Myanmar Threatens NGOs Over Planned Flotilla to Help Rohingyas

The Malaysian flotilla will deliver aid to the persecuted Muslims in Myanmar and has vowed to go ahead with plans even if permission to enter is not granted.

An aid flotilla carrying food and emergency supplies for Rohingya Muslims will sail from Malaysia for Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state next month, a Malaysian organizer said Friday. But some fear a confrontation with security forces at sea, as the organizers vowed to go ahead with their plans even if they are not granted permission to enter Myanmar.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations secretary general Zulhanis Zainol said the flotilla's organizers had applied for permission to enter Myanmar through its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, but had yet to receive a reply.

"Even if we do not receive a response, we will continue to sail as we believe this is an important humanitarian mission," he said. A showdown with security forces could worsen Myanmar's already-frayed ties with predominantly Muslim Malaysia.

Malaysia has been an outspoken critic of the Myanmar government's handling of a violent crackdown in Rakhine, which has killed scores of people and displaced 30,0000 Rohingya amid allegations of abuses by security forces. (Courtesy of telesurtv.net)

Global leaders warn Aung Sun Suu Kyi over Rohingya

 More than a dozen Nobel laureates have criticised Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to uphold the human rights of Rohingya Muslims in the country's Rakhine State, urging for immediate action to avoid "ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity".

In an open letter to the United Nations Security Council late Thursday, 23 global icons, including 13 laureates and 10 global leaders, expressed their disappointment at what they see as state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi's failure to ensure Rohingya rights.

"Despite repeated appeals to Aung San Suu Kyi, we are frustrated that she has not taken any initiative to ensure full and equal citizenship rights of the Rohingya," the letter, with signatories including Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, said.

"Ms Suu Kyi is the leader and is the one with the primary responsibility to lead, and lead with courage, humanity and compassion," it said. (Courtesy of aljazeera.com)

Myanmar to take back 2,415 ‘citizens,’ no mention of Rohingyas

Myanmar said on Friday it would take back 2,415 “citizens” from Bangladesh, only a tiny fraction of the 300,000 people who Bangladesh says are Myanmar citizens taking refuge there and should go home.

“There are only 2,415 Myanmar citizens, according to our data,” Kyaw Zaya, director general of Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, referring to the number of Myanmar citizens in Bangladesh.

“We always stand with our number,” he said, adding he had “no idea” about the Bangladesh figure of 300,000.

He said the Myanmar government had a plan to take back the 2,415 in 2017.

Myanmar earlier agreed to take back 2,415 Rohingyas from the two registered camps in Bangladesh after the eighth foreign secretary-level talks in Dhaka in August 2014. The process was supposed to begin within two months, but it did not happen. After 2005, it was the first time Myanmar agreed to repatriate Rohingyas from Bangladesh. (Courtesy of dhakatribune.com)

Make Rohingya issue a priority

Twenty-three Nobel laureates and global leaders have urged the members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to urgently put the persisting Rohingya crisis on the Security Council's agenda and to call upon the UN secretary-general to visit Myanmar as a priority.

“If the current secretary-general is able to do so, we would urge him to go; if not, we encourage the new secretary-general to make it one of his first tasks after he takes office in January,” reads an open letter sent to the president of the UNSC and to all its member states.

The dignitaries, who have made the joint plea for the Rohingyas, one of the world's most persecuted minorities, include the likes of Professor Muhammad Yunus, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Malala Yousafzai, Shirin Ebadi and Arianna Huffington.

The signatories that include 13 Nobel laureates and 10 other business people, philanthropists, activists and politicians of global repute expressed concern that Rohingya persecution in Myanmar bears the hallmarks of genocides and past tragedies like the ones in Rwanda, Darfur, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

They urged the United Nations to do everything possible to encourage the Myanmar government to lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid so that people receive emergency assistance. (Courtesy of thedailystar.net)

Flotilla planned to help Rohingya in Myanmar

An aid flotilla carrying food and emergency supplies for Rohingya Muslims is to sail from Malaysia for Myanmar's Rakhine State in January.

Zulhanis Zainol, secretary-general of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations, said on Friday that the coalition organising the flotilla had applied for permission to enter Myanmar through its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, but had yet to receive a reply.

"Even if we do not receive a response, we will continue to sail as we believe this is an important humanitarian mission," he said. (Courtesy of aljazeera.com)

Violence, Fear Stalk Rohingya Villagers in Myanmar State

Rohingya Muslim villagers who spoke to a group of visiting reporters in Myanmar's Rakhine state have been harassed and, in at least one case, murdered. Government and Rohingya advocates are offering conflicting accounts of who is responsible.

The body of one of the men who spoke to reporters was found headless in a river, while others fled to neighboring Bangladesh. One woman told VOA by telephone from Bangladesh that she feared for her life after telling the visiting journalists reporters that she had been raped by soldiers.

The invitation-only media tour, comprising mainly journalists from Myanmar-based publications, marked the first time reporters had been allowed into the region in Rakhine state since three police posts came under attack on Oct. 9, leaving nine border guards dead. (Courtesy of voanews.com)

Aung San Suu Kyi is making wartime rape easier to commit

Former human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi is leading the Myanmar government’s campaign to make sure that nothing is done to protect women from sexual assault by the military in Rakhine State.

Two of her cabinet portfolios – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Counsellor’s Office – have been more vocal than any other government offices in denying allegations of rape of Rohingya women at the hands of government security forces.

On Friday, the Myanmar State Counsellor’s Office publicly accused Rohingya women of fabricating stories of rape by government security forces, calling the phenomenon “fake rape”. (Courtesy of yangon.coconuts.co)

Rohingya man found dead after media interview

The headless body of a Muslim villager was found days after he spoke to reporters on a rare government-guided media tour of restive northern Rakhine State, Myanmar police have said.

Troops have taken control of the dangerous and remote region bordering Bangladesh since Oct 9, when armed men raided police posts, killing nine officers.

At least 34,000 Rohingya Muslims have since fled to Bangladesh, taking with them allegations of mass killings, rape and torture at the hands of Myanmar security forces.

The Myanmar government has vigorously denied the accusations, setting off the latest war of words over the Rohingya. (Courtesy of straitstimes.com)

ECHO Factsheet The Rohingya crisis – December 2016

The Rohingya crisis is a human rights crisis with serious humanitarian consequences. In Myanmar/Burma, the Rohingya have very limited access to basic services and viable livelihood opportunities due to strict movement restrictions. The statelessness of and the discrimination against the Rohingya must urgently be addressed

The Government must prioritize inter-communal dialogue, mediation and conflict resolution in Rakhine State, where tensions between ethnic communities are widespread, with community segregation institutionalised. (Courtesy of reliefweb.int)

Seven new Rakhine villages to be set up in Maungdaw

Seven Rakhine villages will be set up in Maungdaw Township for Rakhine people who recently fled to Bangladesh, said Tin Maung Swe, secretary of the Rakhine State government.

The local government will provide these people with land and cattle for their livelihoods, he added.

“Some Rakhine people who migrated to Bangladesh have recently come back home. We will set up new villages for them and other Rakhine people who want to return to their home from other areas,” Tin Maung Swe said during a press release of Rakhine government held on December 23. (Courtesy of mizzima.com)

Bangladesh Border Shutdown of Rohingya Could Fuel Militancy: Observers

Bangladesh’s decision to seal its southeastern border to refugees fleeing violence in neighboring Myanmar could create a domestic backlash fueling militancy and sympathy for a new group of Rohingya Muslim insurgents, observers told BenarNews.

More than 30,000 Rohingya have crossed into Cox’s Bazar district from western Myanmar’s Rakhine state since early October, according to international relief agencies, but Dhaka’s policy of pushing back refugees at the border has led to at least one conservative Bangladeshi Muslim group exploiting the situation and potentially fomenting radicalism in a country already threatened by militancy, according to one expert.

His comments came in light of a research paper published last week by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), which reported about a new anti-Myanmar rebel group made up of Rohingya emigres with links to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan as well as Bangladesh. (Courtesy of benarnews.org)

Criticism Taints Myanmar's Media Access to Rakhine Crisis Zone

Almost three months after insurgents killed nine border guard police officers in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state, the government loosened its grip on the area this week by inviting a group of journalists and photographers on a three-day tour of places affected by the violence.

Diplomats, rights groups and the press have been calling for media access to Maungdaw and surrounding townships in northern Rakhine since the October 9 attacks, which were claimed by a new insurgent group drawn from the ranks of the country’s oppressed Rohingya Muslim minority.

