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June 13, 2014

On June 13th 2014 the South African based awareness group Protect the Rohingya launched a campaign commemorating the second anniversary of violence against Rohingya and to show international solidarity with them as they have remained subject to continued attacks by both extremist mobs and government forces, all while under blockade of food and medicine and large portions of the population are locked away in camps. The campaign asked for participants to wear black to display their solidarity with Rohingya, and to post their pictures on social media to help draw attention to cause. On Twitter and Facebook people from around the world participated, and perhaps in some small way were able to express that the Rohingya were neither forgotten nor abandoned, even as the governments of the world drag their feet. Protect the Rohingya highlights it’s origins in South Africa as cause to respond to racism, apartheid, and oppression wherever it may exist in the world.








































Urge Congress to Vote Yes on Resolution to End Persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Burma

(Photo: AP)


By CAIR
May 7, 2014

In a final push, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact their member of Congress to urge support for House Resolution 418 to help Rohingya Muslims facing persecution in Burma.

On Wednesday, May 7, the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a final floor vote on the outcome of H.R. 418.

Unanimously adopted by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, the resolution calls on the government of Burma (Myanmar) to end the persecution of its Rohingya minority and to respect internationally-recognized human rights for all ethnic and religious groups within Burma.

Introduced by Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) and co-sponsored by 49 members of Congress, 35 Democratic and 14 Republican, the resolution is positioned to pass with enough vocal support. 

CAIR has provided a "click and send" letter to House members urging that they support the Muslims of Burma by voting "yes" on H. Res. 418. Take action to ensure Congress calls on Burma to end all forms of persecution and discrimination targeting the Rohingya.


(Photo: AP)

 CALL TO END ROHINGYA GENOCIDE

Myanmar's Genocide of Rohingya Must End

What is really going on in Myanmar/Burma beyond tourist brochures, media spin and official reform hype?

Unspeakable crimes are being carried out against innocent humans: children, women and men by the country’s government and racist extremists.

Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya (of whom there are more than 1 million inside the country and another million around the world) have been singled out for systematic destruction.

Successive governments, for decades, have institutionalized a system of apartheid against these people. Kept in concentration camp-like conditions and ghettoized neighborhoods, Rohingya are not permitted freedom of movement.

Every aspect of their lives, including marriage, childbirth and ability to work, is severely restricted. Their right to identity and citizenship is officially denied; in other words, they are not recognized as humans before the law. The Myanmar government even denies humanitarian agencies unfettered access to nearly 200,000 Rohingya in the camps.

Rohingya are profoundly vulnerable to all forms of oppression and atrocities.

As a nation, Myanmar is committing numerous crimes including systematic persecution and discrimination, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

Of the country’s ethnic groups, only Rohingya are subjected to a policy of compulsory birth and marriage control because of their ethnicity.

As a matter of national policy, Myanmar is:

DENYING Rohingya legal existence, and right to nationality; access to medicine, food, and other basic necessities to sustain life; and

DESIGNING extensive structures of discrimination, genocidal hatred and popular violence that amount to the extermination of Rohingya as an ethnic group. Thereby, both the government and racist extremists, are

DESTROYING an entire people with impunity and popular consent.

Myanmar’s official deeds speak volumes about its intent to destroy Rohingya as an ethnic group.

We call on everyone: in governments, in the streets and fields around the world to stop the destruction of Myanmar’s Rohingya.

This is genocide. 

The following organizations and concerned citizens have endorsed this global call:

Non-Rohingya Organizations
  • International State Crime Initiative (ISCI), King’s College, University of London
  • The Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention, Canada
  • Global Campaign for the Rwandans Human Rights
  • London Centre for Social Impact 
  • Justice for All, USA
  • Burma Task Force USA
  • Burmese Welfare Association, USA
  • Burmese American Muslim Association 
  • Myanmar Muslim Association in Thailand
  • Myanmar Muslim Youth – Malaysia
  • Myanmar Muslim Civil Rights Movement
  • Dignity International endorses
  • Pax Romana ICMICA
  • International Movement for a Just World (JUST)

 Concerned Global Citizens
  • Prudentienne Seward, a survivor of Rwandan genocide against Tutsi and founder of PAX - Peace for the African Great Lakes
  • Rene Claudel Mugenzi, Rwanda genocide Survivor, founder of Global Campaign for Rwandas Human Rights
  • Sai Latt, Burmese scholar and writer, Simon Frazer University, Canada
  • Ko Aung, former Burmese political prisoner and activist, London, UK
  • Soe Aung, Burmese human rights activist, Bangkok Thailand
  • Dr Kyi May Kaung, Burmese writer, scholar and artist, Washington, DC, USA 
  • Dr Zarni, Burmese scholar and activist, University of Malaya and London School of Economics
  • Youk Chhang, Executive Director, The Documentation Center of Cambodia
  • Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey, Rome Conference/ICC Signatory, ICTY Witness on Genocide & Former Foreign Minister - Bosnia & Herzegovina 
  • Daniel Feierstein, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars & Professor in the Faculty of Genocide Studies, the University of Buenos Aires
  • Veronica Pedrosa, Journalist and TV presenter
  • Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor in Humanities, Columbia University & founding member of Post-Colonial Studies, USA
  • Barbara Harrell-Bond, OBE, Dir, Fahamu Refugee Center; founding director, Refugees Studies Center; Emeritus Professor, Oxford University, UK
  • Mary Kaldor, CBE, Professor of Global Governance and Director, Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit, London School of Economics, UK 
  • Dr Helen Jarvis, Genocide Studies Researcher and co-author of “Getting Away with Genocide: Elusive justice and the Khmer Rouge tribunal"
  • Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Parliament of World's Religions (for identifications only), USA
  • Penny Green, Professor of Law and Criminology & Director of the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI), King’s College, University of London 
  • Dr Hassan Saeed Elmogummer Taha, human rights activist, Qatar 
  • Alex Caring-Lobel, Associate Editor, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, USA
  • Antara Dev Sen, Editor, The Little Magazine, India
  • Mohanad Hage Ali, Journalist, Lebanon
  • Dr Sabina Alkire, Dir. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford, UK
  • Bridget Anderson, Professor and Deputy Director Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, UK
  • Johan Galtung dr hc mult, founder, TRANSCEND International 
  • Barbara Harriss-White, Emeritus Professor of Development Studies and Founder-Director of Contemporary South Asian Studies, University of Oxford, UK
  • Geoff Whitty, Former Director, Institute of Education, University of London, UK
  • Michael W. Apple, John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Professor of Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA
  • James C. Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Professor of Anthropology, Yale University, USA
  • Jack Healey, Executive Director, Human Rights Action Center, Washington (and former Executive Dir. Amnesty International/USA)
  • Antonio Carlos da Silva Rosa, M.A., Editor, TRANSCEND Media Service, Brazil
  • William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com, UK 
  • Roland Watson, Dictator Watch, Thailand
  • Francis Wade, Journalist, Thailand
  • Dr Nancy Hudson-Rodd, School of Land and Food, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
  • Michael Ratna, Sri Lanka
  • Chandra Muzaffar, President, JUST, Kualar Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Darwis Khudori, Indonesian academic, France
  • Arash Sedighi, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London 
  • Dr Laleh Khalili, SOAS, London
  • Dr Rahul Rao, SOAS, London
  • Dr Samantha Langsdale, SOAS, London
  • Dr Ashraf Hoque, University College London (UCL)
  • Dr (Medical doctor) Mohsin Badat, UK
  • Dr. James Abdulaziz Brown, UK 
  • Dr. Jonathan Saha, University of Bristol
  • Sophie Ansel, Journalist & Writer, France 
  • Lynn Lee, Film Maker, Singapore
  • James Leong, Film Maker, Singapore
  • Dr Syed Farid Alatas, National University of Singapore 
  • Dr Matt Phillips, University of Aberystwyth, Wales, UK

Rohingya Organizations Worldwide
  • Arakan Historical Society 
  • Arakan Rohingya National Organization 
  • Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK 
  • Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (BRCA) 
  • Burmese Rohingya Association (BRA), UAE 
  • Burmese Rohingya Community Netherlands 
  • Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark (BRCD) 
  • Burmese Rohingya Association Deutschland 
  • Canadian Burmese Rohingya Organization (CBRO) 
  • European Rohingya Council 
  • Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee, Malaysia 
  • Rohingya Community in Norway 
  • Rohingya Society Malaysia 
  • Rohingya Organization Norway 
  • Rohingya National Party (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) 
  • Arakan National Congress (ANC)
  • Rohingya Association of Canada
  • Arakan Rohingya Organization Japan 
  • Rohingya American Society



December 14, 2013

An Amnesty International Southeast Asia Campaigner recently explained how a passion for Myanmar led her to become an Amnesty International activist, and why Dr Tun Aung needs your help.

