Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
For Rohingya refugees, see also the Arakan State section of "Administration and administrative areas" http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1241&lo=&sl= and the Rohingya section of Human Rights.
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
* Country Information (997)...
* Legal Information (94)...
* Policy Documents (8)...
* Reference Documents (7).....The Legal Information includes case law and refugee appeals, which may be useful for those preparing asylum cases.
Source/publisher:
UNHCR
Date of entry/update:
2009-02-01
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
UNHCR
Date of entry/update:
2009-01-29
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English, French
more
Description:
"According to the 1947 Constitution, a group of people who entered Burma before 1825 and settled in a defined territory are also indigenous race of Burma. This clause was
especially written for Rohingya people, said Dr. Aye Maung,
one of the author of the 1947 constitution. Accordingly U Nu
government recognized Rohingya as an indigenous race of Burma..." Keywords: Islam, Muslim, stateless.
Big, flashy site with lots of content.
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.)
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...The Government of Bangladesh should immediately take all necessary steps to protect Rohingya refugees and nearby host communities in Cox’s Bazar District from COVID-19 infection, said Fortify Rights and 49 human rights organizations in an open letter today. The authorities should immediately lift all restrictions that prevent Rohingya refugees from freely accessing mobile communications and the internet and also halt the construction of fencing aimed to confine Rohingya refugees in camps. On March 12, the World Health Organization’s Director-General declared the outbreak of COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel coronavirus, to be a “controllable pandemic.” The disease poses a particular risk to populations who live in close proximity to each other, such as refugees in camps..."
Date of publication:
2020-04-02
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-18
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Sub-title:
Urgently Act to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak in Refugee Camps
Description:
"...The Bangladesh government’s internet blackout and phone restrictions at Rohingya refugee camps are obstructing humanitarian groups from addressing the COVID-19 threat, Human Rights Watch said today. The shutdown is risking the health and lives of over a million people, including nearly 900,000 refugees in Cox’s Bazar and the Bangladeshi host community by hindering aid groups’ ability to provide emergency health services and rapidly coordinate essential preventive measures.“The Bangladesh government is in a race against the clock to contain the spread of coronavirus, including in the Rohingya refugee camps, and can’t afford to waste precious time with harmful policies,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch..."
Source/publisher:
Human Right Watch
Date of publication:
2020-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
"...Responding to the rescue of nearly 400 Rohingya refugees from the Bay of Bengal after a two month-long failed attempt to reach Malaysia, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director, Biraj Patnaik, said..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International
Date of publication:
2020-04-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Format :
PDF
Size:
5.01 MB
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Description:
"...COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh – All around the world, the numbers are climbing. Each day registers thousands of new cases and lives lost. In Europe, now the epicenter of the pandemic, governments know that the worst is yet to come and are implementing increasingly restrictive measures to enforce social distancing and isolation.In Cox’s Bazar we have been watching the world and holding our breath for the first confirmed case of Covid-19. With reports of the first confirmed case in the local community in Cox’s Bazar, it’s just a matter of time until the virus reaches the vulnerable population living in cramped conditions in the largest refugee settlement on Earth. Thousands of people could die...."
Source/publisher:
Asia Time
Date of publication:
2020-03-25
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
"...Bangladesh has begun lockdown in all 34 Rohingya refugee settlements in the country’s southern district of Cox’s Bazar as part of its effort to stem coronavirus pandemic. Authorities have asked more than one million members of the persecuted Rohingya community, who have migrated from Myanmar’s Rakhine province, to stay inside their makeshift camps until further notice.“Since this morning [Wednesday] we have started s lockdown in all Rohingya camps as per guidelines issued by the government due to the prevailing scare over coronavirus outbreak,” said Md Mahbub Alam Talukder, Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC)...."
Source/publisher:
AA.com
Date of publication:
2020-03-26
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-28
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
About 939,000 results (November 2018)
Source/publisher:
www via Google
Date of entry/update:
2018-11-12
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
more
Description:
"...Dear Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,As authorities around the world struggle to cope with the spread of COVID-19, it is crucial that States act to protect the most vulnerable, including refugee populations.We, the 50 undersigned organizations, have welcomed the Bangladesh government’s efforts to host the Rohingya refugees who were forced to flee atrocities perpetrated by the Myanmar Army. We also commend the Bangladesh Government for working closely with the humanitarian community on COVID-19 preparedness and response in Cox’s Bazar District, including efforts to establish isolation and treatment facilities.Now we write to urge you to lift ongoing mobile internet restrictions and halt the construction of barbed wire fencing around the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar District. These measures threaten the safety and well-being of the refugees as well as Bangladesh host communities and aid workers, in light of the growing COVID-19 pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
Human Right Watch
Date of publication:
2020-04-01
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
Many stories on the Rohingya
Source/publisher:
Kaladan Press Network
Date of entry/update:
2009-01-30
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
Many stories about the Rohingya back to January 2006
Source/publisher:
Kaladan Press Network
Date of publication:
2010-12-20
Date of entry/update:
2010-12-20
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
Mainly the Rohingyas
Source/publisher:
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)
Date of entry/update:
2009-01-29
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
"...Myanmar's government is on trial in the International Court of Justice, accused of orchestrating a campaign of destruction against the Rohingya people..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera English"
Date of publication:
2020-04-16
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-25
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
What will happen when COVID-19 hits refugee camps? That's what Dr. Paul Spiegel and a team of researchers have been examining. They've been looking at how the coronavirus might affect the densely populated camps outside Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh — home to 850,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. As of Monday, there are 49 cases in the country, including one person in the town of Cox's Bazar. The researchers will use the findings to make recommendations to the United Nations and global aid groups on how to deliver medical care and check the spread of the coronavirus in similar refugee settings.Spiegel, a former senior official at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the director of Johns Hopkins University's Center for Humanitarian Health, explains why these camps are ripe for disease outbreaks — and what aid groups must do now to help. This interview has been edited for length and clarity...."
MALAKA GHARIB
Source/publisher:
npr.org
Date of publication:
2020-03-31
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Description:
Useful, well-designed page, with background, summaries of the political and humanitarian situation, refugee voices etc., with reports stragely headed "policy recommendations"
Source/publisher:
Refugees International
Date of entry/update:
2005-05-10
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
Useful, well-designed page, with background, reports, advocacy letters, congressional testimony and the shorter reports under the heading of "Policy Recommendations"
Source/publisher:
Refugees International
Date of entry/update:
2005-05-10
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
Documents from 1992-2011
Source/publisher:
Forced Migration Online
Date of entry/update:
2014-11-27
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Over half a million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar. Follow the crisis here.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar. The latest exodus began on 25 August 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar?s Rakhine State. The vast majority of Rohingya refugees reaching Bangladesh are women and children, including newborn babies. Many others are elderly people requiring additional aid and protection. They have nothing and need everything.
See also: 100 days of horror and hope: a timeline of the Rohingya crisis
Over half of the new arrivals have sought shelter in and around the existing refugee camps of Kutupalong and Nayapara and in makeshift sites that existed before the influx. Some have joined relatives there, while others are drawn to the assistance and services ? putting immense pressure on the existing facilities..."
Source/publisher:
UNHCR
Date of entry/update:
2018-07-09
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
more
Description:
Aljazeeera coverage of the Rohingya crisis
Source/publisher:
Aljazeera
Date of publication:
2018-11-15
Date of entry/update:
2018-11-15
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
more
Individual Documents
Description:
" After grabbing power in a February 1 coup that has been resisted by massive demonstrations and condemned by the US, EU and UN, Myanmar’s military regime would appear to have few cards to play to win acceptance.
But one the coup-makers amazingly think they can play is the plight of Muslim Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who were driven across the border during brutal military campaigns in 2016-17, and those who have remained behind in Myanmar.
Shortly after overthrowing Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, the new military regime sent a letter to Bangladesh’s government through its ambassador in Myanmar to explain their reasons for the coup, namely unsubstantiated allegations of fraud at the November 2020 election Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) resoundingly won. In the letter, the full contents of which has not been made public, the military regime also mentioned a possible solution for solving the Rohingya crisis. That prompted Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Abdul Momen, quoted by the Dhaka Tribune on February 6, to say “these are good news. It’s a good beginning.”
Inside Myanmar’s Rakhine state, several local military commanders have visited Muslim-inhabited areas close to the Bangladesh border and a camp for internally displaced Rohingyas in the state capital Sittwe..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2021-02-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Political role of the Tatmadaw, The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Summary:
"The present Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) seeks to mobilize assistance for close to 945,000 people in 2021, in support of the efforts of the Government of Myanmar to aid those affected by...
Description:
"The present Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) seeks to mobilize assistance for close to 945,000 people in 2021, in support of the efforts of the Government of Myanmar to aid those affected by humanitarian crises and challenges in different parts of the country. As has been the case for previous years, the HRP places protection at the centre of an inclusive response tailored to the particular needs of the most vulnerable women and men, girls and boys.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 further demonstrated the critical importance of localization in Myanmar. In 2021, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) will build on the partnerships with national NGOs and local civil society actors that were strengthened as we adjusted to new operational realities in 2020. We will redouble our efforts to put in place robust channels for systematic two-way dialogue and engagement with affected people, and to capitalize on innovations around cash and voucher assistance to further extend our reach.
Humanitarian partners remain committed to contributing to the achievement of durable solutions for displaced people. The National Strategy on Resettlement of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and Closure of IDP Camps provides a key entry point in this regard. Progress on implementation of the Strategy in 2020 was slowed down by COVID-19 but new opportunities are emerging. Our efforts in this regard in 2021 will seek to create new links across the humanitarian-development nexus, while remaining firmly anchored in the perspectives and concerns of displaced people themselves. In Rakhine, the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State will continue to be an important reference point for engagement between humanitarian organizations and the Government of Myanmar.
Our dialogue with the authorities will continue to emphasize the importance of humanitarian access, so that needs can be fully assessed and analyzed, humanitarian activities can be prioritized on the basis of those needs, and the impact of our efforts can be effectively monitored. The Myanmar HCT remains committed to working in accordance with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and without any adverse distinction based on region, ethnicity, religion or citizenship status..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups., Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Human rights and education, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
10.58 MB
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Sub-title:
The families of 18 people taken by the military nearly a year ago are still waiting for news of their loved ones – and justice.
Description:
"One evening, as Ma Nway* and her family were having dinner, soldiers from Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, came to her house and asked for her husband. According to her account, they blindfolded him, took out their guns and beat him in front of her.
“At the time, I could only cry,” said Ma Nway, an ethnic Arakanese from Myanmar’s westernmost Rakhine State, who prefers not to reveal her identity for fear of reprisals. “I feared they would shoot me, so I held my tongue … I felt like they were the most brutal people in the world.” It was March 16 2020 and the last time she saw her husband. He is among 18 people from the neighbouring villages of Tinma Thit and Tinma Gyi in Rakhine State’s northern Kyauktaw township who were arrested in March and have not been seen since. Their families’ relentless search for information has been met with silence, rejection and threats. Ten months later, they are still looking for answers – and justice.
Three witnesses, whose testimonies align with those published by other media, told Al Jazeera that on March 13 and 16, uniformed soldiers wearing the badge of the Tatmadaw’s Light Infantry Division No. 55 went door to door arresting dozens of men it suspected of having ties to the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group seeking autonomy.
Most of those arrested were released the same day, but 18 were not. The missing include a 16 year old, three people over the age of 65 and one person who is deaf. Al Jazeera has used pseudonyms for the three witnesses to protect them from possible reprisals.
On March 18, four bodies were seen floating in the Kaladan River near the villages. One of the bodies was identified by family members as among the missing villagers. The family told local media that soldiers shot at them when they approached the body, which the US-government funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia reported was riddled with bullet holes. The three other bodies were never identified..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
No Justice for Ongoing Crimes Against Humanity, Apartheid
Description:
"The Myanmar government has repeatedly violated basic civil and political rights, and failed to hold the country’s security forces accountable for atrocities against ethnic minorities, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2021.
The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party overwhelmingly won the November 8, 2020, election, which was marred by serious problems. Prior to the vote the government prosecuted its critics, censored opposition party messages, and did not provide equal access to state media. Systemic problems include the continued ethnic Rohingya disenfranchisement, the 25 percent of assembly seats reserved for the military, and the lack of an independent and transparent Union Election Commission. The commission cancelled voting in 57 primarily ethnic minority townships for security reasons, but provided little or no consultation or explanation to affected political parties and candidates.
“Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling National League for Democracy have turned their backs on human rights concerns since taking power, betraying promises to Myanmar’s people to revoke repressive laws and break with abusive past practices,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “By winning a significant parliamentary majority, the NLD has an opportunity to introduce rights-respecting reforms that would protect everyone.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Racial or ethnic discrimination in Burma: reports of violations against several groups, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Bangladesh, Myanmar and China will hold a tripartite meeting on Rohingya repatriation in Dhaka on January 19, as Dhaka finds their repatriation to Myanmar as the only solution to the crisis.
"We hope it would be a fruitful meeting," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Wednesday about the tripartite talks.
He said the meeting would be held at secretary level. The last tripartite meeting like this was held on January 20 last year.
The foreign minister said Bangladesh had handed over a list of 840,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification.
"Myanmar has verified very few people. They are very slow. They verified only 42,000 people. There is (a) serious lack of seriousness," said the foreign minister.
Dr Momen said they were doing their part of the job, but Myanmar is not responding the same way.
Responding to a question, he said he is always hopeful of beginning repatriation as Myanmar has taken back their nationals before – in 1978 and 1992. The government earlier hinted that the repatriation talks would begin this month as there was no Rohingya repatriation and discussion in 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the general elections in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The Right to Mental Health for Rohingya Survivors of Genocide in Myanmar and Bangladesh
Description:
"It has been three years since “Saiful,” 27, escaped genocidal attacks in
Myanmar’s Rakhine State. His experience continues to affect him.
“I cannot think well,” he said. “I’ve become thin and gangly because of the
stress. I feel tired. I cannot eat well. I feel angry when I imagine the persecution.”
Born and raised in northern Rakhine State, Saiful survived grinding human
rights violations since his childhood, and in 2017, he witnessed mass atrocities
perpetrated by Myanmar Army soldiers against Rohingya civilians. In August
that year, at the height of Myanmar Army-led attacks on Rohingya, Saiful fled
massacres, deadly arson attacks, mass rape, and other crimes, leaving behind
murdered family and friends to join Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who
now number approximately one million.
“No one is helping us in proper ways,” he said from a refugee camp in Cox’s
Bazar District, Bangladesh. “I cannot sleep when I remember my relatives who
were killed. It is very difficult for me to do any work.”
