Malaysia resolving red tape on land travel to Brunei border

PM says Brunei and Malaysia have set up a technical committee to resolve bureaucracy issues involving land travel to the Brunei border.

MIRI: Bureaucratic formalities involving land travel between Malaysia and Brunei will be resolved soon, says Prime Minister Najib Razak.

He said the Brunei government had in principle agreed to resolve the issue of bureaucracy along the common border with Malaysia and had set up a technical committee for the purpose.

“The technical committee is looking into facilitating land journeys without the need for passport checks,” he told reporters after launching eight packages of the Pan Borneo Highway for Sarawak, costing a total of RM12.5 billion, here today.

“This matter is being studied and we should be getting a final decision soon,” he added.

Najib said at present, Malaysians from Sabah and Sarawak and the people of Brunei had to go through eight Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complexes.

He said this resulted in the passports of those frequently commuting between Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei, to be stamped as many as 16 times.

When asked about the construction of the five-kilometre Batang Lupar Bridge, Najib confirmed that the federal government was currently in discussions with the Sarawak government over the matter.

The bridge is slated to be built in 2018 as the cost of construction is to be shared by both governments.

“It is expected to cost RM1 billion, and when completed, will be the longest bridge in South East Asia,” he said.

He added that once the bridge was completed, Sarawak would have two highways which would benefit the people living along the coastline and interior of the state.

Najib also said the bridge would be part of the Sarawak coastal highway while the Pan Borneo Highway would connect those living in the interior areas.


Sumber - Free Malaysia Today

Burmese Troops Are ‘Squarely Responsible’ for Torching Rohingya Muslim Villages: Rights Group

Feliz Solomon

Some 21,000 Rohingya have fled across the border into Bangladesh with harrowing stories

The Burmese army has burned down more than 1,500 homes and other buildings in a systematic pattern of destruction targeting the country’s stateless Rohingya Muslims, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In a statement released Tuesday, the watchdog said it had collected satellite images and interviews with refugees that directly implicate the army, which has consistently denied allegations of wrongdoing and instead blamed suspected Rohingya jihadists, claiming that they have been torching their own communities.

“The Burma government and military’s barrage of unsubstantiated claims that the Rohingya are burning down their own villages have now finally been exposed as the fraud that we suspected all along,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for HRW, tells TIME.

“Rather than continue this game of denials, the Burmese government should allow access to urgently needed humanitarian assistance, and permit U.N. investigators and the media into these areas to investigate how this human rights disaster has come about, and who needs to be held responsible,” he adds.

Armed military troops and police force travel in trucks through Maungdaw, in Rakhine state, on Oct. 14, 2016,
following a government announcement that terrorist groups were behind a series of attacks on security posts

The accusation is the latest of mounting claims that the Burmese army has carried out a disproportionate response to a deadly attack on security forces attributed to Muslim insurgents.

The Oct. 9 attack on three border security posts by a group of Rohingya militants who call themselves Harakah al-Yaqin triggered a military lockdown on the northern part of Arakan state, also called Rakhine, which lies along Burma’s western border near Bangladesh. Humanitarian aid has been suspended in the area and journalists have been barred as the Burmese army carries out what it calls “clearance operations.”

An estimated 21,000 civilians have since fled across the border into Bangladesh, where they have sought shelter in severely under-resourced refugee camps. Those who fled tell harrowing stories of being terrorized by the armed forces; one Rohingya woman told TIME that she watched her son being thrown into a fire and burned alive.

The U.N.’s human rights envoy for Burma, Yanghee Lee, has warned that evidence indicates the actions of Burmese security forces are “getting very close to what we would all agree are crimes against humanity.”

HRW says its collection of pictures and testimony reveal four new developments: the number of buildings destroyed is higher than previously thought at more than 1,500; the timing and locations of the alleged incidents of arson point to a path taken by troops as they advanced west across the area; the timing and nature of the arson attacks suggest that they were carried out as reprisal; and some of the images show Burmese troops present at the site of at least one major fire.

