The Rohingya: Myanmar's outcasts

Source from Aljazeera, 30 Jan 2012

The Rohingya ethnic group of Myanmar is not recognised by the government [GALLO/GETTY]

This article is the first in a series by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistani high commissioner to the UK, exploring how a litany of volatile centre/periphery conflicts with deep historical roots were interpreted after 9/11 in the new global paradigm of anti-terrorism - with profound and often violent consequences. Incorporating in-depth case studies from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, Ambassador Ahmed will ultimately argue that the inability for Muslim and non-Muslim states alike to either incorporate minority groups into a liberal and tolerant society or resolve the "centre vs periphery" conflict is emblematic of a systemic failure of the modern state - a breakdown which, more often than not, leads to widespread violence and destruction. The violence generated from these conflicts will become the focus, in the remainder of the 21st century, of all those dealing with issues of national integration, law and order, human rights and justice. 

The Rohingya ethnic group of Myanmar is not recognised

Washington, DC - The image of a smiling Daw Aung San Suu Kyi receiving flowers from her supporters is a powerful message of freedom and optimism in Myanmar, the symbol of democracy in a country which has known nothing but authoritarian oppression for decades.
Yet few ask one of the most pressing questions facing Daw Suu Kyi. How will she deal with the Rohingya? "The Rohingya," you will ask. "Who are they?"  

The Rohingya, whom the BBC calls "one of the world's most persecuted minority groups", are the little-publicised and largely forgotten Muslim people of the coastal Rakhine state of western Myanmar. Their historic lineage in Rakhine dates back centuries, as fishermen and farmers. Over the past three decades, the Rohingya have been systematically driven out of their homeland by Myanmar's military junta and subjected to widespread violence and the total negation of their rights and citizenship within Myanmar. They are a stateless Muslim minority.

The continued tragedy of the unrecognised Rohingya, both in Myanmar and as refugees abroad, casts a dark shadow over the bright hopes and prospects for democracy in a country plagued by violence and civil war. Suu Kyi is ideally placed to extend democratic reforms to all ethnic peoples, including the Rohingya, in a free Myanmar.

Though the Rohingya may be small in number at less than two million, the real lesson of the Arab Spring is that no notion of democracy can succeed without the inclusion of all people within a country's borders. Every member of society, regardless of race and religion, must be given their due rights as citizens.

"While many ethnic minorities in Myanmar have been the victims of the central government's oppressive measures, the Rohingya stand apart in that their very existence is threatened."

While many ethnic minorities in Myanmar have been the victims of the central government's oppressive measures, the Rohingya stand apart in that their very existence is threatened. The Rohingya's plight abroad as refugees in places such as Bangladesh and Thailand has seen glimmers of the media spotlight, but less attention has been brought to the underlying cause of their flight: the violence and cultural oppression at home.
These policies were enacted by Myanmar's government to force the Rohingya outside of Myanmar as a result of their being Muslim and ethnically non-Myanma. The government erroneously labelled them as "illegal Bengali immigrants" in their efforts to eradicate the Rohingya culture.

Kings to refugees
Yet, the long history of the Rohingya and the Rakhine state contradicts the government's claims. The medieval Kingdom of Arakan, encompassing the Muslim Rohingya, was once an enlightened centre of culture, knowledge and trade, displaying a harmonic blend of Buddhism and Islam in its administration and court life. The kingdom's cosmopolitan and international capital city, Mrauk U, was described in the 17th century as "a second Venice" by a Portuguese Jesuit priest and was often compared to Amsterdam and London by travellers and writers of the time.

It was the 1784 military conquest by Bodawpaya, the king of Burma (now Myanmar), that transformed this once vibrant kingdom into an oppressed peripheral region. After this, many haunting tales began to circulate of Burmese soldiers rounding up the Rohingya in bamboo enclosures to burn them alive, and marching thousands to the city of Amarapura to work, effectivley as slave labour, on infrastructure projects.

Rohingya boat people stuck in limbo

With the rise to power of the military junta in 1962 under General Ne Win, a policy of "Myanmarisation" was implemented as an ultra-nationalist ideology based on the racial purity of the Myanma ethnicity and its Buddhist faith. The Rohingya, as both Muslims and non-Myanma, were stripped of their legitimacy and officially declared foreigners in their own native land. With the passage of the junta's 1982 Citizenship Law, they effectively ceased to exist legally.

Stripped officially of their citizenship, the Rohingya found their lives in limbo: prohibited from the right to own land or property, barred from travelling outside their villages, repairing their decaying places of worship, receiving an education in any language or even marrying and having children without rarely granted government permission. The Rohingya have also been subjected to modern-day slavery, forced to work on infrastructure projects, such as constructing "model villages" to house the Myanmar settlers intended to displace them, reminiscent of their treatment at the hands of the Burmese kings of history.
The denial of citizenship and rights was accompanied by a military strategy of physical and cultural war designed to drive the Rohingya out of Myanmar.
The initial push of the military's ethnic cleansing campaign came in 1978 under Operation Naga Min, or Operation King Dragon. The purpose of this operation was to scrutinise each individual within the state as either a citizen or alleged "illegal immigrant". This resulted in widespread rape, arbitrary arrests, desecration of mosques, destruction of villages and confiscation of lands among the Rohingya people. In the wake of this violence, nearly a quarter of a million Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, many of whom were later repatriated to Myanmar where they faced further torture, rape, jail and death.
In 1991, a second push, known as Operation Pyi Thaya or Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation, was launched with the same purpose, resulting in further violence and another massive flow of 200,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh.
Non-governmental organisations from Europe and North America estimate that 300,000 Rohingya refugees remain in Bangladesh, with only 35,000 residing in registered refugee camps and receiving some sort of assistance from NGOs.

Acknowledging the Rohingya
Those remaining, more than 250,000, are in a desperate situation without food and medical assistance, largely left to slowly starve to death. The December 2011 refugee repatriation agreement reached between Myanmar President Thein Sein and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will exclude the Rohingya, due to their lack of Myanmar citizenship, one of the conditions for repatriation for the expected 2,500 returning refugees.

The Rohingya predicament underlines a paradox for the world's great faiths, straddling the divide between Islamic Asia and Buddhist Asia. Each emphasises compassion and kindness and yet, we see little evidence of this in their dealings with the Rohingya people.

As part of this current study on the relationship between centre and periphery in the Muslim world, we recently interviewed Dr Wakar Uddin, Chairman of The Burmese Rohingya Association of North America (BRANA). A gentle and learned man, he is an energetic ambassador for his Rohingya people with a firm grasp of regional history. All the Rohingya want is the reinstatement of their citizenship in their own land, as revoked by the former dictator General Ne Win, and the dignity, human rights and opportunities that come with it.
Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy have a unique opportunity to reach out to the Rohingya people and include them in the new democratic process. The NLD should work with the central government to expand the role of all ethnic minorities as full Myanma citizens.

By acknowledging their rights, the government will bestow upon the Rohingya the dignity and the responsibilities of citizenship and present opportunities for mutual cultural understanding and the repatriation of the thousands of refugees existing in purgatory, separated from their homes and families. Great strides have recently been made by the Myanmar government towards the creation of an open and democratic political system and an end to ethnic violence, yet this is only the beginning.

With the recognition of the Rohingya as Myanma citizens, Suu Kyi will honour the memory of her father, Aung San, as he, before his untimely and tragic death, also reached out to ethnic minorities to participate in an independent Myanmar. Only then can a democratic and modern Myanmar be legitimate and successful in the eyes of its own people.
But the first step is to acknowledge the Rohingya exist.

This article is based on research being conducted by Professor Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, Washington, DC, and Harrison Akins, a Research Fellow attached to the Chair, for the forthcoming study, Journey into Tribal Islam: America and the Conflict between Center and Periphery in the Muslim World, to be published by Brookings Press, exploring the conflict between Muslim tribal groups and central governments across the Muslim world in the context of the US-led 'war on terror'. 
Ambassador Ahmed is a former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK and former administrator in Waziristan and Balochistan. He is the award-winning author of numerous books, including Discovering Islam, and Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam (Brookings Press, 2010).
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Burma 'blacklisting' Rohingya children

Source from DVB, 19 Jan 2012


Rohingya children who fled to Bangladesh bathe using water from a pond at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar (Reuters)

Despite recent tentative steps towards democratic reform in Burma, the government has continued with a discriminatory policy against the Rohingya ethnic group in the countrya's western Arakan state that includes banning Rohingya children born out of wedlock from obtaining travel permits, attending school and, in the future, marrying.

