Myanmar

This month, Myanmar (Burma) signed a series of memos of understanding (MOUs) for joint construction with China to build the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet blasted China for its treatment of the Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang province.

Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, detained in Myanmar since December, were sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday for “exposing state secrets” in their reporting on the massacre of Rohingya Muslims.

Facebook has banned Myanmar military officials from its social network, including the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, for allegedly coordinating genocide and committing other atrocities.

Contents: Genocide of Rohingyas in Burma (Myanmar) appears to be almost complete; Syria, Cameroon, Sudan Darfur genocides follow the same pattern

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia says it executed and crucified a man from Myanmar convicted of killing a woman and carrying out other crimes.

Contents: Thousands of ethnic Kachins flee from violence by Burma (Myanmar) army; Burma (Myanmar) appears to be entering a full-scale crisis civil war

Around 2,000 people from the Christian ethnic Kachin community are in need of urgent medical attention after fleeing to the jungle in order to escape clashes between Kachin guerrillas and Myanmar’s security forces.

Contents: Malaysia’s Najib Razak condemns Myanmar’s (Burma’s) genocide of Rohingyas at ASEAN summit; Cambodia’s Hun Sen threatens violence at protesters at ASEAN meeting

Contents: Sri Lanka declares state of emergency after Buddhist-Muslim violence; Growing violence by Sri Lankan Buddhist hardliners against Tamils; North Korea says it will denuclearize if the regime is ‘secure’

The United States slammed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, for its biased treatment of Israel and providing a platform for the most egregious violators of human rights like Iran.

Contents: Bangladesh formally protests Burma’s (Myanmar’s) troop buildup near border; April monsoon rains will have disastrous impact on Rohingya camps in Bangladesh

Contents: China’s Mekong River dams criticized for affecting other countries’ livelihoods; In policy shift, US sides with Indonesia in South China Sea over Natuna Sea

Contents: Rohingya ARSA attack on Burma (Myanmar) police complicates fantasy repatriation plans; Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh continues to grow

Contents: Burma (Myanmar) blocks UN investigator from investigating atrocities against Rohingyas; Burma officials, including Aung San Suu Kyi, may face genocide charges

Contents: UN asks for 2018 increase in humanitarian aid despite compassion fatigue; Humanitarian crises continue to grow year after year

Contents: Burma makes farcical agreement with Bangladesh to take back Rohingya refugees; China proposes farcical three-point solution to Rohingya crisis; India and China support Burma on Rohingya ethnic cleansing for business reasons

Nearly a dozen U.S. State Department officials have accused their boss Secretary Rex Tillerson of breaching American law by excluding Iraq, Myanmar, and Afghanistan from a U.S. list of countries that turn a blind eye to the abhorrent use of child soldiers, reports Reuters, citing internal government documents.

Contents: Bangladesh builds huge refugee camp for 800,000 displaced Rohingyas from Burma (Myanmar); Rohingya crisis expands into Kashmir, creating a mega-crisis

The Rohingya received very little sympathy from Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun of Syria, who said during an interview with Indian media that Rohingya refugees are a security threat to host countries such as India, while the government of Myanmar has been targeted by a propaganda campaign.

Contents: Burma’s ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims passes a major milestone; Burma has possible parallels to Pol Pot’s Cambodian Killing Fields

Buddhist protesters allegedly threw petrol bombs in an attempt to block aid shipments to Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, Burma, amid accusations from the United Nations of military-induced ethnic cleansing in the region.

On Tuesday, the effective (but not official) leader of Myanmar, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, gave her first major speech on the Rohingya crisis. Reviews of the address from international observers have been mixed, with some applauding her for unambiguously condemning human rights violations, while others say she appeared to question whether the Rohingya are suffering such violations at the hands of her government.

Contents: Burma’s (Myanmar’s) ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas leading to humanitarian catastrophe; at press conference, Boris Johnson and Rex Tillerson make delusional statements; Rohingya genocide forces India to choose between Burma and Bangladesh; North Korea fires another ballistic missile over Japan

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Patrick Murphy is on his way to Myanmar, where he will meet with officials to discuss the government’s response to Rohingya insurgents and the resulting mass flight of Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh. He will not, however, be allowed to visit the conflict zone and see for himself how government forces have been treating civilian populations.

On Wednesday, the unofficial leader of Myanmar (formerly Burma) canceled a trip to the U.N. General Assembly, ostensibly because she is needed at home to deal with a terrorist insurgency. Most observers outside Myanmar believe the formerly celebrated, Nobel-winning Aung San Suu Kyi is hiding from the international community that once lauded her, because her government is conducting a campaign of repression – perhaps even ethnic cleansing or genocide – against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Contents: Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi under fire for allowing Rohingya ethnic cleansing; BBC reporter Jonathan Head returns from Burma’s government-controlled visit; Generational explanation for Burma’s genocide and ethnic cleansing; The future of Burma and the Rohingyas

Contents: Floods in South Asia kill 1,400 people in four countries; Kenya’s president Kenyatta lashes out as Supreme Court judges as ‘crooks’; Burmese Buddhist attacks on Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar becoming full-scale genocide

Contents: Violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Myanmar/Burma escalates dramatically; Rise of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) militant insurgency

As we contemplate the fallout from CNN’s effort to hunt down and intimidate the creator of a ten-second comedy video, let us note that people have been jailed around the world for social media posts. Here’s what happens when governments and cyber-vigilantes start deciding that certain “hateful” individuals no longer deserve the privilege of online anonymity.

Contents: Sri Lanka targets radical nationalist Buddhists in Bodu Bala Sena (BBS); Brief generational history of Sri Lanka and Bodu Bala Sena (BBS)

Tun Lon Sein, a newly arrived refugee from Myanmar who was headed for resettlement in New Bern, North Carolina, on a taxpayer-funded flight that began in Thailand, appeared in federal court on Friday.

The language of “dramatic increases” and “soaring crime rates” common to public policy discussions seems inadequate for the meth epidemic in Bangladesh, where drug seizures in rural Islamic communities have increased by eighty thousand percent over the past nine years.

Contents: Pope Francis apologizes for Catholic Church’s role in 1994 Rwanda genocide; A century of genocides

In a speech that lasted over an hour to the Filipino community in Myanmar, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to “give all” to support President Donald Trump and berated the European Union for opposing his use of extrajudicial killing, asking, “why do you have to f*ck with us?”