Rohingya to give first testimony in push for Myanmar army probe

THE STRAITS TIMES
17 August 2021

A photo from Sept 10, 2017, showing a Rohingya refugee pulling a child as they walk to the shore in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh.PHOTO: REUTERS

YANGON (AFP) - Rohingya refugees expelled from Myanmar in a bloody crackdown are to testify in court for the first time on Tuesday (Aug 17) to urge a full judicial investigation into allegations of war crimes committed against them.

A military campaign in Myanmar in 2017 is believed to have killed thousands and forced some 750,000 members of the Muslim minority group to flee to refugee camps in Bangladesh, bringing accounts of rape, murder and arson.

The witnesses will testify remotely to a court in Argentina, which is considering invoking the principle of "universal jurisdiction" to bring a case against Myanmar's leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity. The legal premise holds that some acts - including war crimes and crimes against humanity - are so horrific they are not specific to one nation and can be tried anywhere.

Rohingya to give testimony to Argentine court in push for Myanmar Army probe

BuenosAires Times

17 August 2021

Rohingya refugees expelled from Myanmar in a bloody crackdown are to testify before Argentine court. They will use the principle of "universal jurisdiction" to urge a full judicial investigation into allegations of war crimes committed against them. 

TUN KHIN, PRESIDENT OF THE BURMESE ROHINGYA ORGANISATION UK, PREPARES TO GIVE TESTIMONY. | TWITTER.COM/TUNKHIN80

Rohingya refugees expelled from Myanmar in a bloody crackdown are to testify in court for the first time Tuesday to urge a full judicial investigation into allegations of war crimes committed against them.

A military campaign in Myanmar in 2017 is believed to have killed thousands and forced some 750,000 members of the Muslim minority to flee to refugee camps in Bangladesh, bringing accounts of rape, murder and arson.

Rohingya Boat Capsize: UNHCR ready to support rescue work

The Daily Star

Unb, Dhaka

Mon Aug 16, 2021 

NHCR, the UN refugee agency, has said it is in contact with Rohingya communities both on Bhasan Char and in Cox's Bazar to support further rescue efforts following Saturday's boat capsize in Bay of Bengal.

On the morning of August 14, UNHCR was alerted that a boat carrying dozens of Rohingyas had capsized close to Bhasan Char island overnight.

US, China tread warily as Myanmar burns

THE STRAIT TIMES
Tan Hui Yee
Indochina Bureau Chief 

AUG 16, 2021,

Volunteers in Myanmar helping a Covid-19 patient with his oxygen supply in the town of Kale last month.PHOTO: REUTERS

Power Play is a weekly column that looks at various facets of US-China rivalry and its implications for Asia.

BANGKOK - Last Tuesday, a group of young people cornered by the Myanmar junta chose a likely death over arrest. They jumped out of a high-rise building in Yangon. The youth were quickly lionised on social media, where those resisting the Feb 1 military coup vowed vengeance.

Link : Here

Outcry over Myanmar junta denying Covid jabs to Rohingya

UCA NEWS

UCA News reporter
August 13, 2021

Diaspora group says deliberately withholding essential health care to Rohingya confirms genocidal charges.

Members of the internally displaced Rohingya community at a camp in Rakhine state. (Photo: AFP) 

 

A diaspora group based in London has decried the Myanmar junta’s plans to withhold Covid-19 vaccinations from hundreds of thousands of Rohingya inside crowded camps in Rakhine state.

“This is a continuation and escalation of the crimes against humanity, including genocide and ethnic cleansing, that have been carried out for decades against Rohingya people,” Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK), said in a statement on Aug. 12.

Myanmar’s Ex-Dictator Than Shwe, Wife Enter Hospital as Precaution Against COVID-19

The Irrawaddy
12 August 2021 

Then Myanmar military dictator Than Shwe (right) and his wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing in 2010. / Khin Maung Win

Myanmar’s former dictator Than Shwe and his wife were admitted to a military hospital in Naypyitaw several days ago as a precaution amid the country’s raging COVID-19 outbreak, according to a senior military official.

