Pope, for first time, says China's Uighurs are 'persecuted'

REUTERS
By Philip Pullella
November 23, 2020

 

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - In a new book, Pope Francis for the first time calls China’s Muslim Uighurs a “persecuted” people, something human rights activists have been urging him to do for years. 

Pope Francis delivers his homily during a Mass celebrated as part of World Youth Day, at St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, November 22, 2020. Vincenzo Pinto/Pool via REUTERS

 

In the wide-ranging “Let Us Dream: The Path to A Better Future,” Francis also says the COVID-19 pandemic should spur governments to consider permanently establishing a universal basic income.

In the book, a 150-page collaboration with his English-language biographer, Austen Ivereigh, Francis speaks of economic, social and political changes he says are needed to address inequalities after the pandemic ends. It goes on sale on Dec. 1.

Suu Kyi's Myanmar election win fails to excite foreign investors

NIKKEI ASIA
YUICHI NITTA,
Nikkei staff writer
November 24, 2020

Aung San Suu Kyi's fervid supporters show a clear contrast from the cool attitude of western media and human rights organizations. (Nikkei montage/Source photo by Reuters) 

 

Overseas companies put off by red tape, poor infrastructure and plight of Rohingya

YANGON -- Aung San Suu Kyi's landslide Myanmar election win this month triggered a frenzy of excitement among her supporters, but it was met with cool shrugs by many foreign governments and investors seeking economic and political reform.

On the polling day of Nov. 8, voters lined up from early morning to cast their ballots support for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. And for three nights, dozens of people stood outside the NLD's headquarters in Yangon chanting her name as incoming results pointed to a huge victory for the party.

The world must hold ‘democratic’ Myanmar to account

ARAB NEWS
Dr. Azeem Ibrahim
November 23, 2020

An exhausted Rohingya refugee woman touches the shore after crossing the Bay of Bengal, in Shah Porir Dwip, Bangladesh, Sept. 11, 2017. (Reuters)

The Rohingya people have faced sustained persecution in Burma/Myanmar since it gained independence in 1948. At the core of this discrimination lies the false narrative that they have no place in the ethnic mix of the country because, it is alleged, they migrated from what is now Bangladesh in the 19th century.

At its most benign, this falsity resulted in them being denied full citizenship in 1948 (though they were granted conventional civic rights). By the 1970s, the country’s military dictatorship began taking a series of steps to strip them of even this limited status and, as a result of several campaigns of violence, expelled many to Bangladesh.

အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ လွှတ်ငြိမ်းချမ်းသာခွင့်အဖွဲ့၏ထုတ်ပြန် ကျေညာချက်။

ICJ ကြားဖြတ်စီရင်ချက်နဲ့ ပတ်သက်ပြီး မြန်မာအစိုးရ ဝေ ဖန်ခံနေရ

လွတ်လပ်တဲ့အာရှအသံ ( RFA )

မြန်မာဌာန | သတင်းများ
နေမျိုးထွန်း
2020-11-24 

မြန်မာအစိုးရဘက်က ICJ နိုင်ငံတကာတရားရုံးကို တင်သွင်းထားတဲ့ ဒုတိယအကြိမ် အစီရင်ခံစာမှာ ရိုဟင်ဂျာ တွေ ကို ခွဲခြားဆက်ဆံနေတာနဲ့ လူမျိုးတုံးသတ်ဖြတ်ခံရမှုတို့ကနေ အကာအကွယ်ပေးဖို့ မြန်မာအစိုးရက လိုက်နာခြင်း မရှိဘူးလို့ နယူးယောက်အခြေစိုက် Global Justice Center က ဝေဖန်လိုက်ပါတယ်။ အဲဒီဝေ ဖန်ပြောဆိုချက်ကို မြန်မာအစိုးရက ငြင်းဆိုလိုက်ပြီး ရိုဟင်ဂျာအရေးကို နိုင်ငံတကာအဖွဲ့အစည်းတွေနဲ့ ပူး ပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်မှုတွေရှိ နေကြောင်း တုံ့ပြန်လိုက်ပါတယ်။

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.

Myanmar ignoring Rohingya genocide trial measures: activists

Frontier
MYANMAR

By AFP
November 24, 2020

 

Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK, speaks to the press outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague on January 23. Tun Khin on Monday said Myanmar has failed to abide by a previous ICJ ruling in a case brought by The Gambia accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. (AFP)

 

Human rights lawyers and activists said on Monday 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 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 nation.

