The International Crisis Group will honour President Thein Sein of Myanmar and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil at its annual In Pursuit of Peace Award Dinner in New York City on 22 April 2013.
The Crisis Group said, Of course, Myanmar still needs to build on this political liberalisation to date. It must urgently find ways to address communal violence between the Rakhine and the Rohingya (as Crisis Group noted back in June and again in a report published earlier this month), which continues to devastate people's lives, particularly those in minority Muslim communities.
Myanmar newspaper published the article written by Crisis Group in English and Burmese. The government didn't censor the term "Rohingya" and it is appearing on today's Myanmar government newspapers in English and Burmese languages.
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Myanmar President Thein Sein has asked Indonesia to help his government in resolving ongoing ethnic tensions in the country’s western Rakhine state, where more than 110,000 people, the vast majority of them Muslims known as Rohingya, have been displaced.
“Myanmar invited us to help them [in resolving the Rohingya problem], with the President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] indicating his willingness to help in due time,” presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said after a meeting between Thein Sein and Yudhoyono on the sidelines of the 21st ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
Yudhoyono underlined that the problem had to be well resolved since it had attracted international attention, noting that the issue was a communal conflict, not a religious clash as portrayed to the general public.
Therefore, Indonesia together with Brunei Darussalam and Malaysia have tried to portray the issue proportionally.
“We must give them a kind of support or understanding in a sense that this is not related to religion,” Faizasyah said.
Besides efforts to end the conflict, Thein Sein said that Myanmar’s government had launched various programs to alleviate suffering and for community building and reconstruction measures involving a huge amount of money.
The social problems in Rakhine were indeed very complex, and included education, Thein Sein added.
“Therefore, Myanmar hopes that Indonesia can invest in the Rakhine State to create more jobs. There are complex problems there,” he said.
Thein Sein, who has orchestrated much of his country’s transition to democracy, has opened the door to any party who wants to visit, investigate and observe the situation.
Thein Sein has blamed nationalist and religious extremists for the unrest in June and October that killed at least 167 people, but has faced criticism for failing to address underlying tensions in the Rakhine state, where an estimated 800,000 Rohingya Muslims are not recognized as citizens.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan warned that the problem should be handled effectively. “Eight hundred thousand people are now under tremendous pressure. If that issue is not handled well and effectively, there is a risk of radicalization. There is a risk of extremism,” he said in Phnom Penh.
The United Nations said on Friday that Thein Sein had sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon promising action to tackle the problems.
In a statement, Ban’s office said Thein Sein had promised that “once emotions subside on all sides”, his government was prepared to “address contentious political dimensions, ranging from resettlement of displaced populations to granting of citizenship”.
Aside from the Rohingya, during the meeting, Yudhoyono also highlighted the recent developments in Myanmar, saying that its transformation process was on the right track.
Indonesia consistently supported Myanmar when the country, which was previously known as Burma, started its reform process. Myanmar also appreciated Indonesia’s support all this time, including during the process when they were having difficulties.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has concluded its first set of human rights talks with Myanmar and is confident it now has an "open channel" to discuss political prisoners and other sensitive subjects as ties improve, the State Department said on Wednesday.
Michael Posner, the State Department's top human rights official, led the U.S. team at the talks in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
The talks come as the Obama administration dismantles longstanding sanctions to reward Myanmar's leaders for political and economic reforms.
"The results of the dialogue were assessed to be very positive and we look forward to continuing these discussions with Burmese authorities," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing.
"We weren't sure whether the Burmese would be open to addressing all of those issues, and they were," Nuland said.
"We are confident that we have now an open channel with the government of Burma to discuss human rights and to continue to work on bringing them where they want to be in terms of human rights standards for their government."
The U.S. delegation also included Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Vikram Singh and other U.S. military officials, a signal that the Pentagon also is watching closely as Myanmar begins moving out of the shadow of China, long its chief regional ally.
RAPID CHANGES
The United States has seen ties warm rapidly with Myanmar since a quasi-civilian government took office there in March 2011, ending five decades of military rule.
The new government has launched rapid reforms, including an overhaul of the economy, an easing of censorship, the legalization of trade unions and protests, and the freeing of political prisoners.
The United States has responded with diplomatic and economic gestures, sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar last year and easing sanctions.
Myanmar released its latest group of political prisoners last month, just before Myanmar President Thein Sein and veteran pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited the United States on separate trips.
"We have all spoken out about the need to get to zero in terms of political prisoners and we're continuing to work with the government of Burma on that," Nuland said.
The United States has also expressed concern over ongoing fighting with ethnic minority groups and violence against ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, as well as the government's continued military ties with North Korea.
Activists say the United States has pressed Myanmar consistently on human rights but warn that a surge in economic and other ties could may push the issue down the priority list.
"The simple fact is that U.S. policy toward Burma is no longer just about human rights," said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
"Now human rights is just another sector that is part of the dialogue and there are other folks at the table, from the military to the business community, who have their own wish lists. As a result it is that much harder to focus the pressure."
(Reporting by Andrew Quinn; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
Michael Posner, the State Department's top human rights official, led the U.S. team at the talks in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma.
The talks come as the Obama administration dismantles longstanding sanctions to reward Myanmar's leaders for political and economic reforms.
"The results of the dialogue were assessed to be very positive and we look forward to continuing these discussions with Burmese authorities," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing.
"We weren't sure whether the Burmese would be open to addressing all of those issues, and they were," Nuland said.
"We are confident that we have now an open channel with the government of Burma to discuss human rights and to continue to work on bringing them where they want to be in terms of human rights standards for their government."
The U.S. delegation also included Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Vikram Singh and other U.S. military officials, a signal that the Pentagon also is watching closely as Myanmar begins moving out of the shadow of China, long its chief regional ally.
RAPID CHANGES
The United States has seen ties warm rapidly with Myanmar since a quasi-civilian government took office there in March 2011, ending five decades of military rule.
The new government has launched rapid reforms, including an overhaul of the economy, an easing of censorship, the legalization of trade unions and protests, and the freeing of political prisoners.
The United States has responded with diplomatic and economic gestures, sending Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar last year and easing sanctions.
Myanmar released its latest group of political prisoners last month, just before Myanmar President Thein Sein and veteran pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited the United States on separate trips.
"We have all spoken out about the need to get to zero in terms of political prisoners and we're continuing to work with the government of Burma on that," Nuland said.
The United States has also expressed concern over ongoing fighting with ethnic minority groups and violence against ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, as well as the government's continued military ties with North Korea.
Activists say the United States has pressed Myanmar consistently on human rights but warn that a surge in economic and other ties could may push the issue down the priority list.
"The simple fact is that U.S. policy toward Burma is no longer just about human rights," said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
"Now human rights is just another sector that is part of the dialogue and there are other folks at the table, from the military to the business community, who have their own wish lists. As a result it is that much harder to focus the pressure."
(Reporting by Andrew Quinn; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
Sources Here:
The visit by 22 senior officials with support staff highlights a growing debate, in Europe and in other western countries, about greater engagement with the military, which for decades ruled the country with scant regard for human rights, prompting many governments to impose harsh sanctions.
The US maintained military attachés in Myanmar – even in the years when it imposed sanctions. However, the participation of senior US military officers such as Lt Gen Francis Wiercinski, head of the US Army’s Pacific command, in this week’s visit reflects the growing view in Washington that the support of Myanmar’s military is essential to any lasting reforms, or peace agreements with ethnic minorities.
In a recent report, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies suggested that the US should start bilateral programmes of training and exchange visits as a precursor to normalising military relations.
This week’s visit follows successful trips to the US last month of President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate and opposition leader who has indicated she welcomed the idea of US engagement with the military.
Myanmar’s government has forged ceasefire agreements with 10 of 11 main ethnic rebel groups. However, fighting continues in northern Kachin state amid reports of military offensives and displacement of villagers.
Even as the government struggles to engage Kachin commanders in peace talks, tensions within other large ethnic groups, particularly the Karen National Union on Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, have raised concerns about the fragility of agreements signed in the past eight months.
“This visit makes perfect sense,” said Thant Myint-U, who is involved in the government’s peace efforts. “It would be counterproductive for the peace process to proceed without involving Myanmar’s military.”