I’ve had a strong interest in civil and political rights since I was a teenager in Ireland. My father was a lifelong member of Amnesty International, so I was always aware of the organization. At university, I focused on the underlying causes of communal tensions between Indian and Burman communities in Rangoon in the 1930s for my postgraduate research. I’ve also been there. It was a combination of these factors that led me to work on Myanmar for Amnesty International. 

The political situation in Myanmar has become quite fluid in recent years. According to the government, over 28,000 prisoners have been released in amnesties since it came to power in March 2011. These included hundreds of prisoners of conscience, but hundreds of others have been arrested or continue to be detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. 

Amnesty International activists can play a major role in keeping the pressure on Myanmar’s government to stop such abuses. In Write for Rights 2010, members in 33 countries took more than 45,000 actions calling for the release of a peaceful political activist, Su Su Nway. I’m certain that that’s one reason why she was included in the new government’s first major prisoner amnesty.

I’m hoping we can do this again this year for Dr Tun Aung (pictured on the stamp image above), whose case I first heard about a few weeks after his arrest in June 2012

He is, by all accounts, a family man – a father and grandfather – who actively promoted tolerance among the ethnic and religious groups in Rakhine state. The local authorities considered him an ally who could help smooth intercommunity relations if tensions arose.

On a Friday afternoon in June, the authorities asked Dr Tun Aung to calm a crowd of men outside a mosque in Maungdaw, western Myanmar. The men were angry about the massacre of 10 Muslims one week earlier by a mob of Buddhists who were seeking revenge for the alleged rape and murder of a Buddhist woman.

Dr Tun Aung did his best to restore calm, but the crowd wouldn’t listen. He was arrested several days later and is serving a 17-year prison sentence after being convicted of multiple criminal offences, including inciting a riot. Aged 66, he has a tumour on his pituitary gland and needs medical care.

It’s really important for us to make Dr Tun Aung’s case visible to a wide audience – which is why he is a Write for Rights 2013 appeal case. That way, he will remain in the minds of Myanmar officials when they are deciding on their next prisoner amnesty – as happened with Su Su Nway.

Dr Tun Aung should be released immediately so that he can return to being a family man, a community leader and a doctor. I firmly believe that Amnesty International members around the world will play a vital role in securing his freedom.


December 8, 2013

UNAIDS appoints Aung San Suu Kyi as Zero Discrimination Global Advocate

Contents

1. Action Required
2. Summary
3. Background
4. Sample Letter

1. Action Required

Please write to UNAIDS and express your concern about choosing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Mynamar opposition leader as UNAIDS Global Advocate for Zero Discrimination heading the ‘zero discrimination’ campaign in light of her lack of concern for the extreme suffering – include hate based violent expulsion and exclusion - of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar.

2. Summary

UNAIDS have chosen Myanmar opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to front a campaign against discrimination when she has failed to address violent hatred against Rohingya in particular and Muslims in general in Myanmar. 

3. Background

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, being an influential leader of Myanmar’s National League of Democracy, was sadly heard in an interview playing down the horrific atrocities suffered by the Rohingya community. 

She was recently chosen as UNAIDS Global Advocate to front a ‘zerodiscrimination’ campaign under the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and was recorded as saying, “I believe in a world where everyone can flower and blossom. We can all make a difference by reaching out and letting people lead a life of dignity irrespective of who they are,” said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. “I invite everyone to Open up, Reach out and end discrimination.”

