Myanmar is on notice: killings must end now

THE NATIONAL NEWS
N OPINION

The International Court of Justice has ordered Naypyidaw to preserve evidence and prevent further atrocities

President of the International Court of Justice, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (4-R), ruled in the lawsuit filed by The Gambia against Myanmar, during a court session in The Hague, The Netherlands, 23 January 2020. That country is accused of genocide because of the persecution of a Muslim minority in the country. Robin Van Lonkhuijsen / EPA 

Gambia is a nation of just two million people, covering an area of around 10,000 square kilometres sandwiched between Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean. Yet since last year, the West African country has been on a grand mission to put an end to crimes dating back to 2017, allegedly committed by the government of Myanmar, a nation of more than 53 million people, against the Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority in Rakhine, one of Myanmar’s constituent states.

Protecting Rohingyas: Don’t repeat mistakes of the past

The Daily Star
Diplomatic Correspondent
Sat Mar 2, 2024 

UN rights chief urges int’l community 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has appealed to the international community not to repeat the failings of the past in protecting the Rohingya community in Myanmar's Rakhine State which has spiralled further in violence since November.

Myanmar: Unbearable levels of suffering and cruelty

Unite Nations
Human Rights
1 March 2024  

© UNICEF/Patrick Brown

Rohingya refugees arrive by boat from Myanmar on the Bay of Bengal to Teknaf in Cox's Bazar District, Bangladesh. (file)

The crisis in Myanmar is a “never-ending nightmare” for the country’s people happening far away from the international spotlight, UN rights chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council on Friday. 

UN Human Rights Council 55: UK Statement on Interactive Dialogue on Myanmar

Speech
From:Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Rita French
Location: Geneva
Published:1 March 2024

High Commissioner, we share your deep concern about rising atrocity risks across Myanmar.

Military airstrikes and the shelling of civilian targets continues to demonstrate a shocking disregard for innocent lives.

In defence of Aung San Suu Kyi

theinterpretor
Derek Tonkin
Published 22 Feb 2024 

Many in Myanmar have condemned what they perceive asseriously flawed Western criticism of the Burmese ex-leader. 

On 18 October 2023, the Brighton and Hove City Council in the United Kingdom revoked the Freedom of the City awarded to Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi in 2011. Their special meeting lasted only 18 minutes, with Councillor Bella Sankey, the Labour leader of the Council, stating that it was not right to honour a person who “presided over the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Muslim Rohingya community” and was “an enabler to racial and religious discrimination and ethnic cleansing”. Sankey was supported by all 50 or so of the Council members present.

Myanmar wants war with Bangladesh, RAB chief says as border skirmishes resume

bdnews24.com
Gopalganj Correspondent
Cox’s Bazar Correspondent & Teknaf
Published : 24 Feb 2024,

He says Hasina’s firm handling of matters has saved Bangladesh from starting a war with ‘provocative’ Myanmar

Myanmar has long been provoking Bangladesh to go into a war with it, but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resolute stance has preventeda full-scale conflict, the chief of the Rapid Action Battalion has said.

How is Myanmar's civil war impacting Bangladesh?

CLICK ITTEFAQ
DW
Publish : 23 Feb 2024,

Bangladesh is closely watching the fighting in Myanmar's neighboring Rakhine state

Fighting between Myanmar's junta and the Arakan Army (AA) rebel group in western Myanmar's Rakhine state has intensified. Casualties have also been recorded in Bangladesh, with two people killed by an errant mortar round this month and several injured by gunshots from across the border. Rebel fighters have recently taken control of the Myanmar border region, and are seeking to oust junta forces from elsewhere in the state.

Rohingya Men in Myanmar Are Being Forcibly Recruited by The Junta’s Military

The Irrawaddy
Hein Htoo Zan
February 23, 2024

A IDP camp for Rohingya people near Rakhine State’s capital Sittwe. / The Irrawaddy

 

Myanmar’s military is forcibly recruiting Rohingya men from villages and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rakhine State and it is feared they will be used as human shields, activists and residents of the state warn.

A New Era is Dawning For the People of Myanmar’s Rakhine State

THE | DIPLOMAT
Kyaw Hsan Hlaing
February 13, 2024

After years of conflict and ethnic cleansing, recent military gains by the Arakan Army have opened up fresh possibilities for the region’s future. 

On February 8, the rebel Arakan Army (AA) seized Mrauk-U, the former capital of the Arakan kingdom in Rakhine State, western Myanmar, along with the towns of Minbya and Kyauktaw. In fact, since the resumption of war between the AA and the country’s military junta on November 13, the AA has now successfully taken over six cities in the state, as well as two cities in neighboring southern Chin state, while destroying at least seven navy vessels and a helicopter. These ongoing victories have invigorated the long-standing dreams of Rakhine nationalists for an independent Arakan.

All 330 intruders sent back to Myanmar by ship

daily observer
Staff Correspondent
Published : Friday, 16 February, 2024

No Myanmar citizen will be allowed to enter BD: BGB DG

All 330 Myanmar nationals, including 302 Border Guard Police (BGP)

members, four BGP family members, two army personnel, 18 immigration officials and four civilians, who intruded into Bangladesh territory following escalation of fighting in Myanmar, were escorted by the BGB and handed over to the BGP, a BGB press release said.

