U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Myanmar on Tuesday that the world is very concerned about the tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who have been living for more than four years in camps in northern Rakhine state after fleeing violence from the Buddhist majority.
“They deserve hope,” Ban said at a joint news conference with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi. “All of Myanmar’s people, of every ethnicity and background, should be able to live in equality and harmony, side by side with their neighbors.”
Ban is in Myanmar to attend peace talks aimed at ending half a century of conflict between the government and the country’s many armed ethnic minority groups. The talks begin Wednesday in Naypyitaw, the capital. About 2,000 delegates and guests are expected to attend the opening ceremony. (Courtesy of washingtonpost.com)
August 30, 2016
'Sensitivity' plea to Myanmar
India today sought sensitivity towards its strategic interests from Myanmar, articulating concerns over China's growing influence there during key talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw today.
Modi thanked Kyaw for making India his first foreign destination since taking over as the official head of state of his country five months ago.
But Kyaw remains, in the view of most observers, a titular leader of a government actually controlled by foreign minister and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy came to power defeating the military junta in elections late last year. A constitution passed when the junta was in power forbids Suu Kyi from holding the President's office, but Kyaw was her pick.
Modi said Kyaw agreed with him on the need for the neighbours to demonstrate sensitivity towards each other, after talks that lasted over an hour. (Courtesy of telegraphindia.com)
Modi thanked Kyaw for making India his first foreign destination since taking over as the official head of state of his country five months ago.
But Kyaw remains, in the view of most observers, a titular leader of a government actually controlled by foreign minister and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy came to power defeating the military junta in elections late last year. A constitution passed when the junta was in power forbids Suu Kyi from holding the President's office, but Kyaw was her pick.
Modi said Kyaw agreed with him on the need for the neighbours to demonstrate sensitivity towards each other, after talks that lasted over an hour. (Courtesy of telegraphindia.com)
Organizing Committee Reviews Final Preparations For Myanmar's Panglong Conference
The organizing committee for Myanmar's Panglong Conference held a meeting in the capital Naypyidaw on Monday to discuss the final preparations for major negotiations with armed ethnic groups in a bid to end decades of ethnic separatist civil wars.
Leaders from the country’s various ethnic armies have already arrived in the city for the five-day 21st-Century Panglong Conference, also called the Union Peace Conference, which begins on Wednesday.
The members of the Joint Conference Organizing Committee said they were still discussing the possible participation of three groups that began fighting together against government troops last year in the Kokang region of the northern part of Myanmar’s Shan state—the Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance party (MNDAA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). (Courtesy of rfa.org)
Leaders from the country’s various ethnic armies have already arrived in the city for the five-day 21st-Century Panglong Conference, also called the Union Peace Conference, which begins on Wednesday.
The members of the Joint Conference Organizing Committee said they were still discussing the possible participation of three groups that began fighting together against government troops last year in the Kokang region of the northern part of Myanmar’s Shan state—the Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance party (MNDAA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). (Courtesy of rfa.org)
Upcoming peace conference an opportunity to transform Myanmar – UN rights expert
Speaking ahead of a major peace conference in Myanmar, a United Nations independent expert has urged its participants to prioritise human rights issues in their discussions over the coming days, and to do more to ensure the process is fully inclusive.
“A lot is at stake with this Panglong Conference,” the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said in a news release issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “As with the peace process generally in Myanmar, this is the opportunity to transform the country, into a state that the people of Myanmar have wanted for several decades. But to do so it must be fully inclusive.”
In the release, she added that discrimination, land rights and equitable sharing of natural resources are at the heart of the Southeast Asian nation’s conflict and, therefore, must also be at the heart of the peace discussions and solutions. “It is only by addressing and prioritising these issues that the durable peace desired by the people of Myanmar can be achieved,” she said.
The 21st Century Panglong Conference, which will take place in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, from 31 August to 5 September, is the first major peace conference held in Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy assumed power in late March 2016, according to OHCHR. (Courtesy of un.org)
“A lot is at stake with this Panglong Conference,” the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, said in a news release issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “As with the peace process generally in Myanmar, this is the opportunity to transform the country, into a state that the people of Myanmar have wanted for several decades. But to do so it must be fully inclusive.”
In the release, she added that discrimination, land rights and equitable sharing of natural resources are at the heart of the Southeast Asian nation’s conflict and, therefore, must also be at the heart of the peace discussions and solutions. “It is only by addressing and prioritising these issues that the durable peace desired by the people of Myanmar can be achieved,” she said.
