Christian-Muslim Dialogue
By Back to Religion Editor
Letter sent to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Statement on violence, hatred, mistreatment of minorities and terrorist Attacks:
Dear Ms San Suu Kyi,
We write to you as the Presidents of the Christian Muslim Forum in England. We are concerned to see accounts of attacks on the Rohingya Muslim people of Burma at the hands of terrorists and the Burmese military.
We urge you to plead for the cause of the Rohingyas with the Burmese Government, for cessation of hostilities against them and impartial application of law and order.
We also ask you to highlight the ongoing discrimination against the Rohingya, especially since the 1982 Citizenship Law and call upon the Burmese government to recognize the Rohingya as Burmese citizens. Ethnic cleansing and marginalization of minorities can have no place in a modern state.
Yours sincerely,
Julian Bond
Director
Christian Muslim Forum
Signed by the Presidents of the Christian Muslim Forum: Revd Alison Tomlin, Anjum Anwar, Rt Revd Donnett Thomas, Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham, Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Rt Revd Paul Hendricks.
Statement:
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.
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
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.
June 12, 2012, Myanmar President Thein Sein declared a state of emergency in Rakhine State in response to sectarian violence. Since the government took command and control from local authorities, violence has shifted to disproportionately target Rohingya and other Muslims in Rakhine, but remains depicted as sectarian violence. Subsequent to the declared state of emergency, national military plus local authorities and civilians have been implicated in subsequent widespread forced eviction, property destruction, forced relocation, disappearance, arbitrary arrest and violence toward large populations of Muslims.
The Muslims disproportionately displaced in camps and villagers in their homes have been under highly restricted movement by security forces or by perpetration and threat of violence from Rakhine vigilantes, who have roamed freely with weapons.
UN and INGO relief workers have been blocked from entering Muslim camps, treating Muslim victims of violence and setting up field clinics. Few Muslim camp inhabitants and villagers have received the large amount of food and other international relief that has been distributed. Only 30% of Muslim camp residents have access to clean water.
Warnings have been issued to health care personnel prohibiting medical assistance to Muslims with threats of deadly violence. Muslim businesses, property and land have continued to be confiscated and/or destroyed.
President Thein Sein thwarted UN and other Human Rights experts calls for international investigation of June – July violence in which the government national military has been implicated.
Amid the initial disproportionate violence, President Their Sein made a request for Rakhine State Muslims be taken to UNHCR refugee camps or third countries.
The current, recent and past allegations of direct national military involvement in mass anti-Muslim violence, other human rights violations and brutal persecution in Rakhine State necessitate immediate international security, humanitarian and human rights intervention to prevent further mass atrocities to the Muslim population in Rakhine State.
Nora E. Rowley ,MD MPH
_________________________________________________________________
Download original here
Dated: Oct 29, 2012
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.
Programs and Agendas of FRC
· 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
Download original Statement here
During the last 24 hours, BROUK has received the following information from the ground;
1. A Rakhine mob set fire to Yin Thae Village and Parin village of Mrauk Oo where Rohingya are living. Police forces were seen giving containers of petrol to the mob to burn down Rohingya houses. More than 600 houses burnt down in both villages. Eyewitnesses say that more than 100 Rohingya were killed by the mob while setting the fires.
2. According to an escaped victim, many Rohingya had run away to hide. Police had called them out of their hiding places saying that they (the police) had come to control the situation and would make a truce between them and the Rakhine. Believing what police had said, killed them and the police did not stop them. Around 350 Rohingya women and children were hiding near the cemetery of Parin Village. The Rakhine mob and security forces killed almost all of them according to escaped victims who witnessed the attack. Many of the Rohingya who escaped the attacks are now in paddy fields, with nowhere to go.
3. A Rakhine mob set fire to Nagara Pauktaw village, Min Bya Township.100 Rohingya houses burnt down. More than 200 Rohingya were slaughtered by the mob according to eyewitnesses.
4. A Rakhine Mob set fire to Paikthae Village Kyauk Phyu Township. While Paikthay village was on fire, the fire fighters came to the spot with tank load of petrol in the guise of putting out the fire. More than 600 Muslim houses were burned down. We can’t confirm exact number of the deaths of Rohingya at the moment. Many Muslims fled into to the sea and others are in hiding.
5. 10:30am UK time two villages were set fire in Pauktaw Township. According to latest information many people are jumping to the river to escape. At the moment, it is very difficult to get any news out of these regions as the authority is confiscating all the cellular phones that Rohingya have to stop news reaching the outside world.
Tun Khin President of BROUK said “Ethnic cleansing is happening under the noses of the international community and they are doing nothing. These are not communal clashes; this is not equal sides fighting. This is state organized and state sanctioned ethnic cleansing where the vast majority of those killed and displaced are Rohingyas. The international Community has staked so much on Thein Sein‘s reform process that even when he proposed ethnic cleansing they stayed silent, and even when ethnic cleansing takes place they stay silent. There is no way this violence would continue if the government genuinely wanted to stop it”.
BROUK President Tun Khin also said “Whenever there is ethnic cleansing the international community says never let it happen again. Well it is happening again right now in Burma and once again the international community is failing to act. There needs to be UN observers on the ground immediately.”
For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0) 788714866
1. A Rakhine mob set fire to Yin Thae Village and Parin village of Mrauk Oo where Rohingya are living. Police forces were seen giving containers of petrol to the mob to burn down Rohingya houses. More than 600 houses burnt down in both villages. Eyewitnesses say that more than 100 Rohingya were killed by the mob while setting the fires.
2. According to an escaped victim, many Rohingya had run away to hide. Police had called them out of their hiding places saying that they (the police) had come to control the situation and would make a truce between them and the Rakhine. Believing what police had said, killed them and the police did not stop them. Around 350 Rohingya women and children were hiding near the cemetery of Parin Village. The Rakhine mob and security forces killed almost all of them according to escaped victims who witnessed the attack. Many of the Rohingya who escaped the attacks are now in paddy fields, with nowhere to go.
3. A Rakhine mob set fire to Nagara Pauktaw village, Min Bya Township.100 Rohingya houses burnt down. More than 200 Rohingya were slaughtered by the mob according to eyewitnesses.
4. A Rakhine Mob set fire to Paikthae Village Kyauk Phyu Township. While Paikthay village was on fire, the fire fighters came to the spot with tank load of petrol in the guise of putting out the fire. More than 600 Muslim houses were burned down. We can’t confirm exact number of the deaths of Rohingya at the moment. Many Muslims fled into to the sea and others are in hiding.
