ASEAN’s Future Will Be Decided in Myanmar

FP

By Evan A. Laksmana,
JUNE 21, 2021,

The prospect of an open-ended mission to restore democracy in Myanmar is making the Southeast Asian bloc's leaders uneasy.

Protesters holding signs with the image of detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on Feb. 12. SAI AUNG MAIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Can the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) thrive amid worsening regional flash points, from the South China Sea to the crisis in Myanmar? Set up in 1967 to promote regional stability and economic growth, ASEAN has never coalesced into a powerful, integrated community like the European Union, nor does it seek to become one. But the bloc has nonetheless been useful: It has largely kept the peace in the region, mainly through slow-burning dialogues and confidence building among its members, which, in turn, has allowed Southeast Asian countries to focus on domestic stability and economic development.

‘What will happen to my child?’

The Daily Star

Shuprova Tasneem
June 20, 2021

And other questions that haunt refugees

File photo of a Rohingya child at Unchiparang refugee camp, Bangladesh. Photo: Reuters/Tyrone Siu

I first met six-year-old Amina in the Kutupalong refugee camp in 2019. I couldn't help noticing the forlorn image of life in the camps she depicted—a child alone in a corner, playing with a pair of matchboxes instead of a toy. Later, Amina's mother told me that she was hiding under the bed when the Myanmar military surrounded their household in Rakhine. She watched them kill her father and grandfather, and lay hidden while they gang-raped her mother. She hadn't said a word to anyone outside of her family since then.

Amina's mother also spoke of how lost she felt now that her parents and husband were dead. She lamented, "What will happen to my child?" During visits to the refugee camps, I have heard this refrain over and over again from Rohingya parents—"what will happen to my child?"

On the Rohingya genocide

THE NATON
Shakoh Zulqurnain
September 09, 2020

The persecution of Rohingyas in Myanmar is an issue which has attracted little attention at the international level. The low visibility of this issue reveals not only the double standards of the international community, but also brings into question the effectiveness of human rights laws. More than a million Rohingya refugees commemorated the third anniversary of the genocide on August 25 in crowded camps in Bangladesh. Rohingya Muslims are one of the most persecuted communities in the world and have been observing this day as the ‘Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day’ since it was the same day in 2017 that the Myanmar army began a vicious crackdown on Rohingya civilians—forcing thousands to seek refuge in neighbouring countries. However, the story of the Rohingyas’ persecution dates back to many decades.

Bangladesh seeks UN intervention to end Rohingya crisis

THE NATION

Anadolu
June 18, 2021

Bangladesh urged UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to help resolve the Rohingya crisis, saying deteriorating political situation in Myanmar is hampering the peaceful repatriation of refugees.

Bangladesh is currently hosting about 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in camps in the southeast coast of Cox’s Bazar. Uncertainty looms over their repatriation to Rakhine state following a military coup in Myanmar on Feb. 1.

U.N. General Assembly Demands Myanmar Junta End Coup and Stop the Killings

The New York Times
By Rick Gladstone
June 18, 2021

A resolution adopted Friday by the General Assembly is the most widespread condemnation yet of the Feb. 1 coup, a sharp diplomatic slap that contradicted the junta’s claim it has not been isolated.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday rebuking the Myanmar military and demanding an end to its five-month-old coup.CreditCredit...The New York Times

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday rebuking the Myanmar military and demanding an end to its five-month-old coup.

“A system built on brutality and bloodshed will not survive. It’s not too late for the military to reverse the negative trajectory on the ground, exercise restraint, and respect the will of its own people. We must raise our voices for those who have been silenced, detained, injured or killed. We must be ardent advocates for the protection of all fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, access to information and of peaceful assembly, which have been repeatedly infringed upon by the military-led authorities.” “Time is of the essence. The opportunity to reverse the military takeover is narrowing and regional threat increasing. Attempts to discredit democratically elected leaders and eliminate a party which has won sweeping majority in two consecutive general elections, silencing of free-made media and arrests of journalists, national and foreign, as well as the blocking of access to information fundamentally point a departure from democratic space. Any sustainable peace must be reflective of the will of the people. Any transition out of this crisis will present an opportunity to reshape Myanmar society free from ethnic divisions and a more inclusive constitutional and legal framework that places the military under civilian control.

UN: New resolution against violence in Myanmar must prompt global arms embargo

AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL

18 June 2021,

All countries must stop selling arms to Myanmar following the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly condemning the use of lethal force and violence in the country, Amnesty International said today.

The resolution, passed by an overwhelming vote of 119 to 1 with 36 abstentions, calls on member states to prevent the flow of arms into the country. It strongly condemns the worsening crackdown on peaceful protesters and civil society, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of arbitrary detainees and an end to restrictions on freedom of expression.

ED: How much longer will it take?

