[🇧🇩] Insurgencies in Myanmar. Implications for Bangladesh

[Saif]

Dhaka ready to work with int'l community for Rohingya repatriation: CA

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today said Bangladesh is ready to work with the international community to create an environment for a dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar

www.thedailystar.net

Dhaka ready to work with int'l community for Rohingya repatriation: CA

Photo: PID

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today said Bangladesh is ready to work with the international community to create an environment for a dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar.

"Looking at the evolving ground situation in Myanmar, Bangladesh is ready to work with the international community to create an environment for dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingyas to their homeland," he said while addressing the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

The chief adviser said seven years on, Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.2 million Rohingyas on humanitarian ground, incurring significant social-economic-environmental costs.

The protracted crisis in Myanmar also poses growing risks with national and regional security implications for Bangladesh, both traditional and non-traditional security challenges, he said.

"We remain committed to supporting the forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar in Bangladesh. We need continued support of the international community towards the Rohingyas in carrying out the humanitarian operations and their sustainable repatriation," Prof Yunus said.

He said equally important is to ensure justice for the grave human rights violations committed against the Rohingyas, through the ongoing accountability processes in the ICJ and the ICC.

"We recognise and appreciate the efforts of the Secretary General and the United Nations system in creating a conducive environment for Rohingyas so that they can lead a free and dignified life," he said.

The Nobel Laureate said it requires creating pathways for the Rohingyas to return to their ancestral home in Rakhine State, with safety and rights.​

 

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Myanmar junta bombs opposition-held town hours after talks offer

Myanmar’s junta carried out fresh air strikes on an opposition-held town Friday, hours after issuing an unprecedented invitation to its enemies for talks on the country’s civil war.

www.newagebd.net

Myanmar junta bombs opposition-held town hours after talks offer
Agence France-Presse . Yangon 28 September, 2024, 01:07

Myanmar’s junta carried out fresh air strikes on an opposition-held town Friday, hours after issuing an unprecedented invitation to its enemies for talks on the country’s civil war.

Thursday’s surprise call for discussions was likely a sop to main ally China and a nudge towards controversial fresh elections, analysts said, and two prominent armed groups swiftly dismissed it.

The offer came with the junta reeling from battlefield reverses to ethnic minority armed groups and pro-democracy ‘People’s Defence Forces’ that rose up to oppose the military’s seizure of power in 2021.

The groups have seized several lucrative border crossings and last month took Lashio, a city of 1,50,000 people — the biggest urban centre to fall to rebels since 1962.

The call was ‘the first time that the regime has expressed a willingness to have a dialogue with the post-coup resistance forces’, said Richard Horsey of the International Crisis Group.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has long spoken of ‘annihilating’ the groups, he pointed out.

Hours after the offer, military jets bombed Lashio, in northern Shan state, now in the hands of fighters from the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.

‘I heard two explosions,’ a resident said. ‘I heard five people were killed and a lot of people were wounded.’

One Yangon-based diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said of the junta’s offer: ‘So far I haven’t seen the inclination towards serious reconciliation.’

AFP has contacted for comment the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army, ethnic armed groups that hold territory in the north. The MNDAA could not be reached.

The Karen National Union, which has fought for decades for autonomy along the Thai border, said talks were only possible if the military agreed to ‘common political objectives’.

That included the military staying out of politics, accepting a new, federal constitution, and being held accountable for ‘war crimes and crimes against humanity’, spokesman Padoh Saw Taw Nee said.

‘If they don’t agree with it, then nothing will happen... We will keep putting pressure on them politically, militarily,’ he said.

The military is highly unlikely to agree to such terms.

A spokesperson for the ‘Mandalay PDF’, which has seized territory in the hills around second city Mandalay, also dismissed the offer.

‘This invitation won’t make any changes to our way,’ said Osmond, who goes by a pseudonym.

‘We will keep doing what we have to do.’

But even if nothing comes of the invitation, just issuing it could still have value for the regime, said Horsey.

