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The Stop the Ethnic Cleansing Rohingya in Myanmar International Action Committee urged the United Nations (UN) to intervene in the situation in Myanmar through a petition handed

With the Eid around the corner, the plight of the persecuted Rohingya Muslims in Burma appears to have taken a turn for the worst, according to sources who contacted the Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organisations (MAPIM).

The umbrella group's secretary general Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid said Muslims were currently subjected to several restrictions, including from performing prayer at mosques in Arakan, especially in the town areas.

“Prayers are allowed at mosques in the rural areas, that too only for the Zuhr (noon) and Asr (afternoon) prayers, while Friday prayer is not at all allowed," said Azmi .

According to his sources, not more than 10 Muslims are allowed to hold congregational prayer.

At the Maungdaw district, there are some 178 mosques and prayer halls while not more than 20 mosques are located in the urban areas. The south of this district has seen some of the worst attacks against Rohingya Muslims and their properties.

The dire situation and the lack of food also meant that many Muslims have been forced to skip fasting during Ramadan.

“The Rohingya's suffering during this Ramadan is critical. Clearly, there is no Eid for them," added Azmi.

MAPIM has been sending humanitarian aid to the thousands of Rohingya refugees affected by the recent spate of racist attacks against them.

The group said it had recently despatched five containers of food, and is still awaiting green light from Burmese port authorities to enter Arakan.

Source here

Despite official obstacles barring most observers and aid workers from western Myanmar, two months after dozens were killed in sectarian clashes and tens of thousands of Muslims were forced from their homes into “resettlement camps,” a television crew from Britain’s Channel 4 News managed to report from the region on Tuesday.




As my colleague Thomas Fuller reported in June, Myanmar declared a state of emergency that month after violence between the Buddhist majority and a minority Muslim population known as Rohingyas swept Rakhine State, along the border with Bangladesh. The rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in May led to revenge attacks on the Rohingyas, who were blamed for the crime. In the following weeks, up to 60,000 Rohingyas were driven from their homes and a whole section of the regional capital Sittwe was burned to the ground.

The British crew managed to film at a camp for displaced Rohingyas outside Sittwe, and also interviewed Buddhists in the town who claimed, implausibly, that the Muslims had set their own homes on fire. The Buddhists also complained to the reporters that the United Nations and international aid groups are biased in favor of the Muslims.

A team from the UK's Channel 4 News gained access to Sittwe, which has been off limits to reporters for months.

They filmed an area once home to 10,000 that had been reduced to rubble.

Days of violence in Rakhine state began in late May when a Buddhist woman was raped and murdered by three Muslims. A mob later killed 10 Muslims.

Sectarian clashes spread across the state, with houses of both Buddhists and Muslims being burnt down.

Most Rohingya Muslims have been moved out of Sittwe into temporary camp.The Burmese government declared a state of emergency following the outbreak of violence and has since prevented foreign media from visiting the region

However, the Channel 4 News team filmed the area of Sittwe known as Narzi, which it reported was once home to an estimated 10,000.

Local Rakhine Buddhists were picking through the debris of the houses, which had once been the Rohingya area of the city.

One man told reporters that the Muslims had set fire to their own homes in an attempt to burn down the whole community.

The UNHCR has said that about 80,000 people have been displaced in and around the Sittwe and Maungdaw by the violence.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said that forces sent to quash the unrest were reported to be targeting Muslims.She has called for an independent investigation.There is long-standing tension between Rakhine people, who are Buddhist and make up the majority of the state's population, and Muslims.

According to Moshahida Sultana Ritu, an economist at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh who wrote a New York Times opinion piece on the crisis in July, fears of an influx of refugees “have aroused anti-Rohingya sentiment among some Bangladeshis, and initially Bangladesh’s government tried to force the refugees back without assisting them.”

Ms. Sultana Ritu also said Myanmar’s government used its security forces “to burn houses, kill men and evict Rohingyas from their villages.” The attack on the Rohingyas, the professor said, “is not sectarian violence; it is state-supported ethnic cleansing.”

Sources Here :
WASHINGTON DC—Prominent Muslim American groups have come together to launch Burma Task Force USA with the objective of raising the profile of the Rohingya issue while speaking out against alleged atrocities and human rights violations which have forced thousands to flee and seek refuge in neighboring Bangladesh.

“We demand that those responsible for the mass rapes and mass murder of thousands of Rohingyas be charged with crimes against humanity and genocide by the International Court of Justice,” Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, chairperson of Burma Task Force USA, demanded on Monday.

The Burma Task Force is based on a previous successful effort of American Muslims, the Bosnia Task Force, where its members worked with the interfaith leadership and women’s rights organizations against the genocide of Muslims in the former Yugoslavia.

Mujahid said the objective of the group is to stop perceived ethnic cleansing in Burma. “We will be working with leaders of other faith groups, interfaith groups, women’s rights organizations and peace movements to put pressure on the US government and the American business community to warn the Burmese government to stop the ethnic cleansing,” he said.

American Muslims are taking their cue from the previous efforts of Coalition Against Genocide, wherein Muslims of Indian origin living in the US worked with other communities to revoke the diplomatic visa of Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the western Indian State of Gujarat, for his alleged role in communal riots there some 10 years ago.

Many of the founding members of Burma Task Force USA have been actively working to stop this new violence in western Burma ever since it first flared in June, said Mujahid.

Dr. Shaik Ubaid, who has been advocating the cause of Rohingyas since 1992, was instrumental in getting the Indian Muslims to rally India’s interfaith community to put similar pressure on the government of India. Other leaders have been active in putting pressure on Bangladesh’s government to open its borders, he said.

“Rohingya Muslims were shorn of their citizenship and have suffered sustained and horrific persecution for decades. The campaign by Suu Kyi to obtain the help of the West for the democracy movement in Burma gives us an opportunity to use the American and the world community’s influence to stop the waves of ethnic cleansing,” said Dr. Ubaid, a board member of the task force.

“Aung San Suu Kyi had promised to support the citizenship rights of the Rohingya Muslims in 2005; she gave [a] statement in response to my query on a BBC program. We will hold Suu Kyi accountable,” he said.

The Burma Task Force said its New York chapter is currently planning a rally in front of the Burmese mission there. The communal violence in western Burma has claimed at least 77 lives and left more than 90,000 displaced, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has ordered US $50 million in aid be sent to Rohingyas in Burma. A report on the Saudi state news agency said the Muslim community had been “exposed to many violations of human rights including ethnic cleansing, murder, rape and forced displacement.”