The military operation to retrieve weapons and arrest suspects has resulted in mass displacement, the deaths of dozens of people, and allegations of widespread human rights abuses, including rape and the systematic torching of villages. The government maintains the stories are fabricated despite mounting evidence to the contrary, including satellite imagery and numerous testimonies. (Courtesy of voanews.com)

Timeline: A Short History of Myanmar’s Rohingya Minority

Thousands of men, women and children from Myanmar’s Rohingya minority have fled the country over what the army is calling a crackdown on insurgents.
A Wall Street Journal article examines the intensification of a long-simmering conflict between Yangon and the Rohingya Muslims, who are denied citizenship in the predominantly Buddhist Southeast Asian state.
Here is a short history of the Rohingya people.
8th Century: The Rohingya, a people of South Asian origin, dwelled in an independent kingdom in Arakan, now known as Rakhine state in modern-day Myanmar.
9th to 14th Century: The Rohingya came into contact with Islam through Arab traders. Close ties were forged between Arakan and Bengal.
1784: The Burman King Bodawpaya conquered Arakan and hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Bengal. (Courtesy of blogs.wsj.com)

Rohingya Find Help, Sympathy in Bangladesh

On the shores of the Naf River in southern Bangladesh, fishermen aren’t the only ones taking to the waters.

In the last two months, hundreds of boats loaded with Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the river from Myanmar have arrived near this border town.

Most residents in the predominately Muslim country are sympathetic to the plight of the ethnic Rohingya, who are trying to escape persecution in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

While some arrivals have been pushed back by Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), many have received food and aid from local Muslims such as Rohingyan fisherman Shamsul Alam. (Courtesy of voanews.com)

Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are suffering. The world mustn’t look away

Two sets of high-definition images of Myanmar taken from outer space: both are shot in the morning, both show the same villages populated by Rohingya Muslims of Rakhine state. The first set, collected from 2014, displays a small collection of homes where the virtually stateless minority has settled. The buildings, lying between trees and set back from dirt roads, number more than 100. In the second set of images, taken in the past two months, the homes have vanished, and all that remains is square patches of burnt earth.

Provided by Human Rights Watch, the images reveal 430 buildings that have been destroyed in three different villages, and support the claim from a United Nations official that Myanmar is seeking the “ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya” from its territory.

After nine border officers were killed on 9 October, the region’s Muslim minority – already excluded, impoverished and persecuted – has once again fallen victim to a sharp increase in targeted violent attacks. Over the past two months, around 10,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh and, according to Amnesty International, eyewitness accounts from those refugees suggest that “Myanmar’s security forces, led by the military”, are “torching hundreds of homes”. (Courtesy of theguardian.com)

After Rohingya man shot dead in Duchiridan, conflicting stories emerge

While Aung San Suu Kyi sweet talked the nine other Asaen foreign ministers about her government’s military operations in Rakhine State on Monday morning, a photo (graphic) of the bloodied body of a man killed in southern Maungdaw Township began circulating on social media.

Rohingya groups said the killing in village of Duchiridan, locally known as Kilaidaung, was unlawful. Rohingya Vision TV reported that Myanmar Border Guard Police shot the man after their search for methamphetamine tablets in his home came up empty-handed.

“The group of the BGP didn’t find out any illegal materials at the residence of U Hamid (55). Yet the BGP commander simply dragged him out and shot him at his back at a point-blank range”, an eyewitness told Rohingya Vision TV on the condition of anonymity. (Courtesy of yangon.coconuts.co)

Is This the Real Aung San Suu Kyi?

In early November, Zaw Lay and his family were hiding in the basement of a friend’s house in Yekhatchchaung GwaSone village, near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Two Burmese military helicopters circled overhead, firing indiscriminately at the terrified villagers huddled below. “The helicopters [didn’t] see us but they are firing continuously,” he recently told me over the phone, from a forest enclave in Bangladesh where he now lives. “We don’t [dare] go outside the home, if the helicopter men see us they will kill us.” Once the helicopters stopped their strafing, Burmese soldiers on the ground began burning the village to the ground. There was chaos when Zaw Lay fled, and he learned only later that his elderly mother had been trapped inside a burning building. “My mom’s dead,” he told me.

Rohingya Muslims like Zaw Lay are a small minority in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. They are becoming smaller still, thanks to a brutal campaign initiated in mid-October by the Burmese military. The spark for the violence came on October 9, when a Rohingya militia attacked a police outpost in northern Rakhine province, killing nine officers and seizing weapons and equipment. The military’s harsh reprisal campaign, designed to retrieve every gun stolen during the initial raid, is believed to have killed hundreds of Rohingya, and sent around 25,000 more fleeing into Bangladesh in what Amnesty International has termed “collective punishment.” (Courtesy of newrepublic.com)

UN advisor fears Myanmar situation may get out of hand

A top United Nations official is warning that the ongoing violence in Myanmar's west is in danger of “getting out of hand", and is asking the country's leaders to be more assertive in resolving historic problems faced by the area's Muslim and Buddhist communities.

In an exclusive interview earlier this week, the UN secretary-general’s special advisor on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, told Anadolu Agency that deadly Oct. 9 attacks on police stations in Rakhine State were condemnable, but laid bare “a deep-seated malaise in the place itself”.

He outlined a rising desperation felt by Rohingya Muslims in the area, saying that the government hadn’t done enough to address the “anxiety and insecurity” they felt.

“For almost three years, there hasn’t been any major outbreak of violence in Rakhine, even though the 2012 events were a pointer,” Nambiar said, referring to inter-communal violence in Rakhine in which more than 100 people -- mostly Muslims -- died and over 100,000 were displaced. (Courtesy of thepeninsulaqatar.com)

Asean MPs slam Suu Kyi’s Rakhine briefing as ‘political theater’

A collective of Asean lawmakers expressed disappointment yesterday over the lack of commitments made at the briefing for Asean foreign ministers on Rakhine State in Yangon on Monday, which was hosted by Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) called for a stronger regional response to human rights abuses in Rakhine State and urged member governments to comply with their obligations to protect human rights under the Asean Charter.

“Through continued inaction, Asean risks failing the people at its center. This meeting should have been an opportunity to take decisive action to protect vulnerable civilians and hold the Myanmar government and military accountable. Unfortunately, though not unexpectedly, it seems it was largely an act of political theater,” said APHR chairperson Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament. (Courtesy of yangon.coconuts.co)

Kader: PM should help Rohingyas

Being a daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should help the Rohingyas, says Krishak Sramik Janata League’s president Kader Siddique.

“Bangladesh always supports the oppressed people and this is our culture,” Kader told reporters after meeting the president at Bangabhaban on Wednesday.

A 12-member team led by Kader met the president as a part of the president’s initiative to consult the country’s major political parties over reformation of the Election Commission.

Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingyas as its citizens and dubs them ‘Bangali’ Rohingyas.(Courtesy of dhakatribune.com)

Myanmar says Rohingya rape and abuse allegations “made-up”, despite mounting evidence

One by one, seven Myanmar soldiers raped Yasmin in her home, as she stifled her screams for fear of being murdered.

Sixteen days ago, the military attacked Mukhtar’s village, and now the elderly man sits in a small hut nursing shotgun wounds to his thigh.

Two fingers on two-year-old Anwar’s tiny hand are fused together at the base, after he suffered burns when soldiers set houses on fire. (Courtesy of irinnews.org)

Tales of horror from new arrivals at Rohingya camp

According to the UNHCR, more than 27,000 Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh since the military crackdown began in Myanmar's Rakhine state after attacks on border posts on October 9.

Every day, new arrivals at the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar bring familiar horror stories of murder and rape from across the Naf River.

But Mohammed Shah Alam will not be able to tell his story.

Shah Alam, 45, suffered a bullet wound when he was attacked by the Myanmar Army on Sunday night. His cousin Fatema Khatun, 40, took him along to flee on a boat around 4am. (Courtesy of dhakatribune.com)

Malaysia calls for ASEAN to set up aid for Rohingya in Myanmar

Malaysia said on Monday the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar was a regional concern and called for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to coordinate humanitarian aid and investigate alleged atrocities committed against them.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman was speaking at a meeting of the 10-nation bloc in Yangon called by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi after weeks of reports that the army has killed, raped and arbitrarily arrested Rohingya civilians.

Myanmar has denied the accusations, saying many of the reports are fabricated, and it insists the strife in Rakhine state, where many Rohingya live, is an internal matter.

In addition to fending off diplomatic pressure over the crisis, the Myanmar government has also invited a handpicked media delegation to visit the affected region this week. (Courtesy of asahi.com)

Hope Is Too Painful: The Untold Story Of Thousands Of Refugees Trapped In Thailand

Trapped in Mae La refugee camp, eight miles from the Myanmar border in northern Thailand, nearly 40,000 people have fled the world's longest running civil war. Behind them a toxic mix of religious and ethnic difference has fuelled a conflict with such horrors that experts have repeatedly said it is genocide.

Dudu Pho peered across the dark room in his well-built bamboo hut as he continued: "We always hope. But what we hoped for this year still hasn't happened."

There is little prospect those aspirations will be realised this year. Or next year. And that has been the case for the 30 years he has been here. (Courtesy of christiantoday.com)

Indonesian FM soaks up Rohingya crisis in Cox's Bazar

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi spoke to registered and unregistered Rohingya refugees in the Bangladesh camps and listened to their tales of assualts by the Myanmarese security forces. 

