Myanmar jade industry becoming 'slush fund' for junta

THE STRAITS TIMES

Maria Siow
Published:  29 Jun, 2021

Myanmar is one of the world's biggest sources of jadeite and the industry is largely driven by insatiable demand for jade from neighbouring China.PHOTO: REUTERS

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's multibillion-dollar jade mines risk becoming a "slush fund" for military repression, international watchdog Global Witness said on Tuesday (June 29), urging consumers to boycott buying any jade and gemstones from the coup-racked nation.

The country has been in turmoil since the military toppled the government of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with more than 880 people killed in a junta crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.

ICC Partners with Free Burma Rangers to Provide Aid and Hope to 1,500 IDPs

PERSECUTION

International Christian Concern
6/28/2021

Myanmar (International Christian Concern) – Since the February 1 military coup that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected civilian government, infighting between the Burmese military and pro-democracy groups has reached a boiling point. The fighting has forced many Burmese people to flee their villages out of fear for their lives, leading to a significant spike in the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country.

Civilian Militias Flourish as Myanmar’s Post-Coup Turmoil Deepens

THE I DIPLOMAT

Sebastian Strangio
June 28, 2021

Recent months have seen the emergence of a raft of new armed civilian militias, further complicating the country’s political crisis.

Myanmar’s political crisis is entering a new and more complex phase as a raft of new armed militias arise to resist the country’s military junta, according to the latest report from the International Crisis Group (ICG). Since the military’s seizure of power on February 1, the junta’s crackdown on protesters and the broader civilian population has prompted violent resistance, including the formation of civilian militias in several corners of the country.

“The swift emergence of militias, and their capacity to evolve from loosely coordinated groups of local people into more structured, better armed, and sustainably funded forces, likely marks a new phase of Myanmar’s decades-old civil war,” states the ICG report, which was released yesterday.

Urban-Rohingayas: The nexus that needs to be exposed

NEWSROOM POST

Written by Niyati Sharma

June 28, 2021

Urban-Rohingayas are not only anarchist but are intellectual militants of leaning of Marxist-Maoist-Leninist Ideology. They spread terrorist ideas to create anarchy.

Rohingayas is an eco-system where one stream is engaged in the militant-way using terrorist means to overthrow the government and establish their own government. The other stream is their intellectual counterparts, known as the Urban-Rohingayas who give intellectual, moral and ideological support to their movement.

Myanmar Junta Chief Extols Russia Ties, Says US Relations ‘Not Intimate’

The Irrawaddy

26 June 2021

A TV screengrab of Myanmar coup leader Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing (right) after receiving the title of “honorary professor” from the Defense Ministry of Russia on Wednesday.

Myanmar coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing lauded Russia as Myanmar’s “friend forever” while stating that the US is “not very intimate” compared with neighboring China and India due to its “far distance”, in an interview with Russian media during his visit to Moscow.

“The USA is also Myanmar’s friend but it is in some far distance. But, our neighboring China and India are our close friends,” he told Fedor Lukyanov, anchorperson of the “International Review” program on Russia 24, on Tuesday, adding that “we have to take relations with the neighboring countries seriously.”

Myanmar’s Democratic Vision Depends on Including Rohingya, Other Ethnic Minorities “We will never be free until all of us are free.”

THE I DIPLOMAT

Wai Wai Nu
June 25, 2021

“We will never be free until all of us are free.”

Since the February 1 coup in Myanmar, the military has unfurled a brutal nationwide crackdown targeting protesters and civilians who oppose their unlawful rule. Indeed, last week’s stinging rebuke of the military coup by the United Nations General Assembly — only the fourth such resolution since the end of the Cold War — offers a stark reminder of what’s at stake.

Challenging Rakhine, military narratives

NEWAGE

Habib Siddiqui
Jun 26,2021

Warpait village, Rakhine, October 14, 2016… The Myanmar military’s campaign against the Rohingyas left hundreds of villages a smouldering pile of debris. — The Conversation/Ye Aung

OPPRESSION, marginalisation, violence and propaganda — none of it is new. What is new however is the mere scale, frequency and omnipresence of disinformation, especially when it is propagated by a powerful group that runs at the state level with the goal to eliminate a small minority that is different from the dominant group’s identity by race, ethnicity, language, religion, customs and culture. Nowhere in our time is this issue perhaps more acute than in Myanmar where the Rohingyas are victims of a carefully crafted genocidal programme that has become a national project there, enjoying full support from top to bottom of every rung and corner of the Buddhist society — from a military man in uniform to a monk in a saffron robe, from a peasant in the paddy field to a politician wearing a longyi.

