<p>We call on all parties to find a meaningful solution to the problems in the Rakhine State of Myanmar so that there is everlasting peace. Given the way things have unfolded in the Rakhine State over the last few years, especially the recent episodes of violence which has left hundreds of people displaced, their houses burnt, it certainly does not augur well for the future of a Myanmar that is gradually transitioning towards democracy.</p>

<p>The&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1482562605805000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZeUzc5ZEnIoNH0zAMaHyBEI9N4w" href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma" target="_blank">Burmese</a>&nbsp;military has conducted a campaign of arson, killings, and rape against ethnic Rohingya that has threatened the lives of thousands more, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<p><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/satellite-imagery/2016/12/09/burma-satellite-imagery&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1481694102952000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHRKGwM0icZSySCtnQjyHD566-nwg" href="https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/satellite-imagery/2016/12/09/burma-satellite-imagery" target="_blank">Satellite imagery</a>&nbsp;and interviews with refugees place responsibility for burnings of Rohingya villages in Burma’s Rakhine State squarely with the Burmese military, Human Rights Watch said today.</p>

<ul> <li>Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers being detained and forcibly returned</li> <li>Lack of water, food and medical care</li> <li>Both governments preventing thousands from accessing aid</li> <li>Harrowing details of Myanmar military attacks on villages</li> </ul> <p><img alt="" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5833/30424619304_89d4aed1ee_c.jpg" /></p>

<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma" target="_blank">Burmese</a>&nbsp;government should allow human rights monitors and independent journalists prompt and unfettered access to northern Rakhine State to investigate alleged widespread property destruction and other rights abuses against ethnic Rohingya, Human Rights Watch said today.<br /></p>

<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma" target="_blank">Burmese</a>&nbsp;government should invite the United Nations to participate in a thorough and impartial investigation into deadly attacks on police and subsequent allegations of summary killings, sexual violence, and other rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine State, Human Rights Watch said today.&nbsp;<br /></p>

<p>A provincial court in southern Thailand has sentenced a man to 35 years in jail for trafficking nearly 100 Rohingya refugees, some of whom died from suffocation.</p> <p>The provincial court of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat on Wednesday, 31 August 2016, sentenced Sunon Saengthong, an alleged human trafficker, to 35 years imprisonment and a fine of 666,000 baht, the Migrant Working Group reported.</p>

<p>Refugee rights advocacy groups are urging the Thai authorities to end the indefinite detention of Rohingya refugees and to investigate the extrajudicial killing of a Rohingya refugee by the police. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>The Migrant Working Group (MWG) and Coalition for the Rights of Refugees and Stateless Persons (CRRSP), on Tuesday, 24 May 2016, issued a joint statement, urging the Thai authorities to stop detaining asylum seekers indefinitely and to investigate the extrajudicial killing of a Rohingya refugee by police officers.</p>

<p>The former chief investigator into the Rohingya trafficking case plans to move abroad with his family after resigning from the police force out of fear for his family’s safety. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>According to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thairath.co.th/content/539984">Thairath News</a>, Maj Gen Paween Pongsiri, the head of the team investigating the human trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants, has reportedly decided to move abroad with his family out of fear of the repercussions from the still powerful trafficking syndicates.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/645/22757615531_ec54e95343_c.jpg" /></p> <div><span>Ethnic parties in Myanmar elections (Infographic: Myanmar Now, Prachatai) <a href="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/645/22757615531_ec54e95343_b.jpg">See large image here</a></span></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <p><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/782/22125224143_83307918a6_b.jpg" /></p>

<p>A provincial court in southern Thailand has dismissed defamation charges against two journalists accused of defaming the Royal Thai Navy for reporting an allegation that ‘Thai naval forces’ were involved in trafficking Rohingya.</p>

<p>A top official of the UN refugee agency responsible for protection has called for more concerted support to resolve the plight of displaced people in Myanmar and those with undetermined citizenship.</p> <p>UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Volker Türk, made his remarks at the end of a five-day mission to Myanmar on Monday during which he visited Yangon and the capital Nay Pyi Taw, as well as Sittwe and Maungdaw in Rakhine state.</p>