After muslims genocide,Myanmar Christians forced to convert to Buddhism.

[Ancient lion]

After ethnic cleansing against muslims ,Myanmar Christians forced to convert to Buddhism.

BANGKOK: Christian students from Myanmar’s Chin ethnic minority have been forced to convert to Buddhism, shave their heads and wear monastic robes, a rights group said Wednesday.

The Chin, a mainly Christian group in the poor and remote west of the predominantly Buddhist country, face harassment for the link between their faith and British colonial rule, according to the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO).

“President Thein Sein’s government claims that religious freedom is protected by law but in reality Buddhism is treated as the de facto state religion”, said Salai Ling, Program Director of the CHRO.

Rachel Fleming, another member of the group, said Christianity does not fit with the national view that “to be Burmese, you should be Buddhist”.

Chin students are also frequently targeted for enrollment in schools run by Myanmar’s military which convert them to Buddhism, she said, adding that Christian students are beaten for failing to recite Buddhist scriptures.
Myanmar Christians forced to convert to Buddhism: Rights group – The Express Tribune

 

[waltky]

Mebbe he can deal with the persecution of Christians in Burma...

Myanmar says Obama to visit later this month
Nov 8,`12 --- President Barack Obama will make a groundbreaking visit later this month to Myanmar, an official said Thursday, following through with his policy of rapprochement to encourage democracy in the Southeast Asian nation.

The Myanmar official speaking from the capital, Naypyitaw, said Thursday that security for a visit on Nov. 18 or 19 had been prepared, but the schedule was not final. He asked not to be named because he was not authorized to give information to the media. The official said Obama would meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as government officials including reformist President Thein Sein. It would be the first-ever visit to Myanmar by an American president. U.S. officials have not yet announced any plans for a visit, which would come less than two weeks after Obama's election to a second term.

Obama's administration has sought to encourage the recent democratic progress under Thein Sein by easing sanctions applied against Myanmar's previous military regime. Officials in nearby Thailand and Cambodia have already informally announced plans for visits by Obama that same week. Cambodia is hosting a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Thailand is a longtime close U.S. ally. The visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, would be the culmination of a dramatic turnaround in relations with Washington as the country has shifted from five decades of ruinous military rule and shaken off the pariah status it had earned through its bloody suppression of democracy.

Obama's ending of the long-standing U.S. isolation of Myanmar's generals has played a part in coaxing them into political reforms that have unfolded with surprising speed in the past year. The U.S. has appointed a full ambassador and suspended sanctions to reward Myanmar for political prisoner releases and the election of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi to parliament. From Myanmar's point of view, the lifting of sanctions is essential for boosting a lagging economy that was hurt not only by sanctions that curbed exports and foreign investment, but also by what had been a protectionist, centralized approach. Thein Sein's government has initiated major economic reforms in addition to political ones.

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President Barack Obama to visit Burma
8 November 2012 - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Burma in 2011

Fresh from his election win, Barack Obama will this month become the first US president to visit Burma, the White House says. He will meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein. It is part of a three-leg tour from 17 to 20 November that will also take in Thailand and Cambodia. The government of Burma has begun implementing economic, political and other reforms, a process the Obama administration sought to encourage.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was previously the most senior US official to go to Burma when she visited in December 2011. The Burma stop is part of a trip built around the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia. The US has appointed a full ambassador to Burma and suspended sanctions to reward the country for political prisoner releases and the election of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi to parliament.

America is also set to ease its import ban on goods from Burma, a key part of remaining US sanctions. Analysts say the Obama administration sees in the country's political changes an opportunity to help counter the influence of China in the region. Human rights groups are likely to criticise Mr Obama's visit as premature, given that the ruling government has failed to prevent outbreaks of communal violence in the west of the country.

BBC News - President Barack Obama to visit Burma

 

[waltky]

Granny says she's a regular female Gandhi...