Visiting different Rohingya refugee camps in Ukhia of Cox's Bazar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Tuesday witnessed sufferings of the Rohingyas who are fleeing persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine state to seek protection in Bangladesh.

Marsudi arrived in Bangladesh Monday night on a 24-hour visit after attending a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries with Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon. (Courtesy of thejakartapost.com)

Al-Azhar chief urges end to persecution of Muslims in Myanmar

 In a meeting with Myanmar’s ambassador to Egypt on Monday, Sheikh el-Tayeb stressed that oppression of the Muslim minority group should end and Rohingya’s citizenship rights should be recognized.

He also expressed al-Azhar’s readiness to hold meetings with Myanmar’s religious leaders to reduce tension and conflicts.

He hoped for establishment of comprehensive and viable peace among all Myanmar citizens.

In recent weeks, at least 86 people have been killed in the latest wave of racial violence against the Rohingya Muslims, even though independent reports put the toll much higher.  (Courtesy of en.abna24.com)

Indonesian, Bangladeshi foreign ministers visit refugee camps, settlements with IOM, UNHCR in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

IOM Bangladesh Chief of Mission Sarat Dash and UNHCR Bangladesh Country Representative Shinji Kubo Tuesday have accompanied Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi and Bangladesh Minister of Foreign Affairs Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali on a field visit to Cox’s Bazar to see the developing crisis of civilians fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to seek protection in Bangladesh.

Foreign Minister Marsudi visited Bangladesh on a one-day familiarisation visit, during which she is also scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to discuss the evolving situation. Her visit to Bangladesh comes on the wake of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers meeting in Yangon organized by the Government of Myanmar in an effort to reduce regional concerns over the situation in the northern part of Rakhine State.

The high level delegates visited a registered refugee camp and a makeshift settlement in the Cox’s Bazar district of Ukhia, where they met both with refugees and Undocumented Myanmar Nationals (UMN), who have been in the country for many years. They also met with those who have arrived since the violence erupted in early October 2016. The discussions with the community allowed the visitors to better understand the ground realities that have forced some 34,000 civilians to cross the border into Bangladesh in recent weeks and months. (Courtesy of reliefweb.int)

Malaysia talks tough on Myanmar’s treatment of Rohingya

Malaysia, the most outspoken of Myanmar’s neighbors over its treatment of its Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority, told a meeting of regional foreign ministers Monday of its “grave concern” over the violence allegedly carried out by Myanmar’s military.

In a formal document presented at the meeting called by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman noted “reports from many sources alleging arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings including of children, rape by soldiers, burning of Rohingya villages as well as destruction of homes and places of worship.”

“It is troubling that these alleged violations occurred in the context of security operations conducted by Government authorities,” the document said. (Courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

Malaysia calls for ASEAN to lead push for end to Rohingya crisis

Malaysia today said the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar was a regional concern and called for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to coordinate humanitarian aid and investigate alleged atrocities committed against them.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman was speaking at a meeting of the 10-nation bloc in Yangon called by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi after weeks of reports that the army has killed, raped and arbitrarily arrested Rohingya civilians.

Myanmar has denied the accusations, saying many of the reports are fabricated and it insists the strife in Rakhine State, where many Rohingya live, is an internal matter. (Courtesy of thedailystar.net)

Rohingya violence by Burmese army true, Suu Kyi has ‘failed’ – report

A NEW report has emerged confirming that Burmese security forces have raped, killed and burnt down over a thousand homes in a campaign of violence against the Rohingya people.

The report by Amnesty International released Monday says an analysis of survivor accounts and satellite images prove the allegations to be true, despite blanket denials by the Burmese authorities.

It also brands Aung San Suu Kyi a failure, saying her silence so far indicates she is either unwilling or unable to contain the violence. ( Courtesy of asiancorrespondent.com)

Malaysia calls for ASEAN to coordinate aid for Myanmar's Rohingya

Malaysia said on Monday the plight of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar was a regional concern and called for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to coordinate humanitarian aid and investigate alleged atrocities committed against them.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman was speaking at a meeting of the 10-nation bloc in Yangon called by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi after weeks of reports that the army has killed, raped and arbitrarily arrested Rohingya civilians.

Myanmar has denied the accusations, saying many of the reports are fabricated and it insists the strife in Rakhine State, where many Rohingya live, is an internal matter. (Courtesy of reuters.com)

New policy needed on Myanmar military, says NGO

A UK-based NGO is calling on the international community to rethink its policy to the Myanmar military, given concerns over what it alleges are human rights violations.

Burma Campaign UK on December 16 published a new briefing paper, ‘Time for a rethink on policy towards Burma’s military’, calling for a debate on new ways to influence Myanmar’s military.

The commentary briefing paper argues that the international community has yet to develop a strategy for effectively promoting human rights under the new political structure in Myanmar, which now has two power bases, the military, and the National League for Democracy led government. The NGO claims neither is respecting human rights. (Courtesy of mizzima.com)

Witnessing the Rohingya's Invisible Genocide

I witnessed three funerals in four days in a small area of the camps in the Rakhine state for the Rohingya, Myanmar’s Muslim minority, in November 2015. Each of those deaths would have been easily preventable with access to basic health care. I followed another woman, Moriam Katu, for five days, and watched her suffocate slowly from asthma, gasping for breath, begging for help from the doctor that hadn’t shown up that day as she sat propped up against the wall in the one accessible emergency clinic, then coughing up blood surrounded by her daughters back at home. She died a few weeks after I left.

An estimated one million stateless Rohingya have been stripped of their citizenship in Myanmar and forced to live in modern-day concentration camps, surrounded by government military checkpoints. They are not able to leave, to work outside the camps, do not have access to basic medical care or food. Most aid groups are banned from entering or working in the camps, leaving the Rohingya to their own devices for sustenance and healthcare. Journalists are also routinely denied access, Myanmar’s way of ensuring the world doesn’t see the slow, intentional demise of a population.

Many Rohingya from Myanmar have managed to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, where an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people live in dismal, over-crowded makeshift camps and rudimentary settlements along Bangladesh’s southern tip near the Myanmar border. They live in a constant state of fear they will be imprisoned or deported. (Courtesy of time.com)

Hoping to go to Rakhine if she could

If given the opportunity, Dr Fauziah Hassan would like to go to Rakhine, Myanmar, on a humanitarian mission. However, it was impossible due to safety reasons.

The consultant at Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital in Kuala Lumpur said she was advised against it because Muslim women, especially those donning head scarfs, are treated differently.

“I would have gone but it is very dangerous. Even in the four previous missions by Humanitarian Care Malaysia, only men were allowed to go,” she said.

Dr Fauziah, 59, was speaking to reporters after giving a talk on her participation in the Women’s Boat To Gaza (WBG) initiative at Hotel Seri Malaysia here yesterday. (Courtesy of thestar.com.my)

U.N. says it gets reports daily of killings and rapes in Myanmar

The United Nations is getting daily reports of rapes and killings of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar and independent monitors are being barred from investigating, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday.

U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said in a statement that the government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, had taken a "short-sighted, counterproductive, even callous" approach to the crisis, risking grave long-term repercussions for the region.

At least 86 people have been killed, according to state media, and the United Nations has estimated 27,000 members of the largely stateless Muslim Rohingya minority have fled across the border from Myanmar's Rakhine state into Bangladesh. (Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk)

NGOs to organise Pray 4 Rohingya gathering on Dec 23

A gathering against the aggression and genocide on the Rohingya Muslims by the Myanmar government will be held at the Dataran Kemerdekaan Shah Alam here on December 23.

Organised by 17 non-governmental organisations under the Selangor Humanitarian Fund (SHF), the ‘Himpunan Peduli Ummah: Pray 4 Rohingya’ gathering will start at 6pm and last until midnight.

Organising chairman Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi, who is also the Selangor exco for Islamic Religious Affairs, Malay Customs & Heritage, Rural & Traditional Villages Development said that SHF calls upon Malaysians to attend the gathering in solidarity for the Rohingyas.

“More gatherings and rallies should be held continuously to pressure the Myanmar government over the violence done on the Rohingyas. (Courtesy of thestar.com.my)

Human rights: Buddhism in Tibet, Rohingya in Myanmar, mass graves in Iraq

The European Parliament condemns the demolition of the Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Academy, the imprisonment of scholar Ilham Tohti by Chinese authorities and the persecution of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, while urging the protection of mass graves in Iraq, in three resolutions voted on Thursday.

Halt demolition of Larung Gar Academy, release jailed scholar Ilham Tohti

The Chinese authorities should suspend the demolition of Larum Gar, stop the eviction of its residents and respect the freedom of expression, culture and religious belief of Tibetans, say MEPs. The demolition of monastic homes began on 20 July 2016 and it is estimated that as many as 1,000 monks and nuns have been evicted so far, with at least three nuns having committing suicide in protest. (Courtesy of europarl.europa.eu)

Mehdi Hasan’s Barbed Attack on Aung San Suu Kyi Over Rohingya Riles Burmese

How can you displace 30,000 people, make sure 130,000 people don’t receive basic life sustaining aid, and do nothing as 27,000 people flee to Bangladesh ahead of a raping, murdering, and village destroying army? Fairly easily if you are the recipient of a Noble Peace Prize by all appearances.

