Burma / Myanmar

[waltky]

56 Killed, 2000 Homes Torched In Myanmar...

Myanmar official says 56 dead, almost 2,000 houses torched in latest ethnic violence
October 25, 2012 – At least 56 people were killed and nearly 2,000 homes destroyed in the latest outbreak of ethnic violence in western Myanmar, a government official said Thursday.

The 25 men and 31 women were reported dead in four Rakhine state townships in violence between the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya communities that re-erupted Sunday, local government spokesman Win Myaing said. He said some 1,900 homes had been burned down in fresh conflict, while 60 men and four women were injured. It was unclear how many of the victims were Rohingya people and how many were Rakhine.

In June, ethnic violence in the state left at least 90 people dead and destroyed more than 3,000 homes. Tens of thousands of people remain in refugee camps. The United States called for Myanmar authorities to take immediate action to halt the violence. The United Nations appealed for calm.

An Associated Press photographer who traveled to Kyauktaw, one of the affected townships 45 kilometers (75 miles) north of the Rakhine capital of Sittwe, said he saw 11 wounded people brought by ambulance to the local 25-bed hospital, most with gunshot wounds. One was declared dead after arrival. All the victims being treated were Rakhine, but that could reflect an inability or unwillingness of Rohingya victims to be treated there.

A male volunteer at the hospital, Min Oo, said by telephone that five bodies, including one of a woman, had also been brought there. He said the injured persons were brought by boat from Kyauktaw town 16 kilometers (10 miles) away, and taken from the jetty by the ambulances. An account by a Rakhine villager in the area suggested great confusion and tension. The villager said that when groups of Rakhine and the Rohingya had a confrontation, government soldiers shot into a crowd of Rakhine, even though, according to his claim, it had been dispersing. The villager would not give his name for fear of violent reprisals.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10...#ixzz2ANFRx79r

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UN Concerned About Outbreak of Violence in Western Burma
October 25, 2012 - The United Nations has expressed concern about the most recent outbreak of communal violence in five townships in Burma's Northern Rakhine region.

The spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement Thursday, saying the widening mistrust between the communities is being exploited by militant and criminal elements, to cause large-scale loss of human lives, material destruction, displaced families as well as fear, humiliation and hatred. The U.N. statement calls on Burmese authorities to bring under control lawlessness and vigilante attacks and to put a stop to threats and extremist rhetoric.

New violence

Fighting and chaos appear to be taking hold in western Burma, where a deep-seeded conflict between Buddhists and Muslims has flared with deadly consequences. Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing Thursday said at least 56 people have died since new fighting erupted Sunday, including 31 women. Dozens of others have been injured. Parts of the area also have been burned to the ground. Burmese officials said almost 2,000 homes have now been razed by fires, along with eight religious buildings, since these latest clashes erupted.

Survivors are telling harrowing tales of the violence, including one man who said his father, Sein Thar Aung, was seriously injured during Monday's fighting in the town of Mrauk Oo. "They (the Rohingya) were on the village road and we were on the outside one before a clash. He (SEIN THAR AUNG) was leading ahead of our group and then withdrawing back when a Kalar (Rohingya) jumped out from a house through a window and stabbed him with a spear,'' the man said.

Zaw Htay, in the office of the president, tells VOA Burmese that the government is taking action. "In dealing with this situation, first the state government has imposed curfew. Next, the president recently ordered to send more security forces over there," Zaw Htay said. Curfews also are being imposed on four towns at the center of the violence -- Mrauk Oo, Myebon, Minbya and Kyauk Phyu. But some witnesses say the army has so far been unable to bring any calm, with others claiming that soldiers were firing randomly into crowds to break up the fighting.

International Reaction

[Mainecoons]

Diversity doesn't work anywhere.

[Mister D]

And only our prosperity keeps a lid on ethnic tensions here...

[roadmaster]

Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya

Go figure.

[waltky]

Suu Kyi victim of journalistic ambush...

Suu Kyi ‘angry at being interviewed by Muslim’: writer
Sun, Mar 27, 2016 - ‘ETHNIC CLEANSING’: A new book said that Aung San Suu Kyi complained about a BBC interview in 2013 over the plight of the Rohingya minority

Burmese democracy veteran Aung San Suu Kyi angrily complained about being interviewed by a Muslim BBC presenter who pressed her about violence against Rohingya Muslims, a biographer said on Friday. “No one told me I was going to be interviewed by a Muslim,” the Nobel laureate reportedly said off air after a tense exchange with British-Pakistani news presenter Mishal Husain broadcast in October 2013. The claim was made by Peter Popham, a journalist with the Independent newspaper and author of newly published book The Lady and The Generals — Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s Struggle for Freedom.

