About 130 passengers are missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees sank off the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh, according to Bangladesh police and a Rohingya advocacy group on Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar in past decades to escape persecution, often heading to neighbouring Bangladesh, and recent unrest has triggered another exodus.

Mohammad Farhad, police inspector of Teknaf on the southeast tip of Bangladesh, told AFP that one survivor from the sinking reported that the boat had about 135 passengers on board.

"The boat was heading to Malaysia illegally," Farhad said, adding that the 24-year-old survivor was being held in custody.

"He does not know what happened to the others as it was dark and he was desperate to save his own life."

Farhad said a total of six survivors were reported to have been picked up by a fishing vessel after the refugee boat left Sabrang village in Bangladesh on Saturday.

"We have spoken to families of missing passengers," he said.

There were conflicting reports about whether all those on the boat were Rohingya and also over the time of the sinking, which Bangladesh police said occurred early Sunday.

"We learned that an overcrowded boat with 133 people on board, which was leaving for Malaysia," Chris Lewa, the Bangkok-based director of The Arakan Project, a Rohingya advocacy group, said.

"Six survivors have been rescued by fishing boats. The others are missing," she told AFP.

Lewa however said her organisation had been told that the accident happened overnight Monday to Tuesday.

At least 89 people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled their homes in a new wave of communal unrest sweeping Myanmar's western Rakhine state, where violence between Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine in June left dozens killed.

Since the unrest erupted, Bangladesh has been turning away boatloads of fleeing Rohingya.

The policy has been criticised by the United Nations, but Bangladesh said it was already burdened with an estimated 300,000 Rohingya.

Many Rohingya refugees now try to head to Malaysia for a better life.

Source- AFP/xq

M.S. Anwar
RB Article
October 31, 2012

(1) The earliest inhabitants of Arakan were a proto-Australoid people called Negritos settled in the Neolithic period. They were known as Rakkhasha (cannibals). They were dark-skinned people much like Africans and Rohingyas of today. They did not look like Mongoloid Rakhines or Maghs of today who falsely claim to be of their descendants. The second earliest people of Arakan were Indo-Aryans (i.e. Indians) followed by Mro and Theks. Their settlements dated back to B.C. 3323. Most of the earliest Kingdoms in Arakan history were Indian Kingdoms namely Dhannyavadi Kingdoms and Vaishali (Vesali) Kingdom. These earliest Indians, that is to say the forefathers of Rohingyas, were the followers of Hinduism, Buddhism and Animism. With the advent of some Arabs as traders and Islamic propagators to Arakan in 788 AD, most of local Indians converted into Islam. It is very important to note that it was Islam that came to Arakan in 788 AD, not Muslims. Yet, the indigenous Indians who had converted into Islam (known as Rohingyas today) later came to mix with foreigners as their settlements continued throughout its historical periods. 

(2) Rakhines of today was the last significant people of single Mongoloid stock to arrive in Arakan with the Mongolian invasion in 957 AD. Later, a new civilization took place as they came to mix local Indians and formed into Indo-Mongoloid people, while many remained purely of Mongoloid origin. And they re-established Buddhism in Arakan but in the form of Theraveda this time. With the continual invasions by the feudal kings of Tibeto-Burman people of Mongoloid stock from Upper and Lower Burma, the people of Arakan were gradually formed to be of more Mongoloid origin and Indian-Originated people consequently decreased or were outnumbered. Therefore, the later Kingdoms of Arakan such as in Lemro and Mrauk-U Periods were rather Indo-Mongoloid or Mongoloid Kingdoms than Indian Kingdoms. However, Muslims (of both Indigenous Indian Origins and foreigners settled in Arakan) played many at times as phenomenon Kingmakers and other very important roles during Mongoloid Arakanese Kingdoms. (For these earliest history of Arakan, please read D.G.E Hall's History of South-East Asia, G.E. Harvey's History of Burma, Noel F Singer's Vaishali and Indianization of Arakan and Pamela Guteman's Research Papers on Arakan and Zaa Lok Kay Pho Lay by San Kyaw Tuan (Maha Wizza), P. 81)

(3) Muslims played the phenomenal role of kingmakers in Arakan. Its heyday began with the spread of Islamic civilization. “Islam spread and deeply rooted in Arakan since 8th century from where it further spread into interior Burma. (Sasana Ronwas Htunzepho” a book published by SLORC in 1997)

(4) In fact, “Arakan was virtually ruled by Muslims from 1430 to 1531” [Ba Shin, “Coming of Islam to Burma 1700 AD”, A research paper presented at Azad Bhavan, New Delhi in 1961, p.4.] to the extent that it was turned into a sultanate. Arakan was depicted as an Islamic State in the map of The Times Complete History of the World, showing cultural division of Southeast Asia (distribution of major religions) in 1500.(Edited by Richard Overy, eighth edition 2010, page 148.). These are enough evidences that the Muslims or Rohingyas are indigenous to Arakan.

(5) The use of the term “Rohingya” in the form “Rooinga” existed in the past and found in 17th century. A dialect was spoken by Muslims in Arakan of Western Burma who had long been settled in Arakan and who called themselves “Rooinga” or “Natives” of Arakan. (Francis Buchanana, Buchanan, 1799) The document can be reached at http://www.soas.ac.uk/sbbr/editions/file64276.pdf.

(6) Read The Classical Journal for September and December, 1811, Vol. IV, P. 348. Printed in London by A.J. Valpy, Took's Court, Concert Lane. The word "Rooinga" was used for the Muslims in Arakan of the time.

(7) Read Linguaram Totius Orbis "INDEX" Alphabeticus quarum "GRAMMARTICAE, LEXICA" Collectiones Vocabulerum, Patria Significatur, Historia Adumbratur by Joanne Severion Vatero, Theol. Doct. et Profess. et Bibliothecarlo Reg. Ord. S. Wladimiri Equite, Berlin, 1815. The word "Rooinga" was used many times for the Muslims in Arakan of the time.

