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Related: Sunday Globe Special: Just Enough Energy For Myanmar Protest Post
Anger tends to energize:
"Suu Kyi takes first trip outside of Myanmar in 24 years; Myanmar pro-democracy leader lands in Thailand with big plans, little planning" by Thomas Fuller | New York Times, May 30, 2012
BANGKOK - In the year and a half since her release from house arrest, those who have had dealings with Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement and a newly elected member of Parliament, have generally been forgiving of the quirks of her operation: Her staff is hard to reach and e-mails often go unanswered.
Did you know, Suu Kyi is Burmese for CIA?
Less forgiving was Thein Sein, the president of Myanmar. He was scheduled to visit Thailand this week, but he canceled the trip soon after news reports appeared saying Suu Kyi would go.
Thein Sein, who has spearheaded the changes in Myanmar since coming to power last year, had been confirmed to speak this week at a conference sponsored by the World Economic Forum, the same group that puts on the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Organizers of the forum announced last week that Suu Kyi would also attend and released a schedule giving her top billing, including a Q-and-A session titled “One-on-One Conversation With a Leader.’’
Fon Mathuros, a spokeswoman for the World Economic Forum, said Thein Sein canceled his appearance with “no further explanation.’’
Nay Zin Latt, an adviser to Thein Sein, said the president could not make time to go.
“He is extremely busy with his work and taking great care of transitioning and transformation,’’ Nay Zin Latt said in an e-mail....
Although she spent much of the time since 1988 under house arrest, Suu Kyi could have left Myanmar but probably would not have been able to return. She stayed, believing that her absence would have made it easier for the military to crush the democracy movement. Her willingness to travel abroad now is a vote of confidence in Myanmar’s moves toward democracy.
Next month, she is scheduled to visit four European nations: Britain, where she will address the two houses of Parliament; Norway, where she will belatedly accept her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize; Switzerland, where she will deliver a speech to the International Labor Organization; and Ireland, where she will meet one of her keenest supporters, Bono, the lead singer of the rock band U2.
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YANGON, Myanmar - President Thein Sein on Sunday declared a state of emergency in a western state where sectarian tensions between Buddhists and Muslims have unleashed deadly violence.
He warned that if the situation spun out of control, it could jeopardize the democratic reforms he has been instituting since taking office last year.
It is the first time Thein Sein has invoked the measure
since becoming president. A state of emergency effectively allows the
military to take over administrative functions for Rakhine State, a
coastal region that borders Bangladesh.
The accounts in state media blamed Friday’s rioting in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships on 1,000 “terrorists,’’ but residents’ accounts made clear they were Muslims.
The unrest seemed to be a reaction to the June 3 lynching of 10 Muslims by a crowd of 300 Buddhists. The lynch mob was apparently provoked by leaflets discussing the rape and murder last month of a Buddhist girl, allegedly by three Muslim men.
The violence reflects longstanding tensions in Rakhine state between Buddhist residents and Muslims, many of whom are considered to be illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh....
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Also see: On Thailand trip, Suu Kyi visits Myanmar migrants
Next Day Update:
"Ethnic violence testing new Myanmar leadership; Long-awaited democratization could be stalled
SITTWE, Myanmar - The handling of the unrest will draw close scrutiny from Western
powers....
At least we now know who is behind the "unrest."
The region’s Rohingya Muslims are seen by the government as illegal
migrants from Bangladesh and are not officially recognized among
Myanmar’s ethnic minorities. Although some are recent settlers, many
have lived in Myanmar for generations. The government position has
rendered the Rohingyas effectively stateless, and rights groups say they
have long suffered discrimination.
The Palestinians of South Asia, although they appear to have approval ("settlers") from the agenda-pushing media (a tell regarding the intelligence operation aspect of the violence?) .
“It’s a tinderbox,’’ said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director
for Human Rights Watch. “These people very much feel like they’re
trapped in a box, surrounded by enemies, and there is an extremely high
level of frustration.’’
The Rohingyas’ plight gained international attention in 2009, when
five boatloads of haggard migrants fleeing Myanmar were detained by Thai
authorities and allegedly sent adrift at sea with little food and
water. Hundreds were believed to have drowned.
Same thing happens to Somalis.
UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, estimates 800,000 Rohingyas
live in Myanmar’s mountainous Rakhine state bordering Bangladesh.
Thousands attempt to flee every year to Bangladesh, Malaysia, and
elsewhere in the region, trying to escape a life of abuse that rights
groups say includes forced labor, violence against Rohingya women, and
restrictions on movement, marriage, and reproduction....
What does that remind you of, 'eh?
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