Dhaka Tribune
Tribune Editorial
June 18th, 2021

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

We must address the root causes of the crisis, and the root lies in Myanmar

While nuance and diplomacy are no doubt crucial in international politics, should they supersede the needs of a people who have escaped indescribable pain and suffering, and wish nothing more than to go back home?

Unfortunately, when it comes to the Rohingya, the international community has been slow to move: The journey from silence to hesitant support to full-fledged condemnation has taken many powerful nations years to conclude, and this has allowed Myanmar to play dumb, break promises, delay, and worst of all, deny the Rohingya not only the right to return to their homeland of Rakhine, but even justice, refusing to acknowledge the atrocities and hold those responsible to account.

LETTER | CIJ deeply concerned Star article will promote anti-Rohingya xenophobia

malaysiakini
Wathshlah G Naidu
16 Jun 2021,

LETTER | The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) refers to an article published in The Star on 16 June 2021 titled Residents voice out their thoughts on Rohingya living among them.

We are highly concerned that the article in question articulates xenophobic and racist rhetoric against Rohingya refugees, and perpetuates harmful stereotypes that could lead to hatred, discrimination, and violence against a marginalised and vulnerable community.

COURAGE AND TERROR IN MYANMAR

New Internationalist
16 June 2021 

Lives and livelihoods have been laid down for democracy. The economy is on the brink of collapse. The world must support the people’s quest to end military rule once and for all, writes Preeti Jha.

We shall not be moved! Anti-coup protesters remain seated in front of a line of riot police trying to clear roads in Yangon. Partially visible is a poster urging citizens to join the Civil Disobedience Movement. PANOS PICTURES

When the soldiers came knocking in the middle of the night, some ministers had already packed a bag. After days of hushed rumours, Myanmar awoke to a crushing new reality: its decade-long experiment in democracy, for all its flaws, was over.

The 1 February coup forced the nation of 54 million back under military rule. It marked the latest slide to autocracy in Asia, where democratic freedoms have been in retreat from Thailand and Cambodia to Hong Kong. In Myanmar, though, the generals had never even left the chamber.

Under a constitution they engineered for a ‘disciplined democracy’, the military was guaranteed a quarter of parliamentary seats – enough for veto powers. The army also controlled three key ministries, enshrining its grip over a country it had impoverished over half a century of authoritarian rule.

British lawyer Karim Khan takes office as new prosecutor at the International Criminal Court

Market Research Telecast

Published by: MRT
 June 16, 2021

British lawyer Karim Khan, 50, takes office on Wednesday as the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The witness is handed over to him by the Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda, who has served her nine-year term and has been the flag of the fight against sexual and gender-based crimes. A Khan awaits, among others, the investigation of alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan, and the same task in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Both cases have the rejection of the United States and Israel and he must be used to avoid political pressure. You will also need to seek the support of the international community so that the requests for help from the victims are not lost due to the lack of visibility and budget of the court itself.

The Rohingya: refugees forever?

Asia Media Centre

Robert Bociaga

16 JUNE 2021

The Rohingya people have long suffered persecution. They risked their lives to escape to Bangladesh and other countries by sea or on foot following the Myanmar military offensive of August 2017. The massacres in Rakhine State were labelled by the United Nations a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing". Back then, the world's attention was fixed on this little-known strip of land in southern Bangladesh near the town of Cox's Bazar. So what has changed for Rohingyas since the military coup in Myanmar, and has the world moved on to other issues? Robert Bociaga reports

UN put Rohingya ‘at risk’ by sharing data without consent, says rights group

the Guardian
Kate Hodal
@katehodal
Tue 15 Jun 2021

Refugees tell Human Rights Watch they fear forced repatriation and persecution after personal details passed on to Myanmar

People wait to be registered in a UN centre in Kutupalong camp. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer

The UN may have put hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees at risk of persecution or involuntary repatriation back to Myanmar after improperly collecting and sharing refugees’ personal information with Bangladesh, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which is urging an investigation.

Over the past three years, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has registered more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladeshi camps in order to provide them with identity cards needed to access essential aid and services.

Why we should be kinder to Rohingya refugees — Liew Chin Tong

malay mail
Monday, 14 Jun 2021

JUNE 14 — I read with distress and alarm the heightened publicity attacks against the Rohingya and other migrants by Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin and Immigration Director-General Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud.

Distress because the Rohingya as a group have been subjected to persecution and suffered genocide at the hands of the Myanmar military, and alarm because of the vitriol against a defenceless people.

In August 2017, more than 742,000 Rohingya fled Bangladesh seeking refuge from the Myanmarese regime’s pogrom. Many perished along the way. The refugees who made it to Bangladesh have been sheltered mainly in the camps in Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf. With this massive influx of refugees adding to an older generation of Rohingya who had fled Myanmar into Bangladesh decades earlier, the numbers soon mushroomed to more than a million Rohingya refugees, squeezed into a crowded and underdeveloped border region of Bangladesh.

