Over 200 NGOs urge UN to impose arms embargo on Myanmar

PRESS TV

Wednesday, 05 May 2021 

People take part in a demonstration against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, April 30, 2021. (Photo by AFP)

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, among over 200 non-governmental organizations, have urged the United Nations Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the junta in Myanmar for its lethal crackdown on anti-coup protesters.

UN urges Dhaka to relocate Rohingya to island in ‘phased manner’

ARAB News

SHEHAB SUMON
April 17, 2021

Image shows a housing complex where Rohingya refugees are being relocated in the Bhashan Char island of Noakhali District. (File/AFP)

Report follows a three-day study of remote Bhasan Char by UN experts

DHAKA: The UN has followed up a review of a remote island facility set up by Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees by calling on Dhaka to carry out the relocation process in a “phased manner.”

The recommendation comes despite warnings by rights groups that the site is vulnerable to severe weather and flooding.

A UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson in Dhaka, Charlie Goodlake, told Arab News on Saturday that the UN team is recommending that any future relocations “are undertaken in a gradual and phased manner.”

UN fails to agree on Myanmar statement, diplomats blame China, Russia

FRANCE 24
01/05/2021

UN Special Envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener had a long meeting with Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting STR AFP/File

United Nations (United States) (AFP)

The UN Security Council failed to agree Friday on a joint statement on the crisis in Myanmar after a closed-door meeting, with diplomats blaming Beijing -- the junta's main backer -- and Russia for raising objections and putting forward their own competing text.

The session was convened by Vietnam to present the conclusions of a recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia. ASEAN is to appoint an envoy to help resolve the crisis sparked by the February 1 coup by the Myanmar military.

During the meeting, the UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, who is currently touring the region, gave a report on her long meeting with Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, held on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.

UN calls for return to democracy in Myanmar, end to violence

AP

EDITH M. LEDERER

May 1'2021

Anti-coup protesters run after seeing police and soldiers arrive to disperse their demonstration in Y

angon, Myanmar, Tuesday, April 27, 2021. Demonstrations have continued in many parts of the country since Saturday's meeting of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as have arrests and beatings by security forces despite an apparent agreement by junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to end the violence. (AP Photo)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council on Friday again demanded the restoration of democracy in Myanmar and the release of all detainees including Aung San Suu Kyi and strongly backed calls by Southeast Asian nations for an immediate cessation of violence and talks as a first step toward a solution following the Feb. 1 military coup.

The council’s press statement followed a briefing by the top U.N. envoy that the strong, united demand for democracy by the people of Myanmar who have been protesting since the coup has created “unexpected difficulties” for military leaders in consolidating power and risks bringing the administration of the nation to a standstill.

OP-ED: A wake-up call for Bangladesh?

Dhaka Tribune

Nisath Salsabil Rob
April 25th, 2021

In handling the Rohingya crisis, it is time Bangladesh prepared for the long haul

In the wee hours of February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military -- the Tatmadaw -- declared a one-year state of emergency and arrested democratically elected leaders of the ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), including Myanmar’s former de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, thereby putting a nail on the coffin of Myanmar’s fledgling democracy.

Millions face hunger as Myanmar crisis worsens, United Nations says

Reuters

Poppy Mcpherson
April 22, 2021

Members of the armed forces stand guard during a protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar March 27, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Food insecurity is rising sharply in Myanmar in the wake of the military coup and deepening financial crisis with millions more people expected to go hungry in coming months, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Up to 3.4 million more people will struggle to afford food in the next three to six months with urban areas worst affected as job losses mount in manufacturing, construction and services and food prices rise, a World Food Program (WFP) analysis shows.

UN Urges Bangladesh to Delay Rohingya Refugee Island Transfers

THE I DIPLOMAT
By Sebastian Strangio
April 20, 2021

The controversial island relocation plan points to the challenges facing the resolution of the refugee crisis in southeastern Bangladesh.

The United Nations refugee agency is urging Bangladesh to slow down its relocation of Rohingya refugees to an island in the Bay of Bengal until measures to protect residents from storms and flooding are fully in place, BenarNews reported on Friday.

Since December, the government has moved a total of 18,304 Rohingya from the crowded refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district, close to the border with Myanmar, to Bhasan Char, an island lying some 34 kilometers offshore.

According to the report, a team from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) visited the Bhasan Char in mid-March and acknowledged that the government had made “extensive investments” in infrastructure and safeguards on the flood-prone island, but said further improvements were necessary

UN Urges Bangladesh to Move Rohingya to Bay of Bengal Island Gradually

Radio Free Asia
2021-04-16

Rohingya walk by houses built for them by the Bangladesh government on Bhashan Char Island in Noakhali district, March 13, 2021.

The United Nations refugee agency is urging Bangladesh to slow down its relocation of Rohingya to a low-lying island because measures to protect residents from storms and flooding are not fully in place, UNHCR in Dhaka told BenarNews on Friday.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister said, international agencies must help foot the cost of housing what could eventually be 100,000 refugees on Bhashan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal. So far, Bangladesh’s government has covered that cost.

Rohingya relocation: UN positive about Bhasan Char

The Daily Star  

Star Digital Report
April 16, 2021

This file photo showing the aerial view of Bhasan Char shows a portion of the housing facilities that has been built on the island to relocate the Rohingyas from Cox’s Bazar. Photo: Star/File

The UN has expressed its positive attitude on the Bhasan Char project, which is meant to relocate 100,000 Rohingya from the camps in Cox's Bazar.

The UN delegation, which visited Bhasan Char on March 17-20, has already submitted a report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently.

For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.

"Overall, UN is positive about Bhasan Char," a diplomatic source told The Daily Star today.

UN: 'refer conflict-related sexual violence to ICC'

MEM

MIDDLE EAST MONITOR

Published in: Africa, ICC, International Organisations, Iraq, Libya, Middle East, News, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, UN, Yemen
April 16, 2021

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recommended the Security Council to refer cases of conflict-related sexual violence in a number of countries to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The countries in question include six members of the Arab League: Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Somalia.

Why Myanmar’s massacres shame the world

ZAWYA

SECURITY|
By Yossi Mekelberg, Arab News
03 APRIL, 2021

To a large extent we have arrived at this point due to the past failures of the international community to hold Myanmar’s military accountable for their crimes

Members of the armed forces stand guard during a protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar March 27, 2021.REUTERS/Stringer

When representatives of all UN member states met in 2005 for the World Summit, billed at the time as the “largest gathering of world leaders in history,” and passed a resolution that set out the parameters for the Responsibility to Protect populations (R2P) from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, there was an air of togetherness and optimism that the journey toward eradicating these horrific phenomena had begun.

Why Britain should champion UN action on Myanmar

politics.co.uk

Yasmine Ahmed
Friday 2 Apr 2021

Myanmar police enforcing the military junta’s crackdown on protesters stopped an ambulance in March, dragged four paramedics out of the vehicle, and beat at least three of them bloody, then hauled them off to jail.

The shocking attack on paramedics is just one example we have seen of the junta’s brutality as it struggles to crush protests against the military’s February 1 coup and subsequent jailing of the country’s democratically elected leaders. Everyday Myanmar security forces arbitrarily arrest, beat, and kill more protesters and political opponents; and violence by the authorities is on the rise. On March 27 alone, security forces killed at least 114 people, among them children.

Myanmar: UN chief condemns killing of civilians during brutal crackdown on protestors

UN News
27 March 2021
Peace and Security

Unsplash/Zinko Hein.Young man lights a candle during a night vigil in Yangon, Myanmar.

The UN chief condemned in the strongest terms, the killing of dozens of civilians, including children and young people, by security forces in Myanmar on Saturday.

In a statement issued by Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq, Secretary-General António Guterres said, “the continuing military crackdown…is unacceptable and demands a firm, unified and resolute international response”. 

As Myanmar’s military celebrated Armed Forces Day with a parade in the country’s capital, Naypyitaw, soldiers and police suppressed protesters during what has resulted in the highest daily death toll since demonstrations began last month.

“The military celebrated Armed Forces Day by committing mass murder against the people it should be defending”, tweeted Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

He added that the Civil Disobedience Movement is responding with “powerful weapons of peace” and called for the world “to respond in kind with and for the people of Myanmar”.

UN body urges action over Myanmar military crackdown

Bangkok Post

PUBLISHED : 24 MAR 2021

Family members grieve over the body of teenage bystander Tun Tun Aung at a cemetery in Mandalay on Tuesday, a day after he was shot dead in front of his home by security forces during a crackdown on demonstrations against the military coup. (AFP photo)

 

The UN Human Rights Council voiced alarm Wednesday at the "disproportionate use of force" in Myanmar since last month's coup and pushed for a UN rights office in the country.