5. 10:30am UK time two villages were set fire in Pauktaw Township. According to latest information many people are jumping to the river to escape. At the moment, it is very difficult to get any news out of these regions as the authority is confiscating all the cellular phones that Rohingya have to stop news reaching the outside world.
Tun Khin President of BROUK said “Ethnic cleansing is happening under the noses of the international community and they are doing nothing. These are not communal clashes; this is not equal sides fighting. This is state organized and state sanctioned ethnic cleansing where the vast majority of those killed and displaced are Rohingyas. The international Community has staked so much on Thein Sein‘s reform process that even when he proposed ethnic cleansing they stayed silent, and even when ethnic cleansing takes place they stay silent. There is no way this violence would continue if the government genuinely wanted to stop it”.
BROUK President Tun Khin also said “Whenever there is ethnic cleansing the international community says never let it happen again. Well it is happening again right now in Burma and once again the international community is failing to act. There needs to be UN observers on the ground immediately.”
For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0) 788714866
A new crisis is emerging in Arakan State, Burma, where up to 700,000 Rohingya are trapped in their homes and villages, unable to go out and buy food or farm because of ongoing attacks and threats against them. BROUK is already receiving reports of babies are dying from malnutrition.
While international attention has focused on up to 100,000 Rohingya in camps for internally displaced people, who are now receiving regular aid, hundreds of thousands more Rohingya in areas not visited by aid workers and international observers are starving in their own homes.
It has been almost 4 months the violence erupted in Arakan State, Burma, and since then local Rohingya people describe being under effective siege by government forces and local Rakhine communities. Constant human rights abuses committed against Rohingya make it unsafe for them to leave their homes to get food.
BROUK has received the following information from the ground about abuses committed in the past week, which give an indication of the type of abuses forcing people to stay at home:
1. Two Rohingya were killed in Sittwe while they went to buy food from Central Market.
2. No Rohingyas can go to school, hospitals, or markets most of the towns of Arakan State. Several people who tried to go out were beaten and killed.
3. Many Rohingyas were arrested in Maungdaw Township. Those who were arrested have disappeared.
4. Around 3000 Rakhine armed with weapons, together with Rakhine Monks, gathered and surrounded Rohingya areas for hours in an attempt to recreate violence against the Rohingyas in Sittwe. They demanded all Rohingyas to come out of their houses or they would kill each and every Rohingya in the area.
5. 3 Rohingya boys were shot by government authorities while they were watching their cattle in the pasture between paddy field and forest nearby the village in Pauktaw Township.
6. In Pauktaw Township many babies have died because of malnutrition. Adults are also reported to be starving.
7. Rohingya face a boycott in many areas with local Rakhine shopkeepers refusing to sell them food.
8. Prison and security forces in Buthidaung jail are cutting off or burning the penises of Rohingyas, forcing them to have homosexual sex with one another, cutting off or pulling out their finger nails, severely beating them, keeping them naked all the time, keeping them without food and water for days. When they are given foods once in many days, it is on the ground with their hands tied at their backs. Authorities in the jail force them through immense torture to confess that they are animals and that’s why they have to eat like animals.
9. The bound and dead body of a Rohingya man was found in Sanpya village of Sittwe.
10. More than 10 Rohingyas were robbed and beaten, receiving serious injuries, by police and security forces while they tried to travel from Alay Than Kyaw village to another village in Maungdaw.
11. Those with bullet injuries and disease are in acute mental and physical pain without any medical care and treatment.
BROUK President Tun Khin said: “President Thein Sein has already publicly stated that he wants to ethnically cleanse all Rohingya out of Burma, even asking for international help to do so. He is already implementing this policy, using starvation instead of bullets to kill Rohingya men, women and children.”
“Hilary Clinton, David Cameron, Ban Ki-moon and others are praising Thein Sein at the same time as he is killing our people. They should be insisting to end the starvation siege against Rohingya, and allows in international aid all effected areas in Arakan. They should also be working at the UN General Assembly for a UN Commission of Inquiry into what is taking place.”
Date: 03/10/2012
For more information contact Tun Khin on +44 (0)7888714866.
3. Many Rohingyas were arrested in Maungdaw Township. Those who were arrested have disappeared.
4. Around 3000 Rakhine armed with weapons, together with Rakhine Monks, gathered and surrounded Rohingya areas for hours in an attempt to recreate violence against the Rohingyas in Sittwe. They demanded all Rohingyas to come out of their houses or they would kill each and every Rohingya in the area.
5. 3 Rohingya boys were shot by government authorities while they were watching their cattle in the pasture between paddy field and forest nearby the village in Pauktaw Township.
6. In Pauktaw Township many babies have died because of malnutrition. Adults are also reported to be starving.
7. Rohingya face a boycott in many areas with local Rakhine shopkeepers refusing to sell them food.
8. Prison and security forces in Buthidaung jail are cutting off or burning the penises of Rohingyas, forcing them to have homosexual sex with one another, cutting off or pulling out their finger nails, severely beating them, keeping them naked all the time, keeping them without food and water for days. When they are given foods once in many days, it is on the ground with their hands tied at their backs. Authorities in the jail force them through immense torture to confess that they are animals and that’s why they have to eat like animals.
9. The bound and dead body of a Rohingya man was found in Sanpya village of Sittwe.
10. More than 10 Rohingyas were robbed and beaten, receiving serious injuries, by police and security forces while they tried to travel from Alay Than Kyaw village to another village in Maungdaw.
11. Those with bullet injuries and disease are in acute mental and physical pain without any medical care and treatment.
BROUK President Tun Khin said: “President Thein Sein has already publicly stated that he wants to ethnically cleanse all Rohingya out of Burma, even asking for international help to do so. He is already implementing this policy, using starvation instead of bullets to kill Rohingya men, women and children.”
“Hilary Clinton, David Cameron, Ban Ki-moon and others are praising Thein Sein at the same time as he is killing our people. They should be insisting to end the starvation siege against Rohingya, and allows in international aid all effected areas in Arakan. They should also be working at the UN General Assembly for a UN Commission of Inquiry into what is taking place.”
Date: 03/10/2012
For more information contact Tun Khin on +44 (0)7888714866.
Road, Walthamstow, London E17 8AA
Tel: +44 2082 571 143, E-mail: brorg.london@gmail.com , web : www.bro-uk.org
Tel: +44 2082 571 143, E-mail: brorg.london@gmail.com , web : www.bro-uk.org
BROUK welcomes the Parliamentary debate on Rohingya at Westminster Hall yesterday. About 25 MPs attended the debate. MPs pointed out that this is an issue of human rights, justice and desperate humanitarian need, to which they must respond. They also mentioned that in the violence in Arakan state, security services have also been directly engaged in violence towards the Rohingya, with allegations of mass killings, mass arrests and looting. Days after the violence started, security forces began targeting predominantly Muslim areas and arrested many Rohingya men and boys, who have not been heard of since.
