Children Targeted By Rakhine Nationalist
(part of The Darkness Visible series)

Bangkok Post

February 13, 2013

Rohingya illegal immigrants in temporary shelters face a rough time in the near future, forced to deal with psychological and physical challenges as isolated women and teenagers receive little or no information about their husbands and sons.

Communications is the most common and urgent issue in the holding centres, as quarrels among the Rohingya escalate, and psychological problems increase.

The International Committee of Red Cross, United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), and the UN refugee agency UNHCR have access to the Rohingya in holding areas, but not to those detained at immigration centres.

On Monday, Nittaya Mukdamas, head of the Songkhla Women and Children Shelter, told a meeting in Songkhla with senior officials and members of the National Human Rights Commission that some violence had broken out at her shelter, which holds 105 people - 22 migrants from the Padangbesar Immigration Holding Centre and 83 from Sadao Immigration.

Rohingya were increasingly tense and quarrelsome amongst themselves, she said. A pregnant woman was assaulted by some other Rohingya women and was sent to the nearby Songkhla hospital on Feb 9.

A Bangkok Post reporter met the attacked woman at the shelter on Tuesday, shortly after she was discharged from the state hospital.

A soft-speaking Nuhabar, six months pregnant, was holding her 15-month-old sleepy girl in her arms while talking to the reporter through a Rohingya interpreter from Bangkok.

"I had problems twice with some women" in the camp, she said. "First, I was accused stealing their ice cubes and they snatched a bucket from me. While tussling over this, the nearby water tank tipped over, with water splashing and the plastic tank hurting me," said Nuhabar.

Another conflict was triggered when she entered a room and switched on a fan. Sleeping women from the ice-cube incident "were shouting that they were having headaches, didn't I see that? I told her that I didn't know and they came to kick me and punch me in the stomach and buttock."

Ms Nittaya added that a doctor had checked the Rohingya woman, and given an initial diagnosis of either anemia or thalassemia. The violent confrontation may have affected both her pregnancy and personal health.

Three alleged attackers have been removed from the shelter, following advice at the Monday meeting. Songkhla deputy police chief Pol Col Kriskorn Paleethunyawong suggested that if there were problems from Rohingya detained outside the immigration detention centres under care of Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, they could be punished.

Nuhabar did not seem worried about her own physical condition, and praised the Shelter's medical help. But she was worried about when she could meet her husband who came on the same boat. He has been split from her and held in the men's detention area.

She said she left home because there was little to eat and no opportunity in the village of Santori near a small river in western Myanmar.

"People got tense with surrounding situations (she did not elaborate), and they moved out, so I came down to Valladen, staying for some four to five months with my mother.

"But then people said it was no longer safe, and many went to sea, so my husband brought us to the sea as well," said Nuhabar. She said she did not know exactly how old she was.

Her boat drifted in the Andaman Sea for 13 days before the Myanmar coast guard captured and held them four days, demanding money or goods carried by the migrants before giving them food and water and towing them back to sea.

"Two women had four-baht gold with them and they gave it to the uniformed officers," she said. "Others gave 500 to 1,000 kyats." They were told they were about 200 nautical miles from Malaysia but her boat's navigator was incompetent and they ended up on the Thai coast.

A Thai fishing vessel found them and escorted the Rohingya to Thai authorities, who processed them, photographed them and sent them to a hilly shore. They crowded into a pickup truck for a one-hour trip, counted and processed again, and loaded for a longer trip.

They wound up in a hiding place, where they stayed for 10 days near Padangbesar, waiting for the inevitable police raid.

"Brokers told us that they had paid lump sums before we came, so we had to pay them back. In fact, of 130 people from our boat who landed in Thailand, some ran away," said Nuhabar.

She now wants to meet her husband, being held at at another immigration detention centre, but she does not know where. She also wants to talk to her father and elder brother who are in Malaysia.

Nittaya said she faces two problems - communications with the Rohingya, and visitors trying to talk to the Rohingya, or simply stare at them.

Kachan Sungpet, head of the Satun Emergency House, reported problems with teenagers. Boys quarreled about bedtime, betel nut spitting control areas, cooking of food, prayer calls, and camp chores.

Some boys had emerged as natural leaders, he said, making the job of camp authorities much easier.

Mr Kachan said an imam regularly visits the boys, but camp authorities are considering whether to allow them to visit a local mosque in Satun, so they can pray and help to clean it.

Deutsche Welle

February 13, 2013

QS Madani 

RB News 

February 12, 2012 

(Edited by Anwar Arkani) 

Min Bya: Two truckloads of Rakhine hooligans, no less than 160 members, from Taunggup Township equipped with many kinds of weapons and swords sneaked into Min Bya Township in an attempt to launch a renewed vitriolic attack on the distressed Rohingya, on February 9, 2013. 

On that day, a Rohingya clergyman, Molvi Rahmatullah, from Naggara village tract (Fokseefara), Min Bya Township went to Feefarang market for shopping. Upon meeting him on the way some security forces from local battalion tortured him severely saying why he is a Molvi (clergyman). Then they threw him at the roadside unconscious. 

There are about 120 Rohingya families in Faktalee hamlet, Min Bya Township. They own more than 60 acres of paddy fields which was their sole livelihood. Since the massacre in June 2012, Rakhine looters have forcefully harvested all the lands and did not allow any rightful owner to harvest an iota of rice on their filed. So, for these people only mean to survive is biscuits and dry food donated by occasional NGO visits, and they are in imminent danger of dying from starvation. 

Buthidaung: A Rohingya, Mohammed Jaber s/o Sayed Akbar from Thein Daung Pyin village tract, Buthidaung Township, was extorted Kyat 450,000 by Nasaka sub-camp No. (21) on February 8th on a groundless accusation of possessing mobile phone. 

On February 6, Rakhine terrorists set fire on the house of Molvi Mahbub Rahman s/o Ashraf Meah, 59, from Thein Daung Pyin village tract, Buthidaung Township. The house was burnt into ashes. Surprisingly, the police arrested the victim the next morning accusing him for not reporting the incident, and extorted 4 million Kyats. 

Abu Tayub s/o Sayed Noor and Nurul Hoque s/o Abu Sufiyan, from Shaeerkunda village tract, Buthidaung Township, were extorted Kyat 100,000 each on February 6th by immigration officials. These two persons were accused of going to Bangladesh. 

And another 100,000 Kyats is extorted from Usman Ghani s/o Kalimullah from Shaeerkunda village tract, Buthidaung Township by Military personnel from battalion (346) under a baseless accusation of possessing a mobile phone. 

On the same day, the military personnel from battalion (345) extorted 5,000 Kyats respectively from each of the following persons: 

(1) Zakaria s/o Abul Kalam 

(2) Numan s/o Daleel Ahmed 

(3) Nurul Ameen s/o Abul Kaseem 

(4) Abdul Kader s/o Mohammed Saeed 

They are from Shaeerkunda village tract, Buthidaung Township. They are being accused of possessing mobile phones. Military personnel from the aforesaid battalion have extorted much more money from hundreds of Rohingyas with the same accusation.

February 12, 2013

Sittwe (Akyab), Arakan - U Aung Win was released around 6 O’clock this evening after he had been arrested earlier in the morning. U Aung Win is an outspoken and fearless speaker for the rights of the persecuted Rohingyas in Arakan. Besides, he is a human rights activists who regular works with the international media that come to Arakan.

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Mr. Tomas Ojea Quintana, was in Sittwe at the time he got arrested. Most of the persecuted Rohingyas and foreign media depend on him for interpretation. He was expecting to meet Mr. Quintana. So, the temporary detention of him was meant to not allow him to meet Mr. Quintana.

The criminals behind the Rohingya Genocide (e.g. Rakhine Extremists and others) are really afraid of being exposed!

RB News 

February 12, 2013

Hanna Hindstorm

Democratic Voice of Burma

February 12, 2013

A prominent Rohingya human rights activist and interpreter, who has helped many international journalists travelling to the conflict-torn Arakan state in western Burma, was detained by authorities in Sittwe on Tuesday morning, local police have confirmed. 

Aung Win, an ethnic Rohingya with Burmese citizenship, was arrested around 10am this morning on his way to Sittwe’s Muslim quarter, Aung Mingalar. Local sources say he was hoping to meet with the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Quintana, who was visiting the state-capital as part of his latest Burma tour. 

Local police told DVB that he was “found walking in the streets” and taken to “the station for his own safety”. They alleged that he has since been released and returned to his home village on the outskirts of Sittwe. But local sources said they had been told by a police officer that he would not be released until 6pm and that his detention was specifically designed to prevent him from meeting Quintana. At the time of writing, Aung Win could still not be reached by telephone. 

Aung Win has helped a number of international media groups, including DVB, travel to the restive state in western Burma, where sectarian clashes pitted Buddhists against the stateless Rohingya minority last year. Local sources say that over 25,000 Burmese army troops have since been deployed to the region to enforce segregation between the two communities. 

“Apparently he did want to talk to Mr Quintana but it is unclear whether that alone would be the reason for his arrest,” Chris Lewa from the Arakan Project told DVB on Tuesday. Aung Win is an outspoken critic of the treatment of Rohingyas in western Burma, and has featured in several international media reports about last year’s violence. 

Since the first outbreak of clashes in June last year, more than 1,600 Rohingya Muslims have been arrested, including many community leaders with ties to the international media. His detention comes less than a day after DVB published allegations of widespread abuse and torture targeting detained Rohingya in Arakan state. 

A spokesperson for the UN Office for the Commission of Human Rights in Bangkok told DVB that they had “just received information” of Aung Win’s arrest and were trying to make contact with Quintana to discuss the allegations. The Special Rapporteur is spending a week travelling through Burma, including the volatile Kachin and Arakan states, in a bid to assess the country’s human rights situation. 

Some 800,000 Muslim Rohingyas live in western Burma, where they are denied basic rights, including citizenship and have been described by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. 

President Thein Sein has been widely lauded for introducing a series of democratic reforms in the country since March 2011, including freeing political prisoners and easing media restrictions. But analysts say that progress has been mixed, especially in ethnic minority regions.