In the BBC interview, veteran journalist Husain had pressed Aung San Suu Kyi about the plight of the Rohingya minority, who have been hardest hit by deadly bouts of communal violence in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi insisted the violence was “not ethnic cleansing,” saying: “Muslims have been targeted, but also Buddhists have been subject to violence. There’s fear on both sides.” Popham wrote about the outburst in an article for the Independent published online on Friday, and said it was relayed to him by a “reliable” source.

A BBC spokeswoman contacted by Agence France-Presse declined to comment. Aung San Suu Kyi has faced international criticism for not taking a stronger stance on the Rohingya’s plight, and for failing to field any Muslim candidates in November’s polls. She is to be foreign minister in Myanmar’s first civilian government for decades, her party said on Tuesday, giving the democracy champion a formal post despite being blocked from the presidency.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../27/2003642563

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says, "Well hey, considerin' all the people the Muslims have killed - ain't turnabout fair play?

Burma's junta admits deadly attacks on Muslims Saturday 27 October 2012 - Satellite images show huge swath of coastal town destroyed in a wave of violence that has left dozens dead

Thousands of Rohingya Muslims are believed to have fled Kyaukpyu, on Burma’s west coast, after their homes were destroyed in the latest clashes with Buddhists. Photograph: Human Rights Watch Burma's president, Thein Sein, has admitted his country's Rohingya Muslim population has been subjected to an unprecedented wave of ethnic violence. Whole villages and large sections of towns have been destroyed.


Thein Sein's admission follows release of shocking satellite images showing the scale of the destruction in one coastal town, where most – if not all – of the Muslim population appears to have been displaced and their homes wrecked. The pictures, acquired by Human Rights Watch, show destruction to the town of Kyaukpyu on the country's west coast. They reveal 14.4 hectares (35 acres) of destruction, in which some 811 buildings and houseboats have been destroyed.


The images confirm reports of massive violence in the town over 24 hours around 24 October, three days after the first wave of attacks. The incidents in Arakan province – also known as Rakhine – have displaced thousands of people in what appears to have been a wave of ethnic cleansing pitting Arakan Buddhists against Muslims. "There have been incidents of whole villages and parts of the towns being burned down," Thein Sein's spokesman said. A government official initially put the death toll at 112 but later revised it to 67.


Thein Sein's comments follow a warning from the office of UN general secretary Ban Ki-moon that ethnic violence was endangering political progress in Burma. The latest violence in Burma comes as the government is struggling to contain ethnic and religious tensions suppressed during nearly a half century of military rule that ended last year. Inter-ethnic violence broke out earlier this year, triggered by the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men.


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[waltky]

Suu Kyi not takin' sides in Rakhine disturbance...

Cannot back Myanmar's Rohingya:Suu Kyi
November 04, 2012 : Aung San Suu Kyi has declined to speak out on behalf of Rohingya Muslims and insisted she will not use "moral leadership" to back either side in deadly communal unrest in west Myanmar, reports said.

The Nobel laureate, who has caused disappointment among international supporters for her muted response to violence that has swept Rakhine state, said both Buddhist and Muslim communities were "displeased" that she had not taken their side.

More than 100,000 people have been displaced since June in two major outbreaks of violence in the state, where renewed clashes last month uprooted about 30,000 people. Dozens have been killed on both sides and thousands of homes torched. "I am urging tolerance but I do not think one should use one's moral leadership, if you want to call it that, to promote a particular cause without really looking at the sources of the problems," Suu Kyi told the BBC on Saturday.

Speaking in the capital Naypyidaw after talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who has said the EU is "deeply concerned" about the violence and its consequences for Myanmar's reforms, Suu Kyi said she could not speak out in favour of the stateless Rohingya. "I know that people want me to take one side or the other, so both sides are displeased because I will not take a stand with them," she said. The democracy champion, who is now a member of parliament after dramatic changes overseen by a quasi-civilian regime that took power last year, said the rule of law should be established as a first step before looking into other problems. "Because if people are killing one another and setting fire to one another's houses, how are we going to come to any kind of reasonable settlement?" she said.

Myanmar's 800,000 Rohingya are seen by the government and many in the country as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. They face severe discrimination that activists say has led to a deepening alienation. The Rohingya, who make up the vast majority of those displaced in the fighting, are described by the UN as among the world's most persecuted minorities.

Source

[waltky]

Myanmar army chief comes out in favor of country's democracy...

