Amit Thakur

Myanmar recently arranged a visit for the ambassadors or Consul Generals of 11 countries, including Bangladesh, India, China and eight ASEAN countries to Rakhine. The visiting envoys have observed that the security situation in Rakhine is now stable. It is favorable to start the repatriation process. The question is whether Myanmar will start the repatriation process this time or will it end in smoke?

In November 2017, three months after the Rohingyas were expelled from Rakhine, Bangladesh signed a repatriation agreement with Myanmar. However, no progress has been made in the repatriation of Rohingya in the last six years. In 2018, Bangladesh and Myanmar failed to begin a round of repatriation within the time frame specified. China later mediated attempts to resume repatriation in 2019, but nothing came of it. Myanmar’s military seized state power in a coup in February 2021. Following this incident, the discussion about Rohingya repatriation came to a halt.

Previously on June 24, a list of a total 830,000 Rohingya was given to Myanmar by the Bangladesh government. After verifying this list provided by Bangladesh, Myanmar announced to take back about 58 thousand Rohingyas.

Diplomatic sources say a small-scale return of Rohingyas to Rakhine has been under discussion since 2020 after China joined the repatriation talks. China has been pressuring Myanmar on this issue for several months. Although not going deep into the Rohingya problem, ASEAN, the alliance of Southeast Asian countries, also wants repatriation to begin, albeit on a small scale. The exclusion of Myanmar Junta from the ASEAN Summits and the mounting pressure at the international arena after UN Security Council resolution, extending sanctions from different countries are working as the catalysts to project the initiative for Rohingya repatriation as the softening attitude towards Myanmar Junta government.

Bangladesh and Myanmar are collaborating to launch a pilot project for the long-awaited Rohingya repatriation before this year’s monsoon. Bangladesh has already handed over a list of over 1,000 Rohingya citizens for repatriation, which the Myanmar government has quickly verified. The Myanmar government is arranging for the rehabilitation of Rohingyas in Rakhine. The Rohingya nationals who have returned will be welcomed at two reception centers in Rakhine.

Without bringing the internally displaced persons of Myanmar into their own villages, the faith of Rohingyas towards “safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation” will be a far cry.

On the first day of their visit, the envoys were reportedly shown the renovations being made to the interim camp that had been set up five years earlier in the village of Naquiya on the banks of the Naf River, directly across from the Teknaf border. It was announced that individuals who would be returned to Myanmar by boat would spend the first several days there. They will later be transported to Maungdaw’s Lapukha camp. They will remain there for a month before being relocated permanently to camps being built close to Maungdaw and Sittwe.

Myanmar is not a Westphalian state. It should not be considered like other nation-states under state governance. With a long history under military rule and the enormous ethnic diversities, all regions have their peculiar characteristics of law and order. In Rakhine, where clashes with the Arakan Army and the military are a common scenario, has been enjoying a better law and order since the ceasefire signed on November 24, last year brokered by the Nippon Foundation’s Yohei Sasakawa.

In Rakhine, the security situation for Muslims is better than it has ever been. In addition to this, facilities for livelihood, health, and education have improved. The number of Muslim-specific educational establishments has expanded. After a nine-year break, 230 Muslim students were enrolled to Sittwe University last year. This year, a significant number of Muslim students were also accepted. Muslims have access to medical care as well.

Regarding repatriation, the Rohingyas have mixed opinions as they have long distrust of the Junta and the fear of persecution still young in their mind. But there is no doubt that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. The pilot project is that small step that needs to be taken into place.

On the other hand, the deadline for Myanmar’s counterargument in the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has been set for April 24 this year. To some experts, the sudden repatriation plan has connection with the genocide case. However, there is no chance to get rid of the responsibility of genocide just by starting repatriation. But Myanmar may want to convince the ICJ, along with the international community, that they are taking steps to improve the situation.

Bangladesh is under stress from more than 1.2 lakh Rohingyas. Each year, this number rises by 35,000 newborn babies at the camps. The Rohingya problem has received less attention from the international community as a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Due to the financial crisis, the World Food Organization (WFP) has started budget cuts for the Rohingyas by 17% since March 1st 2023. Day by day, the law-and-order situation in the Rohingya camp gets worse. Erupted fire at the camps, increased criminalities, threats of terrorism and insurgency, environmental pollution, human and drug trafficking, demographic imbalance in the host community are the realities of Rohingya crisis now. Bangladesh wants the Rohingya repatriation to begin in this connection, regardless of how smaller the number is!

From the above discussions it can be said that the repatriation process must be followed shortly, as the situation of Rakhine State is stable now. Full phase repatriation will help Myanmar Junta to gain some trust in the international arena. However, without bringing the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Myanmar into their own villages, the faith of Rohingyas towards “safe, dignified and sustainable repatriation” will be a far cry.

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About the Author

Amit Thakur is an academic and researcher. He completed his graduation in International Relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). His research interests are human security issues, South Asian politics, and economic diplomacy.

The post Will the Junta Come Out from Their Cocoon to Accept Rohingyas? first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Mohammed Husson Ali Rohingyas

I am a Rohingya man, now living in the United States. I keep a very close watch of all news related to the Rohingya and my frustrations concerning our continued persecution are growing. Recent stories of dangerous and fatal sea crossings by Rohibgya seeking a better life tear my heart. I, like the vast majority of Rohingya, seek to be repatriated to our homes in Burma but only after proof that full rights and citizenship will be granted. Distressingly, this dream of safe return grows dimmer each passing year.

