Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to take help from the UN&nbsp;refugee agency to safely repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled violence in Myanmar, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Saturday.

More than 600,000 Rohingya sought sanctuary in Bangladesh after the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar launched a brutal counter-insurgency operation in their villages across the northern parts of Rakhine State following attacks by Rohingya militants on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25.

Faced with a burgeoning humanitarian crisis, the two governments signed a pact on Thursday agreeing that the return of the Rohingya to Myanmar should start in two months.

Uncertainty over whether the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would have a role had prompted rights groups to insist that outside monitors were needed to safeguard the Rohingya&#39;s return.

Addressing a news conference in Dhaka, the Bangladesh foreign minister gave assurances that the UNHCR would play some part.

&quot;Both countries agreed to take help from the UNHCR in the Rohingya repatriation process,&quot; Ali said. &quot;Myanmar will take its assistance as per their requirement.&quot;

The diplomatic breakthrough&nbsp;came just ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to Myanmar and Bangladesh on Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 that is aimed at promoting &quot;reconciliation, forgiveness and peace&quot;. [nL8N1NS2HN]

While the violence in Rakhine has mostly ceased, Rohingya have continued to stream out of Myanmar, saying they have largely lost access to sources of livelihood such as their farms, fisheries and markets.

Thousands of Rohingya, most of them old people, women and children, remain stranded on beaches near the border, waiting for a boat to take them to Bangladesh.

From camp to camp

Ali said a joint working group, to be formed within three weeks, will fix the final terms to start the repatriation process.

After leaving the refugee camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya who opt to be voluntarily repatriated will be moved to makeshift camps in Myanmar near to their abandoned homes, he added.

&quot;Homes have been burnt to the ground in Rakhine, that need to be rebuilt. We have proposed Myanmar to take help from India and&nbsp;China&nbsp;for building camps for them,&quot; the minister said.

The U.N. and United States have described the Myanmar military&#39;s actions as &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot;, and rights groups have accused the security forces of committing atrocities, including mass rape, arson and killings.

The United States also warned it could impose sanctions on individuals responsible for alleged abuses.

Led by Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar is in the early stages of a transition to democracy after decades of military rule. But civilian government is less than two years old, and still shares power with the generals, who retain autonomy over matters of defence, security and borders.

The commander of Myanmar&#39;s armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has denied that soldiers committed any atrocities.

On Friday he met with&nbsp;China&#39;s President Xi Jinping in Beijing having been told earlier in the week by a top Chinese general that&nbsp;China&nbsp;wanted stronger ties with Myanmar&#39;s military.

Under the deal struck with Bangladesh, Myanmar will take measures to see that the returnees will not be settled in temporary places for a long time and Myanmar will issue them an identity card for national verification immediately on their return.

There were already nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh before the latest exodus, and the Bangladesh minister said they could also be considered for the repatriation, under the terms of the agreement.

Some independent estimates suggest there were still a few hundred thousand Rohingya remaining in Rakhine.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to take help from the UN?refugee agency to safely repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled violence in Myanmar, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Saturday

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to take help from the UN refugee agency to safely repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled violence in Myanmar, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said on Saturday. More than 600,000 Rohingya sought sanctuary in Bangladesh after the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar launched a brutal counter-insurgency operation in their villages across the northern parts of Rakhine State following attacks by Rohingya militants on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25. Faced with a burgeoning humanitarian crisis, the two governments signed a pact on Thursday agreeing that the return of the Rohingya to Myanmar should start in two months. Uncertainty over whether the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would have a role had prompted rights groups to insist that outside monitors were needed to safeguard the Rohingya's return. Addressing a news conference in Dhaka, the Bangladesh foreign minister gave assurances that the UNHCR would play some part. "Both countries agreed to take help from the UNHCR in the Rohingya repatriation process," Ali said. "Myanmar will take its assistance as per their requirement." The diplomatic breakthrough came just ahead of a visit by Pope Francis to Myanmar and Bangladesh on Nov. 26 to Dec. 2 that is aimed at promoting "reconciliation, forgiveness and peace". [nL8N1NS2HN] While the violence in Rakhine has mostly ceased, Rohingya have continued to stream out of Myanmar, saying they have largely lost access to sources of livelihood such as their farms, fisheries and markets. Thousands of Rohingya, most of them old people, women and children, remain stranded on beaches near the border, waiting for a boat to take them to Bangladesh. From camp to camp Ali said a joint working group, to be formed within three weeks, will fix the final terms to start the repatriation process. After leaving the refugee camps in Bangladesh, Rohingya who opt to be voluntarily repatriated will be moved to makeshift camps in Myanmar near to their abandoned homes, he added. "Homes have been burnt to the ground in Rakhine, that need to be rebuilt. We have proposed Myanmar to take help from India and China for building camps for them," the minister said. The U.N. and United States have described the Myanmar military's actions as "ethnic cleansing", and rights groups have accused the security forces of committing atrocities, including mass rape, arson and killings. The United States also warned it could impose sanctions on individuals responsible for alleged abuses. Led by Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar is in the early stages of a transition to democracy after decades of military rule. But civilian government is less than two years old, and still shares power with the generals, who retain autonomy over matters of defence, security and borders. The commander of Myanmar's armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has denied that soldiers committed any atrocities. On Friday he met with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing having been told earlier in the week by a top Chinese general that China wanted stronger ties with Myanmar's military. Under the deal struck with Bangladesh, Myanmar will take measures to see that the returnees will not be settled in temporary places for a long time and Myanmar will issue them an identity card for national verification immediately on their return. There were already nearly 400,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh before the latest exodus, and the Bangladesh minister said they could also be considered for the repatriation, under the terms of the agreement. Some independent estimates suggest there were still a few hundred thousand Rohingya remaining in Rakhine.

Bangladesh says agreed with Myanmar for UNHCR to assist Rohingya's return

The US&nbsp;labeling of a Myanmar army crackdown on Rohingya Muslims as &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot; is unhelpful and could aggravate the situation, Russia&#39;s ambassador to the southeast Asian nation said on Thursday, criticising &quot;excessive external intervention&quot;.

Rights groups have accused the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar of carrying out mass rape and other atrocities during a ferocious military sweep launched in late August in retaliation for attacks by <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/fires-rage-in-rakhine-as-myanmar-army-blames-rohingya-for-mosque-blast-20550">Rohingya Muslim militants in Rakhine State</a>.

That drove 620,000 Rohingya refugees, many traumatized with gunshot wounds and burns, to flee to Bangladesh, joining hundreds of thousands who have sheltered there for years after previous spasms of violence in the former Burma.

The military operation amounted to &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot;, the United States said on Wednesday, echoing an accusation first made by top UN&nbsp;officials in the early days of the humanitarian crisis.

&quot;I don&#39;t think that it will help to solve this problem,&quot; Russian ambassador Nikolay Listopadov told Reuters in an interview in Yangon, when asked about the US&nbsp;move.

&quot;On the contrary, it can aggravate the situation, throw more fuel,&quot; he said in English, citing concern over how the Buddhist community in Rakhine would react to such a designation.

This month, Russia and China agreed to a UN&nbsp;Security Council statement urging Myanmar to &quot;ensure no further excessive use of military force&quot; and expressing &quot;grave concern over reports of human rights violations&quot;, but they have opposed tougher steps and further pressure on Myanmar.

&quot;We are against excessive external intervention, because it won&#39;t lead to any constructive results,&quot; Listopadov said. &quot;Just pressure and blaming and accusing - it simply won&#39;t work.&quot;

On a visit to Myanmar last week, US&nbsp;Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged the government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to lead a credible and impartial inquiry, saying those who committed abuses should be held responsible.

But prospects for such an inquiry remain dim and Suu Kyi&#39;s government refused to cooperate with a mission launched by the United Nations Human Rights Council in March after a less intense bout of violence in Rakhine.

The &quot;so-called independent investigation&quot; demanded by Tillerson was &quot;absolutely&quot; out of the question for Myanmar, Listopadov said.

&quot;It&#39;s absolutely not acceptable for the Myanmar side - it will never accept it...it won&#39;t work - it&#39;s counterproductive,&quot; said Listopadov. &quot;Independent investigation means international (investigation) - no, it&#39;s not acceptable.&quot;

Moscow&#39;s approach was for the Rakhine issue to be solved by &quot;political means, political dialogue,&quot; he added, without elaborating.

He welcomed talks being held in Myanmar&#39;s capital of Naypyitaw between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, stressing it was &quot;important to start this process.&quot;

&quot;We wish them success,&quot; said Listopadov, &quot;this complicated Rakhine issue can be solved mostly only by negotiations and agreements between the two sides, because they&#39;re the most involved,&quot; he said, referring to Bangladesh and Myanmar.

China wants closer ties with Myanmar&#39;s military to help protect regional peace and security, a senior Chinese general told the visiting head of the southeast Asian country&#39;s army this week.

The accusation had also been made by the United Nations

The US labeling of a Myanmar army crackdown on Rohingya Muslims as "ethnic cleansing" is unhelpful and could aggravate the situation, Russia's ambassador to the southeast Asian nation said on Thursday, criticising "excessive external intervention". Rights groups have accused the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar of carrying out mass rape and other atrocities during a ferocious military sweep launched in late August in retaliation for attacks by Rohingya Muslim militants in Rakhine State. That drove 620,000 Rohingya refugees, many traumatized with gunshot wounds and burns, to flee to Bangladesh, joining hundreds of thousands who have sheltered there for years after previous spasms of violence in the former Burma. The military operation amounted to "ethnic cleansing", the United States said on Wednesday, echoing an accusation first made by top UN officials in the early days of the humanitarian crisis. "I don't think that it will help to solve this problem," Russian ambassador Nikolay Listopadov told Reuters in an interview in Yangon, when asked about the US move. "On the contrary, it can aggravate the situation, throw more fuel," he said in English, citing concern over how the Buddhist community in Rakhine would react to such a designation. This month, Russia and China agreed to a UN Security Council statement urging Myanmar to "ensure no further excessive use of military force" and expressing "grave concern over reports of human rights violations", but they have opposed tougher steps and further pressure on Myanmar. "We are against excessive external intervention, because it won't lead to any constructive results," Listopadov said. "Just pressure and blaming and accusing - it simply won't work." On a visit to Myanmar last week, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged the government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to lead a credible and impartial inquiry, saying those who committed abuses should be held responsible. But prospects for such an inquiry remain dim and Suu Kyi's government refused to cooperate with a mission launched by the United Nations Human Rights Council in March after a less intense bout of violence in Rakhine. The "so-called independent investigation" demanded by Tillerson was "absolutely" out of the question for Myanmar, Listopadov said. "It's absolutely not acceptable for the Myanmar side - it will never accept it...it won't work - it's counterproductive," said Listopadov. "Independent investigation means international (investigation) - no, it's not acceptable." Moscow's approach was for the Rakhine issue to be solved by "political means, political dialogue," he added, without elaborating. He welcomed talks being held in Myanmar's capital of Naypyitaw between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, stressing it was "important to start this process." "We wish them success," said Listopadov, "this complicated Rakhine issue can be solved mostly only by negotiations and agreements between the two sides, because they're the most involved," he said, referring to Bangladesh and Myanmar. China wants closer ties with Myanmar's military to help protect regional peace and security, a senior Chinese general told the visiting head of the southeast Asian country's army this week.

US calling Rohingya operation 'ethnic cleansing' unhelpful: Russian envoy

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/hafiz-saeed-designated-global-terrorist-us-reminds-pakistan-24887">Hafiz Saeed &#39;designated global terrorist&#39;, US reminds Pakistan</a>

In May 2008, the United States had designated Saeed as a &quot;Specially Designated Global Terrorist&quot; under Executive Order 13224.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/major-quake-may-hit-north-india-chief-of-seismology-center-24882">Major quake may hit Uttarakhand: National Centre for Seismology</a>

In the past, the possibility of severe earthquakes in the region have been slim, however, smaller quakes have hit the area letting out energy which could lead to a massive jolt, Director of National Centre for Seismology said.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/rohingya-crisis-us-will-possibly-pursue-targeted-sanctions-against-myanmar-says-tillerson-24884">Rohingya crisis: </a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/rohingya-crisis-us-will-possibly-pursue-targeted-sanctions-against-myanmar-says-tillerson-24884">US</a><a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/rohingya-crisis-us-will-possibly-pursue-targeted-sanctions-against-myanmar-says-tillerson-24884"> will possibly pursue targeted sanctions against Myanmar, says Tillerson</a>

Tillerson who had visited Myanmar a fortnight ago had avoided using the term &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot; even as both the US and UN had slammed the Myanmar government over reported &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot; in Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state.

 
<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/switzerland-turns-down-baloch-leader-brahumdagh-bugtis-application-for-political-asylum-24886">Switzerland rejects Baloch leader Bugti&#39;s political asylum</a>

The decision was announced just a week after charging a lifetime entry ban on exiled Baloch leader Mehran Marri, Bugti&#39;s brother-in-law.

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trump-assures-aid-to-argentina-over-missing-submarine-24885">Trump assures aid to Argentina over missing submarine</a>

&nbsp;US President Donald Trump has assured Argentina of all support and cooperation in finding the ARA San Juan submarine.&nbsp;

 
&nbsp;

Tillerson who had visited Myanmar a fortnight ago had avoided using the term "ethnic cleansing" even as both the US and UN had slammed the Myanmar government

Hafiz Saeed 'designated global terrorist', US reminds Pakistan In May 2008, the United States had designated Saeed as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" under Executive Order 13224. Major quake may hit Uttarakhand: National Centre for Seismology In the past, the possibility of severe earthquakes in the region have been slim, however, smaller quakes have hit the area letting out energy which could lead to a massive jolt, Director of National Centre for Seismology said. Rohingya crisis: US will possibly pursue targeted sanctions against Myanmar, says Tillerson Tillerson who had visited Myanmar a fortnight ago had avoided using the term "ethnic cleansing" even as both the US and UN had slammed the Myanmar government over reported "ethnic cleansing" in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Switzerland rejects Baloch leader Bugti's political asylum The decision was announced just a week after charging a lifetime entry ban on exiled Baloch leader Mehran Marri, Bugti's brother-in-law. Trump assures aid to Argentina over missing submarine US President Donald Trump has assured Argentina of all support and cooperation in finding the ARA San Juan submarine.

WION morning news brief, November 23, 2017

Ahead of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/pope-to-meet-rohingya-refugees-in-bangladesh-vatican-24873">Pope Francis visit to Myanmar</a> next week, the US sent out a tough message to the Myanmar government calling for &quot;accountability&quot; and a stop to &quot;horrendous atrocities&quot; against Rohingyas.

US secretary of<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/china-willing-to-help-solve-rohingya-crisis-foreign-minister-wang-yi-24610"> state Rex Tillerson in a strongly worded</a> statement said: &quot;After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas.&quot;

Tillerson who had visited Myanmar a fortnight ago had avoided using the term &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot; even as&nbsp;both the US and UN had slammed the Myanmar government over reported &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot;&nbsp;in Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state.

&quot;The United States will also pursue accountability through US&nbsp;law, including possible targeted sanctions&nbsp;against those responsible for the alleged abuses, which have driven hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh,&quot;&nbsp;he said.

&quot;Burma&#39;s government and security forces must respect the human rights of all persons within its borders, and hold accountable those who fail to do so,&quot; the US secretary of state said, adding, &quot;No provocation can justify the horrendous atrocities that have ensued.&quot;

According to human rights monitor over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine state from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 25th as the Myanmar Army reportedly began to evict the ethnic Rohingyas from the country. 
&nbsp; 
&quot;These abuses by some among the Burmese military, security forces, and local vigilantes have caused tremendous suffering and forced hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children to flee their homes,&quot; Tillerson said.

The Myanmar government has been condemned by several governments in the UN including France and UK.&nbsp;

China had volunteered to solve the Rohingya crisis after foreign minister Wang Yi visited met his counterpart AH Mahmood Ali in Bangladesh on Monday.

Chinese foreign minister said he was also ready to negotiate with Bangladesh to seek a better solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis which has soured relations between Myanmar and Bangladesh.

&quot;Bangladesh and Myanmar are both close neighbours and good friends of China. China is willing to play a role in properly solving this Rohingya issue,&quot; China&#39;s foreign minister had said.

Bangladesh and Myanmar officials had met last week to begin the process of repatriating Rohingya refugees. De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi had said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya.&nbsp;

Amid the crisis, Pope Francis is set to travel to Myanmar and Bangladesh next week in a bid to help resolve the crisis. Pope Francis will meet the head of Myanmar&#39;s army General Min Aung Hlaing and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.&nbsp;

The Pope will meet &nbsp;Aung San Suu Kyi separately in the capital Naypyitaw.

