Burma, as Myanmar was known then, won its independence from the British in 1948. Since then, bilateral relations between the US and Myanmar can at best be described as lackluster. They have lacked what experts would call “strategic compulsions.” Western allies of the US lack strategic calculus...
On July 2, Myanmar became the only country in India’s immediate neighborhood to accuse China of interference in its internal affairs. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw or the combined armed forces of Myanmar, accused China of arming terrorist groups like the...
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...
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...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Thomas MacManus, editor-in-chief of State Crime Journal. The humanitarian catastrophe in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has been described as the world's most urgent refugee crisis. The roots of the ethnic conflict can be traced back to...
Citing concerns of safety and the possible risk of forced returns, Bangladesh says it needs more time to prepare for the monumental logistics of repatriation of the Rohingya refugees. The number of Rohingya refugees pouring into Bangladesh from Myanmar has soared to over 800,000 as the two...
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...
There are close to a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in desperate need of food, shelter and medical attention. The flight of the Rohingya people is an exodus of unprecedented scale and speed. Since August, over 600,000 refugees have fled Rakhine State in Myanmar. Around 300,000 of them...
If only Muslims reach out to help the Rohingya, the international community will suffer another blow to its reputation. They were Muslims, and they were leaving the country in droves. Their homeland, a remote corner of a multiethnic country, had become a warzone. Militants had taken up arms to...
In India, the absence of national legislation on refugees has placed their rights in a vacuum. Today, there are 65.6 million displaced people in the world, including asylum seekers, irregular migrants, returnees (individuals who are willing to return to their countries of nationality) and...
