Heavily armed Myanmar army troops patrol Kyinkanpyin area in Maungdaw town located in Rakhine near the Bangladesh border on October 16, 2016. Photo: Khine Htoo Mrat/AFP

By Mizzima

September 17, 2016

The Dalai Lama has condemned attacks against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar, describing them as acts of "some mischievous individuals who do not represent Buddhism," accordingto the Kuwait News Agency on 15 September.

The Tibetan Buddhist leader was speaking to the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee in Strasbourg.

He also criticised Myanmar’sState Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi for not speaking up against the atrocities committed against the Rohingya. "She remained quiet for a while, as Nobel Laureate she should speak against injustice," the report quoted him as saying.

By Mizzima

September 3, 2016

The United States government should keep in place sanctions on Myanmar to deter the Myanmar military from derailing democratic reforms, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch has learned that the Obama administration plans to announce the lifting of key sanctions during Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Washington, DC, which begins on September 14, 2016.

“US sanctions are focused on the Burmese generals and their cronies in order to encourage democratic reforms,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, in a press release on September 2. “The sanctions are crucial for pressing the military to end rights abuses and transfer power to a fully civilian government. They shouldn’t be fully lifted until the democratic transition is irreversible.”

Many of the sanctions restricting Myanmar financial institutions, imports, and US investment in Myanmar were already eased or removed entirely between July 2012 and May 2016. Most of the remaining sanctions specifically target the Ministry of Defense, state or non-state armed groups, and individuals and entities on the US Department of Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDN) List.

In August, Myanmar’s lower house of parliament voted to reject a legislative proposal that would challenge US sanctions. U Hla Moe, a senior official in Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy party, told the media after the vote that “there’s no reason to discuss it, because the sanctions are imposed for those who are obstructions to the country’s democratic movements, not for the [whole] country. So the parliament doesn’t need to urge to ease them.”

During a joint news conference on May 22, Suu Kyi, State Counsellor and Foreign Secretary of Myanmar, and US Secretary of State John Kerry both appeared to suggest that relaxing sanctions would not occur until Myanmar’s military allowed the country’s fundamentally flawed 2008 constitution to be revamped. The constitution reserves 25 percent of parliamentary seats for the military, empowers the military to appoint the ministers of defense, home affairs, and border affairs, and allows the military to dissolve the government during a national emergency.

Kerry said at the May news conference that, “the key to the lifting of the sanctions is really the progress that is made within Myanmar in continuing to move down the road of democratization… it’s very difficult to complete that journey – in fact, impossible to complete that journey with the current constitution. It needs to be changed.”

Suu Kyi said: “We’re not afraid of sanctions. We’re not afraid of scrutiny… I understand and I accept and I believe that the United States is a friend, and are not keeping the sanctions to hurt us, but to – that it would help us. And I’m ready to accept that; I’m not afraid of sanctions.”

Core sanctions include the gem trade, with which the Myanmar military has long been involved in illicit and abusive exploitation, Human Rights Watch said. Key provisions in the current sanctions regime aim to prevent US companies and individuals from doing business with military officials and military-owned enterprises, prohibit the import of Myanmar jade and gemstones into the US, and restrict businesses and persons from involvement in that sector. Recent legal reforms in Myanmar that address the jade and gemstone sector have not yet been fully implemented. As a result, on August 23, US Customs and Border Protection reportedly updated and renewed its rules prohibiting the importation of gemstones from Myanmar.

The US Department of the Treasury maintains on its “Specially Designated Nationals” (SDN) List an extensive number of Myanmar people and entities with whom US companies and persons are barred from doing business. Several are individuals who the US has determined threaten the peace, security, or stability of Burma’s political reforms, or are responsible for or complicit in human rights abuses in Myanmar.

“Many of the Burmese on the US sanctions list are criminal suspects and human rights abusers,” Sifton said. “The US should assist Burma in promoting genuine economic development, not help those who made ill-gotten gains during military rule.”

Human Rights Watch also urged the Obama administration to keep in place the underlying “state of emergency” that allows many parts of the sanctions regime to stay in place. If current executive orders imposing sanctions are lifted or amended, they should be replaced with a new executive order under which sanctions could be re-imposed.

Congress has long played an important role in imposing and maintaining sanctions on key human rights abusers in Myanmar, particularly those related to the Jade and gem sector. Regardless of administration actions, the US Congress should continue its leadership and maintain relevant sanctions legislation, which will be particularly useful in the event of backsliding on reforms by the Burmese military.

The US and other donors should also press for fiscal transparency in connection with Myanmar’s mineral sector and state or military-owned enterprises, Human Rights Watch said. All donors and international financial institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank should make revenue transparency a prerequisite for budget support to Burma and investments in the extractives industries.

