UN: Myanmar Conflict Appears to Be Ethnic Cleansing
The UN human rights chief said a recent crackdown by Burmese security forces on members of the Muslim Rohingya minority seems to be “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” (Al Jazeera)
A government spokesman rejected a cease-fire called for by insurgents, saying it does not “negotiate with terrorists” (DW)
Aung San Suu Kyi Denounces ‘Misinformation’ on Rohingya
Myanmar’s de facto leader said that her government is protecting everyone in Rakhine State, calling photographs accompanying reports of persecution of the Rohingya minority part of an “iceberg of misinformation” in a phone call with the Turkish president (BBC)
123,000 Rohingya Have Fled Myanmar
The UN refugee agency said that 123,000 refugees have fled western Myanmar, many to Bangladesh, in the ten days since conflict between Rohingya insurgents and Burmese security forces flared anew (Associated Press)
UN Security Council to Meet on Myanmar
The United Kingdom has called on the UN Security Council to host an emergency meeting Wednesday on renewed conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State following reports of mass civilian casualties (Al Jazeera)
More Than a Hundred Dead in Renewed Myanmar Fighting
More than a hundred people are dead after weekend clashes between insurgents and security forces in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Thousands of locals fled toward the country’s border with Bangladesh as the government evacuated some four thousand non-Muslim residents (Reuters)
UN: Eighty Thousand Children in Myanmar Suffer From Hunger
Eighty thousand children living in western Myanmar’s Muslim-majority Rakhine state are expected to need treatment for acute malnutrition, according to the World Food Program (Guardian)
Human Rights Envoy’s Visit Causes Protests Among Buddhists
The UN human rights envoy to Myanmar arrived in Rakhine for a fact-finding mission on abuses against the Muslim Rohingya minority, but her arrival was protested by Buddhists who called her biased (Washington Post)
United States Ambassador to the UN Calls on Myanmar to Issue Visas to UN Mission Members
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called on Myanmar to issue visas to members of a UN mission probing alleged abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority by the military (Associated Press)
Mob Attack on Rohingya Muslims Kills One
An unarmed policemen was with a group of Rohingya Muslim men when a Buddhist mob in Rakhine began attacking the men. The policeman was unable to protect the men and fled the attack, which left one dead (Reuters)
Myanmar Army Charges Journalists for Contact With Rebel Group
The army began legal proceedings against three journalists accused of aiding a Ta’ang rebel group. The journalists had been covering a story on the rebel group when they were arrested (Reuters)
Myanmar Forces Clear Suspected Rohingya Insurgent Camp, Kill Three
Myanmar security forces killed three men while clearing what was suspected to be a Rohingya training camp for insurgents in Rakhine, according to a state-run newspaper. The newspaper claims one of the killings was in self-defense (Reuters)
Aung San Suu Kyi Rejects Call for UN Investigation
State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi rejected a call from the UN to dispatch a fact-finding body to investigate human rights abuses against the Rohingya Muslim minority (AFP)
Aung San Suu Kyi Denies Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya
State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said in an interview that ethnic cleansing is “too strong” a term to use to describe allegations of widespread human rights abuses against members of the Rohingya Muslim minority (BBC)
Myanmar State Counselor’s Party Wins Nine Seats
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won nine out of nineteen seats in a Sunday by-election seen as a test of the popularity of her one-year-old government that ended military rule (AFP)
Myanmar Army Chief Dismisses Citizenship for Rohingya
Min Aung Hlaing ruled out any possibility of granting citizenship to Rohingya living in the Rakhine State on the nation’s “Armed Forces Day” (Al Jazeera)
UN: Crimes Against Humanity Committed in Myanmar
The UN human rights envoy for Myanmar said “crimes against humanity” are being committed by security forces against Rohingya Muslim minorities in the country. A spokesman for the party of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi called the charges “exaggerated” (BBC)
Myanmar Army Ends Rakhine Offensive
Myanmar announced an end to its four-month counterinsurgency offensive in Rakhine state, saying only a police presence would be needed in the region, where the United Nations has said the security forces have committed abuses that may amount to crimes against humanity (Reuters)
UN Raises Estimate of Rohingya Killed in Crackdown
A UN official said that more than one thousand Rohingya Muslims may have been killed during a military crackdown in recent months, a significant rise in the estimated number of casualties (Guardian)
Top Government Advisor Assassinated in Yangon Airport
U Ko Ni, a lawyer and top advisor to the National League for Democracy, was killed at Yangon airport after returning home from a trip to Indonesia. It is alleged that Ko Ni was working on a plan to strip the military of its extraordinary political powers (New York Times)
Islamic Bloc to Denounce Myanmar Violence
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation is expected to denounce violence against ethnic Rohingya in Myanmar and will discuss opening an office in the country to investigate abuses. Malaysia, which will host the meeting of Muslim nations‘ foreign ministers, has called the violence in Myanmar a “genocide” (Associated Press)
UN: Rohingya Flee Myanmar Amid Ongoing Crackdown
The United Nations said that an estimated sixty-five thousand Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state for Bangladesh amid a military crackdown that began after a deadly attack on police posts in October. A third of those who have fled the region did so in the last week, according to the United Nations (Guardian)
Police Beat Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine
The office of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said the government would take action against four police officers who appeared to beat villagers from the Rohingya Muslim minority in a video filmed in November (BBC)
Rohingya may be Enduring ‘Crimes Against Humanity’
Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims may be victims of crimes against humanity, the UN’s rights agency has said. The army has carried out a bloody crackdown in the western state of Rakhine, and thousands of the Muslim minority have flooded over the border into Bangladesh, making horrifying claims of gang rape, torture, and murder at the hands of security forces. Some 30,000 have fled their homes, and analysis of satellite images by Human Rights Watch found that hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages have been razed (Al Jazeera)
Aung San Suu Kyi has called for “national reconciliation” as former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan flew to volatile northern Rakhine state (CNN)
Myanmar Leader Cancels Trip Over Rohingya Pressure
State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi canceled a trip to Indonesia following protests in Jakarta over Myanmar’s crackdown in Rakhine state, home to the Muslim Rohingya minority (Wall Street Journal)
Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims Cross Border to Bangladesh
Hundreds of Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh to escape escalating violence in Myanmar, reported aid workers and officials from UN agencies (Reuters)