Furthermore, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation announced on Saturday that it received the green light from Burmese President Thein Sein to visit Arakan State and assist Rohingya Muslims displaced by sectarian violence.

Source : Irrawaddy News



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


Al Jazeera gains exclusive access to Rakhine state where 70,000 people have been displaced by ethno-sectarian violence.

Tens of thousands of displaced people continue to live in refugee camps in Myanmar's Rakhine state after clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists killed dozens of combatants in June.

Both sides accuse the other group of having committed atrocities during the conflict.

Al Jazeera has gained exclusive access to camps around Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, where the United Nations estimates that 70,000 people have been left homeless.

Al Jazeera's Florence Looi reports from Sittwe.

Sittwe, Myanmar - Monsoon rains have done little to dampen heated ethnic tensions in Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state, where dozens have died in tit-for-tat attacks over the past two months.

Scars of the conflict are visible in the charred blocks of land, where entire villages were burned to the ground by angry mobs armed with knives and metal poles.

The aftermath is particularly evident in the Narze quarter of the capital Sittwe, which has become a ghost town since the Buddhist Rakhine and Muslim Rohingya were evacuated to keep the peace.

The refugee camps and villages lacking food now house 70,000 people, according to police Lieutenant Colonel Myo Min Aung.

Violence flared after the alleged rape of a Buddhist woman and the retribution killing of ten Muslims. Days of fighting between the Rakhine and Rohingya ensued, bringing the official death toll to 78. But that is widely believed to be grossly underestimated.

The Rohingya have suffered discrimination for generations in Myanmar. About 800,000 of the Muslim group are denied citizenship under a law passed 30 years ago.

Exclusive access

On the streets of Sittwe, an uneasy calm is enforced by trucks carrying police and soldiers.
Bikes, scooters and tuk-tuks push slowly through heavy rain that stops as suddenly as it starts. Maroon-robed monks with bare feet make their rounds, clutching collection bowls for food.

Myo Min Aung's police battalion, deployed to Sittwe from Yangon after local police were accused of being "anti-Muslim", now patrol the area separating Rakhine and Rohingya settlements.
After leading the peace-keeping operation for two months, Myo Min Aung said he wants to return home to Yangon, but he is still "waiting for a plan" from the government.

In the meantime, there is a growing humanitarian crisis that, until now, few outsiders have been able to see.

In a move that perhaps says something about Myanmar's shift toward openness, Al Jazeera was given access to Sittwe and the refugee centres that house the displaced.

On the outskirts of town, about 50,000 Rohingya are residing in a cluster of camps and villages.

The Kaung Dokar Refugee Camp is one of six official shelters for Rohingya in Sittwe township. A vast grid of white tents pegged into the mud of a treeless plain, it's a no man's land of rationed food, boredom, and days ended by a 6pm curfew.

"I want to go home because when it rains here in the camp, the water rises up," says Rezu Mar Bibi, a young woman who speaks as a crowd of onlookers pushes closer to hear. "If I can't go back home, I want to go to another country."

Rakhine refugees
Camp residents are desperate to tell their stories, of family members killed, wounded or missing.
Food rations of rice, beans and oil are not enough, they say, a claim confirmed by Myo Min Aung who is tasked with ensuring that what little food arrives does so safely.

Some of the complaints by the Rohingya are echoed by the 20,000 Rakhine refugees sheltering in the area's Buddhist monasteries.

Families in these religious centres rest in groups on the floor, some with bags holding the few possessions they were able to carry with them when they fled burning villages.

Saw Saw, a Rakhine fisherwoman who lost her home and all its possessions, said she can no longer work. She has access to the market, but no income to pay for goods.

When asked if Rakhine and Rohingya can live together in the future, she says it's unthinkable.

"It's not possible because these people are very cruel," Saw Saw said, voicing fears that Rohingya from other countries could come and "cause more trouble".

It's an attitude that permeates through Myanmar. Most people here refer to Rohingya as "Bengalis" or "guests". Some believe they are Bangladeshis who have illegally paid to enter Myanmar through the porous border.

"If they pay the bribe, they can become a Myanmar citizen," says Master Oo Ku Maar Ka, head of the Gade Chay Buddhist monastery. The authorities "are not protecting our religion, our culture and our race", he said.

Groups separated

The government refuses to recognise Rohingya as citizens, even though many say they have lived in Myanmar for centuries. In the initial aftermath of the violence, President Thein Sein called for Rohingya to be "settled in refugee camps managed by UNHCR".

"If there are countries that would accept them, they could be sent there," Thein Sein said.

It is a frustrating situation for Rohingya in the camps and villages. "As we are born in Myanmar, we must be Myanmar citizens," said Abu Shukur, a refugee living in a village outside Sittwe.

UK-based activist group Restless Beings, which has closely followed the crisis, has said Myanmar should recognise "rights for all ethnic minorities and... Rohingyas as citizens of the country".

Myo Min Aung said the government, under pressure from the international community, is now researching options for dealing with those displaced.

In the meantime, the division, suffering, and potential for violence continues.

Myo Min Aung's officers can only separate the two groups, hoping monsoon rains douse the flames of any new sectarian flare-ups.







Indonesian Muslims hold placards displaying the words "Stop Killing Rohingya" and "Save Rohingya" attend a rally outside the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on August 6, 2012. Decades of discrimination have left the Rohingya stateless.

Thousands have been injured, killed or displaced due to sectarian strife
Dubai: The persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar which has recently made news remains a tragic situation not only for the ethnic groups involved in the fighting but also for the thousands of people who have been killed, injured or displaced.

The UAE has responded to the call for help and will send immediate aid to Myanmar.

President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday ordered the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Humanitarian Foundation to urgently send relief aid to Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, following the bloody encounters between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims.

The order came after Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday sent a letter to the international community, seeking support to end the plight of the Muslim minority in the country.

Shaikh Abdullah appealed to the international community to put pressure on the Myanmarese government to stop the sectarian strife that has wreaked havoc in the western part of the country.

Myanmarese expatriates in the UAE have expressed their concern about the rising tension back home especially during the month of Ramadan.

Noor Mohammad Tandamiya told Gulf News that his family had decided to leave their home in the Mongdu district and go to the city for refuge.

