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Media release from Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK)

Date: May 30, 2016

BROUK Strongly urged the US Senate, US State Department, US Assistant Secretary and United Nations, to take immediate action to protect the Rohingyas in Arakan and Rohingya Refugees in diaspora.

BROUK President Mr. Tun Khin made High Level meetings with US Officials and Hollywood Actors in Washington DC and New York in a lobbying tour of United States of America from 23rd May to 27th May 2016.

In Washington DC, BROUK President Mr. Tun Khin had meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski, US Senate Foreign Relation Committee, US Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration from State Department, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, US Congressional Staff and NGO'S from DC.

BROUK President Mr. Tun Khin briefed update situation of Rohingya people in Arakan and Rohingya Refugee’s situation in all over the world specially in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka.

In New York, BROUK President Mr. Tun Khin met with Ambassador Sarah Mendelson US Mission to United Nation, EU representative, Missions from ASEAN countries and other State dignitaries.

Mr. Tun Khin President Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK referenced the current situation in Myanmar (Burma) that “We respect the right to freedom of expression and protest, but it needs to be within the framework of the democratic norms and principle”. We are very much concerned that the current waves of protest spreading hate speech and Islamophobia against Rohingya in particular which could lead to violence against them.

Round the clock senses of utter insecurity and abject helplessness on the part of the persecuted and traumatized Rohingya people are prevalent in squalid segregated concentration camps, confined villages and ghettos under siege in Rakhine State.

“The government should not allow people to disturb the law and order situation with threat of violence that could amount to a breach of the peace. The NLD government has the responsibility to protect the defenseless Rohingya people. It has also the responsibility to uphold the internationally recognized principle of having the right to self-identify”.

Mr. Tun Khin also met with Matthew Raymond "Matt" Dillon a Hollywood American actor and film director. Mr. Mat himself an eye witness of the Rohingya conditions in Arakan State and in concentration camps where Rohingya community forced to live. His first reaction stepping in the concentration camps was “No one would live there and now I understand why people would risk their lives to move out of the country and people are forced to live there.” Mr. Matt showed his concern and support in on going Rohingya crisis in Arakan state of Myanmar (Burma). 

BROUK President Mr. Tun Khin Urged US Government to Pressure NLD–Led Government,

  • To allow Rohingya people to self-identify their ethnic name “Rohingya”
  • To take action against those spreading hate speech against Rohingyas and Muslims in Myanmar.
  • To allow all internally displaced persons to return to their places, properties and community.
  • To end persecution against Rohingya, including restrictions on movement and their basic human rights.
  • To lift all the restrictions on operations of international aid agencies in Rakhine State and take action to ensure the security of aid workers.
  • To amend 1982 Citizenship Law to conform it to international human rights law and citizenship standards ensuring full citizenship and all accompanying rights to Rohingya.

From the US government,

  • To Provide and increased humanitarian aid to displaced people in Rakhine State specially to Rohingya and all other impoverished people in Rakhine State.
  • To Provide schools for Rohingyas in IDP camps and allowing Higher Education in Northern Arakan State.
  • To Support the establishment on a UN mandated international investigation, such as UN Commission of Inquiry, into the situation in Rakhine State and all policies and laws targeting the Rohingya and other Muslims in Rakhine state.
  • To Work building international support for the establishment of a United Nation Investigation.
  • To Provide technical expertise and resources to support the government of Myanmar (Burma) and civil society to counter the hate speech and promote such a society in which there is tolerance and equality for people of all races and religions.

Mr. Tun Khin President Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK - BROUK have asked US Government, “This is the high time to intervene and put pressure on NLD-Led Government to take practical steps to make sure the security of Rohingya community inside Myanmar and Rohingya Refugees outside.”

State counsellor and the head of National League for Democracy (NLD) party Aung San Suu Kyi

By Kyaw Ye Lynn
Anadolu Agency
May 28, 2016

Myanmar state counselor underlines development vital to keep troubled state - home to country's Rohingya minority - stable

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar’s state counselor-cum-foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi has underlined that economic development is the key to stability in a troubled impoverished western state that is home to a majority of the country’s Rohingya Muslim population.

State media reported Saturday that the leader of the country's ruling National League for Democracy had discussed matters related to peace and tranquility in Rakhine, development undertakings and a citizenship verification process with cabinet members and the chief minister of the state's regional government in political capital Nay Pyi Taw on Friday.

“Aung San Suu Kyi said she believes the peace and stability of Rakhine state depends on development,” a government official from the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population told Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

“Therefore, she suggests both union and regional governments implement development projects quickly and successfully,” the man -- who asked not to be named as he is not the ministry's official spokesperson -- said by phone.

For years, Rakhine -- home to more than million Rohingya (described by the United Nations as the world's most persecuted minority group) -- has been troubled by communal violence, with many Rohingya still confined to internally displaced person camps following fighting between ethnic Buddhists and Muslims in 2012.

The official added that Suu Kyi has also suggested regional governments carry out pilot projects for a citizenship verification process in the state as soon as possible.

In Feb. 2015, authorities halted a pilot project for the verification process for Muslims in Rakhine after most identified themselves as Rohingya.

Hardline nationalists refuse to recognize the term, instead referring to the ethnic group as "Bengali", which suggests they are illegal immigrants from neighboring country Bangladesh.

The government official told Anadolu Agency Saturday that the pilot project had yet to be restarted, despite media reports to the contrary.

Rakhine is one of the poorest states in Myanmar, and scarcity and under-development affects the majority Buddhist, and Muslim and Christian communities -- a situation that was exacerbated by the violence of 2012, which led to ruptures in inter-communal social and economic links.

Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants face ‘appallingly bad’ conditions in Malaysian detention centres, according to Amnesty International. Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

By Patrick Kingsley
The Guardian
May 27, 2016

Hundreds of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are being held in a Malaysian detention centre – despite nominally being freed 12 months ago

Hundreds of trafficking victims from Myanmar and Bangladesh remain detained in Malaysia a year after being rescued from near-certain death at sea during the Asian migration crisis.

In total, 390 trafficking victims – 325 Rohingya and 65 Bangladeshis – have spent the past year in detention, despite nominally being freed from captivity in May 2015, in research Amnesty will be publishing in the coming weeks.

Their plight drew the world’s attention this time last year after it was discovered that they had been abandoned by their traffickers and left to drift at sea on packed trawlers without any food.

Initially, the countries of south-east Asia mostly refused to rescue them, and they survived on food provided by fishermen in the area. Fighting broke out between different groups onboard. “They hit us, with hammers, by knife, cutting,” one survivor told the Guardian at the time.

Following an international outcry, Indonesia and Malaysia took in about 2,900 people, mostly Rohingya and Bangladeshis. Several thousand are believed to have been left at sea.

Of the 1,100 brought to Malaysia, around 50 Rohingya have been provided with the opportunity to be resettled internationally, and 670 Bangladeshis were sent back home. But nearly 400 remain jailed in Belantik, a Malaysian detention centre, in what former inmates describe as squalid conditions.

“The conditions of [Malaysia’s] detention centres are appallingly bad,” said Khairunissa Dhala, one of the Amnesty researchers who compiled the report, following several weeks of interviews in south-east Asia. “One year on, these people who have been through this horrific journey are still being punished, rather than being treated as victims of human trafficking.”

At least one Rohingya woman who was due to be resettled has died in detention, according to Amnesty’s research. Another rights group says a Bangladeshi man has also died, but this could not be verified.

Last year’s crisis in the Indian ocean was sparked after a sudden crackdown on traffickers operating along the Thai-Malaysian border. A series of mass graves for migrants were unearthed near the border and a trafficker was arrested, leading to a shutdown of the smuggling routes in the region.

Previously, traffickers would take migrants southwards by boat from Myanmar, where the Rohingya minority is persecuted, and Bangladesh. They would then land in Thailand and move across the Malaysian border, usually after being tortured until their families paid a ransom.

However, following the crackdown, traffickers abandoned several boats at sea – leaving them to drift as de facto floating prisons.

Since the crisis last May, there have been no reports of boats using the same tactics. “But it’s just a matter of time – the situation in Myanmar for the Rohingya isn’t improving,” said Dhala. “The root cause hasn’t been solved, and people are still likely to want and need to leave. Maybe they have already found another route and we just don’t know yet.”

The Malaysian prime minister’s office referred press enquiries to the home affairs ministry, who asked for the request to be put in writing. Neither the home affairs ministry nor the Malaysian high commission in London responded to emailed enquiries.

A Rohingya Muslim woman prepares to cook in a small makeshift room in an internal displaced camp near Sittwe in April, 2014. (ucanews.com photo by John Zaw)

By John Zaw
UCA News
May 27, 2016

Buddhist hard-liners want Myanmar government to strictly abide by controversial citizenship legislation

A hard-line Buddhist party's proposal for the Myanmar government to urgently enforce citizenship laws that target the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine state has been voted down in the country's parliament.

The proposal raised by an Arakan National Party member calling for the authorities to urgently verify the citizenship status of people in the troubled state received 154 votes in favor and 228 against, with seven abstentions in the Lower House according to the Global New Light of Myanmar May 21.

The failed bid has been seen as a way to pressure the new National League for Democracy-led government to do more in enforcing the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law, a law that "effectively [denies] the Rohingya the possibility of acquiring a nationality," said the United Nations.

The 1982 law states that only ethnic nationalities, and others whose families entered the country before 1823, are entitled to Myanmar citizenship. Through the law the Rohingya's have been denied citizenship and accompanying rights.

The majority of lawmakers appeared to agree that parliament doesn't need to agree with the Arakan National Party's motion because the government is already planning to carry out a nationwide citizenship verification program. Called the "100 days plan," the government's initiative is set to target all so-called noncitizens residing in the country.

Pe Than, a Lower House Arakan National Party lawmaker, said that the citizenship verification process is an urgent national issue.

"We must stick to the 1982 law or we might have to accept all illegal immigrants if we amend it," he said.

Anti-Rohingya protesters take part in a demonstration in Mandalay on May 13. (ucanews.com photo by John Zaw )

Hard-line Buddhist monks from the Committee of the Protection of Race and Religion, known as Ma Ba Tha, have been at the forefront of campaigns against the Rohingya.

U Parmaukkha, a prominent nationalist monk from Magwe monastery in Yangon, said that he supports citizenship verification under the 1982 law.

"We must protect our sovereignty through the law for the country may become Islamic if we amend it," said U Parmaukkha a Ma Ba Tha member.

Most Buddhists in Myanmar identify the Rohingya as being Bengali because they are considered illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Khin Mg Myint, a Rohingya from the Thetkaepyin internally displaced persons camp near Sittwe, said that he couldn't accept the use of the term Bengali.

"We are born here in Myanmar, we can speak the Burmese language and live with the traditions and culture of this country so we have a right to self-identify as Rohingya and be eligible for citizenship," he said.

Authorities halted a pilot project for citizenship verification for Muslims in Rakhine in February 2015 after facing resistance from the Rohingya community.

Two of the Rohingya refugees who were resettled in the US. - Photo courtesy of UNHCR

By RASHVINJEET S. BEDI
The Star Online
May 27, 2016

PETALING JAYA: One year after landing in Malaysia, following a harrowing ordeal in the Bay of Bengal, 36 Rohingya refugees have been resettled in the United States.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the 36 refugees departed Malaysia early Thursday morning under its resettlement programme. 

The refugees had been released from the Belantik Immigration Detention Centre the previous afternoon.

“UNHCR welcomes the move by the Malaysian Government to release the 36 extremely vulnerable Rohingya refugees from the Belantik Immigration Detention Centre,” said Richard Towle, UNHCR Representative in Malaysia in a statement on Friday.

“We are also extremely grateful to the Government of the United States of America for their generosity in providing resettlement spaces for this group of extremely vulnerable individuals, for whom no other safe, long-term solution would be an option,” he added.

In May last year, over 1,000 people from Bangladesh and Myanmar had arrived by boat after being stranded in the Bay of Bengal.

They were stranded at sea after human trafficking syndicates abandoned them following the discovery of mass graves and detention camps for Rohingya and Bangladeshis in Thailand and Malaysia.

According to UNHCR, 371 of the refugees were identified as Rohingya from Myanmar and of concern to the commission.

Towle, however, expressed concern for the remaining 334 Rohingya "boat arrivals" who are still at the Belantik centre.

“These people have undergone traumatic experiences at the hands of smugglers and traffickers, and are in need of specialised care.