Myanmar's genocide against Rohingya not over, says rights group

The Guardian

AFP in Yangon
Mon 23 Nov 2020

Lawyers and activists say persecution of Muslims is continuing despite UN action

Voters in Yangon this month. Rohingya citizens of Myanmar are not allowed to participate in elections. Photograph: Shwe Paw Mya Tin/Reuters

 

Myanmar is continuing to commit genocide against Rohingya Muslims in breach of orders by the UN’s top court, according to human rights lawyers and activists.

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.

The ICJ ordered Myanmar to cease the commission of genocidal acts, prevent the destruction of evidence of crimes against the Rohingya and report back to the UN every six months.

Myanmar ignoring Rohingya genocide trial measures: activists

MailOnline

By Afp
Published: 23 November 2020

 

The International Court of Justice in The Hague rejected arguments made by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ordered the country to cease genocidal acts against the Rohingya

Human rights lawyers and activists said on Monday 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 ignoring Rohingya genocide trial measures: activists

AFP
23 November 2020,

 

The International Court of Justice in The Hague rejected arguments made by Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ordered the country to cease genocidal acts against the Rohingya

Human rights lawyers and activists said on Monday 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 Still Loves Aung San Suu Kyi, but Not for the Reasons You Think

The New York Times 

 By Min Zin
Mr. Min Zin is a political scientist.
Nov. 23, 2020

 

Credit...Ye Aung Thu/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

YANGON, Myanmar — The National League for Democracy, the incumbent party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, secured another landslide victory in the general elections of Nov. 8. It did better even than in 2015, a landmark election, winning this year 396 of the 476 elected seats to be filled in both the lower and the upper houses. (Another 166 seats were reserved for military appointees.)

And the N.L.D. obtained this result despite the government’s weak performance on its key pledges during its first term in office — constitutional reform, national reconciliation and peace, socioeconomic improvement — and the rise of both ethnic minority parties and new challengers. In addition to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (U.S.D.P.), some 90 parties fielded candidates this year.

So what does the outcome say about what Myanmar’s voters really care about?

Myanmar’s Persecuted Rohingya Have an Unlikely New Ally

Vice World News 

Verena Hölzl

23.11.20

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2019 shows a man driving his motorcycle past the ruins of a mosque in Kyaukphyu, Rakhine state, where Muslim residents have been forced to live in a camp for seven years after the inter-communal unrest tore apart the town. Photo: Ye Aung THU / AFP

A shared desire for justice is bringing formerly divided Rohingya and Rakhine communities together, but there is a long way to go.

Once bitter foes separated by violence, religion and competing historical claims, Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists have shared rare moments of solidarity in recent months, finding common cause in demanding justice as victims of Myanmar’s bloody military campaigns.

“They have suffered bad things, and now we are suffering bad things too," said Toe Toe Aung, a 21-year-old ethnic Rakhine man who wants to build peace between the two communities.

Suu Kyi's capabilities tested amid numerous issues plaguing Myanmar: Yomiuri Shimbun

THE STRAITS TIMES

Editorial Notes
Nov 23, 2020

The paper says there has been little progress on ending the civil war between the military and ethnic minorities, issues that Aung San Suu Kyi included in her campaign pledges.

Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi delivering a speech on State Television in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Nov 9, 2020. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

TOKYO (THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Efforts to weaken the military's involvement in politics are essential if Myanmar is to promote democratisation and achieve domestic stability. Aung San Suu Kyi's ability to take action is being called into question.

In the Myanmar general election, the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), led by State Counsellor Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of the government, won more than 80 per cent of the seats up for grabs, maintaining its sole majority. Suu Kyi's popularity has been demonstrated, but the future will be difficult.

The NLD won a landslide in the previous election in 2015, marking a shift from the military-centred political rule that lasted more than half a century. 

A plea to help Myanmar's Rohingya people

The Washington Times

ANALYSIS/OPINION:
By Heather Nauert
Tuesday, November 24, 2020 

More than a million Rohingya have fled persecution and are unable to return home

 

Heather Nauert with Rohingyan children at the Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp, Bangladesh )Photo courtesy Heather Nauert) more >

Myanmar’s security forces have systematically attacked the country’s Muslim minority, known as the Rohingya, for many years.

