What's in a name? Plenty, according to the thousands of Buddhists in Myanmar's Rakhine state who marched through the streets on Sunday to protest against the new government's decision to refer to Rohingya Muslims as the "Muslim communities in Rakhine".
Naypyitaw's bid to lower the temperatures on this incendiary topic is raising hackles in both camps.
Hardline groups who see the Rohingya as illegal "Bengali" migrants suspect that this is a ploy to fuse their belonging to the state. Rohingya groups argue the term erases their ethnic identity and replaces it with a religious one which does not offer much better protection, given resurgent nationalist sentiments in the Buddhist-majority country. (Courtesy of straitstimes.com)
July 7, 2016
Preliminary meeting for student union conference coming in November
The All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) held a press conference on June 5 to announce that a preliminary meeting for a student union conference will be held in November. The meeting will focus on work procedures, the formation of student unions and the organisation's electoral system.
The press conference was held at Judson College in Yangon. Moe Htet Nay, a member of the central committee for the ABFSU explained the subjects to be discussed at the upcoming three-day meeting, which will be held in Bago Region.
“Our central committee will hold a district-wide student union meeting. Each university has a union. Ethnic minority students also have their own unions. Some districts can form unions, but some can’t. All should participate in the conference. Students will lead the meeting. Titles will be chosen through a voting system. The name of the next meeting is the Students’ Conference. This preliminary meeting will be held at the end of November,” Moe Htet Nay said. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
The press conference was held at Judson College in Yangon. Moe Htet Nay, a member of the central committee for the ABFSU explained the subjects to be discussed at the upcoming three-day meeting, which will be held in Bago Region.
“Our central committee will hold a district-wide student union meeting. Each university has a union. Ethnic minority students also have their own unions. Some districts can form unions, but some can’t. All should participate in the conference. Students will lead the meeting. Titles will be chosen through a voting system. The name of the next meeting is the Students’ Conference. This preliminary meeting will be held at the end of November,” Moe Htet Nay said. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
State counsellor to meet with migrant workers in Malaysia
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with Myanmar migrant workers during a slated trip to Malaysia in August, according to a government spokesperson.
The upcoming visit will be her third trip to Malaysia, but first as the de facto head of the new National League for Democracy government.
U Zaw Htay, spokesperson for the state counsellor and the President’s Office, told The Myanmar Times yesterday that two bilateral agreements are expected to be on the table for Myanmar migrant workers.
“Both governments’ officials are still arranging the [exact] date and the labour ministry will arrange the trip,” he said. “The two labour ministers will be signing the memorandums of understanding.” (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
The upcoming visit will be her third trip to Malaysia, but first as the de facto head of the new National League for Democracy government.
U Zaw Htay, spokesperson for the state counsellor and the President’s Office, told The Myanmar Times yesterday that two bilateral agreements are expected to be on the table for Myanmar migrant workers.
“Both governments’ officials are still arranging the [exact] date and the labour ministry will arrange the trip,” he said. “The two labour ministers will be signing the memorandums of understanding.” (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
‘We want to go home for Eid, but we don’t want to be killed’
It is an enduring fear that keeps many of the Myanmar Muslim Rohingya refugees living at the Taman Wilayah Selayang flats from going home to Myanmar to celebrate Hari Raya, or Eid.
Rohingya community chief Mohamad Sultan, 68, said that he still remembers with sadness the fate of his family members who died from the bloody conflict between the radical Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan, where he hails from.
He said that although he deeply wishes to return to Arakan, his fear of being killed by the radical Buddhists there keeps him here in Malaysia. (Courtesy of freemalaysiatoday.com)
Rohingya community chief Mohamad Sultan, 68, said that he still remembers with sadness the fate of his family members who died from the bloody conflict between the radical Buddhists and Muslims in Arakan, where he hails from.
He said that although he deeply wishes to return to Arakan, his fear of being killed by the radical Buddhists there keeps him here in Malaysia. (Courtesy of freemalaysiatoday.com)
Protection Of Myanmar’s Muslims A Litmus Test For Reforms
In recent weeks, State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly renounced the term “Rohingya” to describe the 1.1 million inhabitants in Myanmar, instead insisting that official government policy classify them as “people who believe in Islam.”
An attempt at effectively erasing the Rohingya from national lexicon, and in certain respects rewriting history, is equivalent to a denial of their very existence. Self-determination, apparently, is not something that this Nobel Peace Prize laureate is championing any longer, at least for a select few.
The European Union, also a Nobel laureate, followed by allowing Suu Kyi a margin of appreciation, saying that the government needed the political space to address the issue and would avoid the term to refer to the persecuted minority. The United States, alternatively, has explicitly said they would continue to use the term Rohingya. While disagreement over the term persists, religious intolerance and violence continues, directly impacting the Rohingya and Muslims around the country. (Courtesy of huffingtonpost.com)
An attempt at effectively erasing the Rohingya from national lexicon, and in certain respects rewriting history, is equivalent to a denial of their very existence. Self-determination, apparently, is not something that this Nobel Peace Prize laureate is championing any longer, at least for a select few.
The European Union, also a Nobel laureate, followed by allowing Suu Kyi a margin of appreciation, saying that the government needed the political space to address the issue and would avoid the term to refer to the persecuted minority. The United States, alternatively, has explicitly said they would continue to use the term Rohingya. While disagreement over the term persists, religious intolerance and violence continues, directly impacting the Rohingya and Muslims around the country. (Courtesy of huffingtonpost.com)
Thailand joins Myanmar in banning movie
The film was removed from the Thailand International Film Destinations festival as well as from last month's Human Rights festival in Myanmar.