Her above-mentioned statement is in sharp contrast to her unconcerned attitude towards the plight of the Rohingya minority which was made apparent in the recent interview. She avoided direct condemnation of the Rohingya persecution and tried changing the subject to avoid certain controversial questions. In one response she stated, 

“Yes, Muslims have been targeted, but also Buddhists have been subjected to violence. But there’s fear on both sides and this is what is leading to all these troubles and we would like the world to understand: that the reaction of the Buddhists is also based on fear.”

When asked to accept that 140,000 Muslims that have been displaced because of persecution, she generalized and avoided answering the question by stating, “I think there are many, many Buddhists who have also left the country for various reasons. This is a result of our sufferings under a dictatorial regime.”

Her words of condemnation were so general they were empty of any empathy or understanding of the intensity of the Rohingya suffering. When asked “Do you condemn the anti-Muslim violence?” Suu Kyi replied, “I condemn any movement that is based on hatred and extremism.”

Her equivocal attitude towards the mass-scale genocidal acts against Muslims in Myanmar in particular the Ronhingya is very shocking and in sharp contrast to the anti-discrimination campaigns she supports and the peace titles she has been awarded.

Please write to UNAIDS and express your concern about their choice of Global Advocate.

4. Sample Letters

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sample letters are given below for your convenience. Please note that model letters can be sent directly or adjusted as necessary to include further details. If you receive a reply to the letter you send, we request you to send a copy of the letter you send and the reply you received, to IHRC. This is very important as it helps IHRC to monitor the situation with regards to our campaigns and to improve upon the current model letters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michel Sidibé
UNAIDS Executive Director
UNAIDS Secretariat
20, Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 791 4187

[Your Name]
[Your address]

Date

Dear Michel Sidibé

Re: Appeal against choosing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to front anti-discrimination campaign

I am deeply concerned about your recent appointment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as the UNAIDS Global Advocate for the Zero Discrimination campaign.

Ms Suu Kyi’s ambivalence towards the situation of Ronhingya has been interpreted as lack of concern and an apparently indifferent attitude towards the mass displacement and persecution of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar.

Given her failure to address this issue, I feel her choice as Global Advocate is a very poor one, and I am very disappointed in UNAIDS. UNAIDS has inadvertently endorsed the racist and anti-Muslim sentiment that is rife in Myanmar right now, and I hope you will now use this as an opportunity to either ask Ms. Suu Kyi to make clear statements of support for persecuted minorities in Myanmar and against the violent racism they have been facing.

If she does not, I urge you to revoke her appointment as UNAIDS Global Advocate for the Zero Discrimination campaign as her lack of empathy and absence of immediate action to resolve the plight of her own people proves is at best deeply problematic.

It can do the Zero Discrimination campaign little good to have an advocate who does not condemn discrimination at her own door.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely

[Signature]
[Name]

October 21, 2013

Burma ― How would you feel if you were not wanted anywhere? Wherever you went you were rejected and looked down upon. A people group called the Rohingya are just that. They are a people without a country. The United Nations describes them as one of the most persecuted minority groups on earth.

Christian Aid Missions, your link to indigenous missions, has come beside these outcasts, helping and preaching the Gospel to them. “They have no food, no work, no land, no help,” says the spokesman for a ministry in Bangladesh assisted by Christian Aid. “Because they are an ethnic minority and they are unregistered with the Bangladesh government, the Rohingya are caught in a dual trap. The Burmese military will not allow them in their own homeland, and in Bangladesh they have no identity.”

The Burmese government denies them citizenship, despite their migration from Bangladesh two centuries ago. And even though they are Muslim people, traditional Muslims have no use for them. Numbering between 800,000 and one million people, Rohingya have faced persecution from the Burmese government for more than three decades. Even Burma views them as illegal immigrants.

Some Rohingya live in refugee camps. Thousands more flock to government camps but are denied and turned away because they lack legal status. Many have established a makeshift camp nearby the camp in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. “Their camp is a slum community and is devoid of latrines, safe drinking water, and hope,” states a ministry leader.

Less than 10% of Rohingya exiles are officially registered. Even so, they cannot be citizens of Burma, they need permission to marry, they need permission to have more than two children, and they must inform authorities if they want to travel outside of their villages (even if it’s a medical emergency).