At the same time as the US delegation’s visit to Myanmar this week, William Burns, deputy secretary of state will also hold high-level talks. Other US officials include Vikram Singh, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, Derek Mitchell, US ambassador to Myanmar, and other senior officials from the state department, National Security Council, homeland security department, and USAid. They are due to meet Thein Sein, Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the military, and other senior officials.
Outside of the government, the US group will meet leaders of ethnic groups. These groups will include Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists from the western coastal state of Rakhine (formerly Arakan), where sectarian violence broke out in June. They will also meet trade unions and religious groups, as well as members of Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and Generation 88, a group of former political prisoners.
● Myanmar’s ruling United Solidarity and Development party opened a three-day national meeting over the weekend to elect officials and appoint a chairman to replace Thein Sein, who vacated the role when he won the presidency early last year. The party will also discuss strategy for the 2015 presidential election.
U Htay Oo, the general secretary, told The Myanmar Times, an independent English-language newspaper, that the USDP would greatly expand its two main leadership committees and make other moves to “improve organisation”.
The weekly newspaper cited senior party sources as saying that the speaker of the lower house, Thura Shwe Mann, would be chosen as leader. The party will choose more than 200 executive committee members at the gathering, 35 of whom will be appointed to the central executive committee.
The USDP has been beset by tensions since losing by-elections on April 1 to Ms Suu Kyi’s party, which won 43 of 45 parliamentary seats.
Sources Here:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Deputy Secretary of State William Burns will visit Myanmar next week during a five-country TRIP to Asia
Burns will arrive in Myanmar next Wednesday and will meet with President Thein Sein, members of his government, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
It will be the highest-level U.S. official visit to the country also known as Burma since Hillary Rodham Clinton in December became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit in more than 50 years.
The U.S. has since rolled back sanctions in response to democratic reforms in the military-dominated country. In the latest step, President Barack Obama on Wednesday authorized U.S. support for international development banks toRESTART lending to Myanmar.
Before Myanmar, Burns will travel to Japan and South Korea. He will also visit India.
Sources Here:
UNITED NATIONS – When Aung San Suu Kyi was last in New York she was single, sharing a small apartment in midtown Manhattan with an exiled Burmese singer and walking six minutes each day to a bureaucratic job she hated at the United Nations.
That was in 1969. The 24-year-old daughter of the founding father of an independent Burma, still unsure what to do with her life, lived in relative anonymity for three years, until she left with no regrets to marry an Englishman, according to Peter Popham’s biography of her.
Next week the Burmese democracy icon, now a 67-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and member of parliament, will be back in New York for the first time in decades to attend meetings at her former employer. During a 17-day U.S. tour, she will be feted in Fort Wayne, on both coasts and awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, America’s highest civilian honor.
Still, as she transitions from icon to practical politician, Suu Kyi’s silent treatment of the minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has begun to blemish her reputation as a champion of human rights. No longer confined to house arrest, she now must gauge whether to compromise some principles in order to retain popular support.
“She could have been Gandhi, but she sacrificed her moral authority,” said Robert Lieberman, a physics professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who spent two years making an undercover documentary on Myanmar. “The Burmese are very prejudiced against the Rohingya, and she is running in 2015. Politics are a dirty business.”
While beloved by voters – her image is a fixture in Burmese shop windows and homes – the majority of the population reviles the stateless Rohingyas, who are deprived of citizenship in Myanmar. The next nationwide vote in 2015 will take place a quarter of a century after the military dictatorship refused to recognize the victory of Suu Kyi’s party in 1990 elections.
At home and abroad, Suu Kyi remains a symbol of Myanmar’s stoic non-violent struggle against the five-decade rule of generals who kept her under house arrest for 15 years. As the former military junta allowed a political opening, she showed her willingness to engage by entering parliament after her party’s successful showing in April by-elections, running for a seat in parliament that came open between regular elections.
For the first time this year, Suu Kyi has been able to travel freely overseas without fear of being banned from re- entry, dropping by Oslo to pick up her Nobel Peace Prize – 21 years after it was bestowed on her.
She also visited Great Britain, where she had studied at Oxford University and lived in the 1980s with her husband Michael Aris, a Tibetan scholar. In 1999, when Aris was dying, she dared not visit him out of concern she wouldn’t be allowed to return home.
Wherever Suu Kyi goes, she attracts throngs of supporters seeking a glimpse of their idol and media eager to quiz her.
Questions on where she stands on the persecution of the Rohingya dogged her in a trip to Europe in June. Her decision to skirt the issue elicited rare criticism.
“Aung San Suu Kyi has the moral authority to change the terms of debate in Myanmar about the Rohingya towards a rights-respecting, non-discriminatory path, and we certainly hope she will seize the unique opportunity of this U.S. trip to do so,” said Bangkok-based Phil Robertson, who oversees the work of Human Rights Watch in Asia.
“We hope she can push the government of Myanmar to recognize that the Rohingya deserve citizenship,” he said in an email.
When Thein Sein makes his first U.N. appearance as Myanmar’s president at the General Assembly on Sept. 27, he, too, will be grilled about the Rohingya. On the same day, 80 miles north of New York in New Haven, Conn., Suu Kyi will be addressing Yale University students. Their paths won’t cross at the U.N., with Suu Kyi leaving New York as the president arrives.
It will be harder to duck the issue of the Rohingya at media-packed events during her extended stay in the United States which also will include a stop-off on the West Coast. On Sept. 29, she will meet members of the Burmese community – a mixture of economic migrants and political dissidents – in San Francisco.
Nyunt Than, a 49-year-old software engineer who fled Myanmar in 1992 and settled in the Bay Area in 1996, says he hopes finally to meet his idol in person. As a young activist, he and his friends followed her around wherever she spoke.
Nyunt Than, who went on to form the Burmese American Democratic Alliance in the U.S., says he wants to visit his homeland at the end of the year, but is concerned the authorities have yet to clear his name from a travel blacklist.
“My father is still alive, he’s 85, but my mother passed away a few years ago,” Nyunt Than said in a telephone interview. “The sad thing is that even with my financial support my family still struggles.”
Born in a village about 70 miles east of Yangon, Nyunt Than is among the 100,000 people of Burmese descent living in the U.S. He’s able to send money home through unofficial channels, and bought an apartment in the capital for his parents so they could have access to better health care.
Known to the Burmese as the “The Lady,” Suu Kyi’s grueling schedule may take a toll on her fragile constitution. She’s had fainting spells and bouts of exhaustion this year.
“We are so happy to have her, but I feel sorry she is coming such a long way because of her health,” Nyunt Than said.
Still, the Rohingya remain a delicate topic, even for Burmese who left their homeland long ago. When asked about Suu Kyi’s stance on the Rohingya, Nyunt Than stiffens.
“The international media and some rights groups do not understand the circumstances and the background well enough and got it wrong in their reporting, views and the remarks,” he said. “There is an humanitarian situation and lack of rules of law in the Arakan State in Myanmar, and the current government, activists, and the communities are collectively addressing it.”
Politics aside, Myanmar’s economic potential is the point of focus for investors. Emerging from isolation as sanctions are loosened, Myanmar’s economy may grow as much as 8 percent a year over the next decade, according to the Asian Development Bank.
Getting Suu Kyi to be more forthcoming may prove difficult.
Lieberman, who interviewed Suu Kyi at length while filming “They Call it Myanmar,” describes her as quite guarded, even intimidating, on subjects she’s uncomfortable with, especially her private life. When he nudged her to be a little open, she snapped, “I can’t be someone I am not.”
“And no personal questions, by the way.”
Sources Here:
Myanmar Buddhist monks stage a rally to protest against ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims and to support Myanmar President Thein Sein's stance toward the sectarian violence that took place in June between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar, in Mandalay, central Myanmar, on Sunday. (AP/Khin Maung Win)
Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Myanmar have staged a rally in support of the president and his proposal to send the members of a Muslim minority to another country.
Sunday's rally in Mandalay is the latest indication of deep sentiment against the Rohingya minority after June violence with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists that left 80 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
The monks held a banner saying, "Save your motherland Myanmar by supporting the president."
President Thein Sein suggested in July that Myanmar send all Rohingya to any country willing to take them, a proposal quickly opposed by the U.N. refugee agency.
Myanmar considers the Rohingya to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh but Bangladesh also rejects them, rendering them stateless.
