IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1 March 2018

A group of Germany-based Myanmar protestors had vandalized a van which contained boxes of posters and banners calling for the end to Myanmar Genocide against Rohingyas on 26 February, reported the van’s owner Sangar Gopal, a Berlin resident and a well-respected Tamil community leader who helped organize the Berlin Conference on Myanmar Genocide at the Jewish Museum.

The protestors who were holding a protest rally outside the W.M. Blumenthal Academy/Jewish Museum where the conference was being held spotted Mr Sangar and his Peugeot 9-seater van, transporting banners, posters and participants to the venue of the day-long conference. At the end of the conference, Mr Sangar found that the car registration number plates had been removed from his van, and since reported the incident to the Berlin Police.

“This seems to have been an act of racially motivated vandalism committed by members of the Myanmar diaspora in Germany. I am seriously concerned about this incident. That would be the first of its kind, by the Burmese community here. We cannot tolerate racism against the Rohingyas. We are concerned about the denial of the genocide in their country of birth, the focus of the conference,” Professor Dr. María do Mar Castro Varela of Alice Salomon University and the host and convenor observed.

She added, “Dr Aung Tun Thet, Aung San Suu Kyi’s adviser on Rakhine affairs, was also telling the world press outrageous lies that the Berlin Conference on Myanmar Genocide ‘disinvited’ a Myanmar delegation. That is such an Alternative Fact! We would have created a special panel for them had Myanmar government either through its Embassy in Berlin or directly from Yangon approached the conference organizers of their intent or wish to come and present their version of the persecution and plight of the Rohingya. But no one had ever contacted me or any co-organizers – including Columbia University Professor Gayatri Spivak, Dr Maung Zarni or Sangar Gopal.”

She was referring to the 26-Feb press conference held in Yangon at the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Yangon, the official think tank attached to Aung San Suu Kyi’s Foreign Ministry during which Suu Kyi’s adviser falsely accused the Conference organizers of “disinvit(ing)” Myanmar delegation.

According to Dr Maung Zarni, the Burmese co-organizer and fellow with the Genocide Documentation Centre of Cambodia, said that the conference de-registered about 12 Burmese who registered at the Eventbrite, checked against a list of Germany-based Myanmar residents and citizens who have sent financial donations to anti-Rohingya organizations inside Myanmar that promote racial hatred and condone forced expulsion and violence against Rohingya people.

“There is a new development among the Burmese diaspora whereby anti-Rohingya refugees, prodemocracy activists and expatriates including doctors, engineers, academics, retirees, etc. team up with anti-Muslim local White supremacists to sabotage, disrupt and otherwise prevent public events. This has happened in Canada, USA, and now Germany,” said Zarni, the Burmese co-organizer.

As a matter of fact, senior Myanmar diplomats from Myanmar Embassy in Berlin and the regime-friendly western academics including Dr Jacques Leider who is an adviser to Myanmar military, were involved in attempting to dissuade organizations and governments such as the Germany Federal Foreign Office and the Jewish Museum from hosting the event. 

“Precisely because the sole intention of these individuals is to deny, dismiss and disrupt global civil society groups’ efforts to raise awareness about Myanmar’s on-going genocide, we decided to de-register them,” said Zarni, adding “this incident of intimidation is very worrying for Rohingyas and human rights activists who support Rohingyas.” 

Contact: 

Professor Dr. María do Mar Castro Varela of Alice Salomon University at castrovarela@posteo.de

Sangar Gopal at troberlin@yahoo.de

Dr Maung Zarni at fanon2005@gmail.com

Notes to Editors:

For the incident report (dated 26 February 2018) by the organizer Sangar Gopal to the Berlin Police, see https://maungzarni.net/en/news/anti-rohingya-myanmar-protestors-berlin-vandalized-van-belonging-berlin-conference-myanmar

Regarding Myanmar “delegation” to the conference and its blatant lies the Irrawaddy News Group, an influential anti-Rohingya hate-peddling outlet with 10-million Facebook readership ran the story on the same day the Berlin Conference on Myanmar Genocide was held: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-delegation-barred-genocide-conference-berlin.html

