QS Madani 

RB News 

February 15, 2013 

(Edited by Anwar Arakni) 

Buthidaung: Myanmar Military continues to extort huge amounts of money from Rohingyas under various fabricated cases. The Military personnel from battalion (322) have extorted much money from the Rohingyas in Tat Min Chaung Village Tract, Buthidaung Township under various accusations. 

The following victims are accused of going to Bangladesh. 

(1) Ameenullah s/o Mohammed Saeed (paid Kyats 50,000) 

(2) Molvi Aktar s/o Hameedur Rahman (paid Kyats 100,000) 

The following victims are accused of possessing mobile phone. 

(1) Mohammed Tayub s/o Laloo (paid Kyats 20,000) 

(2) Anas s/o Ayub (paid Kyats 100,000) 

(3) Masum s/o Abu Siddique (paid Kyats 400,000) 

(4) Hares s/o Zakaria (paid Kyats 50,000) 

The following victims are accused of human trafficking to Malaysia. 

(1) Abul Kasem s/o Fayaz (paid Kyats 500,000) 

(2) Mahbub Rahman s/o (paid Kyats 100,000) 

Under the accusation of torching the straw in the paddy field Yaseen s/o Mohammed Siddique was extorted Kyats 100,000 and made him to weed-out two acres of land as an added penalty. And Ayub s/o Abdul Hakeem was accused of helping a girl in marriage with a youth illegally, and was penalized Kyats 10,000. 

Min Bya: Four Rohingya youths from Lamboissar Village Tract, Min Bya Township, went to the market to buy some betel leaves on February 11, 2013. On the way, upon coming across with Rakhine extremists, they were beaten very severely and were apprehended to the security forces where they suffered additional torture. 

Maungdaw: Major Soe Moe Htike arrested Zubair s/o Abdul Karim from Inn Dinn (Aan Dan), Maungdaw Towship on February 11, 2013 at 1:30 pm on a false accusation that he has married without permission. The fact of the matter is the Major selectively targets people to extort money. He knows that the victim’s father works in Saudi Arabia and often sends a lot of money to support his family. The victim has been detained in Inn Dinn Nasaka camp and being tortured routinely. The Major is demanding 1 million Kyats for his release. 

A motorcycle was seized from Salimullah s/o Shida Ali, 27, by military personnel, Kyaw Ko Ko from Zawmatat Village Tract check post at around 11:00 am on February 8, 2013. He was tortured to provide a list of names, regardless of true or false, who possess motorcycle, mobile phone, crossing to Bangladesh, involve in any illegal or violent activities. 

This seems to be a grand scheme of mass arresting villagers and extorting money. 

P.K. Abdul Gafour

Arab News

February 14, 2013

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation intends to establish a secure financial network to support the Palestinians, OIC Secretary-General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said yesterday.

Ihsanoglu made this announcement during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York. The two also discussed the developments in Syria and Mali as well as the situation of Rohingya in Myanmar. The OIC chief told the UN secretary-general the need to take necessary measures for protecting the Muslim minority in Myanmar and putting an end to the violence against them. Ihsanoglu met Ban to inform him about the resolutions taken by the recently concluded OIC summit in Cairo, which had instructed him to take necessary steps to solve the issues of Palestine, Syria, Mali and Myanmar with the support of the United Nations.

Speaking about the financial network, the OIC chief said it aims at meeting major needs of the Palestinian people in response to Israel’s scaling up of measures against them, imposing new taxes and making their life difficult.

Earlier addressing a meeting of the UN Security Council, the OIC chief said the powerful international body has a big responsibility in protecting civilians in Syria and finding a peaceful solution to the crisis. “The Security Council and the international community has so far failed in the test of protecting civilians in Syria,” the OIC chief said.

“The seizure of Palestinian lands and construction of more settlements in occupied territories by Israel have affected the council’s credibility,” Ihsanoglu said while reiterating the Palestinians right to have an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

UNICEF

February 14, 2013

BANGKOK – UNICEF began this week delivering footballs and other play and recreation supplies to eight Ministry of Social Development and Human Security shelters caring for Rohingya children in southern Thailand.

Some 270 Rohingya children, many who were separated from their parents or who came to Thailand unaccompanied by adults, are being cared for at nine shelters in eight provinces across the South.

About 70 Rohingya women are also being assisted at the shelters, while more than 1,400 Rohingya men are in government immigration detention facilities. 

UNICEF supplies include footballs, volleyballs, badminton sets and other sports equipment, drawing and art supplies, and toys and other play items for young children. UNICEF staff delivered the first bags of supplies on Monday to the shelter in Songklha housing about 80 Rohningya children.

“The materials will be used to help provide improved play and recreation opportunities for Rohingya children and other children staying at these shelters,” said UNICEF Thailand Representative Bijaya Rajbhandari. “Some of the children have been traumatized by events in Myanmar, the long sea journey to Thailand or being separated from family members, and giving them opportunities to play will help relieve some of their stress and fear.”

UNICEF is also supporting the provision of hygiene and sanitation services at shelters, and is assisting MSDHS with strengthening the registration and tracking system for Rohingya children and women to help reunite them with family members. 

Other shelters caring for Rohingya children and women and being provided with play and recreation materials are in Pattani, Narathiwat, Trang, Surat Thani, Phangnga, Satun and Phrachuab Khiri Khan provinces.

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-020-2012

14 February 2013

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THAILAND: Rohingya asylum seekers arrested in southern provinces of Thailand

ISSUES: Refugees, IDPs and asylum seekers; human trafficking; minorities

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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission is deeply concerned for the fate of Rohingya asylum seekers who have been arrested in the past weeks in police sweeps of remote areas in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia and the other provinces. They have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. Even though Rohingya migrants are entering into Thailand without permission, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race and religion they are entitled to seek asylum. Therefore customary international law and the non-refoulement principle should be strictly applied by the Thai state.

CASE DETAILS:

Rohingya migrants have fled from Burma, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. In Thailand, they have been arrested in the past weeks as police rounded up 397 Rohingya migrants at remote areas in rubber plantations in Songkhla's Sadao district near the border with Malaysia on January 10, 2013. As of January 31, the number of Rohingyas reportedly arrested was 1486 persons.

On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand seeking help for the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on civil and political rights would meet state agencies on January 28 to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingyas until their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also trying to determine the people's status but a person shall be granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.

On January 18, The Central Islamic Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations, international organisations and the United Nations agencies on human rights to discuss with a third country the possibility of granting asylum to the Rohingya migrants.

But, on January 21, the National Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the role of human trafficking agencies.

On January 31, the government decided to take care of the Rohingya for six months. The male Rohingya asylum seekers were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and children were staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's shelters for children and women.

For further analysis of the legal status under law on Immigration of these persons in Thailand, please see the sample letter, below.

Background Information:

Even though Rohingya migrants entering into Thailand under domestic law could be removed from the territory, because they are seeking asylum in accordance with the terms of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and because many of them are stateless persons, the government of Thailand has an obligation to recognize their claims and make necessary arrangements to accommodate them until such a time as they can return to Burma safely or go to a third country. These obligations apply under international customary law irrespective of the fact that Thailand has not ratified the 1951 Convention.

Rohingya from western Burma have since the 1970s been subject to systematic programs for their removal from the country or for their economic and political marginalization, through denial of access to travel documents, effectively prohibiting them from enjoying rights to education, health, movement and employment that other people in the country have. Since the mid-2000s, increasing numbers have come to Thailand, sometimes on their way to Malaysia or Indonesia, where authorities have treated them with hostility, on some occasions reportedly towing boats that have attempted to land back out to sea. The most recent arrivals have fled following violence in mid-2012 and October 2012, during which entire urban communities and villages were allegedly razed through fire by members of indigenous communities, claiming that the Rohingya have no legitimate claim to reside as an ethnic minority in Burma. Claims that the persons responsible for attacks were backed by government officials are credible given the longstanding and blatant anti-Rohingya position taken by the government in Burma and its personnel, but are difficult to prove given the current conditions in the region, which remains under a state of emergency.

For additional information on human rights issues in Burma and Thailand, visit the AHRC's country pages: http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/thailand, http://www.humanrights.asia/countries/burma

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities listed below, urging them to assist Rohingya asylum seekers, not treat them as illegal immigrants. Please note that for the purposes of this letter, Burma is referred to by its official name as Myanmar.

Please be informed that the AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteurs on trafficking in persons, on the human rights of internally displaced persons, on human rights in Myanmar, and to the human rights office in Bangkok, calling for urgent intervention into this matter.

