Tag: Rohingya

  • Pegawai Myanmar: Komen PM Najib Di Rapat Rohingya “Tidak Benar”

    Pegawai Myanmar: Komen PM Najib Di Rapat Rohingya “Tidak Benar”

    Kehadiran Perdana Menteri Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak di rapat pro-Rohingya di Kuala Lumpur sudah mencetuskan bantahan di Myanmar.

    Ucapan PM Najib di rapat itu tentang perlunya menentang “pembunuhan kaum” Muslim Rohingya di Myanmar, tidak membantu keadaan, kata seorang pegawai Myanmar kepada Mediacorp.

    “Apa yang beliau katakan di Malaysia itu tidak benar. Kami sedang cuba menghuraikannya bersama para penyokong antarabangsa. Tapi ini pilihan kami, negara lain tidak boleh membuat keputusan tentang negara kami,” kata Nyan Win, anggota sekretariat Liga Nasional bagi Demokrasi.

    “PM NAJIB GUNA ISU ITU UNTUK TAMBAT SOKONGAN”

    U Zaw Htay, timbalan ketua pengarah Pejabat Presiden, memberitahu The Myanmar Times bahawa pemerintah Myanmar akan mengeluarkan kenyataan rasmi bagi membantah penyertaan PM Najib dalam bantahan di Kuala Lumpur itu.

    Beliau juga memberitahu akhbar itu bahawa tindakan PM Najib itu boleh mencetuskan ekstremisme agama, dan menambah PM Najib menggunakan isu itu untuk menarik sokongan warga Malaysia.

    Beliau mengeluarkan komen-komen itu setelah para penduduk Myanmar mengadakan tunjuk perasaan membantah PM Najib setelah beliau menyeru negara-negara asing supaya campur tangan dalam menghentikan “pembunuhan kaum” Muslim Rohingya.

    Sekitar 150 orang, dipimpin para sami Buddha dari Persatuan Sami Kebangsaan Myanmar, berhimpun semalam (4 Dis) di Pagoda Sule di bandar Yangon, sambil mengibarkan panji-panji.

    Malaysia kian lantang bersuara tentang cara Myanmar menangani keganasan dan dakwaan pencabulan kuasa di wilayah Rakhine, yang memaksa ratusan orang Rohingya melarikan diri merentasi sempadan ke Bangladesh.

    PM Najib dalam ucapannya di satu rapat di Kuala Lumpur berkata “Dunia tidak boleh hanya berdiam diri dan menyaksikan pembunuhan kaum berlaku.” Beliau menambah bahawa beliau akan meminta Indonesia turut mengadakan rapat sebagai menunjukkan perpaduan dengan orang Rohingya, dan berkata beliau mahu lebih ramai rakyat Malaysia keluar dan membantah tindakan Myanmar.

    Kementerian Ehwal Luar Malaysia menyifatkan keganasan di Myanmar itu sebagai “pembersihan kaum” kelmarin. PM Najib pula meminta Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB), Mahkamah Jenayah Antarabangsa dan Pertubuhan Persidangan Islam (OIC) supaya campur tangan.

    KOFI ANNAN: CARI HURAIAN YANG AMAN

    Mantan ketua PBB, Kofi Annan mengunjungi wilayah Rakhine di Myanmar pada Jumaat lalu dan kelmarin sebagai Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Penasihat Wilayah Rakhine.

    Saluran televisyen Myanmar menunjukkan Encik Annan bertemu dengan beberapa kumpulan masyarakat, termasuk kumpulan Buddha dan Muslim Rohingya.

    Suruhanjaya itu termasuk Muslim Rohingya serta masyarakat Rakhine yang beragama Buddha. Ia fokus terhadap mengelak konflik, bantuan, perdamaian, hak asasi manusia dan pembangunan, menurut pemerintah Myanmar.

    Tentera dan pemerintah Myanmar menafikan dakwaan oleh para penduduk dan kumpulan-kumpulan hak asasi bahawa para askarnya merogol wanita Rphingya, membakar rumah-rumah dan membunuh orang awam semasa operasi ketenteraannya.

    Di satu sidang media, Encik Annan menggesa semua pihak supaya mencari huraian kepada “isu-isu mereka secara aman.”

    PBB menyatakan sekitar 30,000 orang kehilangan tempat tinggal akibat keganasan itu.

    Pemerintah Myanmar tidak mengiktiraf orang Rohingya sebagai rakyatnya. Keganasan yang berlaku di Rakhine baru-baru ini adalah pertumpahan darah kedua paling dahsyat di Myanmar sejak rusuhan kaum pada 2012 meragut ratusan nyawa.