For western academics who are involved in the denials and dismissals of Myanmar’s genocide of the Rohingya see http://nationalpost.com/news/york-university-human-rights-professor-denies-ethnic-cleansing-of-rohingya-questions-rape-reports and https://inews.co.uk/news/world/academics-protest-plans-publish-biased-myanmar-scholar/

26 February 2018

The Berlin Call for Rohingyas’ Protected Return to Protected Homeland

At the Berlin Conference on Myanmar Genocide held at the Jewish Museum today the participating scholars, activists and concerned citizens issue the following call:

We are gravely concerned about Myanmar’s still unfolding atrocity crimes, with signs of genocide mounting, against the Rohingya people, including undeniable ethnic cleansing on a massive scale with

destruction of hundreds of Rohingya villages as the government bulldozes charred villages, burns abandoned Rohingya houses, threatens the Rohingya who are still inside the country and asks Bangladesh authorities to cut off the flow of essential food supplies to over 6,000 Rohingyas who have fled to No Man’s Land between the two countries’ borders.

We thank the people and Government of Bangladesh for their exemplary acts of compassion and humanity in opening their borders to the terror-stricken Rohingyas fleeing the killing fields of Western Myanmar state of Rakhine or Arakan.

In the immediate terms, we call on governments and non-governmental humanitarians to significantly increase the volume of humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar in order to ease the burden on the Government of Bangladesh and enable UN agencies to carry out their humanitarian responsibilities.

We believe that the protected return of Rohingya refugees – estimated at nearly 1 million – into the protected homeland is the only viable long-term solution in a situation where Myanmar – the military, the Buddhist Order, the lay public and the civilian political parties including the ruling NLD – have categorically maintained the country’s long-standing refusal to recognize the presence, identity and history of the Rohingya in Myanmar and disregard their group right to self-identify.

We are profoundly disappointed that the Security Council has failed to agree to take a common stance, after 2 public meetings, in the face of what is increasingly recognized as crimes against humanity and even genocide, and been unable to issue even a single non-binding resolution on Myanmar’s resultant worsening humanitarian crisis six months after 688,000 Rohingya – mainly women and children – fled the country. If ever there was a time for prevention of genocide and for activation of the Responsibility to Protect principle it is now.

Therefore, we call on the governments of the USA, UK, France, Germany, Sweden and Canada, as well as other national governments such as Turkey and regional associations to hold a Special Conference to explore viable long-term solutions so that the Rohingya people can have a piece of earth they can call their home.

Contact:

Professor Maria do Mar Castro at castrovarela@posteo.de

Tun Khin at tunkhin80@gmail.com; +44 788 871 4866

Dr Maung Zarni at fanon2005@gmail.com; +44 771 047 3322

Immediate Release

Rohingya: The Silent Genocide?

21 February 2018

Oxford: This 22 Februrary (Thursday) the Oxford University Islamic Society is hosting public event titled - ‘Rohingya: The Silent Genocide?’ - Pembroke College, Oxford. 

The event will feature leading activists and scholars on the subject of Myanmar’s persecution of Rohingyas- including Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, Dr Azeem Ibrahim; Burmese human rights activist and genocide scholar Maung Zarni; human rights activist and President of Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, Tun Khin. 

The panel will address crucial issues surrounding what the United Nations call “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing’, the powerful Burmese military, and the complicity of Myanmar’s de facto leader and one of Oxford’s most iconic graduates Aung San Suu Kyi. It will also examine the stance of the West governments and UN in the face of numerous human rights crimes including crimes against humanity while exploring both short-term and long-term solutions to end Myanmar’s persecution of the Rohingya.

The event comes on the heel of a Channel 4 Interview with UN Special Rapporteur on human rights situation in Myanmar Professor Yanghee Lee during which she stated unequivocally that Aung San Suu Kyi “cannot NOT be tried” at the International Criminal Court for her “complicity of silence” in Myanmar’s crimes against humanity and even a genocide against Rohingya people. Aung San Suu Kyi is a recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford University.

Oxford University Press and the Vice Chancellor’s Office have come under open criticisms for the University’s ties with Suu Kyi’s Ministry of Education and the OUP’s choice of expert, a French-educated strategic adviser to Myanmar military, on the subject of Rohingya minority. 