In this edition of Al Jazeera’s Upfront British political journalist, Mehdi Hasan, tackles Myanmar, the Rohingya, and Noble Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Hasan starts off by pointing out that everyone loves Aung San Suu Kyi; that she has “captured the hearts of leaders across the globe.”

US President Barack Obama who abolished most of the sanctions that had been imposed against the Southeast Asian nation almost two decades earlier in an attempt to bring an end to human rights abuses in the country by the Tatmadaw would be a testament to that. (Courtesy of aecnewstoday.com)

LETTER TO BURMESE EMBASSY CALLS FOR END TO AID BLOCK

CSW has written to the Burmese Embassy calling for an end to the block on humanitarian aid in Rakhine and Kachin States.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has today written to the Burmese Embassy in London calling for an end to the block on humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rakhine and Kachin States.

Additionally, and as part of CSW’s Stop The Block on Aid campaign, a petition signed by Paul Scully MP (Conservative), Valerie Vaz MP (Labour), Jonathan Ashworth MP (Labour), David Burrowes MP (Conservative) and 7,000 members of the public will be sent to the Burmese mission to the United Nations.

Valerie Vaz, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and Labour Member of Parliament for Walsall South said: “A grave human tragedy is unfolding in Rakhine State, Burma, and it is imperative that immediate action is taken to ensure emergency humanitarian aid reaches those who need it. That is why I am delighted to support CSW's campaign and to add my voice to this petition. Action is needed now to save lives” (Courtesy of csw.org.uk)

MYANMAR’S SAVAGE LEADERS AND SCHOLARS ON ROHINGYA GENOCIDE

Myanmar’s religious affairs ministry plans to write a book to prove the Rohingya are not indigenous to the country. It said “The real truth is that the word Rohingya was never used or existed as an ethnicity or race in Myanmar’s history.”

Every secondary student knows well the concept of history but Myanmar leaders and some scholars do not know the concept. They think they can write whatever they want as history. History is the bodies of knowledge about the past produced by historians, not to destroy a nation but to preserve their history.

History is vital importance for the society, it must be based on evidence and logical thought, not on specious theory or political ideology. Primary sources form the basic “raw material” of history; they are sources which came into existence within the period being investigated. If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything.

Encyclopedia of Myanmar, history of Burma and many historical books including high school textbook and University textbook of Myanmar mentioned Rohingya as indigenous ethnic of Burma. The prominent historian of Burma, Dr. Than Tun wrote Rohingya have lived since 1000 years ago. (Courtesy of aungaungsittwe.com)

A Joint India-Indonesia Intervention on the Rohingya Issue

The problem of Myanmar’s displaced Rohingyas has of late assumed a special dimension in both South-East Asia and in India’s immediate periphery. Festering since 2011, the problem erupted once again in November 2016. After inter-community riots in Myanmar’s western Rakhine province in 2012, a large-scale displacement of approximately one million Rohingyas occurred. The problem has surfaced again after violence broke out in the area on October 9, 2016.

For long, Rohingya Muslims have been at the receiving end of violence unleashed by Burman Buddhists, particularly by the Buddhist extremist group `969` led by the monk Wirathu. The displacement of Rohingyas from Rakhine province, where they have been domiciled for generations, to adjoining countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand has of late assumed a destabilising dimension in Myanmar’s bilateral relations with these countries.

Rohingyas have also emigrated to India. According to authoritative reports including inputs from the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), nearly a third of the 36,000 refugees registered with UNHCR in India are Rohingyas (more than 10,000). Some migrated as far back as 2005 (to Jaipur), while others are more recent arrivals housed in temporary make-shift conditions in states such as Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and even Jammu & Kashmir. (Courtesy of idsa.in)

Myanmar Rohingya militancy `well-organized

The emergence of a "well-organized and well-funded" Muslim militancy behind attacks on security forces in western Myanmar could further de-stabilize the conflict-ridden region, an international think tank warned on Wednesday.

Harakah al-Yaqin, or Faith Movement, formed by members of the persecuted Rohingya minority, has been blamed for deadly attacks on security forces in northern Rakhine state, including an October 9 assault when hundreds of fighters, armed mostly with swords and sticks, overran three border police bases.

The violence prompted a sweeping crackdown on the Rohingya population, thousands of whom have fled to Bangladesh in recent weeks amid accusations of mass killings and rapes. The government denies the allegations. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)

Myanmar: A New Muslim Insurgency in Rakhine State

Recent attacks by an émigré-led force of trained Rohingya fighters mark a dangerous turn. To remove a main root of the violence – Rohingya despair – the government must reverse longstanding discrimination against the Muslim minority, moderate its military tactics, and reach out to Myanmar’s Muslim allies.

Executive Summary

The deadly attacks on Border Guard Police (BGP) bases in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State on 9 October 2016 and the days following, and a serious escalation on 12 November when a senior army officer was killed, signify the emergence of a new Muslim insurgency there. The current violence is qualitatively different from anything in recent decades, seriously threatens the prospects of stability and development in the state and has serious implications for Myanmar as a whole. The government faces a huge challenge in calibrating and integrating its political, policy and security responses to ensure that violence does not escalate and intercommunal tensions are kept under control. It requires also taking due account of the grievances and fears of Rakhine Buddhists. (Courtesy of reliefweb.int)

3 clues show that the Tatmadaw is who’s burning Rohingya villages

Analysis of new satellite imagery collected by Human Rights Watch places responsibility for the burning of Rohingya villages squarely with the Myanmar military and appear to disprove the claim made by military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing that the Rohingya are setting fire to their own homes.

Three points in the analysis make the case:

1. The burning appear to move westward, along with the military forces carrying out “clearance operation”. (Courtesy of yangon.coconuts.co)

Myanmar: A New Muslim Insurgency in Rakhine State

The deadly attacks on Border Guard Police (BGP) bases in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State on 9 October 2016 and the days following, and a serious escalation on 12 November when a senior army officer was killed, signify the emergence of a new Muslim insurgency there. The current violence is qualitatively different from anything in recent decades, seriously threatens the prospects of stability and development in the state and has serious implications for Myanmar as a whole. The government faces a huge challenge in calibrating and integrating its political, policy and security responses to ensure that violence does not escalate and intercommunal tensions are kept under control. It requires also taking due account of the grievances and fears of Rakhine Buddhists.

Failure to get this right would carry enormous risks. While the government has a clear duty to maintain security and take action against the attackers, it needs, if its response is to be effective, to make more judicious use of force and focus on a political and policy approach that addresses the sense of hopelessness and despair underlying the anger of many Muslims in Rakhine State. Complicating this is that Aung San Suu Kyi has some influence, but under the constitution no direct control over the military. (Courtesy of crisisgroup.org)

Myanmar's Rohingya insurgency has links to Saudi, Pakistan: report

A group of Rohingya Muslims that attacked Myanmar border guards in October is headed by people with links to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said on Thursday, citing members of the group.

The coordinated attacks on Oct. 9 killed nine policemen, and sparked a crackdown by security forces in the Muslim-majority north of Rakhine State in the country's northwest.

At least 86 people have been killed, according to state media, and the United Nations has estimated 27,000 members of the largely stateless Rohingya minority have fled across the border to Bangladesh.

Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar's government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, blamed Rohingyas supported by foreign militants for the Oct. 9 attacks, but has issued scant further information about the assailants it called "terrorists". (Courtesy of reuters.com)

Envoy: Myanmar calls for talks over Rohingya issue

Myanmar has called an emergency Asean meeting to discuss the Rohingya crisis, a diplomat said, as regional tensions deepen over a bloody military crackdown on the country’s Muslim minority.

More than 20,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh over the past two months, fleeing a military campaign in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.

Their stories of mass rape and murder at the hands of security forces have galvanised protests in Muslim nations around the region, with Buddhist-majority Myanmar facing diplomatic pressure from its neighbours.

Last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak lashed out at Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for allowing “genocide” on her watch, speaking before thousands of angry protesters in Kuala Lumpur. (Courtesy of thestar.com.my)

Report: Islamist group in Myanmar rings alarm bell

International Crisis Group has revealed that a well-funded armed Islamist group carried out the attacks on Myanmar security forces in October and November that saw crackdown by the military in retaliation.

Formed after the 2012 riot, the insurgent group, which refers to itself as Harakah al-Yaqin (Faith Movement, HaY), is led by a committee of Rohingyas living in Saudi Arabia and is commanded on the ground by Rohingyas with international training and experience in modern guerrilla war tactics, the Brussels-based group said in a report published yesterday.

