Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are living in renewed fear after deadly fires broke out more than 30 times in the southeastern Cox’s Bazar district in recent weeks.Rights activists said these fires are part of a “very worrying trend” in the overcrowded, sprawling shantytown that is home to dozens of interconnected makeshift refugee settlements.“Every day and night Rohingyas across the camp are living in fear that fire will break out again somewhere in the camp,” a Cox’s Bazar-based Rohingya rights activist who goes by Hussain told VOA. Many Rohingya use only one name.“Fires are breaking out time and again,” he said, “at least 32 times in different parts of the Rohingya camp in Cox’s Bazar in the past 17 days, after the devastating March 22 fire.”The rights activist said the perpetrators in recent fires were caught and turned over to authorities.“We caught seven or eight people red-handed while they were setting ablaze some shacks,” he said. “They were all handed over to police.”About 1 million Rohingya Muslim refugees have been living in the bamboo and tarpaulin shanties in the congested Cox’s Bazar district since fleeing military clampdowns in neighboring Myanmar in recent years, according to the United Nations. There are 34 encampments within in the district where Rohingya refugees have settled, which are collectively identified as one expansive settlement, including the Balukhali and nearby Kutupalong refugee camps, according to the International Organization for Migration.On March 22, a fire ripped through the Balukhali area of the camp, killing at least 15 refugees, authorities said. Sanjeev Kafley, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation head in Bangladesh, told Reuters that more than 17,000 shelters were destroyed, and thousands of people were displaced in the area because of the fire. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated that the fire injured around 550 refugees and left more than 48,000 homeless.People inspect the debris after a fire in a makeshift market near a Rohingya refugee camp in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, April 2, 2021.Last week, a statement from the UNHCR in Bangladesh said, “Multiple small fires have been reported across camps in Kutupalong and Nayapara [of Cox’s Bazar] in [the] last week. This is a very worrying trend. Refugees have managed to put out the fires quickly with only a limited number of families affected.”While several thousand victims of the March 22 fire remain without shelter, more incidents of fire have been reported, leading refugees to live in constant fear. On April 2, at least three people were killed and more than 20 shops were gutted in a makeshift market near Kutupalong refugee camp, Part of Balukhali Rohingya Refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, as it looks now, two weeks after a devastating fire ravaged the area. With the support of aid agencies and others, the refugees have rebuilt most of the shanties. (Nur Islam/VOA)Abdus Shukur, 45, another refugee, from Kutupalong, said he believes the fires were caused by arson.“Some people are secretly sprinkling a white inflammable powder on the roofs of our shacks. Some others are setting them on fire,” Shukur told VOA. “It is clear, they are not accidents. Some people are setting fire to the shacks as part of a conspiracy.”The suspected perpetrators, he said, may be conspiring to scare Rohingya refugees from Cox’s Bazar by repeatedly setting fire to their makeshift homes.”They want more Rohingya to move to Bhasan Char,” he said, referring to a remote Bay of Bengal island, “or they want all Rohingya to go back to Myanmar.”Bangladesh has set up a facility on Bhasan Char, where it wants to relocate at least 100,000 Rohingya refugees from camps in Cox’s Bazar. A few thousand Rohingya have moved to the island in recent months but most are unwilling to relocate there, saying that the island is prone to flooding during high tide and largely disconnected from the mainland.A day after the March 22 fire, Bangladesh said it would investigate the cause of the blaze, but authorities so far have not said what triggered the devastating fire.Several senior government officials did not respond to questions from VOA asking about the cause of the fires. However, one midlevel police officer said that the cause is rivalry among feuding Rohingya criminal gangs.“There is rivalry among different Rohingya anti-social groups,” the officer told VOA on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. “Members of one group are setting fire to the shanties belonging to its rival groups or their supporters.”However, many Rohingya refugees living in the Cox’s Bazar disagree.“At least three of those who were caught red-handed were [non-Rohingya] Bangladeshis,” said a Cox’s Bazar-based Rohingya refugee who withheld his name for fear of reprisal by police and locals. “We strongly believe the masterminds behind the fires are those who view the Rohingya as their enemy in Bangladesh and want them to flee the camps of Cox’s Bazar.“Those masterminds are using some hired anti-socials, who are Bangladeshis as well as Rohingyas, to carry out the fire attacks on us,” he added. “The fires cannot be rooted to any Rohingya conspiracy, we believe.”
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A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Java island on Saturday, killing seven people, severely wounding two and damaging hundreds of buildings in several cities, the country’s disaster mitigation agency BNPB said.
 
The quake, which struck at 2 p.m. (0700 GMT) local time, was felt across East Java, home to 40.7 million people, and nearby provinces, including the resort island of Bali, Indonesian media reported.
 
Ten people were slightly injured, while an unspecified number of people in several villages were moved to evacuation centers as some houses have been destroyed, the BNPB said.