Saiful is describing symptoms typically associated with Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), a serious mental health condition. In the case of Rohingya
who survived recent attacks, the mental harm of PTSD can be destructive,
impairing daily functioning and the ability to live a full and constructive life.
Saiful is unfortunately not the only Rohingya refugee suffering from serious
mental health conditions due to human rights violations and violence
perpetrated against Rohingya in Myanmar.
The quantitative research included in this report and conducted by a team
of ten Rohingya researchers and Fortify Rights provides new evidence of the
pervasive and severe mental health toll that human rights violations and
violence has had on the Rohingya community. This report documents and
analyzes the findings of this Rohingya-led participatory action research.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimate that 12 months after an
emergency, approximately 15 to 20 percent of adults will experience some
type of moderate or mild mental health disorder. The Rohingya are suffering
at significantly higher rates. The Rohingya-led participatory action research..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Mental health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
3.11 MB ( reduce version)
more
Description:
"When the Myanmar Army attacked and massacred ethnic Rohingya civilians in 2017, more than 700,000 men, women, and children fled to Bangladesh, some riddled with bullets, burns, and gaping wounds. Hundreds of villages were in ashes, razed by soldiers and their civilian proxies.
But long after the physical wounds scarred over, Rohingya continue to suffer mental harm on a massive scale. President-elect Biden can and should do something about it.
There are upwards of one million Rohingya refugees now languishing in Bangladesh. They are experiencing trauma, depression, and anxiety at staggering rates. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 15 to 20 percent of adults will experience some type of moderate or mild mental health disorder one year after an emergency, and in theory, those figures should decrease over time. By contrast, a new report published by Fortify Rights finds that 89 percent of Rohingya refugees in sprawling camps in Bangladesh are experiencing serious depression. Eighty-four percent are experiencing severe emotional distress. And a staggering 62 percent are experiencing symptoms equivalent to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—a debilitating condition that can prevent its victims from leading normal and constructive lives. What drives these extreme levels of distress?
Ongoing genocide in Myanmar is partly to blame, but the new quantitative data reveals that long-term systematic human rights violations in Myanmar and ongoing impunity are also key factors that continue to impact Rohingya mental health..."
Source/publisher:
"Time"
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Atrocities against Groups - documents, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Mental health
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
While stating that he has written to his counterpart in Myanmar in this regard, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh wants to initiate the repatriation of Rohingyas this year.
Description:
"Bangladesh has written to Myanmar over the issue of repatriation of Rohingya Muslims. The announcement by Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen comes days after the UNGA passed a resolution in this regard.
While addressing a press briefing on Sunday, AK Abdul Momen said he wrote a letter to his counterpart in Myanmar on the occasion of the New Year. "In the New Year, a letter has been sent to the State Council office in Myanmar," Momen said.
"Japan will also cooperate with us in the Rohingya repatriation. Japan has a huge investment in Myanmar. India and China are also working on the Rohingya repatriation. They all want a solution to this crisis," Momen said in response to a question.
Bangladesh wants to implement the repatriation process this year, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told journalists. He went on to add, "You know for many years, we have been trying this. After the start of the campaign in Rakhine on August 25, 2016, Rohingyas came to Bangladesh over a period of seven months and took refuge. Four lakh more Rohingyas have taken shelter in Bangladesh since."
The government of Myanmar, in the face of international pressure, signed an agreement with Bangladesh in this regard in 2016. However, the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims is yet to begin.
Referring to Myanmar's role in the repatriation, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Momen said, "You have repeatedly said that they will not go. You are saying that you will do it in a helpful environment so that it goes smoothly. But progress has been done. For this, political goodwill is needed. In the New Year, we hope you keep your word."..."
Source/publisher:
"India Today" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Bangladesh-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Last week, the Bangladesh government made it quite apparent that they won’t allow the displaced Rohingyas from neighbouring Myanmar, quarantined at Bhasan Char, to shift to the camp areas in the Cox’s Bazar region. They want the refugees to stay in the char region. The displaced people fear that they will be made to live there until they are repatriated to Myanmar.
More than 300 displaced Rohingyas were rescued by the Bangladesh navy in early May after being stranded at sea for more than two months, not being able to enter either Malaysia or Thailand due to Covid-19 scare. Following international pressure, Bangladesh became obliged to provide shelter.
However, the new arrivals were sent to Bhasan Char, a landmass made up of silts. This particular landmass is located at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal and the mouth of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system. It will be in the first area of impact if a tsunami or cyclone hits the region. Bangladesh, as is known, takes big hits by cyclones, year after year.
Bhasan Char was chosen under the initial strategy of Bangladesh — Ashrayan 3. It was planned to move the Rohingyas there. Nevertheless, since a UN team is yet to declare the place fit for habitation after technically assessing it, the plan to move the Rohingyas in December 2019 was halted. In February 2020, there were rumours that the land will not be provided to the Rohingyas anymore and will be made available to Bangladeshi citizens in need. However, with the current state of events, it seems that Covid-19 has become a good pretext for test-running the government’s pilot scheme since the spread of the disease remains too high within the camp areas..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The European Union has announced €32 million or Tk 3.04 billion in aid for the Rohingya refugees and their Bangladeshi host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
Description:
"Of this donation, €12 million or Tk 1.14 billion will be used in COVID-19 responses, the union said in a statement on Thursday.
The rest of the fund, €20 million or Tk 1.9 billion will address the need of both host communities and refugees through an integrated approach on improved access to basic services in education, food security and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene or WASH to enhance their resilience and protection.
The €20 million action also includes a complementary small cross-border operation worth €1 million to enhance conflict sensitivity and mutual understanding among civil society organisations assisting the refugees, internally displaced people and host communities on the other side of the border.
All EU-funded activities will address important cross-cutting issues such as protection of girls and women, sexual and gender-based violence and psychosocial support. The €32 million funding is an important contribution to Bangladesh’s continuous generosity and humanity in hosting Rohingya that fled neighbouring Myanmar,” said Rensje Teerink, the ambassador of the EU.
“It is part of the Team Europe global response to fight COVID-19 with a specific component supporting the needs of both Bangladeshi Host Communities of Cox’s Bazar and Rohingya in the camps to limit the crisis worsened by the pandemic,” she added..."
Source/publisher:
"bdnews24.com" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Convictions Obscure Widespread Military Impunity
Description:
"Myanmar’s court-martial conviction of three military personnel for crimes against ethnic Rohingya reflects ongoing government efforts to evade meaningful accountability, Human Rights Watch said today. Myanmar authorities have repeatedly failed to adequately investigate and prosecute grave abuses against Rohingya in Rakhine State, including crimes against humanity.
On June 30, 2020, the Myanmar military announced that two officers and a soldier had been convicted for “weakness in following the instructions” during the “Gu Dar Pyin incident.” Rakhine State’s Gu Dar Pyin village was the site of a massacre by the military on August 27-28, 2017, part of its campaign of mass atrocities that forced more than 740,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. The military did not provide any other information, such as the names and ranks of those convicted, their role in the massacre, or their sentences.
“Myanmar’s farcical court martial is the latest attempt to feign progress on accountability in an apparent attempt to influence the United Nations and international tribunals,” said Shayna Bauchner, assistant Asia researcher. “Foreign governments should demand Myanmar open its doors to truly independent and impartial international investigators.”
The Gu Dar Pyin court martial began in November 2019 following a military investigation led by Maj. Gen. Myat Kyaw that found “grounds to believe the soldiers did not fully comply with the rules of engagement.” Closed hearings were held in Buthidaung township through April 30..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
The following speech was delivered at the Liberation War Museum at the inaugural event for the Thread Exhibition on June 29
Description:
"Honourable Foreign Secretary; Mr Sarwar Ali, Trustee of the Liberation War Museum; Mr Mofidul Hoque, Trustee of the Museum and Director of the Centre for the Study of Genocide and Justice; distinguished participants; ladies and Gentlemen.
Let me begin by thanking the Liberation War Museum for allowing me to join this morning’s event on the occasion of World Refugee Day and to launch the “Thread Exhibit.” When the Liberation War Museum reached out to me, I did not hesitate. UNHCR has had a very long and historic partnership with the museum.
It’s also an honour to be part of such a distinguished panel and to be together, once again, with the Foreign Secretary, Ambassador Masud Bin Momen, who leads the Rohingya response in Bangladesh and stands at the very centre of our cooperation with the government to meet this challenge.
After working for UNHCR for more than three decades, I retain the same energy, commitment, and optimism that I had on my first day in 1987. Refugees are the source of my motivation, but the engagement of young people around the world -- the next generation of humanitarians -- are an inspiration.
The Thread Exhibition shows the different ways that people can connect and communicate about the refugee experience and show solidarity. I want to thank the students -- from Harvard University, Dhaka University, South Asian University, and others -- who have worked across continents and also across generations, with the honoured veterans of the Liberation War -- to make this exhibition happen.
The Thread Exhibition helps us understand that the Rohingya refugee crisis is about more than endless lines or undifferentiated masses of traumatized people who flooded into Bangladesh in late 2017 and spread across the hills of Ukhiya and Teknaf.
The Rohingya story is about individuals. Each refugee has a story to tell and has hopes and aspirations for the future. The Thread Exhibition makes us confront that human dimension by sharing with us work from the hands of the Rohingya refugees..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
In rare action, three military officers found guilty as Myanmar faces genocide charges at UN court over 2017 crackdown.
Description:
"Three Myanmar military officers have been found guilty by a court-martial investigating atrocities against the Rohingya in conflict-ridden Rakhine state, the army announced.
The rare action against members of the military on Tuesday comes as Myanmar faces charges of genocide at the UN's top court over a brutal 2017 crackdown against the Rohingya.
Some 750,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh during the crackdown, carrying with them accounts of widespread murder, rape and arson.
Rights groups accused security forces of committing atrocities in various villages, including Gu Dar Pyin, where they alleged at least five shallow mass graves had been found.
After initially denying the allegations, the military started court-martial proceedings in September last year, admitting there had been "weakness in following instructions" in the village.
The commander-in-chief's office announced on Tuesday that the court-martial had "confirmed the guilty verdict", and sentenced three officers.
No details were provided on the perpetrators, their crimes, or sentences.
Estimates from survivors in Bangladesh put the death toll from the village in the hundreds..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The exodus from more than 40 villages is continuing almost a week later, even though the order was revoked last Friday Rakhine state’s security and border affairs minister.
Description:
"Thousands of people in an area of western Myanmar where there have been clashes between the government and ethnic rebels have been fleeing from their villages over the past week after an evacuation order from officials.
The Rakhine state government in an order last Tuesday instructed village administrators in Rathedaung township to tell residents to stay away from their homes due to military plans to conduct a “clearance operation” against the rebels. “Clearance operation” is Myanmar military parlance for counter insurgency action.
The exodus from more than 40 villages is continuing almost a week later, even though the order was revoked last Friday Rakhine state’s security and border affairs minister. “Since the day the order was issued, more than 10,000 people from the operation area fled their villages,” Khin Maung Latt, an upper house member of parliament for Rathedaung township, said Monday.
The government has been embroiled for more than a year in an intermittent conflict with the Arakan Army, a well-trained and well-armed guerrilla force representing members of the area’s Rakhine ethnic group.
The guerrilla force is posing the strongest military challenge to the central government of the many ethnic minority groups who for decades have sought greater autonomy..."
Source/publisher:
"Hindustan Times " (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
About 1,400 Rohingyas have been stranded at sea this year -- and at least 130 of those have died, according to IOM
Description:
"A group of Rohingyas says they were beaten by traffickers and drank their own urine to stay alive on a perilous four-month journey at sea until their dramatic rescue near the Indonesian coast.
The bedraggled survivors -- about 100 in all, mostly women and children --described a high-seas horror story that saw them reduced to throwing the dead overboard as their rickety craft drifted thousands of kilometres towards Malaysia.
Two survivors claimed that people smugglers paid to transport them had beaten the Rohingyas who were later moved to a new boat and abandoned at sea.
They were rescued by fishermen in Indonesia on Wednesday and pulled to shore by locals the next day, thousands of kilometres south of Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
In an exclusive interaction, Maung Zarni said Myanmar was taking advantage of strategic rivalry between China and India
Description:
"Maung Zarni, 56, scholar and activist, known for his opposition to the violence in Myanmar and his support to the Rohingya population said the Burmese military was taking advantage of strategic rivalry between China and India and blamed genocide of Rohingya to an institutional hate campaign.
Born in a Burmese Buddhist family, Zarni said a campaign of ignorance was manufactured in his country through schools, mass media, and Buddhist organizations against Rohingya, which eventually culminated in the genocide.
“The Burmese public has been made ignorant of the facts about Islam and Muslims,” said Zarni in an exclusive interaction with Anadolu Agency.
Co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition and the Forces of Renewal Southeast Asia, the UK-based scholar said there was no reason for the Burmese government to target Rohingya as they do not demand secession, independence, or even a regional autonomy.
“Rohingya are not fighting with any community or with the government. They want to live in Burma as peacefully as anybody,” he said.
He said it is Rakhine Buddhists who are fighting the central government of ethnic Burmese to reclaim their sovereignty, they have lost 200 years ago.
Zarin said the Rohingya have become sandwiched between the two waring Buddhist parties.
“That is the only conflict there, “he said, adding that the world does not know these facts about Myanmar and tends to focus on Muslims versus the Buddhist paradigm.
The activist further said that the Burmese military was also taking advantage of strategic rivalry between China and India in the region.
“The multi-billion-dollar projects along the Arakan the coastline, or like giving the mineral rights concessions or gas exploration rights, you will see a pattern of the Burmese military, making sure both India and China received something. In other words, while they are playing India and China against each other, to maintain the benefits of being allies with both powers,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Transparency, accountability in the process of disbursement of aid is very critical, says, foreign minister
Description:
"Foreign Minister Dr AK Abul Momen on Tuesday called on the UK to exert more pressure on Myanmar for solving the Rohingya crisis urgently by sustainable repatriation.
He made this call during the videoconference with UK DFID Secretary of State Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
Dr Momen expressed his sympathy for the severity of Covid-19 in the UK, and briefed Trevelyan on the steps taken by Bangladesh to contain the deadly virus, reports UNB.
He briefed Secretary of State for DFID about the economic and social impact of coronavirus in Bangladesh, including the challenge of job loss by a significant number of Bangladeshi migrant workers abroad, particularly in the Middle East.
Dr Momen requested the support of the UK in overcoming this difficulty.
Foreign Minister Momen flagged that Myanmar has not done anything to date for the repatriation of Rohingyas.
He insisted that until the international community exerts more pressure on Myanmar, including by putting trade and investment moratorium, the Rohingya crisis will not be resolved.
While thanking DFID as a longstanding development partner of Bangladesh, Dr Momen pointed out that transparency, accountability, and aid effectiveness regarding disbursement of aid are critical.
