Jenny Francis

  • Myanmar: Rohingya refugee crisis – who’s to blame?

    More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar (also known as Burma) to Bangladesh since August 25. With about 300,000 Rohingya refugees already in Bangladesh, tens of thousands in hiding in northern parts of Rakhine State and about 100,000 detained in Internal Displacement Camps, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described this mass exodus as “the world fastest-developing refugee emergency and a humanitarian and human rights nightmare.”

  • Myanmar: All out war on the Rohingya

    During the early hours of August 25, some 20 to 30 police posts were attacked in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships in the north of Rakhine State in Myanmar (also known as Burma). Twelve police were killed along with 16 attackers.

    Responsibility for these attacks was later claimed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

    In the two weeks since, the Myanmar military’s response has been brutal, widespread and indiscriminate. While accurate figures are not available, between 400 (military’s estimate), and “around a thousand” (United Nations estimate) Rohingya have been killed by the army.

  • Who are the Rohingya?

    Rohingya are an ethnic Muslim group who have lived for centuries in the majority Buddhist Myanmar.

    Many Rohingya came to Myanmar from what is now Bangladesh during the British colonial period (1820s to 1940s) to expand rice cultivation in Rakhine State.

    About 1 million Rohingya live in Myanmar, mostly in Rakhine State, making up some 2% of the country’s population and about 30% of the state’s population.

  • Burma: National League for Democracy wins historic vote for change

    Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has won a crushing and historic victory in the November 8 election in Burma (also known as Myanmar). Results were not final at the time of publication, but the NLD was on target to win more than 270 of the 330 elected seats (82%) in the People's Assembly, and more than 150 of the 168 elected seats (90%) in the House of Nationalities.

  • Myanmar: Call for change dominates the streets

    With elections due on November 8, a loud call for change in Myanmar (formerly Burma) can be heard in the streets. All commentators predict victory for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) over the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Several factors, however, indicate it will not be a landslide. Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, known throughout the country simply as “the lady”, came to political prominence in 1988 when she returned to Myanmar to support her ailing mother and became embroiled in the students' struggle against the military regime.

  • Myanmar’s military desperate to hold power

    Campaigning kicked off on September 8 for the first competitive elections in Myanmar (Burma) since the 1950s. The November 8 poll will pit the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) against more than 100 opposition parties, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Myanmar’s military ceded power to a quasi-civilian government through 2010 elections that were boycotted by the NLD, ending a military dictatorship that spanned from 1962.

  • Mainstream parties punished in Euro poll

    With some 375 million eligible voters from 27 countries electing 736 members of parliament, the European Parliament elections, from June 4-7, were the largest multi-country elections ever held.

  • FMLN gains in Salvadoran elections

    SANTA MARTA, El Salvador — In national and local elections held here on March 16, the Salvadoran people punished the ruling National Republican Alliance (ARENA) and gave a solid mandate to the Farabundo Martí National

  • FMLN prepares for Salvadoran elections

    FMLN prepares for Salvadoran electionsOn March 16, Salvadorans go to the polls to elect a new 84-member Legislative Assembly and 262 local councils. The Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN)