US Deputy Secy of State Biegun arrives tomorrow

The Daily Star

October 13, 2020
Diplomatic Correspondent 

Dhaka to raise Rohingya repatriation, RMG export issues

The repatriation of Rohingya refugees, privileges for readymade garments export and investments in infrastructure will be the main issues that Bangladesh will raise during US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen E Biegun's visit beginning tomorrow.

"Rohingya repatriation is our major issue. It is not just our responsibility. They will have to help us," Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters at his ministry yesterday.

China concerned at delay in repatriation of Rohingyas

UNB 

UNB News
Dhaka
October 11, 2020

Killers of Chinese national to be brought to justice, says FM 

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming on Sunday expressed concern as the repatriation of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine State has not started yet.

He shared his concern during his meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday in the city.

Dr Momen sought Chinese government's support for the quick and sustainable return of Rohingyas to Myanmar.

Govt firm on relocating Rohingyas to Bhashan Char

Dhaka Tribune  

Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan

October 12th, 2020 

File Photo: The photo, collected from project official Atikul Islam’s Facebook page, shows houses built under a project to accommodate Rohingya refugees in Bhashan Char, Noakhali, Bangladesh Collected

5,000 workers working to further develop the island’s infrastructure and a police station will be set up soon, says disaster management secretary

The government is determined to go ahead with the relocation of nearly 100,000 Rohingyas to Bhashan Char Island in order to decongest the cramped Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, senior officials concerned told Dhaka Tribune.

 

BDCSO to UN: Do not undermine local NGOs in Rohingya response

Dhaka Tribune     

UNB
October 11th, 2020

REUTERS

They also said the UN should limit its role only to monitoring and technical assistance in the Rohingya response

Speakers at a conference has the urged the United Nations (UN) not to undermine the local NGOs regarding the humanitarian response to Rohingya camps.

They also said the UN should limit its role only to monitoring and technical assistance in the Rohingya response.

New Rohingya population figure in Bangladesh is accurate: official

bdnews24.com

Hassan Bipul, bdnews24.com

09 Oct 2020

The latest estimate of roughly 850,000 Rohingya refugees living currently in Bangladesh is ‘accurate’, not the initial calculation released two years ago that put the figure at nearly 950,000, says Mohammad Shamsu Douza, the government’s additional commissioner of refugee, relief and repatriation.

The official spoke about the problems currently facing the refugees sheltered in Bangladesh and the plans to resolve the crisis in an interview with bdnews24.com.

International Criminal Court: Prosecute and Offer Witness Protection to Myanmar Army Deserters

FORTIFY RIGHTS
Myanmar
September 08, 2020

Two Myanmar Army soldiers now in ICC custody in The Hague

(BANGKOK, September 8, 2020)—The International Criminal Court (ICC) should swiftly prosecute two Myanmar Army soldiers who confessed to their involvement in massacres, rape, and other crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar, and the court should facilitate witness protection for them, said Fortify Rights today. Fortify Rights has reason to believe Myanmar Army Private Myo Win Tun, 33, and Private Zaw Naing Tun, 30, are in the custody of the ICC and in The Hague.

“This is a monumental moment for Rohingya and the people of Myanmar in their ongoing struggle for justice,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. “These men could be the first perpetrators from Myanmar tried at the ICC, and the first insider witnesses in the custody of the court. We expect prompt action.”

Two Former Myanmar Soldiers Say They Helped Kill Up to 180 Rohingya People

VICE 

by Joe Freeman
08 September 2020 

This is the first time former members of Myanmar's military have admitted mass atrocities against Rohingya and is seen as a "huge development" in human rights cases filed against the country's top generals.

Smoke billows above what is believed to be a burning village in Myanmar's Rakhine state as members of the Rohingya Muslim minority take shelter in a no-man's land between Bangladesh and Myanmar in Ukhia on Sept. 4, 2017. Photo: K.M. ASAD / AFP

Two former soldiers from Myanmar admitted to taking part in the killing of up to 180 Rohingya men, women and children during a crackdown on the Muslim minority in 2017, a prominent rights group said Tuesday, September 8, releasing explosive testimony that is unprecedented as it comes from onetime members of the deeply secretive military.

In video testimony obtained by NGO Fortify Rights, Private Myo Win Tun said he executed people during operations that started in August 2017 in northern Rakhine state and that one of his commanders ordered soldiers to “exterminate all kalar,” a derogatory reference to Muslims in Myanmar. He also admitted to rape.

“The Muslim men were shot on their foreheads and kicked into the grave,” he said, according to the transcript translation, which was also reported in the New York Times.

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

Although we are headquartered in Washington D.C. USA, our reporters and editors are working around the globe to cover what you care about. We invite you to donate to our fundraiser to help us keep our quality news free and available to all. 

 

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.

