Maungdaw, Arakan State (Rohingya Vision) – At least seven Rohingya houses were destroyed by an accidental fire at ‘Aung Sit Pyin’ village in northern Maungdaw yesterday evening.
The fire is said to have broken out from the kitchen around 5:30PM yesterday (on December 23) and gone out of control afterwards. The began from the house of a man named U Dudu Meah at ‘Dom Paik’ hamlet of ‘Aung Sit Pyin’ village tract to the north of ‘Kyeing Chaung (Boli Bazaar)’ village. (Courtesy of Rohingya Vision TV)
December 24, 2015
The Rohingyas’ Plight
Rudyard Kipling remarked in From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, “This is Burma and it will be quite unlike any other land you will know about.” The country indeed has a unique history that has shaped its British colonial and current military-dominated governments. Political posturing has created strong ethnic paranoia among the Burmese establishment that has recently culminated in the brutal repression of Muslims and women.
Rohingya History
Rakhine’s inhabitants have been traced back to the 9th century AD. It became increasingly Islamic starting in the 1400s, but was nonetheless very tolerant towards Hindus & Buddhists. Rakhine straddles the Bay of Bengal on its western border, so many Arabs, Afghans and other Muslims would migrate to Rakhine over the centuries as sailors, mercenaries or merchants, but most Muslims were native converts or converts from Bengal with whom they shared a porous border. Currently, Muslims comprise 29% of Rakhine State. However, they comprise as much as 95% in Taung Pyo Tat Wal District, or 92% in Maung Daw, the third most populous of Rakhine’s districts. It’s important to understand the history of Rohingya citizenship in what is now Burma to grasp the government’s current stance on the Muslim population in Rakhine. (Courtesy of internationalpolicydigest.org)
Rohingya History
Rakhine’s inhabitants have been traced back to the 9th century AD. It became increasingly Islamic starting in the 1400s, but was nonetheless very tolerant towards Hindus & Buddhists. Rakhine straddles the Bay of Bengal on its western border, so many Arabs, Afghans and other Muslims would migrate to Rakhine over the centuries as sailors, mercenaries or merchants, but most Muslims were native converts or converts from Bengal with whom they shared a porous border. Currently, Muslims comprise 29% of Rakhine State. However, they comprise as much as 95% in Taung Pyo Tat Wal District, or 92% in Maung Daw, the third most populous of Rakhine’s districts. It’s important to understand the history of Rohingya citizenship in what is now Burma to grasp the government’s current stance on the Muslim population in Rakhine. (Courtesy of internationalpolicydigest.org)
Human traffickers face legal action at Sittwe
Maungdaw—A total of 30 human traffickers, including a Thai citizen, have been charged by the Sittwe District court for smuggling more than 200 Bengalis by ship in Rakhine State.
The trial began in August, said the plaintiff, who is a police officer.
On May 21, a total of 208 Bengalis were rescued by the Myanmar Navy in its sea territory near Maungdaw, and police charged two owners and 20 sailors of two schooners under sections 367, 371, 114 of the Criminal Act on June 22 at the Manugdaw Township court. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
The trial began in August, said the plaintiff, who is a police officer.
On May 21, a total of 208 Bengalis were rescued by the Myanmar Navy in its sea territory near Maungdaw, and police charged two owners and 20 sailors of two schooners under sections 367, 371, 114 of the Criminal Act on June 22 at the Manugdaw Township court. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
Thai court hands Myanmar men death penalty for British tourist murders
Koh Samui (Thailand) (AFP)
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of killing David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose battered bodies were found on a beach on the southern diving resort of Koh Tao in September last year.
“Both defendants are guilty of murder for which the penalty is the death sentence,” an unnamed judge told the court on neighbouring Koh Samui.
The pair were also found guilty of raping Witheridge and conspiracy to hide the crime in a ruling that was welcomed by Miller’s family who travelled to Thailand for the verdict.
The ruling was guided by “eyewitnesses and DNA evidence from both suspects,” the judge explained, citing forensic traces from the accused found on Witheridge’s body.