Here are just a few headlines in the last few weeks:

Rohingya refugees reach Indonesia after month at sea (BBC)

Second boat with 185 Rohingya arrives in Indonesia’s Aceh (Al Jazeera)

UN says 2022 among deadliest years for Rohingya at sea (Al Jazeera)

U.N. urges countries to help Rohingya at sea as hundreds land in Indonesia (Reuters)

Displaced from Myanmar: Can’t Go Back and Can’t Go Forward (The Diplomat)

Nearly 200 starving Rohingya refugees rescued from stricken vessel (CNN)

Myanmar: Action needed to stop carnage, says UN expert after adoption of Security Council resolution (UN press release)

Myanmar arrests 112 Rohingya ‘without documents’ (Bangkok Post)

The Rohingyas are indigenous people of Northern Arakan (Rakhine) State, Burma, an ethnic minority group. According to the United Nations and most humanitarian rights advocacy organizations the Rohingya are the most persecuted people in the world. Rohingyas have been facing persecution and genocide since 1962 military coup. In 1982 the Burma Citizenship Act of 1982 erased the Rohingya as citizens of Burma (Myanmar). Those in power use the derogatory words “Kalla” or Bangali, referring to the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite the fact Rohingya have been in Burma for many hundreds of years, pre-dating British colonization. Then, in 2017 the Myanmar military and the NLD (National League for Democracy) government accelerated the persecution and initiated a genocidal clearance operation against Muslim Rohingya. This included arbitrary arrests, extra Judicial killings, orders to “shoot on sight,” burn villages, rape and kill women and other horrific abuses. The fact of this genocide has been officially recognized by the US Department of State, the UN, and the International Court of Justice.

The Burmese military attack on the Rohingya had explicit and violent religious overtones and included the widespread attack on mosques and madrasa, and purposeful desecration of Holy Book Koran. The Buddhist majority Tatmadaw stated, “If they’re Bengali, they’ll be killed”.

In August of 2017 more than 750,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh and for the last five years have lived as refugees in the Kutupalong refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar. As of 2022 there are now a total of 1.5 million Rohingya are residing in Bangladesh, most arriving in 2017 but many who fled Burma in the last 30 years. There are also more than 150,000 Rohingya languishing in open air prisons as internally displaced (IDPs) within the borders of Myanmar.  Additionally, the Rohingya diaspora include many tens of thousands of Rohingya scattered across the south Asia nations with no rights, even for employment, making them vulnerable to exploitation, arrest, and human trafficking.

Here are some additional facts.

The United States has provided critical humanitarian emergency funding for the Rohingya refugees including $1.9 billion since it began in August 2017. The United States is the biggest international donor among others

On 21 March 2022 on behalf of United States US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken declared that the Burmese military had and continued to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya.

In late December, 2022 President Joe Biden signed the The Burma Unified through Rigorous Military Accountability Act of 2022 – or BURMA Act – which was passed by the Senate as part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.

As a Rohingya man I believe I speak for the vast majority of all Rohingya in offering very many thanks to the United States for its continued generosity and ongoing policy decisions supporting humanity and dignity for the Rohingya people.

For the above reasons, I respectfully appeal to the Biden administration to move forward with urgency on the following;

To involve even more aggressive use all diplomatic and economic tools to once and for all end the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

To work for the rights, liberty and justice of Rohingyas including an internationally monitored repatriation to Myanmar with full citizenship and an assurance of absolute safety. We seek the creation of a ‘Safe Zone’ for the Rohingyas within Arakan State in the Rohingyas ancestral homeland under supervision of United States.

Using the UN language, to take “Responsibility to Protect” Rohingyas, safe lives and liberty.

To provide technical support and training to Rohingya and facilities for basic human rights including access to education, health care, food security and other livelihoods both now in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh and after repatriation in Myanmar.

More than five years have passed since the 2017 genocide and justice has yet to be done by the international community. Though the United States has frequently led the fight for justice, more needs to be done before more desperate acts are committed by Rohingya seeking to be free from living in an open air prison that is the world’s largest refugee camp.

How the world responds to the most egregious crime of all -genocide- is a measure of our collective humanity. I cannot rest until I have done everything possible to seek justice for my fellow Rohingya, and I humbly request that the US government travel the same path toward a more just world for all humans.

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Sindh Courier has received this appeal of Rohingya through Mr. Nazeer Ahmed Arijo, an educationist and a freelance contributor. 

The post US should take ‘Responsibility to Protect’ Rohingyas first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Emily Fishbein

ON THE MYANMAR-INDIA BORDER

As the morning fog lifted from Camp Victoria, a resistance camp in the mountains of northwestern Myanmar, a battalion of tailors set to work. Women in fatigues drew chalk lines on camouflage cloth and pressed coal-heated irons over newly stitched trousers; others pedaled their treadles, the hum of sewing machines spilling from the open windows of their compound.

These workers make up the uniform battalion of the Chin National Front, which is fighting for an autonomous land for Chin people within a federal democratic union. It is also participating in Myanmar’s broader resistance to the military junta. All but two of the battalion’s 20 members are women, and it is one of many battalions in the CNF and other armed resistance groups across Myanmar with a significant female presence.

When the military seized power in February 2021, overthrowing the democratically elected civilian government and arresting its leaders, women were at the forefront of the anti-junta resistance. Women led some of the country’s first non-violent protests, and continue to demonstrate despite grave risks to their lives, while female civil servants were also leaders of a countrywide civil disobedience movement that saw hundreds of thousands of workers go on strike, many of whom still refuse to return to their posts.

Women-focused civil society organizations have also been on the front lines of the humanitarian response to a crisis that has resulted in the forced displacement of more than one million people, while exacerbating poverty and food insecurity. It has also, according to UN Women, heightened females’ vulnerability to conflict-related sexual violence, early and forced marriages, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and irregular labor migration.

In the nearly two years since the coup, more than 16,500 people have been arrested (a fifth of them women) and more than 2,600 killed. However, the military’s efforts to silence dissent have backfired, causing armed resistance to erupt across the country.

While most of those enlisting are men, women have also joined in large numbers, and even formed a women-only resistance group in the country’s central Sagaing region.

Women’s participation in armed resistance in Myanmar is not new: In the country’s borderlands, where more than a dozen ethnic armed organizations are fighting for autonomy, women have been actively involved for decades.

But while Myanmar’s anti-coup movement has upended traditional social norms and brought significant advancement for marginalized groups, including women, the armed resistance remains largely gendered, with few women serving on the front lines or in decision-making roles. A recent report by the United States Institute for Peace also found that women were under-represented in leadership positions within resistance-linked community policing groups, and that women were rarely given the chance to participate in patrols or arrests.