The US and other governments should retain restrictions on military assistance and training, and make increases in bilateral and multilateral assistance conditional on key reforms and military withdrawal from civilian government.

“Sanctions were always intended to press the Burmese military to relinquish power and embrace reforms,” Sifton said. “Now that real progress has been made, it’s crucial to keep up the pressure until those goals have been achieved.”

By Mizzima

July 9, 2016

Myanmar’s new government is getting mixed reviews in the local and international press as it passes its 100th day in office.

The National League for Democracy-led government under the leadership of State Counsellor Aung San SuuK yi and President Htin Kyaw have had a raft of pressing problems to deal with, inherited from the previous administration of President Thein Sein.

July 7 marked 100 days in office.

As the BBC points out, the government has a great deal of pressing priorities but appear to be putting their main focus on working out a peace deal with the armed ethnic groups. The country has been blighted by decades of conflicts in many states, primarily Kachin, Shan, and Kayin states. The government is currently pressing ahead with a 21st Century version of the 1947 Panglong Agreement signed by, amongst others, the late General Aung San, Suu Kyi’s father.

The BBC raises a question of whether constitutional change – long a hot-button issue – has slipped down the list of priorities, claiming Suu Kyi’s government aides are now “parroting” that the issue has to be dealt with after there is a stable peace agreement with the armed ethnic groups.

Analyst Dr Khin Zaw Win, director of the Tampadipa Institute, talking to Channel New Asia, says it has been seven months since the elections and “people want results.”

He says Suu Kyi is running the government like the way she’s running the party and that’s not really advisable or realistic at all.

“In Myanmar, the pass grade is 40. Definitely, it would be less than 50, I’m sorry to say. And because you don’t want to give her an F, let’s say 45. She passes, but barely,” he told Channel News Asia.

Khin Maung Zaw, a political analyst, told the news channel that the Suu Kyi administration could have made better use of its first months in office to articulate a clear direction for the country. “The first 100 days are important for a new government to give people the impression of how confident and reliable they are to lead and govern our country for the next five years. At that point, in my opinion, they lost that opportunity.”

Many political commenters both at home and abroad are critical of the government’s handling of the communal tension and the recent attacks on two mosques.

The BBC described the situation for political prisoners as a “revolving door,” having released prisoners on taking office, only to see the old draconian laws – many dating back to British Colonial rule – kick in and be used to arrest people. They do, however, credit parliament with starting to change some of the worse laws but note that this will take time.

Inevitably the problem of frequent power outages comes up, but this is hard to fix quickly.

Analysts have said that while individual ministries such as that for health, construction and electricity have unveiled their plans, more details are needed to instill confidence in the government among the people of Myanmar.

By Mizzima

June 20, 2016

The new Government of Myanmar, led by the National League for Democracy, must establish a clear plan for strengthening the rule of law and protection of human rights, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today, 20 June, as it released its 14 General Recommendations to the new Government and Parliament. 

“The NLD has a tremendous opportunity and obligation to reverse years of official rejection and neglect of the rights of the people of Myanmar,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Asia Director. 

“Myanmar’s severe human rights problems can’t be solved immediately, or even for years to come, but it’s crucial for the new Government to announce its strategy and show its commitment to improving the lives and livelihoods of all people in Myanmar,” he added. 

After close discussions with all branches of the Government, as well as civil society and international experts, the ICJ has identified areas in which the Government can immediately and in the long-term address human rights violations in Myanmar and outlines measures to be taken to ensure that all legislation is guided by the principles of non-discrimination, greater accountability, transparency and justice. 

Among the key recommendations of the ICJ are: 

Strengthening the independence and competence of the judiciary as well as the Attorney General’s Office; 

Improving the Government’s ability to monitor and regulate the conduct of businesses and their impact on the rights and well-being of people; 

Repealing or amending laws and practices that discriminate on the basis of religious or ethnic identity (particularly at-risk groups such as the Rohingya), or sexual orientation and gender identity; and 

Ensuring accountability and redress for violations of human rights, especially when committed by State security forces. 

“Access to justice for victims of human rights violations has been severely curbed in Myanmar over the past decades, with most of the population being consistently denied access to the courts and effective remedies as a result of unfair and discriminatory laws as well as poor court decisions,” said Zarifi. 

“The military remains dominant in Myanmar, wielding undue influence over various sectors in the country, including the judiciary, and continues to enjoy impunity for gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law,” he added. 

The ICJ says Myanmar should immediately engage with the international human rights community. 

