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By Harun Yahya
June 26, 2015

Last month, the plight of the Rohingya Muslims came into the focus of the world media with the heart-wrenching images of them being stranded at sea.

Following these harrowing scenes, many people across the world came to know the details of the humanitarian crisis they have been through: their villages have been torched, hundreds of thousands of them were forced from their homes and crammed into concentration camps while some others were forced into slavery. Ultimately, these dire circumstances left this minority group no better option than getting on leaky boats and fleeing for better shores.

Now the international community is savvy about this outrage that offended every reasonable conscience by means of international press coverage and social media. While desperate men, women and innocent children are being caged in their own country, deprived of any essential needs, stranded at sea or held for ransom in a nearby jungle, this worldwide awareness will surely bring some prospects of a better future for the Rohingya people.

However, being aware of the problem in no way contributes to tackling their plight or the mass migration it entails. Efforts to resolve the issue must be profound and permanent, and they must address the root causes rather than simply providing interim relief.

Looked at from this perspective, the odds of any resolution seems very dim. Why?

The main party responsible for this atrocity is the government of Myanmar. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur for Burma, says that human rights abuses committed by Myanmar's security forces against the Rohingya are widespread and systematic. And with a recent official declaration, the government of Myanmar stated quite bluntly that it has no intention of softening its stance against the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority.

This was a clear message that the government would not curb its grotesque human rights violations, and that message echoed loud and clear in the international media.

Despite having lived in Myanmar for many generations, the Myanmar government does not acknowledge Rohingya Muslims as Burmese and denies them the rights of citizenship. They are confined to specific areas where they can live and work under inhumane conditions. Even humanitarian assistance by international aid groups to these ghettoised people is forbidden by the state authorities in Myanmar.

Despite this policy adopted by Myanmar, some Western states and the Asean countries have made great efforts to promote Myanmar, which was until quite recently a military dictatorship, as a rising star of democracy.

However, during the peak of violence against the Rohingya, Human Rights Watch brought evidence of their pronounced affliction: “The October attacks were against Rohingya and Kaman Muslim communities and were organised, incited, and committed by local Arakanese political party operatives, the Buddhist monkhood and ordinary Arakanese, at times directly supported by state security forces.

“Rohingya men, women and children were killed, some were buried in mass graves, and their villages and neighbourhoods were razed.”

It is not possible to forget the instances of recurrent assault and genocide committed to eliminate the entire Muslim population living in the country.

Then how can the so-called forerunners of democracy be deaf and dumb to this apparent extermination, which is actually deteriorating all pillars of human rights?

The reason for such gilded grandstanding of democracy is not hard to imagine: economic interests. Many countries, among them China, the Asean countries and the United States being among the foremost, are most eager to reap the rewards of Asia’s largest – and the last, except for North Korea – untapped market.

Those governments and corporations seeking economic benefits, especially the manufacturing industries, consider Myanmar a new playing field for access to low-cost labor.

As we can clearly see, it is flagrant economic self-interest that explains the motive behind the efforts to burnish Myanmar's democratic credentials while simultaneously ignoring the obvious and horrific state-sanctioned discrimination against the Rohingya Muslims.

First off, the international community must make its presence more keenly felt on the government of Myanmar. Through economic sanctions focused on Myanmar’s newly-flourishing and key industries, the Myanmar government can be compelled to soften its discriminatory policies against its own minority and persuaded to stop brutalising them.

The US and the European countries play this trump card when it comes to a country like Russia, so the fact that it is not played against Burma clearly reveals the course of action taken by the interest-ridden Western countries and multinational corporations.

While providing humanitarian aid to the Rohingya Muslims is a must, we must be aware that such actions can only be a source of temporary relief. The ultimate goal must be to eliminate the root cause of the problem and provide a durable solution to give the Rohingya Muslims the quality of life that every human being deserves in this world. – June 26, 2015.

* Harun Yahya has authored more than 300 books translated in 73 languages on politics, religion and science. He may be followed at @Harun_Yahya and www.harunyahya.com.

Harun Yahya
RB Article
November 29, 2014

Recently ten thousand Rohingya people, a stateless and plagued ethic minority, fleeing from Myanmar on illegal boats en route to Thailand did not reach their destination. At the same time about four thousand Bangladeshi and Rohingya people heading for Malaysia left Bangladesh across the Bay of Bengal, but only 460 people arrived, raising concerns over the whereabouts of the rest, which are still unknown. 

A similar event took place in 2008 when many such boats went missing in the sea. Later, a few hundred Rohingya people were found starved and dehydrated in Indonesian and Indian territorial waters while others were lost at sea. 

