YANGON: An unprecedented shutdown of mobile data across swathes of Myanmar's restive Rakhine state entered a third day Sunday, blocking villagers from the internet in areas where the army is accused of abuses in its battle with ethnic rebels.
Myanmar's Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) ordered all mobile phone operators on Friday to suspend internet data in nine townships across Rakhine and neighbouring Chin State.
"As a basis for its request, the MoTC has referenced disturbances of the peace and internet services to coordinate illegal activities," Telenor Myanmar said in a statement.
The decree was made under the Telecommunications Law, hitting all mobile operators for an unspecified period.
Myanmar's army is fighting ethnic Rakhine rebels who want greater autonomy from the central state. The Rakhine are Buddhists and are also fighting in northern Chin state which borders their homeland.
The Rakhine accuse the army of committing abuses -- including arbitrary arrests -- against them, while the military confirmed it shot dead six Rakhine detainees in late April.
Civilians have been killed in crossfires and shellings, even while taking refuge in monasteries.
Villagers in Rakhine said the mobile data ban had cut them off from the outside world, where few have personal computers and most people share information on the violence through social media.
"We have no internet at all. We use the internet to share information through (messaging app) Viber," Kyaw Soe Moe, head of Inn Din village in Rathedaung told AFP.
Local authorities have also been hit by the blanket shutdown.
A police officer in Mrauk U town, home to Rakhine temples but also the seat of ferocious fighting in recent months, said that communication was being hampered.
"We have to use the phone, SMS and fax to report back to our headquarters. Fighting is still on going here every day," the officer who did not want to be named told AFP.
Rakhine is also home to the remaining Rohingya Muslim population, many confined to squalid camps.
Around 740,000 of the stateless group were driven into Bangladesh in a 2017 army crackdown.
Internet blackout imposed on Myanmar's restive Rakhine state
Internet blackout imposed on Myanmar's restive Rakhine state
- "As a basis for its request, the MoTC has referenced disturbances of the peace and internet services to coordinate illegal activities," Telenor Myanmar said
- Myanmar's army is fighting ethnic Rakhine rebels who want greater autonomy from the central state
For Rohingya mothers, Eid marks rare chance to serve meat for family
- Around 1.3 million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh are dependent on food aid
- Their meals normally lack proper nutrition, as assistance consists mostly of rice, lentils, oil
DHAKA: As she prepared for Eid Al-Adha celebrations on Saturday, Nikash Tara could not recall the last time she served a proper meal for her family.
In the cramped camps of Cox’s Bazar, a nutritious meal was a near-impossible treat available only during special occasions and solely dependent on charitable contributions.
Most days, Rohingya refugee mothers like Tara could only rely on food rations, which have been slashed in recent years due to insufficient funding.
“It was probably during Eid Al-Fitr when we last had a truly nutritious meal … We survive on the food rations, which are not enough now. Sometimes, I skip meals so that my children can eat,” Tara told Arab News.
“We get rice, lentils, and oil, but no vegetables, no milk. It’s hard to call it a ‘meal,’ let alone nutritious.”
Eid Al-Adha, known as the “Feast of Sacrifice” and one of the two most important holidays for Muslims, is the first time this year that the mother of three gets to serve meat for her family.
Eid Al-Adha commemorates the Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith when he was commanded by God to sacrifice his son. To reflect his readiness to do so, Muslims around the world slaughter an animal, usually a goat, sheep or cow, and distribute the meat among relatives and the poor.
“On the occasion of Eid, we received a small portion of meat … I prepared a curry with potato and the meat I received. Although it’s not much in quantity, it made the children happy, as it is a chance to have a meal with beef for the first time this year,” Tara said.
“It hurts me as a mother. My heart breaks when my children get excited over a single good meal. It reminds me how little they get on normal days. Eid should be joyful, but I cry inside, knowing my children are being deprived every other day of the year. I feel helpless.”
Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, said this year the camps received 1,800 cattle and 350 goats for Eid sacrifice, donated by various Muslim and local nongovernmental organizations.
“In addition to that, different organizations and philanthropists promised to deliver 50,000 kg of fresh meat to be distributed on the day of Eid Al-Adha,” Rahman told Arab News.
The donations will help Bangladeshi authorities to “reach many of the Rohingya families … (and) offer them a feast on the occasion of Eid,” he added.
Bangladesh hosts about 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims, who, for decades, have fled neighboring Myanmar to escape persecution, especially during a military crackdown in 2017 that the UN has been referring to as a “textbook case” of ethnic cleansing.
The majority of them now live in Cox’s Bazar in eastern Bangladesh, which has become the world’s largest refugee settlement. Over the years, humanitarian conditions in the squalid camps have been deteriorating, with aid continuously declining since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rohingya also have limited access to job opportunities and education.
With nobody able to earn a living, Mariam Khatun’s family was among those entirely dependent on food aid.
“With little food aid and in a life with no earning opportunity, for my children, a decent meal is something unimaginable,” Khatun told Arab News.
Though Eid was a joyful occasion, she said it was “painful that joy comes only once or twice a year.
“It breaks my heart when the children look at the meat and ask: ‘Will we eat this again tomorrow?’ I have no answer.”
Before fleeing her village in Myanmar, the 29-year-old mother of two used to prepare spicy beef curry, her children’s favorite, frying the meat until it was crispy.
“But here, I barely have them. We rely fully on the food rations, but the amount has been cut so much. It’s not enough for a full month,” she said.
“Maybe only on this Eid, we got a little meat. That’s the only time this year my children got something with some nutrition. We’re not living; we’re just trying not to starve.”