The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority numbering about 1.1 million, and are viewed as one of the world’s most persecuted peoples. They have seen their rights erode rapidly since communal riots in 2012 displaced more than 100,000 and ushered in a state of religious apartheid. Tens of thousands have fled to neighboring countries; those who remained are largely denied freedom of movement and access to basic services.

The crisis on Burma’s western border has put pressure on Burma’s de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was swept to power by a landslide election win last year. Her party, the National League for Democracy, took power in April, the country’s first civilian government following nearly six decades of military dictatorship.

Suu Kyi’s failure to rein in the armed forces as they carried out counterterrorism operations in Arakan state has led some to question how much authority she actually has.


Sumber - TIME

Deepest Oil Cuts in World’s Top Market Didn’t Need OPEC Deal

by Perry Williams and Sharon Cho

• Production from China expected to fall by 200,000 b/d in 2017
• China cut more than level agreed by non-OPEC, excluding Russia

Malaysia and Brunei are doing their bit for the global pact to rebalance oil markets, but the biggest production cuts in Asia are coming from a country that didn’t sign up.

China, the world’s fifth-biggest producer last year, has reduced output by about 300,000 barrels a day this year, more than the combined cuts announced Saturday by non-OPEC countries, excluding Russia, as part of a deal coordinated with the producer group. The decline is expected to continue next year, with Chinese production shrinking as much as 200,000 barrels a day, according to consultant Energy Aspects Ltd.

“We’re seeing a natural decline in China oil production as fields are very mature and depletion rates are high,” said Virendra Chauhan, a Singapore-based oil analyst at industry consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. “The price level we had in last 12 to 18 months has incentivized imports over spending on domestic production.”

China’s output slumped as state-owned firms shut wells at mature fields that are too expensive to operate amid last year’s price crash. Production during the first 10 months of the year averaged about 4 million barrels a day, down about 7 percent from the same period last year, according to Bloomberg calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics data.

Malaysia and Brunei were the only Asian nations in the group of producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that agreed to cut output by a combined 558,000 barrels a day starting Jan. 1. The region will use 32.88 million barrels a day of oil this year, accounting for more than a third of global consumption, according to data from the International Energy Agency. Daily demand is forecast to expand to 33.7 million barrels in 2017.

The deal, hammered out over the weekend in Vienna, is the first pact between the group and non-members in 15 years. While all individual country cuts are unclear, the non-OPEC reduction excluding Russia’s 300,000 barrels a day, as well as announced figures from Mexico, Oman and Azerbaijan, totals 83,000 barrels a day.

Morgan Stanley estimates Malaysia will reduce output by 20,000 barrels a day, while Brunei will lose 4,000 barrels a day. Both countries were celebrating holidays Monday and nobody responded to e-mails seeking comment sent to Brunei’s Energy and Industry Department, as well as Malaysia’s Ministry of Energy and state-run oil and gas company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd.

Oil prices surged as trading resumed Monday, rising as much as 6.6 percent in London to the highest intraday level since July 2015. Brent crude has climbed more than 20 percent since OPEC announced on Nov. 30 that it would cut production for the first time in eight years and was at $56.54 a barrel at 7:04 a.m. in New York.

“If all of these cuts are realized in the market, we could see prices potentially rise beyond $65 by May when the next OPEC meeting is convened,” said Sushant Gupta, director of Asia Pacific refining at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. in Singapore.

Output from Brunei, a country with a population of fewer than 500,000 people on the island of Borneo, peaked at 261,000 barrels a day in 1979, while Malaysia reached as high as 776,000 barrels a day in 2004, according to BP data. Wood Mackenzie estimates Brunei will pump 142,000 barrels a day this year and Malaysia at 664,000 barrels a day.

While the individual cuts are small, the combined reduction by OPEC and non-OPEC reductions could flip the oil market balance into deficit next year, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. The current surplus will slip into a 800,000 barrel a day deficit by the first half of 2017, Bernstein’s Neil Beveridge wrote in a research note Monday.


Sumber - Bloomberg

Fast-track federalism, Duterte urges Congress

By: Leila B. Salaverria

President Duterte asked Congress to fast-track moves to put in place a federal system of government in the country, stressing that this was the key to bringing peace in conflict-ridden Mindanao.