According to human rights monitor over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine state in from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh

Ahead of Pope Francis visit to Myanmar next week, the US sent out a tough message to the Myanmar government calling for "accountability" and a stop to "horrendous atrocities" against Rohingyas. US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in a strongly worded statement said: "After a careful and thorough analysis of available facts, it is clear that the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas." Tillerson who had visited Myanmar a fortnight ago had avoided using the term "ethnic cleansing" even as both the US and UN had slammed the Myanmar government over reported "ethnic cleansing" in Myanmar's Rakhine state. "The United States will also pursue accountability through US law, including possible targeted sanctions against those responsible for the alleged abuses, which have driven hundreds of thousands of Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh," he said. "Burma's government and security forces must respect the human rights of all persons within its borders, and hold accountable those who fail to do so," the US secretary of state said, adding, "No provocation can justify the horrendous atrocities that have ensued." According to human rights monitor over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Rakhine state from Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 25th as the Myanmar Army reportedly began to evict the ethnic Rohingyas from the country. "These abuses by some among the Burmese military, security forces, and local vigilantes have caused tremendous suffering and forced hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children to flee their homes," Tillerson said. The Myanmar government has been condemned by several governments in the UN including France and UK. China had volunteered to solve the Rohingya crisis after foreign minister Wang Yi visited met his counterpart AH Mahmood Ali in Bangladesh on Monday. Chinese foreign minister said he was also ready to negotiate with Bangladesh to seek a better solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis which has soured relations between Myanmar and Bangladesh. "Bangladesh and Myanmar are both close neighbours and good friends of China. China is willing to play a role in properly solving this Rohingya issue," China's foreign minister had said. Bangladesh and Myanmar officials had met last week to begin the process of repatriating Rohingya refugees. De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi had said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya. Amid the crisis, Pope Francis is set to travel to Myanmar and Bangladesh next week in a bid to help resolve the crisis. Pope Francis will meet the head of Myanmar's army General Min Aung Hlaing and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The Pope will meet Aung San Suu Kyi separately in the capital Naypyitaw.

Rohingya crisis: US will possibly pursue targeted sanctions against Myanmar, says Tillerson

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh from violence in Myanmar have been &ldquo;drained&rdquo; by the trauma they suffered during the crisis and a struggle to overcome desperate want, the United Nations refugee chief said on Wednesday.

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar since late August this year for neighboring Bangladesh, driven out by a military clearance operation in Rakhine State.

The refugees&rsquo; suffering has caused an international outcry, spurring appeals by aid agencies for millions of dollars in funds to tackle the crisis.

&ldquo;I found this was a population that had almost no response. Very passive,&rdquo; said Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, describing his visit late in September to camps where the refugees were staying.

&ldquo;You almost felt there was nothing left and that everything had been drained by this,&rdquo; he told Reuters in an interview in his first visit to the South Korean capital.

He saw the lassitude as a symptom of trauma, he added.

&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t seen this kind of trauma for a very long, long time,&rdquo; the Italian diplomat said. &ldquo;Maybe I saw it in the &lsquo;90s in central Africa.&rdquo;

Grandi coordinated UN humanitarian activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo during its 1996-97 civil war.

The success of aid efforts by the United Nations and non-government bodies depends on the Myanmar government to defuse the hostility facing humanitarian workers in Rakhine, Grandi said.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not political work, it&rsquo;s not to favor one community over the other,&rdquo; he said.

&ldquo;On the contrary, it&rsquo;s directed to all those who are in need. And when members of the Buddhist community are in need, they certainly qualify for that. I think it&rsquo;s important that they stress that, they do that more,&rdquo; said Grandi.

Tension had been rising between the government and aid agencies even before the spasm of violence that began in late August.

Officials had accused the World Food Programme of aiding insurgents after high-energy biscuits were discovered in July at a forest encampment the authorities said belonged to a militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

Longstanding antipathy among ethnic Rakhine Buddhists - who say the UN and nongovernment bodies favor the Rohingya with aid deliveries &ndash; spiked in August, with protesters demanding that aid agencies leave and the U.N. warning staff against rising hostility.

Since the Aug. 25 militant attacks in Rakhine, the government has barred most aid agencies, except for the Red Cross organizations, from working in the state&rsquo;s north, and curtailed their activities elsewhere in the state.

In several cases, aid deliveries have been forcibly blocked by Rakhine Buddhists.

The U.N.&rsquo;s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said the World Food Programme resumed some food distribution in northern Rakhine this month, but limited access meant agencies still do not know how many people were internally displaced over the last three months.

&ldquo;Access remains restricted for most humanitarian actors in northern Rakhine, preventing them from reaching many people in need,&rdquo; the agency said. &ldquo;In central Rakhine, humanitarian organizations also continue to face access constraints.&rdquo;

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar since late August this year for neighboring Myanmar, driven out by a military clearance operation in Rakhine State

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who fled to Bangladesh from violence in Myanmar have been “drained” by the trauma they suffered during the crisis and a struggle to overcome desperate want, the United Nations refugee chief said on Wednesday. More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar since late August this year for neighboring Bangladesh, driven out by a military clearance operation in Rakhine State. The refugees’ suffering has caused an international outcry, spurring appeals by aid agencies for millions of dollars in funds to tackle the crisis. “I found this was a population that had almost no response. Very passive,” said Filippo Grandi, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, describing his visit late in September to camps where the refugees were staying. “You almost felt there was nothing left and that everything had been drained by this,” he told Reuters in an interview in his first visit to the South Korean capital. He saw the lassitude as a symptom of trauma, he added. “We haven’t seen this kind of trauma for a very long, long time,” the Italian diplomat said. “Maybe I saw it in the ‘90s in central Africa.” Grandi coordinated UN humanitarian activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo during its 1996-97 civil war. The success of aid efforts by the United Nations and non-government bodies depends on the Myanmar government to defuse the hostility facing humanitarian workers in Rakhine, Grandi said. “It’s not political work, it’s not to favor one community over the other,” he said. “On the contrary, it’s directed to all those who are in need. And when members of the Buddhist community are in need, they certainly qualify for that. I think it’s important that they stress that, they do that more,” said Grandi. Tension had been rising between the government and aid agencies even before the spasm of violence that began in late August. Officials had accused the World Food Programme of aiding insurgents after high-energy biscuits were discovered in July at a forest encampment the authorities said belonged to a militant group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. Longstanding antipathy among ethnic Rakhine Buddhists - who say the UN and nongovernment bodies favor the Rohingya with aid deliveries – spiked in August, with protesters demanding that aid agencies leave and the U.N. warning staff against rising hostility. Since the Aug. 25 militant attacks in Rakhine, the government has barred most aid agencies, except for the Red Cross organizations, from working in the state’s north, and curtailed their activities elsewhere in the state. In several cases, aid deliveries have been forcibly blocked by Rakhine Buddhists. The U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said the World Food Programme resumed some food distribution in northern Rakhine this month, but limited access meant agencies still do not know how many people were internally displaced over the last three months. “Access remains restricted for most humanitarian actors in northern Rakhine, preventing them from reaching many people in need,” the agency said. “In central Rakhine, humanitarian organizations also continue to face access constraints.”

Rohingya refugees 'drained' by trauma, says UN refugee chief

I was going to Rohingya refugee camps in Balukhali from Cox&rsquo;s town in a battery run three-wheeler locally called &ldquo;auto&rdquo;. Six people can commute in such vehicle. All my co-passengers were locals of this rural area, and it was understood from their discussion that they had no or primary level of education. Surprisingly, I found them discussing Rohingya crisis and the discussion included geopolitics in their own style. The driver of the three-wheeler also joined the discussion.

The time was early September. In the discussion, I found them to be very angry with China for its indirect support to Myanmar in the atrocities against Rohingya people. &ldquo; China er jonnoi Burma er ato sahosh barse&rdquo; was the gist of their discussion in Bangla meaning &ldquo;Myanmar is so arrogant for China&rsquo;s support&rdquo;.

A few days later when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Myanmar and reportedly told Suu Kyi that India was with Myanmar, I witnessed how the anger against China just turned into anger against India. People were no longer concerned about China. It seemed to me that it was expected to them that China would side&nbsp;with Myanmar but they did not expect India to support Myanmar against Bangladesh.

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The news that PM Modi said India was with Myanmar went viral on Bangladesh&rsquo;s social media. I found many people who were never critical of India were critical&nbsp;this time. Added to the injury, the BJP government also expressed their interest to deport Rohingya refugees who took shelter in India.

One Bangladeshi newspaper carried a report that some Rohingya refugees were pushed from India to Bangladesh through Satkhira border. There was a backlash in Bangladesh following this report. At the same time, in Assam, BJP reportedly carried out campaign to deport what they call &ldquo;illegal Bangladeshis&rdquo; there. There was an uproar in Bangladesh after local newspapers reported on this false claim of the Assam BJP.

And recently, when news circulated that India abstained from voting in a UN resolution on Rohingyas while Pakistan voted in favour of it, there was also uproar on Bangladeshi social media.

As I extensively covered Rohingya crisis and visited different parts of the country to work on varies reports in the last few weeks, it seemed to me that India missed an opportunity in the Rohingya crisis. Anti-Chinese sentiment could have grown rapidly in Bangladesh due to China&rsquo;s continued support to Myanmar government as Rohingya sentiment has been very high in Muslim majority Bangladesh. However, the wrong policy of the Modi government on the Rohingya issue has helped grow anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh instead.

There was another crucial aspect. The Bangladeshi Opposition parties have been criticising the government for putting all its eggs in one basket, i.e. depending on India in the foreign policy matters. When India turned its back on Bangladesh, during one of the biggest crises, the anti-Indian quarter got fuel and it is at all time high in Bangladesh.

There might be some equations of the Modi government to take this policy on Rohingya crisis. We have heard that this is due to India&rsquo;s &ldquo;Go East&rdquo; policy. The Modi government might have a fear that growing Chinese influence in East Asian nations might cause problems to India in the coming days and Myanmar is the gateway for India to establish ground in other East Asian nations.

It also might have fear about its North East and its huge investment in Rakhine state. China might be benefited in any tension between India and Myanmar. It has the real fear of insurgents in North East of India getting direct support from Myanmar.

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However, the way Modi government dealt the crisis was a real disaster. Many Bangladeshis believe that the Modi government&rsquo;s Rohingya policy was the result of its anti-Muslim mindset. There were many discussions on different platforms in Bangladesh that India would not take the same policy if Rohingyas are not Muslims. Many also pointed out that the Modi government does not have the same policy for refugees of other religious groups like Tibetan and Tamil refugees.

As India has strong influence both on Suu Kyi and her party and on Bangladesh, it could easily meditate the Rohingya crisis. Even if it could not successful, any such attempt would help grow anti-Chinese sentiment in Bangladesh. However, siding with a country against a friendly nation who helped smashed insurgents in its North East can never constitute a smart foreign policy.

In my opinion, after Doklam crisis which alarmed Bhutan of its national security and forced it to rethink about its full dependency on India, the Rohingya crisis is another foreign policy mistake of the Modi government. I fear that these might be two historical mistakes for India. They have potentials to end India&rsquo;s strong influence on these two neighbouring nations.

(Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

India missed an opportunity to win over Bangladesh from China by siding with Myanmar on Rohingya issue.

I was going to Rohingya refugee camps in Balukhali from Cox’s town in a battery run three-wheeler locally called “auto”. Six people can commute in such vehicle. All my co-passengers were locals of this rural area, and it was understood from their discussion that they had no or primary level of education. Surprisingly, I found them discussing Rohingya crisis and the discussion included geopolitics in their own style. The driver of the three-wheeler also joined the discussion. The time was early September. In the discussion, I found them to be very angry with China for its indirect support to Myanmar in the atrocities against Rohingya people. “ China er jonnoi Burma er ato sahosh barse” was the gist of their discussion in Bangla meaning “Myanmar is so arrogant for China’s support”. A few days later when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Myanmar and reportedly told Suu Kyi that India was with Myanmar, I witnessed how the anger against China just turned into anger against India. People were no longer concerned about China. It seemed to me that it was expected to them that China would side with Myanmar but they did not expect India to support Myanmar against Bangladesh. Anti-Chinese sentiment could have grown rapidly in Bangladesh due to China’s continued support to Myanmar government as Rohingya sentiment has been very high in Muslim majority Bangladesh. × The news that PM Modi said India was with Myanmar went viral on Bangladesh’s social media. I found many people who were never critical of India were critical this time. Added to the injury, the BJP government also expressed their interest to deport Rohingya refugees who took shelter in India. One Bangladeshi newspaper carried a report that some Rohingya refugees were pushed from India to Bangladesh through Satkhira border. There was a backlash in Bangladesh following this report. At the same time, in Assam, BJP reportedly carried out campaign to deport what they call “illegal Bangladeshis” there. There was an uproar in Bangladesh after local newspapers reported on this false claim of the Assam BJP. And recently, when news circulated that India abstained from voting in a UN resolution on Rohingyas while Pakistan voted in favour of it, there was also uproar on Bangladeshi social media. As I extensively covered Rohingya crisis and visited different parts of the country to work on varies reports in the last few weeks, it seemed to me that India missed an opportunity in the Rohingya crisis. Anti-Chinese sentiment could have grown rapidly in Bangladesh due to China’s continued support to Myanmar government as Rohingya sentiment has been very high in Muslim majority Bangladesh. However, the wrong policy of the Modi government on the Rohingya issue has helped grow anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh instead. There was another crucial aspect. The Bangladeshi Opposition parties have been criticising the government for putting all its eggs in one basket, i.e. depending on India in the foreign policy matters. When India turned its back on Bangladesh, during one of the biggest crises, the anti-Indian quarter got fuel and it is at all time high in Bangladesh. There might be some equations of the Modi government to take this policy on Rohingya crisis. We have heard that this is due to India’s “Go East” policy. The Modi government might have a fear that growing Chinese influence in East Asian nations might cause problems to India in the coming days and Myanmar is the gateway for India to establish ground in other East Asian nations. It also might have fear about its North East and its huge investment in Rakhine state. China might be benefited in any tension between India and Myanmar. It has the real fear of insurgents in North East of India getting direct support from Myanmar. As India has strong influence both on Suu Kyi and her party and on Bangladesh, it could easily meditate the Rohingya crisis. × However, the way Modi government dealt the crisis was a real disaster. Many Bangladeshis believe that the Modi government’s Rohingya policy was the result of its anti-Muslim mindset. There were many discussions on different platforms in Bangladesh that India would not take the same policy if Rohingyas are not Muslims. Many also pointed out that the Modi government does not have the same policy for refugees of other religious groups like Tibetan and Tamil refugees. As India has strong influence both on Suu Kyi and her party and on Bangladesh, it could easily meditate the Rohingya crisis. Even if it could not successful, any such attempt would help grow anti-Chinese sentiment in Bangladesh. However, siding with a country against a friendly nation who helped smashed insurgents in its North East can never constitute a smart foreign policy. In my opinion, after Doklam crisis which alarmed Bhutan of its national security and forced it to rethink about its full dependency on India, the Rohingya crisis is another foreign policy mistake of the Modi government. I fear that these might be two historical mistakes for India. They have potentials to end India’s strong influence on these two neighbouring nations. (Disclaimer: The author writes here in a personal capacity).

Opinion: India missed an opportunity to counter China on Rohingyas

&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t say whether it has happened or not. As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won&rsquo;t happen,&rdquo; Suu Kyi told reporters in response to a question about human rights violations at the end of a meeting of senior officials at an Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, in Myanmar&rsquo;s capital Naypyitaw.

Her less than two-year old civilian government has faced heavy international criticism for its response to the crisis, though it has no control over the generals it has to share power with under Myanmar&rsquo;s transition to power after decades of military rule.

Turning to the question of repatriation of Rohingya, Suu Kyi said discussions would be held with the Bangladesh foreign minister on Wednesday and Thursday. Officials from both countries began discussions last month on how to process applications by Rohingya wanting to return to Myanmar.

&ldquo;We hope that this would result in an MOU signed quickly, which would enable us to start the safe and voluntarily return of all of those who have gone across the border,&rdquo; Suu Kyi said.

The Nobel laureate did not use the term &ldquo;Rohingya&rdquo;. Myanmar rejects the use of the term for the Muslim minority, which is not on an official list of the country&rsquo;s ethnic groups.

The Rohingya are largely stateless and many people in Myanmar view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Suu Kyi said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh to escape previous bouts of ethnic violence.

That agreement did not address the citizenship status of Rohingya, and Bangladesh has been pressing for a repatriation process that provided Rohingya with more safeguards this time.

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s on the basis of residency...this was agreed by the two governments a long time ago with success, so this will be the formula we will continue to follow,&rdquo; she said.

Earlier talks between the two countries reached a broad agreement to work out a repatriation deal, but a senior Myanmar official later accused Bangladesh of dragging its feet in order to secure funding from aid agencies for hosting the refugees.

It was hard to tell exactly how close Myanmar and Bangladesh were to an agreement, Suu Kyi said.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar&rsquo;s state counsellor and foreign affairs minister, said the country was doing everything it could to &ldquo;make sure security is maintained&rdquo; in Rakhine, but warned that &ldquo;it takes time&rdquo; to resolve the issues there.

It was unclear, however, whether a safe return was possible, or advisable, for the thousands of Rohingya women and children still stranded on the beaches trying to flee hunger and instability in Rakhine.

Myanmar intends to resettle most refugees who return in new &ldquo;model villages&rdquo;, rather than on the land they previously occupied, an approach the United Nations has criticized in the past as effectively creating permanent camps.

Suu Kyi said discussions would be held with the Bangladesh foreign minister on Wednesday and Thursday. Officials from both countries began discussions last month on how to process applications by Rohingya wanting to return to Myanmar

“We can’t say whether it has happened or not. As a responsibility of the government, we have to make sure that it won’t happen,” Suu Kyi told reporters in response to a question about human rights violations at the end of a meeting of senior officials at an Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw. Her less than two-year old civilian government has faced heavy international criticism for its response to the crisis, though it has no control over the generals it has to share power with under Myanmar’s transition to power after decades of military rule. Turning to the question of repatriation of Rohingya, Suu Kyi said discussions would be held with the Bangladesh foreign minister on Wednesday and Thursday. Officials from both countries began discussions last month on how to process applications by Rohingya wanting to return to Myanmar. “We hope that this would result in an MOU signed quickly, which would enable us to start the safe and voluntarily return of all of those who have gone across the border,” Suu Kyi said. The Nobel laureate did not use the term “Rohingya”. Myanmar rejects the use of the term for the Muslim minority, which is not on an official list of the country’s ethnic groups. The Rohingya are largely stateless and many people in Myanmar view them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Suu Kyi said Myanmar would follow the framework of an agreement reached in the 1990s to cover the earlier repatriation of Rohingya, who had fled to Bangladesh to escape previous bouts of ethnic violence. That agreement did not address the citizenship status of Rohingya, and Bangladesh has been pressing for a repatriation process that provided Rohingya with more safeguards this time. “It’s on the basis of residency...this was agreed by the two governments a long time ago with success, so this will be the formula we will continue to follow,” she said. Earlier talks between the two countries reached a broad agreement to work out a repatriation deal, but a senior Myanmar official later accused Bangladesh of dragging its feet in order to secure funding from aid agencies for hosting the refugees. It was hard to tell exactly how close Myanmar and Bangladesh were to an agreement, Suu Kyi said. Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s state counsellor and foreign affairs minister, said the country was doing everything it could to “make sure security is maintained” in Rakhine, but warned that “it takes time” to resolve the issues there. It was unclear, however, whether a safe return was possible, or advisable, for the thousands of Rohingya women and children still stranded on the beaches trying to flee hunger and instability in Rakhine. Myanmar intends to resettle most refugees who return in new “model villages”, rather than on the land they previously occupied, an approach the United Nations has criticized in the past as effectively creating permanent camps.

Myanmar hopes for talks with Bangladesh this week: Suu Kyi

The Supreme Court will today hear detailed arguments in connection with the Rohingya deportation case.

In an October 13 hearing, the apex court had given more to all the parties in the case and posted the matter for further hearing until November 21.

The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, and comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, said it will hear in detail various aspects of the matter, including the Centre&#39;s preliminary objection that the issue fell under the domain of the executive and hence was not justifiable.

The court observed that national importance could not be secondary and at the same time, the human rights issue of these immigrants should be kept in mind.

The top court also pronounced that no deportation of any Rohingya refugees should take place until the next date of hearing - November 21.

The plea, filed by two Rohingya immigrants, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, claims they had taken refuge in India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there.

Many of those, who had fled to India after the earlier spate of violence, are settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.

In an October 13 hearing, the apex court had given more to all the parties in the case and posted the matter for further hearing until November 21

The Supreme Court will today hear detailed arguments in connection with the Rohingya deportation case. In an October 13 hearing, the apex court had given more to all the parties in the case and posted the matter for further hearing until November 21. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, and comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, said it will hear in detail various aspects of the matter, including the Centre's preliminary objection that the issue fell under the domain of the executive and hence was not justifiable. The court observed that national importance could not be secondary and at the same time, the human rights issue of these immigrants should be kept in mind. The top court also pronounced that no deportation of any Rohingya refugees should take place until the next date of hearing - November 21. The plea, filed by two Rohingya immigrants, Mohammad Salimullah and Mohammad Shaqir, claims they had taken refuge in India after escaping from Myanmar due to widespread discrimination, violence and bloodshed against the community there. Many of those, who had fled to India after the earlier spate of violence, are settled in Jammu, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan.

Supreme Court to hear arguments in Rohingya deportation case

Myanmar&#39;s new leader forged diplomatic ties with the Vatican in May, but little did anyone know that six months down the line, those new relations would be the source of tension and international attention.

Pope Francis is due to make his first-ever visit to Myanmar and will be meeting State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, senior officials and the Catholic community amid a refugee crisis which has seen more than 600,000 Rohingyas fled across the border into Bangladesh since an August attack.

Given the sensitivity of the issue, Francis&#39; trip is expected to gain much limelight on what he chooses to do or say.

&quot;So, the Pope is not going to hold back on saying what he feels and what he thinks. But on the other hand, he doesn&#39;t then want his presence in Myanmar to create difficulties for the people themselves, in this case, specifically for the Rohingya,&quot; said Reuters&#39; Vatican correspondent, Philip Pullella, adding that the Pope must tread carefully to make sure he does not upset relations between the Holy-See and Myanmar.

Pullella said the Pope has been advised by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the Archbishop of Yangon, to avoid using the term &quot;Rohingya&quot; while in Myanmar. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar rejects the term &quot;Rohingya&quot; and does not recognise them as citizens nor as an ethnic group in their own right.

The Pope, a less predictable figure than his predecessors, has used the term &quot;Rohingya&quot; before to address the Muslim minority, which is also widely used by the international community such as the United Nations and the United States.

Roman Catholics make up a tiny minority in Myanmar of around 700,000 from among a population of more than 51 million.

Meanwhile, in Cox&#39;s Bazar the Pope is literally unknown. The hundreds of thousands of refugees have little information or interest in the inter-faith diplomacy going on in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Their main concerns are getting enough food for the day as their numbers continue to grow and as more make the perilous journey to cross the border.

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Pope Francis is due to make his first-ever visit to Myanmar and will be meeting State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar's new leader forged diplomatic ties with the Vatican in May, but little did anyone know that six months down the line, those new relations would be the source of tension and international attention. Pope Francis is due to make his first-ever visit to Myanmar and will be meeting State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, senior officials and the Catholic community amid a refugee crisis which has seen more than 600,000 Rohingyas fled across the border into Bangladesh since an August attack. Given the sensitivity of the issue, Francis' trip is expected to gain much limelight on what he chooses to do or say. "So, the Pope is not going to hold back on saying what he feels and what he thinks. But on the other hand, he doesn't then want his presence in Myanmar to create difficulties for the people themselves, in this case, specifically for the Rohingya," said Reuters' Vatican correspondent, Philip Pullella, adding that the Pope must tread carefully to make sure he does not upset relations between the Holy-See and Myanmar. Pullella said the Pope has been advised by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the Archbishop of Yangon, to avoid using the term "Rohingya" while in Myanmar. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar rejects the term "Rohingya" and does not recognise them as citizens nor as an ethnic group in their own right. The Pope, a less predictable figure than his predecessors, has used the term "Rohingya" before to address the Muslim minority, which is also widely used by the international community such as the United Nations and the United States. Roman Catholics make up a tiny minority in Myanmar of around 700,000 from among a population of more than 51 million. Meanwhile, in Cox's Bazar the Pope is literally unknown. The hundreds of thousands of refugees have little information or interest in the inter-faith diplomacy going on in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Their main concerns are getting enough food for the day as their numbers continue to grow and as more make the perilous journey to cross the border.

Pope heads to Myanmar, Bangladesh

Foreign minister Wang Yi said China&nbsp;is willing<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-says-rohingya-ethnic-cleansing-shames-suu-kyi-govt-20818"> to help solve the Rohingya crisis </a>between Bangladesh and Myanmar &quot;as soon as possible&quot; to avoid further massive influx of refugees into Bangladesh.

China&#39;s foreign minister <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/myanmar-ends-military-operation-against-rohingyas-un-claims-may-be-ethnic-cleansing-12463">Wang Yi on a visit to Bangladesh </a>met his counterpart AH Mahmood Ali even as the Rohingya refugee issue continued to spiral out of control.

The<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/chinese-foreign-minister-arrives-in-bangladesh-to-discuss-rakhine-refugees-issue-24547"> Chinese foreign minister said</a>&nbsp;he was also ready to negotiate with Bangladesh to seek a better solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis which has soured relations between the two Asian neighbours.

&quot;Bangladesh and Myanmar are both close neighbours and good friends of China. China is willing to play a role in properly solving this Rohingya issue,&quot; China&#39;s foreign minister said.

Wang said it has urged&nbsp;Myanmar to achieve an &quot;in situ ceasefire&quot; to immediately stop the influx of refugees into Bangladesh which has put excessive pressure on its economy as thousands have been streaming into Chittagong everyday since August 25th.

&quot;We have seen now, through the joint efforts by all parties concerned, including China, the ceasefire has been held and the tensions were visibly eased. Bangladesh and Myanmar have conducted multiple rounds of interaction and are expected to cut a deal on the repatriation of the Rohingya people. China is glad and welcomes such a development,&quot; Wang said after meeting Bangladesh&#39;s foreign minister.&nbsp;

In September, UN human rights chief Zeid bin Ra&rsquo;ad Zeid al-Hussein had said the situation in Myanmar was a &quot;textbook example of ethnic cleansing&quot; as several thousand Rohingyas fled to Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state to escape reported atrocities by the Myanmar Army.&nbsp;

Later, the US too condemned the Myanmar government with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson visiting Myanmar last week to put pressure on the Myanmar government to end the crisis.

The UN said over 4,40,000 refugees had already fled to Bangladesh.

China, however, appealed to the international community to help solve the crisis.

&quot;We believe, with the help of the international community, Bangladesh and Myanmar will certainly be able to further ease the situation through dialog and consultation and find a way to fundamentally solve the issue,&quot; said Wang.

China's foreign minister said was also ready to negotiate with Bangladesh to seek a better solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis

Foreign minister Wang Yi said China is willing to help solve the Rohingya crisis between Bangladesh and Myanmar "as soon as possible" to avoid further massive influx of refugees into Bangladesh. China's foreign minister Wang Yi on a visit to Bangladesh met his counterpart AH Mahmood Ali even as the Rohingya refugee issue continued to spiral out of control. The Chinese foreign minister said he was also ready to negotiate with Bangladesh to seek a better solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis which has soured relations between the two Asian neighbours. "Bangladesh and Myanmar are both close neighbours and good friends of China. China is willing to play a role in properly solving this Rohingya issue," China's foreign minister said. Wang said it has urged Myanmar to achieve an "in situ ceasefire" to immediately stop the influx of refugees into Bangladesh which has put excessive pressure on its economy as thousands have been streaming into Chittagong everyday since August 25th. "We have seen now, through the joint efforts by all parties concerned, including China, the ceasefire has been held and the tensions were visibly eased. Bangladesh and Myanmar have conducted multiple rounds of interaction and are expected to cut a deal on the repatriation of the Rohingya people. China is glad and welcomes such a development," Wang said after meeting Bangladesh's foreign minister. In September, UN human rights chief Zeid bin Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein had said the situation in Myanmar was a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing" as several thousand Rohingyas fled to Myanmar's Rakhine state to escape reported atrocities by the Myanmar Army. Later, the US too condemned the Myanmar government with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson visiting Myanmar last week to put pressure on the Myanmar government to end the crisis. The UN said over 4,40,000 refugees had already fled to Bangladesh. China, however, appealed to the international community to help solve the crisis. "We believe, with the help of the international community, Bangladesh and Myanmar will certainly be able to further ease the situation through dialog and consultation and find a way to fundamentally solve the issue," said Wang.

China willing to help solve Rohingya crisis: Foreign minister Wang Yi

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali in Dhaka on Saturday to discuss Myanmar&#39;s ongoing refugee crisis.

The talks focused on finding a solution to the crisis and safe return of the forcibly displaced Myanmar refugees.

They also discussed humanitarian assistance and international support to Bangladesh.

China has urged all parties to maintain an objective attitude and expressed support for what it calls Myanmar&#39;s recent efforts to bring stability to the region.

Speaking to the press, the Chinese foreign minister said the turbulence in Myanmar has spread to Bangladesh and brought burden to it, yet Bangladesh has managed to provide humanitarian aid to the Rohingya people who have crossed the border into Bangladesh.

Till now Bangladesh has been providing shelter and humanitarian support to more than a million forcibly displaced Rohingyas. But the country needs the support of the world community.

The international community has lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government for the compassion and generosity shown to the Myanmar people seeking refuge in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya issue is a complicated one touching on history, ethnicity and religion, among others, thus it calls for a comprehensive solution.

According to a press release issued by the Bangladesh, this visit of five different foreign ministers would give a push to Bangladesh&#39;s diplomatic efforts, for early and sustainable return of the Rohingyas.

The visit by the foreign ministers reflects the support of the international community for Rohingyas. After the visit, the foreign ministers will travel to Myanmar to attend the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers&#39; Meeting.

The talks focused on finding a solution to the crisis and safe return of the forcibly displaced Myanmar refugees.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Bangladesh counterpart AH Mahmood Ali in Dhaka on Saturday to discuss Myanmar's ongoing refugee crisis. The talks focused on finding a solution to the crisis and safe return of the forcibly displaced Myanmar refugees. They also discussed humanitarian assistance and international support to Bangladesh. China has urged all parties to maintain an objective attitude and expressed support for what it calls Myanmar's recent efforts to bring stability to the region. Speaking to the press, the Chinese foreign minister said the turbulence in Myanmar has spread to Bangladesh and brought burden to it, yet Bangladesh has managed to provide humanitarian aid to the Rohingya people who have crossed the border into Bangladesh. Till now Bangladesh has been providing shelter and humanitarian support to more than a million forcibly displaced Rohingyas. But the country needs the support of the world community. The international community has lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government for the compassion and generosity shown to the Myanmar people seeking refuge in Bangladesh. The Rohingya issue is a complicated one touching on history, ethnicity and religion, among others, thus it calls for a comprehensive solution. According to a press release issued by the Bangladesh, this visit of five different foreign ministers would give a push to Bangladesh's diplomatic efforts, for early and sustainable return of the Rohingyas. The visit by the foreign ministers reflects the support of the international community for Rohingyas. After the visit, the foreign ministers will travel to Myanmar to attend the 13th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Chinese foreign minister arrives in Bangladesh to discuss Rakhine refugees issue

One person was injured when military trucks hit landmines in Myanmar&#39;s troubled Rakhine State this week, state media said on Friday, amid ethnic tension following an army crackdown that sent hundreds of thousands of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-military-denies-atrocities-against-rohingya-24141">Rohingya Muslims fleeing</a>.

More than 600,000 of the refugees have entered neighbouring <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/rohingya-can-return-only-if-myanmars-real-citizens-accept-army-24369">Bangladesh</a> since Aug. 25 attacks by Rohingya militants sparked the army operation. Killings, arson and rape carried out by troops and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist mobs since then amount to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, the United Nations says.

Three landmine blasts caused extensive damage to three military trucks in Rakhine&#39;s central Minbya township on Wednesday morning, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

The landmines were &quot;apparently targeting&quot; army convoys, it added.

Later that day, another landmine exploded near the village of Vethali in central Rakhine as seven military trucks passed, injuring one pedestrian but causing no damage to the vehicles, the paper said.

It was not clear who was responsible for the attacks. Several landmine explosions were reported near the area this year.

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/us-panel-votes-to-hike-pay-of-h-1b-visa-holders-from-60000-to-90000-24410">United Nations</a> staff and aid workers have said they fear violence in northern Rakhine could spread to new areas as Buddhist villagers in more peaceful areas enforce a system of local apartheid that punishes people trading with minority Muslims.

Many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar see Rohingya Muslims as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, although many of the Rohingya can trace family for generations.

After the August attacks on police posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which the government has declared a terrorist organisation, security forces unleashed a brutal counteroffensive in Muslim-majority northern Rakhine.

Even though <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/myanmar-army-chief-issues-controversial-comments-over-rohingya-muslims-6774">Myanmar </a>says military operations ceased on Sept. 5, hundreds of refugees have continued to cross the Naf river separating Rakhine and Bangladesh in recent weeks.

Separately, Myanmar security forces have arrested 19 men suspected of involvement in the August attacks and charged them under the anti-terrorism law, the newspaper said on Friday.

The landmines were 'apparently targeting' army convoys, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said

One person was injured when military trucks hit landmines in Myanmar's troubled Rakhine State this week, state media said on Friday, amid ethnic tension following an army crackdown that sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing. More than 600,000 of the refugees have entered neighbouring Bangladesh since Aug. 25 attacks by Rohingya militants sparked the army operation. Killings, arson and rape carried out by troops and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist mobs since then amount to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, the United Nations says. Three landmine blasts caused extensive damage to three military trucks in Rakhine's central Minbya township on Wednesday morning, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. The landmines were "apparently targeting" army convoys, it added. Later that day, another landmine exploded near the village of Vethali in central Rakhine as seven military trucks passed, injuring one pedestrian but causing no damage to the vehicles, the paper said. It was not clear who was responsible for the attacks. Several landmine explosions were reported near the area this year. United Nations staff and aid workers have said they fear violence in northern Rakhine could spread to new areas as Buddhist villagers in more peaceful areas enforce a system of local apartheid that punishes people trading with minority Muslims. Many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar see Rohingya Muslims as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, although many of the Rohingya can trace family for generations. After the August attacks on police posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which the government has declared a terrorist organisation, security forces unleashed a brutal counteroffensive in Muslim-majority northern Rakhine. Even though Myanmar says military operations ceased on Sept. 5, hundreds of refugees have continued to cross the Naf river separating Rakhine and Bangladesh in recent weeks. Separately, Myanmar security forces have arrested 19 men suspected of involvement in the August attacks and charged them under the anti-terrorism law, the newspaper said on Friday.

