MAUNGDAW, A solution to ethnic violence remains elusive

par | Nov 29, 2016 | Ethnic conflict

MAUNGDAW, Arakan State.
One of the consequences of the Oct. 9 border outpost attacks in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township has been renewed distrust between self-identifying Rohingya Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists, despite attempts to rebuild relations after deadly riots erupted in 2012.
According to the government, 10 border police were killed in the attacks, 7 soldiers died during subsequent “clearance operations,” some 70 “suspects” have been killed, and more than 300 people have been detained at various police stations in the township.

Article sur info-birmanieSome 1,200 displaced people from Dar Gyee Zar village—which was almost entirely razed—recently made temporary camps in Abujara and Wa Piek villages in Maungdaw. Sources say that more than half a dozen other villages were burned down in the northern part of the township.
Human Rights Watch said that on Nov. 13, it had identified 430 destroyed buildings in three villages in northern Maungdaw by analyzing high resolution satellite imagery recorded on Oct. 22, Nov. 3 and Nov. 10. On Nov. 21, the organization identified more than 800 more such destroyed buildings in five villages. The Burmese government rejected the report’s findings. Read More ….

 

[learn_more caption= »Click here to learn more »]

Quick Meals, Lasting Effects

par | Nov 21, 2016 | Environment

“I feel like I consume poison every day. I drink cheap liquor. I eat food that contains dye. It is colorful, quick, easy and cheap,” said Kyi Lin, 59, who was diagnosed with liver disease. Kyi Lin is skinny and jaundiced. He often feels tired and dizzy. A friend of his says since he began receiving medical treatment last year, his weight is half of what it once was. “For more than 20 years I drank a lot … and I drank all kinds of alcohol,” he said, while waiting in Rangoon’s crowded North Okkalapa General Hospital to receive care. Read More …

Open Access to Arakan

par | Nov 21, 2016 | Ethnic conflict

Open Access to Arakan

Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma has called for “complete access” to areas undergoing conflict in northern Arakan State.

Referring to the growing reports of human rights violations in the area by members of the security forces on Muslim communities who self-identify as Rohingya, the Special Rapporteur on Thursday called for “an impartial investigation” and said the UN was currently “in the dark.”

Lee said that they had heard reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, many cases of rape, and the killing of civilians.

“These are unverified as of yet but we do have some credible sources that [add] support to these ongoing human rights violations,” she said.

Two temples in Bagan 2 months after earthquake

par | Oct 28, 2016 | Culture

T

TWO TEMPLES IN BAGAN COLLAPSE TWO MONTHS AFTER EARTHQUAKE

After a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in late August damaged more than 400 temples in Bagan, two temples suffered partial collapse on Tuesday after rainwater seeped into cracks caused by the Aug. 24 tremors, government archaeologists say.
One temple, built in the “cave” style with a hollow interior and located just south of the famous Htilominlo temple, had roughly half of its structure collapse; the other temple, located in Min Nan Thu village, had one of its walls crumble.
“Both are not that famous, unlike other temples damaged in the [Aug. 24] earthquake. The earthquake caused large cracks in their structures, and they collapsed due to rain,” said U Aung Aung Kyaw, director of the Bagan Archeological Department.
He explained that, in the “cave” temple, the cracks that filled with rainwater were present where reconstructed parts of the temple joined with the original remnants of the antique structure.

                                                                                                           By Kyaw Hsu Mon 27 October 2016
Kyaw Hsu Mon – The Irrawaddy
Kyaw Hsu Mon is Senior Business Reporter at the English edition of The Irrawaddy.

The more than 3,000 temples of Bagan, mostly dating from between the 9th and 13th centuries—when the Kingdom of Pagan ruled over much of lowland Burma—are considered Burma’s biggest tourist draw.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the Aug. 24 earthquake damaged a total of 449 temples, including iconic favorites such as Sulamani, Ananda, Htilominlo, Myazedi, Shwesandaw, Lawkananda and Dhamma Yazaka, as well as the murals at Ananda Oakkyaung.
Repair and conservation work on 389 of the damaged structures is slated to begin on Jan. 1, with the assistance of Unesco. According to the Bagan Archaeological Department, 36 temples considered most at risk of further damage will be prioritized, followed by 53 temples in a second-tier risk category.
Cyclone “Kyant,” currently brewing in the Bay of Bengal, has led to concerns over heavy rain causing further damage to exposed structures in Bagan awaiting conservation work, although it is currently unclear if, when and where the cyclone will make landfall in Burma.
These reconstructions were part of crude renovation efforts carried out across Bagan under the previous military regime in the 1990s, which have been blamed for preventing Bagan—the site of an ancient Burmese royal capital—from being granted World Heritage Site status by Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural agency. It was these crude reconstructions that reportedly suffered the most damage in the August earthquake.

