Rakhine state

1.1 Million In Myanmar Barred From Voting

More than 1.1 million voters in Myanmar's western Rakhine state will be disenfranchised in upcoming national polls, according to data released by the election commission Friday, a move that experts warn could fuel yet more conflict.Civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is widely expected to be returned to power in the 8 November election – only the second since the country emerged from outright military rule.But with virtually all Rohingya Muslims st

18 October 2020
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Rohingya Reduced To Drug Smuggling

Rohingya refugees fleeing anti-Muslim persecution in Myanmar are being exploited by the Arakan Army to smuggle synthetic drugs into Bangladesh. The army, which is demanding greater autonomy for Myanmar’s Rakhine State, uses money from the drug sales to purchase arms and ammunition. It moves the drugs from production centres in Myanmar’s interior to Rakhine State, where the Rohingya make the arduous trek along refugee migration routes into neighbouring Bangladesh.

31 May 2020
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Chinese port and SEZ stoking fear in Rakhine state

Aung Gyi is forced to fish covertly under the shroud of night in western Myanmar waters as China bids to transform the strategically key region into a shipping and industrial hub, squeezing out locals who fear being left behind in the gold rush.Myanmar has declared Rakhine state, associated by many worldwide with the military’s 2017 bloody crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, open for business – but locals fear they are being left out of the gold rush as new rules restrict traditional practises.Pad

14 November 2019
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Still no internet in Rakhine state

A sweeping internet shutdown in Myanmar's conflict-hit Rakhine state went into its fifth week Monday as residents called on the government to end an information blackout that rights groups say could provide cover for rights abuses.Mobile phone operators suspended internet data on 21 June in eight townships across northern Rakhine and one in neighbouring Chin state – where soldiers are fighting ethnic Rakhine rebels known as the Arakan Army (AA) who want greater autonomy.Authorities say t

23 July 2019
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Military’s dignity harmed by US ban, says Myanmar

A US travel ban on Myanmar army chief Min Aung Hlaing over his role in orchestrating a bloody crackdown against Rohingya Muslims harms the dignity of the military, a spokesman said Wednesday, adding critics failed to properly understand the crisis.The sanctions against the army chief and three other top military brass was the strongest censure from a western power since the army launched its offensive against the Rohingya in August 2017 following attacks on police posts.Secretary of State Mik

18 July 2019
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Bangladesh will not take in Myanmar refugees

Bangladesh told the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Thursday that it will no longer be able to take in refugees from Myanmar.Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told a council meeting that the crisis over the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya sheltering in his country had gone from "bad to worse" and urged the council to take "decisive" action.Around 740,000 Muslim Rohingya are living in camps in Bangladesh after they were driven out of Myanmar's

2 March 2019
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Suu Kyi: Rohingya return up to Bangladesh

Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday it was up to Bangladesh to decide how quickly Rohingya refugees would return to Myanmar, appearing to blame Dhaka for the delay.More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to Bangladesh after a brutal military crackdown on the stateless minority almost a year ago.The two countries last November signed a deal to repatriate them but it has stalled.

22 August 2018
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