“The Buddhist extremists would not allow us to go to work, nor to the mosque to pray. They would kill our families if they insist on going to the mosque and the government is not doing anything about it,” Tandamiya said.

“We are having difficulty even just to break our fast. There’s no food, no water. Even if we have money, we cannot buy anything,” he added.

Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) on Friday issued an appeal for $32.5 million (Dh119 million) in humanitarian aid for people displaced due to the clashes.

Around 60,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the Kachin State when fighting erupted over a year ago between government troops and the Kachin Independence Organisation.

Over the western region at Rakhine State, at least 77 people have died and 64,000 people were displaced when clashes between Buddhist and Muslim community broke out in June.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday promised to send $50 million in aid for the Muslim minority, the Saudi state news agency reported.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has asked the Myanmar government to allow aid agencies better access to the conflict areas.

Local media reports have highlighted the lack of medical supplies in government camps where an estimated 40,000 injured Muslims are being taken care of. Food, reports said, was just enough to ‘survive.’
Sources Here :
Indonesia Pushes OIC to Move on Conflicts in Myanmar, Syria
Ismira Lutfia | August 14, 2012




Indonesia has urged the Organization of the Islamic Conference to take action to help stop bloody conflicts in Myanmar and Syria, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said, as the international organization prepared for an emergency summit on Tuesday. 

The OIC has scheduled an emergency summit to implement recommendations formed after OIC foreign ministers met on Monday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to discuss issues facing the world's Muslim community.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Tuesday that Indonesia had urged the ministers to devise a concrete strategy to stop the violence and killings in Myanmar and Syria.

“Just condemning various problems faced by Muslims is not a policy,” he said. “The OIC should take concrete and constructive steps to overcome the various problems of the ummat [Islamic community].”

In Myanmar, he said, the OIC should act to help stop the killings of the Rohingya Muslim minority, who have been targeted by violence in the state of Rakhine. Human Rights Watch has accused Myanmar security forces of opening fire on Rohingyas, committing rape and standing by as mobs attacked each other.

“As a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural country, just as Myanmar is, Indonesia understands and has experience overcoming horizontal conflicts that are not easy to solve,” Marty said.

Indonesia has also urged the OIC to stand together to help end the violent conflict in Syria, he said.

“The OIC has to come out with a unified message so the UN Security Council can immediately act to stop the violence in Syria, if necessary using chapter seven of the UN charter,” he said, referring to a chapter governing action against threats to peace, breaches of peace and acts of aggression.

He said Indonesia proposed that the OIC send peacekeepers to Syria if the United Nations needed extra support, and added that the main aim should be to stop the violence and killings there.


Source here 


ARU DIRECTOR GENERAL PROF. DR. WAKAR UDDIN MEETS WITH THE FOREIGN MINISTER OF JORDAN H.E. NASSER JUDEH AT THE OIC FOREIGN MINISTERS CONFERENCE








The Foreign Minister of Jordan H. E. Nasser Judeh met the Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, at the OIC Foreign Ministers Conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting was also attended by Jordanian Foreign Ministry officials and Jordanian Press. The meeting with the Foreign Minister covered the current situation in Arakan and chronic political and human right issues faced by Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma/Myanmar. 

The Foreign Minister asked Dr. Uddin to provide the details of the cause of the recent violence by Buddhist Rakhine against Rohingya people. Dr. Uddin provided two different perspectives that occurred concurrently in Myanmar. “There is a long standing hate and bigotry against Rohingya by Buddhist Rakhine prior to independence. Dr. Uddin told the Foreign Minister that these types of violence against Rohingya by Buddhist Rakhine are chronic problems which are fueled by the immense hostility against Rohingya by former Burmese military regime and current government. “It is absolutely deplorable that the new government, despite so-called democratic reforms, is continuing the same policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide” He added. He further elaborated the recent response to UN officials by President Thein Sein that Rohingya people are not citizens of Myanmar, and they should be transferred to a third country or just keep them in camps. “His such incendiary statements instigated Rakhine to further commit the violence against Rohingya – this was not just a slip of his tongue, but it was something that the government wants to believe” Dr. Uddin explained. The Foreign Minister was stunned when Dr. Uddin indicated that Rohingya people, who the President Thein Sein evidently abhors, overwhelmingly voted for him and his USDP party candidates. “Strangely enough, now the President is saying that these people who voted for him are not citizens of Burma. I believe he will have a lot of explaining to do to the international community and the civilized community of nations of the world” Dr. Uddin stated. He also explained how the violence by Buddhist Rakhine has quickly transitioned to cold blooded murders of Rohingya by Burmese police force in Arakan. “They are arresting hundreds of Rohingya men and women, and they are reportedly kept in various prisons in Arakan. 


There are horrifying reports coming out from the prisons that the Rohingya men and women are kept together in the same halls without clothes. Discharge of dead bodies from the prisons has also been seen, according to reports” he stated. 


Another important point he mentioned was that the military hardliners in the current military-dominated Burmese government was poised to deprive Rohingya people the flavor of democracy because true democracy guarantees human rights. “All evidences gathered from the sequence of events on the ground in Arakan and the Burmese media war on Rohingya are clearly pointing straight to preplanning and coordination violence by Rakhine and the military hardliners. They evidently did not want democracy in Arakan, rather a military rule – that is happening now; therefore, they can continue their old policy of ethnic cleansing without any legal ramification” Dr. Uddin added. Other issues discussed were the long history of Rohingya in Rohang region of Arakan and more importantly the current humanitarian crisis faced by Rohingya in various townships in Arakan. “The Rohingya victims are not getting supplies in most areas because local Rakhine and Burmese officials are diverting the food supplies to Rakhine people. The OIC, United Nations, and other international organizations present must be present on the ground, working side by side with the Burmese officials. “The supplies given to Rohingya people recently by the visiting Turkish Foreign Minister were robbed from Rohingya by police, after his delegation left Arakan. Also, the government-picked interpreter reportedly falsified statements made by the victims when they met the Foreign Minister; how can you trust these people in the Burmese government?” he emphatically said. He appealed to the Foreign Minister for urgent humanitarian aid “We are running out of time. The Rohingya victims are facing starvation in several areas. Losing one day in supplying food, medicine, and shelter could result in losing hundreds of Rohingya lives” Dr. Uddin stressed.

