‘A disaster within a disaster’: aid groups brace for Bangladesh monsoon
Arakan News Agency Global aid agencies are warning that nearly a million Rohingya refugees face significant health risks from flooding and water-borne diseases when the full-force of Bangladesh’s monsoon rains hit over-crowded camps next month. The UN refugee agency has estimated there are 876,000 Rohingya refugees in the tiny Cox’s Bazaar district of Bangladesh. About […]
Myanmar urged to properly probe alleged atrocities against Rohingya
Arakan News Agency A UN Security Council delegation visited Myanmar’s Arakan state, from where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled military-led violence, and said they hope to help the refugees return quickly and safely to their homes. Myanmar must hold a “proper investigation” into alleged atrocities against the Rohingya, a UN Security Council […]
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi says the country is ready to receive ‘verified’ Rohingya refugees
Arakan News Agency A UN Security Council delegation arrived in Myanmar for a two-day visit to investigate the crisis and met with the country’s leader for more than an hour Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday that her country was ready for the return of “verified” Rohingya refugees and sought more cooperation […]
Rohingyas in Bangladesh demand protection
Arakan News Agency Rohingya Muslims living in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh have demanded UN protection as a UN Security Council delegation visited the settlements in south-eastern Bangladesh. The 24-member team led by Peruvian diplomat Gustavo Adolof Meza Cuadra Velasqez first visited a camp located close to the border with Myanmar before heading to a […]
Rohingya refugees tearfully plead for U.N. Security Council help
Arakan News Agency Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh made emotional pleas to the U.N. Security Council on Sunday for help to return safely to their homes in neighboring Myanmar and for justice over the reason they fled – accusations of killings, rapes and arson. During a visit to an unclaimed strip of territory between the two […]
France calls for an end to violence in Myanmar
Arakan News Agency France on Monday called for an end to violence against Myanmar’s civilian population, demanding that they be protected, safe and unhindered. The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that France renewed its support for the work of the United Nations and the Security Council in Bangladesh and Myanmar as well as […]
France welcomes the appointment of the Swiss “Burgener ” as a UN envoy to Myanmar
Arakan News Agency France on Monday welcomed the appointment of Switzerland’s Christine Schraner Burgener as the special envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General to Myanmar, wishing her success and expressing support for her in her new tasks. The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Christine Schraner Burgener, who has been Switzerland’s ambassador to […]
Political parties in Myanmar oppose any relaxation of restrictions on Rohingya
Arakan News Agency Myanmar’s main opposition political party and members of some small parties have objected to the government’s decision to grant free travel to Rohingya Muslims with National Verification Cards (NVC). Members of the Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) told the media on Tuesday at the party’s headquarters in Yangon that they would send […]
The arrival of a new batch of Rohingya to Bangladesh and information on torture of detainees with boiling water in Myanmar
Arakan News Agency A new batch of Rohingya refugees arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday to escape repression and detention in Arakan, Myanmar. Arakan news agency quoted scenes from the arrival of five families and said they had just arrived from the city of Buthidaung despite the agreement signed between the two countries on the repatriation […]
Aung San Suu Kyi seeks new relationship with UN over Rohingya crisis
Arakan News Agency Aung San Suu Kyi hopes to restore her battered reputation by allowing UN human rights and development organisations to enter Myanmar to prepare the ground for the large-scale return of Rohingya Muslims. Her aides hope the offer, linked to internal political changes strengthening her position and the appointment of a UN special […]
EU readies more sanctions against Myanmar
Arakan News Agency The European Union will extend its arms embargo on Myanmar for another year this week and may then move to target more Yangon generals with fresh sanctions, EU diplomats and officials said. The EU accuses Myanmar of “serious and systemic” human rights violations in a military operation in the country’s northwest last […]
UN team to visit Myanmar’s Arakan state next week, official says
Arakan News Agency A United Nations Security Council delegation that wants to see first-hand the impact of the Rohingya refugee crisis will arrive in Myanmar on Monday (April 30) and visit Arakan state, a senior government official said. It will be the highest-profile UN visit to Arakan since the start last August of a violent […]
Kachin Groups Urge UN to Refer Myanmar to ICC
Arakan News Agency Ethnic Kachin communities at home and abroad are urging the United Nations Security Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing a recent military campaign in Kachin State’s Tanai Township that has displaced thousands of civilians and trapped many in the conflict zone. A letter issued Monday and endorsed […]