 
More than 300 homes and dozens of other buildings, including schools, hospitals, government offices and places of worship, were damaged, the agency said.
 
The numbers could change as authorities collect more information about the extent of casualties and damage.  
 
Images in media showed flattened houses in towns near the southern coast of East Java, the closest area to the epicenter of the quake.
 
A large gorilla statue in an amusement park in the town of Batu lost its head, news website Detik.com reported.  
 
The quake struck in the Indian Ocean 91 kilometers (57 miles) off the southern coast of East Java. It had a magnitude of 5.9 at a depth of 96 kilometers, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, which reduced the quake’s magnitude from an initial 6.8.
 
Video shared by social media users showed people running out of a shopping mall in Malang city amid the strong tremor.
 
“I felt the earthquake twice, the first time for two seconds and then it stopped, but then it shook again for five seconds,” Edo Afizal, a receptionist at a hotel in Blitar, told Reuters by phone.
 
Indonesia was struck last week by tropical cyclone Seroja, which triggered landslides and flash floods killing more than 170 people on islands in East Nusa Tenggara province.
 
Straddling the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is regularly hit by earthquakes. A magnitude 6.2 quake that struck Sulawesi island in January killed more than 100 people.
 
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North Korea has not made a strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons and the prospects for efforts to achieve denuclearization through diplomacy remain dim, said John Bolton, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser.If the U.S. pursues “an agreement with Kim Jong Un that relies on him promising to give up his nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions relief,” it would fail, said Bolton during an interview with VOA’s Korean Service this week.The assessment comes as the Biden administration nears the end of a review of how to approach North Korea.”I think the regime is committed to developing and keeping nuclear weapons. I think they see it as essential to their survival,” Bolton added.In January during the Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), Kim said he will bolster his country’s nuclear weapons program.“We must further strengthen the nuclear war while doing our best to build up the most powerful military strength,” said Kim, who is the WPK chairman.Trump and Kim met three times, but they failed to reach a nuclear deal. Bolton believes North Korea will not abandon its nuclear weapons program voluntarily and China holds the key to pressing North Korea toward denuclearization.”China has used North Korea ever since the peninsula was partitioned for its own purposes,” the former adviser said. “Given China’s economic influence in North Korea, it could still call the shots if it wants to.”Bolton’s gloomy assessment paints a dim picture of prospects for nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang that the Biden administration is weighing.Washington has reached out to North Korea multiple times since February, but Pyongyang rejected the contacts.On March 21, the North test-fired two short-range cruise missiles, an activity not banned by United Nations resolutions. Days later, on March 25, the North flight-tested two short-range ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. sanctions.Despite North Korea’s apparent unwillingness to talk, the White House said the U.S. remains open to diplomacy.”We are prepared to consider some form of diplomacy if it’s going to lead us down the path toward denuclearization,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters this week.On Friday, Jalina Porter, principal deputy spokesperson at the State Department, told reporters that “the U.S. remains committed to the denuclearization of North Korea.”Measuring diplomatic successAnalysts said it is far from settled whether the Biden administration should give up diplomacy with the Kim regime entirely as Bolton suggested.Thomas Countryman, who served as the acting undersecretary of state for arms control and international security under the Obama administration, said diplomacy with North Korea requires “patience” and diplomatic success should not be measured by whether or not there is a “dramatic breakthrough.”Joseph DeTrani, who served as the U.S. special envoy to the Six-Party Talks from 2003 to 2006, said the Biden administration still needs to test Kim’s commitment to denuclearization through engagement.The six-party talks were a series of multilateral negotiations attended by China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Chaired by China in Beijing, the talks focused on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program.“There’s no question diplomacy is key, diplomacy is key to resolving issues with North Korea,” DeTrani said.Bolton said Pyongyang’s capacity to proliferate its nuclear weaponry is one of the imminent threats Washington must face.“We do know this,” Bolton said. “If Iran made a wire transfer of a substantial amount of money to North Korea, they could have a North Korean nuclear warhead within a matter of days and so could anybody else with the same financial assets.”
