Rohingya crisis: UN reps to visit Rakhine; exodus expected to reach 7L

Agencies
September 28, 2017

United Nations, Sept 28: Representatives of UN agencies will be permitted to visit Rakhine state in Myanmar on Thursday for the first time since the start of a massive exodus of minority Rohingya Muslims.

The United Nations has been demanding access since its humanitarian organisations were forced to pull out of Rakhine when Myanmar's military launched operations against Rohingya rebels in late August, causing hundreds of thousands to flee into neighboring Bangladesh.

"There will be a trip organised by the government, probably on Thursday, to Rakhine," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "We hope above all that it is a first step toward much freer and wider access to the area," he said at his daily news briefing. He said the chiefs of UN agencies would take part in the trip.

The UN has drawn up a contingency plan to feed up to 7,00,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, and warned that those who fled will not be returning home soon. "All the UN agencies together have now set a plan for a new influx of 7,00,000. We can cover if the new influx reaches 7,00,000," the World Food Program's deputy chief in Bangladesh, Dipayan Bhattacharyya, said on Wednesday.

'Return will take time'

UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said that for those who have fled to Bangladesh, "return will take time, if it happens, if the violence stops."

Myanmar's military, under fire for imposing a news blackout on the campaign around the city of Maungdaw in the country's west, on Wednesday organised a press tour in the Hindu village of Ye Baw Kyaw.

Mass graves containing 45 Hindu villagers were discovered in the area earlier this week, and the military has accused Rohingya militants of carrying out the massacre. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) "categorically" denied that its members "perpetrated murder, sexual violence, or forcible recruitment" in the area. The decomposing skeletal bodies remained laid out in rows on a grassy field outside Ye Baw Kyaw as distraught relatives wailed, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

Hindus who fled the area have told AFP that masked men stormed into their community and hacked victims to death with machetes before dumping them into freshly-dug pits.

Myanmar's army has tried to control the narrative over the crisis, restricting press access to the conflict zone while it posts regular updates that blame Rohingya militants for the bloodshed. Government and military reports have also sought to highlight the suffering of other ethnic groups, such as Rakhine Buddhists and Hindus, swept up in the communal unrest.

Ethnic cleansing accusations

The latest violence has intensified long-running religious hatreds and been complicated by a swirl of rival narratives from different ethnic groups.

Thursday's visit for the UN representatives will come on the same day that the UN Security Council meets on the situation in Myanmar. On 13 September, the council demanded "immediate steps" to end the Myanmar violence and expressed concern about "excessive force" being used by the military.

The council also called on the Myanmar government to abide by its commitment to facilitate humanitarian aid in Rakhine, but until now that request has not been met.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will address the UN Security Council during its open door session. As a former UN high commissioner on refugees, Guterres knows Rakhine and the context of the current crisis intimately.

With accusations of "ethnic cleansing" being levelled at the country, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said last week she was "ready" to organise the return of the Rohingyas.

The Rohingyas, the world's largest stateless group, are treated as foreigners in Myanmar, whose population is 90 percent Buddhist.

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Agencies
January 20,2020

Wuhan, Jan 20: A 45-year-old Indian woman has become the first foreigner in China to have contracted a mysterious virus, which is suspected to be Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-like corona virus.

In 2002-2003, the SARS corona virus killed around 650 people in China and Hong Kong. This time, a new strain of virus with 62 cases have been reported in Wuhan and two in Shenzhen so far. 19 patients have been already cured and discharged, as per the Chinese media.

Official sources in Beijing said that the patient, Preeti Maheshwari, a school teacher at an international school, is undergoing treatment for the new strain of pneumonia outbreak, which has been spreading in two major cities of China - Wuhan and Shenzen. She has been on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.

Maheshwari was admitted to a local hospital after she seriously fell ill last Friday. Her husband, a businessman from Delhi, is allowed to visit her daily.

Following a second death due to the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan, India on Friday issued an advisory to its nationals travelling to China. Over 500 Indian medical students are studying in Wuhan.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Islamabad, Jun 24: A plane crash which killed 97 people in Pakistan last month was because of human error by the pilot and air traffic control, according to an initial report into the disaster released Wednesday.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among houses on May 22 after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport, killing all but two people on board.

"The pilot as well as the controller didn't follow the standard rules," the country's aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said, announcing the findings in parliament.

He said the pilots had been discussing the coronavirus pandemic as they attempted to land the Airbus A320.

"The pilot and co-pilot were not focused and throughout the conversation was about coronavirus," Khan said.

The Pakistani investigation team, which included officials from the French government and the aviation industry, analysed data and voice recorders.

The minister said the plane was "100 percent fit for flying, there was no technical fault".

The county's deadliest aviation accident in eight years came days after domestic commercial flights resumed following a two-month coronavirus lockdown.

Many passengers were on their way to spend the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr with loved ones.

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News Network
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has thanked the medics and staff of the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) for saving his life after he tested positive for the coronavirus, saying he owed them his life.

In his first public statement since being moved out of the intensive care at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London on Saturday, the 55-year-old Johnson said, “I can't thank them enough, I owe them my life.”

Downing Street has said that Johnson, who completes a week in hospital on Sunday after being shifted there with persistent COVID-19 symptoms, continues to make “very good progress” while on the ward.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on April 12

He has been able to take short walks as his doctors monitor his recovery after being moved out of the intensive care and has been watching films and doing puzzles in his hospital bed.

Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant with their first child, is said to have sent him letters and baby scans to lift his spirits during his time in the hospital.

Thousands of get-well-soon cards have also poured in for the prime minister since he went into self-isolation after testing positive for coronavirus over two weeks ago.

Asked about plans for his return to work, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Saturday that the UK PM needed "time and space to rest, recuperate and recover".

The Indian-origin Cabinet minister, who led the daily Downing Street update on the pandemic on Saturday, revealed that the UK had recorded 917 new coronavirus deaths, taking the total deaths in the country to 9,875.

According to the Johns Hopkins University data, the country has nearly 80,000 coronavirus cases.

Patel urged people to stay at home over the Easter weekend to curb the spread of the virus, despite warm and sunny weather across parts of the UK.

“We have given the police powers to enforce the necessary measures we have put in place, including through enforcement fines," said Patel.

"If you don't play your part... our selfless police will be unafraid to act. You will be endangering the lives of your own family, friends and loved ones," she said.

Meanwhile, an Easter message posted on the official 10 Downing Street Twitter account on behalf of the prime minister also urged people to stay at home to save lives.

It read: “Wishing everyone a very happy Easter from Downing Street.

“This year across the country churches will remain closed, and families will spend the day apart. But by staying home, remember, you are protecting the NHS and saving lives.” 

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