The Jordanian Foreign Minister H.E. Nasser Judeh assures Dr. Uddin of commitment of full support for Rohingya people by HRH King Abdullah of Jordan




RB News Desk.
Former deputy chairman of the Shoura Council and world-renowned Islamic thinker, Abdullah Omar Naseef, emphasized the significance of the emergency Islamic Summit called by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
“There is nothing strange in this call by King Abdullah for an emergency summit. It shows his deep concern toward Islamic issues as a prominent Muslim leader in the world,” Naseef told Arab News.
“This summit is being held at the right time, when the Islamic nation is facing a lot of challenges and crises, such as the worsening situation in Syria, the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and the continuing Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians,” he added.
“The organization of the summit in the holy city of Makkah during the last days of the holy month of Ramadan gives it even more importance.”
Naseef also expressed his hope that Muslim leaders assembling in Makkah for the summit would be able to take the right decisions to realize the Islamic world’s interests and strengthen its unity.
A member of the World Council for Mosques, an affiliate of the Makkah-based Muslim World League, Dr. Baheej Mulla Owais said: “We are pinning great hope on this extraordinary summit and pray that it will be a great success in realizing its objectives.”
Owais also spoke about a summit meeting in Makkah, called by King Abdullah about five years ago to reconcile Iraqi factions. “That summit was successful in reducing the bloodbath between Iraqi groups and narrowing their differences. Sitting in front of the Holy Kaaba, they had pledged to stop fighting each other.”
On his part, Waqaruddin Musie, secretary-general of the Federation of Rohingya Muslims in the Arakan Province of Myanmar, commended King Abdullah’s efforts to find an effective solution for the tribulations of his community and save them from ethnic cleansing by the majority Buddhists.
“The Makkah summit is a historical opportunity to help end the suffering of Burmese Muslims who are facing arrests, torture and murder by Burmese authorities,” Musie told Arab News. “The call for a summit by a great and wise leader like King Abdullah is appreciated and respected by Muslims all over the world,” he said.
“We the Burmese Muslims are pinning great hope on King Abdullah who is an ardent supporter of Muslim issues and oppressed people, and a pioneer of Islamic solidarity,” Musie said and hoped the summit would contribute to saving the Islamic nation.
Musie also said, his organization would present a proposal at the summit to highlight the issue of Rohingya Muslims and how to solve it. “We hope that the summit will take appropriate decisions to protect the interests of Muslims there,” he added.
Director of the Russian Islamic Cultural Center, Dr. Muhammad Hani, also spoke about the summit and its significance. “This is a historic opportunity for Muslim leaders to discuss their various issues and strengthen their unity and solidarity,” he said.
“I am sure that King Abdullah’s wisdom and personality would contribute to the success of the conference,” he added.

Sources Here :
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ွသကမခန် ံန

London, Aug 13- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has suggested that countries including Britain, which are concerned over the Rohingya issue, should hold talks with Myanmar instead of putting pressure on Bangladesh. 

Hasina made the statement when British Secretary of International Development Affairs Andrew Mitchell met her in London on Sunday evening (UK local time). 

The Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad later briefed journalists about the meeting discussion. 

He quoted Hasina as telling the British Minister that Bangladesh, despite being an over-populated country, has long been hosting over 28,000 Myanmar refugees at two official camps in Cox's Bazar district while tens of thousands of others have been living in the country illegally. 

She said her government provided food, water and in some cases money to the Rohingyas, who recently entered Bangladesh in the wake of sectarian violence in Myanmar, before sending them back. 

The Prime Minister appreciated UK's support in Bangladesh's efforts to combat adverse impacts of climate change, Azad said. 

She also thanked the British government for its assistance to Bangladesh in the fields of education, health, sanitation, natural disaster prevention and attainment of the UN-designed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

The British Minister in turn appreciated the incumbent government's achievements in various sectors including agriculture, education, health and energy, Azad added. 

Mitchell thanked Hasina for attending the World Nutrition Event in London. 

Sources Here :

88 Generation Group : Photo (Irrawaddy News)

By:August 12, 2012

An open letter written in Burmese by little Ma Hla Myaing to the 8888 generation leaders of Burma seems to hit the nail on the head.1 The Tatmadaw (Burmese Army) visualise that the 8888 generations is the upcoming force to reckon, because it is a movement and not a political party. The Tatmadaw visualise that NLD is nothing without Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and is incapable of producing young and vibrant leaders and unlike the 8888 generation who can not only organize but also works hands in glove with the Burmese Diaspora communities is more of a threat. It also sensed that NLD cannot keep its house in order.2

The master brains of the Tatmadaw cleverly crafted the policy of “Let the minority fight the minority” pitting national sovereignty versus humanitarian and human rights, just to discredit the Lady, on her trip to Europe and shore up the army’s image. But instead it finds itself on hot pebbles, compelling them to let Turkey Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu tour Arakan State, who advised the Burmese government to accept an independent enquiry commission from OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation of 56 Islamic states promoting Muslim solidarity in economic, social, and political affairs) and being targeted by Islamic extremists organizations of the world. In Burmese we say instead of trapping a rabbit, the house cat was caught.

What a shame for the country and the government which paints the picture that it is unable to settle its own domestic problem is being forced to accept international arbitration.

Clearly the continuing conflict in Burma is not simply fought in terms of restoring democracy and human rights. It must be emphasized that there is a deeper politics of historical memories, which continues to serve as one of the biggest obstacles to national reconciliation. Historians know well that every story has many sides, many aspects, and many dimensions to explore. When a story is about such a topic as faith or politics, emotions can quickly become charged.3 Politics and contemporary history often intertwine, and inextricably connect, as individuals advocate for beliefs and ideas important to them. When history and beliefs are challenged, it is easy to believe we ourselves are being challenged. Unchecked, this can open old wounds, and further the distance between us.4

Each community feels a need to retain its sense of self, its collective memory in the face of the Myanmar-centered vision of the Burmese nation by the government, which the ethnic nationalities have come to view as colonial power. The government’s version of Burma’s history is radically different from what their own communal and ethnic memories teach them. Should any one group operate with racial or ethnic superiority – as Myanmar Buddhists have often done – it is certain to trigger deep resentment and forceful, dysfunctional expression of ethno-nationalisms of the most intense category? The value of memories, like anything that is human and socially constructed, has its limits. When two competing memories collide, as it were, the reliance on memories sets back the clock of history (of a nation) today one of independence, where the primordial sentiments surge. It is no longer fruitful to use the past events or memories as a guide.