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Myanmar’s U.N. envoy, who was appointed by the democratically elected government, appealed to the international community Friday to protect civilians from the country’s military with a no-fly zone, arms embargo and targeted sanctions. “It is necessary to have strong and urgent actions on the U.N. Security Council in order to save the lives of innocent civilians in Myanmar,” Kyaw Moe Tun told an informal meeting of the Security Council. ”Collective strong action is needed immediately. Time is of the essence for us, please take action now.” The envoy, who made headlines in February publicly opposing the military coup, called on the international community to target sanctions against the businesses linked to the military and to their families. He also urged the suspension of foreign investments until the democratically elected government is restored. FILE – This screengrab of a handout video made available on the United Nations’ YouTube channel shows Myanmar’s ambassador to the U.N. Kyaw Moe Tun at an informal meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Feb. 26, 2021.”I wish to stress that the international community and the U.N. Security Council have the responsibility to use all necessary means to help protect the people of Myanmar from atrocities, brutal and inhuman acts committed by the military, through collective, concrete and unifying action in a timely and decisive manner,” the envoy said. In diplomatic speak, “all necessary measures” usually refers to military action. Myanmar has been mired in chaos and violence since the military’s overthrow of the civilian government on February 1, and the detentions of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials of her National League for Democracy (NLD) Party.  The military has claimed widespread fraud in last November’s election, which the NLD won in a landslide. Myanmar’s electoral commission has denied the fraud claims. Since then, there have been daily peaceful protests across the country, which the military has brutally tried to put down. More than 600 civilians, including several children, have been killed in the streets and in their homes. Nearly 3,000 people have been arrested, A protester sets off fireworks from behind a barricade while a man, at left, holds a homemade rifle in a clash with security forces in Bago, in this screengrab from Hantarwadi Media video footage taken on April 9, 2021 and provided to AFPTV.Friday’s U.N. meeting was organized by Britain, with support from the U.S. and European members of the 15-nation Security Council. British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said it was intended to hear “the perspectives of the people of Myanmar whose voices the military seeks to silence.” They included Zin Mar Aung, who is the acting foreign minister appointed by the group representing the ousted NLD lawmakers, known as the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw or CRPH. She said the military’s unrelenting excessive use of force shows it does not have control over the country. “Our people are ready to pay any cost to get back their rights and freedom,” Zin Mar Aung added. “The streets of Yangon and in many parts of the country, are now strewn with yellow padauk flower, a symbol of new year for Buddhists, the religious majority,” said civil society leader Sai Sam Kham. ”Just as no one can keep the padauk from blooming, no one can stop the aspiration of young people who believe freedom and democracy is worth dying for.” A woman looks at shoes displayed with flowers in Yangon’s Myaynigone township, as part of the “Marching Shoes Strike” against the military coup in Myanmar, in this photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source on April 8, 2021.He said the people would not tolerate a dictatorship or fake democracy. “They are defiant and courageously defending their rights.” International Crisis Group Myanmar expert Richard Horsey gave a bleak assessment of the country’s trajectory if the situation continues to unravel. “To put it simply, Myanmar stands at the brink of state failure, of state collapse,” he warned. He said business is at a standstill and it is having ripple effects on the country’s supply chains, which could lead to a food shortages. The health care system is in a state of collapse and, perhaps most concerning, ethnic armed violence is on the rise. Council members called for U.N. Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener to be allowed to visit Myanmar. The envoy has been trying for weeks to secure the junta’s agreement, but she tweeted on Friday that they have rejected her request. Just arrived in BKK for talks. I regret that Tatmadaw answered me yesterday that they are not ready to receive me. I am ready for dialogue. Violence never leads to peaceful sustainable solutions. Protesters take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Mogok town, north of Mandalay, in this photo taken and received courtesy of an anonymous source via Facebook on April 9, 2021.Council member Estonia said it is time the council draft a strong resolution. “The United Nations Security Council is the only entity in the world which has the legitimate power to protect nations at risk, and must explore every tool in its toolbox to end this horrible situation,” Ambassador Sven Jürgenson said. ”To this end, we should start drafting a resolution that could also foresee sanctions, especially a comprehensive arms embargo, in order to stop the atrocities. All states must refrain from supplying the perpetrators with weapons.” Dozens of states have implemented bilateral arms embargoes on the junta, but the council has not, most likely because China would block such a move. Beijing’s representative said her government is concerned about the violence and bloodshed, which “serves no one’s interests.” She said China would continue to maintain contacts and communication with the parties “in its own way to deescalate the situation.” 
 
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga Friday announced Tokyo will be placed under a month-long state of “quasi-emergency” to combat surging COVID-19 infections.
Speaking to reporters during a COVID-19 task force meeting, Suga said the new measures are focused on shortening the business hours of bars and restaurants and imposing fines for violations.  Many of Tokyo’s COVID-19 cases have been traced to the city’s night life.  
Suga said the steps are necessary because of surging infection rates, particularly of more contagious variants of the virus.  
Japan has never imposed strict lockdowns such as those seen in other countries.
In Germany, Health Minister Jens Span told reporters Friday that a nationwide lockdown is necessary to bring the surging third wave of the virus under control.  
Speaking at the same briefing, Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases President Lothar Wieler said a two-to-four-week lockdown would be sufficient to stem the surging infections in Germany. He said the surge is being felt most in the nation’s intensive care units which have seen 4,500 new patients in the last week, most of whom are younger people.
The implementation of a new lockdown is not a certainty. While Chancellor Angela Merkel’s federal government is in favor of stricter measures to control the virus, regional leaders support lifting them, and some already have begun to do so.
