Rohingya Citizenship: Myanmar’s NUG to draft new charter to ensure it

The Daily Star

Porimol Palma

June 05, 2021

In a significant development, Myanmar's National Unity Government has announced drafting a new constitution and committed to ensuring citizenship and fundamental rights of all ethnic groups, including the Rohingyas.

It also pledged to repatriate Rohingyas from Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries, revoke the controversial 1982 Citizenship Law and National Verification Card, and invite them to join the shadow government in overthrowing the military junta.

"We invite Rohingyas to join hands with us and with others to participate in this Spring Revolution against military dictatorship in all possible ways," said a statement by the National Unity Government (NUG) Thursday.

The NUG, Myanmar's shadow government in exile, was formed by the ousted parliamentarians of National League of Democracy (NLD) in early April, more than two months after the military took control of the Southeast Asian country, alleging gross anomalies in the November 2020 elections. The NLD had won the election and was in the process of forming a government.

Ousted Myanmar politicians call for Rohingya to join fight against junta

the Gurdian

Rebecca Ratcliffe 

Fri 4 Jun 2021 

NUG says it will scrap law denying citizenship, in ‘notable step forward’ for rights of Rohingya people

A demonstration against the military coup in Monywa, Sagaing region, in April. The NUG statement said: ‘The solidarity of the entire people is now at its best.’ Photograph: Facebook/AFP/Getty Images

Myanmar’s parallel government has urged Rohingya to join with them in fighting the military junta, promising to offer justice and citizenship to the persecuted minority.

The statement has been welcomed by rights experts as “an important and notable step forward” in the movement for full rights for the Rohingya, who have faced decades of discrimination and violence in Myanmar.

Genocide of Rohingya shows no sign of abating: Report

THE NATION
Anadolu

May 29, 2021

A UK-based Rohingya rights defender, the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK), in a new report claimed “the genocide against Rohingya shows no sign of abating in Myanmar” despite the order of the UN's highest court to the Myanmar authorities for protecting the minority community.

“Since the start of 2021, at least 15 Rohingya -- including nine infants and young children -- have died as a direct result of onerous and illegal travel restrictions preventing access to medical care,” the report released on Monday said.

The release has also coincided with Myanmar’s duty to report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), on how it is preventing genocidal acts against the minority Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

Genocide against Rohingyas not abating

The Daily Star

Diplomatic Correspondent
May 25, 2021

Says BROUK; junta leader cast doubt on return of refugees

The genocide against the Rohingyas shows no sign of abating in Myanmar, the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) said in a new briefing yesterday.

It said the Myanmar military continues to subject the Rohingyas to a vicious pattern of abuse and extortion in the Rakhine State, where Rohingyas are kept in what amounts to an open-air prison, creating intolerable living conditions.

Since the start of this year, at least 15 Rohingya, including nine infants and young children, have died as a direct result of onerous and illegal travel restrictions preventing access to medical care, said BROUK President Tun Khin in a statement.

UK accused of ‘abandoning’ Rohingya with ‘catastrophic’ 40% aid cut

The Guardian

Kaamil Ahmed
Fri 21 May 2021

Children in overcrowded Cox’s Bazar settlement likely to suffer most from reduced humanitarian spending, say campaigners

Campaigners have warned of a ‘lost generation’ of children if funding targets for the response in Myanmar are not met. Photograph: Kazi Salahuddin Razu/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

The government has been accused of abandoning Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh after cutting aid to the humanitarian response by more than 40%.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) pledged £27.6m to the humanitarian sector’s joint response plan launched this week, compared with £47.5m last year.

Pan-Southeast Asian Agreement Aims to Stop Spillover of Myanmar Violence

VOA

By Ralph Jennings
April 24, 2021

President Joko Widodo, center, accompanied by other Indonesian officials, delivers a press statement following a meeting of ASEAN leaders at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 24, 2021. (Courtesy Indonesian Presidential Palace)

TAIPEI - Saturday's strongly worded call from a bloc of 10 Southeast Asian nations for an end to post-coup violence in Myanmar moves the region a step away from unrest infecting other countries and a step toward peacemaking, analysts say.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a five-point consensus calling for “immediate cessation” of violence in Myanmar, “utmost restraint” by all actors there and the start of peace talks. An ASEAN envoy will help mediate dialogue in Myanmar, the consensus said, and the group will offer humanitarian aid. Myanmar is a group member.

Chance for Asean to stop Myanmar military rulers

NEWSTRAITSTIMES

April 24, 2021

This handout photo taken and released by Dawei Watch on April 23, shows protesters holding signs calling for the arrest of Myanmar armed forces chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during a demonstration against the military coup in Dawei. -AFP pic/Dawei Watch

LETTER: Southeast Asian leaders must unite to push the Myanmar junta to end horrific abuses against ordinary people and ensure it does not recognise the military as the country's legitimate rulers.

