The UN&#39;s rights envoy for Myanmar arrived in troubled Rakhine state on Friday for a trip north to probe allegations of horrific abuse of Rohingya Muslims by security forces.

Special rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee touched down in the state capital Sittwe as part of a 12-day visit to investigate escalating violence in Myanmar&#39;s restive ethnic border areas.&nbsp;

Lee has faced threats and been branded a &quot;whore&quot; by Buddhist hardliners on previous visits for her criticism of how Myanmar treats the Rohingya, a stateless group that has suffered years of poverty and repression.&nbsp;

Over the past three months they have been targeted by a military crackdown in northern Rakhine that the UN said has forced at least 65,000 to flee across the border to Bangladesh.

In Sittwe, Lee met with senior local officials and then visited the only Muslim neighbourhood left in the city since sectarian clashes in 2012 drove tens of thousands of Rohingya into displacement camps.

&quot;We told her that nothing has changed for us,&quot; a local Muslim called Zaw Zaw told AFP.&nbsp;

&quot;We want our children to learn in schools peacefully and we want jobs like we had before.&quot;

Earlier a senior figure from the nationalist Arakan National Party, which controls the state parliament and aggressively opposes any moves to grant the Rohingya citizenship, said they had refused to meet with Lee.

&quot;They offered to meet with us from their side but we have no plans to meet them,&quot; ANP&#39;s vice-president Khine Pyi Soe told AFP.&nbsp;

Villages in northern Rakhine have been under military control since October as the army stages &quot;clearance operations&quot; to find Rohingya insurgents allegedly behind deadly raids on police border posts.

The crisis has drawn a storm of international criticism for the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which took power in March.

Lee has slammed the lockdown as &quot;unacceptable&quot; and called for an international investigation into claims troops have raped, murdered and tortured civilians from the Muslim minority.

Ahead of her trip, she said violence in Rakhine had contributed to &quot;disquiet regarding the direction that the new government is taking in its first year&quot;.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has lashed out at Nobel laureate Suu Kyi for not stopping the violence, and next week will host foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for talks on the crisis.

Bangladesh has urged Myanmar&#39;s government to take back the thousands of refugees that have entered already overcrowded camps along the border.

&quot;Bangladesh has demanded (the) quick restoration of (a) normal situation in Rakhine state so that Myanmar nationals... can quickly go back home,&quot; foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali said after meeting Myanmar&#39;s special envoy in Dhaka this week.

Myanmar&#39;s foreign ministry said the two sides had &quot;agreed to commence consultations for verification and repatriation&quot; of those who had fled the lockdown.

(AFP)

Special rapporteur on Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, is in Sittwe as part of a 12-day visit to investigate the escalating ethnic violence

The UN's rights envoy for Myanmar arrived in troubled Rakhine state on Friday for a trip north to probe allegations of horrific abuse of Rohingya Muslims by security forces. Special rapporteur on Myanmar Yanghee Lee touched down in the state capital Sittwe as part of a 12-day visit to investigate escalating violence in Myanmar's restive ethnic border areas. Lee has faced threats and been branded a "whore" by Buddhist hardliners on previous visits for her criticism of how Myanmar treats the Rohingya, a stateless group that has suffered years of poverty and repression. Over the past three months they have been targeted by a military crackdown in northern Rakhine that the UN said has forced at least 65,000 to flee across the border to Bangladesh. In Sittwe, Lee met with senior local officials and then visited the only Muslim neighbourhood left in the city since sectarian clashes in 2012 drove tens of thousands of Rohingya into displacement camps. "We told her that nothing has changed for us," a local Muslim called Zaw Zaw told AFP. "We want our children to learn in schools peacefully and we want jobs like we had before." Earlier a senior figure from the nationalist Arakan National Party, which controls the state parliament and aggressively opposes any moves to grant the Rohingya citizenship, said they had refused to meet with Lee. "They offered to meet with us from their side but we have no plans to meet them," ANP's vice-president Khine Pyi Soe told AFP. Villages in northern Rakhine have been under military control since October as the army stages "clearance operations" to find Rohingya insurgents allegedly behind deadly raids on police border posts. The crisis has drawn a storm of international criticism for the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which took power in March. Lee has slammed the lockdown as "unacceptable" and called for an international investigation into claims troops have raped, murdered and tortured civilians from the Muslim minority. Ahead of her trip, she said violence in Rakhine had contributed to "disquiet regarding the direction that the new government is taking in its first year". Muslim-majority Malaysia has lashed out at Nobel laureate Suu Kyi for not stopping the violence, and next week will host foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation for talks on the crisis. Bangladesh has urged Myanmar's government to take back the thousands of refugees that have entered already overcrowded camps along the border. "Bangladesh has demanded (the) quick restoration of (a) normal situation in Rakhine state so that Myanmar nationals... can quickly go back home," foreign minister A.H. Mahmood Ali said after meeting Myanmar's special envoy in Dhaka this week. Myanmar's foreign ministry said the two sides had "agreed to commence consultations for verification and repatriation" of those who had fled the lockdown. (AFP)

Myanmar: UN rights envoy reaches Rakhine to probe Rohingya abuse

A tragic&nbsp;picture circulated&nbsp;today of a 16-month-old Rohingyan&nbsp;boy named Mohammed Shohayet, who was killed as&nbsp;Burmese guards&nbsp;fired&nbsp;on refugees fleeing a genocide. The&nbsp;image&nbsp;recalls for many the heart-wrenching&nbsp;picture&nbsp;of Alan Kurdi, the dead Syrian refugee&nbsp;whose corpse&nbsp;washed up on Turkey&#39;s shore.&nbsp;

The impossibly sad picture of Kurdi reverberated around the world in the summer of 2016. It seemed to embody the epitome of the horror of war, and increased an already fierce&nbsp;public backlash against the Syrian civil&nbsp;war. &nbsp;

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Tragic photo of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rohingya?src=hash">#Rohingya</a> baby reminds&nbsp;us&nbsp;Alan Kurdi. Burmese Border Guard indiscriminately opened fire as they were fleeing from genocide. <a href="https://t.co/JTBEo89tJe">pic.twitter.com/JTBEo89tJe</a>
&mdash; Alisha Binti Hamid (@jaan_alisha) <a href="https://twitter.com/jaan_alisha/status/806750114203082752">December 8, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Shohayet&#39;s family fled to Bangladesh to escape the violence in Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine State. Mohammed, along with his mother, uncle and three-year-old brother drowned on the journey, leaving only the father alive, CNN reported.

&quot;When I see the picture, I feel like I would rather die. There is no point in me living in this world,&quot; Mohammed&#39;s father, Zafor Alam, told CNN.

Whereas the picture of the Syrian boy, Kurdi,&nbsp;seemed to make people feel agonizingly helpless&nbsp;in the face of a catastrophe the world was closely watching, many&nbsp;hope&nbsp;that the picture of Shohayet will increase attention to the plight of the Rohingya Muslims.

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Dec 31, 2015, Alan Kurdi still alive with his mother and brother. Jan 2, 2016, all 3 were dead; 5,000 more died seeking safety in 2016. <a href="https://t.co/Z4Io42mBbz">pic.twitter.com/Z4Io42mBbz</a>
&mdash; Crawford Kilian (@Crof) <a href="https://twitter.com/Crof/status/815393936994775040">January 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Myanmar is carrying out <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/myanmar-pursuing-ethnic-cleansing-of-rohingya-un-official-9298">&quot;ethnic cleansing</a>&quot; of Rohingya Muslims, a UN official has reportedly said, as horrifying stories of gang rape, torture and murder emerge from among the thousands who have fled to Bangladesh.&nbsp;

Up to 30,000 of the impoverished ethnic group have abandoned their homes in Myanmar to escape the unfolding violence, the UN says, after troops poured into the narrow strip where they live earlier this month.

Dhaka has resisted urgent international appeals to open its border to avert a humanitarian crisis, instead telling Myanmar it must do more to prevent the stateless Rohingya minority from entering.

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The Muslim minorities in Myanmar continue to flee the violence by security forces. Myanmar is accused of carrying out a systematic cleansing of the minority group also known as Rohingya. WION&#39;s Bangladesh correspondent Saad Hammadi sends this report. (WION)
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(WION)

The boy was killed as Burmese border guards fired indiscriminately on the Muslims fleeing genocide

A tragic picture circulated today of a 16-month-old Rohingyan boy named Mohammed Shohayet, who was killed as Burmese guards fired on refugees fleeing a genocide. The image recalls for many the heart-wrenching picture of Alan Kurdi, the dead Syrian refugee whose corpse washed up on Turkey's shore. The impossibly sad picture of Kurdi reverberated around the world in the summer of 2016. It seemed to embody the epitome of the horror of war, and increased an already fierce public backlash against the Syrian civil war. Tragic photo of #Rohingya baby reminds us Alan Kurdi. Burmese Border Guard indiscriminately opened fire as they were fleeing from genocide. pic.twitter.com/JTBEo89tJe — Alisha Binti Hamid (@jaan_alisha) December 8, 2016 × Shohayet's family fled to Bangladesh to escape the violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State. Mohammed, along with his mother, uncle and three-year-old brother drowned on the journey, leaving only the father alive, CNN reported. "When I see the picture, I feel like I would rather die. There is no point in me living in this world," Mohammed's father, Zafor Alam, told CNN. Whereas the picture of the Syrian boy, Kurdi, seemed to make people feel agonizingly helpless in the face of a catastrophe the world was closely watching, many hope that the picture of Shohayet will increase attention to the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. Dec 31, 2015, Alan Kurdi still alive with his mother and brother. Jan 2, 2016, all 3 were dead; 5,000 more died seeking safety in 2016. pic.twitter.com/Z4Io42mBbz — Crawford Kilian (@Crof) January 1, 2017 × Myanmar is carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya Muslims, a UN official has reportedly said, as horrifying stories of gang rape, torture and murder emerge from among the thousands who have fled to Bangladesh. Up to 30,000 of the impoverished ethnic group have abandoned their homes in Myanmar to escape the unfolding violence, the UN says, after troops poured into the narrow strip where they live earlier this month. Dhaka has resisted urgent international appeals to open its border to avert a humanitarian crisis, instead telling Myanmar it must do more to prevent the stateless Rohingya minority from entering. The Muslim minorities in Myanmar continue to flee the violence by security forces. Myanmar is accused of carrying out a systematic cleansing of the minority group also known as Rohingya. WION's Bangladesh correspondent Saad Hammadi sends this report. (WION) × (WION)

Rohingya infant washes up dead, reminds world of Syrian boy Alan Kurdi

A commission probing violence in Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine state on Wednesday denied security forces have carried out a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya, days after a video emerged showing police beating civilians from the Muslim minority.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya -- a group loathed by many among Myanmar&#39;s Buddhist majority -- have fled a military operation in the northwestern state, launched after deadly attacks on police posts in October.

