( 04.12.2016 ) Myanmar: Abuse of human rights ( Financial Express )

Muhammad Zamir,Published : 04 Dec 2016

The Rohingyas are again under attack in Myanmar. The New York Times has correctly observed that "Myanmar has long persecuted the country's Rohingya Muslim minority, denying it basic rights to citizenship, to marry, to worship and to education." Reuters has reported from Yangon that more than 1,000 homes have been razed in Rohingya villages during a military 'counter-insurgency' lockdown (between October 22 November 10). This estimate is based on the analysis of satellite images which Human Rights Watch released on November 21. Latest figures indicate that up to 30,000 people have been displaced in Myanmar's Rakhine state - half of them over the course of the second and third weeks of November.

Malaysia: Myanmar pursues ethnic cleansing of Rohingya

Al Jazeera  

2016 December 16

Malaysia says Myanmar behind exodus of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya to neighbouring countries.

Government restrictions on the Rohingya has been likened to apartheid [EPA]

Malaysia has accused Myanmar of engaging in "ethnic cleansing" of its Rohingya Muslim minority, as former UN chief Kofi Annan visits a burned-out village in violence-hit Rakhine state.

Tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya have fled their homes since a bloody crackdown by the Myanmar army in Rakhine, sparked by a string of deadly attacks on police border posts in early October.

Al Jazeera
Published on Dec 2, 2016

  Former UN chief in Myanmar to investigate plight of Rohingya

Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims may be victims of crimes against humanity, the UN rights agency has said, as Kofi Annan undertakes a visit to the country that will include a trip to the conflict-ravaged region of Rakhine.

Link :https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=yA7204i-HKU

( 30.11.2016 ) Burma Officials Lodge Complaints with BBC, UNHCR ( Irrawaddy )

The Irrawaddy

30/11/2016

                                                   By Moe Myint 28 November 2016

Burmese officials have lodged complaints with both the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the BBC World Service over comments and reports made on the Arakan State situation last week.

The Burmese Embassy in Britain wrote a letter of complaint on Friday to the BBC World Service over their Nov. 22 report “Rohingya Muslims hated and hounded from Burmese Soil” which the Embassy said was “based on rumors, hearsay and one-sided views which are far from the true situation.”

In a separate BBC report, John McKissick, head of the UN’s refugee agency in Cox’s Bazar on the Bangladesh border, said that Burma’s government has the “ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar.”

Burma Army soldiers have poured into Maungdaw Township since Oct. 9 after coordinated attacks on border guard posts. Escalating violence during security operations has reportedly killed at least 86 people and displaced some 30,000, with hundreds reportedly fleeing across the border to Bangladesh.

Burma’s representative to the UN U Htin Linn met with the UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for protection Mr. Volker Turk in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday concerning a statement made to the BBC by a UNHCR official, according to a State Counselor’s Office Information Committee statement issued Sunday.

According to the State Counselor’s Office statement, U Htin Lin said the comment “undermined the trust and confidence placed and the cooperation extended to the UNHCR by Myanmar.”

U Htin Lin questioned Mr. Volker Turk about whether the comments were an official UNHCR statement and encouraged the UNHCR to hold John McKissick responsible, according to the statement. If necessary, U Htin Lin said he would deliver an official objection letter to the UN.

“If such allegations were indeed made by the UNHCR then Myanmar lodges strong objection against the UNHCR for unjust allegations made without substantiating evidence,” the statement read.

-Mr. Volker Turk reportedly responded that the UNHCR was also surprised by Mr. John McKissick’s statement and would reply with an appropriate response.

Topics: Arakan, Rohingya, UNHCR

http://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/burma-officials-lodge-complaints-with-bbc-unhcr.html

( 30.11.2016 ) HRW satellite data shows 1250 Maungdaw structures destroyed ( Myanmar Times )

By AFP | Tuesday, 22 November 2016

More than 1200 houses have been destroyed in northern Rakhine State, according to an analysis of satellite images by Human Rights Watch released yesterday.

( 29.11.2016 ) Myanmar lodges protest over UNHCR official’s critical Rakhine comments ( Myanmar Times )

Myanmar Times

Monday, 28 November 2016

A UNHCR representative’s comments about violence in Rakhine State have sent the government into public relations overdrive, with a senior cabinet member describing the UN official’s remarks as “just allegations” and calling into question his professionalism.

Bangladesh refuses Rohingya fleeing 'ethnic cleansing'

Al Jazeera
28/11/2016

Eight boats carrying Rohingya refugees have been turned away by Bangladesh as thousands amass on the border.

Thousands of Rohingya refugees have crossed into Bangladesh by boat in recent weeks [File: Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters]

Multiple boats packed with Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar have been turned back by Bangladesh border guards despite appeals by the country's opposition to provide shelter to the persecuted Muslim minority. 

