The International Criminal Court may try to put Senior General Min Aung
Hlaing on trial, he may run for president or he may just stay where he
is
Myanmar
military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing salutes during military
exercises in the Ayeyarwaddy delta region in February 2018. Photo:
AFP/Pool/STR
Will Senior General Min Aung Hlaing be brought before the International
Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity,
or instead be popularly elected on a nationalistic wave as Myanmar’s
next president?
All bets are on for what the future holds for the commander-in-chief of
the country’s highly criticized but politically powerful armed forces.
On one hand, rights groups believe the senior general is responsible for
systematic human rights abuses, primarily in Myanmar’s western Rakhine
State, where an estimated 800,000 Rohingya Muslims were forced by
military “clearance operations” into neighboring Bangladesh beginning in
late August last year.
The refugees brought with them horror stories of rape, murder and arson
committed against them by Min Aung Hlaing’s Tatmadaw, as the military is
known locally.
On the other hand, some political observers sense the nation’s top
soldier has political ambitions, although he has not publicly announced
any plans to run for office. Given de facto national leader Aung San Suu
Kyi’s National League for Democracy’s (NLD) poor performance since
forming an elected government in March 2016, bringing decades of abusive
military or military-backed rule to an end, Myanmar’s people may
already be looking for a fresh alternative.
The military’s campaign against the Rohingya was not unwelcome among
many in Myanmar, who see the Muslim minority group as illegal immigrants
from Bangladesh. What the United Nations and international rights
groups saw as “ethnic cleansing” and even “genocide” appears locally to
have bolstered Min Aung Hlaing’s image and popularity.
Neither scenario – referral to the ICC on charges of crimes against
humanity or a rise to the presidency through elections – is necessarily
on the cards. But international pressure is building for some sort of
accountability for the Rohingya situation.
Amnesty International, a rights group, said in a June 27 report that it
had gathered “extensive” and “credible” evidence to implicate Min Aung
Hlaing and 12 other officials in “crimes against humanity” related to
the military’s campaign against the Rohingya. The report, which claims
the violence was “not the action of rogue soldiers or units” but rather a
“highly orchestrated, systematic attack” calls for the situation to be
referred to the ICC.
“Top military commanders, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,
actually traveled to northern Rakhine State directly before or during
the ethnic cleansing campaign, to oversee parts of the operation,” the
Amnesty report says. “Senior military officials knew – or should have
known – that crimes against humanity were being committed, yet failed to
use their command authority to prevent, stop or punish those crimes,
and even attempted to whitewash the overwhelming majority of them in the
aftermath.”
On June 22, ICC judges asked Myanmar to reply by July 27 to a
prosecution request that the court should exercise jurisdiction over the
alleged crimes. Myanmar is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that
established the ICC in 1998 and therefore appears to be outside its
jurisdiction. The government has said it will not formally respond to
the request.
One possible way around this for ICC prosecutors relates to an
application filed by representatives of victims now before the ICC,
which asserts “as an essential legal element of the crime – crossing an
international border – occurred in the territory of a State which is a
party to the Rome Statute.”
Bangladesh ratified the Rome Statue in March 2010. If the application is
accepted, the ICC could use Bangladesh as jurisdiction. But even if the
case was brought before the ICC, it is unrealistic to believe that Min
Aung Hlaing would appear in The Hague to answer the charges. If a guilty
verdict were handed down in absentia, the only likely impact would be
that the military commander would find it difficult to travel to certain
ICC signatory countries.
At the same time, an ICC verdict and possibly even referral against Min
Aung Hlaing and other top-ranking officers would likely revert Myanmar
to the pariah status it had in the West before certain moves towards
more openness were introduced in 2011 and 2012.
The European Union has already imposed sanctions on seven military
security officers for their roles in the campaign against the Rohingya.
Two have since been dismissed from the army, though the move was widely
seen as scapegoating as it’s not possible they acted of their own
accord.
If Min Aung Hlaing is still unlikely to be prosecuted at the ICC, then
would he consider a run for the presidency? That’s not immediately clear
considering he is much more powerful as commander-in-chief, and even as
a retired high-ranking military officer, than he would be as president
or state counselor, the new position equivalent to prime minister that
was created for Suu Kyi after the NLD’s historic election victory in
November 2015 to get around a constitutional provision barring her from
becoming president.
