Showing posts with label Nay San Lwin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nay San Lwin. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

Arakan Army’s takeover of northern Rakhine: What fate awaits the Rohingyas?

THE BUSINESS STANDARD
SM Abrar Aowsaf
11 December, 2024, 


As the Arakan Army gains full control of northern Rakhine, fears of renewed violence against the Rohingya mount, complicating repatriation efforts

With the Arakan Army gaining power, the fate of the Rohingiyas remains uncertain.

With the Myanmar army having been driven out of their last outpost in Maungdaw, there is uncertainty on both sides of the 271-kilometre-long Bangladesh-Myanmar border, the Burmese side of which is now under complete control of the Arakan Army.

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Arakan Army poses new threat to Rohingya Muslims

Anadolu Agency
Edited By Nurbanu Tanrıkulu Kızıl
ISTANBUL Dec 03, 2024 

Rohingya refugees sit on a truck after being relocated from Southern Aceh province to Banda Aceh, Nov. 7, 2024. (AFP Photo) 

Rohingya Muslims, who have long been persecuted by Myanmar's military, are now threatened by the Arakan Army, the co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition said.

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for Myanmar junta chief

The Guardian
Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent
Wed 27 Nov 2024 

Min Aung Hlaing accused of crimes against humanity over deportation and persecution of Rohingya minority

 The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) is seeking an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, for crimes against humanity over the deadly crackdowns against the country’s Rohingya minority that drove hundreds of thousands to flee to Bangladesh.

Karim Khan said that “after an extensive, independent and impartial investigation” his office had concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe that the Myanmar junta chief “bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya committed in Myanmar and in part in Bangladesh”.

A panel of three ICC judges must now rule on the prosecutor’s request. More applications for arrest warrants will follow, the prosecutor’s office said.

Tun Khin, a prominent Rohingya activist and the president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, welcomed the news as “huge step forward in the quest for justice”.

In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes in Rakhine state and cross over the border to Bangladesh after an operation by the Myanmar military that UN investigators said was carried out with “genocidal intent”.

Rohingya who fled across the border gave harrowing testimonies of mass rape, murder, and of torched homes. The events shocked the world, and for the past five years the ICC prosecutor’s office has been investigating the waves of violence that occurred during 2016 and 2017. Myanmar has denied accusations of genocide.

At the time of the killings, the western-backed politician Aung San Suu Kyi was Myanmar’s democratically elected de facto leader. She was accused by rights groups of standing by while the army committed massacres. Her supporters claimed, however, that Myanmar’s most famous politician was unable to stand up to the military.

Aung San Suu Kyi later defended her country against allegations of genocide at the UN’s top court. In 2021, she was arrested when the military took power in a coup.

Tun Khin said the news brought “a rare day of celebration for the Rohingya”. He said: “For decades the international community allowed the Myanmar military to violate international law against ethnic and religious minorities, without taking any action. This encouraged the Myanmar military to scale up abuses, including the genocide of the Rohingya. Today we have finally taken another step towards justice and accountability.”

Almost 1 million Rohingya remain in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in one of the world’s biggest and most densely populated refugee camps, which is plagued by insecurity. Rohingya who live in Myanmar continue to face persecution and violence, not only from the Myanmar military but also, activists say, from the Arakan Army, which is fighting against the military for control of Rakhine state.

Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya political activist, said the prosecutor’s application was long overdue. “We warmly welcome this move,” he said, adding that he hoped an arrest warrant would be issued promptly. “We deserve justice, we want justice, only the international court can deliver justice for us,” he said.

There is no set timeframe for the judge’s decision but it generally takes about three months to rule on issuing an arrest warrant.

Matthew Smith, a co-founder and the chief executive of Fortify Rights, a human rights group, described Min Aung Hlaing as “one of the world’s most notorious criminals”.

“He’s not only responsible for crimes against humanity against Rohingya but also for genocide and war crimes in Myanmar. He orchestrated the coup d’etat in 2021 and the subsequent mass murder, imprisonment and other atrocities against people throughout the country,” he said. “Min Aung Hlaing’s victims span Myanmar’s many ethnic groups and number in the tens of millions. He must be stopped and brought to justice.”