Myanmar army chief advocates democratization
Mon, Mar 28, 2016 - Myanmar’s powerful army chief yesterday vowed to keep the nation “on the path to democracy,” days before Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government takes office after decades of army rule.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing made the remarks at an annual display of military might by Myanmar’s armed forces, a body that long crushed democratic aspirations with an iron fist but has since stewarded the country through a remarkable transition. “I would solemnly impart the fact that the Tatmadaw [army] will cooperate to bring about the prosperity of the union and its citizens,” he said during a speech to troops at the annual Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyidaw. “The two main obstacles to democratization are a failure to abide by the rule of law and regulations and the presence of armed insurgencies. These could lead to chaotic democracy,” he said. “Only if these two obstacles are properly tackled and overcome will there be advancement on the path to democracy.”

Myanmar Armed Forces soldiers march during a military parade in Naypyidaw

Myanmar has undergone a stunning political transformation since 2011, blossoming from isolation under successive juntas to become an increasingly vibrant nation. Its growing political openness was crowned by November last years’ election that saw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy storm to victory. After a lengthy transition her government is to take over from the outgoing army-backed administration on Wednesday, ending more than five decades of direct and indirect military rule. Aung San Suu Kyi, who is banned by a military-era constitution from becoming president, is to serve as minister of foreign affairs but has vowed to rule through Burmese president-elect Htin Kyaw. Her ability to cooperate with and confront the still powerful military will be a crucial test of her government, which faces a range of challenges including poverty, corruption, years of chronic under-investment and insurgencies by ethnic minority rebels.

The military still holds strong political sway under a charter that reserves a quarter of the Burmese parliament’s seats for unelected soldiers and grants the army chief direct control over three key ministries: Home affairs, border affairs and defense. It also has significant financial clout, with two sprawling military-owned conglomerates owning vast chunks of the economy and decades of wealth accumulated by the military elite over the years. Yesterday’s parade was a vivid reminder of the military’s wealth with polished battle tanks, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles and helicopters all on display. During junta rule, spending on education and healthcare was a fraction of the military’s budget, a daunting legacy which now confronts the incoming civilian government.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../28/2003642634

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Myanmar army reasserts its key political role ahead of transition
Sun Mar 27, 2016 | Myanmar's armed forces commander-in-chief stressed on Sunday the need for the military to remain a political force just days before a democratically elected government is set to take power for the first time in 56 years.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, making an Armed Forces Day speech from a podium dwarfed by a towering statue of Myanmar’s three ancient kings in the capital, Naypyitaw, reasserted the military's belief that it is the country’s sole unifying force and protector of the constitution. Though the military had "cooperated with the government and the people", to hold a historic general election in November, that was won by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, it was not yet time to step away from the political arena, he said. "The Tatmadaw has to be present as the leading role in national politics with regards to the ways we stand along the history and the critical situations of the country," Min Aung Hlaing said, referring to the armed forces by their Myanmar name.

The military seized power in a 1962 coup and for decades suppressed all opposition. But it stepped back in 2011, paving the way for a semi-civilian government to prepare for November's election. But it retains important powers. More than 10,000 military personnel marched in a parade marking the day in 1945 when a young nationalist leader, General Aung San, and his followers in a fledgling army turned against Japanese forces occupying their country. Hundreds of veterans, foreign defense attaches and politicians gathered before dawn on a big parade field to watch the ceremony.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (L) shakes hands with Aung San Suu Kyi before their meeting in Hlaing's office at Naypyitaw

But conspicuously absent was Aung San's daughter, National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Suu Kyi. She attended the ceremony in 2013 but has not since then. Also absent was president-elect Htin Kyaw, Suu Kyi's hand-picked leader who will take power on Friday. Htin Kyaw, a loyal confidant of the hugely popular Suu Kyi, will take the role only because the Noble laureate is barred from holding the position under a military-drafted constitution, which she has openly criticized.

Min Aung Hlaing defended the charter on Sunday, saying it was drafted by ”coordinated efforts of intellectuals, experts from various fields and national races representatives and was ratified by a nationwide referendum”, and paved the way for the November election. The 2008 constitution enshrines deep political powers for the military. A quarter of the parliament seats are reserved for unelected military officers, giving them an effective veto over constitutional changes, and the commander-in-chief remains in control of three key main ministries.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-my...-idUSKCN0WT05N

[waltky]

Mebbe dey'll give him a Burmese python fer a pet...

Myanmar says Obama to visit later this month
Nov 8,`12 --- President Barack Obama will make a groundbreaking visit later this month to Myanmar, an official said Thursday, following through with his policy of rapprochement to encourage democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.

