Pope Francis defends his strategy of avoiding the term “Rohingya” in Burma, saying he believes he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue.
The Vatican on Wednesday defended Pope Francis’s decision not to use the word “Rohingya” in public during his visit to Burma, saying his moral authority was unblemished and that his mere presence drew attention to the refugee crisis.
International Relations Lead Story Nayyidaw News
Pope Francis on Tuesday urged the leaders of majority-Buddhist Burma, mired in a crisis over the fate of Muslim Rohingya people, to commit themselves to justice, human rights and respect for “each ethnic group and its identity.”
International Relations Lead Story News Religion
Pope Francis met leaders of several faiths in majority-Buddhist Burma on Tuesday, stressing the importance of “unity in diversity” but making no mention the Rohingya Muslims who have fled en masse to Bangladesh after a military crackdown.
Tens of thousands of Catholics are expected to throng Yangon on Wednesday when Pope Francis will conduct Mass at Kyite Ka San Stadium.
International Relations Lead Story Military News Rohingya
The European Union deals a blow to what had been increasingly warm ties between the bloc and Burma’s military, saying it will suspend any invitations to the Tatmadaw’s top brass and “review all practical defence cooperation,” as well as maintaining an existing arms embargo.
Buddhist monks and nationalists assembled outside the US embassy in April to denounce the use of the term “Rohingya” in an embassy statement.
The BBC’s Burmese-language news service has severed ties with Burma’s MNTV, with the former citing “interference” from the state broadcaster, saying it had constituted “a serious breach of trust with our audiences.”
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Twenty parties issue statement saying that the government’s failure to address recent terrorist attacks was “the equivalent of committing an act of terror”.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
International human rights advocates have criticised the interim report of the government-formed investigative commission tasked with probing the attacks on 9 October and subsequent violence in northern Arakan State.
Arakan ASEAN Lead Story News Rohingya
Was it a step forward or a flop? Whatever the verdict is, the 19 December “retreat” of ASEAN foreign ministers in Burma on the touchy Rohingya issue was itself the message.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
In a new paper titled “Rakhine Crisis Challenges ASEAN’s Non-Interference Principle,” released by ISEAS, Ye Htut departs from a career built on suppressing the use of the name “Rohingya,” rejecting that community’s right to citizenship and defending the military’s human rights abuses.
Burma’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture claims there is no mention of the word ‘Rohingya’ in historical documents dating back to the British colonial era.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Burma’s Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing claims he pulled no punches when he met with Arakan Commission chairman Kofi Annan.
Arakan Ethnic issues Lead Story News Rohingya
Former UN chief Kofi Annan says that cooperation with neighbouring countries will be key to resolving tensions in Arakan State.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
Arakanese Buddhist nationalists express anger at the government’s suggestion to the UN that sessions avoid using either of the terms “Rohingya” or “Bengali”.
Human Rights Human Trafficking Lead Story News
The US State Department plans to downgrade Burma in its annual report on human trafficking because of the country’s continuing failure to end abusive practices.
Arakan Lead Story News Rohingya
The Arakan National Party has condemned the Burmese government’s suggestion that the ethnic Rohingya be referred to as the “Muslim community in Arakan State”.
Foreign Affairs International Relations Lead Story News
US ambassador to Burma Scot Marciel says the United States will continue to promote reforms in Burma so that its people can “live in harmony and enjoy full rights”.
2015 Elections Lead Story News
Observers from the European Union’s Election Observation Mission on Tuesday refused to call the Burma’s national poll “truly genuine” given the fact that the military commands an automatic 25 percent of seats without being elected, as well as the mass disenfranchisement of Muslim candidates and Rohingya voters.
ASEAN Lead Story News Rohingya
Leaders are called on to act to avoid further tragedy in Burma’s Rohingya crisis on the eve of the 26th ASEAN Summit.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Rohingya
Burma’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has slammed the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, Yanghee Lee, for her use of the term “Rohingya” during a recent 10-day visit to the country.
Foreign Affairs Lead Story News Rohingya
As Burma prepares to welcome US President Barack Obama to Naypyidaw in November, a US-based NGO is urging Obama to address the plight of the Rohingyas during his visit.
This year’s census showed a population almost 10 million short of the estimated figure.
Analysis Contributor Lead Story Rohingya
A former UK ambassador says the name “Rohingya” was unknown to British colonial administrators, and that Western insistence on using the term is not helping the Bengali community’s cause.
Ethnic issues Lead Story News Rohingya
A senior UN official has referred to the humanitarian situation in western Burma’s Arakan State as “appalling”, upon concluding a four-day visit to the country.
Aid Arakan Communal Violence Lead Story News
The primary concern for UNICEF is the plight of children in Arakan State, and not the lexicon employed to describe members of the community, says Bertrand Bainvel, the agency’s leading official in Burma.
International agency finds itself again on the receiving end following a report that it had apologised for using the word “Rohingya” and promised Arakanese authorities that it would not use the term again.
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Burma’s Ministry of Immigration announce that the census in Arakan State will continue until the end of May, in an attempt to count Muslim populations that were excluded from last month’s tally.
Census Lead Story News Rohingya
Census-takers are locked in a standoff with Rohingya householders in Arakan State as the Muslim minority decline to answer questions while the enumerators refuse to record their ethnicity on the census questionnaires.