Washington Post

February 11, 2013

M.S. Anwar 

RB News 

February 11, 2013 

Maung Daw, Arakan - During the recent uprising of violence against Rohingyas in Arakan, 13 young Rohingya students from the village of Mya Sin Ywa, Laung Doon Village Tract were arbitrarily arrested by the Rakhine authority in Maung Daw. Of them, 11 were sentenced to 10-year-imprisonments on February 5, 2013 and two were released after the extortion of humungous Kyat 14 Millions in total. 

These students were innocent and had nothing with the violence. But the village’s administrator, Maung Maung@ Maung Thein, a Rakhine extremist, charged them with the lame cases and made them imprisoned. It was this chairman in cooperation with the Rakhine authority in Maung Daw, who extorted the 14 Million Kyats from the two Rohingya students. 

Now, again, he in support of the Maung Daw Court has issued an arrest for 27 Young Rohingya Students with the false allegations. As the NaSaKa (Border Security Force) Operation on Rohingya population is due to carry out tomorrow, he (the village administrator) is threatening the young Rohingyas that he will expel them from the family census lists unless each of them gives him Kyat 100000 (in total, Kyat 270000). Now, all of these students are from poor family background and unable to give the ransom amount. Two of them are identified as Noor Basher and Kyaw Min. 

The irony is that the NaSaKa Administrator of Maung Daw, Colonel Aung Naing Oo, has declared that the NaSaKa investigation has nothing to do with the arbitrary arrest warrants issued by Maung Daw Court. That is any person whom such an arrest warrant has been issued against can also take part in the operation. However, in cooperation with the lower level NaSaKas from NaSaKa Area. 5, the village administrator of Laung Doon, Maung Maung@ Maung Thein, started to threaten the young Rohingyas as mentioned above. 

Hence, on one hand, it is a clear rebellion of the order of a higher level officer, i.e. NaSaKa Administrator of Maung Daw, Colonel Aung Naing Oo, and on the other hand, it is an attempt to cripple Rohinya people in the region by expelling the only young Rohingya students. Therefore, they would like to express the danger they are in through this media platform and plead to the higher authority of Myanmar to take the necessary actions.

Hanna Hindstrom

Democratic Voice of Burma

February 11, 2013

Nearly 1,000 Muslim Rohingyas, including women and children as young as ten, remain incarcerated in northern Arakan state – accused of inciting sectarian clashes last year – where campaigners say they are subject to “pervasive” abuses and at least 68 people are believed to have died in custody. 

New data obtained by DVB shows that torture and violence, including the sexual exploitation of minors, is widespread throughout prisons in northern Arakan state, where at least 966 Rohingyas have been detained since November last year. At least 10 women and 72 children, aged between 10 and 15 years old, are understood to be among the prisoners. 

An estimated 1,600 Rohingyas were initially arrested in northern Arakan state after two bouts of sectarian clashes with local Buddhists, although many were later released after paying bribes “as high as 20 million kyats (USD$23,350)” to local officials, Chris Lewa from the Arakan Project told DVB. Some of the prisoners were initially held together with Buddhists, where they faced regular beatings – often with the support of authorities. 

“Every day a group of 10 to 15 new prisoners was taken out of their ward and beaten by jail police and Rakhine [Arakanese] prisoners,” said a 70-year-old former inmate in Buthidaung jail, who was initially sentenced to five years in jail, but later released. “Elderly Muslim prisoners, including me, were ordered to put the dead bodies into sacks and leave them at the jail gate. The dead bodies were taken away at night.” 

Sixty-two deaths were recorded in Buthidaung jail alone, where prisoners also reported being forced to shower naked in public and routinely subjected to torture and sexual humiliation. 

“Many [new inmates] had no clothes and it was clear that many had been badly tortured before their arrival in Buthidaung jail,” another former inmate said. “Some had broken bones; others knife injuries – some with cuts on their head and some on other parts of their body.“ 

The figures seen by DVB roughly correspond with government statistics released in December, which suggested that 849 Bengalis – the term officially used for the stateless Rohingya – were among the 1,121 people detained for their role in last year’s violence, which displaced over 125,000 people. Some 233 Arakanese were also in detention at the time, although many have since been released. 

Aye Maung, who was recently released from Sittwe jail along with nine other Buddhists accused of burning down a Muslim village, told DVB that 85 percent of the remaining 200 prisoners were Rohingya. He added that Arakanese inmates were treated as they would have been back in the “junta times” unless they “complained” about their conditions. But he insisted that Buddhists and Muslims were kept separately and “there were no problems” between the communities. 

“Speaking to Rakhine in Sittwe, civil society groups have put a lot of pressure on the authorities to release them,” said Lewa. “They even said it was unjust that they had been arrested, that it was the Rohingya that set fire to their own houses. It seems to confirm that the Rakhine can get out a lot easier than the Rohingya.” 

Roughly 800,000 Muslim Rohingya live in northwestern Burma, where they are viewed as illegal Bengali immigrants and denied basic rights, including citizenship. The state government was accused of siding with the Buddhist Arakanese in last year’s clashes.

Many of the detained Arakanese have been charged with lesser offences, including breaching the curfew imposed by the president in June, which usually carries sentences of less than six months. But most of the Rohingya have been targeted with draconian sections of Burma’s penal code, which carry sentences of up to 13 years. 