Rakhine situation may lead to risks of geopolitical conflict

prothomalo
Interview: Maj. Gen. Emdadul Islam (retd)
Published: 11 Feb 2024,

Bangladesh is facing a fallout from the Myanmar civil war. Bullets and mortar shells are crossing over the border into Bangladesh creating danger and alarm. Members of the Myanmar army, its Border Guard Police (BGP) and government officials, a few hundred in number, have fled into Bangladesh for shelter. In an interview with Prothom Alo's Partha Shankar Saha, security analyst Major General Emdadul Islam (retd) talks about the prevailing situation in Myanmar, its impact on Bangladesh, Rohingya repatriation and the role of China, India, the US and others. Maj. Gen. Emdadul Islam is the author of the book 'Rohingya: Nishango Nipirito Jatigoshti'.

Border guards who fled Myanmar tell of losing contact with commanders

Radio Free Asia
Sharif Khiam and Abdur Rahman
Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
2024.02.09

Over 300 who crossed into Bangladesh have asked for assistance in returning to their homes.

Bangladeshis deliver an injured Rohingya who tried to cross the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh to members of the Border Guard Bangladesh in Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Feb. 6, 2024. Abdur Rahman/BenarNews

 

Myanmar border guards and soldiers fled into Bangladesh earlier this week after losing contact with their commanders during fierce fighting in Rakhine state, an interpreter present during their conversation with Bangladesh officials told BenarNews on Friday.

Amnesty Demands War Crime Probe into Myanmar Junta Airstrike

The Irrawaddy
by Brian Wei
February 10, 2024

A  house destroyed during the junta airstrike on Kanan village in Tamu Township, Sagaing Region, in January. / CJ

An Amnesty International report says Myanmar junta’s January airstrike on Kanan village near the Indian border in Tamu Township, Sagaing Region, should be investigated as a war crime.

Border guards who fled Myanmar tell of losing contact with commanders

Benar News
Sharif Khiam and Abdur Rahman
Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
2024.02.09 

Bangladeshis deliver an injured Rohingya who tried to cross the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh to members of the Border Guard Bangladesh in Ukhia, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, Feb. 6, 2024. Abdur Rahman/BenarNews

 

Myanmar border guards and soldiers fled into Bangladesh earlier this week after losing contact with their commanders during fierce fighting in Rakhine state, an interpreter present during their conversation with Bangladesh officials told BenarNews on Friday.

Bangladesh arrests 23 armed Rohingya trespassers from Myanmar

bdnews24.com
Senior Correspondent
Cox’s Bazar Correspondent
Published : 9 Feb 2024, 

Police have arrested 23 armed Rohingya men who were caught by Border Guard Bangladesh after trespassing from Myanmar amid fighting between the military and rebels.

Another 116 from Myanmar including border guards, army personnel enter Bangladesh: BGB

CLICK ITTEFAQ
Click Ittefaq Desk
Publish : 06 Feb 2024

photo collected

 

Another 13 members of Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) have taken shelter in Bangladesh fleeing their posts amid reports of heavy gunfights between the government troops and the rebels in the junta-run country.

Bangladesh summons Myanmar envoy over border clashes

REUTERS
By Ruma Paul
February 6, 2024

DHAKA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Bangladesh summoned neighbouring Myanmar's ambassador on Tuesday to protest the escalating border violence that killed two people on the Bangladeshi side as fighting between Myanmar's rebel forces and its junta regime intensifies.

A Bangladeshi woman and a Rohingya man were killed and a child was injured when a mortar shell from Myanmar hit a border district in Bangladesh on Monday, as junta forces try to quell a bloody rebellion

Myanmar: Scores Of Border Guards Flee To Bangladesh Amid Fighting With Rebels

eurasiareview
By Abdur Rahman
By BenarNews
February 6, 2024

Members of the Myanmar junta-affiliated Border Guard Police (BGP) are seen at a Bangladesh Border Guard encampment in Bandarban, Bangladesh, after they fled from fighting across the border in Myanmar, Feb. 5, 2024. Photo Credit: Minhaz Uddin/BenarNews

More than 100 members of the Burmese junta’s border police force, including some wounded men, crossed into southeastern Bangladesh since Sunday to flee fierce fighting with Arakan Army rebels, Bangladeshi officials said Monday.

'Not a single Rohingya would be allowed to enter Bangladesh'

daily observer
Published : Tuesday, 6 February, 2024
Observer Correspondent

Newly appointed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui speaks to local correspondents after paying respects at the mausoleum of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara in Gopalganj district early Tuesday (February 6) afternoon.

No Rohingya refugee would be allowed to enter Bangladesh afresh in the wake of ongoing tense situation in sequel to internal conflicts in Myanmar, said newly appointed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Director General Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui on Tuesday (February 6).

US closely monitoring situation in Myanmar

daily observer
Published : Wednesday, 7 February, 2024

The United States is very concerned about the growing tensions amid ongoing conflict and is closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar, the US Embassy in Dhaka said.

"We are following it very closely. Obviously, we are very concerned, as the world is concerned. We are also monitoring the situation very, very closely," said Stephen F Ibelli, spokesperson of the US Embassy in Dhaka on Monday.