Tag: Myanmar

Rohingya fleeing Myanmar say army redoubling push to clear villages

  SHAH PORIR DWIP, Bangladesh (AFP) — Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh amid a fresh exodus from strife-torn Myanmar have described whole villages being emptied and thousands marching to the border as security forces redouble efforts to drive the remaining Muslims from their homes. More than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled ethnic bloodshed in Myanmar in the past month and numbers are again swelling, with Bangladesh reporting 4-5,000 civilians now crossing the border each day after a brief […]

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15 dead in Rohingya boat sinking as UN chief tells Myanmar to end ‘nightmare’

by Sam Jahan with Philippe Rater at the United Nations Agence France Presse COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — At least 15 people drowned and scores are feared missing after a boat carrying Rohingya families capsized off Bangladesh Thursday, as United Nations chief Antonio Guterres exhorted Myanmar’s rulers to end the refugees’ “nightmare.” Witnesses and survivors said the vessel overturned just meters from the coast in rough waters, after it was lashed by torrential rain and […]

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Myanmar’s conflict-hit Rakhine a magnet for Chinese cash

by Marion Thibaut  with Julien Girault in Beijing Agence France-Presse BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) – Battered by global outrage over an army crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, Myanmar has found comfort in an old friend –- China, an Asian superpower whose unflinching support is tied to the billions it has lavished on ports, gas and oil in violence-hit Rakhine state. Close to half a million Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in the last month after a militant attack sparked […]

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Rohingya militants deny Myanmar army claims of Hindu massacre

MAUNGDAW, Myanmar  (AFP) – Rohingya militants on Wednesday denied the Myanmar army’s allegations that they had massacred scores of Hindu villagers, whose bodies soldiers displayed to the press after exhuming them from mass graves in northern Rakhine state. Major clashes between the army and the Muslim insurgents erupted last month, triggering a dire refugee crisis with nearly half a million Rohingya fleeing across the border to Bangladesh. An information war has followed, as Myanmar’s government pushes back against […]

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UN plans food aid for up to 700,000 Rohingya

   COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) — The United Nations has drawn up a contingency plan to feed up to 700,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar after some 480,000 fled to Bangladesh over the past month and arrivals continue. A senior official from the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) told AFP they were now prepared to provide massive food and other emergency aid if the influx continues in coming weeks. “All the UN agencies together have now set a […]

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Bangladesh says Rohingya influx grinds to a halt

by Sam Jahan in Cox’s Bazar and Shafiqul Alam in Dhaka</strong> Agence France Presse COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh — The flood of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh has come to a virtual halt, Dhaka officials said Saturday, almost a month after violence erupted in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and sent nearly 430,000 people fleeing across the border. Officials gave no reason for the dramatically reduced numbers. But Rohingya Muslim leaders said it could be because villages located near […]

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Rohingya crisis sparks fear among Bangladeshi Buddhists

by Claire Cozens Agence France-Presse RAMU, Bangladesh (AFP) – As thousands of Rohingya flee ethnic violence in Myanmar, Bangladesh’s small Buddhist community fears the crisis could spark a violent backlash from their Muslim neighbours. Many Bangladeshis are angry over the treatment in Buddhist-majority Myanmar of the Rohingya, a persecuted stateless minority who they see as Muslim brethren. The anger is particularly acute in the southern district of Cox’s Bazar near the border with Myanmar, where many people have […]

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Myanmar insists to UN that Rakhine improving

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) – Myanmar insisted Wednesday to the United Nations that the crisis in violence-torn Rakhine state was easing after heavy international criticism. Myanmar’s second vice president Henry Van Thio addressed the annual UN General Assembly in the place of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who a day earlier delivered a speech calling for patience. Van Thio’s remarks are even less likely than Suu Kyi’s to mollify global concerns as he questioned […]

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Western powers warn Suu Kyi on Rohingya before speech

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Britain led world powers Monday in warning Myanmar of potential action if leader Aung San Suu Kyi does not move to end a campaign against the Rohingya minority. Hours before Suu Kyi delivers a national address Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called a meeting on the crisis on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Johnson, at the meeting attended by US Ambassador to […]

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Rain and evictions add to Rohingya misery

by Dominique Faget and Redwan Ahmed Agence France Presse UKHIA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Heavy monsoon rain heaped new misery Sunday on hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohinyga stuck in makeshift camps in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar, as authorities started a drive to force them to a new site. With food and water shortages already making life tough, torrential rain brought back swamp-like conditions to many parts of the border town of Cox’s Bazar […]

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UN council calls for ‘immediate steps’ to end Myanmar violence

by Carole Landry Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) – The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday broke its weeks-long silence on the crisis in Myanmar and called for an end to the violence as UN chief Antonio Guterres said the military campaign amounted to the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims. Following a closed-door meeting, the 15-member council including China, a supporter of Myanmar’s former ruling junta, expressed concern about excessive force during security […]

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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to address nation on Rakhine crisis next week: spokesman

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi will address the crisis engulfing Rakhine state next week, in her first speech since scores were killed in violence that has sent nearly 380,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh. In a press conference government spokesman Zaw Htay said Suu Kyi will “speak for national reconciliation and peace” in a televised address on September 19. He said the Nobel laureate, who has been pilloried by rights groups […]

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