Tag: Myanmar

Aung San Suu Kyi’s party slapped down in by-elections

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The party of Myanmar’s embattled head of state Aung San Suu Kyi said Sunday they were defeated in six constituencies in a national by-election, showing uneven support for her government after a string of controversies. Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to power in 2015 in a landslide victory, ending decades of military rule. But her tenure has been full of stumbles, most notably with ethnic groups […]

Myanmar ‘unwilling’ to probe Rohingya abuse, UN must act: rights envoy

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar is “unable and unwilling” to investigate its abuses against Rohingya Muslims, a UN rights envoy has said, bolstering calls for the country’s generals to be hauled before an international court. A UN fact-finding mission has called for Myanmar’s top brass to be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes over a brutal crackdown against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state that forced more than 720,000 of the beleaguered minority […]

US gives $185 million in aid for Myanmar Rohingya

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States pledged $185 million Monday to help Rohingya refugees who fled an army crackdown in Myanmar last year and are sheltering in camps in Bangladesh. US Ambassador Nikki Haley announced the new funding for food, water, health care and other critical aid during a ministerial meeting on the crisis in Myanmar, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. The UN, along […]

Former columnist jailed for ‘abusive’ posts on Suu Kyi

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A former columnist for state media has been jailed for seven years for “abusive” Facebook posts about Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a court official said Wednesday, the latest case threatening free expression in the country. Ngar Min Swe was sentenced for sedition on Tuesday, Yangon’s Western District Court spokesman Htay Aung told AFP. “He was convicted… for writing abusive posts on Facebook against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, […]

ICC says can rule on Rohingya deportations from Myanmar

by Jan Hennop Agence France Presse THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The International Criminal Court said Thursday it had jurisdiction to probe the forced deportation of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar’s military as a possible crime against humanity. Some 700,000 people from the stateless Muslim minority have fled Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state into neighbouring Bangladesh since August last year to escape a bloody military crackdown. The ICC’s “pre-trial chamber… decided by majority the court may exercise […]

Reuters reporters jailed for seven years in Myanmar secrets case

by Richard SARGENT / Hla-Hla HTAY Agence France-Presse YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) – Two Reuters journalists accused of breaching Myanmar’s state secrets law while reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims were jailed for seven years Monday, fuelling international outrage a week after the army was accused of genocide. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who have been held in Yangon’s Insein prison since their arrest in December, were charged with violating the Official […]

UN in Myanmar calls for release of jailed Reuters journalists

by Richard Sargent and Hla-Hla Htay Agence France Presse YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Two Reuters journalists accused of breaching Myanmar’s state secrets law during their reporting of a massacre of Rohingya Muslims were jailed for seven years Monday, drawing outrage over the attack on media freedom and calls for their immediate release. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who have been held in Yangon’s Insein prison since their arrest in December, were charged […]

Myanmar releases 75 more child soldiers: UNICEF

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s military has released 75 child soldiers, a UN agency said, its first discharge this year as part of a gradual process to end decades of forced recruitment of underage fighters. There are no concrete figures on how many children are still among the estimated 500,000 troops that serve in Myanmar’s military, or the ethnic rebel armies that it battles in the country’s border regions. The state’s army — also referred […]

Suu Kyi should have ‘resigned’ over Myanmar crackdown: UN rights chief

  BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi should have resigned as Myanmar’s de facto leader over last year’s brutal army campaign against the Rohingya, the outgoing UN human rights chief has told the BBC. A military crackdown in response to attacks by Rohingya militants drove around 700,000 of the Muslim minority from Rakhine state into Bangladesh, where they have given accounts of widespread rape, murder and arson targeting their villages. Suu […]

Myanmar rejects UN probe findings of Rohingya ‘genocide’

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar rejected Wednesday the findings of a UN probe alleging genocide by its military against the Rohingya, in a strident government response to a damning report on the crisis. Myanmar has come under immense pressure this week over last year’s military crackdown that pushed more than 700,000 of the Muslim minority into Bangladesh. On Monday, a UN probe detailed evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity “perpetrated on a massive scale” […]

Myanmar court postpones verdict for Reuters journalists: judge

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — A Myanmar court postponed its ruling Monday on whether two Reuters journalists violated a state secrets law while reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims, delaying the decision for a week. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have been detained in Myanmar’s infamous Insein prison since December in the case which has ignited a global outcry. The two journalists had been investigating the September 2017 killings of 10 Rohingya Muslims […]

Rohingya crisis a year on: refugees going nowhere as cash crunch looms

  by Aidan Jones / with Hla-Hla Htay in Maungdaw Agence France-Presse COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — With a repatriation plan in tatters and funding evaporating for a million refugees with ever-growing needs, Rohingya Muslims who fled Myanmar to Bangladesh face a grim future one year after the latest eruption of a decades-old conflict. Raids by Rohingya militants on August 25 last year across Myanmar’s Rakhine state spurred an army crackdown which the United Nations has […]