Banglar Bir
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10:30 AM, November 28, 2017 / LAST MODIFIED: 11:09 AM, November 28, 2017
Suu Kyi loses Freedom of Oxford over Rohingya crisis
Photo: AFP
The Straits Times, Singapore
Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped off an honour granting her the Freedom of Oxford over her response to the country's Rohingya crisis.
Oxford city councillors said they did not want to honour "those who turn a blind eye to violence", stripping the Nobel laureate of the freedom of the city granted to her in 1997 for her "long struggle for democracy", reported the BBC.
Read More: No Glasgow honour for Aung San Suu Kyi
Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest in Myanmar during the military dictatorship in the country. But her failure to denounce the military or address allegations of ethnic cleansing that have driven more than half a million Rohingya to Bangladesh has been criticised by world leaders and rights groups.
The decision to permanently remove the honour accorded to Suu Kyi was taken at a meeting of the Oxford City Council following a preliminary vote in October.
"Oxford has a long tradition of being a diverse and humane city, and our reputation is tarnished by honouring those who turn a blind eye to violence," said Mary Clarkson, who proposed the motion. "We hope that today we have added our small voice to others calling for human rights and justice for the Rohingya people."
A portrait of Suu Kyi that had been displayed at St Hugh's College, Oxford, had earlier been removed from display.
Copyright: The Straits Times/ Asia News Network
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...om-oxford-honour-over-rohingya-crisis-1497559
Pope’s Peace and Reconciliation Mission to Myanmar
Larry Jagan, November 28, 2017
Thousands of people have lined the streets of Yangon to greet Pope Francis as he arrived in what is a momentous moment for Myanmar. The crowds were waving specially made flags which all carried the Pontiff’s key message on his mission: ‘love and peace’.
The mood is subdued for fear of antagonizing the country’s majority Buddhist population. Everyone knows though that the Pope – effectively the leader of the world’s Christian community is visiting Myanmar.
There are mixed feelings amongst the average people – all Buddhists – as they go about their business. “He’s a man of peace, he represents peace world-wide and preaches peace,” said Win Lwin a 40-year-old taxi driver, a strong supporter of the prodemocracy party and a Buddhist. “Peace is what out country needs most,” he added. Others are more disinterested. “It’s great for the Catholics and Christians,” said a young Yangon student, Nay Aye. “But it won’t affect us.”
However in recent days there has been a vicious campaign in the country’s social media – in the Myanmar language – that remains hostile to his visit, accusing him of stirring religious tensions in the country. But the government remains convinced that the trip can only help its campaign for peace and reconciliation.
Pope Francis is the world’s most senior religious leader and is on a delicate diplomatic visit. It is the first visit by a Papal leader to Myanmar, and has raised expectations that is presence and message will support the government’s approach and strategy. “The Pope is a unifying figure, preaching compassion, love and peace and his visit comes at a decisive moment,” Denzel Abel, a Myanmar intellectual, former diplomat and a Catholic told the SAM. “He has a charismatic presence, and will certainly galvanize people.
Many hope he can help spur support for Aung San Suu Kyi at a very critical time for her government. Violence in the country’s western region of Northern Rakhine has led to more than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing across the border into neighboring Bangladesh in the wake of a military crackdown that Washington has called “ethnic cleansing”.
International human rights groups have accused the Myanmar army of “crimes against humanity”: including murder, rape, torture and forcible dislocation; allegations that the Myanmar military denies. These groups are hoping that the Pope will be able to highlight the plight of the Rohingya during his combined visit to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, which ends in Dhaka next Saturday. They are also pushing him to try to end the deadly violence against the largely stateless Muslims.
There have been concerns that the religious leader might use the highly contentious term ‘Rohingya’. It is not recognized by the authorities, who insist they are ‘Bengalis’, to indicate they are from Myanmar but trespassers from Bangladesh. The Pope has called them Rohingya in the past, when he urged the Myanmar authorities to end to the violent persecution of the minority Muslim population. But he is likely to avoid the term on this visit, according to sources close to the Vatican.
“We have asked him at least to refrain from using the word ‘Rohingya’ because this word is very much contested and not acceptable to the military, nor the government, nor to most people in Myanmar,” the Catholic Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Bo told the Bangkok Post in an interview last week, after he had returned from Rome, where he briefed the Pope.
