When the dry season brings calmer seas to Southeast Asia, scores of Rohingya Muslims are likely to take to rickety boats to flee oppression in their homelands. As this sailing season looms again in the region, so does a refugee crisis that follows with equally seasonal regularity.
The Rohingya are a distinct, Muslim minority in Southeast Asia, whose presence in the region stretches back some 1,000 years. Since 2012, over 100,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar due to religious discrimination, typically fueled by Buddhist agitators. Many have been shut out of nearby countries where they sought shelter. Today, there are sizeable Rohingya communities in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Despite their historical roots in the region, the Rohingya are largely viewed as foreigners and denied basic rights. (Courtesy of Foreign Policy)
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Myanmar president pushes to expand army-run ministry
Myanmar's outgoing army-backed president asked parliament Tuesday to extend the powers of the military-controlled home affairs ministry by giving it control over immigration, officials said.
The surprise move comes just days before the incumbent military-dominated parliament hands over to a legislature led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, as the balance of power begins to tilt partially away from the army for the first time in generations.
President's Office director Zaw Htay told AFP that Thein Sein had decided "to combine the ministry of immigration and population and ministry of home affairs" and had written to parliament asking for its approval.
It is expected to be discussed in the legislature on Wednesday. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
The surprise move comes just days before the incumbent military-dominated parliament hands over to a legislature led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, as the balance of power begins to tilt partially away from the army for the first time in generations.
President's Office director Zaw Htay told AFP that Thein Sein had decided "to combine the ministry of immigration and population and ministry of home affairs" and had written to parliament asking for its approval.
It is expected to be discussed in the legislature on Wednesday. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Report on Women in Conflict and Peace launched in Myitkyina
What is women’s role in conflict, peacebuilding and democratization? What are the consequences of women’s inclusion and exclusion from the peace process? These are some of the questions explored in Women in Conflict and Peace, International IDEA’s publication was launched on 26 January in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State the organisation said in a press release.
Drawing on four case studies from Myanmar, Afghanistan, Rwanda and the Philippines, Women in Conflict and Peace analyses the impact of women on conflict and peacebuilding, concluding with recommendations that international and local actors can implement to increase the participation of marginalized women in peace- and democracy-building initiatives. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Drawing on four case studies from Myanmar, Afghanistan, Rwanda and the Philippines, Women in Conflict and Peace analyses the impact of women on conflict and peacebuilding, concluding with recommendations that international and local actors can implement to increase the participation of marginalized women in peace- and democracy-building initiatives. (Courtesy of Mizzima)
Japan vows support for new Myanmar government
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida conveyed Wednesday to senior officials of Myanmar's National League for Democracy Tokyo's support for the Southeast Asian country's incoming government to be led by the party following its landslide victory in last November's general election.
TOKYO — Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida conveyed Wednesday to senior officials of Myanmar's National League for Democracy Tokyo's support for the Southeast Asian country's incoming government to be led by the party following its landslide victory in last November's general election.
"Japan will further accelerate official development assistance and private investment to support the new government," Kishida said in his meeting in Tokyo with Myo Myint, a brain of the NLD's economic policies, and other members of the party economic committee, which is preparing economic policies for the new government. The NLD is led by Aung San Suu Kyi. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: News)
TOKYO — Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida conveyed Wednesday to senior officials of Myanmar's National League for Democracy Tokyo's support for the Southeast Asian country's incoming government to be led by the party following its landslide victory in last November's general election.
"Japan will further accelerate official development assistance and private investment to support the new government," Kishida said in his meeting in Tokyo with Myo Myint, a brain of the NLD's economic policies, and other members of the party economic committee, which is preparing economic policies for the new government. The NLD is led by Aung San Suu Kyi. (Courtesy of Bangkok Post: News)
Opinion: Why U.S. should back change in Myanmar
After holding historic elections in November, Myanmar, also known as Burma, is undergoing a remarkable transition to constitutional democratic governance. I recently led a congressional delegation to the country to evaluate this sweeping change firsthand and gauge how the United States can continue to support Myanmar's movement toward the free world.
The National League for Democracy, the opposition party led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, swept the elections, winning 77% of contested parliamentary seats. This victory was many painful decades in the making. Suu Kyi's father, Gen. Aung San, was assassinated in 1947 while he led the transitional government as Myanmar gained its independence from Great Britain. (Courtesy of WPTZ Home)
The National League for Democracy, the opposition party led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, swept the elections, winning 77% of contested parliamentary seats. This victory was many painful decades in the making. Suu Kyi's father, Gen. Aung San, was assassinated in 1947 while he led the transitional government as Myanmar gained its independence from Great Britain. (Courtesy of WPTZ Home)
Suu Kyi's novice MPs learn ropes in outgoing Myanmar parliament
Hundreds of newly-elected Myanmar MPs from Aung San Suu Kyi's party took lessons in lawmaking from the outgoing army-dominated parliament Wednesday, January 27, days before taking their seats in the most democratic legislature for decades.
A landslide victory for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in November polls will give the politicians their first taste of power when the new parliament convenes on February 1, a historical turning point for a nation long stifled by military rule.
The new MPs include democracy activists from all walks of life and dozens of former political prisoners, but few have any background in lawmaking. The country was ruled by an oppressive military junta for nearly 50 years, from 1962-2011. (Courtesy of rappler.com)
A landslide victory for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in November polls will give the politicians their first taste of power when the new parliament convenes on February 1, a historical turning point for a nation long stifled by military rule.
The new MPs include democracy activists from all walks of life and dozens of former political prisoners, but few have any background in lawmaking. The country was ruled by an oppressive military junta for nearly 50 years, from 1962-2011. (Courtesy of rappler.com)
At Least 6 Confirmed Dead in Landslide at Myanmar Jade Mine
A landslide of mining waste killed at least six people in the sixth deadly such accident in northern Myanmar's jade mining region since a November disaster left more than 100 dead.
Hpakant Baptist Church deacon Dut La, who is organizing funerals for the victims, said six bodies were in the morgue but more than a dozen may still lie under the waste from the slide that occurred Monday afternoon in Kachin state's Hpakant mining region.
"We are going to bury them today. Some family members showed up but some didn't and we cannot wait for them anymore," Dut La said Wednesday. "There are a dozen more possibly buried under the debris but it's quite difficult to take the bodies out because it's too dangerous."
Hpakant, 950 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, is the epicenter of the lucrative jade mining industry. Jade is mined with heavy equipment that leaves behind small pieces in the waste soil that is piled into huge mounds. At risk when landslides occur are usually people who settle near the mounds to scavenge through precariously high piles. (Courtesy of ABC News)
Hpakant Baptist Church deacon Dut La, who is organizing funerals for the victims, said six bodies were in the morgue but more than a dozen may still lie under the waste from the slide that occurred Monday afternoon in Kachin state's Hpakant mining region.
"We are going to bury them today. Some family members showed up but some didn't and we cannot wait for them anymore," Dut La said Wednesday. "There are a dozen more possibly buried under the debris but it's quite difficult to take the bodies out because it's too dangerous."
Hpakant, 950 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, is the epicenter of the lucrative jade mining industry. Jade is mined with heavy equipment that leaves behind small pieces in the waste soil that is piled into huge mounds. At risk when landslides occur are usually people who settle near the mounds to scavenge through precariously high piles. (Courtesy of ABC News)
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