The New Humanitarian spoke with six women serving in the Chin National Front or in the allied Chin resistance groups established since the coup. All but one of the featured women have requested to be identified by their preferred nicknames to minimize the risk of retaliation against their family members. Their stories have been edited for length and clarity.

“For women to be participating in the revolution is a strength” – Mai Rai Boel

Mai Rai Boel, from the city of Pakokku in Myanmar’s central Magway region, had worked with a civil society organization in Yangon focused on women’s empowerment since graduating university in 2019. Now she serves as the commander of the CNF’s uniform battalion. In her free time, she runs gender awareness training for other women in her camp.

After the coup, I joined the protests in Yangon with my friends. But by last April I could see that things weren’t going like in the movies and, eventually, I would have to go into the forest. My parents didn’t want me to get involved in this revolution. Because I am a woman, they just wanted me to study. So I came to this camp without their knowledge. Even now, they don’t support my decision. They always tell me to come back home. But I am following my own beliefs, so I hope that one day they will understand.

I came to this camp with one friend, but she went home after attending training for the Chin Reserves. I had planned to go back too, but I changed my mind after the training. I served in the CNF’s war strategies department, and then I attended combat training, where I was the only woman among 34 men.

Even for women to be participating in this revolution is a strength. If many women participate, we can share our knowledge with each other, and our difficulties will gradually decrease. Our voices will be louder, and men will have to listen.

“I want us to be able to participate more in leadership roles and to have more strength to resist oppression.”

My passion is for women’s rights, particularly the intersectionality of gender and other issues like ethnicity and educational background. Even within my Chin ethnic group, there are many inequities. But we are all human, and we all deserve to achieve our rights.

Things have really improved for women in Myanmar since the political opening started in 2010. The space for media opened a lot, and we could use Facebook and the internet. We saw that women’s rights in other countries were very advanced, but in our country many women were just cooking rice and curry and didn’t have much confidence. Women’s organizations and women’s rights activists emerged and did what they could. Things have really improved from my mother’s and grandmother’s era, but improvements take time, generation by generation.

Today in Myanmar, men still only give women supporting roles. I want us to be able to participate more in leadership roles and to have more strength to resist oppression. It is easy to say, but it isn’t easy to achieve. Women face many invisible difficulties – a glass ceiling. I really want to break it.

“I came here ready to give my life to this revolution” – Nu Dawt

Nu Dawt was waiting to return to Bangalore, India for the second year of her Masters of Divinity program when the coup happened. She protested in her native town of Kalay, in Sagaing region near the Chin State border, and last April joined the Chinland Defense Forces (CDF).

I never imagined I would live in the forest or take up arms. Before, I planned a lot for when I finished school, but now I have to think about things like what I will eat tomorrow. I always ask myself why I am doing this and whether it is the only way. I think about all of the people back home who love me, and how I can’t do anything for them while I’m here in the forest. I know nothing about household chores. I haven’t even been able to finish school, and the things that I learned in school aren’t useful at all anymore. But nobody forced me to go this way; I am doing this of my own will. I can get through this.

In my branch of the CDF, there are more than 40 women across six battalions. Many of us didn’t know each other before; we only came to know each other when we all went into the forest and started living together like a family. Now, we talk openly among ourselves. But there are many issues and needs that we are too shy to talk about with our male comrades.

Men and women all received the same training; there was no such thing like women train this way and men train that way. So far, there aren’t enough guns for women who want to fight. But when there are enough guns for everyone to hold one, we will never hear again that women can’t hold guns. I’m not saying we aren’t scared of giving our lives, but we will go the same way as our male comrades.

“Women endured difficulties that we never imagined, and men understand that.”

Things changed a lot since the coup regarding gender norms. Before, there were many things that women weren’t allowed to do, and opportunities that women didn’t have. Now, people have become more open-minded. In this revolution, both men and women are living in the forest and eating the same food. Women endured difficulties that we never imagined, and men understand that. They see how much women can do.

Some men still say, ‘Oh, women aren’t useful! They need so many items! And what will they do?’ But there are many things that women do very well. For example, instead of commanding our comrades, we give orders like ‘Can you help with this and that?’ and our comrades accept it. Women have many benefits to the revolution, and although we have different roles, we all contribute equally.

When I consider what I am most proud of, it is that I came here ready to give my life to this revolution, for my country and for my people. My name will remain after I die for the sacrifices I have made.

“I never thought I would be so involved in politics” – Esther

A first-year physics student before the pandemic, Esther was helping her parents on their yam farm in her village in Kanpetlet, a remote township of Chin State, when the coup happened. Now, she is serving as a transcriptionist at the CNF headquarters.

When I was in my village, I mostly stayed at home. My family has no motorbike and, as a woman, it’s hard to go out alone. There’s no mobile phone service in my village either, so I didn’t learn anything and it was really boring. But when people were injured in battle or from landmines, I visited them and cared for them. And when they were sorrowful, they opened up to me. They told me what it was like in the forest and told me not to go. I listened to them, and I thought about what it would be like if I were in their place.

At first, I worried because I never thought I would be involved in politics. But this July, I joined the CNF. I am alright here because I have work to do, and I have mobile phone service and a place to stay. But my parents asked me to come home. Their health isn’t good, and they also worry about me.

When I arrived here, I heard some men ask, ‘Why are women coming here? Women can’t do anything.’ But there are also some people who look up to women, who say, ‘Women are so smart! They can cook in the forest,’ and who even say that some women can do more than men. I really welcome it. Now, many people are participating in this revolution in every way they can. If everyone is involved in the revolution, our country will improve and develop.

“We are transforming the whole system” – Mai Mai

Mai Mai, from Rakhine State’s Ann Township has been active in community work related to women’s issues since she was a university student. In the years leading up to the coup, she provided humanitarian support to conflict-displaced women in her township. She now serves as human resources coordinator for the CNF’s Department of Military Strategic Research and Development. She is also a co-organizer of monthly discussion circles for women in her camp.