Dozens have died in the crackdown, while escapees now in neighbouring Bangladesh have claimed they suffered rape, arson, murder and torture at the hands of police or soldiers.

Myanmar&#39;s government, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has said the allegations are invented and has resisted mounting international pressure to protect the minority.&nbsp;

A state-appointed commission set up to investigate the violence released its interim report on Wednesday, dismissing claims troops and police have embarked on a campaign to force the Rohingya out of the country.

Its interim findings come days after the government detained multiple police officers over a video showing policemen beating and kicking Rohingya villagers. The footage, shot by one of the officers, has sparked outrage and undermined the government&#39;s blanket denials that soldiers and police have carried out rights abuses.

The size of the &quot;Bengali&quot; population, mosques and religious buildings in the unrest-hit area &quot;are proof that there were no cases of genocide and religious persecution&quot;, it said in a statement carried in state media. Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as one of the country&#39;s ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis -- or illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh -- even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

The commission also found &quot;insufficient evidence&quot; of rape but added it was still looking into claims security forces committed arson, illegal arrests and torture of the Rohingya. It blamed the unrest on foreign-backed extremists, whom it said had attacked security forces in October to harm &quot;the sovereignty of the state... with the intention of igniting riots and conflicts&quot;.

Legal action has been taken against 485 people arrested during the army&#39;s subsequent clearance operation, it added, without giving further details. Chris Lewa, from the Arakan project, said the commission had failed to properly investigate the widespread allegations of rape and rights abuses.

&quot;The methodology is not credible, it&#39;s totally unprofessional,&quot; she said.&nbsp;&quot;There is no corroboration from the villagers they are meant to have talked to. Their job was to verify the allegations and the report has not verified them.&quot;&nbsp;

The commission has faced opposition from across the spectrum since it was announced last month -- the second body created by Suu Kyi to try to heal the simmering religious divide in Rakhine state.

Rights activists dismissed the 13-member commission as toothless, pointing out it is headed by the vice-president, a former army general. Rakhine nationalists and many of the state&#39;s MPs have denounced it as a tool for government propaganda.

Malaysia&#39;s prime minister has accused Suu Kyi of allowing genocide on her watch, while more than a dozen Nobel Laureates wrote to the UN Security Council urging action to stop the &quot;human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity&quot; in northern Rakhine.

State media ran a statement from the Home Affairs Ministry on Wednesday, saying eight officers have now been arrested over the incident depicted in the video. &quot;Police committed abuses as they tried to arrest some villagers who fled the village and some who were hiding in their homes,&quot; the statement said.

Myanmar has long discriminated against the stateless Rohingya. More than one million of them live in Rakhine, including 120,000 in displacement camps. Their movements are severely restricted as well as their access to basic services, like health and education.

(AFP)

A recent video showing policemen beating and kicking Rohingya villagers undermines the government's blanket denials

A commission probing violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state on Wednesday denied security forces have carried out a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya, days after a video emerged showing police beating civilians from the Muslim minority. Tens of thousands of Rohingya -- a group loathed by many among Myanmar's Buddhist majority -- have fled a military operation in the northwestern state, launched after deadly attacks on police posts in October. Dozens have died in the crackdown, while escapees now in neighbouring Bangladesh have claimed they suffered rape, arson, murder and torture at the hands of police or soldiers. Myanmar's government, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has said the allegations are invented and has resisted mounting international pressure to protect the minority. A state-appointed commission set up to investigate the violence released its interim report on Wednesday, dismissing claims troops and police have embarked on a campaign to force the Rohingya out of the country. Its interim findings come days after the government detained multiple police officers over a video showing policemen beating and kicking Rohingya villagers. The footage, shot by one of the officers, has sparked outrage and undermined the government's blanket denials that soldiers and police have carried out rights abuses. The size of the "Bengali" population, mosques and religious buildings in the unrest-hit area "are proof that there were no cases of genocide and religious persecution", it said in a statement carried in state media. Myanmar refuses to recognise the Rohingya as one of the country's ethnic minorities, instead describing them as Bengalis -- or illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh -- even though many have lived in Myanmar for generations. The commission also found "insufficient evidence" of rape but added it was still looking into claims security forces committed arson, illegal arrests and torture of the Rohingya. It blamed the unrest on foreign-backed extremists, whom it said had attacked security forces in October to harm "the sovereignty of the state... with the intention of igniting riots and conflicts". Legal action has been taken against 485 people arrested during the army's subsequent clearance operation, it added, without giving further details. Chris Lewa, from the Arakan project, said the commission had failed to properly investigate the widespread allegations of rape and rights abuses. "The methodology is not credible, it's totally unprofessional," she said. "There is no corroboration from the villagers they are meant to have talked to. Their job was to verify the allegations and the report has not verified them." The commission has faced opposition from across the spectrum since it was announced last month -- the second body created by Suu Kyi to try to heal the simmering religious divide in Rakhine state. Rights activists dismissed the 13-member commission as toothless, pointing out it is headed by the vice-president, a former army general. Rakhine nationalists and many of the state's MPs have denounced it as a tool for government propaganda. Malaysia's prime minister has accused Suu Kyi of allowing genocide on her watch, while more than a dozen Nobel Laureates wrote to the UN Security Council urging action to stop the "human tragedy amounting to ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity" in northern Rakhine. State media ran a statement from the Home Affairs Ministry on Wednesday, saying eight officers have now been arrested over the incident depicted in the video. "Police committed abuses as they tried to arrest some villagers who fled the village and some who were hiding in their homes," the statement said. Myanmar has long discriminated against the stateless Rohingya. More than one million of them live in Rakhine, including 120,000 in displacement camps. Their movements are severely restricted as well as their access to basic services, like health and education. (AFP)

Myanmar commission denies genocidal campaign against Rohingya Muslims

A boat with 35 Muslim Rohingya refugees on board capsized in Myanmar&#39;s part of the Naf river&nbsp;on Monday&nbsp;morning.

Two of the refugees have been rescued by local fishermen, Bangladesh daily Dhaka Tribune reported.

The refugees were trying to enter Bangladesh, said a survivor named Rehana Begum.

One of the fisherman Suman said he along with other fishermen watched the boat sink and subsequently rescued two people swimming towards the maritime boundary of Bangladesh. The lower half of the Naf river marks the border&nbsp;of Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has deployed its border guards to rescue the missing refugees.

Tens of thousands of Rohingyas have fled Myanmar ever since the army launched a brutal crackdown on them in the restive state of Rakhine.

The impoverished ethnic minority came under intense government scrutiny following coordinated attacks on police border posts in early October. The government suspects the role of Rohingya militias behind the deadly attack.

Muslim Rohingyas have faced persecution and restrictions on movement that many rights activists&nbsp;have likened to apartheid.

People in Myanmar believe the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

(WION)

The refugees were trying to enter Bangladesh, one of the survivors said

A boat with 35 Muslim Rohingya refugees on board capsized in Myanmar's part of the Naf river on Monday morning. Two of the refugees have been rescued by local fishermen, Bangladesh daily Dhaka Tribune reported. The refugees were trying to enter Bangladesh, said a survivor named Rehana Begum. One of the fisherman Suman said he along with other fishermen watched the boat sink and subsequently rescued two people swimming towards the maritime boundary of Bangladesh. The lower half of the Naf river marks the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh. Bangladesh has deployed its border guards to rescue the missing refugees. Tens of thousands of Rohingyas have fled Myanmar ever since the army launched a brutal crackdown on them in the restive state of Rakhine. The impoverished ethnic minority came under intense government scrutiny following coordinated attacks on police border posts in early October. The government suspects the role of Rohingya militias behind the deadly attack. Muslim Rohingyas have faced persecution and restrictions on movement that many rights activists have likened to apartheid. People in Myanmar believe the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. (WION)

33 Rohingya refugees go missing as boat topples in Myanmar river

Malaysia&#39;s national soccer team has cancelled two friendly under-22 matches with Myanmar, in protest against the Southeast Asian nation&#39;s bloody crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a team spokesman said on Thursday.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has been increasingly critical of Myanmar&#39;s handling of violence in northern Rakhine state that has sent hundreds of people fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, amid allegations of abuses by security forces.

The violence is the most serious bloodshed in Rakhine since communal clashes in 2012 that killed hundreds.

Referring to the cancellation of the games set for later this month, the spokesman told Reuters, &quot;It was a political decision because of the Rohingya issue.&quot; He declined to be identified because the topic is a sensitive one.

In a posting on social network Twitter on Wednesday, national football team Harimau Malaysia said, &quot;International matches between under-22 Harimau Malaysia vs Myanmar, which were scheduled to take place on Dec. 9 and 12 in Yangon, have been cancelled.&quot;

Last month, Malaysia said it was considering pulling out of a regional soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar over the Rohingya crackdown, but ministers later decided against this.

Such a withdrawal from the ASEAN Football Federation&#39;s Suzuki Cup would have run counter to the 10-nation grouping&#39;s long-standing policy of non-interference in other members&#39; affairs.

Myanmar&#39;s membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should be reviewed because of the &quot;cruelty&quot; imposed on its ethnic Muslim community, Malaysia&#39;s sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Wednesday.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is set to attend a gathering on Sunday to express concern over the Rohingya issue.