“The best option for them is to be released into UNHCR’s care where we can assess their protection needs and help find support for them within the refugee communities in Malaysia,” he said.

The Rohingya are considered by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.

They are considered to be stateless and were often subjected to arbitrary violence and forced labour in Myanmar.

They come mainly from the Arakan state in Myanmar, which borders Bangladesh.

To escape persecution back home, they took long and arduous journeys by boat to other countries in the region.

As of February this year, there are 53,700 Rohingya refugees registered with the UNHCR in Malaysia.

The Malaysian Government does not legally recognise refugees, although they are allowed to work in informal sectors.

Refugee camps at Balapur & Shaheen Nagar. Photos: N Shiva Kumar Meru

By T P Venu
The Hans India
May 26, 2016

Hyderabad: Dil Mohammed, 71, is not sure if he wants to go back to Myanmar and neither does he want to live in a state of penury. He just wants to have good food and a clean bed to sleep. Emerging out of his plastic tent near Fatima Masjid at Balapur, Dil just wants a refugee status and a settlement.

With certain death staring at them and hardly any chance of survival, 1,25,000 Rohingya Muslims had to flee from Myanmar during the 2012 Rakhine state riots. Nearly 3,000 of them have been living under plastic tents in Hyderabad

The plight of Rohingya Muslims, nearly 3,000 of them, who started making Hyderabad their temporary home since 2009 is no bed of roses. In each camp as they would like to call their colony, there are close to 60 families living in small plastic tents which are held together with bamboo.

With no proper drinking water facilities and lack of sanitation, these migrants are prone to diseases. Though Confederation of Voluntary Organisations (COVA) is helping asylum-seekers and refugees, almost 98 per cent of Rohingya Muslims who are illiterate are finding it difficult to get jobs.

With language being a problem, most of the men work as daily-wage labourers at construction sites and in small-time hotels. Rohingya Muslims are spread out in Balapur, Royal Colony, Fatima Masjid, Hafiz Baba Nagar, Hamza Colony, Shaheen Nagar, Jalpally, Shastripuram and Kishanbagh.

Md Younus, the only one who speaks English, teaches children on and off. “We want to live with dignity and want the Myanmar Government to give us citizenship or any other country. We have an identity and we no longer want to live like this,” he said. 

“Aung San Suu Kyi herself spent 15 years under house arrest but now she isn’t willing to give us freedom and our rightful place,” he added. In a recent interview to the US Ambassador Scot Marciel, Suu Kyi suggested to him to not use the term Rohingya. 

Rohingya Muslims are treated as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and for this reason, Myanmar denies them citizenship. According to United Nations, 1,20,000 of them have been forced to flee Myanmar in the last few years.

Mohammed-ul-Haq, spokesperson for the Rohingya Muslims in Hyderabad, said, “We have been living in Myanmar for Rakhine State in Myanmar for over a hundred and fifty years. Today, the government does not recognise us. We want to live as citizens and not refugees. There are a number of us who still have not got the refugee status.”

From a mere 30 people who landed in 2009, the number has swelled to 3,000. People who are eligible have to go through a four step process before a card is issued. The lack of English and local language skills and illiteracy is making it difficult for the Rohingya Muslims to make two-ends meet and as a result are also falling prey to anti-social elements.

Most of them had to take special permission even to visit Yangon and none of the refugees ever seen the place. With the government in Myanmar not too keen to receive them, they have been living in penury not only in Hyderabad but in several other states in India. The UNHCR regards that the Rohingya are among the most persecuted minorities in the world but no one seems to embrace the ‘nowhere people’ as of now.



Min Khant
RB Opinion
May 25, 2016

Throughout Myanmar political history, in the election periods in northern Arakan/Rakhine state, Rohingyas delegates have conquered their electoral victories in the respective elections where there are Rohingyas majority. 

Right now, the upper and lower house Rakhine Buddhist parliament representatives--from north Rakhine state townships such as Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and Sittwe-- were selected by the past election commission to be electing them without Rohingyas competitors among where there are Rohingyas Muslim majority, after conniving Rohingyas voters and competitors as disqualifiers for the election by the election commission. 

Almost all Rohingyas people believe the current dacoit-like Rakhine representatives from these townships are being considered as illegal delegates to discuss the affairs due to Rohingyas’ in parliament, to bring proposal to the parliament and seeking parliaments’ approval about Rohingyas people’ citizenship affairs and beyond. The reason is Rakhine current self-centered and resentful delegates were never chosen by the Rohingyas community in north Rakhine state in the past November 2015 election.

If the election commission was fare and square, either Rohingyas or NLD representatives would have won in the Rohingyas people’ constituencies because Rohingyas people love National League for Democracy Party and that of the leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi instead of emerging rancorous Rakhine racial thugs as delegates, in parliaments, who all the times wanted to be quarrelling with honest and progressive NLD delegates in the parliament sessions and distracting the jobs of parliaments at this time of nascent democratic periods as block stone along the road. 

In the past parliament sessions and at this very beginning of NLD led parliament sessions, the Rakhine fanatic and racial leaders in parliament are odd and ridiculous against others and they think they are superior by birth and the rest are inferior. Very awfully, it is found that there are some roller blind leaders from different constituencies in line grimy thoughts of the Rakhine leaders to blindly support the 1982 citizenship law which is unacceptable by both Rohingyas and international community because the law was compiled by dictator Ne Win whom no one wants in this time whilst he was regarded in the history as ‘the sole destroyer of the lifeline of fifty million people’ overall social devastation for sixty-three years’. 

Considerably, if there are still some people to yearn and crave backward the system of Ne Win’s 1982-citizenship law -- then why are his economic structure; socialist ruling scheme to get ordinary people into poverty and some other authoritative programs that pushed the country into abysmal and have destroyed the social life of the entire Burmese not likened by those Rakhine nationalistic leaders? 

Would Rakhine leaders and that of the Rakhine populace agree to go backward to Ne Win’s socialist Program? No one in the world would agree to accept any old system that does not fit today’s 21st century. If not, why then do you (Rakhine Buddhists) like to stick just the 1982 citizenship law which would only misplace the rights of Rohingyas not Rakhine Buddhist? Do Rakhine politicians’ politic only about to defeat and crush Rohingyas people’ rights? Rakhine Buddhists’ criminal policies have been very clear that the law is to make Rohingyas citizens as immigrants or interlopers in their ancestral land by the power of majority Buddhists in Myanmar. What a crooked and hooked notorious Rakhine Buddhist parliamentarians in the house of parliament today! The Majority should not bully the minority people as per the saying of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the state counselor. Simply, Rohingyas are not that much naive in these days. 