The Myanmar official speaking from the capital, Naypyitaw, said Thursday that security for a visit on Nov. 18 or 19 had been prepared, but the schedule was not final. He asked not to be named because he was not authorized to give information to the media. The official said Obama would meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as government officials including reformist President Thein Sein. It would be the first-ever visit to Myanmar by an American president. U.S. officials have not yet announced any plans for a visit, which would come less than two weeks after Obama's election to a second term.

Obama's administration has sought to encourage the recent democratic progress under Thein Sein by easing sanctions applied against Myanmar's previous military regime. Officials in nearby Thailand and Cambodia have already informally announced plans for visits by Obama that same week. Cambodia is hosting a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Thailand is a longtime close U.S. ally. The visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, would be the culmination of a dramatic turnaround in relations with Washington as the country has shifted from five decades of ruinous military rule and shaken off the pariah status it had earned through its bloody suppression of democracy.

Obama's ending of the long-standing U.S. isolation of Myanmar's generals has played a part in coaxing them into political reforms that have unfolded with surprising speed in the past year. The U.S. has appointed a full ambassador and suspended sanctions to reward Myanmar for political prisoner releases and the election of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi to parliament. From Myanmar's point of view, the lifting of sanctions is essential for boosting a lagging economy that was hurt not only by sanctions that curbed exports and foreign investment, but also by what had been a protectionist, centralized approach. Thein Sein's government has initiated major economic reforms in addition to political ones.

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President Barack Obama to visit Burma
8 November 2012 - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Burma in 2011

Fresh from his election win, Barack Obama will this month become the first US president to visit Burma, the White House says. He will meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein. It is part of a three-leg tour from 17 to 20 November that will also take in Thailand and Cambodia. The government of Burma has begun implementing economic, political and other reforms, a process the Obama administration sought to encourage.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was previously the most senior US official to go to Burma when she visited in December 2011. The Burma stop is part of a trip built around the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia. The US has appointed a full ambassador to Burma and suspended sanctions to reward the country for political prisoner releases and the election of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi to parliament.

America is also set to ease its import ban on goods from Burma, a key part of remaining US sanctions. Analysts say the Obama administration sees in the country's political changes an opportunity to help counter the influence of China in the region. Human rights groups are likely to criticise Mr Obama's visit as premature, given that the ruling government has failed to prevent outbreaks of communal violence in the west of the country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20261408

[waltky]

Suu Kyi likely to take a background role...

Suu Kyi unlikely to take formal role
Tue, Mar 22, 2016 - PRESIDENT’S PLEDGE: In his first public speech since being elected president, Htin Kyaw promised job security, despite the number of ministries being cut by one-third

Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is unlikely to take a formal position in the incoming government of her National League for Democracy (NLD) and is to control the administration through her position as party leader, a senior official said. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate led the NLD to a landslide win in a historic election in November last year, but a constitution drafted by the former junta bars her from the presidency because her two sons are British citizens, as was her late husband. “Taking positions is not that important any more... In the United States there are many famous lawmakers in the parliament who are very influential, but they do not take any position in the Cabinet,” NLD spokesman Zaw Myint Maung said on Sunday. “It is the same here. She will lead the party, so she will lead the government formed by that party,” Zaw Myint Maung said in the most detailed remarks from the NLD so far on how Aung San Suu Kyi plans to wield power.

Members of parliament attend a union parliament session in Naypyidaw yesterday.

Other top-level NLD politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s confidant, Win Htein, have likened her role to that of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. As leader of India’s Congress party, she dominated the government of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before it fell from power in 2014, but held no ministerial position. NLD leaders have derided the constitution as “ridiculous,” and Aung San Suu Kyi has pledged to run the nation through a proxy president. The NLD-dominated parliament last week elected Htin Kyaw — a close friend and confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi — for that role, making him the first head of state since the 1960s who is not a serving or recently retired senior military officer. In the run-up to the November poll last year, Aung San Suu Kyi had made clear she intended to lead the government regardless of whether she was president, but said the Sonia Gandhi comparison was “not quite” accurate. She has not elaborated since.

Htin Kyaw yesterday made his first public speech since being elected, pledging job security for public servants even as the parliament cut the number of ministries by about one-third to 21. He said the reforms would save Myanmar more than US$4.1 million and those savings would be spent on healthcare, education and rural development. “There is no reason for causing unemployment if the government employees take jobs in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations,” he said, without elaborating. Most military members of parliament, who hold one-quarter of the seats in the parliament, also voted in favor of the changes, results showed. “I think the military also understands that they [some ministries] are not necessary. Their collaboration is an improvement in the parliament,” lower house NLD lawmaker Aung Hlaing Win said.

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