In a fresh diplomatic move to build vibrant relations with neighbouring Myanmar on the backdrop of its changing political situation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sent a special envoy to convey how greatly Dhaka values the relations with Nay Pyi Taw.
Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque took a letter of the prime minister to Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday.
The State Counsellor of Myanmar is a position, created this April to allow for a greater role for Aung San Suu Kyi within the government of Myanmar. (Courtesy of thedailystar.net)
July 1, 2016
Myanmar decries demotion on US human trafficking blacklist
Myanmar called sad and regrettable a move by the United States to place the country on a list of the world’s worst human trafficking offenders, while rights groups welcomed it as long overdue.
The demotion came Thursday when the U.S. State Department released its closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons report, which examines 188 governments’ efforts in combating modern-day slavery.
It placed Myanmar alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, and says the Southeast Asian country has failed to meet “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” It also removed Thailand from the blacklist despite what the State Department described as widespread forced labor in the country’s seafood industry. (Courtesy of seattletimes.com)
The demotion came Thursday when the U.S. State Department released its closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons report, which examines 188 governments’ efforts in combating modern-day slavery.
It placed Myanmar alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, and says the Southeast Asian country has failed to meet “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” It also removed Thailand from the blacklist despite what the State Department described as widespread forced labor in the country’s seafood industry. (Courtesy of seattletimes.com)
Myanmar: Beating case closed after Muslim drops charges
Police have closed an investigation into an attack on a Muslim man, a mosque, and other religious buildings in south Myanmar, after the victim refused to press charges.
Human rights organizations had urged a thorough investigation after Abdul Sharif was injured following an argument turned violent over the building of a school in Tha Yel Tha Mein village in Waw Township in Bago region -- around 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of commercial capital Yangon.
The incident had rekindled fears of a return to the violence of 2012, when communal tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in western Rakhine State left 200 people dead and displaced thousands. (Courtesy of thepeninsulaqatar.com)
Human rights organizations had urged a thorough investigation after Abdul Sharif was injured following an argument turned violent over the building of a school in Tha Yel Tha Mein village in Waw Township in Bago region -- around 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of commercial capital Yangon.
The incident had rekindled fears of a return to the violence of 2012, when communal tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in western Rakhine State left 200 people dead and displaced thousands. (Courtesy of thepeninsulaqatar.com)
June 30, 2016
Myanmar’s Military to Cooperate With Stakeholders at Panglong Peace Conference
Myanmar’s military commander-in-chief has vowed that the country’s powerful military will cooperate with government negotiators and armed ethnic organizations to ensure the success of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference in August.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing made the comment during a meeting Wednesday in the capital Naypyidaw with the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST)—leaders from the eight armed ethnic groups that signed a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) with the government last October—said Arakan Liberation Party leader Saw Mra Razar Lin, who was among the attendees.
“The army has full responsibility with regard to the democracy process being in place and will fully cooperate and help,” Saw Mya Raza Lin told RFA’s Myanmar Service. (Courtesy of rfa.org)
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing made the comment during a meeting Wednesday in the capital Naypyidaw with the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST)—leaders from the eight armed ethnic groups that signed a nationwide cease-fire agreement (NCA) with the government last October—said Arakan Liberation Party leader Saw Mra Razar Lin, who was among the attendees.
“The army has full responsibility with regard to the democracy process being in place and will fully cooperate and help,” Saw Mya Raza Lin told RFA’s Myanmar Service. (Courtesy of rfa.org)
Buddhist-Muslim Violence in South and South-East Asia: The Local Becomes Regional, or a Clash of Civilizations?
This month the UN released a report addressing “serious” human rights violations against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar at the hands of the Buddhist majority, and the two-year anniversary of Sri Lanka’s deadly Aluthgama and Dharga Town riots, allegedly incited by Buddhist monks and targeting Muslim homes, property, and lives. Farther east, Thailand’s Deep South struggles into its twelfth year of violence, which has seen soldiers escort teachers to schools and monks on their alms rounds amidst clashes with Salafists and Malay Muslim nationalists, while less recently Muslim hardliners in Jakarta have bombed Buddhist temples and Myanmarese embassies. (Courtesy of intpolicydigest.org)
Myanmar gov’t urged to eradicate roots of repression
An international human rights advocacy group urged Myanmar’s civilian-led government and parliament Wednesday to repeal or amend draconian and colonial-era laws enacted by the former junta to suppress peaceful speech and assembly.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Asia Director Brad Adams praised the effort of Myanmar’s new government -- led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi -- to release hundreds of those imprisoned for peaceful expression or protest, and to drop charges against others, shortly after it took power in late March. (Courtesy of turkishweekly.net)
Human Rights Watch (HRW) Asia Director Brad Adams praised the effort of Myanmar’s new government -- led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi -- to release hundreds of those imprisoned for peaceful expression or protest, and to drop charges against others, shortly after it took power in late March. (Courtesy of turkishweekly.net)
State Counsellor’s Office criticised for narrow definition of ‘political prisoner’
The minister for the State Counsellor’s Office Minister said this week that only detainees who are prosecuted legally for their involvement in demonstrations will be recognised as political prisoners. Groups working to protect the rights of political prisoners have strongly condemned the minister’s statement.
Union Minister Kyaw Tint Swe said: “We are supporting the goodwill and the instruction of the State Counsellor in order to eliminate political prisoners under the democratic government. There may be many differences regarding [between definitions of] a political prisoner according to the data of unofficial organisations. We define it, according to the policy of the State Counsellor, as only those who faced legal prosecution in line with the law for taking part in demonstrations.
Groups representing political prisoners criticised the minister’s definitions, saying it implies that people who were imprisoned for political activities for violating other laws are not recognised as political prisoners. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Union Minister Kyaw Tint Swe said: “We are supporting the goodwill and the instruction of the State Counsellor in order to eliminate political prisoners under the democratic government. There may be many differences regarding [between definitions of] a political prisoner according to the data of unofficial organisations. We define it, according to the policy of the State Counsellor, as only those who faced legal prosecution in line with the law for taking part in demonstrations.
Groups representing political prisoners criticised the minister’s definitions, saying it implies that people who were imprisoned for political activities for violating other laws are not recognised as political prisoners. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
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