An Unwilling Home

Thailand, the country that so many immigrants hopefully aim to reach and start new lives, is not welcoming the boat people, who live under very harsh conditions in their own countries and venture the risk of losing their lives at the sea.

Thailand has so far been an unwilling home to some 13,000 asylum seekers and 82,000 registered refugees (as of June 2013).[i] It is one of 20 countries in the Asia Pacific region that shelter a great number of refugees. Thailand is the world’s third-largest exporter of seafood and the country is the second largest economy in the Southeast Asia according to ASEAN figures.[ii] Despite the country’s economic well-being, Thai authorities are pushing the people coming by boats back to the sea. Recently, the Thai military government announced that it will send 100,000 refugees living in camps for many years in Thailand back to the country they came from. Thailand claims to have the right to block the boats. 

Thailand may be facing many challenges regarding the great flow of refugees. However, sending the immigrants back to the sea literally means signing their death sentences and being accomplice in murdering them. In the words of Colonel Banpot Phupian, a spokesman for the military’s Internal Security Operations, “Taking care of them is a burden for Thailand and we have to use a lot of money to look after them.”[iii] These words come from the dark and cold heart of Asia, a continent that has largely been under the influence of military traditions and communist China. Though an ally of the US, Thailand is one of the countries that is most influenced by China in terms of economy, military and politics and the words of Colonel Phupian indeed confirm this. 

Another Police Colonel, Sanya Prakobphol, added, "If they come in then we must push them back ... once they have crossed the sea border into Myanmar then that's considered pushing them back. What they do next is their problem."[iv]

Endangered lives on one hand, profit on the other

While the Thai junta is either deporting refugees or leaving them at sea, the human-smuggling in the country is a growing business. It is so profitable a job that fisherman are converting their boats in order to carry as many boat people as possible. 

Moreover, human-trafficking gangs hold thousands of boat people in jungle camps until their relatives pay a ransom to secure their release. Thailand is known as one of the worst human-trafficking centers of the world.

Hunger Games

The recent military coup and the imposition of martial law has intensified concerns over lack of rule of law in the country. Yet while the Hollywood film ‘Hunger Games’ keeps being an inspiration to Thai youth with the three-finger salute becoming the anti-coup symbol in the country, Thailand’s martial law remains indefinitely intact. 

In our world, where terror sweeps through countries leaving only destruction and death behind it, wronged people find no other way but to seek shelter in many countries. In democratic countries, all people have the right to escape persecution. Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” Hence, boat people are not illegal immigrants and seeking asylum is most certainly permissible by international law. However, Thailand has not signed on to the Refugee Convention and has no domestic legislation regarding refugees. This gives the current military government space to act on its own, without any regard to international law or communities. 

Exploited and Vulnerable

Right now over 120,000 Burmese refugees who have fled from persecution and ethnic violence are living in the ten camps allocated to them on the Thailand-Myanmar border. According to Thai law, undocumented refugees found outside of the camps are subject to arrest and deportation and refugees have no legal right to make an income; they are also at constant risk of arrest and detention. These vulnerable people often encounter harassment and discrimination from the Thai community. For them, human rights abuses are almost no different in Thailand than in Myanmar. They are even sold for a couple of dollars to work as slaves on fishing boats.[v]

Refugees throughout the world

On the other hand, with the onset of the Syrian Civil War, the number of Syrian refugees have surpassed the number of refugees of other nationalities and reached a climax [over three million as of Nov. 2014]. While in Central Africa some 485,000 people have been displaced within the country and over 421,000 people have fled so far.[vi] Hence, as the world’s attention and resources are focused mainly on Syria and Central Africa, something frequently mentioned in the media, much more needs to be done regarding the issue of refugees on the whole.

Perhaps the problem of refugees will never go away. But Thailand, a country with a comparatively better prosperity in the Asian Pacific region is the hope of many who live under persecution, and it certainly has to find a way of keeping these people within its borders until the international community or countries with higher GDP hear the voices of these people. This would be a very positive step in the eyes of the world since respecting universal human rights would represent good progress towards democracy and Thailand surely needs that. Otherwise, the dark and cold aspect of Asia will surround it leaving it with China as its only ally. 

Besides, the world needs to pay more attention to the stories of refugees and assist the countries that host them. Camps are no place to live for families and children; they should only be used for temporary purposes. There are about 375,000 migrant children in Thailand and the country holds thousands of them in detention, causing them physical and emotional damage, according to Human Rights Watch report. 

