Rakhine terrorists are starting to kill Rohingyas in Akyab

Sittew , 12-10-2012 ,Rakhine terrorists including Rakhine monks, Rakhine paramilitaries and Rakhine polices have surrounded the Rohingyas in Maulik and Kasit of Akyab downtown since the evening. Rohingyas from the Maulik, run to Kasit Ywa where Rohingya majority live. Htin Linn, Minister of Border Affairs of Arakan said that there no enough militaries to protect Rohingyas from the big amount of Rakhine terrorists. It is crystal clear that Myanmar Central Government’s administration doesn’t enforce over the Rakhine State and Rakhine terrorists. Rakhine-Rohingya violence is not incident. It is a systematic preplanned ethnic cleansing. International Communities failed to protect the world’s most persecuted community, Rohingya.



 


Rohingya Activist

RB News Desk

DHAKA, 12 October 2012 (IRIN) - Activists warn of further restrictions on Rohingya refugees in southeastern Bangladesh following recent communal violence.

“Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh will likely face more restrictions on their movement or arrests and push-backs,” Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, an advocacy organization for the Rohingya, told IRIN on 12 October.

“We are seeing examples of that already on the ground.”

“Refugees International is concerned about the talk of further restrictions being imposed on Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar District of Bangladesh,” said Melanie Teff, a senior advocate with Refugees International.

The Rohingya - an ethnic, linguistic and religious minority who fled persecution en masse from Myanmar’s neighbouring Rakhine State decades ago - have long had a tenuous relationship with the Bangladeshi authorities who view them as illegal migrants.

Under Burmese law, they are de jure stateless and face constant persecution, say activists, while in Bangladesh they are barred from employment.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are more than 200,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh today, including more than 30,000 documented refugees living in two government-run camps [Kutupalong and Nayapara] within 2km of the Burmese border.

UNHCR has not been permitted to register newly arriving Rohingya since mid-1992. The vast majority of Rohingya are living in villages and towns in the area and receive little to no assistance as UNHCR is only allowed to assist those who are documented.

Blame game

On 1 October, Bangladesh Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir accused the Rohingya of involvement in a series of attacks on minority Buddhist temples and homes in the southeast.

The violence was reportedly triggered by a photo posted on Facebook that insulted Islam at the end of September, resulting in some of the worst sectarian violence in Bangladesh in years.

Thousands of Muslims went on the rampage in predominately Buddhist areas, setting ablaze temples and monasteries, resulting in dozens of homes burned.

"The attacks on temples and houses in Buddhist localities in Ramu and neighbouring areas in Cox's Bazar (district) were perpetrated by radical Islamists," the minister told reporters.

"Rohingyas and political opponents of the government were also involved in the attack,” he added, describing the incident as a "premeditated and deliberate attempt" to disrupt communal harmony.

Recent violence in Rakhine State has displaced thousands
Following the violence, law enforcement agencies were instructed to restrict the movement of Rohingya refugees and curb their interactions with the local community - a move confirmed by refugees on the ground.

“New check posts were established and we are facing abnormal restriction after the Ramu incident,” a 20-year-old Rohingya youth, who asked not to be identified, told IRIN by phone.

Impact in Myanmar

The impact of these events in Myanmar is also a concern. “What’s happening in Bangladesh will only exacerbate communal tension inside Rakhine State,” Lewa said.

In June 2012 violence flared in Rakhine State forcing tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee both within Myanmar and across the border.

According to Myanmar government estimates, more than 70,000 people are now living in temporary camps and shelters following inter-communal conflict.

Of particular concern is forced segregation and protracted displacement in the state capital, Sittwe, where Rohingya who lost their homes in the violence have been moved into camps, says Refugees International.

Despite repeated advocacy efforts by UNHCR, civil society and the diplomatic community, Bangladesh decided to close its borders to persons fleeing the country.

Those who managed to make it to Bangladesh were rounded up and sent back. However, there are no reliable figures on the number of arrivals and the number refouled.

Bangladesh is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.

 

Sources Here:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Deputy Secretary of State William Burns will visit Myanmar next week during a five-country TRIP to Asia

Burns will arrive in Myanmar next Wednesday and will meet with President Thein Sein, members of his government, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It will be the highest-level U.S. official visit to the country also known as Burma since Hillary Rodham Clinton in December became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit in more than 50 years.

The U.S. has since rolled back sanctions in response to democratic reforms in the military-dominated country. In the latest step, President Barack Obama on Wednesday authorized U.S. support for international development banks toRESTART lending to Myanmar.

Before Myanmar, Burns will travel to Japan and South Korea. He will also visit India.

Sources Here:

President Barack Obama’s administration has moved to further ease sanctions on the Burmese government, easing a ban on imports,

Washington’s decision to ease a ban on imports from Myanmar won praise Thursday in the emerging Southeast Asian democracy, with a government official giving credit to both the country’s reformist president and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

This comes at a time when the Rohingya Muslims, considered one of the most oppressed peoples in the world are continuing to face daily violence.

