In Myanmar, the military declares war on medical workers

Los Angeles Times

KRISTEN GELINEAU AND VICTORIA MILKO

ASSOCIATED PRESS

JULY 7, 2021

JAKARTA, Indonesia —

In this Feb. 28 image from video provided by Dakkhina Insight, medics attend to a man who appears to have a chest wound in Dawei, Myanmar.

(Dakkhina Insight via Associated Press)

The clandestine clinic was under fire, and the medics inside were in tears.

Hidden away in a Myanmar monastery, this haven had sprung up for those injured while protesting the military’s overthrow of the government. But now security forces had discovered its location.

A bullet struck a young man in the throat as he defended the door, and the medical staff tried frantically to stop the hemorrhaging. The floor was slick with blood.

In Myanmar, the military has declared war on healthcare — and on doctors themselves, who were early and fierce opponents of the takeover in February. Security forces are arresting, attacking and killing medical workers, dubbing them enemies of the state. With medics driven underground amid a global pandemic, the country’s already fragile healthcare system is crumbling.

Why Myanmar may be heading for a full-scale civil war

THE WEEK
JOE EVANS
6 JUL 2021

Civilian death toll rises as military battles anti-coup resistance groups

Resistance fighter with improvised weapon in the southern city of Yangon
Stringer/Getty Images

Myanmar’s security forces have killed at least 25 people in clashes with opponents of the military junta in a township in the central Sagaing region.

Local people in Depayin say the violence erupted after “four military trucks dropped soldiers at the village early on Friday”, Reuters reports.

The alleged raid is the latest in a series of clashes as civilians “increasingly take up arms against the generals who seized power in a coup five months ago”, says Al Jazeera.

Myanmar protesters burn junta leader's images on his birthday

Reuters
July 3, 2021

Myanmar's military ruler Min Aung Hlaing presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

July 3 (Reuters) - Protesters burned mock coffins and pictures of Myanmar's army ruler Min Aung Hlaing on Saturday in the latest demonstrations against the coup over five months ago that has plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos.

"May you not rest in peace" and "may your birthday and deathday be the same," read the messages on funeral wreaths in Theinzayet township in eastern Mon state. Similar protests took place in many parts of Myanmar.

Norway's Telenor planning to exit Myanmar

TRT WORLD
02 July 2021


The telecom giant has booked massive financial losses in a country marred by a military coup and street protests.

Telenor is one of the largest telecom operators in Myanmar that has seen a flight foreign investment this year. (AP Archive)

Norway's Telenor, a major telecom operator in Myanmar, is weighing its future in the country after booking losses following a military coup and subsequent crackdown.

The company issued a statement on Friday it following reports that it was considering the sale of its unit in the country, Telenor Myanmar.

Telenor was pushed into deep losses in the first quarter after it was forced to write down all of its assets in Myanmar, taking their value from $769 million to zero.

Activists, Journalists Included in Myanmar Prisoner Release

THE I DIPLOMAT

By Grant Peck

July 01, 2021

The military gave no reason for the sudden release of prisoners, which included many detained since its February coup.

Myanmar’s government began releasing about 2,300 prisoners on Wednesday, including activists who were detained for protesting against the military’s seizure of power in February and journalists who reported on the protests, officials said.

Buses took prisoners out of Yangon’s Insein Prison, where friends and families of detainees had waited since morning for the announced releases. It is standard practice to take freed prisoners to the police stations where they were originally booked to complete the processing for their freedom.

Myanmar diplomats in US and Switzerland refuse to return home after criticising military junta

South China Morning Post

29 Jun, 2021

• Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s ambassador to the UN, said the 11 diplomats had joined the civil disobedience movement following the Feburary 1 coup
• ‘The military [has] already charged me high treason … So I definitely cannot go back [to Myanmar],’ he said

Anti-coup protesters march in Pabedan township near Yangon. Photo: AP

Eleven Myanmar diplomats in the United States and Switzerland are creating a united front as they seek to remain in their host countries in protest against the country’s military junta, refusing to return home, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday.