He requested the UK to keep the government of Bangladesh informed of the different development programs, modes of distribution, and modalities of development activities carried out by DFID in Bangladesh.
DFID Secretary Trevelyan assured Foreign Minister Momen of following transparent mechanism in this regard.
Trade, climate issues
They also discussed the issue of climate change and committed to working together for addressing the global challenge.
Dr Momen informed Trevelyan about the Climate Vulnerable Forum, where Bangladesh is the chair now, and suggested that the UK could help Bangladesh to strengthen the Forum.
2020/06/samsung-june-offer-dt-1170x90-1592483732604.gif
Foreign Minister Momen also raised the issue of RMG export to the UK is severely affected during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
He flagged that even now, close to $300 million worth of confirmed orders have been cancelled by different British brands and retailers.
Dr Momen requested for the support of the government of the UK to solve this problem of defaulting on confirmed orders by UK companies.
He suggested that a Covid-19 recovery fund could be created to address this particular issue
Dr Momen also briefed Trevelyan about the trade and investment opportunities in Bangladesh.
He flagged the advantages of investing in Bangladesh and suggested that the UK, a major investor in Bangladesh, could further diversify its investment here..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"LHOKSEUMAWE — Nearly 100 Rohingya from Myanmar, including 30 children, have been rescued from a rickety wooden boat off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island, a maritime official said Wednesday.
Images shot from Indonesian rescue boats showed dozens of children and adults, many weeping, after they had been plucked from their vessel by local fishermen.
"The boat with Rohingya onboard was broken and floating in the middle of the sea when the fishermen found them," said Mr Muhammad Nasir, head of the maritime authority in Sumatra's northernmost Aceh province.
They had gone without food for several days, officials said.
Support independent journalism in Myanmar. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
Malaysia and Indonesia are favoured destinations for Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar, with thousands trying a perilous escape via smugglers across the sea every year. Around a million live in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh, where human trafickers also run lucrative operations promising to find them sanctuary abroad.
Their plight has been compounded in recent months by the coronavirus, with boats of asylum seekers turned away for fear they may be harbouring the deadly virus.
Amnesty International Indonesia's executive director Mr Usman Hamid urged authroties to treat the latest arrivals humanely..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
In its 43rd session, the 47-member UNHRC adopted the resolution on Monday in Geneva by a vote of 37 in favour, 2 against and 8 abstentions
Description:
"The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted a resolution calling upon Myanmar to create conditions and to establish a plan conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingyas and all refugees and forcibly displaced persons.
The resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar also stressed the need to effectively address the root causes of human rights violations and abuses against ethnic minorities, including the Rohingyas, in the Rakhine State.
In its 43rd session, the 47-member UNHRC adopted the resolution on Monday in Geneva by a vote of 37 in favour, 2 against and 8 abstentions.
Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Fiji, Germany, Italy, Libya, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Ukraine and Uruguay voted in favour.
The Philippines and Venezuela voted against while Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal and Senegal abstained.
The UNHRC urged the government of Myanmar to grant full and unhindered access to the diplomatic corps, independent observers and representatives of the national and international independent media, without fear of reprisal, intimidation or attack, and to lift the Internet shutdown in Rakhine and Chin States that has been in place in four townships since June 21, 2019, and five more townships since February 3, 2020..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Violence against children increased sixfold in first three months of 2020 compared with the last three months of 2019.
Description:
"The escalation in fighting between Myanmar's military and ethnic Rakhine rebels in recent months has triggered a surge in violence against children and left some villagers facing starvation.
The humanitarian group, Save the Children, said in a report on Tuesday that the conflict in the far west of Myanmar has left children increasingly exposed.
"The widespread use of mines and improvised explosive devices poses a specific threat to children," Duncan Harvey, Save the Children's top official in Myanmar, said in a statement. "The numbers paint a stark picture," Harvey said, pointing to the report, which verified dozens of incidents of children being killed or maimed.
Between January and March this year in the central part of Rakhine State alone, 18 children were killed and 71 children were physically injured or maimed, according to the report. In comparison, there were three recorded cases of children being killed and 12 others injured between October-December 2019..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Children
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Fighting in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is taking a rising toll. It will hinder any effort to contain COVID-19 or resolve the Rohingya crisis. Rather than trying to defeat the Arakan Army, Naypyitaw should negotiate with ethnic Rakhine, endeavouring to convince them of electoral democracy’s benefits.
Description:
"The armed conflict being waged between government forces and the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army in western Myanmar is currently the most serious by far of the country’s multiple, decades-old internal wars, with some of the most sustained and intense fighting seen in many years. After the conflict escalated significantly in early 2019, the government ordered a tough military response and on 23 March designated the Arakan Army as a terrorist organisation. These measures have exacerbated the grievances underlying the conflict and made a negotiated end to the fighting more difficult to attain. At the same time, neither side will be able to achieve their military objectives. The government needs a political strategy, now missing, to negotiate with Rakhine leaders, address their community’s grievances, and demonstrate that electoral democracy and political negotiation offer a realistic and effective path to realising their aspirations. The trajectory of the armed conflict is alarming, complicating problems in a state already traumatised by the separate crisis that resulted in the violent expulsion of more than 700,000 minority Rohingya to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2016-2017. Over the last eighteen months, clashes have increased in regularity and intensity, their geographical scope has expanded and the civilian toll has grown. Despite the significant loss of life on both sides, nothing suggests that Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, is wearing down the Arakan Army or degrading its ability to operate. But nor is there reason to believe that the Arakan Army can achieve its aim of greater political autonomy on the battlefield. Civilians are paying a heavy price, caught in the crossfire or targeted as Arakan Army partisans or for harbouring fighters in their villages. Schools and medical facilities have been hit with alarming regularity, with each side usually blaming the other. It is difficult to see how general elections, which were provisionally slated for November, could be held in many parts of Rakhine State, the conflict’s locus..."
Source/publisher:
"International Crisis Group (ICG)" (Belgium)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Several hundred Rohingya stranded since February after countries sealed borders to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Description:
"People traffickers holding hundreds of Rohingya refugees at sea are demanding payments from their families to release them from boats off the shores of Southeast Asia, relatives and rights groups say.
Several hundred Rohingya, members of a largely Muslim minority from Myanmar fleeing persecution at home and refugee camps in Bangladesh, have been stranded for months after countries sealed their borders to block the spread of the coronavirus.
More:
'Desperate journeys': Rohingya children recall ordeal at sea
Lawyers seek Facebook posts of Myanmar leaders in Rohingya case
Rohingya crisis through the eyes of Al Jazeera's journalists
Three people who said their relatives were at sea told the Reuters news agency that traffickers had demanded money to release them from boats that have been off Southeast Asia since February, trying to find a place to land.
"Before, the deal was that if they were able to reach the Malaysian shore then they will take the money, but they're asking for it now," said Mohammed Ayas, who said his 16-year-old brother left a refugee camp in Bangladesh in February.
Since then, the family has heard nothing from him, Ayas said.
Musha, whose two sisters are also at sea after leaving camps in Bangladesh in February, said brokers acting for the traffickers asked the family to pay 12,000 ringgit ($2,800) via a mobile banking service for their transfer to Malaysia.
He said the family paid the sum but did not know the fate of the two teenaged girls.
For years, Rohingya have boarded boats between November and April, when the seas are calm, to get to Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. But coronavirus lockdowns have left boats stranded at sea.
Dozens of people died on board a boat that had to return to Bangladesh in April after running out of food and water, survivors told Reuters..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Trafficking: global, regional and national reports
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Earlier, a 71-year old man died at isolation centre of Rohingya camp on June 1
Description:
"Two more Rohingya men died from coronavirus on Monday, taking total death in the Rohingya camp to three.
One of them was 58 years old and a resident of camp-10 while another was 70 years and a resident of camp-7 in Ukhiya, said Dr Abu Toha MRH Bhuiyan, health coordinator of the Refugee, Relief and Rehabilitation Commission.
Besides, five more Rohingyas were diagnosed with coronavirus on Monday, he said adding that total number coronavirus cases rose to 35 till Monday.
Meanwhile, two Rohingya men made recovery from coronavirus. Earlier, a 71-year old man died at isolation centre of Rohingya camp on June 1.
Earlier on May 16, two more Rohingyas were diagnosed with coronavirus at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar, forcing the local administration to put some 5,000 Rohingyas at the camp under complete lockdown.
Bangladesh is hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas, most of them entered Bangladesh since August 25, 2017..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Especially since the internet was cut off in Rohingya refugee camps, bicycles and rickshaws play a vital role in sending messages
Description:
"Social distancing is a crucial aspect of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. But that poses challenges to the flow of key information during a time when being well-informed is also critical to public health.
Especially since the internet was cut off in Rohingya refugee camps, bicycles and rickshaws play a vital role in sending messages far and wide.
In Cox’s Bazar, the world’s largest refugee camp, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continues to explore new ways to bring key messages to Rohingya and host community members throughout the district.
Initiatives like passing on messages via rickshaws and IOM’s Interactive Voice Response system are making huge contributions in ensuring that the public is kept informed.
However, gaps remain where phone and road access are limited.
To amplify key messaging and ensure that no one is left without access to lifesaving information, IOM’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) unit in Cox’s Bazar began delivering information throughout the Rohingya settlements by bicycle.
In line with the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations “green recovery” recommendations to encourage a culture of cycling, IOM is supporting Rohingya participants to use bicycles procured and painted locally to ride throughout pre-identified sections of the camp. Thye cyclists use megaphones to deliver pre-recorded messages to each area.
The initiative is conducted by Rohingya refugees, for Rohingya refugees, and has already reached approximately 67,000 beneficiaries across the camp. Scaled-up messaging will continue as Covid-19 numbers rise..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Human rights lawyers: Facebook posts of officials 'may constitute evidence of genocidal intent' against Muslim minority.
Description:
"Lawyers bringing a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Myanmar of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority have asked a United States district court to order Facebook to release posts and communications from the country's military and police.
The ICJ, based in the Hague, has agreed to hear a case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya in violation of a 1948 convention.
More:
UN's Guterres asks Bangladesh to move Rohingya to refugee camps
First coronavirus case found in Bangladesh Rohingya refugee camps
Bangladesh quarantines hundreds of Rohingya rescued from sea
The ICJ, a United Nations court commonly known as the World Court, accepts cases between states, and the case against Myanmar was brought by the Gambia with the backing of a group of Muslim countries.
Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have fled a crackdown in mainly Buddhist Myanmar, which considers members of its Rohingya minority to be foreigners. Rights groups have documented killings of civilians and burning of villages. Myanmar authorities say they have been battling an insurgency and deny carrying out systematic atrocities.
In 2018 UN human rights investigators said that Facebook had played a key role in spreading hate speech that fuelled violence in Myanmar. Facebook has said it is working to block hate speech.
A request, filed on behalf of the Gambia on June 8 with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, calls on Facebook to release "all documents and communications produced, drafted, posted or published on the Facebook page" of Myanmar military officials and police forces..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
A new report has detailed how movement restrictions are devastating the lives of Rohingya in Rakhine and helping to maintain their enforced segregation from the state’s other ethnic groups.
Description:
"On May 25, the government published a report in The Global New Light of Myanmar that detailed progress made in Rakhine State implementing recommendations of the Rakhine State Advisory Commission.
One of the items that drew my particular attention showed the discrepancy in access to tertiary health care between Muslims and other ethnicities. Of 26,860 patients treated between September and December last year at Sittwe General Hospital, the state’s only tertiary medical institution, only 814 – or just 3 percent – were Muslim.
Since the flight of hundreds of thousands Rohingya to Bangladesh in 2017, Muslims (Rohingya and Kaman) probably comprise between 20pc and 25pc of the state’s population. This puts the fact that they accounted for only 3pc of admissions to Sittwe General Hospital in a stark light.
This new information is welcome because acknowledging such discrepancies should spark efforts to understand and address them. A new report does just that. Support independent journalism in Myanmar. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
The report, Freedom of Movement in Rakhine State, by the Independent Rakhine Initiative, an evidence-based advocacy project, sheds light on reasons for this particular discrepancy, and much more. The study was conducted between March 2019 and January 2020 and used a qualitative methodology consisting of a literature review and interviews and focus group discussions with 211 individuals. It builds on an evidence base of 1,056 interviews conducted for IRI’s earlier reports on access to health, education and livelihoods.
It shows that perhaps more than any other human right, freedom of movement does not stand on its own. It “underpins the ability of individuals to live free and dignified lives, and is instrumental for the enjoyment of other rights, including access to health care, education and livelihoods”. IRI researched one of the key recommendations of the final report in August 2017 of the Rakhine State Advisory Commission, led by the late Mr Kofi Annan: to undertake a mapping exercise to identify all existing restrictions on movement in Rakhine affecting the state’s diverse ethnic communities and to develop a roadmap for the lifting of restrictions..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Bangladesh and Myanmar are at odds over the origin of two coronavirus cases confirmed among the latter’s Rohingya community.
The dispute started when Myanmar’s Health Ministry confirmed that two Rohingya men -- a Muslim and a Hindu -- had tested positive for COVID-19 in the country.
Some media outlets in Myanmar, citing local lawmakers, reported that both men had recently returned from the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in southern Bangladesh, home to more than 1 million Rohingya refugees.
However, on Tuesday, Dhaka rejected the reports as “totally false and baseless.”
Mahbub Alam Talukder, Bangladesh's commissioner for refugees, relief, and repatriation, said the claim was a continuation of Myanmar’s “fabricated speeches.”
“This is completely wrong and inaccurate information. No Rohingya has returned to Myanmar from Bangladesh in the past few years,” he told Anadolu Agency.
He said such a journey would be particularly hard right now due to the coronavirus restrictions imposed in Rohingya camps.
“It’s quite impossible for any Rohingya person to go from Bangladesh to Myanmar amid the virus restrictions,” said Talukder.
On June 4, Myanmar said a Rohingya man who tested positive for COVID-19 was admitted to a hospital in Maungdaw, a town near its western border with Bangladesh.
Soe Aung, district administrator for Maungdaw, said the 38-year-old patient was among five Rohingya people who returned to Rakhine state from Bangladesh on May 30, according to local online website Narinjara.
Then, late on Monday, the Health Ministry said a 25-year-old Rohingya Hindu man was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19.
“Villagers said he arrived alone on June 3. Some people who have come into contact with him have also been shifted to a quarantine site for 21 days,” Aung told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.
Myanmar has a total of 244 cases, including six deaths and 159 recoveries, while Bangladesh’s overall count is at 71,675, with 975 deaths and over 15,300 recoveries.
According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a brutal crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017, bringing the number of the persecuted people in Bangladesh to above 1.2 million.
Although a plan to repatriate Rohingya refugees has stalled, Myanmar in April claimed that more than 600 Rohingya had returned from Bangladesh of their own volition.
In a statement last week, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen accused Myanmar of not accepting a single Rohingya person in the last three years since the community’s August 2017 exodus..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Testimonies reveal harrowing details of life on ships, as Malaysia detains more than 200 Rohingya found off Langkawi.
Description:
"Left to starve for months at sea, Rohingya children who escaped Bangladesh's refugee camps took "desperate" journeys to reach Malaysia on flimsy smuggling boats, according to a new report released as it emerged Malaysian authorities had detained nearly 300 Rohingya trying to reach the country by sea.
Testimonies by refugee children, who were rescued from a boat found adrift in the Bay of Bengal in April, revealed how they were beaten and forced to watch their parents' bodies thrown overboard. UN's Guterres asks Bangladesh to move Rohingya to refugee camps
First coronavirus case found in Bangladesh Rohingya refugee camps
Bangladesh quarantines hundreds of Rohingya rescued from sea
"It is clear that Rohingya families are still so desperate that they are ready to make dangerous journeys, often at the mercy of criminal organisations," Hassan Saadi Noor, Asia Regional Director of Save the Children, which compiled the report, said in a statement.
Hassan is urging countries across the region "to share the responsibility" of both protecting and providing for the Rohingya, while also working with Myanmar to find a long-term solution to this crisis.
"As long as Rohingya do not see a future for themselves, families will continue to make dangerous journeys and put themselves in harm's way in search of a better life," Hassan said..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Children, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Malaysia on Monday (Jun 8) detained 269 Rohingya migrants when they tried to enter the country on a damaged boat off the holiday island of Langkawi, authorities said.
The Southeast Asian country, which does not recognise refugee status, has been a favoured destination for ethnic Rohingya who fled a 2017 military-led crackdown in Myanmar and more recently squalid conditions in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Acting on a tip-off received a day earlier, Malaysian authorities intercepted a boat ferrying the Rohingya in the pre-dawn hours of Monday off Langkawi off the northwestern corner of the Malaysian peninsula.
A coastguard vessel spotted the suspected migrant boat off the island, and was set to push it out to international waters, authorities said.
But as the coastguards approached, 53 Rohingya jumped into the sea and were detained.
"An inspection of their boat found 216 Rohingya migrants and the body of one female illegal immigrant. Further inspections found that the boat was deliberately damaged ... making it unfit to be turned back," Malaysia's National Task Force (NTF) on border patrol said in a statement.
According to the statement, a Marine Police Team boat and the KM Kimanis from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) were sent to the scene to carry out surveillance and deportation operations.
"When the KM Kimanis approached the boat, 53 of the Rohingya jumped off the boat and swam ashore, but they were all arrested by MMEA personnel who were standing by on land," said the statement.
The KM Kimanis also provided food and fresh water to them. The National Security Council allowed the boat to be towed to the Teluk Ewa Jetty in Langkawi..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Malaysia-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"This year, Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) partners – UN agencies and NGOs, together with the Government of Bangladesh, mark World Environment Day and its 2020 theme of biodiversity amidst a COVID-19 pandemic in the Rohingya refugee camps and host communities. Humanitarian partners renew their commitment to safeguard the environment and biodiversity in Cox’s Bazar District, which hosts the world’s largest refugee settlements and is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.
Since the Rohingya influx in August 2017 and under the leadership of the Government, UN agencies and NGOs have made collective strides in restoring the unique forest reserves and conserving endangered species including elephants, in Ukhiya and Teknaf, and the wider district. Humanitarian actors have reforested over 1,000 hectaresin the camps and surrounding host communities, including through the planting of indigenous species to stabilize land against erosion, which helps to protect Rohingya and Bangladeshi families from the dangers of slope failures and flooding.
The humanitarian community has also implemented watershed management strategies that are safeguarding streams, canals, banks, reservoirs, and ponds, and simultaneously reducing landslide vulnerability to protect the lives and property of Bangladeshi and Rohingya people living Cox’s Bazar District. Furthermore, UN agencies and NGOs have provided livelihoods support in sustainable climate-smart agriculture. Furthermore, efforts have been made to install solar powered lighting within the camps including in public areas and at the household level..."
Source/publisher:
ISCG via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
117.26 KB 161.21 KB
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Sub-title:
Bangladesh has urged the European Union to put more pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees living in makeshift camps in Cox's Bazar.
Description:
"Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen made the appeal during a courtesy phone call with Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney yesterday, said a press statement issued by the foreign ministry.
Momen thanked his Irish counterpart for the continued support on the Rohingya issue but also expressed deep concern over the lack of progress in the repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.
To date, Myanmar has not taken back a single Rohingya refugee since some 750,000 Rohingya refugees fled brutal military crackdown in the Rakhine state of Myanmar from August 2017.
The foreign minister hoped that if elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Ireland will play a more robust role in the Council. Simon Coveney told Momen that Bangladesh has shown extraordinary generosity in hosting a huge number of persecuted Rohingyas from Myanmar.
"Bangladesh has played a very significant role in extending temporary shelter to this huge number of Rohingyas, a number almost equivalent to a quarter of the population of Ireland," he added.
The Irish minister applauded the leadership role of Bangladesh in UN Peacekeeping and expressed willingness to work jointly in this area.
Dr Momen informed his counterpart about the availability of a huge pool of IT experts (6,00,000) whose expertise could be used by Ireland.
He also requested the Irish government to ease and facilitate visa procedures for Bangladesh nationals.
Momen also expressed concern that many foreign buyers are dishonouring their contracts during this pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
"The Daily Star" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Rohingya refugees infected with coronavirus are fleeing quarantine in their Bangladesh camps because they fear being transferred to an isolated island in the Bay of Bengal, community leaders said on Thursday (Jun 4).
At least two infected refugees have gone missing since testing positive for the virus after the first COVID-19 death was reported on Tuesday, they said.
About one million Rohingya - most of whom fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017 - are packed into camps along the Bangladesh border, and the coronavirus has become the latest cause of misery.
Aid agencies have long warned that the virus could cause chaos in the overcrowded camps, where social distancing is virtually impossible.
So far only 29 infections have been detected, although 16,000 Rohingya are in quarantine zones within the camps.
It was not immediately clear how many tests have been conducted in the camps, but a senior health official said two people who proved positive had "fled the isolation hospital". He added that only 20 refugees agreed to be tested in the past two days because they believe those infected will be sent to Bhashan Char island in the Bay of Bengal.
"It has created mass panic," Nurul Islam, a community leader, told AFP.
Bangladesh authorities have long wanted to establish a camp for 100,000 people on the isolated island, and have already sent 306 Rohingya there..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
38-year-old man is among 5 Rohingya who reportedly returned to Myanmar's Rakhine state from Bangladesh
Description:
"A Rohingya man in Myanmar tested positive for the novel coronavirus, authorities said on Thursday, the first confirmed case in the persecuted Muslim minority in the country's western Rakhine state.
The Rohingya man is being treated at a public hospital in Maungdaw, a town near Myanmar’s western border with neighboring Bangladesh, the Health and Sports Ministry announced.
The 38-year-old man was among five Rohingya people who returned to Rakhine from Bangladesh on May 30, according to Narinjara, an online news outlet based in the state capital Sittwe.
Citing Maungdaw district administrator Soe Aung, it said a five-member family of returnees from Bangladesh to Myanmar has been quarantined at a transition camp since May 31.
Maung Ohme, a lawmaker from Maungdaw, confirmed the return of a Rohingya family on May 30.
"Swab samples of five people who returned from Bangladesh were sent to Yangon for testing, and one tested positive," he told Anadolu Agency by phone on Thursday.
"He is now in hospital, but his four fellow family members, who tested negative, are still at Hla Phoe Kaung transition camp," he added..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"29 confirmed cases of COVID19 in the Rohingya refugee camps, of a total 798 confirmed cases in the District – see IEDCR
6,514 older persons in the camps and host communities received COVID-19 awareness messages through community engagement activities
21,913 Bangladeshi households in Ukhiya and Teknaf received agricultural inputs (12,135 HH) and cash support (9,778 HH) to support livelihoods impacted by COVID-19
5,641 hand-washing stations installed in public places in the camps as well as at 80 entry points to the camps
20,000 Rohingya mothers trained on how to check the nutritional status of their children for referral to integrated nutrition facilities
33,091 Rohingya learners received COVID19 education guidelines in their households from 376 Burmese Language Instructors..."
Source/publisher:
ISCG via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
272.49 KB - reduce version
more
Sub-title:
Aid workers warn of a humanitarian disaster if the outbreak is not checked in the world's largest cluster of camps.
Description:
"An elderly Rohingya refugee has become the first person to die from the novel coronavirus in the camps in southern Bangladesh, officials said.
The man, aged 71, died on May 31 while undergoing treatment at the camp's isolation centre, said Bimal Chakma, a senior official of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission, on Tuesday.
More:
Coronavirus: In dense Bangladesh, social distancing a tough task
Coronavirus pandemic threatens Bangladesh garment industry
Bangladesh scientists create $3 kit. Can it help detect COVID-19?
"Today we got the confirmation that he tested positive for COVID-19," he said, referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
The Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are members of a mostly Muslim minority who fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017. More than a million of them live in camps in Cox's Bazar, a coastal district in southeast Bangladesh.
The death was in the Kutupalong shelter - the biggest refugee camp in the world - which alone is home to roughly 600,000 people..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
In a significant development, Buenos Aires court admits petition to probe Myanmar leaders’ role in Rohingya genocide
Description:
"A court in South American country of Argentina has decided to pursue a case against Myanmar's leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi and senior officers in the military over the genocide and persecution against Rohingya community.
In a statement issued on Monday, Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK) said that Argentina’s Federal Criminal Chamber No. 1 has accepted its petition and asked to collect more information on the Rohingya genocide.
The court, in its decision on May 29, overturned a previous order when it had rejected to admit a similar petition seeking to probe the role of Myanmar leadership in the acts of genocide.
“A court in Buenos Aires on Friday overturned a previous order of not to pursue a case against [Myanmar’s] State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and senior officers in the Tatmadaw [the Myanmar military],” the statement said.
“The court has now requested more information from the International Criminal Court (ICC), to ensure that the case in Argentina would not duplicate other efforts of justice,” the statement added.
An Argentinian court on Dec. 9, 2019, had rejected the lawsuit filed by BROUK seeking to open an investigation into the role of Myanmar’s civilian and military leaders in committing genocide and crimes against the Rohingya.
Citing the principle of “universal jurisdiction”, the BROUK pleaded that the cases of genocide and extreme crimes against humanity can be tried in any court across the globe.
Earlier the court had pointed out that admission of the petition would amount duplicating the investigation launched by the ICC.
The ICC on Nov. 14, 2019, approved a full investigation into Myanmar's alleged crimes against the minority Rohingya Muslims..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
"Nobody knows how many people have died. It could be 50 or even more," recalls Khadiza Begum.
Description:
"The 50-year-old was among 396 Rohingya Muslims who had tried to reach Malaysia but who finally returned to the Bangladeshi shore after the boat carrying them was stranded at sea for two months.
Her estimate on the number of deaths comes from the funerals her son officiated as an imam, a Muslim preacher, on the same boat.
The human smugglers never delivered them to their longed-for destination.
Khadiza had to run away from her home in Myanmar because of violence that UN investigators described as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
Neighbouring Bangladesh gave her shelter, settling the fleeing Rohingya Muslims in what has now become the world's largest refugee camp.
Around one million Rohingya are housed in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, and some among them, like Khadiza, hold dreams of a better life in Malaysia, lying across the Bay of Bengal..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Last Sunday, Myanmar submitted its first report to the International Court of Justice, elaborating on the measures it has taken to protect the Rohingya ethnic minority from genocide. The ICJ had issued a provisional order on Myanmar in January following a call to action made by The Gambia, urging Myanmar to take all necessary means to prevent genocide acts and incitement from happening.
In 2017, Myanmar’s military launched a clearance operation in the Rakhine state in response to an offensive attack by an armed Rohingya group. The violent aftermath that followed this crackdown has forced more than 750,000 Rohingya minority to flee to Bangladesh, languishing in squalid conditions in the world’s largest refugee camp. Another 600,000 Rohingya citizens still reside in the Southern area of Myanmar.
The ongoing crackdown of Myanmar’s security forces had led to mass killing, rape, torture, forced displacement, and other human rights violations, which the ICJ has cited as war crimes or crimes against humanity. Rohingya’s villager homes were ransacked and set on fire, which could be seen from the border in Bangladesh. Discrimination against the Rohingya, however, is not a new phenomenon. According to Aljazeera, “nearly all Rohingya have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless. They are denied freedom of movement and other basic rights.” The Rohingya have been described by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as one of the most discriminated and persecuted populations in the world..."
Source/publisher:
"The Organization for World Peace"
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Three sections of camps in Bangladesh blocked off by authorities after confirmed infections among refugees hit 29.
Description:
"At least 15,000 Rohingya refugees are under quarantine in Bangladesh's vast camps, as the number of confirmed coronavirus infections there rose to 29.
Health experts have long warned that the virus could race through the cramped settlements, housing almost a million Rohingya who fled violence in Myanmar, and officials had restricted movement in the area in April. More:
First coronavirus case found in Bangladesh Rohingya refugee camps
Rohingya refugees sketch their stories through 'grassroot comics'
Coronavirus shutdown threatens Chicago's Rohingya cultural centre
Despite this, the first cases in the camps were detected in mid-May.
"None of the infections are critical. Most hardly show any symptoms. Still, we have brought them in isolation centres and quarantined their families," Toha Bhuiyan, a senior health official in the surrounding Cox's Bazar area told AFP news agency on Monday. He said narrow roads to three camp districts - where the majority of the infections were detected - have been blocked off by authorities. The 15,000 Rohingya inside these so-called blocks faced further restrictions on their movement, he said.
This comes as charity workers expressed fears over being infected in the camps as they worked without adequate protection.
Two of the areas under isolation are in Kutupalong camp, home to roughly 600,000 Rohingya.
"We are trying to scale up testing as fast as possible to make sure that we can trace out all the infected people and their contacts," Bhuiyan said..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"At least 25 more people in Cox’s Bazar, including four Rohingyas refugees, tested positive for Covid-19 between Sunday and Monday morning, according to sources in Cox’s Bazar Medical College Hospital.
Of the new samples from 90 people, which were tested at the hospital’s laboratory, 25 tested positive and 69 negative, confirmed Dr Md Shahjahan Nazir, an associate Professor at the hospital.
With the new patients, a total of 381 people have so far tested Covid-19 positive in different areas of Cox’s Bazar district, and 29 of them are Rohingyas living in refugee camps.
Four people have died and 64 people recovered from the disease so far in the district..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Some 15,000 Rohingya refugees are now under coronavirus quarantine in Bangladesh's vast camps, officials said on Monday (May 25), as the number of confirmed infections rose to 29.
Health experts have long warned that the virus could race through the cramped settlements, housing almost a million Muslims who fled violence in Myanmar, and officials had restricted movement to the area in April.
Despite this, the first cases in the camps were detected in mid-May.
"None of the infections are critical. Most hardly show any symptoms. Still we have brought them in isolation centres and quarantined their families," Toha Bhuiyan, a senior health official in the surrounding Cox's Bazar area told AFP.
He said narrow roads to three districts of the camps - where the majority of the infections were detected - have been blocked off by authorities.
The 15,000 Rohingya inside these so-called blocks faced further restrictions on their movement, he said. It comes as charity workers expressed fears over being infected in the camps as they worked without adequate protection.
Two of the areas under isolation are in Kutupalong camp, home to roughly 600,000 Rohingya..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"No confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported in Rohingya camp as of 19 April 2020. However, six COVID-19 positive cases were reported from host community in Cox’s Bazar.
WHO is leading the health sector and working together with ISCG, providing technical support and guidance to partners setting up Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) facilities. The health sector confirmed commitment from seven identified partners to support the rapid establishment of 11 SARI isolation and treatment centers(ITCs) in the camps and nearby host population as of 18 April 2020.
A Standard Operating Procedure of COVID-19 surveillance and contact tracing draft with key elements to assess the risk effectively, has been finalized and shared with Epidemiology working group (WG) members...As per UNHCR report of March 2020, there are 859 808 Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar. This includes 34 917 refugees from Myanmar who registered before 31st August 2017. All Rohingyas, including new arrivals, face compounding vulnerabilities, including in health. WHO has been responding to this crisis since September 2017. A summary of response actions from epidemiological weeks 13 to 16 of 2020 is presented below..."
Source/publisher:
World Health Organization (Geneva) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
289.94 KB
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Authorities put camps under lockdown but failed to provide adequate food, masks, hand sanitizers, says head of NGO
Description:
"Rakhine state, a conflict-torn region in western Myanmar, finally reported the presence of COVID-19 as the country recorded nearly 200 cases late this week.
Two men in Rakhine, who recently returned from Malaysia, tested positive for coronavirus, raising concerns about the possible spread of the virus in overcrowded camps across the region.
“Now we have two patients, and imagine the situation in overcrowded camps once a refugee gets infected,” said San Kyaw Hla, who chairs the Rakhine regional parliament.
“Sittwe, [capital of Rakhine] has overcrowded camps, but IDPs [internally displaced persons] still don’t have a chance to adopt protective measures,” he told Anadolu Agency.
“This virus is indiscriminate. It won’t spare anyone, regardless of race and religion.”
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs this February, Sittwe housed 103,557 out of 130,886 Rohingya Muslims, who were displaced by communal violence in mid-2012, in 16 makeshift camps.
More than 700 ethnic Rakhine recently arrived in Sittwe as they fled fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, a mainly Buddhist group that claims to fight for the rights of ethnic Rakhine.
Ongoing and escalating fighting displaced more than 164,221 civilians, mostly ethnic Buddhists, in 10 townships in Rakhine state since January 2019, according to the Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC), a local non-profit.
“There were only around 30,000 displaced people last April, and now the number exceeds 160,000,” said REC Secretary Zaw Zaw Tun.
“People are fleeing their homes to escape the fighting that is happening on a daily basis,” he told Anadolu Agency..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Document about steps Myanmar took for protecting Rohingya from genocide is with ICJ, official says as critics cry foul.
Description:
"Myanmar has submitted its first report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), detailing what it has done to protect the minority Rohingya from genocide.
The Hague-based court issued a provisional order in January, asking Myanmar to safeguard the mostly Muslim group in western Rakhine state as part of "provisional measures" at the start of a trial expected to take years.
More:
UN envoy calls for investigation into 'possible war crimes' in Myanmar
Eight killed in Myanmar's troubled western state of Rakhine
Myanmar to release 25,000 prisoners to mark New Year festival
The top UN court agreed last year to consider a case brought by The Gambia alleging that Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya, an accusation vigorously denied by the government.
Myanmar's military in August 2017 launched what it called a "clearance operation" in Rakhine state in response to an attack by a Rohingya armed group. The crackdown forced more than 730,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh and led to widespread accusations that security forces committed mass murder, gang rape, torture and arson.
A foreign ministry official told Turkey's Anadolu news agency the report submitted on Saturday was based on three directives issued by President Win Myint's office in April.
It is unclear if the court will make the report public.
Speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, the official said the president ordered the regional government and military not to remove or destroy evidence of a genocide.
He also instructed them to prevent genocidal acts as well as incitement and hate speech against the Rohingya.
"What I know is that the report was based on what we have done and what we are doing regarding these three directives," said the official..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Refugees Allege Torture, Limited Health Care, Food on Bhasan Char Print
Description:
"The Bangladesh government has kept over 300 Rohingya refugees confined on Bhasan Char, a remote silt island in the path of a “super cyclone” without adequate protections or safety measures, Human Rights Watch said today. Three people were reported killed in Bangladesh soon after the storm struck the coast.
The authorities should take immediate steps to ensure safety and transfer the refugees, including nearly 40 children, to the camps in Cox’s Bazar as soon as possible. The United Nations refugee agency and other humanitarian organizations are there, prepared to provide them with critical services and reunite them with their families.
“The Bangladesh government properly brought Rohingya refugees stranded at sea ashore, but holding them on a tiny island during a cyclone is dangerous and inhumane,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Our fear that Bhasan Char would become a ‘floating detention center’ has now turned into a fear of a submerged one.”
Cyclone Amphan made landfall on the Bangladesh coast on the evening of May 20, 2020, though it shifted course slightly so Bhasan Char is no longer in its direct path. Bangladesh’s Land Ministry has previously reported that Bhasan Char could be submerged by a strong cyclone at high tide. About 300 Bangladesh security officials are also on the island..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Cyclones - regional, Natural Disasters - General, Human Rights Watch Reports on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Crowded population, violation of social distancing rules contributing to rapid spread of virus in camps, says official
Description:
"Bangladesh’s crammed Rohingya camps are threatened with the coronavirus outbreak as the infection tally rose to 21 with eight new cases reported on Friday, a government official said on Saturday.
The first COVID-19 case in the world’s biggest refugee camps was recorded on May 14 and it took one week to push the infection tally to the second digit mark.
Mahbubur Rahman, the government civil surgeon in Cox’s Bazar, told Anadolu Agency that the high density of population and frequent violation of social distancing rules in the crowded Rohingya camps are responsible for the spread of the pandemic.
“Twenty-one infections in the packed camps of over one million people is not at all a big figure. We are trying to sort out the immediate contacts of the new infected to isolate them,” Rahman said.
He added: “Despite various preventive measures, virus transmission in Rohingya camps is continuing as social distancing rules are being violated.”
Since the novel coronavirus was first reported in China last December, human rights bodies and experts have been warning over possible rapid spread of coronavirus in Bangladesh’s packed camps if once the virus is transmitted there.
Bangladeshi authorities repeatedly assured wholeheartedly of preventive measures to stem the contagion in the camps..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
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"“I feel that I can support my people to protect them from Coronavirus by listening to their worries and giving them information.” – Noor Ahmed****, a Rohingya woman outreach volunteer. She is one of many Rohingya women volunteers at the frontline of the COVID-19 response who are sharing prevention messages in their communities and producing protective masks. Rohingya women like Noor have noted their appreciation for the opportunity to support their communities to prevent the spread of COVID-19, particularly as they are able to leave their homes and relieve the tension and anxiety of the pandemic situation confirmed cases of COVID19 in the Rohingya refugee camps.
4 confirmed cases of COVID19 in the Rohingya refugee camps. 199 confirmed cases in the District
44,972 WASH facilities and public buildings were disinfected in the camps and host communities
243,775 individuals in the camps and host community participated in community engagement activities on COVID-19
100 % nutrition frontline staff and volunteers in the camps and host community were oriented on COVID-19
38,801 students in the District received high energy biscuits as part of a school feeding programme
11 May a consultation paper by UN Women and IOM was published on Rohingya community social dynamics and COVID-19..."
Source/publisher:
Search Results Web results Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
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"The government in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has formally inaugurated first two Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Isolation and Treatment Centres (SARI ITCs) of Covid-19 in Cox’s Bazar for Rohingyas and host Bangladeshi communities there.
These two SARI ITCs, one located within Camp 5 of Kutupalong Rohingya camp and the second in Ukhiya Upazila, will serve the needs of almost 200 Covid-19 suspected patients suffering from moderate to severe symptoms, according to a press release issued by UNHCR on Thursday. This is part of a broader humanitarian effort by all partners in Cox’s Bazar to provide support to the government in combating Covid-19 and to ensure capacity to respond the clinical needs of those with the most severe symptoms. Additional resources and support including personal protective equipment (PPE) has already been provided to the existing national health care facilities in Cox’s Bazar district as well as to primary health centres within the Rohingya camps.
UNHCR will also soon complete the preparation of an 18 bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Cox’s Bazar sadar hospital, with 10 ICU beds and eight high dependency beds, as well as providing staffing, for those with the most severe needs, the release added..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-23
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Individual Documents
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"Ahead of the 23 May deadline for Myanmar to report on its compliance with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) order to take “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya, Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for Asia, said:
“Despite the International Court’s order nothing has changed for the estimated 600,000 Rohingya who live in Rakhine State in dire conditions, including around 126,000 whom the authorities are holding indefinitely in camps.”
“The Rohingya in Rakhine State are still denied their rights to nationality, freedom of movement and access to services, including healthcare. They are also caught in an escalating armed conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army. “Internet blackouts have kept the Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine and Chin States deprived of potentially life-saving information and impeded monitoring of the humanitarian situation on the ground. This information blackout puts people at greater at risk, especially in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While Myanmar’s recent presidential directives ordering government personnel not to commit genocide or destroy evidence appear in line with the International Court order, the reality remains that no meaningful steps to end atrocities - including the crime of apartheid - have been taken.
“An additional directive ordering officials to halt ‘hate speech’ is long overdue, but lacks sufficient guarantees that it cannot be used to further curtail freedom of expression. Without meaningful follow-up and transparency around Myanmar’s compliance with the ICJ order, these measures can only be seen as window dressing..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
First case of COVID-19 confirmed in Rohingya refugee camp
Description:
"The Government of Bangladesh should utilize existing quarantine facilities for Rohingya refugees potentially exposed to COVID-19 and suspend its use of Bhasan Char island for refugees, said Fortify Rights today. Bangladesh authorities confirmed yesterday the first case of COVID-19 in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar District.
Bangladesh authorities are currently holding in quarantine at least 300 Rohingya refugees on Bhasan Char, a poorly equipped, flood-prone island located off the coast of mainland Bangladesh. On May 7, the Bangladesh Navy transferred to Bhasan Char Rohingya survivors found on board a ship adrift in the Bay of Bengal. Five days earlier, on May 2, Bangladesh authorities detained and transferred to the island 29 Rohingya survivors who escaped from a ship after making payments to the traffickers in exchange for their release.
Fortify Rights believes that at least one more ship with up to 500 Rohingya refugees on board remains stranded at sea. On May 2, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A. K. Abdul Momen announced to the media, “Any new Rohingyas, if there are, will be sheltered at the Bhasan Char.”
Fortify Rights interviewed a Rohingya survivor and four family members of survivors sent to Bhasan Char on May 2 as well as humanitarian aid workers.
“My daughters are now on Bhasan Char,” said “H.K.,” a Rohingya father in Kutupalong camp. “They told me [by mobile phone] they are having difficulties and they were crying. They said they are very much afraid to stay [on the island].”
The Government of Bangladesh first proposed the idea to relocate Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char in 2015. Dhaka eventually developed the island and planned to relocate refugees beginning in 2018 but repeatedly postponed relocation plans after consistent outcry and concern from Rohingya, governments, U.N. experts, and human rights and humanitarian organizations. In an open letter to Prime Minister Sheik Hasina on November 12, 2019, Fortify Rights and 38 other organizations called on the government to facilitate a U.N. technical assessment to ensure the arrangements on the island meet international standards before proceeding with relocations. The government has yet to facilitate such an assessment and questions remain about the arrangements on the island..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Rohingya Refugees are being fenced in and communication blocked, just as coronavirus cases are confirmed in camps, MPs hear
Description:
"The crowded and unsanitary conditions in the Rohingya camps are likely to confound efforts to stop coronavirus spreading, warns the International Development Committee in its report, Humanitarian crises monitoring: the Rohingya.
Most countries around the world are relying on social distancing to contain coronavirus. The population density of the refugee camps for the Rohingya makes this impossible. Overcrowding at service distribution points and the lack of washing facilities make efforts to control a possible outbreak difficult. Further, with a severe shortage of PPE and isolation beds, and no ventilators in the region, there is little help that cases can be effectively treated.
The Rohingya also have no access to online information on avoiding infection and are unable to easily report symptoms to medics, due to a ban on internet access and owning SIM cards by the Bangladesh authorities. The Committee also received reports of fences being built around and between the camps, potentially further restricting access to services and to each other.
International Development Committee Chair, Sarah Champion MP, said:
“The suffering of the Rohingya has moved us all, and as they face coronavirus, I find myself wondering, when will they get a break?
“They have been suffering for far too long in crowded, stressful and often unsanitary camps – conditions perfect for coronavirus to thrive. The UK Government must continue to lead the international response to support the Rohingya and apply its diplomatic muscle to preventing a humanitarian catastrophe..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), The discussion on humanitarian assistance to Burma, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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pdf
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330.12 KB
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Sub-title:
Two tested positive on Saturday , one on Sunday
Description:
"At least another three Rohingyas from the camps in Cox’s Bazar have tested positive for coronavirus, worrying government officials and host communities.
Of the three new infected persons, two tested positive on Saturday and the other one was found infected on Sunday, according to two government sources.
With the new cases, the number of infected Rohingyas, who live in a very congested situation, stands at 4. The Rohingya camps, home to nearly a million persecuted people from Myanmar, reported their first Covid-19 case on Thursday.
“We have got three more positive cases in the Rohingya camps – two on Saturday and one today (Sunday). The total number is now 4,” Kamal Hossain, deputy commissioner (DC) of Cox’s Bazar, told Dhaka Tribune on Sunday night.
Dr Anupam Barua, principal of Cox’s Bazar Medical College where the testing took place, told this correspondent: “Yes, two Rohingyas tested positive on Saturday and one on Sunday.”
“But, I am not sure whether the total number of infected is four or five. You better call the civil surgeon for confirmation,” he said.
On Thursday, it was initially reported that two Rohingyas had tested positive, but it turned out later that one Rohingya and one Bangladeshi from the host community had tested positive..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Local URL:
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Description:
"Hundreds of Rohingya rescued by Bangladesh and sent to a flood-prone island after being stranded at sea for weeks should be moved to existing refugee camps, the UN secretary general said.
The appeal by Antonio Guterres to Bangladesh's foreign minister in a letter obtained Sunday by AFP comes as concern grows over a coronavirus outbreak in the sprawling, crowded camps near the border with Myanmar.
The Rohingya were rescued in early May after floating adrift in the Bay of Bengal. Dhaka has said they were not sent on to the camps in the southeast as authorities were afraid they might have COVID-19.
READ: Bangladesh says COVID-19 detected in Rohingya refugee camp - official
Guterres said the 308 refugees on Bhashan Char island - a silty strip of land prone to violent and potentially deadly monsoon storms - should be moved to the camps after their time in quarantine is completed.
Dhaka has not said how long they will remain in isolation. "While those rescued at sea may be quarantined for public health purposes, they must also be extended the protection they deserve as refugees," Guterres said in the letter to Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen dated Friday..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Refugees rescued in early May floating adrift in the Bay of Bengal are held at an island prone to deadly monsoon.
Description:
"Hundreds of Rohingya rescued by Bangladesh and sent to a flood-prone island after being stranded at sea for weeks should be moved to existing refugee camps, the UN secretary-general said.
Antonio Guterres made the appeal to Bangladesh's foreign minister in a letter that was obtained on Sunday by AFP news agency.
More:
Emergency teams race to contain virus spread in Rohingya camps
First coronavirus case found in Bangladesh Rohingya refugee camps
Bangladesh quarantines hundreds of Rohingya rescued from sea
The Rohingya were rescued in early May after floating adrift in the Bay of Bengal and sent to Bhashan Char island - a silty strip of land that is vulnerable to monsoon storms.
Dhaka has said the 308 were sent to the island rather than the camps in Cox's Bazar because authorities were afraid they might have the viral disease, also known as COVID-19.
Guterres said the refugees should be moved to the camps after their time in quarantine is completed.
Dhaka has not said how long the Rohingya will remain in isolation..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Recent cases in crammed camps 'alarming' situation, says doctor
Description:
"There is growing fear of the rapid spread of coronavirus in Bangladesh's crammed refugee camps housing more than one million Rohingya after three cases were confirmed recently.
“The lethal virus has finally started infecting the overcrowded Rohingya camps. It’s an alarming situation for us,” said Mahbubur Rahman, a government civil surgeon in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal district where the camps are located.
Bangladeshi authorities have stepped up ongoing restrictions in the sprawling camps, scaling down the presence of aid organizations while the local administration declared a strict ban on the presence of any outsiders at camps.
In early May, over 300 Rohingya were moved to a remote and uninhabited islet citing risks of coronavirus contamination in the camps.
“Since the very beginning of the first case we have been taking all precautionary measures, but ultimately one Rohingya has been reported positive for COVID-19 along with another host community member who worked at a grocery shop inside the camps,” Rahman told Anadolu Agency.
The infected local resident has been isolated at his house near the Rohingya camps..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Local URL:
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Description:
"A Rohingya man has become the first person to test positive for COVID-19 in the vast refugee camps in Bangladesh that are home to almost one million people, officials said Thursday.
Health experts have long warned that the virus could race through the cramped, sewage-soaked alleys of the camps in the Cox's Bazar district, where the persecuted Muslim minority have been housed in canvas and bamboo shacks since they fled a military offensive in neigbouring Myanmar more than two years ago.
Local health coordinator Abu Toha Bhuiyan initially said two refugees had been put into isolation (this story has since been updated).
The World Health Organization later said one case was of a Rohingya man, and the other was of a local man who lived near the camp and was being treated at a clinic inside the area.
"One patient is from the refugee population and the other one from the surrounding host population," WHO spokesman Mr Catalin Bercaru told AFP.
Bercaru said "rapid investigation teams" were being deployed to follow up on the two cases. The patients' contacts are being traced for quarantine and testing..."
Source/publisher:
"AFP" via "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Aid groups say coronavirus could race through camps housing one million people
Description:
"Aid groups have warned of a looming humanitarian disaster after coronavirus was detected for the first time in the sprawling camps that host about one million Rohingya refugees.
The camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, which are more densely populated than some of the world’s busiest cities, have been under lockdown since 14 March in an attempt to stop the virus from spreading.
As the number of coronavirus infections has continued to rise in Bangladesh, health experts and Rohingya community leaders have become increasingly concerned about possible outbreak among refugees. On Thursday, such fears were confirmed when the UN announced that an ethnic Rohingya refugee and another person had tested positive for Covid-19. Humanitarian groups warn the virus could race through the camps, where families live with up to 10 people in a room in sweltering heat, with limited access to clean water. Households are forced to queue to access food at communal distribution points, making social distancing impossible.
On top of overcrowding, many refugees, who fled persecution in Myanmar, have underlying health conditions or have not received standard immunisations, according to health experts..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Local URL:
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Description:
"The United Kingdom urged Myanmar’s military Thursday to extend its recently announced cease-fire to include the escalating conflict in northern Rakhine and Chin states where civilians are suffering a heavy toll at the time of the coronavirus pandemic.
The UK Mission to the United Nations made the appeal after a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council that it called because of growing concern about fighting in the two states between government forces and the Arakan Army, a well-armed guerrilla force representing the Buddhist Rakhine minority.
A mission statement said the pandemic is putting vulnerable people “at risk of a humanitarian emergency,” especially refugees, the displaced and the Rohingya Muslim minority, which faces additional restrictions. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from Rakhine after Myanmar security forces launched a crackdown in August 2017 in response to an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. Bangladesh currently houses over 1 million Rohingya refugees.
The council did not issue a statement after the meeting, which heard a briefing by Christine Schraner Burgener, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar.
But four European Union council members — Estonia, Belgium, France and Germany — and former council member Poland also expressed concern about the military escalation in Rakhine and Chin states and called for “an immediate, comprehensive and nationwide cease-fire.”
The EU members emphasized “the importance of an inclusive response to the COVID-19 pandemic that protects all communities and takes into account the vulnerability of refugees and internally displaced persons.”
In late April, the U.N. human rights investigator on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, called for a new investigation into allegations and crimes against humanity during the recent fighting in Rakhine and Chin. She accused Myanmar’s military of “inflicting immense suffering” on ethnic minorities in the two states.
Lee linked the current situation in Rakhine and Chin to the government’s actions against the Rohingya, for which no senior officers have faced justice and token punishments were given to a handful of low-ranking security personnel..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Cox's Bazar district put under 'complete lockdown'
Description:
"Bangladesh has imposed a “complete lockdown” in Cox’s Bazar district – home to over a million Rohingya refugees from neighboring Myanmar – to halt the spread of coronavirus, officials said Thursday.
Experts have warned that the disease could spread quickly through the cramped, sewage-soaked alleys where the persecuted Muslim minority are housed in canvas and bamboo shacks.
No cases have been confirmed in the camps but one infection has been recorded nearby.
And with the official number of cases doubling to more than 200 nationwide in the last five days, including 20 deaths, officials ordered a lockdown of the district from late Wednesday..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Bloc's top diplomatic says return to peace process 'would help addressing root causes of plight of Rohingya'
Description:
"The EU on Friday urged all armed forces in Myanmar to implement an unconditional cease-fire and return to the peace process.
“Several hundreds of Rohingya people, including women and children, have been drifting for weeks at sea in appalling conditions, being pushed away from the shores in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea,” EU High Representative Josep Borrell said in a written statement.
He said the bloc urges governments in the region to carry out a search and rescue operation for stranded Rohingya.
“Bangladesh granted safe landing and assistance to 400 Rohingya on one of the boats on 16 April 2020, showing continued generosity and humanity,” Borrell said, adding that it expects other countries to follow suit.
Bangladesh coast guard units rescued a boat carrying 390 Rohingya who were reportedly turned back from Malaysia nearly two months ago. As many as 100 perished at sea.
In the face of deadly clashes in Myanmar and the uncertainty of peaceful repatriation, the Rohingya are leaving crammed camps in Bangladesh to flee to countries like Malaysia through risky sea routes.
“The EU urges all armed forces in Myanmar to urgently implement an unconditional ceasefire and recommit to an all-inclusive peace process,” he said. “This would help addressing the root causes of the plight of the Rohingya.”
It added that the bloc is ready to provide further support for Rohingya refugees in the region..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Yanghee Lee says Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi failed to live up to her reputation as an icon of human rights.
Description:
"The United Nations' outgoing human rights envoy for Myanmar has told Al Jazeera that the country's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, failed to live up to her reputation as a humanitarian.
Yanghee Lee's time in the role was dominated by Myanmar's bloody crackdown in western Rakhine state in 2017, when at least 750,000 people, mostly ethnic Rohingya, fled across the border to Bangladesh.
More:
UN envoy calls for investigation into "possible war crimes" in Myanmar as Rakhine conflict continues
Eight killed in Myanmar's troubled western state of Rakhine
Myanmar to release 25,000 prisoners to mark New Year festival
Aung San Suu Kyi has been widely criticised for remaining mostly silent on accusations of anti-Rohingya violence, and Lee told Al Jazeera on Wednesday she believed the Myanmar leader's inaction was "utterly disappointing"..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-05-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution from Myanmar have been left stranded at sea on the Bay of Bengal following a decision by Bangladesh to refuse to bring them ashore. Rohingya refugees were trying to make their way to Malaysia; however, the country’s restrictions on receiving any boats in light of the coronavirus pandemic left them in the Bay of Bengal. Now the nearest country, Bangladesh, is likewise leaving them deserted.
There are approximately 500 Rohingyas, including many women and children, stranded on two trawlers, risking starvation and in need of urgent medical assistance after having been left at sea for weeks. According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, Rohingya refugees at sea have no access to adequate food or water, leaving them in an unacceptable plight. Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Abdul Momen said, “I am opposed to allowing these Rohingya into the country because Bangladesh is always asked to take care of the responsibility of other countries.” He further added, “We have no room to shelter any foreign people or refugees.” In addition, the Bangladesh government has even denied the fact that these trawlers full of Rohingyas exist, in a bid to try to shirk further responsibility..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Appeal made to Bangladesh after its FM said the South Asian country would not accept the boats.
Description:
"A top UN official has urged Bangladesh to let two stranded boats with Rohingya refugees on board land amid mounting fears over their fate.
On Monday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned of a "human tragedy of terrible proportions" unless action is taken to help the Rohingya on the boats.
More:
Do not push Rohingya out to sea amid coronavirus emergency: UNHCR
Hundreds of doctors in Bangladesh infected with coronavirus
OPINION: Refugees must be protected during the coronavirus pandemic
"In a spirit of solidarity and at the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan, I appeal to you in the strongest terms to open your ports and allow the boats to land," Bachelet said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP news agency.
"The reportedly more than 500 men, women and children aboard these boats have been at sea for an extended period of time, and we understand that they require urgent rescue, food, medical care and other necessary humanitarian assistance."
The appeal was made to the Bangladesh government after Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the South Asian country would not accept the boats..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
The first confirmed case in Cox’s Bazar, on March 24, is a serious concern for aid workers.
Description:
"As countries close their borders and ask their citizens to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, aid organizations warn that the impact of the virus on the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh “could be enormous.” On March 24, the first case was confirmed in the local community in Cox’s Bazar, and it is now only matter of time until the virus reaches the camps, exposing the most vulnerable.
The so-called “social distancing” many countries are practicing to prevent COVID-19 seems a cruel joke to the million-plus Rohingyas who live in the overcrowded refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. Most of them fled the Myanmar Army-led attacks in 2016 and 2017, and at present, are living in poor conditions without access to clean water or adequate sanitation, making them especially at risk of an outbreak.
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19, the disease caused by a novel strain of coronavirus, a pandemic. As of this writing there have been over 737,000 confirmed cases and more than 34,000 deaths in at least 177 countries. Bangladesh, home to 164.69 million people, has confirmed 49 cases and five deaths to date, but the critical believe those figures are underestimating the real impact. As has been demonstrated in more affected countries, the virus can spread rapidly and mostly undetected in the initial stages..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"The Bangladesh authorities should rescue and welcome Rohingya refugees currently stranded at sea, Amnesty International said today. Other governments must fulfil their shared responsibility to carry out search and rescue efforts, in line with their international obligations to protect life, and allow safe disembarkation of refugees and asylum seekers at sea.
Two fishing trawlers carrying an estimated 500 Rohingya women, men and children are currently in the Bay of Bengal after being pushed away by Malaysia, which has imposed restrictions on all boats in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two trawlers are headed towards Bangladesh a week after an earlier vessel carrying nearly 400 Rohingya refugees arrived there on 15 April. Monitors also believe there could be another vessel still at sea with hundreds more Rohingya stranded, further highlighting the need for governments in the region to get involved in search and rescue operations if needed.
“In contrast to the cruel indifference demonstrated by other governments, who have actively pushed away boats, Bangladesh has maintained its positive record of giving sanctuary to people who have lost their homes and suffered horrific crimes,” said Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director at Amnesty International.
“We hope that Bangladesh will continue to welcome Rohingya refugees in these difficult times. The international community has an obligation to help the Bangladeshi authorities in this task, including in supporting efforts to set up quarantine centres and provide refugees the immediate medical assistance they require to recover from the journey and to protect them against the spread of the COVID-19 virus.”
Amnesty International last week called on Southeast Asian governments to launch immediate search and rescue operations for potentially hundreds more Rohingya refugees languishing at sea..."
Source/publisher:
"Amnesty International" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Rights groups urge Dhaka to allow some 500 Rohingya stuck in the Bay of Bengal to come ashore.
Description:
"The Bangladesh government has refused to allow some 500 Rohingya refugees stranded on board two fishing trawlers in the Bay of Bengal to come ashore, drawing criticism from rights groups.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the Rohingya refugees, who are believed to have been at sea for weeks, are "not Bangladesh's responsibility."
More:
Do not push Rohingya out to sea amid coronavirus emergency: UNHCR
Hundreds of doctors in Bangladesh infected with coronavirus
OPINION: Refugees must be protected during the coronavirus pandemic
"Why you are asking Bangladesh to take those Rohingyas? They are in the deep sea, not even in Bangladesh's territorial water," Momen said, adding that there are at least eight coastal countries surrounding the Bay of Bengal.
"It's your duty to ask Myanmar government first because those are their citizens," Momen told Al Jazeera.
The two trawlers - carrying an estimated 500 Rohingya women, men and children - are in the Bay of Bengal after being rejected by Malaysia, which has imposed restrictions on all boats in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, the stranded Rohingya might "have been at sea for weeks without adequate food and water."
Momen said that just weeks ago, Bangladesh rescued a total of 396 Rohingya people from a vessel that had been adrift for about two months after also failing to reach Malaysia..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"...UNDER the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) by the Japanese government, the embassy of Japan signed an agreement yesterday to fund about US$ 480,000 to upgrading the Maungtaw Hospital and providing medical equipment to it. The signing ceremony was held at the Japanese embassy in Yangon yesterday, and the grant assistance was signed by Japanese Ambassador Mr Maruyama and Chairman of the Maungtaw People’s Hospital Construction Supervising Committee U Hla Min. The idea of the Project for Upgrading of Maungdaw People’s Hospital was generated when Ambassador Mr Maruy
ama visited Rakhine State and met with local people and returnees from Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher:
The Global New Light of Myanmar, 2020
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Bilateral health programmes, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
487.41 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Bangladesh will not accept two boats carrying hundreds of reportedly starving Rohingya refugees, the country's foreign minister said on Thursday (April 23) as calls grew to rescue the Muslim outcasts.
The new controversy over stranded Rohingya blew up just a week after dozens starved to death on a boat that was left at sea for two months before it could land.
Activists are fearful that large numbers of Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority from mostly Buddhist Myanmar, may be trapped on boats and unable to reach other countries. The two latest boats are in international waters after human traffickers had tried to reach Malaysia, according to aid groups and a Rohingya community leader.
Bangladesh has ordered increased patrols in the Bay of Bengal to stop the boats entering, Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said.
"Two boats carrying Rohingya are trying to get into our waters," he said, adding that the vessels could have come from Myanmar's Rakhine state following fighting between the military and rebel groups, or "somewhere else".
"Our navy and coastguard are on alert and they have been instructed not to let these boats enter Bangladesh," Momen said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Straits Times" (Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Refugee advocates say fear of Rohingya refugees carrying the virus is not an excuse to refuse them asylum.
Description:
"Stateless Rohingya refugees who have fled Myanmar by boat face a "dire, and in many cases fatal predicament" at sea, and countries in the region should allow them to disembark on humanitarian grounds despite the coronavirus health crisis, the United Nations refugee agency has said.
Indrika Ratwatte, director of the UNHCR Asia-Pacific region, said on Thursday the international body is "increasingly concerned" by reports of hundreds of Rohingya refugees on board fishing boats being refused entry to countries despite the dangerous conditions on the smugglers' ships. More:
Myanmar violence: Thousands displaced by fresh fighting
Students injured in shelling at school in Myanmar's Rakhine state
UN urged to suspend Myanmar return plan for Chin amid unrest
"We are increasingly concerned by reports of failure to disembark vessels in distress and of the grave immediate risk this poses to the men, women and children on board," Ratwatte said..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"...Considerable historical evidence affirms that the Rohingya Muslims are indigenous inhabitants and rightful citizens of Myanmar, who have been living in Rakhine State not for decades, but for centuries. The Myanmar government has been systematically eradicating the Rohingya people due to their Islamic religious identity. This analysis finds that the ongoing persecution on Rohingya Muslims is a manifestation of a classical model of ethnic cleansing. The disasters experienced in Rakhine State present a complete evidence of systematic, widespread and prolific human rights violations, including heinous crimes against humanity. This article presents an academic perspective on repeated incidents, based on authentic proofs to international community of ethnic cleansing committed by the Myanmar army. This research has been carried out through various types of sources, such as recent and previously published books, articles, local and international newspapers, TV channels, magazines, documentaries, human rights organizations’ reports, and eye-witness accounts of the victims. Finally, it provides suggestions to resolve the rising problems, which may bring a permanent solution to the long-lasting humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State..."
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
1.8 MB
Local URL:
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Description:
"...The 855,000 Rohingya refugees who are currently residing in 34 overcrowded, makeshift camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh are highly vulnerable to COVID-19. The overcrowded and unhygienic conditions increase the potential for the rapid spread of disease. Given the underlying poor health status of the population, and the limited access to health care and the use of communal hygiene facilities the potential mortality and morbidity risk associated with COVID-19 is likely to surpass global averages. The purpose of this risk report is to support humanitarian responders to understand the primary and secondary risks that a COVID-19 outbreak could pose to the Rohingya Refugee population, based on the idea that this understanding can support mitigation and preparedness measures. This is not a specialised health report, it takes a holistic view of the plausible overall impact..."
Source/publisher:
acaps.org
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Format :
PDF
Size:
892.56 KB
more
Sub-title:
The award was granted to the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi three years ago.
Description:
"The City of London Corporation (CLC) on Thursday revoked an honour granted to Aung San Suu Kyi over the treatment of minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.
Elected representatives on the body that runs London's historic centre and financial district voted to revoke the freedom of the city granted to Suu Kyi three years ago.
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
This move in the United Kingdom followed Suu Kyi's appearance, as Myanmar's civilian leader, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in December to personally defend her country against allegations of rape, arson and mass killings against Rohingya victims..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), About Aung San Suu Kyi, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar is restricting media access to the far western state of Rakhine where the military is fighting Arakan Army rebels.
Description:
""I think I might have told you too much already. Someone will probably tell the government I've been speaking to journalists," the shopkeeper told me.
We were in Maungdaw, a once-bustling town in the northern part of Rakhine state, Myanmar.
We looked around.
There wasn't anyone who stood out as secret police.
After all, it's usually not difficult to pick them out. They are normally better dressed than villagers. A close-cropped haircut means they are most likely to be military intelligence. Sometimes there's a tell-tale sign- a walkie talkie. But the shopkeeper was still worried. He wouldn't tell us his name or give us his phone number. We were on a government-arranged media trip to northern Rakhine. This was where the Myanmar military had launched a brutal crackdown on 25 August 2017, targetting the mainly Muslim Rohingya, an ethnic minority in Myanmar.
Soldiers and Buddhist mobs were accused of killing, torturing and raping Rohingya men and women. Homes were ransacked and set ablaze. The fires raged for days and could be seen from across the border in Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Activists and journalists say decision to limit internet access in some parts of Rakhine is a violation of basic rights.
Description:
" Continued fighting between Myanmar's military and the Arakan Army armed group has left several people dead in recent days as the government continues a clampdown on the western region.
Activists and journalists have decried the internet blackout the government has imposed as part of the clampdown as a violation of human rights.
More: Myanmar violence: Thousands displaced by fresh fighting
Students injured in shelling at school in Myanmar's Rakhine state
UN urged to suspend Myanmar return plan for Chin amid unrest
Reports on Tuesday said at least 11 civilians, including five Muslim Rohingya, had been killed after being caught in the hostilities in Rakhine, a western state that is home to more than three million people.
In a statement, four United Nations human rights experts also said "credible reports" showed that more than 1,000 people had been displaced in the 10 days up to February 18. The Myanmar Times also quoted the Rakhine Ethnic Congress as saying that more than 120,000 have evacuated beginning in November 2018..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Chin State, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"UN agencies and their partners on Tuesday launched an appeal for 877 million U.S. dollars to help Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who are in Bangladesh, as well as the hosting communities, said a UN spokesman.
The aim is to help some 855,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and more than 444,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in the communities which are generously hosting these refugees, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
More than half of the money will be for vital services and assistance, such as access to food, shelter, clean water and sanitation, he said.
This marks the third year of exile for most Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. They are clear that they want to return home, but only when they and their families will be safe, can access basic rights and see a pathway to citizenship in Myanmar, said the spokesman..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
UN agencies together with the Bangladesh authorities have appealed for $877 million to support hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, where conditions are still not conducive for their safe return, UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said on Tuesday.
Description:
"Speaking on the sidelines of the 2020 Joint Response Plan (JRP) launch for 855,000 ethnic Rohingya, and the more than 444,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis in host communities, Mr. Grandi urged Myanmar to take quicker action to help the displaced to return home. “The solution continues to be in Myanmar”, said the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “The problem is that things that need to be done there, to create conditions for refugees to return from Bangladesh into Myanmar, are too slow or not happening yet.”
In August 2017, a military operation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in response to separatist violence prompted hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya to flee.
At the time, then High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, likened the episode to a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.
Reporting to the Human Rights Council, he also cited reports of Myanmar authorities laying landmines along the border with Bangladesh and requiring returnees to provide “proof of nationality” - an impossibility, given that successive Myanmar governments have, since 1962, progressively stripped the Rohingya population of their political and civil rights, including citizenship rights.
Longstanding discrimination
At the current Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Zeid’s successor, Michelle Bachelet, noted that for over half a century, the policies of Myanmar had discriminated against religious and ethnic minorities..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"At least five ethnic Rohingya were killed and several injured after troops clashed with insurgents in Myanmar's conflict-torn western state of Rakhine, a lawmaker and two residents said on Sunday (March 1).
Saturday's fighting broke out after Arakan Army rebels attacked a military convoy passing the historic temple town of Mrauk U, the regional MP, Tun Thar Sein, and a spokesman for the armed group, Khine Thu Kha, said.
Two military spokesmen did not answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment, and the army did not immediately issue a statement on its website.
Khine Thu Kha, the Arakan Army spokesman, blamed government troops for the civilian casualties. A government spokesman said he could not comment.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the details of the attack in the remote area, where journalists are barred and internet access curtailed.
Myanmar army artillery shells hit the village of Bu Ta Lone, killing four people, the Arakan Army spokesman said in a message.
The MP, a health worker who treated the injured, and a villager said at least five Rohingya, members of a persecuted Muslim minority, had died.
There were conflicting accounts of the number of Rohingya injured, which ranged from six to 11, along with several members of the state's Rakhine ethnic majority. Rakhine is the state from which more than 730,000 Rohingya were forced to flee for neighbouring Bangladesh after a military crackdown in 2017 that the U.N. has said was executed with genocidal intent. Myanmar denies committing genocide..."
Source/publisher:
"The Star Online" (Selangor)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Afraid to return home, Myanmar's Rohingya refugees are stuck in camps in Bangladesh, three years on from a military crackdown.
Description:
"Rohingya who fled a campaign of violence against them in Myanmar remain fearful of returning home, despite the government saying it is now ready to receive them.
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2017.
A recent United Nations court ruling ordered Myanmar to protect them.
Al Jazeera's Tanvir Chowdhury reports from Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"In 2020, UNICEF will enter a major new phase for education of Rohingya refugee children living in camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, together with other humanitarian actors. Following a landmark decision by the Government of Bangladesh, UNICEF will further expand access to education by introducing the Myanmar curriculum on a pilot basis in the first half of the year.
The pilot will initially target 10,000 Rohingya students from grades six to nine. It will then be expanded to other grades in a phased manner. The pilot targets older children, who currently have less access to education compared with their younger counterparts.
“Education takes people from the darkness and brings them into the light. “What drives me is the students’ ambition to learn,” said Rozina Aktar, a teacher for level 4 students.
Rohingya community’s desire for new curriculum
The introduction of the pilot follows the wishes of the Rohingya refugees and builds hope for their future by giving then access to education based on the Myanmar curriculum.
It will also help Rohingya children reintegrate into the Myanmar education system and society when conditions become conducive for them to return to Myanmar in a voluntary, safe and dignified way.
315,000 children and adolescents study at over 3,200 learning centres
UNICEF currently provides informal education opportunities to 220,000 Rohingya children aged 4 to14 years based on a tailor-made curriculum called the Learning Competency Framework and Approach (LCFA).
However, the majority of children (over 90 per cent) are learning LCFA levels 1 and 2, the equivalent of preprimary level up to grade 2 in a formal school system. Few Rohingya students have enough learning to study at the higher levels (LCFA levels 3 and 4), equivalent of grades 3 to 8, due to the poor status of their education in Rakhine State in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-03-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Education and training of migrants and refugees from Burma, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Myanmar authorities have apprehended more than 2,200 Rohingya Muslims as they attempted to illegally leave the country by sea since 2015, according to a list of the detainees obtained from a naval officer by RFA’s Myanmar Service.
Nearly 1,500 Rohingya were detained in 2015, more than 500 were picked up in 2018, and roughly 250 have been apprehended so far in 2019, according to the list provided by the officer, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to give information to the media.
The figures did not include Rohingya who fled by land from two military-led crackdowns in northern Rakhine state in 2016 and 2017. During the first round of violence, about 90,000 Muslims left and headed across the border and into Bangladesh, while the second, more brutal clampdown forced more than 740,000 into Bangladesh.
Thousands of other Rohingya have tried to leave Myanmar in the last several years to escape institutionalized persecution, grinding poverty, and insecurity in Rakhine state. They pay human traffickers hundreds of dollars each to transport them to other Muslim-friendly nations in Southeast Asia where they hope to have a better life..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Human rights lawyer will represent Maldives, which is joining the Gambia in taking Myanmar to court for alleged genocide
Description:
"Amal Clooney will represent the Maldives in seeking justice for Rohingya Muslims at the UN’s highest court, where Myanmar faces accusations of genocide.
The Maldivian government has said it will join the Gambia in challenging Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya people during an army crackdown in Rakhine state in 2017 that forced more than 700,000 people to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.
In a unanimous decision in January, the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague imposed emergency “provisional measures” on Myanmar, instructing it to prevent genocidal violence against its Rohingya minority and preserve any evidence of past crimes.
The ruling was an outright rejection of the defence put forward by Aung San Suu Kyi, who attended court in person to defend the military’s actions. In evidence to the court she urged ICJ judges to dismiss allegations of genocide and instead allow the country’s court martial system to deal with any human rights abuses. A final judgement is expected to take years. In a statement, Clooney, the human rights lawyer and barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London, said: “Accountability for genocide in Myanmar is long overdue and I look forward to working on this important effort to seek judicial remedies for Rohingya survivors.”
Clooney successfully represented former the Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed and secured a UN decision that his 2015 jailing for 13 years was illegal.
She also represented Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who spent more than 500 days in prison in Myanmar convicted of breaking the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. The journalists had been working on a Reuters investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in Rakhine state. They were freed in May 2019..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Court of Justice (ICJ) - Myanmar, Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The Ministry of Information regularly arranges trips to northern Rakhine State for journalists and interesting encounters occur when their minders’ backs are turned.
Description:
"ALL IT TAKES is a quick turn around a corner to evade the scrutiny of the minders and get a better understanding of the whole picture.
“Please, sir, you need to know that we have been lying to you all along because the government employees are listening,” the young man told Frontier. “We are afraid of repercussions if we don't say what they want us to say. We don't have a choice. I am sorry.”
It would be irresponsible to publish the young man’s name or say where in northern Rakhine State that the encounter occurred.