Anti-Rohingya protests have been continuous in Western Burma, with the past several weeks seeing a wave of fresh protests and violence. Most significantly there are conflicting reports about which mosque was burnt down in Sittwe on Sunday, some reports say it was the 800 year old “Sawduro Bor Masjid” that was torched and burned to the ground while other sources are reporting that it was the 150 year old main mosque known as Jame-Mosque. The West-Burma-Bangladesh region is becoming increasingly unstable, as we are also now witnessing for the first time reprisal attacks in Bangladesh against Buddhists, fostering a dangerous climate that has the potential to become an unspeakable nightmarish zone of violence,

YANGON: Hundreds of Buddhist women protested on Wednesday in western Myanmar against the presence of stateless Rohingya Muslims in the violence-hit region, an organiser said.

The demonstrators urged the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to stop its assistance to Rohingya in Rakhine state, where tensions have been running high since deadly Buddhist-Muslim clashes broke out in June.

“We protested against the OIC and also Bengalis as we don’t want them on our soil,” organiser Nyo Aye told AFP by telephone from the state capital Sittwe.

Myanmar’s estimated 800,000 Rohingya are viewed as illegal immigrants by the government and by many Burmese, who refer to them as Bengalis.

The rally came a day after hundreds of monks took to the streets of Sittwe to protest against local Muslims and the OIC’s activities.

The tensions in Rakhine have spread to neighbouring Bangladesh, where police said last week they had arrested nearly 300 people in connection with a wave of violence targeting Buddhist homes and temples. afp

The Obama administration’s easing of sanctions on the Burmese government also comes at a time in which Human Rights researchers and activists are warning about the “permanent segregation of Rohingyas,” who are being herded into “temporary” refugee camps,

Following sectarian violence in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in June, human rights researchers are now warning that the government appears to be attempting to permanently house parts of the stateless Muslim-minority Rohingya in “temporary” refugee camps, segregating them from the rest of the population.

“There has been no acknowledgement that people have to go home eventually – the solution appears to be that the Rohingya can simply live where they have come to be,” John Sifton, with Human Rights Watch (which released a related report in August), said in Washington on Tuesday. “Segregation has become the status quo.”

Aung Aung Oo, a Burmese national who has been reporting on the Rohingya crises since June for Salem-News discusses what it will take to restore communal harmony between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, a harmony that existed for centuries,

To maintain communal harmony between these two ethnic groups, the restoration of the Rohingya’s rights is essential. Without it, the very idea of a peaceful community might be a legend.

The restoration of Rohingyan rights, i.e. citizenship is a fact which US deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration has echoed as well in a speech to the Open Society Foundation and Refugree International, essentially saying that, ‘the lack of citizenship must be addressed for any long-term solution to the distress in the Rohingya community to dissipate.’

Sources Here:

Kelly Clements

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

Open Society Foundation and Refugees International

Washington, DC

October 9, 2012

Thank you, Anne. First obviously, I want to thank very much Refugees International and the Open Society Foundations for hosting this event abut shining a spotlight for many years on the issue of statelessness and challenges faced by the Rohingya. You have helped focus the world’s attention on these serious issues. We also commend the dedicated Greg Constantine for his moving photographs that successfully tell the stories of stateless people living on the margins of society.

But before talking about the Rohingya – and I am going to use that pronunciation, I realize that in Bangladesh one says Rohing-GA and in Burma one says Rohing-ZHA, but because my experience is deeper in Bangladesh, I will stay with that one. Let’s review why the lack of citizenship is at the root of solving the vexing problem of statelessness that affects 12 million people worldwide.

Citizenship is a core concept that defines the relationship between a state and an individual – each has obligations to the other. Citizenship is often the gateway to a person’s ability to realize a range of human rights and basic services, including freedom of movement, freedom from discrimination, arbitrary arrest and detention, the right to vote, access to education, and property ownership. The former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Earl Warren, described citizenship as “the right to have rights.”

Stateless persons are not recognized as citizens by any state, and as a result, stateless persons lack identity basic protections that come with this status. They typically do not have identity documentation, and cannot register births, marriages, or deaths. Without such documentation, they often cannot work legally or travel freely. They cannot vote, open a bank account, or own property, and they often lack access to health care and other public services. Without birth registration or citizenship documents, children are often barred from attending school. For these reasons, stateless persons are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, including gender-based violence, trafficking in persons, and arbitrary arrest and detention.

Combating statelessness requires first that governments, civil society groups, and international, regional, and local organizations recognize the problem, its causes, and the suffering and indignities it inflicts on millions of people around the world. This is an under-recognized problem. But recognition is not enough – governments around the world must take strong action to address this eminently solvable problem for millions of disenfranchised and vulnerable people.

