January 2021 - Myanmar Special Weapons News

Burmese Military Arrests of Civilian Government Leaders US Dept. of State 31 Jan 2021
Statement by White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki on Burma The White House 31 Jan 2021
Aung San Suu Kyi, Ruling Party Leaders Arrested in Sweeping Myanmar Military Crackdown Radio Free Asia 31 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar's military has arrested leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's president, and state ministers in wave of detentions of ruling National League for Democracy figures an early Monday morning that followed rising tensions over disputed 2020 election results, an NLD spokesman said.
Myanmar Leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Others Detained by Military VOA 31 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a number of other ruling party officials were detained Monday, a spokesperson said.
Myanmar Leader, President Reportedly Arrested Amid Assumed 'Military Coup' Sputnik 31 Jan 2021 -- Earlier, it was reported that tensions had escalated in Myanmar between the government and the military, sparking fears of a possible coup, as the army reportedly believes that the nation's recent election was fraudulent.
Myanmar's Military Promises to Abide by and Protect Constitution VOA 30 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar's military said Saturday it will abide by and protect the country's constitution.
Myanmar Military Coup Talk Draws Concern From Western Embassies Radio Free Asia 29 Jan 2021 -- Alarmed after a string of veiled threats of a coup by Myanmar's military over unproven claims of voting fraud in the nascent democracy, more than a dozen Western diplomatic missions called on the army and other parties to reject attempts to alter the outcome of the 2020 elections.
Bangladesh sends another group of Rohingya Muslims to remote island Press TV 29 Jan 2021 -- Bangladesh has sent a third group of Rohingya Muslim refugees to a controversial facility at a remote island that was surfaced only 20 years ago, in the Bay of Bengal.
Thailand Expels 158 Myanmar Migrants Back Home Radio Free Asia 29 Jan 2021 -- Thai officials on Thursday deported 158 undocumented migrant workers from neighboring Myanmar who had been held at a detention center near the border in southern Thailand.
Myanmar: UN chief following developments 'with great concern' UN News 29 Jan 2021 -- UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for restrain in Myanmar, amid reports of rising tensions over the outcome of last year's general elections.
Hundreds of Rohingya go missing from Indonesian refugee camp Press TV 28 Jan 2021 -- Hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees have gone missing from a makeshift camp in Indonesia's Aceh Province, raising fears that they may have been smuggled to neighboring Malaysia.
Bangladesh Moves About 2,000 More Rohingya Refugees to Remote Island Radio Free Asia 28 Jan 2021 -- Close to 2,000 more Rohingya left refugee camps in Cox's Bazar on Thursday as Bangladeshi authorities moved them to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal that international humanitarian organizations have said is inhabitable.
Myanmar Election Authority Rejects Military Claims of Election Fraud Radio Free Asia 28 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar election authorities broke weeks of silence on Thursday to reject the military's claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 elections, weighing in a day after the army chief issued a threat to abolish the country's constitution amid rising political tensions over the electoral dispute.
Many of Myanmar's Rohingya Still Trying to Flee Precarious Lives Radio Free Asia 27 Jan 2021 -- Rohingya Muslims continue to defy strict COVID-19 restrictions on movement to flee western Myanmar's Rakhine state, many for destinations in Southeast Asia, to flee discrimination and to find jobs, police and other officials said Wednesday.
Government Troops in KNU Zones of Myanmar's Kayin And Mon States Spark Protests Radio Free Asia 27 Jan 2021 -- Thousands of civilians staged protests in 11 villages in southeastern Myanmar's Kayin and Mon states Wednesday, demanding that the country's military withdraw from their area and abide by a nationwide cease-fire agreement reached in 2015.
Myanmar's Military Refuses to Rule Out Coup Over Election Fraud Claims Radio Free Asia 26 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar's powerful military on Tuesday declined to rule out staging a coup over its claim that the country's 2020 elections were tainted by voter fraud, as experts warned the dispute is leading to a political crisis in the nascent democracy that emerged from harsh army junta rule only a decade ago.
Investigators in Myanmar Probe Disappearance of 18 Rakhine Villagers Radio Free Asia 25 Jan 2021 -- Police and local authorities in Rakhine state's Kyauktaw township on Monday took statements from family members of villagers believed to have been abducted last year by Myanmar military forces, with a military spokesman promising explanations if the army is shown to have been involved, Myanmar sources said.
