Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday announced the formation of a new government peace organization called the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) to fast-track preparations for a major peace conference slated for July, an official who attended the meeting said.
Kyaw Tint Swe, minister of the State Counselor’s Office, will oversee the new peace team, which replaces the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) to get ready for a “21st-century Panglong Conference,” said MPC senior advisor Hla Maung Shwe.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, held talks known as the Panglong Conference in February 1947 to grant autonomy to the Shan, Kachin and Chin ethnic minorities, when he was head of the interim government. (Courtesy of RFA)
May 17, 2016
Myanmar religious tolerance activists face police action
Myanmar police said Monday said they have begun legal action against five protesters over a weekend rally intended to promote religious tolerance.
The move came as rights groups raise concerns about efforts by the new pro-democracy government to amend draconian laws on demonstrations.
Dozens of activists and students marched through Yangon on Saturday in a rare gesture of religious solidarity in the diverse nation, where rising Buddhist nationalism has stoked anti-Muslim sentiment and sporadic bouts of bloodshed in recent years.
Police said they decided to take action against five rally leaders — believed to be three women and two men of several faiths — because the campaigners had deviated from the agreed protest route. (Courtesy of thesundaily.my)
The move came as rights groups raise concerns about efforts by the new pro-democracy government to amend draconian laws on demonstrations.
Dozens of activists and students marched through Yangon on Saturday in a rare gesture of religious solidarity in the diverse nation, where rising Buddhist nationalism has stoked anti-Muslim sentiment and sporadic bouts of bloodshed in recent years.
Police said they decided to take action against five rally leaders — believed to be three women and two men of several faiths — because the campaigners had deviated from the agreed protest route. (Courtesy of thesundaily.my)
Should ethnicity be reconsidered?
On the other side are those who embrace a people’s right to give themselves a name, even if it proves to be a new name, without substantial historical grounding.
New names – for peoples, for places, for countries – emerge all the time. My own multicultural society, Australia, and its people, the Australians, are both, by any standard, astonishingly recent creations. And yet we do not face sustained criticism for calling ourselves Australian.
The difference is fundamentally in how we think about the great movements of people that shape and then re-shape our lands. Migration is the oldest human story and one that we all share. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
New names – for peoples, for places, for countries – emerge all the time. My own multicultural society, Australia, and its people, the Australians, are both, by any standard, astonishingly recent creations. And yet we do not face sustained criticism for calling ourselves Australian.
The difference is fundamentally in how we think about the great movements of people that shape and then re-shape our lands. Migration is the oldest human story and one that we all share. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
Myanmar to reform police force following UN report
A more comprehensive training system may be introduced for police officers in Myanmar after authorities acknowledged that the lack of such a system may have led to officers previously using excessive force on protesters.
One such incident that caught international attention was in March 2015, when officers were seen using force on students demonstrating against an education law. The incident left several students and police officers injured.
Myanmar’s plan to further reform its police force comes on the back of a report that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched in the capital Nay Pyi Taw on Monday (May 16). (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)
One such incident that caught international attention was in March 2015, when officers were seen using force on students demonstrating against an education law. The incident left several students and police officers injured.
Myanmar’s plan to further reform its police force comes on the back of a report that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched in the capital Nay Pyi Taw on Monday (May 16). (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)
Tatmadaw sets out peace conference conditions
Conditions for peace talks set by Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing indicate problems ahead for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as she tries to convene a “21st-century Panglong” conference to include all ethnic armed groups.
Speaking to a select group of reporters in Nay Pyi Taw on May 13, the senior general said he had told State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi he wanted “eternal peace” and that the Tatmadaw would work toward this over the new government’s five-year term. He also made clear that he intended to see out that term himself.
“The door is open to those who wish to sign the peace agreement,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar at his first press conference since the new government took over in late March. The Myanmar Times was not invited. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
Speaking to a select group of reporters in Nay Pyi Taw on May 13, the senior general said he had told State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi he wanted “eternal peace” and that the Tatmadaw would work toward this over the new government’s five-year term. He also made clear that he intended to see out that term himself.
“The door is open to those who wish to sign the peace agreement,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar at his first press conference since the new government took over in late March. The Myanmar Times was not invited. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
Headcount of Muslim quarter in Sittwe ordered
A government official in Sittwe reached by telephone confirmed to The Myanmar Times that the immigration department would check the identities of residents in Aung Mingalar on May 21.
