In a demonstration of her popular appeal, Myanmar de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi received a rapturous welcome on Thursday as she presided over a town hall-type meeting with some of the huge population of migrant workers from her homeland who eke out a living in Thailand.
Suu Kyi met with Myanmar migrant workers in Samut Sakhon province near Bangkok, where she urged them to be honest with their employers and hosts in Thailand and to abide by the law. Suu Kyi likened them to guests of Thailand and urged them to talk with their employers to find solutions to any issues that may arise.
“When living together, it is normal that some little difficulties or problems may occur, but talking over them is the best solution,” Suu Kyi said. (Courtesy of scmp.com)
June 24, 2016
Police allow Rohingya group a partial press conference
Police on Thursday interrupted a planned press conference on the problems of the Rohingya people on the grounds it would disrupt a visit beginning Thursday by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who refuses to recognise Rohingya as citizens.
After negotiations, police allowed the group's organiser to make a statement, without questions.
Officers held long talks with members of the Rohingya Thailand Group, led by Haji Ismail, who had contracted to use the for a discussion of the problems of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. (Courtesy of bangkokpost.com)
After negotiations, police allowed the group's organiser to make a statement, without questions.
Officers held long talks with members of the Rohingya Thailand Group, led by Haji Ismail, who had contracted to use the for a discussion of the problems of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. (Courtesy of bangkokpost.com)
ARAKAN ARMY COMMANDER: 'THE PRESIDENT MUST HAVE TOTAL AUTHORITY OVER THE MILITARY'
The Arakan Army (AA) was formed in 2009 in the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) stronghold of Laiza, on Myanmar’s northern border with China, where the Arakan ethnic rebels received training and arms.
They have fought alongside the KIA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Kokang’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance (MNDAA) in Kachin and Shan states.
In March 2015, AA forces first clashed with the Myanmar army in Rakhine, their western home state, where they have considerable popular support. Fighting has since spread throughout the townships of Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung and Mrauk-U, where some 2,000 civilians have fled. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
They have fought alongside the KIA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Kokang’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance (MNDAA) in Kachin and Shan states.
In March 2015, AA forces first clashed with the Myanmar army in Rakhine, their western home state, where they have considerable popular support. Fighting has since spread throughout the townships of Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung and Mrauk-U, where some 2,000 civilians have fled. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
Envoys 'fail to match' UN ideals
A Myanmar UN representative told the 32nd Human Rights Council Conference in Geneva on June 21 that the body's human rights envoys were not living up to the UN's ideals, according to the Voice of America news agency.
The Myanmar representative made the comment to the conference as Miklos Haraszti, the special envoy to Belarus, submitted a report to the conference.
The conference is being held from June 13 to July 1.
“Assigning duties to UN special envoys to investigate human rights is a positive sign, but it may cause confrontation, misunderstanding and differences,” Thet Thinzar Tun, the Myanmar representative, said. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
The Myanmar representative made the comment to the conference as Miklos Haraszti, the special envoy to Belarus, submitted a report to the conference.
The conference is being held from June 13 to July 1.
“Assigning duties to UN special envoys to investigate human rights is a positive sign, but it may cause confrontation, misunderstanding and differences,” Thet Thinzar Tun, the Myanmar representative, said. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Myanmar kids prep for homecoming in Thailand's 'Little Burma'
Enrolment at the school, the first in the fishing hub of Samut Sakhon to offer a Myanmar curriculum including reading and writing, is surging as migrants wearied by the poor pay and low status in Thailand eye a return home.
For the 400 five to 15-year-olds crammed into a large community-funded classroom, the lessons are a bridge to a country many barely know after growing up in Thailand.
But their parents’ hopes of a homecoming have bloomed since the ascent to power of Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)
For the 400 five to 15-year-olds crammed into a large community-funded classroom, the lessons are a bridge to a country many barely know after growing up in Thailand.
But their parents’ hopes of a homecoming have bloomed since the ascent to power of Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)
India, Myanmar jointly inspecting bridges along trilateral trade route
The results of the assessment are expected late this month, said U Shwe Lay, deputy director general for the ministry’s Department of Bridges.
A total of 73 bridges are under review, some of which were built as far back as World War II.
“They are examining the bridges with the government’s permission,” U Shwe Lay told The Myanmar Times. “The assistant director and a deputy chief officer are included in the investigation team. The results will be revealed after June 30.”
The team is examining the structural integrity and design of the bridges, as well as any major or minor maintenance that might be required. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
A total of 73 bridges are under review, some of which were built as far back as World War II.
“They are examining the bridges with the government’s permission,” U Shwe Lay told The Myanmar Times. “The assistant director and a deputy chief officer are included in the investigation team. The results will be revealed after June 30.”
The team is examining the structural integrity and design of the bridges, as well as any major or minor maintenance that might be required. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
WHAT NEXT FOR MA BA THA?
An uncertain future confronts Ma Ba Tha in the aftermath of the last year’s election triumph by the National League for Democracy, against which the hardline Buddhist nationalist group had strongly campaigned.
The overwhelming NLD victory was a shock and an embarrassment for Ma Ba Tha, the Myanmar acronym for the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion.
“I never thought the NLD would win this many townships,” a shocked U Wirathu, Ma Ba Tha’s outspoken founder, told the Myanmar Times a few days after the election.
He was speaking at a monastery in Mandalay, where the hardline group was formed in 2013 to defend Buddhism in Myanmar against what it regards as a threat from Islam. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
The overwhelming NLD victory was a shock and an embarrassment for Ma Ba Tha, the Myanmar acronym for the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion.
“I never thought the NLD would win this many townships,” a shocked U Wirathu, Ma Ba Tha’s outspoken founder, told the Myanmar Times a few days after the election.
He was speaking at a monastery in Mandalay, where the hardline group was formed in 2013 to defend Buddhism in Myanmar against what it regards as a threat from Islam. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
Mob destroys mosque as religious, ethnic tension rises in Myanmar
A group of men from a village in central Myanmar destroyed a mosque in the first serious outburst of inter-religious violence in months, coinciding with a rise in tensions over how to refer to the Rohingya, the country's persecuted Muslim minority.
Villagers from Thayethamin, a remote settlement a two-hours' drive northeast of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, destroyed the mosque on Thursday after a dispute over its construction, and beat up at least one Muslim man, media and a police spokesman said.
Religious tensions simmered in Myanmar for almost half a century of military rule, before boiling over in 2012, just a year after a semi-civilian government took power. (Courtesy of reuters.com)
Villagers from Thayethamin, a remote settlement a two-hours' drive northeast of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, destroyed the mosque on Thursday after a dispute over its construction, and beat up at least one Muslim man, media and a police spokesman said.
Religious tensions simmered in Myanmar for almost half a century of military rule, before boiling over in 2012, just a year after a semi-civilian government took power. (Courtesy of reuters.com)
Aung San Suu Kyi Visits Myanmar Migrant Workers in Thailand
Aung San Suu Kyi met with a few hundred migrant workers from Myanmar during a visit to Thailand on Thursday, while thousands of others waited in the rain outside the factory where she spoke hoping she would address the crowd.
Myanmar’s de facto national leader, who also holds the positions of state counselor, foreign minister, and minister of the President’s Office, met for about 45 minutes with migrant laborers in the Mahachai district of central Thailand’s Samut Sakhon province outside Bangkok.
She is visiting Thailand in her capacities as foreign minister and state counselor.
Aung San Suu Kyi made the stop in Mahachai as part of an official three-day visit to the neighboring country, where she will meet with Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Friday and sign an agreement that will make it easier for Myanmar migrants to work legally in Thailand. (Courtesy of rfa.org)
Myanmar’s de facto national leader, who also holds the positions of state counselor, foreign minister, and minister of the President’s Office, met for about 45 minutes with migrant laborers in the Mahachai district of central Thailand’s Samut Sakhon province outside Bangkok.
She is visiting Thailand in her capacities as foreign minister and state counselor.
