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Tag: Aung San Suu Kyi

  • Aung San Suu Kyi On Official Visit To Singapore

    Aung San Suu Kyi On Official Visit To Singapore

    Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will make an official visit to Singapore from Nov 30 to Dec 2, announced Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Tuesday (Nov 29).

    Ms Suu Kyi will be here at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who will host an official welcome ceremony and a dinner for her at the Istana on Wednesday.

    Both leaders will be guests-of-honour on Thursday at the opening ceremony of a three-month exhibition of Myanmar artefacts called “Cities and Kings: Ancient Treasures from Myanmar” at the Asian Civilisations Museum.

    Ms Suu Kyi, who is also foreign minister, will call on Acting President J Y Pillay.

    Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean will host her to meals separately and the Nobel laureate will have breakfast at a hawker centre with Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

    Also on her agenda is IE Singapore’s Global Conversations dialogue with Singapore businesses, said MFA.

    In 2015, Myanmar was Singapore’s 28th largest trading partner, with total trade at S$3.57 billion.

    For Myanmar, Singapore was its third largest trading partner after China and Thailand. As of end-October this year, Singapore was the second largest investor in Myanmar with cumulative investment at US$15.6 billion, after China (US$18.5 billion).

    During her three-day visit, Ms Suu Kyi will get an orchid named in her honour at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. She will also receive a briefing by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, said MFA.

    Ms Suu Kyi last visited Singapore in 2013 when she was Myanmar’s opposition leader.

    During this official visit, she will be accompanied by Union Minister for Commerce U Than Myint, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin, and officials from the Ministry of National Planning and Finance, President’s Office, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Abdul Rahman Mohamed: Kecewa Pemerintah Singapura Beri Pelonggaran Visa Bagi Rakyat Myanmar Sedangkan Masalah Rohingya Semakin Ketara

    Abdul Rahman Mohamed: Kecewa Pemerintah Singapura Beri Pelonggaran Visa Bagi Rakyat Myanmar Sedangkan Masalah Rohingya Semakin Ketara

    Sudah tentu pengumuman dan langkah sebegini pada masa ini oleh pemerintah akan mengguris perasaan ummat Islam Singapura.

    Tatkala ribuan saudara2 Muslim dibunuh kejam oleh para pengganas Budhist Myanmar, pemerintah kita pula membuat keputusan utk memberi laluan mudah utk rakyat Myanmar memasuki Singapura dengan cara mudah tanpa memerlukan visa!

    Sementara kami disuruh memahami langkah2 yg diambil utk membendung kemasukkan individu2 Muslim yg mempunyai ciri2 Radikal, Extreme dan Pengganas, berkemungkinan yg akan diberi laluan mudah utk masuk ke Singapura ini merupakan individu2 pengganas Budhist Myanmar yg telah mengotori tangan2 mereka dengan darah saudara Islam kita Rohingya.

    Sudahlah segala kekejaman itu dibiarkan tanpa ada suara2 mengutuk tiba2 laporan begini pula yg diumumkan.

    Sangat mengecewakan…….

     

    Source: Abdul Rahman Mohamed

  • Malaysia’s PM Najib Razak To Join Gathering Protesting Myanmar Government’s Treatment Of Rohingyas

    Malaysia’s PM Najib Razak To Join Gathering Protesting Myanmar Government’s Treatment Of Rohingyas

    Malaysia’s prime minister will be joining a gathering organized by the government to protest violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, according to his deputy.

    Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told a press conference that the Dec. 4 gathering would later determine Malaysia’s diplomatic ties with Myanmar’s government if it decides to continue military operations in troubled Rakhine State — home to around 1.2 million Rohingya.

    “The gathering would be attended by Prime Minister Najib Razak and other political leaders. To-date, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang has confirmed his participation,” he said late Saturday, referring to the Malaysian Islamic Party.

    Hamidi also urged other major opposition political parties, namely the People’s Justice Party and the National Honest Party, to join the gathering.

    “We put aside our political differences and as Muslims we gather to express our concern for our fellow Muslims in Myanmar,” he underlined.

