Sharing his thoughts on the direction of the United Nations’ work in 2016, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said the global community begins the year needing to get its “priorities right,” while underlining that more and better work needs to be done.
“This is a moment heavy with responsibility,” Mr. Ban told delegates during an annual informal briefing to the General Assembly. “Year one of the new 15-year agenda, and year 10 of my 10-year mandate. One year may seem very short in UN time. But I believe we can make it dynamic and productive.”
The UN chief began by declaring that 2016 must be a year in which landmark decisions on sustainable development “gain solid footing on the ground.”
“If 2015 was a year of global sustainable development action, 2016 must be a year of national SDG traction,” he stated, after congratulating Member States for adopting the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a set of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
January 15, 2016
40 Missing in new jade mining landslide
At least 40 migrant mine workers are believed missing following the collapse Tuesday night of a mountain of soil and other waste cast off from jade mining operations in Hpakant in Myanmar’s Kachin State, RFA reported on 13 January.
The landslide struck at about 10:30 p.m. not far from the site of another slide which killed over 100 in November, a local source told RFA’s Myanmar Service. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
The landslide struck at about 10:30 p.m. not far from the site of another slide which killed over 100 in November, a local source told RFA’s Myanmar Service. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
New EIA Requirements to Help Safeguard Myanmar's Environment
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Procedure – signed off by Cabinet in November – specifies the type and scope of environmental assessments required for all investment projects that could cause environmental and social harm.
"Myanmar’s EIA process will effectively help prevent the potentially adverse environmental and social impacts of development projects and contribute to the nation and people achieving sustainable development,” said Thet Thet Zin, Deputy Minister of Environmental Conservation and Forestry.
Also announced were environmental quality guidelines that aim to minimize levels of air, noise, and water pollution.
ADB, through the GMS Core Environment Program, has played a lead role in supporting the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry to develop both the procedure and guidelines. ADB will continue support to help Myanmar build its environmental safeguards system to international standard, according to ADB. (Courtesy of finchannel.com)
"Myanmar’s EIA process will effectively help prevent the potentially adverse environmental and social impacts of development projects and contribute to the nation and people achieving sustainable development,” said Thet Thet Zin, Deputy Minister of Environmental Conservation and Forestry.
Also announced were environmental quality guidelines that aim to minimize levels of air, noise, and water pollution.
ADB, through the GMS Core Environment Program, has played a lead role in supporting the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry to develop both the procedure and guidelines. ADB will continue support to help Myanmar build its environmental safeguards system to international standard, according to ADB. (Courtesy of finchannel.com)
January 14, 2016
French aid worker still held in Bangladesh
PARIS – A French NGO worker detained in Bangladesh has been kept in custody despite a court verdict which ordered his release on Tuesday.
Puemo Tchantchuing, who prefers to be known as Moussa Ibn Yacoub, was arrested on Dec. 22 in Bangladesh and was accused of “suspicious activities” and the use of a false identity as the name he uses is not that printed on his passport and identity card.
These charges were punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
Tchantchuing, an aid worker at the French humanitarian organization BarakaCity was working with the Muslim Rohingya minority who have fled persecution in Myanamr. He had been stopped at a checkpoint while going to schools and orphanages in the south of the country where the Rohingya camps are situated.
A court in Bangladesh ordered the release of the 28-year-old on Tuesday. However, the court decision was “cancelled” on Wednesday and Tchantchuing was kept in custody.
In a statement, BarakaCity said: “We learned that the judge who allowed his [Tchantchuing ] release has been replaced, and that the receipt has been crossed out by hand.” (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
Puemo Tchantchuing, who prefers to be known as Moussa Ibn Yacoub, was arrested on Dec. 22 in Bangladesh and was accused of “suspicious activities” and the use of a false identity as the name he uses is not that printed on his passport and identity card.
These charges were punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
Tchantchuing, an aid worker at the French humanitarian organization BarakaCity was working with the Muslim Rohingya minority who have fled persecution in Myanamr. He had been stopped at a checkpoint while going to schools and orphanages in the south of the country where the Rohingya camps are situated.
A court in Bangladesh ordered the release of the 28-year-old on Tuesday. However, the court decision was “cancelled” on Wednesday and Tchantchuing was kept in custody.