The Council's 47 members adopted a resolution reiterating the call for Myanmar's military to restore civilian rule following its Feb 1 coup and immediately release deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

UN releases US$14 million for Rohingya refugees left homeless by camp fire

CERF

Central Emergency Response Fund

News and Press Release
Source :OCHA

25 Mar 2021

(New York, 24 March 2021): UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock today released US$14 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to provide urgent shelter and other assistance to tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees after a devastating fire tore through the Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh — the world’s largest refugee camp — on 22 March.

Estimates indicate that the fire displaced more than 45,000 mostly Rohingya refugees, originally from neighbouring Myanmar, with many more affected. A hospital and other critical health, nutrition and education structures were destroyed.

Inside Myanmar, calls for UN intervention grow louder

The World
Patrick Winn

March 18, 2021 

A brutal military coup has some protesters calling for armed intervention — but is this a real possibility?

People walk along a deserted road blocked with improvised barricades build by anti-coup protesters to secure a neighborhood in Yangon, Myanmar, March 18, 2021.

Credit:AP

Myanmar is in the grips of a sickening cycle.

Nearly every day, unarmed protesters are gunned down by soldiers or riot cops. Social media inside the country is a churn of violent images: maimed bodies and young lives cut short.

Six weeks have passed since the military seized total power and instantly sparked a mass uprising — one powered by huge rallies and a general strike, which is grinding the economy to a crawl.

UN: Killings of Peaceful Protesters by Myanmar Junta Soaring

VOA

By Lisa Schlein
March 16, 2021 

People carry a wreath as they attend the funeral of Khant Nyar Hein, a medical student who was shot and killed during the security force crackdown on anti-coup protesters in Yangon, Myanmar, March 16, 2021.

GENEVA - Human rights officials are expressing alarm at the soaring death toll in Myanmar as the military junta’s security forces intensify their brutal crackdown on protesters.

The past week has been particularly deadly. The U.N. human rights office says 11 people were killed on Monday and 57 over the weekend by security forces that used live ammunition against peaceful protesters.

Diplomats: UN to condemn violence against Myanmar protesters

INDEPENDENT

Via AP news wire

10th March 2021

U.N. Security Council diplomats say members have approved a statement calling for a reversal of the military coup in Myanmar and strongly condemning the violence against peaceful protesters and urging “utmost restraint” by the military.

Myanmar(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

U.N. Security Council members approved a statement Wednesday calling for a reversal of the military coup in Myanmar and strongly condemning the violence against peaceful protesters and calling for “utmost restraint" by the military, three council diplomats said.

The diplomats, who said the presidential statement had been approved by all 15 council members including Myanmar’s neighbor and friend China spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of its official adoption at a council meeting expected later Wednesday. A presidential statement is a step below a resolution but becomes part of the official record of the U.N.’s most powerful body.

Myanmar: 38 Died on Deadliest Day Yet for Military Coup Opposition, Says UN

LATEST LY

Agency News PTI

Mar 04, 2021

Myanmar security forces were seen firing slingshots at protesters, chasing them down and even brutally beating an ambulance crew in video showing a dramatic escalation of violence against opponents of last month's military coup.

Yangon, March 4: Myanmar security forces were seen firing slingshots at protesters, chasing them down and even brutally beating an ambulance crew in video showing a dramatic escalation of violence against opponents of last month's military coup.

A UN official speaking from Switzerland said 38 people had been killed Wednesday, a figure consistent with other reports though accounts are difficult to confirm inside the country. The increasingly deadly violence could galvanise the international community, which has responded fitfully so far. 

Myanmar Shuts Down All Passenger Flights in Country Amid Political Crisis. 

“Today it was the bloodiest day since the coup happened on February 1. We have today — only today — 38 people died. We have now more than over 50 people died since the coup started" and more have been wounded, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, told reporters at UN headquarters on Wednesday. 

UN: Boat with Rohingya refugees adrift without food, water

ARAB NEWS

AP
February 24, 2021

A group of Rohingya refugees is adrift in a boat in the Andaman Sea without food or water, the UN said. (File/Reuters)

• The UN and rights groups have said many of the refugees were ill and suffering from acute dehydration
• Reports said about 90 refugees, including some children, started the journey to seek better lives

DHAKA: A group of Rohingya refugees is adrift in a boat in the Andaman Sea without food or water, the United Nations said Wednesday, as their families worried that many may have already died.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, said it understands that some of the refugees died after the boat left southern Bangladesh about two weeks ago. It said it does not know the boat’s exact current location.