(Agencies)

Malaysia's protest comes as Rohingya Muslims flee to Bangladesh amid the most violence they've faced since clashes in 2012 killed hundreds

Malaysia's national soccer team has cancelled two friendly under-22 matches with Myanmar, in protest against the Southeast Asian nation's bloody crackdown on ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a team spokesman said on Thursday. Muslim-majority Malaysia has been increasingly critical of Myanmar's handling of violence in northern Rakhine state that has sent hundreds of people fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, amid allegations of abuses by security forces. The violence is the most serious bloodshed in Rakhine since communal clashes in 2012 that killed hundreds. Referring to the cancellation of the games set for later this month, the spokesman told Reuters, "It was a political decision because of the Rohingya issue." He declined to be identified because the topic is a sensitive one. In a posting on social network Twitter on Wednesday, national football team Harimau Malaysia said, "International matches between under-22 Harimau Malaysia vs Myanmar, which were scheduled to take place on Dec. 9 and 12 in Yangon, have been cancelled." Last month, Malaysia said it was considering pulling out of a regional soccer tournament co-hosted by Myanmar over the Rohingya crackdown, but ministers later decided against this. Such a withdrawal from the ASEAN Football Federation's Suzuki Cup would have run counter to the 10-nation grouping's long-standing policy of non-interference in other members' affairs. Myanmar's membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should be reviewed because of the "cruelty" imposed on its ethnic Muslim community, Malaysia's sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Wednesday. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is set to attend a gathering on Sunday to express concern over the Rohingya issue. (Agencies)

Malaysia cancels two soccer matches with Myanmar over Rohingya crackdown

Multiple boats packed with Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar were turned back by Bangladesh border guards on Monday, despite appeals by the country&#39;s opposition to provide shelter to the persecuted Muslim minority.

Thousands of desperate Rohingya from Myanmar&#39;s western Rakhine state have flooded over the border into Bangladesh in the last week, bringing with them horrifying claims of gang rape, torture and murder at the hands of Myanmar&#39;s security forces.

Eight boats attempting to cross the Naf River separating Rakhine from southern Bangladesh were pushed back on Monday after six were refused entry on Sunday, head of the board guards in the Bangladeshi frontier town of Teknaf, Col Abuzar Al Zahid, told AFP.

&quot;There were 12 to 13 Rohingya in each of the boats,&quot; Col Zahid said.

Dhaka says thousands more are massed on the border, but has refused urgent international appeals to let them in, instead, calling on Myanmar to do more to stop people fleeing.

In the past two weeks, Bangladeshi border guards have prevented more than 1,000 Rohingya, including many women and children, from entering the country by boat, officials told AFP.

Bangladesh&#39;s main opposition leader Khaleda Zia late Sunday joined a growing chorus of political parties and hardline Islamist groups in the Muslim-majority country calling for the Rohingya to be given shelter.

At least 30,000 have been internally displaced in Rakhine and many have tried to reach Bangladesh over the last month despite heightened border patrols&nbsp;and sought refuge&nbsp;amongst the Rohingya refugee population that already live on the Bangladesh side.

Samira Akhter told AFP by phone that she reached an unofficial refugee camp in Bangladesh on Monday, after fleeing her village in Rakhine state with her three children and 49 others.

&quot;The military killed my husband and torched our home. I fled to a hill along with my three children and neighbours. We hid there for a week,&quot; said Mrs Akhter, 27.

Dudu Mia, a Rohingya leader in the camp, said at least 1,338 had arrived in the community since mid-October.

Violence in Rakhine -- home to the stateless ethnic group loathed by many of Myanmar&#39;s Buddhist majority -- has surged in the last month after security forces poured into the area following a series of attacks on police posts blamed on local militants.

A UN official said last week Myanmar is engaged in &quot;ethnic cleansing&quot; of Rohingya Muslims, as reports emerged of troops shooting at villagers as they tried to flee.

But Myanmar&#39;s new civilian government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has rejected the allegations.

(AFP)

This despite appeals by the country's opposition to provide shelter to the persecuted Muslim minority

Multiple boats packed with Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar were turned back by Bangladesh border guards on Monday, despite appeals by the country's opposition to provide shelter to the persecuted Muslim minority. Thousands of desperate Rohingya from Myanmar's western Rakhine state have flooded over the border into Bangladesh in the last week, bringing with them horrifying claims of gang rape, torture and murder at the hands of Myanmar's security forces. Eight boats attempting to cross the Naf River separating Rakhine from southern Bangladesh were pushed back on Monday after six were refused entry on Sunday, head of the board guards in the Bangladeshi frontier town of Teknaf, Col Abuzar Al Zahid, told AFP. "There were 12 to 13 Rohingya in each of the boats," Col Zahid said. Dhaka says thousands more are massed on the border, but has refused urgent international appeals to let them in, instead, calling on Myanmar to do more to stop people fleeing. In the past two weeks, Bangladeshi border guards have prevented more than 1,000 Rohingya, including many women and children, from entering the country by boat, officials told AFP. Bangladesh's main opposition leader Khaleda Zia late Sunday joined a growing chorus of political parties and hardline Islamist groups in the Muslim-majority country calling for the Rohingya to be given shelter. At least 30,000 have been internally displaced in Rakhine and many have tried to reach Bangladesh over the last month despite heightened border patrols and sought refuge amongst the Rohingya refugee population that already live on the Bangladesh side. Samira Akhter told AFP by phone that she reached an unofficial refugee camp in Bangladesh on Monday, after fleeing her village in Rakhine state with her three children and 49 others. "The military killed my husband and torched our home. I fled to a hill along with my three children and neighbours. We hid there for a week," said Mrs Akhter, 27. Dudu Mia, a Rohingya leader in the camp, said at least 1,338 had arrived in the community since mid-October. Violence in Rakhine -- home to the stateless ethnic group loathed by many of Myanmar's Buddhist majority -- has surged in the last month after security forces poured into the area following a series of attacks on police posts blamed on local militants. A UN official said last week Myanmar is engaged in "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya Muslims, as reports emerged of troops shooting at villagers as they tried to flee. But Myanmar's new civilian government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has rejected the allegations. (AFP)

Rohingyas fleeing violence in Myanmar turned back by Bangladesh

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar fled into neighbouring Bangladesh this week in a bid to escape the violence that has killed at least 86 people and displaced about 30,000 people in recent fighting.

Without specifying the exact number, UN aid workers told Reuters hundreds crossed the border to Bangladesh over the weekend and on Monday.

Some are feared to have drowned after their boat sank in a river while crossing the river Naaf that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh, Reuters reported. Those who managed to enter Bangladesh sought shelter in refugee camps or people&#39;s homes.

&quot;There was a group of people from our village who crossed the river by boat to come here, but suddenly the boat sank,&quot; said Humayun Kabir, the father of three children untraceable since the mishap.

He also said that though many of the refugees swam to the river bank, seven people are still bmissing -- his children among them.

The violence in Myanmar &nbsp;poses the biggest challenge yet for the eight-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.&nbsp;

It is the most serious after 2012&#39;s communal clashes in Rakhine that killed hundreds of people.

Soldiers have flooded the area along Myanmar&#39;s frontier with Bangladesh in response to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers, Reuters reported.

Myanmar&#39;s military and the government have rejected allegations by residents and rights groups that soldiers have raped Rohingya women, burnt houses and killed civilians during the military operation in Rakhine.

Sirajul Islam, who arrived on Monday at an unregistered camp in Bangladesh&#39;s southern coastal town of Teknaf, said he did not know what happened to his eight-member family after soldiers set fire to their home in Rakhine.

&quot;I don&#39;t know where my wife and children are,&quot; Islam said. &quot;I somehow was able to cross the border to save my life.&quot;

The area -- mostly home to the Rohingya community -- is under military lockdown. A humanitarian effort to provide aid to more than 150,000 people has been suspended for more than 40 days in the area, Reuters reported.

&quot;Difficult as it is for the Bangladesh government to absorb large numbers, it seems to me there is no other choice, because the only other choice is death and suffering,&quot; John McKissick, head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in the southern resort town of Cox&#39;s Bazar told Reuters. &quot;For now, the only thing that can be done is to assist and protect them.&quot;

Mynamar&#39;s 1.1 million Rohingyas are viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by many people in the Buddhist-majority country.

(WION with inputs of Reuters)

Some Rohingya refugees have been missing since Tuesday after a group crossed the river Naaf that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh

Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar fled into neighbouring Bangladesh this week in a bid to escape the violence that has killed at least 86 people and displaced about 30,000 people in recent fighting. Without specifying the exact number, UN aid workers told Reuters hundreds crossed the border to Bangladesh over the weekend and on Monday. Some are feared to have drowned after their boat sank in a river while crossing the river Naaf that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh, Reuters reported. Those who managed to enter Bangladesh sought shelter in refugee camps or people's homes. "There was a group of people from our village who crossed the river by boat to come here, but suddenly the boat sank," said Humayun Kabir, the father of three children untraceable since the mishap. He also said that though many of the refugees swam to the river bank, seven people are still bmissing -- his children among them. The violence in Myanmar poses the biggest challenge yet for the eight-month-old administration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. It is the most serious after 2012's communal clashes in Rakhine that killed hundreds of people. Soldiers have flooded the area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh in response to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers, Reuters reported. Myanmar's military and the government have rejected allegations by residents and rights groups that soldiers have raped Rohingya women, burnt houses and killed civilians during the military operation in Rakhine. Sirajul Islam, who arrived on Monday at an unregistered camp in Bangladesh's southern coastal town of Teknaf, said he did not know what happened to his eight-member family after soldiers set fire to their home in Rakhine. "I don't know where my wife and children are," Islam said. "I somehow was able to cross the border to save my life." The area -- mostly home to the Rohingya community -- is under military lockdown. A humanitarian effort to provide aid to more than 150,000 people has been suspended for more than 40 days in the area, Reuters reported. "Difficult as it is for the Bangladesh government to absorb large numbers, it seems to me there is no other choice, because the only other choice is death and suffering," John McKissick, head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in the southern resort town of Cox's Bazar told Reuters. "For now, the only thing that can be done is to assist and protect them." Mynamar's 1.1 million Rohingyas are viewed as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh by many people in the Buddhist-majority country. (WION with inputs of Reuters)

Hundreds of Rohingyas flee to Bangladesh as violence spreads in Myanmar

Hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages in Rakhine have been torched, satellite images showed.

The fresh violence erupted in the restive state of Rakhine in western Myanmar, leaving two soldiers and six attackers dead, according to the military who said they brought in helicopter gunships to repel an ambush.

Ethnic violence has ripped through the state and the situation has turned even grimmer after nine border policemen were killed in coordinated attacks last month.

The attack resulted in the government coming down hard on Rohingya villagers, with dozens of people dead and several more arrested in the security apparatus&#39; pursuit to nab the assailants.

Myanmar government believes those who launched the deadly attacks last month are radicalised Rohingya militants with links to overseas Islamists.

The crisis and reports of grave rights abuses being carried out in tandem with the security crackdown have piled international pressure on Myanmar&#39;s new civilian government and raised questions about its ability to control its military.

Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse.

New satellite images released by Human Rights Watch show what the group said was evidence of mass arson attacks against Rohingya villages.

Their analysis showed more than 400 buildings torched in three Rohingya villages where the fighting has been taking place.

The group said active fires and burn scars showed that most of the destruction was caused by arson. The latest images were taken on 10 November.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

Fresh fighting flared on Saturday with two soldiers and six attackers killed, according to Myanmar's military

Hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages in Rakhine have been torched, satellite images showed. The fresh violence erupted in the restive state of Rakhine in western Myanmar, leaving two soldiers and six attackers dead, according to the military who said they brought in helicopter gunships to repel an ambush. Ethnic violence has ripped through the state and the situation has turned even grimmer after nine border policemen were killed in coordinated attacks last month. The attack resulted in the government coming down hard on Rohingya villagers, with dozens of people dead and several more arrested in the security apparatus' pursuit to nab the assailants. Myanmar government believes those who launched the deadly attacks last month are radicalised Rohingya militants with links to overseas Islamists. The crisis and reports of grave rights abuses being carried out in tandem with the security crackdown have piled international pressure on Myanmar's new civilian government and raised questions about its ability to control its military. Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse. New satellite images released by Human Rights Watch show what the group said was evidence of mass arson attacks against Rohingya villages. Their analysis showed more than 400 buildings torched in three Rohingya villages where the fighting has been taking place. The group said active fires and burn scars showed that most of the destruction was caused by arson. The latest images were taken on 10 November. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Satellite images show hundreds of Rohingya homes torched in Rakhine

The Indian government has recently introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill proposes that illegal immigrants in India belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan would be entitled to Indian citizenship after six years of residence even if they have no valid papers or passport.

Lawmakers have maintained that this move to grant Indian citizenship to the above categories of persons from neighbouring countries is based on &lsquo;humanitarian grounds&rsquo;.&nbsp;

The Bill, however, ends up raising more questions than it seeks to address, including raising doubts on the government&rsquo;s actual humanitarian concern and also the impact of such a move.&nbsp;

First, the most notable criticism of the Bill is that in this entire scheme, Muslims are conspicuous by their absence. In short, Muslim migrants would not be entitled to the benefit of such a law if it were to be passed.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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<h5>Muslim migrants would not be entitled to the benefit of such a law if it were to be passed</h5>
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The Bill is seen by many as a consequence of the BJP&rsquo;s election promise in 2014 to grant citizenship to Hindus from Muslim majority countries. During its campaign, BJP had declared India to be a natural home for persecuted Hindus and said that it has a responsibility towards Hindus who are harassed in other countries. However, it was not mentioned at that time that no such responsibility would be taken for Muslims who are faced with similar circumstances.&nbsp;

If the government was moved only by humanitarian concern towards victims of religious persecution and displacement, it could not afford to exclude approximately 36,000 Rohingya Muslims who were forced to flee Myanmar due to the 2015 insurgency and are currently living in different parts of India and praying for asylum ever since.&nbsp;

The Bill also conveniently overlooks the plight of Muslim sects like Shias and Ahmediyas who face persecution in Sunni-dominated Pakistan.

Second, even keeping the visible exclusion of Muslims aside, the claims about humanitarian concerns further seem inconsistent due to other reasons. Neighbouring Sri Lanka, where Tamils have faced a history of persecution has been excluded from the ambit, raising a question whether it was thought that such inclusion would be more suited to the interests of regional political parties, such as the AIADMK and the DMK than BJP. Also questionable is the move to exclude migrants from countries like China, prompting the critics to ask whether the government has decided to adopt a safer foreign policy of not wanting to openly label China as an aggressor or burning any further bridges with them.

Third, the Bill has been widely criticised on the ground that it fails to take into confidence or address concerns of indigenous people and their decades-long movement against illegal migrants. The prime case in point is Assam, which is already suffering from a high influx of migrants from Bangladesh. According to the Assam Accord, 1985, anyone entering India after 25th March, 1971, is an illegal citizen, irrespective of their religion.&nbsp;

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<h5>The Bill fails to take into confidence or address concerns of indigenous people and their decades long movement against illegal migrants</h5>
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The Bill has neither tried to assuage the apprehensions of all the stakeholders nor has it made adequate provisions to avoid conflict with the Assam Accord. This move of the government also comes at a time when, based on the Assam Accord and upon the intervention of the Supreme Court of India, the Government of Assam is updating the National Register for Citizens to include people permanently residing in the state till 24th March, 1971 and to only treat such persons as citizens of the country.

Several Assamese organisations are protesting against this Bill due to the fear of exodus of religious minorities from Bangladesh amid rising attacks on them by militants as it may further complicate the already vulnerable demographic of Assam.

Fourth, it is suggested by various quarters that even if the government decides to give shelter to victims of religious persecution from neighbouring countries on humanitarian ground, they should be only given &lsquo;Refugee&rsquo; status as per international law and not that of a &lsquo;Migrant&rsquo;.

&nbsp;The Bill seems to confuse &lsquo;Refugees&rsquo; with &lsquo;Migrants&rsquo; and overlooks this important distinction by terming religious minority people as migrants, when they would in fact be refugees.&nbsp;

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<h5>The Bill seems to confuse &lsquo;Refugees&rsquo; with &lsquo;Migrants&rsquo; and overlooks this important distinction by terming religious minority people as migrants, when they would in fact be refugees.&nbsp;</h5>
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&lsquo;Migration&rsquo; means voluntary movement of people, usually for seeking better economic prospects. On the other hand, &lsquo;refuge&rsquo; is an involuntary act of forced movement, compelled by preservation of human rights and safety and not to gain any economic advantage. Using the correct terminology in the Bill is important as the laws and policies, especially under international law for migrants and refugees are entirely different.

Shelter to individuals of&nbsp;a select religion, however, by excluding others defeats the intention and rationality of international refugee laws.&nbsp;

The Bill also plays foul with our own long-standing refugee policy. Even though India does not have a codified refugee policy, during the Tibetan refugee crisis, one of the main conditions was that refugees would have to return to their homeland once normalcy prevailed. In a direct contradiction, the proposed amendment not only provides citizenship rights to such refugees, but vastly relaxes the procedure to avail of such citizenship.

The Statement of Objects and Reasons of Bill maintains a studied silence on all the above issues. The Bill most importantly fails to explain why the Muslim community is being singled out in an apparent violation of Article 14 &ndash; Right to Equality &ndash; of the constitution. It was only after the Bill came under heavy criticism from opposition parties for being &lsquo;biased&rsquo; against one specific religion that it was sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further examination.

The unfortunate trend that emerges is that be it any party in power, the citizenship laws have always been used by ruling governments to appease and consolidate their own respective vote banks.&nbsp;

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Earlier, the Congress government was forced to negotiate the Assam Accord, affecting primarily Muslims who, as a result stood debarred from obtaining Indian citizenship even after many years of residence. This in turn led to the electoral victory of Asom Gana Parishad.&nbsp;

In order to dilute the effect of the Assam Accord, the Congress enacted the Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983, which provided for the detection and expulsion of illegal immigrants from Assam &ndash; all of them Bangladeshi Muslims. However, in an exercise in appeasement, it was ensured that the procedure provided in the Act and the implementation thereof was such that the expulsions were virtually negligible.&nbsp;

While favouring one community for electoral gains is bad enough, excluding the community altogether is even worse and severely undermines the otherwise secular socio-legal framework of our nation. It is a move that violates the policy of pluralism and co-existence on which the Indian polity is based.

The Supreme Court of India has stated on more than one occasion that secularism forms the basic structure of our constitution and cannot be done away with. The Bill may tend to do just the opposite.

Also, such a selective law based purely on religious identities sends out the wrong message of hostile, unreceptive nationalism, which considers itself to be under siege from other communities.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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<h5>Such a selective law based purely on religious identities sends out the wrong message of hostile, unreceptive nationalism, which considers itself to be under siege from other communities.&nbsp;</h5>
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&nbsp;

Therefore, the Bill may have a polarising effect and would further increase the trust deficit between the ruling government and the muslim community, something which a mature, participative and inclusive democracy can ill afford.&nbsp;

It is therefore hoped that the government would, rather than hastening with the Bill and taking a myopic view of things, agree to take into account the views of all those who are affected by the passage of the Bill and sufficiently answer their apprehensions.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill raises doubts on the government?s actual humanitarian concern

The Indian government has recently introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill proposes that illegal immigrants in India belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan would be entitled to Indian citizenship after six years of residence even if they have no valid papers or passport. Lawmakers have maintained that this move to grant Indian citizenship to the above categories of persons from neighbouring countries is based on ‘humanitarian grounds’. The Bill, however, ends up raising more questions than it seeks to address, including raising doubts on the government’s actual humanitarian concern and also the impact of such a move. First, the most notable criticism of the Bill is that in this entire scheme, Muslims are conspicuous by their absence. In short, Muslim migrants would not be entitled to the benefit of such a law if it were to be passed. Muslim migrants would not be entitled to the benefit of such a law if it were to be passed × The Bill is seen by many as a consequence of the BJP’s election promise in 2014 to grant citizenship to Hindus from Muslim majority countries. During its campaign, BJP had declared India to be a natural home for persecuted Hindus and said that it has a responsibility towards Hindus who are harassed in other countries. However, it was not mentioned at that time that no such responsibility would be taken for Muslims who are faced with similar circumstances. If the government was moved only by humanitarian concern towards victims of religious persecution and displacement, it could not afford to exclude approximately 36,000 Rohingya Muslims who were forced to flee Myanmar due to the 2015 insurgency and are currently living in different parts of India and praying for asylum ever since. The Bill also conveniently overlooks the plight of Muslim sects like Shias and Ahmediyas who face persecution in Sunni-dominated Pakistan. Second, even keeping the visible exclusion of Muslims aside, the claims about humanitarian concerns further seem inconsistent due to other reasons. Neighbouring Sri Lanka, where Tamils have faced a history of persecution has been excluded from the ambit, raising a question whether it was thought that such inclusion would be more suited to the interests of regional political parties, such as the AIADMK and the DMK than BJP. Also questionable is the move to exclude migrants from countries like China, prompting the critics to ask whether the government has decided to adopt a safer foreign policy of not wanting to openly label China as an aggressor or burning any further bridges with them. Third, the Bill has been widely criticised on the ground that it fails to take into confidence or address concerns of indigenous people and their decades-long movement against illegal migrants. The prime case in point is Assam, which is already suffering from a high influx of migrants from Bangladesh. According to the Assam Accord, 1985, anyone entering India after 25th March, 1971, is an illegal citizen, irrespective of their religion. The Bill fails to take into confidence or address concerns of indigenous people and their decades long movement against illegal migrants × The Bill has neither tried to assuage the apprehensions of all the stakeholders nor has it made adequate provisions to avoid conflict with the Assam Accord. This move of the government also comes at a time when, based on the Assam Accord and upon the intervention of the Supreme Court of India, the Government of Assam is updating the National Register for Citizens to include people permanently residing in the state till 24th March, 1971 and to only treat such persons as citizens of the country. Several Assamese organisations are protesting against this Bill due to the fear of exodus of religious minorities from Bangladesh amid rising attacks on them by militants as it may further complicate the already vulnerable demographic of Assam. Fourth, it is suggested by various quarters that even if the government decides to give shelter to victims of religious persecution from neighbouring countries on humanitarian ground, they should be only given ‘Refugee’ status as per international law and not that of a ‘Migrant’. The Bill seems to confuse ‘Refugees’ with ‘Migrants’ and overlooks this important distinction by terming religious minority people as migrants, when they would in fact be refugees. The Bill seems to confuse ‘Refugees’ with ‘Migrants’ and overlooks this important distinction by terming religious minority people as migrants, when they would in fact be refugees. × ‘Migration’ means voluntary movement of people, usually for seeking better economic prospects. On the other hand, ‘refuge’ is an involuntary act of forced movement, compelled by preservation of human rights and safety and not to gain any economic advantage. Using the correct terminology in the Bill is important as the laws and policies, especially under international law for migrants and refugees are entirely different. Shelter to individuals of a select religion, however, by excluding others defeats the intention and rationality of international refugee laws. The Bill also plays foul with our own long-standing refugee policy. Even though India does not have a codified refugee policy, during the Tibetan refugee crisis, one of the main conditions was that refugees would have to return to their homeland once normalcy prevailed. In a direct contradiction, the proposed amendment not only provides citizenship rights to such refugees, but vastly relaxes the procedure to avail of such citizenship. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of Bill maintains a studied silence on all the above issues. The Bill most importantly fails to explain why the Muslim community is being singled out in an apparent violation of Article 14 – Right to Equality – of the constitution. It was only after the Bill came under heavy criticism from opposition parties for being ‘biased’ against one specific religion that it was sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further examination. The unfortunate trend that emerges is that be it any party in power, the citizenship laws have always been used by ruling governments to appease and consolidate their own respective vote banks. The Citizenship laws have always been used by ruling Governments to appease and consolidate their own respective vote banks × Earlier, the Congress government was forced to negotiate the Assam Accord, affecting primarily Muslims who, as a result stood debarred from obtaining Indian citizenship even after many years of residence. This in turn led to the electoral victory of Asom Gana Parishad. In order to dilute the effect of the Assam Accord, the Congress enacted the Illegal Migrant (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983, which provided for the detection and expulsion of illegal immigrants from Assam – all of them Bangladeshi Muslims. However, in an exercise in appeasement, it was ensured that the procedure provided in the Act and the implementation thereof was such that the expulsions were virtually negligible. While favouring one community for electoral gains is bad enough, excluding the community altogether is even worse and severely undermines the otherwise secular socio-legal framework of our nation. It is a move that violates the policy of pluralism and co-existence on which the Indian polity is based. The Supreme Court of India has stated on more than one occasion that secularism forms the basic structure of our constitution and cannot be done away with. The Bill may tend to do just the opposite. Also, such a selective law based purely on religious identities sends out the wrong message of hostile, unreceptive nationalism, which considers itself to be under siege from other communities. Such a selective law based purely on religious identities sends out the wrong message of hostile, unreceptive nationalism, which considers itself to be under siege from other communities. × Therefore, the Bill may have a polarising effect and would further increase the trust deficit between the ruling government and the muslim community, something which a mature, participative and inclusive democracy can ill afford. It is therefore hoped that the government would, rather than hastening with the Bill and taking a myopic view of things, agree to take into account the views of all those who are affected by the passage of the Bill and sufficiently answer their apprehensions.

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016: The politics of humanity

On 31 August 2016, the government of Myanmar inaugurated the much-awaited &#39;21st Century Panglong Peace Conference&#39; (also referred to as the Union Peace Conference) in the capital Naypyidaw. This four-day long mega event saw a wide range of stakeholders gather under a single roof to discuss issues of ethnic discord and armed conflict that have ravaged Myanmar for the last 60 years or so. But how comprehensive is this institutionalised process of reconciliation in reality, and where do Indian interests align with this plan?

&nbsp;With the decolonisation of Myanmar by the British in early 1948 and the subsequent takeover by the military in 1962, the 135 ethnic groups in the country have continuously fought for greater recognition of their respective cultural and political rights. In addition to demanding a larger say in the country&rsquo;s heavily centralised decision-making process, they have also protested against the perceived economic and social impoverishment of their respective regions. After the coming of the military government, particularly, they began to oppose the curtailment of their cultural and religious rights under the government&rsquo;s policy of &lsquo;Burmanisation&rsquo;.&nbsp;

Under severe state repression, the grievances gradually transformed into an armed struggle for greater political autonomy, giving birth to some fifty Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs). The political conflict, in due course, spiralled into a protracted civil war, marked by a profitable war economy and inter-group clashes. From purely ethnopolitical groups, some of the EAOs metamorphosed into narco-insurgent groups involved in illegal contraband trafficking across Myanmar&#39;s porous borders with China, Thailand, and Northeast India.&nbsp;

However, with the coming of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government in 2015, a legitimate opening for democratic reconciliation became visible and viable. Myanmar&#39;s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi envisaged to reboot the original &#39;Panglong Peace Conference&#39; organised by her father in 1947, and the latest edition comes as a crucial waypoint in the internal peace process of the country. Despite major hold-ups and criticisms, this convention successfully established a cohesive platform for dialogue and peaceful reconciliation between the state and the various independent ethnic organisations.&nbsp;

The high-profile conference, attended by around 1,600 representatives from various EAOs, political parties, parliamentary and military clusters as well as the United Nations secretary-general, was a follow-up to last year&#39;s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) that was signed by eight EAOs. The key focus areas of the conference were: power sharing through federalism, local autonomy, constitutional revision, and separation of powers between the military and civilian state structures.&nbsp;

While the ethnic groups proposed a fully federal union that would proffer complete administrative autonomy to each state, the civilian-military clusters argue for a more decentralised structure of governance through constitutional amendments. Furthermore, the former wish for a complete separation of powers between the civilian government and the military, while the latter group does not deem it as a core issue. As of now, the peace process remains largely staggered owing to differences over these critical agenda points.

Nevertheless, Suu Kyi&#39;s primary motivation in organising such a conference was to bring as many political stakeholders as possible to a common deliberative forum, and in the process create a level-playing field for peaceful settlement of ethnopolitical disputes. It was aimed at expanding the NCA by establishing a platform for sustained and inclusive dialogue between the government, the army, and the various EAOs, including those who did not sign the accord in 2015. However, if one looks closely, the purported inclusiveness of the whole process comes under serious doubt. &nbsp;

First, although some of the NCA non-signatory EAOs did attend the conference, four of them remained uninvited because of their refusal to disarm before the conference, as stipulated by the army. These non-participant groups are the Arakan Army (AA), the Ta&#39;ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democracy Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang (NSCN-K). Their refusal to disarm is premised on their perception that the Panglong process does not align with their demands for greater autonomy, or in the case of NSCN-K, with the &lsquo;demand for Naga sovereignty&rsquo;.

Second, representatives from the United Wa State Army (UWSA) &ndash; the largest and most powerful EAO in Myanmar &ndash; staged a walkout on the second day of the conference after being identified as &#39;observers&#39; rather than participants. Although this might have been a misunderstanding of protocol, it was enough to incite the aforementioned non-attendees to express solidarity with UWSA and reassert their stance that the Panglong Conference was a &#39;discriminatory&#39; forum.

The crucial point about the above non-attendees, barring the AA and NSCN-K, is that they are based out of Shan State in the north &ndash; a perennial hotbed of violent clashes. On one hand, while TNLA and MNDAA are still engaged in skirmishes with the army, on the other, UWSA continues to survive in the region as one of the largest narco-insurgent groups in the world, and a prime dealer of drugs and illegal arms from Chinese grey markets. The organisation is known to have been the key supplier of weapons to several of the Indian insurgent outfits based in Sagaing division in Myanmar&rsquo;s <a href="http://bit.ly/2cskukd">northwest</a>. Furthermore, a recent <a href="http://bit.ly/2cWa0Hb">analysis</a> points towards the movement of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-Paresh Baruah faction) rebels from Sagaing to Shan for safe haven.

Third, the non-participation of NSCN-K, which is currently &lsquo;at war&rsquo; with India, remains a destabilising phenomenon. According to the group&rsquo;s leadership, they chose to not attend because the conference &#39;had nothing to do with the Nagas&rsquo; demand for sovereignty.&#39; Notably, it was only last year that India officially banned the outfit after a brutal assault against an army convoy in Manipur, following which Indian Special Forces pursued the rebels across the India-Myanmar border in a covert operation. NSCN-K is also the &lsquo;leader&rsquo; of the motley set of northeast Indian separatist outfits that currently operate out of Sagaing. Hence, it continues to be a serious threat to India.

Fourth, the political parties from Kayah State who failed to secure seats in November 2015 elections refused to attend the conference, complaining about the meagre five seats granted to them at the table. This reflects a core political dynamic in newly democratic Myanmar where smaller regional parties harbour the perception of political underrepresentation and marginalisation. Fifth, despite the strong statements made by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the deplorable condition of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State, no representative from the religious minority was invited, marking a continuity of the alleged institutionalised marginalisation of the Rohingyas.&nbsp;

In light of the above, Aung San Suu Kyi&rsquo;s remarks and attitudes have been fairly encouraging. In addition to meeting the non-signatory EAOs a month before the conference, she has also succinctly expressed the government&rsquo;s willingness to reach a common ground with the unwilling groups so as to achieve a comprehensive reconciliatory framework. However, the past few days have witnessed the army launch shockingly violent offensives against armed groups in Kachin and Shan <a href="http://bit.ly/2dzmwfW">states </a>- something that threatens to derail the entire peace process.

It is undeniable that the ambitious peace process in Myanmar will remain hobbled without the participation of all ethnic, religious, and political groups. Although the government has charted a specific follow-up action plan - including scheduling similar forums after every six months and widening the scope of the NCA &ndash; it remains to be seen if the recalcitrant EAOs are absorbed in the Panglong framework in the future. As rightly stated by Suu Kyi in her closing remarks, &#39;To achieve peace is very difficult.&#39;

&nbsp;

The difficult process of achieving peace with Ethnic Armed Organisations has started in Myanmar

On 31 August 2016, the government of Myanmar inaugurated the much-awaited '21st Century Panglong Peace Conference' (also referred to as the Union Peace Conference) in the capital Naypyidaw. This four-day long mega event saw a wide range of stakeholders gather under a single roof to discuss issues of ethnic discord and armed conflict that have ravaged Myanmar for the last 60 years or so. But how comprehensive is this institutionalised process of reconciliation in reality, and where do Indian interests align with this plan? With the decolonisation of Myanmar by the British in early 1948 and the subsequent takeover by the military in 1962, the 135 ethnic groups in the country have continuously fought for greater recognition of their respective cultural and political rights. In addition to demanding a larger say in the country’s heavily centralised decision-making process, they have also protested against the perceived economic and social impoverishment of their respective regions. After the coming of the military government, particularly, they began to oppose the curtailment of their cultural and religious rights under the government’s policy of ‘Burmanisation’. Under severe state repression, the grievances gradually transformed into an armed struggle for greater political autonomy, giving birth to some fifty Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs). The political conflict, in due course, spiralled into a protracted civil war, marked by a profitable war economy and inter-group clashes. From purely ethnopolitical groups, some of the EAOs metamorphosed into narco-insurgent groups involved in illegal contraband trafficking across Myanmar's porous borders with China, Thailand, and Northeast India. However, with the coming of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government in 2015, a legitimate opening for democratic reconciliation became visible and viable. Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi envisaged to reboot the original 'Panglong Peace Conference' organised by her father in 1947, and the latest edition comes as a crucial waypoint in the internal peace process of the country. Despite major hold-ups and criticisms, this convention successfully established a cohesive platform for dialogue and peaceful reconciliation between the state and the various independent ethnic organisations. The high-profile conference, attended by around 1,600 representatives from various EAOs, political parties, parliamentary and military clusters as well as the United Nations secretary-general, was a follow-up to last year's Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) that was signed by eight EAOs. The key focus areas of the conference were: power sharing through federalism, local autonomy, constitutional revision, and separation of powers between the military and civilian state structures. While the ethnic groups proposed a fully federal union that would proffer complete administrative autonomy to each state, the civilian-military clusters argue for a more decentralised structure of governance through constitutional amendments. Furthermore, the former wish for a complete separation of powers between the civilian government and the military, while the latter group does not deem it as a core issue. As of now, the peace process remains largely staggered owing to differences over these critical agenda points. Nevertheless, Suu Kyi's primary motivation in organising such a conference was to bring as many political stakeholders as possible to a common deliberative forum, and in the process create a level-playing field for peaceful settlement of ethnopolitical disputes. It was aimed at expanding the NCA by establishing a platform for sustained and inclusive dialogue between the government, the army, and the various EAOs, including those who did not sign the accord in 2015. However, if one looks closely, the purported inclusiveness of the whole process comes under serious doubt. First, although some of the NCA non-signatory EAOs did attend the conference, four of them remained uninvited because of their refusal to disarm before the conference, as stipulated by the army. These non-participant groups are the Arakan Army (AA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democracy Alliance Army (MNDAA), and the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang (NSCN-K). Their refusal to disarm is premised on their perception that the Panglong process does not align with their demands for greater autonomy, or in the case of NSCN-K, with the ‘demand for Naga sovereignty’. Second, representatives from the United Wa State Army (UWSA) – the largest and most powerful EAO in Myanmar – staged a walkout on the second day of the conference after being identified as 'observers' rather than participants. Although this might have been a misunderstanding of protocol, it was enough to incite the aforementioned non-attendees to express solidarity with UWSA and reassert their stance that the Panglong Conference was a 'discriminatory' forum. The crucial point about the above non-attendees, barring the AA and NSCN-K, is that they are based out of Shan State in the north – a perennial hotbed of violent clashes. On one hand, while TNLA and MNDAA are still engaged in skirmishes with the army, on the other, UWSA continues to survive in the region as one of the largest narco-insurgent groups in the world, and a prime dealer of drugs and illegal arms from Chinese grey markets. The organisation is known to have been the key supplier of weapons to several of the Indian insurgent outfits based in Sagaing division in Myanmar’s northwest. Furthermore, a recent analysis points towards the movement of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA-Paresh Baruah faction) rebels from Sagaing to Shan for safe haven. Third, the non-participation of NSCN-K, which is currently ‘at war’ with India, remains a destabilising phenomenon. According to the group’s leadership, they chose to not attend because the conference 'had nothing to do with the Nagas’ demand for sovereignty.' Notably, it was only last year that India officially banned the outfit after a brutal assault against an army convoy in Manipur, following which Indian Special Forces pursued the rebels across the India-Myanmar border in a covert operation. NSCN-K is also the ‘leader’ of the motley set of northeast Indian separatist outfits that currently operate out of Sagaing. Hence, it continues to be a serious threat to India. Fourth, the political parties from Kayah State who failed to secure seats in November 2015 elections refused to attend the conference, complaining about the meagre five seats granted to them at the table. This reflects a core political dynamic in newly democratic Myanmar where smaller regional parties harbour the perception of political underrepresentation and marginalisation. Fifth, despite the strong statements made by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the deplorable condition of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State, no representative from the religious minority was invited, marking a continuity of the alleged institutionalised marginalisation of the Rohingyas. In light of the above, Aung San Suu Kyi’s remarks and attitudes have been fairly encouraging. In addition to meeting the non-signatory EAOs a month before the conference, she has also succinctly expressed the government’s willingness to reach a common ground with the unwilling groups so as to achieve a comprehensive reconciliatory framework. However, the past few days have witnessed the army launch shockingly violent offensives against armed groups in Kachin and Shan states - something that threatens to derail the entire peace process. It is undeniable that the ambitious peace process in Myanmar will remain hobbled without the participation of all ethnic, religious, and political groups. Although the government has charted a specific follow-up action plan - including scheduling similar forums after every six months and widening the scope of the NCA – it remains to be seen if the recalcitrant EAOs are absorbed in the Panglong framework in the future. As rightly stated by Suu Kyi in her closing remarks, 'To achieve peace is very difficult.'

Myanmar Army, Rohingyas and other Ethnic Armed Organisations at Panglong peace conference

Hundreds of Rohingya villagers in Myanmar are hiding in rice fields without shelter for the consecutive&nbsp;second night after the army on Sunday forced them out of their village in a crackdown following a string of attacks on border security forces.&nbsp;

Border guard officers stormed into the Kyee&nbsp;Kan Pyin village on Sunday and ordered around 2,000 Rohingya villagers to vacate their homes, giving them just enough time to gather their basic household items, Reuters reported.

Violence&nbsp;has intensified in the country&#39;s Rakhine province, with relations between Rohingyas and majority Buddhists hitting their lowest since 2012 when hundreds were killed and thousands displaced in ethnic and religious violence.&nbsp;

The government led by&nbsp;Aung San Suu Kyi has said the army and police in Rakhine are fighting at least 400 insurgents, drawn from the Rohingya Muslim minority, with alleged&nbsp;links to Islamist militants overseas.

While officials claim conducting carefully targeted sweeps against those who attacked police border posts on October 9 , residents in the region have accused the security forces of burning homes and killing non-combatants, Reuters reported.&nbsp;

Rohingya rights activists have uploaded videos showing women and men speaking&nbsp;in Rohingya language carrying their belongings and livestock to other villages or waiting out the crackdown in rice fields, Reuters reported.

&quot;I was kicked out from my house yesterday afternoon, now I live in a paddy field outside of my village with some 200 people including my family, I became homeless,&quot;&nbsp;Rohingya man from Kyee Kan Pyin village told Reuters.

&quot;After the soldiers arrived at our village, they said that if all of us didn&#39;t leave, they would shoot us,&rdquo; he said. 
 
Mynt Kyaw, a government spokesman, told Reuters that the government was unable to contact anyone in the area because it was a militarily-operated &quot;red zone&quot;.

&quot;A Muslim man called me this morning as they were being forcibly removed from their homes, but I was not able to confirm that information,&quot; said Mynt Kyaw.

The area around Maungdaw, near the border with Bangladesh, is under a military lockdown and journalists and aid workers are being denied access.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The security forces are trying to weed out about 400 Rohingya insurgents following attacks on border security forces in Rakhine province

Hundreds of Rohingya villagers in Myanmar are hiding in rice fields without shelter for the consecutive second night after the army on Sunday forced them out of their village in a crackdown following a string of attacks on border security forces. Border guard officers stormed into the Kyee Kan Pyin village on Sunday and ordered around 2,000 Rohingya villagers to vacate their homes, giving them just enough time to gather their basic household items, Reuters reported. Violence has intensified in the country's Rakhine province, with relations between Rohingyas and majority Buddhists hitting their lowest since 2012 when hundreds were killed and thousands displaced in ethnic and religious violence. The government led by Aung San Suu Kyi has said the army and police in Rakhine are fighting at least 400 insurgents, drawn from the Rohingya Muslim minority, with alleged links to Islamist militants overseas. While officials claim conducting carefully targeted sweeps against those who attacked police border posts on October 9 , residents in the region have accused the security forces of burning homes and killing non-combatants, Reuters reported. Rohingya rights activists have uploaded videos showing women and men speaking in Rohingya language carrying their belongings and livestock to other villages or waiting out the crackdown in rice fields, Reuters reported. "I was kicked out from my house yesterday afternoon, now I live in a paddy field outside of my village with some 200 people including my family, I became homeless," Rohingya man from Kyee Kan Pyin village told Reuters. "After the soldiers arrived at our village, they said that if all of us didn't leave, they would shoot us,” he said. Mynt Kyaw, a government spokesman, told Reuters that the government was unable to contact anyone in the area because it was a militarily-operated "red zone". "A Muslim man called me this morning as they were being forcibly removed from their homes, but I was not able to confirm that information," said Mynt Kyaw. The area around Maungdaw, near the border with Bangladesh, is under a military lockdown and journalists and aid workers are being denied access. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Myanmar army drives hundreds of Rohingya villagers out of homes

A mob wielding weapons razed a Muslim prayer hall in northern Myanmar, state media reported Saturday. This is the second attack on a mosque in just over a week as anti-Muslim sentiment swells in the Buddhist-majority nation. 
 
Myanmar has struggled to contain bouts of deadly religious bloodshed in recent years, with bristling sectarian tensions and rising Buddhist nationalism posing a steep challenge to the new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.&nbsp; 
 
On Friday villagers in Hpakant, a jade-mining town in northern Kachin state, ransacked a mosque &quot;wielding sticks, knives and other weapons&quot; before burning it down, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar. 
 
&quot;The mob was unresponsive and entirely beyond control. The building was razed by the riotous crowd,&quot; the paper reported, adding that the rampage was sparked by a dispute over the mosque`s construction. &nbsp;No arrests have been made, it said. 
 
UN investigator calls on government to take strict action 
The riot coincided with the end of a 12-day visit by a United Nations rights investigator who warned that &quot;tensions along religious lines remain pervasive across Myanmar society&quot;. 
 
In a press conference concluding her trip Friday, Yanghee Lee called on authorities to investigate the destruction of another mosque in central Bago late last month.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;The government must demonstrate that instigating and committing violence against an ethnic or religious minority community has no place in Myanmar,&quot; she said. 
 
Religious intolerance has mushroomed across the country in recent years, threatening to unravel advances towards democracy since the former junta stepped down in 2011. 
 
Authorities, however, have been reluctant to launch prosecutions out of fear of stoking further unrest. 
 
Rohingya still bearing brunt of worst religious violence&nbsp; 
The worst religious violence struck western Rakhine State in 2012, leaving scores dead and pushing tens of thousands of the stateless Muslim Rohingya into destitute displacement camps.&nbsp; 
 
The state remains almost completely divided on religious grounds, with Muslim communities subject to a host of restrictions on their movements and access to basic services and employment. 
 
Lee urged the country`s new government to make ending &quot;institutionalised discrimination against Muslim communities in state... an urgent priority&quot;. 
 
Suu Kyi, the Noble peace prize winner who championed her country&#39;s struggle against a repressive military regime, has dismayed rights groups by not taking swifter moves to carve out a solution for the Rohingya.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP)

This is the second attack on a mosque in just over a week

A mob wielding weapons razed a Muslim prayer hall in northern Myanmar, state media reported Saturday. This is the second attack on a mosque in just over a week as anti-Muslim sentiment swells in the Buddhist-majority nation. Myanmar has struggled to contain bouts of deadly religious bloodshed in recent years, with bristling sectarian tensions and rising Buddhist nationalism posing a steep challenge to the new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. On Friday villagers in Hpakant, a jade-mining town in northern Kachin state, ransacked a mosque "wielding sticks, knives and other weapons" before burning it down, according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar. "The mob was unresponsive and entirely beyond control. The building was razed by the riotous crowd," the paper reported, adding that the rampage was sparked by a dispute over the mosque`s construction. No arrests have been made, it said. UN investigator calls on government to take strict action The riot coincided with the end of a 12-day visit by a United Nations rights investigator who warned that "tensions along religious lines remain pervasive across Myanmar society". In a press conference concluding her trip Friday, Yanghee Lee called on authorities to investigate the destruction of another mosque in central Bago late last month. "The government must demonstrate that instigating and committing violence against an ethnic or religious minority community has no place in Myanmar," she said. Religious intolerance has mushroomed across the country in recent years, threatening to unravel advances towards democracy since the former junta stepped down in 2011. Authorities, however, have been reluctant to launch prosecutions out of fear of stoking further unrest. Rohingya still bearing brunt of worst religious violence The worst religious violence struck western Rakhine State in 2012, leaving scores dead and pushing tens of thousands of the stateless Muslim Rohingya into destitute displacement camps. The state remains almost completely divided on religious grounds, with Muslim communities subject to a host of restrictions on their movements and access to basic services and employment. Lee urged the country`s new government to make ending "institutionalised discrimination against Muslim communities in state... an urgent priority". Suu Kyi, the Noble peace prize winner who championed her country's struggle against a repressive military regime, has dismayed rights groups by not taking swifter moves to carve out a solution for the Rohingya. (AFP)

Mob razes mosque in northern Myanmar

A group of men from a village in central Myanmar destroyed a mosque in the first serious outburst of inter-religious violence in months, coinciding with a rise in tensions over how to refer to the Rohingya, the country&#39;s persecuted Muslim minority. 
 
Villagers from Thayethamin, a remote settlement a two-hours&#39; drive northeast of Myanmar&#39;s largest city, Yangon, destroyed the mosque on Thursday after a dispute over its construction, and beat up at least one Muslim man, media and a police spokesman said. 
 
Religious tensions simmered in Myanmar for almost half a century of military rule, before boiling over in 2012, just a year after a semi-civilian government took power. 
 
Hundreds died in clashes in northwestern Rakhine State between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, leading to the organised expulsion of Rohingya by Rakhine mobs. More violence between Muslims and Buddhists in other parts of the country followed in 2013. 
 
Photographs that circulated on social media on Friday, purportedly from the village, showed a seriously damaged building, furniture scattered along the streets and a large group of men roaming around, some armed with sticks. 
 
Further details of the incident were unclear. Reuters was unable to verify the photographs. 
 
&quot;Things are well under control now and action hasn&#39;t been taken against anyone yet,&quot; said colonel Zaw Khin Aung, spokesman of the Police Headquarters based in Myanmar&#39;s capital, Naypyitaw. 
 
The violence coincides with a rise in tensions over how to refer to the Rohingya, a 1.1-million group of Muslims living in apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine since the 2012 violence. 
 
Country leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won in a landslide in historic November elections, faces a daunting task of resolving ethnic and religious tensions and ending human rights abuses in the state. 
 
On Monday, she told the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, that the government would not use the term &quot;Rohingya&quot; because it viewed it as inflammatory. 
 
The Rohingya identify themselves by that name. Many have lived in Myanmar for generations, but many Myanmar Buddhists call them &quot;Bengali&quot; - a term implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. 
 
Suu Kyi has appealed to people not to use either term, and instead refer to the &quot;Muslim community in Rakhine State&quot;. 
 
The UN on Monday called on the Nobel peace prize winner to make putting an end to the abuses the government&#39;s &quot;top priority&quot;. It said that the violations, which include executions and torture, may amount to crimes against humanity. 
 
(Reuters)

Abuses against Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya population include executions and torture, and may amount to crimes against humanity

A group of men from a village in central Myanmar destroyed a mosque in the first serious outburst of inter-religious violence in months, coinciding with a rise in tensions over how to refer to the Rohingya, the country's persecuted Muslim minority. Villagers from Thayethamin, a remote settlement a two-hours' drive northeast of Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, destroyed the mosque on Thursday after a dispute over its construction, and beat up at least one Muslim man, media and a police spokesman said. Religious tensions simmered in Myanmar for almost half a century of military rule, before boiling over in 2012, just a year after a semi-civilian government took power. Hundreds died in clashes in northwestern Rakhine State between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, leading to the organised expulsion of Rohingya by Rakhine mobs. More violence between Muslims and Buddhists in other parts of the country followed in 2013. Photographs that circulated on social media on Friday, purportedly from the village, showed a seriously damaged building, furniture scattered along the streets and a large group of men roaming around, some armed with sticks. Further details of the incident were unclear. Reuters was unable to verify the photographs. "Things are well under control now and action hasn't been taken against anyone yet," said colonel Zaw Khin Aung, spokesman of the Police Headquarters based in Myanmar's capital, Naypyitaw. The violence coincides with a rise in tensions over how to refer to the Rohingya, a 1.1-million group of Muslims living in apartheid-like conditions in Rakhine since the 2012 violence. Country leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won in a landslide in historic November elections, faces a daunting task of resolving ethnic and religious tensions and ending human rights abuses in the state. On Monday, she told the UN Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, that the government would not use the term "Rohingya" because it viewed it as inflammatory. The Rohingya identify themselves by that name. Many have lived in Myanmar for generations, but many Myanmar Buddhists call them "Bengali" - a term implying they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Suu Kyi has appealed to people not to use either term, and instead refer to the "Muslim community in Rakhine State". The UN on Monday called on the Nobel peace prize winner to make putting an end to the abuses the government's "top priority". It said that the violations, which include executions and torture, may amount to crimes against humanity. (Reuters)

Mosque demolished in Myanmar as religious, ethnic tension rise

Myanmar`s Aung San Suu Kyi arrives today in Thailand where she is expected to be garlanded by her adoring compatriots, hundreds of thousands of whom have sought work and sanctuary from war across the border. 
 
It is Suu Kyi`s highest profile overseas visit since her pro-democracy party took power in April, ending nearly half a century of military domination. 
 
Her government has seeded hopes for a new era of prosperity that could eventually convince the army of low-paid Myanmar labourers in Thailand to return home. 
 
The two Southeast Asian neighbours have travelled in starkly different directions in recent years. 
 
While Myanmar`s junta has rolled back its chokehold on politics, last year allowing the freest elections in decades, Thailand remains in the grip of a military that seized power in 2014. 
 
As Myanmar`s democracy champion, Suu Kyi is expected to receive a rock star welcome during a visit to a fishing village in Samut Sakhon later Thursday. 
 
The port, just outside Bangkok, is the seat of Thailand`s huge seafood industry and home to more than 100,000 low-paid Myanmar labourers. 
 
The visit &quot;fills me with hope,&quot; Myanmar migrant Thon Barami, 50, told AFP at the scruffy port. 
 
&quot;We have problems here in Thailand. She might help us with labour rights... people all around the world will listen to her,&quot; she added. 
 
The fishing sector has been battered by revelations of the use of slave labour and the widespread exploitation of workers. 
 
The scandals have prompted threats of sanctions by the European Union -- a key market for the multi-billion-dollar Thai seafood 
industry. 
 
Seeking to escape poverty at home, some one million registered Myanmar migrant workers form the backbone of Thailand`s manual workforce. 
 
Tens of thousands of others work illegally, with some estimates putting the total number of Myanmar nationals in Thailand at three million. 
 
Rights groups say migrants -- legal and otherwise -- are vulnerable to unscrupulous officials, trafficking gangs and employment agencies who charge huge sums to get them poorly paid work. 
 
Their low status also sees them treated with scorn and mistrust by many Thais. 
 
&quot;They all want to go home, but they are just waiting for the economic situation (in Myanmar) to improve significantly,&quot; explained Andy Hall, a migrant rights activist with an office in the port town. 
 
The nemesis of Myanmar`s generals throughout a quarter-century of struggle for democracy, the Nobel laureate will meet with the leader of the Thai junta in Bangkok on Friday. 
 
But her schedule does not include a single press conference as Suu Kyi continues to fiercely control her government`s messaging. 
 
The 71-year-old is officially Myanmar`s foreign minister and state counsellor, but also the de facto leader of her country despite a military-era constitution that bars her from the presidency. 
 
It is unclear if she will make a scheduled trip to a refugee camp in Ratchaburi province on Saturday.&nbsp; 
 
It is one of nearly a dozen camps in Thailand holding more than 100,000 refugees who have fled conflict in Myanmar.&nbsp;Many are ethnic Karen displaced by war with Myanmar`s army. The violence abated following a 2012 ceasefire, but conflict with other ethnic rebel groups continues. 
 
Thailand, which does not accept refugees, wants to repatriate camp residents -- some of whom have been born on Thai soil but are barred from citizenship. 
 
Suu Kyi is also not scheduled to visit any of the Thai centres holding hundreds of Rohingya boat migrants, a Muslim group who have fled poverty and persecution in western Myanmar. 
 
Campaigners say her failure to throw her moral weight behind the stateless minority is a boon to Myanmar`s Buddhist hardliners who loathe the Rohingya and say they are illegal immigrants. 
 
In a sign of the sensitivity clouding the Rohingya question, a talk at the Foreign Correspondents` Club in Bangkok just ahead of Suu Kyi`s arrival was cancelled on military orders. 
 
(AFP)

Seeking to escape poverty at home, some one million registered Myanmar migrant workers form the backbone of Thailand's manual workforce

Myanmar`s Aung San Suu Kyi arrives today in Thailand where she is expected to be garlanded by her adoring compatriots, hundreds of thousands of whom have sought work and sanctuary from war across the border. It is Suu Kyi`s highest profile overseas visit since her pro-democracy party took power in April, ending nearly half a century of military domination. Her government has seeded hopes for a new era of prosperity that could eventually convince the army of low-paid Myanmar labourers in Thailand to return home. The two Southeast Asian neighbours have travelled in starkly different directions in recent years. While Myanmar`s junta has rolled back its chokehold on politics, last year allowing the freest elections in decades, Thailand remains in the grip of a military that seized power in 2014. As Myanmar`s democracy champion, Suu Kyi is expected to receive a rock star welcome during a visit to a fishing village in Samut Sakhon later Thursday. The port, just outside Bangkok, is the seat of Thailand`s huge seafood industry and home to more than 100,000 low-paid Myanmar labourers. The visit "fills me with hope," Myanmar migrant Thon Barami, 50, told AFP at the scruffy port. "We have problems here in Thailand. She might help us with labour rights... people all around the world will listen to her," she added. The fishing sector has been battered by revelations of the use of slave labour and the widespread exploitation of workers. The scandals have prompted threats of sanctions by the European Union -- a key market for the multi-billion-dollar Thai seafood industry. Seeking to escape poverty at home, some one million registered Myanmar migrant workers form the backbone of Thailand`s manual workforce. Tens of thousands of others work illegally, with some estimates putting the total number of Myanmar nationals in Thailand at three million. Rights groups say migrants -- legal and otherwise -- are vulnerable to unscrupulous officials, trafficking gangs and employment agencies who charge huge sums to get them poorly paid work. Their low status also sees them treated with scorn and mistrust by many Thais. "They all want to go home, but they are just waiting for the economic situation (in Myanmar) to improve significantly," explained Andy Hall, a migrant rights activist with an office in the port town. The nemesis of Myanmar`s generals throughout a quarter-century of struggle for democracy, the Nobel laureate will meet with the leader of the Thai junta in Bangkok on Friday. But her schedule does not include a single press conference as Suu Kyi continues to fiercely control her government`s messaging. The 71-year-old is officially Myanmar`s foreign minister and state counsellor, but also the de facto leader of her country despite a military-era constitution that bars her from the presidency. It is unclear if she will make a scheduled trip to a refugee camp in Ratchaburi province on Saturday. It is one of nearly a dozen camps in Thailand holding more than 100,000 refugees who have fled conflict in Myanmar. Many are ethnic Karen displaced by war with Myanmar`s army. The violence abated following a 2012 ceasefire, but conflict with other ethnic rebel groups continues. Thailand, which does not accept refugees, wants to repatriate camp residents -- some of whom have been born on Thai soil but are barred from citizenship. Suu Kyi is also not scheduled to visit any of the Thai centres holding hundreds of Rohingya boat migrants, a Muslim group who have fled poverty and persecution in western Myanmar. Campaigners say her failure to throw her moral weight behind the stateless minority is a boon to Myanmar`s Buddhist hardliners who loathe the Rohingya and say they are illegal immigrants. In a sign of the sensitivity clouding the Rohingya question, a talk at the Foreign Correspondents` Club in Bangkok just ahead of Suu Kyi`s arrival was cancelled on military orders. (AFP)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi visits troubled diaspora in Thailand

Sri Lankan migrants who were stranded on a boat off Indonesia were allowed to come ashore on Saturday, easing a tense stand-off with local authorities that drew international condemnation. 
 
The 44 migrants, who include many women and children, had been stuck on a boat off Aceh province for a week as authorities in the western province refused to allow them to disembark. 
 
But Indonesian officials gave way on Saturday&nbsp;and allowed the migrants -- who were adrift after their Indian-flagged vessel broke down en route to Australia -- to take refuge in tents set up along the beach. 
 
Police had begun taking photographs of those brought ashore in a bid to establish identities, an AFP journalist at the scene said. 
 
Authorities had previously said the boat would be towed out to international waters to continue on its journey after repairs were completed and the weather improved. 
 
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla had ordered Aceh officials to allow the migrants to disembark the vessel, which washed up by a beach in the town of Lhoknga. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re happy to see that is finally being implemented,&quot; said Lilianne Fan, international director of Aceh NGO the Geutanyoe Foundation, whose team on the ground witnessed the disembarkation. 
 
&quot;At this point the most urgent thing from our point of view is that immediate access is given to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees),&quot; Fan added. 
 
The week-long impasse boiled over&nbsp;Thursday&nbsp;when police fired a warning shot to disperse a crowd that had swarmed around the vessel. 
 
Amnesty International accused local authorities of employing &quot;crude intimidation tactics&quot; against the migrants, and called for UN refugee teams in Aceh to be granted immediate access to the group. 
 
&quot;The immigration office and security forces in Aceh are flouting the authority of their own Vice President and not letting the UNHCR do its job,&quot; Josef Benedict of Amnesty International said in a statement. 
 
Hundreds of Myanmar Rohingya came ashore in Aceh last year during a regional boat people crisis and were warmly welcomed by residents of the staunchly Islamic province, who felt sympathy for their plight as a persecuted Muslim minority. 
(AFP)

International condemnation was piled on local authorities, who for a week kept many women and children adrift

Sri Lankan migrants who were stranded on a boat off Indonesia were allowed to come ashore on Saturday, easing a tense stand-off with local authorities that drew international condemnation. The 44 migrants, who include many women and children, had been stuck on a boat off Aceh province for a week as authorities in the western province refused to allow them to disembark. But Indonesian officials gave way on Saturday and allowed the migrants -- who were adrift after their Indian-flagged vessel broke down en route to Australia -- to take refuge in tents set up along the beach. Police had begun taking photographs of those brought ashore in a bid to establish identities, an AFP journalist at the scene said. Authorities had previously said the boat would be towed out to international waters to continue on its journey after repairs were completed and the weather improved. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla had ordered Aceh officials to allow the migrants to disembark the vessel, which washed up by a beach in the town of Lhoknga. "We're happy to see that is finally being implemented," said Lilianne Fan, international director of Aceh NGO the Geutanyoe Foundation, whose team on the ground witnessed the disembarkation. "At this point the most urgent thing from our point of view is that immediate access is given to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)," Fan added. The week-long impasse boiled over Thursday when police fired a warning shot to disperse a crowd that had swarmed around the vessel. Amnesty International accused local authorities of employing "crude intimidation tactics" against the migrants, and called for UN refugee teams in Aceh to be granted immediate access to the group. "The immigration office and security forces in Aceh are flouting the authority of their own Vice President and not letting the UNHCR do its job," Josef Benedict of Amnesty International said in a statement. Hundreds of Myanmar Rohingya came ashore in Aceh last year during a regional boat people crisis and were warmly welcomed by residents of the staunchly Islamic province, who felt sympathy for their plight as a persecuted Muslim minority. (AFP)

Migrants in Indonesia stranded for days on boat finally brought ashore

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