Mr. Duterte said he wants the federal system put in place during his term, given the trust placed on him by people from Mindanao.

He also reiterated his promise that he would step down even before his term ends to pave the way for this new system, but it must also have a strong President.

He said he had told Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez to put in place the federal system in two to three years.  Overhauling the system of government would require charter change.

“I told them, Bebot [Alvarez’ nickname], hurry it up. I told them if you finish it in two or three years, I will step down as President. You can have my word,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao local governance summit in Davao City.

The ball has to start rolling now, he added, because “the Moro people will not wait for another term of a President.”

“I am not an indispensable factor in this island. But what I’m saying … maybe not really golden but the most appropriate opportunity at this time of our generation, in our lives now, will be now,” he said.

He later said should he die before this is completed, it would be difficult to convince the people to back the idea.

He also assured the Moro people of Mindanao that his only desire was to give them their own territory.

He is not being controlled by any outside influence, he said.

“What you should understand from me, and believe me, what I want to happen is to give what is due to you, and that is semblance of your territory, your governance, and the happiness of the Moro people,” he said.

Mr. Duterte also said Mindanao has been suffering for decades because there seems to be no cohesive action on the part of the Moro people and the central government.

There have been several attempts to address the conflict in Mindanao, but these only proved to be divisive even among Moro groups, he added.

“I think the only acceptable arrangement as of today, this moment of our generation and of the lives of the Moro people is federalism. Other than that, there will be conflict,” he said.

The President also defended armed uprisings by Moro groups.

According to him, terrorism was not started by the people of Mindanao, but by the “colonialists” who “started the killing and the plunder of the land in Mindanao.”

“It’s just a reaction of a person who has been deprived of the most precious thing of Allah’s possessions and that is the land. What they refer to as Muslim rebellion or a Moro rampage is actually Moro nationalism, to put it correctly in the proper perspective,” he said.

He said the anger in the minds of the Moro was grounded in his nationalism, because his land was taken away from him.

“Just as you would call everybody here a Filipino nationalist who sticks to the interest of his own country,” he added.


Sumber - Inquirer News

Pusat pekerjaan Brunei ditubuhkan

Oleh Syahmi Hassan

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, 27 Nov – Bagi mengurangkan kadar pengangguran di Negara Brunei Darussalam, Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei (Job Centre Brunei) akan ditubuhkan sebagai pengganti Agensi Pekerjaan Tempatan dan Pembangunan Tenaga Kerja (APTK) yang bakal ditempatkan di Kampung Beribi, Gadong, mulai Disember depan.

Penubuhan pusat berkenaan telah diumumkan oleh Menteri Tenaga dan Perindustrian di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Yang Berhormat Pehin Datu Singamanteri Kolonel (B) Dato Seri Setia (Dr.) Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar semasa berucap pada Majlis Perasmian Pesta Kerjaya Brunei 2016 di BRIDEX, Jerudong, hari ini.

Yang Berhormat Pehin seterusnya menjelaskan, penubuhan pusat berkenaan merupakan tindakan dalam masa jangka pendek pihak kerajaan, di mana dengan adanya pusat tersebut, data-data yang berkaitan dengan peluang pekerjaan dan profil para pencari kerja yang telah dikumpulkan sebelum ini berserta maklumat yang baru adalah diselaraskan dalam pangkalan data Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei yang sedia ada.

Pusat itu akan menjadi ‘one-stop shop’, di mana ia akan menjadi tempat bagi pendaftaran para pencari kerja, mempamerkan pangkalan data kerja-kerja kosong dan juga membantu pencari-pencari kerja memperbaiki peluang mereka untuk mendapatkan pekerjaan.

Menurut beliau lagi, para pencari kerja yang tidak mempunyai komputer boleh mengunjungi pusat berkenaan untuk mendaftar kursus-kursus pembangunan kapasiti bagi meningkatkan kemahiran. Pusat tersebut juga boleh diakses 24 jam, tujuh hari seminggu melalui portal dalam talian.

