226 Rohingya who tried to leave Thailand and Malaysia by boat were arrested

Locals in Irrawaddy and Rakhine state say the Burmese navy has arrested 226 Rohingya who tried to leave for Thailand and Malaysia by boat in recent weeks.

On November 2nd, a boat carrying 167 Rohingya was shot down in Ngaputaw Township, Irrawaddy Division. A person close to the Irrawaddy police, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told RFA that the Myanmar Navy arrested them near Hai Gyi Gyun town.

"Because of how they were caught, they left to go to Thailand. They were caught at sea. 80, 87 tigers came with them."

He also said that ten Burmese boat workers who were on the boat have been arrested and all of them are being prosecuted according to the law. He also said that these Rohingyas are those who have left Rakhine State.

In some Telegram channels that wrote in support of the military council, Haigyi City, It was written on November 2 that the military vessel No. 553 of the Military Council Navy was patrolling in the sea northwest of Myat Maw Tin Pagoda and arrested two boats named Sut Kyaw and Zeya Aung.

RFA contacted Social Affairs Minister U Maung Maung Than, spokesperson of the Military Council's Ayeyarwady Division, to find out the latest situation of the arrested Rohingya, but he did not receive a response.

A local who is close to the military council administration in Hai Gyi Gyun said that he saw the arrested Rohingya being taken to another place through the Hai Gyi Gyun police station. But it is not yet known where he was taken.

Similarly, on October 30, 9 Rohingya men who entered Rakhine State from refugee camps in Bangladesh to go to Malaysia. 12 women A total of 21 people in Rathe Taung Township. He was arrested in the sea near Dompip village.

In addition, on October 27, 38 Rohingya who were going to Malaysia were arrested in a boat in the sea near Angu Maw village in Rati Taung Township. On October 31, the Rakhine Daily Telegram page, one of the news release pages of the Rakhine State Military Council, said that they are being detained at Sittwe Police Station to face legal action. In those two cases, the owner of the boat, It is said that six boat workers and brokers were also arrested.

A Rohingya refugee from Sittwe told RFA that because it is more difficult for the Rohingya to survive in Rakhine State, they regularly leave by boat to neighboring countries.

"The issue of this movement is conventional. There is no way to prevent it. People are going in droves. This is known to be dead. Some half have arrived. But there is absolutely no way to stop it. Because it is difficult to live here. There is no job. There is no shortage. There is no freedom. And people are going like this every day.

They also said that they try to leave by paying up to 100,000 kyat per person through brokers.

The Rohingya are often arrested by the Burmese Navy while leaving by boat.

Uyghurs in Pakistan began to face police harassment

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has decided to renew the asylum certificates of Uyghur refugees in Pakistan

Pakistani authorities issued a warning in early October that "immigrants who do not have a legal residence permit in Pakistan must leave by November 1, otherwise they will be deported."

 International media such as "Al Jazeera" and social media such as X reported that since November 1st, many Afghans have picked up their luggage and are returning to their homeland from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossing in Torkham. On the Afghan side, their relatives and the public are warmly welcoming these refugees. Lots of information and pictures and videos are being shared.

 The sudden announcement of the Pakistani government's crackdown on illegal immigration was not only a warning to the approximately 1.7 million Afghans in Pakistan, but also a serious concern for Uyghur immigrants who have been living in Pakistan without any passport or residency.

As we have reported, about 100 Uyghurs from 20 families living in Dhok Hassu community of Rawalpindi, Pakistan are Uyghurs who came to Pakistan as refugees from Afghanistan who fled the war in 1979 due to the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union.

But because they still do not have any identification or legal documents to live in Pakistan, the Pakistani authorities have become the target of the "operation against illegal immigration" which will begin on November 1.

According to the information we received from these Uyghurs, who have been living in confusion for a month in Pakistan, on the evening of November 1st, since midnight on October 31st, the Pakistani authorities suddenly raided the houses and began to investigate the illegal immigrants. On November 1, a Uyghur named Amanullah was also detained during a house search by the police in Rawalpindi, who are participating in the investigation of illegal immigrants, according to the report of the owners who rent houses to these Uyghurs in Pakistan. With the help of other Uighurs, he was released on bail five hours later. Amanullah, who was released after being abducted, was unable to speak. Turvanjan himself was suddenly stopped by the police on his way to work on the evening of October 31 and was released after being warned that he would be searched again on November 1.

Mr. Umar, the head of the Uighur Foundation in Rawalpindi, who is helping these Uyghurs, explained that most of these Uighurs followed their parents to Afghanistan and Pakistan when they were young, or were born in Pakistan. He is suffering from the fate of being. They don't want to go back to Afghanistan because they have no connection with Afghanistan. In this case, there is no possibility that they will be sent back to China because they are Uyghurs.

We called Mr. Omar and asked what changes have happened in the situation of the Uyghurs there since the November 1st deadline. Mr. Umar said that the police have officially started the crackdown on illegal immigrants by searching houses. Although the police have threatened some Uyghurs for the past two days, they have not yet arrested a Uyghur.

We tried to contact the Pakistani police in Rawalpindi but could not get a response.

 He also said that he was calmed down by a call from one of the United Nations (UN) Refugees Committee on November 2nd, when the Uyghurs were being harassed by the police.

 Although the staff of the UN Refugee Agency in Geneva and its office in Pakistan did not officially respond to our questions about how to solve the Uighur crisis in Pakistan, this is the second time they have contacted the Uyghurs in Rawalpindi.

It is not clear whether or not the Pakistani authorities will deport the 100 or so non-resident Uyghurs, including women and children, as illegal immigrants.

In this way, these Uyghurs, who followed their parents to Pakistan as Afghan refugees 30-40 years ago, are still under the shadow of the consequences of being exiled again. Our radio will continue to report on the current situation of these Uighurs.

Li Keqiang’s cremation leaves many mysteries, China suppresses mourning, foreign media praises Li’s legacy

The body of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was cremated in Beijing on November 2. Media outlets from around the world have published critical reports on Li Keqiang’s funeral arrangements, the authorities’ handling of the funeral, and people’s condolences. That night, CCTV's headline broadcast was the news of Xi Jinping's farewell to Li Keqiang's body and other related content, which aroused great attention at home and abroad.

Li Keqiang, who resigned from office in March this year, died suddenly in Shanghai a week ago and was cremated at Babaoshan Cemetery in Beijing on Thursday. General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping and seven other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attended the farewell ceremony of Li Keqiang's body, which was then cremated. CCTV News put Xi Jinping and six members of the Standing Committee at Babaoshan to attend the funeral of Li Keqiang's body on the headlines that night. Two male and female anchors in black suits read out the official draft.

Gao Yu, a senior media person in Beijing, said in an interview with this station on Friday that the funeral arrangements and press releases for Li Keqiang broadcast by CCTV, including what kind of clothes the anchor wore, were all official arrangements: "I think this was officially authorized, Li Peng This is the pattern of funeral activities. The two anchors performed there with such low voices and infinite sorrow. I don't think the two of them had deep feelings for Li Keqiang. When they were learning broadcasting, this was a major course . For any politician whom the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party call great, the tone of the second news has changed."

The whole process from Li Keqiang's death to his cremation lasted only one week. During this period, overseas media continued to pay attention to the spontaneous mourning of Li Keqiang by people from all walks of life in China, and also paid attention to China's political trends. The "Wall Street Journal" published an article titled "Li Keqiang's body is cremated, and people's memory of the former prime minister casts a shadow on Xi Jinping." It pointed out that the sudden death of China's former Prime Minister Li Keqiang last week triggered deep condolences online and offline, and some people took the opportunity to be secretive Criticize Xi Jinping’s tough rule. A BBC reporter published an article saying that Li Keqiang's sudden death triggered a wave of remembrance among Chinese people. Looking back at Li Keqiang's two terms as prime minister, China's GDP increased from 53 trillion yuan to 121 trillion yuan, with an average annual rate of 6.2%; the medical insurance reform that he attaches great importance to has also increased its coverage from 540 million to 1.36 billion.