MPs also mentioned that the horrific violence of the summer has brought the outrageous 1982 citizenship law into sharp focus. Surely now is the time for greater international pressure to be put on the Burmese Government to repeal that law and to replace it with a new law based on human rights, which recognizes and respects the equal rights of all the Burmese people and is in accordance with international standards.
Jonathan Ashworth MP, who opened the debate, mentioned that historically, the Burmese Government were, perhaps, more sympathetic towards citizenship rights in relation to the Rohingya. The first President of Burma said that the “Muslims of Arakan certainly belong to the indigenous races of Burma. If they do not belong to the indigenous races, we also cannot be taken as indigenous races.” In the past there has been a more understanding attitude towards the Rohingya. It is important that we get that on the record.
MPs mentioned that instead of seeking peace and reconciliation, the Burmese Government has asked the UN for assistance in trying to remove all Rohingya from Burma and place them in third countries. If they are serious about reform, they should instead eliminate the discriminatory laws that validate that kind of violence.
MPs also urged the Government of Bangladesh to treat the refugees with much more compassion and to allow the United Nations to intervene in the refugee situation to see precisely what is going on.
Tun Khin, BROUK President, said, “We are grateful to British MPs concerned about Rohingya suffering people of Burma. It is very encouraging for all the Rohingya people that British MPs learned that the intolerance shown by the Burmese state towards the Rohingya community is completely and utterly unacceptable. The Burmese Government must be held to account for how they are treating the Muslim people. Injustice is being done to the Rohingya people.”
BROUK President Tun Khin also said, “Even though international pressure is still high, Thein Sein’s government is continuing its policy of ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas. It has been three months since Rohingya have not been able to leave their homes in Kyauktaw, Min Bya, Puaktaw Pone Nar Kyun and Mrauk Oo. Rohingyas are dying day by day as they do not have any food. Many people were arrested, beaten and killed when they went out to buy food. They have become refugees in their homes. Urgent UN monitor teams must be allowed into the area and we need a UN Commission of Inquiry into who perpetrated crimes against humanity to Rohingyas. We call on UK government to withdraw the invitation to President Thein Sein to visit the UK in order to bring home to him the seriousness of the current situation and the fact that proposing ethnic cleansing is completely unacceptable. We also call on British Government to ensure strong wording in the upcoming UN General Assembly Resolution on Burma, including reform of the 1982 Citizenship Law and the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into what has taken place in Arakan State”.
For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 7888 714 866.
Ahamed Jarmal
General Secretary
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
London
UN Commission of Inquiry will be the Credible Investigation on Arakan Violence
We, the undersigned Rohingya organizations welcome the formation of the Commission of inquiry to investigate on the violence of Arakan State by the President of Burma. At the same time we feel this investigation will not be credible and truly independent because although the 27 member commission includes representatives from various religious groups, including Muslims (Not Rohingya), Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, as well as political parties and democracy groups, Rohingyas who are systematic targeted victims of that violence excluded from the list. However some people who either directly or indirectly supported, involved or publicly put fuel on the crisis surprisingly included in the list.
Dr Aye Maung masterminded Arakan violence and also proposed to segregate Rohingyas from the Buddhist Rakhine in every town and village of Arakan by relocating them in separate areas away from Buddhist Rakhine localities”. 88 generations Leader Ko Ko Gyi who have mentioned Rohingyas are illegal immigrant, to be expelled from Burma. U Khin Maung Swe chairman of NDF is a Rakhine and strong anti- Rohingya campaigner. We, BROUK believe those above racists and nationalists should exclude from the list and include Rohingyas to make credible, reliable and independent inquiry rather than window dressing inquiry.
U Thein Sein government is just showing to the international community to ease pressure on Rohingya’s issue. We urge international community to support fully independent United Nations investigation into the events that have taken place since June this year. We also urge international community to ensure that the establishment of such an investigation is included in the text of the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly resolution on Burma, and in the text of the next United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Burma. Rohingyas urgently need security and protection. According to our sources there are about 5 Rohingyas were killed last two days ago and some Rohingya girls were raped by Police and Na Sa Ka which are clearly showing that continuous killing and Rape is going on despite having international pressures.
Signatories to this joint statement:
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
Burmese Rohingya Association Japan (BRAJ)
Burmese Rohingya Association Deutschland (BRAD)
Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia (BRCA)
Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand (BRAT)
Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark ( BRCD)
Rohingya League for Democracy (Burma) (RLDB)
Rohingya Community in Norway (RCN)
For more information, please contact;
Tun Khin + 44 (0) 788 871 4866
Nay San Lwin +49 15233610894
Ref: NDPHR (IE) 007/2012 17/08/2012
1) We, with caution, welcome the formation of the Commission of Investigation on the violence of Arakan State by President U Thein Sein.
2) However, he failed to comprise to equal ratio of members from both sides; Muslim and Rakhine, having the sort of person like the chairman of Rakhine Development Party Dr. Aye Maung who is known to be the instigator of violence, person like Ko Ko Gyi who declared that Rohingyas were foreign illegal immigrants and that they must be crashed down in collaboration with the Military force, the person like ZAGANA who has announced in an interview in Paris that the Rohingya are the foreigners and though there are some Muslim members in the commission but no single Rohingya is there to represent the Rohingya Muslim. So, we don’t think the Commission as genuine and qualified one and it never yields fruitful result.
3) Normally, the violence was erupted between the Rakhine and the Rohingya Muslim. But forming the commission with only the Rakhine and leaving behind the Rohngya is very clear enough that the intention was not based on honesty and the result will not be acceptable too.
4) So, we would like to call upon the President U Thein Sein to dismiss the wrong persons from the Commission and to take some members from Rohingya Muslim who could represent the community in order to be a genuine and respectable Commission of investigation.
5) We would like to call upon the non –Rohingya Muslim members in the Commission to boycott the ‘Partial Commission’ and to walk out if there are no Rohingya Muslim members to represent the Rohingya community in the Commission.
( Hla Aung)
President
National Democratic Party for Human Rights (in exile)
Paris, France
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK today welcomed British Foreign Secretary William Hague’s statement calling for an end to the violence in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma.
