Tag Archives: Myanmar

MNA Editorial Desk: The head of a UN investigative body on Myanmar said Facebook has not released evidence of “serious international crimes”, despite vowing to work with investigators looking into abuses in the country including against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism on Myanmar (IIMM), told Reuters the social media giant was holding material “highly relevant and probative of serious international crimes” but had not shared any during year-long talks. He declined to give details of the material the IIMM had asked for. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Myanmar ...

MNA International Desk: Myanmar reported its first confirmed cases of coronavirus in two men who had recently travelled to the United States and the United Kingdom. The Southeast Asian nation had been the most populous country in the world to say it had no cases, despite sharing a long and porous border with China, where the virus originated in the city of Wuhan. The health ministry said a 36-year-old travelling from the United States and 26-year-old returning from Britain, both Myanmar nationals, had tested positive. “Investigation is ongoing on history of people who have been in contact with these two ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Hundreds of Myanmar nationalists rallied in the country’s commercial capital on Sunday in a show of support for the military, amid tensions between the civilian government and the army ahead of elections expected later this year. Around a thousand protesters marched from Yangon’s famed Shwedagon pagoda to City Hall downtown to accuse the administration of Aung San Suu Kyi of allegedly failing to protect the country’s Buddhist majority and for proposing constitutional amendments that would reduce the power of the military. The proposed reforms have led to tensions between Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) and ...

MNA Editorial Desk: More than 750,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar after a military crackdown in 2017. They entered the neighbouring Bangladesh crossing the river with tremendous risk on their lives. Bangladesh was valiant in open its border for this huge number of floating people on humanitarian grounds. These Rohingyas were forced into fetid camps across the border in Bangladesh. They have lost all their assets, human rights and honour on their own soil. United Nations investigators concluded that the brutal military attack with the support of accomplice Buddhist locals had been executed with genocidal intent over these minority Rohingya Muslims. The ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Chinese President Xi Jinping reached Nay Pyi Taw on Friday for a state visit to Myanmar. It is Xi’s first overseas trip this year, and the first visit to the Asian neighbour by a Chinese president after an interval of 19 years. Two Myanmar fighter jets escorted Xi’s plane as it entered the country’s airspace. Myanmar’s First Vice President U Myint Swe and several cabinet ministers warmly welcomed Xi upon his arrival at the Nay Pyi Taw International Airport. Myanmar children presented flowers to the Chinese president, and local youths and artists in national costumes performed traditional ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest court, will issue a decision on a request for emergency measures in a genocide case against Myanmar on January 23, the Gambian Ministry of Justice said on Twitter on Monday. The mainly Muslim west African country filed the suit in November, alleging Myanmar was committing “an ongoing genocide” against its minority Muslim Rohingya population. The ICJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gambia has accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in a military campaign that expelled more than 730,000 Rohingya from the country. ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Bangladesh is making every diplomatic effort to send Rohingya refugees back to Myanmar, which has “not denied charges of mass killing” in the world court, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said. “Myanmar did not deny carrying out mass killing. It only objected to the charges that genocide took place there,” he told an event in Dhaka on Thursday. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s state counsellor and Nobel Peace laureate, defended the military rejecting accusations of genocide committed against the Rohingya Muslims as “incomplete and misleading” in the International Court of Justice hearings last ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The UN Refugee Agency on Thursday said it is extremely difficult to set a timeline when the conducive environment for the return of Rohingyas will be created. The UNHCR called on the international community to continue its support to Bangladesh and the humanitarian response while, in parallel, working with the Myanmar government to support Myanmar to create the conditions conducive to sustainable return, reports UNB. “It’s extremely difficult to set a timeline (when the conducive environment for Rohingya return will be created). There’re too many factors,” UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly T Clements told reporters at a ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Myanmar struck back Friday after a surge of global legal pressure over its alleged crimes against the Rohingya, branding an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) “not in accordance with international law”. On Thursday the ICC approved a full probe into Myanmar’s 2017 bloody military crackdown against the minority Muslim group. The decision came after rights groups filed a separate lawsuit in Argentina —- in which former democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was personally named —- and a further submission of a genocide case at the UN’s top court. Two years ago some 740,000 Rohingya ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Gambia filed a case Monday at the United Nations’ highest court accusing Myanmar of genocide in its campaign against its Rohingya Muslim minority and asking the International Court of Justice to urgently order measures “to stop Myanmar’s genocidal conduct immediately.” Gambia filed the case on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Gambia’s justice minister and attorney general, Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, told The Associated Press he wanted to “send a clear message to Myanmar and to the rest of the international community that the world must not stand by and do nothing in the face of terrible ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said a new list of around 50000 Rohingyas has been handed over to Myanmar to expedite Rohingya repatriation efforts. The minister disclosed this talking to a small group of reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports UNB. On July 29, Bangladesh handed over a fresh list of 25,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar for verification before their repatriation to their place of origin in Rakhine State. Bangladesh has so far handed over names of around 55,000 Rohingyas to the Myanmar authorities. Turning to Abrar murder he said diplomats’ comments over Abrar ...

MNA International Desk: The United States has urged Myanmar to create the conditions that would allow for “voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable” returns of the Rohingya, based on the informed consent of those who have been forcibly displaced. The US also encouraged the government of Myanmar to work with the government of Bangladesh to facilitate the use of the Burmese curriculum to teach Rohingyas in Bangladesh. This will help facilitate the reintegration of Rohingya youth who choose to return to Myanmar, according to US Department of State. The US made the fresh call while announcing more than $127 million in ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Bangladesh, China and Myanmar have agreed to form a “tripartite joint working mechanism” to evaluate the situation on the ground for Rohingya repatriation. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen came up with development after a joint meeting with his Chinese and Myanmar counterparts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday. “On the ground, Bangladesh, China and Myanmar will evaluate the progress jointly,” Dr Momen told reporters after the meeting adding that Myanmar agreed with the Chinese proposal though Myanmar had some objections initially at the meeting. The first meeting of the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday urged the United Kingdom (UK) to continue supporting Bangladesh in international forum especially in the United Nations (UN) for creating pressure on Myanmar in order to ensure sustainable repatriation of the Rohingyas. He advocated it while addressing a delegation of 14 British parliamentarians led by Ms. Ann Mette Kjaerby at the foreign ministry. The parliamentarians are visiting Bangladesh on a study tour on sexual and reproductive health. Dr Momen told the delegation about the atrocities carried out by Myanmar on the Rohingyas and sought support for ensuring safe and ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Myanmar is going host an international delegation in the Northern Rakhine State to show the preparation taken by them for the repatriation of Rohingyas, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said. The delegation, which includes envoys from different counties, will assess whether the right condition for repatriation exists or not, the minister said while talking to media after a seminar held in the city on Wednesday. Responding to a question regarding the international media report that Mayanmar government has built infrastructure in the 40 per cent of the Rohingya dominated area in Rakhine, the foreign minister ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Plans announced by Myanmar’s military to prosecute soldiers for actions at a village where security forces reportedly killed as many as 400 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority drew skepticism on Monday from the New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch. The military announced over the weekend that investigations had determined that orders were not properly followed at a village in Rakhine state. It gave no dates or other details of the offence, but said a court martial is being convened to act “in accordance with the military discipline due to the weakness in following the instructions ...

MNA International Desk: Myanmar’s army will court-martial soldiers after a new finding in an inquiry into atrocities in Rakhine state, from which more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled a 2017 army-led campaign the United Nations says was executed with “genocidal intent”. On Saturday, the website of Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said a military court that visited the northern state found soldiers had shown “weakness in following instructions in some incidents” at a village said to have been a Rohingya massacre site. In 2018, the Associated Press news agency reported the existence of at least five graves of Rohingya in the ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Thousands of angry and frustrated Rohingya refugees have marked the second anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar into Bangladesh by demanding their citizenship and other rights in the country they fled from. The event comes days after Bangladesh attempted to start the repatriation of 3,450 Rohingya Muslims but none agreed to go back voluntarily. More than 1 million Rohingya live in Bangladesh, reports the Associated Press. On Sunday morning, more than 3,000 gathered at a playground in Kutupalong camp. Some carried placards and banners reading “Never Again! Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day,” and “Restore our citizenship.” Organiser Muhib ...

