Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
- Arakan Army Kills Myanmar Police in Attack on Border Guard Outpost Radio Free Asia 29 May 2020 -- The Arakan Army attacked a paramilitary border guard outpost in western Myanmar's war-ravaged Rakhine state on Friday, capturing six policemen and three of their family members, and killing several others, the Myanmar military and local residents said.
- Myanmar NGOs Call on National Rights Body to Take Up Abuses in Conflict Zones Radio Free Asia 28 May 2020 -- More than 20 rights NGOs have urged the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, which was revamped in January and has been criticized as toothless, to focus on reported rights violations committed during the COVID-19 pandemic by military troops in conflicts in Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states.
- Satellite Imagery Shows Myanmar Military's Arson Attack on Rural Rakhine Village, HRW Says Radio Free Asia 27 May 2020 -- Satellite imagery of a town in Myanmar's restive Rakhine state proves that almost 200 homes and other structures were destroyed by fire on May 16, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
- 100 Houses Burned in Abandoned Chin State Village Amid Myanmar-Arakan Army Conflict Radio Free Asia 27 May 2020 -- About 100 houses in an abandoned village in war-ravaged western Myanmar's Paletwa township, one of the epicenters of armed conflict between the government military and the rebel Arakan Army, have been burned to the ground in an apparent act of arson, ethnic Chin sources told RFA on Wednesday.
- Myanmar Lays Terrorism Charges Against 5 Rakhine Men Beaten in Viral Video Radio Free Asia 27 May 2020 -- Five ethnic Rakhine men who were filmed being beaten by Myanmar military soldiers on a naval vessel in late April have been charged under the country's Counter-Terrorism Law for suspected ties to an ethnic armed group, their lawyer said Wednesday.
- Thousands put in quarantine at Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh Press TV 26 May 2020 -- At least 15,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar are placed in quarantine in Bangladesh's sprawling camps due to alleged spikes in coronavirus cases there, health officials say.
- Myanmar's Rakhine State Revokes Order Evicting Squatters From Rohingya Land Radio Free Asia 26 May 2020 -- Authorities in western Myanmar's Rakhine state have revoked an order requiring Rakhine Buddhist families to vacate land in a former Rohingya Muslim area of Sittwe township that was razed eight years ago during a flare-up of sectarian violence.
- HRW: 200 Homes Burned in Rakhine, Myanmar VOA 26 May 2020 -- Around 200 homes and other buildings were destroyed by fire in Myanmar's conflict-torn Rakhine state, Human Rights Watch reported Tuesday. The rights group says satellite images recorded the destruction on May 16.
- Plainclothed Arakan Army Clashes With Myanmar Military Stoke Arbitrary Arrests Radio Free Asia 21 May 2020 -- The use of civilian clothing by soldiers of the ethnic Rakhine rebel Arakan Army (AA) in skirmishes with Myanmar's military in Rakhine and Chin states has led to a substantial increase in arbitrary arrests of villagers by government troops, sources said Thursday.
- Tatmadaw Releases Eight of 19 Detained Rakhine Residents Radio Free Asia 21 May 2020 -- Eight people among 19 who went missing last week after being detained by Myanmar's military in restive Rakhine state were released from a regional military camp, the former prisoners and their family members told RFA Thursday.
- Myanmar Arrests Canadian Pastor For Violating Coronavirus Ban on Mass Gatherings Radio Free Asia 20 May 2020 -- Authorities in Myanmar arrested a Canadian pastor Wednesday for holding a service in violation of a ban on mass gatherings during the coronavirus outbreak, after which dozens of people became infected.
- Myanmar Strips Rakhine Politician Jailed For Treason of MP Status, Bars Him From Elections Radio Free Asia 20 May 2020 -- Myanmar's Union Election Commission (UEC) has stripped jailed Rakhine politician Aye Maung of his status as a Lower House member of parliament and barred him from running for office, citing his conviction on charges of treason, according to state media reports.
- Rakhine Squatters Ordered to Vacate Former Rohingya Quarter in Myanmar's Sittwe Township Radio Free Asia 18 May 2020 -- The government of western Myanmar's Rakhine state capital has issued an order requiring ethnic Rakhine Buddhist families to vacate more than 1,250 shelters erected on top of a former Rohingya Muslim area of the township that was razed eight years ago during a flare up of sectarian violence.
