The board at the Rohingya camp in Kalindi Kunj reads, “Darul Hijrat”. Darul Hijrat means home of the migrant. However, what kind of a home, it doesn’t mention. Around 230 Rohingya people, who fled South of Myanmar with thousands others to escape persecution have been living here. There are 47 hutments, temporary structures raised on 2,000 square feet area that belongs to the Zakat Foundation, a charity organisation.
Fatima Rohingya’s home is one among them. Her ‘home’ has four loosely bricked walls with a torn tarpaulin sheet over it. It has been collapsing under the weight of monsoons for the past two years. Two month ago, she lost her four-year-old girl to a snake bite and many thought she wouldn’t have the strength to carry on. Fatima said, “I don’t have the time to grieve. I have two other children to feed.”
Fatima along with her three children and husband left their in village in Myanmar six years ago. They were on the run for the four years that followed and Fatima lost her husband to tuberculosis before they could reach the coast of Orissa. She now runs a tea shack near the camp. (Courtesy of hindustantimes.com)
July 6, 2016
A Ramadan away from home for Rohingya
It’s a grey sunset on a hot and humid evening in the smoggy outskirts of India’s capital. In a barren wasteland between New Delhi and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, the muezzin of a makeshift mosque calls Muslims to prayer. Dozens of men gather for a traditional iftar meal to break their Ramadan fast.
A charity is picking up the tab for the day’s feast. Sliced mangoes, dates and pakoras (fried snacks) are served on paper plates. As the aroma of chicken biryani wafts through the mosque, the children waiting outside grow restless. The early diners are shunted off by the local imam. There are more stomachs to be fed.
Life is a daily struggle for the 300-odd occupants of this shanty town hundreds of miles away from home. All 70 families are Rohingya -- an ethnic Muslim minority in Myanmar -- who have fled persecution in their homeland. (Courtesy of reuters.com)
A charity is picking up the tab for the day’s feast. Sliced mangoes, dates and pakoras (fried snacks) are served on paper plates. As the aroma of chicken biryani wafts through the mosque, the children waiting outside grow restless. The early diners are shunted off by the local imam. There are more stomachs to be fed.
Life is a daily struggle for the 300-odd occupants of this shanty town hundreds of miles away from home. All 70 families are Rohingya -- an ethnic Muslim minority in Myanmar -- who have fled persecution in their homeland. (Courtesy of reuters.com)
Gov’t official arrested for remarks about Suu Kyi
A government official was arrested on July 2 under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act for his offensive remarks on Facebook about State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, according to plaintiffs and police from Magway Region.
Official Aye Min Soe from Salin Township’s National League for Democracy office filed a complaint against Tun Min Lat, deputy officer-in-charge for the township’s planning office, at the Salin Township Police Station.
Tun Min Lat, who has a Facebook account under his name, posted the offensive remarks about Suu Kyi on June 18, calling her ‘Kalar Ma’, meaning ‘dark-skinned woman’ or ‘mother of the dark skinned’.
“We first wanted him to apologise publicly for that and not to do it again. But people from the township repeatedly called us and insisted [that we penalise him], so we had to make a decision through a executive committee meeting at the party office to open a case against him. Today, police came to acquire a witness testimony from Thein Aung, chairman of the Minbu District NLD office,” said MP Thet Khaing from Salin. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Official Aye Min Soe from Salin Township’s National League for Democracy office filed a complaint against Tun Min Lat, deputy officer-in-charge for the township’s planning office, at the Salin Township Police Station.
Tun Min Lat, who has a Facebook account under his name, posted the offensive remarks about Suu Kyi on June 18, calling her ‘Kalar Ma’, meaning ‘dark-skinned woman’ or ‘mother of the dark skinned’.
“We first wanted him to apologise publicly for that and not to do it again. But people from the township repeatedly called us and insisted [that we penalise him], so we had to make a decision through a executive committee meeting at the party office to open a case against him. Today, police came to acquire a witness testimony from Thein Aung, chairman of the Minbu District NLD office,” said MP Thet Khaing from Salin. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Rights groups call for action on anti-Muslim violence in Burma
NINETEEN non-governmental organizations have come together to sign a joint statement calling on the Burmese government to take steps to combat hate speech, reject incitements of violence and commence detailed investigations into recent religiously motivated attacks.
“The people of Myanmar elected the National League for Democracy on the basis of its campaign to uphold rule of law and human rights for all,” the statement said. The 19 organizations, consisting of groups from Yangon, Kachin State and the Mandalay Region, “call on the Government of Myanmar to deliver on its promise.” (Courtesy of asiancorrespondent.com)
“The people of Myanmar elected the National League for Democracy on the basis of its campaign to uphold rule of law and human rights for all,” the statement said. The 19 organizations, consisting of groups from Yangon, Kachin State and the Mandalay Region, “call on the Government of Myanmar to deliver on its promise.” (Courtesy of asiancorrespondent.com)
Justice demanded for Muslim communities in Myanmar
Rights groups in Myanmar are urging the government to probe the recent destruction of Muslim religious buildings in the country, and bring justice to victims of religiously motivated violence.
In the past month, a mob has partially destroyed a mosque, a school, a Muslim dwelling, a building under construction -- which villagers had accused of being an illegal religious school -- in the southern Bago region, and set fire to another mosque in Myanmar's north and razed it to the ground.
Police announced late Tuesday that they had detained five villagers for burning down the mosque, but no arrests were reported to have been made in Bago, according to a local Muslim leader. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
In the past month, a mob has partially destroyed a mosque, a school, a Muslim dwelling, a building under construction -- which villagers had accused of being an illegal religious school -- in the southern Bago region, and set fire to another mosque in Myanmar's north and razed it to the ground.
Police announced late Tuesday that they had detained five villagers for burning down the mosque, but no arrests were reported to have been made in Bago, according to a local Muslim leader. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
As Zeid Alarmed at Myanmar Violence Against Rohingya, New PR To Meet Ban
Back on July 1, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Partners' Group on Myanmar met in UN Conference Room 8. ICP asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about Myanmar's new Ambassador saying the term Royingya shouldn't be used, and minimizing the Muslim group's problems. On July 5, Ban is scheduled to publicly greet and accept credentials from this new Ambassador - hours after, from Geneva, UN High Commission for Human Rights issued this:
"We are alarmed by two major acts of mob violence directed against Myanmar’s Muslim community in the space of just eight days. Last Friday, a mob burned down a mosque in Hpakant Township in Kachin State and a week earlier, on 23 June, another mob attacked and partially destroyed a mosque and other properties in a village called Thaye Thamain, in Bago Region. (Courtesy of innercitypress.com)
"We are alarmed by two major acts of mob violence directed against Myanmar’s Muslim community in the space of just eight days. Last Friday, a mob burned down a mosque in Hpakant Township in Kachin State and a week earlier, on 23 June, another mob attacked and partially destroyed a mosque and other properties in a village called Thaye Thamain, in Bago Region. (Courtesy of innercitypress.com)
Commander-in-Chief warns against factionalism at Maijayan summit
Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has expressed concern that the Maijayan summit of ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) will be used to consolidate the groups’ military power, according to General Khun Okkar, a member of the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST).
The senior general also said he was worried factionalism would break out between national ceasefire agreement signatories and non-signatories, according to the PPST member, who met the senior general on June 29 in Nay Pyi Taw.
General Khun Okkar of the Palaung National Liberation Organisation said: “The upcoming summit might be the last event for those who did not sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement to be involved in the peace process. We will discuss and negotiate during the summit before the official peace talks begin. We will be closer through this summit. However, the military commander-in-chief warned us of two things. First, he noted that ethnic militia leaders have a tendency to showboat their territorial holdings through these conferences, as in the Pangsang conference, which was held in the Wa region. [The commander-in-chief] said ethnic militia leaders amass power and land through these conferences and try to show off their military power in order to stop the war in the north [of Kachin State]. That is why he does not want power-building through the conference.” (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
The senior general also said he was worried factionalism would break out between national ceasefire agreement signatories and non-signatories, according to the PPST member, who met the senior general on June 29 in Nay Pyi Taw.
