Kangaroo in Corner of Emerging Neighbour

(This article by Australian FM Senator Bob Carr is direct from the Telegraph.)

Australian Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr.

SEVEN Australian heroes from World War II lie among the fallen at Rangoon's War Cemetery, their graves neatly tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

They were mostly RAAF and mostly in their 20s, their young lives cut short. It's as moving a reminder of the high cost of war as any of our war memorials.

Australia after 1945 reinvented itself as "the lucky country". But Burma kept suffering, especially under the military dictatorship that took hold of the country in 1962.

In this country of more than 55 million people, 2400 women a year don't survive childbirth. Less than half of the country's five million children will complete five years of primary education. This generation of children will have a lower level of basic education than their parents.

Bengali-Cleansing in Maungdaw and Sittwe?

(Part of this post is a direct translation of article from the Rohingya Blogger.)

Burning Bengali Houses in Maungdaw.

There are 17 townships in the Arrakan State. Except the Bengali-free Taunggup, Ann, and Gwa townships Bengali immigrants from the extremely-crowded Bangladesh across the border inhabit the 14 townships together with the native Buddhist Yakhines.

And 90% of total populations of Butheedaung and Maungdaw townships are the Bengali Muslims after many years of cross-border illegal entries and their rabbit-like breedings.

In Sittwe the state capital and the largest city of the Arrakan State there are 33 wards altogether and the 3 wards namely Nazi, Aung Mingala, and Bu May wards are the Bengali-only wards much, much larger than any Buddhist ward.

Sittwe Burned By RPG-toting, Al-Qaeda-trained Bengalis

(This post translates the ongoing YPI and EMG updates of Bengali-Muslim riots in Sittwe.)

Yakhine Refugee Family in a Sittwe Buddhist Temple.

While the rioting Bengali Muslims have been burning and looting Maungdaw and the nearby villages Sittwe the State Capital of Arrakan State was in an uneasy state waiting for the violence to spread there as situations there were slowly turning bad.

First bad news on June 9 at 3 pm was the arrest of two Bengali Children each carrying a large can of petrol into the Sittwe Myoma Bazzar. Their intent was clearly to burn down the Bazzar but the alerted Yakhine neighborhood-watch groups caught them before they could do serious damage and two Benmgali Muslim boys were delivered unharmed to the local police station.

Burma Declares State of Emergency in Arrakan!

(This article by Thomas Fuller is direct from the New York Times.)

Rioting Bengali Muslims in Arrakan's Maungdaw Town.

BANGKOK — Myanmar on Sunday declared a state of emergency in a western state where at least 17 people have been killed this month in sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims.

The violence poses another obstacle to the government of President Thein Sein as he tries to open up the country after years of isolation imposed by a military junta and steer it toward democracy.

Soldiers and police officers are trying to restore order in villages where clashes between Buddhists and Muslims have left many villagers wounded and 500 homes burned on Friday and Saturday alone. Four people were wounded in clashes on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

Rioting Bengali Muslims Killing Buddhists in Maungdaw (2)

(This post translates the ongoing YPI updates of Bengali-Muslim riots in Maungdaw.)

An Injured Buddhist in Maungdaw.

AS a direct response to the Buddhist killing of ten Bengali-Muslims in Taunggup on June 3^rd more than 1,000 Bengali-Muslims in the border town of Maungdaw started a severe riot yesterday at about one in the afternoon after their Friday midday prayers killing at least four Burmese Buddhist and injured many more.

According to a local Buddhist the Bengali-Muslims started the riots on their way back from the Friday Prayers at their Shwezar Mosque at about one but the Islamic-mob dispersed after the Security Police (lone-htain) fired several warning shots into air.

The same mob has destroyed several restaurants owned by the Buddhists and damaged the Kambawza Bank Building.

According to another local Buddhist from the First Ward over 100 Bengali-Muslims entered the Ward and tried to burn down the Buddhist houses but ran when the Security Police fired warning shots.

Rioting Bengali Muslims Killing Buddhists in Maungdaw (1)

(This post translates the ongoing Narinjara updates of Bengali-Muslim riots in Maungdaw.)

A burned-down Buddhist Monastery in Maungdaw.

AS a direct response to the Buddhist killing of ten Bengali-Muslims in Taunggup on June 3^rd more than 1,000 Bengali-Muslims in the border town of Maungdaw started a severe riot yesterday at about one in the afternoon after their Friday midday prayers killing at least four Burmese Buddhist and injured many more.

According to a local Buddhist the Bengali-Muslims started the riots on their way back from the Friday Prayers at their Shwezar Mosque at about one but the Islamic-mob dispersed after the Security Police (lone-htain) fired several warning shots into air.

The same mob has destroyed several restaurants owned by the Buddhists and damaged the Kambawza Bank Building.

Arrakan Boiling with Anti-Islamic Fever?

(This post details the ugly anti-Islamic and anti-Bengali race-riots in Arrakan triggered by a brutal rape and murder of a Burmese village-girl by three Bengali-Muslim men on May 28.)

Rape-murder Victim Khin Thida Htwe.

Following news released on the June 5^th New Light of Myanmar newspaper details the brutal rape and murder and sexual-mutilation of a Burmese village girl by three Bengali-Muslim men in the Ramree Township of the Arrakan State.

"NAY PYI TAW, 4 June- On her way from tailoring work to home, Ma Thida Htwe, 27, daughter of U Hla Tin, of Thabyechaung Village, Kyauknimaw Village-tract, Yanbye Township, was stabbed to dead by unidentified people at the mangrove near a rain tree beside the embankment road leading to Kyaukhtayan Ward of Kyauknimaw Village and Chaungwa Village at 5.15 pm on 28 May.

ASSK Faces Westminster Hall Ban in London?

(This article by Glen Owen published on June 3 is direct from the Daily Mail Online.)

ASSK and British FM William Hague.

Hague’s fury at bid to downgrade Burma’s steel butterfly: Squabble breaks out as Aung San Suu Kyi faces Westminster Hall Ban

Foreign Secretary William Hague is involved in an extraordinary row with senior parliamentary figures – after they tried to ban Aung San  Suu Kyi from addressing MPs in  Westminster Hall.

The Burmese opposition leader has been allowed to leave her native country for the first time in 24 years and accepted an invitation to visit the UK later this month. 

The trip has been overshadowed by infighting which has even included a petty squabble about whether she should receive a trumpet fanfare.

It’s Time for ASSK to Get Serious about Management

(This article by Min Zin is direct from The Foreign Policy - FP.)

This week, The New York Times covered Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Thailand -- the first foreign trip for Burma's opposition leader in 25 years. Many people who have dealt with Suu Kyi and her political entourage over the years say that the Times report, which described a striking lack of organization in the upper ranks of the National League for Democracy (NLD), was spot-on.

Last week, Suu Kyi's staff turned down a request for a meeting from Paul Collier, one of the world's top economists. Their excuse: The Lady was busy. "Perhaps her staffers don't know who Collier is," one source in the opposition told me. "The Burmese opposition movement has missed the chance to benefit from a great mind." Meanwhile, government newspapers covered have reported that ministers and presidential advisors gave Collier plenty of time.