The statement called on the authorities to grant full and unhindered humanitarian access to the areas affected; to allow the affected communities to safely return to their homes; and to support the restitution of property that was seriously damaged or destroyed. The statement also encouraged efforts to seek a long term solution to the problems they face in a manner which recognizes their human rights, including their right to nationality, and to take effective steps which prevent any further forced or involuntary displacement and which does not leave them permanently displaced.
The statement also called for the release of all those people who have been arbitrarily detained, irrespective of their ethnic background, and for the government to carry out an independent, fair and prompt investigation into the violence, in particular the allegations of serious crimes within the communities and human rights violations by the security forces, and for those found guilty of such crimes and human rights violations to be held accountable.
BROUK President Tun Khin said, “It is very good to see that the British government is speaking up. Other EU countries should also speak up on the grave human rights violations and great humanitarian disaster facing the Rohingya. Police and Paramilitary forces are still arresting Rohingya in Buthidaung and Maungdaw. Many Rohingyas are dying due to starvation. According to reliable sources, there are about 4200 people living in Mountain Area of Myaybone Township. We need urgent humanitarian assistance to all those in need in Arakan.”
The government is not giving protection to Rohingyas. There needs to be a full independent United Nations investigation into the events that have taken place in Rakhine State.
We call upon the international community, including the European Union, Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States to ensure that the establishment of such an investigation is included in the text of the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly resolution on Burma, and in the text of the next United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Burma.
We also call on the international community to pressure the government of Burma to repeal the 1982 citizenship law.
For more information please contact Tun Khin +447888714866
We undersigned the Rohingya organization express our gratitude to international community in general, and the Muslim Countries in particular for expressing solidarity and continued support towards the oppressed and persecuted Rohingya people of Arakan (Burma
The Rohingya are living in state of jeopardy facing crimes against humanity of murder rape, destruction and the grave human right violations while dying starvation and disease, great humanitarian disaster is unfolding in Arakan.
Given the extreme situation, we urge upon the international community and the Muslim Countries to carry on humanitarian activities in order to save of Rohingya people and victims of violence in the following areas;
The first is the urgent need for humanitarian assistance in Burma and in Bangladesh
The second is for a full independent United Nations investigation into the events that have taken place since June this year. We call upon all Muslim countries to ensure that the establishment of such an investigation is included in the text of the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly resolution on Burma , and in the text of the next United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on Burma
The third is to change the illegal laws which underpin our repression and help encourage, justify and promote misunderstanding and hostility against us from ordinary people in Burma Burma
The fourth area where support is needed is building long-term communal understanding and tolerance within Burma Burma Burma
We must all learn to live side by side, in tolerance and in peace. We appeal for international advice and support in building a process in Burma
Date 08/08/2012
Signatories to this open letter are:
- Burmese Rohingya Organisation
- Burmese Rohingya Association
- Burmese Rohingya Community in
- Rohingya Community in Norway (RCN)
- Burmese Rohingya Association in
- Rohingya League for Democracy (
For more information, please contact;
Tun Khin + 44 (0) 788 871 4866
08/04/2012
Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Minister Plenipotentiary Amr Roshdi condemned the acts of violence against Muslims in Myanmar, adding that the visit of the Chargé d'affaires of Egypt in Myanmar to Rakhine, which had witnessed acts of violence between Muslim and Buddhist communities, showed large disparity in the damage that afflicted each side. It was crystal clear that the Muslim areas were more violently and severely affected and the Muslim citizens' properties were substantially damaged.
The Spokesman outlined that since the beginning of the events, Egypt had the initiative to move bilaterally and internationally to prevent its recurrence. The Ambassador of Myanmar in Cairo was summoned to the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry to receive an urgent message from Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr to deliver it to the Foreign Minister of Myanmar. Egypt demanded halting violence against Muslims immediately and taking necessary measures to prevent their recurrence. Furthermore, Egypt made a number of contacts and demarches through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations to confront the issue and stop the violence afflicted on the Muslim community in Myanmar, in addition to the participation of the Chargé d'affaires of Egypt in Myanmar in the aforementioned field visit.
Commenting on the protesters burning and dropping the flag of Myanmar flying on its embassy in Cairo, the Spokesman said that while understanding the feelings of anger felt by all Egyptians for the acts of violence against Muslims in Myanmar, nonetheless, attacking a foreign embassy in Egypt or burning its flag contradicts Egypt's international obligations of protecting and securing the members and buildings of foreign missions on the Egyptian territories, while in this particular case, it does not help the issue of Myanmar Muslims.
The Spokesman called upon everyone to allow Egypt's efforts and intensive diplomatic contacts to face the situation in a manner that keeps the lives of the Muslim community in Myanmar and maintain their rights, and meanwhile maintain Egypt's image and reputation.
Source : Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt
.png)
PRESS RELEASE
Killing and Burning of Rohingya Villages in Kyauktaw
We, BRCA (Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia) would like to express our deep and great concern over the ongoing and grave situation in Rakhine State. The latest news coming out from Rakhine is terrible and it is so obvious that the Rakhine state government plan is to drive out/clean the Rohingyas from Rakhine state completely. It seems the Rakhine extremists sponsored by state government temporarily stopped the killing and burning of the Rohingya villages because of the UN Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana’s visit to Arakan state. As soon as the Rapporteur left yesterday, the Rakhine extremists started burning of Rohingya houses in Kyauktaw, Rakhine State today (05/08/2012).
We have received the information from our reliable sources in Kyauktaw that Rakhine extremists attacked first to one of Rohingya villages, Gupitaung village and burned the houses today (05/08/2012) at 12 pm (Burmese time). Total of 153 homes are burnt down and the whole village is completely destroyed. There is no further news or information received about the villagers. At 1 pm today (5/08/2012), they attacked another Rohingya village, Apoutwa village. There are total of 200 houses in that village and of these, 47 houses were previously burnt down. Today, they attacked the remaining houses and 35 houses are burnt down and 4 Rohingyas were killed. The Rakhine extremists also attacked to another Rohingya village called Shwe Hlaing village today (05/08/2012) and destroyed whole village and all 200 houses are burnt down. There is no news or information received about the villagers’ whereabouts.
Acoording to the ground source, the remaining villages in Kyauktaw are also in great danger and all villagers, regardless of age and gender, are in a high fear and panic that the people can be killed and their houses can be burnt down at any time at these dark hours. Thein Sein’s regime is not protecting Rohingya at all, and instead encouraging and supporting the Rakhine extremists to kill the Rohingyas and destroy Rohingya villages.