Analysis: Myanmar's Suu Kyi shows pragmatism
1 Dec.`12 — For Aung San Suu Kyi the democracy activist, the 25-year struggle against Myanmar's former army rulers was a largely black-and-white affair — a clear fight for freedom against one of the world's most oppressive regimes.

But Suu Kyi the elected lawmaker is finding it a lot more difficult to pick her battles, and she's a lot more pragmatic when she does. With the long-ruling junta gone and a reformist government in place, the political prisoner-turned-parliamentarian is now part of a nascent government dealing with a complex transition to democracy — even as she maintains her role as opposition leader. This week, Suu Kyi moved to settle a dispute that has festered in the northwest for years: controversy over a military-backed copper mine in Letpadaung that has raised environmental concern and forced villagers from their land with little compensation.

Suu Kyi made a two-day trip to the region to hear people's grievances and try to help mediate a resolution. Hours before she arrived Thursday, security forces launched a brutal crackdown on protesters that was the biggest of its kind since President Thein Sein took office last year. Police used water cannons, tear gas and smoke bombs to break up an 11-day occupation of the mine project. Protesters saw their makeshift shelters ablaze. A nurse at a Monywa hospital said 27 monks and one other person were admitted there to be treated for burns. Addressing a crowd of more than 10,000 people in the nearby town of Monywa on Friday, Suu Kyi criticized security forces but said protesters may have to accept a compromise for the sake of national honor.

Myanmar's former army junta made past deals without taking into account the wishes of the people, she said, but such commitments must be honored "so that the country's image will not be hurt." A Chinese company is part-owner of the mine, and Beijing previously complained when Myanmar pulled back on a dam project in which China had an interest. In other comments during her trip to Monywa, Suu Kyi said she would work for the country's benefit but called on people to be "open-minded." "To walk the democratic system is a tough path," she said. "It's not straight."

Though mine protesters may not be satisfied by those words, they at least know that they have Suu Kyi's attention. The Nobel Peace laureate has gotten less involved in other conflicts. Since taking her seat in the legislature in April, Suu Kyi has not set foot in northern Kachin state, where a war is raging between rebels and the army that has forced than 75,000 people to flee. She also has yet to visit the western state of Rakhine, where two waves of sectarian violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims has killed nearly 200 people and driven 110,000 people from their homes since June.

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[waltky]

Granny says, "You go gurl...

Aung San Suu Kyi to head probe into mine
Mon, Dec 03, 2012 - Myanmar’s government has appointed a commission led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to investigate the recent violent dispersal of peaceful protesters at a copper mine and advise whether the project should continue.

State television announced on Saturday that the 30-member commission was created by a presidential order. Security forces on Thursday ousted protesters at the Letpadaung mine near Monywa in northwestern Myanmar. Dozens of villagers and Buddhist monks were hurt, mostly with burns they said were caused by incendiary devices. The crackdown was the biggest use of force against demonstrators since the reformist government of Burmese President Thein Sein took office last year.

The protesters say the mine is causing environmental, social and health problems. The project is a joint venture between a Chinese firm and a company controlled by Myanmar’s military. The appointment of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, to head the probe gives it credibility that the army-backed government lacks, even though political and economic liberalization under Thein Sein has won praise from Western governments, which have eased sanctions imposed on the previous military government because of its poor record on human and civil rights.

Many in Myanmar remain suspicious of the military and regard China as an aggressive and exploitative investor that helped support its rule. Aung San Suu Kyi visited the area after the crackdown, meeting with mining company officials, activists and injured protesters, as well as security officials. In speeches to residents, she said the use of force was not justified, but also suggested that protesters might have to compromise on the mine issue because Myanmar was honor-bound to respect contracts, even if they were done under the previous military regime.

Government officials have said repeatedly that shutting down the project could scare off much-needed foreign investment. Monks were among the most seriously wounded protesters, many with severe burns, and fellow monks have been holding protests to demand an apology from the authorities. Monks are widely admired for their social activism as well as for their spiritual beliefs in deeply religious Myanmar. The previous military government cracked down violently on monks who were leading pro-democracy protests in 2007 that came to be known as the “saffron revolution,” from the color of their robes.