The residents of Aung Mingalar, said to number 4530 according to a 2012 count, have lived in what amounts to a ghetto, guarded by police and severely limited in their movements, since 2012 when violence erupted between the Buddhist and Muslim communities across the state.
Most Muslim residents of Sittwe were forced into rural camps in 2012 but a number were allowed to remain in their homes in Aung Mingalar, which is now the only predominantly Muslim area of the city. Many identify themselves as Rohingya, although locals and the military refer to them as Bengalis, implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
The residents of Aung Mingalar, said to number 4530 according to a 2012 count, have lived in what amounts to a ghetto, guarded by police and severely limited in their movements, since 2012 when violence erupted between the Buddhist and Muslim communities across the state.
Most Muslim residents of Sittwe were forced into rural camps in 2012 but a number were allowed to remain in their homes in Aung Mingalar, which is now the only predominantly Muslim area of the city. Many identify themselves as Rohingya, although locals and the military refer to them as Bengalis, implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
Rohingya still a dirty word in Aung San Suu Kyi's Myanmar
The Muslim minority in Myanmar's state of Rakhine self-identify as Rohingya, a term that the country's new civilian government refuses to acknowledge.
The government instead insists on referring to the Rohingyas as Bengalis, implying that the minority group are instead illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. This is done despite the fact that vast numbers of the Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for decades.
Last month, the U.S. embassy mentioned the Rohingya community in a statement of condolence for the more than 20 people who died after a boat sunk off the Myanmar coast.
This sparked a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Yangon, which was led by nationalist groups, including hard-line Buddhist monks, who denounced the use of the word Rohingya.
Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the country's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is also minister, asked the U.S. to refrain from using the term because it does not assist the country's national reconciliation efforts. (Courtesy of ucanews.com)
The government instead insists on referring to the Rohingyas as Bengalis, implying that the minority group are instead illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. This is done despite the fact that vast numbers of the Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for decades.
Last month, the U.S. embassy mentioned the Rohingya community in a statement of condolence for the more than 20 people who died after a boat sunk off the Myanmar coast.
This sparked a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Yangon, which was led by nationalist groups, including hard-line Buddhist monks, who denounced the use of the word Rohingya.
Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the country's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is also minister, asked the U.S. to refrain from using the term because it does not assist the country's national reconciliation efforts. (Courtesy of ucanews.com)
Myanmar state policy to brutalize Rohingyas
On May 14th, 2016 issued in the Global New Light of Myanmar, the former brute President U Thein Sein’s name was mentioned by commander in chief of Myanmar, the senior general Min Aung Hlaing as a sensible man that he has already denied the existence of Rohingyas people in Myanmar. Every one of us from inside and outside of the world knows about President U Thein Sein’s and much of his created filthy incidents in all around the country in his ruling periods from 2011-2016.
People have perceived what he was and how he has successfully managed his prearranged inner plans by the hands of Rakhine Buddhist racists to be drifting many Rohingyas in the Bay of Bengal and sent more than 140,000 innocent Rohingyas to IDP camps and rest of the Rohingyas are being kept in traps in their localities. Rohingyas reside in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Sittwe, Pauktaw, Mrauk Oo, Kyauktaw, Myaybone, and Min Bya townships. The movement restriction imposed on Rohingyas in their localities result 1.2 million innocent Rohingyas lives in unsafe position in regard medical treatment, livelihoods, constant education, and social activities. (Courtesy of rohingyablogger.com)
People have perceived what he was and how he has successfully managed his prearranged inner plans by the hands of Rakhine Buddhist racists to be drifting many Rohingyas in the Bay of Bengal and sent more than 140,000 innocent Rohingyas to IDP camps and rest of the Rohingyas are being kept in traps in their localities. Rohingyas reside in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Sittwe, Pauktaw, Mrauk Oo, Kyauktaw, Myaybone, and Min Bya townships. The movement restriction imposed on Rohingyas in their localities result 1.2 million innocent Rohingyas lives in unsafe position in regard medical treatment, livelihoods, constant education, and social activities. (Courtesy of rohingyablogger.com)
A Rohingya Woman and her Grandson Killed In Vehicle Attack at Maungdaw
01822233963A Rohingya woman named Amina (40), daughter of Ezhar and her grand-child were attacked by a Rakhine driver with his vehicle and were killed on the spot in Myo Thu Gyi Village Tract, Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State.