    Akibat ditindas dan dibelenggu kemiskinan, ribuan orang Rohingya melarikan diri dari Myanmar menyusuli keganasan antara penganut Buddha dan Islam di sana empat tahun lalu.

    Ramai daripada mereka diseludup atau diperdagang ke negara-negara jiran, kebanyakannya ke Thailand dan Malaysia.

    Source: Berita MediaCorp

  • Focus On Resolving Difficulties In Rakhine Rather Than Exaggerating Them, Says Suu Kyi

    Focus On Resolving Difficulties In Rakhine Rather Than Exaggerating Them, Says Suu Kyi

    Amid international accusations that the Myanmar military is leading a crackdown against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said she wants to make the situation better.

    Asked if the problem is intractable, she said no. “We have managed to keep the situation under control and to calm it down,” she stated.

    “But I would appreciate it so much if the international community would help us to maintain peace and stability and to make progress in building better relations between the two communities instead of always drumming up calls for, well, for bigger fires of resentment, if you like.”

    Speaking in an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia’s Lin Xueling on Friday (Dec 2) during her official visit to Singapore, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate called for understanding from the international community and explained that the issue is a highly sensitive and delicate one.

    “It’s not just Muslims who are nervous and worried. The Rakhine are worried too, they are worried about the fact that they are shrinking as a Rakhine population percentage-wise, and of course, we cannot ignore the fact that the relationship between the two communities has not been good and we want to try to make it better.

    “But it doesn’t help if everybody is just concentrating on the negative side of the situation in spite of the fact that there were attacks against police outposts which began on Oct 9.”

    The attacks were blamed on “terrorists” although the government had previously pointed at the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, and since then, troops have poured into an area along the border with Bangladesh, which is largely home to the Rohingya minority.

    Thousands have fled their homes as security forces hunt down more suspects who may be in hiding. Myanmar’s army has denied reports from activists that civilians have been killed, gang raped or had their homes torched.

    When it was put to her that it is not solely the international community that is the root of the problem, Ms Suu Kyi said: “I know that. I’m not saying there are no difficulties, but it helps if people recognise the difficulty and are more focused on resolving these difficulties rather than exaggerating them so that everything seems worse than it really is.”

    ASSESSMENT OF HER ADMINISTRATION

    One result that Myanmar’s de-facto leader is satisfied with is “the fact that the ministers are not corrupt”, Ms Suu Kyi said when asked about what she is most pleased with in the nine months since her administration took over. She noted, however, that “some of the junior officers are still not quite what we would wish them to be”.

    Ms Suu Kyi expressed hope that things can be improved, as she drew inspiration from Singapore’s example: “When I went to meet your corruption investigation bureau, they gave me a piece of paper, on which one of the things they said was that corruption is a fact of life, not a way of life. I like that very much, because this is how it is in our country. People accept it not as a way of life, although they recognise that is the fact of life, which means that the practice of corruption has not become embedded in our culture and that is very encouraging.”

    On Myanmar’s journey from half a century of military rule to a democratically-elected civilian-led government, Ms Suu Kyi, despite being one of the world’s most prominent democracy icons, made it clear it is not driven by her alone.

    “I have to keep reminding people that I was under house arrest for 15 years and they’ve (the military) only managed to retain public support during that period, and we managed to keep our party going in spite of the great difficulty. So, you must not underestimate the ability of many, many ordinary members of our political party, and our members are really the public, and we are very close to the public.”

    She is optimistic that Myanmar, and whoever succeeds her, will be able to stay on the path of democracy. “How successful I am, as a leader, will be decided by how dispensable I can make myself, and I hope that I’ll be able to make myself totally dispensable, that they will not need me to go on, neither my party, nor my country.”

     

    Source: ChannelNewsAsia

  • Aung San Suu Kyi Visits Ghim Moh Hawker Centre; Treated To Local Delights

    Aung San Suu Kyi Visits Ghim Moh Hawker Centre; Treated To Local Delights

    Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was hosted to breakfast by Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday (Dec 2) at Ghim Moh Market and Food Centre, as the country is looking to upgrade its wet markets and build a hawker centre in Yangon.

    Clad in a traditional Myammar dress, Ms Suu Kyi was treated to local favourites – carrot cake, laksa, tau huay, putu mayam and chwee kueh – ahead of the wrapping up of her three-day visit to Singapore.

    She was accompanied by Myanmar’s Union Minister for Commerce U Than Myint and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin. Also present were the National Environment Agency’s CEO Ronnie Tay and Singapore Ambassador to Myammar Robert Chua.

