OPINION - Myanmar's colonial policies and crimes trigger renewed liberation struggles

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Maung Zarni 

LONDON 

09.10.2020 

Lack of action from UN and world community encourages Myanmar to commit atrocities against ethnic communities

Maung Zarni, Burmese coordinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition and a fellow at the Genocide Documentation Center in Cambodia

The writer is a Burmese coordinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition and a fellow at the Genocide Documentation Center in Cambodia.

Almost three decades ago the UN had established the mandate of Special Rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in Myanmar, under the Commission on Human Rights Resolution number 58 of 1992.

But the UN-mandated human rights missions have not deterred Myanmar’s successive governments from perpetrating human rights crimes against dissidents, government critics, and national minorities.

“An Open Prison without End” Myanmar’s Mass Detention of Rohingya in Rakhine State

Human rights group urges Myanmar to end arbitrary and indefinite detention of 130,000 Rohingya Muslims

TODAY NEWS AFRIC

By Press Release

08.10.2020

Aung San Suu Kyi

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The Myanmar government should urgently end the arbitrary and indefinite detention of approximately 130,000 Rohingya Muslims in squalid and abusive camps in Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Thursday.

Rohingya living in ‘open prison’ in Myanmar: Human Rights Watch

Aljazeera

8 Oct 2020

Report says about 130,000 Rohingya live under ‘squalid and abusive’ conditions and calls for an end to their ‘arbitrary detention’. 

Rohingya refugees gather near the fence at the 'no man's land' zone in Maungdaw district in Myanmar's Rakhine State in 2018 [File: Nyein Chan Naing/EPA]

 

Approximately 130,000 Rohingya Muslims who remain in refugee camps in Myanmar’s conflict-torn Rakhine state live under “squalid and abusive” conditions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday urging that their “arbitrary and indefinite” detention be ended immediately.

Rohingya Trapped by 'Apartheid' Regime in Myanmar, Says Human Rights Watch

VICE

by Anthony Esguerra

08 October 2020

 

More than 130,000 Rohingya Muslims have been in internment camps for eight years in Rakhine State. 

Rohingya people who were arrested at sea in December walk on a beach after being transported by Myanmar authorities to Rakhine state on Jan. 13, 2020. 173 Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar were arrested at sea in December by Myanmar's navy and were escorted back to Rakhine state on Jan. 13, authorities said. PHOTO: STR / AFP

A major human rights group said Myanmar is carrying out a policy of apartheid against Rohingya Muslims languishing for eight years in internal displacement camps, accusing civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of complicity in their persecution weeks before national elections.

Rohingya issue to figure in talks as Indian foreign secretary, army chief set to visit Myanmar

The Daily Star

Star Online Report
October 03, 2020

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla (left) and Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane (right). Photos taken from The Statesman

Repatriation of Rohingya refugees and the threat posed by Pakistan-based terror groups that are allegedly trying to infiltrate Rohingya in camps in Bangladesh are likely to be among the issues Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane and the country's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will discuss during their one-day visit to Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital, on Monday.

Naravane and Shringla are expected to discuss the issue of repatriation and rehabilitation of Rohingyas as India is already in discussion to facilitate the return of the refugees back to Myanmar, diplomatic sources said in New Delhi.

Foreign Secretary & Army Chiefs Myanmar visit to boost local leaderships vision ahead of polls

THE ECONOMIC TIMES
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
Oct 03, 2020

NEW DELHI: Army Chief MM Naravane and Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary will visit Myanmar as part of efforts to expand wide ranging partnership. The timing of the visit is significant coming ahead of national elections in Myanmar and would help to boost leadership’s goals for the country’s future welfare. 

Security cooperation is getting stronger in recent years in the fight to end insurgency in India's northeast. In a big win for India’s back-door diplomacy, 22 Indian insurgents were handed over for the first time by Myanmar in May, bringing Naypyidaw in sync with New Delhi on dealing with insurgents, sources told ET.

Activists Denounce Myanmar Election App For ‘Inflaming’ Ethnic Tensions

THE I DIPLOMAT
By Sebastian Strangio
October 01, 2020

By accepting Myanmar’s rigid official racial and religious categorizations, the EU-funded app runs the risk of entrenching sectarian divides.