    The announcement came after thousands of people protesting violence against Rohingya joined demonstrations Friday in the capitals of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

    Over the past six weeks, rights groups have expressed concern over reports of killings, rapes, arbitrary arrests and other violations in villages predominantly inhabited by Rohingya in Rakhine amid military operations launched after fatal attacks on police outposts last month.

    Myanmar has said that since Oct. 9, at least 86 people — 17 soldiers and 69 alleged “attackers” (among them two women) — have been killed, and property destroyed in the area.

    Rohingya groups, however, claim that the number killed in one weekend alone earlier this month could be as high as 150 civilians.

    Humanitarian outfits have called for independent investigations into the initial attacks, the ongoing operations and reported rapes and rights abuses in Rakhine, as with the area placed under military lockdown, rights groups and international reporters have been unable to enter.

    Hamidi said Malaysia remains firm on the principle that it cannot interfere in the affairs of other countries, but said that on humanitarian grounds, it must express its concern to Myanmar authorities.

    “We are not belittling other countries, but we have demonstrated our deep concerns over the Rohingya issues because as fellow Muslims we can feel their sufferings,” he stressed.

    The deputy premier also said the gathering would discuss, and state the country’s stance, on calls for the withdrawal of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, currently the country’s state counselor-cum-foreign minister.

    “If someone who is given the award can no longer maintain peace, it [the conferment] can still be questioned,” Hamidi underlined.

    Meanwhile, Malaysia’s government is also due to send a protest note to the Myanmar government to demand their concern regarding persecution faced by the stateless Rohingya community.

    “A cabinet meeting has decided to send a protest note to the Myanmar Embassy in Kuala Lumpur,” Hamidi added.

    A law passed in Myanmar in 1982 denied Rohingya — many of whom have lived in Myanmar for generations — citizenship, making them stateless.

    The law denies the Rohingya rights to Myanmar nationality, removes their freedom of movement, access to education and services, and allows arbitrary confiscation of property.

    Myanmar nationalists have since taken to referring to the Rohingya — which the United Nations calls one of the most persecuted people in the world — as Bengali, which suggests they are not Myanmar nationals but interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh.

     

    Source: www.worldbulletin.net

  • Muhammad Shamil To PM Lee: Help Singaporeans And Singapore Find Peaceful, Lasting Solution To Rohingya Genocide In Myanmar

    Muhammad Shamil To PM Lee: Help Singaporeans And Singapore Find Peaceful, Lasting Solution To Rohingya Genocide In Myanmar

    Dear PM Lee,

    Peace be upon you.

    I hope you and loved ones are well.

    Sir, with all due respect, forgive me for trying to reach out to you on a seemingly informal channel like FB. I just believe it is one of the most powerful channels today to directly communicate with leaders and other people. And instead of sending a private message, I have made it public to help spread news of the apparent issues in Myanmar and encourage others to speak to their leaders to do something about it. So pardon the medium and heed the message please.

    Prime minister, I am deeply troubled and saddened by what is happening in Myanmar and as a citizen of this country, I humbly ask for our government to help and/or tell me what I can do to assist in this humanitarian crisis at our very doorstep. As published in Channelnewsasia, a UN official claims that the government of Myanmar is “pursuing ethic cleansing of Rohingya” (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/…/myanmar-pursu…/3317908.html). The article speaks of genocide, civilians being killed, raped and tortured in a neighboring country. I shudder to think of the horrors Rohingya men, women and children are going through this very moment, should these reports be true and pray for their safety and comfort.

    Sir, I am no expert in the matter but I would like to help, and am sure many others would like to help too but simply don’t know how. It’s not like they are suffering from just severe poverty or famine, in those types of situations, at the very least, people could donate money but here the situation is worst, they are systematically being wiped out. I am humbly turning to you, the leader of our very powerful government, as an ordinary Singaporean, to help find a peaceful solution to the problem. Pressure and work with Myanmar leaders to ensure that the crisis is handled in a more humane manner.

    This is not the first time in recent history that the powers that be in Myanmar have resorted to violence against civilians. But I hope these acts of seemingly state sanction terrorism stop. And I hope Singapore plays a big part in bringing about and maintaining peace in the region.