If Rakhine political forces selectively worship only the 1982 citizenship law, which was in favor of Rakhine Racist mentor Dr. Aye Kyaw (passed away) and some other Rakhine colleagues to disenfranchise the rights of Rohingyas and penalize under the reason of national sovereignty, integrity, ethnicity, different physical appearance, religious differences, state safety and security, and now democratic flourish. Then not only Rohingyas who are prime targets by the law but no one in the world being as global community will accept this law because it is totally unacceptable, excessive, outrageous and forceful against the weak Rohingyas large minority community in Arakan/Rakhine state and Rohingyas tiny groups in other locations along the nation.

Date on 20th May 2016, the motion concerning the issue of citizenship scrutiny was put on record at the Pyithu Hluttaw after the voting turned to be 154 votes and 228 against, with 7 abstentions. That means yet there are 154 yes votes to advocate the 1982 citizenship law which has been dead law in the world. This is not house of parliament to carry on the task of the state by the optimistic way with the unanimous support for the goodness of the country. Right now, our country’s parliament needs a unanimous support to pass a good law or resolution after thoroughly examining all the facts and points from various angles rather than inconsiderably diving into factional gangs in the parliament houses. 

To clarify details about the yes voters to 1982 citizenship law, these delegates might have been the entire unelected military representatives, all Rakhine Buddhist sectarian delegates and the rest are fellow Buddhists from NLD and some narrow-minded figures who do not want the development of our country. Recently the United States of American has extended the economic sanction against Myanmar for a year again, reasoning that yet there are still lack of human rights restoration and guarantees for minority Rohingyas, Kachine and others. Myanmarese politicians should have known not only the remedy of domestic pains, but also international political arenas whether their (international community) action over Myanmar is right or wrong after thoroughly thinking all relevant subjects rather than executing blindly as lame parliamentarians in the parliament houses. 

These 154 voters in support of 1982 citizenship law are neither they are qualified to be the parliamentarians to discuss the affairs of the state as because their mentality show that they aren’t educated to be the carriers of such kind of state intellectual burdensome nor they are entitled to receive the parliamentarians salaries for doing fruitless business by idly siding with pessimistic guises in the seats and all against the good jobs of the parliament in this era. To have the first-rate discussions of the parliament in future, the naïve are to be handed out the necessary guidance of rules and regulations, which is concerned with domestic and international standard. If they do not gradually become as qualifiers in some days, then they should be warned that they could possibly be expelled from the parliament sessions. Unless they are threatened, they will not study more and will not become perfect to see the reality in future discussions. 

I would very much like to urge the delegates -- such as U Aung Kyaw Zan of Pauktaw constituency, U Thein Tan of HleGu constituency, and U Pe Than of Myaybon constituency who discussed and articulated the short history of 1982 citizenship law why should this law be applied on ROHINGYAS—to examine again whether or not you all the persons’ discussion and recommendation to the parliament are in line principal of international law and as per the demand of the global community. Have you ever thought about that before shooting your presentation? 

The Chair of Upper House one U Win Myint has earlier declared that he would perform and discharge all the relevant affairs of the state of Myanmar all the best in accord with the international norms which respect and recommend the Universal Human Rights declaration in which Burma has been a signatory nation of the Charter. 

Rakhine Buddhist politicians and that of their fellow followers are nothing-good doing for the sake of the country but what their political demand not only in Rakhine state and the NAYPYIDAW are horribly leading to disunity, division among the people and disintegration of the nation into pieces. 

Immigration officers check documents in Aung Minglar on May 22. AFP

By Nyan Lynn Aung
Myanmar Times
May 24, 2016

Contrary to rumours reportedly sweeping Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, the number of Muslims living in Aung Mingalar quarter is actually falling, immigration officials say. A headcount, undertaken this past weekend in response to heightened tensions surrounding the enclave, has found barely 4000 residents, down from 4304 a few months ago and more than 4500 counted after violence erupted throughout the state in 2012.

The enclave was held by security forces during the 2012 riots, and has been under armed guard since. Until recently, security around the perimeters had been relaxed somewhat, although the ghetto’s food supply still comes largely from the IDP camp market. Sources told The Myanmar Times yesterday that since the headcount, no one has been allowed in or out of the quarter.

Last week, a government official said some Rakhine residents had written to Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu asking for the population of Aung Mingalar to be counted because they feared that many more people had entered the quarter and were staying there illegally.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the complainants included local monks and elders from various civil society organisations.

“The claims by Rakhine ultra-nationalists of a growth rate surge in this isolated enclave is ludicrous, and could be a trigger for an expulsion,” said David Mathieson, Myanmar researcher for Human Rights Watch.

“This is an important first test of the government to stare down extremists and ensure security for all residents of Sittwe, especially extremely vulnerable Rohingya Muslims.”

Some within the nationalist community have demanded copies of the headcount, and rumours circulated yesterday that ghetto residents had been secretly removed to skew the count. “These are preliminary results. The final figures will be issued by the state government,” said U Thar Tun Aung, a senior official of Sittwe immigration department. “We need to find out why the number has fallen, if people were fleeing, and where they went,” he said.

Police have also confirmed that there is no rise in the quarter’s population. Sittwe Special Branch officer Ko Phoe Lone said a few people were found to be staying in the homes of relatives who were not registered in Aung Mingalar and did not match the names in the household lists. “We found only two,” he said.

U Tun Aung Kyaw, secretary of the Arakan National Party, said the climate around the enclave remained highly sensitive. “We don’t want any conflict in Sittwe because of this quarter. It should be controlled in accordance with the law. The main thing is to ensure that security is adequate,” he said, adding that there had been no problems with Aung Mingalar since the 2012 outbreak of violence. However, he said, the quarter should be relocated if security could not be guaranteed.

