Myanmar cuts one million people off the Internet | News Asia | '
By order of the government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, more than one million people in Myanmar have been cut off from the Internet. In Rakhine state, four telecommunications companies cut off at the request of the Ministry of Communications. The interruption has been going on since Friday last week.
The Ministry of Communications left open how long the blockade should last. A spokesman said the Internet will be accessible again "when peace and order is restored in the region". Telephoning and sending voice messages are still possible. Islamic and other rebels and the military have been fighting for many years in the region.
UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee said that under cover of the shutdown, the army could possibly commit serious human rights violations. "I fear for all civilians there," said Lee, an independent expert reporting to the UN Human Rights Council on the Myanmar situation. "I was told that the army is carrying out an 'eviction action' – which, as we all know, can serve as a cover for serious human rights violations against the civilian population."
Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi (Stock Image)
There are credible reports that army helicopters launched attacks in the Minbya township on 19 June in central Rakhine. The following day, insurgents who joined the "Arakan Army" militia shot at a naval vessel, killing and injuring several soldiers. The "Arakan Army" is fighting for greater autonomy of the predominantly Buddhist-inhabited state of Rakhine.
Rohingya refugees in September 2017 on their way to Bangladesh
The use of heavy weapons and air strikes led to significant casualties on all sides, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The state of Rakhine attracted global attention in 2017 when 750,000 members of the Rohingya Muslim minority fled to neighboring Bangladesh for fear of brutal force by the army. The United Nations speaks of genocide.
stu / ar (dpa, rtr)
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