The panel will be chaired by Affnafee Rahman, an engineering student at St Hugh’s, Suu Kyi’s alma mater, who successfully spearheaded a campaign to remove the disgraced Burmese icon’s name from the Junior Common Room and her painting from the college hall.

Rahman said, ‘as privileged students of Oxford University, it is our moral responsibility to stand against this ongoing persecution of the Rohingya minority in Myanmar, upon Aung San Suu Kyi’s watch. And the least we can do is to formally protest against the atrocities and call out on the complicity of our alumnus. We need to educate ourselves about the persecution of Rohingya, which is an affront to any decent humans. I hope fellow Oxonians will make an effort to come and learn about what’s happening in Myanmar and what role our Burmese graduates and University, if any, are playing in this unfolding tragedy.”

Facebook Live here: https://www.facebook.com/events/579778752357477/

Contact: Affnafee Rahman affnafee.rahman@st-hughs.ox.ac.uk 

Tweet: @AffnafeeRahman

Date: February 20, 2018

Scholars, Activists and Politicians in Germany to hold an International Conference on Myanmar Genocide at the Jewish Museum in Berlin

Urge EU & the world to make “Never again!” a reality

On 26 February, a group of prominent human rights activists, genocide scholars and practitioners of international law are gathering at the Jewish Museum of Berlin for the first-ever conference in Germany on Myanmar Genocide of the Rohingya people. 

The conference is co-sponsored by one-dozen renowned academic centres specializing in law, humanities, human rights and genocide studies. 

The host and convenor Dr. Maria do Mar Castro Varela, Professor of Pedagogy and Social Work at Berlin’s Alice Salomon University, said, “the conference aims to inform German civil society and the European public about the on-going genocide of Rohingya people in Myanmar/Burma. We hope to be able to help influence public opinion, which in turn will demand that the EU leaders take their shared political and human responsibility to make the call: “Never again!” a reality.”

The French President Emmanuel Macron has called Myanmar’s persecution of Rohingya a genocide. The conference coincides with the 26 February meeting of EU Foreign Ministers who will review the present EU policy towards Myanmar. 

Margarete Bause, MP for Alliance 90/The Greens and Full Member of the Bundestag Commission on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, states, "crimes against humanity are being committed at this moment in Myanmar. Innocent children, women, and men alike are murdered in large numbers. The world needs to be informed about the extent of this ongoing horror and these grave violations of human rights, which constitute genocide. World governments - including the German government - must act immediately to protect the Rohingya. I therefore expressly welcome and support the conference being organized by Professor Castro Varela and ensure that we will put the subject on the German Bundestag agenda. We demand the immediate halt to the crimes against the Rohingya people." 

The Eventbrite announcement (https://www.eventbrite.de/e/berlin-conference-on-myanmar-genocide-registration-43057746880) reads, “the conference rejects the view that only a UN-authorized tribunal can decide whose collective sufferings and which acts of violence and destruction amount to genocide. Five independent academic and legal studies of Myanmar’s persecution and plight of the Rohingya ‑ including the Permanent Peoples Tribunal on Myanmar, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School, the International State Crime Initiative of Queen Mary University of London” and the Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal of the University of Washington School of Law ‑ have arrived at a single common conclusion, that there is mounting evidence of a genocide against the Rohingya.”

Ro Nay San Lwin, a renowned Rohingya blogger and researcher who resettled in Germany as a refugee, said he is pleased that German scholars and politicians are taking up the cause of the Rohingya people who make up the world’s largest population of “stateless people”. “I think holding this international conference to inform German and EU public and politicians here in Germany is extremely timely and crucial. On behalf of all the Rohingya survivors and refugees who have suffered decades of Myanmar’s slow burning genocide, I thank from the bottom of my heart the Jewish Museum for allowing this conference to take place at its prestigious and morally important venue.”

Among the high profile speakers are The Rt. Honourable Irwin Cotler, former counsel for Nelson Mandela and Natan Sharansky; the outgoing UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee; former US Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Professor David Scheffler; Mofidul Hoque, a founding trustee of the Liberation War Museum of Bangladesh; the renowned genocide scholar Emeritus Professor Rainer Schulze of the University of Essex, UK; Karen Jungblut who directs Global Initiatives at the Shoah Foundation, University of Southern California; and Prof. Dr. Beate Rudolf, the Director of the German Institute for Human Rights & elected Chairperson of GANHRI (Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions). 