A witness told that on 14th May, she went to take treatment for her sick grandchild named Umor Faisal, aged 14 days, son of Noor Hashim in market of Maungdaw at around 10:30 am. After the treatment, Amina, wrapping her grandchild in her arms, was returning, and when they reached at the mid-way of Razar Bill that exists in the eastern side of Myo Thu Gyi Village Tract, a loaded Tiba truck with a high speed from Mile 3 suddenly attacked the woman and her grandson and soon died on the spot.
A local said that the driver, U Pori, ran away from the spot leaving his vehicle. Then the traffic police came to the sport to check the event after about half an hour later and sent the dead bodies to the hospital of the town for postmortem. The dead bodies were surrendered to the family at 4:00 pm and were buried in the cemetery after funeral at about 7:00 pm. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
A witness told that on 14th May, she went to take treatment for her sick grandchild named Umor Faisal, aged 14 days, son of Noor Hashim in market of Maungdaw at around 10:30 am. After the treatment, Amina, wrapping her grandchild in her arms, was returning, and when they reached at the mid-way of Razar Bill that exists in the eastern side of Myo Thu Gyi Village Tract, a loaded Tiba truck with a high speed from Mile 3 suddenly attacked the woman and her grandson and soon died on the spot.
A local said that the driver, U Pori, ran away from the spot leaving his vehicle. Then the traffic police came to the sport to check the event after about half an hour later and sent the dead bodies to the hospital of the town for postmortem. The dead bodies were surrendered to the family at 4:00 pm and were buried in the cemetery after funeral at about 7:00 pm. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
Family shares memory of teen who drowned in Blue River
The family of a high school junior who drowned in the Blue River over the weekend is sharing the remarkable story of his young life.
Hsar Htoo, 18, slipped into shallow water while fishing on Friday and was swept away by the current. His body was recovered on Saturday.
He attended East High School and his family said he was coming into his own after spending most of his life in a refugee camp.
“He’s got a lot of friends,” said his sister, Nyunt Ayen. “Girls, they love him.” (Courtesy of kmbc.com)
Hsar Htoo, 18, slipped into shallow water while fishing on Friday and was swept away by the current. His body was recovered on Saturday.
He attended East High School and his family said he was coming into his own after spending most of his life in a refugee camp.
“He’s got a lot of friends,” said his sister, Nyunt Ayen. “Girls, they love him.” (Courtesy of kmbc.com)
Army To Rebrand Itself As New Political Reality Sets In
Burma’s Commander-in-Chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, is turning 60, but he is showing no signs of slowing down, nor is he planning to retire, as some have speculated. Instead, at press conference on May 13 in Naypyidaw, he pledged to continue to lead the armed forces and work with Aung San Suu Kyi to achieve peace and reconciliation in the country.
This was the first news conference held by the military chief since the new administration took office in April. In fact, President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Suu Kyi have not held such a press conference yet. To many, the new government remains inscrutable as it continues to formulate new policies without giving much public indication of an overriding road map for how it will govern. Aware of this, the military’s top commander decided to meet the press to clear up as many questions as he could. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
This was the first news conference held by the military chief since the new administration took office in April. In fact, President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Suu Kyi have not held such a press conference yet. To many, the new government remains inscrutable as it continues to formulate new policies without giving much public indication of an overriding road map for how it will govern. Aware of this, the military’s top commander decided to meet the press to clear up as many questions as he could. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Peace, justice, human rights and good governance are the pillars of development, says Swiss Ambassador
Switzerland was the first European country to open up an embassy in Myanmar in 2012. In the following interview, Mizzima Editor-in-Chief Soe Myint talks with the Ambassador of Switzerland Mr. Paul Seger about Myanmar relations and his positive view of the democratic transition.
You engaged with the Myanmar government in 2012 by having an embassy in Yangon. Why was that important for you? (Courtesy of mizzima.com)
You engaged with the Myanmar government in 2012 by having an embassy in Yangon. Why was that important for you? (Courtesy of mizzima.com)
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