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Arrested ARSA leader blamed for violence against Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Editor03 mins

DHAKA, Bangladesh – The leader of a Rohingya insurgent group blamed for instigating attacks that provoked a deadly offensive by the Myanmar military and the forced cross-border exodus of Rohingya in 2017 has not spilled “significant information” since his arrest earlier this week, Bangladesh police said. Ataullah Abu Jununi, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA, was arrested on Tuesday at an apartment near Dhaka where he had been staying for four months. The Rapid Action Battalion, an elite security force, said it took him into custody on suspicion of terrorism and illegal entry. Nine suspected accomplices were also arrested that day from northern Mymensingh district, RAB said. Mohammad Shahinur Alom, the officer-in-charge of Siddhirganj police station, said Ataullah and his accomplices were being interrogated for 10 days under a court order. “He is behaving in a very modest way. He has yet to give any significant information. Let us see what happens in the next several days,” Shahinur Alom told RFA affiliate BenarNews on Friday. Ataullah’s arrest occurred the same day that Southeast Asian NGO rebels have made significant gains in battles with junta troops to gain control of the region. “The U.N. secretary-general has stressed that Bangladesh should talk to the Arakan Army. Ataullah’s arrest could create a congenital atmosphere for probable repatriation of the Rohingya refugees, provided that Arakan Army and the central government agree,” he said. Abdur Rahman in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, contributed to this report. BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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EXPLAINED: Why March is a sensitive month for Tibetans

Editor05 mins

For decades now, March has been a politically sensitive month for Tibetans, when Chinese authorities ramp up restrictions and security measures. That’s because a series of important events and acts of Tibetan resistance have happened during this month over the years, starting with the March 10, 1959, uprising against Chinese rule. This year, too, Beijing has intensified security and surveillance measures across Tibet, conducting inspections and holding provincial, county and township level meetings to issue strict directives to take action to “win the stability battle” in March. Additional police and military forces have been deployed in the capital of Lhasa, including religious sites such as the Jokhang Temple and Sera Monastery, according to two sources in the region. Security personnel have been patrolling neighborhoods even at 3 a.m., they said. Social media censorship and internet shutdowns prevent Tibetans from sharing information with the outside world. What happened on March 10, 1959? On that day 66 years ago, tens of thousands of Tibetans in Lhasa rose up against Chinese rule, which had begun when Mao Zedong’s Communists invaded and forcibly annexed Tibet in 1950. The revolt was in direct response to growing Chinese repression and fears for the safety of the Dalai Lama. As Chinese forces rose to crush the rebellion, thousands of Tibetans died. Hundreds of Tibetans march through the center of Sydney, Australia, on March 10, 2017, marking the 58th anniversary of China’s presence in Tibet.(Jason Reed/Reuters) This year, in cities and towns globally, including in India, North America, and in Europe, the Tibetan Women’s Association organized marches that included students, Buddhist nuns and activists who amplified the voices of past Tibetan women patriots and assert the role of Tibetan women living in exile. March 14: Lhasa protest and crackdown Many years later, on March 14, 2008, large-scale protests erupted in Lhasa against Chinese rule and religious repression, erosion of Tibetan culture and economic marginalization. What began as a peaceful protest quickly escalated into the biggest uprisings in Tibet since 1959, triggering a violent crackdown, resulting in hundreds of arrests, disappearances and deaths. A Tibetan nun listens to a speaker during a protest march held to mark the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising against Chinese rule, in Dharamsala, India, March 10, 2024.(Adnan Abidi/Reuters) What does the Dalai Lama say about the future of Tibet? Beijing believes the Dalai Lama wants to split off the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas in Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu, and Yunnan provinces from the rest of the country. However, the Dalai Lama does not advocate for independence but rather a “Middle Way” that accepts Tibet’s status as a part of China and urges greater cultural and religious freedoms, including strengthened language rights that are guaranteed for ethnic minorities under China’s constitution. Do Tibetans living in exile protest in March? Yes. Every March 10, Tibetans and their supporters around the world organize protests and solidarity events marking the anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan National Uprising. These protests serve as a powerful reminder of Tibet’s ongoing struggle for freedom and human rights. Edited by Tenzin Pema, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Myanmar junta admits misconduct in its controversial conscription scheme

