#Myanmar journalists fly home after arrest in #Bangladesh.

Bangladesh allowed two journalists from Myanmar detained while reporting about fleeing Rohingya Muslims to fly home on Tuesday and was dropping charges against them, their lawyer said. 

Minzayar Oo and Hkun Lat were picked up from the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh in early September because they were working as journalists on tourist visas, police said.

They were released on bail after calls from Germany’s GEO magazine, which had assigned Minzayar Oo to cover the influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, as well as rights groups.

“It’s so good to be free again,” Minzayar Oo, one of Myanmar’s most prominent photographers, told Reuters soon after his plane landed in the Thai capital of Bangkok.

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Bangladesh authorities had begun the process to drop the charges against the pair, their lawyer, Jyotirmoy Barua, said.

 

Minzayar Oo has worked for various media outlets, covering Myanmar’s emergence from military rule. He had previously worked as a contractor with Reuters.

Hkun Lat is also a well-known photographer in Myanmar and has won prizes for his coverage of conflict in frontier regions.

About 582,000 refugees from Myanmar have poured into Bangladesh since August 25, when attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts triggered an army crackdown in response.

Source - mmtimes

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#Myanmar (Burma) Over 4,000 ethnic Rakhine flee fighting.

Staff members of the United Nations and international non-governmental organisations prepare to depart Sittwe airport on August 28 in the wake of last Friday’s terrorist attacks. 

 Over 4000 ethnic Rakhine have fled their villages as fighting between terrorists and the Tatmadaw escalated during the past three days, a Rakhine State official said Monday. 

Minister for Social Welfare and Resettlement Win Myat Aye and Rakhine officials provided aid to the beleaguered villagers and helped in their evacuation.

Minister Win Myat Aye and senior Rakhine officials visited some of the villages that were badly damaged by the fighting, including the Taung Bazar village, where some 100 suspected terrorists launched an attack on August 26. 

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 The minister told The Myanmar Times that thousands of ethnic Rakhine were fleeing their homes to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

“We only visited a few villages, so maybe in other villages more people have fled their homes,” he said. “We are not sure if the number of evacuees has doubled but there is already a list of evacuees.”

The Rakhine State information department said the ministers went to at least five villages in two days and provided necessary assistance and medical kits for fleeing ethnic people. Many people are fleeing to Sittwe, Rathidaung and Ponnagyun, which are safe places from terrorist attacks.

Minister Win Myat Aye said they have enough provisions to support some 24,000 evacuees for two months.

“We discussed with security forces the safety of all ethnic people and we are satisfied with security conditions we have seen on the ground,” he said.

According to the administrative department of Maungdaw township, the police outposts and stations in Maungdaw were attacked by terrorists before dawn on August 25 and clashes have continued between the terrorist group and security forces since then. Security forces were also conducting clearing operations in some villages. 

U Kyaw Kyaw Oo, deputy officer  of Maungdaw’s administrative department, told The Myanmar Times many people are fleeing and some are settling in safer areas.
“In the past two days we recorded 5000 evacuees,” he said. 

According to refugees living in the makeshift camps in Bangladesh, at least 2000 people have crossed into Bangladesh since Friday.

Source - MyanmarTimes