Tag Archives: Myanmar
Four dead, three missing after Myanmar dam overflow
Floods from a dam breach in Central Myanmar has left four people dead and three missing, a ministry official confirmed Friday, the first casualties reported two days after a portion of the levee collapsed from heavy monsoon rains. The deceased were three men and one woman, said Phyu Lei Lei Tun, a director at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. “According to the information we got as of this morning, four people were killed and three went missing during the floods,” she told AFP.
Thousands displaced in Myanmar dam rupture aftermath
Flooding from a ruptured dam in Myanmar has forced the relocation of more than 63,000 people and disrupted traffic on a major road that connects the country's three biggest cities.
Myanmar rejects 'false allegations' in U.N. genocide report
The U.N. report marked the first time the organization has explicitly called for Myanmar officials to face genocide charges over a brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims last year. “Our stance is clear and I want to say sharply that we don’t accept any resolutions conducted by the Human Rights Council,” the main government spokesman, Zaw Htay, said in an interview published in state media. The fact-finding mission on Myanmar was established in March 2017 by the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Facebook bans Myanmar army chief, top brass over rights abuses
Facebook banned Myanmar’s army chief and other top military brass on Monday after a UN investigation recommended they face prosecution for genocide for a crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. Facebook acknowledged this was the first time it had banned a state or military actor, noting it was a “unique” situation. “We’ve taken this step in Myanmar following findings by international experts, including a recent UN-commissioned report, that many of these officials committed serious human rights abuses in the country,” Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhraja said.
Pompeo calls on Myanmar to release 2 Reuters journalists
SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Myanmar on Saturday to immediately release two Reuters journalists held on charges of possessing secret documents.
Rohingya refugees mark first Eid since Myanmar crackdown
As Muslims around the world celebrated Eid with feasting and gift-giving, Rohingya refugees in squalid Bangladesh camps marked the festival Saturday with a peaceful demonstration demanding justice and dignified repatriation. For the hundreds of thousands of the Muslim minority who have fled neighbouring Myanmar since an army crackdown last August, this is the first Eid-al-Fitr they have spent in the cramped tent cities. Rahim Uddin, a 35-year-old refugee, told AFP that the holiday, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, was different this year.
Myanmar says some Rohingya refugees returned voluntarily
Myanmar says dozens of Rohingya Muslims who fled to neighbouring Bangladesh have returned voluntarily and will be sent to a transit centre pending resettlement. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled mainly Buddhist Myanmar after a violent army crackdown began last August in the western state of Rakhine, a process that the US and UN have described as ethnic cleansing. Myanmar has said it is ready to take them back and has traded accusations with Bangladesh over who is responsible for the delay in implementing a repatriation deal.
Indonesian fishermen rescue Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar
BIREUEN, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian fishermen rescued 76 Rohingya Muslims stranded off the coast of Aceh on Friday, authorities said, in the latest attempt by members of the persecuted ethnic group to flee Myanmar by sea.
Scepticism as Myanmar announces return of first Rohingya family
Myanmar’s government said it has repatriated the first family of Rohingya refugees, among the 700,000 who fled a brutal crackdown, but the move was slammed by rights groups as a publicity stunt which ignored warnings over the security of returnees. The stateless Muslim minority has been massing in squalid refugee camps in Bangladesh since the Myanmar army launched a ruthless campaign against the community in northern Rakhine state last August. The United Nations says the operation amounts to ethnic cleansing, but Myanmar has denied the charge, saying its troops targeted Rohingya militants.
Refugees Fleeing Violence In Myanmar Have A New Worry: Elephants