Bangladesh: Repatriating Small Number of Hindu Rohingya to Myanmar 'Not Our Priority' Radio Free Asia 25 Jan 2021 -- Bangladesh's priority is returning to Myanmar more than 1 million Muslim Rohingya refugees, not a small group of Hindus among them, Dhaka said Monday in responding to Naypyidaw's demand that some 500 Hindu Rohingya be included in the first phase of repatriation.
Karen People Cut Off From Help in Myanmar After Fighting Drives Them From Their Homes Radio Free Asia 22 Jan 2021 -- Around 1,000 ethnic Karen villagers have been cut off from help in Myanmar's Kayin state by renewed fighting between government troops and rebel forces, with relief groups now unable to reach them with badly needed food, blankets, and medical supplies, sources say.
China Seen as Pressing Advantage in Myanmar with High-Level Visit, Deals VOA 22 Jan 2021 -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi helped cinch Beijing's hold on Myanmar with a visit last week that saw the two countries agree to push ahead with a major transportation project and lock in a five-year trade and economic pact, analysts say.
Myanmar Demands Bangladesh Repatriate Hundreds of Hindu Rohingya Refugees Radio Free Asia 21 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar has called on Bangladesh to repatriate more than 400 Hindu refugees who were among the 2017 exodus of 740,000 Rohingya fleeing a brutal army campaign in Rakhine state, a spokesman of Naypyidaw's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told RFA.
Indonesia Urges Myanmar to Create Safe Conditions for Rohingya Repatriation Radio Free Asia 21 Jan 2021 -- Indonesia on Thursday emphasized the need for Myanmar to create safe conditions in Rakhine state for the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, as Southeast Asian foreign ministers met and expressed support for the repatriation plan.
Bangladesh Expects to Start Rohingya Repatriation to Myanmar in June VOA 20 Jan 2021 -- Bangladesh officials say they expect to begin a third effort to repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine state in June.
Trilateral Talks on Rohingya Repatriation Resume Radio Free Asia 19 Jan 2021 -- Bangladesh and Myanmar resumed China-brokered talks on Rohingya repatriation for the first time in a year on Tuesday, with Dhaka urging the neighboring country to create conditions in which refugees would agree to return, officials said.
Refugees in Myanmar's Rakhine State Call on Government Forces to Withdraw From Villages, Stop Thefts Radio Free Asia 19 Jan 2021 -- More than 100 ethnic Rakhine refugees in Myanmar's Rakhine state called on Myanmar's military in a protest on Tuesday to withdraw from villages abandoned amid heavy fighting over the last two years between government forces and the rebel Arakan Army.
Kayin State Border Guards Resign to Protest Ouster of Top Leaders by Myanmar Military Radio Free Asia 15 Jan 2021 -- At least 7,000 members of an ethnic Karen force of border guards backed by the Myanmar military resigned on Thursday to protest the ouster of their top leaders under pressure amid controversy over business dealings by the group, sources in the country say.
UN steps up support for thousands left homeless after fire at Rohingya refugee camp UN News 15 Jan 2021 -- UN agencies have stepped up efforts to help thousands of Rohingya refugees left without shelter after a devastating fire tore through a crowded refugee camp in south-eastern Bangladesh on Thursday.
China Promises Myanmar 300,000 Vaccine Doses VOA 14 Jan 2021 -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has promised to provide Myanmar with 300,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine, according to the website of State Counselor and de facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi.
Huge fire guts Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh, destroys belongings Press TV 14 Jan 2021 -- Thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have been left without shelter after a huge fire swept through an overcrowded camp in southeast Bangladesh.
Huge Fire Leaves Thousands of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Homeless Radio Free Asia 14 Jan 2021 -- A massive fire gutted hundreds of cramped and flimsy makeshift shelters at a refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh on Thursday and left thousands of Rohingya homeless, officials said.
Next Myanmar-Bangladesh-China Meeting on Rohingya Repatriation Set For Jan. 19 Radio Free Asia 13 Jan 2021 -- A secretary-level meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar, mediated by China, will be held on Jan. 19 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on the issue of repatriating Rohingya refugees, the Bangladeshi foreign minister said Wednesday.
China, Myanmar agree to accelerate construction of economic corridor PLA Daily 13 Jan 2021 -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing agreed here on Tuesday to accelerate the construction of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) to boost bilateral ties.
China Urges Progress on Myanmar Belt & Road Projects, Backs Peace Efforts Radio Free Asia 12 Jan 2021 -- China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi voiced support for Myanmar's peace talks with ethnic armed groups and called for faster progress on major Chinese-led infrastructure projects in its Southeast Asian neighbor, statements and reports from the two countries said Tuesday.
China fulfills ASEAN priority, provides vaccines to Indonesia, Myanmar Global Times 12 Jan 2021 -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday started his visit to Indonesia as part of his four-nation tour of Southeast Asia, which comes after Indonesia announced on Monday an emergency approval of a Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccine in its national inoculation project.
Myanmar Rights Groups Call For 'Official' Definition of Political Prisoner Radio Free Asia 11 Jan 2021 -- Rights groups working to free political prisoners in Myanmar have called on the government and others in the country to arrive at an agreed definition of the term, saying that vague laws have led to the jailing of hundreds engaged only in peaceful protest, slowing Myanmar's democratic transition.
Myanmar Authorities Investigate July Killing of Rakhine Villager, Relatives Say Radio Free Asia 08 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar police and the military are investigating the case of a civilian allegedly killed by government soldiers six months ago in war-ravaged Rakhine state, after the dead man's family pressed charges against troops for the murder and cover-up, his relatives told RFA Friday.
Myanmar Government Says Rakhine Elections Require Security Guarantees Radio Free Asia 08 Jan 2021 -- The Myanmar military and the rebel Arakan Army, observing a temporary truce in a two-year-long war, must reach a "solid" security guarantee before elections can be held in parts of Rakhine state where elections officials suspended voting in November, a government spokesman said Friday.
Bangladesh: On Track to Complete Barbed-Wire Fence Around Rohingya Camps by Mid-2021 Radio Free Asia 07 Jan 2021 -- Bangladeshi officials said Wednesday that the government's installation of barbed-wire fencing around Rohingya camps – to confine the stateless refugees from Myanmar to their settlements in Cox's Bazar – was almost complete and would be finished by June.
Myanmar Army Urges Rakhine, Shan Elections Before New Parliament Convenes on Feb. 1 Radio Free Asia 07 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar's military, backing a demand of a rebel army amid a fragile cease-fire, called on Thursday for elections to be held by Feb. 1 in strife-torn parts of Rakhine and Shan states where voting had been cancelled before the Nov. 8 general elections for security reasons.
Yangon Police Arrest Nearly 100 Rohingya Being Trafficked From Myanmar to Malaysia Radio Free Asia 07 Jan 2021 -- Myanmar police arrested nearly 100 undocumented Rohingya Muslims from western Myanmar's Rakhine state for illegal travel after raiding two houses in Yangon on Wednesday, saying that they had been trafficked and were heading to Malaysia.
Myanmar police arrest 100 Rohingya for traveling in their own country Press TV 06 Jan 2021 -- Police in Myanmar have arrested about 100 people from the Rohingya Muslim community for leaving their native western state of Rakhine.
Thailand COVID-19 Second Wave Sends Cambodian Migrants Fleeing, Sparks Myanmar Worker Protest Radio Free Asia 05 Jan 2021 -- Thousands of Cambodian migrant laborers are returning home from Thailand following a second outbreak of the deadly virus there over the past week, and aid groups are warning of food shortages among long jobless workers, the migrants and supporters told RFA.
Myanmar Army-Linked Parties Challenge Election Defeats in Supreme Court Radio Free Asia 05 Jan 2021 -- Two Myanmar military-linked political parties, rejecting their landslide loss to Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy in November elections, filed a joint complaint with the Supreme Court accusing the government and national election authorities of electoral fraud, they said Tuesday.
Ethnic Parties Want to Hear Concrete Plans From Myanmar Leadership Radio Free Asia 04 Jan 2021 -- President Win Myint marked Myanmar's Independence Day on Monday with a call for constitutional reform, but ethnic political parties said they wanted to hear the incoming government's plans for negotiating with armed ethnic groups to end long-running wars.

NEWSLETTER

Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

January 2021 - Myanmar Special Weapons News