The U.S. Government understands the need to take strong action to combat statelessness and we are doing so both through our diplomatic policy engagement and our financial support to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the international organization mandated to prevent and reduce statelessness. The United States is the single largest donor to UNHCR, as many of you know. This year, the United States contributed over $775 million to UNHCR’s work on protection, assistance, and statelessness.

But let’s return to the topic of our efforts on behalf of the Rohingya, rendered stateless as a result of the 1982 Myanmar Citizenship Law. The Rohingya’s ethnic identity and origin are highly disputed. While some historical accounts note that they are indigenous to the kingdom of Arakan since the 9th century, which at times, also occupied southern parts of modern Bangladesh; others claim that Rohingya migrated to the region during British colonialism. This latter claim has consistently fueled anti-Rohingya sentiment, leading to periodic tension and violence against the Rohingya by the former military regime after Burma gained independence.

It’s fair to say that the Rohingya are the reason I remain a public servant with the Department of State for over 22 years. Back in 1992 as a quarter of a million Rohingya were fleeing to Bangladesh, I was seconded to UNHCR and served as a protection officer in the camps in Cox’s Bazar, hearing first hand many of their stories. It was a transformative experience for me, as the government of Bangladesh --with strong support from the international community, including UNHCR -- worked feverishly to protect this disenfranchised group.

But it’s now 20 years later, and Bangladesh remains host to some 30,000 registered Rohingya from that wave of displacement. In addition, some 200,000-plus Rohingya have since sought safety and protection in Bangladesh, but remain undocumented. We have urged the government of Bangladesh to register this population and improve their living conditions, as well as those of the Bangladeshi community that hosts them. The needs continue to be great in the Cox’s Bazar district, one of the poorest in the country. Bangladesh is not alone in addressing these needs. The United States has remained steadfast supporters of continued assistance to Bangladesh through international and non-governmental humanitarian organizations and development partners, especially in the areas of health, water and sanitation, food security, and education. We have long advocated for protection for vulnerable Rohingya and will continue to do so.

But we have not had a singular focus on Bangladesh. Over the years, the U.S. Government has also supported UNHCR’s activities in Burma. UNHCR has worked with the Burmese government to provide identification documents to the Rohingya and improve their legal status and access to services. UNHCR programs have helped improve community participation, especially, but not exclusively, of Muslim women and girls, in decisions on education and reproductive health services. We have been vocal advocates on status and documentation issues. And additionally, our policy has aimed to ensure that the Rohingya benefit from improvements in services for healthcare, education, water, sanitation, and agriculture.

I am proud of the fact that we have and will continue to support humanitarian protection and assistance to the Rohingya in Burma, Bangladesh, Malaysia and elsewhere in the region by working closely with the international community and countries affected by Rohingya displacement to reach a comprehensive, sustainable, and just solution to their plight.

As you know, the Department of State has been a very strong advocate for national reconciliation as Burma undertakes democratic and political reform. And just to outline briefly: in an effort to address one of the most intractable and difficult ethnic minority issues, made all the more challenging following the June 2012 eruption of violence between Rohingya and Rakhine communities in Rakhine State, Secretary Clinton dispatched a delegation of senior U.S. Government officials to visit Burma and Bangladesh. We assessed conditions and made initial recommendations after speaking with government officials, local communities, civil society, and international and non-governmental organizations. The trip included field visits to both sides of the border.

Throughout the trip, each of us brought his or her expertise to bear on the situation. And I’ll review who was on the delegation in a little bit more detail than Anne described in her opening: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joe Yun from EAP. He offered perspective on Burma’s attempts to balance domestic priorities with its broader reform efforts, while DAS Alyssa Ayres from the South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau offered neighboring Bangladesh’s perspective. DAS Dan Baer from the Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Bureau emphasized the human rights perspective and importance of reconciliation. And I addressed the broader displacement and protection perspectives, along with the relationship with international and non-governmental humanitarian organizations. In both countries, we benefited from the expertise of very strong ambassadors and USAID teams.

Approximately 800,000 stateless Rohingya live in a region that has experienced significant displacement and periodic violence over recent decades. During the Burma portion of our trip, we focused specifically on the challenges resulting from the aftermath of the June violence. Much needs to be done: to reduce tensions, to improve the humanitarian situation, and to work towards a sustainable and just solution for all those who have suffered from the conflict and longer-term deprivation of rights. Some of the tough issues to be addressed include lasting security and stability, freedom of movement for Rakhine and Rohingya, protection (and when I say protection, including the provision of physical security and basic rights), and unimpeded humanitarian access and assistance to meet basic immediate needs. We explored how the international community can assist the Burmese government in long-term recovery efforts and the development of a path to citizenship for those Rohingya with claims. Peace is possible in Rakhine State only through economic development, poverty alleviation and ensuring basic rights for residents.

At the same time as the Burmese government works to address the underlying causes of ethnic conflict, we believe a regional approach is necessary to address mixed flows of refugees and migrants by land and sea and ensure that those fleeing are treated humanely. In this regard, we traveled to Bangladesh, where we met with senior government officials and the diplomatic community in Dhaka and traveled to Cox’s Bazar to meet with local authorities, host communities, Rohingya, UNHCR, and international NGOs.

