By Lawi Weng

The Irrawaddy

July 16, 2014

RANGOON — The newly appointed chief minister of Burma’s conflict-torn Arakan State appears to be struggling to win the trust of Rohingya Muslims, who continue to live in squalid camps after being driven from their homes in rioting two years ago.

Chief Minister Maung Maung Ohn, who is also a general in the armed forces, has met four times with Rohingya community leaders since he was appointed last month. But in that time, he has been unable to convince the Rohingyas to participate in the government’s controversial “citizenship verification” scheme, according to state government spokesman Win Myaing.

“They are refusing to cooperate,” the spokesman told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

The Arakan State government implemented a pilot project in Myebon Township last month to determine who will qualify to become a naturalized citizen. Many Rohingya families have lived in the country for generations, but they are widely regarded as illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and are mostly denied citizenship by the government.

Win Myaing said the international community had pressured Naypyidaw to reconsider their pleas for citizenship. “But we cannot do anything, even though we are trying, because they refuse to cooperate,” he said.

Rohingya rights activists Aung Win said he believed the government wanted to appease the international community but had little interest in actually granting citizenship to the 1 million or so Rohingya people living in western Burma.

“After their work in Myebon, we did not see them grant citizenship to our people,” he said. “I believe that even though we agreed to identify as Bengali, they may grant citizenship only to a few of our people.”

The chief minister, who met most recently with Rohingya leaders on Monday, said applicants would be considered for citizenship only if they identified as Bengali, as they are known by the government. During the nationwide census earlier this year, the government also refused to count anybody who identified as ethnic Rohingya rather than Bengali.

Arakan State was torn apart by communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. More than 140,000 people were displaced from their homes, and the majority of these were Rohingya Muslims who continue to live today in camps outside the state capital, Sittwe.

By Press Association

July 15, 2014

Britain has spent £9 million on a census in Burma that was widely criticised for stoking religious and ethnic tensions after the government denied a long-persecuted minority from identifying themselves as Rohingya.

Outgoing International Development Minister Alan Duncan said the UK committed £10 million to the census, with £9 million already spent and £1 million to follow for "data analysis, thematic reports and dissemination of information".

The census was criticised for not allowing Rohingya Muslims to note their ethnicity on forms as the Burmese government sees them as Bengali immigrants and denies them citizenship.

Many migrated into Burma generations ago and have long been persecuted by majority Buddhists in the country - also known as Myanmar - which has recently emerged from 50 years of brutal military rule and isolation.

Buddhist hostility towards the Rohingya spilled over in 2012 when Buddhist mob attacks on the minority left 200 people dead and displaced another 140,000 from their homes in the Western state of Rakhine.

In the run up to the March census, Buddhists in Rakhine vowed to boycott it as they were worried the status of the Rohingyas would be legitimised. They also attacked the homes and offices of foreign aid workers, forcing their evacuation.

The census was the country's first for 30 years and involved a complicated questionnaire drawn up by the Burmese government and the United Nations Population Fund.

The 1983 census counted the country's population as 60 million but is seen as flawed for failing to count many religious and ethnic minorities.

The UN had given assurances that the 2014 census would count the Rohingya.

Mr Duncan gave the figures in response to a written parliamentary question from Labour's shadow international development minister Gavin Shuker.

The UN’s newly appointed special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar will begin her first visit to the country later this week.

Yanghee Lee will visit Nay Pyi Taw, Yangon and Rakhine and Kachin states on her 10-day trip, which begins on July 17. She will also travel to Mandalay, where a recent outbreak of violence between Muslims and Buddhists left two men dead.

“A frank and open exchange of views will be vital to help me better understand the realities on the ground,” Ms Lee said in a statement. “And it is my intention, as special rapporteur, to work closely with the government and people of Myanmar, towards the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.”

The position of special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar has existed since 1992. It is nominated by the UN secretary general and mandated by the UN Human Rights Council.

Ms Lee took over the role of special rapporteur in June from Tomás Quintana, who held the post for six years – the maximum period allowable – before finishing his mandate in May 2014.

Though granted greater and more frequent access to Myanmar than his predecessors, Mr Quintana’s time as special rapporteur was dogged in recent years by accusations that he was biased toward the country’s Muslims.

Visits to Rakhine State were regularly met by protesters and in August 2013 Mr Quintana’s convoy was attacked while travelling through Meiktila, less than six months after more than 40 people were killed in religious violence in the town. The government rejected Mr Quintana’s version of the incident.

Previously, Ms Lee was a member and chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child from 2003 to 2011 and is the founding president of International Child Rights Center. She is a professor at Sungkyunwan University in Seoul.