New Rohingya population figure in Bangladesh is accurate: official

bdnews24.com

Hassan Bipul,
bdnews24.com
Published: 09 Oct 2020

The latest estimate of roughly 850,000 Rohingya refugees living currently in Bangladesh is ‘accurate’, not the initial calculation released two years ago that put the figure at nearly 950,000, says Mohammad Shamsu Douza, the government’s additional commissioner of refugee, relief and repatriation.
 

The official spoke about the problems currently facing the refugees sheltered in Bangladesh and the plans to resolve the crisis in an interview with bdnews24.com.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya had already fled decades of persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar to take shelter in Bangladesh before the exodus, the fastest-growing refugee crisis, began in August 2017 following a military crackdown in Rakhine.

Cox’s Bazar, the southeast coastal district, now has the world’s largest refugee camp. The government is trying to meet their urgent needs under emergency response plan with the help of international organisations led by the United Nations.

Saudi Arabia pressures Bangladesh to issue passports to Rohingya

DW

2020.10.10

Saudi Arabia wants Bangladesh to give passports to 54,000 stateless Rohingya refugees who have lived in the kingdom for decades. But many of them have never stepped foot in Bangladesh.  

Almost 40 years ago, Saudi Arabia took in tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees who were facing persecution in Myanmar. Now, Riyadh wants Muslim-majority Bangladesh to issue passports to some 54,000 Rohingya.

Australian Beauty Queen Fights to Raise Awareness for Rohingya Refugees

PRWIRE  

Release from zanthii communications
2020/10/07

Australia's first Rohingya beauty queen, Pan Sandar Myint is advocating for hundreds of Rohingya refugees, who have arrived in Indonesia after six months at sea.

A wooden boat carrying 297 Rohingya refugees, including 14 children, was spotted several miles off the coast of Lhokseumawe city on Sumatra's northern coast by local fishermen in early September.

RAB detains 9 Rohingyas with arms following fatal Kutupalong clash

Dhaka Tribune  

Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar
October 6th, 2020

Rapid Action Battalion on Tuesday, October 6, 2020 detained nine Rohingyas with arms who were reportedly involved in a clash at Kutupalong camp that left two dead on Sunday Dhaka Tribune

RAB seized four locally made guns and 20 rounds of cartridges from the detainees’ possession during a drive in Chakmarkul hill area in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf on Tuesday,

All of the detainees are residents of Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar.

Acting on a tip-off RAB conducted a drive and detained them, said Major Mehedi Hasan, company commander of RAB 15 Cox's Bazar camp.

Also Read- 2 Rohingyas killed in clash over establishing supremacy

9 Rohingya men held with firearms in Cox’s Bazar

The Daily Star 

Star Online Report
October 06, 2020

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have detained nine Rohingya men along with firearms in their possession from a hill adjacent to Whykong Chakmarkul Rohingya camp, in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf upazila today.

The detainees are Rashid Ahmed (32), Salimullah (55), Shafiq Alam (20), Abdul Hamid (21), Md Saber (32), Mohammad Salam (50), Mohammad Ismail (25), Harunur Rashid (28) and Md Fayez (22), reports our local correspondent quoting Major Mehdi Hasan, captain of Rab-15 in Cox's Bazar battalion.

4 Rohingya refugees killed as factions battle

The Washington Post 

Associated Press
BANGLADESH

Bangladesh police said at least four people died after members of two criminal factions attacked each other in a sprawling camp for Rohingya refugees late Tuesday, officials said.

Twenty other refugees were wounded as the two groups battled, using locally made guns and sharp weapons, at Kutupalong in Ukhiya in the Cox’s Bazar district, said Rafiqul Islam, a police superintendent.

The UN Sees The Rohingyas as The World's Most Persecuted. Here is Why?

albawa news
October 4th, 2020

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires while over 114,000 others were beaten. (AFP)

 

Highlights

 

Myanmar's actions 'amount to crimes against humanity of apartheid, persecution, severe deprivation of liberty,' says HRW.

Rohingya Muslims held in open-air detention camps in Myanmar's Rakhine State since 2012 have been subjected to "institutional oppressions" and "grave rights violations," according to a new report by an international rights group.

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.

Mirza Fakhrul’s ‘incorrect’ comments may hinder progress of efforts to resolve Rohingya crisis: Quader

Prothum Alo------ 
Prothom Alo English
3 October 2020

Ruling Bangladesh Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Friday said the farsighted leadership of prime minister Sheikh Hasina kept intact and re-established all kinds of interests of the country at the international arena, reports state-run news agency BSS.

He said this in a statement strongly protesting and condemning the comments made by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference today.

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.

2 Rohingyas killed in clash over establishing supremacy

Dhaka Tribune

Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar
October 4th, 2020

File photo of Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune

The deceased has been identified as Imam Sharif, 30, and Shamsul Alam, 28

Two Rohingyas were killed and 10 others of the community were injured in sporadic clashes at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in the early hours of Sunday in Cox's Bazar's.