The 21st Century Panglong Conference, which will take place in the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, from 31 August to 5 September, is the first major peace conference held in Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy assumed power in late March 2016, according to OHCHR. (Courtesy of un.org)
Govt hits back at Rakhine commission rumours
The government of Myanmar is underwriting the entire cost of its proposed Advisory Committee on Rakhine State, a spokesman said on Monday, in response to rumours spread on social media that the body would be funded by the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.
U Zaw Htay, a spokesman for State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, added that committee chair Kofi Annan, a former United Nations secretary-general, was working on a voluntary basis and would not be remunerated by either the Myanmar government or foreign donors.
“There is no foreign financial aid for the commission. Kofi Annan’s work is purely voluntary and at the request of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar government is bearing all the expenses for the Rakhine Commission,” he told Frontier. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
U Zaw Htay, a spokesman for State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, added that committee chair Kofi Annan, a former United Nations secretary-general, was working on a voluntary basis and would not be remunerated by either the Myanmar government or foreign donors.
“There is no foreign financial aid for the commission. Kofi Annan’s work is purely voluntary and at the request of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar government is bearing all the expenses for the Rakhine Commission,” he told Frontier. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
UN chief urges Myanmar to respect human rights
Myanmar's new leadership must overcome discrimination and promote inclusive development with "full respect" for human rights, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday on the eve of a visit to the country.
Ban said elections last November, won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, had opened the way to include various ethnic groups in Myanmar's newfound democracy.
The recent setting up of an advisory panel on Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state headed by former UN chief Kofi Annan is an "encouraging step", Ban said, speaking in Singapore at an event organised by the Singapore Management University at the start of a two-day visit to the city-state. (Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk)
Ban said elections last November, won overwhelmingly by Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, had opened the way to include various ethnic groups in Myanmar's newfound democracy.
The recent setting up of an advisory panel on Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state headed by former UN chief Kofi Annan is an "encouraging step", Ban said, speaking in Singapore at an event organised by the Singapore Management University at the start of a two-day visit to the city-state. (Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk)
India, Myanmar sign 4 agreements
India and Myanmar today signed four pacts, mostly in the field of infrastructure development and for the cooperation in renewable energy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw witnessed the signing of the agreement after the two sides have a delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House here. The agreements include facilitating construction and upgrade of 69 bridges, Kaleva-Yargi road section of trilateral high project and an MoU on traditional system of medicine. (Courtesy of news.webindia123.com)
Human rights activist denied bail in Sittwe
Ko Khaing Myo Htun has been remanded in Sittwe Prison on incitement charges for his alleged role in documenting military human rights abuses, according to a Friday statement by EarthRights International.
The ethnic Rakhine activist, 34, a deputy information officer for the Arakan Liberation Party, was arrested on July 25 and will next appear before Sittwe Township Court on September 2. He faces a maximum four-year prison sentence if convicted.
Denying a bail application on Friday, the presiding judge referred to the sensitivity of the case against Khaing Myo Htun and noted the defendant had failed to respond to two earlier court summons.
EarthRights said Khaing Myo Htun, a former student of the advocacy group’s human rights and environmental activism school, had been travelling in the weeks before his arrest and had not been informed of the requests to present himself to the court.(Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
A refuge of monastic discipline in Mandalay
HUNDREDS OF monks and novices are walking side-by-side in a long, silent procession along a wide lane, eyes downcast and clasping black offerings bowls. The lane is lined with tamarinds and other big shady trees common in central Myanmar.
About 100 tourists of all ages and nationalities have gathered under the shade of the trees. Nearby, on tables at the entrance of a dining hall are large aluminium tubs of food. As the monks and novices quietly accept their late morning meal, offered by donors, the tourists take pictures.
The sight of such a large number of monks gathered together in a quiet and orderly manner is rare, even in a Buddhist country such as Myanmar. It is the main reason why the Mahagandayon Monastery, at the former royal capital of Amarapura, just south of Mandalay, has been a famous sarthintaik, or Dhamma school, for more than 100 years. The monastery has become a destination for foreigners interested in seeing how Myanmar has perpetuated Theravada Buddhism for thousands of years. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
About 100 tourists of all ages and nationalities have gathered under the shade of the trees. Nearby, on tables at the entrance of a dining hall are large aluminium tubs of food. As the monks and novices quietly accept their late morning meal, offered by donors, the tourists take pictures.
The sight of such a large number of monks gathered together in a quiet and orderly manner is rare, even in a Buddhist country such as Myanmar. It is the main reason why the Mahagandayon Monastery, at the former royal capital of Amarapura, just south of Mandalay, has been a famous sarthintaik, or Dhamma school, for more than 100 years. The monastery has become a destination for foreigners interested in seeing how Myanmar has perpetuated Theravada Buddhism for thousands of years. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)
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