    The stall owners at Ghim Moh market said they were informed of the visit two days earlier, and some of them came as early as 4am to prepare the dishes.

    Mdm Letchmi Veerapan, who has been serving putu mayam for the past 20 years, told Channel NewsAsia: “”This is my first time meeting Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, I’m really honoured and happy that she chose our dish to try. I came here at 4am to prepare the putu mayam for her. I’m really very honoured to do that.”

    The sentiment was echoed by 66-year-old Lee Sah Bah, stall owner of Ghim Moh Chwee Kueh. “I came early to prepare because she’s our VIP,” she said.

    The Myanmar State Counsellor is not the only one interested in Singapore’s hawker culture. Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein visited Singapore in July to study how Singapore manages its hawker centres, and went to Tiong Bahru Market and Ci Yuan Hawker Centre then.

    Over the last two days, the Nobel Laureate was hosted to dinner by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and called on Acting President J Y Pillay, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. Ms Suu Kyi also visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens, where an orchid hybrid was named in her honour.

     

    Source: ChannelNewsAsia

  • Myanmar Nationals: Singaporeans Don’t Understand The Rohingya Issue

    Myanmar Nationals: Singaporeans Don’t Understand The Rohingya Issue

    The visit by Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has been widely covered by local media.

    A video by Channel NewsAsia on Aung San Suu Kyi inspecting the guard of honour at the Istana generated much reponse from locals and Myanmar national alike.

    Some locals pointed out that Aung San Suu Kyi was disrespectful as she did not acknowledge the state colours when she walked past them.

    walk-past-state-colours-1

    Others called on her to address the proverbial elephant in the Istana – the genocide of the Rohingya. They wanted Aung San Suu Kyi to learn from Singapore.

    can-learn-from-singapore

     

    This elicited protestations from Myanmar nationals who claim that Singaporeans do not understand the Rohingya problem.

    can-learn-from-singapore-2

    dont-understand-problems

    To convince Singaporeans, one even gave an impromptu lesson in Myanmar history.

    can-learn-from-singapore-3

    This was followed by a concerted outpouring of love for Aung San Suu Kyi.

    we-love-aung-san-suu-kyi

    So there you have it.

    Can the Rohingya genocide be resolved soon?

    Source: www.facebook.com/ChannelNewsAsia

  • Aung San Suu Kyi Calls For ‘Peace And Reconciliation’ In Burma But Refuses To Address Rohingya Muslim Genocide

    Aung San Suu Kyi Calls For ‘Peace And Reconciliation’ In Burma But Refuses To Address Rohingya Muslim Genocide

    Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has vowed to work towards “peace and national reconciliation” but has refused to address accusations Rohingya Muslims in her country may be the victims of crimes against humanity.

    Ms Suu Kyi gave no specific details on how her government intends to resolve the violence and discrimination the long-persecuted Muslim minority face.

    “We do not want our country to be unstable. But we’ve had a long history of disunity within our nation,” she said, addressing senior business representatives in Singapore.

    “So national reconciliation is unavoidably important for us. It’s not a matter of choice. It’s unavoidable.”

    She added: “We have to achieve peace and national reconciliation that our country may be able to progress, and that those who wish to invest in our country may find the right amount of confidence.”

    Accounts of the military having gang raped, tortured and murdered members of the Rohingya community caused thousands of angry Muslims take to the streets across Asia in protest.

    Around 30,000 have fled their home in Rakhines and analysis of satellite images by Human Rights Watch found hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages have been burned.

    The Burmese government has denied allegations of abuse. Officials say the army is hunting “terrorists” behind raids on police last month.

    Despite having lived in Burma for generations, Rohingya Muslims are barred from citizenship in the nation of 50 million, and instead live as some of the most oppressed people in the world.

    Since communal violence broke out in 2012, more than 120,000 Rohingya have been driven from their homes and crammed into squalid camps guarded by police. There, they are denied healthcare and education, and their movements are heavily restricted.

    Ms Suu Kyi was scheduled to visit Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, after Singapore, but postponed the trip in the face of public protests and a thwarted bomb plot against the Burmese embassy.

    Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will take part in a rare rally at the weekend to protest the crackdown on Rohingyas, an official from his office said Tuesday.

    Ms Suu Kyi led her party to victory in elections last year but, barred from becoming president by a junta-era constitution, instead holds a specially created post of state counsellor.

    She appointed fellow Nobel laureate former UN chief Kofi Annan to head a special commission to investigate how to mend bitter religious and ethnic divides in impoverished Rakhine.

    Mr Annan began a week-long trip to Burma on Tuesday.

     

    Source: www.independent.co.uk