Zoltan Barany, an American academic and expert on civil-military
relations in Asia, stated in an article for the January issue of Journal
for Democracy that “there has been no significant transfer of power [in
Myanmar] from the generals to elected civilians, and there will be no
such transfer unless and until the Tatmadaw wants it to happen.”
It’s not clear that it does. The army now appoints a quarter of the
members of the Upper and Lower Houses of parliament, a bloc that
consistently protects the military’s autonomous interests. Because more
than three-quarters of all MPs are needed to amend the military-devised
constitution, which was adopted after what most observers consider a
fraudulent referendum in 2008, the military can block any motion to
change the charter.
According to the constitution, the military can legally take over the
government in the event of a “national crisis.” The military also
appoints the heads of the country’s three most important ministries:
defense, home and border affairs.
The home affairs ministry controls the police and its Special Branch,
which is assuming the role of the former dreaded secret Directorate of
the Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI), in effect what was a secret
police force rather than an intelligence service. With the Special
Branch’s rise, the military has assumed more direct control over the
country’s domestic security apparatus.
With all that political, administrative and security power vested in
military hands, there is no clear reason why Min Aung Hlaing would want
to relinquish his top-ranking position to become president, a
prestigious title which would make him a powerless figurehead based in
the virtually empty capital of Naypyitaw.
As many observers believe that the government is in the driver’s seat,
Suu Kyi has been criticized for the Rohingya crisis despite the fact she
has no power over the military. That has simultaneously given the
military insulation from taking sole blame for the atrocities. Suu Kyi
may be accused of not speaking out against atrocities committed by
the Tatmadaw, but that hardly makes her “complicit” in war crimes, as
suggested by some activists who would like to see her referred to the
ICC.
Min Aung Hlaing is without doubt the most powerful person in the country
and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Born in Dawei in
the Tanintharyi Region in 1956, he studied law at university level from
1972 to 1973 and was admitted at his third attempt to the elite Defense
Services Academy in 1974.
Upon graduation in 1977, he was commissioned as second lieutenant and
joined the regular army, from where he was rapidly promoted. In 2001, he
became commander of the 44th Light Infantry Division and
later head of the Western Command, with responsibility for the borders
with India and Bangladesh. From 2005 to 2008, he served as commander of
the Triangle Regional Command in eastern Shan state.
He rose to prominence and power when as chief of the Bureau of Special
Operations (2) in 2009 he led an offensive against the insurgent Myanmar
National Democratic Alliance Army in Kokang, a district in northeastern
Shan state dominated by ethnic Chinese. He has been commander-in-chief
since March 2011, replacing the old junta chief, Senior General Than
Shwe.
As the military’s top soldier, he has deftly outmaneuvered potential
rivals within the Tatmadaw by having them either sacked for corruption
or for promoting officers lower in the hierarchy than those immediately
beneath him. In that way, he has created an officer corps that is
immensely loyal to him.
Min Aung Hlaing’s outlook on the region is harder to ascertain. He
represented the Tatmadaw at negotiations to strengthen ties with China
in November 2011, when he reportedly signed a bilateral defense
agreement for closer cooperation in security matters along their common
border. He also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on that occasion.
But it was not forgotten, at least not in Beijing, that his first
foreign trip after becoming military chief was to China’s traditional
enemy Vietnam. Myanmar and Vietnam share the same fear of their common,
powerful northern neighbor, so it is reasonable to assume that Min Aung
Hlaing had a lot to discuss with his Vietnamese hosts.
In fact, Naypyitaw insiders assert that Min Aung Hlaing and his fellow
officers think that Suu Kyi is too close to the Chinese and easily
manipulated by them.
It is too early to predict what will happen at the next election in
2020. There is no doubt that the NLD has lost much of its former
popularity, especially in ethnic areas where people feel let down by Suu
Kyi’s inability to understand their grievances, but also among urban
intellectuals and veteran pro-democracy activists who have seen the high
hopes they embraced in 2015 dashed by the NLD’s poor performance.
Political analysts believe that there is little to no chance that the
military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which
formed a government after a widely criticized and allegedly rigged
election in November 2010 and held office until the NLD took over in
2016, will win. But the USDP, and therefore the military, may aim to
split the NLD’s 2015 voting base by making alliances with regional
ethnic parties and promoting splinter parties in the Myanmar heartland,
where the NLD still has a significant following.