(8) In 1820, British ethnologist Walter Hamilton referred to the "Rooinga" as "the Mahommedans [sic] who have been long settled in the country." (Copied from http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/310399/fear-loathing-and-lies-in-rakhine-state). It is also a proof that Rohingya people existed in Arakan before 1824.

(9) The first President of Burma, Sao Shwe Thaike, said, “Muslims of Arakan certainly belong to one of the indigenous races of Burma. If they do not belong to the indigenous races, we also cannot be taken as indigenous races. (“The Rohingyas: Bengali Muslims or Arakan Muslim”, Euro Burma Office (EBO) Briefing Paper No.2, 2009. In Dr. San Oo Aung. http://sanooaung.wordpress.com 22 January 2008)

(10) Rakhines or Rowangya People by Maung Than Lwin, Mrawaddy Magazine, July 1960. Rohingyas' history was briefly mentioned.

(11) Check the records of Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS). The Rohingya language was relayed trice a week from the indigenous language programme of the official Burma Broadcasting Service, Rangoon, from 15 May 1961 to 30 October 1965 that is, nearly four years further beyond the seizure of power by Gen. Ne Win.

(12) In official Myanmar Encyclopaedia Vol.9, 1964, pages 89/90 the historic narration was given in detail concerning Rohingya while affirming that 75% of the population in Mayu Frontier is Rohingya.

(13) Read the textbook “Geography for Std. 9th and 10th, printed in 1978, printed press 361 Pyay Rd. Sarbay Viman, on page 86 map Mayu area was clearly marked as “Rohingya’s dwelling place”. It was printed in Ne Win’s era.

(Please use these notes to argue and debate on the history of Rohingya and Rakhine.)

1. We acknowledge that religions are implicated in acts of violence and terrorism, though religion does not justify atrocities

2. We affirm that no religion, in itself, advocates violence or terrorism

3. Equating religion with violence is a distortion, whether done by those opposed to religion or those who hijack religion to support violence

4. Peace with God and our fellow human beings is at the heart of Christianity and Islam

5. We acknowledge that believers do not always make clear that they are for peace and against violence

6. Doctrines of ‘just war’ and (military) jihad do not provide any justification for acts of terrorism

7. We urge Christians and Muslims, and all people, to renounce violence and work for peace

8. We are opposed to religious intolerance, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and marginalization of minorities and condemn intolerant attitudes

9. We especially condemn any mistreatment and persecution by Christians or Muslims, including in situations of conversion

10. We feel deeply the pain of attacks on all who suffer from hostility and violence and urge those in conflict situations to acknowledge the humanity of the other

11. We stand with those who suffer in our words, prayers and deeds

12. We call on all governments to work for peace, instead of increasing conflict, and to respect all people within their countries.

Source here

KUALA LUMPUR: Myanmar has rejected an offer by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to open talks aimed at quelling deadly communal violence there, the regional bloc's chief said on Tuesday.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said he proposed setting up tripartite talks between the association, the United Nations, and Myanmar's reformist government to prevent the violence having a broader regional impact.

But he said Myanmar turned down the offer to discuss the bloodshed in Rakhine state that has seen around 180 people killed since June in the restive west of the country.

"Myanmar believes it is their internal matter, but your internal matter could be ours the next day if you are not careful," he told reporters after delivering a speech at a forum in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

Fresh fighting in Rakhine state this month saw another 88 killed and added to the thousands of homes torched, with tens of thousands of minority Rohingya now living in overcrowded camps. Rights groups fear the actual number killed could be much higher.

Myanmar's quasi-civilian government, which has been lauded by Western nations for a series of democratic reforms after decades of outright military rule, has imposed emergency rule in the face of continued tension in the region.

Myanmar's 800,000-strong Rohingya community are viewed as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh by the government and many Burmese.

The Rohingya have long been considered by the United Nations as one of the most persecuted minorities on the planet.

Sources Here:

A United Nations senior official today expressed serious concern about reports of human rights violations committed by security forces in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, after clashes between its Buddhist and Muslim communities reportedly killed at least 78 people and displaced thousands last month.“We have been receiving a stream of reports from independent sources alleging discriminatory and arbitrary responses by security forces, and even their instigation of and involvement in clashes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in a news release.

“Reports indicate that the initial swift response of the authorities to the communal violence may have turned into a crackdown targeting Muslims, in particular members of the Rohingya [Muslim] community,” she added.

According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state, located in the country’s west, was triggered when an ethnic Rakhine woman was raped and murdered on 28 May. This was followed by the killing of 10 Muslims by an unidentified mob on 3 June.

Ms. Pillay called for a prompt, independent investigation, noting that the crisis reflects the long-standing and systemic discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim community, who are not recognized by the Government and remain stateless.

“The Government has a responsibility to prevent and punish violent acts, irrespective of which ethnic or religious group is responsible, without discrimination and in accordance with the rule of law,” Ms. Pillay said.

She also called on national leaders to speak out against discrimination, the exclusion of minorities and racist attitudes, and in support of equal rights for all in Myanmar. She also stressed that the UN was making an effort to assist and protect all communities in Rakhine state.

“Prejudice and violence against members of ethnic and religious minorities run the risk of dividing the country in its commendable national reconciliation efforts, undermine national solidarity, and upset prospects of peace-building,” Ms. Pillay said. Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said it is delivering aid to the more than 30,000 people that were affected by the violence.

“As we speak, additional tents are being airlifted from the Republic of Korea to meet urgent shelter needs on the ground,” a UNHCR spokesperson, Andrej Mahecic, told reporters in Geneva.

Mr. Mahecic said that many people had their houses destroyed, and would only go back if they could get help building new homes, while displaced Muslims have told the refugee agency that they would like to go home but fear for their safety.

According to UNHCR, an estimated 80,000 people are displaced in and around the towns of Sittwe and Maungdaw, with most of them living in camps or with host families in surrounding villages.

