News & Articles on Burma Sunday, 10 June 2012 ----------------------------------------- Emergency rule in Myanmar unrest-hit state Burma's Rakhine state under curfew, following sectarian violence Bangladesh steps up security along Myanmar border ESM Goh to visit Myanmar Curfew expanded to more towns in western Myanmar as sectarian violence spreads Serial bombings hit Myanmar border town Myanmar state media warns of sectarian 'anarchy' Burmas Reforms Coming Undone? Myanmar extends curfews to stem sectarian violence Villagers accuse Burma Army and government officials of extortion ------------------------------------------ CHANNEL NEWS ASIA Emergency rule in Myanmar unrest-hit state Posted: 10 June 2012 2227 hrs YANGON - Myanmar official media on Sunday announced a state of emergency in its western Rakhine state amid fears of further unrest following an eruption of deadly sectarian violence. State television said an order had been signed into effect by President Thein Sein in response to clashes that saw hundreds of Buddhist villagers' homes set ablaze and left seven dead in rioting on Friday and Saturday. The order was effective "until (a) further order", according to the report, which said it was "intended to restore security and stability to the people immediately". "The unrest and terrorist acts have been increasing," it said. The conflict threatens to undermine the reforms of Myanmar's new government, which took power last year following decades of outright military rule. Rakhine state is named for its dominant, mostly Buddhist ethnic group but is also home to a large Muslim population including the Rohingya, a stateless people described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya foreigners and not one of the nation's ethnic groups, while many citizens see them as them illegal immigrants and view them with hostility. - AFP/ck http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1206797/1/.html ---------------------------------------- RADIO AUSTRALIA NEWS Burma's Rakhine state under curfew, following sectarian violence Staff writers, AFP A curfew has been imposed in the Rakhine state capital Sittwe, according to state media in Burma, in response to heightened tensions following deadly rioting between Buddhists and Muslims. Hundreds of Buddhist villagers' homes were set ablaze and seven people were killed in rioting on Friday and Saturday. State media says 17 people were injured and nearly 500 houses destroyed. Police and military units were deployed to end the unrest. A cycle of apparent revenge attacks began with rumours about the recent rape and murder of a Rakhine woman. Three other towns have also been put under the curfew, which runs from 6pm to 6am. State media said the situation was currently calm, but warned that groups of more than five people were banned, along with "giving speeches, marching and inciting unrest or any clashes". 'Anarchy' warnings Rakhine state borders Bangladesh, which has stepped up security along its border fearing the violence could trigger a fresh influx of Rohingya. The state is named after its dominant, mostly Buddhist ethnic group but is also home to a large Muslim population including the Rohingya, a stateless people described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. The Burmese government considers the Rohingya foreigners and not one of the nation's ethnic groups, while many citizens view them with hostility, believing they do not belong in the country. The deadly sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims threatens to overshadow recent reforms. Burma's state media has also warned of "anarchy", with the New Light of Myanmar newspaper urging people to exercise restraint in the wake of the rioting on Friday and Saturday. http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201206/3522122.htm ---------------------------------------- Bangladesh steps up security along Myanmar border Posted: 10 June 2012 1904 hrs DHAKA: Bangladesh stepped up security along its border with Myanmar following outbreaks of sectarian violence between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in the neighbouring country, officials said Sunday. Dhaka's border troops beefed up patrols in the Cox's Bazaar district, while police were being especially vigilant in the district's refugee camps, home to around 300,000 Rohingya, government administrator Jasim Uddin said. The move comes after seven people were killed, 17 wounded and nearly 500 houses destroyed during two days of clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in western Myanmar, the country's state media said. Bangladeshi officials fear the violence could trigger a fresh influx of Rohingya. Border Guard Bangladesh chief Major General Anwar Hossain told the Daily Star he had ordered enhanced patrols along the country's 200 kilometre (125 mile) frontier with Myanmar, a large part of which is separated by a river. Despite the step, a bullet-hit Rohingya entered Bangladesh illegally Saturday and was arrested, deputy chief of Cox's Bazaar police Uttam Kumar told AFP. Kumar said police had also boosted security in Rakhine temples in Cox's Bazaar "in an effort to prevent any repercussion of the Myanmar violence". - AFP/ck http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1206772/1/.html ---------------------------------------- ESM Goh to visit Myanmar Posted: 10 June 2012 1736 hrs SINGAPORE: Emeritus Senior Minister (ESM) Goh Chok Tong will lead a multi-agency delegation to