“It benefits from the legitimacy provided by local and international fatwas [religious judicial opinions] in support of its cause and enjoys considerable sympathy and backing from Muslims in northern Rakhine State, including several hundred locally-trained recruits.”
Over 20,000 Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter in Bangladesh following the latest attack in Rakhine state since October 9 that killed around 100 people. People who have escaped the attacks are sharing horrific stories of murder and torture. (Courtesy of dhakatribune.com)

Asean to discuss Rohingya issue in Yangon on Dec 19

A meeting between Asean foreign ministers will take place on Monday in Yangon to discuss the oppression of and violence towards the Rohingya ethnic minority group in Myanmar, the Dewan Negara was told today.

Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican said the ministers would seek a long-term solution to the current situation in Rakhine state in Myanmar’s northern region during the meeting.

“The decision was made when Myanmar eventually agreed to the continuous recommendations by Malaysia after both sides traded statements to back their stand (on the issue),” he said.

He said this when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2017. (Courtesy of freemalaysiatoday.com)

Fears of military coup in Myanmar are exaggerated

Weeks of violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State and intense fighting between government troops and ethnic armed groups along the Chinese border have led some to suggest that State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is facing a crisis of such proportions that the military might mount a coup d'etat.

Accusations by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and others of genocide against minority Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine State, tensions within Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy, four non-lethal bombings in Yangon, and overall economic underperformance round out a picture of uncertainty about the government's hold on power.

Some observers of Myanmar have long believed that the military creates crises as a "pretext" for expanding its power. Fears of a coup were raised after Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing in November made references to a "state of emergency" constitutional provision, leading to speculation whether the armed forces, or Tatmadaw, intends to oust Suu Kyi's government. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)

Iranian, Indonesian Presidents Discuss Myanmar Crisis

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo discussed a range of issues at a meeting in Tehran, including the need for peaceful settlement of a conflict in Myanmar that has killed and displaced a large number of Rohingya Muslims since 2012.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Widodo, President Rouhani said Iran and Indonesia, as two members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) with close bonds, have agreed to boost cooperation to address the challenges the Islamic world is facing, such as the conflict in Myanmar, or the situation in West Asia, as in Syria and Yemen.

“Resolution of these problems can deepen regional stability and security” in the West and East Asia, the Iranian president added. (Courtesy of tasnimnews.com)

Solution to Rohinghya crisis simple – it’s called citizenship

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been accused of opportunism for lashing out at Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi over her treatment of the Muslim Rohingya, which he has branded “genocide”.

But Najib’s maverick behaviour threatens to undermine Asean leaders and the entire organisation unless they take a stand on the issue. No member can afford to stand idly by while an ethnic group faces deadly persecution within Asean, which claims to be a people-centred community. Worse still would be employing the Asean doctrine of non-interference to justify such negligence. What is the point in integrating as a community if members cannot address an issue which affects the whole region?

No Asean member-country can justify turning its back on the Rohingya crisis, since this is a longstanding regional problem with deep-rooted causes. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)

Burma's Rohingya Muslims speak of massacres and rape as government denies genocide

Rohingya Muslims have described horrific rapes, massacres and atrocities at the hands of Burmese forces as the government continues to deny allegations of genocide.

Tens of thousands of people from the ethnic minority have been fleeing into Bangladesh to escape the violence, described as anti-terror “clearance operations” by the President’s office.

A young mother told the Associated Press how soldiers raided her village in Rakhine state and set light to the thatched homes before shooting anyone trying to flee into surrounding fields. (Courtesy of independent.co.uk)

NGO Calls Suu Kyi An International Terrorist, Urge The World To Boycott Myanmar's Economy

Following her indifference towards the fate of her own people, especially the plight of the Rohingyas, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been likened to an international terrorist instead.

According to Tan Sri Ali Rustam, President of the Malay and Islamic World (DMDI), Suu Kyi, who is also the the State Counsellor of Myanmar, has been held in high esteem as someone who fought for peace, democracy and humanity but has suddenly changed her stance.

Ali said that DMDI is shocked at Suu Kyi's appalling inaction, seemingly willing to keep her eyes, mouth and ears turned away from the sufferings of the Rohingya Muslims.

“Suu Kyi is also trying to create confusion that brutality is not only felt by Muslims but also by the Buddhists-majority Myanmar population. (Courtesy of malaysiandigest.com)

The World’s Newest Muslim Insurgency Is Being Waged in Burma

International Crisis Group interviews with several members of the armed group that carried out attacks against government forces in October and November, as well as other sources, have revealed important new details about the situation in western Burma.

The group refers to itself as Harakah al-Yaqin, or Faith Movement in Arabic. It was established following the 2012 deadly riots between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012, which killed some 200 people and displaced over 120,000, almost all of them Muslim. Most have long been denied citizenship and face draconian restrictions on freedom of movement — limiting their access to government services and jobs.

This new armed group is overseen by a committee of Rohingya émigrés based in Mecca. The public face of its operations in northern Arakan, also called Rakhine, is Ata Ullah (known by several aliases), who is the main speaker in several videos released by the group. He was born in Karachi to a Rohingya father and grew up in Mecca. He is part of a group of 20 Rohingya who have international experience in modern guerrilla warfare and are leading operations on the ground in northern Arakan. Also with them is a senior Islamic scholar, Ziabur Rahman, a Saudi-educated Rohingya mufti with the authority to issue fatwas. (Courtesy of time.com)

The Rohingyas: Children of a ‘lesser’ God!

On Saturday (December 10), the Guardian ran a story on two Rohingya women, Noor Ayesha and Sayeda Khatun.

‘Noor Ayesha held her last surviving daughter tight as their boat crossed into Bangladeshi waters. She left behind a firebombed home, a dead husband, seven slain children and the soldiers who raped her’, the Guardian wrote.

‘A group of about 20 of them appeared in front of my house’, the 40-year-old Rohingya woman recalled the morning in mid-October when her village was invaded by hundreds of Burmese government troops.’ They ordered all of us to come out in the courtyard. They separated five of our children and forced them into one of our rooms and put on the latch from outside. Then they fired a “gun-bomb” on that room and set it on fire. Five of my children were burnt to death by the soldiers. They killed my two daughters after raping them. They also killed my husband and raped me.’ (Courtesy of newagebd.net)

Reprisals, Rape, and Children Burned Alive: Burma’s Rohingya Speak of Genocidal Terror

If the Naf River could talk, which horror story would it tell first?

The narrow waterway marks the border between Burma and Bangladesh. On its western bank is the Bangladeshi province of Chittagong. To the east, Burma’s Arakan state, also known as Rakhine, home to the Buddhist-majority country’s Rohingya people, a Muslim minority described over the years as stateless, friendless and forgotten.

But if the river could remember their stories, it might speak, for example, of the night in late November when Arafa, a 25-year-old Rohingya woman, entered its waters with her five children.

She used to have six. As she talks, sitting on the threshold of a hut in a makeshift refugee camp on the Bangladeshi side of the Naf, she is surrounded by her son and four young daughters. They are a lively bunch, noisy, restless, yet shy, hiding behind their mother’s back or running in and out of the hut, as she recounts what happened to her second son. (Courtesy of time.com)

Burmese Troops Are ‘Squarely Responsible’ For Torching Rohingya Muslim Villages, Rights Group Says

The Burmese army has burned down more than 1,500 homes and other buildings in a systematic pattern of destruction targeting the country’s stateless Rohingya Muslims, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a statement released Tuesday, the watchdog said it had collected satellite images and interviews with refugees that directly implicate the army, which has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing and instead blamed suspected Rohingya jihadists, claiming that they have been torching their own communities. (Courtesy of time.com)

Eight Rohingya women and girls gang raped by Myanmar military whilst Myanmar’s investigation commission is visiting the area

8 Rohingya women and girls from Chaung Ka Lar hamlet in Zee Pin Chaung village tract, situated in Taung Pyo Let Wel sub-township, were gang raped by the military at gunpoint and some other women were sexually abused, whilst Myanmar’s investigation commission, led by Vice President Myint Swe, was visiting the area.

Today, on December 12th 2016 at 12 noon, a group of 55 soldiers entered Chaung Ka Lar hamlet. Fearing that they may be gang raped, as is frequently the case, 30 women and girls all gathered together at the house of Hafiz Akbal. 12 soldiers entered then entered his house and had 8 of the women and girls brought into a room at gunpoint, where they were gang raped, a local villager told RB News. The remaining women and girls, more than 20 of them, were also sexually abused. Their clothes, including underwear, were removed by the soldiers, who then abused them as much as they wanted.

Among the eight rape victims, four are married and four are single. (Courtesy of rohingyablogger.com)

Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (Rome) Takes up ‘Urgent Case’ of Myanmar’s Rohingya

Dear Mr Ippolito, Dr Tognoni and Ms Fraudatario,

We, the undersigned group of researchers, academics, and activists, in coalition with global Rohingya refugees, hereby request that the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) take up the urgent case of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority. We make this request in response to the well documented unfolding and escalating genocide in Rakhine state, Myanmar.