It must accede to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and expedite accession to the Convention against Torture and the Optional Protocol thereto, and ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the Geneva-based organization adds. 

By Mizzima

April 23, 2016

Burma Campaign UK yesterday called for the immediate and unconditional release of U Gambira, and all the remaining political prisoners in Myanmar.

U Gambira was a leader of the 2007 Saffron Revolution and a former political prisoner. He was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to 68 years in prison. He was released in 2012.

On 19 January 2016, he was arrested by around 20 police officers at his hotel room in Mandalay. He was charged under the Myanmar 1947 Immigration Act for illegally crossing the border and entering the country. U Gambira, who now lives in Thailand, travelled to Myanmar to obtain a new passport, and he was able to cross the Thailand-Myanmar border at an official crossing point without facing any problems.

He is currently being detained in Obo prison while his trial continues. He was refused bail despite the fact that he is suffering from physical and mental illness due to mistreatment during his previous imprisonment which requires him to take regular medication.

“The charges against U Gambira are politically motivated because of his political activities in the past,” said Wai Hnin, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK. “He was a leader of the Saffron Revolution and he has been through several arrests and horrific torture. He should be released immediately so that he can continue his medical treatment. I hope that the NLD-led government will work to release U Gambira and the remaining political prisoners in Burma.”

By BNI

Mizzima

December 21, 2015

A Rohingya man was shot and killed by Burma Border Guard Police (BGP) near to Maung Nama Village in Maungdaw North as he was travelling by car from Bawli Bazar to Buthidaung on 7 December.

According to a close relative the victim was identified as Maung Maung, also known as Mohamed Musa (23), son of Master Abul Kalam from Ward 4 of Buthidaung Town. Previously Master AbulKalam had been a member of Jemaah Anshorat Tauhid (JAT) a Muslim group designated as terrorists by the USA and the UN. He had also previously been a USDP Central Committee member for Buthidaung Township.

Mohamed Musa was a passenger in a car transporting goods to his shop. The car was stopped at a checkpoint at the Powet Chaung BGP camp where, according to the driver, Mohamed Musa and BGP officers had an argument over money.

The driver was Rakhine and he just drove away from the checkpoint without paying any money to the BGP officers. This enraged them and six BGP officers on three motorcycles chased the car and stopped it near Maung Nama Village. Mohamed Musa was then severely tortured and killed by a gunshot to the head at about 11.30pm, according to an eyewitness.

The eyewitness said the body was then sent to Maungdaw General Hospital for an autopsy at about midnight.

Mohamed Musa's father and other relatives got to the hospital at 4am, but hospital staff did not allow them to see the body.

According to a relative who did not want to be identified, following the post-mortem the body was handed over to the relatives at 10.00am on 8 December. They took the body back to Buthidaung Town and buried it at 2.00pm that day.

According to sources two cases have been filed at Maungdaw Police Station against the BGP officer who killed Mohamed Musa. One is for murder and the other is for firing the gun.

Courtesy of BNI

The accused in the Rohingya calendar case appear for the third time at Yangon’s Pazundaung Township Court on 16 December 2015. Photo: Zaw Kham Hein/Mizzima

By Zaw Kham Hein

Mizzima

December 17, 2015

Five people who were sent to jail for their involvement in printing a calendar that stated that Rohingya Muslims are an ethnic-religious minority in Myanmar appeared for the third time at Yangon’s Pazundaung Township Court today, charged under section 505(b) of the Penal Code.

Section 505(b) provides imprisonment for anyone making, publishing or circulating information which may cause public fear or alarm, and which may incite people to commit offences “against the State or against the public tranquillity”.

On November 21, the police searched Kyaw Press, situated at 54th Street, Pazundaung Township, and found 52 printing plates and 3,490 printed papers. Subsequently Pazundaung Township Police Force Police Major Khin Maung Latt registered a case against Kyaw Press owner Hoke Shwe (aka Kyaw Kyaw), Manager Ye Thu Aung, employees Win Naing aka Marmek, Zaw Min Oo (aka Harnik) and bookbinder Win Htwe (aka Ismail) as well as the man accused of ordering the calendar, Aung Khin, under section 20 of the Printing Law. They were consequently fined 1 million kyats each by Pazundaung trial court on November 23.

Defence lawyer Myo Min Swe representing Win Naing told Mizzima, “This case was finished with a 1 million kyat each fine on November 23 but the Pazundaung Police Station Police Major charged this case again under section 505(b) of Penal Code on November 24. Aung Khin who ordered the printing has absconded. The remaining five will be produced before the court today. The accused, Aung Khin, came to my client’s printing press ‘Shwe Letyar’ but he told him that he could not accept the order as his press was overloaded with other job orders and suggested he go to another printing press on 54th Street and so he was charged with abetting,”.