Sadly, solutions to this protracted displacement appear increasingly elusive. I noticed a definite increase in tension and desperation since my last trip in 2011, and an escalation in humanitarian need. School enrollment is down as parents pull children from classes to become income earners, and malnutrition rates exceed emergency levels and continue to rise. Unfortunately, at the same time, organizations are facing greater obstacles to help ameliorate the situation. In our field visits to the official camps, refugees demonstrated for the right to nationality, highlighted human rights violations, and advocated for more services and education for their children. Outside the camps, the undocumented Rohingya population suffers even more without access to school, health care or decent shelter.

Fortunately, fantastic partners are committed to bettering the lives of this disenfranchised group, and humanitarian assistance provided by the U.S. Government and the international community is making a life-saving difference. Thanks to advocates such as RI, OSF, Human Rights Watch, and photographers like Greg Constantine, the Rohingya are no longer invisible and their stories are being told.

While raising international awareness is important to improving the lives of the Rohingya, we will continue to work closely with the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh and the international community to deepen the commitment to national and regional dialogues. Our commitment to resolving this intractable problem is clear. Personally, I just hope that it doesn’t take another 20 years to find that comprehensive, sustainable, and just solution.

Thank you.

Rohingyas living in Europe gather and held a meeting (convention) on October 6-7, 2012 in Esbjerg, Denmark where the Rohingyas formed “European Rohingya Council (ERC)", Rohingyas from different European countries gather and meeting to formed ERC.

“The participated of meeting – Rohingyas- are living most of the European countries.”

“The delegates – Rohingyas- came up with various ideas and proposals and unanimously agreed to form a Europe-wide Rohingya organization in order to strive for the cause of Rohingya minority that is on the verge of extermination from the Arakan State, Burma.”

More than one hundred young generations with vision, passion, solidarity, hope, unity and perseverance finally decided to form an umbrella organization with the name of “The European Rohingya Council (ERC)”, according to ERC statement.

The Rohingyas from European countries agreed to establish ERC with following objectives ;

1. To seek permanent political & social solution to the problems faced by Rohingyas. 

2. To strive for the restoration of our citizenship in Burma (Myanmar). 

3. To work hand in hand with other rohingya and non-rohingya organizations across the       world for the well-being of Rohingyas both in Arakan and around the world. 

4. To put pressure on the Burmese regime through European governments and NGOs to immediately cease the ongoing program of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya minority. 5. To bring criminals committed recent genocide against the Rohingya to the international criminal court of justice.

Convention has elected Chairman, vice-Chairman, Secretary General, a council comprising 12 members, 8 secretariats and an advisory board for a one-year term .

 

European Rohingyas gather to held a meeting in Esbjerg, Denmark Khairul Amin (Norway) is appointed Chairman, U Hla Tin (Denmark) is vice-Chairman, Zakaria Abdur Rahim (Denmark) is Secretary General and Zahedul Hauqe (Netherland) is Secretary General No. 2. 

 

RB News Desk.

More than 500 Arakanese Buddhist women took to the streets of Sittwe on Wednesday to protest the government decision to allow the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to open an aid office in Arakan State.

A spokesperson for the OIC, however, told The Irrawaddy that the office was not intended as a flagship for the Rohingya cause, and that it would provide humanitarian aid to both Buddhist and Muslim communities in the form of food and shelter.

Dr. Aye Maung, the chairman of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), said that his party would accept all the help and humanitarian aid that was provided to those affected by the sectarian violence in the region. He stressed, however, that the RNDP objected to an OIC office in Arakan State capital Sittwe, and suggested that the group base its operations out of either Rangoon or Naypyidaw.

The 57-member OIC is a mostly Muslim bloc of nations which includes all the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia. It encompasses some 1.6 billion people worldwide.

The OIC signed an MoU with the Burmese government on Aug. 11 to permit the group to open an office for humanitarian purposes in Rangoon and Sittwe. A delegation from the OIC then traveled to Arakan State in September to inspect the aftermath of communal clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in the strife-torn region.

Approximately 200 women began demonstrating on Wednesday afternoon in central Sittwe wearing t-shirts with slogans reading “No OIC.” As the protest gained momentum, an estimated 300 more women joined in.

“We are protesting because we heard that the OIC is coming to our country. We do not want them based here,” said protester Nyo Aye.

She told The Irrawaddy that the Buddhist women demonstrators supported the 1982 Citizenship Law, which fails to recognize the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group of Burma.

“The Bengali Muslims [Rohingyas] are illegal immigrants,” she said. “They should be sent to other countries.”

The demonstration took place just a day after some 500 Buddhist monks held a similar protest in Sittwe in front of the Bangladeshi consulate. A spokesman for the monks said they were demanding that the Burmese government rescind its offer to the OIC to open an office in Arakan State, because it would be used only to support Muslim people.