The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, is due to visit the country next week, and his mission there will include a visit to Rakhine state. Ms. Pillay welcomed the Special Rapporteur’s visit, but noted that “while he will be able to make an initial assessment during his one-day visit, this is no substitute for a fully-fledged independent investigation.”

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not United Nations staff, nor are they paid for their work.
sources Here:

New York: New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that the authorities in Burma need to do more to protect displaced Rohingyas, even as the Bangladesh Government has shown no interest in doing so.

In a statement, the Director of Human Rights Watch, South Asia, Meenakshi Ganguly, said: "The Rohingyas seem to have become the nowhere people. The authorities in Burma have failed to protect them, and Bangladesh refuses to provide asylum to those fleeing the attacks."

Ganguly added: "It appears that many are in stranded in boats hoping for refuge. India, with its long history of providing shelter, in fact to both Burmese and Bangladeshi refugees, should perhaps press both governments to do the right thing."

"Burma needs to act swiftly to ensure the rights of its Rohingya population instead of disputing their citizenship. Bangladesh should open its borders and provide relief," Ganguly said further.

Ganguly's statement on the condition of Rohingyas follows a similar missive of concern expressed by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which has called on Bangladesh to open its borders to Rohingyas fleeing sectarian violence in Myanmar. 

In a statement issued,UNHCR senior protection officer and officer-in-charge of UNHCR in Dhaka Pia Paguio said: “UNHCR continues to consider that until public order and security are restored for all communities in [Myanmar’s] Rakhine State, states should not forcibly return to Myanmar persons originating from Rakhine State.”

Paguio,told IRIN on 29 October: “We thus continue to appeal to the government of Bangladesh to open its borders to those in need of a safe haven.”

Under Burmese law, the Rohingya - a persecuted minority of 800,000 - are de jure stateless in Myanmar and face constant persecution, while in Muslim-majority Bangladesh they are viewed as illegal migrants.

Bangladesh has repeatedly said it will not accept any Rohingya refugees fleeing ethnic violence in neighbouring Myanmar’s western Rakhine State.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled persecution in Myanmar over the past three decades, the vast majority to Bangladesh in the 1990s.

According to Burmese government estimates released on 29 October, more than 28,000 residents have been displaced in Rakhine State following a week of deadly sectarian violence between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic (mainly Buddhist) Rakhine which began on 21 October.  

At least 76 people were killed, and more than 4,600 houses and several religious buildings destroyed, in the unrest, the UN reported on 29 October. There was violence in the Rakhine State townships of Kyaukpyu, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Pauktaw, Ramree and Rathedaung.

Tensions had increased after monks, and women’s and youth groups organized anti-Rohingya and anti-Organization of Islamic Cooperation demonstrations in Sittwe, Mandalay and Yangon, the report said.

The latest displacement comes on top of the 75,000, mostly Rohingya Muslims, currently displaced after communal violence erupted in June following the alleged rape and murder of a Rakhine woman by a group of Muslim men in May.

At least 78 people were killed and close to 5,000 homes and buildings were destroyed in that incident.

Most of the displaced are currently in nine overcrowded camps in Sittwe, separated from the rest of the community due to security concerns.

There are more than 200,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh today, including more than 30,000 documented refugees living in two government-run camps (Kutupalong and Nayapara) within 2km of the Burmese border, according to UNHCR. 

UNHCR has not been permitted to register newly arriving Rohingya since mid-1992. Most Rohingya are living in villages and towns in the Cox’s Bazar area and receive little to no assistance as the agency is only allowed to assist those who are documented.

UNHCR does not have access to the 193km Myanmar-Bangladesh border to verify the situation of persons arriving from Rakhine State. Moreover, Bangladesh's closed border policy remains in effect.

Despite repeated advocacy efforts by UNHCR, civil society and the diplomatic community, Dhaka, fearing a major influx, closed its borders to persons fleeing communal violence Myanmar in June.

Those who did manage to make it across the border were rounded up and sent back to Myanmar. However, there are no reliable figures on the number of arrivals and the number refouled.

Bangladesh is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.

“UNHCR reiterates its readiness to provide protection and assistance to the governments and the people of Bangladesh and Myanmar in addressing this evolving humanitarian situation,” said Paguino.   

sources Here:

Racist Buddhist Monk "Wirathu" based in Mandalay at Maso Yein Monastery, propagating hatred against Muslims of Burma, and against Rohingyas with fabricated information

 He teaching to the junior monks, and consistently inciting Islamophobia among Buddhist in Myanmar through his Facebook account to create religious and ethnic clashes between Muslims and Buddhist.  He is responsible for masterminding the riots between Muslims and Buddhist.

The following video links was uploaded to his Facebook account recently to inflame current ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Arakan state to spread across Myanmar.

KUWAIT: Kuwait deplores in the strongest terms acts of violence, including killing, displacing, and terrorizing, the minority Rohingya Muslims in the western state of Rakhine in Myanmar, a highplaced source at the ministry of foreign affairs said here yesterday.

Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have been killed, their homes burned, their villages pillaged, all of which acts are a flagrant violation of basic human rights and tantamount to crimes against humanity, noted the source. Kuwait, in its commitment to resolutions promulgated by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, urges the government of Myanmar to bear its responsibilities by moving quickly to protect the lives of the minority Rohingya Muslims and to implement a course where all ethnic and sects of the Myanmar society are treated equally, in the recent spirit of adopting the tools of democracy and reform, said the source.

Moreover, the source behooved the international community to also bear its responsibility in that regard by seeking relief for the beleaguered Rohingyas, including sending relief aid supplies to them as speedily as possible. — KUNA

Sources Here:

We know that America has some sway in the country. Surely they should exert pressure to help these people.

Revelations of widespread violence against ethnic minorities in Burma’s north-western Rakhine state fleetingly drew the eye of the world’s media last week. Headlines and op-eds reflected the shock felt by the international community at the slaughter of the local Rohingya population and other predominantly Muslim groups, such as the Karan.

And shock there should be, despite the fact that the enduring suffering of the Rohingya has long been ignored by the international press. It seems that the severity of the latest assault, involving the razing of entire blocks of houses and dozens of deaths, has finally hammered home just how brutalised and vulnerable Burma’s forgotten people are.