He further said that the case would take a long time as the court would examine prosecution witnesses first and then his client later.

During the court’s witness examination, prosecution witness Saw Tun, the Shwepyithar Township Ward No. 19 administrator, said that he visited and inspected the house of Aung Khin at No. 1018, Khwarnyo Street, Ward No. 19 on November 25 at 2 a.m. with Pazundaung police station House Officer and beat constable Aung Win. Aung Khin’s daughter told them that the house was a rented house and her father was out at the moment. The witness also told the court that they heard that Aung Khin might stay at his son’s house in Shwepyithar Township, Ward No. 20.

Today’s court proceedings were witnessed by the Htantabin Abbot from the Patriotic Myanmar Monks’ Union under directions given to him by the nationalist Buddhist organisation Ma Ba Tha.

The Htantabin Abbot said, “Our abbot U Parmaukkha came and witnessed the first hearing but today he was not free and asked me to come and witness the hearing. The statement given today by the prosecution witness was evasive and he didn’t give straight and clear answers. It will be premature to give comments on this case at the moment. We will continue to watch and monitor this case.”

The Pazundaung Township court judge Nay Aung Myin has fixed the next hearing for the 23rd of this month.

By Mizzima

December 10, 2015

Eleven Rohingya groups have protested the shooting death of a 25-year-old Rohingya man on Monday near Buthidaung in Rakhine State.

Maung Maung died from a gunshot would after a car he was riding in was stopped by Border Guard Police (BGP) while he was returning home, according to a press release.

Maung Maung was travelling from Maungdaw to Buthidaung after shopping for his family when the car was stopped by a BGP team at Pawan Chaung Na Ta La village, the group said.

BGP officers demanded money from the Buddhist Rakhine driver of the car, the group said. When the driver refused to pay,a shot was fired and a bullet struck Maung Maung in the head. He died at Maungdaw hospital on December 8. 

Since June, 2012, deadly violence in Arakan State has claimed many Muslim and Buddhist lives, and left more 160,000 people homeless.

The group said the government has failed to protect the Muslim Rohingya population and has been a source of systematic persecution. 

It said various human rights groups and others including the International State Crime Initiative Report from Queen Mary University, the Al Jazeera Genocide Agenda Report, a legal analysis by the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, and the Fortify Rights group have cited strong evidence that genocide is being committed against the ethnic Rohingya of Myanmar. 

The group called for a UN Commission of Inquiry into the human rights situation in Rakhine State, the region of the largest Rohingya population.

The statement was signed by the Arakan Rohingya National Organization and Rohingya groups in the UK, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands.

By Mizzima

December 3, 2015

Bangladesh has completed the process of taking back all her nationals rescued in Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in May and June 2015, the Bangladesh Embassy in Myanmar said in a statement on 2 December.

With the return of the last batch of 48 verified Bangladesh nationals on 2 December 2015, Bangladesh authorities have successfully completed the entire process of repatriation within less than six months.

There were a total of 853 persons who were presented as Bangladesh nationals after being rescued by Myanmarauthorities in three successive rescue operations on May 21, May 29 and June 15, 2015 in the bordering seas. After fast-tracking the verification process, Bangladesh authorities have established the citizenship of 799 persons. They were repatriated to Bangladesh in seven batches.

There were 53 persons who have not been verified as Bangladesh nationals that included 8 UNHCR Refugee card holders and 11women and children from Myanmar. These women and children were in shelters in Bangladesh as unregistered Myanmar residents, the statement said.

By Tun Khin

Mizzima

November 21, 2015

It’s becoming something of a pattern. Rohingya people standing on the side-lines, watching celebrations of events which make our lives worse.

In 2011, at the same time as Thein Sein was being praised for launching his reforms, a fresh wave of anti-Rohingya hatred was being incited.

In 2012 when violent attacks took place which Human Rights Watch said met the definition of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, with state involvement, sanctions were being lifted and aid and support given to the government.

As Burma was being praised for increased openness and greater international humanitarian access, the government was placing strong restrictions on aid to more than 140,000 Rohingya in camps in Rakhine state, and to Rohingya villages.

When the census was being hailed as a success, the Rohingya were excluded.

And now the elections are being described as ‘landmark’, ‘historic’, ‘a turning point’ and ‘a step forward’, but for the first time most Rohingya were banned from voting, and there will not be a Rohingya MP in Parliament. That isn’t a step forward for us.