Fire on cargo ship off Alaska carrying EVs left burning
- Alaskan coast guard received a distress call on Tuesday reporting a fire onboard the Morning Midas
- The 22 crew members evacuated on a lifeboat before being rescued by another private vessel
WASHINGTON: A fire on a cargo ship carrying electric vehicles off the coast of Alaska was left burning with salvage teams expected to intervene on Monday, according to media reports.
The Alaskan coast guard received a distress call on Tuesday reporting a fire onboard the Morning Midas, a British-managed cargo ship with 22 crew members and carrying thousands of vehicles.
The crew evacuated on a lifeboat before being rescued by another private vessel.
An overflight of the cargo ship, currently located around 547 kilometers southwest of Adak, confirmed the ship was still burning on Wednesday, the coast guard said in a statement.
“Currently, there are no visual indications that the ship is taking on water or listing, and the extent of the damage is unknown,” it said.
Dustin Eno, a spokesman for the ship’s management company Zodiac Maritime, said there were no firefighting vessels nearby to help extinguish the blaze, the New York Times reported.
A salvage team was expected to arrive on Monday, the outlet and the Los Angeles Times said.
Video footage released by the coast guard shows smoke rising from the 183-meter vessel, which is reported to be carrying more than 3,000 vehicles, around 750 of which are electric or hybrid.
Electric vehicles contain lithium-ion batteries, which are generally safe but can overheat and ignite if damaged.
The ship is also estimated to be carrying hundreds of metric tons of gas fuel, according to the coast guard.
Russia accuses Ukraine of ‘postponing’ POW swap
MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday accused Ukraine of postponing a large-scale prisoner swap and the repatriation of the bodies of dead soldiers they had agreed on during peace talks in Istanbul.
“The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period, both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,” Russia’s top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on social media.
Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv agreed on Monday to swap all wounded soldiers and those under the age of 25 who were still held as POWs.
It was the only concrete outcome from the talks, at which Russia has repeatedly rejected Ukrainian calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Medinsky said Russia had brought the bodies of 1,212 killed Ukrainian soldiers to the “exchange area” — the first of 6,000 to be handed over.
Moscow had also handed over a list to Kyiv with the names of 640 POWs to be swapped in the first stage.
More than 1,000 prisoners from each side are set to be released in the largest exchange of the three-year conflict.
“We urge Kyiv to strictly adhere to the timetable and all agreements reached, and begin the exchange immediately,” Medinsky said.
Kyiv did not immediately respond to the accusation.
After the Istanbul talks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the exchange would take place this weekend, while Russia said it was ready for Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
A top Taliban official offers amnesty to Afghans who fled the country and urges them to return
- Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund made the amnesty offer in his message for the Islamic holiday of Eid Al Adha
A top Taliban official said on Saturday that all Afghans who fled the country after the collapse of the former Western-backed government are free to return home, promising they would not be harmed if they come back.
Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund made the amnesty offer in his message for the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Adha, also known as the “Feast of Sacrifice.”
The offer comes days after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping travel ban on 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The measure largely bars Afghans hoping to resettle in the United States permanently as well as those hoping to go to the US temporarily, such as for university study.
Trump also suspended a core refugee program in January, all but ending support for Afghans who had allied with the US and leaving tens of thousands of them stranded.
Afghans in neighboring Pakistan who are awaiting resettlement are also dealing with a deportation drive by the Islamabad government to get them out of the country. Almost a million have left Pakistan since October 2023 to avoid arrest and expulsion.
Akhund’s holiday message was posted on the social platform X.
“Afghans who have left the country should return to their homeland,” he said. “Nobody will harm them.”
“Come back to your ancestral land and live in an atmosphere of peace,” he added, and instructed officials to properly manage services for returning refugees and to ensure they were given shelter and support.
He also used the occasion to criticize the media for making what he said were “false judgments” about Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and their policies.
“We must not allow the torch of the Islamic system to be extinguished,” he said. “The media should avoid false judgments and should not minimize the accomplishments of the system. While challenges exist, we must remain vigilant.”
The Taliban swept into the capital Kabul and seized most of Afghanistan in a blitz in mid-August 2021 as the US and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.
The offensive prompted a mass exodus, with tens of thousands of Afghans thronging the airport in chaotic scenes, hoping for a flight out on the US military airlift. People also fled across the border, to neighboring Iran and Pakistan.
Among those escaping the new Taliban rulers were also former government officials, journalists, activists, those who had helped the US during its campaign against the Taliban.
Kyrgyzstan dismantles Central Asia’s tallest Lenin statue
- Officials said the statue was quietly taken down overnight and is set to be relocated
BISHKEK: Russian ally Kyrgyzstan on Saturday quietly dismantled Central Asia’s tallest monument to Vladimir Lenin, the revolutionary founder of the Soviet Union.
Ex-Soviet states across the region are seeking to strengthen their national identities, renaming cities that have Russian-sounding names and replacing statues to Soviet figures with local and national heroes.
Russia, which has military bases in Kyrgyzstan, is striving to maintain its influence there in the face of competition from China and the West and amid its invasion of Ukraine.
Officials in the city of Osh — where the 23-meter (75 foot) high monument stood on the central square — warned against “politicizing” the decision to “relocate” it.
Osh is the second largest city in the landlocked mountainous country.
The figure was quietly taken down overnight and is set to be “relocated,” Osh officials said.
The decision “should not be politicized,” city hall said, pointing to several other instances in Russia “where Lenin monuments have also been dismantled or relocated.”
“This is a common practice aimed at improving the architectural and aesthetic appearance of cities,” it said in a statement.
Despite some attempts to de-Sovietise the region, memorials and statues to Soviet figures are common across the region, with monuments to Lenin prevalent in the vast majority of cities in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan was annexed and incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and then became part of the Soviet Union following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
It gained independence with the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