Amid This ‘Great Depression’, Myanmar’s People Will Never Give Up

The Irrawaddy

NAING KHIT 

26 June 2021

Anti-coup graffiti in downtown Yangon in February. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmar has entered a Great Depression. It must be spelled with a capital G and D, reflecting the real mood of the people of this country.

This Great Depression began with the coup staged by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 1, which in turn triggered political, social and economic upheavals that continue to this day. This Myanmar version of the Great Depression differs from the severe worldwide economic depression of the 1930s, though.

Australian Parliamentary Committee Urges Harder Line on Myanmar Junta

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Sebastian Strangio

June 25, 2021

The cross-party committee called for the government to consider harsher sanctions, and a pathway to residency for Myanmar citizens in Australia.

Australian lawmakers have pressed their government to step up its pressure against Myanmar’s military government, by considering the imposition of fresh sanctions on leading commanders and military enterprises.

The report by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade, which includes members of Australia’s two major parties, also called on the government to explore how it could offer permanent residency to Myanmar citizens living in Australia who fear returning home.

Facebook Tried to Ban Myanmar’s Military. But Its Own Algorithm Kept Promoting Pages Supporting Them, Report Says

TIMES

BY BILLY PERRIGO
JUNE 24, 2021 

YANGON, MYANMAR - 2021/03/06: Myanmar military with military trucks seen during a demonstration against the military coup. Myanmar police attacked protesters with rubber bullets, live ammunition, tear gas and stun bombs in response to anti military coup protesters on Saturday. Myanmar's military detained State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi on February 01, 2021 and declared a state of emergency while seizing the power in the country for a year after losing the election against the National League for Democracy (NLD). (Photo by Santosh Krl/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett—© 2021 SOPA Images

Facebook promoted pages that shared pro-military propaganda in Myanmar, even after it banned accounts linked to the military from the platform due to human rights abuses and the risk of violence, according to a report by the human rights group Global Witness.

Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, overthrew the country’s civilian government in February, claiming that elections in November 2020 had been rigged. Later that month, Facebook said it had decided to ban the Tatmadaw from its platform, citing the military’s history of human rights abuses, record of spreading misinformation and the increased risk of violence after the coup.

Confident in Its Impunity, the Myanmar Junta Ignores Diplomacy

The New York Times
By Richard C. Paddock and Rick Gladstone
June 24, 2021

The generals who seized power five months ago have shown no inclination to heed international pleas to reverse themselves, even as Myanmar slides into a failed state.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the commander of Myanmar’s military, during a parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw, the capital, in March.Credit...EPA, via Shutterstock

Western powers have imposed sanctions. Neighboring countries have implored the military to restore democracy. More than 200 human rights groups have called for an arms embargo. And last week, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a blunt rebuke aimed at isolating the generals.

The diplomatic pressure has done little to change the situation in Myanmar.

Could Japan draw Myanmar's military junta chief to a UN peace initiative?

THE HILL

BY CHARLES CRABTREE,
OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
06/24/21

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL

© Getty Images

What should the Japanese government do about Myanmar? Since the military junta under commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing ousted democratically-elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, violence has erupted across the Southeast Asian nation. The new Tatmadaw regime has killed over 800 people, reportedly arrested more than 80 journalists, and detained thousands more politicians, pro-democracy protesters and human rights defenders without due process. In response to this and other abuses, mass protests have erupted across the country, often inciting further violence by state security forces.

Rohingya Refugees Protest Over Inadequate Conditions

OWP

The Organisation for World Peace
Madison Smith
June 24, 2021

An estimated 4,000 Rohingya refugees on the remote island of Bhasan Char, off the coast of Bangladesh, have protested their inadequate living conditions and desires to leave the camp during a recent United Nations visit. Protestors were upset at the lack of access to the visiting UN members, and reportedly could not speak to them without the presence of Bangladesh authorities. Local police have reported cases of unruly protestors throwing rocks and breaking glass, damaging warehouses and other properties. In turn, they resorted to using batons to disperse protestors, causing harm to even women and children. The United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) has expressed concern over injuries inflicted on these refugees, as well as dismay over inadequate conditions on the low-lying island, which is susceptible to rising sea levels.

Armed rebels have declared war on the Myanmar junta, and the country is gearing up for all-out urban warfare

INSIDER

Cheryl Teh
Jun 23, 2021,

A man holds a torch as he stands behind a barricade during a protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar March 28, 2021. Stringer/Reuters

• A Myanmar militia declared war on the military junta, pushing the country closer to war.
• Firefights between junta soldiers and the People's Defense Force broke out on the streets of Mandalay.
• This is the first time gunfights between rebels and troops broke out in Myanmar's cities since the February 1 coup.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A formal declaration of war has been made on Myanmar's military junta by an armed militia group.