Link : Here

Thursday, November 7, 2024

2 Rohingya groups want Malaysia to push for protection as Asean chair

KUALA LUMPUR:
05 Nov 2024, 

The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK and Free Rohingya Coalition also want Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to put pressure on Myanmar’s military junta and Arakan groups to stop the genocide of the community.
The ongoing conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine state has led to thousands of deaths and forced many to flee. (AP pic)
 
Two Rohingya rights groups are calling on Malaysia to play a key role in protecting the community when it takes over as the Asean chair next year.

The two NGOs, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) and Free Rohingya Coalition (FRC), called on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to pressure the Myanmar military junta and Arakan groups to stop the genocide of the community.

Monday, September 9, 2024

Rohingya Muslims risk losing homeland in Myanmar: Rights activist

TRT World
7 September 2024

Buddhist ethnic insurgent group Arakan Army’s efforts to control region led to continued displacement, mass killings, atrocities, human rights violations, co-founder of Free Rohingya Coalition laments.

AP,Lwin emphasised that Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees have sought asylum due to attacks by the Myanmar Army, must persuade the international community to lead the repatriation process. / Photo: AP


Rohingya Muslims face the risk of losing their homeland if the international community fails to address the issue, according to one observer.

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Uncertainty, despair grip Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

UCA News
Updated: August 30, 2024
 


Most of the estimated 1 million Rohingya refugees are frustrated with no visible sign of repatriation and poor camp life 

This photo taken on May 24 shows Rohingya refugees walking down a path at a refugee camp in Ukhia in Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar district. (Photo: AFP)

Sitting in his tiny one-room home in the congested Shalbagan refugee camp in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar on a hot and humid monsoon day, Abu Sufian laments the loss of a relatively happy life in Myanmar's Rakhine state seven years ago.

Friday, August 16, 2024

“End the Impunity”: Rohingya Muslims Under Attack by Both Burmese Army and Rebel Group

DEMOCRACY NOW
StoryAugust 15, 2024 


Topics

Burma
Rohingya
Bangladesh

Guests

Nay San Lwin
co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition.


Up to 200 Rohingya Muslims were killed in drone strikes last week in Burma as they attempted to flee to Bangladesh. This comes amid intensifying conflict between the military junta and the Arakan Army, a rebel armed group. Human Rights Watch says the military and the Arakan Army have both committed extrajudicial killings, unlawful recruitment for combat, and widespread arson against Rohingya civilians. “They are the enemy of each other, but when it comes to the Rohingya issue, they have the same intention,” says Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition. Only about 600,000 Rohingya remain in Burma, down from about 1.4 million before a campaign of ethnic cleansing began in 2016, though Nay San Lwin says the Rohingya genocide goes back even further to 1978. 

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Children among up to 200 Rohingya killed in Myanmar drone attack

The Guardian
Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok
Mon 12 Aug 2024


Witnesses say people killed in artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians fleeing violence

People mourn near the bodies of Rohingya refugees who drowned in the Naf River last week. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Many dozens of Rohingya people, including children, were killed in an artillery and drone attack that targeted civilians as they tried to flee Myanmar last week.

Civilians were trying to escape violence in Maungdaw town, Rakhine state, by crossing the Naf River into Bangladesh when they were targeted last Monday. Videos shared on social media, which appeared to have been taken in the aftermath of the attack, showed bodies and bags strewn across the ground.

Friday, August 9, 2024

Nearly 200 Rohingyas killed in single day by Arakan Army, says activists

Maktoob Media
Maktoob Staff
August 9, 2024


Rohingya advocacy groups have said that, on 05 August, the Arakan Army (AA) attacked thousands of refugees gathered at the beach in Maungdaw Township of Rakhine State in Myanmar with drone bombs killing about 200 of them. Two Rohingya activists told

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Malaysia must push for peace and justice for Rohingyas

ALIRAN
22 July 2024 

Follow us on our Malay and English WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube channels.

There is a revolution ongoing in Myanmar. But where do the ethnic minority Rohingyas fit into this picture?

Saturday, July 20, 2024

MALAYSIA URGED TO LEAD ASEAN AGAINST MYANMAR'S HUMANITARIAN CRISIS, ROHINGYA PERSECUTION

BERNEMA
By Wan Muhammad Aslah Wan Razali
18/07/2024

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) -- As chair of the upcoming ASEAN Summit in 2025, Malaysia is being called upon to take a leading role in addressing the humanitarian crisis and safeguarding the rights and lives of the Rohingya people in Myanmar.

