分类： world

On Tuesday, marking nine years since they fled widespread violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees gathered across dozens of sprawling camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to demand their safe, voluntary return to their homeland. The rally marked what Rohingya communities have named the “Ninth Anniversary of Rohingya Genocide Day”, with demonstrators calling on global powers to guarantee stable, secure conditions in Rakhine that would allow them to go home with dignity.

Today, more than 1 million Rohingya, an ethnic and religious minority from Myanmar, reside in the overcrowded refugee settlements that dot southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district. The vast majority of this population fled across the border in a mass 2017 exodus, after Myanmar’s Buddhist-majority government launched a large-scale military crackdown in Rakhine. The operation was framed as a counterterrorism response to an attack by a Rohingya Muslim insurgent group, but it quickly escalated to mass violence that pushed hundreds of thousands of people to flee.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, opened its borders to the fleeing populations, absorbing more than 700,000 new refugees in 2017. This influx added to a community of more than 300,000 Rohingya who had already been living in Bangladesh for decades after fleeing earlier rounds of violence perpetrated by Myanmar’s military. Two prior attempts by the Bangladeshi government to launch organized repatriation failed, as no refugees agreed to return, citing ongoing safety risks in Rakhine. Bangladesh has repeatedly reaffirmed it will not force any refugee to go back against their will.

The 2017 crackdown has drawn widespread international condemnation, with the United Nations and multiple global bodies labeling the campaign as ethnic cleansing and genocide. In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) held three weeks of public hearings on a case accusing Myanmar of committing acts of genocide against the Rohingya people in 2017. During the proceedings, the court reviewed thousands of pages of documentary evidence, sworn expert testimony, and confidential statements from witnesses that documented mass killings, systematic sexual violence, and the deliberate destruction of hundreds of Rohingya villages. Myanmar’s legal team argued before the court that its military campaign was a legitimate counterterrorism operation and did not meet the legal definition of genocide.

In the years since 2017, security conditions in Rakhine State have only grown more unstable. The territory is currently the site of active conflict between Myanmar’s military government and the Arakan Army, an insurgent group that has seized control of large swathes of the state.

“Whether it is the Arakan Army or the Myanmar military, as long as they continue playing this double game, the situation in Arakan (the historical name for Rakhine) will not become safe. Does that mean we are expected to remain here for another 50 years?” said Sayed Ullah, a prominent Rohingya refugee leader, during Tuesday’s rally. “We cannot stay here for 50 years. Given the current situation in Arakan, we need to determine how an environment conducive to peace can be created,” he added.

Earlier this month, Myanmar’s military-backed government made a new overture, stating that more than 300,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s camps are former Rakhine State residents and that it would accept their return once security improves. But Bangladesh has pushed back against the claim, disputing Myanmar’s population statistics and criticizing the government’s persistent refusal to recognize the group by the name “Rohingya” — referring to them instead as “Bengali”, a move Bangladeshi officials frame as a deliberate attempt to deny Rohingya’s distinct ethnic identity.

Nearly a week after the Panama-flagged bulk cargo vessel MV Ocean Winner went down in the Bay of Bengal, Indian rescue forces have yet to locate any sign of the 22 missing crew members still unaccounted for, the Indian Coast Guard confirmed in an official update released Tuesday.

The ill-fated ship, which was carrying a full cargo of iron ore bound for Chinese ports, sent a distress signal to regional authorities last Saturday before sinking roughly 276 miles, or 444 kilometers, off the coast of Paradip in India’s eastern Odisha state. In the immediate hours after the distress call, rescue teams pulled two Chinese crew members from the water, but the remaining 22 people on board have had no contact with authorities since the vessel sank.

According to official crew rosters shared by the Indian Coast Guard, the MV Ocean Winner carried a total of 24 people when it departed: 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals, and one Bangladeshi national. Since the sinking, a joint search and recovery operation has been mounted by the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy, combining aerial surveillance missions and on-water search sweeps across the vast area where the ship was last tracked.

Officials have noted that the operation has faced significant logistical challenges, starting with the exceptionally deep water that covers the ship’s last known position. To date, search teams have only recovered two empty life rafts and spotted a large oil slick drifting near the area – no wreckage from the vessel has been located. The absence of confirmed wreckage has not only slowed efforts to narrow the search focus but also complicated ongoing investigations into what caused the ship to sink suddenly last week.

On Tuesday, search operations continued, with dedicated aircraft and surface vessels scouring the surrounding waters in the hopes of locating the missing crew and uncovering clues about the sinking.

In a high-profile criminal case that has drawn cross-border attention, a self-proclaimed spiritual leader has been handed a more than 10-year prison sentence by a New Zealand court after being convicted of the manslaughter and kidnapping of a 70-year-old Chinese follower whose body was discovered dumped near Auckland.

