UN Special Envoy addresses Rohingya refugee crisis
Addressing a high-level event on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the U.N. Special Envoy on Burma Julie Bishop delivered an urgent call for international action on the protracted Rohingya crisis nearly a decade after over 700,000 fled atrocities committed against them carried out by the military in 2017.
The Rohingya are now awaiting a judgement from a genocide case brought against Burma at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Over 1.2 million Rohingya are living in the refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, hoping to return home to Burma. Bishop stated that over 30,000 Rohingya children are being born annually into the camps.
“For a newly born refugee in 2017, displacement is now their entire childhood,” Bishop stated at the event co-hosted by The Gambia, which brought the ICJ case against Burma, and Bangladesh called: “The Rohingya Crisis: A Renewed Call for a Durable Solution from Protracted Displacement, with Justice and Accountability” in New York City on Sept. 22.
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UN Special Rapporteur gives first public speech on Myanmar
In her maiden public address since assuming the mandate of U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, Kelley E. Currie delivered a candid assessment of the Rohingya refugee crisis at the same high-level side event at the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22.
Currie thanked Bangladesh for accepting her request to conduct an official country visit in November to evaluate the situation for over 1.2 million Rohingya from Burma in the refugee camps. She emphasized that “the conditions for safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return do not exist currently in Myanmar.”
The new U.N. Special Rapporteur said that resolving the protracted Rohingya crisis requires addressing political dynamics far beyond their homeland in Arakan State, warning that “it is not just the Naypyidaw-based [regime], but also other armed groups, including the Arakan Army, that are targeting the Rohingya people.”
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Karenni Army Deputy Chief Commander Phone Naing dies at 76
The Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) stated on Sunday that Phone Naing, 76, a central committee member and the Karenni Army deputy chief commander, died at a hospital in Thailand while receiving treatment for an undisclosed disease on Sunday.
“Phone Naing was strict in managing his soldiers but very friendly and generous outside of military affairs,” Banyar Aung, Secretary-2 of the Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC)—a provisional government established in Karenni State in June 2023—told DVB.
Banyar Aung added that Phone Naing was like an uncle to him. The KNPP announced that a funeral service for Phone Naing would be held at an undisclosed location along the Thailand-Burma border in territory under the control of Karenni resistance forces on Sept. 30.
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News by Region
ARAKAN—At least 10 civilians were killed and an unknown number were injured during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on a market and bridge in Kyauktaw Township on Monday. Kyauktaw, located 60 miles (96 km) north of the state capital Sittwe, was seized by the Arakan Army (AA) in February 2024.
“Targeting a civilian area where there’s no ongoing conflict is a war crime,” a Kyauktaw resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Under international law, a war crime constitutes the targeting or killing of civilians. Three separate airstrikes reportedly hit the market and bridge. Read the full article on our website
TANINTHARYI—Search-and-rescue operations continued Sunday in the region’s capital Dawei Township after at least 13 residents were killed by flooding and landslides Sept. 24-27. At least 30 people have been reported missing and 50 homes were destroyed by landslides in 40 villages around Dawei.
Three bodies have been recovered and over 10 injured residents have been rescued since Sept. 24. Nearly 400 residents displaced from their homes are now staying at temporary shelters in Launglon Township’s Aukyaehpyu village. Launglon is located 12 miles (19 km) south of Dawei. Read the full article on our website
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,470 MMK)
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