Myanmar military trucks hit landmines in troubled Rakhine, one injured

A host of foreign ministers from Asia and Europe will descend on Bangladesh on Saturday&nbsp;for talks on the Rohingya refugee crisis that has left the impoverished nation reeling.

An estimated 618,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled mainly Buddhist Myanmar since a military crackdown was launched in Rakhine in August, which the United Nations and watchdogs have said amounts to ethnic cleansing.

The talks will discuss international support for Bangladesh, according to an EU statement.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali will take his counterparts from Germany, Sweden, and Japan, together with the European Union&#39;s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, to the border town of Cox&#39;s Bazar Sunday to see the camps.

Refugees are penned inside vast, squalid camps, and UNICEF estimates that 25,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition that could easily become a major killer.

Dhaka has prohibited the Rohingya from leaving the camps, fearing an influx in its bigger cities.

&quot;It is hoped that the visit will garner further international support for the Rohingya community,&quot; said a Bangladesh foreign ministry statement.

The ministers will also meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

China&#39;s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also arriving in Dhaka Saturday, although it is not clear whether he will travel to Cox&#39;s Bazar.

China is a key ally of Myanmar, which has faced intense international pressure over the Rohingya violence.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed in principle to begin repatriation of the Rohingya but are still tussling over the details.

Asian and European foreign ministers are due to meet in Myanmar on Monday and Tuesday.&nbsp;

Bangladesh Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali will take his counterparts from Germany, Sweden and Japan, together with the European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, to the border town of Cox's Bazar Sunday to see the camps

A host of foreign ministers from Asia and Europe will descend on Bangladesh on Saturday for talks on the Rohingya refugee crisis that has left the impoverished nation reeling. An estimated 618,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled mainly Buddhist Myanmar since a military crackdown was launched in Rakhine in August, which the United Nations and watchdogs have said amounts to ethnic cleansing. The talks will discuss international support for Bangladesh, according to an EU statement. Bangladesh Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali will take his counterparts from Germany, Sweden, and Japan, together with the European Union's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, to the border town of Cox's Bazar Sunday to see the camps. Refugees are penned inside vast, squalid camps, and UNICEF estimates that 25,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition that could easily become a major killer. Dhaka has prohibited the Rohingya from leaving the camps, fearing an influx in its bigger cities. "It is hoped that the visit will garner further international support for the Rohingya community," said a Bangladesh foreign ministry statement. The ministers will also meet Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also arriving in Dhaka Saturday, although it is not clear whether he will travel to Cox's Bazar. China is a key ally of Myanmar, which has faced intense international pressure over the Rohingya violence. Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed in principle to begin repatriation of the Rohingya but are still tussling over the details. Asian and European foreign ministers are due to meet in Myanmar on Monday and Tuesday.

Asia, Europe foreign ministers to see Rohingya plight in Bangladesh

Rohingya refugees cannot return to Rakhine state until &quot;real Myanmar citizens&quot; are ready to accept them, the country`s army chief said Thursday, casting doubt over government pledges to begin repatriating the persecuted Muslim minority.

More than 600,000 Rohingya are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign launched in late August.

The UN says the scorched-earth operation, which has left hundreds of villages burned to ash in northern Rakhine state, amounts to ethnic cleansing of the stateless minority.

But Myanmar&#39;s hardline army chief Min Aung Hlaing has steadfastly denied all allegations of abuse, insisting troops only targeted Rohingya insurgents.

He has also taken to Facebook throughout the crisis to fan anti-Rohingya sentiment among the Buddhist public, branding the Muslims as foreign interlopers from Bangladesh despite many having lived in Rakhine for generations.

On Thursday he signaled repatriation of the Rohingya was a long way off, saying their return must first be accepted by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists -- many of whom loathe the Muslim minority and are accused of aiding soldiers in torching their homes.

&quot;Emphasis must be placed on the wish of local Rakhine ethnic people who are real Myanmar citizens. Only when local Rakhine ethnic people accept it, will all the people satisfy it (sic),&quot; the statement, written in English, said on his Facebook page.&nbsp;

The army commander also said Myanmar would not allow the return of all Rohingya in Bangladesh, a country that was already hosting hundreds of thousands of the minority from previous waves of persecution.

&quot;It is impossible to accept the number of persons proposed by Bangladesh,&quot; the army statement said, after branding the refugees as &quot;terrorists&quot; who fled with their families.

The general`s comments came a day after he met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who on Wednesday called on the army to support efforts to return &quot;all refugees&quot;, adding that the reports of widespread atrocities by Myanmar`s soldiers were &quot;credible&quot;.

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed in principle to begin repatriation but are still tussling over the details.

Questions are mounting over how many Rohingya will be allowed to return, where they will live after they homes have been burned down and how they will coexist peacefully among ethnic Rakhine neighbors.

Tensions between the two groups have simmered for years, erupting into bouts of bloodshed in 2012 that pushed more than 100,000 Rohingya into grim displacement camps.

The Muslim minority has for years suffered under discrimination from a government that denies them citizenship and severely restricts their access to work, healthcare, and education.

'It is impossible to accept the number of persons proposed by Bangladesh,' the army chief said, after branding the refugees as 'terrorists' who fled with their families

Rohingya refugees cannot return to Rakhine state until "real Myanmar citizens" are ready to accept them, the country`s army chief said Thursday, casting doubt over government pledges to begin repatriating the persecuted Muslim minority. More than 600,000 Rohingya are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign launched in late August. The UN says the scorched-earth operation, which has left hundreds of villages burned to ash in northern Rakhine state, amounts to ethnic cleansing of the stateless minority. But Myanmar's hardline army chief Min Aung Hlaing has steadfastly denied all allegations of abuse, insisting troops only targeted Rohingya insurgents. He has also taken to Facebook throughout the crisis to fan anti-Rohingya sentiment among the Buddhist public, branding the Muslims as foreign interlopers from Bangladesh despite many having lived in Rakhine for generations. On Thursday he signaled repatriation of the Rohingya was a long way off, saying their return must first be accepted by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists -- many of whom loathe the Muslim minority and are accused of aiding soldiers in torching their homes. "Emphasis must be placed on the wish of local Rakhine ethnic people who are real Myanmar citizens. Only when local Rakhine ethnic people accept it, will all the people satisfy it (sic)," the statement, written in English, said on his Facebook page. The army commander also said Myanmar would not allow the return of all Rohingya in Bangladesh, a country that was already hosting hundreds of thousands of the minority from previous waves of persecution. "It is impossible to accept the number of persons proposed by Bangladesh," the army statement said, after branding the refugees as "terrorists" who fled with their families. The general`s comments came a day after he met with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who on Wednesday called on the army to support efforts to return "all refugees", adding that the reports of widespread atrocities by Myanmar`s soldiers were "credible". Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed in principle to begin repatriation but are still tussling over the details. Questions are mounting over how many Rohingya will be allowed to return, where they will live after they homes have been burned down and how they will coexist peacefully among ethnic Rakhine neighbors. Tensions between the two groups have simmered for years, erupting into bouts of bloodshed in 2012 that pushed more than 100,000 Rohingya into grim displacement camps. The Muslim minority has for years suffered under discrimination from a government that denies them citizenship and severely restricts their access to work, healthcare, and education.

Rohingya can return only if Myanmar's 'real citizens' accept them: Army chief

The flight of the Rohingya people is an exodus of unprecedented scale and speed. Since August, over 600,000 refugees have fled Rakhine State in Myanmar. Around 300,000 of them are children, 20,000 who are completely alone, orphaned by the brutality of the Myanmar military. Every refugee has been driven by violence, terror and the threat of death. Loved ones have been lost along the way, homes destroyed, funeral pyres made of entire villages. Many of the people we spoke to told the same stories &mdash; throats slit, bodies burned (sometimes alive), women raped, neither children nor the elderly spared, with men at highest risk of brutal summary execution.

We saw the smoke rising from the burning villages near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Bangladeshi locals told us they see about 20 such fires every day. I was accompanied by a remarkable photographer and campaigner, Shahidul Alam, with whom we had worked over many years on different and challenging issues &mdash; the stigma of HIV/AIDS, the impact of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. I recently met up with him in London, and he shared with me his anger and anguish about the Rohingya who have found refuge in his country, Bangladesh. In his determination to focus attention on their suffering, to drive change and build support for these persecuted people in their exodus of pain, he asked if I would go with him and help in any way possible. I volunteered immediately, knowing that his understanding of the context in Bangladesh and his commitment to challenging injustice would bring a special energy and focus and that I would learn so much from him because we would be moving in very different circles to those I had experienced working with established international charities.

Through Shahidul I met a young journalist from Myanmar, who cannot be named for his protection. He explained that when land is burned, it reverts to government ownership, so it is no accident that torching is the favoured method of destruction in Rakhine State, where valuable minerals are ready for exploitation once the farmers have been scorched off their land, murdered or banished. The journalist also gave an explanation for the acceptance by so many people in Myanmar of the longstanding cruelty and discrimination inflicted on the Rohingya, with decades of dictatorship having blunted critical thinking and years of sanctions having poisoned trust in Western media. The people of Myanmar have become easy prey for propaganda by those in power, who still comprise many of the military figures from the dark days of the dictatorship, including some of the closest advisors at the highest level of Aung San Suu Kyi&rsquo;s government.

The consequences of this have been dire. In their flight, the Rohingya are leaving behind all they know and love. At the Balukhali camp in Cox&rsquo;s Bazar, a young woman said to me: &ldquo;I did not want to leave my home to come here. I had two cows and land, and now I have nothing.&rdquo; Looking at the rain-soaked bare earth, seeing her shivering, emaciated children, the prospect of returning to a life where she could milk her cows and tend to her crops seemed a distant dream.

The lost children

Walking through the sparkling green paddy fields near Teknaf, a small town on the river Naf that borders Myanmar, the calm swishing of the boats rowing downstream ushers in an awareness of the scale of what these Rohingya had lost and left behind: Homes, rivers to fish, fields to plough, animals to tend, space for children to play, and the friendship and comfort of families and neighbors. Standing atop an old Bangladeshi army watchtower, overlooking the burning villages across the water, no more than half a mile away, looking backward at the simple but peaceful villages of Cox&rsquo;s Bazar, you have a vivid sense of their past and their painful present &mdash; hungry, dislocated and alone, families separated in the flight or murdered before they escaped, villages broken up and social life destroyed. The most painful of all is to see the lost and frightened children in the camps. Even those who have not been orphaned or lost, they no longer have their smiles.

I saw a child of about age 3 piteously crying for his mother. I saw a mother crying for her lost children. Were they connected? Was the lost child hers? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The toddler had already disappeared into the chaos, and the woman was still looking for her children. Thankfully, Handicap International and other charities have set up projects to reunite loved ones &mdash; an immense job in the vast, overcrowded camps.

Later at the Sadar Hospital in Cox&rsquo;s Bazar, we met a woman named Senowara Begum. She had been shot three times and deeply traumatised by the loss of two of her three children, adding intolerable grief to the pain of her wounds.

At Tefnar, we met Abdul Basar, struggling with clumsy adult wooden crutches, his leg amputated after severe burns. His father was also injured and in a hospital far away, his mother died and his cousin Abdul Basar &mdash; just an inch taller and a year older &mdash; was the only person to care for him as he struggled to walk, his delicate face pinched with pain and anxiety.

Trauma trap

The logistical challenges of the makeshift camps are overwhelming. The tarpaulins have been hastily fixed to bamboo poles, the trees torn from the hills to make space, narrow, winding steps hacked into the sandy soil. Water flows over latrines, spreading the stench of sewage everywhere and with it the fatal risk of cholera, with other diseases like measles and polio waiting in the wings. There is a risk of a major setback to the advances fought so hard for in Bangladesh, which has managed to eradicate polio despite extreme poverty but is now facing the prospect of it returning with more pain and maiming. The lack of clean water, pollution and the urgent need for medical care and food is frightening. Even the most experienced aid workers have said that this is the worst refugee crisis they have ever seen.

After the flight to safety other terrors await:&nbsp;The risk of hunger, trafficking, loneliness, loss and death. Some of the sickest and most traumatically injured have managed to get to the hospital. The Sadar District Hospital in Cox&rsquo;s Bazar is overcrowded and short on both staff and medicine. The heroic health workers are doing their best to help. The resident medical officer, Dr. Shaheen Chowdury, has immaculate records of the injured and sick: gunshot wounds, burns, pneumonia, near drowning, obstructed labour. The hard journey and the camp conditions have taken their toll on the weakest and the most vulnerable.

Narshida, a lively young girl, no more than 10 years old, was smiling at us, glad of a break from her sad task of caring for her handsome young father as he lay immobile on a mattress on the floor, too weak to respond to his daughter&rsquo;s loving ministrations. As we left, she was carefully stroking his forehead. Fatima was cradling her tiny baby, delicately trying to encourage her little girl to eat. She had traveled for 20 days, and the journey had taken a terrible toll on her child&rsquo;s health.

Another father held his daughter, Nurkajol, who is only 9, in his arms, her broken leg immobilised, weighted by a simple plastic bottle filled with water to help the healing and prevent the pain. But on her face agony was vivid and present, her eyes listless, her limbs so thin and the trauma of her experience at the hands of the military an unwelcome and constant companion. Her father explained that when the military came and attacked their village, in the panic they lost Nurkajol. Then, before fleeing across the border, they crept back into the village and found her alone, a frail little girl that the military had beaten with their rifle butts.

The life force and curiosity of these children shine through the pain of their exile. In northern Rakhine State they suffered severe discrimination, having access to only the most minimal education, but right now there are thousands of children in these camps across Bangladesh with even fewer opportunities. Amidst the pressure of so many people and so many children, schooling has not yet been given priority. Education must be properly provided to help these children survive and thrive. In the chaos of the camps, this is a challenge, with so much else needing to be done. But these children are the future, and education can provide a way out of the trap of trauma.

Well-meaning, ill-advised

The government of Bangladesh has brought some order to the camps that have spontaneously sprung up, housing over 800,000 Rohingya. Longer-term plans being discussed by the government have suggested moving refugees off the hills to build a proper camp, but this presents a major logistical challenge. The Bangladeshi government and nongovernmental organisations are doing their best with the problematic geography of an unstable hilly environment, which makes it difficult to move people or services effectively and also makes the job of water engineers designing latrines and wells difficult.

The Bangladeshi military is also organising and building basic infrastructure and doing crowd control, which is badly needed when so many frightened people are trapped together in cramped conditions. Local and international organisations desperately need to scale up the relief effort, but the government needs to be assured that the organisations coming in are the right ones for the job.

Bangladeshi charities such as Brac are significant players, with a local and international presence, and other local charities are providing important services, including specialist help for those who have become overwhelmed by trauma. The clinical psychologists I met at a mental health service centre run by Gonoshasthaya Kendra, a local medical charity working in partnership with M&eacute;decins du Monde, said they believed everybody in the camp was traumatised. But they were only able to treat the very worst affected, like the young girl lying outside the tent clinic who had been rendered speechless by the violence she had witnessed and, in her torment, was violently attacking her own mother. She is only one of the endless thousands in need of mental-health assistance.

The United Kingdom has the advantage of the Disasters Emergency Committee that, when it comes to crises of this scale, enables a unified approach to raising funds and support by coordinating major charities like Oxfam, Care International, Concern, ActionAid, Islamic Relief and half a dozen other experienced organisations. Doctors Without Borders has set up clinics, and UN agencies are also on the ground in Bangladesh, but it still is not enough when the continuing exodus of pain is driving tens of thousands of new refugees every day into the already seriously overcrowded camps.

The logistics and transport links are a challenge. Well-meaning but ill-advised attempts to contribute have not helped: When we were there, the Rohingya were busy trying to clear endless piles of muddy and useless clothing that have been tossed out of the windows of passing cars by well-intentioned local people. A trampled sweater in the mud was a sad sign that expert help is needed, not woollen clothes in the brutal heat of the Asian summer.

The Rohingya have suffered decades of discrimination and stigma and have endured so much on their tortuous journey to safety. Just the other day I heard from the talented Bangladeshi photojournalist, Mohammad Shahnewaz Khan, who worked with us in Cox&rsquo;s Bazar, that he had been back to the border and was devastated to see those new refugees&nbsp;escaping the brutality in Myanmar were being prevented from entering Bangladesh. It is the duty of the international community, governments, national and international charities and all of us as citizens of the world to put our best efforts into helping the Rohingya and to raise our voices wherever we are to defend their right to return to their lost lives, lands and to a better future.