A number of prominent Muslim leaders have also been detained in what campaigners describe as an “arbitrary” campaign to silence those with connections to the international community or media. 

Kyaw Hla Aung, a lawyer and former worker for Médecins Sans Frontières, was one of several aid workers arrested in June after being accused of having links to Al-Qaeda. He was released in August only after sustained pressure from the aid group and the international community. 

“I am the only lawyer among the Rohingya people so they are worried that I can communicate with others and I have the political knowledge so they are afraid of me,” he told DVB during a recent field visit to Sittwe. 

Similarly, Dr Tun Aung, a retired doctor and Islamic community leader, was sentenced to 11 years in jail in November after “sending news abroad” and allegedly failing to notify the authorities about potential violence. He was convicted at a closed trial – and many of his witnesses reported being blocked from travelling to court to testify in his defence. 

His family says they have not been allowed to visit or even speak to him over the phone since his arrest in June. His daughter, Thiri, told DVB that the entire family is “very worried about his health” and fear that the 65-year-old has been tortured. 

“This is by far one of the worst examples, where freedom of all forms – professional freedom, freedom of expression and the rights of a person who is charged with a crime – has been violated by the state authorities in Burma,” said Bijo Francis from the Asian Human Rights Commission. 

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) has recently resumed prison visits in the former pariah state, which is eventually expected to include Arakan state, but a spokesperson admitted that they will “not question the reasons for arrests” and none of their findings will be made publicly available. 

Lewa further warned that a number of inmates in northern Arakan state had been threatened not to speak to the ICRC or risk being killed. 

President Thein Sein’s government has been credited for introducing dramatic democratic reforms in Burma, including freeing political prisoners and easing media restrictions. On Thursday, state media announced the formation of a commission to investigate how many political prisoners remain in Burma, but rights groups have raised questions over its independence and scope. The government declined to comment. 

-Min Lwin contributed additional reporting.

Bill O’Toole

Myanmar Times

February 11, 2013 

An estimated 1400 Rohingya refugees in southern Thailand face an uncertain future, as the Thai government mulls a change in its policy towards the boatloads of refugees from western Myanmar that have been arriving on the country’s shores. 

Thailand has been heavily criticised in the past for turning away the refugees, many of whom come from Rakhine State and identify themselves as Rohingya. 

In recent months, the sheer number of displaced peoples fleeing ethnic violence in Rakhine State has drawn the attention of aid groups both in Thailand and internationally, prompting the Thai Department of Foreign Affairs to announce on January 25 that some Rohingya refugees would be allowed to stay in Thailand for at least six months as the government prepares a new policy on the issue. 

But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised in a statement on January 29 that the six months is only an “initial timeframe”. 

“The possibility of repatriating these persons, and of resettlement and family reunification in a third country will be explored. Thailand has been working with the [UN Refugee Agency] and [International Organisation for Migration] on a scoping exercise which should soon provide more information to help clarify and identify a solution,” it said. 

This “scoping exercise” began in southern Thailand on February 4, and involved interviews with Rohingya refugees living in government housing, allowing authorities to figure how and why they fled their country, and what should happen next. 

However, asylum is only being offered to the 1400 Rohingya refugees staying in shelters built by the Thai government. This is a fraction of the 6000 refugees that Thailand’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) estimates have arrived in the country since October. 

Speaking to The Bangkok Post on February 7, ISOC spokesperson Lieutenant General Dithaporn Sasasamit confirmed that the government’s policy is still to deport refugees who arrive by boat. 

U Maung Kyaw Nu, chairman of the Burmese Rohingya Association of Thailand (BRAT), said he has repeatedly urged the Thai government to allow all Rohingya refugees to remain in the country. Most recently, he raised it at a meeting with Thai government officials on January 25 that immediately preceded the Department of Foreign Affairs announcement. 

“I only asked the Thai government to deal with them as refugees,” he said. “There are many laws on how to deal with refugees. They should have shelter and not be sent back.” 

Ms Vivian Tan, a spokesperson for UNHCR in Bangkok, said her organisation was not considering repatriation at the moment. She said UNHCR’s main concern is finding a place of asylum for the refugees, and making sure they have access to assistance from UNHCR and other humanitarian groups. 

“Our access so far has been irregular ... [but] what is positive is the government is open to help from the UNHCR,” she said. 

In the meantime, the 1400 Rohingya who have been allowed to stay in Thailand face the challenges of surviving in an environment where poverty and racism are the norm. As with other migrants from Myanmar, exploitation is also an issue: On January 28, The Bangkok Post reported that the Thai fishing industry was interested in having Rohingya migrants work on Thai fishing vessels. 

Mr Andy Hall, an expert on migrant workers in Thailand and adviser to the Myanmar government, confirmed the report and said he had heard Rohingya are already working for substandard wages on fishing boats. He described the fishing industry in Thailand as “an incredibly abusive industry”, and added: “I think it’s incredibly insensitive to suggest that these refugees should be put to work.” 

In addition, Rohingya refugees continue to fight rumours that they are arriving in Thailand to support Muslim insurgents in the south. “This story has been going on for years,” said Mr Alan Morrison, a reporter based in Phuket. “And in years and years of fighting, there’s never been any evidence of a Rohingya victim or perpetrator.” 