The international community must stop treating the situation of the Rohingya as somehow disconnected from the general situation in the country. We are tired of being tagged on as a sentence starting with ‘however’, after Presidents, Prime Ministers and others visit our country and generally praise reforms and the elections. We are not a ‘however’. We are human beings who are from Burma and who at the same time as the so-called reform process have faced dramatically escalating repression and are facing multiple violations of international law. To endorse the election as credible is to endorse our disenfranchisement and repression.

With not one mainstream political party taking a human rights based position on the Rohingya, including the National League for Democracy, how much can we hope for under a new NLD government? 

There may not be the same escalation of anti-Rohingya policies, but there is little hope that there will be much improvement on the current situation, which is so extreme that there is evidence of genocide. The NLD has not spoken out in defence of Rohingya human rights. The NLD has no policies to improve human rights for the Rohingya. Senior NLD leaders have spoken out against the Rohingya saying that we are not from Burma, that we are from Bangladesh, that we are illegal immigrants and that we should be put into camps to assess if we should be deported.

Under an NLD government, we do not expect any reform or repeal of laws which oppress the Rohingya and take away our rights and citizenship. 

We are now being told to wait and see what an NLD government does. The approach of trying to delay action by saying wait and see until after the election is not credible. Now we are being told to wait five months until the new government is formed. After the new government is formed, we will be told to wait until the government has had a chance to settle in. Years more will pass and our suffering will continue.

Despite her often repeated mantra of the rule of law, Aung San Suu Kyi herself has rejected clear evidence of multiple violations of international law against the Rohingya as exaggeration. 

The only way these most serious human rights violations will be addressed and those responsible held to account is if the international community act. A UN Commission of Inquiry must be formed to investigate these human rights violations.

As far as the humanitarian crisis is concerned, lives are being lost every day no action is taken. Sick children in camps can’t wait five months for an NLD government and then a year after that to hope the NLD has settled in and taken action. Action is needed now. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should personally take the lead in negotiating unrestricted international humanitarian access in Arakan State. Only someone with his authority will be able to bring together the international community to jointly pressure whichever government is in power to ensure humanitarian access is granted.

The international organisations, governments, foundations and charities which helped fund the UEC and the election should review their decision to do so. The international community should not be funding any Burmese government bodies of any kind which apply discriminatory policies against the Rohingya. If they do, they are complicit in that discrimination. As such, they are also complicit in the government’s broader policy of driving the Rohingya out of Burma.

The international community must not use the prospect of an NLD government as yet another excuse to stand by and do nothing. Not only is action needed now to save lives, but a future NLD government is likely to be more responsive to international pressure. An NLD government might halt increased repression of the Rohingya, but it is up to the international community to ensure repression goes into reverse and that our rights are restored. It’s time to stop talking about us as a ‘however’.

Tun Khin is President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK

By Mizzima

November 17, 2015

Amnesty International and FIDH have call on all UN member states to recognize the continued need for a resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar at the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in light of the ongoing human rights violations taking place in the country, the two organisations said in a joint statement on 16 November. 

The statement continued “While we note general elections carried out on 8 November were largely peaceful, we remain seriously concerned about the wider human rights situation in Myanmar. During 2015, the Myanmar authorities failed to deliver on human rights reforms and to implement most recommendations in previous UNGA resolutions, including the 2014 UN Resolution 69/248. Human rights violations, in particular of the right to freedom from discrimination, freedom from arbitrary detention and freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly have continued. This situation underscores the need for sustained international engagement, including through the adoption of a strong UNGA resolution to remind the Myanmar authorities of their obligation to end human rights violations. Failure to reach a consensus and adopt the resolution would send the message that serious human rights violations can continue unchecked. 

In Rakhine State, for instance, the authorities have not only failed to implement recommendations of last year’s UNGA resolution which reiterated its “serious concern” about the situation of the Rohingya, they have taken measures that further cemented this community’s exclusion. This failure, amongst others, prompted the “boat crisis” in May this year, which saw thousands of people – mainly Rohingya fleeing Myanmar – stranded at sea. 

In February 2015, President Thein Sein revoked all Temporary Registration Cards (TRCs) – known as “white cards” – leaving many Rohingya without any form of identity document and effectively barring them from being able to vote in the November general elections. Adding to their political disenfranchisement, almost all Rohingya candidates who applied to contest the elections were disqualified on discriminatory citizenship grounds. The current situation should ring alarm bells with the international community, as it indicates that the authorities are not committed to addressing the situation of the Rohingya and of other Muslims in Myanmar in a way that respects their dignity and human rights.