MNA Science & Technology Desk: Facebook said on Thursday it had shut 216 social media pages, groups, and accounts in Myanmar, some tied to the army, to stymie efforts to “manipulate or corrupt public debate”. The company closed 89 Facebook accounts, 107 pages, 15 groups, and five Instagram accounts, some of which had hundreds of thousands of followers, it said in a blogpost. The social media giant has previously removed hundreds of accounts, including that of Myanmar’s army chief, after criticism it had failed to act on hate speech amid violence against Rohingya Muslims in the country. The people behind ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Repatriation has not started until this noon as none of the Rohingays has expressed their willingness to return to Myanmar which they were forced to flee during the military’s brutal crackdown on them. “We have taken all preparations to repatriate them. If anyone agrees to be repatriated by 4:00am, he or she will be sent back to Myanmar,” Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammad Abul Kalam told reporters at the Shalbagan Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar around 12:30 pm. During this time, representatives from China and Mynamar were also present at the Rohingya camp. Authorities completed their ...

MNA Editorial Desk: The government and the UNHCR have taken all necessary steps to begin repatriation of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on August 22 (Thursday), an official said on Monday. Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s (RRRC) office and the UN refugee agency are looking into various aspects of preparation including safety measures. Myanmar has cleared a list of 3999 Rohingyas of 1038 families for the first phase repatriation. UNHCR will start interviewing Rohingyas of the list cleared by Myanmar from Tuesday (today) to know whether they are willing to go back to Rakhine. Bangladesh ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Myanmar is ready to welcome the Rohingyas and now they themselves have to take the decision whether they will go back or not, said the Myanmar foreign secretary U Myint Thu on Monday. “We are ready to welcome them, we are ready to receive them. But the only thing is that they have to decide by themselves whether they will go back or not” he told reporters after wrapping up the delegation’s meeting with the foreign ministry officials at the state guest house Meghna in the city. “We have provided them with all information regarding our preparations ...

MNA International Desk: The United States has announced sanctions on the Myanmar military’s Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and other military leaders it said were responsible for extrajudicial killings of Rohingya Muslims, barring them from entry to the United States. The steps, which also covered Min Aung Hlaing’s deputy, Soe Win, and two other senior commanders and their families, are the strongest the United States has taken in response to massacres of minority Rohingyas in Myanmar, also known as Burma. It named the two others as Brigadier Generals Than Oo and Aung Aung. “We remain concerned that the Burmese government has ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said international organizations and UN agencies should work inside Myanmar for the return of Rohingyas to their homeland. She also said Myanmar should start the repatriation process to take its nationals back from Bangladesh. The Prime Minister said this when outgoing French Ambassador Marie-Annick BOURDIN met her at her official residence Ganobhaban, reports UNB. PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting. He said the Prime Minister again expressed her firm stance that Myanmar has to take back its over 1 million nationals from Bangladesh. She also said Bangladesh ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Myanmar security forces and insurgents are committing human rights violations against civilians in restive western states that may amount to fresh war crimes, a United Nations investigator has said. A 2017 military crackdown drove more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. UN investigators have said that Myanmar’s operation included mass killings, gang rapes and widespread arson and was executed with “genocidal intent”. The Yangon government denies committing those atrocities and says its military campaign across northern Rakhine was in response to attacks by Rohingya militants, Reuters reported. Government troops are currently fighting ethnic rebels in ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday sought China’s support to convince Myanmar to start taking back their nationals from Bangladesh at the earliest. The Foreign Minister mentioned that Bangladesh is ready to send back Rohingyas who are in the verified list. He raised the issue when Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Zhang Zuo paid a courtesy call on the Foreign Minister at his office, reports UNB. Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.2 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar district and most of them entered Bangladesh since August 25, 2017 amid military crackdown against them in Rakhine State. ...

MNA Editorial Desk: Refugees originating from Myanmar represented the fourth largest population group by country of origin and most Rohingyas from the Southeast Asian nation were hosted by Bangladesh (906,600) at the end of the year 2018, says a global report on Wednesday. However, according to government data, Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.2 million Rohingyas and majority of them came since August 25, 2017, when Myanmar military launched crackdown on the community. The number of people fleeing war, persecution, and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018 and this is the highest level that UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has ...