Nevertheless Thailand should not be immersed in the communist, artificial, loveless swirl of Asia. It should respect human rights and protect those in need. This is the prerequisite of being a decent human being. 


The writer has authored more than 300 books translated in 73 languages on politics, religion and science.

By Harun Yahya
October 25, 2014

Despite the atrocities being committed against the Muslims of Arakan, better known as Rohingyas, the international community has so far done nothing to protect these people. The world appears to be sitting on the fence, as these people are being systematically persecuted.

This minority Muslim community in Myanmar — termed the most persecuted people living on the face of earth — has been turned into refugees in their own country. The Rohingyas are a people with no civil rights and from time to time subjected to indiscriminate violence. The world became slightly acquainted with these people following the violent attacks and acts of arson of 2012. 

Last month, the government of Myanmar submitted a plan to the United Nations appeared to be aimed at restoring peace, ensuring justice and creating communal harmony. Several countries welcomed and approved the plan thinking that Myanmar was ready to roll back its policy of discrimination against the Muslim minority.

So, what’s the plan? The Rohingya Muslims have been given two options. The first one is that they should obtain the citizenship of neighboring Bangladesh in the first phase. Then only they would be eligible for the citizenship of Myanmar provided they are in possession of various documents as required under the country’s 1982 citizenship law. In the event of refusal to accept this option, the Rohingyas will have only one option left i.e. to live in camps as detainees under horrendous condition and finally face expulsion from the country of their ancestors.

The first option appeared to have a silver lining making it possible for the Rohingya Muslims to obtain Myanmar nationality. However, that is not the case. The real purpose is to officially declare these Rohingyas migrants, who have already lost all their rights under the 1982 law.

We know that a great many Rohingyas who enjoy alien status in their own lands will be unable to provide the documentation concerning their histories required in order to assume Myanmar citizenship again. All documentation about these people’s pasts, together with everything else they owned, was destroyed in the horrifying uprisings that targeted the Rohingyas in 2012. Therefore, those who cannot provide those documents will be stuck as Bangladeshi citizens in their own country, with migrant status, in other words. The Myanmar government will soon send these people to camps on the pretext that they are “aliens,” or else will expel them from the country. These people will also not be recognized by Bangladesh because they were not born there. This law is not binding on Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, those who refuse to obtain Bangladeshi citizenship will be taken from towns and villages where they live and sent to refugee camps as detainees. Under the new plan, these people will be swiftly expelled from the country, and the Myanmar government may apply to the UN to send these people overseas as refugees. The problem is that the UN does not recognize these oppressed people as refugees. Under the plan, one million Rohingyas will face that terrible end.

Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch, says: “This plan is profoundly troubling because it would strip the Rohingya of their rights, systematically lock them down in closed camps in what amounts to arbitrary, indefinite detention.”

The world’s superpowers and member countries of ASEAN are known to have imposed no sanctions on the Myanmar government and to merely watch matters from afar because of the energy corridors that pass through Myanmar and out of concern that this might harm their commercial relations. It is true that crimes against humanity are being perpetrated across a wide area and in the most barbaric manner. Yet this silence concerning the Muslims of Rohingya, one of the subjects that the countries of the world could easily take measures over and resolve, is inexplicable. The possibility of the deceptive appearance of this proposal by the Myanmar government convincing some countries and the UN will make the situation even more horrifying.

There is a reason why violence, anger and war are spreading in this time when realpolitik has superseded humanity, when politics is perceived as oppression and when countries ally themselves around self-interest rather than love. The reason is that people and countries do not regard love as a solution. The people of a country have for years been living under persecution and facing genocide before the eyes of the world, and the world knows this, but still says nothing. This means the problem is one of conscience, not evidence.

The human drama going on in Myanmar for so long is no secret. Covering it up and seeing nothing wrong in permitting evil will just strengthen the troubles afflicting the world. Countries of the world must therefore prioritize justice and love, rather than self-interest, first in the name of mankind, and then in consideration of this horrifying scenario. The world must therefore extend a hand to the Rohingya Muslims who have been systematically persecuted for so long. It must not be deceived, but must find a solution for this wronged people. It is a fact that countries that hold meetings all over the world that sign oil and natural gas treaties and that buy arms from and sell missiles to one another are also strong enough to protect a handful of victimized people and to convince the Myanmar government on this issue. To that end, countries must turn away from calculations of realpolitik and show that their consciences have not atrophied. Let us see if they are ready to do that!

—
The writer has authored more than 300 books translated in 73 languages on politics, religion and science.

By Harun Yahya
February 22, 2014

When after years of house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi aptly described by many as the architect of democracy and human rights was allowed to enter politics, citizens of the world must have had heaved a sigh of relief.