Paragraph 7 of the 2014 UNGA resolution 69/248 urged the government of Myanmar to “accelerate its efforts to address discrimination, human rights violations, violence [and] hate speech”. And yet, this year has seen an alarming rise in advocacy of hatred and incitement to discrimination against non-Buddhists, and in particular Muslims, by extremist Buddhist nationalist groups who have grown in power and influence. Such groups have gone unchallenged by the government. On the contrary, those who have spoken out against them have faced retaliation from both state and non-state actors, including threats, harassment, and, in some cases, even arrest, prosecution and imprisonment. In addition, the authorities have taken steps to entrench discrimination in law. In 2015, the Parliament adopted four laws aimed at “protecting race and religion” originally proposed by extremist Buddhist nationalist groups, later submitted for consideration by the President. Many provisions in these laws discriminate on multiple grounds, including gender, religion and marital status. 

Paragraph 4 of the 2014 UNGA resolution welcomed the release of prisoners of conscience and stressed “the important role of the political prisoner review committee”, encouraging its continuation. Although the prisoner review committee was reconstituted in January 2015, to date no information has been made available as to its mandate, resources or activities. We are not aware of a single meeting of this committee since its reconstitution. Instead, the Myanmar authorities continue to monitor, intimidate, harass and arrest human rights defenders and others critical of the government. Unfortunately, 2015 saw an intensifying clampdown on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The number of prisoners of conscience stands at more than 100 individuals, while hundreds of others are facing charges solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights. 

The 2014 UNGA resolution called on the Myanmar authorities “to protect the civilian population against ongoing violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law and for safe, timely, full and unhindered humanitarian access to be granted to all areas.” Worryingly, in Kachin and Northern Shan states, the armed conflict has intensified, with escalating attacks in Shan State reported in October and November. Earlier in the year in February, renewed conflict emerged in the Kokang Self-Administered Zone. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 100,000 people remain displaced in the region, while the Myanmar authorities continue to restrict humanitarian access to displaced communities in some areas of Northern Shan and Kachin State. We continue to receive reports of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by government and ethnic armed organizations, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, forced labour and portering, the use of landmines, and recruitment of child soldiers.

We also note with concern that previous UNGA resolutions have made little reference to economic, social and cultural rights, in particular concerns about forced evictions as well as the human rights and environmental impacts of corporate projects. Investment and large-scale development projects are being carried out without benefitting or taking into account concerns expressed by local populations and communities. We urge Member States to insert strong language relating to economic, social and cultural rights in the UNGA resolution. We especially urge the UNGA to ensure specific calls on the Myanmar authorities to enact and enforce legislation prohibiting forced evictions and strengthening environmental safeguards, particularly in the context of regulating large-scale corporate projects, to ensure that people are protected against such serious abuses. In addition, we encourage all member states to institute legal and policy reforms that require companies headquartered in their countries to carry out enhanced due diligence prior to undertaking any investment or operations in Myanmar.

Finally, we note with concern that the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar was hampered in carrying out her mandate during her mission to Myanmar in August 2015. She was given permission to travel to the country for only five days, was denied access to Rakhine state, and meetings with government officials were cancelled or rearranged at the last minute. Furthermore, some of her non-governmental interlocutors reported that they were subject to surveillance after meeting with her. In January 2015, the Special Rapporteur was also personally insulted and subjected to sexist threats by an extremist ultranationalist monk. The Government of Myanmar has failed to condemn these actions or to disassociate itself from them. 

Furthermore, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has not yet been able to establish an office in the country. Despite earlier government commitments, its staff still do not have unhindered access to the country. The treatment of the Special Rapporteur and full cooperation with her mandate – and that of the OHCHR – not only significantly impede their ability to undertake their work, it raises serious questions about the extent to which the Myanmar government is willing to cooperate with all levels of the UN.”

It concludes, “In light of the above, we call on the international community to not turn a blind eye to the ongoing serious human rights violations occurring in Myanmar. Over the past 24 years, the UNGA resolutions on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has been critically important to advance human rights in the country, it must continue to do so.

Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights therefore strongly urge all UN member states to support the continuation of the UNGA resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, and to ensure the resolution addresses the many pressing human rights concerns that remain in the country. A strong UNGA resolution, at a crucial moment in the country’s history, can play an important and positive role in encouraging the Myanmar authorities to follow a genuine path of respect for and protection of human.”

By Mizzima

October 24, 2015

Bangladeshi’s Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah has urged Myanmar to take back Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh, according to a report by the Financial Express on 23 October.

He made the call during a meeting with the chairman of the International Relation Committee of the Pyithu Hluttaw Hla Myint Oo on the side-lines of the 133rd Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Switzerland on Wednesday.