Unfortunately, it is inconceivable that these differences in memories can be sorted out in any mutually satisfactory way, given the sorry state of hardened ethnic distrust and irreconcilable versions of these memories among different ethnic communities each of who views Burma as their ancestral home. For instance, the military leaders and the great majority of the Mahar Myanmar share a belief that the present day Burma developed in a linear fashion straight from the founding of the first Burmese kingdom at the central plains of Pagan in the 11th century. Only the British colonization of the Myanmar Kingdom disrupted this historical development. They believe in the accounts of their mighty, expansionistic imperialist empires with subordinate alliances made up of multi-ethnic and multi-language communities, including the Shan, the Arakanese, the Mons, and so on, encompassing the present day Burma and its political boundaries and, at times, stretching into neighbouring India and Thailand are their subordinates and hence should not be treated as equal. How to get rid of this erroneous disease is a major problem.5

A wildly different version is in circulation among non-Myanmar ethnic groups. In his report on State Constitutions Drafting Process, General Secretary Lian H. Sakhong of the United Nationalities League for Democracy writes:

“The Union of Burma is a nation-state of diverse ethnic nations (ethnic nationalities or nationalities), founded in 1947 at the Panglong Conference by pre-colonial independent ethnic nationalities such as the Chin, the Kachin, Karen, Karenni, Mon and Rakhine (Arakan), Myanmar (Burman) and Shan based on the principle of equality. As it was founded by formerly independent peoples in 1947 through an agreement, the boundaries of the Union of Burma today are not historical.”

This is a representative view among many non-Myanmar ethnic groups in Burma. These divergent – and obviously irreconcilable – memories die hard, and there is no way a common threat out of these divergent histories can be drawn. Despite the polemics of federalism, some of the ethnic groups such as the Shan appear to have kept their independence aspirations.

The Myanmar military leadership is fully aware of these centrifugal tendencies backed up by corresponding or supporting historical memories of various ethnic communities. How should Burma proceed if its histories are tortured and unhelpful?

If her past is no guide – and then perhaps her future – more accurately, how the parties want Burma’s future to be – the vision for a future Burma – can serve as a blueprint. Such a vision born out of civic, national debate is solely needed, and so are the leaders who are equipped intellectually to appreciate this process and not allow them to succumb to powerful primordial sentiments in the process. No doubt the flames of ethno-nationalisms of Burma will continue to burn, given the fact that many non-Myanmar ethnic communities have felt that they have been deprived of equality, politically, culturally and economically under the Myanmar dominated rule for so long. The distrust and fear of the Myanmar commonly shared by non-Myanmar groups throughout the country began long before the nationalist army headed by Aung San came into existence in 1941.

Tatmadaw have become a state within the State with its own short- and long-term plans designed to ensure the institutional survival, dominance, and reproduction in the country, and this is the structural issue that can help explain the longevity of the Tatmadaw as the dominant political force. The NLD may be the most popular brand name and symbol of democratic change or the push for it, but it is the Tatmadaw which the majority of people have come to view as the institution which can repel any threats, external and internal, to the country’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence as was demonstrated in the Mujahid crisis in Western Burma’s sectarian crisis.

Throughout Burma’s society, not excluding the Myanmar majority communities, there is widely shared a great deal of animosity and hatred toward the Tatmadaw and the military officers at all levels, not just the top brass. However, most Burmese have a sense of Myanmar-centered nationalism and feel some ideological affinity with their military rulers, more than our cosmopolitan, “enlightened” Myanmar politicians who speak a language littered with words like “federalism” or “self-determination.”

Suffice it to say no Myanmar politician, however popular, has articulated where he or she really stands on the question of ethnic nationalities right to self-determination, including the right to secede from the Union of Burma. They all take the majority position that under no circumstances is secession of any group acceptable. For no matter how much animosity between the people – especially the Myanmar or those who have bought into this Myanmar-centered nationalism or worldview – and the Tatmadaw personnel, they all drink from the same ideological well-spring. This shared ideological bond serves as an unbroken structural linkage between the Tatmadaw and the majority Myanmar. It is a bond based on ethno-nationalistic emotions that give the great majority of people a strong sense of belonging to a national community in which they are dominant. It is a much more powerful bond than that which may have developed among NLD supporters subscribing to a set of liberal political values and beliefs with no root in the native political culture. As far as the Myanmar majority, their blood is still thicker than the water of friendship.

While the democratic Myanmar wishes to befriend and adopt liberal values and outlook, when push comes to shove, they will go with their blood ties at the expense of equality and ethnic justice. This is where the 8888 Generation falls. The country’s structural bond of ethno-nationalism plays out even among relatively sophisticated dissidents in exile during discussions, on-line or otherwise, that touch on ethnic equality, self-determination and re-constructing alternative histories of Burma and the ethnic communities. When juxtaposed with the ideological discourse of human rights and democracy, it is elevated as the mainstream ideology among the NLD-led democracy movement.

Likewise, Thai-Burma and Indo-Burmese border-based dissident organizations and armed resistance groups always encounter occasions, formal and otherwise, in which the position taken by Myanmar dissidents resembles that of their ideological kinfolks – the members of the military government and its official view toward ethnic relations in the country. Indeed, in the half-century since independence, the Myanmar and the non Myanmar are still mired in what Clifford Geertz terms ” the pattern of primordial dissidence.”

If the Burmese authorities continue to teach the Myanmar version of history in the Burma proper area as it is their right in as much as the ethnic nationalities continue to teach their version of history in the their own respective States and divisions and not to the whole country, it will slowly erode the Pyidoungsu spirit. In the ethnic dominated states their version of history will have to be taught as the ethnic nationalities cannot impose their version of history to the Myanmar group vice versa in as much as the Myanmar cannot impose their version on the ethnic nationalities. For history is the study of the past of the whole country the History of the Union of Burma or rather Pyidaungsu History(jynfaxmifpkordkif;) which started with the Panglong Accord should be taught. Then it must be imposed on the education of the whole country. This is just but one way of solving the historical memories and well as tantamount to solidifying the Union Spirit or Pyidoungsu Seikdat (jynfaxmifpkpdwf “gwf) and that the Myanmar and the non Myanmar are equals.

