Bleak future ahead for Suu Kyi and Myanmar

ARAB NEWS
DR. AZEEM IBRAHIM
February 19, 2021

Aung San Suu Kyi attends a special lunch on sustainable development on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 4, 2019. (Reuters)

Aung San Suu Kyi once again finds herself in a set of circumstances that defined her life in the past: Under arrest by the military government of her country. However, this time around, things are very different. She is no longer seen as the global democracy and human rights icon, and few outside of Myanmar will campaign for her release with the energy and zeal they did in the past. And, while she remains popular in Myanmar itself, that popularity remains unlikely to translate into a reversal of the military coup.

Asia-Focused California Nonprofit Mobilizes to Fight COVID-19 at Home

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Community Partners International
Feb 19, 2021, 

Community Partners International brings two decades of health care experience in Myanmar (Burma) conflict zones and Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh to help relieve pressure on LA's embattled hospitals.

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Normally used to providing health services in Myanmar (Burma)'s conflict zones and Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, the California nonprofit Community Partners International (CPI) is now helping LA County hospitals cope with the latest wave of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

After Dark, Citizens and Myanmar’s Junta Face Off Across Shadowy Front Lines

The New Yorker
February 19, 2021

Innovative grassroots resistance grows despite mounting regime intimidation.

Editor’s note: The names of the journalists who worked on this article have been withheld for safety reasons.

Since a junta ousted Myanmar’s civilian government, on February 1st, the citizens of Yangon have roared back each day by staging massive and raucous pro-democracy rallies. The largest occurred on Wednesday, when hundreds of thousands marched to reject new criminal charges lodged against the country’s democratically elected leader, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. In the daylight, civilians mock the generals for seizing power after an election in which their proxy party was crushed at the polls. After dark, the city’s power dynamic transforms. Under the cover of an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by the military, police “snatch teams” deploy in Yangon’s eerily empty streets, breaking into homes to haul away opposition politicians, activists, and civil servants who defy the generals with stay-at-home strikes. The spate of arrests has climbed into the hundreds in recent days. Last Friday, the coup’s diminutive leader, General Min Aung Hlaing, stoked nighttime unease by freeing more than twenty-three thousand inmates from the country’s prisons. It was, the general insisted, an act of mercy to honor Union Day, a holiday celebrating the country’s unification in 1947.

စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်တိုက်ဖျက်ရေး အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော် မတီ

စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်တိုက်ဖျက်ရေး အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီ
General Strike Committee (GSC)
ကြေငြာချက်အမှတ် ၁/၂၀၂၁
နေ့စွဲ။ ။၂၀ ဖေဖော်ဝါရီ ၂၀၂၁၊

၁။ ၁၉၆၂ ခုနှစ် စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းချိန်မှစတင်၍ မိမိတို့တိုင်းပြည်၏ ပြည်တွင်းစစ်မှာ ပိုမိုပြင်းထန်လာခဲ့ပြီး စီးပွါး ရေး၊ လူမှုရေး၊ ပညာရေးအစရှိသဖြင့် ဘက်စုံနိမ့်ကျခဲ့ရသည်။ ပြည်သူလူထု၏ အထွေထွေမကျေနပ်မှုများ ကြောင့် ၁၉၈၈ ခုနှစ်တွင် ရှစ်လေးလုံးအရေးတော်ပုံကြီး ပေါ်ပေါက်ခဲ့ရသော်လည်း စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုနှင့် သာ အဆုံးသပ်ခဲ့ပြီး စစ်အာဏာ ရှင်လက်အောက် ထပ်မံကျရောက်ခဲ့ရပြန်သည်။ ပြည်သူလူထုဆန့်ကျင်ကန့်ကွက် ခဲ့ သည့်ကြားမှပင် ၂၀၀၈ ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံ အခြေခံဥပဒေကို အဓမ္မအတည်ပြုခဲ့ပြီး ၂၀၁၀ ထွေ‌ထွေရွေးကောက်ပွဲကို ကျင်း ပကာ ဒီမိုကရေစီ အတုအယောင်ကို ပေးအပ်ခဲ့သည်။

Myanmar protesters urge China to condemn coup. Will Beijing act?

Aljazeera
Zaheena Rasheed
18 Feb 2021

Protesters accuse China of backing Myanmar’s generals, but analysts say Beijing does not favour a return to military rule.

Demonstrators display placards accusing China for supporting Myanmar's military during a protest against the recent coup outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar Thursday, February 11, 2021 [AP]

Chanting “Shame on you, China” and holding up banners in English, Chinese and Burmese, dozens of pro-democracy protesters gathered on Monday at the Chinese embassy in Yangon to denounce what they called Beijing’s backing for Myanmar’s military coup on February 1.

