Diplomat resigns from Myanmar committee accused of “deceit”
Arakan News Agency Veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson has resigned from an international commission set up by Myanmar to advise on the Rohingya crisis, saying the commission is doing “camouflage” and accused Aung San Suu Kyi of lacking “moral leadership.” Clinton’s former secretary of state, Bill Richardson, resigned from the 10-member Advisory Committee during the […]
Rohingya resist push to return amid Bangladesh, Myanmar repatriation deal
Arakan News Agency Mustafa Khatun has fled her native Myanmar three times. The first time, in the 1970s, she was a girl. Her family was repatriated. The second time, in the 1990s, she was a wife.Again, she and her husband were repatriated from a refugee camp in Bangladesh, back to Myanmar. Now, she is in […]
More Rohingya Flee Myanmar as Bangladesh Prepares to Start Repatriation
Arakan News Agency TEKNAF, Bangladesh — More than 100 Rohingya Muslims have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar since Wednesday, with the latest refugees saying army operations are continuing in troubled Arakan State, raising doubts about plans to send back 655,500 who had already fled. Scores more were waiting to cross the Naf river that forms […]
Bangladesh says hosting over a million Rohingya
Arakan News Agency Bangladesh has counted more than a million Rohingya refugees living in camps near the border with Myanmar, higher than previous estimates, the head of its registration project said yesterday as preparations for their return got under way. The Bangladesh army began biometric registering of the refugees last year after the latest mass […]
Rohingya refugees race to fix up shelters as monsoon looms
Arakan News Agency UNHCR is working to re-position and weatherproof up to 80,000 shelters in southern Bangladesh to withstand rains expected in March. KUTUPALONG CAMP EXTENSION, Bangladesh – On a patch of dirt in this sprawling informal settlement, Rohingya refugee Hafsa, 55, and her husband Mohammed, 60, supervise the construction of a sturdy shelter in […]
Rohingya issue may alter Myanmar’s ties with China
Arakan News Agency Myanmar has deftly managed its relations with a rising China over the years and, contrary to widely held opinion, is not a Chinese satellite state. But this could change in future because of mounting international pressure over the Rohingya crisis, said international relations expert Evelyn Goh from the Australian National University. More […]
Myanmar army enjoys popularity surge amid Rohingya crackdown
Arakan News Agency Activist Nyo Tun spent 10 years as a political prisoner locked away by Myanmar’s military in the notorious Insein prison, where he endured beatings and other cruelty for his efforts to bring democracy. “The military government was so brutal for many years,” he said of the former junta, which ruled the country […]
Bangladesh, Myanmar aim to finish Rohingya return in 2 years
Arakan News Aency Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed they will try to complete the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled from violence in Myanmar within two years, Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said a joint working group from the two countries finalized an agreement on Monday on the […]
We Must Not Repeat the Shameful History of Returning Rohingya Refugees
Arakan News Agency As Rohingya refugees poured out of Myanmar into Bangladesh last fall, the two countries were already negotiating mass returns. This wouldn’t be the first premature repatriation of Rohingya, but today it reflects a trend of unsafe returns, says refugee expert Jeff Crisp. One of the most striking characteristics of the Rohingya exodus […]
What happens now that the Rohingya repatriation deal has been signed?
Arakan News Agency Some 655,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh fleeing the violence which erupted in Myanmar on August 25, 2017 The documents and agreements needed for the repatriation of Rohingyas have all been finalized. The governments of Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement on November 23, 2017 to repatriate the Rohingyas. A Joint Working Group was […]
UN chief and rights groups concerned about deal on return of Myanmar’s Rohingya
Arakan News Agency ‘We believe it would be very important to have UNHCR fully involved in the operation to guarantee that the operation abides by international standards’ UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, January 16, expressed concerns after Myanmar and Bangladesh reached a deal on the return of hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingyas that […]
Rohingya activists: US sanctions on Myanmar will not stop genocide
Arakan News Agency Targeted and partial sanctions will not stop Myanmar’s crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, the head of a prominent Rohingya Muslim organization said on Monday. Speaking at a news conference in Washington, Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, the head of the US Burma Task Force, said Myanmar’s army would not end its ongoing attacks on […]
The European Union adopts a new program to support the Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh
Arakan News Agency The European Union on Monday adopted a new program with a budget of 5 million euros (1.6 million dollars) to support Rohingya minority refugees in Bangladesh. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said in a press release that the new initiative aims to support efforts to identify and register Rohingya refugees […]