Her entry into the political arena was not only seen as a good omen for democracy in Myanmar but also raised expectations of many that it would put an end to the plight of the defenseless Rohingya Muslims in the province of Rakhine. Ironically, on both fronts the situation is not very reassuring.

Despite Suu Kyi’s willingness to take part in the 2015 general elections, the sword of Law 59f is hanging over her political career, which bars anyone with family members who owe allegiance to a foreign power from participating in polls. Analysts believe it was a shrewd clause deliberately inserted into the constitution by the military junta to cope with such a situation. On the other hand, relentless oppression against Rohingyas, the most-persecuted group of people in the world, continues unabated. Whether out of political expediency or an uncertain future that is barring the peace icon from stepping in to address the situation, is difficult to say. That’s a tricky question. However, one thing is clear that the military junta is still very much in control, as it enjoys enormous constitutional powers. Without clipping the wings of the military and confining it to the barracks, achievement of a true democracy will remain a distant dream. 

In all fairness to the Noble laureate, we cannot shift the entire responsibility on one person who is struggling to gain a foothold in a system that does not perhaps even recognize basic human rights. What is the rest of the world doing to resolve the issue? Why pin hopes only on Suu Kyi? Is it the same way the international community responded to the so-called Spring in the Arab World, when it turned bloody? Too many questions without appropriate answers! It is like talking to a wall. It is indeed a very depressing situation.

The poor Rohingyas are far from being political so any uprising on those lines is a far-fetched idea. This writer thinks many of the Rohingyas themselves must be wondering as to what they have done to deserve such a treatment. They are being butchered on a massive scale every now and then. Rights organizations are describing it as a slow-burning genocide.

The recent in the series of massacres took place in Du Chee Yar Tan village in the township of Maungdaw on the night between Jan. 13 and 14. According to credible media reports, a group called “969” attacks villages and unleashes a wave of terror on poor Rohingya Muslims reportedly with the connivance of local authorities.

The wave of slaughter that began in Du Chee Yar Tan has been described by Human Rights Watch (HRW) as “ethnic cleansing” and “crimes against humanity.” The United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom issued official statements in the wake of the events. The Myanmar government was called upon to protect the Rohingyas by permitting humanitarian aid to reach them, improving humanitarian conditions in the camps and restoring their citizenship rights. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said they had documentation regarding the attacks and deaths and demanded that Myanmar officials open a swift and impartial investigation.

It is tragic that the so-called reform government in Myanmar has as of yet taken no steps to prevent these events and ensure the punishment of those responsible. It said that what has appeared in the world press was a smear campaign and that a national commission would investigate events if necessary. In order to hoodwink the world, the Myanmar government set up a national commission to investigate the events in Du Chee Yar Tan village. A representative of the Rohingya people was added to the 27 members of this commission, which had also investigated the events in 2012 in order to give the impression the rights of the Rohingyas were being protected. However, villagers stated that this person, identified as Mawji Hullah, was a government supporter who acted against the interests of the Rohingyas, and that this measure was purely eyewash. The Rohingyas stated that the commission’s 2012 report did not reflect the truth and that events had been misrepresented to the global media. They are, therefore, calling for all countries, the UN and human rights organizations to impose economic and political sanctions on the Myanmar government until they agree to the establishment of an independent investigative commission.

While the world’s attention is focused on the Middle East, the Rohingya people have for years been exposed to the most ruthless oppression; various extreme nationalist terrorist groups are on the prowl literally hunting down Rohingyas. The reform government that recently came to power in Myanmar had emerged as a ray of hope for the Rohingyas but to no avail. This turmoil in the country represents a grave threat to Myanmar’s political, social and economic development.

This is a source of great concern. The future of democracy in Myanmar depends on how the current government, which is moving away from the shadows of decades of military rule, handles the Rohingya issue. This is a make or break situation for the government. This is the time when the government representing a budding democracy takes effective measures to address the issue and lays the foundations of an all-inclusive democracy. 

Myanmar is coming out of its decades-long isolation. It is a golden opportunity for democratic forces, particularly Suu Kyi, to act in support of the Rohingyas. This will, on one hand, put an end to the bloodshed in Rakhine and on the other hand boost the stature of democratic forces of Myanmar in the world. However, if the government fails in protecting the minorities, strict economic and military sanctions should be imposed to ensure an end to this bloodshed.

The writer has authored more than 300 books translated in 73 languages on politics, religion and science.