“Myanmar’s military dictatorship is made in China,” read one placard.

Myanmar coup: What is happening and why?

BBC News
Alice Cuddy
19th Feb' 2021

Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing had just turned 20

A 20-year-old woman shot in the head during anti-coup demonstrations in Myanmar has died of her injuries.

Mya Thwe Thwe Khaing was taken to hospital last week, after police used water cannon, rubber bullets and live ammunition to try to disperse protesters.

The country has seen mass demonstrations after the armed forces arrested the country's elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and members of her party.

AFP photo of detained Thai protesters in 2004 recirculates in misleading posts about 'Myanmar Muslims'

AFP Fact Check

Wasi Anjum Mirza, AFP Pakistan
Published on Friday 19 February 2021

Copyright AFP 2017-2020. All rights reserved.

Some of the 300 demonstrators arrested by policemen and soldiers lie on a pavement at Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat outhern Thailand, 25 October 2004. (AFP / Str)

A photo of a group of people surrounded by men wearing military fatigues has been shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook since January 2020 in posts that call for readers to pray for the safety of Muslims in Myanmar. The photo has continued to circulate online alongside a similar claim following a military coup in Myanmar in February 2021. The photo, however, has been shared in a misleading context: it actually shows protesters arrested by police in southern Thailand in 2004.

Advocates will ask President Biden to help ‘end the coup’ in Myanmar during Friday visit to Michigan

Michigan

Kayla Miller | kmille17@mlive.com
Feb 18, 2021

More than 100 people turned out Friday, Feb. 12 at the Calder Plaza in Grand Rapids to protest the military coup in Myanama

PORTAGE, MI -- A Burmese advocacy group is holding a protest for Myanmar during President Joe Biden’s visit to a major COVID-19 vaccine production facility in Portage Friday.

The “Protest for Myanmar” will be held beginning at noon Friday, Feb. 19, outside the Air Zoo, 6151 Portage Road, according to a Facebook event page.

In Myanmar’s uprising, some fight for more than just 'democracy'

The World
Patrick Winn
February 17, 2021

The generals, most of whom are ethnically Burmese, have immense power but little public support. Their coup has enraged much of the population, from the mountains to the sea.

Demonstrators gather in an intersection close to Sule Pagoda to protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 17, 2021. Demonstrators in Myanmar gathered Wednesday in their largest numbers so far to protest the military’s seizure of power, even after a UN human rights expert warned that troops being brought to Yangon and elsewhere could signal the prospect of major violence.Credit:AP

When Stella Naw was a schoolgirl in Myanmar’s hilly upcountry, her textbooks had plenty to say about the Burmese — the country’s predominant ethnicity.

For foreign investors in Myanmar, coup adds new uncertainties

Aljazeera
Megha Bahree
18 Feb 2021

The possibility of Western sanctions leaves foreign entrepreneurs in Myanmar worried about their future prospects.


Ongoing street protests against the February 1 military coup in Myanmar have added to fears among foreign investors of a return to the instability of the country's pre-democracy era [Sai Aung Main/AFP] 

On February 1, Vijay Dhayal, an Indian business consultant in Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon, received a call at 6am (23:30 GMT) from a member of his team telling him that a coup was under way, plunging what had been a routine Monday morning into turmoil

The military had begun detaining civilian leaders, overthrowing Myanmar’s democratically elected government and turning the clock back to the period between 1962 – when Myanmar’s military first took control, 14 years after independence – and 2011, when it ushered in parliamentary elections and democratic reforms.

 

Egyptian Ambassador assures Bangladesh PM of Cairo’s continued support over Rohingya crisis

THE POLICY TIMES
TPT Bureau
February 18, 2021

Egypt will continue its support to repatriate the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar.

DHAKA Bureau Policy Times:

Egyptian Ambassador in Dhaka Bangladesh Haytham Ghobashy Wednesday (17 February) assured Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, his country would continue to stand by Bangladesh over the Rohingya crisis as he paid a courtesy call on her at the premier’s official Ganobhaban residence.

“The newly appointed envoy said Egypt will continue its support to repatriate the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar,” a premier’s office spokesman said after the call on.

Burmese actress goes into hiding as celebrities opposing Myanmar coup added to arrest list

CNN
Sandi Sidhu and Helen Regan,
February 18, 2021

(CNN)Since "day one" of the military coup, Burmese actress Paing Phyo Thu -- one of the country's highest-paid stars -- says she has been on the streets opposing the ruling junta.

One of Myamar's highest-paid actresses, she has been offering financial help to striking staff who have given up their jobs to take part in the growing civil disobedience movement, known as CDM. 