In addition, well-known human rights activists in the Burmese diaspora will join a group of prominent Rohingya refugees and activists in the latter’s call for “a piece of earth which Rohingyas can call their home”, a UN-protected, self-administered region for the Rohingya people on their ancestral land next to Bangladesh. 

Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, a renowned post-colonial scholar from Columbia University in New York will deliver the closing keynote, calling for the world’s actions to end Myanmar genocide. 

The conference will end with a quiet procession from Brandenburg Gate to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe where activists against genocides – including Bosnians, Tamils, Bangladeshi, Jewish, Germans, British, Burmese, Palestinians, and Canadians – will hold a candle light vigil in memory of all victims of genocides, past and present. 

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/berlin-conference-on-myanmar-genocide-registration-43057746880)

Conference Program:

https://www.scribd.com/document/371595010/PROGRAM-for-Berlin-Conference-on-Myanmar-Genocide-26-Feb-2018#fullscreen&from_embed

Contact: 

Professor Maria Maria do Mar Castro Varela : castrovarela@posteo.de

Dr Maung Zarni: + 44 771 047 3322 or fanon2005@gmail.com

Media Release from Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)

For Immediate Release 12th February 2018

Myanmar’s Genocide of Rohingya Is Not Over: Rohingya Need UN-Protected Safe Zones

Nayapara Camp, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: The genocide of Rohingya in Myanmar is far from over, said the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) after a 4-day fact finding trip to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

“The evidence is mounting that the Myanmar military, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, and supported by the civilian government led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, continues its genocidal campaign of the Rohingya people,” said BROUK President Tun Khin, who met with dozens of Rohingya who arrived in Bangladesh in late January and early February from villages in Buthidaung and Rathedaung Township.

The events that have unfolded and the evidence that has come to light prove that the government's claim of carrying out a security operation is a farce. The Myanmar military's actions clearly show an intent to destroy the Rohingya's homes, their livelihoods, and their very lives. 

New arrivals spoke of ongoing military abuse, including arbitrary arrests, disappearances, forced starvation, extortion, denial of access to rice fields, denial of access to humanitarian assistance, prevention of access to markets, forced labour and increasing pressure to accept the National Verification Card (NVC), part of a government plan which effectively denies Rohingya identity and citizenship. New arrivals in Bangladesh also reported that movement restrictions, pressure from local Rakhine extremist groups and lack of aid had created major shortages which forced them to flee to Bangladesh.

“We were forced to leave our homes by security forces, who said we had to have our pictures taken for a family list, but when we returned to our houses they had been burnt down by security forces and Rakhine extremists. Later we were accused of burning down our own homes and arrested. After paying bribes, we were released and fled from the country,” Anuwar, 25 years old from Kyauk Phyu Taung village, Buthidaung Township, told BROUK.

Residents of Sin Daung say many Rohingya are still living in Buthidaung Township. The refugees told BROUK that soldiers have built a military camp in the village and are using Rohingya for forced labour. Villagers also report that military personnel have threatened the remaining residents with “clearance operations” and a repeat of the massacre in Gu Dar Pyin, where the Associated Press has uncovered evidence of five mass graves.

Recently arrived refugees also reported that pressure from local Rakhine groups had effectively buffered a policy of starvation. “Rakhine extremists threatened us if we left the village. We can’t get out to get food. We were without food for two to three days. Our village was surrounded by Rakhine people. Rakhine people have taken all our rice stock piles,” said Hameed Hussein, 29 years old from Anauk Pyin village, Rathedaung Township.

“It is clear that the Burmese military want the remaining Rohingya to leave Rakhine State and are using different tactics to drive them out. Genocide does not have to be a military attack, these are genocidal policies and they are still getting away with it,” said Tun Khin.

Also adding to the evidence of genocide is the investigative report by Reuters: “Massacre in Myanmar” (https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-rakhine-events/) published on 9 February, which draws for the first time on interviews with Buddhist villagers who confessed to torching Rohingya homes, burying bodies and killing Muslims.

The arrest of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo while reporting this atrocity indicates the Myanmar government and military's attempt to cover up their crimes and muzzle those who speak against them.

“Almost six months after this brutal campaign began, the military operation against the Rohingya continues, only now they are using different tactics to drive our people out. The UN Security Council meeting on February 13th provides an opportunity for the international community to finally take steps to stop Myanmar’s genocide of the Rohingya and put in place UN protected safe zones for Rohingya communities in Myanmar.” said Tun Khin. 

“Not a single country has taken any serious action against the Burmese military and this has sent the message that the military can simply carry on its operations, driving more Rohingya out of the country. At the same time, the army has stepped up attacks against other ethnic minorities, in particular the Kachin. The international community's failure to respond has created a system of impunity. Rohingya have no means to defend themselves. The international community: the EU, USA, UK, Canada and OIC members have a responsibility to protect them and must take concrete steps to save this community, including the elderly, women and children, from Myanmar’s brutal campaign of killing, rape and destruction, and be given access to provide life-saving humanitarian aid and services. Furthermore, action should be taken to refer the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court, impose a UN-mandated global arms embargo, and issue targeted sanctions on military companies."

For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 7888714866.

Joint Statement

Date: 17th January 2018

Rohingyas’ concerns over the repatriation of refugees from Bangladesh

We, the undersigned Rohingya organisations worldwide express our serious concern over an agreement, signed on 23rd November 2017, between Myanmar and Bangladesh on the return of some 670,000 Rohingya refugees who have recently taken refuge in Bangladesh after fleeing Myanmar genocide. 

But the question is how the terrified and traumatized refugees would be repatriated to Arakan/Rakhine State where they experienced, witnessed and fled the genocidal brutality of Myanmar troops, Rakhine extremists and other vigilantes. There is no change of attitude of the Myanmar government and its Military towards Rohingya; still they identify Rohingya as recent “Bengali interlopers” from Bangladesh; and Rohingyas continue entering into Bangladesh due to continuing violence and brutality against them in Arakan. 

Refugees are homesick, but they are unwilling to return as congenial atmosphere has not been created yet for safe and voluntary repatriation with dignity and honour. The refugees should be settled in their homes. It would be worst simply moving the refugees from camps in Bangladesh to dislodgement sites in Myanmar. It is dangerous that the regime has already claimed state-ownership of Rohingyas’ land within the affected region of Northern Arakan/Rakhine state. Before they return to Myanmar the refugees need guarantee ensuring their life and property security and “peaceful-coexistence” as equals with all other people in Arakan and Myanmar. 

In consideration of the above, the following measures are imperative for safe and voluntary repatriation of the Rohingya refugees:

1. The UNHCR, which is a mandated UN protection agency, should be involved in all process of repatriation. 

2. The Refugees should be allowed to put down their identity as “Rohingya”, the UN-recognized name to self-identify.

3. Refugee representatives should be discussed in all process of repatriation.

4. Repatriation must be fully voluntary. The refuges should be rehabilitated in their original homes and properties, with full compensation under the supervision of the UN with peace-keeping force, NOT to displacement sites in Myanmar.

5. Demilitarized UN safe zones shall be created in Northern Rakhine State, as an interim measure, in order to guarantee security of life, property and dignity of the persecuted people, as well as to ensure confidence, faith and understanding in the minds of the heavily terrified and traumatized refugees.

6. The Myanmar government must restore their full Myanmar citizenship ensuring all rights and freedoms -- security of life, property, honour, dignity, freedom of religion, movement, education, marriage, employment etc. -- without any infringement, restriction, and discrimination in all affairs of their national activities. 

7. The Myanmar government shall recognize the “Rohingya ethnicity” allowing them to peacefully co-exist in Arakan/Rakhine State as equals with their “collective rights” on par with other ethnic nationalities of the country.

8. The Myanmar Citizenship Law of 1982 must be scrapped or amended aligning it with international standards and treaties to which Myanmar is State Party, including articles 7 and 8 of the Convention on the Rights of Child.

9. Land is asset and means of making living. All previous land and landed properties of the refugees must be given back to them immediately.

10. Necessary arrangement shall be made to try and punish all perpetrators by an international independent tribunal. The Myanmar government shall stop and prohibit all forms of racism, incitement, propaganda, hate speech, Islamophobia, decrees and directives against the Rohingyas and other Muslims.

11. The Myanmar government must allow unimpeded humanitarian aids to all needy and unfettered access to the media and rights groups to Northern Arakan/Rakhine state. 

12. The welfare of the offspring of rapes and raped women must be ensured.

Signatories:

· Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO)

· Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)

· British Rohingya Community in UK 

· Burmese Rohingya Community in Denmark

· Burmese Rohingya Association Japan (BRAJ)

· Rohingya Advocacy Network in Japan

· Burmese Rohingya Community Australia (BRCA)

· Burmese Rohingya Association in Queensland-Australia (BRAQA)

· Canadian Burmese Rohingya Organisation

· European Rohingya Council (ERC)

· Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation in Malaysia(MERHROM)

· Rohingya American Society

· Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committee

· Rohingya Community in Germany

· Rohingya Community in Switzerland

· Rohingya Community in Finland

· Rohingya Community in Italy

· Rohingya Community in Sweden

· Rohingya Organisation Norway

· Rohingya Society Malaysia (RSM)

· Rohingya Society Netherlands

For more information, please contact:

Tun Khin (Mobile): +44 7888714866

Nay San Lwin(Mobile): +49 69 26022349

Zaw Min Htut (Mobile): +8180 30835327

Cox’s Bazar - On Christmas day it will be four months since the start of the influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh. Latest figures show 655,000 people have arrived in that period, bringing the estimated total number of Rohingya in Cox’s Bazaar to 867,500.

IOM’s newly-released Needs and Population Monitoring (NPM) Round 7 assessed 1,635 locations hosting Rohingya refugees in collective sites and host communities. Key findings are that 73 percent of the refugees are living in new spontaneous settlements, 13 percent in makeshift settlements, 9 percent in host community locations and 5 percent in the formal refugee camps. Compared to the previous round, there has been a reduction in the proportion of refugees in host community locations and an increased proportion residing in collective sites.

As winter takes hold, IOM and its partners are scaling up their distribution of shelter and non-food items in response to the colder weather. In the past fortnight, distributions have included over 88,500 blankets and emergency shelter materials, including bamboo bundles for over 1,500 families. To date, IOM has distributed 124,000 tarpaulins, benefitting some 563,000 new arrivals. Some 32,000 people have also received other non-food relief items.

IOM is also supporting the Rohingya and the affected local population with water, hygiene and sanitation. Some 1,400 cubic metres of clean drinking water have been trucked into spontaneous settlements with limited access to water and over 68,000 people have received hygiene kits. Some 1,500 emergency latrines have been constructed to date, supporting 75,000 individuals. Some 29 deep tube wells have been completed and are functional.

To respond to an ongoing diphtheria outbreak, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and WHO, IOM is supporting a vaccination campaign for children under six, with community workers and support for vaccination teams on the ground. IOM has also constructed three 40-bed isolation and treatment centres to urgently increase case management and bed capacity and supporting contact tracing at several locations. 

As part of its ongoing response to gender-based violence (GBV) and to combat human trafficking, IOM and its partners are offering group support, including information about trafficking risks, and individual counselling sessions for female refugees in specially constructed safe spaces. Women and adolescent girls who visit the spaces can take part in recreational and psychosocial activities.

IOM social workers have already identified 14,340 extremely vulnerable individuals. Some 409 individuals who faced GBV have been assisted through IOM’s case management; 3,720 have received psychological first-aid; and 1,666 have been provided with health referrals.

IOM has also organized workshops run by counter trafficking experts for police and military working in Cox’s Bazar to raise awareness and sensitize them to cases of human trafficking.

For more information please contact:

Fiona MacGregor at IOM Cox’s Bazar, Tel: +8801733335221, Email: fmacgregor@iom.int

Shirin Ahkter at IOM Dhaka, Tel: +880 2 55044811-13, Email: sakhter@iom.int

Published on IOM.

GENEVA (20 December 2017) – The Government of Myanmar has informed UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee that all access to the country has been denied and cooperation withdrawn for the duration of her tenure. 