Aung San Suu Kyi made the stop in Mahachai as part of an official three-day visit to the neighboring country, where she will meet with Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Friday and sign an agreement that will make it easier for Myanmar migrants to work legally in Thailand. (Courtesy of rfa.org)
Myanmar: Rohingya will not be called Rohingya by the EU
The European Union said on Wednesday Myanmar needed "space" to deal with human rights abuses in its restive northwest, adding it would respect the call by country leader Aung San Suu Kyi to avoid the term "Rohingya" to describe persecuted Muslims there.
The statement exposes a rift in the West's approach to the sensitive issue, standing in contrast with the United States, which said it would continue to use the term, citing respect for the right of communities to choose what they should be called.
Members of the 1.1 million group, who identify themselves by the term Rohingya, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya have not even been considered citizens of Myanmar and the name itself is a divisive issue.
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Tensions around the Muslim minority are rising. This week, Suu Kyi told the United Nations Human Rights investigator visiting the country that the government would not use the term because it was inflammatory. (Courtesy of smh.com.au)
The statement exposes a rift in the West's approach to the sensitive issue, standing in contrast with the United States, which said it would continue to use the term, citing respect for the right of communities to choose what they should be called.
Members of the 1.1 million group, who identify themselves by the term Rohingya, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The Rohingya have not even been considered citizens of Myanmar and the name itself is a divisive issue.
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Tensions around the Muslim minority are rising. This week, Suu Kyi told the United Nations Human Rights investigator visiting the country that the government would not use the term because it was inflammatory. (Courtesy of smh.com.au)
EU SAYS FOCUSED ON ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ SOLUTIONS TO RAKHINE IMPASSE
The European Union Ambassador to Myanmar has said that communal tensions in Rakhine State remain “very high on the international agenda” during a policy briefing Wednesday.
Speaking at the Shangri La Hotel in downtown Yangon, Roland Kobia highlighted the EU’s humanitarian and development commitments in Rakhine while seeking to remain above the fray over the renewed controversy over use of the term Rohingya to refer to part of the state’s Muslim population.
“We wish to be helpful and supportive of solutions, and not to create additional layers of complexity,” he said. “For us the issues of substance in the short term are more important than nomenclature at this stage in the process.”
The Rohingya, a population of more than one million predominantly Muslim residents of Rakhine State, were the disproportionate victims of communal violence in 2012 that left hundreds dead and displaced more than 100,000 others. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
Speaking at the Shangri La Hotel in downtown Yangon, Roland Kobia highlighted the EU’s humanitarian and development commitments in Rakhine while seeking to remain above the fray over the renewed controversy over use of the term Rohingya to refer to part of the state’s Muslim population.
“We wish to be helpful and supportive of solutions, and not to create additional layers of complexity,” he said. “For us the issues of substance in the short term are more important than nomenclature at this stage in the process.”
The Rohingya, a population of more than one million predominantly Muslim residents of Rakhine State, were the disproportionate victims of communal violence in 2012 that left hundreds dead and displaced more than 100,000 others. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
Nationalist party opposes official term for Muslim community in Rakhine
The Arakan National Party (ANP) said in a statement that they totally reject any other term besides “Bengalis” to refer to the mostly stateless minority which self-identifies as “Rohingya”.
“Saying ‘Muslim community from Rakhine State’ makes it sounds as if they have always lived in the state. It’s like saying Rakhine is their place of origin,” said ANP’s secretary U Tun Aung Kyaw. “It will create more opportunities for them to attain citizenship and it’s like already accepting they are Myanmar nationals from Myanmar.”
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has asked several visiting dignitaries to refrain from using either the terms “Rohingya” or “Bengali”, including most recently the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
“Saying ‘Muslim community from Rakhine State’ makes it sounds as if they have always lived in the state. It’s like saying Rakhine is their place of origin,” said ANP’s secretary U Tun Aung Kyaw. “It will create more opportunities for them to attain citizenship and it’s like already accepting they are Myanmar nationals from Myanmar.”
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has asked several visiting dignitaries to refrain from using either the terms “Rohingya” or “Bengali”, including most recently the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
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