The U.N. estimates that 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar.
Sources Here:
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Update News:
Monks stage anti-Rohingya march in Myanmar
Hundreds take to the streets in solidarity with President Thein Sein's plan to send the Rohingya to another country.
Hundreds of Buddhist monks in Myanmar have staged a rally in support of President Thein Sein's proposal to send the members of the Rohingya minority group to another country.
Sunday's rally in Mandalay, the country's second largest city, is the latest indication of deep-seated sentiment against the Rohingya after violence with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in June left at least 83 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
The monks held a banner saying, "Save your motherland Myanmar by supporting the president", while others criticised United Nations human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana, who has faced accusations that he is biased in favour of the Rohingya.
The leader of the march, a monk named Wirathu, told the AFP news agency that the protest was to "let the world know that Rohingya are not among Myanmar's ethnic groups at all".
Wirathu was jailed in 2003 for distributing anti-Muslim literature. He was given a 25-year sentence but released in January this year under an amnesty.
The monks say they will demonstrate and march for the next three days and expect many more people to join them.
Persecuted minority
The United Nations has referred to the Rohingya, widely reviled by the Buddhist majority in Myanmar, as among the most persecuted people on Earth.
The Rohingya have been denied citizenship even though many of their families have lived in Myanmar for generations.
Myanmar has denied a crackdown on Muslims and launched an inquiry into the violence, while Thein Sein has accusedBuddhist monks, politicians and other ethnic Rakhine figures of kindling hatred towards the Rohingya in a report sent to parliament last month.
However, in comments to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, published on his official website in July, he suggested it was "impossible to accept the illegally entered Rohingya, who are not our ethnicity" and mooted sending the group to a third country or UN administered camps.
The proposal was quickly opposed by the UN refugee agency.
Rights groups claim the government did little to stop the violence initially and then turned its security forces on the Rohingya with targeted killings, rapes, mass arrests and torture.
Myanmar considers the Rohingya to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh but Bangladesh also rejects them, rendering them stateless.
The UN estimates that 800,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar and the country's president has said the trouble in Rakhine state is an internal affair of the country and should not be internationalised.
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TEHRAN – During a meeting with Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi expressed concern about the conditions that the Rohingya Muslims are experiencing in Myanmar, it was reported on Monday.
Salehi said that Iran is ready to send humanitarian aid for the Muslims in Myanmar and will welcome a decision to use Iran’s influence to help defuse tensions in the country.
Myanmar’s foreign minister who has visited Iran to participate in the Non-Aligned Movement meeting briefed Salehi on the incidents that have taken place in his country and said that efforts are underway to restore peace.
He also assured Salehi that Myanmar is committed to respecting people of all religions and does not regard discrimination against Muslims as appropriate.
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| Myanmar President Thein Sein |
An effort to read a message from President Thein Sein on the conflict in Rakhine State to a joint session of the Burmese Parliament was cancelled on Thursday, after objections from members of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party [RNDP].
The review of the community violence said some political parties, monks and individuals incited “extreme racial hatred” and encouraged people to “commit irrational racial attacks” against “Rohingya Muslims.”
The review also said some people did not understand that Rohingyas can qualify for citizenship under the Burmese Citizenship Law.
The review said that some Rakhine (Buddhist) businesspersons tried to take advantage of the conflict to get the upper hand on businesses owned by Rohingyas.
It said some Rakhine (Buddhist) bear grudges against the United Nations and international NGOs [INGOs] and object to their presence in the area.
It said that 75 per cent of the Rohingya population in the area of unrest lived in poverty.
To address the issue, the review listed several short-term solutions: obtain reliable figures on the number of Rohingyas and relevant immigration figures; to enhance security and establish more effective law enforcement; to cooperate with the UN and international NGOs; and to report accurate news and information from the area.
Long-term solutions included building all-weather roads along walls put up in areas of the Bangladesh-Burmese border; to improve communication between racial groups, to carry out the Sittway [Sittwe] civil project; to build a Sittway-Maungdaw bridge; and to improve the education and health of Rohingyas in order to promote and improved society.
Other specific steps mentioned included addressing the issue of land disputes between indigenous Rakhine and Rohingyas and to cooperate with India and Bangladesh business ventures to improve the area’s economy.
Also, included was the development of the Rakhine State shipbuilding project, to increase the region’s supply of electricity and to promote ecotourism projects.
Source : Mizzima
Read Full Statement of President in Burmese here
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YANGON: Buddhist monks, politicians and other ethnic Rakhine figures are kindling hatred towards Muslim Rohingya in an area plagued by sectarian violence, Myanmar’s president has warned in a report seen by AFP Friday.
In an unvarnished assessment of the role of Buddhists in unrest in Rakhine state, which has left scores dead on both sides and displaced tens of thousands of people, President Thein Sein also said ethnic Rakhine could not accept the Rohingya as fellow citizens.
Decades of discrimination have left the Rohingya stateless and Myanmar’s government considers their 800,000-strong population as foreigners, while many citizens see them as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and view them with hostility.
“Political parties, some monks and some individuals are increasing the ethnic hatred. They even approach and lobby both the domestic and overseas Rakhine community,” Thein Sein said in a report sent to Myanmar’s union parliament – which combines the upper and lower houses – on August 17.
“Rakhine people are continuously thinking to terrorise the Bengali Muslims living across the country,” he said, using a term frequently used in Myanmar for Rohingya.
Thein Sein also said ethnic Rakhine could not envisage sharing their land with people they consider foreigners, echoing comments he made in July calling for camps or deportation of Rohingya.
“They cannot consider a situation in which the Bengali Muslims can be citizens,” the president said.
A leading Rakhine political party rejected the findings, saying it had already lodged “an objection” over the report to parliament.
“We don’t agree with their review… such a review should not be released in this current time…, it can worsen the clashes,” said Aye Maung, chairman of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.
Myanmar’s authorities have faced heavy criticism from rights groups after clashes between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine, which according to government figures left 87 people dead.
In response the government on August 18 announced a new 27-member investigating commission, including religious leaders, artists and former dissidents, to probe the causes of the violence and suggest ways forward.
The president’s review also found that the economy of Rakhine state had been decimated by the unrest, while both communities are suffering “mental trauma” after the clashes, which saw neighbours turn on each other and thousands of homes torched.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar forces of opening fire on Rohingya during the June outbreak of unrest, as well as committing rape and standing by as rival mobs attacked each other.
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Following weeks of international pressure, President Thein Sein today formed a commission to investigate the deadly sectarian violence in Arakan state, which controversially pitted Buddhists against the Muslim Rohingya minority in June.
The 27 member commission, headed by former director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Dr Myo Myint, is mandated “to reveal the truth behind the unrest” and “find solutions for communities with different religious beliefs to live together in harmony”, according to the President’s website.
The new body includes representatives from various religious groups, including Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, as well as political parties and democracy groups, but no Rohingya.
A number of controversial figures have also been included, such as student leader Ko Ko Gyi, who notoriously called for the minority to be expelled from Burma, as well as the vehemently anti-Rohingya leader of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) Dr Aye Maung.
“It is a good to form a body with people of various religions as the international community has been calling for the formation of an investigation commission,” he said of the appointment. “I assume we will be able to present the truth accurately.”
The Burmese government has faced fierce criticism for its handling of the Arakan crisis, which left at least 78 people dead and destroyed over 5,300 houses, according to government figures. A recent Human Rights Watch report accused the government of both failing to prevent the violence and later colluding in attacks against the Rohingya minority, who are denied citizenship and widely despised in Burmese society.
Although the formation of the commission marks a U-turn for the government, which until recently has rejected calls for an investigation into the violence, it is likely to face tough questions about its independence and reliability, as well as accusations of “window-dressing”.
Earlier this week, a coalition of 24 political parties, led by the RNDP, called for the removal of UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Quintana, who recently visited the conflict-torn region, over allegations of bias in favour of the Rohingya.
“When the president offered me to take part in the commission, I asked for only one thing; that I want it to be really independent and transparent,” said commission member and comedian Zaganar, who has previously condemned discrimination against the Rohingya. “I said I don’t want to be a part of it if there are interferences and I was given an answer that it won’t happen.”
Some members have also complained about the lack of clarity for their role.