Ms. Lee had been due to visit Myanmar in January to assess the state of human rights countrywide, including the human rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

“I am puzzled and disappointed by this decision by the Myanmar Government,” said Ms. Lee. “This declaration of non-cooperation with my mandate can only be viewed as a strong indication that there must be something terribly awful happening in Rakhine, as well as in the rest of the country.” 

The Special Rapporteur said she sincerely hoped Myanmar would revisit the decision. 

“Only two weeks ago, Myanmar’s Permanent Representative informed the Human Rights Council of its continuing cooperation with the UN, referencing the relationship with my role as Special Rapporteur,” she said. 

“Now I am being told that this decision to no longer cooperate with me is based on the statement I made after I visited the country in July.” 

Ms. Lee had previously been afforded cooperation and access to Myanmar, and had maintained a relationship of mutual respect with the Government. The Government has now claimed that her end-of-mission statement in July was biased and unfair. 

The Special Rapporteur’s mandate requires two visits to Myanmar a year, in order to report to the Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly. Since taking up the mandate in June 2014, she has visited six times. 

While the Government had responded positively to past requests to visit, access to some areas had been consistently refused, with the authorities citing security concerns. 

The Government is also not cooperating with the Human Rights Council Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, established in March 2017. 

“It is a shame that Myanmar has decided to take this route,” said Ms. Lee. “The Government has repeatedly denied violations of human rights are occurring throughout Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State. They have said that they have nothing to hide, but their lack of cooperation with my mandate and the fact-finding mission suggests otherwise,” said the expert. 

END

Ms. Yanghee Lee (Republic of Korea) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014 as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. Ms. Lee served as member and chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (2003-2011). She is currently a professor at Sungkyunwan University, Seoul, and serves on the Advisory Committee of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. Ms. Lee is the founding President of International Child Rights Center, and serves as Vice-chair of the National Unification Advisory Council.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. 

For more information and media requests please contact:

Ms. Shilla Kim (+41 22 917 9922 / shillakim@ohchr.org)

Published by OHCHR.

Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar concludes visit to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR - (11 December 2017) – UN human rights experts wrapped up this weekend a five-day visit to Malaysia, during which they focused their inquiries on recent human rights violations and abuses allegedly committed in Myanmar. 

In Malaysia, the experts – members of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (FFMM) – interviewed persons from Shan and Kachin states, as well as members of the ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya communities.

They talked both with recent arrivals and with those who had been here for some years. They also consulted with government officials, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs, and individual researchers.

While the recent events in Rakhine state have naturally been a significant focus for the FFMM Experts, the Malaysia visit allowed the experts to receive information on situations across Myanmar, including information on recent years from Kachin and Shan states.

“This visit allowed us to examine allegations in various states of Myanmar,” said Marzuki Darusman, former Indonesian Attorney-General and Chair of the FFMM. “We received information about practices and incidents alleging forced labour, abductions, rape and land grabbing.” 

The UN Refugee Agency has registered some 134,000 persons from Myanmar in Malaysia, almost 90 percent of its total caseload in the country. These include Rohingya, Myanmar Muslims, Chin, ethnic Rakhine, Mon, Karen, and various groups from Kachin, Shan among others. The actual number of Myanmar refugees is believed to be much higher.

During the visit, the FFMM experts observed some parallels with information received about Rakhine.

“We were struck by some patterns emerging from the allegations of Shan, Kachin and ethnic Rakhine groups similar to those we heard from the Rohingya we met in Bangladesh,” said FFMM Expert Christopher Sidoti, a former Australian Human Rights Commissioner.

“We heard accounts of events that, if true, would constitute serious human rights violations by the Myanmar military, as well as abuses by armed groups,” Sidoti added. “All those we spoke with said they left Myanmar very suddenly, with little or nothing, which highlights the dramatic nature of what caused them to leave.” 

The use of insults and slurs to refer to ethnic communities was another parallel.

“I’m particularly concerned to hear allegations that, as with the Rohingya, dehumanising language is used to refer to other groups,” Darusman said. “The testimonies point to ingrained prejudices against those who are not from the Bamar majority.” 

Events in Rakhine state remain on the FFMM’s radar. At the special session of the UN Human Rights Council on 5 December, Darusman noted that, while there are signs that the violence has abated in Rakhine, it has not stopped.

