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-------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINES -------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - ICRC team begins mission to visit Myanmar political detainees AFP - Japanese deputy FM to push for Suu Kyi's release during Myanmar visit AFP - Thai premier Thaksin hails "new century" of Asian unity AP - Thailand Signs Agreements With China, S Korea, Myanmar The Manila Times - The stalemate continues in Myanmar Toronto Times - Shun Burma's junta ABC online - Japan to push for Suu Kyi's release during Burma visit DT - Aung San Suu Kyi ? An inspiration to all BBC News - Searching for answers in Burma STUFF - Global community should make appeals to Myanmar military: Goff Bkk Post - Troops mass to attack Shan army BS - Govt says no to diesel imports by Myanmar Asian Tribune - Pamphlets distributed inside Burma with demands and eyewitness account Asian Tribune - Burma: A Time For Change -------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday June 22,
4:13 PM -------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday June 22, 1:18 PM Japanese deputy FM to push for Suu Kyi's release during
Myanmar visit -------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday June 22, 8:10 PM Thai premier Thaksin hails "new century" of Asian unity
-------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday June 21, 11:19 PM -------------------------------------------------------------- The Manila Times Sunday, June 22, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------- Toronto Star -------------------------------------------------------------- Japan to push for Suu Kyi's release during Burma
visit -------------------------------------------------------------- Daily Times -------------------------------------------------------------- BBC News
Searching for answers in Burma
By Clive Myrie BBC correspondent in Rangoon It's the rainy season now in Rangoon. Dark, menacing clouds hang over the city as we touch down at the international airport. The temperature, a sweaty 29 degrees. This is my second trip to Burma and again I'm amazed at how innocent it looks. You're not bombarded by rampant commercialism, shopping malls and giant billboards selling lots of things you don't need. This is not a place of skyscrapers, McDonalds and Starbucks. It's a gentle city of golden pagodas and pious Buddhist monks; a little faded but still beautiful with glorious colonial era buildings on tree lined streets. But Rangoon is the capital of a troubled country, for decades isolated from the outside world. An isolation forced on the Burmese people by their despotic leaders. The army has been in control now for more than four decades. In 1990 the people rose up and, in an election, told the generals just how misguided their rule was. They didn't like that and ever since have trampled on anyone who dares question them. The nation's first lady and pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi lives in one of those glorious colonial era houses. In fact for 8 of the last 12 years, she wasn't allowed to leave her home having been placed under house arrest. Now she's in custody again. It's for her own safety, the generals say. I wanted to find out why the junta had chosen this moment to flex its muscles again. After all, it was only a year ago that Aung San Suu Kyi was released, a time when there was a real feeling that things might be changing for the better in Burma. I made the journey north from Rangoon to the second city of Mandalay to see two men who've known Aung San Suu Kyi for years, and have paid a heavy price for their loyalty. Rangoon: "Not a place of rampant commercialism" They're a comedy act called the Moustache Bros and they had said they were willing to talk to me on the record. As the car made its way there I kept looking behind to make sure I wasn't being followed - my video camera and recording equipment hidden deep in my backpack. When eventually I arrived at my destination, a fairly large house on a main road, I was greeted by two smiling men with huge moustaches, Lu Maw and Pa Pa Lay. They ushered me into a front room. On one wall were scores of colourful puppets or marionettes, some a metre high. The brothers make and sell them to tourists. And on the other wall, numerous photographs of them with Aung San Suu Kyi, some dating back to the 1980s. Performance ban The Moustache Brothers use comedy and satire to pass comment on the world around them. In 1996, they performed on Independence Day at the invitation of Aung San Suu Kyi before thousands of people outside her home in Rangoon. During the show, Pa Pa Lay cracked a joke at the expense of the junta. He was sentenced to seven years in jail. Pa Pa Lay did his time in a hard labour camp, breaking rocks for road construction Now the brothers are not allowed to perform in public places, so the front room I was standing in was also their theatre. Pa Pa Lay did his time in a hard labour camp, breaking rocks for road construction. His legs were always shackled at the ankle by a metal bar. He had to walk like a penguin, he told me. Lu Maw spoke pretty good English and he liked to pepper his conversation with well known phrases that he'd learned from tourists. I "kept the home fires burning while my brother was in jail," he'd say; I "shoot from the hip" with my comedy. My dad was a comedian so I must be a "chip off the old block." 'Everyone's running' Lu Maw told me about the sense of fear that now exists within Burma's opposition movement since the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi. "Everyone's running," he said, "hiding out, keeping a low profile. No-one wants to hear that knock on the door in the middle of the night." The day before I met them, one of their friends was taken away, suspected of fraternising with a western journalist. His wife was beside herself with worry. No-one had heard from him since. He told me that Aung San Suu Kyi's support base had widened considerably in recent months, that more and more Buddhist monks were backing her and that the junta was terrified they'd link up with student activists to try and bring about change. That's one of the reasons why we're seeing the clampdown, he said, that's why Aung San Suu Kyi is now in detention. They call Burma the Golden Land, because of the golden spires of those Buddhist temples. But it's also a place of repression, fear and torture. So many have suffered at the hands of the military for daring to speak out in defence of democracy. But those voices won't go away, even if they've been silenced - for the moment. -------------------------------------------------------------- STUFF
Global community should make appeals to Myanmar military: Goff 22 June 2003 In pressing for a tightening of sanctions against Myanmar, the international community should support factions within Myanmar's military government that favour political reform, Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff says. Speaking after a meeting of Asia-Pacific foreign ministers in Cambodia last week, Mr Goff said pressure should be kept up on Myanmar's military government to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from detention, as well as more than 1200 political prisoners still behind bars. Ms Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), remains at an undisclosed location near the Myanmar capital of Yangon after being detained on May 30 following a clash between NLD supporters and pro-government attackers during a northern provincial tour. Mr Goff described the attack as an "ambush; orchestrated, premeditated and brutal". The military government says four people died but diplomats and human rights groups say several dozen were killed and wounded. "There can be no question of simply a spontaneous incident. This represented a situation of `no change' over 12 years and people were tired of the excuses by the military regime as to why democracy should not be restored," Mr Goff said. Mr Goff's comments come as an International Committee of the Red Cross team prepares to leave Yangon to meet opposition members of the NLD detained during the May 30 clash in northern Myanmar. In 1990 general elections, the NLD won a landslide victory but the regime refused to hand over power, instead carrying out a policy of harassment and arresting NLD party members and supporters. But analysts have said the election success of the NLD shows it must have included voter support from within military ranks. The military came to power in 1962 by way of a coup. The current government, known as the State Peace and Development Committee (SPDC), took over power in 1988, brutally crushing protests for a return to democracy. Analysts say fear of a further brutal crackdown is keeping people from protesting the detention of Ms Suu Kyi and the arrest of NLD party members. "I think a strong position by the whole of the international community, including the immediate neighbourhood, regarding the unacceptability of what this regime is about, would help to strengthen the faction for reform within the military regime as against those who adopted a totally reactionary position," Mr Goff said. But he was pessimistic over the immediate outlook. "The chances of change in the immediate future are relatively slight although I would not rule out international pressure could secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi," he said. He said New Zealand also wanted to see the release of the estimated 1200 political prisoners held by the regime, the reopening of NLD offices and a commitment by the government to "the restoration of democracy". In the medium term, the "greater pressure the international community can place on Myanmar the greater the prospects that those within the regime calling for reform may have their voice heard given the total isolation of the country", Mr Goff said. The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers who met in Phnom Penh last week, agreed to send a mission to Myanmar later this year as part of efforts to press the military government on political reform. The ministerial mission to Myanmar was likely to take place before the October Asean leaders' summit in Bali. Mr Goff warned that, without political change, "the international assistance that Myanmar needs to develop its economy to improve the living standards of its people will not likely be forthcoming". -------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sunday 22 June 2003
Troops mass to attack Shan army Security boosted as 3,000 men deployed Subin Khuenkaew Security has been stepped up along the border amid reports that Burmese troops have been deployed to attack four Shan State Army strongholds opposite Chiang Rai. A source said Rangoon had sent about 3,000 soldiers, mostly from the Triangle Region, to the border opposite Chiang Rai's Mae Sai and Mae Fa Luang districts. Up to 18 battalions began marching from their bases on June 17. An SSA military leader admitted Burmese troops were heading for SSA strongholds. Lt-Col Kon Joen, commander of the SSA's Triangle Region, said the largest number of Burmese soldiers he had ever seen were confronting SSA troops at four points opposite Kor Wan, Kor Muang, Hua Mae Kham and Pang Noon bases. The troops were being reinforced and equipped with 120mm mortars. Pha Muang task force commander Maj-Gen Manas Paolik said the 5th Cavalry Regiment Task Force was stationed along the Sai river to detect drug smuggling, just in case people took advantage of the border situation to smuggle in drugs. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was worried about the border stand-off but still hoped for conflict resolution in Burma. The army was ready to evacuate local people, especially Mae Fa Luang district residents, in the event of border skirmishes. In Burma's Tachilek town opposite Mae Sai, security was beefed up with checkpoints being formed to screen travellers and bar non-Tachilek residents from entering the town. Telephone lines were cut off several days ago. -------------------------------------------------------------- Bussiness Standard
Govt says no to diesel imports by Myanmar Pradeep Puri in New Delhi Published : June 21, 2003 The finance ministry has turned down Myanmar government?s proposal for importing 1.2 million tonnes of high-speed diesel against rupee payment. The ministry said India had rupee trade only with Nepal and Bhutan and that it could not enter into such an arrangement with any other country. The details of the Myanmar proposal and how it plans to earn the rupee to pay for the diesel are not known. The Myanmar government had proposed to import the diesel from Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) for consumption in its north-west region adjoining Nagaland. The petroleum ministry was also in favour of the export since the north-eastern refineries are producing surplus products which have to be evacuated to other parts of the country. However, besides the rupee trade issue, the move has been facing difficulties on the price front, since the Numaligarh Refinery is finding it difficult to match the price at which Myanmar is getting the product from Thailand. Myanmar imports high-speed diesel from Thailand via its port town of Yangon from where it is sent to Tamu through waterways.. According to official sources, the cost of the product at Tamu comes to around $300 a tonne. However, if diesel is exported to Tamu from the Numaligarh Refinery via Manipur, the cost will come to around $306 a tonne. ?Under these circumstances, it is more economical to sell it in West Bengal rather than export it to Myanmar,? an official said. Since the Numaligarh Refinery would not get 50 per cent excise concession on the export of its products, the petroleum ministry has suggested that this rebate should be given to the refinery in the form of transport subsidy. In case the finance ministry agrees to the proposal, the refinery will not only cover its cost of production, but may also earn a marginal profit. As against the availability of around 4.6 million tonnes per annum (mmtpa) of products from 5.1 mmtpa of indigenous crude, the requirement of petroleum products in the Northeast is around 1.7 mmtpa. The balance of around 2.9 mmtpa has to be moved out of Northeast refineries so that the refineries are able to absorb the entire crude production from the region. -------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-06-22 Pamphlets distributed inside Burma with demands and eyewitness account ?A committee of independent persons be convened be set up to inquire into the facts and report the circumstances relating to the Depayin killings and arrests," demands a pamphlet released inside Burma. On 19th June pamphlets describing the Depayin massacre appeared on the streets and bazaars of North Okkalapa and Thingangyun townships in Rangoon, Burma. The leaflet entitled, ?The Slaughter at Depayin ? was said to be released by ?Oway Front? in the form of ?A Report to the People.? The report contained two parts ? (1) Our Demands and (2) Their Villainous Activity, giving the eyewitness account of the atrocity committed on the 30th May 2003 at Kyi Village, Depayin Township, Sagaing Division. According to authoritative sources, details given of the incident match those given by eyewitnesses who said that 2 Dinah trucks were used to collide and crash the car in which Daw Aung Suu Kyi was riding with intention to kill. The Slaughter at Depayin. A report to the people By Oway Front. Our Demands 1. That Deputy Chairman U Tin U and General Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi be released immediately. 2. That a committee of independent persons be convened to inquire into the facts and report the circumstances relating to the Depayin killings. 3. That a list of dead and injured be immediately released. 4. That NLD Chairman U Aung Shwe and all members of the Central Committee be immediately released from house arrest. 5. That the NLD head office and all branch offices be reopened immediately. Their Villainous Activity The atrocity committed on the 30th May 2003 at Kyi Village, Depayin Township, Sagaing Division ranks second to that of the 1988 massacres. It was a premeditated plot. This was personally supervised by the SPDC and their stooges were the USDA. The plot was to attack Deputy Chairman U Tin U and the people?s leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the motorcade, which was in progress. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and party departed from Butalin town for Depayin at 5 pm. They were greeted by villagers all the way and they had to spend some time acknowledging and responding. This delay caused them to reach Kyi village at about 7:30 pm. They spent about 10 minutes acknowledging the villagers here then continued on their journey. After they had gone a distance of 100 feet, one monk and three men barred their way and asked that she speak to them. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi politely declined and requested that they be allowed to continue on their journey because it was already very late. They refused to get out of the way and said ?Please wait for our people to arrive?. Within five minutes, a crowd of people and monks carrying wooden sticks, swords, and iron spears descended from about 20 Dina cars that had been following us from behind. The monks wore white armbands. They went on to beat up the villagers who were out there to welcome us. Many fell to the ground and others fled. One group chased the villages and continued thrashing them. The rest of the attackers surrounded the 9 vehicles including Daw Su?s and started beating up the NLD members. Their strokes were aimed at heads. Many fell and died there. In response to the groans and yelling of the injured these words were uttered by the attackers. ?If you don?t want to die just pretend to be dead. Don?t cry out. Our orders are to beat you to death?. Female members of the NLD were viciously attacked. Their NLD uniforms were forcefully ripped off their bodies leaving them naked. Necklaces and jewelry was snatched from them and handbags grabbed. Youth Wing members of the NLD who accompanied Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to protect her shouted out ?Protect our mother?. Then these members were beaten up and many died on the spot. At that moment, U Tint U?s car overtook Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s car and both cars sped away. Immediately behind them was a car with Youth Wing bodyguards and another car belonging to Daw Win Mya Mya (Mandalay). They also got away. The remaining cars that were part of her motorcade were caught in the killing field and suffered severe beatings. The dragnet beatings continued from 8 to 10. Any moving body was relentlessly beaten to death. With intention to kill until life is extinguished they even indulged in raping some girls in that killing field. This plot was hatched and supervised by the SPDC and implemented by their stooges the USDA. There can be no doubt about this fact. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s Destiny Though her car and about 20 Youth Wing Members, her bodyguards, escaped from the first killing field they entered another killing field at about 600 feet away where there was bend in the road and a stream had been crossed. The road was barricaded with barbed wire and a Major with a military squad and police were waiting. Two bright lights attached to trees at the side of the road lit up the area. On the left a batch of executioners armed with sticks and bamboo spears were ready for the kill. U Tin U descended from his car to speak to the military in charge. He and all those in his car were arrested and dragged away into the compound of a nearby Irrigation Department compound. As Daw Su?s car approached the spot, the executioners were alerted to do their job but the driver quickly accelerated and sped away. The order to ?Collide and crash? was heard. The 2 Dinah trucks drove head on into them. Due to the dexterity of the driver, he swerved just in time to avoid the collision and sped past the barbed wire. The shooting commenced when orders to ?shoot? were heard. They missed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s car, but they managed to puncture the tyre of Daw Win Mya Mya?s car. Her car went out of control and hit a tree by the side of the road. Four passengers died. Both of Daw Win Mya Mya?s forearms were fractured. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?s car driver was able to drive through the barbed wire barricade and get away. They did not stop at Depayin town but drove on to Ye U. Daw Su sustained injuries from broken glass, which pierced the left side of the base of her neck, and she suffered a severe whack on the left arm. They could only stop to examine the injuries before entering Ye U. The death toll of NLD members in this killing field was over 70 while a great many were injured. Who is responsible for this massacre? This report has been prepared to inform the people who the executioners were. -------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-06-22 Burma: A Time For Change On May 30, 2003, the Burmese military regime orchestrated violent attacks by pro-government militia on Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and her supporters as they traveled outside Mandalay. At least four other guards were killed as well as a significant number of others. She has been held in custody since then. Following the attacks, the regime arrested more than 100 democracy activists, imprisoned at least a dozen, shut down NLD offices across the country, and closed schools and universities. This is the bloodiest confrontation between Burma?s military rulers and democracy supporters since 1988, when the government suppressed a popular uprising against the regime and thousands were killed. Burma has been ruled for more than 40 years by a succession of military regimes that have systematically impoverished a country once known for its high literacy rate, excellent universities, and abundant natural resources. Today, Burma is one of the most tightly controlled dictatorships in the world, lacking any freedom of speech, assembly, or the press; denying any due process of law; and perpetuating human rights abuses, such as forced labor, military rape of civilians, political imprisonment, torture, trafficking in persons, and use of child soldiers. Burma is also facing what the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has called a ?silent emergency,? a health crisis of epidemic proportions. HIV/AIDS is spreading rapidly, and malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, maternal mortality, and malnutrition are pervasive. Government spending on health and education is miniscule. Burma is a leading producer of opium and methamephtamine for the illegal drug trade, which is a major source of conscription within Burma. Four decades of military operations against insurgent ethnic nationalities as well as mass forced relocations have created one of the largest refugee populations in Asia. As many as two million people have fled Burma for political and economic reasons; inside Burma, hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced. They lack access to food, health care, schools, and even clean water. At independence in 1948 under an elected government, the country?s name became the Union of Burma. In 1989, the military regime issued a decree changing the country?s official name to Myanmar. The Burmese democracy movement, including the National League for Democracy, rejects this name change. The United Nations uses the name Myanmar; however, the U.S. government continues to use the name Burma. In August 1988, a popular uprising against the military regime was brutally suppressed and thousands were killed. In 1990, the regime held elections for a multi-party parliament in which the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi who was then under house arrest, won 82 percent of the seats. However, the elections were ignored by the junta and the elected parliamentary representatives never took office. The regime imprisoned hundreds of pro-democracy supporters, including elected members of parliament. Thousands more fled the country. After the 1988 uprising, the United States imposed graduated sanctions on Burma, initially terminating economic aid, withdrawing trade preferences, imposing an arms embargo, and blocking loans and grants from international financial institutions. In 1997, based on a presidential finding that the Burmese government had committed large-scale repression and violence against the democratic opposition, the United States banned any new American investments in Burma. In 2000, the United Nations, mandated by UN General Assembly resolutions, sent Special Envoy Razali Ismail to Rangoon to promote substantive political dialogue on transition to democratic government between the Burmese government. and the democratic opposition. Since then, Ambassador Razali has visited Rangoon nine times with no apparent progress toward establishing this dialogue. He is returning to Rangoon in early June. In order to strengthen international efforts to install democratic government and end repression in Burma, the Task Force recommends that the United States take specific initiatives in four key areas: Humanitarian Assistance to Address Burma?s Health Crisis In view of Burma?s massive public health crisis, the United States should increase humanitarian assistance to Burma, provided that the funds are given to international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for basic human needs through a process that requires transparency, accountability~ and consultation with the NLD and other groups representative of a multiethnic Burma. Although the United States should not generally provide humanitarian assistance directly to the Burmese government, the United States could provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Health if the Burmese government agrees to meet the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) standard that HIV/AIDS testing be voluntary and confidential. The United States should work together with other donor governments, UN agencies, and if possible, the Burmese government State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to establish certain minimal standards of independence for international NGOs operating in Burma, including clear guidelines for administrative operations, reporting, and other regulations involving duty-free entry privileges, memoranda of understanding and residency permits. Promoting Democracy, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law In view of the recent government-sponsored attacks on members of the democratic opposition, resulting in a number of deaths, and the Burmese government?s detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the United States should urge the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution that demands the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners and condemns the Burmese government?s egregious human rights abuses as well as its refusal to engage in substantive political dialogue with the democratic opposition. In addition, the United States should urge UN Security Council to hold an emergency session on Burma to discuss imposing targeted sanctions, which could include denying visas to leaders of the military regime, the Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA) and their families, freezing their assets and imposing bans both on new investment in Burma and on importing goods produced in Burma. Because the Burmese military government has failed to address human rights abuses, including the unconditional release of all political prisoners, and to move forward in talks with the NLD and other pro-democracy groups toward establishing a democratic government, the United States should increase well-targeted sanctions, including an import ban on goods produced in Burma, and encourage the United Nations and other countries to join with the United States in adopting similar sanctions. The United States should redouble its efforts with the governments of China, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, particularly Thailaz4 Singapore and Malaysia, to press the SPDC to work with the NI]) and ethnic nationalities toward political transition in Burma. The United States, as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum, should urge ASEAN to consider seriously the cross-border effects of internal problems including illegal migration, health, trafficking, narcotics and other issues connected with the internal situation in Burma. The United States should also continue to coordinate closely with the European Union on policies toward Burma. Until the SPDC makes substantial progress in improving human rights and engaging in substantive political dialogue with the democratic opposition, the United States should strongly discourage the government of Japan from forgiving outstanding debt from bilateral grants and loans except those that directly address basic human needs. Such. aid should exclude infrastructure projects, such as dams and airport renovations, and also be limited to basic human needs. Moreover, the United States ~ should encourage Japan to use its influence with ASEA.N governments to urge them to become pro-active in support of democracy and human rights in Burma. While maintaining its own sanctions on Burma, the United States, as one of the largest donors to the international financial institutions, should urge Asian investors to press the Burmese government to begin implementing the economic measures recommended by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank as one of the prerequisites for further investment The United States should also urge China to use its influence to press the Burmese government to reform its economy and move towards democratic governance in order to promote stability in the region. In order to develop capacity for future democratic governance and to rebuild technical competence in Burma, the United States should promote cultural, media and educational exchanges with the Burmese, provided that these opportunities are readily accessible to qualified candidates, including representatives of the political opposition. The selection process should include widespread publicity of exchange and fellowship opportunities, a joint selection committee comprised of Burmese civilian authorities (academics, intellectuals) and representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon who, after consulting broadly, make their selections based on the quality of candidates and their potential to contribute to Burma?s future. In addition, the United States should provide increased funding for the American Center in? Rangoon as well as for English language training and scholarship opportunities. U.S. Narcotics Control Policy toward Burma The United States should not certify Burma at this time because it has ?failed demonstrably? to curtail drug production, drug trafficking and money laundering. In addition, the United States should not provide any counter-narcotics assistance to the Burmese government. Increased counter-narcotics cooperation should depend, at minimum, on significant steps by the Burmese government to curb methamphetamine production, to arrest leading traffickers, and to stop channeling drug money into the illicit economy. Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons The United States should strongly urge the Thai government to halt deportations of Burmese and protect the security of Burmese living in Thailand, regardless of theft status. In addition, the United States should coordinate U.S. policy towards Thailand with donors, such as the governments of Norway, Denmark, Japan, and Canada. The United States should provide increased humanitarian assistance, including cross-border assistance, for displaced Burmese along both sides of the Thai-Burma border as well as on Burma?s borders with India, Bangladesh, and China, as well as inside Burma. Support should be provided for clean water, sanitation services, primary health care, reproductive health, and health education for refugees and undocumented migrants living in refugee-like circumstances. Support of education, especially for women and children, is also critical. The United States should urge greater access by international NGOs and UN agencies to northern Rakhine State to provide humanitarian assistance and monitor abuses committed against Muslim communities and returned refugees. -------------------------------------------------------------- |