Editor04 mins

Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese. Myanmar junta’s top official said there had been misconduct in its conscription scheme – the military’s first admission since introducing conscription laws that have been highly criticized by rights groups. Facing serious setbacks from insurgent groups across the country, reduced foreign investment, and defections from its own troops, the junta enacted controversial conscription laws in February last year, mandating compulsory military service for men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27. “Some recruitment committees have not followed legal procedures, leading to financial corruption and difficulties for some conscripts,” said Myanmar’s Vice-Senior General and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Gen. Soe Win in a speech on Thursday, adding that these “daily issues” were being addressed. It marked the first time junta officials admitted to misconduct in their conscription scheme. “Therefore, military personnel must promptly report any misconduct by recruitment committees to the relevant authorities,” Soe Win added. His remarks came amid widespread backlash against the scheme, with citizens fleeing the country to escape mandatory service, and local resistance groups retaliating by targeting officials involved in its enforcement. Junta recruiters have also been accused of taking bribes from households desperate to keep their family members from fighting and conscripting minors by arresting them. Some residents testified that many were forced to pay monthly fees to avoid conscription, while others said they had no choice but to pay ransom to secure the release of arrested family members and keep them from the frontlines. Human rights organizations have condemned the law as an abuse of power and a violation of human rights, while international observers warn that the policy could further destabilize the already volatile nation. RELATED STORIES Myanmar’s forced conscription: How the junta targets young men for military service Junta troops forcibly recruit more than 70 young men in Myanmar town 29 young men escape Myanmar junta’s conscription Many new recruits have been sent for training after being detained at gunpoint by junta troops. They face torture or execution if they are caught trying to escape. In late February, rebels in Myanmar’s Bago region assassinated two local administrators who forcibly recruited civilians for military service, bringing the number of officials killed for their involvement in carrying out the draft to at least 110. Between February and September 2024, anti-junta forces killed 108 ward and village administrators involved in recruiting, compiling name lists and extorting money for military service, according to data compiled by Radio Free Asia. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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China forces Uyghurs to work during Ramadan in bid to prevent fasting

Editor07 mins

Read RFA coverage of this story in Uyghur. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang are forcing Uyghurs to work during Ramadan to prevent them from fasting and praying as the Islamic holy month requires, sources in China’s northwestern region said. Videos circulating on social media platforms last week showed Uyghurs performing forced labor en masse during Ramadan. Some toiled in fields, while others performed cleaning work. The move is one of several measures by authorities to ban religious practices among the roughly 12 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs who live in Xinjiang amid China’s wider, systematic persecution of Uyghurs and their culture. Muslims are urged to fast between dawn and dusk during Ramadan, which this year runs from Feb. 28 to March 29. In most countries, Muslims can do this freely. But in China, authorities have banned fasting during the holy month under the guise of stamping out religious extremism — even requiring people to send officials video proof that they are eating lunch during the day. They also have forbidden Uyghurs from gathering at mosques to pray on Fridays and from observing other Muslim holidays. A video posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, showed residents of Hotan toiling in agricultural fields on the second day of Ramadan. Other information from a video posted on the seventh day of Ramadan indicated that residents of all Uyghur households had to perform collective cleaning. None of the videos gave details, such as where the residents performed the work, and no one offered an explanation as to why it had become necessary to work during Ramadan. “For 15 days, the residents have been working under the leadership of village and county governments to clean house yards and renovate public restrooms,” said a staffer who works for the Onsu county government in Aksu prefecture. Labor is good for you A policeman at a county police station told RFA that some residents were unhappy about being forced to work during Ramadan, but tried to defend the measure, saying that the labor was beneficial to them. “They hope that local authorities reduce their forced labor time and allow them to do their housework,” he said. A staff member of a neighborhood committee in Onsu county said Uyghurs have been working unpaid since the beginning of Ramadan, and they must perform cleaning as required or be punished for resisting. “We divided households into two groups, and each group had 10 people, and they all had to perform the expected tasks,” the staffer said. “We have not taken any measures against anyone opposing the government’s order.” Those who refused to do the work would be detained in a local cadre’s office for 7-10 days or taken “to the camps” if their resistance was strong, the staffer said, referring to the re-education camps Beijing built across Xinjiang. Uyghurs living in the Gulbagh neighborhood of Aksu’s Shayar county cleaned and organized their gardens and yards, the police officer said. Uyghur workers sew clothing at a garment factory in Maralbeshi county, northwestern China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, in 2018.(Chinese State Media) Chinese authorities in Aksu prefecture are forcing Uyghur residents to work during Ramadan so they can’t fast, said a person with knowledge of the situation who requested anonymity for safety reasons. Authorities also have required Uyghur villagers in the prefecture to attend political study sessions on the central Chinese government’s policies in Xinjiang nonstop since the beginning of Ramadan, this person said. Village cadres are intentionally holding the sessions during sahur, the pre-dawn meal, or iftar, the meal after sunset during the holy month. such as studying central government’s Xinjiang policies, the source said. A policeman from Uchturpan county in Aksu prefecture said the purpose of forced labor during Ramadan was to observe the Uyghurs. “Our purpose in doing this is to explain to them the policies of our [Chinese] Communist Party, educate them, and observe their thoughts and feelings,” he said. If a Uyghurs tire easily, feel weak or do not eat or drink while working, it proves that they have been fasting and have an ideological problem, he said. “Around 10 people were reluctant to comply with these rules, so we intensified our ideological work on them,” he said. Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Surviving the horrors of the Khmer Rouge