‘It would allow them to portray themselves — for example to China, which is pushing for a deal — as wanting peace, even while they continue with their campaign of indiscriminate airstrikes.’

China is a major ally and arms supplier to the isolated junta and its sprawling Belt and Road Initiative includes key projects in Myanmar.

Last month Beijing’s foreign minister said it supported the junta’s plan to hold fresh polls and return the conflict-torn country to a ‘democratic transition’.

‘China hopes that all relevant parties will stop fighting and hold talks,’ a foreign ministry spokesperson told a regular press briefing on Friday.

Independent analyst David Mathieson said that in addition to Beijing, the offer was likely aimed at neighbouring countries and some western diplomats who may see elections as a ‘vehicle to reduce violence and pursue a process of de-escalation’, despite their inevitable flaws.

The military, which justified its coup with unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in the 2020 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, has long pledged to hold fresh polls when conditions permit.

It has since dissolved Suu Kyi’s popular National League for Democracy and introduced tough new rules governing political parties.

Census takers are due to start collecting data in early October in preparation for possible polls in 2025, but analysts say any vote would be a sham and would likely be targeted by the military’s opponents.

‘Hovering above all of this is the Myanmar military’s tried and tested divide and rule strategy,’ said Mathieson, adding it ‘may be soiled and strained but still effective’.​

 

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Rohingya youth shot dead in Cox's Bazar camp

A Rohingya youth was killed and five others injured in a gunfight between two Myanmar-based armed groups at a Ukhiya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday evening

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Rohingya youth shot dead in Cox's Bazar camp

A Rohingya youth was killed and five others injured in a gunfight between two Myanmar-based armed groups at a Ukhiya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar yesterday evening.

The incident took place in the area between Hakim Para No 14 and Jamtoli Camp No 15 of Palongkhali union of Ukhiya upazila, reports our Cox's Bazar staff correspondent quoting Additional Deputy Inspector General of police Aamir Zafar, commander of 8 Armed Police Battalion.

The deceased is Abdur Rahman, 19, son of Mohammad Abdullah of Block E-2 of Rohingya Camp 14 at Hakim Para.

Quoting locals, the additional DIG Amir Zafar said, Myanmar-based armed groups Arakan Rohingyas Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) locked into a clash yesterday evening.

Both sides fired 20-25 rounds of bullets leaving six Rohingyas wounded. The criminals fled the scene when a team of APBn reached the spot.

Later, locals rescued the injured and took them to an MSF hospital in the Jamtali area, where the duty doctor declared one of them dead.

Later, the injured were shifted to another MSF Hospital in Kutupalong area for better treatment.

The APBn commander said the incident might have took place for establishing supremacy in the camp.

Police are conducting drives to identify and arrest those involved in the incident, he said.

The body of the deceased was recovered and sent to Cox's Bazar 250 Bed District Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy.​

 

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Can’t wait indefinitely, says Dr Yunus seeking int’l solution to Rohingya crisis

Highlighting the importance of a quick and international solution to the Rohingya crisis through joint efforts, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Friday said the solution to the problem is in the hands of the international community, not Bangladesh alone.

en.prothomalo.com

Can’t wait indefinitely, says Dr Yunus seeking int’l solution to Rohingya crisis
UNB
Dhaka
Published: 04 Oct 2024, 21: 22

A joint press appearance of chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus with Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim at a hotel in Dhaka on 4 October, 2024.PID

Highlighting the importance of a quick and international solution to the Rohingya crisis through joint efforts, chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Friday said the solution to the problem is in the hands of the international community, not Bangladesh alone.

“We will keep on raising the issue. Malaysia will be supporting us in raising that. We can’t wait indefinitely. This is something we have to resolve as soon as possible,” he said while responding to a question from UNB during a joint press appearance with Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim at a hotel in Dhaka.

The Nobel Peace laureate said they have discussed the issue as this is also an issue for Malaysia with a smaller number of Rohingyas there.

“We need to find a solution to that problem. And we work together through Asean, through the Malaysian government and through the broader international community,” he said.