The racial profiling of children immediately after birth contradicts the praise heaped on the pseudo-civilian government by world leaders in recent months, says The Arakan Project, which is this week submitting a report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The UN body is currently reviewing the situation of children's rights in Burma, and The Arakan Project claims the blacklisting of Rohingya babies stands in stark contrast to pledges of reform by the Thein Sein administration.

Chris Lewa, director of The Arakan Project, says the new government continues to ignore the existence of the Rohingya in its state party reports to the CRC, and has refused to implement the body's recommendations first made in 2004.

"Rohingya children bear the full brunt of the state's policies of exclusion, restrictions and arbitrary treatment," she said. "These systematic policies gravely impair their physical and mental development as children and will affect the long-term future of their community."

Successive Burmese governments claim the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group, are of Bengali origin, and thus have consistently denied them citizenship- The Arakan Project says their status in Burma "relies entirely on the political will of the government", which is predominantly Buddhist and whose current representative at the UN, Ye Myint Aung, said during his prior tenure as Consul-General to Hong Kong that Rohingya were 'ugly as ogres'.

Rohingya support groups say however that there is evidence that Islam existed in Burma prior to the now-dominant Theravada Buddhism, and that the Rohingya's roots in Arakan state go back centuries.
For decades the government has meted out hefty treatment against the group, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee the country. Up to 400,000 Rohingya are living as refugees in neighbouring Bangladesh, with hundreds attempting perilous journeys by boat each year to Thailand and Malaysia. Various NGOs have described them as one of the world's most persecuted minority groups.
Those that remain in Burma suffer persecution at the hands of government officials as well as from local Arakan communities, where anti-Muslim sentiment, reinforced by the government, is strong and where many inhabitants consider them illegal immigrants.

"If children are not in their family list they cannot stay in the village," a nine-year-old boy told researchers working on the CRC submission. "Like my brother- my parents could not include my younger brother's name in their family list. That is why they had to leave the village.
"Some parents still live in the village without registering their children but they have to hide them. Or they have to register them with other parents. Like me. I am registered as the son of my grandmother."
Another boy, 12, told the group that he was "a prisoner in [his] own village" and could not leave the confines of his village without travel documents. An 11-year-old said he was often made to skip school when local authorities forced him to help repair nearby roads, with no pay.

The Burmese government justifies this treatment of the Rohingya on national security grounds, claiming that the policy is aimed at managing "illegal migration". A ban on Rohingya parents producing more than two children stems from alleged "control on population growth", The Arakan Project says, and unauthorised marriages can result in a 10-year prison term.
The group estimates that more than 40,000 Rohingya children have been left unregistered, with parents fearing punishment if they come forward with children born out of wedlock. Those not registered face severe difficulties accessing education and healthcare.

The government has mooted a programme of registering blacklisted children and adding them to population censuses, but progress has been slow. In addition, "Despite [UN refugee agencya's] advocacy efforts to address their lack of status with the government, little progress has been achieved to date," says the report.

Lewa urged the government to "build on its reform credentials and mark a break from past regimes by taking immediate steps to end all discriminatory policies and practices against the Rohingya". The group warns that racial profiling by the government "has demoralised the Rohingya community, resulting in increased refugee outflows since September 2011".

In Brief: 40,000 Rohingya children in Myanmar unregistered

source from IRIN, 19 January 2012

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

More than 700,000 Rohinya live in Myannmar

BANGKOK, 19 January 2012 (IRIN) - An estimated 40,000 Rohingya children are believed to be unregistered in Myanmar, according to a new report. 

"Despite recent reform efforts in Myanmar, the government has reaffirmed its deeply discriminatory policies against the Rohingya, and the children bear the brunt of this," Chris Lewa, director of The Arakan Project and author of the report, told IRIN before a session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva on 19 January.

These include the requirement of government authorization for marriage and a "two-child policy". These restrictions have made children "evidence" of unregistered marriages, an act punishable with up to 10 years in prison, while third and fourth children who are unregistered are essentially "blacklisted" for life - unable to travel, attend school or marry.

Under Myanmar's 1982 citizenship law, Rohingya children - both registered and unregistered - are stateless and hence, face limited access to food and healthcare, leaving them susceptible to preventable diseases and malnutrition. Many are prevented from attending school and used for forced labour, contributing to a Rohingya illiteracy rate of 80 percent. More than 60 percent of children aged between five and 17 have never enrolled in school, the report said.