With the news of the massacre the world seems to have taken note of their pain; the alarming scale of the violence being made plain by NGO-released satellite imagery (which clearly shows an entire neighbourhood in one town blanched by arson). It is reported that over 20,000 people have been displaced as a result of recent events- most left without any shelter or access to food.

The destruction, believed to be perpetrated by Buddhist locals hostile to Rohingya Muslims (some survivors were quoted by Reuters as claiming that police also took part in the attacks), is the latest outbreak of inter-ethnic violence in Burma since the collapse of the absolute rule of the nation’s military junta last year.

Of all of the country’s many imperiled minorities, the Rohingya have perhaps experienced the greatest brutalisation and repression; in June, dozens were killed in similar circumstances, while past examples of murder and abuse stretch back decades.

As a result of such mistreatment many have simply fled en-masse to bordering countries, living in the squalor of crowded refugee camps to avoid the threat of further violence. Most remain effectively stateless, officially unrecognised by the government of Burma (who consider them “illegal immigrants”) and by many of the surrounding countries that receive the flows of their displaced.
World's most persecuted

The UN regards the Rohingya as one of the world's most persecuted minorities. This is surely an accurate judgment: while the 800,000 present in Burma face “systemic discrimination” (according to Amnesty), refugees fleeing abuses suffer from extreme insecurity in nearby nations.

Even the government of Muslim Bangladesh have shamefully disregarded the suffering of the Rohingya; last year they callously refused to accept an aid offering from the UN to assist the refugees. This summer Al Jazeera obtained letters from Dhaka to the three NGOs operating in Rohingya refugee camps, demanding that the agencies cease their relief programmes. Around 300,000 Rohingya live in Bangladesh in such camps without access to electricity, medical assistance, clean water or even enough food to eat.

Desperation has eroded the dignity of this devoutly religious people. In the Bangladeshi camps, young women and girls are forced to sell their bodies in order to feed their children as malnutrition worsens and a near-total absence of available employment confronts each family.

But the Rohingya need more than just food and money. They also need protection against the increasingly plausible threat of near-annihilation. If the present state of affairs continues, there’s a risk of worse massacres in future.

And what has the otherwise noble Aung Sung Suu Kyi have to say on this issue? Very little, it seems - perhaps because of a new-found cautiousness that seems to have come with political office.
Responsibility
The United States and her western allies, always ready to trumpet the cause of human rights when it suits them, may not be able to wield enough influence over Damascus to persuade Assad to desist from murder. But the US surely has the ability to press Burma's President for compassionate action on the Rohingya issue. After all, Washington has been credited with having persuaded the regime in Rangoon to embrace democratisation and reform. Surely pressure commensurate with the severity of the suffering of Burma’s Muslims and the Rohingya could be directed at President Thein Sein?

One thinks of all the fine words spoken on the anniversary of Srebrenica this year, and those poignantly intoned in its immediate aftermath. “Never again”, they said. But then Sudan happened. Sri Lanka. Syria. And now in the age of the “responsibility to protect”, the Rohingya people crawl toward a humanitarian catastrophe with little hope of succour.

Burma’s government cannot be granted legitimacy by the international community if minorities continue to be subjected to murder and mistreatment on their watch; moreover, the world must assist the Rohingya- or share responsibility for the terrible, preventable consequences.

Emanuel Stoakes is a UK and New Zealand based freelance journalist. His work typically addresses issues pertaining to war, human rights and/or social justice. He has produced work for The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, New Statesman, The Huffington Post and Empirical magazine among others.

Sources Here:

A leading advocate for human rights in Burma argues that international ignorance of what is happening in Rakhine State is a tragedy in itself.

The latest attacks against ethnic Rohingya, with thousands of homes destroyed and probably more than a thousand killed, have once again drawn attention to Rakhine State in Burma. International attention had largely moved on following the first large scale outburst of violence in June, but attacks against Rohingya hadn’t ended, they had just taken on a new form. 

Within days of the violence starting in Rakhine State, my organisation, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), started to receive reports of families trapped in their homes running out of food. In the weeks that followed, in among the many reports of attacks, rapes and killings we were receiving, the reports of hunger and starvation grew into what appeared to be a deliberately organised plan to starve the Rohingya out of Burma. 

Elements of this starvation policy are being implemented by local communities, and by state and central government. Buddhist monks and other groups have called upon the ethnic Rakhine population to boycott the Rohingya minority. They have called for a rice embargo and are targeting their Muslim neighbours. Many Rohingya who try to leaves their homes or villagers to buy food or harvest crops are attacked and beaten or killed.

Starving

International aid is now reaching almost 100,000 Rohingya who have fled to temporary camps, but hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in towns and villages are not getting any aid, and many are slowly starving in their own homes.

After the violence erupted many Rohingya households were surviving on existing food stocks, which for most people is now used up. Their suffering is made worse by the departure of aid agencies that were forced out when the violence started. Aid workers were arrested and jailed, while others were forced to flee the area. For villagers in areas further away from Sittwe, where no international visitors are allowed, there is no help coming, and children are starving to death.

While my people have suffered for decades, denied citizenship, the right to marry, and have been expelled over the border to Bangladesh, these latest developments signal a new level of abuse. 

Ethnic cleansing is happening in Burma. If anyone needed further evidence for the role of the central state in the latest campaign, they only need to consider the request made by President Thein Sein to the UN Refugee Agency, for the UN to assist in expelling Rohingya from Burma. His request has been enthusiastically greeted by many sections of Burmese society which have used their new found press freedoms to voice hateful opinions about the Rohingya and their place in Burma.

Inaction

Out of sight, people are dying every day because they do not have any food. Thousands of people are facing starvation in the countryside remote areas, and the crisis is unreported and ignored.