We strongly condemn the above atrocities and urge International communities to apply pressure on Thein Sein’s government to implement the following:
• To stop immediately the killing of the innocent Rohingyas and burning of Rohingya houses.
• To stop ethnic cleansing against the Rohingyas immediately and unconditionally.
• To restore law and order particularly in Rakhine State.
• The International media should go inside Arakan State and find the true account of the atrocities.
.png)
Download Statement here
“The Government Could Have Stopped This”
Burma: Violence in Arakan State
Burmese security forces failed to protect the Arakan and Rohingya from each other and then unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya. The government claims it is committed to ending ethnic strife and abuse, but recent events in Arakan State demonstrate that state-sponsored persecution and discrimination persist.
Brad Adams, Asia director
(Bangkok) – Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakan Buddhists during deadly sectarian violence in western Burma in June 2012. Government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community have left many of the over 100,000 people displaced and in dire need of food, shelter, and medical care.
The 56-page report, “‘The Government Could Have Stopped This’: Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses in Burma’s Arakan State,” describes how the Burmese authorities failed to take adequate measures to stem rising tensions and the outbreak of sectarian violence in Arakan State. Though the army eventually contained the mob violence in the state capital, Sittwe, both Arakan and Rohingya witnesses told Human Rights Watch that government forces stood by while members from each community attacked the other, razing villages and committing an unknown number of killings.
“Burmese security forces failed to protect the Arakan and Rohingya from each other and then unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government claims it is committed to ending ethnic strife and abuse, but recent events in Arakan State demonstrate that state-sponsored persecution and discrimination persist.”
The Burmese government should take urgent measures to end abuses by their forces, ensure humanitarian access, and permit independent international monitors to visit affected areas and investigate abuses, Human Rights Watch said.
The “Government Could Have Stopped This,” is based on 57 interviews conducted in June and July with affected Arakan, Rohingya, and others in Burma and in Bangladesh, where Rohingya have sought refuge from the violence and abuses.
The violence erupted in early June after reports circulated that on May 28 an Arakan Buddhist woman was raped and killed in the town of Ramri by three Muslim men. Details of the crime were circulated locally in an incendiary pamphlet, and on June 3 a large group of Arakan villagers in Toungop stopped a bus and brutally killed 10 Muslims on board. Human Rights Watch confirmed that nearby local police and army stood by and watched but did not intervene. In retaliation, on June 8 thousands of Rohingya rioted in Maungdaw town after Friday prayers, killed an unknown number of Arakan, and destroyed considerable Arakan property. Violence between Rohingya and Arakan then swept through Sittwe and surrounding areas.
Marauding mobs from both Arakan and Rohingya communities stormed unsuspecting villages and neighborhoods, brutally killed residents, and destroyed and burned homes, shops, and houses of worship. With little to no government security present to stop the violence, people armed themselves with swords, spears, sticks, iron rods, knives, and other basic weaponry. Inflammatory anti-Muslim media accounts and local propaganda fanned the violence. Numerous Arakan and Rohingya who spoke to Human Rights Watch reached the conclusion that the authorities could have prevented the violence and the ensuing abuses could have been avoided.
A 29-year-old Arakan man and an older Rohingya man each told Human Rights Watch, separately but in the same words, “The government could have stopped this.”
The Burmese army’s presence in Sittwe eventually stemmed the violence. However, on June 12, Arakan mobs burned down the homes of up to 10,000 Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims in the city’s largest Muslim neighborhood while the police and paramilitary Lon Thein forces opened fire on Rohingya with live ammunition.
A Rohingya man in Sittwe, 36, told Human Rights Watch that an Arakan mob “started torching the houses. When the people tried to put out the fires, the paramilitary shot at us. And the group beat people with big sticks.” Another Rohingya man from the same neighborhood said, “I was just a few feet away. I was on the road. I saw them shoot at least six people – one woman, two children, and three men. The police took their bodies away.”
In Sittwe, where the population was about half Arakan and half Muslim, most Muslims have fled the city or were forcibly relocated, raising questions about whether the government will respect their right to return home. Human Rights Watch found the center of the once diverse capital now largely segregated and devoid of Muslims.
In northern Arakan State, the army, police, Nasaka border guard forces, and Lon Thein paramilitaries have committed killings, mass arrests, and other abuses against Rohingya. They have operated in concert with local Arakan residents to loot food stocks and valuables from Rohingya homes. Nasaka and soldiers have fired upon crowds of Rohingya villagers as they attempted to escape the violence, leaving many dead and wounded.
“If the atrocities in Arakan had happened before the government’s reform process started, the international reaction would have been swift and strong,” said Adams. “But the international community appears to be blinded by a romantic narrative of sweeping change in Burma, signing new trade deals and lifting sanctions even while the abuses continue.”
Since June, the government has detained hundreds of Rohingya men and boys, who remain incommunicado. The authorities in northern Arakan State have a long history of torture and mistreatment of Rohingya detainees, Human Rights Watch said. In the southern coastal town of Moulmein, 82 fleeing Rohingya were reportedly arrested in late June and sentenced to one year in prison for violating immigration laws.
“The Burmese authorities should immediately release details of detained Rohingya, allow access to family members and humanitarian agencies, and release anyone not charged with a crime recognized under international law in which there is credible evidence,” Adams said. “This is a test case of the government’s stated commitment to reform and protecting basic rights.”
Burma’s 1982 Citizenship Law effectively denies Burmese citizenship to the Rohingya population, estimated at 800,000 to 1 million people. On July 12, Burmese President Thein Sein said the “only solution” to the sectarian strife was to expel the Rohingya to other countries or to camps overseen by the United Nations refugee agency.
“We will send them away if any third country would accept them,” he said.
Burmese law and policy discriminate against Rohingya, infringing on their rights to freedom of movement, education, and employment. Burmese government officials typically refer to the Rohingya as “Bengali,” “so-called Rohingya,” or the pejorative “Kalar,” and Rohingya face considerable prejudice from Burmese society generally, including from longtime democracy advocates and ethnic minorities who themselves have long faced oppression from the Burmese state.
Burma’s new human rights commission – led by chairman Win Mra, an ethnic Arakan – has not played an effective role in monitoring abuses in Arakan State, Human Rights Watch said. In a July 11 assessment of the sectarian violence, the commission reported on no government abuses, claimed all humanitarian needs were being met, and failed to address Rohingya citizenship and persecution.
“The Burmese government needs to urgently amend its citizenship law to end official discrimination against the Rohingya,” Adams said. “President Thein Sein cannot credibly claim to be promoting human rights while calling for the expulsion of people because of their ethnicity and religion.”