With limited education and job skills, the Rohingya typically find employment as rickshaw pullers or in the fishing industry. Christian Aid donors made it possible this summer to provide fishing nets for nine needy families. Those families are now able to provide more for their own family instead of sharing 50% of what they catch with the owners of the fishing nets. They are much happier, and they have hope.

Pray that the Rohingya will find hope in Jesus Christ. Pray for believers who stand beside them to provide their physical needs, especially food, housing, wells, latrines, medical care, and education for their children. To help donate and reach out with grace and love to this people group, click here.

Refugee International's team meeting with Kyaw Hla Aung, left. 
Sushetha Gopallawa
August 13, 2013

During my recent visit to Myanmar, I met with human rights activist Kyaw Hla Aung in a Rohingya village in Sittwe Township, Rakhine State. We talked about his peaceful political activism, his public service, and his humanitarian work. But mostly we talked about how he and other village elders and leaders feared for their lives. 

Two days before the meeting, a government-sponsored verification process in the nearby Rohingya displacement camps had increased communal tensions. Fearing the exercise was aimed at undermining their claims to citizenship, the Rohingya community refused to participate. The ensuing protests by Rohingya, though small in size, forced the government to abandon the verification process and sparked a wave of arrests of Rohingya activists. 

Kyaw Hla Aung told us that he was not present in the camps when these incidents took place, yet he and other village leaders believed they could be arrested anyway. Police and border security agents (known as the NaSaKa) patrolled his village at least twice a day, so he tried to keep a low profile. When we spoke to him, he had not slept in his own bed in months. Unfortunately, his fears were realized on July 15, when he was arbitrarily arrested. 

Kyaw Hla Aung is currently being detained at Sittwe Police Station No. 1. It is reported that this detention facility does not meet international standards, and Kyaw Hla Aung’s family members have been barred from visiting him. This 74-year-old human rights activist, who is in poor health and requires regular medication, has been deprived of the treatments he needs and has not seen a medical officer since being detained. He has also been denied access to a lawyer of his choice. 

Appearing before the Sittwe District Court on July 31, Kyaw Hla Aung was charged with rioting while armed with a deadly weapon, hiring or conniving at hiring of persons to join an unlawful assembly, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant to deter him from his duty. The rights group Frontline Defenders, however, described the case against him as “without merit.”

Myanmar’s repressive laws, which are used to detain dissidents and peaceful protesters, must be brought in line with international human rights standards. The ongoing targeting and arbitrary arrests of Kyaw Hla Aung and others like him must stop! 

Kyaw Hla Aung is due to appear in Court later this week, and Amnesty International has launched a global campaign calling for him to be given:

• An unconditional release and the dismissal of charges;
• Immediate access to a medical officer and medications while in custody;
• Urgent access to a lawyer of his choice; and
• Detention facilities which meet minimum international standards as provided for in the UN Standard Minimum Rules on Treatment of Prisoners.

Please visit Amnesty International today and demand justice for Kyaw Hla Aung. 

UA: 213/13 Index: ASA 16/003/2013 Myanmar
Amnesty International
Date: 6 August 2013

URGENT ACTION
MYANMAR ACTIVIST ARBITRARILY DETAINED

74-year-old human rights defender Kyaw Hla Aung has been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since 15 July. He is in poor health and may not be receiving the medical treatment he requires. He is on trial, facing charges related to his peaceful activities.

Kyaw Hla Aung has been in arbitrary detention in Sittwe Police Station No. 1 in Myanmar’s Rakhine state since 15 July 2013. He suffers from hypertension (high blood pressure) and gastric problems and requires regular treatment with medicine. There is concern that he may not have access to appropriate medical treatment or a lawyer of his choosing and that the conditions of detention fail to meet international human rights standards.

Kyaw Hla Aung had been in hiding and in fear of arrest after the Myanmar authorities arrested several Muslim leaders following community protests against a government-led population registration exercise conducted in Rakhine state in April 2013. Tensions arose when members of the Rohingya community refused to identify themselves as “Bengali”, which is viewed by many as a divisive term used to deny recognition to the Rohingya community in Myanmar and imply that all Rohingya are actually migrants from Bangladesh. Protests forced the authorities to suspend the registration exercise. Kyaw Hla Aung was not present during the protests. Instead, he tried to contact other Muslim leaders in an attempt to stop the protests from becoming violent. He has likely been targeted as he is an influential Rohingya human rights defender with connections to the international community.