Meanwhile, India’s health ministry Friday reported its highest daily tally of new COVID-19 cases, with at least 131,968 new cases in the previous 24-hour period. Friday’s tally beats the record count of 126,789 cases that the ministry reported Thursday.  AstraZeneca vaccine
Elsewhere, several nations have issued new guidelines over the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union’s medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and very rare, possibly fatal blood clots.    
Britain, where the vaccine was developed jointly by the British-Swedish drugmaker and scientists at the University of Oxford, said it will offer alternatives for adults under 30. Oxford researchers have also suspended a clinical trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine involving young children and teenagers as British drug regulators conduct a safety review of the two-shot regimen.  
Reuters reported Spain and the Philippines will limit the vaccine to people over 60 years old, while The Washington Post reported Italy has issued similar guidelines.    
The European Medicines Agency recently said blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but continued to emphasize that its overall benefits outweigh any risks.  Rare blood clots have been associated with the deaths of at least 14 people across Europe.  
AstraZeneca has been the key vaccine in Britain’s exceptionally speedy inoculation campaign, which has outpaced the vaccination rates in the rest of Europe.  
But the vaccine has had a troubled rollout elsewhere, initially because of a lack of information from its late-stage clinical trials on its effect on older people, which has slowed vaccination efforts throughout Europe. Many nations stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports first surfaced of the blood clot incidents.    
Also, Puerto Rico and Washington announced they will open COVID-19 vaccination eligibility beginning Monday to residents as young as 16.
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A South Korean oil tanker held for months by Iran amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6 a.m. local time after completing an administrative process.Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Saeed Khatibzadeh, later confirmed that Iran had released the vessel.“At the request of the owner and the Korean government, the order to release the ship was issued by the prosecutor,” Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by the state-run IRNA news agency.The ship’s owner, DM Shipping Co. Ltd. of Busan, South Korea, could not be immediately reached for comment.The Hankuk Chemi had been traveling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.Iran had accused the MT Hankuk Chemi of polluting the waters in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. But the seizure was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul to release billions of dollars in Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid heavy American sanctions on Iran. Iran released the 20-member crew in February but continued to detain the ship and its captain while demanding that South Korea unlock frozen Iranian assets.Iran’s Foreign Ministry did not acknowledge the fund dispute when announcing the ship’s release, with Khatibzadeh saying only that the captain and tanker had a clean record in the region.But an official from South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity under regulations, said Seoul’s willingness to resolve the issue of Iranian assets tied up in South Korea “possibly had a positive influence” in Iran’s decision to release the vessel.The official said Iran had acknowledged South Korea’s attempts to resolve the dispute as it became clear the issue was “not just about South Korea’s ability and efforts alone” and was “intertwined” with negotiations over the return to Tehran’s foundering nuclear deal.Unfreezing the funds involves the consent of various countries including the U.S., which in 2018 imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran’s oil and banking sectors. The official said South Korea has been closely communicating with other countries over the frozen Iranian assets.In January, the U.N. said Iran topped a list of countries owing money to the world body with a minimum bill of over $16 million. If unpaid, Iran could lose its voting rights as required under the U.N. Charter.“We’re expecting to make a considerable progress in terms of paying the U.N. dues,” an unnamed South Korean Foreign Ministry official was quoted by the country’s Yonhap news agency. “We have also exported some $30 million worth of medical equipment since we resumed the humanitarian trade with Iran last April.”The development came as Iran and world powers were set to resume negotiations in Vienna on Friday to break the standoff over U.S. sanctions against Iran and Iranian breaches of the nuclear agreement. The 2015 nuclear accord, which then-President Donald Trump abandoned three years later, offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
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Singapore’s designated future leader, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, has taken himself out of the running in a surprise decision, saying in a letter released Thursday that a younger person with a “longer runway” should be the next prime minister.The announcement sets back the country’s succession plans after current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong retires. Lee, 69, had planned to retire at age 70 but has indicated he may stay on until the coronavirus crisis is over.Singapore has been led by the People’s Action Party since independence in 1965, and succession plans are usually made years in advance.In his letter, posted on the prime minister’s office website, Heng, who turns 60 this year, said the pandemic is likely to be prolonged, and “I would be close to the mid-60s when the crisis is over.””I would have too short a runway should I become the next prime minister then,” he wrote. “We need a leader who will not only rebuild Singapore post-COVID-19, but also lead the next phase of our nation-building effort.”Heng suffered a stroke in 2016, raising questions about his long-term health.”I know that the top job imposes exceptional demands on the office holder,” he wrote. “While I am in good health today, it is in the best interests of the nation for someone who is younger to tackle the huge challenges ahead.”Prime Minister Lee said in a separate letter that he understands and respects the decision.Heng will stay on as deputy prime minister, but will relinquish his finance minister post in the next Cabinet reshuffle, Lee said. The reshuffle is expected in about two weeks.  