Still the story persists. As recently as January 27, the Thai-language weekly newspaper Matichon reported that two Rohingya men had confessed to being trained to carry out attacks in southern Thailand. The report cited well-known forensic scientist Pornthip Rojanasunand, who did an initial examination of several bodies of deceased Rohingya refugees earlier this year, as its source. 

But Dr Pornthip told The Myanmar Times the story was “wrong” and she had only mentioned finding evidence of amphetamine use in the bodies. She said she did, however, mention to the reporter from Matichon – and other Thai news outlets – that there were other unconfirmed cases of Rohingya having connections to Muslim insurgents. 

“That is all the facts I gave in the interview but they reported it wrong in the story,” Dr Pornthip said. 

The article was picked up by several other Thai papers, including The Nation, which attributed the story to “an un-named source in the department of forensic science”. 

Ms Achara Deboonme, editor-in-chief of The Nation, declined to comment until she could discuss the report with her news team. 

These issues have the potential to influence how many Rohingya refugees the Thai government will allow to stay in Thailand, and for how long. 

U Maung Kyaw Nu said he remains optimistic that conditions for Rohingya refugees will improve but he believes the solution lies not only with the Thai government. 

“We are calling on the international community,” he said. “We deserve international protection.”

Date: 11.02.2013 

PRESS RELEASE

Urgent aid, security and international actions are needed to save Rohingyas in Arakan

During the last few days, Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) has received the following information from the ground: 

1. A Rakhine gang suddenly entered the village of Kadirbil, 3 miles east of Maungdaw Town and attacked a house owned by a poor Rohingya, Dil Mohammed and brutally slaughtered his 4 innocent children aged 2-10 years with sharp knives. Their mother, Ms. Roza Begom, was kidnapped and so far nobody knows of her whereabouts.
2. There are more than 220 pregnant women in one camp in Pauktaw. For their delivery they cannot go to a health centre and they will have to deliver their babies in the mud, without a doctor. Rohingya women in Pauktaw Township are highly at risk. 
3. Rohingya who are in Buthidaung jail are facing torture by government security forces.
4. Many patients are facing hostility and intimidation when they try to go to a clinic or hospital.
5. Many Bengali Rakhine are entering Maungdaw and government authorities are settling them on Rohingya lands.
6. NaSaKa security forces are arresting Rohingyas in Buthidaung and Maungdaw every day. Rohingyas in Buthidaung and Maungdaw are facing serious extortion in their daily life.
7. In Sittwe, many Rohingyas are not getting aid and government authorities are continuously denying access. Many Rohingyas were forced to beg for food from locals and registered IDPs in order to survive. There is severe overcrowding, child malnutrition, totally inadequate water and sanitation, and almost no education available in the camps. 

The Rohingya issue is a global issue and the international community has to come forward with collective action to save Rohingyas. Thein Sein's military-backed government is systematically carrying out its ethnic cleansing plan to Rohingyas. 

BROUK President Tun Khin said “It is very important that the UN, OIC, EU, UK, US and other members of the international community come up with concrete action to pressure the Burmese government. It should start by setting benchmarks. The suspension of EU sanctions was conditional on the lifting of restrictions on aid. There are more restrictions on aid to Rohingyas these days in Arakan State. The EU should reconsider about lifting sanctions as the government is restricting aid to Rohingyas”. 

BROUK urges the UN, EU, ASEAN, US, UK and other countries to send a UN Peacekeeping Force to Arakan state in order to protect the helpless Rohingya people; and to constitute a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate the international crimes committed against the Rohingya and bring the perpetrators to justice. 

For more information, please contact Tun Khin +44 (0) 7888714866.

M.S. Anwar 

RB News 

February 10, 2013 

Maung Daw, Arakan - Last Night, at Mro Thaik Rwa (RuSu Fara), Northern Maung Daw, a few robbers or terrorists in NaSaKa Uniform broke into the house of U Ba Tin, a Rakhine national. One Rakhine is said to have died in the brawl and three got injured during the attack. But Rohingyas from the village of Ludaing (Du Dan) are being made victims for no reason. So far, 36 innocent Rohingyas are said to have been arrested by NaSaKa (Border Security Force) from NaSaKa Area No. 5 under the commandment of Major Than Naing. 

“Last Night a few robbers or terrorists in NaSaKa Uniform broke into the house of U Ba Tin, a Rakhine national, at the village of Mro Thaik Rwa (RuSu Fara) and one died and three got injured. Guns were used to attack one another in the brawl. That was as almost every Rakhine house in Maung Daw and other parts of Arakan has guns. The robbers can be either actual NaSaKas who went for robbery or the terrorists from Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) who want to trigger violence in Arakan again. 

Authority from Maung Daw went to the village for investigations. Upon the investigations, Rakhine extremists from the said village bucked up the blames on innocent Rohingyas of Ludaing Village lest their (Rakhines’) possessions of guns should be exposed. But U Ba Tin, an injured Rakhine victim, admitted that he saw a few people in NaSaKa Uniform but could not identify who they were. 

