A military coup in Burma (aka Myanmar) set off warning bells for me. I have been following the situation there for over a decade because of the conflict between Burmese Buddhist monks and the Rohingya Muslim population.
Basically the people of Burma want to remain a Buddhist country and the ‘humanitarians’ of the West have been pushing for them to accept the joys of diversity.
Further destabilization of the country will mean that the cry will go up that the West must save more of the Rohingya Muslims.
See my extensive Rohingya Reports file where 244 previous posts are archived.
Now the military has taken over because of what they claim is massive ELECTION FRAUD.
I’m not in any position to make a judgement except that I have written often about Aung San Suu Kyiwho was once the darling of the international Left, but fell out of favor with them and suffered horrific attacks by the so-called peace-and-love crowd because she obviously feared Islamic supremacism taking root in Burma.
My purpose in posting this news is to alert you all to the events that will result in further demands that the West must resettle the Rohingya Muslims because Buddhists are bad.
Unrest in the world = calls for more refugees to be brought to America!
Here is Reuters where I have rearranged a couple of paragraphs.
Myanmar military seizes power, detains elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi
(Reuters) – Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in early morning raids.
The army said it had carried out the detentions in response to “election fraud”, handing power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for one year, according to a statement on a military-owned television station.
[….]
A verified Facebook page for Suu Kyi’s party published comments it said had been written in anticipation of a coup and which quoted her as saying people should protest against the military takeover.
The international Left had turned its back on Suu Kyi:
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 75, came to power after a 2015 election win that followed decades of house arrest and struggle against the military, which seized power in a 1962 coup and stamped out all dissent for decades.
While still hugely popular at home, her international reputation was damaged after she failed to stop the forced expulsion of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya Muslims in 2017.
The coup derails years of Western-backed efforts to establish democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, where neighbouring China also has a powerful influence.
[….]
Hillary loved her too. These pics make me laugh because the Left later turned on Suu Kyi and was vicious when she worried about Burma’s Muslims gaining power.
Phone and internet connections in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main commercial centre of Yangon were disrupted and state television went off air after the NLD leaders were detained.
[….]
Troops and riot police stood by in Yangon where residents rushed to markets to stock up on supplies and others lined up at ATMs to withdraw cash. Banks subsequently suspended services due to poor internet connections.
Condemnation of the coup came from Australia, Britain, the European Union, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States. China called on all sides to respect the constitution and uphold stability.
Biden’s response was “disappointingly weak.”
Human Rights Watch’s Asia advocacy director John Sifton, criticised the initial White House response as “disappointingly weak” and urged a more concerted international reaction “to put the Myanmar military on notice of the specific consequences that will occur if their coup is not reversed”.
So what exactly does Sifton want—a Biden war in Burma?
Endnote: Readers need to know that we have been resettling Rohingya for many years, even during the Trump administration (there was no Muslim ban!). However, when I first began writing about the Rohingya back in around 2007-2008, our State Department had them on a list of potential Islamic terrorists and we did not admit them as refugees.
“People here have been very engaged in the election results. There has been a lot of conversations about Biden and people are very optimistic now. I don’t think he will be racist like Trump.”
(Abdi, a Somali living safely in Kenya)
From Kakuma to a town near you!
Yup, they are chomping at the bit to get to Anytown, USA as soon as they can!
Muslim Somalis and Rohingya voice their enthusiasm and expectations here at Reuters:
From Asia to Africa, refugees hope Biden win could help rebuild lives
Joe Biden’s U.S. presidential election win [not so fast!—ed] has raised hopes of resettlement for refugees from Asia to Africa, many in countries where they are denied work and education and have no formal status.
[….]
President-elect Biden is expected to try to reverse much of Trump’s immigration legacy including travel bans on 13 countries that are either majority-Muslim or African nations.
He has also said he would raise the annual ceiling for refugee admissions to 125,000, but has not indicated how quickly that would happen.
Danielle Grigsby, Refugee Council USA’s Director of Policy and Practice, said there were many reasons to be optimistic about more progressive refugee and immigration policies under the Biden-Harris government.
“There has been a lot of early signals on from the Biden-Harris team to get rid of some of the totally unnecessary hurdles that have been put in place to intentionally slow refugees from coming to the U.S.,” said Grigsby.
[….]
In Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than one in four of the world’s 80 million refugees and displaced people, tens of thousands of people have had their applications for resettlement suspended since Trump took office in 2017.
[….]
U.N. data shows 2,636 Somali refugees have so far been resettled in the United States under the present administration against the 32,068 Somali refugees accepted under the second term of former President Barack Obama.
[….]
“People here have been very engaged in the election results. There has been a lot of conversations about Biden and people are very optimistic now. I don’t think he will be racist like Trump,” he said by phone.
Not just Somalis itching to get here, but expectations have been raised among Rohingya in Bangladesh ….
Rohingya Muslims waiting in Bangladesh for a Biden ticket to America.
Sharifah Shakirah, a Rohingya former refugee who moved to Texas after 21 years in Malaysia, said resettlement was the best solution for the nearly a million members of her ethnic group living in Bangladesh after fleeing persecution in Myanmar. [Bangladesh is a safe Muslim country.—ed]
“One million Rohingya in Bangladesh have no livelihood, no security, no education,” she said. “They cannot live there for another 10 years. They need a solution and resettlement is one of the solutions.”
Once again, Bangladesh is a safe Muslim country. Just being poor isn’t sufficient to be declared a legitimate refugee under international law.
I have been following the Rohingya migration for more than a decade so if you are interested in learning more about the issue see my Rohingya Reportsarchive with 243 previous posts.
When the Chinese virus began spreading around the world the international press, the UN, and international NGOs used the Rohingya as an example of poor refugees that, due to their living conditions, would be ravaged by the virus. It never happened. No virus “wildfire” in the Rohingya camps or the African camps either. Hmmmm?