A donor-funded election app designed to provide information to Myanmar voters has come under fire for its potential to inflame racism and religious nationalism ahead of elections on November 8.

The mVoter 2020 app, which was launched on September 29, was developed by the Stockholm-based organization International Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), under the EU-funded STEP Democracy program. The app was built in partnership with The Asia Foundation and Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC).

Myanmar Desertions Offer an Opening for Rohingya Justice

THE I DIPLOMAT
By Shannon Maree Torrens
September 30, 2020

The recent confessions of the two Myanmar army defectors bring justice one step closer to fruition.

The long-term persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, which dates back to the 1970s, has become particularly grave in recent years, as increasing crackdowns have coincided with mounting challenges to the pursuit of justice. However, a new opportunity for justice for the Rohingya has recently opened, in the form of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

MYANMAR: ROHINGYA DROWNING IN BLAME FOR SECOND WAVE OF COVID-19

ASIA MEDIA

September 26, 2020

SARA ALTUWAIJRI WRITES — Myanmar is facing a second wave of COVID-19, new cases are skyrocketing and, with general elections coming November 8, officials are accusing Rohingya of spreading the second wave of COVID. Why the blame? So that those aiming for election or re-election can gain people’s support. As elections get closer, politicians are spreading hate against the Rohingya. As stated by Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin, “Politicians in Myanmar are always trying to take advantage of the situation we are in. Although there were no Rohingya victims in the second COVID-19 wave, some politicians began propagating against us.” She adds that despite the fact that the first two new cases of coronavirus involved Rakhine Buddhists, Muslim Rohingya are blamed for the second wave and accused of bringing the virus from Bangladesh.

Commodifying prisoners of war in Myanmar

ASIA TIMES
by David Scott Mathieson
September 25, 2020

New York Times and Fortify Rights may have endangered Rohingya justice initiatives by trumpeting captured Myanmar soldiers' testimony 

Arakan Army soldiers on the march at an undisclosed location in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Image: Facebook 

BANGKOK – As long-anticipated international accountability measures for Myanmar gather pace, recent developments which at first seem to promise evidence for justice, on closer examination could potentially disrupt such investigations.

On September 8, the American nongovernmental organization Fortify Rights released a statement, in conjunction with the New York Times, of testimony by two Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, soldiers who claim to have perpetrated under military orders the murder of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state in 2017.

UN council members urge halt to Myanmar-Arakan Army fighting

THE Star
Sunday, 13 Sep 2020

Ethnic Chin people hold placards during a protest asking for an end to conflict in Chin state and Rakhin State in Yangon on July 13, 2019. Around 1,000 Chin people have been displaced as fighting continues between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in the area between Chin State and Rakhine State. - AFP 

UNITED NATIONS/YANGON, Sept 13 (AP): A majority of UN Security Council members called for an immediate halt to fighting between Myanmar government forces and the Arakan Army guerrilla force following a closed council meeting on the latest situation in the South-East Asian nation.

8 UNSC members appeal to Myanmar: Appeal for Rohingya participation in general elections

WION
Sep 13, 2020,

8 member nations of the UNSC have urged Myanmar to ensure that the Rohingyas can participate in the general elections. Watch report.

Link:https://www.wionews.com/videos/8-unsc-members-appeal-to-myanmar-appeal-for-rohingya-participation-in-general-elections-327125

UN council members urge halt to Myanmar-Arakan Army fighting

spectrum

By Associated Press AP

Sep. 11, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A majority of U.N. Security Council members called for an immediate halt to fighting between Myanmar government forces and the Arakan Army guerrilla force following a closed council meeting on the latest situation in the southeast Asian nation.

A joint statement from eight of the 15 council nations said the clashes in western Rakhine and Chin states are taking “a heavy toll” on local communities and risk escalating, and stressed that a halt to fighting is “even more urgent in light of the increased number of COVID-19 cases in Rakhine State.”

Racism Is Fueling Myanmar’s Deadly Second Wave of COVID-19

THE I DIPLOMAT
By Andrew Nachemson
September 11, 2020

Anti-migrant — and especially anti-Rohingya and anti-Rakhine — sentiments are undermining efforts to control the pandemic.

This article is freeThe Diplomat has removed paywall restrictions on our coverage of the COVID–19 crisis.

As COVID-19 cases surge in Myanmar, the country’s famously serene State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be getting flustered. In a severe speech delivered September 2, she castigated “reckless and unsympathetic” nightclub owners, admonished Yangon residents for flouting COVID-19 restrictions, and threatened legal punishment against uncooperative citizens. On August 24, a week after the second wave began, she also warned against potential racial tension in Rakhine state, the epicenter of Myanmar’s renewed outbreak, reminding Burmese that recent violence there has made Myanmar a global “embarrassment.”

Myanmar Erases Names of Rohingya Villages, and UN Map Makers Follow Suit

HAARETZ
Reuters
Published on 11.09.2020

Myanmar military faces charges of genocide for chasing 730,000 Rohingya out of the country in 2017 in what the United Nations described as 'a textbook example of ethnic cleansing'

Rohingya refugees walk through a shallow canal after crossing the Naf River in Palongkhali, as they flee violence in Myanmar to reach Bangladesh, October 16, 2017.Credit: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP

 Three years ago, Myanmar's military burned the Rohingya village of Kan Kya to the ground and bulldozed over its remains. Last year, the government erased its name from official maps, according to the United Nations.

Racism Is Fueling Myanmar’s Deadly Second Wave of COVID-19

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Andrew Nachemson 

September 11, 2020

Anti-migrant — and especially anti-Rohingya and anti-Rakhine — sentiments are undermining efforts to control the pandemic. 

A man walks past while local residents gather near a blocked street in a lockdown area to help control the spread of the COVID-19, Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Yangon, Myanmar. Credit: AP Photo/Thein Zaw

As COVID-19 cases surge in Myanmar, the country’s famously serene State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be getting flustered. In a severe speech delivered September 2, she castigated “reckless and unsympathetic” nightclub owners, admonished Yangon residents for flouting COVID-19 restrictions, and threatened legal punishment against uncooperative citizens. On August 24, a week after the second wave began, she also warned against potential racial tension in Rakhine state, the epicenter of Myanmar’s renewed outbreak, reminding Burmese that recent violence there has made Myanmar a global “embarrassment.”

Spilling the beans

The Statemen
Statesman News Service
New Delhi
September 10, 2020

The extent to which the in house spilling of the beans will tarnish the standing of the omnipotent military and a generally tightlipped Suu Kyi can only be speculated upon.

When Myanmar’s putative icon of democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi, raised the flag of her party, the National League for Democracy, in Yangon on Tuesday, she at least theoretically flagged off the ruling party’s campaign for the election this November.

Two Myanmar Soldiers Taken to the Hague After Confessing to Rohingya Killings: Reports

The Washington Post
By Reuters
Sept. 8, 2020

(Reuters) - Two Myanmar soldiers have been taken to The Hague after confessing to murdering minority Rohingya Muslims during a 2017 crackdown, two news organisations and a rights group reported on Tuesday.

The two men admitted to killing dozens of villagers in northern Rakhine state and burying them in mass graves, according to the New York Times, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the non-profit Fortify Rights, citing statements the men made on videos filmed in Myanmar this year.

'Kill All You See': In a First, Myanmar Soldiers Tell of Rohingya Slaughter

The New York Times
By Hannah Beech, Saw Nang and Marlise Simons

Sept. 8, 2020

Video testimony from two soldiers supports widespread accusations that Myanmar's milatray tried to eradicate the ethnic minority in genocidal campaign.

The remains of a Rohingya school in Rakhine State in western Myanmar last year.Credit...Adam Dean for The New York Times

The two soldiers confess their crimes in a monotone, a few blinks of the eye their only betrayal of emotion: executions, mass burials, village obliterations and rape.

The August 2017 order from his commanding officer was clear, Pvt. Myo Win Tun said in video testimony. “Shoot all you see and all you hear.”