Now, the NaSaKa and Military are mindlessly and arbitrarily arresting innocent Rohingyas from Lundaing, who had nothing to do with the brawl. So far, 36 Rohingyas were said to have been arrested by NaSaKa from NaSaKa Area No.5.” said a Rohingya Elder from a nearby village. 

In another case, “at Khazir Bill (Sabbay Goong), Northern Maung Daw, four innocent Rohingya Children were slaughtered and their mother was kidnapped by unknown people. They were slaughtered a place 60ft far from their house and abandoned in the house. The names of the slaughtered children are: 

Name, Age, Gender 

(1) Noor Semon, 10, Female 

(2) Abdur Rahman, 8, Male 

(3) Rabina, 5, Female 

(4) Yasmine Ara, 2.5, Female 

As of the dead bodies of the slaughtered children, earlier, NaSaKa from the same area said they would carry the dead bodies of the children to the Maung Daw Hospital and they were seen carrying the corpse out of the village. However, the bodies were not delivered to the hospital and suspected to have been buried on the way. The villagers suspect the terrorists from Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) to have carried out the inhumane massacres. Rohingyas farmers found some members suspected to be from ALP in the forest next morning.” said a Rohingya who prefers not to be named. 

Rohingya community has become a football that is kicked from net to net in the games among the respective interest groups. Rohingyas are being exterminated. So, come up in time with the effective steps to prevent the ongoing exterminations.

QS Madani 

RB News 

February 10, 2013

(Translated into English by Aye Aye Mar) 

After the violent crisis of Arakan State led by extremist Rakhine Buddhists in June, 2012, the innocent Rohingya Muslims young and old have been arrested and detained with wrong accusations. Among them, three Muslims who could afford to pay for their release of 15 Million Kyats (Myanmar Currency) have been released after some days of detainment. 

Voluntarily for the current detainees, those who are set free provided details to RB News regarding their experiences of brutal tortures and abuses which are practiced in Buthidaung Prison, Rakhine State, Myanmar. 

The report states from June, 2012 until present the Rohingya Muslim detainees of Buthidaung Prison have been tortured in some forms of life threatening, beating to death, and cruel methods of tortures and abuses by the Myanmar local security forces and the prison authorities. 

A large number of Rohingya Muslims who were not involved in the violent crisis of Rakhine State, June, 2012, have been arrested based on wrong accusations and detained and tortured in the following manners. 

1. The detainees are tightly tied up by ropes and forced to stay naked. 
2. In the process of bringing the detainees to the prison, their heads were pushed down and pressed down under the feet of the torturers. 
3. The prisoners are forced to stay naked for a long period and in need of bath, they are forced to go naked and prisoner guards bring them back in the same manners in group. 
4. In the process of walking, or keeping the prisoners in the prison, their genitals are beaten or touched by fellow prisoners and tied by ropes until their organs become swollen. 
5. The prisoner guards push down the heads of the prisoners and sit on their backs and hit their heads with hammers. In some forms of tortures, Rakhine prisoners are brought to hit the limbs of the detainees with sticks, hammers and chains. 
6. The limbs, ears and noses of the prisoners are cut off and beat up the victims until severe bruises appear on their heads. 
7. The blows are carried out against especially the main body parts including the abdomens, chest s, hearts and brains until the internal injuries occur. 
8. The prisoner staff and the Rakhine prisoners prick the strands of beard and moustache of the prisoners in pain and make them prick the hair of their body parts. 
9. The limbs of the victims are burnt with burning charcoals; the genitals are heated with electric shocks and poured with hot water. 
10. The prisoners are made starved over a long period of time; not allowed to take a bath but when allowed, only with inadequate amount of water and the victims have access to a very inadequate amount of drinking water with limited time. 
11. In the prison, the prisoners are prevented from sleeping. A measure used to achieve includes being beaten up almost to death which leads to breakdown of nervous system and to other serious physical and psychological damage. 
12. The prisoners are not allowed to pray or to observe the Sabbath. 
13. The heavy ploughs are placed on the necks and the shoulders of the prisoners and made them walk in this manner. 
14. The prisoners are forced to crawl and the prison authorities take rides on their backs for fun. 
15. The prisoners are forced to walk on the nail-spiked pranks and burning charcoals. 
16. The prisoners are forced to lie and heavy weights are placed on their chests. 
17. Scissors, needles, knives and nails are used to peel off the skin of the victims without mercy. In some cases, tongues and eyes are painfully pierced. 
18. As the results of brutally being beaten up, the prisoners make urine and increment. In that case, the victim is made to eat his increment by beating forced. 
19. Red ants are placed on the bodies of the prisoners and made to bite the victims. 
20. Rice and curries are placed on the bodies of the prisoners and astrayed dogs are brought to eat the foods and make them bite the detainees. 
21. In the process of bringing the detainees to the court, the young or the old are tightly tied up and often beaten up at the court. 
22. The prison guards use the curse words to call the prisoners “animals”, “Kular cows” etc. and give the gestures to them as to the animals. 
23. Inside or outside the prison, the prisoners being tied up tightly around the necks, waists and limbs, the parts of their bodies are brutally hit. 
24. The prisoners are denied to receive the medical access when they are ill. 
25. The prisoners are prohibited from meeting their relatives and accepting medicines, foods, cash and clothes. 
26. The prisoners are raped by force and made to swallow the sperm into their mouths. 
27. The same manners of tortures and abuses are applied to the disabled, those whose hands and legs are broken, the deaf, the young and the old prisoners.
28. The prison torturers insult the religion, ”Islam” by stating,”You said, Your God is Great. Now, call your God to save you.” 
29. In addition to these cruel methods of tortures, many lives have been lost by some forms of abuses. The corpses of those who were tortured to death are not handed over to the families. No information is provided on this matter and it is not allowed to bury the dead prisoners in Islamic ways. 