AP Interview: Myanmar troops said to be moving to cities

StarTribune

EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press
February 18, 2021

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. independent investigator on Myanmar said Wednesday that "hardened" troops are being deployed from a number of border areas in northern Rakhine state to some cities, raising the possibility of bloodshed and "a tragic loss of life."

Special rapporteur Tom Andrews said in an interview with The Associated Press that the initial restraint of police dealing with "robust citizen opposition to the coup" has moved on in some instances to use of rubber bullets, real ammunition being fired and use of water cannons.

He said he can now confirm "from a few sources" that some troops are moving to some populated cities from Rakhine, where the government is still fighting a Rohingya insurgency after a 2017 military crackdown that led 700,000 members of the Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh.

"The people of Myanmar understand what the military and these generals are capable of, and so the presence of military and of troops, the escalation of a military presence, and where these troops are coming from makes me very, very nervous," Andrews said.

Is the Myanmar coup a turning point for the Rohingya?

Aljazeera

Inside Story
17 Feb 2021

Many people say they are only now realising the extent of the army’s crackdown on ethnic minorities including Rohingya.

IOM Bangladesh Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Response - External Situation Report (December 2020 - January 2021)

Situation Report
Source: IOM
17 Feb 2021

Link : Here

Where Do the Rohingya Go After the Coup in Myanmar?

The New York Times

Opinion
Mayyu Ali
Feb. 18, 2021

 In the countrywide protests against the coup, nobody is talking about the future of the persecuted Rohingya minority.

Mr. Ali is a Rohingya poet who had to flee his home in Myanmar after the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya by the military.

Credit...Daniel Zender


COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — I have been living in a refugee camp here since 2017, after the campaign of murder, rape and arson by the military in Myanmar forced more than 750,000 people from the Rohingya community to flee our homes in Rakhine State. Since the military coup in Myanmar on Feb. 1, our camp has been abuzz with conversation and even more uncertainty about the future. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who ordered the genocidal violence against us, has taken charge of the country.

Trial for Aung San Suu Kyi Begins in Secret

The New York Times

Hannah Beech
Feb. 16, 2021

Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader appeared in court via video conference without her lawyer’s
knowledge. She faces an additional charge that had not been previously made public.

Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar, on Tuesday called for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted civilian leader. In Naypidaw, the capital, her trial began in secret.Credit...The New York Times

The closed-door trial began in secret, with the two defendants appearing by video. The defense attorney wasn’t even aware what was happening. By the time he rushed to the court on Tuesday afternoon, it was all over, in less than an hour.

The trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader who was ousted in a military coup two weeks ago, and U Win Myint, the deposed president, began on Tuesday. They face obscure charges that could land them in prison for six years and three years respectively.

Myanmar is Experiencing a Digital-Age Coup – Tech Companies Must Push Back

JUST SECURITY
Allie Funk
February 16, 2021 

Service providers and other tech companies have a duty to resist the Myanmar military’s desperate attempt to monopolize control over information.

On Feb. 1, Myanmar’s military seized control of the government, detained political leaders, issued a one-year state of emergency, and announced that its commander in chief, Min Aung Hlaing, would lead the country. What followed was a page pulled directly from the censorship playbook. Citing all-too-familiar concerns over national security, unrest, and rumors, the military has now ordered several temporary internet shutdowns and has blocked news websites and major social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.

Malaysia to Deport 1,200 Myanmar Migrants Despite Post-Coup Turmoil

Bloomberg
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
16 February 2021,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysia's government will repatriate 1,200 Myanmar migrants next week despite a military coup in their home country, but has assured that they will not include minority Muslim Rohingya refugees or those registered with the U.N. refugee agency.

But the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees voiced concern Tuesday that there may be vulnerable women and children among the group. Myanmar's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was detained as the military seized power on Feb. 1, sparking protests in the country.

How will democracy be defined after Myanmar’s military coup?

New Statesment
FRANCIS WADE

16 FEBRUARY 2021

The democratic inclusivity of the country’s anti-coup protests mark a departure from its recent past.

Protests in Myanmar are now entering their third week AUNG KYAW HTET/SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES,

Myanmar’s anti-coup protests, now in their third week, have gone country-wide. Triggered by the military’s putsch of the civilian government on 1 February, the demonstrations have spread from central cities to remote towns. Despite threats of police violence, crowds have continued to grow, drawing in myriad ethnic and religious communities and divergent political groupings. In a nation riven by deep social divides, where only three years ago many were championing the military’s cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, the coup has produced something wholly unexpected: a show of democratic inclusivity by a populace that, over the past decade, has shown a pointed hostility towards that principle.