What is more certain is that the military, which has ruled the country
in different guises since 1962, will remain for the foreseeable future
Myanmar’s most powerful institution. Min Aung Hlaing, who will turn 62
in July, may or may not retire before then. But given the past history
of Myanmar military strongmen accused of rights and other abuses, he is
unlikely to fade from the scene any time soon.
The Annapolis community reacts
to the loss of five people who were killed when a shooter opened fire at
the Capital Gazette on June 28.(Allie Caren, Jordan Frasier/The Washington Post) By Dana Hedgpeth and Ashley Halsey IIIJune 29 at 4:23 PM
The man accused of killing five Capital Gazette staff had threatened the
newspaper in 2013 but then “went dark,” police said. Until Thursday.
Shortly before Jarrod Ramos blasted out the glass doors of the newsroom
near Annapolis at about 3 p.m., he sent another threat on social media,
police said, and then unleashed his rampage, shooting with a legally
purchased 12-gauge pump-action shotgun until he finally laid it down and
hid under a desk as police arrived.
Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams said Ramos’s actions,
including barrricading a back door so people could not escape and his
“tactical approach of hunting down and shooting the innocent victims,”
was evidence of a “coordinated attack.”
On Friday, a judge ordered Ramos of Laurel to remain detained and
ordered him held without bond on five counts of murder as Ramos appeared
via a video feed from a detention center.
At the bond hearing, Adams called Ramos an “overwhelming threat and danger to our community.”
The Capital Gazette and its lawyer had reported the May 2013 threats and
spoke with a detective who investigated. The newspaper decided not to
pursue criminal charges because it might “exacerbate” the situation,
Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy J. Altomare said Friday during a
news conference.
The threats came amid a lawsuit Ramos filed accusing the paper of
defaming him through a column describing his guilty plea to harassing a
woman over social media. He lost the defamation case.
Adams said Ramos worked his way through the office, shooting victims
along the way. “There was one victim that attempted to escape through
the back door but was shot,” he told the judge. He also used smoke
grenades, police said.
Four journalists and a sales associate for the Capital Gazette died and
two people suffered what police called minor injuries. The shootings are
believed to be the deadliest attack on journalists in the United States
in decades.
Ramos appeared in the video feed in court in a blue, v-neck prison
uniform. He said nothing and was expressionless. He stared at the
camera.
Ramos is unemployed and lives alone, according to testimony presented at the hearing.
John Cusumano described his neighbor, who opened fire at the staff of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis June 28, as "quiet."(Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)
Police said that after a search of his Laurel apartment Thursday, they
found evidence, which they did not detail, showing he had planned the
attack.
Ramos acted alone and drove a rental car to the newspaper office, police
said. Within about a minute of entering the newsroom, police found
Ramos beneath a desk, authorities said. No shots were exchanged, they
said.
According to Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh, the social media
message Ramos allegedly posted shortly before the attack said
“something like ‘leave me alone’ or ‘leave me the hell alone.’”
He said it was not clear if that message from Ramos was directed at the Capital Gazette or “at the world.”
It went on, “This page is intentionally left blank today to commemorate victims of Thursday’s shooting at our office.”
The victims were Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca
Smith and Wendi Winters. Fischman and Hiaasen were editors, McNamara was
a reporter, Smith was a sales assistant and Winters worked for special
publications, according to the newspaper’s website.
The two people injured were likely hit by broken glass, according to officials.
Schuh said in an interview Friday that Ramos had a “long-standing grievance” with the newspaper and had filed lawsuits against the paper and “lost them all.”
Ramos lost a defamation case against the paper in 2015 over a 2011
column he contended defamed him. The column provided an account of
Ramos’s guilty plea to criminal harassment of a woman over social media.
Ramos had not been cooperative with investigators and “hasn’t said much
the whole time,” Altomare said Friday. He had no wallet or other
identification on him at the time, according to the charging documents
filed against him.
Officials said Ramos was identified using a facial recognition system after he was in custody .
President Trump addressed the shooting Friday calling it a “horrific,
horrible thing” that “shocked the conscience of our nation and filled
our hearts with grief.”
“Journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their job,” Trump said.
The president has previously called the news media “the enemy of the American people.”
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) commended the quick police response. On
Friday, he ordered Maryland flags to be flown at half-staff.
“It’s a tragic situation, but there were some very brave people who came
in and kept it from being worse, and the response time was incredible,”
Hogan said. .