More Aung San Suu Kyi to head probe into mine - Taipei Times

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Myanmar riot police descend on copper mine protesters
November 28, 2012 - Demonstrators in northwest Myanmar faced water cannons and tear gas on Thursday while protesting a copper mine expansion that will displace villagers. Protests over land disputes have become more common with the country's liberalization.

Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas early on Thursday to disperse people protesting against the forced eviction of villagers in northwestern Myanmar to make way for a copper mine expansion, residents and activists said. Land disputes are a growing problem in Myanmar. Protests were suppressed quickly under the junta in place until last year but have become more common as President Thein Sein has opened up the country and pushed through reforms.

Truckloads of police arrived at camps set up near the Monywa mine in the Sagaing region to protest against the $1 billion expansion, which locals say has caused the unlawful confiscation of more than 7,800 acres of land. "They started to disperse the crowd by using water cannon at Kyaw Ywa camp at about 2:55 a.m.," Shin Oattama, a Buddhist monk who had been helping the villagers, told Reuters by telephone. "They then shot some sort of canisters that caused fire at the camp. We just don't know what sort of weapon it was." He said about 10 monks were injured and two of them were in a critical condition. "We are now seeking refuge at a nearby village. There's no ambulance, no doctor to take care of the injured," he said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate and a member of parliament, planned to visit the protesters on Thursday to hear their grievances. Officials from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said she flew out ofYangon early in the day.

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[waltky]

Obama keepin' his eye onna situation...

US watching handling of Myanmar violence
27 Mar.`13 WASHINGTON — The United States is closely monitoring how Myanmar leaders quell a wave of sectarian violence, urging them to respect human rights in ending the bloodshed, an official said Wednesday.

Deadly Buddhist-Muslim violence has left 40 people dead in the past week, presenting the Southeast Asian nation with one of its most serious challenges since the ruling junta ceded power to a reformist government two years ago. President Thein Sein, a former general, has declared a state of emergency and sent out troops to restore order. There was also a show of military force at an annual military parade Wednesday, joined for the first time by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "We do remain deeply concerned about the communal unrest in central Burma," State Department acting deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters, using the country's former name. "We are urging Burmese authorities... to restore order and maintain peace in a manner that respects human rights and due processes of law... So that's really the appropriate role for the military."

He acknowledged though that the transition to full civilian rule was a "work in progress," and refused to be drawn on Suu Kyi's presence at the parade in the capital Naypyidaw. The United States has moved to lift virtually all sanctions imposed on Myanmar during military rule, and pledged aid and assistance to the government as it transitions to full democracy.

But rights groups have argued that nations have moved too fast in rewarding the reforms in Myanmar, saying many issues remain unresolved. "We're watching how they're implementing the rule of law, how they're responding to this outbreak of ethnic violence," a State Department official said, asking not to be named. "Are they going to do it in a way that's not sort of a crackdown? Are they going to do it in a way that brings calm and safety and in a professional way?" he asked.

But asked about whether there was concern about the military parade, the official replied: "It's one event and we don't want to make a broader determination about what it might mean for civilian-military relations."

Source

 

[waltky]

Troubles in Myanmar threaten democratic reform...

Burmese Muslims vanish as Buddhist attacks spread
Sun, Mar 31, 2013 - DEADLY RUMORS: An angry mob on Friday drove the last Muslim of Sit Kwin out of town, after a gang of bikers arrived and started whipping up anti-Muslim fervor

The Muslims of Sit Kwin were always a small group who numbered no more than 100 of the village’s 2,000 people, but as sectarian violence led by Buddhist mobs spreads across central Myanmar, they and many other Muslims are disappearing. Their homes, shops and mosques destroyed, some end up in refugee camps or hide in the homes of friends or relatives. Dozens have been killed. “We don’t know where they are,” says Aung Ko Myint, 24, a taxi driver in Sit Kwin, a farming village where Buddhists on Friday ransacked a store owned by the town’s last remaining Muslim. “He escaped this morning just before the mob got here.”

