The police chief has set up an inquiry into Pol Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin's claims he received threats to his life from "influential people" while chief investigator of the high-profile Rohingya human trafficking case.
Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijida said the ad hoc panel will find out if there are grounds to Pol Maj Gen Paween's claims, and whether any other investigators on his team had received similar threats, particularly those working in areas under the Region 8 and Region 9 provincial police bureaus.
Pol Gen Chakthip gave no further details, but said he expected to see the first results from the investigation this week. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post News)
December 13, 2015
Rohingya refugees vanish from Indonesia
JAKARTA, 14 décembre 2015 (IRIN) - Hundreds of Rohingya refugees have vanished from camps in the northern reaches of the Indonesian island of Sumatra in recent months, raising concerns that they are once again turning to dangerous smuggling rings in a bid to reach Malaysia.
“We get very worried about how safe they are,” said Thomas Vargas, the Indonesia representative for the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR.
“Lets face it, smugglers have shown how ruthless they can be,” he told IRIN. “They have already shown how completely they can disregard human life. So, obviously, we are very concerned when we see that this type of thing can happen again.”
Nearly 1,000 Rohingya refugees were rescued last May after human smugglers and traffickers abandoned boats at sea when Thailand and Malaysia launched a crackdown on their networks. Nearly eight months later, less than 400 Rohingya refugees remain in the temporary centres set up in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, according to UNHCR.
Most of the missing refugees are either in Malaysia or somewhere in coastal North Sumatra, waiting to board smugglers' boats, according to aid organisations. The situation highlights the difficulties aid organisations face when trying to discourage refugees from working with people-smuggling rings. (Courtesy of IRIN Asia)
“We get very worried about how safe they are,” said Thomas Vargas, the Indonesia representative for the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR.
“Lets face it, smugglers have shown how ruthless they can be,” he told IRIN. “They have already shown how completely they can disregard human life. So, obviously, we are very concerned when we see that this type of thing can happen again.”
Nearly 1,000 Rohingya refugees were rescued last May after human smugglers and traffickers abandoned boats at sea when Thailand and Malaysia launched a crackdown on their networks. Nearly eight months later, less than 400 Rohingya refugees remain in the temporary centres set up in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces, according to UNHCR.
Most of the missing refugees are either in Malaysia or somewhere in coastal North Sumatra, waiting to board smugglers' boats, according to aid organisations. The situation highlights the difficulties aid organisations face when trying to discourage refugees from working with people-smuggling rings. (Courtesy of IRIN Asia)
Border Guard Police Rob Rohingya Man
Maungdaw, Arakan State (Rohingya Vision) – A group of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) has been robbing the local Rohingyas in northern Maungdaw for several months and accusing them with false charges for ransom, according to the reliable sources.
The gang of the money-extorting police consist of Corporal U Khin Hlaing and Staff Officers: U Zaw Zaw Aung and U Aung Kyaw Min from ‘Kyein Chaung (Boli Bazaar)’ Border Guard Police station.
Of them, U Zaw Zaw Aung preyed a Rohingya from Buthidaung Township around 9:30AM on December 7 as his latest victim of robbery.
“U Ata Ullah Mohammed Hussein, 35, is a local of ‘Chaung Taung’ village in northern Buthidaung. On December morning, he was coming to ‘Boli Bazaar’ village market to buy some food stuffs across the mountain valley. As he reached the junction nearby ‘Kyaik Chaung’ hamlet of ‘Londoong’ village tract in northern Maungdaw, three BGP personnel including Zaw Zaw Aung stopped him.
They accused him of illegally travelling to Bangladesh, beat him and robbed Kyat 50,000 out of Kyat 650,000 he had with him. The poor man robbed by the BGP had to go back crying,” said an eyewitness. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
The gang of the money-extorting police consist of Corporal U Khin Hlaing and Staff Officers: U Zaw Zaw Aung and U Aung Kyaw Min from ‘Kyein Chaung (Boli Bazaar)’ Border Guard Police station.
Of them, U Zaw Zaw Aung preyed a Rohingya from Buthidaung Township around 9:30AM on December 7 as his latest victim of robbery.
“U Ata Ullah Mohammed Hussein, 35, is a local of ‘Chaung Taung’ village in northern Buthidaung. On December morning, he was coming to ‘Boli Bazaar’ village market to buy some food stuffs across the mountain valley. As he reached the junction nearby ‘Kyaik Chaung’ hamlet of ‘Londoong’ village tract in northern Maungdaw, three BGP personnel including Zaw Zaw Aung stopped him.
They accused him of illegally travelling to Bangladesh, beat him and robbed Kyat 50,000 out of Kyat 650,000 he had with him. The poor man robbed by the BGP had to go back crying,” said an eyewitness. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
U Tin Oo joins ambassadors to celebrate the Jewish holiday
Candles were lit jointly by ambassadors from the United States, Israel, Canada, leaders from National League of Democracy (NLD) and Parliament in Myanmar’s only synagogue to celebrating the Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.
“Today we have a powerful message to convey-- the importance of religious freedom and tolerance for all minorities,” said Rabbi Eliot J. Baskin from Denver, the US, hosting the ceremony on December 12, marking the end of the eight-day celebration period.
Those attending included U Tin Oo, Vice Chairman of the NLD, and U Sein Tin Win, Speaker of Yangon Region Parliament who stood side by side, together with Daniel Zonshine, Israeli Ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, US Ambassador to Myanmar, and Mark McDowell, Canadian Ambassador to Myanmar. They each kindled a candle on the menorah and sang the hymn Ma’oz Tzur while holding hands.
Museah Yeshua Synagogue was filled with about 150 people. The celebration gathered the local Jewish community of about 20 people, and non-Jewish guests from embassies, the government and other religious leaders including Baha’i, Hindu, Muslim and Buddhism.