The 15 Rohingya migrants were recaptured after escaping from Phang Nga Immigration Centre before dawn yesterday (May 23). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

By Panarat Thepgumpanat
Reuters
May 24, 2016

Bangkok -- Thai police shot dead a Rohingya Muslim from Myanmar on Monday during a dramatic mass escape of detainees from an immigration camp in southern Thailand, police said.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Noppadon Rakchart said 21 Rohingya fled the Phangnga Immigration Detention Centre at about 1 a.m. after sawing through an iron bar in their communal cell.

One was shot dead and three arrested after throwing stones and punches at police and immigration officers who gave chase, said Noppadon. The other 17 escaped.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya "boat people" have fled poverty and persecution in western Myanmar since religious violence erupted there in 2012.

Many headed for Malaysia but often got waylaid at human trafficking camps in the jungles of southern Thailand or arrested by the authorities.

Most Rohingya are stateless and unrecognised by the two countries, Bangladesh and Myanmar, they call home.

This complicates repatriation, which can lead to lengthy spells in overcrowded Thai detention centres, which Rohingya often try to escape.

The latest attempt was triggered by "stress and homesickness," said Noppadon. "They have been inside for almost a year."

The Rohingya was killed because "he resisted arrest and attacked the police", Police Major General Worawit Parnprung, Phangnga police chief, told Reuters.

"The police had to defend themselves," he said.

The Phangnga detention centre had held 28 Rohingya, all of whom illegally entered Thailand by boat, he said.

The number of migrants leaving Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat in the past year plunged after both countries cracked down on human smugglers and traffickers.

Thai police launched a sweeping operation against gangs in May 2015 after the bodies of 30 suspected migrants were found in jungle graves near the Malaysian border.

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi asked to be given "enough space" at the weekend to address the plight of the Rohingya population, as visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed the Nobel peace laureate to promote respect for human rights.

(Additional reporting by Pairat Temphairojana; Writing by Andrew R.C. Marshall)

Is Burma under Aung San Suu Kyi moving towards democracy, or a form of "liberal authoritarianism"?

By Johanna Son
Bangkok Post
May 24, 2016

A tenuous civilian-military dance. Simmering Burman Buddhist nationalism. An impatient populace that is struggling with rising prices and power cuts, amid record-high GDP growth. A popular but inexperienced political leadership inching toward what some call “liberal authoritarianism”.

All these make for a powder keg of apprehension and impatience, at times reluctantly expressed but nevertheless real, that is fast tempering the heady optimism about Burma’s political change nearly two months into the Aung San Suu Kyi-led government.

This sense of discomfort peppered much of the insights from political figures to business people to academics and activists at the Myanmar Forum 2016, which was organised by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore on 20 May.

“It’s not only that people expect too much … but people are trying to endure,” political leader and activist Ko Ko Gyi said, adding that Burmese people are impatient after decades of deprivation not only for political freedoms but for the basic essentials of life.

Ko Ko Gyi, general secretary of the 88 Generation who spent 19 years in prison under the military regime, used an anecdote about frequent power outages to explain that youngsters may not be as patient as older people who were part of the pro-democracy struggle when it comes to waiting for change.

“I can endure [things like] what was my second home, my prison. But my nine-month old baby daughter, when the electricity is shut down, she cries a lot,” he said. “I’m just always holding the fan in the hand but I try to endure this because I want the National League for Democracy [NLD party] to [achieve] success. So many [Burmese] people have expectations but they are ready to endure.”

Just do it

The government led by State Counsellor Suu Kyi and her NLD does not have a lot of time to produce results and must urgently decide on its priorities, Ko Ko Gyi said, be it about the peace process, constitutional changes and policies on the economy, electricity, education.

“This is not an everlasting period. It’s about how much our people can endure,” he added. “In the short, medium and long term, we need to set priorities. If not, we are talking about a variety of issues but we cannot solve anything.”

The NLD has not been laying down concrete policy, instead issuing “rhetorical” pronouncements on foreign and economy policy, said Min Zin, an analyst and a veteran of the 1988 student uprising. “[As activists] we tend to confuse, conflate slogans with programmes. The NLD government is now suffering from this confusion.”

In March, the Suu Kyi-led government announced a 100-day programme, which was to have started on 1 May, to show quick results. The government said it would make daily announcements about this on Facebook and a phone hotline, but there have been few details.

A feeling of waiting — and more waiting — for the government to make decisions and lay down policies reigns among different sectors.

The deep fissures in Burmese society, and the gulf between state and society, make the stakes of inaction or miscalculation by the NLD even higher. These fissures include trust issues between the government and the ethnic groups, the unstable compromise between civilian and military and decades-old distrust across communities in society.

“If we had to reduce the problems of the peace process to one word, it would be trust-building,” said Kyaw Yin Hlaung, director of the Center of Diversity and National Harmony.

The end to ethnic groups’ fighting came during Thein Sein’s military-backed government due to “personal-based trust between negotiators from both sides”, he recalled. “This is the legacy of Thein Sein,” Kyaw Yin Hlaung said. “But the government never managed to build this trust at the systemic level.”

Despite the NLD government’s decision to hold a “21st century Panglong Conference” with ethnic groups, few expect radical change from it.

The military has the edge when it comes to dealing with ethnic unrest, not least due to the pressure to produce results.

“Suu Kyi does not have much preparation on how to proceed. At the end she will likely adopt the military position as a default policy choice,” except for small changes like giving a new name to the organisation leading the peace process, Min Zin said. “Politically speaking, her view is more or less the same as the military.”

Broken society

“The almost impossible barriers to overcome are the deep divisions in Myanmar [Burmese] society. It’s a sense of despair, especially from ordinary people, about the future of their kids,” the University of Washington’s Mary Callahan said. Over six decades of repression under a national-security mindset, on top of their isolation from the outside world, Burma’s people have had “negative socialisation over and over and distrust of anyone outside your intimate circle”, she said.

This same distrust of a “broken” society later bred “deeply distorted expectations” of Suu Kyi if she ever came into power, Callahan added.

“It’s been 15, 20 years since taxi drivers and rickshaw drivers have been telling me that when Aung San Suu Kyi is elected, there will be no more traffic, corruption, floods like last year, dengue fever. Street dogs will be gone and global warming will end, and everyone will have electricity for 24 hours,” she told the forum. But as patience thins, people now call the power outages “Daw Suu power cuts”, Callahan said.

While moves like the release of political prisoners are welcome, these are “elite-level reforms” that don’t affect people’s ordinary lives much, she said. They are more concerned about land-grabbing, poverty and inclusive growth.