The symbolism of the visit is important and the poster welcoming Pipe Francis is highly significant, suggested Denzil Abel. On one side there is Myanmar’s flag and on the other the Pope holding a dove – the international symbol of peace – under the slogan ‘love and peace’. In a video message sent to Myanmar last week, Pope Francis said he wanted the trip to lead to “reconciliation, forgiveness and peace” as well as encourage harmony and cooperation.
The Pope is the second most important leader to visit Myanmar, according to many diplomats in Yangon, after the President of the United States. “The Pope is one of the most respected moral voices in the world today, and therefore his visit is even more significant, coming as it does when Myanmar faces so many problems” said Denzil Abel.
Christianity in Myanmar is over 500 years old, and the Pope’s visit, according to many in the Catholic flock will strengthen recognition and understanding of the institution. It will show the shared Christian and Buddhist’s vision of compassion, he added.
The visit is also highly significant as it comes at a time when Aung San Suu Kyi and her government are facing increasing international pressure to resolve the communal conflict in Rakhine, end the violence and tackle the plight of the Muslim refugees. She has pinned her hopes of a solution on the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Advisory Commission, announced at the end of August, after a year-long investigation.
But immediately after the announcement, increased violence erupted, as a result of insurgent attacks on some thirty police border posts. Now the government is faced with the task of repatriating over half a million refugees from Bangladesh, rebuilding their homes and trying to improve communal relations, between the local Buddhist Arakanese and the Rohingya Muslims. The reconciliation strategy envisaged by the State Counselor, was announced when she launched the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, which she chairs herself.
As part of this strategy – and in an effort to stimulate support in the country for government’s Rakhine reconstruction and reconciliation process – Aung San Suu Kyi launched a series of inter-faith meetings throughout the country. These prayer meetings for peace were held during October, initially with the Buddhist monks participating. At the meeting in Yangon, the country’s Catholic leader played a prominent role. Through these, Aung San Suu Kyi hoped not only to improve the situation in Rakhine, but strengthen the whole peace process, according to government insiders.
In her public address to the whole nation, she emphasized Buddhist values. “I have no doubt that all of them [the people of Myanmar here and abroad] will come forth to help us with Metta (loving kindness) and Thitsa (Truth).” The aim was to mobilize the nation behind the Buddhist tenets of love and kindness, and to wrestle Buddhism out of the hands of extremists, according to an advisor involved in the speech.
But the military, and the Buddhist clergy, may have misunderstood this approach. “She looks like she wants to promote other religions above Buddhism,” a former senior military officer reflected.
And the leaders of the Buddhist faith have taken umbrage, at what they saw as a slight against the monks who participate in the ceremonies. Monks were not on present on the stage, but sat at the front near the stage, which was seen as a sign of disrespect. Recently the 47-member Ma Ha Na – the highest official Buddhist authority in the country – recently banned monks from participating in all future interfaith gatherings. This was to prevent this unintended snub enflaming the passions of Buddhists, a devout Buddhist explained to me.
“Aung San Suu Kyi – as will Pope during his visit – is promoting harmony, love and peace: the appreciation of diversity, and focusing on conciliation,” said Cardinal Bo. Fears that the Pope may inadvertently enflame religious tensions seem to be misplaced. “The Pope doesn’t want to anger any community, and is concerned not to divide or polarize,” Cardinal Bo added. “This would not help the situation: this is not the solution.”
But not all Myanmar Christians are as enthusiastic as the Archbishop in his support fot Myanmar’s civilian leader. “This over enthusiastic support could cause divisions within the wider Christian community — especially the Baptist communities like the Kachin, whose support for Aung San Suu Kyi is at its lowest ever point, given her perceived neglect and indifference to their suffering and persecution,” Seng Raw, a Kachin activist and civil society leader told SAM. “In short it does not support the peace process.”
This is not a view shared by most Catholics who strongly believe that the Pope’s visit will have a positive affect, with its emphasis on unity. This is the reason he is also meeting the army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing – at Cardinal Bo’s suggestion. But Seng Raw also hopes that “Pope Francis’s clear moral leadership — that is lacking in the leaders of this country – will inspire everyone to be more compassionate.”