Ms Lee’s visit will conclude on July 26. She will present her first report of Myanmar to the UN General Assembly in October.

By IRIN

July 15, 2014

YANGON - In early July, a hundreds-strong mob of Buddhists converged on a shop in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city. According to rumours spread on social media, its Muslim owner had raped a Buddhist woman. The ensuing violence left two dead and a dozen injured.

Since 2012 more than 240 people have died in communal violence fought along religious and ethnic lines, the victims overwhelmingly Muslim.

Than Nyunt of the Interfaith Religious Group of Mandalay, told IRIN it was the intervention of both Muslim and Buddhist leaders that stopped violence in Mandalay from spreading - a significant achievement, experts and community leaders say, given the current polarized political atmosphere in the country.

“We approached the crowd in the streets and people in communities and urged them not to get involved in the fights, not to believe the circulating rumours,” Than Nyunt said.

On 8 July, a week after the outburst, Myanmar’s reformist president, Thein Sein, addressed the nation on the radio, saying: “We have faced various challenges with ethnic and religious conflicts…. [M]any of the conflicts were deliberate instigations to derail our aim of achieving a society based on democratic principles.”

After the violence, the government imposed a curfew on Mandalay and deployed security forces.

“With the presence of the police deployed across the city, people no longer need to worry about their safety,” said Chit Htoo, vice-chairman of Byamaso Social Services, an NGO in Mandalay. Chit Htoo is a member of the Peace Restoration Committee of Mandalay, a citizens’ group formed in the wake of the July violence by senior citizens in Mandalay with guidance from Buddhist monks. Other community groups followed suit.

“For the sake of our country’s future, our next generation, we must ensure that rule of law is in place, communities are well-educated and harmonious, and the government must respond instantly and effectively,” said Shine Win, a founding member of Interfaith Youth Coalition on AIDS in Myanmar. 

But, some analysts say, community-led initiatives will be up against increasing - and often politically manipulated - polarization as the country approaches an election in 2015.

Religious leaders, particularly Buddhist monks, hold considerable political stature in Myanmar: They were major players both in the struggle to regain independence from British colonial rule and in democracy movements. However, in an environment the International Crisis Group (ICG) has called a “context of rising Burman-Buddhist nationalism” being pushed by a monk-led “populist political force that cloaks itself in religious respectability and moral authority”, monastic influence can fan the flames of hatred as well.

“As usual with Burma’s communal violence, the plot thickens as the dust settles,” said Dave Matheison, senior researcher on Burma at Human Rights Watch. “So the question hangs: was this another case of organic, spontaneous religious violence, or an orchestrated piece of a broader political puzzle utilizing racism ahead of Burma’s 2015 elections?”

Weak reactions feed the rumour mill

In his national address, President Thein Sein said: “Everyone must avoid hate speech and incitement, and sensibly, bravely and with foresight cooperate to bring legal action against those responsible for such acts.”

However, government failure to prevent clashes or investigate and prosecute those involved suggests a weak grip on instigators.

“As long as rule of law is weak and the government doesn’t take actions instantly and effectively, the [sectarian] conflict could spread far and wide,” said Phyo Min Thein, lawmaker in Hlegu Township in Yangon Region, which saw a small brawl between groups of Buddhists and Muslims in April 2013.

“Repeated failure by the government does suggest that there are elements of the government who may be not only sympathizing with the perpetrators but possibly actively creating the problem,” said Benedict Rogers, East Asia team leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). “There may be political reasons behind this. There is a lot of speculation, a lot of theories and rumours, some of which sound plausible,” he said.

One popular theory involves democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was scheduled to visit Mandalay this week for a rally on constitutional reform. Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest for 15 years, is prevented from running in the 2015 presidential election by Myanmar’s 2008 constitution.

“It is probably no coincidence that a fake memo from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party circulated throughout Facebook in Burma claiming the NLD was planning on taking advantage of the [Mandalay] riots to protect Muslims,” explained HRW’s Matheison, adding that U Wirathu, a Mandalay-based influential and well-known monk who has sparked fierce criticism for his anti-Muslim speeches, is publicly opposed to amending that clause of the constitution which would permit Suu Kyi’s eligibility to be president.

“The best way the government can prove the conspiracy theorists wrong would be by taking clear action to prevent further violence, to bring the perpetrators of violence to justice, to end discrimination, and to address hate speech,” said Rogers.

Tensions on the rise

The violence in Mandalay comes 15 months after a bloody communal clash between Buddhists and Muslims broke out in Meiktila - about two hours from Mandalay - killing 40 people and displacing 1,200. In June 2012, a mob of Buddhists in western Rakhine State attacked Muslim men in retaliation for an alleged rape, setting off riots that left 80 dead and tens of thousands displaced.

Renewed violence in October of that year left more than 100,000 displaced, where they remain today. 

Stoking tensions, in May 2014 the government published the first of fourreligious conversion laws, which drew criticism for breaching human right standards. And in June Thein Sein fired Minister of Religious Affairs U San Hsint and replaced him with advisers including a military official implicated in a 2012 crackdown that injured several Buddhist monks.

Ethnic and religious tensions in Rakhine State, home to the beleaguered Rohingya Muslim minority, continue to fester.

Myanmar’s first census in 30 years did not include the word “Rohingya”, a move analysts with the International State Crime Initiative called part of the “dehumanization process”, a precursor for genocide, arguing that “the Burmese state has had decades to ‘rationalize’ violence against Rohingya.”

In March Rakhine Buddhist mob violence against aid agencies over perceived pro-Rohingya bias triggered mass humanitarian withdrawal from Rakhine State. During a 13 June visit to internally displaced persons’ camps in the state, the assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, Kyung-wha Kang, called the situation “appalling, with wholly inadequate access to basic services including health, education, water and sanitation”.

Grassroots and online responses

Amid limited action from the government, some community leaders are taking initiatives into their own hands.

“Interfaith education should be given at the community levels,” said Bo Bo Lwin of Kalyana Mitta Development Foundation, a Buddhist group that has conducted workshops and promoted peace in collaboration with other faith-based groups in several cities.

Shine Win, of the Interfaith Youth Coalition on AIDS in Myanmar, said school reform will need to be part of the solution.

“The government needs to institute lessons on history of different religions in the curriculum. If children learn about other religions in school, the communities can be better integrated as they grow up,” he said.

Shine Win told IRIN that part of inter-faith groups’ community outreach must be to counter hate speech and rumours on social media.

“Here the problem is that many people believe information they get from blogs or websites, without considering whether it is reliable or not,” he explained.

“One of the campaigns we’re going to conduct is to raise awareness among the people not to believe the rumours that they get [from different channels] such as through social networks like Facebook,” Shine Win said, adding that they had attempted such a campaign when rumours of the Mandalay rape began spreading on the Internet, but it was too limited in reach to prevent the violent clash.

“We need to do this sort of outreach on a larger scale and with multiple inter-faith groups, reminding people to check the sources of information and not believe inciters on the Internet,” he said.

By The Rakyat Post

July 14, 2014

Bangkok: Thailand’s military government said on Monday it would send home 100,000 refugees who have been living in camps for two decades and more along the border with Myanmar, a move rights groups say would create chaos at a tense time for both nations.

Thailand’s military overthrew the remnants of an elected government in May after months of sometimes violent street protests. Its National Council for Peace and Order has rolled out a raft of tough measures it says are needed to restore order and has promised a return to democracy next year.

Myanmar is emerging from nearly five decades of isolation under repressive military rule.

Its nominally civilian government has talked about repatriating the refugees, but non-governmental organisations said they are concerned by a lack of infrastructure to help returnees rebuild their lives.

“We are not at the stage where we will deport people because we must first verify the nationality of those in the camps,” said army deputy spokesman Veerachon Sukhontapatipak.

“Once that is done we will find ways to send them back. There are around 100,000 people who have been living in the camps for many years without freedom. Thailand and Myanmar will help facilitate their smooth return.”

Last month, comments made by a junta spokesman threatening to arrest and deport undocumented migrant workers sparked the departure of more than 200,000 Cambodians, a key component of the workforce in fishing, construction and other sectors.

Thailand scrambled to reverse that exodus by opening service centres to help migrant workers secure work permits. There are also an estimated 2 million Burmese migrant workers, the largest contingent of such labourers in the country.

But without any legal status or marketable skills, the refugees have long been seen as a burden by the Thai state.

An estimated 120,000 Burmese refugees live in 10 camps along the Thailand-Myanmar border, according to The Border Consortium, which coordinates NGO activity in the camps.

Many fled persecution and ethnic wars as well as poverty and have lived in the camps with no legal means of making an income.

An aid worker who has been helping the refugees said the Thai army appeared serious about its repatriation push.

“The authorities said this time they are going to be very strict. It seems like they’re really pushing for repatriation,” said the aid worker, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

“The situation in the camps is very tense because people don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The refugees fear economic and logistical difficulties in returning as well as sporadic fighting in parts of north and northeast Myanmar.