Adani Ports to abandon Myanmar project if US classifies it as 'sanctioned country'

Business Today

BusinessToday.In
June 23, 2021

Adani Ports, which is India's largest port operator, has been facing criticism from various international investors over its plan to construct a container terminal in Yangon, Myanmar, on land leased from a Myanmar military-owned conglomerate.

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited has said it'll abandon its project in Myanmar and write-down its investments in full if the country is classified as a sanctioned country by the US. Adani Ports' statement comes following reports that Norwegian pension fund KLP is divesting its stake in the company as its links with Myanmar military breaches the fund's responsible investment policy.

With Aung San Suu Kyi facing prison, Myanmar’s opposition is leaderless, desperate and ready to fight

THE CONVERSATION
Adam Simpson,Senior Lecturer, University of South Australia
Nicholas Farrelly,Professor and Head of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania
Laura Hood,Politics Editor, Assistant Edito

June 23, 2021

Soldiers from the People’s Defence Force taking part in training at an undisclosed location in Myanmar. National Unity Government handout/EPA

As Aung San Suu Kyi finally faced court last week to defend herself against a litany of politically motivated charges, Myanmar is continuing its downward spiral into state failure.

Suu Kyi was arrested following the February 1 coup by the military and charged with alleged corruption, inciting public unrest and other offences. If she is found guilty, which is a near certainty, she may well be imprisoned for the rest of her life.

The popularity of Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party have been consistently underestimated by a range of domestic and international analysts, and even by the Myanmar military itself. But her role will now change as her case takes a stop-start journey through the tightly held and persistently manipulated judicial process.

Resistance Fighters Battle Myanmar’s Military in Mandalay

New York Times

Hannah Beech
June 22, 2021

A shootout in Myanmar’s second-biggest city was the first time the military and a group of armed civilians known as the People’s Defense Force clashed in a major urban area.

The military government of Myanmar released this photograph on Tuesday, saying it showed soldiers and police officers making arrests at a house raid in Mandalay.Credit...Commander in Chief Office

The gunfire in the city of Mandalay began shortly after 7 a.m. on Tuesday, as Buddhist monks paced the streets for alms and residents lined up for breakfasts of milk tea or noodle soup.

Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar, has been a center of anti-military resistance since the junta staged a coup on Feb. 1. Dozens have been shot dead by security forces there. But the boom of heavy artillery so early in the morning was unusual.

Myanmar: Challenging Rakhine And Military Narratives About Rohingyas – Analysis

eurasiareview

Dr. Habib Siddiqui
June 21, 2021

Displaced Rohingya people in Rakhine State, Burma. Photo Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Wikipedia Commons.

Oppression, marginalization, violence, propaganda – none of it is new. What is new, however, is the mere scale, frequency and omnipresence of disinformation, especially when it is propagated by a powerful group that runs at the state level with the goal to eliminate a small minority that is different than the dominant group’s identity by race, ethnicity, language, religion, customs and culture. Nowhere in our time is this issue perhaps more acute than in Myanmar where the Rohingyas are victims of a carefully crafted genocidal program that has become a national project there, enjoying full support from top to bottom of every rung and corner of the Buddhist society – from a military man in uniform to a monk in a saffron robe, from a peasant in the paddy field to a politician wearing a longyi.

Why did India abstain from voting on the Myanmar resolution at the UN General Assembly?

Scroll.in

Angshuman Choudhury
Yesterday 

The resolution calls on the country’s military to end the state of emergency and to reopen the ‘democratically elected parliament’, among other things.

A demonstration against the military coup in Dooplaya district in Myanmar's Karen state. | Handout / KNU Dooplaya District / AFP

On June 18, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution on the “situation in Myanmar” with a vote of 119-1. Although not legally binding on member states, the document carries significant political heft.

‘Track Two Diplomacy’ needed for sustainable solution of Rohingya crisis

Financial Express
June 20, 2021

Social cohesion, environmental recovery need to be ensured until repatriation

The ultimate solution to the Rohingya crisis is the sustainable solution, and to ensure that, track two diplomacy is needed for putting pressure on the Myanmar government.

Speakers during a webinar on Sunday organised by Cox’s Bazar CSO NGO Forum (CCNF) said this.

They also urged all stakeholders to ensure the human dignity of the Rohingya community, and social cohesion until the repatriation, says a statement.