We ask that the Tribunal examine the current crisis in the context of historical evidence of recurring patterns of persecution by the Myanmar state against the Rohingya, that have precipitated at least three waves of mass exodus since the 1970s.

We make this request on the basis of compelling evidence of ongoing: widespread institutional discrimination; state sponsored hate crime; mass killings; mass sexual violence; wholesale destruction of communities and neighbourhoods; massive forced displacement; apartheid structures of segregation; targeted population control; state denial of Rohingya identity; forced labour; denial of access to livelihood, healthcare, freedom of movement, and food. Evidence of these genocidal violations, with blanket impunity, is to be found in the extensive and systematic research conducted by a range of academic and human rights organisations (Green, MacManus and de la Cour Venning, ISCI, 2015; Zarni and Cowley, 2014; Fortify Rights, 2015; Human Rights Watch, 2012, 2013; ASEAN, 2015). (Courtesy of statecrime.org)

Aung San Suu Kyi, look yourself in the mirror, instead of pointing fingers at genocide victims

“I am somewhat appalled by her dismissive reaction to concerns I raised this morning about the problem of human trafficking in her country.” US Senator (GOP) Bob Corker, 14 September 2016. (Courtesy of theindependent.sg)

Burma Could Be Guilty Of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ As Rohingya Crackdown Intensifies

Reports from Burma’s northern Arakan state, where violence against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority has forced tens of thousands to flee for their lives, suggest the situation there is “getting very close to what we would all agree are crimes against humanity,” the U.N.’s top human rights investigator for the country has said.

“I am getting reports from inside the country and from neighboring places, too, that things are not as they are being portrayed by the government. We are seeing a lot of very graphic and very disturbing photos and video clips,” Yanghee Lee, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the country, told TIME.

Burma has imposed a lockdown on the affected areas, as it conducts what it calls “clearance operations” following an attack on three border guard posts in early October. Nine policemen were killed in the attack, which the Burmese authorities blamed on Islamist militants. (Courtesy of time.com)

Zahid: Malaysia welcomes Myanmar's decision to stop sending workers

Malaysia welcomes the Myanmar government's decision to stop sending workers to the nation, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

"The decision will not have any impact whatsoever on Malaysia," he told reporters at the closing ceremony of  the Indian Progressive Front's (IPF) 24th Annual General Assembly.

Dr Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, was asked comment on reports that Myanmar had banned its citizens from working in Malaysia effective Dec 6. (Courtesy of thestar.com.my)

Myanmar to brief ASEAN amid alarm over Rakhine

Myanmar's de facto leader, State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, has called for a special informal meeting with foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Dec. 19 in Yangon to discuss international concerns over the situation in Rakhine state.

It is the first time that Myanmar has initiated a meeting with other countries to discuss the sensitive issue of its treatment of the Muslim population. ASEAN officials saw the move as a sign of concern within Suu Kyi's fledgling administration of mounting international criticism over the recent crackdown on the country's Rohingya Muslim minority.

Many governments and humanitarian organizations have expressed alarm at the harsh military response following attacks on Oct. 9 by Muslim militants on police posts along the country's western border between Rakhine State and Bangladesh. (Courtesy of asia.nikkei.com)

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar tell of trauma

Outside this town by the Bay of Bengal, we kept bumping into fresh arrivals when we visited the camps for Rohingya refugees fleeing a security crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.

Many of them said they were from the village of Kearipara in Myanmar. From the sounds of it, that village has been utterly devastated.

All of them shared similar stories: watching family members get murdered, hiding without eating for days, and having their homes burned down.

Several told us about having to sell their valuables - rings, piercings, earrings, whatever they had on them - to facilitate a safe passage into Bangladesh.

The route, which was always difficult and deadly, has become even more problematic. (Courtesy of aljazeera.com)

TISG gets threat of violence for reporting Suu Kyi’s nonchalant attitude about crimes against Rohingyas

An article published by us titled, ‘Aung San Suu Kyi laughs out loud at Rohingya genocide allegations while in Singapore‘, has drawn the attention of many from the Myanmarese community. While some commenters had claimed that the video which is the source of the article is misleading, at least one had threatened us with violence publicly. (Courtesy of theindependent.sg)

Joint Statement on Humanitarian Access to northern part of Rakhine State

As friends of Myanmar, we are deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in northern part of Rakhine State.  We have welcomed the Government’s agreement to allow a resumption of humanitarian assistance and initial deliveries to some villages, but we are concerned by delays and urge all Myanmar authorities to overcome the obstacles that have so far prevented a full resumption, noting that tens of thousands of people who need humanitarian aid, including children with acute malnutrition, have been without it now for nearly two months.

This assistance is desperately needed to address serious humanitarian needs but also to begin to restore the confidence and hope‎ that are essential to a restoration of peace and stability.  Full and unfettered access is essential for humanitarian agencies to conduct a comprehensive assessment of current humanitarian needs in support of the Government’s humanitarian response.  The re-establishment of access to markets and livelihoods is also very important. (Courtesy of mm.usembassy.gov)

Suu Kyi attacks global media for 'false news' on conflict

The head of Myanmar's government, Aung San Suu Kyi, yesterday criticised foreign media outlets for reporting false news on an ongoing conflict involving the army in the country's troubled Rakhine state.

In a statement that was published on her Facebook page, the Nobel peace laureate calls out CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and Singaporean broadcaster Channel News Asia.

In an exclusive interview with Channel News Asia that was published the same day, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi complained that the international community is "always drumming up calls for bigger fires of resentment". (Courtesy of malaysiakini.com)

Suu Kyi is not ignoring Rohingya's plight

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak had strong words for Aung San Suu Kyi as he led a rally in Kuala Lumpur to show solidarity with the Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine State, also known as Arakan State.

His comment to the baying crowds of "enough is enough" aimed at the State Counsellor has risked a diplomatic fissure with neighbouring Myanmar. Before Mr Najib joined the rally, a terse exchange of words between the two governments ended with a Union government spokesperson reminding Malaysia not to interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs.

Mr Najib responded to this request at the rally, asking "do they [Myanmar government] want me to close my eyes? Want me to be mute?" (Courtesy of bangkokpost.com)

US, UN begin Rohingya resettlement process

The United Nations body and the United States representatives in Indonesia have interviewed Rohingya people who had been harbored in Aceh, fleeing persecution in their home country, as the beginning of a resettlement process to the US.

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims have escaped Myanmar following longtime state-sponsored persecution in the hope of reaching Australia, but many were stranded in Aceh and Medan, as well as Malaysia and Thailand, as their boats crashed before reaching their desired destination.

The biggest flow of refugees occurred two years ago when hundreds washed ashore on the coast of Aceh. (Courtesy of thejakartapost.com)

IS could exploit Rohingya issue, says Armed Forces chief

The Rohingya issue in Myanmar could be exploited by the Islamic State (IS) to widen its influence in Southeast Asia, Malaysian Armed Forces chief General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin told top Myanmar military leaders, The Star reported.

In calling for the situation to be handled amicably, the armed forces chief said Malaysia took a serious view of the situation.

The Star reported that Gen Zulkifeli also stressed that cooperation between Asean countries was pertinent to handle the threat.

The meeting earlier this week was part of Gen Zulkifeli’s itinerary with his Asean counterparts before he retires. (Courtesy of freemalaysiatoday.com)

The Dark Depths of Myanmar's Rohingya Tragedy

Roughly a year ago, remarkable scenes were broadcast around the world from the streets of Yangon as citizens gathered to participate in, and celebrate, Myanmar’s general election.

The intense atmosphere of hope that accompanied the poll, the first openly contested one if its kind for decades, was an inspiration to behold; at the time, unfamiliar observers could be forgiven for thinking that the country was on the verge of making a clean break with its troubled past.

Twelve months on and harder political realities have come to the fore. It has taken the sternest test yet of the new government to show how far Aung San Suu Kyi, the state counselor and de facto civilian leader, will go to express solidarity with the armed forces, an autonomous state-within-a-state, which retains the constitutional right to run key ministries and set its own budgets. (Courtesy of thediplomat.com)

Video shows alleged site of mass murder of Rohingya Muslims by soldiers

Rohingya refugees have been describing the horrific violence that forced them to flee their homes in Burma and escape across the border to informal camps in Bangladesh.

One man, a teacher named Osman Gani, passed a video to international media which he says shows the charred bodies of some 300 people massacred by the Burmese army. He says many people were gunned down by government aircraft before the bodies were burned.

Violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority has flared up since last October, a bloody reaction to deadly strikes by unknown assailants on police posts near the border with Bangladesh. (Courtesy of independent.co.uk)

Former U.N. head Annan urges rule of law amid Myanmar's Rohingya crisis

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged Myanmar security forces to act within the rule of law in the country's northwest, where an army crackdown has killed at least 86 people and sent 10,000 fleeing over the border to Bangladesh.

The violence is the biggest challenge faced by Aung San Suu Kyi's eight-month-old government and has prompted calls for the Nobel Peace laureate to do more to help the Rohingya minority, who are denied citizenship and access to basic services.