Asean is holding a Special Summit on Myanmar in Jakarta, today, to discuss the crisis brought about by the Tatmadaw's (military) coup in February. Junta leader and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who stands credibly accused of being one of the chief architects of the genocide against the Rohingya, is expected to attend the meeting.

ASEAN urged to consider Myanmar’s expulsion over coup abuses

Aljazeera
23 Apr 2021

Analysts and former diplomats say Saturday’s summit in Jakarta could be the most consequential in the regional bloc’s 54-year history.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an activist group, says 739 people have been killed by Myanmar's security forces since the coup and 3,300 people are in detention as of Thursday [Stringer/Reuters]

Rights groups and activists are urging the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deny legitimacy to Myanmar’s coup leader and even consider the country’s expulsion from the regional bloc over rights abuses by security forces, as leaders of the member states prepare to attend a summit in Jakarta.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the February 1 coup that deposed Myanmar’s democratically-elected government, is expected to participate in Saturday’s summit of the 10-member ASEAN alongside seven head of states.

Rohingya refugees to speak on their aspirations

Dhaka Tribune

Atikur Rahman
March 28th, 2021

File photo of Rohingya refugees getting briefed about their stay at Bhashan Char after relocating there from the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, on Friday, December 4, 2020 Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan/Dhaka Tribune

The webinar will take place at 3pm on the Brac University Centre for Peace and Justice Facebook page

The Brac University Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) is set to organize a webinar featuring speeches from five of CPJ's Rohingya research volunteers on Monday, March 29, 2021.

The webinar will focus on the strengths and aspirations of Rohingya refugees, who were forced to flee their homes due to violent persecution. The discussion will also feature refugees speaking on their thoughts for the foreseeable future, and includes direct information from Rohingya camp residents working closely on relief efforts.

Why Myanmar’s Junta Might Give Brief Reprieve to Embattled Muslim Minority

VOA

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Ralph Jennings
17 March 2021

In this June 26, 2014 photo, a girl, self-identified as Rohingya, stands close to her family's tent house at Dar Paing camp for refugees, suburbs of Sittwe, Western Rakhine state, Myanmar. Suu Kyi's many supporters overseas have been dismayed by her…

TAIPEI, TAIWAN —

Myanmar’s military government, seen as the chief force behind previous long-term violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority, is leaving the population alone for now as it battles protesters. But analysts say the junta is expected to resume the old crackdown over time.

The junta seized power in a February coup from a civilian government and has been focused on quelling protesters, rather than the Rohingya minority that lives in a western region of Myanmar and continues to push for civil rights. At least 11 protesters were killed on Monday and 57 over the weekend in the bloodiest period since the military coup last month, the United Nations says on its website.

Myanmar’s conflict-scared Rohingya on edge with return of generals

THE NATION
Agencies
February 14, 2021

Yangon-Myanmar’s stateless, conflict-scarred Rohingya community are on edge with the return of military rule, fearing further violence in a restive part of the country where others have shown support for the new regime.

Much of the long-persecuted Muslim minority have spent years in cramped displacement camps, with no freedom of movement or access to healthcare, living in what rights groups call “apartheid” conditions. They are still reeling from a 2017 military crackdown that razed entire villages and sent around 750,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border into Bangladesh carrying accounts of rape and extrajudicial killings.

Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya uneasy with return of military rule

DAILY SABAH

FRENCH PRESS AGENCY - AFP
YANGON ASIA PACIFIC
FEB 13, 2021

Myanmar military Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing (4L) and senior military commanders arrive on the second day of the 'Sin Phyu Shin' joint military exercises in the Irrawaddy Delta region, Feb. 3, 2018. (AFP Photo)

Myanmar's stateless, conflict-scarred Rohingya community are on edge with the return of military rule, fearing further violence in a restive part of the country where others have shown support for the new regime.

Much of the long-persecuted Muslim minority have spent years in cramped displacement camps, with no freedom of movement or access to health care, living in what rights groups call "apartheid" conditions.

They are still reeling from a 2017 military crackdown that razed entire villages and sent around 750,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border into Bangladesh carrying accounts of rape and extrajudicial killings.

"Under a democratic government, we had a little hope we could go back to our old home," said a 27-year-old, who asked not to be named, from a camp near the city of Sittwe.

Rohingya Activists Are Hoping That the Coup in Myanmar Will Be a Turning Point for Their Struggle

TIME  

Amy Gunia

February 8, 2021

   

A group of people shout slogans and hold placards during a Rohingya solidarity rally in front of the ICJ, The Hague, on December 11th, 2019.Romy Arroyo Fernandez/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In the week since the military overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government, exile Nay San Lwin has been inundated with dozens of messages from his compatriots offering support.

It’s a dramatic change from 2017, when the rights activist, now living in Germany, was disseminating information about the atrocities Myanmar’s military had unleashed against his community—the mostly Muslim Rohingya, who live in the west of the country. Back then, the majority of the messages he received from other Burmese consisted of death threats and abuse.

