PRESS RELEASE

NORTH AMERICAN ROHINGYA COMMUNITY CONGRATULATES U.S. SECRETARY OF STATES JOHN F. KERRY

On behalf of the Rohingya community in the United States and Canada, the Burmese Rohingya Association of North America wholeheartedly congratulates Senator John F. Kerry on the recent confirmation as the 68th Secretary of State at the U.S. Senate.

The Rohingya community in North America expresses its deepest gratitude to Secretary Kerry for his persistent efforts to help address the plights of Rohingya people in Burma/Myanmar along with the Rohingya refugee issues in Bangladesh during his tenure as the Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations. Rohingya people are grateful to the team of Senator Kerry at the Foreign Relations Committee for their dedication to the Rohingya issues, and BRANA is looking forward to work with the team to further advance the cause of Rohingya political and human rights in Burma.

BRANA has long maintained a strong working relationship with the U.S State Department under the leadership of former Secretary of States Hillary Rodham Clinton, and is looking forward to continue to work with the Burma team under the leadership of the Secretary Kerry. BRANA appeals to Secretary Kerry to continue to keep Rohingya citizenship, human rights, and ethnic minority issues as its top priorities on U.S. policies on Burma. BRANA believes that peace, stability, and communal harmony in Arakan/Rakhine state in Burma is achievable with the concerted efforts of the international community.

The Nation

February 4, 2013

The Rohingya immigrant issue is an internal affair of Myanmar, which Asean members should address on humanitarian grounds, former Association of Southeast Asian Nations secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday. 

At the root of the problem is the fact that Myanmar's constitution and internal laws do not recognise the Rohingya as citizens, he said. Other groups in Myanmar don't accept the Rohingya, who are based mainly in Rakhine and number about 800,000 in all, he said, adding: "This has to be dealt with gradually, as Myanmar authorities are worried about intervention from the outside world."

"The United Nations has been working on the Rohingya issue, but has to be careful in dealing with it, and Asean needs to address it, especially on humanitarian grounds," he said.

Surin was speaking at a school in Nakhon Si Thammarat run and sponsored by the Pitsuwan family. HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn made a private visit to the Ban Tal pondok school. Surin said the princess had sponsored 14 such schools in the South, including those located in the upper part of the region, where subjects were taught in Thai.

Meanwhile, another 145 Rohingya aboard a Malaysia-bound boat entered Thai waters off the Trang coast yesterday, before they were provided with fresh water and supplies and had their vessel towed out of Thai waters. Two of them are women and there were two children on board.

Marine Police said no arrests were made, because of insufficient shelter that would be needed to house them afterwards. The food supplies provided by the Red Cross included canned fish, omelettes and medical assistance were not provided despite many of them being exhausted and starving, after their fresh water and supplies run out two days ago.

Reporters complained about not being allowed to follow a police boat to cover the provision of supplies. Marine Police claimed that their presence would cause panic among the Rohingya.

AFP
February 3, 2013

Sri Lanka's navy on Sunday rescued 138 Bangladeshis and Myanmar nationals from a sinking fishing vessel off the island's east coast, officials said. 

One passenger was found dead while many of the 138 plucked from the boat were dehydrated, said navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya, adding that the vessel had been adrift for 10 days before it sank on Sunday. 

"We sent three ships for the rescue at a location 50 miles (80 kilometres) off the eastern coast of Akkaraipattu," Warnakulasuriya told AFP. "Some have been admitted to a local hospital." 

Police said 14 were Myanmar nationals while the others were Bangladeshis. 

Fifteen of the survivors, including two women and two children, were hospitalised with acute dehydration, police said in a statement. 

"We have difficulty in communicating with the survivors so we have asked the two embassies to send us translators," police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody told AFP. 

He said statements of survivors would be recorded and they would be moved to a temporary shelter in Colombo under judicial supervision. In the meantime, the authorities at Oluvil fishing harbour were giving them shelter. 

"We are certain that they were not trying to enter Sri Lanka, but their boat developed trouble in mid-sea and they drifted close to our shores," Jayakody said. 

The early-morning rescue came amid stepped up naval patrols to deter Sri Lankan fishing boats from taking would-be illegal immigrants to Australia. 

Authorities arrested more than 1,200 people trying to leave the island illegally last year. Many of those who make the perilous journey pay up to $3,000 for a place on trawlers run by people-smugglers. 

Warnakulasuriya said the passengers rescued on Sunday identified themselves as Bangladeshi and Myanmar nationals but it was not yet known where they came from or were headed. 

Reports from local fishermen alerted fishing authorities who in turn asked for help from the navy which mounted a 20-hour search and rescue operation, officials said. 

They said it was unclear if those identified as Myanmar nationals were Rohingya -- members of a stateless Muslim minority described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted groups -- who had fled Myanmar. 

An explosion of tensions between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Myanmar's western state of Rakhine since June 2012 has triggered an seaborne exodus of Rohingya. 

Thailand's navy blocked more than 200 Rohingya boat people from entering the kingdom late last month as part of a new policy, under which they will be given food and water but barred from landing if their boat is seaworthy.

RB News

February 3, 2013

The Director General of Arakan Rohingya Union, Prof. Dr. Wakar Uddin, met with Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan, Honorable Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi, and discussed a wide range of political, human right, and humanitarian issues facing Rohingya ethnic minority in Arakan state in Burma/Myanmar. 

Dr. Uddin provided detailed accounts of the recent violence by Buddhist Rakhine against Rohingya ethnic minority in several areas in Arakan, and current status on these issues. Dr. Uddin explained the humanitarian crisis faced by over 120,000 Rohingya IDPs (internally displaced persons) in various camps in Arakan, ranging from health issues, food/water crisis, lack of protection for women in camps, and various problems faced by Rohingya families in many villages. 

“There is ample aid and support for the victims from international communities; however, the aid groups can not get access to all areas for various number of reasons” Dr. Uddin said. “We appeal to Myanmar Government to give the international community free access to all the affected areas, and security for the international teams must be provided by Myanmar Government” Dr. Uddin added. 

