e_Paper, Wednesday, September 6, 2017

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 DT News UNHCR: 123,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar • Tribune Desk CRISIS A massive influx of Rohingya refugees fleeing recent violence in Myanmar has pushed aid services in Bangladesh to the brink, with established camps already beyond capacity, aid workers said Tuesday. The UN refugee agency said a total of 123,000 refugees have fled western Myanmar since August 25. “The numbers are very worrying. They are going up very quickly,” said UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan. The agency was pleading for assistance, saying it needed more land to be made available so it could set up new camps to accommodate refugees who were arriving hungry, traumatised and in need of medical assistance, reports the Associated Press. “Most have walked for days from their villages – hiding in jungles, crossing mountains and rivers with what they could salvage from their homes,” the agency said in a statement. “An unknown number could still be stranded at the border,” it said. Many told stories of their homes being set aflame and Myanmar soldiers firing indiscriminately around their villages in Rakhine state. In the border town of Kutupalong, an elderly woman bleeding profusely from where her lower right leg had been blown off in an explosion was bundled into a rickshaw to be taken to a hospital. Wailing family members said she had been wounded in a land mine blast. Her left leg and parts of her hands also appeared seriously wounded. Tens of thousands of new refugees have been taken in at established camps that have been housing Rohingya since the 1990s, but those camps have reached “breaking point,” the UN refugee agency said. Thousands of others were now sheltering under emergency tents, in makeshift camps or out in the open wherever they found space. Aid agencies said there was an urgent need for emergency shelters and medical aid as more refuges continue to arrive. The UNHCR’s new refugee estimate Tuesday was the result of aid workers conducting new, more accurate counts that revised Monday’s estimate up from 87,000, Tan said. Rohingya Muslims have long faced discrimination in majority-Buddhist Myanmar. They began streaming into Bangladesh after August 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked Myanmar police posts, prompting security forces to respond with days of “clearance operations” they said were aimed at rooting out insurgents from villages. Both Myanmar security officials and Rohingya insurgents accuse each other of committing atrocities in the last week. ‘Put pressure on Myanmar to take back Rohingyas’ • Tribune Desk CRISIS Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the international community to put pressure on Myanmar to take back their nationals from Bangladesh. During a courtesy call with new Indonesian Ambassador Rina Prihtyasmiarsi Soemarno, Hasina said Bangladesh was hosting a large number of Rohingyas only on humanitarian grounds, reports BSS. “Hosting a huge number of Myanmar nationals is a big burden for Bangladesh,” Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted her as saying. “Our policy is very clear and we will not allow anybody to use our land for carrying subversive activities in the neighbouring countries,” the prime minister said. The Indonesian ambassador Tens of thousands of new refugees have been taken in at established camps that have been housing Rohingya since the 1990s, but those camps have reached ‘breaking point’ MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU New Indonesian Ambassador Rina Prihtyasmiarsi Soemarno pays a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina FOCUS BANGLA praised Bangladesh for providing shelter to Rohingyas fleeing persecution in Myanmar on humanitarian grounds. “Bangladesh is taking right steps in this regard,” Soemarno said. Hasina and Soemarno discussed socio-economic cooperation between the two countries. Soemarno said the economic cooperation between the two nations had been on the rise in recent years. “We want to be a development partner for a long time,” she said, emphasising on introduction of direct air-link between the two countries. The Indonesian ambassador showed her country’s interest in setting up LNG-based power plant in Bangladesh and said it could produce 1,600 megawatts of electricity. She also expressed her country’s interest in setting up pharmaceutical industries in Bangladesh on joint venture. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Bangladesh and Indonesia in May 1972, both countries have been enjoying friendly relationship and cooperation. • Indonesia ready to find ways to ease Bangladesh’s burden • Syed Zainul Abedin CRISIS Indonesia expressed its readiness to support Bangladesh in ending the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi made the statement in a press briefing on Tuesday after wrapping up her official visit to Bangladesh. Marsudi said: “This humanitarian crisis shall be ended. I repeat, this humanitarian crisis shall be ended. And Indonesia is ready to help Bangladesh to conclude this situation.” During her visit Marsudi made a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and held a meeting with her counterpart Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali. During the meeting with prime minister, the Indonesian foreign minister discussed at least three issues regarding the ongoing situation in Myanmar. Indonesia sympathized with Bangladesh because of the burden it faced as a result of