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

UN World Food Program decries looting and burning of its warehouse in western Myanmar combat zone

The Washinton Post
By Associated Press
June 25, 2024 

The United Nations’ food agency has strongly condemned the looting of food supplies and burning of one of its warehouses in a war-torn area in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine


BANGKOK — The United Nations’ food agency on Tuesday strongly condemned the looting of food supplies and burning of one of its warehouses over the weekend in a war-torn area in Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine.

A statement released by the World Food Program said the destroyed building in Rakhine’s Maungdaw township held 1,175 metric tons (1,295 U.S. tons) of food and supplies — enough to sustain 64,000 people for a month in case of an emergency.

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Escaping inferno: Rohingya flee as violence escalates in Rakhine

BIG NEWS NETWORK
Khalid Umar Malik
16th June 2024, 

RAKHINE, Myanmar - Fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) has risen in the western province of Rakhine in recent days, putting thousands of predominantly Muslim Rohingya residents at risk.

According to discussions with Rohingya activists who spoke with witnesses in Buthidaung, there have been large fires throughout the town in recent days.

Friday, June 14, 2024

Rohingya Muslims Flee Violence in Myanmar as ‘Hate-Driven Unnatural Disaster Unfolds’ – Sparking Pleas for UK and US to Act

BYLINE TIMES
Steve Shaw
14 June 2024

The attack on Buthidaung – where thousands of Rohingya Muslims had sought refuge – has been called a “turning point” in what has been dubbed a “slow-burning genocide”

Rohingya women sit inside a shelter in Lhokseumawe, Aceh province, Indonesia, in December 2023. Photo: Associated Press / Alamy
 
It was late evening when the first bursts of gunfire echoed through the town of Buthidaung in western Myanmar. Soon after, dark plumes of smoke rose as home after home was set ablaze.

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Myanmar’s Rohingya ‘trapped between hammer and anvil’ as junta, rebels sow terror in Rakhine

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Shaikh Azizur Rahman
Published: 6 Jun 2024

  • Muslim minority residents ‘pushed to the wall’ as security forces and the Arakan Army target villages with arson attacks and killings 
A woman cooks next to destroyed houses and burned trees following fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army in a village in Rakhine state on May 21. Photo: AFP

A fierce gunfight between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) rebels in Rakhine state has thrust Rohingya Muslims into a fresh spiral of organised violence as alleged beheadings and arson attacks rattle the persecuted community.

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Entire town ablaze; Rohingya inhabitants caught amidst Myanmar's civil war flames.

aussiedlerbote.de 
Michael Bootcampf
2024 May 23 . 7:52 A

Families of Rohingya individuals in western Myanmar reportedly are struggling to reach their loved ones amidst the aftermath of recent widespread arson attacks that have displaced around 200,000 people and destroyed countless homes. 

Satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs, PBC, taken on May 20, shows thermal scarring across Buthidaung, Myanmar.
 
The persecution of Myanmar's Rohingya community has been a continuous tragedy, with many calling it genocide committed by the country's military. Now, they are stuck in the middle of a worsening conflict as the military battles several ethnic armed groups and resistance forces.

Friday, May 24, 2024

Rohingyas bear the brunt as violence escalates in Myanmar

The South Asia Times
Friday, 24 May, 2024 

About 600,000 Rohingya remain in Myanmar, mostly in Rakhine state. (Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons) 
 

New York: Having faced decades of discrimination and repression under successive Myanmar authorities, the situation remains dire for the Muslim minority Rohingyas who have been bearing the brunt of fighting between the military and an ethnic armed group.

‘The entire town is burning.’ Fires rage as Rohingya caught up on the front lines of Myanmar’s civil war

CNN
By Helen Regan and Avery Schmitz,
Thu May 23, 2024 

Satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs, PBC, taken on May 20, shows thermal scarring across Buthidaung, Myanmar.Planet Labs, PBC

 CNN — Families of Rohingya people trapped in Myanmar’s west are desperately trying to contact loved ones after a weekend of widespread arson attacks displaced up to 200,000 people and caused extensive destruction of homes.

Rohingya groups call for urgent ‘humanitarian intervention’ after violence escalates in Myanmar’s Arakan

maktoob media
Maktoob Staff
May 23, 2024

Rohingya organizations on Wednesday issued a dire warning about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Arakan, urging the international community to take immediate action to protect the persecuted ethnic minority from further displacement, violence, and potential mass atrocities.