The military coup in Myanmar has been widely denounced as a lethal blow to a fledgling democracy. But it also increases the likelihood of further atrocities and mass displacement. The world cannot forget that the Myanmar military is the same institution that led the campaign of genocide against the Rohingya people. The coup will negatively affect much of the population in Myanmar,... Continue Reading
The COVID-19 pandemic is a truly global crisis, challenging even the most advanced health systems and economies in the world. But more devastation looms as the novel coronavirus has not yet reached many of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Among them are more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who are crammed into the largest refugee settlement in the world with a... Continue Reading
The specter of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate, standing before the UN’s highest legal body to defend Myanmar against charges of genocide is striking. Suu Kyi was once the revered face of international human rights, but she is now defending the most indefensible of crimes. But beyond the bizarre irony of her defense, the case may have real consequences. The attention it garners will... Continue Reading
Bangladesh and the UN must continue to work together to improve the conditions for nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees. The year 2018 was a dire and desperate year for the Rohingya minority from western Myanmar. Two-thirds of the population that had been living in western Rakhine State before the end of 2017 remain displaced in crowded camps in Bangladesh. The several hundred thousand who... Continue Reading
The report is damning in its conclusions that the UN “demonstrably failed” in its approach in Myanmar, prioritizing democratic and development efforts at the expense of human rights. On August 27, the UN-mandated Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar released a devastating report concluding that the country’s military leaders should be prosecuted for the “gravest... Continue Reading
Displacement and human rights abuses in northern Myanmar underscore the need for international pressure on Myanmar’s military. With more than 650,000 people fleeing their homes, the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority by the Myanmar military has reached unprecedented proportions. But patterns of serious human rights abuses and restrictions on humanitarian aid at the hands of the... Continue Reading
Aung San Suu Kyi continued a pattern of denial and unwillingness to criticize the Myanmar military over crimes against the Rohingya. In a rare interview with an international news network, Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi downplayed atrocities committed against the Rohingya people in the country’s Rakhine State and dismissed growing international criticisms of her response to the... Continue Reading
There is too little access and too little known about possible ongoing abuses in Rakhine State. International humanitarian and human rights groups, including Refugees International, have long called for an independent international investigation into abuses of the Rohingya population and the blockage of life-saving aid in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The government of Myanmar’s response has... Continue Reading
The international community must continue to demand access and not accept simple ambiguous statements from the Myanmar government. A new dangerous dynamic has been unleashed in western Myanmar since the October 2016 attack by a group of Rohingya militants and the subsequent Burmese army crackdown on the general Rohingya population in northern Rakhine State. While the causes and consequences... Continue Reading
The State Department’s minimization of the plight of the Rohingya is sending dangerous, mixed messages to Myanmar and its neighbors. The US State Department’s recent declaration of the Islamic State (IS) being responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims, captured headlines across the globe. The news came out of a... Continue Reading