Myanmar from 11 to 14 June. He will be in Myanmar to explore ways to further enhance bilateral cooperation as a follow-up to Myanmar President Thein Sein's State Visit to Singapore in January this year. Minister for National Development Khaw Boon Wan, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Teo Ser Luck, and senior officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry, National Development, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and International Enterprise Singapore will be part of the delegation. In Nay Pyi Taw, Mr Goh will call on President Thein Sein and meet among others Myanmar Investment Commission Chairman and Union Minister for Industry Soe Thane. Mr Goh will also meet with Union Minister for Finance and Revenue Hla Tun, Union Minister for National Planning and Economic Development Tin Naing Thein, Union Minister for Rail Transportation Aung Min and Union Minister for Electric Power No. 1 Zaw Min, who are members of the Myanmar Investment Commission. In addition, ESM Goh will have meetings with Myanmar Central Bank Governor Than Nyein, and Presidential Economic Advisors Myint and Winston Set Aung. In Yangon, ESM Goh will meet Yangon Region Chief Minister Myint Swe and Yangon City Mayor Hla Myint to better understand developments in the Yangon Region. Mr Goh last visited Myanmar in June 2009. - CNA/ck http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1206759/1/.html ----------------------------------------- Curfew expanded to more towns in western Myanmar as sectarian violence spreads By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, June 10, 7:16 PM YANGON, Myanmar Authorities in western Myanmar imposed new curfews Sunday to keep deadly clashes between local Buddhists and Muslim Bengalis from escalating. State television announced a 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m curfew starting Sunday has been imposed in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe and three other townships because of elements there acting unlawfully and causing disorder. Public gathering of more than five persons were also banned. The move follows rioting on Friday in two other areas of Rakhine state that, according to state media, left at least seven people dead and 17 wounded, and saw hundreds of houses burned down. Those official accounts blamed the rioting in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships on 1,000 terrorists, but residents accounts made clear they were Muslims, apparently retaliating for the June 3 lynching of 10 Muslims by a crowd of 300 Buddhists. The lynch mob was inflamed by the rape and murder last month of a Buddhist girl, allegedly by three Muslim men. The violence reflects long-standing tensions in Rakhine state between Buddhist residents and Muslims, many of whom are considered to be illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh. Although the root of the problem is localized, there is fear that the trouble could spread elsewhere because the split also runs along religious lines. The new curfews were imposed in reaction to new clashes Saturday and Sunday outside Fridays trouble spots, where order was said to have been restored. Some houses were set on fire by the Muslims today in Sittwe and four Rakhine villagers arrived at the hospital with knife wounds, said Nu Nu Tha, a resident of Sittwe contacted by phone. Almost all shops are closed and people live in fear that the Muslims might attack the Rakhine population. I am very scared and I have sent my children to Yangon by plane, Nu Nu Tha said. Shops in Sittwe were closed and the busy port city was unusually quiet Sunday, according to residents. Army troops had been deployed Friday in Maungdaw and Buthidaung to help police keep order, and security officials were reported to have fired shots to quell the violence, in addition to imposing a curfew. In Yangon on Sunday, Buddhist monks and people from Rakhine state about 500 in all went to the Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmars most revered Buddhist shrine, to say prayers for the murdered girl and those killed in the clashes. The amount of information about Fridays incident released by state media in a timely fashion was nearly unprecedented, although still far from comprehensive. Under the previous military regime, such incidents usually went unreported or were referred to only in brief, cryptic fashion. The elected though military-backed government of President Thein Sein has instituted reforms to try to reverse decades of repression, including allowing a much freer flow of information. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/curfew-expanded-to-more-towns-in-western-myanmar-as-sectarian-violence-spreads/2012/06/10/gJQA3tR0RV_story.html --------------------------------------- Serial bombings hit Myanmar border town IANS Yangon, June 10, 2012 First Published: 12:34 IST(10/6/2012) Last Updated: 12:57 IST(10/6/2012) Five bomb blasts took place in quick succession in Muse town on Myanmar's northeastern border Saturday midnight but there were no reports of any casualties, Xinhua reported Sunday. The loud explosions occurred on the central line of the Union Highway where there were some dumps. The explosions took place at a time when there was less traffic. It was not clear who or what caused them. Muse town is in the northeastern Shan state where major trade routes are present. In April, a bomb went off at a border checkpoint, killing an immigration