The governments of America and Europe have tried to justify their inaction in the face of this ethnic cleansing by arguing it is difficult to get accurate information. Yet they take no action to secure a UN investigation which would establish the truth, and at the same time they welcome a government established investigation which has no Rohingya members, but does contain members who have publicly stated they want all Rohingya expelled from the country. What hope can there be that this investigation will come close to revealing the truth about what is taking place?

Nor does the America or the European Union support what is the only hope for a truly independent investigation into what is going on. That is for the United Nations General Assembly to establish a Commission of Inquiry. They can do this in the resolution on Burma which is being drafted now. The mere establishment of such an inquiry, where for the first time their criminal actions will be verified, might persuade them to end the policy of starvation and mass arrests. Just by being set up, the Commission would save lives. 

But while this Commission does its work, the most urgent issue is to end the attacks, and to ensure aid agencies can freely access all the areas where Rohingya live, providing life-saving aid. People are dying now. They need help. Independent international observers are also need on the ground now.

There have been many changes in Burma in the past two years, but not all of them have been good. For the Rohingya, and other ethnic people such as the Kachin, the situation has got worse. It’s time for the international community to pay attention to the bad things still happening in Burma, instead of only welcoming the good.

Tun Khin is President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK.

Sources Here:

A human rights group expresses concern for the safety of thousands of Muslims in Burma after revealing satellite images of a once-thriving coastal community reduced to ashes after a week of violence.

Human Rights Watch says the series of images (below, in October 2012 and further below, in March 2012), which compare the same scene with images taken earlier in the year, show "near total destruction" of a predominantly Rohingya Muslim part of Kyaukpyu, one of several areas in Rakhine state where battles between Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists threaten to derail the country's fragile democratic transition. 

Tun Khin from the Burmese Rohingya Oraganisation in the UK told Channel 4 News he thinks that what is going on in the Rakhine region amounts to ethnic cleansins: "This is ethnic cleansing, proper planned by the state government and central government to eliminate the Rohingya people from Rakhine". 

More than 811 buildings and houseboats were razed in Kyaukpyu on 24 October, forcing many Rohingya to flee north by sea toward the state capital Sittwe, said Human Rights Watch. 

"Burma's government urgently needs to provide security for the Rohingya in Arakan (Rakhine) state, who are under vicious attack," said Phil Robertson, the group's deputy Asia director. 

There were widespread unconfirmed reports of boatloads of Rohingyas trying to cross the sea border to neighbouring Bangladesh, which has denied them refugee status since 1992. 

BROUK President Interview GMT 11:00 am London time.BROUK President Tun Khin highlighted international community is still silent where many rohingyas were killed and displaced in Arakan. He appeal international community have to send urgently UN Peacekeeping force UN observers to Arakan. He also urges international community to send UN commission of Inquiry team to investigate ethnic cleansing in Arakan.  

I do not agree with the views of international media and their various news articles, for the last few months, on the conflicts between Rakhine Buddhists and minority Rohingya Muslims. It is true that Rohingyas are majority in Maungdaw and Buthidaung while they are not more than 10% in Mrauk Oo , Minbya, Kyauk Phyu, Myae Bon and Pauk Taw. As such the claim by certain media groups that the Rohingyas that has been oppressed for many decades could attack the overwhelming majority Rakhines who have full support of state apparatus, is totally absurd and is very unfortunate for the suffering Rohingyas. One should ask himself and use commonsense before publishing such destructive news articles. 

Many Rohingya Organizations around the world are demanding UN intervention to provide UN security forces because they are helpless and do not possess any mean to defend themselves from this well-coordinated plan of genocide launched against them. But the Bhuddist Rakhine and Myanmar government do not agree to any international intervention. They will not even allow international humanitarian organizations because they are afraid of the face of real culprits will be exposed to the worlds society. This clearly shows who is under attack and who are attacking. Buddhist monks in Myanmar declared the sympathizers of Rohingyas would be considered as "national traitors," according to a report by a humanitarian group. 

Can someone imagine how Buddhist monks are supporting the plan of exterminating whole Rohingya ethnic community from Arakan? If national security forces do not support Rakhine Community how is it possible for them to do so? Surprisingly, there is no single picture or video which shows Rakhine Buddhist died or their temple was burned while there are thousands of videos and pictures to substantiate their claims of Rohingyas that they have been raped, killed, looted and houses, properties and mosques are being burned down by Rakhine Extremist. 

The president has been very clear that the Arakan issue should not be seen as a religious matter but if anyone is trying to establish it as a religious issue it's definitely the monks," if he doesn’t addresses the issue as religious why he allows all Myanmar Monks to demonstrate against the Islam. There is no doubt that Thein Sein government has involved complicity in this heinous crime against Rohingyas as he is the one only president of a country in this modern days who openly called for the segregation of two communities that have lived side by side for centuries. The RNDP and the president Thein Sein are the most active players of this crime of ethnic cleansing. International community must raise their voices against them without further delay. Otherwise the world will witness the worst genocide of the history in Asia. 

In an attempt to calm the situation, Myanmar President Thein Sein announced for a state of emergency in several areas and said the confrontations have nothing to do with religious differences but he fully involves in cleansing the Rohingyas and he is still going forward on with his plan that Rohingyas should be kept in refugee camp until resettlement to a third country. It seems that this is a master plan to cleanse Rohingya Arakan, eventually from the whole country. 

Few days ago, riot ensued in Bangladesh. It was also pre-planned conspiracy jointly launched by Bangladesh and Myanmar governments. Prime minister of Bangladesh promised that her government would give compensation to the lost properties in the Bangladesh during the riot while Myanmar Government embarked on mass arbitrary arrest of Rohingyas. 

A media reported as: ‘Last week’s clashes once again highlight the plight of the Rohingya as a minority that has been discriminated against for a very long time. The systematic persecution of this group has been ell organized and its brutality has reached all facets of life. This group had been targeted decades ago with a systematic policy of elimination”. 

It must be stopped. Sending extra troops and fortifying security in the Rakhine region is not enough to stop the violence. Without addressing the root cause of the current situation, the problem will continue and so will be the bloodshed’. 

There was an agreement between Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Myanmar government to open liaison offices in Myanmar to provide the humanitarian aids for the victims of violence regardless of race and religion but the monks and Buddhists backed by the government protested against the OIC for opening the office in Myanmar. The Buddhists from Rakhine state are blocking the aids for the Rohingya since the Turkish government delegation visited the Refugee camps. 

As the situation becomes worse day by day, we would like to request UN, USA, EU, and OIC to advocate for the most oppressed Rohingyas of Myanmar. The world community should give pressure on the Myanmar government to stop the ongoing violence against Rohingya immediately, and restore their citizenship and ethnic rights, and to urgently send an UN enquiry team for the crime against humanity to Arakan State. 

Press Release 

                                                                                               October 28, 2012 

Free Rohingya Campaign strongly requests immediate international security, human rights and humanitarian intervention in Rakhine State in regards to allegations of national military involvement and failure of national military to prevent or protect Rakhine State Muslims from the current surge in violence. Furthermore, 50-100 boats full of Muslims escaping mid-Rakhine State violence remain afloat at sea, some for 4 days and with women and infant passengers that have already died. These boats have been denied awaiting UN and INGO relief and refuge and pushed out to sea by national military and border security, despite President Thein Sein’s assurances otherwise. Other Muslim boats have been attacked with no reported survivors when attempting to come ashore in near Taung bro, Northern Maungdaw Township. 

Since October 21, 2012, escalation in ongoing Rakhine State violence has, again, disproportionately targeted large populations of Rohingya and other Muslims with deadly violence, forced eviction by arson, forced displacement and blockade of escape, refuge and relief. This latest surge in anti-Muslim violence has been perpetrated while the Rakhine area has been under a state of emergency and national government control. Muslim survivors of these several new attacks report national military presence at these attacks without intervention. Immediately preceding the surge, Muslim populations in the targeted areas received orders of eviction with threats of violence for disobedience. Also, since September 2012, there has been an escalation in the protests, resolutions and demands for Muslim cleansing, separation, and prohibition of financial, medical or other aid to Muslims with threat of deadly violence and labels of traitor for disobedience. 

Amid the initial disproportionate violence, President Their Sein made a request for Rakhine State Muslims be taken to UNHCR refugee camps or third countries. 

Nora E. Rowley ,MD MPH 

Senior Advisor
Free Rohingya Campaign (FRC)
Cell: +1-708-522-6620
Email: norarwl@aol.com

_________________________________________________________________

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The co-founder of Free Rohingya Campaign (FRC) in New York City, USA, is pleased to announce the achievement of registration from the Office of the Secretary of State in Oregon, USA. FRC, now as a legitimate NGO in the United States, is fully functional and advancing towards its goals in cooperation with government agencies and NGOs worldwide for restoration of basic human rights and political rights of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma (Myanmar). At present, the FRC consists of various organizations and, based in various parts of the world. 

· FRC is initially taking some activities in order to promote its campaign in the face gravely deteriorating situation of Rohingya: 

· Organizing Rohingya regardless of their current residence or refuge Inspiring and engaging Rohingya youth in their cause for the salvation and educational development.

· Creating a sound political, social and cultural environment among internally and externally displaced Rohingya community.

· Lobbying Rohingya senior and junior intellectuals, politicians, dissidents and activists.

· Creating extensive awareness among our Rohingya, local and international community.

· Promoting Rohingya brotherhood and in-community development.

· Gearing up potential activities for the restoration of democracy and fundamental human rights.

· Bridging the distance and difference among Rohingya and other ethnics of Burma.

· Drawing worldwide attention to the Rohingya problems and issues

· Lending support and cooperation to the other democracy activities in and out of Burma.


Sincerely,

Nay San Oo
Co-founder, Free Rohingya Campaign (FRC)
Tel: 1-646-821-1475 Email: naysan@freerohingyacampaign.com

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In this photo taken on Sept. 8, 2012, Muslims gather during a visit by a delegation of American diplomats including U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar Derek Mitchell, unseen, at a refugee camp in Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar. Three-and-a-half months after some of the bloodiest clashes in a generation between Myanmar’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and stateless Muslims known as Rohingya left the western town of Sittwe in flames, nobody is quite sure when -or even if- the Rohingya will be allowed to resume the lives they once lived here. (AP)She came, she saw, she conquered. The photograph of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi standing proudly with America’s smiling political elite at her Congressional Gold Medal ceremony last month in Washington, D.C., provides a powerful image of this heroine of democracy. She has justifiably caught the world’s attention and earned its love. Arizona Sen. John McCain called her “his personal hero.”

In Suu Kyi’s visit to American University where she received an honorary doctorate during her U.S. visit, we are provided with another powerful image of her, that of a supplicant Buddhist kneeling before a dozen monks to receive their blessing. She has not only become a voice for freedom and political leadership but a voice of Buddhist compassion for the Burmese people and the ethnic minority groups on the periphery who have long suffered under Burma’s oppressive government.

Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese founding father Aung San, was known to rely on her Buddhist faith for a sense of inner freedom during her 15 years of captivity after rising to power during the 1988 student uprising. After her release in 2010, she continued her work for democracy, stressing the “loving kindness” of Buddhist teachings for Burma’s democratic transition in place of feelings of hatred and revenge. She was elected to the Burmese Parliament representing the National League for Democracy, and in recent weeks, she has expressed her willingness to continue to serve her nation as the next president of Burma with elections scheduled for 2015.

With Suu Kyi’s near universal appeal and star power, she is in a unique position for both political leadership in Burma as well as a voice of Buddhist compassion and an ally for the oppressed. Buddha stressed that compassion lay at the heart of a Buddha nature and demonstrates one’s respect for the dignity of life.

Yet, Suu Kyi has remained curiously silent on one of the most urgent humanitarian issues facing Burma, the plight of the Rohingya people.

The Rohingya, whom the BBC and many NGOs call “one of the world’s most persecuted minority groups,” are the little known Muslim people of the coastal Arakan state of western Burma. Over the past three decades, the Rohingya have been systematically pushed out of their homes by Burma’s military government and subjected to widespread violence along with the complete negation of their rights and even identity. They have become a stateless minority.

Many hundreds of thousands have fled to neighboring countries. The Rohingya are surrounded by adherents of the great faiths - Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianty - all of which emphasis compassion and charity for the needy. Despite these compulsions from their faiths, many Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Christians in South Asia have treated the Rohingya with nothing but outright hostility.

The current situation of the Rohingya is a challenge not only for all in the region to adhere to the demands of their faiths but a challenge for Aung San Suu Kyi and the Buddhists of Burma to treat the suffering Rohingya with “loving kindness,” of which they have seen little.

The widely reported violence in July 2012 against the Rohingya by the neighboring Buddhist Rakhine people in which over 1,000 Rohingya were killed and entire villages burned to the ground must be understood in the context of this sustained campaign of oppression against the Rohingya. The violent actions of the Rakhine were committed with the complicity and, at times, participation of the government security forces.

Even the new democratic reforms have not altered the perception of the Rohingya with President Thein Sein stating in July 2012 in the wake of this violence that he would not recognize the Rohingya or their rights and wished to turn over the entire ethnic group to the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees. Buddhist monks, contrary to the teachings of Buddha, staged anti-Rohingya marches in September to declare their support for the president’s proposal. The Burmese government has blocked the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)from opening an aid office to assist displaced Rohingya due to the violence in Arakan state.

While many ethnic minorities in Burma, with non-Burmese peoples comprising over 30 percent of the population, have been the victims of the military junta’s oppressive measures, the Rohingya stand apart in that their very existence is threatened.

When General Ne Win and the military junta came to power in 1962, the central government began to shift away from the inclusive vision of Aung San and towards a nationalist ideology based on the Burmese ethnicity and the Buddhist faith. The Rohingya, as both non-Burmese and Muslim, were now stripped of any legitimacy and erroneously and incorrectly labeled “illegal Bengali immigrants.”

The initial push of the military’s ethnic cleansing campaign came in 1978 under Operation Naga Min with the purpose of scrutinizing everyone in the state as either a citizen or alleged “illegal immigrant.” For the Rohingya people, this resulted in widespread rape, arbitrary arrests, desecration of mosques, destruction of villages, and confiscation of lands. In the wake of this violence, nearly a quarter of a million Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh, many of whom were later repatriated to Burma where they faced further rape, imprisonment, and torture.

In 1991, a second push, known as Operation Pyi Thaya, or Operation Clean and Beautiful Nation, was launched with the same purpose, resulting in another mass exodus of 200,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, with nearly 300,000 refugees remaining today, many without food or medical assistance from a Muslim population ignoring the demands for compassion in their faith towards their fellow Muslims.

With the passage of the 1982 Citizenship Law, the Rohingya were officially denied Burmese citizenship and effectively ceased to exist legally. With their loss of citizenship, the Rohingya found their lives difficult to lead. They were barred from travelling outside their villages, repairing their decaying places of worship, receiving an education in any language or even marrying and having children without rarely granted government permission, often procured through bribes which few are able to afford. The failure to receive permission for any of these innocuous acts lands the offenders in prison where men are beaten and women routinely raped.

Women who become illegally pregnant are forced to either flee the country or resort to dangerous back-alley abortions, where many die because of their inability to get adequate medical treatment due to the severe travel restrictions.

The Rohingya are also subjected to modern-day slavery, where they are forced to work on infrastructure projects, such as constructing “model villages” to house Burmese settlers intended to displace them. Women are susceptible to forced prostitution by the Burmese security forces.

Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
October 29, 2012

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement regarding reports of clashes in Rakhine state in western Burma:

“I am deeply concerned by the latest outbreak of inter-communal violence in Rakhine state. We urge all parties to bring an immediate end to the violence. We also call on the authorities to protect the human rights and safety of all residents.

“The people of Rakhine state urgently need a sustainable long-term solution that respects the human rights of all, including religious minorities.

“Canada has welcomed the Burmese government’s commitment to resolving conflicts with ethnic groups in Burma, and we encourage further efforts to promote peace and reconciliation throughout the country. Canadian officials will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

Foreign Secretary William Hague calls for peace in Burma's Rakhine state, after the destruction of settlements occupied by Muslim Rohingyas following fierce fighting with Buddhists.

In a statement, Mr Hague said: "Our ambassador is in constant contact with the Burmese government.

"He spoke to the president’s office earlier today to express our grave concerns about recent developments and our readiness to assist at both a humanitarian and diplomatic level in the search for a sustainable solution to this long running issue."

It follows claims of intense fighting in the past week and satellite images from Human Rights Watch that show the widespread destruction of a predominantly Rohingya Muslim part of Kyaukpyu, one of several areas in Rakhine state.

This is where battles between Rohingyas and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists threaten to derail the country's fragile democratic transition.

Members of the Muslim Rohingya community say that more than 100 Rohingya were killed on Tuesday and 440 houses burnt by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in a village called Yaing Thay, in the northern part of the state.

Local Rohingya have accused the police of participating in the violence and shooting members of their community. Speaking to Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News, Tun Khin from the Burmese Rohingya Oraganisation in the UK said the kiling amounts to "ethnic cleansing".

The allegations continue - community leaders claim 350 homes, two mosques and a madrassa were burnt in the village of Thayet Oat on 22 October and they say 200 Rohingya houses were burnt in a place called Aung Dine later that same day.

Although the claims have not been independently verified, if true the events would be the worst outbreak of violence since June when fighting left some 75,000 Rohingya and 5,000 Buddhists homeless.

Mr Hague said:

"The UK calls again on all parties to cease the violence and for the Burmese authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee security in the region. We also call for supplies of humanitarian support to be able to reach all those who need it without delay.

"The UK is at the forefront of the international community's efforts to address the current crisis and to reach a sustainable settlement which respects the legitimate rights of all those who live in Rakhine.