In reply to the call, Hla Myint Oo assured him that necessary steps would be taken in this regard soon after discussions with the Myanmar government, according to a Parliament Secretariat handout.

According to the UN refugee agency, there are 200,000 to 500,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh with only 32,355 of them registered and living in the Kutupalong and Nayapara camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Despite repeated calls from Bangladesh, Myanmar authorities have not responded positively to taking back Rohingya refugees from Rakhine state, the report said.

By Mizzima

October 17, 2015

The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights group is warning the Rohingya crisis could get worse.

Increasingly marginalized and desperate, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine State are being forced to flee in ever-greater numbers, exacerbating a regional crisis that ASEAN leaders are woefully ill prepared to cope with, APHR warned on October 16. 

“ASEAN met to discuss the refugee crisis in May, but lamentably avoided a much-needed discussion of its underlying drivers, which are rooted in Rakhine State,” APHR Chairperson and Malaysian MP Charles Santiago said. “ASEAN leaders are burying their heads in the sand, and it’s going to come back to bite them.”

At the release of their latest report, “Disenfranchisement and Desperation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State: Drivers of a Regional Crisis,” APHR warned that exclusionary government policies, including mass disenfranchisement of Rohingya ahead of November’s historic general election, is exacerbating the already intense sense of desperation within Rohingya communities.

APHR cautioned that the region’s failure to respond in any meaningful way to the impending catastrophe has been unfortunately predictable, but governments will be forced to stand up and take note soon when sailing season begins again. Unless ASEAN addresses the situation in Rakhine State directly, more Rohingya will continue to try and leave the country by any means necessary, the group said.

By Mizzima

October 12, 2015

The return of Bangladeshi nationals rescued from the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea by Myanmar authorities almost reached a level of completion with yet another batch of 110 returning on 12 October 2015, according to a statement from the Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon on 11 October.

Earlier, on five occasions, a total 626 verified Bangladesh nationals were repatriated among around 800 rescued persons in three caseloads in May and July 2015.

With this planned repatriation, all 736 verified so far as Bangladesh nationals are returning.

Verification of nationality for the approximately 60 remaining persons is ongoing while 26 have not been verified as Bangladesh nationals and 19 (mostly women and children, some holding refugee cards issued by UNHCR as Myanmar nationals) are undocumented Myanmar residents staying in Bangladesh, the statement said.

By Mizzima

October 8, 2015

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appeared diplomatic when challenged in a TV interview with India Today over her failure to condemn the communal violence and poor treatment of Muslim Rohingya in Rakhine State.

Speaking to India Today’s Karan Thapar in an interview filmed at her home in Yangon and broadcast on Wednesday evening, Suu Kyi stressed the need for reconciliation in Rakhine State, troubled by communal violence that flared up in 2012 when clashes broke out between Rakhine Buddhists and minority Muslim Rohingya.

“I’ve talked about it but people are not interested, because what they want me to do is condemn the Rakhine. I can’t condemn the Rakhine for the simple fact that the Rakhine have many grievances as well, which are a result of the policies that were pursued by the military authorities for decades. And I don’t want to set more flames alight,” she told India Today.

“My role is not to set one community against another, but to try to bring reconciliation between them. I cannot do that by condemning either community.”

Many foreign critics have raised questions over the National League for Democracy chairperson’s virtual silence over the poor treatment of the Rohingya minority, that the government refers to as “Bengalis,” claiming they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Rights groups say the poor treatment and incarceration in camps amounts to a “genocidal policy” targeting the minority.

Suu Kyi was adamant that her role is one to work with the communities to sort out the grievances of all members of the state, which is one of Myanmar’s poorest.

“What people would like to hear are flaming words of condemnation, and I am not out for condemnation. What I am trying to achieve is reconciliation. And we’ve got to keep to that path because there is a long future ahead of us. Our people must learn to live together in peace and harmony, within the security provided for them by the right kind of political framework,” she told India Today.

By Hein Ko Soe

Mizzima

October 5, 2015

U Zaw Htay, the director of Myanmar's President's Office, said the Myanmar government does not need to respond to the lawsuit filed by the Burma Task Force in the Manhattan federal court in the United States against President U Thein Sein over alleged discrimination against Bengalis.

“Whatever the court said, our country is an independent country, so the leader and the government do not need to deal with the case in which the ‘Myanmar-Bengali’ filed the lawsuit in court. There is no reason to respond to the summons, no reason to go there,” he said.

According to a report on Reuters: “The complaint filed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court accused Thein Sein and top officials of planning and instigating hate crimes and discrimination amounting to genocide” against Muslim Rohingya.

