Parliamentarians Call on ASEAN Member States to Back OIC Human Rights Council Resolution on Anti-Muslim Violence in Myanmar

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today backed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and its bid to raise the issue of anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar at the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling for a prompt, full and impartial investigation into allegations of ethnic cleansing […]

Massacre in Central Burma Muslim Students Terrorized and Killed in Meiktila

This report details the results of a PHR investigation into the March 20 and 21, 2013, attacks on Muslim students, teachers, and residents in the Mingalar Zayyone quarter of Meiktila, a small town in central Burma. A two-person team from PHR conducted 33 interviews about the attacks, which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 children and four teachers […]

PHR Issues Report Documenting Massacre in Burma; Calls for Immediate Investigation

PHR today released a report detailing the organized attacks against Muslims that took place in central Burma in late March and resulted in the killing of at least 20 children and four teachers. The report provides evidence that state authorities, who idly stood by watching the events unfold, are complicit in these crimes. The rights group also issued policy recommendations […]

Statement on Religious and Ethnic Violence that has Occurred in Myanmar

1. We, youth representatives of all religions, strongly condemn any insult or desecration for any reason of the national flag, which is of utmost importance to our nation.

2. We, youth representatives of all religions, including Myanmar Islam youth, unreservedly oppose the manipulative use of the Quran by those from overseas for the purpose of agitation of any kind causing outbreaks of violence.

3. We, youth representatives of all religions, including Myanmar Buddhist youth, unreservedly oppose the perpetration of violence and agitation of any kind causing outbreaks of violence and goes against the teaching of Buddha […]

Burma: Cyclone Threatens Displaced Muslims

Burma’s government should take immediate action to evacuate to higher ground tens of thousands of Muslims displaced last year by ethnic cleansing in Arakan State in advance of a tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, Human Rights Watch said today. Half of the approximately 140,000 ethnic Rohingya and Kaman Muslims displaced […]

Anti-Muslim Violence in Central Burma

A tense calm prevails after deadly religious violence hit Central Burma in March, with anti-Muslim attacks reported in four townships in Mandalay Division and eight townships in Pegu Division. According to official figures, the violence in Meikhtila, Mandalay Division, killed 44 people and displaced over 12,800. As of 9 April, over 8,400 people remain displaced […]

Joint Open Letter on Review of the European Union’s Joint Decision on Burma

Dear Minister,

We are writing to you regarding the upcoming review of the European Union’s joint decision on Burma/Myanmar and to call upon you to support the continuation of the state of suspended sanctions against Burma/Myanmar for an additional year.

While we acknowledge that positive steps have been taken by the government in Burma/Myanmar, we caution that reforms have not led to progress towards national reconciliation. Nor have they sought to stem the ongoing human rights abuses and impunity, which continue to be serious problems in the country […]

Burma’s Leaders Should Take Steps to Investigate and Prevent Anti-Muslim Violence

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) calls on Burma’s government to act urgently to halt anti-Muslim incitement and to invite international investigators to launch an immediate independent investigation into a reported massacre of more than two dozen Muslim students in Meiktila on March 21 […]

ASEAN Parliamentarians Call for Urgent National and Regional Response to Sectarian Violence in Myanmar, and Independent Investigation into Madrasa Fire in Yangon

The ASEAN inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) is deeply concerned by reports of violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar and urges the Myanmar Parliament, ASEAN and other interested parties to act immediately to take appropriate measures to seek a long-term solution to inter-communal tensions whilst also protecting communities that remain at risk […]

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Political Reconciliation with Burma’s Armed Forces

On 27 March, Burma’s Armed Forces Day was commemorated with its usual military fanfare. But this year, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi sat in the front row of the parade, raising concerns about her closeness to the army.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was similarly criticized for her comment on BBC’s Desert Island Disks radio show about her “fondness” for her father’s army. While Daw Suu appears to be cozying up the Burma Army as an attempt of political reconciliation in her push towards the 2015 elections, the public widely continues to see the country’s security forces as the perpetrators of human rights violations especially in ethnic nationality areas and of brutal crackdowns on civilians in 1988, 2007 and most recently in November 2012 against protesters and monks at the Letpadaung copper mine.

The Burma Army continued this week to launch offensives against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northeastern Shan State, two weeks after the latest peace talks in Ruili, China. There have also been reports of shelling and looting of villages in Kachin State despite President Thein Sein insisting on his visit to Austria at the beginning of the month, “There’s no more hostilities, no more fighting all over the country, we have been able to end this kind of armed conflict.” General Gun Maw, deputy chief of the KIA said after the 11 March talks, “They wanted us to sign a ceasefire agreement first, but there are many issues to discuss about the peace process before we can reach a ceasefire.”

Furthermore, the military has been implicated in the violence in Meikhtila, which has left 43 dead and 12,000 displaced by UN estimates […]