Burma prisoner amnesty – 13 Jan releases (Jailed Rohingya MP Kyaw Min, who was election in the 1990 polls, has been released along with his family)

Source from DVB, 13 Jan 2012

 

Published: 13 January 2012

Student leader Ko Ko Gyi [L] sits alongside Min Ko Naing. Both were released from prison today (Reuters)

We will be keeping you updated with breaking news as the day progresses. Updates in Rangoon time (+6.30 GMT). Confirmation hard to get, so note when labelled rumour

Final: Unprecedented events today in Burma, and the strongest signal yet of genuine reform? Let’s wait and see. The government released the country’s highest-profile political prisoners – Min Ko Naing, Ashin Gambira, Khun Tun Oo, Ko Ko Gyi, Khin Nyunt and many more – and the sceptics may be rethinking their stance somewhat. Suspicion still surrounds the government however (“They still have characteristics of a dictatorship,” said Gambira) but unlike past amnesties, few will be disappointed with this one. This is how it fits into the recent history of prisoner releases in Burma:
DATE                          TOTAL                  POL. PRIS           PERCENT
18 Nov 2004               3,937                            28                    0.7%
29 Nov 2004               5,311                            12                   0.2%
13 Dec 2004                5,070                           21                   0.4%
3 Jan 2005                   5,588                           26                   0.5%
6 Jul 2005                    334                             253                  75.7%
3 Jan 2007                   2,831                           50                   1.7%
23 Sept 2008               9,002                          10                    0.1%
20 Feb 2009                6,313                           24                    0.4%
17 Sept 2009               7,114                           28                   1.8%
16 May 2011                14,578                        55                    0.1%
13 Jan 2012                 651                             651                  100%
TOTAL                        60,729                       1258               2.0%
18.02pm: Filmed interview with former prime minister Khin Nyunt, who was released today. He speaks about the ceasefire signed yesterday between the government and KNU, and his newfound freedom.

17.40pm: Former army captain-turned-charity worker Nay Myo Zin also freed. He was jailed shortly after the new government came to power in March 2011 after intelligence found allegedly seditious documents on his laptop.
17.05pm: Twenty-three released from Mandalay prison: four National League for Democracy members, four activists from the September 2007 uprising, nine border security officials and six monks.
From Kyaukphyu prison, 10 prisoners of conscience and three former military intelligence (Weekly Eleven).
16.40pm: Filmed interivew with ethnic Shan leader Khun Tun Oo, who was released from Putao prison near the Chinese border today.

16.30pm: Released student leader Mya Aye “will arrive in Rangoon 5.30pm local time. He says campaigning must continue for all political prisoners to be released.” — Burma Campaign UK

16.05pm: Jailed Rohingya MP Kyaw Min, who was election in the 1990 polls, has been released along with his family. A volunteer with Burma Campaign UK spoke to him this morning: “U Kyaw Min thanked those around the world who have campaigned for the release of political prisoners. He says he is in good health.”
Also freed is Myint Hlaing, who helped DVB reporter Hla Hla Win on various assignments and was arrested alongside her in 2009.