officer. http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Serial-bombings-hit-Myanmar-border-town/Article1-868813.aspx ------------------------------------------ Myanmar state media warns of sectarian 'anarchy' Agence France-Presse | Updated: June 10, 2012 13:54 IST Yangon: Myanmar state media warned on Sunday of "anarchy" and a spiral of retaliation after a spate of deadly sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims that threatens to overshadow reforms in the nation. The New Light of Myanmar urged people to exercise "tolerance" in the wake of rioting on Friday and Saturday that saw hundreds of Buddhist villagers' homes set ablaze and left seven dead in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh. "Hatred, misunderstanding or any other kind of conflict among the rural people or urbanites serve no one's interest, but invites retaliation, anarchy, stagnation and lawlessness creating an environment where peace is totally absent and where democracy cannot flourish at all," said an editorial. Police and military units were deployed to bring an end to the unrest, in which 17 people were also wounded and nearly 500 houses destroyed, according to the official media. A cycle of apparent revenge attacks began with rumours about the recent rape and murder of a Rakhine woman. Rakhine state is named for its dominant, mostly Buddhist ethnic group but is also home to a large Muslim population including the Rohingya, a stateless people described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. Last Sunday, an angry Buddhist mob mistakenly believing the perpetrators of the rape were on board a bus, beat 10 Muslim passengers to death. The rioting flared on Friday when at least four Buddhists were killed in the area. A second wave of violence swept through remote villages early Saturday, as more ethnic Rakhine homes were torched forcing villagers to flee to temporary shelters in Maungdaw town, according to government officials. The New Light warned that "deep mistrust" could serve to turn the region into a "cauldron" of misleading information. "In this situation rumours float well spreading to all corners like the evil knocking every one's door as a messenger of death and destruction pushing people nowhere but into a circle of retaliations," the newspaper continued. A group of ethnic Rakhine were expected to gather at a monastery in downtown Yangon on Sunday to hold a ceremony for those killed in the clashes. The Myanmar government considers the Rohingya as foreigners and not one of the nation's ethnic groups, while many citizens view them with hostility and suspicion, believing they do not belong in the country. But according to the UN Myanmar has an estimated 750,000 Rohingya, living mainly in Rakhine. Another one million or more are thought to live in other countries. Activists say forced labour is common and Rohingyas face discriminatory practices including travel restrictions, limits on family size, and a refusal to issue them passports. Human Rights Watch on Saturday expressed "profound concern" following the riots and said discriminatory government policy had helped stoke tensions between the Rakhines and Rohingyas. The unrest in Rakhine comes in the wake of a series of tentative ceasefires Myanmar authorities inked with ethnic minority rebels around the country as part of wide-ranging reforms since the end of outright military rule last year. While battles continue to rage in northern Myanmar, the truces are seen as an effort to draw a line under decades of unrest. NDTV http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/myanmar-state-media-warns-of-sectarian-anarchy-229604 ----------------------------------------- THE DIPLOMAT Burmas Reforms Coming Undone? By Joshua Kurlantzick June 10, 2012 Over the past two weeks, there have been a number of signs that Burmas fragile reform process, first put on track about a year and a half ago, is facing serious obstacles that, at times, have been papered over. None of these problems alone should derail the reform process, and they arent all exactly linked, but together they could prove significant burdens. The over-personalization of politics. Shifting from an era when one man, Than Shwe, dominated the country, its not exactly surprising that politics in the reform period would be highly personalized. Even among many highly educated Burmese working for reformist think tanks and NGOs, Ive heard arguments that the reform process depends largely on the relationship between President Thein Sein andNational League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi. And indeed, their relationship is critical. But for the reform process to really take flower, Burma needs institutions, and politicians need to begin investing in institutions, so that reform isnt totally dependent on the relationship between two people. This past week, Suu Kyis speech to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Bangkok and her hastily arranged trip to a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand seemed to have angered the presidents office, as Thein Sein abruptly canceled his visit to the WEF and Suu Kyi wasnt allowed to speak with a microphone at her refugee camp appearance. These events suggest that friction is developing between the two paramount Burmese leaders, and Suu Kyis speech, which sounded a (reasonable) note of caution to investors, seems to have further alienated the presidents office. That might not be such a big deal in another country, but