In his weekly televised speech last Friday, junta leader Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said Myanmar and Thailand would oversee a smooth return home of refugees.

“Thailand and Myanmar will facilitate the safe return to their homeland in accordance with human rights principles,” he said.

But rights groups say a lack of transparency surrounds any plan to send refugees back.

“When Prayuth spoke on Friday he left out what the conditions for the return would be,” said Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch.

“The National Council for Peace and Order can only do this under the conditions expected by the international community.”

By Oman Tribune Editorial

July 14, 2014

There is much, much more that the authorities in Myanmar will have to do to staunch the flow of the blood of Muslims and the destruction of their property. And if they fail, the international community has a role to pressure the government of President Thein Sein to restrain the Buddhists from committing further acts of violence. But the fact is that instead of discouraging the backers in the government of the Buddhist radicals, the international community seems to be encouraging them by failing to punish them. So far, the government and the military, which backs it, have done very little and this is the main reason for spreading of the violence from Rakhine state to Meikhitila and to Mandalay. In Mandalay, two people died in the recent bloodshed and there is still tension, with the Muslims feeling highly insecure due to the failure of the authorities to grant them enough protection. They fear that there can be more violence and the next phase can be much more explosive.

The hard fact is that there is great insecurity among Muslims all over Myanmar. They feel they are being deliberately targeted by the Buddhists. In Rakhine state, the Rohingya Muslims are living in fear. In the last horrible phase of the riots there, more than 150 people were killed. A lot of property was wantonly destroyed and even mosques razed. And not many have been arrested and jailed for the violence. Most of those involved still roam around scot-free, while the Rohingyas feel they have little support from Muslims elsewhere. Except for a small quantum of lip service paid by some Islamic nations, they have been ignored. Some Muslim nations have even taken negative steps against them. A case in point is the Bangladesh government’s recent move to ban marriages between the Rohingyas and its citizens. This move is to prevent the Rohingyas from use their marriage as a pretext to settle in Bangladesh. The situation in Meikhitila too is extremely tense. The Muslims fear the next moment that might bring murder and mayhem.

The Buddhist-dominated Myanmar government will not do much to help the persecuted Muslims. The responsibility, therefore, lies on the international community to act. The only way to force the Myanmar government to treat Muslims as human beings is to have the Damocles’ sword of sanctions hanging over its head. And if necessary, some new sanctions should be implemented or the existing ones strengthened. In the lead must be the United States, which claims to be the champion of human rights and freedom. The European Union too can also help in this context. Otherwise, the Muslims of Myanmar may face more difficulties in the days ahead. 

By Zin Linn

Asian Tribune

July 13, 2014

Burma’s media realm has been shocked as Pakokku district court in Magwe Division on Thursday (July 10) sentenced the chief executive officer of a weekly news journal and four of its reporters to 10 years in prison with hard labor for publishing a report that covered a huge mysterious government complex – established in Pauk Township, Magwe Division in Burma - was designed to produce chemical weapons.

The five journalists - Yazar Soe, Sithu Soe, Lu Maw Naing, and Paing Thet Kyaw, and chief executive officer Tint San – working at the Unity weekly news journal were sentenced ten-year jail term by Judge U Maung Maung Htay of Pakokku District Court, according to the domestic media reports.

They were arrested in February and put on trial under Burma's 1923 State Secrets Act, which forbids anyone from entering a prohibited place for any reason “prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state,” reports said.

Such an unbelievable imprisonment for journalists is a questioning for the government of President U Thein Sein. While the magistrate takes action in line with the official power which grants to him, it seems to be a harsh warning for Burma’s journalists and press freedom. Although President U Thein Sein has guaranteed the media freedom frequently, the local law enforcement officers look like overlooked reform process for democracy.

However, due to early this month religious riots in Mandalay President U Thein Sein blamed the media without any concrete facts.

“Severe action will be taken against those who intentionally spread hate speech and caused the riots, regardless of their race or religion,” he said in a radio address on Monday morning.

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says in its 10-July press alert: “Donor countries should bring diplomatic pressure on Burma's government and reconsider their economic support for the country following Thursday's sentencing of four journalists of a magazine and the publication's chief executive to 10 years of hard labor in prison, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.”

Southeast Asian Press Alliance also condemns Burma authorities concerning the latest repression on the press in its Friday statement. It says, “SEAPA is extremely disturbed by the verdict and the heavy sentencing of the journalists. The charges and the outcome are disproportionate to the problem at hand. We condemn the criminalization of media work, and in this case, the cruel punishment of hard labour. No journalist should have to face this kind of action for their work, and in the case of the Unity Journal, the issue covered clearly had immense public interest.”