Bagan restoration

par | Oct 25, 2016 | Culture

Bagan restoration begin 2017

Renovation and conservation work to nearly 400 earthquake-hit ancient temples and pagodas in Bagan will start on January 1 of next year, officials said.
Officials from Bagan’s Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library, said that with the collaboration of local and international experts, they will carry repairs and preserve 389 damaged pagodas in the ancient capital.
Some 400 pagodas and temples—out of a total of 3,252—across the Bagan plain were damaged when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Burma on August 24.

Violence erupts in Myanmar

Violence erupts in Myanmar

par | Oct 11, 2016 | Rohingyas

YANGON, Myanmar — At least 24 people were believed on Monday to have died in western Myanmar after unknown assailants attacked police outposts on Sunday near the border with Bangladesh.
In Maungdaw, a township in Rakhine State close to the border, seven villagers, all members of the Rohingya Muslim minority, were said to have been shot to death when joint army and police forces began a counter operation on Monday.
About a million Rohingya live in the area and are officially stateless, having been denied citizenship by the Myanmar authorities who refuse to even use the term Rohingya, saying the people are actually Bengalis from Bangladesh.
“This morning about 6 a.m., the security forces, loaded onto three trucks, arrived in Myothugyi village, a mile east of Maungdaw town, and seven people were gunned down,” U Zaw Oo, a Rohingya in Maungdaw, said by telephone on Monday.  More Reading …

Des dizaines croyiez tués que la violence éclate au Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar – Au moins 24 personnes étaient données pour morte lundi dans l’ouest du Myanmar après que des assaillants inconnus ont attaqué des postes de police le dimanche près de la frontière avec le Bangladesh.

Dans Maungdaw, une municipalité dans l’Etat Rakhine près de la frontière, sept villageois, tous les membres de la minorité musulmane Rohingya, auraient été tués par balles lorsque les forces de l’armée et de la police conjointes ont commencé un contte- operation lundi.

Environ un million de Rohingyas vivent dans la région et sont officiellement apatride, les autorités du Myanmar ayant refusé la citoyenneté refusant même d’utiliser le terme de Rohingyas, affirmant que les gens sont réellement Bengalis du Bangladesh.

« Ce matin, vers 6 heures, les forces de sécurité, chargé sur trois camions, sont arrivés dans le village de Myothugyi, un mile à l’est de la ville de Maungdaw, où sept personnes ont été abattues, », a déclaré U Zaw Oo, un Rohingya à Maungdaw par téléphone le lundi.

« La situation dans la ville est calme, et tous les résidents musulmans ici sont tout simplement resté à la maison puisque nous avons très peur des forces de sécurité », a-t-il ajouté.

BANGKOK — Myanmar recognizes 135 ethnic groups within its borders. But the people who constitute No. 136? They are the people-who-must-not-be-named.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s first democratically elected government since 1962, embraced that view last week when she advised the United States ambassador against using the term “Rohingya” to describe the persecuted Muslim population that has lived in Myanmar for generations.

Her government, like the previous military-led one, will not call the Rohingya people by that name because it does not recognize them as citizens, said her spokesman, U Kyaw Zay Ya, a Foreign Ministry official.

“We won’t use the term Rohingya because Rohingya are not recognized as among the 135 official ethnic groups,” said Mr. Kyaw Zay Ya, who was at the meeting. “Our position is that using the controversial term does not support the national reconciliation process and solving problems.”

The stance does not bode well for the Rohingya or for rights activists who had hoped Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, would reverse discriminatory policies that have marginalized the Rohingya and prompted many to flee.

Aung San Suu Kyi demande des Etats-Unis de ne pas renvoyer à «Rohingya»

BANGKOK – Myanmar reconnaît 135 groupes ethniques au sein de ses frontières. Mais les gens qui constituent  le N° 136? Ce sont les gens-qui-doivent-pas-être-nommés.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, chef du premier gouvernement démocratiquement élu du Myanmar depuis 1962, a embrassé ce point de vue la semaine dernière quand elle a informé l’ambassadeur des Etats-Unis contre l’utilisation du terme «Rohingya» pour décrire la population musulmane persécutée qui a vécu au Myanmar depuis des générations.

Son gouvernement, comme celui dirigé par les militaires précédents, n’appellera pas les Rohingyas par ce nom parce qu’il ne les reconnaît pas comme citoyens, a dit son porte-parole, U Kyaw Zay Ya, un responsable du ministère des Affaires étrangères.

«Nous n’allons pas utiliser le terme de Rohingyas parce les Rohingya ne sont pas reconnus comme étant parmi les 135 groupes ethniques officiels», a déclaré M. Kyaw Zay Ya, qui était à la réunion. « Notre position est que l’utilisation du terme controversé ne supporte pas le processus de réconciliation nationale et de la résolution des problèmes. »