The pair—who are reportedly in good health and are believed to have received their inoculations, as the country’s vaccine program prioritizes anyone over 65—entered the hospital “to have close medical attention in case they have been infected with COVID-19,” the military official said.

Myanmar, Six Months After the Coup

THE I DIPLOMAT

August 10, 2021

 

On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military seized control of the country, arresting civilian leaders and ousting the elected parliament. Since then, the country has perched on the edge of civil war, caught between the use of violent force by the Tatmadaw and a growing armed resistance on the part of ethnic militias as well as the proclaimed National Unity Government. On top of that, the Delta variant of COVID-19 is causing a surge in infections that threatens to collapse the health care system.

Supporting stranded Rohingya in Thailand

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

EUROPEAN CIVIL PROTECTION AND HUMANITARIAN AID OPERATIONS
Source : ECHO
10th August 2021

© IOM Thailand

Despite early success in controlling the pandemic in 2020, Thailand has been gripped by rapidly rising COVID-19 cases and deaths in 2021, driven by the more virulent Delta variant. This has significantly impacted on health and the economy – especially among the vulnerable.

The pandemic has extended to Thailand’s refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers, who face compounded burdens. Migrant and mobile populations have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 as they are unable to implement prevention measures, such as physical distancing, adequate sanitation, accessing medical care and access to personal protective equipment (PPE).

Bangladesh starts COVID-19 vaccine drive for Rohingya refugees

REUTERS
Ruma Paul
August 10, 2021

DHAKA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Bangladesh began vaccinating thousands of Rohingya Muslims on Tuesday in the world’s largest refugee settlement amid a surge in COVID-19 infections in the country, officials said.

Aid workers have long warned of a potential humanitarian disaster if there is a significant outbreak in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, the border district where over a million Rohingya who fled a brutal military crackdowns in neighbouring Myanmar have found sanctuary.

Anti-military protests in Myanmar on anniversary of 1988 uprising

Reuters
August 8, 2021

Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on February 1, presides an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo

ASEAN countries urged to help expedite Rohingya repatriation efforts

UNB

UNB NEWS
DHAKA
AUGUST 08, 2021, 

It's crucial to maintain regional peace to attain full potential, Momen says,

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday urged the ASEAN member states to intervene in the Rohingya issue and help expedite their repatriation to Myanmar.

"For the last four years, there is no violence in the Rakhaine State, yet none of the displaced people of Myanmar returned to their homes mostly because of fear of uncertainty and trust defect," he said.

Read: Bangladesh receives $590 million World Bank financing to tackle Rohingya situation

New ASEAN envoy to Myanmar says he wants full access when he visits

Reuters
August 7, 2021

Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs Erywan Pehin Yusof addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York City, New York, U.S., September 30, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The Brunei diplomat appointed by a Southeast Asian regional bloc as its special envoy to Myanmar said on Saturday he should be given full access to all parties when he visits the strife-torn country, where the military overthrew an elected government.

Speaking days after his appointment by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Erywan Yusof gave no date for his visit to Myanmar, whose civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials have been detained since the Feb. 1 coup. read more

Two men arrested in US over alleged plot to kill Myanmar's UN ambassador

CNN
Helen Regan and Jamie Crawford,
August 7, 2021

Myanmar UN Representative speaks after issuing plea to the world 04:35

(CNN)Two Myanmar citizens have been charged in New York with allegedly plotting to kill or injure Myanmar's ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun, the US Attorney's Office said Friday.

The duo are accused of conspiring with an arms dealer in Thailand who sells weapons to the Myanmar military, to "seriously injure or kill" the ambassador "in a planned attack on a foreign official that was to take place on American soil," said Audrey Strauss, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement.

U.S. says plot against Myanmar U.N. envoy fits 'disturbing pattern'

REUTERSMichelle Nichols
August 7, 2021

Myanmar's ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun addresses the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 11, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo/File Photo

NEW YORK, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The United States on Saturday condemned a thwarted plot to attack Myanmar's U.N. ambassador in New York, saying it fits a "disturbing pattern" of authoritarian leaders and their supporters seeking to persecute opponents around the world.

