No more words, the Rohingya deserve justice

Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Editorial
Publish : 21 Apr 2024,

The international community has a moral duty to ensure that the Rohingya are ensured justice.

It has now been close to eight years since the Rohingya crisis resulted in over a million of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities being driven out of their homeland and finding shelter within the borders of Bangladesh.

Myanmar Junta Using Rohingya Recruits to Sow Ethnic Hatred: Activists

The Irrawaddy
Brian Wei
April 19, 2024

                                The burned Doctors Without Borders office. 

Myanmar’s junta is accused of burning down Buthidaung town in Rakhine State using forced Rohingya recruits in an apparent attempt to boost ethnic hatred.

What’s Happening In Myanmar’s Civil War?

The New York Times
By Hannah Beech and Weiyi Cai
April 19, 2024

• Why did the military stage a coup?
• Who is fighting back?
• How successful have the rebels been?
• How are civilians affected?
• Who lives in the country?
• Is it Myanmar or Burma?
• Will Myanmar hold together?

Myanmar’s military staged a coup in 2021, strangling democratic reforms and jailing much of the country’s civilian leadership. Three years on, the Southeast Asian nation is teetering on the brink of failed statehood. Insurgent groups, including pro-democracy forces and ethnic militias, are battling the junta’s soldiers. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and millions more are displaced.

Moving Towards Understanding and Reconciliation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

THE I DIPLOMAT
By Christopher Win
April 18, 2024

Recent comments by the commander of the Arakan Army have prompted a heated debate about history, language, and ethnic identity. 

The Sakya Man Aung pagoda in Mrauk-U, the ancient capital of Arakan, in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

In discussions of Myanmar’s intricate ethnic tapestry, the discourse around identity, particularly the term “Rohingya,” remains highly charged and complex. The controversy was reawakened last month, when the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), an ethnic Rakhine insurgent group fighting for autonomy from the central state, used the term “Bengali” in an official statement in lieu of the term “Rohingya.” This was then echoed in social media posts by Twan Mrat Naing, the leader of ULA/AA, sparking significant controversy among both domestic and international observers.

Myanmar: If the hospitals are closed, where do people go?

MSF
15 Apr 2024

Myanmar is facing an acute humanitarian crisis since fighting escalated at the end of October 2023. The intensification of conflict has led to a lack of humanitarian access, a decimation of the healthcare system, and—due to a law passed in February—increasing fear of military conscription or forced recruitment into other armed groups.

‘A living death’: Camp conditions push Rohingya to the high seas

Frontier Myanmar
April 10, 2024

Rohingya refugees wait to be rescued from the hull of their capsized boat as a vessel of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency approaches in waters off Aceh province on March 21. (AFP)

Amid budget cuts and surging crime in the refugee camps in Bangladesh and war in their native Rakhine, more Rohingya are taking a perilous journey by boat to Indonesia and Malaysia, where an increasingly hostile reception awaits.

Arakan Army’s gains enough to enable self-rule in Myanmar’s Rakhine state

RFA
A commentary by Zachary Abuza
2024.04.06 

Their strength will impact future negotiations over establishing a federal democracy and questions of citizenship. 

The Arakan Army, or AA, is continuing their sweep across Rakhine, furthering the military gains of the ethnic Three Brotherhood Alliance, of which it is a member, in Shan state. While the capture of nine towns, with a tenth in southern Chin state, is another humiliating defeat for the Burmese military, it also sets the scene for a very messy political discussion moving forward.

Fisheries skills can improve lives of Rohingyas in Bhasan Char: Nippon Foundation chief

THE BUSINESS STANDARD
TBS Report
06 April, 2024

As part of Government's Ashrayan-3 project, Bhasan Char began hosting Rohingya refugees relocated from Cox's Bazar in December 2020 

Photo: Courtesy

Developing fisheries skills among the Rohingya youth can enhance the community's quality of life in Bhasan Char, said Nippon Foundation Chairman Sasakawa Yohei. 

Rohingya crisis in Indonesia a ‘ticking time bomb’ if political indifference, misinformation continue: analysts

South China Morning Post
Johannes Nugroho
Published: 6 Apr 2024

• Analysts point to social-media disinformation to ‘discredit’ and ‘demonise’ Rohingya refugees in the lead-up to the presidential election in February
• They say the government has not been inclined to counter such narratives, which have stoked paranoia about the refugees and led to conflict
  

Rohingya refugees rest in a temporary shelter at the Indonesian Red Cross Office, after being evacuated from the sea at Meulaboh, West Aceh, Indonesia, on March 22. Photo: EPA-EFE

 

The orange truck crammed with 75 Rohingya survivors of a capsized boat was told to hurry along by Indonesian police in Beureugang, West Aceh, as dozens of angry villagers gave chase, shouting “[we] reject the presence of refugees here!”
Footage of the incident on March 21 was screened by a number of television channels across Indonesia and observers say the growing hostility is nothing new, attributing it to misinformation campaigns and political indifference towards the plight of Rohingya refugees in the country.

The West Is Returning To The Rohingya Issue In An Attempt To Divide & Rule This Part Of Asia

EESTi EEST!
By Andrew Korybko
aprill 5, 2024

Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia condemned the UK for calling an open session of the Security Council on Myanmar since “there are things that cannot be discussed in the ‘megaphone diplomacy’ mode” that the British insisted on. Thursday’s talks mostly focused on the situation in Rakhine State, which is where the Bangladeshi-originating Rohingya mostly resided prior to 2017’s conflict pushing most of them into that neighboring nation. Here are some background briefings:

Ulema urges Acehnese to uphold human values in dealing with Rohingyas

ANTARA
April 3, 2024

File - Rohingya refugees wait in a truck after attempts to relocate them were rejected by local residents in Ladong, Aceh Besar, Aceh, on December 11, 2023. (ANTARA FOTO/Irwansyah Putra/Spt) 

Meulaboh, Aceh (ANTARA) - A respected ulema has appealed to the people of Aceh to remain wise and uphold human values in responding to Rohingya refugees' presence in the province.

‘I can’t speak but my photos do’: how a mute Rohingya boy talks to the world

the Guardian
Kaamil Ahmed
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
Wed 3 Apr 2024 

In 2017, a crying Asom Khan became the face of Myanmar’s refugees. Now 15, he has discovered his own passion for photography

With no chance to learn formal sign language, Asom Khan, who is deaf and mute, uses his own version to communicate with friends and family in Bangladesh. Photograph: Kaamil Ahmed

 

His own sign language of sweeping, dramatised gestures is rarely fully understood by those outside Asom Khan’s closest friends and family but the 15-year-old is able to speak through his art and photography.

Tripura woman arrested for cross-border trafficking of Bangladeshis, Rohingya

The Indian EXPRESS
Written by Debraj Deb
Agartala (tripura) | April 2, 2024  

Government Railway Police officer in-charge at Agartala railway station Tapas Das said Parul Akhter of Matinagar is being interrogated to determine if others are involved in the trafficking operations.

A Tripura-based woman was arrested for allegedly assisting Bangladeshi citizens and Rohingya to cross the international border. (Representational Image)

A joint team of security forces on Tuesday arrested a woman allegedly involved in cross-border trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya, from Matinagar in Sepahijala district along the Indo-Bangla international border.

The Geopolitical Stakes of the Rohingya Crisis

INTERNATIONAL POLICY DIGEST
Rasel Hossen Shakib
04.01.2024 

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in 2017.

 

To resolve the impasse over repatriating Rohingya Muslims, all relevant stakeholders must engage in dialogue.

The Rohingya issue has surged to the forefront of international concern, casting a long shadow over the prospects for political stability, social tranquility, and environmental viability in Southeast Asia. The quagmire, originating from Myanmar, extends its geopolitical tendrils, ensnaring not only its immediate neighbor, Bangladesh but also posing a broader threat to the Southeast Asian region.

Myanmar Asylum Seeker Crisis Needs a Humane and Regional Solution

THE I DIPLOMATS
By Perry Q. Wood
April 01, 2024

 A more coordinated response would open more formal channels for asylum seekers to seek refuge in other countries.

In this image from a video, Rohingya refugees walk at the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Feb. 2, 2021.

Credit: AP Photo/Shafiqur Rahman, File

More deaths at sea, another capsized boat and more tragedy. This time it is Rohingya fleeing either persecution in Myanmar or unlivable conditions in makeshift camps outside the country. Seventy deaths and counting from the latest incident alone.

Funding Crisis Threatens Fate Of Millions Of Rohingyas In Bangladesh: What Could Be An Alternative? – OpEd

eurasiareview
By Maruf Hasan Rumi
April 1, 2024

Rohingya children look at food offered at a shop in the Leda refugee camp in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo Credit: Abdur Rahman/BenarNews

History has unequivocally documented a long period of dominance, subjugation, exploitation, and social strife between the Buddhist and the Rohinyga community in Myanmar. As of September 2023, Bangladesh and UNHCR have registered 965,467 Rohingya refugees, half of whom are girls and women. 

Myanmar: The junta’s forced conscription of Rohingyas

the interpreter
Md. Himel Rahman
Published 2 Apr 2024 

The implications of this cynical act for people already oppressed could reverberate for neighbouring Bangladesh and across the region. 

 

Six years ago, a calculated “cleansing operation” conducted by the Myanmar Armed Forces and aided by local militias resulted in the expulsion of more than 750,000 Rohingyas from the northern Rakhine State in Myanmar. Now, the same Myanmar Armed Forces are forcibly conscripting the Rohingyas in order to fight against the Rakhine insurgents. This cynical exploitation carries implications for all involved – including neighbouring Bangladesh, host to most Rohingya refugees.

No justice, and nowhere to go for the victims of Myanmar’s forgotten genocide

Michael West Media
Indipendent Journalists
by Farah Abdurahman | Apr 1, 2024 

Rohyngya refugee camp. Image: Wikipedia

 The holocaust in Gaza has eclipsed the long-standing genocide of the Rohingya people of Myanmar, 569 of whom died at sea last year alone. Farah Abdurahman reports on the humanitarian disaster and the response of the Australian government.

More than seven years on from the genocide committed against the Rohingya by Myanmar’s military, the group is no closer to peace or freedom.

Shrinking aid for Rohingyas is a serious concern

daily observer
S A Korobi
Published : Monday, 1 April, 2024 

Since 2017, the United Nations has been seeking humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya under the name of Joint Response Plan (JRP).The Rohingyas, who had taken refuge in Bangladesh to save their lives from a genocidal attempt by the Myanmar military, are still living in congested camps and restricted livelihoodswith no hope of change any soon. To add salt to the wound, the funding for them, the worlds most persecuted community, has been declining as every year passes.

Rohingya NGO urges UN to ensure peace for the Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine

mizzima
March 30, 2024

The Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia (MERHROM) issued a statement 29 March urging the UN Security Council (UNSC), the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), world leaders, and the international community to intervene immediately in order to restore peace and save the Rohingya, especially in Rakhine State.