On 15 July 2013, a police officer and two plainclothes officials took Kyaw Hla Aung from his temporary shelter in Sittwe and brought him to the Sittwe police station for questioning. The police did not inform him of the charges against him at the time. He was reportedly brought before the Sittwe District Court on 31 July 2013, and has been charged under Articles 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 150 (hiring or conniving at hiring of persons to join an unlawful assembly), and 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant to deter him from his duty) of the Myanmar Penal Code. Court sessions are reportedly due to continue on 14 August 2013. He remains detained in the Sittwe police station. According to credible sources, he has not been seen by a doctor in detention, and the authorities are not providing him the medicines he requires. He does not have access to clean drinking water or water for bathing, and family members have not been allowed to visit him in detention.

Please write immediately in English or your own language, urging the authorities to:
  • Immediately and unconditionally release Kyaw Hla Aung and drop all charges against him;
  • Ensure that Kyaw Hla Aung is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention, and that he has access to medical treatment, lawyers of his choosing and visits from family members; and
  • Ensure that prison conditions, conditions in detention facilities, and the treatment of prisoners meet standards provided for in the UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 17 SEPTEMBER 2013 TO:

Attorney General
Dr. Tun Shin
Office of the Attorney General Office
No. 25, Nay Pyi Taw
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Salutation: Dear Dr. Tun Shin

Director General, Myanmar Police Force
Brig-General Zaw Win
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10, Nay Pyi Taw
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208
Salutation: Dear Director General

And copies to:
Minister for Home Affairs
Lt. Gen. Ko Ko
Ministry of Home Affairs
Office No. 10
Nay Pyi Taw
Republic of the Union of Myanmar

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

URGENT ACTION
MYANMAR ACTIVIST ARBITRARILY DETAINED

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Kyaw Hla Aung is a prominent Rohingya lawyer and former staff of a humanitarian non-governmental organization. He has spent more than 16 years in prison in Myanmar due to his involvement in peaceful activities, and continues to be monitored and harassed by the authorities. Most recently, he was arbitrarily arrested and detained in June 2012 along with several Rohingya aid workers following violence between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine state. He was later released in August 2012.

Peaceful activists and human rights defenders continue to face arbitrary arrest, detention and harassment in Myanmar. Amnesty International highlighted recent arrests in a public statement on 4 July 2013 (see:

Under Article 2 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, each state has a duty to create the conditions necessary to defend human rights within their jurisdictions. However, human rights defenders in Myanmar continue to be arrested, detained and imprisoned simply for their involvement in peaceful activities. Human rights defenders in Myanmar also face intimidation and harassment. Amnesty International calls on the Government of Myanmar to ensure an environment in which it is possible to defend human rights without fear of reprisal or intimidation.

Prisoners of conscience and other detainees in Myanmar are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment and many are held in poor conditions which do not meet the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Article 24 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states that a medical officer should see and examine all prisoners as soon as possible after their admission, and Article 25 states that the medical officer should daily see all sick prisoners. Further, Article 20 states that all prisoners should be provided with “food of nutritional value adequate to health and strength” and that “drinking water should be available to every prisoner when he needs it”. In addition, Article 15 states that prisoners should “be provided with water and with such toilet articles as are necessary for health and cleanliness”.

The Rohingya have faced discrimination for decades in Myanmar. They are not recognized as an official ethnic group and continue to be denied equal access to citizenship rights. Their rights to study, work, travel, marry, practise their religion, and receive health services are restricted to various degrees.

Name: Kyaw Hla Aung
Gender m/f: M

(Photo: Sithu Lwin Facebook)
Burma Task Force
March 21, 2013

A New “Killing Field” in Burma 

Two days of rioting have left at least five dead – some reports say 14 -- and two mosques burned down in central Burma. These numbers are also normally grossly underreported in Burma, which has strict control of information in the country, so the death toll is largely much higher. 

The New York Times is reporting that a mob of Buddhists, some of them monks, started the rioting in the Muslim quarter of Meiktila, a city in central Burma. 

One reporter who witnessed the attacks told the New York Times that the scene was “like a killing field.” 

