Human rights group urges Myanmar to end arbitrary and indefinite detention of 130,000 Rohingya Muslims

TODAY NEWS AFRIC

By Press Release

08.10.2020

Aung San Suu Kyi

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The Myanmar government should urgently end the arbitrary and indefinite detention of approximately 130,000 Rohingya Muslims in squalid and abusive camps in Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Thursday.

Rohingya living in ‘open prison’ in Myanmar: Human Rights Watch

Aljazeera

8 Oct 2020

Report says about 130,000 Rohingya live under ‘squalid and abusive’ conditions and calls for an end to their ‘arbitrary detention’. 

Rohingya refugees gather near the fence at the 'no man's land' zone in Maungdaw district in Myanmar's Rakhine State in 2018 [File: Nyein Chan Naing/EPA]

 

Approximately 130,000 Rohingya Muslims who remain in refugee camps in Myanmar’s conflict-torn Rakhine state live under “squalid and abusive” conditions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday urging that their “arbitrary and indefinite” detention be ended immediately.

New Rohingya population figure in Bangladesh is accurate: official

bdnews24.com

Hassan Bipul,
bdnews24.com
Published: 09 Oct 2020

The latest estimate of roughly 850,000 Rohingya refugees living currently in Bangladesh is ‘accurate’, not the initial calculation released two years ago that put the figure at nearly 950,000, says Mohammad Shamsu Douza, the government’s additional commissioner of refugee, relief and repatriation.
 

The official spoke about the problems currently facing the refugees sheltered in Bangladesh and the plans to resolve the crisis in an interview with bdnews24.com.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya had already fled decades of persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar to take shelter in Bangladesh before the exodus, the fastest-growing refugee crisis, began in August 2017 following a military crackdown in Rakhine.

Cox’s Bazar, the southeast coastal district, now has the world’s largest refugee camp. The government is trying to meet their urgent needs under emergency response plan with the help of international organisations led by the United Nations.

Rohingya Trapped by 'Apartheid' Regime in Myanmar, Says Human Rights Watch

VICE

by Anthony Esguerra

08 October 2020

 

More than 130,000 Rohingya Muslims have been in internment camps for eight years in Rakhine State. 

Rohingya people who were arrested at sea in December walk on a beach after being transported by Myanmar authorities to Rakhine state on Jan. 13, 2020. 173 Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar were arrested at sea in December by Myanmar's navy and were escorted back to Rakhine state on Jan. 13, authorities said. PHOTO: STR / AFP

A major human rights group said Myanmar is carrying out a policy of apartheid against Rohingya Muslims languishing for eight years in internal displacement camps, accusing civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of complicity in their persecution weeks before national elections.

Saudi Arabia pressures Bangladesh to issue passports to Rohingya

DW

2020.10.10

Saudi Arabia wants Bangladesh to give passports to 54,000 stateless Rohingya refugees who have lived in the kingdom for decades. But many of them have never stepped foot in Bangladesh.  

Almost 40 years ago, Saudi Arabia took in tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees who were facing persecution in Myanmar. Now, Riyadh wants Muslim-majority Bangladesh to issue passports to some 54,000 Rohingya.

The truth about Burma’s ‘imprisoned princess’

The SPECTATOR
Francis Pike
10 October 2020

It’s as ignorant to demonise Aung San Suu Kyi as it was to idolise her

As Perseus was flying along the coast on his winged horse Pegasus, he spotted Andromeda tied to a rock as a sacrifice to Poseidon’s sea monster Cetus. It was love at first sight. Perseus slew Cetus and married Andromeda. Thus began the damsel-in-distress archetype that has been a mainstay of western culture ever since. Riffs on the archetype have been used by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens and Wagner. Perhaps it was these examples that inspired the global liberal establishment (the BBC, Hollywood and the Nobel Peace Prize committee among others) to create, in the 1990s, the mythical version of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s ‘imprisoned princess’, the saintly spiritual heir to Mahatma Gandhi, as Time magazine described her.

Australian Beauty Queen Fights to Raise Awareness for Rohingya Refugees

PRWIRE  

Release from zanthii communications
2020/10/07

Australia's first Rohingya beauty queen, Pan Sandar Myint is advocating for hundreds of Rohingya refugees, who have arrived in Indonesia after six months at sea.

A wooden boat carrying 297 Rohingya refugees, including 14 children, was spotted several miles off the coast of Lhokseumawe city on Sumatra's northern coast by local fishermen in early September.

RAB detains 9 Rohingyas with arms following fatal Kutupalong clash

Dhaka Tribune  

Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar
October 6th, 2020

Rapid Action Battalion on Tuesday, October 6, 2020 detained nine Rohingyas with arms who were reportedly involved in a clash at Kutupalong camp that left two dead on Sunday Dhaka Tribune

RAB seized four locally made guns and 20 rounds of cartridges from the detainees’ possession during a drive in Chakmarkul hill area in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf on Tuesday,

All of the detainees are residents of Kutupalong Rohingya camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar.

Acting on a tip-off RAB conducted a drive and detained them, said Major Mehedi Hasan, company commander of RAB 15 Cox's Bazar camp.

Also Read- 2 Rohingyas killed in clash over establishing supremacy

9 Rohingya men held with firearms in Cox’s Bazar

The Daily Star 

Star Online Report
October 06, 2020

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have detained nine Rohingya men along with firearms in their possession from a hill adjacent to Whykong Chakmarkul Rohingya camp, in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf upazila today.