Western media praises Li Keqiang

The Wall Street Journal quoted a leaked cable from the U.S. ambassador to China as saying that Li Keqiang once said that China’s official GDP data was artificial and unreliable, so he focused on China’s electricity consumption, railway freight volume and the amount of loans issued. Since then, a series of alternative methods of measuring China's economic conditions have emerged. These unofficial indicators are collectively known as "Li Keqiang Economics." This has fundamentally changed economists' judgment of China's development. Reuters also mentioned "Likonomics," commenting that Li Keqiang will be remembered as a champion of free markets and the poor. The BBC praised Li Keqiang as a very enthusiastic and open person who is truly committed to pushing China forward. Bloomberg: "This man has passed away. May he rest in peace with his talents and unfulfilled aspirations."

Many Chinese netizens discussed that at yesterday's farewell ceremony, when Xi Jinping shook hands with Li Keqiang's widow Cheng Hong, Cheng Hong did not look directly at Xi Jinping, but when shaking hands with the other six members of the Standing Committee, Cheng Hong looked at each other. In this regard, Feng Chongyi, a professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, said in an interview with this station: "There are many discussions that Li Keqiang was harmed by Xi Jinping. In fact, Cheng Hong should go one step further and reprimand Xi Jinping face to face, just like back then. Just like Li Zhao (Hu Yaobang's wife) accused Deng Xiaoping, she directly said that you were responsible for Hu Yaobang's death."

According to an official announcement from China, Li Keqiang suffered a heart attack while recuperating in Shanghai on October 26, 2023. After resuscitation failed, he died at 0:10 the next day at the age of 68. Li Keqiang became the youngest prime minister to leave office and the earliest to pass away since the founding of the Communist Party of China.

Ji Feng, a Chinese dissident, told this station that he was restricted by state security for six days for making relevant comments on social media on the day of Li Keqiang’s death: “I posted a tweet about Li Keqiang that day, and they asked me to take it down. After I refused, Restricted freedom for 6 days."

Questions abound on the Internet about the cause of Li Keqiang’s death

This week, an open letter from retired Xinhua News Agency reporter Gu Wanming was circulated online, saying that Li Keqiang's "rest" in Shanghai was obviously approved and arranged by the Party Central Committee, otherwise it would be impossible to leave Beijing or enter Shanghai. Many party members and people find it incomprehensible that Li Keqiang arrived in Shanghai on the 25th and died suddenly in just one day on the 26th. They believe that many facts have not been explained clearly and that there may be serious problems. The letter proposed five requirements: to stop the cremation arrangements; pending investigation; to establish a joint investigation team between the Party Central Committee and the State Council to find out the truth about Li Keqiang's death and give an explanation to party members and the people; to investigate and identify all relevant personnel, and hold them accountable accordingly. . However, this station is unable to verify the true source of this letter.

Scholar Lu Lu said in an interview with this station that Li Keqiang's death aroused public anger: "This time Li Keqiang died unexpectedly, the spontaneous mourning among the people was unusual. We have not seen such widespread remembrance and mourning actions for the death of a leader in many years. But objectively, compared with his two predecessors, Li Keqiang is not particularly outstanding. As a politician, his political achievements are mediocre. But why did the public react so strongly to Li Keqiang's death."

Comparing the death of former Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng, Hunan dissident Mr. Zhao told this station that Li Keqiang’s funeral arrangements were actually not as standard as those of Li Peng. Except for the seven members of the Standing Committee who each sent wreaths, other senior members of the Communist Party of China all sent wreaths together : “It’s just to let the old guys sleep on the same bunk.” , except for Hu Jintao who sent a wreath to Li Keqiang alone, the other ten or eight old guys sent a wreath together. This is where people finally vent their dissatisfaction with the government, and Chinese people are accustomed to expressing themselves in this way."

Cai Shenkun, a senior commentator, commented that the Western media's evaluation of Li Keqiang is far higher than the domestic official evaluation, and even the domestic people only think that he has only told a few truths.