According to the workers of the mysterious plant, it is a biggest chemical weapon factory in Burma where the Unity Journal’s reporters sneaked in the factory by the help of the employees. The reporters tried to uncover the government expenses of immeasurable public fund in order to build massive weapon plants whereas Western democracies give pressure to cut Burma’s spending on defense budget.

It will cause lessening confidence on the democratic reform by the international community. As the defense expenditure has been still amplifying under U Thein Sein government, it seems refueling the civil war against the ethnic rebels that taking place for more than sixty years.

Looking back into times of yore, President Thein Sein delivered an address on 01 March at the third regular session of first Union Parliament in commemoration of the first anniversary of the government’s inauguration, as said by the state media on March 2, 2012.

In his speech, the president gave credit not only the administration and political parties, but also all the stakeholders including civil societies and the fourth estate media. It was the first time that Burma’s president contemplated the fourth estate media as an important stakeholder in the country.

One of the main challenges of Burma is reconciliation between the ethnic armed groups and the government. Everyone has suffered from the various protracted conflicts in the country. Journalists can serve as a bridge between the ethnic armed groups, the government and civilian population to establish lasting peace in the country. The role of the ‘Media’ or the ‘Press’ is very important in time of rebuilding the country.

The public has a right to be informed on a subject of general interest like the story covered by the Unity Journal. Journalists who are just doing their job must be protected, and if anyone has to be prosecuted, it should be the newspaper. Under no circumstances should journalists be imprisoned because of the content of their articles.

In this contemporary world, people used to emphasize the importance of the free flow of information. They also call attention to freedom of expression, speech, writing, publishing and distribution of news among journalists, citizens of international community and peoples of various categories living on this earth.

At some points in recent years in Burma, the dissolution of press censorship, permitting private newspapers and creation of an Interim Press Council are signs of progress concerning freedom of the press. Particularly, it is remarkable that the President acknowledges the major role of the media as the fourth estate, in his speeches.

However, contrary to the President’s attitude, it is disappointing that five journalists of the Unity journal were sentenced ten-year jail term by the judge of Pakokku District Court. It shows that the Magway Divisional Government does not respect the press freedom which President U Thein Sein acknowledges as a necessity.

It is a bad sign for the free press related to the imprisonment of 5 reporters from the Unity Weekly Journal. The journal published a story concerning secret chemical weapon factory on 25 January. Police detained them in Pauk on 31 January on a charge of violating the State Secret Act, which allows a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Therefore, journalists in Burma have to keep on their jobs facing threats and hindrances in the face of comprehensive reform process including media freedom.

Most of Burma’s media-related groups and journalists have opposed the repressive laws made by the government including procedures of writing additional draft laws for the media, with regulations for broadcasting, film, and the use of libraries as the new laws could add additional controls on the media.

While the country is at an intersection of political reform, the media workers in the country are looking forward to have more pragmatic backing from the international media groups.

International media watchdog groups have been urging the Burmese authorities repeatedly to dump the unethical laws governing freedom of expression. The Burmese government still needs to dump the 1962 Printers and Publishers Registration Law, the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act, article 505-B of the criminal code, the 1996 Television and Video Act, the 1996 Computer Science Development Act, the 1923 Officials Secrets Act and the 1933 Burma Wireless Telegraphy Act which are still threatening the press freedom in Burma.

By Thin Lei Win

Thomson Reuters Foundation

July 12, 2014

THET KE PYIN, Burma — When I first met Roma Hattu, a stateless Rohingya Muslim, in April 2013, she was rolling on the dirty concrete floor of an abandoned building in western Burma, heavily pregnant and in excruciating pain.

She had taken shelter in the building after Buddhist-Muslim riots in June 2012 had forced her family, like tens of thousands of other Rohingya, to leave their homes in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, and move to squalid displacement camps.

A month ago, when I returned to Sittwe, I tracked down Hattu, now 31, to see how she was faring two years after the riots.

I found her in a dark, dingy room at the end of a long dormitory, eight months pregnant—her fourth pregnancy—and once again in pain.

“My heart beats too fast and I feel dizzy. I can’t sleep and I can’t eat,” she said, as her year-old son, whose birth we had assisted by sending the cash-strapped mother to hospital in our car, slept soundly next to her on the bamboo floor.

Money is a big worry for Hattu’s family. Her husband, Kalia, is a traditional masseur. Before the riots, he used to earn around $10 a day. Now he’s lucky to bring home $1 to $2. They lost their home and belongings during the riots and his job soon afterward, when Muslims were barred from Sittwe.

“I told my husband I don’t want more kids but he wouldn’t listen,” she said.

My translator, a young Rohingya man, stopped translating. After repeated urging, he haltingly repeated what Hattu had said—her husband insists on sleeping with her and she could not say no, especially as she was the second wife.

Hattu is uneducated and, like many other Rohingya women, does not understand the concept of family planning.

The combination of poverty, pregnancy and pain that many Rohingya women endure is due to a potent combination of hostility from Buddhist Arakanese, the extreme conservatism of the Rohingya themselves and the low level of female education—the result partly of state policies and partly tradition.

I’ve interviewed dozens of Rohingya women over the years, many of them struggling to look after large families or cope with pregnancy. Some had been abandoned by their husbands, either for a second wife from the same village or when they moved abroad to find work, as many Rohingya men do.

Large Muslim Families

Nationalists among Burma’s majority Buddhists often point to the large families of Muslims, especially the Rohingya, to justify the religious violence that has claimed at least 240 lives and uprooted over 150,000 people, mainly Muslims, since June 2012.

They say the large families are part of a Muslim drive to take over Burma—though Muslims make up only an estimated 4 percent of the 60 million population.

Perversely, the aid agencies that could have promoted family planning, like Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland (MSF), have been expelled from Arakan State after being accused of favoritism toward the Rohingya, who are denied citizenship in Burma despite living there for generations.

Rights groups say the Rohingya face a litany of persecution and discrimination, from forced labor and land grabs to restrictions on movement and marriage. Rohingya women, many of whom are uneducated, stay-at-home wives and daughters, often find themselves at the bottom of the social ladder.

Laila, for example, was 14 when she got married and 15 when she had her first baby. Six months ago, when she was pregnant with their third child, her husband fled Burma with his second wife, aged 18. Laila lost the baby.

Now 20, Laila is the sole breadwinner in the family, which includes her husband’s younger brother. She has resorted to selling half her rations from the World Food Programme to buy fish and firewood.

Then there’s Sinuwara Begum, who was about to deliver when her husband left their tarpaulin tent at dusk, ostensibly to board a fishing boat that would take him to Malaysia. He left her not a cent. She gave birth to twin boys days later.

When we met, her babies were nine days old and she had still heard nothing from her husband. “Maybe he is still on the boat and has not arrived,” she said, hope in her voice.

By May Wong

Channel News Asia

July 12, 2014

Some in Myanmar have blamed controversial Buddhist monk Wirathu for heightening ethnic tensions with his graphic photos and posts of the recent violence in Mandalay. But he has rejected accusations that he is fanning the fire.

MANDALAY: Some in Myanmar have blamed controversial Buddhist monk Wirathu for heightening ethnic tensions with his graphic photos and posts of the recent violence in Mandalay, and have even warned that his actions may ignite new rounds of sectarian attacks.

The recent attacks in Mandalay, which killed two people, broke out after negative posts on Muslims went viral on social media.

Wirathu has been accused of fanning the fire through his posts, but the controversial figure has rejected that suggestion.

He said: “What I'm writing and the pictures I've posted on Facebook are real. I want to stop the problems. I'm not instigating the conflict. Even if we have to stay together, we have to be cautious. An example is if you live with a snake and tiger, you have to be cautious as they're dangerous. We have to be careful.”

Others however disagreed, saying that he has a history of spouting anti-Muslim views and that his views could potentially escalate the sectarian violence in Myanmar.

Gawiya, chairman of Mandalay Buddhist Monk Union, said: “The problems were created by the photos. The situation will get worse with photos from the internet. The Muslim community doesn't like (Wirathu) and he doesn't like Muslims either. He does not know how to control this conflict. The situation will worsen with his biased views. The people do not believe (Wirathu) can be neutral.”

Wirathu dismissed this view, claiming that he wants to help promote peace by working with Muslims, but he said they have rejected him.

Wirathu claimed: "I welcome the Muslim community to cooperate with me, but what can I do if the Muslim organisations don't want to work with me? Peace cannot be achieved only through one person. If one party is aggressive, you won't be able to get peace. I want to work with them to get peace."

Peace is also what Muslims and inter-faith groups want.

Khalifa Thein Win Aung, vice president of Interfaith Committee, Mandalay Division, said: “Wirathu said Muslim leaders are not cooperating with him but this is not true. I will tell him all the Muslim leaders are ready to work with (Wirathu). Communication is critical. If we work with the monks, they'll come and help protect us.”

In a radio address to the nation, President Thein Sein condemned the Mandalay attacks and hit out at those manipulating the new media freedom to intentionally create social unrest.

The president vowed to take serious actions against any media that poses a threat to national security and those who propagate hate and incite violence.

