Japan, UNHCR sign $10m deal to help Rohingya

THE NATION

Anadolu

March 02, 2021

Japan and the UN Refugee Agency signed an agreement over the weekend to provide around $10 million for improving access to clean water at camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, where more than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees have been taking shelter following a military crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.

The funds will be used to support the improvement of water supply and distribution systems for Bangladeshi host communities and Rohingya refugees in the Teknaf upazila, or administrative region, of Cox’s Bazar, the Japanese embassy in Dhaka and UNHCR said in a joint statement.

Japan Faces Dilemma On Decision To Get Involved With The Coup In Myanmar

NPR
February 25, 2021

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The Biden administration wants to put democracy at the core of its foreign policy. The coup in Myanmar a few weeks ago is an early test, and the administration has slapped sanctions on the coup leaders. Washington also wants other countries to follow its lead. Japan has some real influence in Myanmar, and NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports, this puts Japan in a tough spot.

Probe into Japan beer firm's links to Myanmar rights abuses 'inconclusive'

 MYANMAR TIMES

AFP
11 JAN 2021

A customer picks up a can of Kirin beer at a liquor shop Tokyo, 19 January 19, 2009. Photo: EPA-EFE

 

Japanese beer giant Kirin said Thursday an investigation into whether money from its joint ventures with the Myanmar military had funded rights abuses was "inconclusive".

Myanmar stands accused of genocide at the UN's top court after a brutal 2017 crackdown by the military forced 750,000 northern Rakhine Muslims to flee to refugee camps in Bangladesh.

 

After mounting pressure from rights groups and UN investigators, Kirin Holdings last year asked consultancy group Deloitte to determine how the money from its business tie-ups with Myanmar military-owned breweries had been used.

"Unfortunately, the assessment was inconclusive as a result of Deloitte being unable to access sufficient information required to make a definitive determination," Kirin said.

It is "wholly unacceptable" for any proceeds from the joint ventures to be used for military purposes, its statement added.

Want repatriation of Rohingyas to begin this year, Bangladesh Foreign Minister writes to Myanmar

INDIA TODAY
Sahidul Hasan Khokon
Dhaka
January 4, 2021

While stating that he has written to his counterpart in Myanmar in this regard, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh wants to initiate the repatriation of Rohingyas this year.

File photo of Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen (Picture Courtesy: Twitter @AKAbdulMomen) 

Bangladesh has written to Myanmar over the issue of repatriation of Rohingya Muslims. The announcement by Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen comes days after the UNGA passed a resolution in this regard.

While addressing a press briefing on Sunday, AK Abdul Momen said he wrote a letter to his counterpart in Myanmar on the occasion of the New Year. "In the New Year, a letter has been sent to the State Council office in Myanmar," Momen said.

Japan wants start of Rohingya repatriation process next year: envoy

The Daily Star

UNB, Dhaka
December 24, 2020 

 

Photo courtesy: UNB

 

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki today said they want to see the start of Rohingya repatriation process next year.

"We would like to see the start of repatriation process next year. Japan will continue to help," he told diplomatic correspondents at DCAB Talk at Jatiya Press Club.

Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) hosted the DCAB Talk with its President Angur Nahar Monty in the chair. DCAB General Secretary Touhidur Rahman also spoke.

The Japanese Ambassador said they are communicating directly with top military officials and at the government level on the Rohingya crisis.

Japan’s Kirin Suspends Payments to Myanmar Military Firm

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Sebastian Strangio

November 12, 2020

The Japanese beverages firm Kirin has suspended dividend payments to a tentacular Myanmar business conglomerate linked to the country’s military, the company announced this week. In a statement on November 11, Kirin Holdings Company, announced that it had suspended all dividend payments from two Myanmar beer ventures to Kirin and the Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL).