Kaixiao Liu, a former Chinese talent show contestant who relocated to New Zealand in 2017 and gained permanent residency, was found guilty of the charges stemming from the March 2024 death of Shulai Wang, a retired woman who traveled from China’s Hainan Island to join Liu’s inner circle of followers in August 2023. Wang’s remains were found wrapped in rice bags by a local fisherman near Gulf Harbour’s marina, triggering a months-long homicide investigation that ultimately implicated Liu and his entire immediate family.

Throughout the legal proceedings, Liu maintained his innocence, rejecting allegations that he leads a secretive religious cult. He has repeatedly claimed he only amassed followers through his musical work, which includes a self-created project called the Universal Choir that produces cosmic-themed orchestral pieces. Online, Liu built his following on Chinese social platforms by sharing religious discussions, personal video diaries, and clips of his singing performances. Before moving to New Zealand, Liu also previously studied at a Chinese military-focused university, and competed on the national televised talent program *China’s Got Talent* in 2011, where viral footage showed him performing a song while blindfolded on stage.

Court documents and trial testimony revealed that Wang moved into Liu’s Auckland residence—dubbed “the Ark” by the leader—alongside multiple other female followers. Prosecutors told the court that the women lived in conditions of servitude, with every aspect of their daily lives tightly controlled by Liu, who required them to address him as “Lord” or “Master.” Wang’s daily routine consisted of caring for Liu’s young children, studying religious texts written by Liu, and growing vegetables on the property. Due to her advanced age, Wang struggled to adapt to the group’s strict rules and faced repeated disciplinary action for non-compliance.

According to court accounts, Wang attempted to escape the compound in March 2024, but was quickly captured and restrained by Liu and his associates. She died later that same day. Following her death, Liu, his family members, and close followers transported Wang’s body to Gulf Harbour and dumped it near the marina, with Liu bringing his own children along on the trip to act as a cover for the activity. Investigators ultimately linked the crime to Liu after tracing the specific brand of rice used to wrap the body back to him: Liu had made an unusually large bulk purchase of the rice shortly before Wang’s death.

Alongside Liu, his wife Lanyue Xiao received a nearly eight-year prison sentence after being convicted on overlapping charges of kidnapping and manslaughter. Liu’s parents, Xiuyun Li and Jingui Liu, have already been found guilty of kidnapping and improper handling of human remains, and are scheduled to receive their official sentences later this year.

During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Liu’s legal team requested judicial leniency, telling the court that their client feels genuine remorse for his actions and repeated his claim that he is not a cult leader. However, Justice Mathew Downs, the presiding judge, rejected these appeals, issuing harsh criticism of Liu’s actions. In his remarks from the bench, Downs stated that Liu had demonstrated “callous indifference” to Wang’s well-being, adding: “Because of you, Ms Wang died a lonely, frightening death. You display no remorse whatsoever. You should feel shame.”

New Zealand police have also released an official photo of Shulai Wang as part of the public records of the case, confirming her identity as the victim who left her home in China to join Liu’s group.

In a landmark legal ruling from Syria’s new transitional administration, a Damascus court handed down a life imprisonment sentence on Monday to Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, the country’s top Muslim cleric for more than 16 years under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Hassoun’s conviction marks the 10th guilty verdict issued against a senior figure from the fallen Assad regime, and follows his arrest at a Syrian airport in March 2025, where authorities detained him as he attempted to flee the country. The court found Hassoun guilty on a sweeping array of charges, including abuse of his high religious office, stoking sectarian and racial division, inciting civil conflict, and direct participation in extrajudicial killings. Additional charges carried stacked sentences ranging from three to 20 years, and the court ordered the full confiscation of all of Hassoun’s personal assets.

Throughout his decades-long tenure as Grand Mufti, Hassoun was a close public ally of Assad, who fled Syria in December 2024 as opposition forces swept through the country and brought his 50-year family regime to an abrupt collapse. The regime’s fall ended a 13-year civil war that began when Assad’s government cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011. The conflict left more than 500,000 Syrians dead, and displaced more than 6 million people both internally and across international borders.

Hassoun’s conviction is the latest in a series of legal actions against former regime leaders. In August of this year, a Syrian court sentenced Assad to death in absentia, alongside his brother Maher and five former senior security officials, for crimes against humanity committed over the course of the civil war. Two more former Assad associates—ex-security official Atif Najib and Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of the ousted president—were also sentenced to death in that same ruling, after being taken into custody by the new government.

Today, Syria is led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former opposition commander who got his start in extremist groups including al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front and the Islamic State. Since taking office, al-Sharaa has actively sought to distance himself from these extremist origins, and has moved to align the new transitional government closely with the United States and regional power Turkey, as the country works to rebuild after more than a decade of devastating conflict.