“It would be very good if the president were to give us a specific mandate and power to deal with the issue,” said commission member Kyaw Khin, General Secretary of the Myanmar Muslim National Affairs Federation.
“I think conducting an independent investigation would be the best for Arakan state. I’m taking part in this more as a citizen rather than a religious leader. I think it’s a good thing that we are able to address both citizen rights and religious issues.”
Tensions flared in the western state after the rape and murder of an Arakanese girl in late May, allegedly by three Muslims, led to a brutal revenge attack on ten Muslim pilgrims. It brought to the fore long-simmering distrust against the Rohingya, who are viewed as “illegal Bengali immigrants” by many Burmese, including Muslims, and denied basic rights by the government.
The commission is set to present its findings to the President on 17 September.
Source : DVB News
Rohingya children study in a school by a mosque before Friday prayers in the village of Gollyadeil, north of the town of Sittwe on 18 May 2012. (Reuters)
Burma’s President Thein Sein told a visiting delegation from the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees that the government will not recognize the Rohingya and are considering handing over the ethnic group to the UNHCR, reported a government website today.
The delegation led by Antonio Guterres met with the president on 11 July when the leader clarified his position on the Muslim minority group, reported the presidential office’s website.
The president told the visiting delegation that the 800,000 strong group “posed a threat to national security”.
According to the site, Thein sein alleged that the “Bengalis were brought into Burma to work as farmhands by the English colonialists before the [country’s] independence in 1948”.
The president then asserted that in accordance with Burmese Law, only a third generation [immigrant] descended from those who came into Burma before 1948 are recognised as a citizen.
“Burma will take responsibility for its ethnic nationalities but it is not at all possible to recognise the illegal border-crossing Rohingyas who are not an ethnic [group] in Burma,” said Thein Sein according to his office’s website.
As a last resort, the president said the government is prepared to hand over the Rohingyas to the UNHCR and would set up refugee camps for the group before they were eventually settled in any third country “that are willing to take them”.
Rioting in Arakan state has left almost 100 dead according to official tallies and displaced nearly 90,000 people. Last week, Human Rights Watch published a report claiming that Burmese security forces systematically abused the stateless Rohingya group after sectarian violence flared in northern Arakan state in June.
The UN views the Rohingya as one of the most persecuted minority groups in the world, while a majority of the Burmese populace views them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
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Thein Sein declares state of emergency after sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims on Sunday kills several people
Thein Sein, the Burmese prime minister warned that racial and religious divisions could affect Burma's stability. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters
Sectarian violence could put Burma's transition to democracy at risk, President Thein Sein has warned as the government declared a state of emergency in the country's west after clashes between Buddhists and Muslims left at least eight people dead and 17 wounded.
Earlier on Sunday, authorities imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew on four towns in Arakan state, where tensions have been steadily growing since the killing of 10 Muslims aboard a bus in early June.
In a televised addressed, Thein Sein said the violence had been fanned by hatred and the desire for revenge. "If we put racial and religious issues at the forefront, if we put the never-ending hatred, desire for revenge and anarchic actions at the forefront, and if we continue to retaliate and terrorise and kill each other, there's a danger that [the troubles] could multiply and move beyond Arakan," the president said.
"If this happens, the general public should be aware that the country's stability and peace, democratisation process and development, which are only in transition right now, could be severely affected and much would be lost."
The announcement marked the first time since he took office last year that the president has imposed a state of emergency, which effectively allows the military to take over administrative functions. The order will "remain until further notice", he said.
A 12-year-old girl identified as Razen Bibi became the eighth person to die in the unrest after reportedly being shot on Sunday by riot police outside her home in the town of Maungdaw. Foreigners are barred from entering Maungdaw, but local staff working undercover for the Arakan Project, an international NGO that monitors the situation in Burma's westernmost state, said they saw the body being taken away by police.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is due to visit the UK later this month, appealed for calm amid the rioting. It is not yet clear if the state of emergency will affect her decision to travel, but the violence threatens to take the shine off her tour, which is being billed as a potent signal of progress in her country.
The unrest appears to have its roots in the 3 June incident in which a group of Muslim pilgrims were beaten to death by Buddhists from Arakan, allegedly in response to the gang rape and murder of a 26-year-old woman by three Muslim men in late May. The three accused had already been arrested, and are awaiting trial.
Ethno-religious tension is not new in Arakan, which sits on the border with Bangladesh and has the country's highest concentration of Muslims. But the current violence is the worst seen in over a decade, and state media warned of anarchy unless the situation is brought under control. Maung Zarni, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, said the situation was all the more tragic considering both sides of the conflict have experienced persecution by the Burmese authorities. He added that the nominally civilian government could well benefit from the unrest, given that it diverts attention from the military's continued attacks on other ethnic groups.
In a statement, Christian Solidarity Worldwide deplored the "rising racism [and] intolerance" in Burma, which it says "follows a steady increase in racist propaganda against Muslims generally". Several Facebook groups have been set up since the 3 June lynching, including one called "Kalar Beheading Gang". Kalar is a pejorative slur popularly employed by Burmese to refer to Muslims of south Asian descent.
The CSW statement singled out the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group denied citizenship by the government, as subject to particularly inhumane treatment. Up to 300,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh to escape state-sanctioned abuse and discrimination by Arakanese locals. They are the only ethnic group in Burma subjected to a two child policy and severe travel limitations, while Rohingya babies born out of wedlock are placed on blacklists that deny them entry to school and forbid marriage.
Chris Lewa, who runs The Arakan Project, told the Guardian that contrary to media reports claiming calm has been restored to the western state, the situation was getting "worse and worse", particularly in Maungdaw where hundreds of additional soldiers have been deployed. Several quarters in Sittwe, the state capital, have been set ablaze and Lewa said that with an equal ratio of Muslims to Buddhists in Sittwe, turmoil there could dramatically escalate.
Various overseas Rohingya groups have blamed Arakanese locals for the deaths over the weekend, although Lewa said that it was largely troops who had been attacking Muslims. That was echoed by Tun Khin, head of the Burma Rohingya Organisation UK, who said that the Friday unrest was triggered by security forces firing at a crowd leaving a prayer ceremony for the 10 people killed on 3 June, killing two.
The flames of animosity have been fanned even by prominent members of Burma's pro-democracy movement. Ko Ko Gyi, a former political prisoner and leader of the 1988 student uprising, earlier this week referred to the Rohingya as terrorists, adding: "We want to say clearly that Rohingya are not one of the Myanmar [Burma] ethnic nationalities."
Benedict Rogers, East Asia team leader at CSW, told the Guardian: "The exact history of the Rohingya can be discussed and debated among scholars in a civilised way, but no one can dispute that they have lived in Burma for generations, and as such should be recognised as citizens of the country."
Concerns have extended to the potential for the rioting to destabilise Burma's fragile reform process. The military-drafted constitution allows for the army chief to retake power in a national emergency, but remains vague on what exactly that constitutes.
Sources:
Thein Sein, the Burmese prime minister warned that racial and religious divisions could affect Burma's stability. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters
Sectarian violence could put Burma's transition to democracy at risk, President Thein Sein has warned as the government declared a state of emergency in the country's west after clashes between Buddhists and Muslims left at least eight people dead and 17 wounded.
Earlier on Sunday, authorities imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew on four towns in Arakan state, where tensions have been steadily growing since the killing of 10 Muslims aboard a bus in early June.
In a televised addressed, Thein Sein said the violence had been fanned by hatred and the desire for revenge. "If we put racial and religious issues at the forefront, if we put the never-ending hatred, desire for revenge and anarchic actions at the forefront, and if we continue to retaliate and terrorise and kill each other, there's a danger that [the troubles] could multiply and move beyond Arakan," the president said.
"If this happens, the general public should be aware that the country's stability and peace, democratisation process and development, which are only in transition right now, could be severely affected and much would be lost."
The announcement marked the first time since he took office last year that the president has imposed a state of emergency, which effectively allows the military to take over administrative functions. The order will "remain until further notice", he said.
A 12-year-old girl identified as Razen Bibi became the eighth person to die in the unrest after reportedly being shot on Sunday by riot police outside her home in the town of Maungdaw. Foreigners are barred from entering Maungdaw, but local staff working undercover for the Arakan Project, an international NGO that monitors the situation in Burma's westernmost state, said they saw the body being taken away by police.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is due to visit the UK later this month, appealed for calm amid the rioting. It is not yet clear if the state of emergency will affect her decision to travel, but the violence threatens to take the shine off her tour, which is being billed as a potent signal of progress in her country.
The unrest appears to have its roots in the 3 June incident in which a group of Muslim pilgrims were beaten to death by Buddhists from Arakan, allegedly in response to the gang rape and murder of a 26-year-old woman by three Muslim men in late May. The three accused had already been arrested, and are awaiting trial.
Ethno-religious tension is not new in Arakan, which sits on the border with Bangladesh and has the country's highest concentration of Muslims. But the current violence is the worst seen in over a decade, and state media warned of anarchy unless the situation is brought under control. Maung Zarni, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, said the situation was all the more tragic considering both sides of the conflict have experienced persecution by the Burmese authorities. He added that the nominally civilian government could well benefit from the unrest, given that it diverts attention from the military's continued attacks on other ethnic groups.
In a statement, Christian Solidarity Worldwide deplored the "rising racism [and] intolerance" in Burma, which it says "follows a steady increase in racist propaganda against Muslims generally". Several Facebook groups have been set up since the 3 June lynching, including one called "Kalar Beheading Gang". Kalar is a pejorative slur popularly employed by Burmese to refer to Muslims of south Asian descent.
The CSW statement singled out the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group denied citizenship by the government, as subject to particularly inhumane treatment. Up to 300,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh to escape state-sanctioned abuse and discrimination by Arakanese locals. They are the only ethnic group in Burma subjected to a two child policy and severe travel limitations, while Rohingya babies born out of wedlock are placed on blacklists that deny them entry to school and forbid marriage.
Chris Lewa, who runs The Arakan Project, told the Guardian that contrary to media reports claiming calm has been restored to the western state, the situation was getting "worse and worse", particularly in Maungdaw where hundreds of additional soldiers have been deployed. Several quarters in Sittwe, the state capital, have been set ablaze and Lewa said that with an equal ratio of Muslims to Buddhists in Sittwe, turmoil there could dramatically escalate.
Various overseas Rohingya groups have blamed Arakanese locals for the deaths over the weekend, although Lewa said that it was largely troops who had been attacking Muslims. That was echoed by Tun Khin, head of the Burma Rohingya Organisation UK, who said that the Friday unrest was triggered by security forces firing at a crowd leaving a prayer ceremony for the 10 people killed on 3 June, killing two.
The flames of animosity have been fanned even by prominent members of Burma's pro-democracy movement. Ko Ko Gyi, a former political prisoner and leader of the 1988 student uprising, earlier this week referred to the Rohingya as terrorists, adding: "We want to say clearly that Rohingya are not one of the Myanmar [Burma] ethnic nationalities."
Benedict Rogers, East Asia team leader at CSW, told the Guardian: "The exact history of the Rohingya can be discussed and debated among scholars in a civilised way, but no one can dispute that they have lived in Burma for generations, and as such should be recognised as citizens of the country."
Concerns have extended to the potential for the rioting to destabilise Burma's fragile reform process. The military-drafted constitution allows for the army chief to retake power in a national emergency, but remains vague on what exactly that constitutes.
Sources:
MAE SOT, TAK : The chances of Myanmar refugees returning to their homeland in safety may have improved since Myanmar opposition leader's Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Thailand, an academic says.
Suu Kyi: Curbs on camp visit
Annette Hamilton, lecturer at the University of New South Wales's Faculty of Arts, said Mrs Suu Kyi's visit helped raise international awareness of Myanmar's refugee issues.
As a result, the Myanmar government might give the 150,000 refugees inside Thailand some hope of returning without facing reprisals, Ms Hamilton said.
Myanmar's improving economy may also offer new opportunities for refugees and migrant workers to find work in their homeland, she said.
Another group in need of help is the hundreds of thousands of Myanmar nationals displaced from their homes, but still living inside Myanmar along the border, she said.
Refugees International says 500,000 Myanmar people have been displaced by conflict in eastern Myanmar and another 800,000 Muslims, known as the Rohingya, in western Myanmar are stateless. About 3 million Myanmar people have fled to neighbouring countries.
Ms Hamilton said ethnic minority people living along the border need help to lead better lives, so they will no longer want to escape into Thailand.
"This is an enormous task. We do not know whether the views of a single person like Aung San Suu Kyi can bring about such an enormous change," she said.
"The international community must take a lead in addressing the problems."
On Saturday, the last day of Mrs Suu Kyi's Thai visit, officials imposed curbs on her inspection of a refugee camp.
Although the Thai government accepted her last-minute request to visit the camp, which has about 50,000 people living on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, officials declined her request for a public address system and barred her from meeting the leaders of ethnic minority groups.
"The Foreign Ministry asked us to keep her visit low-key," said Suriya Prasatbuntitya, the governor of Tak province, where the camp is located.
"They didn't want her trip to become news because they don't want it to affect our relationship with Myanmar."
The government's concerns were heightened when Myanmar president Thein Sein cancelled a trip to Bangkok last week to speak at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, where Mrs Suu Kyi gave an address on Friday.
The Myanmar government expected Mrs Suu Kyi would focus on making changes in parliament, not making overtures to the outside world, when she was released from house arrest and then elected in a by-election on April 1, a Myanmar political observer said.
Ko Tate, secretary of the Assistance Association of the Political Prisoners (AAPP), said Mrs Suu Kyi's visit was welcome even though she was unable to meet ethnic leaders and representatives of democratic organisations based in Thailand, including the AAPP.
"We understand her complicated and confusing situation very well, and managed to hand over our statements and proposals to her delegation," Ko Tate said.
Migrants and refugees who failed to hear her speech were disappointed to have missed her, he said.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, said the government allowed her to visit the places she wanted, but not at the cost of possibly hurting relations with Myanmar.
"Anything in the humanitarian realm is welcome but we have to consider any aspect of the visit that might be politicised. After all, Thai-Myanmar relations are improving," Mr Sihasak said.
Suu Kyi: Curbs on camp visit
Annette Hamilton, lecturer at the University of New South Wales's Faculty of Arts, said Mrs Suu Kyi's visit helped raise international awareness of Myanmar's refugee issues.
As a result, the Myanmar government might give the 150,000 refugees inside Thailand some hope of returning without facing reprisals, Ms Hamilton said.
Myanmar's improving economy may also offer new opportunities for refugees and migrant workers to find work in their homeland, she said.
Another group in need of help is the hundreds of thousands of Myanmar nationals displaced from their homes, but still living inside Myanmar along the border, she said.
Refugees International says 500,000 Myanmar people have been displaced by conflict in eastern Myanmar and another 800,000 Muslims, known as the Rohingya, in western Myanmar are stateless. About 3 million Myanmar people have fled to neighbouring countries.
Ms Hamilton said ethnic minority people living along the border need help to lead better lives, so they will no longer want to escape into Thailand.
"This is an enormous task. We do not know whether the views of a single person like Aung San Suu Kyi can bring about such an enormous change," she said.
"The international community must take a lead in addressing the problems."
On Saturday, the last day of Mrs Suu Kyi's Thai visit, officials imposed curbs on her inspection of a refugee camp.
Although the Thai government accepted her last-minute request to visit the camp, which has about 50,000 people living on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, officials declined her request for a public address system and barred her from meeting the leaders of ethnic minority groups.
"The Foreign Ministry asked us to keep her visit low-key," said Suriya Prasatbuntitya, the governor of Tak province, where the camp is located.
"They didn't want her trip to become news because they don't want it to affect our relationship with Myanmar."
The government's concerns were heightened when Myanmar president Thein Sein cancelled a trip to Bangkok last week to speak at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, where Mrs Suu Kyi gave an address on Friday.
The Myanmar government expected Mrs Suu Kyi would focus on making changes in parliament, not making overtures to the outside world, when she was released from house arrest and then elected in a by-election on April 1, a Myanmar political observer said.
Ko Tate, secretary of the Assistance Association of the Political Prisoners (AAPP), said Mrs Suu Kyi's visit was welcome even though she was unable to meet ethnic leaders and representatives of democratic organisations based in Thailand, including the AAPP.
"We understand her complicated and confusing situation very well, and managed to hand over our statements and proposals to her delegation," Ko Tate said.
