Conditions in camps for members of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority, forced from their homes four years ago by communal violence, remain poor with overcrowding, the deterioration of temporary housing, and a lack of proper sanitation facilities, the U.N.'s special human rights envoy to the country said Friday.
Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee, speaking to reporters in Yangon at the end of her fourth trip to the Southeast Asian country, said ending institutionalized discrimination against the Muslim communities in western Rakhine State must be an urgent priority, and restrictions on them cannot be justified on grounds of security or ensuring stability. (Courtesy of nytimes.com)
July 2, 2016
Myanmar must ‘urgently’ end abuses against Muslims: UN envoy
Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, was speaking after a nearly two-week visit to the Buddhist-majority nation, her first since Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party took office several months ago, ending five decades of military rule.
Suu Kyi, a globally celebrated champion for human rights, has faced criticism for not taking a stronger stance on the Rohingya’s plight as she leads her country into a new era.
Lee’s visit included a trip to strife-torn Rakhine, a western region scarred by bouts of religious bloodshed between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. (Courtesy of samaa.tv)
Suu Kyi, a globally celebrated champion for human rights, has faced criticism for not taking a stronger stance on the Rohingya’s plight as she leads her country into a new era.
Lee’s visit included a trip to strife-torn Rakhine, a western region scarred by bouts of religious bloodshed between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. (Courtesy of samaa.tv)
U.N. rights investigator urges Myanmar to crack down on religious violence
A United Nations human rights investigator on Friday urged the Myanmar government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to investigate last week's mob attack on a mosque and crack down on religious violence.
In one of the most serious outbursts of inter-religious violence in months, a group of men from a village in central Myanmar last week destroyed a mosque in a dispute over its construction and beat up a Muslim man.
In a separate incident on Friday, Buddhists burned down a Muslim prayer hall in northern Kachin State, police said. (Courtesy of uk.reuters.com)
In one of the most serious outbursts of inter-religious violence in months, a group of men from a village in central Myanmar last week destroyed a mosque in a dispute over its construction and beat up a Muslim man.
In a separate incident on Friday, Buddhists burned down a Muslim prayer hall in northern Kachin State, police said. (Courtesy of uk.reuters.com)
We need rule of law, not mob rule
The excuse given by Bago Chief Minister U Win Thein for the lack of action against the anti-Muslim lawbreakers is that the regional government is worried arrests will lead to more violence. “If we take action on people, the situation will be bad,” he told this paper.
Meanwhile, U Gambira, whose legal woes have been decried internationally as being politically motivated – and who suffers from serious mental health issues relating to his incarceration and torture as a political prisoner – faces years longer in jail.
How clearly we see that this government can be as willing to be complicit in persecution – political or religious – as its predecessor was. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
July 1, 2016
Hasina writes to Suu Kyi for stronger ties
In a fresh diplomatic move to build vibrant relations with neighbouring Myanmar on the backdrop of its changing political situation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sent a special envoy to convey how greatly Dhaka values the relations with Nay Pyi Taw.
Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque took a letter of the prime minister to Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday.
The State Counsellor of Myanmar is a position, created this April to allow for a greater role for Aung San Suu Kyi within the government of Myanmar. (Courtesy of thedailystar.net)
Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque took a letter of the prime minister to Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday.
The State Counsellor of Myanmar is a position, created this April to allow for a greater role for Aung San Suu Kyi within the government of Myanmar. (Courtesy of thedailystar.net)
Myanmar decries demotion on US human trafficking blacklist
Myanmar called sad and regrettable a move by the United States to place the country on a list of the world’s worst human trafficking offenders, while rights groups welcomed it as long overdue.
The demotion came Thursday when the U.S. State Department released its closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons report, which examines 188 governments’ efforts in combating modern-day slavery.
It placed Myanmar alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, and says the Southeast Asian country has failed to meet “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” It also removed Thailand from the blacklist despite what the State Department described as widespread forced labor in the country’s seafood industry. (Courtesy of seattletimes.com)
The demotion came Thursday when the U.S. State Department released its closely watched annual Trafficking in Persons report, which examines 188 governments’ efforts in combating modern-day slavery.
It placed Myanmar alongside countries like Iran, North Korea and Syria, and says the Southeast Asian country has failed to meet “the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.” It also removed Thailand from the blacklist despite what the State Department described as widespread forced labor in the country’s seafood industry. (Courtesy of seattletimes.com)
Myanmar: Beating case closed after Muslim drops charges
Police have closed an investigation into an attack on a Muslim man, a mosque, and other religious buildings in south Myanmar, after the victim refused to press charges.
Human rights organizations had urged a thorough investigation after Abdul Sharif was injured following an argument turned violent over the building of a school in Tha Yel Tha Mein village in Waw Township in Bago region -- around 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of commercial capital Yangon.
The incident had rekindled fears of a return to the violence of 2012, when communal tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in western Rakhine State left 200 people dead and displaced thousands. (Courtesy of thepeninsulaqatar.com)
Human rights organizations had urged a thorough investigation after Abdul Sharif was injured following an argument turned violent over the building of a school in Tha Yel Tha Mein village in Waw Township in Bago region -- around 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of commercial capital Yangon.
The incident had rekindled fears of a return to the violence of 2012, when communal tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in western Rakhine State left 200 people dead and displaced thousands. (Courtesy of thepeninsulaqatar.com)
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