Editor01 mins

In 1975, a radical communist band of guerrilla fighters known as the Khmer Rouge conquered the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Their takeover ignited a genocide that claimed the lives of between 1.5 million and 2 million people, or a quarter of the country’s population. Under the leadership of a man known as Brother Number One, or Pol Pot, a systematic campaign of persecution, killing and starvation began within hours of his troops claiming Phnom Penh on the morning of April 17, 1975. Under Pol Pot’s rule, the goal was absolute. Citizens had no rights. The nation’s past would be erased to create a new future. Parents were separated from their children, and everyone was forced to pledge allegiance to Angka, as the organization headed by Pol Pot was known. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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North Korean soldiers scrounge for cigarette butts

Editor05 mins

Read a version of this story in Korean The North Korean army is ordering soldiers to stop scrounging the streets for cigarette butts to smoke even as commanders keep some of the soldiers’ monthly cigarette rations for themselves, members of the country’s military told Radio Free Asia. The subject was broached during a video conference of the General Political Bureau of the army on March 14, a member of the military in the northern province of Ryanggang told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “The meeting very seriously discussed the issue of lax discipline among commanders and soldiers,” the military member said, adding that desertion and theft were also brought up as examples of lax discipline. “At this meeting, soldiers were strongly warned against picking up cigarette butts,” he said. “It was officially declared that any soldier caught picking up cigarette butts on the street would be punished with revolutionary labor for at least three months,” a reference to getting the toughest chores. According to the military member, people sifting through cigarette butts to salvage unsmoked tobacco is a recent problem, but it’s a breach of decorum for a uniformed soldier to do it. “Each soldier is provided with 15 packs of cigarettes per month, but the commanders take them all up. So, the soldiers are left picking up the butts because they don’t have any cigarettes to smoke,” he said. “In the past, it was just the lower-ranked soldiers who looked for butts, but now even the higher-ranked soldiers are doing it too.” Cigarette rations have declined, another member of the military from the same province told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely. “In the case of the border guards, each soldier used to be supplied with 15 packs of Baekseung-brand cigarettes per month, but since last fall, they have only been supplied with 10 packs,” he said. “After the commanders skim off the top, the soldiers are left only 7 packs per month,” he explained. He said that every afternoon the leaders of the border guards send two soldiers to go collect cigarette butts because every unit has a shortage of cigarettes. “Even the border guard units, which are supposedly well-supplied, is in this state, and situations are much worse with other infantry units,” the second source said. “What is more troubling is that this year, even female soldiers have been spotted out on the streets, picking up cigarette butts.” Male units of the border guard are after the tobacco, but the female guards are after the filters, which contain cotton that can be used to make clothes or ceremonial blankets for newlyweds, a customary gift at weddings, he said. So the women — who aren’t allowed to smoke at all — trade the tobacco they collected in exchange for the filters that the men collected. With the money they get for selling the filters, they buy food for their unit. “The supply chain for soldiers is in such a sad state that soldiers are selling cigarette butts for food,” he said. “I wonder if threats like revolutionary labor can even work against these soldiers.” Translated by Clare S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Cambodia’s Ream naval base to open in early April