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The U.S. has imposed sanctions on one of Myanmar’s biggest industries, gemstones, according to a Department of Treasury news release.Specifically, the U.S. is targeting Myanma Gems Enterprise (MGE), a state-owned business “responsible for all gemstone activities in Burma.” Gemstones, according to Treasury, “are a key economic resource for the Burmese military regime.”“Today’s action highlights Treasury’s commitment to denying the Burmese military sources of funding, including from key state-owned enterprises throughout Burma,” said Andrea Gacki, Director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.Myanmar is also known as Burma.The company will be blocked from all property and interests in property “that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by them, individually or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons.”The military seized power in a February 1 coup, overthrowing the civilian government and detaining de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking officials.Mourners make the three-finger salute as they attend the funeral of a protester, who died amid a crackdown by security forces on demonstrations against the military coup, in Taunggyi in Myanmar’s Shan state, March 29, 2021.Since the coup, widespread protests have rocked Myanmar, many of them turning violent as government officials cracked down. Nearly 600 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by government troops and police since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of the 3,500 people who have been arrested, 2,750 are still detained, AAPP said.The U.S has already imposed sanctions on military leaders, some of their family members and other businesses in the country.It has called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy Party, ousted President Win Myint, and protesters, journalists and human rights activists it says have been unjustly detained since the coup.Military officials claimed widespread fraud in last November’s general election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide, as justification for the February takeover. The fraud allegations have been denied by Myanmar’s electoral commission. 
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Preliminary hearings were held Tuesday for three journalists detained in Yangon on February 27 while covering protests of the military coup.The journalists — Aung Ye Ko, of the 7 Day Media; Hein Pyae Zaw of Zee-Gwet or “Owl” Media; and freelancer Banyar Oo — appeared in a prison court for the closed hearing, a lawyer representing them told VOA Burmese. The lawyer, Nilar Khine, said she did not seek bail because the courts have rejected requests in similar cases. Her clients are next due in court on April 20.The journalists are among at least 60 members of the media arrested since Myanmar’s military seized control in a February 1 coup, according to lawyers.IPI urges the international community and leaders to take action against continued violations of human rights and freedom of the press in #Myanmar.
We call on the Junta to immediately release, drop all charges against @MizzimaNews Ko Zaw Zaw, all other detained journalists. https://t.co/nKzTXkd7Ty
— IPI – The Global Network for Press Freedom (@globalfreemedia) April 8, 2021Often, family are not told where their relatives are. Lawyers working on a pro-bono basis wait outside Insein prison in Yangon to help families find relatives, including journalists, who have gone missing while at protests.Aung Ye Ko and the others in court this week are charged under Article 505 (a) of Myanmar’s penal code. The same article has been used to charge several other journalists, including freelance video journalist Aung Ko Latt who was detained on March 21.Those convicted under Section 505 (a) can be sentenced to up to two years in prison. The article makes it a crime to publish or circulate any “statement, rumor or report… with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause,” a member of the military to fail in their duty.A preliminary hearing was held in Aung Ko Latt’s case, at a prison court in Naypyidaw on Monday, the same day that his son was born. The journalist has tested positive for COVID-19 in prison.The media arrests are part of a wider pattern of detentions and violent suppression of protests against the military takeover.CPJ calls on the #Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists detained in the aftermath of the February 1 suspension of democracy and imposition of emergency rule in the country.
Read the letter:https://t.co/aPQ1nDPs5fpic.twitter.com/aP2fJhoII3
— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) April 6, 2021As of Wednesday, 598 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by government troops and police, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which cautioned the actual number of fatalities is likely much higher.Of the 3,500 people arrested, 2,847 are still detained, the AAPP said, adding that 38 have been sentenced. Authorities have issued arrest warrants for 481 others.The National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, had governed Myanmar since its first open democratic election in 2015, but the military contested November’s election results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, without evidence.Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the February 1 coup. Since then, martial law has been imposed throughout Myanmar.The military has released a wanted list of more than 120 celebrities, public figures, and prominent influencers, who have been charged under 505 (a) for supporting protests.Release all the detainees right now!
Entertainers, journalist, artists, influencers and, innocent civilians are unlawfully arrested and detained by military juntas just because of their anti-coup protesting activities.Speak up for Myanmar please. #WhatsHappeniningInMyanmarpic.twitter.com/QtJ76te0dY
— kyizinthant (@Kyi55147955) Myanmar’s military junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun speaks during the information ministry’s press conference in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 23, 2021.Coverage of the coup and its aftermath is seen as increasingly risky for the media.“Journalists in small towns cannot simply stay at home, it is not safe,” said a journalist, whose identity has been withheld to protect them from retaliation. “All the journalists are in hiding. If caught or arrested, we’ll be brutally tortured. Most of us do not have enough money to survive in hiding. It is really hard.”The family of those detained have also described the hardship of not being able to speak with their relatives.Chit Swe has not been able to see his son Than Htike Aung since the former editor of multimedia news organization Mizzima was arrested on March 19. Than Htike Aung is charged under section 505 (a) after he covered a court hearing of a member of the NLD party.“Lawyers are still not allowed to meet with my son. No one is allowed to see him, and it is very painful,” Chit Swe said. “However, somehow, it is a relief to know that he is alive. My son was just doing his job. We keep praying for his safe return.”This story originated in VOA’s Burmese service.
