Two elite divisions led a crackdown that forced 700,000 Muslims to flee Myanmar. Here’s how they did it.
Arakan News Agency A Reuters investigation provides the first comprehensive account of the precise role played by Myanmar’s 33rd and 99th light infantry divisions in the savage offensive, and the close ties between the army’s commander in chief and its elite troops. In early August last year, a young lieutenant named Kyi Nyan Lynn flew to […]
Exclusive: Myanmar rejects citizenship reform at private Rohingya talks
Arakan News Agencyy A senior Myanmar official has told Western diplomats that a proposal to review a citizenship law that effectively renders most Rohingya Muslims stateless could not be implemented, five people present at the meeting in Denmark in early June told Reuters. At a meeting in Copenhagen on June 8, Myanmar’s Social Welfare Minister […]
A 4.6-magnitude earthquake hits the Myanmar-India border
Arakan News Agency A 4.6-magnitude earthquake on Wednesday hit the border area between Myanmar and India, the Meteorological and Hydrological Agency said. The earthquake, which hit a depth of 61 km north of the Tamo Earthquake Observatory in the Sagaing area on the border between the two countries, occurred at 14:14:25 local time (07:44:25 GMT). […]
Burma is source of world’s fourth-largest displaced population: report
Arakan News Agency With 1.2 million refugees originating from Burma and tens of thousands more uprooted inside the country, the Southeast Asian nation was the source of the fourth-largest population of displaced people worldwide at the end of 2017, a new report by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) finds. Over half of refugees from Burma […]
Without Accountability Rohingya Repatriation is a Potential Trap
Arakan News Agency The Burmese Government and United Nations agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the voluntary repatriation of 700,000 Rohingya refugees who were displaced following a military offensive against the civilian population last summer. While on its face this agreement could be is a positive step, the Burma Human Rights Network urges further […]
‘Benefits of destroying the Rohingya population exceed the costs’ for Myanmar, former UN ambassador warns
Arakan News Agency The “benefits of destroying the Rohingya population exceed the costs” for Myanmar, a former US ambassador to the United Nations has said. Samantha Power, who served in the role from 2013 to 2017, said there was a lack of diplomacy surrounding the crisis. There have been accusations of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar after continued attacks on Rohingya […]
German parliament calls for end to Rohingya oppression
Arakan News Agency The German parliament has called for an end to oppression and violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in a resolution adopted on Thursday night. The resolution, which earned overwhelming support by lawmakers, asked Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government to use its influence on Myanmar authorities to stop human right violations in the […]
FB blacklists Myanmar hardline Buddhist group
Arakan News Agency Facebook has blacklisted a group of Myanmar Buddhist hardliners including monks notorious for bilious hate speech against Rohingya Muslims, the company said on Thursday, as it scrambles to show it is tackling inflammatory content. The social media company plays an outsized role in a country that has only recently come online and […]
Myanmar defense lawyers say documents from Reuters reporters’ phones ‘not secret’
Arakan News Agency Documents Myanmar police say they found on the mobile phones of two Reuters reporters accused of possessing state secrets were not confidential, defense lawyers said on Tuesday, because the information was publicly available before they were arrested.’ Judge Ye Lwin accepted as evidence copies of newspaper articles the defense said showed the […]
UN: International experts should help probe Myanmar abuses
Arakan News Agency The U.N. Security Council is urging Myanmar’s government to allow international investigators help probe allegations of human rights violations committed against Rohingya Muslims, saying it remains “gravely concerned” at their current plight. In a letter to Myanmar’s leaders obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, the council noted the government’s commitment to investigate […]
Safety and ‘identity’ key for Rohingya returnees: U.N. chief in Myanmar
Arakan News Agency Safety and “identity” need to be in place for Rohingya Muslim refugees who return to Myanmar, the head of the United Nations in the country said on Wednesday, as Myanmar and U.N. agencies signed an outline deal on returns. The signing of a memorandum of understanding between the government and U.N. development […]
‘They want to eliminate us!’ Christians say they are being ETHNICALLY CLEANSED in Burma
Arakan News Agency ’THE Burmese military have been increasingly attacking a Christian minority group who fear being “ethically cleansed” by the dictatorship. Christian Kachin people, who mainly live in the northern mountains of the country close to China and India, are being targeted in a new genocide campaign in Myanmar. The national military have been […]
Burma continues to brutalize minorities with impunity
Arakans New Agency While the United States debates reimposing targeted sanctions on top military leaders in Burma, much of the focus is on the heart-rending Rohingya crisis. But military aggression has escalated recently against the Kachin, an ethnic minority in the north. The Kachin have suffered systemic discrimination for more than six decades. As a citizen of both Burmese […]