The sectarian violence has created urgent humanitarian needs for both Arakan and Rohingya communities, Human Rights Watch said. Local Arakan organizations, largely supported by domestic contributions, have provided food, clothing, medicine, and shelter to displaced Arakan. By contrast, the Rohingya population’s access to markets, food, and work remains dangerous or blocked, and many have been in hiding for weeks.
The government has restricted access to affected areas, particularly Rohingya areas, crippling the humanitarian response. United Nations and humanitarian aid workers have faced arrest as well as threats and intimidation from the local Arakan population, which perceives the aid agencies as biased toward the Rohingya. Government restrictions have made some areas, such as villages south of Maungdaw, inaccessible to humanitarian agencies.
“The authorities should immediately grant unfettered humanitarian access to all affected populations and begin work to prevent future violence between the communities,” Adams said. “The government should assist both communities with property restitution and ensure all of the displaced can return home and live in safety.”
Since the June violence, thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh where they have faced pushbacks from the Bangladeshi government in violation of international law. Human Rights Watch witnessed Rohingya men, women, and children who arrived onshore and pleaded for mercy from Bangladesh authorities, only to be pushed back to sea in barely seaworthy wooden boats during rough monsoon rains, putting them at grave risk of drowning or starvation at sea or persecution in Burma. It is unknown how many died in these pushbacks. Those who were able to make it into Bangladesh live in hiding, with no access to food, shelter, or protection.
Bangladesh is obligated to open its borders and provide the Rohingya at least temporary refuge until it is safe for them to return, in accordance with international human rights norms. Human Rights Watch called on concerned governments to assist Bangladesh in doing so and press both Burma and Bangladesh to end abuses and ensure the safety of Rohingyas.
“Bangladesh is violating its international legal obligations by callously pushing asylum seekers in rickety boats back into the open sea,” Adams said.
Accounts From “The Government Could Have Stopped This”
“We discussed it and decided to burn down some [Rohingya] villages that all the Muslims used as a headquarters. For example, Narzi and Bhumi. We first started to set fire to Bhumi village, the headquarters of the Muslim people. We burned down the houses and then they burned down ours. In some areas, we did not burn down houses. It would have been foolish in some areas where most houses are near Arakan houses. They would all catch fire. It was a three-day offensive. It started near Bhumi village near Sittwe University because Bhumi is their headquarters.”
– Arakan man, 45, Sittwe, Arakan State, June 2012
“The first Muslim people [who arrived] used guns. At that time, we heard the shooting and my husband tried to attack the Muslim people. They killed him right there in the village. His arm was cut off and his head was nearly cut off. He was 35 years old.”
– Arakan mother of five children, 31, Sittwe, Arakan State, June 2012
“I fell down and couldn’t breathe I was so scared. I saw all the violence. Around 300 Muslims came to attack our village. They came and burned the houses. I saw them burning the houses.... The police did not come during the violence. When the Muslims came and burned the village, I fled. It was not until I got to Sittwe that I saw any police.”
– Arakan woman, 40, Sittwe, Arakan State, June 2012
“In front of my eyes, first the Lon Thein [paramilitaries] came and said they came to protect us, but when the Arakan came and torched the houses, we tried to put out the fires and they started beating us. A lot of people were shot [by the police] at a close distance. I saw people get shot at close range. The whole village witnessed it. They were people from my village. They were 15 or 20 feet away from me.... I saw at least 50 people killed.... When we tried to go put out the fire, we were not allowed to go. First they shot once in the air, and then at the people.”
– Rohingya man, 28, Sittwe, Arakan State, June 2012
“The government did not return the dead bodies to our family. They took them and cremated them in the monastery. I did not get the bodies of my two brothers-in-law.... They were killed by the Arakan in front of me. The police were there. It was not far from the police. They were killed in front of me and the police did nothing.”
– Rohingya man, 65, Sittwe, Arakan State, June 2012
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE
.jpg)
—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
JAMAICA, New York (July 24, 2012) – The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) issued a press release today calling for an end to the atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim community in Burma.
According to the United Nations, the Rohingyas are one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Disowned by the Burmese government, they have been completely stripped of their human rights; most recently, an estimated 90,000 have been displaced and left without “adequate food, water, shelter, [or] medical attention.”
“We are deeply moved by the plight of the Rohingya Muslims, and pained by the massacre of innocents in Burma,” said Dr. Zahid Bukhari, President of ICNA. “Violence against the Rohingyas continues to escalate, with hundreds being indiscriminately tortured and murdered in the past month.”
“ICNA calls on the U.S. and all nations to stand firmly with the Rohingyas and investigate the abuse of human rights and murder of innocent Muslims in Burma. While the U.S. has called for a peaceful resolution, we must assert more pressure on the Burmese government to stop the violence. We further appeal to the Obama administration to provide humanitarian assistance to the Rohingyas.”
“ICNA also urge the United Nations to investigate the massacres, and appeal to the government of Bangladesh to provide a haven for the Rohingya refugees as they flee from Burma. The world must stand together against violence and not let the bloodshed of this community go unnoticed.”
Please contribute to Helping Hand’s Burmese Relief Fund to alleviate the pain and suffering of the Rohingya community. Click here to donate.
The Islamic Circle of North America is a leading American Muslim organization dedicated to the betterment of society through the promotion of Islamic values. Since 1968, ICNA has worked to build relations between communities by devoting itself to education, outreach, social services and relief efforts.
—END—
Press Contact: Naeem Baig
Vice President for Public Affairs
Islamic Circle of North America
E-mail:PR@ICNA .US
Office: (718) 658-1199 Extension: 102
Cell: (917) 202-2118
Source : ICNA
BROUK today called on the international community to protect Rohingya people immediately. During the last two days, BROUK has received the following information from the ground;
1. In Buthidaung Jail 43 dead bodies of Rohingya Muslims were buried in a mass grave near the jail's fencing on the 24th of July they were tortured jointly by the Rakhine and jail’s authorities. There are over 500 Rohingya prisoners arrested from Maung Daw and Buthidaung recently. BROUK received reports that most of them have been tortured, leaving without food and drink which leading to death.
2. Even though the violence stopped 5 weeks ago, Rohingya people cannot go out from their village and people are dying day by day as they are not able to buy any food.
3. RNDP party has instructed Rakhine people not to sell any rations to Rohingya Muslims. We also received reliable information from Rangoon that Central government has instructed all the authorities in Rakhine state not to sell any rations to Rohingyas in any towns of Arakan.
If anyone is found to be selling Rations to Rohingya Muslims, he will be punished.