World Bank clarifies its position on Rohingya repatriation

Dhaka Tribune

Tribune Desk
August 3rd, 2021

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas who have fled their homeland in Rakhine State after being persecuted by their own country Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune

The global lender recently sent a letter to ERD attaching a document detailing Rohingyas' freedom of movement, birth certificate, educational and employment opportunities, and infrastructure

The World Bank reviews its refugee policy framework every three years before mobilizing funds under the International Development Assistance window.

The international lender recently solicited input on its current policy review from 16 refugee-hosting nations, including Bangladesh.

Rohingya Repatriation: WB clarifies its position

The Daily Star

Staff Correspondent

Wed Aug 4, 2021

The World Bank addressed its position on the Rohingya issue on its website yesterday.

In a question-and-answer format, the World Bank spoke of Rohingya repatriation, its Refugee Policy Review and other issues.

Recently, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that the World Bank sent a letter attaching a document that spoke of Rohingyas' freedom of movement, birth certificates, privileges of education and job, and infrastructure.

Although the document was not Bangladesh-specific, the government informed the World Bank that it would not agree to those suggestions, the foreign minister had said.

ASEAN’s humanitarian aid to Myanmar must not legitimise military junta: Progressive Voice & FORUM-ASIA

TOC

The Online Citizen
Asia, Civil Society
04/08/2021

“ASEAN and the international community must recognize and engage with the NUG, and disengage with the junta in provision of humanitarian assistance to prevent them from weaponizing humanitarian aid."

 Protesters hold a banner supporting the National Unity Government (NUG) during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on 11 July 2021 (Source: AFP)

The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the rest of the international community must provide humanitarian assistance through the COVID-19 Task Force set up by the Ministry of Health under interim government of Myanmar – the National Unity Government (NUG) – and Ethnic Health Organisations, as well as through cross-border channels, local humanitarian networks, ethnic service providers, and community-based organisations, said Progressive Voice and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) in a joint statement on Wednesday (4 Aug).

Six months after coup, Myanmar’s political, rights and aid crisis is worsening

UN News
30 July 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Unsplash/Matteo Massim ,People praying in the grounds of a temple in Yangon, Myanmar, the country's largest city.

It’s been six months since the military coup in Myanmar where there’s grave concern over the widening impact of the deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis affecting the country’s people.

Speaking to UN News, the organisation’s top aid official in Myanmar, Acting Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan, described how people have been severely impacted across the country since the junta’s power grab on 1 February.

The situation in the country is characterized now by instability and a deteriorating socio-economic and security situation and to add to that we have a raging third wave of COVID-19,” said Mr. Balakrishnan in an exclusive interview.

Highlighting the ongoing nature of armed resistance to State security forces “in several ethnic minority areas” including in the states of Shan, Chin and Kachin, the UN official said that more than 200,000 people had been uprooted from their homes there to date.

Displacement swelling

In Rakhine state before the coup, the UN Humanitarian Response Plan pointed to some one million people including internally displaced people in need of urgent assistance, but “this number has only swelled”, Mr. Balakrishnan insisted.

US urges UN Security Council to press Myanmar to return to democracy

Business Standard

AP | United Nations
July 30, 2021 

A senior US diplomat urged the UN Security Council on Thursday to press Myanmar's military to stop violence and restore democracy

A senior US diplomat urged the U. Security Council on Thursday to press Myanmar's military to stop violence and restore democracy, warning that with COVID-19 surging and hunger increasing, the longer we delay, the more people die.

Deputy US Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said Myanmar is reeling from a surge in COVID-19 cases and faces a burgeoning health catastrophe as a direct result of the military's brutality and administrative failures since its coup six months ago.

UK should self-examine before advising others on human rights, democracy: Momen

The Daily Star

Star Digital Report
Mon Jul 12, 2021 

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen. File photo

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has suggested that the UK pay attention to its position before advising others on human rights and democracy.

"They should look at themselves in the mirror before advising others. If they cannot improve their situation, they should stop this practice," he said in response to queries from reporters at his ministry today regarding the UK's global report on Human Rights and Democracy of 2020.