Myanmar’s atrocities against Rohingya Muslims is genocide, concludes US

News Network
March 21, 2022

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The administration of US President Joe Biden will formally declare that the Myanmar military's atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority constituted genocide and crimes against humanity, according to a report.

American officials told the Reuters news agency that the decision will be announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which currently features an exhibit on the plight of the Rohingya.

"It's going to make it harder for them to commit further abuses," a senior State Department official told the news agency.

Blinken ordered his own "legal and factual analysis," according to US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The analysis concluded the Myanmar army is committing genocide.

Blinken will also announce $1 million in funding for the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), a UN body gathering evidence for possible prosecutions, Reuters reported.

A United Nations fact-finding mission concluded in 2018 that the Myanmar military's offensive included "genocidal acts," but the US referred at the time to the crimes as "ethnic cleansing," a term that has no legal definition under international criminal law.

"It's really signaling to the world and especially to victims and survivors within the Rohingya community and more broadly than the United States recognizes the gravity of what's happening," a second senior State Department official said of Blinken's announcement on Monday.

The Rohingya Muslims based in Myanmar’s Rakhine State have been subjected to a campaign of killings, rape, and arson attacks by the military-backed by the country’s majority Buddhist extremists in what the UN has described as “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

The brutal campaign has forced more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee their homeland since August 2017 and seek refuge in Bangladesh.

The 2017 clampdown is the subject of a genocide investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Rohingya, who have lived in Myanmar for generations, are denied citizenship and are branded illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which likewise denies them citizenship.

On the fourth anniversary of the crackdown, several groups in Myanmar last year issued statements calling for accelerated efforts to prosecute those responsible for the 2017 military action.

"Four years on justice for the Rohingya remains shamefully elusive. Not a single individual who committed the heinous crimes against the Rohingya has been held to account," said Progressive Voice, an advocacy group.

Facebook has come under fire in Myanmar for over a decade for the volume of hate speech directed against the Rohingya Muslims who have been subjected to waves of brutal violence during this time.

United Nations investigators say Facebook played a key role in spreading hate speech that fueled the violence against the community in 2017.

The UN Human Rights Council in July last year adopted a resolution denouncing violations by Myanmar’s military against the Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities. 

The resolution, brought forward by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was approved at the Geneva-based 47-member council in July last year.

Khalil Hashmi, Pakistan's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, voiced concern over the rights violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine state.

"Unfortunately, the humanitarian and human rights situation of Rohingya Muslims remains dire, and therefore requires a collective call by the council asking Myanmar to immediately halt human rights violations, and to uphold their fundamental rights," he said.

The text of the resolution expresses "grave concern" at reports of serious abuses, including arbitrary arrests, deaths in detention, torture, forced labor and "the deliberate killing and maiming of children."

The resolution also demands an immediate cessation of fighting and hostilities, of the targeting of civilians, and supports "the people of Myanmar and their democratic aspirations" and "the democratic transition in Myanmar." 

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News Network
November 27,2025

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Authorities at Pakistan’s high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Wednesday dismissed speculation about the condition of imprisoned former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, rejecting rumours that he had been moved out of the facility or was in danger. Officials said Khan was in “good health” and described the viral death claims as “baseless.”

“There is no truth to reports about his transfer from Adiala Jail,” the Rawalpindi prison administration said in a statement, according to Geo News. “He is fully healthy and receiving complete medical attention.”

Amid swirling rumours on social media, Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), urged the federal government to issue an official clarification and demanded that authorities allow his family to meet him immediately, Dawn reported.

The frenzy began after Khan’s three sisters called for an impartial probe into what they described as a “brutal” police assault on them and other PTI supporters outside Adiala Jail last week. Soon after, several social media handles circulated unverified claims alleging that Khan had been “killed” inside the prison.

The rumours intensified when a handle named “Afghanistan Times” claimed that “credible sources” had confirmed Khan’s “murder” and that his body had been moved out of the jail — allegations that have not been verified by any credible agency.

Imran Khan, PTI’s patron-in-chief, has been lodged in the Rawalpindi prison since August 2023 in multiple cases. For over a month, an undeclared restriction has prevented family members and senior PTI leaders from meeting him. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has reportedly been denied access despite making seven attempts.

In a letter to Punjab Police Chief Usman Anwar, Khan’s sisters — Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan, and Dr. Uzma Khan — said they were “peacefully protesting” outside the jail when police allegedly launched an unprovoked assault after streetlights were switched off.

“At 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown to the ground and dragged across the road,” Noreen Niazi said, alleging that other women present were also slapped and manhandled.

Adiala Jail officials reiterated that speculation over Imran Khan’s health was unfounded and insisted that his well-being was being ensured, Geo News reported.

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News Network
November 24,2025

Mangaluru, Nov 24: The original departure time of 11.10 pm was a distant memory for scores of Dammam-bound passengers at Mangaluru International Airport last Friday night, as their Air India Express flight was abruptly cancelled at the eleventh hour, sparking hours of frustration and chaos.

The flight, IX 885, initially scheduled to depart at 11.10 pm on November 22, was subject to two back-to-back reschedules—first pushed to 11.45 pm and then significantly postponed to 1.40 am—before the final, crushing announcement of cancellation was made. For the travellers, many of whom are likely expatriate workers with tight schedules, the last-minute change marked the beginning of a distressing ordeal.

"There was no drinking water, no food, and absolutely no proper guidance. We were left stranded like refugees," complained a stranded passenger.

According to multiple passenger accounts, the airline's ground staff failed to provide adequate support or essential amenities following the cancellation. Complaints poured in about the total absence of drinking water, food provisions, and any reliable guidance from the carrier's representatives. Travellers alleged they were left stranded for a considerable period, with no immediate arrangements or clear communication offered regarding accommodation or alternative travel to send them back home.

The incident has highlighted serious concerns over the carrier's contingency planning and customer service protocols during flight disruptions at one of India's key international gateways. The airline is yet to issue a comprehensive statement addressing the alleged lapse in passenger care.
 

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News Network
November 22,2025

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The Israeli regime’s forces have killed two Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip every day since the ceasefire began in early October, UNICEF has warned.

The UN children’s agency said on Friday that Israeli forces continue to attack Palestinians in Gaza even though the agreement was meant to stop the killing.

“Since 11 October, while the ceasefire has been in effect, at least 67 children have been killed in conflict-related incidents in the Gaza Strip. Dozens more have been injured. That is an average of almost two children killed every day since the ceasefire took effect,” UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires said in Geneva, reminding that each number in the statistics represents a child whose life had ended violently.

“These are not statistics,” he said. “Each child had a story, a family, and a future that was stolen from them.”

Data from Palestinian factions, human rights groups, and government bodies recorded since the US-brokered ceasefire deal went into effect on October 10 show that Israeli forces have carried out numerous attacks, each constituting a separate ceasefire violation.

UNICEF teams say they repeatedly continue to witness heart-wrenching scenes of fearful Palestinian children sleeping outdoors with amputated limbs, while others live as orphans in flooded, makeshift shelters.

“I saw this myself in August. There is no safe place for them. The world cannot normalize their suffering,” Pires said, lamenting that the UN could “do a lot more if the aid that is really needed was entering faster.”

The UNICEF spokesperson warned that with the advent of winter, the risks for hundreds of thousands of displaced children will increase.

He warned, “The stakes are incredibly high” for children as winter acts as a threat multiplier, where children have no heating, no insulation, and few blankets. He said respiratory infections rise.

“Too many children have already paid the highest price,” Pires said. “Too many are still paying it, even under a ceasefire. The world promised them it would stop and that we would protect them.”

“Now we must act like it,” the UNICEF spokesperson added.

Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, it has killed nearly 70,000 people in the territory, most of them women and children, and injured over 170,000 more, while reducing most of the structures in the enclave to rubble.

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