“Even the police told me that they could not handle what they witnessed,” said Wunna Naing. “Children were among the victims.” 

The most disturbing part of these attacks against Muslims is that this violence has spread from Rakhine State and the persecuted Rohingya Muslims to other parts of Burma. Buddhists are now rising up against Muslims who are considered citizens of the country, unlike the Rohingya, who have been denied citizenship in their ancestral land and are discriminated against because of their dark skin. 

Just last month, Buddhists attacked what they said was a masjid being built without permission in Yangon. 

Urgent Action Needed 

Call the Burmese embassy and tell them that the government needs to facilitate peace between Buddhist and Muslim citizens. The first step in this is to publicly acknowledge Rohingya Muslims as citizens. Meiktila police also need to properly prosecute those involved in the riots, including Buddhist monks that took part in the violence. 

Also call the Secretary of State’s office and tell John Kerry that he needs to push Burmese leadership to take responsibility to safeguard ALL of its citizens. 

Make a Phone Call TODAY 

Call the Burmese Embassy at (202) 332-3344, (202) 332-4350 and (202) 332-4352 or send an email to pyi.thayar@verizon.net. 

Call the Secretary of State’s office at (202) 647-5291, then press Option #1 and then Option #8. 

Request Our Literature! 

If you’re interested in requesting pamphlets to put up in your local masjid or community center, send an email to info@burmamuslims.org. We have already sent out a number of pamphlets to communities that have requested them. The pamphlet includes information on what is going on in Burma, what the Burma Task Force is doing and action you can take, such as signing petitions and making phone calls to ambassadors. 

BURMA TASK FORCE COALITION PARTNERS

(Photo - The Nation)
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-020-2012
14 February 2013
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 
THAILAND: Rohingya asylum seekers arrested in southern provinces of Thailand

ISSUES: Refugees, IDPs and asylum seekers; human trafficking; minorities
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned for the fate of Rohingya asylum seekers who have been arrested in the past weeks in police sweeps of remote areas in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia and the other provinces. They have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. Even though Rohingya migrants are entering into Thailand without permission, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race and religion they are entitled to seek asylum. Therefore customary international law and the non-refoulement principle should be strictly applied by the Thai state.

CASE DETAILS:

Rohingya migrants have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. In Thailand, they have been arrested in the past weeks as police rounded up 397 Rohingya migrants at remote areas in rubber plantations in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia on January 10, 2013. As of January 31, the number of Rohingyas reportedly arrested was 1486 persons.

On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand seeking help for the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on civil and political rights would meet state agencies on January 28 to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingyas until their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also trying to determine the people's status but a person shall be granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.

On January 18, The Central Islamic Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations, international organisations and the United Nations agencies on human rights to discuss with a third country the possibility of granting asylum to the Rohingya migrants.

But, on January 21, the National Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the role of human trafficking agencies.

On January 31, the government decided to take care of the Rohingya for six months. The male Rohingya asylum seekers were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and children were staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's shelters for children and women.

For further analysis of the legal status under law on Immigration of these persons in Thailand, please see the sample letter, below.

Background Information:

Even though Rohingya migrants entering into Thailand under domestic law could be removed from the territory, because they are seeking asylum in accordance with the terms of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and because many of them are stateless persons, the government of Thailand has an obligation to recognize their claims and make necessary arrangements to accommodate them until such a time as they can return to Burma safely or go to a third country. These obligations apply under international customary law irrespective of the fact that Thailand has not ratified the 1951 Convention.

Rohingya from western Burma have since the 1970s been subject to systematic programs for their removal from the country or for their economic and political marginalization, through denial of access to travel documents, effectively prohibiting them from enjoying rights to education, health, movement and employment that other people in the country have. Since the mid-2000s, increasing numbers have come to Thailand, sometimes on their way to Malaysia or Indonesia, where authorities have treated them with hostility, on some occasions reportedly towing boats that have attempted to land back out to sea. The most recent arrivals have fled following violence in mid-2012 and October 2012, during which entire urban communities and villages were allegedly razed through fire by members of indigenous communities, claiming that the Rohingya have no legitimate claim to reside as an ethnic minority in Burma. Claims that the persons responsible for attacks were backed by government officials are credible given the longstanding and blatant anti-Rohingya position taken by the government in Burma and its personnel, but are difficult to prove given the current conditions in the region, which remains under a state of emergency.