I led some of the first protests in my town, and in March of 2021 the military charged me with incitement. I moved from place to place for the next four months, and although I still did some fundraising for the civil disobedience movement, I wasn’t satisfied with myself. I wanted to do more, so I joined the CNF last July.

In this revolution, the things that women and men do are a little different. Some women want to go to the front line, but for the time-being we aren’t allowed. We are supporting as much as we can from behind. Every person has their strengths and weaknesses, but as a woman, and especially as a young woman, sometimes men don’t fully listen to me. I have to try a lot harder than men.

“I want people across Myanmar to leave ideas of male dominance behind. I want women to know that we can do it.”

Gender awareness is still relatively new in my country, and this awareness is mainly on paper but weak in practice. Many people still think that women who can’t cook or do household work will never have a husband. But whether we can do those things is irrelevant. I want to get rid of this kind of stereotyping. Women really need to be accepted at the front, and to be included alongside men.

We aren’t only fighting an armed revolution; we are transforming the whole system. However much gender awareness we thought we had before, we all have a long way to go. The reason I became a women’s activist is that even we – women – don’t realize our own identities.

I want people across Myanmar to leave ideas of male dominance behind. I want women to know that we can do it. We can stand up and speak out, and we can lead. And I want men to know that there are very smart and talented women, and to truly give us a chance.

“I am trying to use the skills that I have to contribute to this revolution in every way that I can” – Anna

Anna was working from home in Thantlang in Chin State as a civil engineer with a Yangon-based company when the coup happened. Last September, the leaders of the CDF-Thantlang asked if she could join and contribute her computer skills. Now she serves in an administrative role at its headquarters.

Before I joined, I read the diary of a Chin revolutionary from the 1988 pro-democracy movement and carefully considered whether I could also endure such difficulties. I decided to come this way because I believe that now is the time to defeat and root out the enemy and to achieve self-determination for Chin people.

Sometimes I design barracks, and sometimes I use my typing skills or organize documents. I also plan everything in this camp, down to what we will eat each day and what kind of shampoo we will use. It’s a lot of work, but I do it enthusiastically because I know that I am useful.

Before the coup, I was really crazy about engineering, and I always prayed that with my education I could do something useful for my community. If this revolution ends soon, I want to return to engineering, but I don’t really hope for it anymore. Instead, I hope for the future of my country and Chin people. And I hope that females will have more opportunities in my society.

“Sometimes I design barracks, and sometimes I use my typing skills or organize documents. I also plan everything in this camp, down to what we will eat each day and what kind of shampoo we will use.”

Some women might think that they aren’t capable of taking part in this revolution, but that’s not true. We shouldn’t just rely on men; there’s a lot that women can do. For this horrific era to end more quickly, and so that we can reach a better future, everyone should participate – whether by taking up arms, going on strike from our jobs, or supporting from behind.

Sometimes I feel frustrated because I’m not fighting on the front lines alongside my male comrades, but when I feel that way I try to refocus on what I can do, and immerse myself in that. I’m trying to use the skills that I have to contribute to this revolution in every way that I can.

“It suddenly hit me that we are really at war” – Olivia Thawng Luai

Olivia Thawng Luai, from Falam in Chin State, served as assistant director of the Ministry of Health and Sports under the former civilian government, and is now Assistant General Secretary 2 of the Chin National Organization/Chin National Defense Force, an armed resistance group based in Falam Township. A former karate champion, she now uses these skills to train Chin resistance forces across the state.

I came back from Seoul with a Master’s in Sports Management in January 2021. The coup happened a week later, and I joined the civil disobedience movement. I also participated in anti-coup demonstrations and, on International Women’s Day, I gave a speech about women’s rights.

I joined the armed revolution in April 2021 and began preparing myself to train Chin resistance forces as well. In my training course, which lasts two months, I teach endurance so that my trainees can run up and down mountains; and karate skills, which can give them confidence if they need to engage in hand-to-hand combat. I also teach discipline and obedience. And for community police forces, I teach skills that can be useful when arresting people.

Sometimes, people don’t want to listen to me because I’m a woman. Others are impatient to pick up a gun and fight against the military. In those situations, I say, ‘I don’t want to argue, but I think that if you learn this, it will be better.’ After they see my training style, they usually come to listen.

I also take care of my comrades as much as I can, but I have faced many painful losses, including the lives of more than 20 young people who I trained. On 29 June 2021, military forces captured and killed four of them and buried them in a shallow grave. They also laid a landmine under the bodies, which detonated when my comrades tried to retrieve them, killing one more and injuring nine.

My comrades told me not to go to the scene of the incident – that it was too far up the mountain – and that, as a woman, I should stay behind. But it just made me even more determined. So we set off together, and when my comrades got tired I even climbed ahead.

When we arrived, it looked like a scene from a World War II movie. I felt a terrible pain in my heart, but I held back my tears and said, ‘Don’t lose your spirits! God is with us.’ Then, I ran to a place where I was alone and cried. Soon, one comrade came, hugged my shoulders, and cried with me. After a while, we dried our tears and went back to tend to the injured.

“I teach endurance so that my trainees can run up and down mountains; and karate skills, which can give them confidence if they need to engage in hand-to-hand combat.”

The faces of two of them were covered in shrapnel wounds and they needed urgent medical treatment, so three nurses and I decided to take them across the border to India. We had to drive our motorbikes through the forest, but we didn’t dare to turn on our lights for fear that villagers would mistake us for military soldiers. Still, when we reached the next village at 2:30am, the villagers fled. We broke into a schoolhouse and slept there; our comrades crying through the night.

We continued on the next morning and crossed the Tiau river into India. When I looked back at my country, it suddenly hit me that we were really at war.

I spent the next three months tending to my comrades. One lost both of his eyes, and the other was mostly blinded as well. Sometimes, I want to stop participating in this revolution. But when I think about my wounded comrades who continue fighting for their lives, it motivates me to continue.

I am participating in this revolution not only to defeat the military, but also to unite Chin people. Throughout history, the military has made us fight each other so that they can more easily rule us, and in Chin State we have many divisions from one township to another.