the “clearance operation” in the Rakhine State. The country also conveyed its readiness to support and ease the burden of the government of Bangladesh. “We will continue to discuss what sort of support Indonesia could provide,” said the Indonesian foreign minister. We discussed, in depth, the challenges and the ongoing situation that Bangladesh is facing. Retno Marsudi arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday (September 05) on a brief visit to discuss bilateral issues including the Rohingya issue. Bangladesh Foreign Ministry secretary (bilateral) Kamrul Ahsan and officials of the Indonesia Embassy in Dhaka welcomed her at Shahjalal International Airport around 12:10pm. Earlier in December last year, the Indonesian minister visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and discussed with Bangladesh authorities a lasting solution to the Rohingya crisis. Earlier, Marsudi submitted a proposal to Myanmar named “Formula 4+1” for Rakhine State to restore peace and allowing immediate access to humanitarian assistance there. The four elements consist of i) Restoring stability and security; ii) Maximum restraint and non-violence; iii) Protection to all persons in the Rakhine State, regardless of race and religion; and iv) The importance of immediate access to humanitarian assistance. Marsudi had a meeting with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar’s capital on Monday and placed the proposal. •
News WEDNESDAY, AL’s election prep stalled by floods, Rohingya influx, 16th Amendment verdict • Fazlur Rahman Raju POLITICS With the 11th parliamentary election just over a year away, the ruling party’s election preparations have stalled in the face of the ongoing monsoon flood, Rohingya refugee influx and the Supreme Court verdict that scrapped the 16th Amendment of the constitution. Party insiders said the Awami League activists had geared up to launch their campaign for the election, but it did not progress much due to these issues that put the election on the backburner for the central leaders. Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, several senior leaders of the party said back in May, Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed everyone to focus on the election campaign, saying from now on, ensuring people’s confidence in the party was top priority. She also warned that anyone who failed to establish a connection with the voters of their constituencies would not get the ticket to the polls. Following her instruction, the party activists, especially at the grass-roots level, started campaigning for the election and organised different programmes to reach out to the voters. However, before the campaign could really take off, it came to a screeching halt when the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court scrapped the 16th Constitutional Amendment, taking away parliament’s power to impeach higher court judges. In the July 3 verdict, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, who led the Appellate Division bench, took the government to task over several issues, including corruption and lack of good governance. Speaking on condition of anonymity, some senior Awami League leaders said the party’s high command was upset that the chief justice had criticised the government. The party and its affiliate organisations staged demonstrations around country, saying the chief justice had undermined Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s leadership during the Liberation War. While strongly condemning the chief justice’s observations, the central leaders also became focused on finding ways to resolve this issue – which included discussions with the chief justice – as well as building public and civil society’s opinion against the verdict, especially when BNP was openly praising it. Because of this situation, the activists running the election campaign lost the guidance of the central leaders, and it came to a halt. While the debate over the 16th Amendment was still a hot topic, monsoon floods struck the country, particularly the northern and northeastern regions, inundating at least 20 districts. The flood washed away homes and livestock, damaged crop fields and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. According to the Directorate General of Health Services, at least 198 people died and around 6.9 million people were affected during the floods between July 16 and August 29. In such circumstances, providing aid and medical help in the flood-affected areas became a priority for the ruling party, pushing the election further into the back seat, the senior leaders said. The latest crisis that the government is facing is the influx of Rohingya refugees into the country. Around 123,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh since violence erupted again in Myanmar in late August. The renewed bloodshed in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine state was triggered by an attack on August 25 on dozens of police posts and an army base by Rohingya insurgents. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive have killed at least 400 people. The latest bout of Rohingya influx has become a massive cause for concern for the ruling party. During a meeting of the central committee secretaries on August 29, the party leaders agreed that providing shelter to the increasing number of fleeing Rohingya was putting Bangladesh in a difficult situation, the senior leaders said. Speaking at an event in Dhaka yesterday, Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said the government had been dealing with the Rohingya crisis on humanitarian grounds, but it is become increasingly difficult for Bangladesh to support the refugees. “Now the government’s policy will be protesting strongly against the ‘Rohingya clear out’ by Myanmar. Diplomatic steps are being taken at different international forums, including the United Nations and the Human Rights Watch,” he added. He further said the government was also looking into the possibility that the Rohingya crisis might be some sort of conspiracy against the Awami League and Bangladesh. In a situation so dire, it is entirely difficult for the central leaders of the party to focus on anything else, including the election campaign, said a presidium member of the Awami League, requesting anonymity. The top leaders are now engaged in finding a sustainable and diplomatic solution to this crisis, he added. A silver lining? Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, several district-level leaders of the ruling party said while the election campaign was halted by the floods, it did bring an opportunity PHOTO: COLLECTED FROM FACEBOOK for them to help the flood-affected voters to survive the calamity as well as bring relief to them. “The flood has been devastating, destroying everything in the northern part of the country,” said Mahfuzur Rahman Benju, former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Rajshahi University unit and an aspirant for the party ticket from Chapainawabganj 3 constituency. “We could not continue our election campaign, but we were able to reach the local people through relief distribution programmes, communicating with them in the process,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. In some places relief distribution programme turned into public meetings, claimed local sources of the party. Awami League Joint General Secretary Abdur Rahman said leaders and activists of the Awami League stood beside the flood victims. “Every leader and activist of the party engaged themselves in relief distribution programmes in flood-affected areas. No other political party had ever done it before,” he added. Awami League Organising Secretary Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said the party had faced many obstacles since its inception and had successfully overcome them. “Awami League is never afraid to face any hurdle. Our leaders and activists are always devoted to work for the betterment of Bangladesh. We will be able to tackle the floods and the Rohingya crisis as well,” he said. • 3 SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 DT Myanmar denies flying helicopters over Bangladesh, declares military zone in Rakhine • Tribune Desk CURRENTS AFFAIRS The Myanmar government has denied reports of flying helicopters over Bangladesh. In addition, the government has also declared Rakhine state as a military operations zone. The State Counsellor’s office told Eleven Minutes, a leading Myanmar news outlet, that the army repeatedly checked the instruments onboard its helicopters to supports its claim to have not intruded into Bangladesh. Zaw Htay, director general of the Office of the State Counsellor, said: “Myanmar’s military helicopters have not been found flying over Bangladeshi air territory, according to several analyses of our helicopters’ transport maps and GPS data. The Tatmadaw (official name of the Myanmar armed forces) checked, re-checked and counterchecked the GPS data of flights of MI-17 transport helicopters. The Tatmadaw officially told the State Counsellor’s office, but they have not told the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yet. They will inform the relevant ministries. “The Tatmadaw helicopters flew only over Myanmar territory while distributing supplies and conducting emergency rescue measures during terrorist attacks in Maungdaw. The helicopters are not meant for fighting battles”, Zaw Htay said. On August 27, 28 and September 1, several Myanmar helicopters were detected in Bangladesh airspace. The government strongly protested the intrusion. The militarised township The whole township of Maungdaw in the Rakhine was officially declared a military operations zone effective from August 25. The information was revealed to The Irrawaddy on Monday. Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing demanded the official recognition of the region from the government, and was subsequently The declaration will subsequently facilitate the Myanmar army’s mobilisation and tactics in the area. The army will be able to pursue “effective clearance operations” as per Frontier Myanmar. Although the army is operating several other townships, it remains to be confirmed if they too are military operational zones. •
Page 1: SECOND EDITION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER
Page 5 and 6: News 5 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
Page 7 and 8: News WEDNESDAY, Why China did not f
Page 9 and 10: News 9 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
Page 11 and 12: Multinationals to pass decision on
Page 13 and 14: Opinion 13 A dictator by any other
Page 15 and 16: Opinion 15 Brexit becomes more comp
Page 17 and 18: What’s on 17 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER
Page 19 and 20: Sports 19 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2
Page 21 and 22: Sports 21 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2
Page 23 and 24: Showtime 23 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6,

e_Paper, Wednesday, September 6, 2017

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?