No doubt Burma’s human rights situation has improved notably in some respects but it has significantly worsened in Kachin and Arakan states. Freedoms of assembly and expression remain restricted, and hundreds of political prisoners and many prisoners of conscience remain in jail. In several ethnic minority areas, the army continues to commit violations of international human rights and humanitarian law against civilians, including acts that may constitute crimes against humanity or war crimes, Amnesty International said in a statement submitted to the UN Human Rights Council.

“Many of these reported crimes are taking place despite cease-fire agreements between the Myanmar army and the relevant ethnic minority armed groups, the cease-fire is not being obeyed, while in others serious human rights violations continue even when the fighting has stopped.”6

It also cited “credible accounts” of the army using prison convicts as porters, forcing them to act as human shields and minesweepers. Latest report indicates that in exterminating the Kachin the Tatmadaw has deployed over 100 battalions of troops and t least 55,000 people have been internally displaced since fighting resumed in mid-2011. Extrajudicial executions, children killed by shelling and other indiscriminate attacks, forced labour, and unlawful confiscation of food and property are the usual standard of the Burmese army.7 The Investigation and prosecution of human rights violations and crimes against humanity are obstructed by Article 445 of the 2008 Constitution, which stipulates that “no proceeding” may be instituted against officials of the military governments since 1988 “in respect of any act done in the execution of their respective duties.”

In an early February statement, Ojea Quintana stressed that moving forward on Burma cannot ignore or whitewash what happened in the past, and that acknowledging the violations suffered will be necessary to ensure national reconciliation and prevent future violations from occurring. It seems that the Thein Sein administration, like the previous Junta will continue to uphold, “Lying the very concept of truth.” and so the international community and the world at large must improve its understanding of the aspirations of Burma’s ethnic nationalities and give greater attention to addressing the needs of these ethnic nationalities in discussions of the country’s human rights situation before indulging in trade and development works.

Notes:
1. I label her as little because I saw her picture flashed on the media when she just was a little girl that participated alongside with her elder brother Tin Maung OO who was first student to be hanged by the Burmese army way back in 70s, now a responsible person looking after her parents and the rest of the family in Canada is carrying on the fight.
2. I learned that my Article “Killing two Birds with a Stone, a Win Win Situation” ideas an attempt of solving the Rohingya and Chinese crisis which was emailed to the lady never reaches her. On following up I lamentably discovered that even the major broadcasting stations of the world had to bribe her associates in order interview her. Very lately she herself has to discharged some of her handpicked followers The moral corruption initiated by Ne Win administrations runs deep.
3. May Oo, Naw; “Reconciliation needed for a United Burma” Irrawaddy Magazine 16th March 2010
4. May Oo, Naw; “Reconciliation needed for a United Burma” Irrawaddy Magazine 16th March 2010
5. The proof of this can be seen in the monumental statutes in Naypyidaw
6. Mizzima News 12-2-2012 U.N. should consider commission of inquiry on Burma
7. Mizzima 5 -6 -2012 Fighting in Kachin State Detailed in Free Burma Ranger’s Report
Foreign Secretary stresses need to end violence in Burma  
“The UK, as ever, stands ready to assist the government of Burma in its efforts to develop Rakhine State, to share our knowledge and experience of tackling the many complex and long-standing issues to be overcome and, as Burma continues its path towards establishing full democracy, to support an inclusive political settlement that protects the rights of all members of the local population.

“Whilst the reform process has already borne many fruits, we remain seriously concerned about the nature and extent of the recent violence. We have urged the government to resolve the crisis by taking effective and lawful steps to prevent any further violence, in accordance with international human rights law. We have also called upon the communities based there to act with restraint. We have done the same with our international partners, and in international institutions, such as the European Union and the United Nations.

“We join Mr Quintana in stressing the need to end the violence; 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. We encourage the government to ensure that it treats the affected communities fairly and equitably and to ensure that the authorities prevent any further bloodshed. There is also a need to seek a long term solution to the problems they face in a manner which recognises their human rights, including their right to nationality, and to take effective steps which prevents any further forced or involuntary displacement and which does not leave them permanently displaced.

“Furthermore, we also join Mr Quintana in calling for the release of all those people who have been arbitrarily detained, irrespective of their ethnic background, and express the need for the government to carry out an independent, fair and prompt investigation in to 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. In addition we repeat our calls on the government to release and rehabilitate all remaining political prisoners.”

Sources Here





Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and his group visited Arakan state on 10th August 2012 to observe the vulnerable situation resulted from the genocides against not only Rohingya Muslims but also other Muslims in the state. Regardless of race or religion, they made donations not only to Rohingya Muslims but also to Rakhine Buddhists. 

He was accompanied to the refugee camps by Minister of Border Affairs, Lieutenant General Thein Htay and his group and a translator provided by the government. By the time Turkish FM and his group got to a Rohingya refugee camp, a Rohingya victim broke into tears and cried out “We Muslims have been severely oppressed here.” But the translator provided the government distorted the words and interpreted to Turkish FM as “We need assistances.” When the victims dishearteningly said “Help us,” again he interpreted as “We would like to have your assistances.” Why would the Rohingya victim waste once in a life-time chance uttering “we need assistances” again and again? Once again, when the victim said “We all Muslims are happy that you came here,” the interpretation was “We all are happy that you came here.” The video of the incident can be watched on youtube here

Therefore, regarding his deliberate distortions of a victim’s voice, the following questions are on our minds and we would like to have the answers from the concerned quarters. 

1) Why did he twist and omit the words of the victim? 

2) What was the motive behind his lying to Turkish Foreign Minister? 

3) Why was his interpretation censored? 

4) Who ordered him to hide the real and vulnerable situation of Rohingyas from Turkish FM? 

5) Who is he afraid of? 

6) What kind of punishments should be given to him for his to lying to a respected and honored guest of the Burmese government and distortion of the victim voice? 

7) Can we trust such kind of government who is claiming that they are helping Rohingyas? 

By now, it has become obvious that this genocide against Rohingyas was instigated and facilitated by the government for their political gains, in collaboration with extremist Rakhine Buddhists such as the members of Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP). To cover up the crimes against Rohingyas, the state and other local media have been hiding the real situation on the ground and deceiving the world by turning the situation upside down. The government itself also has left no stone unturned to deceive all the foreign visitors and observers in the region including UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana and this time Turkish FM. 