The Buddhist monks also delivered a letter to the Bangladeshi consulate calling for Dhaka to investigate and take action against those who destroyed Buddhist temples and pagodas in southern Bangladesh recently.

On Monday, Buddhist monks held a demonstration outside the US embassy in Rangoon where they voiced similar sentiments and offered their condolences to the US for the death of its ambassador in Libya last month.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, prominent Buddhist monk Ashin Ottama, who led the protest in Sittwe, said, “We will not let the OIC open an office in Arakan State even if the government has already agreed it.”

A delegation from the OIC met with representatives of Burma’s Ministry of Border Affairs in Rangoon during the second week of September. According to Dina Madani of the Muslim Minorities and Communities Department at the OIC in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Burmese ministry agreed to cooperate with the OIC in its humanitarian role and in establishing offices in the country.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday from OIC headquarters in Jeddah, Ms. Madani said, “We are laying the groundwork to open our offices in Burma by cooperating with non-government organizations that deal with humanitarian affairs. We will hopefully open our offices soon.”

In response to a question about the protests by Rakhine women and Buddhist monks, Ms. Madani said, “That’s unfortunate. But it’s certain people’s opinion, not the Burmese government’s.

“The OIC is only coming [to Burma] for humanitarian affairs,” she said. “We will help both sides—Buddhist and Muslim. There should be no discrimination when it comes to humanitarian affairs.

“I wanted to tell them [the protesters] that we are reaching out to both societies. We want to be partners in peace-building and trust-building. We are not there to discriminate on whether they [partners] are Buddhist or Muslim.

“Without dialogue, there will be more conflict. I do not think the people want this,” she said.

In the meantime, RNDP Chairman Aye Maung said that his party would raise an objection in Parliament to the OIC offices.

He said that the Arakanese people would accept help and humanitarian aid “from any organization and from any country,” but that it was unnecessary for the OIC to open an office in the region.

“We are afraid that the OIC will influence religion and politics in Arakan State,” he said. “It could even threaten the rule of law in our country.”

He reiterated that his party and the majority of Rakhine Buddhists at large would not object if the OIC opened offices in Rangoon or Naypyidaw in coordination with other members of the international community.

 

Sources Here:

YANGON: Hundreds of Buddhist women protested Wednesday in western Myanmar against the presence of stateless Rohingya Muslims in the violence-hit region, an organiser said.




The demonstrators urged the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to stop its assistance to Rohingya in Rakhine state, where tensions have been running high since deadly Buddhist-Muslim clashes broke out in June.

“We protested against the OIC and also Bengalis as we don’t want them on our soil,” organiser Nyo Aye told AFP by telephone from the state capital Sittwe.

Myanmar’s estimated 800,000 Rohingya are viewed as illegal immigrants by the government and by many Burmese, who refer to them as Bengalis.

The rally came a day after hundreds of monks took to the streets of Sittwe to protest against local Muslims and the OIC’s activities.

The tensions in Rakhine have spread to neighbouring Bangladesh, where police said last week they had arrested nearly 300 people in connection with a wave of violence targeting Buddhist homes and temples.

Sources Here:

Wednesday, 10th October 2012 ,Kyauktaw, Arakan-

On 9th October 2012, two Rohingyas, father and son, were slaughtered reportedly by Rakhine extremists. They were from the village of Taung Taung in Kyauktaw Township. They went to a forest nearby a Rakhine village to get some bamboos. They were found slaughtered in the forest today with two bullet-hit injuries on the dead body of the father and five stabbed injuries on the dead body of the son. Rohingya villagers have filed the report to the nearest police station but no investigation is being carried out.

“A father and son from the village of Taung Taung in Kyauktaw Township went to a forest nearby a Rakhine village to get some bamboos yesterday. They didn’t come back and were missing all the night. So, the villagers started looking for them and they were found dead in the forest in a horrible situation. There were two bullet-hit injuries on the dead of the father and five stabbed injuries on the body of son. Report has been filed to the police stations. But no actions have been taken yet because to me, the killers can be none other than Rakhine extremist from the nearby village. The name of the father and the son are:

1) Khalu S/o Samad Age- 45 years (Father)

2) Bashir Ahmed Age- 22 years (son)

They were given Janaza and their bodies were buried today at 10AM today” said A. Rahim from Arakan.

While Burmese regime is lying to the world that the situation has become peaceful in Arakan, Rohingyas have been being killed in the hands of the authority and Rakhine extremists here and there on daily basis. For Rohingyas, Arakan has never become peaceful since last June and they are on the verge of extinction. Now President Thein Sein has been shortlisted in the final five candidates of Noble Prize for PEACE. It is a Peace that he has been acquiring by committing grave crimes against innocent Kachin civilians and isolated and innocent Rohingya community.

Compiled by M.S. Anwar

The Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy) has launched two separate relief funds to provide healthcare needs of the affected people in the areas.
Mercy president Datuk Dr Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus said the organisation is focused on reaching out to victims in Rakhine and Syrian refugees in Jordan.

“In Myanmar, communicable diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea, skin diseases and respiratory infections has become serious among the IDPs when paired with the heavy monsoon rain and crowded living conditions.

“The funds raised, therefore, will bring compelling changes to those who are in need of the assistance.

As of October 1, Mercy has distributed over 3,000 hygiene kits, 2,500 mosquito nets and basic primary healthcare worth USD 20,000 (RM61,500) which includes treatment for flu, fever, cough and malaria in the Sittwe region of Rakhine state.

Mercy projects that RM3.5 million will be needed to carry out basic medical services and reconstruction projects involving sanitation and latrine systems for a one year period.
Speaking at a press conference here today Dr Ahmad Faizal said Mercy wants to provide a better living conditions for people in both the Rakhine and Rohingya camps.

Another RM2 million would benefit Syrian refugees in Jordan for the upcoming winter season.

“An estimated 175,000 refugees will require winterisation kits (high thermal blankets, heaters, fleece jackets, socks, warm clothes, heating material and fuel) to assist with the winter preparations.

In addition, Dr Ahmad Faizal said basic medical supplies, vaccines and psychosocial support will be provided for the refugees within the community.

Concerned individuals and organisations could also do their part for this humanitarian cause by donating to www.mercy.org.my.

Sources Here:

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9, 2012): Desperation felt by ethnic Rohingyas from Myanmar's Rakhine state may breed elements of "extremism" within the community if neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, fail to offer assistance.

"I acknowledge that if no aid is given, there is a possibility that acts of terrorism may occur because they are oppressed.

"And if such acts were to take place, then the first countries to feel the impact would be neighbouring Asean countries," said Anifah, also in response to 17 other questions posed by the MPs on the same issue.

Global bodies including the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), of which Malaysia is a member, has kept a close watch on the plight of ethnic Rohingyas in the state, he added.

He said Malaysia has played its role through a contact group formed to discuss the issue.

"During the group's inaugural meeting in New York on Sept 26, Malaysia has suggested for humanitarian aid to not only be given to Muslims in Rakhine but also the Buddhist-Arakanese.

"We believe this would help to reduce ethnic tensions on both sides," he said, while stressing that Malaysia's stand on the issue is consistent with its "non-interference" foreign policy – acknowledging and respecting the sovereignty of another country.

A humanitarian mission led by Kelab Putra 1Malaysia has reportedly arrived in Rakhine earlier this month with 500 tonnes of provisions, including food and medical supplies.

Meanwhile, to a supplementary question from Datuk Ismail Abdul Muttalib (BN-Maran), Anifah said there are 98,787 political refugees registered in Malaysia as of Sept 1, from which 91,160 are from Myanmar.

Karen Arukesamy & Alyaa Alhadjri at the Dewan Rakyat

Sources Here:

WASHINGTON, Oct 9 2012 (IPS) - Following sectarian violence in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine in June, human rights researchers are now warning that the government appears to be attempting to permanently house parts of the stateless Muslim-minority Rohingya in “temporary” refugee camps, segregating them from the rest of the population.

“There has been no acknowledgement that people have to go home eventually – the solution appears to be that the Rohingya can simply live where they have come to be,” John Sifton, with Human Rights Watch (which released a related report in August), said in Washington on Tuesday. “Segregation has become the status quo.”

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is in the midst of a series of contested anti-authoritarian reforms following on decades of repression by the military government. Yet even as the country opens up bit by bit, socially ingrained ethnic and racial tensions are proving real impediments to the reforms process, with the Rohingya seen by many as an important test case.

Myanmar is dominated by state-backed Buddhism, which has traditionally allowed little room for other religions. This has been especially true of the long-persecuted Muslims of Rakhine, known as Rohingya, who had their citizenship revoked in the early 1980s on the suggestion that the community was made up of migrants from Bangladesh.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh, meanwhile, has allowed in tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees since that time. But in recent years the Dhaka government has moved to shut down its border to new asylum seekers from Myanmar, reportedly running afoul of international law in the process.

Although drawing on longstanding tensions, the immediate situation in Myanmar goes back to June, when a Rakhine woman was allegedly raped by three Rohingya youths. This incident led to two weeks of arson and communal violence that resulted in thousands of Rohingya homes being burned and close to 100,000 people, Rohingya and other Rakhine (also known as Arakan) communities, being forced to flee their communities.

In response, the government sent in troops to quell the violence – a highly charged move given the half-century of military oppression these communities have experienced. In the event, however, several reports have suggested that the soldiers acted relatively well, and since then many Rohingya have stated that they now feel safer in the presence of the military than with no protection at all.

The government has also created an investigative commission to look into what took place in Rakhine in June, which will soon be offering policy recommendations that could potentially include a path to citizenship for the Rohingya. While observers have praised the move, it is hard to overlook the fact that the commission includes no Rohingya members.