Khaleda asks Myanmar to stop Rohingya genocide

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia on Sunday called the repression of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar forces as ‘genocide’, asking the Bangladesh authorities to give them shelter as much as possible.
“I am deeply shocked and concerned over the brutal genocide being carried out by the government forces of neighbouring Myanmar on the Rohingya community,” she said in a statement issued by her press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan.

( 27.11.2016 ) “ဘီဘီစီမှ ၂၂-၁၁-၂၀၁၆ ရက်နေ့တွင်ထုတ် လွှင့်ခဲ့သည့်အစီအစဉ်အပေါ် မြန်မာသံရုံး၊ လန်ဒန်မြို့မှ ကန့်ကွက်စာပေးပို့ထားရှိမှု”

“ဘီဘီစီမှ ၂၂-၁၁-၂၀၁၆ ရက်နေ့တွင် ထုတ်လွှင့်ခဲ့သည့်  အစီအစဉ်အပေါ် မြန်မာသံရုံး၊ လန်ဒန်မြို့မှ ကန့်ကွက် စာပေးပို့ထားရှိမှု”

Response by Myanmar Embassy to the BBC World News Program.

Restore citizenship to Rohingya

malaysia kini

P Ramasamy   

Published: 26 Nov 2016

The Rohingya is one of the most deprived and exploited minority groups in the world today. While there is much emotional frenzy about their tragic plight, the Malaysian government has not taken any concrete step to address their issue at the international forums. The least that the government can do is to press home the point that the present government in Myanmar should restore their citizenship status that was deprived many years back.

Malaysia to Summon Burmese Ambassador as Protests Mount Over Treatment of Rohingya

The Irrawaddy
25.11.2016

Protesters hold signs during a demonstration against what organizers say is the crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Burma, outside the Burmese embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia on November 25, 2016. The text on the poster reads, “Rohingya are our brothers.” / Darren Whiteside / Reuters 

By Reuters 25 November 2016 

KUALA LUMPUR & DHAKA – Malaysia will summon Myanmar’s ambassador over the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in northwestern Arakan State, it said on Friday, as protesters across Southeast Asia demonstrated against the rising violence.

Malaysia to summon Myanmar envoy on Rohingya as protests mount

REUTERS
By Joseph Sipalan and Ruma Paul
KUALA LUMPUR/DHAKA
November 25, 2016 

[1/2]Muslims protest against what they say is Myanmar's crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims, outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, Thailand November 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jorge Silva Acquire Licensing Rights

( 24.11.2016 ) Rohingya face Myanmar 'ethnic cleansing': UN official ( ALjazira )

Al Jazeera
24/11/2016

UNHCR chief accuses country's troops of killing men and raping women, forcing stateless minority to flee to Bangladesh.

Hundreds of thousands live in camps in Bangladesh [Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters]


Myanmar is carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya Muslims, a United Nations official has said, as stories of gang rape, torture and murder emerge from among the thousands who have fled to Bangladesh.

( 24.11.2016 ) Bangladesh briefs foreign diplomats on Rohingya influx concerns ( bdnews24.com )

 Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com

Published: 2016-11-24




Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali has told Dhaka-based diplomats about the government’s concerns over the influx of Rakhine Muslims into Bangladesh despite the border guards’ efforts to stop the flow.

He briefed them on the evolving situation in Myanmar and Bangladesh-Myanmar relations at State Guest House Padma on Thursday.

Ambassadors, high commissioners, heads of diplomatic missions, including the USA, EU, UK, Canada, Norway, Denmark, India and China and from the UNRC, IOM and UNHCR attended the briefing.

The foreign minister apprised the diplomatic community of the steps that the government had taken to establish and maintain friendly relations with Myanmar, particularly with the newly elected NLD government through engagements at different levels.

He informed them about the cooperation that Bangladesh had provided to Myanmar since the terrorist attacks took place at the border guard posts of Myanmar on Oct 9.

“As a responsible neighbour, Bangladesh not only condemned the attack, but also provided critical assistance to the government of Myanmar by apprehending suspects and sharing intelligence,” the diplomats were told.

The foreign minister added that Bangladesh had already requested the government of Myanmar to take appropriate measures so that the Muslim minorities are not forced to take shelter across the border.

The Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka was called to the foreign ministry on Wednesday and was conveyed Bangladesh’s concerns over the issue.

During the discussion, the representatives of the diplomatic community acknowledged that there was a need for increased assistance to the affected people, the foreign ministry said in a media statement.

 

They expressed their willingness to contribute, if requested.

The UN resident coordinator expressed ‘serious concern’ at the continuously deteriorating situation in the Rakhine state due to disproportionate reprisal actions by the Myanmar military.

The foreign minister sought support from the international community to resolve this longstanding challenge, including the current crisis.

He urged the diplomats to sensitise their governments to the problem so that a coordinated approach could be taken to address the issue.

http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2016/11/24/bangladesh-briefs-foreign-diplomats-on-rohingya-influx-concerns

( 23.11.2016 ) Foreign ministry summons Myanmar envoy over Rohingya crisis ( bdnews24 )

Senior Correspondent, bdnews24.com
Published: 2016-11-23



Rohingya Muslims cry as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) catch them in a check post in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 21, 2016. Reuters.