Migrants and refugees who failed to hear her speech were disappointed to have missed her, he said.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, said the government allowed her to visit the places she wanted, but not at the cost of possibly hurting relations with Myanmar.
"Anything in the humanitarian realm is welcome but we have to consider any aspect of the visit that might be politicised. After all, Thai-Myanmar relations are improving," Mr Sihasak said.
A Myanmarese mob has attacked a passenger bus in the Rakhine state in the west of the country, killing at least nine people, an official says."We heard nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in Taunggote town this evening. We do not know the details yet," a government official told AFP on Sunday.
He added that many of the victims were likely to be Muslims who were visiting Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, from central Myanmar.
A villager from the scene of the attack said a mob of ethnic Rakhines, who are mostly Buddhist, attacked the bus.
"More than a hundred people beat and killed those people. The residents even torched the bus," he said.
"There are not many people at the scene now, only dead bodies on the road. The senior town residents are trying to comfort the people," the man added.
Local residents said that a recent rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine girl had created sectarian and ethnic tensions in the area.
Another man stated that the attackers killed people in an attempt to capture the supposed killers of the girl who they thought were among the passengers.
Myanmar officials have reported the deaths of over ten people in Rakhine State, in the west of the country, following ethnic and religious tensions.On Sunday, ethnic Rakhine residents allegedly set upon the victims, thought to be Muslims visiting the area from central Myanmar.
The recent rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine girl had stirred the tensions which boiled over on Sunday.
According to witnesses, ethnic Rakhines, who are mostly Buddhist, attacked people they thought might have been responsible for the murder.
Following the killings, a bus was set alight.
Police described many dead bodies on the road following the incident, which was just one of the recent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh.
Buddhists make up the bulk of the population in Myanmar, while Muslims only represent four percent.
At least nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in western Myanmar on Sunday, an official said, in an apparent sectarian attack in a region affected by simmering religious tensions.
Fishermen standing by their boats on the island of Shweri Chai in the Bay of Bengal, off the western city of Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State, in April 2012. At least nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in western Myanmar on Sunday, an official said, in an apparent sectarian attack in a region affected by simmering religious tensions.
"We heard nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in Taunggote town this evening. We do not know the details yet," a government official told AFP, adding that some of the victims were thought to be Muslims visiting Rakhine State from central Myanmar.
Local residents, speaking to AFP by phone, said the recent rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine girl had stirred sectarian suspicions in the area. AFP was unable to reach local police to confirm details of that case.
One man from the village where the attack took place said a mob of ethnic Rakhines -- who are mostly Buddhist -- set upon a bus that they believed was carrying those responsible for the murder-rape.
"More than a hundred people beat and killed those people. The residents even torched the bus," he said, adding that the police arrived but were unable to control the baying crowd.
"There are not many people at the scene now, only dead bodies on the road. The senior town residents are trying to comfort the people," the man added.
Another local man also told AFP that the crowd murdered the passengers in an attempt to capture the supposed killers of the girl.
Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims occur periodically in Myanmar and Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, is a flashpoint for tensions.
"We all have a duty to control the situation, no matter who is involved or which religion they are," said Aye Maung, an MP for the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.
"We all are living here together. We, as well as the government, have the duty to control it," he told AFP.
Buddhists make up some 89 percent of the population of Myanmar, with Muslims officially representing four percent.
In February 2001, the then-ruling junta declared a curfew in the Rakhine State capital city Sittwe after violent riots broke out between Muslims and Buddhists.
Pockets of sectarian unrest have occasionally broken out in other parts of the country.
Buddhists in Rakhine have grown to resent Muslims that have moved into their relatively affluent state from Bangladesh, who have long crossed into Myanmar's border provinces seeking seasonal work.
Fishermen standing by their boats on the island of Shweri Chai in the Bay of Bengal, off the western city of Sittwe, capital of Rakhine State, in April 2012. At least nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in western Myanmar on Sunday, an official said, in an apparent sectarian attack in a region affected by simmering religious tensions.
"We heard nine people were killed by ethnic Rakhine residents in Taunggote town this evening. We do not know the details yet," a government official told AFP, adding that some of the victims were thought to be Muslims visiting Rakhine State from central Myanmar.
Local residents, speaking to AFP by phone, said the recent rape and murder of an ethnic Rakhine girl had stirred sectarian suspicions in the area. AFP was unable to reach local police to confirm details of that case.
One man from the village where the attack took place said a mob of ethnic Rakhines -- who are mostly Buddhist -- set upon a bus that they believed was carrying those responsible for the murder-rape.
"More than a hundred people beat and killed those people. The residents even torched the bus," he said, adding that the police arrived but were unable to control the baying crowd.
"There are not many people at the scene now, only dead bodies on the road. The senior town residents are trying to comfort the people," the man added.
Another local man also told AFP that the crowd murdered the passengers in an attempt to capture the supposed killers of the girl.
Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims occur periodically in Myanmar and Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, is a flashpoint for tensions.
"We all have a duty to control the situation, no matter who is involved or which religion they are," said Aye Maung, an MP for the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.
"We all are living here together. We, as well as the government, have the duty to control it," he told AFP.
Buddhists make up some 89 percent of the population of Myanmar, with Muslims officially representing four percent.
In February 2001, the then-ruling junta declared a curfew in the Rakhine State capital city Sittwe after violent riots broke out between Muslims and Buddhists.
Pockets of sectarian unrest have occasionally broken out in other parts of the country.
Buddhists in Rakhine have grown to resent Muslims that have moved into their relatively affluent state from Bangladesh, who have long crossed into Myanmar's border provinces seeking seasonal work.
source here
SINGAPORE, JUNE 2: Myanmar has abandoned research on a nuclear program that never progressed very far, and has stepped back from close military and political ties with North Korea, the Southeast Asian country’s defence minister said on Saturday.
News reports two years ago indicated Myanmar obtained technology for enriching uranium from North Korea along with parts for a nuclear weapons program.
The reports were based on interviews with an army major who was involved in the program and defected with files he said documented the project.
“We have already said very clearly it was not for defence, it was not for weapons, it was just research in the past,” the defence minister, Lieutenant General Hla Min, said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security forum in Singapore attended by senior regional civilian and military leaders.
Delegates said the comments were remarkably frank, and illustrated the sweeping reforms in Myanmar since it began emerging from decades of isolation and military rule last year.
The reforms have attracted the interest of foreign investors and persuaded Western governments to suspend sanctions.
Hla Min, speaking through an interpreter, said Myanmar maintained political and military ties with Pyongyang in the past but “because of our opening and our new efforts, we have stopped such relationships with North Korea.”
A UN panel of experts that monitors compliance with sanctions on North Korea is investigating reports of possible weapons-related deals between Pyongyang and Syria and Myanmar, the panel said in a confidential report seen by Reuters.
“According to our foreign policy, we have friendly relations with all countries so it is just a regular relationship,” the minister said of current dealings with North Korea.
Hla Min said Myanmar’s progress on the nuclear program had been exaggerated in the media.
“In reality we were just beginning on doing academic studies,” he said. “But in this new government we have already given up all activities on nuclear issues. And we have no further plans to extend on this.”
Hla Min said the nuclear program never got very far due to “our constraints” as a nation, adding “there were no practical ways” to advance it.
AFP report adds: The United States would be open to forging ties with Myanmar’s military if the country continues on a path of democratic reform, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Saturday.
“Obviously we encourage the reforms that they are hoping to put in place,” Panetta told delegates at an Asia security summit in Singapore, the Shangri-La Dialogue.
“As you know the State Department has taken steps to relieve some of the sanctions that have been placed on Myanmar and try to encourage them again to move in the right direction,” he told representatives from 27 countries at the event, organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies. “I think part and parcel of that, assuming that they are able to implement reforms and to continue the kind of political efforts at opening up their system, that a part and parcel of that would be discussions with regards to how we can improve our defence relationship with their country as well.”
News reports two years ago indicated Myanmar obtained technology for enriching uranium from North Korea along with parts for a nuclear weapons program.
The reports were based on interviews with an army major who was involved in the program and defected with files he said documented the project.
“We have already said very clearly it was not for defence, it was not for weapons, it was just research in the past,” the defence minister, Lieutenant General Hla Min, said at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual security forum in Singapore attended by senior regional civilian and military leaders.