The Myanmar government refuses to use the word Rohingya, claiming the Muslim minority, living primarily in Rakhine State bordering Bangladesh, are illegal Bengalis.

“We did not receive any letter. Anyway, whether they send letter or not, our country is an independent country, so we reject the case. The lawsuit was filed by a Bengali group in exile led by Htay Lwin Oo. We heard that the court has accepted the case with two charges,” said U Zaw Htay.

Burma Task Force, comprised of 14 Muslim organizations in the US, filed the lawsuit against President U Thein Sein and other Myanmar leaders. Burma Task Force is a US-based organization which says it is combating discrimination against the Rohingya in Myanmar, and working to secure equal rights for them.

By Mizzima

September 23, 2015

Rohingya mother, Mama Citi, is the first person to give birth on the Australian run offshore detention facility of Nauru. 

Baby Nourkayas was born on 18 September weighing 3kg, both mother and child are reportedly fine according to the Refugee Action Coalition Sydney website. Nourkayas is Mama Citi’s third child, the two other children and father live in the same facility. 

“We are very happy that all has gone well for mother and baby; but it is a risky precedent. The fact that refugees are sent to PNG and asylum seeker mothers are sent to Australia to have their babies says that Australian authorities do not believe that Nauru is safe,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. 

“The Australian government has a responsibility for all babies born to asylum seeker and refugee families; all pregnant women should be brought to Australia to give birth. 

“We wish the family well, but we know the conditions on Nauru – no education, and no resettlement – put a dark cloud over their future.” 

The Australian run facility has come under massive pressure from doctors and whistle blowers after continuous reports and leaks of sexual assaults and rampant mental health issues of those detained. 

In June, 40 past and present workers from detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru wrote an open letter to the Australian government, defying a secrecy law that would see officials who spoke out on detention centre conditions receive a mandatory two-year prison sentence, criticising conditions in the centres.

By Mark Yang

Mizzima

September 16, 2015

The Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion, or Ma Ba Tha, held a celebration for the approval ofthe last of four “Race and Religion Protection Laws” on September 14 and used the occasion to warn against voting for NLD members whom they likened to prawns.

The four laws are the Religious Conversion Law, the Population Control Law, the Myanmar Buddhist Women's Special Marriage Law and the Monogamy Law. They were submitted to the Myanmar Parliament in December 2014. The Parliament adopted them this spring and President U Thein Sein recently signed the four Bills into law.

To celebrate the passing of the four Laws, Ma Ba Tha led a homage-paying-ceremony at Shwedagon Pagoda in the morning. Afterwards the group and its supporters, in almost one hundred cars, drove from Shwedagon Stupa's West Gate at 7:30 to the Pitaka Thone Pon Ni Ka Monastery.

There, Sayardaw U Yay Wa Ta read out a letter from Sayardaw U Ti Law Ka, the Chairman of Yangon Region Ma Ba Tha (Central). In the letter, U Ti Law Ka said: “Today is a very special day. The Race and Religion Protection Laws are passed because Parliament adopted the laws and President Thein Sein signed off on them. If Myanmar Women marry men of a different religion, they will not be accepted anymore. Myanmar's Race and Religion Laws are the same as race and religion protection laws in the other three big religions which are also followed by the people in Myanmar.”

He noted that such laws would not so easily be passed by a new government and it was necessary to remember people who tried and helped to pass the laws as “People who have served their responsibilities in history”. U Ti Law Ka noted that these people were President U Thein Sein, Members of Parliament who voted for them, Ma Ba Tha monks and the Myanmar people who petitioned for the laws.

“There are almost 6 million people who signed to approve these four laws,” the Ma Ba Tha (Central) Deputy Secretary Maw Kyun Sayardaw claimed.

Maw Kyun Sayardaw continued, “President U Thein Sein who finalized the passing of these Bills has fulfilled a very distinguished national responsibility.”

When President U Thein Sein tried to pass one of the four Bills, there were 35 votes against its passing. Among the 35 MPs, it was noted that 33 were NLD MPs.

“On that day of voting, the Chairman of the ‘League of Prawns’ who is also a MP didn't attend Parliament. In fact, she avoided voting. However, she ordered all ‘Prawn’ MPs to reject the bills. That's why all ‘Prawn’ MPs gave reject votes. We should be aware of it,” Maw Kyun Sayardaw said, implying NLD MPs were against the bills.

“Although the laws are for the good of the people, we will lose votes when trying to pass similar laws in the future if there are many MPs that are like ‘prawns’ in a future Parliament,’’ he noted.

By Mark Yang

Mizzima

September 13, 2015