Rohingya crisis: Bangladesh seeks Greece, Japan’s support

Dhaka Tribune

UNB  

October 25th, 2020

Bangladesh Ambassador to Greece Ashud Ahmed with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou at a ceremony at the Greek Presidency in Athens UNB

Bangladesh also sought lucrative business investments in the country

Bangladesh has sought support from Japan and Greece for the early repatriation of Rohingyas continuously being persecuted in their homeland in western Rakhine province of Myanmar.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Greece Ashud Ahmed discussed the issue while presenting his credentials to President Katerina Sakellaropoulou at a ceremony at the Greek Presidency in Athens recently, said the embassy on Sunday.

Japan to provide $5m for Rohingyas, local farmers in Cox's Bazar

Dhaka Tribune  

Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan z
October 21st, 2020

Photo: REUTERS

The contribution will support 2,400 Bangladeshi local farmers in Cox’s Bazar district who will provide fresh, locally sourced vegetables at the market servicing 20,000 Rohingyas

The government of Japan will provide $5 million to support the Rohingyas sheltered in Cox’s Bazar and the local farmers.

Japan to provide $329mn to combat corona: Abe tells Hasina

UNB
UNB NEWS
August 05, 2020

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina & Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. File photo

Japan on Wednesday pledged to provide some USD 329 million (equivalent to 35 billion yen) to Bangladesh as grant for combating coronavirus (COVID-19) in Bangladesh.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the announcement when he talked to his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina over phone in the afternoon, said PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.

Japan’s Kirin should stop supporting Myanmar military

ASIA TIMES

Opinion

by Teppei Kasai   

July 6, 2020 

Rohingya refugees flee into Bangladesh after a military crackdown sparked a mass exodus of the Muslim minority. File Photo: AFP / Fred Dufour

 

Take a walk, watch television, or use the subway. Do any of these activities in Japan and you will likely come across a Kirin advertisement. Since its inception in 1885 as Japan Brewery, Kirin has grown into a household name in Japan, and arguably one of the world’s best-known Japanese brands.

The beverage giant offers everything from soft drinks to plum wine to yogurt. But its beer is the company’s trademark product, available in more than 40 countries. Its distinctive label depicts the legendary kirin, a magical creature “believed to be a harbinger of good luck.”

Japan to extend another $17M for Rohingya in Bangladesh

AA
SM Najmus Sakib
DHAKA, Bangladesh
26.02.2020

Additional funding will be used in management of Rohingya refugee camps and community empowerment for host communities

Japan has decided to extend approximately $17 million as additional support to Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya minority taking refuge in southeast Bangladesh.

The additional funds will also be used for the betterment of host communities in the town of Cox’s Bazar, the Japanese embassy in Dhaka said Tuesday.

The support includes site management of refugee camps; community empowerment; shelter upgrade; child protection; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities; medical services and training; environmental rehabilitation; life skills and livelihood improvement and nutritional improvement, the statement said.

喜讯！孟加拉国允许罗兴亚难民接受正规教育

new.qq.com
|来源：艾资哈尔灯塔1

2020/02/09

近日，孟加拉国政府发表声明称，自今年4月起，孟加拉境内一万多名罗兴亚穆斯林适龄儿童可以在孟加拉国接受正规中学教育，国际组织对此表示热烈欢迎。

　　此前，由于罗兴亚难民问题没有受到足够重视，缅甸拒绝接受罗兴亚人，逃往邻国孟加拉避难的罗兴亚人虽然被允许居住在特定难民营，但适龄儿童无权享受孟加拉国的义务教育政策。

Japan backs Myanmar over genocide charges

Voltaire Network
15 January 2020

The western camp finds itself divided over the Myanmar controversy. After India, Japan also maintains that there has been no genocide of the Rohingya people, but rather a counter-terrorist crackdown on the "Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army," also known by its former name Harakah al-Yaqin, or "Faith Movement."

Japan and Myanmar’s Toxic Friendship

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Yuzuki Nagakoshi 
January 15, 2020

Japan’s appeasement policy toward Myanmar, driven by geopolitics and disregard for human rights, is supporting the Rohingya genocide.

Myanmar offered the starving Japanese people affordable rice in the early 1950s, when Japan was struggling to recover from World War II. Japan is paying the people back by supporting Myanmar’s apartheid regime against the Rohingya.