Forty-two people were killed in violence that erupted in Meiktila town on March 20, while unrest led by hardline Buddhists has spread to at least 10 other towns and villages in central Myanmar, with the latest incidents only about a two-hour drive from the commercial capital, Yangon. The crowds are fired up by anti-Muslim rhetoric spread over the Internet and by word of mouth from monks preaching a movement known as “969.” The three numbers refer to various attributes of the Buddha, his teachings and the monkhood, but it has come to represent a radical form of anti-Islamic nationalism which urges Buddhists to boycott Muslim-run shops and services.

Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist, but about 5 percent of its 60 million people are Muslims. There are large Muslim communities in Yangon, Mandalay and towns across Myanmar’s heartland where the religions have co-existed for generations. However, as violence spreads from village to village, the unleashing of ethnic hatred, suppressed during 49 years of military rule that ended in March 2011, is challenging the reformist government of one of Asia’s most ethnically diverse countries.

Dusk-to-dawn curfews are in effect in many areas of Bago, the region where Sit Kwin lies, while four townships in central Myanmar are under a state of emergency imposed last week. “I will not hesitate to use force as a last resort to protect the lives and safeguard the property of the general public,” Burmese President Thein Sein said in a nationally televised speech on Thursday, warning “political opportunists and religious extremists” against instigating further violence. The unrest has made almost 13,000 people homeless, according to the UN. State-run media reports 68 people have been arrested.

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In Myanmar, conflict threatens reform, 2 years on
Mar 30,`13 -- When Myanmar's post-junta government took power two years ago vowing to bring democracy to one of the world's most repressed nations, Da Shi Naw was under no illusion his own life would improve any time soon. But the 61-year-old farmer never dreamed it would actually get worse - a lot worse.

First, a 17-year cease-fire between the army and ethnic Kachin guerrillas relapsed into fighting that tore through his family's fertile rice fields, forcing him to flee into the mountains on foot. Then, after a year in a packed displaced camp far from home, war edged close once more. Government troops began pounding rebel positions near the Kachin stronghold of Laiza with artillery and airstrikes that shook the ground here until late January. The battles triggered such a panic, authorities took the extraordinary step of urging people to dig their own bomb shelters.

And so, one cold day when camp administrators began handing out shovels, Da Shi Naw, humbled by fate, began plowing the ground a few steps from his tiny hut. He dug a rectangular cavity into the earth, a simple, makeshift hide covered with bamboo poles just big enough to climb into with his wife and their two-year-old grandson. "We have nowhere left to run," he told The Associated Press, "We have begun to lose hope."

Two years into President Thein Sein's historic term as Myanmar's first civilian president in half a century, this Southeast Asian nation has moved closer to democratic rule than any other time since a 1962 army coup. Although few initially believed that Thein Sein, a former general, was sincere about reform when he took office on March 30, 2011, his administration has since orchestrated a top-down revolution that has stunned the world and given hope to millions of people, allowing freedoms unheard of just a few years ago.

Yet even as Myanmar basks in world praise and foreign investors rush in, some parts of the country have taken phenomenally tragic turns for the worse - plagued by explosions of ethnic and sectarian violence so grave, the government has acknowledged they threaten the very process of reform itself. Here in the north, where the army is still battling rebels of the Kachin Independence Army, residents do not speak of the country's newfound freedoms. There is no talk of economic liberalization, of the end of censorship or the suspension of western sanctions. There is no discussion, either, of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's rise as an elected lawmaker after nearly two decades under house arrest.

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[waltky]

Granny says, "Well dat's a switch - somebody spreadin' fear among the Muslims...

Buddhist mobs spread fear among Myanmar's Muslims
May 29,`13 -- It was a terrifying sight: hundreds of angry, armed men on motorcycles advancing up a dusty street with no one to stop them.