This <a href="https://www.fairobserver.com/region/asia_pacific/rohingya-refugees-bangladesh-myanmar-crisis-news-10010/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">article</a> has been originally published in <a href="https://www.fairobserver.com/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">Fair Observer</a>

Image Credit:&nbsp;Shahidul Alam

There are close to a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in desperate need of food, shelter and medical attention

The flight of the Rohingya people is an exodus of unprecedented scale and speed. Since August, over 600,000 refugees have fled Rakhine State in Myanmar. Around 300,000 of them are children, 20,000 who are completely alone, orphaned by the brutality of the Myanmar military. Every refugee has been driven by violence, terror and the threat of death. Loved ones have been lost along the way, homes destroyed, funeral pyres made of entire villages. Many of the people we spoke to told the same stories — throats slit, bodies burned (sometimes alive), women raped, neither children nor the elderly spared, with men at highest risk of brutal summary execution. We saw the smoke rising from the burning villages near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. Bangladeshi locals told us they see about 20 such fires every day. I was accompanied by a remarkable photographer and campaigner, Shahidul Alam, with whom we had worked over many years on different and challenging issues — the stigma of HIV/AIDS, the impact of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. I recently met up with him in London, and he shared with me his anger and anguish about the Rohingya who have found refuge in his country, Bangladesh. In his determination to focus attention on their suffering, to drive change and build support for these persecuted people in their exodus of pain, he asked if I would go with him and help in any way possible. I volunteered immediately, knowing that his understanding of the context in Bangladesh and his commitment to challenging injustice would bring a special energy and focus and that I would learn so much from him because we would be moving in very different circles to those I had experienced working with established international charities. Through Shahidul I met a young journalist from Myanmar, who cannot be named for his protection. He explained that when land is burned, it reverts to government ownership, so it is no accident that torching is the favoured method of destruction in Rakhine State, where valuable minerals are ready for exploitation once the farmers have been scorched off their land, murdered or banished. The journalist also gave an explanation for the acceptance by so many people in Myanmar of the longstanding cruelty and discrimination inflicted on the Rohingya, with decades of dictatorship having blunted critical thinking and years of sanctions having poisoned trust in Western media. The people of Myanmar have become easy prey for propaganda by those in power, who still comprise many of the military figures from the dark days of the dictatorship, including some of the closest advisors at the highest level of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. The consequences of this have been dire. In their flight, the Rohingya are leaving behind all they know and love. At the Balukhali camp in Cox’s Bazar, a young woman said to me: “I did not want to leave my home to come here. I had two cows and land, and now I have nothing.” Looking at the rain-soaked bare earth, seeing her shivering, emaciated children, the prospect of returning to a life where she could milk her cows and tend to her crops seemed a distant dream. The lost children Walking through the sparkling green paddy fields near Teknaf, a small town on the river Naf that borders Myanmar, the calm swishing of the boats rowing downstream ushers in an awareness of the scale of what these Rohingya had lost and left behind: Homes, rivers to fish, fields to plough, animals to tend, space for children to play, and the friendship and comfort of families and neighbors. Standing atop an old Bangladeshi army watchtower, overlooking the burning villages across the water, no more than half a mile away, looking backward at the simple but peaceful villages of Cox’s Bazar, you have a vivid sense of their past and their painful present — hungry, dislocated and alone, families separated in the flight or murdered before they escaped, villages broken up and social life destroyed. The most painful of all is to see the lost and frightened children in the camps. Even those who have not been orphaned or lost, they no longer have their smiles. I saw a child of about age 3 piteously crying for his mother. I saw a mother crying for her lost children. Were they connected? Was the lost child hers? Perhaps. Perhaps not. The toddler had already disappeared into the chaos, and the woman was still looking for her children. Thankfully, Handicap International and other charities have set up projects to reunite loved ones — an immense job in the vast, overcrowded camps. Later at the Sadar Hospital in Cox’s Bazar, we met a woman named Senowara Begum. She had been shot three times and deeply traumatised by the loss of two of her three children, adding intolerable grief to the pain of her wounds. At Tefnar, we met Abdul Basar, struggling with clumsy adult wooden crutches, his leg amputated after severe burns. His father was also injured and in a hospital far away, his mother died and his cousin Abdul Basar — just an inch taller and a year older — was the only person to care for him as he struggled to walk, his delicate face pinched with pain and anxiety. Trauma trap The logistical challenges of the makeshift camps are overwhelming. The tarpaulins have been hastily fixed to bamboo poles, the trees torn from the hills to make space, narrow, winding steps hacked into the sandy soil. Water flows over latrines, spreading the stench of sewage everywhere and with it the fatal risk of cholera, with other diseases like measles and polio waiting in the wings. There is a risk of a major setback to the advances fought so hard for in Bangladesh, which has managed to eradicate polio despite extreme poverty but is now facing the prospect of it returning with more pain and maiming. The lack of clean water, pollution and the urgent need for medical care and food is frightening. Even the most experienced aid workers have said that this is the worst refugee crisis they have ever seen. After the flight to safety other terrors await: The risk of hunger, trafficking, loneliness, loss and death. Some of the sickest and most traumatically injured have managed to get to the hospital. The Sadar District Hospital in Cox’s Bazar is overcrowded and short on both staff and medicine. The heroic health workers are doing their best to help. The resident medical officer, Dr. Shaheen Chowdury, has immaculate records of the injured and sick: gunshot wounds, burns, pneumonia, near drowning, obstructed labour. The hard journey and the camp conditions have taken their toll on the weakest and the most vulnerable. Narshida, a lively young girl, no more than 10 years old, was smiling at us, glad of a break from her sad task of caring for her handsome young father as he lay immobile on a mattress on the floor, too weak to respond to his daughter’s loving ministrations. As we left, she was carefully stroking his forehead. Fatima was cradling her tiny baby, delicately trying to encourage her little girl to eat. She had traveled for 20 days, and the journey had taken a terrible toll on her child’s health. Another father held his daughter, Nurkajol, who is only 9, in his arms, her broken leg immobilised, weighted by a simple plastic bottle filled with water to help the healing and prevent the pain. But on her face agony was vivid and present, her eyes listless, her limbs so thin and the trauma of her experience at the hands of the military an unwelcome and constant companion. Her father explained that when the military came and attacked their village, in the panic they lost Nurkajol. Then, before fleeing across the border, they crept back into the village and found her alone, a frail little girl that the military had beaten with their rifle butts. The life force and curiosity of these children shine through the pain of their exile. In northern Rakhine State they suffered severe discrimination, having access to only the most minimal education, but right now there are thousands of children in these camps across Bangladesh with even fewer opportunities. Amidst the pressure of so many people and so many children, schooling has not yet been given priority. Education must be properly provided to help these children survive and thrive. In the chaos of the camps, this is a challenge, with so much else needing to be done. But these children are the future, and education can provide a way out of the trap of trauma. Well-meaning, ill-advised The government of Bangladesh has brought some order to the camps that have spontaneously sprung up, housing over 800,000 Rohingya. Longer-term plans being discussed by the government have suggested moving refugees off the hills to build a proper camp, but this presents a major logistical challenge. The Bangladeshi government and nongovernmental organisations are doing their best with the problematic geography of an unstable hilly environment, which makes it difficult to move people or services effectively and also makes the job of water engineers designing latrines and wells difficult. The Bangladeshi military is also organising and building basic infrastructure and doing crowd control, which is badly needed when so many frightened people are trapped together in cramped conditions. Local and international organisations desperately need to scale up the relief effort, but the government needs to be assured that the organisations coming in are the right ones for the job. Bangladeshi charities such as Brac are significant players, with a local and international presence, and other local charities are providing important services, including specialist help for those who have become overwhelmed by trauma. The clinical psychologists I met at a mental health service centre run by Gonoshasthaya Kendra, a local medical charity working in partnership with Médecins du Monde, said they believed everybody in the camp was traumatised. But they were only able to treat the very worst affected, like the young girl lying outside the tent clinic who had been rendered speechless by the violence she had witnessed and, in her torment, was violently attacking her own mother. She is only one of the endless thousands in need of mental-health assistance. The United Kingdom has the advantage of the Disasters Emergency Committee that, when it comes to crises of this scale, enables a unified approach to raising funds and support by coordinating major charities like Oxfam, Care International, Concern, ActionAid, Islamic Relief and half a dozen other experienced organisations. Doctors Without Borders has set up clinics, and UN agencies are also on the ground in Bangladesh, but it still is not enough when the continuing exodus of pain is driving tens of thousands of new refugees every day into the already seriously overcrowded camps. The logistics and transport links are a challenge. Well-meaning but ill-advised attempts to contribute have not helped: When we were there, the Rohingya were busy trying to clear endless piles of muddy and useless clothing that have been tossed out of the windows of passing cars by well-intentioned local people. A trampled sweater in the mud was a sad sign that expert help is needed, not woollen clothes in the brutal heat of the Asian summer. The Rohingya have suffered decades of discrimination and stigma and have endured so much on their tortuous journey to safety. Just the other day I heard from the talented Bangladeshi photojournalist, Mohammad Shahnewaz Khan, who worked with us in Cox’s Bazar, that he had been back to the border and was devastated to see those new refugees escaping the brutality in Myanmar were being prevented from entering Bangladesh. It is the duty of the international community, governments, national and international charities and all of us as citizens of the world to put our best efforts into helping the Rohingya and to raise our voices wherever we are to defend their right to return to their lost lives, lands and to a better future. This article has been originally published in Fair Observer Image Credit: Shahidul Alam

The Rohingya: When the land you love burns

There is what has been described as a &ldquo;textbook case of ethnic cleansing&rdquo; against the approximately one million Rohingya who live in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine. As well as retaliation from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army &ndash; a militant group of Rohingyas &ndash; which has been held by the Burmese military to have attacked a number of police and army posts.

And there is also what was seen as a newly emerging democracy with a prominent international figure, Aung San Suu Kyi &ndash; the state counsellor of Myanmar and the nation&rsquo;s de facto leader &ndash; guiding the country against a backdrop of Islamophobic Buddhist nationalism.

Buddhists are often regarded in the West as a peaceful people, so to hear of this kind of public prejudice may come as a shock to many. But looking at it from a Buddhist cultural perspective, one can begin to see why this is happening.

Militant Buddhism

Suu Kyi has used her own Buddhist faith to explain her ideas in the past. But it was only in a televised speech to the Burmese nation, in mid-October 2017, that she used some standard Buddhist rhetoric for the first time in her comments on recent events. Suu Kyi evoked the Buddhist principles of &ldquo;compassion&rdquo;, &ldquo;loving-kindness&rdquo; and &ldquo;sympathetic joy&rdquo; to overcome hatred. A &ldquo;close adviser&rdquo; later briefed the media, explaining that Suu Kyi&rsquo;s speech marked an attempt to wrestle Buddhism out of the &ldquo;hands of extremists&rdquo;.

One could say that the Buddhist sentiments expressed in Suu Kyi&rsquo;s speech are in line with the modern Western understanding of Buddhism. But look deeper into modern Asia and you will see Western perceptions aren&rsquo;t wholly accurate. There is now a form of militant Buddhism, which often promotes the supremacy of Buddhism, and can be Islamophobic, ethnocentric and chauvinistic in its preaching.

This is a Buddhism alien to the romantic, pacifistic, meditative and compassionate Buddhism of popular imagination, and &ndash; one would hope &ndash; much of Buddhist history. It is a Buddhism in which the Buddhist faith should be protected against the supposed threat of other religions (primarily Islam) overrunning Buddhist Myanmar.

Led by the Mandalay-based monk Ashin Wirathu, it is a religion which campaigns to punish those who offend Buddhism. In its organised form in Myanmar, these nationalistic Buddhist ideas coalesce around a group popularly known as MaBaTha &ndash; the organisation for the protection of race and religion.

Religious core

The battle between the two emerging forms of Buddhism in modern Myanmar is linked back to two core principles of the religion.

The first is the familiar Buddhism of calm, non-attachment, and compassion. Until recently one could say this was dominant within Myanmar. Lay meditation movements were important in the revitalisation of modern Buddhism and aspects of popular mindfulness meditation originate from them. The Saffron Revolution of 2007 displayed little of the aggressive nationalism of the MaBaTha movement, with monks evoking the &ldquo;discourse on loving-kindness&rdquo; &ndash; The Metta-sutta &ndash; as a Buddhist path of compassion to overthrow military rule.

The other form of Buddhism has a more ritualised focus. At the risk of oversimplification, this practice is based on the performance of personal and state rituals in order to protect society from danger. To be a practising Buddhist is to have recited certain texts, and to have paid homage at Buddhist shrines. To be a good Buddhist is to be a good Burmese, and, as it now appears, to &ldquo;stand with Aung San Suu Kyi&rdquo;.

It would be too simplistic to argue that Buddhist teachings are irreconcilably at odds with ideas of nationalism and patriotism. However, a sense of superiority and discrimination against minority groups does appear to be indefensible from a Buddhist perspective. Could Suu Kyi&rsquo;s speech, and the idea that she wishes to use Buddhist teachings in a way at odds with Buddhist nationalism be an acknowledgement that Buddhism needs to become part of the solution in modern Myanmar, rather than an aggressive symbol used by Buddhist nationalists?

If Myanmar is to emerge from military rule and become a modern democratic state then it must save its Buddhism from descending into extremism. If Buddhist identity is focused upon a narrow and uncompromising view of what it means to be Burmese, then it seems likely that Buddhism will become a form of state-sponsored religion promoted by the military. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this type of Buddhism, but it is clearly engendering a form of nationalistic fervour, and atrocities are being committed and justified.

Can Suu Kyi see beyond the flags and slogans and use Buddhist narratives of compassion and loving-kindness? Observers expected this of her, and of the Buddhist nation, many weeks ago, yet we are still waiting.

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" rel="nofollow" target="blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/myanmar-and-buddhist-extremism-86125" rel="nofollow" target="blank">original article</a>.

There is a battle of Buddhisms taking place on the streets of Myanmar

There is what has been described as a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing” against the approximately one million Rohingya who live in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine. As well as retaliation from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – a militant group of Rohingyas – which has been held by the Burmese military to have attacked a number of police and army posts. And there is also what was seen as a newly emerging democracy with a prominent international figure, Aung San Suu Kyi – the state counsellor of Myanmar and the nation’s de facto leader – guiding the country against a backdrop of Islamophobic Buddhist nationalism. Buddhists are often regarded in the West as a peaceful people, so to hear of this kind of public prejudice may come as a shock to many. But looking at it from a Buddhist cultural perspective, one can begin to see why this is happening. Militant Buddhism Suu Kyi has used her own Buddhist faith to explain her ideas in the past. But it was only in a televised speech to the Burmese nation, in mid-October 2017, that she used some standard Buddhist rhetoric for the first time in her comments on recent events. Suu Kyi evoked the Buddhist principles of “compassion”, “loving-kindness” and “sympathetic joy” to overcome hatred. A “close adviser” later briefed the media, explaining that Suu Kyi’s speech marked an attempt to wrestle Buddhism out of the “hands of extremists”. One could say that the Buddhist sentiments expressed in Suu Kyi’s speech are in line with the modern Western understanding of Buddhism. But look deeper into modern Asia and you will see Western perceptions aren’t wholly accurate. There is now a form of militant Buddhism, which often promotes the supremacy of Buddhism, and can be Islamophobic, ethnocentric and chauvinistic in its preaching. This is a Buddhism alien to the romantic, pacifistic, meditative and compassionate Buddhism of popular imagination, and – one would hope – much of Buddhist history. It is a Buddhism in which the Buddhist faith should be protected against the supposed threat of other religions (primarily Islam) overrunning Buddhist Myanmar. Led by the Mandalay-based monk Ashin Wirathu, it is a religion which campaigns to punish those who offend Buddhism. In its organised form in Myanmar, these nationalistic Buddhist ideas coalesce around a group popularly known as MaBaTha – the organisation for the protection of race and religion. Religious core The battle between the two emerging forms of Buddhism in modern Myanmar is linked back to two core principles of the religion. The first is the familiar Buddhism of calm, non-attachment, and compassion. Until recently one could say this was dominant within Myanmar. Lay meditation movements were important in the revitalisation of modern Buddhism and aspects of popular mindfulness meditation originate from them. The Saffron Revolution of 2007 displayed little of the aggressive nationalism of the MaBaTha movement, with monks evoking the “discourse on loving-kindness” – The Metta-sutta – as a Buddhist path of compassion to overthrow military rule. The other form of Buddhism has a more ritualised focus. At the risk of oversimplification, this practice is based on the performance of personal and state rituals in order to protect society from danger. To be a practising Buddhist is to have recited certain texts, and to have paid homage at Buddhist shrines. To be a good Buddhist is to be a good Burmese, and, as it now appears, to “stand with Aung San Suu Kyi”. It would be too simplistic to argue that Buddhist teachings are irreconcilably at odds with ideas of nationalism and patriotism. However, a sense of superiority and discrimination against minority groups does appear to be indefensible from a Buddhist perspective. Could Suu Kyi’s speech, and the idea that she wishes to use Buddhist teachings in a way at odds with Buddhist nationalism be an acknowledgement that Buddhism needs to become part of the solution in modern Myanmar, rather than an aggressive symbol used by Buddhist nationalists? If Myanmar is to emerge from military rule and become a modern democratic state then it must save its Buddhism from descending into extremism. If Buddhist identity is focused upon a narrow and uncompromising view of what it means to be Burmese, then it seems likely that Buddhism will become a form of state-sponsored religion promoted by the military. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this type of Buddhism, but it is clearly engendering a form of nationalistic fervour, and atrocities are being committed and justified. Can Suu Kyi see beyond the flags and slogans and use Buddhist narratives of compassion and loving-kindness? Observers expected this of her, and of the Buddhist nation, many weeks ago, yet we are still waiting. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Myanmar and Buddhist extremism

Washington&#39;s top diplomat on Wednesday said he would not yet push for sanctions against Myanmar over the Rohingya refugee crisis, but he called for an independent investigation into &quot;credible&quot; reports that soldiers committed atrocities against the Muslim minority.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was speaking after a one-day stop in Naypyidaw, as global outrage builds over impunity for a military accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya.&nbsp;

Speaking by his side, Myanmar&#39;s de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi hit back at global criticism that she has been silent over the refugee crisis, saying she has instead focused on speech that avoids inflaming sectarian tensions.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/tillerson-in-myanmar-to-press-suu-kyi-and-army-on-rohingy-24275" target="_blank">Also read: Tillerson in Myanmar to press Suu Kyi and army on Rohingya</a>

More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled the mainly Buddhist country since the military launched a counter-insurgency operation in northern Rakhine state in late August.