    We live in a most peaceful multiethnic, multi-religious country, yes there are flaws, but it is something in Singapore I am so very proud of and grateful for. It’s a thing of beauty. So how can we sit idly by while others in Asean are literally being killed simply because of their religion, claimed ancestry or colour of their skin? We have to be a force for good in the region, we are Singapore. Siapa tidak kenal Singapura, negara terindah berbilang bangsa?

    Our silence will not save them. Let’s do something to help now.

    Majulah Singapura.

    Thank you kindly.

    Sincerely,
    Muhammad Shamil Bin Zainuddin

     

    Source: Shamil Zainuddin

  • United Nations: Myanmar Seeking Ethnic Cleansing Of Rohingyas

    United Nations: Myanmar Seeking Ethnic Cleansing Of Rohingyas

    Myanmar is seeking the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority from its territory, a senior UN official has told the BBC.

    Armed forces have been killing Rohingya in Rakhine state, forcing many to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh, says John McKissick of the UN refugee agency.

    The government of Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been conducting counter-insurgency operations since coordinated attacks on border guards in October.

    It denies reports of atrocities.

    Burmese officials say Rohingyas are setting fire to their own houses in northern Rakhine state. The BBC cannot visit the area to verify what is occurring there as journalists and aid workers have been barred.

    The Rohingya, who number about one million, are seen by many of Myanmar’s Buddhist majority as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

    ‘Collective punishment’

    Although Bangladesh’s official policy is not to allow in illegal entrants across the border, the foreign ministry has confirmed that thousands of Rohingyas have already sought refuge in Bangladesh. Thousands more are reportedly gathering on the border.

    Efforts to resolve the issue must focus on “the root cause” inside Myanmar, Mr McKissick, head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR in the Bangladeshi border town of Cox’s Bazar told BBC Bengali’s Akbar Hossain.

    He said the Myanmar military and Border Guard Police had “engaged in collective punishment of the Rohingya minority” after the murders of nine border guards on 9 October which some politicians blamed on a Rohingya militant group.

    Security forces have been “killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river” into Bangladesh, Mr McKissick said.

    “Now it’s very difficult for the Bangladeshi government to say the border is open because this would further encourage the government of Myanmar to continue the atrocities and push them out until they have achieved their ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar,” he said.

    On Wednesday, the Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned Myanmar’s ambassador to express “deep concern” over the military operation in northern Rakhine state.

    It said “desperate people” were crossing the border seeking safety and shelter and asked Myanmar to “ensure the integrity of its border”.

    Authorities in Bangladesh have been detaining and repatriating hundreds of fleeing Rohingya.

    Map showing Maungdaw's location in Rakhine State© BBC Map showing Maungdaw’s location in Rakhine State

    Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch released satellite images which it said showed that more than 1,000 homes had been razed in Rohingya villages over the past six weeks.

    What is happening in Rakhine state?

    A massive security operation was launched last month after nine police officers were killed in co-ordinated attacks on border posts in Maungdaw.

    Some government officials blamed a militant Rohingya group for the attacks. Security forces then sealed off access to Maungdaw district and launched a counter-insurgency operation.

    Rohingya activists say more than 100 people have been killed and hundreds arrested amid the crackdown.

    Soldiers have also been accused of serious human rights abuses, including torture, rape and executions, which the government has flatly denied.

    It says militants have attacked helicopter gunships providing air support to troops.

    Who are the Rohingya?

    The estimated one million Muslim Rohingya are seen by many in mainly Buddhist Myanmar as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. They are denied citizenship by the government despite many having lived there for generations.

    Communal violence in Rakhine state in 2012 left scores dead and displaced more than 100,000 people, with many Rohingya still remaining in decrepit camps.

    They face widespread discrimination and mistreatment.

    Is the government to blame?

    Myanmar held its first openly contested election in 25 years last November, with Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy winning a landslide victory.

    Though she is barred from the presidency due to a constitutional rule, Ms Suu Kyi, who serves as State Counsellor, is seen as de-facto leader.

    But her government, led as it is by a former human rights icon, has faced international criticism over the dire situation in Rakhine state.

    Rights groups have questioned why journalists and aid workers are not being allowed to enter northern Rakhine.

    Presidential spokesman Zaw Htay says the international media is misreporting what is going on.

     

    Source: www.msn.com