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March 6-12, 2015

Weekly Media Monitoring report for Burma
Posted on March 12, 2015

Contents

Compiled by Kate McFarland

  1. 108 Rohingyas held, BGB man shot
  2. Rohingyas ordered to destroy shelters and move out
  3. Winners and losers of the white card’s demise
  4. Myanmar is sliding toward conflict, UN investigator says
  5. Bangladesh Rakhines hold an anti-Rohingya meeting
108 Rohingyas held, BGB man shot
State-owned media

Myanmar Times, March 11: “Rohingya clash with Bangladesh forces near Cox’s Bazar”

  • More than 100 Rohingya migrants have been released from jail in Bangladesh after a high-speed chase and gunfight on March 6 left one Bangladeshi border guard wounded
  • Bangladeshi border guards stopped a convoy of over 300 Rohingya migrants from Myanmar who were travelling near Cox’s Bazar
  • Fighting ensued and one border guard was shot. Reuters quoted an immigration official who said that 136 Rohingya migrants who had recently crossed the border were detained in the skirmish and then deported back to Myanmar.
  • But news agencies in Bangladesh reported that the clashes involved human traffickers and resulted in the jailing of 108 migrants pending repatriation arrangements. The UN Refugee Agency said the migrants have now been released.
International media

Dhaka Tribune, March 6: “BGB man shot, 108 Rohingyas held”

  • The members of Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) have detained 108 Rohingyas, who entered Bangladesh illegally with the help of traffickers.
  • A BGB official was shot in a gunfight with the traffickers during the drive. 
  • The traffickers themselves were also Rohingya.

This story was also reported in several Bangladesh news outlets, including News Next Bangladesh, Financial Express Bangladesh and Business News 24 BD. It was also covered in other countries, including the UK (The Daily Star). 

Reuters, March 8: “Bangladesh border guards clash with Muslim migrants from Myanmar”

  • Bangladeshi border guards clashed with a group of illegal Rohingya migrants who had crossed from neighboring Myanmar on Friday, before deporting 136 of them, including women and children. 
 
Rohingyas ordered to destroy shelters and move out
Private media

Burma Times, March 7: “Rohingyas ordered to destroy shelters and move out”

  • Authorities have asked Rohingya Muslims to evacuate the makeshift shelters in Rakhine State, according to our correspondent.
  • Mobs destroyed the homes of Muslims in this area during the 2012 riots. Since then, they have lived in makeshift shelters constructed by the government. Under this arrangement 8-10 families stay under one roof.
Winners and losers of the White Card’s demise
Private media

Irrawaddy, March 9: “Winners and losers of the White Card’s demise”

  • Long form analysis piece on the white card conflict last month.
  • States that the roughly 1.5 million white card holders will be left with a choice: Give back their IDs with little assurance of receiving an alternative identity document, or defy the government order.
  • Predicts that most will choose the latter, as a total lack of identification will give the government cause to push them into Bangladesh
  • Predicts that Arakanese influence in Parliament will increase. In 2010, the government allowed white card holders to vote in the general election. As a result, Arakanese politicians were unable to win regional parliamentary seats in some state townships where the majority of the population is Muslim and tends to view Arakanese parties antagonistically.
Myanmar is sliding toward conflict, UN investigator says
Private media

Irrawaddy, March 10: “Myanmar is sliding toward conflict, UN investigator says”

  • Burma is sliding toward conflict as the government backtracks on pledges to protect human rights and “fear, distrust and hostility” spread, a UN investigator said in a report.
  • Yanghee Lee, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, saw “no improvement” for displaced Rohingya Muslims since her previous visit last July to investigate allegations of mistreatment of them by the Buddhist majority in Arakan State.
  • She observed “a growing atmosphere of fear, distrust and hostility” during her latest visit in January, when she was publicly denounced as a “whore” and a “bitch” by a prominent Buddhist monk.
  • Lee witnessed “abysmal” conditions at a camp where displaced Muslims were being held “for their own security”, Arakan State’s chief minister told her.
  • “Many people told the Special Rapporteur that they had two options: to stay and die or to leave by boat,” said Lee’s report to the U.N. Human Rights Council.
  • Human rights violations in Arakan State were causing a “domino effect” in the region as people were smuggled or trafficked out to Thailand or Malaysia.
  • Report covered as above. 

** This story was also covered internationally by Reuters and Reuters Canada

Bangladesh Rakhines host an anti-Rohingya meeting
Private media

Burma Times, March 10: “Bangladesh Rakhines host an anti-Rohingya meeting”

  • A group of Bangladeshi Rakhine men gathered in a secret meeting at Chowdhury para to counter Rohingya Muslims in the country on Sunday.
  • One of the participants of the meeting told Burma Times that the group was determined to stop further entry of Rohingya Muslims into the country.
  • In the meeting they discussed how to convince the government of Bangladesh to evict Rohingyas from their camps and neighbourhoods in Bangladesh.
  • They also discussed ways on which to mobilise local journalists to report against the threat of Burmese refugees in Bangladesh.