15.50pm: Monk Ashin Gambira tells DVB of his experiences in prison:
“It was very bad in the beginning. I was kept in solitary confinement when I arrived in Insein prison [in 2008], then also in Mandalay prison. I was beaten up and then put in solitary confinement in Khamtee prison. I was also in solitary confinement for the first month I arrived in Kalay Prison. And then I was transferred to Myaungmya Prison on December 16 and now I’m out. The conditions in the prisons initially was very bad – there was no sufficient medical supply and no doctor.”
“I think [Burma] has still a long way to go. Although they are releasing prisoners now, they still have the characteristics of a dictatorship. What kind of democracy is this? They had to wait until today to release us.”
15.34pm: Tally of 591 prisoners of conscience released ties with NLD’s prisoner list released late last year. One wonders what has/will happen to the 1,000-odd counted by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma.
NB: of the 11 ‘political prisoners’ jailed in Taunggyi prison, one, Shwe Htoo, still remains behind bars, having been convicted on explosives charges, implying the NLD do not count those who have committed – or intended to commit – acts of violence as prisoners of conscience’.
14.49pm: Prominent student activist Ko Ko Gyi, who was jailed alongside Min Ko Naing, is free and on a plane bound for Rangoon, where he is expected to arrive shortly.  More details soon…
14.45pm: Of 651 prisoners released today, 591 are “prisoners of conscience” – the remaining 60 are former military intelligence officials and customs officials, Weekly Eleven says. Important distinction between ‘political prisoners’ and ‘prisoners of conscience’ used by government officials.
14.24pm: Leader of All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) group, Kyaw Ko Ko, who was sentenced in 2009, is released from prison today. He told DVB that no conditions were placed on his release.
14.05pm: Thant Zin Aung, a freelance photojournalist arrested while boarding a flight to Thailand in 2008 after intelligence found a video on him showing the destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, is among seven political prisoners released from Hpa-an jail in Karen state.
14.00pm: Another group of political prisoners released, this time from Kale jail in Sagaing division: Sai Nyunt Lwin [Shan Nationalities League for Democracy], Myo Naing Aung, Tin Yu, Kyaw Aung, Kyaw Kyaw, Soe Yazar Phyu, Wei Phyo, Min Min Htun, Naing Linn, Htay Aung and Nay Linn Aun.
13.50pm: The Irrawaddy quotes Khin Nyunt praising Aung San Suu Kyi: “I welcome Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s efforts. If she is in the Hluttaw [Parliament], it will be better than it is now because she is brave and outspoken.”
13.40pm: DVB reporter Win Maw has been released from Kyaukphyu prison in Arakan state. He becomes the last of the named DVB reporters to be freed, although several more whose names were kept anonymous so far remain in prison. More on Win Maw here.
13.25pm: We’ve got confirmed names of 87 political prisoners released so far today, but that doesn’t include the 82 released from Insein prison, so number so far around 172. The count continues…
13.00pm: Grandchildren of Burma’s first dictator Ne Win among the 82 political prisoners released so far from Insein prison in Rangoon.  Others include members of the Karen National Union, activist group Generation Wave, NLD members, monks arrested in 2007 and former military intelligence officials, says The Voice.
12.53pm: Former PM Khin Nyunt says he will cease political activities and concentrate only on social and religious work, according to economist Khin Maung Nyo who met with him this morning.
12.33pm: Khin Nyunt tells crowds he is “in good health”.
“I’m happy and so my is family. But my men still remain in detention and some of them deserve to be free. It would be the best if everyone is released and could reunit with their families.
“I feel that it’s a bit self-centered that only they are being released like this. I wish everyone could be released and hope that they will be at one point since the current government is taking one step after another.”

Former prime minister Khin Nyunt seen shortly

after his release today (DVB)