Editor06 mins

The Chinese-developed Ream naval base in southwest Cambodia’s Sihanoukville province is slated to open early next month after three years of construction, a Cambodian commander has said. General Vong Pisen, commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, or RCAF, told the new Japanese military attaché in the kingdom that after the launch in early April, Cambodia would allow warships from his country to be the first to “historically” dock at Ream. Up until now, the main, new part of the base where China has built a deep draft pier capable of handling ships as large as aircraft carriers, a dry dock and other facilities, has been off limits to foreign vessels apart from Chinese ones. When a U.S. Navy ship visited Cambodia for the first time in eight years in December last year, it docked at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. Radio Free Asia reported last month that China sent two more warships to Ream, indicating that the construction may be near completion and the planned transfer of Chinese ships to Cambodia was imminent. This week, the naval base’s management announced that the inauguration ceremony for a Cambodia-China Logistics and Training Center would be held soon. RELATED STORIES Chinese defense company builds industrial estate in Cambodia Canadian warship visits Cambodia after drills in South China Sea Cambodia asks to renew joint drills with US amid Ream base concerns China’s foothold China and Cambodia began developing the Ream naval base with Beijing’s funding in June 2021 but a ground breaking-ceremony was held one year later in 2022. Last August, when visiting Ream, a RFA reporter witnessed the fast pace of development and was told that 100 Chinese naval personnel were “working day and night” on it. Together with the new facilities, Beijing is to give Cambodia two vessels, likely Type 056A missile corvettes, and has been training the Cambodian navy how to use them. Cambodia’s defense minister Tea Seiha (second left) inspects the Ream naval base on March 15, 2025. To his right is his cousin Tea Sokha, the new navy commander.(Facebook/Ream naval base) During the meeting on Tuesday between Gen. Vong Pisen and Japan’s military attaché, Takashi Hara, Vong said that the fact that Japanese vessels were to be given the first access showed “the high level of cooperation, communication and mutual trust” in the Cambodia-Japan comprehensive strategic partnership. Political commentator Kim Sok told RFA Khmer service that the gesture was designed to ease tensions surrounding the Chinese military presence at Ream because Japan is an ally of the United States and at the same time not considered a rival to China, therefore neutral. The U.S. has repeatedly expressed concerns over the lack of transparency in the Ream base’s development while Cambodia’s neighbors worry that a foothold at Ream would give China better control over the Indo-China peninsula and the South China Sea. Cambodia’s constitution does not allow foreign bases in the country but analysts say that China, having invested a large sum of money in the project, would have preferential access to Ream. Collin Koh, senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said that the arrangement was to give Beijing access to Ream’s facilities “predicated upon an on-demand basis, meaning they would have to be made available upon China’s request.” Edited by Mike Firn We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Video: Burmese refugees come together for violin lessons in Thai border town

Editor02 mins

MAE SOT, Thailand — Phoe San was one of thousands of Burmese migrants who fled to the Thai border town of Mae Sot after Myanmar’s military junta seized power from a democratically elected government in 2021. Like most Burmese migrants, he worried about earning a steady income and finding a safe place to live in the neighboring country. Phoe San plays the violin in a community center in Mae Sot, Thailand.(Kiana Duncan/RFA) But Phoe San also had a dream to teach music, and his violin classes at a local community center have attracted dozens of students who pay low fees and can borrow instruments for free. The classes have helped people connect with one another as they build new lives. “On the first day, I saw many, many students. I felt like I remembered my old life in Yangon,” he said. “We came here as refugees,” he said. “But we try to contribute what we can do to the Thai community.” We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Villagers flee as fighting rocks Myanmar’s delta