The detainees are Rashid Ahmed (32), Salimullah (55), Shafiq Alam (20), Abdul Hamid (21), Md Saber (32), Mohammad Salam (50), Mohammad Ismail (25), Harunur Rashid (28) and Md Fayez (22), reports our local correspondent quoting Major Mehdi Hasan, captain of Rab-15 in Cox's Bazar battalion.

4 Rohingya refugees killed as factions battle

The Washington Post 

Associated Press
BANGLADESH

Bangladesh police said at least four people died after members of two criminal factions attacked each other in a sprawling camp for Rohingya refugees late Tuesday, officials said.

Twenty other refugees were wounded as the two groups battled, using locally made guns and sharp weapons, at Kutupalong in Ukhiya in the Cox’s Bazar district, said Rafiqul Islam, a police superintendent.

The UN Sees The Rohingyas as The World's Most Persecuted. Here is Why?

albawa news
October 4th, 2020

More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires while over 114,000 others were beaten. (AFP)

 

Highlights

 

Myanmar's actions 'amount to crimes against humanity of apartheid, persecution, severe deprivation of liberty,' says HRW.

Rohingya Muslims held in open-air detention camps in Myanmar's Rakhine State since 2012 have been subjected to "institutional oppressions" and "grave rights violations," according to a new report by an international rights group.

Rohingya Genocide Determination Act 2020.

Rohingya issue to figure in talks as Indian foreign secretary, army chief set to visit Myanmar

The Daily Star

Star Online Report
October 03, 2020

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla (left) and Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane (right). Photos taken from The Statesman

Repatriation of Rohingya refugees and the threat posed by Pakistan-based terror groups that are allegedly trying to infiltrate Rohingya in camps in Bangladesh are likely to be among the issues Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane and the country's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will discuss during their one-day visit to Naypyidaw, Myanmar's capital, on Monday.

Naravane and Shringla are expected to discuss the issue of repatriation and rehabilitation of Rohingyas as India is already in discussion to facilitate the return of the refugees back to Myanmar, diplomatic sources said in New Delhi.

Mirza Fakhrul’s ‘incorrect’ comments may hinder progress of efforts to resolve Rohingya crisis: Quader

Prothum Alo------ 
Prothom Alo English
3 October 2020

Ruling Bangladesh Awami League general secretary and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Friday said the farsighted leadership of prime minister Sheikh Hasina kept intact and re-established all kinds of interests of the country at the international arena, reports state-run news agency BSS.

He said this in a statement strongly protesting and condemning the comments made by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference today.

Foreign Secretary & Army Chiefs Myanmar visit to boost local leaderships vision ahead of polls

THE ECONOMIC TIMES
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
Oct 03, 2020

NEW DELHI: Army Chief MM Naravane and Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Foreign Secretary will visit Myanmar as part of efforts to expand wide ranging partnership. The timing of the visit is significant coming ahead of national elections in Myanmar and would help to boost leadership’s goals for the country’s future welfare. 

Security cooperation is getting stronger in recent years in the fight to end insurgency in India's northeast. In a big win for India’s back-door diplomacy, 22 Indian insurgents were handed over for the first time by Myanmar in May, bringing Naypyidaw in sync with New Delhi on dealing with insurgents, sources told ET.

2 Rohingyas killed in clash over establishing supremacy

Dhaka Tribune

Abdul Aziz, Cox’s Bazar
October 4th, 2020

File photo of Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune

The deceased has been identified as Imam Sharif, 30, and Shamsul Alam, 28

Two Rohingyas were killed and 10 others of the community were injured in sporadic clashes at Kutupalong Rohingya camp in the early hours of Sunday in Cox's Bazar's.

COVID-19 AND MONSOON PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE IN ROHINGYA REFUGEE CAMPSAND HOST COMMUNITIESWEEKLY UPDATE#29| 18to 24September2020

Saudis Giving Bangladesh A Cause For Worry – Analysis

eurasiareview
By Syed Badrul Ahsan
October 3, 2020

In these past many months since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, as many as 140,000 Bangladeshi expatriate workers, mostly from the Middle East, have returned home. And now that conditions have eased a little, they are ready to return to their workplaces, especially in Saudi Arabia. But that does not appear to be easy, given that most of these workers have yet to come by air tickets to fly back to Riyadh. Compounding matters for them has been the inability of the Saudia airlines office in Dhaka as well as Biman Bangladesh Airlines to facilitate their departure for their places of work.

Take initiatives for inter-regional diplomacy: BNPTake initiatives for inter-regional diplomacy: BNP

The Daily Star

Staff Correspondent
October 03, 2020

Expressing concern over mobilisation of Myanmar army in the border area, BNP yesterday asked the government to take initiative for inter-regional diplomacy.

"The government's weak foreign policy is clear to Myanmar. Taking full advantage of this, Myanmar showed the courage of mobilising their military forces in Bangladesh-Myanmar international border," said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party.

Bangladeshi officers beat Rohingya over hunger strike, claims rights group

The Telegraph 

By Nicola Smith,  

Asia Correspondent  

2 October 2020 

Human Rights Watch alleges the beatings occurred on the remote island of Bhasan Char last month 

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been displaced since 2017 Credit: Zik Maulana/AP 

 

Bangladeshi naval officers beat Rohingya refugees, including children, with sticks and tree branches after they protested against their detention on the desolate island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal, Human Rights Watch has alleged.

According to reports received by the human rights organisation, the refugees were punished for going on hunger strike last month to demand reunification with their families in the sprawling refugee camps near the Bangladeshi coastal town of Cox’s Bazar. The authorities have denied the accusations.