Para pencari kerja bolehlah meneliti peluang-peluang kerja secara online serta mendaftar bagi program-program ‘upskilling’ untuk meningkatkan kemahiran dan kompetensi masing-masing.

Syarikat-syarikat juga dapat mengakses calon-calon pekerja melalui portal dalam talian berkenaan.

Dalam temu bual bersama media, Yang Berhormat Pehin telah menjelaskan bahawa pangkalan data berkenaan akan memadankan peluang pekerjaan yang paling dekat untuk pencari kerja dan pada masa yang sama juga Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei akan melihat pencari kerja secara menyeluruh.

Menurut beliau, pusat berkenaan akan dikendalikan di bawah Majlis Perancangan Tenaga Manusia.

Mengulas mengenai APTK, Yang Berhormat Pehin berkata bahawa agensi berkenaan telah dibubarkan dan Pusat Pekerjaan Brunei akan menguruskan semua urusan yang dibuat oleh APTK dahulu. Katanya lagi, pusat berkenaan akan beroperasi sepenuhnya pada Januari tahun depan.


Sumber- Media Permata

Brunei Darussalam tackles rise of non-communicable diseases

The rising incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is placing an increasing burden on Brunei Darussalam’s health care system and economy, though the government is stepping up efforts to improve the nation’s health.

NCDs have been the main cause of death in Brunei Darussalam for more than 30 years, with a shift away from traditional lifestyles and dietary patterns seen as the underlying cause, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

If unchecked, the increasing incidence of NCDs could put a strain on the country’s health care system, as well as affect social and economic growth.

“Without a change in our behaviour, the number of obese adults in the country is forecast to soar. This will prove devastating for the country and pose a real barrier towards our national development,” the MoH said in a statement in June.

Rising to the challenge

In response, the government has launched the Brunei Darussalam National Multisectoral Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs (BruMAP-NCD) 2013-18 – a broad programme to boost the prevention and treatment of NCDs – as part of the MoH’s Vision 2035, known as “Together Towards a Healthy Nation”.

The programmes aim to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by 18% by 2018, a goal that is in line with the global target of a 25% reduction by 2025.

Under the BruMAP-NCD’s five objectives – to reduce tobacco use, promote a balanced and healthy diet, increase physical activity, identify people at risk of NCDs and manage effectively, and improve the quality of care and outcome of NCDs management – health officials have laid out a number of more specific national targets.

For example, the government aims to curb tobacco consumption by 30% by 2018 and to make public places smoke-free by the end of this year.

In terms of diet, state agencies are targeting a 10% reduction in salt usage, encouraging more Bruneians to engage in regular exercise and mandating improved diets for children by regulating the products offered at school canteens, as well as implementing health programmes in the country’s workplaces.

Overall, these lifestyle changes aim to achieve a 1% reduction in the rate of increase of obesity and diabetes by 2018.

Meanwhile, measures to bolster treatment will include initiatives to identify people at risk of developing NCDs, provide support for the effective management of illnesses and ensure the availability of affordable technologies and generic medicines in both private and public health care facilities.

Risk of obesity

The need for such measures is crucial especially as the country is seeing an increase in obesity in its youth, which is leading to higher levels of NCDs in the adult population.

Obesity is reaching alarming levels among the country’s young people, with half of the nation’s children over the age of five either overweight or obese, according to a statement made by Awang Haji Zulkarnain bin Haji Hanafi, minister of health, in mid-October.

“From 2008 to 2014, obesity among school children in Brunei Darussalam increased from 12% to 18%,” he said. “This means that obesity rises by 1% every year. If this issue is unresolved, every single child in Brunei could potentially be obese in the near future.”

As a result of this growing trend, health conditions normally seen in adults are occurring in children, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep disorders.

The increasing rate of excessive weight in childhood is also likely to contribute to obesity later in life, with the MoH showing that currently 62% of Bruneians are either overweight or obese. Furthermore, 30% of the total population suffer from high blood pressure, 12.4% from diabetes and 70% from above-average levels of cholesterol.