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Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese. War is encroaching into Myanmar’s rice-basket Ayeyarwady River delta, residents said on Tuesday, as fighters from the powerful Arakan Army, or AA, rebel group pile pressure on the military as they push out of their home territory. The AA has defeated forces of the junta that seized power in 2021 in almost the whole of Rakhine state, and while it focuses on the last military-controlled pockets, it is also building on its momentum to attack into the Magway region to the northeast, Bago to the east and Ayeyarwady to the south. More than 1,000 people from three delta villagers in Ayeyarwady’s Lemyethna township, about 35 kilometers (20 miles) to the west of Myanmar’s main river, were forced to flee from their homes as fighting erupted on Monday when junta forces tried to expel the AA from the area they recently occupied. “Le Khon Gyi, Wut Kone and San Kone, those villages had to move. There were about 1,000 people,” said one resident who declined to be identified for security reasons. It was the first time there had ever been fighting in the area, residents said, another indication of the unprecedented setbacks the junta has suffered over the past 18 months as ethnic minority insurgents and allied pro-democracy fighters battle to end military rule. The military is hoping to retake lost territory during the current dry season, and expand its area of control in the run-up to an election due by January, which it hopes will re-assert its authority and legitimacy, at home and abroad. Anti-junta forces reject an election under military rule as a farce and have vowed to defend their areas of control. Monday’s battle was near the Pathein-Monywa highway, a major north-south road connection where military patrols had increased, residents said. Neither the AA nor the military’s 344 Artillery Battalion which operates in the area has released any information about casualties. Their spokespeople were not available for comment. The AA draws its support from Rakhine state’s mostly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine people. Of all of Myanmar’s insurgent forces, it is closest to defeating the military in a state and taking power. The loss of the state would be an unprecedented blow to the military and would force China, which has major investments in the state, to deal directly with the insurgents to protect its interests. Chinese companies have energy facilities on the coast from where oil and gas pipelines run all the way to its Yunnan province, and it also has plans for a deep sea port as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Tightly controlled military-run media has not reported on the dire situation facing its forces in the state and rarely gives any detail about fighting anywhere. On Tuesday, the military-run Myanmar Alin newspaper did mention the war in Rakhine state but only in connection with the disruption to the education system. Fewer than half of all school leavers in the state were able to take their college entrance exams, all in the last three pockets of territory under junta control, because of the fighting, it said. Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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Junta troops forcibly recruit more than 70 young men in Myanmar town

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Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese. Authorities in Myanmar forcibly recruited more than 70 young men from a single town in the south-central Ayeyarwady region, residents said Monday, as the junta launched a new round of training for the country’s draftees. It’s the latest round-up under Myanmar’s military service law, which the junta began implementing last April as a way of shoring up its dwindling ranks amid mounting losses to rebel groups. On March 14, junta troops in Ayeyarwady’s Mawlamyinegyun township arrested more than 70 men — including some as young as 17 years old — and sent them to depots in the Yangon region to take part in the 11th round of military training, residents told RFA Burmese. The arrests were carried out by troops from the junta’s 534th Infantry Battalion based in Mawlamyinegyun, said one resident who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “Young people in the villages are too afraid to sleep at home at night due to fear of conscription,” he said. “Soldiers are forcibly arresting them. The local battalion is carrying out the arrests, and at times, parents have no idea where to look for their children [after they are taken].” The identities of the young men were not immediately clear, and RFA was unable to independently verify who was taken in the dragnet. Attempts by RFA to contact Khin Maung Kyi, the junta’s spokesperson and social affairs minister for the Ayeyarwady region, for comment on the situation went unanswered Monday. The forced recruitment comes after residents of Ayeyarwady’s Hinthada, Laputta, and Kangyidaung townships last month said that several young men fled the area after they were summoned by name for conscription, instead of an earlier used lottery system. Administrators targeted over draft Under the mandatory military service law, men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27 must serve a minimum of two years in the military. Young people have been looking for ways to leave the country ever since the law was enacted. Many new recruits have been sent for training after being detained at gunpoint by junta troops. They face torture or execution if they are caught trying to escape. In late February, rebels in Myanmar’s Bago region assassinated two local administrators who forcibly recruited civilians for military service, residents and other sources said, bringing the number of officials killed for their involvement in carrying out the draft to at least 110. Prior to the incidents, the latest killing of an administrator for their involvement in military recruitment was that of Than Htwe, of Khwet Ma village in Magway region’s Minhla township, who was shot dead on Feb. 15. Between February and September 2024, anti-junta forces killed 108 ward and village administrators involved in recruiting, compiling name lists and extorting money for military service, according to data compiled by RFA. Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster. We are : Investigative Journalism Reportika Investigative Reports Daily Reports Interviews Surveys Reportika

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