Answering questions from the Deputy Prime Minister about the root cause of the problem, Dr. Uddin explained multiple causes ranging from historical perspective, emerging Rakhine racist ideology, to longstanding and contemporary government policies against Rohingya ethnic minority in Arakan. Dr. Uddin also provided details of the mission of Arakan Rohingya Union, and the advances it has made since its formation under the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2011. 

The Deputy Prime Minister told the Director General that his team in Pakistan is well aware of ARU’s diplomatic activities at OIC, United Nations, and in various countries in Europe, Asia, United States, and Canada. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the importance of diplomacy and encouraged the Director General to continue ARU’s diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful resolution for Rohingya people in Arakan. The Deputy Prime Minister assured Dr. Uddin that the people of Pakistan will continue to stand by the Rohingyas in their quest for reclaiming their rights in their homeland.

Bangkok Post

February 3, 2013

About 145 Rohingya boat people were found crammed inside a vessel without food or water for 48 hours off Mook island in Trang's Sikao district on Sunday. 

The refugees told authorities that they were headed to Malaysia but their food and water had run out before they reached shore. Feeling exhausted and fatigued from hunger, they then decided to float their vessel off Mook island in the hope of being able to ask for food and water from the locals before they would go on, Pol Col Arthit Damsanit, chief of Marine Police Division 9, said. 

Of the 145 Rohingya, there were two women and two children, he said. 

Tourist boat operators spotted the vessel in the sea off Park Meng beach in tambon Mai Fard and informed the authorities. 

A combined team of marine police and Red Cross officials descended on the boat and provided basic humanitarian aid by giving them food supplies. Officials did not arrest them or bring them ashore because of lack of sheltering facilities. They only pressured them to stay out of Thai territorial waters, Pol Col Arthist said. 

About 1,700 Rohingya illegal migrants have been rounded up since early January. Thailand has provided them with food and water on humanitarian grounds. 

The Muslim Rohingya are a minority group in Myanmar's Rakhine state and claim they are fleeing violent persecution.

February 1, 2013 

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME 

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-013-2013 

01 February 2013

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BURMA: Islamic community leader unfairly tried and imprisoned over communal violence 

ISSUES: Arbitrary arrest and detention; administration of justice; state of emergency

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Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received detailed information concerning the case of a prominent retired medical doctor and Islamic community leader in the west of Burma imprisoned for allegedly sending news abroad about the first wave of violence in his town during mid-2012. Border security personnel detained Dr Tun Aung in June and accused him not only of sending news but failing to notify them of events that would lead to violence, even though he had reportedly put his own life at risk to stop the violence from occurring. A court in November sentenced Dr Tun Aung to 11 years in jail in a patently unfair trial. He is currently imprisoned and suffering from serious health conditions that require specialist treatment but have so far gone unattended. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

On 8 June 2012, communal violence flared in Maungdaw, on the border of Bangladesh and Burma. Dr Tun Aung, also known as Nurul Haque, a respected community leader and member of the district Islamic council, had in the days before hand work with other local leaders in trying to negotiate between officials and angered youths in their community, so as to prevent violence. For this he had reportedly incurred the anger of some sectors of his own community because he had attended meetings with the administrative and security authorities on how to deal with tensions. On June 5, less than a week before his arrest, he had addressed Muslims at the main mosque and an Islamic school to convey information about events in accordance with responsibilities assigned to him by the local authorities.

After the violence flared, a local member of parliament called Dr Tun Aung to come and help to try to calm the crowds. At personal risk he came to the site but local police with whom he worked told him to leave the area because he was in danger. He and his family fled for safety at the compound of an international organisation. His family members later continued on to another part of the country, but Dr Tun Aung reportedly himself contacted the authorities to ask for a security detail so he could return to his residence. 

Instead of taking him home, security personnel in Maungdaw brought Dr Tun Aung to the headquarters of a special border security force, NaSaKa, on June 11. They confiscated a laptop (which was not his) and two mobile phones and took him into custody. They accused him of sending information abroad about violence in preceding days, of provoking communal violence, and of not having informed them of a mourning procession for ten Muslims killed, despite his having known about it prior to its occurrence. They sent him to the regional army headquarters for further questioning and then on to the prison in another district, where he was held for trial. Throughout this time he was held incommunicado, without access to family—some of whom had also been arrested—and others who could give assistance. 

The trial was patently unfair. Dr Tun Aung had no lawyer to defend him and had no witnesses in his defence, since the trial was held too far away and at a time that the state was under emergency regulations, making travel difficult and conditions fearful. Nearly all of the witnesses for the prosecution were security personnel whose evidence consisted almost entirely of oral depositions. No substantive material evidence was brought against the detainee, yet he was convicted of a series of charges and sentenced to 11 years in jail. He is currently detained in prison. 

For additional details, please see the sample letter below. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 

Dr Tun Aung is an elderly man with a history of poor health in recent years. He has undergone surgery for his enlarged pituitary tumor twice (in 1998 and 2005). The condition is chronic, so, he has to have constant medication and a regular check ups that can only be done at a hospital with a well-equipped laboratory and head scanner or magnetic resonant imaging machine. He has also lost his peripheral visions in both eyes due to pressure from the tumor. Due to medication, he has suffered from varicose veins and he underwent surgery to his left thigh and leg in 2011. The same surgery for his right leg was due in December 2012, but because of imprisonment it could not be conducted. He also suffers from other side effects, such as reduced immunity. Given that prison conditions in Myanmar are often extremely bad, and that many persons have died in custody or after release due to illnesses left untreated while in prison, his situation in prison is extremely precarious and calls for urgent intervention on grounds of health alone. 

Dr Tun Aung ran for parliament in the 1990 election the results of which a military government refused to recognize as a mandate to govern, obtaining over 41 per cent of the vote in the Maungdaw electorate. He is a graduate of Mandalay University with a degree in medicine, and a well-known and longstanding respected member of his community who over the years has participated in many projects aimed at the improvement of conditions for local people. Among these, he has helped to arrange for the repatriation of released prisoners from Bangladesh to Burma, and vice versa; and, helped police in a number of serious criminal cases in the locality. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

The charges brought against Dr Tun Aung are all typical of, and consistent with, the bringing of charges in Myanmar in politically motivated cases under successive military dictatorships, aimed at depriving persons of their basic rights. Over the years, the AHRC documented many such cases, which can be found on its country homepage: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma. 