Call on Bangladesh authorities to release Rohingya photographer Abul Kalam

mizzima
03 January 2021

Well known Bangladeshi and international human rights figures, lawyers, academics, filmmakers, photographers, journalists and human rights focussed organisations are calling for the release of Rohingya photographer Abul Kalam.

On the morning of 28th December 2020, Abul Kalam, an award-winning photographer and Rohingya refugee, set out to take photographs of buses departing the Kutupalong camps for Bhasan Char. He was apprehended and then taken to the Camp-in-Charge in Camp 2W Block D5 of Kutupalong and subsequently to the Camp-in-Charge of Kutupalong Registered Camp. He was reportedly beaten when he was apprehended.

More than 100 UK MPs want intervention in The Gambia’s Rohingya genocide case

The Daily Star 

Star Online Report
December 18, 2020

 

Photo: AFP/File 

More than 100 UK MPs have called on the British government to make an intervention supporting The Gambia's Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as human rights violations against the Rohingyas continue.

"Ending impunity is essential not only to ensure justice and uphold international law, but also to deter further international crimes by the military in Myanmar," according to a letter to the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Dominic Raab MP, issued on December 17.

Myanmar ignoring Rohingya genocide trial measures, say activists

Eastern Eyes

November 26, 2020

The President of The Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), Tun Khin, poses in front of Argentine federal court in Buenos Aires on November 13, 2019. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP)

Human rights lawyers and activists said on Monday (23) that Myanmar is continuing to commit genocide against Rohingya Muslims in breach of orders by the UN’s top court.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January rejected arguments made personally by Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in The Hague and imposed urgent interim measures on the predominantly Buddhist nation.

Myanmar na ci gaba da musgunawa musulmin Rohingya- Lauyoyi

rfi 

Wallafawa ranar: 24/11/2020

'Yan Rohingya kusan miliyan guda ne yanzu haka ke gudun hijira a Bangladesh STR/AFP

Lauyoyin da ke kare mutanen da aka ci zarafin su a kasar Myanmar sun ce har yanzu gwamnatin kasar na cigaba da aikata laifuffukan yaki akan 'yan kabilar Rohingya Musulimi sabanin umurnin kotun duniya.

Pegiat HAM Sebut Genosida Rohingya di Myanmar Masih Terjadi

CNN

CNN Indonesia

Selasa,
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia
Bagikan : 24/11/2020

Ilustrasi pengungsi Rohingya. Pegiat HAM meyakini Myanmar masih melakukan genosida terhadap etnis ini. (ANTARA FOTO/Syifa)

 

Sejumlah pegiat hak asasi manusia menyebut pemerintah Myanmar tidak berhenti melakukan genosida atau pembersihan etnis Rohingya meski negara itu sudah digugat di Mahkamah Internasional (ICJ).

"Genosida masih berlangsung. Pemerintah dan militer Myanmar sudah memperhitungkan mereka tetap aman jika mengabaikan tindakan sementara dan tidak akan menghadapi konsekuensi apapun," kata Presiden Organisasi Burma Rohingya, Tun Khin, seperti dilansir AFP, Selasa (24/11).

In Birmania il genocidio contro i Rohingya continua

31 MAG.nl

24 Nov 2020

La Birmania, a maggioranza Buddista, sta continuando a perpetrare il genocidio contro la minoranza Rohingya, di fede musulmana, nonostante gli ordini delle Nazioni Unite. L’allarme è stato lanciato da attivisti e avvocati che si occupano di diritti umani.

A gennaio, il tribunale internazionale di giustizia ICJ ha respinto le argomentazioni della leader Birmana, Aung San Suo Kyi, che si è auto difesa alla corte dell’Aja. Il tribunale ha inoltre imposto misure temporanee ma urgenti sulla nazione.

La ICJ ha ordinato alla Birmania di fermare il genocidio, di non eliminare le prove dei crimini commessi contro i Rohingya e di presentare un resoconto alle UN ogni sei mesi.

Rohingyas : la Birmanie continue ses persécutions malgré une condamnation par la justice internationale

Le Parisien
Par Le Parisien avec AFP
Le 23 novembre 2020

La Cour internationale de justice avait ordonné en janvier à la Birmanie de cesser ses exactions, de préserver les preuves des crimes commis contre les Rohingyas. Rien n’a été fait. 

En 2017, des Rohingyas ont été contraints de quitter la Birmanie. Ici une femme garde son frère enchaîné pour sa propre sécurité et pour l’empêcher de s’égarer et de se perdre dans le vaste camp de réfugiés. AFP/INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

Le gouvernement birman continue de persécuter la minorité musulmane rohingya malgré sa condamnation par la justice internationale, ont affirmé lundi des avocats et des défenseurs des droits humains.

Depuis 2017, quelque 740 000 Rohingyas ont fui les exactions de l'armée birmane et se sont réfugiés au Bangladesh voisin, où ils s'entassent dans d'immenses camps de fortune. Cette crise a conduit la Birmanie à se voir accusée de « génocide » devant la Cour internationale de justice (CIJ), plus haute instance judiciaire de l'ONU.