RB News

August 4, 2017

Maungdaw -- Rakhine media outlets are deliberately attempting to shift blames on the Rohingya people for the deaths of and missing Mro-Rakhine tribal men after an apparently drug-related incident in Southern Maungdaw on Thursday (Aug 3), reliable sources say. 

Six dead bodies of ‘Mro-Rakhine’ men were found nearby their village in the forest 5 miles to the east of the ‘Natala-Rakhine’ village called 'Kaing Gyi' on Thursday morning, while two more people were reported to have been missing since then.

The news came to surface on Thursday afternoon and different media outlets are giving different times of the incident. But the exact time of the killings and the reason behind them are unknown yet.

Going by the reports from the southern Maungdaw earlier, a fighting between the Mro-Rakhine tribal men and the Natala-Rakhine men would have broken out over drug-trafficking issues, which led to the killings of six people and the disappearances of two more belonging to the former group. 

"A month ago, there was an incident that some Mro-Rakhine tribal men robbed ‘Yaba tablets (WY)’ from the drug-trafficking gang of 'Kaing Gyi' village, while they were smuggling them across the mountain valleys. The Mro-Rakhine men refused to return the bags of Yaba tablets to the Natala-Rakhine despite the repeated demands by the latter. 

“The tension between the two Rakhine groups has mounted since then because of that. Therefore, the Natala Rakhine gang who proudly call themselves to be members of the 969 Gang could have attacked them, killed six and abducted other two,” said Ko Myint Naing, a member of a Maungdaw-based Human Rights Observer and Research Group.

A Rakhine media called DMG, quoting the Commander of the Border Guard Police (BGP) Maj-Gen Thura San Lwin, wrote “it happened at around 9:00am. We couldn’t have confirmed the perpetrators behind the killings. The armed forces are doing ‘Region Clearance.’ We are also investigating into it.”

The ‘Myanmar State Counselor Information Committee’ reported that the armed forces acted and started clearance operation in the areas nearby the Mro-Rakhine village upon hearing gun-shots at around 10am. It followed up with reports that there were wounds, cuts and bruises found the bodies of the deceased contradicting its very own statement ‘upon hearing gun-shots’ made earlier. Without mentioning names or details of the perpetrators, it stated that they were extremist terrorists behind the killings indirectly attempting to shift blames on the Rohingya people.

U Khaing Mrat Kyaw -- a Rakhine extremist media man, a BBC Burmese reporter and editor in-chief of Narinjara Media – quoting a local Rakhine man named U Sein Hla Aung wrote that the Evil Kular Terrorists (indicating the Rohingya people) shot them to death at around 8:00am without providing evidences. 

Looking at the conflicting reports regarding the Time of the incident and the attempts to shift the blame on the Rohingya people by the Rakhine media and the State Counselor Information Committee, it is pretty clear that the media are attempting to play ‘Diversion of Attention’ and trigger violence against the Rohingya people, the already victims of apartheid and genocide, out of a fight that could have taken place between two different Rakhine sub-groups (i.e. Mro-Rakhine and Natala-Rakhine) themselves.

[Reported by MYARF; Edited by M.S. Anwar]

Please email to editor@rohingyablogger.com to send your reports and feedback.

By Loshana K Shagar

The Star Online

August 3, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will continue to use international platforms to push for a speedier resolution to the Rohingya issue in Myanmar, said Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican (pic).

"Malaysia has used international platforms like the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to raise the Rohingya issue as an effort to push Myanmar to take steps to stop the violence.

"At the same time, the international community is needed to increase engagement with Myanmar to find a long-term solution to bring peace and stability to the affected states," he told Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR - Permatang Pauh) in Parliament on Thursday.

Dr Wan Azizah had asked on the impact of the humanitarian mission in February, the Government's stand on Myanmar in not allowing a United Nation's fact-finding mission team into the country, and whether Malaysia will cut ties with Myanmar.

Reezal Merican said calls to cut ties with Myanmar was not right as it would only isolate the nation in Asean.

"It will also further narrow the chances of Malaysia or Asean in helping them on the Rohingya issue.

"Malaysia will continue constructive engagement with Myanmar, whether by two-way or multilateral discussions, to find the root causes of the issue and long-term solutions," he said.

He said it was unfortunate that Myanmar had prevented the UN mission team from entering the country, as it was sending the wrong message to the international community about Myanmar's commitment in handling the issue.

Malaysia's view, he said, was that investigations into the alleged claims of human rights violations and torture of Rohingya minorities by the Myanmar military should be conducted by an international mechanism, which could do so independently.

"We still have our hopes on the Rakhine State Advisory Commission, which is still getting cooperation from Myanmar.

"Their interim report issued in March had 29 recommendations, and developments show Myanmar is more responsive to these," he said, adding that the final report is expected to be ready at the end of this month.

On the food flotilla mission, Reezal said it was Malaysia's diplomatic ties with Myanmar that allowed the mission to be completed without hindrance.

By Human Rights Watch

August 3, 2017

On March 24, 2017, the UN Human Rights Council authorized a three-member Fact-Finding Mission to Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads the country’s civilian government as state counsellor and also serves as foreign minister, has stated that the UN’s decision to establish an independent international inquiry was not “in keeping with what is actually happening on the ground.” Kyaw Tin, deputy minister of foreign affairs, said on June 30 in parliament that, “We will order Myanmar embassies not to grant any visa to UN fact-finding mission members.” Even if the UN team is not granted access to the country, the mission intends to work from abroad and produce a written report by March 2018. 

Why did the Human Rights Council set up a Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar?

The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution creating the Fact-Finding Mission because it was concerned about the recent serious allegations of human rights abuses there. In a March resolution, the Council pointed to a February 2017 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that found that crimes against the ethnic Rohingya community in northern Rakhine State “seem to have been widespread as well as systematic, indicating the very likely commission of crimes against humanity.” As a part of their violent crackdown on the community since October 2016, Burmese security forces burned at least 1500 buildings in predominantly Rohingya areas, raped or sexually assaulted dozens of women, and committed extrajudicial executions. Human Rights Watch released satellite imageryshowing the destruction caused by the arson of these buildings. Human Rights Watch also conducted research among Rohingya who fled into neighboring Bangladesh, documenting the kinds of human rights abuses that Burmese security forces inflicted on them.

What has the Human Rights Council asked the mission to examine?

The Human Rights Council requested the three-person team to establish the facts and circumstances of the alleged recent human rights violations by military and security forces and other abuses in Myanmar. They have been asked to focus “in particular” on the situation in Rakhine State. But in general, the Fact-Finding Mission received a broad mandate. The mission is empowered to look at all “recent” allegations of situations where the human rights of people in Myanmar have been undermined by any actor, whether they are part of the military or security forces, or non-state armed groups.

How many countries agreed to create the Fact-Finding Mission? 

The Human Rights Council resolution was drafted by the European Union, garnered 43 co-sponsors and had broad support from diverse UN regions. No country opposed the resolution when it was considered by the whole 47-member UN Human Rights Council. In recognition of the broad consensus behind the measure, the Council adopted the resolution without a vote. Myanmar and several other countries – the Philippines, India, China, and Venezuela – dissociated themselves from the resolution. While Japan did not support the creation of the Fact-Finding Mission, it nonetheless welcomed the adoption of the resolution by consensus and expressed regret that Myanmar had dissociated itself from that consensus. At the Human Rights Council, in cases where all countries agree in principle to a consensus adoption of a resolution, some choose to separate themselves from that broad agreement. Myanmar’s dissociation does not preclude it from respecting the decision of the Council and cooperating with the Fact-Finding Mission, and the Council resolution itself encourages the government of Myanmar to “cooperate fully” with the mission.

Why are international investigators needed in Myanmar? 

National or domestic investigations into alleged crimes committed by the state security forces, especially in the context of recent operations in Rakhine State, will lack credibility, independence and rigor. Human Rights Watch and others identified problems with recent national inquiries led by Myanmar's vice-president and the military, including poor investigation methodology, compromised leadership and bias of commissioners in the domestic inquiries, a history of security forces’ aversion to accountability, and a tendency for covering up rights abuses.

Have domestic investigations helped uncover the truth?

Recent Burmese government-run inquiries have not only lacked credibility, but they have put victims and witnesses to serious offenses at risk. The Burmese military published its findings into alleged crimes committed by its troops, and ignored the voluminous third-party evidence of serious human rights violations, including satellite imagery of burned villages and first-hand accounts of rape and torture. The military concluded that it was only able to find evidence of a motorbike theft and some beating of a few villagers.

The government’s other investigative body, a commission led by first vice-president Gen. U Myint Swe, only issued an interim report in January 2017. Myint Swe’s commission used methods that produced incomplete, inaccurate, and false information. Burmese investigators badgered villagers, argued with them, told them not to say things, accused them of lying, and interviewed victims – including rape survivors – in large groups where confidentiality was not provided. Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, raised concerns about the commission’s methodology in her report to the Human Rights Council, saying that the Burmese government had not met its obligation to investigate the abuses. The commission has made no further conclusions, and has yet to issue a final report.

Myanmar’s state counsellor and de-facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has set up an “Information Committee” that has publicly accused members of the Rohingya community of fabricating accounts of sexual and gender based violence, labelling alleged cases reported to international journalists and Human Rights Watch as cases of “fake rape.”

Given the Kofi Annan-led Rakhine Commission, is an international Fact-Finding Mission still needed?

The international inquiry is complementary to the Rakhine Commission and is crucial for accountability efforts. Although the Burmese government contends that the Rakhine Commission, created a year ago, makes a UN-led inquiry unnecessary, that is not the case. When asked about the Annan Commission, Aung San Suu Kyi’s spokesman told the media: “The [Annan] commission is serving as a shield for us. Was it not for Kofi Annan commission, the allegations would be much worse, I think.” The Rakhine Commission is mandated to look at root causes of conflict in Rakhine State. It does not have a mandate to investigate human rights abuses, nor will it address questions of justice and accountability. Additionally, the Fact-Finding Mission has a mandate to work beyond Rakhine State and address rights abuses in other parts of the country, including conflict-ridden Shan and Kachin States.

Will the Fact-Finding Mission only investigate alleged abuses by government forces?

The Fact-Finding Mission has a broad mandate that is not limited to violations by government forces. The Human Rights Council resolution specifically asks the experts to look at violations of international law by government military and security forces, but also asks the mission to examine recent allegations of abuses more broadly, which would include acts by non-state armed groups and private sector companies.

Will the Fact-Finding Mission only examine the situation in Rakhine State?

The Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate is not confined to Rakhine State. So, although the resolution directs the experts’ mission to look at Rakhine state “in particular,” it also gives the team a mandate to consider all “recent” allegations of human rights violations and abuses across the country. The mission’s three experts should also consider violations committed by government security forces in Shan and Kachin state, as well as recent abuses by non-state actors in those areas. The mission is also not restricted to conflict-affected areas of the country and is free to look at other issues of concern as well.