For additional information on human rights issues in Burma and Thailand, visit the AHRC's country pages: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/thailand, http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities listed below, urging them to assist Rohingya asylum seekers, not treat them as illegal immigrants. Please note that for the purposes of this letter, Burma is referred to by its official name as Myanmar.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons, on the human rights of internally displaced persons, on human rights in Myanmar, and to the human rights office in Bangkok, calling for urgent intervention into this matter.

To support this appeal please send the letter.

SAMPLE LETTER: 

Dear _________,

THAILAND: Rohingya asylum seekers arrested in southern provinces of Thailand

I am writing to you to call for urgent intervention into the case of Rohingya migrants who have fled from Myanmar, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. In Thailand, they have been arrested in the past weeks as they have arrived in the county’s south. According to the information I have received, as of January 31, a total of 1,486 Rohingya had been taken into custody.

On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand seeking help for the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on civilian and political rights would meet state agencies on Jan 28 to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingyas until their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also trying to determine the people's status but a person shall be granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.

On January 18, The Central Islamic Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations, international organisations and the United Nations agencies on human rights to discuss with a third-party country the possibility of granting asylum to the Rohingya migrants.

But, on January 21, the National Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the role of human trafficking agencies.

On January 31, the government had decided to take care of the illegal Rohingya migrants for six months. The male Rohingya migrants were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and children were staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's shelters for children and women.

In this context, I want to take this opportunity to express my concern about law enforcement under Immigration Act B.E.2522 (1979). Clearly, the Rohingya are not Thai nationals and has entered Thailand as aliens, in accordance with section 4 of the Act. They having no genuine and valid passport or document used in lieu of passport, and therefore under section 58 their migration into Thailand is illegal.

According to section 19, "In inspecting and considering whether as alien is forbidden from entering the Kingdom, the competent officer shall have authority to allow said alien to stay at an appropriate place after promising that he will present himself to the competent officer to received his orders on a specified date, time and place; or if the competent officer deems appropriate he may call for bond or call for both bond and security; or the competent officer may detain aliens at any place." It is in accordance with this section that the people have now been detained.

Notwithstanding, because Rohingya migrants entered Thailand because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion and nationality in Myanmar, the Council of Ministers may consider a special exemption under section 17 of the act.

Accordingly, I call upon the government of Thailand to recognize its international obligations in this instance, and strictly apply customary international law and the non-refoulement principle, thereby allowing these asylum seekers to remain in Thailand for the foreseeable future. I urge that all persons detained be released into the community, subject to suitable arrangements by the relevant authorities for the provision of, and monitoring of, accommodation and other services. I also call on the government to enter into negotiations with relevant governments and multilateral agencies with a view to making the necessary provisions for these persons with regard to their fundamental human rights, and humanitarian concerns.

Lastly, I take this opportunity to urge the government of Thailand to ratify the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees at the earliest possible occasion, in order that it might fall within the international framework established for the protection of these persons and others fleeing similar forms of persecution.

I look forward to your prompt action.

Yours sincerely,

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra
Prime Minister 
Government House 
Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District 
Bangkok 10300 
THAILAND 
Tel: +66 2 288 4000 
Fax: +66 2 288 4000 ext. 4025 
E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th

2. Mr. Charupong Ruangsuwan
Minister of Interior
Atsadang Road 
Bangkok 10200
THAILAND
Tel: +66 2224 6320 ext 50004 
Fax +66 2226 4371

3. Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul
Minister of Foreign Affairs
443 Sri Ayudhya Road, 
Bangkok, Thailand 10400
Tel - Fax +66 2643 5320
minister@mfa.go.th

4. Pol.Gen.Adul Saengsingkaew
Commissioner General
Office of Commissioner General, Royal Thai Police, 1st Bldg, 
7th Fl., Royal Thai Police, Rama 1 Rd. 
Pathum Wan 
Bangkok 10330
Tel +66 2251 6831 
Fax +66 2205 3738

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

    • Rohingya Exodus