Furtive conversations with journalists are not what the government-appointed commission headed by former United Nations secretary Mr Kofi Annan had in mind when it recommended that “the Government of Myanmar should provide full and regular access for domestic and international media to all areas affected by recent violence – as well as all other areas of the state”. Support more independent journalism like this. Sign up to be a Frontier member.
The recommendation is one of 88 in the final report that the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State released on August 24, 2017. In the early hours of the next day the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army launched a series of coordinated attacks on security posts in northern Rakhine, triggering a response from the Tatmadaw that sent more than 750,000 Rohingya fleeing to safety in Bangladesh..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"DHAKA: Bangladesh has yet again shelved a controversial plan to relocate some 100,000 Rohingya refugees to a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, a minister said on Wednesday (Feb 26).
Authorities have long sought to relocate some of the country's million-plus Rohingya population to Bhashan Char, despite warnings the silty strip of land was prone to violent and potentially deadly monsoon storms.
The move would take some pressure off the overcrowded border camps home to huge numbers of the persecuted and stateless Muslim minority, most of whom fled neighbouring Myanmar in 2017 after a brutal military crackdown.
But rights groups say that some refugees had been coerced into agreeing to relocation and the plan has been staunchly opposed by the Rohingya community at large.
Junior disaster management minister Enamur Rahman said Bangladesh would increase its focus on diplomatic talks aimed at returning the refugees home.
"The relocation plan has been postponed," he told AFP, adding that there had been "much progress" in repatriation discussions with Myanmar with China acting as intermediary. Bangladesh and Myanmar have already signed a repatriation deal to send back some Rohingya to their homeland - but safety fears mean very few have agreed to return..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
The prime minister also particularly requested Germany to play role further in repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas
Description:
"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon the international community, including Germany, for mounting more pressure on the Myanmar government to take back its Rohingya nationals from Bangladesh.
“Rohingyas are a huge burden for us and they are creating social problems. Myanmar should take back its nationals from Bangladesh immediately,” she said.
The prime minister also particularly requested Germany to play role further in repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas, reports BSS.
The prime minister made the remarks when visiting German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dr Gerd Muller paid a courtesy call on her at her official Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka on Tuesday evening.
After the meeting, Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Zahid Tusher briefed reporters.
The prime minister said the exodus of over 1.1 million Rohingyas has created a big problem for the people of Cox’s Bazar as they outnumbered the local people..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Internal displacement/forced migration of Rohingyas, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Rohingya Muslims displaced by communal violence with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists across western Myanmar’s beleaguered Rakhine state nearly eight years ago say prospects for the betterment of their lives look dimmer than ever as they still live in near-apartheid conditions.
The wave of brutal slayings and attacks in June 2012 left more than 200 people dead and displaced about 120,000 Rohingya, who were later forced to live in squalid camps scattered around the state.
Entire communities were burned down, including Narzi ward in Rakhine’s capital Sittwe, where Khin Maung, a 30-something year-old Rohingya lived with his family. During the violence, he, his relatives, and other residents escaped to the west side of town where other Muslims resided.
Khin Maung told RFA’s Myanmar Service that he does not know whether his family will ever be able to return to their original ward, with restrictions still imposed on the free movement of the Rohingya in Rakhine and beyond..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Title: Rohingya response: Proper planning for response could make Bangladesh economically benefitted
Sub-title:
JRP 2020 stated that Rohingya response should be a real joint venture ensured by aid transparency and management that should be accountable
Description:
"Demanding a single line authority for ensuring maximum benefit for the displaced Myanmar citizens (Rohingya refugees), a Cox’s Bazar based network has stated that proper planning will benefit the national and local economy at the same time.
The network, Cox’s Bazar CSO NGO Forum (CCNF), was presenting its response to the Joint Response Plan (JRP) 2020 at a press briefing in the city’s press club.
JRP 2020 stated that Rohingya response should be a real joint venture ensured by aid transparency and management that should be accountable.
The JRP in Rohingya response is being prepared by ISCG (Inter-Sectoral Coordination Group). The Rohingya response will formally be launched in Geneva in March. The plan envisages funds to the tune of around $887 million for 2020.
Barkat Mullah Maruf, joint director of Coast Trust, an NGO, said: “Localization does not necessarily mean giving response-based jobs to locals; it rather means the development of locals through using their resources.” He also stated that local traders could additionally benefit from selling necessary items to the Rohingya community..."
Source/publisher:
"Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
more
Sub-title:
Aung San Suu Kyi's former spokesperson Nyo Ohn Myint dismisses atrocities carried out against the Rohingya.
Description:
"In January the International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to prevent the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. Myanmar's government rejected the ruling, saying it was based on a "distorted picture of the situation".
According to the UN, at least 10,000 people have been killed and more than 700,000 have fled Rakhine state since the Myanmar military's crackdown began in 2017. Thousands of Rohingya women and girls have been raped, and around 300 villages burnt to the ground.
The former spokesman of Myanmar's de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is dismissing the allegations, describing them as "one-sided".
"Most of the international people live in the rumours, hearsay," Nyo Ohn Myint said.
"This is a political accusation … because you know, they just joined the bandwagon," he added.
Nyo Ohn Myint also questioned the evidence gathered by the international community - which has been denied access to Rakhine state by Myanmar's government.
"When I read the US State Department report that said the Rohingya women were raped by soldiers and surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, it looked like the very, you know ... third-class Hollywood movie," he said.
Nyo Ohn Myint suggested that some of the women who gave accounts of their rape to Amnesty International were lying.
"I don't know because if I, if I look at her eye, maybe she was true or maybe she was lying," he said.
This week's Headliner, Aung San Suu Kyi's former spokesperson, Nyo Ohn Myint..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Genocide
Language:
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Dozens of Rohingya Muslims, including two children, appeared in court in Myanmar on Friday, the latest group to face charges after attempting to flee conflict-torn Rakhine state. The group of about 20 were among 54 people from the Rohingya minority arrested on Wednesday on the outskirts of the commercial capital Yangon while trying to leave for Malaysia, according to judge Thida Aye.
“The immigration officer submitted the case because they found no identification cards from these people,” she told Reuters.
Some were barefoot, others clothed in colorful head-scarfs, as they were ushered into the small courtroom in Yangon. A small boy was naked from the waist down.
Defense lawyer Nay Myo Zar said they had fled Rakhine state, the western region where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya live in apartheid-like conditions and have come under increasing pressure as government troops battle ethnic rebels.
More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017 to escape a military-led crackdown that U.N investigators have said was carried out with “genocidal intent” and included mass killings and rapes..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, The rights of non-citizens, Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to nationality, citizenship and immigration (commentary)
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Description:
"The Myanmar military announced Friday that it will investigate and open court-martial proceedings against soldiers accused of killing Rohingya Muslim civilians during a violent army-led crackdown in the country’s Rakhine state in 2017, the third such case in a country facing international criticism for failing to hold troops accountable for widespread atrocities.
In a move experts said would be unlikely to meet Myanmar’s U.N.-mandated obligations toward the Rohingya, the military said it would probe a government-appointed commission’s findings on killings in Maung Nu and Chut Pyin villages, where about 300 civilians are believed to have died at the hands of soldiers during “clearance operations.”
The military said it had reviewed reports of the killings in the two communities in a report issued in January by the Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE), a Myanmar government-appointed body tasked with probing allegations of human rights violations in Rakhine.
The ICOE made more than 20 recommendations in the report and advised both the military and the government to continue investigating incidents related to the crackdown. President Win Myint sent copy of the report to armed forces commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to be used in military investigations and prosecutions..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
Exclusive: Australia accused of giving legitimacy and credibility to a military accused of mass atrocities
Description:
"The commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s defence forces – recommended by the UN for investigation and prosecution for war crimes and genocide – has met with Australia’s ambassador and says he wants to train more of his officers in Australia.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is the supreme commander of Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, which has been accused of genocide in its systematic persecution of the ethnic and religious minority Rohingya.
In “clearance operations” begun in August 2017, thousands of Rohingya were murdered, women and girls were gang raped, while pregnant women were targeted for torture and murder. Other people were burned alive in their homes, and more than 700,000 Rohingya fled over the border to Bangladesh.
Australia’s ambassador, Andrea Faulkner, met Min Aung Hlaing on 29 January at the Bayintnaung Villa in the capital, Naypyidaw. The pair exchanged gifts and posed for photos. Human Rights Watch has said Australia’s decision to take the meeting risked giving legitimacy and credibility to a military accused of mass atrocities..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Australia-Burma relations
Language:
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Description:
"Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming yesterday said his country is not trying to protect Myanmar over the Rohingya issues as his country has friendly relations with both Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Responding to a question at the DCAB Talk, organised by Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) at the National Press Club in the capital, Li Jiming said China wants an end to the crisis through dialogue with the intervention of China and international bodies.
The ambassador said “It is often said that China is protecting Myanmar on the Rohingya issue. We have friendly relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar. We are not trying to protect Myanmar. We are trying to persuade all to settle the issue through dialogue, especially bilateral dialogue,” he said.
“Rohingya crisis is a bilateral issue of Bangladesh and Myanmar. But in solving the crisis, they need helping hands, including China,” he added. Li Jiming We hope we can see a very concrete and sustainable result in the near future,” he added.
“China made a lot of efforts as the mediator between Myanmar and Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya crisis. China is not the main player. Bangladesh and Myanmar are the main players. China is only helping to find a solution of the crisis. We hope we can see a very concrete and sustainable result in the near future,” he added..."
Source/publisher:
"The Independent" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, China-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
'We don't know how authorities in Pathein town will proceed'
Description:
"Nearly 50 Rohingya Muslims have been detained at sea by Myanmar's navy, a local official said Friday, the latest from the persecuted minority to be caught trying to flee camps in Bangladesh and Myanmar's restive Rakhine state.
It was not immediately clear where the group started their boat journey but they were likely aiming for Malaysia or Indonesia, predominantly Muslim countries with large Rohingya diasporas.
Thousands of Rohingya have taken to the sea over the years in high-risk attempts to escape sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh and oppressive conditions in Rakhine.
Village administrator Myint Thein told AFP by phone the navy had picked up 48 Rohingya men, women and children, as well as five "traffickers," at sea on Wednesday evening.
An AFP reporter saw the group arrive Friday morning at Pathein township police station.
"We don't know how authorities in Pathein town will proceed," Myint Thein said.
Some 740,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar's Rakhine to Bangladesh to escape a brutal military crackdown in 2017 and now languish in sprawling refugee camps.
Hundreds of thousands more remain in Rakhine, living under tight restrictions with little access to healthcare, education or livelihoods in conditions Amnesty International brands as "apartheid". The group detained at sea this week is just the latest in a series of arrests in recent months as seasonal calmer waters tempt more Rohingya to put their lives in the hands of traffickers..."
Source/publisher:
Agence France-Presse (AFP) (France) via "Dhaka Tribune" (Bangladesh)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
" At least 15 women and children drowned and more than 50 others were missing after a boat overloaded with Rohingya refugees sank off southern Bangladesh as it tried to reach Malaysia Tuesday, officials said.
Some 138 people — mainly women and children — were packed on a trawler barely 40 feet long trying to cross the Bay of Bengal, a coast guard spokesman told AFP.
"It sank because of overloading. The boat was meant to carry maximum 50 people. The boat was also loaded with some cargo," another coast guard spokesman, Hamidul Islam, added..."
Source/publisher:
"CBS News" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Children, Children's Rights - studies, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Arakan (Rakhine) State
Language:
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Sub-title:
Genesis of sustained, institutionalized destruction of Rohingya is anchored in group’s identity as Muslims
Description:
"The International Court of Justice’s Jan. 23 interim order in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar is designed to protect the Rohingya and preserve the crime sites. It has brought a sense of vindication to several million Rohingya victims – in the diaspora, inside Myanmar, and in refugee camps in Bangladesh.
It was by far the most significant act the international community has taken since the Rohingya have been subjected to a national policy of discrimination, disenfranchisement, displacement and destructive deportation by various organs of the state in Myanmar.
The case which Gambia brought before the court has focused narrowly on the violent events of 2016 and 2017. However, it is crucial to see this group destruction in the proper context which began under the false pretext of Myanmar’s attempts at cracking down on the “illegal immigration” across Myanmar-Bangladesh borders which stretch 270 miles.
As a matter of fact, today (Feb. 12) marks the 42nd anniversary of the first violently genocidal purge -- centrally organized by the then military dictatorship of General Ne Win in Rangoon involving various agencies, not only the government troops and police force but also departments or ministries of religious affairs, customs and various branches of intelligence
Paradoxically, this is also the date in which Myanmar celebrates “Union Day” -- when the country’s majority Buddhist Burmese public and several national minorities along the borders of colonial Burma agreed to merge their regions voluntarily to form a single federated independent nation in 1947.
On the very same day, in Rakhine, a state in western Myanmar that borders Bangladesh, Myanmar launched the first-ever violent deportation of literally hundreds of thousands of Rohingya -- the majority of whom were born and raised in the region and had official IDs and documentation that proved their Myanmar nationality.
The purges were carried out in two phases under military-style operations collectively known as Operation Dragon King.
The first phase was launched in Rakhine state’s capital Sittwe on Feb. 12, 1978, and lasted only a week, involving 200 interagency forces that resorted to various acts of violence and terror. The second phase was carried out in the northern Rakhine towns of Buthidaung and Maungdaw with 400 interagency security forces.
Myanmar troops resorted to arson, slaughter, rape and other terror methods in the region where the population was peaceful, unarmed and compliant as evidenced in the newspaper reports of the time from Bangladesh, Pakistan and other Asian regions..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-13
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Genocide, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first)
Language:
Local URL:
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Sub-title:
At least 14 people have drowned when a boat carrying Rohingya refugees sank off the south coast of Bangladesh, officials say.
Description:
"The boat was destined for Malaysia and included Rohingya refugees from camps in Bangladesh, local authorities told the BBC.
All of the dead bodies recovered are reportedly of women and children.
An official told the AFP news agency that 70 people were rescued. Many are still missing.
Myanmar Rohingya: What you need to know
The boat capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Saint Martin's island.
In August 2017, a deadly crackdown by Myanmar's army on Rohingya Muslims sent hundreds of thousands fleeing across the border into Bangladesh.
Most have been placed in refugee camps and some have tried to flee in boats to Malaysia..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2020-02-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Local URL:
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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
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Genocide, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
864.87 KB (33 pages)
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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
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Statelessness: general studies and reports, Nationality, citizenship and immigration
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
242.91 KB (19 pages)
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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
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
380.72 KB (11 pages)
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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
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
415.93 KB (88 pages)
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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
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Statelessness: general studies and reports, Laws, decrees, bills and regulations relating to nationality, citizenship and immigration (commentary), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
654.35 KB (23 pages)
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