Those who think that Burmese government and its media are sincere will know what they actually are through this obvious distortion of this government vetted translator. If they are really sincere, they should accept the proposals of International Media and Humanitarian Aids. In fact, government and extremist Rakhines have been systematically carrying out genocides and ethnic cleansing by keeping the world in the dark by spreading lies through their media. Therefore, we plead to UN, Human Rights Organizations and International Communities: 

1) To provide Rohingya victims critically required aids such as foods, clean water, medical assistances and shelters resulting from the genocide against them and the blockage of food rations by Rakhine extremists and the Monks. 

2) To pressure Burmese government to free all innocent Rohingyas arrested by the authorities for wrong reason. 

3) To send International Media, Independent Observers, Reliable Investigations to Arakan. 

4) To bring all those who are responsible for Rohingya genocides into International Criminal Court of Justice (ICCJ) at Hague and prosecute them for committing war crimes. 

5) To help Rohingyas restore their lost citizenship in Burma. 

6) To send International Peacekeeping Force to help to stabilize the situation in Arakan. 

It no longer needs to tell the world what Rohingyas are. They are one of world’s most persecuted people according to United Nation. Now, they are on the verge of extinction due to Burmese regime’s systematic atrocities. They have become friendless in a predominantly Buddhist country. Most of Buddhist members are brainwashed and taught hatred towards other people by different regimes through Burmese history. Rohingyas could easily be targeted because they look different from the mainstream mongoloid people of Burma. Rohingyas are time and again made political scapegoats. 

The world took oath to not let any genocides take place after the holocaust of more than six million Jews at the hands of Nazi Germans during WWII. It happened and is happening now. The Burmese regime and a section of Burmese society who are heavily influenced by Nazi Ideology of Racial Purification are committing holocaust against Rohingyas, while the world is watching on. Therefore, we plead to not let Rohingyas face the same fate faced by Jews during WWII. Please save Rohingyas and do a favor to humanity. 

Written by Snowy and MS Anwar


Rohingya, the Muslim minority group in Arakan state of Burma, have been under systematic persecutions of tyrannical regimes of Burma since 1962. At present, there is a pre-planned genocide against them being carried on in Arakan by the Burmese regime and Rakhine extremists. Therefore, Rohingyas’ outcry and persecutions and discriminations against them are no longer new to the international communities and the world. According to United Nation, they are one of most persecuted minorities in the world. Human Rights Watch describes them as a minority group which has high possibility of extinction. Who are Rohingyas? Different allegations have been made against them by many Rakhine Bigotry Scholars, Burmese Regime and some of ultra-nationalist Burmese. Some of the allegations are mentioned below together with refutations. 


Allegation #1 


The name Rohingya didn’t exist in the history. Therefore, Rohingyas are not of citizens of Burma or not one of the Burmese ethnic communities. 


Refutation 


Well. The name “Rohingyas” didn’t exist in the history. Did the name “Rakhine” exist in the history? British have recorded Muslims in Arakan as Mohammedans or Chittagonians. So, British were right to do so. What term did British use for the Buddhists in Arakan? Rakhine? Obviously not! If yes, is there any evidence for the fact that British referred Buddhists in Arakan as Rakhines? British were right and honest because they referred Muslims in Arakan as Mohammedans or Chittagonians. The same British were wrong and dishonest because they referred Buddhists in Arakan as “MAGHS.” Why double standard? 

Yet, the use of the term “Rohingya” in the form “Rooinga” existed in 17th century. A dialect was spoken by Muslims in Arakan of Western Burma who had long been settled in Arakan and who called themselves “Rooinga” or “Natives” of Arakan. (Buchanan, 1799) The document can be reached at here

Besides, the word "Rohingya" might be a slight variation of the word "Ruahonga" (in Rakhine meaning "from old village") because the place where Rohingyas used to live was called Ruahong. Rohingyas have the habit of calling someone by the place name where they live. For example, if somebody is from Man-Aung, he will be called as Man-Aunggya, if from RatheThaung, then RatheThaungya and if from ButhiTaung, then Buthi-Thaungya etc. The word Rohingya has formed exactly the way Rakhine has formed from Rakkhasha. 


Allegation #2 


Rohingyas can’t be nationals of Burma because they don’t look like other ethnic minorities of Burma but look like Bengalis or Indians. 


Refutation 


Bangladesh, today’s India, Pakistan, Nepal etc were one nation or empire used to be ruled by same rulers in the history. People in all these countries are generally called Indians or South Asians. People in these nations are mainly of two human stocks, Indo-Aryans and Dravidians, which can hardly be differentiated. Similarly, according to historians, Chittagong region of Bangladesh and Arakan region of Burma were once one nation used to be ruled by the same rulers. Dating back to before Christian (BC) era, there have been highly Indian influences on Arakan religiously, racially and culturally. It can’t, further, be denied by anyone that the earliest Kingdoms of Arakan such as Dhannyawadi and Vaisali were founded by Indians whose Kings had the titles of Gupta and Chandra respectively. 

Indo-Aryan people have been living in Arakan since B.C. 3323. (San-Kyaw-Tun-(Mahawizza), 2010) Who were these Indo-Aryans? Were not they forefathers of the people called Rohingya today? Are Rakhines descendants of Indo-Aryan race? In which group of human stocks did Rakhines fall, Indo-Aryan or Mongoloid? Think and answer! 

Put aside both religions, Islam and Buddhism, and both names, Rakhine and Rohingya for a while. Let us put some logical arguments. Everyone will agree if we say that there were the periods called Dhannyawadi and Vesali in the history of Arakan. No one will deny this. OK, then. Can anybody tell us that the kings or rulers in these two historical periods, which dated back to more than 2000 years, belonged to which stocks of human race, Indo-Aryan (i.e. Indian-look-alike people) or Mongoloid (Mongolian look-alike people)? What are the meanings of terms Dhannyawadi and Vesali (Vaishali)? From which language these terms were derived from? In which stock of human race did Siddartha Gautama Buddha and most of earliest followers, because of whom Buddhism had spread throughout the region, belong to? 

In Arakan history, there were a people called Rakkhasha (in Pali meaning Cannibals) who used to eat even human beings who are strangers to them. The word has varied through historical periods from Rakkhasha to Rakkha to Rakkuain now to Rakhine. According some other people, Rakhine was derived from Pali word Rakkhita (meaning people who look after and take care of their race). Yet, it doesn't matter to us. According to the historians, the place was called Rakkhapura (again in Pali). (Arakanland.com, 2012) Has the whole region of Arakan including Chittagong area been called so? Have the cannibals used to live throughout the whole region? 