(Photo: AP)

By Harun Yahya
Harakah Daily
January 4, 2014

The scale of the slaughter, persecution, torture and savagery experienced during the ruthless ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya Muslims in the Myanmar province of Rakhine stagger the imagination. 

As a result of the slaughter and displacement carried out in the light of the systematic cleansing policy waged since 1942, only 700,000 out of the original four million Muslims in the region remain. To date, three million Muslims have been forced to migrate to neighboring countries, hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been martyred, tens of thousands of settlement units have been burnt and destroyed, tens of thousands of women have been raped, and hundreds of mosques and madrassas have been destroyed. Thousands of Muslims are known to have been imprisoned and tortured, though their fates are unknown. 

In recent years, since the Bangladeshi government closed its borders to the refugees, hundreds of Muslims seeking to flee to that country have drowned in the seas and rivers on the frontier; and this plays into the hands of the Myanmar regime that wishes to entirely purge the country of Muslims. 

Our Muslim brothers have been burned alive in their homes in more than 330 attacks, which have worsened since June of last year, in which Muslim villages, including mosques and madrassas were burned. According to independent human rights organizations, in June 2012 alone, 1,000 Muslims in the region were ruthlessly martyred and 125,000 people were forced from their homes and villages and left to survive in the jungle. 

Human Rights Watch has published a 153-page report concerning the crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Rakhine Muslims in recent months: The report accuses Myanmar authorities of engaging in ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine. According to a UN statement, the Rakhine Muslims are the most persecuted social group in the world. 

Although the Myanmar regime seeks to give the impression it is not involved in acts of violence and terror, it still supports this genocide by turning a blind eye to attacks, preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Muslims, restricting their freedom to travel and live as human beings and is protecting the aggressors. 

Furthermore, the policies and sanctions imposed on Muslims by the state are completely inhuman. 

The Rohingyan Muslims enjoy no citizenship rights and have no access to any state benefits. They cannot obtain passports and are not admitted to state hospitals. They are forced to work for nothing for the state or in private institutions. They have no rights to enter the civil service or even study beyond high school. 

Muslims have to pay taxes simply to go from one village to another. They are not allowed out after 9:00 in the evening, even to visit relatives or neighbors, without police permission. 

Muslims are not allowed to build concrete homes; they can only live in wooden huts and even these meager dwellings belong to the state. They are not allowed to have landlines or mobile phones nor can they own motor vehicles. 

They have no right to a defense when a crime is committed, and are imprisoned straight away. The police or military can raid their homes on no grounds. They can be arrested arbitrarily for no reason. 

The elimination of Muslims in Myanmar, ruled by a military junta between 1962 and 2011, has literally become a policy of state. Power passed to a supposedly democratic administration, still under the control of the communist military junta, in the wake of elections in which wide-ranging fraud took place. As a result, the same military junta is continuing with the same policy through a puppet government. The aim is to eliminate the Muslim population by annihilating it or forcing it into exile. 

To date, the persecution of Muslims in Rakhine has been portrayed as an ethnic conflict attributed to fanatical Buddhists. The fact is however, as everyone knows, that because of their beliefs, Buddhists are simple, harmonious and peace-loving people who strongly avoid killing. It is gangs and terror organizations affiliated to the communist secret state that are now known to be the real culprits. The terror group known as “Lion Thein” used to be responsible for the bulk of the violence and killing, although the “969 Movement” has begun assuming responsibility for the recent wave of violence. 

The members of these gangs generally consist of militants from Myanmar who have received communist guerrilla training in Thailand and China. The striking similarity to ethnic cleansing against Muslims in East Turkestan suggests that communist China - Myanmar’s friend and ally - is likely also behind the scenes. 

Myanmar, with its rich underground resources, oil reserves and energy sources, and an important staging position for Middle East oil and gas, is one of China’s most valued strategic partners and it is perhaps not too much to say that the last thing the communist Chinese state would want is to see Muslims having any say in the country. 

As long as so many countries sit back as always and watch the oppression, violence and slaughter inflicted on Muslims across the world, nothing will change in Rakhine. The picture that has remained unchanged for decades is a clear sign that until Muslims heed these verses and unite this pain will never end: 

“Those who are unbelievers are the friends and protectors of one another. If you do not act in this way there will be turmoil in the land and great corruption” (Quran, 8:73) 

And “those who, when they are wronged, defend themselves” (Quran 26:39) 

Those who are unwilling to see Muslims come together and act as a single body, or who regard it as unnecessary, or who remain passive and timid, will have to bear the conscientious responsibility for this suffering, pain and shedding of Muslim blood.


    • Rohingya Exodus