Aung San Suu is meeting his holiness when he flies to the capital Nayyidaw. This is the second time the two have met. Aung San Suu Kyi at earlier in the year, at which time she invited him to visit. After near two decades of trying, diplomatic relations were established between the Vatican and Myanmar in May this year. The Pope it is understood was anxious to strengthen their ties with a personal visit. But one, which shows his commitment to peace and the plight of the poor, Cardinal Bo told SAM.
There is no doubt that Aung San Suu Kyi wants the Pope’s visit to highlight her governments efforts prioritize peace. Activists working on the peace process and Rakhine reconciliation are hoping that the visit may produce some tangible results, and not remain purely symbolic. The Vatican could involve its good offices to provide concrete support for the process, in much the same way the UN did in the past, mediating between the military and Aung San Suu Kyi, while she was under house arrest. This would keep international support apolitical and may help in finding a solid solution, especially to the problems in Rakhine.
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/11/28/popes-peace-reconciliation-mission-myanmar/
Number of Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh reaches 624,000: UN
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-28 03:39:11|Editor: pengying
A Bangladeshi man helps Rohingya Muslim refugees to disembark from a boat on the Bangladeshi shoreline of the Naf river after crossing the border from Myanmar in Teknaf on September 30, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP)
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of Rohingya refugees who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since Aug. 25 has reached 624,000, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Monday.
An average of 430 Rohingya refugees entered Bangladesh per day this past week, a slowdown compared to the previous week.
The Rohingyas fled their homes in northern Rakhine State of Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh after deadly attacks staged by the rebel Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on police posts on Aug. 25 allegedly touched off a wave of retribution by government and vigilante forces.
Rohingyas arriving in refugee camps -- some having traversed an inlet of the Bay of Bengal on makeshift rafts and boats -- reported widespread violence against them.
On reports of an agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar on the repatriation of the refugees, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said it is important that people are able to return to the place they came from "in a safe, dignified and protected manner."
The ethnic Rohingyas are denied citizenship in the largely Buddhist nation.
KEY WORDS:Rohingya
Suu Kyi loses Freedom of Oxford over Rohingya crisis
Photo: AFP
The Straits Times, Singapore
Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped off an honour granting her the Freedom of Oxford over her response to the country's Rohingya crisis.
Oxford city councillors said they did not want to honour "those who turn a blind eye to violence", stripping the Nobel laureate of the freedom of the city granted to her in 1997 for her "long struggle for democracy", reported the BBC.
Read More: No Glasgow honour for Aung San Suu Kyi
Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest in Myanmar during the military dictatorship in the country. But her failure to denounce the military or address allegations of ethnic cleansing that have driven more than half a million Rohingya to Bangladesh has been criticised by world leaders and rights groups.
The decision to permanently remove the honour accorded to Suu Kyi was taken at a meeting of the Oxford City Council following a preliminary vote in October.
"Oxford has a long tradition of being a diverse and humane city, and our reputation is tarnished by honouring those who turn a blind eye to violence," said Mary Clarkson, who proposed the motion. "We hope that today we have added our small voice to others calling for human rights and justice for the Rohingya people."
A portrait of Suu Kyi that had been displayed at St Hugh's College, Oxford, had earlier been removed from display.
Copyright: The Straits Times/ Asia News Network
http://www.thedailystar.net/rohingy...om-oxford-honour-over-rohingya-crisis-1497559
Pope’s Peace and Reconciliation Mission to Myanmar
Larry Jagan, November 28, 2017
Thousands of people have lined the streets of Yangon to greet Pope Francis as he arrived in what is a momentous moment for Myanmar. The crowds were waving specially made flags which all carried the Pontiff’s key message on his mission: ‘love and peace’.
The mood is subdued for fear of antagonizing the country’s majority Buddhist population. Everyone knows though that the Pope – effectively the leader of the world’s Christian community is visiting Myanmar.
There are mixed feelings amongst the average people – all Buddhists – as they go about their business. “He’s a man of peace, he represents peace world-wide and preaches peace,” said Win Lwin a 40-year-old taxi driver, a strong supporter of the prodemocracy party and a Buddhist. “Peace is what out country needs most,” he added. Others are more disinterested. “It’s great for the Catholics and Christians,” said a young Yangon student, Nay Aye. “But it won’t affect us.”