Who are the three experts on the Fact-Finding Mission?

As appointed by the president of the Human Rights Council, the mission is headed by Indonesian human rights expert Marzuki Darusman, and includes Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and former UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy, and Australian human rights lawyer Christopher Sidoti.

When will the Fact-Finding Mission begin its work and when is it expected to report its findings?

The Fact-Finding Mission will begin its work in August 2017. It is due to give an oral update of its findings at the Human Rights Council’s 36th session in September 2017 and present its findings in full at the Council’s 37th session in March 2018.

Has the Myanmar government officially denied the three UN experts visas to the country?

The government has indicated it will deny the experts visas but to date it has not done so. Aung San Suu Kyi has made her opposition to this Fact-Finding Mission clear during recent trips to Brussels and Stockholm. Kyaw Tin, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, told parliament on June 30 that, “We will order Myanmar embassies not to grant any visa to UN fact finding mission members.” Similarly, Kyaw Zeya, the Foreign Ministry’s permanent secretary told Reuters, “if they are going to send someone with regards to the fact-finding mission, then there’s no reason for us to let them come.” Zeya also told Reuters that visas would not be issued to members of the mission or those staffing the effort.

In July, Yanghee Lee, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, reported that she was asked to assure the Myanmar government that she would “not undertake any activities that are to do with the Fact-Finding Mission while conducting” her visit to the country. She described this request as “an affront to the independence of my mandate as Special Rapporteur.”

Isn’t the Myanmar military responsible for most of the abuses reported, and not the civilian-led government?

The government as a whole is ultimately responsible for ensuring that Myanmar meets its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, even when the violations are committed by members of the armed forces or other state security forces. This is true regardless of the constitutional division of authority between military and civilian leaders and lawmakers. The government’s obligations include facilitating the implementation of the Human Rights Council resolution to send a Fact-Finding Mission to the country. 

Has the Burmese government been cooperating with other UN human rights initiatives in the country?

The government has largely cooperated with the Human Rights Council-mandated special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, who made her sixth information-gathering trip to the country from July 10 to 21, 2017. She visited conflict-affected Rakhine, Shan and Karen states but was denied access to some parts of Shan state. In her end-of-mission report, Lee noted that individuals who met with her on the mission “continue to face intimidation, including being photographed, questioned before and after meetings and in one case even followed.” Lee further said that the request for assurance that she would not conduct any activities related to the Fact-Finding Mission was “an affront to the independence of [her] mandate as Special Rapporteur."

Following Lee’s July 2017 end-of-mission report, both the State Counsellor’s office, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and the lower house of Myanmar’s parliamentissued a statement and declaration, respectively, denouncing her findings.

Many other UN agencies are able to operate in the country to deliver humanitarian aid and help implement development programming. However, the current government has not allowed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to establish an office in the country. The OHCHR’s limited access to the country compelled it to send researchers to Bangladesh earlier this year to gather information from refugees fleeing Rakhine State.

Have other countries completely rejected UN-organized international investigations?

Only a handful of pariah countries – notably Syria, Eritrea, North Korea and Burundi – have completely denied UN investigators access to their country. Other countries that had initial reservations, including Sri Lanka, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, eventually cooperated with similar investigations authorized by the Council. If the democratically elected government of Myanmar wants to avoid being linked with the rights-rejecting governments that have barred international investigations, it should change course. 

Even if barred from the country, the Fact-Finding Mission will still be able to carry out its investigation by relying on remote research methodology that allows them to collect testimonies without meeting witnesses in person. This was the case with banned international missions to

Syria, Eritrea, North Korea and Burundi. The 1998 report of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Commission of Inquiry to investigate Myanmar’s breaches of ILO Convention No. 29 on forced labor – over the objections of the military government – still stands as one of the most detailed and incisive human rights-related investigations on Myanmar even though they had no access to the country.

Is Myanmar’s political transition too sensitive to be pressing on justice and accountability right now?

The Burmese military has long avoided any accountability for its widespread and serious abuses – and the country’s failure to address them has not brought the abuses to an end. Human Rights Watch's years of reporting in conflict areas around the world has found that justice can yield short and long-term benefits to achieving sustainable peace. Continuing abuses and impunity often are insuperable barriers to ending a conflict. In contrast, international commissions of inquiry with very similar mandates in Liberia and Bosnia and Herzegovina had a long-term positive effect on peacebuilding in those countries.

Will Myanmar let the Fact-Finding Mission into the country?

A UN spokesman told the media in late June that he still hoped the Fact-Finding Mission would “be facilitated by the government through unfettered access to the affected areas.” He added that the three mission members would try to “reach out to and engage constructively with the government” to seek entry into the country. Hopefully, the Myanmar government will recognize that it is in its own interests to cooperate with the Fact-Finding Mission. By doing so, the government would be demonstrating its willingness to uphold the rule of law, work collaboratively with the international community to establish the facts, help identify perpetrators of serious crimes, and deter future crimes by all parties to Myanmar’s armed conflicts.

By Reuters

August 3, 2017

DHAKA  -- Myanmar must protect the rights of its Rohingya Muslim minority, the chief of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Thursday, urging the southeast Asian nation to join hands with Muslim-majority neighbours in tackling a refugee crisis. 

A group known as Harakah al-Yaqin attacked Myanmar border guard posts on Oct. 9, killing nine policemen and igniting the biggest crisis yet to face Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's fledgling administration. 