Re-integration and reconciliation

Following the June violence, the most significant move by the government has been to impose its writ on the situation.

First, it created separate refugee camps of dramatically differing quality, set up for Rohingya and for other Rakhine communities that have been rendered homeless. Second, it decisively took control over the northern section of Rakhine, refusing even to allow humanitarian access.

“For the Rohingya camps, there’s really no discussion about what’s next – everyone says it’s temporary, but no one’s talking about how to end it,” Sarnata Reynolds, a researcher with Refugees International who recently completed a month-long investigation in Rakhine, said Tuesday in a talk at the Washington office of the Open Society Foundations.

“Neither the absolute closure of northern Rakhine state nor the segregation of the Rohingya population in Sittwe (the capital of Rakhine) supports re-integration or reconciliation. So any good-faith effort needs to renew access to northern Rakhine state and offer a timeline that measures efforts towards integration and reconciliation.”

Meanwhile, the conditions in the Rohingya camps are “profoundly” different from those housing the Rakhine, Reynolds reports. First, there are infrastructural differences, with the Rohingya camps, estimated to be housing some 75,000, lacking adequate sanitation, humanitarian assistance and education facilities, unlike the Rakhine camps.

Second, while the government has situated the camps such that the Rakhine can continue to live in town while their homes are being rebuilt, the Rohingya have been moved outside of the city. Their homes are not being rebuilt, and the government has completely revoked their freedom of movement.

“That means they can’t work. The kids aren’t going to school; indeed, there’s almost no talk of school,” Reynolds says. “So there’s this strange situation where you have shelters that are looking more and more like permanent situations, but there’s a reluctance to build infrastructure – education or health care – for the Rohingya because there is the fear that will make it more permanent.”

Indeed, over and above the constraints that the Myanmar government has placed on humanitarian assistance in Rakhine, the major international donors have been notably hesitant to commit funds to the Rohingya refugee situation for fear that doing so will give the government’s “segregation” strategy a stamp of legitimacy.

This includes the United States, often one of the most significant funders in humanitarian emergencies.

“Right now there’s a policy of segregation in order to quell the tension and violence,” Kelly Clements, a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. State Department who participated in a major U.S. investigation into the Rakhine situation earlier this year, said on Tuesday.

“We (have) said that, for security reasons, one has to do what’s necessary. However, that should not be the medium- to longer-term solution to this particular problem.”

Some are worried that there doesn’t appear to be much planning taking place to help the Rohingya situation in the medium term either, and several groups are now calling on the United States to step up pressure on the Myanmar government to ensure that the focus will eventually move on to re-integration and reconciliation.

Perhaps most egregiously, recent events suggest that even the government’s draconian “segregation” measures have failed to stem the sectarian violence. On Sunday, the main mosque in Sittwe was attacked and torched, with an official investigation pending.

The tension has also spread across the border to Bangladesh, in what some analysts have suggested are retaliatory actions that indicate a new regional component to the ethnic strife. At least four Buddhist temples, including one Rakhine monastery, have been attacked over the past two weeks, reportedly as a result of anger over the recent months of anti-Rohingya violence in Myanmar.
Soureces Here:

The United States on Tuesday said it favored a “regional approach” to solving the Rohingya crisis that has rendered hundreds and thousands of Muslim people displaced and subjected to violence and human rights abuses over the past few decades.

“As the Burmese government works to address the underlying causes of ethnic conflict, we believe a regional approach is necessary to address mixed flows of refugees and migrants by land and sea, and ensure that those fleeing are treated humanely,” Kelly Clements, the Deputy-Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, said.

At a meeting of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation and Refugees International, a Washington-based think-tank, Clements, who recently travelled to the region as part of a US delegation, observed that solutions to this protracted displacement appear increasingly elusive.

“I noticed a definite increase in tension and desperation since my last trip in 2011, and an escalation in humanitarian need. School enrollment is down as parents pull children from classes to become income earners, and malnutrition rates exceed emergency levels and continue to rise,” she said.

“Unfortunately, at the same time, organizations are facing greater obstacles to help ameliorate the situation. In our field visits to the official camps, refugees demonstrated for the right to nationality, highlighted human rights violations, and advocated for more services and education for their children. Outside the camps, the undocumented Rohingya population suffers even more without access to school, health care or decent shelter,” Clements said.

While rising international awareness is important to improving the lives of the Rohingya, the US will continue to work closely with Burma, Bangladesh and the international community to deepen the commitment to national and regional dialogues, she said. “Our commitment to resolving this intractable problem is clear,” she said, adding that she hoped this would not take another 20 years.

Clements said during her recent trip to the region—which included Burma and Bangladesh—that the US delegation focused specifically on the challenges resulting from the aftermath of the June violence. According to the US official, much needs to be done: to reduce tensions, to improve the humanitarian situation, and to work toward a sustainable and just solution for all those who have suffered from the conflict and longer-term deprivation of rights.