Innocent Rohingya Muslims are arrested without evidences and with the false witness of Rakhines, there have been unlimited numbers of prisoners who are sentenced for long term imprisonment.There are a very few people who are set free by paying a large sum of money. 

The majority of the prisoners lack of money to pay for their escape from prison and have been suffering in the aforementioned brutal methods of tortures and abuses.There have been many people who have escaped into the foreign countries for the fear of the arrests and brutal tortures in the prison of Buthidaung, Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Jack Lee

Alders Ledge

February 9, 2013

In the darkest of hours a voice cries out from the scorched earth of the Arakan. Desperation has left a scar upon it that shapes it, molds it into the familiar tone of those who came before it. Hunger muffles its plea. Tears flow over its words as they fall over its breath like rain.

"Take me back to the killing fields", it pleads. "To where I can imagine life as it was when we did not bleed. Take me back to the world where rice grew in the fields and fish swam in the sea. Take me to time before the blade and bullet came for me. 

"Take me there where I can rest in the warmth of the setting sun. Take me there where I once stood beneath the shade of tall old trees. Let me see my home once more. Let me hear the sound of my children play just one last time.

"Take back to a time when the rats didn't eat better than me. Take me back to that place where the buzzards didn't hover and wait for me to lay down and die. Let me know once more what it was like to live beyond death's shadow.

"Take me back to a time when my brothers and sisters were not memories. Take me back to that time before they were taken from me. Take me back to when I could remember their faces, their voices, their touch. Take me back to that place where we use to gather as one... where my family once felt like more than ancient history."

History has a way of repeating itself. It is a cruel yet dedicated teacher that will not relent. It attempts to show us where we have failed as a species. With its painful repetition it offers us chance after chance to learn from our mistakes. No amount of blood or misery will satisfy it. No amount of suffering can abate its curriculum or spare us our failures in learning from it. 

The cry that comes out of the depths of Burma's most oppressed community are those same cries that echo throughout history. It is a plea for humanity that was lost upon the killing fields of Cambodia. It is a cry that was silenced by the jackboots during the Holocaust. It is a scream that was brutally crushed by the Young Turks as the Armenians were marched off to their deaths. And yet the same cry for help comes out of Burma once more. It calls upon the rest of mankind to step up and fulfill the promises we made after defeating the fascist in World War Two. It begs us to not forget those two words once again... never again.

"Take me back to the killing fields," it rasp voice screams. "But not as they are or as they will soon be. Take me back to the fields as they were before. With grass grown up and the crops swaying in the breeze. Let me loose there where I was once free. Let me live upon that soil once more where my ancestors once called home. 

"Do not take me away from here to live in exile. Do not tell me to take to the sea when there is nowhere left to run. Do not pray for my safety in those little boats. Do not hope for the best while my brothers and sisters drown beneath those unforgiving waves. 

"Take me back to the villages I once called home. Take me back to the streets I walked as a young man. Take me back to the mosque in which I once prayed. Let me live in peace as I did in those days before the fires, the fights, the mobs. 

"Do not let hunger do to me what the mobs could not. Do not let my ribs break the flesh as I rot in the camps. Do not let me live like a skeleton draped in flesh. Please do not rob me of my dignity. 

"Take me back to a place where I did not pray for crumbs. Take me back to a time when I did not pick through the weeds for dropped or discarded grains. Take me back to a time when I was not considered less than a dog that I might eat like a man and not scavenge through waste. Take me there so that I might live free... free of hunger... free of fear."

It has been said that those who do not learn from history are damned to repeat it. With Syria, Darfur, the Congo, and Burma we are living through it once more. There are more genocide occurring right now than were occurring at the time of the Holocaust. The number of dead might not be as high as that of what Hitler, Stalin, or Mao killed in their horrific deeds, but the crime is the same none the less.

For those in the West these crimes are treated as anomalies, as oddities that occur in distant lands. We tend to think of genocide as a crime against humanity that we ourselves could never suffer. Americans in particular picture genocide as a thing from which we rescue others.

History has a way of remedying that.

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;

I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;

I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;

I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,

I remained silent;

I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,

there was no one left to speak out.We never think these things can come home to where we live. We dream of them as perverse sins that stay put in the history books where they belong. And even for those who acknowledge their existence in our time, we often distance ourselves through the hope that we ourselves could never become their victims.

But how long can societies last when they do not face the sins of their fathers? How long can we keep going if we do not recall the crimes that taint our own past? And if we never learn from our own mistakes than how do we ever prevent them from happening again?

There is not a single European nation that can stand before the world and say that it has never once participated or practiced genocide. America and Canada were built upon the genocide of the native peoples that once inhabited these lands. And yet the history of our forefathers' sins is vastly ignored by the masses that now inhabit these great countries.

It is only upon looking at how, why, and when we committed genocide that we realize the warning signs that came with those crimes. Once identified and taught a society can be prepared to prevent those same crimes from occurring once again. 

In the West we learned our lessons from the Holocaust. We had to repeat genocide after genocide till it climaxed in the slaughter of millions of innocent victims. But we did learn the warning signs.

So why are we ignoring those very sings when they pertain to Burma? Or Syria? Or Darfur?

Perhaps it is just my paranoia, perhaps it is my own view of history that creates it...

But how long before the next government leaning toward ethnic cleansing realizes just how relaxed the world is on the issue and topples over into genocide? After all, all you need to do is look around and watch as country after country funds genocide after genocide without even a second thought. Morality, ethics... they both seem lost now days as world leaders pander to genocidal regimes to make a quick buck.

How long before a government of a developed nation starts to flirt with the idea of ridding themselves of "undesirables"?

Once again, my history with genocide might lend to my perceived paranoia of it, yet the question remains to be answered. History has a way of repeating itself. History has a way of forcing us to deal with an issue that we so desperately try to ignore. Genocide is just another portion of our history that we can not escape.

As long as we continue to ignore the cries echoing out of Burma we assure ourselves that we will have to face this sin once again. It is a crime that knows no borders. It is a crime that knows no boundaries. Genocide does not regard anything as sacred. It does not respect any given religion. It does not look up to any race or down upon any given level of degradation. And as long as we continue to ignore it in Burma, Syria, Darfur, and the Congo we assure ourselves that we will never truly be able to honestly say those two words... never again.

QS Madani

RB News 

February 8, 2013 

Maungdaw: On February 3, in Tha Win Chaung (Bassara) village, Southern Maungdaw Township, a Rohingya fishing boat in the coastal water was attacked by a ship of Rakhine pirates and smugglers coming from Taunggup Township going to Bangladesh. They attacked the rickety boat where six Rohingyas were fishing with fishing net. They sank the boat and killed there fishermen out of six. The rest three could escape by jumping into the water but were half-dead. 

The three dead are: 

(1) Shab Miah s/o Ali Ahmed (26 years old) 

(2) Nur Islam s/o Fazal Ahmed (28 years old) 

(3) Sirazul Haque s/o Kasim (23 years old) 

The alive three are: 

(1) Nur Husin s/o Fedan Ali (50 years old) 

(2) Zahid Husin s/o Ali Ahmed (30 years old) 

(3) Hashim Ullah s/o Habi (27 years old) 

All the victims are from Tha Win Chaung (Bassara) village. When the incident was reported to the Nasaka camp of Bassara, the Nasaka told, “What’s wrong if Kalar were killed? It is pleasure to hear.” and fined them money instead. 

Desperate Future of Kyauktaw 

Kyauktaw: Extremist Rakhines keep trying to terrorize the downtrodden Rohingyas furtively. On February 3, at 11pm, many Rakhines from both Paik Thay village tract and Taung Boun village tract, Kyauktaw Township have gathered in the railway which lies near the Zaillafara village tract for attacking Rohingyas afresh. Fortunately, they couldn’t implement their plan as Rohingya community leaders had alerted the Muslims to possible attacks. Being desperate of a secure future there, people from Kyauktaw flee incessantly as the Rakhines tries to attack afresh from time to time. As a result, on February 4, about 250 Rohingyas have left Kyauktaw for an uncertain destination. Let’s see whether they will mortgage their lives to the waves of Bay of Bengal to escape Buddhist aggressions or destiny will lead them to the better.

Atapoom Ongkulna & Narong Nuansakul

House Standing Committee on State Security chairman Weng Tojirakan yesterday discussed the Rohingya migrant issue and recommended talks with Myanmar to repatriate them or contact the United Nations to find a third country to take them in. National Human Rights Commission's head of violation inspection division, Kesarin Tiangsakul, said it found many women and children among the Rohingya migrants who aimed to work in Malaysia and Indonesia, using Thailand as a transit point.

After they were arrested - and Thai law could detain them for six months - the government had to find a solution to the problem because these people couldn't be repatriated elsewhere. It also had to provide them with care on a humanitarian basis, Kesarin said.

Kesarin said Songkhla's Immigration Police Bureau only had a meal budget of Bt45 per detainee per day, or Bt15 per meal, and they had to depend on kind-hearted donors.

Pol Lt Col Paisit Sangkhahapong, an expert at the Department of Special Investigation’s anti-human trafficking centre, said DSI investigation initially found most Rohingya people were willing to migrate while there were Thais and foreigners involved in smuggling them into the Kingdom. These smugglers then applied deception, force and took advantage of the refugees.

Paisit suggested that the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs should negotiate with Myanmar to take these people back, or talk with the UN and UNHCR to send them back to their origin or to a third country.

In Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district, the combined security force yesterday raided six locations suspected of housing Rohingya migrants and arrested six suspects at one location. They were a roti shop owner identified only as Nurusalam, 55, and five other Rohingya and Myanmar people.

The six locations were allegedly run by a Rohingya trade network led by Yusuf Ali who reportedly bought the Rohingya from agencies in Ranong.