Shouting at the top of their lungs, clutching machetes and iron pipes and long bamboo poles, they thrust their fists repeatedly into the air. The object of their rage: Myanmar's embattled minority Muslim community. Residents gaping at the spectacle backed away as the Buddhist mob passed. Worried business owners turned away customers and retreated indoors. And three armed soldiers standing in green fatigues on a corner watched quietly, doing nothing despite an emergency government ordinance banning groups of more than five from gathering.

Within a few hours on Wednesday, at least one person was dead and four injured as this region of Myanmar became the latest to fall prey to the country's swelling tide of anti-Muslim unrest. The violence over the past two days in the northeastern city of Lashio is casting fresh doubt over whether President Thein Sein's government can or will act to contain the racial and religious intolerance plaguing a deeply fractured nation still struggling to emerge from half a century of military rule. Muslims have been the main victims of the violence since it began in western Rakhine state last year, but so far most criminal trials have involved prosecutions of Muslims, not members of the Buddhist majority.

The rioting in Lashio started Tuesday after reports that a Muslim man had splashed gasoline on a Buddhist woman and set her on fire. The man was arrested. The woman was hospitalized with burns on her chest, back and hands. Mobs took revenge by burning down several Muslim shops and one of the city's main mosques, along with an Islamic orphanage that was so badly charred that only two walls remained, said Min Thein, a resident contacted by telephone.

On Wednesday fires still smoldered at the ruined mosque, where a dozen charred motorcycles lay on the sidewalks underneath its white minarets. Army troops stood guard. The wind carried the acrid smell of several burned vehicles across town, and most Muslims hid in their homes. When one group of thugs arrived at a Muslim-owned movie theater housed in a sprawling villa, they hurled rocks over the gate, smashing windows. They then broke inside and ransacked the cinema. Ma Wal, a 48-year-old Buddhist shopkeeper across the street, said she saw the crowd arrive. They had knives and stones, and came in two separate waves. "I couldn't look," she said, recounting how she had shut the wooden doors of her shop. "We were terrified."

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[waltky]

Myanmar gov't. sends troops into Lashio...

Troops patrol riot-scarred town
Fri, May 31, 2013 - MOB FIGHTING: Lashio in Myanmar again erupted in violence on Wednesday night, when Buddhist mobs — some of them in monks’ robes — attacked Muslims

Troops patrolled the riot-scarred streets of a town in eastern Myanmar yesterday where hundreds of Muslims fled their homes after a new outbreak of religious violence left at least one person dead. Mobs armed with knives and sticks had roamed the streets of Lashio in Shan state during two previous days of fighting, that saw a mosque and orphanage torched as sectarian strife spread to a new part of the country. Soldiers were out in force as authorities sought to stamp out the bloody violence — the latest in a series of clashes across the country that have proved a major challenge for the reformist government. “There were some people going around the town with knives and sticks on motorbikes yesterday, but there is no such thing today,” local information ministry official Nang Hsai Li Kham said, adding that the army was in charge of keeping the peace.

About 300 Muslims were taking refuge at a monastery in the town, guarded by armed police and soldiers, after violence tore through their neighborhood. Win Ko, a 32-year-old vegetable seller, said his family of six, including three children, were escorted to the building early yesterday after his house was destroyed in the fighting. “They attacked every Muslim man they saw with knives and sticks,” he said, adding that his family hid at the home of an ethnic Chinese neighbor after hearing a mob coming down the street. He said the attackers — some wearing monks’ robes — were armed with knives, sticks and axes. Some of his Buddhist neighbors were among the crowd and could point out which homes in the ethnically mixed area belonged to Muslims, Win Ko said. “I saw our Muslim neighbors, an elderly couple, beaten as they tried to escape in their car,” he said.