4. According to sources from Sittwe, no one can go to Sittwe Central Market to buy their rations.
5. During the last few days, government authorities have step up arresting many Rohingyas, including religious teachers and village wise people after inviting them to a meeting. Many Rohingyas were killed during police custody and the dead bodies were not returned to their family members, according to a reliable source.
6. On 21st July, Rohingya Muslims were not allowed to pray in the Mosque and 9 Mosques were sealed off by Nasaka (Border Security Forces).
BROUK President Tun Khin said “During the state sponsored violence Rohingyas were killed by lethal weapons. The current situation is worse as government authorities are killing Rohingya by cutting the rations. Today Our Homeland Arakan State becomes silent killing field. According to some humanitarian agency, in Sittwe some monks were posted near Muslim displacement camps, checking on and turning away people they suspected would visit for assistance. There is serious humanitarian crisis and Rohingyas are daily dying of starvation. Those with bullet injuries and disease are in acute mental and physical pain without medical care and treatment.”
Tun Khin also said “We appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to immediately intervene in order to save lives, property, honour and human dignity of the Rohingya people. The international community must take action immediately to save Rohingya lives. We would like to urge US, UK, UN, OIC and the international community to take immediate steps to put pressure on Thein Sein government. The UK government should release a public statement on this crisis and should raise it with ASEAN countries and other counterparts. It is time for the UK government to re-consider its invitation to President Thein Sein to visit the UK.”
For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0) 788714866
Ahamed Jarmal
General Secretary
Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
London
Civil Society Organisations Deeply Concerned by Ongoing Violence Against Stateless Rohingya in Myanmar and Their Refoulement From Bangladesh
The stateless Rohingya of Myanmar have suffered from extreme persecution and discrimination for decades. They are now facing another crisis. On 3 June inter-communal violence erupted, and this has evolved into large-scale state sponsored violence against the Rohingya. Despite this, neighbouring Bangladesh is not allowing them to enter to seek refuge. The Rohingya population needs urgent measures to be taken for their protection.
In Myanmar, what began as inter-communal violence has evolved into large-scale state sponsored violence against the Rohingya. The violence began on 3 June 2012 and has mainly occurred in Sittwe and Maungdaw. On 10 June, a state of military emergency was declared, after which the military became more actively involved in committing acts of violence and other human rights abuses against the Rohingya including killings and mass scale arrests of Rohingya men and boys in North Rakhine State. Many Rohingya continue to be victims of violence and cannot leave their homes for fear of persecution, and are thus deprived of their livelihood and most basic needs. The urgent humanitarian needs of those displaced (IDPs) - including those not in IDP camps - are not being adequately met and there is concern that those displaced will not be allowed to return to their homes as soon as it is safe to do so, thus creating a situation of protracted displacement.
Bangladesh, in contravention of its international legal obligations, closed its border and pushed back many Rohingya fleeing the violence and persecution in Myanmar. The refoulement of these refugees by Bangladesh to Myanmar where they face a very immediate threat to life and freedom, and a danger of irreparable harm; and the manner of refoulement, by push backs into dangerous waters, including in unsafe vessels are matters of serious concern.
The legal obligations of both Myanmar and Bangladesh require them to protect all persons within their territories or subject to their jurisdictions, regardless of whether they are citizens, stateless persons or refugees. In their treatment of the Rohingya, both countries have violated the right to life, the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention, the right to food and shelter including the fundamental right to be free from hunger and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Bangladesh has also acted in violation of the rights to seek and to enjoy asylum and not to be subjected to refoulement.
We therefore recommend that both states immediately uphold their human rights obligations in this situation.
In particular, we recommend that the Government of Myanmar and the Rakhine State authorities take immediate steps to:
- Stop the violence.
- Stop the arbitrary arrests of Rohingya and abuses by security forces against them.
- Allow unhindered humanitarian access to assist all those in need as a result of the crisis, including internally-displaced people staying outside camps and those hosting them.
- Allow the displaced to return to their homes once it is safe and they feel safe to return, and ensure that a situation of protracted displacement is avoided.
- Allow an international inquiry into the abuses committed since June 2012 in Rakhine State.We recommend the Government of Bangladesh take immediate steps to:
- Open its borders to refugees and to stop refoulement of refugees.Further, we call on the international community to:
- Provide financial support for the humanitarian operation needed to assist people affected by the crisis in Rakhine State.
- Support the government of Bangladesh in providing protection to Rohingya refugees.
- Engage with the Governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh in relation to the above recommendations.
- We also recommend that the reform process in Myanmar address existing policies of discrimination against the Rohingya; and that this current crisis be used as an opportunity to address the longstanding problems between the communities in Rakhine State, and to promote a constructive dialogue aiming at peace and reconciliation.
The following groups endorsed the statement:
1. Act for Peace (Australia)
2. Actions Birmanie Belgium
3. Altsean-Burma
4. Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network
5. Burma Campaign UK
6. Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan
7. Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark
8. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
9. Catholic Tokyo International Center
10. Christian Coalition for Refugee and Migrant Workers, Japan
11. Christian Solidarity Worldwide
12. Church World Service - Immigration and Refugee Program
13. Civil Development Organization, Iraq
14. Dalit NGO Federation (DNF)
15. Equal Rights Trust
16. ESCR-Asia Pakistan
17. Euro-Burma Office
18. Fahamu Refugee Programme
19. Health Equity Initiatives, Kuala Lumpur
20. Human Rights and Genocide Clinic, Cardozo School of Law
21. Imparsial (Indonesia)
22. Info Birmanie
23. INFORM Documentation Centre, Sri Lanka
24. International Detention Coalition
25. International Observatory on Statelessness
26. Japan Association for Refugees
27. Japan Evangelical Lutheran Association
28. Jesuit Refugee Service
29. Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific
30. Jesuit Social Center, Japan
31. Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa)
32. Migrant Forum in Asia
33. Minority Rights Group International
34. Organization for Defending Victims of Violence
35. Partnership for Pastoralists Development Association(PAPDA)
36. People's Forum on Burma(Japan)
37. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates
38. Physicians for Human Rights
39. Praxis
40. Project Maje
41. Rafiq Japan
42. Rebirth Society
43. Refugee Council USA
44. Refugees International
45. RefugePoint
46. Restless Beings
47. Rohingya Society in Malaysia (RSM)
48. Society for Threatened Peoples / Germany
49. South East Asian Committee for Advocacy (SEACA)
50. Stateless Network
51. Sudan Peace Humanitarian Organisation
52. Swedish Burma Committee
53. Tenaganita
54. The Arakan Project
55. The May 18 Memorial Foundation
56. The Refuge Pnan
57. United to End Genocide
58. WOREC Nepal
Source : Refugee International
Download here
Press Release
On behalf of the Rohingya community worldwide, the Arakan Rohingya Union (ARU) calls on President Thein Sein to retract his comments and proposal to the visiting high-level United Nations delegation on July 11, 2012 regarding the Rohingya ethnic minority in Myanmar. The unfounded accusation, claims, and proposal made by President Thein Sein seriously undermines the credibility of the President who holds the highest office of the country.