However in recent days there has been a vicious campaign in the country’s social media – in the Myanmar language – that remains hostile to his visit, accusing him of stirring religious tensions in the country. But the government remains convinced that the trip can only help its campaign for peace and reconciliation.
Pope Francis is the world’s most senior religious leader and is on a delicate diplomatic visit. It is the first visit by a Papal leader to Myanmar, and has raised expectations that is presence and message will support the government’s approach and strategy. “The Pope is a unifying figure, preaching compassion, love and peace and his visit comes at a decisive moment,” Denzel Abel, a Myanmar intellectual, former diplomat and a Catholic told the SAM. “He has a charismatic presence, and will certainly galvanize people.
Many hope he can help spur support for Aung San Suu Kyi at a very critical time for her government. Violence in the country’s western region of Northern Rakhine has led to more than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fleeing across the border into neighboring Bangladesh in the wake of a military crackdown that Washington has called “ethnic cleansing”.
International human rights groups have accused the Myanmar army of “crimes against humanity”: including murder, rape, torture and forcible dislocation; allegations that the Myanmar military denies. These groups are hoping that the Pope will be able to highlight the plight of the Rohingya during his combined visit to both Myanmar and Bangladesh, which ends in Dhaka next Saturday. They are also pushing him to try to end the deadly violence against the largely stateless Muslims.
There have been concerns that the religious leader might use the highly contentious term ‘Rohingya’. It is not recognized by the authorities, who insist they are ‘Bengalis’, to indicate they are from Myanmar but trespassers from Bangladesh. The Pope has called them Rohingya in the past, when he urged the Myanmar authorities to end to the violent persecution of the minority Muslim population. But he is likely to avoid the term on this visit, according to sources close to the Vatican.
“We have asked him at least to refrain from using the word ‘Rohingya’ because this word is very much contested and not acceptable to the military, nor the government, nor to most people in Myanmar,” the Catholic Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Bo told the Bangkok Post in an interview last week, after he had returned from Rome, where he briefed the Pope.
The symbolism of the visit is important and the poster welcoming Pipe Francis is highly significant, suggested Denzil Abel. On one side there is Myanmar’s flag and on the other the Pope holding a dove – the international symbol of peace – under the slogan ‘love and peace’. In a video message sent to Myanmar last week, Pope Francis said he wanted the trip to lead to “reconciliation, forgiveness and peace” as well as encourage harmony and cooperation.
The Pope is the second most important leader to visit Myanmar, according to many diplomats in Yangon, after the President of the United States. “The Pope is one of the most respected moral voices in the world today, and therefore his visit is even more significant, coming as it does when Myanmar faces so many problems” said Denzil Abel.
Christianity in Myanmar is over 500 years old, and the Pope’s visit, according to many in the Catholic flock will strengthen recognition and understanding of the institution. It will show the shared Christian and Buddhist’s vision of compassion, he added.
The visit is also highly significant as it comes at a time when Aung San Suu Kyi and her government are facing increasing international pressure to resolve the communal conflict in Rakhine, end the violence and tackle the plight of the Muslim refugees. She has pinned her hopes of a solution on the recommendations of the Kofi Annan Advisory Commission, announced at the end of August, after a year-long investigation.
But immediately after the announcement, increased violence erupted, as a result of insurgent attacks on some thirty police border posts. Now the government is faced with the task of repatriating over half a million refugees from Bangladesh, rebuilding their homes and trying to improve communal relations, between the local Buddhist Arakanese and the Rohingya Muslims. The reconciliation strategy envisaged by the State Counselor, was announced when she launched the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, which she chairs herself.
As part of this strategy – and in an effort to stimulate support in the country for government’s Rakhine reconstruction and reconciliation process – Aung San Suu Kyi launched a series of inter-faith meetings throughout the country. These prayer meetings for peace were held during October, initially with the Buddhist monks participating. At the meeting in Yangon, the country’s Catholic leader played a prominent role. Through these, Aung San Suu Kyi hoped not only to improve the situation in Rakhine, but strengthen the whole peace process, according to government insiders.