General Khun Okkar of the Palaung National Liberation Organisation said: “The upcoming summit might be the last event for those who did not sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement to be involved in the peace process. We will discuss and negotiate during the summit before the official peace talks begin. We will be closer through this summit. However, the military commander-in-chief warned us of two things. First, he noted that ethnic militia leaders have a tendency to showboat their territorial holdings through these conferences, as in the Pangsang conference, which was held in the Wa region. [The commander-in-chief] said ethnic militia leaders amass power and land through these conferences and try to show off their military power in order to stop the war in the north [of Kachin State]. That is why he does not want power-building through the conference.” (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Myanmar police arrest 5 in connection with mosque burning
Police in Myanmar arrested five people Tuesday in connection with the recent burning down of a mosque in the northern state of Kachin.
A group of Buddhist extremists set fire to the prayer hall in the village of Lone Khin, Hpakant township, on July 1.
Police officer Moe Lwin from Lone Khin said, "We have arrested four men and a woman. They (were part of the group) who destroyed the mosque."
"It is not very easy to take legal action against all the people concerned with this case as there were many people there on that day," the police officer said. (Courtesy of presstv.ir)
A group of Buddhist extremists set fire to the prayer hall in the village of Lone Khin, Hpakant township, on July 1.
Police officer Moe Lwin from Lone Khin said, "We have arrested four men and a woman. They (were part of the group) who destroyed the mosque."
"It is not very easy to take legal action against all the people concerned with this case as there were many people there on that day," the police officer said. (Courtesy of presstv.ir)
Myanmar garment industry finds new markets
The Myanmar garment industry will export cut-make-pack (CMP) products to markets in the US, Canada and Russia in addition to Japan, South Korea and the EU, according to the Myanmar Garment Industry 10-year Strategy (2015-2024).
Japan has been the largest buyer of Myanmar garments since 2010. Last year, Myanmar exported more than US$580 million in garments. Before 2003, Myanmar mainly exported garments to the US. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Japan has been the largest buyer of Myanmar garments since 2010. Last year, Myanmar exported more than US$580 million in garments. Before 2003, Myanmar mainly exported garments to the US. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
After a Year, Rohingya Family Still Separated and Stranded
For Hasinah Izhar, it seems a lifetime since she scrambled onto a boat on a muddy shore of Myanmar, clutching three of her children, and joined the exodus of the persecuted Rohingya minority, hoping for a better life in Malaysia.
But in the year since she told her story to The New York Times, little has changed. The burdens of caring for three children and a jobless husband, while separated from the son she left behind in Myanmar, are still hard to bear.
“I’d like to fly like a bird back to Myanmar, but there is no peace and security there,” she said in the cramped rented room she shares with her husband and three children in Penang, Malaysia. “But we don’t want to stay in Malaysia, because we cannot work and live in freedom.” (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
But in the year since she told her story to The New York Times, little has changed. The burdens of caring for three children and a jobless husband, while separated from the son she left behind in Myanmar, are still hard to bear.
“I’d like to fly like a bird back to Myanmar, but there is no peace and security there,” she said in the cramped rented room she shares with her husband and three children in Penang, Malaysia. “But we don’t want to stay in Malaysia, because we cannot work and live in freedom.” (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
Myanmar vows to provide safe, secured environment for incoming foreign visitors
Myanmar government has vowed to provide safe and secured environment for foreigners visiting the country, official media reported Tuesday.
Development of security system at border check points to welcome targeted 5.5 million tourists worldwide this year is necessary, said Vice President U Myint Swe, who is also chairman of the supervisory committee for taking care of foreign visitors.
Myanmar police force has established a 24/7 channel to connect the international organizations regarding matters related scrutinizing and protecting foreign visitors, he told the first meeting of the committee Monday. (Courtesy of shanghaidaily.com)
Development of security system at border check points to welcome targeted 5.5 million tourists worldwide this year is necessary, said Vice President U Myint Swe, who is also chairman of the supervisory committee for taking care of foreign visitors.
Myanmar police force has established a 24/7 channel to connect the international organizations regarding matters related scrutinizing and protecting foreign visitors, he told the first meeting of the committee Monday. (Courtesy of shanghaidaily.com)
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