• Burmese
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
29 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

Senior US Official Raises Arakan Concerns With Thein Sein

Samantha Michaels by Samantha Michaels
April 11, 2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Senior US Official Raises Arakan Concerns With Thein Sein

At the head of the table

7.3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — The US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs has raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in Arakan State during meetings with Burma’s president and other high-level government officials in Naypyidaw.

Daniel Russel said he spoke “very candidly” during meetings on Wednesday and Thursday with President Thein Sein as well as Burma’s foreign minister, information minister and deputy minister for border affairs. The discussions focused on the government’s short- and long-term plans in restive Arakan State, as well as preparations for Burma’s Asean chairmanship and US concerns about press freedoms in the country.

Accompanied by US Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell, Russel was briefed by Deputy Minister of Border Affairs Maung Maung Ohn about plans to restore humanitarian aid in Arakan State following attacks on the offices and residences of international NGOs and UN agencies in the state capital Sittwe last month. Maung Maung Ohn was the head of a commission established by the Burmese government to investigate the attacks in Sittwe, and earlier this week he criticized state authorities for their weak handling of the incident.

RelatedPosts

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency

Govt ‘Blacklist’ Practices Highlight Lack of Transparency, Activists Say

August 4, 2016
4.5k
Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

Advocacy Group Calls for Release of Arrested Arakan Activist

August 4, 2016
4.3k
Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

Women Continue to Suffer Due to Land Grabs and Militarization

August 3, 2016
13.2k

“I conveyed Washington’s concern about the humanitarian situation, as well as our strong hope and expectation that the government will provide the security and the access to international humanitarian agencies necessary to address the needs of the people in distress in Rakhine [Arakan] State,” Russel reporters during a media roundtable at the US Embassy in Rangoon on Thursday.

Russel told The Irrawaddy that he was encouraged by the government’s commitment to provide increased security for INGOs but added that he would need to see whether the plans translated to action on the ground.

“It’s still very early days, because it was only yesterday [Wednesday] when the government issued a statement describing their response plans,” he said, noting several positive signs, including indications that travel authorizations would be granted to NGOs. “We need to wait and see what those statements and commitments translate into in terms of practical steps that allow for early access by humanitarian agencies in a secure environment that allows them to restore the level of service that we previously have seen.”

He said that he and the ambassador raised concerns about the inability of specific INGOs to continue providing critical medical services in the state, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), whose operations were suspended in Arakan State in late February.

“It is very clear to me that the government takes this problem seriously, and that from the top-down it is looking for ways to facilitate the early return of international aid agencies, and to do so in a way that contributes to the long-term solution to the situation,” he said.

Asked to comment on the Burmese government’s insistence that problems regarding the Rohingya in Arakan State are domestic issues only, Russel told reporters that the interruption of humanitarian services was also a concern for the international community.

“There are domestic issues involved. There are also universal principles involved. We don’t interfere in the domestic affairs of any country, but we certainly act in support of universal principles, including humanitarian principles,” he said.

Earlier this week, presidential spokesman Ye Htut reportedly accused Britain of interfering in Burma’s domestic affairs after the British foreign minister summoned the Burmese ambassador to discuss ongoing restrictions of aid organizations in Arakan State.

Press Freedoms, Asean Chairmanship

In meetings with Burma’s Minister for Information Aung Kyi, Russel said he emphasized the United States’ willingness to assist the Burmese government adjust to “the new era of media openness.”

“We very much welcome the end of censorship laws, we very much welcome the effort to create a legal framework that protects journalists,” he said. “I did share our concern about recent cases where journalists have been arrested and imprisoned under what strike us as arcane and obsolete laws.”

In the latest jailing of journalists in the country, a video reporter from the Democratic Voice of Burma was sentenced on Monday to one year in prison for trespassing after visiting a government education office during office hours and attempting to conduct an interview. Four journalists and the chief executive of Rangoon-based Unity journal are now on trial for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act after reporting on an alleged chemical weapons factory in the country, while a reporter at Eleven Media Group was sentenced to three months in jail in December for defamation and trespass after writing a story about corruption in the judicial system.

Regarding discussions about Burma’s chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year, Russel said he expected US President Barack Obama to participate in the East Asia Summit to be chaired by Thein Sein in Burma in November.

“I made clear to the foreign minister that from the US perspective, Burma’s Asean year was off to a great start,” he added.

Russel traveled to Burma after a visit to Thailand, and he returns to Washington on Friday. In addition to Burmese government officials, he spoke with representatives of INGOs as well as representatives of diplomatic missions and civil society groups.

The assistant secretary of state has visited Burma twice in the past, including with Obama in 2012 and with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: More
Samantha Michaels

Samantha Michaels

Reuters

Similar Picks:

ABSDF Report Finds Torture
Burma

ABSDF Report Finds Torture, Leaves Questions in Killing of Its Own

by Nyein Nyein
March 16, 2015
6.2k

A report into the killing of 35 members of the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front by its own leadership documents...

Read moreDetails
‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess
Burma

‘Twilight Over Burma’ Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess

by Nyein Nyein
May 30, 2016
11.2k

Movie about Inge Sargent, an Austrian who became a Shan princess, is screened in Thailand, shedding light on human rights...

Read moreDetails
A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand
Burma

A Story of Modern Slavery in Thailand

by Saw Yan Naing
August 21, 2015
6k

Hoping for a brighter future, Maung Htay left Burma when he was just a teenager. He is now 42, but...

Read moreDetails
Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma
Asia

Migrants’ Hopes and Fears in Little Burma

by Nyein Nyein
July 16, 2016
10.3k

Known locally as Mahachai, and by foreigners as ‘Little Burma,’ Thailand’s Samut Sakhon hosts up to 400,000 Burmese migrants working...

Read moreDetails
Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft
Burma

Girl Who Accused Employer of Rape Faces Charges of Theft

by The Irrawaddy
February 26, 2013
13k

A 15-year-old girl who says her employer repeatedly raped her is taken into custody after the wife of her alleged...

Read moreDetails
Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?
Burma

Did a Golden Triangle Leader Fall for a UN Peace Prize Hoax?

by Patrick Boehler and Echo Hui
January 4, 2013
4.7k

Serious doubts have been raised about the awarding of a dubious United Nations peace prize to Kokang Chairman Pai Sou...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Dark Days for Media Freedom in Burma

Dark Days for Media Freedom in Burma

The Irrawaddy Business Roundup (April 12, 2014)

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Fury Over China’s Support for Myanmar Junta Eclipses Quake Aid Gratitude 

Fury Over China’s Support for Myanmar Junta Eclipses Quake Aid Gratitude 

7 days ago
1.2k
Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

Breaking the 60-Year Political Cycle in Myanmar

2 days ago
977

Most Read

  • Myanmar Resistance Briefly Captures Junta Battalion HQ in Bago

    Myanmar Resistance Briefly Captures Junta Battalion HQ in Bago

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • JFM: 12 ASEAN Billionaires Fueling Myanmar Junta Terror Campaign

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A Familiar Lie: Myanmar Junta Denies Deadly School Bombing

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How Myanmar Junta Uses Air Force to Fight Its Corner

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Thousands Still Homeless as Naypyitaw Rebuilding Stalls

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.