Myanmar ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun said the 11 are among around 20 diplomats in seven countries who have joined the civil disobedience movement amid the continued use of violence against protesters by Myanmar security forces since the February 1 military coup.

3 brothers shot by Rohingyas in Teknaf, police say

The Daily Star
Star Digital Report
June 30, 2021

Three locals, brothers, were hospitalised after being shot and critically injured by a group of armed Rohingyas in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar, police said.

The injured are Rahmatullah (30), Salamatullah (22), and Mohammad Hossain (18) -- sons of Habibur Rahman.

The incident happened at Jadimura Rohingya Camp no. 27 near Nature Park area in Hnila union of Teknaf upazila at 3:30am today, reports our correspondent quoting police.

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Myanmar jade industry becoming 'slush fund' for junta

THE STRAITS TIMES

Maria Siow
Published:  29 Jun, 2021

Myanmar is one of the world's biggest sources of jadeite and the industry is largely driven by insatiable demand for jade from neighbouring China.PHOTO: REUTERS

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's multibillion-dollar jade mines risk becoming a "slush fund" for military repression, international watchdog Global Witness said on Tuesday (June 29), urging consumers to boycott buying any jade and gemstones from the coup-racked nation.

The country has been in turmoil since the military toppled the government of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with more than 880 people killed in a junta crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.

ICC Partners with Free Burma Rangers to Provide Aid and Hope to 1,500 IDPs

PERSECUTION

International Christian Concern
6/28/2021

Myanmar (International Christian Concern) – Since the February 1 military coup that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected civilian government, infighting between the Burmese military and pro-democracy groups has reached a boiling point. The fighting has forced many Burmese people to flee their villages out of fear for their lives, leading to a significant spike in the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country.

Rohingya genocide case at ICJ: Myanmar military regime organises new legal team

The Daily Star

Digital Report
June 26, 2021

Armed police confront protesters on the streets of Naypyitaw, Myanmar’s capital, on Monday, February 8. Photo: AP

The Myanmar military regime has organised a new legal team led by its foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, to present the defense in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The regime's order restructuring the committee, which was previously led by detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, was announced in a bulletin published by the Myanmar Gazette on Thursday.

KIA Attack Checkpoint On Bridge Linking Myitkyina to Waingmaw

KACHIN NEWS GROUP

Kachin News Group

Friday, June 25, 2021

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked a police checkpoint on an important bridge linking Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, to Waingmaw.

At press time, it was unclear if there were any casualties from the attack on Bala Min Htin Bridge at about 7:45 pm, June 23.

A woman who requested for her name not to be published heard two police officers were injured. The officers fought back, firing small and heavy weapons at the KIA.

Beijing to act as bridge to facilitate early results in Rohingya repatriation: Li Jiming

The Daily Star

UNB, Dhaka

June 25, 2021

Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming. Photo: Collected

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has said China will continue to serve as a "bridge of communication and try its best to facilitate early results" as Bangladesh seeks early repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.

"We fully understand the keenness of Bangladesh to start repatriation, and our determination to help the two friendly neighbours resolve this long-standing issue will never change," he said while speaking at an online symposium hosted by the Cosmos Foundation.

Rohingya repatriation: Beijing to act as bridge for early results

Dhaka Tribune
UNB
June 25th, 2021

File Photo: Nearly one million Rohingyas are living in Bangladesh now since fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state in 2017 Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune

Myanmar coup caught everyone by surprise, says the Chinese envoy in Dhaka

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has said China will continue to serve as a “bridge of communication” and try its best to facilitate early results as Bangladesh seeks swift repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.

“We fully understand the keenness of Bangladesh to start repatriation, and our determination to help the two friendly neighbours resolve this long-standing issue will never change,” he said while speaking at an online symposium hosted by the Cosmos Foundation.