“The opportunity has been opened for the new government, as the NLD holds 80 percent of seats. They can amend the law or dissolve an existing law by simple majority. This is easy to implement; this is the opportunity,” Ko Ko Gyi pointed out. “How much can we make use of this opportunity? How can we improve the daily lives of people?”

Not a few reminded Suu Kyi that her pro-democracy origins require her to use consultative processes — and look beyond today to build democratic institutions that will make sure democratisation stays.

Benevolent authoritarianism?

Putting the NLD in electoral power is not the be-all and end-all of the struggle for democracy, so “there is a need to bring in all stakeholders”, Min Zin stressed, including civil society that has been sidelined by the government. “The goal must be go to beyond getting an electoral mandate; otherwise, what we have is benevolent authoritarianism.”

ISEAS’ Tin Maung Maung Than questioned the huge political power in Suu Kyi’s hands after the state counsellor’s portfolio was created to make her the country’s top leader in addition to her two cabinet posts. “We are changing from illiberal pluralism to liberal authoritarianism — but it can still change from illiberal pluralism to quasi-liberal democracy too because it’s only been less than 100 days.”

As it is, Tin Maung Maung Than said many find worrisome the arrests of anti-government protesters, since these sectors, which include workers, are part of those who invested in the democratic struggle.

“They [the government] need to listen to what is really happening, but only getting information from the party is not enough,” Ko Ko Gyi said. “We need to make open civil society and local media, so they can have a different perspective to find a solution.”

NLD has tended to “sideline mediating institutions” like civil society, political parties and media, but their involvement is key to governance, Min Zin pointed out. Suu Kyi’s bypassing of these is creating “a populist sentiment such as the Suu Kyi consensus, and if you deviate from the Suu Kyi consensus, you will be named and shamed, especially in social media”, he warned.

Aung San Suu Kyi departs following a meeting with newly appointed ministers from the National League of Democracy (NLD) party at the parliament building in Naypyidaw. PHOTO: AFP

May 22, 2016

NAYPYIDAW (REUTERS, AFP) - Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi asked to be given “enough space” to address the plight of her country’s Rohingya Muslim population, as visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry pressed the Nobel laureate to promote respect for human rights. 

Some 125,000 Rohingya in Myanmar remain displaced and face severe travel restrictions in camps since fighting erupted in Rakhine State between the country’s Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. Thousands have fled persecution and poverty.

The United States has long supported Suu Kyi’s role in championing democratic change in Myanmar, but was surprised this month when she suggested to the new US ambassador Scot Marciel to refrain from using the term Rohingya for the persecuted Muslim minority.

“Emotive terms make it very difficult for us to find a peaceful and sensible resolution to our problems,” Suu Kyi told reporters at a joint news conference with Kerry in Naypyitaw on Sunday after their first meeting with Suu Kyi since Myanmar's civilian government took office in March.

“All that we are asking is that people should be aware of the difficulties we are facing and to give us enough space to solve all our problems.”

Kerry said he had discussed the Rohingya issue with Suu Kyi during their meeting, describing it as “very sensitive” and “divisive.”

“I know it arises strong passions here,” Kerry said. “What is critical to focus on is solving the problem...which is improving the situation on the ground, to promote development, promote respect for human rights and benefit all of those that live in Rakhine and throughout Myanmar.”

Last month hundreds of demonstrators protested in front of the US Embassy in Yangon in objection to the use of the term Rohingya in a statement issued by the embassy. 

Speaking out for the group would carry a political cost for Suu Kyi, who took on the newly created role of state counsellor in April following the first-democratically elected government in some five decades.

The Rohingya are widely disliked in Myanmar, including by some within Suu Kyi’s party and its supporters. She risks losing support by taking up the cause of the beleaguered minority.

The Rohingya, most of whom live in apartheid-like conditions, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and referred to by many as Bengalis.

Ambassador Marciel has said he would keep using the term Rohingya because it is Washington’s policy to do so.

“What we want to do is avoid any terms that just add fuel to the fire,” Suu Kyi said in response to a question on her comments about the Rohingya. “I wasn’t talking about one particular term, I was talking about all the terms that are incendiary and which create greater divisions in the Rakhine and of course elsewhere too.”

Kerry was on a brief stop in the capital Naypyitaw before he joins President Barack Obama in Vietnam on Monday.

IMPORTANT HURDLES

Kerry offered US support for Myanmar’s new government, saying Myanmar’s transition to a civilian government steered by Suu Kyi as a “remarkable statement” that furthers the global democratic cause. 

Kerry told the Nobel laureate that her country’s evolution towards democracy after decades under the military was a “remarkable statement to people all over the world”. 

But he said there were still “important hurdles” for the country to overcome in its transition to full democracy from military rule. He said he would discuss further political reforms in a meeting later with the commander in chief of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Last week, the Obama administration further eased economic and financial sanctions against Myanmar, removing some state-owned banks and enterprises from a blacklist. It also lifted some restrictions on trade to ease concerns of US firms about doing business in Myanmar.

More than 100 individuals and groups remain on Washington’s sanctions blacklist for Myanmar, making them radioactive to the international community and barring US banks or companies from making deals with them.

Kerry said the easing of the sanctions was tied to progress made in the democratic process and further easing would not occur under the current constitution, which bars Suu Kyi from becoming president.

The meeting comes days after the US lifted a host of financial and trade embargoes in recognition of dramatic political changes that saw landmark elections sweep Suu Kyi and her party into office after decades of junta rule.

Suu Kyi, the foreign minister, also holds the newly-created position of state counsellor to enable her to steer the government despite a junta-scripted constitution that bars her from the presidency - a role now held by her longtime ally Htin Kyaw.

Myanmar president's office spokesman Zaw Htay said Kerry would only meet Suu Kyi, without giving details of the topics under discussion.

"He will meet the state counsellor, not the president," he told AFP, explaining that Htin Kyaw is yet to return from a summit in Russia.

According to the US State Department, Kerry's brief trip to Myanmar is to show "support for the new democratically-elected, civilian-led government" as well as to "further democratic and economic reforms".

US President Barack Obama has made two visits to the South-east Asian nation in recent years, seeking to widen engagement with the country as it embarked on a stunning transition towards democracy after half a century under a repressive military government.