The Capital Gazette, Annapolis’s daily newspaper, is widely read in
Maryland’s capital and in surrounding Anne Arundel County. The paper
promotes itself as one of the oldest publishers in the country, with
roots dating to the Maryland Gazette in 1727.
The paper has 31 people on its editorial staff and had a daily
circulation of about 29,000 and a Sunday circulation of 34,000 as of
2014.
On Friday’s edition of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Keith
Cyphers — whose sales office is across the hall from the Gazette’s —
recalled the shooting scene.
He said he was on the phone with a client and heard an “incredibly loud noise” and thought it was possibly an explosion.
When he leaned from his desk and looked out into the hallway and into
the Gazette’s office and lobby, he saw that the newspaper office’s glass
door was gone, he said.
“It was broken into a million pieces in the hallway,” Cyphers said. Then he saw the gunman “holding a black shotgun.”
“It was up against his chest,” Cyphers said. “He was moving through the
lobby” of the Gazette. “He was moving while aiming deeper into the
office.”
Ramos seemed to carry a grudge for years against the Gazette after he
was the subject of a column describing how he harassed a former
classmate from Arundel High School, first on Facebook and then through
emails. Ramos pleaded guilty in July 2011 to harassment. In a column
written by Eric Hartley several days later, the woman described how
Ramos had stalked her online and perhaps caused her to lose her job.
Ramos then apparently created a website that detailed his complaints
against Hartley and the newspaper. Hartley is no longer at the Gazette
and now works as an editor at the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va.
The chief told reporters the decision not to pursue charges against Ramos at the time was not a misstep by the department.
“Every day we talk to people who don’t want to make charges,” Altomare
said. “I don’t feel the department was negligent in any way.”
A spokesman for the Department of Labor said that Ramos worked as a
contractor for an IT company hired by the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
and that he was terminated in 2014. The spokesman did not know if he was
terminated by the contractor or the bureau, or how long Ramos had
worked there. Ramos’s lawyer said in 2011 that he had been working at
the bureau since 2005.
Ramos graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering
from Capitol College, now Capitol Technology University, in Laurel.
Investigators are still piecing together exactly how Thursday’s shooting unfolded.
The shooting began about 3 p.m. in a brown five-story office building
just outside downtown Annapolis. It sits about four miles west of
Maryland’s statehouse.
The newsroom is on the first floor of the office building and is easily
accessible from the main entrance, according to a local politician.
Shortly after the attack, Gazette reporter Phil Davis posted this
message on Twitter: “There is nothing more terrifying than hearing
multiple people get shot while you’re under your desk and then hear the
gunman reload.”
Police carrying automatic weapons rushed about 170 office workers with
their hands above their heads out of the building to a department store
across the street.
Sgt. Amy Miguez, an Annapolis Police Department spokeswoman, said that
early on Thursday she received a text message from Davis and that she
referred the reporter to county police when he said he was working on a
story jurisdictional lines between city and county police and needed
help to get it straight.
At 2:41, Davis texted Miguez again and wrote: “Help. Shooting at office.”
Miguez initially thought it was a joke and again referred him to call
county police, because they have jurisdiction at the Gazette offices.
Davis quickly responded that he couldn’t call and that he was trying to stay as quiet as possible.
Michael Brice-Saddler, Lynh Bui, Paul Farhi, Joe Heim, Peter Hermann,
Arelis R. Hernández, Reis Thebault, Rachel Weiner and Clarence Williams
contributed to this report.
Cathy Newman-29 Jun 2018Presenter In
an exclusive interview with Channel 4 News, Russia’s top diplomat said
he would not rule out the possibility that the UK was engaged in a
cover-up. Sergey Lavrov also claimed that “all kinds of tricks” had been
used to change the rules of the OPCW, the international chemical
watchdog.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has accused Britain of an
“extermination of the evidence” in the Skripal poisoning case.
In an exclusive interview with Channel 4 News, Russia’s top diplomat
said he would not rule out the possibility that the UK was engaged in a
cover-up.
Speaking in Moscow this morning, he also claimed that “all kinds of
tricks” had been used to change the rules of the OPCW, the international
chemical watchdog.
Mr Lavrov claimed there had been a “violation” of the chemical weapons
convention, and said that if the OPCW was not repaired then “the days of
the OPCW would be counted, at least it would not remain as a universal
organisation”.
Accusing the US, Britain and EU of always believing that Russia was
guilty without the evidence, he said: “In my view, rule of law means
that unless proven guilty, you cannot sentence people. And that’s what’s
happening with Skripal.”