Myanmar Junta Reorganizes Legal Team for ICJ Rohingya Genocide Case

The Irrawaddy
24 June 2021

Regime Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin

The Myanmar military regime has organized a new legal team led by its foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, to present the defense in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

The regime’s order restructuring the committee, which was previously led by detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was announced in a bulletin published by the Myanmar Gazette on Thursday.

The panel has eight members. Among them are two former military officers—U Wunna Maung Lwin, who will serve as chairman; and the regime’s planning, finance and industry minister, U Win Shein—and two serving lieutenant generals: Yar Pyae and Adjutant General Myo Zaw Thein.

Junta forms new legal team to face Rohingya genocide allegations at ICJ

Coconuts Yangon

Jun 25, 2021 

Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin at the UN Assembly’s 70th annual General Debate. Photo: UN News

Myanmar junta’s military council has set up a legal team to defend itself against allegations of genocide of Rohingya Muslims at the International Criminal Court (ICJ) on July 23.

Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, appointed by the military council, chaired the meeting. Attorney General of the Union Daw Thida Oo has been appointed as the Vice-Chairperson.

The UN’s refugee data shame, and what needs to be done

The Citizen
Oped

By ZARA RAHMAN
THURSDAY JUNE 24 2021

A Rohingya refugee holds ID cards, in Shamlapur refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on 25 March, 2018. PHOTO | FILE

I saw this coming, and I wish I had been wrong.

Back in 2017, I wrote of the risks of the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, collecting biometric registration data from Rohingya refugees, noting that the data could be used to drive unwilling repatriation; that collecting such data may make refugees believe their access to aid depends upon providing such data; and that – once collected or shared – such biometric data is virtually impossible to get rid of.

Nearly four years later, a report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) says these worst-case scenarios have come true: A detailed database of the Rohingya refugee population has been handed over to Myanmar’s government, which drove them across the border into Bangladesh almost four years ago. The same millitary that conducted the (most recent) genocide against the Rohingya now holds the biometric data of the population it has tried to eradicate.

UN says some 230,000 people displaced by fighting in coup-hit Myanmar

PRESS TV
Thursday, 24 June 2021

Children and elders line up for food distribution in the eastern town of Namlan, Myanmar, on May 25, 2021, after being displaced from fighting between the military troops and ethnic forces. (Photo by AFP)

The United Nations says an estimated 230,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Myanmar and need humanitarian assistance, several months after the military took power and plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos.

Turmoil has gripped Myanmar since de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) were ousted on February 1 through a military coup, with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement.

Protesters are demanding the restoration of civilian rule and the release of Suu Kyi and her associates, who have been under arrest ever since.

Rohingya Refugees Protest Over Inadequate Conditions

OWP

The Organisation for World Peace
Madison Smith
June 24, 2021

An estimated 4,000 Rohingya refugees on the remote island of Bhasan Char, off the coast of Bangladesh, have protested their inadequate living conditions and desires to leave the camp during a recent United Nations visit. Protestors were upset at the lack of access to the visiting UN members, and reportedly could not speak to them without the presence of Bangladesh authorities. Local police have reported cases of unruly protestors throwing rocks and breaking glass, damaging warehouses and other properties. In turn, they resorted to using batons to disperse protestors, causing harm to even women and children. The United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) has expressed concern over injuries inflicted on these refugees, as well as dismay over inadequate conditions on the low-lying island, which is susceptible to rising sea levels.

New sanctions against Myanmar military a welcome move

NEW

STRAITSTIMES

June 23, 2021

Makeshift barriers erected by the military and sand bags are seen in front of a government sub-district office along a road in Mandalay, as the country remains in turmoil after the February military coup. (Photo by STR / AFP)

LETTERS: The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) welcomes new sanctions announced by the EU and the UK on June 21st, targeting more financial interests of the Myanmar military as well as individuals with links to the military dictatorship.

It is of outmost importance that the international community keeps the pressure on the Myanmar military.

Rohingya, as genocide survivors, stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Myanmar protesting the illegal military regime, and the international community must do all they can to support Myanmar's struggle for true federal democracy.