Women face particular challenges living in the forest. We have to manage our menstruation and find a place to bathe in privacy. But women have many strengths to contribute. We are patient, detail-oriented, and good at encouraging and motivating our comrades. Before they go to the front line, we make sure that they have eaten and packed everything they need, and that their gun straps aren’t digging into their shoulders. When they get injured, we tend to them.

I am so grateful to be serving in my current role. In the past, I represented the Myanmar flag when I competed in foreign countries for karate, and, by the grace of God, I succeeded. Now I am using my skills according to the needs of the revolution.

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Emily Fishbein is a freelance journalist covering human rights and social justice issues in Myanmar and among refugees in Malaysia

JC, the artist name for an illustrator from Myanmar’s Karen nationality, created the illustrations in Caen, France.

Courtesy: The New Humanitarian (Posted on Jan 12, 2023)

The post Meet the women fighting Myanmar’s junta first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Geneva

Since last year’s military coup in Myanmar, military courts have sentenced more than 130 people to death behind closed doors, the UN human rights chief said, following the latest convictions announced this week.

“The military continues to hold proceedings in secretive courts in violation of basic principles of fair trial and contrary to core judicial guarantees of independence and impartiality”, Volker Türk added, calling for the suspension of all executions and a return to a moratorium on death penalty.

“The military continues to hold proceedings in secretive courts in violation of basic principles of fair trial and contrary to core judicial guarantees of independence and impartiality”, Volker Türk added, calling for the suspension of all executions and a return to a moratorium on death penalty.

Dealing out death 

On Wednesday, a military court sentenced at least seven university students to death.

“Military courts have consistently failed to uphold any degree of transparency contrary to the most basic due process or fair trial guarantees”, underscored Mr. Türk.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, reports revealed that as many as four additional death sentences were being issued against youth activists.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) is currently seeking clarification on those cases.

No justice

In July, the military carried out four State executions – the first in approximately 30 years.

Despite calls from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the international community to desist, a former lawmaker, a democracy activist, and two others, were put to death.

Close to 1,700 detainees out of the nearly 16,500 who have been arrested for opposing last year’s military’s coup have been tried and convicted in secret by ad hoc tribunals, sometimes lasting just minutes.

They have frequently been denied access to lawyers or their families and none have been acquitted.

The latest convictions would bring the total number of people sentenced to capital punishment since 1 February 2021 to 139 individuals.

Unaligned with ASEAN

Mr. Türk reminded that the military’s actions are not in keeping with the ASEAN peace plan, known as the five-point consensus – that includes the “immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar” – which the regional bloc had re-committed to upholding last month during the ASEAN summit.

At the summit, Secretary-General António Guterres had warned that the political, security, human rights and humanitarian situation in Myanmar was “sliding ever deeper into catastrophe”, condemning the escalating violence, disproportionate use of force, and “appalling human rights situation” in the country.

“By resorting to use death sentences as a political tool to crush opposition, the military confirms its disdain for the efforts by ASEAN and the international community at large to end violence and create the conditions for a political dialogue to lead Myanmar out of a human rights crisis created by the military” the UN human rights chief spelled out.

Forced evictions

At the same time, the Myanmar military is forcibly evicting over 50,000 people from informal settlements and systematically destroying homes in what two UN-appointed independent human rights experts called a fundamental violation of core human rights obligations.

Without providing alternative housing or land, last month more than 40,000 residents living in informal settlements throughout Mingaladon, a township in northern Yangon, were evicted – with most given only a few days to dismantle the homes that they had lived in for decades.

After receiving eviction notices, the lack of options swayed some residents to remain while two reportedly committed suicide out of desperation.

“Forced evictions from Mingaladon are only part of the story. Violent arbitrary housing demolitions continue across the country”, the Special Rapporteurs on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and situation of human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said in a statement.

‘Scorched earth’ policy

According to the experts, not only those living in informal settlements in Myanmar’s cities were subjected to forced evictions and housing demolitions.

“Homes continued to be systematically destroyed, bombed and burned down in orchestrated attacks on villages by the Myanmar security forces and junta-backed militias”, they said.

Since the military coup last year, more than 38,000 houses have been destroyed, triggering the widespread displacement of over 1.1 million people.

On 23 November, 95 of 130 houses in the Kyunhla Township were burned down when the Myanmar military set fire to the settlement.

These incidents follow patterns of violence used against Rohingya villages during genocidal attacks in 2017.

“The policies of scorched earth in Myanmar are widespread and follow a systematic pattern,” the experts said.

Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not paid for their work.

Myanmar Military Junta Sentences 11 Dissidents to Death

Another report published a day earlier by media says that since the 2021 coup, over 2,500 people have been killed by the dictatorship and more than 13,000 people have been detained.

On Thursday, the Myanmar press reported that a military court sentenced eleven dissidents to death, including seven university students.

This sentence is the first of its kind since July, when the dictatorship executed four activists in what represented the first application of the death penalty in this Asian country since 1988.

The Dagon University Student Union recalled that the seven students sentenced this week were arrested on April 21 on charges of murdering a bank manager, .

Four other young men were also sentenced to death accused of having been involved in the murder of an official, as reported by the local media Khit Khit.

In July, the United Nations harshly condemned the Burmese military junta for the executions of former National League for Democracy lawmaker Phyo Zeyar Thaw, writer Ko Jimmy, and activists Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.

Since the 2021 coup, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has counted 128 people sentenced to death, over 2,500 people killed by the dictatorship’s security forces, and more than 13,000 people arbitrarily detained.

The Army justified the coup by arguing massive fraud during the 2020 elections in which the party of Aung San Suu Kyi swept overwhelmingly, as international observers found.