How did these Rakkhasha people look alike, mongoloid, aryan, caucasians, negroid? Why was a Pali word "Rakkhasha" used to address cannibals? Who named these cannibals as Rakkhasha by using a Pali word? Weren’t there be a parallel people to Rakkasha, who named them so using Pali word? Or have they named them "Rakkhasha" (cannibals) by theirselves using a Pali word? Was Pali the language of cannibals? Wasn't Pali an Indian literature and language? Isn't it originated to India? Arakan was the name of a land, not that of people or race. The word Arakan is the plural form of the Arabic word "Rukn" as well. But I don't mean that Arakan was derived from the Arabic word. It might or might not be. 



Mohammed Sheikh Anwar is an activist, studying Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies at Westminster International College in Malaysia.


In Myanmar, government backed Buddhists keep burning Muslim villages and destroying their mosques, Press TVreports.

Press TV has a conducted an interview with a Press TV correspondent in Rakhine State of Myanmar to further discuss the issue.

Press TV: First of all tell us what you have been seeing there where you are. Of course the reports that we are getting about villages being burned down, mosques being burned down exclusively what you have been telling us from what you have been seeing on the ground, so do tell us the details?

Press TV reporter: Well essentially I want to tell you about these camps. I went to a camp this morning where about 40,000 people were injured. Now, there is enough food in this camp, enough food to survive, but they are very low on medical supplies. One man there since the camp started 40 days ago has seen that many children have died from preventable diseases since the camp started. I saw one child in very bad condition. He was ill from diarrhea-related illness, now he is being carried by his father and he is unable to walk.


So the situation is pretty dire in this camp particularly with the lack of medical supplies. We have to also remember that this camp that I was allowed to get into is probably one of the best camps in one of the best conditions. The Turkish ambassador was allowed in yesterday and there was also the vice president of Indonesia and some UN organizations allowed in today.
So the military is very tightly controlling what they and we are allowed to see... In other camps which are there many, tens of thousands of course Muslims that have been displaced - In these other camps the conditions are far, far worse.

In regards to the violence, you were talking about the violence... Inside this camp ... (lost connection)

Press TV: You have also been telling us that only 6,000 out of 70,000 Muslims who were in the city of Sittwe remain there. Tell us what happened to the rest of them?

Press TV reporter: Well, there were 70,000 Muslims that used to be here, now 6,000 remain. In no uncertain terms this is ethnic cleansing. I’ve seen the villages that have been burnt myself; they’ve been completely razed to the ground - we’re talking about a square kilometer of villages. A number of pieces of land, a square kilometer I can see have been completely destroyed by the military, by the government as well as the police together, burn down villages...


AHK/SC/JR

The ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is one of the key issues to be discussed at the Islamic solidarity summit convened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in Makkah on Aug. 14-15.

With just two days to go for the conclave of the world’s most important Muslim leaders in the most holy city, pressure is mounting on Myanmar’s military junta to allow international and Islamic relief agencies access to the besieged Muslim population of the Arakan province.

Two important delegations to Myanmar — one led by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the other by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation — this week have revealed signs of panic and desperation among the junta’s top leadership.

“They have been caught out and have now realized that what they have done to Rohingya Muslims constitutes a war crime,” one of the diplomats at the Jeddah-based OIC told Arab News.

“There is no doubt that the state was and possibly still is involved in the planned pogrom of Arakan Muslims, and they are now trying to reach out to the Muslim world to lessen the impact of the expected robust and unified Muslim response at the Makkah summit,” he said.

Besides Davutoglu, the Turkish delegation included Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s wife Emine and daughter Sumeyye. The delegation called on Myanmar President U Thein Sein and Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and visited Rohingya Muslims staying in the Banduba refugee camp where more than 8,500 Rohingya Muslims have taken shelter.

The delegates received a first-hand account of what exactly happened to the Rohingya Muslims. They talked to a number of victims, and at one point, according to reports in the Turkish media, the prime minister’s wife was reduced to tears while listening an account being recounted by an affected Rohingya Muslim woman.

Davutoglu later told journalists that he would present his findings to the Muslim leaders at the Makkah summit. His findings will hold the key to the future course of action from the Muslim world at the summit.

According to a top Jeddah-based diplomat, there are a number of measures that the Muslim world can think of against Myanmar.

“We can haul the country’s top military leadership, including President Thein Sein and the Arakan provincial head, to the International Court of Justice in The Hague and try them like Solobodan Milosevic and other Serbian leadership,” he said. “Among the other viable options are that of approaching the UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council.”

The diplomat also hinted at pressurizing and persuading the world’s leading powers to constitute an international peace-keeping force to save the Rohingya Muslims from being obliterated and uprooted from their historic homeland.

The OIC delegation to Myanmar was headed by former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Among others, it included OIC Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Atta Manan Bakhiet and presidents of the Qatari Red Crescent and Kuwaiti International Humanitarian Commission.

The OIC delegates conveyed to President Thein Sein of the outrage in the Muslim world at the deplorable humanitarian conditions in the Arakan province of Myanmar.

The delegation asked for access to Muslim humanitarian organizations to provide emergency aid to inhabitants of the worst-hit Arakan province “without any religious discrimination.”

According to a press note issued by the OIC yesterday, Myanmar president welcomed the OIC delegation and stated that that what had happened was not a direct result of religious differences. Instead, he blamed the massacre on what he called as “social problems between various ethnicities in the province.”

Thein Sein pointed out to the OIC delegates that the international media distorted the events and presented wrong information and exaggerated the killings.

“President Thein Sein stressed his eagerness for the Muslim world in particular to know the truth about what occurred in Arakan, and he mentioned that he had sent an invitation to OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu recently to visit Myanmar to observe the real situation in the affected province,” said the OIC press note.


The president welcomed the OIC humanitarian delegation to Arakan and agreed to allow the OIC and its partner organizations to provide humanitarian aid to the province in an urgent manner and to open an office in the region in coordination with the central government in Yangon and the local authorities in the province.

He instructed the relevant ministries to sign an agreement with the OIC to complete the arrangements.


Sources Here



    • Rohingya Exodus