- Myanmar Ethnic Armed Group Seizes $1.28 Million in Meth From Smugglers After Firefight Radio Free Asia 18 May 2020 -- The United Wa State Army in Myanmar's Shan state seized drugs after a firefight with drug smugglers last week, UWSA said on Monday as the UN praised a two-month operation in which the country's police and military seized a record amount of methamphetamine and other drugs in the state.
- Fears of disaster as first virus case emerges at Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh Press TV 15 May 2020 -- According to a senior Bangladeshi official and a UN spokesperson, the first confirmed case of COVID-19 has been reported in the Rohingya refugee camp, which houses more than a million, raising concerns of a potential humanitarian disaster.
- First Rohingya Refugee in Bangladesh Tests Positive for COVID-19 Radio Free Asia 15 May 2020 -- Bangladeshi authorities said Thursday that a Rohingya man had tested positive for COVID-19, the first case detected among close to 1 million refugees who live at camps and settlements in southeastern Cox's Bazar district.
- 1st COVID-19 case detected in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh SPA 15 May 2020 -- The first coronavirus case has been confirmed in the crowded camps for Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh, where more than 1 million refugees are sheltered.
- Support stepped up for Rohingya camps as first COVID-19 infections are confirmed UN News 15 May 2020 -- After confirmation that the first cases of COVID-19 infection have been identified in a vast and overcrowded refugee camp in Bangladesh, UN humanitarians on Friday announced additional measures and appealed for funds to prevent the disease from spreading.
- COVID Emerges in Rohingya Refugee Camp in Bangladesh VOA 15 May 2020 -- A Rohingya refugee in the massive Cox's Bazar refugee camp in Bangladesh has tested positive for COVID-19.
- Aid Agencies Ramp Up Efforts to Tackle Coronavirus in Rohingya Refugee Camps VOA 15 May 2020 -- U.N. aid agencies are intensifying COVID-19 operations to prevent the spread of the deadly disease in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The move follows the confirmation of the first case of the coronavirus in the camps Thursday, as well as a second infection in the local Bangladeshi host community.
- Myanmar Begins Probe of WHO Staff Killing in Rakhine Amid Skepticism Radio Free Asia 14 May 2020 -- An investigative team formed by the Myanmar government to probe the shooting death of a local World Health Organization worker in volatile Rakhine state last month has begun its probe, local lawmakers said, but witnesses say they are afraid and rights activists say they believe the government will use the process to blame its foe, the Arakan Army.
- Chinese military medical team returns home after anti-pandemic mission in Myanmar PLA Daily 13 May 2020 -- The Chinese military medical expert team to Myanmar embarked on their homebound journey on May 12 after successfully completed nineteen-day work in Myanmar. Heads of the Yangon Command of the Myanmar armed forces (Tatmadaw) and the Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Chen Hai went to the airport to see the Chinese military medical expert team off.
- China provides medical supplies for Myanmar's COVID-19 fight Global Times 13 May 2020 -- The Chinese government donated more medical supplies to help Myanmar in its fight against COVID-19 on Wednesday.
- Two Rohingya Girls Die in Mine Blasts as UN Extends Arrangement with Myanmar Radio Free Asia 13 May 2020 -- Mine blasts in western Myanmar's Rakhine state killed two Rohingya children and injured another child as they picked mangoes in a deserted village on Wednesday, with the government military and the rebel Arakan Army blaming each other for the deadly explosions, locals said.
- Myanmar Army Acknowledges Unlawful Interrogation Methods After Viral Rakhine Beating Video Radio Free Asia 12 May 2020 -- Myanmar's military said Tuesday that some of its troops used unlawful and improper interrogation techniques while detaining five Rakhine men suspected of having links to the rebel Arakan Army, a rare admission offered a day after a video published by RFA showed soldiers beating the men on board a naval vessel.
- Myanmar Major Political Parties Chilly Toward Post-2020 Election Coalition Talk Radio Free Asia 12 May 2020 -- Two small political parties in Myanmar are calling for a coalition government following year-end elections, saying such an arrangement is needed to resolve armed conflicts and political deadlocks that have stifled the peace plans and reform pledges of the four-year-old administration of Aung San Suu Kyi.
- End Threats against Rohingya, Rights Groups Tell Malaysian Government Radio Free Asia 11 May 2020 -- Scores of NGOs and rights groups together urged Malaysia's government on Monday to speak out in support of Rohingya Muslims and stem a surge in hate speech on social media platforms targeting the stateless refugee community from Myanmar.
