Myanmar&#39;s plans to arm and train non-Muslim residents in the troubled north of Rakhine State is likely to &quot;aggravate an already dire human rights situation&quot;, the International Commission of Jurists, a human rights watchdog, has said.

Soldiers have flooded the Maungdaw area along Myanmar&#39;s frontier with Bangladesh in Rakhine in response to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 in which nine police officers were killed.

The government said a group of some 400 Rohingya Muslim militants attacked the posts. It has said five soldiers and at least 33 suspected insurgents have been killed in the military operation since then.

Security forces have blocked access to aid workers and most journalists to the area. Rohingya Muslims have accused the army of summary executions, rapes and setting fire to homes of civilians. The government and the military deny that.

Rakhine State police chief Colonel Sein Lwin told Reuters this week his force had started recruiting new &quot;regional police&quot; from among the ethnic Rakhine and other non-Muslim ethnic minorities in the area.

&quot;Establishing an armed, untrained, unaccountable force drawn from only one community in the midst of serious ethnic tensions and violence is a recipe for disaster,&quot; said Sam Zarifi, ICJ`s Asia Director, said in a statement on Friday.

Min Aung, a minister in the Rakhine State parliament and a member of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi&#39;s National League for Democracy, said this week the recruits would help protect residents from the militants behind the October 9 attacks.

Deputy commander of Rakhine police, Colonel Thit San, contacted by Reuters on Saturday, rejected the criticism, saying there will be no problems with the force as it would be under police command.

&quot;We already did that training previously, that is normal police recruitment as five or six times before, there were no problems then,&quot; said Thit San.

Only citizens would be eligible to sign up for the police training, officials said, ruling out the 1.1 million Rohingyas living in Rakhine State, who are denied citizenship in Myanmar as they are regarded as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Initially, 100 recruits aged between 18 and 35 would undergo an accelerated 16-week training programme, beginning in state capital&nbsp;Sittwe&nbsp;this month, police said, adding they would be given weapons and other equipment &quot;like police&quot;.

Ethnic Rakhine political leaders have urged the government to arm Buddhists against what they say is rising militancy among the Rohingya.

The ICJ said such force would lack the training and oversight to perform policing functions in accordance with human rights and professional policing standards.

It said there seemed to be no &quot;accountability mechanism&quot; in place to deal with instances of misconduct and abuses, calling for establishment of a professional police force.

(Reuters)

Setting up 'regional police' in the restive state is likely to worsen ethnic tensions, the International Commission of Jurists said

Myanmar's plans to arm and train non-Muslim residents in the troubled north of Rakhine State is likely to "aggravate an already dire human rights situation", the International Commission of Jurists, a human rights watchdog, has said. Soldiers have flooded the Maungdaw area along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh in Rakhine in response to coordinated attacks on three border posts on October 9 in which nine police officers were killed. The government said a group of some 400 Rohingya Muslim militants attacked the posts. It has said five soldiers and at least 33 suspected insurgents have been killed in the military operation since then. Security forces have blocked access to aid workers and most journalists to the area. Rohingya Muslims have accused the army of summary executions, rapes and setting fire to homes of civilians. The government and the military deny that. Rakhine State police chief Colonel Sein Lwin told Reuters this week his force had started recruiting new "regional police" from among the ethnic Rakhine and other non-Muslim ethnic minorities in the area. "Establishing an armed, untrained, unaccountable force drawn from only one community in the midst of serious ethnic tensions and violence is a recipe for disaster," said Sam Zarifi, ICJ`s Asia Director, said in a statement on Friday. Min Aung, a minister in the Rakhine State parliament and a member of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, said this week the recruits would help protect residents from the militants behind the October 9 attacks. Deputy commander of Rakhine police, Colonel Thit San, contacted by Reuters on Saturday, rejected the criticism, saying there will be no problems with the force as it would be under police command. "We already did that training previously, that is normal police recruitment as five or six times before, there were no problems then," said Thit San. Only citizens would be eligible to sign up for the police training, officials said, ruling out the 1.1 million Rohingyas living in Rakhine State, who are denied citizenship in Myanmar as they are regarded as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Initially, 100 recruits aged between 18 and 35 would undergo an accelerated 16-week training programme, beginning in state capital Sittwe this month, police said, adding they would be given weapons and other equipment "like police". Ethnic Rakhine political leaders have urged the government to arm Buddhists against what they say is rising militancy among the Rohingya. The ICJ said such force would lack the training and oversight to perform policing functions in accordance with human rights and professional policing standards. It said there seemed to be no "accountability mechanism" in place to deal with instances of misconduct and abuses, calling for establishment of a professional police force. (Reuters)

Myanmar's plan to arm non-Muslims in Rakhine will 'aggravate' human rights situation: Watchdog

At least two policemen were killed in three attacks along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border early on Sunday&nbsp;morning, a police official said.

&quot;According to initial information, two police officers were killed, two others were injured and six police are missing,&quot; Tin Maung Swe, a senior official with the government of Myanmar&#39;s Rakhine, where the attack took place, told AFP.

A second police official, however, said that as many as eight policemen&nbsp;and some of the attackers might have been killed. 

Weapons were also recovered from the assailants from the border post, AFP reported the official as saying.

It was not immediately known which group carried out the attack.

Rakhine&#39;s sectarian tensions

Rakhine, an impoverished state in Myanmar, has been fraught with sectarian tensions between the hardliner Buddhist nationalists and Rohingya Muslims since 2012.

Buddhist nationalists consider Rohingyas, an ethnic Muslim minority group living primarily in Rakhine, as outsiders and are opposed to the government granting them citizenship.

Bouts of communal violence between the two communities and discriminatory policies of the Myanmar government have forced tens of thousands to flee and take shelter in squalid refugee camps in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.&nbsp;

But unlike in eastern and northern border states, Rohingyas don&#39;t have much of a military presence.

Observers, however, say that continued persecution might prompt the Rohingyas to develop a significant militant faction.

A surge in violence in the ravaged state of Rakhine could be a major migraine for the newly-elected Aung San Suu Kyi government.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The violence erupted in Rakhine, an impoverished state in Myanmar simmering in sectarian tension between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas

At least two policemen were killed in three attacks along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border early on Sunday morning, a police official said. "According to initial information, two police officers were killed, two others were injured and six police are missing," Tin Maung Swe, a senior official with the government of Myanmar's Rakhine, where the attack took place, told AFP. A second police official, however, said that as many as eight policemen and some of the attackers might have been killed. Weapons were also recovered from the assailants from the border post, AFP reported the official as saying. It was not immediately known which group carried out the attack. Rakhine's sectarian tensions Rakhine, an impoverished state in Myanmar, has been fraught with sectarian tensions between the hardliner Buddhist nationalists and Rohingya Muslims since 2012. Buddhist nationalists consider Rohingyas, an ethnic Muslim minority group living primarily in Rakhine, as outsiders and are opposed to the government granting them citizenship. Bouts of communal violence between the two communities and discriminatory policies of the Myanmar government have forced tens of thousands to flee and take shelter in squalid refugee camps in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. But unlike in eastern and northern border states, Rohingyas don't have much of a military presence. Observers, however, say that continued persecution might prompt the Rohingyas to develop a significant militant faction. A surge in violence in the ravaged state of Rakhine could be a major migraine for the newly-elected Aung San Suu Kyi government. (WION with inputs from AFP)

At least two policemen killed in attack along Myanmar-Bangladesh border

The body representing Myanmar&#39;s top monks has distanced itself from Buddhist hardliners behind an incendiary anti-Muslim campaign blamed for a surge in sectarian violence across the country. &nbsp; 
 
The Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, which represents the upper echelons of the clergy in the overwhelmingly Buddhist country, issued a statement late Tuesday saying it has never endorsed the ultra-nationalist &quot;Ma Ba Tha&quot;. 
 
The Ma Ba Tha is a monk-led group that has been at the forefront of anti-Muslim protests in Myanmar in the three years since it was founded. 
 
It recently said it was established under Sangha rules, a claim refuted by the country&#39;s top monks, putting clear water between the mainstream Buddhist clergy and the hardline group for the first time. 
 
&quot;The Ma Ba Tha organisation is not included under the basic rules, procedures... and instructions of the Sangha organisation,&quot; the Sangha committee said in its statement. 
 
&quot;Starting from the first Sangha summit in 1980 until the fifth Sangha summit in 2014, no Sangha meeting has acknowledged or formed the Ma Ba Tha -- and it has never used the term Ma Ba Tha.&quot; 
 
The statement came hours ahead of a two-day gathering of around 50 of Myanmar&#39;s top monks in a meeting room inside a man-made cave on the outskirts of Yangon. 
 
The Ma Ba Tha emerged as potent political force under the former military-backed government, successfully lobbying for a series of laws that rights groups say discriminate against women and religious minorities. 
 
Scores of people have been killed in sectarian riots that have billowed out in step with their protests.&nbsp;But the organisation lost out in November elections that saw their allies in the incumbent party trounced by Aung San Suu Kyi&#39;s National League for Democracy (NLD). 
 
It has since been trying to claw back ground, in recent weeks reviving its vitriolic rhetoric that portrays Islam as a threat to Buddhism. 
 
Last month two mosques were destroyed by Buddhist mobs in the centre and north of the country. 
 
Much of the anti-Muslim invective has targeted the ethnic Rohingya -- a minority denied citizenship in Myanmar and relegated to apartheid-like conditions ever since deadly riots tore through western Rakhine state in 2012. 
 
Their very name invokes strong emotions in Myanmar, with the Ma Ba Tha leading protests for the Rohingya to be known only as &quot;Bengalis&quot; -- shorthand for illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. 
 
De facto premier Aung San Suu Kyi has faced widespread censure from rights groups for failing to speak up for the Rohingya -- who the United Nations has labelled one of the world&#39;s most persecuted people. 
 
(AFP)

Ma Ba Tha, an ultra-nationalist Buddhist group, has burned mosques, lobbied for discriminatory laws and had scores die after their protests

The body representing Myanmar's top monks has distanced itself from Buddhist hardliners behind an incendiary anti-Muslim campaign blamed for a surge in sectarian violence across the country. The Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, which represents the upper echelons of the clergy in the overwhelmingly Buddhist country, issued a statement late Tuesday saying it has never endorsed the ultra-nationalist "Ma Ba Tha". The Ma Ba Tha is a monk-led group that has been at the forefront of anti-Muslim protests in Myanmar in the three years since it was founded. It recently said it was established under Sangha rules, a claim refuted by the country's top monks, putting clear water between the mainstream Buddhist clergy and the hardline group for the first time. "The Ma Ba Tha organisation is not included under the basic rules, procedures... and instructions of the Sangha organisation," the Sangha committee said in its statement. "Starting from the first Sangha summit in 1980 until the fifth Sangha summit in 2014, no Sangha meeting has acknowledged or formed the Ma Ba Tha -- and it has never used the term Ma Ba Tha." The statement came hours ahead of a two-day gathering of around 50 of Myanmar's top monks in a meeting room inside a man-made cave on the outskirts of Yangon. The Ma Ba Tha emerged as potent political force under the former military-backed government, successfully lobbying for a series of laws that rights groups say discriminate against women and religious minorities. Scores of people have been killed in sectarian riots that have billowed out in step with their protests. But the organisation lost out in November elections that saw their allies in the incumbent party trounced by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). It has since been trying to claw back ground, in recent weeks reviving its vitriolic rhetoric that portrays Islam as a threat to Buddhism. Last month two mosques were destroyed by Buddhist mobs in the centre and north of the country. Much of the anti-Muslim invective has targeted the ethnic Rohingya -- a minority denied citizenship in Myanmar and relegated to apartheid-like conditions ever since deadly riots tore through western Rakhine state in 2012. Their very name invokes strong emotions in Myanmar, with the Ma Ba Tha leading protests for the Rohingya to be known only as "Bengalis" -- shorthand for illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. De facto premier Aung San Suu Kyi has faced widespread censure from rights groups for failing to speak up for the Rohingya -- who the United Nations has labelled one of the world's most persecuted people. (AFP)

Myanmar's top monks distance themselves from anti-Muslim Buddhist hardliners

The European Union ambassador to Myanmar, Roland Kobia, urged the new government to take &#39;meaningful actions&#39; regarding the contentious Rohingya issue in a news conference in Yangon today. 
 
Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has told the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights that the government will avoid using the term &quot;Rohingya&quot; to describe a persecuted Muslim minority in the country&#39;s northwest, an official said on Monday. 
 
Kobia said the EU welcomes the new government &#39;assuring commitment&#39; to address the sensitive issue, insisting the government to &#39;listen&#39; more to the community in Rakhine and to &#39;act accordingly&#39;. 
 
&quot;Terminology issues are important, we know because they refer to wider and deeper principles but we believe that the situation in Rakhine also deserves urgent and meaningful action on the ground,&quot; Kobia said. 
 
Members of the 1.1 million group, who identify themselves by the term &quot;Rohingya&quot; and live in apartheid-like conditions, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. 
 
The term is a divisive issue. 
 
The EU also announced to donate a total of Euros 688 million ($776.61 million) to Myanmar in development aid, focusing on various areas including education, rural development and good governance. 
 
(Reuters)

The European Union has also announced that it will donate Euros 688 million to Myanmar in development aid

The European Union ambassador to Myanmar, Roland Kobia, urged the new government to take 'meaningful actions' regarding the contentious Rohingya issue in a news conference in Yangon today. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has told the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights that the government will avoid using the term "Rohingya" to describe a persecuted Muslim minority in the country's northwest, an official said on Monday. Kobia said the EU welcomes the new government 'assuring commitment' to address the sensitive issue, insisting the government to 'listen' more to the community in Rakhine and to 'act accordingly'. "Terminology issues are important, we know because they refer to wider and deeper principles but we believe that the situation in Rakhine also deserves urgent and meaningful action on the ground," Kobia said. Members of the 1.1 million group, who identify themselves by the term "Rohingya" and live in apartheid-like conditions, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The term is a divisive issue. The EU also announced to donate a total of Euros 688 million ($776.61 million) to Myanmar in development aid, focusing on various areas including education, rural development and good governance. (Reuters)

EU urges Myanmar to take meaningful action on Rohingya issue

Nobel laureate and Myanmar&#39;s State Counsellor, Aung Sang Suu Kyi, will chair a new committee dedicated to promoting peace and development in Rakhine state, where the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority lives, officials said today.&nbsp; 
 
The founding of the committee was announced a week after the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, urged Suu Kyi who is also the country&#39;s foreign minister, to promote human rights after a meeting in which both discussed the situation of the Rohingya minority.&nbsp; 
 
The committee will include 19 more members of the new Cabinet, according to the state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar.&nbsp; 
 
Among other matters, it will be responsible for coordinating the activities of UN agencies and international NGOs working in the area. 
 
These organizations work, albeit with restrictions, in the area to assist the Rohingyas, a minority living in Myanmar for centuries, who are not recognised as Burmese citizens but are considered Bengali immigrants. 
 
About 120,000 of them are confined in 67 camps and suffer all kinds of restrictions since the outbreak of sectarian violence in 2012 between this minority and the Buddhist majority in the region, which caused at least 160 deaths, EFE news reported. 
 
In March, just days before handing over power, the former government lifted the state of emergency imposed since then in Rakhine where the Rohingyas have limited freedom of movement and access to education, and suffer the confiscation of their property.

Since June last year, over 111,000 people--mostly Rohingyas (the Rakhine Muslims)--have been racially segregated from the Rakhine Buddhists and have been living in crowded IDP camps.

Nobel laureate and Myanmar's State Counsellor, Aung Sang Suu Kyi, will chair a new committee dedicated to promoting peace and development in Rakhine state, where the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority lives, officials said today. The founding of the committee was announced a week after the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, urged Suu Kyi who is also the country's foreign minister, to promote human rights after a meeting in which both discussed the situation of the Rohingya minority. The committee will include 19 more members of the new Cabinet, according to the state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar. Among other matters, it will be responsible for coordinating the activities of UN agencies and international NGOs working in the area. These organizations work, albeit with restrictions, in the area to assist the Rohingyas, a minority living in Myanmar for centuries, who are not recognised as Burmese citizens but are considered Bengali immigrants. About 120,000 of them are confined in 67 camps and suffer all kinds of restrictions since the outbreak of sectarian violence in 2012 between this minority and the Buddhist majority in the region, which caused at least 160 deaths, EFE news reported. In March, just days before handing over power, the former government lifted the state of emergency imposed since then in Rakhine where the Rohingyas have limited freedom of movement and access to education, and suffer the confiscation of their property.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi to lead committee for Rohingyas

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