A senior Foreign Office source responded to Mr Lavrov’s claims about the
Skripal case, saying: “This is so blatantly concocted, it’s on the
verge of being stupid.”
Skripal case
Discussing the nerve agent attack in England on Sergei Skripal and his
daughter, Yulia, earlier this year, Mr Lavrov said the situation was
“looks very weird”.
“The inconsistencies in the situation with Skripals are very troubling,”
he said. “We never managed to get consular access to our citizen – in
violation of all international conventions, diplomatic and consular
relations. We never got any credible explanation why the nephew – or
aunt – of this Yulia Skripal is not given visa.
“It all looks like consistent physical extermination of the
evidence. Like the benches in the park were removed immediately and of
course the video images when the policeman or special forces in special
attire go to take a look at this bench there’s people without any
protection moving around.”
Asked whether he was accusing the British government of a cover-up, he
said: “I don’t exclude this, as long as they don’t give us information.”
He added: “Certainly, the UK has benefited politically from what is
going on and it’s an interesting situation whereby a country that is
leaving the EU is determining the EU policy on Russia.”
Relations with America
Allegations that Russia interfered in the last US presidential elections
were being “used to ruin the Russia-America relations,” Mr Lavrov said.
He said the way that Rex Tillerson, the former US Secretary of State,
dealt with the situation was “not mature” and “very childish”, because
he refused to share evidence apparently uncovered by investigators.
He also dismissed the idea that his country may hold compromising
material on President Trump, saying that – without proof – the
accusations were “shameful”.
“I don’t know what people can invent,” he said, adding that claims about
Russia’s interference in the 2016 US elections were “a manifestation of
deep domestic controversy because the losers don’t have the guts to
accept that they lost the elections.”
National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has delivered his most trenchant criticism yet of the Russian government, describing it unequivocally as “corrupt”.
His comments mean the proposed US-Russia summit in Helsinki on 16 July
is potentially risky for him if Donald Trump was to request Vladimir Putin to hand him over.
Snowden is wanted in the US on three charges under the Espionage Act,
carrying a minimum of 10 years each in jail. Putin could balance the
propaganda value of having Snowden in Russia against providing Trump with an easy gift.
In an interview with the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung Snowden, who
has lived in Russia since 2013, said: “The Russian government is corrupt
in many ways, that’s something the Russian people realise. Russian
people are warm. They are clever. It’s a beautiful country. Their
government is the problem not the people.”
Snowden faced criticism in the first couple of years after he arrived in
Russia of not criticising the Putin government but he has gradually
become more outspoken, including in his defence of journalists.
Russia is the only safe haven in the world for Snowden. China would not
allow him access to the mainland when he was in Hong Kong in 2013.
Neither Germany, where there is strong public support for Snowden, nor
any other European country appears willing to fall out with the US by
offering him sanctuary. If he made it to Latin America or anywhere else
in the world, the US could apply economic pressure or send in a CIA team
to kidnap him.
He said: “I’ve already accepted that I am going to spend my life dealing
with enormous consequences for my decision to tell the public what I
know. But if not for me, by all means, Germany should pass the necessary
laws to allow future whistleblowers to find a safe harbour.”
Snowden said if a Russian whistleblower was to turn up on chancellor
Angela Merkel’s doorstep, she would protect them. “But if an American
whistleblower shows up on Merkel’s doorstep? That question has not been
answered,” Snowden said.
He expressed disappointment with Merkel’s public position on
whistleblowers. “We’ve talked so much about Russia today and the
disappointments and the challenges that the public is facing because of
the problems of their government. What would it say to the world if the
only place an American whistleblower can be safe is in Russia?”
Asked about WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, with whom he is often compared, Snowden said:
“I’m a reformist, he’s a revolutionary. I don’t want to burn the system down, if I believe it can still be saved.”
Although Assange helped organise Snowden’s escape from Hong Kong, the
two hold many different views, including how much classified information
should be published, with Snowden favouring a more selective approach.
YOUNG people across the world are increasingly taking a pessimistic view
of business, with most believing that their employers do not behave
ethically and that most business leaders are not truly committed to
diversity.
Global consultancy Deloitte’s 2018 Millennial Survey looked
at the views of 10,455 people born between January 1983 and December
1994 – millennials who already have university degrees, are employed
fulltime and work primarily in large, private-sector organisations.