Officials said one person had been killed and five injured. Local relief official Kyaw Kyaw Tun said Muslims were escorted to the monastery to “prevent further clashes.” “We brought them out of their hiding places and told them we would take them to a safer place,” he said, without outlining any further plans for the community. Security forces have been accused of being slow to react — or even complicit — after religious fighting swept Myanmar in recent months. About 25 local people have been arrested in Lashio, according to presidential spokesman Ye Htut in a post on his official Facebook page.

Three religious buildings, dozens of shops and several homes were torched during the fighting, according to the state-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper. Authorities said the unrest was sparked by an assault on a 24-year-old Buddhist woman on Tuesday, leaving her with burns, but not in a serious condition. State media reported that a 48-year-old Muslim man, described as a drug addict, had been arrested over the attack. Some monks — who were among the most vocal pro-democracy supporters during Myanmar’s repressive junta era — have been involved in the violence, while others are spearheading a move to boycott shops owned by Muslims.

Troops patrol riot-scarred town - Taipei Times

 

[Saigon]

The oppression of the Muslim minority in Burma has been going on for a while now, but don't expect many comments on this board.

It is very important for some extremists to blame all violence on Islam - violence against Islam is thus best ignored.

 

[waltky]

Expelled for treating Muslims...

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS EXPELLED FROM MYANMAR
Feb 28,`14 -- Doctors Without Borders said Friday it has been expelled from Myanmar and that tens of thousands of lives are at risk. The decision came after the humanitarian group reported it treated nearly two dozen Rohingya Muslim victims of communal violence in Rakhine state, which the government has denied.

The humanitarian group said it was "deeply shocked" by Myanmar's decision to expel it after two decades of work in the country. The United States said it was very concerned and urged the government to continue to provide "unfettered" access for humanitarian agencies. "Today for the first time in MSF's history of operations in the country, HIV/AIDS clinics in Rakhine, Shan and Kachin states, as well as Yangon division, were closed and patients were unable to receive the treatment they needed," the Doctors Without Borders said in a statement, using the French acronym for its name. As Myanmar's main provider of HIV drugs, supplying treatment to 30,000 people, the group described the impact as devastating.

Myanmar's presidential spokesman Ye Htut had criticized Doctors Without Borders in the Myanmar Freedom newspaper for hiring "Bengalis," the term the government uses for the Rohingya Muslim minority, and lacked transparency in its work. He also accused the group of misleading the world about an attack last month in the remote northern part of Rakhine. The United Nations says more than 40 Rohingya may have been killed, but the government has vehemently denied allegations that a Buddhist mob rampaged through a village, killing women and children. It says one policeman was killed by Rohingya and no other violence occurred. Doctors Without Borders said it treated 22 injured and traumatized Rohingya.

Repeated attempts to reach Ye Htut for comment were unsuccessful Friday. Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist nation of 60 million, only recently emerged from a half-century of military rule. Since then, ethnic tensions have swept Rakhine state, raising concerns from the United States and others that the bloodshed could undermine democratic reforms. Up to 280 people have been killed and tens of thousands more have fled their homes, most of them Rohingya. Since the violence erupted in June 2012, Doctors Without Borders has worked in 15 camps for the displaced people in Rakhine state. For many of the sickest patients, the organization offers the best and sometimes only care, because traveling outside the camps for treatment in local Buddhist-run hospitals can be dangerous and expensive. The aid group has worked to help smooth the referral process for emergency transport from some camps.

Due to increasing threats and intimidation from a group of Rakhine Buddhists who have been holding near daily protests against Doctors Without Borders, the organization has said its activities have been severely hampered and that it has not received enough government support. "We urge the government to continue to work with the international community to provide humanitarian assistance to communities in need and to unsure unfettered access for humanitarian agencies," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington. Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley, one of the most prominent voices in the U.S. Congress on Myanmar, also reacted to the reported expulsion. "It is the responsibility of the Burmese government to protect civilians. This is deeply troubling," he said in a tweet. Psaki said the U.S. understands that Myanmar's government and Doctors Without Borders are in discussions on the group resuming operations.

News from The Associated Press