- Video Shows Myanmar Forces Beating Five Civilians on Navy Vessel in Rakhine State Radio Free Asia 11 May 2020 -- Men dressed in plainclothes believed to be government soldiers punched and kicked five blindfolded Rakhine men detained on a Myanmar Navy vessel in war-ravaged northern Rakhine state, according to a video of the assaults obtained by RFA and relatives who identified the victims.
- Chinese military medical experts provide training to Myanmar military medical staff for COVID-19 fight PLA Daily 08 May 2020 -- Medical experts from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Thursday provided necessary training to Myanmar's military medical staff who will be assigned to work at a COVID-19 treatment center soon.
- Bangladesh: All Rohingya Found at Sea Will Be Taken to Bhashan Char Island Radio Free Asia 07 May 2020 -- After insisting for weeks that it would not help Rohingya refugees stranded at sea, Bangladesh authorities relented Thursday and towed a boat packed with people to a flood-prone island, saying all refugees found at sea would be taken to the controversial site from now on.
- Myanmar Military Column, Artillery Firings Displace Rakhine Villagers Radio Free Asia 07 May 2020 -- Large numbers of civilians have been forced to flee their homes in rural Rakhine state after a Myanmar military column deployed in three villages fired artillery into a forested area where it believed rebel Arakan Army camps were, residents said Thursday.
- Myanmar Struggles With COVID-19 Patient Tracing Amid Asymptomatic Infections Radio Free Asia 06 May 2020 -- Health authorities in Myanmar are struggling to trace the spread of the contagious coronavirus among several confirmed patients who have reported no travel abroad and no contact with others who are infected, lawmakers in two major cities said Wednesday.
- Myanmar May Be Placed on EU Money-Laundering Blacklist Radio Free Asia 06 May 2020 -- The European Union is set to add Myanmar on Thursday to a blacklist of 22 countries failing to enforce curbs against money laundering and other financial crimes, a Reuters news report said on May 6, citing drafts of EU documents seen ahead of the list's expected release.
- Let Other Countries Take Rohingya, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Says Radio Free Asia 06 May 2020 -- Bangladesh will not accept any more Rohingya refugees, the foreign minister said Wednesday, despite pleadings from international agencies who expressed concerns about the lives of hundreds of refugees stranded on at least two trawlers reportedly adrift in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
- Myanmar Ruling Party Officials in Rakhine in Hiding After Attempted Arrests Radio Free Asia 06 May 2020 -- Several officials of Myanmar's ruling party in Rakhine state have gone into hiding after a group of unidentified men wearing police uniforms tried to arrest them at their homes, a lawmaker from the volatile region said Wednesday.
- China donates medical equipment, accessories to Myanmar's COVID-19 testing laboratory PLA Daily 05 May 2020 -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Monday donated medical equipment and accessories to a newly-built laboratory of Myanmar's military hospital for testing COVID-19.
- Myanmar Political Parties Want Say on 2020 Election Timing Amid Coronavirus Fight Radio Free Asia 05 May 2020 -- Political parties in Myanmar have urged the Union Election Commission to consult them on whether to postpone the country's 2020 general election due to the coronavirus pandemic, party officials said Tuesday.
- Myanmar Awaits Workers Returning from Thailand, While Laos Keeps Its Border Closed Radio Free Asia 04 May 2020 -- Myanmar's military and authorities in the country's capital Naypyidaw are mandating a three-week coronavirus quarantine for migrant workers returning from Thailand, with about 600 returnees now expected in a new group of arrivals, sources in Myanmar say.
- Myanmar Anti-Hate Speech Orders Aimed at Halting Discrimination Against Rohingya Radio Free Asia 04 May 2020 -- The government of Myanmar has ordered all civil servants to stop using hate speech on social media, a persistent problem in the majority Buddhist country, nearly three years after soldiers and local militias drove more than 740,000 Muslim Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh.
- More Than Two-Dozen Rohingya Refugees Sent to Flood-Prone Island Off Coast of Bangladesh VOA 04 May 2020 -- Bangladesh has relocated more than two-dozen Rohingya refugees who had been stranded at sea for several days to a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal.
- Myanmar Stops Building of Emergency Camps For War Displaced in Rakhine State Radio Free Asia 01 May 2020 -- Officials in Myanmar's strife-ridden Rakhine state have ordered local humanitarian relief groups to stop building makeshift camps for people displaced by armed conflict in Rathedaung town as the annual monsoon season approaches, a local lawmaker said Friday.
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