Security operations must not compromise citizens' civil rights, said Annan, who heads a government-appointed panel tasked with finding solutions to the conflict between Myanmar's Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingyas. (Courtesy of reuters.com)

Sorry, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Rohingya Crisis Is No Laughing Matter

The world is reacting with horror to the massacre of Rohingyas in Rakhine State, but Suu Kyi and her government continue to turn a blind eye to what increasingly appears like a genocide.

Amidst widespread protests in Asian capitals over the ongoing massacre of Rohingyas in Western Myanmar, Adama Dieng, UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, issued a sternly-worded statement over the “allegations of extrajudicial executions, torture, rape and the destruction of religious property” in Rohingya villages, and firmly urged the Aung San Suu Kyi government to “demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law and to the human rights of all its populations”.

Human Rights Watch has presented satellite images of over a thousand charred buildings in Rohingya villages where government troops have been carrying out ‘clearance operations’ since October 9 when Rohingya militants, armed with swords, sticks and a ‘few hand-made’ guns, attacked three border posts near the country’s border with Bangladesh, killing several Burmese troops. For nine weeks, the government has locked down the northern portion of Rakhine State, blocking the flow of humanitarian assistance (both food and medicine) to 160,000 Rohingya Muslims. Rohingya activists have smuggled out grainy images of burning rice supplies in the areas of the military’s mop-up operations, indicating that the government intends to deprive the entire Rohingya population in the locked-down area of their food supply. The government’s intention can only be understood as an induced starvation of the Rohingya population – an act of genocide. (Courtesy of thewire.in)

Asia’s ‘boat people’

Away from the mainstream media, the tragic persecution of the forgotten Rohingyas  is unfolding in neighbouring Myanmar. The recent flare-up was of a scale that prompted the UNHCR (the UN's refugee agency) to intervene and censure the Myanmar Government, "to ensure the protection and dignity of all civilians on its territory in accordance with the rule of law and its international obligations". This purge is especially ironic as it takes place under the watch of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Su Kyi, as the 'First and incumbent State Counsellor' (a creative designation that overcomes her inability to be formally anointed as President, owing to a constitutional provision). Oddly, Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize citation had mentioned "her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights". Today, the Muslim Indo-Aryan race of Rohingyas is facing systemic disenfranchisement in the latest democracy in the world, as indeed, violent backlash from the majority non-Muslim Rakhine people that has led to over 100 confirmed deaths and displacement of 30,000 Rohingyas.

The Rohingyas have been subjected to an identity crisis for centuries, as their disputed claims of nativity to the Rakhine State (a coastal strip that is contiguous to the Chittagong division of Bangladesh) in Myanmar, are buttressed with  documented records of Bengali labour imports during British rule and by the multiple exodus  warranted by the Bangladesh liberation war, into the bordering Rakhine State. Their Muslim identity, separatist movements (including a failed one to join Jinnah's Pakistan in 1947) and the popular perceptions of imminent demographic changes with their burgeoning population has always posited them with suspicion and discrimination. Theravada Buddhism and Myanmar nationalism have ensured that the fractured and diverse society of Myanmar is able to close ranks against the Rohingyas from the days of the Burmese junta to today's ostensibly, pacifist government of the National League for Democracy. The Bamar majority of Myanmar is openly in favour of denying the Rohingyas citizenship, with even Suu Kyi maintaining a populist and partisan stand of refuting any genocidal tendencies and stating that there is a general "climate of fear" caused by "a worldwide perception that global Muslim power is very great". (Courtesy of thestatesman.com)

Burma: 21,000 Rohingya Muslims flee to Bangladesh amid 'attempted genocide'

New figures show around 21,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Burma in recent weeks amid accusations of an attempted genocide.

The International Organisation for Migration said: "An estimated 21,000 Rohingya have arrived in Cox's Bazar between October 9 and December 2."

The government of Burma has criticised media reports of violence against the Rohingya, and lodged a formal protest against a UN official in Bangladesh who said the state was carrying out "ethnic cleansing".

At the weekend, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak led a protest rally against what he called the "genocide" of the Rohingya minority, saying "enough is enough". (Courtesy of independent.co.uk)

Bangladesh trying to resolve Rohingya crisis

Terming Myanmar’s Rohingya issue as “sensitive”, Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali today told the parliament that Bangladesh is trying to resolve the growing Rohingya crisis using different international channels.

Replying to lawmakers’ queries, the foreign minister said the Rohingya issue is in a sensitive stage at present.

“We are trying to resolve the matter through different channels by engaging international organisations,” the minister said. (Courtesy of thedailystar.net)

EU urges Myanmar to address underlying causes in Rakhine state

The call came in the wake of the recent escalation of violence in the region along the Bangladesh border.

In a statement, a spokesperson of the 28-countries EU also welcomed the announcement by the Myanmar government of the establishment of a ‘Commission of Inquiry’ into the recent violence.

“It must be objective in its findings and that should help prevent similar events in the future, by ensuring accountability for all perpetrators of violence and hatred,” read the statement.

“It remains vital that the Government implements its initiatives by addressing the underlying causes of the situation in Rakhine State.”

In the violent attacks against Border Guard Police posts in northern Rakhine State on Oct 9 and the ensuing security operations both civilians and security personnel were killed, and thousands of people were displaced and lost their livelihoods. (Courtesy of bdnews24.com)

Aung San Suu Kyi laughs out loud at Rohingya genocide allegations while in Singapore

A Youtube video of Aung San Suu Kyi laughing out loud at allegations of genocide of the Rohingyas in Myanmar has gone viral with over 40,000 shares. Youtube user Haikal Mansor said that the incident happened during the Nobel Peace Laureate’s recent visit to Singapore, on 1 Dec 2016.

The video showed Suu Kyi addressing an audience and reading a letter which addressed her as ‘mother’. The letter writer said that he had been her fan from a very young age and asked her how the people of Burma should respond to ‘fabrications’ of genocide of the Rohingya people.

Suu Kyi laughed out loud in saying that accusations of genocide were just ‘fabrications’. She urged the Myanmarese to not only disbelief such ‘fabrications’, but also to counteract the allegations. (Courtesy of theindependent.sg)

Is genocide unfolding in Myanmar?

Four years ago, I was in Myanmar's Rakhine State soon after deadly violence erupted between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Rohingya Muslims. It was a horrendous scene. And it's happening again.

Back then, Buddhist civilians and state security forces unleashed coordinated attacks against Rohingya and other Muslims. I documented pre-dawn raids and cold-blooded massacres.

In a small village in Mrauk-U Township on October 23, 2012, 70 Rohingya were killed, including 28 children -- 13 under the age of 5. Children were hacked to death. Some were thrown into fires. (Courtesy of cnn.com)

Malaysia not doing enough for the Rohingya, says Wan Azizah

Cancelling football matches and holding solidarity gatherings are not enough if Malaysia is serious in making a stand against the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar, said opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

In taking aim at Prime Minister Najib Razak, Wan Azizah said although the Umno president had expressed sympathy towards the plight of the Rohingya at the party’s recently concluded general assembly, she questioned why Malaysia was not doing anything on the global stage, seeing that it holds the position as a Non-Permanent Member of the UN Security Council.

“The genocide of the Rohingya currently taking place in Myanmar is truly a major tragedy in human history. This tragedy is being witnessed by Malaysians and the entire world. Even so, the Malaysian government seems unwilling to act on this tragedy,” she said in a statement today. (Courtesy of freemalaysiatoday.com)

New Rohingya groups rubbishes ‘baseless’ claim by Myanma

The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand has cautioned the international community not to fall for the “baseless accusation” hurled by the Myanmar government in linking the persecuted Rohingya community with militant organisations.

Its president, Maung Kyaw Nu rubbished Yangon’s allegation of a link between the Rohingya and militancy as complete fabrication, solely aimed at garnering regional and international sympathy.

“This (allegation by the Myanmar government) is completely made up by the government, a statement that was fabricated to divert attention and provide its forces with false justification for violence against the Rohingyas (atrocities in Rakhine state),” he told Bernama here recently. (Courtesy of freemalaysiatoday.com)

Malaysian PM urges intervention to stop 'genocide' of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called for foreign intervention to stop the "genocide" of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar on Sunday, as he joined thousands of Rohingya protesters in Kuala Lumpur.

Muslim-Majority Malaysia has been increasingly critical of Myanmar's handling of violence and allegations of state abuses in northern Rakhine state, which has driven hundreds of ethnic Rohingya to flee across the borders to Bangladesh.

It described the violence as "ethnic cleansing" on Saturday.

Najib called on the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to intervene. (Courtesy of reuters.com)

Najib, Hadi join hands to protest Rohingya plight

Approximately 10,000 gathered at Stadium Mini Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur this morning to protest Myanmar's persecution of the Rohingya.