Some of the tough issues to be addressed, she said, include: lasting security and stability; freedom of movement for both Rakhines and Rohingyas; protection; and unimpeded humanitarian access and assistance to meet basic immediate needs.

“We explored how the international community can assist the Burmese government in long-term recovery efforts and the development of a path to citizenship for those Rohingya with claims. Peace is possible in Rakhine State only through economic development, poverty alleviation and ensuring basic rights for residents,” she said.

The United States, she said, has been a very strong advocate for national reconciliation as Burma undertakes democratic and political reform.

Clements said the US has urged Bangladesh to register some 200,000 undocumented Rohingyas and improve their living conditions, as well as those of the Bangladeshi community that hosts them. “The needs continue to be great in the Cox’s Bazar district, one of the poorest in the country,” she said.

Sources Here:

M.S. Anwar
RB News
October 9, 2012

Maung Daw, Arakan - This morning (i.e. in the morning of 9th October 2012) at 10:30AM, Military surrounded the village of Fawdu Fara in the GawduSara Village Tract of southern Maung Daw and carried out massive atrocities against Rohingyas in the village. They looted and have taken away every movable goods and destroyed all the unmovable objects. Besides, they made all food rations especially Rice uneatable by either pouring kerosene and patrol on it or throwing it away on the ground.

“This morning around 8AM, about nine Rohingya boys aged between 12 and 17 from GawduSara went to a forest situated nearby a Rakhine village in order to cut or pick up grass for their cattle. Seeing them, Rakhine extremists from the village chased and tried to kill them. But fortunately, those young boys ran away to escape the deaths leaving their grass-cutters and grass behind. They managed to get back their homes through the village FawDu Fara. In their desperation of failing to kill the boys, Rakhine extremists reported to the military camp nearby the village that those boys were from Fawdu Fara and went to their (Rakhines’) village to kill their people.

Military, subsequently, surrounded the Rohingya village and carried out massive atrocities against Rohingya villagers. Most of Rohingya men managed to escape the arrests of Military, while five Rohingyas got caught and were severely tortured consequently. Later, they were taken to unknown locations. No news has been received regarding them since then. Those five unfortunate Rohingyas are:

(1) Mohammed Hussain S/o DuDu Meah 

(2) Khalu S/o Meah Hussain 

(3) Soyed Ahmed S/o Abdurrahman 

(4) Shuna Meah S/o Kazimullah 

(5) Mv. Yunus S/o Abu Bakr and all of them are in their thirties” reported by A. Rahim from Southern Maung Daw. No news of rape cases are reported yet.

As a matter of fact, Burmese government together has been continually carrying out atrocities not only against innocent Rohingyas but also against innocent Kachin civilians ignoring international calls and defying the international pressures. Yet, these famous criminals are hypocritically hero-worshipped by the western-capitalist nations to the extent that the criminal Thein Sein was short-listed as a candidate of Noble Prize for Peace. Meanwhile, thousands of people are being killed and their future is in limbo.

On 9th October, 2012, at around 10:30am, a group of police from Maungdaw Police Force arrested a Rohingya from Ward-3 (Mungala Fara), Maungdaw downtown. The police group was of four personnel, who are very famous in Maungdaw area for extorting and persecuting against Rohingya before and after the riot occurred in Maungdaw. In the group included Hla Myint as well. The arrestee is Abdu Munaf (F) U Fozol, 40 years, who professionally works for Maungdaw Court (Township) as an Interpreter and peon. As almost all the houses in Ward-3 (Mungala Fara) were looted and destroyed by terrorist Bengali Rakhine gang in cooperation with government security forces, the house of the said Rohingya was included automatically. He is temporarily staying in one of his relatives’ house in another village. He was arrested just because of his name included in the ‘Wanted List’ which was issued by the court meaninglessly. The court issued the list as per the submission of Police Force. In the list, there are many Rohingyas who were even not in Maungdaw on the day of violence. Astonishingly, some Rohingyas who had gone to Bangladesh legally with passport before the riot were included in the said ‘Wanted List’.

Sa Ra Pha (Military Intelligence) resumed extortion against Rohingyas

On 9th October, 2012, Sa Ra Pha arrested a Rohingya from Myoma Ka Nyin Tan (Shiddarr Fara), Maungdaw downtown. The arrestee was Mohammed Esurk (F) U Mohammed Sultan, 33 years, who sells a shop of bicycle spare parts near the Police Station. He was summoned by the said department through their informer. When the arrestee refused to be present to the department office, an officer from the said department came, arrested and brought him to the office. Finally, the arrestee was released after taking 2.5 lakhs of Kyats. Sa Ra Pha regularly does this kind of extortion against Rohingya community since their presence in Maungdaw after the dismissal of all National Investigation Bureau (NIB) throughout the country in 2004.


Complied by Rohingya Youths

RB News Desk.