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Myanmar citizens are struggling with shortages of food and other necessities after 65 days of rule under the military junta, whose troops shake down cargo trucks at roadblocks and steal goods and cash from vehicles, stores, and homes, residents said Tuesday.The Feb. 1 coup that overthrew the country’s elected government followed a year of deepening economic distress from a shutdown of economic activity to control the spread of the coronavirus. Myanmar is Southeast Asia’s poorest country, with nominal per capita gross domestic product of about $1,300.Measures to fight the pandemic, which flared up this past winter, hit households and businesses, including those in the agricultural sector, which accounts for one-fifth of GDP and over half of employment. The coup and mass civil disobedience against the junta have further dampened economic activity.Military restrictions on transportation and security barriers set up on major roadways nationwide have choked the country’s flow of food and other goods into cities and suburban areas. Soldiers stationed along major roadways often confiscate cargo and cash from drivers and motorcyclists in the Sagaing and Mandalay regions — two of Myanmar’s largest population centers — merchants told RFA.Security forces are stopping all traffic that passes through most towns in the two regions and inspecting vehicles, they said.“[Our] car was stopped last evening in Kyaukpadaung, Mandalay, and 500,000 kyats [$350] was taken from a handbag on the car’s dashboard,” said a person who witnessed the theft, but wanted to remain anonymous. “We told them we were civil servants, and they said they didn’t care and just took the money.”Similar incidents were reported in Sagaing region in the country’s northwest, where police and troops seized food from shops in markets and shopping malls without paying, traders said. They also stole goods from vehicles they inspected, resulting in fewer cargo trucks moving though the region.“It’s not easy to transport goods now because [troops] are everywhere, and we don’t know if we can proceed or not,” said a trader in Monywa, Sagaing’s largest city. “The cars can go on only when they say so. Even then, they sometimes will take stuff.”The trader said he recently saw security forces take a box of snacks from a vehicle during a security check.“Life is quite difficult,” he added.Only about two of every 100 truck drivers are now moving cargo through the region, the trader said.Not only do security forces check every part of the trucks, they also ask questions if they find a lot of cash, inquiring where the money came from and who will receive it, and then sometimes take the money for themselves, he said.Prices increase ‘twofold, threefold’The economic pinch is also being felt in Yangon, the most populous city in Myanmar, whose citizens rely on deliveries of goods from outside the urban center for their household and business needs.Disruptions in the flow of consumer goods means that neighborhood markets have little meat or vegetables to sell, while prices for the products have doubled, said one Yangon homemaker.“In Yangon, only the big supermarkets like City Mart and Metro are operating as usual, and the smaller shops and stores are all closed,” she said.“Only about half the regular amount of meat and veggies is available, and you have to buy them whether you like it or not as we don’t have the opportunity to choose what we want,” she said. “Prices have increased twofold, threefold, or more.”The number of cargo trucks entering the commercial center’s largest wholesale markets has dropped by two-thirds, while prices of daily necessities have increased, said a rice seller in Yangon.At the Bayinnaung Market in northwestern Yangon, the largest agricultural commodities trading market in Myanmar, rice deliveries have fallen by about two-thirds, though shops are open as usual, a rice merchant said.The market for foodstuffs will remain stable for now, but if the flow of basic foods and commodities stops and storage supplies are exhausted, prices will skyrocket, traders said.The struggle to stay fed and supplied plays out amid life-and-death battles in the streets, as heavily armed security forces suppress demonstrators and ordinary citizens alike, often firing indiscriminately into crowds or dwellings.At least three civilians had been wounded by gunfire within 24 hours up to midday on Tuesday and an unknown number of people had been arrested since early morning, including four medical doctors in Mandalay.Soldiers and police detained the doctors as they prepared for a protest on 73rd Street in memory of their fallen colleagues. One man was hit in the arm when police fired live rounds during the crackdown, and officers arrested two pediatricians and two other doctors, and confiscated motorcycles and cell phones from the protesters, witnesses said.“They arrived in a truck while we were preparing to stage a dawn protest,” said one physician at the scene who declined to be named. “They fired stun grenades five times near the university campus. Afterwards, two pediatricians and two other doctors got arrested, and three motorcycles were taken away.”Though local health department workers and other anti-junta protesters have held early morning demonstrations, this was the first time that police took action against them, those at the scene said.Woman hit by gunfireIn the Kachin state town of Mogaung, a woman was hit in the arm by gunfire on Monday evening while counting her day’s earnings in her shop, witnesses said. She was shot by troops and police stationed on the bridge across the Nangyin River near her neighborhood.Security forces also shot another man on a motorbike when he tried to turn around at the bridge, witnesses said.