Malaysia is going to be the next chair of ASEAN from January 2025.

Prof Yunus highlighted two aspects of the Rohingya crisis – new children born on an average 32,000 every year over the last 7 years adding with the 1.2 million Rohingyas.

He said it is not the birthrate that concerns Bangladesh but it is about what happens in their life. “A whole new generation of young people is growing up. This is a generation of angry young people. They have no future.”

Prof Yunus said the worry for the whole world is that this is a ticking time-bomb that can explode in any way.

He said new entries are also happening every day with a constant flow. “This is a concern I shared with the prime minister of Malaysia. He is fully supportive and understands our position.”

Prof Yunus said Malaysia will be supporting Bangladesh through Asean and international forums to find an international solution to this problem.

Seven years ago, on 25 August, 2017, some 700,000 Rohingya men, women and children were forced to flee Myanmar and seek protection in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.2 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char.

In 2024, humanitarian agencies appealed for $852 million to assist 1.35 million people, including Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshis in surrounding communities. This appeal remains inadequately funded, according to UNHCR.

Chief adviser Prof Yunus and the Malaysian Prime Minister had a brief one-on-one meeting at the Hazrat Shahjalal Airport before their bilateral talks at Hotel InterContinental.​

 

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Indonesia hosts international meeting on Myanmar with UN, junta rivals, sources say

Indonesia is hosting an international meeting involving the United Nations and opponents of Myanmar's ruling military

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Indonesia hosts international meeting on Myanmar with UN, junta rivals, sources say
Reuters
Published: 04 Oct 2024, 16: 57

Soldiers stand next to military vehicles as people gather to protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, on 15 February, 2021 Reuters

Indonesia is hosting an international meeting involving the United Nations and opponents of Myanmar's ruling military, sources with knowledge of the talks said on Friday, as a regional effort to end a civil war fails to gain traction.

Myanmar is embroiled in a bloody crisis stemming from a crackdown on pro-democracy protests that followed a 2021 coup by its military, which is battling on multiple fronts to contain a nationwide rebellion by a movement allied with several ethnic minority armies.

The United Nations, the regional bloc ASEAN, the European Union and Myanmar's shadow National Unity Government (NUG) would be at the talks, according to a source with knowledge of the two-day meeting.

A diplomatic source confirmed the NUG was in Indonesia for talks, while a third source said the United Nations was at a special meeting on Myanmar.

A fourth source said a meeting was being held in Indonesia involving "stakeholders" in the Myanmar crisis.

The sources did not provide details on the other attendees, or proposals being discussed.

Asked about the meeting, Indonesian foreign ministry spokesperson Roy Soemirat said there were plans for talks between ASEAN special envoys on the Myanmar crisis, but he gave no details of attendees or a timeframe for the talks.

Myanmar's military government and the delegations of the U.N. and EU in both Myanmar and Indonesia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for the NUG declined to give comment or confirm the meeting was taking place.

Dialogue elusive

The meeting comes just days away from a summit in Laos of leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose peace plan for Myanmar, drawn up three years ago, has so far failed despite repeated calls for dialogue.

The bloc, currently chaired by Laos, has expressed openness to other avenues to support its plan, including mediation from neighbouring countries and organisations outside of ASEAN.

Reuters reported last month that a think-tank funded by the Indian government had invited anti-junta groups involved in the rebellion to a New Delhi seminar next month.

Last year, former ASEAN chair Indonesia said it had received positive signals about preliminary dialogue from major parties in the conflict, but there has been no signs of advancement yet.

The junta has refused to engage in talks with its rivals, calling them terrorists bent on destroying the country.

Last month it urged its armed opponents to halt their rebellion and join the political fold for an election next year, a call that was rejected by several groups, and dismissed by some analysts as a hollow gesture.

It is not clear if any anti-junta groups have agreed to run in the election, which has already been widely dismissed as sham.

The outcome is unlikely to be recognised by Western countries, with dozens of parties disbanded for not registering to run, including the dominant National League for Democracy, whose government the generals toppled in the coup.​