While the army insists it has only targeted Rohingya rebels, refugees massing in grim Bangladeshi camps have described chilling and consistent accounts of widespread murder, rape and arson at the hands of security forces and Buddhist mobs.

Speaking after meetings with the army chief and Suu Kyi, Tillerson said that broad economic sanctions are &quot;not something that I&#39;d think would be advisable at this time&quot;.

&quot;We want to see Myanmar succeed,&quot; he told reporters. &quot;You can&#39;t just impose sanctions and say therefore the crisis is over.&quot;

But he said Washington was &quot;deeply concerned by credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by Myanmar&#39;s security forces and vigilantes&quot; and urged Myanmar to accept an independent investigation into those allegations, after which individual sanctions could be appropriate.

&quot;The scenes of what occurred out there are just horrific,&quot; he added.&nbsp;

Both the army and Suu Kyi&#39;s administration have dismissed reports of atrocities and refused to grant entry to UN investigators charged with probing allegations of ethnic cleansing.

&#39;I have not been silent&#39; 
But Washington has been careful to focus blame on the military rather than Suu Kyi, whose fledgling civilian administration is in a delicate power-sharing arrangement with the army.

Though she lacks any say in security policy, the Nobel laureate has become a punching bag for rights groups disappointed by her failure to publicly criticise the military or defend Rohingya against rising Islamophobia, partly because she was so outspoken during the junta years.

Suu Kyi, who rarely holds press conferences, addressed those criticisms on Wednesday.&nbsp;

&quot;I have not been silent... what people mean is what I say is not interesting enough,&quot; she told reporters.

&quot;What I say is not meant to be exciting, it&#39;s meant to be accurate... not set people against each other.&quot;

Suu Kyi&#39;s defenders say she must tread lightly to avoid provoking a powerful army that could roll back democratic gains at any time.

The US was a major ally in the democratic opening that eventually led to Suu Kyi taking office after free elections in 2015, ending five decades of military dictatorship.

Washington rolled back junta-era trade bans and sanctions on military cronies at key points in the transition to encourage progress.&nbsp;

But the Rohingya crisis has pushed US lawmakers to propose a renewal of targeted military sanctions, including import bans on a jade trade run mostly by junta-era cronies.

Tillerson said he would review the bills upon return to Washington. &nbsp;

As anger over the plight of Rohingya mounts abroad, Myanmar&#39;s army has dug-in with its denial of abuses -- while also curbing access to the conflict zone.&nbsp;

Ahead of Tillerson&#39;s arrival the commander-in-chief published an internal probe that exonerated soldiers of all allegations, saying there was no evidence troops had killed civilians, raped women or used &quot;excessive force&quot; in Rakhine.

Rights groups blasted the report as an attempt to &quot;whitewash&quot; atrocities by a military with a long history of abuses, especially against ethnic minorities in border regions.&nbsp;

The statement by Tillerson came after a meeting with the country's army and civilian leaders

Washington's top diplomat on Wednesday said he would not yet push for sanctions against Myanmar over the Rohingya refugee crisis, but he called for an independent investigation into "credible" reports that soldiers committed atrocities against the Muslim minority. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was speaking after a one-day stop in Naypyidaw, as global outrage builds over impunity for a military accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya. Speaking by his side, Myanmar's de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi hit back at global criticism that she has been silent over the refugee crisis, saying she has instead focused on speech that avoids inflaming sectarian tensions. Also read: Tillerson in Myanmar to press Suu Kyi and army on Rohingya More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled the mainly Buddhist country since the military launched a counter-insurgency operation in northern Rakhine state in late August. While the army insists it has only targeted Rohingya rebels, refugees massing in grim Bangladeshi camps have described chilling and consistent accounts of widespread murder, rape and arson at the hands of security forces and Buddhist mobs. Speaking after meetings with the army chief and Suu Kyi, Tillerson said that broad economic sanctions are "not something that I'd think would be advisable at this time". "We want to see Myanmar succeed," he told reporters. "You can't just impose sanctions and say therefore the crisis is over." But he said Washington was "deeply concerned by credible reports of widespread atrocities committed by Myanmar's security forces and vigilantes" and urged Myanmar to accept an independent investigation into those allegations, after which individual sanctions could be appropriate. "The scenes of what occurred out there are just horrific," he added. Both the army and Suu Kyi's administration have dismissed reports of atrocities and refused to grant entry to UN investigators charged with probing allegations of ethnic cleansing. 'I have not been silent' But Washington has been careful to focus blame on the military rather than Suu Kyi, whose fledgling civilian administration is in a delicate power-sharing arrangement with the army. Though she lacks any say in security policy, the Nobel laureate has become a punching bag for rights groups disappointed by her failure to publicly criticise the military or defend Rohingya against rising Islamophobia, partly because she was so outspoken during the junta years. Suu Kyi, who rarely holds press conferences, addressed those criticisms on Wednesday. "I have not been silent... what people mean is what I say is not interesting enough," she told reporters. "What I say is not meant to be exciting, it's meant to be accurate... not set people against each other." Suu Kyi's defenders say she must tread lightly to avoid provoking a powerful army that could roll back democratic gains at any time. The US was a major ally in the democratic opening that eventually led to Suu Kyi taking office after free elections in 2015, ending five decades of military dictatorship. Washington rolled back junta-era trade bans and sanctions on military cronies at key points in the transition to encourage progress. But the Rohingya crisis has pushed US lawmakers to propose a renewal of targeted military sanctions, including import bans on a jade trade run mostly by junta-era cronies. Tillerson said he would review the bills upon return to Washington. As anger over the plight of Rohingya mounts abroad, Myanmar's army has dug-in with its denial of abuses -- while also curbing access to the conflict zone. Ahead of Tillerson's arrival the commander-in-chief published an internal probe that exonerated soldiers of all allegations, saying there was no evidence troops had killed civilians, raped women or used "excessive force" in Rakhine. Rights groups blasted the report as an attempt to "whitewash" atrocities by a military with a long history of abuses, especially against ethnic minorities in border regions.

Sanctions against Myanmar over Rohingya crisis not advisable: Tillerson

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmars-suu-kyi-meets-tillerson-in-manila-24245" target="_blank">Washington&#39;s top diplomat </a>arrived in Myanmar Wednesday to press civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country&#39;s powerful army chief over violence-torn Rakhine state, where troops are accused of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/myanmar-military-denies-atrocities-against-rohingya-24141" target="_blank">atrocities against Rohingya Muslims</a>.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson&#39;s one-day stop in the capital Naypyidaw comes as global outrage builds over an army clampdown that has driven more than 600,000 <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/tough-conditions-for-rohingya-refugees-in-bangladesh-us-official-23723" target="_blank">Rohingya</a> out of the mainly Buddhist country since late August.

While Myanmar&#39;s military insists it has only targeted Rohingya rebels, refugees massing in grim Bangladeshi camps have described chilling and consistent accounts of widespread murder, rape and arson at the hands of security forces.

The UN has said the army campaign likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of a minority that has faced years of systematic oppression.

Tillerson&#39;s first stop in Myanmar was a closed-door meeting with army commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, who he spoke with in one of the capital&#39;s massive, marble-floored halls.

Ahead of the face-to-face, a senior US State Department official said Tillerson would urge the general to rein in<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/aid-group-warns-of-death-among-rohingya-in-bangladesh-20298" target="_blank"> violence</a>, make it safe for Rohingya to return and allow a &quot;credible investigation&quot; into abuses.&nbsp;

The official did not comment on whether the diplomat would raise the threat of military sanctions - which US lawmakers have pushed for back home.

&quot;We think Burma (Myanmar) has made a lot of progress in the past few years and we would not want to see that progress reversed because of an inadequate response to a crisis like this,&quot; the official said.

&nbsp;Powerless or complicit

Tillerson will later meet and hold a joint press conference with Suu Kyi, the head of Myanmar&#39;s civilian government.

While she lacks control over the army, the Nobel laureate has become a punching bag for rights groups disappointed by her failure to condemn the crackdown, publicly criticise the military or defend Rohingya against rising Islamaphobia.

Washington says Suu Kyi has a crucial role to play in tackling the crisis but has been careful to focus blame on the army, who Tillerson has previously said he holds &quot;accountable&quot; for violence.

The US was a major ally in the democratic transition that eventually led to Suu Kyi taking office in 2016 in a power-sharing arrangement with the army, ending five decades of brutal junta rule.

Under a junta-drafted constitution the military still controls key security ministries, including border and defence, and retains a de facto veto on any constitutional change.&nbsp;

Suu Kyi&#39;s defenders say she must tread lightly to avoid provoking an army that could roll back democratic gains at any time.

As anger over the plight of Rohingya mounts abroad, Myanmar&#39;s army has dug-in with its denial of abuses- while also curbing access to the conflict zone.&nbsp;

Ahead of Tillerson&#39;s arrival, the commander-in-chief published an internal probe that exonerated soldiers of all allegations, saying there was no evidence troops had killed civilians, raped women or used &quot;excessive force&quot; in Rakhine.

Rights groups blasted the report as an attempt to &quot;whitewash&quot; atrocities by a military with a long history of abuses, especially against ethnic minorities in border regions.

Suu Kyi&#39;s administration has also dismissed reports of atrocities and has refused to grant entry to UN investigators charged with probing those allegations

Earlier a senior US State Department official said Tillerson would urge the general to rein in violence, make it safe for Rohingya to return and allow a 'credible investigation' into abuses

Washington's top diplomat arrived in Myanmar Wednesday to press civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's powerful army chief over violence-torn Rakhine state, where troops are accused of atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's one-day stop in the capital Naypyidaw comes as global outrage builds over an army clampdown that has driven more than 600,000 Rohingya out of the mainly Buddhist country since late August. While Myanmar's military insists it has only targeted Rohingya rebels, refugees massing in grim Bangladeshi camps have described chilling and consistent accounts of widespread murder, rape and arson at the hands of security forces. The UN has said the army campaign likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of a minority that has faced years of systematic oppression. Tillerson's first stop in Myanmar was a closed-door meeting with army commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, who he spoke with in one of the capital's massive, marble-floored halls. Ahead of the face-to-face, a senior US State Department official said Tillerson would urge the general to rein in violence, make it safe for Rohingya to return and allow a "credible investigation" into abuses. The official did not comment on whether the diplomat would raise the threat of military sanctions - which US lawmakers have pushed for back home. "We think Burma (Myanmar) has made a lot of progress in the past few years and we would not want to see that progress reversed because of an inadequate response to a crisis like this," the official said. Powerless or complicit Tillerson will later meet and hold a joint press conference with Suu Kyi, the head of Myanmar's civilian government. While she lacks control over the army, the Nobel laureate has become a punching bag for rights groups disappointed by her failure to condemn the crackdown, publicly criticise the military or defend Rohingya against rising Islamaphobia. Washington says Suu Kyi has a crucial role to play in tackling the crisis but has been careful to focus blame on the army, who Tillerson has previously said he holds "accountable" for violence. The US was a major ally in the democratic transition that eventually led to Suu Kyi taking office in 2016 in a power-sharing arrangement with the army, ending five decades of brutal junta rule. Under a junta-drafted constitution the military still controls key security ministries, including border and defence, and retains a de facto veto on any constitutional change. Suu Kyi's defenders say she must tread lightly to avoid provoking an army that could roll back democratic gains at any time. As anger over the plight of Rohingya mounts abroad, Myanmar's army has dug-in with its denial of abuses- while also curbing access to the conflict zone. Ahead of Tillerson's arrival, the commander-in-chief published an internal probe that exonerated soldiers of all allegations, saying there was no evidence troops had killed civilians, raped women or used "excessive force" in Rakhine. Rights groups blasted the report as an attempt to "whitewash" atrocities by a military with a long history of abuses, especially against ethnic minorities in border regions. Suu Kyi's administration has also dismissed reports of atrocities and has refused to grant entry to UN investigators charged with probing those allegations

Tillerson in Myanmar to press Suu Kyi and army on Rohingya

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi faced rising global pressure Tuesday to solve the crisis for her nation&#39;s displaced Rohingya Muslim minority, meeting the UN chief and America&#39;s top diplomat in the Philippines.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Nobel laureate that hundreds of thousands of displaced Muslims who had fled to Bangladesh should be allowed to return to their homes in Myanmar.

&quot;The Secretary-General highlighted that strengthened efforts to ensure humanitarian access, safe, dignified, voluntary and sustained returns, as well as true reconciliation between communities, would be essential,&quot; a UN statement said, summarising comments to Suu Kyi.

Guterres&#39; comments came hours before Suu Kyi sat down with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Manila.

Washington has been cautious in its statements on the situation in Rakhine and has avoided outright criticism of Suu Kyi.

Supporters say she must navigate a path between outrage abroad and popular feeling in a majority Buddhist country where most people believe the Rohingya are interlopers.

At a photo opportunity at the top of her meeting with Tillerson, Suu Kyi ignored a journalist who asked if the Rohingya were citizens of Myanmar.

At a later appearance after the meeting, Tillerson-who is headed to Myanmar on Wednesday-was asked by reporters if he &quot;had a message for Burmese leaders&quot;.

He apparently ignored the question, replying only: &quot;Thank you&quot;, according to a pool report of the encounter.

A senior US State Department official later said the top diplomat would press Myanmar&#39;s powerful army chief on Wednesday to halt the violence in Rakhine and make it safe for Rohingya to return.

The official did not comment on whether Tillerson would raise the threat of military sanctions, which US lawmakers have pushed for.&nbsp;

Canada&#39;s Justin Trudeau said he had spoken to Myanmar&#39;s de facto leader.

&quot;I had an extended conversation with... Aung San Suu Kyi, about the plight of the Muslim refugees in Rakhine state,&quot; he told a press conference.

&quot;This is of tremendous concern to Canada and many, many other countries around the world.&nbsp;

&quot;We are always looking at... how we can help, how we can move forward in a way that reduces violence, that emphasises the rule of law and that ensures protection for all citizens,&quot; he said.

&nbsp;&#39;Ethnic cleansing&#39;

More than 600,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh since late August, and now live in the squalor of the world&#39;s biggest refugee camp.

The crisis erupted after Rohingya rebels attacked police posts in Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state, triggering a military crackdown that saw hundreds of villages reduced to ashes and sparked a massive exodus.

The UN says the Myanmar military is engaged in a &quot;coordinated and systematic&quot; attempt to purge the region of Rohingya in what amounts to a &quot;textbook example of ethnic cleansing&quot;.

The stream of desperate refugees who escape across the riverine border bring with them stories of rape, murder and the torching of villages by soldiers and Buddhist mobs.

The Burmese government insists military action in Rakhine is a proportionate response to violence by militants.

Following its first official investigation into the crisis, the army published a report this week in which it cleared itself of any abuses.

However, it heavily restricts access to the region by independent journalists and aid groups, and verification of events on the ground is virtually impossible.

Suu Kyi, a former democracy activist, has been lambasted by rights groups for failing to speak up for the Rohingya or condemn festering anti-Muslim sentiment in the country.

Musician and campaigner Bob Geldof on Monday slammed Suu Kyi as a &quot;murderer&quot; and a &quot;handmaiden to genocide&quot;, becoming the latest in a growing line of global figures to disavow the one-time darling of the human rights community.

Supporters say she does not have the power to stop the powerful military, which ruled the country for decades until her party came to power following 2015 elections.

In a summit on Monday night with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, Guterres also voiced concern about the Rohingya.

He said the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya was a &quot;worrying escalation in a protracted tragedy,&quot; according to the UN statement.

He described the situation as a potential source of instability in the region, as well as radicalisation .

