Next Myanmar-Bangladesh-China Meeting on Rohingya Repatriation Set For Jan. 19

Radio Free Asia

2021-01-13

Rohingya refugees aboard a Bangladesh navy ship are relocated to a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, Dec. 29, 2020.AFP

 

A secretary-level meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar, mediated by China, will be held on Jan. 19 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on the issue of repatriating Rohingya refugees, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said Wednesday.

Myanmar has not cooperated in ironing out issues to do with the return of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees, but Bangladesh is hopeful some headway will made at the upcoming meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs A.K. Abdul Momen told journalists.

“We hope it will be a fruitful meeting,” Momen said.

He said that China had initially set the date for Jan. 9-10, but postponed it due to Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Myanmar on Monday and Tuesday.

‘We Tried to Warn You’

The Atlantic

Timothy McLaughlin

January 12, 2021

Links between online misinformation and real-world violence were always a problem “over there.” The Capitol Hill riot shows otherwise.

Getty / The Atlantic 

While reporting on Facebook’s operations in Myanmar in 2018, I wrote about mobs hunting down people in the streets, violent animosity toward a beleaguered minority group, and the targeting of journalists (some of whom were branded as terrorists)—all of which could be traced back to hate-filled misinformation that had rippled across social media unimpeded. At the time, a Facebook employee, an American diplomat, and several others who had spent time in Myanmar (also known as Burma) told me they worried that similar trends were under way in the United States.

Rohingya Repatriation: Bangladesh-Myanmar-China tripartite talks Jan 19

daily sun 

UNB
13th January, 2021

Bangladesh, Myanmar and China will hold a tripartite meeting on Rohingya repatriation in Dhaka on January 19 as Dhaka finds their repatriation to Myanmar as only solution to the crisis.

"We hope it would be a fruitful meeting," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters on Wednesday about the tripartite talks. He said the meeting will be held at secretary level while such tripartite meeting was last held on January 20 last year.

The Foreign Minister said Bangladesh has handed over a list of 8,40,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification.

"Myanmar has verified very few people. They're very slow. They verified only 42,000 people. There is serious lack of seriousness," said the Foreign Minister.

Beijing’s New Toys in Myanmar

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Amara Thiha
January 11, 2021

Infrastructure is high on China’s agenda in Myanmar, but it is also making headway in other important sectors. 

A year after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Myanmar, Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in the capital Naypyidaw today for a two-day official visit. The trip to Myanmar follows an African tour that has taken Wang to Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Tanzania, and the Seychelles. The agenda of his Myanmar trip is yet to be confirmed, but the ongoing progress of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), along with COVID-19 diplomacy, is very likely to be high on the list.

First signed between China and Myanmar in 2018, the CMEC envisions the construction of a network of railways, roads, ports, and new cities running overland from China’s Yunnan province to the sea. Although numerous memorandum of agreements related to CMEC and Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have been in place for years, progress has lagged considerably. Indeed, progress on the CMEC seems to have been slowed further by Beijing’s pandemic-induced belt-tightening and the unprofitable nature of many of the infrastructure projects that fell under its aegis. This had prompted Beijing to adopt an alternative model of engagement in Myanmar: one that is more economically feasible, and that leverages its strategic assets, innovation, and technology to expand its sphere of influence, rather than focusing on infrastructure alone.

CORRECTED-Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi visits Myanmar in SE Asia tour, promises vaccines

REUTERS

Healthcare

Sam Aung Moon
January 11, 2021

YANGON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed closer cooperation with Myanmar and promised vaccines against COVID-19, state-run television said on Monday, after he arrived on the first stop of a five-day tour of Southeast Asia.

Wang met President Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto head of the government whose National League for Democracy (NLD) was returned to power in November with a second successive landslide election victory.

Myanmar’s lack of cordiality preventing Rohingya repatriation: FM

theindepedent 

UNB, Rangamati
12 January, 2021

Covid-19 vaccination in Bangladesh might start with India, he says 

Rohingya repatriation could not be started because of the lack of cordiality of the Myanmar government, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Monday.

“Not a single Rohingya could be repatriated in the last three and a half years as Myanmar brought up one issue after the other,” he told reporters in Rangamati after inaugurating Bangabandhu Adventure Festival marking the birth centenary of Bangladesh’s founding father.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya men, women and children fled to Bangladesh from their homeland in Myanmar’s Rakhine state after the military launched a brutal offensive targeting the mainly Muslim ethnic minority.

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.

Will Supplementary Elections Be Held in Myanmar’s Rakhine State?

THE I DIPLOMAT 

Sebastian Strangio
January 11, 2021

The Tatmadaw and Arakan Army are both in favor, but the ruling National League for Democracy remains hesitant.