The survey was conducted across 36 countries including China, India,
Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, New Zealand
and South Korea.
It also looked at the views of 1844 Gen Z respondents born between
January 1995 and December 1999 who are currently studying or have
already obtained a degree.
It found a majority of millennials are “uneasy about the future” and
feel unprepared for economies to enter Industry 4.0 – the shift to
“smart factories” in which robotics and automation is already
transforming manufacturing.
Only 36 percent of respondents said that their organisations were preparing them for the changes of Industry 4.0.
Source: Deloitte
Most millennial workers highly valued diversity and flexibility in the
workplace, with employers demonstrating these characteristics attracting
greater loyalty. People working for organisations they perceived as
diverse were much more likely to say they wanted to work there longer
than five years.
Financial reward was still the primary consideration in choosing
employment, however, being part of a “positive work environment” was the
most important factor for new graduates.
“Millennials aren’t naïve—they realise profits are both necessary and a
priority. But they believe that corporations should set out to achieve a
broad balance of objectives,” including making a positive impact on
society, creating innovative products and services, job creation, and
diversity in the workplace, said the report.
Around 69 percent of employees who believed senior management teams were
diverse saw their work environments as motivating and stimulating –
compared to just 43 percent of those who don’t perceive their leadership
as diverse.
“To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial
performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to
society,” according to the CEO of investment management firm BlackRock
Larry Fink.
“Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including
shareholders, employees, customers and the communities in which they
operate.”
But ultimately, Deloitte found, most millennials continue to believe
employers were “prioritising the bottom line above workers, society and
the environment, leaving them with little sense of loyalty.”
“The message is clear: Young workers are eager for business leaders to
be proactive about making a positive impact in society – and to be
responsive to employees’ needs.”
ARSAL, Lebanon -
Hundreds of Syrian refugees left northeast Lebanon yesterday morning in
pick-up trucks jam-packed with their belongings: mattresses, gas stoves,
crockery, children’s toys as well as the occasional bird cage.
They were headed for the Qalamoun region of Syria, just a few hours
drive from the camps they had lived in for the past few years in Arsal, a
Lebanese border town.
All of them reported having fled the intense fighting back in 2013.
According to one of the organisers, Khaled Abdelaziz, there are roughly
20,000 people from Qalamoun in Arsal, out of the 50,000 to 60,000
refugees in the area.
Relatives and friends waved tearful goodbyes. “I hope you arrive safely
and that we’ll see each other soon in Syria," sobbed an elderly lady as
she embraced Hajer Darwish, a young mother of two sitting in the front
of a pick-up truck driven by her husband. “She’s crying because we’re
leaving and she’s staying,” explained Darwish, smiling.
“We’re so happy to go back to our country. I haven’t slept all night.”
Darwish’s sons, who were born in Lebanon, will be seeing their parents’ country for the first time. They have high hopes.
“In Syria, there are sheep, cows, chickens, swimming pools and water,”
lists one of them. Water and electricity cuts are common in the camps
surrounding Arsal, where living conditions are rudimentary.
'Look at those leaving: they’re mostly women, children or men who are too old for the army'
- Oum Hussein, refugee
Standing on her balcony to watch the trucks waiting to leave, one Lebanese woman seemed relieved.
“A few hundred people is not many, but it still means fewer refugees in Arsal."
The town has suffered from severe spillover from the Syrian war. The departure has been months in the making.
“Following a reconciliation deal, two traders from the town of Fleeta
living in Arsal started circulating lists of names of refugees who were
interested in returning to the Qalamoun area,” explained Mireille
Girard, the UNHCR representative in Lebanon, in an interview mid-June.
The names were handed over to the Lebanese General Security, a branch of
the intelligence services, who sent them to Damascus for approval. Over
3,000 people registered, but only 360 left yesterday, according to a
Lebanese army colonel who was coordinating their departure on the
ground. Later in the day, General Security announced that actually only
294 people made the trip back to Syria.
The Lebanese army check the names of Syrians who were approved by Damascus to return to Syria (MEE/Sunniva Rose)
In many cases, the only person to be approved in the family was female.
As a result, the entire family stayed in Lebanon. Hayla Jassatir, a
29-year-old mother of six, had packed her truck together with her
husband, Muhammad Kanaan, hoping that he would be able to leave with
her. But it was not to be.