The 2016-17 violence that bore the hallmarks of genocide was only a tip of the iceberg of the Myanmar government’s longstanding discriminatory policies. Marzuki Darusman, the head of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, stated in October 2019 that Myanmar is still failing to prevent, investigate, and effectively criminalize genocide. The threat of extreme violence recurring is real. Myanmar has perpetrated rounds of violence since the 1970s, and the international community failed to protect the Rohingya every time.

Press Conference: "Rohingya Crisis and Japan's Denial of Genocide""

FCCJ
The Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan

Wednesday, January 15, 2020, 13:00 - 14:00
Zaw Min Htut, Vice President, Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan
Michimi Muranushi, Citizen Ambassador, Free Rohingya Coalition

"Rohingya Crisis and Japan's Denial of Genocide"

Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English.

The ongoing Rohingya crisis in Myanmar that has seen more than 700,000 people from the ethnic minority of the Rakhaine region driven out of their homes and pushed beyond the country's border into Bangladesh, has been regarded by many, if not most, in the international community as a crime against humanity. There have been many cases of murder, rape and looting. The United Nations Human Rights Commission has repeatedly called on the government of Myanmar to bring the perpetrators to justice and a number of countries have imposed sanctions against its military leadership.

Rohingya Crisis: Japan for peaceful solution

The Daily Star
Friday, November 8, 2019
Diplomatic Correspondent

Japan stands by the Rohingyas for ensuring their early repatriation to Myanmar, said newly-appointed Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito.

“I would like to emphasize that Japan and its people would not hesitate to extend our hands to all those who are suffering from the situation, and stand with them with the view of realizing early repatriation to Myanmar in a safe, voluntary and dignified manner,” he said in a statement, following a visit to Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday.

Japan’s quiet embrace of Myanmar’s top rights abuser

ASIATIMES
By Teppei Kasai
October 23, 2019

Drowned out by the noise of the Rugby World Cup and overshadowed by the deadly devastation wrought by Typhoon Hagibis was a meeting between Japan’s leaders and an alleged war criminal, which went largely unreported by the media and unnoticed by the public.

Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing – whom a United Nations-backed fact-finding mission found should be “investigated and prosecuted” for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state – visited Tokyo this month at the invitation of Japan’s Defense Ministry. There he met with government ministers, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Suu Kyi: Myanmar constitution must change for 'complete democracy'

Nikkei Asian Review 
Interview

WATARU SUZUKI and YUICHI NITTA, 

Nikkei staff writers October 23, 2019 

De facto leader calls Rohingya crackdown a response to 'terrorist attack' 

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to the Nikkei Asian Review on Oct. 23 in Tokyo. (Photo by Wataru Ito) 

TOKYO -- Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said amending the constitution is needed for Myanmar to transition to a "complete democracy," but is unlikely to happen before next year's election.

In a 30-minute interview with the Nikkei Asian Review in Tokyo, where she was visiting to attend the enthronement of the Japanese emperor, Suu Kyi also said the crackdown against the Muslim minority group Rohingya was in response to a "terrorist attack."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Urges Swift Repatriation of Rohingya

Radio Free Asia
2019-10-21

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in Tokyo, Oct. 21, 2019.
Myanmar State Counselor's Office 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on Myanmar’s State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday to quickly facilitate the repatriation of over 700,000 Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to their former homes in Rakhine state, also urging the de facto national leader to guarantee safe conditions for their return.

Protesters Outside Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo Condemn ‘Silent Genocide’ in Rakhine

The Irrawaddy
By The Irrawaddy
22 October 2019

 Coinciding with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to the Japanese capital, dozens of Arakanese people stage a protest in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo on Monday. / Myat Thaw Khine 

YANGON—In a move timed to coincide with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Japan, dozens of Arakanese people staged a protest in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo on Monday afternoon condemning her government for arresting civilians and expanding the conflict in Rakhine State, a campaign they labeled a “silent genocide.”

The State Counselor arrived in Tokyo on Sunday night in order to attend the Japanese emperor’s enthronement ceremony on Tuesday. Upon her arrival, she was welcomed by a group of supporters who held a banner denouncing the planned embassy protest.