To support this appeal please send the letter.

SAMPLE LETTER: 

Dear _________,

THAILAND: Rohingya asylum seekers arrested in southern provinces of Thailand

I am writing to you to call for urgent intervention into the case of Rohingya migrants who have fled from Myanmar, where they have been subjected to various types of persecution. In Thailand, they have been arrested in the past weeks as they have arrived in the county’s south. According to the information I have received, as of January 31, a total of 1,486 Rohingya had been taken into custody.

On January 16, The Burmese Rohingya Association in Thailand submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand seeking help for the detained Rohingya. NHRC member Niran Pitakwatchara said a sub-panel on civilian and political rights would meet state agencies on Jan 28 to discuss the issue. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently approved temporary assistance for a group of Rohingyas until their status is determined, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is also trying to determine the people's status but a person shall be granted refugee status first, then he/she would be resettled later on.

On January 18, The Central Islamic Council of Thailand said it would propose the central mosque of Songkhla province be used as a main shelter for Muslim migrants who have not been charged with any criminal offences. The Council also encouraged Muslim nations, international organisations and the United Nations agencies on human rights to discuss with a third-party country the possibility of granting asylum to the Rohingya migrants.

But, on January 21, the National Security Council insisted that the detained Rohingya should be classed as illegal immigrants, not refugees. Meantime, police have been arresting people alleged to have brought the Rohingya into Thailand, and have been examining the role of human trafficking agencies.

On January 31, the government had decided to take care of the illegal Rohingya migrants for six months. The male Rohingya migrants were being detained at the Immigration Bureau while women and children were staying at the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security's shelters for children and women.

In this context, I want to take this opportunity to express my concern about law enforcement under Immigration Act B.E.2522 (1979). Clearly, the Rohingya are not Thai nationals and has entered Thailand as aliens, in accordance with section 4 of the Act. They having no genuine and valid passport or document used in lieu of passport, and therefore under section 58 their migration into Thailand is illegal.

According to section 19, "In inspecting and considering whether as alien is forbidden from entering the Kingdom, the competent officer shall have authority to allow said alien to stay at an appropriate place after promising that he will present himself to the competent officer to received his orders on a specified date, time and place; or if the competent officer deems appropriate he may call for bond or call for both bond and security; or the competent officer may detain aliens at any place." It is in accordance with this section that the people have now been detained.

Notwithstanding, because Rohingya migrants entered Thailand because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion and nationality in Myanmar, the Council of Ministers may consider a special exemption under section 17 of the act.

Accordingly, I call upon the government of Thailand to recognize its international obligations in this instance, and strictly apply customary international law and the non-refoulement principle, thereby allowing these asylum seekers to remain in Thailand for the foreseeable future. I urge that all persons detained be released into the community, subject to suitable arrangements by the relevant authorities for the provision of, and monitoring of, accommodation and other services. I also call on the government to enter into negotiations with relevant governments and multilateral agencies with a view to making the necessary provisions for these persons with regard to their fundamental human rights, and humanitarian concerns.

Lastly, I take this opportunity to urge the government of Thailand to ratify the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees at the earliest possible occasion, in order that it might fall within the international framework established for the protection of these persons and others fleeing similar forms of persecution.

I look forward to your prompt action.

Yours sincerely,

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra

Prime Minister 

Government House 

Pitsanulok Road, Dusit District 

Bangkok 10300 

THAILAND 

Tel: +66 2 288 4000 

Fax: +66 2 288 4000 ext. 4025 

E-mail: spokesman@thaigov.go.th

2. Mr. Charupong Ruangsuwan

Minister of Interior

Atsadang Road 

Bangkok 10200

THAILAND

Tel: +66 2224 6320 ext 50004 

Fax +66 2226 4371

3. Mr. Surapong Tovichakchaikul

Minister of Foreign Affairs

443 Sri Ayudhya Road, 

Bangkok, Thailand 10400

Tel - Fax +66 2643 5320

minister@mfa.go.th

4. Pol.Gen.Adul Saengsingkaew

Commissioner General

Office of Commissioner General, Royal Thai Police, 1st Bldg, 

7th Fl., Royal Thai Police, Rama 1 Rd. 

Pathum Wan 

Bangkok 10330

Tel +66 2251 6831 

Fax +66 2205 3738

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme

Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

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.