Measurable success

Although Brunei Darussalam still has a way to go to curtail NCDs, progress is already being made, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The WHO’s “NCDs Progress Monitor” released last year indicated that Brunei Darussalam had made the most strides out of all ASEAN countries in preventing and combatting NCDs. The country achieved 10 out of 18 indicators on the WHO’s index, such as smoke-free policies and health warnings to reduce tobacco usage, advertising bans and pricing policies to limit alcohol intake, drug therapy and counselling for high-risk individuals, and public awareness on diet and physical activity.

Brunei Darussalam scored higher than other countries in the region, such as Cambodia (3), Myanmar (2) and Laos (1), as well as slightly better than Singapore (9) and Malaysia (8).


Sumber - Oxford Business Group

KENYATAAN RASMI PRESIDEN NDP MENGENAI ISU KEZALIMAN TERHADAP UMAT ISLAM ROHINGYA

Baca atau muat turun kenyataan rasmi Presiden NDP (format pdf) di pautan berikut,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2OXPABIfo1gc0VuRUdqclJWLW8/view?usp=sharing

Sesi Pencerahan dan Penerangan Mengenai Isu Pemberhentian Perkhidmatan Wad Perbidanan dan Sakitpuan Di Hospital PMMPMHAMB Tutong

Perjumpaan dan perbincangan berjalan lancar penuh hemah. Rombongan NDP telah diberikan maklumat dan penerangan yang tepat:-

1) Ternyata, ada salah pemahaman mengenai isu tersebut dan tidak seperti yang dikhuatiri masyarakat.

2) Perkhidmatan pemeriksaan kesihatan dan pemantauan untuk ibu-ibu mengandung dan sakit puan dan kes-kes kecemasan bersangkutan dua perkhidmatan ini masih diberikan dan diteruskan di daerah Tutong, bukan sahaja di Hospital PMMPMHAMB, Tutong bahkan di Pusat-pusat Kesihatan Lamunin, Telisai dan Sg. Kelugos.

3) Hanya wad-wad untuk bersalin dan perawatan sakit puan yang akan ditiadakan dan pesakit-pesakit boleh memilih di Hospital RIPAS atau Suri Seri Begawan. Ini memandangkan dari lima ratus(500) kelahiran setahun yang didaftarkan di daerah Tutong, kurang dari dua ratus(200) yang memilih melahirkan di daerah Tutong, tapi memilih melahirkan di Hospital RIPAS atau Hospital Suri Seri Begawan.

4) Minit tersebut masih sebatas perbincangan dalaman Hospital PMMPMHAMB dan belum muktamad diperingkat atas Kementerian Kesihatan untuk lebih mengemaskinikan dan memantapkan program tersebut.

5) Rombongan juga dikongsikan maklumat tentang wacana Kementerian Kesihatan untuk menjadikan setiap Hospital mempunyai "individual niche" sebagai "one stop centre" atau Pusat Serenti. Dalam hal Hospital PMMPMHAMB, ia diwacanakan menjadi pusat rawatan ringan seperti pembedahan katarak, kongenital dsbnya untuk pesakit-pesakit seluruh negara, bukan hanya penduduk Tutong.

6) Hospital RIPAS, Bandar Seri Begawan dan Hospital Suri Seri Begawan, Kuala Belait, juga akan mempunyai "individual niche" yang tersendiri, berlainan dengan Hospital PMMPMHAMB, Tutong.
Demikianlah serba ringkas maklumat yang dapat Badan Perhubungan Daerah Tutong kongsikan hasil dari sesi pencerahan dan penerangan dari pihak pentadbiran Hospital PMMPMHAMB mengenai isu minit yang heboh diviralkan dan hangat diperdebatkan dan dikritik di media sosial.

Menjunjung Titah, Membangun Bangsa.


Jefry Mohd Daud
Naib Presiden Tutong.
PARTI PEMBANGUNAN BANGSA (NDP)
Sabtu, 19 November 2016
(9:30am - 11:30am),
Bilik Inovasi, Hospital PMMPMHAMB Tutong.