12.15pm: News just in - DVB reporter Hla Hla Win has been released from Kathar prison in Sagaing prison. She was serving a 27-year prison sentence after being caught with video interviews of monks criticising the former junta’s crackdown on protesters in September 2007. More about her here.
Four DVB reporters have so far been released from prison today. Chief Editor Aye Chan Naing said:  ”I am very happy for the release of some of DVB’s journalists.  I hope all our journalists will be free today.”
11.53am: Quote from released Shan leader Khun Tun Oo: “Firstly I would like to say it is important to free those who remain [in detention]. It would be best if there’s no one left in the prisons.
“I feel no emotion at all to be released because I wasn’t supposed to be arrested in the first place. I didn’t commit any of the crimes they accused me of – there was no national treason. I have wasted seven years of my life for something I didn’t do and there’s nothing to be happy about now.”
11.45am: Journalist Zaw Thet Htwe is among those released from Taunggyi prison, according to his wife. Kyaw Kyaw Htwe (aka Marky) released from Insein Prison, according to The Voice.
11.40am: Shan ethnic leader Khun Tun Oo, one of Burma’s most famous political prisoners, released from Putao prison in northernmost Burma close to the China border. He was serving a 93-year sentence on charges of sedition and planning to overthrow the former junta.
11.35am: From Sittwe prison in Arakan state, Weekly Eleven reports the following eight political prisoners have been freed – Dr Thet Lwin, Than Tin (aka Ko Gyi Than), Pyi Phyo Hlaing, Aung Aung Kyaw, Zeyar Oo, Payit, Kyaw Zin Win and Dawpon Nay Nay.
11.30am: Prominent blogger Nay Phone Latt among those released from Hpa-an prison in Karen state. He was serving a 20-year sentence. Also freed from Hpa-an: Nyi Pu (1990 People’s Parliament Rep), Nanda Sitt Aung, Thant Zin Aung (jailed alongside Zarganar), Kyaw Kyaw Naing, Pyi Phyo Aung and Nyan Linn, according to The Voice.
11.21am: Two more activists from the 88 Generation Students’ Group, Panatee Htun and Nilar Thein (f), released today.
11.15am: IMPORTANT: Today’s amnesty announced under Act 401(1) - “When any person has been sentenced to punishment for an offence, the President of the Union may at any time, without conditions or upon any conditions which the person sentenced accepts, suspend the execution of his sentence or remit the whole or any part of the punishment to which he has been sentenced” (our italics).
Past amnesties have been done under Article 204(b) of the constitution: ”The power to grant amnesty in accord with the recommendation of the National Defence and Security Council”.
So it seems today’s releases have not been done with full consent of the powerful National Defence and Security Council, and that some may only be suspensions. We’ll try to find more on this…
11.08am: Sage words from the 21-year-old DVB reporter Sithu Zeya, who was released today:
“As for the president, I think he’s pretty decent as he is [enacting reforms] under a lot of pressure. But also it depends a lot on the men behind him – just one decent person won’t make the change happen. We need all-inclusive cooperation from both sides to build a democratic system.”
11.06am: The following political prisoners have been released from Buthidaung prison in Arakan state, according to Weekly Eleven:
Sithu Maung, Thant Zin Myo, Kyaw Min, Htun Nyo, Htay Kywe, Aung Zaw oo, Pyay Kyaw, Wunna Pantha, Kyaw Win San and Maung Maung Latt.
11.03am: NLD spokesperson says amnesty a ”positive sign. We welcome the release. Some (dissidents) are on their way home already,” AFP quotes.
10.56am: 12 political prisoners released from Mingyan prison, including female activist Htet Htet Aung.
10.48am: The Voice journal reports than former Burmese prime minister Khin Nyunt has been released from house arrest, along with his son. He was detained in 2004 after falling foul of former junta chief Than Shwe.
1044am: Freed DVB reporter Sithu Zeya says conditions attached to his release – if he commits any crime in the future he will be forced to serve his full 18-year sentence.  “It’s like we are being freed with leashes still attached to our necks. So I’m happy but with a leash still on my neck.”
Not clear if this ruling applies to all political prisoners released today.
10.42am: Hla Htwe (monk Vilasakka), Lah Yang Kywe, Ko Ko Naing, D Nyein Linn and Nobel Aye (f) freed from Monywa prison, according to Weekly Eleven magazine.
10.40am: Ngwe Soe Linn’s release brings to three the number of DVB reporters freed today. More on Ngwe Soe Linnhere.
10.39am: The following political prisoners released from Lashio prison, according to Weekly Eleven – Min Zeya, Min Han, Zarni Aung, Naing Oo (monk Pyinya Wunthua), Myint Naing, Aung Than Myint (Maggin monastery abbot Einraka), Ngwe Soe Linn, Min Htun, Myat Linn Htut, Honey Oo (f).
10.35am: 11 political prisoners, plus former military intelligence officials under Khin Nyunt, released from Taungoo prisons.
10.30am: The Voice magazine says Min Ko Naing was released at 10am (Rangoon time) today, along with 26 other political prisoners from Thayet.
10.25am: Confirmed that 88 Generation activists Zaw Htwe, Jimmy and Mya Aye are among those release from Taunggyi prison, according to Zaw Htwe’s wife. Still not clear if Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi are free, although we got a tip-off that Min Ko Naing’s family is en route to meet him.
10.20am: Comedian Zarganar writes on Facebook that jailed monk U Gambira, who had been severely tortured in prison, has been released.
10.16am: Rumours that leading 88 Generation activists, including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, will be released. Reuters quoteed from an official at Thayet prison saying Min Ko Naing will walk.
10.10am: Second DVB reporter U Zeya, father of Sithu Zeya, has already been released, according to reports from inside Burma. More details soon
09.50am: The 21-year-old DVB reporter Sithu Zeya was among the first political prisoners to be released today. He was given an 18-year jail term for videoing the aftermath of the April 2010 grenade attacks in Rangoon. Sithu Zeya had been forced to reveal under torture that his father was also a DVB journalist.
Sithu today walked from Henzada prison and will be reunited with his family.

Rohingya Representatives meet British Foreign Secretary

6 Jan 2012, pl see the link via-

arrcinfo.blogspot.com/2012_01_06_archive.html