Delegates said the comments were remarkably frank, and illustrated the sweeping reforms in Myanmar since it began emerging from decades of isolation and military rule last year.
The reforms have attracted the interest of foreign investors and persuaded Western governments to suspend sanctions.
Hla Min, speaking through an interpreter, said Myanmar maintained political and military ties with Pyongyang in the past but “because of our opening and our new efforts, we have stopped such relationships with North Korea.”
A UN panel of experts that monitors compliance with sanctions on North Korea is investigating reports of possible weapons-related deals between Pyongyang and Syria and Myanmar, the panel said in a confidential report seen by Reuters.
“According to our foreign policy, we have friendly relations with all countries so it is just a regular relationship,” the minister said of current dealings with North Korea.
Hla Min said Myanmar’s progress on the nuclear program had been exaggerated in the media.
“In reality we were just beginning on doing academic studies,” he said. “But in this new government we have already given up all activities on nuclear issues. And we have no further plans to extend on this.”
Hla Min said the nuclear program never got very far due to “our constraints” as a nation, adding “there were no practical ways” to advance it.
AFP report adds: The United States would be open to forging ties with Myanmar’s military if the country continues on a path of democratic reform, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Saturday.
“Obviously we encourage the reforms that they are hoping to put in place,” Panetta told delegates at an Asia security summit in Singapore, the Shangri-La Dialogue.
“As you know the State Department has taken steps to relieve some of the sanctions that have been placed on Myanmar and try to encourage them again to move in the right direction,” he told representatives from 27 countries at the event, organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies. “I think part and parcel of that, assuming that they are able to implement reforms and to continue the kind of political efforts at opening up their system, that a part and parcel of that would be discussions with regards to how we can improve our defence relationship with their country as well.”
MAE LA, Thailand — Amid growing concerns here that the six-day visit of Myanmar’s opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, might damage relations with Myanmar’s government, Thai officials tried to rein her in on Saturday at a refugee camp on the Thai border.
Although the Thai government accepted her last-minute request to visit the camp, which has about 50,000 people living on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, formerly Burma, Thai officials declined her request for a public address system, barred her from meeting the leaders of ethnic minority groups and tried, without success, to keep the international news media away, local officials here said.
“The Foreign Ministry asked us to keep her visit low-key,” said Suriya Prasatbuntitya, the governor of Tak Province, where the camp is located. “Put simply, they didn’t want her trip to become news because they don’t want this to affect our relationship with Burma.”
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, recently elected to Parliament, began a new phase in her political career last week, leaving Myanmar for the first time in 24 years. She plans to travel to Britain, France, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland this month, expanding her role as a global envoy for freedom and democracy.
But her first trip abroad since becoming a public figure has been challenging. She has delighted crowds here but rankled government officials.
On Friday she attended a business conference in Bangkok and urged potential investors against “reckless optimism” about Myanmar. She recited a litany of the country’s flaws to a room full of multinational executives at a time when the Myanmar government is desperately trying to attract investment.
The Thai government’s concern, according to Mr. Suriya and the Thai news media, is that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s trip could anger the Myanmar government and complicate an already very delicate situation along the border, where the new administration in Myanmar is pressing for reconciliation with ethnic groups.
“Suu Kyi stealing the spotlight,” read a headline on Friday in Thai Rath, the newspaper with the largest circulation in Thailand.
Some damage may already have been done: U Thein Sein, the president of Myanmar, postponed a trip to Thailand last week after it became public that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi would be speaking at the same conference. On Friday he canceled the visit altogether. Mr. Thein Sein had planned to sign an agreement about a joint economic zone that the countries are developing.
Mr. Thein Sein’s change of plans was officially explained by a need to attend to urgent matters at home. But those matters were never disclosed. Two of his advisers did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.
Mr. Suriya, who was summoned to an urgent meeting on Friday when the Thai government decided to curtail Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s activities, said he believed that Myanmar’s president “did not want to follow in the footsteps of Suu Kyi.”
“He will probably wait for a while before visiting Thailand,” Mr. Suriya said.
In a news conference held before Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi flew back to Bangkok from the border, she said that she had not consulted with Myanmar’s government about the trip and that she did not see how it could conflict with government efforts.
“I do not see how our efforts should overlap because I was just studying conditions in the refugee camps,” she said.
She also said she would not pass on her findings to the government.
“I do not have to report back to anybody as such because these meetings that took place, took place out of my own initiative,” she said.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s powerful allure as a symbol of hope and democracy has been evident during this visit. Visiting a fishing community last week, she received a rapturous and sometimes tearful welcome from crowds of Burmese migrant workers, the underclass of Thai society.
At the Mae La camp here on Saturday, thousands of refugees, some of them victims of land mines, pressed forward to catch a glimpse of her in a chaotic scene that caused several people to faint and be carried away.
“I’ve only seen photos of her,” said Ba Aye, a 54-year-old man from the Karen ethnic group. “Today I’m going to see her in real life. I’m very happy that Suu Kyi is coming here.”
Many in the crowd shouted: “Give us a speech! Give us a speech!”
She was not allowed more than perfunctory remarks, but she told the refugees, “You are not forgotten.”
Some in the camp, which was opened in 1984, said they did not know how to interpret the visit, especially since Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was not able to address the crowd for more than a few minutes.
“We heard that they might force us to go back to Burma, so we were very sad,” said Seng Nu Mai, a woman from the Kachin ethnic group, which has been holding peace talks with the government but has been involved in fighting in recent months.
“It’s not possible for us to go back,” she said. “This is not the time.”
Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting.
Although the Thai government accepted her last-minute request to visit the camp, which has about 50,000 people living on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, formerly Burma, Thai officials declined her request for a public address system, barred her from meeting the leaders of ethnic minority groups and tried, without success, to keep the international news media away, local officials here said.
“The Foreign Ministry asked us to keep her visit low-key,” said Suriya Prasatbuntitya, the governor of Tak Province, where the camp is located. “Put simply, they didn’t want her trip to become news because they don’t want this to affect our relationship with Burma.”
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, recently elected to Parliament, began a new phase in her political career last week, leaving Myanmar for the first time in 24 years. She plans to travel to Britain, France, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland this month, expanding her role as a global envoy for freedom and democracy.
But her first trip abroad since becoming a public figure has been challenging. She has delighted crowds here but rankled government officials.
On Friday she attended a business conference in Bangkok and urged potential investors against “reckless optimism” about Myanmar. She recited a litany of the country’s flaws to a room full of multinational executives at a time when the Myanmar government is desperately trying to attract investment.
The Thai government’s concern, according to Mr. Suriya and the Thai news media, is that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s trip could anger the Myanmar government and complicate an already very delicate situation along the border, where the new administration in Myanmar is pressing for reconciliation with ethnic groups.
“Suu Kyi stealing the spotlight,” read a headline on Friday in Thai Rath, the newspaper with the largest circulation in Thailand.
Some damage may already have been done: U Thein Sein, the president of Myanmar, postponed a trip to Thailand last week after it became public that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi would be speaking at the same conference. On Friday he canceled the visit altogether. Mr. Thein Sein had planned to sign an agreement about a joint economic zone that the countries are developing.
Mr. Thein Sein’s change of plans was officially explained by a need to attend to urgent matters at home. But those matters were never disclosed. Two of his advisers did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.
Mr. Suriya, who was summoned to an urgent meeting on Friday when the Thai government decided to curtail Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s activities, said he believed that Myanmar’s president “did not want to follow in the footsteps of Suu Kyi.”
“He will probably wait for a while before visiting Thailand,” Mr. Suriya said.
In a news conference held before Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi flew back to Bangkok from the border, she said that she had not consulted with Myanmar’s government about the trip and that she did not see how it could conflict with government efforts.
“I do not see how our efforts should overlap because I was just studying conditions in the refugee camps,” she said.
She also said she would not pass on her findings to the government.
“I do not have to report back to anybody as such because these meetings that took place, took place out of my own initiative,” she said.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s powerful allure as a symbol of hope and democracy has been evident during this visit. Visiting a fishing community last week, she received a rapturous and sometimes tearful welcome from crowds of Burmese migrant workers, the underclass of Thai society.
At the Mae La camp here on Saturday, thousands of refugees, some of them victims of land mines, pressed forward to catch a glimpse of her in a chaotic scene that caused several people to faint and be carried away.