A senior US State Department official later said the top diplomat would press Myanmar's powerful army chief on Wednesday to halt the violence in Rakhine and make it safe for Rohingya to return

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi faced rising global pressure Tuesday to solve the crisis for her nation's displaced Rohingya Muslim minority, meeting the UN chief and America's top diplomat in the Philippines. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Nobel laureate that hundreds of thousands of displaced Muslims who had fled to Bangladesh should be allowed to return to their homes in Myanmar. "The Secretary-General highlighted that strengthened efforts to ensure humanitarian access, safe, dignified, voluntary and sustained returns, as well as true reconciliation between communities, would be essential," a UN statement said, summarising comments to Suu Kyi. Guterres' comments came hours before Suu Kyi sat down with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Manila. Washington has been cautious in its statements on the situation in Rakhine and has avoided outright criticism of Suu Kyi. Supporters say she must navigate a path between outrage abroad and popular feeling in a majority Buddhist country where most people believe the Rohingya are interlopers. At a photo opportunity at the top of her meeting with Tillerson, Suu Kyi ignored a journalist who asked if the Rohingya were citizens of Myanmar. At a later appearance after the meeting, Tillerson-who is headed to Myanmar on Wednesday-was asked by reporters if he "had a message for Burmese leaders". He apparently ignored the question, replying only: "Thank you", according to a pool report of the encounter. A senior US State Department official later said the top diplomat would press Myanmar's powerful army chief on Wednesday to halt the violence in Rakhine and make it safe for Rohingya to return. The official did not comment on whether Tillerson would raise the threat of military sanctions, which US lawmakers have pushed for. Canada's Justin Trudeau said he had spoken to Myanmar's de facto leader. "I had an extended conversation with... Aung San Suu Kyi, about the plight of the Muslim refugees in Rakhine state," he told a press conference. "This is of tremendous concern to Canada and many, many other countries around the world. "We are always looking at... how we can help, how we can move forward in a way that reduces violence, that emphasises the rule of law and that ensures protection for all citizens," he said. 'Ethnic cleansing' More than 600,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh since late August, and now live in the squalor of the world's biggest refugee camp. The crisis erupted after Rohingya rebels attacked police posts in Myanmar's Rakhine state, triggering a military crackdown that saw hundreds of villages reduced to ashes and sparked a massive exodus. The UN says the Myanmar military is engaged in a "coordinated and systematic" attempt to purge the region of Rohingya in what amounts to a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing". The stream of desperate refugees who escape across the riverine border bring with them stories of rape, murder and the torching of villages by soldiers and Buddhist mobs. The Burmese government insists military action in Rakhine is a proportionate response to violence by militants. Following its first official investigation into the crisis, the army published a report this week in which it cleared itself of any abuses. However, it heavily restricts access to the region by independent journalists and aid groups, and verification of events on the ground is virtually impossible. Suu Kyi, a former democracy activist, has been lambasted by rights groups for failing to speak up for the Rohingya or condemn festering anti-Muslim sentiment in the country. Musician and campaigner Bob Geldof on Monday slammed Suu Kyi as a "murderer" and a "handmaiden to genocide", becoming the latest in a growing line of global figures to disavow the one-time darling of the human rights community. Supporters say she does not have the power to stop the powerful military, which ruled the country for decades until her party came to power following 2015 elections. In a summit on Monday night with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, Guterres also voiced concern about the Rohingya. He said the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya was a "worrying escalation in a protracted tragedy," according to the UN statement. He described the situation as a potential source of instability in the region, as well as radicalisation .

Myanmar's Suu Kyi meets Tillerson in Manila

Myanmar&#39;s army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rape and killings by security forces, having days earlier replaced the general in charge of the operation that drove more than 600,000<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/tough-conditions-for-rohingya-refugees-in-bangladesh-us-official-23723" target="_blank"> Rohingya Muslims</a> to flee to <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/rohingya-group-urges-bangladesh-to-pressure-myanmar-on-return-to-ancestral-land-12444" target="_blank">Bangladesh</a>.

No reason was given for Major General Maung Maung Soe being transferred from his post as the head of Western Command in Rakhine state, where Myanmar&#39;s military, known as the Tatmadaw, launched a sweeping counter-insurgency operation in August.

&quot;I don&#39;t know the reason why he was transferred,&quot; Major General Aye Lwin, deputy director of the psychological warfare and public relation department at the Ministry of Defence, told Reuters. &quot;He wasn&#39;t moved into any position at present. He has been put in reserve.&quot;

A senior UN official, who had toured the refugee camps in Bangladesh, on Sunday accused <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/un-security-council-urges-myanmar-to-stop-excessive-military-force-23625" target="_blank">Myanmar&#39;s military</a> of conducting organised mass rape and other crimes against humanity.

The Myanmar military said its own internal investigation had exonerated security forces of all accusations of atrocities. The investigators&#39; findings were posted on the Facebook page of the military&#39;s commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

The developments came ahead of a visit on Wednesday by <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/tillerson-to-deliver-warning-in-myanmar-over-rohingya-crisis-24063" target="_blank">US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson</a>. He is expected to deliver a stern message to Myanmar&#39;s generals, over whom national leader Aung San Suu Kyi has little control.

A spokeswoman for the US State Department, Katina Adams, said the United States was aware of reports of the general&#39;s replacement and added:

&quot;We remain gravely concerned by continuing reports of violence and human rights abuses committed by Burmese security forces and vigilantes. Those responsible for abuses must be held accountable.&quot;

Lawmakers in Washington are pressing to pass legislation imposing economic and travel sanctions targeting the military and its business interests.

In an op-ed in Britain&#39;s Guardian newspaper on Monday, Republican Representative Steve Chabot and Democratic Representative Joseph Crowley said it was time to &quot;expeditiously&quot; impose sanctions.

&quot;The US needs to send a clear message that there is no excuse for a cruel, extensive and grossly disproportionate crackdown on civilians,&quot; they said.

The government in mostly Buddhist Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Leaders of Asian nations meeting in Manila on Monday skirted around the exodus of the Rohingya, disappointing human rights groups who were hoping for a tough stand.

Maung Maung Soe&#39;s transfer was ordered on Friday and Brigadier General Soe Tint Naing, formerly a director in logistics, was appointed as the new head of Western Command.

Made up of three divisions, Western Command is overseen by the Bureau of Special Operations, which reports to the office of Min Aung Hlaing.

A senior UN official, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra&#39;ad al-Hussein, has described the army&#39;s actions in Rakhine as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar says the clearance operation was necessary for national security after Rohingya militants attacked 30 security posts and an army base in the state on August 25. The internal investigation put the number of fighters involved in the attacks at over 10,000, more than doubling an earlier official estimate.

Alleged atrocities

Speaking in Dhaka, Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said she would raise accusations against the Myanmar military with the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

&quot;When I return to New York, I will brief and raise the issue with the prosecutor and president of the ICC whether they (Myanmar&#39;s military) can be held responsible for these atrocities,&quot; Patten said.

&quot;Sexual violence is being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar, otherwise known as the Tatmadaw,&quot; Patten said following a three-day tour of the Rohingya refugee camps in the Cox&#39;s Bazar region of Bangladesh.

&quot;Rape is an act and a weapon of genocide,&quot; she said.

Refugees have accused Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist vigilantes of torching their villages, murdering their families and raping women.

Patten said brutal acts of sexual violence had occurred in the context of collective persecution that included the killing of adults and children, torture, mutilation and the burning and looting of villages.

&quot;The forms of sexual violence we consistently heard about from survivors include gang-rape by multiple soldiers, forced public nudity and humiliation, and sexual slavery in military captivity. One survivor was in captivity for 45 days by the Myanmar army,&quot; Patten said.

Internal probe

The Myanmar military&#39;s internal probe said that according to 2,817 people interviewed from 54 Rohingya villages soldiers did not fire on &quot;innocent villagers&quot;, rape or commit sexual violence against women.

Nor were there any killings or beating of villagers, and the security forces did not carry out any looting or set fire to Rohingya mosques, it said.

The report also concluded that security forces only used small arms in clashes with Rohingya militants and there were no findings to suggest the use of &quot;excessive force&quot;.

It also blamed the militants for setting fire to the villages and frightening and coercing people to leave their homes.

Myanmar is refusing entry to a UN panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016.

The country is in the early stages of a fragile transition to democracy after being ruled by a junta for 49 years, and the generals have retained their autonomy on matters of defence, security and border issues under a 2008 constitution. Three generals are members of the cabinet.

Suu Kyi has said that any alleged atrocities should be substantiated and investigated, while her government is working to stabilise Rakhine in order for the Rohingya to return.

For now, though, the flow is one way. The International Rescue Committee, a New York-based aid agency, reckons that around two-thirds of an estimated 300,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar could head across the border in the coming months.

Myanmar's army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rape and killings by security forces, having days earlier replaced the general in charge of the operation that drove more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh

Myanmar's army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rape and killings by security forces, having days earlier replaced the general in charge of the operation that drove more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh. No reason was given for Major General Maung Maung Soe being transferred from his post as the head of Western Command in Rakhine state, where Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw, launched a sweeping counter-insurgency operation in August. "I don't know the reason why he was transferred," Major General Aye Lwin, deputy director of the psychological warfare and public relation department at the Ministry of Defence, told Reuters. "He wasn't moved into any position at present. He has been put in reserve." A senior UN official, who had toured the refugee camps in Bangladesh, on Sunday accused Myanmar's military of conducting organised mass rape and other crimes against humanity. The Myanmar military said its own internal investigation had exonerated security forces of all accusations of atrocities. The investigators' findings were posted on the Facebook page of the military's commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The developments came ahead of a visit on Wednesday by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He is expected to deliver a stern message to Myanmar's generals, over whom national leader Aung San Suu Kyi has little control. A spokeswoman for the US State Department, Katina Adams, said the United States was aware of reports of the general's replacement and added: "We remain gravely concerned by continuing reports of violence and human rights abuses committed by Burmese security forces and vigilantes. Those responsible for abuses must be held accountable." Lawmakers in Washington are pressing to pass legislation imposing economic and travel sanctions targeting the military and its business interests. In an op-ed in Britain's Guardian newspaper on Monday, Republican Representative Steve Chabot and Democratic Representative Joseph Crowley said it was time to "expeditiously" impose sanctions. "The US needs to send a clear message that there is no excuse for a cruel, extensive and grossly disproportionate crackdown on civilians," they said. The government in mostly Buddhist Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Leaders of Asian nations meeting in Manila on Monday skirted around the exodus of the Rohingya, disappointing human rights groups who were hoping for a tough stand. Maung Maung Soe's transfer was ordered on Friday and Brigadier General Soe Tint Naing, formerly a director in logistics, was appointed as the new head of Western Command. Made up of three divisions, Western Command is overseen by the Bureau of Special Operations, which reports to the office of Min Aung Hlaing. A senior UN official, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, has described the army's actions in Rakhine as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing. Myanmar says the clearance operation was necessary for national security after Rohingya militants attacked 30 security posts and an army base in the state on August 25. The internal investigation put the number of fighters involved in the attacks at over 10,000, more than doubling an earlier official estimate. Alleged atrocities Speaking in Dhaka, Pramila Patten, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said she would raise accusations against the Myanmar military with the International Criminal Court in the Hague. "When I return to New York, I will brief and raise the issue with the prosecutor and president of the ICC whether they (Myanmar's military) can be held responsible for these atrocities," Patten said. "Sexual violence is being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar, otherwise known as the Tatmadaw," Patten said following a three-day tour of the Rohingya refugee camps in the Cox's Bazar region of Bangladesh. "Rape is an act and a weapon of genocide," she said. Refugees have accused Myanmar soldiers and Buddhist vigilantes of torching their villages, murdering their families and raping women. Patten said brutal acts of sexual violence had occurred in the context of collective persecution that included the killing of adults and children, torture, mutilation and the burning and looting of villages. "The forms of sexual violence we consistently heard about from survivors include gang-rape by multiple soldiers, forced public nudity and humiliation, and sexual slavery in military captivity. One survivor was in captivity for 45 days by the Myanmar army," Patten said. Internal probe The Myanmar military's internal probe said that according to 2,817 people interviewed from 54 Rohingya villages soldiers did not fire on "innocent villagers", rape or commit sexual violence against women. Nor were there any killings or beating of villagers, and the security forces did not carry out any looting or set fire to Rohingya mosques, it said. The report also concluded that security forces only used small arms in clashes with Rohingya militants and there were no findings to suggest the use of "excessive force". It also blamed the militants for setting fire to the villages and frightening and coercing people to leave their homes. Myanmar is refusing entry to a UN panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016. The country is in the early stages of a fragile transition to democracy after being ruled by a junta for 49 years, and the generals have retained their autonomy on matters of defence, security and border issues under a 2008 constitution. Three generals are members of the cabinet. Suu Kyi has said that any alleged atrocities should be substantiated and investigated, while her government is working to stabilise Rakhine in order for the Rohingya to return. For now, though, the flow is one way. The International Rescue Committee, a New York-based aid agency, reckons that around two-thirds of an estimated 300,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar could head across the border in the coming months.

Myanmar military denies atrocities against Rohingyas, replaces general

Irish Musician and activist Bob Geldof said he will return his Freedom of The City of Dublin award.

The decision of returning the awards came in protest over his fellow recipient Aung San Suu Kyi&#39;s response to the repression of Rohingya.

&quot;Her association with our city shames us all and we should have no truck with it, even by default. We honored her, now she appalls and shames us&nbsp;In short, I do not wish to be associated in any way with an individual currently engaged in the mass ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people of North West Burma&quot; Gedolf said in a statement. Reported by Reuters

Suu Kyi was given Freedom of Dublin in 199 while she was held under house arrest by Myanmar&#39;s the military government but received it later in 2012 at a reception in Ireland.

Similar honour by the British university city of Oxford, where she was an undergraduate was also taken away last month.

Aung San Suu Kyi was heavily criticized for failing to speak out against the atrocities on Rohingya. People criticizing her also called for her to be stripped of the Nobel Peace Prize that she won in 1991

Other&nbsp;recipients of the Freedom of Dublin include John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

More than 600,00 Muslims from Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh after military operations described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing.

Irish Musician and activist Bob Geldof said he will return his Freedom of The City of Dublin award

Irish Musician and activist Bob Geldof said he will return his Freedom of The City of Dublin award. The decision of returning the awards came in protest over his fellow recipient Aung San Suu Kyi's response to the repression of Rohingya. "Her association with our city shames us all and we should have no truck with it, even by default. We honored her, now she appalls and shames us In short, I do not wish to be associated in any way with an individual currently engaged in the mass ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people of North West Burma" Gedolf said in a statement. Reported by Reuters Suu Kyi was given Freedom of Dublin in 199 while she was held under house arrest by Myanmar's the military government but received it later in 2012 at a reception in Ireland. Similar honour by the British university city of Oxford, where she was an undergraduate was also taken away last month. Aung San Suu Kyi was heavily criticized for failing to speak out against the atrocities on Rohingya. People criticizing her also called for her to be stripped of the Nobel Peace Prize that she won in 1991 Other recipients of the Freedom of Dublin include John F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, and Mikhail Gorbachev. More than 600,00 Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh after military operations described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing.

Geldof will return his Freedom of The City of Dublin award in protest of Aung San Suu Kyi

In the face of widespread &quot;atrocities&quot; against ethnic Rohingya people in Myanmar, the United States has been cautiously stepping up pressure on that country&#39;s army, while taking care to avoid endangering the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

As the US takes a more active role in the region-several American delegations have passed through in recent weeks-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to travel to Myanmar on Wednesday to meet Suu Kyi, the nation&#39;s leader, as well as army chief General Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar is the country formerly known as Burma.

Tillerson is expected to adopt a firm tone with military leaders there, whom he has deemed &quot;responsible&quot; for the crisis facing the Rohingya, an embattled Muslim minority that has seen more than 600,000 of its members flee to neighboring Bangladesh in two and a half months.

In the name of putting down a supposed Rohingya rebellion, the army has since late August waged a sweeping military campaign in the western state of Rakhine, burning villages and sending thousands into what has become the largest exodus in today&#39;s world.

The United Nations has denounced the campaign, including allegations of killings and mass rape, as &quot;ethnic cleansing.&quot;

Recently returned from Myanmar and the overflowing refugee camps in Bangladesh, Simon Henshaw, the State Department official responsible for refugee and migration issues, said the scene in the camps was &quot;shocking.&quot;

&quot;The scale of the refugee crisis is immense,&quot; he said, adding: &quot;The conditions are tough. People are suffering.&quot;

&quot;Many refugees told us, through tears, accounts of seeing their villages burned, their relatives killed in front of them,&quot; Henshaw said.

&quot;The world can&#39;t just stand by and be witness to the atrocities that are being reported in that area,&quot; Tillerson said last month.

But it is unclear what steps the United States might take. Up to now, the State Department has merely strengthened a few punitive measures aimed at Myanmar&#39;s army.

The initial condemnations were &quot;important,&quot; Sarah Margon of the organisation Human Rights Watch told AFP, &quot;but they stopped and there has been very little concrete action since then.&quot;

She called for targeted economic sanctions meant to bring an end to &quot;some of the most brutal and horrific atrocities that have been seen in years.&quot;

In the absence of more determined action from the White House or State Department, several members of the US Congress are calling for sanctions to limit military cooperation with Myanmar and ban its army members from US soil. A draft bill would also ban the importation of rubies or jade from the country.

&quot;The bill is an important, although belated, first step in pushing the Myanmar military to end the violence in Rakhine state,&quot; said Joshua Kurlantzick of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Now, he said, other parts of the government &quot;should take action as well.&quot;

The State Department has not ruled out supporting further sanctions.