The United States and the international community have denounced this violence, which includes mass killings and widespread rape of civilians, but the world has done little to hold Myanmar to account. This must change or the lives and safety of the Rohingya people will never improve.

Relocation to Bhashan Char: Rohingyas ‘being coerced’ into getting registered

The Daily Star 

Staff Correspondent
November 22, 2020

Amnesty Int’l says based on allegations from 5 refugee families in Cox’s Bazar

Amnesty International issued a statement yesterday saying that they received allegations from Rohingya refugees about government officials in charge of camps coercing them into registering for relocation.

"According to local media reports, the Bangladeshi government has completed preparations to relocate 300 to 400 Rohingya refugees to the silt island of Bhashan Char this month on a 'voluntary basis'," said the statement.

Rohingya Crisis: UN adopts resolution for urgent solution

The Daily Star

Unb, Dhaka
November 20, 2020 

The United Nations has adopted a resolution stating that there should be an urgent solution to the Rohingya crisis to ensure safe and sustainable return of Rohingyas to their homes by creating a conducive environment inside Myanmar.

The resolution on "The situation of human rights of the Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar" called for specific actions on part of Myanmar, such as addressing the root causes of the Rohingya crisis, including granting them citizenship, and ensuring their safe and sustainable return to their homes.

UK PM raises Rohingya concerns in call with Myanmar leader

REUTERS
Fri, 20 November 2020, 

 

FILE PHOTO: British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is welcomed by Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw,

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised the UK's ongoing concerns over the Rohingya crisis and the conflict in Rakhine when he spoke by phone to Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, his office said in a statement.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout, writing by Sarah Young; editing by Stephen Addison) 

Link : Here

'US remarks on Chinese role over Rohingya issue inappropriate'

Prothum Alo------ 

Prothom Alo English Desk

Dhaka

22 October 2020, 

 

Rohingya refugee camps in BangladeshReuters file photo

The Chinese embassy in Dhaka has reacted to US' claim that China has done very little to resolve the Rohingya issue terming it 'inappropriate and not constructive at all'.

The embassy in a post shared on its verified Facebook page said Stephen E Biegun, US deputy secretary of state, during a press briefing in Washington DC summarising his trip to India and Bangladesh said that China 'has unfortunately done very little to help resolve the Rohingya issue', reports UNB.

UN Rohingya resolution reeks of Dhaka’s diplomatic failures

NEWAGE 

Nov 21,2020  

THE United Nations having adopted a resolution on November 18 urging Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis appears to the Bangladesh side to be ‘a major achievement’. But experts believe that the adoption of such a resolution is of little significance. This also speaks of major diplomatic failures on part of Bangladesh authorities. After the latest round of ‘security operations’ by Myanmar’s military in Rakhine, 8,60,000 Rohingyas had fled unbridled violence to safety into Bangladesh since August 25, 2017 to join many others having already lived here since the late 1970s to take the total number of Rohingyas in Bangladesh to more than 1.1 million. Efforts to repatriate the Rohingyas since August 2017 have faltered twice — on August 22, 2019 and November 15, 2018 — mostly because Myanmar continued creating a fearful situation for the Rohingyas in Rakhine, with none living in Cox’s Bazar camps voluntarily turning up to accept the repatriation offer, citing a ‘lack of a congenial atmosphere’ in their homeland. The process of Rohingya repatriation has since then been left somewhat unattended. Although the Bangladesh permanent representative to the United Nations describes the adoption of the resolution as ‘a very strong mandate’, this speaks of grave Bangladesh failures at the diplomatic level.

Why Do Non-Myanmar Ethnic Nationalities Choose To Die With Their Boots On? – OpEd

eurasiareview

By Kanbawza Win
November 21, 2020

A clarion call for the non-Myanmar youths is silently echoing through, the non-Myanmar areas of Shan, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Karenni (Kayah), Mon and Arakan youths now, as there is no other choice left but to fight the imperialistic Myanmar forces, with whatever weapons available, for after a quarter century (to be exact since 2nd Feb.1947) to date, there is no other choice left. These non-Myanmar ethnic nationalities had patiently waited, hoping against hope that the NLD, construed as a potential ally, has just rode a Covid 19 horse and have implemented the not so fair elections with a landslide with a clear mandate of Myanmarnization of the non-Myanmar ethnic nationals infidel who doesn’t speak Burmese especially who are not Buddhist.