“I’ve only seen photos of her,” said Ba Aye, a 54-year-old man from the Karen ethnic group. “Today I’m going to see her in real life. I’m very happy that Suu Kyi is coming here.”
Many in the crowd shouted: “Give us a speech! Give us a speech!”
She was not allowed more than perfunctory remarks, but she told the refugees, “You are not forgotten.”
Some in the camp, which was opened in 1984, said they did not know how to interpret the visit, especially since Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was not able to address the crowd for more than a few minutes.
“We heard that they might force us to go back to Burma, so we were very sad,” said Seng Nu Mai, a woman from the Kachin ethnic group, which has been holding peace talks with the government but has been involved in fighting in recent months.
“It’s not possible for us to go back,” she said. “This is not the time.”
Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting.
DUBLIN (AP) — Bono will present Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi with Amnesty International's highest honor when she visits Dublin next month as part of her first international tour in 24 years, the U2 singer and other organizers of an Irish tribute concert announced Wednesday.
Suu Kyi is scheduled to visit Dublin on June 18, a day after collecting her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel in 1991, and Amnesty's Ambassador of Conscience award in 2009. She was unable to claim either award in person until now because she was under house arrest for 15 of the past 24 years and, even when free, afraid to leave Myanmar in case the country's military junta barred her return.
Bono devoted a series of U2's 2009 concerts to Suu Kyi, demanding her release from house arrest, and unveiled the Amnesty award at one Dublin concert that year. He said the June 18 event would be the first time he's ever met the 66-year-old pro-democracy activist.
"It's so rare to see grace trump military might, and when it happens we should make the most joyful noise we can," Bono said in a prepared statement. "Aung San Suu Kyi's grace and courage have tilted a wobbly world further in the direction of democracy. We all feel we know her, but it will be such a thrill to meet her in person."
Suu Kyi was elected to Parliament in Myanmar, also known as Burma, last month; took her seat May 2; and launched an international tour Tuesday starting in neighboring Thailand. She's also scheduled to address both houses of the British Parliament during her European tour next month.
She is expected to visit Dublin solely to be guest of honor at the concert, called Electric Burma.
Bill Shipsey, an Amnesty official organizing the concert, said others taking part would be actress Vanessa Redgrave, the Riverdance troupe, and folk-rock singer Damien Rice.
Bob Geldof, like Bono an Irish rocker-turned-humanitarian, also will be involved in the concert. Geldof praised Suu Kyi as a "heroine of dignity, integrity, courage and steely moral vigor (who) lost her freedom and her family in order to gain a nation. Ireland is ennobled by her visit."
Suu Kyi is scheduled to visit Dublin on June 18, a day after collecting her Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel in 1991, and Amnesty's Ambassador of Conscience award in 2009. She was unable to claim either award in person until now because she was under house arrest for 15 of the past 24 years and, even when free, afraid to leave Myanmar in case the country's military junta barred her return.
Bono devoted a series of U2's 2009 concerts to Suu Kyi, demanding her release from house arrest, and unveiled the Amnesty award at one Dublin concert that year. He said the June 18 event would be the first time he's ever met the 66-year-old pro-democracy activist.
"It's so rare to see grace trump military might, and when it happens we should make the most joyful noise we can," Bono said in a prepared statement. "Aung San Suu Kyi's grace and courage have tilted a wobbly world further in the direction of democracy. We all feel we know her, but it will be such a thrill to meet her in person."
Suu Kyi was elected to Parliament in Myanmar, also known as Burma, last month; took her seat May 2; and launched an international tour Tuesday starting in neighboring Thailand. She's also scheduled to address both houses of the British Parliament during her European tour next month.
She is expected to visit Dublin solely to be guest of honor at the concert, called Electric Burma.
Bill Shipsey, an Amnesty official organizing the concert, said others taking part would be actress Vanessa Redgrave, the Riverdance troupe, and folk-rock singer Damien Rice.
Bob Geldof, like Bono an Irish rocker-turned-humanitarian, also will be involved in the concert. Geldof praised Suu Kyi as a "heroine of dignity, integrity, courage and steely moral vigor (who) lost her freedom and her family in order to gain a nation. Ireland is ennobled by her visit."
Opposition leader makes first trip outside Myanmar in 24 years to give speech at Bangkok economic forum.
Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years in detention during Myanmar's fight for democracy [Reuters]
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition figure, will venture outside Myanmar for the first time in 24 years.
Her trip on Tuesday is seen as a newfound display of confidence in the liberalisation taking shape in her country after five decades of military rule.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years in detention during Myanmar's fight against dictatorship, will give a speech this
week at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Bangkok.
Until now, Suu Kyi has refused to leave Myanmar during brief periods of freedom from her years of detention, fearing the generals she was challenging would not allow her back into the country.
Her decision to leave the country comes after a year of dramatic change unthinkable in March 2011, when junta leader Than Shwe made way for a government stacked with his proteges following elections seen as rigged to favour an army-backed party and held while Suu Kyi remained under house arrest.
But in the 18 months since the election which the army-backed party won, the changes have been sweeping.
Suu Kyi has since been released and is now a parliamentarian having been convinced by reformist President Thein Sein, a former junta heavyweight, to contest a by-election and take part in a political system devised and dominated by retired and serving soldiers.
Hundreds of political prisoners have been freed, protests legalised, media censorship eased and dialogue with ethnic
minority rebels is moving forward, as is economic liberalisation.
The reforms have convinced Suu Kyi to support the suspension of Western sanctions, which had crippled the economy of Myanmar, after staunchly advocating embargoes to squeeze the generals.
Bangkok forum
Thein Sein was also due to give a speech at the same forum in Bangkok, but has since cancelled his visit, according to
Myanmar government sources, who requested anonymity.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the leader of Myanmar's campaign for independence from British rule, spent years away from home, including many in Britain after marrying a British academic, Michael Aris.
She returned to her homeland in 1988 to take care of her dying mother and got caught up in a student-led democracy
uprising that swept the country that year and which the military eventually crushed.
Suu Kyi was first detained in 1989. From the on, she refused to leave, even after her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Aris died in 1999.
She is also due next month to visit Switzerland, Norway and Britain.
She will give an address in Geneva to an international labour conference on June 14 and will spend a week in Britain
from June 18, during which she will give a speech to both houses of parliament.
Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years in detention during Myanmar's fight for democracy [Reuters]
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition figure, will venture outside Myanmar for the first time in 24 years.
Her trip on Tuesday is seen as a newfound display of confidence in the liberalisation taking shape in her country after five decades of military rule.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years in detention during Myanmar's fight against dictatorship, will give a speech this
week at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Bangkok.
Until now, Suu Kyi has refused to leave Myanmar during brief periods of freedom from her years of detention, fearing the generals she was challenging would not allow her back into the country.
Her decision to leave the country comes after a year of dramatic change unthinkable in March 2011, when junta leader Than Shwe made way for a government stacked with his proteges following elections seen as rigged to favour an army-backed party and held while Suu Kyi remained under house arrest.
But in the 18 months since the election which the army-backed party won, the changes have been sweeping.
Suu Kyi has since been released and is now a parliamentarian having been convinced by reformist President Thein Sein, a former junta heavyweight, to contest a by-election and take part in a political system devised and dominated by retired and serving soldiers.
Hundreds of political prisoners have been freed, protests legalised, media censorship eased and dialogue with ethnic
minority rebels is moving forward, as is economic liberalisation.
The reforms have convinced Suu Kyi to support the suspension of Western sanctions, which had crippled the economy of Myanmar, after staunchly advocating embargoes to squeeze the generals.
Bangkok forum
Thein Sein was also due to give a speech at the same forum in Bangkok, but has since cancelled his visit, according to
Myanmar government sources, who requested anonymity.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the leader of Myanmar's campaign for independence from British rule, spent years away from home, including many in Britain after marrying a British academic, Michael Aris.
She returned to her homeland in 1988 to take care of her dying mother and got caught up in a student-led democracy
uprising that swept the country that year and which the military eventually crushed.
Suu Kyi was first detained in 1989. From the on, she refused to leave, even after her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Aris died in 1999.
She is also due next month to visit Switzerland, Norway and Britain.
She will give an address in Geneva to an international labour conference on June 14 and will spend a week in Britain
from June 18, during which she will give a speech to both houses of parliament.
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