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Courtesy: UN News (Published on Dec 2, 2022) and TeleSur (Published on Dec 1, 2022)

The post Myanmar: Secretive military courts sentence scores of people to death first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By Nu Nu Lusan

A journalist writing on human rights and social justice in Myanmar

Illustrations by JC – from Myanmar’s Kayin community

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

February 1, 2021 started like any other day for Sayadaw U Yaw Gyi, a Buddhist monk and monastic teacher living in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy region. He woke up at 4am, went out to collect alms, and returned to his monastery at 5am. Only then did he check Facebook and learn that the military had staged a coup. The internet and phone line were cut off soon after. By 8am, the coup was confirmed by a state TV broadcast announcing the military had seized power. “When I heard the news, my mind was not on teaching anymore,” he said.

Like many people swept up in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, the 32-year-old was not interested in politics before the coup. But days later, he joined people around the country in what became a nightly ritual of banging pots and pans to symbolically drive out evil. Within a week, U Yaw began leading protests in Kyangin, a town on the Irrawaddy River.

This is no easy thing. The junta has responded to any resistance to its power with deadly force. In the 21 months since the coup, the military has killed more than 2,370 people (including five monks) and arrested almost 16,000 people (including 61 monks) in its crackdowns on the pro-democracy movement, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, a rights group that has been compiling data on the protests. But U Yaw still believes in the power of nonviolent protest to motivate the people. “[I want] to make people think, ‘Even these monks continue protesting, why aren’t we?’” he said.

In Death Valley

U Yaw described numerous close calls with military forces and police since last March, when he was charged under Section 505A of Myanmar’s Penal Code. The law, which criminalizes “causing fear” or “spreading false news” or “incitement”, was used against nearly 4,000 people in the year after the coup alone, according to the Free Expression Myanmar rights group.

But the military didn’t only go after him through legal channels. As it scaled up its crackdowns in March 2021, some 60 soldiers and police raided his monastery at night. He hid in the toilet and overheard soldiers saying they would “clear him [out]” by shooting him to death if they caught him. “I curled up in the small open corner for about an hour,” U Yaw told The New Humanitarian. “I was reciting Buddhist prayers, but I recited them wrong many times because I was scared.”

Life on the run

In April 2021, U Yaw moved to Mandalay and joined the Mandalay Sangha Union, which has been active in the nonviolent protest movement despite facing numerous crackdowns, some of them violent. On several occasions, U Yaw has witnessed military forces accelerate vehicles into crowds of protesters, including monks, sometimes hitting them.

In such cases, he has to run for his life and take cover wherever he can – sometimes in the homes of people who have opened their doors at risk to their own lives. “I still have to wear a Buddhist monk robe even when I protest. Because of its bright color, it is so easy to spot me in the crowd,” he said. “Because of kind people like that, I could escape from life-threatening danger.”

Under heavy surveillance

The military’s lethal crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators and use of intense surveillance to monitor anti-coup movements has led to a sharp decrease of protests since April 2021, and the situation is only getting worse. “Currently, in Mandalay, it is dangerous to strike… CCTV cameras are everywhere,” said U Yaw. “We mostly protest in the wet markets, but [the military] planted plainclothes personnel around there too.”

Power of solidarity

Monks have historically held a revered social status in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar. They have also played a prominent role in the country’s struggle for democracy, most notably in 1988, when the country erupted into protests, and in 2007, when thousands of monks refused to accept alms from the junta and led demonstrations that became known as the “Saffron Revolution”. The military violently suppressed both uprisings, and numerous monks were among the thousands of people jailed or killed.

But the past decade has also seen a schism among Buddhist monks, with large segments swept up in an ultranationalist movement promoting Islam as a threat to Myanmar’s Buddhist identity. Since the coup, some monks have given religious blessings to the regime and even participated in pro-junta militias. That said, and despite this division, people from different backgrounds have joined in powerful solidarity since the coup.

In May 2021, U Yaw had to run for his life when the junta forces accelerated their vehicles into a crowd of protesters, hitting two monks. The monk and some fellow protesters took shelter in a mosque. “They gave us their clothes, including kufi hats, so that we could escape from the crackdown,” he said. “I will always remember that.”

A narrow escape

U Yaw again narrowly escaped junta forces during a May 2021 protest in Inn Wa, an ancient city on the outskirts of Mandalay. To throw soldiers off their trail, the protest group pretended to be pilgrims, but as soon as they started chanting protest slogans, soldiers opened fire, sending the monks running.

First, they hid in a banana field. “Some monks lost their shoes while they were running. One monk even urinated because he was so scared,” said U Yaw. “We heard soldiers screaming to ‘kill all those monks’. We were hiding in the banana plantations and they were shooting continuously. They were shouting, ‘Drop all of your weapons’. And I was thinking, ‘What weapon should we drop?’”

With soldiers approaching, the monks made a dash for the banks of the Irrawaddy river. Not daring to make a sound, they waved their robes to summon a boat to ferry them across. “We would rather die drowning in the Irrawaddy River than getting arrested,” said U Yaw. They crammed 10 monks into one boat, bailing out water with a small mug to keep it from sinking. They safely made it across and U Yaw soon resumed protesting.

Everything is a target

While the military has a history of destroying churches and mosques, it has also targeted monasteries since the coup, accusing them of sheltering those associated with the anti-coup movement or who have been displaced by military attacks. U Yaw has had to flee several monasteries due to military raids.

On 28 September 2021, one such raid interrupted vassa, a three-month period of intensive meditation for Theravada Buddhism practitioners. When a large convoy of soldiers arrived at U Yaw’s monastery, he had to jump over its perimeter and cross a waist-deep pond to avoid being arrested. “Half of my body was covered in mud. I ran past a railway track. People there were looking at me, but I escaped,” he said. Since then, soldiers have been actively looking for U Yaw. When they couldn’t find him, they sealed the monastery in February 2022 and forced all its monks to evacuate. “This monastery was sealed because of me – because I had been allowed to stay there,” U Yaw said.

Hoping for a better Myanmar

Despite the immense danger and high surveillance, U Yaw is still staging guerrilla “flash mob” protests along with his fellow monks as well as laypeople. Due to the military’s consistent use of lethal force on the nonviolent protest movement, flash mob protests in which smaller groups run quickly through the streets before dispersing have become popular in Myanmar since April 2021, but even these have been met with deadly crackdowns.