“Thanks to fire detection and satellite imagery, we know that villages were still being burned in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships as recently as 25 November,” he said, cautioning against any plan to repatriate those who had fled until there are guarantees for their protection. 

The Myanmar Government has not yet granted the FFMM access to the country. Nevertheless, according to Darusman, lack of access has not impeded the FFMM’s work. 

Teams of human rights officers have been dispatched by the Fact-Finding Mission to various countries to conduct comprehensive interviews with those who fled Myanmar over recent years. This data, alongside other information sources, will be subjected to verification and legal analysis before being submitted as part of the Fact-Finding Mission’s final report. 

The UN Human Rights Council appointed the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar last March to “establish the facts and circumstances of alleged recent human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State.” The experts have defined “recent” to mean since 2011. 

The FFMM It is due to submit an interim oral report to the Human Rights Council in March 2018 and a final report in September 2018 to the Council and to the General Assembly. 

ENDS 

For more information and media inquiries: Sylvana Foa +41 22 9179900 / +41 76 6910812 / sfoa@ohchr.org

Published by OHCHR. 

Experts of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar conclude visit to Bangladesh

Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar established by HRC resolution 34/22

-Press Release-

Dhaka, Bangladesh, 27 October 2017 – Three United Nations human rights experts concluded their first fact finding mission in Bangladesh today “deeply disturbed” by accounts of killings, torture, rape, arson and aerial attacks reportedly perpetrated against the Rohingya community in Myanmar.

More than 600,000 Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar, have fled to Bangladesh since 25 August, when Myanmar forces began the so-called “clearance operations” following alleged armed attacks on security posts. More than half that number are children. Although the total number of deaths is unknown, it may turn out to be extremely high.

The UN Human Rights Council appointed the Fact-Finding Mission last March to “establish the facts and circumstances of alleged human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine State”. If the Mission concludes that there have been violations, it will seek to ensure full accountability for perpetrators and justice for the victims.

“We are deeply disturbed at the end of this visit,” said Marzuki Darusman, former Indonesian Attorney-General and human rights campaigner, who chairs the Fact Finding Mission. “We have heard many accounts from people from many different villages across northern Rakhine state. They point to a consistent, methodical pattern of actions resulting in gross human rights violations affecting hundreds of thousands of people.”

Expert Radhika Coomaraswamy, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, said the misery and despair she witnessed in the camps had left her “shaken and angry. The accounts of sexual violence that I heard from victims are some of the most horrendous I have heard in my long experience in dealing with this issue in many crisis situations,” she said. “One could see the trauma in the eyes of the women I interviewed. When proven, this kind of abuse must never be allowed to go unpunished.”

While in Bangladesh, the experts interviewed Rohingya victims in the Kutapalong, Nayapara and Balukhali camps and held consultations with government officials, diplomats and NGOs. In addition teams of human rights officers, dispatched by the Fact Finding Mission, have been in Bangladesh for many weeks conducting comprehensive interviews with those who fled from Rakhine State.

The Mission has applied to the Myanmar Government for access to Myanmar. It seeks the views of the Government and the military on what has happened and why, and wishes to conduct inquires inside Rakhine State itself. However, access to the country has not yet been granted, without which it becomes more difficult – though not impossible – to establish the facts. For example, whether the armed attacks on military posts actually occurred, as the Government claims, can only be established when the Government presents the information that has led it to draw this conclusion.

The third expert, Christopher Sidoti, an Australian international human rights specialist, said the visit to Bangladesh also focused on the future of the Rohingyas. The United Nations and many Governments have called for their return to Myanmar. “They must be allowed to return home,” Mr Sidoti said. “But any repatriation must be voluntary and can only take place after the establishment of effective mechanisms to ensure their safety and protection. That may require the placement of international human rights monitors in Rakhine State.”

The data derived from all interviews, alongside other information sources, will be subjected to a meticulous verification process and legal analysis before being submitted as part of the Fact-Finding Mission’s final report. The Mission is required to submit an interim report to the Human Rights Council in March 2018 and a final report in September 2018 to the Council and to the General Assembly.

Original here: