In the News

By Abdul Aziz | Published by Dhaka Tribune on August 27, 2018 The UN likened the Aug 25 crackdown in the Rakhine state to genocide The Rohingyas have announced to observe August 25 as the “genocide day,” a year after a Myanmar military crackdown forced more than 700,000 members of the ethnic minority to flee the Rakhine state. The announcement came from protest rallies by the Rohingyas at Ukhiya and Teknaf on Saturday. A group calling itself the “Free Rohingya Coalition” has been campaigning to highlight the last several days of the barbarity and atrocity of the August 25, 2017

Free Rohingya Coalition co-founder Maung Zarni says time to reject false messiahs in Myanmar beginning with Aung San Suu Kyi By Maung Zarni | Pubilshed by Anadolu Agency on August 25, 2018 LONDON — Watching YouTube Myanmar State Counsellor’s 43rd Singapore lecture — 1-hour lecture including the questions and answers – entitled, “Democratic Transition in Myanmar: Challenges and the Way Forward,” left me deeply disturbed, pained and outraged.  The degree of her delusions, distortions and concoctions made me realize that my fellow Burmese dissident has become nothing more than the most polished mouth piece for her former captors, namely the murderous military regime. Aung

Published by LA PRESSE on August 25, 2018 Il y a un an aujourd’hui, des combattants de la minorité musulmane des Rohingya ont tué 12 soldats birmans, donnant le prétexte à une campagne de répression qui a forcé plus de 700 000 personnes à fuir vers le Bangladesh voisin. Alors que la majorité de ces survivants s’entassent dans le plus grand camp de réfugiés de la planète, de plus en plus d’indices montrent que les massacres de l’automne dernier n’avaient absolument rien de spontané. UN DOSSIER D’AGNÈS GRUDA LA CRISE DES ROHINGYA, UN AN APRÈS « DES SIMILITUDES FRAPPANTES AVEC CE QUI S’ÉTAIT PASSÉ

By Tapan Bose | Published by CounterCurrents.Org on August 1, 2018 Rohingya refugees are back in the news again. On Tuesday (July 30) Mr. Rijiju, the Minister of State for Home said some of the Rohingya living in India do not have the status of “refugee” but are “illegal migrants” who would be deported once their details have been prepared. Reiterating his earlier position, Rijiju said since they are illegal migrants, they are not entitled to any government facility. Responding to a series of supplementary questions in the Parliament, Rijiju said the government has reports that some of the Rohingyas

By Niels Lesniewski | Published by Roll Call on July 31, 2018 Signs point to McConnell not allowing language targeting country also known as Burma A legislative effort to punish officials responsible for atrocities committed against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar appears to have stalled thanks to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin gave a speech ahead of floor consideration of the fiscal 2019 defense authorization conference report in which he decried, “the irresponsible removal of provisions related to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.” “The House bill contained five provisions restricting security engagement with Burma, imposing sanctions on Burmese officials

By Shibani Mahtani | Published by Washington Post on July 1, 2018 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who spent over a quarter century promoting human rights and democracy in Myanmar, is now the principal senator holding up fresh legislation pressuring the country to improve its treatment of the Rohingya. McConnell (R-Ky.) was the architect of harsh economic sanctions against the former military junta, which were dropped in 2016. His current stance has surprised human rights advocates in Washington who once viewed the senator as their most powerful ally in regard to Myanmar, also known as Burma. They characterize him now as

By Mohammed Rafique | Published by The Irish Times on June 21, 2018 Sir, – We applaud David McKechnie and Kathleen Harris for their report on the lives of the Rohingya in the refugee camps in Bangladesh in the Weekend edition of The Irish Times (“Rohingya crisis: ‘We have no one, no idea what is going to happen tomorrow”, June 16th). Their report painted a realistic picture of the daily struggles that the Rohingya face. We have been expelled from our country. We are the victims of major human rights abuses. We have been stripped of our nationality. The government

By MS Anwar | Published by Dhaka Tribune on June 19, 2018   An Amnesty report that points fingers at ARSA could do more harm than good   Amnesty International, a reputed international human rights watchdog group, published a report claiming Rohingya armed group Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) had massacred scores of Hindu civilians in Rakhine state on May 22 — a report which ARSA has categorically denied later.   The report was shocking to many, and drew immediate criticism and condemnation from leading Rohingya activists as well as non-Rohingya activists, not because they were angry with the Amnesty

By Dr. Maung Zarni | Published by Anadolu Agency on June 16, 2018 Myanmar’s leader is doing her best to cover up her country’s international crimes against Rohingya people Cambridge, THE UK — In the first meeting on June 13 between Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and Christine Schraner Burgener, the Burmese urged the freshly-minted Special Envoy on Myanmar for the UN Secretary General to understand “the real situation” about the Rakhine State, from which 700,000 Rohingyas fled, in what the Secretary General himself characterized as “ethnic cleansing”. The phrase “the real situation” rings alarm bells in my head. It

Published by Anadolu Agency on June 16, 2018 Maung Zarni says ‘UN needs to stop promoting Myanmar’s lies – such as bypassing the calls for ICC-led accountability’ ANKARA  — The United Nations should “stop promoting Myanmar lies,” an international expert wrote in an analytical piece for Anadolu Agency. Maung Zarni, coordinator for strategic affairs at the Free Rohingya Coalition, wrote: “In the face of Myanmar’s ongoing international crimes against Rohingyas as a people, inside Myanmar and in the refugee camps in Bangladesh — all under Suu Kyi’s watch, and with her complicity — UN needs to stop promoting Myanmar’s lies —