About 75,000 people fled to Bangladesh during the ensuing military crackdown, which was beset by allegations of rape, torture and extrajudicial killings by security forces. 

Suu Kyi's government has denied most of the allegations and is refusing access to a United Nations panel of experts, saying its mission will aggravate the situation on the ground in the western state of Rakhine. 

"Myanmar should sit with Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia to find a roadmap for the solution of the crisis," said Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen of the OIC, which represents 57 states and acts as the collective voice of the Muslim world. 

"We call on the Myanmar government to ensure human rights for the Rohingyas," Othaimeen told reporters during a four-day visit to the Bangladeshi capital. 

"Myanmar can't deny the human rights of Rohingyas. We also call on the Myanmar government to ensure citizenship for the Rohingyas." 

Othaimeen is also expected to visit Rakhine Muslims in the Kutupalong camp and surrounding areas in the southern resort town of Cox’s Bazar on Friday, Bangladesh foreign ministry officials said. 

Thousands of Rohingya live in Bangladesh without being officially recognised as refugees, but police rarely file immigration charges against them. Still, their presence is a source of tension between the two countries. 

Many in Myanmar see the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, although about 1.1 million of them live in Rakhine state and say their roots go back generations. 

Reporting by Serajul Quadir; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

(Photo: Refugees International)

Statement 

Date: August 3, 2017

Rohingya Consultative Body Formed

A diverse group of Rohingya activists and community leaders held a conference in an undisclosed location. The intention was to work together with a coordinated response to the challenging Rohingya matters at home and internationally.

The participants reaffirmed Rohingyas’ desire as people of Arakan (Rakhine) to live in peace and harmony with basic respect and equal rights as other ethnic groups of Myanmar.

The participants agreed that the indigenous Rohingya people of Arakan should continue to adhere to non-violence in striving for full citizenship and basic rights in Myanmar. 

In this regard, a Rohingya consultative body was formed on an ad-hoc basis comprised of candidates from around the world. Under this body, several working groups were formed. 

The conference adopted the following resolutions: The Consultative Body calls upon Burmese Government to:

1. Stop all human rights violations and abuses against Rohingyas in Myanmar immediately.

2. Allow unrestricted humanitarian aid to reach Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other victims in the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Arakan. 

3. Allow the United Nations Fact Finding Mission to investigate human rights violations and abuses in Arakan. 

4. Take immediate action to return Rohingya refugees and IDPs to their original hearths and homes with safety and security. 

5. Reinstate the rights of Rohingya people to participate in Myanmar’s political and democratic process in line with other people of Myanmar. 

6. Restore the ethnic and citizenship rights of Rohingya people in Myanmar. 

The Consultative Body also calls upon the International community such as UN, EU, US, UK, OIC, ASEAN & INGOs to:

1. Adopt more efficient mechanisms to ensure access to protection, documentation and humanitarian measures to meet the needs of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and other countries. 

2. Do everything possible to immediately intervene to address the avoidable malnutrition faced by more than 80,000 Rohingya children in Arakan, as recently exposed by the World Food Programme. 

The Consultative Body also urges State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Arakan State immediately to find out the real situation of Rohingya. 

For more information, please contact: 

Tun Khin +44 7888714866

Nay San Lwin +49 69 26022349

RB News 

August 2, 2017 

Rathedaung – A Rohingya man and his two sons were brutally killed; and two other people were abducted by the Myanmar-military-backed Rakhine extremists in Rathedaung Township on Sunday (July 30), according to reliable sources. 

A joint force of the Myanmar military and Police along with Rakhine extremists, numbering 700 in total, conducted raids on the hamlet of ‘Chut Pyin’ of ‘Attet Nan Yar’ village in Rathedaung on Sunday and arrested two village men. 

They were reported to have been inhumanely tortured before the eyes of the rest of the villagers, blinded-folded in plastic masks and taken away to an unidentified place. The victims haven’t returned home since then. They are ‘U Sayed Ullah’ and ‘U Inayat Ullah.’ 

On the same day itself, an old Rohingya farmer and his two sons, one teenager and another in early 20s, found working in their paddy farm at a mountain base nearby the village, were brutally killed by the military-backed Rakhine extremist. 

“U Iman Hussein and his two sons, Nurul Hakim (22) and Nur Alam (18), were captured from the paddy farm and taken to the ‘Zaydi Pyin’ river-end where they were brutally killed. Nurul Hakim was decapitated and his head was taken away. Meanwhile, his father and younger brother were repeatedly stabbed and slaughtered. 

“Their bodies were abandoned where they were killed and the villagers were not allowed to recover them for proper funeral,” said a local man in Rathedaung on the condition of anonymity. 

Our sources have further added that the Myanmar military have been, since then, plotting to portray the brutal killings -- by associating their dead bodies with some random pictures of back-packs, beds and cooking pots etc --as some terrorists died while they were fighting among themselves. 

[Reported by MYARF; Edited by M.S. Anwar] 

Please email to editor@rohingyablogger.com to send your reports and feedback. 

By Prothom Alo

July 31, 2017

Secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Yousef A Al Othaimeen is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on Wednesday and will visit Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar on Friday to see the situation there, reports UNB.

The OIC repeatedly condemned the violence and abuse against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar in the past months.

Othaimeen is likely to reiterate its call to the government of Myanmar to eliminate the 'root causes' affecting the Rohingya Muslim minority, a diplomatic source told UNB.

The OIC council of foreign ministers during the extraordinary session on 19 January in Kuala Lumpur urged Myanmar to eliminate the root causes affecting the Rohingya Muslim minority and restore their citizenship.

The secretary general will lead a five-member delegation during the four-day visit, officials at the foreign ministry said.

This will be his first visit to Bangladesh since assuming charge as the OIC secretary general.

During the visit, Othaimeen will meet president Abdul Hamid and prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.

He will also hold a meeting with foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali who will host a dinner in honour of him in the evening.

The secretary general will visit the Kutupalong camp and surroundings in Cox's Bazar and the Rakhine Muslims there on Friday to express OIC 'sympathy and solidarity' with them.

This will give the OIC secretary general an opportunity of briefing from the local administration and representatives of International humanitarian organisations working there, said foreign ministry officials.

The visit, according to the foreign ministry, will give the secretary general an opportunity to familiarise himself with Bangladesh, a country playing increasingly important role in OIC.

Officials said the visit will also give him the opportunity to seek views and suggestions of Bangladesh leadership on various OIC issues and matters of importance to the Muslim Ummah.

The visit will allow discussion on Bangladesh-OIC secretariat cooperation apart from various other areas of bilateral cooperation as Bangladesh is going to host the 45th OIC council of foreign ministers next year, said the Foreign Ministry.

By Kyaw Ye Lynn
Anadolu Agency

July 31, 2017

Kofi Annan-led commission to submit recommendations in August to solve conflict between Rakhine and Rohingya groups

YANGON, Myanmar -- A commission tasked with finding solutions to complicated issues in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state is scheduled to submit its final recommendations to the government by mid-August. 

A member of the advisory commission led by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Saturday that they had been finalizing the report in Geneva for the past several weeks. 

“We are pretty sure [we will be able to] present the final recommendations to the Myanmar government by mid-August,” said the commission member, Aye Lwin, in an email to Anadolu Agency. 

He said the final report includes recommendations for a durable solution to conflicts between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Rohingya Muslims. 

“But it will not include the recent alleged human rights violations in Rakhine's north,” he said, adding the commission’s mandate is to just find out the root cause of the problems, not to investigate the rights violations by the security forces. 

“A commission is working separately on the allegation against the security forces,” said Aye Lwin, referring to the government-appointed investigation commission led by Vice President Myint Swe, who is a former army general. 

Nobel laureate Kofi Annan was appointed as chair of the Rakhine State Advisory Commission in August last year to advise the government in resolving the Rakhine issues.

Slow progress

The commission published its interim report in mid-March which includes steps Myanmar's government can take to immediately improve the situation in Rakhine including urgent training for security forces for better respect of human rights, closure of all camps for internally displaced persons and allowing Muslim representation in local administrations.

A senior official at the Rakhine regional government told Anadolu Agency that they, in collaboration with the union government, are implementing a number of the commission’s recommendations such as humanitarian and media access, training of security forces, issuance of birth certificates and bilateral relations with Bangladesh. 

However the progress has been slowed due to the several challenges they are facing in implementation, admitted the official who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media. 

“In addition to the challenges, these need more time to be implemented than we expected,” he said without elaborating on the challenges. 

Only part of the recommendations were completely implemented by authorities after more than four months.

“However we successfully closed three camps as the commission recommended,” said the official.

At least 55 families of ethnic Kaman Muslims from a camp in Ramree Township -- one of the three camps closed by authorities -- were forcibly relocated to the country’s commercial city, Yangon, instead of their original villages due to security concerns.

Freedom of movement critical for Rohingya survival 

New York-based Human Rights Watch on Saturday described the relocation of Kaman Muslims as a “shoddy and shameful way” of the government led by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi. 

“The slow implementation of these interim recommendations exposes the government is foot dragging on recommendations they don't like,” said HRW’s deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson.

“For all of Aung San Suu Kyi's big promises, she is surprisingly poor at delivering results,” he told Anadolu Agency in an e-mail.

He expressed his worry that, if it comes to implementing recommendations versus not offending Rakhine extremists and their allied nationalists, Suu Kyi and her government will opt for the latter, regardless of the circumstances.

Phil Robertson said it was absolutely critical for the commission to recommend in its final report a way forward to end the restrictions on freedom of movement for Rohingya Muslims who have been denied citizenship and basic rights.

“If Rohingya cannot move without fear of being attacked, arrested or extorted, how can they survive economically to obtain basic necessities that can mean the difference between life and death?”

The situation of around 1.2 million Rohingya has been worsening since communal violence broke out in Rakhine state in mid-2012.

The issues reached a boiling point after military launched a crackdown following a gang’s killing of nine police officers in northern part of the Rakhine in October last year.

During the operation, UN and rights groups documented evidences of atrocities by security forces against the Rohingya civilians. However Myanmar government blocked the entry of a UN fact-finding mission to investigate the alleged rights violations which may amount to crimes against humanity.

Given that situation, Robertson said the advisory commission had to break the cycle of repression in the Rakhine state.

“Kofi Annan needs to get directly involved now to get renewed commitments from Suu Kyi and her government that all of the commission's recommendations will be supported and implemented,” he said.

“And he must be very clear that any effort to sideline or drop the final report's conclusions and recommendations will be met with strong and continuous denunciation by the commission and its supporters in the international community.”

Myanmar Now

July 30, 2017

By Coconuts Yangon

July 30, 2017

A house under construction in the town of Kyaukpadaung, located in the Mandalay Region, has been demolished after an angry mob gathered outside insisting that the structure was being built to be a mosque.

According to Frontier, the owner of the building — located in the town’s Thayar Aye Ward — is a Buddhist, but rumors that the building was, or least going to be, a mosque, began spreading a few days ago.

On Thursday morning, a 100-strong mob gathered outside the building, and their numbers grew throughout the day until there were more than 1,000 people by nightfall.

Although local officials including MPs surveyed the building and confirmed that it was not a mosque, the protestors refused to listen. Kyaukpadaung MP Aye Khaing told Frontier that because the house was being built without the proper permits, and so as to appease the angry crowd, they finally decided to tear down the building, which was demolished by 9:15pm.

Photos of the house being demolished by heavy machinery began circulating on social media late Thursday night.

Government spokesperson Zaw Htay said that the house belonged to a 19-year-old movie director, although the teen’s identity was not revealed.

He explained, “It would be reasonable if it [the town] is a place with Muslims. But Kyaukpadaung is a town without any mosques and mosques are not allowed to be built. The owner of the house is a Buddhist. So we are inquiring as to how it all started.”

Kyaukpadaung officials were possibly trying to avoid a repeat of May’s Mingalar Taung Nyunt incident during which a mob of radical nationalists beat up two Muslim residents. The crowd gathered outside of an apartment that they alleged were housing ‘illegal Bengalis’ — referring to Rohingya Muslims — and only dispersed after police fired warning shots. An inspection of the apartment in question revealed that no Rohingya refugees were being housed there.

Prior to that, two Muslim schools in Thaketa township were shut down after radical Buddhist mobs gathered in front of the institutions and demanded their closure.

By Financial Express BD

July 30, 2017

Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church, the largest Christian Church of the world, may visit Bangladesh and Myanmar in November, Argentine news agency Telam said.

Cardinal Patrick D’Rozario, of Bangladesh, told cruxnow.com that a Vatican team will be travelling to the country on the third week of August to define the date and the pope’s schedule during the visit. 

He also said that preparations for the trip began in May. 

Despite his original plan of visiting India, it appears Pope Francis will instead go to Myanmar and Bangladesh, two countries where Catholics represent a very small minority. 

Pope Francis’s public calendar shows he’s cancelled the weekly general audience for Nov 29, considering the 12 plus hours for a Rome-Dhaka flight.

He created first-ever cardinals for both countries: Cardinal Charles Bo in Myanmar and D’Rozario in Bangladesh, the report said.

Rohingya have been fleeing Myanmar in the face of rising levels of persecution, including rapes and extra-judicial killings. 

A UN report in February described their situation as a possible “genocide” and a set of “crimes against humanity.” 

Soon after that report, Francis asked the thousands gathered in Rome for his weekly audience to remember the Rohingya Muslims.

“And speaking of migrants, driven out, exploited … I would like to pray today with you in a special way for our brothers and sisters Rohingya,” he said.

Bangladesh has a Catholic population of 0.3 per cent, according to the Catholic Almanac. The majority of the population, some 90 per cent, is Muslim.

Myanmar, on the other hand, is a Buddhist majority country, with less than five per cent of the total population being Christian, and a little over one per cent being Catholic.

By PBS News Hour
July 28, 2017

JUDY WOODRUFF: But, first, we turn to Bangladesh and the plight of the Rohingya.

They are an ethnic minority group seeking refuge there, many having been forced from their homes in neighboring Myanmar.

But as special correspondent Tania Rashid found, they are hardly more welcome in Bangladesh. By the tens of thousands, they are stuck in a deadly limbo.

And a warning: Parts of this story may disturb some viewers.

TANIA RASHID: The island is isolated, covered in bushes, and underwater half of the year. It’s called Thenga Chor, and it lies on the coast of Bangladesh.

It’s a hard and long day’s boat ride from the nearest port. This rough spot might be the new home for the Rohingya, a group of more than 300,000 people the U.N. calls the most persecuted minority in the world.

But on a camp on the mainland, Hafez, a Rohingya activist, says that is no place they want to go.

HAFEZ, Rohingya Activist (through interpreter): If we go to Thenga Chor, we will get sick. We can die. We are used to being here, and we feel safe here.

TANIA RASHID: It’s only a relative safety. Close to half-a-million have fled murder and persecution by the army of Myanmar to seek refuge in camps in Southern Bangladesh.

The Muslim Rohingya have lived in mainly Buddhist Myanmar for centuries, but are viewed as illegal ethnic Bangladeshis by the Myanmar government.

The de facto leader of Myanmar, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has denied a U.N. charge of ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya’.

But in the last eight months, the numbers of Rohingya fleeing for their lives have surged to more than 70,000. But now their lives are more precarious than ever before.

Monsoon season and a punishing cyclone damaged many Rohingya settlements. So, the Bangladeshi government plans to resolve the Rohingya’s continued displacement by moving 60,000 of the refugees to this remote island.

Aid agencies like the UNHCR and Human Rights Watch have expressed alarm over the planned relocation.

Our journey to the island was difficult. We began a week before the cyclone. We traveled first by ferry, then by a private boat, where a local fishermen agreed to take us to the island.

It was a dangerous journey. Pirates are known to control these seas and take hostages for ransom. But the island is not easy to access. The tides are too high on the bigger ship, so we had to get a smaller boat to take us to the island.

We just made it on the island. We managed to find a muddy bog to land near, and get us across to the island. The government has already moved forward with the plan of making the island more habitable by planting trees. But this local official doesn’t want the Rohingyas moving into his district.

He thinks it will create more problems for his community.

MINAZUR RAHMAN, Local Government Official (through interpreter): In the past, the Rohingya were related to the drug problem. They are linked to drugs, linked to smuggling. Most of the people here, their main livelihood is fishing. The bad character and influence of the Rohingya people will impact the locals here.

TANIA RASHID: But the Bangladeshi government believe the Rohingyas cross the border at will, with the help of smugglers and corrupt border guards.

The government argues the relocation will guarantee their isolation from the rest of the population. But the island is formed by river sediment, making it unstable, and it could be eroded in five years’ time.

Dr. Ainun Nishat is a leading expert on climate change in Bangladesh.

DR. AINUN NISHAT: The main history of the coastal belt of Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to storm surges and cyclonic weather.

Due to impact of climate change, we believe that the frequency of climate change may not be increasing, but intensity of the storm surges are definitely going to increase. So, they should be accommodated in good concrete structure, where at the time of emergency people should we — can be moved to a height of 20 feet and above.

TANIA RASHID: Today, about one million Rohingyas live in apartheid-like conditions in internment camps in Rakhine State of Myanmar, separated from the Buddhist majority. They have no citizenship, and need permission to marry or to travel outside of their own villages.

On October 9 of last year, Rohingya militants killed nine Myanmar police officers. The Myanmar military then led a wide and brutal counterinsurgency campaign in retaliation, where they killed more than 1,000 Rohingyas, torched homes and mosques.

The Myanmar government calls these accusations exaggerations and denies charges of ethnic cleansing.

Dil Nawaz is one of 70,000 Rohingya’s who fled to Bangladesh. She was gang-raped by soldiers, and witnessed her husband’s murder in front of her eyes.

I’m looking at a photo of her husband who was hacked to death about five months ago, and this is a photograph she took shortly after she was murdered.

DIL NAWAZ, Rohingya Refugee (through interpreter): They used a machete on my husband in front of me on the road. I saw it with my own eyes. They chopped him into pieces in front of me in a rice field. Then, the army came and took all the women out to the rice fields and took several women.

Five men took turns raping them. They took people’s gold jewelry, rings and earrings. They killed some children. Then they burned all the houses down, followed by the mosque. Then the military went back to a Buddhist area. This is why we fled to Bangladesh.

TANIA RASHID: Activist Hafez says they have found refuge here.

HAFEZ (through interpreter): Bangladesh is small, and overpopulated, but they gave us a place to stand. This is a big thing.

TANIA RASHID: But like many other Rohingya, he wants a sense of permanence.

HAFEZ (through interpreter): Instead of sending us to Thenga Chor, if the Myanmar government could, we request that they grant us citizenship.

TANIA RASHID: Forty-five-year old Dilbar hopes for a last-ditch political solution.

DILBAR, Rohingya Refugee (through interpreter): If the Bangladesh government and the Myanmar government negotiate a deal and send us back, then we will be happy. If this doesn’t happen, then please bomb us. We came here, left our homes, rice. We came here to save our lives. If we have no peace, then it’s better to die.

Our children died there. We sacrificed everything and came here for peace. If you take us to the island, it will be like killing us, slaughtering us. We are like ants. We are nothing. It won’t take much to kill us. Just bomb us. Nobody will make a case against you, because we have no ground under our feet.

TANIA RASHID: Their hope, to find that safe ground one day. But, for now, they remain in limbo, not of this land and not pushed from it.

For the PBS NewsHour, I’m Tania Rashid on Thenga Chor Island, Bangladesh.

By Associated Press

July 28, 2017

BERLIN — A prominent Indonesian human rights expert has been appointed the new chairman of a U.N. fact-finding mission to Myanmar, which the government has said it will bar from entering.

The U.N. human rights office said Thursday the president of the world body's Human Rights Council appointed Marzuki Darusman as the team's new chair. It gave no reasons for the "new composition" of the mission, whose other members — Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka and Christopher Dominic Sidoti of Australia — were unchanged.

The panel no longer features Indian lawyer Indira Jaising, appointed in May as the mission's chairwoman. Thursday's statement said the team will meet in Geneva in August.

The mission's goal is to investigate alleged human rights violations by security forces against the Muslim Rohingya minority and other groups.

Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Kyaw Htin addresses the lower house of parliament in Naypyidaw, July 25, 2017.

By Radio Free Asia

July 28, 2017

Myanmar’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday unanimously approved a motion rejecting a statement by the United Nations human rights envoy to the Southeast Asian nation that was critical of the government’s handling of security issues and human rights.

On July 21, Yanghee Lee, the U.N’s special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, issued a strongly worded statement at the end of a 12-day visit to Myanmar, accusing the administration of de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi of policies similar to those of the previous military government and of presiding over deteriorating security and human rights situations.

Her statement addressed reports of killings, torture, the use of human shields by security forces, deaths in custody, and an ongoing humanitarian crisis for ethnic Rohingya Muslims and other minorities forced from their homes.

“I am disappointed to see the tactics applied by the previous government still being used,” Lee said. “I understand the new government wishes to normalize its relations with the United Nations, but Myanmar must first become a country that deserves less attention and scrutiny.”

“We are told not to expect Myanmar to transition into a democracy overnight — that it needs time and space,” she said. “But in the same way, Myanmar should not expect to have its close scrutiny removed or its special monitoring mechanisms dismantled overnight. This cannot happen until there is real and discernible progress on human rights.”

Lee’s remarks prompted eight lawmakers from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, two from the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), two military members of parliament (MPs), two lawmakers from the ethnic Arakan National Party (ANP) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kyaw Htin to discuss the proposed motion and throw their support behind it.

Kyaw Htin said that Lee’s statement is not balanced or accurate and contains information that has not been confirmed, along with some outright accusations.

“The Myanmar government has a lot of challenges, including political and military conflicts, lack of development, and poverty that were inherited from previous governments,” he said.

“It has been working hard to build trust with all communities and groups and to change all differences to become strengths,” he said. “At this important time, the unfair report focusing on only one community can create more divisiveness and instability within different communities.”

‘Unfair for us’

Lower house lawmaker Maung Myint said Lee included negative information that was not obtained at the actual ground level.

“For example, she met government authorities and civil society organizations on the Lashio trip [in northern Shan state], and she included as fact that the government army uses human shields and tortures people in her report,” he said.

“It is obvious that she was given this kind of information by rebels or those who back them,” he said. “If she includes these kinds of facts, deeming them correct information, then it is unfair for us.”

Major Myint Maung, a military MP, noted that Lee said there were alleged rights violations by security forces and armed groups and inadequate assistance for civilians.

“Regarding this point, it is the attack of some international media and groups by interviewing only Bengalis and using fake videos and photos,” he said, using a derogatory term to refer to Rohingya Muslims whom the Myanmar government considers illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Lower house lawmaker Pyone Cho said the government had arranged for Lee to meet with ministers and authorities while she was in Myanmar, but she did not take up the offer, missing an opportunity to talk to or negotiate with them.

“Then she submitted her report to the U.N. on Myanmar’s human rights situation with negative accusations,” he said. “That’s why I strongly reject her report.”

The office of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi announced on July 21 that the government is disappointed with Lee’s statement because it contains general accusations and incorrect information.

Visa denials

In her statement, Lee also criticized the government for denying visas to a U.N. fact-finding mission appointed to examine reports of atrocities against the Rohingya in the northern part of Rakhine state during a crackdown.

The security sweep began after deadly attacks on local border guard stations later blamed on an obscure group of Rohingya militants. The U.N. estimated that about 1,000 people died during the four-month crackdown and 90,000 Rohingya were forced to flee, with many going to neighboring Bangladesh.

Some Rohingya accused Myanmar security forces of indiscriminate killings, torture, rape, and arson during the operation.

About 120,000 remain in internally displaced persons camps in Rakhine where they were sent following deadly communal violence with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012, and where they are denied access to citizenship and basic rights.

The government must take concrete steps to investigate all alleged violations, end discriminatory practices against the Rohingya, and restore their freedom of movement, Lee said in her statement.

In March, the U.N Security Council appointed a fact-finding mission to investigate abuses against the Rohingya, but the Myanmar government rejected the decision and refused to grant visas to the members of the team.

Lee said the Myanmar government delayed confirming the dates of her visit after it asked her to give an assurance that she would not undertake any activities related to the fact-finding mission during her trip — a condition she viewed as an “affront to the independence of my mandate as Special Rapporteur.”

She also said she was not allowed to go to certain places and that those who met with her faced intimidation, including being photographed, questioned before and after meetings, and in one case followed.

“This is unacceptable,” she said in her statement.

Lee’s latest visit to Myanmar included stops in northern Myanmar’s war-torn Shan state, southeastern Kayin state, and violence-wracked western Rakhine state, as well as Yangon and the administrative capital Naypyidaw.

Northern Shan state has been the site of clashes between government troops and various ethnic militias. In Kayin state, tension exists between government military and soldiers from the New Mon State Party (NMSP), an ethnic group that controls part of the state.

Reported by Win Ko Ko Latt for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.

By AFP

July 27, 2017

Rohingya Muslim Ayamar Bagon has lived on handouts since her husband left her after she told him she was gang-raped by Myanmar soldiers in the final month of her pregnancy.

She is among scores of women who accuse security forces of sexual abuses during a months-long military 'clearance operation' so brutal the UN fears it may amount to crimes against humanity.

AFP visited the remote region in the north of Rakhine State on a government-run trip this month, the first time foreign media have been officially allowed into the area since the military began hunting militants in October. 

On the edge of Kyar Gaung Taung village, away from the government minders, a group of Rohingya women described how their lives were shattered the day soldiers came to their homes late last year.

"I was raped close to my due date, in my ninth month of pregnancy. They knew I was pregnant but didn't care," Ayamar Bagon told AFP through a UN translator, clutching her baby daughter to her chest. 

"My husband blamed me for letting it happen. Because of this, he married another woman and now lives in another village," the 20-year-old added, explaining that she survives on food donations from her neighbours.

Mother-of-two Hasinnar Baygon, 20, said her husband has also threatened to leave after she was raped by three troops in December.

They took turns to violate her while two others stood watch outside her hut, she alleges, adding that she knew they were soldiers because of their uniforms and guns.

All the Rohingya men had already fled the village out of fear they would be beaten up by troops, leaving only the women, children and elderly behind.

"My husband told me he is going to leave me. He blamed me for not running away," Baygon said.

The government denies the allegations and AFP has not been able to verify their stories or claims from two other women who said they were raped by soldiers.

But they echo scores of accounts collected by UN investigators and rights groups from some of the 74,000 Rohingya who have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh. 

'What can we do?'

The UN believes hundreds may have died in what could be the bloodiest chapter of Buddhist-majority Myanmar's years-long persecution of the 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims who live in Rakhine.

Kyar Gaung Taung village was caught up in one of the most brutal episodes in November, when witnesses and state media said dozens of Rohingya were killed as troops swept through the villages. 

Myanmar's government has denied almost all claims of abuses and barred a UN fact-finding mission from the area.