The migrant workers, who were shackled in court, were grim-faced as the verdict was delivered, while the mother of one of them wailed from the gallery.
Both men denied killing the British pair.
They were arrested on October 2 after a high-profile police probe which saw authorities come under intense pressure to solve a case that shocked the Thai public.
Throughout the trial prosecutors said their evidence against the men was rock solid. (Courtesy of The Citizen)
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of killing David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose battered bodies were found on a beach on the southern diving resort of Koh Tao in September last year.
“Both defendants are guilty of murder for which the penalty is the death sentence,” an unnamed judge told the court on neighbouring Koh Samui.
The pair were also found guilty of raping Witheridge and conspiracy to hide the crime in a ruling that was welcomed by Miller’s family who travelled to Thailand for the verdict.
The ruling was guided by “eyewitnesses and DNA evidence from both suspects,” the judge explained, citing forensic traces from the accused found on Witheridge’s body.
The migrant workers, who were shackled in court, were grim-faced as the verdict was delivered, while the mother of one of them wailed from the gallery.
Both men denied killing the British pair.
They were arrested on October 2 after a high-profile police probe which saw authorities come under intense pressure to solve a case that shocked the Thai public.
Throughout the trial prosecutors said their evidence against the men was rock solid. (Courtesy of The Citizen)
Burma and Myanmar: From Junta Repression to Luxury Tourism
It's happy hour in the bar of The Strand hotel in Yangon.
A smartly dressed barman mixes a Strand Sour as fans slowly revolve below the high ceiling. Musicians play. Tourists at tables beside the teak-lined walls check guidebooks and discuss where to go for dinner.
How about Le Planteur, an elegant villa on the shore of Inya Lake? It serves fine French food, and offers an $87 tasting menu featuring dishes such as lobster salad, prime veal fillet in pistachio crust, and Grand Marnier souffle with orange sauce. Or maybe the hotel's Strand Grill, with its vaulted ceiling and marble-inlaid floor, where lobster thermidor costs $44?
This is modern Myanmar. It's no longer the British colony where my father was born in 1904, nor the 33-year-old independent state (then called Burma) I first visited in 1981, then returned to in 1992. That was a scary place, brutally governed.
In 1992 the country was ruled by the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the fearsome junta that held onto power even after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a general election in 1990. (Courtesy of Bloomberg Business)
A smartly dressed barman mixes a Strand Sour as fans slowly revolve below the high ceiling. Musicians play. Tourists at tables beside the teak-lined walls check guidebooks and discuss where to go for dinner.
How about Le Planteur, an elegant villa on the shore of Inya Lake? It serves fine French food, and offers an $87 tasting menu featuring dishes such as lobster salad, prime veal fillet in pistachio crust, and Grand Marnier souffle with orange sauce. Or maybe the hotel's Strand Grill, with its vaulted ceiling and marble-inlaid floor, where lobster thermidor costs $44?
This is modern Myanmar. It's no longer the British colony where my father was born in 1904, nor the 33-year-old independent state (then called Burma) I first visited in 1981, then returned to in 1992. That was a scary place, brutally governed.
In 1992 the country was ruled by the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the fearsome junta that held onto power even after Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a general election in 1990. (Courtesy of Bloomberg Business)
Notable & Quotable: Charles Maung Bo
We congratulate the NLD [opposition party] who won the election. At the same time we also wish and pray that you may build the nation in spite of enormous challenges that lie in wait. The people of Myanmar have invested their hopes and future in your fragile hands, knowing that power of empty hands has ‘sent away the mighty and raised the lowly’. You have shown your sagacity by proposing a government of national reconciliation. Church joins in your Good will and efforts to bring peace with justice. . . .