Myanmar still faces huge challenges, including decrepit infrastructure, conflicts in resource-rich borderlands, religious tensions and the continued influence of the army and junta-era cronies, who still dominate the economy.

American investment in Myanmar remains relatively small compared to other nations, although some US companies including Coca-Cola and Pepsi, fast food restaurant KFC and carmakers Chevrolet and Ford have already established a sales presence.

Washington rolled back many of its sanctions to reward reforms since the end of outright military rule in 2011, but retains scores of names on its blacklists as it seeks to push further changes and promote human rights.

The latest sanctions rollback further eases constraints on trade.

It opened up all Myanmar banks to American business, while also extending indefinitely permission made in December enabling firms to import through Myanmar's ports and airports - many of which are operated by cronies still on the blacklist.

The US has come under pressure from hardline Buddhists, who have held protests in recent days against the use of the term "Rohingya" to refer to the persecuted Muslim minority in the western state of Rakhine.

Buddhist nationalists label the group "Bengalis" and view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, even though many can trace their roots in Myanmar back generations.

Kerry is due to continue on to Vietnam Sunday, where he will accompany Obama to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for a visit likely to focus on trade, security and human rights.



By Kyaw Ye Lynn
May 22, 2016

With US secretary of state visiting Myanmar, hardliners gather to protest US use of term in recent statement

YANGON, Myanmar -- Protests demanding the government ban the word “Rohingya” took place in Myanmar Sunday, with nationalists marching in commercial capital Yangon as well as in Taung Gyi in restive Shan State.

The demonstrations are aimed at pressuring President Htin Kyaw and state counselor-cum-foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi to denounce the United States embassy in the country for using the word to describe the stateless and persecuted Muslim minority.

Hardline nationalists refuse to recognize the term, instead referring to the ethnic group as "Bengali", which suggests they are illegal immigrants from neighboring country Bangladesh.

In Taung Gyi, capital of eastern Shan, a march jointly organized by the Taung Gyi-based National Security Network and Yangon-based Myanmar National Network, saw around 100 protesters take to the streets with banners emblazoned “No Rohingya”.

“We are helping nationalists in other cities and towns across the country to protest against the use of the word,” Win Ko Ko Latt, founder of the Myanmar National Network, told Anadolu Agency by phone from Taung Gyi, the capital of Shan State around 644 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of Yangon.

“We want to let the U.S. embassy and other international organizations know that Myanmar people will never recognize that word. I want our government to announce that the country never has Rohingya ethnic group and will never recognize it.”

With the U.S secretary of state, John Kerry, visiting Myanmar on Sunday, monks from hardline Buddhist group Ma Ba Tha -- the Committee for Protection of Race and Religion – began to gather in Yangon to protest the country's use of the term in a recent statement.

The trip will see Kerry is meet Myanmar military chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and state counselor-cum-foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi before he joins U.S. President Barack Obama in Vietnam on Monday.

“I want to tell John Kerry to review their policy of terminology. The term 'Rohingya' is not good for Myanmar,” Buddhist monk Pyin Nyein Da -- one of the organizers of the protest -- told Anadolu Agency.

“It will only create chaos here,” he added.

The U.S. embassy used the term in a recent statement to illustrate its concerns about the situation in western Rakhine State, where communal violence between ethnic Buddhists and Muslims since 2012 has left dozens dead, around 100,000 people displaced in camps and more than 2,500 houses burned -- most of which belonged to Rohingya.

Following nationalist pressure, Suu Kyi’s foreign ministry asked the embassy to cease use of the word.

The U.S. ambassador to Myanmar, Scot Marciel, however, said last week that he was in favor of continued use of "Rohingya".

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, poses with Myanmar's Foreign Minister and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for a photo during a meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, May 22, 2016. Kerry on Sunday urged Myanmar’s new civilian-led government to complete the Southeast Asian nation's transition to democracy by implementing further reforms to enshrine free markets, development and human rights. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo, Pool)

May 22, 2016

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Myanmar's new civilian-led government to complete the Southeast Asian nation's transition to democracy by implementing further reforms to enshrine free markets, development and human rights.

Speaking with Myanmar's foreign minister and de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, after talks in the capital of Naypyidaw, Kerry pledged continuing U.S. support for the country and hailed progress it has made since Suu Kyi's political party took office in late March after winning historic elections that ended decades of military control.

"We strongly support the democratic transition that is taking place here," Kerry said.

His visit came less than a week after the Obama administration lifted sanctions against 10 state-run companies and banks in a sweeping modification of penalties imposed while Myanmar was under military rule. The administration, however, left in place restrictions on trade and investment with the nation's still-powerful military. The changes are intended to spur more U.S. investment and support economic growth under the new government, but also to encourage more reforms.

The U.S. waived its longstanding bans on investment and trade in 2012 after Myanmar began political and economic reforms, but retained restrictions on dozens of companies and individuals designated by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control because they oppose reform, or are implicated in human rights abuses and military trade with North Korea. In addition, the U.S. continues to ban the import of jade and rubies from Myanmar.

"The key to the lifting of the (remaining) sanctions is really the progress that is made within Myanmar in continuing to move down the road of democratization," Kerry said, adding, "It is very difficult to complete that journey, in fact impossible to complete that journey, with the current constitution."

He called for the charter to be revised to fully respect civilian authority and clearly spell out a separation of powers among various branches of government as well as protect minority rights and promote inclusivity. And he said he would raise those issues with the commander in chief of Myanmar's military before leaving the country later Sunday to join President Barack Obama on a visit to Vietnam.

Suu Kyi said she did not believe the remaining sanctions would stay in place for long, but did not look at them as a punishment.

"We're not afraid of sanctions, we're not afraid of scrutiny," she said. "The time will come soon that the United States will know that this is no longer the time for sanctions."

Under the current, junta-era constitution, Myanmar's military controls the ministries for defense, home affairs and border affairs, and 25 percent of parliamentary seats. Rights groups say stateless Rohingya Muslims and other minorities still face repression.