But the United States has been careful not to place blame on Aung San Suu Kyi, drawing a line between the military and the civilian government led by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to travel to Myanmar on Wednesday to meet Suu Kyi. He is expected to adopt a firm tone with military leaders there, whom he has deemed 'responsible' for the crisis facing the Rohingya

In the face of widespread "atrocities" against ethnic Rohingya people in Myanmar, the United States has been cautiously stepping up pressure on that country's army, while taking care to avoid endangering the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi. As the US takes a more active role in the region-several American delegations have passed through in recent weeks-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to travel to Myanmar on Wednesday to meet Suu Kyi, the nation's leader, as well as army chief General Min Aung Hlaing. Myanmar is the country formerly known as Burma. Tillerson is expected to adopt a firm tone with military leaders there, whom he has deemed "responsible" for the crisis facing the Rohingya, an embattled Muslim minority that has seen more than 600,000 of its members flee to neighboring Bangladesh in two and a half months. In the name of putting down a supposed Rohingya rebellion, the army has since late August waged a sweeping military campaign in the western state of Rakhine, burning villages and sending thousands into what has become the largest exodus in today's world. The United Nations has denounced the campaign, including allegations of killings and mass rape, as "ethnic cleansing." Recently returned from Myanmar and the overflowing refugee camps in Bangladesh, Simon Henshaw, the State Department official responsible for refugee and migration issues, said the scene in the camps was "shocking." "The scale of the refugee crisis is immense," he said, adding: "The conditions are tough. People are suffering." "Many refugees told us, through tears, accounts of seeing their villages burned, their relatives killed in front of them," Henshaw said. "The world can't just stand by and be witness to the atrocities that are being reported in that area," Tillerson said last month. But it is unclear what steps the United States might take. Up to now, the State Department has merely strengthened a few punitive measures aimed at Myanmar's army. The initial condemnations were "important," Sarah Margon of the organisation Human Rights Watch told AFP, "but they stopped and there has been very little concrete action since then." She called for targeted economic sanctions meant to bring an end to "some of the most brutal and horrific atrocities that have been seen in years." In the absence of more determined action from the White House or State Department, several members of the US Congress are calling for sanctions to limit military cooperation with Myanmar and ban its army members from US soil. A draft bill would also ban the importation of rubies or jade from the country. "The bill is an important, although belated, first step in pushing the Myanmar military to end the violence in Rakhine state," said Joshua Kurlantzick of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. Now, he said, other parts of the government "should take action as well." The State Department has not ruled out supporting further sanctions. But the United States has been careful not to place blame on Aung San Suu Kyi, drawing a line between the military and the civilian government led by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Tillerson to deliver warning in Myanmar over Rohingya crisis

Blessed by calmer seas, several hundred more Rohingya Muslims on Thursday joined a multitude of refugees in Bangladesh, as calls grew for upcoming regional summits to exert more pressure on Myanmar&rsquo;s Aung San Suu Kyi to stem the crisis.

A Myanmar military operation has driven out more than 600,000 Rohingya since late August and the latest refugees to find sanctuary in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh say many thousands more are still trying to leave.

Ariful Islam, of Bangladesh&rsquo;s Border Guard, said about 200 people arrived on Thursday morning on the stretch of coast he commands at Teknaf, on the southern tip of Cox&rsquo;s Bazar district.

Abdus Sabir was among a group that came ashore at Shamlapur after a six-hour boat journey, the final leg of an escape begun weeks ago.

&ldquo;We fled because the military is still burning our houses,&rdquo; Abdus, who had abandoned his home in the Rathedaung region of Myanmar&rsquo;s Rakhine State, told Reuters.

Nearby, Husain Shorif, from the Buthidaung region, said he had rowed for four hours to help bring across 56 people on a raft cobbled together from bamboo and plastic jerrycans.

&ldquo;Some boatmen were asking for huge money we didn&rsquo;t have. So we made our own boat and came,&rdquo; Shorif said, adding that thousands more Rohingya were still stranded at Pa Nyaung Pin Gyi at the mouth of the Naf river.

A Myanmar military operation has driven out more than 600,000 Rohingya since late August and the latest refugees to find sanctuary in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh say many thousands more are still trying to leave.

Ariful Islam, of Bangladesh&rsquo;s Border Guard, said about 200 people arrived on Thursday morning on the stretch of coast he commands at Teknaf, on the southern tip of Cox&rsquo;s Bazar district.

Abdus Sabir was among a group that came ashore at Shamlapur after a six-hour boat journey, the final leg of an escape begun weeks ago.

&ldquo;We fled because the military is still burning our houses,&rdquo; Abdus, who had abandoned his home in the Rathedaung region of Myanmar&rsquo;s Rakhine State, told Reuters.

Nearby, Husain Shorif, from the Buthidaung region, said he had rowed for four hours to help bring across 56 people on a raft cobbled together from bamboo and plastic jerrycans.

&ldquo;Some boatmen were asking for huge money we didn&rsquo;t have. So we made our own boat and came,&rdquo; Shorif said, adding that thousands more Rohingya were still stranded at Pa Nyaung Pin Gyi at the mouth of the Naf river.

Reuters were unable to verify that claim as Myanmar&rsquo;s military has restricted access to northern parts of Rakhine, where it launched a clearance operation it says was aimed at Rohingya militants behind attacks on 30 security posts on Aug. 25, but which UN officials described as &ldquo;ethnic cleansing&rdquo;.

The storm of opprobrium over the humanitarian crisis will expose Myanmar to more diplomatic pressure, at least from leaders of Muslim-majority countries and the United States, during three summits hosted by Vietnam and the Philippines.

Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar&rsquo;s less than two-year-old civilian administration, left on Thursday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnam&rsquo;s central seaside resort of Danang.

Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for standing up to the generals who had ruled the country for nearly half a century, Suu Kyi now effectively shares power with them, under a constitution drawn up in 2008 when junta was still in control, and has little control over what they do.

After Friday&rsquo;s APEC summit, Suu Kyi will attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping in Manila on Sunday, followed by an East Asia Summit in Angeles, just north of the Philippine capital.

Setting up a regional trade block, and concerns over North Korea&rsquo;s ambitions to become a nuclear-armed state are summit priorities, but New York-based Human Rights Watch beseeched them to ensure stronger action by Myanmar to end the crisis.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet Suu Kyi on Nov. 15 for talks on the Rohingya crisis, and they are expected to hold a joint news conference.

<h3>OUTCRY</h3>

&ldquo;World leaders shouldn&rsquo;t return home from these summits without agreeing to targeted sanctions to pressure Burma to end its abuses and allow in independent observers and aid groups,&rdquo; Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that referred to Myanmar by its old name.

Adams said the leaders should discuss how to investigate alleged rights abuses and atrocities in Rakhine, and refer them to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

The rights group also urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo, economic sanctions and travel bans targeting Myanmar military officials.

U.S. senators seek to adopt measures for the United States to impose such sanctions.

The Security Council this week opted for a strongly worded statement scolding Myanmar, as diplomats said China and Russia would have vetoed any resolution.

China has publicly supported the Myanmar government&rsquo;s efforts to &ldquo;maintain stability&rdquo; in Rakhine. The stance taken by China and other Southeast Asian governments fighting insurgencies by Muslim militants should spare Myanmar from any harsh spotlight in the summits&rsquo; final communiques.

&ldquo;On the Rohingya, the leaders will agree that there is no quick fix to the long-standing inter-communal problem with deep historical roots that needs to be carefully managed,&rdquo; an ASEAN diplomat told Reuters, adding that the group aimed to deliver $500,000 of relief supplies to Myanmar.

&nbsp;

<figure tabindex="-1">&nbsp;</figure>

A Myanmar military operation has driven out more than 600,000 Rohingya since late August and the latest refugees to find sanctuary in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh say many thousands more are still trying to leave.

Blessed by calmer seas, several hundred more Rohingya Muslims on Thursday joined a multitude of refugees in Bangladesh, as calls grew for upcoming regional summits to exert more pressure on Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi to stem the crisis. A Myanmar military operation has driven out more than 600,000 Rohingya since late August and the latest refugees to find sanctuary in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh say many thousands more are still trying to leave. Ariful Islam, of Bangladesh’s Border Guard, said about 200 people arrived on Thursday morning on the stretch of coast he commands at Teknaf, on the southern tip of Cox’s Bazar district. Abdus Sabir was among a group that came ashore at Shamlapur after a six-hour boat journey, the final leg of an escape begun weeks ago. “We fled because the military is still burning our houses,” Abdus, who had abandoned his home in the Rathedaung region of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, told Reuters. Nearby, Husain Shorif, from the Buthidaung region, said he had rowed for four hours to help bring across 56 people on a raft cobbled together from bamboo and plastic jerrycans. “Some boatmen were asking for huge money we didn’t have. So we made our own boat and came,” Shorif said, adding that thousands more Rohingya were still stranded at Pa Nyaung Pin Gyi at the mouth of the Naf river. A Myanmar military operation has driven out more than 600,000 Rohingya since late August and the latest refugees to find sanctuary in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh say many thousands more are still trying to leave. Ariful Islam, of Bangladesh’s Border Guard, said about 200 people arrived on Thursday morning on the stretch of coast he commands at Teknaf, on the southern tip of Cox’s Bazar district. Abdus Sabir was among a group that came ashore at Shamlapur after a six-hour boat journey, the final leg of an escape begun weeks ago. “We fled because the military is still burning our houses,” Abdus, who had abandoned his home in the Rathedaung region of Myanmar’s Rakhine State, told Reuters. Nearby, Husain Shorif, from the Buthidaung region, said he had rowed for four hours to help bring across 56 people on a raft cobbled together from bamboo and plastic jerrycans. “Some boatmen were asking for huge money we didn’t have. So we made our own boat and came,” Shorif said, adding that thousands more Rohingya were still stranded at Pa Nyaung Pin Gyi at the mouth of the Naf river. Reuters were unable to verify that claim as Myanmar’s military has restricted access to northern parts of Rakhine, where it launched a clearance operation it says was aimed at Rohingya militants behind attacks on 30 security posts on Aug. 25, but which UN officials described as “ethnic cleansing”. The storm of opprobrium over the humanitarian crisis will expose Myanmar to more diplomatic pressure, at least from leaders of Muslim-majority countries and the United States, during three summits hosted by Vietnam and the Philippines. Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar’s less than two-year-old civilian administration, left on Thursday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the Vietnam’s central seaside resort of Danang. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for standing up to the generals who had ruled the country for nearly half a century, Suu Kyi now effectively shares power with them, under a constitution drawn up in 2008 when junta was still in control, and has little control over what they do. After Friday’s APEC summit, Suu Kyi will attend a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping in Manila on Sunday, followed by an East Asia Summit in Angeles, just north of the Philippine capital. Setting up a regional trade block, and concerns over North Korea’s ambitions to become a nuclear-armed state are summit priorities, but New York-based Human Rights Watch beseeched them to ensure stronger action by Myanmar to end the crisis. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet Suu Kyi on Nov. 15 for talks on the Rohingya crisis, and they are expected to hold a joint news conference. OUTCRY “World leaders shouldn’t return home from these summits without agreeing to targeted sanctions to pressure Burma to end its abuses and allow in independent observers and aid groups,” Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that referred to Myanmar by its old name. Adams said the leaders should discuss how to investigate alleged rights abuses and atrocities in Rakhine, and refer them to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The rights group also urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo, economic sanctions and travel bans targeting Myanmar military officials. U.S. senators seek to adopt measures for the United States to impose such sanctions. The Security Council this week opted for a strongly worded statement scolding Myanmar, as diplomats said China and Russia would have vetoed any resolution. China has publicly supported the Myanmar government’s efforts to “maintain stability” in Rakhine. The stance taken by China and other Southeast Asian governments fighting insurgencies by Muslim militants should spare Myanmar from any harsh spotlight in the summits’ final communiques. “On the Rohingya, the leaders will agree that there is no quick fix to the long-standing inter-communal problem with deep historical roots that needs to be carefully managed,” an ASEAN diplomat told Reuters, adding that the group aimed to deliver $500,000 of relief supplies to Myanmar.

Rohingya row to Bangladesh as Myanmar's Suu Kyi runs summit gauntlet

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/un-security-council-urges-myanmar-to-stop-excessive-military-force-23625" target="_blank">The scale of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is &quot;immense&quot; </a>and while the host nation has been &quot;generous&quot; in its efforts, the situation requires a lot more work, a top US official who recently visited Bangladesh has said.

&quot;What we saw in the camps was shocking. The scale of the refugee crisis is immense,&quot; Simon Henshaw, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

Henshaw led a US delegation to Bangladesh, from October 29 to November 4, during which the team also visited the refugee camps near Cox&#39;s Bazar.

&quot;The conditions are tough. People are suffering. Many refugees told us, through tears, accounts of seeing their villages burned, their relatives killed in front of them,&quot; said Henshaw.

&quot;It was tough to take. Some recall being shot as they fled,&quot; he said.

Despite the trauma, many expressed a strong desire to return to their homes in Burma, provided their safety, security, and rights could be guaranteed, Henshaw said.

Responding to a question, Henshaw said he saw evidence of atrocities during the visit to these camps.

&quot;I&#39;m not an expert, but what I saw was shocking. I saw evidence of atrocities,&quot; he said.

Asked if the atrocities rose up to the level of ethnic cleansing, Henshaw was non-committal, saying the State Department would review his reports and that of the others to make any such determination.

Despite the conditions in the relief camps, Henshaw praised Bangladesh&#39;s government, its people, and other organisations that are supporting the refugees.

&quot;However, more is needed. The US remains committed to addressing the needs of those impacted by the crisis, and calls on others, including in the region, to join us in our response,&quot; Henshaw said.

According to Henshaw, the Burmese government &quot;appears to be committed&quot; to start a repatriation programme which is in its early stages.

&quot;It&#39;s very important to us that the programme not only creates safe conditions so that refugees will want to return voluntarily, but also assure that refugees go back to their villages and land, that their houses be restored in the areas where the villages were burned, and that political reconciliation take place,&quot; he said.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert, who accompanied Henshaw during the visit to Bangladesh, applauded the government of Bangladesh for taking &quot;an extraordinary step to open its heart and doors&quot; for their neighbors in distress.

&quot;They&#39;ve opened their hearts; they&#39;ve opened their wallets. Imagine more than 600,000 to cross their borders, putting them in camps. It&#39;s not where these people want to be of course in their camps; they&#39;d rather be home. But at least they&#39;re safe for now,&quot; she said.

More than 600,000 people from the Muslim minority group have fled violence in Myanmar&#39;s northern Rakhine state since August, according to UN estimates.

Bangladesh accused Myanmar of spearheading a violent depopulation campaign to eliminate Rohingyas by branding them as so-called &quot;Islamist terrorists&quot;

Despite the conditions in the relief camps, Henshaw praised Bangladesh's government, its people, and other organisations that are supporting the refugees

The scale of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is "immense" and while the host nation has been "generous" in its efforts, the situation requires a lot more work, a top US official who recently visited Bangladesh has said. "What we saw in the camps was shocking. The scale of the refugee crisis is immense," Simon Henshaw, the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration told reporters at a news conference yesterday. Henshaw led a US delegation to Bangladesh, from October 29 to November 4, during which the team also visited the refugee camps near Cox's Bazar. "The conditions are tough. People are suffering. Many refugees told us, through tears, accounts of seeing their villages burned, their relatives killed in front of them," said Henshaw. "It was tough to take. Some recall being shot as they fled," he said. Despite the trauma, many expressed a strong desire to return to their homes in Burma, provided their safety, security, and rights could be guaranteed, Henshaw said. Responding to a question, Henshaw said he saw evidence of atrocities during the visit to these camps. "I'm not an expert, but what I saw was shocking. I saw evidence of atrocities," he said. Asked if the atrocities rose up to the level of ethnic cleansing, Henshaw was non-committal, saying the State Department would review his reports and that of the others to make any such determination. Despite the conditions in the relief camps, Henshaw praised Bangladesh's government, its people, and other organisations that are supporting the refugees. "However, more is needed. The US remains committed to addressing the needs of those impacted by the crisis, and calls on others, including in the region, to join us in our response," Henshaw said. According to Henshaw, the Burmese government "appears to be committed" to start a repatriation programme which is in its early stages. "It's very important to us that the programme not only creates safe conditions so that refugees will want to return voluntarily, but also assure that refugees go back to their villages and land, that their houses be restored in the areas where the villages were burned, and that political reconciliation take place," he said. State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert, who accompanied Henshaw during the visit to Bangladesh, applauded the government of Bangladesh for taking "an extraordinary step to open its heart and doors" for their neighbors in distress. "They've opened their hearts; they've opened their wallets. Imagine more than 600,000 to cross their borders, putting them in camps. It's not where these people want to be of course in their camps; they'd rather be home. But at least they're safe for now," she said. More than 600,000 people from the Muslim minority group have fled violence in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state since August, according to UN estimates. Bangladesh accused Myanmar of spearheading a violent depopulation campaign to eliminate Rohingyas by branding them as so-called "Islamist terrorists"

'Tough conditions for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh': US official

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