Still, after 20 months of continuous protesting, U Yaw looks forward to the day when he can resume his monastic life. “When we win this revolution, I am not going to be involved in any political movement. I will meditate and teach,” he said.

Despite more and more of his fellow protesters being arrested, injured, or even killed by junta forces, U Yaw remains determined to continue resisting nonviolently until peace and democracy are achieved: “I will protest until we win.”

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Nu Nu Lusan reported from Kuala Lumpur. JC, who prefers to work anonymously for security reasons, created the illustrations in CAEN, France.

Courtesy: The New Humanitarian (Published on October 20, 2022)

The post In Myanmar, a monk takes on the junta first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Monitoring Desk

Yangon

Four local guerrillas were burned to death by Military Council soldiers in Otpo village, in Sagaing’s Ye-U Township, according to the Ye-U People’s Defense Force (PDF).

About 80 junta troops arrived at Otpo village on 28 February. On the morning of 1 March, four local guerrillas entered the village to attack the soldiers with landmines, but they were shot at and caught by soldiers who burned them to death, according to the Ye-U PDF.

A Ye-U PDF spokesperson said: “We wanted to know what the Military Council soldiers in Otpo village were doing and, if the circumstances allowed it, we planned to set the landmines. But, the military council soldiers shot them [the guerillas] and burned them to death. Their bodies were buried in the evening.”

Apparently, the bodies could only be taken away and buried after the Military Council troops had left Otpo village for Taung Gwin village on the evening of 2 March.

Before they left a hand grenade was fired at the soldiers in Otpo village during the evening of 2 March, but no casualties were reported.

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Courtesy: MIZZIMA

The post Myanmar Soldiers burn to death four local guerrillas first appeared on Sindh Courier.

A former Chief Minister of Myanmar’s Sagaing Region, who was in jail in seven corruption cases since two years, gets 3-year imprisonment in each case.   

Monitoring Desk

Yangon

Two military helicopters opened fire on Thapyay Aye Village in Yinmarbin Township Sagaing Region on 28 February, burning down houses in the village.

“As far as we know, one person was shot and wounded,” he said. “No other casualties have been reported. All people are fleeing,” a local resident told Mizzima.

Four helicopters flew over Thapyay Aye Village and two of them fired at the village. The other two helicopters carried some 60 junta troops, purportedly to set fire to houses in the village.

A local resident said that houses and a monastery in Thapyay Aye village, where more than 200 households live, have been burning since 2 p.m. on 28 February, and all villagers have fled. The residents of Kyauk Pyot, Moe kaung and O Ba villagers have also fled.

Meanwhile, People’s Defence Forces have increased their attacks on military targets.

Since the Military Council took power in the February 2021 coup People’s Defence Forces (PDFs) made up of civilians opposed to junta rule have been bombing Military Council targets.

In the last week bombing attacks against the junta have increased and they have suffered more casualties than normal. As a result, the junta has been retaliating causing a rise in civilian deaths too.

In Yangon, PDFs started what they called the Pyan Hlwar Aung operation, attacks that targeted military-linked entities. Pyan Hlwar Aung translates as swallow and like the bird the attacks are supposed to be fast followed by a fast withdrawal.

The Pyan Hlwar Aung operation has caused alarm amongst Military Council personnel. They have built and are manning sandbag bunkers with peepholes for guns in front of police stations, administration offices and schools.

As part of the Pyan Hlwar Aung operation A local defence force, the Wolf Warriors STF (WWSTF) attacked a Military Council vehicle with a hand grenade on the Myin Taw Thar main road in Yangon’s Thaketa Township on 19 February. At the same time, they threw a grenade onto Thaketa Football field where Military Council troops were stationed, said a member of the group. Two Military Council soldiers were killed and four were injured, according to WWSTF claims.

Following these grenade attacks the Thaketa Seven market on Myin Taw Thar Road was set on fire by soldiers because they claimed that the perpetrators of the hand grenade attack were hiding in the market.

According to the WWSTF the soldiers set fire to the market because they had suffered losses, just like they do in ethnic areas. They said that the soldiers want people to blame the anti-junta forces for the market fire because they had hidden there. The group added that when justice and injustice face off there will be suffering. But, people have seen this before and have been aware of the military’s barbarity for over 70 years.

There are many Military Council security checkpoints in Mandalay and these are frequently targeted for ambushes.

On 21 February soldiers stationed at Mandalay’s Yadanarbon University were bombed twice. The second bomb attack, carried out by a Mandalay-based urban guerrilla group, killed a soldier.

A ward administration office between 115 street and 116 street in PyigyiTakon Township, Mandalay was burned down on 22 February. The fire brigade recorded the value of the 20 by 30 feet building as being 450,000 kyats.

Also on 22 February the Ward Administration offices in Mandalay’s Maha Aung Myay, Aung Myay Thar Zan and Pyi Kyi Ta Kon townships were burned down.

Ward Administration offices are occupied by junta troops who coerce people into reporting any overnight guests and control who gets letters of recommendation from the ward, which people need for their work and when they travel. People believe that ward administrators are the Military Council’s biggest informants.

There has been intense fighting in Sagaing Region, where there are many members of the Pyu Saw Htee, a military aligned armed militia. There are also more informants than in Yangon and Mandalay, but local defence forces are strong and the military are still suffering losses.

Sin Inn and Sate Kon police stations in Sagaing’s Shwebo Township had bombs dropped on them by local PDF drones on 21 February.

The groups that carried out the attacks were the People Defense Force-Shwebo, C&T (Shwebo), SNAKE-EYES (PDF), Fighter One and other local defense forces. They said that there were 50 Pyu Saw Htee troops stationed in both Sin Inn and Sat Kone villages. The groups claimed that three junta soldiers were killed and another six were injured in the two attacks.

In the hills on the border between Karenni and Shan states a Military Council encampment of troops from the Kalaw based 7th infantry battalion of the 55th light infantry battalion was attacked by PDF forces on 22 February. Five soldiers were killed and two guns, an MA2 and an MA3 along with ammunition and a BA100 mortar were also seized by the groups according to the PDF.

