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600,000 Rohingya still in Myanmar at ‘serious risk of genocide’: UN
Rohingya Muslims remaining in Myanmar still face a “serious risk of genocide,” UN investigators said Monday, warning the repatriation of a million already driven from the country by the army remains “impossible.” The fact-finding mission to Myanmar, set up by the Human Rights Council, last year branded the army operations in 2017 as “genocide” and ...
Bangladesh university suspends student for being Rohingya
A Bangladesh university has suspended a student for being Rohingya, officials said Sunday, as impatience with the refugees grows following a second failed attempt to repatriate...
Karen activist ‘Billy’ was burned and stuffed in oil drum: DSI
Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen’s skull was broken and his body stuffed in an oil drum before being set on fire and thrown in a river, according to evidence laid out by...
‘I expected what was coming’: Filmmaker jailed for 1 year after criticizing Myanmar military
A Myanmar filmmaker was sentenced to a year in prison today for criticizing the military, as free expression advocates warned of “grave threats” to those who...
Myanmar to join US-ASEAN maritime drills despite sanctions
Myanmar’s navy will join maritime drills with the US in Southeast Asia next week, a spokesman said today, in a rare show of military cooperation despite Washington slapping...
200,000 Rohingya rally to mark ‘Genocide Day’ in Bangladesh camps
Some 200,000 Rohingya rallied in a Bangladesh refugee camp to mark two years since they fled a violent crackdown by Myanmar forces, just days after a second failed attempt to...
Bangladesh police shoot dead two Rohingya in refugee camp
Bangladesh police said they had shot dead two Rohingya refugees during a gunfight in a refugee camp on Saturday after the pair were accused of killing a ruling party official.
Thanks, but no thanks: No Rohingya turn up for repatriation to Myanmar
A fresh push to repatriate Rohingya refugees to Myanmar appeared to fall flat today, with no one turning up to hop on five buses and 10 trucks laid on by Bangladesh. Members of...
Facebook makes fresh sweep of bogus accounts, some connected to army
Just two days after eliminating a number of China-based pages and accounts engaging in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” aimed at the Hong Kong protest movement, Facebook is...
Bangladesh ready to repatriate 3,500 Rohingya, but will they actually go?
Some 3,500 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have been cleared to return home to Myanmar beginning this week, a top official said yesterday, nearly two years after a military...
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Coconuts Yangon Politics
This was the big buzzword of 2015 and 2016. Aung San Suu Kyi led her party to election victory in November of 2015 and formed a government in April 2016. This ended some five decades of military-controlled rule. In September 2016, the US dropped its remaining sanctions on Myanmar. But many problems remain. The military still controls 25 percent of parliament. Suu Kyi was barred from the presidential post because of a clause in the 2008 constitution – written by the military – preventing anyone with a foreign spouse or children from holding the post. She has one British son and one American son. Instead, she took the jobs of foreign minister and state counsellor, and her close aide Htin Kyaw was nominated for the presidency, giving her the leeway to still make all the decisions and represent the country as its de facto leader. For her administration to succeed, it will need to address an intimidating list of priorities, including making peace with several ethnic armed groups in the country and helping to resolve tensions in Rakhine State between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. Needless to say, stories about Myanmar politics are abundant on Coconuts Yangon.