This wa the fifth year when Hanukkah was celebrated as an open event in Yangon for Sammy Samuel, the organizer and this generation’s preserver of the synagogue. After Myanmar saw the transition from a military junta to a quasi-civilian government, Moses Samuel, late father of Sammy, decided to celebrate Hanukkah by engaging more communities as this festival allows non-Jewish people to take part, wrote Sammy Samuel in “Hanikkan with Spirit in Yangon.” (Courtesy of Mizzima)
“Today we have a powerful message to convey-- the importance of religious freedom and tolerance for all minorities,” said Rabbi Eliot J. Baskin from Denver, the US, hosting the ceremony on December 12, marking the end of the eight-day celebration period.
Those attending included U Tin Oo, Vice Chairman of the NLD, and U Sein Tin Win, Speaker of Yangon Region Parliament who stood side by side, together with Daniel Zonshine, Israeli Ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, US Ambassador to Myanmar, and Mark McDowell, Canadian Ambassador to Myanmar. They each kindled a candle on the menorah and sang the hymn Ma’oz Tzur while holding hands.
Museah Yeshua Synagogue was filled with about 150 people. The celebration gathered the local Jewish community of about 20 people, and non-Jewish guests from embassies, the government and other religious leaders including Baha’i, Hindu, Muslim and Buddhism.
This wa the fifth year when Hanukkah was celebrated as an open event in Yangon for Sammy Samuel, the organizer and this generation’s preserver of the synagogue. After Myanmar saw the transition from a military junta to a quasi-civilian government, Moses Samuel, late father of Sammy, decided to celebrate Hanukkah by engaging more communities as this festival allows non-Jewish people to take part, wrote Sammy Samuel in “Hanikkan with Spirit in Yangon.” (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Myanmar Parliament gets mixed scores for performance near end of term
YANGON (Myanmar Now) — When Myanmar’s current Parliament first convened in 2011 following a flawed general election, most observers and opposition members expected it to be a rubber stamp for the army and the newly installed civilian government of ex-generals.
As with so much of Myanmar’s democratic transition, its performance has been a surprise.
Lawmakers quickly began to actively debate, amend and pass numerous laws. When several dozen National League for Democracy (NLD) MPs, including Aung San Suu Kyi, joined parliament following by-elections in mid-2012, debate was further enlivened.
As Parliament enters its last two months in office, we asked lawmakers and political activists to weigh the legacy of its 2011-2016 term. Most said great strides had been taken in reforming and replacing junta-era laws governing economics, business and labour rights, along with a range of other issues.
Critics said, however, that some important new legislation, around land rights and education reform, falls short, while repressive laws remain on the books.
The passage of four nationalist “race and religion” laws, they added, remains a dark stain on the parliament’s record. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
As with so much of Myanmar’s democratic transition, its performance has been a surprise.
Lawmakers quickly began to actively debate, amend and pass numerous laws. When several dozen National League for Democracy (NLD) MPs, including Aung San Suu Kyi, joined parliament following by-elections in mid-2012, debate was further enlivened.
As Parliament enters its last two months in office, we asked lawmakers and political activists to weigh the legacy of its 2011-2016 term. Most said great strides had been taken in reforming and replacing junta-era laws governing economics, business and labour rights, along with a range of other issues.
Critics said, however, that some important new legislation, around land rights and education reform, falls short, while repressive laws remain on the books.
The passage of four nationalist “race and religion” laws, they added, remains a dark stain on the parliament’s record. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
A Challenge for Aung San Suu Kyi: Resolving Myanmar’s Ethnic Conflicts
More than a week after Myanmar went to the polls in a historic general election in early November, ballots were still trickling in from the Himalayan foothills in the country’s northern Kachin state—areas so secluded the trip could be made only by foot.
The fact these votes were cast and counted was a sign of progress in Myanmar, but it does not mean that all is well in parts of the country that have endured warlike conditions for much of the last six decades. Fierce fighting between the country’s military and an array of ethnic armed groups, determined to retain arms, territory and a degree of autonomy, has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands more displaced and disenfranchised. (These conflicts are one reason why Myanmar, also known as Burma, is among the largest sources of refugees to the United States.)
Living amidst the towering mountains of Myanmar’s eastern Shan State, Father Mario Mardu, a local Catholic priest who works near the border with China, has little patience for talk of elections and peace. “I don’t think the elections will change things here,” he said a few months before the poll. “The [outgoing] government will surely lose, so they will create a problem, one way or another.” (Courtesy of newsweek.com)
The fact these votes were cast and counted was a sign of progress in Myanmar, but it does not mean that all is well in parts of the country that have endured warlike conditions for much of the last six decades. Fierce fighting between the country’s military and an array of ethnic armed groups, determined to retain arms, territory and a degree of autonomy, has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands more displaced and disenfranchised. (These conflicts are one reason why Myanmar, also known as Burma, is among the largest sources of refugees to the United States.)
Living amidst the towering mountains of Myanmar’s eastern Shan State, Father Mario Mardu, a local Catholic priest who works near the border with China, has little patience for talk of elections and peace. “I don’t think the elections will change things here,” he said a few months before the poll. “The [outgoing] government will surely lose, so they will create a problem, one way or another.” (Courtesy of newsweek.com)
One kg gold seized at Kolkata airport from Myanmar national
One kg gold was seized from a Myanmar national at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport here today, the airport authorities said.
The authorities said Kyaw Min Tun was intercepted at the airport on his arrival from Yangon on an Air India flight and the gold in ring form was seized from him. (Courtesy of Business Standard News)
The authorities said Kyaw Min Tun was intercepted at the airport on his arrival from Yangon on an Air India flight and the gold in ring form was seized from him. (Courtesy of Business Standard News)
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