The world stands in awe at the graceful way the president and the USDP [ruling party] accepted the verdict and welcomed the victors. For the last five years you have done a lot for this country ensuring that the incremental democracy brings greater inclusiveness. Your good will at peaceful transfer of power is a great example to the world where enormous blood shed is the norm in transfer of power. History will gratefully remember you for your generosity and statesmanship. (Courtesy of WSJ)
The world stands in awe at the graceful way the president and the USDP [ruling party] accepted the verdict and welcomed the victors. For the last five years you have done a lot for this country ensuring that the incremental democracy brings greater inclusiveness. Your good will at peaceful transfer of power is a great example to the world where enormous blood shed is the norm in transfer of power. History will gratefully remember you for your generosity and statesmanship. (Courtesy of WSJ)
Suu Kyi hold talks with top officials from MPC
Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of the National League for Democracy, held a discussion with the Myanmar Peace Center delegation led by Union Minister at the President’s Office Aung Min, over the current peace processes and political dialogues, in Nay Pyi Taw on December 23.
The NLD delegation includes CEC members Win Htein and Dr Zaw Myint Maung, the Central Committee members Naing Ngan Lin and Phyo Zeyar Thaw and in-charge of the NLD chairperson office Dr. Tin Mar Aung. Union minister Aung Min was accompanied by Tin Maung Than, Hla Maung Shwe, Dr Min Zaw Oo, Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing and Aung Naing Oo.
Hla Maung Shwe, senior advisor to the MPC said: “It was attended by the MPC’s six-member delegation led by Union Minister Aung Min and the five-member NLD team led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The meeting focuses on the ongoing peace process and political dialogues. Both sides discussed the MPC’s works. Today’s meeting lasted about one hour. There may be talks in the future if necessary. The crucial point is that holding a discussion on the current works is good.”
According to the NLD’s release, both sides exchanged the views on the current peace process, holding of the Union Peace Conference and coordination on holding preliminary political dialogues.
Win Htein said: “At today’s call, the MPC submitted the topics which will be discussed at the conference scheduled for 12, 13 and 14 January to Aung San Suu Kyi. A preliminary meeting will be held on 5, 6 and 7 January for the conference. At the preliminary meeting, we will coordinate the agenda for the conference. The main point is Minister Aung Min and officials from the MPC will submit the MPC’s works. And it will be approved. Aung San Suu Kyi will continue working on the peace-making processes.
In doing so, there are two points. The first one is to recognize the MPC’s efforts and congratulate the MPC on the signing of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) despite it not being ideal. The NCA would bring good results when it is implemented under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. The above-mentioned matters are discussed. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
The NLD delegation includes CEC members Win Htein and Dr Zaw Myint Maung, the Central Committee members Naing Ngan Lin and Phyo Zeyar Thaw and in-charge of the NLD chairperson office Dr. Tin Mar Aung. Union minister Aung Min was accompanied by Tin Maung Than, Hla Maung Shwe, Dr Min Zaw Oo, Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing and Aung Naing Oo.
Hla Maung Shwe, senior advisor to the MPC said: “It was attended by the MPC’s six-member delegation led by Union Minister Aung Min and the five-member NLD team led by Aung San Suu Kyi. The meeting focuses on the ongoing peace process and political dialogues. Both sides discussed the MPC’s works. Today’s meeting lasted about one hour. There may be talks in the future if necessary. The crucial point is that holding a discussion on the current works is good.”
According to the NLD’s release, both sides exchanged the views on the current peace process, holding of the Union Peace Conference and coordination on holding preliminary political dialogues.
Win Htein said: “At today’s call, the MPC submitted the topics which will be discussed at the conference scheduled for 12, 13 and 14 January to Aung San Suu Kyi. A preliminary meeting will be held on 5, 6 and 7 January for the conference. At the preliminary meeting, we will coordinate the agenda for the conference. The main point is Minister Aung Min and officials from the MPC will submit the MPC’s works. And it will be approved. Aung San Suu Kyi will continue working on the peace-making processes.
In doing so, there are two points. The first one is to recognize the MPC’s efforts and congratulate the MPC on the signing of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) despite it not being ideal. The NCA would bring good results when it is implemented under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. The above-mentioned matters are discussed. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
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