Though the organisers have not issued any official statement, the reason behind the withdrawal is said to be related to bilateral ties between the two countries.
The film, known in Thai as "Singsaengchan" is based on the book "Twilight Over Burma - My Life as a Shan Princess" written by Inge Eberhard (now Sargent). Sargent was an Austrian student on a US scholarship who fell in love with Sao Kya Seng, a young mining student from Burma, in the 1950s. On their wedding day, she discovers that he is the prince of Myanmar's Shan State. Her husband ends up being jailed after the military coup in 1962 and she is unable to do anything.
In reality though, the prince disappeared and Sargent fled to the United States with her two daughters. In the film Sargent is played by German actress Maria Ehrich, while Sao Kya Seng's character is played by Thai actor Daweerit Chullasapya. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)
Though the organisers have not issued any official statement, the reason behind the withdrawal is said to be related to bilateral ties between the two countries.
The film, known in Thai as "Singsaengchan" is based on the book "Twilight Over Burma - My Life as a Shan Princess" written by Inge Eberhard (now Sargent). Sargent was an Austrian student on a US scholarship who fell in love with Sao Kya Seng, a young mining student from Burma, in the 1950s. On their wedding day, she discovers that he is the prince of Myanmar's Shan State. Her husband ends up being jailed after the military coup in 1962 and she is unable to do anything.
In reality though, the prince disappeared and Sargent fled to the United States with her two daughters. In the film Sargent is played by German actress Maria Ehrich, while Sao Kya Seng's character is played by Thai actor Daweerit Chullasapya. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)
Government takes action to track down unregistered foreign engineers
Both local and foreign developers have had to register their expat employees for several years, according to the Myanmar Engineering Council (MEC), but many are still unaware of the rules.
Local engineers and developers operate under the MEC’s supervision, but there is no organisation charged with supervising the growing number of foreign engineers helping with Myanmar’s building boom.
The MEC is keen to keep track of just how many expat workers are engaged in the construction business and scrutinise their qualifications, however, and will be sending out notifications to developers soon, it said. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
Local engineers and developers operate under the MEC’s supervision, but there is no organisation charged with supervising the growing number of foreign engineers helping with Myanmar’s building boom.
The MEC is keen to keep track of just how many expat workers are engaged in the construction business and scrutinise their qualifications, however, and will be sending out notifications to developers soon, it said. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
Myanmar/Burma: Ensuring access to health care for conflict victims in Rakhine State
I grew up believing that everyone was entitled to basic health care services. It was only when I arrived in the Rakhine state’s township of Myebon that I realised how wrong I had been.
A serene township where villagers live on fishing and rice cultivation, Myebon is only accessible by a two-hour boat trip along a network of meadow-fringed rivers from the state capital of Sittwe. The natural beauty of the riverside settlement is however overshadowed by the presence of one of the country’s largest settlements for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)–the Taung Paw camp.
Created after the violent ethnic conflict in 2012, Taung Paw is home to more than 2 900 Rohingya people who sought shelter here after the clash between the Muslim minority and the Buddhist community. They are currently not allowed to leave the now dilapidated site without formal authorisation – a document that is not easy to come by since members of the religious minority are not recognised by the government as Burmese nationals. (Courtesy of news.trust.org)
A serene township where villagers live on fishing and rice cultivation, Myebon is only accessible by a two-hour boat trip along a network of meadow-fringed rivers from the state capital of Sittwe. The natural beauty of the riverside settlement is however overshadowed by the presence of one of the country’s largest settlements for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)–the Taung Paw camp.
Created after the violent ethnic conflict in 2012, Taung Paw is home to more than 2 900 Rohingya people who sought shelter here after the clash between the Muslim minority and the Buddhist community. They are currently not allowed to leave the now dilapidated site without formal authorisation – a document that is not easy to come by since members of the religious minority are not recognised by the government as Burmese nationals. (Courtesy of news.trust.org)
Suu Kyi pushes for end to world’s longest civil war
State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has instructed a government-appointed peace negotiation body to invite all ethnic armed groups to an upcoming peace conference in Myanmar.
The government has been organizing the Union Peace Conference for late August, but has yet to make it clear if ethnic rebel groups that did not sign last year's Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) would be invited.
Although the conference is based on the NCA -- a historic peace deal signed by the previous government and eight rebel groups in October -- Suu Kyi is pushing to invite all stakeholders, the government-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Wednesday. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
The government has been organizing the Union Peace Conference for late August, but has yet to make it clear if ethnic rebel groups that did not sign last year's Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) would be invited.
Although the conference is based on the NCA -- a historic peace deal signed by the previous government and eight rebel groups in October -- Suu Kyi is pushing to invite all stakeholders, the government-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Wednesday. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
New govt to defend ‘race and religion’ laws at UN meeting
The legislation – which includes measures giving authorities the right to restrict how often women are allowed to give birth – has drawn local and international condemnation for oppressing women’s rights and deliberately discriminating against Myanmar’s Muslim population.
It was introduced last year under the military-backed government of then-president U Thein Sein following pressure from hardline nationalist monks, despite widespread objections from women’s rights groups, some members of which reported receiving death threats from extremists for their opposition to the laws. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
It was introduced last year under the military-backed government of then-president U Thein Sein following pressure from hardline nationalist monks, despite widespread objections from women’s rights groups, some members of which reported receiving death threats from extremists for their opposition to the laws. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
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