Whereas many persons had hoped that with the changes in political conditions in recent times such cases would become a thing of the past, the current case demonstrates that the practices associated with repressive government from earlier periods are very much habituated in institutional behaviour in Burma, and it would be naïve to think that they will be quickly or readily driven out of the criminal justice system. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write a letter to the following government authorities to urge that Dr Tun Aung be released from prison and be ensured specialist medical treatment without delay. Please note that for the purpose of the letter Burma is referred to by its official name, Myanmar. 

Please also be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights in Myanmar, on the independence of judges and lawyers, on the right to health, on freedom of opinion and expression; and, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and regional office in Bangkok, calling for their interventions into this matter. 

SAMPLE LETTER: 

Dear ___________, 

MYANMAR: Arbitrary detention and unfair trial of elderly Islamic community leader 

Names of detainee: Dr Tun Aung, a.k.a. Nurul Haque, 64, chairman, Maungdaw District Islamic Affairs Council, retired medical doctor, resident of Myomataung Ward, Maungdaw Town, Rakhine State, Myanmar 

Names of personnel involved: 

1. Captain Win Myo Htet, Military Affairs Security (military intelligence), Western Command

2. Inspector Aung Naing, Station Commander, Kyiganbyin Police Station (complainant)

3. Police Captain Aung Saw, Maungdaw Township Anti-Human Trafficking Unit

4. Sergeant Kyi Han, Military Affairs Security, Maungdaw Detachment

5. Sergeant Kyaw Oo, Platoon Commander, Military Affairs Security, Western Command

5. Sergeant Saw Khin, army personnel attached to Maungdaw District Police Office

6. Sergeant Than Aye, Military Affairs Security, Platoon 2, Western Command

7. Police Constable Soe Win, Maungdaw Police Station

8. Deputy Immigration Officer Myint Maung

9. Deputy Immigration Officer U Ne Nwei Win 

Date of arrest: 11 June 2012

Place of arrest: Border Migration Investigation and Supervision Department (commonly known the acronym NaSaKa) Headquarters, subsequently Western Command HQ (regional army HQ)

Charges: Penal Code sections 153A/505(b)/148; Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, section 24(1); Myanmar Wireless Telegraphy Act, section 6(1) (as amended 1993), 1950 Emergency Provisions Act 5(j)

Court cases: Sittway District Court, Judge Aye Thein presiding, Criminal Regular Case Nos. 45-47/2012, 58/2012, all decided on 21 November 2012, sentenced accused to a total of 11 years in jail 

I am writing to express my concern over the arbitrary arrest, unfair trial and subsequent imprisonment of Dr Tun Aung, an Islamic community leader and longtime resident of Maungdaw, on the border with Bangladesh, whom the authorities in Myanmar have accused of sending material over the internet concerning the violence in Rakhine State in June 2012, and having incited the violence and failed to stop it from occurring. I call for a review of this case with a view to releasing the detainee at the earliest possible opportunity. 

According to the information that I have received, security personnel in Maungdaw brought Dr Tun Aung to the headquarters of a special border security force, commonly known as NaSaKa, on 11 June 2012, where they confiscated a laptop (which was not his) and two mobile phones. They took him into custody. They accused him of posting material on Internet about violence in preceding days, of provoking communal violence, and of not having informed them of a mourning procession for ten Muslims killed, despite his having known about it prior to its occurrence. They sent him to the regional army headquarters for further questioning and then on to the prison in another district. Meanwhile, they searched his house and claimed to have uncovered various items—such as a walkie-talkie, an out-of-date SIM card from Bangladesh and a few notes of foreign currency—with which to bring criminal cases against him. 

Contrary to the contents of these allegations, according to other sources, Dr Tun Aung throughout this time did his best to prevent violence from occurring and in fact had reportedly incurred the anger of some sectors of his own community because as a member of the district Islamic council he had cooperated with the authorities in order to keep the situation peaceful, and had attended meetings with the administrative and security authorities on how to deal with tensions in the region. On June 5, less than a week before his arrest, Dr Tun Aung had addressed Muslims at the main mosque and an Islamic school in Maungdaw to convey information about events in accordance with responsibilities assigned to him by the local authorities. He had been in further meetings with officials over the subsequent days and was involved in the organising of peace committees at the very time that on June 8 serious violence broke out in Maungdaw town. 

After the violence flared, a local member of parliament called Dr Tun Aung to come and help to try to calm the crowds. At personal risk he came to the site but left the area when he was feeling unwell. He and his family fled for safety at the compound of an international organisation. His family members later continued on to another part of the country, but Dr Tun Aung reportedly himself contacted the authorities to ask for a security detail so he could return to his residence, whereupon he was taken into custody. 

The authorities later sent Dr Tun Aung to Sittway for trial, even though the transfer of the case was not done in accordance with law. Partly because of that transfer, he was unable to obtain a lawyer or call witnesses in his defence. Although he tried to call witnesses, because of the security situation and imposition of a state of emergency with curfews across the state, none of those called were willing to come. Nonetheless, the judge falsely inferred the failure of anyone to attend under these extraordinary conditions as that they did not want to attend because their testimony would conflict with that of the defendant. Aside from witnesses to searches, all of the witnesses for the prosecution were police, military or immigration personnel. No substantive material evidence was brought against the detainee. What material evidence was brought came from seized items that were either not his own—such as the laptop—or was so trivial as to constitute a criminal offence only in the most ludicrous of circumstances—such as the handfuls of foreign currency found in his house used to frame a foreign exchange charge. Yet he was convicted without regard to the facts of the case and, it can be safely concluded, under instructions from non-judicial agencies. 

Currently, I am deeply concerned for Dr Tun Aung because he is an elderly man with a history of poor health in recent years. He has undergone surgery for his enlarged pituitary tumor twice (in 1998 and 2005). The condition is chronic, so, he has to have constant medication and a regular check ups that can only be done at a hospital with a well-equipped laboratory and head scanner or magnetic resonant imaging machine. He has also lost his peripheral visions in both eyes due to pressure from the tumor. Due to medication, he has suffered from varicose veins and he underwent surgery to his left thigh and leg in 2011. The same surgery for his right leg was due in December 2012, but because of imprisonment it could not be conducted. He also suffers from other side effects, such as reduced immunity. Given that prison conditions in Myanmar are often extremely bad, and that many persons have died in custody or after release due to illnesses left untreated while in prison, that an elderly man in this poor state of health would be given a 11-year sentence is a cause for special concern. Indeed, I am informed that since the time of his arrest to the present, he has not had any specialist treatment. 