Military Council forces and their allies are shooting at people and oppressing them. They are opposed by the National Unity Government (NUG) in exile, and the PDFs. Unfortunately, the NUG is finding it hard to communicate with the PDFs inside the country, who despite being poorly equipped are doing their best to fight against the military with some sacrificing their lives to the fight.

According to another report, Sagaing Region’s former Chief Minister Dr. Myint Naing, who is being detained in Monywa Prison, was sentenced to 21 years in prison at the regional court in Monywa Township on 28 February.

“I am not upset because I expected it in advance. I have no plan to appeal,” said Chu Chu, the Chief Minister’s wife.

He was sentenced to 21 years in prison for seven counts of corruption, three years for each case and was previously sentenced to two years in prison under Section 505 (b). This brings his total imprisonment to 23 years.

In addition, the Chief Minister faces another charge under Section 171 (f) of the Electoral Law, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

The 71-year-old Chief Minister, who had a heart valve replacement, is regularly taking blood thinner drugs and is taking medication for hypertension.

Dr. Myint Naing won the 1990 General Election and was sentenced to 25 years in prison under Section 122 in September of that year, 1990. He was eventually released.

He won the 2012 by-elections, 2015 and 2020 general elections and served as Sagaing regional chief minister in 2016.

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Courtesy: MIZZIMA

The post A Myanmar village set on fire by military helicopters first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Monitoring Desk

Yangon

The Union Election Commission (UEC) under the control of the Military junta said that the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) political parties will be prosecuted and face dissolution for refusing to submit to their audit, in a press release on 23 February.

The Law states that political parties who refuse to submit themselves to an official UEC audit may be dissolved

The UEC has informed the parties that it would begin examining the lists of four parties, including the NLD, on 14 February.

However, the NLD and SNLD parties did not submit their lists to be audited on the due dates, according to the UEC.

The two parties have been given an extension of the deadline to submit audits to 9 March. If they fail legal action will be taken.

The SNLD confirmed that it had received the notification.

The UEC is insisting that the political parties report to its offices for the audit, whereas the parties argue that the normal procedure is for auditors to visit the premises of the organization being audited.

“Auditing is a process that must be carried out at the location of the business [being audited]. If we need to go somewhere [else] to be audited as they [the UEC] are asking there could be errors or things could go wrong,” said Sai Leik, a general secretary of the SNLD Central Executive Committee.

Because of this the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) has decided not submit to the subpoena for questioning, he explained.

According to the section 24 (c), (d) and (e), the registration of a political party can be suspended for up to three years and if the party fails to comply with the directive before the end of the suspension period the registration of the political party shall be revoked and the party shall be dissolved.

In addition, if the party registration under sub-section (c) is temporarily suspended, all other activities of the party except activities directed by the commission shall be suspended during that period.

Currently, the NLD party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi and other party members have been arrested and imprisoned by the military junta. They have also seized NLD assets.

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Courtesy: MIZZIMA

The post Myanmar Military junta threatens to dissolve the political parties first appeared on Sindh Courier.

The Hague

On 23 February a crowd of about 80 protesters showing their support for the Rohingya and victims of Burmese military violence gathered outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, where Myanmar is being tried for genocide, according to DVB.

The Gambia is bringing a charge of genocide against Myanmar at the ICJ. The case, which is still at the procedural stage, resumed on Monday 21 February. This session will last until Monday 28 February.

When the case was previously bought before the ICJ in 2020 Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was in power and she controversially denied that the Myanmar military had engaged in genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine State.

Since then the military seized power in the 1 February 2021 coup and ousted the NLD. Now the military is claiming their representatives should be representing Myanmar at the ICJ. The Myanmar government in exile, the National Unity Government (NUG), set up by opponents to the coup is also claiming that it should represent Myanmar.

Both the NUG and the military have sent legal teams to the ICJ. The military team is led by Ko Ko Hlaing, and the Union Attorney-General, Thida Oo. Myanmar’s representative at the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, is leading a team representing the NUG.

Who will represent Myanmar at the ICJ has still not yet been decided. According to DVB, who will represent Myanmar at the ICJ is determined by Myanmar’s ambassador to the Netherlands. Currently this is military loyalist Soe Lynn Hann.

The military team wish to continue with Aung San Suu Kyi’s defence of the Myanmar military’s actions, while the NUG team want to withdraw her defence and drop any objections to the prosecution for genocide.

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Courtesy: MIZZIMA

The post Protestors voice support for victims of Myanmar military violence at Hague hearing first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Monitoring Desk

Yangon

Anti-junta writers Maung Tha Cho and Htin Lin Oo (Wisdom Villa) were given two-year and three-year prison sentences respectively by the Insein Prison Court on 22 February, according to a prison source.

The writers were charged under Section 505 (A) of the Penal Code, which makes it a crime to publish or circulate any statement or report with the intent of causing military officers, civil servants and soldiers to mutiny or to otherwise disregard orders or fail in their duty.

When the military seized power on 1 February 2021, Maung Tha Cho and Htin Lin Oo were arrested and taken to Insein Prison, where they were charged under Section 505 (a). They have only now received their prison sentences, despite having been detained in prison for more than a year.

The decision to appeal a case lies with the convicted individual or their family members. It is unknown at this time whether the writers will appeal their sentences.

“Maung Tha Cho was sentenced to two years instead of the maximum sentence (three years imprisonment) under section 505 (a) and Htin Lin Oo was sentenced to the maximum sentence under the section,” said a source.

In the case of 88-Generation student leader Mya Aye, his lawyer filed a final appeal on 22 February, and a final verdict is expected on 8 March.

Htin Lin Oo, who was sentenced to the maximum sentence of three years, was arrested on the morning of the junta military coup, 1 February 2021, for broadcasting an anti-junta live video on his social media page.

Maung Tha Cho was arrested for an article he wrote in a journal about eight years ago.

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Courtesy: MIZZIMA

The post Two Myanmar writers sentenced to prison first appeared on Sindh Courier.