By Aye Nai

Democratic Voice of Burma

July 12, 2014

Seven Buddhists charged for their participation in the murder of 10 Muslim pilgrims in Arakan State town of Taunggup in June 2012 are appealing against their indictment.

The district court in Sandoway, officially known as Thandwe, indicted the seven for murder in May this year under Penal Code articles 302 and 34.

Defence lawyers Aye Nu Sein, representing six of the group, and Kyaw Nyunt Maung; who represents the other, submitted an appeal against the charges on Thursday.

“I presented an argument at the high court today stating that the charges against my clients are not in conformity with legal procedures, and so should be dropped,” said Aye Nu Sein.

The Arakanese Regional High Court is due to pass a decision on the appeal within seven to ten days.

In an incident that was one of the main precursors of the communal violence erupting in Arakan State, in early June 2012 hundreds of people in Taunggup dragged ten individuals off a bus filled with Muslim pilgrims and beat them to death. The bus was then set ablaze as members of the mob urinated on the victims.

The attack was sparked by an incident the month before when three men, two of whom were assumed to be Muslim, were accused of raping and murdering a local Buddhist woman. Two of the suspects were sentenced to death while the third committed suicide in prison.

Arakanese police originally arrested 30 persons in connection with the lynching of the 10 Muslim pilgrims. However, eye-witnesses reported that local police in Taunggup stood by and watched as the lynch mob murdered the pilgrims.

By Su Mon Aye, Victoria Macchi

Voice of America

July 12, 2014

A senior official in Myanmar, also known as Burma, says the country is partnering with the social media site Facebook to monitor Burmese language posts following concerns that a viral post sparked deadly sectarian clashes last week.

The aide to President Thein Sein - who did not want to be named - Wednesday said in an interview with VOA's Burmese service the government and Facebook have a plan to manage a recurring issue in Myanmar - namely the intersection of internal conflicts and social media.

"We've discussed the pressing issue that wide-spread news and information inflame conflict and generate more rumors and how they [Facebook] assist us to address the problem. Talks include technical issues. We eventually agreed to cooperate in addressing the issue with short-term, mid-term and long-term process," said the official.

Facebook declined to comment on the claims. But a spokesperson for the U.S.-based technology firm acknowledged in a written statement to VOA it has been in contact with the government of Myanmar.

Local and international media reported social media outages in Myanmar after allegations circulated online July 1 that two Muslim men raped a Buddhist women. For days after, Muslims and Buddhists fought on the streets of Mandalay, the country's second largest city, leaving two people dead, more than a dozen injured and hundreds in jail.

Myanmar President Thein Sein said earlier this week that reform efforts to expand freedom of speech and the press are at risk.

Nay Phone Latt, a blogger and former political prisoner, says he welcomes government talks with Facebook. But he expressed concern that freedom of information is at risk.

"It's more appropriate that the [monitoring] process should be handled by an independent body involving not only government officials, but Facebook and other technical experts. Spreading hate speeches online are very alarming right now and I welcome the [government's] plan. But it will be a different story if the monitoring process begins targeting dissidents and freedom of expression," said Latt.

Facebook says it explained to Myanmar that it already bans hate speech and attacks based on ethnicity and religion, among other categories of discrimination. The company added it will remove content governments identify as illegal.

While the original post has been deleted, VOA has found that screenshots (pictures of the original post) continue to be circulated online.

In 2013, U.S.-based Freedom House, a watchdog organization dedicated to the advancement of freedom globally, deemed Myanmar's Internet access "not free" due in large part to restrictions on social media. One percent of Myanmar's 55 million residents has Internet access.

The report also said that last year social media "played an undisputed role in amplifying racial and religious tensions."

The report was written in collaboration with the VOA Burmese service.

By AFP

July 10, 2014

Bangladesh said Thursday it has barred official marriages between its nationals and Myanmar's Rohingya refugees, whom it claims are attempting to wed to gain citizenship.

DHAKA: Bangladesh said Thursday it has barred official marriages between its nationals and Myanmar's Rohingya refugees, whom it claims are attempting to wed to gain citizenship.

Law minister Syed Anisul Haque said he has ordered marriage registrars not to officiate any unions between Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya and also between Rohingya themselves, thousands of whom have fled to Bangladesh.

He said Rohingya try to use the resulting wedding certificate to gain Bangladeshi passports and other documents, while Rohingya who marry Bangladeshis could automatically qualify for citizenship.

"By registering their marriage in Bangladesh they try to prove that they're Bangladeshi citizens," he told AFP.