Turut hadir:
1) Ahli Majlis Tertinggi, YM Mohd Tahir bin Radin;
2) Ahli Majlis Tertinggi, YM Hj Ratu bin Mohd Tahir;
3) Ahli Majlis Tertinggi, YM Puspalinda bte Abidin;
4) Ketua Pemuda Pusat, YM Md Ali bin Abdul Rahman;
5) Ketua Biro Aduan Awam, YM Abuzah bin Md Noor;
6) Ketua Pemuda Daerah, YM Hj Akramin bin Hj Hashim;
7) Perwakilan JASA(Jabatan Setiausaha Agung), YM Ali bin Ahad.

Burma: New Wave of Destruction in Rohingya Villages

820 Newly Identified Destroyed Buildings; UN-Aided Investigation Urgently Needed

(New York) – New satellite imagery of Burma’s Rakhine State shows 820 newly identified structures destroyed in five different ethnic Rohingya villages between November 10-18, 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. The Burmese government should without further delay invite the United Nations to assist in an impartial investigation of the widespread destruction of villages.

Updated Damage Assessment of Affected Villages in Maungdaw District. Human Rights Watch identified
a total of 820 destroyed buildings in five villages of Maungdaw District from an analysis of very high resolution
satellite imagery recorded on 10, 17 and 18 November 2016. These damages are in addition to the 430 destroyed
buildings Human Rights Watch identified earlier and represent a second, more destructive round of arson attacks
occurring between 10 and 17 November 2016

The latest images bring the total number of destroyed buildings documented by Human Rights Watch in northern Rakhine State through satellite imagery to 1,250. US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, at a November 17 UN Security Council meeting on the deteriorating situation in Rakhine State, called for international observers to be allowed to investigate and for aid groups to have their access restored. After a short visit by diplomats to the area, Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on Burma, said on November 18, “The security forces must not be given carte blanche to step up their operations under the smokescreen of having allowed access to an international delegation. Urgent action is needed to bring resolution to the situation."

“These alarming new satellite images confirm that the destruction in Rohingya villages is far greater and in more places than the government has admitted,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The apparent arson attacks against five Rohingya villages is a matter of grave concern for which the Burmese government needs to investigate and prosecute those responsible. UN participation is crucial for such an investigation to be credible.”

Human Rights Watch identified a total of 820 destroyed buildings in five villages of Maungdaw district from an analysis of very high resolution satellite imagery recorded on November 10, 17, and 18. This damage is in addition to the 430 destroyed buildings Human Rights Watch identified from satellite imagery on November 13. Of the 820 destroyed buildings, 255 were in the village of Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son; 265 in Dar Gyi Zar; 65 in Pwint Hpyu Chaung; 15 in Myaw Taung; and 220 in Wa Peik (in addition to the 100 which were destroyed earlier in the village).

Human Rights Watch also reviewed thermal anomaly data collected by environmental satellite sensors that detected the presence of multiple active fires burning in the village of Pwint Hpyu Chaung on November 12, in Dar Gyi Zar on November 13, and in Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son on November 13, 14, and 15. Dense tree cover may have concealed a limited number of additional buildings that were destroyed, making it possible that the actual number is higher.

At a press conference on November 15 in response to Human Rights Watch’s November 13 statement, the Burmese government admitted widespread burning but claimed that the total number of buildings destroyed was significantly lower. The government cited helicopter flyovers of the area to arrive at its figures and blamed unspecified “terrorists” for the burnings.

Rohingya Muslim children stand in U Shey Kya village outside Maungdaw in Rakhine state

The new imagery shows village destruction that far exceeds the figures released by the Burmese government, Human Rights Watch said. On November 15, the Burmese military reported that militants burned down 60 homes in Dar Gyi Sar, while the State Counsellor Office’s newly created “Information Committee” reported on November 16 that only 30 buildings were destroyed in the same town. The new imagery shows that 265 buildings have been destroyed in Dar Gyi Zar alone. The State Counsellor’s information committee press release on November 16 mistakenly attributed a claim that all buildings were destroyed in Dar Gyi Zar to Human Rights Watch.