Sharing the stage at the rally was Prime Minister Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and PAS Youth chief Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Aziz. (Courtesy of malaysiakini.com)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi says international attention fuelling divisions in north

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi accused the international community on Friday of stoking resentment between Buddhists and Muslims in the country's northwest, where an army crackdown has killed at least 86 people and sent 10,000 fleeing to Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi appealed for understanding of her nation's ethnic complexities, and said the world should not forget the military operation was launched in response to attacks on security forces that the government has blamed on Muslim insurgents.

"I would appreciate it so much if the international community would help us to maintain peace and stability, and to make progress in building better relations between the two communities, instead of always drumming up cause for bigger fires of resentment," Suu Kyi told Singapore state-owned broadcaster Channel News Asia during a visit to the city-state. (Courtesy of reuters.com)

Suu Kyi defends military crackdown on Burma's Rohingya Muslims

Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of government in Burma, has dismissed mounting allegations of killings by the country’s military of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, bordering Bangladesh.

State Counsellor Suu Kyi’s office issued a statement on November 19 declaring: “Regarding those incidents, after asking the Tatmadaw [the military] and border guard troops in those regions, it is known the information is absolutely not true.”

At every point, Suu Kyi and her government, in which the military hold the key ministries of defence, home affairs and border affairs, have attempted to downplay the size of the military’s current operation and its impact on the local population.

The military initiated a crackdown in northern Rakhine state after attacks on three border posts killed nine police and soldiers on October 9. The army command blamed Rohingya militants connected to the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, a loose grouping widely thought to have been defunct since at least 2001. (Courtesy of wsws.org)

Exclusive: Focus on resolving difficulties in Rakhine rather than exaggerating them, says Suu Kyi

Amid international accusations that the Myanmar military is leading a crackdown against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said she wants to make the situation better.

Asked if the problem is intractable, she said no. “We have managed to keep the situation under control and to calm it down,” she stated.

“But I would appreciate it so much if the international community would help us to maintain peace and stability and to make progress in building better relations between the two communities instead of always drumming up calls for, well, for bigger fires of resentment, if you like.” (Courtesy of channelnewsasia.com)

Analyst: Malaysia can do more than organise rallies for Rohingya

Malaysia can do much more for the Rohingya than just organise rallies for them, said a political analyst.

Centre for Global Affairs Malaysia (Icon) advisor Abdul Razak Baginda (pic) said Malaysia can bring up the issue with the UN Security Council.

He said China could reject the the resolution, but putting it on the table before the United Nations will create awareness on the international arena.

“Even if it is going to be vetoed, it doesn’t matter. The point is it is being raised by Malaysia,” he said at a forum on the plight of the Rohingya Thursday night.

He said Malaysia had for so long championed the rights of the Palestinians and more recently the Bosnians, receiving kudos for it. (Courtesy of thestar.com.my)

Myanmar tells Malaysia not to interfere in internal issues

Myanmar has warned its Asean counterpart Malaysia to respect the principle of non-interference after the leader of the Muslim-ruled nation reportedly agreed to attend a protest condemning ongoing military operations in Rakhine State.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s office told AFP that the country’s 63-year-old leader would be taking part in the protest, which has yet to have a confirmed location.

“The major gathering on December 4 is to express our concern over the violence taking place on the Rohingya,” Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail Online on November 29.

In response, deputy director general of the President’s Office Zaw Htay said yesterday that the neighbouring country should respect sovereign affairs. (Courtesy of bangkokpost.com)

Putrajaya: Rohingya issue has become an international matter

Malaysia is obligated to ensure that Myanmar takes proactive steps to prevent the Rohingya issue from further deteriorating. Wisma Putra said it was in this context that Malaysia allowed the Solidarity March to take place this Sunday.

It said in a statement the practice of ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas must stop immediately in order to bring back security and stability to the Southeast Asian region.

The statement was to rebut comments made by U Zaw Htay, deputy director of The President's Office. (Courtesy of thestar.com.my)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi says international attention fuelling divisions in north

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi accused the international community on Friday of stoking resentment between Buddhists and Muslims in the country's northwest, where an army crackdown has killed at least 86 people and sent 10,000 fleeing to Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi appealed for understanding of her nation's ethnic complexities, and said the world should not forget the military operation was launched in response to attacks on security forces that the government has blamed on Muslim insurgents.

"I would appreciate it so much if the international community would help us to maintain peace and stability, and to make progress in building better relations between the two communities, instead of always drumming up cause for bigger fires of resentment," Suu Kyi told Singapore state-owned broadcaster Channel News Asia during a visit to the city-state. (Courtesy of reuters.com)

Aung San Suu Kyi's tragic silence over Rohingya

Amnesty describes it as "collective punishment." A senior UN official suggested the goal appears to be "ethnic cleansing." Regardless of how it is described, it is clear the violence unleashed by Myanmar against its minority Rohingya Muslim population has been devastating.

John McKissick, with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said security forces in Myanmar were "killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing people to cross the river into Bangladesh." He accused the Myanmar military and border guard police of engaging in collective punishment of the Rohingya minority, arguing that they are using the killings of nine border guards in October as an excuse for the current crackdown.

Myanmar's presidential spokesman reportedly responded by denying reports of the atrocities, and advising McKissick to "maintain his professionalism and his ethics as a United Nations officer because his comments are just allegations." (Courtesy of edition.cnn.com)

BNP for diplomatic efforts to resolve Rohingya issue

BNP senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan on Thursday called upon the government to take diplomatic efforts involving the international community to stop persecution on Rohingyas and ensure their safe and peaceful existence in their own country.

“We don’t say we need to help Rohingyas to fight against Myanmar authorities. We rather say diplomatic pressure to be put together with the global community so that they (Rohingyas) can peacefully stay in their own country. It should be Bangladesh’s political and diplomatic position on the issue,” he said.

The BNP leader further said, “It’s not a solution to give the Rohingyas any temporary shelter here. Ensuring their peaceful and safe existence in their own country is the solution.”

He came up with the remarks at a human chain programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club arranged by Jatiyatabadi Ulema Dal protesting the reported ongoing genocide and repression on Rohingyas in Myanmar. (Courtesy of theindependentbd.com)

Myanmar gov't reputation at stake over Rohingya crisis, UN warns

The reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi's government in Myanmar is at stake amid international concerns over how it is dealing with violence in the country's divided northwest, a senior United Nations official warned on Tuesday.

The conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine State has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the border to Bangladesh amid allegations of abuses by security forces. The crisis poses a serious challenge to Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, who swept to power last year on promises of national reconciliation.

In a statement, Adama Dieng, the U.N.'s special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said the allegations "must be verified as a matter of urgency" and urged the government to allow access to the area. (Courtesy of dailysabah.com)

AP Explains: What’s behind persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya

Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the Somali-born student accused of carrying out a car-and-knife attack at Ohio State University this week, reportedly protested on his Facebook page about the killing of minority Muslims in Myanmar. Muslim Rohingya face discrimination and violence from the Buddhist majority in the country, also called Burma. Their plight generally goes unnoticed by the world at large, even though some rights activists say their persecution amounts to ethnic cleansing. Here are several things to know about the group (Courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

Malaysia cancels two soccer matches with Myanmar over Rohingya crackdown

Malaysia's national soccer team has canceled two friendly under-22 matches with Myanmar, in protest against the Southeast Asian nation's bloody crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a team spokesman said on Thursday.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has been increasingly critical of Myanmar's handling of violence in northern Rakhine state that has sent hundreds of people fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, amid allegations of abuses by security forces.

The violence is the most serious bloodshed in Rakhine since communal clashes in 2012 that killed hundreds.

Referring to the cancellation of the games set for later this month, the spokesman told Reuters, "It was a political decision because of the Rohingya issue." (Courtesy of reuters.com)

Ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims as world watches in silence

Rohingya Muslims have been subjected to massive ethnic cleansing and genocide in Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country. This crime is taking place as the whole world watches in silence. It is a shame that these atrocities are being perpetrated under the elected government of the National League for Democracy (NLD), headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Furthermore, it is a disgrace as Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her heroic struggle for freedom and democracy, defying the torture and persecution of the previous military regime.

It was thought that she would come forward to defend human rights, especial the rights of the minority Rohingya Muslims, who represent an integral part of the Myanmar people. Instead, it seems that she has given her people a free hand to kill the Rohingya, rape their women, demolish their homes and set their mosques on fire, as well as looting their property. This has forced many Rohingya to flee their homes to escape the killing spree. (Courtesy of saudigazette.com.sa)

Burma Edges Closer to Ethnic Cleansing

A human tragedy approaching ethnic cleansing is unfolding in Burma, and the world is chillingly silent.

In recent weeks, hundreds of Muslim Rohingya people have been killed, and more than 30,000 displaced. Houses have been burned, hundreds of women raped and many others arbitrarily arrested. Access for humanitarian-aid organizations has been almost completely denied. Thousands have fled to neighboring Bangladesh, only to be sent back. Witness all the hallmarks of past tragedies: Bosnia, Darfur, Kosovo, Rwanda. (Courtesy of wsj.com)