March 2, 2021
Myanmar activists have called on the international community for help as security forces loyal to the military continue their draconian sweep against the civil disobedience campaign that has brought the country to a standstill since the Feb. 1 coup. The pleas come as a
nalysts, commentators and diplomats who know Myanmar fear that more bloodshed is almost inevitable. https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/03/myanmar-protestors-plea-for-international-help-as-analysts-fear-full-military-might/
February 23, 2021
Myanmar’s
State Counsellor was recently deposed and arrested along with other leaders of her ruling party –
National League for Democracy (NLD). The Leader of
Tatmadaw, the Military, Min Aung Hlaing, announced that elections in November last year had been fraudulent and in an “effort to save democracy” the military would now rule the nation for at least one year, until new elections could be organised. Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is accused of “importing ten or more walkie-talkies” and of violating the nation’s “Natural Disaster Law”. Some might agree that Suu Kyi deserves to be locked up. As an admired role model and Nobel Peace Prize winner, she was globally depicted as an almost saintlike being, canonized in movies like Luc Bessons’s
The Lady. U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, watched the movie before she in 2011 visited Suu Kyi, who by then had spent altogether fifteen years in house imprisonment, deprived of the company of an ailing and eventually dying husband and two sons. In spite of her forced isolation she became an eloquent representative for her compatriots’ resistance and perseverance under almost fifty years of military dictatorship.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/myanmar-heroes-villains/
February 22, 2021
On February 1st, 2021 the military of Myanmar overthrew the country’s democratic government in a coup d’etat followed by arresting more than
40 government officials including Aung San Suu Kyi. The military declared a year-long state of emergency under the rule of it’s Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Troops took over the streets, a night-time curfew has been put into force. Tens of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets across Myanmar, in what is seen as the biggest street protests in more than a decade. The anti-coup demonstrators are undeterred by police attacks and increasing
violence from the security forces.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/end-myanmars-quasi-democracy/
February 8, 2021
Myanmar is in a deep political crisis. Over the past week -- reminiscent of the pro-democracy demonstrations of 1988 -- Myanmar’s citizens are openly and publicly challenging the country’s powerful military, whose coup earlier this month now threatens to stifle the country’s fledgling democracy.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/myanmar-faces-increasing-uncertainty-as-opposition-to-the-military-coup-grows/
The 1 February 2021 coup d’état by Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw), has been widely condemned by all the world’s democratic leaders, human rights activists and genuine friends of the people of Myanmar around the globe. In an unusual manner for the world’s top diplomat, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has gone so far as to urge the world community to make sure that Myanmar's military coup fails.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/post-coup-myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi-way-forward/
February 4, 2021
When million-dollar arms sales knock on the door, human rights violations and war crimes fly out of the window.
As the United Nations grapples for a reaction to the military coup in Myanmar, both China and Russia, two veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), refused to support a statement condemning the army takeover—a collective statement that warrants consensus from all 15 members.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/china-russia-throw-protective-arms-around-myanmar/
February 3, 2021
As night fell on Tuesday, the second day of the military coup in Myanmar, two familiar scenes were being played out on opposite sides of the world.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/myanmar-looks-back-fear-anger-military-coup/
February 2, 2021
Yangon resident Ni Ni Aye walked to her office yesterday morning. A couple of hours before, the army had staged a coup by seizing power and declaring a state of emergency in Myanmar. Ni Aye, an employee of one of Yangon’s largest technology firms, tried to call her colleagues and family, but phone services were down. So, she decided to walk to the office and see what was happening.
“There were no armoured vehicles or soldiers with heavy weapons, yet everything was extremely quiet. It was very confusing; nobody had a clue on what is really happening. Then we realised, the action is all happening in the capital,” Ni Aye told IPS.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/army-takes-fear-uncertainty-grip-myanmar-citizens/
February 1, 2021
Responding to reports this morning that Myanmar’s military has seized control of government in a coup on the eve of the country’s opening session of its new parliament, rights group Amnesty International said it “sends a chilling message that the military authorities will not tolerate any dissent amid today’s unfolding events”.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2021/02/myanmar-coup-sends-chilling-message-that-military-wont-tolerate-dissent/
November 9, 2020
The United Kingdom wants the new government in Myanmar to take steps towards safe, voluntary and dignified return of the Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine State.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/11/new-myanmar-govt-must-ensure-rohingya-repatriation-uk/
August 26, 2020
When Bangladesh continues to bear the brunt of sheltering more than a million Rohingyas, Myanmar is doing little for their repatriation amid the silence of global powers though the Southeast Asian country faces a genocide case, experts and officials said.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/08/rohingya-repatriation-myanmar-little-bangladesh-facing-challenges/
July 28, 2020
A legislation that aims to protect women against violence in Myanmar, while long overdue, is raising concern among human rights advocates about its inadequate definition of rape, vague definition for “consent”, and anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rhetoric.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/07/myanmars-protection-bill-falls-short-of-addressing-violence-against-women/
January 23, 2020
Myanmar must take steps to protect its minority Rohingya population, the top UN court unanimously
ruled on Thursday.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2020/01/top-un-court-orders-myanmar-protect-rohingya-genocide/
December 11, 2019
Myanmar will have “no tolerance” for human rights abuses committed in Rakhine state and will prosecute the military, if war crimes have been committed there, Aung San Suu Kyi told the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s main judicial body, on Wednesday.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2019/12/aung-san-suu-kyi-defends-myanmar-accusations-genocide-top-un-court/
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has
arrived at the Hague to defend Myanmar at the International Court of Justice, against charges of genocide of the Rohingya people, as brought on by the Gambia.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2019/12/reflect-current-case-myanmar-icj-crucial/
July 28, 2019
The Rohingyas should be treated as Myanmar nationals or be given a chance to form their own state, said Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/rohingyas-given-citizenship-state-dr-mahathir-tells-myanmar/
June 27, 2019
Myanmar must grant citizenship to
stateless Rohingya with roots in the country, a senior UN investigator said yesterday, as she urged the country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi to "be the democrat she once told us she was".
https://www.ipsnews.net/2019/06/myanmar-must-give-rohingya-pathway-citizenship-un-investigator/
June 18, 2019
Tens of thousands of older women and men from ethnic minorities across Myanmar who faced military atrocities and were forced to flee their homes are being let down by a humanitarian system that often fails to adequately address their rights and needs, Amnesty International said in a report published today.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2019/06/myanmarbangladesh-older-people-denied-dignity-camps-facing-military-atrocities/
May 24, 2019
Since the massive exodus of Rohingyas from Rakhine to Bangladesh in 2017, a lot has been written and said about the plight of these unfortunate people. After nearly two years, it appears that the outraged world community has forgotten about this persecuted ethnic minority.
https://www.ipsnews.net/2019/05/will-rohingyas-ever-return-myanmar/