In her public address to the whole nation, she emphasized Buddhist values. “I have no doubt that all of them [the people of Myanmar here and abroad] will come forth to help us with Metta (loving kindness) and Thitsa (Truth).” The aim was to mobilize the nation behind the Buddhist tenets of love and kindness, and to wrestle Buddhism out of the hands of extremists, according to an advisor involved in the speech.
But the military, and the Buddhist clergy, may have misunderstood this approach. “She looks like she wants to promote other religions above Buddhism,” a former senior military officer reflected.
And the leaders of the Buddhist faith have taken umbrage, at what they saw as a slight against the monks who participate in the ceremonies. Monks were not on present on the stage, but sat at the front near the stage, which was seen as a sign of disrespect. Recently the 47-member Ma Ha Na – the highest official Buddhist authority in the country – recently banned monks from participating in all future interfaith gatherings. This was to prevent this unintended snub enflaming the passions of Buddhists, a devout Buddhist explained to me.
“Aung San Suu Kyi – as will Pope during his visit – is promoting harmony, love and peace: the appreciation of diversity, and focusing on conciliation,” said Cardinal Bo. Fears that the Pope may inadvertently enflame religious tensions seem to be misplaced. “The Pope doesn’t want to anger any community, and is concerned not to divide or polarize,” Cardinal Bo added. “This would not help the situation: this is not the solution.”
But not all Myanmar Christians are as enthusiastic as the Archbishop in his support fot Myanmar’s civilian leader. “This over enthusiastic support could cause divisions within the wider Christian community — especially the Baptist communities like the Kachin, whose support for Aung San Suu Kyi is at its lowest ever point, given her perceived neglect and indifference to their suffering and persecution,” Seng Raw, a Kachin activist and civil society leader told SAM. “In short it does not support the peace process.”
This is not a view shared by most Catholics who strongly believe that the Pope’s visit will have a positive affect, with its emphasis on unity. This is the reason he is also meeting the army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing – at Cardinal Bo’s suggestion. But Seng Raw also hopes that “Pope Francis’s clear moral leadership — that is lacking in the leaders of this country – will inspire everyone to be more compassionate.”
Aung San Suu is meeting his holiness when he flies to the capital Nayyidaw. This is the second time the two have met. Aung San Suu Kyi at earlier in the year, at which time she invited him to visit. After near two decades of trying, diplomatic relations were established between the Vatican and Myanmar in May this year. The Pope it is understood was anxious to strengthen their ties with a personal visit. But one, which shows his commitment to peace and the plight of the poor, Cardinal Bo told SAM.
There is no doubt that Aung San Suu Kyi wants the Pope’s visit to highlight her governments efforts prioritize peace. Activists working on the peace process and Rakhine reconciliation are hoping that the visit may produce some tangible results, and not remain purely symbolic. The Vatican could involve its good offices to provide concrete support for the process, in much the same way the UN did in the past, mediating between the military and Aung San Suu Kyi, while she was under house arrest. This would keep international support apolitical and may help in finding a solid solution, especially to the problems in Rakhine.
https://southasianmonitor.com/2017/11/28/popes-peace-reconciliation-mission-myanmar/
Number of Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh reaches 624,000: UN
Source: Xinhua| 2017-11-28 03:39:11|Editor: pengying
A Bangladeshi man helps Rohingya Muslim refugees to disembark from a boat on the Bangladeshi shoreline of the Naf river after crossing the border from Myanmar in Teknaf on September 30, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP)
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of Rohingya refugees who have fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh since Aug. 25 has reached 624,000, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Monday.
An average of 430 Rohingya refugees entered Bangladesh per day this past week, a slowdown compared to the previous week.
The Rohingyas fled their homes in northern Rakhine State of Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh after deadly attacks staged by the rebel Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on police posts on Aug. 25 allegedly touched off a wave of retribution by government and vigilante forces.
Rohingyas arriving in refugee camps -- some having traversed an inlet of the Bay of Bengal on makeshift rafts and boats -- reported widespread violence against them.
On reports of an agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar on the repatriation of the refugees, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said it is important that people are able to return to the place they came from "in a safe, dignified and protected manner."
The ethnic Rohingyas are denied citizenship in the largely Buddhist nation.
KEY WORDS:Rohingya