World renews call for Spring Revolution, #Black4Rohingya solidarity

COCONUTS YANGON
By Nay Paing
Jun 14, 2021

Over the weekend, protestors around the world rallied in 48 cities across 25 countries including Myanmar demanding the international community take concrete action against the military junta. Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement also demonstrated their solidarity with the Rohingya with the viral #BlackforRohingya digital campaign.

In Myanmar, Health Care’s Collapse Takes Its Own Toll

The New York Times

Richard C. Paddock
June 12, 2021

Two days after Myanmar’s military seized power in February, doctors at North Okkalapa General Hospital in Yangon wore red ribbons to signal their opposition to the coup.Credit...The New York Times

Since the February coup, many physicians have refused to work at state-run hospitals. “I will never blame the doctors,” said a patient whose treatment stopped.

U Hla Min, a rice farmer in central Myanmar, was getting regular radiation therapy for cancer when the military seized power on Feb. 1. Initially expected to survive, he lasted less than three months.

His treatment ended when doctors at Mandalay General Hospital walked off the job to protest the coup. Soldiers soon occupied the hospital and others across Myanmar, using them as bases for their bloody crackdown on resistance to their rule. Many medical workers and would-be patients, fearing arrest or worse, stayed away.

Coal-fired power plant in Myanmar backed by China that villagers feel powerless to oppose

SCMP
Robert Bociaga
13 Jun, 2021

Almost two decades ago, in a small hillside town in southern Shan State, Myanmar’s largest coal-run power plant was built. Tigyit has been forever changed by this joint venture between the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation and a group of Myanmar businessmen affiliated with the country’s ruling generals who were responsible for the coup d’état on February 1, which ended the nation’s all-too-brief flirtation with democracy.

About 60 hectares of land were confis­cated to build the Tigyit plant, yet local communities surrounding the site, such as the Pa’O and Taungyo people, say they have seen no compen­sation for the land appro­priated for the power station or for the adjacent forests that have been razed to make space for mining the coal that fuels the plant.

‘A catastrophe’: UN warns of intensifying violence in Myanmar

Aljazeera
11 Jun 2021

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet says military government is ‘singularly responsible’ for violence and ‘must be held to account’.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that multiple reports indicate that armed conflict is continuing, including in Kayah State, Chin State and Kachin State [File: Denis Balibouse/Reuters]

The United Nations human rights chief has warned that violence is intensifying across Myanmar, slamming the country’s military government for being “singularly responsible” for a “human rights catastrophe”.

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: The Views of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

JUST SECURITY

Jessica Olney and Shabbir Ahmad
June 10, 2021

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series on the Feb. 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar. The series brings together expert local and international voices on the coup and its broader context. The series is a collaboration between Just Security and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School.

This installment reflects conversations with Rohingya residents of refugee camps in Bangladesh about the coup in Myanmar. Camp residents’ views were collected by Shabbir Ahmad and other members of a team of Rohingya researchers during a recent community feedback collection project. The opinions expressed here are the views of the authors and camp residents, not those of any institution with which the authors are affiliated.

Bangladesh island gets UNHCR nod for Rohingya

ARAB NEWS

SHEHAB SUMON

04 June 2021

Bangladeshi authorities have shifted 18,000 out of a planned 100,000 people to the island to take pressure off Cox’s Bazar. (Reuters/File

• The UNHCR had voiced concerns as to whether it was safe as the island is vulnerable to severe weather and flooding

DHAKA: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has recognized Bhasan Char as a potential location for the Rohingya seeking shelter in Bangladesh despite recent protests by some of the refugees living in the remote, cyclone-prone island.

Since December, Bangladeshi authorities have shifted 18,000 out of a planned 100,000 people to the island to take pressure off Cox’s Bazar, a city in Bangladesh that already hosts more than 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims, members of an ethnic and religious minority group who fled persecution in neighboring Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017.

Are formal interactions with China helping legitimise Myanmar’s junta in the eyes of the world?

SCMP

Pei-Hua Yu
10 Jun, 2021

• A recent Chinese embassy statement referring to coup architect Min Aung Hlaing as the ‘leader of Myanmar’ is among the exchanges decried by the shadow National Unity Government
• But analysts say while there are concerns over Beijing’s actions, they should not be over-interpreted – and Asean’s next moves could play a significant role in how the regime is perceived

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) bumps elbows with junta representative Wunna Maung Lwin at a June 8 meeting marking the 30th anniversary of formal relations between China and Asean. Photo: Xinhua

Recent formal interactions between Myanmar’s junta and officials from China have raised questions about whether the generals who staged February’s coup are garnering international recognition as the Southeast Asian nation’s legitimate executive authority.