“Who will drive us to Fleeta if he can’t come?” she complained. Like a
dozen other people in the same situation, Jassatir kept asking a
harassed-looking young man carrying a long list of names to double check
whether her husband’s name might be on it.
A widow from Yabroud, who wished to remain anonymous, was caught in a
similar bind. “I have been approved, but not my daughter and her
husband,” she explained. “I thank Lebanon for hosting us, but I cannot
be happy until I go home. The first thing I want to do is paint and fix
the house."
Those watching their relatives leaving were uncertain whether they would
be following them soon. Samira Boutara’s father and his pregnant second
wife left yesterday for Jrajeer to scout the town.
“We haven’t registered yet. We don’t know if it’s safe enough back home,” said Boutara.
“We’ll just go back to our nylon bag now," she laughed, referring to her tent in one of Arsal’s camps.
“We hate the camp here," one of her sisters chimed in, more seriously.
“We might be too poor to rebuild our houses in Syria, but we’re happy to just cover the holes and windows and live like that.”
Overall, the Syrians who left yesterday represented only a small portion
of the refugees in Arsal, and their number is insignificant when
compared with the number of Syrians in Lebanon - over one million. The
UNHCR identified 11,000 spontaneous departures last year.
Returnees must meet several conditions. First, cooperate fully with the
Syrian authorities, which means openly stating their support for Bashar
al-Assad. Second, they must be willing to send the young men of the
family to the army, as military service is obligatory for men aged
between 18 and 42.
“Look at those leaving: they’re mostly women, children or men who are
too old for the army,” observed Oum Hussein, who stood by the side of
the road waving goodbye to a friend leaving for Fleeta.
She is too afraid to return to Syria. Her family is strongly associated
with the opposition: her husband died in anti-government demonstrations
back in 2011, and her son deserted the Syrian army before being killed.
She now lives in Arsal with three of her children. Only one member of
her extended family has dared register his name to return to Syria.
“It’s only because he thinks that he might lose his house in Damascus.
He has another house in Yabroud but he’s less worried about it. The
regime is mostly interested in demographic change around the capital,”
says Oum Hussein.
Land seizures
A law issued in April allows the Syrian government to seize land for
developments. Syrians have a year to present their deeds to local
council offices in the country. By “demographic change”, Oum Hussein was
referring to a common fear: that Assad is trying to destroy former
opposition bastions and replace them with pro-government populations.
However, many Syrian men who volunteered to return home from Arsal
argued that they were not worried at the prospect of having to join the
army. “I’ll go back to my country and fight armed groups,” claimed
28-year old Mohammad Ramadan, sitting in his tent in Arsal last week.
“But first, I’ll be allowed a break of six months to a year,” he added.
His family has heard that Syrian men who returned last summer to the
small town of Assal al-Ward, near the Lebanese border, still haven’t
been summoned by the army.
Ramadan has registered to leave but has not been approved yet.
People ready to leave Arsal on their tractor (MEE/Sunniva Rose)
Lebanon has every interest in making sure that voluntary departures such
as the one that took place in Arsal run smoothly. The foreign
minister’s chief of cabinet, Hadi Hachem, told Reuters this week that
“for us, this group of people will be like a pilot project” to encourage
other Syrians to go home.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun frequently repeats that Syrians should
return to their country irrespective of progress on a political solution
there.
His son-in-law, caretaker foreign minister Gebran Bassil, is at war with
the UNHCR since he froze the renewal of visas for foreign UNHCR staff
in Lebanon earlier this month. The minister accuses the UN – and the
rest of the international community – of discouraging Syrian refugees
from returning to their country.
The possibility of a permanent settlement of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
is a highly sensitive topic in Lebanon and brings back memories from the
civil war, which was in part triggered by the presence of Palestinian
refugees.
Mireille Girard, UNHCR representative in Lebanon, flatly denies this
claim. “We are not opposed to the return of those who want to,” she
said.
The organisation did not participate in the coordination of the
refugees’ return, as it does not deem Syria safe enough. But it
accompanies refugees through the final administrative steps that are
necessary before leaving Lebanon.
“They give us their address in Syria and then, if we get the permission
to visit the area, we try to find them again,” adds Girard. In the case
of the town of Assal al-Ward, the UNHCR was allowed to visit the
returnees, but it is still waiting for permission to visit Fleeta and
its surrounding villages.
By Rohingya Vision TV Correspondents | 29th June 2018
Tongbru: A Rohingya boy was shot by Burmese security forces, while playing at no man land between Burma-Bangladesh border, yesterday (28th June, 2018), report sources.