in Burma, where these two personalities dominate the reform effort, its a problem. The uncorking of the bottle. In such an ethnically diverse country, and one in which certain ethnic groups have long been discriminated against, the reform period seems to be unleashing pent-up sentiments, with police and security forces now unsure how to handle these problems at times, they resort to their cracked-heads thuggery of the past, while at other times they simply seem to ignore simmering interethnic tensions. Case in point: This week, anti-Muslim rioters killed at least ten people in Arakan State, and the situation there reportedly remains extremely tense. Is Burma prepared for the kind of centrifugal tensions that often erupt with democratization? If its going to be, it will need far better trained, and far less brutal, police. The influx of outsiders. In just a short few months since Western nations began relaxing sanctions or ending them completely, Yangon and Naypyidaw have been swamped with potential foreign investors, foreign academics and policy experts, foreign diplomats, and NGOs. Many, indeed most, of these people are well-meaning, and certainly Burmas long isolation means that it has enormous needs in almost every area. But as Lex Rieffel of the Brookings Institution has argued compellingly, the country is poorly equipped to handle all this incoming money and advice. Theres the threat that a future government could, as in Hun Sens Cambodia, use all of the competing donors and investors and play them off of each other to consolidate a new type of authoritarian rule. Or, as in many emerging markets, the incoming donors and investors could soon dominate the economy, causing inflation and creating an entire sector of the economy just for catering to them. Joshua Kurlantzick is a fellow for Southeast Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations. He blogs at Asia Unbound, where this piece originally appeared. You can follow him on Twitter: @JoshKurlantzick http://the-diplomat.com/asean-beat/2012/06/10/burma%E2%80%99s-reforms-coming-undone/ ------------------------------------------ Myanmar extends curfews to stem sectarian violence June 10, 2012 -- 6:32 AM The Associated Press YANGON, Myanmar (AP) Authorities in western Myanmar have imposed new curfews to keep clashes between local Buddhists and Muslim Bengalis from escalating. State television on Sunday announced a 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m curfew has been imposed in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe and three other townships because of elements there acting unlawfully and causing disorder. The move follows rioting on Friday in two other areas of Rakhine state that left at least seven people dead and 17 wounded. State media called the rioters terrorists, but residents' accounts made clear they were Muslims, apparently retaliating for the lynching of 10 Muslims by a crowd of 300 Buddhists. The lynch mob was angered by the recent rape of a Buddhist girl, allegedly by three Muslim men. http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/2012/06/myanmar-extends-curfews-stem-sectarian-violence/712891 --------------------------------------------- Villagers accuse Burma Army and government officials of extortion June 10 | 2012Author: Karen News Villagers living along the Dawei to Kanchanaburi road, in Southern Burma accused the Burma Army of illegally extorting money from them and for driving their motorbikes. Saw Eh, a local villager told Karen News. From Mae Tha Mee Kee on the Thai-Burma border to Myitta village there are many Burma Army checkpoints that collect money from people going to and from Thailand they also tax our motor bikes that we bring from Thailand. Mae Tha Mee Kee is an official Burmese government immigration checkpoint on the Thai-Burma border opposite Thailands Pu Nam Ron village, Kanchanaburi province. Saw Eh said the Burma Army checkpoints are not legal immigration and are just a method of extorting money from villagers. Only the Mae Tha Mee Kee immigration gate is official all the other checkpoints are not legal. We know it is Burma Army officers and soldiers at the outposts, wearing plain clothes, who are collecting money on the road from travelers and motorbikes. Villagers say the army is not alone in extorting money off travelers. In Myitta village alone, various groups of Burmese officials have set up a post in front of the bridge constructed by the Italian-Thai Development Company. There are six different Burmese authorities at the post in front of the bridge collecting money. The Myitta village authority collects money for their village fund, the Myitta immigration are there, there are Myitta sub-township officers, two Burma Army Military Intelligence units and officers from the regular Burma Army. Villagers told Karen News that government soldiers are also based along the car road at Kwe Waw Wah (Aing Wai) and Ka Saw Wah (Wa Daw). Any person who is going to Thailand or coming back has to pay at least 150,000 Kyat (200 baht) if a motor bike is brought from Thailand the fee is 500 baht. The Dawei-Kanchanaburi road was constructed by the Italian-Thai Development Company to link the Dawei Industrial Zone and Deep Sea Port to Thailands Kanchanaburi Province. http://karennews.org/2012/06/villagers-accuse-burma-army-and-government-officials-of-extortion.html/ __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (637)
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