Rohingya can return only if Myanmar’s citizens accept: army

YANGON: Rohingya refugees cannot return to Rakhine state until "real Myanmar citizens" are ready to accept them, the country’s army chief said on Thursday, casting doubt over government pledges to begin repatriating the persecuted Muslim minority.
More than 600,000 Rohingya are languishing in Bangladeshi refugee camps after fleeing a brutal Myanmar army campaign launched in late August. The UN says the scorched-earth operation, which has left hundreds of villages burned to ash in northern Rakhine state, amounts to ethnic cleansing of the stateless minority.
But Myanmar’s hardline army chief Min Aung Hlaing has steadfastly denied all allegations of abuse, insisting troops only targeted Rohingya insurgents. He has also taken to Facebook throughout the crisis to fan anti-Rohingya sentiment among the Buddhist public, branding the Muslims as foreign interlopers from Bangladesh despite many having lived in Rakhine for generations.
On Thursday he signalled repatriation of the Rohingya was a long way off, saying their return must first be accepted by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists -- many of whom loathe the Muslim minority and are accused of aiding soldiers in torching their homes.
"Emphasis must be placed on wish of local Rakhine ethnic people who are real Myanmar citizens. Only when local Rakhine ethnic people accept it, will all the people satisfy it (sic)," the statement, written in English, said on his Facebook page.
The army commander also said Myanmar would not allow the return of all Rohingya in Bangladesh, a country that was already hosting hundreds of thousands of the minority from previous waves of persecution. "It is impossible to accept the number of persons proposed by Bangladesh," the army statement said, after branding the refugees as "terrorists" who fled with their families.
II
‘Fake news’ becomes a business model
By AFP
WASHINGTON: Cyber criminals have latched onto the notion of "fake news" and turned it into a profitable business model, with services starting at under $10, security researchers said on Thursday.
The online security firm Digital Shadows released a report highlighting services aimed at creating bogus media websites, fake reviews and social media "bots" or automated accounts to promote or denigrate commercial products and services.
One of the methods used is creating bogus or "spoofed" media websites designed to look like those of legitimate news organizations. The researchers uncovered some 2,800 "live spoof" sites.
This can be done by changing a single letter in a web address to create a fake "clone" of a legitimate news organisation site. Some criminals use the same methods as Russia-based propagandists -- modifying legitimate documents and leaking them as part of disinformation campaigns, the report said.
"Like any good news story, content will be shared, liked, reposted and distributed across many different platforms and channels," the report said. "The more widely a piece of disinformation can be spread, the better the chances of it capturing the public imagination and achieving its objective -- whether that is to discredit an opponent, sow discord or to generate profit." While the use of these tools in political campaigns has become a growing concern, the same methods can be used for profit, according to the report.
"The sheer availability of tools means that barriers to entry are lower than ever," said Rick Holland, vice president of strategy at Digital Shadows. "It means this now extends beyond geopolitical to financial interests that affect businesses and consumers."
Holland said "tool kits" are available on a trial basis for as little as $7 to controls the activities of social media bots. Retailers are also a target, with one service offering Amazon ranking, reviews, votes, listing optimization and selling promotions at prices from $5 for an unverified review to $500 for a monthly retainer.
Still other services tout the merits of crypto-currencies to push up the price, similar to stock "pump and dump" scams, the report said. Many of these services are advertised on the anonymous "dark web" where users are difficult to trace, according to Holland. But some are openly advertised as marketing tools as well, he said.