"I have raised this issue with the Burmese foreign minister and continue to do so; we most recently discussed it when we met last month.

"I hope that we will soon see an end to this terrible violence and that peace will return to Rakhine state."

Sources Here:

Ethnic cleansing does not have to, by definition, emanate from a government.

However after nearly 50 years of military rule, the apparatus of the state is entrenched in the fabric of Burmese society and as the pogrom continues in Arakan state, the back story provides unnerving evidence that systematic official behavior has lead to the current crisis.

What has occurred in western Burma has been described as a sectarian conflict between two communities who simply hate each other. This prognosis is demonstrably false and a look at the situation in Arakan provides ample evidence that there is a systematic pattern, which in most cases would amount to crimes against humanity.

One element of this picture is the improbability of a ‘sectarian conflict’. Arakan state has a population of almost 4 million, making the Muslim or Rohingya population only about or less than quarter of the inhabitants, thus making a two-sided conflict highly illogical.

Further, the minority population has been controlled by the state to the extent that they are unable to travel between towns, renovate a mosque or even have a child or marry without a permit from the military.

The control of this population has long been perpetuated not just by uniformed military or Nasaka (border guard) personnel but also by quasi-civilian militias, as has been the case in much of the country. Indeed in Burma the ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) grew out of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA).

This organisation had perhaps its most notorious hour in 2003, when it attacked Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy in central Burma. The authorities naturally tried to portray it as a clash between two rival political groups. However, only one side, the National League for Democracy (NLD), suffered 70 deaths and only one side’s supporters were arrested – also the NLD.

In the wake of the Depayin massacre, the US embassy dispatched a cable back to Washington entitled: “MOSQUE RAZED, PARAMILITARIES TRAINED.”

In the cable, one of the militia’s discussed was, “the USDA-affiliated ‘Power Ranger’ militia” that was receiving “rudimentary riot-control and military training.” One of its other jobs was to hold up the Americans in case of an invasion, while the government was “training a paramilitary ‘Peoples Militia’ in Arakan state to assist in putting down any general uprising.”

“Rohingya Muslims specifically, suffer from an aggravated, systematic, institutionalised form of persecution”

According to the cable, “Local officials on July 22 (2003) reportedly tore down a mosque in Sittwe, 70 miles SE of the Bangladeshi border, and arrested seven Muslims, one of whom subsequently died in custody.”

The dispatch goes on to explain that the mosque was demolished because the worshippers “made unauthorized improvements to the structure, resulting in the decision by local authorities to tear down the whole building.”

The embassy concludes that, “We frequently hear stories of pro-SPDC ‘fake monks’ allegedly inciting violence against Muslims to deflect anti-regime ire.”

Dr Kyaw Yin Hlaing, who is now on the commission to investigate June’s violence in Arakan state, also notes this type of tactic being used. In 2008, he wrote in a US legal journal that:

“Before former intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt was dismissed and his intelligence agency disbanded, the junta could almost always uncover opposition groups that were planning to organise protests. In 1997, for instance, the junta became aware of monks’ plans to protest a regional commander’s improper renovation of a famous Buddha statue in Mandalay. Before the monks could launch the protest, a rumour emerged that a Buddhist woman had been raped by a Muslim businessman. The government diverted their attention from the regional commander to the Muslim businessman, eventually causing an anti-Muslim riot.”

He concludes that: “intelligence agents have often instigated anti-Muslim riots in order to prevent angry monks from engaging in anti-government activities.”

Given the uncanny resemblance of this case and the details surrounding late May’s ‘spark incident’, one must ask questions about the current government and the legitimacy of the reform process.

Khin Nyunt was not only adept at preventing anti-government actions, he was also good at neutralising ethnic insurgent groups and casually referred to the entire nation of India as “kalars” – a pejorative term used in Burma to describe Muslims and individuals of South Asian descent.

Government policy then was described as “pervasive and sometimes aggressive religious discrimination that favours Burma’s Buddhist majority.”

While the US embassy noted in a cable in 2005 that the UNHCR head at the time Jean-François Durieux described “the situation in northern Arakan as ‘shocking,’ with the GOB [government of Burma] in constant denial of the true situation. Although Muslims have some religious freedom in Rangoon, the GOB has a policy of ‘complete repression’ of Rohingyas in northern Arakan. He noted that Buddhist temples are ‘springing up everywhere,’ although he estimates the Buddhist population as only one percent of the population [in northern Arakan].”

If there is any doubt that there is systematic repression against the population, the US embassy noted that, “The military has effectively sealed the Rohingyas off from the world and keeps them at the bare subsistence level – it is an internment camp.” They further correctly forecasted that, “We should not assume that any future democratic government will accord these people their basic human rights.”

Needless to say however despite this and the accumulated evidence, the US government has lifted punitive measures against the government.

The lack of civil rights is overshadowed moreover by the basic human indicators that have been thrust on the population by the government, as the US embassy noted: “Infant mortality is four times the national average (71 per 1000 births); 64% of children under five are chronically malnourished and stunted growth is common.” Infant mortality then is roughly equivalent to that of Ethiopia, which is chronically affected by drought, and 80% of the population is illiterate with one teacher for every 79 students.

If this were not systematic, the discrepancies with other regions of the country would not be so severe. The government has been more than able to prevent freedom of movement for the roughly 850,000 Rohingya still in existence in the area, it would then seem that with one of the largest armed forces in Asia controlling the movement of mobs would be easy.

According to jurist Guy Horton writing in 2005, “the Rohingya Muslims specifically, suffer from an aggravated, systematic, institutionalised form of persecution designed to destroy them through exclusion, rather than assimilation.”

Whilst according to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide:

“…any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; [and] forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

Given that Thein Sein has attempted to off load the entire population onto the UNHCR, it is evident that he too is in favour of removing the population. With the well-documented government abuses against the population, there is not much of a case to suggest that what is occurring now in Arakan state is anything less than genocide.

-The opinions and views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect DVB’s editorial policy.