fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army in the conflict-affected areas of Rakhine State. In 2019 alone, 16 children lost their life and 36 have been severely injured in conflict affected areas of Myanmar as a result of incidents caused by landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERWs)..."
Source/publisher: "Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update: 2020-01-13
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