The treatment of the Rohingya remains a major sticking point in U.S.-Myanmar ties, with the government complaining that even U.S. officials use the term to refer to the group, which many Buddhists inside Myanmar call "Bengalis." They say the 1 million or so members of the minority are mostly illegal immigrants and not a native ethnic group. In fact, the families of many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Because Myanmar does not officially recognize the Rohingya as an ethnic group, it denies most of them citizenship and basic rights. Conflict over land and resources in the western state of Rakhine, where most of them live, caused deadly violence between Buddhists and Muslims that later spread to other parts of the country. More than 100,000 Rohingya were forced to flee their homes and now live in poor conditions in decrepit camps.

Suu Kyi, who won international admiration and a Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle for democracy during Myanmar's years of military rule, has in recent years disappointed many former fans by failing to speak on behalf of the Rohingya. Despite international expressions of concern, Myanmar's previous military-backed government did nothing to ease the Rohingya's plight.

She called on Myanmar's "well-wishers," like the United States, to give the authorities time and space to deal with what she acknowledged was a problem. But she also warned against using the term "Rohingya," saying it is a sensitive matter that complicates efforts to resolve the situation.

"Emotive terms make it very difficult for us to find a peaceful and sensible solution," she said. "People should be aware of the difficulties that we are facing and give us a safe distance. ... What we are saying is that there are more important things to deal with than issues of nomenclature."

Kerry agreed that the matter was a sensitive one, but said it is key to ease the crisis in Rakhine state.

"The name issue is obviously very sensitive, it is divisive and I know that it arouses strong passions here," he said, adding, however, that the matter could not be ignored. "What is critical to focus on is solving the problems."

Myanmar’s de fecto leader and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi. (Aung Shine Oo/AP)

By Editorial Board
May 22, 2016

THE TRANSITION from military rule and dictatorship to democracy is treacherous. In the past generation, not every nation that has embarked on that journey has arrived at its hoped-for destination, nor has every revolutionary leader delivered on the promise. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, a champion of human rights and democracy in Burma who has taken most of the reins of power, no doubt has studied lessons from Lech Walesa, Boris Yeltsin and Nelson Mandela. In the weeks since her government assumed control, ending decades of military rule during which she was held under house arrest, she has moved gingerly and cautiously.

Beyond doubt, she realizes the enormity of the obstacles facing her and threatening Burma’s transition, but at the same time she sees that popular expectations are running high. She has freed political prisoners and set a new tone. Thin Yu Mon, a human rights activist in Rangoon who was recently in Washington, marveled at the atmosphere she encountered in a public festival. “Now we are really free,” she said.

But Burma’s democratic trajectory is not assured. The Obama administration properly recognized this Tuesday with a calibrated easing of sanctions on Burma, also called Myanmar, that left some in place, signaling a continuing concern over human rights abuses, ethnic conflict and the continuing influence of the military, which is trying to preserve undemocratic power through a constitution it wrote before allowing free elections.

One of Aung San Suu Kyi’s most daunting challenges, therefore, is to deal with these powerful and unelected generals, who control a quarter of the seats in parliament not subject to election and thus can block constitutional reform; who hold the key Defense, Home Affairs and Border Affairs ministries; and who have grown accustomed to profiting handsomely from the nation’s bounty. In the latest action, the United States has retained an arms ban, as well as sanctions on individuals and entities that are obstructing political reform, committing human rights abuses or engaging in illicit military trade with North Korea.

At the same time, Aung San Suu Kyi faces a cauldron of ethnic tension and conflict. Among the most severe is the plight of the 1 million Rohingya, a Muslim minority who have been subject to persecution and misery, denied citizenship and crowded into squalid camps. Some 100,000 Rohingya were driven from their homes in 2012 in a wave of violence. Subsequently, many fled and lost their lives on rickety ships at sea. Nationalist Buddhists have insisted the Rohingya are not Burmese and call them “Bengalis,” as did the former military government. Shockingly, after the U.S. Embassy expressed condolences recently for the loss of at least 20 people whose boat capsized on April 19, Aung San Suu Kyi suggested to the new U.S. ambassador that the United States should not use the word “Rohingya.” Ever careful, she may have been catering to Buddhist nationalists, but if so, it was an egregious error.

She must find a way to correct the mistakes of the past, not repeat them.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during a news conference in Vienna, Austria, May 17, 2016.
REUTERS/LEONHARD FOEGER

By Lesley Wroughton
Reuters
May 21, 2016

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will welcome democratic reforms in Myanmar and underscore the need for more change, including on human rights, during a visit on Sunday, his first since the formation of its first democratically elected government in 50 years, a senior U.S. official said.

During a brief stop, before he joins President Barack Obama in Vietnam on Monday, Kerry will meet Myanmar's Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, a leader barred from the presidency under a 2008 constitution drafted by the former military rulers.

Kerry, who last visited Myanmar in August 2014, will meet separately with the commander in chief of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

"We're looking for new ways to support this new government," a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Kerry.

Last week, the Obama administration further eased economic and financial sanctions against Myanmar, removing some state-owned banks and enterprises from a blacklist. It also lifted some restrictions on trade to ease concerns of U.S. firms about doing business in Myanmar.

More than 100 individuals and groups remain on Washington's sanctions blacklist for Myanmar, making them radioactive to the international community and barring U.S. banks or companies from making deals with them.

"For the time being we have to accept the fact that there are some individuals and entities in the country that are not fully supportive of this transition to democracy and prefer the days of old," the official said.

"We also want to encourage the military in Burma to continue steps to continue a role of consolidating democracy designed to help additional democratic reforms."

The U.S. has long supported Suu Kyi's role in championing democratic change in Myanmar but was surprised this month when she suggested to the new U.S. ambassador, Scott Marciel, to refrain from using the term Rohingya for the persecuted Muslim minority.

Marciel said he would keep using the term Rohingya because it is Washington's policy to do so.

Pressed over whether Kerry will raise Suu Kyi's comments in their meeting, the official added: "I think it's safe to say a number of these specific ongoing conflicts and unresolved situations will be discussed."

Members of the 1.1 million-strong group, most of whom live in apartheid-like conditions in a remote part of western Myanmar, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The term is a divisive issue.

Speaking out for the group would carry a political cost for Suu Kyi. The group is widely disliked in Myanmar, including by some in Suu Kyi's party and its supporters. She risks losing support by taking up the cause of the beleaguered minority.

Some 125,000 Rohingya remain displaced and face severe travel restrictions in camps since fighting erupted in Rakhine State between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012. Thousands have fled persecution and poverty.


    • Rohingya Exodus