“There were five or six shots, and one of the first shots hit the woman,” said a local resident. “The last shot hit the guy on the motorbike, slightly wounding him.”A family member of the woman who was shot said a military officer apologized for the shooting Tuesday morning and offered to take her to a military hospital in Kachin’s capital Myitkyina.Local residents said they wanted the troops to leave the bridge.Security forces continued their searches for protest leaders in other parts of Myanmar, sometimes resorting to their arresting their relatives.When police in Thayarwaddy, a city in the central Bago region, couldn’t find Jar Lay, an anti-coup protest leader, they arrested his family of six, including a 4-year-old daughter, a toddler niece, and a 13-year-old brother-in-law.The six were released on Tuesday, but Jar Lay told RFA from his hiding place that police beat his teenage brother-in-law on the side of his head during an interrogation.“An informer told police we had explosives and weapons hidden in the house which was not true, and troops came to search for them at about 3 a.m.,” he said. “My entire family, including my kids and my in-laws, was taken to a military camp.”The teenager, who was hit in the temples and on his ears, was questioned about why he shared posts and photos on social media from his cellphone, Jar Lay said.“He was later taken to a police station and was forced to sign a confession,” he said.Before their release, the relatives had to sign a pledge that they would help police capture Jar Lay, and that if he could not be found, they would be rearrested, Jar Lay said.Security forces are even rounding up domestic celebrities who may not have played a part in the protests.Soldiers and police arrested famous comedian Zarganar in Yangon’s Tamwe township Tuesday morning, according to Facebook posts by his colleagues Ngapyaw Gyaw and Kaung Gyaw.Zaganar is not on the list of those subject to police warrants, so it is not yet known what he has been charged with or where he is being detained, they said.Red paint on Yangon streetsThroughout the country, protests against the junta continued in various forms in Mandalay, the Yangon suburbs, and in other cities and towns.Anti-junta protesters added color to their rallies Tuesday by smearing red paint on streets and pavements in the commercial hub Yangon to signal their opposition to the military regime’s bloody crackdowns on demonstrations that have left about 570 people dead and injured scores of others, Agence France-Presse reported.Myanmar youth meanwhile are calling for boycott of the annual Thingyan Water Festival holiday next week in defiance of the military regime and to honor those killed by security forces, the online news journal The Irrawaddy reported. Last year’s holiday celebrations, which include splashing water on people in public places, were called off by the government due to the coronavirus pandemic.Military authorities, who already have closed the offices of deposed leader Aung San Su Kyi’s National League for Democracy, are continuing to pursue and arrest party officials and parliamentarians, according to residents in various areas.Security forces arrested Aye Khine, a member of parliament and a local NLD executive committee member, in Mandalay region on Tuesday, said one of his colleagues.“He was returning home from hiding for a while and was arrested while he was making a phone call in the city. His phone was also taken away,” said the NLD member who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity.Ye Kyaw Thwin, an NLD lawmaker representing Mawlamyine township in Ayeyarwady region, was arrested by authorities Tuesday afternoon while fleeing a village following a complaint from a military informant, one of his colleagues said. 
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Three veteran Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, including well-known publisher Jimmy Lai, pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking part in an unauthorized rally in 2019 that led to violence between police and participants. The charges carry prison terms of up to five years.Lee Cheuk-yan, an ex-legislator, and Yeng Sum, former chairman of the Democratic Party, were released on bail. Lai was returned to jail as he is already being held on other charges related to his outspoken opposition to China’s crackdown on civil liberties in the former British colony.Walking out of the courthouse in Wanchai district, Lee said that despite pleading guilty, he and the others saw no fault in their actions.”Today we plead guilty to the charges, but we have done no wrong. This is an act of civil disobedience. We want to reclaim our right to demonstration, and we affirm the right of people, that we have the right to come out to march,” Lee said.”And we believe that history will absolve us, because we believe that any political progress, and the progress and rights of the people, have to be reclaimed by the people by exercising their rights to come out to march,” Lee said.The court was shown videos of the three at the Aug. 31, 2019, event that led to clashes in various parts of the cramped city of more than 7 million that was roiled by anti-government protests at the time.The pleas appear to be another blow against the opposition movement after seven of Hong Kong’s leading pro-democracy advocates, including Lai and an 82-year-old veteran of the movement, were convicted last week of organizing and participating in a march during the 2019 protest movement.Separately, one of a group of activists detained at sea as they sought to flee Hong Kong by speedboat was brought to court Wednesday amid extraordinary security. A fleet of motorcycles and police cars along with helmeted officers toting shotguns and machine guns accompanied Andy Li, who is charged with collusion with foreign forces under a new national security law, as well as unlicensed possession of ammunition and conspiracy to assist offenders.Li was first charged with collusion last August under the national security law imposed last year. He had been one of 12 Hong Kongers detained by mainland Chinese authorities on a boat in late August 2020, sentenced to seven months in prison, and returned to Hong Kong on March 22.Li’s story then took a twist reflective of China’s opaque legal system. His family was unable to contact him for days after his return to Hong Kong. Then, a lawyer unknown to Li’s family appeared to represent him.That lawyer, Lawrence Law, was also at court Wednesday. Law works at Olympia Chambers, which last week issued a statement saying that “Mr. Law has no duty to inform the press about the