In view of the above facts, I call for this case to be reviewed and for Dr Tun Aung to be released from prison at the earliest possible opportunity. I also call for the authorities to assess his medical condition immediately, and to provide him with the necessary specialist care at a facility outside of prison to ensure that his health does not worsen as a consequence of his detention. Here I take the opportunity to recall the case of Phyo Wai Aung, the young man falsely accused over a 2010 bombing, who died in January 2013 only a few months after his release from custody, specifically as a result of the maltreatment and lack of specialist attention he suffered while detained. I urge the authorities in Myanmar not to allow the same to happen in this case. 

Despite the changes in political conditions in Myanmar that have been widely welcomed in all quarters, it is manifest to me from this case that the police, security forces and judiciary continue to function not in a manner conducive to democratisation but in a manner consistent with practices of prior years under military dictatorships. But even more disturbing in this case is the likelihood that local authorities obtained orders from high up in the administrative system to prosecute and imprison Dr Tun Aung because they were embarrassed by reports about the violence in the country's west at a time that they wanted to cultivate a better image abroad, and did not want any facts to get out that would spoil the propaganda image of government agencies doing their best to keep everything under control. In this respect too the handling of the case is consistent with earlier periods, and sends an ominous signal to people in Myanmar thinking that conditions may have changed to enable the type of free speech that they did not enjoy in the past. 

In this regard I wish in particular to draw attention to the charges brought against the accused. All of them are antiquated provisions of laws used throughout periods of successive military government in Myanmar to suppress basic rights to speech, assembly and participate in public life of precisely the sort that the government of Myanmar now asserts that it is encouraging. Some of them, such as the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, are so utterly outdated as to be preposterous, were it not for the consequences of persons against whom they are used. I therefore take this opportunity also to urge the government of Myanmar to thoroughly review these pieces of legislation with a view to revoking or amending them as necessary to bring them into line with the democratic values that it now claims to espouse. 

Yours sincerely, 

----------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO: 

1. U Thein Sein

President of Myanmar

President Office

Office No.18

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR 

2. U Hla Min

Minister for Home Affairs

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +95 67 412 439 

3. U Tun Tun Oo

Chief Justice

Office of the Supreme Court

Office No. 24

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: + 95 67 404 080/ 071/ 078/ 067 or + 95 1 372 145

Fax: + 95 67 404 059 

4. Dr. Tun Shin

Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Office No. 25

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 404 088/ 090/ 092/ 094/ 097

Fax: +95 67 404 146/ 106 

5. U Kyaw Kyaw Htun

Director General

Myanmar Police Force

Ministry of Home Affairs

Office No. 10

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel: +95 67 412 079/ 549 393/ 549 663

Fax: +951 549 663 / 549 208 

6. Thura U Aung Ko

Chairman

Pyithu Hluttaw Judicial and Legislative Committee

Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

7. U Aung Nyein

Chairman

Committee for Public Complaints and Appeals

Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR 

8. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Chairwoman

Pyithu Hluttaw Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee

Office of the Pyithu Hluttaw

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR 

9. U Win Mra

Chairman

Myanmar National Human Rights Commission

27 Pyay Road

Hlaing Township

Yangon

MYANMAR

Tel: +95-1-659 668

Fax: +95-1-659 668 

10. Ko Ko Hlaing

Chief Political Advisor

Office of the President

Naypyitaw

MYANMAR

Tel-+95-1-532 501 ext-605 / 654 668

Fax-+95-1-532 500, 654 668 

Thank you. 

Urgent Appeals Programme 

Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Bangkok Post

February 3, 2013

A long-time activist for the Rohingya stands behind a plea made last week before parliament calling for the government to take a more humanitarian stance towards the ethnic group who are easy prey for trafficking gangs

'Why is this not human trafficking? If this is not human trafficking, what else could it be?'' asked an emotional Abdul Kalam, coordinator of Thailand's Rohingya National Organisation. He was referring to the decision last Monday to repatriate Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine state. The National Security Council, along with the Foreign Ministry, ruled that human trafficking plays no part in the rickety boats full of Rohingya that have washed up on Thai shores because there was no evidence of slave labour, forced prostitution or forced begging. Therefore the Rohingya can stay a maximum of six months in Thailand before they are sent back to Myanmar.

Abdul Kalam, a Rohingya who left Myanmar 30 years ago and entered Thailand at Tak's Mae Sot district, told Spectrum last week he estimates that, besides the highly publicised boat people, some 3,000 to 4,000 Rohingya live as illegal immigrants in Thailand, mostly in Bangkok.

Mr Kalam is registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and thus has the right to stay here and earn a living. But he has never forgotten his roots and has worked for several years to help Rohingya who have fallen victim to traffickers. His group is an offshoot of the Burmese (Myanmar) Rohingya Association in Thailand, whose president, Maung Kyaw Nu, on Wednesday made a plea before the parliament's committee on law, judiciary and human rights for the government to grant temporary asylum to Rohingya here and for the international community to intervene on behalf of the minority in Myanmar.

Maung Kyaw Nu told the committee that Rohingya migrants pay 60,000 baht to 65,000 baht each to smugglers to get into Thailand,

Mr Kalam told Spectrum: ''There are networks. We have reported the authorities involved in trafficking several times over the years. But the problem remains unsolved. More and more Rohingya become victims.''

On Jan 10, police rounded up more than 300 Rohingya at a remote plantation in Songkhla's Sadoa district. The incident, coming on the heels of widespread mob violence directed at Rohingya in Rakhine state, brought renewed attention to the long-standing problem from local and international humanitarian organisations, including the UNHCR, as well as foreign governments. This in turn increased pressure on the Thai government to come up with solutions other than to criminalise the group.

According to figures from the Department of Special Investigation, 1,225 Rohingya were arrested in 2007; 2,763 in 2008; and 4,886 in 2009. Considered to be illegal migrants, they were deported bak to Myanmar.

''Rohingya have been locked up in camps and some have been physically assaulted,'' said Mr Kalam. ''They have been traded among trafficking gangs and those looking for cheap labour.''

Most of the Rohingya who have arrived in Thailand are men between the ages of 15 and 50 years old, and it's believed they are headed for work in Malaysia and in the Middle East.

Lately the situation has become complicated with the presence of more children and women, some of them pregnant.

Mr Kalam said that just about all Rohingya leave Myanmar willingly, expecting a safer and better life. It is not until their journey is halfway complete that they realise they are in the hands of traffickers who are often ruthless.

There is an agreement among academics, international organisations and even Thai security agencies that trafficking of Rohingya is a reality and should not be tolerated. ''We've learned that each man can be traded for as much as 30,000 to 40,000 baht. What else do we need to prove that they are victims of human trafficking gangs?'' asked Mr Kalam. But despite many reports giving examples of trafficking only a few people have been arrested for the crime. ''We do not know how the legal process is going ... I am afraid that they'll be set free because there is not enough evidence,'' said Mr Kalam.

''However, I am certain that the rescued Rohingya should be able to identify them [the traffickers] if the authorities really want to take legal action against them.''

ADEQUATE SHELTERS NEEDED

At present, about 1.400 Rohingya reside in different centres in the South, mostly in Muslim communities. However, most of these centres are overcrowded. More than 50 women and children at an overcrowded welfare centre in Phangnga province were sent to Surat Thani, while other Rohingya in the South have been transferred to centres in Prachuap Khiri Khan and Kanchanaburi province.

Military authorities have strongly disagreed with establishing shelters or camps for the Rohingya, but securities agencies including the National Security Council have proposed that the government build three detentions centres in Songkhla and Ranong. However, individual Rohingya would still be be subject to deportation after six months in the country.

In Ranong, which has dealt with a large influx of illegal migrants from Myanmar for several years, moves to build temporary shelters have been met with protests.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul asked for help from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to find solutions to the problem and led about 15 diplomats from the group on a tour of a temporary shelter for about 100 Rohingya women and children in Songkhla's Muang district.

''If possible, we would like to send them back to their place of origin or a third country,'' Mr Surapong told the group.

Mr Kalam said that bigger shelters for Rohingya are urgently needed with better living conditions. ''These are not criminals, they are victims of trafficking gangs,'' he said. He said it was important that they be allowed to stay together, especially families, and cited cases in which children had been separated from their parents to live in different centres.

Mr Kalam, who had just returned from a visit to Phangnga province where a group of 110 Rohingya were picked up from Mu Ko Surin Marine National Park, said he has hopes the system will soon be better coordinated. ''The sooner we set up an efficient system the better, because it's certain many more will be leaving their homes in Rakhine state,'' he said.

He is concerned about the six-month timeframe proposed by Thai authorities, saying it is not enough time to sort out the Rohingya's problems and arrange for third countries to receive them.

''One thing is certain, they do not want to be deported back to Myanmar. If they are deported, they will come back again,'' he said.

He urged a case-by-case approach to determine each migrant's status and desired destination. However, he added that he had talked to many Rohingya who really had no set destination, saying ''it is up to Allah''. Nevertheless, many have relatives in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia or other countries they would like to

He said a proper resettlement process in Thailand would take at least a year, and that to lessen the burden on the government and the public, international organisations, especially the UNHCR, should be given full access to the Rohingya in temporary shelters and work with third countries to arrange for their resettlement.

When asked if providing temporary shelters in Thailand would encourage more Rohingya to make the journey from Rakhine state, Mr Kalam said this is doubtful and that the driving force for the exodus is ''the genocide that has been going on'' in Rakhine state. ''No one wants to live in shelters anywhere,'' he said, adding that some of those rescued here had come from refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Mr Kalam said he is concerned that if Rohingya in Thailand are left without proper care and guidance it could lead to a security problem for the Thai government. ''If they are left unattended without any future, they will be at risk of being lured into doing bad things,'' he said. He said that with help from Thai authorities and local communities _ both Muslim and Buddhist _ there is hope for the future of Rohingya refugees and also those who remain in Myanmar.

Khaleej Times

February 2, 2013

After the news of the ethnic massacre of the Rohingya community in Myanmar exploded in mainstream media last year, the country’s military government and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi came under fire for being tight-lipped on the issue.

Reports regarding the rampant arson, rape, pillage and mass displacement of the Muslim minority community appalled the world. But months have lapsed since the conflict was hot news in the media, and predictably, people’s sympathy for the beleaguered community, which was on all-time high, has abruptly faded into forgetfulness.

The plight of the Rohingya persists, however, and mostly because no state is willing to accept them. Rendered stateless by a controversial 1982 decree issued by the military government in Myanmar (then Burma), these people have suffered a history of persecution.

Ever since the outbreak of riots in Myanmar’s Rakhine province last year, this targeted minority has tried to escape death by fleeing to neighbouring countries. While fleeing to foreign lands might have saved lives of some, it has also exposed them to the pits of destitution and discrimination. In Bangladesh, the nearly 20,000 Rohingyas who fled Myanmar live in refugee camps in the most deplorable conditions, and many have resorted to prostitution and other crimes to sustain themselves. Vulnerable to abuse, these refugees live in the constant fear of getting arrested and deported by the authorities in Bangladesh. Since July last year, Bangladesh police and border authorities have launched a massive crackdown, forcing over 6,000 Rohingyas back to Myanmar.

Thailand has also been active in cracking down on illegal Rohingya immigrants and has thwarted scores of them from entering the country via the sea. Recently, the Thai navy turned away 200 Rohingyas in boats off the coast of Thai mainland.

It’s rather unfortunate that the international community has failed to collaborate on this vexing issue. As country after country refuses to give refuge to these destitute people, they shut their eyes to the reality of their existence. It seems like for the Rohingyas, finding a place they can call home will continue to be a harsh and never-ending struggle.

Last Tuesday afternoon, the Thai Navy stopped a fishing boat off the coast of the holiday island of Phuket. It wasn’t a routine procedure however – naval officers couldn’t board the rickety looking craft because there wasn’t room for them to stand on it. Every single inch of it was packed with desperate human beings from neighbouring Burma.

In video filmed by a local newspaper you can see 205 men and boys begging for assistance from naval personnel. Their pleading — and their tears went unanswered though. The Thais tossed them a couple of canisters of drinking water and ordered them to sail south, towards Malaysia. It’s better known in these parts as a ‘push-back’ – a pitiless decision made in face of great human misery.

The people on board this luckless vessel were Muslim Rohingya – and there are thousands of them now fleeing persecution and ethnic conflict in Burma’s north-west. The vast majority of Rohingya see Thailand as their best bet — either as a place to settle – or a temporary home before moving on to Malaysia or Indonesia.

Yet the Thais cannot decide what to do with the Rohingya and there is growing evidence of a massive split developing within government - the country’s military for example, seems to be acting wholly independently of its civilian masters.

Eight days ago, the Thai government convened a special inter-departmental meeting where it was decided that Rohingya arriving in the country would be offered temporary shelter for six months:

Here’s how the Bangkok Post reported it:

“Thailand will shelter Royingya for six months and seek talks with Myanmar (Burma) and other countries to settle the fate of the illegal migrants, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said on Friday.

The decision was reached in talks between the Foreign Ministry and other security agencies amid growing calls for Thailand not to turn the migrants away after they have entered the kingdom.”

On Tuesday however — the same day 205 people were ‘pushed-back’ off Phuket — the National Security Chief, Paradorn Pattanathaburt, announced that the Thai military will ‘no longer’ allow the Rohingya to land in Thailand. One day later, another 140 Rohingya were turned away from waters near the port of Ranong.

These two ‘decisions’ — letting Rohingya stay for six months – or pushing them back — are completely contradictory and suggest a major divergence of opinion within the Thai government. Civil rights groups go further, suggesting the Thai military may be actively trying to undermine the government by engaging in these ‘push-backs’:

Here’s what Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch has to say: “The problem is the Thai security forces have not changed their view that these helpless Rohingya, arriving with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, are somehow a national security threat to Thailand.”

On Thursday I conducted an exclusive interview with Secretary-General Paradorn and I put it to him that Thailand’s position on the arrival of Rohingya was confused. He disagreed with my assertion; “it is not a conflicting policy at the operational level. We are still trying to stop them and push them back. But if we can’t send them back right away, we’ll detain them for a period of time, like six months.”

I asked Secretary General Paradorn to outline the particular circumstances when the military decides not to send boats with Rohingya back to sea. “When we are unable send them back to their country of origin or on to another country,” he replied.

If the military was applying this rational consistently however, all Rohingya would be given temporary leave to remain in Thailand because the occupants of all these boats are in the same position – no Rohingya can be sent back to Burma (because the Burmese won’t let them back) and no ‘third-country’ has volunteered to take them. So why is the Thai Navy engaing in ‘push-backs’?

The best way to understand what is happening here is to focus on which branch of the Thai government makes initial contact with the vessels. If the Thai Navy gets there first, in all likelihood they will be sent back to sea. If another government department is called in – like the marine police for example, there is a good chance they will be allowed to stay (and that is exactly what took place in our film shot in the town of Karaburi).

This arrangement — if that’s the word for it – is arbitrary and unfair. It seems incredible to put it this way but the chances of survival for many Rohingya probably depends on who comes out to meet them when they enter Thai waters.

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Somjit Rungjamrasrassamee

Human Rights Watch

February 1, 2013

Bangkok – Burma’s human rights situation remained poor in 2012, despite some noteworthy actions by the government to adopt rights-respecting reforms, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2013 released today. 

In its 665-page report, Human Rights Watch assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including an analysis of the aftermath of the Arab Spring. 

Over the past year, the Burmese government released nearly 400 political prisoners, relaxed media censorship, and permitted opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party to assume the 43 parliamentary seats it won in April’s by-election. But the government failed to hold security forces accountable for serious abuses against civilians during the armed conflict in Kachin State and sectarian violence targeting Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State, obstructed humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of displaced people in both crisis areas, and cracked down on peaceful demonstrators in Rangoon and elsewhere, Human Rights Watch said. 

“Burma’s reforms over the past year are hindered, not helped, by international oversell and hasty praise in the face of continued serious human rights abuses,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “No one expects that a rights-respecting democracy will arrive overnight, but Burma is still failing basic rights tests on its remaining political prisoners, blocked humanitarian aid, and ensuring accountability for war crimes.” 

In June, deadly sectarian violence erupted in Arakan State between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a long-persecuted minority of approximately 800,000 to one million people. The Rohingya are systematically denied citizenship by the Burmese government, making them stateless. State security forces initially failed to protect either community, resulting in some 100,000 displaced, and then increasingly targeted Rohingya in killings, beatings, and mass arrests, while obstructing humanitarian access to Rohingya areas and to camps of displaced Rohingya around the Arakan State capital, Sittwe. 

In October, violence and abuses erupted again in 9 of Arakan State’s 17 townships, including in several townships that did not experience violence in June, resulting in an unknown number of deaths and injuries, the razing of entire Muslim villages, and the displacement of an additional 35,000 Muslims. Many of the displaced fled to areas surrounding Sittwe, where they also experienced abuses, such as beatings by state security forces. 

Armed conflict between the Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) continued in Kachin State in the north – including government airstrikes in late December – where an estimated 90,000 civilians remain displaced. The government continues to deny humanitarian aid to the displaced Kachin civilians in KIA territory, and in August, more than 4,000 Kachin refugees in Yunnan province, China, were forced back to the conflict zone in Kachin State, in violation of international law, putting further pressure on the isolated displaced person camps in Kachin State. 

In the conflict areas in Kachin and Shan States, the Burmese military carried out extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, torture, forced labor, and deliberate attacks on civilian areas, all which continue with impunity. Ceasefire agreements in the ethnic conflict areas of eastern Burma remain tenuous, and an estimated 400,000 people remain displaced in eastern Burma due to decades of conflict. 

In September, 13 activists in Rangoon faced charges for failing to get permission for a demonstration held peacefully to oppose the armed conflict in Kachin State. Nine have been charged in multiple courts and face several years in prison if convicted. The government cracked down on other peaceful protests, including a violent crackdown on demonstrators against a military and Chinese-run copper mine in Sagaing Division, which left more than 20 protesters, including Buddhist monks, severely burned. 

Laws that have been used to imprison peaceful activists, lawyers, and journalists remain on the books, including, among others, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Electronics Act, the State Protection Act, and the Emergency Provisions Act. While Burmese President Thein Sein released an estimated 400 political prisoners in 2012 in general amnesties, as many as several hundred more political prisoners remain in prison. Freed political prisoners face restrictions on travel and education, and lack adequate psychosocial support. 

Despite serious ongoing abuses, foreign governments – including the United States and the United Kingdom– continued their expressions of optimism about political reforms while prematurely easing or lifting political and economic sanctions against Burma, Human Rights Watch said. Following a historic visit to the country by US President Barack Obama in November, Thein Sein committed to inviting the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a presence in the country, and to establishing an independent mechanism to focus on remaining political prisoners, among other commitments that have yet to materialize. 

“The US, UK, and other influential governments should hold Burma to the human rights commitments it made during last year’s well-publicized international visits,” Robertson said. “Systematically releasing the remaining political prisoners and opening a UN rights office are key benchmarks. Foreign governments should recognize that Burma’s history shows that a tough response to rights abuses doesn’t derail reform, but promotes it.”

Human Rights Watch

Burma’s human rights situation remained poor in 2012 despite noteworthy actions by the government toward political reform. In April, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party won 43 of 44 seats it contested in a parliamentary by-election; the parliament consists of 224 seats in the upper house and 440 in the lower house, the majority of which remain under the control of military representatives or former military officers. 

President Thein Sein welcomed back exiles during the year, and released nearly 400 political prisoners in five general prisoner amnesties, although several hundred are believed to remain in prison. Freed political prisoners face persecution, including restrictions on travel and education, and lack adequate psychosocial support. Activists who peacefully demonstrated in Rangoon in September have been charged with offenses. In August 2012, the government abolished pre-publication censorship of media and relaxed other media restrictions, but restrictive guidelines for journalists and many other laws historically used to imprison dissidents and repress rights such as freedom of expression remain in place. 

Armed conflict between the Burmese government and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) continued in Kachin State in the north, where tens of thousands of civilians remain displaced. The government has effectively denied humanitarian aid to the displaced Kachin civilians in KIA territory. In conflict areas in Kachin and Shan States, the Burmese military carried out extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, torture, forced labor, and deliberate attacks on civilian areas, all which continue with impunity. Ceasefire agreements in ethnic conflict areas of eastern Burma remain tenuous. 

Deadly sectarian violence erupted in Arakan State in June 2012 between ethnic Arakanese Buddhists and ethnic Rohingya Muslims, a long-persecuted stateless minority of approximately one million people. State security forces failed to protect either community, resulting in some 100,000 displaced, and then increasingly targeted Rohingya in killings, beatings, and mass arrests while obstructing humanitarian access to Rohingya areas and to camps of displaced Rohingya around the Arakan State capital, Sittwe. Sectarian violence broke out again in 9 of the state’s 17 townships in October, including in several townships that did not experience violence in June, resulting in an unknown number of deaths and injuries, the razing of entire Muslim villages, and the displacement of an additional 35,000 persons. Many of the displaced fled to areas surrounding Sittwe, where they also experienced abuses, such as beatings by state security forces. 

Despite serious ongoing abuses, foreign governments—including the United States and the United Kingdom—expressed unprecedented optimism about political reforms and rapidly eased or lifted sanctions against Burma, while still condemning the abuses and violence. 

Limited Political Change and Ongoing Abuses 

Burma’s national parliament and 14 regional and state assemblies completed a first full year in operation in 2012 since the formal end of military rule. Former military generals hold most senior ministerial portfolios and serving generals are constitutionally guaranteed the posts of ministers of defense, home affairs, and border affairs security. Many former military officers hold important positions in the ruling military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. 

Two new laws passed in 2012 related to land use fail to adequately protect farmers’ rights. A new law on peaceful assembly—signed in December 2011 and hailed as a reform by Western governments—fails to meet international standards, providing for imprisonment for permit violations, and requiring that protest slogans be pre-approved. 

Thirteen activists in Rangoon faced charges for failing to get permission for a demonstration held peacefully in September to oppose the armed conflict in Kachin State. Other laws that have been used to imprison peaceful activists, lawyers, and journalists remain on the books, including, among others, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Electronics Act, the State Protection Act, and the Emergency Provisions Act. 

Media freedoms improved in 2012 but remain highly restricted. In August, the government abolished pre-publication censorship that had been in place nearly 50 years but retained 16 guidelines restricting publication of articles critical of the government or related to corruption, illicit drugs, forced labor, and child soldiers. Editors continue to self-censor out of concern for arrest and hesitate to publish stories regarding government abuses. 

The National Human Rights Commission, created in September 2011, continued to disappoint in 2012. The commission exists by executive order and lacks independence from the government, contrary to the Paris Principles—minimum standards endorsed by the UN on the functioning of national human rights commissions. Statements from Burma’s commission on Kachin and Arakan States failed to mention any abuses by the state security forces, or government-imposed restrictions on delivering humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs). 

After spending a total of 15 years under house arrest since 1989, and otherwise facing travel restrictions, Aung San Suu Kyi’s right to travel domestically and internationally was restored, and she traveled to five European countries in June, including Oslo to accept her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. In September she travelled to the US where she accepted the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights, awarded in 2008 while she was under house arrest. 

However, other former political prisoners continue to face persecution, including restrictions on travel and education. The Ministry of Home Affairs refused to issue passports to many former political prisoners, including democracy and human rights activists, public interest lawyers, and journalists, preventing them from traveling abroad. 

While parliament in 2012 appointed a commission to investigate land confiscation, the practice continues throughout the country. Farmers lose their land to private and state interests and in some cases are effectively forced to work as day laborers on their own land. Numerous disputes about land confiscations under the prior military juntas remain largely unresolved. 

Forced labor continued in various parts of the country despite the government’s commitment to end the practice by 2015 in an action plan agreed to with the International Labour Organization (ILO). The army continued to have child soldiers in its ranks, but in June, signed an action plan with the United Nations to halt further recruitment of children and demobilize and reintegrate those already in the army within 18 months. Several non-state armed groups continue to use and recruit child soldiers and the government continues to prevent UN agencies from accessing ethnic areas controlled by non-state armed groups to focus on demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers. 

Ethnic Conflict and Displacement 

Fighting slowed between government forces and most ethnic armed groups in eastern Burma as negotiations on tenuous ceasefires continued. In northern Burma, however, fighting continued between the Burmese armed forces and the KIA. 

The Burmese military continues to engage in extrajudicial killings, attacks on civilians, forced labor, torture, pillage, and use of antipersonnel landmines. Sexual violence against women and girls remains a serious problem, and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice. The KIA and some other ethnic armed groups have also committed serious abuses, such as using child soldiers and antipersonnel landmines. 

Internally displaced Kachin swelled to an estimated 90,000 in 2012, and the government continued to prevent international nongovernmental organizations and UN agencies access to IDP camps in KIA-held territory to provide humanitarian assistance. Kachin fleeing to China to escape violence and persecution were not welcome. Several thousand Kachin refugees temporarily in Yunnan province in southwest China lacked adequate aid and protection. In August, China forced back more than 4,000 Kachin to conflict zones in northern Burma. 

More than 550,000 people remain internally displaced in Burma, including 400,000 due to decades of conflict in eastern Burma. There are an additional 140,000 refugees in camps in Thailand and several million Burmese migrant workers and unrecognized asylum seekers who suffer due to inadequate and ad hoc Thai policies causing refugees to be exploited and unnecessarily detained and deported. 

Some 30,000 ethnic Rohingya refugees live in an official camp in Bangladesh and another 200,000 live in makeshift settlements or surrounding areas. Bangladeshi authorities ordered three international aid agencies to close humanitarian operations for Rohingya refugee camps and pushed back thousands of Rohingya asylum seekers to Burma in 2012. 

Sectarian Violence and Ensuing Abuses 

Burmese security forces committed killings, rape, and mass arrests against Rohingya Muslims after failing to protect both them and Arakanese Buddhists during deadly sectarian violence in western Burma in June 2012. Over 100,000 people were displaced by widespread abuses and arson. State security forces failed to intervene to stop the sectarian violence at key moments, including the massacre of 10 Muslim travelers in Toungop that was one of several events that precipitated the outbreak. State media published incendiary anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim accounts of the events, fueling discrimination and hate speech in print media and online across the country. 

Violence erupted again in late October in 9 of the state’s 17 townships, with coordinated violence and arson attacks by Arakanese against Rohingya and Kaman Muslims—a government-recognized nationality group, unlike the Rohingya. In some cases violence was carried out with the support and direct involvement of state security forces and local officials, including killings, beatings, and burning of Muslim villages, displacing an additional 35,000 Rohingya and non-Rohingya Muslims. 

Government restrictions on humanitarian access to the Rohingya community have left tens of thousands in dire need of food, adequate shelter, and medical care. The authorities indefinitely suspended nearly all pre-crisis humanitarian aid programs, affecting hundreds of thousands more Rohingya who were otherwise unaffected by the violence and abuse.

Local security forces detained hundreds of Rohingya men and boys—primarily in northern Arakan State—and held them incommunicado without basic due process rights. UN and international NGO staff were among the arrested and charged. Many remain detained at this writing. 

The Rohingya number approximately one million in Burma and were effectively stripped of their citizenship in 1982 through the discriminatory Citizenship Law. There has been little political will to repeal the law due to widespread prejudice against Rohingya, including by prominent pro-democracy figures. The government has long restricted their rights to freedom of movement, education, and employment. 

President Thein Sein suggested in July that the Rohingya be expelled from Burma to “third countries” or to camps overseen by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He later appointed a 27-member commission to investigate the violence in Arakan State and make recommendations, but failed to include a Rohingya representative on the panel. 

Key International Actors 

In 2012, foreign governments expressed unprecedented optimism about Burma’s political changes, despite evidence of ongoing human rights abuses. In April, the European Union suspended all of its sanctions for one year, enabling investment by European companies and lifting travel and visa bans on nearly 500 people, but retained an arms embargo. 

In July, the United States eased sanctions to allow American companies to invest in all sectors of Burma’s economy, including the controversial and opaque oil and gas sector. The US maintained targeted sanctions against some Burmese military officers and companies they control, and appointed its first ambassador to Burma in 22 years. 

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on Burma, conducted his sixth visit in late July and early August, expressing concern over alleged abuses in Arakan State and calling for a credible investigation and a review of the 1982 Citizenship Law, which he said discriminates against Rohingya. He also voiced concern about ongoing abuses in Kachin State and the need to release remaining political prisoners. 

Several high-profile visits to Burma in 2012 were ostensibly aimed to show support for ongoing changes, including visits in November by US President Barack Obama—the first by a sitting US president—in April by British Prime Minister David Cameron, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. President Obama gave a historic speech at Rangoon University raising human rights concerns, including the military’s role in parliament, ethnic conflicts, national reconciliation, and abuses against Rohingya Muslims. Other high-profile visits were explicitly more economically motivated, including visits in May by India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and in September by China’s top legislator, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress. 

Others expressed concerns for the plight of Burma’s Rohingya Muslims, including visits by Turkey’s foreign minister and a high-level delegation from the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which in September reached an agreement with the Burmese government to open an office in the country to facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid in Arakan State. President Thein Sein terminated the agreement in October following several protests in Sittwe, Mandalay, and Rangoon led by anti-Rohingya Buddhist monks opposing the OIC’s involvement in the issue. 

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) continue to invest in and trade extensively with Burma, especially in the extractive and hydropower industries. Burma continued to earn billions of US dollars in natural gas sales to Thailand, little of which is directed into social services such as health care and education. Gas dollars will increase markedly when a gas pipeline from Arakan State to Yunnan in China is operational in 2013. Work continues on that project, which passes through northern Shan State where the Burmese army has moved in to secure territory and where armed conflict has led to abuses such as torture, forced labor, and forced displacement of Kachin and Shan. 

Russia, China, and North Korea continued to sell arms to Burma in 2012, and there are concerns that North Korean sales breached UN Security Council punitive sanctions on North Korea passed in 2006 and 2009. In May, Thein Sein assured South Korean President Lee Myun-bak that his government would cease buying weapons from North Korea.