270,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar, U.N. Says

The number of Rohingya who have fled fighting in western Myanmar has climbed sharply to 270,000, placing a huge strain on camps in Bangladesh where they are seeking shelter, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday. On Thursday, the United Nations agency said that about 164,000 Rohingya had fled since fighting broke out in late August. Two […]

Murders, masked men spook Rohingya in Bangladesh camps

KUTUPALONG MAKESHIFT CAMP, Bangladesh (Reuters) – As fellow Muslims were celebrating the end of Ramadan late in June, Noor Ankis and her neighbors buried her husband at the refugee camp in Bangladesh where he had lived for years. Mohammed Ayub’s body – his throat slit and hands tied behind his back – had been found […]

Myanmar military aircraft goes missing over Andaman Sea, as many as 120 onboard

A military aircraft belonging to the Myanmar Army disappeared Wednesday afternoon over Andaman Sea.  Different reports indicate that there were anywhere from 100 to 120 military personnel, family members, and flight crew aboard when it went missing.  One source within the airport that has requested anonymity claims the aircraft left with 105 passengers and 11 […]

Karate and wooden guns: How new insurgent group stoked Myanmar crisis

The emergence of Harakah al Yaqin, the first Rohingya Muslim insurgent group to organize in Myanmar in decades, signals a dangerous new phase in a crisis that is increasingly attracting the attention of extremists in Pakistan and the Middle East. Unknown six months ago, the group has ignited a conflict in Rakhine State that has marred […]

Violence in Myanmar as rebel groups attack authorities in border region

Rebels dressed as police officers attacked a number of military and police outposts in Myanmar’s restive Kokang region on Monday, killing as many as 30. The rebels reportedly belong to the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic Alliance Armies (MNDAA), a collection of armed groups waging a sustained military campaign against the government. The MNDAA claimed responsibility for the […]

Through reclusive Wa, China’s reach extends into Suu Kyi’s Myanmar

China is extending its sway over an autonomous enclave run by Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed group, sources in the region told Reuters, bolstering Beijing’s role in the peace process that is the signature policy of Aung San Suu Kyi. The “foreign policy” of the self-proclaimed Wa State is closely monitored by Beijing, senior officials […]

Amnesty accuses Myanmar military of ‘crimes against humanity’

Rights group Amnesty International says the actions of Myanmar’s military may constitute “crimes against humanity” after allegations of violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority. Its report accuses Burmese forces of murdering civilians, rape and torture. Myanmar’s military has denied accounts of atrocities and says it is conducting anti-terrorist raids in Rakhine. At a meeting of […]

UN accuses Myanmar of ethnically cleansing Muslims

Despite Bangladesh’s immigration laws disallowing unregistered entrants from crossing the border into their nation from neighboring countries, thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled their homes in Myanmar, seeking refuge in the Southeast Asian nation. A United Nations spokesman, John McKissick, announced on Thursday that the international organization believes the Myanmar government has been ethnically cleansing […]

New satellite imagery shows how Burma’s military is torching villages

Over the past three weeks, Human Rights Watch has identified three villages in Burma’s Rakhine state that have been all but completely burned, presumably by the military. Before-and-after satellite imagery depicts about 430 buildings reduced to ash, along with the tree cover surrounding them. Rakhine state has experienced recent violence stemming from a much-longer conflict between ethnic […]

US lifting sanctions on Myanmar as Aung San Suu Kyi visits

A U.S. official and congressional aides say that President Barack Obama is set to lift U.S. economic sanctions on Myanmar. Obama is meeting Wednesday with the country’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Congressional aides say Suu Kyi has requested the removal of the national emergency with respect to Myanmar — the executive order […]