With 1.2 million refugees originating from Burma and tens of thousands more uprooted inside the country, the Southeast Asian nation was the source of the fourth-largest population of displaced people worldwide at the end of 2017, a new report by the UN refugee agency.

Burma’s Minister for Labour, Immigration and Population Thein Swe has denied an assertion made by one of his cabinet colleagues last week of plans to relax travel restrictions for holders of National Verification Cards, the vast majority of whom would be Rohingya Muslims.

The prominent Rakhine nationalist politician Aye Maung was arrested on Thursday and is facing criminal prosecution after he gave a speech in which, according to state media, he “urged the people to take advantage of the weakness of the government and to march towards the goal of sovereignty.”

The Union Election Commission rejects a proposal by Burmese nationalists seeking to establish a political party with an explicit goal of furthering their agenda, with the electoral gatekeeper saying its decision was made based on the country’s Political Parties Registration Law.

The Union Election Commission will need more time as it weighs approving the establishment of a new political party with a declared nationalist bent, according to the head of the electoral body.

There were mixed reactions to State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech this morning on her government’s efforts to address the crisis in northern Arakan State.