In a statement, BarakaCity said: “We learned that the judge who allowed his [Tchantchuing ] release has been replaced, and that the receipt has been crossed out by hand.” (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
BGP kill a Rohingya fisherman in Maungdaw
Maungdaw, Arakan State: A Rohingya fisherman was shot dead by Burmese Border Guard Police (BGP) on Januar10, at around 9:30 pm, while he was fishing at Naff River with along other fishermen, a local fisherman Korim said.
The deceased was identified as— Mohammed Roffique (19), son of Sayed Alam, hailed from Shweza village of Maungdaw Township, the fisherman more added.
Some fishermen went to fishing to the Naff River after getting permission from BGP personnel and some are not, a fisherman said on condition of anonymity.
Rafique accompanied by other fishermen of Shweza village went to the Naff River for catching fish by a row boat on January 10, at night. A patrol boat of BGP personnel of Shweza out post camp saw the fishing boat and called them to stop the fishing, but the fishermen were trying to flee, so, the BGP fired on the fishermen where Rafique was dead on the spot and the other fishermen managed to escape by jumping into the River, said Hamid, a local elder quoting the fleeing fishermen. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
The deceased was identified as— Mohammed Roffique (19), son of Sayed Alam, hailed from Shweza village of Maungdaw Township, the fisherman more added.
Some fishermen went to fishing to the Naff River after getting permission from BGP personnel and some are not, a fisherman said on condition of anonymity.
Rafique accompanied by other fishermen of Shweza village went to the Naff River for catching fish by a row boat on January 10, at night. A patrol boat of BGP personnel of Shweza out post camp saw the fishing boat and called them to stop the fishing, but the fishermen were trying to flee, so, the BGP fired on the fishermen where Rafique was dead on the spot and the other fishermen managed to escape by jumping into the River, said Hamid, a local elder quoting the fleeing fishermen. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
In Myanmar, a Wife’s Wrenching Decision
AKYAB (SITTWE) — How much should you sacrifice to save your husband’s life?
And how much hardship do you inflict on your son to rescue your husband?
Those are the questions Jano Begum faced. Jano, 22, and her husband, Robi Alom, 30, are among the more than one million Muslims who belong to the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, subjected to an ethnic cleansing that a Yale study suggests may amount to genocide.
I’ve written several times over the years about the brutalization of the Rohingya, but I know that for some readers it seems obscure and remote. Why worry about a distant people when there are so many crises in our own backyard? But put yourself in Jano’s situation, as she sits in a hut in a concentration camp here, and think how far you would go to save your spouse. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
And how much hardship do you inflict on your son to rescue your husband?
Those are the questions Jano Begum faced. Jano, 22, and her husband, Robi Alom, 30, are among the more than one million Muslims who belong to the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, subjected to an ethnic cleansing that a Yale study suggests may amount to genocide.
I’ve written several times over the years about the brutalization of the Rohingya, but I know that for some readers it seems obscure and remote. Why worry about a distant people when there are so many crises in our own backyard? But put yourself in Jano’s situation, as she sits in a hut in a concentration camp here, and think how far you would go to save your spouse. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
White sugar surging into Myanmar, smuggled to China
LONDON/BEIJING - Strong flows of white sugar are moving from India and Thailand to Myanmar, a fast-growing destination, and much of that is believed to be smuggled into China, trade sources said.
They said a clampdown on raw sugar import licences by Chinese authorities, a disappointing start to the Chinese harvest due to adverse weather, and high import margins into China, have spurred the trade.
The strong Chinese demand has contributed to pushing up whites-over-raws premiums on the Intercontinental Exchange to in excess of $100 per ton this week, a very comfortable margin for refiners.
White sugar is also believed to be smuggled into China via Laos and Cambodia, trade sources said.
"Shipments from Thailand to Myanmar and Laos have been very heavy in the last couple of months," a Western analyst said. "That's another route into China." (Courtesy of Agweek)
They said a clampdown on raw sugar import licences by Chinese authorities, a disappointing start to the Chinese harvest due to adverse weather, and high import margins into China, have spurred the trade.
The strong Chinese demand has contributed to pushing up whites-over-raws premiums on the Intercontinental Exchange to in excess of $100 per ton this week, a very comfortable margin for refiners.
White sugar is also believed to be smuggled into China via Laos and Cambodia, trade sources said.
"Shipments from Thailand to Myanmar and Laos have been very heavy in the last couple of months," a Western analyst said. "That's another route into China." (Courtesy of Agweek)
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