"We've told the marriage registers not to list any marriage of Rohingya and also between a Rohingya and a Bangladeshi citizen in Bangladesh."

Law ministry spokesman Abdullah Al Shahin said marriage registrars have been warned of punitive action if they officiate any such marriages.

There are around 300,000 Rohingya living in Bangladesh's southern coastal districts bordering Myanmar who have fled alleged persecution in the nation since the 1990s.

Sectarian clashes flared up two years ago in Myanmar's western Rakhine state, with fighting that has displaced about 140,000 people, mainly stateless Rohingya.

Bangladesh recognises only around 28,000 of the refugees in its country, who are entitled to food, basic housing and other aid provided by the United Nations.

The rest of the Rohingya in Bangladesh live in slums set up in cleared forests and on beaches.

Bangladesh border guards regularly turn back Rohingya caught trying to cross the Myanmar border.

Rights groups and charities have criticised Bangladesh's treatment of Rohingya, claiming they lack basic healthcare and many are on the verge of starvation.

By Matthew Pennington 

Associated Press

July 10, 2014

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers reviewed the "troubling" state of human rights in Southeast Asia on Wednesday and stiffly criticized Vietnam and Cambodia. But they reserved some of their toughest words for Myanmar, demanding an end to U.S. concessions to its quasi-civilian government.

The Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, likened conditions faced by minority Muslims in western Myanmar to concentration camps. A Democratic lawmaker questioned whether there were signs of genocide.

The hearing indicated congressional goodwill toward Myanmar's government has been exhausted, and criticism of the Obama administration's forward-leaning engagement policy has intensified.

Royce pronounced the outlook for human rights in Southeast Asia, a region of 620 million people, as "very troubling." The committee's top-ranking Democrat Eliot Engel said that as the U.S. looks to deepen its strategic interests in the region, promoting rights "is the right thing to do and it's also the smart thing to do."

While no lawmakers mentioned Wednesday's presidential election in Indonesia that the White House lauded as sign of its maturing democracy, the seven congressmen who spoke found plenty to criticize in region. They took aim at suppression of dissent and religious freedom in Vietnam, the strong-arm tactics of Cambodia's leader Hun Sen, and the military takeover in Thailand.

Conservative and rights advocate, Republican Rep. Chris Smith, said, "Vietnam is in a race to the bottom with the likes of China and even North Korea." He criticized the leader of the Democratic-led Senate for failing to allow a vote on a bill that has repeatedly passed the House and would impose sanctions on Vietnamese officials complicit in rights abuses.

On Cambodia, Engel said the ruling party of Hun Sen, who has led the country for almost three decades, has tightened its "chokehold" on the media, silenced human rights advocates and failed to stop illegal land grabs. Royce said the ballot count in last year's flawed national elections was "truly preposterous."

Former senior State Department rights official, Lorne Craner, recommended that the U.S. avoid high-level contacts with Cambodia's government until it resolves its dispute with the main opposition bloc which is boycotting parliament as it presses its demand for an independent investigation into election irregularities.

Democratic Rep. David Cicilline joined several lawmakers in condemning the treatment of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims. Some 140,000 Rohingya have been displaced and corralled in camps after bearing the brunt of vicious outbreaks of sectarian violence involving majority Buddhists, while tens of thousands more have fled the country.

He questioned whether there was an "element of genocide in the attacks against the Rohingya population." Rights advocate and former Democratic congressman Tom Andrews, who has visited the strife-hit Rakhine State, testified he thought there was, and that attacks were systematic and done with the support of the government.

Myanmar dismisses that notion, and President Thein Sein has vowed serious actions against perpetrators of sectarian violence. But amid fears of rising nationalism ahead of 2015 elections, the former general has also recently been criticized by the State Department for proposing discriminatory legislation, including possible criminalization of interfaith marriage.

Royce demanded an immediate cessation of nascent U.S. military-to-military cooperation with Myanmar until the persecution of minorities ends, and his Democratic counterpart echoed the desire for a more circumspect outreach to the country also known as Burma, which has been rewarded with rapid sanctions relief and massive aid in the past two years.

"We need to see real progress from Burma's leaders on these human rights issues before we provide the military-led government with any further concessions," Engel said.

By Hannah Beech

TIME

July 10, 2014

Photo: James Nachtwey for TIME More than 140,000 minority Rohingya Muslims have been forced to live in camps, where disease and despair have taken root.Abdul Kadir, 65, who has a severe stomach ailment and malnutrition, is cared for by his wife in one of the camps.

Photo: James Nachtwey for TIME Relatives weep at the funeral of a woman who died at 35 of a stomach disease; she left five children behind.