The foreign ministry has summoned the Myanmar envoy and expressed concerns over a renewed crisis as more Rohingyas, fleeing persecution, cross the border to Bangladesh.


A member of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) stands guard on a watchtower near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border to prevent Rohingya refugees from illegal border crossing, in Teknaf near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, November 22, 2016. Reuters
Ambassador U Myo Myint Than was at the ministry for a meeting with Additional Secretary Kamrul Ahsan on Wednesday.

He has been informed about Dhaka’s concerns over the situation, Kamrul told reporters after the meeting.

Dhaka hoped Naypyidaw would improve security for Rohingyas so the refugees in Bangladesh can return home, he said.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that the government aired concerns over Myanmar army's ongoing actions in Rakhine State 'causing dire consequences to the people and implications to Bangladesh.'

The envoy has been told that despite efforts of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to prevent the influx, thousands of Myanmar citizens are continuing to cross the border into Bangladesh.

The statement said Dhaka also protested against Myanmar media's 'tendency to implicate Bangladesh into the incidents.'

Ambassador Than has also been urged to give 'due consideration' to the international community's call for an impartial investigation into the alleged indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force and human rights violation during the military operation in Rakhine.

Dhaka also requested Naypyidaw to initiate urgent measures so that the Muslim minorities are not forced to seek shelter across the border.

The Myanmar government has been rejecting allegations by residents and rights groups that soldiers have burnt houses and killed civilians during the military operation.

The army has declared the Muslim Rohingya-majority northern Rakhine as an "operations zone", where it claims to be battling Islamist insurgents.

The government has blocked international journalists from visiting the area.

The military crackdown began after nine border police personnel were killed in attacks by 'insurgents' at three outposts on Oct 9.

Authorities have confirmed 86 deaths and said that 69 of them were suspected militants. Rights groups claim the number is much higher.

Hundreds of Rohingyas are trying to cross the border into Bangladesh amid escalating violence.

The Myanmar government denies the Rohingya flight, but Bangladesh border guards have pushed hundreds of them back to their country in the last few days.

The 1.1 million Rohingyas are seen as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by many of the country's majority Buddhists.

They are denied citizenship and face severe restrictions on their travel.

Up to 30,000 people are now estimated to be displaced and thousands more affected by the recent fighting, the UN has said.

http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2016/11/23/foreign-ministry-summons-myanmar-envoy-over-rohingya-crisis

( 24.11.206 ) Myanmar wants ethnic cleansing of Rohingya - UN official ( BBC News) Video

B  B  C

24 November 2016

Myanmar is seeking the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority from its territory, a senior UN official has told the BBC.

Armed forces have been killing Rohingya in Rakhine state, forcing many to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, says John McKissick of the UN refugee agency.

( 23.11.2016 ) Jakarta: Rohingya's last hope ( Jarkata Post )

Canberra | Wed, November 23, 2016

In this May 12 file photo, ethnic Rohingya sit at a refugee camp north of Sittwe, western Rakhine state, Myanmar. The long-persecuted Rohingya, many of whose families arrived in Myanmar generations ago, are treated as illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh and virtually excluded from the political process. (AP/Gemunu Amarasinghe )

( 22.11.2016 ) Bangladesh pushes back 125 Rohingyas ( The Nation )

THE NATION
By The Daily Star
Asia News Network
DHAKA

November 22, 2016

Bangladeshi students of Dhaka University carry banners 'Stop Genocide in Myanmar' take part in a protest against the recent attacks on the Rohingyas in Arakan in Myanmar, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 21 November 2016./ EPA

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( 22.11.2016 ) Hundreds of Rohingya cross into Bangladesh, fleeing unrest (The Nation )

The Nation
November 22, 2016 
By Agence France-Presse DHAKA

Hundreds of Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar, community leaders said Tuesday, but border guards have pushed back hundreds more despite a United Nations plea to let them in.

The UN says up to 30,000 Rohingya have been displaced by violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where dozens of people have been killed in clashes with the military, and has urged Dhaka to open its border to them. Instead the Bangladesh government, under pressure from local communities to limit the number of migrants, has intensified patrols along the 237-kilometre (147-mile) border to prevent a large-scale influx.

( 22.11.2016 ) Myanmar’s War on the Rohingya ( New York Times )

The New York Times  
The Opinion Pages
By THE EDITORIAL BOARDNOV. 21, 2016

A family outside a market destroyed by fire, in a Rohingya village in Myanmar, in October. Credit Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters

Myanmar has long persecuted the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority, denying it basic rights to citizenship, to marry, to worship and to an education. After violence unleashed in 2012 by Buddhist extremists drove tens of thousands of Rohingya out of their homes, many risked their lives to escape in smugglers’ boats; more than 100,000 others are living in squalid internment camps. Now, a counterinsurgency operation by Myanmar’s military is again forcing thousands of Rohingya to abandon their villages.