Both the military and the State Counsellor’s information committee reported that 105 buildings were destroyed in Wa Peik village. Satellite imagery collected by Human Rights Watch between November 10-17 shows that an additional 220 buildings were destroyed. This newly documented destruction, coupled with the 100 buildings Human Rights Watch imagery determined were destroyed from images collected between October 9 and November 3, brings the total to 320 buildings destroyed in Wa Peik village.

“On November 15, a government spokesperson suggested that Human Rights Watch was part of a ‘conspiracy’ to harm Burma’s image,” Adams said. “Instead of responding with military-era style accusations and denials, the government should simply look at the facts and take action to protect all people in Burma, whatever their religion or ethnicity.”

The crisis follows violence on October 9, in which gunmen attacked three police outposts in Maungdaw township near the Bangladesh border, leaving nine police officers dead. The government said that the attackers made off with dozens of weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. The Burmese government asserts the attack was carried out by a Rohingya group, but actual responsibility remains unclear. A second attack on a border guard post that resulted in the death of a police officer reportedly occurred on November 3.

Immediately after the October 9 attack, government forces declared Maungdaw district an “operation zone” and began sweeps of the area to find the attackers and lost weapons. They severely restricted the freedom of movement of local populations and imposed extended curfews, which remain in place. With the area sealed off to observers, local sources reported that government forces committed serious human rights abuses, including torture, rape, extrajudicial executions, and widespread destruction of buildings, including mosques.

On October 28, Reuters published interviews with Rohingya women who allege that Burmese soldiers raped them. The government also allegedly pressured the Myanmar Times to fire one of its editors who reported allegations of rape by Burmese army soldiers.

The Burmese government conducted a government-supervised tour of some impacted sites in Maungdaw on November 2 and 3 with a nine-member delegation of foreign ambassadors, including the UN Resident Coordinator. The delegation conducted no formal investigation or assessment, but confirmed that they saw burned structures in several towns and spoke with several villagers. Allegations of reprisals against those who spoke to delegation members surfaced shortly after the trip concluded.

Another outbreak of violence reportedly began on November 11. The government reported the deaths of 69 alleged militants and 17 security force personnel. Local groups reported significant civilian casualties, but the lack of access makes all casualty reports difficult to verify. The Burmese military said that helicopter gunships called in to provide air support to its troops were attacked by hundreds of militants.

According to humanitarian aid groups, tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the recent violence, with hundreds attempting to flee to Bangladesh.

The government has responded with blanket denials to allegations that the security forces have committed abuses. Officials maintain that terrorists are responsible for the destruction of the buildings and urge that international journalists investigate the claims. However, the government has continued to block journalists, humanitarian aid workers, and human rights investigators from traveling to the impacted areas.

Burma is obligated under international law to conduct thorough, prompt, and impartial investigations of alleged human rights violations, prosecute those responsible, and provide adequate redress for victims of violations. Standards for such investigations can be found, for example, in the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, and the UN Guidance on Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions. Burma’s failure to conduct such investigations in the past underscores the need for UN assistance, Human Rights Watch said.

In early November, the government granted the World Food Programme (WFP) one-time access to four villages for a one-time food delivery. However, humanitarian aid groups continue to be denied full access, placing tens of thousands of already vulnerable people at greater risk.

Thousands of people impacted by the violence in the villages of Maungdaw have been without aid for six weeks. Despite assurances from the Burmese government that aid access to all impacted areas would be restored, many of the most significantly affected areas remain sealed to humanitarian assessment teams and human rights groups.

“After six weeks of violence with virtually no aid reaching tens of thousands of highly vulnerable people, the government needs to act decisively to assist them,” Adams said. “A government with nothing to hide should have no problem granting access to journalists and human rights investigators.”


Sumber - Human Rights Watch

Ucapan Dasar Presiden NDP di Kongres Agung Tahunan ke-11 2016

Baca atau muat turun teks penuh ucapan (format pdf) di pautan berikut,

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DOv3PE5yZ9NGNVNi1ELWtrcEU/view?usp=sharing