President Thein Sein’s accusations of Rohingya as illegal Bengali settlers has no basis in fact. The Rohingya are a long-established ethnic community with deep and exclusive links to Arakan/Rakhine State in western Burma/Myanmar. The President must produce evidence for his claims to the contrary. Racist references to their physical appearance, and to the cultural and religious overlaps between people of South Asia and those of Western Burma, must not be used as evidence for his claims. The President must also acknowledge the heavy influx of Bengali Rakhine illegal settlers from Bangladesh in historically Rohingya regions of Arakan/Rakhine State for over half a century.
President Thein Sein’s statement about Rohingya as non-citizens of Burma/Myanmar arguably invalidates the Burmese/Myanmar electoral process and the victory of the military’s USDP party in the Rohingya regions which enjoyed the overwhelming majority of votes from Rohingya people in the 2010 election. The President owes an explanation to the people of Burma/Myanmar and to the international community how the alleged non-citizen Rohingyas could participate in the electoral process, yet merit no protection from or fundamental rights within the State.
The ARU calls on the United Nations urgently to deploy teams of monitors to investigate the recent violence against Rohingya and the current mass arrests and other serious violations against Rohingya in Arakan/Rakhine State.
The ARU is a global association formed in May 2011 by 25 Rohingya groups from around the world; see www.arunion.org The ARU supports a united, federal and democratic Burma/Myanmar respecting all human rights.
DOWNLOAD HERE
The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in a statement issued in Jeddah today, strongly condemned the renewed repression and violation of human rights of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim nationals since last June 2012 that has resulted in deaths of innocent civilians, burning of their homes and mosques and forcing them to leave their homeland. He added that over the past three decades, the Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim citizens have been subjected to gross violation of human rights including ethnic cleansing, killings, rape, and forced displacement by Myanmar security forces.
Ihsanoglu said that the recent restoration of democracy in Myanmar had raised hopes in the international community that oppression against Rohingya Muslims citizens would end and that they would be able to enjoy equal rights and opportunities. However, the renewed violence against Rohingya Muslims on June 3, 2012 had caused great alarm and concern to the OIC. He said that when efforts of the international community including the United Nations were underway for a peaceful resolution of the issue, the OIC was shocked by the unfortunate remarks of Myanmar President Thien Sein disowning Rohingya Muslims as citizens of Myanmar. Secretary General stressed that the Myanmar Government as a member of the United Nations and the ASEAN, must adhere to the international human rights instruments including the relevant conventions and declarations, in treatment of their citizens.
Secretary General Ihsanoglu referred to the United Nations declaration that the Rohingya are an ethnic, religious and linguistic minority from western Burma, and historical facts show that Rohingyas have been present in the land of Myanmar centuries before the British came in and after they left, before the formation of Burma, and very clearly before the formation of the current state of Myanmar. In spite of this, the government of Myanmar continues to persecute and discriminate against the Rohingya minority, particularly the citizenship law 1982, which violated international norms by stripping the Rohingyas unjustly of their rights of citizenship.
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu hoped that the Myanmar Government would respond to the concerns of the international community in a positive and constructive manner so that all its Rohingya Muslim citizens are able to return to their homeland in honour, safety and dignity. He said that the OIC Charter stipulates the Organization to assist Muslim minorities and communities outside the Member States to preserve their dignity, cultural and religious identity. In this spirit, he also expressed the OIC’s determination to remain seized with the issue and to bring it in the agenda of the concerned international interlocutors including the United Nations, Human Rights Commissions, ASEAN, the EU as well bilaterally with the Myanmar Government, for a peaceful and lasting resolution of the issue. Myanmar should recognize that its new engagement at the international level doesn’t only come with opportunities but also with responsibilities.
Source here
-
ဇြန္လ ၁၇ ရက္ ၊ ၂၀၁၂ Source: guardian.co.uk ျမန္မာျပည္သစ္အတြက္ အနာဂတ္မွာ ေအာင္ျမင္မွာလား၊ က်ရွဳံးမွာလားဆိုသည္ကို ညႊန္ျပေသာ စမ္းသပ္မွဳ တစ... -
MP U Shwe Maung Explained on Amendment 1982 Citizenship Law on 25 July 2012. MP U Shwe Maung explained on amendment of 1982 Citizenship Law... -
ရက္စြဲ – ေမ ၂၉ ၊ ၂၀၁၂ သို ့ အယ္ဒီတာ၊ နိရဥၥရာ သတင္းဌာန နိရဥၥရာ သတင္းဌာနမွ ေမလ ၂၉ ရက္ေန ့ ထုတ္ျပန္သည့္ ရမ္းျဗဲတြင္ အသက္ ၁၆ ႏွ...
-
Read letter here Read history of Rohingya here Download letter PDF here Download History of Rohingya PDF here credi... -
12/07/2012 Joint press release HUMANITY GONE ... -
More than 40% of people living in Burma belong to one of the military-ruled nation's different minority groups. The government recognis...
-
လူသားတိုင္း ရသင့္ရထိုက္ေသာ ရပိုင္ခြင့္၊ ခံစားခြင့္ မ်ားကို လူမ်ိဳးဘာသာမေရြး ရရွိသင့္ပါသည္။ သို႔မွသာ Human Rights – (လူ႔အခြင့္အေရး) ကိုတန္ဖို... -
RB News March 31, 2018 Minbya, Arakan State : On March 30 morning, a Prayer Leader or Imam was brutally beaten and injured by a Rakh... -
Even if the Rohingyas were not native to what we call Burma today, our birthplace, the inhuman and inhumane treatment of nearly 1 million Ro...
-
By Dr. Maung Zarni Since the first wave of Rohingya genocide in Feb 1978 which expelled nearly 200,000 refugees from all across Wester...
Popular Posts
Threatwiki
Amartya Sen: Burma's "slow genocide" of Rohingyas
Watch Professor Amartya Sen speak on what he calls Burma's 'slow genocide' of Rohingya, Harvard, 4 Nov 2014
