Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (AFP) — Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson met with Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar’s capital on Sunday to press for action on the Rohingya crisis, as the country faces mounting pressure to punish troops accused of atrocities against the Muslim minority. Johnson spoke with the embattled Myanmar leader, whose reputation among the international community has plunged over her handling of the crisis, in Naypyidaw while on a four-day tour in Asia. The meeting followed […]
by Annie BANERJI and Redwan AHMED Agence France-Presse BALUKHALI, Bangladesh (AFP) — It is known as “widows’ camp” — a sanctuary off limits to men inside Bangladesh’s congested refugee settlements, where Rohingya women and children traumatised by violence find rare moments of peace. The cluster of orange tarpaulins strung across bamboo offers a safe haven for dozens of widows and young children left fending for themselves after fleeing into Bangladesh in an exodus of nearly […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar officials have denied a report of five mass graves of Rohingya in a village in crisis-hit Rakhine, a border region gutted by a military crackdown on the Muslim minority. Myanmar troops are accused of waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya, nearly 700,000 of whom have fled to Bangladesh since last August. Myanmar denies the allegation, saying it launched a proportionate crackdown on Rohingya rebels, but has blocked reporters and UN […]
by Richard Sargent with Annie Banerji in Cox’s Bazar Agence France Presse YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar blamed Bangladesh on Tuesday for delays to the start of a huge repatriation program for Rohingya refugees, as the UN warned of the dangers of rushing their return to strife-torn Rakhine state. Nearly 690,000 Rohingya escaped to Bangladesh after a brutal Myanmar army crackdown began in the state last August, while around 100,000 fled an earlier bout of […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has welcomed an unprecedented army admission that security forces carried out extra-judicial killings of Rohingya Muslims as a “positive step”, state-backed media reported Saturday. After months of staunch denials of abuse, the army on Wednesday said a probe found four members of the security forces helped kill 10 Rohingya militant suspects at Inn Din village on September 2, leaving their bodies in a hastily […]
by Nina Larson Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The UN rights chief told AFP Monday that Myanmar clearly “planned” violent attacks on its Rohingya minority, causing a mass-exodus, and warned the crackdown could possibly amount to “genocide.” “For us, it was clear… that these operations were organized and planned,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in an interview. “You couldn’t exclude the possibility of acts of genocide… You […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s army burned down dozens of Rohingya homes within days of signing a refugee repatriation deal with Bangladesh, showing the agreement was a mere “public relations stunt,” Human Rights Watch said Monday. The rights group, citing analysis of satellite imagery, said buildings in 40 villages were destroyed in October and November, increasing the total to 354 villages that had been partially or completely razed since last August. Dozens of buildings were burned the […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — At least 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were killed in the first month of a Myanmar army crackdown on rebels in Rakhine state that began in late August, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday. The figure is the highest estimated death toll yet of violence that erupted on August 25 and triggered a massive refugee crisis, sending some 655,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border to Bangladesh. The UN and US have described […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Prolonged displacement of Rohingya refugees in squalid Bangladeshi camps poses a “grave security risk,” conflict analysts ICG warned Thursday, raising the specter of militants recruiting among the displaced and launching cross-border attacks on Myanmar. Raids by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on August 25 sparked the vicious Myanmar army response which has forced more than 620,000 Rohingya to flee Rakhine state for Bangladesh. ARSA “appears determined to regroup and remain […]
by Nina Larson Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — UN member states said Tuesday that Myanmar was likely committing “crimes against humanity” against its Rohingya minority, while the UN rights chief voiced alarm over possible “elements of genocide”. Following a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, the nations overwhelmingly voted in favour of a resolution expressing grave concern over widespread abuses committed against the largely Muslim minority. Thirty-three of the council’s […]
COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — Rohingya are still fleeing into Bangladesh even after an agreement was signed with Myanmar to repatriate hundreds of thousands of the Muslim minority displaced along the border, officials said Monday. The arrangement struck by the neighbours on Thursday raised the prospect of at least 700,000 Rohingya Muslims living in overcrowded camps in southeastern Bangladesh being returned to Myanmar. But at least 3,000 refugees have crossed since then, the United […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to start repatriating Rohingya refugees in two months, Dhaka said Thursday, as global pressure mounts over the refugee crisis. More than 620,000 Rohingya have poured into Bangladesh since August, running from a Myanmar military crackdown that Washington said this week clearly constitutes “ethnic cleansing.” After weeks of tussling over the terms of repatriation, the two sides inked a deal in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw on Thursday following talks between Myanmar’s […]
