Myanmar Anti-Hate Speech Orders Aimed at Halting Discrimination Against Rohingya

Radio Free Asia
2020-05-04

Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay speaks during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Naypyidaw, Jan. 7, 2019. Credit: AFP

 

The government of Myanmar has ordered all civil servants to stop using hate speech on social media, a persistent problem in the majority Buddhist country, nearly three years after soldiers and local militias drove more than 740,000 Muslim Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh.

The order, announced by President’s Office Spokesperson Zaw Htay, requires that civil servants monitor and report online behavior to the central government. Critics say the move might be an attempt to clean up Myanmar’s image ahead of future international hearings on the alleged genocide of Rohingya in the country’s western Rakhine state.

Myanmar / Why Tatmadaw attempts to ‘crush’ the Arakan Army will ‘backfire’

By: Thomas Brent - Posted on: January 15, 2019 | Current Affairs 

The Arakan Army was formed just under ten years ago but has quickly grown into a fierce military force in Myanmar. Its latest attacks, which fell on the country’s Independence Day, prompted an unprecedented response from Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, whose office ordered the state army to “crush” the insurgency group. But what will a crackdown achieve and why has the government called for it?

As 2019 took its first tentative steps, Myanmar set about celebrating its 71st anniversary of its independence from British rule. On 4 January, in Maha Bandula Park in Yangon, the sound of sporting events and fun fairs filled the air. In the Buthidaung township in northern Rakhine state, it was the sound of bullets that stamped a bloody mark on the calendar.

The Causes and Likely Effects of the Arakan Army’s Attacks

By The Irrawaddy 12 January 2019

Ye Ni: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, we’ll discuss the Arakan Army (AA)’s attacks on four border police outposts in northern Rakhine State on Jan. 4, Myanmar’s Independence Day, and their impact on politics and the peace process of the country. Political analyst U Maung Maung Soe joins me to discuss this. I’m Ye Ni, editor of The Irrawaddy Burmese edition.

Flotilla planned to help Rohingya in Myanmar

Al Jazeera
30th December 2016
Inside Story


Myanmar says it will not allow any unauthorised landing on its territory, sparking fears of possible confrontation.

 

Malaysia's government has been increasingly vocal about the harsh treatment of the Rohingya [EPA]

An aid flotilla carrying food and emergency supplies for Rohingya Muslims is to sail from Malaysia for Myanmar's Rakhine State in January.

Zulhanis Zainol, secretary-general of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations, said on Friday that the coalition organising the flotilla had applied for permission to enter Myanmar through its embassy in Kuala Lumpur, but had yet to receive a reply.

"Even if we do not receive a response, we will continue to sail as we believe this is an important humanitarian mission," he said.

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar tell of trauma

Malaysia has been an outspoken critic of the Myanmar government's handling of a violent crackdown in Rakhine, which has killed scores of people and displaced 30,0000 Rohingya, amid allegations of abuses by security forces.

" No non-Myanmar citizens can enter our body of water without our permission. If they do, we will respond - we will not attack them, but we will not receive them "

Zaw Htay, spokesman for Myanmar's presidential office

Myanmar's presidential office denied it had received a request and said it would not accept the flotilla's arrival without prior permission.

"If they are looking for trouble, we will not accept that," Zaw Htay, spokesman for the presidential office, told Reuters news agency.

"No non-Myanmar citizens can enter our body of water without our permission. If they do, we will respond - we will not attack them, but we will not receive them."

The flotilla, departing from Malaysia on January 10, would be carrying 1,000 tonnes of rice, medical aid and other essentials for the Rohingya population.

Earlier this month, Malaysia urged the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to coordinate humanitarian aid and investigate alleged atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims.

Both Malaysia and Myanmar are members of the 10-nation grouping, which has a long-standing policy of not getting involved in each other's internal affairs.

An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Rohingya, displaced by previous violence, live in Malaysia.

Myanmar has previously said that access to Rakhine for humanitarian assistance would be open, but certain Rohingya communities have remained off-limits to aid agencies on security grounds.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/flotilla-aid-rohingya-myanmar-161230041535824.html

( 04.12.2016 ) Myanmar: Abuse of human rights ( Financial Express )

Muhammad Zamir,Published : 04 Dec 2016

The Rohingyas are again under attack in Myanmar. The New York Times has correctly observed that "Myanmar has long persecuted the country's Rohingya Muslim minority, denying it basic rights to citizenship, to marry, to worship and to education." Reuters has reported from Yangon that more than 1,000 homes have been razed in Rohingya villages during a military 'counter-insurgency' lockdown (between October 22 November 10). This estimate is based on the analysis of satellite images which Human Rights Watch released on November 21. Latest figures indicate that up to 30,000 people have been displaced in Myanmar's Rakhine state - half of them over the course of the second and third weeks of November.

( 22.11.2016 ) Satellite images reveal destruction in Rohingya villages ( Washinton Post)

The Washington Post

22-11-2016

This Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, satellite image taken by DigitalGlobe and distributed by Human Rights Watch, Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, shows the building destruction in the village of Wa Peik, Maungdaw District, Myanmar. Human Rights Watch said Monday that high-definition satellite images show 820 newly identified structures destroyed this month in five Rohingya Muslim villages in the Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state where the military is carrying out counter-insurgency operations. (DigitalGlobe via AP) (Associated Press)

By Esther Htusan | AP November 21 at 9:47 AM

YANGON, Myanmar — High-definition satellite images show 820 newly identified structures destroyed this month in five Rohingya Muslim villages in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state where the military is carrying out counter-insurgency operations, a human rights group said Monday.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch urged the government to invite the United Nations to assist in an impartial investigation.

( 21.11.2016 ) Myanmar wrecked 1,250 Rohingya homes during 6-week lockdown: HRW

PRESSTV

Mon Nov 21, 2016

A picture taken on October 21, 2016 shows armed Myanmarese soldiers patrolling a village in the Rakhine State in Myanmar’s west during “counterinsurgency” operations. (By AFP)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the government in Myanmar has destroyed as many as 1,250 residential structures belonging to minority Rohingya Muslims in the country just over the past 6 weeks.