details of his instructions, and/or to the family members of Mr. Li.” It said Lawrence Law was “instructed through a private firm of solicitors to appear,” but no other information was provided.Li’s court appearance Wednesday was his first time in court after completing the mandatory 14-day coronavirus quarantine on return from mainland China. He is now back behind bars until his next hearing on May 18. The national security law requires judges to deny bail unless they are convinced the accused will not again commit the crime of which they have not yet been found guilty.Eight of the activists had been jailed in the southern city of Shenzhen and returned to Hong Kong in batches, according to a police statement Monday. The group was detained at sea in August last year during an attempt to reach self-ruled Taiwan. Many were facing prosecution in Hong Kong because of their past involvement in the 2019 protests.The governments in Hong Kong and Beijing have been pursuing opposition figures to exert greater control over the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.Hong Kong had enjoyed a vibrant political culture and freedoms not seen elsewhere in China during the decades it was a British colony. Beijing had pledged to allow the city to retain those freedoms for 50 years when it was handed control of the territory in 1997, but recently ushered in a series of measures that many fear are a step toward making Hong Kong no different from cities on the mainland.The 2019 protests were sparked by opposition to a bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China to face long periods of detention, possible torture and unfair trials. While the legislation was eventually withdrawn, the protesters’ demands expanded to include calls for full democracy.Beijing ignored them and responded by clamping down even harder, including imposing the national security law and changes last month that will significantly reduce the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong’s legislature. As a result, most of Hong Kong’s outspoken activists are now in jail or in self-exile.
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Myanmar security forces killed at least 11 civilians and wounded at least 10 others Wednesday when they fired on government protesters in the northwestern town of Kalay, according to reports received by VOA’s Burmese service. One protest organizer told the service that troops tasked with removing barricades set up by the protesters opened fire indiscriminately on the demonstrators, who are demanding that Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government be returned to power. The organizer said an undetermined number of protesters, some armed with homemade weapons, were arrested in the town known for fiercely resisting government forces. Video of the pre-dawn attack included the sounds of gunfire and grenade explosions. Social media posts said rocket-propelled grenades were fired. A young man who lives in Kalay and who escaped arrest told VOA the security forces fired at least 20 rocket-propelled grenades to destroy the barricades and fired bullets at the protesters.  FILE – Pallbearers carry the coffin of a protester who was shot dead on March 28 amid a crackdown by security forces on demonstrations against the military coup, during the funeral in Kale, March 29, 2021, in this picture from Facebook.Protesters in Kalay, who had previously armed themselves with homemade hunting rifles and established neighborhood strongholds, inflicted casualties on security forces during a March 28 assault on the town and nearby villages, according to the Myanmar Now news service. The demonstrators, who have organized what they call the Kalay Civil Army, inflicted more casualties on junta forces in the following days, the online news site reported. The March 28 attack occurred one day after government troops killed more than 110 civilians throughout the Southeast Asian country, the highest one-day death toll since the February 1 military coup that ousted the democratically elected government. Protests around the countryRegular anti-government protests continued in other cities and towns Wednesday, including in Bago, northeast of Yangon, where a resident confirmed to VOA that government forces killed two men and injured five others. One person was killed in a protest crackdown in Monywa, the capital of the Sagaing region, and another was killed in the town of Nyaung Shwe in the southern Shan State, VOA confirmed. At least nine arrests were reported in the southern city of Dawae. FILE – Protesters demonstrate against the military coup in Monywa, Sagaing region, in this photo taken and received from an anonymous source via Facebook on April 3, 2021.Nearly 600 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed by government troops and police since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Of the 3,500 people who have been arrested, 2,750 are still detained, AAPP said.  The National League for Democracy, led by Suu Kyi, had governed Myanmar since its first open democratic election in 2015, but the military contested last November’s election results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, largely without evidence.   Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the February coup. Martial law has been imposed in townships across Myanmar. Calls for restraintOn April 1, the U.N. Security Council repeated its call for the immediate release of all detainees in Myanmar, including Suu Kyi and Win Myint, and an end to violence. In a statement, the council expressed its deep concern for the “rapidly deteriorating situation” in Myanmar and strongly condemned the use of lethal force by security forces and police against peaceful pro-democracy protesters and the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including women and children. The council also called on the military “to exercise utmost restraint” and on all sides “to refrain from violence.”The Security Council also reiterated the need for full respect for human rights and the pursuit of “dialogue and reconciliation in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar.”
 
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