Last week, Myanmar’s military issued a statement again calling for supplementary elections to be held in areas of Rakhine State where recent national elections were canceled due to an ongoing conflict.

During the November 8 election, around 1.2 million voters in the war-torn region were unable to cast their ballots after the Union Election Commission (UEC) cancelled voting in many townships on security grounds. Voting was also cancelled in parts of Shan and Kachin states.

The Myanmar army, or Tatmadaw, said in its statement that elections should be held before newly-elected lawmakers are sworn at the beginning of February.

The military’s call follows two months of encouraging progress in efforts to resolve the conflict between the military and the insurgent Arakan Army (AA), which has raged in Rakhine State since 2018, during which time hundreds have been killed and injured and some 226,000 people have been forced from their homes.

Momen: Myanmar’s lack of sincerity delaying Rohingya repatriation

Dhaka Tribune  

Anwar Hussain, Chittagong
January 10th, 2021

The only solution to the crisis is taking back the forcibly displaced people, says the foreign minister

Reiterating Myanmar was not sincere about taking back the Rohingyas, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen says that talks over the matter have resumed after it was stalled due to the pandemic and national elections in the neighbouring country.

Speaking at an event in Chittagong on Sunday, Momen, however, said that he was optimistic about the repatriation initiative, but was not sure when it would start.

The foreign minister made the remarks while speaking at a book launching ceremony held at the Chittagong Press Club.

At the event, two books by former ambassador to Myanmar Maj (retd) Md Emdadul Islam published by Prothoma Prakashan and Kharimati were unveiled.

China’s BRI Dream Could Turn Nightmare As Myanmar Puts ‘Roadblocks’ Before Key Infra Projects

The Eur Asian Times

Jayanta Kalita
January 9, 2021

Unlike China’s ‘iron brother’ Pakistan, which has rolled out the red carpet for its BRI projects, Southeast Asian nation Myanmar is set to clip the wings of the dragon.

China may be aiming to conquer the world with its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) undermining local sentiments in certain host countries, but the dragon is not invincible it seems. Myanmar is one country where citizens are resisting aggressive and intrusive policies Beijing is known for.

A global infrastructure strategy, BRI reflects President Xi Jinping’s dream of taking China to the ‘numero uno’ spot in the world. It envisages road, rail, and port projects in six economic corridors spread across Southeast Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe.

No wonder, the Communist regime has already incorporated the BRI in the country’s Constitution as China plans to invest $1.5 trillion in the next decade.

According to global financial services group Nomura, more than 80 countries are likely to benefit from the BRI project. At the same time, it “will have enormous economic, geopolitical and investment implications for China”, Nomura warns. 

Yangon Police Arrest Nearly 100 Rohingya Being Trafficked From Myanmar to Malaysia

Radio Free Asia ( RFA )
2021-01-07

Rohingya Muslims sit on the ground during a police raid on two houses where they were staying while en route to Malaysia, in Shwepyitha township, Myanmar's Yangon region, Jan. 6, 2021.Photo courtesy of Yangon Region Police Force

 

 

Myanmar police arrested nearly 100 undocumented Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar’s Rakhine state for illegal travel after raiding two houses in Yangon on Wednesday, saying that they had been trafficked and were heading to Malaysia.

Authorities, who discovered the group after following a suspicious man who could not speak Burmese to one of the houses in the country’s largest city, said Thursday that they charged four people with criminal persuasion and human trafficking.

Myanmar police arrest nearly 100 Rohingya in raid on house

REUTERS
Thu Thu Aung
APAC
January 6, 2021 

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar police arrested nearly 100 ethnic Rohingya on Wednesday after raiding a house in the commercial capital of Yangon, police and local media said.

Photos published by the local Tomorrow News Journal showed several barefoot men and dozens of women in colourful head scarves sitting on the ground in a courtyard.

Myanmar frequently detains Rohingya, members of a Muslim minority, on grounds of “illegal travel” for attempting to leave their native western Rakhine state.

Tin Maung Lwin, a police captain from Shwe Pyi Thar township, where the group was found, confirmed the arrests but declined to give further details.

Why Joe Biden Should Help the Rohingya People of Myanmar

TIME

By Matthew Smith and Andrew Riley

January 6, 2021 

A large group of Rohingya people, fled from ongoing military operations in Myanmar's Rakhine state, try to cross the border at Palongkhalii, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on October 17, 2017.
Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

 

Matthew Smith is CEO and co-founder of Fortify Rights and a Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Follow him on Twitter @matthewfsmith.
Andrew Riley is a consultant to Fortify Rights and was the principal author of “The Torture in My Mind”: The Right to Mental Health for Rohingya Survivors of Genocide in Bangladesh and Myanmar. Follow him on Twitter @andrewkyleriley.

 

Then the Myanmar Army attacked and massacred ethnic Rohingya civilians in 2017, more than 700,000 men, women, and children fled to Bangladesh, some riddled with bullets, burns, and gaping wounds. Hundreds of villages were in ashes, razed by soldiers and their civilian proxies.

But long after the physical wounds scarred over, Rohingya continue to suffer mental harm on a massive scale. President-elect Biden can and should do something about it.

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.

Rohingya Repatriation: Quader for more int’l pressure on Myanmar

The Daily Star

Bss, Dhaka
December 29, 2020 

 

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday called upon the international community to take more effective strategies for mounting pressure on Myanmar to take back its Rohingya nationals from Bangladesh.

Quader, also general secretary of Awami League, said this at a regular press conference at his official residence on parliament premises in the capital.

He said since the outset of Rohingya crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been continuing diplomatic efforts seeking cooperation from the international community for a peaceful solution to the problem.

The economy and environment of Bangladesh have been affected badly for hosting around 12 lakh Rohingyas who took shelter at Ukhia and Teknaf, he added.

The minister said social environment and ecological balance of the areas are now at stake due to excessive number of people living there. It is also putting adverse impacts on the tourism industry centring the world's longest natural sea beach in Cox's Bazar, he said.

US Pledges to Continue Support for Myanmar’s Democratic Transition

The Irrawaddy
By NAN LWIN
18 December 2020

YANGON — The United States has pledged to continue its support for Myanmar’s democratic transition and discussed cooperation on Rakhine State development, including creating a better environment for the Rohingya, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In a teleconference with Myanmar’s international cooperation minister, U Kyaw Tin, the outgoing deputy US secretary of state, Stephen Biegun, on Thursday, praised the Nov. 8 general election and discussed positive cooperation over Rakhine State, the ministry said.

The ministry said in a press release that U Kyaw Tin and Biegun discussed long-term cooperation in Rakhine State, including creating a better environment for refugees.

ANALYSIS - Anti-Rohingya monk promotes Myanmar ‘Buddhist’ nationalism

AA

Maung Zarni

LONDON 

14.12.2020 

Monk’s description of ‘Buddhists truths’ superior to Universal Declaration of Human Rights is far from ground realities.

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

Exuding a palpable sense of spiritual and cultural superiority, a genocide-denying Myanmar Buddhist monk declared Myanmar’s “true nationalism” which is anchored in the “universal declaration of Buddhist truths” to be even superior to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Now it's US, voicing concerns on Bangladesh transfer of Myanmar Rohingya

THE Star 

Sunday, 13 Dec 2020 

Rohingyas from Myanmar preparing to board a ship as they move to Bhasan Char island near Chattogram, Bangladesh, Dec 4, 2020. - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (AFP): The United States has voiced concern over Bangladesh's transfer of Rohingya refugees to a low-lying island and said that any movement should be voluntary.

Bangladesh, which has taken in nearly one million Rohingya who fled a brutal offensive in neighboring Myanmar, has started the relocation of 100,000 of them from squalid camps on the mainland to Bhashan Char, a silt island frequently in the path of cyclones.

The United States reiterated its appreciation to Bangladesh for accepting the refugees but said it was "concerned" about last week's transfer of more than 1,600 Rohingya and plans to move more.

US voices concern on Bangladesh transfer of Rakhine Muslims

MYANMAR TIMES 

AFP
14 DEC 2020

Northern Rakhine refugees disembark from a Bangladesh Navy ship to the island of Bashar Char in Noakhali on December 4. Photo: AFP

The United States on Thursday voiced concern over Bangladesh's transfer of Northern Rakhine Muslim refugees to a low-lying island and said that any movement should be voluntary.

Bangladesh, which has taken in nearly one million refugees who fled a brutal offensive in neighboring Myanmar, has started the relocation of 100,000 of them from squalid camps on the mainland to Bhashan Char, a silt island frequently in the path of cyclones.

US asks Myanmar to create conditions for Rohingya repatriation, voices concern over relocation

Prothum Alo------ 

Reuters
Washington
Published: 11 December 2020,

 

 

The first batch of Rohingyas has started out for Bhasan Char from the Chattogram in the morning of 4 December 2020Prothom Alo

The United States on Thursday said it was concerned about Bangladesh's relocation of 1,642 Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island and plans to carry out further moves, calling on Bangladesh to accept independent assessments of the move.

The United States also backed the United Nations in calling for any such relocations to be "fully voluntary and based on informed consent without pressure or coercion", State Department spokesman Cale Brown said in a statement.

Brown also reiterated Washington's call on Myanmar to create the conditions conducive for Rohingya refugees’ voluntary, safe, and dignified return to their home country.