A 10 years old boy was shot on his thigh while playing at the border
area between Burma-Bangladesh at 4:00 pm by a Burmese Luien Thein
(security force).
He was identified to be Ansar Ullah S/O Zamir Hussain, 11 originally
hailing from the Raimmurhali (Rein Chaung) village track of Mauangdaw
Township.
Ansar Ullah was shot while he was playing along with other 15-10
children at the border area, where 1000s of Rohingay are sheltering
since late 2017.
By Rohingya Vision TV Correspondents | 1st March 2018 Zero-Line: Burmese
military started gunfire at no man land by invading the area through
the border barricades since late evening today (1st March), leaving
sheltering Rohingya in extreme panic. According to sheltering Rohingya
since 07:00 PM military vehicles entered the area and started random
firing all … Continue reading
According to a community leader at zero-point, immediately after he was
shot, he was rescued by Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members. After
that he was taken to Kutupalong Red Crescent Hospital and is heard to be
treated there.
Dil Mohammad, a Rohingya community leader, told the correspondent of the daily star that
a patrolling Burmese security force from Myanmar territory opened fire
on a group of 15-20 Rohingya children, who were playing football at
Konapara in the no man’s land.
Rohingy boy Ansar Ullah, 11 shot by Burmese security forces on 28th June 2018. Image: RVISION TV
Burmese forces brutal clearance operation have forced more than 800, 000
Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. Those tortures left no choice for
other 7000 Rohingya as well, whom are sheltering at this no man land.
There they are constantly tortured, harassed and threatened by the
Burmese forces on regular basis, where they are already lingering for a
daily meal.
To send reports and feedback, please email editor@rvisiontv.com
LONDON (Reuters) - More support should be given to music artists dealing
with mental health problems and singers, DJs and musicians should talk
more openly about their concerns, British singer-songwriter James Arthur
has said.
The 30-year-old former “The X Factor” winner, who has previously spoken
about his battle with anxiety, said awareness of the pressures facing
performers has increased.
“Mental health ... is of paramount importance in the music industry I
think and maybe there should be more (help) in place,” Arthur, an
ambassador for British mental health charity SANE, told Reuters in an
interview.
“It’s very important that people speak out and ... aren’t condemned for cancelling gigs,” he said.
The death of 28-year-old Swedish DJ Avicii in April shocked the music
industry. His family said the performer, whose real name was Tim
Bergling, had struggled with life and “could not go on any longer.”
“People are definitely more aware of how demanding it is to be a
superstar DJ for example like Avicii - a tragic thing happened there,”
Arthur said.
“It’s tough ... you don’t have time to really embrace a lot of stuff,
and especially in the DJ world. It’s like sometimes they do two New Year
shows, they have to fly from Australia to New York in the same night
... I mean I struggle with three gigs in a row.”
Arthur, known for ballads like “Say You Won’t Let Go” and “Naked”, was
catapulted into the spotlight when he won the 2012 edition of British
talent show “The X Factor” and topped the charts with single
“Impossible”.
FILE PHOTO: 2017 MTV Video Music Awards –
Arrivals – Inglewood, California, U.S., 27/08/2017 - James Arthur.
REUTERS/Danny Moloshok/File Photo
The singer, who said he was now “in a good place”, added he is now
branching out into different genres, such as his latest more up-tempo
“You Deserve Better” song and collaborating with DJ Marshmello and
rapper Juicy J for the track “You Can Cry”.
“I’m about trying lots of different things and being versatile,” he said.
Reporting By Lisa Keddie; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Myanmar
military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing salutes during military
exercises in the Ayeyarwaddy delta region in February 2018. Photo:
AFP/Pool/STR
JUNE 28, 2018
Edward Snowden in 2018. Photograph: Lindsay Mills
Ewen MacAskill-
Sunniva Rose-Friday 29 June 2018 
The Lebanese army check the names of Syrians who were approved by Damascus to return to Syria (MEE/Sunniva Rose)
People ready to leave Arsal on their tractor (MEE/Sunniva Rose)
Tongbru: A Rohingya boy was shot by Burmese security forces, while playing at no man land between Burma-Bangladesh border, yesterday (28th June, 2018), report sources.
Rohingya News, Analysis, Documentaries & Videos from Rohingya Vision
Lisa Keddie- JUNE 29, 2018