Myanmar, UN sign pact on initial steps for Rohingya return
Arakan News Agency Myanmar and U.N. agencies signed an agreement Wednesday that could eventually lead to the return of some of the 700,000 Rohingya Muslims who fled brutal persecution by the country’s security forces and are now crowded into makeshift camps in Bangladesh. The memorandum of understanding promises to establish a “framework of cooperation” that […]
Rohingya say Myanmar targeted the educated in genocide
Arakan News Agency Mohammed Hashim hid in the hills and watched as his brother begged for his life, his arms bound behind his back as soldiers marched the 35-year-old teacher away. It was the last time he saw him alive. It was Aug. 26, the day after Rohingya Muslim separatist attacks on military outposts in […]
New UN Envoy to Visit Myanmar’s Arakan State in Mid-June, Official Says
Arakan News Agency A new United Nations envoy for Myanmar will visit violence-wracked Arakan state in mid-June and meet with officials to discuss the Rohingya Muslim refugee crisis, a Myanmar government official said Monday. Christine Schraner Burgener, Switzerland’s former ambassador to Germany, was selected for the post in April following a visit to Myanmar by […]
Skepticism over Myanmar’s stated willingness to repatriate Rohingya
Arakan News Agency Bangladeshi diplomats and analysts have expressed skepticism over a statement on Saturday by Myanmar’s National Security Adviser Thaung Tun that his country is willing take back all 700,000 Rohingya refugees if they return voluntarily. Rohingya refugees have also expressed skepticism over his statement: “If you can send back 700,000 on a voluntary […]
Myanmar detains Rohingya refugees ‘voluntarily’ returning
Arakan News Agency Myanmar has detained dozens of Rohingya Muslim refugees it claims voluntarily crossed the border back into their home country from Bangladesh over the last four months, pending a decision to “pardon” them before resettlement. A total of 58 Rohingya refugees have returned to Myanmar after they could “no longer find it tenable” […]
Chevron shareholders vote on cutting business ties with genocide-complicit governments
Arakan News Agency Chevron shareholders voted today on a resolution to evaluate a policy of cutting business ties with governments engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity. Filed by seven socially responsible investing organizations, the proposal cites specifically the nation of Myanmar, whose military stands accused of committing atrocities against the Rohingya ethnic minority. Chevron […]
Myanmar says willing to take back all Rohingya refugees
Arakan News Agency Myanmar is willing to take back all 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees who have fled to Bangladesh if they volunteer to return, the country’s National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said on Saturday. He was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a regional security conference in Singapore, where he was asked if the situation in […]
Is China working behind the scenes to block Rohingya deal?
Arakan News Agency The Irrawaddy, an online Myanmar publication, suggests in a recent article that China may be blocking attempts to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations that would set terms for the repatriation to Myanmar of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees now in Bangladesh. According to The Irrawaddy, Chinese […]
Rohingya crisis reaches ‘unprecedented proportions’: EU
Arakan News Agency The Rohingya crisis has reached “unprecedented proportions” in recent months with hundreds of thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid said on Thursday. In a statement released on Thursday, the European Commission said it released €40 million ($47 million) in humanitarian aid for Rohingya in […]
Israel & Myanmar to ‘correct’ each other’s history textbooks
Arakan News Agency Israel and Myanmar have entered an Orwellian-like pact to teach the children of Myanmar about the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and xenophobia. The extraordinary deal also allows each state to correct details in the other’s textbooks. The agreement, signed on Monday, outlines how the unexpected partners in education will work together to “develop programs […]
Myanmar Is Intensifying Violence Against Ethnic Minorities, U.S. Says
Arakan News Agency Myanmar’s military campaign to kill or drive away its ethnic minorities is worsening despite a growing international outcry, according to a State Department religious freedom report that was released on Tuesday. Violence against the Rohingya, nearly all of whom are Muslim, in the country’s Arakan state has been likened to ethnic cleansing […]
US for more global action over Rohingya crisis
Arakan News Agency The United States has indicated more action from the international community over Rohingya issue and other areas of concerns in Myanmar in the coming days. “Secretary Tillerson had announced the finding of ethnic cleansing, and I believe it’s ethnic cleansing of a religious minority that’s taking place,” said Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious […]
Myanmar turns facts into fiction
Arakan News Agency For the past nine months, nearly three-quarters of a million Rohingya have been existing as refugees in camps mostly in the Cox’s Bazaar area of Bangladesh. All have endured nightmare experiences to reach this safe haven — and all face a future that is rife with uncertainty and unpredictability. These are a […]