This is the latest update on the Chinese Virus that we have been hearing for MONTHS will bring “catastrophe” to the world’s “vulnerable” refugee population.
Media vultures waiting to blame Trump (if they could) for refugee deaths from the Coronavirus!
It isn’t happening yet, although one gets the feeling that the liberal media is like vultures just waiting for the “carnage” to begin.
See my previous post here, with links to posts prior to that. The COVID is not exactly running like a “wildfire” through the massive camp for the Rohingya Muslims in Bangladesh.
Big test for the concept of social distancing!
The first case was reported in mid-May and the first death at Cox’s Bazar was on June 3rd! Now there are five deaths.
Cox’s Bazar refugee camps: where social distancing is impossible
Social distancing simply isn’t possible for the 1 million Rohingya refugees who live in Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, in southeastern Bangladesh.
Families live in close quarters inside flimsy bamboo shacks, using communal toilets and water facilities. Sometimes the most basic items, such as soap, are lacking.
Most of the Rohingya refugees living in the camp fled there in 2017, following a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar military, which the UN has since said was carried out with “genocidal intent”. On top of psychological trauma, many have underlying health conditions that leave them especially vulnerable to Covid-19.
The UN, and other agencies, have raced to open new facilities in Cox’s Bazar,but equipment is still extremely limited, and it is feared medical centres could be quickly overwhelmed. As of 28 June, 49 cases and five deaths have been recorded.
Kind of makes you wonder if all the social distancing is a bunch of you-know-what and that there is some other reason for the large number of sick Americans.
Previous posts on COVID and Cox’s Bazar can be found in my Rohingya Reportscategory.
When I saw this headline (below) this morning, I figured this was it—COVID-19 was running like a “wildfire” through the largest refugee camp in the world—Cox’s Bazar—where reports say that a million “vulnerable” Muslim Rohingya live check to jowl in filthy conditions—a prime location for coronavirus “carnage.”
As COVID-19 deaths rise in Cox’s Bazar, is increased testing enough?
Regular readers know that I have been following the dire warnings now for months about the “catastrophe” the international humanitarian community and the mainstream media has been predicting for Cox’s Bazar and other large refugee camps around the world.
Described by the mainstream media as a “tinderbox,” no social distancing is possible at Cox’s Bazar refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims
See my previous post hereabout the first Chinese Virus death in the camp.
Now here is the story about how the deaths have been rising (remember the first case of Covid was reported a month ago)—rising to two!
MANILA — Bangladesh has reported a second death due to COVID-19 in the Rohingya refugee community in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday along with five new positive cases.
[….]
Bangladesh has put areas of Cox’s Bazar on lockdown over the weekend. Cases in the district have gone over 1,000, according to the latest government data. However, only a small percentage comes from the refugee community in Cox’s Bazar, where 35 cases have been reported to date since the first one was confirmed last May 14.
So much for modeling out of Johns Hopkins!
An earlier modeling analysis by Johns Hopkins University in March projected that a single case there could lead to an estimated 119-504 cases under a low- to high-transmission scenario in the first 30 days.
“The numbers are not rising as we had feared. However, all the conditions are present for an extremely serious situation for one of the most marginalized people groups in the world,” Matt Ellingson, director of relief and humanitarian affairs at Food for the Hungry, told Devex last week.
We will be watching and reporting on this important test area for the value (or lack of value) of social distancing.
The best way to see my previous posts on the virus at Cox’s Bazar is to see my Rohingya Reports categorywhere I have archived all of my posts for the last dozen years about Rohingya refugees.
“Now that the virus has entered the world’s largest refugee settlement in Cox’s Bazar we are looking at the very real prospect that thousands of people may die from COVID-19.”
(Dr. Shamim Jahan)
Two days ago I told you that the first cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed at a refugee camp in Bangladesh housing tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.
The mainstream media has been predicting “catastrophic” carnage for weeks.
I’m going to report on the effect on the camp in the days and weeks ahead because I think it will be illustrative on the issue of social distancing.
I’m not wishing for a certain outcome, nor am I predicting what will happen. I will just report.
When it comes to anything to do with the Rohingya, the mainstream media’s myopic view is not to be trusted. Combined with its coverage of COVID, finding facts will be a challenge.
In breathless tones I see that NPR,the Hill,Deutsche Welle, the BBCand Reutersare all jumping on the news they have been waiting for over the last two months.
COVID-19 Has Arrived In Rohingya Refugee Camps And Aid Workers Fear The Worst
It’s the moment international aid groups have been dreading for months — the coronavirus has reached the sprawling refugee camps in the Cox’s Bazar district of southern Bangladesh, home to roughly a million Rohingya refugees.
Save the Children’s health director in Bangladesh, Dr. Shamim Jahan.
Bangladesh officials said on Thursday that at least two people living in or adjacent to the camps have tested positive for the coronavirus and have now been quarantined amid fears of a humanitarian disaster if the virus spreads unchecked.
“I’m deeply concerned, but, sadly, not surprised at all,” Deepmala Mahla, CARE’s regional director for Asia, told NPR.
“I am scared, I am worried, but I also feel that this is a stark reminder how vulnerable the Rohingya refugees are,” she said.
Save the Children’s health director in Bangladesh, Dr. Shamim Jahan, is worried, too. In a statement, he warned of the “catastrophic” effect of the virus on the Rohingya, and on Bangladesh in general.
“Now that the virus has entered the world’s largest refugee settlement in Cox’s Bazar we are looking at the very real prospect that thousands of people may die from COVID-19,” he said.
See my Rohingya Reportscategory with over 200 posts extending back a dozen years. The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group that is permitted to be resettled in the US (there is no Muslim ban!).
